i’d just like to say that as a news source, there’s nothing that even comes close to The Register. yeah, i know that it’s a geek thing, and a british geek thing at that, but there are a lot of other things they offer that don’t have anything to do with technology and are still a lot more on top of what’s actually going on in the world than anything amerikkka has to offer… and their attitude is priceless.

i was browsing along when i came across Intelligent design ‘not science’, says Vatican astronomer, which is almost exactly how i feel about the whole thing, and from there i linked to University of California sued by monkey haters, which is also pretty much exactly how i would respond to such stupid behaviour, and from there i linked to Misconceptions about Evolution, which i actully bookmarked in my “against stupidism” section, specifically to use against the next creationist i come across…

in other news,

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Fairies stop developers’ bulldozers in their tracks

By Will Pavia and Chris Windle

VILLAGERS who protested that a new housing estate would “harm the fairies” living in their midst have forced a property company to scrap its building plans and start again.

Marcus Salter, head of Genesis Properties, estimates that the small colony of fairies believed to live beneath a rock in St Fillans, Perthshire, has cost him £15,000. His first notice of the residential sensibilities of the netherworld came as his diggers moved on to a site on the outskirts of the village, which crowns the easterly shore of Loch Earn.

He said: “A neighbour came over shouting, ‘Don’t move that rock. You’ll kill the fairies’.” The rock protruded from the centre of a gently shelving field, edged by the steep slopes of Dundurn mountain, where in the sixth century the Celtic missionary St Fillan set up camp and attempted to convert the Picts from the pagan darkness of superstition.

“Then we got a series of phone calls, saying we were disturbing the fairies. I thought they were joking. It didn’t go down very well,” Mr Salter said.

In fact, even as his firm attempted to work around the rock, they received complaints that the fairies would be “upset”. Mr Salter still believed he was dealing with a vocal minority, but the gears of Perthshire’s planning process were about to be clogged by something that looked suspiciously like fairy dust.

“I went to a meeting of the community council and the concerns cropped up there,” he said. The council was considering lodging a complaint with the planning authority, likely to be the kiss of death for a housing development in a national park. Jeannie Fox, council chairman, said: “I do believe in fairies but I can’t be sure that they live under that rock. I had been told that the rock had historic importance, that kings were crowned upon it.” Her main objection to moving the rock was based on the fact that it had stood on the hillside for so long: a sort of MacFeng Shui that many in the village subscribe to.

“There are a lot of superstitions going about up here and people do believe that things like standing stones and large rocks should never be moved,” she said.

Half a mile into Loch Earn is Neish Island. From there the Neish clan set forth to plunder the surrounding country, retreating each time to their island. Early in the 17th century, the MacNabs retaliated from the next valley, carrying a boat over the mountains, storming the island and slaughtering most of the Neishes.

This summer Betty Neish McInnes, the last of that line in St Fillans, went to her grave — but not before she had imparted the ancient Pict significance of the rock to many of her neighbours.

“A lot of people think the rock had some Pictish meaning,” Mrs Fox said. “It would be extremely unlucky to move it.”

Mr Salter did not just want to move the rock. He wanted to dig it up, cart it to the roadside and brand it with the name of his new neighbourhood.

The Planning Inspectorate has no specific guidelines on fairies but a spokesman said: “Planning guidance states that local customs and beliefs must be taken into account when a developer applies for planning permission.” Mr Salter said: “We had to redesign the entire thing from scratch.”

The new estate will now centre on a small park, in the middle of which stands a curious rock. Work begins next month, if the fairies allow.

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finally, there’s pictures of their levees and our levees, which would be amusing if it weren’t so shocking.

i just won this!

i moved up to a 2-gauge and very quickly discovered that i could probably move up to a 0-gauge within a couple of days, as my 4-gauge hole is stretchy enough that 2-gauge makes practically no difference. i’m probably going to get a 0-gauge plug pretty soon, but not this week.

i got 20 rudraksha malas in the mail today, along with some other items that are going, as “christmas” gifts, to various people, some of whom might actually be reading this, so i won’t say anything more than that.

here is a link to a story about someone whose radical political and queer bumper stickers raised the ire of "christian" vandals to the point where they were destructive enough that the radical political queer’s insurance rates have gone up for the second time this year. the whole idea of "christian" vandalism is enough of an oxymoron that i’m having some difficulty wrapping my admittedly damaged brain around the concept, but that’s beside the point. the police were right up front about the fact that they probably aren’t going to figure out who did this. if they were "christian" bumper stickers which were vandalised by radical, political, queer vandals, i’m positive that the police would be a lot more willing to figure it out. after all, "christians" are fairly difficult to discern, because they are so common, but queer, radical, political vandals are uncommon enough that they stick out and can be picked out of a crowd fairly easily… 8/

reminder that you can ask przxqgl anything… anything at all. i’ll probably even answer…

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Iraqi Leaders Call for Pullout Timetable

By SALAH NASRAWI
The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 22, 2005; 12:06 PM

CAIRO, Egypt — Iraqi leaders at a reconciliation conference reached out to the Sunni Arab community by calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces and saying the country’s opposition had a “legitimate right” of resistance.

A day after the communique was finalized by Iraqi Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders, Washington reiterated Tuesday that the United States would stay only as long as it takes to stabilize Iraq.

The communique condemned terrorism but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if they don’t target innocent civilians or institutions that provide for the welfare of Iraqis.

The leaders agreed on “calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces … control the borders and the security situation” and end terror attacks.

The preparatory reconciliation conference, held under the auspices of the Arab League, was attended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers as well as leading Sunni politicians.

Sunni leaders have been pressing the Shiite-majority government to agree to a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops. The statement recognized that goal, but did not lay down a specific time _ reflecting instead the government’s stance that Iraqi security forces must be built up first.

On Monday, Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr suggested U.S.-led forces should be able to leave Iraq by the end of next year, saying the one-year extension of the mandate for the multinational force in Iraq by the U.N. Security Council this month could be the last.

“By the middle of next year we will be 75 percent done in building our forces and by the end of next year it will be fully ready,” he told the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera.

On Tuesday, the State Department “the United States supports the ongoing transitional political process in Iraq, and encourages participation by all Iraqis in the political process.”

“President Bush has made our position very clear,” department spokeswoman Julie Reside said. “The coalition remains committed to helping the Iraqi people achieve stability and security as they rebuild their country. We will stay as long as it takes to achieve those goals and no longer.”

Debate in Washington over when to bring troops home turned bitter last week after decorated Vietnam War vet Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., called for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and estimated a pullout could be complete within six months. Republicans rejected Murtha’s position.

In Egypt, the final communique’s attempt to define terrorism omitted any reference to attacks against U.S. or Iraqi forces. Delegates from across the political and religious spectrum said the omission was intentional. They spoke anonymously, saying they feared retribution.

“Though resistance is a legitimate right for all people, terrorism does not represent resistance. Therefore, we condemn terrorism and acts of violence, killing and kidnapping targeting Iraqi citizens and humanitarian, civil, government institutions, national resources and houses of worships,” the document said.

The final communique also stressed participants’ commitment to Iraq’s unity and called for the release of all “innocent detainees” who have not been convicted. It asked that allegations of torture against prisoners be investigated and those responsible be held accountable.

The statement also demanded “an immediate end to arbitrary raids and arrests without a documented judicial order.”

The communique included no means for implementing its provisions, leaving it unclear what it will mean in reality other than to stand as a symbol of a first step toward bringing the feuding parties together in an agreement in principle.

“We are committed to this statement as far as it is in the best interests of the Iraqi people,” said Harith al-Dhari, leader of the powerful Association of Muslim Scholars, a hard-line Sunni group. He said he had reservations about the document as a whole, and delegates said he had again expressed strong opposition to the concept of federalism enshrined in Iraq’s new constitution.

The gathering was part of a U.S.-backed league attempt to bring the communities closer together and assure Sunni Arab participation in a political process now dominated by Iraq’s Shiite majority and large Kurdish minority.

The conference also decided on broad conditions for selecting delegates to a wider reconciliation gathering in the last week of February or the first week of March in Iraq. It essentially opens the way for all those who are willing to renounce violence against fellow Iraqis.

Shiites had been strongly opposed to participation in the conference by Sunni Arab officials from the regime of Saddam Hussein or from pro-insurgency groups. That objection seemed to have been glossed over in the communique.

The Cairo meeting was marred by differences between participants at times, and at one point Shiite and Kurdish delegates stormed out of a closed session when one of the speakers said they had sold out to the Americans.

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Nepal Boy Called Reincarnation of Buddha

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
Associated Press Writer

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A teenage boy has been meditating in a Nepalese jungle for six months, and thousands have flocked to see him, with some believing he is the reincarnation of Buddha, police and media said Wednesday.

Ram Bahadur Banjan, 15, sits cross-legged and motionless with eyes closed among the roots of a tree in the jungle of Bara, about 100 miles south of the capital, Katmandu.

He’s supposedly been that way since May 17 – but his followers have been keeping him from public view at night.

A reporter for the Kantipur newspaper, Sujit Mahat, said he spent two days at the site, and that about 10,000 people are believed to visit daily.

Soldiers have been posted in the area for crowd control, officials said.

A makeshift parking lot and cluster of food stalls have sprung up near Banjan’s retreat, an area not previously frequented by visitors.

Many visitors believe Banjan is a reincarnation of Gautama Siddhartha, who was born not far away in southwestern Nepal around 500 B.C. and later became revered as the Buddha, which means Enlightened One.

Others aren’t so sure.

Police inspector Chitra Bahadur Gurung said officers have interviewed the boy’s associates about their claim that Banjan has gone six months without food or drink.

Officers have not directly questioned the boy, who appears deep in meditation and doesn’t speak.

“We have a team … investigating the claim on how anyone can survive for so long without food and water,” Gurung said.

Local officials have also asked the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology in Katmandu to send scientists to examine Banjan.

Mahat said visitors can catch a glimpse of Banjan from a roped-off area about 80 feet away from him between dawn and dusk.

Followers then place a screen in front of him, blocking the view and making it impossible to know what he is doing at night, Mahat said.

“We could not say what happens after dark,” Mahat said. “People only saw what went on in the day, and many believed he was some kind of god.”

Buddhism teaches that right thinking and self-control can enable people to achieve nirvana – a divine state of peace and release from desire. Buddhism has about 325 million followers, mostly in Asia.

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Former Canadian Minister Of Defence Asks Canadian Parliament Asked To Hold Hearings On Relations With Alien “Et” Civilizations

Thu Nov 24, 7:00 AM ET

OTTAWA, CANADA (PRWEB) November 24, 2005 — A former Canadian Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics — relations with “ETs.”

By “ETs,” Mr. Hellyer and these organizations mean ethical, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that may now be visiting Earth.

On September 25, 2005, in a startling speech at the University of Toronto that caught the attention of mainstream newspapers and magazines, Paul Hellyer, Canada’s Defence Minister from 1963-67 under Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prime Minister Lester Pearson, publicly stated: “UFOs, are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head.”

Mr. Hellyer went on to say, “I’m so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something.”

Hellyer revealed, “The secrecy involved in all matters pertaining to the Roswell incident was unparalled. The classification was, from the outset, above top secret, so the vast majority of U.S. officials and politicians, let alone a mere allied minister of defence, were never in-the-loop.”

Hellyer warned, “The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, “The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide.”

Hellyer’s speech ended with a standing ovation. He said, “The time has come to lift the veil of secrecy, and let the truth emerge, so there can be a real and informed debate, about one of the most important problems facing our planet today.”

Three Non-governmental organizations took Hellyer’s words to heart, and approached Canada’s Parliament in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, to hold public hearings on a possible ET presence, and what Canada should do. The Canadian Senate, which is an appointed body, has held objective, well-regarded hearings and issued reports on controversial issues such as same-sex marriage and medical marijuana,

On October 20, 2005, the Institute for Cooperation in Space requested Canadian Senator Colin Kenny, Senator, Chair of The Senate Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, “schedule public hearings on the Canadian Exopolitics Initiative, so that witnesses such as the Hon. Paul Hellyer, and Canadian-connected high level military-intelligence, NORAD-connected, scientific, and governmental witnesses facilitated by the Disclosure Project and by the Toronto Exopolitics Symposium can present compelling evidence, testimony, and Public Policy recommendations.”

The Non-governmental organizations seeking Parliament hearings include Canada-based Toronto Exopolitics Symposium, which organized the University of Toronto Symposium at which Mr. Hellyer spoke.

The Disclosure Project, a U.S.-based organization that has assembled high level military-intelligence witnesses of a possible ET presence, is also one of the organizations seeking Canadian Parliament hearings.

Vancouver-based Institute for Cooperation in Space (ICIS), whose International Director headed a proposed 1977 Extraterrestrial Communication Study for the White House of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who himself has publicly reported a 1969 Close Encounter of the First Kind with a UFO, filed the original request for Canadian Parliament hearings.

The Canadian Exopolitics Initiative, presented by the organizations to a Senate Committee panel hearing in Winnipeg, Canada, on March 10, 2005, proposes that the Government of Canada undertake a Decade of Contact.

The proposed Decade of Contact is “a 10-year process of formal, funded public education, scientific research, educational curricula development and implementation, strategic planning, community activity, and public outreach concerning our terrestrial society’s full cultural, political, social, legal, and governmental communication and public interest diplomacy with advanced, ethical Off-Planet cultures now visiting Earth.”

Canada has a long history of opposing the basing of weapons in Outer Space. On September 22, 2004 Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin declared to the U.N. General Assembly, “Space is our final frontier. It has always captured our imagination. What a tragedy it would be if space became one big weapons arsenal and the scene of a new arms race.

Martin stated, “In 1967, the United Nations agreed that weapons of mass destruction must not be based in space. The time has come to extend this ban to all weapons…”

In May, 2003, speaking before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Lloyd Axworthy, stated “Washington’s offer to Canada is not an invitation to join America under a protective shield, but it presents a global security doctrine that violates Canadian values on many levels.”

Axworthy concluded, “There should be an uncompromising commitment to preventing the placement of weapons in space.”

On February 24, 2005, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin made official Canada’s decision not to take part in the U.S government’s Ballistic Missile Defence program.

Paul Hellyer, who now seeks Canadian Parliament hearings on relations with ETs, on May 15, 2003, stated in Toronto’s Globe & Mail newspaper, “Canada should accept the long-standing invitation of U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio to launch a conference to seek approval of an international treaty to ban weapons in space. That would be a positive Canadian contribution toward a more peaceful world.”

In early November 2005, the Canadian Senate wrote ICIS, indicating the Senate Committee could not hold hearings on ETs in 2005, because of their already crowded schedule.

“That does not deter us,” one spokesperson for the Non-governmental organizations said, “We are going ahead with our request to Prime Minister Paul Martin and the official opposition leaders in the House of Commons now, and we will re-apply with the Senate of Canada in early 2006.

“Time is on the side of open disclosure that there are ethical Extraterrestrial civilizations visiting Earth,” The spokesperson stated. “Our Canadian government needs to openly address these important issues of the possible deployment of weapons in outer war plans against ethical ET societies.”

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the following was posted at Weekly World News dot com, so take it with a few grains of salt and a tongue in your cheek…

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MINISTER TOUTS ‘JESUS CONDOMS’ TO END TEENAGE SEX

Controversial preacher says teenagers will stop having illicit sex no matter how strong the temptation if parents will make sure they never leave home without one of his trademarked “What Would Jesus Do?” condoms stashed away in their purse or wallet.

“WWJD condoms are a divinely inspired idea and they work like a charm,” says the Rev. Dr. Paul Morehead, whose short-wave radio broadcast from Montgomery, Ala., reaches an estimated 16 million listeners worldwide.

“Don’t tell me about hormones. Don’t talk to me about unbridled appetites of the flesh.

“When a young man and a young woman give in to Satan, when they strip down like animals in the wild and prepare themselves for a lusty round of heavy petting and full-blown sex, what better reminder for them to buck up than a WWJD condom with the image of our Lord and Savior right there on the package, and then, as a fail safe measure, also on the prophylactic itself?

“I’ve tested them with my own teenagers and hardly a weekend passes when one of them doesn’t come back home with a WWJD condom completely unrolled and dangling unused from his or her fingertips or pushed up under the seat of the car as a badge of honor.

“At the very moment their temptation was strongest, they turned back from sin after seeing the boldly-lettered WWJD logo that signifies, ‘Stop! Think! What would Jesus do in this situation?’ ”

Flabbergasted critics couldn’t disagree more.

They say putting Jesus Christ on condoms isn’t just tacky, it’s a sacrilege — and they openly wonder if preacher Morehead hasn’t lost his mind.

“If you give a child a condom, you’re pretty much telling him that sex is O.K. as long as you use protection,” fumes Marcia Kenderly, a born-again Christian with four daughters ranging in age from 13 to 18.

“Rev. Morehead says his own children show him their WWJD condoms as proof that even though they came close to having sex, they didn’t.

“But how can he be sure that instead of having sex with the condom, they didn’t have sex without it? I’m a married adult and I wouldn’t let my husband use one of those things.

“I feel like I’m committing a sin just thinking about it.”

Naysayers aside, Morehead has arranged for a manufacturer to produce 100,000 of the WWJD prophylactics that he plans to sell for $5 a pop over the Internet and through Christian bookstores nationwide.

“All the profits will go to a home I’m building for unwed mothers,” says the preacher. “A home that wouldn’t be needed if those girls had been carrying a WWJD condom.”

Published on: 02/22/2005

I AM NOT INTERESTED IN:

philately
replica watches
web site design
extramarital sex
debt elimination
making “easy money”
how to cheat casinos
bogus university degrees
refinancing my mortgage
stocks, bonds and equities
penis or breast enlargement
cheap, probably bogus software
advertising using an “opt in” list
advance fee, 419 or lottery scams
collection of delinquent court judgements
anything with a subject line resembling “??”
viagra, cialis, or any other erection medications
“hoodia”, or other weight-control or diet suppliments
medications for which one normally needs a prescription, but with no prescription

ANY BUSINESS OR SERVICE THAT ADVERTISES USING UNSOLICITED EMAIL!!!

I HATE SPAM!

I HATE SPAMMERS!

i don’t know WHO is encouraging these people, but i wish they would STOP!!
ALL SPAMMERS MUST DIE!!

moe & pets

also, thanks to , we have a thanksgiving prayer by william s. burroughs

Report: Bush Talked of Bombing Al-Jazeera

By ROBERT BARR

LONDON – A civil servant has been charged under Britain’s Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking a government memo that a newspaper said Tuesday suggested that Prime Minister Tony Blair persuaded President Bush not to bomb the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera.

The Daily Mirror reported that Bush spoke of targeting Al-Jazeera’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar, when he met Blair at the White House on April 16, 2004. The Bush administration has regularly accused Al-Jazeera of being nothing more than a mouthpiece for anti-American sentiments.

The Daily Mirror attributed its information to unidentified sources. One source, said to be in the government, was quoted as saying that the alleged threat was “humorous, not serious,” but the newspaper quoted another source as saying that “Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair.”

Blair’s office declined to comment on the report, stressing it never discusses leaked documents.

In Qatar, Al-Jazeera said it was aware of the report, but did not wish to comment.

The White House said it wouldn’t dignify what it called “something so outlandish” with a response.

The document was described as a transcript of a conversation between the two leaders.

Cabinet Office civil servant David Keogh is accused of passing it to Leo O’Connor, who formerly worked for former British lawmaker Tony Clarke. Both Keogh and O’Connor are scheduled to appear at London’s Bow Street Magistrates Court next week.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Keogh was charged with an offense under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act relating to “a damaging disclosure” by a servant of the Crown of information relating to international relations or information obtained from a state other than the United Kingdom.

O’Connor was charged under Section 5, which relates to receiving and disclosing illegally disclosed information.

According to the newspaper, Clarke returned the memo to Blair’s office. Clarke did not respond to calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Press Association, the British news agency, said Clarke refused to discuss the contents of the document. PA quoted Clarke as saying his priority was to support O’Connor who did “exactly the right thing” in bringing it to his attention.

Peter Kilfoyle, a former defense minister in Blair’s government, called for the document to be made public.

“I think they ought to clarify what exactly happened on this occasion,” he said. “If it was the case that President Bush wanted to bomb Al-Jazeera in what is after all a friendly country, it speaks volumes and it raises questions about subsequent attacks that took place on the press that wasn’t embedded with coalition forces,” the newspaper quoted Kilfoyle as saying.

Sir Menzies Campbell, foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democrats, said Tuesday that, if true, the memo was worrying.

“If true, then this underlines the desperation of the Bush administration as events in
Iraq began to spiral out of control,” he said. “On this occasion, the prime minister may have been successful in averting political disaster, but it shows how dangerous his relationship with President Bush has been.”

Al-Jazeera offices in Iraq and Afghanistan have been hit by U.S. bombs or missiles, but each time the U.S. military said they were not intentionally targeting the broadcaster.

In April 2003, an Al-Jazeera journalist was killed when its Baghdad office was struck during a U.S. bombing campaign. Nabil Khoury, a State Department spokesman in Doha, said the strike was a mistake.

In November 2002, Al-Jazeera’s office in Kabul, Afghanistan, was destroyed by a U.S. missile. None of the crew was at the office at the time. U.S. officials said they believed the target was a terrorist site and did not know it was Al-Jazeera’s office.

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so, are we at war with qatar now, or does bushy junior get to bomb whomever he pleases, for whatever reason he wishes, without having to run it by his consitiuents first? 8/

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Poll: Bush approval mark at all-time low

Monday, November 14, 2005

Beset with an unpopular war and an American public increasingly less trusting, President Bush faces the lowest approval rating of his presidency, according to a national poll released Monday.

Bush also received his all-time worst marks in three other categories in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. The categories were terrorism, Bush’s trustworthiness and whether the Iraq war was worthwhile.

Bush’s 37 percent overall approval rating was two percentage points below his ranking in an October survey. Both polls had a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Sixty percent of the 1,006 adult Americans interviewed by telephone Friday through Sunday said they disapprove of how Bush is handling his job as president.

The White House has said it doesn’t pay attention to poll numbers and the figures do not affect policy.

“We have a proud record of accomplishment and a positive agenda for the future,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters Wednesday.

“We look forward to continuing to talk about it. I mean, you can get caught up in polls; we don’t. Polls are snapshots in time.”

Bush, who received high marks after the terrorist attacks of 2001, also rated poorly in the new poll for his policy on terrorism. For the first time, less than half — 48 percent — of those surveyed said they approved of how the president was handling the war on terror. Forty-nine percent said they disapprove.

In November 2001, Bush had an 87 percent overall approval mark and an 86 percent rating on terrorism.

Bush has been under fire from Democratic lawmakers for the way his administration made the case to invade Iraq in 2003 and how it has handled the conflict since then.

The president fired back in a speech Monday, accusing Democrats of “playing politics.”

In the new poll, 60 percent said it was not worth going to war in Iraq, while 38 percent said it was worthwhile. The question was asked of about half of those surveyed and had a margin of error of five percentage points. The results marked a decline in support of seven percentage points from two months earlier.

Bush’s lowest approval ratings came on two issues that divide his own Republican Party.

On federal spending, 71 percent disapproved of his performance and 26 percent approved. The approval rating was the same on immigration issues, and the disapproval mark was 65 percent.

Sixty-one percent of respondents disapproved of Bush’s handling of the economy, and 37 percent approved.

The country appears to be split on whether Bush is a strong president and whether or not Americans personally like him.

When asked about his abilities, 49 percent of those surveyed said he was a strong president and 49 percent said he was a weak leader.

About 50 percent of people polled said they disliked Bush, with 6 percent claiming to hate the president.

Bush’s overall approval mark matched the 37 percent rating of newly elected President Clinton in June 1993.

When asked if they trust Bush more than they had Clinton, 48 percent of respondents said they trusted Bush less, while 36 percent said they trusted him more and 15 percent said they trusted Bush the same as Clinton.

For the first time, more than half of the public thinks Bush is not honest and trustworthy — 52 percent to 46 percent.

A week ago, President Bush campaigned for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore, who lost the election a day later to Democratic Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine. (Full story)

In the poll, 56 percent of registered voters said they would be likely to vote against a local candidate supported by Bush, while 34 percent said the opposite.

Only 9 percent said their first choice in next year’s elections would be a Republican who supports Bush on almost every major issue.

Forty-six percent said the country would be better off if Congress were controlled by Democrats, while 34 percent backed a GOP majority.

A large majority of Republicans — 80 percent — approve of Bush’s performance, compared with 28 percent of independents and 7 percent of Democrats. Those results had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Vice President Dick Cheney’s approval rating has dropped 14 points since the start of the year, down from 54 percent in January to 40 percent.

His chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, resigned last month after he was indicted on charges including obstruction of justice and perjury. Libby is accused of lying to investigators and a grand jury investigating the disclosure of the identity of a CIA officer whose husband criticized the White House case for war.

i want to express my utter shock and outrage at the news that sony, which has laid some pretty big eggs in the past, is at it once again… apparently they included some surreptitious rootkit software in their audio CDs recently, which shows jaw-dropping contempt for their customers, for copyright law (such as it is), for fair trading and for the public interest… they lied about doing it (a sony executive said, in an interview broadcast on National Public Radio that “users don’t know what a rootkit is, and therefore, don’t care”…), lied about which audio CDs were affected (it turns out 100% of their audio CD library is affected), and then released a “rootkit remover” that removes their own rootkit (sort of) – in spite of the fact that they originally claimed it wasn’t there at all – but also trashes your system – windows and mac! boing boing has all the sordid details, but the upshot of the whole thing, so far, is that businesses are starting to outlaw sony-BMG-produced audio CDs in the workplace, if you didn’t take the precaution already, it’s a good idea not to install software from any audio CD, and you’d better be buying your music from somewhere else…

spam.

ezra has a performance tomorrow at the broadway performance hall. he’s been selected as one of several artists to put on a show at On The Boards next june, for which he’s actually getting paid – paid to produce and direct a new piece of dance, as well as paid to perform it. he and i started out in the same way when we first went to college, but i think he’s got a better handle on how to turn his artwork into a paying job than i ever did. more power to him.

my second appointment with ned the PTSD counsellor was yesterday, but nothing happened except for the fact that i now have a “treatment schedule”. apart from that, i filled out the two forms that he forgot the last time, but had to be filled out by me before my first appointment with him. we talked about computers… 8/ he’s a mac fanatic who has to use a windoesn’t computer because that’s what everyone else uses… apparently he hasn’t heard that within the next year or so, he’ll be able to run the mac operating system on his intel platform. woo. that’s really specifically helpful with my current PTSD/depression. 8/

spam, spam.

moe called at 5:30 to say that she’s going to be home late… 9:30 or later… apparently they have to remove a rock from the innards of a 120 pound dog, who showed up a half-hour before they closed. i suppose that’s what she gets for working on mercer island, where the people have more money than brains, but will jump to get their dog surgery rather than paying attention to what they eat.

i found this article about whether cats are "christian" or not, but then i noticed that it was originally published by the watchtower society, so the emphasis is more on the "quotation marks" than they usually are with articles about “christians”…

spam, spam, spam, spam.

Cheney is vice president for torture
9.02AM, Fri Nov 18 2005

A former CIA director has claimed that torture is condoned and even approved by the Bush government.

The devastating accusations have been made by Admiral Stansfield Turner who labelled Dick Cheney “a vice president for torture”.

He said: “We have crossed the line into dangerous territory”.

The American Senate says torture should be banned – whatever the justification. But President Bush has threatened to veto their ruling.

The former spymaster claims President Bush is not telling the truth when he says that torture is not a method used by the US.

Speaking of Bush’s claims that the US does not use torture, Admiral Turner, who ran the CIA from 1977 to 1981, said: “I do not believe him”.

On Dick Cheney he said “I’m embarrassed the United States has a vice president for torture.

“He condones torture, what else is he?”.

Admiral Turner claims the secret CIA prisons used for torture are known as ‘black sites’, terror suspects are picked up in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

They are flown by CIA-controlled private aircraft to countries where there are secret interrogation centres, operating outside any country’s jurisdiction.

No one will confirm their locations, but there are several possibilities: The Mihail-Kogalniceanu military airbase in Romania is believed by many to be one such facility.

Admiral Turner’s remarks were echoed by Republican Senator John McCain, himself a victim of torture in Vietnam.

He said torturing to get information was immoral, was not effective and encouraged potential enemies to do the same to Americans.

Both Mr Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice have repeatedly stated that torture by US forces is not condoned.

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i suppose that’s a little bit of good news (in a strange way) for the canadian guy who was arrested in new york, after 9/11 and, with no word to ottawa that they were deporting a canadian citizen, was deported to syria, specifically for torture… 8/

Reply to this entry by posting a picture of yourself in the comments, then post this sentence in your own journal:

You do the Hokey-Kokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about

You put your whole self in,
You put your whole self out;
You put your whole self in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Kokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about

(in honour of simon, who teaches everyone that it’s "Hokey-Kokey")

after i decided to update, but before i even got to write anything, i was interrupted by spam. i wonder how many times that’s going to happen this evening?

i have a new avatar, which is also a piece of jewelry – approximately life size – which is currently in my ear, but not permanently… it’s only 4 gauge, and i’m shooting for 0 gauge, because there’s a plug at laughing buddha (micro$not and flash required to view) that i really want…

i got email from josh today about Drunk Puppet Night… apparently the venue that we’re used to, the Re-Bar, has been sold, and the new owners are art snobs and apparently don’t go for the kind of art we do, so DPN6 has been put off until late february or early march, and the new venue is in columbia city somewhere… i’ve heard of it, but i’ve never actually been there. and i still want to produce a frank-zappa-related puppet show, but probably not this year.

three more spams… 8/

also, i got email from simon about the upcoming moisture festival benefit, which will feature, among other things, the Fremont Players’ version of Babes In The Wood, and the Fremont Philharmonic. more details as they come in.

U.S. sends signal on value of television
$3 billion planned for viewers to buy digital converters

By William Neikirk
Tribune senior correspondent
Published November 12, 20051

WASHINGTON — While considering slashes in Medicaid and student loan programs, Congress is about to set aside up to $3 billion to help millions of Americans with old non-digital television sets buy converter boxes.

Each converter box is expected to cost the government $40 to $60, but supporters of the legislation don’t want to take any chances of being accused of denying Americans their right to a TV picture when broadcasting goes all digital.

Depending on how much money is allocated, the funding would go to purchase as many as 60 million “set-top” electronic boxes to make it possible for old, broadcast-only TV sets to continue receiving a picture when the broadcasting industry converts to all-digital transmission as soon as the end of 2008. Conservative groups have criticized the proposed expenditure as a giveaway, but the TV provision has received less attention because it is included in deficit-reduction legislation that has generated an uproar in the House for its spending reductions in programs affecting the poor, such as Medicaid and food stamps.

The GOP leadership yanked the budget bill from the floor on Thursday because leaders had failed to gather enough votes to pass it, and its outlook is now uncertain. Some of the House’s spending cuts could be killed to make the bill more palatable, but there is no indication that the television provision is in jeopardy. The Senate has already passed its budget measure.

James Gatusso, a technology expert at the Heritage Foundation, called it “a subsidy for old TV sets,” and not the wisest use of federal money at a time of large deficits.

Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a budget-watchdog group, said that helping poor people buy converter boxes appears justified, but he added: “When the government subsidizes anything, it usually goes to people who don’t need it. I suspect that will be the case here.”

The money would be doled out without regard to income, though families that have broadcast-only sets tend to be poorer, industry officials said.

Both the House and Senate bills would require the industry to convert to all-digital broadcasting by a specific date–on Dec. 31, 2008, in the House bill and April 7, 2009, in the Senate measure. Old analog, or non-digital, sets could not receive a picture unless they are hooked to a cable or satellite system.

These provisions created some controversy, but nowhere near the uproar over proposed cuts in Medicaid, food stamps and student loan programs as well as tax cuts. One reason is that the government would take over the broadcasting spectrum and auction it off to private companies, raising $10 billion to $28 billion.

Rather than risk an uproar by millions of Americans, including an estimated 21 million households that have only non-digital sets, lawmakers decided to pre-empt the complaints with a purchase plan similar to one tried recently in Berlin.

“The potential for consumer outrage over one day waking up and finding out that you are simply incapable of receiving local news, information about a hurricane or tornado alert, or entertainment programs, is enormous,” said Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters.

Some conservative groups have criticized the proposed expenditure as excessive and unnecessary, complaining that it subsidizes old technology and amounts to little more than a government giveaway.

“I think it’s way too much,” said Gatusso, the Heritage Foundation analyst. He said neither bill requires people to reveal whether they have a cable or satellite hookup, and that subsidies would go to people who have extra broadcast-only TVs in bedrooms or dens.

“It certainly has elements of paying a bribe, but oftentimes paying a bribe is the better part of deficit reduction,” countered Barry Bosworth, a Brookings Institution economist. “By making this payment, they [Congress] will free up a spectrum that can be sold for money.”

There is big money to be made in the transition from analog to digital television, Gatusso said, adding that many companies have their eye on buying some of the spectrum so they can offer new wireless and broadband services. That will be the biggest corporate payoff, he said.

But two electronics firms, LG Electronics Inc. (which has Zenith as a subsidiary) and Thomson SA have been selected by the broadcasting industry to develop “high-quality, low-cost” prototype electronic boxes for manufacturers.

Congress has been debating the conversion to all-digital broadcasting for years, and now the industry offers both a digital signal and an analog signal, which has been in use since the first U.S. telecast in the late 1920s. But GOP leaders decided this year that it was time to set a hard date for the conversion, and then soften the financial impact by buying the converters for analog sets.

The House plan authorizes spending $990 million so the government can issue $40 coupons (a $10 co-pay would be required) to buy converter boxes, while the Senate authorizes $3 billion for a purchasing program with unspecified details as to how the money would be distributed. The House bill would limit the number of coupons per household to two.

Wharton said there are 73 million non-digital TV sets in the U.S. not hooked to cable or satellite. About 45 million of these are in 21 million households with no digital or satellite connections, he said, and many of those are low-income people. But Congress rejected limiting the subsidy to low-income families on grounds that it would be too difficult to administer.

Gatusso said the cost estimate has grown dramatically in the past year. When such legislation was considered a year ago, the estimate for buying converter boxes was as low as $100 million, only to jump as high as $3 billion in the Senate bill. “It is just astonishing,” he said. “It really is a classic example of foot-in-the-door spending.”

But Bosworth wasn’t as upset at the spending. “I would argue that it is a small price to pay,” he said, adding that one of the hallmarks of American government is that it “tries to protect the losers instead of picking winners.”

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), one of the GOP moderates who protested provisions in the deficit-reduction act, had high praise for the television subsidy. “The economic development aspects of this bill are vastly understated,” he said.

The spectrum now in the hands of broadcasters will help launch a new wave of wireless and broadband businesses that enable the U.S. to better compete with Asia, he said.

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Bush Escalates Bitter Iraq War Debate

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska – President Bush escalated the bitter debate over the Iraq war on Monday, hurling back at Democratic critics the worries they once expressed that Saddam Hussein was a grave threat to the world.

“They spoke the truth then and they’re speaking politics now,” Bush charged.

Bush went on the attack after Democrats accused the president of manipulating and withholding some pre-war intelligence and misleading Americans about the rationale for war.

“Some Democrats who voted to authorize the use of force are now rewriting the past,” Bush said. “They’re playing politics with this issue and they are sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy. That is irresponsible.”

The president spoke to cheering troops at this military base at a refueling stop for Air Force One on the first leg of an eight-day journey to Japan,
South Korea, China and Mongolia.

During the stopover, he also met privately with families of four slain service members.

After a Latin American trip with meager results earlier this month, the administration kept expectations low for Asia.

“I don’t think you’re going to see headline breakthroughs,” National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said on Air Force One. He dashed any prospect that Japan would lift its ban on American beef imports during Bush’s visit and said a dispute with China over trade and currency would remain an issue after the president returns home.

On Sunday, Hadley acknowledged “we were wrong” about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, but he insisted in a CNN interview that the president did not manipulate intelligence or mislead the American people.

Iraq and a host of other problems, from the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina to the indictment of a senior White House official in the CIA leak investigation, have taken a heavy toll on the president. Nearing the end of his fifth year in office, Bush has the lowest approval rating of his presidency and a majority of Americans say Bush is not honest and they disapprove of his handling of foreign policy and the war on terrorism. Heading for Asia, Bush hoped to improve his standing on the world stage.

“Reasonable people can disagree about the conduct of the war but it is irresponsible for Democrats to now claim that we misled them and the American people,” Bush said.

He quoted pre-war remarks by three senior Democrats as evidence of that Democrats had shared the administration’s fears that were the rationale for invading Iraq in 2003. Bush did not name them, but White House counselor Dan Bartlett filled in the blanks.

“There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons.” – Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

“The war against terrorism will not be finished as long as (Saddam Hussein) is in power.” – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

“Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community. And I think that the president’s approaching this in the right fashion.” – Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., then the Democratic whip.

“The truth is that investigations of the intelligence on Iraq have concluded that only one person manipulated evidence and misled the world – and that person was Saddam Hussein,” Bush charged.

In the Senate, 29 Democrats voted with 48 Republicans for the war authorization measure in late 2002, including 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen.
John Kerry of Massachusetts, and his running mate, John Edwards of North Carolina. Both have recently been harshly critical of Bush’s conduct of the war and its aftermath.

On Capitol Hill, top Democrats stood their ground in claiming Bush misled Congress and the country. “The war in Iraq was and remains one of the great acts of misleading and deception in American history,” Kerry told a news conference.

Bush is expected to get a warmer welcome in Asia than he did earlier this month in Argentina at the Summit of the Americas, where Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez led a protest against U.S. policies and Bush failed to gain support from the 34 nations attending for a hemisphere-wide free trade zone.

Japan, the first stop on Bush’s trip, and Mongolia, the last, are likely to give him the most enthusiastic response, while China and South Korea probably will be cooler but respectful.

In South Korea, Bush also will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Conference summit in Busan, where 21 member states are expected to agree to support global free-trade talks. The summit also is expected to agree to put early-warning and information-sharing systems in place in case of bird flu outbreaks.

“It is good for the president to show up in Asia and say, `We care about Asia,’ because that is in doubt in the region,” said Ed Lincoln, senior fellow in Asia and Economic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

At Bush’s first stop, in Kyoto, Japan, the president will deliver what aides bill as the speech of the trip on the power of democracy, not only to better individual lives but contribute to the long-term prosperity of nations.

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Anger is Good For You

Robin Lloyd
Thu Nov 3,10:00 AM ET

PITTSBURGH – Anger is good for you, as long as you keep it below a boil, according to new psychology research based on face reading.

People who respond to stressful situations with short-term anger or indignation have a sense of control and optimism that lacks in those who respond with fear.

“These are the most exciting data I’ve ever collected,” Carnegie Mellon psychologist Jennifer Lerner told a gathering of science writers here last month.

Lerner harassed 92 UCLA students by having experimenters ask subjects to count backward on camera by 13s starting with an odd number like 6,233, telling them it was an intelligence test and then telling them they weren’t counting fast enough and to speed it up as they went along.

Wrong answers meant subjects had to start all over again.

Another test involved counting backwards by sevens from 9,095.

So angry …

The video cameras caught subjects’ facial expressions during the tests, ranging from deer-in-the-headlights to seriously upset. The researchers identified fear, anger and disgust using a psychologist’s coding system that considers the flexing of particular sets of small muscles in the face.

The researchers also recorded people’s blood pressure, pulse and secretion of a high-stress hormone called cortisol, which can be measured in the saliva and collected with a cotton swab.

The people whose faces showed more fear during the had higher blood pressure and higher levels of the hormone. The findings were the same for men and women.

Lerner previously studied Americans’ emotional response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks two months afterward and found that anger triggers feelings of certainty and control. People who reacted with anger were more optimistic about risk and more likely to favor an aggressive response to terrorism.

Go ahead, get angry

So in maddening situations in which anger or indignation are justified, anger is not a bad idea, the thinking goes. In fact, it’s adaptive, Lerner says, and it’s a healthier response than fear.

Chronic, explosive anger or a hostile outlook on the world is still bad for you, contributing to heart disease and high blood pressure, research shows.

The new research supports the idea that humans have more than one uniform response to stress and that fear and anger provoke different responses from our nervous systems and the parts of our brain, such as the pituitary, that deal with tough situations.

The results were published in a recent issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry.

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Jeb Bush leaves open White House bid

Reuters
Sunday, November 13, 2005; 10:31 AM

BERLIN (Reuters) – Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of U.S. President George W. Bush, ruled out running for president in 2008 but left open the possibility of a subsequent bid in an interview with a German magazine published on Sunday.

Jeb Bush, who is scheduled to visit Germany this week, told Focus weekly he had not thought much about running for the office held by his father and older brother except to rule out the next election at the end of George W. Bush’s second term.

“You should never say never. But for the 2008 election, my answer is definitely no,” he said, in comments translated into German by the magazine.

Asked whether his answer meant a later challenge was possible, he said: “Let’s say there’s a vague chance.”

Bush, 52, said he spoke frequently with his brother and visited the White House whenever he was in Washington but he said the two mainly discussed family matters or sport.

---

i keep thinking that it’s just about over, and today someone reminded me that we’ve got 3 more years of that twerp… and if his brother even thinks about running for the white house it will be a sad day indeed for this country… 8/

so this is what a meme is…

another spam…

and speaking of spam, i’ve seen the “SARE_*” rules in SpamAssassin, but i’ve never known what SARE is… until now…

i had a few links to record, but then my browser crashed and i lost ’em all… which is fairly strange… i think in all the time i’ve been running linux and firefox, the browser has crashed about 4 times… unlike windoesn’t, which i have to reboot at least once per “session”, because of frobulation and/or crashing behavior. nevertheless…

i don’t know which i like more, nihilist gum or bible gum… of course i actually bought the nihilist gum, because i couldn’t resist their "no flavour" punch line… although it’s faintly mint flavoured in actuality… perhaps it’s left over from manufacture of a different variety of gum.

Robertson: God May Smite Down Town That Voted Out Anti-Evolution School Board
Friday, November 11, 2005

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson warned residents of a rural Pennsylvania town Thursday that disaster may strike there because they “voted God out of your city” by ousting school board members who favored teaching intelligent design.

All eight Dover, Pa., school board members up for re-election were defeated Tuesday after trying to introduce “intelligent design” – the belief that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power – as an alternative to the theory of evolution.

“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God. You just rejected him from your city,” Robertson said on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “700 Club.”

Eight families had sued the district, claiming the policy violates the constitutional separation of church and state. The federal trial concluded days before Tuesday’s election, but no ruling has been issued.

Later Thursday, Robertson issued a statement saying he was simply trying to point out that “our spiritual actions have consequences.”

“God is tolerant and loving, but we can’t keep sticking our finger in his eye forever,” Robertson said. “If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them.”

Robertson made headlines this summer when he called on his daily show for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

In October 2003, he suggested that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to “kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”

convert your gas-powered automobile to electric for about $3,000… a new gas powered car can cost upwards of $40k, and it’s guaranteed that “normal” people aren’t going to be able to afford gas in 5 or 10 years… get the jump on the craze, and maybe you’ll be one of the people that can afford gas in 5 or 10 years…

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US ‘uses incendiary arms’ in Iraq

WHITE PHOSPHORUS Spontaneously flammable chemical used for battlefield illumination Contact with particles causes burning of skin and flesh Use of incendiary weapons prohibited for attacking civilians (Protocol III of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons) Protocol III not signed by US

Italian state TV, Rai, has broadcast a documentary accusing the US military of using white phosphorus bombs against civilians in the Iraqi city of Falluja.

Rai says this amounts to the illegal use of chemical arms, though the bombs are considered incendiary devices.

Eyewitnesses and ex-US soldiers say the weapon was used in built-up areas in the insurgent-held city.

The US military denies this, but admits using white phosphorus bombs in Iraq to illuminate battlefields.

Washington is not a signatory of an international treaty restricting the use of white phosphorus devices.

Transmission of the documentary comes a day after the arrival of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on a five-day official visit to Italy.

It also coincides with the first anniversary of the US-led assault on Falluja, which displaced most of the city’s 300,000 population and left many of its buildings destroyed.

The documentary was shown on Rai’s rolling news channel, with a warning that the some of the footage was disturbing.

The future of the 3,000-strong Italian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq is the subject of a political tug-of-war, says the BBC’s David Willey in Rome.

‘Destroyed evidence’

The documentary begins with formerly classified footage of the Americans using napalm bombs during the Vietnam war.

It then shows a series of photographs from Falluja of corpses with the flesh burnt off but clothes still intact – which it says is consistent with the effects of white phosphorus on humans.

Jeff Englehart, described as a former US soldier who served in Falluja, tells of how he heard orders for white phosphorus to be deployed over military radio – and saw the results.

“Burned bodies, burned women, burned children; white phosphorus kills indiscriminately… When it makes contact with skin, then it’s absolutely irreversible damage, burning flesh to the bone,” he says.

Last December, the US state department issued a denial of what it called “widespread myths” about the use of illegal weapons in Falluja.

“Phosphorus shells are not outlawed. US forces have used them very sparingly in Falluja, for illumination purposes. They were fired into the air to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters,” the US statement said.

However, the Rai film also alleges that Washington has systematically attempted to destroy filmed evidence of the alleged use of white phosphorus on civilians in Falluja.

Italian public opinion has been consistently against the war and the Rai documentary can only reinforce calls for a pullout of Italian soldiers as soon as possible, our correspondent says.

Both the Italian government and opposition leaders are talking about a phased withdrawal in 2006.

President Talabani and the US say the continued presence of multi-national forces in Iraq is essential.

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Bush Administration Borrows more from Foreign Nations than Previous 42 Presidents Combined

By Congressional Desk
November 3, 2005

Washington, D.C. – President George W. Bush and the current Administration have now borrowed more money from foreign governments and banks than the previous 42 U.S. presidents combined.

Throughout the first 224 years (1776-2000) of our nation’s history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions according to the U.S. Treasury Department. In the past four years alone (2001-2005), the Bush Administration has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion.

“The seriousness of this rapid and increasing financial vulnerability of our country can hardly be overstated,” said Rep. John Tanner (D-TN), a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition and member of the House Ways and Means Committee. “The financial mismanagement of our country by the Bush Administration should be of concern to all Americans, regardless of political persuasion.”

The Blue Dogs have long expressed tremendous concern over mounting U.S. debt and are particularly troubled by our growing dependence on foreign governments to finance our debt. Earlier this year, the Coalition offered a 12 Step Plan to cure our nation’s addiction to deficit spending. The Blue Dog plan required, among other things, that all federal agencies pass clean audits, a balanced budget, and the establishment of a rainy day fund to be used in the event of a natural disaster.

“No American political leadership has ever willfully and deliberately mortgaged our country to foreign interests in the manner we have witnessed over the past four years,” continued Rep. Tanner. “If this recklessness is not stopped, I truly believe our economic freedom as American citizens is in great jeopardy.”

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Bush takes jab at Venezuela president
President seeks respite in Panama after pushing trade in Brazil

Monday, November 7, 2005; Posted: 5:30 a.m. EST (10:30 GMT)

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) — In a clear jab at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, President Bush called on Latin Americans on Sunday to boldly defend strong democratic institutions and reject any drift back to the days of authoritarian rule.

Bush’s remarks in Brazil came after Chavez, the leftist leader and friend of Cuba’s Fidel Castro, spent the past two days hurling criticism at the United States at the Summit of the Americas in Argentina.

Eyeing three upcoming presidential elections in Latin America, Bush said citizens must choose “between two competing visions” for their future.

One, he said, pursues representative government, integration into the world community and freedom’s transformative power for individuals.

“The other seeks to roll back the democratic progress of the past two decades by playing to fear, pitting neighbor against neighbor and blaming others for their own failures to provide for the people,” he said. “We must make tough decisions today to ensure a better tomorrow.”

Bush also urged Brazil, the continent’s largest economy, to use its considerable regional influence to prod into reality a U.S.-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas. Bush believes such a free-trade zone stretching from Alaska to Argentina would create jobs and lift the region’s 220 million poor to better lives.

That could be a tall order for Brazil.

At the Americas summit, the United States and 28 other countries supported setting a date to restart negotiations on creating the trading bloc. But because Brazil and four other nations preferred to wait for world trade negotiations to take place in December, no agreement was reached on new talks.

So Sunday, Bush appeared determined to move on from the divisions over the FTAA talks and focus on those World Trade Organization negotiations in Hong Kong. The talks are aimed at cutting tariffs worldwide.

In the hope that success in the global talks would invigorate the FTAA’s chances, Bush said he agrees with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that the United States must drop agriculture subsidies so it is easier for farmers in the developing world to compete.

Bush said the United States promises to reduce and then eliminate those “trade-distorting subsidies” — as long as Europe does the same.

“Only an ambitious reform agenda in agriculture, and manufactured goods, and services can ensure that the benefits of free and fair trade are enjoyed by all people in all countries,” Bush said.

Bush flew from Brazil to Panama, arriving Sunday night for a leisurely visit seen as a respite after the tense trade talks.

Panama stepped up security measures in preparation for Bush’s arrival. But a protest vigil drew less than 200 people on Sunday, on the heels of two days of festive independence-day parades with music and street dancing.

Patrol boats guarded the bay near the Panama Canal and several blocks were closed to traffic in front of a hotel where Bush was scheduled to stay. Several U.S. jet fighters appeared at the Panama City airport, and police were more visible in the capital.

Groups opposing Bush’s visit also planned a protest rally Monday afternoon, while Panamanian authorities extended independence celebrations through Monday in a move to reduce student protests.

Growing mistrust

His five-day trip, which concludes when he leaves Panama Monday, comes as there is growing mistrust in Latin America about the United States.

The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq revived memories of the “gunboat diplomacy” era of U.S.-Latin American relations of a century ago.

There also has been deep concern about the failure to find the weapons of mass destruction that Bush alleged Iraq had. Disclosures of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere added strains.

“I fully understand there’s, at times, a view of America that is, in my opinion, not an accurate view,” Bush said earlier in the day at a roundtable with young Brazilian leaders.

Bush had good reason to make his push for freer trade, a better image for the United States and democracy here.

Brazil has influence with Venezuela and in Bolivia, where the leading candidate in the December 4 presidential election is the founder of the Movement Toward Socialism political party. Evo Morales has pledged to decriminalize the coca crop and end the U.S.-backed drive to end its cultivation.

Chile also holds its presidential elections in December and Brazil has balloting in October 2006.

“Only a generation ago, this was a continent plagued by military dictatorship and civil war,” Bush said. “The successful democracies of the 21st century will not be defined by blood and soil. Successful democracies will be defined by a broader ideal of citizenship — based on shared principles, and shared responsibilities, and respect for all.”

The president’s visit was also expected to cement relations with Silva, the leader of a country that represents a lucrative market for U.S. products that Bush would like to expand.

“We carry on tranquil and mature discussions on specific issues that always come up as part of any partnership on this scale,” Silva said after they met and before they dined on a what Bush called an “unbelievably good” Brazilian barbecue of beef, lamb, ox tail and some cheese.

Silva at first was distrusted by Washington because of his leftist origins. But he surprised many by curbing spending and bringing inflation down to less than 6 percent a year. He also enacted programs to distribute food and boost education among the poor.

Despite their opposing political leanings, the two share personal chemistry.

Bush joked that Silva promised to take him fishing, but not until after he leaves office because the “entourage is a little big to go fishing while I’m president.”

Heavily armed police officers wearing bulletproof vests outnumbered the 150 demonstrators who protested with banners saying “Fora Bush” (Get Out Bush) at the retreat’s entrance.

About 40 students also participated in a sit-in at a local McDonald’s that they called a symbol of U.S. capitalism.

“We will remain here until Bush disappears from the planet or leaves Brazil, whichever comes first,” said one demonstrator, Rosa Marques, a history student at the University of Brasilia.

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finally, there are now 20 reasons to abandon christianity, and if that weren’t enough, there’s also a post that i found in that’s actually in ‘s journal, where he expounds on the fact that, apparently, scientists have discovered the secret of life… apparently, the proteins that make up RNA are predisposed to fuse with carbon atoms in the twisted lattice that makes up DNA if the proteins and the carbon (charcoal?) combine with formaldehyde under the correct, and surprisingly common circumstances. if it’s true, then the “christians” and their feeble attempts at arguing the “intelligent design” of the universe will be well and truly squashed… although if experience has taught me anything, it’s that convincing them of that fact will be the most difficult part of the whole deal.

courtesy of :

Profile of the Sociopath (or the Bush Regime…)

This list summarizes some of the common features of descriptions of the behavior of the Bush Regime, I mean sociopaths.

Glibness and Superficial Charm

Manipulative and Conning
They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.

Grandiose Sense of Self
Feels entitled to certain things as “their right.”

Pathological Lying
Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.

Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.

Shallow Emotions
When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.

Incapacity for Love

Need for Stimulation
Living on the edge. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal. Promiscuity and gambling are common.

Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others’ feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.

Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.

Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
Usually has a history of behavioral and academic difficulties, yet “gets by” by conning others. Problems in making and keeping friends; aberrant behaviors such as cruelty to people or animals, stealing, etc.

Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about wrecking others’ lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.

Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts.

Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future, poor work ethic but exploits others effectively.

Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
Changes their image as needed to avoid prosecution. Changes life story readily.
Other Related Qualities:

Contemptuous of those who seek to understand them
Does not perceive that anything is wrong with them
Authoritarian
Secretive
Paranoid
Only rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired
Conventional appearance
Goal of enslavement of their victim(s)
Exercises despotic control over every aspect of the victim’s life
Has an emotional need to justify their crimes and therefore needs their victim’s affirmation (respect, gratitude and love)
Ultimate goal is the creation of a willing victim
Incapable of real human attachment to another
Unable to feel remorse or guilt
Extreme narcissism and grandiose
May state readily that their goal is to rule the world

(The above traits are based on the psychopathy checklists of H. Cleckley and R. Hare.)

NOTE: In the 1830’s this disorder was called “moral insanity.” By 1900 it was changed to “psychopathic personality.” More recently it has been termed “antisocial personality disorder” in the DSM-III and DSM-IV. Some critics have complained that, in the attempt to rely only on ‘objective’ criteria, the DSM has broadened the concept to include too many individuals. The APD category includes people who commit illegal, immoral or self-serving acts for a variety of reasons and are not necessarily psychopaths.

finally, a meme i can believe in. why? because i know these people… and they really know nerds!

Your score is:	Your rating is:
800	171.31%
Additional Scoring Information: You got an extra 400 points because you are actually running Linux right now. Your environment is: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.7.10) Gecko/20050716 Firefox/1.0.6 But, you already knew that.

this and that… created and uploaded more stuff for Hybrid Elephant. got contacted yesterday by the american representative of the Rudra Centre, and Hybrid Elephant is now the washington state representative for the Rudra Centre, which is the largest provider of rudraksha seeds in the world, and also has ratna and a bunch of other things. also recieved, filled, and shipped (!) an incense order today… i really like it when they order stuff that’s in stock and they don’t have to wait around for delivery. 8)

removed the hybrid elephant P.O. box number from two more postal spam lists that it was on from the previous occupant, and i have two more that have to wait until monday, because by the time i checked the box, they were already closed for the weekend. i gather she (ellen or ella alexander) was a “christian” grandmother, or something like it, because since i opened the box, it has gotten literally hundreds of different catalogues for grandmother-like “gifts”, snow-globes, “antique” figurines and other “cute” and/or “biblical” crap. it’s busy enough that if i don’t check the box two or three times a week, it overflows, which is really frustrating, because i have to go through every piece of mail to find the one or two things that are actually addressed to the business.

i moved up two more sizes in my quest to buy a 0-gauge ear-plug. i had an 8-gauge spiral, and i’m at up to a 4-gauge now. also met with ned the ptsd counsellor, finally, for the first time yesterday. he said it would be nice if he could see me again next week, but that next week was already booked, so he’s got me in two weeks. as i suspected, nothing was accomplished, and he forgot a couple of very important forms that i was supposed to have filled out before having seen him, so i have to pretend like the appointment in two weeks is actually the first appointment… and this is after being put off by him for two weeks and getting confused about the actual date for a week… 8/

FBI: Detained Muslims Weren’t Profiled

By WAYNE PARRY
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Five Muslim football fans were detained and questioned during a game at Giants Stadium because they were congregating near an air duct on a night former President Bush was in the stadium, the FBI said Wednesday.

Some of the Muslims said they did not know they were in a sensitive area, and they complained that they were subjected to racial profiling while they were praying, as their faith requires five times a day.

“I’m as American as apple pie and I’m sitting there and now I’m made to feel like I’m an outsider, for no reason other than I have a long beard or that I prayed,” said Sami Shaban, a 27-year-old Seton Hall Law School student who lives in Piscataway.

At a news conference Wednesday, Shaban said he and four friends had just gotten to the Sept. 19 New York Giants-New Orleans Saints game when they left their seats to pray. Around halftime, 10 security officers and three state troopers approached the men and told them to come with them, Shaban said.

The men were questioned and then were not allowed to return to their seats, but were instead assigned to seats in another section, Shaban said. Three guards stood near them, and escorted them to their cars when they left the stadium, he said.

FBI agent Steven Siegel, a spokesman for the bureau’s FBI office, said the men had aroused suspicion because they were congregating near the main air intake duct. Bush was in the stadium that night as part of a fundraising campaign he and former President Clinton were leading for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

“You had 80,000 people there, Bush 41 was there, and you had a group of gentlemen gathering in an area not normally used by the public right near the main air intake duct for the stadium, and a food preparation facility,” Siegel said. “It was where they were, not what they were doing.”

The site is now fenced off and is no longer accessible to fans.

“We do not profile anyone that comes into our arena, stadium or racetrack on any basis,” said George Zoffinger, president of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates the stadium. “There was no profiling of our customers. I want to make that clear.”

if they weren’t profiled, then how come the site is now fenced off? what if it was a group of “christians” “praying”? if it was such a sensitive area, then why didn’t someone think of that before bushy junior showed up? huh?!?

Cheney Pushes Senate for CIA Exemption

By DAVID ESPO and LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writers

Friday, November 4, 2005

(11-04) 17:10 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) —

Vice President Dick Cheney made an unusual personal appeal to Republican senators this week to allow CIA exemptions to a proposed ban on the torture of terror suspects in U.S. custody, according to participants in a closed-door session.

Cheney told his audience the United States doesn’t engage in torture, these participants added, even though he said the administration needed an exemption from any legislation banning “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment in case the president decided one was necessary to prevent a terrorist attack.

The vice president made his comments at a regular weekly private meeting of Senate Republican senators, according to several lawmakers who attended. Cheney often attends the meetings, a chance for the rank-and-file to discuss legislative strategy, but he rarely speaks.

In this case, the room was cleared of aides before the vice president began his remarks, said by one senator to include a reference to classified material. The officials who disclosed the events spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the confidential nature of the discussion.

“The vice president’s office doesn’t have any comment on a private meeting with members of the Senate,” Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for Cheney, said on Friday.

The vice president drew support from at least one lawmaker, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, while Arizona Sen. John McCain dissented, officials said.

McCain, who was tortured while held as a prisoner during the Vietnam War, is the chief Senate sponsor of an anti-torture provision that has twice cleared the Senate and triggered veto threats from the White House.

Cheney’s decision to speak at the meeting underscored both his role as White House point man on the contentious issue and the importance the administration attaches to it.

The vice president made his appeal at a time Congress is struggling with the torture issue in light of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and allegations of mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The United States houses about 500 detainees at the naval base there, many of them captured in Afghanistan.

Additionally, human rights organizations contend the United States turns detainees over to other countries that it knows will use torture to try and extract intelligence information.

Cheney’s appeal came two days before a former senior State Department official claimed in an interview with National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” that he had traced paperwork back to Cheney’s office that he believes led to U.S. troops abusing prisoners in Iraq.

“It was clear to me there that there was a visible audit trail from the vice president’s office through the secretary of defense down to the commanders in the field,” Lawrence Wilkerson, a former colonel who was Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff during President Bush’s first term, said Thursday.

Wilkerson said the view of Cheney’s office was put in “carefully couched” terms but that to a soldier in the field it meant sometimes using interrogation techniques that “were not in accordance with the spirit of the Geneva Conventions and the law of war.” He said he no longer has access to the paperwork.

Cheney spokeswoman Jennifer Mayfield declined to comment on Wilkerson’s remarks.

The Senate recently approved a provision banning the “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment of detainees in U.S. custody. The vote was 90-9, and an identical provision was added to a second measure on a voice vote on Friday.

Comparable House legislation does not include a similar provision, and it is not clear whether anti-torture language will be included in either of two large defense measures Congress hopes to send to Bush’s desk later this year.

The White House initially tried to kill the anti-torture provision while it was pending in the Senate, then switched course to lobby for an exemption in cases of “clandestine counterterrorism operations conducted abroad, with respect to terrorists who are not citizens of the United States.” The president would have to approve the exemption, and Defense Department personnel could not be involved. In addition, any activity would have to be consistent with the Constitution, federal law and U.S. treaty obligations, according to draft changes in the exemption the White House is seeking.

Cheney also has met several times with McCain, including one session that CIA Director Porter Goss attended in a secure room in the Capitol.

grumble, bomb, mutter, president george bush, gripe, kill republicrats, complain… 8/

Mom Admits Killing Child To Rid Her Of Demon
Slain Girl’s Father Faces Judge on Nov. 16

ATLANTA — A woman accused of helping her husband kill their daughter because they believed she was demonic has pleaded guilty to murder.

Valerie Carey, 29, has been sentenced to life in prison for the child’s death at a downtown Atlanta motel last year. She’s agreed to testify against her husband as part of a plea bargain. Investigators said Christopher Carey stabbed the child with a knife until it broke.

Police found 8-year-old Quimani Carey on the floor of a extended stay motel room after finding the couple walking naked down a busy street in freezing temperatures. They were carrying their two other children.

Quimani’s arms had been broken, she had been strangled and she had been stabbed several times, prosecutors said. Authorities said pages from the Bible had been torn out and thrown on the girl’s body. Testimony indicated that the girl’s father believed she was demonic and had been implanted with a chip that sent signals to the planet Jupiter, which would allow the family to be tracked.

The woman pleaded guilty to several charges, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and first- and second-degree cruelty to children. During the court proceeding, testimony indicated that the man and woman both suffered from dual psychosis, a condition in which they both believed and saw each other’s delusions.

Valerie Carey will be eligible for parole after serving a set number of years in the death of her daughter. Quimani was killed Jan. 19, 2004.

Prosecutors said they were told by relatives that the mother had suffered from a history of mental illness.

“We thought the rapture would take the four of us to heaven,” a tearful Valerie Carey said to the judge during sentencing. “But I ended up in jail and a mental hospital. Everything I thought was real in my life proves to be false.”

Prosecutors had recommended life in prison with the possibility of parole for the mother and life in prison with no parole for the father.

Christopher Carey, 31, remains jailed without bond and faces a death penalty trial if he does not agree to a plea deal.

It was not clear how long Valerie Carey would have to serve before she is eligible for parole. The judge ordered that she continue to receive mental counseling while incarcerated.

today was a computer and web day… it just goes to show how i can not have a job, and still sit in front of this goddamn box for 8 hours straight… i took care of the agility fun web site stuff for diana, which included a schedule rewrite, three new howling league pages and a deletion on the about us page. then i got to playing around with cafepress dot com stuff – which i figured i would have to do right away, since mr. tinachopp has already stolen one of my ideas – so i got hybridelephant up and running and made a bunch of buttons, stickers and magnets, and then i updated the hybrid elephant pages with the new information, and i also updated my livejournal links list…

of course, this was all in between bouts of frantically processing spam, which must have taken up at least an hour and a half… i don’t remember whether i’ve said this recently, but SPAM SUCKS… i don’t do business with spammers under any circumstances, and yet there is an overabundant profusion of spam, which leads me to believe that most of you do do business with spammers… i would like to say STOP IT! okay?

home made PVC flame thrower – wonderful… more terrorist plans available on internet. what will they think of next?

news bulletin service for military service members – forget about the new york times, this is where to get the news straight from the front lines.

these people allegedly have a functioning trebuchet, with which they sacrifice vegetables launch pumpkins. more pictures coming, but not soon enough to suit me.

and speaking of vegetable sacrifice, here’s Dr. Dick Chopp, Urologist… keep me away from him… for more reasons than just the fact that his name is Chopp

a completely random collection of pictures of my old girlfriend claire and her husband david who are bicycle enthusiasts.

and, finally, mice can be added to the short list of creatures that sing in the presence of the opposite sex, including songbirds, humpback whales, porpoises, insects and, possibly, bats… and, possibly, human beings… aren’t you glad to know that?

Hybrid Elephant has a new outlet for buttons, stickers, magnets and so forth, which is cafepress dot com… more stuff will be added as time goes on, but this should be sufficient to get a few people riled up… 8)

yesterday was troll-o-ween. it went a lot better than the rehearsals made me think it was going to go. the vegetable sacrifice went extremely well, and there were about 300 people in the crowd by the time i sent the pumpkin on it’s final road to snake destiny. we finished off with an after party that included free beer and pizza, and was still going strong when i left at midnight… and today is deepavali, one of the hindu “christmases”, which is the “festival of lights”…

apart from that, it has been a surprisingly unsatisfactory week so far. yesterday i had to go back to pick up stuff that i had forgotten three times from as far away as 15 miles – stupid brain injury. plus i got a call from farah who accused me of stealing one of their font-matching books – which i did not do… in fact i left my centering ruler there because i realised it wasn’t with the rest of my tools after i left and i didn’t feel like bothering with going back to pick it up… as if they’re going to know how to use a font-matching book anyway… and there’s apparently somebody who has taken it upon themselves to create a cafepress dot com web site selling t-shirts that say “Tina Chopp is God”, but he’s not giving any credit, or any compensation to The Church of Tina Chopp, and now that he’s done it, not only is his cafepress “store” called “tinachopp”, but if i decide to do anything with Tina Chopp on cafepress at this point, he can accuse me of stealing his idea… 8/

today didn’t start out very well either… our roof has a leak, which i discovered this morning – trying to sleep off the partying until midnight and then driving 45 minutes home – and while we can afford to put on a new roof now that we’ve moved, the guy who is going to do it for us is on vacation until friday. while i was hassling around with stuff related to the roof leak i discovered that the lower shed also has a leak, and the lower shed has important stuff like the 2 rows of back seats for moe’s car – which are now wrapped in plastic – and my drill press and band saw, which are now rusty and sitting in our living room until i can find a more permanent home for them – which will not be soon, as about half of the living room and three quarters of the office are still stacked floor to ceiling with boxes that there isn’t enough room to unpack. then there was a threatening phone call from the people who financed moe’s car who are trying to collect october’s payment, which was made online at the beginning of october, but apparently hasn’t appeared on the appropriate desk for who knows what reason. and i’ve been trying to make an appointment to have my car worked on since last friday, but every time i call the guy he says “call back tomorrow”, or “call back monday”, or “call back thursday” and giving me some lame story about how he’s got two cars on the lift and can’t clear them because he can’t get parts, or some goddamn thing like that.

and when moe asked me what’s wrong, and i said that i was depressed because of the way things have been going, she asked me when my appointment with the ptsd counsellor is, as though one appointment with a counsellor is going to solve everything. admittedly, she said that she realised that one appointment wasn’t going to help, and that it would take a long time to get through this, but that just made me feel worse… 8/