The Art of Compromise

"You Couldn't Wear It"

I hate to say "I told you so...but dangit, I told you so."

And so it begins. As part of the compromise to renew Malones pet project, the PATRIOT Act, the reach was extended to cover meth. So now, not only do the Feds want to know what your talking to AQ about, they want to know when you have a stuffy nose by "requiring purchasers to show identification and sign a log book. Once you sign for your medicine, your name becomes part of "a functional monitoring program" that would "allow law enforcement officials to track and ultimately prevent suspicious buying behavior of ingredients for meth production,"

I called that the "war on drugs" would get PATRIOT provisions (alas, in a person to person conversation, so I can't link to it and prove my awe inspiring brilliance), while Mr. Malone felt that I was too negative to assume gtovermental creep. Once again, Stalin's naive and unyielding trust in the Feds has been betrayed. I just have this image in my mind of a COPS episode. W escorted out of the house in a wife beater, with Malone crying in the background, screaming "Leave him alone, he's changed. He won't hurt me agian, he said its different this time." Nope, they never are. Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do...

Makes you want to punch that polar bear right in the kisser

Is there a "regime change" coming to UAE? The AP says that the UAE had links to Binny. Given that suspected high level talks between Binny and Iraq were one of the reasons for the invasion (and one of the few left), doesn't this mean that UAE is also a threat to the US? If so, book your trip to the indoor ski resort before its too late, and sell you private island.

Um...Mr. President, don't you mean the "White House," or maybe, "I've" reveiewed?

W taking the Royal we invokes, "After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward." About said port transfer. Seems to me congress didn't review anything, hence their questions. Last I checked the White House was one component of "our" governemnt. "Our" government has three branches. Also interesting that he didn't say "I." Probably because he was unaware of his office's approval of the transfer until after it became an issue.

For the nitpicky, there's a little known clause put in in a 1993 amendment to these types of sales that stipulates that a 45 day investigation is mandatory when the acquiring company is "controlled by or acting on behalf of a foreign government."

Maybe the Patriot Act gives him authority to get around that too. It does explain how the White House became "our" government.

Well...um...you see there was this attack...and...

Regarding the proposed purchase of port authority by the UAE, W says, "I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company."

I Say We Just Brand Them With a Giant "D"

Maryland Democrat Herman Taylor has a great idea, he want's the state to issue special license plates with DUI letters to drivers with two or more DUI convictions. Taylor, who apparantly never read the constitution, says, ""(The bill) will allow (police) to, without probable cause, pull them over and check" their driving records." Clearly no reader of this blog he. Granted he may be a little biased because a "drunken driver struck him last May, and at the time of the crash, police had no idea that person was a multiple offender." What I'm trying to figure out is how the DUI tag would have prevented that accident. It would make more sense to make all DUI offenders place sirens and blinking lights on their car so at least you could avoid them.

No, what would make the most sense is to take the licenses away from drivers convicted of a DUI. There shouldn't be multiple DUI's because you shouldn't be driving if you've proven you can't hanlde it and are a danger to the rest of us. No constitutional infringments, just the removal of a privilage they've shown they don't deserve.

"It just seems silly to chase around the Riddler when you've got al-Qaida out there"

THIS is why I love the Jews

Es la ley!

Whoever wilfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, his creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.

Denmark? No.
Canada? No.
Some Islamist nation? Nope.
The Vatican? No way Jose.

Yup, its Taxachussets. Chapter 272: Section 36. Blasphemy

I'm especially proud because I found this all by my lonesome. And Stalin says we never break anything. Well, M3K does, but only after Chilifest (zoweee!).

Which sci-fi crew fits you?

Survey said Deep Space 9

Oh, Canada

What's Norwegian for "Neutered"?

Testing, one, two, three

I can't help but think that the west in being tested, even inadvertantly, with this whole cartoon thing. From the rapid response of the "demonstrators" to the media and governmental responses, to the way the cartoons were manipulated by the muslims in the first place to the fact that when they originally ran in Egypt no one cared. And the west failed. Terrorists must have noticed the way the west panicked and capitulated to the extremest demands. The fear is just too noticeable. No other group, ever, has managed to extend their sub-desires to the global community like this. I can only look at this as a major victory for the terrorist community. The damage that these extremests have caused to the western pshyche is amazing and troubling. These cartoons are not the last of this strategy, even if the terrorists have stumbled onto something.

If I only had a brain

Read this interesting piece on student visas (yes I said interesting). Apparantly, the only way to get a student visa in the US is to promise to leave as soon as you get it. So, the thinking goes, "hey come here, get your PhD, maybe even on scholarhship, and then leave before the US can get any benefit of your new education. Hurry! Get out, we don't want your lousy highly educated kind sticking around. Go home, and give them the benefit of your knowledge, learned here, on our dime. If you don't we'll arrest and deport you." I'm no immigration expert, but I think all PhD's should be excempt from any immigration quotas. Period. We'll take you if you want to come and your smart and home working. Seriously, we want you.

The Joker

There are times when I think about how close this guy came to being president and I get that feeling in my chest that you get when you lean back too far in a chair and have to catch yourself at the last second before tumbling backwards.

Hey maybe the founding fathers were on to something afterall

The National Journal has been looking into the claims v. reality of Administration statements about GITMO, GWOT, and the like. Here, here, here, but start here. I hope these come through. My favorite is the quote that a majority of those at GITMO are there becasue they were fingered by reward seeking warlord and villagers. Well thats sound. "Here, we'll give you money if you turn in someone you don't like, saaaaay, a rival. We'll take them away forever, so you win. So you get money, no rival, and probably get whatever you're fighting over. Understand? But only use this power for good, and no cheating, you folks that have been fighting for centuries." How can that go wrong? How can that lead to false arrests? Or put more succintly, "It was "win-win," Haqqani said. "The Americans get their prisoners, Pakistanis get their praise, the guy who captures the prisoners gets his reward, and Al Qaeda gets its escape." Good thing the prisoners don't have the right to question their imprisonment. Habeus Corpus is for suckers. Ahh, the sweet smell of victory.

This part just made me sad:
The tribunal hearings, based largely on such guilt-by-association logic, have been travesties of unfairness. The detainees are presumed guilty unless they can prove their innocence -- without help from lawyers and without being permitted to know the details and sources of the evidence against them. This evidence is almost entirely hearsay from people without firsthand knowledge and statements from other detainees desperate to satisfy their brutally coercive interrogators. One file says, "Admitted to knowing Osama bin Laden," based on an interrogation in which the detainee -- while being pressed to "admit" this, despite his denials -- finally said in disgust, "OK, I knew him; whatever you want."

And finally, this made me scared:
Bush said, "I know for certain ... that these are bad people" Well, if he knows "for certain" then that explains why we don't need the courts.

I heard a great statement about prayer. "There are those who pray they make the right decision, and those who believe they made the right decision becasue they pray." I admire those in the former, and fear those in the latter.

Yeah, what he said.

Glenn Greenwald does a solid job of making my point on the modern conservative (which I'm not, that's all you Stalin "Vader" Malone) v. the traditional conservative (which I am, as Luke, I'll bring you back to the good side Vader)(M3K gets to be Yoda, always spouting off in some language that's sort of english, but not really). Its long, but worth the read, and its worth hitting the embedded links.

Preserve Capital Foundation

Looking through the WSJ's breakdown of W's budget proposal I came across this idea (I'd post it but you have to be a subscriber-everyone should be). The "death tax" brought in about $24 billion last year. W requested $12.5 billion next year for Laura's "Preserve America" initiative (and all I got my little lady was one of those valentines bears for CVS). If he lets the initiative go to the private sector, he's more that 50% towards covering the death-tax short fall. He can hit two goals at once. Ridding us of a tax, and pushing the private sector to do the charity of the federal government. Everyone wins. Well, I'm off to the mid-east.

Cartooning out of control

I originally thought that this cartoon thing would die out. It's not. I think the cartoon issue, and the reactions to it, on all sides, illustrates something that I can't quite put into words...yet. Michelle Malkin calls out what she calls the "War on Free Press." I'm going to take a quick shot at my view, this is off the cuff and largely stream of thought, so feel free to hammer away.

Malone and I go back and forth about risk. He views the risk from a protection from government side. "You can't take all the risk out of warrantless wire-taps" and I view the risk from outside attack, "You can't take all the risk out of another
terrorist attack." We're both trying to assess the risks, and how they interplay, but we also view these risks from very different perspectives. I don't view him as cowardly, and I assume he doesn't view me as alarmist.

However, I do view many in the press and politics as cowards. I have this gut feeling that too many American's are happy and supportive of our troops facing daily danger to fight for the "American Way," but when that risk of harm comes to them, they race to surrender whatever it takes to "feel" safe. Be it the Fourth Amendment, Freedom of speech, whatever. The press wants, rightfully, full freedom to publish photos of prisoner abuse in Iraq, but quickly sensor themselves over some really, really benign cartoons. The difference is risk. This can only be because they know the military will not riot and harm them, but they think some random Islamist will, so "shhhhh." That, to me, is cowardly. I'm willing to take physical risk at home largely because I'm asking our soldiers to die to protect my rights.

Globally, our fight for certain ideals is getting lonely. Canada's made itself useless. The EU is a joke. South Africa, Poland and Ukraine pre-emptively surrendered to the threat of attack from a few hundred muslims in Denmark. Very brave. I'm at a complete loss. I don't think the total number of deaths has reached 10, and the free-world is falling over itself to surrender its freedoms. We skirt that position, and that's what scares me. The reaction from the press and world governments is amazing given the relative size of the riots. What is causing all this fear? What would it be like if they had the ability to cause real harm? Would everyone just quit and become one large muslim state.

Gonzalez wondered if Binny was smiling during the congressional "hearings" (an amazing farce on every level, utterly disgraceful) into the illegal wire-taps. He can only be giddy with joy at his latest victory. I want very badly for Bush to lash out at the cowards. Then I would be giddy with joy.

Looks like Stalin is going to be camping out in the Toys-R-Us parking lot

Try not to get it ripped out of your hands by a girl scout like last time...

Score one for Bush

Having leveled enough critisims about W to bore the world, I thought I'd highlight two things I think he nailed.
One, I love his reaction to the Hamas elections. Over the few days following the election his statements were basically, "hey this is what happens in an election. The people speak, we can't be upset if they don't choose what the West wants." For example, "When you give people the vote, you give people a chance to express themselves at the polls," Mr. Bush said. "If they're unhappy with the status quo, they'll let you know." To any follower of US' exportation of democracy, this is a huge shift. In the past, if a new democracy elected someone counter to US desires, that person didn't last long, I'm looking at you Chile. It does appear that Bush genuinely cares about democracy, and his reaction to Hamas' win says more about his goals in the Middle East than he's getting credit for. I hope, with fingers crossed, that this lasts.
His follow-up is also excellent. Rather than dote on the new election, he's making it clear that Hamas must reject its "Israel must be destroyed" mantra before he will deal with them. Love that too. I view it as, "OK, you're playing with the big boys, now act like it. Give up the silliness or we can't take you seriously." I just don't think he's getting his due on this. Even in the conservative sites I've visited, this is getting no attention. Well, no more I say, no more.

Cartoon Coffins

I think its time to talk about the cartoon controversy. At first I thought this would flame out, but it turns out its flaming on. People are getting killed over some cartoons, which you can see here. One, they seem very mild to me, I draw meaner pictures of Stalin Malone in my oatmeal every morning. Having said that, lets review the actions of several US actors. One, the US media. Won't show them. No way, no how. So we have a free, but cowardly press. Very nice. If these cartoons aren't news, then what is? Is this how the mighty "4th wing" handles things? The Danes showed them again after the first wave of protest. Now that's the way to go. I wonder where the MSM gets its cue. Clinton warns about a rising anti-Islamic prejudice. Note, this is the same President who said nothing about Piss Christ. That's a-ok, but some mild cartoons about Mohammed, and, well, that's the time to step up and condem anti-religious actions. He also doesn't take the time to talk about the importance of free speech. But why should he when the press is falling over itself to NOT show the cartoons? I've heard that Kerry has made similar remarks, but I couldn't find them, but I don't doubt for a second that he said something equally as silly. Well if the press and the Dems are running scared, then the GOP should be standing up against this "threat." Well...no. The State Department says this while failing to call out any anti-Christian or Jewish cartoon over the last...ever. I think this coddling goes directly agianst Bush's speech in March where he says, "They hate our freedom. They hate our freedom to worship. They hate our freedom to vote. They hate our freedom of the press. They hate our freedom to say what you want to say. They can't stand what we stand for." THAT I loved.
So to review, the US press won't show them, the same press that will show ANYTHING, Clinton thinks that these cartoons are the start of a level of prejudice that rivals anti-Semitism, while he remained silent on true religious desicration, and the GOP is choosing to look the other way. I guess I can tell who's winning this war of ideals. Now, heaven help us if Hillary wins, her opportunism makes her husband look naive (that one's for you Malone).

Well at least he HAD body armor

I can see why Malone is so comfortable when the GOP calls anything "limited"

Because we all need the feds help on everything we do, and the new GOP controlled government (meet the new boss, its the same as the old boss) isn't happy unless its involved with every aspect of your life, congress is proposing to spend $750 million to help with your marriage. Whew, now THAT's fixed. My favorite line is, "Congress approved a $750 million, five-year plan aimed at building healthier marriages Wednesday as part of its deficit reduction bill." You can't write that. Seriously, you just can't make this up. This is clearly must have spending. Crucial. It's a miracle marriage has lasted the thousands of years it has without congress' help. Again I ask, how does anyone support this "limited government" GOP. Why not just acknowledge that the party in control is just as liberal as Ted Kennedy's Democrats, and we can go about trying to figure out who really want's less government, and who just wants contol to spend our money on their visions.

I'm going to be famous

With Valentines Day coming up, I'm lauching a new group and website. No names yet, thats where my fellow bloggers come in. But here's the focus. I want to declare war on Valentines Day, Easter and St. Patricks Day. Christmas gets all the focus, but I'm tired of Religious freaks pushing their values on me. So for now on, February 14 is "Love day" or if your single "Your a Loser Day." Easter is now "Magic Rabbit lays Candy Eggs Day" or "LSD Day." And St. Patricks Day is now, "Drunk Day." No longer will I tolerate the Christian right telling me how to love, drink, or what candy I can eat of a magic animal's butt.

Ease Your Mind, Blo

This should ease that lil' civil libertarian in your heart...if just a little. No evil right wing plot to silence dissent. Just stodgy old rules of dignified conduct taken a half step too far.

One Day...

It took one full day for the White House to back off its goal of reducing Middle East oil dependency. It seems President George Orwell only meant that as an "example." Recall this:

Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. (Applause.) By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past. (Applause.)

However, "This was purely an example," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said. This makes sense. Weren't we on some kind of "mission" to get a man to mars? It also explains "mission accomplished." To Bush its not so much about setting goals and achieving them, its more about saying things as examples of what would be cool. It sure would be cool to get a man to mars. It sure would be cool if Iraq was mission accomplished way back when, and it sure would be cool to decrease our dependence on Mideast oil (which, as I stated here doesn't make sense anyway).

I'm going to climb Mt. Everest. I'm going to cure cancer. I'm going to end all wars. Vote for me, like me, praise me, follow me, trust me. Don't worry that those aren't goals in the sense of things I'm going to actively try to do. They're more like examples of things I think are neat.

When does the dam break. When do people stop believing this stuff, when do people expect accountability and the truth? When will my Donnie and Marie tribute band finally get that record deal?

I Spy With My Little Eye

I'm confused by some recent polling numbers I've seen. As a general rule, Americans are against spying on Americans. Also as a genereral rule, Americans are for spying terrorists on US soil. Taken as separate items, both make sense. However, its not like terrorists walk around wearing "Destroy America Now, Ask Me How" baseball caps. The only way to spy on all the terrorsts in America is to spy on all Americans. This is where the two polls cease to make real sense. Everyone's gung-ho on doing what it takes and bending/destroying rules to get terrorists, but no one seems to understand the process. You can't say, "I'm for warrantless wiretaps on them" because to be effective, that means warrantless wiretaps on all. One can certainly make the freedom for safety trade, but I think the terms of that trade should be made clear.

POTUS SOTU

I missed the big speech last night. But reading the transcript brought to mind an old issue with spending "cuts." Years ago, the Dems destroyed the GOP's attempt to alter medicare by claiming that the GOP was cutting benefits, while the GOP said that they were merely decreasing the rate of growth, and that's not a cut. The GOP cried "foul!" OK. Now, Bush is claiming he's cut discressionary spending on his watch, but the reality is that the rate of growth has (debatably) decreased, not actual spending. The GOP applauds. So when's a cut a cut, and when is slowing growth a cut, and not a cut?

Quickly looking at other items. I'm a huge fan of getting off of oil. But, you can't target "Mid-East" oil as oil is a global commodity. No matter where you buy it, if Saudi or Iran cut prodution, the price rises...period. So the reality is that its kind of all or nothing. I think its crucial from an economic security, and physical security standpoint, and this is where the Feds should be investing our tax money. However, zero emission coal plants are a crazy expensive dream, and we all know my feelings on the actual expense of nuclear. His hydrogen car push is a neat idea, but not much has happened with this since his last big push for hydrogen cars, its still not funded, and no one thinks it will be, so I'm doubtful on this latest push as well. Clean diesel has great potential, better emissions and better fuel economy, than hybrids, and the new standard just took effect in January.

The rest seems fairly boilerplate.