Special Presentation

On Global Warming.

Knot Comes Loose...

Slowly:

Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay (R) violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo obtained by The Washington Post. But senior officials overruled them and approved the plan.

The memo, unanimously endorsed by six lawyers and two analysts in the department's voting section, said the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts. It also said the plan eliminated several other districts in which minorities had a substantial, though not necessarily decisive, influence in elections.

"The State of Texas has not met its burden in showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect," the memo concluded.

The memo also found that Republican lawmakers and state officials who helped craft the proposal were aware it posed a high risk of being ruled discriminatory compared with other options.

But the Texas legislature proceeded with the new map anyway because it would maximize the number of Republican federal lawmakers in the state, the memo said. The redistricting was approved in 2003, and Texas Republicans gained five seats in the U.S. House in the 2004 elections, solidifying GOP control of Congress.

If Tom Delay and Karl Rove could share a prison I'd die happily, today.

Hmmm

So, if you're flying on a United Flight over West Virginia and you make an online purchase do you then have to let the IRS know you did this in West Virginia?

Charleston, W.Va. -- Millions of people do their christmas shopping online. But be prepared for that online purchase to cost you a little more this year. West Virginia's state tax department is tracking online purchases this year. If you don't pay taxes when you make the purchase then you'll be forced to pay up in April.

Right now there's no uniform tax for online purchases. State officials estimate that they loose nearly 25 million dollars in lost revenue each year on purchases made online.

Big Difference!

In the Middle East they give families cash after their son, or daughter, becomes a martyr. In America we give it to people right up front.

The Army National Guard, battling a falloff in recruiting, is offering troops a finder's fee for lining up new soldiers.

The Guard Recruiter Assistant Program, launched this week in five states, offers National Guard members $1,000 for enlisting a recruit and another $1,000 when the prospect shows up for basic training.

"Bring in 10 people and you can earn $20,000," says Lt. Col. Mike Jones, deputy division chief for recruiting and retention at the National Guard Bureau.

We're so much better than those savages...

It's Great to See

South Africa affording their citizens more rights then America. How far they've come and how fast we're falling.

Mazel, Mazel. Good things.

It's Great Photos Day!

 

The Biggest Drug Dealers

Timing is everything, having written this the other day, I now come across this article.

As part of a House budget bill that reduces spending on Medicaid prescription drugs, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. and other businesses secured a provision ensuring that their mental health drugs continue to fetch top price at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars to the states.

The provision -- inserted by Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), whose district flanks Lilly's Indianapolis headquarters -- would largely exempt antipsychotic and antidepressant medications from a larger measure designed to steer Medicaid patients to the least expensive treatment options. The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved Buyer's amendment this month over the strenuous objections of Chairman Joe Barton (R-Tex.) and the National Governors Association. It survived unchallenged in the $50 billion budget-cutting bill that narrowly passed the House just before Congress left for Thanksgiving recess.

Mental health advocates defend Buyer's provision, saying it is necessary to ensure that vulnerable mental health patients receive proper treatment.

Andrew Sperling, the director of legislative advocacy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said his organization has been fighting efforts to restrict access to mental health drugs for years and strongly backed Buyer's amendment. "We believe these [restrictive] policies are destructive and contrary to good clinical policies," he said. "We don't like them."

To opponents, however, Buyer's measure underscores the excessive power that corporate interests wield on Capitol Hill. Critics say the measure also violates the purpose of the budget-cutting bill, which was drafted to give state governments the flexibility to cut program costs in ways that minimize the harm done to beneficiaries.

If you read on you'll see that governors don't like this plan, but Rep. Buyer and certain mental health advocates do. So, here we have a marriage by convenience, so to speak.

Of course, mental health advocates want all the money they can get to buy the newest drugs. Organizations are supposed to advocate for the best available treatment and drugs available. While I agree mental illnes is treated like a second class health issue I don't believe states should be buying the most expensive drugs to treat these illnesses.

Unless a specific drug doesn't exist in a generic form, or a similar one doesn't exist to help those in need, it's understandable that a new drug should fetch a higher price. The problem is in Buyer's legislation. He doesn't care about mental health, per se, but rather he cares about bringing the dollars to Eli Lilly, and that's it. He's a conservative from Indiana! Isn't he supposed to be for shriking Medicaid/Medicare? Isn't he supposed to be for smaller government? Yeah, good one. He, like the rest of the shitbags, are all for giving as many taxpayer dollars to the companies that pay for his campaigns as possible. Eli Lilly gave more to Buyer than did any of his other donors.

By making Medicaid spend more on supposedly newer drugs outside the program the states will be squeezed even further, and fewer dollars will be available for other aspects of the program. More dollars will be funnelled from Medicaid to drug companies. Granted, they're a business, and they need the cash to continue doing good work, but it's not like they're going broke here. They've got cash, for sure, and now they'll get more of it, while others who need Medicaid (the poorest) will get even less.

Republicans are supposedly trimming the fat these days. Another "good one."

:)

I just saw this post on Craigslist and the first thing that popped into my head was, "They must be doing a historical on African-Americans in Alabama politics."

African-American Actors for Short Film (shooting in Alabama)

...all in good fun.

B & A, or A & B?

Before

 


and After

 


but in reverse!

So Fucking Retarded

You know, I expect nothing less from the Moron crowd than this..

This to me is proof they never believed their own bullshit. We're going to be welcomed as liberators! Everyone loves Freedom! If they really believed that shit they wouldn't need to go down this road. What inevitably happens is these things get uncovered, and they only distrust us, and dislike us more.

We don't have a clue how Iraqis, or Arabs in general, think. We're not even concerned with their thoughts and beliefs. And by "we" I mean the cabal running the country. We don't care what they think. As long as they think like us is all that matters.

We've gone from the bullshit liberation crap to the Iraqis controlling Iraq crap, to the election, to the next election, to the one after that, to sovereignty, all the while changing what is we think Iraq will be.

This thing has been a huge mistake. Talk about "all the good things" happening til the cows come home; it's not going to matter. This war is being run by idiots who think they know what's best not only for everyone in Iraq, but everyone in the world. Who's got the next idiotic idea? Oh, oh, oh, I do, I do! Okay, white guy in the back row, whatcha got? Ummmm, lets write stories for the Iraqis and plant them in their papers! Great plan, Kent. Lets do that.

Of course, shit always hits the fan, and when it does it's stench is worse, and it's ability to fly only grows.

This is never, ever, EVER, going to work, especially with these clowns running the show.

Even if this story is false, and I'm sure it's not, the Arabs will undoubtedly think it's true; that's that.

SFA

Super Furry Animals Live on KCRW

Sounds really good.

Nice

I've had this Ray Davies with Yo La Tengo show on my computer for a while, and just recently started getting into it. I consider Davies to be as good a songwriter as any I've ever heard.

It's a live show from the Jane St. Theatre, August 25, 2000 New York City.

So, here are some cuts:

The Deal

The Morning After

This is Where I Belong

I love the guy who calls out for "This Time Tomorrow" then tempers himself with claps after realizing what a dork he sounds like.

Count on It

One thing you can count on now is that Billy Wagner will have season ending elbow, or shoulder surgery sometime in June of next season.

The Mets can only hope this current winning streak extends into the coming season. Shortly after introducing Carlos Delgado yesterday at Shea Stadium, the club agreed to terms on a four-year, $43-million contract with Billy Wagner, 34, the most coveted of the free-agent closers.

The timing of Wagner's signing was a bit of a surprise, especially after B.J. Ryan, arguably the second-best closer on the market, agreed to a five-year, $47-million deal with the Blue Jays on Friday. That figured to inflate Wagner's value, but after the Mets added a guaranteed fourth year to their $30.25-million offer, with an option for a fifth, he apparently was satisfied.

I don't trust balding, white, free agents who look 7.

He Blew

What do we have here?:

Ohio coach Frank Solich was convicted of drunken driving Monday, two days after police spotted him slumped over the wheel of his vehicle.

Solich, in his first season with the Bobcats, pleaded no contest and was ordered to complete a three-day driver intervention program. He also had his license suspended for 180 days and was fined $250

Solich will be announcing his run for the Presidency any day now.

Health

I am wondering to myself about how this country deals with mental health issues, and it's the abortion debate that made me think of it.

Senator Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) and the late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota) both supported the idea of having health insurance/care supplement the cost of drugs and treatments relating to psychological/mental illness. Basically, they wanted to treat mental health as a disease, or sickness, to be covered under health plans, and not to be treated differently, or as Republicans would say, "discriminated against."

Both Senators dealt with the problems first hand, which is why they both became advocates of this position. Although, I'd bet Wellstone would have taken this position regardless of whether or not someone in his family was affected. Domenici, not so sure.

Now we have the abortion issue, and the exceptions that are made for when a women could, or couldn't have one. The issue that sticks out to me is the "health of the mother" aspect. There are so many Republicans who don't even want to deal with that aspect, and rather claim that it's not really an issue. But think about it this way: If mental health is an issue to be covered by health plans, and given more creedence by Congress, wouldn't that mean that a mother's mental state could be grounds for wanting to have an abortion? I mean, not that it shouldn't anyway. But, if problems relating to mental health truly became health matters any woman could claim mental anguish as the reason she wanted to have an abortion. This is a fact that I'm sure would scare the crap out of pro-lifers.

Just a thought.

My Guy

This is crazy crazy crazy. Now, first off, I'm no Lee Murray, and I rarely get into fights. But for whatever reason I really took to this guy at UFC 46 (I think) in Las Vegas. He won his fight, and then we were just chillng at the bar. Then we hit the craps table for a bit. Had I known his past I'm not sure how much chillin' I would have done with him, but nothing happened.

He was an easy interview, well spoken, and brought a lot of charisma to the octogon.

Read this story (should work now).

Couldn't Have Said it Better Myself

From the NEWS:

A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that wrongheaded ideas for the handling of foreign detainees arose from White House and Pentagon officials who argued that "the president of the United States is all-powerful" and the Geneva Conventions irrelevant.

In an Associated Press interview, former Powell chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson also said President Bush was "too aloof, too distant from the details" of postwar planning. Underlings exploited Bush's detachment and made poor decisions, Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson blamed Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and like-minded aides. He said Cheney must have sincerely believed that Iraq could be a spawning ground for new terror assaults, because "otherwise I have to declare him a moron, an idiot or a nefarious bastard."

Like I've always argued: Republicans love Bush because as long as they act like he's in charge they can all get what they want. So easily manipulated. Like a child.

I will goto my grave believe that Bush has a learning disability, without question. He's had every chance in the book, been to every good school, and yet he's still a moron. There can be no other answer. Everyone else in the family is at least literate.

If someone told you one day, left or right, that you'd have a choice on what your kids would be: educated Liberal Elitists or undeducated Conservative morons, what would you choose?

Git 'Em, Cowboy

Mr. Bush, flip flopping? No, never, never.

Mr. Bush's speech today was markedly different in tone from one he delivered in January 2004, when he urged lawmakers to enact measures to give illegal workers temporary legal status. The president asserted then that it made economic sense to allow employers to find willing workers for jobs that Americans did not want.

Mr. Bush alluded today to that proposed temporary-worker plan, but not before he had spent several minutes speaking in get-tough tones. He declared today, as he did in January 2004, that he did not want amnesty offered to illegal immigrants already here. By most estimates, the number of people in the United States now is 8 million to 11 million.

Mr. Bush's appearance in Arizona, and one scheduled for Tuesday in El Paso, was meant to shore up support for his immigration strategy, especially in a region whose Republican senators have been outspoken on the need to revamp immigration laws.

The reality is he doesn't care if Mexicans come, or if Mexicans leave. Yes, I know, not all immigrants are Mexicans, but lets be honest about who we're speaking of. As for Mr. Bush's "strategy," what is it? Is it even "his strategy?" I'd say no.

His "strategy" was tell Americans that the jobs Mexicans are taking are too menial; beneath us. Mexicans would do the jobs no good American would do. Not a high schooler, someone who lost a job, someone who needs another, a former inmate, it's below them. This is what Bush told Americans. His strategy is say whatever he needs to say when he's saying it, and if jobs are gained, lost, had by Americans, or Mexicans, whatever. As long as corporate money flows to him, and he has an excuse to cut taxes, that's his strategy.

I used to be all for more open borders, and easier immigration, but I must say that I have shifted course on this in a big way. Now, I'm no gun-toating Amaricun who wants to shoot the Mexicans, but I can certainly see why illegal immigration is a huge strain on the economy and the work ethic of many Americans who should be here.

Again, I've dug ditches, painted some houses, and worked in restaurants. I've even pushed fabric around New York City's garment center, and worked in a fruit market. I can assure you none of these jobs are available to high school kids, and those on summer break. When there are no jobs like these available then other less mentally taxing jobs have to go to younger people, who work for less. Eventually, this pattern starts to climb up the scale of jobs, and could decrease wages. But more than this, young people can't get jobs, which is probably bad for their overall work ethic.

If you've got illegal here taking jobs like the labor jobs all over Jersey City where people are being paid cash to finish homes you take away jobs other Americans could have, if things were on the record. Illegals choose to be paid off the record, of course, and therefore paid less. It's bad news. Then what if the illegal hurts himself while fixing up a house, or maybe he/she falls off a roof painting and has to goto the hospital without insurance? You know who's paying that bill, right? Then the illegal has two or three kids in the local school, and those costs go right back to the taxpayer, and weaken the school system as a whole.

Now I'm not saying I want people deported because I don't. If you got here, cheers. You must have really wanted to be here, and the amnesty Bush spoke about ONCE BEFORE, when it was his primary strategy on immigration (hypocrite, of course), was a decent idea. Legitimizing those who are here is a good thing; they can start to pay taxes. But I'm not so sure we should be catching people and releasing them so they can keep flowing in. We have to protect ourselves on some level.

However, in addition to all of these things the fact remains that Mr. Bush is willing to spend more and more and more money on stopping immigrants, and expanding detention centers, but unlike Bill Bradley and Al Gore, he's not for spending money on marginalized American workers who may need to go back to school to get better jobs since the jobs available are BELOW these people. We have to fight tooth and nail to extend unemployment benefits during hard times, but tax cuts are a coming. Isn't he great! We have to funnel money away from education, and lie about how much is being allocated in the first place, but there's more cash for the borders, surely.

In addition to there being more money for the borders, there's 9/11 money. There's HOMELAND SECURITY MONEY! The borders should be more secure than ever, but yet, Bush, in front of the podium, he'll give more. We always have more. We've always got room for cuts. He'll just give give giver. He's a real giver. Laura must love it.

This guy will say anything to get applause. He's such a joke. He has no answers on illegal immigration, and he has no answers for jobless Americans. He should be a jobless American.

(I'm not editing)

Symbolism at it's Best

AP:

A basketball-sized piece of marble molding fell from the facade over the entrance to the Supreme Court Monday, landing on the steps near visitors waiting to enter the building.

No one was injured when the stone fell. The chunk of Vermont marble was part of the dentil molding that serves as a frame for nine sculptural figures completed in 1935. The piece that fell was over the figure of Authority, near the peak of the building's pediment, and to the right of the figure of Liberty, who has the scales of justice on her lap.

A group of visitors had just entered the building and had passed under the pediment when the stone fell at 9:30 a.m. EST.

I assume the Capitol building will start to crumble any day now.

One Down

Many more to go:

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges and tearfully resigned from office, admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes to steer defense contracts to conspirators.

Cunningham, 63, entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.

Cunningham answered "yes, Your Honor" when asked by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns if he had accepted bribes from someone in exchange for his performance of official duties.

Later, at a news conference, he wiped away tears as he announced his resignation.

"I can't undo what I have done but I can atone," he said.

Cunningham, an eight-term Republican congressman, had already announced in July that he would not seek re-election next year.

Tell Me

Besides Tom Brady, Brett Favre, and maybe Peyton Manning, who in the NFL is better than Eli Manning at bringing a team down the field when the game's on the line? In fact, I'm not even sure Peyton is as good as his brother.

The Giants game yesterday was a disaster, but this kid brought them back time and time again. It's uncanny.

20 games he has started.

:)

Don't they all look alike anyway?

"Plus, Bengals Coach Lovie Smith is like a father to Johnson, which is completely opposite of what Coach Andy Reid is to Owens."

-Guy, Marvin Lewis is the coach of the Bengals. Lovie coaches the Bears. Good take, wrong black head coach. - SiFli

I'd probably be better served if I checked my blog email more often.