Bill's Will

A brilliant read I found through Unequivocal Notion:

First, let me make clear this document isn't meant to instruct my wife what to do should I ever turn up brain dead. She wouldn't need written instruction, my wife. She's been around me long enough to know that even if I only get to the point where I no longer think The Simpsons is funny, I would prefer to have my plug pulled...

Kid Bastard Rules All

And my daughter's awesome too.

Today is my birthday. Woot me.

They rock, because they got me a sporty MP3 player for when I go walking or hiking, AND I got another GIG of RAM for this stupid machine. YAY! Now I'm not plodding along here anymore! This machine now SCREAMS.

Yay! Now I can play some serious games without freezing. Happyhappy joyjoy!

People I share a birthday with:

• Ewan McGregor (yum)
• Al Gore
• Christopher Walken
• Richard Chamberlain
• Shirley Jones
• Cesar Chavez
• Joseph Haydn
• Rene Descartes (not so yum since he's been dead for centuries)
  

On my birthday:

• 1776 Abigail Adams wrote her famous "Remember the ladies" letter to her husband, John, urging him to include women as he helped construct the US Constitution. He didn't. (fucking bastard)
• 1870 Thomas P Mundy became first black to vote in US (Perth Amboy NJ) [props to Jersey!]
• 1900 The first car advertisement to run in a national magazine appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.
• 1918 First daylight savings time in US goes into effect (dammit!)
• 1921 Albert Einstein lectures in New York on his new theory of relativity
• 1932 Ford publicly unveils its V-8 engine
• 1933 German Republic gives power to Hitler
• 1959 The Dalai Lama, fleeing the Chinese suppression of a national uprising in Tibet, crosses the border into India, where he is granted political asylum
• 1965 US ordered the first combat troops to Vietnam
• 1966 25,000 anti war demonstrators march in New York NY (feh, we kicked your asses on 08/29/04)
  
• 1967 Jimi Hendrix begins his tradition of burning his guitar
• 1969 George Harrison and Patti Boyd are fined £250 each for illegal drugs
• 1971 William L Calley Jr sentenced to life for My Lai Massacre
• 1976 New Jersey Court rules Karen Anne Quinlan may be disconnected from respirator (exactly 19 years before Terri Schiavo dies)
• 1982 Rock group Doobie Brothers split up
• 1989 Donald Trump purchases Eastern's Northeast Shuttle
• 1991 Danny Bonaduce attacks a transvestite prostitute in Phoenix AZ
• 1995 Microsoft Bob, a much ballyhooed "social interface" from Microsoft, started shipping.

Tom DeLay (Prick Extraordinaire) Loses Mind

ThinkProgress reports Tom DeLay's statement where he threatens judges, doctors and Michael Schiavo.

DeLay just released this statement:

Mrs. Schiavo’s death is a moral poverty and a legal tragedy. This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change. The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today. Today we grieve, we pray, and we hope to God this fate never befalls another. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Schindlers and with Terri Schiavo’s friends in this time of deep sorrow.

Christ, people. What the fuck is UP with that wacko?

"Dead Wrong"

Once again, it's the classic Bush game of "Blame Everyone Else!" - because Bush is never wrong!

US intelligence agencies were "dead wrong" in their pre-war assessments of Iraq's weapons programs and still know dangerously little about current nuclear and biological threats, a US presidential commission said.

After a year-long enquiry, the panel warned in a scathing report that the decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 based on accusations that turned out to be false had done damage to US credibility that "will take years to undo."

"We conclude that the Intelligence Community was dead wrong in almost all of its pre-war judgments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction," the commission said. "We simply cannot afford failures of this magnitude."

Sure you can afford them, because as long as you can blame someone else for making horrific mistakes, who the fuck cares, right?

Bush Is Such A Sensitive Guy!

*snort*

From AMERICAblog:

At 11:30 a.m., CNN had Bush on live making a statement on the death of Terri Schiavo. Okay, took him five days to mention the 10 people killed in the Minnesota shooting last week. But, he uses the first opportunity to jump in front of cameras to talk about Schiavo. Never mentions any individual member of the military killed in action, but, boy, he has to mourn Terri by name publicly.

Sums things up pretty well, I think.

Terri's Dead

It's very sad. I'm sure she was a lovely young woman.

I wonder if she'll stop in on a medium before going on to wherever she goes next and let them know what she REALLY thought of all this.

Con. Judge Swats Bush, Congress

One of the most conservative judges in America, who upheld the Alabama ban on sex toys and Florida's denial of allowing gay couples to adopt, has decided that Bush and Congress were a bunch of prats when it came to Terri Schiavo...

Yet, in Wednesday's 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to deny a rehearing to Schiavo's parents, Birch went out of his way to castigate Bush and congressional Republicans for acting "in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for governance of a free people - our Constitution."

Birch said he couldn't countenance Congress' attempt to "rob" federal courts of the discretion they're given in the Constitution. Noting that it had become popular among "some members of society, including some members of Congress," to denounce "activist judges," or those who substitute their personal opinions for constitutional imperatives, Birch said lawmakers embarked on their own form of unconstitutional activism.

"This is a judge who, through a political or policy lens, falls pretty squarely in the Scalia/Thomas camp," said law professor and constitutional expert David Garrow, referring to the two most conservative Supreme Court justices. "I think it's a sad commentary that there wasn't a voice like his present in the Congress, because he's saying what a Republican constitutional conservative should be saying."

It IS a sad commentary, because BuSheep still feel the need to plug their ears and close their eyes and yell "BUSH IS RIGHT, BUSH IS RIGHT! DO NOT QUESTION THE INFALLIBLE LEADERSHIP!"

I just spoke to KidBastard, who stayed home to take our daughter to the doctor today. He just got finished reading an article about how Bush miscalculated his role in the Schiavo case and is now backpedaling. Sidney Blumenthal's article on Salon makes some interesting points...

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., who offered a positive diagnosis of Schiavo's recovery on the basis of having viewed clips of videotape and called for her "rescue," had as a doctor pulled the plug on a "regular basis," his staff acknowledged. And in 1989, Frist published a book, "Transplant," in which he stated that anencephalic infants, suffering the same condition as the cortex-dead Schiavo, should be classified as "brain-dead."

Even the Franciscan Brothers of Peace, a ministry numbering only 10 monks, two of whom have appeared as personal counselors to the Schindlers, Schiavo's parents, confronted a crisis when the founder of their group suffered a heart attack and severe brain damage. He was kept alive through a feeding tube, but in 2003, after a dozen years, the monks decided to withdraw his life support. Their inconsistency in doing one thing while encouraging others to do another is best left for them to explain. More important, their presence is a small indicator of a larger political crackup.

Bush believes that he won his reelection in great part on "values" and that all he needs to do to refresh his power is to invoke them. But in signing a private bill by Congress that could not stand constitutional scrutiny for the sake of gratifying a faction of the Republican base, he has exposed and inverted the raw politics of the culture war. Instead of being blinded by the light of his shining faith, the public was repelled by what it saw as crass exploitation.

After a week of damage, the White House was quietly leaking to the press that Bush had not wanted to return from Crawford after all. His effort to distance himself from the corrosive Schiavo issue had the effect of depicting him as ambivalent and indecisive -- the negative image he had sought to project of John Kerry.

So, Bush is a FLIP-FLOPPER???? NOOOOOOOO.

Suddenly Bush didn't really want to return to the White House to sign that paperwork for Terri Schiavo? You mean the public might actually be seeing him for what he really is - a bad actor and a total putz?

The amount of hypocrisy just OOZES out of this. BuSheep have been led too long - perhaps some of them will start to ask why.

See? Told You They'd Call It The Ressurection

And you thought I was kidding ;p

Norm Olson, senior adviser to the Michigan militia and pastor of a strong right-to-life church in Wolverine, said Tuesday he had put together an unarmed coalition of state militias that were prepared to storm the Florida hospice where Terri Schiavo has been left to die, and take her to a safe house.

Olson said he needed only the OK from Schiavo's father, Robert Schindler, either directly or through his attorney David Gibbs, to put the plan, called "Operation Resurrection," into action on Sunday.

Luckily, the Schindlers are merely parents who love their daughter and aren't complete whackjobs, since they put the kebash on the idea.

WOW! A Judge Does His Job!

U.S. Barred From Sending 13 Detainees Abroad

A federal judge yesterday barred the Bush administration from transferring a group of detainees from the U.S. military prison in Cuba to the custody of foreign governments without first giving the prisoners a chance to challenge the move in court.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. said he was preventing transfers without advance notice to bar the government from "unilaterally and silently taking actions" to move detainees outside the reach of U.S. courts. The government must give detainees' lawyers 30 days' notice of any proposed transfer, the judge ruled, so their lawyers have time to object.

The judge also chided the Justice Department for arguing it was giving detainees what they had originally requested: freedom from U.S. control at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. About 540 men are held at the prison based on the government's claim that they are enemy combatants or have ties to terrorists. Some have been there for three years.

The Bush administration has been grappling with how to handle terrorism detainees over the long term. Officials have said they were considering transferring some of the prisoners to their home countries where they would be imprisoned, which prompted lawyers for a number of detainees to file court challenges.

In his ruling yesterday, Kennedy said such transfers are hardly the same as giving detainees "a plane ticket to anywhere they want to go."

I can't believe they actually tried to say they were giving the detainees what they wanted... If they did something, bring them to trial. No need to ship them off to other countries. Unless you want to take them there to torture and kill them.

LISTENING TO: Cold Hard Bitch, Jet

OH JUST STOP!

Schiavo parents file new court appeal
Lawyer asks federal court to examine evidence, not procedure

The lead lawyer for Terri Schiavo's parents filed an emergency petition with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta late Tuesday, contending he has found a new argument to have Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted.

The petition submitted by attorney David Gibbs said the federal judges who rejected the previous efforts to have Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted violated a Supreme Court precedent that requires them to consider the full record, not just the procedural history from the state court.

The appeals court granted Gibbs' request late Tuesday to file the new petition despite having set a deadline of last Saturday morning for any such appeals. Gibbs said in his filing that the new issues were the result of "further research, reflection and consultation" since the same court rejected his petition last week.

She told NOT ONLY her husband, but OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS that she wouldn't want to be left in that condition. HONOR HER REQUEST.

Privatizing Free Speech and F*CKING BLOGGER

Blogger's being a whore again today. Lost one of my posts. Here it is in a nutshell...

Bush uses taxpayer money to throw gatherings, but uses a private firm to handle invitations etc. - Secret Service throws people out - without the people having worn anything offensive, saying anything, carrying any signs...

The Secret Service revealed that we were "ID'ed" when local Republican staffers saw a bumper sticker on the car we drove which said "No More Blood For Oil." Evidently, the free speech expressed on one bumper sticker is cause enough to eject three citizens from a presidential event. (Similarly, someone was ejected from Bush's Social Security privatization event in Arizona the same day simply for wearing a Democratic t-shirt.)

The Secret Service also revealed that ticket distribution and staffing of the Social Security event was run by the local Republican Party. They wanted us to be clear that it was a Republican staffer - not the Secret Service - who kicked us out of the presidential event. But this revealed something else that should be startling to all Americans.

After allowing taxpayers to finance his privatization events (let's call them what they really are after all,) and after using the White House communications apparatus to set them up, Bush is privatizing the ticket distribution and security staffing at his events to the Republican Party. The losers are not just taxpayers, but anyone who values the First Amendment. Under the banner of a "private event" the Republican Party is excluding citizens from seeing their president because of the lone sin of expressing the wrong idea on a bumper sticker or t-shirt. The question for Americans is - will we allow our freedom to be privatized?

So we shouldn't let the Shrub know people are against his policies? Why, would it hurt his widdle feelings?

First Do No Harm? Unless You're Gay

I think I was 12 or 13 years old when my mother had a business trip and took me to Lansing, Michigan. It was a college-y town, and I found a neat little store that sold Coke and Mountain Dew in glass bottles for 35 cents (and MI has 10 cent deposits, so I was downing those sodas like no one's business). I was too young to hang out with college kids, but it felt like a modern enough place.

Then I read this:

Michigan Preparing To Let Doctors Refuse To Treat Gays

(Lansing, Michigan) Doctors or other health care providers could not be disciplined or sued if they refuse to treat gay patients under legislation passed Wednesday by the Michigan House. The bill allows health care workers to refuse service to anyone on moral, ethical or religious grounds.

The Republican dominated House passed the measure as dozens of Catholics looked on from the gallery. The Michigan Catholic Conference, which pushed for the bills, hosted a legislative day for Catholics on Wednesday at the state Capitol.

The bills now go the Senate, which also is controlled by Republicans.

The Conscientious Objector Policy Act would allow health care providers to assert their objection within 24 hours of when they receive notice of a patient or procedure with which they don't agree.

Are you kidding me? Aren't doctor's supposed to "first do no harm"? If you have a problem treating 10% of the population, then perhaps you shouldn't be a doctor. I don't like talking to snotty assholes on the phone, but it's still my job - can I sue my employer so I don't have to speak to morons? How about I just refuse to deal with people who fall in the lowest 10% of intelligence? I hate stupid people, so why should I have to deal with them?

And for crissake, Michigan, I thought you were cooler than this!

Oh and FUCK THIS:

Pharmacists' Rights at Front Of New Debate
Because of Beliefs, Some Refuse To Fill Birth Control Prescriptions

Some pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills, saying that dispensing the medications violates their personal moral or religious beliefs.

What the HELL? Again, if you don't want to fill DOCTOR PRESCRIBED PRESCRIPTIONS to your customers, perhaps you shouldn't be a pharmacist. Buncha fuckin' morons.

8.2 Earthquake Could Make Tsunami

An 8.2 earthquake (another source places it at 8.5) off the coast of Indonesia occurred several hours ago and CNN is reporting that if a tsunami forms from it, it will reach the coast line in the next three hours.

This is along the same fault line that caused over 200,000 deaths in December, which registered 9 on the Richter Scale.

It looks like the word is getting out and there are massive evacuations going on. Must be frightening to be there right now.

UPDATE: CNN now has quake at 8.7.

LISTENING TO: Rock Me, Liz Phair

Protesters Told To Leave Again

Failing to realize that they are acting like complete gits, some protesters decided to get rowdy on Easter Sunday, to the point where Terri's brother had to make an appearance and tell them to knock it off. Thankfully, Terri did NOT die yesterday, otherwise there would be all kinds of religious fanatics migrating to Florida to wait for her resurrection.

Those outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo is being cared for were not as calm, with the first of what would be four morning arrests coming as ministers attempted to bring Schiavo Easter communion. About a half-dozen people in wheelchairs later got out of them and lay in the driveway, shouting "We're not dead yet!"

Police protecting the hospice were loudly heckled, prompting Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, to come out and ask the protesters to tone down their behavior.

"We are not going to solve the problem today by getting arrested," he told the restless crowd of about three dozen people. "We can change laws, but we are not going to change them today. … You are not speaking for our family."

LISTENING TO: Right Now, Van Halen

WTF?

A soldier came back from Iraq after serving a second tour of duty. He hiccupped constantly and then died. And no one knows why.

I SWEAR I AM NOT KIDDING.

What the FUCK is THAT all about?

Just In Case You Missed It

You know, if you got a little too wrapped up in the Terri Spectacular...

India's a little pissed at us for selling Pakistan some sweeeeet planes. Pakistan says "WOO HOO!"

The Bush administration rewarded Pakistan, an improbable ally in the war on terrorism, with a promise Friday that it could buy sophisticated U.S.-built F-16 warplanes. Pakistan's nuclear rival, India, immediately complained the sale would threaten its security.

The sales would represent a shift in policy after years of sanctions and harsh rhetoric from Washington over Pakistan's nuclear ambitions and what U.S. administrations have seen as tolerance for Islamic extremism. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, however, Pakistan has become an important partner in hunting suspected terrorists and cracking down on anti-American extremists...

...Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she discussed sales of F-16s to both Pakistan and India during back-to-back visits to those countries earlier this month. Rice chose not to announce the Pakistan decision on that trip in part to avoid angering India.

YA THINK?

First DeLay, Now Her Own Father?

This article was written November 4, 2003...

But, given the vehemence with which he has been fighting to prolong Terri's life, it is a little surprising to learn that Robert [Schindler, Terri's father] decided to turn off the life-support system for his mother. She was 79 at the time, and had been ill with pneumonia for a week, when her kidneys gave out. "I can remember like yesterday the doctors said she had a good life. I asked, 'If you put her on a ventilator does she have a chance of surviving, of coming out of this thing?'" Robert says. "I was very angry with God because I didn't want to make those decisions."

Interesting...

You Don't Have To Go Home, But You Can't Stay Here!

I think we are finally seeing an end to the circus that has been the legal battle for Terri Schiavo. Her parents have decided to accept the 30+ court denials and have asked supporters to go home.

It's too bad it took this long for them to throw in the towel. I mean, I understand they want things to go their way, but at some earlier point they should have just stopped and spent the last remaining quality time with their daughter.

I think if some network person decides to try and make a made-for-TV movie out of this, it would be really great to have both sides of the story be told, without making either be the "bad guys". I mean, lots of polls suggest the public are sympathetic to BOTH sides - it's a really tough issue - and both sides have very good reasons for doing what they did. It would be nice to see a movie where they were both respected, and it would go for the cliche angles.

Oh, and how interesting that Tom DeLay took his father off life-support without too much deliberation...

Also, if you'd like to be a little weirded out, you can read Georgie's message to us all:

President's Easter Message

Easter 2005

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

I send greetings to all those celebrating Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through His sacrifice and triumph over death, Christ lifted the sights of humanity forever. In His teachings, the poor have heard hope, the proud have been challenged, and the weak and dying have found assurance. Today, the words of Jesus continue to comfort and strengthen Christians around the world.

During this holy season, we thank God for His blessings and ask for His wisdom and guidance. We also keep in our thoughts and prayers the men and women of our Armed Forces -- especially those far from home, separated from family and friends by the call of duty. May the joy of Easter fill our hearts with gratitude for our freedom, love for our neighbors, and hope for peace.

Laura and I wish you a Happy Easter.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Anyway, it's time for bed. I am in need of some serious sleep. Later kids!

LISTENING TO: Till It Kills, Tilt

They Died? Eh, Who Cares...

Pentagon Will Not Try 17 G.I.'s Implicated in Prisoners' Deaths

Despite recommendations by Army investigators, commanders have decided not to prosecute 17 American soldiers implicated in the deaths of three prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004, according to a new accounting released Friday by the Army.

Investigators had recommended that all 17 soldiers be charged in the cases, according to the accounting by the Army Criminal Investigation Command. The charges included murder, conspiracy and negligent homicide. While none of the 17 will face any prosecution, one received a letter of reprimand and another was discharged after the investigations.

S'all good, yo. Got family stuff to do today and have Horny Fornication Day to celebrate tomorrow, so I will update when I can escape to a computer... ;)

IS JEB ON CRACK???

He actually sent troops!

(You have to subscribe to this paper, so I am reprinting a good portion of it so you don't have to subscribe... feel free to do so, in case you think I'm lying or something. You might think I'm lying. Because this is asinine. But I can assure you, I am not. I'm convinced they are on massive doses of drugs. Damn them for not sharing.)

Police 'showdown' averted
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER

Hours after a judge ordered that Terri Schiavo was not to be removed from her hospice, a team of state agents were en route to seize her and have her feeding tube reinserted -- but they stopped short when local police told them they would enforce the judge's order, The Herald has learned.

Agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told police in Pinellas Park, the small town where Schiavo lies at Hospice Woodside, on Thursday that they were on the way to take her to a hospital to resume her feeding.

For a brief period, local police, who have officers at the hospice to keep protesters out, prepared for what sources called ``a showdown.''

In the end, the squad from the FDLE and the Department of Children & Families backed down, apparently concerned about confronting local police outside the hospice.

''We told them that unless they had the judge with them when they came, they were not going to get in,'' said a source with the local police.

''The FDLE called to say they were en route to the scene,'' said an official with the city police who requested anonymity. ``When the sheriff's department and our department told them they could not enforce their order, they backed off.''

The incident,known only to a few and related to The Herald by three different sources involved in Thursday's events, underscores the intense emotion and murky legal terrain that the Schiavo case has created. It also shows that agencies answering directly to Gov. Jeb Bush had planned to use a wrinkle in Florida law that would have allowed them to legally get around the judge's order. The exception in the law allows public agencies to freeze a judge's order whenever an agency appeals it.

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

Participants in the high-stakes test of wills, who spoke with The Herald on the condition of anonymity, said they believed the standoff could ultimately have led to a constitutional crisis and a confrontation between dueling lawmen.

''There were two sets of law enforcement officers facing off, waiting for the other to blink,'' said one official with knowledge of Thursday morning's activities.

In jest, one official said local police discussed ``whether we had enough officers to hold off the National Guard.''

''It was kind of a showdown on the part of the locals and the state police,'' the official said. ``It it was not too long after that Jeb Bush was on TV saying that, evidently, he doesn't have as much authority as people think.''

State officials on Friday vigorously denied the notion that any ''showdown'' occurred.

Wow. Way to pretend to be a governor. Tell troops to organize and then realize you don't actually have the power to make it happen. You stupid moron.

MY HEAD HURTS.

The Government is entitled to censor documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Ummmmmmmm. What?

The Government is entitled to censor documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Oh.

Ouch. Brain hurts.

What if?

I'm getting tired of talking about Terri, particularly since the parents are claiming she's trying to speak and tell people she's hungry...

But first I would like to point out something I found VERY ironic.

FBI agents have arrested a North Carolina man on suspicion of soliciting offers over the internet to kill Michael Schiavo and Greer. Richard Alan Meywes of Fairview is accused of offering $250,000 for the killing of Schiavo and another $50,000 for the "the elimination of the judge who ruled against Terry."

Do you mean to say that someone tried to get somebody to kill two healthy human beings over this woman? DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE? Are you people losing your grips on reality here???

Also, the article tells us that Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo has been at her bedside since they removed the tube last Friday. The article also reports that Terri's sister and aunt apparently heard her yell "AHHHHH" and "WAAAAAA". And it happened just when her husband was out of the room and there were no nurses or doctors or any other third parties. I'm just sayin'.

With all this hullabaloo, I started thinking along pretty airey-fairy lines... What if her body no longer works, but because her body is still technically alive, her spirit is still tethered to it? What if for the last 15 years, her spirit has been trying everything to get away from this worthless hunk of meat, but can't. What if her spirit is hovering there above her body SCREAMING at anyone to just smother her, because if she could she'd do it herself? What if she's doing all she can in her spirit form to get the judges to deny her parents and let her finally die and move on?

Chances of that being the case? Just as good as any other scenario.

I'm just sayin'.

LISTENING TO: Shiny, Happy People, REM

THIS IS AWESOME

'Fox Blocker' Aims to Block Channel

It's not that Sam Kimery objects to the views expressed on Fox News. The creator of the "Fox Blocker" contends the channel is not news at all.

Kimery figures he's sold about 100 of the little silver bits of metal that screw into the back of most televisions, allowing people to filter Fox News from their sets, since its August debut.

The Tulsa, Okla., resident also has received thousands of e-mails, both angry and complimentary — as well as a few death threats.

"Apparently the making of terroristic threats against those who don't share your views is a high art form among a certain core audience," said Kimery, 45.

Formerly a registered Republican, even a precinct captain, Kimery became an independent in the 1990s when he said the state party stopped taking input from its everyday members.

Kimery now contends Fox News' top-level management dictates a conservative journalistic bias, that inaccuracies are never retracted, and what winds up on the air is more opinion than news. "I might as well be reading tabloids out of the grocery store," he says. "Anything to get a rise out of the viewer and to reinforce certain retrograde notions."

A Fox spokeswoman at the station's New York headquarters said the channel's ratings speak for themselves. For the first three months of this year, Fox has been averaging 1.62 million viewers in prime-time, compared with CNN's 805,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Kimery's motives go deeper than preventing people from watching the channel, which he acknowledges can be done without the Blocker. But he likens his device to burning a draft card, a tangible example of disagreement.

And he's taking this message to the network's advertisers. After buying the $8.95 device online, would-be blockers are shown a letter that they can send to advertisers via the Fox Blocker site.

"The point is not to block the channel or block free speech but to raise awareness," said Kimery, who works in the tech industry.

The guy's websites been hit with really heavy traffic since this is getting around so fast, but if you want to try another time, his website is www.foxblocker.com.

This guy is going to make a small fortune for creating something akin to pet rocks. I am so jealous ;p

Hey, remember THIS guy?

Yeah, you know the guy I'm talking about. Osama binLaden. Look, I realize capturing or killing him isn't going to end global terrorism forever. But he'll be punished for orchestrating the murder of thousands of my fellow citizens. And, color me unpatriotic, but shouldn't that be pretty high on the priorities list? It's been almost 4 years.

4 years. That's how long this asshole has been getting away with 9/11.

And forgive me for challenging the Mandate of our Great Leader (these are after all perilous times, and he clearly has a lot to focus on, or maybe just one woman who's been brain dead for 15 years), but didn't he tell us soon after that "day of fire" that "changed everything" that he would see Osama binLaden brought in "dead or alive"? He did tell us that, right?

Wasn't that a big part of Operation Iraq Rehearsal? After bombing the crap out of a country that, let's face it, is probably a bit jaded about bombs at this point, the US breaks the Taliban's hold on the country and corners OBL and his cohorts in the mountains, presumably with the intent to kill or capture them. That whole "dead or alive" thing. So they're cornered, justice is at hand, and...

...the ...US... invades... Iraq.

Um. Okay. Sure.

It's just... um... why, exactly? Oh, right. Because Saddam Hussein has ties to al Qaida, weapons of mass destruction and is right now (RIGHT NOW!!) working on a NUCLEAR BOMB!! Holy shit! Yes, okay, go! Let the Northern Alliance Coalition Club Gang or whoever the fuck those dudes are handle it! I mean, yeah, binLaden is the leader of this whole operation, but if Saddam is hooked up with them, and supplying them with weapons, sure. Definitely go in there and put a stop to that. It would take weapons out of terrorists' hands, and close down a safe haven and training ground for--

Wait.

You're sure about this, right? Really? Maybe we can let the weapons inspectors make sure, and in the meantime focus on getting-- what? Oh, right! Imminent threat! Mushroom cloud! Go go go!

And yet, here we are, almost 4 years later, and not only did the shitty overseas contractors we outsourced the binLaden job to totally fuck it up, but it turns out... there were no weapons, no relationship with al Qaida, no nuclear program and sure as hell NO IMMINENT THREAT!

But wait! We've brought freedom and democracy to the Middle East! Which is... what the war was... all about all along? Really? 'Cause, before you said-- Okay. Don't get shirty.

Yeah, great. Elections. And a bunch of half-assed steps toward democracy in other countries that really have nothing to do with Iraq. Okay... but... binLaden?

Remember him? He orchestrated the murder of thousands of people on US soil and has been getting away with it for almost 4 years. In almost 4 years, this administration has not managed to bring this man to justice.

But, on the other hand, the Iraqis had an election. And they elected a bunch of people who have, so far, not even managed to pick someone to lead a country that is spiraling further and further into chaos. Where countless numbers of explosives (held secure by UN inspectors until the US invasion) have found their way into the hands of terrorists and Iraq itself has become a focal point for jihad, terrorist training and recruitment.

Which, I guess, is just as good.

Bush is SO Self-Serving

He can drag his pajama'd ass out of bed to sign paperwork regarding Terri Schiavo, but has absolutely NOTHING to say regarding the school-shooting deaths in a Native American community.

Why is that again?

Oh yeah, IT'S BECAUSE HE DOESN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ANYONE UNLESS IT WILL FURTHER HIS OWN POLITICAL AGENDA.

Oh, and I just heard on Air America news that Bush has lost more support and is floating around the mid 40s (they say 43% here). Good. Maybe people are waking up...

Nooooo, You Don't Say!

Document suggests bin Laden escaped at Tora Bora

A document from the U.S. military appears to contradict the Pentagon's previous statements that it does not know whether al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden escaped U.S. forces at Tora Bora in Afghanistan in December 2001.

The legal document, which summarizes evidence against a terror suspect in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, states the prisoner "assisted in the escape of Usama Bin Laden from Tora Bora."

You mean when Kerry was kicking Bush's ass during the presidential debates and kept referring to Bush abandoning the search for Bin Laden and letting him get away after cornering him in the mountains of Tora Bora, he WASN'T LYING? Wow! No kidding!

Is it wrong to want to rip my keyboard apart with my bare hands? I'm envisioning letter keys being flung off behind me...

Additionally, I see more and more conservatives getting good and pissed off at the republican party for not actually being "republican" anymore. Markkind alerted me to this new post of his and while I don't agree with EVERYTHING he says, it appears indicative of the republicans splintering even more and at an incredible pace. Gone are the days of small government and state-level decisions... it's all about political personalities taking over and making grand gestures and statements that in essense mean nothing.

So I propose a new party. Take the democrats who actually have spines and republicans that reject the power monopoly of the Bush empire and make a SUPERPARTY!

I can dream, can't I?

Hey, Remember That Italian Woman?

Yeah, THAT one. The one who was held hostage for a month. And the one who was freed, only to have to survive being shot at. You know, that story about the Italian secret service dude who got killed saving her.

Remember when the US government didn't give up the car to the Italians? Yeah, well, the US government won't let them near it.

And to think there are wingnuts who think she set up this elaborate ruse to get Italians pissed off enough to demand the return of their troops. If that were the case, doncha think the government would be all like "Hey, check out the car! You'll see how the bullets go into the motor to stop it. It was a total accident, see the evidence?"

Nope. They are hiding evidence.

PS: This poor, poor cat.



His name is Adolf. What did he do in his past life to deserve these markings???

Is JeffJames A Fake Marine Too?

Susan Gardner is researching this question and so far the military cannot locate any specific records. She will be following up with their suggestion of checking with Quantico...

I would be very interested to know if he was falsely claiming he served in the military. Of course, MSM has already forgotten about JeffJamesGannonGuckert.

But the blogosphere hasn't. Suckers! Want to see what the infamous JeffJames is yapping annoyingly about now? Just head on over to www(dot)jeffgannon(dot)com. Try not to laugh at the terrible website design and lack of substantial information.

Maureen Rocks, Again

Okay, just call me hot for Maureen Dowd. I guess I will just have to add her to the list of people I would run away with (at least for a long weekend). She's a babe, certainly, but I love her for her columns.

Today she weighs in on the Schiavo blahblah:

A CBS News poll yesterday found that 82 percent of the public was opposed to Congress and the president intervening in this case; 74 percent thought it was all about politics.

The president, who couldn't be dragged outdoors to talk about the more than a hundred thousand people who died in the horrific tsunami, was willing to be dragged out of bed to sign a bill about one woman his base had fixated on. But with the new polls, the White House seemed to shrink back a bit.

THANK you. I wondered why only the blogosphere seemed amused by the swiftness with which the Happy Little Idiot in Office jumped to the aid of this woman. But Maureen doesn't stop there...

The scene on Capitol Hill this past week has been almost as absurdly macabre as the movie "Weekend at Bernie's," with Tom DeLay and Bill Frist propping up between them this poor woman in a vegetative state to indulge their own political agendas. Mr. DeLay, the poster child for ethical abuse, wanted to show that he is still a favorite of conservatives. Dr. Frist thinks he can ace out Jeb Bush to be 44, even though he has become a laughingstock by trying to rediagnose Ms. Schiavo's condition by video.

As one disgusted Times reader suggested in an e-mail: "Americans ought to send Bill Frist their requests: 'Dear Dr. Frist: Please watch the enclosed video and tell us if that mole on my mother's cheek is cancer. Does she need surgery?'"

She talks further about the lack of checks and balances, another pet peeve of mine, and also points out:

Mr. DeLay moved yesterday to file a friend of the court brief with the Supreme Court asking that Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube be restored while the federal court is deciding what to do. But as he exploits this one sad case, Mr. DeLay has voted to slash Medicaid by $15 billion, denying money to care for poor people in nursing homes, some on feeding tubes.

So can we NOW call it what it is? These politicians are exploiting the sad story of this woman and her family for their own personal political gain. Will the rest of MSM pick up on it?

LISTENING TO: Lips Tits Hips, Tilt

That's It! You're F*cking TOAST!

Jeb Bush.

Brother of the Shrub in office.

Governor of "Limpy" the State.

Apparently, also the most simple person on the planet.

He decided to stake his reputation and potential bid for the 2008 election on the diagnosis of a neurologist that stood next to Terri Schiavo once.

No, seriously. I wouldn't lie to you. He really did.

For some reason, Jeb Bush decided to petition the court for custody of Terri because he thinks her diagnosis and subsequent prognosis is faulty. Why does he think there may have been a misdiagnosis? Because a state-paid neurologist who observed the vegitative woman from her bedside, but never examined her, felt differently than the myriad of doctors who HAVE examined her. Many times. Probably over several years.

And there's been talk of this fucktard being next in line for the White House? He gets anywhere near that and I'm off to New Zealand to raise sheep.

Need A Chuckle?

Oldies but goodies...

Dishonest Dubya - Hear the lies from his own lips.

DubyaSpeak - They record the damage.

Mark Fiore cartoons - Sadly accurate.

The OMG WTF Eagle Shirt - I just like the look on his face.

I'll be back with more later, but don't expect huge updates today... Gotta finish some freewayblog signs and Alias is on tonight. Maybe they will beat some chemistry back into Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan, because they've really been sucking. Mmmm, Michael Vartan...

I Love My Mom

My mother was born in 1950, which means she was the PERFECT age for Woodstock. Except she didn't go. She claims the guy who wanted to take her was not the most reputable of gents, but I would have gone anyway and then ditched him.

At least she's making up for it by coming up with new slogans to freewayblog ;)



Thanks Ma!

Getting a couple more together, then I need to recruit a partner-in-crime to come out with me. Anyone around Thursday PM?

LISTENING TO: Animated Corpse, Tilt

Reserves Enlistment Age Raised to 39

Ummm... I dunno who they think they're kidding, but they are unlikely to get more than a fistfull here and there of new recruits just because they upped the age to 39. And, they will typically be people who have been unemployed for ages.

The U.S. Army, stung by recruiting shortfalls caused by the Iraq war, has raised the maximum age for new recruits for the part-time Army Reserve and National Guard by five years to 39, officials said on Monday.

The Army said the move, a three-year experiment, will add about 22 million people to the pool of those eligible to serve, from about 60 million now. Physical standards will not be relaxed for older recruits, who the Army said were valued for their maturity and patriotism.

The Pentagon has relied heavily on part-time Army Reserve and Army National Guard soldiers summoned from civilian life to maintain troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan. Roughly 45 percent of U.S. troops currently deployed for those wars are reservists.

At home, the all-volunteer Army has labored to coax potential recruits to volunteer for the Guard and Reserve as well as for active-duty, and to persuade current soldiers to re-enlist when their volunteer commitment ends.

I'm surprised they didn't try LOWERING the age, since they'd have better luck getting 16 year olds than 36 year olds.

LISTENING TO: Eight Easy Steps, Alanis Morrisette

Gay Guy Gets Catholic Funeral

The head of the Roman Catholic Diocese in San Diego stuck his tail between his legs after being told what a douche he was being for banning any Catholic churches in the area from performing a mass for the late John McCusker, who ran nightclubs catering to gays.

Apparently, enough people pointed out to him what an asshat he was being by making such declarations, which is really cool because it means the people still have power.

On the other hand, it also illustrates just how flexible church rules are, and reinforces my distaste for most organized religions, since they can change their minds about rules so easily. I'm just sayin'.

G-Bay Abuses Were Videotaped

Of course, we have to read about this from an AUSTRALIAN paper...

Guantanamo abuse 'videotaped'

VIDEO footage of the treatment of prisoners by the US military at Guantanamo Bay would reveal many cases of substantial abuse as "explosive as anything from Abu Ghraib", a lawyer said today.

Adelaide lawyer Stephen Kenny, who represented Australian David Hicks during the early part of his detention at the military prison in Cuba, told a law conference today 500 hours of videotape of prisoners at the US base existed.

Hicks, 29, from Adelaide, has been in American custody awaiting trial since being captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and accused of having links to terror group al-Qaeda. He is charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.

Mr Kenny said the full story of abuse at Guantanamo Bay would not be told until the tapes were released, but they could be as damaging as the images of Iraqi prisoners being abused by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison.

I guess another downside of soldiers taking pictures and video of the realities of war is that it will hurt the Bush administration. And to think that Bush refuses to attend the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq...

Scott McClellan = Liar

After this sentence, all text in this post is From Think Progress:

At the gaggle this morning, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan defended a law Bush signed as governor of Texas in 1999:

The legislation he signed is consistent with his views. You know, this is a complex case and I don’t think such uninformed accusations offer any constructive ways to address this matter…[P]rior to the passage of the ‘99 legislation that he signed, there were no protections…The legislation was there to help ensure that actions were being taken that were in accordance with the wishes of the patient or the patient’s family.

McClellan’s statement grossly distorts the nature of the law. The law does not ensure that actions are taken “in accordance with the wishes of the patient or the patient’s family.” In fact it codifies and legalizes the ability of doctors to stop treatment even if it goes against the explicit directive of the patient or the patient’s family.

Check out Section 166.046, Subsection (e):

If the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient is requesting life-sustaining treatment that the attending physician has decided and the review process has affirmed is inappropriate treatment, the patient shall be given available life-sustaining treatment pending transfer under Subsection (d). The patient is responsible for any costs incurred in transferring the patient to another facility. The physician and the health care facility are not obligated to provide life-sustaining treatment after the 10th day after the written decision required under Subsection (b) is provided to the patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient …

Further Evidence This Isn't About Terri

I can't TAKE this! It's utterly ASININE!

The subtitle to this article is:

Bush signs law letting parents seek restoration of feeding tube

DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE SIGNED THE TEXAS FUTILE CARE LAW, which removed the tubes of a baby (against his mother's objections), causing him to die on March 15th.

I didn't see anyone stopping their vacation early, or holding emergency congress sessions over HIM. Know why? BECAUSE THIS ISN'T ABOUT TERRI SCHIAVO.

It is about the politicians trying to gain some popularity, or trying to make themselves look better against their transgressions! It's BACKFIRING on them and yet they are still pulling out all the stops and heartstrings!

Bush even has the brass ones to say :

This is a complex case with serious issues, but in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to always err on the side of life.

Remember, this is the man who signed the law allowing hospitals to remove life-saving tubes from patients even if the next of kin objects AND has allowed mentally challenged inmates be put to death in Texas. FUCK HIM. Fuck him and his two-faced talking out of both sides of his mouth. This man has NO morals, NO standards. He is a bigger "flip-flopper" than John Kerry could ever have been if he went on TV and said "I love you all! Wait, I hate you all!" And his flock of BuSheep just trot along behind him.

Goddammit I need a drink. I am literally being driven to drink.

This Ain't About Terri Schiavo

Ironic Statement of the Day:

As lawmakers met today, the mother of the brain-damaged woman pleaded for congressional leaders to avoid using the issue to advance their own platforms.

"There are some congressmen that are trying to stop this bill," Ms. Schiavo's mother, Mary Schindler, told reporters outside her daughter's hospice. "Please don't use my daughter's suffering for your own personal agenda."

Terri's husband, Michael is quoted from the same article:

"I am outraged, and I think that every American in this country should also be outraged, that this government is trampling all over a personal family matter that has been adjudicated in the courts for seven years," Mr. Schiavo said in an interview with CNN broadcast today.

"I think that the Congress has more important things to discuss," he said.

I feel bad for Terri's mom. She obviously loves her daughter, but doesn't realize that Tom DeLay is using a Bush-proven tactic of deflection to try and shift the focus away from his problems with being ethical.

"Time is not on Terri Schiavo's side," DeLay said. "The few remaining objecting House Democrats have so far cost Mrs. Schiavo two meals already today."

However, for the sake of throwing my washcloth into the ring, I'd really like to ask why it's okay to execute prisoners and Iraqi citizens, but not okay to let a woman who has NO CHANCE of living any kind of productive life (i.e. can't even watch a movie if the TV was in front of her face) die... I'm just curious how that's reconciled.

For a really intelligent article about the Terri Schiavo issue, please visit Digby.

Protests Around The World

FYI, I got all photos from Yahoo.com and have tagged each with the organization they belong to. I should have been in New York City today.

Photo by AFP Artists covered with black paint representing oil, demonstrate in front of the US embassy in Santiago, in a mass protest against the US-led occupation of Iraq.

Photo by AFP of protest in North Carolina

AP Photo of protest in San Francisco

AP Photo of protest in Chicago

Reuters Photo of protest held in London

AP Photo of protest in Brazil. Effigies of US President George W. Bush, right, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are seen during an anti-war protest in downtown Sao Paulo for the second anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion on Iraq.

Reuters Photo of protest held in Madrid

AP Photo of protest in Turkey

AP Photo of protest in Denmark

AP Photo of protest in Manila

AP Photo of protest in South Korea

Reuters Photo of protest held in Australia

AP Photo of protest in Tokyo

Reuters Photo of protest held in Glasgow

AP Photo of protest in Pakistan

AP Photo of protest in Cyprus

AP Photo of protest in Poland

Photo by AFP of protest in Italy

AP Photo of protest in Paris

Reuters Photo of protest held in New York City

Ain't THAT Interesting.

I'll make this short and simple...

Church denies a gay man a Catholic burial, but gives a FULL CATHOLIC BURIAL TO THAT FUCKING SLIMEBALL WHO MOLESTED/RAPED MORE THAN 130 CHILDREN?

I swear they must make up their own rules as they go along.

Specious Arguments

So, our good friend Liberal Larry left Moxie a comment and had this wholly original argument to make against the validity of gay marriage:

Why just gay marriage? Why must the government set restrictions on marriage
at all? That's a function of the church, and there's a wall between church and