Forensic Analysts Say RFK Assassination Was Not a One Man Act

Watch this video. What do you think?

Bush Says Someone Else's Argument Doesn't Make Sense?

The "Oh Hell No" of the Week

In a shocking twist of irony, Dubya scolded Congress, while simultaneously defending his Iraq occupation.

From the AP article posted almost 20 minutes ago:

Bush derided calls from Congress for troop withdrawals or deadlines so that the military could focus more on the anti-terror battle elsewhere. "This argument makes no sense," he said.

Wow. Bush is saying that someone else's argument doesn't make sense? How about the argument that got us there in the first place? Why would anyone want to focus their attention elsewhere? What is Bush thinking, you may ask? I'll tell you what: "Forget about anti-terror battles. Forget about the thousands of dead American men and women. Heck, forget about the economy. You're all stupid, and I am The Decider." According to Dick and John, everything is as peaceful in Iraq as Hillary's trip to Bosnia. Little girls are reading poetry and handing out flowers, while Sinbad tells jokes and Sheryl Crow sings "All I Want to Do is Have Some Fun."

I can't wait to wake up from this nightmare...

Official Minutes for the Former First Lady

I thought this was great. (Screen shot taken from The Onion)

**********************************************************************************

To avoid filing 1,000 blogs under today's date (Sorry. I misspoke. I meant 5.), I'm going to add on to this Billary post some thoughts that I have on her following these wise words: Carpe Amissionis (Seize the Loss- that being the Democratic nomination) ---> if I did it correctly...

Now, I have to admit that Yahoo! articles seem to suck for a number of reasons, but I'm going to use this quote from an article to illustrate a point.

Democratic race over? Clinton doesn't think so
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

"I hear it in the atmosphere," Clinton said of the increasingly loud chatter about whether she should drop out and let Democrats focus on the general election campaign.

"But the most common thing that people say to me ... is 'Don't give up, keep going. We're with you.' And I feel really good about that because that's what I intend to do," she told reporters on Tuesday.

What. A. Loser.

I mean, come on. Look: You've lost, Hillary, and if somehow you win the Democratic nomination, people across America just might suspect foul play, and be less inclined to vote for you in the general election. Besides, is this how we want a potential president to think? "People told me not to quit [mostly because they will have to go back to more mundane jobs] so I'm not going to." Let's get real here, Hillary. These idiots are telling you not to drop out because they don't know what they're going to do with themselves if you do. The last thing our next president needs to surround his/herself with is a gaggle of Panglossian numb skulls. Hillary, drop out while you still have some dignity left, and stop listening to what the Kool-Aid-aholics Anonymous members keep telling you!

Shady McGrady

Think Hillary's a shady character, and want to look at some of the shady things she's done?

Well, here's a good start on things that she and her fellatio-loving husband have participated in over their political careers. Google these terms and see what you can come up with:

Travelgate
Whitewater
Filegate
Craig Livingstone
Pardongate (a good place to start would be here)

Don't worry, there's more, but these are good jumping off points for other Clinton matters. If HRC's lies have throughly disturbed you, I suggest you visit Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood on WAPO and join this discussion. I did (paraphrasing the last blog I did on that lying wench).

Some people on the message board are acting as though this is the first time the Wicked Witch of the West Wing has lied. Hello? I'm sorry. You're not coming in clear.

Hillary Clinton has been lying her way to the top. She's ruthless, cutthroat, and a real monster- just as Powers described her. Hillary fans: Can you hear me now? Good.

Quote of the Week

"For three more months, Clinton is likely to hurt Obama even more against McCain, without hurting him against herself. And all this is happening so she can preserve that 5 percent chance.

When you step back and think about it, she is amazing. She possesses the audacity of hopelessness."

David Brooks, NYT Op-Ed Columnist

Read the entire article here.

Disgusting

Bush, Cheney, and McCain utterly disgust me.

McCain thinks that we're succeeding in Iraq.
Bush, well, he's Bush.
Cheney gives the ultimate comeback: "So?"

We've reached 4,000 total deaths incurred by the American military. According to one article, 95% of these deaths came after Bush's victory speech five years ago.

This was a thought I had yesterday and forgot to post. Grr...

Join the Elite Club

Well, boys and girls, one day you too can join The League of Bumbling Morons (better known as The Bush Administration).

Until then, you should congratulate Arizona Republican Senator John McCain for his recent inauguration into this elite club. He joins President George W. Bush, and his uncle, Vice President Dick Cheney.

Members of this club have been known to disregard the feelings of the American people, while simultaneously high-fiving their Saudi brothers. In fact, just recently, club and country VP Cheney was overheard telling a single American mother of three (one of which was just killed in Iraq) to "talk to the hand" and "save the drama for your mama."

McCain was chosen to take the minutes for the last meeting, which he wrote on the back of an Olive Garden children's menu.

Cheney kicked off the meeting with a toast, saying "F U Americans," while Bush snickered. The men then did a shot of Diesel fuel, wiping any excess fuel off their faces with $100 bills. No further activities can be deduced from the meeting, as the remaining minutes were doodles of Hillary Clinton with a "big old butt" with stink lines, and Barack Obama, a plus sign, a sketch of what appeared to be Afghanistan, an equal sign, and a heart.

It has been rumored that Condoleezza Rice was expected to join this elite club until Bush remembered that he "doesn't really like Black people."

For more information on the club, visit The League of Bumbling Morons website.

My Take on the Infamous Speech

Transcript of the Speech can be Found Here.

Video Footage can be Found Here.

On "The Speech"

Coming from a multiracial background, I really felt a connection with the speech. Yes, I realize that the speech was a tool used to detract attention from the Rev. Wright issue (which is really a non-issue to me), and that Sen. Obama does not denounce the Reverend himself in the speech, but there's a bigger point the speech is making. Racism still exists in this country, and it's not just black and white.

People like Rev. Wright exist in this world, in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Do I think that his statements were justified? Do I agree with them? Can I understand where he's coming from? These are questions that we need to be asking ourselves.

People in the media and in politics keep calling for the presidential candidates to denounce some person or another. What does this accomplish? How foolish they want the candidates to look, running to and fro denouncing people. What century is this again? I have racist family members, and I'm not going to go around denouncing them. The notion is utterly ridiculous.

Sen. Obama has already said that he does not agree with all of Rev. Wright's speeches. Let it rest! What people are not doing is Googling speeches of Rev. Wright that preach Christian values. They also aren't discussing the fact that Reverend Wright was a guest in the Clinton White House . How about the fact that HE'S NOT EVEN HIS REVEREND ANYMORE?? One woman on the Michael Baisden show (that I thought I would never listen to again) made a pointed comment that the congregation often looked uncomfortable when he reached these controversial points in his sermon. But is anyone talking about that?

Have I gone on youtube and searched for the Rev. Wright videos? Of course not. I have no need to. Aside from the fact that I've heard the sermon on loop since the revelations first arose, I've heard plenty of statements like these before. This is one of the great things about our country. We can sit around, debating and questioning the government. I've heard dozens of older black men who lived through the Civil Rights Era speak negatively about the government's role in the black community and the international arena, as I'm sure countless Black Americans have experienced the same. Whooptydoo. Does it mean that I agree with everything they say? Of course not! I'm no idiot.

I found it rather comical, watching The McLaughlin Group on Sunday morning. I'm not going to go into detail about it, but I'll put it up once it's on their website (as long as I remember). (I must note that Pat Buchanan said that, if Jesus were alive today, he would be for the death penalty in the 3/22/08 episode. Definitely a must-see.) One of the pundits suggested that Obama not listen to Wright. Hmm... don't listen to people whose views you don't necessarily agree with. That's an interesting concept. Isn't it the duty of a thinking human being to take in all points of view? I guess we don't want presidential candidates to be ration, thinking human beings. Do we really need another Bush in the White House?

I've heard that Rev. Wright is destroying the church. I've heard the whole Rev. Wright situation compared with the pedophilia in the Catholic Church. It's quite disturbing.


One of the greatest problems I had with reactions to the speech was the fact that many people across the country did not understand that the speech was not given to END racial injustice, inequality, and racism in the states, but rather to open a dialogue on the subject matter. One reader commented on Eugene Robinson's "Obama's Road Map on Race" asserting that Obama set forth no policies in his speech. Asinine. That's all I can say. One person responded to that very comment saying that policies already exist, and asking whether it is really necessary to formulate a policy that says to be nice to one another. I concur.

I'm upset that people are calling Barack Obama a racist. If he's racist against White Americans, he's racist against himself and his family.

No one can deny that Senator Obama is a gifted speaker. He's one of the rare politicians out there whose speeches I can listen to, without pause, in their entirety. That 48 minute speech on race? I listened to the entire thing. One of the women I canvassed with on Saturday told me "I want to be able to listen to my president," and she's right. With Bush, I want to change the channel shortly after vomiting and choking on all the bull he's feeding the public. Clinton was a compelling speaker, and I liked listening to him sometimes (considering I was a child with the attention span of a gnat- now I've upgraded to that of a badger).

If this is just the beginning of a conversation Obama has started with the American public, I cannot wait to hear more.

Obama '08

Misspeaking vs Lying

Misspeaking: The rich (wo)man's lie.

Wow. This reminds me of that whole "mistakes were made" vs "I screwed up" debate back in my Power and Politics class (the equivalence of Poli Sci 101 at any "normal" university).

So Hillary says that she "misspoke" about the whole dodging bullets in Bosnia ordeal.

Here's the lie misstatement:

"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

Here's the cover-up:

"Now let me tell you what I can remember, OK -- because what I was told was that we had to land a certain way and move quickly because of the threat of sniper fire. So I misspoke -- I didn't say that in my book or other times but if I said something that made it seem as though there was actual fire -- that's not what I was told." (thanks to CNN)

Here's what she's deduced:

"I say a lot of things -- millions of words a day -- so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement."

Substitute the word misstatement for lie, and Hillary paints a different picture. (Plus, I'm sure she tells thousands of lies a day with those millions of words she uses.)

This sort of "misspeaking" (which I will refer to from this point on as lying or bullshit) has been perpetuated in the HRC campaign incessantly. She's been lying about many things involving her experience, and I think this is a clear example. Never did I believe that the former First Lady would have been endangered to that degree, and I find the fact that she thought the average American would believe that bullshit to be not only offensive, but degrading. Really, Hillary? You think we're that dumb?

Maybe I'm the only one that sees the difference between her original statement and her retraction. Hopefully, this is not the case.

I would be offended if I actually did experience what Hillary Clinton claims to have experienced. Where does she get off making up lies, trying to sound courageous, while REAL people were encountering those very scenarios?


I give her FIVE out of FIVE Nixons on this lie.

Are You Bored?

Don't have time to read the whole thing? Read the edited, condensed version here.

Time to Monkey Around

Over the past decade, researchers and policymakers have raised concerns about reduced time for recess in schools. Do kids have time to be kids today? The big fear is that instructional time is overtaking playtime—much to the detriment of children’s health. Current trends, such as increased rates of childhood obesity and greater expectations for academic performance as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, have led many to take a hard look at school recess policies and the importance of play.

Research on Play

Everyone—children and adults alike—can benefit from a rest. It’s no surprise that many different studies show improved cognitive functions and memory after a break from mentally challenging tasks. Additionally, the research suggests that play is an essential part of healthy mental and physical development in children. Some studies on play have made the news recently:

Cultural historian Howard Chudacoff contends that it is uninhibited imaginative play that aids in a child’s cognitive and emotional development, and there is a decrease in the imaginative games today’s children play compared to those of their parents and grandparents. As a result, children are not as cognitively or emotionally developed as their elders. One study helps to demonstrate these generational differences.

In the pre-Mickey Mouse 1940s, a self-regulation study was conducted where the researchers asked three-, five-, and seven-year olds to perform a series of tasks. One task required the children to stand perfectly still. The three-year olds were unable to complete this task, the five-year olds were able to stand still for several minutes, and the seven-year olds were able to stand still for as long as was required.

Fast-forward to 2001, when the Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning psychologist Elena Bodrova repeated the experiment, and the results were quite different. Neither the three-year olds nor the five-year olds could stand still at all, and the seven-year olds were barely able to remain still for even a few minutes. This self-regulation study validates the argument that children of the new millennium are not as cognitively or emotionally developed as their grandparents.

Laura Berk, a professor of psychology at Illinois State University, says “self-regulation predicts effective development in virtually every domain.” Self-regulation, along with executive function, is an extremely important tool in retaining focus during a long and grueling school day. Alix Spiegel of NPR harps on the importance of executive function when she writes, “executive function — and its self-regulation element — is important. Poor executive function is associated with high dropout rates, drug use and crime. In fact, good executive function is a better predictor of success in school than a child's IQ.”

Legislating Recess or Mandatory Minimums (for Recess)

Some states have enacted policies to ensure children have time for recess during the school day. In Illinois, for example, legislators amended their school code related to recess. The amendment provides students from kindergarten to eighth grade with a minimum of 10 minutes of recess each day. South Carolina, a state that has struggled with high childhood obesity rates, passed a law in 2005 that requires elementary school students to be given a minimum of 150 minutes of play in one week of school. Last month, legislation was introduced to increase recess from 12 to 20 minutes per day.

Although some states are trying to ensure minimum time for recess, new evidence suggests that recess time has decreased since NCLB. The Center on Education Policy recently released a study that found that time allotted for recess decreased 28% under NCLB. In a nationally-representative sample of 349 school districts, an average of 184 minutes was spent on recess in 2001-2002, but in 2006-2007 only 144 minutes per week was spent on recess. Only reading and math instructional time were increased.

Playground Talk / What People Are Saying

Vicky Schippers, a Brooklyn tutor and education writer says recess is an essential break in a day filled with preparation for standardized tests:

“Today, our kids’ lives are organized to the hilt. For that reason, what is most important about recess is that it is the only unstructured time in a long day for most children, who find themselves in classrooms where the No Child Left Behind Act requires a rigorous schedule of standardized-test preparation.”

Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute on Play tries to imagine life without play:

“Look at life without play, and it's not much of a life. If you think of all the things we do that are play related and erase those, it's pretty hard to keep going. [Without play], there's a sense of dullness, lassitude and pessimism, which doesn't work well in the world we live in.'”

Professor Charles H. Hillman of the University of Illinois argues that physical activity is a basic necessity NCLB founders omitted:

“Had the creators of No Child Left Behind looked at the data, they would’ve realized that physical activity is good for the brain.”

Fitness guru Richard Simmons suggests adding physical education to NCLB in order to combat the staggering childhood obesity rates in the U.S.:

“I think we all have to join hands together and say, ‘Hey, put physical education in a fun way in the schools and the test scores will go up!’ Why not even try it? Give it a year, and I promise you the test scores will go up.”

What do you think?

Should more time be dedicated to play during the school day? Should educators try to incorporate more playtime into the core subjects? Are we creating a less creative generation?

It's Depressing. There's So Much Going On, Yet I've Been Blogging So Rarely...

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!

I feel that I'm probably losing more and more blog readers by the minute. No more views from Canada, UAE, Portugal, etc. I'm trying to find more time to blog. Honestly!

Once I figure out how to use the flickr slide show feature, I'm going to upload my pictures from my volunteer work in PA this weekend, and tell you all about it!

I want to blog about the speech on race, HRC, Richardson, etc, but I've been ridiculously busy working on this project here in the Research Center.

More to follow...

Eliot Spitzer Got Screwed, and then Got Screwed Again

Wow, so this is quite interesting, not just because I've felt so out of the loop this week, or because I had planned to blog about Obama's last speech (which I eventually will), but because it really just sucks.

Let me preface this with an email my father sent me.

The $200 billion bail-out for predator banks and Spitzer charges are intimately
linked

By Greg Palast
Reporting for Air America Radio's Clout

Listen to Palast on Clout at www.GregPalast.com


While New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was paying an 'escort' $4,300 in a hotel room in Washington, just down the road, George Bush's new Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Ben Bernanke, was secretly handing over $200 billion in a tryst with mortgage bank industry speculators.

Both acts were wanton, wicked and lewd. But there's a BIG difference. The Governor was using his own checkbook. Bush's man Bernanke was using ours.

This week, Bernanke's Fed, for the first time in its history, loaned a selected coterie of banks one-fifth of a trillion dollars to guarantee these banks' mortgage-backed junk bonds. The deluge of public loot was an eye-popping windfall to the very banking predators who have brought two million families to the brink of foreclosure.

Up until Wednesday, there was one single, lonely politician who stood in the way of this creepy little assignation at the bankers' bordello: Eliot Spitzer.

Who are they kidding Spitzer's lynching and the bankers' enriching are intimately tied?

How? Follow the money.

The press has swallowed Wall Street's line that millions of US families are about to lose their homes because they bought homes they couldn't afford or took loans too big for their wallets. Ba-LON-ey. That's blaming the victim.

Here's what happened. Since the Bush regime came to power, a new species of loan became the norm, the 'sub-prime' mortgage and it's variants including loans with teeny "introductory" interest rates. From out of nowhere, a company called 'Countrywide' became America's top mortgage lender, accounting for one in five home loans, a large chuck of these 'sub-prime.'

Here's how it worked: The Grinning Family, with US average household income, gets a $200,000 mortgage at 4% for two years. Their $955 a month payment is 25% of their income. No problem. Their banker promises them a new mortgage, again at the cheap rate, in two years. But in two years, the promise ain't worth a can of spam and the Grinnings are told to scram - because their house is now worthless than the mortgage. Now, the mortgage hits 9% or $1,609 plus fees to recover the "discount" they had for two years. Suddenly, payments equal 42% to 50% of pre-tax income. Grinnings move into their Toyota.

Now, what kind of American is 'sub-prime.' Guess. No peeking. Here's a hint: 73% of HIGH INCOME Black and Hispanic borrowers were given sub-prime loans versus 17% of similar-income Whites. Dark-skinned borrowers aren't stupid they had no choice. They were 'steered' as it's called in the mortgage sharking business.

'Steering,' sub-prime loans with usurious kickers, fake inducements to over-borrow, called 'fraudulent conveyance' or 'predatory lending' under US law, were almost completely forbidden in the olden days (Clinton Administration and earlier) by federal regulators and state laws as nothing more than fancy loan-sharking.

But when the Bush regime took over, Countrywide and its banking brethren were told to party hardy it was OK now to steer'm, fake'm, charge'm and take'm. But there was this annoying party-pooper. The Attorney General of New York, Eliot Spitzer, who sued these guys to a fare-thee-well. Or tried to.

Instead of regulating the banks that had run amok, Bush's regulators went on the warpath against Spitzer and states attempting to stop predatory practices. Making an unprecedented use of the legal power of "federal pre-emption," Bush-bots ordered the states to NOT enforce their consumer protection laws.

Indeed, the feds actually filed a lawsuit to block Spitzer's investigation of ugly racial mortgage steering. Bush's banking buddies were especially steamed that Spitzer hammered bank practices across the nation using New York State laws.

Spitzer not only took on Countrywide, he took on their predatory enablers in the investment banking community. Behind Countrywide was the Mother Shark, its funder and now owner, Bank of America. Others joined the sharkfest: Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup's Citibank made mortgage usury their major profit centers. They did this through a bit of financial legerdemain called "securitization."

What that means is that they took a bunch of junk mortgages, like the Grinnings, loans about to go down the toilet and re-packaged them into "tranches" of bonds which were stamped "AAA" - top grade - by bond rating agencies. These gold-painted turds were sold as sparkling safe investments to US school district
pension funds and town governments in Finland (really).

When the housing bubble burst and the paint flaked off, investors were left with the poop and the bankers were left with bonuses. Countrywide's top man, Angelo Mozilo, will 'earn' a $77 million buy-out bonus this year on top of the $656 million - over half a billion dollars he pulled in from 1998 through 2007.

But there were rumblings that the party would soon be over. Angry regulators, burned investors and the weight of millions of homes about to be boarded up were causing the sharks to sink. Countrywide's stock was down 50%, and Citigroup was off 38%, not pleasing to the Gulf sheiks who now control its biggest share blocks.

Then, on Wednesday of this week, the unthinkable happened. Carlyle Capital went bankrupt. Who? That's Carlyle as in Carlyle Group. James Baker, Senior Counsel. Notable partners, former and past: George Bush, the Bin Laden family and more dictators, potentates, pirates and presidents than you can count.

The Fed had to act. Bernanke opened the vault and dumped $200 billion on the poor little suffering bankers. They got the public treasure and got to keep the Grinning's house. There was no 'quid' of a foreclosure moratorium for the 'pro quo' of public bail-out. Not one family was saved but not one banker was left behind.

Every mortgage sharking operation shot up in value. Mozilo's Countrywide stock rose 17% in one day. The Citi sheiks saw their company's stock rise $10 billion in an afternoon.

And that very same day the bail-out was decided what a coinkydink! The man called, 'The Sheriff of Wall Street' was cuffed. Spitzer was silenced.

Do I believe the banks called Justice and said, "Take him down today!" Naw, that's not how the system works. But the big players knew that unless Spitzer was taken out, he would create enough ruckus to spoil the party. Headlines in the financial press one was "Wall Street Declares War on Spitzer" - made clear to Bush's enforcers at Justice who their number one target should be. And it wasn't Bin Laden.

It was the night of February 13 when Spitzer made the bone-headed choice to order take-out in his Washington Hotel room. He had just finished signing these words for the Washington Post about predatory loans:

"Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which he federal government was turning a blind eye."

Bush, said Spitzer right in the headline, was the "Predator Lenders' Partner in Crime." The President, said Spitzer, was a fugitive from justice. And Spitzer was in Washington to launch a campaign to take on the Bush regime and the biggest financial powers on the planet.

Spitzer wrote, "When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners the Bush administration will not be judged favorably."

But now, the Administration can rest assured that this love story of Bush and his bankers - will not be told by history at all now that the Sheriff of Wall Street has fallen on his own gun.

A note on "Prosecutorial Indiscretion."

Back in the day when I was an investigator of racketeers for government, the federal prosecutor I was assisting was deciding whether to launch a case based on his negotiations for airtime with 60 Minutes. I'm not allowed to tell you the prosecutor's name, but I want to mention he was recently seen shouting, "Florida is Rudi country! Florida is Rudi country!"

Not all crimes lead to federal bust or even public exposure. It's up to something called "prosecutorial discretion."

Funny thing, this 'discretion.' For example, Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, paid Washington DC prostitutes to put him in diapers (ewww!), yet the Senator was not exposed by the US prosecutors busting the pimp-ring that pampered him. Naming and shaming and ruining Spitzer - rarely done in these cases - was made at the 'discretion' of Bush's Justice Department.

Or maybe we should say, 'indiscretion.'

Alright, so, wow. Where have I been? I mean, yeah, this is an effed up situation, but geez louise. How did I not read about this last week, or even yesterday? Why is everyone focusing on Jeremiah Wright, when this is a much more pertinent issue! Hello! We're talking about our pockets here! Some people are talking about it, sure, but I listen to talk radio every day, and I haven't heard anyone mention this. I guess the Bush Posse's plan worked...

(No Millionaire Left Behind is definitely working.)

The whole situation is absolutely embarrassing. How can a leader do this to his own people? These are the politics that we should be attempting to rid the country of in this crucial presidential election. We need to get the Old Boys out, and get some New Dudes in.
it?

In her WAPO article, "Analysis: Bush Plays Cheerleader Role," Jennifer Loven writes:

Bush rejects the bankruptcy plan and other ideas like it. He wants legislation providing broad mortgage reform instead. "The challenge is not to do anything foolish," he says.

I could comment on this quote for years, but I'll leave that up to you. But, in a nutshell, I would say that the way he has handled the economy since Day 1 in office has been foolish. Oh, but wait, I guess it's just foolish if you have a conscience and actually care about other human beings. Nevermind. Amnesia. Totally forgot who we're talking about here.

...still...baffled...can't...complete...blog...feedback, anyone?

Campaigning for Obama

Okay, so it's no mystery that I'm a huge Barack Obama supporter. It's also no mystery that I think Hillary Clinton is a ruthless hag and that John McCain is a "crazy old" turkey-necked man. So it should come as no surprise that I am going to OFFICIALLY assist the Obama campaign this weekend.

This weekend, I plan to drive up to PA with some friends to help people register to vote. This will be my first time registering voters, and I'm extremely excited, despite the fact that I don't know what to expect (and that I don't know WHERE in PA I may end up). Anybody have any funny voter registration stories?

After helping with voter registration, I plan to return to PA a few weeks later to help canvass!

Tracy Morgan: Black is the New President, Bitch

Take Time to Talk about the Environment

Often times, amidst political scandals and the high school-esque drama of presidential contenders, we forget about things that matter most...

Has anybody else been paying attention to the environment lately? I recall hearing this story from a couple of days ago about the drinking water in D.C. that has been contaminated with prescription medication, and now this story comes in about the EPA loosening its restrictions on smog. And who might we have to thank for this? Who do you think? The Master Chimp himself. WAPO originally broke this story, which paints yet another disturbing picture of the Shrub Administration's involvement in environmental matters.

Check out this quote from the article:

"Never before has a president personally intervened at the 11th hour, exercising political power at the expense of the law and science, to force EPA to accept weaker air quality standards than the agency chief's expert scientific judgment had led him to adopt," said John Walke, clean air director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a private advocacy group. "It is unprecedented and an unlawful act of political interference."

This just goes to show that the country allows this nutjob get away with everything, and that those who refuse to agree are either going to be removed or are forced to comply. Perhaps Curious George plans on moving to the moon with his family. That could be the only explanation. Otherwise, in good conscience, how can anyone cause harm to the planet their children and grandchildren hope to inherit in the very near future? It's truly disturbing. This is just perpetuating the Shrub Admin's brainwashing Americans into believing that global warming does not exist and that everything is, and will continue to be, okay.

I think that the Dubya Dubya Three Administration needs to watch "The Lorax"



What's fascinating to me is the fact that the EPA is not making a big stink about it. This is what they originally said about the stronger smog standards just two days ago.

Now read today's press release:

Statement by the U.S. EPA Press Secretary, Jonathan Shradar

Release date: 03/14/2008

Contact Information: Jonathan Shradar, (202) 564-4355 / shradar.jonathan@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. – March 14, 2008) This week, EPA met its requirements under the Clean Air Act and signed the most stringent 8-hour standard ever for ozone, revising the standards for the first time in more than a decade. The agency based the changes on the full breadth of the most recent scientific evidence about the effects of ozone, the primary component of smog.

The ozone standard preferred by the President and ultimately chosen by the Agency is as stringent as the other option the Agency had considered. The same level of protection is provided by the chosen standard; only the format of the selected standard is different.

EPA’s ozone rule this week is consistent with the Clinton Administration’s policy. In fact, EPA followed what Clinton’s EPA Administrator (Carol Browner) did by choosing a secondary standard identical – in form and level – to the primary standard.

EPA is unaware of either Paul Clement or anyone else in the Solicitor General’s office ever stating or advising that “the rules contradicted the EPA’s past submissions to the Supreme Court” as the Washington Post article today asserts.

Bottom line -- America’s air is cleaner today than it was a generation ago and the rule EPA signed this week is the most stringent 8-hour standard ever for ozone.

I'd like to hear some comments about this. I think we're going to hear more about this over the next few hours, as the story broke this morning.

Befitting Quote of the Week

Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.

Abraham Lincoln

Dr. Kevorkian is Running for Congress?!?!?!

The "Oh Hell No" of the Week

It's sad, but true: Dr. Kevorkian is planning to run for Congress in Michigan. We all remember Dr. Kevorkian from the 90s. You know, that loving quack doctor who so selflessly assisted people with terminal illnesses with suicide. Does it really matter what his platform is? Not to me, it doesn't. I'm just glad I don't live in Michigan!

What I think is the irony of it all is that Kevorkian himself has a terminal illness.

Immigration Battle in Prince William County, VA

Let's talk about illegal immigration for a moment...

So, in Prince William County, VA, law enforcement officials are cracking down on Latino soccer leagues that they feel may be harboring illegal immigrants. The new immigration law calls for increased attention to illegal immigration in the county. This WAPO article tells the story of soccer leagues in this county and the effect the new law has had on not just the leagues, but the families involved.

While I consider myself to be a somewhat sympathetic person at times, I can't be in this instance. I'm trying to understand if I'm supposed to feel sorry after reading this article, but sadly, I don't.

I'd like to open up a dialog on this topic to see how everyone else feels about this article.

Another Barack Obama Hater: Geraldine Ferraro

Those Clintonistas are at it again: hating.

Wow, Geraldine Ferraro, way to go! You have officially completed your membership application to the Barack Obama Hater's Club. If you haven't heard (and are too lazy to read the article in the link provided aboce), Geraldine Ferraro ( a Hillary Clinton supporter and the first woman to run on a U.S. presidential ticket--- she ran for VP in 1984) said the following:

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

Wow. So if Obama was white, he wouldn't be a serious presidential contender? What race is John McCain again? And isn't Obama in the same position as Hillary, who allegedly is a woman? I would like an Obama supporter to come out and say what is in the minds of most Americans: "If Hillary hadn't been married to the president, she would not be in this position."

It's funny that Hillary supporters keep saying that Obama is playing the race card, when they are the ones, in fact, constantly commenting on his race. Hillary is a real jerk for pretending that she is mildly offended by these comments. I don't believe her one bit.

Check out this video, thanks to Bloggers for Obama. It's Keith Olbermann's response to Ferraro's statements and Hillary's response.

Big Pimpin', Governor Style

Okay, so as I was a New Yorker for over 3 years, I feel that it is my duty to finally blog about the whole Spitzer scandal.

I must preface this by saying how much I love listening to Tony Kornheiser in the morning. I think the show is absolutely hilarious, and it is filled with blogable information.

On the Kornheiser show two mornings ago, the British guy (I don't know his name) presented a good argument:

Why did Spitzer put his 4-diamond hooker on the regional train? Why didn't he splurge a little and put her on an Acela train? It would've saved them some time...

But seriously (which is a hard place to be when thinking about this whole ordeal), the whole thing is ironic. Spitzer was a hypocrite, and I'm sure that he's going to catch hell from those criminals he prosecuted back in his Attorney General days. This is one of the major components of the whole scandal. Here Spitzer was, with his Holier Than Thou mantra, prosecuting prostitution ring leaders (say that 3 times fast), while all the while hooking up with hookers left and right! It would have been one thing if he was just an ordinary scumbag cheater. But the fact that he's a hypocritical scumbag cheater takes things to a whole different level.

So the guy decided to resign this afternoon, stepping down on Monday. FINALLY! I mean, his family is going through hell right now, and it's only going to get worse as more details arise. I'm still curious what kind of "dangerous" acts he wanted the hookers to participate in...

McCain Think He's Running for Burger King

Yes, we know he's old. REALLY old. But the Burger King?

After winning the GOP nomination, John McCain announced that in a few months, he may very well be the elected Burger King.

Despite the hard work of staffers, someone has yet to clarify to the Antediluvian Arizona Senator that he is in fact running for President. McCain was reported reported saying at a press conference:

"I may not know much of anything about the economy, but I do know that everyone should be able to make their value meal as big as they want without paying 49 cents extra!"

"In the McCain Burger Republic," the senile senator continued, "everyone WILL be able to have it their way!"

Campaign manager Terry Nelson quickly lured the senator off the stage with a cup of apple juice and some chocolate pudding, and could be heard whispering to McCain something about changing his Depends once they get off stage.

"The first step was allowing citizens of the Republic to choose between onion rings and French fries. The next step will be choosing between napkins and those lovely little bibs you get when you eat lobster," McCain shouted before disappearing from sight.

After Strom Thurmond, McCain is the second-oldest man to ever serve in the Senate at 98 years of age.

No, Floridians and Michiganders, You May NOT Take a Mulligan!

Who do these people think they are? If ya' hadn't jumped the gun, you wouldn't have put yourself in this spot...

I think it's funny that Floridians and Michiganders think they get to take a Mulligan in the primaries. I mean, really. They never should have broken the rules to begin with! What was the real purpose of them holding their primaries early anyway, knowing that it would have little to no real impact on the elections? I mean, Hillary won Florida, but she didn't win any delegates. Continuing my sports theme, I would say that it was a wash. Michigan sucked too, considering only Clinton, Gravel, and Kucinich were on the ballot (though Obama urged many Michiganders to vote "uncommitted" instead of voting for any of the aforementioned candidates).

More general sentiments on this year's election process to follow...

Who's Ready for the Texas Two-Step?

Is There a Black Dr. Evil?

I must have missed this article by Eugene Robinson last Tuesday...

It's an interesting thought: Black politicians spending a summer at a genius boot camp to develop ideas of world domination.

While he's obviously poking fun at Geraldo Rivera, it did get me thinking. I'll tell you what: I'll sign up for the camp this summer, and report back to base camp (A.K.A. blogger.com). I have to Google the location, but I'm sure it's nowhere near Camp David or Crawford, TX...