CNN.com - Driving tip: Don't honk at the cops - Feb 24, 2006

CNN.com - Driving tip: Don't honk at the cops - Feb 24, 2006: "'The horn blowing is not the real problem here, it's that you were trying to correct the police and they didn't need correcting,' Judge Russell Bean said.

Palmer left traffic court saying he still believed officers were abusing their authority.

'I see this cop with his blue lights come screeching up beside me and I didn't know what was going on,' Palmer said. 'Before they got to the next light, I could see they turned their blue lights off.'"

I see this all the time and I hate it too. It really drives me crazy that the police have this do as I say, not as I do attitude toward their jobs. It often strikes me as totally hypocritical. Not only that, but police are also made out to be more trustworthy than other citizens . . . which is bullshit too.

I'm not saying that cops don't do anything and that they're all liars. I'm just saying that this "do as I say not as I do" attitude is too prevalent for my liking.

There's That Pesky Pattern Again

White House says Bush did not know about ports deal - Americas - International Herald Tribune: "'He became aware of it over the last several days,' McClellan said. Asked if Bush did not know about it until it was a done deal, McClellan said, 'That's correct.'"

This GWB is not in control, folks. He doesn't have any idea what's really going on. It's just like every liberal was saying: the man is an out of touch fool.

As to be expected, really . . .

Shrine Attack Brings Reprisals and Fear - Yahoo! News: "A large explosion Wednesday heavily damaged the golden dome of one of Iraq's most famous Shiite shrines, sending protesters into the streets and triggering reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques. It was the third major attack against Shiite targets in as many days.

Shiite leaders called for calm, but militants attacked Sunni mosques and a gunfight broke out between Shiite militiamen and guards at a Sunni political party in Basra. Army Capt. Jassim al-Wahash said about 500 soldiers were sent to Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad to prevent clashes between Shiites and Sunnis."

And republicans say that there isn't any civil war. This is fucking ridiculous. When can we acknoledge reality: that this is not going well.

Metaphor for America

Which Cut Is Older? (It's a Trick Question) - New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration approved use of the process in 2004. The Washington Post reported in its Monday editions that Kalsec, a Michigan producer of a natural food extract that helps slow the discoloring of the meat but does not 'fix' it in the same way as carbon monoxide, had petitioned the agency to reverse that decision.

The Consumer Federation of America and the advocacy group Safe Tables Our Priority have written a letter to the agency in support of the petition because, they say, the bright red color could mask spoilage and dangerous bacteria in older meat or meat that has not been kept at the proper temperature."

This is really what America is like: appearances are more important than reality.

Religion: Good For Nothing (or, alternatively, "Love Thy Neighbor")

Anti-Muslim Riot in Nigeria Turns Deadly - Yahoo! News: "Christian mobs rampaged through a southern Nigerian city Tuesday, burning mosques and killing several people in an outbreak of anti-Muslim violence that followed deadly protests against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad over the weekend."

So Retarded . . . Couldn't All This Be Predicted

Iraq angrily rejects US sectarian warning - Yahoo! News: "Iraq's Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari angrily dismissed on Tuesday U.S. warnings to shun sectarianism in the country's new government, saying Iraqis would not accept interference in their affairs."

The US is like a fucking bull in a china shop when it comes to foriegn policy. It's like we fucking dare people to do the wrong thing. No finesse at all. This administration is truly proving itself to be the worst ever. It just astounds me that they have any support at all. Their policies are failed, their thoughts are failed, their practicies have practically all failed, and their lies are shining through for all to see.

Thank you almighty luck for bringing the RNC GWB and his admin to invite the destruction of corrupt Republican party politics.

Noticing A Pattern Of Corruption Yet?

Three More Lawmakers Linked to Abramoff - Yahoo! News:

"Two of the elected officials referred to in Friday's filings have been identified in published reports as Reps. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, and Don Young, R-Alaska. According to Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, the two representatives wrote to the GSA in September 2002, urging the agency to give preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development proposals for the Old Post Office.

[...]

Friday's filings by prosecutors refer to a third member of Congress, Rep. Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va. Her name appears in e-mails that suggest she was trying to help Abramoff secure a GSA lease for land in Silver Spring for a religious school."

I'll give you a hint, it's the Republican Party who is totally corrupted with monied in interests. Oh, and they don't give a shit about you, or your needs. That's why you elected them, right? Because they said that they'd get rid of abortion . . . because that's more valuable than being truthful, or pretty much anything else. I HATE SINGLE ISSUE VOTERS.

Stop Consuming American Fat Asses

BREITBART.COM - Bottled water, a natural resource taxing the world's ecosystem:
"Bottled water consumption, which has more than doubled globally in the last six years, is a natural resource that is heavily taxing the world's ecosystem, according to a new US study.

'Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing, producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy,' according to Emily Arnold, author of the study published by the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington-based environmental group."

We even consume when there's no reason to consume -- New York has some of the best water in the world and people still drink bottled water. This has got to stop. We, as a people, have to stop fucking up the world we live in. We have to stop living in a religious fantasy land and DEAL WITH THINGS AS THEY ARE.

Oh Your God.

Church offers $1000 to prove Earth revolves around the Sun:
"CAI [Catholic Apolgetics International] will write a check for $1,000 to the first person who can prove that the earth revolves around the sun. (If you lose, then we ask that you make a donation to the apostolate of CAI)."

This getting ridiculous. If only I had a single book that contained "truth" because I said it did. Then I'd be infallible in the eyes of willfully gullible fools. Everyone critisizes Germans for their Pflicht, but it actually exists everywhere in the form of religion; people accepting that there is some invisible force that controls everything which is complete nonsense, prima facie.

So, in response, I offer the $1000 prove God exists challenge. If you can prove that God exists empirically (and I'm the sole judge in this contest), I'll donate $1000 to the charity of your choice (religious or not) in your name or anonymously and I'll convert to whatever religion you'd like, too. How about that?

That said, if you lose, it's okay because you actually win (in a sense): you're freed from the shackles of an oppresive nonsensical belief in the supernatural.

Please send entries to m00dc0ntr0l at yahoo.com. One per person. If found to send more than one, you will be disqualified. Repeat submissions count as more than one. Clarifications of previous ideas (deemed necessary) count as a second submission and thus will result in disqualification. Arguments submitted by proxy will also be disqualified on the grounds of violating the spirit of the competition (no pun intended).

I'm totally serious about this, so (as GWB says) bring 'em on.

Can You See the Pattern of Behavior?

L.A. Mayor Blindsided by Bush Announcement - Yahoo! News: "Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he was blindsided by President Bush's announcement of new details on a purported 2002 hijacking plot aimed at a downtown skyscraper, and described communication with the White House as 'nonexistent.'

'I'm amazed that the president would make this (announcement) on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels,' the mayor told The Associated Press. 'I don't expect a call from the president — but somebody.'"

This is a pattern in the Bush Administration. I think this might be a wag the dog moment, don't you?

Cause They're All Liars!

The Scientific Activist: Reporting from the Crossroads of Science and Politics: NASA Science Censor Resigns: "It’s official. George Deutsch, the Bush appointee and science censor at NASA who lied about graduating from Texas A&M University, has resigned thanks to the efforts of a little website that some of you may have heard of. Andrew Revkin of The New York Times reports:"

Honestly, I don't know how any republican can deny this any longer: the republican party has a serious problem with lying. It's completely pathological. It's not like Jayson Blair who was an ambitious lying reporter or others. This is a conspiracy to take control of government and enforce detrimental policies on the people of this country by hook or by crook. Likely just crook.

They make Henry Rollins song, "Liar" seem like a campaign slogan.

Why Is the US Goverment's Policy So Fucking Asinine and Short Sighted?

US may press Africa on GMOs - Yahoo! News: "The U.S. may push Africa to accept gene-altered (GMO) food now that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled the EU broke rules by barring GMO foods and seeds, but Africans vowed on Wednesday to resist.

'We do not want GM (genetically modified) foods and our hope is that all of us can continue to produce non-GM foods,' Zambian Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana told Reuters in Lusaka."

Look, it's pretty clear that people don't want GMOs . . . and those that do are the people who make and use them. Frankenfood is frightening to people. While everyone in the religious right is worried about the 100K abortions that happen each year or the possibility that gay people may actually be happy, the manipulation of life is happening right under their noses in a way that will actually effect them . . . through their fat fucking gullets.

I'm Torn . . .

States Eye Picketing at Soldiers' Funerals - Yahoo! News: "During the 1990s, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., went around picketing the funerals of
AIDS victims with protest signs that read, 'God Hates Fags.' But politicians began paying more attention recently when church members started showing up at the burials of soldiers and Marines killed in
Afghanistan and
Iraq.

Legislation is being considered in at least 14 states, and several of the bills moving quickly, with backing from legislative leaders and governors.

If they pass, the bills could set up a clash between privacy and free speech rights, and court challenges are almost certain.

'We're not proposing to silence the speech of the Westboro Baptist Church, as offensive as most of us find that,' said Kansas Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, a Republican. Instead, he said, he is trying to achieve a balance that respects 'the rights of families to bury their dead in peace.'"

On the one hand, I have sympathy for the families, but then on the other, I have to say that this is just another case of people saying that they don't want to hear things that make them feel bad. Boo-hoo. Learn to live with people who are different from you -- people who are assholes.

I can't say that I agree at all with the messages of these people or the practice, but this idea of legislating free speech to what is 'appropriate' and 'inappropriate' is bullshit: who gets to judge? Do liberals get to judge when they're in power? Then do conservatives get to judge when they're in power? Then do crazy islamofacists get to judge when they're in power?

The belief in free speech is the belief in support the rights of those whose speech you like least. Anything less is censorship.

Well, That Depends On What The Definition Of "is" Is

KR Washington Bureau | 02/01/2006 | Administration backs off Bush's vow to reduce Mideast oil imports: "One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally."

Ain't That the Truth -- Now for the rest of the House and Senate

Rep. Boehner Elected House Majority Leader - Yahoo! News: "After the vote, Rep. Jeff Flake (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., called Boehner 'a fresh face.'

'It wouldn't be credible for the same leaders to be advocating change,' Flake said, adding he hoped Blunt would stay on as whip, third-ranking in the leadership."

If There Was Anything You Could Get Me To Say Amen To . . .

Newspapers Republish Muhammad Caricatures - Yahoo! News: "The front page of the daily France Soir carried the headline 'Yes, We Have the Right to Caricature God' along with a cartoon of Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Christian gods floating on a cloud. Inside, the paper reran the drawings.

'The appearance of the 12 drawings in the Danish press provoked emotions in the Muslim world because the representation of Allah and his prophet is forbidden. But because no religious dogma can impose itself on a democratic and secular society, France Soir is publishing the incriminating caricatures,' the paper said.

Germany's Die Welt daily printed one of the drawings on its front page, arguing that a 'right to blasphemy' was anchored in democratic freedoms. The Berliner Zeitung daily also printed two of the caricatures as part of its coverage of the controversy."

Terrifically Ironic

Israeli Troops, Jewish Settlers Clash - Yahoo! News: "'They are treating people here like Arabs,' said legislator Arieh Eldad in a telephone interview from the scene with
Israel Radio. Eldad said he suffered a broken arm."

Jeez, now perhaps you could begin to understand why Arabs might be a little angry too.

Notice: This does not justify any behavior, but it goes a long way towards explaining it.