Election 2008 nearing the end

One week from yesterday the election will be over. In six days all this hullaballu will be complete and Bush-Co can rent the U-hauls and start packing up. It has been a long time in coming. As a voter I would like to say that this has been the most exciting election since the last election. That is to say that they all are exciting.

Hopefully this time at least 50% of the voters will actually vote. That in itself will be a laudable thing. I am not sure what would get the average voter to vote other than a cattle prod. I am hoping that Obama wins in a convincing enough way to keep the nuts on all sides from raising their pathetic heads. Listening to the far reaches of political nutjobs, who are already trying to position themselves with either voter fraud or voter suppression, I have to wince.

So where am I at politically now, a week out? Well I used to have a ton of respect for McCain. But most of that has gone away now. He has compromised with so many idtiots and taken so many positions that who knows what or who he really is? I am very sorry for the Republican Party who used to have some pretty smart people espousing their ideas. They have sunk to Palin and a plummer? Well most of the working guys I know are voting for Obama. I am not too sure exactly what the Republican "strategy" is anymore.

I guess their "winning card" is to say that giving tax cuts to the middle class is bad and giving tax cuts to millionaires is good. Well I guess the millionaire vote is sewn up for McCain. As for the VAST rest of us. Sorry but we need a President of the people not just of the rich. What have the rich done for America since Bushco came to power? Stole us blind, made bad business decisions, then begged us to save them. They can rot in hell.

Now on to election day. Go-Bama!

Peter Iredale 2008

This was once a 2075 ton, Liverpool built, 4 masted barque. It was the largest vessel built by Riston and Co. in 1890. In 1906, during a squall at the mouth of the Columbia, she ran a ground. This is all that is left of her.
Many people come and visit this most famous wreak on the Oregon Coast. Her rusting hulk, including the bases of all four masts, rests on a broad beach for all to see.
She has not ventured to sea since coming to rest here over 100 years ago. Her last port of call was Santa Cruz Mexico. Still the rusting iron and steel that remains knows not of her condition. It awaits, such as it is, riveted together awaiting the next voyage.
The ships hull still lives with the sea, while almost all of its brethren, long since turned into railroad iron, bridge steel, or nails, has broken that connection. Its barnacle encrusted hull tastes the salt sea each day at high tide, doing battle with the elements. She arguably has more visitors in her and on her than any other barque in the world.
And still her steel plates, whose surface resembles the surface of Mars, wait for the crew to heave away at the capstan that no longer exists, and hoist anchor to sail away.
Peter Iredale, the owner of the ship, has bones probably turned to so much dust, while his namesake rests in her still multi-tonne glory waiting. Waiting for a voyage that we know will never come. To the visitor she looks dead, is dead. But to the steel there is no thought to death or life.
It is a thing made for a purpose. And even though its original purpose ended 102 years ago, the iron and steel have a new purpose. It is a monument, a talisman, a rune as well as a ruin. What men walked her decks? What was life like back then? Where did that world go and why? So much is brought up to the surface of the mind by old rusting steel and iron.
As I write this the tide is in. The wreak is surrounded in the inky darkness by the cold North Pacific, its steel and iron doing battle with the sea, as it was meant to be.

Debate Rehash September 2008

I had a billion (actual number much lower) things to do on Friday so I listened on the radio in my car as I sped here and there doing stuff for other people that would mean the end of the world if they didn't get done.

Here is my two cents worth:

Here are two guys who actually want to get stuck with the job dealing with gigantically f'd up situations across the world, of every conceivable flavor. From anarchic wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a nuclear N. Korea ruled by (fill in the blank), to Putin the puppet-master in Moscow, to an Arctic Ice sheet meltdown, to a financial meltdown.

Looking at both guys, listening to them, and what they did say and what they did not say, I felt confident that in January one of these guys will be President. Other than that I am not sure where my confidence should lay. On the whole Obama has history on his side. McCain in his "We're winning in Iraq, we're winning in Iraq" mantra sounded almost not to believe himself.

Obama also came across as the man who was more realistic in what we can and should be doing in the World. McCain wanted to paint himself as the clear military leader, and I think he did that. But there in resides a big problem for McCain. Most of the situations in the world require far broader ability than to simply be a good general.

Sarah Palin

Here are some things to chew on:

1) If your teenage daughter tells you she is pregnant, would you willingly through her into the American Political sausage grinder just to be VP?

2) If you were the Presidential nominee of your party and new that the lady had a teenager in the dilemma of her life, would you willingly through the kid under the political bus just to get some female votes?

3) If you were a anti-choice person would you really want a spokesperson who is the poster-parent for how NOT to keep children from getting pregnant out of wedlock?

4) If you wanted to be VP and use your family as a back drop for how much of a family person you are, could you really be too upset that people talk when it is shown that your kid is knocked up?

5) Since your party made its mark by dragging private life into public life, could you really be too surprised that you are getting what you asked for?

To the rest of America: Do we really want 4 more years of the Beverly Hill Billies? I know the Hill Billies answer to this question. What about all of you who actually think?

News Comentators are not very informed

It used to be that news anchors were journalists. Now they are talkers. This means that often they spout idiocy. For instance on NPR one commentator, during the DNC convention, said that Obama wowed a crowd in Portland of 750,000 people. What the hell? Clearly her notes were mis-typed and she was so uninformed that the gross inaccuracy was lost on her.

Then their is the question of "dis-unity". The reporters seemed to have developed their narrative prior to any actual conflict at the convention. They were banking on some kind of flap. No dis-unity flap has occurred as any Democrat could tell you, and we all did. Somehow the narrative is still being pushed off on us. We all are just "putting a good face on" The actual truth is that we Democrats will not let anything stop us in our quest to take the White House back. We have our nominee and now on to November. That is the simple truth.

The real dis-unity is in the other party. Yet no such narrative is evident in the media there. McCain is running counter to his parties platform, a document that mentions him by name only once in 20,000 words. On almost every major issue for the conservative idiots in his party McCain has a different position. This may make him more bankable to the real Americans but the truth of course is that those same conservative will have him by the balls and have shown they can get him to change his opinion on all sorts of issues.

Commentators, who really are not experts in much, again show how little they know when they start talking about things we understand. The only time they sound smart to me is when they speak of things I know nothing of. The more a citizen knows the stupider the news people sound. Citizens of America Get smart!

Joe vs the Volcano

The Clinton supporters, so far, are showing that they are more in love with Mrs. Clinton than with their country. As I have said in the past the Clinton supporters are not much different than the Bush supporters. They want their person and they do not care what nation they have to ruin in order to have their way.

So now the Clinton seem upset that their person was not chosen to be the VP. First of all do we know that Obama did not ask her? NO. And frankly I am tired of people trying to say that Clinton is entitled to some office by right of who she is. She ran a race and lost. We all win some and lose some.

If Clinton supporters were true Democrats they would solidify behind the man who will do the most good for the people. That is Obama. However they are so wrapped up in their cult that they may send this nation down yet another dark path. Do we want this? Of course not. Any Clinton supporter who will support McCain really needs to ask himself or herself why? Remember McCain is simply a different face attached, Frankenstein style, to the same body that brought us Iraq and a squalid economy. He may look different than Bush, talk different than Bush, but all those interests who got rich with Bush are the ones standing behind McCain.

Only a fool would go from Clinton to McCain. If you would not vote for Bush why would you bother voting for McCain? How many people have to get killed in the next war just so the Clintonistas can teach America a lesson. If those who support Clinton really honor what she stands for then they will vote for Obama.

So Clinton supporters what are you? Do you honor the ideals or just the person espousing them? As an Obama supporter I would be right behind Clinton if she had beaten him. Both Obama and Clinton would advance our great nation. Obama is the person now. So lets get on with it.

Russia and America. Good old boys of brute force

"Speak softly and carry a big stick..." Oh hell just carry a big stick! The actions of the bully Russia in Georgia and similar to the action of the bully America in Iraq. Both sides are full of justification about the absurd use of force on populations of people who are poor and already living hard lives.

So Bush lectures Russia on using too much force in Georgia and they laugh at him. Well Duh! What do we expect? The world is sick of both of us. Both nations are acting like thugs and yelling at each other, putting each other down, and basically acting like jerks.

There will be lots of people in both countries, and there are, that will say, "look at those jerks over there! We need to act tough like them or they will think we are weak." And they will bitch a lot and get more military funding so both countries can act even more like jerks.

China is also paying attention and taking notes. It already is a bullying jerk too, but it hasn't had a chance to really flex its stupidity yet. Taiwan awaits its fate like Iraq, and Georgia. There are always reasons given by these idiots to justify their terrorism.

PSU Orientation 2008

Well after 7 hours at PSU with my daughter I am now ready. Ready to not spend seven more hours at PSU. Things started off well enough and I was quite pleased by the first speaker who headed up the honors program. He did not dumb down his prose.

Then we broke into student and parent groups and went our separate ways. They offered about 10 different classes on various subjects surrounding the entry of students into PSU and college life in general.

Then we had lunch cafeteria style.

After that the parents went to listen to all the horrible things that "might" happen to our kids. It is sort of a disclaimer that bad things might happen and we should all try to prevent them. Depression, drinking, drugs, sexual assault, and suicide. Which topic do you think garnored the most audience participation?

Sexual Assault. The audience was not much interested in talking about depression, drinking, drugs or suicide. I thought this odd since all of the above usually are connected to sexual assault. Some parents said that they wanted their girls in self defense classes, or carry mace. One person said own a big dog. Never mind that you can't have a big dog on campus.

Then the health person who was leading this extravaganza of doom said that 90% of sexual assaults take place during a date and involve booze.

One parent asked how would the health center notify them if their kid was sick, etc. The answer was that they would not be notified since the students records are private. This question was rephrased to ask if the health center would notify the cops of an assault had taken place to a student. Nope. Doctor patient confidentiality. The student could talk, but the health care providers are of course prohibited.

The best news I got all day was that a full time student at PSU is entitled to free health and dental through the Student Health Center.

I felt really good about today. And I feel really good about the kids I saw too. As a society we are going to be ok.

Moralising

I read a great article in the NY Times about Trolls. Internet Trolls. People who basically get in the way of people who try to use the Internet for a useful purpose. The people interviewed sounded like sociopaths. I understand why this is.

If you are in a room with a real human being and you walk up to them an insult them, their family, or try to steel their wallet, you have to suffer instant physical, social, and emotional consequences.

On the net you can do this with the barrier of electrons between you and your victim. Troll are pretentious cowards. They seldom are held to account for their actions. So the cowards continue hurting people. At some point the mess they make will end up in their midst. Behind bars, in the drunk tank, in a moldy blanket under a bridge, struggling to eat, they will finally face the consequences for their behavior.

If you act like a jerk, be prepared for people to treat you like one.

Iraq Observations

Mr. McCain says the Surge worked.

Okay let us look at before and after the Surge

Before the Surge 145,000 combat troops in Iraq
After the Surge 145,000 cobat troops in Iraq

Before the Surge no timetable for an end to the war
After the Surge no timetable for an end to the war

Before the Surge the US spending 12 billion a month in Iraq
After the Surge the US spending 12 billion a month in Iraq

Before the Surge a barely functioning Iraqi Government
After the Surge a barely functioning Iraqi Government

Before the Surge little predictable power and water
After teh Surge more of the same

Deaths are down after the Surge. Why? Because we are paying the killers money to not shoot at us. We are paying the killers of American troops to become policemen. And when we stop paying them? Or do we just keep paying the extortion? What we are now doing in Iraq is like the FBI giving up on the Mob and paying the Mob to leave the FBI alone.

Hey Elliot Ness! Why don't you pay Al Capone whatever he wants to leave Chicago alone?

We are governmened by cowards, too stupid to know when to start wars and when not to, and too chicken shit to take responsibility for their disasters. So now we Americans get to pay protection money to terrorists to leave us alone.

Hurray for the Iraq War! What a cluster-f.

Reality keeps slipping away in Iraq

Okay people listen up!

We want the Iraqi army to be ready to take over before we leave. This is what Democrats and Republicans, including the Bush league, say. "When they stand up we will stand down." This is what we said for years in Vietnam too.

Anyway the point is that EVERYONE is planning to leave Iraq in a state that will require its army to maintain control.

So we invaded a nation whose army and security services were in control and we intend to leave a nation whose army and security services are in control. That's just great. Well done America.

Next time a President wants to waste a trillion dollars and kill thousands of citizen soldiers lets just tie them all to stakes on the mall in DC and set fire to a giant pile of cash. The ramification will probably be less and at least we could get it over in a weekend.

Iraq War is stupid, the deaths are needless, and the money is wasted. Hurray for America!

Bush is damned stupid

The "Mental" mania of the Republicans just keeps coming. Where from? From the idea that all economic problems are basically mental problems. If you think you are doing fine then you are. This is really fucked up since that is the logic that says just because you have colon cancer and are a-symptomatic you are doing fine. Or that you shouldn't worry about falling off the cliff since you have not hit the ground yet.

This lamebrained idea goes all the way back to the Great Depression. The thinking was that if people just kept spending and did not take their money out of banks there would have been no depression. This is so horribly wrong.

First of all the Great Depression started in centeral Europe as a result of WWI. It took time for the terrible economic effects to reach the US. Rampant stock speculation and banks willingness to put more and more of their capital in such speculation meant that when the downturn hit the US in 1929, the banks had nothing to fall back on. People were losing their jobs, they took out their saving to live on. Banks, who had no cash assets left folded up. Businesses who's solidity was based on bank investments suddenly had the rug pulled out from under them because the banks had to dump more stock to reclaim cash. More people lost their jobs. blah blah blah.

But the Republicans still think, after all these years, after all the Democratic regulations designed to stop something like that from happening again, that if we just wish for good times they will happen. So Bush trots himself out onto TV this morning to say that off shore drilling is really designed to get people to feel better about their energy future. This is the essence of Conservatism made clear yet again. Just feel good and you are good. In a post last year I said that Marxists and Neo-cons have more in common than either would like to admit. Both think that economic good times for all is basically a philosophical argument. That you can get where you want to be economically by getting people to think a certain way. Bull shit!

The economy is not human, and does not act in a human way. It is a very complicated math problem and if certain portions of that equation dictate Depression then it is up to humans to react to stop it. Not just by thinking "There is no place like home. There is no place like home..."

Mental Recession

The DOW has lost 3000 points in less than a year.
Gas is over $4.00 a gallon.
My friends are having their jobs outsourced to India.
Our company is struggling to break even.
Wife's Health Insurance increased 25% last month.
Thank goodness it is all in my head!

Constitutional Powers of WAR

Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution:

The Congress shall have Power:

"To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water."

"To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years"

"To provide and maintain a Navy"

"To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces."

"To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress"

It is pretty clear what POWER the Congress has if it decides to get its head out of its ass and actually use it.

It can close Gitmo
It can end the war in Iraq
It can decide pretty much the whole war business. The President is basically just another GI in America's armed forces.

Patriotism

I got to listen to a lot of people yelling at each other about the good and bad of patriotism. Of course all the yelling was on the radio. I don't know what it is about the radio that gets people willing to be so damn loud and obnoxious.

So here is my bit on Patriotism for 2008. If you are trying to make life better for the people around you who are not directly related to you, chances are you are patriotic. If you felt nothing for your community you would do nothing for them and that is not very patriotic. You do not have to defeat fascism in order to be a patriot. Just helping out at your local school, or staffing the food bank, etc, is just as good. Since it is the small, unnoticeable, things that in aggregate make the most lasting change for the better. Those little things make a nation great or weak, loved or hated.

If I were running for President I would have a jacket with 1000 flag pins all over it and wear it into a debate. This would get peoples attention. Then I would say that since I have 1000 flag pins on I am more patriotic than all of Congress since at most they will have 535 flag pins on. Then I would ask the audience for their concerns and then command the flag jacket to solve their problems. This of course would not work and there would be a lot of laughs. Making my point that little metal pins don't mean jack or do jack.

Pride is not patriotism. Pride is pride, that is why it is called pride and not patriotism. Pride must be kept from patriotism for it to be beneficial to the nation. Pride leads to blindness which leads to mistakes. To make a great nation pride must be avoided. Pride, like sugar, is superficially satisfying but offers no real sustenance. Pride is the fast-food version of patriotism. We have lots of prideful people walking around thinking we are great for the mere fact of us being us. They probably also partake in McDonalds. As we need to ween ourselves off the fast food we need to ween ourselves of the pride.

Review of SAW II

Boring, blah-blah-blah, blood, gore, blah-blah-blah, did I mention boring. I could have strapped a mini-cam on the top of my cats head, let him into the yard to explore, and come up with a more hart stopping, scary, and macabre film. This movie is all marketing and no movie. It gets a 1

Review of Speed Racer

Finally a movie with worse dialogue than Star Wars. Then again this remake is a remake of a cartoon with god-awful dialogue. The people who did the visuals for this film are clearly LSD addicts. It is a shame that the hippee's of 1969 didn't have this film to trip out to.
You will like this movie if you like a B-movie on speed. You will hate this movie if you are looking for a dramatic retelling of the grand saga of Speed Racer. If you sought the latter then you are clearly nuts since Speed Race, the cartoon pretty much sucked to begin with.
I now await the movie version of Limpy the Lion and Harty-har-har! Or perhaps the remake of my daughters ultra-sound video?
film gets a 5

James Dobbson has NO faith

James Dobbson, practically every time he opens his mouth, show how little he is willing to believe in God. How little he understands the almighty power he claims to worship. He says that he takes his scripture seriously. Well so do we who understand all too well that to sit in a church and sing songs is NOT what we are called to do. Christ NEVER even mentioned going to church. He said that if we loved him we were to feed the sheep. In other words serve each other. God does not need our service. God is GOD. Saint James is also clear that the whole point of the Christian mission is not to serve God but to help the poor, the widow, the orphan.

This is not serving God but pleasing to God. By claiming to be a servant of God a man sets himself as God's better. Since to serve is to help and God, the Alpha and the Omega, needs no help. If you ever asked for help it is because you cannot complete the task yourself. This is because as mortals were imperfect and limited. God is not limited and therefore in no need of help. Feed the hungry, cloth the naked, house the homeless, and let us serve each other.

St. James:
"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?"

Remember it was those conservative churchmen, in bed with the Roman government, who had Christ arrested and killed. And again, when Christianity seemed to triumph against Pegan Rome, the churchmen who were in power with the Emperor mercilessly hunted down and killed anyone who disagreed with them. Hence the Great Schism, and all the other little Schisms over the last 2000 years.

Yes we liberals take Scripture very seriously. In fact more seriously than the pretender Dobbson does. He can continue to worship his celestial cripple, while we please God by helping our fellow human beings to live better lives. And as Christians they will know us by our Love.

Obama's master stroke...so far

Yesterday Obama came closer to flattening the power structure in an Obama administration. By using only small donation funds he has insulated his Presidency from the anemia caused by reliance on supporting packs to populate cabinet offices. By keeping his finances his own he has instantly added a huge amount of personal power and freedom to Obama the President. Where as McCain will be more beholden than ever to interest groups and packs who control his funds, and hence his actions as a campaigner and potential President.

Obama continues to show his brilliance as a politician.

Media Observations

There is an obvious bias toward and at the same time against Obama. Every story I have read or heard is about what Obama needs to do to connect. There is never any story about what McCain needs to do. The media salivates over the Obama candidacy and also still labors under the misconception that Obama is something other than the best politician to come out of America in the last 40 years.

He is not perfect, but he is a leader, and inspiration, and some one who will fundamentally alter the worlds view of American power. No longer will the face of America be a rich, old, white guy. He has the potential of really opening up the next decade for American power in a way that was shut down by the current crop of political hacks. McCain is not only a continuation of something that has proved a disaster, he is a continuation of a vision of America that is broken, and whose glory has faded.

The media is always a bit behind the curve and this election is no exception. Obama is the best hope for regaining American supremacy in world affairs. There are all sorts of adult decisions that have to be made and he seems like the only candidate who is willing to make them.

McCain, who has a great life story too, has shown too much of the old school. He simply is far too willing to be the tool of somebody else. His organizational ability is weak, his team is weak, his plans are weak, and though he can crack me up, is not the leader America need.

The media, what do I mean by that term? Well for me it is not really TV. I do not watch much TV news. Mostly it is mainstream news sites on the web and the radio.
Radio is such beastly assortment of demagoguery, spin, over simplification, bold faced lies, and other such nonsense that I find it very difficult to listen to any "side" The conservatives have a large advantage on the radio, but the liberals are coming along too. Both sides, in my opinion, hurt more than they help. My advice would be to tune all of them out. They all do nothing good for the American citizen.