Friday, February 27, 2004

Oscar picks... 

Here's my Oscar picks.

Original Screenplay: Should Win - Lost in Translation Will Win - Lost in Translation

Adapted Screenplay: Should Win - American Splendor Will Win - Mystic River

Best Supporting Actress: Should Win - Renee Zellweger Will Win - Renee Zellweger

Best Supporting Actor: Should Win - Can't Say. I've only seen one of the films. Will Win - Tim Robbins

Best Actress: Should Win: Should Win - I haven't seen any of the films. Will Win - Charlize Theron

Best Actor: Should Win - Bill Murray Will Win - Johnny Depp

Best Director: Should Win - Peter Jackson Will Win - Peter Jackson

Best Picture: Should Win - Lost in Translation Will Win: Return of the King

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Thursday, February 26, 2004

Dog Blog... 

I haven't been very consistant with my Saturday dog blogging. Here's one to keep you satisfied until I'm back on schedule.


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Theocracy Lives! 

US Justice Dept. Seeks Hundreds of Medical RecordsThe U.S. Justice Department has subpoenaed Planned Parenthood for the confidential medical records of hundreds of women as part of its defense against challenges to a federal law that bans a type of late-term abortion, the family planning organization said on Thursday.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said this month the records were needed to find out whether the procedure, called "partial birth abortion" by its critics, was medically necessary.
WTF??? I hope those clinics put a picture of a calico cat in every single file.

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What Did You Expect? 

Advocates for Immigrants Scorn Bush Policy on Haitian Refugees
Advocates for immigrants, and more than two dozen Democrats in Congress, criticized the Bush administration on Thursday for continuing to return Haitian migrants to a country in turmoil as government officials warned that the number of Haitians taking to the seas had begun to surge.

Coast Guard officials said they had picked up 695 Haitians at sea this month, including a freighter carrying 21 Haitians that was stopped seven miles off Miami on Wednesday.
...
Government officials say they plan to continue deporting illegal immigrants and those caught at sea, saying the overwhelming majority of Haitian migrants are fleeing poverty, not political repression.
...
President Bush said Wednesday that American officials would "turn back any refugee that attempts to reach our shore" from Haiti.
Compassionate Conservative my ass! It's too bad these Hatians weren't born in Cuba and named Elian. Rupublicans would be falling all over themselves to welcome them to our shores. Not to Haiti: Don;t bother fleeing your war torn country unless you can throw a 95 mph fastball. Bush don't like them foreign types. Especially the ones who speak French.

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O Canada! 

Couple Sues for Rx Drug Imports
An Illinois couple is filing suit against the federal government, arguing it is unconstitutional to prevent them from buying cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.

Ray and Gaylee Andrews, both 74, pay as much as $800 each month for prescriptions for ailments that include arthritis, high blood pressure, heart and stomach problems, and asthma.
...
With the backing of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Andrewses are suing the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration, seeking to overturn the federal law prohibiting Americans from importing cheaper prescription drugs. They say they could save more than $300 every month if they were allowed to purchase prescription drugs from Canada.

Illinois is one of a number of states pushing for drug importation. Two states, Wisconsin and Minnesota, now have Web sites directing citizens to Canadian pharmacies. The FDA has threatened legal action against cities and states helping people import Canadian drugs.

The agency argues it cannot guarantee the safety of imported drugs.
Show me the dead Canadians. There should be millions of them by now since their drugs are so unsafe.

Big Pharma doesn't want you to buy cheap drugs and the administration is doing everything it can to help them. The Medicare Act expressly forbid the government from bargaining for cheaper drug prices. Who did that benefit? It sure as hell wasn't Ray and Gaylee Andrews. It wasn't the taxpayer who will foot the bill for the new Medicare plan. The only ones who benefit are named GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Merck, Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb and the rest of the 21st Century Robber Barons.

I never thought I would see the day when grandma needed a drug mule to buy insulin.

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Doing god's Will? 

162 Boston Priests Faced Abuse Claims
On the eve of the release of a nationwide study of sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, the Boston archdiocese said yesterday that 162 of its priests -- 7 percent of all who have served since 1950 -- have been accused of molesting minors, and that it has spent $120 million to settle related lawsuits.
The Catholic Church must reconsider it's celibacy policy. I don't believe celibacy is causing priests to become child molesters. I believe that the celibacy policy attracts men with abusive tendencies who hope a celibate lifestyle will cure them of their desire. It's obviously not working.

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An Amendment to Be... 

[Little Boy] Hey, who left all this garbage on the steps of Congress?

[Amendment] I'm not garbage. I'm an amendment to be, yes, an amendment to be and I'm hoping that they'll ratify me
There's a lot of flag-burners who have got too much freedom. I want to make it legal for policemen to beat 'em
'Cause there's limits to our liberties
At least, I hope and pray that there are 'cause those liberal freaks go too far.

[Little Boy] But why can't we just make a law against flag burning?

[Amendment] Because that law would be unconstitutional. But if we change the constitution -

[Little Boy] - Then we could make all sorts of crazy laws!

[Amendment] Now you're catching on!

[Little Boy] But what if they say you're not good enough to be in the constitution?

[Amendment] Then I'll crush all opposition to me!
And I'll make Ted Kennedy pay. If he fights back, I'll say that he's gay.

[Congressman] Good news, Amendment! They ratified you! You're in the US Constitution!

[Amendment] Oh, yeah! Door's open, boys!

-The Simpsons, 1996

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Wednesday, February 25, 2004

The Law Doesn't Apply to Tom DeLay... 

The Stakeholder has an interesting tidbit about a blank check sent to the RNC by DeLay's aide. Please help the DCCC plan Tom DeLay's retirement party.

I've added The Stakeholder to the blogroll on the right. Show them some love.

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Hastert hates the truth... 

I just heard on CNN that Dennis Hastert will block the extension of the 9/11 Commission. I'll post a link soon...

Update: Hastert Tells W.House He Won't Extend 9/11 Panel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a blow to the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has told the White House and fellow Republicans that he will not bring up legislation to extend its May 27 deadline, officials said on Wednesday.

President Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, personally had appealed to Speaker Dennis Hastert to reconsider, and the Illinois Republican met on Wednesday with Bush at the White House.

But the speaker's spokesman, John Feehery, said Hastert told the White House and members of the House Republican conference that "it's a bad idea to extend the commission and ... that we're not going to bring any legislation up."
...
The commission says it needs the extra 60 days to complete hundreds of interviews and review millions of documents.

It issued a public appeal on Wednesday to Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to reconsider their opposition to meeting with the full panel.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice has also refused to testify publicly on the grounds she is a presidential adviser and not a Senate-confirmed Cabinet officer.

Bush and Cheney have only agreed to meet privately with commission chairman Thomas Kean and vice chairman Lee Hamilton, rather than with the full, 10-member panel.

In contrast, former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore have agreed to meet privately with all members of the commission, the panel said.
Stonewall on testimony and deny the extension. What a fucking joke.

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The True Face of the GOP... 


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Alive and Well.... 

Via Atrios: Newsday.com: Report: Slavery 'Alive and Well' in U.S.
Modern-day slavery is alive and well in Florida, the head of a human rights center said Tuesday as it released a report on people forced to work as prostitutes, farmworkers and maids across the state.

Human traffickers bring thousands of people into the United States each year and Florida is believed to be one of the top three destinations, along with New York and Texas, according to the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University.
Texas and Florida. Curious. Shouldn't we be seeing a Drudge headline soon? Maybe something like, "Slavery Flourishes Under Governors Jeb and George"

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Tuesday, February 24, 2004

I'll side with the founding fathers... 

The Federal Marriage Amendment is simply another tactic if the Right to inflict their theology on the rest of the country. When faced with a decision between democracy and theocracy, I'll chose democracy every time. The founding fathers were of the same opinion.
"History I believe furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purpose." -Thomas Jefferson

"In a free government the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights" - James Madison

"The clergy, by getting themselves established by law and ingrafted into the machine of government, have been a very formidable engine against the civil and religious rights of man." -Thomas Jefferson

"The liberty I contend for is more than toleration. The very idea of toleration is despicable; it supposes that some have a pre-eminence above the rest to grant indulgence; whereas all should be equally free..." -John Leland

"Thirteen governments thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind." - John Adams

"In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own. It is easier to acquire wealth and power by this combination than by deserving them, and to effect this, they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon, unintelligible to all mankind, and therefore the safer for their purposes." -Thomas Jefferson
I propose that we eliminate the word marriage from the government. Marriage is a religious concept which has no role in a secular government. Rename everything civil unions and treat them as a contract declaring the intention to combine resources. Two consenting adults would then be allowed to enter into a civil union regardless of gender. Let churches call it marriage. Churches would be free to perform marriage ceremonies as they see fit. The only change would be the license.

Problem solved.

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Bush vs. The Constitution 

Bush has an abusive relationship with the Constitution. The thugs in the Supreme Court ignored it when they appointed him President. He trashed it with the Patriot Act. His recess judicial appointments ignore the confirmation powers of the Senate. Now he wants an amendment which nullifies Equal Protection. How much more abuse can our most cherished document take?

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John Dingell is a funny man... 

Greg Mankiw, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, recently suggested that fast food jobs be reclassified as manufacturing jobs. Rep Dingell (D-MI) asks some very important questions in this letter to Mr. Mankiw.
Will federal student loans and Trade Adjustment Assistance grants be applied to tuition
costs at Burger College?
Will the administration commit to allowing the Manufacturing Extension Partnership
(MEP) to fund cutting edge burger research such as new nugget ingredients or keeping the
hot and cold sides of burgers separate until consumption?
Will special sauce now be counted as a durable good?
Do you want fries with that?
Mankiw is the genius who also stated that the outsourcing of high tech jobs to foreign markets was good for the economy.

Remind me again why anyone votes Republican. Oh, I remember. Gay people wanting to get married are terrorists destroying the fabric of society. 9/11 changed everything. Tax cuts for the rich.

Janet Jackson's booby.

Did I cover all the talking points yet?

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Monday, February 23, 2004

Nice choice of words... 

CNN.com - Paige calls NEA 'terrorist organization' - Feb. 23, 2004
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Education Secretary Rod Paige called the National Education Association a "terrorist organization" Monday as he argued that the country's largest teachers union often acts at odds with the wishes of rank-and-file teachers regarding school standards and accountability.
New Conservative Rule #937: You can call anyone with an opposing viewpoint a terrorist.

My short list: The NRA, American Enterprise Institute, Cato Institute, The Chamber of Commerce, The Heritage Foundation, The Hoover Institute, The Christian Coalition, Project for the New American Century, Fox News, and the Republican Party. All of them are terrorist organizations and must be stopped at all costs.

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It's the only explanation... 



Thaks for opening a two front war against the Democratic nominee. You are such a fuckhead.

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Sunday, February 22, 2004

Simple Fact... 

A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush.

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