The RipZAW |
|
|
Guaranteed Fair and Balanced, or your money back. Send a letter to the Editor... err, Writer. Blogger. Something.    Links to StuffNewsSalon.com Google News CNN International The Onion The Motley Fool Slate Fun Stuff Mark Fiore's Cartoons Homestar Runner.com Daryl Cagle's Pro Cartoonist Index Internet Bumper Stickers Belief System Selector Odd Todd As the Apple Turns Where's George? Oddlots Irregulars Citizen's Survival Tools Project Vote Smart Congress.org Government Information Awareness Clicks for Charity The Hunger Site Ecology Fund Things I'm a Member of American Civil Liberties Union League of Conservation Voters MoveOn.org Our Campaigns Other Blogs The Homeless Guy Spinsanity The Moderate Republican Where is Raed? Granny D Atrios Daily Kos Talking Points Memo Political Animal IMPORTANT Cartoons We Drink Ritalin The End of the World Super Mario Brothers: [1] [2] [3] All Your Base 
Visitors:
Archives
|
Saturday, August 02, 2003
So, the great Admiral Poindexter has been given the boot. Good to know there is some level of idiocy that will get you noticed around here. | Thursday, July 31, 2003
Stupid cricket... he got into my closet somehow a couple of days ago, makes noise all night. Been keeping me up. He is one LOUD sumbitch for a little guy like that. Well, tonight he came out of the closet. I swear he was mocking me. Actually came right up to the head of my bed, making his blasted cricket sounds. Well, that was his fatal mistake. I was stealthy like a ninja as I got up a found my way to a shoe in the dark. A flick of the light switch, and there he was, insolently standing at the base of my lamp, as if daring me to do something about it. However, he wasn't counting on my superlative agility, lightning reflexes, and possession of a shoe. He tried to get away, oh yes, he ran, but not fast enough... As of Thursday, July 31 2003 at 1:52 AM PST, I have conquered the cricket. | Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Well, it's being echoes throughout the world's science publications - the ozone layer is making a comeback. It's not out of the woods yet, in fact the ozone layer is still being depleted. But scientists are pretty certain the rate of depletion is on the way down, and once the CFCs remaining in the atmosphere break down (they last 45-100 years), the ozone layer will begin to regenerate, reaching 1980 levels as early as 2020 by one study's account. Of course, another study suggests that depletion won't even stop until 2040 or so, but either way, we're going the right way. Humanity agreed to cease one particular way of poisoning itself, and it worked! | New item under my blog links: Where is Raed? It's a blog coming straight out of Iraq from a guy on the street. Helps get a grip on what's going on over there. | How long is John Poindexter going to keep his job? It seems like a guy who was hired despite Iran-Contra involvement would have outstayed his welcome after approving plans to protect the country by having truck drivers spy on each other (the TIPS program), gather enough information on private citizens to make J. Edgar Hoover proud (Total Information Awareness), and having futures traders bet on Middle Easter assassinations (the comical, and fortunately scrapped as soon as anyone heard about it, Policy Analysis Market.) What do you have to do to get the boot around here? Show incomplete support for the President's policies I suppose, a la the entire original Bush economic team. | A letter to Rep. Thomas Tancredo (R-CO) from a constituent of his (via congress.org) which pretty much sums up my feelings exactly: As a frequent traveler I am extremely distressed by reports that the Sky Marshall program is being cut back as a result of budgetary constraints. This move, which clearly makes our air travel system far more vulnerable, comes on top of cut backs to the number of screeners at our nation's airports. | I'm told that the Senate will soon take a vote on S.139, the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act. It's a really important bill that admits that global warming exists and takes some concrete, immediate steps to deal with it, such as creating a national cap-and-trade system, and mandates a study on exactly what the impact of joinign the Kyoto protocol would be. As of right now, it has 6 sponsors, 4 Dems including my own Dianne Feinstein and 2 Reps, McCain and the ever-reasonable Snowe of Maine. Even if this passes the Senate, it's almost certain to die in the house, but it would be an incredible victory to pass it nonetheless. | Tuesday, July 29, 2003
So apparently Arianna Huffington's running for California governor, though it's not final yet, pending Dianne Feinstein conclusively comitting not to run. Very interesting. I do like her, but I need more information on her stand on the issues, along with a final list of who else is running. We'll see how this develops. | Monday, July 28, 2003
A Green's take on the problems with a Green Party candidate for president in 2004 here. It's one of the more charitable articles I've seen. I cannot for the life of me figure out why the far left has picked now to bolt from the Democratic party. It's kind of hard to argue that this would have been the same country had they voted for Gore. | A gentleman by the handle of XXXRAYTED has just informed me that global warming is rubbish, due to the facts that A) If we can warm the Earth, we can just as easily un-warm it, and B) It's God that controls the climate anyway. I wonder if this is the sort of input that goes into Washington decision making? | Sunday, July 27, 2003
A message I posted to the soc.politics newsgroup: -------- An Open Letter to Bush Supporters I have a question for you: what about President Bush is it that you like? I understand the position that we need to support him because we're "at war", but that's certainly not the only reason you support him. I ask this in all seriousness. I assure you I am no lefty extremist. In the last election, I supported John McCain for president unquestionably. But I have grave doubts about the actions of the Bush administration. I supported the war in Afghanistan, but I fear we have very badly bungled the rebuilding of that country, and left it in danger of being re-Talibanized. I am totally unconvinced by the evidence used to justify the war in Iraq, and the reticence of the administration to provide any more proof to the American people or the international community has left me suspicious that the administration had ulterior motives. The Ashcroft Justice Department has taken a stance that can be described only as anti-American, in that it targets thousands of American citizens for search and surveillance. Meanwhile, the cause of terrorism, that being that millions of people the world over have reason to hate us more than they love life, has been left untouched. New environmental legislation, such as the "Clear Skies" and "Healthy Forests" initiatives, have been universally condemned by environmental organizations as giveaways to smokestack industry that will leave the American people choking on their own air. The Bush energy plan provides billions of dollars to fossil fuel producers, promoting global warming and the use of foreign oil, while stacking the deck against domestic renewable producers with the potential to create thousands of high-tech jobs in the US. In a time when the nation's treasury is bare, this President has given billions of dollars back to taxpayers, most of it to wealthy taxpayers who will contribute little to nothing to the national economy from their tax break. They have robbed the future, leaving it with an uneducated population, a crumbling national infrastructure, and a staggering debt to show for it. I, for one, am unable to see the positives of this administration's actions. That's why I turn to you. I hope you can enlighten me as to what it is that so many find so appealing. | |