Of course Hillary will beat Obama. She has the institution behind her, the political savvy gained from being one of the top 100 lawyers in the nation (so designated before Bill became President), serving on corporate boards and being First Counsel to a United States President. The Clinton's also have a knack for destroying their enemies. As their close friend and campaign manager James Carville puts it "When you're enemy is drowning, you don't just let him, you throw the sum bitch an anchor."
And there is no way in Hell the ticket will be Hillary-Obama. She will not pick her political rival and reward him for her attacks while she looks over her story. She will pick a minority though, and it won't be Bill Richardson either. That would just alienate the black vote completely and demonstrate to African-Americans that the Democrats take their votes for granted.
No, it will be Harold Ford, Jr. He is currently the head of the DLC, which will give Hillary cover after she runs far enough left to get the nomination. Harold Ford also has run a statewide campaign and knows its rigors. He also likely feels cheated by the race-baiting ad and therefore likely to work harder for the ticket since he has no other political office to fall back upon, unlike both Hillary and Obama.
Mr. Ford has the charm, savvy, political background and past positions to make him an ideal VP Nominee. And I predict he will be.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
USA: Master of the Summer Season
USA Network has moved aggrerssively over the past few years to capitalize on the "summer season" for television, during which the major networks priarily run ru-runs of thei existising programming.
Check out all of these programs which are all well written and well acted:
Burn Notice (Thursday)
Psyche ( (Friday)
Monk (Friday)
The 4000(Sunday)
The Dead Zone (Sunday)
These are all exceptional shows, some of which have won emmy's Obviously Burn Notice and the 4400 are my favorites of those above, since they involved conspiracies, etc. Burn Notice expertly handles the tedium of what a spy really does duing inner monologueo ver the dos and don'ts of spycraft in teh form of a lecture. This show obvisously caters to our collective yearning to learn what our spy agencies are up to while the rest us of live in sweet bliss
The 4400
The 4400 is interesteting because it's gone all meta on us this season. First The 4400 were sent collected along the timeline, given powers through genetic engineering (or some type of synaptic manipulation) and sent back to prevent and unspecified disaster for the human race. However, last season primarily was about Isabel Tyler who was a special arrival on earth with special powers and the , and who made the number of returnees officially 4401. Isabel fell under the sway of one of the "the marked" and became convinced her purpose was to eliminate the 4400. To this end she cooperated with the former head of NTAC (basically DHS under another name) leaving under a shroud of disgrace for his plan to kill the 4400, only to emerge working for Defense Department Contractors manufactring promycin, the miracle drug that allows anybody to acquire 4400 abiliites. His plan was thwarted when the promycin was acquired by a radical 4400 splinter group called Nova (a reference to the sun as a star) that it begarn being distributed to anyone who asked.
This season began with the implied resurrection of Jason Collier (J.C - Jesus Christ - the messiah's reappearance - only reinforced when we see him emerging from a lake covered in water - evoking the image of Christ's baptism) season is about a group of 10 indviduals from the future who are part of a movement to stop the timeline changes the 4400 were sent back to change. Their faction is satisfied with their existing status quo and don't want any changes because it will wipe out their existence and accomplishments. This is the same faction (presumably) who sent Isabel and are referred to as "The Marked" - as revealed in a 4400's film that claimed to expose the conspiracy before he was "gotten too."
The conspiracy within conspiracy within conspiracy leads one to wonder which is true, which is lie, and which is somewhere in between Gotta love it. Tonight we get to find out whether JC truly is good or whether he is still manipulative and desiring only to accomplish his own ends.
Burn Notice
Burn Notice is about a spy who gets black listed or "burned" and dropped in his homw town with few resources and only two reliable contacts, one of whom is playing double agent for Michael and the FBI. It's a fun romp, with Michael and his motley crew echoing the A-Team, but less formulaic and more interesting because of the ongoing, overreaching story arc ( a la Veronica Mars's first season). I highly Nip/Tuckrecommend it.
Fox and F/X virtually invented the summer season. The first with the summer seasons of Beverly Hills 90210Melsose Place
and latter with the first few seasons of Nip Tuck and Rescue Me, as well as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
TBS has been trying to break into the summer season market with their programs
My Boys
And let's not forget SciFi Network with their summer series' Flash Gordon and Eureka.
Check out all of these programs which are all well written and well acted:
Burn Notice (Thursday)
Psyche ( (Friday)
Monk (Friday)
The 4000(Sunday)
The Dead Zone (Sunday)
These are all exceptional shows, some of which have won emmy's Obviously Burn Notice and the 4400 are my favorites of those above, since they involved conspiracies, etc. Burn Notice expertly handles the tedium of what a spy really does duing inner monologueo ver the dos and don'ts of spycraft in teh form of a lecture. This show obvisously caters to our collective yearning to learn what our spy agencies are up to while the rest us of live in sweet bliss
The 4400
The 4400 is interesteting because it's gone all meta on us this season. First The 4400 were sent collected along the timeline, given powers through genetic engineering (or some type of synaptic manipulation) and sent back to prevent and unspecified disaster for the human race. However, last season primarily was about Isabel Tyler who was a special arrival on earth with special powers and the , and who made the number of returnees officially 4401. Isabel fell under the sway of one of the "the marked" and became convinced her purpose was to eliminate the 4400. To this end she cooperated with the former head of NTAC (basically DHS under another name) leaving under a shroud of disgrace for his plan to kill the 4400, only to emerge working for Defense Department Contractors manufactring promycin, the miracle drug that allows anybody to acquire 4400 abiliites. His plan was thwarted when the promycin was acquired by a radical 4400 splinter group called Nova (a reference to the sun as a star) that it begarn being distributed to anyone who asked.
This season began with the implied resurrection of Jason Collier (J.C - Jesus Christ - the messiah's reappearance - only reinforced when we see him emerging from a lake covered in water - evoking the image of Christ's baptism) season is about a group of 10 indviduals from the future who are part of a movement to stop the timeline changes the 4400 were sent back to change. Their faction is satisfied with their existing status quo and don't want any changes because it will wipe out their existence and accomplishments. This is the same faction (presumably) who sent Isabel and are referred to as "The Marked" - as revealed in a 4400's film that claimed to expose the conspiracy before he was "gotten too."
The conspiracy within conspiracy within conspiracy leads one to wonder which is true, which is lie, and which is somewhere in between Gotta love it. Tonight we get to find out whether JC truly is good or whether he is still manipulative and desiring only to accomplish his own ends.
Burn Notice
Burn Notice is about a spy who gets black listed or "burned" and dropped in his homw town with few resources and only two reliable contacts, one of whom is playing double agent for Michael and the FBI. It's a fun romp, with Michael and his motley crew echoing the A-Team, but less formulaic and more interesting because of the ongoing, overreaching story arc ( a la Veronica Mars's first season). I highly Nip/Tuckrecommend it.
Fox and F/X virtually invented the summer season. The first with the summer seasons of Beverly Hills 90210Melsose Place
and latter with the first few seasons of Nip Tuck and Rescue Me, as well as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
TBS has been trying to break into the summer season market with their programs
My Boys
And let's not forget SciFi Network with their summer series' Flash Gordon and Eureka.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Dingell vs. Pelosi
New York Times Story
This week’s National Journal article on the conflict between Chairman Dingell and Speaker Pelosi over the shape of future energy legislation illustrates a point I have long maintained: leadership of small majorities is inherently different than the leadership of large majorities.
Speaker Pelosi has demonstrated that she inherently grasps this concept by adopting the Republican model of using the Committees as an extension of the House Leadership, and bypassing committees entirely when they likely wouldn’t obey leadership’s desires as Republicans did with abortion-related issues and the Energy & Commerce Committee or alternatively creating new Committees to bypass those found troubling a la the new Global Climate panel. Like Speakers Gingrich and Hastert before her, Speaker Pelosi rewards those who fall in line, or need fundraising help, with seats on so-called “A Committees” or “Super A Committees” depending on the party by using the Democratic version of the Republican Steering Committee to dole these seats out. These Committees happen to be: Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce, and Appropriations.
Large majorities, such as those the Democrats enjoyed for approximately 70 years before Gingrich Revolution (give or take a few Congresses), and those enjoyed by Republicans for the 70 years prior than that have a different dynamic. The House Leadership needs to adopt a Laissez-faire attitude towards Committees because the larger the majority, the larger and more numerous the competing party factions it contains, and Leadership needs to spend more time negotiating and finessing the fissures among these factions. This leaves far less time for involvement in policy development per se.
Chairman Dingell hails from “Old Bull” era of large majorities when House Committee Chairmen were all Barons with their Committees as their individual fiefdoms. The new arrangement must be somewhat of a shock to the Committee Chairmen like Dingell who have been around for a while and remember the days of their former glory.
For personal reasons I wish him well in the conflict over the shape of energy legislation.
This week’s National Journal article on the conflict between Chairman Dingell and Speaker Pelosi over the shape of future energy legislation illustrates a point I have long maintained: leadership of small majorities is inherently different than the leadership of large majorities.
Speaker Pelosi has demonstrated that she inherently grasps this concept by adopting the Republican model of using the Committees as an extension of the House Leadership, and bypassing committees entirely when they likely wouldn’t obey leadership’s desires as Republicans did with abortion-related issues and the Energy & Commerce Committee or alternatively creating new Committees to bypass those found troubling a la the new Global Climate panel. Like Speakers Gingrich and Hastert before her, Speaker Pelosi rewards those who fall in line, or need fundraising help, with seats on so-called “A Committees” or “Super A Committees” depending on the party by using the Democratic version of the Republican Steering Committee to dole these seats out. These Committees happen to be: Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce, and Appropriations.
Large majorities, such as those the Democrats enjoyed for approximately 70 years before Gingrich Revolution (give or take a few Congresses), and those enjoyed by Republicans for the 70 years prior than that have a different dynamic. The House Leadership needs to adopt a Laissez-faire attitude towards Committees because the larger the majority, the larger and more numerous the competing party factions it contains, and Leadership needs to spend more time negotiating and finessing the fissures among these factions. This leaves far less time for involvement in policy development per se.
Chairman Dingell hails from “Old Bull” era of large majorities when House Committee Chairmen were all Barons with their Committees as their individual fiefdoms. The new arrangement must be somewhat of a shock to the Committee Chairmen like Dingell who have been around for a while and remember the days of their former glory.
For personal reasons I wish him well in the conflict over the shape of energy legislation.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Snap Review: The Ms. DC Pageant – Few Contestants Knew Anything About DC
Q: How come in a “chocolate city” like DC (apologies to George Clinton), African-American contestants were outnumbered 3:1?
A: Most of them likely came here to try for the Ms. DC crown because they thought it would be easier to win than their own state pageant.
Note: How do I know pageant contestants do this? Ms. America 1990, Debbye Turner, told me in an interview that year that she moved to Missouri to participate in Missouri’s pageant after being runner up in her native state. It was her victory there that qualified her for the Ms. American Pageant, which she won.
Another reason I believe that most of the DC contestants aren’t really from here is that most of them could not answer any questions about DC that were related to their “platforms.” One contestant was asked about a DC institution, musical group, performance group etc which inspired her. Her answer: The Kennedy Center. How completely trite, and it doesn’t even require any knowledge of DC to say that. There are a million things she could have said including HR 57 – the Center for the Preservation of Jazz and Blues – after all, she claimed to be influenced by Jazz and blues in her interview and her talent was vocals.
I’m very pleased that the girl who won, Shayna Rudd, obviously was was familiar with DC and beat the others.
The pro-life contestant, Ashley Ahlquist, came across as borderline racist. Her platform “Providing Positive Solutions for Crisis Pregnancies” basically boils down to tricking poor women who want an abortion into entering a center where she will be lectured to and threatened with eternal damnation. Regardless, her question was along the lines of “How would you make DC safer for women?” Her answer: “I would increase police presence in certain areas” and used the phrase “certain areas” two other times in relation to how more police in “certain areas” would reduce crime. I wonder to which areas this Catholic University student was referring? Hmm. Anyone else care to hazard a guess?
On to the review:
The audience was composed primarily of contestant's family members and supporters, and had a surprisingly low number of drag queens in attendance Though one did seem to have more than a passing acquaintance with the outgoing Miss DC. (Oh for the good old days of Zigfield’s).
I have only this to say about the rest of the interviews: those girls need to learn better grammar, and it would be nice if they bothered to learn a thing or two about our fair city beyond the typical crap any tourist could tell you. (I know, it’s ironic because I sometimes use bad grammar, but my excuse is drunken blogging, not that I don’t know better).
The talent portion was surprisingly trite (including a Mariah Carey song and “All that Jazz” from Chicago) until one of the contestants sang a Porgy & Bess song.
In the Miss Teen DC Pageant, the dramatic readings were powerful. And all of the girls had great poise and posture throughout the show, and the little Princesses (girls 4-12) were of course adorable.
A: Most of them likely came here to try for the Ms. DC crown because they thought it would be easier to win than their own state pageant.
Note: How do I know pageant contestants do this? Ms. America 1990, Debbye Turner, told me in an interview that year that she moved to Missouri to participate in Missouri’s pageant after being runner up in her native state. It was her victory there that qualified her for the Ms. American Pageant, which she won.
Another reason I believe that most of the DC contestants aren’t really from here is that most of them could not answer any questions about DC that were related to their “platforms.” One contestant was asked about a DC institution, musical group, performance group etc which inspired her. Her answer: The Kennedy Center. How completely trite, and it doesn’t even require any knowledge of DC to say that. There are a million things she could have said including HR 57 – the Center for the Preservation of Jazz and Blues – after all, she claimed to be influenced by Jazz and blues in her interview and her talent was vocals.
I’m very pleased that the girl who won, Shayna Rudd, obviously was was familiar with DC and beat the others.
The pro-life contestant, Ashley Ahlquist, came across as borderline racist. Her platform “Providing Positive Solutions for Crisis Pregnancies” basically boils down to tricking poor women who want an abortion into entering a center where she will be lectured to and threatened with eternal damnation. Regardless, her question was along the lines of “How would you make DC safer for women?” Her answer: “I would increase police presence in certain areas” and used the phrase “certain areas” two other times in relation to how more police in “certain areas” would reduce crime. I wonder to which areas this Catholic University student was referring? Hmm. Anyone else care to hazard a guess?
On to the review:
The audience was composed primarily of contestant's family members and supporters, and had a surprisingly low number of drag queens in attendance Though one did seem to have more than a passing acquaintance with the outgoing Miss DC. (Oh for the good old days of Zigfield’s).
I have only this to say about the rest of the interviews: those girls need to learn better grammar, and it would be nice if they bothered to learn a thing or two about our fair city beyond the typical crap any tourist could tell you. (I know, it’s ironic because I sometimes use bad grammar, but my excuse is drunken blogging, not that I don’t know better).
The talent portion was surprisingly trite (including a Mariah Carey song and “All that Jazz” from Chicago) until one of the contestants sang a Porgy & Bess song.
In the Miss Teen DC Pageant, the dramatic readings were powerful. And all of the girls had great poise and posture throughout the show, and the little Princesses (girls 4-12) were of course adorable.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Live Earth Post-Mortem: We Were Only In It For the Music
I forgot to mention in my last post that the scientists playing in Antarctica were surprisingly good, and of course we all love penguins, so their images crossing the screen during the performance produced serotonin unloading among the rocking masses.
Anyway, the most discouraging thing about the concert was that immediaty outside the show, as we walked back to the shuttle buses back to Port Authority, there were no trash cans and loads of litter stacked along barriers or simply on the ground. This was the result of concert goers being given free Sunchips and Dannon Yogurt drinks as they left the show. The willingness of everyone to just blatantly litter after spending the whole day being lectured on the importance of being environmentally correct shows just how serious the concert goers were about the political message.
The products demonstrated by the concerts' sponsors showed how unserious they were about the global climate change message as well. Philips wanted everyone to switch to their new highly efficient, helix-like light bulbs which happen to contain mercury and therefore will only result in worse landfill problems, albeit gradually since the lightbulbs really do last significantly longer. And Democrats in Congress want to mandate that all schools and nursing homes have these mercury filled lightbulbs. If you don't believe me, read the official outline of the bill here.
And Smart, a Mercedes subsidiary showed off their 3-cylinder death bubble. This car, about the same size as the Mini with a bubble top, doesn't look like it could make it over a steep hill, let alone get you anywhere you needed to be in rural America. And you'd likely die in any accident, given the design of the car and the use of light materials to build it. However, my bigger point is that the majority of cars in the U.S. are 6 or 8 cylinders. Even most European cars are at least 4 cylinders. This car can't get you anywhere.
When I asked the company representatives if the car was either flex-fuel or a hybrid, the almost literal response I got was "No. We just want people to change the way they approach driving and then we'll work on those things." They would rather get you to change your behaviour than actually manufacture a car that produces less exhaust through better catlytic converters or other advances in technology.
I was not impressed, and little disgusted. A car that won't be able to do a damn thing on a farm and will kill you in a wreck. What's Mercedes trying to do - kill us and wreck our ag economy?
Anyway, the most discouraging thing about the concert was that immediaty outside the show, as we walked back to the shuttle buses back to Port Authority, there were no trash cans and loads of litter stacked along barriers or simply on the ground. This was the result of concert goers being given free Sunchips and Dannon Yogurt drinks as they left the show. The willingness of everyone to just blatantly litter after spending the whole day being lectured on the importance of being environmentally correct shows just how serious the concert goers were about the political message.
The products demonstrated by the concerts' sponsors showed how unserious they were about the global climate change message as well. Philips wanted everyone to switch to their new highly efficient, helix-like light bulbs which happen to contain mercury and therefore will only result in worse landfill problems, albeit gradually since the lightbulbs really do last significantly longer. And Democrats in Congress want to mandate that all schools and nursing homes have these mercury filled lightbulbs. If you don't believe me, read the official outline of the bill here.
And Smart, a Mercedes subsidiary showed off their 3-cylinder death bubble. This car, about the same size as the Mini with a bubble top, doesn't look like it could make it over a steep hill, let alone get you anywhere you needed to be in rural America. And you'd likely die in any accident, given the design of the car and the use of light materials to build it. However, my bigger point is that the majority of cars in the U.S. are 6 or 8 cylinders. Even most European cars are at least 4 cylinders. This car can't get you anywhere.
When I asked the company representatives if the car was either flex-fuel or a hybrid, the almost literal response I got was "No. We just want people to change the way they approach driving and then we'll work on those things." They would rather get you to change your behaviour than actually manufacture a car that produces less exhaust through better catlytic converters or other advances in technology.
I was not impressed, and little disgusted. A car that won't be able to do a damn thing on a farm and will kill you in a wreck. What's Mercedes trying to do - kill us and wreck our ag economy?
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Live Earth: Snap Reviews
The concert yesterday rocked! Of course it would - the lineup was amazing, but the performances uneven (like me). The only real problem was that the artists only played 4-6 songs each.
The Police - Started off with a strong performance of Roxanne, and then seemed to play the order of their set list from the their 1980s best of albumn. Their solid performance definitely earns them a strong recommendation that you see them at Pimlico for the Virgin Festival on August 4th.
Roger Waters - First time I've seen him perform, and it was excellent. His superb performance of Us and Them seemed to be especially attuned to the current zeitgeist. For the less intelligent in the crowd, he beat them over the head by mixing the final juxtaposiiton of the song and war images with that of President Bush in a flight suit and the Mission Accomplished banner in the background.
Smashing Pumpkins - Gave a strong performance out of the gate with a lot of guitar gnashing before going into a new song from their next albumn (Zeigeist, out on Tuesday). Great performances of crowd pleasers Bullet with Butterfly Wings and Today. Based on this performance, I highly recommend you buy tix to their Tuesday show at the 930 Club, and see their August 5th performance at Pimlico during The Virgin Festival, on August 5th.
Bon Jovi - Obviously, the hometown favorite, after all the Meadowlands is actually in New Jersey. Added thousands of new faces that he's rocked at the concert. Ok, he spent his alotted time mostly playing from Slippery When Wet, and seriously rocked the stadium with Dead or Alive , which was one of the highlights of the night. The rumors of a surprise Bruce Springsteen appearance to paly with Bon Jovi proved unfounded. Unfortunately.
Kelly Clarkson - Put on a solid perfomance and really moved the crowd with Since You've Been Gone. Her newer music didn't sound as good.
Akon - Definitely won new fans with his great performance.
Dave Mattews Band - Not as strong as other performances I've seen. Mostly focused on early favorites that seemed to especially please the folks who came up from Virginiga. a surprisingly high number of the much younger fans could sing along to the early favorites too.
Missed John Mayer and Alicia Keys, both to my chagrin. Also missed Melissa Ethridge - a good artist, i just felt like eating instead.
The Police - Started off with a strong performance of Roxanne, and then seemed to play the order of their set list from the their 1980s best of albumn. Their solid performance definitely earns them a strong recommendation that you see them at Pimlico for the Virgin Festival on August 4th.
Roger Waters - First time I've seen him perform, and it was excellent. His superb performance of Us and Them seemed to be especially attuned to the current zeitgeist. For the less intelligent in the crowd, he beat them over the head by mixing the final juxtaposiiton of the song and war images with that of President Bush in a flight suit and the Mission Accomplished banner in the background.
Smashing Pumpkins - Gave a strong performance out of the gate with a lot of guitar gnashing before going into a new song from their next albumn (Zeigeist, out on Tuesday). Great performances of crowd pleasers Bullet with Butterfly Wings and Today. Based on this performance, I highly recommend you buy tix to their Tuesday show at the 930 Club, and see their August 5th performance at Pimlico during The Virgin Festival, on August 5th.
Bon Jovi - Obviously, the hometown favorite, after all the Meadowlands is actually in New Jersey. Added thousands of new faces that he's rocked at the concert. Ok, he spent his alotted time mostly playing from Slippery When Wet, and seriously rocked the stadium with Dead or Alive , which was one of the highlights of the night. The rumors of a surprise Bruce Springsteen appearance to paly with Bon Jovi proved unfounded. Unfortunately.
Kelly Clarkson - Put on a solid perfomance and really moved the crowd with Since You've Been Gone. Her newer music didn't sound as good.
Akon - Definitely won new fans with his great performance.
Dave Mattews Band - Not as strong as other performances I've seen. Mostly focused on early favorites that seemed to especially please the folks who came up from Virginiga. a surprisingly high number of the much younger fans could sing along to the early favorites too.
Missed John Mayer and Alicia Keys, both to my chagrin. Also missed Melissa Ethridge - a good artist, i just felt like eating instead.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
The Problem With Romney
Isn't that he is a born-again converst to social conservativism. The problem isne't even that he is a Mormon. The problem is that he is an inhumane subhuman who intentionally made his Irish setter ride for 12 hours in a carrier on top of the car. He didn't stop to walk the dog for exercise or bathroom purposes and instead let it soil its cage. That is an inhumane act in terms of interaction with dogs. This by itself is a fatal character flaw which should disqualify him from ever occupying the White House.
And not only is what he did inhumane, it is against the law in Massachusetts, where he lived at the time.
For more on this disturbing story, please visit:
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1638065,00.html
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_06/011591.php
And not only is what he did inhumane, it is against the law in Massachusetts, where he lived at the time.
For more on this disturbing story, please visit:
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1638065,00.html
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_06/011591.php
Friday, June 29, 2007
Why Illegals Should Not Be Allowed to Become Citizens
Unfortunately, the comprehensive immigration bill died this week - likely for the rest of the Bush Administration. Establishing a path to legalized status is a good idea, but allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens is not. Here's Why:
The right to vote is the only true right anyone possesses in our society. And it is a powerful possession we exercise periodically in order to elect individuals in whom we vest the power to establish the laws (or rules) by which we all agree to live.
People who have shown a willingness to break our laws should not be given the privilege of participating in the process of their creation. For this reason, anyone who entered this country illegally or illegally over stayed their visas in order to remain in America should not be allowed to become citizens. They should be allowed a path to legalized status, but it should be a status below that of current legal permanent residents. Because they were unwilling to obey our laws, they should not be given the privilege of inviting any of their family members to benefit from their illegal behavior with the exception of MINOR children and one spouse.
I also believe that US fellons, except for those convicted of non-violent drug offenses, should be permanently stripped of the franchise for the same basic reason: an unwillingness to obey the laws that exist disqualifies one from participating in the creation of new laws.
The right to vote is the only true right anyone possesses in our society. And it is a powerful possession we exercise periodically in order to elect individuals in whom we vest the power to establish the laws (or rules) by which we all agree to live.
People who have shown a willingness to break our laws should not be given the privilege of participating in the process of their creation. For this reason, anyone who entered this country illegally or illegally over stayed their visas in order to remain in America should not be allowed to become citizens. They should be allowed a path to legalized status, but it should be a status below that of current legal permanent residents. Because they were unwilling to obey our laws, they should not be given the privilege of inviting any of their family members to benefit from their illegal behavior with the exception of MINOR children and one spouse.
I also believe that US fellons, except for those convicted of non-violent drug offenses, should be permanently stripped of the franchise for the same basic reason: an unwillingness to obey the laws that exist disqualifies one from participating in the creation of new laws.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
The Best Thing Ever!
The upside of bio-genetics - Scientists jave bred cows that give skimmed milk. This is an incredibly efficient way to get skimmed milk, which most people like, and will reduce the amount of operating expenses dairies have to pay. Looks win-win right now. Now all we have to do is eliminate the outdated milk pricing system.
Scientists breed cows that give skimmed milk-News-UK-Science-TimesOnline
Scientists breed cows that give skimmed milk-News-UK-Science-TimesOnline
Saturday, May 26, 2007
WTF? Giant Wild Pigs in the South?
Since this is the second giant boar (both about 1000 pounds) caught and killed in the South, does that meant there is a whole species wandering around down there in wild forests? It also gives credence to the idea that there are stil large, undiscovered mammals even in North American. If these animals can go so long undetected, is it possible that Bigfoot and the Chupacabra actually do exist?
Perhaps wer're only encountering these creatures only now has to do wtih the growth of the human population and destruction of wild habitat. Perhaps.
And the kid that killed it was 11! Dude, what an adventure. I bet there will be few things in his life to top killing this monster. And I especially like the fact the kid is going to get 700-800 pounds of sausage from this, AND have the head mounted.
Perhaps wer're only encountering these creatures only now has to do wtih the growth of the human population and destruction of wild habitat. Perhaps.
And the kid that killed it was 11! Dude, what an adventure. I bet there will be few things in his life to top killing this monster. And I especially like the fact the kid is going to get 700-800 pounds of sausage from this, AND have the head mounted.
How they Screwed the Subway Hero
The subway hero is a guy in New York who risked his life to save somebody else. They way I understand it is he jumped down onto the subway tracks to save person having a seizure by pulling them both into a crawl space on the other side of the tracks. A truly selfless act committed in a very selfish city. He is a hero.
Now for the disturbing part which proves that no good deed goes unpunished - This guy has been completely fucked over by everyone who's gotten near him. He lost his job, his time is not his own because he is expected to make so many public appearances, someone screwed him out of the rights to his own life story, he had to pay his own expenses for his trip to Washington. He can barely afford his own legal fees, much less the taxes on the "free" jeeps he got from Chrysler and Deal or No Deal. I feel for him.
Now for the disturbing part which proves that no good deed goes unpunished - This guy has been completely fucked over by everyone who's gotten near him. He lost his job, his time is not his own because he is expected to make so many public appearances, someone screwed him out of the rights to his own life story, he had to pay his own expenses for his trip to Washington. He can barely afford his own legal fees, much less the taxes on the "free" jeeps he got from Chrysler and Deal or No Deal. I feel for him.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Poor Jimmy Carter . . .
The only President worse than him in recent memory is George W. Bush and he's so obsessed with erasing the disaster that was his administration, that he'll attack Bush on anythimg.
Carter's administration has now done the nearly impossible - moved up from worst Presidecny of the post-World War II period to the 2nd worst Presidential Administration since World War II. His administration was an utter disaster from start to finish (anyone else remember singing "Cause Jimmy Carter has a way of screwing up teh USA to the tune of the Oscar Mayer weiner song?)
Had Carter the courage in 1979 to have the Marines protect the US Embassy in Iran from the student rioters, there would have been no hostage crisis and it is likely that we would have avoided the series of events that eventually lead to the current War in Iraq because Middle Easterners would have known we meant business The events I refert to specifically are the US support for and arming of Iraq in its 1980-1988 war with Iran, which emboldened Iraq to invade Kuwait in 1990 in order to recoup its financial expenses from that war. However, President H.W. Bush's US Ambassador to Iraq, April Gillespie, played a "small" part in letting Iraq think that the US wouldn't oppose its Iraq invasion.
That of course led to one well conducted war and over ten years of no-fly zones before the 2nd Iraq War.
Getting back to the main point, had Carter any real courage during his Presidency, these later events would not have happened in the way they did and the Global position of the U.S. would be much enhanced.
All the good works in his post-Presidency can't make upfor his disastrous administration. All he can hope for is to be rated better than W. Bush. I doubt that'll be hard at this point, but he'll never get higher than W.
Carter's administration has now done the nearly impossible - moved up from worst Presidecny of the post-World War II period to the 2nd worst Presidential Administration since World War II. His administration was an utter disaster from start to finish (anyone else remember singing "Cause Jimmy Carter has a way of screwing up teh USA to the tune of the Oscar Mayer weiner song?)
Had Carter the courage in 1979 to have the Marines protect the US Embassy in Iran from the student rioters, there would have been no hostage crisis and it is likely that we would have avoided the series of events that eventually lead to the current War in Iraq because Middle Easterners would have known we meant business The events I refert to specifically are the US support for and arming of Iraq in its 1980-1988 war with Iran, which emboldened Iraq to invade Kuwait in 1990 in order to recoup its financial expenses from that war. However, President H.W. Bush's US Ambassador to Iraq, April Gillespie, played a "small" part in letting Iraq think that the US wouldn't oppose its Iraq invasion.
That of course led to one well conducted war and over ten years of no-fly zones before the 2nd Iraq War.
Getting back to the main point, had Carter any real courage during his Presidency, these later events would not have happened in the way they did and the Global position of the U.S. would be much enhanced.
All the good works in his post-Presidency can't make upfor his disastrous administration. All he can hope for is to be rated better than W. Bush. I doubt that'll be hard at this point, but he'll never get higher than W.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Is Battlestar Galactica Racist?
The mini-marathon last night got me thinking about this. And I'm not talking about the complex human-cylon relationship - I'm talking about in real American terms. The original series had a much better integrated cast and black characters that were greater parts of the show. Does adding central hispanic and asian characters really make up for the lack of black actors on the show?
Out of the entire human population in the civilian and military fleets, there have only been two black characters. One completely minor, and the other the subject of an entire episode (which exposed Admiral Adama's abandonment of him in Cylon territory previously.
How do we even attempt to measure racism in a science fiction show? Is it just that there weren't that many blacks that escaped Caprica, the colonies and New Caprica? Earth presumably represents the Atlantis-like 13th Colony, and those settlers came from the same places as the other members of the fleet. We know empirically that earth has a diverse racial/ethnic mix (which are meaningless terms outside of politics - biology and genetics have demonstrated that there is more variation within racial groups, than there is between them).
At least the show makes up for the extreme lack of diversity by beginning to address class issues that exist on the fleet and its original (now destroyed) civilzation.
Out of the entire human population in the civilian and military fleets, there have only been two black characters. One completely minor, and the other the subject of an entire episode (which exposed Admiral Adama's abandonment of him in Cylon territory previously.
How do we even attempt to measure racism in a science fiction show? Is it just that there weren't that many blacks that escaped Caprica, the colonies and New Caprica? Earth presumably represents the Atlantis-like 13th Colony, and those settlers came from the same places as the other members of the fleet. We know empirically that earth has a diverse racial/ethnic mix (which are meaningless terms outside of politics - biology and genetics have demonstrated that there is more variation within racial groups, than there is between them).
At least the show makes up for the extreme lack of diversity by beginning to address class issues that exist on the fleet and its original (now destroyed) civilzation.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
The Downside of Commodifying Your Body
Black-Market Scandal Shakes India's Ban on Organ Sales -
I, and Western Culture illicitly support the commodification of the body in multiple ways. We pay for superior egg and ova, we pay to enhance our physical attributes through such means as breast and calf implants, and we pay to abort unwanted fetuses. (The entire idea that it is an unwated fetus actually comes from the commodification of the body. But we have to support it illicitly to fool ourselves that we don't really commodify the body). We ban the sales of organs, though most of the middle and upper classes oppose this ban and will purchase the organs they need in China or elsewhere.
I also support unfettered capitalism. I support the right to sell any part of my body and patent any gene sequence or protein, prion, bacteria, etc. that is unique to me.
But the intersection of unfettered capitalism and growing commodification of the body, are likely to produce a very ugly period in World History. The poor, often from the poorest nations, will increasingly sell their organs. In a moderate-sized population this could result in the need for many new caretakers for all of the new post-operative complications that will pop up. The poor won't be able to pay for these health care procedures, and the rich, safe continents away won't care.
It's going to get ugly before it gets better,
I, and Western Culture illicitly support the commodification of the body in multiple ways. We pay for superior egg and ova, we pay to enhance our physical attributes through such means as breast and calf implants, and we pay to abort unwanted fetuses. (The entire idea that it is an unwated fetus actually comes from the commodification of the body. But we have to support it illicitly to fool ourselves that we don't really commodify the body). We ban the sales of organs, though most of the middle and upper classes oppose this ban and will purchase the organs they need in China or elsewhere.
I also support unfettered capitalism. I support the right to sell any part of my body and patent any gene sequence or protein, prion, bacteria, etc. that is unique to me.
But the intersection of unfettered capitalism and growing commodification of the body, are likely to produce a very ugly period in World History. The poor, often from the poorest nations, will increasingly sell their organs. In a moderate-sized population this could result in the need for many new caretakers for all of the new post-operative complications that will pop up. The poor won't be able to pay for these health care procedures, and the rich, safe continents away won't care.
It's going to get ugly before it gets better,
The Slope Gets a Bit More Slippery
A British clinc recently obtained permission to screen embryos for a COSMETIC defect. Screening features to date have focused on congenital defects. Now this specific cosmetic defect can be screened for, and there likely soon will be other cosmetic defect screening tests.
Once we start doing this, there really is no bright line between cosmetic and athletic/eugenic screening tests. If you have have enough money, you'll be able to create the perfect embryo from the egg and sperm of you and your partner. Even if such procedures are banned here, China and other nations don't share "our" values a and will proceed with such research. Western doctors will look the other way when pregnant women begin showing up for pre-natal care they weren't aware of needing to perform in advance, much the way western doctors treat the side effects of liver transplants on Westerners who receive their new kidneys from Chinese prisoners etc.
It just seems like the the slope is getting steeper. While I may like where it's going, not everyone will. And our society really does not debate the cultural impact of these technologies in a sober, reflective manner.
And as I've mentioned before, once technology like this becomes widely available, those with the money and foresight to jump on it first, my succeed in permanently embedding a social strata alien to America's national DNA.
Once we start doing this, there really is no bright line between cosmetic and athletic/eugenic screening tests. If you have have enough money, you'll be able to create the perfect embryo from the egg and sperm of you and your partner. Even if such procedures are banned here, China and other nations don't share "our" values a and will proceed with such research. Western doctors will look the other way when pregnant women begin showing up for pre-natal care they weren't aware of needing to perform in advance, much the way western doctors treat the side effects of liver transplants on Westerners who receive their new kidneys from Chinese prisoners etc.
It just seems like the the slope is getting steeper. While I may like where it's going, not everyone will. And our society really does not debate the cultural impact of these technologies in a sober, reflective manner.
And as I've mentioned before, once technology like this becomes widely available, those with the money and foresight to jump on it first, my succeed in permanently embedding a social strata alien to America's national DNA.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
The Beginnings of Brain Implants & Artificial Intelligence. . .
BBC NEWS | Technology | Mouse brain simulated on computer
This is the first necessary, but not sufficient step towards the creation both of artificial intelligence, but also brain tissue-computer chip interfacing. This last presents the possibility of being able to "download" entire sections of world history, quantum mechanics, or learn a new language relatively effortlessly.
Of course Terminator predicted that AI would spontaneously generate and become a threat to humanity on August 29, 1997. We've made it 10 years past that deadline, and I'm not sure how to feel about the advent of AIs with complex reasoning skills. Its possible that their emergence will cement the current social strata and hinder vertical income movement.
From the BBC article:
Potentially scary stuff. How do our politics catch up with such potential social change? How will the current faux left-right structure be replace by a dominant, shared national ideology that could be effortlessly transmitted to anyone by virtue of a brain-computer automatic "update." How do such advances interact with advances in biotechnology and is there some type of possible synergy.
Looks like 20th Century Science Fiction may eventually become 21st Century science and consumer goods.
This is the first necessary, but not sufficient step towards the creation both of artificial intelligence, but also brain tissue-computer chip interfacing. This last presents the possibility of being able to "download" entire sections of world history, quantum mechanics, or learn a new language relatively effortlessly.
Of course Terminator predicted that AI would spontaneously generate and become a threat to humanity on August 29, 1997. We've made it 10 years past that deadline, and I'm not sure how to feel about the advent of AIs with complex reasoning skills. Its possible that their emergence will cement the current social strata and hinder vertical income movement.
From the BBC article:
US researchers have simulated half a virtual mouse brain on a supercomputer.
The scientists ran a "cortical simulator" that was as big and as complex as half of a mouse brain on the BlueGene L supercomputer.
In other smaller simulations the researchers say they have seen characteristics of thought patterns observed in real mouse brains.
Now the team is tuning the simulation to make it run faster and to make it more like a real mouse brain.
Potentially scary stuff. How do our politics catch up with such potential social change? How will the current faux left-right structure be replace by a dominant, shared national ideology that could be effortlessly transmitted to anyone by virtue of a brain-computer automatic "update." How do such advances interact with advances in biotechnology and is there some type of possible synergy.
Looks like 20th Century Science Fiction may eventually become 21st Century science and consumer goods.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Support the Innocence Project
The 200th person innocently sent to death prison was freed this week due to the work of the Innocence Project.
Jerry Miller was cleared because DNA testing proved he couldn’t have committed the crime for which he was accused. An Illinois judge this week exonerated 48, of all charges relating to a brutal 1981 rape after Chicago police tested Miller's DNA against DNA found at the crime scene. The test cleared Miller, who was paroled in 2006 after serving 25 years. As a result of this week’s order, Miller will no longer be required to register as a sex offender.
The work the Innocence Project does is essential in preserving public support for the Death Penalty. The more people freed BEFORE DNA exonerration, the fewer "martyr cases" to rally around by the left.
I am a staunch supporter of the Death Penatly, but it must be applied fairly and appropriately in each case. And I believe that positive DNA evidence should be mandatory in all Death Penalty convictions.
I also believe the Death Penatly should apply to all pre-meditated murders, all violent rapes, and all sexual crimes against children.
Jerry Miller was cleared because DNA testing proved he couldn’t have committed the crime for which he was accused. An Illinois judge this week exonerated 48, of all charges relating to a brutal 1981 rape after Chicago police tested Miller's DNA against DNA found at the crime scene. The test cleared Miller, who was paroled in 2006 after serving 25 years. As a result of this week’s order, Miller will no longer be required to register as a sex offender.
The work the Innocence Project does is essential in preserving public support for the Death Penalty. The more people freed BEFORE DNA exonerration, the fewer "martyr cases" to rally around by the left.
I am a staunch supporter of the Death Penatly, but it must be applied fairly and appropriately in each case. And I believe that positive DNA evidence should be mandatory in all Death Penalty convictions.
I also believe the Death Penatly should apply to all pre-meditated murders, all violent rapes, and all sexual crimes against children.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Why Republicans Should Like Obama (but not necessarily vote for him)
Barack Obama did well in the debates tonight. That's not why GOPers should like him. Republicans should like him because as a person he represents the type of world in which Republicans want to live (minus the patriarchal oppression of women). He is a true product of the meritocracy. He used his natural abilities to become part of what Thomas Jefferson referred to as the "Natural Aristocracy." He was elected the first African-American head of the Law Review through a competitive process and has been excelling ever since.
He also has spent a significant portion of his life working to improve local communities. While he may persue policy goals Republicans find anathema, he does so honorably and to achieve goals that republicans often share.
In short, he may not be a member of the GOP or support its platform, but his life story is exactly the story Republicans want for everyone. Onward and upward for everyone through competition and commitment to community.
He also has spent a significant portion of his life working to improve local communities. While he may persue policy goals Republicans find anathema, he does so honorably and to achieve goals that republicans often share.
In short, he may not be a member of the GOP or support its platform, but his life story is exactly the story Republicans want for everyone. Onward and upward for everyone through competition and commitment to community.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
DHS is officially the new FEMA . . .
. . . in the conspiracy community. Of course this may seem obvious 5 years after 9/11 and the resulting creation of DHS which, of course then became the new FEMA. It only took mainstream media culture (MMC) 5 years to officially catch up. (FEMA had played prominently in conspiracy culture for about 15 years prior to this).
I am of course referring to Jericho's revelation that the Department of Homeland Security is the party culpable for setting off the nukes and creating a new "emergency government."
I guess Rayelan and Theresa (and their associated communities) get it right sometimes.
I am of course referring to Jericho's revelation that the Department of Homeland Security is the party culpable for setting off the nukes and creating a new "emergency government."
I guess Rayelan and Theresa (and their associated communities) get it right sometimes.
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