Blogging My Life

You know, kids, anything that puts President Bush's polling numbers in the dumper is a good thing as far as I'm concerned...usually. But I'm amazed that concerning the price of a gallon of gas, people don't seem to be getting the bigger picture. President Bush, and Congress for that matter, are not directly responsible for the price of gas. It's all about world economics. Primarily the economies of India and China. In years past, neither of these countries placed that huge a demand on oil, and in India's case, they couldn't have afforded it if they had wanted it. Now, those two countries are using more oil than ever before. Why? My theory, at least in part, is that it's because the United States has exported so many jobs to both India and China, there are a lot more people there who can now afford to purchase cars. I have tried googling to find some statistics and have so far come up wanting, but I bet some astute reader could come up with the relevant ...

I don't normally blog my school experiences, but I just found out today that I have to take more math. I thought I was done with math, but now I find out I have two more classes to take. I am so upset I can't hardly breath. I am so math phobic it's not funny. No, really, it's not funny. I have anxiety attacks in math class. I start to sweat and sometimes I literally start to shake. Years ago when working on my philosophy degree, I had to take logic and did relatively well. And I get so tired of having people tell me that since I did well in logic, I should do well in math. Well, it doesn't work that way, at least not for me. Otherwise (meaning except for the math) things go well. I am actually ahead in my Cisco class, primarily because I didn't take any math this quarter, and my Net Security class is a breeze. Fucking math! Whose ideas is/was it that one has to be a math whiz in order to work with computers?!

Fox News' Tony Snow will be taking over for Scott "Mclyin'" McClellan on Monday. As I understand it, Snow is considering removing the television cameras from his daily briefings. While we will still be able to read his lies in the print media, I guess he doesn't want to actually be shown lying on TV. Think about how much fun the Jon Stewart Show had with the McClellan clips, Snow wants to avoid that. Anyhoo, the good folks over at Media Matters have documented some of Snow's previous lies in the media. Things like: Snow said Joe Wilson says he was sent to Niger by Dick Cheney, Snow claimed that President Jimmy Carter had authorized warrantless surveilance of U.S. Citizens, Snow suggested that the Democrats objected to Bush's warrantless wiretapping because they think "the government shouldn't be able to listen to Al-queda." Maybe being able to come up with this shit all by himself was what got him the Press Secretary job.

Honestly, I don't understand the furor over this latest Kennedy flap. There is no proof that he had been drinking, and nobody got shot in the face. And as we all know, according to precedent, it's perfectly acceptable for high ranking government officials to get liquored up and shoot folks in the face. That didn't happen, so as I said, I really don't understand what all the fuss is about.

As you know, dear readers, I am loathe to agree with President Bush on anything; but I'm afraid that I must when it comes to our National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. Perhaps it is a sign that, at forty years of age, I am in fact an old curmudgeon. Perhaps my view denotes a bit of xenophobia on my part, but I cannot lie, I do not think there should be a Spanish language version of the Anthem. As far as the whole immigration issue goes, I think our borders need to be strengthened and illegals kept out. I believe it is a national security issue. I sympathize with those immigrants, both legal and illegal, who say that they are not terrorists. But if we cannot secure our borders against illegal immigrants, no matter how benign their reasons for entering this country, how can we expect that our borders are safe against those who really do mean to do us harm? Illegals and Taxes Illegal immigrants argue that they are in fact paying taxes. But those are just local sales taxes that all...

Why does the Democratic party leadership in the U.S. Senate continue to sit on it’s collective hands and not speak out more loudly against what Bush and Co. are doing to this country? For too long, Democratic senators have been cowed by this administration, and have refused to give voice to the rage that their constiuents feel. One of the senators from my state (Wa, Patty Murray) is up for reelection this year; I’m thinking about writing to tell her that I will be running against her. I’m of the opinion that any candidate who promises to kick George Bush in the [political] balls, metaphoricaly speaking of course, any chance they got would win, simply because most people are tired of their senators doing and saying nothing.

``There are too many leaks of classified information in Washington. There's leaks at the executive branch. There's leaks in the legislative branch. There's just too many leaks. And if there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of.'' - Sept. 30, 2003. ``I'd like to know if somebody in my White House did leak sensitive information. As you know, I've been outspoken on leaks. And whether they happened in the White House, or happened in the administration, or happened on Capitol Hill, it is a - they can be very damaging.'' - Oct. 28, 2003. Q: ``Given recent developments in the CIA leak case, particularly Vice President Cheney's discussions with the investigators, do you still stand by what you said several months ago, a suggestion that it might be difficult to identify anybody who leaked the agent's name?'' Bush: ``That's up to. ...'' Q:...

Still no vote on Sen. Feingold's Senate Resolution to Censure the President . Which means, you still have time to call your Senators to insist they support that resolution. For all my fellow Washington staters, the telephone numbers for Sens. Murray and Cantwell are: Sen. Murray: 202.224.2621 Sen. Cantwell: 202.224.3441 These are their numbers in Washington D.C. People from other states can go to the United States Senate web page for names and numbers. The Bush administration is down, it's time to start kicking.

Consider for a moment: The republicans have already resorted to vote fraud in both the 2000 and 2004 elections, engaged in illegal redistricting in Texas in order to gain more seats in the House of Representatives, and propagated the most vile smear campaigns against Democratic party candidates at all levels, just to name a few things. Now consider that the republicans have to know that the Democrats stand a very good chance of regaining the upper hand in both the House and the Senate in the up-coming elections. If this happens, the Democrats will have subpoena powers to compel the release of documents that will undoubtedly show the world exactly what kind of thuggery the republicans have been engaged in. The republicans have to know that impeachment procedures will be initiated in the Senate against President Bush for his crimes against, and lies to the American people. These things being true, I am very concerned about what the republicans will be willing to do (and what they are per...

How can Sec. of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, say he had no idea about the "port deal" when he's on one of the committees that approved the deal and his signature is on the document that cleared the deal with the defense dept?

Sittin here watching Bush on CNN and he's talking about improving education and turning out students trained in math and science. And yet the republican controlled congress removed 13 billion dollars from the student aid program. Is he the very picture of hypocrisy? or just stupid?

I think the head referee of tonight's game should get the MVP award. A bullshit pass-interference call deprived us of one touchdown, and a six point gift was given to Rothlisberger. We didn't play a perfect game, but I think the officiating definately turned the tide for Pitttsburg.

The economic realities of the aborton debate. Go to the link above for an excellent description of why the conservative right, is wrong....again.

Just a quick note to say that any Democratic lawmaker who votes 'yes' to confirm Sam Alito to the Supreme Court has just told their constiuents that they hate their jobs and should be voted out of office so they can go do something else.

Just saw on CNN how many times in the past, Osama bin Laden has popped back in to the public view with a recording or a video tape, right about the time the Bush Administration needs to draw attention away from some misdeed of their own making (illegal wire-tapping of American citizens) to some aspect of 9/11. I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist. But it's no longer much of a stretch for me to believe that Osama is on the Bush administration pay-roll. Don't forget that the bin Laden family was heavily invested in the Bush family oil business back when Jr. was failing miserably at drilling for oil in Texas. Combine that with the fact that the one plane allowed to operate in American airspace immediately following 9/11 was a plane carrying members of the bin Laden family, one has to ask the question: Just exactly how far up the Saudi's and/or the bin Laden's' collective asses is the Bush Administration? Bush promised us bin Laden, "dead or alive." Fo...

Just watched Wolf Blitzer expose Paul Bremer for what he is: A republican lackey in the mold of "Brown-nose" ("Doin' a heck'uv a job,") Brownie. Perhaps Bremer wasn't/isn't quite as incompetent as Brownie, but he is definately a republican yes-man and a liar. In discussing his new book, "My Year in Iraq," Bremer appears to be trying to market himself to the political middle and left. There seem to be passages where Bremer calls on the Bush administration for more troops, saying that troop levels on his arrival in the country weren't high enough. One passage relates an alleged conversation with Donald Rumsfeld about the reports on the numbers of Iraqi soldiers and policemen, who were supposed to be ready to shoulder some of the U.S. troops' burden, being over inflated. Another passage detailed the chaos he found on his arrival. This is all what Bremer says he said then. So then why is it that Wolf has Bremer on tape saying the exac...

I would have to say that this has been the worst holiday season I’ve experienced in a very long time. It’s not anybody’s fault, in fact there’s no blame to be laid at all. See, just before Thanksgiving, I had a horrible cold. I was miserable over the holiday weekend. Soon after turkey day, the need for me to have my wisdom teeth pulled became painfully evident. I haven’t been able to chew on the left side of my mouth since November, and sometimes my mouth hurts a lot, and sometimes not so much. But it’s okay, the long wait for me to be on Jessica’s insurance is over, and I will soon have an appointment with an oral surgeon, so I know that this is a pain that will soon come to an end. Xmas was hard because Jess and I are so broke. We had to buy new tires unexpectedly, and, well, never mind… suffice to say that at the end of December, there was only $13.00 in the savings account. We didn’t have enough to get each other anything. This is not a plea for money! We knew what we were in for w...

Yes, I know it's been forever since I posted. I've been so very busy with school.....anyhoo, I finished my Math final and I think I did okay. Oddly enough, it wasn't the math I was worried about at the end of the quarter, it was the Cisco. Oh, my, god was that course hard. So many acronyms! And now I've got Cisco 2 to look forward to. And more math.... At any rate, the big news is my impending oral surgery. At 40 years old, I need my wisdom teeth out. My intitial appointment with the surgeon is Jan. 12. I don't know when my surgery will be but it can't be soon enough. I'll be so happy to be able to eat solid food again, and to drink cold liquids (beer, whiskey & soda on the rocks, eggnog, milk straight from the carton when Jessica isn't looking, etc...) again. I'll probably miss about a week of school with the chubby-cheeked after-care, but I don't care, this has to happen soon.

Every day Bush Co. provides more to be pissed off about. Every day it's something new. Illegal wire-taps against American citizens, "black-ops" prisons all over the world, $13 billion dollars removed from higher education aid in a dark-of-night senate vote, billions of dollars for Alaska to open ANWR and to build a bridge to nowhere (attached to a bill that appropriates money for the troops in Iraq, no less), supreme court seats being left for the christian right to pick; the list goes on and on. I worry that nothing will happen about any of this simply because there's so freaking much to go after. It would seem a monumental task to appoint a committee to look into all these crimes, the house and senate would get even less done than they already do if all of the Bush crime family's dirty dealings were looked into. I say we need another special investigator (of course with an unlimited budget, the authority to look into anything, and unlimited time to bring charges...

Well, one of my favorite holiday traditions has already been fulfilled, and it'’s only 7:30 in the morning. One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is to watch the news the night before when they do all the cautionary stories about the deep-fat turkey fryers, and how dangerous they can be. All the local stations usually do a story, and I'’ve seen them talk about it on CNN and the like. In the past, one would have to wait at least until the evening news on Thanksgiving Day, or usually the next day. Not this year my friends! The schadenfreude (sp?) comes early as I have already seen on the local news where two idiots have burned down their respective houses! (I am trying to find links to the stories now.) The problem is the total lack of common sense so many people display. Displacement, people, is the name of the game. As described by Wikipedia : In fluid mechanics, displacement occurs when an object is immersed in a fluid, pushing it out of the way and taking its place. So ...