Bush Planning Fake Treaty For Permanent Occupation of Iraq

Jonathan Schwarz has an important piece up on the Bush Administration’s attempt to override the wishes of our own Legislative branch and the Iraqi Parliament and set up a permanent occupation (emphasis mine): A majority of the Iraqi parliament wants the US to leave Iraq, and for several years has been trying to prevent the [...]

China Behind Tibet Violence?

If this is true, it is a bombshell(emphasis mine): London, March 20 – Britain’s GCHQ, the government communications agency that electronically monitors half the world from space, has confirmed the claim by the Dalai Lama that agents of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the PLA, posing as monks, triggered the riots that have left hundreds [...]

Why Anti-Choicers Pretend Theocracy Does Not Exist

The vast majority of the anti-choice movement is a fundamentally religious movement.  Backed by a religious conviction that abortion is murder, they are attempting to force their religion into our legal system.  So like Creationists hiding behind “Intelligent Design” and men who like to dress in lab coats, they hide behind secular arguments and sonograms [...]

McCain’s Credibility With the Press

Via Majikthise, Kevin Drum body slams John McCain’s credibility: Let’s recap. Foreign policy cred lets him get away with wild howlers on foreign policy. Fiscal integrity cred lets him get away with outlandishly irresponsible economic plans. Anti-lobbyist cred lets him get away with pandering to lobbyists. Campaign finance reform cred lets him get away with [...]

Florida, Michigan and the Primary Problem

Florida and Michigan tried to buck the system, which was unfair to the states that did not.  This was shitty, but I agree with riverdaughter, the idea that they need to apologize is ridiculous.  She quotes Matt Yglesias (emphasis mine): Chris Bowers sketches out a plausible and appealing scenario in which Barack Obama wraps up [...]

When Will We Reach 5000?

We’ve lost 4,000 Americans.  Four thousand lives wasted.  When will we reach 5,000?  What are those thousand people doing right now?  Are some of them home on leave with their families, or on their third extended tour in Iraq?  Are they lying on their bunk trying to forget what happened to a friend and comrade, [...]

Shorter Elections + Instant Impeachment = Better Government

An interesting thought popped into my head, and I wanted to sketch it out here and see what folks think. It is a simple plan that can be expressed as an equation: Shorter Elections + Instant Impeachment = Better Government polotek99 wrote a bit about why he hates politics. He goes on to discuss the [...]

Theocracy and Sacrifice: Are Atheists Crunchy?

  We love to forget the role of sacrifice and unbelievers in organized religion. The tale of Judaism begins with God testing Abraham by requiring him to be ready to sacrifice his son, and allowed him to switch out animals in his stead (a practice that continued on for quite some time before dying out [...]

What was in Obama’s Passport File?

And what is in mine? (Bloomberg, emphasis mine, odd quoting theirs): “Passport files do not contain travel information, such as visa and entry stamps, from previous passports,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. “Almost all passport files contain only a passport application form as submitted by the applicant.” Whose passport files would contain more information, [...]

Theocracy and the Religious Overton Window

We find ourselves at a perpetual crossroads with religious radicals bent on enforcing their one true belief through the apparatus of law and government.  There are many compelling arguments against the unification of Religion and State.  I’d like to explore the rhetorical angle.  How our movement towards a theocracy impacts how we percieve ourselves, religious [...]

America: 48% of Voters Don’t Matter

Commenting over at Ruins of Empire, I worried about the effects of a McCain Presidency on the War in Iraq.  That’s when I realized how infuriated I’d be if he one by a margin, and then went ahead with eternal war like he had some kind of fucking mandate. Then I remembered 2004.  Bush:51%.  Kerry: [...]

Petition for Dialogue: Support Tibet

We need to start somewhere.  Honest, open dialogue is a great start.  Here’s the petition.

We Killed People, We Don’t Care

George Bush and Dick Cheney lied us into a war that killed thousands of our citizens, and murdered vast numbers of Iraqis. Their response is essentially “Fuck Reality, Fuck the Voters and Fuck the Consequences” (Melissa (Shakespeare’s Sister)): Five years in, Bush says, “No one would argue that this war has not come at a [...]

Anti-War Protests and Working in DC

This morning in my “General” folder in Outlook (that’s where all the company-wide email goes by default), I found this email from our “Office Manager” noting there will be protests, and concluding with: Building management plans to operate the building on a normal business throughout the day on Wednesday, March 19, 2008. They will, however, [...]

UK: Orwell’s Home Becoming Surveillance Society

Between the police going after children’s DNA, to MI5 looking for travel data on citizens, the UK is descending into a state where privacy is a rare luxury indeed.  From across the pond I’m watching the country that created my own with a temperate mix of bemused and alarmed interest. What will they do next?