Archive for the 'Politics Pisses Me Off' Category

Comments Not Made…

Published at 20 November 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off, Religion and Society, et al. 0 Comments

I’ve been conspicuously absent as of late, I know… I could drivel on about how busy I’ve been, and I have. Yet, in all honesty, if I took twenty minutes out of my news reading addiction per day, I could in fact manage to post more often… RSS feeds are worse than drugs, at times I feel as though I’ve lost precious parts of my non-virtual life to them. Regardless, I feel I should finally comment on all the things I’ve missed. Since I haven’t posted in quite a while, I’ll do so in list format for ease of reading.

  1. November 7th
    Democrats regain control of the House and Senate for the first time in 12 years. Does it really matter? Probably not, considering as how days later the infighting began and the party of new ideas began looking like the party of the same old bullshit. Democrats have an opportunity here: Put forth legislation that works for the majority of Americans, the lower and middle classes.

    • Tax breaks for Joe Average, tax hike for oil companies and the upper 25% earners. Bring down the debt and stop deficit spending. Cut earmarks and pork barrel spending.
    • Propose election and ethical reforms.
    • Don’t cut and run from Iraq. Iraq must be stable before we leave. We broke it, and consequently, we bought it.
    • Work forcefully with the insurance industry to provide affordable, subsidized insurance for the uninsured. Increase taxes on corporations who either do not provide insurance or do not pay high enough wages for employees to become insured.
    • Propose an increase to the minimum wage, while leaving the death tax alone for estates over $1 million and abolishing the death tax for estates under a million. With exceptions for family farms.

    Even if these don’t pass the narrowly divided congress, they will show America that the Democratic Party is at least making some half-hearted attempt on their behalf. Responsible governance is the one sure-fire way to win elections. Pandering to one faction or another (read: the extreme right or left) only alienates the majority of those who still vote. I predict we’ll find that the congressional majority cycle will continue to shorten as Americans buy into the new sound bite political culture.

  2. Bishop Carlton Pearson
    I heard Carlton Pearson’s story on NPR’s “This American Life,” you should listen to the podcast. Bishop Pearson gives me hope for the Evangelical community.

So that’s it for now… But I’ll be back soon (and more frequently, too)

A Message to FEMA

Published at 1 May 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off. 0 Comments

Today, whilst reviewing last month’s statistics, I noticed something funny. I had hits from both FEMA and the Navy. Now the Navy is understandable, surely, when living on a base somewhere, you have much free time, and having free time, I’d want to read my blog too. But FEMA? Come on, you botched the Katrina response (with plenty of help from the administration) and now congress is trying to axe you, yet you still have time to visit my little space on the web? Shouldn’t you be out trying to figure out how to respond to the next natural disaster? I mean with all the hoopla surrounding the 100th anniversary of the San Fransisco earthquake and talk of the next ‘big one’ or the impending onset of Hurricane Season for Gulf Coast residents?

I’d like to offer my completely unsolicited suggestions to FEMA and Congress on how to be better prepared for natural disaster response.

  1. Staging areas shouldn’t be setup as the Hurricane is bearing down on us. We know what areas in the country are hurricane prone, so why not establish permenant staging areas with a large, secure structure containing cots, a medical clinic, and a cafeteria for evacuees (these only need to be staffed when the centers are open, thus the cost is minimal)? Additionally there should be a large on-site dry storage for non-perishable goods, bottled water, and other nessecities that can then be quickly dispatched to smaller shelters or trapped residents. There should also be room for evacuee parking as well as utility staging.
  2. Why the hell does everything have to go through the President? Between Iraq, Afghanistan, Medcare Prescription Drugs, lobbyists, and oil companies, the man’s plate is full. Give authority to those who can do most with it. TThe people on the ground. A politician in a helicopter flying about doesn’t know diddly about the situation on the ground.
  3. Give the people actual grants, not tax incentives, to upgrade their property to be earthquake or hurricane ready. People who can just afford their house and enough gas for the week can’t pay for upgrades out-of-pocket and then get a pittance back on their taxes. Facilitating these upgrades makes goverment bailouts after disasters less costly and encourages insurance companies to continue writing policies in higher risk areas.

So, if you’re from FEMA, and you find yourself here, please, get back to work. People need you. If you’re here on your lunch break, more power to you, enjoy. But whatever you do, cross the red-tape lines, screw procedure and policy, and start helping those who need it most. We’re counting on you.

Unsafe Legislation (or Don’t Bend Over in Front of Uncle Sam)

Published at 23 April 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off and Society, et al. 0 Comments

Sadly, a government which thus far has not been able to effectively manage national security, economic security, or social security, now intends to manage data security. By data security I mean consumer information, the stuff of Identity Theft, account numbers, social security numbers, and the like. Legislation making its way through various subcommitees and lobbying groups would supposedly mandate companies to report customer data loss or theft, but not really. You can read all the details in an article on Wired News a couple of days ago.

I’m not about to regale you with tales from Wired News, rather I want us to consider a few minor points…

  1. Why is anyone naive enough to trust people who collect millions in campaign contributions from the same companies that they are supposed to protect us from with legislation? You are beholden to damn near anyone who puts cash in your coffers- especially if the check has more zeros on it than your yearly income.
  2. Why do we still live in a representative democracy? Technology has advanced to the point that, in reality, we could digitally vote on important bills and have a direct democracy. Let them propose it, let us approve it… Oh wait, Diebold donates to them. Nevermind.
  3. Why do we still agree to credit card terms and conditions? They bind our hands and make us their bitch- but that is another post for another day.

I’d encourage you to write your representatives, but honestly, all you get is a cheap form letter and no results. I’d encourage you to vote them out of office, but apparently that requires them to be caught in a torrid love affair with a member of their own sex or to have an abortion (which hardly applies to a congress comprised of predominantly old white men) I’d encourge you to pray, but you’re conning yourself if you think God cares about America. I suppose the only thing that you can do is purchase a nice piggy bank then pay down and close all your credit card and bank accounts… Now that would show ‘em!

Your Dwindling Rights

Published at 21 April 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off and Society, et al. 0 Comments

In Washington today, a woman who was arrested Thursday for heckling Mr. Hu in a ceremony at the White House appeared on a misdemeanor count in Federal District Court. Wenyi Wang was charged with harassing, intimidating or threatening a foreign official and was released pending a court appearance next month.
- Washington Post

Apparently heckling Communist party leaders with shameful human rights records is now illegal in the United States. How does one woman with a press pass intimidate the leader of a foreign nation with a phalanx of security flanking him? How do you harass a man who puts members of spiritual movements into prison for debating with government policies? Is it possible to threaten a person in charge of a country that executes more people per year than all others combined?

There goes the First Amendment, at least we know the Second Amendment is safe is this political climate…

Poor Johnny Ashcroft

Published at 19 April 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off. 0 Comments

Here's Johnny!This Washington Post article gave me a good chuckle…

Turns out John Ashcroft’s speaking engagement at WSU Vancouver on (chuckle all you want) national security and civil liberties sold only 100 advance tickets.

Why would this surprise anyone? He is an intensely bland speaker. I see him on TV and I change the channel, whereas with Bush I watch to see what stupid thing he’ll say next or what simple word he might butcher.

At least they managed to lure 700 people into his clutches by the time the speech started.

Probably the Most Accurate Results Ever…

Published at 15 April 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off, Society, et al and Technology. 0 Comments

Senor ShrubI was recently made aware that if you enter “failure” into Google and hit “I’m Feeling Lucky” you get redirected to the White House biography of George W. Bush.

Frankly, thse were the quickest and most accurate results I’ve ever gotten from Google… No search results, ads, or other fluff to dig through. Just this biography and a picture of Dubya that’ll make you cringe. It’s almost as if Google is jacked directly into my conciousness and knew just what I was looking for… If this is the future of search, bring it on, cause I’m lovin’ it!

UPDATE :: 19 APR 2006

After trying numerous random search terms (alright, three or four) I stumbled across this other gem… Google “moron” and click “I’m Feeling Lucky” and you’ll be redirected to President Moron, about, you guessed it, Dubya!

Becoming Goliath

Published at 11 April 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off and Society, et al. 0 Comments

Palestinian GirlRecent reports on the Washington Post and BBC sites leave me once again troubled with the Israeli government. It seems, that as time drags on and the roadmap becomes ever more tattered, the goverment of Israel takes on the role of brutish Goliath while the Palestinian people step into character as the meek David. Only no stone will ever topple this Goliath. Not some Kalishnakov-weilding, stone-throwing Palestinian malcontents, nor the bellicose attitude of neighboring Iran, or any other Middle Eastern state. Israel is the region’s most powerful state, if not individually, then undisputedly with the US as it’s most ardent backer.

It is exactly because of the power that Israel holds in the region that the Israeli / Palestinian conflict should not still be happening. A powerful nation with a modern army, strong economy, powerful allies, and strong infrastructure should not be involved in the systematic ghetto-ification and breaking of a people.

The majority of Palestinian’s want to coexist with the Israelis, seperated by a wall or otherwise. A minority belong to militant groups that far beyond the control of a government which for years has barely been able to fund its payroll and keep its infrastructure sound amid occupation. The government has no credibilty with the various militias in Palestine, it is consistently emasculated by Israeli military actions. It has little if any power over much of anything in the territories at this point. The Palestinian people voted for Hamas because since 1967 their situation has changed little, because of a war declared by other countries. We congratulate the Israeli government for taking unilateral steps to dismantel Gaza and West Bank settlements, but do not demand it live up to the responsibility it has to, as the more powerful nation, take the high road. Construct a wall. Construct a moat. But comply with U.N. resolutions and fall back to the pre-1967 borders, dismantle all settlements, and give-up East Jerusalem.

The longer this goes on, the more sympathetic everyday Palestinians become to armed cause, and the more the ranks swell for militant groups like the Al Asqa Martyrs Brigade and Hamas. I sometimes think that this may actually be Israel’s intention. By increasing Palestinian hostility, Israel can make small concessions such as shedding settlements too deep in Palestinian territory while constructing a barrier that sorrounds other settlements and will form an eventual de facto border. Palestinian bombings and rocket attacks will be used to solidify international support for the wall and Israel’s eventual unilateral declaration of it’s “final” borders which will undoubtedly consist of wide swatches of Palestinian land and the entirety of East Jerusalem.

There is no doubt that the targeting of Israeli civillians by Palestinian militants is wrong, but at the same time, we should recognize that the sheer number of Palestian civilian casualties during Israeli targetted killings is just as wrong. This excerpt from the BBC simply serves to illustrate what is less ear-catching than a suicide bomber on a bus, but just as repugnant:

People gathered in a clearing next to an olive grove on Tuesday to mourn the latest civilian victim of the shelling, eight-year-old Hadil Ghraben.

Israel has used self-propelled guns and planes to attack Gaza

She was watching television in her house in the northern village of Beit Lahiya when an Israeli shell came crashing through the roof, killing her instantly.

Seven of her brothers and sisters were hurt.

The Israelis admit there was no militant rocket fire from the area at the time but they say there had been earlier, and that they had been trying to deter more.

Israel must fight the militant groups on the ground, without human shields, without razing their houses and leaving an entire family homeless, without attack helicopters inadvertantly raining rockets and hell-fire on a little girl’s bedroom.

Hamas must tear a page from the IRA handbook for transitioning terrorist organizations and recognize Israel’s right to exist and embrace a political solution. The Palestinian security forces must work hand-in-hand with the IDF to capture suspected terrorists and recieving both financial and tactical support from the international community.

And all of us must demand a fair and equitable solution with no regard to politics, lobbies, allies, or past events. There are far too many innocent Palestinians caught in the middle, ordinary poor people with little control over their own lives. Isolating Hamas and the will of the Palestinian people will only breed further contempt and mistrust. It is the responsibility of Goliath to take the hand of Hamas and guide them, now is the time to help Hamas grow from its terrorist roots to the political bloom many Palestinian’s obviously believe it capable of…

The Health Insurance that Got Away…

Published at 6 April 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off and Society, et al. 0 Comments

In late 1999, tired of the cold and snow, I voyaged south to the Sunshine State. I figured lower wages were an acceptable trade off for good weather. I mean come on, no state income tax? Beats the hell out of Tax-a-chusetts right? It did for a while. Then the Massachusetts legislature did something real nice… They came up with a plan for more-or-less universal health coverage.

Under the Massachusetts plan, everyone in the state would be required to carry health insurance, much like auto insurance. Those who don’t will face a fine amounting to about half the cost of the cheapest available health insurance plan. Can’t afford it? Well, if you make less than the federal poverty limit, you only have to pay co-payments when you visit a doctor’s office. If you make up to three times the poverty limit, you qualify for state subsidized insurance plans. The idea in mind is to cap rates at a maximum of $200 - $250 per month for the most expensive plans. Employers who don’t offer insurance would be required to pay $300 per year per uninsured employee into the fund that subsidizes insurance for those who can’t afford it. And if you really just can’t get any insurance at all, there is always a waiver.

But here I am, destitute in Florida with no health coverage. Knowing Massachusetts is the most progressive state in the union, I probably should have just waited it out. Sure, I wouldn’t have had all the great weather, but global warming is at least accelerating.

Circumventing Fair Use to Enrich the Rich

Published at 31 March 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off, Society, et al and Technology. 1 Comment

CNET News.com reported today on entertainment industry resistance to any changes to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and how this impedes everyone from researchers and educators right on down to you and I.

It is scary how quickly and unwittingly we give away our rights these days. Whether it is falling for the old “Remember 9/11″ ploy to gain our acceptance of domestic spying or simply forgetting the meaning of Fair Use in Copyright law. Although, I suppose that in the latter we are actually buying away our rights.

While record companies and movie studios cry to congress about how much money piracy takes out of their pockets on a yearly basis, we continue to indulge in their mostly substandard crap. Sadly enough, congress buys into their crap, passing questionable laws that make it legal for the recording and movie industries to install potentially damaging software on your computer and illegal for you to circumvent it. Not that it stops people. The fact is, these industries lose far more money spending millions to promote complete and utter crap.

So what does this have to do with Fair Use? Well, for starters, the RIAA is now postulating that if we want a CD on our iPod, we should buy the digital format music rather than rip the CD. According to the RIAA CDs can only be ripped or copied in order to create a backup in case of loss or theft. This is an complete 180 from five years ago when then said they had no problem with people ripping music for digital players. Why? Because with the sudden boom in online music sales they realized that they would be missing out on millions in sales from people ripping previously purchased CDs. Or, in one word, greed.

The DMCA has further implications on Fair Use in research, reporting, and education- several of the widely used copy protection schemes aren’t operable with all equipment, for instance some aren’t compatible with Apple’s Mac OS which is widely used in educational and research facilities. How do teachers copy an article from The New Yorker CD-ROM when it is buried in eighteen layers of copy protection?

It is abundantly clear that once again congress has sold away our rights to enrich the rich and fill their reelection coffers.

Want a better copy protection scheme? Stop concentrating on software and hardware devices that will always be circumvented (where there is a will, there is a way) and concentrate on shutting down operations that actually profit from the sale of pirated materials.

At the beginning of every DVD and somewhere on every CD is that ever amusing FBI Anti-Piracy Warning that states “The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.” What worries me more than Sony losing a few million a year to piracy is the fact that the FBI, which as we all know failed miserably at saving two thousand Americans on 9/11, spends as much time as it does making sure that MGM gets paid. And yes, I just played the 9/11 card.

A New Definition of Progress

Published at 19 March 2006 in Politics Pisses Me Off, Society, et al and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Want is one only of five giants on the road of reconstruction; the others are Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness.”-Baron William Henry Beveridge

Apparently, progress now has a new definition. Well, if you use the Bush Dictionary of American English, anyway. In the three years since “liberating” Iraq, our President today trumpeted the progress made in there.

Gone are the days of the Hussein dictatorship. Replaced, instead, by relentless sectarian violence. An insurgency that 10 months ago was in its last throes, according to Vice President Dick Cheney, has given way to the deaths of 50 - 60 Iraqis per day in tit-for-tat attacks between Sunnis and Shia. No longer to Iraqis live in fear that if they speak out against Saddam Hussein they might disappear, now their only fear is leaving the house and turning up in a mass grave somewhere outside Baghdad as a result of their religious beliefs. Now that, my friends, is progress.

Only half the country remains without electricity or potable water. Gas lines in one of the most oil rich nations in the world are down to a mere twelve hours- if a suicide bomber doesn’t muck up the works. More proof of our steady progress.

Are troops are hardly making progress, rather they seem to be treading water under the weight of a hundred pound block. Rather than increase their numbers and do the job right, we instead insist on handing more and more responsibility over to a crumbling police force awash in sectarian militias. Surely not for the benefit of anyone other than those in Washington concerned not for our troops or the Iraqi people, rather out of concern for the upcoming 2006 and 2008 elections.

No one wants to send more people into Iraq, but 60% of the American population supported entering the fray, unsupported by the world community, 3 years ago. Now in a place where much of the population lacks electricity, gas, water, and functioning schools, where business owns can’t open normal hours, violence foments. The two problems are inextricably linked. Without basic needs met, unrest, resentment, and violence increase. Without greater troop numbers to maintain security while also providing protection to contractors attempting to rebuild infrastructure destroyed during Shock and Awe, the situation will only deteriorate.

Germany, after World War II, was occupied for more than 40 years- and that was with an international contingent. So here we are, three years in with a pseudo-coalition, already calling for our troops to be brought home. The fault lies both on an administration who declared we would be welcomed and that Iraq would be a cake walk, and on an American public who has become so accustomed to microwaves and broadband that we actually believed that nation building was a one to two endeavor.

Realistically, progress takes time, even more time under periods of gross mismanagement. For us to pull out of Iraq involves international support in rebuilding and a UN Peacekeeping force, both of which are mere pipe dreams for as long as we belligerently act as though in the UN, only US opinion matters. We may be the richest and most powerful country in the world, but that only makes us shrewd, not smart. The idea of an international community is based on dialog, debate, and common ground, not US world supremacy.

The fact is, we broke Iraq. As such, we have bought it. The post-war sectarian violence is proof that Iraq is nothing more than a giant china shop, and the US is the 3 ton bull that took a detour through it on our search for terrorists.

Perhaps, when we can say that the Iraqi people do welcome us and America is more secure, we will also be able to say we’ve made progress.

To be welcomed in Iraq, we must give the populace the basic necessities we take for granted day-to-day. Simply put, if America is to be any more secure than we were March 18, 2003, then it is incumbent upon us to leave Iraq better than we found it. And when it is, perhaps then we can whip out the classic definition of progress.

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