Beware of the Homeland

As we inch closer (is inch a verb?) to a new administration, I'd just like to say I am getting increasingly distressed with certain federal laws which have been hastily implemented since 2001. The names alone cause my ears to ring and large veins begin to appear in strange places on my body.

The Real ID Act (Papieren, bitte) of 2005 is but one of them.

Maine, the last holdout against a federal identification law that was intended to deter terrorism but has been attacked on grounds of privacy and cost, has until Wednesday to agree to comply by tightening the way it issues driver’s licenses, the government said late Monday.

If it does not, its licenses will no longer be accepted as identification at airports and federal buildings, effective May 11. Maine residents would then have to present passports to board planes or be subject to additional screening.

Another thorn in my ass crack is the Secure Fence Act of 2006.

In a sweeping use of its authority, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that it would bypass environmental reviews to speed construction of fencing along the Mexican border.

Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, issued two waivers covering 470 miles of the border from California to Texas well as a separate 22-mile stretch in Hidalgo County, Tex., where the department plans to build fencing up to 18 feet high into a flood-control levee in a wildlife refuge.

And in other news, I count my blessing daily that I have not faced any natural disasters requiring me to seek housing assistant from the government in the form of FEMA trailers. If the disasters don't get you, the formaldehyde just might.

Some of the thousands of mobile homes stored for possible use by disaster victims have formaldehyde levels rivaling those of housing already deemed unsafe for victims of 2005 hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, test results show.

Speaking of disasters, keep a close eye on events when you see a bunch of old white guys in the senate from both sides of the aisle coming to an agreement, and being excited about it.

I know, I shouldn't be so hard on them; they're only trying to help us.

Casting aside partisan differences, Senate Democratic and Republican leaders said on Tuesday that they would work urgently on a package of legislation to help millions of homeowners at risk of foreclosure, with the hope of bringing a bill to the floor as early as Wednesday afternoon.

[...]

Both the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee have been working on bills that would allow the Federal Housing Administration to insure $300 billion to $400 billion in additional mortgages, with an upfront cost of $10 billion. The Bush administration has been developing a similar plan of its own that would expand an existing refinance program called F.H.A. Secure.

We certainly do like to use that word "secure" a lot. I know it sure as hell makes me feel like everything is going to be just fine. Just put your trust in Washington.

Get Ready For a War Party

I swear I feel as if I am living in a twilight zone. Up until the economy started tanking in 2007, the Iraq war was the single polarizing issue between the political parties. Now with economic concerns surpassing the war in most polls I suppose the Republicans sense this as their green light to jump on the pro-war bandwagon as the single most effective campaign issue for retaining the White House.

Frankly, I am annoyed when I read the poll numbers because the economy and the war are not entirely separate issues. I just hope most Americans realize the hundreds of billions of dollars we have poured into the war effort are connected to the economy. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they do.

I can also hope these concerns about the economy signify a desire among voters to place more emphasis on issues here at home, in each of our 50 states, instead of a massive dump of resources into Iraq. The last thing we need right now is for 70% of our voters, or even 50%, to believe the war issue is in the back seat. It's certainly shaping up as the front-and-center issue for Republicans.

The War Party is starting to lock and load.

Offering a preview of the general election campaign, President Bush sought on Friday to unify the Republican Party behind its presumptive nominee and said the contest would present the country with a stark ideological choice at a time of war.

[...]

Beginning with Mitt Romney, who withdrew from the race on Thursday, warning that he would not abet “the surrender to terror,” Republicans, including Mr. McCain and Vice President Dick Cheney, have warned darkly that the Democrats were ill-suited and ill-equipped to protect the nation, the same theme that Mr. Bush struck in his successful 2004 re-election campaign.

As blantantly offensive as this is, I expect this will be the Republican issue for 2008. If and when the economy continues to falter during the course of the campaign leading into November, the choice on the ballot will boil down to either four more years of the Bush war, or an economic focus on America coupled with what absolutely has to be a concrete plan to end a war which cannot be won.

I can only hope the rest of the American voters will see and hear this rhetoric and experience the same gut-wrenching repulsion as I do. John McCain has become nothing but a mouthpiece for the war machine.

“I guarantee you this: If we had announced a date for withdrawal from Iraq and withdrawn troops the way that Senator Obama and Senator Clinton want to do, Al Qaeda would be celebrating that they had defeated the United States of America and that we surrendered,” Mr. McCain said at a rally in Wichita. “I will never surrender.”

If moderate and liberal voters aren't motivated enough at this point, the fact that Karl Rove is supporting McCain and contributing financially to his campaign should be enough to tip us over the brink.

As for myself, I am beyond angry or livid. I am outraged.



Crossposted at Big Brass Blog

"Oh My God" Said the Lexus Soccer Mom

What will I buy my children for Christmas?


Fuck You, and the cart you rode in on.

One Nation Under Madness

I'm not sure what happened on 9/11/01 but it was far more than an attack from terrorists. As we approach the 6th anniversary of this horrific nightmare, I've watched America further deteriorate into something I barely recognize.

We seem to have lost any ability to get along with others, celebrate diversity, or even to tolerate diversity. We seem to crave an enemy, a threat, in order to preserve our perception of the American way of life.

There is a evil undercurrent fast at work driving wedges between groups and pitting neighbor against neighbor, and it's ugly. This vile force has large numbers of Americans wrongly believing that our culture faces extinction, that God has somehow been expelled from our nation by liberals (oh, if only we had that kind of power), that the English language is in danger, and of course, that gays, lesbians, and especially the transgendered threaten the very foundation of our society.

What the fuck is wrong with us?

The Republicans debated in Des Moines this weekend. You know something good is coming out of that.

Say It, Even If It Ain't So
Because we're so dumb we'll probably believe it if we hear it repeated enough.

As in past encounters, the Republicans largely agreed on the need to continue the Iraq war, saying that leaving the country too quickly would disrupt the fight against terrorism.

Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), whose front-runner status has slipped away in a wave of fundraising and staff woes, stuck to his guns on the war, saying there will be catastrophic consequences if America abandons Iraq.

"We are winning. We must win. And we will not set a date for surrender, as the Democrats want us to do," McCain said.

Define "winning."

And while we're on this road, define incompetence.
How the hell can we win a war if we can't even keep track of our own weapons?

"They really have no idea where they are," said Rachel Stohl, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information who has studied small-arms trade and received Pentagon briefings on the issue. "It likely means that the United States is unintentionally providing weapons to bad actors."

Meanwhile, have a look at success:

Jihad Wali, 35, victim of a roadside bomb that killed nine civilians and wounded eight.

How many hundreds of thousands of times has this scene played out in Iraq?

Bush is a great multitasker. While wreaking havoc overseas, he can simultaneously do it at home.

"We must remember that our work is not done," Bush said upon signing the [eavesdropping] bill...

Most Americans will pay little or no attention to this because we're all a little too concerned about another dangerous threat: illegal immigrants seeking hard work and a better life for them and their families. God knows, I sure can't sleep at night with so many brown-skinned people coming here to work, sleep, pay rent, eat strange food and speak some inferior language which I can't understand.

Spurred by rising resentment in the country over illegal immigration and by the collapse of a broad immigration bill in the Senate in June, state legislators nationwide adopted measures to curb employment of unauthorized immigrants and to make it more difficult for them to obtain state identification documents like driver’s licenses.

[...]

State lawmakers have introduced about two and half times more immigration bills this year than in 2006, and the number that have become law is more than double the 84 bills enacted last year, according to the conference, a nonpartisan organization that includes all the state legislatures.

Big Brother is on the march in Louisiana:

The toughest law was adopted in Louisiana, which now requires applicants’ names to be checked against a federal immigration database as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s terrorism watch list.

And it's not just the dirty Mexicans getting our white wrath.
Indian immigrants are getting the cracking whip.

ISELIN, N.J., Aug. 3 — With the workweek behind him, Deepu Dass focused on a pesky bald spot in his front lawn here. As he sprayed the patch with water, urging the grass toward the perfection achieved by several neighbors, he said confidently: “I planted seeds.”

I'm happy I don't live in a neighborhood where the neighbors complain about something like a patch of imperfect grass.

There have been up to six men sharing the house, whose owners include Suresh Kumar, president of NexAge Technologies USA, a nearby software company where the tenants work. But the unusual arrangement — and the unsightly lawn — caught the attention of local housing inspectors, and in May Woodbridge Township cited Mr. Kumar for several violations, including an unauthorized boarding house and an illegal multifamily dwelling. He has until Aug. 16 to resolve the situation, which may mean kicking his workers out.

Hey, I'm all for cleaning up hazardous living conditions such as the 10 people living in a basement, and the unlicensed day care center which was set up in another house, but to clamp down on otherwise hard-working middle-class people because their culture encourages extended families living together, or because someone wants to help out co-workers by allowing five others to live with him in his home, is unnecessarily aggressive.

Sharmila Rudrappa, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of “Ethnic Routes to Becoming American: Indian Immigrants and the Cultures of Citizenship,” said it was common for Indian families to live in joint households both in their homeland and in the United States.

“My father’s brother is married to my mother’s sister,” she said. “The two families had five kids between them. We lived together for a few years, and it was kind of a wonderful way to grow up.”

The joint family arrangements have become harder to maintain in crowded Indian cities, but in American homes the practice is alive and well.

“It’s a way to ease immigration,” Professor Rudrappa said. “You help family out. Family members coming from India might not know how to drive, and grocery stores can be unnerving.”

American attitudes can be unnerving as well. I like this man's rationale:

Rakesh Patel, 34, a technology worker at a New York investment bank, said he had his three-bedroom, two-story house built here seven years ago “for family and friends.” He and his wife, two children and his parents moved from a cramped apartment in Edison. Mr. Patel’s cousin’s sister has joined the household, and Mr. Patel’s sister and three family members may soon come to stay for a while. Other relatives often visit for months at a time.

“Why not?” asked Mr. Patel, noting that he also stayed with his uncle when he first came to the United States from India in 1996. “I pay $9,000 a year in taxes.”

It's Monday. Welcome to another day in the "greatest nation on earth."


Crossposted at B3

Only the Pure Shall Enter These Borders

It has been a long, strange trip from the Summer of Love to the Age of Terror...

No kidding. We sure don't want any intellectuals who may have used drugs back in the 70s coming into our country and posing a threat to our safety.

A guard typed Mr. Feldmar’s name into an Internet search engine, which revealed that he had written about using LSD in the 1960s in an interdisciplinary journal. Mr. Feldmar was turned back and is no longer welcome in the United States, where he has been active professionally and where both of his children live.

I guess it's a damn good thing I'm already here.

Why a Global "War" on Terrorism Is a Bad Idea

These people just don't get it.

As President Bush weighs new strategies for Iraq, the Army's top general warned Thursday that his force "will break" without thousands more active duty troops and greater use of the reserves.

Noting the strain put on the force by operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the global war on terrorism, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker said he wants to grow his half-million-member Army beyond the 30,000 troops already added in recent years.

[...]

"Over the last five years, the sustained strategic demand ... is placing a strain on the Army's all-volunteer force," Schoomaker told the commission in a Capitol Hill hearing.

Well, there's always the draft option.

Seriously, his force "will break" regardless. Somebody needs to get the US military under control and get us the hell out of Iraq. They are on the verge of taking us into the abyss.

The Dangers of Flying While Muslim

Rebecca emailed this story to me...More airline insanity.

A passenger raised concerns about the imams — three of whom said their normal evening prayers in the airport terminal before boarding the Phoenix-bound plane, according to one — through a note passed to a flight attendant, according to Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for US Airways.

[...]

The six were returning from a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Omar Shahin of Phoenix, president of the group.

"They took us off the plane, humiliated us in a very disrespectful way," Shahin said after the incident.

Shahin said Tuesday that three members of the group prayed in the terminal before the six boarded the plane. They entered individually, except for one member who is blind and needed to be guided, Shahin said. Once on the plane, the six did not sit together, he said.

The ignorance level of some people is just astounding.

When Shahin went back to the airport Tuesday morning, a ticketing agent told him his payment for Monday's flight had been refunded and the airline wouldn't sell more tickets to him or the other imams. An airline spokesman in Arizona said he wasn't aware of the ticketing decision and could not comment.

I suppose the easy solution for this would be for Muslims -- and anyone else who doesn't adhere to the comforting familiarity of Christianity -- to abandon their faith and start praying and dressing like "normal" folks when attemting to fly. Cut your hair, shave your beards, get yourself some golf attire at Stein-Mart, and pray to Jesus. You'll get to your destination with no problems. Just consider it as another airline tax.

Dire Warnings from the GOP Ahead of Midterm Elections

As a Republican bloodbath in the November 7 midterm elections becomes increasingly likely, the GOP is preparing to crank up the furnace as we approach the final 2-week stretch of campaigning. From the WaPo:

The mood among most GOP strategists -- with the exception of Rove and a few others -- is decidedly downbeat heading into the final 18 days. They see poll after poll showing a growing number of GOP House incumbents in serious danger, including many who just weeks ago were considered relatively safe for reelection. The list of most-imperiled incumbents now includes Reps. Heather A. Wilson (N.M.) and Curt Weldon (Pa.), a top GOP strategist said.

By this reckoning, roughly a dozen GOP-controlled House seats are "gone, no ifs, ands or buts about it," said the strategist, who discussed internal party deliberations on the condition of anonymity.

A number of GOP operatives said privately yesterday that they now see minimum losses of perhaps 18 seats, with 25 to 30 a more likely outcome. Democrats need 15 to take control of the House.

The first face I want to see on the morning of November 8 is the eternally optimistic Karl Rove. Hell, I might even have to pop open a bottle of bubbly (French, of course!) for breakfast.

Even President Bush seems to have shoved aside the "family values" agenda to assist such destitutes as Rep. Don Sherwood (R) of Pennsylvania.

"I'm pleased to be here with Don Sherwood," a smiling president told the congressman's loyal but dispirited supporters at a luncheon fundraiser Thursday. "He has got a record of accomplishment."

Quite a record. While representing the good people of the 10th District, the married congressman shacked up in Washington with a Peruvian immigrant more than three decades his junior. During one assignation in 2004, the woman, who says Sherwood was striking her and trying to strangle her, locked herself in a bathroom and called 911; Sherwood told police he was giving her a back rub.

As the writers of the article point out, how ironic this is going on during "National Character Counts Week." Is there no driver on this bus?

Crossposted at B3

Governors Report Cards from the Cato Institute

The libertarian-influenced Cato Institute has released their fiscal policy report card for 2006.

This report presents the findings of the Cato Institute's eighth biennial fiscal policy report card on the nation's governors. The report card's grading is based on 23 objective measures of fiscal performance. Governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades. Those who have increased spending and taxes the most receive the lowest grades.

I take this with more than a grain of salt. "Cutting taxes and spending" is a popular mantra, but at the expense of whom?

Nevertheless, there are some eyebrow-raising grades being assigned to some interesting governors who are likely presidential contenders in 2008:

Jeb Bush (R) of Florida received a C. Hmm, just an average ho-hum grade.
Mitt Romney (R) of Massachusetts received a C.
Mike Huckabee (R) of Arkansas received an F.

If you are looking for A grades, only one was given... to Matt Blunt (R) of Missouri.

From Wikipedia:

In early 2005, Governor Matt Blunt proposed eliminating the [First Steps] program in an attempt to cut spending on social services and health care, and balance the state budget. The proposal was widely disliked, by parents and service providers across the state and from all political perspectives.

Later, the governor backtracked on his proposal, instead recommending changes to the operation of the program and higher co-pays for services for parents with relatively high incomes.

Missouri First Steps is a program offered by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that offers coordinated services and assistance to children from birth to age 3 who have delayed development or diagnosed conditions that are associated with developmental disabilities.

Overall, almost 100,000 Missourians lost their Medicaid coverage under Blunt's first budget.

As of August 22, 2006, Blunt has a 40% approval rating, 45th of the 50 governors.

Hmm, for being the only governor in the nation with the Cato Institute's grade of A, he's certainly not a popular bloke.

Crossposted at B3

Let the Games Begin

With citizens like this, who needs terrorists?

Federal authorities Friday charged a Wisconsin man in a hoax threat that warned seven football stadiums across the nation would be targeted by terrorists with radiological "dirty bombs" this weekend.

The Price of Ignorance

We went out to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for lunch today. Being the creature of habit that I am, I was going to order my usual: a vegetarian enchilada with a spinach, mushroom and squash filling.

Txrad suggested I ask them about their spinach supply or consider ordering something different. When our waitress came to take our orders, I asked for the veggie enchilada, and to inject a little humor I added, "and could I get that without the E. coli?"

The waitress had no idea we were in the midst of an E. Coli outbreak linked to spinach. I suppose I take for granted all the news I know since I read at least two papers every morning and then sit here at my desk reading news for several hours each day. However, I was alarmed that a waitress in a restaurant would not have been exposed to this news either via the web, a newspaper, a televised newscast, or as a last resort, by restaurant management.

The more I thought about this, I wondered how many millions of people in the country were unaware of, or could care less about... other critical news.

If you wondered why Bush seems to be driving this one hard, check out the video on the C&L link. It's enough to give you watery diarrhea and bloody stools.

cross-posted at B3

The Bush legacy will NOT be pretty

This is a classic example of why I'm more frightened of the Bush Administration than any group of terrorists -- well, that and the fact that I don't live in a major US city.

"A lot of people in America see this as a confrontation between good and evil, including me," Bush said during a 1 1/2-hour Oval Office conversation on cultural changes and a battle with terrorists that he sees lasting decades.

When it comes to picking battles, this guy is a complete fool with total disregard for America. Instead of focusing on the hunt for actual terrorists, he is fanning the flames of a war based on religion that will, without a doubt, last decades and create far more terrorism than we initially faced.

That will be the Bush legacy. Hang that in his fucking presidential library.

hat tip - Shakes who lays it out there as well as anyone:

There are causes of terrorism which can be addressed, and just because terrorists are despicable people who use horrendous tactics is not a justification for ignoring what induces them. In reality, dismissing terrorists as blindly evil is to suggest that there’s no solution to the problem except total annihilation, which is simply not even possible. Once again, Bush illustrates that he is patently incapable of engaging this complex problem with the rigorous intricacy it requires.

Damn.. that is good!

More here:

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Wednesday that most leaders in the Middle East believe the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and its aftermath is "a real disaster" for the region. "They believe it has destabilized the region."

Annan said many leaders believed the United States should stay until Iraq improves [what are the chances of that?], while others, such as Iran said the United States should leave immediately. That means that the United States has found itself in the difficult position where "it cannot stay and it cannot leave."

What a fine mess....

some breakfast links

Amnesty International has a video clip addressing the impact of the current conflict on infrastructure in Lebanon.

Also check out ACLU "Faces of Surveillance - Targets of Illegal Spying"

Caitlin Childs

Many people express shock upon learning that I have been the subject of surveillance by Homeland Security. What could I have possibly done that would make government officials see me as a threat to national security, they ask. The answer? I joined a peaceful protest on public property outside the Honey Baked Ham store on Buford Highway in DeKalb County, Georgia. I was arrested after that protest for taking down the license plate number of the car belonging to the homeland security agent who had been photographing us all day.

Kirsten Atkins

The knowledge that the FBI has a file on me, and that the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has monitored my activities and that of many other citizens in our "free and democratic" society makes me really angry, but it comes as no surprise. It follows a historical pattern of government harassment of individuals and organizations that speak out against the government, anti-war activists and people who stand up for the protection of animals and the environment.

This is not democracy

Snakes on a....

...muthafuckin' paper airplane.



Our local Alamo Drafthouse in Austin held a "Snakes on a Day" endurance contest. The film was screened for 24-hours and anyone surviving all 11 or so screenings could then leave without paying for any tickets. Fines were involved for those leaving early to benefit a charity: Venomousreptiles.org, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness of our poisonous friends and rehabilitating injured venomous reptiles.

If you bailed after the first screening, you forked over $1000. For each subsequent screening, the price was reduced down by 50%.

Had I participated, I can assure you I'd be $1000 in the hole.

(This post is dedicated to my fearless Sister of the Shakespearean underworld.)

Suspicious liquids force evacuation **Updated**

Just to make damn sure NO ONE feels safe, even in the smallest airports:

A West Virginia airport terminal was evacuated Thursday after two bottles of liquid found in a woman's carry-on luggage twice tested positive for explosives, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said.

Airport manager Larry Salyers said the bottles would be moved by robot to a remote area of the airport where officials would attempt to detonate them. National Guard and State Police explosive experts will conduct chemical field tests to determine what's inside them, he said.
Salyers said he was told the woman was 28-year-old native of Pakistan who had moved to Huntington from Jackson, Mich.

Robots always get the shit jobs. Of course, I'm going to follow-up on this piece after they determine what is in the bottles.

Updated 8/19: As I expected, No explosive residue was found.

Jeff Killeen, special agent with the FBI, said secondary tests were conducted on the bottles Friday -- also showing no explosives or explosive residue.

"The FBI does not consider the bottles or the owner of the bottles to be a danger," Killeen said.
When asked what kind of test were performed, Killeen had no comment.
"I am not a chemist," he said. "I am not going to divulge anything."

wtf??