gettin' down for de Mardi Gras...
Six months after the hurricane, there is a limited
Mardi Gras goin' on. The Bon Temps are still rollin', despite the fact that while the Superdome is back in business, far too many homes, hospitals and schools are
NOT...
IN THE MEANTIME...Here's a reason to celebrate. A new
poll shows Bush's approval rating at a new low of %34. The whole Dubai debacle (which if you hadn't heard, the coast guard had
qualms about...) apparently has gotten to the American people and they do not care for such a deal. And it doesn't help that this has been the most
violent week in Iraq in some time and new Zogby poll shows that even the
troops want out...
and of course, the president wants Congress to authorize 72 billion more dollars for Iraq. Funny how that number matches the percentage of troops who want us to leave Iraq (see above)...
CALL YOUR CONGRESSFOLK! LET THEM KNOW THAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO GIVE THAT WAR ANOTHER
PENNY 'TIL YOU KNOW FOR SURE THAT TROOPS ARE HEADING
OUT OF THERE!
Particularly when we can't presently be sure about the state of our
National Guard. Apparently Bush and Co. hadn't consulted governors about his budget plans for the National Guard which may leave some states without a good number of Guard...or any at all...
Okay...so Bush doesn't consult the govs on National Guard plan...
doesn't consult Congress about illegal
spying (cause he has a God Given Right...I mean "mandate"...to tap those anti-war hippies, I mean "terrorists" here in the US),
torture, his own people don't consult HIM let alone Congress about the Dubai deal...anyone noticing a pattern?
See this is the thing that gets me the most. Folks who actually still approve of this fool should at least see the continuing pattern of how the Bush administration has a penchant for going around the law and seeing themselves above the law when it comes to the economy, the war on terror, education, etc...how can one really support THAT?
So what does this mean?
KEEP E-MAILING!!! E-mail, call, fax, write your friends and family, the press and your Congressfolk and let them know that you are PAYING
ATTENTION!!! and as always pass it on, pass it on, pass it on...
Peace --Alex
and people...the Red Sox...will be different this year...I am hoping for the better...Curt Schilling says he's feeling "great" and we already know the potential of John Papelbon...I just wanna see if this Lorotta guy can live up to being 2nd in the hitting lineup AND Coco Crisp makes it worth his deal as well.
And I want Orlando Cabrera to come back to us...
and that is that on that in my baseball world :p
Dubai or Do not?
The whole UAE ports business is getting a little wacky for me as 1) I don't think any country with the Saudis human rights record let alone ties to to terror should be in charge of even just the operations of these ports. 2) Not all Arabs are terrorists and they are [supposedly] our allies in the "war on terror" and perhaps we'd be giving them a break but 3) There are oil ties to the Administration and 4) this deal was put through and even GEORGE [allegedly] was not told about it until it was a done deal.
Stephen Colbert put it best last night when he said The Word last night was "Maybe"...
The biggest qualm I have is that...it's through THIS administration...and pretty much EVERYTHING THEY DO is sketchy.
IN THE MEANTIME...The White House has put out a Katrina Report...and of course it's the nice version. "Sure there were problems but look 'what went right'" Do they really believe that this repost will be taken seriously...(wait a second...Bush did get back into office...yes they do)
Thank God for David Letterman as he is angry man, and letting it all out...and we are laughing :) http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/02/21.html#a7243
I have been soooo neglectful of my blog...like Bush and medicare, prescriptions, and no child left behind...but I actually have been doing responsible things...like grant madness, mailings, submissions, keeping up on auditions etc...basically, the sooner I get out from behind this desk, the better. I love this day job, but it's time to go and I'd rather leave because of a gig rather than just my need to sell out and make some real money.
And can I just thank all the people that have given to my project? To all those who gave at the get go and may have been wondering how th eheck it's going to those who gave when I found out that I had to raise over $250 last minute when my fiscal sponsor had to change the rules on applying for grants through them...and I had an application due 2/15(!). To just APPLY you have to have at least $1000 dollars raised. I am just over $1000 and after getting out a couple of applications before the rule change, I got the one due 2/15 out pre-post mark date, am awaiting approval from my fiscal sponsor on the sending out of another and am finishing up the application for a third...
A friend also recommended that I look into Danish-American foundations as I am half Danish on mom's side so I will do that as well and see what happens. Wish me luck all :)
and FIGHT THE POWER!!
Peace --Alex
what are our talking points today?
Word and phrase of the day are:
"accuracy" and Katharine Armstrong is an "expert on hunting".
Dick Cheney waited 5 days before going to his safe place-Fox News-to make a public statement about shooting his hunting buddy Harry Whittington in the face (and neck and chest, leaving buckshot close enough to his heart that the man had a heart attack and remains in the hospital).
Apparently he waited 5 days because he (and his people) wanted the most "accurate" story to get out there...obviously he could not get his own story straight.
Why did he first go to Katharine Armstrong (a day later) and ask her to go to a LOCAL paper to announce this? Because she was an "eye witness" (after the fact) and is an "expert on hunting" (it's her ranch and she is the former hunting and gaming head of Texas) and was the best person to make the spokesperson for this incident (besides himself and his own staff). The reason of going to a LOCAL paper was not quite explained, though Cheney did
defend his actions (he wanted it to just GO AWAY).
Though you gotta give him credit for doing something the administration generally doesn't do...take
full responsibility...
*Cheney has since disappeared into an "undisclosed location" and will not be seen in public again for some time as he has to get back to running the country and figuring out how the blow up the UN without it looking like our administration was involved.
because IN THE MEANTIME...the UN has called that the US either charge the
Guantanamo detainees or set them free and close up shop. Of course, Bush and Co. are of course shaking their heads condescendingly and saying "Oh...UN...we can't do that...remember that whole 'it'll make us look weak' thing?...yeah...yeah...
Abu Ghraib is nothin' compared to what we got goin' on at Gitm---wait...wasn't supposed to say that..."
And speaking of our dealings with Arabs...our administration does love to outsource and they want to sell various
port operations to a United Arab Emirates based company...which of course has many lawmakers goin' "Um...wait a minute..."
and speaking of outsourcing...Apparently most compnaies are looking at "new economies with
STRONG EDUCATION SYSTEMS"...something our administration knows
nothing about...
So while you ponder how the administration can still POSSIBLY have any support...KEEP E-MAILING!!!! E-mail, fax, write, call your friends and family, the press and your COngressfolk and let them know that you are PAYING ATTENTION!!! It appears to be working while further serious investigation needs to be done, Congress is hearing the complaints and the press are getting the idea SO KEEP NAGGING!!!!
Peace --Alex
yesterday was a day of love...
And the White House just ain't gettin' any, and while I'm all for spreading the love, getting out my red clothes and heart accesories and chocolate, this administration was not getting a big smooch from me...and rightly so...
But boy are they making me laugh...and cringe...
You gotta love how Dick Cheney, after shooting a man in the face and taking 3 days to apologize for it, is going to only ONE station for his public station...No widely televised press conference to talk about his drunken potenitally fatal blunder for this guy...oh no, he's going on FOX NEWS at 2p today for an interview. He's going to his safe place. They won't pick on him there. They'll be nice to him at Fox and won't ask him a lot of silly questions (like how much had you been drinking and did you really think Harry Whittington was a quail when ya shot him?).
Though, when you got Marlin Fitzwater of all people saying that this wasn't handled well...can you really feel safe anywhere there, Dick?
The press and comedians have had a field day with this, though this transcript from last night's Daily Show has to be my favorite thus far...
Jon Stewart: "I'm joined now by our own vice-presidential firearms mishap analyst, Rob Corddry. Rob, obviously a very unfortunate situation. How is the vice president handling it?
Rob Corddry: "Jon, tonight the vice president is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Wittington. According to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the brush. Everyone believed at the time there were quail in the brush.
"And while the quail turned out to be a 78-year-old man, even knowing that today, Mr. Cheney insists he still would have shot Mr. Whittington in the face. He believes the world is a better place for his spreading buckshot throughout the entire region of Mr. Whittington's face."
Jon Stewart: "But why, Rob? If he had known Mr. Whittington was not a bird, why would he still have shot him?"
Rob Corddry: "Jon, in a post-9-11 world, the American people expect their leaders to be decisive. To not have shot his friend in the face would have sent a message to the quail that America is weak."
Jon Stewart: "That's horrible."
Rob Corddry: "Look, the mere fact that we're even talking about how the vice president drives up with his rich friends in cars to shoot farm-raised wingless quail-tards is letting the quail know 'how' we're hunting them. I'm sure right now those birds are laughing at us in that little 'covey' of theirs.
Jon Stewart: "I'm not sure birds can laugh, Rob."
Rob Corddry: "Well, whatever it is they do … coo .. they're cooing at us right now, Jon, because here we are talking openly about our plans to hunt them. Jig is up. Quails one, America zero.
Jon Stewart: "Okay, well, on a purely human level, is the vice president at least sorry?"
Rob Corddry: "Jon, what difference does it make? The bullets are already in this man's face. Let's move forward across party lines as a people … to get him some sort of mask."
we can thank my friend Doug for passing that on to me.
Apparently
Jill Sobule, has had ample time while we wait for Cheney to say something to write a song about the two ardent hunters....
Okay, so we got
Cheney being busted by Scooter Libby as the guy who authorized the leak, we've got budget that even the Republicans are complaining about, we got the scathing REPUBLICAN Katrina Report leaving Michael Chertoff to fend for himself during hearings, at least pne photo of Jack Abramoff at the White House released AND a statement from Abramoff saying "Bush has the best memory of any guy I know...we joke about our kids..." etc, the congressional finance scandal, Iraq issues including a story on the war profiteering on 60 minutes this past Sunday, and Cheney shooting a guy in the face (AND that guy got a heart attack due to the pellets being close to his heart)...
Do you THINK this might FINALLY be enough to crumble the serious RedStaters now?
One can only hope...
So KEEP E-MAILING!!! And make sure that they all know what a dealers with Satan they put into office and let your congressfolk, the press and your friends and family know that YOU are PAYING ATTENTION!
Peace --Alex
cartoon spy budget...
Okay...I swear I just heard George on NPR talking about how if the Dems got control if his [POSITIVELY RIDICULOUS DRUNK DIAL of a] 2.77 TRILLION (insert Dr. Evil here) budget, that "they would raise your taxes and find new ways to spend your money..."
Yeah, like on EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE DUMBASS!!!
So much to catch up on....I gotta get back to trying to do this daily again as the past couple of weeks have been...eventful shall we say?
So far Alberto Gonzalez has been allowed to lie on the stand (please call Arlen Specter's office asking him WHY he's sworn nobody in...if only to let the poor staffer there read the prepared statement they have about this
href="http://www.senate.gov">AGAIN...
Gonzalez is also to have apprently said, while under questioning, "Many presidents have used electronic monitoring, all the way back to Lincoln and Washington"...cause of course, they put a homing device in Paul Revere's satchel...or as Jim Ward joked on the Stephanie Miller show "Lincoln was intercepting General Lee's e-mail..."
Bush has decided to take money away from the poor, students and the elderly...yeah that's a winner
There has been rioting over cartoons printed in a Danish paper (and later all over Europe) depicting Mohammed, which is against Islamic law. From what I read in a
BBC article, what started out as a Danish guy trying to find an illustrator for a children's book about The Prophet Mohammed asking folks to break the code and send in drawings to the paper, some of those who replied decided to use this as a chance to express their feelings about muslims in a nooot so positive way...I hate agreeing with the common mantra, but yes, while I am for freedom of the press and freedom of expression, the editor could have been more responsible with those images, particularly as he had only recently turned down cartoons of Jesus that were considered "offensive". I love the Danes...they are my people...they are open and friendly...but they also have an ice cream topper called a "nigger kiss" (shaking head)
I'm thinkin' two things: 1) this must suck for my cousin who does import/export
2) Bush is just goin' "Whew, thank God that's not
us..."
Riots erupted in Haiti during elections yesterday as many polling stations were not prepared. Many did not even have chairs and tables or ballots by the time they were to open....sound familiar?
There are some evangelical Christians who are going against their brethren and actually speaking out about-and against- Global Warming...
of course there's more but good lord...there's a lot going on which is an even better reminder for all ya'll to KEEP E-MAILING!!!! LET THEM ALL KNOW THAT YOU ARE PAYING ATTENTION!
Peace --Alex
