Wednesday, December 21, 2005

The paradox that is Tom DeLay

Much like President Bush and Bill Frist, DeLay is a man who can speak fervently of values such as honesty and integrity but never seems to live up to the ideals he advocates. Just note the picture of Tom DeLay enjoying an large Cuban cigar (DeLay is one of "Congress' most vocal critics of what he calls Castro's 'thugocracy'"). Thanks goes out to Sirotablog for pointing out a more notable example:
"The time has come that the American people know exactly what their Representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special interest groups? Or are they working hard to represent their constituents? The people, the American people, have a right to know...I say the best disinfectant is full disclosure, not isolation." - U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, 11/16/95
"Over the past six years, the former House majority leader or his associates have visited places of luxury most Americans have never seen, often getting there aboard corporate jets arranged by lobbyists and other special interests." - The Washington Post on DeLay, 12,21,05
I don't think values voters are getting their money's worth.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Tired of Supreme Court Justices breathing down your neck?

Are you holding prisoners without trial in a military prison? Have some of the prisoners retained counsel? Are civil rights advocates out to get you? Are you afraid the Supreme Court may take a case and decide against you?

Then you may have President Bush Syndrome or (PBS), but there is help. You may be able to offer certain defendants a civil trial, to keep the S.Ct. from taking their case and more than likely shutting down your whole operation. However civil trials aren't for everyone; be sure to consult your Dick Cheney before making any major policy move.

If you experience side effects such as dissenters accusing you of being corrupt or general disapproval of your abuse of presidential power on all levels, be sure to take a dose of Sept. 11th and have everyone who has come in contact with you do the same.

Friday, December 16, 2005

A Common Sense View at the New Orleans Disaster

Here is a link to a posting on the WizBang Blog that takes unique approach to describing the causes of the flooding in New Orleans. Katrina may have made the conditions suitable for the flooding, but the root cause of the flooding is mismanagement from all levels of government from the local levy board to FEMA. I do think this article gives an interesting perspective into the situation. What do you think?

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Big Brother Bush

Not to be Orwellian, but a president confident in his knowledge of all that is right and good (God), a white house that has refused to release information to a degree unprecedented, and now, according to the NY Times, the secret signature of an executive order 3 years ago to monitor telephone calls and e-mails inside the U.S. We're all familiar with the intelligence community's ability to eavesdrop on international calls and e-mails without warrant, but this is domestic.

You may say, "big whoop, the Patriot Act. What's new?" But despite the Patriot Act, without Bush's previously secret order, "the government [could] only target phones and e-mail messages in the United States by first obtaining a court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which holds its closed sessions at the Justice Department."

Why haven't we heard about it? According to the article:
The White House asked The New York Times not to publish this article, arguing that it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny. After meeting with senior administration officials to hear their concerns, the newspaper delayed publication for a year to conduct additional reporting. Some information that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists has been omitted.
The Washington Post picked up the NY Times story, elaborating on the degree to which the White House didn't want the American People to know about this:
The White House made no comment last night. A senior official reached by telephone said the issue was too sensitive to talk about. None of several press officers contacted responded to telephone or e-mail messages.
As for the rest of the Republicans, well this is something you won't find as a headline on the National Review Online, The Rant.us, ChronWatch (all the extremely conservative blogs that feed the minds of intolerant ideologues. But, surprisingly enough, it's the latest headline on the Fox News website as of 12:43 am CST (simply an AP report to maintain credibility)

We've all known the executive could exploit the Patriot Act for political reasons, but a 3-year old, secret executive order to spy on completely domestic U.S. communication without a warrant is a threat to the democracy and freedom that Bush often champions.

Dick & Don must be on vacation

I'm anxious to read the ful text of this deal.

See Bush Run...His Mouth


Bush: I'm frankly, I'm not all that familiar what's going on up there in Capitol Hill

And that's not the dumbest thing he said in a recent interview with Brit Hume. When Bush talks for more than two sentences, funny things are bound to happen. See for yourself.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Talk on Torture

I was going to write a long and boring bitch about the current adminstration's position on the torture of prisoners, but frankly, I don't have time. I do want to note a couple of qoutes from a cnn article I read earlier today.
"The ban on mistreatment of prisoners, and another provision standardizing the interrogation techniques used by U.S. troops, have stalled two defense bills in Congress, including a must-pass wartime spending measure."

"The administration fears the provisions could limit the president's ability to stop a terrorist attack and it is seeking to add language that would offer some protection from prosecution for some interrogators accused of violating McCain's provision."

"The goal is the same here," (Karen) Hughes said on CBS' "The Early Show." "The goal is to make it very clear that the United States is a nation of laws and that we operate our detainee policy within our laws, within our international obligations and without torture." (If this was true, than we wouldn't be having this discussion right now, you lying bitch!)


OK. First off, I believe that torture is complete and utter bullshit! Anyone will tell you anything that you want to hear if you hurt or scare them enough. That doesn't make it fact. If we send the message to the world that torture is OK, then we'll surely increase the probability of our troops being tortured in current or even future conflicts. McCain knows and understands this. He was once a POW and he was tortured.

Well that is my basic take on this. What do you think?

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Don't Think of an Elephant!

If you are a progressive, and you haven't read Don't Think of an Elephant! by George Lakoff, then you need to. It's short (under 150 pages), and Lakoff's advice is a powerful tool in the debate against conservative elitism. Check it out.

End welfare for the wealthy

Paying our taxes is a responsibility; paying the taxes of others is a burden. The wealthiest Americans and the GOP are using the American revolt against taxes to shift the burden completely to the working class. The details here.

Immutable Laws

Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.

Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of the Telephone: When you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal.

Law of the Alibi: If you lie to the boss that you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.

Variation Law: If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will start to move faster than the one you are in now. (works every time)

Bath Theorem: When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

Law of Close Encounters: The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

Law of the Result: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

Law of Biomechanics: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

Murphy's Law of Lockers: If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

Law of Dirty Rugs/Carpets: The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich of landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug.

Law of Location: No matter where you go, there you are.

Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

Brown's Law: If the shoe fits, it's ugly.

Theatre Rule: At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last.

Every once and a while we all need a little humor in our lives.

Bush likens Iraqi democracy to the founding of the US gov't

In a speech yesterday, Bush said, "Our Founders faced many difficult challenges. They learned from their mistakes and adjusted their approach." Suggesting the Iraqi democratic process was similar to Americas and, thus, a good thing.

While democracy indeed proves to be a good thing, the Iraqi elections are littered with acts of violence, political corruption, and US-friendly puppet-candidates. Furthermore, if I remember correctly, the American Revolution did not involve a foreign super power invading the American Colonies, cause the deaths of ~30,000 people from the colonies, and then trying to rebuild the nation, expecting no one to react to the fact that they just blew all of our shit up.

This is more akin to the imperialism that caused the American people (and Africans, Indians, and Asians--in other parts of the world, of course) to fight British rule.

Another Death Penalty Case

I was reading around some different Blogs and stumbled across this entry by Radley Balko about a black man on death row in Mississippi for killing a cop. This is a very ineresting article. If anyone knows more about this case or has any conflcting information, please share that with us.

More on Social Darwinism

Social Darwinism is a concept that I find quite intriguing. After reading the article posted below in reference to a speach given by Barak Obama, I began to do a little research into the concept of Social Darwinism. Here are some links that provide a little insight and history into the concept:

Wikipedia

IOA

Encarta

Let me know what you think.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Cool Dimbag Tribute Video

Click here!

Links of the day

Rove

DeLay

Rumsfeld

Abramoff

FEMA

Social Darwinism

Here's another one...

Superman
needs digital touch-up

Weighing in on Tookie

At 12:01 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, Tookie Williams, founder o the violent L.A. street gang “The Crips”, will become the 12th person to be put to death in California since the reinstatement of the death penalty back in 1977. He was convicted of the murder of a convenience store clerk during a robbery, and of the murders of three people including a child in a hotel. All of the witnesses in these cases were all criminals as well that were given generous plea bargain deals for their testimony against Williams.

In the years since Tookie was placed on death row, he has become very outspoken opponent of violent street gangs. He has authored many children’s books warning of the dangers of joining gangs, and has even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as well as various literature prizes. Now, many local civic leaders, national politicians, and celebrities have spoken out to try to save Tookie’s life. They are begging Gov. Schwarzenegger to grant clemency and reduce William’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Unlike the majority of liberals, I am pro-death penalty. I do, however, think that our justice system is fundamentally flawed and that executing just one innocent person is one too many. With this case, I’m torn. The Crips are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, and I’m pretty sure that Williams was involved to a certain degree in the crimes that he was convicted. Williams has failed o offer any type of an apology to the families of the victims, and has repeatedly denied any connection to the crimes. On the other hand, if Williams is executed, I believe that L.A. is going to erupt in violence, which may result in the deaths of even more people. For this reason, I believe that Gov. Schwarzenegger should reduce the sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. What do you think?

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

War on OPEC: How America will end the energy crisis (Part I)

You don’t need a degree in accounting to understand that there is something wrong with Exxon-Mobil posting $9,800,000,000.00 in profit for a 3-month period where they suffered major infrastructure damage from 2 of the strongest hurricanes on record. The reason we are constantly being extorted by the unjust price of fossil fuel is threefold: The OPEC nations that manipulate the market in order to demand outrageous prices, the OPEC-inspired lie and scare tactic that the world will soon run out of oil, and the domestic oil corporations and non-OPEC oil producing nations who play by their rules. All parties involved are stealing billions of dollars every month from the entire world.

Our own government receives regular kickbacks from lobbyists hired by all guilty parties, and therefore conveniently ignores the problem for the benefit of their own riches. This is not a Bush “H.W., 41” and a Bush “W, 43” accomplishment only, although both have done more than their share to maintain the status quo of “highway robbery” in the most literal sense. Both parties (red and blue, here) are incestuously related with Saudi riches and influence, leaving us, the consumer, leaving more of our hard-earned wealth behind for the purchase of a basic commodity. In short, if the market for grain or rice were manipulated like the oil market is, legal actions and even war would likely follow. To manipulate the price of food would leave human beings to die of starvation in a non-capitalist, fascist cash-grab by the cartel that controls the market.

To overcome the many myths surrounding the oil market is to be an enlightened and educated consumer. At this stage in human history, oil is every bit as vital as grain and rice for the survival of much of our population. To manipulate supply in order to create bloated prices and worldwide shortages is not only cruel (and illegal according to the World Trade Organization), but it is wickedly inhumane also. You and I, being relatively wealthy Americans, will do little more than complain about gasoline which costs $3 or more per gallon, but that same price might mean that a supply truck might not be able to make the trip to your village in Somalia.

The lie of a worldwide shortage has been justifying bloated crude prices for the past 45 years, and I for one am sick to the point of action of being held hostage by a myth that has overwhelming evidence to disprove. Of course the world would run out of oil one day if we did nothing to change course, we are but a sphere in space, and that sphere can only hold a known volume. What is that volume? Nobody knows exactly, but every geological report NOT financed by oil cartels or legal corporations says that we are roughly 1/3 of the way pumped out of crude oil as we know it, with at least twice that volume in other forms of oil that we do not yet process for gasoline. We will never pump the last drop of oil out of the earth, and here’s why:

In the pre-industrial age, wood-fired furnaces fueled factories. When they realized that wood, the fuel source, might run out at their rate of consumption, other avenues for energy were explored. Coal was introduced, and took over as a much more profitable fuel. Once coal was feared to be in shortage, alternatives were once again sought after. Oil became a viable fuel, and it proved even more beneficial than coal. Now that we’ve progressed through history, have we run out of wood and coal? Of course not. Stop panicking; we will discover the next generation of fuels when the market says the time is right. According to the market, we probably have another 10 years of carefree oil consumption, but due to our anti-capitalist friends at OPEC, we no longer have a choice. The time for an alternative fuel is now, so that we can begin the long-overdue backlash at OPEC for over 45 years of marketplace terrorism.

Environmentally speaking, we will benefit from cleaner, more advanced fuels. Producing fuel domestically will also help to counterbalance America’s gaping trade deficit, empowering the US dollar. The reason we must push this issue to the forefront is because OPEC must be punished for their crimes against not just America, but humanity, and banished into a shameful death in this sad chapter of an otherwise wonderfully productive period in human history: The Oil Age.

In part II of this post (a bit later this week- hopefully!) I will explain the details of the three-point strategy we must pursue to break OPEC’s grip on the world economy. If left unchecked, OPEC will destroy the world’s economic prosperity, and continue to fund the Islamic terrorists that will expand their fight against our very way of life so long as we keep sending them our wealth in exchange for the “black gold” beneath their feet in the desert. Americans are the greatest of innovators, and now it is time to prove that we will lead the world into an energy-independent future.

Yours in Freedom,

The BlackLabelAxe

Note: I borrowed many ideas from Raymond J. Learsy’s book, “Over a Barrel: Breaking the Middle East Oil Cartel”. This was written 100% by me, however I've linked the title to his book on Amazon.com, out of respect for Mr. Learsy's work. I would highly recommend this book if you hate economic terrorism as much as I do.

BigNewsDay says:

I agree Axe! A great alternative is biodiesel. Willie Nelson has started a biodiesel production and distribution company down here in Texas. Find out more by clicking here.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Those Were the Days...

Cross-posted on The Metal Pundit

James Hetfield and Dimebag Darrell Abbott (RIP)

I sure miss the days when Metallica employed the thrash metal attitude. But I really miss the days when Dimebag was alive! Why was he taken from us so soon? In three days, we will see the first anniversary of the legend's murder. It still hurts. It still chokes me up when I listen to Cemetery Gates or Hollow. I dedicate this entire week to Dimebag Darrell's memory. I miss you Dime. I still can't get over taking you for granted for so long. Rest in Peace bro'.

Links of the day

Please voice your opinions on the following articles:

DeLay money-laundering charges upheld - MSNBC

The many facets of Tookie Williams - cnn.com

U.S. given 'more F's than A's' on terror preparation - cnn.com

Rice defends U.S. terrorism policy - AP

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Censorship: How the government OWN3D us all

The FCC never fails to amaze me with their blatant defiance of our blood-ransomed right to free speech. Where did they get the term "acceptable for community standards" out of this black-and-white decree?:

"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."

According to Dictionary.com, to abridge means to "reduce in scope while retaining essential elements". It seems to me the fathers made it very clear that in no way shall the government step on the freedom of the press, or anyone's right to speak or broadcast whatever they wish.

In practice, this might be debatable if we were talking about public broadcast media, subsidized by tax money. Instead, we're talking about cable television, which all customers must pay per month to view. Basically, we've got the FCC now telling Comedy Central, telling South Park (and others) what they can and can't show to an audience of paying customers. If that's not evil enough for you, I'll leave you with a Patrick Henry quote to wake you up to the severity of it:

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined."

-Partick Henry, to the Virginia Convention of June 5, 1788

As always, I'll remind you that a revolution of ideas will likely suffice, but we need to combat this usurpation of Constitutional Rights with whatever means are necessary. Our freedom, and our very lives depend on it. Our ancestors fought King George's mighty Redcoat Army in places like Lexington, Concorde, and Valley Forge in order to secure these freedoms for future generations of free Americans. It is a sad day when the very government we installed to protect ourselves has grown into such a monster that it feels it can control the freedoms of the citizens it derives its power from. We can honor the sacrifice of our patriots of both pen and sword by preserving these rights for future generations.

By the way, I'm the newest contributor to the site, The BlackLabelAxe, from Kennesaw, Georgia. I'm a kitten-killing metalhead, a powerlifter, and a freedom fighter. As you may have suspected from my name, I'm a fan of American metal such as Corrosion of Conformity, Pantera, The Black Label Society, Nevermore, and Metallica. My taste for metal includes worldwide acts also, such as Opeth, In Flames, Meshuggah, Sepultura, and Soulfly (even though they're really American). I'm into so much music that it's impossible to list it here, but those are some of my favorites. I'm sick of all the left vs. right bickering that is keeping us from making any real progress in this country, and I never hesistate to shell partisans with pummeling artillery rounds at the very first whiff of corruption. I'm a rabid supporter of Constitutional freedom and capitalism, which is why you'll regularly hear me supporting the Fair Tax amendment. I'm an engineer by trade, but I've always got an axe to grind in the political arena. I'll shut up now before I start to ramble, but I'm looking forward to many posts and comments in this arena. It's quite a joy to hear from well-spoken metalheads who enjoy honest political discussion, even if we don't agree on everything.

Blsabob's wacky links of the day

Third Reich n Roll

Retard n Roll