See previous post for why I'm posting this

Give me kittens or give me death!

Because some things just shouldn't be forgotten

The problem with the blogosphere, and I am reminded of this every time the annual awards roll around, is that there is so much great stuff, and so much crap, that it all tends to get lost or forgotten over time. Then one day you find yourself remembering bits and pieces of something you read, but can't remember where or when. Long story short, there's this:

Adults Wanted
by digby
12/18/05

...

These were extremists, to be sure, but the language on the floor of the congress often echoed this kind of thinking. Tom Delay, for instance, called the EPA the "Gestapo of government ... a bunch of jack-booted thugs.”

They won elections in the west and the south by swaggering around extolling the blessed Bill Of Rights and the need to keep the federal government at arms length because Real Men and Women don't need no Democrat sissy nanny state and her Big Brother taking away their rights.

9/11 changed everything. Suddenly the he-men of WalMart and the NRA leaped into Big Brother's arms and shrieked "save me, save me! Do what ever you have to do, they're trying to kill us all!" They now look to Daddy Government not to discipline the children, but to check under the bed for them every night, reassure them that the boogeyman won't hurt them and then read them a nice bedtime story about spreading freedom and democracy. It turns out that underneath all this swaggering bravado, the Republicans aren't the Daddy party --- they're the baby party.

...

This idea that we are living in a unique time that calls for special measures is what they always say. (And this current fantasy about the unique threat that proved our oceans couldn't protect us is particularly rich considering they fearmongered a communist threat of total annihilation for decades.) Often cooler heads are able to quell the worst excesses (like the fervent belief that we needed to launch a tactical nuclear war against the commies) and satisfy the right wing's other ongoing paranoid fantasy --- the left as a fifth column --- with silly, wasteful surveillance of animal rights groups or Quakers or former Beatles (along with pernicious surveillance of their partisan opponents.)

They are rhinestone cowboys who are scared to death and don't know how to contain their fear. So they lash out at their domestic political enemies, who they can bluster about and pretend to be tough, while hiding behind the military uniforms of their Big Brother and Preznit Daddy (which is a real stretch when it comes to Junior.)

The fact that they continue to win elections as being the tough guys perhaps says more about our puerile culture than anything else. They lash out like frightened children and too many people see that as courage or resolve.

Violent Islamic fundamentalism is a serious problem, not an existential threat. And it's a difficult problem that requires adults who can keep their heads about them when the terrorists put on their scary show, not big-for-their-age eight year olds staging a temper tantrum.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

#10 LSU 40, #9 Miami 3

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!

I should read more Brad Spangler

Despite all my blog-cruising, I don't think I've ever come across his. Anyway, he says what I've been thinking:

More on the topic of GOP libertarians

The most vigorous critics of the long standing subservience of some libertarians to the GOP continues to be — other libertarians. In response to David Friedman’s urging of a new libertarian & Democratic Party coalition, Unrepentant Jezebel of Christsploitation.com writes:

“…I’m not going to allow religious right GOP “libertarians” to overrun a perfectly tenable political philosophy (libertarianism / classical liberalism) in front of me and get away with it.”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I favor a revolutionary rather than a reformist approach. That doesn’t prevent me from observing that some reformists are more or less hypocritical than others. In fact, it puts me in an excellent position to observe exactly that.

If you think you’re a libertarian, but you support a political party whose head wages aggressive wars of conquest on false pretenses, shamelessly attempts to makes excuses for torture, asserts the President is above the law and, unbelievable as it may be, makes Bill Clinton look relatively fiscally conservative by comparison (the horror…) — then you’re not just wrong, you’re so majestically and completely divorced from reality that one has to marvel in awestruck wonder about exactly how you managed to wedge your cranium so far up your colon.

Go for the links, stay for the fun (Bush to take Chewbacca Defense at impeachment trial)

Kind of late

but in light of the victory of common sense in Dover, PA:

The Other I.D.: An interview with Don Wise, creator of "incompetent design"

Wikipedia: Incompetent Design

Mark Kleiman: ID = incompetent design

For use when encountering DDT nonsense

DDT ban myth bingo

There is a war on Christmas

Of course those fighting are ignorant of history.

I finally snapped..........{sigh}

All week long - at work and to a lesser extent at home - I've been spammed relentlessly -- by well-meaning family & friends -- with a slew of "Hey kids, let's get together and SAVE Christmas!" chain emails. I've deleted them without comment -- except the occasional eye-roll to the other non-Christians (I know who they are -- the forwarders apparently do not.......or maybe they do) who appeared in the list of forwardees............but one from today finally made me snap.

It started out with a picture of decorated tree, and beneath it said:

"It's a CHRISTmas tree -- get it you morons? CHRISTmas, CHRISTmas, CHRISTmas! And we're not going to let the filthy pagans destroy it!"

The person who sent it to me added her own commentary -- "I LOVE this! Pass it on to everyone you know!"

Ok, being a Pagan myself, this was the last straw. Nobody calls me - or any of the many lovely Pagans (truly among the very best people I know) of my acquaintance - filthy and gets a pass.

My response (done as a "reply all" to everyone she'd sent it to):

Dear Friends:

Greetings to all of you in this most festive of multi-holiday seasons.

So much has been written - and said - lately about protecting the symbols of Christmas -- this email being a perfect example -- that I thought we should discuss for a moment what those symbols are, and what they really mean.

Let's start with the "Christmas" tree. Many of you may not be aware that the tradition of placing decorated greenery (trees, boughs, etc.) at the hearth is actually a Pagan tradition which pre-dates the birth of Jesus by centuries. Since evergreens - unlike other trees - maintain their greenery year round, Pagans revered them as symbolic of the immortal nature of the Gods. Pagans would bring evergreens (either whole trees or just boughs depending on their local tradition) into the home during the winter solstice festival and decorate them with the symbols (coins, fruits, flowers, etc.) of the prosperity they hoped would visit their family in the coming year. Even the later tradition of decorating greenery with lights (the first being candles) has it's roots in Pagan traditions.

Yule logs........well, they are exactly what their name implies. In celebration of Yule, a special log would be brought to the hearth, wished upon and then lit from the remains of the preceding year's log (and kept burning until morning to ensure good luck in the coming year).

Holly, ivy and mistletoe -- yep, all Pagan, and symbolic of fertility and everlasting life.

Caroling -- you got it, Pagan as well. Celtic Pagans would travel from door-to-door with their "wassail" bowl (wassail being derived from the Anglo-Saxon term "Waes hael", meaning - literally - "be whole" - a blessing for good health and prosperity. The drink itself was a potent combination of spirits, spices, sugar and eggs -- somewhat similar to our current "eggnog"), gifting their neighbors with songs in exchange for a refilling of their wassail bowl and "snacks" (cakes and candies)..............and there you have not only the origin of the gift-giving tradition, but the reason why we leave snacks for Santa as well.

Last but not least, let's look at the day itself.........December 25th. Biblical scholars disagree as to when Jesus was actually born, with most of them leaning more towards early spring (mostly due to the account of shepards having "watched their flocks by night" - a practice they perform during lambing season in the spring), so why was December 25th chosen as the date to celebrate Jesus' birth? There was much debate in the early days of Christianty as to when - exactly - Jesus' birth should be celebrated. We have the Romans to thank for the date we currently observe.

In 270 ce, the Roman emperor Aurelian - recognizing the existence of many different Pagan - as well as Christian - sects within the empire sought to blend all the differing solstice celebrations into a single festival - Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun - on December 25th. This date was later adopted by the Catholic Fathers in Rome -- circa 320 ce -- in an attempt to co-opt the existing Pagan celebrations........their hope being that this would aid in their push to convert the remaining Pagan religions to Christianity - especially, Catholicism........and it worked.

So, my friends, there you have it. Most of the "traditional" symbols of "Christmas" are actually traditions which were stolen from the Pagans. If you want to preserve the "symbols of Christmas", then you might want to come up with some.....you know, of your own.

Oh, and since you're being such jerks about it.........and I think I can speak on behalf of all FILTHY Pagans everywhere.............these symbols belong to US, and you can't have them anymore. You've done enough damage with them - and to them - already, so we're taking them back.

Your Friend,

The Filthy Pagan

ps.........we'll leave you the nativity. That one you can have.

Whos of goodwill love their Consti-Who-Tion

Whos of goodwill love their Consti-Who-Tion

Rosa Brooks | Special to the Los Angeles Times
Posted December 21, 2005

The Whos down in Who-ville

Were a tolerant lot:

Who Christians, Who Muslims -- a Who melting pot.

Who Hindus! Who atheists! Who Buddhists, Who Jews!

Who Confucians, Who pagans,

And even Who Druze!

The Who First Amendment's Establishment Clause

Said, "No creches in courts," and the Whos loved their laws.

Because somehow ... they worked. The Whos rarely fought,

Mostly, each Who did just what he ought.

Every Who down in Who-ville

Loved the Consti-Who-tion a lot.

But the O'Reilly, who lived up in Fox-ville,

Did NOT!

The O'Reilly DETESTED the Who Consti-Who-tion,

He thought it was some sort of liberal pollution.

Now, please don't ask why, for I really don't know.

Perhaps it had something to do with his show.

It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right.

Or it could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.

But I think that the most likely reason of all

May have been that his RATINGS

Were two sizes too small.

Well, whatever it was, bad ratings or tight shoes,

He stood there one Christmas, just hating the Whos.

"They're so multicultural," he sneered, "and wherever they're from,

They lack the good sense to just launch a pogrom!

There's no Who ethnic cleansing, no Who Inquisition,

If this PEACE can't be stopped, I may lose my position.

Those sensitive, tolerant Whos! It's quite grating.

I must think of something to fix my show's ratings!"

Then he said with a smirk, "I know just what to do

To destroy all the joy in the land of the Who!

I think I can end that PC Who peace.

This year, not one Who will enjoy his Roast Beast!

"Here's just how I'll do it:

I'll tell each Who Christian

That the liberal Whos have devised a new mission

To take away Christmas!

To mock and destroy

Till no little Who Christian is left with a toy!

And when secular Whos -- most likely Who Jews --

Attempt to deny it? Why,

I'll just SPIN THE NEWS!

"I'll bluff and I'll lie; I'll sow seeds of mistrust.

Soon they'll form battle lines into

Who 'THEM' and Who 'US,'

Based on which Whos prefer

To sing out, 'Merry Christmas'

And which Whos say, 'Kwanzaa!'

Or 'None of your business!'

"They'll get so confused and so MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD

That they won't even notice the way

They've been HAD!

They'll be so busy squabbling

They won't notice the war!

They won't care if Who rich

Start to trample Who poor!

"Forget torture, and terror, and taxes, and health!

They'll waste all their time on some red-hatted elf.

"And the Who Consti-Who-tion?

They'll stretch it or burn it!

If it came as a gift, they would try to return it!

"The Who Christians will think that they fight the good fight,

They won't know that they're puppets of the Fox-ville Far Right.

They'll forget all that DRIVEL about faith, hope and LOVE

And say 'Merry Christmas' with a sneer and a shove.

"But I? I will prosper! My ratings will soar,

And maybe at last they'll forget I'm a BOOR.

Then for every Who Christmas tree

A most fitting adornament:

My O'Reilly MUG on the tackiest ornament!"

. . . And what happened then?

Well, the rest's up to you.

But I know what I'd like this holiday season:

A little less NOISE and a little more reason.

So Who Christians! Who Buddhists! Who Muslims! Who Jews!

WHOever you are, just say NO to Fox "News!"

If you don't want to lose the whole Who Consti-Who-tion

It's time to reject the Far Right Revolution.

So turn off O'Reilly and everyone shrill,

Let's have some peace

And old-fashioned GOODWILL.

Rosa Brooks is an associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. She wrote this commentary for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.

Pipes is a douchebag

Pulled this from James Wolcott, Daniel Pipes Loses Control of His Facilities

"But I agonized whether it would last. 'Are Americans truly ready to sacrifice liberties and lives to prosecute seriously the war against militant Islam? I worry about US constancy and purpose.'

No, Mr Pipes. I will not sacrifice ANY of my liberties so that you can sleep more comfortably. You can kiss me ass on that one. To quote Toots at DU:

GIVE ME DEATH Any person that wants to take away my RIGHTS as an American Citizen or any other American's Rights is my Enemy and the Enemy of America.....The line in the sand is drawn...

Because the Sentinel will never print it

Enemy of the Constitution
The New York Times, after sitting on the story for over a year, finally revealed that the President was circumventing this nation's laws in order to spy on Americans. For some reason, the criticism I've seen is wrongly leveled at the Times for daring to print the story. The fact is, George Bush had no such authority, has violated the Constitution and broken the law, and at some point quietly declared himself king.

Our Founding Fathers fought against this very behavior in the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights were written to document the grievances, and establish a government to protect the rights of citizens. I would recommend that before anyone faults the Times they read these documents. Our nation exists because of them. The President took an oath to defend them; sadly for this nation he has failed. And just as sadly, Congress will never hold him accountable for his transgressions.

Sentinel LTTE dumbass

Today's winner is...Wesley W. Brumback of Oviedo. Mr Brumback takes all the tired, over-used right wing talking points about Vietnam and manages to combine them into a single letter. Unfortunately for Brumback, they are all bullshit. Congratulations Orlando Sentinel for being dumbasses as well, actually printing this letter.

Posted December 18, 2005

Many thanks to Charles M. Grist for his recent column. It's ironic that the two biggest critics of the war in Iraq are men with distinct ties to our only failed military operation (Vietnam).

Sen. John Kerry returned from serving and promptly gave false testimony before Congress in the "famed" Winter Soldier Hearings. Kerry not only lied about the actions of the men he left behind, he also later admitted that the evidence he gave was "hearsay." His testimony contributed greatly to the demonization of our servicemen during and after the war. Today, Kerry labels our men as terrorists and equates Iraq with Vietnam.

Sen. Teddy Kennedy led Congress to cut funding for the South Vietnamese army, leading to its defeat. As outlined in the brilliant A Better War by Lewis Sorley, the policy of pacification and extensive training of the South Vietnamese army had led to a strong turnaround on the battlefield by the U.S. and its ally. Kennedy thought then, as he does now, that abandoning an ally at a critical time was worth the risk to America as long as he was able to achieve political gain.

I am sure those in agreement with the senators feel they are preventing the deaths of future American servicemen. I have personal knowledge that those who have served in Iraq feel their mission is a just, noble and worthy endeavor. These senators would pull us out of Iraq at the first politically opportune moment, allowing our losses suffered to be in vain and leaving America threatened by another, greater, terrorist threat.

Yes, Wesley Brumback, you are a dumbass. A dumbass who doesn't know history. And an (dis)honorable mention to the Sentinel.

Who is Tammy Bruce?

Ask, and ye shall receive.

Rudy Guiliani is a dick

If anybody thinks otherwise, direct them here.

Christmas lights gone wild

And even better, it's set to Wizards in Winter, by Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Christmas Lights

And here's a link to a clip from his interview.

Promote the Bill of Rights

mybillofrights.org

Our mission is to promote awareness and respect for the Bill of Rights as the foundation of our individual freedoms, our laws, and the American system of justice, through the design and crafting of Bill of Rights displays to be placed on public lands throughout America, beginning with those sites where displays of the Ten Commandments are currently found.

Fucking Wall Street Journal

Oh that liberal media. During one of the WSJ news segments during Thom Hartmann's show today, they started out "Inflation had its largest drop in 56 years." Wow, you say, that's great. Uh huh. Then they went on. "Gas prices dropped 16%, but without energy actual consumer prices INCREASED by 0.2%." While this is not a significant jump, it is still a JUMP. But you'd never know the inflation news was actually BAD.

And gas prices today in our area are up almost 15 cents in THE LAST WEEK. Hmmmm...

Update: Here's an angrybear link that has the correct numbers

Since the Sentinel has blacklisted me

Except for one LTTE a long time ago, the Orlando Sentinel has ignored everything I've sent them. It shouldn't be difficult to get a letter printed every now and then, especially considering some of the shit they do print. Therefore, here's my latest that they will probably ignore;

Bad for America
Thank you for printing the editorial from Alberto Gonzalez in support of the Patriot Act. He is the best argument possible against it. Remember, this is the man that was negligent in his counsel regarding dozens of executions in Texas. In a written memo to the President, he stated that terrorism "renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions." Gonzalez argued for torture, writing a memo that included the opinion that laws prohibiting torture do "not apply to the President's detention and interrogation of enemy combatants."

The Patriot Act has never been demonstrated to prevent terrorism, and would not have prevented the events of September 11. All it does is infringe on our liberties. Clearly Alberto Gonzalez has no respect for the Constitution, and his support all but assures that it is bad for America. Let's hope that the US Senate agrees.

It's a regular Swiss Army knife

The Second American Civil War

The plot of a new novel by T. Edward Allen, AXIOM - the Second American Civil War, sounds interesting, though the first chapter (available for free) is not really long enough to tell. He could have easily added a couple of pages, giving it more impact and color. Debating on whether to order it...

You said it

Oh man, fuck Christmas.

Hinged vs hingeless

I recently bought a pair of hingeless sunglasses. While it's nice not to have to worry about the hinges breaking or getting loose, I never realized how convenient it was to have them there. Used to hang them from my shirt collar, or a strap on my backpack. Now I have to carry them in one hand, since the titanium frames don't let me hang them anymore. Guess I could wear them on my head, but the frames aren't really long enough to be effective that way. Just something to keep in mind when deciding on hinges or no. Nevertheless, these are great sunglasses.

Serengeti Stratus

Diminishing asset

Apparently Deborah Howell, the Washington Post's new ombudsman, isn't too up on economics. At least she doesn't understand the terms "credibility" and "asset."

Deborah Howell calls his [ed: Dan Froomkin's White House Briefing] column “highly opinioned and liberal.” She says political reporters in the Post newsroom don’t like it. “They're afraid that some readers think that Froomkin is a Post White House reporter.” She quotes John Harris, national political editor at the print Post, who says, "The title invites confusion. It dilutes our only asset -- our credibility."

Yes, truth is liberal by her definition.

Very cool

From CNN:

RETRACING THE 2004 HURRICANE SEASON

Wicked

Irony. I've never seen The Wizard of Oz (yes, it's true). I've never seen a Broadway play (or even an off-Broadway play). So what is my first Broadway show? Wicked.

I will say it was enjoyable...and knowing somebody in the cast helped (as did the spectacular fifth row seats he managed for us). But mostly, these two:




were amazing as:

Oh, and even better:

Fuck Haley Barbour

Typical of Republican hypocrisy, Barbour is now complaining about the very people and system he helped to put into place.

Passage of a $35 billion Katrina federal relief package, Gov. Haley Barbour and other state and local leaders lament, is overdue and crucial to Mississippi's recovery.

Ahh, Chicago

Just returned from Chicago - man was that cold. We got there just in time for their first December blizzard in many years. Our plane was forced to circle for almost 45 minutes while they plowed the runways at Midway, and then they grounded everything right after we landed. Three hours later, a Southwest jet slid off the runway onto a street, hit a car and killed a kid.

That night we were supposed to see Wicked at the Oriental theater. We trudged two blocks through four inches of snow from the el stop to the theater, dragging our luggage (our ride couldn't get to Midway because of the snow), only to have the show cancel (the theater was having power failures). Fortunately our ride managed to make it to the theater (he was going to the show with us), so we weren't stranded in the Loop.

Sentinel LTTE dumbass

Today's winner is... Richard Herndon of Clermont. He commits the common mistake of claiming to be a Democrat, and then espousing Republican talking points. And to make it worse, today he is using Joe Lieberman to support his case. Whoops!

Posted December 5, 2005

On Tuesday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman wrote a brave and compelling article in the Wall Street Journal on why "Our Troops Must Stay" in Iraq. In it he presented a very positive view of what is happening in Iraq. He pointed out that 80 percent of the Iraqis believe that things will be better next year. He stated that in two-thirds of Iraq there is little violence. He stated that the Iraqi economy is growing. He stated that even the Sunnis are campaigning for the December election in a free and open press.

He seems to be the only Democratic leader who is brave enough to look at what is really happening there and has the wisdom to see the strategic value of success in Iraq. Is he the only Democratic leader who can see past the short-term political advantages of trying to make President Bush look bad?

All Americans need to know of the real success that is happening in Iraq. All Americans need to see that when 8 million Iraqis vote, we are winning. All Americans need to see that only by planting democracy in the Middle East will we ever win the war on terror.

As a lifetime Democrat, I think that if the Democratic Party ever wants to get back in power, its members need to listen to Lieberman.

Yes, Richard Herndon, you are a dumbass. It is exactly BECAUSE of Democrats like Lieberman that the party is in the position it is.

If the children are our future...

then we are totally fucked.
And in my book, it's a cult.

Rumsfeld's War

I must get to this

Maureen Dowd simplifies the Plame affair

From her appearance on David Letterman:

"All you need to remember is two words: Cheney's guilty."