2003922
...weighs in on the self-muzzling press and the "sycophantic White House press corps and flagwavers at Fox". The media can make or break a presidency, and while they've been helping Bush for a good while, the cracks are beginning to show.
As my friend DragonLady points out, he's "a little more than just a journo"
2003917
...Bush and Rumsfeld finally came out and said "We have no evidence of a connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11".
What bugs me is not that they admitted it. What bugs me is my cynical reaction to the admission.
It seems obvious to me that the admission was made solely to remove ammunition from the Democrats in the next election. Without doing this, Bush would have faced seriously questions from Democrat rivals saying "you implied that there was an Iraq link to 9/11". Now Bush and cronies can easily say "We not only never claimed that there was a link, we have said implicitly that there was no connection that we know of". Without the upcoming election I have no faith that this admission would have arrived.
Luckily, this is not the only bullet in the arsenal against Bush. The economy sucks and is not likely to get much better in time for the next election (no matter what Bush says, everyone know someone who is out of work). Reasonably intelligent people are quite concerned over the Patriot Act and the removal of the rights of American citizens. There is going to be a big push to show that there was a real danger to the US from Iraq; a danger big enough to justify a pre-emptive strike. There will be questions regarding Halliburton, and why Iraqi experts in oil and gas manufacturing are not being put to work. There will be BIG discussions on when the war will end and how many more $87 billion requests GWB is expected to make.
I think that Bush will probably be gone next year...but don't quote me on that. I'm still shocked this arse got in the office in the first place.
Ok, here is my current plan...I use my Beetle dual line kite and start modding it. Here's the concepts so far:
- Replace the (black, plastic, hollow, rigid yet flexible) spars with a similar material that is equally rigid and light and hollow...but clear.
- Use ultra-bright LEDs at the ends of the spars to light them.
- Use LEDs for tip and wing lights. Perhaps flashing, if the mechanism is light OR find some lighted strips of some sort to brighten the delta spars.
- Possible find a bunch of plastic fiber optics (maybe cruise the secondhand stores looking for those hideous old laps) and make a short, lit, tail
- Find a cheap-ass camera and attach it for aerial shots. I've got a cheap old digital camera but it's a royal pain in the butt to use and has pathetic resolution. Maybe a digital disposable? How do I set it off?
- Hope that all the stuff I add isn't too heavy for the kite on anything but the windiest days.
2003910
The RIAA decides to force a mom and 12 year-old daughter living in the projects in New York to pay $2000 or suffer charges against the girl. That's sick.
GWB asks for $87 billion more to wrap up Iraq, amid cries that there are no detailed plans released for this monstrous volume of cash, and an economy that is flailing like suicidal poultry. That's sick.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of 9/11, and the US has invaded two countries. The alleged perpetrators of the attack are still out there somewhere. The American people (and other people who interact with the US) have had their rights restricted and their fears abused by the government who was elected to protect them and uphold the US constitution. The world is a worse place. That's sick.
And I'm too sick with a bad cold to find links that make all of the above clear.
I can't wait until the pendulum of idiocy swings back.
200399
LINKS and STUFF
Userfriendly.org - It's a geek comic strip. Really it's the main geek comic strip that has content based more for the geek crowd than any other. Other 'geek' comic strips have humour and content that almost anyone can get. I go there more out of habit these days than anything else, I used to work for it, and am still the head moderator for their comments system. I guess that's my intro to blogging in some way.Aspectus - This is Illiad's (of Userfriendly fame) other project, which is like Slashdot in some ways and like a personal blog in some ways, but cooler than either. Needs more content, and more visitors, but that'll come.
RED MEAT - Oh my. I imagine there is a FBI file on the artist. I never, ever want to meet him. But I will glory in his comic strip. Brilliance and intelligence wrapped up in the tattooed skin of a circus freak and tied with a bow made of blown O-rings.
Imparte.com - Rich's site. Not going to talk about it until he says I can. But go visit anyway.
