Scot Ranney's LearnJazzPiano.com archive: Politics

LearnJazzPiano.com archives: Politics
Scot -- 01/27/2004, 13:10:12 -- #1075237811
CBS Censorship
So what do you guys think of CBS playing political favorites? I thought air waves were a public medium. Here's some information you might not know about but should. This information is from http://www.moveon.org, an amazing grassroots campaign organization that is doing a lot of work to put honesty back into the whitehouse in 2004. "Over the last four days, something incredible has happened. CBS has received over 340,000 emails and phone calls asking it to stop its censorship. Clearly a huge number of us believe that CBS's refusal to run our Voter Fund ad, while allowing the Bush White House to run an advocacy ad of its own, is just plain wrong. Columnists and editorial pages are writing about it. And on Monday, FCC commissioner Michael Copps issued a statement on it. These folks understand that this issue isn't just about our Voter Fund's ad -- an ad by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was censored as well. At heart, it's about free speech. Huge companies like CBS that control access to the publicly owned airwaves have to air opposing points of view. CBS still refuses to run "Child's Pay." But together, we can increase the pressure on CBS. And through the power of the Internet, we can make sure that millions of people see the ad and learn about the controversy." Here's the url: http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/ Life is politics, but there are some things that aren't right. When CBS will air political propaganda from the Bush administration but not opposing view points. Here are the points I see that relate to this issue: 1. It's about free speech. The First Amendment doesn't mean a whole lot if we're denied access to the airwaves. CBS has a constitutional obligation to air opposing points of view. 2. If the White House can run an ad, other groups should be allowed to also. CBS will be airing an ad sponsored by the White House on this year's Super Bowl. Previous ads in this series have implied that buying drugs funds terrorism -- a much more controversial claim than the one "Child's Pay" makes. 3. CBS just got a huge favor from the White House. Senator John McCain said that the bill was custom tailored to CBS and Fox, which have been lobbying heavily for an illegal merger. MoveOn and other groups have lobbied against this bill. Now the White House is allowed to run an ad, and groups like MoveOn Voter Fund are not. 4. What's "controversial"? CBS claims that it has a policy against running "controversial" issue ads. But the only line in the whole ad is a fact: President Bush has created a $1 trillion deficit. In fact, according to numbers released by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office yesterday, that number's low.
LearnJazzPiano.com Forum Compilation 2001-2002
flicklers -- 01/29/2004, 12:37:58 -- #1075408677
Another view of current politics
I'd like to suggest that y'all consider an alternative to the liberal socialists (Democrats) or the conservative socialists (Republicans), which is the far more limited role of government envisioned by our founding fathers represented by the Libertarian Party. You can learn more by going to www.lp.org. Just a few reasons I support them: taxes are essentially armed robbery; the government screws up everything it touches such as mail, schools, drugs...; socialism is unsustainable. These two parties you argue about so passionately are essentially minor variations on the same invalid confidence scheme and unchecked we will sooner or later become bankrupt like the USSR did. Sure Bush has done a lot of wrong like his unprovoked "war" and spending far more than the goverment takes in but the alternatives offered by his opposition especially increasing taxes are equally repugnant.
Scot -- 01/29/2004, 12:54:26 -- #1075409666

Hey, I agree with you Bert, but the LP will never win the White House. In fact, people who voted for people like the Libertarian party and the greens and whoever else can be held responsible for placing Bush in office in the first place. That extra 7% from people who think they are making a statement has really kicked us all in the butts... I whole heartedly support their ideology, but would I vote in that direction? Hell no! That would be a wasted vote. The democracts suck almost as bad as the republicans, but not quite as bad. I'd rather have the lesser of two evils in office that waste a vote on someone who will never make it.
Whacky -- 01/30/2004, 08:11:00 -- #1075479060

Ditto:)
flicklers -- 01/30/2004, 12:01:06 -- #1075492866
Glad to hear you agree
But I don't want to be blamed for Bush in any way. I think that had LP party members been forced to vote for the lesser of two evils they would have leaned toward Bush. Now the Greens who got a much larger percentage by the way may have to accept some responsibility since most probably would have voted for a Democrat had they voted at all. Certainly Gore should have been acceptable to most Greens so let's blame Nader not Browne. As long as everyone thinks that they can't vote Libertarian because it's a wasted vote we'll always end up voting for one evil or the other. And how on earth is a vote for the (apparent) lesser of evils worth anything anyway. At least we should get some local Libertarians elected (it has happened) and help them build an effective alternate party. Sometimes I think the LP is a little too extreme anyway and the best hope is that if enough people support them at least some of their ideas will become mainstream. BTW I lived in Florida (one county over from the big controversy) during the last election and from close up it really seemed like the Democrats were the ones trying to steal the election. The Democratic party controlled the county and designed the "flawed" ballots, the confused "voters" were people the Democrats had bussed in and Gore was the one on the offensive claiming problems. Whatever, at the time I don't think anyone realized just how evil Bush was and I suspect that the economy would have been even worse off under Gore. Suddenly I'm sorry I started posting here. Back the main focus, piano playing. I've said my piece and unless provoked will refrain in the future.
Scot -- 01/30/2004, 13:00:12 -- #1075496411

Hey, it's the politics room. I welcome any insights- discussion on this stuff is not only good, but incredibly valuable (and should even be required!) for anyone who has US Citizenship. Too many people sit on their couches with chips and salsa and a big gulp letting the process that runs their country go on without a word in edgwise. That's why things are going to hell- more people need to become inflamed, angry, argumentive- if people were arguing about politics on every street corner, we'd have twice the voter turnout and things would be different. Fact is, these days we almost do have political arguments on every street corner. Bush has pissed people off and divided the country to such a degree that even the average couch potato is wondering what is going on. As for the stuff that happened in Florida- it's good to hear some first hand experience. I know that the media is full of lying bastards, so I doin't believe what they say anyway. I recall living in South Korea (Seoul) and my Mom would call me every other day asking when I was leaving because nuclear was was just around the corner. Well, that's what the media wanted everyone to believe. Living there, I knew the truth and the truth just wasn't as interesting. So the media does it's thing. I think they have a mantra: "Why ruin a good story with the truth."
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Whacky -- 01/31/2004, 08:46:37 -- #1075567597

yeah, I did a tour of the Carribean for the Doepratment Of Defense back in '82. I wasn't politically aware at all...I can't even tell you what was going on at the time, but I'll never forget being told by the military people how much BS the US inflicts on other countries, how hated we are and how the media reports that we're doing all thses wonderful things...one guys exact words were "you guys have no idea the shit we're pulling down here"
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
Whacky -- 01/31/2004, 08:47:29 -- #1075567649

that's "Department" not Doepratment...why don';t I proff reed befour i post?
Scot -- 09/21/2004, 12:08:44 -- #7338
A BBC article that discusses media censorship in the US
THE LYNCHING OF DAN RATHER On British TV, Dan feared the price of "asking questions" By Greg Palast September 21, 2004 "It's that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions," the aging American journalist told the British television audience. In June 2002, Dan Rather looked old, defeated, making a confession he dare not speak on American TV about the deadly censorship -- and self-censorship -- which had seized US newsrooms. After September 11, news on the US tube was bound and gagged. Any reporter who stepped out of line, he said, would be professionally lynched as un-American. "It's an obscene comparison," he said, "but there was atime in South Africa when people would put flaming tires around people's necks if they dissented. In some ways, the fear is that you will be necklaced here. You will have a flaming tire of lack of patriotism put around your neck." No US reporter who values his neck or career will "bore in on the tough questions." Dan said all these things to a British audience. However, back in the USA, he smothered his conscience and told his TV audience: "George Bush is the President. He makes the decisions. He wants me to line up, just tell me where." During the war in Vietnam, Dan's predecessor at CBS, Walter Cronkite, asked some pretty hard questions about Nixon's handling of the war in Vietnam. Today, our sons and daughters are dying in Bush wars. But, unlike Cronkite, Dan could not, would not, question George Bush, Top Gun Fighter Pilot, Our Maximum Beloved Leader in the war on terror. On the British broadcast, without his network minders snooping, you could see Dan seething and deeply unhappy with himself for playing the game. "What is going on," he said, "I'm sorry to say, is a belief that the public doesn't need to know -- limiting access, limiting information to cover the backsides of those who are in charge of the war. It's extremely dangerous and cannot and should not be accepted, and I'm sorry to say that up to and including this moment of this interview, that overwhelmingly it has been accepted by the American people. And the current Administration revels in that, they relish and take refuge in that." Dan's words had a poignant personal ring for me. He was speaking on Newsnight, BBC's nightly current affairs program, which broadcasts my own reports. I do not report for BBC, despite its stature, by choice. The truth is, if I want to put a hard, investigative report about the USA on the nightly news, I have to broadcast it in exile, from London. For Americans my broadcasts are stopped at an electronic Berlin wall. Indeed, Dan is in hot water for a report my own investigative team put in Britain's Guardian papers and on BBC TV years ago. Way back in 1999, I wrote that former Texas Lt. Governor Ben Barnes had put in the fix for little George Bush to get out of 'Nam and into the Air Guard. What is hot news this month in the USA is a five-year-old story to the rest of the world. And you still wouldn't see it in the USA except that Dan Rather, with a 60 Minutes producer, finally got fed up and ready to step out of line. And, as Dan predicted, he stuck out his neck and got it chopped off. Is Rather's report accurate? Is George W. Bush a war hero or a privileged little Shirker-in-Chief? Today I saw a goofy two page spread in the Washington Post about a typewriter used to write a memo with no significance to the draft-dodge story. What I haven't read about in my own country's media is about two crucial documents supporting the BBC/CBS story. The first is Barnes' signed and sworn affidavit to a Texas Court, from 1999, in which he testifies to the Air Guard fix -- which Texas Governor George W. Bush, given the opportunity, declined to challenge. And there is a second document, from the files of US Justice Department, again confirming the story of the fix to keep George's white bottom out of Vietnam. That document, shown last year in the BBC television documentary, "Bush Family Fortunes," correctly identifies Barnes as the bag man even before his 1999 confession. At BBC, we also obtained a statement from the man who made the call to the Air Guard general on behalf ofBush at Barnes' request. Want to see the document? I've posted it at: http://www.gregpalast.com/ulf/documents/ draftdodgeblanked.jpg This is not a story about Dan Rather. The white millionaire celebrity can defend himself without my help. This is really a story about fear, the fear that stops other reporters in the US from following the evidence about this Administration to where it leads. American news guys and news gals, practicing their smiles, adjusting their hairspray levels, bleaching their teeth and performing all the other activities that are at the heart of US TV journalism, will look to the treatment of Dan Rather and say, "Not me, babe." No questions will be asked, as Dan predicted, lest they risk necklacing and their careers as news actors burnt to death. "Bush Family Fortunes," the one-hour documentary taken from Greg Palast's BBC investigative reports, including the story of George Bush and Texas Air Guard, can be viewed, in part, at http://www.gregpalast.com/bff-dvd.htm
Whacky -- 09/22/2004, 09:54:37 -- #7354

a few weeks ago I posted a link here to a video interview in which shrub was asked about his views on tribal sovereignty. His answer was something like, "well it's exactly that...it's sovereign..." This video alone is enough to show the world what an uninformed idot we have as the apparent leader of the free world. And guess what...the link is now dead. Why wasn't this video the top story on all news across the world? It is so very important to world peace that everyone know who and what is running the show... Maybe I'll be killed for saying this, but I have a copy of the clip - about 500k - if anyone would like a copy
Whacky -- 09/22/2004, 10:11:34 -- #7355

ya know it reminds me of the story of The Emperor's New Clothes. (the tailor failed to design a special outfit for the King so he sold him some "invisible" clothes that only intellectuals could see) It seems everyone really knows bush is an idiot, but are afraid to actually say it...with the exception of a few like Michael Moore... Why do respected journalists let shrub and others get away with all this bullshit? I guess if they come on too strong, they would never get any interviews...hmmm...
sebos -- 09/22/2004, 12:28:51 -- #7358

Hi AFKAW Please send a copy of the video at sebosj(at)yahoo(dot)com It would be nice if you could send me as well what he exactly says so that I can translate it in french.... though most people around here don't need to be convinced that bush is a dumb ass and anyway, won't vote te eliminate him. Thanks Seb.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
7 -- 09/22/2004, 22:00:01 -- #7365

I don't post much in this area, but two thoughts that I had today might deserve to get kicked around: The president stated recently that even if he had known then what he knows now (that Iraq was not actively involved with Al-Quaida and that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction) that he still would've invaded Iraq against the United Nations will. What excuse would he have used to rally the people of the USA and congress to be able to get the "go ahead" to invade Iraq? That Saddam is a nasty fellow? If that's the case, there are about forty other nations that have "nasty fellows" in power. Why haven't we invaded THEM? N. Korea and Iran are right up front about developing nuclear capabilities, yet we aren't invading them! Oh, and speaking of Iran, you'll notice that they just told the UN to stuff it with regards to their intent to continue with their nuclear arms development. But if the USA can tell the United Nations to go fuck themselves, then Iran has a perfect right to do the same. We have now set the tone for the entire world community, reducing the United Nations to a bunch of hand-wringing nobodies with absolutely no respect from anyone. And bush wants to ask the United Nations to help rebuild Iraq. If the UN tells bush to stick it where the sun don't shine, would anyone be surprised?
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
Whacky -- 09/22/2004, 22:57:13 -- #7366

It's interesting, I temporarily lost my mind and sent a copy of the bush video I mentioned to a bunch of folks in my address book, many of whom are right-wingers. The responses are fascinating to say the least. What I have learned is: #1 never send out an email like that again #2 most people have an allegiance to their party regardless of any facts that might raise suspicion. #3 most folks take it personally when you either question their views or express your own #4 none of the above will change anything I have echoed the same arguments 7 has just presented and it just doesn't register with some folks. All we can do is vote and wait an see... My 20 year old just called me. He's very upset about the new plans for the draft. I also have and 18 year old and a 16 year old. Houston, we have a problem
Scot -- 09/23/2004, 12:09:33 -- #7385

You know how Bush and his cronies go after Kerry for "flip flopping"? Check out this new Michael Moore letter to Bush (I'm really happy Michael Moore is stepping up his rhetoric - he needs to at this point!): 9/22/04 Dear Mr. Bush, I am so confused. Where exactly do you stand on the issue of Iraq? You, your Dad, Rummy, Condi, Colin, and Wolfie -- you have all changed your minds so many times, I am out of breath just trying to keep up with you! Which of these 10 positions that you, your family and your cabinet have taken over the years represents your CURRENT thinking: 1983-88: WE LOVE SADDAM. On December 19, 1983, Donald Rumsfeld was sent by your dad and Mr. Reagan to go and have a friendly meeting with Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq. Rummy looked so happy in the picture. Just twelve days after this visit, Saddam gassed thousands of Iranian troops. Your dad and Rummy seemed pretty happy with the results because The Donald R. went back to have another chummy hang-out with Saddams right-hand man, Tariq Aziz, just four months later. All of this resulted in the U.S. providing credits and loans to Iraq that enabled Saddam to buy billions of dollars worth of weapons and chemical agents. The Washington Post reported that your dad and Reagan let it be known to their Arab allies that the Reagan/Bush administration wanted Iraq to win its war with Iran and anyone who helped Saddam accomplish this was a friend of ours. 1990: WE HATE SADDAM. In 1990, when Saddam invaded Kuwait, your dad and his defense secretary, Dick Cheney, decided they didn't like Saddam anymore so they attacked Iraq and returned Kuwait to its rightful dictators. 1991: WE WANT SADDAM TO LIVE. After the war, your dad and Cheney and Colin Powell told the Shiites to rise up against Saddam and we would support them. So they rose up. But then we changed our minds. When the Shiites rose up against Saddam, the Bush inner circle changed its mind and decided NOT to help the Shiites. Thus, they were massacred by Saddam. 1998: WE WANT SADDAM TO DIE. In 1998, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and others, as part of the Project for the New American Century, wrote an open letter to President Clinton insisting he invade and topple Saddam Hussein. 2000: WE DON'T BELIEVE IN WAR AND NATION BUILDING. Just three years later, during your debate with Al Gore in the 2000 election, when asked by the moderator Jim Lehrer where you stood when it came to using force for regime change, you turned out to be a downright pacifist: I--I would take the use of force very seriously. I would be guarded in my approach. I don't think we can be all things to all people in the world. I think we've got to be very careful when we commit our troops. The vice president [Al Gore] and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He believes in nation building. I--I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders. I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place. And so I take my--I take my--my responsibility seriously. --October 3, 2000 2001 (early): WE DON'T BELIEVE SADDAM IS A THREAT. When you took office in 2001, you sent your Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and your National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, in front of the cameras to assure the American people they need not worry about Saddam Hussein. Here is what they said: Powell: We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they have directed that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was 10 years ago when we began it. And frankly, they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. --February 24, 2001 Rice: But in terms of Saddam Hussein being there, let's remember that his country is divided, in effect. He does not control the northern part of his country. We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt. --July 29, 2001 2001 (late): WE BELIEVE SADDAM IS GOING TO KILL US! Just a few months later, in the hours and days after the 9/11 tragedy, you had no interest in going after Osama bin Laden. You wanted only to bomb Iraq and kill Saddam and you then told all of America we were under imminent threat because weapons of mass destruction were coming our way. You led the American people to believe that Saddam had something to do with Osama and 9/11. Without the UN's sanction, you broke international law and invaded Iraq. 2003: WE DONT BELIEVE SADDAM IS GOING TO KILL US. After no WMDs were found, you changed your mind about why you said we needed to invade, coming up with a brand new after-the-fact reason -- we started this war so we could have regime change, liberate Iraq and give the Iraqis democracy! 2003: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Yes, everyone saw you say it -- in costume, no less! 2004: OOPS. MISSION NOT ACCOMPLISHED! Now you call the Iraq invasion a "catastrophic success." That's what you called it this month. Over a thousand U.S. soldiers have died, Iraq is in a state of total chaos where no one is safe, and you have no clue how to get us out of there. Mr. Bush, please tell us -- when will you change your mind again? I know you hate the words "flip" and "flop," so I won't use them both on you. In fact, I'll use just one: Flop. That is what you are. A huge, colossal flop. The war is a flop, your advisors and the "intelligence" they gave you is a flop, and now we are all a flop to the rest of the world. Flop. Flop. Flop. And you have the audacity to criticize John Kerry with what you call the "many positions" he has taken on Iraq. By my count, he has taken only one: He believed you. That was his position. You told him and the rest of congress that Saddam had WMDs. So he -- and the vast majority of Americans, even those who didn't vote for you -- believed you. You see, Americans, like John Kerry, want to live in a country where they can believe their president. That was the one, single position John Kerry took. He didn't support the war, he supported YOU. And YOU let him and this great country down. And that is why tens of millions can't wait to get to the polls on Election Day -- to remove a major, catastrophic flop from our dear, beloved White House -- to stop all the flipping you and your men have done, flipping us and the rest of the world off. We can't take another minute of it. Yours, Michael Moore mmflint@aol.com www.michaelmoore.com
ClosetBlues -- 10/05/2004, 08:37:01 -- #7743
The Essence of the Bush Campaign
You have got to see this... http://home.earthlink.net/~houval/gopconstrm.mov
Whacky -- 10/05/2004, 08:58:52 -- #7746

that could be a great madrigal piece:)
ClosetBlues -- 10/05/2004, 09:47:42 -- #7756
Madrigal Piece
Excellent observation, Wacky. Medieval prose for medieval politics. Love it!
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 10/10/2004, 17:57:24 -- #7909
The following are two personal emails from a Wall St. Journal reporter
A reporter for the Wall Street Journal based in Iraq sent a couple of private emails to friends and family. These two email messages were not intended to "get out", but thankfully someone put them out to the public. It's interesting to hear an unedited view of what's going on. -------- 9/29/2004 2:58:10 PM From: [Wall Street Journal reporter] Farnaz Fassihi Subject: From Baghdad Being a foreign correspondent in Baghdad these days is like being under virtual house arrest. Forget about the reasons that lured me to this job: a chance to see the world, explore the exotic, meet new people in far away lands, discover their ways and tell stories that could make a difference. Little by little, day-by-day, being based in Iraq has defied all those reasons. I am house bound. I leave when I have a very good reason to and a scheduled interview. I avoid going to people's homes and never walk in the streets. I can't go grocery shopping any more, can't eat in restaurants, can't strike a conversation with strangers, can't look for stories, can't drive in any thing but a full armored car, can't go to scenes of breaking news stories, can't be stuck in traffic, can't speak English outside, can't take a road trip, can't say I'm an American, can't linger at checkpoints, can't be curious about what people are saying, doing, feeling. And can't and can't. There has been one too many close calls, including a car bomb so near our house that it blew out all the windows. So now my most pressing concern every day is not to write a kick-ass story but to stay alive and make sure our Iraqi employees stay alive. In Baghdad I am a security personnel first, a reporter second. It's hard to pinpoint when the 'turning point' exactly began. Was it April when the Fallujah fell out of the grasp of the Americans? Was it when Moqtada and Jish Mahdi declared war on the U.S. military? Was it when Sadr City, home to ten percent of Iraq's population, became a nightly battlefield for the Americans? Or was it when the insurgency began spreading from isolated pockets in the Sunni triangle to include most of Iraq? Despite President Bush's rosy assessments, Iraq remains a disaster. If under Saddam it was a 'potential' threat, under the Americans it has been transformed to 'imminent and active threat,' a foreign policy failure bound to haunt the United States for decades to come. Iraqis like to call this mess 'the situation.' When asked 'how are thing?' they reply: 'the situation is very bad." What they mean by situation is this: the Iraqi government doesn't control most Iraqi cities, there are several car bombs going off each day around the country killing and injuring scores of innocent people, the country's roads are becoming impassable and littered by hundreds of landmines and explosive devices aimed to kill American soldiers, there are assassinations, kidnappings and beheadings. The situation, basically, means a raging barbaric guerilla war. In four days, 110 people died and over 300 got injured in Baghdad alone. The numbers are so shocking that the ministry of health -- which was attempting an exercise of public transparency by releasing the numbers -- has now stopped disclosing them. Insurgents now attack Americans 87 times a day. A friend drove thru the Shiite slum of Sadr City yesterday. He said young men were openly placing improvised explosive devices into the ground. They melt a shallow hole into the asphalt, dig the explosive, cover it with dirt and put an old tire or plastic can over it to signal to the locals this is booby-trapped. He said on the main roads of Sadr City, there were a dozen landmines per every ten yards. His car snaked and swirled to avoid driving over them. Behind the walls sits an angry Iraqi ready to detonate them as soon as an American convoy gets near. This is in Shiite land, the population that was supposed to love America for liberating Iraq. For journalists the significant turning point came with the wave of abduction and kidnappings. Only two weeks ago we felt safe around Baghdad because foreigners were being abducted on the roads and highways between towns. Then came a frantic phone call from a journalist female friend at 11 p.m. telling me two Italian women had been abducted from their homes in broad daylight. Then the two Americans, who got beheaded this week and the Brit, were abducted from their homes in a residential neighborhood. They were supplying the entire block with round the clock electricity from their generator to win friends. The abductors grabbed one of them at 6 a.m. when he came out to switch on the generator; his beheaded body was thrown back near the neighborhoods./CONTINUED BELOW WSJ reporter Fassahi's e-mail to friends /2 9/29/2004 2:47:12 PM The insurgency, we are told, is rampant with no signs of calming down. If any thing, it is growing stronger, organized and more sophisticated every day. The various elements within it-baathists, criminals, nationalists and Al Qaeda-are cooperating and coordinating. I went to an emergency meeting for foreign correspondents with the military and embassy to discuss the kidnappings. We were somberly told our fate would largely depend on where we were in the kidnapping chain once it was determined we were missing. Here is how it goes: criminal gangs grab you and sell you up to Baathists in Fallujah, who will in turn sell you to Al Qaeda. In turn, cash and weapons flow the other way from Al Qaeda to the Baathisst to the criminals. My friend Georges, the French journalist snatched on the road to Najaf, has been missing for a month with no word on release or whether he is still alive. America's last hope for a quick exit? The Iraqi police and National Guard units we are spending billions of dollars to train. The cops are being murdered by the dozens every day-over 700 to date -- and the insurgents are infiltrating their ranks. The problem is so serious that the U.S. military has allocated $6 million dollars to buy out 30,000 cops they just trained to get rid of them quietly.As for reconstruction: firstly it's so unsafe for foreigners to operate that almost all projects have come to a halt. After two years, of the $18 billion Congress appropriated for Iraq reconstruction only about $1 billion or so has been spent and a chuck has now been reallocated for improving security, a sign of just how bad things are going here. Oil dreams? Insurgents disrupt oil flow routinely as a result of sabotage and oil prices have hit record high of $49 a barrel. Who did this war exactly benefit? Was it worth it? Are we safer because Saddam is holed up and Al Qaeda is running around in Iraq? Iraqis say that thanks to America they got freedom in exchange for insecurity. Guess what? They say they'd take security over freedom any day, even if it means having a dictator ruler. I heard an educated Iraqi say today that if Saddam Hussein were allowed to run for elections he would get the majority of the vote. This is truly sad. Then I went to see an Iraqi scholar this week to talk to him about elections here. He has been trying to educate the public on the importance of voting. He said, "President Bush wanted to turn Iraq into a democracy that would be an example for the Middle East. Forget about democracy, forget about being a model for the region, we have to salvage Iraq before all is lost." One could argue that Iraq is already lost beyond salvation. For those of us on the ground it's hard to imagine what if any thing could salvage it from its violent downward spiral. The genie of terrorism, chaos and mayhem has been unleashed onto this country as a result of American mistakes and it can't be put back into a bottle. The Iraqi government is talking about having elections in three months while half of the country remains a 'no go zone'-out of the hands of the government and the Americans and out of reach of journalists. In the other half, the disenchanted population is too terrified to show up at polling stations. The Sunnis have already said they'd boycott elections, leaving the stage open for polarized government of Kurds and Shiites that will not be deemed as legitimate and will most certainly lead to civil war. I asked a 28-year-old engineer if he and his family would participate in the Iraqi elections since it was the first time Iraqis could to some degree elect a leadership. His response summed it all: "Go and vote and risk being blown into pieces or followed by the insurgents and murdered for cooperating with the Americans? For what? To practice democracy? Are you joking?" -Farnaz
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
Billy Miller -- 10/12/2004, 19:21:25 -- #7976

scot, where did you find those emails? And how do we know that they are real?
Whacky -- 10/13/2004, 11:15:57 -- #7997

Good point Billy. As you may know, I'm an anti-bush guy, but I'm getting pretty sick of miss-information being tossed around. (on both sides) I don't mean to say that Scot's reports are true or false, but we really do owe it to ourselves to check the facts before we send emails around. I kind of started an email debate with some friends a couple of weeks ago and I found the varying opinions to be quite interesting. There are some facts on which we will just agree to disagree and others, (like Iraq war stats) where sadly, we'll never really know the truth. A lot seems to depend on where folks get their news. Emails are quite easy to forge so I choose to not pass them along unless I can verify their validity. Ya can't believe evrything you read...but please, vote for Kerry:) we've seen what bush can do...
Scot -- 10/14/2004, 13:17:37 -- #8040

I can't say whether it's true or not, but I would lean towards the side of truth. Here's a link to a page that analyzes the emails: http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2004/10/08/e_fassihi.html Here's a link to a page that has some info on the reporter: http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=4894 Here's where I got the emails that I posted: http://www.poynter.org/forum/?id=misc Some more information about the emails: http://wsrblood.typepad.com/wiserblog/2004/09/strongfarnaz_fa.html Just do a search on google for "Farnaz Fassihi email" and you'll get tons of stuff to look at.
Whacky -- 10/14/2004, 17:19:33 -- #8049

cool...yeah, my gut is to believe it too...but it makes a stronger case when you can provide links like that:) There's another one going around citing how little Cheney attened the very meetings he has accused Edwards of missing. In that email, Edward actually attends more than Cheney...and guess what, they've met several times over the years prior to the VP debate...oy... None of this really amounts to a steaming pile of poo though, because their core positions on issues really haven't changed, and I'm clearly in favor of Kerry over shrub... Had Gore actually taken office I don't think the WTC would have been attacked, but even if I'm wrong about that, we surely would not have stirred up shit in Iraq...the world would have been a lot more peaceful right now
Scot -- 10/15/2004, 23:19:36 -- #8086

Bush is such a dumb-ass.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 10/16/2004, 05:32:05 -- #8094

Here's a good bit about voter suppression: http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oId=16368
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
Scot -- 10/26/2004, 12:54:02 -- #8366
funny stuff
http://www.monsterslash.com
flicklers -- 10/29/2004, 11:41:42 -- #8431

I know many of you, like Scott, have already made up your minds but I would like to remind those of you who have grown disgusted with this election campaign and the two major parties that there is a viable third party alternative,the Libertarian Party. The Libertarian Party is the party of principle; the basic one is that we do not believe in nor advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals. The Libertarian Party has been in existence for more than 30 years, is the third largest nationwide and our presidential candidate,Michael Badnarik, is on almost all state ballots. You may learn more about the party and our candidate from either www.lp.org or www.badnarik.org. A common objection to voting for a third party candidate is the fear of wasting a vote. Perhaps that does apply to a vote for a personality candidate, like Nader, who has no real party. But continuing to cast a vote for the lesser of two evils, even if that could be accurately decided, is still a vote for evil. What could be more wasteful than continuing to support evil? In order to truly effect change we must begin to change something. Electing a member of either one of the two major parties just guarantees more of the same ineffective wasteful government programs and the continuing erosion of our freedoms. A vote for Michael Badnarik sends the message that it is time to return to the principles upon which this country was founded.
Scot -- 10/29/2004, 15:37:38 -- #8437

If the libertarian party had a chance to win, I'd cast a vote for them. But they don't have a chance. Not until they can spend hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign advertising like Kerry and Bush and their followers have done. Like it or not, the majority of the people in this country don't research things on their own- they watch TV and read the newspapers and believe what they see and hear. So casting a vote for the libertarians IS a wasted vote, unless you weren't going to vote in the first place. I don't think Kerry is the "lesser of two evils". He appears ready to make some good changes if he makes it into office. Sure, he's still part of the political monster and plays the same game as everyone else in politics. Our society demands it. If Bush is re-elected, people who could have voted for Kerry but wanted to "make a statement" and voted Libertarian or Nader will have a lot longer than four years to think about it. If Bush gets in, this country, sad to say, is going to continue the downward spiral until there's blood in the streets- and I'm not talking terrorists, I'm talking about the people who are going to be fed up with governmental policies that make life more difficult for them instead of easier. Yeah, it's an apocalyptic view, but I'm convinced that Bad Things Will Happen if we don't get Bush out of office. So vote libertarian if you want, but know that though your vote will count as a message, the only other thing it's going to count for is possibly keeping the worst president the US has ever had in office. We're at a good time to make changes in the political landscape. Vote for Kerry and then use the next four years to organize the same kind of grassroots campaign that went off the charts for the Dems and Repubs this campaign season. Use the next four years to build up the Libertarians- heck, I'll help. To vote libertarian now, when so much is at stake, is irresponsible. If Bush gets back in and takes away even more of our constitutional rights, you might not even have a Libertarian choice four years from now. The choice is pretty clear to me- vote to send a message and help this country go down the drain, or vote for Kerry and give this country a fighting chance.
dharminor -- 10/29/2004, 17:39:06 -- #8445

Nader is in no way an idiot if you want to talk about character he has got it. the EPA would not exist if it were not for him (though it is somewhat of a joke thanks to scumbag christie todd whitman who was a politician before she headed that office, huge conflict of interest). as well as Nader having an entire life of serving the public and consumer rights (NOT CORPORATIONS). all those requirements that keep you somewhat safe in your car are thanks to him. and the list goes on. i'm so sick of being told that i wasted my vote on him in 2000. Gore won my state anyway. I also refuse to be forced into voting for the lesser of two evils if i don't believe in either. isn't that the true democratic process, VOTING FOR WHAT YOU WANT NOT VOTING OUT OF FEAR OF THE WORSE ONE GETTING ELECTED. and no matter how you look at it as much as the dems and repubs put eachother down that is what they want us to focus on instead educating ourselves and looking elsewhere for an answer to the issues in our mind. they both love their little 2 party monopoly and the propoganda comes from the media rhetoric that labels everything left or right, repub or dem. screw that crap i have views that span both sides on different issues and they're just trained liars anyhow. it would be nice to see nader at least in the debates so real things could be dealt with, the way sharpton brought some confrontation to the democratic debates. besides the fact that 1000's and 1000's of votes were thrown away in florida who coincidently is governed by georgy boy's brother....hhhmmmm??!! so vote how you believe not how your being trained to believe through the fear tactics of both sides. one side uses terrorism the other places blame where it doesn't belong!!!!!! and above all else people should think for themselves the biggest problem in this country is that everyone is becoming apathetic and just listening to their 'magic picture box' which is allowing these retards in office to get away with their debauchery!!!!!!!!!
dharminor -- 10/29/2004, 17:42:40 -- #8447

oh and one more thing JON STEWART is the man!! if you didn't catch him on crossfire go to ifilm.com to check out his guest appearance on that show it is great and refreshing!!!
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 10/29/2004, 21:09:49 -- #8452

Dharminor- I agree with EVERYTHING you are saying. But I disagree about not voting for one of the two parties that are monopolizing the political arena these days. If Bush gets in, your vote may never count again. Do you understand that? The US is moving in a direction where our most basic rights are being questioned. I think Nader is great. I watched his speech today on TV. I agree with him. I like him, and I particularly am thankful for all the h ard work he's been doing for this country without hardly a glance by most people. But man, this election is unlike any other. The first step is to get Bush out of office, any way we can. If we don't, this country is going to be at war forever, or at least until it's not a united country any longer. I think a lot of people are tired of the two party political system. People are READY for a change- they are ready for someone like Nader or the Libertarians. But if you guys waste your vote on "sending a message", you're just going to contribute to the deterioration and rot that is corrupting this country right now. Before we can polish the tiles in the bathroom, we have to shovel out the sh*t first, you know? That means sweeping Bush out office and putting Kerry in. Then we work our asses during the next few years to get someone like Nader in the public eye enough so that he could actually have a chance at winning the presidency. Yeah, I agree with what you are saying, even the Jon Stewart thing... but to turn things around, we need to get Bush out of office first. Does that make any sense? It seems obvious to me.
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
flicklers -- 10/30/2004, 09:13:05 -- #8462

I hear you Scot and I certainly respect your passion. It's truly a shame the Democrats couldn't have found a candidate to be passionately for rather than just being against Bush. The major problem with the don't vote for other than the lesser of two evils approach this time is that almost every election seems to be a crisis requiring continuing to support the status quo. Remember Bush Sr., Nixon, LBJ, Clinton ... all frightening to some for a second term but we survived although our tax and regulatory burdens have generally increased, our freedoms steadily eroded and our country's road to bankruptcy continued. And the trend will never end unless this two party sham is broken up. If one of these two must win I hope it is the not-Bush and I challenge you to honestly analyze how much better off you and the country are after a few years of his regime. The positve from my perspective about that result would be the stalemate created by the other party having the legislature. That's been good for us before in terms of at least slowing the pace of new evil regulations and spending programs. You may take some comfort in the fact that most analysts believe that Libertarians would vote for a Republican if forced to pick a major party candidate so a vote for Badnarik is probably more harmful to Bush.
dharminor -- 10/30/2004, 22:16:23 -- #8477

scot it makes alot of sense i am just so pissed at the corner i think alot of people feel backed into by the overall system in this country. the 'checks and balances' system needs reformation cause the majority of these washington a-holes have found ways to gravely manipulate it and use loop-holes. there is no question bush needs to be gone for the sake of our world. i mean it scares me that this man is the leader of the most powerful nation and therefore in many ways the world!!
dharminor -- 10/30/2004, 22:25:55 -- #8478

well put burt i am very aggravated. but as we come within days of the election i find myself undecided. definetely anti-bush but unsure of which of the other options i will go for because of the different arguements for nader or kerry.
Whacky -- 10/31/2004, 07:29:36 -- #8484
Please!!
Please vote for Kerry! As Scot said, this is not the time to take a stand against the two-party duopoly...We MUST get Bush out first...then, we can continue supporting reasonable alternatives to the dems & repubs... I voted for Nader in 2000 and we got bush, 9/11, Iraq, deficit, unemployment increase, etc...we are headed for even more trouble...
Scot -- 10/31/2004, 12:05:21 -- #8493

Heck, even if Kerry gets in, our downward slide has momentum... it will be a few years before things really start getting turned around. The great thing is how many people are involved in this election! And look at the ages- the biggest young voter turnout EVER. Possibly ever in our political history. All these young people who have been growing up in this era of instant communication. They are calling it "Generation Y". People all the way into their 30's who are generally more team oriented than individual oriented- thought patterns that are more like "what's best for the team" than "what's best for me". If this culture of people decides something needs to be changed, I think the future will prove that from this time forth, people will realize just how much power they have if they yell out in once voice... Horton Hears a Who. Do you really think that's a children's story? :) I'm just rambling, recuperating from too much fun last night. But we played great music, got three more gigs out of it, and I ate the Tequila worm- chewed it up with a smile on my face.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Gordon -- 11/01/2004, 02:22:04 -- #8509
Reasons to be cheerful
I am trying to prepare for the (seemingly 50/50) possibility that Bush and his wretched cabal get re-election tomorrow night. One thought I have had is one I read in a Buddhist text once. It basically explained by way of a story that you could never tell what would be good or bad. Thus, you may lose a leg, think that's bad, but having one leg may have prevented you going somewhere and losing your whole life etc etc - (This is in no way a philosophy for inaction - we should of course fight for what we think is right - It's just that once the election is over, if Bush has won, we may need to switch into different modes of thinking than those we have adopted pre-election) I also read recently in a newspaper, someone saying that 'nothing is ever as good or as bad as it first seems' - sounded pretty wise. Can anyone help with more stuff like this - I don't want to spend Wednesday wondering round in circles, forlornly shouting 'why' to the sky, dribbling and throwing rocks at the moon.
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
Whacky -- 11/01/2004, 06:33:27 -- #8513

true...I felt that way when shrub got elected...but as we all know now, a lot more was at stake...this is supposed to be OUR country....even if he gets in office again, we should not roll over and just accept it...more lives will be ruined...(maybe your own)
Scot -- 11/01/2004, 10:38:18 -- #8517
Michael Moore's latest message to the masses
11/1/04 Friends, This is it. ONE DAY LEFT. There are many things I�d like to say. I�ve been on the road getting out the vote for 51 straight days so I haven�t had much time to write. So I�ve put together a bunch of notes to various groups all in this one letter. Please feel free to copy and send whatever portions are appropriate to your friends and family as you spend these last 24 hours trying to convince whomever you can to show up and vote for John Kerry. Here are my final words� To Decent Conservatives and Recovering Republicans: In your heart of hearts you know Bush is a miserable failure. From having no plan on what to do in Iraq once he conquered Baghdad to the 380 missing tons of explosives that could be used to kill our brave young men and women, this guy doesn�t have a clue how to fight and win a war. You should see the mail I�ve been getting lately from our troops over there. They know how much the Iraqi people hate them. They are sitting ducks anytime they go out on the road. Many believe we are not that far away from a Tet-style offensive inside the Green Zone with hundreds of Americans and Brits killed. Bush refused to go after and capture Osama bin Laden. He fought, every step of the way, the investigation into the 9/11 attacks. Who on earth would oppose such a thing? If 3,000 people died at your place of work and your boss said we don�t need to find out why or how it happened, he�d be thrown out on his ear. Bush�s behavior after this great tragedy alone is reason enough for his removal. You already know that George W. Bush is the farthest thing from a conservative. He�s a reckless spender who has run up record-breaking deficits and the biggest debt in our history. He believes in having the government pry into everything from your library records to your bedroom. He has hit you with hidden taxes with his tax cuts for the rich. I know many of you don�t like Bush, but are unsure of Kerry. Give the new guy a chance. He won�t raise your taxes (unless you are super-rich), he won�t take your hunting gun away, and he won�t make you visit France. He risked his life for you many years ago. He�s asking for the chance to do it again. Scott McConnell at The American Conservative magazine has endorsed him. What more do you need? To My Friends on the Left: Okay, Kerry isn�t everything you wished he would be. You�re right. He�s not you! Or me. But we�re not on the ballot � Kerry is. Yes, Kerry was wrong to vote for authorization for war in Iraq but he was in step with 70% of the American public who was being lied to by Bush & Co. And once everyone learned the truth, the majority turned against the war. Kerry has had only one position on the war � he believed his president. President Kerry had better bring the troops home right away. My prediction: Kerry�s roots are anti-war. He has seen the horrors of war and because of that he will avoid war unless it is absolutely necessary. Ask most vets. But don�t ask someone whose only horror was when he arrived too late for a kegger in Alabama. There�s a reason Bush calls Kerry the Number One Liberal in the Senate � THAT�S BECAUSE HE IS THE NUMBER ONE LIBERAL IN THE SENATE! What more do you want? My friends, this is about as good as it gets when voting for the Democrat. We don�t have the #29 Liberal running or the #14 Liberal or even the #2 Liberal � we got #1! When has that ever happened? Those of us who may be to the left of the #1 liberal Democrat should remember that this year conservative Democrats have had to make a far greater shift in their position to back Kerry than we have. We�re the ones always being asked to make the huge compromises and to always vote holding our noses. No nose holding this time. This #1 liberal is not the tweedledee to Bush�s tweedledum. To Nader Voters: See the above note. Ralph�s own party, the Green Party, would not endorse his run this year. That�s because those of us who want to build a third party in this country know that the only way to do this is to build bridges with those who believe in the issues Nader believes in. But not one of those people will sacrifice the chance to remove George W. Bush from the White House on Tuesday. The choice here is clear: do we join with our friends, or do we piss on them? After the debacle of 2000, the Democrats got smart and abandoned the conservative wing of their party. That�s why 8 of the 9 Democrats in the primaries this year were from the liberal wing. Ralph should take credit for that and declare victory. It�s so sad that he doesn�t realize the good he�s accomplished. But for reasons only known to him, he�s more angry at the Democrats than he is at Bush. He has lost his compass. I worry he has lost his mind. But he still gives a great speech! And Lila Lipscomb, the mother from Flint who lost her son in Iraq, she still grieves -- as do the mothers of 1,120 others (not to mention the mothers of the 100,000 Iraqis who have died because of Bush�s war). That�s what this election is about. Not Ralph proving some point. Almost none of us on his 2000 advisory group are supporting him this year. His total lack of respect for his best friends should tell all of you something about what he really thinks of you, too. To the Non-Swing States: Stop listening to how your vote doesn�t count in this election and that your state is already decided for Kerry or Bush. It is critical that you vote because we not only need to give Kerry the electoral win, but he needs to have a HUGE mandate with an ENORMOUS popular vote victory as well. It will be impossible for him to get anything done for four years if there is no clear mandate. We must not only defeat Bush, we must put a stake in the heart of the right-wing, neo-con movement. If you live in New York, California, Illinois, Texas, the Northeast or the Deep South, you need to vote and you need to bring ten people with you to the polls. If you live in a state where we have the chance to elect the Democrat to the Senate or the House, you need to vote. Turn off the TV. Quit listening to news media that has a vested interest in repeating to you over and over that your vote does not count. It does. If you have friends or relatives who live in the 30-plus non-swing states, call them and remind them how important it is that Kerry gets a massive popular vote victory. To Non-Voters: I understand why you stopped voting. Politicians suck. Nothing ever seems to change. You�re only one vote. Yes, politicians suck. But so do car salesmen � and that hasn�t stopped you from buying a car. Politicians only respond to the threat of the angry mob also known as the voting public. If most people don�t vote, that�s good news for them �cause then they don�t have to answer to the majority. Almost fifty percent of Americans don�t vote. That means you belong to the largest political party in America � the Non-Voting Party. That means you hold all the power to toss George W. Bush out of the Oval Office. How cool is that? I believe that we are going to have the largest election turnout in our lifetime tomorrow. You don�t want to miss out on that. The lines at the polls are going to be long and raucous and fun. It is an historic election. You won�t want to say that you were the only one who wasn�t there. Promise me you�ll vote, just this one time. To All First-Time Voters: Welcome to the longest running, uninterrupted democracy on earth! You own it. It�s yours. A few words about how messy it�s going to be tomorrow. The lines are going to be long. Bring your iPods. Better yet, bring a friend or two. The election officials have no clue just how many millions are going to show up at the polls. This will be the largest turnout in our lifetime. They don�t have enough machines. They are going to have to send for more ballots. And they are going to make it difficult for you to vote. The new law says if this is your first time voting you must bring ID with you that matches the address you are registered at. If for some reason they can�t find your name on the voting rolls, you have the right to ask for a provisional ballot, which you can fill out and then sort things out later. If you have any problems at the polling place, please call 1-866-OUR-VOTE. The people there can tell you how to find the precinct where you should be voting, get you legal help if you are denied the right to vote, or answer any other questions you may have. If you need any help figuring out the ballot, don�t be afraid to ask. If you screw up your ballot, you can ask for another one. In fact, the law allows you to screw up your ballot two times before you finally have to submit your final ballot! Be careful to vote on the line that says John F. Kerry/John Edwards. Don�t vote for more than one Presidential, Senate or House candidate or you ballot won�t be counted. If your polling place has a stub or a receipt from your ballot, make sure they give you one. Thanks for joining us. Democracy is not a spectator sport. It only works when we all come off the bench and participate. To African Americans: First of all, let�s just acknowledge what you already know: America is a country which still has a race problem, to put it nicely. Al Gore would be president today had thousands of African Americans not had their right to vote stolen from them in Florida in 2000. Here is my commitment: I will do everything I can to make sure that this will not happen again. And I�m not the only one making this pledge. Thousands of volunteer lawyers are flying to Florida to act as poll watchers and intervene should there be any attempts to deny anyone their right to vote. They will NOT be messing around. For my part, I have organized an
Billy Miller -- 11/01/2004, 15:45:18 -- #8527

too bad i cant vote :( i missed it by 1 year!
Whacky -- 11/01/2004, 18:18:27 -- #8533

I'm glad you're thinking about it! I didn't vote until I was in my late 20s because I didn't feel I had a grasp of what was going on...(until Iran Contra - oy) It warms my heart to see people your age getting involved. This is still a great country and I'm afraid it's up to you to keep it that way:)
dharminor -- 11/01/2004, 20:14:19 -- #8537

I am 24 and this is my second election. Scot i agree with you on many points but i refuse to listen to your rhetoric about Nader. Fine Bush(the idiot) definitely needs to be gone but don't lie, twist facts, and spit progadanda to get your point across, because those of us who do educate ourselves will turn a deaf ear. The same way we have to most politicians and the mainstream media. Nader is mad at a party and a left that turned on him first by blaming him for the corrupt appointment of Bush. His entire record has been selfless and has benefited the environment, consumers, and the working class. Don't lie and attack a man's character, especially a man as benevolent as Nader. Which is oh so rare in politics. When i hear you SPIN the facts about Nader it makes you sound like every other political lemming. Honesty is the biggest problem with politics. Don't become one of these spinsters(liars) that run rampant on the political circuit!!!! Besides Gore did win the popular vote! Maybe we should be concentrating on how the outcome of 2000 could be possible, rather than attacking one of the few leaders who is trying to do some good and who is not just after personal gains because his past has dictated just this.....not trying to make an enemy i just could not leave what you wrote about Nader alone.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 11/02/2004, 05:37:55 -- #8542

What are you talking about?? Do you disagree with my statement: "I think Nader is great. I watched his speech today on TV. I agree with him. I like him, and I particularly am thankful for all the h ard work he's been doing for this country without hardly a glance by most people." I hardly call that an attack on Nader! And if you're referring to that LONG message a few before, I didn't write it- Michael Moore wrote it and I just posted it here for anyone who was interested. Please read things a little more carefully before attacking, ok?
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
7 -- 11/02/2004, 09:05:48 -- #8547

Michael Moore's long post was truncated due the character limit. It ends with "For my part I have organized an ..."
dharminor -- 11/02/2004, 09:18:33 -- #8548

Scot I apologize. I was reading through all the messages for the last few days. I missed the heading and I am already on the defensive about Nader cause of everything I hear from the left about him. I neglected to pay attention to the heading and apologize for the attack. However now knowing that the message came from Micheal Moore, a person I respected, makes me question Moore, his credibility, and just how different he really is from the rest that I speak about in the blog.
Barry -- 11/02/2004, 10:15:57 -- #8550

Well today is voting day - that means that you guys could have a result in about two months when the legal wrangling has finished. I think this is going to be so close that there will be weeks of legal challenges before the result is announced. I heard on the news the other day that both sides have 10,000 lawyers on standby if the result doesn't go their way. Maybe we should send some UN observers to ensure that the election is run properly! In all seriousness, I wish I were American today so that I could vote against George Bush. To my mind the world is a hell of lot more dangerous than it was before his presidency and that's not because of 9/11. His invasion of Iraq and cavalier, gung-ho foreign policy has stirred up hatred throughout the world and I cannot remember a time when the ruler of an ally scared me so much. I know that Britain was part of the invading forces and that will be a huge factor in our elections next year. However, we are a small country and could not, and would not, have invaded Iraq without Bush. I don't understand why any Americans would think that they will be safer with Bush in power. To my mind, he's going to get us all killed. I hope to God that Kerry wins the election. Incidentally, on your home front, your national debt is out of control, your economy stalling and yet Bush is cutting taxes for his friends - the rich. To all you jazz republicans - realise that, as jazz musicians, you are unlikely to earn a lot of money. Realise also that under Bush, you will always be second best and subsidising those cuts for the bigwigs. I know that you would all be well within your rights to tell me to mind my own business, but I honestly believe that this election is so important to the future of our world that I have to speak up. I urge you all - please vote democrat today.
Whacky -- 11/02/2004, 10:32:22 -- #8551

Thank you Barry. I think it's very important for us to hear from people from other countries. I agree with you whole-heartedly. In fact I'll go one further and say that I believe 9/11 happened because Bush was president, and if he gets re-elected I fear we will see another attack of that magnitude...I surely hope I'm wrong, but even more so I hope Kerry gets in. I voted democrat this morning!
ziggysane -- 11/02/2004, 12:14:23 -- #8555

Ditto
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 11/02/2004, 16:02:19 -- #8564

Well, even though I'm completely against Bush and his policies of making the rich richer, the poor poorer, and taking care of his friends before the rest of the American people, I think it's our overall foreign policy that caused 911 and Bush just happened to be in office when things went to hell. He certainly didn't HELP anything, but neither did any of the presidents before him. Our continued reliance upon foreign energy is ultimately going to be our downfall unless Kerry wins and really starts pumping funding into some of the really cool new energy theories and technology that are being developed. The development of these technologies is going VERY slow due to the fact that our boy Bush just loves oil, and there's no way he's going to do anything to hurt the oil industry, his friends, conspirators, contributors, and constituency. I also agree that the world is going to be a very scary place if Bush gets back into office... We will invade Iran, we will become bankrupt, and the scary possibility of our entire economy exploding so that the dollar is a worthless piece of green and white paper is all too real. In fact, if Bush wins and I do move to Canada, I have a feeling that's not going to help anything... Bush has already publically said that we're an empire and empires play by different rules. So what's to stop him from invading canada for their resources? I think the next four years, regardless of who is president, is going to see the seeds of the grassroots politics that have been planted in the last several months grow into lush gardens of people-power. I think the days of the president being all powerful and not accountable for real failure (not cigar sex :) such as the kinds of failures Bush has provided us, those days are numbered. Back tracking- isn't it funny how Clinton got impeached because of sex, while Bush is individually responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 people in Iraq, most of them innocent as well as lying about going to war, and some people call him a hero? Makes me want to puke it's so damn funny. Well, today is Tuesday. Tonight I run my Tuesday night jam session. I have a killer bass player, a great drummer, some of the best microbrew west of the continental divide, and I get to play whatever kind of jazz I want for three hours. So whatever happens, I'm going to play jazz and drink good beer. We'll just see how much beer I'm going to have to drink :)
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
dharminor -- 11/02/2004, 18:33:11 -- #8570

well Nader wasn't on the ballot in my state. so any question i had in weighing my options between Nader and Kerry have been answered for me. Man I am on two knees praying that this turns out alright. The man in the white house these days really scares me!!! he needs to go! i think our future really hangs in the balance. Maybe Jeb will do his brother another favor and conveniently lose votes.(man i Hope not!!!)
Whacky -- 11/02/2004, 21:00:36 -- #8579

Missouri - The Moron State (I tried)
Whacky -- 11/03/2004, 11:41:17 -- #8585

Well I tend to grieve hard...I actually wept and wallowed in hopelessness for a while, but I'm starting to pick myself up. They say every cloud has a silver lining. My brother-in-law made the point that the dems failing so miserably may open the doors for some independent parties to become reasonable alternatives in the future...one can only hope...I hope we all live long enought to see it It's still our country and as dissappointed as I am, and with such an urge to move to a different country, part of me just can't let those bastards win! the fat lady aint sung yet:)
Scot -- 11/03/2004, 12:07:30 -- #8586
A silver lining?
So the US is full of morons. Well, there is a silver lining. We should thank the sound-byte idiots of today's society because in the next four years, this country is going to be a pretty crappy place to live. How, you ask, is that good in any way? It's good because the people that are lucky enough to survive the heinous stuff that is going to go down in the next four years will realize that without a complete political shift in this country, the whole damn world is going to be doomed. That is, if it's not too late. To the people who believe everything they are told (Bush supporters for the most part)- educate yourselves, ok? Don't let the media and paid advertisements educate you, do a little homework. Don't be so lazy. Get off your fat asses and find things out on your own. The lack of individual motivation to make a change for the better in this country sickens me. The pervasive mindset of "now now now now mine mine mine" instead of trying to build a sustainable future for the entire human race sickens me. But this western society, particuarly the United States, is really all about instant gratification and self preservation without any thought to what is being left for future generations. It's all about politicians "giving them what they want" instead of "making choices for a bright future". Well, congrats to the people who voted for Bush. Please remember to take full responsibility when the crap starts hitting the fan, ok? And in four years, hopefully you will have learned something about how to make decisions on your own so that if national and personal debt, international hatred, and just plain lazy-ass stupidity doesn't do us in, we'll have another chance to turn things around. If I were a gazillionaire, I'd go into politics. To bad you have to be rich to be a politician.
dharminor -- 11/03/2004, 12:08:42 -- #8587

ITS ALL JUST A BAD DREAM!!!!!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!! WE ARE SCREWED!!!!!!!! ENJOY NOT LEAVING OUR BORDERS FOR VACATION FOR A LONG TIME, AS OUR COMMANDER IN CHIEF KEEPS THE ANYMOSITY LEVEL TOWARDS AMERICANS RISING!!!
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 11/03/2004, 12:08:43 -- #8588

(note: I'm not responding to Whacky's post, I started writing it before I saw what Whacky left. Interesting that the same words were used... weird!)
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
dharminor -- 11/03/2004, 12:21:26 -- #8589

BYE BYE ENVIRONMENT, BYE BYE INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY, BYE BYE CIVIL LIBERTIES. HE FED ALL YOU BUSH VOTERS A HOT STEAMY PILE OF.......AND YOU LAPPED IT UP. AND LET ME SAY THAT AMERICA IS MY COUNTRY, BUT THIS PIECE OF SH*T IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE THE LEADER OF MY COUNTRY. ALSO TO ALL YOU BUSH VOTERS I ASK WOULD YOU RATHER LIVE DURING THE ASCEND OR DECLINE OF A CIVILIZATION. YOU DON'T NEED TO ANSWER YOUR VOTE HAS SAID IT ALL. "DISSENT IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PATRIOTISM" THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Whacky -- 11/03/2004, 13:42:38 -- #8591

Wierd! Maybe someone's trying to tell us something...a glimmer of hope perhaps?
Billy Miller -- 11/03/2004, 14:36:36 -- #8592

republican house and senate, republican president, and soon to be some new conservative justices. Do the democrats really have much of a voice now? I do however, respect the way kerry went out, even though im not fond of the outcome. Rather than to keep fighting a loosing battle, he respectfully gave in. Its good that he isnt too proud to admit defeat.
Scot -- 11/03/2004, 14:56:56 -- #8594

Kerry bowed out because he is a class act- he knows that drawing out stuff via court battles weakens us as much as anything else... good man.
Gordon -- 11/04/2004, 06:08:36 -- #8610
There will be an answer
Many commiserations to you Americans, tentatively raising umbrellas under this new four year Bush cloud. It seems terrible enough from over here in the UK - I can't imagine what you're going through. But be ready with your shades, because there's bound to be a silver lining - Scott and Whacky have just proved it... I think. Dharminor - Remember Europeans and most of the brain-alive world are anti Bush/Cheney etc - not anti-American people at all. We feel the frustration of democrat voters and pity the republican voters as we would a demented dog trying to eat his own leg.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
sid -- 11/04/2004, 06:56:08 -- #8612
Fom another Brit who should mind his own business
I hear that more people voted for George Bush than for any other President in history. So it's difficult to argue that somehow he doesn't represent what the United States and Americans are really like in the 21st century. It's just something the world will have to come to terms with. I can't say I've ever met an American remotely like the kind of person who would vote for George Bush, but then I mix with jazz musicians and academic scientists, who are hardly representative of the nation as a whole. It seems we all have to try and learn what makes these people tick, because they are clearly intent on making a world according to their rules. I think I could handle the prospect better if the soundtrack wasn't Country and Western. sid
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
flicklers -- 11/04/2004, 07:14:18 -- #8613

Hopefully the following will generate a smile, it is not meant as a taunt. I truly share your pain, wish George had not been elected (either time), constantly live with having opinions not shared by the majority of voters. I actually thought Nixon got the largest majority in history - just before being thrown out of office, so maybe there's hope. Anyway the following is from The Borowitz Report, www.borowitzreport.com, a daily political satire column: "CANADA REPORTS HUGE JUMP IN IMMIGRATION Over 55,000,000 Requests for Citizenship Since Tuesday Night Canadian immigration officials have reported a huge increase in the number of requests for Canadian citizenship in the past twenty-four hours, with over fifty-five million such inquiries pouring in since late Tuesday night. Of those fifty-five million requests, well over 99.99% of them came from U.S. citizens, the lion�s share residing in such states as New York, California, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said that he was �flabbergasted� by the fifty-five-million-plus requests for Canadian citizenship, adding that it was difficult to pinpoint the precise reasons for the staggering increase. �My only theory is that after many years of exposure in the U.S., hockey is finally starting to catch on,� Mr. Pettigrew said. He cautioned, however, that it is impossible to know exactly what is sparking the sudden interest in America�s frozen neighbor to the north: �People answering our immigration hotline say that it is hard to understand many of the American callers because they are sobbing uncontrollably.� In other news, President Bush used his acceptance speech Wednesday to reach out to supporters of Sen. John Kerry, telling them, �You can run, but you can�t hide.� Meanwhile, in his first statement since being voted out of office Tuesday night, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said, �Do you want fries with that?� "
Scot -- 11/04/2004, 09:00:31 -- #8615

"I hear that more people voted for George Bush than for any other President in history." That is correct, Sid, however it's also correct that more people voted AGAINST George Bush than any other president in history as well.
Whacky -- 11/04/2004, 09:41:52 -- #8617

Well it does seem apparent that perhaps the moronic populous does really want this, which is why my wife began looking for jobs/property in Canada....and historically whenever she finds places for us to live, we go...(ya gotta love a women like that:)
Whacky -- 11/04/2004, 09:43:23 -- #8618

but why Canada? Any of you non-US folks have room for us? We teach and play music, but we also have brains:)
7 -- 11/04/2004, 11:48:26 -- #8620

It's easy to understand the results. A simple graph of IQ levels tells all: Only a very small percentage of the population possesses any degree of intelligence. The vast majority range from average to morons.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
dharminor -- 11/04/2004, 21:01:56 -- #8643

i just hope that there are many more understanding and logical people overseas like the one's posting here. my experience and observations tell me that the same intelligence displacement spoken about in the U.S. population exists the world over and while i know probably won't have problem visiting somewhere like England. it will be years longer before we can visit safely, any part of the Middle East, Northern Africa, and west asia. thanks to the policies of our wannabe cowboy!
Randy Halberstadt: Metaphors For The Musician Grade: A+++
dharminor -- 11/04/2004, 21:11:19 -- #8644

sorry for my poor grammar. typed in a hurry! and to whacky p the answer is not to run. this is our country too and we need, now more than ever, every single person that is not in the stupor that the majority here is in.
Whacky -- 11/04/2004, 22:12:57 -- #8645

Well it's unlikely I'll actually leave. My youngest is a sophmore in high school...I'd hate to yank him...and those war mongers aren't gonna yank him either...I may have to buy a gun and dig a hole like hussein...
Whacky -- 11/05/2004, 16:06:43 -- #8658
hmmm....
anybody seen this yet? http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
dharminor -- 11/05/2004, 17:16:03 -- #8660

checked out that sight. very interesting
dharminor -- 11/05/2004, 17:16:28 -- #8661

site!?! damnit...lol
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 11/05/2004, 18:50:31 -- #8667

Oooooo, this is very interesting. Not unexpected. I wonder if Michael Moore knows about it?
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
Whacky -- 11/05/2004, 21:14:54 -- #8670

hmmm...he didn't mention it on his latest website message, which is very good btw..."17 reasons not to slit your wrist" or something like that...kind of calming:) it sure would be funny to find out georgey and the boys f***ed around with the voting machines.... and then winds up impeached:)
Whacky -- 11/05/2004, 21:16:14 -- #8671

only funny of course if they all go down with him...nah...they'd give that job to Connie
sid -- 11/06/2004, 12:48:07 -- #8681
Expect you've seen this, but
http://www.amipatriotic.com/story/2004/11/4/13038/9521
Scot -- 11/06/2004, 14:22:20 -- #8688

:) I'm now a Virtual Canadian!
Scot -- 11/10/2004, 19:13:29 -- #8828

http://www.fuckthesouth.com/ funny! (sorry for the profane domain name, not much I can do about that)
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Billy Miller -- 11/10/2004, 20:13:09 -- #8829

that was an interesting read, asside from the profanity. I think it could have done without all the bad language. And whats with the stereotyping about us religous people? We're not all idiots.
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
dharminor -- 11/10/2004, 20:20:09 -- #8830

scot that sight is f*cking hilarious!!!!!!! good for who ever wrote that. Classic stuff!
Whacky -- 11/10/2004, 21:49:11 -- #8831

Outstanding:)
Scot -- 11/11/2004, 07:06:38 -- #8841

Billy- it's a satirical rant about the current state of political affairs as the author of the piece sees it. Most people who read it are very aware that the generalities in the paper do not apply to everyone in the regions that are being bashed on. Like most satire, there are some scary seeds of truth in that paper, once you get past the bad language and doggerell.
Whacky -- 11/11/2004, 07:34:18 -- #8844

some of my best friends are religious :) and there are plenty of religious folks who voted non-bush (none of my friends though)
Scot -- 11/11/2004, 18:16:22 -- #8865

Musicians are normally self employed- I am. So this really pisses me off. It has for a long time. If I want to try to save my money, I get hit hard with the tax hammer. But if I spend all my money on equipment, I can write it off and not pay federal taxes, but then I don't have any money in the bank. They let you put money into an IRA and such, but stock related investments suck so bad these days, why would anyone put their money there? THey should allow land investment as a viable tax shelter, damnit. That's the only safe investment I can think. ANyway, just moaning about it cause it's getting closer to that day when I have to pay everything I've saved to the IRS.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Whacky -- 11/11/2004, 22:20:30 -- #8866

Ya know what pisses me off? The IRS requires we self-employed to make equal estimated taz payments each quarter, but the quarters aren't really quarters. The first is three months, the second it two months the third is three months and the fourth is four months. Now how the hell am gonna pay them for three months income when I've only worked two months? The answer; I don't...and for that I get penalized...One year I pinched as tight as I could to make those regular payments, and boy did my family suffer...I'll NEVER do that a again...who the hell wrote the tax code?
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
Scot -- 11/12/2004, 16:00:07 -- #8898

Yeah, I hate those estimated payments as well. The way I do it is pay as much as I can the first time around (same day as taxes are due... sheesh) and then don't pay for the rest of the year. The penalty isn't that much if you pay at least once during the year... I just did some research. I can get a Canadian "Green card" (they call 'em Maple Leaf Cards or something) for $2k and some time in interviews and applications. Being single, a pro musician, and self employed computer guy sure helps in that area.
Whacky -- 11/18/2004, 13:02:02 -- #9066
Interesting quote
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)
Whacky -- 12/07/2004, 08:17:47 -- #9534
recount
well, ya never know... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6661622/ 6 more days...
dharminor -- 12/10/2004, 16:43:01 -- #9598

highly unlikely
Whacky -- 12/10/2004, 22:00:37 -- #9603

yeah...but I keep picturing the picture of Truman holding the newspaper whose headline was Dewey defeats Truman (or something like that) I know it's kinda late, but a little hope here and there never hurt anyone:)
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Whacky -- 12/26/2004, 10:35:38 -- #9877
Anonymous Quote
I got this in an email: Our Constitution - They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years and, we're not using it anymore.
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
Scot -- 12/28/2004, 01:22:02 -- #9925

:) Interesting that we're spending a billion a day on the Iraq invasion, but locally we have to close libraries becuase of budget shortfalls. Steinbeck's home town is closing all of their libraries. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Salinas%20Libraries&dpfrom=1
Whacky -- 12/29/2004, 07:45:44 -- #9964
more bs
I was told yesterday that although we are against stem cell research here in the USA, we actually sell left over embryos to India, where they use them for stem cell research. "don't kill em here, you guys do it" I also just read that the US offered 15 million to SriLanka while Japan ponied up about 30 mill...It's more important for us to spend the huge dough on blowing the shit out of Iraq.
7 -- 12/29/2004, 13:27:21 -- #9970
Doctors Bragging About Their Achievements
An Israeli doctor said "medicine in my country is so advanced, we can take a kidney out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks." A German doctor said "that's nothing! In Germany, we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks." A Russian doctor said, "in my country medicine is so advanced, we can take half a heart from one person, put it in another, and have them BOTH looking for work in two weeks". The American doctor, not to be outdone, said "Hah! We can take an asshole out of Texas, put him in the White House and half the country will be looking for work the next day."
Whacky -- 12/29/2004, 17:06:33 -- #9973

he he:)
7 -- 01/08/2005, 13:08:56 -- #10205

As you may already be aware, the Islam encourages charity. However, it also admonishes those who are charitable but make a big show of it to the world. Muslims hold that true charity is anonymous. Giving to the needy and then bragging about it, is being charitable for the wrong reasons (according to Mohammed). Therefore, we will never know exactly how much (or how little) Osama Bin Laden did for the tsunami victims.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 01/08/2005, 16:41:19 -- #10208

Bush has the lowest approval rating of a re-elected president since 1877. Bush has even less approval than when he "won" the election. And from the comments I've been reading in various national newspapers, the majority8 of the people in this country are still morons. Not because they voted for Bush, but for the reasons they voted for him. It amazes me that people will believe everything that fat asses on conservative talk radio say when it's widely known that radio hosts, conservative and liberal, make up facts as they go along to suit their whims. Does anyone make up their own minds anymore? Did "five second sound byte" replace the definition of TRUTH in the dictionary? This country is fat, stupid, and lazy, and people who are dying from medical problems because of being fat, stupid, and lazy, deserve it. Bellingham is nice- I'm insulated from the rest of the country, but Canada is looking so much better. Time to get a Canadian girlfriend :)
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
Whacky -- 01/08/2005, 19:13:32 -- #10211

Michael Moore's most recent letter is somewhat encouraging: http://www.michaelmoore.com/index_main.php I've met a few folks from Canada that are not very happy with things there...now they live here...hmmmm Oscar Peterson doesn't speak too highly of it either...I guess there will be problems where ever we go - we might as well work on our own - if we can
Scot -- 01/09/2005, 23:32:34 -- #10253

Well, the girls a prettier in Canada, that's for sure :)
Whacky -- 01/10/2005, 00:50:39 -- #10261

ya know...I have noticed that...
Scot -- 01/18/2005, 17:57:17 -- #10510
Condoleezza Rice
"Rice said spreading democracy through the Middle East remains a top administration objective." What the hell? So now we know the truth- it really is the next Crusades. As for as the Monkey Boy Bush and his legions of The Mindless are concerned, Democracy = Fundamental Christianity. What a pile of steaming crap. And the scary part is a majority of this country believes the same way. I'm ashamed and sorry to be a part of a society of morons who can't see the truth unless it's a five second sound byte. People are afraid to say George Bush is a dumb-ass. Why is that? People are afraid to point fingers and name names. Hey, if someone is in politics, they are fair game because they are a publically elected official. Rice is so far up Bush's ass that it's hard to tell where one ends and the other one starts. At least Colin Powell had some dignity. Rice is just an brown nosed ass-kisser. Has anyone heard her speak? She's smart- if it's not on the script, she doesn't make it up, she just ignores the question. The entire senate needs to be taken outside and have the crap beaten out of them. There were only two senators to question Rice, and only one that said they wouldn't vote. Sen. Barbara Boxer is the only senator with some balls who questioned Rice's honesty, and Kerry is the only one who said she won't be getting his vote. Hey, maybe in private monkey boy and Rice and all the rest are nice poeple. But their policies stink. How about this one- let's aid the tsunami disaster. All sorts of people are giving money away. But what about the Iraq disaster? What about all the homeless, hungry, injured, innocent people that we are totally screwing over in the quest for "democracy" (or is it fundamental christianity?) How many people are going to open their wallets and help the Iraqies who are getting their asses blown up for oil? Today I'm pissed off because yesterday was MLK day and all I saw was a bunch of people getting together in rallies and preaching to each other. Sheesh, that's like teaching a whale how to swim. If those people at rallies want to do something, get on the street corner and preach the words of Dr. King to people who haven't heard them before, you know? Anyway, that's my rant for the week. If you want to make intelligent decisions, then learn the truth and stop believing what CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC, and all the rest of the "owned" media groups tell you. Get your news from The Onion, Indy Media, and other independant media groups who aren't bought and sold like a bunch of dead fish.
Scot -- 01/28/2005, 12:05:44 -- #10806
"If Iraq asks, troops would leave, Bush says"
----------- weekly rant begin ---------------- Talk about being a flip-flopper. He creates one of the most unstable areas in the world, and now will pull everything out if a puppet government asks for it. What next? Don't be surprised, with Monkey Boy as president, we can literally expect anything. Invade Canada because of all the pot-smoking terrorists? Occupy Mexico to help organize cheap labor? Sure, just silly statements... or are they? Bush is the worst thing to happen to the world in the new millenium. He plays the game very well- say what they want to hear while behind his back tear the heads off pidgeons. He's a great magician, very good at keeping our attention where he wants it (don't forget- terrorists want to kidnap and do horrible things to you children, vote for me!) while shuffling important issues and constitutional rights under the mat. --------- Weekly rant end ----------------
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Whacky -- 01/28/2005, 12:43:39 -- #10809

aagghhh!!!
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
Scot -- 01/31/2005, 18:46:04 -- #10855

Sorry- I just re-read what I wrote. Kind of a scary message! I'll tone down my next rant so we don't get nightmares about monkeys dancing on top of oil wells any longer.
Whacky -- 01/31/2005, 22:11:14 -- #10861

hehe...I'm always on the verge of losing it over this crap - I'm trying not to watch the news so much so I don't spend each day pissed off
Whacky -- 03/11/2005, 00:56:33 -- #11843

A neighboring city to mine has banned smoking in all public buildings, including bars. Can you believe this?! It is now illegal for a bar owner to allow smoking in his establishement! I don't smoke, and I don't go to places that have a lot of smoke, but damnit, those who want to smoke ought to be able have some place to go and do it - and any buisness owner should have the right to allow or disallow smoking - or peeing or whatever! What the hell is happening to freedom in this country?! (USA) AAAGGGHHH!!!!
sdm -- 03/11/2005, 15:06:50 -- #11857

Yeah, they're talking about doing that here (Portland, OR). My kid is in a rock band and I've gone to a couple of show. Everyone in that scene seems to smoke. I've been off about ten or eleven years. I can't believe I came home smelling like that every night! Anyway, I can only imagine what those club owners are going to do if their customers can't smoke in their clubs. Many will shut I'd have to guess. The older I get the more libertarian I seem to feel!
Whacky -- 03/11/2005, 17:47:01 -- #11866

yep...if they can travel less than a half mile to a bar that allows smoking, the poor club owners will go out of business - great for the economy isn't it?...and in the name of what? good health? c'mon...what's next? make it illegal to serve fatty foods?
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 03/11/2005, 18:22:07 -- #11868

Actually, from what I've seen when regulations like that go into action most people don't stop going to the bars, they just go outside to smoke. Now some places want to ban outside smoking which, even though I don't smoke tobacco, I think is an infringement on rights. If they want to get serious about banning smoking, then call it what it is and put it on the dangerous drugs list like they do with marijuana (which according to Ashcroft is MORE dangerous than Cocaine and Heroine, at least as far as it's listed on the drug type chart).
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
7 -- 03/11/2005, 20:29:42 -- #11871

It's been that way in California for a long time. There are many bars that defy the law. They just let the customers smoke inside and since law enforcement officers have better things to do with their time, the cops don't bother raiding places unless someone's filed a formal complaint. Many places here also have outdoor patios or terraces to smoke, and since they're enclosed you can drink alcohol and eat there too.
Whacky -- 03/12/2005, 00:34:40 -- #11872

yeah...you'd think law makers would have better things to do with their time...I guess not...If we ever get to the point where we have enough laws, there will be no need for law makers... Unfortunately, the community I mentioned earlier has very little crime and a bunch of Barney Fife's looking for something to do, so...it's a little scary...Arresting teenagers for TP-ing and doing lawnjobs doesn't keep them busy enough
Bonzo -- 03/23/2005, 06:40:33 -- #12151

In my country (netherlands) a couple of years ago they wanted to ban smoking from pubs and bars. They actually didn't thought about the fact you weren't allowed to smoke in coffeeshops either then ;-) (coffeshops in the netherlands are the places were you can buy SOFTdrugs legally). So the act didn't passed. In fact the essence of the act was that everyone has the right to have a smokefree workenvironment, so the bartenders etc too. I think there is no such thing as a right to smoke, but rather a right t live in a smokefree envirnment. Some people who are arguing this is discriminating smokers have it al wrong, since smoking is something you just can choose wether or not to do. Since I live in the land of nazi's and whores according to Bush and his rightwing conservative fundamentalist government, it's rather hard to understand and somewhat ridiculous to see how you handle the whole Schiavo thing. Just let her go! Would you be a vegetable??
Whacky -- 03/23/2005, 10:35:09 -- #12154

I think the question(s) is how much do we want the government to interfere. What's wrong with leaving a smoking policy or a flatulence policy for that matter, up to individual business owners? I'm not a smoker, so I don't go to places that are smokey. I'm not familiar with all aspects of the Schiavo case - like who is really paying to keep her alive. If her husband is paying for everything then why not transfer guardianship? If her parents wish to keep her alive and can afford to do so, then they should have that right. Now, should insurance companies or government pay to keep a person like this alive? I'm thinking, probably not... As for bush...nothing he does makes any sense to me:)
Scot -- 03/23/2005, 12:30:53 -- #12158

One of the interesting things about the Schiavo case is that when Bush was governor of Texas he ruled for the husband (Schiavo's husband wants to let her go naturally, govt and parents say "no way") in a case that is very similar to this. But now that he's the pres, he flip flopped and is ruling on a political adgenda instead of for what's right. Oh well! Not surprising. The guy is a liar, cheat, and swindler, and he gets to do whatever he wants.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
sdm -- 03/23/2005, 15:10:03 -- #12161

Amen!!
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
Bonzo -- 03/24/2005, 05:58:01 -- #12172

I think a government's aim should be a healthy population, so leaving it up to individual bussiness owners is NOT good for a healthy population. Most people who smoke for instance will like some alcohol, as in the nonsmoking group this percentage is far less. So every pubowner will allow smoking in his pub and in order to prevent this the government should come up with legislation. I heard on the news that sme fundamentalist christians tried to give Schiavo cups of water. Like she ever could drink it!?!?!? They make themselves even more ridiculous than I would ever imagined.
Whacky -- 03/24/2005, 09:33:44 -- #12183

For that matter drinking is not good for a healthy population...niether is eating fatty foods - or high carbs Do you see where this could go?
Whacky -- 03/24/2005, 11:42:40 -- #12189

As for the Schiavo case, isn't starvation a pretty horrible, painful way to die? What's wrong with a painless lethal injection? Some how the act of euthanasia seems less humane in the public eye than starving a person to death...crazy world
Billy Miller -- 03/24/2005, 12:55:24 -- #12194

this may sound unethical, but think about it. Being brain dead, you pretty much have no sense of anything, so what difference does it make weather she dies of starvation, lethal injection, or maybe even something worse?
Whacky -- 03/24/2005, 13:47:22 -- #12198

I think that's a great question. I guess we have to be able to define brain dead. Not ever having been "brain dead" I don't really know what one feels or doesn't. Is it possible that the brain cannot control her body, but yet feels everything? Hears everything? Is the technology used to determine brain activity sophistcated enough to make those kinds of determinations?
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Whacky -- 03/24/2005, 21:33:46 -- #12202

I saw this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4380997.stm where Jeb Bush cites an "opinion from a neurologist that Mrs Schiavo was not in a persistent vegetative state."
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
Scot -- 03/25/2005, 12:23:08 -- #12208

The neurologist in question also happens to be in charge, or was in charge, of a right wing christian bio-ethics commission. Do you think that Jeb Bush would actually get an "opinion" from an impartial medical specialist? In 2002 when the most respected experts in the field examined her, they concluded that when the blood was cut off to her brain 15 or so years ago, the sheer amount of neurons that died (and do not come back) was so severe that she basically turned into a dandylion, except that a dandylion has more responses as it changes when the sun is up or down. The bickering about this issue has nothing to do with Bush and his "right to live" and bullshit like that, it has everything to do with gaining a more christian fundamentalist political foothold in WA DC and the country in general. Bush has always found ways to divide the nation, and he's doing it on a deeper level now- religion and human rights, even though his idea of human rights does not reflect reality. "Please insert the feeding tube, but let all the homeless die when it gets cold, plus we don't care about sweatshops in China and what, there's genocide in Africa? So what, they have brown skin and don't know how to use computers." Bush is all about his own personal agenda and nothing else- he doesn't care about the "people" because the "people" don't give him the good life, his constituents do- big money. So it can be good big money or bad, that doesn't matter to him, it's all about money and power. And why not? He's the king of politics. A moron who hires the right people to give him the job, hires the smart people to tell him what to do as long as it fits within his narrow view of the world, and uses force like a playground bully to set the playing field the way he wants it, regardless of intelligent opinion in and outside of the US. The guy is a pig f*cker, and if there were one person in the world that I come close to hating with a passion, it's him. If I were religious in the biblical sense of the world, I'd call George Bush the antichrist because in the six years he's been in office, he's almost got the world on the brink of total human disaster. Keep 'em fat and lazy (get in bed with sugar lobby to keep sugar intake at such huge levels that one soft drink is as much sugar as you need in a month), keep 'em misinformed (own all the media that can be owned, create news spots that look like news instead of political propaganda, etc), and keep 'em stupid (cut more and more when it comes to education). Makes it easier to rule that way because stupid peasants don't question authority, they bow to the king instead. Ok, monthly rant over.
sdm -- 03/25/2005, 13:45:15 -- #12210

I love a rant so full of truth!
Whacky -- 03/26/2005, 01:18:42 -- #12215

I do too - why only monthly? :) I especially liked the pig f*cker comment!
Jono -- 03/28/2005, 19:16:01 -- #12270

As a Christian in the UK I find the fundamentalism in the USA somewhat alarming. Are they all really nutters? or is it just the folks who shout the loudest? On the whole, I reckon that the Bush administrations policies actually go against the teaching of Jesus Christ. Don't American christians realise this? Bush is responsible christians a bad name.
Jono -- 03/28/2005, 19:17:16 -- #12271

Sorry, that should say 'Bush is responsible for giving christians a bad name'.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Whacky -- 03/28/2005, 20:52:10 -- #12272

I think they are the folks that shout the loudest, but the numbers seem to be increasing at an alarming rate. It certainly seems to me that bush goes against the teachings of JC and gives Christians a bad name, but somehow the shrub administration has convinced the religious right that dubya is born again and even chosen by God - fascinating and very scary...all of which reminds me of my favorite bumber sticker: "Lord, save me from your followers"
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
Scot -- 03/29/2005, 03:19:42 -- #12279

True leaders never wanted to be leaders, which is why the entire American political system is such a sham.
sdm -- 03/29/2005, 13:41:38 -- #12290

Can't remember the exact name of the book and haven't read it but it's something like "What's wrong in Kansas." The premise of the author is very on point. He asserts that the Republicans have (via shrub) have figured out that the fundamentalists give the right just enough to stay in power (see Frontline's excellent show on w's "conversion" and his discovery of the religious right during GW's campaign). To get them on board they mouth all of the hot button issues for that group, right-to-life, 10 commandments, prayer in school, and so on. The kicker, however, is that they not only know they can't follow through with that stuff they have no intention of it. It is purely polictical expediency. Very sad and pretty scary.
Scot -- 03/29/2005, 18:22:09 -- #12300

Politics brings out the worst in marketing. All a person has to do is step back and look at the big picture to see it. What is really scary is that the majority of the US population isn't smart enough to be able to do that. A few cities on the east and west coast is all that remains of progressive thinking for a better world. The rest of the country appears ready to stop questioning the leaders, stop thinking for themselves (it's already happening, has been for a while), and believe everything they see, hear, and read (those than can still read). I think there's no turning back, not in my lifetime. The only hope that I see is if some celebrity decides to run for office. One that has a more progressive mind than the current royalty. The US people love a celebrity and a lot of people would vote just because of it, ie, "I'll be back." But what celebrity? How about Michael Moore? Nope, he's way too liberal for the population. How about David Letterman? I'd vote, but he wouldn't run. How about Sting for president? Hell yeah! Let's start the movement right here on LJP :) It's gotten to the point where the good ol' boys in WA DC have so severely lost touch with reality that they don't even know what's going on. Look at the Shiavo case- the White House had no idea that the majority of those polled wished the feds would stay out of it. Lost my train of thought...
Scot -- 04/05/2005, 19:03:54 -- #12504

One of the people who works with teh real estate people that I code an online testing/certification suite for is a pro-bush texan. She tries to push my buttons, but that's hard to do because the only people that can get under my skin are the ones I already have respect for. Here's my latest message to her. I think it goes for a lot of people in the U.S. who make a deliberate decision to stay mis-informed. "Like I said once before, as long as we stay on a professional basis and communicate on work related subjects, I'm fine. I don't see any point discussing anything else because your view points concerning national and international issues stink of misinformation and common popular ignorance, and I have a very low threshold for that sort of thing. I choose to discuss international and domestic issues only with people who have taken the time to look into the reports and articles provided by non-political multi-national groups who do not let themselves be bullied by the U.S. or anyone else into changing the facts to fit common misconceptions or political adgendas. Divergent viewpoints are a healthy part of society and truly make the world the interesting place that it is, but basing personal viewpoints on the depraved fairy tales of popular media isn't a good way to see all sides of any story."
Whacky -- 04/05/2005, 21:52:01 -- #12509

touch�!
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Scot -- 04/08/2005, 21:27:42 -- #12630

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms [of government] those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." ~ Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Mark Levine: The Jazz Piano Book • Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book
Whacky -- 04/09/2005, 00:52:21 -- #12631

I may use that as my email signature
Barry -- 04/09/2005, 10:13:26 -- #12646

The problem with elections is that, whoever you vote for, the government always gets in!
Whacky -- 04/09/2005, 17:29:45 -- #12651

hehe - Amen!
tianjing -- 04/11/2005, 01:08:43 -- #12692

hahaha!!! good one Barry, i'm using that :D
Jono -- 04/16/2005, 16:15:14 -- #12936

Weve got a general election in the UK in a few weeks. Should be interesting.
In Oscar Peterson - Jazz Exercises, Minuets, Etudes and Pieces for Piano
Whacky -- 04/20/2005, 12:23:17 -- #13033
Pope George W. Bush
George W. Bush Elected Pope ... Cardinals Stunned! Reported by Monsignor Guido Sarducci The almost 120 Cardinals from around the world that gathered to choose a successor in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel were stunned and expressed amazement. Cardinal Mohoney the Vatican spokesperson had this to say... "We in the conclave are all shocked. We cast our vote's using these new electronic voting machines. The results overwhelmingly favored George W. Bush over all the Catholic candidates. The last Pope, John Paul, was a superb linguist, fluently speaking 11 languages, this one can't speak fluently in one language. We just don't know what to say." The White House has announced that Dick Cheney will assume command as President of the world tomorrow morning, when "W' travels to Rome to begin his duties as Pope. George W. Bush had this to say moments ago as he spoke from the Rose Garden: "I am honoured to be the spiritual lighthouse, and the first War Pope. I promise Evangelical Catho-licks and Prostates alike that I will be embodied in salvation and fair in the performance of my duties. I am a Unitifier, not a Divide-a-cater. I am obliged to try to save as many lost souls as I can, at least the Devout Wealthy Elite Souls, as it is well known that Heaven is a very select place, indeed, it is more exclusive than even the best of country clubs. It is a members only Heaven. I may have to put a fence around it. I will perform miracles in a fair and balanced manner. Just as God used to wipe out entire races of people without warning, burning whole towns of perverts, killing off entire nations, and drowning everybody without a ticket to board Noah's Ark, I shall deliver the world from Evil Empires as I unleash the Apocalypse Wrath of Revelations. I will ensure the Rapture and the Reunion with our beloved deceased family members and with our departed purebred pets. I will not allow those awful Liberal Sissy Homosapiens to marry each other and I will put and end to the Clergy marrying Choirboys. I will lead the Crusades against all them towel-headed heathens-possessed voodoo-hoodoo barbarians who's Pseudo-religions that don't accept the Lord as the Light of Democracy, and who worship fake, made-up gods. They shall suffer my Godly Conservative Wrath and I will Destroy them with my Cherubic Armies of Angels and they shall burn for eternity in Hell, because Me and God don't take no prisoners!"
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
Barry -- 04/21/2005, 05:30:35 -- #13066

Splendid!
Scot -- 05/01/2005, 12:11:59 -- #13438

From NY Times article: North Korea dismissed President Bush as a "philistine whom we can never deal with." Funny, even North Korea knows Bush is a dumb-ass. Why don't the American people?
Scot -- 05/05/2005, 23:57:00 -- #13590
Just saw Robert Kennedy speak
For those who don't know or are part of the moron majority in this country, Robert Kennedy is part of the Kennedy clan that we've all heard about- the assasinations, the plane crash, the skiing death. Robert Kennedy is big into the environment and likes to remind everyone about the obvious- George Bush has single handedly undone stuff that has been in the books since this country got it's start. Stuff about how George Bush is the only president that let organized crime off the hook (polluters are basically organized crime- they hurl money at the president like tomatoes and every time he catches one he does something else to help them.) How many people are aware that big business now runs the EPA? Do you know what that is called? Mussolini knows. Hitler knows. All the tyrants in the world, the first thing they did when they got elected to office is to replace cabinet members and heads of committees and such with the people who run big business. Then the corporations own politics and free trade is dead. Why is it dead? Because corporations, by law, are required to make money. They can't give it away. They can't do what's right. They must, by any means possible, make money so their shareholders feel like their investment is worth it. That's why George Bush has allowed corporate america to take over the white house. Look at Cheney and Rumsfeld. The list is huge. So back to the speach. Guys like Kennedy really piss me off. I agree with what he says, but just like everyone else, all he does is talk about the problems to people who already know what the problems are. That means all he really wants to do is sell books. Perhaps he uses his personal book money for some good, but I'll have respect for a guy like that when he gets down to the grit and says, "And THIS is how we're gonna fix these problems." He said, "We have to educate people about the brink of disaster that we're on right now!" Right, educate people... Yeah, education is nice, but he forgets that most people in this messed up country are morons. The only people in the world who are going to be educated about stuff, good or bad, are the ones who WANT to be educated. Morons think they are smart enough, they don't want to waste good QVC, Big Time Wrestling, and Rush Limbaugh time educating themselves. And heck, what is talk radio for, anyway? They listen to it all the time and know everything about everything. Or at least they think they do, and that's even worse. A bunch of self righteous dumb asses who don't know much about anything at all, but talk like they know everything. Anyway, I don't have a lick of respect for like Kennedy, the people who are good at (as the catch phrase goes) preaching to choir, until they get down to some details about HOW I personally can help motivate the dumb asses of this country to become learned in the ways of intelligent thought. I don't have respect for any of them yet. I never hear any details or good ideas about how I, as a nobody without means (not a rich kid with all the means in the world) can suggest to the misinformed that they need to pay more attention to news coming out of impartial sources. When the time comes that Kennedy and people like him actually come up with ways that will help us open our fellow morons eyes to what kind of damage their selfish stupidity is causing the world, he, and the people like him, are worthless. They are targets for Rush Limbaugh and the majority thinks Rush Limbaugh should be the next pope almost. Guys like Kennedy are targets. The majority of voters in this country see them as tree hugging anarchists because the fire of misinformation is fanned so much by those who have the money and want more until the truth is but a crispy cinder slowly turning from red to orange until finally it's nothing more than a dark smudge on a rock next to a poisoned river somewhere. Yeah, I'm feeling cynical because I think we're going down the drain. Money is pulled from schools not to build roads, but to keep the populace stupid. If the populace is stupid, they won't ask questions. A non questioning populace is no more than a group of peasants believing everything King George says, and soon enough the stupid people will completely take over this country. They pretty much already have. And like I said, the idiots don't ask questions. They don't question authority. They believe every little thing they read, see, and hear, and then go off on people who DO question what the media tells us, saying, "Your not patriotic. You gotta do what they say." Well, we will see what happens in 2008. I'm waiting to see just how stupid this country can get. Kennedy says we've got to fight this stuff. Maybe we need to take his words literally. Maybe it will take blood and guts to right the ship. Who knows? I hardly care anymore because the morons are the majority. If they weren't, we wouldn't be in this situation.
Whacky -- 05/06/2005, 00:56:04 -- #13591

that's why I changed my views on guns...I don't have one, but I'm wondering if I may need one some day...
Scot -- 05/06/2005, 12:05:09 -- #13600

You never know. The reason I don't think it will actually come to that is because the majority enjoys the US position on desecrating the earth. Or they are so misinformed that they don't know what's going on. Regardless, they are the majority and if everyone picked up guns, then there would be a lot of minority blood mixed with the mercury and other poisons already in the water and land. Better, I think, is to move somewhere else where people are more in tune with things. New Zealand is looking good.
The Standards Real Book • The World's Greatest Fake Book
Scot -- 05/06/2005, 16:47:07 -- #13607

I'm sitting here reading the NY times political section and looking at quotes from the Bush team. I mean, it's actually funny if it weren't so scary. How can the public possibly just believe what those snakes are saying about things? The snakes revise numbers to meet projections, regardless of what the truth is, they were unhappy with the lawsuit where a federal judge said that you're not allowed to flatten mountain tops as they are doing in Virginia for mining so Bush rushed in and made sure the EPA law was changed (again) to let mining flatten mountains, they lie about what is going on in Iraq. Check out the new BBC report that divulges information leaked by a high ranking british official who chose to remain anonymous. In Early 2002 Bush had already decided to attack Iraq for no other reason than he thought it would be a good idea. He told the CIA and other intelligence agencies to gather data that would support his decision- this is during the time he swore he had not made up his mind about attacking Iraq... this info was from a secret transcription from the Blair office, leaked by an anonymous official who is not in the public eye anymore. Anyway, point is, what are people thinking? Is is that a few years of "prosperity" for the obscenely wealthy is worth denegrading the entire country in the eyes of the intelligent and the rest of the world? Can someone explain how people can be so blind? Or are people so wrapped up in their own worries and problems that they understand the problems but need to work on their own first? THe main problem here is that the government has changed from "for the people, by the people" to "for the corporations, by the corporations". If you don't think this is true, then you are truly an idiot. Look at the mining debacle above. Who in the last few years has donated nearly 100 million dollars to Bush? A lobby group put together by a mining corporation called Peabody and something. Not only that, the head of that lobby group is now the head of the EPA. Get it now? The corporations have been put in charge of the agencies who's duties it is to protect us and our natural resources from the corporations. So the Environmental Protection Agency is now run by the same guy who lobbies for the mining corporations. Check this out: We can now, without nary a permit, dump whatever crap we want into our lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans. This is a new development recently signed into Law by our greatest moron of all, President George Bush. I don't have a problem with republicans- some of our greatest presidents of all were republicans. But George Bush and his cronies are NOT republicans. They are some scary mix of neo-fascism (they have actually 'improved' fascism to make it look like "freedom loving") and totalarianism (corporations run the government). Anyone who likes this, please raise your hand and speak up, because I want to know who brainwashed you into thinking that you can't eat the fish from any lake, stream, and waterway in the U.S. without eating enough mercury to kill a mouse. Where doth this mercury come from? Coal burning power plants that Clinton was forcing to clean up. Of coruse, President Bush repealed that law. Changed it's name to the Clean Air Act to make the morons think it's good. In fact, it gives industry free reign to pollute as much as they want, and if by change a federal judge finds something wrong with it, Bush goes out and rewrites the rules so that the federal judge can't do anything about it (repeating myself here, but it's worth the point). Anyway, I want to piss you guys off, or at least some of you. If you don't like what I'm writing, do some research and come back with intelligent arguments about how I'm wrong and how Bush is the best thing since Mussolini... er, sliced bread, whatever. This is why I've added this room to the main hall. People need to stay involved in these things. Not just during political campaigns, but all the time. So get pissed off, tell me I'm an idiot, tell me you won't visit this BBS anymore because you are part of the moron majority, I don't really care- tell me anything to show me that your brains are working.
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
Jono -- 05/07/2005, 12:20:50 -- #13616

Well Blair has been elected for a 3rd term here in the Uk, but with a reduced mjority in the British parliament. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/default.stm
Scot -- 05/08/2005, 03:29:52 -- #13630

Yeah, I read about that. What's going to happen with his reduced majority? Will there be more bickering in the parliament? Just curious about your take on it since you live in the UK.
Jono -- 05/08/2005, 18:34:19 -- #13637

I Personally think that large majorities are bad for democracy. With his previous majority of 167, Blair could get away with more or less anything. He managed to get through some very unpopular Bills (such as university top-up fees and foundation hospitals) despite many of his own MPs voting against them. Now with a majority of 66, he will have to be more careful. At this election, Blair (Labour) won with a record low percentage of votes for a winning party (36%). The main oppostion party (the Conservatives) did not really increase their vote. The main reason they gained parlimentary seats was due to Labour voters switching to the Liberal Democrats (3rd party) and the Conservatives winning seats by the back door so to speak. Blair is not likely to stay as Prime Minister much longer. He is very unpopular mainly because of the Iraq war. I expect he will soon give way to Gordon Brown, the current Chancellor. The next few years should be interesting none the less.
Scot -- 05/09/2005, 12:53:20 -- #13652

Nice to see that you guys have three parties that actually somewhat compete... [ ... begin daily rant ... ] One of the big problems we're facing right now is the Social Security thing. Bush wants to privatize it so that money being paid to SS will go to Wall Street instead of Social Security. Bush says this will help as the "baby boomers" start reaching retirement age. What he doesn't say is that Social Security taxes are capped at 6.2% OR $90,000, which is the main reasoin why Social Security isn't going to work in the long run. If we wind up ending money to Wall Street to our "personal accounts" or "Private accounts" or whatever they are calling them these days, then we have the problem where if wall street goes bust (oh that won't even happen again, yeah sure) then Grandma and Grandpa are eating cat food. Not to mention if they ever have to go to the hospital for medical work. Ok, don't like speaches? Here it is in black and white: We have a cop who makes $42k a year. 6.2% of his salary goes to social security- $2604 We have a stock broker who makes $90k a year. 6.2% of his salary is $5580. Remember, $90k is the cut off point, so the stock broker is paying the maximum amount you can pay, 6.2% of his salary. Now we have a CEO who makes a million bucks a year. He also pays 6.2% to social security... no, wait, only up to $90k of his salary. So that means the rich CEO is also paying $5580 for social security, just like the stock broker, except for the CEO, this only comes out to .56% of his salary. If everyone paid a straight 6.2% of their salary to Social Security, regardless of how much they make, we'd have in excess of $100,000,000 (one hundred billion dollars) going into Social Security every year. This would fix every single problem that Bush and his bed buddies are advertising. But in their eyes, this is not a fix, because they would have to pay their own fair share of social security taxes... remember, if you're rich, you're supposed to have special considerations, red carpets- rich is royalty and deserves preferencial treatment, right? I don't think so. This is one more example of how the top 1% (or less) of income earners in the U.S. escape paying their fair share at the expense and to the detriment of everyone else. The U.S. is NOT a monarchy- there is no such thing as royalty, no such thing as blue blood, no one gets preferencial treatment. Except that's not what Bush thinks, and one of the main reasons things are falling apart here and around the world is because of his (and others) ideas that the rich should get preferencial treatment. Why does he think this way? It's part of the old 80's term: Trickle Down Theory Bush tries to sell the idea that when the rich keep their money, it is somehow going to spill over into the economy and help the people who can hardly afford to eat cat food for dinner, and there are a lot of those people (and worse off) in this country. This is the same policy that Reagan took... what happened? The country started it's slip into a serious recession that finally ended during Clinton's term. So when the rich keep their money, it trickles down into empty pockets. Well, the rich don't spend their money, they just keep investing it. So wall street might pick up a bit and the rich will get richer. The poor on the other hand don't have enough to buy cat food and certainly not enough to invest. So where does this leave us? Same old place I always go to: two class system. Nobles and peasants. Keep the peasants stupid, poor, and busy trying to live to the next day, and they don't have enough time or energy left to find out what an asshole Bush is which means when it comes time to vote, they will look at the most flashy ads and billboards and vote for whatever sound byte looks good instead of making an intelligent decision based on facts instead of bling-bling (that's a word now, right?) [ ... end daily rant ... ]
Whacky -- 05/09/2005, 13:25:55 -- #13658

Also, don't forget, self-employed schmoes like yours truly pay 15%...my son makes a mere 15k mowing lawns but has to pay 15% of that (2250)for SS, leaving him only $12750, and that's not including income tax....now if it goes bust, he's out his hard earned cash - meanwhile they're spending it all blowing up shit in Iraq
The Standards Real Book • The World's Greatest Fake Book
Whacky -- 05/09/2005, 13:37:51 -- #13660

on the other hand...it can get very frustrating to work hard to make more money only to pay more taxes. Maybe those who work hard to earn more money should be rewarded for their efforts, but $90k is way too low....maybe $200-300 would help a bit??..or perhaps adjust the percentages down a little as incomes increase so that even folks who make millions are still contributing to the welfare of the common man, without who's participation in the economic system they would not be rich anyway?? hmmm.... It's a real big mess...
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
Whacky -- 05/09/2005, 13:38:56 -- #13661

we all know there are folks that learn how to work the handout system so that those of us who pay taxes support them...
flicklers -- 05/09/2005, 15:24:47 -- #13663

Y'all are missing the point of Social Security. It was sold to the gullible populace as a savings plan not a tax or socialist wealth distribution scheme which is what you're proposing. They even make the pretext that benefits are based on the amount contributed (those who 'contributed', or more honestly robbed at the point of a gun, more get a higher payout.) The reason SS is is trouble is because it is all a charade, as is usual with any socialist or communist scheme. The money has already been spent to prop up the national debt. Benefits are paid far beyond the contributions of many. So instead of an invested savings plan it has become a Ponzi scheme with the current working generation paying for the current retirees and the baby boomers will overwhelm and expose the weaknesses as always happens with Ponzi schemes. And robbing the rich isn't going to save the system anyway because they're already excessively taxed (who the hell really believes that stealing over half of a persons income isn't robbery?), there aren't enough of them and if you carry it too far you end up destroying capitalism and the ability to generate any new wealth. Bush's major sins are starting a war of offense, increasing the federal debt and undermining our constitutional freedoms. Social Security is a doomed scam regardless although I agree his proposals will not help even a bit.
sdm -- 05/09/2005, 15:26:20 -- #13664

Remember, it's not only the self-employed that pay the 15% (been awhile since I did this - isn't it only 12.4%). If the cap was lifted the employer would also continue to pay in so now SS collects not $62,000 but $120,000. Might give pause to some boards that are giving these inflated saleries to their managements too. This is clearly the solution unless of course what you're really trying to do isn't to make SS solvent but rather to continue the recent redistribution of wealth in the US to the top "owners" of the society. That's the real agenda of this administration! Get it back from the middle class and poor!
sdm -- 05/09/2005, 15:28:13 -- #13665

Burt, you really think people can "earn" 120 million annually. And they need this? Yeah, I think the same person can live on 60 million!
Whacky -- 05/09/2005, 15:30:12 -- #13666

I'm not convinced that's their agenda, but that sure is how it ends up...
The Standards Real Book • The World's Greatest Fake Book
flicklers -- 05/09/2005, 15:38:23 -- #13667

I'm stunned. Someone actually does approve of stealing others money? Even God (at least the Christian one) only wanted 10%. What gives you the right to decide who should make what amounts and that it's ok to steal the rest from them? That kind of thinking ends up with systems like Italy where after you make "too much" they just start taking more than 100% of the incremental forcing those who earn money to either stop doing it or leave - thus killing the golden goose. If the collective gets to decide how much people should make that's just totalitarian communism and so far every one of those systems has been a miserable failure both economically and spiritually. Being involved in criminal activities like stealing from others leads to an impoverishment of the soul.
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
sdm -- 05/09/2005, 17:32:40 -- #13669

Let's see, how did they make that money in the first place. Oh yeah, I remember, they stole it from the consumer (or the rate payer or the patient).
oli2 -- 05/09/2005, 18:42:25 -- #13670

Bert What you refer to as stealing is actually paying for the privilige of living in a reasonably civilized soceity. If you would rather live in a soceity with no/very low taxes, where a significant part of the population is starving, dying of diseases that are easy to cure, illiterate, etc, well that is one school of thought. Many of us would rather pay a handsome part of their income for the privilige of living in a soceity were the underpriviliged are helped, where all children have some sort of opportunity and everyone can be sure that reasonable measures are taken to preserve their health. Oli
flicklers -- 05/10/2005, 10:36:35 -- #13676

Give me a break. Taxes are theft at the point of the gun despite your nonsensical rationalizations. Paying them is the price of staying out of jail or keeping a least some of what one earned by honest commerce. If your hypothetical millionaire truly stole money then why isn't this government you worship taking it all away and putting them in jail? And it isn't just millionaires that get targeted anyway. Moderately successful software engineers or musicians and the like who make more than $100,000 per year are the bulk of those who pay your comfiscatory rates. It is certainly possible to have a civilized society without robbing the "rich", in fact, I'd argue that you don't have a "civilized" society if you depend on confiscating peoples' assets. The government does not provide the support you describe oli2, most of the money goes to bureaucrats who "administer" the programs and politicians who vote for them. Why should we depend on the government to help the poor? They're far better at creating poverty than alleviating it? If they're such great administrators why is Social Security about to go bust? Were we living in a utopia when tax rates were at 70% and up? Are the citizens of countries with confiscatoyr rates, like Italy, better taken care of? I highly recommend reading anything by Von Mises (cf. http://www.mises.org/default.asp )or Hayeck (particularly the Road to Serfdom) for a better articulation. Communism and Socialism simply do not work!
Scot -- 05/10/2005, 13:04:20 -- #13682

Taxes are theft at the point of the gun? The tax system is messed up, but I don't think anyone with any sense would say that you can run a country without charging admission. Lower income people pay less percentage of taxes, higher income people pay a higher percentage of taxes. I don't see a problem with that- lower income people have hard enough time as it is, we are obligated as humans to help them. Higher income people can afford more taxes. No one likes paying taxes, and until the "system" is fixed (which isn't going to happen anytime soon with the current administration) it's the only way we got to keep the infrastructure of the country alive. These days it would be taxes or anarchy, and I'll take taxes for now.
flicklers -- 05/10/2005, 15:08:27 -- #13687

Somehow the country ran until the constitutional was amended in the early 1900's to override the Supreme Court's ruling that an Income Tax was unconstitutional. I've lived in two states that seemed to run just as well without a state income tax. What exactly do you call it when someone saye either give me money or I'll lock you up and take everything you own? I believe that's the precise definition of robbery at the point of a gun. I guess it's nice you think you're getting a good return for your tax dollars. I for one think mine are mostly wasted on programs that don't work or killing foreigners. We don't need a federal police to prevent anarchy, most crimes are local and best handled as such. I know we need some government but not the enormous bureacracy we have today telling people what to eat, drink and think. Many of our "government services" would be far better on a pay for use basis. Just look at the difference between private and public run schools for example. And don't start in on the graduated tax system... that's what leads to this "tax cuts for the rich" nonsense. Of course, the tax cuts benefit the rich more since they're paying the most. Didn't anyone notice the burst in the economy after the Reagan tax cuts and the bust after the Clinon increases? Capitalism will do a far better job of allocating resources than any government bureaucrat. But it's probably all moot at this point anyway. I don't think this level of debt is sustainable and since it keeps growing we'll eventually find the breaking point.
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oli2 -- 05/10/2005, 16:19:15 -- #13688

I'm not exactly sure what sort of amendments you have in mind as you write these lines. I, for one, am ferverently opposed to a for-pay public school system. If you like to live in a country that imposes a perpetuating class system by making sure that people with low income do not have access to proper education, there is no way that we can come to an agreement on how to best run a country.
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
flicklers -- 05/10/2005, 18:12:59 -- #13692

It was just an example of the governments poor performance at running things. How about the Post Office versus any private delivery outfit instead? I doubt we ever would agree totally since you seem to be a socialist and I am a Libertatian but I'm sure if we both kept as open a mind as possible and just focused on say education, we could come up with some better way to handle it through the private sector than today's mess. The key point of your sentence is the phrase "proper education", which compulsory public education is not providing in far too many cases. I for one still regret not having removed my children from the system.
Scot -- 05/10/2005, 18:26:36 -- #13696

States that have no income tax, such as Washington state, have other ways of getting money- sales tax, "sin" tax, gas tax, etc etc... Bert, I agree with all the problems you describe. But just like everyone else who doesn't like the system, you don't offer any alternatives that will work. You just moan about the problems, which we can all do. What about the solutions? You seem somewhat educated on these subjects, albeit a bit fervent in your opinions, so I'm interested in solutions that will work given the current political atmosphere. Pipe dreams about a libertarian political climate are nice, but they don't get you anywhere until the current climate is changed, and that's the problem- how do you change what the moron majority seems to think is great?
flicklers -- 05/11/2005, 10:49:09 -- #13713

Wow, talk about being on the same wavelength! I was going to observe that you seemed remarkably content with the status quo for one who's repeatedly threatened to leave the country in disgust. And here you are taking me to task for supporting the "pipe dream" of Libertarian ideals and trying as best I can to present an alternative to increasing the socialist state. OK we're both frustrated, we can't change things as quickly or as well as we'd like. I think the only reasonable thing to do is to keep being a voice of reason in the midst of the insanity. But I've think I've done that on this site and am willing to stop (for at least the time being, I can't promise that some new topic won't prompt a post.) The Libertatian party's dream is to re-establish some of our founding father's ideas and thus influence all parties back toward freedom. But we haven't been very successful just as the Democrats have failed to capture the hearts of the majority of voters either. I can suggest that calling them morons and wanting to increase taxation is not going to help. The "moron majority" is like the frog in the slowly increasingly hot cooking pan - content until it is too late to change. The least we who sense the increasing heat can do is point out that we're cooking not just getting contentedly warm!
Whacky -- 05/11/2005, 12:14:29 -- #13717

Well, don't stop posting Bert. These discussions are one of the few things we can do to help. It seems to me that anyone who has posted in this forum is on the same wave length. I just lay out when I don't feel educated - I get educated from reading the various posts. This still is a great country and it still belongs to us. Let's do our part and keep the discussions going. As more and more ideas bubble to the surface, maybe we'll stumble upon some solutions.
Billy Miller -- 05/11/2005, 12:36:08 -- #13719

on the topic of education, it seems to me that people just dont care. Speaking as a senior from an ohio highschool, i can tell you how bad the school systems are. There were tons of schools who needed to pass levys in order to increase taxes enough just to keep the district alive. I dont mean to keep the extra stuff, but i mean the essentials, school lunches, class sizes below 30, bussing, teachers. In my own school district, we were lucky enough to pass our levy before we had to cut out some of the essentials, but we lost most of our after school programs, teachers were laid off, we lost block scheduling, and the bussing radius increased just to name a few problems. other schools have not been so lucky. The worst part of it is, that the main excuse you hear for people not vcting for the levy is "my kids arent in school, why should i have to pay extra for everyone else?". Excuses like that make me want to violently injure someone.
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oli2 -- 05/11/2005, 13:48:30 -- #13721

Bert, I agree with you that privatization leads to a more efficient use of resources in most cases. It is not the basic principles of your beliefs that I disagree with. It is the extent to which you think they will work. Regarding taxation, for example, the tax burden in this country is actually ridiculously low compared to that in most western european countries. In my home country, e.g., you can expect to pay a marginal rate of 45% of income in excess of approx $1000 per month. Also gas taxes (read: gas prices) and other sales taxes are very low here. So it always strikes me as strange that people from the wealthiest county in the world that yet has one of the very lowest levels of social help known in the developed world complain about taxation. I think that the problems of this country are rooted in the immense levels of poverty, i.e. inequity of the distribution of wealth. The most efficient way of reform is one that focuses on bringing opportunity to the poor rather than easing the tax burden of the ultra-rich.
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
flicklers -- 05/11/2005, 15:03:33 -- #13724

OK, just one more post. The school problem to which I was referring was the low quality of education delivered not the amount of money spent on lunches, bussing, after school programs etc. as evidenced for example by a Paul Harvey report today that in West Palm Beach Florida they're switching the grading system from A,B,C... to 1,2,3 for 1 year behind, less than 1 year behind and on track respectively! Or the furor over having some sort of minimum standard, which leads them to "teaching the test" instead of the subject. Public school results have declined in the face of every increase in money spent. It's the fact that it's government run by bureaucrats that's the real problem. And Oli2 you say you agree with me but you don't appear to understand what that means. Re-distributing the wealth via taxation only drags everyone down in a spiral toward zero. Look at Russia and Cuba and compare their store shelves and job opportunites to ours, or even the socialist "utopias" of western europe. Opportunity for the poor is provided by letting capitilism flourish. The institution of the income tax was just prior to the great depression and the boom at the end of the last century was just after the Reagan tax cuts. Coincidence, I think not! Again please take a look at the Von Mises and Hayeck stuff I recommended before for a far more articulate explanation.
sdm -- 05/11/2005, 15:41:28 -- #13725

At this point (re: capitalism) I'd sure urge everyone to see "Enron - the smartest guys in the room." It speaks volumes (oh, and explains how the big money is stolen). No "system" is perfect clearly. As Churchill observed "democracy is a terrible system but it is better than all the others." Similarly with public education. In order for democracy to have any chance of working we need to educate the population (something Jefferson stressed) or risk losing control of society to the eliet. Of course I can't disagree that public education as currently practiced in this country is poor. I believe, however, that the attempt to "run it like a business" is part of the problem. There's no ROI on good public education so there is stringent disagreement on what it takes to deliver it. Right now the "low cost (read zero)" folks are winning and thus we have the "moron majority." That, IMHO, is really scary. If I had a magic wand there would be no school over 300 people, all schools would be community based, and we would completely dispense with the idea of �economy of scale.� Can ideas from business be used? Of course. For instance, why do we build these great big specialized facilities rather than leasing existing structures? Got me. But bottom line to me is that the profit motive is not trustworthy for providing important social ends. Health care is another good example. The problem here is there is no limit to what people will pay to get it and thus the rules of the �free and open market� break down. It appears we can all agree that things aren�t right. Unfortunately, the cynics that don�t really care about that are the ones gaining control because those of us of good will restrict our activities to trying to do what�s right, not to simply advancing our own agenda. Again, scary! Rambled enough�
oli2 -- 05/12/2005, 20:24:08 -- #13772

I like your rethoric, sdm, it is very much in line with my thining. As for Bert asserting that I don't know what it means to agree with him. I carefully pointed out what it is that I agree with. I certainly don't agree with the statement that re-distributing wealth via taxation drags everyone in a spiral toward zero. Russia and Cuba are very poor examples, since they are the shambles of communism. Communism and taxation are not the same thing. I suggest you take a careful look at the booming, industrious and, at least on an economic level, equitable countries of scandinavia. They, in my opinion, have got it right. And let me tell you, it involves taxation as well as measures that encourage business. It is just not clear to me how you wish to raise money to run a self-respecting country of which normal people would be proud of living in if you are not willing to tax income.
sdm -- 05/13/2005, 13:13:28 -- #13794

And, that said, I can't disagree that government is not always the most effective body to do everything -- even the things that I think it should do. As with liberty I think we have to be constantly vigilant about how effective and efficient our government is. And this of course includes the military which is pretty much out of control right now. But it does also include schools, police (which seems like one of the best run aspects of our governments now � odd), utilities and so on. There is much room for improvement. I thought there was some real progress on this in the Clinton era actually. It is a very tough thing to get right!
flicklers -- 05/16/2005, 09:52:21 -- #13860

This is from Sunday's Wall Street Journal online site - see here http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006692 for the whole document. I couldn't have said it better (or even half as well) myself. "Europe's '70s Show The Continent's economic death spiral. BY BRIAN M. CARNEY Sunday, May 15, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT BRUSSELS--Is the European "social model" doomed? It's a question that comes up with increasing frequency as unemployment across Western Europe has climbed into the double digits and economic growth has ground to a virtual halt across much of the Continent. Updated GDP figures for the euro zone came out last week, and growth in the first quarter was a disappointing 0.5%. Last month both the European Commission and the European Central Bank cut their annual growth forecasts for the euro zone to 1.6% from 2%, and that ugly word recession is in the air. The European Union's much-ballyhooed "Lisbon Agenda"--which was supposed to revive growth in Europe--was really not an agenda for reform at all. It was, instead, simply a statement of nice things the EU would like to see happen to the European economy to help it compete with the U.S.--such as raising employment levels, increasing R&D spending, and so on. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, almost none of those things have happened, and halfway through the 10-year timetable of "Lisbon," the European economy is in at least as bad a shape as it was when Lisbon was announced in 2000. Given that Europe's streak of economic underperformance can now be measured in decades, perhaps a better question to ask is: Why does anyone think that a system of generous welfare benefits, high taxes and harsh restrictions on hiring and firing would ever produce anything like a dynamic, growing economy? Why does anyone assume that there is such a thing as a "European model," rather than just a collection of ill-conceived policies having a predictably depressing effect on the economy and job creation?"
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sdm -- 05/16/2005, 11:40:29 -- #13863

Gee, I wonder why they don't ask a similar question when there is talk of stagflation or massive unemployment here. But then I guess it would be a little out of character for the WSJ to ask "Is Capitalism Dead?" wouldn't it. And then we never have high unemployment, do we? Especially after the implementation of �trickle down� economics! History lesson anyone?
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
flicklers -- 05/16/2005, 15:25:59 -- #13872

Inflation is the result of the government printing money to cover overspending instead of borrowing. Trickle down is the most likely explanation for the boom economy of the 90's. You're spot on about the need for a history lesson; government managed economies fail and socialist policies generate a the downward economic spiral.
sdm -- 05/16/2005, 15:51:56 -- #13874

All would be well (perhaps) in your world if only the theoretical free market with a free exchange of information and goods existed. Similarly, if Adam Smith were only right when he said that the "invisible hand" would cause all players to do the right thing. Again, history has proven both to be flawed theories. As for examples where there is no (or virtually no) government, the world is full of them -- Africa and some of the former Soviet block countries come to mind. Not the kind of society most of us want to live in. And, as pointed out earlier, there are a number of prosperous countries you would consider socialist.
flicklers -- 05/16/2005, 17:28:26 -- #13877

Well, I thought that was the point of my post from the WSJ. Weren't those countries your prosperous examples? It appears that perhaps we are from completely different worlds. I was raised on and came to believe in the ideals espoused by the U.S. constitution. I do believe in the free market and the theories of Adam Smith and think they've had demonstrated successes. Some of the other writers I admire are Robert Heinlein, Ayn Rand, Hayeck, Von Mises, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. But perhaps I've just been conditioned? I do know that we have a pretty successful country here that at least gives lip service to these ideals. The evils you cited in your previous post were things that should properly be attributed to government problems yet you blamed capitalists. In your last post you cite dictatorships as places with no government and I certainly agree I wouldn't want to live under one. I see socialism and communism as form of dictatorships and don't want to live under one either. Why are are views so different? What world are you from? Who's writings and theories inspire you? Why do you wish to have your life controlled by bureaucrats? Do you live in one of these prosperous socialist countries? It's like we're the two eyewitnesses to a crime that see the same things yet have completely different versions of what happened.
Scot -- 05/16/2005, 18:14:34 -- #13878

Exactly! That's what makes this world go around. If you guys get pissed off and confused because you can't make someone believe what you believe, then YOU are the ones who have problems, not the people who don't believe what you believe.The world is made of people who are all uniquely different in how they approach the world, how they perceive the world, and how they like to interact with the world. When I was playing house gigs, I lived in nearly a dozen countries for months and sometimes over a year at a time. I had musicians in my band who could not come to terms with the differences in cultures and the ones who couldn't usually didn't last more than a few weeks. Then there were others who loved other cultures so much that some of them are still overseas, living in the countries and cultures they came to love. Flexibility is the key here. Ever hear the term, "Be like water?" If you put water in a glass, it takes the shape of a glass, sometimes water trickles down the sidewalk, other times it roars like a giant, water is peaceful or violent, calm or stormy. Bruce Lee loved to go on about the water quote because the key to surviving in a fight, in music, in a political discussion, in nearly any situation that this messed up world is going to throw you is FLEXIBILITY. So that means when we're discussing politics, I'm tired of hearing "I'm right and your wrong." Maybe not in those words, but when I see posts that say, "What the hell world are you from?", those posts amount to the same thing. I want a charged political discussion here. I want people to be stark raving mad. But I also want the flexibility to appreciate that divergent viewpoints are IMPORTANT and that no one is right because what is right is a dynamic process involving many factors- morals, culture, intelligence, knowledge (or lack thereof), what someone had for breakfast, and any number of other things. Keep it real and keep it intense, but keep your minds and eyes open to those things that give society and the world texture. Bottom line: I'm not yelling at anyone, and I love the discussions here. What I want is for folks here to stop defending their positions by attacking other positions. That means forget about what the other person said. Just try to be eloquent and get your point across. Let your words about what you believe speak, not words that try to show how wrong someone else is.
oli2 -- 05/16/2005, 19:15:51 -- #13881

I'd like to make a couple of points regarding the WSJ article. The clear source of bias has already been pointed out, of course. First of all, those countries were not the prosperous ones I mentioned. If you check my post, I think you will find that I talked about the coutnries of scandinavia, not all western european countries. Actually, I think that certain western european countries would do well to move into a slightly more liberal direction, especially in terms of union rights. Secondly, I do not measure prosperity solely in terms of economic growth. It is very important that the poor do not get left behind. A wave of economic growth that multiplies the socioeconomic inequties by leaving the poor behind is definately inferior to more modest growth accompanied by efficient redistribution of wealth. I'm not sure what sources I should recommend to you to get exposed to this point of view. This is mainly because I find it entirely natural and am consistently rather surprised by people who do not share my views on what constitutes a soceity they would like to live in. I guess I can mainly advise introspection and looking around, trying to understand how many people in this country have to struggle for their existence. Scott mentioned traveling, this is tremendously helpful as it helps one understand the viewpoint of other people. Best, Oli
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sdm -- 05/16/2005, 20:32:15 -- #13883

Scot, I feel appropriately chastised (of course, Mondays do that to me anyway!). If I came off sounding personal it was never my intent and I apologize. I�ve always rather enjoyed this type of discussion even with those of opposing view. I don�t even mind if things get heated but, as you point out, personal attacks tend to degrade the conversation, something I thinks is somewhat rampant in American political discourse currently. Now, that said, I do want to point out that the countries I was thinking of in Eastern Europe and Africa might seem to have dictators but rather are largely without governance of any kind. The �governments� in these countries are often local warlords with a limited sphere of power. Outside of this sphere anarchy reigns. This is where, as Oli points out, there exists a society that I would not want to live in. Lawlessness prevails, there is no help for the weaker or less fortunate, the basics of life, particularly sewage disposal and thus clean drinking water, but also electricity, heat and other things we take for granted, are simply not to be found. I do not disagree that our government and that of many industrialized countries is often overreaching and inefficient. However, I believe there is a proper role for government in many parts of our lives and take strident issue with the anti-tax movement that aims to simply starve it into non-existence. I�ve seen too many of the effects of this first-hand when working with unwanted children (I spent some years trying to make government do a better job with the foster children in its care � unfortunately, there was little money to do much). There are many services that I consider necessary where this is simply no profit to be made. These are a collective need and thus must be a collective responsibility. Again, I�d rather not live in a society where it was simply �fend for yourself of suffer and die.� On the other hand, the dark side of unfettered capitalism has shown itself far too often throughout our history (Enron being only one recent and visible example although the more current pension default of United while maintaining large salaries for their executives is another good example) for me to trust large corporations to determine, unchecked, their own course. What we need are constructive ideas about making government better with the money we provide and much more civil discussion about how best to use those resources. The sad truth is that, as I mention above, our public discuss, as led by our current crop of politicians, just doesn�t provide that. This coupled with the poor state of our public education leaves us open to either the whims of an ignorant majority or to the diabolical manipulations of the cynic. Neither presents an encouraging prospect. Still, we all do the best we can.
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
flicklers -- 05/16/2005, 21:13:20 -- #13885

If this is directed at me and my questions were somehow interpreted as a personal attack, I certainly apologize. I was sincerely trying to understand why we had such different points of view and why it did in fact seem as if we're from different worlds. I must to point out that Enron is not an example of capitalism. It is an example of criminal behavior, examples of which can easily be found amongst government officials as well. And certainly not of unfettered capitalism since the perpetrators are in fact standing trial. And I certainly cannot accept reducing the discussion to just how to distribute taxes. At one point I thought that we should agree to disagree but that's equally unacceptable when the position is that we should be able to take from you whatever we wish because you have too much and it's for the greater good.
Whacky -- 05/16/2005, 23:57:32 -- #13886

I don't think the question is whether someone or some group should or shouldn't take from another for a greater good, but rather, what should we all do as group, be it US citzens or members of the human race, to insure a civilized society that treats all humans respectfully. I don't think it unreasonable to "reduce" the discussion to how to distribute taxes, or wealth or whatever you want to call it. While "taking care of your own" is a great philosophy, I guess the real question is how small or large the groups our own should be.
sdm -- 05/17/2005, 11:39:14 -- #13895

Bert, in the interest of peaceful coexistence, I am passing on a quote that came across my desk this morning that I'm guessing you'll appreciate as much as do I. "Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what's going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House?" -- Will Rogers
flicklers -- 05/17/2005, 15:21:04 -- #13901

Thanks, that's a good one. And I hope I didn't give the impression that I desired other than a peaceful coexistence. In fact, I'm a signed subscriber to the Libertarian statement of Principles "We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal rights of others to live in whatever manner they choose." To quote another great philosopher "live long and prosper."
Gordon -- 05/17/2005, 18:20:30 -- #13909

Any of you Americans have an opinion on what George Galloway just said over there ? Wow - he doesn't pull his punches.
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Scot -- 05/17/2005, 18:35:10 -- #13913

In my opinion, which of course it is since I'm writing this, it seems to me that the underlying problem with government and western society in general, here in the US, is this: People will do anything to get ahead, even hurt other people.My three life principles, the philosophy I live by is this: 1. Have fun all the time. 2. Take every positive opportunity that comes along. 3. Help people out and never step on them when it comes to the first two points. Anyway, the problems we face don't really lie with the government, but with the people. If the people thought differently, the govt would have to act differently. If people would spend more time helping folks out, doing things for free without any thought of "gotta make a buck", hanging out and drinking beer with friends on a saturday, well, I think things would be better. It's easy to blame George Bush, and yes, I still truly believe he is a pig f*cker. I think he knows pigs better than most of us. But the fact of the matter is this: people have to change how they view their interaction with the world. Once people start changing for the better, the govt and corporations will have no choice. That's the sad part of all of this. People are so complacent about their life situations, that they think they can't do anything, where the reality is, if everyone does something right now, today, changes will happen right away.
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
Whacky -- 05/17/2005, 18:58:34 -- #13916

Amen - the "buck" is really the only problem we have, but it's a hard one to deal with
sdm -- 05/17/2005, 21:32:46 -- #13923

Not only is it hard to deal with I really come more and more to the problem that those of good will are basically outgunned by the "bad guys" -- those who will do anything to "get ahead." It's like two teams in a sport and one plays by the rules and the other plays only to win. No contest really. Then it is self-perpetuating because the "winners" are the ones making the "rules." Scot, I like your principles.
sdm -- 05/20/2005, 11:39:31 -- #13995

Is everyone (maybe anyone?) paying attention to what's going on in the Senate right now? Man, that's some scary shit! On the surface it's about a few radical (and, yes, they are!) judges and some obscure rules about how the Senate operates. What's really happening, and what's so scary about it, is that the shrub bunch are demanding "absolute power" over the legislative branch of our government and, through that, over the third branch as well. Some say it's about the rights of the minority in the Senate to be heard and warn the Republicans that they will rue the day they did this. What no one is saying is that if they do this the "GOP" may never be in the minority again because of the power that this administration is amassing. I don't know what to do (although Smith, our GOP Senator will hear from me - as if he cares!) but I've never thought so much about owning a gun (and I don't much like 'em) as I have over the last 5 years or so. Stay alert!
Scot -- 05/20/2005, 12:24:40 -- #13998

Luckily there are quite a few GOP senators who are also against what is going on because they don't really know if they will always be the majority. If Bush's approval rating starts falling even lower than it is, and more silly things like 1.5 million dollars goes to a bus stop in Alaska, there will be some changes in congress. We'll just have to wait and see. Canada looks better every day.
sdm -- 05/20/2005, 13:05:50 -- #14000

Great editorial cartoon this morning -- see if I can describe it. Elephant and Donkey talking. D: We don't like some of your judge appointments so we�re going to filibuster. E: We'll change the rules so you can't. D: We'll get the majority again and use it against you. � E: Our judges will stop you. Don't be a frog in hot water on this. It may be bigger than we think right now. I hope you're right Scot but if even you, someone who clearly pays a lot of attention, are sanguine, that really worries me. Canada looks like it always has - cold. I want to stay here in my home!
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sdm -- 05/23/2005, 15:44:57 -- #14125

In an effort to better understand current politics I'm reading the Federalist Papers and ran across a relevant quote (there are many but this one, well...) from Hamilton: Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.
John Mehegan: Tonal and Rhythmic Principles
Scot -- 05/28/2005, 18:42:27 -- #14242

http://www.media-criticism.com/Internment_Camps_Ashcroft_2002.html
Whacky -- 05/31/2005, 14:46:47 -- #14332
Eminent Domain
My subdivision butts up to some land that is desired for a shopping center complex featuring the asthetically beautiful Costco. These developers (Pace Properties) have offered the folks who currently own/occupy that land, 3 times the value of their homes, plus $10 per sqare foot for their land. Great deal for them, shitty for the rest of us. They will then use TIF (Tax Increment Financing) to build this albatross. There is one elderly lady who's home sits on several acres that are crucial for this development, and she refuses to sell. These pigfuckers have now smeared "emenent domain" to include shopping center developement and they plan to force this lady to sell her property to Pace. A law that forces an individual to sell property to another is beyond me. Does anyone else think this is bullshit? Is anyone else alarmed by the possible future ot these practices? Anyone have any ideas?? The funny part to me, is that these buyout contracts are contingent on this project going through, and my guess is that they are time-sensitive. Imagine, the time frame expiring, then the city comes back and emenent domains all their asses out for "fair market value" - pretty sleasy...
sdm -- 05/31/2005, 17:53:01 -- #14345

I haven't watched this carefully but have seen ED used to "further the public good" when, for instance, a planned public transit project needed space. This, to me, seems quite different than a private, for-profit development for sure. I think it is necessary in some cases (and those should be questioned carefully) but it can sure be abused.
Scot -- 05/31/2005, 18:29:35 -- #14348

Like sdm said, ED is often used for right-of-way stuff, like public transit, trains, new or existing road construction, etc... I've recently heard of corporations such as Costco and wallmart somehow getting into ED to put their stores up, which does seem kind of horrible to me. I'm sure if the old lady contacted the proper environmental/ACLU/or whatever people, she could get a big court battle up and running and not have to pay a dime for it. But then again, Bush would probably sign a law that says corporations have just as much right to ED that public endeavors have... Sorry to hear about this. Perhaps you should buy some ancient native artifacts that could be found in the area (or whatever) and plant them somewhere in the area they are going to dig, and then "discover" them so that other federal protection laws kick in and the process is at least stalled enough so that more legal stuff can be worked up to save her property.
Whacky -- 05/31/2005, 18:39:57 -- #14352

great idea! I'll get out my play dough and start a moldin:) Yeah, I'm quite familiar with the orignal concept of "ED", but I'm surely against how they're abusing it today. This lady has lived there her entire life and is in her 80s I believe - she'd probably die in the midts of litigation - What the greedy boneheads aren't considering is how Costco and Walmart are veritable economic siphons - destroying existing small businesses - oh well - I guess my point (aside from needing to vent) is to begin awareness for this kind of crap!
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sdm -- 06/01/2005, 12:30:39 -- #14382

There are some hopeful signs in people blocking new wallmarts once in a while. It's something...
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Whacky -- 06/01/2005, 13:25:15 -- #14385

Yeah, I've shopped there quite a bit in the past few years - where else can you get toilet paper so cheap? But, last Saturday was my last time to shop there or any of the big-ass shit-mart type stores...since my wife and I were writing a check in excess of $100, they had to summons a pubescent customer service manager to approve it...and of course he took his good ole time getting there...all the while the line behind us is growing and the people are getting irritated and wondering what kind of hoosiers we must be that our check has to be approved...when he got there he compared the address on my wife's driver's license, the the one of the check, scribbled his two initals and thanked us for shopping at Walmart... what an insult - I'll gladly pay more for home-crap somewhere else
Scot -- 06/04/2005, 21:32:28 -- #14554
Regarding a dump on Indian lands up here near Bellingham Washington
Ok, there are some open dumps here and there on Indian lands that the media says are because of a lack of federal funding to clean them up. What kind of BS is this? Here's a letter to the reporter who wrote this tripe: Federal funding is the problem? I don't think so. Up here in Bellingham where the dump in question is common knowledge, it has nothing to do with federal funding for oversight or cleanup. Sheesh. How many times is the media going to blame "federal funding" for a problem caused by people and their lack of respect for the environment? The government is not the problem- the way people think is the problem. Maybe if you guys would report on the problems with how people approach the world in their lives each day, people might stop and think and say to themselves, "Jeez, maybe I shouldn't dump 200 gallons of pesticide waste here..." Instead, the media nearly always faults the government for this or that instead of the people who are actually doing the this and that. Of course, telling people to think for themselves is not something the media wants to do- people would stop buying the paper because they are making their own decisions! Not good for business. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the government is good. The government is a reflection of the people. If people in general weren't so messed up, then those in the government would either not be there or they would do things in a more responsible way. Scot Ranney The 'Ham
Scot -- 06/05/2005, 13:49:33 -- #14572

Quote from a newspaper article: When F. Scott Fitzgerald pronounced that the very rich "are different from you and me," Ernest Hemingway's famously dismissive response was: "Yes, they have more money."
Whacky -- 06/05/2005, 15:37:33 -- #14574

yep... I just got word this morning that the developer has proposed taking more of my subdivison - which will cost us revenue from those homes, making it almost impossible to sustain our pool and clubhouse - we just borrowed $50k two years ago and rehabbed said pool and clubhouse. I guess we can watch it decay, be declared blighted and TIF'd for some other purpose... Is there a such thing as Vaseline stock?
Scot -- 06/06/2005, 10:26:10 -- #14636

Seems like you guys have SOME kind of case against the developer- there are precedents set for sustaining a certain quality of living in your development, including the life of the clubhouse and that sort of thing. Maybe if the developer subsidized your clubhouse and put in a nice grand piano for parties and such it would be closer to being "OK" :)
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Scot -- 06/06/2005, 10:26:25 -- #14637

I'm always willing to look at a good bribe :)
John Mehegan: The Jazz Pianist, Book 1� Book 2 • Book 3
Whacky -- 06/06/2005, 11:23:03 -- #14653

hehe - well, I hope I don't shoot myself in the foot here -my house is need need of extensive repairs - so a buyout could actually be good for me - but emenent domain that forces one individual to sell to another is not the original intent of the concept and should be stopped. My wife came across this website: http://www.castlecoalition.org/ I haven't had any time to really get into it, but it may be helpful (I'd love to get my hands on some ancient artifacts:) and TIF (Tax Increment Financing) what a crock - just another way for big boys to get fatter and force little guys out of business - again an abuse of the original intent of the concept God Bless America????
jazzvirtuoso -- 06/29/2005, 19:17:30 -- #15876

I dont have a problem with eminnent domain. I think its fair and square. JV'
Whacky -- 06/29/2005, 20:42:11 -- #15883

I think we're debating the definition of it. It was not originally intended to force people to sell their properties to other individuals who will then turn a profit, and that, I'm afraid is how it is now being used
7 -- 06/29/2005, 22:22:25 -- #15891

Di you hear about the guy who's going to force one of the supreme court judges to give up his house using the eminiment domain laws? http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050629/pl_nm/usa_court_souter_dc;_ylt=AmBUtFTduijcKxUHpbVuQfUa.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl I hope he suceeds!
Scot -- 06/30/2005, 09:33:01 -- #15918

Very nice- Keep us posted!
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Whacky -- 07/13/2005, 06:39:31 -- #16471
Germany
It was mentioned in The Piano Lounge that people of Germany get 6 weeks paid vacation every year. Of course I think that's fantastic, but I have a few questions. Is that for everyone or is that just a standard perk given to employees of certain companies. If it is for everyone, who pays for it? Employers? Government? What if you're self-employed? or a sole proprietor? I don't mean to be antagonistic, I am truly interested in learning how other societies function, as the one here in the U.S. could stand some tweaking. If anyone can shed light on this for me I'd truly appreciated it. Thanks, DW
John Mehegan: The Jazz Pianist, Book 1� Book 2 • Book 3
Whacky -- 07/13/2005, 06:40:42 -- #16472

...I wish i wo9ld learn to check for tiipos before I hit "Save Massage"
7 -- 07/13/2005, 08:41:32 -- #16478

It's for salaried employees. You get four weeks in the summer and two weeks at Christmas. In Switzerland you get Easter week off too. However it's not immediate. The first year, you only get one week in summer. The second year two weeks, etc.
Whacky -- 07/13/2005, 10:28:13 -- #16486

So being a self-employed musican/teacher I'd be in the same boat as I am here?
7 -- 07/13/2005, 12:36:33 -- #16490

Depends on whether or not took your wife along ;) Musicians actually get treated with more respect over in Europe. Over there, along with the gig, you generally get one free meal per musician, free drinks all night long and a hotel room.
Whacky -- 07/13/2005, 14:51:52 -- #16495

Yeah, I played there for a short while, but I've never actually lived there. We were treated very well. Eine gross bier bitte:)
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Bonzo -- 07/24/2005, 17:41:30 -- #16872

I wonder if you can live from your gigs in europe. I am living in the Netherlands in a city with about 150.000 citizens and there is no jazz club or something like that, but on tuesday night after 11 o'clock there is a jam session in a restaurant and most of the time some players who warm the crowd. I don't think they get paid much. But in summer and especially spring there are jazz festivals in almost every city. (most famous and biggest is north sea jazz festival). In Amsterdam there will probably more jazz clubs but not as much as in the US I guess. So gigging alone will not make you wealthy up here!! Who will pay you on holiday if you are self-employed? You need to be a salaried employer indeed. But I think there are a lot of opportunities out here. We got conservatoriums of course but we have also lower community based music schools for beginners. Most of these (if not all) are government subsidised "companies". Most beginners attend these schools and have once a week 20 minute lessons. It's cheaper then private lessons because there is a "company" behind it matching demand and supply. Another positive thing is that the first year you get general musical education. This is primarily playing wooden flute and you learn to read notes and get in touch with other musical instruments. After the first year you choose your instrument. I think you have a better view of al the different instruments so your choice is better founded then if you start with your preferred instrument. On the other hand you loose a year and wooden flute is not that exiting. I don't know they have a system like this in the US, but a lot of musicians are employeed by these schools (so probably paid holidays and "holidaysmoney" to spend on your holidays!!) Bonzo
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Bonzo -- 07/24/2005, 17:42:36 -- #16873

beer is good in Holland too (Heineken not good!), but not as good as in Germany or Belgium!!
7 -- 07/24/2005, 20:12:53 -- #16880

I agree with you about Heineken. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's not good. "Mediocre to the max" I always called it. Most of the musicians I knew when I was in The Netherlands lived off the dole. They claimed that they were "artists" that were out of work and the government sent them regular checks (which they spent on beer and dope). Does the government still subsidize "artists" like that, or did they finally catch on to the fact that most musicians (and those that claim to be musicians) are in reality just a bunch of freeloading wastrels? :)
Bonzo -- 07/25/2005, 06:19:00 -- #16900

Nothing to do with subsidizing artists, you just get "paid" by the government when you are unemployed no matter what bussiness you are in. You get only about 600 euros or so and you have to sollicitate for jobs twice a week, but compared to the social security in the US (the military) it is quit relaxed I think.
Whacky -- 07/25/2005, 13:55:51 -- #16913

And as for beer, I have never had beer even close to as good as the bier in Germany. US folks think Hieneken and Budwieser are beer...too bad most don't know any better:) For that matter, even the German beer in the states doesn't campare to the bier in Germany...My first German bier was at a McDonalds of all things and it blew away anythiong I had ever tasted here in the US...then I had the pleasure of tasting bier from various hotels in Germany - wow! Ii takes 15 minutes to poor and well worth the wait!
sdm -- 07/25/2005, 14:57:44 -- #16915

OK, this is something I can talk about! I did 18 days skiing in Austria in the 80s. About half way through the trip I turned to my friend and pointed out that I probably wouldn't be able to drink American "beer" anymore. Tried a Bud in the Seattle airport (as a test) and sure enough, water! And always too damn cold! The brits that I've met call it piss and wind. Fortunately, the microbrewers in the US (strong in Oregon) are learning. And no, the imports don't travel well enough so the are nothing like any little pub there.
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Whacky -- 07/25/2005, 20:43:41 -- #16920

Maybe we should start a beer room? Reccomendations for micro breweries and such... I actually dring bud light nowadays...not because it's good beer, but because to me it's like sparkling water with a hint of beer flavoring, plus it doesn't make me as fat:)
John Mehegan: The Jazz Pianist, Book 1� Book 2 • Book 3
sdm -- 07/26/2005, 11:18:35 -- #16931

lol -- needed this morning, thanks!
Bonzo -- 07/27/2005, 05:34:31 -- #16955

Light beer?? Is that the same as alcoholfree beer?? Nice in traffic but tastes like.....indeed piss. You folks tried Belgium beers??
7 -- 07/27/2005, 11:35:00 -- #16963

It's called "light beer" because it glows in the dark. This comes in very handy in case the lightbulb in the men's room burns out.
sdm -- 07/27/2005, 11:36:18 -- #16964

Almost time for a new room here guys. One of the "national" beers I like is from thee "New Belgium Brewery" in Colorado. For the most part, beer doesn't seem to cross the big water very well. After my trip to Austria I went on a quest for an import that came anywhere near to what I had found over there. No joy. Now I stick to our locals which have gotten very good over the years. Oregon has, I believe, led a bit in the microbrew space.
Bonzo -- 07/28/2005, 05:18:51 -- #16991

That's why we don't have it ;-)
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Scot -- 07/31/2005, 21:00:11 -- #17115

Feel free to make a beer room in the Off Campus area!
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Scot -- 08/16/2005, 16:02:37 -- #17680
New fuel rules for new cars
If you're not aware, the Bush administration is going to put out new fuel guidelines for new cars pretty soon. This has not been updated since the 70's. Hummers and other large SUV's are probably going to be exempt because the auto industry doesn't want to lose money. From the NY Times: "Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a lobbying group for General Motors, Toyota and several other producers, said: "The one thing we haven't heard is what the values will be for the different categories, and that will really tell us what the system means. "Once the proposal comes out, we will have to take a hard look at it and see what the benefits may be to improving fuel economy." " The benefits to improving fuel economy? Is this lady simply stupid or is she brain dead? Let's see. Better fuel economy means less time filling the tank and paying for gas, less dependance on foriegn oil, and less pollution. Oh, maybe it means less profits for the auto corporations. Jeez, we don't want that, do we? But it would be nice to breathe air that doesn't cause cancer as well... tough choice. Big fat corporate pigs with big fat wallets getting fatter all the time, or the general health and well being of the nation. Well, we all know that Bush is for corporations and doesn't give a rat's ass about the general public, so it's obvious which way this is going to go. If people who cared about this stuff would talk about it more maybe more people would start caring about it and then something that resembles intelligent decision making might occur.
Bonzo -- 08/24/2005, 12:02:39 -- #17963

As I heard on the news: The biggest moneylender of the Bush campaign can choose any embassy he like and which one does he choose......The Netherlands. Probably the biggest asshole of America: stealing from the poor to buy his embassy. Thank you Bush!!
Whacky -- 08/24/2005, 12:14:55 -- #17964

Heh heh...I heard on the news that shrub's answer to the gasoline prices problem is to get the auto makers to build more fuel effecient vans and suvs over the next 10 years- brilliant! I'm out. I have resigned myself to sit and do nothing but take care of myself and my family. I can't do anything about the idiots that are running our country, my city, and our world. They all just do whatever they want and there really isn't a thing I/we can do about it except vote - which I'll do...but as far a watching the news? Why? All it does is frustrate me with things over which I have NO control. If I hear this war referred to as "THE WAR ON TERROR" one more time, I may blow a gasket! And as for "IRAQI FREEDOM" I heard yesterday that the new Iraqi constitution has almost zero rights for women, so after this is all said and done, they will have essentially what they had before we sprayed water on the grease fire.
sdm -- 08/24/2005, 12:31:48 -- #17965

Well, Doc, it's actually worse for women. They had relative freedom under the evil dictator. Now they'll be oppressed by the new US sponsored government. Aren't we proud!
Bonzo -- 08/24/2005, 14:38:12 -- #17967

At least we have access to the oil now!! That in combination with the fuel efficient tanks should keep the prices down ;-)
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sdm -- 08/24/2005, 15:03:21 -- #17968

Ha ha!!! Yeah, that's the ticket -- pay as you go with all that oil! That's what we'll tell 'em!
John Mehegan: The Jazz Pianist, Book 1� Book 2 • Book 3
Scot -- 08/24/2005, 16:34:51 -- #17969

The really scary thing to me is that the problem is not the government at all. Sure, the government causes problems and advocates solutions that are completely insane to intelligent people. But who lets the government do this? Who put the fat idiots in office who think with their wallets instead of their hearts? The people of this country. So I don't blame the war on Bush, I don't blame oil prices on Bush and his cronies, I put blame the problems the government has gotten us into completely in the hands of the fools who put these people into office, the majority of the people in this country.
Whacky -- 08/24/2005, 16:42:00 -- #17973

True, but the truth is incredibly hard to find. The average person (myself included) has no idea what's really going on. The far right are nuts, the far left are nuts and everyone in the middle is lost, trying not to be influenced by the extremist's spins. I'm reading a book called "The Truth About Money". I've only recently started it but so far it's about learniong how to keep your money and actually grow it. In order to do so, you have to understand (whether you like it or not) how money actually works in a capitalist society, and do your best to hang on to your own. This is exactly what's going on with the big boys - they just want to keep their gold, and who can blame em? How in the HELL can we fix something like that? So I roll over, mind my own business, read the book and try to hang on to mine...
Billy Miller -- 08/24/2005, 16:56:44 -- #17974
no rights for women in the new government?
Where'd you here that? I just read this: http://www.cpa-iraq.org/government/TAL.html I guess thats the iraq constitution, and it says in several places that there will be no discrimination based on race, gender, or anything else. How is that no rights for women?
Bonzo -- 08/24/2005, 17:53:55 -- #17976

Of course there will be no discrimination, if the constitution says there is no discrimination there is no discrimination. If you are a negro in America or a Maroccan in Europe you won't be discriminated either, right? I think it's better to wait until the government is installed and see how it works in society itself. A lot brutal regimes have wonderful constitutions, but in the meantime.....
sdm -- 08/24/2005, 18:03:05 -- #17979

I believe there is still an issue in the proposed constitution as to the role of Islamic law. It hinges of one word -- "a" or "the." That is, will Islamic law be "the" source of law or "a" source. Were this applies is in family law. You know, it's the one that says a woman who looks wrong at a man not her husband can be stoned to death. And no, what you pointed to is what they are operating under now, not the new constitution. This was pretty much written by Paul Bremmer.
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sdm -- 08/25/2005, 15:45:07 -- #18001

Scot, you are of course absolutely correct! We get the government we deserve, right? Very similar is the SUV phenomenon. The car companies state, with some accuracy, that they build what the market (public) wants. On the other hand, isn't this what leadership is supposed to be about. Carter tried ("wear a sweater") in the '70s though and look what happened to him. Still, leaders are supposed to lead, not follow. I think W would even agree with that (arg, I can just here him: �that�s what leaders do�) although I don�t at all like where he�s leading us. The looming oil crisis is going to make the �70s look like what it was � a very mild warning. And we got it for what, all of 10 minutes. Scary indeed.
John Mehegan: The Jazz Pianist, Book 1� Book 2 • Book 3
Scot -- 08/29/2005, 14:08:24 -- #18210

True, leaders are supposed to lead, but I'm wondering if that's possible in a democratic society? Military leaders lead, but is the president of the United States actually a leader, or just a voice of the people? I'm thinking these days he's just proverbial a voice of the people and the real leaders are the people who tell him what do by lining his wallet.
sdm -- 08/29/2005, 14:32:08 -- #18217

Perhaps -- and it's really this funny mix of an economic system (capitalism -- thus the lining of pockets) and democracy. These really feed each other to give us a president that first and foremost can be sold to the electorate (although if it's a close election there seems to be no problem with stealing the final outcome). Of course the selling takes a very expensive marketing effort and that means big money. And big money doesn't invest unless it expects a good return. What�s sad about this whole affair (and many other serious problems with our society) is that capitalism, based on competition, really does motivate and lead to innovation. I do agree with those who point out that the open market had created much although it may be an open question whether much of this is �progress.� The problem, of course, is that it (competition/capitalism) does not distinguish between good innovation like drastically improved food distribution or bad innovation like learning how to manipulate the religious right to get an election close enough to steal in the first place. It is by nature amoral and requires some kind of outside force to give some kind of advantage to either encourage moral outcomes or discourage immoral ones. Bottom line, I sure wish there was something I felt like I could do (other than the fruitless letter writing that I do occasionally indulge in). It can be quite discouraging.
Whacky -- 08/29/2005, 16:41:56 -- #18235

Yeah, as Scot has said you have to blame the moron majority. In a democracy the majority rules, but what if they are ill-informed or just plain stupid? I saw shrub make an attempt at a comforting statement to the victims of Katrina this morning- what an imbecile! How in the hell did he get elected??? It's like the Emperor's New Clothes - the media dances around as if he's said something great - duh...advice like "Listen to your local authorties" "he federal goverment will help you after the storm passes" duhhh....thanks george why a comment at all?
sdm -- 08/29/2005, 20:11:32 -- #18242

Good (and important) reading: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15105967&BRD=1380&PAG=461&dept_id=157525&rfi=6
sdm -- 08/29/2005, 20:14:20 -- #18243

By the way, the words are of no less radical a player than Carl Bernstein -- I should have said that in my last post. Read!
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Bonzo -- 09/01/2005, 20:43:07 -- #18416
Handling the NO disaster..
Just some thoughts about NO area. Some points I don't quite get, maybe you will..... 1) why does the government help the people in the NO area? The only thing I know is what I saw on tv, but I really don't understand: you bring people from one superdome to another and let old people sleep under bridges and stuff like that. As what I have seen is there is not many help from the rest of the country. I mean sending food, water and trucks to evacuate people. Do fellow Americans care?? 2) Why is the rest of the world not sending help to the US? Maybe because nobody likes the US anymore? I wonder if another country was hit, would there be more help from outside?? 3)Get out of Iraq and help your own country. They need you more then enough. 4) 3 months under water?? What's this, close the holes in the dikes and start pumping, shouldn't be that hard.
John Mehegan: The Jazz Pianist, Book 1� Book 2 • Book 3
Billy Miller -- 09/01/2005, 21:33:49 -- #18418

i dont know about the first 3, but the 4th thing....you obviously dont understand it. If only it were as simple as "close the holes in the dikes and start pumping". How can you possibly repair a dike when it is under 10 foot of water? You first have to get the water away from it enough to repair it, and then you have to fix the pumps and then pump 20 feet of water out of an entire city. And then, once that is done, you have to repair everything else and clean up the huge mess. Im sure the engineers know what they are talking about when they say 3 months.
sdm -- 09/02/2005, 12:04:01 -- #18449

#2 is interesting -- there was a letter to the editor in our paper yesterday asking about the same thing (sarcastically I think). Turns out a lot of countries (even Venezuela, whose government has every right these days not to like us very much!) has offered money, oil and other support. I also expect that there is a lot of money flowing into relief agencies right now (#1). That more has not been done by the federal government is simply unconscionable. Also it is interesting that the Bush administration had just cut money for maintenance of those dikes that failed. Very smart! Nice to know that these "leaders" care about our own people. I couldn't agree with # 3 more! The need 100K troops in our own south!
Bonzo -- 09/04/2005, 10:22:23 -- #18522

Billy: Dikes under water? In half of my country dikes are the ONLY places above sealevel. That is what a dike is suppose to do! Either you have crappy dikes or I really underestimate the power of that hurricane. Both are true I think. But 3 months is simply unacceptable, don't you think. After 3 months you can start cleaning things up. to think about: Dikes here are build so they are allowed to break once in 10.000 years. In NO this is once in 30 years..... sdm: I hope for the people in NO that everyone sends help to the area. In 4 or 5 days they are all save because we are sending............1 navy ship to the area!! Now that's to be ashamed of don't you think. Collection of funds still hasn't begun yet. I think that has to do with: 1) the tv images which aren't very positive. The authorities mess things up, why donate money to them ? 2) It is the richest country in the world where this has happened. And think that if the American government invest more in society then in for instance military, things where far better right now. You could wait for it to happen. (they took the risk so they have to clean it up themselves) Another thing I found shocking is the gap between rich and poor. I haven't seen a white man sleeping under a viaduct yet on tv. It is the poor how pay largest the price.
sdm -- 09/04/2005, 14:06:10 -- #18527

Bonzo, everything you say is right on!
Scot -- 09/05/2005, 17:27:57 -- #18582

Over 60 countries have offerred support for the NO disaster. FEMA has been working AGAINST the relief effort. Cutting emergency communications lines, making things difficult- the govt is actually making the problem worse. See a NY Times article that is very interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05blame.html
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Scot -- 09/16/2005, 06:45:50 -- #19112
New Orleans: first hand experience from a Canadian special forces guy
I was in Vancouver today hanging out with some friends and playing music. One of the folks at the party is a Canadian special forces guy who had been sent out to New Orleans to help with the American special forces in rescues and things like that. After four days the poor guy is in therapy. He's been through the UN fighting in Kosovo (sp?), been through Afganistan, blew things up in Kuwait, then in Iraq, and more, but none of that prepared him for what he saw in New Orleans. Now, I wasn't there, so I can't vouch if this is true or not, but I've known this guy for many years and have never had a reason to doubt anything he's said, and he's definitely not an "anti-american" or anything. The following is disturbing so stop here if you don't want to read it. So, he was over there and was supposed to be helping out American special forces guys. Here are some of the things he said he witnessed. - American special forces kicked down the door of a house and shot and killed unarmed black people with shotguns. This happened multiple times and the response he got when he questioned what was going on was, "We call this "nigga" hunting." - American forces sent to help had no orders so they took positions in variuos buildings with their supplies and weapons and shot anyone coming close - help from other states and organizations (food, supplies, water, equipment) was turned away due to "orders" - in unprecedented acts of barbarism, he witnessed more acts of rape and violence against our own citizens BY the US military forces than he had ever seen in any theatre of war he had been in There is more but I don't think I need to recount it... Like I said before, this is coming from his mouth. I did not see anything, I haven't been there, I don't KNOW for sure. But what I do know is that in the many years I've known this person, he has been serious about the truth, upstanding, and a man of honor and courage. He has no reason to make things like this up, and at this point he's so messed up from seeing all this stuff he is on leave and as I mentioned, going to therapy. This is from a guy who has a lot of experience in the depraved world of combat, he is trained to see the streets running red with blood, trained to kill, trained to walk through entrails on the way to breakfast, but he wasn't trained for the savagery he saw in New Orleans. I spoke with him at length, I have no reason to doubt what he says. And if it's true, then there is a lot more going on that anyone can possibly know unless you one of those unfortunate people stuck in the dank, stinking, toxic, infested, blood-stained waters of New Orleans.
John Mehegan: The Jazz Pianist, Book 1� Book 2 • Book 3
Scot -- 09/16/2005, 06:47:29 -- #19113

(note: I don't know if he was in Iraq, I was just trying to show that he's been around and knows what it feels like to be splashed with blood)
sdm -- 09/16/2005, 11:57:06 -- #19125

Scot, I feel like I've been kicked in the gut. I can't imagine a more disturbing story coming out of this tragedy. What can be done?!? Scot, is there any way you can prevail on your friend to contact the media? He can't be the only witness of this. I simply can�t take information like this in without trying to come up with some kind of action! I doubt most of us even have the necessary mental and emotional tools to think about this! What can we do?
Scot -- 09/16/2005, 14:48:21 -- #19135

I was floored when I heard it, and I told him he needs to come out and tell people who can do something or report it, but man, the guy is in shambles. I mean, he's a wreck. Think of how we feel just hearing about it, the guy was there witnessing it...
Scot -- 09/16/2005, 14:52:14 -- #19136

A few quotables and observations from last week (friend sent in email, but it's worth looking at) >From the Chicago Sun-Times. Say that again? 'Things are going relatively well' September 12, 2005 BY RICHARD ROEPER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST >From the disputed presidential election of 2000 to the terrorist attacks on America on 9/11/01 to the failure to find Osama bin Laden to the quagmire of a war in Iraq to Hurricane Katrina, this has been a terrible decade, century, millennium. It's got to get better in 2006, doesn't it? In the meantime, we're two weeks into one of the most tragic and shameful events in American history. Here, in chronological order, are some of the most memorable quotes from evacuees, politicians, journalists, media personalities and celebrities. "I wasn't going to let a little thing like a hurricane keep me from wearing my bathing suit." -- Eva Longoria on the Video Music Awards, Aug. 28. Had Longoria known what was going to happen in the days to come, one imagines she would have come up with another bit. "The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been attacked." -- New Orleans councilwoman Jackie Carlson, Aug. 30. Meanwhile, President Bush was playing guitar with country singer Mark Willis in San Diego. Bush would return to Crawford, Texas, that night, for one more night of taking it easy before finally cutting his vacation "short." "I must say, this storm is much bigger than anyone expected." -- FEMA Director Michael Brown, on CNN, Aug. 31. "Excuse me, senator, I'm sorry for interrupting . . . for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people out here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated . . . "And when they hear politicians . . . you know, thanking one another, it just . . . cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body in the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the streets for 48 hours . . ." -- CNN's Anderson Cooper, Sept. 1, in an awesome tirade directed at Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who had been tossing compliments to fellow politicians and blowing bromides up the wazoo before Cooper cut her off. "George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual for this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed." -- New York Times lead editorial, Sept. 1. "It was chaos. There was nobody there, nobody in charge. And there was nobody giving even water. The children . . . they're all just in tears. There are sick people. We saw . . . people who are dying in front of you." -- CNN producer Kim Segal, describing conditions in the New Orleans Convention Center, Sept. 1. "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." -- FEMA chief Brown, Sept. 1. "From here and from talking to police officers, they're losing control of the city . . ." -- CNN's Chris Lawrence, Sept. 1. "We just learned of the convention center -- we being the federal government -- today." -- FEMA Director Brown, trying to deflect criticism to local government, on "Nightline," Sept. 1. "Don't you guys watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today." -- Koppel's response. "Many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor and they are so black . . . " -- CNN's Wolf Blitzer's well-meaning but unfortunate description of the evacuees, Sept. 1. "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job." -- President Bush, Sept. 2. One of the most idiotic, misguided, clueless and smug things the president has said during his two terms in office. "I'm satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with the results." -- President Bush, later that day. "Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." -- President Bush, cracking wise in Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2. And maybe when he sits on that porch, one of those unemployed evacuees can bring him a nice iced tea and a fan. After all, they'll be looking for work. "George Bush doesn't care about black people." -- Kanye West Sept. 2 on an NBC telethon for hurricane relief, as a deer-in-the-headlights Mike Myers stood beside him, no doubt wishing he was off making "Shrek 57." "I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fund-raisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. . . . Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened in Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh!" -- Excerpt from Michael Moore's open letter to President Bush, Sept. 2. Moore is reportedly considering making a documentary about Bush and Katrina. It would be the easiest film he's ever done. "I open the television, there's people still there, waiting to be rescued, and for me that's not acceptable. I know there's reasons for it. I'm sorry to say I'm being rude, but I don't want to hear those reasons." -- Celine Dion in an interview on "Larry King Live," Sept. 3. An hour later, yours truly was in the audience at Dion's show in Las Vegas, where she told a baffled audience that she had cried and yelled at Larry King earlier that evening. "The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in a St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, 'Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?' [starting to cry] And he said, 'Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday.' And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night." -- Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard, Sept. 4, on NBC's "Meet the Press," in one of the defining media moments of all the hurricane coverage. "We lost everything. Katrina didn't care if you were poor or rich; all the houses look the same now." -- Mississippi resident Penny Dean, quoted in People magazine, which has covered the hurricane story in honorable and comprehensive fashion. "What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them." -- Former First Lady Barbara Bush, sounding like a bad caricature of a "Dallas" character, in the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5. "I understand there are 10,000 people dead. It's terrible. It's tragic. But in a democracy of 300 million people, over years and years and years, these things happen." -- Republican operative Jack Burkman, MSNBC, Sept. 7, in an obvious attempt to go for the Humanitarian of the Year Award. "Go f-- yourself, Mr. Cheney. Go f-- yourself." -- Off-camera citizen heckling the vice president during a live interview that aired on CNN and MSNBC, Sept. 8. The "Go f-- yourself, Mr. Cheney" guy has his own Web site and is auctioning copies of personal video footage on eBay. "First time I've heard it. Must be a friend of John, er, uh, never mind." -- A chuckling Cheney's nonsensical, half-joke of a response when a reporter asked if he'd been hearing a lot of that sort of thing. "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." -- Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.), Sept. 8, in a quip to lobbyists quoted by the Wall Street Journal. Baker is denying the quote; the WSJ reporter stands by his story. *"How, then, did we get here? How did the richest country on Earth end up watching children cry for food in putrid encampments on the evening news? How did reporters reach crowds of the desperate in places where police, troops and emergency responders had not yet been--three days after the storm?" -- Time magazine, in a report to be published today. Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper are hosting a special benefit screening of "Walk the Line" starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon on Sept. 25. All proceeds to hurricane relief efforts. To purchase tickets, go to ticketmaster.com.
jmderay -- 09/17/2005, 08:28:12 -- #19164

Re : New Orleans: first hand experience from a Canadian special forces guy Ouch, if all that is true, it's disgusting !! and it's a good thing to let it know, especially in your country, where information in general seems to be "well mastered" by the media system. Seen from abroad, (I'm in France), things in N.O. don't look the way this guys tells, but infos must have been "filtered before exportation". (We just heard about children rapes and murders in the Superdome where people where stacked). I can just confirm : "- help from other states and organizations (food, supplies, water, equipment) was turned away due to orders" : a friend of mine leads here in Nice a very experienced special forces team with dogs very well prepared for those kind of things, they have covered all the major disasters in the past (Mexico earthquakes, Algeria floods and buildings collapses, last year tsunami and many many others ..), and his organization got no right to help in NO. I can understand some special positions after Sept 11, but to refuse help in mass like this, it's weird !! Always have dreamt of a better world in our "civilized countries", but I guess it will remain a dream ....
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
Scot -- 09/17/2005, 15:07:00 -- #19174

I don't want to advocate conspiracy, but... maybe the reason that help was turned away was because the didn't want witnesses.
John Mehegan: The Jazz Pianist, Book 1� Book 2 • Book 3
sebos -- 09/20/2005, 08:18:07 -- #19229

Highly possible according to me
Bonzo -- 09/20/2005, 09:09:21 -- #19230

What about prestige??
LRM -- 09/21/2005, 02:08:25 -- #19246
Hurricane Victims with Disabilities
I'm new to this web site, but I've been actively involved in the disability rights movement for many years. The discussion of Hurricane Katrina made me want to share the news release below regarding what happened to hurricane victims with disabilities during and after the flooding. One thing I know from many reports over the years (including what happened following the 1994 Northridge earthquake in my neck of the woods) is that the Red Cross has consistently failed to even try helping disaster victims with disabilities. We know of at least one nursing home in New Orleans where elderly and disabled residents were simply abandoned, and I've heard many reports of victims with disabilities being turned away from shelters because the shelters weren't wheelchair-accessible. There also are reports of people with guide dogs or service dogs being turned away. People with disabilities tend to be among the poorest groups in the country--and the most vulnerable in a disaster. See below for more about this part of the Hurricane Katrina story. --Laura ----------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 14:35:00 -0400 From: ADAPT Press Releases <adaptpr@adapt.org> To: ADAPT Press Releases <adaptpr@adapt.org> Subject: Katrina's Impact on the Disability Community Katrina's Impact on the Disability Community: Immediate Needs and Long Term Consequences Resulting from Inadequate Government Policy Compiled by ADAPT Immediate impact on survivors with disabilities; While nursing homes and other institutional settings were an understandable evacuation alternative as a first response, they are no more appropriate for the long term than are the shelters like the Astrodome. Both need to be short term so people can resume/rebuild lives in the community as quickly as possible. In the evacuation process, people with disabilities were separated from their wheelchairs and walkers, canes and service dogs, caretakers and family members. As a result many people ended up being sent to nursing homes because they were perceived to need more assistance than they typically do. It is imperative to reunite people with family members and caregivers and service animals, and to replace their assistive equipment so they can resume/rebuild their lives in the community as quickly as possible. People with disabilities have been grossly undercounted and unnoticedbecause many bypassed shelters when they were immediately sent to nursing homes, institutions and/or hospitals. These institutional settings, especially those spread across the country, are not being served by the FEMA Super Service Centers. It is imperative that an accurate accounting occur to identify all the people with disabilities of all ages who were temporarily sent to nursing homes in Louisiana and many other states, and that an inventory of their needs be compiled. Service coordination and brokering is essential to bridge the gap between the persons with disabilities rendered homeless by Katrina and the accessible homes, transportation, services and supports they need to resume/rebuild their lives in the community as quickly as possible. Centers for Independent Living, local Arcs and People First groups, and other community-based disability organizations are experts on people with disabilities and their service and support needs. Funding them to provide service coordination/brokering for Katrina survivors would be cost effective, provide competent, knowledgeable assistance, and prevent the need to "re-invent the wheel." Longer term impact on entire national disability community; The needs, services and supports of poor people with disabilities must not be pitted against the needs, services and supports of the Katrina survivors. Policy formulated to assist survivors of Katrina should not provide a stop-gap bandaid solution to a gaping wound in the current disability service system. Reforming the system to heal the wound for ALL Americans will prevent the need for similar stop-gap initiatives in the future. People with disabilities and other poor people have been waiting for as long as 10 years in some states for affordable/accessible/HUD subsidized housing. Over and over, they have been told "there is no housing." In the aftermath of Katrina, great stocks of affordable/HUD subsidized housing suddenly materialized. Like those who, thankfully, survived Katrina, poor people with disabilities also need homes, and want to end their homelessness. HUD, Congress and the President must find ways to help Katrina survivors that don't decimate the already critical lack of resources available to poor people with disabilities. Legislation just proposed in the Senate provides that the Medicaid dollars paying for disabled Katrina survivors in nursing homes and institutions would follow them, assisting them to return to their former or new communities, and not be forced to remain in the nursing homes and other institutions. This enlightened common-sense solution should be available to ALL persons with disabilities, being exactly what people with disabilities have been advocating for the past 25 years. In addition, when this legislation passes, it should assure that people with disabilities in the states, who have again been waiting for years for funding that will allow them to return to or remain in their own homes and communities, will not be pushed to the back of the line by the Katrina survivors in need. As hard and tirelessly as FEMA and the Red Cross worked in this unprecedented national disaster, Katrina exposed the frightening lack of knowledge and experience of both agencies when it comes to people with disabilities, the systems that serve them, and the critical need for service co-ordination/brokering in order to assure that people with disabilities are not left behind to die, or left unserved when the crisis is over. Comprehensive and long-term planning efforts must be adequately funded and need to meaningfully involve people with disabilities so that the result will be an expert national network that can mobilize immediately to see to the very particular and specific needs of persons with disabilities in disaster situations. In order to assure quality outcomes, the federal government must invest in a quality process. Compiled by ADAPT FOR MORE INFORMATION on ADAPT visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/
Gordon -- 10/06/2005, 19:29:15 -- #19702
3 Brazilian Soldiers
Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing. He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed." "OH NO!" the President exclaims. "That's terrible!" His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the President sits, head in hands. Finally, the President looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"
Scot -- 10/13/2005, 14:43:53 -- #19926

:)
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
Mikepiano -- 12/24/2005, 00:20:18 -- #22514

Hmmm... I find it interesting that every site the forum creator suggests is a left-wing communist-based site... figures...
John Mehegan: The Jazz Pianist, Book 1� Book 2 • Book 3
Scot -- 12/25/2005, 13:19:04 -- #22537

In what way do you find this interesting? I feel it's my duty as an American to take part in the political process in any way that I can. LJP is a very busy website so if I bring attention to inforamtion that I think helps show people what's really going on out there, then I'm helping forward a more progressive agenda which I believe is the only way for the U.S. to dig itself out of the problems that the current leadership has put us in.
Billy Miller -- 12/30/2005, 00:18:42 -- #22606

why not post non-partisian sites instead of some of the bias ones you have? I hear factcheck.org is a good un-bias source for political stuff. Im not against your views on politics. I dont much like the current leadership, but i cant take people like michael moore seriously because they are too extreme, and most likely twist facts to create their stories. I think it would be best for everyone to be informed, rather than persuaded to one side or another. Why not allow people to base their opinions on the raw non-bias facts rather than the extremists like michael moore?
Scot -- 12/30/2005, 01:40:23 -- #22607

I have no problem with adding links here to more sources of information.
jmderay -- 12/30/2005, 04:39:53 -- #22610

Billy, I'm not so sure that non-partisan sites exist. As far as an idea is pointed out, it's a way to bring it to people's mind and make them think about it. It's not "transparent" yet. You know the proverb : "Give a dog a bad name, and hang him" Translated in french, the proverb is : "when you want to kill your dog, tell he has the rage" (beeeurk !!). I mean, whatever the site, whatever the paper, what is stated is never "innocent", and fortunately, people have to make their own opinion alone. The thing is that some entities have more interest than others to bring "delicate subjects to light", if I can tell so. Nevertheless, IMHO, I think that we have to be extra careful with press articles, and even more with internet sites. I wonder if anyone has seen this video showing riots happening here in France last month. it's here : http://movies.lionhead.com/movie/11520 I know it has been commented and used by some american press to discredit our politics, but if you follow entirely the video's idea, you can't get another idea that we are a racist country, which is false. this video features some reality, but the problem is more complicated, and the origins of some behaviours are not explained, so it's very "oriented", and at first, the idea of this video is to be "only informative", but at the end, it's no more than a way to express some message to people in a unique point of view. So don't believe naively that you could find "non-partisan sites". As far as you read some statements, it's "thrown to public's opinion".
Scot -- 01/24/2006, 15:39:48 -- #23421

Wow, Canada went conservative. Now where am I going to move if the next election goes south to the fundamentalist freaks that run the system right now here in the US?
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
anacephalic -- 01/24/2006, 16:31:13 -- #23423

billy, you are dead on about being informed. The more you know the more you can see through the BS. You do have to remember that michael moore is a film maker/story teller. It's ok to twist stories to your liking when that is your job. And extreemists foster emotional responces which often lead to open discussions which is a good thing. Have you ever heard a good discussion started by a statement that everyone pretty much can live with? when the government that claims to be the guiding light of freedom and democracy influences the media owned by their corporate lackies, twists facts and plain lies to justify the erosion of rights, the redistribution of wealth, and the march of the young to their deaths it's time to worry, a lot. I don't think the extreemists have even woke up yet. Compared to the 60's there are no real activists anymore, and with the gov monitoring of folks nor are there likley to be.
Oscar Peterson: Note-for-Note Transcriptions of Classic Recordings
sdm -- 02/03/2006, 13:28:55 -- #23798

Any of this sound familiar??? Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each: 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. 3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc. 4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized. 5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution. 6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common. 7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. 8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions. 9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite. 10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed. 11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked. 12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations. 13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders. 14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections. The above is a summery of the more detailed orignal article "Fascism Anyone?" first published in Spring 2003 edition of Free Inquiry (http://www.airamericaradio-lists.com/bggkrzv_tcllcvvvze.html).
jmderay -- 02/03/2006, 19:32:21 -- #23825

Maybe Britt should have added : 15 - Lack of strong, vigilant and efficient opposition parties ... especially in order to avoid this : The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy
sdm -- 02/03/2006, 19:49:00 -- #23826

So true. Scary times!
sdm -- 02/03/2006, 20:04:05 -- #23830

"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all." -- H.L. Mencken Today's quote from Information Week seems to fit very well.
Scot -- 02/04/2006, 12:57:36 -- #23846

The interesting thing is that what we are dealing with here isn't pure fascism, it's more of a neo-fascism based on totalitarianism. "...modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. Totalitarian regimes mobilize entire populations in support of the state and a political ideology, and do not tolerate activities by individuals or groups such as labor unions, churches and political parties that are not directed toward the state's goals." Totalitarianism also is related to business interests instead of human interests running the government.
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
gollum -- 03/01/2006, 11:06:15 -- #24702
gollum
HOLAAA!!!!!ESCRIBO POR SI ALGUNO DE VOSOTROS PODRIAIS HACERME CON LAS PARTITURAS DE PEDRO NAVAJA DE VIENTOS ,TECLADO Y BAJO ,PUES ME HARIAS MUY FELIZ ,GRASIAS
Mecobio -- 03/14/2006, 10:27:10 -- #25186
What is the definition of Jazz?
Hi Just a question, assuming someone here can know the answer. There have been some argue about how to define JAZZ. In the Mark's "Jazz theory book" nothing is said about it and even in amazon some critize the author becuase of that. Saying that "improvisation is jazz" is an insult to the human kind because of improvisation has always been in music since the evolution of homo-sapiens (or the creation of Gud, depending on the believe). By the way, isn't so that any creation involves improvisation? The jazz literature starts with the Blues. The later is well defined as I(1) IV(5) I(7) V(9) I(11). Important to notice that Rhythm & Blues (R&B) which can be seen as a Blues with slightly variation, was later re-named as Rock & Roll due to commercial and racist motive packaging it as a "white creation" to a more rich white consumers. Then, the jazz books move to be-bop. Many says that the term "jass" was rude sexual slang used in New Orleans brothels. So, Is jazz a commercial name similar to Rock and Roll where both mean sex? Any serious definition of it out there? The reason of looking for a definition is that, the more you know about a subject, the better you can explore it, transformed, play around with it, etc. So, if jazz = blues + be-bop, then, jazz itself is not a music but a package. Then, as every package, it is heavily commercialized and simplified, with a lot of lies around it and therefore "too flat" compare to the original blues. Any comments? Please, I'm not looking for "personal opinions from the heart" but rather from the brain, so we can get rid of the sentimental issues for a while around it, and try to differentiate between music and commercial crap. Interesting that in the Mark's "Jazz theory book" he says that many afro-Americans are opposed to the misuse of the term jazz as it is used today. I really want to know the point of views of those afro-Americans? What are their arguments? It is not the first time a music genre is re-named in USA for marketing reasons spreading simplified mediocre "stuff". The term salsa is just another, which it is in fact Cuban son (please, read the definition of the Cuban SON included in the Latin Corner forum files). It is also said that Tito Puente said that there were good jazz musicians (wonder the definition now) in USA but bad jazz musicians playing "Latin jazz". The term "Latin jazz" is obviously even critized as well, e.g. what it is Latin? What has a latin Italian to do with the Cuban son or any Cuban or Brazilian music? An afro-Cuban musicologist says took this issue far beyond questioning what has a white Spanish speaking argentine to do with afro-cuban drums? The term "descarga" or "descarga cubana" (descarga means download) has been used in Cuba for any kind of improvisation around the Cuban music. Then, any descarga cubana is in fact Cuban music where you add as more as you want in terms of experimental instrumental songs. That is, first you should know the Cuban music very good before to start to do "descarga cubana". Not strange that Chucho Valdes and Gonzalito Rubalcaba are very good in this music as their parents were popular musicians allow them to grow in the "right environment". Please, don't confuse the issue that many Cuban musicians call themselves as "latin jazz" since this is a way they have to make money and establish contact outside. That is, a commercial name already established in USA due to commercial reasons. Please, observe from the definition of the Cuban SON written by Raul in the Latin forum files there are plenty of room for any kind of insertion of scales, chord progressions, etc and those experiments have been done by Irakere, Van Van, NG La Banda, etc. Again, the definition of jazz remains to be given, if it is a music genre at all or just another package for commercial issues. Any body knows the point of views of those afro-Americans questioning the misuse of the word jazz nowadays? What are their arguments?
Scot -- 03/15/2006, 12:50:53 -- #25218

Simply because we use a word in everyday language does not mean it has a set definition. Webster's says of the word jazz, "A style of music, native to America, characterized by a strong but flexible rhythmic understructure with solo and ensemble improvisations on basic tunes and chord patterns and, more recently, a highly sophisticated harmonic idiom." Basically it's saying jazz is a style of music based on improvising over popular songs. Of course a lot of current pop music does not have melodic or harmonic content, so we continue to play over the chord progressions of pop tunes, broadway tunes, and others, that pretty much defined the kinds of chords improvisatory jazz uses. I don't see a problem with that definition. However, language use over time, according to linguistics, will change the definition of words, and jazz is being used more to define an entire genre stretching from Kenny G to Brad Mehldau. That's why I like that they came up with "smooth jazz" "be-bop" "swing" etc. As a word starts to mean more and more things, then it needs sub-classifications to break down the inner meanings. So the word jazz may have been used to describe what happens in the smoky Pork Pie Hat clubs on 52nd street in 1950, but that was just the seed of the linguistic garden. It has since grown into defining a vast genre of music. Just like the musical designations "pop", "country", "folk", etc... I have friends who are playing something they call "Gypsy Grass" music, a cool combination of blue grass and other stuff. Language is dynamic, the meanings of words are dynamic, and changed in definitions and language are inevitable.
Scot -- 03/15/2006, 12:56:59 -- #25219
Censure Bush, plus a tiny rant
Finally someone stepped up to the plate to give Bush a slap on the wrist. Senator Feingold is getting whipped by the GOP for saying that since the president broke the law, he should be held accountable. Of course, we know it probably won't happen. Heck, the vice president SHOT someone, didn't have the correct hunting license, didn't have other required "things" for the hunting trip (I don't know much about hunting), yet, they don't even write a ticket for him. You know, there is a woman serving a 10 year prison term for letting her kids and their friends ride in the back of her pickup truck down her 200 yard gravel driveway. Negligence was the sentence. Cheney doesn't even get a ticket for shooting someone with a gun, yet this lady who creeps down the driveway, in a perfectly safe environment, with kids in the back of the truck goes to jail (a video was made of the event and I saw it). Any justice in the world? Old Bill Clinton had sex in office. A bold crime that preys upon the rights of all citizens, right? Yeah, right. Clinton had the book thrown at him for lying about it. Bush spies on people without regard, worse than Nixon ever did, and he says, "I can do it 'cause I'm the president." Well, I don't care if he's the president, he's not above the law, and he broke the law (how many times? Hundreds, thousands?) by spying. So let's censure him, slap his wrist, let the rest of those old monkey boys know that NO ONE is above the law.
7 -- 03/15/2006, 14:27:29 -- #25223

When the USA decided to start a war with Iraq, the United Nations in virtual unison said "No, don't do that or we'll be unhappy with you". The president of the United States said "Go fuck yourselves, I'll do whatever I please". Now that Iran has decided to start enriching uranium which can be used for creating a weapon of mass destruction, the United Nations in virtual unison has said "No, don't do that or we'll be unhappy with you". And the president of Iran has said "Go fuck yourselves, I'll do whatever I please". This is a prime example of leading by example. The president of Iran is simply acting in the same manner as the president of the United States. What a wonderful role model Bush is for the other leaders of the world.
Scot -- 06/03/2006, 13:44:58 -- #27827
This is rather disturbing.
I checked the facts in this video, apart from some of them not being available online, most of them are documented. Watch this thing. It will blow your mind. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8260059923762628848
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
Billy Miller -- 06/24/2006, 00:23:14 -- #28311

This could turn out to be a very very interesting film... http://www.freedomtofascism.com/
Scot -- 06/24/2006, 14:09:41 -- #28319

Nothing new here, but hopefully it will get some people to pull their heads out of sand and open their eyes a little bit.
Scot -- 06/24/2006, 14:21:47 -- #28321
Don't pay taxes
In researching that movie a little bit I ran across something else. It's illegal for the government to punish you for not turning in a 1040 tax form. http://www.givemeliberty.org/RTP2/UPDATES/Update2006-06-09.htm
Berujomii -- 06/24/2006, 23:37:30 -- #28326
bird flu
Bird flu is getting worse. If you like to read about bird flu, check out Dr. Bob Gleeson's blog. For up to date news on bird flu, check out newsnow.
Berujomii -- 06/24/2006, 23:56:37 -- #28327
bird flu
Just read a blog report on shenzen's public hospitals being ordered to investigate undetermine etimoloy (sp) on over 100 cases of flu or pneumonia-like symptoms. Although not all may have the bird flu of course. The scientist who retracted that letter regarding the 2003 case of a man who was thought to have died from SARS did not actually detract the letter, he wrote in an email and a fax. The chinese gov't is doing a major coverup and not reporting the true statistics of the bird flu. This is a true indicator for me cuz why would the chinese gov't be so paranoid about one case three years ago. Two women may have been infected when they were jabbed with needles contaminated with bird flu blood from the victims of indonesia. One violated her curfew and may have spread the disease. The WHO is covering up the stats too, in order to prevent, according to some, the trashing of the indonesian economy, especially the tourist trade. According to the 'truth' 1 in 10 birds tested in indonesia are positive for the bird flu. And yes, there's concerns about pigeons, something they lied about three months ago. If you see dead birds on the ground, don't go near them, they can shed the virus for days. Their droppings can also infect. One dead bird may be a coincidence, but several dead birds are not. I'm not worried about chicken at the deli or kfc itself, cuz cooking the bird probably kills the virus, but those who handle the food after it's cooked are quite the problem. I admit I've had chicken three times in the last two weeks. If I live and this website stays up during the pandemic, I'll visit every day and post on what's going on at my apartment building. Even the mortality rate of 54% may be a lie.
Scot -- 06/25/2006, 20:48:48 -- #28337

Something to remember about the flu. Once a flu virus has mutated into a form that can be transmitted easily from person to person, it always gets weaker, so the 54% mortality rate will probably drop to around 5% when a pandemic happens. Might not happen with bird flu, but it will happen eventually.
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
Berujomii -- 06/25/2006, 23:13:28 -- #28342
Bird flu
It's predicted that the flu will hit in waves, at least three waves. Near the end of the pandemic the virus weakens. Did you watch that abc movie fatal contact? By week 16 25 million people were dead. I think the secret is that we might not get sick, but the mortality rates are suspect at this time. I don't want to subscribe the conspiracy theories, but I can see the lies in official reports, even from the WHO (world health organization). Just because they say some people survived doesn't make it so. We probably won't know the full truth until after the pandemic is over.
jmderay -- 06/26/2006, 05:17:49 -- #28347

In the meantime, have your six month supply of water and food so you don't have to go in public much when the time comes. as read in Scot's Studio, this is typical of population's behavior in Western countries nowadays ! I hate that ! reminds me when Gulf wars started, you couldn't find a piece of sugar in stores, images from WW2 re-appearing, please let's move to this new century with new hopes and wiser behavior ! Peace out !
Berujomii -- 06/26/2006, 12:48:45 -- #28355
Food
six months of food would be hundreds of dollars, but I do have at least three weeks of food. I just woke up, I'm going to check the news, if it's good I'll post here later.
Scot -- 06/26/2006, 13:21:44 -- #28356

Jmeray- I'm not following you. What's the problem with having an emergency supply of food and water at one's home? Not just for a possible flu pandemic, but in the pacific northwest, we need to keep in mind that a major earthquake off the coast and the following tsunami will cause severe damage to utility, transportation, communication, and other aspects of our infrastructure that keep the whole system working. There may never be such a disaster which would be great, but the potential is there. If something happens, isn't it important to be prepared? Just wondering what exactly you mean.
jmderay -- 06/26/2006, 15:18:55 -- #28364

Scot, seen from Europe, this is typically what people have in mind about american way of life and this "extrem" behavior is mostly considered as individualist than wise. have your six month supply why not 3 weeks, 3 months, 36 months, where's the limit ? what's the appropriate stockage ? the bigger-the-house-to-stock-the-better-is-a-chance-to-survive ? Some years ago, I saw a TV reportage where they showed an american citizen completely "turned-to-himself" whis his underground full of supplies (maybe a 6 months stock), and it was funny to see how he had to check if the products were still valid or out-of-date, and he had to throw away regularly part of his stock :) I remember how you reacted with N.O. floods, do you think it helped people to stock food in their underground ? you say [i} If something happens, isn't it important to be prepared? [/i), I say, yes, but by imagining and organizing solidarity and quick and well trained team networks all around the country that you can really rely on !! Of course, I wouldn't cross the desert without water, but I still don't believe stocking supplies "in case of .." is the way to go, the food industry lobby does ...
Scot -- 06/26/2006, 17:54:19 -- #28367

I completely agree that a well maintained network around the country to help when disaster strikes is the way to go. I wish it were so here in the U.S.. But look at the debacle in New Orleans... it's obvious the U.S. isn't prepared for anything more than a snow storm. FEMA is nothing more than a pipe dream, unfortunately. Maybe a six month supply is extreme, but I do think that it's important to be ready for natural disasters and have basic supplies. I certainly don't have a six month supply, but I could probably get by for a couple weeks.
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
Berujomii -- 06/26/2006, 18:15:16 -- #28368
Bird Flu
More important than food is water. You require one half gallon of water per day per person in the household. If you use old 2 litre bottles of soda, make sure you fill it all the way up. There can't be any air in the bottle, or it is only good for six months. Do it the right way and your water is forever. The more food you have the better. There's no indication that if we lose over 50% of the population nationwide that services will ever be up and running ever again. Even if the stores aren't completely vandalized and empty canned food is only good for 2 years. Maybe those who die from the flu are the lucky ones. If the stores are empty, if lots of people die, the best place to find foods is in abandoned homes or apartments. I live on capitol hill, and in a ten square block area I bet there's enough food for years. If all services collapse, your tap water will no longer be viable because the companies that deliver the chlorine to treatment plants will no longer exist. The best food is nonpreparable food like tuna and peanut butter. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter constitute a serving, so it can be rationed. If the electrical power stays on, you can freeze hamburger, bread and of course frozen dinners. You can get frozen hamburger patties at the grocery store. If stores are completely abandoned but the power still works, you need to take all the raw hamburger, steaks and other types of meat from the refrigerated section and put them into the frozen section. If you do you'll have meat for months, even years.
jmderay -- 06/26/2006, 19:09:57 -- #28369

Well, of course, you are entitled to your opinions, but it seems so incredible to read that, and directly derived from an horror movie :) It's always a mystery for me to see how american people generally are feared by tomorrow and "what could happen to me next" ... why not buying guns to protect your stocked supplies ...in case of .. maybe the reason comes from a particular culture (horror movies as I said .. but you know, E.T. is kind :), maybe misinformation, or too-much-information ... Beru, you write : I just woke up, I'm going to check the news, if it's good I'll post here later., I don't know if it's humor, but if it's not, accept my H.O, and please stay away from News for some weeks (easy for a pianist) and your inner fears will disappear. Breathe. Peace out !
Berujomii -- 06/26/2006, 19:38:13 -- #28370
bird flu
jmderay, I don't make this stuff up I read it from normal news services. Doctors all around the world are practically screaming right now about the bird flu. Government disinformation is everywhere, I can tell because of the conflicting reports. If you would just do a litte leg work, you'd be more up to date on the bird flu. To be honest, I don't have any 'inner fears' and I'm not the sort of person who becomes a victim, regardless of the situation. We're told, it's not a question of whether it will happen, but when it will happen. Buying guns would be a good idea, actually.
jmderay -- 06/27/2006, 03:44:23 -- #28373

I must admit I'm lacking info on bird flu, maybe am I underestimating its consequences, so I'll do a "little leg work" as you recommand. About the fact of stocking massive amount of supplies at home, I also must admit that maybe I omitted to underline one crutial point about America, it's about the long distances, and it certainly alters behaviors because of the difficulties to rescue in some places and Scot speaks about events having caused in the past severe damage to utility, transportation, communication, and other aspects of infrastructure, and naturally, this incitates people to be cautious and to "play solo".
Berujomii -- 06/27/2006, 12:00:30 -- #28378
bird flu
One system that might go down is water purification plants. If no truck drivers show up to work, the chlorine won't ge delivered and our tap water will no longer be safe. Hospitals are expected to be overrun. If you contract the flu in the middle of the pandemic, my advice is to stay home and get some flu medication from the store before it's all gone. It might not save your life, but will take away some of your misery. Just imagine getting the flu so bad that it kills you.
Scot -- 06/27/2006, 17:12:23 -- #28387

Like I said before, keep in mind that once a flu virus, any flu virus, gets to the point that it can be transmitted easily from person to person, it loses about 90% of its potency. Beru, what you say is true, but it's the worst case scenario, not the most likely scenario.
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
Berujomii -- 06/27/2006, 19:46:46 -- #28390
bird flu
Worst or best case scenario, the gov has been telling us to stock up since Katrina. I know food is expensive, I can't afford it either, but I don't want to die that way and I don't want to die of thirst or hunger. And the stats about best/worst case scenario are obviousbly being tampered with, or why would the WHO say something one day then refute it the next.
jmderay -- 06/28/2006, 08:42:27 -- #28400

the gov has been telling us to stock up since Katrina I just typed that on google and found no explicit link dealing with that, except discussions about oil stocks investments increase since then (funny, no ?) and house prices driven up 10 percent in N.O. and in the hardest hit counties, where thousands of people live in poverty, and whose families' income fell below 50 percent of the poverty line (so no way for them to stock supplies from now on whatever happens), that's what I read... Beru, what you write is probably true in term of the medical point of view, but thinking you could be on the verge to die from hunger or thirst !! ... the situation in our western countries (even in the eventuality of a massive spread of that kind of disease) couldn't be compared to what happens to children having contracted aids in Africa, for instance, whose situation is really desperate ... no intention to give a lesson, but let's get eyes opened ...
jmderay -- 06/28/2006, 10:48:32 -- #28401

open
Berujomii -- 06/28/2006, 13:58:41 -- #28403
Bird Flu
jmderay, I try to keep the flu in perspective of course. I'm not hopping on my chair from anxiety. I'm simply a logical person. Just a little effort, like making an emergency backpack, only takes a couple of minutes and if bad things happen, I won't be totally screwed. The bird flu is no different than any other disaster that might hit here in Seattle, whether earthquake or volcano. I did not say I was on the 'verge' of dying from hunger and thirst, I simply made plans. I'm not the one making this stuff up, all of this is on the homeland security website, and a better understanding of the bird flu without government control present is international websites. 1 in 10 birds in Indonesia register positive for bird flu. You see, this is how I see it. If nothing happens, and you're right, I simply made plans and didn't spend too much money. But if I'm right, I'll survive and you'll be dead. So I'll take those odds.
Kai -- 06/28/2006, 14:25:38 -- #28404
Contingency plans in the event of whatever.
I have been around for years and years and, in the distant past, have worked for government departments and utilities in which utility plans were always in place and revised periodically. I have been horrified at the lack of such contingency plans in recent times during periods of such necessity (sadly, can't remember :-) such an example. Ask yourselves, Have such authorities in recent years updated these plans and/or maintained the infrastructure of, say our sewage systems, fuel (electricity) supply systems (or do we 'buy in' at the mercy of our new suppliers?). The response will tell us that, despite living in a nanny state, ultimately we do need to take care of ourselves and not rely on others to make such provision. However, if the policing systems fail, then we are at the mercy of looters! Happy thoughts.
jmderay -- 06/28/2006, 17:21:15 -- #28409

Beru, to be clear and end up with that, I will repeat that you're probably right with the infos you bring about bird flu, I'm not working in the medical domain at all, I was just reacting about the fact that it seems excessive to me to be so cautious (tending to paranoia, even though I may agree with making an emergency backpack, which is quite different from having a six month supply at home), I just tried to bring these two ideas : don't be manipulated by the medias (follow your ideas and instinct, maybe stop the news for some weeks to destress), and second point, stop thinking your life is in danger, because you could tend to the point you won't get out of your home (it's also dangerous to cross the road in front of your home, you know ...), be aware that people ARE dying (from hunger and thirst for instance, but for other reasons) at this moment, enjoy life without fears !
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Berujomii -- 06/28/2006, 17:37:21 -- #28411
Bird Flu
jmderay, first off I'm not the one who recommended 6 months worth of food and supplies, although it's a good idea. I did not say we were in imminent danger, though maybe we are. If I were really paranoid, you'd know I assure you. But I'm not an idiot either. It's not a question of whether it will happen, but when. The number of dead this year is triple from the year of 2003, and it's been clear that China has been lying about their statistics. So has Vietnam. I'm not 'not' enjoying life right now, I have school on the way and a job hopefully after that. When you transmit the virus, it's called 'shedding.' You can infect others for 24 hours before you yourself develop symptoms. One clue from earlier reports is that you can identify bird flu from normal flu by the development of an eye infection. The virus can infect you from surfaces such as a doorknob. The virus will last on the knob for at least 24 hours. Dogs and cats can become infected and pass it along to you. Bird droppings can infect you. You should use alcohol based towlettes for cleaning, including your hands. Heat kills the virus, you won't get it from the chicken (say at KFC) itself, but from ill people working at the restuarant. There will be at least three waves of infection during the period of a year. The virus has mutated more than twice in the last eight months. Before it occupied the lungs much lower, so it wasn't easily transmissable (from coughing and sneezing), now it occupies the upper respiratory tract. Some strains are now drug resistant. It is also infecting during the hot months, which is a mutation. If epidemic begins, it will be between september and march, which is the normal flu season. Most flu originates in china and asia.
jmderay -- 06/28/2006, 18:11:46 -- #28412

you don't live in Neverland, do you ?
Berujomii -- 06/28/2006, 23:09:49 -- #28416
Bird Flu
The stats of bird flu death could vary, but at this time the mortality rate is not less than 2 percent it is 54 percent. This is a clear example of gov't disinformation.
Scot -- 06/29/2006, 10:50:36 -- #28424

Beru, you're not keeping in mind something I've mentioned twice before. When a flu virus mutates to the point where it can be easily transmitted from human to human, historically it has lost quite a bit of it's potency. The bird flu that has killed people so far is a very different bug than the one that would be around in the case of a pandemic in which mostly the elderly and those with deficient immune systems would suffer the most. The 2% number is accurate for the flu if it mutates, the 54% number is accurate for the flu in it's present state.
Berujomii -- 06/29/2006, 12:44:03 -- #28426
Bird Flu
I'm aware of the reduced potency, it's been discussed before. However, we will face multiple waves of the dissase. And what if the flu mutates to be more severe and not have a reduced efficiency rating. It's already mutated twice in the last six months.
Berujomii -- 06/29/2006, 23:16:46 -- #28440
CNA
My orientation for cna class is next month on the 27th. School is going to be grueling, 6 hour days four days a week. A man died in my apartment building this week. Earlier today I was cleaning my kitchen and I took garbage to our garbage chute. The hallway just reeked. The stairway is right by my door and it was propped up with a grocery cart, I thought it was coming from there. It was like really nasty garbage. It was the man's death smell. Now I know what death smells like. They apparently found his corpse today. He was a black older man named Arthur, and I had seen him this week. Someone said he died from the heat of last week. He must have been dead for a while cuz it was really strong and gross.
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
SolArt -- 06/30/2006, 04:57:33 -- #28444

Ugh, why share this?
Scot -- 06/30/2006, 11:51:10 -- #28449

I agree- issues, Beru, that's what this room is for. You can create a personal blog on this site by clicking on link near the top of the screen for things like this. Thanks!
Berujomii -- 06/30/2006, 20:48:51 -- #28468
blog
i'll blog later
Berujomii -- 07/02/2006, 18:56:02 -- #28483

My orientation for cna class is on the 27th. DVR is giving me a free 66 dollar bus card. No more quarters for Beru.
SolArt -- 07/03/2006, 16:54:22 -- #28525
The Sun
Not exactly politics, but... Have you all heard what the scientists have discovered about the sun? Amazing! It's not a gas ball after all! Very interesting. It just shows you how we don't know everything. http//www.surfaceofthesun.com
Berujomii -- 07/03/2006, 17:17:28 -- #28528

SolArt, could you give us the website about the sun?
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
SolArt -- 07/04/2006, 06:32:48 -- #28542

http://www.thesurfaceofthesun.com/ Here you go. I don't know why it didn't create a link, hopefully this one will.
Berujomii -- 07/04/2006, 18:21:11 -- #28555

Thanks for the link, SolArt. It's not too warm out today but I'm sweaty and sticky. The building I live in is having a barbecue for the 4th, it starts in about 40 minutes from now. The last barbecue we had the chicken was excellent and I love the potato salad you get from safeway. I'm going to get leftovers for my dog. For those interested in the bird flu, the new beta 3 release of internet explorer handles feeds. It's confusing but you'll figure it out. Definitely better ie than beta 2.
SolArt -- 07/04/2006, 18:40:23 -- #28556

You're welcome. Personally I'd rather burn up than freeze ANY day, weather-wise that is. It can just stay summer forever.
Berujomii -- 07/06/2006, 18:52:45 -- #28610
hills have eyes
Just got done watching "the hills have eyes" it was one of the more disturbing horror flicks I've seen. When the family was decimated it hit too close to home, cuz the family was realistic and like a real family. It takes place in a former gov't atom testing site, and miners that lived there refused to leave and by today's time they and their children were mutated, living off of victims not only for their clothes and possessions, but cannibalism.
sdm -- 07/07/2006, 12:14:14 -- #28626

Berujomii, you may want to work a little harder on separating fantasy from reality. The nasty fact is, particularly in politics, there's a awful lot of real stuff to be afraid of. There have been scary "realistic" fantasy books and movies for generations that never reach the real world. On the other hand, the neo-cons really are in power and that is scary!
Berujomii -- 07/07/2006, 17:36:54 -- #28634

Who are the neo-cons? I'm just repeating information that is on reputable websites like the WHO (world health organization). Half of the us states have already or are beginning to implement plans for the bird flu. I'm not crazy or paranoid. Even tho the flu has apparently mutated to spread during the warm as well as cold months, I still predict that pandemic if it occurs will start in regular flu season, which is between october and march. The dept of homeland security has been advising citizens to stock up on essentials for over a year now, especially after Katrina. So you see this is the thing - if you're right, nothing happens and I live. If I'm right, I'll be alive and you'll be dead. I'll take those odds.
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
Berujomii -- 07/07/2006, 22:24:48 -- #28636

I just defeated four computer opponents in chinese checkers. Chinese checkers is a far more entertaining game than chess. We should have a chinese checkers chat meet someday.
sdm -- 07/08/2006, 16:11:16 -- #28644

Played that as a kid. It was fun. Play go? No, you are quoting the happenings of the imaginations of Hollywood and other movie makers in making movies designed to satisfy our bizarre need to be scared to feel alive. Yes, you mix in some true information but that's the best way to spread disinformation - pepper it with some truth. Now, I'm not denying there are dangerous things in the world of public health but you need to keep the truth and fiction in their proper places. The fact that you don't know who the neo-cons are and what they are up to make me wonder about your reliance on the dept of homeland security which is a creation of these people. I believe you are in France or at least not in the USA so I'll give you a pass on that. Hopefully Americans know what is happening in our national government.
Berujomii -- 07/08/2006, 18:26:04 -- #28648

Your unbelief is as sour as that of Thomas Covenant - saline and unpleasant. I have rss feed from Reuters, I get worldwide news from the newsnow feed. I login to the world health organization regularly. Newsnow alone gives me up to date information from thousands of newspapers and magazines on the subject. One blog I call, his name is Bob Gleeson, he just had a meeting with Congress last week on the subject. As far as hollywood, the movie fatal contact was created by ABC and remains the only movie or creation of a nonscientist regarding the situation. So my information is correct, up-to-date and as accurate as can possibly be. If I were into conspiracy theories I'd tell you.
Berujomii -- 07/08/2006, 18:26:40 -- #28649

Your unbelief is as sour as that of Thomas Covenant - saline and unpleasant. I have rss feed from Reuters, I get worldwide news from the newsnow feed. I login to the world health organization regularly. Newsnow alone gives me up to date information from thousands of newspapers and magazines on the subject. One blog I call, his name is Bob Gleeson, he just had a meeting with Congress last week on the subject. As far as hollywood, the movie fatal contact was created by ABC and remains the only movie or creation of a nonscientist regarding the situation. So my information is correct, up-to-date and as accurate as can possibly be. If I were into conspiracy theories I'd tell you. And you never told me who the neo-cons are, maybe your own little conspiracy theory?
Scot -- 07/11/2006, 00:56:40 -- #28674

This forum is not intended for people to be defensive of their positions. Once you state your position in a forum, leave it at that. Your job is not to convince people or try to prove that you are right, you job is to state your position as clearly as possible so that people who read it can make intelligent decisions based on what you wrote. Then, you sit back and see what happens without arguing. Debate teams have to do it this way. In some debate situations you get a chance for one rebuttal, but often you don't even get that. This is how I like to run these forums or else they get messy.
Berujomii -- 07/19/2006, 23:28:22 -- #28841

I can't figure out how to make the blog
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
7 -- 07/22/2006, 22:33:25 -- #28898

next to the welcome screen link above is the jazz piano blogs link. Clicking on it brings you to the master blog page. Click on the make a new blog entry link, and you're in business.
Berujomii -- 07/26/2006, 19:10:37 -- #28958
Orientation
Tomorrow is my orientation for the CNA class, wish me luck. Everything hinges on this appointment, the biggest appointment I've had so far this year.
Berujomii -- 07/29/2006, 17:12:58 -- #28977
bird flu
I'll post in my blog later today or tomorrow, but the cases of suspected bird flu in thailand was 44 yesterday and now a total 113 suspected cases.
Berujomii -- 07/31/2006, 23:39:10 -- #29018
Bird Flu
Suspected cases of bird flu in Thailand now up to 131, up from 44 cases three days ago. Yesterday at 113, then dropped to 80, now up to 131 cases.
Berujomii -- 07/31/2006, 23:39:35 -- #29019

Remember, flu season is normally between october and march
Berujomii -- 08/01/2006, 16:59:40 -- #29035

Sorry, I was actually hoping for a little interaction and you can't write messages that I know of to someone else's blog (unless you can and how???)
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
Scot -- 08/02/2006, 12:42:30 -- #29042

Beru, what you could do is create your own room in the "Off Campus" area called Bird Flu or whatever you want. Then you could post whatever you like and people could respond. It's the appropriate area on the site to do that.
Scot -- 08/08/2006, 19:45:04 -- #29195

This is really interesting. Bush probably won't read it: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/constitutionincrisis
Berujomii -- 08/09/2006, 17:33:24 -- #29215

I passed my CNA entrance exam!!!
Berujomii -- 08/09/2006, 23:10:59 -- #29225

I passed the CNA entrance exam.
Scot -- 08/10/2006, 04:39:48 -- #29229

Good job!
Scot -- 08/12/2006, 09:39:24 -- #29274
New solar technology
Here's the future, it's pretty cool: http://www.nanosolar.com/
20% off the entire Jamey Aebersold collection!
Berujomii -- 08/14/2006, 16:30:50 -- #29299

Well, at least I passed that horrible test. They had really hard puzzle questions. I'm sure I only passed by about 2 questions.
Berujomii -- 08/19/2006, 17:32:25 -- #29378

Well, I passed the first step of tuberculosis testing yesterday, which was a relief. I recieved three shots, actually, and thought the tb shot was in the shoulder (two in the shoulder, one in my forearm). My shoulder got all red and I freaked out. I really want this job and don't want to live with tb. However, the tb shot was the one in the forearm and I didn't even get redness, let alone a bump. My final shot for tb is tuesday, then I go in that friday to get checked. Then I get the rest of my shots, like rubella, mumps, even chicken pox.
Berujomii -- 08/19/2006, 17:34:37 -- #29379

Being a cna is going to probably be a no-brainer. I've already researched the job description on the internet. Things like the beds have to be made right, any wrinkles can cause bedsores. I'll be the one providing basic care. I want to work at a hospital like harborview, then my second choice is at an old folks home, but I'm not going to be a chore worker cuz I have no car and am really poor with directions. Chore workers go directly to patient's homes to do things like exercises and etc.
Berujomii -- 09/26/2006, 19:53:05 -- #30083

Good news, my shots are basically done so school is on for the winter quarter. I'll be doing 6.5 hour days, three days a week, after which I'll be able to take a state exam to become a CNA.
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