Do as we say, not as we do ?

'Times-Picayune' Announces New Home--in Houma--and Reports Looting by Cops and Firemen

I really don't know what to say about this story. It's shameful.

While other 1st responders were dealing with the death, destruction, and rescue efforts, these cops were probably using their patrol cars to carry off their stolen loot.

And even if it's just a tiny fraction of the total police force, it's sick. Plus it gives folks who probably don't need much of an excuse a reason to join in.

Like the woman quoted at the end of the article said, "It must be legal," she said. "The police are here taking stuff, too."

And to think, some were worried that there would be a problem [again] at the Superdome with violence and theft. I guess the police and the National Guard shouldn't have been looking solely at "civillians" breaking the law.

More obvious retaliation by Dick[head] Cheney and Rummy.

Critic of No-Bid Halliburton Contract Demoted; Democrats Demand Probe - Los Angeles Times

I'd bet that there are many more instances of this that I'm not aware of, but this is a blatant example of retaliation against someone daring to do the right thing.

And another thing, the excuse used to demote her is similar to that of the old Soviet Union's (a cold/the flu) when one of their leaders was dying, or members of the White House administration leaving their position for 'family reasons' when everyone knows they were forced to leave.

We can't have someone honest trying to do the right thing for American taxpayers now can we ? Good thing her husband doesn't work for the CIA, eh ?

Why the Hell isn't there anything being done about Cheney's former company getting these sweetheart deals and ripping off the American people ?
Will we have to wait until the crooks are all out of office before any real investigations begin ?

Good News. Leo Laporte & Call for Help are back !

Starting Monday, August 29th (11 AM est. on Comcast cable), Leo Laporte and the rest of the (Canadian CFH) crew can be seen on the "G4" channel. I'm not sure if G4 is available via satellite.

From what I hear, Kevin Rose will be making some appearances on the show, and I'd imagine that Pat Norton (and other former TechTV'ers) might also.

It really sucked when Comcast/G4 media took over, then destroyed the popular "TechTV" in favor of their little-known G4 channel, alienating a large part of their uber-faithful audience.

Since then, some of the TechTV talent has been snapped up by the likes of CNN Headline News and CNN (Erica Hill and Sumi Das respectively), MSNBC (Jennifer London), KTLA (Michaela Pereira), and Style Network (Jessica Corbin). Others like Patrick Norton (ExtremeTech, DigitalLifeTV) work/write for various online magazines.

Then there's John C. Dvorak..... ;) , author, columnnist, lecturer, who used to be part of the TechTV family with his show "Silicon Spin", and continues to hang out with Leo Laporte and the gang, weekly, on the podcast "This Week in Tech" (TWiT - [over 400,000 listeners and rising]).

White House, is that egg on your face? Do you care?

Think Progress » White House Misrepresents 9/11 Report

I don't think they do care. They'll just ignore it unless forced to do otherwise.

This administration has brought dirty tricks, dishonesty and partisianship to a new low not seen since the days of Watergate.

Why has Pat Robertson not been charged with a crime ?

FindLaw's Writ - Dean: Was Pat Robertson's Call For Assassination Of A Foreign Leader A Crime?

John Dean makes a good case here, and sums it up in his last paragraph:

" Will Robertson be investigated or prosecuted by federal authorities? Will he be called before Congress? Will the President, or the Secretary of State, publicly chastise Robertson? Are those three silly questions about a man who controls millions of Republican votes from Christian conservatives? "

It sounds like the end of a daily soap opera...."tune in tomorrow for the answers", but it's all too real, and I'd be willing to bet that none of the above will be done. Neither the President nor the Secretary of State (aka Pinnochio) has the *integrity* to do so.

Sad News.... The Daggett House has been sold and will become a private residence :(

The Daggett House - The Inn On Edgartown Harbor, Martha's Vineyard

I'm not sure exactly when this happened, but that's the message on the Daggett House web site.

That'll teach me for putting off the trip to Martha's Vinyard where I have always wanted to visit, and of course to visit my family's namesake The Daggett House on Edgartown Harbor. My main excuse to myself for not making the trip has always been my dislike for crowds, and from what I've seen and heard, the summer crowds are horrendous. And it certainly hasn't been helped by all the celebrities and high rollers buying properties all over the Island, which of course draws even more people.

There are some places that I wish time and the masses could just ignore. I think I'd probably love it there in the off season (if there even is one these days).

My family's history on Martha's Vinyard goes back to the very beginning, and I've always been awed when I think of what fortitude those people must have had to survive those early years.

Well anyway, whoever bought the Daggett House is very fortunate, and I hope they appreciate what they have.

Why am I not surprised that Deepak Chopra's daughter is so wise.

The Dissenting Opinion : IntentBlog

I was just making my daily visit to The Huffington Post when I spotted a post by Deepak Chopra, one of my favorite contributors to the site, when I followed a link at the bottom of his post to a new web site of his (and Shekhar Kapur's) called "IntentBlog".

After reading the "comments" to the post, and subsequently a post on IntentBlog by his daughter (Mallika Chopra) regarding "Dissenting Opinions", I was left impressed at how wise (and intelligent) a woman she appears to be.

As far as the rest of Dr. Chopra's family who also post on IntentBlog, although I haven't read their posts [yet], I won't be surprised if they too express their own variations of the wisdom that their parents have instilled in them.

I now have one more "must read daily" blog-site.

Impressed, but definitely not surprised.

A voice of reason where you [might] not expect it.

Joe Galloway: "There's Something Happening Here"

Most civillians probably wouldn't expect to read an article/comment such as this on a "Military" web site (and truthfully neither did I until I spent a little time at a few "military" web sites), but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Now that I think about it, that was foolish, and doesn't give enough credit to the men and women of our Armed Forces and [many of] the journalists who cover the military on a regular basis.
Sure, many of them are 'gung-ho" "the President's right no matter what" folks, but many can also see the larger picture.

Looking at the author's history*, he's had plenty of experience covering conflicts over the years and I'm glad he's able to present his thoughts on the Military.com web site as well as numerous other publications.

BTW: For any former military personnel out there, this web site (Military.com) is an excellent source for information and links to most (if not all) Veteran's issues, including Veteran's Benefits, and "Buddy Finder".


*Unfortunately his Bio (web page) was unavailable at the time of this post ("The requested article was not found.").

This looks like a promising solution to the RPG/IED problem !

North Bay News and Weather on BayToday.ca

I'm not sure where Troy Hurtubise gets his "dream inventions" from, but whatever the source, they're amazing and so is he.

I first became aware of Troy Hurtubise when I saw him on TV demonstrating his "Mark VI Bearproof Suit" years ago. That invention was impressive, but nothing compared to some of the other incredible inventions he's developed like "Angel Light", "Fire Paste", and LIMBC ("Light Infantry Military Blast Cushions").
Oh yeah, and another invention called "Fire Suppressant Agent 333" that could allow (economically feasible) access to the oil that's currently locked inside oil shale and sand. The same technology also helps clean up oil spills that effect coastlines.

The second time I saw him on TV was a demonstration of his "Fire Paste". What I remember from that show was him sitting there with a coating of the fire [proof] paste covering part of his head and a blowtorch aimed directly at it (for a LONG time).

You might think that Mr. Hurtubise is a top scientist working for a large corporation or research facility but he's not (and that's probably a good thing).
And it would be easy to write him off as just some wacky inventor if all you knew about him was his "Bearproof Suit" invention, but that would be incredibly foolish.

The reason I wanted to post about this guy here is that I believe his "Blast Cushions" and the associated technologies could be at least a partial solution to what I believe is the biggest threat to our troops today, the simple Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG).

It's always amazed me that with all our technical advances in military hardware, million dollar machines like helicopters and almost all of our ground vehicles can [potentially] be neutralized with the simple RPG.

Of course the chances of this technology getting through the maze of required Pentagon and Congressional approvals (and POLITICS) and to our troops in Iraq (and everywhere else) anytime soon are remote.

Think about it. This guy is coming up with solutions for problems that have only been dreams for generations of scientists.

Does Bush live in the state of Texas, or in the state of DENIAL ?

Think Progress » Bush Denies He’s On Vacation

You know, there are SO many examples of this, and I'm so tired lately, I'm just going to leave it here.....

....Well, just one more comment.

I suffer from chronic depression (among other things like ADD, and a serious lack of short-term memory) which [for one] makes it exceptionally hard to compose my thoughts for this blog (and other similar tasks).
FYI: It usually takes me at least an hour to compose what others can do in ten minutes.

But another area where "depression" affects me is simply reading and watching the news.

The general state of affairs in the world is enough to depress many people, and the state of the current administration (AND news coverage, or the LACK of) is MORE than enough to deal with for me...

It just seems that (especially in the current administration) the Heart and SOUL inside the Republican party has disappeared (whatever SOUL was left) which is interesting, considering the number of sanctimonious "Holier than thou" folks there.

I think that politics (and the MSM's coverage of) has become too much like Madison Avenue, where it's OK to "stretch the truth" or otherwise lead people to the wrong/inaccurate conclusion.
We're being programmed to accept BS, and unless you're a serious skeptic like I am, you're vulnerable to it.

I tell you folks, sometimes it's just way too much to take.......
The one good thing is that I think blogging about all this bullshit helps "vent" some of the frustration I feel (at least about politics).

It's [mostly] "who you know" when it comes to the so-called "War on drugs"

Think Progress » Always Low Prices, Even for Meth Lab Owners

As if the administration's "War or Drugs" wasn't bullshit enough, here's more proof.

The administration is so heartless they won't advocate medical marijuana for people dying of cancer, or even the growing of "Hemp" (which isn't useful for smoking, for those who don't already know), which can be used for a multitude of products.

But what do you know, Wal-Mart's lobbyists evidently have a lot more influence with this administration than NORML does.

So by this administration's action (and/or inaction) they seem to be "OK" with Wal-Mart selling [all] the ingredients to make "Meth", and other potentially deadly drugs like alcohol and tobacco, but refuse to decriminalize marijuana (which unlike the others mentioned, isn't responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year, and has been deemed helpful by countless doctors).

Isn't it amazing what piles of money and powerful lobbyists (not to mention hypocrites in the administration) can do ?

I think that if Wal-Mart had an interest in selling marijuana, THEY might have the lobbying power to achieve it.

Here's an interesting article (from Business Week Online) asking the question - Is Wal-Mart too powerful ?

The lobbying power of Wal-Mart doesn't surprise me, nor does the hypocrisy, but since they've taken such a prudish stance on "moral" issues like selling Maxim magazine (Oh, the HORROR !), I thought they would stop or "restrict" the sales of Meth ingredients just as other retailers have done.

They really must be selling a $hitload of the aforementioned cold products, although they were probably selling lots of Maxim, FHM, etc. magazines before they banned them from their stores.

What other reason could there be ?

Bush searches for new things to screw-up...

Daylight-saving change could confuse gadgets | CNET News.com

George "duh" Bush seems to be on a quest to screw-up as many things he can before leaving office.

Let's see now, the economy, an assualt(/lack of) on ethics in his administration, foreign relations, the gap between rich and poor (incl. healthcare), the safety of America (and Americans the world over), the environment, and now technology (you can add your own favorites HERE...).

And I thought he was too lazy to accomplish anything !

WTF ?

InformationWeek > Open Source, Mozilla > Mozilla Creates For-Profit Unit, But Insists It's Not 'Selling Out' > August 3, 2005

I'm not buying it !

This piece is REALLY funny.

Unconfirmed Sources

I hope Tom Delay gets a chance to read this page, 'tho we doubt it.

On a side note: This is the first web site I've thought to create a "Funny Political Web Sites" folder for in my Firefox Bookmarks.
This is good stuff !

If I was a Movie/Web Site critic, I might say something like:
"I laughed so hard I farted !"

"Unconfirmed Sources" and Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" are it as far as I'm concerned ! (Unless there are other equally funny web sites out there, unseen by my eyes, just waiting to give me a temporary lift from the enormous issue that I see as the power-drunk "Religious Right". With an all too willing fool * doing their bidding in the White House it's like a race to grab all they can [while they can].)

*I was tempted to insert a URL to the old "Bush or Chimp" web site here. :-P

A Tale of Two Parties

For me, this is a great example of [one of] the differences between the two parties.

I just turned on MSNBC's "Connected Coast to Coast". The next piece they're doing is about Hillary Clinton. The Democratic guest is Bob Kunst, the leader of "Hillary Now!". The other guest is one of the "Hillary-Haters" Gary Aldrich from the putrid website "Stop Hillary Now!".

Anyway, it boils down to this. The Democratic guest is working FOR something, the Republican guest is working AGAINST something.

California Trains Private Guards in Antiterrorism

NTI: Global Security Newswire - Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Here's several comments regarding this article:

1. I think this is an excellent idea.

2. This is a "no-brainer", why has it taken four years to
implement ?

3. Why is California the only state doing this ?

4. Is 4 hours an adequate amount of time ?

5. Finally, 40 hours to become a licensed private security guard ?
That's a lot less time than it takes to become a licensed hair
stylist, isn't it ?
Now no offense to hair stylists, but personally I'd like to
think that someone who might be guarding a potential terrorist
target gets (considerably) more training than 40 hrs, and
definitely more than 4 hrs of antiterrorism training !

Read the part about Robin Williams......

The Huffington Post | The Blog

I don't know where Robin Williams said it, but reading it in this post by Richard Valeriani made me laugh, and that's not easy to do these days.

Where are the Right-Wing "Flip-Flop" hypocrites now ?

Stock Market News and Investment Information | Reuters.com

I'm glad Senator Frist has come to his senses, at least on this issue, but recalling how we were inundated with the absurd (not to mention hypocritical) cries of "Flip-Flop" during the last election, where are those idiots now ? According to them, you're not supposed to ever change your position, especially on such a serious issue as stem cell research, and especially if you're the Senate Leader, right ?

C'mon ya blowhards, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right ?

Of course this is but one of countless examples of hypocrisy in politics isn't it ?

I just wish the same people that made that claim during the election had the integrity to admit it. I respect a person who can admit when they're wrong. It's part of life. None of us is perfect.

I don't have any respect for (the current) President Bush.

But no, nobody will admit to any mistakes, not with the culture of lies and secrecy that pervades this administration. I doubt Bush can even spell the word in-teg-ri-ty, let alone show us that he has any. He simply refuses to admit to making any mistakes at all.

How about Cheney ? Rove ? Pinnochio, er, I mean Condi ?
Nope, no mistakes (or "overstatements") here !

I guess none of them have ever changed their position on anything, ever.

What role models for the youth of our country !

Talk about living in a fantasy world..... I'd swear sometimes that I've woken up in an alternate universe (like maybe for the last 5 years!).

It would be so nice if I woke up tommorow and realized that it was only a nightmare ! Yeah, right Tom.... Dream on !

The last sentence in this article says it all......

'Who's Who' could be source for CIA leak

Novak is clutching at straws at this point. Basically he's just another member of the "Liars Club" and a pathetic old man.

I almost did a spit-take when I saw him shown on the news the other day, hobbling down the sidewalk with a cane. It came across (to me) like he could have been saying "oh, look at me, I'm old and have to walk with a cane....please feel sorry for me."

Sorry Bob, I really wish that I was watching you hobbling into a federal prison (or better yet Rikers Island). I'd really like to think that there will be some kind of price you'll have to pay (while you're still alive), and I have the same hopes for the rest of the "Liars Club".