Islamic Fascism Update...

Whoa - so for those of you who thought my post on Islamic Fascism was a little loopy, or whatever, the AP picked up on the meme today. And yeah, it was rough and needs work, and maybe I'll get around to fixing the post and making it an essay or something. But for now, it's kind of a cool feeling to see something I noticed popping up in the news.

Republicans target 'Islamic fascism'

WASHINGTON - President Bush n recent days has recast the global war on terror into a "war against Islamic fascism." Fascism, in fact, seems to be the new buzz word for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq.

Bush used the term earlier this month in talking about the arrest of suspected terrorists in Britain, and spoke of "Islamic fascists" in a later speech in Green Bay, Wis. Spokesman Tony Snow has used variations on the phrase at White House press briefings.

Sen. Rick Santorum R-Pa. [And total wanker - ETS] , in a tough re-election fight, drew parallels on Monday between World War II and the current war against "Islamic fascism," saying they both require fighting a common foe in multiple countries. It's a phrase Santorum has been using for months.

And Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday took it a step further in a speech to an American Legion convention in Salt Lake City, accusing critics of the administration's Iraq and anti-terrorism policies of trying to appease "a new type of fascism."

White House aides and outside Republican strategists said the new description is an attempt to more clearly identify the ideology that motivates many organized terrorist groups, representing a shift in emphasis from the general to the specific.

The White House on Wednesday announced Bush would elaborate on this theme in a series of speeches beginning Thursday at the American Legion convention in Salt Lake City and running through his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 19.

To me, it's typical Republican behavior - projection. Like the media is controlled by liberals. Like the terrorists don't care about killing innocent people. Point out the 'fascism' of your enemy and maybe the people won't notice your own. Kind of llike a criminal who yells 'Stop Thief!' when you catch him (or her) picking your pocket. And people just lap it up.

It's sad.

The Great Debate That Will Never Happen...

Ahmadinejad challenges Bush to debate

TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday challenged President Bush to a televised debate and voiced defiance as a deadline neared for Iran to halt work the West fears is a step toward building nuclear bombs.

"Peaceful nuclear energy is the right of the Iranian nation ... it wants to use it and no one can stop it," he told a news conference.

The White House said Ahmadinejad's call for a presidential debate on global concerns was a "diversion."

Ahmadinejad condemned the U.S. and British roles in the world since World War Two.

"Isn't it time that international relations are founded on democracy and equal rights of the nations?" he asked. "I suggest holding a live TV debate with Mr George W. Bush to talk about world affairs and the ways to solve those issues.

"The debate should be go uncensored in order for the American people to be able to listen to what we say and they should not restrict the American people from hearing the truth."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "Talk of a debate is just a diversion from the legitimate concerns that the international community, not just the U.S., has about Iran's behavior -- from support for terrorism to pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability..."

Of course, it will never happen. It wouldn't be fair. President Ahmadinejad has a much better command of English than President Bush.

Come on, you know Jon Stewart is gonna do that joke. It might be funnier if Colbert does it. Leno?

OK, two pictures...

...both mental. I didn't need a camera. And I know these two posts will come out backwards - that's the bummer of blogging - it's a chronicle of life read backwards. Anyway...

Dinner at Sweet Lou's was really special, and I didn't want this to get lost in that last long post. We were running late for our reservation because I forgot the Al Franken tickets and we had to turn back. We still would have been OK, but then we got stuck by a lot of really slow and a few really bad drivers coming down the mountain. We called and told them we were running late and they said no problem, we'll keep your table, but you're going to have a hard time parking because of the accordian festival.

Well, I postulated to Rachel, "What if all of these things, forgeting the tickets, all the slow drivers, the near accident, what if all of that was settings things up so we luck in to someone pulling out of a parking space right in front just as we get there." Sure enough, we got there and traffic was a mess and the park was packed with accordian lovers and the crosswalks were packed and then, Bam, someone backed out right across the street from the restaurant right after I stopped to let someone cross the street. That was fun.

Anyway, she had our table for us, we sat down, and the long table we sat at at our wedding dinner was all set up but the party had not arrived yet. I cried a little picturing everyone who was there - Michelle down on the end, Mike and Ang, Travis and Julie, Laurie, Teresa, Lauren and all. And when I shut my eyes, I could half hear and half imagine everyone sitting around talking and laughing. That was really special for me and I miss all of you who were there. So that was mental picture one.

The meal was awesome. We started with salad - I love their mixed greens with walnuts, apples, and crumbled bleu cheese. They switched from a vinagrette to a creamy bleu dressing, and I'm not sure which I prefer now. Rachel had some other salad that was just OK. I had a New York with a side of fettucine alfredo and broccoli. Rachel had pesto cream canneloni. So that was the meal. It's great how when you eat right for a while, eating out becomes more special. And when we eat out around here, I'm usually disappointed because I know I could make something better at home. But not here. Also, the wine was a two year old pinot (I am drawing a blank on the name now, but it will come tome). It was good. But when you took a little sip of it with whatever you were eating - canneloni, steak, fettucine, whatever, it was a flavor explosion. Rachel said it looked like I had a mouth-gasm. And I did. She had a few, too.

Mental picture two is of how beautiful Rachel looked when she raised her glass of pinot (we were NOT drinking merlot!) and told me how much she loves me, why she loves me, and why she thinks we are so good together.

It was one of those John Hiatt stolen moments for me. You steal enough and it feels like we're stopping time.

A Weekend Without Pictures...

I didn't take a single photograph this weekend. And we did a lot.

Thursday was our 4th wedding anniversary. Rachel had to take Jake down to Petaluma to see the vampires at Kaiser - Jake needed to get his bloodwork done for Monday's Remicaid treatment. When they got back, we went to Gracias Taqueria for dinner and came home and exchanged gifts.

I got Rachel a Topaz flower necklace and topaz earrings, and a 2 CD set of The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny. That's Tiki Music. And for those of you less gay than me, flowers are the traditional 4th anniversary gift and topaz is the traditional stone. And coincidentally, it's also Rachel's birthstone. I also got us tickets to see Al Franken and dinner reservations at Sweet Lou's. Sweet Lou's is one of my favorite restaurants, it's in Cotati (a town not really know for cuisine or culture, or anything really outside of the accordian festival), and it's where we held our wedding dinner.

Rachel got me a nice plaid shirt and a sweater to match. She also got us dinner reservations at
Trader Vic's in San Francisco and a room at a nice hotel. She wins hands down on the presentation - it's hard to describe, but she put these cute pictures together and made like a little comic book.

Friday went by pretty quickly. A lot of little things at work made the day fly by. Then we had to take Jake down to Petaluma to see his Dad. And Rachel wanted to go to the mall in Santa Rosa on the way home. I hate the mall, but I love my wife, so we went. She needed shoes for the upcoming reunion. So we went to Macy's.

Now, I occasionally buy clothing on Amazon, but other than that, for the last two years, most of my clothes have come from Wal-Mart. And with the reunion coming, I thought I should invest a little in my wardrobe so I don't show up wearing Wrangler jeans and a Dickies button down. And there was a really big sale on. So I poked around the men's department to see what I should be wearing and compare it to what I had on. And I've needed a pair of brown dress shoes for a while as well. I found those, three shirts, a pair of jeans, and a pair of casual shoes that I think look ridiculous but Rachel swears are very hip. And they were very comfortable, so I got them.

On my receipt it said something like Total - $257, Savings $234. At one point, as I watched the register tick away my items, my savings exceeded my cost. So I did OK. And I'm happy with what I got. But when I add my savings to the total, I just can't fathom spending $500 on the items I purchased. But I guess some people do.

On Saturday, we got a mid-morning call from Paul and Lauren. They are fed up with their living situation - inconsiderate neighbors, barking dogs, and such. They had gone out to breakfast, and after they ate, they called us to se if they could come up and spend the weekend. And we were thrilled. It feels so good to have people want to come hang out when we live so far away. So they came - they left straight away from the restaurant. Showed up an hour later with two cases of beer. So we spent the afternoon hanging out, talking. Then Rachel and I went down to dinner and Al Franken. Got home around 11:00 and they were tired, so we all went to bed. Today we hung out, talked, laughed a lot, had Sloppy Joes for lunch (Paul's first tast of this American delicacy), took hot tubs, had a few beers, laid out in sun and took a nap in the shade. We put the shade up over the hot tub and hooked up a mini-mister system. It was an afternoon of heaven. They left around 4:00.

Pete brought Jake all the way home, so that was nice. I'm about sick of driving over the hill as I've had to do that a lot the last couple of weeks. I was beat and took anoher little nap. Rachel and Jake spent the evening hanging out.

All that, and no pictures.

Scott, this post's for you - Bonobos and Chimpanzees

Scott is one of my dearest friends and also a frequent comment poster (that's not comment begging, Ted, that's an observation). We met purely by chance when he was assigned to be my roommate in room 714, Griffiths Hall Dormitory, Unit II, U.C. Berkeley. I and others are convinced that this particular dorm was a cruel social experiment and there was a Sociology Grad Student living among us working on his thesis. But Scott and I worked well together. Travis was our neighbor and later Scott and Travis were roommates. And we're all still friends today. So there were pockets of success scattered throughout the largely dysfunctional living situation.

Anyway- I remember the first book Scott recommended that I read. It was The Naked Ape. Scott beleives that we humans are essentially animals. I'm oversimplifying a more complex view, of course, but basically, Scott has far lower expectations of our species than I do. We recently had a discussion about whether a more enlightened, Democratic, and egalitarian, and peaceful society is possible. I was focussing on peace. Scott said he was surprised that we aren't more violent than we are, surprised we keep it together as well as we do, and that violence is simply human nature. I tend to acknowledge that we descended from apes, but I believe we are capable of accomplishing much more as a society than we have so far. So I tend to reject Scott's premise that we are glorified apes because I can't accept that we aren't capable of more.

Well, I recently subscribed to Spiegel's e-mail newsleter (it's free and so far, I recommend it for a nice balance of real news and interesting articles) and the following article was featured today.

(Click on the text below to go to the whole article.)


SPIEGEL INTERVIEW: THE TWO APES WITHIN US

Hippy Sex Fiends and Brutal Machiavellians

So if humans evolved from apes, which ones are our closest relatives? Dutch primate researcher Frans de Waal spoke with SPIEGEL about bloodthirsty chimpanzees, sex-crazed bonobos, the origin of the family and the nature of human beings.

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,433327,00.html

What I love about this article is that it is a middle way between my own and my dear friend's views and philosophies. After reading it, I am better able to accept Scott's basic premise along with my own. I'm curious to hear what Scott (and anyone else) has to say about the possibility that we have a dualistic human nature.

What's funny to me is Scott is so much more a bonobo than a chimpanzee. Notice I didn't qualify that last statement as an opinion. I think all of my friends are mostly bonobos, really. Except maybe Tony. But he's only a chimpanzee when he has to be. And as much as I love Scott, if I were driving through a really bad neighborhood, I'd much rather have Tony riding shotgun, because Tony's probably armed (he's a Sheriff's Deputy, not a wacky gun nut).

238.1...

...and the reunion is in 23 days.

Assuming I don't hit some wicked evil monster plateau, or go out to dinner, have dessert, then drinking, get drunk on a lot of White Russians and then go to Denny's for Moons Over My-Hammy, chili cheese fries, and a chocolate shake, I'm thinking I could be at 225 for the reunion. Maybe 220 if I'm still dropping a lot of water.

That means I could hit 200 safely by Christmas. Assuming I skip Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Anyway, what's funny to me is that at 200, I will need all new clothes and I will STILL BE FAT!!!! I'd then have to lose another 40 pounds to be at a "healthy" weight according to the Body Mass Index (BMI) tables.

160? Yeah, in 8th grade, maybe. Or was that 6th grade?

Lunch and The Pond and Creepy Crawlies...

So you might remember a post I had a while back about Peanut Butter and Bacon Sandwiches. And I've mentioned a few times how Ted has gotten me to thinnk about eating healthier. And you might have also noticed my weight tracking and reunion countdown. Well, this was lunch today...



Yeah, that's a bowl of fruit salad, yogurt, raw almonds and raw pecans. Jake and I made fruit salad, and before I knew it, I had thrown some in a bowl and added the other ingredients and set it on the table. The look on Cody's face says, "Where's the bacon?" It's weird, it's like there's a healthy person inside of me taking over my actions - I swear, I made that lunch without thinking, it just sort of happened. That's good, right?

OK, so moving on, here's a daylight shot of the pond area. I still have to plant some plants, but I need Rachel's advice, so it will have to wait another day. She's taking Jake down to see the vampires at Kaiser for some blood work before his next Remicaid.

Also, Jake's been exercising too...


And his voice is changing. It's funny sometimes. Rachel and I are missing our little boy. It seems like only yesterday that it seemed like only yesterday that we realized we couldn't play the 1-2-3 swing game holding his hands any more. But we're proud of him, and enjoying watching him grow up. He had a few bumps towards the end of the school year and the beginning of the Summer, but he's really gotten his act together. I am confident it will carry over in to the new school year. And Rachel and I owe some thanks to our family and friends who gave us advice and also spent time with Jake and supported our parenting. So, you know, thanks.

So this afternoon, after work, Jake and I spent a little time on the pond. We turned over this big cement piece and found...

That's not a meerkat. And it's a bit early for Halloween. It's a big fat nasty looking black widow. Look closeley, you can see it's eyes. And it ran over and grabbed it's fat white egg sac and carried it around for a while trying to hide. I missed that shot while Jake was getting the camera. And the spider ditched the baggage and went looking for a place to hide. It's still out there somewhere, probably in the electrical box waiting for me to come unplug the pump to clean the pond so it can bite me for wrecking her comfy cement home by the water.

And you might be saying, "Yeah yeah, a big spider, but it's probably not a black widow, just a big black spider."

To that, I reply...



I know the picture's not that great, but that's the red hourglass there on the abdomen towards the top of the frame. So there!

241.3...

...and the reunion is in 25 days.

The Weekend...

Well, I made it a point to stay away from the news this weekend. Once I figured out that that nutjob who claims to be responsible for the death of the little blond show girl didn't teach at Jake's school while he was in the Petaluma District, I had absolutely no interest in that story anyway.

And Jake spent the weekend in Petaluma with a friend of his. So it was just the wife and I.

On Friday we felt like going out and we went to the Robinson Rancheria Casino and Resort. It was a much better experience than the Twin Pines, or "The Tent" as Rachel has taken to calling it. Better food, for sure. No flies buzzing around. Nicer place, too, and they seem to draw some decent entertainment. Well, Styx was playing Saturday, anyway. Rachel started with $160 and I started with $140. The Wheel was not so kind. But they had a fun Dirty Harry slot. And Star Wars. Rachel did great on that one. I was up for a while, but, well, the force wasn't with me. She walked out with $550, and I walked out with her. Amazingly, she stayed awake the whole way home and we had a nice long talk about everything and nothing.

We also ventured guesses as to how the Clearlake area got to be so crappy. I mean, it's coming back, but you can tell at one time it was a pretty happening place with lots of tourists. My theory was people had vacation homes and then retired there on a fixed income. So it became a sleepy retirement town with not a lot of tourist dollars. Rachel speculated that there's been a combination of lifetyle changes - like people don't take a week or two off and go to the lake anymore - and that business owners didn't reinvest in keeping their places nice so people go elsewhere. But man, there's got to be a good 15 or 20 miles of lake front property there that is just beautiful. Unfortunately, the built the road right along the water. It makes for a pretty drive around sunset, but it seems like such a waste.

On Saturday we started the day with a hot tub. That was nice. Then we did a few chores around the house. I organized the pantry. There's still more to do, but it looks a lot better. And now I know I don't need to buy tuna fish, refried beans, soup, plastic bags, crackers, or tea for a very long time. And we finally got the dog food bin in the pantry instead of out in living room.



I've been meaning to do something about the pond area and started that project.

Here's the before...


And the after (finsihed today)...

I decided to build a wall and make a big flower bed. And man, it was frustrating trying to get the blocks level with the dual slope of the yard. I ended up using a bubble level on each block. I found I didn't have enough blocks once I started laying them out. And that meant a trip to Wal Mart for more and some dirt to fill it in. When we got back, I really didn't feel like unloading the dirt and blocks and haullingthem down to the yard. Plus the wheelbarrow had a flat and that meant lugging out the compressor and trying to pump up the tubeless tire - and that meant finding some cheap sunscreen or something to smear on it to get a seal. So we just sat down and had dinner and watched Brick. Good movie. I love that I really liked it and I can't seem to figure out why. Part of it was how when you're in high school all of the little dramas seem like lofe or death. Well, these high school dramas really ARE life and death. It was well acteed and visually very interesting. In the special features I learned that it's sort of an homage to Dashiell Hammett. And although I've never read any, I then recognized the style and it made a little more sense.

Oh, I made macaroni salad for the first time. It was yummy. I used a few too many onions, though. Then we tubbed again and wathced shooting stars. Then we went to bed and watched Saturday Night Live a little.

Today we started the day with a tub again, and then sat out catching some sun and reading. Did I mention I'm reading "The Omnivore's Dilema" and that it is fantastic? Do you think maybe the rise in cancer cases and things like 6 year olds getting ulcerative colitis might have something to do with how much petroleum goes in to growing corn and how that corn goes in to practically everything we eat? Anyway, then we did more chores. Rachel did laundry and tackled the bedroom. I fixed the wheelbarrow (didn't even need sunscreen, I got lucky and it caught and filled right up) and then lugged the dirt and blocks down the hill and around the way to the pond. I finished my little wall and then mowed the lawn. Then I noticed a bunch of wicked brown and dry spots, so I raked, seeded, and spread some soil over the seed. I didn't get around to planting anything yet, but here's what the pond looks like now...

I also cleaned the pond filter and skimmed it. I'm not sure what to plant in my new little bed there. I had some ideas, but Rachel pointed out that the plants I had in mind, like Kana or Foxglove, will grow tall and block the pond. So maybe I'll plant those behind it and put some succulents in there. I want some color, though. Something with some pop because the whole area is pretty plain. Any ideas Dolores or Laurie?

After that, I was BEAT in the more traditional slang sense of the word. Rachel was downstairs watching TV and I went up to fix something to eat. And then I was not happy with the way the kitchen looked so I got all motivated somehow and did this...


So that's done. And I went downstairs with my dinner and it was already 9:00. And Rachel was a little bummed out that I was gone so long. And I knew she would get over it when she saw the kitchen. And I was right. Anyway, we were flipping through the channels looking for something to watch and came across this show on Animal Planet that I think they made just for Rachel.


She was thrilled and laughed off and on through the whole show. I don't know what it is, but my wife is just kooky for meerkats. The show is narrated by Samwise and chronicles the daily life of a herd of meerkats. I used to like that guy, but after the last season of 24, uhhh, not so much. Wait a herd? Are they a clan? A tribe, perhaps? Anyway, I can see this taking the place of CSI and Law and Order Criminal Intent. It's like a reality show except the characters are weasels literally iinstead of figuratively. The only one I can recognize after two episodes is Flower, and that's only because she wears a radio collar. Other than that, I can't tell them apart. The lady at the zoo acted like she knew who was who, but I thought she was just making it up as she went along. But maybe after watching them for weeks at a time you notice differences. Anyway, it was fun watching that. Mostly it's fun for me to watch Rachel giggle.

Then Rachel went to bed, I took a hot tub and watched shooting stars. I saw a few run of the mill ones but then I saw this crazy one that looked like it split three ways and then shot back in the opposite direction. Oh, and I had my contact lenses in which proved to be much nicer than wearing glasses or seeing fuzzy dots.

And now I am upstairs blogging. It's after midnight, so the weekend is technically over. I'm gonna read the news a bit and head for bed. Thanks for stopping by and reading through this long post. See that little comments link down there? If you've got a minute, click on it and leave a comment. I love comments.

242.2...

...and the reunion is in 30 days.

How can he say this stuff?

I realize I've been a little heavy on things other than pictures, recipes, and trips to the zoo lately. Maybe it's just a phase, or maybe it's just the times we're living in, but for now, I can't just let these things go by without comment. Every night I vow to go to bed early, and every night I feel like maybe I'm missing something important, so I go off on a dozen or so internet tangents and fill my head with unpleasant facts. And then I feel compelled to tell people - people I know and love, as well as complete stangers who may happen upon this site - about what is going on in the world. And I know there are others who are much better at this sort of thing than I am. But I feel like I have to do something, and this at least feels like something.

It occured to me recently that if you just read the White House press releases and listen to what the administration says, it's easy to believe things are just ducky. It's even easier if you get your news from the main stream media. And if you watch Fox News, it's nearly impossible to find fault with the administration.

Today, President Bush said:

"Some say that America caused the current instability in the Middle East by pursuing a forward strategy of freedom, yet history shows otherwise. We didn't talk much about freedom or the freedom agenda in the Middle East before September the 11th, 2001; or before al Qaeda first attacked the World Trade Center and blew up our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in the 1990s; or before Hezbollah killed hundreds of Americans in Beirut and Islamic radicals held American hostages in Iran in the 1980s. History is clear: The freedom agenda did not create the terrorists or their ideology. But the freedom agenda will help defeat them both."

He also said that Hezbollah attacked Israel without provocation, but I'm not going to get in to that tonight. On the surface, it would appear that he is addressing those who would question his policies and that he might go on to justify his position with relevant facts. Instead, he set up a false argument that he counters not with facts, but with empty rhetoric.

What immediately jumped out at me was the fact - not the rumor, but the historical fact - that the reason Islamic radicals held American hostages was a direct (though delayed) result of the U.S. and Great Britain orchestrating a coup that overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953. They essentially installed a puppet ruler in the Shah. Why did the U.S. and Great Briatin do that? Because Mossadegh nationalized the oil industry. It was all about the oil even back then. The pro-Western Shah ruled in a more and more authoritarian fashion until he was ousted by a popular revolt. As I undertand it, part of the reason for the hostage crisis was another impending operation to restore the Shah to power.

Of course, at the end of that crisis, there's the whole October Surprise where it seems at least plausible, if not likely that the Reagan campaign neogtiated (illegaly) with the Iranian government to undermine the Carter Administration's efforts at diplomacy and extend the crisis until after Reagan was elected. Just a coincidence, do you think, that the hostages were released the day Reagan was inaugurated? This paragraph is largely speculation, but there is a lot of supporting evidence out there.

I'm a little fuzzy on the other atrocities he cited. And while it will take me a while to fill in the specific details, I know that in every case he mentioned, including September 11th (what year was that again? I wonder if President Bush even knows), the attacks on U.S. interests were motivated by oppostion towards and anger over U.S. policies. They don't hate our freedoms. They hate the way we meddle in their affairs and prop up unpopular un-democratic governments because they are freindly to U.S. (and British) oil interests.

And here we are today, the U.S. and Great Britain meddling in the affairs of an oil producing country in the Middle East - Iraq this time. Which has nothing to do with al Queda or the attack on September 11th (2001) or any of the other attacks he mentioned.

He's right about just one thing in that paragraph - History is clear: The freedom agenda (whatever that is) did not create the terrorists or their ideology. But he's completely wrong in thinking his current approach will defeat them.

Did you hear about Ian Wright's $100,000 electric car that is faster 0-60 than every car on the planet save for the $1.25 million Bugatti Veyron? If the money we've wasted in Iraq (Over $307,000,000,000 according to that little counter up there on the right) had been spent on alternative energy research, we'd wouldn't need the oil that prompts those who claim to know what is in our nation's strategic interest to do the things they do.

That would go a long way towards the goal of reducing terrorism and ultimately getting the terrorists to change their ideology and not want to blow us up so much.

Whoah - it wasn't just me, lots of people saw it...

Check out the video on this page...

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Olbermann_The_Nexus_of_politics_and_0815.html

It's a video montage on MSNBC (Olbermann, of course) called the Nexus of Politics and Terror. He documents 10 incidents since 2002 where bogus threats or threats based on questionable or outdated intelligence were released in the middle of a news cycle full of damaging or embarassing stories about the Bush Administration. That's 10 IN ADDITION to last week's.

And it has now become an accepted fact that last week's arrests took place not becuase they had to, but because the Bush Administration forced them to, threatening to do it themselves and 'render' the main suspect.

Furthermore, the supposed 'link to al Queda' was probably obtained through torturing the suspect- he was questioned in Pakistan, so that's a prtty safe bet.

It's sick, just sick.

The Democrats need to do two things. No, wait, three.

1.) Win in November.
2.) Win on a progressive platform and stick to that platform.
3.) Investigate all of these criminal acts of the Bush Administration.

Oh, wait, there's four.

4.) Repeal the ridiculous, regressive tax cuts that Bush got passed.

Oh, no, jeez, there's five.

5.) Undo all of the lousy laws that have been passed in the last six years- Patriot Act, Bankruptcy Bill, Environmental Bills, Energy Policy, etc.

I'm sure there's six, and probably a lot more than that, but I am done with this post. Check out that video, though.

They're back...

They were gone for a while. And we were worried about them. There used to be five or six, but this year, we had only seen two. They used to hang out at our house, I think because it was vacant for so long and nobody bothered them.

Anyway, I saw a grey cat at the top of my driveway, and then a peacock poked his head around the bushes - it spread it's tail feathers and charged the cat. The cat wanted no part of that nasty business. I walked up the driveway - the male disappeared, but I did see Momma Pea Hen and four little babies. Daddy was protecting the babies, it seems.

Of course, the picture came out blurry. It's just something I can't seem to get - a good picture of the peacocks. I've probably taken 40 pictures and not a single good one in the bunch. I think it's because I really need a Cannon Digital Rebel so I can use my SLR zoom lens. But alas, they are still really expensive.

Anyway - the peacocks are back. That's my point.

245.3...

...and the reunion is in 32 days.

I wasn't being flippant...

I've made fun of the terror alert a few times now. Most recently after the foiled London Airliner plot. And some people might think I'm being flippant, or worse, unpatriotic and un-American. Most news broadcasts, articles, and op-ed pieces have been talking about how the threat was broken up in the nick of time (but there may be others out there) and tend to sow more fear. Indeed, initial reports when the story broke (just after midnight or so) seemed to indicate that there could actually be planes over the Atlantic that could blow up at any minute. And as the day wore on, various politicans and department heads spoke about the need to be vigilant, the ties to al Queda, and how we are still a nation at war.

But if you spend a little time reading the less publicized stories, for example, the additional links at the end of stories on Yahoo news, or spend some time on reputable alternate, and even some main stream news organizations, a different picture emerges. The war and fear mongers got their quotes in the press about how this episode just shows how we are not safe, we need to be vigilant, and we need to give up more of our freedoms. Did you happen to notice how the spin-meisters used the incident to portray the Democrats as weak on defense? How our Vice President implied that Ned Lamont's win emboldens the al Queda types?

There is a pattern to these terror threats -something bad or embarassing to the current Administration hits the news cycle and -BAM!- something like this happens. It almost seems intentional. Perhaps it is:

Source: U.S., U.K. at odds over timing of arrests

British wanted to continue surveillance on terror suspects, official says

By Aram Roston, Lisa Myers, and the NBC News Investigative Unit

NBC News

Updated: 7:43 a.m. PT Aug 14, 2006

LONDON - NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States.

British officials knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

In contrast to previous reports, one senior British official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.

And then there's this (from Josh Nelson)

So the question then, is, what possible motivation would the U.S. government have for making sure this plot went public as soon as possible? Perhaps it has something to do with a primary in which a pro-war incumbent was unseated and a CNN poll indicating that support for the Iraq war is at an all time low. The UN Observer explains the pattern of thwarted terrorist attacks at opportune times.

The day after Senate Democrats brought a vote to pull out of Iraq, we catch a few idiots in Miami who were supposedly trying to blow up the Sears Tower, despite the fact that they lacked the means and ability to do so. Then there were the guys busted for supposedly plotting to blow up a New York subway exactly a year after the London bus bombings. And don't forget the release of new Osama bin Laden tapes just before the 2004 election as well as the very day after the Supreme Court decision striking down the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals. And now today, a few men in England were arrested for a plan to blow up planes flying to America, just a day after Connecticut voters flatly rejected Joe Lieberman and the war in Iraq.

This is not a definite thing here but it sure does look like the Bush administration is politicizing terror, again.

Politicizing terror?

Again?

Yes, again. And again and again.

I, for one, can't imagine flying across the country, let alone the Atlantic, without my iPod, some books, bottled water, and my toiletries kit (the latter a lesson in travelling I learned when my luggage was lost once). And there really aren't very good reasons for giving these things up. Up until relatively recently, you could carry butane lighters on a plane. If that shoe-bomber, Richard Reid, had just brought a Zippo instead of a flimsy book of matches, that plane would have gone down. These new policies and procedures serve only to create more fear and provide the illusion of safety brought to you by the increasingly intrusive Federal Government. An intelligent, motivated person will always be able to find a way to beat "security." I think our efforts would be better spent changing the policies that motivate people to commit these acts.

Thinking this way used to be un-American and un-patriotic - but now the polls are showing it's a very mainstream idea (click here).

My New Favorite Thing...

OK, so for the last couple of weeks, Jake and I have been spending our mornings working together. I've been working on, well, you know work - right now that's mostly call flows and a dialog specification document for PSECU. And Jake's been working on exercises in his Summer Bridge book, and 8th grade standard test preperation (No Child Left Behind is a reality we have to deal with - and we endeavor to make sure he knows the difference between learning things and learning how to fill in the correct bubble).

Today we decided to try it outside. It's a nice change.



Birds chirping and the sound of the fountain make it a nice environment for working. Unfortunately, the temperature is well on it's way to 95 or so today and we had to go inside once the sweat started rolling down our backs.

The Rock Of The 80's - KQAK The Quake...

Anyone remember The Quake? Alex Bennett and Joe Rigelski in the morning? Back before Alex Bennett became an insufferable prick? Naomi - Fred's ex-girlfriend. With local comedians? Big Rick Stuart. The Lobster. Anyone? It was a big part of my life my junior and senior years of high school. They played all new wave all the time. A couple of years ago, there was this big nostalgia for hte 80's and a whole bunch of mix tapes and CDs claiming to be the best of the 80s. Each of those albums, in my opinion had mayve two or three songs that were a part of what I listened to back then. But to make my ultimate 80s compilation, you'd need two songs from each of those crappy store bought compilations and about 20 other songs not on any of them.

Like Robert Seidler's Christian Boy. The chorus of "No more scooter rides in the cemetary," haunts me to this day. I'll be in the shower or driving, or perhaps walking by a cemetary, and the words just float up from the depths of my consciousness and come singing out of my mouth. I couldn't find the song anywhere - even back when I used to use Morpheus and Napster and whatnot.




Well, about a month ago, I got tires put on the Jetta. And I had some time to kill, so I browsed around the Clearlake Hospice Thrift Store. There I found, first, a cassette of The Pet Shop Boys, please. So I'm probably at least a little gay. But then I found this weird cassette - The Quake' FM 99's Rock of 1984. And guess what - there's no Van Halen on it. But it does have Christian Boy. I was so thirlled, I also bought a pair of penny loafers for a dollar.










I listened to the tape all the way home and then got all dressed up like I was in high school - right down to the odd colored polo type shirt with the collar up, my letter jacket, and yes, even my Ray Ban Cats sunglasses.

The Oakland Zoo...

We took a family trip to the Oakland Zoo today. It was Rachel's great idea.


It was a blast. Saw lots of cool animals. The best part for me was the sky ride. While going over the lion pen, one lion made a noise. I imitated the noise. It made the noise back. We talked like this for a few minutes until another lion interrupted. Man those things are loud. It's this deep throaty sound. Definitely instills fear and says, "This is SO my space."










































Here's some animals:

























Rachel gets all goofy for meerkats. Next to my conversation with the lion, my favorite thing was watching Rachel watch the meerkats and listening to her giggle over their antics. And we got to the exhibit right at feeding time. Meal worms - yummy!






























I rode a wild turtle. Eight seconds - I made it to the buzzer. Thank god for the hardworking zoo clowns who got me out of there safely after my ride.






We were supposed to go to the drive in tonight with the Kings, but they were showing 'R' rated movies and Andrea would be with us. And it's a bummer because it would be a hoot to see Miami Vice with my friend the Sheriff.

So Rachel and I stayed home and watched the Perseid Meteor Shower. A bit of a bummer tonight as the waning Gibbous moon wrecked the show. But we saw some nice ones - and watching the show from the hot tub was flippin' sweet!

It's something of an anniversary for us. We spent the evening of our first date watching the shower from my balcony on Louise Avenue when I lived with Mike and Angela. 11 years ago! Of course our wedding anniverary is in a couple of weeks. 4 years, that.

Here's a picture of us - it's a bit symbolic as we are on a long slow ride.



Happy Anniversary wife.

Recent Weekends...

We've had a bunch of fun over the last few weekends. And I'm way behind on posting about them. I'm going to try to get caught up, starting with last weekend. Last weekend, we went to the Kings' new place for a birthday party for Dre. It was a hoot. Good grub, and I'm amazed they were able to pull off a party so soon after moving.

They even got a bouncy house waterslide. The name of the ride could use the help of a good marketing department, but this picture is a lot of fun:


And someone managed to get what I think is a good picture of Rachel and I:



I rode the waterslide a few times. It was pretty fun.

More to come, including the drag races, 4th of July, Poker Night, and a trip to the Oakland Zoo.

Islamic Fascism...

The phrase "Islamic fascism" seems to be the Republicans' favorite phrase these days. First it was a crusade, briefly. Then we were at war with Al Queda. Then Afghanistan. Then we were struggling in the Global War On Terror. Then we were in a Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism. Then, as I understand it, the President didn't like that phrase (He prefers to be known as a "War President" - though he clearly is struggling) and we went back to the GWOT. Now it's a war against "Islamic Fascism."

So if our enemies, led by Muslims, are all for Islamic Fascism, it follows that we are supposed to support Christian Fascism led by the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress.

Don't just dismiss this as a kneejerk post from a liberal with a heart full of hate. Bear with me here.

First, our leaders are Christians. Or at least they claim to be. How well they adhere to the tenets of the Christian faith, I'll leave for you to decide. But they publicly declare themselves to be Christians.

Are they fascists? "Fascism" is a word charged with negative connotation. Even more so now that the Bush administration has taken to applying the term to our "enemies." Most people would have a hard time defining the word, but like pornography, they know it when they see it.

Fascism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fascism is a radical totalitarian political philosophy that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, extreme nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism and anti-liberalism.

How many of these elements of fascism are also elements of this administration and the Republican party? All of them, in varying degrees.

Corporatism? Certainly - The Bankruptcy bill, the Energy bill, no-bid contracts, the Prescription Drug Bill.

Authoritrianism? Yes, more and more every day. The government can listen to your phone calls, scrutinize your bank statements, put you on a 'no fly' list, read your e-mail, and now search your bags before you board the subway in New York. The Bush Administration ha embraced the concept of the "unitary executive" and continues to claim broad powers not given by our Constitution. When the Supreme Court ruled against the Administration in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the administration immediately set about drafting legislation that would retroactively make their actions legal.

Extreme Nationalism? Dissent is now considered unpatriotic and "emboldens our enemies." Check out all of those American flags and "Support Our Troops" stickers.

Militarism? The United States spends nearly 50% of the budget on the military. We spend more than the next 12 nations combined.

Anti-anarchism? "Anarchy" comes from a Greek word meaning "without rulers." There are different ideas of what anarchism means, but in general, it supports the removal of authority and government allowing people to act freely. So yes.

Anti-communism? Of course. We can't wait to do something in Cuba and the administration is full of leftover cold warriors.

Anti-liberalism? They've made liberal a dirty word synonomous with 'weak' and 'un-American.'

So the next time you hear someone say we have to fight Islamic Fascism, ask that person if he or she supports Christian fascism.

Well now I don't know what to wear...

It's Red if you are flying from the U.K. to the U.S..

It's Orange if you are flying anywhere else.

And it's just Yellow if you aren't flying.

I'm curious, though, would it be orange if you were standing under the flight path of a plane or live near an airport?

Here we go again...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is taking immediate steps to increase security measures in the aviation sector in coordination with heightened security precautions in the United Kingdom, the department said in a statement on Thursday

"For that reason, the United States Government has raised the nation's threat level to Severe, or Red, for commercial flights originating in the United Kingdom bound for the United States," the statement said.

We are at Red - Dress Appropriately.

246.5 lbs...

...and my 20 year high school reunion is in 38 days.

Rachel and I did around 40 minutes of cardio today. I want to get to 45 minutes by the end of this week and an hour by the end of next.

TFK #1

Let me be clear- I have long since given up on vast conspiracy theories. Also known as "paranoid conspiracy theories" or "PCTs." I've pretty much settled down and gotten comfortable with the idea that most of what's wrong with the world today is not some vast conspiracy, but rather groups of people with power and money acting independently in their own best interest.

Having said that...



...It's still fun.

And sometimes, well, I just get the feeling that something is wrong and the only explanation is some sort of conspiracy. The 2000 and 2004 elections, for example. So from now on, when I think I smell a conspiracy, I'm going to flag the post with this picture and tell you about it.


Notice that I don't wear just any tin foil hat - mine is a tin foil Kangol.

TKK#1 deals with today's senate Democratic primary in Connecticut.

I can't stand Joe Lieberman. It started back with the 2000 election - when he and Al caved. And it's gotten worse ever since - He's a DINO - a Democrat In Name Only. Remember when Bush gave him that Godfather like kiss after the State Of The Union Address? And he supports big money, big pharma, and despite his claims that he was opposed to the Bankruptcy Bill, he voted for cloture and helped end a filibuster.

Did I mention how he supports Bush's foreign policy? OK, so reason enough. Essentially, he's another Republican who occasionally votes with Democrats. He sunk to new lows when he declared that if the primary was close, he would run as an independent. That's putting self above party. His party and his state don't want him anymore. If he runs as an independent, well, he will siphon off votes from Lamont and we could lose the seat. He really should do the right thing.

By "close" a campaign spokesperson said he meant single digits.

Recently, he accused the Lamont campaign and those nasty bloggers of hacking his website. Surprisingly, other traffic on the same server was uninterrupted - including another site on the same sserver that bashed Ned Lamont. Details are still a little sketchy, but it does not appear that the site was hacked and furthermore, one report says he only had a low rent account and his bandwidth was exceeded. It smells like a Karl Rove sort of trick to me to leak a story like that to the press - it will introduce doubt in people's minds and by the time the truth is discovered, the election is over. Kind of like Swift Boating.

I also believe that electronic voting machines can, have been, and continue to be manipulated by Republicans to change election outcomes.

OK - Are you ready for it? Here's my PCT: The election was manipulated so that it was close enough for Joe to run as an independent. If he had announced that he was going to respect the will of the people and step aside if he lost, the outcome would have been manipulated so that he would have won. They kept it just close enough so that he could claim the web site "hack" cost him the election. Or out of state influence from MoveOn.org cost him the election.

Or whatever.

That's my paranoid conspiracy theory and I'm sticking to it.