Ironwood Tree

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Great Commentary

I've been watching Keith Olbermann for several months. I love that he dissects the stupid things politicians say instead of just repeating the press releases. Tom Cruise scares him too and he isn't obsessed with missing white women. I do love Oddball more than I should but I really like his interviews too. He's smart, ok so he's a smartass but it's fun to watch.

He outdid himself today. He had a great interview with Howard Dean and then had an on target commentary on Rumsfeld's ravings. See it here

My take on appeasers is a little different. I see Bin Laden and Al Queda as our real enemies. As far as I can tell the Bushies have done whatever Bin Laden wants. We did initially attack him but he was allowed to escape from Tora Bora, we took our troops out of Saudi Arabia (his main demand), and we started a war in Iraq that he's been using as a training ground for more terrorists. None of these actions except the initial overthrow of the Taliban was good for our country. Now Afghanistan is providing Europe and the U.S. with the biggest opium crop in history. The President and his father have had business deals with the Bin Laden family for many years. Could that have something to do with his refusal to attack our real enemy?

The Bushies should really think twice about throwing stones because this glass house is going to collapse on them. Prescott Bush, the President's grandfather, helped the Nazis build their war machine. He went beyond appeasement to collaboration. I don't think it's a good idea to remind everyone of that fact.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Do yourself a favor

Watch Spike Lee's documentary on Katrina.

I am a squeamish person. When I was a child, I couldn't watch Lassie. It was too stressful. I was appalled and sick during the storm at the lack of response. But I'm watching this documentary.

I've seen good storm response - even from Republicans. I was consulting for a state (IL) agency in 1993 or 1994 when there were terrible Mississippi floods and the whole state and federal government pulled together to rescue people and try to sandbag. There was very little loss of life. I also remember the 1997 Grand Forks flood in North Dakota. Everyone worked together and people were saved and the town has done decently.

Katrina was a total failure from top to bottom. I just hope we don't lose any more cities in the next two years.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Oh My God!

Glad I don't live in Alabama

The nest that got me last week has been really hard to kill but it's small. It's just inside a landscape timber and hard to spray. Thank goodness we still have winter!

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Geek Humor

You'll only get this if you're a computer security geek. Really.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Why I'm not Afraid

Olberman gives the timeline of terror alerts in the context of current events.

There are things to be afraid of but you have to be realistic. I'm considering taking a Route 66 road trip next year instead of flying to New Mexico to see relatives. Not because I'm afraid but just because I'm irritated with useless security theater at the airports.

It's a good chance to take my daughter on a a car trip like I took when I was a kid so it'll be worth it. I'm under no illusions that it's safer than flying though. There are very few plane crashes and lots of car crashes. I'm a careful driver, I have a cellphone and a reasonably new Prius so it will be cheaper and more fun.

Maybe we'll go to the Lincoln Library so I can show her that at one time voting Republican was the progressive thing to do.

Know Your Republicans

There's Dopey

There's Racist

There's Grumpy

And Doc

There's KooKoo

There's Stinkeye

There's Loser

And Slug

Sunday, August 13, 2006

I know it's August

Just stirred up a hornets nest and they got my foot and leg. Joe Lieberman called to tell me it's time to get the ant nest in the woods or the wasps will win.

Being an actual Democrat however, I wiped out the nest that attacked me.

Ouch!

I'm scaring my self

Looks like Blair did have something ready for Bush to
pull out. I swear Bush has a box in his office that says in case of political danger break glass. It's full of terrorist plots.

Maybe that's why he doesn't think about Bin Laden any more. They guy just keeps delivering elections for the Republicans. After all, the Bin Laden family has a long history of bailing him out out. Why should they stop now?

Friday, August 11, 2006

Told you so

It's just like Lily Tomlin said. No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up.

Get ready to drop 'em

Timing and such

I don't think I expressed myself well in the previous post, except that Yo, Blair! Was one of my first thoughts when I heard about the plot.

AJ from Americablog expresses my reservations much more coherently. He's supposed to be someone with intelligence connections and is always pretty sensible so I pay attention to his posts. Of course, you know what they say about the internet.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Yo! Blair!

So now we can't take liquids on a plane. I'm not kidding - we're going to have to travel buck nekkid until after the election.

I could just hear it - Yo Blair! I'm in trouble here. Pull something out of your ass or you're going down with me.

I'd believe it more if we didn't just have very anti-incumbent primary result. Also, I did see Tom Ridge on his book tour a while ago - according to him, all the terrorist threats in 2004 came from the White House, not Homeland Security. Scotland Yard has a little more credibility but they've had big publicized terrorist busts before that turned into fiascos with innocent people being arrested and shot.

I'm not the only one who's suspicious. I hope it's real and dangerous people are off the street but the timing is just too convenient. The DCCC is suspicious too.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Interesting

From the news, it looks like the oh so manly Ken Mehlman is endorsing Joe Lieberman as the Republican Senate candidate in Connecticut. Heh - and they keep trying to make believe that Democrats are divided. Actually we're uniting with sensible Republicans to bring the country back to some kind of sanity.

I miss conservatives. We liberals will want to go off a cliff in one direction and it's good to have real conservatives to say "Hey, there's some stairs over there" . We listen, maybe we rappell down instead and some conservatives find the ride isn't so bad or we decide it's a better idea to roast marshmallows.

This crew in power isn't conservative - they just want to go over the opposite cliff taking everyone with them. They're so stubborn they insist the cliff is flat land inhabited by loving bunnies who will greet us with sweets and flowers if only we'll drop some daisy cutter bombs on them and kill their friends and neighbors.

I really recommend this book if you want to know what's actually going on and the difference between the people in power and actual conservatives. You'll have Mark Kirk pegged in a few pages.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Negative Joementum

Oh why am I glad Lieberman is probably going to lose? He's one of those politicians that's only out for himself, only thinking of his own career, and goes along with the people in power instead of looking after the people he's supposed to represent.

Sound familiar?

Monday, August 07, 2006

Get your liberal guilt here!

The news really sucks. It's really easy to feel impotent and that
Garfield is dead. Bush is on vacation so you know something awful is about to happen.

So, what can you do? You can pay a teacher's salary in Afghanistan. C'mon, just because the Rethuglicans have forgotten Afghanistan doesn't mean you have to.

If that's not cool enough for you, Oprah likes The Heifer Project.

And you can't go wrong with Medecins Sans Frontieres. Doctors Without Borders for those of you who like Freedom Fries. They're bringing supplies in to Lebanon right now.

And you can always support our troops. And stop complaining about the heat.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Kirk better be careful

He may dislocate his shoulder patting himself on the back. The latest taxpayer funded brochure that I just grabbed from the recycling bin (a reflexive toss) touts his work getting Condell Hospital to expand its emergency room. When I checked Condell's website, it looks like the expansion was state approved. There's no mention of any federal funding.

I've google searched but I can't find any mention of this outside Kirk's campaign literature. Anyone know if Kirk's campaign info is true?

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Why I don't like Mark Kirk

Until now, he's publicized his friendship with Karl Rove. Now he's taken away any statement of party affiliation from his website.

He sent me a letter in 2003 6 months after the start of the Iraq war saying there were weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. I will not vote for anyone who lies to me.

He never campaigns himself at the train stations. I used to see John Porter there all the time. Years ago when I was going to grad school in Madison I had a lot of disagreements with Senator Proxmire. He was always at the farmers market at the Capital and he'd listen. We'd have a respectful discussion about it. What's Kirk afraid of?

I met Dan Seals at a campaign event and he not only talked, he listened. When I asked his position on guest workers and H1B visas he knew what I was talking about and knew that the guest worker program (pushed by the Bushies) and the H1B special visa program for skilled immigrants exploit both U.S. workers and the immigrants. There's nothing like the hell an H1B worker goes through when they lose a sponsor, something that can happen for any reason or the hell a tech worker goes through when their job goes to an H1B visa worker willing to work for less money because they don't want to leave the country. Expand the regular visa process if we don't have enough workers. I sit next to two talented, immigrant techies who came in on standard visas and green cards. We're all competing at the same level so it's fair for all of us. I get to work with some great people and they get to leave the corruption of their homelands for a more fair society. At least it's more fair for now. The guy from Pakistan is really getting flashbacks to home.

Kirk touts his environmental voting record but he's propping up one of the most anti environment administrations anywhere. Only communist regimes have done worse.

He lost us a lot of jobs at Great Lakes but he's always ready for a veterans photo opp if it gets his picture in the paper.

What I like about Mark Kirk - he is a veteran himself. He's photogenic. He is good enough and smart enough to have done a better job as congressman. I'm totally surprised by his poor performance. He really could do a lot better. He's had his chance, let him be treated like I would if I lied to my employers.