The Bull

Lets Stop the Hurricane = Terrorist meme

2005-09-28T21:15:00.000+09:00

If you take a look at this summary clip (PBS) of Michael Brown over at Crooks and Liars you can see Brownie giving testimony at the House Investigation of FEMA hearings. Of course he tried to shift blame to Blanco - nice try. After Rep. Gene Taylor (D) Mississippi asks Brown to "admit his mistakes and learn from them." Brown goes into a rant of how he lost his Sunday school teacher in a ...terrorist attack? WTF? :

Mr. Taylor let me assure you, that I have been to plenty of disasters. I have had friends die by terrorist incidents. I lost my Sunday school teacher in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building. I know what death and destruction is. So I don't expect you to lecture me about not knowing how people suffer.

OK, you are out of your mind.

This is Awesome...

2005-09-24T20:54:00.000+09:00

I frequently go to The Wisky Bar for my best reads of the day. If you haven't read Billmon's parody on Scott McClellan press conference, please do. Here is the start:

Q Scott, does the President plan to be present on the scene when Hurricane Rita makes landfall, to comfort the victims and give them hope and leadership in their time of peril?
MR. McCLELLAN: I'm glad you asked that question, Jeff. Good to have you back, by the way. Yes, the President will be involved and visibly active on TV at all times during this disaster. We also expect him to personally save at least three elderly black persons from drowning by carrying them piggyback from their flooded homes and delivering them safely into the arms of waiting paramedics. And yes, there will be time for questions afterwards. Steve?

It would be funny if it wasn't so close to being true.

This Guy is Batshit Insane

2005-09-23T10:30:00.000+09:00

I feel like these are the words of a desperate man:

"We look at the destruction caused by Katrina, and our hearts break," he said. Turning the subject to terrorists, he said: "They're the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it. We're in a war against these people."

Any person of with a shred of decency would say, "this shit is too fucked up to say to the nation." Not our president, because he is insane. Really, I think he has come to realize that he does not know a lick about running a country and it is driving him insane.

ID and the Conservative Noise Machine

2005-08-30T05:25:00.000+09:00

I woke up this morning and read a great op-ed piece by Daniel Dennett a professor of Philosophy at Tufts University in the NY Times. His piece, Show Me the Science, discusses Intelligent Design and the preposterous idea that this is a theory is an alternative to evolution. We are humans and for some the idea that we were put on this earth for no good reason is difficult to take. So when facts that support this are presented, we have to search our soul and look for meaning on a much smaller scale. Conversely, if we talked about, say, the reasons why your credit card can be scaned and information "magically" lifted off of it, we can be comfortable that our core beliefs will stay undisturbed.

With evolution, however, it is different. The fundamental scientific idea of evolution by natural selection is not just mind-boggling; natural selection, by executing God's traditional task of designing and creating all creatures great and small, also seems to deny one of the best reasons we have for believing in God.

For most of us, we either reconcile the real world with our spiritual world using some "fudge factors" or we think, wow, isn't wholesale religion a waste of time. If you can't let go of some antiquated notions and you are a person who believes that everyone should believe similarly, you start the noise machine.

Instead, the proponents of intelligent design use a ploy that works something like this. First you misuse or misdescribe some scientist's work. Then you get an angry rebuttal. Then, instead of dealing forthrightly with the charges leveled, you cite the rebuttal as evidence that there is a "controversy" to teach.

Once you have completely confused the general populis and have people thinking that your lame ideas are on an equal footing as real science you have done your job. You don't have to convince everyone, just make it so the waters are sufficiently muddied.

If this all sounds familiar it should as it is the Bush administrations guide to everything. Have a core belief (middle east peace can be easily achieved, social security is a problem and not a solution, taxes are an ill of society) and get it your information out there. Even if the so called experts have views of the contrary, this is no problem. First of all, don't listen to them. However, other people will listen to them and question your ideas. Not a problem. Confuse the issue with lies and half-truths and play a continual game of up-is-down. When they catch lying, go back to the original point and start the whole process again. For how long was the Bush adminstration telling us about WMD? Even when it became evident there were none, they still sighted this reason for invading a country until the facts became to overwhelming to dismiss. Then they switched to terrorist connections as an excuse. Then Iraqi freedome and democracy.

Donald Woolley: 1932 - 2005

2005-07-01T22:19:00.000+09:00

Donald Woolley died this week. I have never met him, I may have talked to him once, but he was a life-long friend of my Mom. Why do I write about him here? I am not sure, but in some way I was just moved by the e-mails that my Mom sent and felt it was a nice thing to reflect on. According to my Mom, they met in kindergarten and managed to stay friends ever since. In case you were wondering, that's a long time(approximately 67 years).

In her words,
"He sent me the craziest things..from subscriptions to books to silly gifts...... I always knew if I was having a rough day that I had a chance of a piece of mail or a phone call from him to lift my spirits."

Very nice. I picture a long movie that starts on the play grounds of Newton, Massachusetts and proceeds on with the trials and tribulations of life. Going to each others weddings; a visit to see a new born child; support during a tough divorce; support during the loss of a loved one. Intermingled with the tough stuff was a phone call or a present here and there. It turns out, that is what my Mom remembered about him. The small stuff does count!

With my baby daughter, I have started to ponder what her life may be like. What will be her first words? Will she be left handed? What will she study in college? A then I wondered, will she meet someone nice at kindergarten to help her through her life?

Rest in peace Donald.

Hayes is Wacked

2005-07-01T22:18:00.000+09:00

I saw this interview happen real time on CNN. I didn't get enough blogging and I figured it definitely deserves a look.
Carol Costello, who does the "news" on the-fuck-up-your-day American Morning show on CNN, and is an anchor on DayBreak actually does a pretty good interview - compared to Bill Hemmer she very good, but who isn't? After Bush's speach at Fort Bragg NC in which he explained to all American why we should stay in this war no matter what. Costello interviews Rep. Robin Hayes (R) North Carolina to get some feedback.

COSTELLO: Time to talk to lawmakers who, after all, voted for the war and
have voted and, again to pay for it. Joining us live from Washington, Representative Robin Hayes, a Republican from North Carolina. Welcome.

REP. ROBIN HAYES (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Thank you, Carol. Good morning.

COSTELLO: Representative Hayes, your district includes Fort Bragg, where the president made his speech. I want to read you an e-mail from one of our viewers. Dan in California writes: "Bush really should be making this speech at Arlington National Cemetery, not at Fort Bragg." Was it appropriate for President Bush to speak there?

HAYES: Absolutely, it was. It shows our love and appreciation for the troops and what they're doing. The president spent three hours with family members who've lost loved ones as a result of this war against terror and terrorists. (Read: Of course it was. Everything that Bush does is fucking wonderful. )

COSTELLO: But isn't he, in part, using Fort Bragg as an appropriate backdrop to cheerlead the war in Iraq? (Read: Isn't Bush just a shameless huckster?)

HAYES: It's not about cheerleading the war in Iraq, it's about informing the American people of the progress that's been made. The e-mail I got from Iraq yesterday, "a time line is a terrible mistake," "we are winning," "we will win." And the stakes, the future is Western civilization and freedom around the world.

COSTELLO: President Bush said in his speech we're there to fight terrorists. But he failed to explain how a war to remove a dictator bent on using nuclear weapons has turned into a fight against Muslim militants. Doesn't he owe us an explanation?

HAYES: He gave us a very good explanation of what the war is about. It's winning the war against terror and people that would kill us, innocent women and children. This is about a military action against ruthless, brutal killers who have no conscience whatsoever.

COSTELLO: Well, we understand that. (Read: You're fucked. )

HAYES: It's about destroying us.
Er, that doesn't make sense...

COSTELLO: But that's not what it started out, when the United States invaded Iraq. It's changed, hasn't it?

HAYES: I don't think it's changed at all. It's very clear that terrorists are connected to what Saddam Hussein was all about. And that again faces up to the most severe threat going forward...

COSTELLO: But there is no..

HAYES: We have to do a good job explaining..

COSTELLO: ... evidence that Saddam Hussein was connected in any way to al Qaeda.
HAYES: Ma'am, I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. There's evidence everywhere. We get access to it, unfortunately others don't. But the evidence is very clear.
COSTELLO: What evidence is there?

HAYES: The connection between individuals who were connected to Saddam Hussein, folks who worked for him, we've seen it time and time again. But the issue is where are we now. Nobody disputes 9/11. They would do that again if not prevented. Preventing 9/11 wherever it might happen in America, winning the war overseas, not bringing it here to our shores, is the issue in that regard.

COSTELLO: Well, are you saying that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11?

HAYES: I'm saying that Saddam Hussein -- and I think you're losing track of what we're trying to talk about here -- Saddam Hussein and people like him were very much involved in 9/11. Did he make the phone call and say...

COSTELLO: There's no evidence of that.

HAYES: Well, I'm sorry, you haven't looked in the right places.

COSTELLO: I must not have, because I know of no evidence connecting Saddam Hussein to Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda. And, also, there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. And many people writing to us this morning wanted
the president to explain those things.

HAYES: Well, we would be glad to explain it. I'd love to talk to those people face-to-face because hundreds of thousands of Kurds were gassed and killed, biological weapons were used. Fortunately, nuclear weapons weren't there. That's one smoking gun we didn't find. But it's very clear he would have used it if he could. The terrorists that remain would clearly use nuclear, biological, chemical, any other kind of weapon to destroy you, me and our families.

COSTELLO: All right, well, let me ask you this, because taxpayers are doling out in excess of $400 billion to pay for this war. You have the power when it comes to this. Is there a time when you will say enough?

HAYES: I will say enough when we have victory against terror and terrorists. We are winning the war in Iraq. A time line is a terrible idea. That came directly from the people who are fighting the war. Progress is being made. The men and women are doing a fabulous job. There's a time line clearly with a constitution and elections being held. We stand down as they stand up. Progress is being made every day in the strength and confidence of the Iraqi security forces. That's what brings our men and women home. And the stake is our future and our children's future.

COSTELLO: A final question. Do you feel safer here because of the war in Iraq? Is that preventing terrorist attacks in the United States?

HAYES: Absolutely. Well, we haven't had an attack since 9/11, and that's what we're here to prevent. And I absolutely do feel safer. If not now, when? If not here, where? And better in Iraq than in America.

COSTELLO: Representative Hayes, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning. We appreciate it.

Pure Irony

2005-06-05T09:42:00.000+09:00

I picked this up in the WSJ, but you can probably find the comments in a few sources. It seems like Rummy is pissed at the Chinese for spending too much on defense, "[China] was pouring huge resources into its military and buying large amounts of sophisticated weapons despite facing no threat from any other country." quotes the WSJ.

Of course the Journal answers the next logical question which would be, How much and doesn't the US spend a lot more than China?

"A report last month by a U.S. think tank put China's military spending between $69 billion and $78 billion a year, estimated in 2001 U.S. dollars. That ranges between 2.3% and 2.8% of China's gross domestic product, according to the Rand Corp. That compares with the $430 billion spent by the U.S. on defense in 2004 -- 3.9% of the country's GDP."

OK, can you really be mad at a country that is spending LESS than your country on their military? It would be like the dude on the block who lifts weights all day and practices martial arts in the evenings, getting on about someone doing push-ups in their basement. And please don't give me the line that the US is fighting a war on terror - which, by the way, makes no sense.

This is Awesome

2005-05-20T21:42:00.000+09:00

I hadn't been following this, but picked it via the Rude Pundit. George Galloway, Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, delivered this statement to US Senators today who have accused him of corruption. Aparantly, he is pretty pissed off and told the Senate so. If you have time, read the whole thing in the Times on-line; its short and sweet. This is my favorite part:

Now, Senator, I gave my heart and soul to oppose the policy that you promoted. I gave my political life's blood to try to stop the mass killing of Iraqis by the sanctions on Iraq which killed one million Iraqis, most of themchildren, most of them died before they even knew that they were Iraqis, but they died for no other reason other than that they were Iraqis with the misfortune to born at that time. I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster that you did commit in invading Iraq. And I told the world that your case for the war was a pack of lies.
I told the world that Iraq, contrary to your claims did not have weapons of mass destruction. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to al-Qaeda. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to the atrocity on 9/11 2001. I told the world, contrary to your claims, that the Iraqi people would resist a British and American invasion of their country and that the fall of Baghdad would not be the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.

Basic Pesto

2005-04-03T12:09:00.000+09:00

Friday night and I was kicking around and I stumbled upon this recipe for Pesto. Nothing too shocking, but nonetheless, a nice accompaniment to pasta.

Ingredients:
3 cups of fresh basil leaves (washed and spun)*
20 mls of virgin olive oil
3 large cloves of garlic
1/2 medium lemon
sea salt
pepper
4 heaping tablespoons of pine nuts
1 glass of red wine
20 grams of fresh parm cheese
1 potato (medium size)

Directions:
Wash the basil leaves and spin down with cold water. If you don't have a spinner get one. In a food processor, blend the pine nuts, basil, garlic and cheese until a nice consistency. Not too much and don't let it get hot. Add the juice of the lemon. Add the oil and mix until it looks and feels like pesto. Salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, drink the wine.

Peal and chop up the potato into nice size pieces. Get 1 quart of water boiling and add the potato to it. Wait 5 minutes and add enough pasta for 2 to 4 people and finish cooking the pasta. Strain and add the pesto and pasta back into the hot pot - hit it will a little heat if necessary - and stir until consistent.

Variations:
Cook the garlic a little in hot virgin olive oil to release the garlic character before processing into the basil.

Bush and Schavio: please stop

2005-03-26T00:45:00.000+09:00

I have been reading the blogs on Schavio and most of them point to the obvious grandstanding by the republicans and the lack of real concern for this woman's live or the life of her husband who has to deal with all of this shit, at a time when he needs support. After all, the decision to remove a feeding tube most be a gut-wrenching decision.

I was wondering if I was missing something, or is Bush rushing home from a vacation to sign a bill to "save" her life not completely fucking comical and ironic given the following:

(1) He never goes cuts vacations short. Tsunami with +100K people dead? Kick in a couple million and call me next week.

(2) He doesn't care about preserving life. If he did, he wouldn't have sentence to death all of those criminals with out due process while he was the gov of Texas. Alberto "speedy" Gonzales did only cursorary reviews of criminal cases while Dubya sat back and laughed before pulling the switch.

I ripped this from the Washington Post, which details a recent Q&A over this very issue with Scott Mc-I-don't-answer-questions-Clellan:

"Q Can you talk to me -- again, this comes up. Can you explain the difference between this case and the President's support of the death penalty? I mean, I know this comes up in other culture of life issues, but can you explain the difference here?

"MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I can tell you why the President supports the death penalty, he's made that clear before. That the President believes it's a deterrent that helps save lives, and that's why he supports the death penalty.

Ah, yes..KG will quick to point this out as the "we had to burn the village to save the village" defense.

(3) Didn't he sign a bill in Texas allowing feeding tubes to be removed? Ah yes, but in that case it involved money, or lack there of, to pay the medical bills.

Lets get this straight: this is politics, plain and simple, and it is disgusting.

Finally...

2005-03-17T23:01:00.000+09:00

A video game that dad can enjoy:

A digital puff of marijuana, for example, temporarily slows the action of the game like a sports replay. Taking an Ecstasy tablet creates a mellow atmosphere that can pacify aggressive foes. The use of crack momentarily makes the player a marksman: a "crack" shot.

If you get high and play, it just turns into a regular day.

Here we go..

2005-03-01T22:13:00.000+09:00

Balancing the demands of fatherhood and work has made it a little bit difficult to post as much as I would like. That and the fact my wife keeps telling me to get off the computer. But seriously, there is actually too much good stuff out there..

I was going to try to organize my blogs threads about how much Bush sucks, but realized there is probably a zillion bloggers that can do that better than I can. Read this on the Rethuglicans latest plan to start drilling in the ANWR...

Amid the backdrop of soaring oil and gasoline prices, a sharply divided Senate on Wednesday voted to open the ecologically rich Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, delivering a major energy policy win for President Bush.

The Senate, by a 51-49 vote, rejected an attempt by Democrats and GOP moderates to remove a refuge drilling provision from next year's budget, preventing opponents from using a filibuster a tactic that has blocked repeated past attempts to open the Alaska refuge to oil companies.

Budget Stuff...

2005-02-14T21:50:00.000+09:00

I picked this up this thread on Republic reaction to the Bush's budget on The Left Coaster which is totally awesome by the way. The article referenced in The Washington Post is worth reading if you haven't already. What caught my eye was this statistic:

According to an analysis of Bush's budget proposals, red states won by Bush in 2004 would experience cuts in federal grants in 2006 equal to 2.33 percent of their budgets on average. But blue states won by the Democratic nominee, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), in 2004 would lose federal grant money equal to only 1.74 percent of their budgets on average

Hmm... Why would Bush do that, the Blue States are his sworn arch nemiss, right? Unless, maybe those social elite understood something that the hard-working rural farmers didn't; namely, BUSH IS PRO BIG BUSINESS and doesn't give a fuck about you.

Holy Crap!

2005-02-11T16:59:00.000+09:00

Condi is f'cked..read this!!!... I don't think the administration tells the truth about anything. I really don't.

Trouble in North Korea

2005-02-11T15:58:00.000+09:00

Lets go back to the presidential debate of September 30, 2004 (I know it is painful):

LEHRER: New question, Mr. President. Do you believe that diplomacy and sanctions can resolve the nuclear problems with North Korea and Iran? Take them in any order you would like.

BUSH: North Korea, first, I do. Let me say—I certainly hope so. Before I was sworn in, the policy of this government was to have bilateral negotiations with North Korea.

And we signed an agreement with North Korea that my administration found out that was not being honored by the North Koreans.

And so we began a new dialogue with North Korea, one that included not only the United States, but now China. And China‘s a got a lot of influence over North Korea, some ways more than we do.

As well, we included South Korea, Japan and Russia. So now there are five voices speaking to Kim Jong Il, not just one.

And so if Kim Jong Il decides again to not honor an agreement, he‘s not only doing injustice to America, he‘d be doing injustice to China, as well.

And I think this will work. It‘s not going to work if we open up a dialogue with Kim Jong Il. He wants to unravel the six- party talks, or the five-nation coalition that‘s sending him a clear message.

Well, I guess it didn't because, as already has been reported by serveral sources, North Korea has come out and said, "guess what, we have nuclear weapons." Today's WSJ online reports:

President Bush's hopes that diplomatic persuasion will wean North Korea and Iran of their nuclear ambitions were dealt dual blows yesterday when Pyongyang announced it is indefinitely suspending its participation in multilateral disarmament talks and Tehran declared it will never abandon its right to what it insists is peaceful nuclear technology.

I think our president was wrong again...sigh.

A Good One From Prague

2005-02-07T19:31:00.000+09:00

I love this article from the BBC website:

Posing as an Italian visitor, in a fake moustache and sunglasses,
Pavel Bem hailed a taxi for a short ride - and was promptly overcharged by some
500%.

You see, Pavel Bem is the mayor of Prague. Check out his picture. It is awesome!

Colbert on Bush's State of the Union

2005-02-06T13:23:00.000+09:00

A great bittorent (not that I recommend using that service, but..). Here is a little something from the February 3, 2005 show to wet your appetite.

Jon (Stewart): Lets talk about domestic policy.

Stephen (Colbert): OK.

Jon: If you will. A major component of last night's speech; a particular emphasis on social security.

Stephen: Baah!..No!

Jon: I am sorry, what is it?

Stephen: Jesus Jon, you scared the hell out of me. Social Security! Don’t even kid about that. You heard the president, it is going to be gone in like, 40 years and we are all doomed. We are all going to be on the street eating dog food. And not that delicious canned kind, Jon; the dry stuff.

Jon: Stephen, I can't believe how scared you are. I mean honestly, the social security thing seems like a theoretical crisis. We have no idea what is going to happen in 40 years.

Stephen: That's why we have to deal with it now, Jon. Eisenhower ignored the Internet Bubble of the 1990’s and look what happen to the stock market. Bush will not make the same mistake.

Jon: But Stephen, this reminds me a lot about how they sold the Iraqi war. The used scare tactics in many respects.

Stephen: You mean the War of Iraqi Liberation?

Jon: Well they are calling it that now, but in 2003 this is how they presented it:

[Bush's 2003 Address]
America will not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country and our friends and our allies....If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm for the safety of our people and the peace of the world we will lead a collision to disarm him.
Stephen: Yeah, I was never behind the preemptive strike thing. It made us seem weak; acting out of fear. But I will tell you this glorious army of compassion; great liberators brining democracy to the world stuff. That is a rationale for war I could get behind; retroactively.

Jon: But, Stephen to say that in 2005 our goal was to liberate Iraq; it is very convenient and not really what happened.

Stephen: Look Jon, should we have revised history sooner? Of course. And I am sure that in the future we will. But for now the important thing is that we have already learned from the mistakes we never made. Jon.

Jon: Thank you. Stephen Colbert. We will be right back.

Back at the USCCR (an old Beatles hit)

2005-01-31T23:11:00.000+09:00

I found something interesting. I was looking for a paper on Bush's civil rights record to use in a previous post. I went to the site for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights web site, which by the way has some great stuff to read. One of their more recent publications was a critique of the Bush Administration's Civil Rights Record. A little long, but very methodical and accurate. When I get to the site what do I find but a disclaimer on the site that reads:

On January 7th, 2005, the Commission adopted a new policy on the public release and posting of reports and Commission documents. To comply with that new policy, the website has been updated and several draft reports that failed to receive a majority of Commissioners' votes have been removed. Those reports are available upon request.

It may come as a shock to know that out of the handfull of reports not receiving "a majority of votes" was this one, entitled:

Redefining Rights in America: The Civil Rights Record of the George W. Bush Administration

Sigh....

New Kruggie on Social Security (1/28)

2005-01-30T14:23:00.000+09:00

Stuff has already been thrown around about Bush's comments on Social Security being unfair to African-Americans. Nonetheless, Paul Krugman writes a nice one-pager in the Times on the deception of Bush's use of the "blacks-die-sooner" stat. Krugman writes:

... Mr. Bush's remarks on African-Americans perpetuate a crude misunderstanding about what life expectancy means. It's true that the current life expectancy for black males at birth is only 68.8 years - but that doesn't mean that a black man who has worked all his life can expect to die after collecting only a few years' worth of Social Security benefits. Blacks' low life expectancy is largely due to high death rates in childhood and young adulthood. African-American men who make it to age 65 can expect to live, and collect benefits, for an additional 14.6 years - not that far short of the 16.6-year figure for white men.

Always a pleasure to read Kruggie..

Torture

2005-01-30T13:58:00.000+09:00

Maureen Dowd, op-ed columnist for the New York Times, has written an interesting piece in today's Times. Apparently a former American Army sergeant, who worked as an Arabic interpreter at Gitmo, has written a book describing torture techniques used by female interrogators to "break" muslim men....

A female military interrogator who wanted to turn up the heat on a 21-year-old Saudi detainee who allegedly had taken flying lessons in Arizona before 9/11 removed her uniform top to expose a snug T-shirt. She began belittling the prisoner - who was praying with his eyes closed - as she touched her breasts, rubbed them against the Saudi's back and commented on his apparent erection.

I know what you are saying to yourself, that sounds hot. All jokes aside, Dowd asks the critical question: "Why do Rummy and Paul Wolfowitz still have their jobs?" When, if ever, will this business ever topple the current administration? Doesn't the seemingly endless news indicating that torture is widely and systematically used raise some eyebrows in the Senate..

I am back..Fatherhood!

2005-01-30T13:44:00.000+09:00

Great. I am back from a little break of doing nothing, but tending to work (don't ask) and my new-born daughter, Emilie. Emilie was born on January 19, 2005 at 11:33 PM. Life is good!

Fatherhood: so far so good. Call me in a few months to see if I still feel the same way; meaning this isn't so hard. Two-week old infants are not surprisingly focused on eating and sleeping(details on diapers spared). If you have milk (thanks honey) and you got a comfortable bed for her, you are off to the races. Giving baths are a little tricky, but a scrub here a scrub there - a little crying - and then you are done. More on this as time goes on...

Good Post on Social Security

2005-01-18T07:03:00.000+09:00

Just some test postings...This is a great Aritcle in the New York Times Covering Social Security. Thanks KG.

In 1938, the Social Security Act was only three years old, but its future was already very much in doubt.

The Bull

2005-01-17T23:23:00.000+09:00

Damn, my auto posts from email aren't showing up...Who said this would be a huge time drain?....

My First Post

2005-01-13T22:27:00.000+09:00

Oh well, you have to start somewhere. I was wondering what I would write as my first post and then this little number came along. CNN Reports

It seems like US has called off its search for WMD. I was more suprised that they were still looking. Even more suprised there was almost nothing in the press.

The White House is aware of the potential bad press and has already spun it as (1) This is what we expected and (2) boy didn't the intelligence gathered under the Clinton Administration suck. Read this breifing from Scott McClellan .

Test Post

2005-01-09T18:41:00.000+09:00

This is just a test post...