The Last Curse

The infamous black cat circles Ron Santo in 1969 at Shea Stadium, just before the "Miracle Mets" write another chapter of the Cubs curse.
The interfering Bartman


The Red Sox broke their curse in 2004; the White Sox did the same last year. The last true cursed team in baseball is the Chicago Cubs. My friend, the White Sox fan who always revels in Cub misery, sent me this:


CHICAGO CUBS HISTORY

Twenty major events that have occurred since the Chicago Cubs last laid claim to a World Series championship:

1. Radio was invented; Cubs fans got to hear their team lose.
2. TV was invented; Cubs fans got to see their team lose.
3. Baseball added 14 teams; Cubs fans get to see and hear their team lose to more clubs.
4. George Burns celebrated his 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th birthdays.
5. Haley's comet passed Earth twice.
6. Harry Caray was born....and died. Incredible, but true.
7. The NBA, NHL and NFL were formed, and Chicago teams won championships in each league.
8. Man landed on the moon, as have several home runs given up by Cubs pitchers.
9. Sixteen U.S. presidents were elected.
10. There were 11 amendments added to the Constitution.
11. Prohibition was created and repealed.
12. The Titanic was built, set sail, sank, was discovered and became
the subject of major motion pictures, the latest giving Cubs fans hope that something that finishes on the bottom can come out on top.
13. Wrigley Field was built and becomes the oldest park in the National League.
14. Flag poles were erected on Wrigley Field roof to hold all of the team's future World Series pennants.
Those flag poles have since rusted and been taken down.
15. A combination of 40 Summer and Winter Olympics have been held.
16. Thirteen baseball players have won the Triple Crown; several thanked Cubs pitchers.
17. Bell-bottoms came in style, went out of style and came back in.
18. The Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox and the
Florida Marlins have all won the World Series.
19. The Cubs played 14,153 regular-season games; they lost the majority of them.
20. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma and New Mexico were added to the Union.

Great quotes in Cubs History!!!

"Noise pollution can't be that much of a problem at Wrigley. There's
nothing to cheer about."
--State rep. John F. Dunn, arguing for the installation of lights at Wrigley Field

"If I managed the Cubs, I'd be an alcoholic."
--Whitey Herzog

"There's nothing wrong with this team that more pitching, more fielding and more hitting couldn't help."
--Bill Buckner

"You get tired of looking at garbage in your own backyard."
--Cubs manager Lee Elia in 1983 about why the Cubs
got rid of so many players. Elia was fired later that same season.

"The Cubs were taking batting practice, and the pitching machine threw a no-hitter."
--Radio deejay

"The only bad thing about being released by the Cubs is that they made me keep my season tickets."
--Ken Rietz, ex-Cub third baseman

"Would the lady who left her nine kids at Wrigley Field please pick
them up immediately? They are beating the Cubs 4-0 in the 7th inning."
--Radio deejay

"One thing you learn as a Cubs fan: When you bought your ticket, you
could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth."
--Joe Garagiola

"The Chicago Cubs are like Rush Street--a lot of singles, but no action."
--Garagiola again

Q: Did you hear about the new Cubs soup?
A: Two sips and then you choke.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Happy Birthday To Me ... And Stephen Colbert

Bush contemplates sending Colbert on all-expenses paid permanent vacation to Guantanimo for his 42nd birthday.
We're kind of a freaky lot, the May 13ths, weirdos like Jim Jones and Dennis Rodman (not that I'm equating their weirdness), and tons of artists, actors and musicians. This year for the first time I notice I share a birthday with Stephen Colbert. Go watch the Correspondents Dinner roast again to celebrate.

Wikipedia: May 13

# 1882 - Georges Braque, French painter (d. 1963)
# 1907 - Dame Daphne du Maurier, English author (d. 1989)
# 1913 - Gil Evans, Canadian musician (d. 1988)
# 1914 - Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
# 1923 - Beatrice Arthur, American actress
# 1931 - Jim Jones, American cult leader (d. 1978)
# 1939 - Harvey Keitel, American actor
# 1941 - Ritchie Valens, American singer (d. 1959)
# 1944 - Armistead Maupin, American author
# 1950 - Stevie Wonder, American singer and musician
# 1956 - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation
# 1961 - Dennis Rodman, American basketball player and actor
# 1964 - Stephen Colbert, American comedian and actor
# 1966 - Darius Rucker, American singer (Hootie & The Blowfish)
# 1978 - Barry Zito, baseball player
# 1978 - Mike Bibby, American basketball player

Wikipedia missed one: Oguchi Onyewu, defender for the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team, born May 13, 1982.

From thisyearthatday.com, add

1950 : Peter Gabriel, rocker (Genesis-Against All Odds)

and from BellaOnline.com

1943 Mary Wells, singer ("My Guy")

All I wanted for my birthday this year was frogmarching, but I guess that will have to wait. Maybe next week?

truthout: BREAKING
Jason Leopold:
Rove Informs White House
He Will Be Indicted

'Tip of the Iceberg'

I've been having a running argument with a commenter on an earlier post, My Radio Debut, about the nature and extent of the NSA spying program. It's my position that things are always worse than they seem with the Bush Administration, and that what we know here probably constitutes just the tip of the iceberg. Didn't take long for the next shoe to drop:

ThinkProgress: NSA Whistleblower To Expose More Unlawful Activity: ‘People…Are Going To Be Shocked’

CongressDaily reports that former NSA staffer Russell Tice will testify to the Senate Armed Services Committee next week that not only do employees at the agency believe the activities they are being asked to perform are unlawful, but that what has been disclosed so far is only the tip of the iceberg. Tice will tell Congress that former NSA head Gen. Michael Hayden, Bush’s nominee to be the next CIA director, oversaw more illegal activity that has yet to be disclosed:

A former intelligence officer for the National Security Agency said Thursday he plans to tell Senate staffers next week that unlawful activity occurred at the agency under the supervision of Gen. Michael Hayden beyond what has been publicly reported, while hinting that it might have involved the illegal use of space-based satellites and systems to spy on U.S. citizens. …

[Tice] said he plans to tell the committee staffers the NSA conducted illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of U.S. citizens while he was there with the knowledge of Hayden. … “I think the people I talk to next week are going to be shocked when I tell them what I have to tell them. It’s pretty hard to believe,” Tice said. “I hope that they’ll clean up the abuses and have some oversight into these programs, which doesn’t exist right now.” …

Tice said his information is different from the Terrorist Surveillance Program that Bush acknowledged in December and from news accounts this week that the NSA has been secretly collecting phone call records of millions of Americans. “It’s an angle that you haven’t heard about yet,” he said. … He would not discuss with a reporter the details of his allegations, saying doing so would compromise classified information and put him at risk of going to jail. He said he “will not confirm or deny” if his allegations involve the illegal use of space systems and satellites.

When Is a Tax Cut Not a Tax Cut

When it's a loss leader for millionaires, dummy.

Yesterday the Senate passed a tax bill which gives people earning less than $82,000 a year (that's most of us) a tax cut of $30 or less. Filled up your tank lately? That's the cost of less than a tank of gas.

However, the average millionaire will get a $42,000 tax cut. That's not a tank of gas, or 10 tanks of gas, or 20 tanks of gas, or 100 tanks of gas.

That's a car. In some rural areas, that's a house.

Vote Democratic; throw these bums out in November.

LATimes: IRAs Become Focus of Tax Bill
In a $70-billion package passed by Congress, a provision that would widen access to Roth accounts draws fire as a giveaway to the rich.

"The average millionaire will receive an additional $42,000 tax cut," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said of the bill Thursday, "while middle-income Americans will see an average of $20."

Public Service Announcement

Your phone company paid for this ad

If you see this ad anywhere on the internets, be advised it's bought and paid for by Big Telecom.

Yes, the same immmoral bastards who sold your telephone records to the federal government are putting up stick figure drawings to get you to give them complete control over the internet.

Suckers. They think we're suckers. Don't get sucked in. Go to SavetheInternet.com to learn the real story.

Media Citizen: Telcos Seek to Deceive Bloggers with Cartoon


Previous posts:

Save the Internet, Part Deux (May 2, 2006)

Update [Net neutrality voted down in House Committee] (April 27, 2006)

A Better Argument for Saving the Free Internet (April 25, 2006)

Save The Internet.com (April 24, 2006)

'Just a Bald-Faced Lie'

Impeach this lying SOB.

Eugene Robinson, Washington Post; An Easy Call: Lying

At least now we know that the Bush administration's name for spying on Americans without first seeking court approval -- the "terrorist surveillance program" -- isn't an exercise in Orwellian doublespeak after all. It's just a bald-faced lie.

Chill the Champagne

Firedoglake: Grand Jury to Meet Tomorrow

Bugman To Self-Exterminate June 9th

Taking his tiny penis with him, Tom Delay has announced he is resigning his Congressional seat as of June 9th. He claims to be leaving 'to pursue new opportunities to engage in the important cultural and political battles of our day'; of course, we know that he must get to work at the corporate trough, sucking in as much money as he can so he can pay his [CAUTION; pdf link] very expensive lawyer , Dick DeGuerin. Ironically, DeGuerin is the kind of lawyer DeLay has been trying to put out of business for years with his assaults on the rights of criminal defendants. A worthy transfer of assets.

Raw Story: DeLay notifies Speaker of the House he will resign June 9

Rene The Weenie in USA Today

This time, Rene picked on the wrong kid. Harris parents' support her.
More support for Jen Harris's discrimination complaint against Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland, from today's USA Today:

Others make allegations against Penn State's Portland

New evidence that Portland discriminates against lesbians, from former player Christine Gulas (1981-1982); Chris Demuth, student trainer for 1996-97 season; and Amber Bland, who was kicked off the team the same night as Jen Harris.

Harris stands tall in painful battle with Penn State coach

And, of course, the Weenie's side of the story: Portland vigorously defends her integrity and Penn State program


Previous posts: Rene is a Weenie (March 26, 2006)

Just Keep Sending Her to Diversity Training; It Worked So Well Before (April 19, 2006)

The lawsuit is taking a physical and mental toll on Harris. "I'm on sleeping pills and anti-depressants now because I've gone through such a long period of depression that it was starting to worry people," she says. Adds her father: "I haven't heard Jennifer laugh in a year."

Legal Genius Bush Says: Surveillance Legal BECAUSE I SAY SO

He also said Harriet Miers was the most qualified person to serve on the Supreme Court, so there you go.

Shorter Bush: 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, an enemy, al Qaeda, 9/11, 9/11, nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.

WaPo: NSA Call-Tracking Program Sparks Alarm
Bush Insists That Citizens' Privacy is 'Fiercely Protected'

President Bush, responding to a newspaper report on a previously undisclosed program to track the phone call patterns of millions of Americans, insisted today that U.S. intelligence activities he has authorized are lawful and aimed strictly at the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

In a hastily arranged appearance before reporters at the White House, Bush reacted to a USA Today report that says the National Security Agency has been secretly using records provided by the three largest American telephone companies to build a massive database of foreign and domestic phone calls. The program was launched shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with the aim of analyzing calling patterns to detect terrorist activity, the paper reported. The effort involves collecting phone numbers but does not entail recording or eavesdropping on phone conversations, it said.

The NSA declined comment, saying only that it "operates within the law."

I got this picture from one of my favorite bloggers:

Art Pottery, Politics and Food: "Our intelligence activities strictly target al Qaeda..."
--12:03 pm Statement

While I'm thieving, check out his pic of Michael Hayden, the most qualified person to run the CIA:

The Look & Feel of Harry

My Radio Debut

I was just interviewed by Open Source Radio, for their piece on the NSA Phone Call Database that will air tonight.

I said "Chimpeachment"; hope that makes it through the editing process.

Call Verizon And Ask For A Refund

(800) 870-9999

That's what I just did, and I was shocked that the Verizon flunkie had not received any other calls about this. He didn't even know about the story, and was quite conciliatory after he looked it up. (Bet he has a Verizon account, and therefore an NSA/FBI file, too). I asked for two things:

(1) Immediately suspend any NSA access to my account; and

(2) A refund of my service charges for the last five years.

The arrogant Verizon bastards put me on hold as I navigated from voice mail hell to the rep, and the taped announcement ends with "As always, privacy of your account is your right, and our duty."

Lying bastards.

Verizon Sold Me Out

The dumbass who approved the program and the fathead who ran it.
I feel like Marion Barry. Bitch set me up. To any and all class action lawyers out there reading this blog (and you know who you are) I will be a name plaintiff in any case against Verizon for giving my personal, private information away to the fascists in the Bush Administration. I did not consent to this and it violates my constitutional rights under the 4th and 1st Amendments. Bastards. Pricks. Go Cheney yourself, Verizon. And Commander Codpiece. And from now on, all conversations emanating from this house will start with a seditious prelude. Like "Impeach the Lawbreaking Chimperor", if I am trying to keep it clean. Keep a record of that, assholes.

WaPo: Paper Reports NSA Collecting Phone Records

WASHINGTON -- The government is secretly collecting records of ordinary Americans' phone calls in an effort to build a database of every call made within the country, it was reported Thursday.

AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth telephone companies began turning over records of tens of millions of their customers' phone calls to the National Security Agency program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said USA Today, citing anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement.

[]

One big telecommunications company, Qwest, has refused to turn over records to the program, the newspaper said, because of privacy and legal concerns.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the NSA refused to grant its lawyers the necessary security clearance.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers' role in the program.

USAToday: NSA Has Massive Database of Americans' Phone Calls
The spy agency, with the help of three major telecom firms, has been collecting data on the domestic calls of millions of Americans since shortly after 9/11.
Sources say the NSA is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity.

For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.

The Further Adventures of Soon-To-Be-Ex-Congressman John Sweeney

She's got a purty face. Heh heh. Gimme another beer.
In which our porcine Congressman lets out his inner swine:

Swing State Project: NY-20: Sweeney Blutarsky At It Again

He said this. He really said this;

"You can't take a resume and a pretty face from New York City and say to people this is good for you simply because we can spend a lot of money and raise a lot of money," Sweeney told the Record of Troy. (Emphasis added.)

I Want To Hear What Drinan Has to Say About This

Raw Story: GOP House Speaker taps Cheney, Goss for Congressional Distinguished Service Awards

Poor Father Drinan, on the same award dais as Darth Cheney and Hooker poker Porter Goss. Ewwwwwww.

Bush To Old People: Drop Dead

I thought this article deserved a New York Post-style headline:

Bush Backs Monday Deadline For Seniors
Millions Have Not Sought Drug Benefit

President Bush insisted yesterday that the May 15 deadline for picking a Medicare prescription drug plan will stand, even as key Republican lawmakers suggested they may take action retroactively to protect people who miss the Monday cutoff.

Speaking yesterday at a retirement community in Sun City Center, Fla., Bush urged eligible seniors to act quickly. "Deadlines are important," he said. "Deadlines help people understand there's finality, and people need to get after it, you know?"

"Deadlines are important," he said. "Deadlines help people understand there's finality, and people need to get after it, you know?"

Translation: I just don't give a shit about anybody but myself. What's their problem? Whatever. Where's mah bike?

For Once, Bush Is Right

Like a clock every 12 hours, Commander Codpiece finally got one right. His greatest accomplishment in more than five years is catching a fish. Sad, but true.

WaPo: Bush's best moment in office? Reeling in big perch

BERLIN (Reuters) - President Bush told a German newspaper his best moment in more than five years in office was catching a big perch in his own lake.

"You know, I've experienced many great moments and it's hard to name the best," Bush told weekly Bild am Sonntag when asked about his high point since becoming president in January 2001.

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound perch in my lake," he told the newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

All Colbert, All The Time

The chimperor is not amused.
Whew, blogger is up again and I can post. Whee-hoo!

From Atrios, I learn that Google Video has the rights to the Colbert video, so you can watch it again. Remember not to spit coffee on your computer screen.

In the WaPo, Richard Cohen, intrepid journalist, who believed Bush's case for war (MORON) is tetchy about ... emails, chiding him for saying Colbert was not funny. Remember, even though thousands have died and are dying for Bush's lies, it's all about being nice to the corporate media. They believe they've earned it.

Speaking of the corporate media, I expect this TV critic to get canned any day now:

Doug Elfman, Chicago Sun-Times: Did media miss real Colbert story?

The truth is many in the media wrote about Bush's stand-up routine at the dinner as if they had just watched the coming of a comic genius, but they didn't report much on Colbert's funnier, harsher jokes. This may have been a case of the press corps following a standard motto: to the winner goes the spoils, and Bush got more laughs (out of copy written for him) than Colbert did.

How did Bush tickle reporters? He made fun of the fact that he can barely speak English (he is quite simply the worst communicator of all U.S. presidents), that our vice president is a heartless face-shooter, and that Bush is basically an idiot.

Ha ha, our "war president" knows he's a village idiot? To members of the White House press corps, that's some real funny stuff. To non-insiders, this looked like another example of good old boys and gals slapping each other on the back.

Colbert's routine was more remarkable for its unique and creative brazenness. He joked that Bush's presidency is like the Hindenburg; that Bush's wiretappers were monitoring this very event, and that the White House press corps, sitting in front of Colbert, gave Bush a free pass, scandal after scandal, until recently (when his polls numbers dropped).

How's this for a newsworthy lead? It was perhaps the first time in Bush's tenure that the president was forced to sit and listen to any American cite the litany of criminal and corruption allegations that have piled up against his administration. And mouth-tense Bush and first lady Laura Bush fled as soon as possible afterward.

From whom were they fleeing? A star comedian pretending to be a Fox News-like blowhard doing a sort of performance art that America hasn't witnessed nationally since the days of Andy Kaufman. Even if Colbert's bit had been reported as a train wreck, that would have sufficed. Instead, shocking lines like the following were barely covered by any traditional organ except industry magazine Editor & Publisher: "I stand by" Bush, Colbert cracked, "because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."

Reaction Shot

Bush contemplates sending Colbert to Guantanimo after Correspondents Dinner
For your viewing pleasure, here's a YouTube video showing seven minutes of Bush's reaction to Stephen Colbert's Press Secretary Audition video.

Pissy, pissy little man.

I saw this at DailyKos: Wow! He was PISSED! Bush Reaction to Colbert : New ABC Video

Medicare Part (D)isaster, Incompetently Administered, Misleading Poor Seniors

GAO called Medicare operators 500 times and got wrong information much of the time. For example, 59% of callers who asked, what is the most appropriate and least expensive plan for me, were given the wrong plan. The GAO found the government's own website so confusing that seniors just gave up on it.

The best part? Medicare KNEW the GAO was calling them to test their operators, but Medicare operators still gave out incorrect information. How bad would it have been if the calls had been completely random and Medicare hadn't been alerted?

WaPo: Study Finds Medicare Operators Often Give Bad Information

With less than two weeks remaining for seniors to sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, an independent review has found that Medicare's telephone operators frequently give callers false or incomplete information, reviving calls by Democrats to extend the May 15 deadline.

The report released yesterday also found that Medicare's written promotional materials used too much technical jargon, that call waiting times lasted from a few minutes to almost an hour, and the government Web site was so confusing that some people gave up before completing the process.

Posing as seniors or individuals helping a senior, investigators for the Government Accountability Office placed 500 calls to 1-800-MEDICARE and found that about one-third resulted in faulty information or none at all.

The quality of service varied widely. On a question relating to which seniors qualified for discounted plans, customer service representatives gave correct information 90 percent of the time.

When asked which drug plans were most appropriate and least expensive for an individual, however, the accuracy rate fell to 41 percent. Often, Medicare representatives incorrectly told callers they required personal data such as a Social Security number. In fact, they can provide general information but would be able to give more sophisticated guidance with the personal data.

[]

"Because of inaccurate or incomprehensible information, seniors haven't been given a fair shake," said Michigan Rep. John D. Dingell, the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Seniors can't make good choices if they can't get good information. And these problems confirm that this privatized prescription drug plan is inherently too complicated."

Medicare chief Mark B. McClellan defended the program in an appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday.

Although the 7,500 customer service representatives did not know which callers were from the GAO, the administration was alerted to the investigation, said Leslie Aronovitz, director of the division responsible for the report. In addition, when Medicare operators initially gave an inaccurate answer, GAO investigators "bent over backwards to try to give them as much leeway as we could," she said.

'Real Reason for Expensive Drugs'

It's the advertising, stupid.

Not the R&D.

That's why a person like myself, who takes no prescription medication, still knows taglines like "the little purple pill" (even though I'm not sure what it does). Drummed into my brain by advertising dollars.

Dr. Peter Rost, Huffington Post: One Scary Picture

'Braindead Media'

I missed this story yesterday: WaPo again inserting false 'balance' into a story on global warming. As Time Magazine said last month, "[T]he serious debate has quietly ended. Global warming [] is the real deal". But WaPo can't seem to get away from its 'on the one hand, on the other hand' formula for reporting.

From ThinkProgress:

Washington Post Perpetuates Myth of Scientific Debate About Basic Facts of Global Warming

Today’s Washington Post has a story about Canada’s conservative government cutting funds for programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This passage stuck out:

Canada, which has long clung to its “green” image, hosted early work that led to the Kyoto Protocol, in which 163 countries and regional organizations pledged to meet quotas to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that many scientists believe are warming Earth, melting glaciers and brewing more-intense storms.

Many scientists believe carbon dioxide emissions are warming the earth?

Science Magazine analyzed 928 peer-reviewed scientific papers on global warming published between 1993 and 2003. Not a single one challenged the scientific consensus the earth’s temperature is rising due to human activity. This scientific debate only exists in newspaper articles.

Whether or not global warming is already causing “more-intense storms” is nominally more controversial. But a definitive study by M.I.T. scientist Kerry Emanuel found “major storms spinning in both the Atlantic and the Pacific since the 1970s have increased in duration and intensity by about 50 percent.” Emanuel concluded that trend of more intense storms was “linked to increases in the average temperatures of the ocean surface and also correspond to increases in global average atmospheric temperatures during the same period.”

Go to ThinkProgress for original links. I love that they file this story under the tab "BRAINDEAD MEDIA". Right on.

Gitchyer Stephen Colbert Here

Atrios says YouTube has been forced to pull its video of Colbert's Correspondent's Dinner speech; now you have to go to AOL to get his fabulous skewer job.

My favorite joke:

I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message: that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound -- with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.

Same Old Same Old

Can you say 'Theo Fleury'?

NYTimes: Rangers' Ozolinsh Charged With D.W.I.

TSN.ca: Rangers Ozolinsh charged with DWI

New York Rangers defenceman Sandis Ozolinsh, who spent six weeks of the season in a substance abuse program, was arrested on a drunk driving charge in White Plains, New York on Tuesday, according to various local reports.

The seven time all-star, who was acquired by the Rangers from Anaheim in March, was reportedly pulled over for speeding at 11am. The officer noted "a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage" and a sobriety field test revealed that Ozolinsh had a blood-alcohol level of .17 percent. That more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent.

That's a real drunk, already lit up at 11:00 a.m.

Biscuit

You can make your own logo, in biscuits, here.

I saw this on Boing Boing.

At Least My Congressman Didn't Vote For The Next War

Don't our representatives in Congress learn from their own mistakes? Having given the Decider-in-Chimp a blank check for war with Iraq, which he has filled out, to date, with over 2400 American deaths, over 100,000 Iraqi deaths, over $320 billion dollars; and has us stuck in a complete quagmire, how could Congress possibly go down that road again? I ask again, isn't doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result the definition of insanity?

Thank you Jim McGovern (D-MA) for voting against this charade.

afterdowningstreet.org: House votes 397-21 for “Iran Freedom Support Act”

As if Iraq isn’t a big enough mess, the House of Representatives has just voted to 'hold Iran accountable and support a transition to democracy’. Sound Familiar? Only this time Iran is a democracy. They just held an election where their president was actually elected by the people. How refreshing.

After everything that has been exposed…the lies, the profiteering, the long list of war crimes, 397 'Representatives’ gave Bush the go ahead on attacking Iran. Only 21 Patriots voted Nay. Sad to say but these are the only people we can trust…

Baldwin, Blumenauer, Boyd, DeFazio, Duncan, Flake, Hostettler, Jones (NC), Kucinich, Leach, McDermott, McGovern, McKinney, Oberstar, Obey, Olver, Paul, Rahall, Snyder, Stark, Taylor

The most disappointing aspect however is the fact that so many of our 'progressive’ leaders in congress voted for this lie. John Conyers voted yay. Maxine Waters, Murtha, Bernie Sanders, Lynn Woolsey, Barbara Lee all voted for it. On the hill today the Progressive Caucus is hosting a hearing on Iraq…

Congresswomen Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee will host a hearing on the Iraq War next Thursday, April 27, 8:30-11 a.m., in 2325 Rayburn House Office Building. The two Co-Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are continuing to do what the "leadership" of both parties does not, respond to the demands of the majority of Americans, who disapprove of current policy.

Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee just voted yay on giving the green light for war on Iran. I can assure them that the demands of the majority of Americans are not in accordance with their vote on Iran. We are supposed to believe that these representatives 'can get fooled again’? Are they merely posing as the opposition in order to stall for Bush?

Drunken lout Sweeney (NY-20), with a strong challenger in the November elections, abstained. I wonder if that is a measure of the war's unpopularity in his district, or did he just have a hangover?

This Is What Happens In The Real World When You Shoot Someone In The Face

Hopefully neither gun nor holder loaded
In upstate New york, a man who shot his nephew in the face while mistaking him for a turkey has been charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor. Because that's what happens in the real world when you do something that stupid, and a violation of every law of hunting. You get charged with a crime. Don't think Dick Cheney will be hunting in Chenango County anytime soon.

Oneonta (NY) Daily Star: Deputies: Teen mistakenly shot

An Apalachin man was arrested after allegedly shooting his nephew while hunting turkey in the town of New Berlin on Tuesday, Chenango County sheriff’s deputies said.

Scott D. McLellan, 46, was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, after the hunting accident on West Brook Road, deputies said.

The nephew, 16, whose name deputies withheld, had many pellet injuries to his face, upper chest and arms, deputies said. The teen was taken to Chenango Memorial Hospital in Norwich, where he was stabilized, and he was later transported to Albany Medical Center for further treatment, where he was listed in stable condition.

Deputies said the teen was shot twice by his uncle with bird shot when the nephew was mistakenly identified as a turkey while in a wooded area on private property off of West Brook Road.

McLellan is to appear in New Berlin Town Court on May 16, deputies said.

Bush to Cut Social Security Disability Benefits to Give Taxcuts to Billionaires

From The New Standard, via truthout.org:

Feds Could "Gut" Social Security Disability Rolls

The Social Security Administration (SSA) rule-change proposal, published in the Federal Register last November, would make several different categories of people qualifying for disability benefits wait two more years for payments to start. Because Medicare and Medicaid eligibility are based on Social Security qualifications, individuals would have to postpone receipt of those healthcare benefits too.

[]

The agency also estimated that the rule change would save the federal government $5.8 billion dollars over the next ten years, leading some groups to believe the motivation behind the rule change is monetary. In its public comments to the SSA, Philadelphia's Community Legal Services, an organization providing representation to low-income people, accused the agency of trying to save federal spending "by defining disability in an even more restrictive manner than currently."

$5.8 billion dollars is less than 10% of the $71.6 billion dollars the Bush Administration wants to give the 18 richest families in America by eliminating the estate tax. More draconian social service cuts to come, most like these in the dead of night, by regulation or something slipped into an omnibus bill.

I saw this at Suburban Guerrilla.

Save the Internet, Part Deux

AlterNet: Markey introduces Net Neutrality Act

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) threw down the gauntlet just moments ago, introducing the Network Neutrality Act of 2006 [full text HERE], which "[offers a] choice between favoring the broadband designs of a small handful of very large companies, and safeguarding the dreams of thousands of inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. This legislation is designed to save the Internet and thwart those who seek to fundamentally and detrimentally alter the Internet as we know it."

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Here's the updated action list, from Matt Stoller via pachacutec:

1. SIGN a Net Neutrality petition to Congress.

2. CALL Congress now. Especially, tell your rrepresentatives in the House to support Markey’s Net Neutrality Act of 2006, but educate your senators on this issue too, as the fight will soon move there.

3. WRITE A LETTER to Congress.

4. MYSPACE: Add "Save the Internet" as a friend.

5. Check out the BLOG RESOURCES about this issue, including "Save the Internet" logo.

6. VISIT the SavetheInternet coalition Web site for more information.

Former Clinton Press Secretary Mike McCurry is out there pimping for Big Telecomm for a big fee (and whining about how he's being treated by the little people on Huffington Post).

What's it with all those former Clinton staffers turning to the dark side? Like Donna Shalala living in a 9000 foot square mansion in Florida and screwing the janitors at the University of Miami who just want to make a living wage (right now they make $7.53 an hour. She couldn't feed her little show dogs on that.)? Did they all lose their souls in the swamps of Washington, DC?

Previous posts:

Updates (April 27, 2006)

A Better Argument for Saving the Free Internet (April 25, 2006)

Save the Internet.com (April 24, 2006)

Chemlawn Users, Beware

Chemlawn Lawn Spray Gun by Lesco (image rittenhouse.ca)
You might want to print out this article and distribute it to the folks in your neighborhood who have those little chemical treatment flags on their lawns.

London Free Press: Pesticides may affect penis size
A renowned U.S. scientist supports a ban on the chemicals for cosmetic purposes.

A renowned U.S. scientist who has documented fertility and sex changes -- including decreasing penis size -- due to environmental contamination says he wouldn't apply pesticides on his own lawn.

Delivering a special series of lectures this week at the University of Western Ontario, Louis Guillette has been drawn into London's lawn-care debate during question periods and talk-show interviews.

"The use of these compounds just for cosmetic reasons, just because you don't want to make dandelion wine from your yard or whatever, I think is inappropriate," Guillette, who is associate dean for research at the University of Florida, said in a lecture yesterday at UWO's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Based on his own scientific investigations, Guillette said there's enough evidence pesticides put children, wildlife and the ecosystem at risk.

"Just because you can go buy them at the local stores doesn't meant that is appropriate use," he said.

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Penis size of the animals from the polluted lake was smaller than animals from the less-polluted lake.

"This is important because it is not just an alligator story. It is not just a lake story. We know there has been a dramatic increase in penile and genital abnormalities in baby boys," Guillette said.

A followup study by another scientist involving healthy couples with 5,000 healthy babies also found reduced penis size with higher contamination levels.

As Brilliant at Breakfast commented, this explains Tom Delay, who owned a pest control company before he ran for Congress.

Once Upon a Time, The New York Times Covered Insulting Speeches at the Correspondents Dinner

The Wayback Machine
We're going back in time.....

back......

back.......

to Saturday, March 23, 1996. Don Imus spoke at the Radio-Television Correspondents Dinner on Thursday, March 21, 1996:

NYTimes:
NATIONAL DESK

Unexpectedly, the Clintons Are Skewered at a Dinner

By LAWRIE MIFFLIN (NYT)
Published: March 23, 1996

When the Radio-Television Correspondents Association invited Don Imus, the WFAN radio morning man in New York, to be the after-dinner speaker at its annual gala on Thursday night in Washington, members knew how uninhibited his barbs could be. And how well informed; Mr. Imus is as well known for being obsessed with politics as for being a so-called shock jock.

But the correspondents apparently got more than they bargained for when Mr. Imus made fun of President Clinton's supposed extramarital affairs and Hillary Clinton's legal problems -- with both the President and the First Lady sitting on the dais as he spoke.

The remarks were deemed so insulting that the association sent a letter of apology to the Clintons yesterday, and Michael D. McCurry, the President's press secretary, asked C-Span, the cable network that routinely rebroadcasts Washington events, to refrain from retransmitting this one.

At C-Span, the vice president for programming, Terry Murphy, said the dinner speech would be rebroadcast, tonight at 8, as scheduled. Then, Mr. Murphy -- who is also the chairman of the correspondents association -- signed the letter apologizing to the Clintons.

At his daily news briefing yesterday, Mr. McCurry said he had not discussed Mr. Imus's remarks with President or Mrs. Clinton, and had acted on his own in calling C-Span.

"I just thought it was so bad," Mr. McCurry said, "that they ought to just think about it before they automatically re-aired it."

About 3,000 people in the Washington Hilton heard Mr. Imus, along with a live C-Span audience. Not many more than that would have been expected to hear him on C-Span tonight, if not for Mr. McCurry's calling attention to the rebroadcast. The cable network, the home of endless Congressional hearings, political speeches and policy discussions, does not typically attract a large crowd on Saturday nights.

Mr. Imus's program -- 660 on the AM dial in New York -- is syndicated to radio stations around the country, and Mr. Clinton and many other politicians have been on the program.

On Thursday night, Mr. Imus began by shuffling some papers in front of him, saying that they did not appear to be his notes. He wondered where they had come from, and said that they did not look like papers someone would leave lying around.

He then looked directly at Mrs. Clinton, making an obvious connection to an aide's finding of papers important to the Whitewater investigation "lying around" in a room at the White House. Later, Mr. Imus jokingly referred to Mrs. Clinton's having been "indicted."

He also made insulting references to Speaker Newt Gingrich's lesbian half sister, Senator Bob Kerrey's "wooden leg," and Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s hair transplant, and allusions to the marital problems of several television people in the room.

"His satire was in many ways brilliant," said a television correspondent who was there but who insisted on anonymity, "but it was deeply and personally cutting. The President, the First Lady and Speaker Gingrich were clearly not amused; you could see by their faces. But it was Imus to the hilt; he was right on his game."

Asked whether the association had been aware of how tasteless Mr. Imus's "game" could be, Kenan Block, the outgoing president, who selected Mr. Imus, said he and Mr. Imus had talked several times beforehand about what was appropriate for this audience.

"He said, 'I can't tell womanizing jokes about the President with his wife sitting right there,' and 'Don't worry, I'm not going to embarrass myself,' " said Mr. Block, a producer for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS.

"I felt he knew what the limits were," Mr. Block said. "We took a risk, and unfortunately it didn't turn out the way we hoped. I can't pass the buck. It was my fault."

Mr. Imus, who is on vacation, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Yet Stephen Colbert is ignored. And they say we have a liberal media. Hah!

England: No Rooney, No World Cup Hope

Striker Wayne Rooney broke the fourth metatarsal bone in his right foot in a Premier League game against Chelsea on Saturday, and there went England's World Cup hopes.

Brave words were said by Rooney's coach, Eriksson, but the fact is that he is highly unlikely to recover in time to play and be any kind of factor.

From The Guardian (uk), a story about the role Rooney's brand new Nike boots may have played, and a recent history of English players with broken metatarsals, with recovery times:

Nike bruised as new boots backfire

Metatarsal mayhem

Wayne Rooney Fifth metatarsal - June 2004 Predicted return 8 weeks returned 14 weeks later

David Beckham Second metatarsal- April 2002 Predicted 6 weeks returned 7 weeks later
[and was completely ineffective]
Gary Neville Fifth metatarsal - April 2002 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 21 weeks later

Ashley Cole Fifth metatarsal - Oct 2005 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 12 weeks later

Scott Parker Second metatarsal - Dec 2004 Predicted 8 weeks returned 34 weeks later

Michael Owen Fifth metatarsal - Jan 2006 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 17 weeks later

Danny Murphy Second metatarsal - May 2002 Predicted 6 weeks returned 21 weeks later

Steven Gerrard Fifth metatarsal - Sep 22 2004 Predicted 6-8 weeks returned 10 weeks later

Keeping Up

No blogging tomorrow, must keep up with my life.

An apropos post here, from Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users:

The Myth of Keeping Up

I saw this on BlogsNow.

Tomorrow the computer stays off. At least until after 5:00 p.m.

Grand Old Policeblotter, George W. Bush edition

Note to the Boston Globe: A person who disobeys federal law should be identified as a criminal.

Boston Globe: Bush challenges hundreds of laws
President cites powers of his office

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.

Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional.

Things To Celebrate (And Not) This Week

May 1st:

Mission Accomplished Day
May Day (International Workers Day)
The Great American Boycott 2006 (Immigration Protest)


May 2nd:

David Beckham's birthday (too bad for England about all those broken metatarsals, huh?)


May 3rd:

World Press Freedom Day

On this date in 1957, Walter O'Malley moved the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles.


May 4th:

Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you! Think about it.)

36th anniversary of National Guard murder of 4 students at Kent State University

1886 Haymarket Riots


May 5th:

Pete Rose got his 3000th hit (did he bet on it?)

And, last but not least:

National Day of Celebration (Frogmarching Day)

Jason Leopold at truthout.org: Fitzgerald to Seek Indictment of Rove

Despite vehement denials by his attorney, who said this week that Karl Rove is neither a "target" nor in danger of being indicted in the CIA leak case, the special counsel leading the investigation has already written up charges against Rove, and a grand jury is expected to vote on whether to indict the Deputy White House Chief of Staff sometime next week, sources knowledgeable about the probe said Friday afternoon.

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In the event that an indictment is handed up by the grand jury it would be filed under seal. A press release would then be issued by Fitzgerald’s press office indicating that the special prosecutor will hold a news conference, likely on a Friday afternoon, sources close to the case said. The media would be given more than 24 hours notice of a press conference, sources added.

Booman Tribune: Frog-March Scheduled for Next Friday

Hopefully wherever I am on Friday, I'll be wearing a party hat and drinking champagne!

Surprise, Surprise: Corporate Media Downplays Anti-War Protests

BlueJersey.net: NYC Protest Against the War Photo Diary
AP Story, Washington Post: Tens of Thousands in NYC Protest War

The AP story says organizers estimate 300,000 people marched through Manhattan yesterday to protest the war in Iraq. That would be hundreds of thousands of people. The protest stretched for 10 blocks, so you know there were a lot of people. Yet the AP article says "Tens of thousands of people marched Saturday", even though the number should be written hundreds of thousands. And it gets worse, as other newspapers downplay the numbers by reducing AP's already reduced "tens of thousands" to:

Thousands

AP Story, Los Angeles Times: Thousands Protest War in New York City

Can't find an article that says "Tens", though some omit the numbers altogether:

AP Story, Cape Cod Times: Protesters: 'End this war'

Journalism is dead. Long live the Corporate Media.

Happy 75th Anniversary Empire State Building

Empire State Building at night
The Empire State Building reflects light from the setting sun in this view looking east in New York City. The iconic status of the Empire State Building, which turns 75 on Monday, has stretched far beyond the confines of New York City to make it one of the world's most recognisable structures -- in the same rank as the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal.(AFP/File/Stan Honda)
The dirigible Columbia failed in an attempt to pick up mail from the mooring mast of the Empire State Building in this Sept. 30, 1931 file photo in New York City, because of wind resistance. The dirigible is shown quite near the mast of the building while below thousands of people watched the attempt. Born in the Great Depression, the building has weathered economic hardship, world war, labor strikes, murder, terrorist fears and yes, even its own plane crash. On Monday, May 1, 2006, the Empire State Building turns 75 years old, a diamond jubilee for New York City's crown jewel. (AP Photo/File)
A view of the Tower from the 86th floor Observation Deck.
Tom Seitz of Cleveland, Ohio, looks at the Empire State Building shrouded in fog in New York, on Jan. 13, 2006. (AP Photos/File, Shiho Fukada)
The viewfinder remains, but the Towers are gone from the view

'Everything Was Fake Except The Troops'

Faker-In-Chief
NYTimes: Frank Rich, Bush of a Thousand Days

The demons that keep rising up from the past to grab Mr. Bush are the fictional W.M.D. he wielded to take us into Iraq. They stalk him as relentlessly as Banquo's ghost did Macbeth. From that original sin, all else flows. Mr. Rove wouldn't be in jeopardy if the White House hadn't hatched a clumsy plot to cover up its fictions. Mr. Bush's poll numbers wouldn't be in the toilet if American blood was not being spilled daily because of his fictions. By recruiting a practiced Fox News performer to better spin this history, the White House reveals that it has learned nothing. Made-for-TV propaganda propelled the Bush presidency into its quagmire in the first place. At this late date only the truth, the whole and nothing but, can set it free.

All too fittingly, Tony Snow's appointment was announced just before May Day, a red-letter day twice over in the history of the Iraq war. It was on May 1 three years ago that Mr. Bush did his victory jig on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. It was May 1 last year that The Sunday Times of London published the so-called Downing Street memo. These events bracket all that has gone wrong and will keep going wrong for this president until he comes clean.

To mark the third anniversary of the Iraq invasion last month, the White House hyped something called Operation Swarmer, "the largest air assault" since the start of the war, complete with Pentagon-produced video suitable for the evening news. (What the operation actually accomplished as either warfare or P.R. remains a mystery.) It will take nothing less than a replay of D-Day with the original cast to put a happy gloss on tomorrow's anniversary. Looking back at "Mission Accomplished" now is like playing that childhood game of "What's wrong with this picture?" It wasn't just the banner or the "Top Gun" joyride or the declaration of the end of "major combat operations" that was bogus. Everything was fake except the troops.

Ed Strong has the full article:

Ed Strong, The Daily Mindbender: Frank Rich: Lame-Duck Bush of a Thousand Days and No Way Out

Must See TV

Pay no attention to that little man in the corner
Stephen Colbert put George Bush on the spit, with a side of pompous Washington journalists, grilled to perfection, at the Correspondents Dinner last night.

I saw the replay after midnight and was afraid I was going to wake up my upstairs neighbor with my peals of laughter.

It was a little tense in the room, as almost no one seemed to enjoy being the main dish of the barbecue. George and Laura had real sourpusses.

I say 'almost' because Injustice Scalia (Colbert addressed him with a "Vaffunculo", and some other hand gestures, "I'm just saying hi to my Sicilian paisan") grinned broadly and went to the podium after it was over to shake Colbert's hand. George Bush put on a fake smile to shake his hand, then it disappeared as he turned away. Laura didn't even extend her hand. She and Colbert just nodded at each other. Helen Thomas (star of Colbert's video when she pursued him trying to ask why we went to war in Iraq) got a big hug and kiss.

The corporate media seems to be trying to pretend it didn't happen. CNN is running a piece on Bush's schtick with his fake Bush sidekick, with no mention of Colbert. C-Span doesn't have it on the schedule today. Hmmmmm.

Guess you'll have to watch it on the internet. Crooks & Liars has the video, and several other links.

Editor & Publisher: Colbert Lampoons Bush at White House Correspondents Dinner-- President Does Not Seem Amused

Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged the Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, “and reality has a well-known liberal bias.”

He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. “This administration is soaring, not sinking,” he said. “If anything, they are re-arranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.”

Colbert told Bush he could end the problem of protests by retired generals by refusing to let them retire. He compared Bush to Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movies, always getting punched in the face—“and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world.”

Turning to the war, he declared, "I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."

He noted former Ambassador Joseph Wilson in the crowd, just three tables away from Karl Rove, and that he had brought " Valerie Plame." Then, worried that he had named her, he corrected himself, as Bush aides might do, "Uh, I mean... he brought Joseph Wilson's wife." He might have "dodged the bullet," he said, as prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wasn't there.

Colbert also made biting cracks about missing WMDs, “photo ops” on aircraft carriers and at hurricane disasters, melting glaciers and Vice President Cheney shooting people in the face. He advised the crowd, "if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly on into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. will be right over with a cocktail. "

Observing that Bush sticks to his principles, he said, "When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday - no matter what happened Tuesday."

Also lampooning the press, Colbert complained that he was “surrounded by the liberal media who are destroying this country, except for Fox News. Fox believes in presenting both sides of the story — the president’s side and the vice president’s side." He also reflected on the alleged good old days, when the media was still swallowing the WMD story.

Addressing the reporters, he said, "You should spend more time with your families, write that novel you've always wanted to write. You know, the one about the fearless reporter who stands up to the administration. You know-- fiction."

He claimed that the Secret Service name for Bush's new press secretary is "Snow Job." Colbert closed his routine with a video fantasy where he gets to be White House Press Secretary, complete with a special “Gannon” button on his podium. By the end, he had to run from Helen Thomas and her questions about why the U.S. really invaded Iraq and killed all those people.

As Colbert walked from the podium, when it was over, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling, and handshakes, and left immediately.

Youtube video of Colbert's video piece: his application for White House Press Secretary.

The Democratic Daily has a rough transcript.

A high quality bittorrent file of Colbert's appearance. (I saw this at Boing Boing)

AOL Poll on who was funniest at Correspondents dinner; Bush imitator Bridges holds a slim lead.