Politics - Bitter?

You are goddamned right I am.

And If you aren't... you haven't been paying attention.

Politics - The difference?

Someone once told me that the difference between a liberal and a conservative could be explained thus -

Liberals are fine with some people getting benefits they don't need in order to ensure that the people who do need the benefits get them; Conservatives are fine with the people who need the benefits NOT getting them in order to ensure those who don't need them, don't get them.

Politics - A basic primer

What Every American Should Know About the Middle East

Politics - What has Obama ever done?

I am sick to death of the moronic masses pulling out the "But what has Obama actually done?" card.

From Helenann at the Daily Kos:

Of the 570 bills Senator Obama introduced into the Senate during the 109th and 110th Congress (Senate Bill numbers are in parentheses), they can be summarized as follows:

25 addressed Energy Efficiency and Climate Change
Suspend royalty relief for oil and gas (115)
Reduce dependence on oil; use of alternative energy sources (133)
Increase fuel economy standards for cars (767, 768)
Auto industry incentives for fuel efficient vehicles (1151)
Reduce green house gas emissions (1324)
Establish at NSF a climate change education program (1389)
Increase renewable content of gasoline (2202)
Energy emergency relief for small businesses and farms (269)
Strategic gasoline and fuel reserves (1794)
Alternative diesel standards (3554)
Coal to liquid fuel promotion (3623)
Renewable diesel standards (1920)
Reducing global warming pollution from vehicles (2555)
Fuel security and consumer choice (1994, 2025)
Alternative energy refueling system (2614)
Climate change education (1389)
Low income energy assistance (2405)
Oil savings targets (339)
Fuel economy reform (3694)
Plug-in electric drive vehicles (1617)
Nuclear release notice (2348)
Passenger rail investment (294)
Energy relief for low income families (2405)

21 addressed Health Care
Drug re-importation (334)
Health information technology (1262, 1418)
Discount drug prices (2347)
Health care associated infections (2278)
Hospital quality report cards (692, 1824)
Medical error disclosure and compensation (1784)
Emergency medical care and response (1873)
Stem cell research (5)
Medical Malpractice insurance (1525)
Health centers renewal (901, 3771)
Children’s health insurance (401)
Home health care (2061)
Medicare independent living (2103)
Microbicides for HIV/AIDS (823)
Ovarian cancer biomarker research (2569)
Gynological cancers (1172)
Access to personalized medicine through use of human genome (976)
Paralysis research and care (1183)

20 addressed Public Health:
Violence against women (1197)
Biodefense and pandemic preparedness and response (1821, 1880)
Viral influenza control (969)
End homelessness (1518)
Reduce STDs/unintended pregnancy (1790)
Smoking prevention and tobacco control (625)
Minority health improvement and disparity elimination (4024)
Nutrition and physical education in schools (2066)
Health impact assessments (1067, 2506)
Healthy communities (1068)
Combat methamphetamines (2071)
Paid sick leave (910)
Prohibit mercury sales (833, 1818)
Prohibit sale of lead products (1306, 2132)
Lead exposure in children (1811, 2132)

14 address Consumer Protection/Labor
Stop unfair labor practices (842)
Fair minimum wage (2, 1062, 2725, 3829)
Internet freedom (2917)
Credit card safety (2411)
Media ownership (2332)
Protecting taxpayer privacy (2484)
Working family child assistance (218)
Habeus Corpus Restoration (185)
Bankruptcy protection for employees and retirees (2092)
FAA fair labor management dispute resolution (2201)
Working families flexibility (2419).

13 addressed the Needs of Veterans and the Armed Forces:
Improve Benefits (117)
Suicide prevention (479)
Needs of homeless veterans (1180)
Homes for veterans (1084)
GI Bill enhancement (43)
Military job protection
Dignity in care for wounded vets (713)
Housing assistance for low income veterans (1084)
Military children in public schools (2151)
Military eye injury research and care (1999)
Research physical/mental health needs from Iraq War (1271)
Proper administration of discharge for personality disorder (1817, 1885)
Security of personal data of veterans (3592)

12 addressed Congressional Ethics and Accountability
Lobbying and ethics reform (230)
Stop fraud (2280)
Legislative transparency and accountability (525)
Open government (2180, 2488)
Restoring fiscal discipline (10)
Transparency and integrity in earmarks (2261)
Accountability of conference committee deliberations and reports (2179)
Federal funding accountability and transparency (2590)
Accountability and oversight for private security functions under Federal
contract (674)
Accountability for contractors and personnel under federal contracts
(2147) Resctrictions awarding government contracts (2519)

10 addressed Foreign Policy:
Iraq war de-escalation (313)
US policy for Iraq (433),
Divestiture from Iran (1430)
Sudan divestment authorization (831)
Millennium Development Goals (2433)
Multilateral debt relief (1320)
Development bank reform (1129)
Nuclear nonproliferation (3131,977,2224).

9 address Voting/Elections
Prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections (453)
Voter access to polls and services in Federal elections (737)
Voter intimidation and deceptive practices (1975)
Senate campaign disclosure parity (185)
Require reporting for bundled campaign contributions (2030)
Election jamming prevention (4102)
Campaign disclosure parity (223)
Presidential funding (2412)
Integrity of electronic voting systems (1487)

11 addressed Education
Increase access of low income African Americans to higher education (1513)
Establish teaching residency programs (1574)
Increase early intervention services (2111)
Middle school curriculum improvements (2227)
Public database of scholarships, fellowships and financial aid (2428)
Summer learning programs (116)
TANF financial education promotion (924)
Higher education (1642)
Build capacity at community colleges (379)
Campus law enforcement in emergencies (1228)
Support for teachers (2060).

6 addressed Hurrican Katrina
Hurricane Katrina recovery (2319)
Emergency relief (1637)
Bankruptcy relief and community protection (1647)
Working family tax relief (2257)
Fair wages for recovery workers (1749)
Gulf coast infrastructure redevelopment (1836)

5 addressed the Environment
Drinking water security (218, 1426)
Water resources development (728)
Waste water treatment (1995)
Combat illegal logging (1930)
Spent nuclear fuel tracking and Acountability (1194)
Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act (Introduced in Senate)[S.726.IS ]

4 addressed Discrimination
Claims for civil class action based on discrimination (1989)
Domestic partnership benefits (2521)
Unresolved civil rights crimes (535)
Equality or two parent families (2286)

4 addressed Homeland Security
Judicial review of FISA orders (2369)
National emergency family locator (1630)
Amend US Patriot Act (2167)
Chemical security and safety (2486)

Politics - Tax & Spend Republicans

Since 1938 the Democrats have held the White house for 35 years, the Republicans for 34. Over that time the national debt has increased at an average annual rate of 8.7%. In years Democrats were in the White House there was an average increase of 8.3%. In years the Republicans ran the White House the debt increased an average 9.7% per year. Those averages aren’t that far apart, but they do show a bias toward more borrowing by Republicans than Democrats even including World War II.

If you look at the 59-year record of debt since the end of WWII, starting with Truman’s term, the difference between the two parties’ contributions to our national debt level change considerably. Since 1946, Democratic presidents increased the national debt an average of only 3.2% per year. The Republican presidents stay at an average increase of 9.7% per year. Republican Presidents out borrowed and spent Democratic presidents by a three to one ratio. Putting that in very real terms; for every dollar a Democratic president has raised the national debt in the past 59 years Republican presidents have raised the debt by $2.99.

Politics - Why I will be caucusing for Barak Obama tonight

Clinton vs. Obama.

They share a lot of the same views on policy. In fact, their platforms are nearly identical.

So it comes down to character and integrity.

Obama wins that walking away.

The major reason I'm caucusing for Obama tonight is that he won't bring in the baggage that Hillara has.

The right loathes her. There is no faster way to get under a 'publicans skin than to mention her name. (Ok, maybe Gore, but I digress.) You want to see McCain in the WH and four more years of embarrassing foreign affairs gaffs and pointless wars? Then nominate Hillara. She'll bond the fractured GOP together so fast it'll make Super Glue look like bubble gum.

Even the religious right will overlook McCains less than conservative voting record to keep her out of the White House.

Aside from that, Obama is competent, literate, well liked abroad and can recover some of the damage our reputation has taken under this administrations holy war. We need that. We need our friends and allies to know who we really are. We need to restore the presidency to an office of hope. Not one of divisive politics as usual.

Hillara and Obama don't differ that much on policy stands. (I supported Kucinich early on because he DID differ from everyone.) Now it's about who can lead us out of the fucking mess Dubya/Cheney/Rice/Wolfowitz/Libby/Rumsfield and all the other PNAC ass-wipes got us into.

Then there's the whole lobbyists thing:

Clinton took in $823,087 from registered lobbyists and members of their firms in 2007 and the second-biggest recipient was McCain, who took in $416,321, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based group which tracks political giving. Barack Obama, Clinton's rival for the Democratic nomination, doesn't take money from registered lobbyists, although he received $86,282 from employees of firms that lobby, according to the center.

Politics - Reality check

2008 budget dollars for
Military spending = 717 Billion (67%)
Non-military = 358 Billion (33%)

China spends 65 Billion a year on their military.
(Granted, that's 2004 dollars and I'm sure not 100% accurate. But still, it's got to be close.)

Priorities.

Geek - Steampunk JLA!

The Gaslight Justice League.

Sweet.

Geek - Sci-Fi Sound Quiz

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Take the Sci-Fi Movie Quiz cheapest digital camera

Personal - Santa@indiatechglobal.com

It's been a great couple of months in the my house. Every time the girl started to act up, I'd remind her that Santa was making his lists and it just takes one call from mommy or daddy to let the Big Guy know she was edging off the "nice" list. That would re-adjust her attitude.

Now he's made his rounds and there's little to hold over her head. In fact, she informed me yesterday in the midst of one of her tantrums that, "You can't just call Santa, daddy."

I corrected her and said, yes, you can indeed call Santa but the hold times make it difficult to get through since he outsourced his Naughty/Nice Processing Facility to India but I'd probably get through to him faster if I emailed him.

That gave her enough to think about that, for a while at least, she forgot what she was throwing her fit over.

Ahhh... peace on earth, indeed.

Movies - The Dark Knight

Why so serious?

Nerdgasm!

Personal - Holiday Road

Ahhh, the holidays....

Odd observation of the day: my Firefox is set up at home so I almost NEVER see an add on a website. When I travel and am forced to use IE, I realize how the rest of the world sees the web. As one large bilboard.

No sir, I don't like it.

Sports - Kansas City USED to have a pro-football team...

I'm not going to the last home game of the season, (even though I can get pretty much any ticket I want for free) but if I did I would make a sign that reads:

Dear Santa,

All I want for X-mas is Herm Edward's resignation.

Love,

Every Chiefs Fan

Personal - When in Chinatown...

I had to go to D.C. last week for work. Really mind-numbing work that any monkey with an above average I.Q. could pull off, but the boss thought I needed to be said monkey. I had successfully fought off work related travel since well before the boy was born, so I was due.

My hotel (the Marriott Renaissance) was just a couple of blocks from the Chinatown metro stop, so I figured I could hop over to Chinatown and have some pretty decent Chinese food. (Or what in China they call "food.")

Walking down the street filled with signs written in Chinese (could have been Klingon, I didn't look that hard,) I see a big Guinness sign. Odd, I think.

Sure enough, right smack in the middle of Chinatown is an Irish pub. (Fadó to be exact.) I elected to have the Fish & Chips and a couple of Guinness and fore go the Dim Sum.

This would have been a pleasant experience except for the Justice Department drones who took up residency next to me at the bar. As you might expect, they were loud, obnoxious and paying more attention to their BlackBerry/SmartPhone than who they were spilling their twelve dollar a glass Cabernet on. After lengthly discussions on who slept with whom to get their promotion, what they expect of their assistants and a disgraceful display of who makes how much more than whom, my already low opinion of them dropped several points to where I now regard them as just below a guy who kicks puppies through a box fan.

Thanks, Priest!

Priest Holmes, possibly the best running back that has ever played for Kansas City is, at this hour, announcing his retirement.

Since joining the Chiefs as an unrestricted free agent in 2001, Holmes averaged a league-high 130.0 scrimmage yards per game and ranked second in the NFL by averaging 93.4 rushing yards per game. Holmes scored 83 touchdowns since 2001-05, the second-highest total in the NFL during that time span. He scored 62 rushing touchdowns from 2002-04, the second-best three-year total in NFL history. Holmes owns a host of Chiefs single-season records, including marks for points (162 in 2003), receptions by a running back (74 in 2003) and yards from scrimmage (2,287 in 2002).

He was a blast to watch.

A side note to Shawne Merriman: DIAF, you roided out puke stain.

Politics - Dubya has the largest nuts on the planet.

How big do your balls have to be to name October 1, 2007 "Child Health Day" and then turn around on October 3, 2007 and veto the SCHIP bill?

Gigantic ones, that's what!

Books - Oh my god! You killed Chewie!

You bastard!

One of my favorite authors, R.A. Salvatore will be in K.C. this week signing his new book.

Think I'll go by and hold up a sign that reads, "No Chewbacca, No Peace!"

Sports - 2 & 2 and leading the AFC West!

Well... tied with two other teams, but we're still leading!

Nice win. Really nice.

I was obviously 100% wrong about both the Chiefs and the Chargers.

An often overlooked fact by the national media, (I'm looking at you ESPN!) is that the Chiefs defense has not allowed one single touchdown in any of the 4 second halfs this season.

Politics - No child left behind... unless they need health coverage, then screw 'em

Email your congress critters and point this out to the little weasels:

How many days of the Iraq war would pay for children's health care?

1 Day = $300 Million = 246,000 Kids
1 Week = $2.1 Billion = 1.7 Million Kids
1 Month = $9.1 Billion = 7.4 Million Kids
41 Days = $12.2 Billion = 10 Million Kids

Tell them to stand up to Bush and his, claim that the SCHIP bill contains “excessive spending,” even as he’s requested $200 billion more for the war in Iraq.

Sports - How bout them Chiefs?

First win is the best win.

The Monster came up big, as I knew he would. 8 tackles. 2 sacks. 1 forced turnover.

My cousin and I went to Tanners to watch the game. It was great to just hang out and drink some beers again. However I'm reminded of just how old I really am when the little waitresses in very short skirts start talking about their 21st birthdays the weekend prior.

Those girls could be my daughters.

I stopped looking at them after that.