Invading Armies have no rights. They have responsibilities. -- Noam Chomsky.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Larry King
If Larry King donated all the proceeds from his show to brain injury research would that be double dipping ?
Pat Robertson is a Satanic Racist
From the June 25 edition of the Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club:
PAT ROBERTSON: Well, a couple of years ago I made a comment or two about Mr. Chavez. Nobody even knew who Hugo Chavez was. They thought he was some grape picker from out in California. And all of a sudden my comments put him on the front page, and now we've begun to see the kind of person he is, and more and more people are saying to me, "I think you were right." Now he's talking about war with America. I knew this was going to happen. Before long, he's going to get atomic bombs. He's going to have missiles. He spent three billion, count them, three billion dollars acquiring arms from the Soviet Union, and you ask yourself, "What does a peaceful country at the head of South America, what do they need with three billion dollars' worth of arms?" We're not going to fight them. Are they going to take over Colombia? What's their next target? Are they trying to be the next Cuba? He is a very dangerous man. They call him "El Loco," and it's a well-deserved name.
PAT ROBERTSON: Well, a couple of years ago I made a comment or two about Mr. Chavez. Nobody even knew who Hugo Chavez was. They thought he was some grape picker from out in California. And all of a sudden my comments put him on the front page, and now we've begun to see the kind of person he is, and more and more people are saying to me, "I think you were right." Now he's talking about war with America. I knew this was going to happen. Before long, he's going to get atomic bombs. He's going to have missiles. He spent three billion, count them, three billion dollars acquiring arms from the Soviet Union, and you ask yourself, "What does a peaceful country at the head of South America, what do they need with three billion dollars' worth of arms?" We're not going to fight them. Are they going to take over Colombia? What's their next target? Are they trying to be the next Cuba? He is a very dangerous man. They call him "El Loco," and it's a well-deserved name.
Donc Jesuis Says ...
And all those pretty, pretty drug reps.
With their long dark hair and bedroom eyes and oily discharges...
With their long dark hair and bedroom eyes and oily discharges...
Growing Beans
Doc,
I have this dark mole on my face, like the size of my face, and there's this thick black pubic hair coming out of it that the Edison Company keeps trying to connect to lower Queens.
So I'm wondering if I should go for the ass bleaching and just walk backwards.
I have this dark mole on my face, like the size of my face, and there's this thick black pubic hair coming out of it that the Edison Company keeps trying to connect to lower Queens.
So I'm wondering if I should go for the ass bleaching and just walk backwards.
I'm Lichen It
Confronting this type of sentence is when I seriously consider becoming a lichen:
The aide, David Lopez, who was Doolittle's longtime chief of staff until 2005 and continued to work for him as a campaign consultant for about a year after that, has turned over several hundred pages of campaign finance records to the Justice Department under subpoena, said his attorney, Bill Portanova.
A different former Doolittle staffer, Kevin Ring, who went on to work as a lobbyist with Abramoff, was already known to be under investigation in the wide-ranging probe. Portanova's comments marked the first public confirmation that prosecutors have sought to interview other former Doolittle aides...
Effing Beowulf.
The aide, David Lopez, who was Doolittle's longtime chief of staff until 2005 and continued to work for him as a campaign consultant for about a year after that, has turned over several hundred pages of campaign finance records to the Justice Department under subpoena, said his attorney, Bill Portanova.
A different former Doolittle staffer, Kevin Ring, who went on to work as a lobbyist with Abramoff, was already known to be under investigation in the wide-ranging probe. Portanova's comments marked the first public confirmation that prosecutors have sought to interview other former Doolittle aides...
Effing Beowulf.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Michael Moore
Sure, everyone hates his guts.
And he is fat.
But exactly what has he been so wrong about since 1990 ?
That's why people hate his big fat guts.
And he is fat.
But exactly what has he been so wrong about since 1990 ?
That's why people hate his big fat guts.
Oh, Piner in Chief ...
"Yes, I opinionated on that. As the deciderer, I have to opinionate on our vision to the world communikey. You know, let them know my opinions on what I've decidered. And the vice president, he does that too. Because that's America."
Friday, June 22, 2007
I'm Stupid
Apparently it is wrong for Republican appointees to throw other Republican appointees in jail for breaking federal law.
Of course. How stupid of me.
WSJ:
The prosecutor's argument for a heavy sentence emphasized Mr. Libby's alleged serious obstruction of justice -- a complicated effort, considering that there was no underlying crime, or evidence thereof, and that this case, which had begun in alleged pursuit of the leak of a covert agent's identity was, as the prosecutor himself would finally contend, not about that leak at all.
Of course. How stupid of me.
WSJ:
The prosecutor's argument for a heavy sentence emphasized Mr. Libby's alleged serious obstruction of justice -- a complicated effort, considering that there was no underlying crime, or evidence thereof, and that this case, which had begun in alleged pursuit of the leak of a covert agent's identity was, as the prosecutor himself would finally contend, not about that leak at all.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Massachusetts Hates Bigotry
Right of gays to marry set for years to come
(By Frank Phillips and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff)
The Legislature, in a vote as swift as it was historic, reaffirmed the state's first-in-the-nation same-sex marriage ruling yesterday, unequivocally protecting the rights of gays and lesbians to wed in Massachusetts until at least 2012.
Here.
(By Frank Phillips and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff)
The Legislature, in a vote as swift as it was historic, reaffirmed the state's first-in-the-nation same-sex marriage ruling yesterday, unequivocally protecting the rights of gays and lesbians to wed in Massachusetts until at least 2012.
Here.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Oh shit.
May foreclosure filings soar 90%; more housing woes likely
By Bloomberg News | June 13, 2007
U S foreclosure filings surged 90 percent in May from a year earlier as more homeowners fell behind on their monthly mortgage payments, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
More here.
By Bloomberg News | June 13, 2007
U S foreclosure filings surged 90 percent in May from a year earlier as more homeowners fell behind on their monthly mortgage payments, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
More here.
Jeff Jacoby Gets It ...
Illegal immigrants don't steal across the Mexican border because they lack the patience to wait their turn in line. They do it because there is no line for them to wait in. The great majority of immigrants who enter the United States lawfully qualify for visas because of family ties: They are lucky enough to be related to a US citizen.
For them, there is indeed a line -- the waiting time for a family-based visa can take upward of 10 years. A smaller number of legal immigrants are granted visas because they have advanced degrees or specialized skills and a job is waiting for them.
For most illegal immigrants, a legal option simply doesn't exist. Under current law, a young Mexican or Salvadoran who wants to improve his life by moving to America and working hard at a useful job generally has just two options: (a) Enter illegally, or (b) stay out forever. Several hundred thousand a year choose option (a).
Here.
Unbelievable.
For them, there is indeed a line -- the waiting time for a family-based visa can take upward of 10 years. A smaller number of legal immigrants are granted visas because they have advanced degrees or specialized skills and a job is waiting for them.
For most illegal immigrants, a legal option simply doesn't exist. Under current law, a young Mexican or Salvadoran who wants to improve his life by moving to America and working hard at a useful job generally has just two options: (a) Enter illegally, or (b) stay out forever. Several hundred thousand a year choose option (a).
Here.
Unbelievable.
Colin Powell Says ...
"I would close Guantanamo — not tomorrow, this afternoon. I’d close it. And I’d not let any of those people go. I would simply move them to the United States and put them into our federal legal system. The concern was, well, then they’ll have access to lawyers, then they’ll have access to writs of habeas corpus. So what? Let them. Isn’t that what our system’s all about? And by the way, America, unfortunately, has too many people in jail, all of whom had lawyers and access to writs of habeas corpus. And so we can handle bad people in our system. And so I would get rid of Guantanamo and I’d get rid of the military commissions system, and use established procedures in federal law or in the manual for courts martial. I would do that because it’s more equatable and it’s more understandable in constitutional terms. But I’d also do it because every morning I pick up a paper and some authoritarian figure, some person somewhere, is using Guantanamo to hide their own misdeeds. So essentially we have shaken the belief that the world had in America’s justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission."
So why can't our news media and Congress do the 1+1= 2 that Colin Powell does above ?
So why can't our news media and Congress do the 1+1= 2 that Colin Powell does above ?
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Culture of Truth
Culture of Truth is one of the most profound and profoundly funny writers I have ever read.
Like Thoreau in 1830
I am both in and out of time.
I am making the Earth say beans instead of grass.
But those who we entrust with caring for our public property, the Commons, are on the take as much as the Stasi of the East German government were on the take.
For this reason the Commons, that which does not exist within our property lines, has no stewards, no protectors.
It does, actually. In Maine, the protector of the Commons is the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Maine DEP).
But in reality, the Maine DEP is the antithesis of its title and mission.
The Maine DEP was created in the 1970s on the basis of the natural, childlike impulse of people to not take a crap on the same plate they are going to eat supper on.
Now the Maine DEP is a Darwinian parasite of that normal, vital impulse. The Maine DEP polishes the turd.
I am making the Earth say beans instead of grass.
But those who we entrust with caring for our public property, the Commons, are on the take as much as the Stasi of the East German government were on the take.
For this reason the Commons, that which does not exist within our property lines, has no stewards, no protectors.
It does, actually. In Maine, the protector of the Commons is the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (Maine DEP).
But in reality, the Maine DEP is the antithesis of its title and mission.
The Maine DEP was created in the 1970s on the basis of the natural, childlike impulse of people to not take a crap on the same plate they are going to eat supper on.
Now the Maine DEP is a Darwinian parasite of that normal, vital impulse. The Maine DEP polishes the turd.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Wheels off the wagon ...
"Here's something to ponder long and hard: Malaria was intentionally designed. The molecular machinery with which the parasite invades red blood cells is an exquisitely purposeful arrangement of parts."
The above is from a new book called "The Edge of Evolution" by creationist and tenured Lehigh University biochemistry professor Michael Behe.
In this new book, Behe claims that because the tiny parasite which causes malaria has such an "exquisitely purposeful arrangement of parts" it must have been designed by a Designer ... err ... God ... err ... Someone Big.
Oddly, Mr. Behe asserts the recent appearance of highly drug resistant malaria is not due to the hand of God, but is due to good old Darwinian evolution.
Apparently, according to Behe, evolution can only improve upon the diseases and scourges devised and approved by the Grand Old Plaguemaker himself.
Shorter Behe: Evolution can explain observed differences within a species, but cannot explain how one species could evolve into another species.
This is like saying that the laws of physics can explain the observed differences within various sedimentary rocks but cannot explain how a sedimentary rock could become a metamorphic rock.
It's really that stupid.
As shown by the title of his book, "Edge of Evolution," Behe argues that evolution is a "weak force" that only goes so far -- and not far enough to explain the origin and diversity of life on Earth. Something else is needed to explain that, but Behe never says what it is, except to evasively say it is "something" other than known, natural forces. Yawn.
Behe admits that evolution can fully explain the ability of malaria to become resistant to a drug, chloroquinone, but then says evolution cannot explain how the little animal that causes malaria, Plasmodium, evolved in the first place.
This is yet another iteration of Behe's 'irreducible complexity' idea, that things in nature seem so perfectly fitted and planned out that they can have no explanation except being the Creation of an Intelligent, Overseeing, Planning Something or Other.
Mr. Behe starts and ends with a circular argument, ie. that the proven fact the Plasmodium parasite is very adept at invading and living in human red blood cells is proof that "someone" designed it just for that purpose.
Let's leave aside that the "Designer" of malaria must really hate human beings, given the unique, long-term and special type of suffering that malaria causes afflicted humans.
Mr. Behe fails to consider the alternate explanation:
Parasites that are really crappy at parasitizing go extinct very quickly.
Obviously, the only parasites that can exist are those "exquisitely" arranged to parasitize an organism.
If wood ticks, for example, were not "exquisitely" arranged to be able to gather and use animal blood as food, they wouldn't be very successful at being wood ticks. In fact, they wouldn't be wood ticks. They would be extinct or would be something other than a wood tick.
The same could be said for all specialist organisms. Mr. Behe is like a guy who smoked his first joint of marijuana and suddenly finds everything to be utterly amazing and unbelievable.
Did you ever look at your hand. I mean, really look at it ?
Behe tries to play "gotchya" and ends up getting got. While admitting to the clear physical evidence that natural genetic mutations in the Plasmodium parasite have recently created a drug resistant strain of malaria, Behe tries to simultaneously argue that this same process is so "rare" in real life that this same process could not have also created the various species of the Earth, including the malaria parasite itself.
As noted by others, both the mathematical and genetic premises of Behe's specific, probabilistic malaria argument are refuted by numerous lines of independent and detailed evidence.
But the real problem with Behe's claim is that it does an excellent job of refuting itself and the entire Creationist Canard. Talk about shooting one's cause in the foot, and the gut just to make sure it's not just a flesh wound.
Behe concedes that natural mutations and selection pressure alone are sufficient to create a new and highly drug resistant variety of the parasitic animal that causes malaria. Behe has to concede this fact because the specific mutations have been physically observed and documented by geneticists. So Behe has to admit that random, periodic natural genetic mutations alone can transform a malaria parasite that is killed by chloroquinone into a malaria parasite that can survive it.
Now think of it. A tiny organism (Plasmodium) that can "make itself" immune to a sophisticated drug (chloroquinone) has performed quite a remarkable feat, especially when it has no brain and no "idea" what it is doing. In fact, little Plasmodium has prevented its own extinction in just a few decades. Not bad for a microscopic parasite without a degree in advanced medicine.
Behe admits that regular, Darwinian evolution has done this. But he then argues that this same process is so "weak" that it could never create a new species. Only an Intelligent Designer could do that.
Which brings us to dogs. The selective breeding of dogs is commonplace and is due to regular evolutionary processes. Even Behe would admit that a dog breeder doesn't just "pray to God" that the next batch of Labrador Retriever puppies will be Labs instead of poodles or Great Danes.
Without Darwinian evolution the selective breeding of dogs would be impossible. It would be impossible for a dog breeder to select for certain features (long ears, short nose, etc. ) and have any assurance of the desired result. Without Darwinian evolution, dog breeding would be totally random and uncontrollable. Two Saint Bernards mating could just as easily produce a litter of chihuahas as a litter of Saint Bernards.
Behe tries to claim there is an unclimbable, inpenetrable wall between the type of Darwinian evolution that can turn a wild gray wolf into a Saint Bernard, poodle or a chihuaha through repeated selective breeding -- and the force necessary to create a true "species."
Here's why this makes no sense.
In his book "The Ancestor's Tale", Richard Dawkins tells of two European grasshopper species which do not interbreed in the wild (the key definition of speciation) but have been induced to interbreed in captivity.These two grasshopper species are physiologically capable of accepting each others' sperm and egg and making viable babies. But, in the wild, they never do. Why ?
Mating calls. Each species has a different mating call. The female of grasshopper species A will not respond or mate with a male of grasshopper species B even though, physiologically, the two could mate and produce viable offspring. As such, in the wild, the two grasshopper species never interbreed -- even though they are perfectly capable of doing so. As Dawkins correctly notes, groups of animals that do not and will not interbreed with each other solely due to behavioral reasons meet the 'species' definition just as much as if there were a geographic or other physical barrier preventing interbreeding.
The female chihuaha - male Saint Bernard dilemma is even more profound than Dawkins' grasshopper example because in a physiological sense it is probably impossible for a female chihuaha to survive mating, impregnation and birth with a male Saint Bernard.
If not for our intimate knowledge of their domesticated roots, no intelligent human would ever claim that a chihuaha and a Saint Bernard are the same species. Nobody would claim that a female and male of the two dogs could successfully have offspring without massive human medical intervention.
But we know that, genetically, Saint Bernards and chihuaha are exactly the same species. They are Canis lupis, the gray wolf, with body shapes and sizes radically altered by selective breeding. So radically altered that interbreeding is now virtually impossible. And unlike the grasshoppers, it is impossible even if the female and male wanted to.
Dog breeds are now so specialized and domesticated that few if any can survive in the wild and give birth to offspring that can also survive in the wild. If all of the domesticated dogs of the world were turned out of their human homes and forced to fend completely for themselves, they would all quickly go extinct. There is no record of domesticated dogs successfully reverting to fully wild animals. This means that selective breeding, directed by humans, has alone been sufficient to create a new species of dogs, ie. animal which can no longer interbreed with their own wild selves. This is the definition of species.
Evolution makes no distinction between "artificial" selection and "natural" selection, any more than gravity makes a distinction between you falling off the Empire State Building or the edge of the Grand Canyon.
What Behe tries to do is create a false separation between well known Darwinian selection in domestic animals and disease resistance and the exact same processes in the "wild."
Dog breeders don't clasp Rosary beads and pray for a St. Bernard instead of a Pekinese. A malevolent God or Designer did not suddenly in 1971 tweak His malaria parasite so it could survive a dose of chloroquinone.
In the end then, the core of Behe's argument is that the delta of sand you see today forming at the mouth of a river could not possibly be the same mechanism that created sandstone at the mouth of an ancient river, and therefore, that all sandstone must have been made from whole cloth by a "Designer."
It is really that retarded.
The above is from a new book called "The Edge of Evolution" by creationist and tenured Lehigh University biochemistry professor Michael Behe.
In this new book, Behe claims that because the tiny parasite which causes malaria has such an "exquisitely purposeful arrangement of parts" it must have been designed by a Designer ... err ... God ... err ... Someone Big.
Oddly, Mr. Behe asserts the recent appearance of highly drug resistant malaria is not due to the hand of God, but is due to good old Darwinian evolution.
Apparently, according to Behe, evolution can only improve upon the diseases and scourges devised and approved by the Grand Old Plaguemaker himself.
Shorter Behe: Evolution can explain observed differences within a species, but cannot explain how one species could evolve into another species.
This is like saying that the laws of physics can explain the observed differences within various sedimentary rocks but cannot explain how a sedimentary rock could become a metamorphic rock.
It's really that stupid.
As shown by the title of his book, "Edge of Evolution," Behe argues that evolution is a "weak force" that only goes so far -- and not far enough to explain the origin and diversity of life on Earth. Something else is needed to explain that, but Behe never says what it is, except to evasively say it is "something" other than known, natural forces. Yawn.
Behe admits that evolution can fully explain the ability of malaria to become resistant to a drug, chloroquinone, but then says evolution cannot explain how the little animal that causes malaria, Plasmodium, evolved in the first place.
This is yet another iteration of Behe's 'irreducible complexity' idea, that things in nature seem so perfectly fitted and planned out that they can have no explanation except being the Creation of an Intelligent, Overseeing, Planning Something or Other.
Mr. Behe starts and ends with a circular argument, ie. that the proven fact the Plasmodium parasite is very adept at invading and living in human red blood cells is proof that "someone" designed it just for that purpose.
Let's leave aside that the "Designer" of malaria must really hate human beings, given the unique, long-term and special type of suffering that malaria causes afflicted humans.
Mr. Behe fails to consider the alternate explanation:
Parasites that are really crappy at parasitizing go extinct very quickly.
Obviously, the only parasites that can exist are those "exquisitely" arranged to parasitize an organism.
If wood ticks, for example, were not "exquisitely" arranged to be able to gather and use animal blood as food, they wouldn't be very successful at being wood ticks. In fact, they wouldn't be wood ticks. They would be extinct or would be something other than a wood tick.
The same could be said for all specialist organisms. Mr. Behe is like a guy who smoked his first joint of marijuana and suddenly finds everything to be utterly amazing and unbelievable.
Did you ever look at your hand. I mean, really look at it ?
Behe tries to play "gotchya" and ends up getting got. While admitting to the clear physical evidence that natural genetic mutations in the Plasmodium parasite have recently created a drug resistant strain of malaria, Behe tries to simultaneously argue that this same process is so "rare" in real life that this same process could not have also created the various species of the Earth, including the malaria parasite itself.
As noted by others, both the mathematical and genetic premises of Behe's specific, probabilistic malaria argument are refuted by numerous lines of independent and detailed evidence.
But the real problem with Behe's claim is that it does an excellent job of refuting itself and the entire Creationist Canard. Talk about shooting one's cause in the foot, and the gut just to make sure it's not just a flesh wound.
Behe concedes that natural mutations and selection pressure alone are sufficient to create a new and highly drug resistant variety of the parasitic animal that causes malaria. Behe has to concede this fact because the specific mutations have been physically observed and documented by geneticists. So Behe has to admit that random, periodic natural genetic mutations alone can transform a malaria parasite that is killed by chloroquinone into a malaria parasite that can survive it.
Now think of it. A tiny organism (Plasmodium) that can "make itself" immune to a sophisticated drug (chloroquinone) has performed quite a remarkable feat, especially when it has no brain and no "idea" what it is doing. In fact, little Plasmodium has prevented its own extinction in just a few decades. Not bad for a microscopic parasite without a degree in advanced medicine.
Behe admits that regular, Darwinian evolution has done this. But he then argues that this same process is so "weak" that it could never create a new species. Only an Intelligent Designer could do that.
Which brings us to dogs. The selective breeding of dogs is commonplace and is due to regular evolutionary processes. Even Behe would admit that a dog breeder doesn't just "pray to God" that the next batch of Labrador Retriever puppies will be Labs instead of poodles or Great Danes.
Without Darwinian evolution the selective breeding of dogs would be impossible. It would be impossible for a dog breeder to select for certain features (long ears, short nose, etc. ) and have any assurance of the desired result. Without Darwinian evolution, dog breeding would be totally random and uncontrollable. Two Saint Bernards mating could just as easily produce a litter of chihuahas as a litter of Saint Bernards.
Behe tries to claim there is an unclimbable, inpenetrable wall between the type of Darwinian evolution that can turn a wild gray wolf into a Saint Bernard, poodle or a chihuaha through repeated selective breeding -- and the force necessary to create a true "species."
Here's why this makes no sense.
In his book "The Ancestor's Tale", Richard Dawkins tells of two European grasshopper species which do not interbreed in the wild (the key definition of speciation) but have been induced to interbreed in captivity.These two grasshopper species are physiologically capable of accepting each others' sperm and egg and making viable babies. But, in the wild, they never do. Why ?
Mating calls. Each species has a different mating call. The female of grasshopper species A will not respond or mate with a male of grasshopper species B even though, physiologically, the two could mate and produce viable offspring. As such, in the wild, the two grasshopper species never interbreed -- even though they are perfectly capable of doing so. As Dawkins correctly notes, groups of animals that do not and will not interbreed with each other solely due to behavioral reasons meet the 'species' definition just as much as if there were a geographic or other physical barrier preventing interbreeding.
The female chihuaha - male Saint Bernard dilemma is even more profound than Dawkins' grasshopper example because in a physiological sense it is probably impossible for a female chihuaha to survive mating, impregnation and birth with a male Saint Bernard.
If not for our intimate knowledge of their domesticated roots, no intelligent human would ever claim that a chihuaha and a Saint Bernard are the same species. Nobody would claim that a female and male of the two dogs could successfully have offspring without massive human medical intervention.
But we know that, genetically, Saint Bernards and chihuaha are exactly the same species. They are Canis lupis, the gray wolf, with body shapes and sizes radically altered by selective breeding. So radically altered that interbreeding is now virtually impossible. And unlike the grasshoppers, it is impossible even if the female and male wanted to.
Dog breeds are now so specialized and domesticated that few if any can survive in the wild and give birth to offspring that can also survive in the wild. If all of the domesticated dogs of the world were turned out of their human homes and forced to fend completely for themselves, they would all quickly go extinct. There is no record of domesticated dogs successfully reverting to fully wild animals. This means that selective breeding, directed by humans, has alone been sufficient to create a new species of dogs, ie. animal which can no longer interbreed with their own wild selves. This is the definition of species.
Evolution makes no distinction between "artificial" selection and "natural" selection, any more than gravity makes a distinction between you falling off the Empire State Building or the edge of the Grand Canyon.
What Behe tries to do is create a false separation between well known Darwinian selection in domestic animals and disease resistance and the exact same processes in the "wild."
Dog breeders don't clasp Rosary beads and pray for a St. Bernard instead of a Pekinese. A malevolent God or Designer did not suddenly in 1971 tweak His malaria parasite so it could survive a dose of chloroquinone.
In the end then, the core of Behe's argument is that the delta of sand you see today forming at the mouth of a river could not possibly be the same mechanism that created sandstone at the mouth of an ancient river, and therefore, that all sandstone must have been made from whole cloth by a "Designer."
It is really that retarded.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Support Those Troops !!!
KeySpan cuts off gas to shelter for homeless vets
By Andrew Ryan and Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe Staff
KeySpan Energy shut off the gas today at a shelter in Roxbury for homeless veterans because the nonprofit had fallen behind on its bill.
The utility sent a work crew with a police escort to Veterans Arms on Humboldt Avenue this morning, according to Ralph Cooper, the shelter’s executive director.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/06/keyspan_cuts_of.html
By Andrew Ryan and Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe Staff
KeySpan Energy shut off the gas today at a shelter in Roxbury for homeless veterans because the nonprofit had fallen behind on its bill.
The utility sent a work crew with a police escort to Veterans Arms on Humboldt Avenue this morning, according to Ralph Cooper, the shelter’s executive director.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/06/keyspan_cuts_of.html
Good Question
"How can 9% not know whether they approve of George Bush or not ?"
Chris from Maine 06.07.07 - 5:08 pm
Chris from Maine 06.07.07 - 5:08 pm
Great Moments in Journalism, Vol. 390,678
PARISHEV, Ukraine (AP) - Two decades after an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant sent clouds of radioactive particles drifting over the fields near her home, Maria Urupa says the wilderness is encroaching. Packs of wolves have eaten two of her dogs, the 73-year-old says, and wild boar trample through her cornfield. And she says fox, rabbits and snakes infest the meadows near her tumbledown cottage.
Infest ?
Infest ?
My Friend Bob LeSieur Called
Bob LeSieur is my principal reason for being insane and unable to hold a job.
As a junior high school and high school student, Bob demonstrated that you could be insane and also be popular with girls.
I was interested in both.
Bob's secret formula of insanity and Bobness only worked for him, alas. I received no nookie beneficiments from blatantly imitating the brand name product. That I weighed about 61 pounds as a high school senior might have had something to do with it.
But still, Bob's seemed a model worth adopting as a business plan.
It has taken me 25 years to finally implement the Bob LeSieur business-chick plan. And I am pleased to report it is working.
Being insane. Being popular with girls. It's an unbeatable combination.
I learned it all from Bob LeSieur of North Easton, Massachusetts.
As a junior high school and high school student, Bob demonstrated that you could be insane and also be popular with girls.
I was interested in both.
Bob's secret formula of insanity and Bobness only worked for him, alas. I received no nookie beneficiments from blatantly imitating the brand name product. That I weighed about 61 pounds as a high school senior might have had something to do with it.
But still, Bob's seemed a model worth adopting as a business plan.
It has taken me 25 years to finally implement the Bob LeSieur business-chick plan. And I am pleased to report it is working.
Being insane. Being popular with girls. It's an unbeatable combination.
I learned it all from Bob LeSieur of North Easton, Massachusetts.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The U.S. Runs Gulags
From the BBC:
A group of human rights organisations has named 39 people they say the US has held in secret CIA-run prisons and whose whereabouts are now unknown. The group has called on the US to end the programme of secret prisons for people detained in the "war on terror". US President George W Bush said last year such prisons existed but said no more detainees were being held in them. The group says it compiled its list from government and media sources and interviews with former prisoners. "It's time for the US government to come clean," said Clive Stafford Smith, Legal Director of Reprieve, one of the groups involved in the appeal. "These 39 people have been missing for years, and the evidence shows they were in US custody at some point. Where are they and what has been done to them?"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6728675.stm
A group of human rights organisations has named 39 people they say the US has held in secret CIA-run prisons and whose whereabouts are now unknown. The group has called on the US to end the programme of secret prisons for people detained in the "war on terror". US President George W Bush said last year such prisons existed but said no more detainees were being held in them. The group says it compiled its list from government and media sources and interviews with former prisoners. "It's time for the US government to come clean," said Clive Stafford Smith, Legal Director of Reprieve, one of the groups involved in the appeal. "These 39 people have been missing for years, and the evidence shows they were in US custody at some point. Where are they and what has been done to them?"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6728675.stm
Orange Claw Hammer
A thick cloud caught a piper cub's tail.
A match struck blue on a railroad rail.
The old puffhorse was just pulling through.
And a man wore a pegleg forever.
From "Orange Claw Hammer" by Donald Van Vliet.
A match struck blue on a railroad rail.
The old puffhorse was just pulling through.
And a man wore a pegleg forever.
From "Orange Claw Hammer" by Donald Van Vliet.
Calling Your Senator ...
Isn't calling your Senator to support habeas corpus sort of like calling God to ask if he will take paternal custody of this baby in Bethlehem named Jesus ?
Since when on God's Green Earth have our expectations sunk so low that we actually have to lobby our Congress to not put people into prison for life without trial ?
Here.
Since when on God's Green Earth have our expectations sunk so low that we actually have to lobby our Congress to not put people into prison for life without trial ?
Here.
Great Moments in the Enlightenment
From the televised Republican Presidential Debate:
Mr. Huckabee: No, I did answer that, Wolf. I said I don’t know. My point is, I don’t know; I wasn’t there. But I believe whether God did it in six days or whether he did it in six days that represented periods of time, he did it, and that’s what’s important.
But, you know, if anybody wants to believe that they are the descendants of a primate, they are certainly welcome to do it. I don’t know how far they will march that back. But I believe that all of us in this room are the unique creations of a God who knows us and loves us and who created us for his own purpose.
Mr. Huckabee: No, I did answer that, Wolf. I said I don’t know. My point is, I don’t know; I wasn’t there. But I believe whether God did it in six days or whether he did it in six days that represented periods of time, he did it, and that’s what’s important.
But, you know, if anybody wants to believe that they are the descendants of a primate, they are certainly welcome to do it. I don’t know how far they will march that back. But I believe that all of us in this room are the unique creations of a God who knows us and loves us and who created us for his own purpose.
Journalism hits New Heights, Vol. 32,783
From Media Matters:
In his June 6 column, Politico chief political columnist Roger Simon declared former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the winner of the June 5 Republican presidential debate and attributed Romney's victory, in part, to the fact that he is "[s]trong, clear, gives good soundbite, and has shoulders you could land a 737 on."
As Media Matters for America noted, Simon has previously described Romney as having "chiseled-out-of-granite features, a full, dark head of hair going a distinguished gray at the temples, and a barrel chest," adding: "On the morning that he announced for president, I bumped into him in the lounge of the Marriott and up close he is almost overpowering. He radiates vigor."
In his June 6 column, Politico chief political columnist Roger Simon declared former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the winner of the June 5 Republican presidential debate and attributed Romney's victory, in part, to the fact that he is "[s]trong, clear, gives good soundbite, and has shoulders you could land a 737 on."
As Media Matters for America noted, Simon has previously described Romney as having "chiseled-out-of-granite features, a full, dark head of hair going a distinguished gray at the temples, and a barrel chest," adding: "On the morning that he announced for president, I bumped into him in the lounge of the Marriott and up close he is almost overpowering. He radiates vigor."
For Steve Gilliard
I did not know Steve Gilliard when I wrote it, but this song is very much for and very much about Mr. Steve Gilliard.
I first encountered Steve Gilliard's writing about 1 year ago. The force of Steve's writing struck me as that of Darcus Howe and Linton Kwesi Johnson. Strong, outspoken, sharply opinionated and severely well studied black men. I miss Steve Gilliard deeply.
Patrick Malia: Drums
Ted St. Pierre: Bass
Doug Watts: Organ, guitar, screaming.
Recorded at the Outlook, U.S. Route 2, Bethel, Maine.
I first encountered Steve Gilliard's writing about 1 year ago. The force of Steve's writing struck me as that of Darcus Howe and Linton Kwesi Johnson. Strong, outspoken, sharply opinionated and severely well studied black men. I miss Steve Gilliard deeply.
Patrick Malia: Drums
Ted St. Pierre: Bass
Doug Watts: Organ, guitar, screaming.
Recorded at the Outlook, U.S. Route 2, Bethel, Maine.
I Was a Gay Stock Car Driver
Someone had to say it.
Patrick Malia: drums
Ted St. Pierre: bass
Doug Watts: guitar and vocal.
Recorded at the Outlook, Route 2, Bethel, Maine.
Patrick Malia: drums
Ted St. Pierre: bass
Doug Watts: guitar and vocal.
Recorded at the Outlook, Route 2, Bethel, Maine.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Why I Say Nigger
Only to emphasize that the blind hatred and contempt which created the word and fuels those who use the word still very much exist. Not saying it don't make the hate go away. I use and write the word nigger at certain specific moments because the word nigger perfectly captures, in the Old English Beowulf sense, the blind fear, hatred and contempt for people with dark skin that stains our society. Fear of a Black Planet. If you are a human being your ancestors are Black. Most probly from the Great Rift Valley. Why people do not embrace their Black heritage is beyond me. I would walk barefoot on broken glass for the chance to visit Ethiopia and Zimbabwe and the Ituri rainforest in Congo before I die. Just as I would do a 20 minute head stand to visit Scotland and Wales or Prague or the Danube or Rhodes.
Nigger is a horrible hateful word which needs to be said and repeated so long as people still have the thoughts and actions in their hearts which fit the word's meaning. Pretending that the hatred of dark skinned people magically disappears by not talking saying nigger has not yet proven to be an effective way of preventing the growth of strange fruit.
Nigger is a horrible hateful word which needs to be said and repeated so long as people still have the thoughts and actions in their hearts which fit the word's meaning. Pretending that the hatred of dark skinned people magically disappears by not talking saying nigger has not yet proven to be an effective way of preventing the growth of strange fruit.
Vermont Should Secede
The Intellectual and Moral Compact which bound the various states to secede from England is now gone. Last October's suspension of habeus corpus by the U.S. Congress has made that point plain. When your own Congress takes a shit on the Magna Carta there is nothing left to discuss, really. A map of the States from 2004 shows the states which supported George Bush and opposed him fall into a nearly perfect alignment with Slave and Free States from 1850. Nothing has changed in 150 years except the South and its racist and fascist bent is now oppressing the Free States ala Dred Scott.
By my accounting, about half of Maine residents hate niggers, even though they've only met a nigger on the teevee.
So I don't see no Maine secession movement happening. But I'm not from Maine -- just live here -- so they can pound it.
I did spend much of my youth in East Corinth and Newbury and Bradford Vermont, along the Waits River and Cookville Brook and Meadow Brook. So I side with Vermont and claim genetic heritage to it. And fuck Maine. With a pale, white racist strap-on dick.
By my accounting, about half of Maine residents hate niggers, even though they've only met a nigger on the teevee.
So I don't see no Maine secession movement happening. But I'm not from Maine -- just live here -- so they can pound it.
I did spend much of my youth in East Corinth and Newbury and Bradford Vermont, along the Waits River and Cookville Brook and Meadow Brook. So I side with Vermont and claim genetic heritage to it. And fuck Maine. With a pale, white racist strap-on dick.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Jeffrey Olson, USMC
The son of Helen and Bruce Olson of West Bridgewater, Mass. is now in California training for immediate combat deployment to Iraq.
Mr. Jeffrey Olson is the nephew of Raymond Olson (deceased), Richard Olson (deceased), Joseph Olson and Judith Willoughby, nee Olson.
Mr. Jeffrey Olson is an only child.
Mr. Olson is the cousin of the author.
Mr. Jeffrey Olson is the nephew of Raymond Olson (deceased), Richard Olson (deceased), Joseph Olson and Judith Willoughby, nee Olson.
Mr. Jeffrey Olson is an only child.
Mr. Olson is the cousin of the author.
A Yawning Pit in My Stomach
Is how I feel now. A loss of all sense, reason, direction, momentum. A disturbing feeling that yes, this is a nightmare, and no, there is no way to pinch myself and wake up. A brutish, non-intelligent animal-like level of moving from one moment to the next based on fear, instinct, self-defense and keeping low. Hiding alongside the lower trunks of trees, avoiding headlights in the rain kind of shit.
I had a bad spell two weeks ago when a regulatory decision by the Maine Board of Environmental Protection to sanction the continued slaughter of American eels in my local river, the Androscoggin, caused me that evening to repeatedly punch myself in the face. I had eggs and welts and cuts on my face that took 4 days to come down. I thought I was going insane. Newton was right. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Mothers of dead U.S. Marines contemplate suicide. Mothers of dead Iraqi men and women contemplate suicide. At least Hitler had the fucking decency to commit suicide.
I had a bad spell two weeks ago when a regulatory decision by the Maine Board of Environmental Protection to sanction the continued slaughter of American eels in my local river, the Androscoggin, caused me that evening to repeatedly punch myself in the face. I had eggs and welts and cuts on my face that took 4 days to come down. I thought I was going insane. Newton was right. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Mothers of dead U.S. Marines contemplate suicide. Mothers of dead Iraqi men and women contemplate suicide. At least Hitler had the fucking decency to commit suicide.
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