And a little light hearted humor from my cousin in Ohio

Once upon a time there was a female brain cell which, by mistake, happened to end up in a man's head. She looked around nervously because it was all empty and quiet. "Hello?" she cried, but no answer. "Is there anyone here?" she cried a little louder, but still no answer. Now the female brain cell started to feel alone and scared and yelled at the top of her voice,"HELLO, IS THERE ANYONE HERE?" Then she heard a faint voice from far, far away..............





"We're down here ..."

Thoughts forwarded from Sondra

Sondra's a peach. She is so wonderful, supportive, loving and frisky - one of the very few people with whom I've worked before and am still friends with.

She sent me this some time ago, and it seems doubly appropriate to share it, now that our Legislature has decided to crown Geo. W King of these United States (won't we need a new name for the country?)

1. COWS
2. THE CONSTITUTION
3. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

COWS

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government
can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall
where she sleeps in the state of Washington and they tracked her calves to
their stalls? But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering
around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow.

THE CONSTITUTION

They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just
give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked
for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore.

TEN COMMANDMENTS

The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a
courthouse........You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not
Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers,
judges and politicians -- it creates a hostile work environment.

More on the anti-terror bill

This editorial sums it up nicely - what it is that is being taken away from us with the bill that passed the House of Representatives last night. Registration is required.

Here's a quite from the editorial:

Republicans say Congress must act right now to create procedures for charging and trying terrorists — because the men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks are available for trial. That’s pure propaganda. Those men could have been tried and convicted long ago, but President Bush chose not to. He held them in illegal detention, had them questioned in ways that will make real trials very hard, and invented a transparently illegal system of kangaroo courts to convict them.

When Hitler was frustrated with the civil court system in Germany, even after having made them swear to look only to him as the source of law and interpretation in Germany - he accomplished his goals by:

• Creating concentration camps, where his irregular police forces (the SS and SA) could take "detainees" without having to have a warrant, and where access to detainees was not allowed
• Created an entire court structure - the "Volksgericht" for sentencing people to punishment that was based on vague and undefined offenses - not against the laws of the state
• Did a complete end-run around the Constitutional protections of fair trial, representation by counsel, voluntary testimony (as opposed to secret testimony or forced testimony from torture) and appeal

Now, re-read the paragraph I just quoted from the editorial. Look familiar?

Time for another quote from the editorial:

These are some of the bill’s biggest flaws:

Enemy Combatants: A dangerously broad definition of “illegal enemy combatant” in the bill could subject legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal. The president could give the power to apply this label to anyone he wanted.

The Geneva Conventions: The bill would repudiate a half-century of international precedent by allowing Mr. Bush to decide on his own what abusive interrogation methods he considered permissible. And his decision could stay secret — there’s no requirement that this list be published.

Habeas Corpus: Detainees in U.S. military prisons would lose the basic right to challenge their imprisonment. These cases do not clog the courts, nor coddle terrorists. They simply give wrongly imprisoned people a chance to prove their innocence.

Judicial Review: The courts would have no power to review any aspect of this new system, except verdicts by military tribunals. The bill would limit appeals and bar legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions, directly or indirectly. All Mr. Bush would have to do to lock anyone up forever is to declare him an illegal combatant and not have a trial.

Coerced Evidence: Coerced evidence would be permissible if a judge considered it reliable — already a contradiction in terms — and relevant. Coercion is defined in a way that exempts anything done before the passage of the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act, and anything else Mr. Bush chooses.

Secret Evidence: American standards of justice prohibit evidence and testimony that is kept secret from the defendant, whether the accused is a corporate executive or a mass murderer. But the bill as redrafted by Mr. Cheney seems to weaken protections against such evidence.

Offenses: The definition of torture is unacceptably narrow, a virtual reprise of the deeply cynical memos the administration produced after 9/11. Rape and sexual assault are defined in a retrograde way that covers only forced or coerced activity, and not other forms of nonconsensual sex. The bill would effectively eliminate the idea of rape as torture.

Are you okay with the United States using secret testimony to convict and punish someone? Torturing someone to gain evidence or a confession? Being raped as a method of interrogation? Eliminates the right to appeal? Eliminates the right to counsel (representation by an attorney?) Functionally withdraws us from the most significant parts of the Geneva Convention? Gives the government the right to arrest YOU, without a warrant, without a criminal charge, without a reason - lock you up, abuse you to get information you don't have, keep you for however long they feel is appropriate without anyone knowing where you are, without any ability to contact the outside world, without having to be seen by a lawyer or a judge, and never to have any right to be cleared for what you never did but were detained for?

How about some radical ideas:

1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
2. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
3. No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
4. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
5. No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
7. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
9. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
10. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Now, re-read the summary from the editorial of what last night's bill passage would take away from us. See anything in this list that we're losing by last night's activity?

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

That means that the Geneva Convention, which is a treaty that we entered into, is the supreme Law of these United States. We don't torture.

Except when people keep voting Republican.

Thursday - more link-a-rama

See, this is good. I find 'em, I tell you about 'em, and I make you do the work of reading them.

First things first. In local news, an air quality study here in Houston has discovered that being the center of the petrochemical universe brings with it certain undesireable elements, and, no I don't mean too many pickup trucks and men chewing tobacco. Our air sucks. Ass. And, we find out that Texas (being Texas) has never implemented recommended air quality regulations AND that our TNRR (which is, I think, only organized to issue fishing licenses) doesn't even know where all of its own detectors are, let alone have them set to measure the national standard for air pollution. Oh, and we don't count automobiles, residential fireplaces, and anything but industrial pollution in our official air counts. Big changes recommended; the real estate developers have probably already huddled to figure out how to keep this from further attention.

Did you hear about the NIE that says we (the 'Murricans) are far less safe than we were before 9/11? That we've done nothing in the war against terror? N-O-T-H-I-N-G? No? Hell, last night my room mate didn't realize that we (the 'Murricans) had tortured people. To death. A couple of dozen of them. Then, he figured we'd only have done that because they were bad people. Our government would NEVER have done that. Re-read yesterday's Habeas Corpus link if you're thinking THAT'S true. Here's an article suggesting that it was our intelligence community engaging in a little karma action - releasing information about the NIE that our government had been covering up since April, 2006.

And, if you've been paying a lick of attention, you've been hearing the rumble that our Army is short-staffed, under-equipped and .. basically in the state of the German Wehrmacht around February 1945. Brigades and divisions that are still deployed as full-strength ON PAPER, but that really don't have even half of their combat effectiveness. Here's inside information that talks about that.

Let's see, where do we go next? I haven't mentioned Chuck yet this morning; he's hooked up to an IV drip of morphine and fenigrin (which I've probably mis-spelled, so forgive me.) Like 46% of the population, he's uninsured. Were you aware that our private pay health care system consumes more of our national economy than that of any other nation in the world? Before you start telling me that people in Canada can't get hip replacements (which is NOT true,) you should read about the economic harm that our health care system is doing to our economy - and then ask yourself the question - "if we ('Murricans) spent a reasonable sum on health care, what could we do with 10% of our annual economic output, which would then be freed up?"

And, last, if you've stuck your head in the sand on the state of our Constitution over the last five years, if you've said "they're only going after bad people," if you've thought "well, this really only applies to non-Americans," if you've ignored that the Freedoms that we are "promoting" around the world are being disassembled - you could read this: the most conservative of the conservative pundits (and I don't include the intellectually bankrupt entertainment staff at CNN or Fox News) are coming UNGLUED about what McCain & cronies have agreed to do with the current government.

I think that it's time for a little refresher. Pastor Niemoller was the Pastor of the largest congregation in Berlin at the time of the Nazi's rise to power. He was an initial supporter of them, and he became one of their most vocal critics. He spent eight years in Nazi concentration camps - from 1937 (two years before the war) until he was released by Allied troops.

Pastor Niemoller wrote a poem about his time in Nazi Germany, which I quite from an excellent discussion over on Wikipedia:

Original	Translation
Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist. Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat. Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, habe ich nicht protestiert; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter. Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.	When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

Now, you take a few minutes - think about that the legislation that the house just passed.

Have a look again at the article on Habeas Corpus from yesterday. The Senate is expected to pass this bill today or tomorrow. The Democrats are too afraid of being painted as "pro-terrorist" to do anything. They are giving themselves (the President, that is) the right to:

• Have someone "detained" without a warrant, including US citizens on US soil
• Never have to charge them with a crime
• Never have to allow them access to a lawyer or to a Judge for a probable cause hearing
• Never have to reveal to anyone who is held, where and why
• Prosecute anyone who reveals information about one of the people who is detained

Does this sound like the values our Country was founded on that you learned about in grade school?

No?

Now, read Pastor Niemoller's poem again and reflect. I'll wait.

Bonus points if you can read it in German.

Two more links for Hump Day

First, the happy-happy, joy-joy stuff. Larry (from Dallas) just sent me this link a minute ago, and I found it to be so very cute. Just trust me and click on it.

This was amazing. Someone in the MEDIA actually SAID this. This is an amazing, powerful, ten minute rant about .. well, everything that I've found upsetting over the last ten-ish years. Media player or QuickTime. Your choice. Clear the decks and watch it.

Hump day - links, and other fun stuff

You just KNOW I have links for you!

First, we have a story of the beginnings of the Bush economic dynasty. Interesting reading, and a series beginning.

Next, a discussion about Habeas Corpus. You probably don't know what it is, or why the Bush/McCain compromise that allows the government to declare an American citizen an enemy combatant and hold them without charge or right of Habeas Corpus would be a huge change. So, a little history and education is in order. Click right up there.

I don't think I've ever cross posted an article about our own rough, tough (except when he sandbagged serving in the military) Dick Cheney! Here's a little piece on his 1% doctrine (if a country has a 1% chance of developing a nuclear weapon, we should invade. Unless it's North Korea, India, Pakistan or Israel.) The article applies this logic to the concept of global warming, which could be considered a stretch, but one has to think about whether such comparisons are valid.

Finally, some amusement - non-partisan amusement, although is just happens that it's a handful of Repubs engaged in the shenanigans. A newspaper article that identifies three different politicians sending in the SAME letter to the editor, asserting it to be their own work and opinion.

I've been doing filing for hours. I have been up to my keister in loose files for weeks; it feels like months. It's been dragging on my mindset, and now each and every piece of paper that doesn't yet need to be handled or worked with has been put away. I made a ton of new files, and made up a file storage list and new labels for everything.

I've also done all the simple tax returns that needed doing; now, tomorrow, I have the jumbo yucko ones to work on. I've been in touch with the mortgage course people, and I've otherwise gotten a jillion things done.

And, yet I feel that I've been unproductive. Craziness. I'm very glad to have finally gotten all of these files organized, but I feel like I should have done this at the beginning of the summer.

Half of tomorrow is going to be picking up stuff at Chuck's, visiting him in the hospital, driving to Clear Lake to see the proposed new church space, and teaching class. This leaves me Friday and Saturday to accomplish the rest of what I need to clear out here in the office.

Nevertheless, it's going to be awesome to have all of this stuff DONE. Holy cow. I feel like there's a light at the end of the work integrity tunnel.

Just after lunch, I walked out to get the mail. The spider who's been spinning the tree outside the front door has been quite industrious - he had a web that spanned the front walk blocking the path from the door to the street. That web was some strong stuff! Then, I noticed that there was a fire ant mound next to the walk that hadn't been there yesterday. So, I went back in (with the mail) and got myself the Amdro. Came out and shook a load on the nest. I went into the backyard with the intention of putting some on the mound in the backyard (which I'd looked at in the morning and seemed to be inactive,) and found a brand new mound since this morning next to the tree stump! More amdro.

Of course, this necessitated standing next to the pool, and I noticed for the second time that the Polaris' bag was chockablock full. So, I pulled him out of the pool, took off the bag, emptied it out, re-assembled it and threw him into the pool. While I was cleaning the pool filter stuff, I had to, of course, pull out the filter basket and empty it.

Then, I thought that I'd pull the hose out of the pool and reel it back up, but then, I thought first about re-arranging the potted plants, as the two hibiscus weren't doing so well and needed more direct sunlight. So, that was done, and I decided to water all the plants with the hose before I wound it up.

How to run through a half-hour doing simple things that need doing.

I wanted to wash the car today, but that didn't get done. Now, I need to run and fill up the distilled water bottles, as they're all empty. Maybe tomorrow morning.

In going through all of these files, I can really connect with that I just don't have a lot to do. I need more work to work on; I function better with good stuff in front of me all the time. Bleh. I really need to kick up my business production. I keep thinking that if I'd just have an effective helper, I could get to executing on my various schemes - that's just no longer going to be a good excuse for me.

Somehow, my back is killing me tonight. Yarg. I want to move these printers into a different space. Maybe this weekend, I'll do that.

I have to take the trash outside and put it in the bin; I am always asleep when they roll up in the mornings. I have two big bags of shredded stuff, plus the regular household trash.

I think I'm done with the computer for a while; I'm going to go downstairs and watch a DVD.

Tuesday link-a-rama

So, today, I am expected to stay at home and WORK.

Link-a-rama!

This is a beautiful article about continuing to focus on the good in life, even when it seems that circumstances are against you. It also points out that perfidy in government isn't a new thing for the United States.

This is a reflection on the emotional expressions of WWI soliders intended to demonstrate what our soldiers are likely feeling in the current day conflicts, wherein they are required to do the impossible.

For some real amusement, let's have a look at what the Religious Right (those who know what a blog is and how to use a computer) are saying.

Finally, we have a discussion by someone who is so disgusted with the entire mess that he sought to shut off his brain and join the rest of the nabobs who are voting for these idiots. It didn't work.

Twitch hasn't been heard from all day. He was snappish with me yesterday (when trying to come by to pick up his headboard after six months without planning in advance, and after blowing me off Sunday when we had made arrangements. Again.) and I was snappish last night in an email to him reminding him of a meeting tomorrow that he has to go to. He hasn't called nor returned a call all day, which leads me to believe that he's either cranky with me, or has fallen under a bus. Or a vodka bottle.

So ..

So, tonight, I'm working on putting the dining room back together, cleaning up some things and talking to Bram about what we do next. Some good news; Curtis knows just how to hook up the cooktop, and tells me to get a dryer plug. He's going to come by in the next few days and do that.

Church website, group, calendar, newsletter are all now done.

Yurg.

Monday, Monday ver 834.01

As has become a recent custom, I'll start this morning with some blog links that I found particularly compelling:

Here is a link to the Wm. Jefferson Clinton smack-down of Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday yesterday. The transcript is here. Just for grins, compare the edited version that aired on Fox with the full transcript and see where your liberal media is. If you'd like to see what the "liberal media" is saying about this unequal fight (A battle of wits where one party, Wallace, is an unarmed man) read here. Here's what the REAL liberals think about the event. You should read it. I agree with her. Clinton did no one any favors by his actions. What? Nora Ephron isn't liberal? Well, Arianna Huffington is, and she wasn't patting Clinton on the back either.

This is an article from a sports writer that pillories the current administration for their perfidious hypocrisy. Interesting that our free press is now resident in the SPORTSWRITERS.

Here you can read a Rolling Stone article that discusses the electronic voting machines that are now in use all across the country, and insiders who are coming forward to reveal that these machines were, more likely than not, manipulated by their owners during recent elections. I've told you about this before, but .. you weren't listening to me.

Volkswagen Phaeton At Nelson Ledges

And when I'm driving the W12 Phaeton, this is how it feels

phaeton

the reasons why the Phaeton is so unique and fabulous - as validated by the BBC

VW Phaeton

SO, I've been yapping about the VW Phaeton now for a year or so - and, here's a zippy video of the car. I'm intending to go up to Minneapolis to pick up the very one that I want within the next few weeks.