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December 31, 2004

2004: Is It Over Yet?

I see no need to review this year. 2004 has been a nadir in American achievement, and the only really sad thing is I fear we'll look back on it as a "better than average" year this decade, despite all the fear, hatred, and cruelty spread by our government and its corporate owners during the course of a Presidential Election year (perhaps, our last).

The economy seems to be ticking up (finally) but a crisis overseas could turn the tables in America at a moment's notice. Oil is permanently above $40US/bbl. and don't expect to see it average less than $50US by the end of 2005. This has long term, inflationary consequences on the economy that are definitely bad, unless by some miracle it fosters a renewal in true energy independence. Fat chance.

The "elections" we're fostering in the Middle East have yet to bear any democractic fruit. Fortunately for Shrub, the verdict won't be in for decades, but in the meantime, they'll continue to spread anti-American hatred at the end of a barrel of the gun for the coming year. What will you do when they come to take your son or daugther to war?

Since the GOP are now gutting the ethics rules in Congress, we can pretty much give up any hope of seeing Bush impeached, let along handed over to the Hague. This is a travesty, since the same assholes who are removing these rules put them there to run off the last generation of Democrat leaders. Like the war on Abortion, they really are seeking a wider goal (in the case of the Contract On America, it was the elimination of any political opposition; in the case of abortion, it's really the abolition of birth control), and they'll achieve it before anyone who supports them but would never actually back them realize it.

Here comes 2005, year Five of Bush. Can you guess how far they'll go to the right this year?

Posted by Steven at 08:26 PM | Comments (1)

Radio Continues Sucking

I live in Austin, so Klear Khannel Korporate HQ is sort of in my backyard, down the road in San Antonio. But this story begins in the backyard of my friends who live in the Albany, NY, area.

Robert Millman, a resident in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area, made a few 30-second recordings (link goes to the first, others available by cycling through) and bought time on Clear Channel-owned WGY-AM 810. The scripts are apolitical; that is, they don't advocate for any specific group, unless we count the citizenry of the United States (or, perhaps, the population of the planet Earth) as such a group, albeit one that by definition has no opposing contingent. The recordings call for clear thinking, dialogue, debate, and dissent -- good ol' fashioned small-d democratic style democracy. Surely non-controversial.

WGY made the schedule, took Millman's money, and then rejected his recordings. No reason was given, despite repeated requests for explanation by Millman and the Schenectady paper. No station policy on acceptable content has been provided, either.

Millman is making the recordings available to anyone who can buy time on their local radio stations. I think it's pretty good stuff.

Posted by at 01:01 AM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2004

United Stingies of America

Are we stingy? Hell yes! Check out today's editorial in the New York Times.

President Bush finally roused himself yesterday from his vacation in Crawford, Tex., to telephone his sympathy to the leaders of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia, and to speak publicly about the devastation of Sunday's tsunamis in Asia. He also hurried to put as much distance as possible between himself and America's initial measly aid offer of $15 million, and he took issue with an earlier statement by the United Nations' emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, who had called the overall aid efforts by rich Western nations "stingy." "The person who made that statement was very misguided and ill informed," the president said.

We beg to differ. Mr. Egeland was right on target. We hope Secretary of State Colin Powell was privately embarrassed when, two days into a catastrophic disaster that hit 12 of the world's poorer countries and will cost billions of dollars to meliorate, he held a press conference to say that America, the world's richest nation, would contribute $15 million. That's less than half of what Republicans plan to spend on the Bush inaugural festivities.

The American aid figure for the current disaster is now $35 million, and we applaud Mr. Bush's turnaround. But $35 million remains a miserly drop in the bucket, and is in keeping with the pitiful amount of the United States budget that we allocate for nonmilitary foreign aid. According to a poll, most Americans believe the United States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries; it actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent.

Bush administration officials help create that perception gap. Fuming at the charge of stinginess, Mr. Powell pointed to disaster relief and said the United States "has given more aid in the last four years than any other nation or combination of nations in the world." But for development aid, America gave $16.2 billion in 2003; the European Union gave $37.1 billion. In 2002, those numbers were $13.2 billion for America, and $29.9 billion for Europe.

Making things worse, we often pledge more money than we actually deliver. Victims of the earthquake in Bam, Iran, a year ago are still living in tents because aid, including ours, has not materialized in the amounts pledged. And back in 2002, Mr. Bush announced his Millennium Challenge account to give African countries development assistance of up to $5 billion a year, but the account has yet to disperse a single dollar.

Mr. Bush said yesterday that the $35 million we've now pledged "is only the beginning" of the United States' recovery effort. Let's hope that is true, and that this time, our actions will match our promises.

Colin Powell got boned on his AIDS gambit with Bush, didn't he? $15B promised, and zero dollars actually paid. We're being led by people who make a career out of skimming from the government, so don't expect much, if any, of the promised aid to make it to Asia.

Posted by Steven at 11:43 AM | Comments (1)

Canada Beef Cannot Get a Break!

Oh no, not again! Canada has announced the discovery of a "mad cow" infected animal the day after the U.S. re-opened its borders to Canada beef.

Canada has found what may be a second case of mad cow disease, officials said Thursday, just a day after the United States said it planned to reopen its border to Canadian beef.

The border was closed 19 months ago when a cow in northern Alberta tested positive for mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday the border could be opened in March.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency released few details on the new suspect case, except to identify it as a 10-year-old dairy cow.

The preliminary testing results were completed on Wednesday, said the agency, adding that the testing was conducted after the cow was identified as a ``downer'' -- unable to walk.

The finding is not definitive, but the CFIA says multiple screening tests have yielded positive results. No part of the animal entered the human food or animal feed systems, said the agency.

Samples are currently being analyzed at the Canadian Science Center for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg, Manitoba and confirmation is expected in three to five days.

The CFIA said U.S. authorities have been notified of the tests and added that the government's normal policy is to report only confirmed results.

``However, given the unique situation created by the United States' border announcement . . . it was decided that the most prudent action would be to publicly announce the available information and provide stakeholders with a full understanding of the current situation,'' said the CFIA.

For Canada's sake, I hope this turns out to be a false positive. The loss of the U.S. market is a huge blow to the nation.

Posted by Steven at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

Coalition of the Willingly Dictatorial

"Coalition of the Willing" continues to be made up of dictators. Good news, GOP fans of democracy! "President" Pervez Musharraf is not stepping down as dictator in Pakistan, like he said he would. Pakistan (you may recall) is part of Bush's "Coalition of the Willing". The Army of Democracy is missing the point (as usual) by including military dictators in it's ranks, but when has Bush shown the slightest hint of shame?

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday reiterated his intention to retain his dual role of army chief and called on the opposition to accept the decision of the majority.

Last month, pro-military politicians who dominate parliament passed a bill allowing Musharraf to stay on as army chief despite his pledge to give up the post at the year-end in a deal with Islamist opponents that gave him sweeping powers.

``It is the voice of the majority and the minority should accept this ruling,'' Musharraf said in an address to the nation broadcast on state-run Pakistan Television and Radio.

Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless 1999 coup, said the constitution allowed him to hold both offices until 2007 and he needed the army post in the interests of Pakistan's peace process with India, the war on terrorism and economic progress.

Dressed in a suit and tie, Musharraf blamed the Islamists for his decision to go back on his vow, saying they had not kept to a promise to avoid confrontation to allow the government elected in 2002 to complete its five-year term.

Musharraf first announced his intention to hold on to his army post in an interview with a private Pakistani regional television channel this month, but Thursday's broadcast was the first time he had spoken of his decision via state media.

Posted by Steven at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)

"Goodhair" Aide Worked for Corridor Bidder

Texas Gov. Rick "Goodhair" Perry's aide worked for the Spanish firm that won the $7.2B bid for a huge state road project.

As a government affairs consultant for Cintra, Dan Shelley was to be paid if the road deal went through, a spokesman for the governor said. But Mr. Shelley agreed to give up all rights to that money – an amount the governor's office could not detail – when he joined Mr. Perry's staff as legislative director.

The spokesman, Robert Black, said Mr. Shelley was never paid any money by Cintra. After joining the governor's office, he said, Mr. Shelley had no contact about the project with Cintra or the Texas Transportation Commission, the Perry-appointed board that picked the company.

"The governor's office had no influence at all over who won the contract for the Trans-Texas Corridor," Mr. Black said.

Mr. Perry has made the Trans-Texas Corridor, a network of tollways and rail lines across the state projected to cost $175 billion, the centerpiece of his transportation policy. An opponent of the plan said Mr. Shelley's previous employment for Cintra added to questions about the project.

"From the very beginning, this was going to be a railroaded project," said Corridor Watch founder David Stall. His group opposes the governor's proposal and wants to ensure that the development process is open to public input. "The governor had an agenda. It's all predetermined."

A spokeswoman for Cintra, which is based in Madrid, Spain, confirmed Mr. Shelley had worked for the company but declined to comment, referring further questions to the governor's office. Mr. Shelley's office also referred calls to Mr. Perry's press office.

Mr. Shelley, a lobbyist at the time, began consulting for the company in December 2003, roughly three months after Cintra was named to a list of three possible Trans-Texas Corridor contractors, the governor's office said. When Mr. Shelley joined the governor's staff nine months later, his lobbying firm – which includes his daughter and son-in-law – did not take over the Cintra contract or the promised pay, Mr. Black said.

Influence Denied

State records show Mr. Shelley – a lawyer and former state legislator who serves as Mr. Perry's liaison to lawmakers – and his firm were not registered with the state as lobbyists for Cintra, as required for individuals who have contact with state officials that's intended to influence government decisions.

"Dan Shelley gave advice to Cintra" about doing business in Texas, Mr. Black said. "He didn't lobby, nor did he try to influence anyone else's decisions, other than Cintra's."

Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson said Mr. Shelley approached Texas Department of Transportation officials about a year ago, seeking a meeting about his work for Cintra and possibly other Spanish companies. The visit was brief, and it was the only known business contact between Mr. Shelley and the transportation department, Mr. Williamson said.

"The visit he made to TxDOT was not in the nature of a specific project," Mr. Williamson said. "It was along the lines of, 'These guys may want to do business in Texas. Can you spend some time with them?' "

Several months later, the state hosted a tour in Dallas and other Texas cities, explaining potential projects to about 20 representatives of Spanish companies. They included several from Cintra's then-parent company, Ferrovial Agroman.

"There should be an appearance question from your point of view. But from my point of view, there is none," Mr. Williamson said. "I can guarantee you Dan Shelley didn't lobby me for anything to do with Cintra."

State transporation officials said Mr. Shelley's association with Cintra could not have played a role in the company's selection for the most expensive privately funded public works project in history.

The Bidding Process

The identities of each bidder were kept separate from the details of their proposals, with the companies generally known as bidders A, B and C as their plans were evaluated and scored.

But Mr. Williamson said one company's bid stood out because of its unique method of having the contractor pay billions up front for the project, which are then repaid out of future toll and rail proceeds. That funding mechanism matched Cintra's well-known, innovative efforts elsewhere, possibly leading informed guessers to conclude that Cintra wrote that bid, Mr. Williamson said.

Cintra plans to fund the project with a combination of its own revenue and some from investors who will be paid back over time with toll money. The company, which has been in business since 1968, expects to pay for about 20 percent to 30 percent from its own funds, and to get a return on that investment starting in about a decade, company officials said.

Phillip Russell, director of TxDOT'S Texas Turnpike Authority division, has said that none of the companies knew how much weight the state would place on different parts of the bid, including the financing and road-planning aspects.

Initially, the state told bidders that the details on how to build the road would count more than the financing details, but it never released the exact ratio for the decision. The state awarded the contract this month and revealed a ratio with almost equal weight on the two – 41 percent for road planning and 40 percent for financial – a formula that favored Cintra's approach.

"The weighting being kept secret is a problem," said Mr. Stall of Corridor Watch. "If you shift the weight [of one criterion], you can also shift who the winner is."

Mr. Russell, who was in charge of the weighting process, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. A transportation department spokeswoman said that the exact grading formula was set before Cintra and other bidders submitted detailed proposals in August, but nearly a year after the companies submitted their first general plans.

"They were set down in stone prior to us receiving detailed proposals in August," said department spokeswoman Gaby Garcia.

Mr. Perry first proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor concept almost three years ago, and it has morphed into a potential $175 billion plan to build a grid of new toll road, railroad and utility corridors across Texas.

Each corridor could stretch 1,200 feet in width and feature toll roads, truck lanes, passenger and freight rail lines, and utility lines. The initial proposal from Cintra will pay primarily for 300 miles of toll roads from North Texas to San Antonio by 2013, and another 300-mile segment could come later. Aside from a freight-rail line relocation around Austin, no substantial railroad projects are planned before 2025.

Project opponents, many in towns served by major interstates, fear that it would divert traffic from their cities and hurt them economically.

The state is negotiating contract terms with Cintra and could sign a deal by February. It also is negotiating a $3.5 million contract with Cintra to complete a development and construction plan in about a year. After that, road planning and construction could begin.

So, either Perry is an idiot for bringing this man into his office, or we have your typical GOP "do'in bid'ness" mentality, and the rules against insider deals be-damned. Either way, there should be an investigation, but there won't. And that investigation would likely lead to indictments, which also won't happen. And in the end, the Dallas Morning News' surprisingly professional journalism will be for naught since the GOP will keep re-electing boneheads like Perry with no regard for their criminal behavior. Makes me wonder how long till Texas resembles Mexico at the government level.

Posted by Steven at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

GOP: Now the Party of the Revote

Guess who wants a revote now? The GOP in Washington state, after suffering their first real exposure to "Count Every Vote, Every Vote Counts" want to ... throw out the results of the election and hold another one. I guess that, like history, they're going to keep repeating democracy until we get it their way ... I mean, "right".

Edged out of the closest governor's race in state history, Republican Dino Rossi urged his opponent to accept a revote, saying the uncertainty surrounding the back-and-forth election was bad for the state. Democrat Christine Gregoire's camp immediately rejected the idea as "irresponsible." Rossi made the plea for a revote after eight weeks of confusion and three vote counts. A revote would have to be approved by the Democrat-controlled state Legislature.

"The uncertainty surrounding this election process isn't just bad for you and me -- it is bad for the entire state," Rossi said, reading from a letter he said he sent to Gregoire. "People need to know for sure that the next governor actually won the election."

An unprecedented statewide hand recount -- the third vote count -- put Gregoire, a three-time attorney general, ahead for the first time, by just a tiny fraction of 1 percent.

Rossi, a real estate agent and former state senator, won the initial tally last month by 261 votes, triggering an automatic machine recount. He won that count, too, by 42 votes.

While noting that he could contest the election, Rossi said a legal challenge could drag on for months. The better way to clear up the mess, he said, would be to ask lawmakers to pass a bill calling for a special election as soon as the state Legislature convenes in early January for the 2005 session.

The Grand Ole Hyprocrites are at it again ...

Posted by Steven at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2004

Puritan Past, Puritan Future?

From What We Now Know, 12-20-2004

If 1968 is commonly known as the year of the sexual revolution, the wee hours of the 21st century may enter American annals as the time of Dour Power and the Puritan take-over, when the clock of liberty and scientific progress was wound back to the Stone Age.

Consider, for example, the case of Julee Lacey, a North Richland Hills, TX resident who filed a complaint with the Texas Board of Pharmacy. The reason: A CVS pharmacist had refused to fill Lacey's prescription for birth-control pills because of her religious convictions.

Lacey's case is no exception. In more and more states, fundamentalist Christian pharmacists deny women contraceptives that have been prescribed by their doctors, in particular the so-called "morning-after pills". Increasingly, the law protects them in doing so: Arkansas, Mississippi and North Dakota explicitly protect health care providers who decline to perform acts that disagree with their beliefs and values; and another ten states--Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin--are contemplating similar bills.

By law, pharmacists who say no to 'the pill' are required to refer the customer to another druggist in town; yet there have been several incidents where the pharmacist not only failed to provide a referral but also refused to hand the prescription back to the customer, as happened in Madison, WI. Another controversial case in Denton, TX reportedly involved a rape victim whose request for the morning-after pill was denied.

"We have always understood that the battles about abortion were just the tip of a larger iceberg, and that it's really birth control that they're after also," said Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in an interview with USA Today. "The explosion in the number of legislative initiatives and the number of individuals who are just saying, 'We're not going to fill that prescription for you because we don't believe in it' is astonishing."

And contraceptives are not the only target. A 2001 article on Alternet.org reports that in seven states it is harder to buy an "adult toy" than a gun. According to the article, if an adult wants to purchase an intimate toy in Texas she must first sign a release form that says she understands that the item is strictly for "educational and/or scientific purposes."

In 1998, Alabama passed an obscenity law that forbids the sale of "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs". Selling even so much as a ribbed condom can mean fines up to $10,000 and up to a year hard labor. In 1999, a U.S. District Judge repealed the law as unconstitutional, but his decision was overturned a year later in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Throw into the mix the abstinence-only education in American schools that has been heavily funded with $900 million in our tax dollars in the last five years. Despite all the purported outrage over out-of-control deficits, for 2005 the program's budget clocks in at a whopping $170 million.

Yet there is reason to believe that 'abstinence only' has led to more, not fewer unwanted teen pregnancies. For instance, a recent study from Columbia University found that the programs don't prevent kids from having sex (88% still do), but they do prevent them from using contraception. In contrast, the teen pregnancy rate in California, a state that stubbornly refuses to accept federal funding for abstinence-only programs, has dropped by 40% over the last ten years. Experts say that a well-balanced sex education that includes advice on abstinence as well as on the use of contraceptives has been proven to be the most effective.

Aside from the fact that the chastity belt approach doesn't work, a new study, dubbed the "Waxman Report" found that abstinence-only programs actively promote and spread junk science, myths about sexuality and STDs. Some of the most blatant examples of, as the report deemed it, "false, misleading, or distorted information":

* Women who have an abortion are "more prone to suicide" and up to 10% of them become sterile.
* 50% of the gay male teenagers in the U.S. are HIV-positive.
* AIDS can be spread through sweat and tears.
* Touching a person's genitals can result in pregnancy.
* During heterosexual intercourse, condoms fail to prevent HIV transmission in 31% of the cases.

Asked about the findings of the Waxman report on CNN's "Crossfire", Genevieve Wood, VP of communications for the conservative Family Research Council, refused five times the host's request to openly admit that masturbation wouldn't lead to pregnancy.

According to a Washington Post review on the Waxman Report, 11 out of 13 abstinence-only curricula used in 25 states "contain unproven claims, subjective conclusions or outright falsehoods." Several million children between 9 and 18 years of age have already participated in those programs since they began in 1999.

The so-called "liberal" media presents no help, either. Gagged by an FCC that threatens to impose million dollar fines for any trespassing of decency regulations, we wouldn't be surprised if intimidated TV stations soon ordered their employees to spell 'dirty words' on air.

A December 12 article in the New York Times states that New York's WNET refused to run TV spots for the movie "Kinsey", a biography of America's famous sex researcher. North Carolina's WUNC-FM prohibited an international women's right organization from using the term "reproductive rights" on air. Five TV channels in the L.A. area refused to "broadcast a public service spot created by Los Angeles county's own public health agency to counteract a rising tide of syphilis." And the big three, CBS, NBC and ABC, all wanted nothing to do with the United Church of Christ's commercials welcoming gay couples.

We firmly believe in the constitutional Freedom of Religion--but that includes that no one has the right to shove their personal beliefs, tastes and distastes down our throat. And it certainly includes not to use our tax money to teach our children falsehoods in the name of piety. For those of you who disagree (or agree), feel free to drop us a note at this mailbox.

Posted by Steven at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2004

SUVs and Teens Don't Mix

Teens and SUVs Don't Mix. Does this really have to be repeated? Teenagers and SUVs are lethal.

Forty-nine people ages 15 to 20 died in SUV and pickup truck accidents in Maryland, Virginia and the District last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The problem, researchers say, is that SUVs have a higher center of gravity and are harder to control in an emergency, which makes inexperienced teenage drivers more vulnerable.

Recent safety improvements to SUVs, a federal study found, are less likely to protect teenage drivers; like Sausville, they often drive older-model SUVs.

"Because there's a good likelihood that a teen driver could be involved in a crash, parents would be well advised to select a vehicle that has the best safety record," said Rae Tyson, spokesman for the traffic safety group, which did the study.

Vehicles with poor rollover ratings, he said, "do not fall into that category."

Eron Shosteck of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade association of nine car and light-truck manufacturers that represents the industry on safety issues, stressed that "the industry has always said that all drivers must realize SUVs handle differently than passenger cars. There is extensive information in all SUV owner's manuals about the need to drive these vehicles in different ways."

Teen SUV crashes, he said, "go back to driver behavior. That's playing a very big role."

Rollovers accounted for 3 percent of U.S. crashes in 2002 but nearly 33 percent of driving deaths, according to the traffic safety administration.

The bottom line is that kids cannot safely operate these vehicles. Many adults cannot. One of my neighbors put his eighteen year-old in an original Hummer, for crying out loud. Might as well give him a tank, too. Do I need to point out how many kids in Frisco or Plano or McKinney drive these #$%@#$% trucks?

Posted by Steven at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

Blue State Tax redux

Remember our warning about the Blue State tax? here it is in all its glory.

As the Bush administration looks to revamp the tax code, New York officials say they are particularly worried about one idea being considered: eliminating the federal deduction for state and local taxes.

If the president pursues this plan, New York State would lose about $37 billion per year in federal tax deductions, more than almost any other state, according to Internal Revenue Service data. The change would affect about 3.2 million households in New York, three-quarters of which are middle- and low-income, tax records indicate.

"This change would be one of the worst things for New York to came out of Washington in a long time," said Senator Charles E. Schumer. "But if they take this route they can expect a serious fight."

With a 7.7 percent maximum state income tax rate, the second-highest in the country behind California's 9.3 percent, New York would be especially affected because its residents use those taxes to take large federal deductions. About 38 percent of households in New York file for some sort of federal deduction of state and local taxes.

New York City residents, who also pay city income taxes, would be especially hard hit as they could expect an 11 percent increase in the amount they pay the I.R.S., or an increase of about $3.4 billion, said Ronnie Lowenstein, director of the city's Independent Budget Office.

Don't doubt they'll do it. At this point, I'd say it was a fait accomplait.

Isn't this a tax increase? How can you spin it not to be?

Posted by Steven at 10:18 PM | Comments (1)

December 25, 2004

A Category Killer, Dying

A colossus is dying. Who could have imagined that Toys 'R' Us would be killed by it's own pardigmic success? This may be the last Xmas for Toys 'R' Us, after spending ten years obliterating the smaller toy store market across America.

With the countdown to Christmas beginning to be measured in hours and not days, Laurie Frank and her mother, Kathryn Snow, had the Toys "R" Us store here pretty much to themselves.

In the early afternoon, they strolled the pin-neat aisles and piled a Spider-Man web shooter and other toys into their shopping cart at a leisurely pace. There was no jostling with other customers fighting for must-have items - even those on sale. Most of the shelves here were fully stocked.

Ms. Frank seemed keenly aware that the store's array of goods and its prices, generally in line with discounters in the area, reflected the possibility that this could be the last Christmas for Toys "R" Us. "That's exactly what I think it is, that they are closing it," she said. "They want to get rid of their stuff."

Indeed, in the face of dwindling toy sales and intense competition from low-price rivals, Toys "R" Us indicated in August that it might sell its toy division in favor of concentrating on the faster-growing baby supplies division, Babies "R" Us.

Ten years ago, the chain stood tall as one of the first big "category killer" retailers: for the better part of the 1990's, it was a prime destination for toy shopping. At its peak, Toys "R" Us accounted for 20 percent of toy sales in the United States and was chased by Kmart, Sears and Ames - with the major discounters like Wal-Mart and Target well behind.

In recent years, however, the cut-rate players have turned the toy business on its head, with Toys "R" Us now lagging behind Wal-Mart and Target. These days, Wal-Mart Stores has the dominant 20 percent share, followed by Target, with 18 percent, and Toys "R" Us, with 17 percent. And the Toys "R" Us stock price, at near $20, while more than double its low of $7.70 in March 2003 is well off its high of $37.63 in November 1996.

How long before Wal-Mart falls?

Posted by Steven at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2004

Monkeyshines Redux

Remember the portrait of Preznit Tin Soldier comprised of monkeys? It caused quite the furor when a humorless manager of the exhibit saw it and went ballistic. The portrait is now on display on a digital billboard near one end of the Holland Tunnel for a month, where it will be seen by 400,000 commuters each day.

Way to suppress the arts, dorkus. This ranks up with Ayatollah Khomeini declaring a fatwa on Salman Rushie for The Satanic Verses (since lifted, thank prime) or the many protests held against Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation Of Christ. Self-righteous protests like this never accomplish the stated (and pointless) goal of suppression; all it does is generate public awareness, followed by interest and cash on the barrelhead, along with some "15 Minutes" of PR for the aggrieved protesters. The forgotten lesson is "silence is golden".

The original painting, priced at $3500 in the exhibit, is being auctioned on eBay, and at this writing has reached $15,300. Some of the proceeds will be donated to Art For Armor, a program which assists the parents of soldiers stationed in Iraq provide body armor for their children.

Click here for a large version of the painting.

Posted by at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)

Festivus!

From CNN:

BARTOW, Florida (AP) -- When a Florida church group put a Nativity scene on public property, officials warned it might open the door to other religious -- and not-so-religious -- displays. They were right.

Since the Nativity was erected in Polk County, displays have gone up honoring Zoroastrianism and the fake holiday Festivus, featured on the TV sitcom "Seinfeld."

The display, a reference to the fake holiday featured on an episode of the television sitcom, did not include the totem of Festivus -- a bare aluminum pole instead of a tree. Key rituals of Festivus include accusing others of being a disappointment and wrestling.

No Festivus pole? Bummer, man! What about feats of strength?

Another display celebrating Zoroastrianism was erected by Stella Darby, who wanted to encourage people to research the ancient Persian religion.

Zorastrianism rocks, also. Definite History-geek appeal.

Posted by at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)

Social Security

IS NOT INSOLVENT!

Don't fall for the Bush bullshit about it. Medicad, however, will collapse in six years or less if we don't redo the insane Republican $400B bill of last year.

Posted by Steven at 03:12 PM | Comments (0)

Cheney and Frist Planning to End Judicial Filibusters

According to Ariana Huffington, Cheney and Frist are planning a "nuclear option" to end judicial filibusters in the Senate, which will mean it will only take 51 votes to confirm any Bush nominee for any judicial seat. This will end the effectiveness of the Senate as a gatekeeper for the Judicial branch of the government, and may well mark the end of our system of checks and balances.

The Robert's Rules of Disorder scheme would involve -- who else? -- Vice President Dick Cheney, in his role as presiding Senate officer, ruling that judicial filibusters are unconstitutional and Majority Leader Bill Frist squashing the Democrats' inevitable objection to such an edict by tabling the motion. As long as we're "spreading democracy" abroad, no reason to leave out the home front, right?

This is the so-called nuclear option, embraced with a wink and a nudge by Frist in November when he told the conservative Federalist Society: "One way or another, the filibuster of judicial nominees must end."

Invoking this parliamentary dirty trick would eliminate unlimited debate on judicial nominations and lower the number of votes needed before a nominee could be confirmed from the 60 necessary to break a filibuster to a simple majority of 51, and would drive a stake through the heart of the Senate's long-standing commitment -- indeed one of its founding purposes -- to defending the rights of the minority.

Posted by Steven at 03:05 PM | Comments (0)

Democratic Miracle

A miracle has occurred in Washington state -- the Democrat challenger for the governor's office has ten more votes than the Republican candidate in the second, hand recount of votes.

After a bitter and protracted recount fight in the Washington governor's race, elections officials announced Wednesday that the Democratic candidate, Christine O. Gregoire, was leading her Republican opponent by 10 votes - a minuscule margin but a stunning reversal of the Nov. 2 election results.

The preliminary results elated Democratic Party officials and came only hours after the party scored another victory, when the State Supreme Court agreed with the Democrats' contention that more than 700 newly discovered and erroneously disqualified ballots in heavily Democratic King County should now be considered.

Since those ballots came from a county where Ms. Gregoire, 57, already had a solid lead, the ruling could allow her to increase her extraordinarily tiny edge in a race that is the closest in state history and one of the closest in the nation's history.

The day's events dealt a serious blow to state Republicans and Dino Rossi, 45, a businessman and former state senator, who had been certified the winner of the Nov. 2 vote after eking out a margin of 261 votes out of almost three million cast. He later won a machine recount by 42 votes.

The Republicans are infuriated over the recount and are on the verge of jihad with regard to the Washington State Supreme Court ruling (how dare we count every vote?). They are vowing to go on a vote fishing trip in Republican Washington counties, but alas for the suddenly converted "count every vote" Republicans, the ruling also solidifies the certified results upon which they originally gave their blessing when claiming the win after the election. So, they have to reach deep into their collective hypocrisy reserve (which has to be nearly empty) to challenge the same results that they had previously used to claim the office, and seek to have additional votes added to the roles when they so loudly (and largely undemocratically) declared that such votes were fraudulent in the first place.

It's never been about getting the most votes with them, just winning the office any way they can. Why do they bother holding elections?

Posted by Steven at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)

China Competing with U.S. for Canadian Oil

China is positioning itself to be the major player against the U.S. and is now competing for Calgary oil.

Chinese energy companies are on the verge of striking ambitious deals in Canada in efforts to win access to some of the most prized oil reserves in North America.

The deals may create unease for the first time since the 1970's in the traditionally smooth energy relationship between the United States and Canada.

Canada, the largest source of imported oil for the United States, has historically sent almost all its exports of oil south by pipeline to help quench America's thirst for energy. But that arrangement may be about to change as China, which has surpassed Japan as the second-largest market for oil, flexes its muscle in attempts to secure oil, even in places like the cold boreal forests of northern Alberta, where the oil has to be sucked out of the sticky, sandy soil.

Posted by Steven at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)

"Education President" Cuts Financial Aid

The Bush Administration's battle with the Congress over reducing the Pell Grant has ended ... with the poor and middle class taking it up the kiester.

College students in virtually every state will be required to shoulder more of the cost of their education under new federal rules that govern most of the nation's financial aid.

Because of the changes, which take effect next fall and are expected to save the government $300 million in the 2005-6 academic year, at least 1.3 million students will receive smaller Pell Grants, the nation's primary scholarship for those of low income, according to two analyses of the new rules.

In addition, 89,000 students or so who would otherwise be getting some Pell Grant money will get none, the analyses found.

"Season's greetings from Uncle Sam," said Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, which conducted one of the analyses and represents about 1,800 colleges and universities. "Your student aid stocking is going to be a little thinner next year."

Posted by Steven at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2004

Cringley on Sun, Microsoft and IBM

Whither Sun and Dell? This week's Cringley column talks about monumental changes in the PC industry.

What Sun needs to do is to establish itself as the de facto UNIX (not Linux) software vendor. Drop the hardware, make Solaris run beautifully on every high-end system from every manufacturer and compete with Linux by offering world-class consulting, service and support. Fortune 500 companies would sigh with relief, but Sun would also have to accept that the company will shrink in sales and headcount, though not in profit. This is the only viable strategy left for Sun, which is going to shrink dramatically anyway, possibly to nothing.

...

Take a long look at xBox development, the evolving PC and consumer electronics markets, and Microsoft's own need for revenue growth, and figure what that means for the xBox 3, which should appear around the end of this decade. My analysis suggests that xBox 3 will be a game system that's also a media receiver and recorder and a desktop workstation. Not that you'd use one box for all three things, but that you'd buy three essentially identical boxes and use them for all three functions. And of course you'd buy extra units for kids and spare TVs, etc. In short, xBox 3 will be Microsoft's effort to extend its dominance of the PC software industry into dominance of the PC hardware, game, and electronic entertainment industries. At that point, even mighty Dell goes down.

...

Fortunately -- and I can assure you I never thought I would ever in my life be writing this -- IBM may save the day.

By maintaining independence from Microsoft and actually making Microsoft dependent on it, IBM can have some influence on this diabolical scheme. They could foster alternate standards and, by doing so, make a good living. Let's just hope the two companies don't decide to simply share the booty and jointly enslave us, couches, potatoes, and all.

Posted by Steven at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2004

Ten Things Bush Doesn't Want You To Know About Scalia and Thomas

The Center for American Progress has published a list of Ten Things President Bush Doesn't Want You To Know About Scalia and Thomas.

Joe Bob sez check it out.

Posted by Steven at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2004

Rummy Can't Be Bothered To Sign Condolence Letters

One thousand, two hundred dead U.S. soldiers into the war, Sec. Rumsfield has been shamed into signing his letters of condolence to the families of KIA soldiers.

David Hackworth, a retired U.S. Army colonel turned writer, reported that Rumsfeld had used a mechanical signature writer to sign his name on letters of condolence to relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although the charge was initially denied by the Pentagon, Rumsfeld issued a statement on Thursday acknowledging the practice and promising to halt it. "While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter," Rumsfeld said in the statement.

Hackworth also reported allegations by relatives of deceased soldiers that letters they had received from the president had been signed by a machine. Ted Smith, whose son Eric was one of the first 100 U.S. soldiers to die in Iraq, told Hackworth that the letter he received "from the commander in chief was signed with a thick, green marking pen. I thought it was stamped then and do even now. He had time for golf and the ranch but not enough to sign a decent signature with a pen for his beloved hero soldiers." Rejecting the charges, White House spokesman Allen Abney told the armed forces newspaper Stars and Stripes that the president did personally sign all condolence letters.

Rummy was rubber-stamping his letters. How apt. They forbid photos of the coffins, and use a stamp to send off the "so long and thanks for the life" letters to the victims of this illegal war.

Bastards.

Posted by Steven at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)

Scalia: Son of Fascist

Is "Fat Tony" a facist? Orcinus has posted information indictating that the man Bush is most likely to name Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America is the son of a facist. I realize that the bend of this argument is dangerously close to that used by Joseph McCarthy (D-MN), but even so, it bears repeating: the man is a right wing nut job.

From Alan Dershowitz's book Supreme Injustice: How the High Court Hijacked Election 2000:

He's an interesting guy. His father was a teacher at Brooklyn college when I was there. His father was a proud member of the American-Italian fascist party and got his doctorate at Casa Italiano at Columbia at a time when in order to get your doctorate you had to swear an oath to Mussolini. So he comes from an interesting background and he went to a kind of military school in New York which was a place where many children of fascists were educated.

There's more on Orcinus' site. Read it.

Posted by Steven at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)

December 19, 2004

War Criminal of the Year

Joining the ranks of Hitler and Stalin (1938, 1939 and 1942, respectively), Preznit Tin Soldier is 2004's "Person of the Year" according to Time magazine (which it should be noted, was started by a right wing demagogue). Hat's off to Dubya, who has made it to the cover of Time twice in this capacity, which means that "Person of the Year" is about as worthless an honor as "Neighborhood Watch Patroller of the Year". Maybe Rove can arrange for Shrub to get it every year from here on out, seeing as how he'll be President for Life before 2008.

As he says this, George W. Bush is about to set a political record. The first TIME poll since the election has his approval rating at 49%. Gallup has it at 53%, which doesn't sound bad unless you consider that it's the lowest December rating for a re-elected President in Gallup's history. That is not a great concern, however, since he has run his last race, and it is not a surprise to a President who tends to measure his progress by the enemies he makes. "Sometimes you're defined by your critics," he says. "My presidency is one that has drawn some fire, whether it be at home or around the world. Unfortunately, if you're doing big things, most of the time you're never going to be around to see them [to fruition], whether it be cultural change or spreading democracy in parts of the world where people just don't believe it can happen. I understand that. I don't expect many short-term historians to write nice things about me."

Where to start? The man steals the office in 2000, then claims a bigger mandate when he wins the office by (allegedly) 119,000 votes on Ohio, and with (as the article notes) the lowest approval rating of any reelected President ever. Does none of this strike you as suspicious? Perhaps he really didn't win the vote, and all the standard measurements of Presidents are still accurate, just the election process is broken?

As for being measured by your enemies, then this guys is rapidly approaching the level of the other infamous men awarded "Man of the Year" by Time in the past. Certainly the number of non-Americans who fear and hate Bush approaches those who felt likewise towards Hitler and Stalin. To claim greatness by pissing off the rest of the planet is a strikingly stupid goal. Why not try being a Great Man instead of a Pissant Bully? Too hard? Thought so.

So we at SJR urge you to not renew your subscription to Time. If they think Bush is "Person of the Year" material twice then they clearly are not journalists nor unbiased. You decide.

Posted by Steven at 10:59 AM | Comments (3)

December 18, 2004

Meet the Real Powerbrokers

David Ignatius sums it up pretty well in The Washington Post:

If you had asked an intelligence analyst two years ago to describe the worst possible political outcome following an American invasion of Iraq, he might well have answered that it would be a regime dominated by conservative Shiite Muslim clerics with links to neighboring Iran. But just such a regime now seems likely to emerge after Iraq's Jan. 30 elections.

Iran is about to hit the jackpot in Iraq, wagering the blood and treasure of the United States. Last week an alliance of Iraqi Shiite leaders announced that its list of candidates will be headed by Abdul Aziz Hakim, the clerical leader of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. This Shiite list, backed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, is likely to be the favorite of Iraq's 60 percent Shiite majority and win the largest share of votes next month.

Wary of trusting Iraqi Shiites to manage the campaign, the Iranian intelligence service has been pumping millions of dollars and hundreds of operatives into the country. The Iranians have also recruited assassination squads to kill potential Iraqi rivals, according to several Iraqi officials. One Iraqi Shiite tells me the Iranians view the hit teams as a kind of "insurance policy" to make sure they prevail, even if the U.S.-backed election process should fail...

Senior U.S. commanders in Iraq had hoped Allawi's slate would win in January, but they are beginning to assess the consequences of Shiite victory. Not only would it empower the mullahs, it would alienate Iraq's 20 percent Sunni Arab population, who mostly won't be able to vote next month because of the continuing wave of terrorism in Sunni areas. As sectarian tensions increase, post-election, so will the danger of a real civil war. What will become of the U.S. military mission in Iraq? Will we really arm one group of Iraqis in a sectarian conflict against another?...

Iraq's Shiite majority deserves its day in the sun, after decades of oppression, and the January elections should endorse the reality of majority rule. But future historians will wonder how it happened that the United States came halfway around the world, suffered more than 1,200 dead and spent $200 billion to help install an Iraqi government whose key leaders were trained in Iran. Our Iraq policy may be full of good intentions, but in terms of strategy, it is a riderless horse.

Idiots.

Posted by at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2004

Finally, Some Blow Back

Here's a shocker: 30% fewer enlist in the National Guard. Wonder why? Maybe because it's no longer the National Guard, rather it's now the Iraqi National Guard.

The sharp decline in recruiting is significant because National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers now make up nearly 40 percent of the 148,000 troops in Iraq, and are a vital source for filling the ranks, particularly those who perform essential support tasks, like truck drivers and military police.

General Blum said the main reason for the Army National Guard's recruiting shortfall was a sharp reduction in the number of recruits joining the Guard and Reserve when they leave active duty. In peacetime the commitment means maintaining their ties to the military with a weekend of service a month and two weeks in the summer.

You no longer serve American when you sign up as a "weekend warrior". Instead, it's a backdoor draft to the real Army and you serve in Iraq. Apparently, it's starting to really sink into the heads of those who would have helped.

Posted by Steven at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)

December 16, 2004

Market Madness

Interesting article on Slate about the many and varied decision mechanisms people use to make bad decisions in a marketplace. Of course, people make good decisions too, but there's less interest in explaining those.

Two particular memes seem highly applicable to the Tin Soldier administration (emphasis added).

Self-attribution Bias: We attribute our successes to ourselves, and we blame our losses on others or bad luck. This hobbles us in two ways. First, we don't learn from our mistakes because we don't see them as mistakes. Second, we assume we are skilled or smart when we're just lucky.

Conservatism Bias and Confirmatory Bias: Once we form opinions, we tend to overvalue information that reinforces them and undervalue information that undermines them (conservatism bias). We even tend to seek out supporting information (confirmatory bias). Thus, we irrationally cling to incorrect conclusions, and, to paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel, hear what we want to hear and disregard the rest.

Just to review, the sitting chief executive has failed at every single enterprise in which he's participated, with the one exception of the Texas Rangers baseball team, in which (a) he got a sweetheart deal (disproportionately large percentage for his monetary stake; they were buying his name and face), and (b) genuine financial failure is, despite the commissioner's annual bleatings about imminent ruin, essentially impossible; owning a major league baseball team is a license to print money. Thanks to bailout after bailout, his reckless and dangerous approaches to whatever business asked whichever meaningless tasks of him have created and perpetuated the illusion that his crap works, and the current junta is shaping up to be even more conciliatory than the preceding collective of lickspittles, most of whom have bailed out (except for the most egregiously incompetent of them; after all, this is the best job they'll ever have, power without responsibility).

Posted by at 06:23 AM | Comments (0)

Monkeyshines

This portrait of Preznit Tin Soldier recently caused an uproar.

The story notes (emphasis added):

A portrait of President Bush using monkeys to form his image led to the closure of a New York art exhibition over the weekend and anguished protests on Monday over freedom of expression.

"Bush Monkeys," a small acrylic on canvas by Chris Savido, created the stir at the Chelsea Market public space, leading the market's managers to close down the 60-piece show that was scheduled to stay up for the next month.

...

"We had tons of people, like more than 2,000 people show up for the opening on Thursday night," said show organizer Bucky Turco. "Then this manager saw the piece and the guy just kind of flipped out. 'The show is over. Get this work down or I'm gonna arrest you,' he said. It's been kind of wild."

Turco took the show down on Saturday and moved the art work to his small downtown Animal Gallery. Calls to the management of Chelsea Market for comment were not returned.

From afar, the painting offers a likeness of Bush, but when you get closer you see the image is made up of chimpanzees or monkeys swimming in a marsh.

Savido, 23, said he was surprised by the strong reaction to his painting, listed in the catalog at $3,500.

"It seems like people got a kick out of it," Savido said. "When they really see it, they almost do a double-take. I like to get a reaction from people."

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-bred artist said he was happy for all the attention paid to his work but said the decision to shutter the exhibit was "a blatant act of censorship."

And so on. Four more years of this. Hurray. On what offense would an arrest warrant be granted, one wonders? Disloyalty to Der Party? Abetting the Terrorists? Teaching Evolution? Or maybe just Impudence?

Think the monkeys would take offense?

Posted by at 01:15 AM | Comments (0)

Words Fail

Anti-perspirant -- moisturizing formula!

My head hurteth.

Posted by at 01:08 AM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2004

Bush's Magic Shield Fails

The pie-in-the-sky missile defense system that the Bush Administration is spending billions on has failed another test in a wholly anticipated result that the Pentagon characterizes as "unknown anomaly".

The Pentagon said an interceptor missile did not take off and was automatically shut down on its launch pad in the central Pacific.

A target missile carrying a mock warhead had been fired 16 minutes earlier from Kodiak Island in Alaska.

The Pentagon is spending $10bn a year on the missile system, which was meant to be in operation by the end of 2004.

The Missile Defence Agency said an "unknown anomaly" was to blame for the system shutting down.

Folks, this is your tax dollars being thrown down the throats of MIC companies (or company, as they continue to merge into one single defense contractor) for a bullshit system that will never do what it says it will, and even if it does, won't stop a suitcase bomb from taking out Milwaukee.

Posted by Steven at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

On Dasher, On Vixen, On Bangalore, Too!

Enough said?

with thanks to Brett in the Great White North for sending this to me!

Posted by Steven at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2004

Formula Radio

Broadcast radio sucks these days, in large part due to the FCC overturning regulations regarding multiple ownership of stations within markets. Conglomerates like Clear Channel have been buying up bunches of stations, and then slot each one in a given market: one will be Classic Rock, one will be C&W, and so on. Yeah, we've still got the non-com segment of the FM band, but innovative formats are pretty dead.

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday break with relatives in Mississippi, and while there, found a station that was playing nothing but Christmas music. This to me was a new thing, though perhaps it's been tried in years past. It wasn't especially interesting, but at least it was something different, and our little one likes the holiday season tunes.

Driving back to Austin, we came across another all-Christmas station somewhere in Louisiana. And, here at home, our own KKMJ-FM 95.5 "Majic", which promotes itself as a Soft Rock station, is currently going with the all-Christmas format. KKMJ is owned by Infinity Broadcasting, which owns 179 other stations across the land. Somehow I don't think these stations decided to go with the all-Christmas format on their own.

Despite listening to KKMJ semi-regularly while driving over the past month -- I like a festive mood as much as anyone, and much of the rest of the FM band sucks -- I've yet to hear Springsteen's ripping version of Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, which is probably my favorite Christmas song ever; well, that or Weird Al's selections. And some of the songs being played are terrible. I can understand that, for such a limited format, any song that even alludes to Christmas will get thrown into rotation, but damn, some of them should have the master tapes erased. (Or is it now, master files deleted?) (And yet, no Bruce and Clarence and Little Steve. Feh.)

Radio doesn't have to suck, but right now, it does. Someday I'll probably make the jump to XM or Sirius. I own some stock in both, and XM is getting a full-season Major League Baseball package starting next year. Drool.

Some of you may have stumbled across an animation-laden site known as Homestar Runner. If you have, I won't bother describing it, and if you haven't, I won't spoil it. It may take a while to warm to the content, but HR has some absurdly funny stuff. The most popular (by far) character, Strong Bad, has a weekly feature wherein he answers an email. This week, he talks about radio announcing on the air, and riffs a couple of different announcer types. Check it out.

Posted by at 09:59 PM | Comments (1)

December 13, 2004

Supporting Our Troops

I never served in any military, but I know enough that the enterprise, wearing any uniform, upholds various traditions, silly or sensible, fair or foul, righteous or retarded, and has done so ever since Og and the Forest People ran into Nok and the Hill Dwellers and settled a border dispute with clubs and teeth. Traditions always die hard, and this is never more obvious than in an organization where continuity is prized as a core survival tactic. Hey, it works.

Scrounging for necessary materials is one of those traditions. Despite, or rather because of, the layers and layers of bureacracy in the military, it's easy to have certain supplies become permanently misplaced due to midnight requisitioning -- and to get the day's job done (upon which, let us remember, survival may be at stake), wheeling and dealing and stealing are a necessary part of military life (and is it really stealing if it belongs to the same organization?).

Recently, in Iraq, some intrepid supply staff did what they could to (a) provide the materiel that troops needed and (b) uphold this particular tradition, though this was not the primary motive. They appropriated US-owned, abandoned military vehicles, causing no harm to anyone and helping their fellow troops.

What did they get for their traditional, successful operation? Courtsmartial.

Six reservists, including two veteran officers who had received Bronze Stars, were court-martialed for what soldiers have been doing as long as there have been wars--scrounging to get what their outfit needed to do its job in Iraq.

Darrell Birt, one of those court-martialed for theft, destruction of Army property and conspiracy to cover up the crimes, had been decorated for his "initiative and courage" for leading his unit's delivery of fuel over the perilous roads of Iraq in the war's first months.

Now, Birt, 45, who was a chief warrant officer with 656th Transportation Company, based in Springfield, Ohio, and his commanding officer find themselves felons, dishonorably discharged and stripped of all military benefits.

The 656th played a crucial role in maintaining the gasoline supply that fueled everything from Black Hawk helicopters to Bradley Fighting Vehicles between Balad Airfield and Tikrit. The reservists in the company proudly boast that their fuel was in the vehicles driven by the 4th Infantry Division soldiers who found Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole last year.

But when Birt's unit was ordered to head into Iraq in the heat of battle in April 2003 from its base in Kuwait, Birt said the company didn't have enough vehicles to haul the equipment it would need to do the job.

So, Birt explained, he and other reservists grabbed two tractors and two trailers left in Kuwait by other U.S. units that had already moved into Iraq.

Several weeks later, Birt and other reservists scrounged a third vehicle, an abandoned 5-ton cargo truck, and stripped it for parts they needed for repair of their trucks.

"We could have gone with what we had, but we would not have been able to complete our mission," said Birt, who was released from the brig on Oct. 17 and is petitioning for clemency in hope that he can return to the reserves.

"I admit that what we did was technically against the rules, but it wasn't for our own personal gain. It was so we could do our jobs."

Amazing. The Preznit and the Secretary of Defense must hate the men they command.

Or perhaps they're just exploring new revenue-generating schemes to help float the next tax break. Here is one method, largely untapped, for raking in the cash (or, heck, just to put some numbers in the Accounts Receivable side; that's more than adequate accounting and fiscal responsibility for this regime) -- having wounded soldiers pay for their own care and recovery, not to mention compensation for any lost equipment that may have been blown up or something.

Spc. Robert Loria of Middletown, N.Y., lost his arm in Iraq, but instead of a farewell paycheck from the Army he got a bill for nearly $1,800. On Friday a platoon of New York lawmakers came to his rescue. Loria found himself stuck in Fort Hood in Texas this week when Army officials said he owed money for travel expenses and for lost equipment.

...

Loria was wounded in February. But as he was about to leave the Army this month, officials told him he had been overpaid for his time as a patient at a military hospital in the Washington area, and said he still owed money for travel between the hospital and Fort Hood, as well as $310 for items not found in his returned equipment.

Instead of a check for nearly $4,500, Loria was told he had to pay nearly $1,800.

Senators Schumer and Clinton and Rep. Hinchey managed to have the bill against Spc. Loria dismissed, but there are others in similar situations.

Wonder how the regime will try to extract monies from soldiers KIA? Bill their families for the coffin and flag, perhaps.

And, finally, after Rummy was fairly shamed last week on why the military has not received the level of support and supplies it had been promised, we find this budgetary tidbit:

Twenty-one months after U.S. forces entered Iraq, the Defense Department is only now coming to terms with the equipment shortages caused by the prolonged fighting there. The Pentagon has prepared an unprecedented emergency spending plan totaling nearly $100 billion -- as much as $30 billion more than expected as recently as October -- say senior defense officials and congressional budget aides. About $14 billion of that would go to repairing, replacing and upgrading an increasingly frayed arsenal.

"There's no lack of work and only more on the horizon," sighed Dennis L. Lewis, chief of the business office at the 29-square-mile depot [that repairs military equipment]. "There's no end in sight." [Emphasis added.]

Gotta find that $100B somehow.

Mr. Lewis' closing sentiment pretty well sums up the Iraq expedition.

I conclude with a quote from Jingo by Terry Pratchett, which seems to be the guiding principle of warfare for the Tin Soldier-Rummy tag team:

It is a long–cherished tradition among a certain type of military thinker that huge casualties are the main thing. If they are on the other side then this is a valuable bonus.

Posted by at 01:31 AM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2004

Sometimes Ultor Shows Off

This is just a supremely cool picture. I had to share.

Posted by at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2004

Snacks of Mass Constriction

I had this idea, but am most gratified to see that someone else did too, and is doing something with it.

For a piddling $5.00, the entire planet might be better off. I hope they're sending the thick, chunky ones. With lots of salt.

Posted by at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

December 10, 2004

Bush's Latest Pick Already Out

Kerik has already bailed after only a week.

Bernard Kerik, a former New York City police chief, was chosen a week ago to head the department created after the 11 September 2001 attacks.

Mr Bush said then that Mr Kerik had "a record of great success".

But he has pulled out, citing personal reasons, amid controversy about his links to the stun-gun company, Tasar.

Mr Kerik is on the board of the company.

He has earnt $6.2m from stock options he received from Tasar, which had done highly profitable business with the department Mr Kerik was now to head, according to FBI sources quoted by the Associated Press news agency.

He was also fined two years ago for using a police sergeant and two detectives to research his autobiography, ther New York Times has reported.

This guy is 100% prime Bush Grade material. Nanny gate certified. Corporate insider trading ready. And of course, abuses of his authority. He is even incompetent ... why is he quitting?

Posted by Steven at 11:34 PM | Comments (1)

Predicting An Eastern Sunrise

Just months after gay marriage was sanctioned (judicially) in Massachusetts, which spurred a burst of marriages in the aftermath, the natural follow-on effect has started showing up: gay couples are getting divorced.

All of which goes to show that, aside from having similar bits inside the shorts, gay people are the equal of straights. They can be short-sighted, petty, misguided, prone to poor judgement, or just plain silly. Imagine that, being subject to the human condition.

Posted by at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

December 09, 2004

Dean Speaks

Howard Dean's speech today:

Remarks by Governor Howard Dean On the Future of the Democratic Party The George Washington University

Thank you, Melissa, for that introduction. It's a pleasure to be here.

Let me tell you what my plan for this Party is:

We're going to win in Mississippi
...and Alabama
...and Idaho
...and South Carolina.

Four years ago, the President won 49 percent of the vote. The Republican Party treated it like it was a mandate, and we let them get away with it.

Fifty one percent is not a mandate either. And this time we're not going to let them get away with it.

Our challenge today is not to re-hash what has happened, but to look forward, to make the Democratic Party a 50-state party again, and, most importantly, to win.

To win the White House and a majority in Congress, yes. But also to do the real work that will make these victories possible -- to put Democratic ideas and Democratic candidates in every office -- whether it be Secretary of State, supervisor of elections, county commissioner or school board member.

Here in Washington, it seems that after every losing election, there's a consensus reached among decision-makers in the Democratic Party is that the way to win is to be more like Republicans.

I suppose you could call that philosophy: if you didn't beat 'em, join them.

I'm not one for making predictions -- but if we accept that philosophy this time around, another Democrat will be standing here in four years giving this same speech. We cannot win by being "Republican-lite." We've tried it; it doesn't work.

The question is not whether we move left or right. It's not about our direction. What we need to start focusing on... is the destination.

There are some practical elements to the destination.

The destination of the Democratic Party requires that it be financially viable, able to raise money not only from big donors but small contributors, not only through dinners and telephone solicitations and direct mail, but also through the Internet and person-to-person outreach.

The destination of the Democratic Party means making it a party that can communicate with its supporters and with all Americans. Politics is at its best when we create and inspire a sense of community. The tools that were pioneered in my campaign -- like blogs and Meetups and most importantly, community building -- are just a start. We must use all of the power and potential of technology as part of an aggressive outreach to meet and include voters, to work with the state parties and to influence media coverage.

The most practical destination is winning elective office. And we must do that at every level of government.

The way we will rebuild the Democratic Party is not from consultants down, but from the ground up.

We have some successes to build on. We raised more money than the RNC, and we did so by attracting thousands of new small donors. This is the first time in my memory that the DNC is not coming out of a national campaign in debt. We trained tens of thousands of new activists.

We put together the most sophisticated get-out-the-vote operation our Party has ever had. We registered millions of new voters, including a record number of minority and young voters. And we saw those new voters overwhelmingly vote Democrat.

Now we need to build on our successes while transforming the Democratic Party into a grassroots organization that can win in 50 states.

I have seen all the doomsday predictions that the Democratic Party could shrink to become a regional Party. A Party of the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest.

We cannot be a Party that seeks the presidency by running an 18-state campaign. We cannot be a party that cedes a single state, a single District, a single precinct, nor should we cede a single voter.

As many of the candidates supported by my organization Democracy for America showed -- people in places that we've too long ignored are hungry for an alternative; they're hungry for new ideas and new candidates, and they're willing to elect Democrats.

Since we started Democracy for America last March, we raised over $5 million, mostly from small donors.

That money was used to help 748 candidates in 46 states and at every level of government.

We helped a Democratic governor get elected in Montana and a Democratic mayor get elected in Salt Lake County, Utah.

We helped Lori Saldana in San Diego. Lori, a Latina grassroots environmental organizer was outspent in both the primary and the general, won a seat on the state assembly.

We also helped Anita Kelly become the first African-American woman elected to her circuit court in Montgomery, Alabama.

Fifteen of the candidates who we helped win last month never ran for elective office before.

And in Texas, a little known candidate who had been written off completely ran the first competitive race against Tom Delay in over a decade.

And others who lost came very close, including Scott Kawasaki who lost by only 45 votes in an Alaska state legislative race -- in a very Republican state. We can win in these states, and we will.

There are no red states or blue states, just American states. And if we can compete at all levels and in the most conservative parts of the country, we can win... at any level and anywhere.

People will vote for Democratic candidates in Texas, and Alabama and Utah if we knock on their door, introduce ourselves and tell them what we believe.

There is another destination beyond strong finances, outreach and campaigns.

That destination is a better, stronger, smarter, safer, healthier America.

An America where we don't turn our back on our own people.

That's the America we can only build with conviction.

When some people say we should change direction, in essence they are arguing that our basic or guiding principles can be altered or modified.

They can't.

On issue after issue, we are where the majority of the American people are.

What I want to know is, at what point did it become a radical notion to stand up for what we believe?

Over fifty years ago, Harry Truman said, "We are not going to get anywhere by trimming or appeasing. And we don't need to try it."

Yet here we are still making the same mistakes.

Let me tell you something: there's only one thing Republican power brokers want more than for us to lurch to the left -- and that's for us to lurch to the right.

What they fear most is that we may really begin fighting for what we believe -- the fiscally responsible, socially progressive values for which Democrats have always stood and fought.

I'll give this to Republicans. They know the America they want. They want a government so small that, in the words of one prominent Republican, it can be drowned in a bathtub.

They want a government that runs big deficits, but is small enough to fit into your bedroom.

They want a government that is of, by and for their special interest friends.

They want a government that preaches compassion but practices division.

They want wealth rewarded over work.

And they are willing to use any means to get there.

In going from record surpluses to record deficits, the Republican Party has relinquished the mantle of fiscal responsibility.

And now they're talking about borrowing another $2 trillion to take benefits away from our Senior Citizens.

In going from record job creation to record job loss, they have abandoned the mantle of economic responsibility.

In cutting health care, education, and community policing programs... and in failing to invest in America's inner cities, or distressed rural communities... they certainly have no desire to even claim the mantle of social responsibility.

In their refusal to embrace real electoral reform or conduct the business of government in the light of day, they are hardly the model of civic responsibility.

In their willingness to change the rules so that their indicted leaders can stay in power, they have even given up any claim on personal responsibility.

And in starting an international conflict based on misleading information, I believe they have abdicated America's moral responsibility, as well.

There is a Party of fiscal responsibility... economic responsibility... social responsibility... civic responsibility... personal responsibility... and moral responsibility.

It's the Democratic Party.

We need to be able to say strongly, firmly, and proudly what we believe.

Because we are what we believe.

And we believe every person in America should have access to affordable health care. It is wrong that we remain the only industrialized nation in the world that does not assure health care for all of its citizens.

We believe the path to a better future goes directly through our public schools. I have nothing against private schools, parochial schools and home schooling. Parents with the means and inclination should choose whatever they believe is best for their children. But those choices must never come at the expense of what has been -- and must always be -- the great equalizer in our society; public education.

We believe that if you put in a lifetime of work, you have earned a retirement of dignity -- not one that is put at risk by your government or unethical business practices.

The first time our nation balanced its budget, it was Andrew Jackson, father of the Democratic Party, who did it. The last time our nation balanced its budget, it was Bill Clinton who did it. I did it every year as Governor. Democrats believe in fiscal responsibility and we're the only ones who have delivered it.

We believe that every single American has a voice and that it should be heard in the halls of power everyday. And it most certainly must be heard on Election Day. Democracies around the world look to us as a model. How can we be worthy of their aspirations when we have not done enough to guarantee accurate elections for our own citizens.

We believe in a strong and secure America... and we believe we will be stronger by having a moral foreign policy.

We need to embrace real political reform -- because only real reform will pry government from the grasp of the special interests who fight against reform and progress.

The pundits have said that this election was decided on the issue of moral values. I don't believe that. It is a moral value to provide health care. It is a moral value to educate our young people. The sense of community that comes from full participation in our Democracy is a moral value. Honesty is a moral value.

If this election had been decided on moral values, Democrats would have won.

It is time for the Democratic Party to start framing the debate.

We have to learn to punch our way off the ropes.

We have to set the agenda.

We should not hesitate to call for reform -- reform in elections, reform in health care and education, reforms that promote ethical business practices.

And, yes, we need to talk about some internal reform in the Democratic Party as well, and I'll be discussing that more specifically in the days ahead.

Reform is the hallmark of a strong Democratic Party.

Those who stand in the way of reform cannot be the focus of our attention for only four months out of every four years.

Reform is a daily battle.

And we must pursue those reforms with conviction -- every day, at all levels, in 50 states.

A little while back, at a fundraiser, a woman came up to me. She identified herself as an evangelical Christian from Texas. I asked her what you are all wondering -- why was she supporting me. She said there were two reasons. The first was that she had a child who had poly-cystic kidney disease, and that the illness made it impossible for their family to get health insurance.

The second thing she said was, "The real reason we're with you is because evangelical Christians are people of deep conviction, and you're a person of deep conviction.

We may not agree with you on everything, but what we want more than anything else from our government is that when something happens to our family or something happens to our country -- it's that the people in office have deep conviction."

We are what we believe. And the American people know it.

And I believe that over the next two... four... ten years...

Election by election...

State by state...

Precinct by precinct...

Door by door...

Vote by vote...

We're going to lift our Party up...

And we're going to take this country back for the people who built it.

Governor Howard Dean -- December 8, 2004

Posted by Steven at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

Lost in a Masquerade

Maureen Dowd rips Rummy on his appearance before the troops in Kuwait (he was too chicken to go to Iraq) where he boosted morale by answering the query "why don't we have armor?" with (paraphrasing) "you go to war with what we give you, punk!"

Rummy, however, did not hesitate to give the back of his hand to soldiers about to go risk their lives someplace he didn't trouble to go.

He treated Thomas Wilson - the gutsy guardsman from Tennessee who asked why soldiers had "to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles, and why don't we have those resources readily available to us?" - as if he were a pesky Pentagon reporter. The defense chief used the same coldly cantankerous tone and squint he displays in press briefings, an attitude that long ago wore thin. He did everything but slap the kid in the hospital bed.

In one of his glib "Nothing's perfect," "Freedom's untidy" and "Stuff happens" maxims, Rummy told the soldier: "As you know, you go to war with the Army you have."

It wouldn't make a good Army slogan, and it was a lousy answer, especially when our kids are getting blown up every day in a war ginned up on administration lies. Remember when the president promised in the campaign that the troops would have all the body armor they needed?

Posted by Steven at 05:34 PM | Comments (0)

Cheap Shot of the Week

Check out the President's tighty-whities (loose zips sink ships) in this AP photo:

Do I need to point out that this was a Group of Eight meeting, and the President is doing his impression of the Scarecrow ("if I only had a brain") from The Wizard of Oz?

Posted by Steven at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)

December 08, 2004

50,000 Librarians Can't Be Wrong

The Online Computer Library Center (www.oclc.org) ties together over 50,000 libraries in 84 countries, to foster better access to information worldwide. (Good and worthy goal, guys.) Recently, it completed a survey of its constitutent libraries to determine which works (aka books) were the most widely (or perhaps, commonly) held among the membership. It's not a popularity contest, per se, nor is it any sort of opinion of the greatness or worthiness of the published works. It's just a population count -- interesting nonetheless.

#1 on the list (to utterly void the suspense) is any sort of national survey (e.g. the U.S. Census); there are lots of those and they should be freely available. #2 is, well, you can guess easily enough -- that always-popular, in-every-hotel-room book. Keep reading and you won't find a lot of surprises, and will find a lot of familiar titles -- Homer scores #5 and 6, Twain gets #7 (the highest rank of any modern era work other than surveys) and #17. Tolkein rests at #10.

Then there's #18, the highest ranked work by a living author. Scroll to this entry carefully, and remember, this ranking is not an essential judgement of the work. In faint defense, it is from the time when the work was occasionally funny. But just think that #18 is actually more widely collected (in libraries, anyway) than #19, Shakespeare's Macbeth, surely one of the best-known works in Western literature. The mind boggles.

The next highest ranked work by a living author is #80, and comes from the same genre as #18.

Darwin checks in at #115, so we haven't lost yet.

It's an interesting list -- I think everything by Shakespeare is ranked somewhere. There are some musical works as well as books. Civilization hasn't come to a halt just yet.

Thanks to Mark Evanier for pointing out the list.

Posted by at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)

December 03, 2004

Wonder what they'll try next?

A Republican has now lost -- twice! The recount actually increased Heflin's margin of defeat (by one).

You just know that the Texas GOP isn't going to let this one die. Lost in election, lost in recount -- third time will be the charm, but how will they do it? House speaker edict? Texas SC ruling? Hammer DeLay sending in the Rangers? Stay tuned.

Posted by at 12:25 AM | Comments (0)

December 02, 2004

Obviously, Voter Fraud Was Rampant (the GOP Says So)

This in my mailbox this morning.

Dear Republican Family,

I hope you are still savoring the 2004 Election Night results and the tremendous gains made by Republicans at every level around our State. What incredible victories that we were able to give thanks for this Thanksgiving!

Unfortunately, in a few areas in Texas, it has become painfully clear that this terrific election was marred by flagrant voter fraud. As exposed in the national media, the Democrat strategy in this election was to falsely allege voter fraud and intimidation in an attempt to misdirect, mislead, and gain favorable media attention - not to mention trying to manipulate and bully Republicans into remaining quiet about the voter fraud and intimidation in which the Democrats themselves were engaged.

By now, youve probably heard about the election contests that three Republican State House members or candidates have filed. Unfortunately, you have probably not heard the reasons why - voter fraud and other highly questionable election practices in select areas. In these three races, investigators have found blatant disregard for the law or extremely suspicious activity that requires further review. Below are just a few examples of the brazen voter fraud that has been uncovered so far.

* In one small county 400 apparently living people voted who were not registered.
* In that same county, deceased people also cast ballots.
* One box in that county contained 113 ballots that were not signed by an Election Judge, and every vote was for the Democrat candidate.
* In another county, at least a hundred people who lived outside of the county illegally voted in one district. They even had the audacity to give their actual addresses, some hundreds of miles away.
* In that same district, dozens of people voted twice - once by mail and again in person.
* In another county, almost 60 people "assisted in mail-in ballots." Some were paid as much as $3,500 for the job of hand delivering the votes by interested Democrat campaigns in the county.

While investigators have identified outright voter fraud and other suspicious balloting in a few counties, one Democrat county - Travis - has repeatedly denied at least one candidate access to information that should be of public record - in what has certainly obstructed the inspection of those records and may be an attempt to deny him due process of law.

This outrageous and illegal abuse of the American political system goes far beyond the usual margin of election-day error. Such abuse has resulted in the apparent loss of at least two GOP State House seats - State Rep. Talmadge Heflin in House District 149 and Eric Opiela in House District 35. State Rep. Jack Stick in House District 50 lost by a few hundred votes, but has not been able to properly investigate the county records to determine whether the same voter fraud found elsewhere played any part in his race.

While the law allows a candidate to ask for a recount, this process simply permits the ballots previously counted to be counted again. It does not allow substantive questions about those ballots to be addressed. Substantive matters include determining whether or not illegal ballots were counted or that legitimate ballots were ignored. Rather, Texas law requires that these types of questions be answered in an election contest.

In light of the voter fraud and suspicious activity uncovered in House Districts 35, 50, & 149, an election contest is the only way for the people in these districts to be confident that their representatives are the ones they chose. Each Republican victim in these districts has decided, at great personal sacrifice, to file an election contest - so that the truth - whatever it may be is revealed. And, I fully support their efforts.

Obviously, Republicans dont expect to win every race, but we do expect elections to be honest, open, and legal in every respect. Our great American right of self-governance is threatened when voter fraud goes unchallenged. It is our responsibility to vigorously protect and defend that right and all others that the founders bestowed on us.

Democrats and many in the media would like to sweep this under the rug, ignoring what is simply shameful. But I believe the principal at stake here is far more important that the candidates involved or winning and losing a political race.

All Texans, not just Republicans, lose when voter fraud is not rooted out, exposed, and destroyed at its very core. We cease to be the United States of America, home of the brave and the free, when we do not right such injustice.

One of the responsibilities we must take on as Republicans is to end all shoddy election practices that linger from a century of Democrat dominance in Texas. This will require the commitment of all of us.

Challenge our friends in the media who are ignoring this blatant voter fraud. Write to your local paper and demand they report both sides of the story. Also, make sure that your State House members, who will be hearing the election contests, pledge to keep an open mind and make their decisions on the facts and the law presented in each case.

Doing the right thing when it is difficult is the true test of principle. We must make voter fraud a thing of the past in every single part of the great State of Texas. We can do this together.

Sincerely,

Tina J. Benkiser
Chairman

One thing this points out right away is that despite beating the shit out of the Texas Democrats, the GOP won't be satisfied until this is a one party state. They might note that most recent "one party States" were: the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic and Iraq.

"Honest, open and legal" are certainly the words that come to mind when I think about the power grab by Tom DeLay. Afterall, winning elections didn't work, so they just redistricted themselves seven new seats, and even then, they're obviously having to fight for these seats.

Posted by Steven at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)

At Last, Getting Something From Your Government.

Prior to the November 2 election, I went to the Travis County website to verify my and my wife's registrations. We were in good standing; we voted. And I didn't think much more about it. But then I realized -- that was a pretty cool search engine. I looked up a couple of well-known Austinites, and the ones that were registered were there, home addresses, voter ID numbers, and whatnot.

And then I considered: what about other Texas counties? And that's how I found Tom DeLay's home addy, which Skates posted a while back. And I went to Harris County's website, which is where Houston is, and found a particular Houston Astros player's home addy, for the sole purpose of sending him a short letter asking him to re-sign with the Astros for 2005.

Wowzer; think of who else lives around Houston. The Enron gang: Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling. The ex-Preznit Bush and wifey. (I doubt they actually reside there much, but it's where they're registered as voters.)

Not all counties have a voter registration search engine -- McLellan County, for example, where Crawford is.

You can have a lot of fun with this knowledge. And remember, such power can be used for Good or for Evil, so please use only for Good.

Harris County voter registration search engine.

Former President Bush.

Posted by at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)