Dirk L'Orange is Writing...

I report, you decide...

Sarah Palin gets a chance to re-answer all the questions she f--ked up when Katie Couric asked them. Here she was "interviewed" by Fox News' Carl Cameron:

As we send our young men and women overseas in a war zone to fight for democracy and freedoms, including freedom of the press, we've really got to have a mutually beneficial relationship here with those fighting the freedom of the press, and then the press, though not taking advantage and exploiting a situation, perhaps they would want to capture and abuse the privilege. We just want truth, we want fairness, we want balance.

Freedom of the press, a privilege??? How novel.... let's see, I think I remember reading something about that somewhere...hmmm.... where was that, oh yeah... A little thing I like to call the first Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Here's the traditional oath of office taken by the Vice-President

I, [Vice-President Elect's name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Posted by PoS at 11:37 PM | Permalink

Something I can't understand is why all these conservative Republicans -- who promote "family values" and chastise Bill Clinton for his extra-curricular activity with Monica Lewinski, condemn gay rights and gay marriage, and are generally against any kind of sexual activity outside the confines of marriage between a man and woman -- turn out to be such huge perverts. Case(s) in point...

Senator David Vitters (R-LA): Not only was he on the DC Madam's list, but he also had a girl in New Orleans who says he had a diaper fetish.

Mark Foley: Liked IM'ing teenaged boys serving as Congressional Pages with sexually explicit messages.

Ted Haggard: Leader of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and President of the National Association of Evangelicals has an odd habit of doing methamphetamine and gay masseuses in Denver.

Lynne Cheney: Wife of the Vice President writes a book with explicit lesbian scenes in it.

and the latest...

Senator Larry Craig (R-ID): Who referred to President Clinton as a "Bad, Nasty, Naughty Boy" and who is apparently completely heterosexual likes to solicit gay sex from other men in public restrooms. Here's a great video of a re-enactment of the incident taken straight from the police report of the event.

Posted by PoS at 2:16 PM | Permalink

Via the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Arkansas State GOP Chairmain, Dennis Milligan, said the following:

It's not the one crazy Republican from Arkansas that says this, that I'm worried about, it's the other 80% of Republicans that think this crap that I'm scared of.

Posted by PoS at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In a recent column by Georgie Anne Geyer:

Couple these statements -- self-righteousness and "our country's destiny", both of which have specific religious connotations -- with the fact that Bush is a Christian Dominionist,^[1] and what you get is a really scary situation. I don't believe in the "End of Times" or "Armageddon" or "Rapture", nor do I believe any right minded would... let alone believe that we in those times, however, I do believe that with the technology we have and the nut cases trying to wrest power from reasonable people, the idea that we could be headed for a catastrophic period in human history is sort of a self-fulfilling prophesy. In short, these people are dangerous and we need to marginalize them, mock them, and get them as far away from any sort of position of influence and power before it is too late.

Posted by PoS at 3:31 PM | Permalink

Okay, I had trouble figuring out which category to file this link under, Science & Technology or Religion............ or comedy. Okay, actually I didn't. Enjoy more youtube fun.

My conclusion is that when we argue with stuff like this, we give it credibility, the only appropriate response to this stuff is to mock it.

Now, here's the mockery... perhaps we should also teach that the Sun revolves around the Earth or that bloodletting is a valid form of medicine... I mean, hey, we should give it equal weight and let the students decide. Or that there is a small china teapot orbiting the sun between the Earth and Mars.

In Other News....

Posted by PoS at 10:39 AM | Permalink

Real Time with Bill Maher is done until August 24, so here is one last "New Rules" for awhile.

Also, the site has been updated slight with a new-ish look... enjoy.

Posted by PoS at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

One of the big myths I've dealt with over the years is the the idea that Republicans are stronger on defense than Democrats or that Republicans are friendlier to the military.

Set aside the fact that almost no Republicans have served in the military... most have spent their time supports the wars of their generation while at the same time, doing everything they could to avoid service... Republicans are only "strong on defense" insofar as it favors giving out huge defense contracts to corporations that contribute to their campaigns. When it comes to the guys who do most of the "work" in the military, the enlisted guys... they guys who make next to nothing here's what the Army Times had to say:

Troops don’t need bigger pay raises, White House budget officials said Wednesday in a statement of administration policy laying out objections to the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill.

The Bush administration had asked for a 3 percent military raise for Jan. 1, 2008, enough to match last year’s average pay increase in the private sector. The House Armed Services Committee recommends a 3.5 percent pay increase for 2008, and increases in 2009 through 2012 that also are 0.5 percentage point greater than private-sector pay raises.

The slightly bigger military raises are intended to reduce the gap between military and civilian pay that stands at about 3.9 percent today. Under the bill, HR 1585, the pay gap would be reduced to 1.4 percent after the Jan. 1, 2012, pay increase.

Bush budget officials said the administration “strongly opposes” both the 3.5 percent raise for 2008 and the follow-on increases, calling extra pay increases “unnecessary.”

Posted by PoS at 1:58 AM | Permalink

Bill Maher, in his New Rules segment on his HBO series, "Real Time with Bill Maher" said the following when talking about low voter turnout in American elections:

...You couldn't get 85% of Americans to get off the couch (and vote) if there was an election between tits and bigger tits and they were handing out free samples...

For context, click here.

Posted by PoS at 2:35 PM | Permalink

Keith Olbermann comments. Courtesy of C&L.

Posted by PoS at 10:26 PM | Permalink

Crooks and Liars has the entry.

Posted by PoS at 9:16 AM | Permalink

From ABC News:

WASHINGTON Apr 17, 2007 (AP)— President Bush will speak at Tuesday's convocation at Virginia Tech to remember the 33 people who died in two campus attacks and comfort others affected by the deadliest campus violence ever in the United States.

Posted by PoS at 10:02 AM | Permalink

Bill Maher last friday on his show, Real Time:

Valerie Plame was the CIA's operational officer in charge of counter-proliferation. Which means she tracked loose nukes. So when Bush said---as he once did---that his absolute, number-one priority was preventing terrorists from getting loose nukes, okay, that's what she worked on. That's what she devoted her life to, staying undercover for 20 years, maintaining two identities every goddamn day. This is extraordinary service to your country.

Valerie Plame was the kind of real-life secret agent George Bush dreams of being when he's not too busy pretending to be a cowboy or a fighter pilot. ... George Bush likes to claim that he doesn't question his critics' patriotism, just their judgment. Well, let me be the first of your critics, Mr. President, to question your judgment and your patriotism. Because let's not forget why they did it to her. Because Valerie Plame was married to this guy---Joe Wilson---who the Bush people hated because he busted them on one of their bullshit reasons for invading Iraq. ...

Mark Twain said, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." And I say Valerie Plame is a patriot because she spent her life serving her country. ... Valerie Plame kept her secrets. The Bush Administration leaked like the plumbing at Walter Reed.

I can also ad that her cover was classified as non-official cover. Which means that if she were ever caught and arrested in a foreign country for spying, the United States would have disavowed any knowledge of her activities. In other words (as the W likes to say), if she got caught she would have been cut off. That is an extraordinary profile in courage and patriotism.

Here's the entire video... since I know you don't like to read... philistines.

The Mark Twain quote bears repeating:

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.

Posted by PoS at 12:20 PM | Permalink

An Op-Ed was published in the Washington Post today anonymously, under the headline, My National Security Letter Gag Order.

Friday, March 23, 2007; Page A17

It is the policy of The Washington Post not to publish anonymous pieces. In this case, an exception has been made because the author -- who would have preferred to be named -- is legally prohibited from disclosing his or her identity in connection with receipt of a national security letter. The Post confirmed the legitimacy of this submission by verifying it with the author's attorney and by reviewing publicly available court documents.

The Justice Department's inspector general revealed on March 9 that the FBI has been systematically abusing one of the most controversial provisions of the USA Patriot Act: the expanded power to issue "national security letters." It no doubt surprised most Americans to learn that between 2003 and 2005 the FBI issued more than 140,000 specific demands under this provision -- demands issued without a showing of probable cause or prior judicial approval -- to obtain potentially sensitive information about U.S. citizens and residents. It did not, however, come as any surprise to me.

The writer goes on to explain his point of view:

Three years ago, I received a national security letter (NSL) in my capacity as the president of a small Internet access and consulting business. The letter ordered me to provide sensitive information about one of my clients. There was no indication that a judge had reviewed or approved the letter, and it turned out that none had. The letter came with a gag provision that prohibited me from telling anyone, including my client, that the FBI was seeking this information. Based on the context of the demand -- a context that the FBI still won't let me discuss publicly -- I suspected that the FBI was abusing its power and that the letter sought information to which the FBI was not entitled.

Things go from surreal to ridiculous:

I never released the information the FBI sought, and last November the FBI decided that it no longer needs the information anyway. But the FBI still hasn't abandoned the gag order that prevents me from disclosing my experience and concerns with the law or the national security letter that was served on my company. In fact, the government will return to court in the next few weeks to defend the gag orders that are imposed on recipients of these letters.

What??? The FBI is STILL arguing that this information should still be gagged.

Under the threat of criminal prosecution, I must hide all aspects of my involvement in the case -- including the mere fact that I received an NSL -- from my colleagues, my family and my friends. When I meet with my attorneys I cannot tell my girlfriend where I am going or where I have been. I hide any papers related to the case in a place where she will not look.

The writer ends strongly as he started and makes good points along the way.

I recognize that there may sometimes be a need for secrecy in certain national security investigations. But I've now been under a broad gag order for three years, and other NSL recipients have been silenced for even longer. At some point -- a point we passed long ago -- the secrecy itself becomes a threat to our democracy. In the wake of the recent revelations, I believe more strongly than ever that the secrecy surrounding the government's use of the national security letters power is unwarranted and dangerous. I hope that Congress will at last recognize the same thing.

It's because of things like this, I don't trust the FBI, I don't trust the CIA, I don't trust the President, I don't trust the NSA, and I don't trust the major corporations of America that roll over for the government on issues like this and a lot of other reasons. I'll talk about the FBI and the US Attorney's office in a month or two, but I have specific reasons for not trusting and disliking those groups.

If you wish to read the full article go here.

Posted by PoS at 9:44 PM | Permalink

If you recall my last entry about this... there isn't much more to say.

Now, if you were on the road, perhaps going to work, perhaps running some errands and you were following the rules of the road, and some ASSHOLE in a big truck was pulling the crap that's in this video, you would want do something... call a cop, kick the guy's ass, whatever. But, instead, your police force has no power over these guys, and they've got a .50 calliber machine on their vehicle and all carry weapons and can pretty much do whatever they want.

Once again. These guys are NOT heroes. These guys are bullies and thugs. They treat the people here subhuman and project an image of the U.S. military that reflects poorly on our entire nation. As I said before, I DO NOT SUPPORT these guys.

Posted by PoS at 2:53 PM | Permalink

A woman puts a peace symbol on her door as a Christmas decoration and is ordered by the President of her HOA to remove it. Why because it might offend people in the subdivision who's children are at war?

Think about that. We who want peace.... i.e. and end to killing.... as in everyone stops losing their minds and goes home. These parents don't want PEACE!!! Also, some said, the symbol was a Satan symbol. What's wrong with these Christians.... I guess anything that doesn't promote God and Country (not necessarily in that order... .that is, unless you believe that GWB is God... or at least messianic). I guess peace is Satanic. Doves are demons sent from Hell.

She refuses. The President of the HOA asked the committee that oversees such things to impose a fine of $25/day. All the committee members refused. The HOA President fired them.

You can read the article by clicking here.

The HOA President, obviously an authority freak, imposed draconian punishment to silence any dissenting voice.

These people make me sick. Hey Republicans, this is what people of your ilk do! This is how they operate. Republicans are fucking stupid and nuts!

[UPDATE] -- Correction. Before when I said Republicans are fucking stupid and nuts. I meant, some Republicans are fucking stupid, some Republicans are fucking nuts, and some Republicans are fucking stupid and nuts.

Posted by PoS at 12:21 AM | Permalink

We here all the time, "Support The Troops"... we see the magnets on SUVs, we see radio and television stations ask for donations and raise money... we even see it from those against the war, they say, "I'm against the war, but I support the troops."

I, in fact, used to be a part of that crowd... against the war, but for the troops, that is. Not anymore. There are NO HEROES in Iraq. NONE. I'm not saying that saving a fellow soldier isn't heroic, it is, but as far as the war in general, there are no heroes. There are no heroes because it is NOT heroic to invade and occupy a country, destroy the lives of the people in that country, destroy their infrastructure -- their sewer system, water system, sanitation systems, their morgues, their hospitals, their electrical infrastructure. It is not heroic, but barbaric. The video below is an example of that barbarism. I bunch of children in an Iraqi neighborhood chasing after a troop transport because a soldier holds a bottle out the back... the entire time, this soldier and his buddy are video taping and laughing about these poor kids who have seen more death and destruction in the last 3 years than we will ever see in our lifetimes.

So, do I support the troops???? FUCK NO!!!! And don't give me crap about, "It's not their fault." I understand that you do what you have to do to stay alive, but this??? FUCK NO! This is their fault.

I will say, that I do blame the leaders in this country, most of whom are Republican sick fucks, most of whom did everything they could to get out of going to the war of their generation (Vietnam)... I'm talking about Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Limbaugh, Rove, O'Reilly, Gingrich, and on and on and on. If fact the only members of congress on the Republican side who served were Hagel and McCain. Hagel (R-NE) is for withdrawing our troops and McCain is a nutcase who wants to send more troops, I guess, because he want to punish our children for the sins of a government who allowed him to languish in a Vietnam POW cell for years because of his generation's immoral war.

And the sick thing about all this is that our President, George W. Bush, spent last week PARDONING a couple of thanksgiving turkey's. Does anyone see the irony all this???

I'm sure CNN will be labeled as treasonous for showing the footage that I linked above. But the truth is, that footage is probably mild compared to what is really happening. We are being lulled to sleep by our media while this war is being waged. It is sick. The media is NOT LIBERAL!!!! It never has been. There is a ton of death and destruction that we are, in large part, responsible for and our media tells us that what is important is Madonna's new adopted baby or Tom and Katie's Wedding or whether Emmitt FUCKIN' Smith outdanced screech from "Saved By The Bell" or whoever the fuck that guy was.

We are told that all the things I mentioned above are important... they dominate the news. It reminds me of a quote... a sick quote, in fact, by the matriarch of the Bush Crime Family, a sick and disgusting person in her own right, Barbara Bush. She was asked, in an interview on Good Morning America, on March 18, 2003 what her thoughts were about her son's administration censoring images of the flag draped coffins or our fallen troops returning from iraq on military transport aircraft:

Why should we hear about body bags and deaths. Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?

These people are sick. They've lost their humanity, if they've ever had it. They've stolen the humanity of some kids who just wanted to go to college or have a job and I HATE THEM.

Posted by PoS at 9:14 PM | Permalink

After six years of unchecked Republican power, the people have spoken and the result was a bloodbath of epic proportions. And a rebuke of the Democrats gained a majority in the House and the Senate (both Independents will caucus with the Dems) and now the worst President in our nation's history will have a check on his power. Although, there are many conservative Democrats in the caucus, the important thing is that all the committee chairmanships will be democratic, and the agenda will be set by the Democrats (and with that, the priorities). So we're going to see (hopefully) legislation that actually may be able to help people, like a middle class tax cut, like a raising of the minimum wage, like fixing the Medicare drug benefit, like shoring up Social Security without privatizing it, and starting to get a handle on ruining the deficit. And maybe we can get started on a couple of big deals like funding of stem cell research, funding of renewable energy, and to get the hell out of Iraq and actually make this country safer.

Posted by PoS at 10:42 PM | Permalink

I feel like I should mention something on this day. For the most part, we've all moved on and continued to toil away at our insignificant lives. And we should, but I feel like saying something about this event because I believe if has fundamentally changed who I am. It has fundamentally changed who we are as a people.

I remember exactly where I was. I was in my car driving to my office at Nortel on this tuesday morning and listening to Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket. They normally turn away from the sports pages and do a funny bit at 8:40am... and this day was no exception. Directly after that, they noticed on one of the TVs in their studio that the news had broken in and was showing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. One of those towers had a big hole in it and was billowing smoke. They began talking about it and speculating what happened, when about 15 minutes later, they witnessed another plane smash into the other tower. If it wasn't obvious before this, it was obvious now, we had suffered a terrorist attack of epic proportions. I was on a daily call with members of the project team I was working... Also on that call were members of the team from Toronto, Montreal, and Chateau Dunn France, in addition to Nashville, and Richardson. I couldn't tell you what happened on that call, because I was busy paying attention to the ABC, CNN, or whatever live feed I could on that day. In fact, I got no work done. My co-worker and friend, Brad, was in the cube across from me, and he got no work done. It's as if the world had stopped.

Nothing like that had ever affected me as much as this even did on that day. Granted other tragedies in my lifetime were not on quite so grand a scale. I remember the Waco incident with the Branch Dividians. It was tragic, but I really didn't think about it. And the bombing in Oklahoma City a year later (I believe), didn't stop me down.

I remember being numb, angry, and sad all at once. For the next several days, I hurried home from work to watch what CNN was reporting on. And at some point, I don't remember when exactly, maybe a couple of days later, I just began to weep... I was by myself and the weight of what had happened to us as a nation and really, the world, hit me and I began to cry and did so for at least a solid 15 minutes. There was no thing on the news, no story or imagery or rememberence that made me do it, it just happened.

Over the months and years after that, bits and pieces of the truth and our new reality have come out and made me very angry at the people in charge of our country. A stolen election in Florida, in 2000 seemed to be amplified now. And I can't say that things have changed for the better since 9/11, but I feel like we (as a people) and our government should have learned something from this and come away stronger. But I don't feel that has happened. And, it's a sad thing. I don't want to get too into politics here, we can do that another day, but I would like you to take 5 minutes to watch the video I've linked from CrooksandLiars.com of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann's commentary on 9/11 on this day, the 5th anniversary of 9/11. He is far more eloquent than I could ever hope to be.

Keith Olbermann Commentary

Take Care.

Posted by PoS at 9:19 PM | Permalink

The federal government's response was bad enough, but how's it going one year later? Here's some info from The Center For American Progress

1,833 lives lost. 270,000 homes destroyed. $55 billion in insured damage. Up to $1.4 billion in American tax dollars wasted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Today, the costs of Hurricane Katrina are still staggering. But even more staggering has been the slow pace of recovery on the Gulf Coast. No one was happy with the federal government's initial response to the hurricane. Eighty percent of the American public think the federal government's response could have been "much better," and in September President Bush stated, "This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina." But on the eve of Katrina's one year anniversary, it is clear that the nation is still waiting for the help Bush promised. Yesterday, as part of the White House's "public relations blitz," Bush trumpeted in his weekly radio address that the federal government has "committed $110 billion to the recovery effort." But those billions of dollars have yet "to translate into billions in building." Perhaps most disappointingly, Bush has forgotten about his promise to the nation to confront poverty "with bold action." As Newsweek's Jonathan Alter writes, "The mood in Washington continues to be one of not-so-benign neglect of the problems of the poor." Lessons haven't been learned and time has run out for excuses. (The Progress Report has compiled a comprehensive timeline of the past year's events and American Progress has developed a list of actions America needs to ensure preparedness and recovery capacity for natural disasters.)

Posted by PoS at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I normally don't ask this but, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday on a bill by Senator Stevens which is effectively opposed to the Net Neutrality Bill from Sens Dorgan and Snowe. As I understand it, the committee stands one vote short of killing the stevens bill with several senators on the committee who are still "on the bubble" in regard to the net neutrality issue.

One of the senators "on the bubble", so to speak is TX Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, if you live in Texas please contact her office and ask her to support S. 2917 WITHOUT AMENDMENT, between now and Tuesday.

My suggestion would be to call or fax. They actually keep track of the number of faxes and calls in support or opposition to a particular peace of legislation.

Here are her offices.

WASHINGTON OFFICE
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4304
202-224-5922
202-224-0776 (FAX)
202-224-5903 (TDD)

TEXAS OFFICES

Austin
961 Federal Building
300 East 8th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
512-916-5834
512-916-5839 (FAX)

Dallas
LB 606
10440 N. Central Expressway
Suite 1160
Dallas, Texas 75231
214-361-3500
214-361-3502 (FAX)

Houston
1919 Smith Street
Suite 800
Houston, Texas 77002
713-653-3456
713-209-3459 (FAX)

San Antonio
145 Duncan Drive
Suite 120
San Antonio, Texas 78226
210-340-2885
210-349-6753 (FAX)

Abilene
500 Chestnut Street
Suite 1570
Abilene, Texas 79602
325-676-2839
325-676-2937 (FAX)

Harlingen
222 East Van Buren Street
Suite 404
Harlingen, Texas 78550
956-425-2253
956-412-1468 (FAX)

Posted by PoS at 12:17 PM | Permalink

Kent State Happened:

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
-- Neil Young

Posted by PoS at 11:09 PM | Permalink

Why would the military develop a 700 ton bomb that they had no way of delivering???

The answer lies within the linked article, if one thinks and reads a little between the lines.

First:

The Pentagon for several years has sought funding for research into the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP)

Congress, however, has repeatedly refused to grant funding for a study on a nuclear bunker buster, instead directing money toward conventional alternatives.

The test is aimed at determining how well a massive conventional bomb would perform against fortified underground targets.

The only logical explanation is that they are going to detonate this weapon to find out what effect the explosive force will have and then take that data and perform calculations to figure out what size of nuclear weapon will be needed to produce the same or similar explosive force.

Posted by PoS at 8:46 AM | Permalink

The Washington Post reported on March 31, that the Pentagon plans to test a conventional bomb in Nevada on June 2:

A huge mushroom cloud of dust is expected to rise over Nevada's desert in June when the Pentagon plans to detonate a gigantic 700-ton explosive -- the biggest open-air chemical blast ever at the Nevada Test Site -- as part of the research into developing weapons that can destroy deeply buried military targets, officials said yesterday.

Air Force C-5 Galaxy, General Characteristics
. . .
Maximum Cargo: 270,000 pounds (135 Tons)
. . .

source: http://www.af.mil/

I'll have my theory later, first, I want to hear from you.

Posted by PoS at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)