Regarding the Oscars...

... Because one musts: If I could have fast forwarded Beyonce's noise making sessions, I would have.

Retreat Under the Rock

So it retreated under the rock from which it crawled out... Who knows under what other form it will appear to pick up where it left off.

He Knew What He Was Talking About...

I feel ashamed. Previously I was making fun of Ayatollah's Book of Etiquettes written down by none else than Ayatollah Khomeini himself regarding things a good Muslim must or must not do in order to get as close to god as possible. But, he knew... He KNEW what he as talking about and he certainly KNEW human nature--be it regarding those who live a life of nomads or those in the farmlands of Wisconsin.

Here we have a "63-year-old man is charged with sexual gratification with an animal for allegedly having sex with calves." Evidently, now that meat is no longer edible and the calves in question now are exempt from consumption--at least for good Muslims. The religion of the perpetrator is not clear but at least we know he sees faithfulness as a virtue: "He told police he never had sex with animals while maintaining a relationship with a girlfriend or his wife." The Ayatollah would approve.

Is Elvis Next?

After many years of tricking us into thinking that he had died, Freddy Mercury is arrested for posing as Saddam Hussein's half brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan... Bissmillah!

Patriotic Queen's lovers are left perplexed.

More News on Hunter

I hope that his widow is seeing things the same way him and many of Hunter's supporters are seeing: that he chose his time and place of death--evidently it was a deliberate and thought out decision. He did it because it was his time and his place and no one else's.

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) - The widow of journalist Hunter S. Thompson said her husband killed himself while the two were talking on the phone.

"I was on the phone with him, he set the receiver down and he did it. I heard the clicking of the gun," Anita Thompson told the Aspen Daily News in Friday's editions.

She said her husband had asked her to come home from a health club so they could work on his weekly ESPN column - but instead of saying goodbye, he set the telephone down and shot himself.

Thompson said she heard a loud, muffled noise, but didn't know what had happened. "I was waiting for him to get back on the phone," she said His son, daughter-in-law and 6-year-old grandson were in the house when the shooting occurred.

Anita Thompson, 32, said her husband had discussed killing himself in recent months and had been issuing verbal and written directives about what he wanted done with his body, his unpublished works and his assets.

His suicidal talk put a strain on their relationship, she said. "He wanted to leave on top of his game. I wish I could have been more supportive of his decision," she said. "It was a problem for us."

From: http://www.counterpunch.org/
Previous entry here.

Damn Commies...

A shocking recent study has discovered that only 13% of Stanford professors are Republicans. The authors compare this to the 51% of 2004 voters who selected a Republican for President and argue this is “evidence of discrimination” and that “academic Republicans are being eradicated by academic Democrats”.

Scary as this is, my preliminary research has discovered some even more shocking facts. I have found that only 1% of Stanford professors believe in telepathy (defined as “communication between minds without using the traditional five senses”), compared with 36% of the general population. And less than half a percent believe “people on this earth are sometimes possessed by the devil”, compared with 49% of those outside the ivory tower. And while 25% of Americans believe in astrology (“the position of the stars and planets can affect people’s lives”), I could only find one Stanford professor who would agree. (All numbers are from mainstream polls, as reported by Sokal.)

This dreadful lack of intellectual diversity is a serious threat to our nation’s youth, who are quietly being propagandized by anti-astrology radicals instead of educated with different points of view. Were I to discover that there were no blacks on the Stanford faculty, the Politically Correct community would be all up in arms. But they have no problem squeezing out prospective faculty members whose views they disagree with.

Sure, some might say, but the color of a person’s skin is irrelevant to their duties as a professor while beliefs are at the core of the job. And to these critics, one can only say: you “knowledge” elitists have ignored the devastating critique of factual knowledge put together by the postmodernists! Objective reality is unknowable; our beliefs about it are merely “local truths”, cultural whims we could change at a moment’s notice. The only fair way to decide what gets taught is by what is believed!

But these far-left academics just ignore these devastating critiques. They continue to pretend their job is to investigate “reality” and believe things based on “evidence”, when everyone can see that these are merely absurd justifications for them to maintain their positions power and status over society. And, as has widely been conceded, their advanced “search committees” and “hiring requirements” are just ways to prevent nonconformists from challenging their orthodoxies.

The party of McCarthy must save academic freedom. Wealthy businessmen must pool their resources to fight elitism. Racists and sexists must tout the values of diversity. Conservatives must embrace postmodernism. Hard work? No doubt. But they are bravely willing to sacrifice all credibility to protect our nation’s youth. We should salute their courage.

Via Aaron Swartz: The Weblog.

A Culture Under Siege

First there were the broken historical artifacts and the looted museums leading to devastating cultural blow to the Iraqis and their history. We have now the US military's snipers stationed atop 9th Century minarets.

The Bush Administration is taking pride in shoving at gun point democracy down the Iraq throat and while our military is demonstrating extreme disdain for Iraq's cultural and historical values, we wonder why they are not celebrating our presence.

Paris Hilton?

I was debating whether or not to blog this. But, there is something fascinating curious about a rich person's internal drama--that which is usually hidden from the public. Not that in the case of Paris Hilton much has gone hidden, but unlike her porn movie, I have a feeling that she never thought that this last bit of privacy would get un-private.

The Collected Works of Paris Hilton, via gawker.com.

So why do I find this curious?

Welcome to Your Tremendous Mother...

The Daily Show pocking fun at the Gonzales' Confirmation Hearings... Hilarious.

See the Video!

Photography

I had never heard of these two photographers. But having seen the photos they have made, I am in love...

INEZ VAN LAMSWEERDE and VINOODH MATADIN: Twenty-three portraits of the actors who made the films of 2004 so memorable.

You Have an Rx for That Vibrator?

What is it with sex that Religion and those hell bent on religiosity cannot stand. I mean, why aren't they objecting to say the existence of Las Vegas? Or the violence we see on TV and/or various video games out there... In Alabama, forgetting all the other issues in life, they have passed against, of all things, sex toys.

"Sherri Williams, owner of upscale sexuality boutiques Pleasures I and Pleasures II and plaintiff in Williams v. Alabama, has been fighting the law since its inception in 1998. (The Supreme Court rejected her most recent appeal.)

However, even this law recognizes that sex toys are not inherently criminal. It exempts sexual devices used 'for a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, legislative, judicial or law enforcement purpose.' It just isn't clear on what qualifies as 'bona fide' -- or who makes that decision."

You Have an Rx for That Vibrator?

Irrevocable gift

Next time remember to say this before delivery: this is not a gift--You are hereby only given a license to temporarily safe keep and will expect to return the goods upon demand.

"An Illinois appellate court has ruled that sperm is an irrevocable gift when deposited into the recipient's, well, umm, mouth, and a theft claim will not lay even though the recipient later used the sperm to impregnate herself and then sued the donor of the sperm for child support.

Money quote, so to speak:

'She asserts that when plaintiff 'delivered' his sperm, it was a gift -- an absolute and irrevocable transfer of title to property from a donor to a donee,' the decision said. 'There was no agreement that the original deposit would be returned upon request.'

The court did allow the emotional distress claim to proceed."

Via Running With Lawers

You Can Get Away with Anything...

... If you really wanted to.

After 31 years of serial killing the guys was finally caught. That's a long to go around killing people and getting away with it. I have a feeling that the guy wanted to get caught and so he was--otherwise, he would have continued to elude the police and the authorities and would have contained his evil deeds. Which is a frightening thought. You can go and do someone in and go about your business... Very scary thought!

Update: Evidently the killer's daughter had something to do with having her father arrested for these murders. Evidently she gave some DNA to the police for comparison with that of her father who was apparently under surveillance by the police.

In Memoriam: My Dog, Chloe

I came across this memoriam this author had written about his dog. I recalled when I lost Rae... It made me sad and at the same time I recalled the fun times with Rae and it made me smile.

This is a great story to read:

"We went up and got her. We gave them a dark green bedsheet to wrap her in and I put her in the back of the station wagon. Then, with Posy and Minch, we drove thirty miles over to my in-laws country house in a hilly corner of Washington County. You can see the mountains across the Vermont line from there. We had actually dug a grave for Chloe the year before, when we didn’t know whether she would survive cancer and surgery, and wanted to make a resting place for her there before the ground froze. My father-in-law had filled it in over the summer, but we found it again. The grass was kind of patchy over it. The ground was soft and easy to re-dig. We put her in the earth perhaps three feet down. I said, a few words and strewed some milk-bone dog biscuits over her. It wasn’t until I began to cover her up that I really started bawling. Her resting place lies under some apple trees, with a great sweeping view to the southeast. We had happily rambled those vales and fields many times together. She came into my life on a brilliant October day, and we lodged her in the earth on another October day that couldn’t have been more beautiful. Now she is gone, except in our memories, and that is the end of Chloe’s story."

In Memoriam: My Dog, Chloe

Tattoo Ideas

I have finally narrowed down the tattoo I am planning on getting on my body--and the idea has been there for the past ten years--to two graphic design. Here they are:

And this one:

Now all I have to do is to decide which one I want to live with for the rest of my life. There is something weird compelling me to do this and I have always been specific about what kind of tattoo I wanted: a true and accurate symbol that truly and accurately reflected my origins. I am leaning toward the number two here... but I have to thing about it a bit longer.

Wage Peace

It is time to wage peace;
We are the majority;
We can end this war.

See the Movie.

The Decisive Moment

This is the most illusive moment in photography. The moment that something is about to happen--the moment that everything somehow aligns perfectly together and each element in the photograph stands on its own and portrays its own story.

There are some photographers that were able to catch that moment time and time again... It is an amazing moment to watch. See the kids playing--the three girls in the bottom left and the others in the opposite corner; and then there is the lonely one in the upper right corner.

Look at these two photographs. Those are moments in space-time that an event is about to occur--the "decisive moment". The first one by Kertecz and the second one by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Look at them. Is it luck? How lucky can a photographer be to be able to consistently catch these moments.

I am simply flaberghasted at the proof of the existence of genius and seeing it here at work.

Bloggers beware! Viruses via Blogspot

"Blogger users can host their blogs whereever they like, but if they choose Blogger's free BlogSpot hosting, a navigation bar appears across the top of the page. On that nav bar is a button labeled 'next blog.' Click it, and you are taken to a randomly selected Blogger blog. Now comes word from lawyer Alvin Borromeo, writing on MT Law Blog and then again here, that randomly clicking the 'next blog' button can leave you infected with viruses and spyware. The same thing happened to the author of the blog Obiter Dicta.

There are two ways to avoid this. First, as comments pointed [...], this would not have happened had they been using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. Second, the problem is not with Blogger, but with coding added to some of the blogs hosted by Blogger. If you use Blogger and want to avoid sending your visitors to some random, virus-infected site, stop hosting on blogspot and instead host on another server. You can find Web site hosting deals for a couple dollars a month."

Robert Ambrogi's LawSites

Cry Me A River...

If we can do it to a President, why wouldn't it be done to a fraudulent "journalist"?

"'Why would they be looking into a person's sexual history?' he asked. 'Is that what we're going to do to reporters now? Is there some kind of litmus test for reporters? Is it right to hold someone's sexuality against them?'

Outed ex-White House scribe blasts critics

Kill Uncle Duke?

I had no idea...

"But the Doonesbury cartoon strip has dined off of Thompson's reputation ever since Uncle Duke first showed up in the strip many, many years ago. There was no doubt about which ranting, doped up, alcohol besotted journalist he represented.

You could tell from the cigarette holder."

Chicago Tribune | Kill Uncle Duke?

You Can't Rule the World!

"'Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world,' Edwards [the former chief judge of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia] said. He said the FCC 'crossed the line' beyond its authority approved by Congress. 'You've gone too far,' he said. 'Are washing machines next?'

Another circuit judge, David Sentelle, agreed. Sentelle acknowledged entertainment companies could be reluctant to broadcast high-quality movies or TV shows that can't be protected against copyright violators but said that wasn't the FCC's problem.

'It's going to have less content if it's not protected, but Congress didn't direct that you have to maximize content,' Sentelle said. 'You can't regulate washing machines. You can't rule the world.'"

USATODAY.com - U.S. appeals court debates anti-piracy TV technology

Russian Nesting Dolls Delux!

This is hilarious. The Wurst Gallery (who thought of that name) had an opening of artists working with a blank set of Russian Nesting Dolls... See what happened.

the wurst gallery

And... a lot of them have sold! And I am not saying this because they appear to be unsellable; rather, I say this with extreme approval in the man-there-are-some-lucky-people-who-get-to-do-what-they-want-
and-they-get-paid-for-it kind of a way...

This Is Serious Business

From the looks of it, this blogging thing can earn you a living--that is if you are on the A-List. Wired notified its readers that one of the prominent bloggers Jason Kottke has decided to quit his day job and devote himself exclusively to his blog. How is he going to make it? With 25,000 visitors a day, he is hoping that he can ask for "contribution" from his readers (he prefers the word "contribution" to that of "donation" because to him donation means you give without getting anything in return and contribution does not have that connotation--I tend to agree). In any event, $30 per year subscription from 25,000 people is... umm... carry the ten... $750,000! A fraction of that would probably be equivalent of his previous salary as a web designer.

Kottke is not going to advertise--which I applaud. Given the givens and possibly hims changing his mind, one can see that with the additional advertising revenue, the guy can make killing! Of course that is if all goes well and that at least a fraction of his readers decide to pull out their credit cards or sign onto their Paypal accounts and contribute to his cause.

All this does not sounds very far fetched or out of reach--at least for Kottke.

One thing I can find on his site--and it may be just my incompetence--is comments by his readers about what they think about it. There are a lot of blogs who have announced his decision to their readers, but I do not see any direct comments from them; but, according to Red Herring: " Longtime Internet blogger Jason Kottke asked readers Tuesday to pay to keep his site going, sparking responses ranging from “attaboy” to “no way” from his visitors."

I suppose time will tell whether the transition to full time blogging can be made smoothly and without a hitch for Kottke . Meanwhile, should you want to contribute...

Hunter Amazes Again...

"Aspen - In what could pass for an outlandish scene from the pages of one of Hunter S. Thompson's books, actor Johnny Depp and others who were close to the gonzo journalist are searching for a cannon and researching firing techniques to grant the author's wish that his cremated remains be blasted into the sky.

'If it can be done, we will do it."

LOCAL NEWS

KY Knows Best

Take the test... 'cause everything is a test: How will your date end?

Christo & Jeanne-Claude Over The River

The next project by Christo and Wife is to suspend some sort of a tent over parts of Colorado River. I am one of those who, while finding the artwork worthy of at least a glance, consistently fail to see what is the big message or deal in these huge installations. I go with the underlying understanding that the difference between Art and Craft is that the former has a message and the latter does not. Although, it is true that just because I do not see Christo's message, it does not mean that it does not exist. As Secretary Rumsfeld has put it: "The absence of presence doesn't mean presence of absence."

Christo & Jeanne-Claude Over The River

Another One Cut...

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A 44-year-old Anchorage man had his penis surgically reattached after it was cut off by an angry girlfriend and flushed down a toilet, local police said on Sunday.

The events unfolded about midnight on Saturday, after the pair had been arguing over an impending breakup, an Anchorage Police Department statement said. At some point, the two decided to have sex and the man agreed to let the woman tie his arms to a windowsill.

But the woman used a kitchen knife to amputate her partner's penis and flushed it down the toilet, police said. She untied the man, drove him to a local hospital and was cleaning up the bloody scene when police arrived at the home, according to the statement.

Summoned by the police, workers from the local water utility pulled the toilet up from the floor and were able to recover the severed penis, which was rushed to the hospital for the successful reattachment surgery on Sunday morning.

Police declined to identify the victim, but said his assailant was 35-year-old Kim Tran. She was charged with assault, domestic violence and tampering with evidence, and jailed without bail."

Severed Penis Retrieved from Toilet, Reattached

Comics Times II...

Comics Time...

Death of Gonzo

Lindsay Beyerstein on the passing of Hunter Thompson:

"The good doctor took evasive action because he'd finally had enough. There was no question of a comeback. His natural habitat had disappeared. Today's media industrial complex is gonzo-proof. You can't raise hell anywhere near the press corps anymore unless you're turning tricks. Gonzo journalism today would be as incongruous as gonzo account services or gonzo event planning.

Gonzo is dead because the mainstream media have abolished objectivity and subjectivity--the facts don't matter, but neither does the perspective of any individual. Like gonzo journalists, today's campaign reporters love to tell impressionistic yarns. Unlike gonzo journalists they don't want to talk about their own experiences. Enterprising reporters collect 'gaffes' and 'coups' and spin them into parables. The winner is the journalist whose just-so story becomes 'The Defining Moment.'

Make no mistake, Thompson was always an outsider. Today's media is all insiders and aspiring insiders. The old model allowed Thompson to operate on the fringes. Today there's no fringe.

I think Hunter S. Thompson just got sick of it all. I don't blame him.""

"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive...." And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. And a voice was screaming: "Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?"

Then it was quiet again. My attorney had taken his shirt off and was pouring beer on his chest, to facilitate the tanning process. "What the hell are you yelling about?" he muttered, staring up at the sun with his eyes closed and covered with wraparound Spanish sunglasses. "Never mind," I said. "It's your turn to drive." I hit the brakes and aimed the Great Red Shark toward the shoulder of the highway. No point mentioning those bats, I thought. The poor bastard will see them soon enough."
-- From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The Rum Diary I go this book a couple of weeks ago and have not had the chance ot read it yet. I guess it is time! Read the first few pages here.

Former editor recalls what it was like to work with Hunter. Hilarious!!!

Malcolm X - A Remembrance

I first heard of Malcolm-X long after his death. I always enjoy characters who are rebel rouzers and speak their minds in direct and non-compromising fashion. I respect individuals who are willing to voice--and voice it with strength--their opinion and rally people out of their day to day stupor into demonstrations and possibly revolutions. Malcolm-X was such a person.

Malcolm X
(Malcolm X Little; later El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz)(1925-1965)
A leading figure in the 20th-century movement for black liberation in the United States, and arguably its most enduring symbol.Malcolm X has been called many things: Pan-Africanist (see Pan-Africanism), father of Black Power, religious fanatic, closet conservative, incipient socialist (see Socialism), and a menace to society. Source.

The Official Website of Malcolm X
Books by Malcolm X
Malcolm X in pictures

:)

Quote

An interesting quote coming from an interesting person:

"Is it not a strange blindness on our part to teach publicly the techniques of warfare and to reward with medals those who prove to be the most adroit killers?
– Marquis de Sade"

Important Instructions to All Good Muslims

Surfing the web I came across this set of instructions left behind by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian religious revolutionary and the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These instructions are very detailed and pertain to every day life of a Muslim--from the Ayatollah's point of view of course.

Here are a few excerpts for your reading enjoyment:

462. Divorcing a menstruating woman is void. (I guess this is to prevent rash decisions as a result of PMS?)

2,631. It is loathsome to eat the meat of a horse, a mule, or a donkey if someone has had coitus with the animal.

And regarding some modern topics:

2,874. It is not unlawful to introduce a man's semen into the uterus of his wife with devices such as suction cups.

The Ayatollah's Book Of Etiquette

The Theatre of the Absurd...

"It's not a certain society
that seems ridiculous to me, it's mankind."

Eugene Ionesco

So let me get this straight.

The Sunnis are bombing the Shi'ites who are in turn self mutilating in the name of Prophet Mohammed's nephew, Hussein, who was himself maimed several thousand years ago and the Shi'ites feel compelled to relive Hussein's pain by hitting themselves on the head with daggers they all have. And... More you bleed, more you have shown your devotion to the faith. I suppose the white overalls is to emphasis the bleeding part.

Looks like the Sunnis are wasting their time.

Is it me or is this really a monumental effort in futility?
And... the Bush Sr. looks disinterested or what?

And Free For All...

Continuing in the series of effort to disenfranchise the population of the United States and to embolden corporate greed and misdeeds.
Tort 'Reform' Triumphs: "Not satisfied with nibbling away at the welfare state, already the thinnest in the industrialized West, conservatives have spent more than twenty years demonizing lawyers and ridiculing victims in order to eliminate a uniquely American right, rooted in the Seventh Amendment, that allows juries to assess damages in civil courts for corporate misbehavior. In Europe and Japan, governments compensate victims; in this country, it is often done, haphazardly, by entrepreneur-lawyers. The same lawyers are more successful in another, quite accidental way: regulating and punishing companies that pollute, maim or cheat--a critical function at a time when government does less and less to force them to act responsibly. Fifteen state attorneys general recognized this when they called on the Senate to dump or amend the class-action bill."

Memories...

Tricky Dick and the Immortal Hipster.

No Peace without Justice II

Ranzy Baroud has got it right with respect to the long term designs Israel has regarding territorial gains. The Palestinians are damned if the do and damn if they don't... So long as the US Government has decided to unabashedly support Israel in all its ventures against the Palestinians.

How Israel Is Once Again Redefining the Terms of Peace - by Ramzy Baroud: "The Sharm el-Sheikh summit was a 'success' because it kowtowed to the expectations of Israel and its American client. It fell short of making any serious effort to bring peace that is defined in accordance with the principals of justice as entrenched in international law and a long list of relevant United Nations resolutions. It demanded Palestinians to overcome their violent tendencies and expected the long-victimized nation to provide Israel, a nuclear power with an army ranked with the top five, with the security it 'rightfully needs and deserves.' Not once was the term 'occupation' mentioned throughout the whole conference, says Robert Fisk, writing for the Independent.

Sharm el-Sheikh failed to address the major grievances that defined the Palestinian national struggle for generations: an end to occupation, the right of return, and the removal of the settlements, among others. The summit was almost exclusively reserved for talks about Israel's security: since when was it acceptable for an occupying power to demand security from its captives?"

MorDor... not MorTor... Geeeezuz!!!

Gotta see this stuff... Funny!!!!!
Animated GIFs from the Lord of the Rings--I know this is completely geeky, but I can't help it.

Mortor
Boromir's Plan
Execution
Boromir's Invisible Phone

We Need Substance...

This guy has got it right in what makes the Republican Party strong as it is leaving the Democratic Party on the losing end... at each turn... lately. A really good read.

Ezra Klein: Gunning for Gannon: "We're not going to win by copying the Republican playbook. In football, you spend the week before a game learning the other team's plays. But you don't run them. You learn how to defend against them, and you run the plays you're good at. Because the other team has created a playbook relying on their specific attributes -- their strongest players, their coach's expertise, their linemen's size. If you tried to ape it, you'd simply be running their plays without any of their strengths. You'd lose. And if Democrats keep trying to run Republican plays without building the foundations that made them work, we will lose as well. We've got to make a conscious choice to find our own strengths, create our own image, and utilize attacks that play to our abilities. Otherwise, we're simply codifying Republican tactics as the de facto ground for political warfare, and we might as well give up now."

iRobot

I don't know...
We have a long way to go to the iRobot scenario...
I mean, LONG way to go!

No Peace without Justice

In the George Bush's vision of America, people are safe, but unequal. Secretary Rice's speech in Paris is proof of that: "terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, failed states, and organized crime." Dangers that weigh on the freedom of the world's peoples are thus excluded: social imbalances, environmental disorders, inequalities between continents, countries, and classes, the opulence, even to squandering wastefulness, of some, the misery, even hunger, of others, everything that relates to the gap between rich and poor. Condoleezza Rice's freedom is not preoccupied with equality."

In that Vision of the World, somehow the poor who get poorer and the rich who get richer and the inequalities that get wider are supposed to live safely and happily side by side. While all social programs are getting cut across the board, tax cuts for the rich remain.

Can there be freedom and democracy along with security and well being where inequality is the mortar that attempts to hold the society together? How then should we be surprised by the success of Hugo Chavez's populism or by the continuing popularity of the Castro dictatorship?

Indeed...

Source

The Anti Christo?

The Somerville Gates have nothing to do with Christo's Gates... Nor have they anything to do with Bill Gates. There are a lot of dissimilitudes; yet the similarities are astounding!

As seen in The New York Times
The Somerville Gates Website

Day Twelve in "Red State Road Trip"

David Hume's trip inside the Red States continnues:

Day Twelve

Check out the previous entries here.

Chicago Free Hotspots

this is interesting; I have no idea about this.
Chicago Free Hotspots | Serving up free wifi in Chicago: "Serving up free wi-fi cafes and other wireless hotspots."

Good Value

Sounds like rather a good value... $500 for lifetime advertisement.
CNN.com : "A shot in the arm for advertising?"

Origin of the Music Videos--The Scopitone!

Back in the Sixties the French began making little movies to be played on these devices called Scopitones. They are fabulous pieces of music videos movies available in a jukebox. I love em...

Here is Francoise Hardy singing:
"Tous Les Garcons et Les Filles."

Fun!!!

For a Good Time Call Judy...

What is the difference between kids witting on bathroom stalls their fantasies about other kids in school and doing the same on the Internet? Evidently, one is brushed off as "kids will be kids" and the other will get you suspended. Now, I am not condoning any of that sort of thing particularly because the definition of a "good time" is subjective and who knows whether "Judy" is a real person at all. But the result of seeing such a message while relieving oneself is mostly a smile and shrug--I can hardly think of anyone calling the proposed number and demand service!

But these days, evidently, kids will have to contend themselves with silence: 4 pupils punished for lewd Web site. Suspension? Is this really warranted when no pictures were posted, no threats were made, and only some boys talking trash about some classmate? I find this strange.

And then there is this.

Let' Look at the Numbers

Find out how much you should expect from the Social Security under the current plan and that which is proposed by the Bush Administration:

Social Security Calculator

Car Show Time!!!

It is the Car Show time today!! More later...

2005 Chicago Auto Show - Official Web Site: "2005 is a historic year for Chicago. The City of Broad Shoulders gets its auto show SuperSized to an astonishing 1.2 million sq. ft. (that's 111,500 sq. m. for everyone in the Metric world ) - meaning it's 42 percent bigger than last year! The show that was the biggest on the block just got bigger. Why? Just wait until you see the displays, including an amazing new test track in the Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler exhibit! Plan now to attend North America's biggest auto show-by far-Feb. 11-20 in the premier exposition center of the world, McCormick Place. Cruise the Website and see what all the buzz is about."

Update:
Well... Something crazy happened. We went to the show and I began attempting to take pictures only to find out that my digitial camera was out of battery! Can you beleive this? Very stupid... Of me!

In any event, I was lucky to have my camera phone (the Motorola Razr) with me so I was ablt to take some pictures:

They Hate Freedom!

Steve and Virginia Pearcy, a couple in Sacremento, placed a large doll of a US soldier on their house and wrote "Bush Lied, I died."

Over a quarter of World Net Daily readers believe that the couple should be arrested for treason because this "aids and abets the enemy."

While I don't know exactly how representative these WND polls are in terms of the conservative grassroots, they usually get a few thousand responses (they have to be unique, as you sign in to vote), and definitely reflect a certain constituency on the right.

Over on free republic, we get comments like,

"Gee, I hope their house doesn't burn down or have it's windows bricked or anything..."

"They need to be deported to Palestine." (Incidentally, it's OK to talk about deporting native born Antiwar Americans at FR, but not illegal aliens.)

and

"What is it with these idiots? They got a death wish or something?"
to which another poster with no sense of irony responded “They hate freedom. Kind of like the terrorists.”

From AntiWar

Gmail Invites!

I have 50...yes that is right...
FIFTY to give away.
If you want one, send me an email or leave a comment with your email.
First come first serve!

Quote...

"Suppose you were an idiot ... And suppose you were a member of Congress... But I repeat myself."
- - Mark Twain

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Ms. E. and I had plans on having some caviar (Russian and Iranian ordered via the Internet and arriving via fed-ex super fast delivery) with Vodka. But, Ms. E. is currently not faring well and is sick... So there is a chance that the planned festivities will have to be postponed to some other time...

A Quote...

"Karl Rove thinks an ideologically polarized electorate will always tilt towards the GOP since self-identified conservatives outnumber self-indentified liberals by a three-to-two margin. At any given moment, you can expect Bush to be pushing at least one major initiative that literally makes Democrats crazy with rage. That rage, in turn, will make the actual policy dispute look like nothing more than a partisan food-fight to much of the non-polarized electorate, thus shifting the center of gravity of any given debate sharply to the right. Rove and Bush have pursued this strategy again and again."
— Ed Kilgore, NewDonkey.com

Day Eleven in "Red State Road Trip"

David Hume's trip inside the Red States continnues:

Day Eleven

Check out the previous entries here.

Spread the Word about Bush's plan for Social Security

George W. Bush is going to make Social Security privatization a key part of his State of the Union address this week. After his speech he is going on a cross-country tour to promote his agenda. That’s why, as Americans form their opinions about his plan, we need to make sure they know the facts – privatization means benefit cuts of up to 46%.

Donate to Moveon.org

Here is one of the commercials

The RNC of course has began its intimidation campaign attempting to call on FCC to fine stations that dare airing these commercials opposing their plan to destroy Social Security--did anyone expect anything less?

A New Book...

Iraqis: One; Bushies: Zero.

Iraqi vote results appears to have been a loss for the Bushies. The result evidently shows that the Iraqis are rejecting out plans for their country and they have a vastly different view of their country's future.

Iraq Insurgents Step Up Attacks

Iraqi insurgents have stepped up their attacks in recent days and are hitting their targets with increasing precision. “As the euphoria over the election dies away, the Iraqi resistance is seeking to eliminate anyone working with the US or the interim government,” according to a report by Patrick Cockburn in the London Independent. “The American recipe for making the army and security forces more effective is to embed US training officers in Iraqi units … The presence of American soldiers makes the Iraqi soldiers feel that they will be viewed as traitors to their own country by other Iraqis.”

Arriving in Iraq today, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said, “The task ahead for us is to continue to help the Iraqi security forces to get on the job. That will take some time. “It’s their country. It’s their responsibility. And they’re the ones who have that obligation.” But as Naomi Klein writes in The Nation, the recent election showed that most Iraqis want the occupation to end: “Iraqis voted overwhelmingly to throw out the US-installed government of Iyad Allawi, who refused to ask the United States to leave. A decisive majority voted for the United Iraqi Alliance; the second plank in the UIA platform calls for ‘a timetable for the withdrawal of the multinational forces from Iraq.’”

The winning party’s platform also included positions which received no coverage in our mainstream media. “Adopting a social security system under which the state guarantees a job for every fit Iraqi…and offers facilities to citizens to build homes,” Klein writes. The UIA also pledges “to write off Iraq’s debts, cancel reparations and use the oil wealth for economic development projects.” In short, Iraqis voted to repudiate the radical free-market policies imposed by former chief US envoy Paul Bremer and take control of their own country.

Iraq Insurgents Step Up Attacks--from Air America

Numanuma

For all the parents who wonder what it is their teenagers are doing in their room behind them closed doors; well, here it is a glimpse into that aspect of the teenage life. I warn you, it is not pretty.

Numanuma

Dumb Mistake Twice? Sure...

Will the Bushies make the same mistake twice? Yes.
Should we believe that the Bushies will not do something just because it is a dumb thing to do? No.

These question and answer is the result of reading this article:

"Are the Iranians pursuing a nuclear weapon? I don't know. They say they are not. But they are more or less surrounded by nuclear powers – the United States, Israel, India and Pakistan. Their reasoning for pursuing nuclear plants is feasible. They know their main export, oil, will run out one day, so by using nuclear fuel to produce internal power, they can extend the life of their most profitable export. They are certainly wise to disperse their facilities, given the fact that the Israelis bombed Iraq's only nuclear reactor in the 1980s.

But let's assume Iran does develop a nuclear weapon. I don't care. I've lived most of my life 30 minutes from total destruction by tens of thousands of the Soviet Union's nuclear warheads. The Bush administration's claim that nuclear deterrence, which worked against a superpower, will not work against a smaller and poorer country is bunk. Israel alone has enough nuclear warheads to pulverize Iran."

Could Bush Possibly Make the Same Mistake Twice? Yeah. - by Charley Reese

My Mistake

I was going to blog about the death of Arthur Miller. But, upon reflection, I figured I do not know Arthur Miller at all. In fact, I have not read a darn thing of his work. After further reflection, It dawned upon me that the reason for my interest is in fact Henry Miller, whom work I admire. Unfortunately, it is a bit too late to blog about Henry Miller's death as he passed back in 1980--before the birth of blogging!

But, with respect to Arthur Miller, I saw this photograph here of him and Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn here looks very much like my very own Ms. E. and so I am posting it just because it is a nice picture. Except that Ms. E. has dark hair and is way prettier; but the picture comes close.

Rest in Peace Arthur Miller, sorry I never got to know ya.

Quick Notes

Ari Berman has two observations (among others) that are worth noting:

** As US ally Saudi Arabia voted in its first municipal elections in forty years, one reformist candidate had a wild scheme to reduce the country's dependence on foreign labor--let women drive. Due to death threats and rampant complaints, Suleiman Abdullah Omar Al-Suleiman marketed his policy in the parlance of traffic jams rather than women's rights. 'The women-driving issue is making people nuts,' he says. Al-Suleiman's platform contains a number of other radical initiatives, including opening movie theaters and after-school programs. Al-Suleiman's candidacy, however, may be limited by one central fact: women were banned from voting in the elections. Is this what Bush means by 'hopeful reform?'

** When US Senator Russ Feingold got off the plane in Bamako, Mali, he was dazzled by the sight of thousands of Malians, including throngs of children, seemingly cheering his arrival. Then came Feingold's moment of zen. The crowds weren't waiting for him, but rather for the arrival of Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, whose plane had just landed at the airport. In the poverty-ravaged Muslim democracy, Feingold learned, Iran offers energy and agricultural assistance, Saudi Arabia builds radical Islamic schools and mosques, and China contributes roads and loans. American diplomats, on the other hand, 'struggle to find the resources to compete for hearts and minds.' They'd better find it soon."

US Loosing the Race to Engage Muslims
The Daily Outrage

Day Nine & Ten in "Red State Road Trip"

David Hume's trip inside the Red States continnues:

Day Nine
Day Ten

Check out the previous entries here.

Do you have a drinking problem?

More tests... Are you an alcohlic? Well... Here is your chance to find out!!

MSNBC - Do you have a drinking problem?: "Do you have a drinking problem?"

Anatomy of a Scam

"After Social Security numbers were assigned, the first Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes were collected, beginning in January 1937. Special Trust Funds were created for these dedicated revenues. Benefits were then paid from the money in the Social Security Trust Funds. Over the years, more than $4.5 trillion has been paid into the Trust Funds, and more than $4.1 trillion has been paid out in benefits. The remainder is currently on reserve in the Trust Funds and will be used to pay future benefits."

Thanks to Billmon
For a Brief History of Social Security see here.

If I were a Rule...

I would be Rule 8(a)!

The most laid back of all the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. While your forefather in the Federal Rules may have been a stickler for details and particularity, you have clearly rebelled by being pleasant and easy-going. Rule 8 only requires that a plaintiff provide a short and plain statement of a claim on which a court can grant relief. While there is much to be lauded in your approach, your good nature sometimes gets you in trouble, and you often have to rely on your good friend, Rule 56, to bail you out.

TAKE THE TEST: Which Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

The Accounts Formerly Known as "Private"

Mollly Ivins has an interesting take on the verbiage used by the Bush Administration to sell their Private Account project. Read on...

The Lies that Keep Coming Back...

The Bushies have not been able to get the IAEA to go along with their program of evilizing Iran. In fact, they have tried and have dispatched the head of IAEA to Iran on several times only to find that the Mr. Elbaradei is simply unwilling to lie and find weapons program where non exists. Mr. Elbaradei refused to accept that Iraq had Nuclear Weapons Program and Challenged that opinion when the Bushies put it forth--and we all now know that the head of IAEA was in fact correct in refusing to partake in the Bushies'' lie.

No good deed will go unpunished. Mr. Elbaradei is now facing opposition from the Bushies for his third term as UN Chief Nuclear watchdog. Although the Bushies' effort failed last year, they are not deterred (remember, these people have no shame!) and are at it again in their attempt to unseat an honest person who refuses to go along with the lies the Bushies attempt to perpetrate in order to advance their evil agenda--that is war and more war.

We hope that there will not be 12 countries who one way or another are coerced or bought to go along with the Bushies' agenda in un-seating a Mr. Elbaradei--his position is key to having Iran declared in breach of its non-proliferation obligations (one way or another) and have the matter be heard in front to the UN Security Council for some sort of a sanction. The first phase of a repeat of the Iraq debacle...

What the Bushies need is a hawkish person replacing Mr. Elbaradei who is willing to simply ignore facts and truth and go along with the lies offered for sale by the White House. Trouble is, they may get away with it, once again.

Bet Your Balls...

"LONDON (Reuters) - A Welsh rugby fan cut off his own testicles to celebrate Wales beating England at rugby, the Daily Mirror reported Tuesday.

Geoff Huish, 26, was so convinced England would win Saturday's match he told fellow drinkers at a social club, 'If Wales win I'll cut my balls off,' the paper said.

Friends at the club in Caerphilly, south Wales, thought he was joking. But after the game Huish went home, severed his testicles with a knife, and walked 200 yards back to the bar with the testicles to show the shocked drinkers what he had done.

Huish was taken to hospital where he remained in serious condition, the paper said. Wales's 11-9 victory over England at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was their first home win over England in 12 years."

My Way News

Wow!!! Nellie McKay...

I heard her interview sometime ago on NPR and then got some of her songs and I am simply floored. Floored I tell you. She is simply amazing and her music is out of this world.

Listen to her interview on npr. There are also links to some of her songs. My favorite is Sari, The Dog Song and MANY others... She is way eclectic! She doesn't want to be sounding too girlish and she wants to sound tough and rough... She hates authority and she mentioned Bob Dylan's song hurricane with admiration; that song simply happens to be one of my favorite Dylan songs--so she just hits home. She is loud I tell you! And she has somewhat of an obnoxious laugh... The purchase of her CD comes highly recommended, however. Be careful though... she swears a lot!!

I tried to put the links directly from this blog but, for the life of me, I could not figure out the way to do it.

Support Our Troops

"You can have all of the yellow ribbons on cars that say 'Support Our Troops' that you want, but it's when they take off the uniform and transition back to civilian life that they need support the most," says Linda Boone, executive director of The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans."

CBSNews has an article on the fact that Iraq veterans are now showing up in homeless shelters and many are homeless and without jobs and with needed medical care. This is sad news specially given the fact that the Bush administrations proposed budget "More than doubles the co-payment charged to many veterans for prescription drugs and would require some to pay a new fee of $250 a year for the privilege of using the Veterans health care system" writes David Corn.

Meanwhile, these Yellow Ribbons are all over the place!

To be fair, civilians are having a hard time understanding what the Iraqi vets have experienced. With the total media censorship on images of death, gore, people blown to bits and such, and without any real understanding as to what is being done in our name over there, it is then hard to sympathize with the vet coming home because most shootings are not publicized:The shootings rarely make news -- outside the towns where they occur. The military does not make a practice of publicizing cases of "collateral damage" unless by chance reporters are embedded with units and write about the events they witness. And no one at the Pentagon nor at the U.S. Central Command keeps a comprehensive tally of the incidents, according to senior officials in both locations, who say that all operations in general are periodically reviewed.

So we support our troops... Do we really?

I Gotta Learn this Crap...

No Fancy Name

Day Eight in "Red State Road Trip"

Of any of the previous videos, THIS ONE is a MUST SEE!!!

Day Eight

Check out the previous entries here.

$$$$$$$$$ ???????

David Corn has a soft spot for the Bush administration. He voices his view of the Budget proposed by the said administration:

"If it's budget time, it must be disinformation time. That's how it goes in the Bush II era. George W. Bush released a budget today that he claims is responsible, honest, and designed to cut the $400 billion-plus deficit in half by 2009. Not so. By now, you probably have heard the obvious criticisms. The budget does not include the $80 billion Bush is asking for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (And that probably won't cover the full tab.) It doesn't account for the $1 trillion to $2 trillion that Bush needs to pay for the private investment accounts he wants to carve out of Social Security. It also doesn't recognize that several hundred billion dollars will disappear from the revenue stream when the government rejiggers the alternative minimum tax--which it must--to prevent this tax (written to apply to corporations that make creative use of loopholes) from hitting middle-class individual tax filers.

There are few secrets about Bush's budgetary shenanigans. While the military gets a hefty boost, housing, education and environmental protection gets hammered. Every advocacy group concerned with federal spending was issuing press releases today. Folks on Capitol Hill were doing the same. Senator Jim Jeffords, the Republican-turned-independent from Vermont, put out a short list of the worst of Bush's proposed cuts. Go here.

Not Missing a Beat...

Grand Ayatollah Sistani is not missing a beat and knowing that the Shi'ites are going to get the majority of the votes (as they should given the fact that they are like 60% of the people) he is now advocating that the Iraqi Constitution and the laws should be based on Koran. I am not sure whether this comes as a surprise but it does put the Shi'ites in Iraq in a path directly opposite the United States--or at least will test our commitment to democracy and Iraqis finding their own way and deciding their own future, whatever it may end up being.

Kandinsky

I do not know what it is I find fascinating about Kandinsky's work; but, I can look at them for hours and just get lost within them...

and this:

and then this one:

Bob Marley

Today is Bob Marley's 60th Birthday. I remember being introduced to Bob's music back in high school when a friend of mine lend me one of his albums (Survival). When I first listened to it, I was confused--I did not like it, nor did I hate it. When I returned the album to my friend, I told him of my experience and he said, well, that's the hallmark of a good album--when it grows on you little by little. He was right. More I listened to that album, more I liked and each time I would find new things in the music. At some point, I knew all the lyrics to all the songs and then I moved on to buy all Bob's albums which I equally studied. I remember exactly where I was when I heard of his death. I felt short changed (I know it is selfish) because I never got to see him on stage live.

My Favorites in no particular order:
Survival
Rastaman Vibration
Kaya
Catch a Fire
Uprising
Babylon by Bus (the live show--I used to sing to and pretend I was on stage!!--Drove my mother crazy.)
And others...

Day Seven in "Red State Road Trip"

Day Seven

Check out the previous entries here

Medical Malpractice

Blaming the victims is not the solution to reducing cost of health care. It appears that the insurance companies are gouging both sides and are playing the doctors against the trial lawyers hoping to make an extra buck... all to the victims' expense.

"If medical malpractice legislation is adopted by Congress, the winners will be the property and casualty insurance industry, which saw a doubling of profits in 2003. The losers will be innocent victims with devastating injuries due to medical negligence.

Those who propose limiting compensation to patients and their families are primarily the insurance industry, which has continued to raise medical malpractice insurance premiums even in states that have adopted caps on damages. Other beneficiaries of these proposals are the HMOs, prescription drug companies, nursing homes and manufacturers of medical devices, all of whom would be protected under the various proposals in Congress."

Medical Malpractice-USAction

100,000 people are killed every year by medical errors... See ad here.

Take Action...

The 34 Scandals of George W. Bush

Thanks to the "liberal media" somehow this administration has been immune to any sort of public scrutiny into all the current and pending investigations into its activities. read on...

The 34 Scandals of George W. Bush

"This list is also limited to events of the past four years, or those coming to light in that time. It covers both the executive branch and the Congress, since the latter, especially the Senate, is increasingly a mere adjunct to the White House. However, the items are not arranged in terms of moral or historical gravity. Abu Ghraib might create years of anti-American hatred abroad, but it and some other headline-generating events appear near the end of the list, to help familiarize readers first with lesser-known or now-overlooked scandals. Recall how John Ashcroft broke the law? Know why Dick Cheney wants to keep those energy task force documents secret? Read on. You too, Harry Reid."

Day Six in "Red State Road Trip"

Day Six

Check out the previous entries here

Leave My Ass Alone!

[...]

Felons in the White House

The fact that Bush Sr. may have pardoned a person does not alleviate the fact that a felony was in fact committed... But, that matters not and felons roam free in the White House.

Iran-Contra Figure to Lead Democracy Efforts Abroad

"Elliott Abrams, who pleaded guilty in 1991 to withholding information from Congress in the Iran-contra affair, was promoted to deputy national security adviser to President Bush."

Edit: Come to think of it, how can someone who has subverted the democratic process here at home be placed in charge of democracy anywhere else? I figure that is a good question.

Is this What it Has Come to?

Rumslfeld won't show up in Germany where War Crime charges are pending against him for fear of being arrested!

Rumsfeld skips security summit

Facing war crimes charges, Rumsfeld skips security summit

MUNICH — Claiming a prior commitment, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has decided not to attend the Munich Security Conference in February. But the decision may also be due to a war crimes complaint against him in a German court, according to Deutsche Welle.

In December, the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights filed the complaint with the Federal German Prosecutor’s Office, accusing Rumsfeld of war crimes and torture due to his involvement in the war in Iraq.

The defense secretary later sent a message to the German government through the U.S. embassy in Berlin that he wouldn’t attend the Feb. 11-13 meeting if there were a chance a case will be launched against him in Germany. When he informed the German government he would not take part in the conference, however, he didn’t refer to the charges.

In the Jan. 21 Münchner Abendzeitung newspaper, conference chief Horst Teltschik reported that Rumsfeld will instead send the Pentagon’s number three official, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith.

The Dangers of Abstract Nationalism

The Dangers of Abstract Nationalism - by William S. Lind: "In Europe, the state as an ideal died in World War I, in the mud at places like the Somme and Verdun. I suspect that the same thing is going to happen here after the American people have to confront the reality of America's defeat in Iraq. Bush's wild Wilsonianism is out of time; it is a ghost from an era long past, an illusion that is now sustained only by the public's trust that somehow our troops unquestionable valor in Iraq will bring victory. When it becomes clear to that public that valor alone is not enough, that a failed strategy brings defeat no matter how courageously soldiers and Marines may fight, the grand illusion will be followed by a profound bitterness and a turning inward. That turning inward could be a good thing for conservatives, if we can lead it toward a restoration of the American Republic as a curative for the follies of empire."

Hell of a Lot of Fun to Shoot Them

Col. Bill Kilgore's famous and decisive line about him "[loving] the smell of napalm in the morning" was memorialized in Apocalypse Now. In par with the parallels one can draw between the Vietnam War and whatever we are doing in the Middle East (something about freedom and Liberty, I reckon) we now have General Mattis opining about how much fun he has had shooting people in Afghanistan--And from what I gather, he is not referring to soldiers being shot either.

"According to an audio recording of Mattis' remarks, he said, 'Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right upfront with you, I like brawling.'

He added, 'You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,' Mattis continued. 'You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.'

His comments were met with laughter and applause from the audience."

Exclusive Ballots

Reading Justin Raimondo, I cam across this quote in his article which I find mighty interesting so far as parallels go:

"Iran is a working democracy, albeit one in which hardline mullahs have successfully resisted the popular reforms of liberal President Khatami. When Thomas Friedman was confronted with this reality on Monday's Charlie Rose show, he loudly protested that the hardliners are constantly kicking reformist candidates off the ballot – a complaint that Ralph Nader's supporters in this country might find ironic. We allow basically two parties, given the laws in most states that make ballot access difficult if not impossible for third party challengers, while the Iranians have a multiplicity of party and factional groupings."

Liberal Wimps for War- by Justin Raimondo

State of the Union Address

"'Today is Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address.' As Air America Radio pointed out, it is an ironic juxtaposition: 'one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication and the other involves a groundhog.'" (Thanks Bill!)

EDIT : The one thing that I come away with after having watched the SOTU Address is this: No Mission Accomplished moment... Boy, he has learned that lesson!

EDIT 2 : I thought the reference to asbestos lawsuits was a bit odd. But, it all makes sense here:
"Halliburton is piling up legal fees from Cheney-era mistakes. One of Cheney's largest deals was the $7.7 billion acquisition of Dresser Industries in 1998. At the time, only companies that had been directly involved in asbestos production and use were being held liable. But as the volume of asbestos-related claims rose, lawyers began to pursue companies that were tangentially connected to asbestos—yet still legally liable. Dresser had once owned a unit, Harbison-Walker, that used asbestos. When Harbison-Walker declared bankruptcy in 2002, Halliburton began to face massive claims. Last year, the company said it would put $4 billion in cash and stock into a trust to help settle such claims. As part of an effort to settle the claims once and for all, Halliburton is trying to engineer a bankruptcy filing for a major subsidiary."
Read more here.

EDIT 3 : David Corn writes in Capital Games:

"There was, of course, no mention of Iraq's (nonexistent) weapons of mass destruction. No recognition that America's standing in the world has fallen to an all-time low. No acknowledgment that the administration had failed to plan adequately for the post-invasion period. Bush has not a bashful bone. For him, the Iraqi election was a signal (from God?): full steam ahead. He did not shy away from the freedom-is-our-mission rhetoric of his inaugural speech, which was widely criticized for being cynically unrealistic.

[...]

Perhaps that's why he won in November. He repeated his assertion that Iraq "is a vital front in the war on terror, which is why the terrorists have chosen to make a stand there. Our men and women in uniform are fighting terrorists in Iraq, so we do not have to face them here at home." US forces in Iraq, according to the US military, are mostly fighting Baathists who had no intention of attacking the United States "at home" prior to the invasion."

Trip Inside the Red States

Filmmaker Chris Hume's is in the midst of a trip inside the Red States and has documented his trip--I was going to write a comment about it but I felt that it is best to view them and think of them what you will. ---->> Scroll down to the table:

Day One	Day Two
Day Three	Day Four
Day Five	Day Six
Day Seven	Day Eight
Day Nine	Day Ten
Day Eleven	Day Twelve

Interesting...

Old Men don't Skate

This is interesting. I guess that explains my aversion to take on overly riscky activities. Although, when come to think of it, this is nothing new: we have always known that younger people tend to be more agressive toward life than older ones.

Brain Immaturity Could Explain Teen Crash

"A National Institutes of Health study suggests that the region of the brain that inhibits risky behavior is not fully formed until age 25, a finding with implications for a host of policies, including the nation's driving laws."

Liberalism comes with enlightenment

I found this in the comment section of Matthew Yglesias' blog and thought it was rather an interesting description.

"Liberals see the world as inclusive. Everyone deserves equal opportunity and access, including conservatives. There is a place for conservatives in the liberals’ world; however the opposite is not true for conservatives. Conservatives are exclusive. There is no place for liberals in the conservative world. Conservatives are seemly incapable of realizing that if everyone left of center disappeared the center would then be the left, and even now, if you are far enough to the right the center seems left to you.

A world with out liberals is a fascist state. I don’t know what you call a world without conservatives, since being conservative in outlook is the more natural state. Liberalism comes with enlightenment."

What's next?

"What the left lacks is not a galvanizing messenger but a positive message, a set of energizing ideas and values. It’s not enough to oppose the invasion of Iraq or Bush’s plans for Social Security. That’s merely to react against someone else’s agenda. We must reverse the great (and startling) historical flip-flop in our political iconography. Forty years ago, the left represented the future — it crackled with pleasurable possibility — while the right symbolized the repressive past, clinging to dead traditions like shards of a wrecked ship. Change means movement, said the great organizer Saul Alinsky, and during the ’60s, the political counterculture had the passion to get things moving.

These days, all that has been stood on its head: In the wake of September 11, the right claims it wants to free oppressed people — why, democracy is on the march! — while the left is too often caught saying "I told you so" about the mess in Iraq, even as that country speeds toward an election that any decent human being should hope goes well. In 1968, who would have believed it possible that the left would be home to the dreary old "realists" while the right would be full of utopians?"

The article goes on to identify four things that the left should get back after having ceded them to the Right. Read on:

A Vision of Our Own