Politics - Kansas Reps prove they have no idea what they are talking about

Via The Office of the Clerk of the House Of Representatives

QUESTION: On Agreeing to the Resolution
BILL TITLE: Supporting intelligence and law enforcement programs to track terrorists and terrorist finances conducted consistent with Federal law and with appropriate Congressional consultation and specifically condemning the disclosure and publication of classified information that impairs the international fight against, etc.

So here we have the House voting on a resolution basically condeming the NYT for disclosing the supposed classified info that Dubya and Co. were looking into financial records to catch terrists. Only... President Cheney, Vice-President Bush, Connie Rice... everyone in the administration has been saying for three years that they were going after their financial records. HOW can that be classified when they use it as talking-points all the damn time?

Buncha retarded monkeys in that House.

Anyway... Ryun and Tiahrt voted for this insane waste of time. (Moran didn't vote which is the only good thing he's done since getting there.)

Politics - Pat Roberts... flip-flopper?

Via Think Progress

Today, Senate Coverup Committee chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) attacked the media for writing about the SWIFT bank records tracking program, and he called for a “formal damage assessment” to be done by Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte. (Dan Froomkin today explained how the “existence of SWIFT itself has not exactly been a secret.”)

Roberts began his attack on the media yesterday:

If another attack occurs because of this information going out…the people who have written these stories and the people who have made their decisions should look in the mirror.

But Roberts is the one who needs to “look in the mirror” about the effects leaks have on national security. The National Journal’s Murray Waas reported in April that during the start of the Iraq war, Roberts disclosed sensitive intelligence in a speech he delivered (ironically enough) to the National Newspaper Association:
[T]hree years ago on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, Roberts himself was involved in disclosing sensitive intelligence information that, according to four former senior intelligence officers, impaired efforts to capture Saddam Hussein and potentially threatened the lives of Iraqis who were spying for the United States.

On March 20, 2003, at the onset of military hostilities between U.S. and Iraqi forces, Roberts said in a speech to the National Newspaper Association that he had “been in touch with our intelligence community” and that the CIA had informed President Bush and the National Security Council “of intelligence information from what we call human intelligence that indicated the location of Saddam Hussein and his leadership in a bunker in the suburbs of Baghdad.”

The former intelligence officials said in interviews that Roberts was never held accountable for his comments, which bore directly on the issue of intelligence-gathering sources and methods, and revealed that Iraqis close to Hussein were probably talking to the United States.

As former intelligence officials told Waas, the incident showed “how rank and file intelligence professionals now have much to fear from legitimate and even inadvertent contacts with journalists, while senior executive branch officials and members of Congress are almost never held accountable when they seriously breach national security through leaks of information.

Sounds like a flip-flop to me.

Politics - Net Neutrality still up in the air

The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday rejected a network neutrality amendment, handing cable and phone broadband access providers yet another victory over a coalition that has demanded the application of strict nondiscrimination standards against entities that control access to millions of Internet users.

The panel voted 11 to 11 to defeat an amendment sponsored by Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), who had backing from Google, Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, Microsoft and other firms that deliver voice, video, and information services and applications.

Under Senate rules, a tie vote means the amendment failed.

Via Daily Kos

You can contact the members of the Senate Commerce Committee via the main switchboard toll free at 1-888-355-3588. Or you can contact them individually at the following phone and fax numbers:

GOP Members
* Chairman Ted Stevens (AK): (202) 224-3004; (202) 224-2354 FAX
* John McCain (AZ): (202) 224-2235; Fax: (202) 228-2862
* Conrad Burns (MT): 202-224-2644; Fax: 202-224-8594
* Trent Lott (MS): (202) 224-6253; Fax: (202) 224-2262
* Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX): 202-224-5922; 202-224-0776 (FAX)
* Olympia J. Snowe (ME): (202) 224-5344; FAX (202) 224-1946
* Gordon H. Smith (OR): 202.224.3753; Fax: 202.228.3997
* John Ensign (NV): (202) 224-6244; Fax: (202) 228-2193
* George Allen (VA): (202) 224-4024; Fax: (202) 224-5432
* John E. Sununu (NH): (202) 224-2841; FAX (202) 228-4131
* Jim DeMint (SC): 202-224-6121; Fax: 202-228-5143
* David Vitter (LA): (202) 224-4623; Fax: (202) 228-5061

Dem Members
* Co-Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (HI): 202-224-3934; Fax: 202-224-6747
* John D. Rockefeller (WV): (202) 224-6472; (202) 224-7665 Fax
* John F. Kerry (MA): (202) 224-2742 - Phone; (202) 224-8525 - Fax
* Byron L. Dorgan (ND): 202-224-2551; Fax: 202-224-1193
* Barbara Boxer (CA): 202-224-3553
* Bill Nelson (FL): 202-224-5274; Fax: 202-228-2183
* Maria Cantwell (WA): 202-224-3441; 202-228-0514 - FAX
* Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ): (202) 224-3224; Fax: (202) 228-4054
* E. Benjamin Nelson (NE): Tel: (202) 224-6551; Fax: (202) 228-0012
* Mark Pryor (AR): (202) 224-2353; Fax: (202) 228-0908

If one of these clowns are your senator, contact them. Tell them they are making a huge mistake by selling the internet to their corporate masters.

Make sure you explain it to them using small words and simple sentences.

Personal - Retinoblastoma

Late last week, a good friend and his wife took their daughter, born on March 5 this year, to have her eyes checked. She was diagnosed with a rare eye cancer called (bilateral) Retinoblastoma.

So far, they know that one eye is 50% covered with tumors and probably will be removed. Her other eye is less severe and they hope to save it and some of her vision using chemotherapy and other treatments.

If you have a child under 5, insist that your doctor check the “red eye reflex,” especially if you have seen any indication of a “cat’s eye” (a white "glow" or "glint" in the pupil of one or both eyes) type reflection in flash photos.

Retinoblastoma in children

Current events - Guess he "decided" to bankrupt my grandkids

September 27, 2000

June 13, 2006

Current events - AT&T can bite my shiney metal ass

Via SFGate.com:

AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers' personal data with government officials.

The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it 'to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process.'

As of tomorrow, AT&T is out of my home. No more internet. No more phone service. Nothing.

Fuck them with a big rubber dick.

Current events - NSA, can you hear me now? Redux.

Via Salon News

In a pivotal network operations center in metropolitan St. Louis, AT&T has maintained a secret, highly secured room since 2002 where government work is being conducted, according to two former AT&T workers once employed at the center.

That's in addition to the one that was discovered in San Francisco.

Sleep well my little sheep.

Politics - Will the real "decider" please raise his hand?

(Photo via AP)
Via Reuters

President George W. Bush has reassured Saudi Arabia's king that he will continue to cooperate with the kingdom on energy issues even after his pledge to wean America off Middle East oil, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States said on Tuesday.

Bush's pledge in January to cut U.S. oil imports from the Middle East rankled some kingdom officials, because Saudi Arabia had announced plans to spend $50 billion expanding oil production to meet rising global demand.

'When that statement came out we got in touch with the White House,' Saudi Ambassador Prince Turki Al-Faisal told reporters at a news conference hosted by the United States Energy Association.

Bush later sent a letter to Saudi King Abdullah pledging to honor a 2005 agreement the two reached at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, Al-Faisal said. His remarks provided new details on how the White House smoothed relations with the Saudis after Bush's speech.

Saudi Arabia is the world's largest crude oil exporter and the leading voice within the OPEC cartel, and the United States is the world's biggest oil guzzler.

Personal - I believe the Germans have a name for it...

scha·den·freu·de
Pronunciation Key (shädn-froid)
n.
Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

Nature - The coolest picture you'll see today

Photo of a rare "Rainbow" spotted over Idaho

Humor - Pearls gets us

Politics - Kansas Pubs go Dem

Via KC Buzz Blog

The ol' switcheroo continues.

With the 2006 filing deadline just hours away, Kansas Democrats today claimed a total of eight Republicans who have switched to the Democratic Party to run for office this year.

That list, of course, is headed by Mark Parkinson, the former GOP chair who is running as Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' running mate, and Paul Morrison, the Johnson County district attorney running for attorney general.

The other six:
Steve Lukert, seeking re-election in the 62nd House District.
Cindy Neighbor, former GOP lawmaker running to again represent the 18th House District Shawnee area.
Duane Mathes, current Edwards County Commissioner, in the 117th House District.
Judy Leyerzapf, current Abilene City Commissioner, in the 68th House District.
Kent Goyen in the 114th House District.
Walt Chappell in the 91st House District.

Maybe it's my inherent lack of faith in anything humans do, but I wonder how progressive (or even moderate) you can expect a former Kansas GOPer to be. I keep thinking it's a ploy to get the free publicity and if the Dems start sliding in the polls these fair-weather 'crats will change back.

Why not just run as an independent moderate and be done with it?

Politics - Final Vote Results for Roll Call 239

Final Vote Results for Roll Call 239

All four of the representatives from Kansas voted "No" on this.

Jerry Moran, Jim Ryun and Todd Tiahrt I expect to suck off the corporate teat, but I thought Dennis Moore would do what was right.

Bunch of cocks, all of them.

EDIT: The more I think about it the more pissed off I get. These clowns are not "representing" their constituents. They are representing their god damn bank accounts. How much money did these pricks take from AT&T/Sprint/Satan to get them to look the other way while these corporations analy probe their customers?

Jeebus, I need a drink.

Movies - Yeah boieee! Snootch to the bootch!

Politics - Priorities

Via Confined Space

What Really Matters...

Sometimes you can tell what a society truly values by the penalties it places on certain crimes. Take today's paper, for example:

Stiff Overhaul of Mine Safety Rules Passes Congress
The maximum civil penalty for violations of mine-safety regulations will rise to $220,000, from $60,000.

And then there was this:

Congress Increases Indecency Fines Tenfold
The bill would increase the maximum fines the Federal Communications Commission may levy for indecent content from the current $32,500 to $325,000 per incident.

Link includes picture of "Nipple-gate," and therefore may be NSFW... if you work for the FCC, anyway.

Personal - Batcave Home Theater Room

The Batcave... the freakin BATCAVE HOME THEATER!!!

Really. The drool is ruining my keyboard.

Politics - You can not make this stuff up, part 2

Via USATODAY.com

A last-minute deal Tuesday with Vice President Cheney averted a possible confrontation between the Senate Judiciary Committee and U.S. telephone companies about the National Security Agency's database of customer calling records.

The deal was announced by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the committee chairman, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. They said Cheney, who plays a key role supervising NSA counterterrorism efforts, promised that the Bush administration would consider legislation proposed by Specter that would place a domestic surveillance program under scrutiny of a special federal court.

In return, Specter agreed to postpone indefinitely asking executives from the nation's telecommunication companies to testify about another program in which the NSA collects records of domestic calls.

Cheney, Specte and Hatch... three assholes of the highest order.

Current events - It's not the Iraq war the deficit or global warming... THIS is important!

Top Twelve Reasons Homosexual Marriage Should Not Be Legal:

1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control.

2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people can't legally get married because the world needs more children.

3. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful, since Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.

5. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are property, blacks can't marry whites, and divorce is illegal.

6. Gay marriage should be decided by people not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities.

7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

10. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why single parents are forbidden to raise children.

11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven't adapted to cars or longer life spans.

12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a 'separate but equal' institution is always constitutional. Separate schools for Africn-Americans worked just as well as separate marriages for gays and lesbians will.

Not mine, but it is damn funny and says it all.

Movies - Silent Bob disses the Droid

Apparently Mr. Kevin Smith is not a fan of This Droids Life.

Turns out that they screened Clerks II in KC this week and I was noticeably absent from the guest list.

Bad form, Mr. Smith, bad form.

Humor - Quote of the week

"God wrote the Bible in English for a reason: So it could be taught in our public schools." - Stephen Colbert

Personal - The weekend off on the right foot

May whatever diety you believe in bless Arthur C. Guinness and that guy who invented the pretzel stick.

Current events - When did this become acceptable?

Is signing, "Thanx," at the end of professional e-mails acceptable now?

I ask because I have seen it twice today.