Wyoming needs to die

Ok, so the republican senator from wyoming died. And, unlike the other 49 states, wyoming has the most messed up method of selecting a new one. Usually Governer Freudenthal of the state would select a new senator

A quirk in Wyoming law...seriously limits Freudenthal's power in the
appointment process. Under the state's laws, the party of the deceased incumbent
-- the Wyoming Republican Party -- must submit a list of three names to the
Governor, who must then select one of those three to fill the seat.

Oh wow.

So here's what I have to say: I guess the governer has no choice (he has to select a republican) which means the senate goes back to the republicans. shit. He has to select the lesser of the three evils. Hopefully the republican party's incompetence will be emphasized with the worst of the three. It doesn't matter, this country is becoming more democratic election year by election year. Come 2008 we WILL have a democratic president. (With a senate that will probably end up being republican--and we'll be in the same situation all over again). Sorry Iraq, looks like America can't have their shit together long enough to actually help you this time.

haha, I feel like Lobdell.

article about bloggers and their impact of politics.

I think...they have one...or two

I don't "buy" it

Ok, enough is enough. I'm tried of hearing an increase in threat level to orange, or hearing about another terrorist caught right before a supposed attack. I feel like there are so many threats to us, that its all blurred, How are we supposed to take anyone serious if we are in a constant state of fear? My theory is that we are taught, as Americans, to be constantly scared. After a while, you become numb to all stories, the same old ones. I'm not trying to belittle our security program (ohwait, yea I am). But I am saying that if something truly horrible were to happen, god forbid. Do you really think we'd know ahead of time? Im tired of being scared.

As my dad would say, its all about capitalism. We are scared, so we buy. It's an age old technique. When a people is scared, they buy things they are told to, without questioning. It's like the crap at the airport. I hate to say it, but if someone really wanted to blow up a plane, yea its going to be a lot harder, but this whole liquid/gel crap is getting old. I DON'T BUY IT!!

Tom Delame

Good interview. Usually the only problem I have with the Colbert report is that he's not hard hitting AND funny like Stewart. I love them both, but when you have a jackass on your show I expect you to out them for christ's sake.

Not here. Colbert actually does something about it.

A Message from God

Falwell was found dead in his home on may 15. Hmmm. We can take a hint god. I have never heard of someone so hateful having so much power. God's vengeance will "come down upon us". There is too much to say about this man. About what a horrible human being he was. I am not even for the death penalty but this man's death is a gift. That's right, I said it. The thing is, and the general consensus seems to be, that this is the first death of a public figure that has had morning, but people were making fun of him the day of. This is ground breaking. I honestly can say, I hate that man. Nothing but hate was spread by that man. Even Christians weren't good enough.

This is pretty amazing too:

I didn't even know who christopher hitchens was until I saw this. He was harsh. And you know what, falwell deserves all of it.

Quotes:

• AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.
• Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions.
• I believe that global warming is a myth. And so, therefore, I have no conscience problems at all and I'm going to buy a Suburban next time.
• I think the Moslem faith teaches hate.
• If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being.
• Textbooks are Soviet propaganda.
• The First Amendment is not without limits
• The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.
• It appears that America's anti-Biblical feminist movement is at last dying, thank God, and is possibly being replaced by a Christ-centered men's movement which may become the foundation for a desperately needed national spiritual awakening

and my personal favorite:

(re: 9/11 attacks) "...throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools, the abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked and when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad...I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America...I point the thing in their face and say you helped this happen."”

Burn in Hell, Falwell

Originally, I got the story from theliberaloc.com, but the story came from both raw story and the ap.

raw story

Yahoo

So basically, long story short, the homeland security of Alabama recently linked gays, environmentalists and anti-war supports and those advocating terror (and therefore becoming terrorists) on their website before it was quickly taken down.

“Single-issue extremists often focus on issues that are important to all of us. However, they have no problem crossing the line between legal protest and … illegal acts, to include even murder, to succeed in their goals,” it read.

wow. why are we even surprised anymore with this kind of crap? It is Alabama, remember? I saw we, as a nation, decide to ignore everything Alabama does or decides on. That state is so backwards anyway. I mean, our of these groups of people, how are any of them anything but the complete opposite of "those that strike terror into the innocent". Don't they have it backwards? I mean, look at all of the groups against the environment, anti-war supporters, and gays? Aren't they OBVIOUSLY about a thousand times more violent, just in what they advocate by definition alone. God, just look at anti-abortionists that bomb abortion clinics! I guess thats not terrorism in Alabama. Why aren't they classified as terrorists? It is so enraging. And when was the last time you saw a gay rights rally go bad, except for when the "moral supporters" start shit. Screw Alabama. Homeland security? They should be protected the people of Alabama from themselves.

Bilkent University

Well I think I'm going to Turkey next spring to study comparative politics at Bilkent University in Ankara. For the first time since I've created this thing, I'm glad i have a blog. Now I can do as all those overseas journalists do and write from a first hand experience. I've heard two things abotu Turkey: The people are amazingly nice and two, its nothing like America. Good. If I wanted to study in a place like america, I would. I can't wait. It'll be great.

While the city is over 99 percent muslim, it is without a doubt, the most secular middle eastern country. I'm super excited. I've always wanted to study in the middle east, and now here's my chance. Wish me luck!

Let's talk about gas

What I like about this political ad is although it gives biased facts, they are facts. And the manner in which they are biased is just in the numbers. The actual information is mostly based on surveys. It's how the majority of Americans feel. I think it says alot about how the legislators are not reflecting either the best interests or the opinions of the American people. Enough is enough, we want it; so get it

The Devil came on Horseback

The other day I was at work about to get off, when a nice woman at one of the computers asked me for some technical assistance. After I had helped her, she told me what she was looking for. There was a showing of a documentary called The Devil Came on Horseback. It's a documentary, based on what she told me, of a man who went to Sudan and photographed the people and his experience there. His wife made the movie and it was being shown in L.A. The Huffingtonpost.com posted a blog about the event and showing that appeared in early may.

For convenience:

When: June 1-6
Where:
Laemmle's MUSIC HALL
39036 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills, 90211
(310)-274-6869
Price:
$10-general
$8.50-students
Call for more ticket information

living wages in Irvine

Theliberaloc.com just posted a blog about how the living wage in Irvine was raised to about $10 an hour so that people could make a minimum of $20,000 in Irvine. What I find amusing is that people can live in Irvine for $20,000/year. No one can live in west Orange County for that. But I guess arguments against it say that people who work here, don't live here. It's half true. The law is for contract workers (it already existed for city workers). That's a lot more money than the minimum wage in the U.S.

The article from the ocregister can be found here

at least health care is improving somewhere...

What I like about PBS is that they break it down for you. They give you the whole story and how it works. Soo much better than CNN.



In Afghanistan, health care is making an incredible recovery, since the fall of the Taliban. The story is inspiring, really. NGO's are working with the community to help set up and support and train the Afghans to take care of their own. Extremely important if you ask me. See, I hate all the conservative crap about how all liberals hate war, and they think that we think, war never solved anything. Now I know this isn't true. WWII is a good example. What I'm saying is that Afghanistan's terrorist regime needed to end, for the good of the people. They are, you know, good. And look what this will do for morale. The Taliban needed to get out, and we helped. Iraq is where it went array.

illegals

"The question: Do immigrants and foreign guest workers lower the wages of Americans at the bottom end of the income scale?"

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a democrat, is arguing before the senate on a bill that would, according to him, lower wage rates because of an increase in foreign labor.

Argument:

“At a time when millions of Americans are working longer hours for low wages and have seen real cuts in their wages and benefits, this legislation would… bring millions of low-wage workers from other countries into the United States. If wages are already this low in Vermont and throughout the country, what happens when more and more people are forced to compete for these jobs?”

Counter-Argument:

“With an adjustable temporary worker visa, you adjust it to the needs at the moment — to the demand for labor. As your construction boom goes up and you need more labor, you have more visas,” Kyl told reporters. “As you go down and don’t need as many homes to be constructed, you don’t issue as many visas. So you have the market being able to work and the wages rising and falling based on market conditions, rather than an artificial glut of labor.”

Market conditions demand more labor...yea...more cheap labor. Not to sound completely liberal, but this is a tactic of the republicans to increase cheap labor. Screw the lower-class, screw domestic jobs. As long as the rich get richer, right?

Religion's Role in the State

Let's admit it. The separation of church and state was a great idea. I mean, even some of the evangelical nut jobs out there know this. All we have to do is look at other countries that have perfectly integrated religion into the state and see the problems they encounter. Lou Dobbs makes a great point at the end of the interview. For a supposedly secular country, arguing over how a candidate's religion is so important this early in the election, terrifies me.

It is understandable that religion must play some role is choosing a candidate...after all, all of them have one. It also helps develop morals. Although they are not necessary, this is true. And I used to think it would never change how I felt about a candidate. But what I now know is that It's not so much what religion a candidate has, but that he has one at all. I don't believe in God and I have faith that I have good morals. So if there was a candidate running that was atheist, as long as he has respect for every denomination, I would still consider him an option. Its when someone believes in crap that Mormons do, and don't respect other races, denominations, etc, that's when I draw the line

"Closed-minded gravitists"

"there are many phenomena that cannot be explained by secular gravity alone,
including such mysteries as how angels fly, how Jesus ascended into Heaven, and
how Satan fell when cast out of Paradise"

Holy shit

price gouging

So Bush is going to veto another bill presented by the house to enforce stricter penalties to those that price gauge gasoline prices. His reasoning? The White House called the measure a form of "price controls" that could result in fuel shortages.

Lame.

I understand the economic aspect. It's like minimum wage laws and rent control. In the short run, prices would be lower and so people would demand more gas, but because the demand has increased and prices are lower, a shortage will occur. This is all because they think that stopping illegal price discrimination causes a shortage? Im tired of conservative rhetoric. They think they have such a handle on capitalism that anything they say about the economy will automatically be true. What they don't know is that the market price is a naturally set mechanism. If people go on and fuck that up, who are the ones messing with economic equilibrium then?

The refineries complain that the shortage is what has led to an increase in prices. A decrease in supply either creates a shortage or they are forced to increase prices. not both. nice try ass holes.

Palestine/Israel

There are attempts being made to reconcile Israeli-Palestine conflict. I was just about to lose hope. Honestly, this isn't the only issue that has continued to alienate people, especially Americans. What I think happens is that people get so caught up in proving that they have a point, they forget to respect someone in the same position. I know, and you're right. Both sides aren't always right. I mean, the Holocaust was wrong, but we need to understand issues like this are complex, and we need to turn the side blinders off and look at everything around us.

I hate when I can't decide. I want to know all the facts and make an educated decision, but it's just too hard. It would be so much easier if the whole disagreement could be resolved. Wouldn't that make life just that much easier? I hate turning on the news and seeing someone take his or her own life in a suicide bombing over something that makes no sense to me

gah. I hate it.

This magazine seems pretty genuine. It's goals include:

• to promote rapprochement and better understanding between the two peoples;
• to provide a platform for Palestinians and Israelis - academics, public figures, journalists and other experts to take part in the on-going debate;
• to raise awareness, inform and clarify to a wider public within both communities about the issues at the crux of the conflict and how they impact on the lives of both peoples, from the perspective of each side;
• to foster, in a climate of constructive criticism and mutual respect, active dialogue and exchanges within and between the two civil societies.

Old...fast

For the record:

That's how I feel about our candidates. Shit, wasn't anyone smart BEFORE Iraq went haywire. I guess it takes more than money and an education to figure out that there is NO connection between 9/11 and Iraq. Fuck.