If It Doesn't Fit, You Must Acquit

Or, in this case, if you can't find any photographic proof of Bush with Abramoff, it never happened.

Something is (not) Rotten in Denmark
This is something I haven't heard anything about, and I consider myself fairly well-read. Apparently, the Muslim world has declared war on Denmark for 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. This has been going on for months. Unfortunately, it has taken an economic turn in the Middle East, but I applaud the Danish government for stating they have no control over what is essentially a freedom of speech issue. This is a fundamental difference between Islam and the rest of the world: most Western countries have separation of Church and State, but that idea is so completely foreign to Muslims, they can't understand why the government wouldn't censure the media over a religious issue when asked. That is why societies that do not separate Church and State will never truly have any freedoms. That's why Hamas was elected to the Palestinian Parliament and why there will never, ever be peace in Israel unless they manage to become a secular society. I haven't yet found pictures of the cartoons online, but I'm still looking.

Bush Destroys New Orleans Again
Now the White House has "(withheld) support from a major Congressional reconstruction plan" for New Orleans. But, remember Bush's speech from New Orleans in September? He said, "Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes. We will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives." Obviously it was a ploy to help boost his sagging approval rating. "Congress had cleared $60 billion of funds to be spent on the reconstruction effort, he said, and more would be forthcoming," but this January, 25th article states that Congress has only appropriated $6.2 billion, only 1/10th of what was earlier reported. Are we surprised? Sadly, no.

Dennis Rodman Signs One-Game Deal
"Rodman, who on Wednesday was evicted from the Celebrity Big Brother show, will face Guildford Heat at the Brighton Triangle on Saturday." I didn't know Dennis Rodman was on Celebrity Big Brother UK this season. George Galloway was, too, but both have been evicted. I would like to have seen those episodes.

The Gross Factor
Ok, this is just disgusting. This scorpion lived inside a plaster mold for 15 months and then crawled out when it was opened! The scientist had a clearer frame of mind than I would have had. I would have crushed the little booger.

Income Inequality
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. That's not new news, but a couple of reports confirm it. Bush and his administration have unleashed an unrelenting and unapologetic attack on the middle and lower classes. It's almost comical how unbalanced his policies have been toward the wealthy. Until you view it from the bottom up, then it just becomes scary. At least the Republicans used to PRETEND that their policies were going to help the lower classes (remember how they tried to feed us Reaganomics? "If you make me richer, you'll eventually benefit from it because I'll buy more stuff and spend more money. You can manufacture my yacht, cook my food, clean my house, scrub my toilets, and park my car, mostly for minimum wage. See what a good economic policy this is?") I've been saying this for a while:

He also notes that when wealthier families see their incomes rise at a faster pace than everyone else, their spending can create what he calls an "expenditure cascade." That is, the demand for bigger and better homes or safer cars can create new standards for those lower down on the economic scale.
But since their incomes aren't growing as fast, they have a hard time keeping up, leading to what Frank calls "welfare loss." For example, as home prices rise, it becomes harder to afford a home in a neighborhood with good public schools.

A home isn't the only thing. What about when your son or daughter wants a new iPod ($300) and you make $7.00 an hour and barely pay for groceries? What about a new computer ($400-$1,200) to download songs, play PC games, burn DVDs, chat online, etc., like the wealthier kids get to do. What about the new iPod jeans all the kids will be wearing ($200)? What about the new Air Force Ones ($80+)? What about when all TV's become digital and everyone has to spend hundreds of dollars replacing their television sets? Most premium cable channels aren't available on regular cable any more. It's considered "low class" to even have regular cable. It's posh to have "digital cable" now, and a lot of channels aren't available unless you have digital cable, but that'll cost ya double or more what basic cable costs. Internet access is almost a basic necessity now, but access via a cable modem will cost ya $45/month. Besides, you can't have dial-up if you have no home phone. Not only are working-class citizens unable to keep up with the vacations, cars, and restaurants that upper-class people enjoy, "basic" things become not-so basic. Upper class kids who enjoy game-boys, lap-tops, iPods, PSPs, in-car DVD players, PS3's, X-box 360, "multi-media" PC's, digital surround sound and remote-everything can't comprehend children of working class parents who can't afford all the creature comforts they do. Just take cars. Luxury cars have navigational systems, heated seats, cruise control, MP3 players, surround sound, tilting headlights and all sorts of James-Bond type shit that "hoopties" don't have. I know people that have never ridden in a car that has airbags. Or cruise control. Or air conditioning. When the gap between rich and poor keeps widening, "basics" like air conditioning become luxuries when you live paycheck to paycheck. Why do you think dozens of elderly die each year because of heat? They can't afford air conditioning that Sam and Suzie Suburb enjoy normally. And, if more low-income houses and apartments were fitted with 1) wind- or solar-power and 2) better insulation, we could not only reduce costs for everyone (utility costs mainly), provide better living conditions for the elderly and infant poor, reduce the strain on public money by our poorest citizens, and help reduce our need for fossil fuels. All houses on fuel assistance and all now houses need to be mandated that they have solar panels.

The Osama I Know

The Osama I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader

I Can't Afford Wholefood
I always wondered why the WholeFoods Market chose Regency as the location for their one store in Omaha. Apparently, most of their stores are in affluent neighborhoods. They aren't targeting the long-haired barristas at your local coffee shop who tries to sell artwork to put himself through college but cares about the rainforest, too. No, those people don't have the disposable income to make a reliable customer base, good intentions or not. No, they are a multi-million dollar corporation targeting soccer moms and aging yuppies with a LOT of disposable income that are more than happy to waste it on products that stroke their ego.
"How can you say that my Chevroford Earth Destroyer 3000 4-Ton SUV is destroying the environment? The EPA recently upgraded it from 3 to 4 miles per gallon. I bought an organically grown cantaloupe from Guatemala, you asshole! I CARE about our environment. You WALKED to the corner market and bought tomatoes from NEBRASKA? SO WHAT?! You didn't buy them from the WHOLEFOODS MARKET!"
This article made me feel okay not to like WholeFoods. They always SEEMED a little to slick and well-packaged, but I couldn't put my finger on it until I read it. You want a reason to shop locally? How about a local grocer that actually tries to put back into the community?

The Right of Collective Bargaining
You know how you sit and daydream about things from the past? I was daydreaming today about a movement a couple of years ago by some employees here who began talk of unionizing. Now, I think certain sectors of my industry SHOULD be unionized. Front desk employees and housekeepers, for example, are routinely shit on by the public and are a couple of the lowest paid, hardest working employees in the travel industry. I don't necessarily feel that my particular corner of the travel industry needs to be unionized (although, I still disagree with reducing our raise percentages after 9/11), but I tell myself and everyone over and over that I am a firm believer in peoples' civil liberties. Among those liberties is the right of collective bargaining. No, it's not in the "Bill of Rights," but our government thought enough of it to enact the National Labor Relations Act, which gives employees certain rights when it comes to collective bargaining. All the managers were directed to tell their employees in team meetings what a bad idea unionizing would be. I can't remember exactly what was said, but there was also something about not talking about it on company time or company property, etc., which sounds dangerously close to "management coercion" to prevent unions. I'll be a lot more attentive if this issue arises in the future. I'm still reading the Act to familiarize myself with it and see if some of the boundaries were crossed in the past by management. Like I said, I'm not in any hurry to unionize my field, but I want my coworkers to be able to legally discuss it without fearing their jobs.

As if There Weren't Enough Reasons to Hate Wal-Mart
I stopped shopping at Wal-Mart quite a while ago. There are just too many reasons not to shop there any more. Don't get me wrong, I live paycheck-to-paycheck just like most Americans. However, I also recognize that shopping at Wal-Mart does not present me with enough savings to justify the low employee wages, union-busting, discrimination, child labor, and economic genocide that Wal-Mart creates for a community. Their cashiers can't afford to shop there, either.

Cronyism rears it's ugly head again
Now, Bush's cronies that fail to protect the public ("You're doing a heckuva job, Davy") can't even be bothered to testify before a Senate subcommittee. When will the Senate grow some balls and start "checking and balancing" the Executive branch? This is more and more seeming like the Roman Senate that ended up endlessly debating minor articles, while the emperor grew in power and ended up just bypassing them entirely.

Talk May Lead to Action
Thank god more than 50% of Americans polled now favor impeaching Bush for illegal wiretapping. Osama bin Laden pays attention to our public opinion polls. Hopefully our elected leaders are paying attention, too.

United States Secret Service Uniformed Division
I didn't know this. Apparently, the Patriot Act calls for the creation of a national, uniformed police force. Granted, their jurisdiction would be limited, but it's easier to take small steps and then expand them later. Isn't the abbreviation for the "Secret Service" the SS?

We all do dumb things...
but reading about dumb things other people do is especially fun. This is CNN Money's 101 Dumbest Moments in Business.

Bush's Spin Machine Winds Down

Well, not really winding down, but it is definitely spinning less smoothly than it used to. I actually had to stop posting to this blog for a while because the weight of the news was wearing on me.

Remembering John Walker Lindh (fondly)
I firmly understand why "God-fearing Christians" are confident in their faith and their patriotism. They unquestioningly accept whatever is spoon-fed to them by the powers-that-be. I remember the outrage and indignation I had that anyone would actually defect to the Taliban, as in the case of John Walker Lindh. I watched and read the news. I remember when the Taliban took over in 1996. I remember the subjugation of the media. I remember when they blew up the Buddha statues. But the mood and the press at the time did a fine job of making John Walker Lindh a focal point for all our hatred and anger from 9/11. Hell, there wasn't anyone else to focus on, and Saddam Hussein wasn't implicated in the least, so the un-American traitor who fell from Heaven (America) and joined Satan (Osama bin Laden) and his Legions from Hell (Taleban) was easy to digest at the time. I'm sure people reading newspaper accounts of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg felt the same way.
The only thing is, the true story, as told by John's father, is much simpler and much, much less diabolical. If you or I or any of our friends were Muslim (and our parents apparently could endlessly support our studying internationally), we could have found ourselves in the same situation John did.

Remembering William Jefferson Clinton (fondly)
I don't think Bill Clinton and the world get enough credit for their efforts to stop al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11/01. Remember the embassy bombings in Africa in 1998? It was during the HEIGHT of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Bill Clinton immediately retaliated against al Qaeda strongholds, but was lambasted by the media. This was just a couple of years after the movie Wag the Dog came out, about the president creating a fake war to take the heat off of him fondling a little girl. Read these comments from the BBC news website. See how many people thought there was no justification in attacking the al Qaeda strongholds? In fact, the UN imposed sanctions against Afghanistan because they were harboring Osama bin Laden and he was known to be the leader of al Qaeda and responsible for the attacks on the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. It makes a LOT more sense now, doesn't it, looking at it through the "prism of 9/11".

Remembering George W. Bush (not so fondly)
Ok, lets have a brief rundown on the wonderful news about our faithful leader this month:

• Article after article about the failures of the wonderful new Medicare drug plan. It is such a fiasco that several states have delcared emergencies as thousands of people were left uncovered and under-covered.
• It just isn't sinking in that his wiretaps are illegal. The White House is already preparing for impeachment hearings.
• The rebuilding of Iraq was botched so badly that more money is missing than most nations have in GNP each year.
• Bush declared the economy "was heading into 2006 'with a full head of steam'" two weeks ago. Now, the Nikkei and DJIA are in a tailspin. If I have anything left of my 401K at the end of the month, I'm going to kiss Bush on the lips myself.
• Halliburton has been cited for knowingly giving soldiers contaminated water.
• With Alito all but confirmed (and, MY senator the ONLY Democrat publicly for him!), Bush blatantly said that Roe v. Wade will be overturned (I've been telling people he wants this to be one of the biggest legacies of his presidencies for years).
• Europe can't keep the fact that they knew about secret CIA kidnappings and interrogations secret any longer.
• Bush is saying that Iran is preparing weapons of mass destruction, is harboring terrorists, and needs a regime change.
• Bush is saying that Syria is preparing weapons of mass destruction, is harboring terrorists, and needs a regime change.
• Bush wants to "ogle your google".
• College education is already the domain of middle- and upper-class kids. Lower class kids already know to automatically assume they won't be able to afford college. Now, student loan interest rates are going up, the cost of books has skyrocketed, and the cost of college has outpaced inflation. Soon, only the elite will be able to afford college, just like back in the good old days, before the Enlightenment.

"Campaign to Seize US Justice's Home"
I'm laughing my ass off on this one. "Activists angered by a US Supreme Court ruling that homes can be demolished for public developments are trying to seize the home of one of the judges involved." This is EXACTLY how to handle this issue. Use the exact law that the justice ruled on. What is more personal than property? This is the equivalent of the king seizing your estate and placing one of his barons on it in your place. And what happens if the home owner is the only minority in town, but the administration proves they are going to use the land for "public benefit"? You then have no protection from racism of the majority.

Bon Voyage
I didn't even know you could mutiny on a cruise ship. And you have to worry about pirates? Jesus, if you're so eager to depart with your money, just bury it on a desert island somewhere.

The Last Page
One last note to say that "The Beast" has posted the "50 most loathsome people in America, 2005". For good or for bad, G. W. Bush, his mother's uterus, God and You all made the list.