American Warmonger

Button 2

I just did a quick edit of my coney Island button. I think this one is MUCH cooler. Anyone else have any ideas?

Are you a racist?

I stole this from Jess @ LOSLI. He scored 5%.

I just couldn't ignore the genetic facts about things. This may sound bad but it's 100% true that blacks were "bred" for certain purposes during slavery. Does it make me more of a racist to understand this? Apparently it did to this test.

Tolerant You scored 21!

You are generally NOT race-minded, there may be a thing or two that you see as a race issue, but mostly, you are a very tolerant person!

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 19% on racistpoints

Link: The Are you a racist? Test written by hexlaux88 on Ok Cupid

A net gain on life

Tran Sient's Watch has done some nice math on the cost of being in Iraq. It turns out, at the worst estimate, we are saving over 430 lives a year. Would anyone care to deabate that saving only ONE life is worth it?

The Filibuster Obstruction - Do we Really Need a Nuclear Option?

Government and argument have gone hand in hand for more years than I can count, even if I take off my shoes. It goes all the way back to the second term of the first president, George Washington. In fact, the bi-partisan rhetoric between Hamilton and Jefferson was one of the primary reasons that Washington only served two terms.

By 1796 Washington had had enough. The "spirit of party," which had upset him in 1792, became rampant and rancorous during his second administration; and he was beginning himself to be a prime target of the anti-Hamiltonians. In his Farewell Address, released to the press in September, the first President warned against party strife; he also cautioned the American people against "excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another." But no one paid any attention (then or now). The development of political parties, which the Constitution-makers had not anticipated, continued apace; and the preference of Jeffersonian Republicans for France and of Hamiltonian Federalists for Britain remained firm and unwavering. The parties continued to disagree violently over domestic and foreign policies alike.

Taken from: Presidential Campaigns by Paul F. Boller, Jr.

Left and right sides on every issue have been going steady since the birth of this great nation. The filibuster has had a likewise story. The next election after Washington heralded a debate between politicians that no one has seen before and probably never will again. It took six days and thirty-six votes in order to determine the new president. This action was the first known filibuster. It was also the first known filibuster-breaker.

The filibuster, as most of you know, is where one side of an issue requests an expansion of discussion on a topic in order to exact a wide range of things. The original intended goal was to bring to light the examination of a certain item that is presented before legislators to vote upon. It has been used as a threat in order to include riders or create other compromises. In some instances it has been used to delay an item to the point that a vote is waved and the vote scrapped. The last is a definition of obstructionism.

The Phil buster-breaker is a method whereby round-the-clock sessions are held in order to force the hand of the minority party into submission. It is more a show of strength and determination by the leading party. If there is a will to sally forth on a vote then there may be the ability to create a filibuster-breaker. Many times senators and congressmen just don't want to deal with the hassle. This is why we're debating the nuclear option today. I believe Robert Novak sums it up best in this quote:

After early skepticism, I have come to agree with Frist's conclusion that the old-fashioned filibuster-breaker of round-the-clock sessions is a non-starter. Today's Republican senators lack the will to undergo this ordeal. They would have to maintain a heavy presence on the floor while a single Democrat could hold forth.

So it appears that it might not the democratic attempt at obstructionism that may be the problem. It could feasibly be simple laziness on the part of the GOP. Is it that the GOP is lazier than the DNC? Could the conservative party have fattened up on pork bellies to the point that they can no longer compete with the lean liberals? Well, no. That's a complete misnomer. The Democrats have instituted the nuclear option several times:

This is the so-called "nuclear option" that creates fear and loathing among Democrats and weak knees for some Republicans, including conservative opinion leaders. Ever since Frist publicly embraced the nuclear option, he has been accused of abusing the Senate's cherished tradition of extended debate. In truth, during six years as majority leader, Democrat Robert C. Byrd four times detonated the nuclear option to rewrite Senate rules.

Yes, that's right folks. Everybody's favorite KKK Kleagle turned Democrat has used this option several times. It's nothing new to be changing the way government runs. In fact, the government was designed to be a flexible entity in service of the people. It is supposed to, and does, evolve.

Even though we can completely justify changing the rules I am still drawn back to something: "Today's Republican senators lack the will to undergo this ordeal." So is the reason we're doing this because they, the GOP refuse to go into extra innings in support of democracy. I believe this is rather sad, but true.

There is still hope in one concept. It would force the hand of those usurping their power to filibuster but retain the heart and soul of the idea. As things stand today you can pretty much talk about whatever you want during a filibuster. Things such as children's books are read in order to keep the floor on one side of the house or another. This does absolutely nothing for America except create a delay. This is where filibustering becomes obstructionism.

To me it would seem obvious that this is the change we need. We do not need to get rid of the filibuster. We need to focus the filibuster and make it so only the subject at hand is involved. We don't need to make it ruthlessly so. We only need to guide it. related subjects would be allowed. I'd even go as far as to allow this scenario:

Delay: The chair recognizes DaschleMr. Thune (heh). Mr. Thune you have ten minutes.
Thune: Thank-you Mr. Speaker. Due to the continued discussion on the topic I believe it in everyone's best interest that we order some Chinese. I have taken the liberty of printing off 70 copies of Number 1 Chinese on 32nd street. All those interested please fill out the menu and hand it to my aide who will be making the run. Be advised that they are Atkins friendly and use no MSG. I would now like to pass my remaining time to Senator Gonzales...

You see, there's no need to be ruthlessly strict about it, but there would need to be limitations. No Dick and Jane books. No reading of romance novels. Can we please just stick to the task at hand people?

This post is also available at Blogger News Network.

A 10 sided die

This stupid little quizlet was ruthlessly plundered from Pirate's Cove.

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

New button

I had a free minute and was in the mood. If you want here's my button to link to me with.

I may make another one if people think this one isn't quite adequate. It sort of looks like the Coney Island version to me. Not bad for a quick MS Paint job.

New music

Here's "Beliefs" from Devil With Cheese. Unlike some of the other indie bands I have showcased the entire album appears to rock. I mean really rock. I mean head bangin', slam dancin' rock. This is not a soft and friendly album.

As always, found on CD Street.

Images of hope 25

050314-N-8796S-019 Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia (Mar. 14 2005) - An Indonesian girl holds her little brother and a donated stuffed animal after returning to Abizad Hospital in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, from the Military Sealift Command (MSC) hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) for follow up treatment. She is one of the last patients to return to home soil following an operation on the ship to amputate her left leg. Mercy is serving as an enabling platform to assist humanitarian operations ashore in ways that host nations and international relief organization find useful. Mercy is currently off the waters of Indonesia in support of Operation Unified Assistance, the humanitarian relief effort to aid the victims of the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Timothy Smith (RELEASED)

Derived from HERE.

UPDATE: At Jay's request here is the page the almighty Google made as a Tsunami Relief information and aid directory: LINK

Man arrested for spitting on Fonda

Kansas City, MO

Fonda, 67, spoke at Unity Temple on The Plaza about her new book, "My Life So Far," and her new movie with Jennifer Lopez called "Monster-In-Law."At about 9 p.m. (Tuesday Night), police said a man who had been waiting in line for about 90 minutes, passed a book to Fonda and then spit a large amount of tobacco juice into her face.

So the guy waited in line for an hour and a half just for the pleasure of spitting a wad of chew on Hanoi Jane. Michael A. Smith, 54, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, which is a city charge. Fonda has declined to file charges against the man.

This post is also available at Blogger News Network.

The ACLU against The Minuteman Project

Even prior to April first the Minuteman project had become a smashing success. They mobilized Arizona immigration officials into awareness of their presence. They mobilized thousands of people into volunteering their time and money to hold a functional protest on border security. They stirred to ACLU into wild accusations that held no water. They even frightened the Mexican military into defending their borders from a potential American attack.

It is the ACLU though, that has created problems. They have continually harassed the Minutemen on several occasions and are potentially guilty of assault and harassment as well as aiding illegal immigration, if reports ring true. Take this statement by one of the minutemen as this local club reports:

The ACLU is getting desperate to get something on the Minutemen and are trying to provoke incidents now. They pushed one of the Minutemen the other night trying to get him to push back. Didn’t work. Then last night they walked up and shined a spotlight right in a Minuteman’s face from six inches or so away. Didn’t work that time either. We immediately report these types of contacts with them to the Sheriff to counter any claims they try to make against us. They should be called the UCLU (Un-American Civil Lawsuit Union)

They give us the middle finger every chance they get to try to get us to react. We are still trying to figure out if that is their age or IQ.

- te

More disturbing than that is the statements made by Grey Deacon a Minuteman spokesman:

"The ACLU's position is that illegal aliens have a right to enter our border and stay in this country as long as they want," said Deacon. "That's what one of the leaders of the group told me personally."

If this is the full stance of the ACLU, they may actually be encouraging a system that weakens our national security through means that are being touted as the biggest hole in homeland security America has.

The ACLU has been rather quick to jump the gun on reports of abuses. The image of an illegal alien holding up a tee shirt was immediately pounced on with absolutely no research into what had acutally happened. They had condemned the Minuteman project before the truth had been discovered. The reports were proven false by way of video footage provided to the local authorities by the individual being accused by the ACLU. In fact, the illegal alien pictured was donated water and money before this picture was taken.

It reads: "Bryan Barton caught me crossing the border and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

This event has become what may be considered a free-for-all with ACLU legal observers. This Tuesday, the 19th of April some pictures were taken of some of these observers allegedly smoking marijuana. Some of the minutemen have reported seeing and smelling the incidents.

Another Journalist (Michelle Malkin)has reported that the local authorities have been informed but it is unlikely that any action will be taken.

Images of the incident have been distributed for analysis:

It has been observed that "roll your own" cigarettes, popular in some areas, are normally not "closed-end" cigarettes and resemble normal non-filtered cigarettes. Others have observed that the female in the picture is "puffing awfully hard" for a tobacco cigarette. None of this, however, provides direct evidence of unlawful narcotics usage and provides no actionable evidence.

As a clarification to the one arrest of an Army reservist illegally holding aliens at gunpoint, the individual has been proven to be outside of the Minuteman project. The Arizona local has no ties to the group and is being held on seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Due to the success of the project, the Minuteman Project will cease its operations 2PM Wednesday the 20th and take it's phenomenal success to Washington, D.C. The effort, however, will not be disbanded. It will continue under the Civil Homeland Defense organization until at least the end of April. It may go longer if enough support for the project is received.

If you would like to donate or volunteer to stand watch for the Minuteman Project you can contact the Civil Homeland Defense organization. They have been given control of the Minuteman Project and are encouraging expansion of the project past the immediate area of Cochise county and Arizona to other states including those that border Canada.

This post is also available at Blogger News Network.

Meme-a-llama-ding-dong

Teach has hooked me up with the If I were a... meme that he picked up from Ogre who got it from..HEY! he started it! We actually know the source of a meme! YAY!

If I could be a linguist...I would learn all of the biblical languages like Hebrew, Assyrian and Greek so I could understand the word of God in its original form. I would scour the ancient texts and be locked away for many years in places like The Vatican and Mecca (Yes, ALL the historical texts.). After many years of study at the cost of friends, family and health I would emerge from my crypt of texts to bring peace to the warring religions. Things would begin to come together. I would speak at a huge congregation of the top Cardinals, Imams and Manhigut (Jewish leaders) and would be on the brink of creating an alliance for peace and prosperity. As with any great leader that can bring about change for good I would end up getting shot and killed by someone who didn't want to change. (We are doomed to repeat history, aren't we?)

If I could be a lawyer...I would want to be an activist judge. I wouldn't be in the side that the news is pushing these days. Nope, not me. I'd give back the Ten Commandments. Religion (as a whole, not just one) would be a required school in class so we can really learn about our brothers and sisters in different faiths instead of fight with them. Pedophelia would be reclassified as a murder of childhood and life sentences would be allowed. And last but not least, Micro$oft would be declared a monopoly, their code would be opened up to public dissemination, and each of their tools would be broken up into different companies.

If I could be a librarian... I would read all about...HELL no! I would do librarians! C'mon, librarians are H.O.T. HOT!

If I could be an architect...I would design homes. I wouldn't just stop with one or two basic cookie cutter ideas for suburban cookie cutter homes. I'd design homes for the masses. I'd make like 100 completely different basic model styles instead of the three or four you seem to get these days. By flooding the market with fresh ideas other designers would be forced to follow suit. Eventually even townhomes would be uniquely individual on both the inside and outside. Every home design would be unique to that individual home. Finally you could tell which home was yours by style instead of color or mailbox. You would have something besides a generic box.

If I could be a writer...I would be doing exactly what I'm doing right now. That's what a blogger is; a writer. We're all writers. Some of us write books, others are journalists, some are activists or politicians or mothers, fathers or a combination of all or none of these. Above all, we're all writers here. We're putting our thoughts on digital paper and being seen by people we've never met. Our views and ideas are influencing those around us, everyone who reads us. We all have our own little newspaper that we're peddling to anyone who will listen. We are being heard. I AM a writer.

So here's how it works. Immediately following there is a list of 18 19 20 different occupations. You must select at least 5 of them (feel free to select more). You may add more if you like to your list before you pass it on (after you select 5 of the items as it was passed to you). Each one begins with "If I could be..." Of the 5 you selected, you are to finish each phrase with what you would do as a member of that profession.

Once you're done you point this meme at three (three) people you think will be cool with putting in a good two cents on it. Remember your trackbacks and links. Don't forget to add a profession to the end of the list with a link to your meme!

If I could be a scientist...
If I could be a farmer...
If I could be a musician...
If I could be a doctor...
If I could be a painter...
If I could be a gardener...
If I could be a missionary...
If I could be a chef...
If I could be an architect...
If I could be a linguist...
If I could be a psychologist...
If I could be a librarian...
If I could be an athlete...
If I could be a lawyer...
If I could be an innkeeper...
If I could be a professor...
If I could be a writer...
If I could be a llama-rider... (by Ogre)
If I could be a bonnie pirate... (By Teach)
If I could be a servicemember... (By Jeremy)

Okay, now comes the three unsuspecting victims: Sonstress7 because she seems to run out of things to write about. Billy Budd because I forgot to pick him up on the last meme. Jin because I think she's a cool blogger and this is my way of trying to showcase her.

Nerdy quiz thingie

Did anyone have any doubts?

UPDATE: My supervisor just took this quiz: 99% He is a geek GOD!

Random thoughts on the media

If you've spent any time watching the news you will notice that a lound, boisterous demonstration will get press faster than a well organized and polite one. They will glom onto a story on the remote chance the national guard needs to be called in or someone gets trampled to death.

We saw it with the 2004 elections. By every tactic that the media understood John F. Kerry should have won the election. The majority of the media outlets were giving him more favorable coverage. His supporters were getting in the news much more often than Dubya's. By all accounts of how the media deciphers things Kerry should have won it. What went wrong? The squeaky wheel got the oil. Media overestimated the poer of those with big, noisy, revolutionary mouths. They forgot that not everyone is an activist, some people actually work for a living.

The media will put politics in a ploar opposite light much more quickly than it will actually start a functional discussion. Everything that political commentary has to offer is either a right or a left issue. They've even formulated it that way. Crossfire and Hannity and Colmes are two primary examples. It's turned into a recognized format. Take a lefty and a righty and get them to yell at each other Jerry Springer style. It has gotten so bad that political comedian Jon Stewart went on Crossfire to explain how they were "hurting America".

One show I have found to be worth while comes on at odd hours on the weekend, called Fox News Watch with about five rather intelligent people actually discussing issues instead of fighting each other. They don't usually come to any specific agreement about things but you can at least get a better idea of the points of things than a he said - she said.

Something equally as polar has, and probably always will be, the rights to life or death. One side calls itself "choice" and the other life or death. It gets heated and somehow those that don't believe either side completely are pushed out of the picture. People push the "godly against the godless" meme into the picture and things get polarized back to Democrat vs. Republican again. I guess my theory of finding some middleground on some issues is inconcievable and not newsworthy.

Another polarizing issue is the military. If one servicemember does something wrong, or if a bad local policy is pushed through, or something gets out of hand it is always either Bush or Rumsfeld's fault directly. This article is not about debating that point. Others will do that. It turns out that this is a polarizing issue as well. I guess facts about things don't matter as long as you can stir up people's dander.

Today I watched a news story that shouldn't fit any of these categories but since it's real news that can't be ignored they are trying. Today all of the televisions in the world are watching a smokestack. Would it be black or white smoke? That wasn't the real issue they were trying to make though. The real issue was what kind of pope was going to be elected: a progressive or a conservative one.

By the way, we had black smoke. No decision today.

Crossposted at BNN

New Indie Music

I just changed the song to a new one. It's My Brother Moves by Production Club. They're a techno/rave group that has some nice style. Go check them out.

BONUS!!!

I found a song for Teach over at Pirate's Cove as well. Here's I Wish I Were A Pirate by Ukulele Man!

(and happy 40,000 hits Teach!)

Social Security - The Democratic Answer, or Lack Thereof

A few short weeks ago I went to a town hall meeting on social security in Seattle, WA. Barbara Boxer was supposed to be on the bill but didn't show up for some reason. I'm sure she had other pressing matters, like gloating over how Christine Gregoire won the Governorship. I was really interested to find out if the Democrats had a real plan for what to do about our failing social security system.

Instead of Boxer there were a few other female senators from various states to tell us that George W. Bush is evil. Yep, that's right, EEEEvil. His diabolical scheme to destroy America goes directly through social security and he even stole the most recent election. At least that's what these senators talked about. Would they lie to us?

I sat for several hours in the "hate-Bush" rhetoric without hearing a solution to anything. They even contradicted their own party by stating that "there is NO problem" with social security, even though the propaganda banner behind them said to "Fix it! Don't nix it!"

I think the funniest part was when they were pulling numbers directly from dark orifices. The cost they stated Bush gave them for the private account change started at one trillion but quickly moved all the way up to three. Funny, I don't believe Bush gave anyone any numbers? The other big number fudge was the one third that was quoted by Bush turned into one half or more. Hrm...maybe that professor guy was right about women and math. (Okay, okay, before I get slain I take it back. It was a cheap shot at some dim Dems. There's nothing against women.)

Okay, it's not entirely true to say that they had no solution. They did have a solution in the form of an metaphor: If you have a slow leak in the tire hou don't replace the car, you just patch the tire. Gee, thanks. Your whole solution for social security is to patch a tire? Here, let me counter your metaphor with one of my own: If the engine starts running on two instead of all eight cylinders all the fix-a-flat in the world isn't going to help you.

So, I'm still waiting for a viable solution from the Democratic party. Krugman quotes will get you thrown in the gulag and Newsweek isn't much better. Give us some viable options other than "Bush is EEEEvil".

Skype 2

I'm in the middle of this incredible congersation with Scott from Speed of thought.... He's blogging at the same time I'm blogging. We're both doing it over Skype!. It's just some crazy stuff!

Somebody remind me to blogroll this guy!

Skype

Alright, I've been sitting on Skype for way too long and no one in the blogsphere knows what the hell it is. Skype is a completely free method of talking to other people that are online. It works through some distibuted mumbo-jumbo that you really don't need to know about to use it. Just imagine crystal clear voice, text chat, and data transfers fo free. That's what Skype is all about.

If you don't believe me try it out for yourself. You can contact me here: jhbol1