Bush's Tax Reform

This little tidbit from the Wahington Post via Andrew Sullivan's Blog

[T]he administration plans to push major amendments that would shield interest, dividends and capitals gains from taxation, expand tax breaks for business investment and take other steps intended to simplify the system and encourage economic growth... To pay for them, the administration is considering eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes on federal income tax returns and scrapping the business tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58554-2004Nov17.html

Yep Middle America, he's on your side.

More Flatulent Humor

I previously pointed out this one.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/25/robot_breaks_wind/

Now this.

http://triggur.org/robodump/

Does this guy have too much time????

Or do I???

PETA - Internet Hunting

Well I'm a PETA member -People Eating Tasty Animals!
Okay I'm not that bad. I like dogs.
Cats - phttttttttt............ (Bill the Cat - okay).

I loved this one by Mr. Fox yesterday.
http://cutto.blogspot.com/2004/11/incredible-mr-limpet.html

PETA (Psychos of the Ever-growing Total of Arses) - yep that's them.

Now I have nothing against hunting but I do think it should be fair.

http://theinquirer.net/?article=19740

Ah, another Texan. Right up there with Bush & DeLay.
(I know - cheap shot. Thank you very much).

Copyright & DRM

Just a pointer to two posts on my friend's technical blog.

http://compudave.blogspot.com/2004/11/drm-tivo.html

http://compudave.blogspot.com/2004/11/stop-pigopolists_17.html


Lots of links and reading. If you're concerned about protecting your fair use rights be sure to write you senators today.

Free email and you can hit em all at once.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/

Killing the Enemy

I was going to post some comments on all the news stories concerning the Marine you shot the so called 'unarmed man' but then I read read Mr. Foxe's post and I couldn't have come close to saying it one bit better.

article....................

I’m certainly not about to judge this young Marine who is there to fight for me. The Marine in question is in this hellhole, not me. I don’t know what I would have done to this vermin who had killed my friends and tried to kill me as well.

No. I think that even though I did not want this war I’ll support this young man. I think he did what he had to do. I think he was looking out for his buddies and even the embedded reporter Sites (who should be grateful and who, also, shouldn’t have been there in the first place).

I do know this about our Marines… the finest, most honorable and bravest soldiers the world has ever known: In almost any other army the soldier might have first shot the reporter before turning the gun on the “defenseless” enemy fighter.

snip......................

I have no clue what is wrong with the news organizations.

Stupid Taxeaters

The Govanator's newly appointed head of the Calif DMV wants to replace the state gasoline excise tax with a mileage tax that would be monitored by mandatory tracking devices. Now the 'big brother' aspects of this are disturbing but to me what is more so is the reasoning behind the whole scheme in the first place.

It appears there is an increase in the number of high mileage and hybrid cars being sold. This results in lower gasoline sales. The brilliant taxeater says she is worried about a decrease in tax revenue. Never mind the benefits of the drop, all she cares about is less money for her tax eating ilk.

I've got a better idea. How about a 10% overall paycut across the entire state payroll and a 20% reduction in top management positions. That should help make up the difference.

Veteran's Day

While I don't always agree with what politicians do with the armed forces or for that matter what the forces do sometimes, today is Verteran's Day and that means honoring soldiers, or sailors or marines or any service member. For those pinheads who would derogate soldiers for the actions of the politicians with who you do not agree, may I quote the vice president. "Go fuck yourself". Those who served deserve nothing but praise.

Serving, having served, combat or not, dead or alive, the individual soldier always deserves our thanks and our gratitude and our respect. Some served because they wanted to, others because they had to. Some saw combat, others just a desk. It doesn't matter, they served.
I'm not one, but today I honor you all and want you to know your sacrifices, be they just your time or your life should never be forgotten or in vain.

And if I may borrow a quote from Jerry Pournelle's site......

"But if we find we have left our bones to bleach in these desert sands for nothing, beware the fury of the legions..." (Centurion in a letter home from North Africa, 3rd Century)

Real Time

I didn't get a chance to watch this weeks 'Real Time with Bill Maher' until Moday night. I was looking forward to it being the season finale and the show after the election.
Guests: former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson, actress Susan Sarandon, linguist and political analyst Noam Chomsky, comedian D.L. Hughley, columnist Andrew Sullivan, and former U.S. Representative Pat Schroeder.

I'm not sure I've ever sat through a more uncomfortable comedy show. Simpson seemed intent on dressing Maher down no mater how gracious he tried to be (and he was). Frankly I found him a humorless old fart.
"Well, you just made a little crack. You know, it was funny-funny, you know. Party-party. You know, those are little cracks. Those are smart, little cracks about the gay/lesbian people... You keep telling them. I think they're offensive. And I don't have to come on this program... So put that one in your pipe!" – Senator Alan Simpson
What a jerk!

Sarandon was off in liberal la-la land making wild claims of wide spread voter fraud and Bush steeling the election again. She's in terrible need of a dose of reality - Damn it Janet!

I kinda like Pat. She's pretty down to earth for a woman dem !
"George W. Bush did more for the death penalty than anyone. And I find it amazing that the Catholic hierarchy is pro-life but not for that. I mean, I think everybody was playing a real political game here. And I honestly think if you have leadership at the political level, that is like a trust. That is like a trust. And the real moral value is you don't lie to the people. You don't play with people." – Pat Schroeder

And you know I'm a really big free-speech advocate! So Noam Chomsky can say whatever he wants, but in my book he's the biggest fucking asshole pinko dickheaded needs-to-be-deported- to-any-fucking-where-else-as-long-is-it's-not-on-this-planet motherfucker around! And thank you Andrew Sullivan for saying so afterwards.

Episode airs again tonight on HBO2 @ 9 PM PST or HBO @ midnight.

Who really voted for who?

Well here's a rational map of the election results.



http://www.pascal.com/diary/archives/000232.php

article..........

Bush touts the fact that he received the most votes of any presidential candidate in history. This is true, but he doesn’t tell you who received the 2nd most votes in history: John Kerry. In other words, Bush received more votes against him than any winning candidate in history. The American populace is clearly divided in half over George W. Bush and his policies.

snip..........

I think it's time to not think too hard about the election results. It's the results of the election to worry about.

Good news - bad news.

Ashcroft resigns - Who's Dubba gonna choose.

Considering a New Chief Justice

It's hard to even imagine this but
http://drudgereport.com/sc.htm

then go look at this bunch of A-holes
http://www.blogsforbush.com/mt/archives/002856.html

I'm thinking it's baiting. Somthing the Bushites can use to rub a little more salt in the wound and rile up the lefties.

Anyway it scares the shit outta me. Only Scalia could be worse.

Bakersfield History

Well being sick the last few days is a bummer. On the other hand, being bored and laying in bed leaves me the opportunity cruise the web a little more. The wonders of a laptop with WiFi.
Anyway I came across a great little site with some Bakersfield history.

A massive social came in1899 with the discovery of oil. Five thousand people were in Bakersfield 1900. In 1910 there were thirteen thousand. The town acquired a reputation for vice. A Los Angeles mother begged her son, "Don't go to Bakersfield! There's drinking and bad women there" -- and reform-minded citizens became painfully aware of how the rest of California thought of Bakersfield.

Okay, so what's changed. That little snippet from
http://www3.igalaxy.net/~ggia/Articles/Part1Prostitution.html

Probably most interesting to an old B'field boy like myself. Finding my grandfather mentioned in one story was a real plus.
All Mr. Gia's stuff here.
http://www3.igalaxy.net/~ggia/index.html

Criticising Bush

One of my regular reads received a letter from another reader critical of his lack of respect for the Pres.
http://www.orbdesigns.com/bpages/2004/z20041101.php#Thursday

It's not the office - it's the occupant! I really enjoyed his reply and sent an email saying so and using one of my favorite quotes

Great reply Brian. Here is my favorite



"To announce that there should be no criticism

of the president, or that we are to stand by

the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic

and servile, but is morally treasonable to

the American people." -

Theodore Roosevelt

After my last couple of posts some might think I am raving left-winger. Pretty funny. 'Fraid I'm one of those beer-drinkin' B'field boys. I've stated it before
http://indigenousgeek.blogspot.com/2004/08/
what-i-really-think.html
Course this is Bakersfield. Liberal is a republican who only owns one gun.

Ungracious Winners

Well there were surprises in this election. That GW won was not one of them. I didn't want him but I'm afraid I was like many others, I had no enthusiasm for Kerry either. I just think it would have been better if Kerry had won and the congress stayed in the Rep's hands. Moderation and therefore everyone would have won.

No, the real surprises were the failure of the Get Out the Vote movement and the success of the evangelicals. It appears to be bad news all around. I have no clue why GOTV was not more inspiring to young voters. Maybe it was Kerry. The christian right is not so surprising, after all these clowns own hundreds of media outlets that somehow convince people to send them millions of dollars. They have throngs of ardent followers, willing to accept at face value anything they are told, ready to be whipped into outrage over the perceived wrongdoings of the liberal sinners.

Now I titled this Ungracious Winners. No not GW, so far. I'm referring to all the pundits. The ones calling this a landslide and a mandate. The ones declaring it a moral victory. I even read one calling it proof that the US is a chrisitian nation.
Give Me a Break!

WTF???? are they talking about?
51% is a win but certainly not a landslide. 274 electorial college votes (NM & IA still to decide). This was just barely a win, though better than 2000's. It shows much of the country does not agree with Bush.

Okay call me an ungracious loser, but I say fine, let them go on their moral jihad. It might be the best thing to have happen. It will cause the backlash needed to stop this silliness. You know this is a real redneck, fundamentalist christian area I live in. But they are not one homogenous unit (that should rile up some of em). The redneck crowd probably likes Bush mostly because he ain't some liberal democrat who is gonna take ma gun. They prefer drinking beer to going to church. They support the military. Most are probably pro-choice. They don't like government buttin' in. They have little use for the bible thumpers. The Reps have made strange bedfellows by courting the fundamentalists. The same sort of situation applies to the Country Club republicans. Their concern is taxes not prayer in the classroom.

Bush really needs to keep this in mind (not that he needs to worry about reelection). There's not alot of votes needed to bring the percentages around the other way. The Democrats need to get their act together and present a platform with a broader appeal. Win back some congressional seats. Rebalance the balance of power.

The Day After

Well I've got a bad cold and feeling like shit. The election didn't help either but I certainly am not surprised by the outcome.

It'll be good to have the christian right excerting more influence on us all.

Man Survives Jump Into Lion's Den

46-Year-Old Reportedly Trying To Convert Lions To Christianity

The man was okay. The lions were hungry 30 minutes later.

Vote

It's Election Day!

Vote early and vote often.

And if you're undecided, did you see the news that apparently Chief Justice William Rehnquist's cancer may be quite serious. I don't much like his politics but I certainly don't wish him ill. It looks as though the next president could have a supreme appointment coming up right away.