Sarah Palin

I have not said anything about her because of several reasons. First, she's not nearly as crucial to the Republican Party as pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity would have people believe. Second, she's not really worth talking about. I thought she was a lightweight, a soft politician unable to think for herself.

This former beauty queen who is a maverick unto herself doesn't have the right character to be an elected official. If anyone criticizes her right or wrong, she has to attack them with legal proceedings. I know from just being a Political Science major that its a tough field. Politicians are built of tougher stuff than the average citizen. For her to cry foul on every statement, joke or insinuation about her or her family shows her naiveté and vulnerability. The fact that she allegedly looks for criticism reveals that she is more concerned with what others think of her than her job.

By constantly needing to "set the record straight" she actually creates a bigger firestorm. Lunging at all who say anything gives nameless and faceless bloggers a bigger podium form which to reach a larger audience. Also, by calling what we do the "record" is to give us far more credit than we deserve. I'm neither her constituent nor a fellow party-member (I'm a lib lib - that's Liberal Libertarian). She owes me nothing! But I can still criticize her to my heart's content. But does what I say become a record that can be used against her in a court of law? NO! I doubt I even have any effect on any voter's mind!

Now that she has announced her resignation as Governor of Alaska she has proven many of her critics correct. She lacked the integrity to stick to the job at hand. Instead she let her ballooning and evermore cartoonish profile overwhelm her. Her "personality" became bigger than the office she held but not in the way anyone would want. It also increased her political vulnerability because those in the Alaskan government knew she had something fragile to protect: her national image, her brand. Book deals and lecture circuits are far more lucrative than the pitiful Office of Alaska Governor.

I am angry at Moose Hunter Barbie! She has set women back a decade. It may be harder for anyone to take a female Presidential Candidate seriously. Thus far, we've achieved Secretary of State thrice and Speaker of the House once. The Glass Ceiling is still the Presidential Ticket. In addition, her public face helps to reinforce a stereotype that women have increasingly worked to obliterate. The ignorant, sheltered, naive soccer/hockey mom whose ambitions go only as far as her hairdo! A woman who cares more about what others think rather than how she has lived her life. It seems her biggest problem is that instead of thinking, she just reacts. To Everything!

So like any young insecure girl uncomfortable with what she has, she stays with the "in-crowd". The trend right now is to distrust all government. Glenn Beck, a political commentator who recently left CNN for Fox News, has pointed out repeatedly how little we can trust our elected officials (Common Sense, Beck). If Palin is reading her tea leaves, she probably sees herself in the grouping that are currently unpopular. So, like a teen girl who must be seen in the latest fashion, she bails on her state in favor of more money and a maverick image that few take seriously.

I sincerely wish her luck with whatever she does. I don't think it matters much. Mostly, I think she's gunning for Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin or Laura Ingraham's job or at least their profiles and bloated bank accounts. Though I'd remind her that these women have what they have by inviting criticism! They sell more books by being polarizing and pushing so far to the right. They have what they have because of their thick skins and ability to use other's anger against them (which though I disagree with much of what they think, say and do, I do applaud this rare characteristic). I have serious reservations about Palin's ability to survive jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

On a personal note: I am an unemployed College Student who has next to nothing. Try and sue me!

Launches, sinkings, and a beer?

We are now at T+48 hours since Super Tuesday. And there is still plenty going on. Super Tuesday would be exciting on its own, but it feel a month into primary season. The Republican method of primary voting and accumulation of delegates favors a winner-take-all (WTA) method. The Democratic method favors a long slugfest. It will take longer for a nominee to emerge and assume the crown because it they split the delegate proportionally. Hence, a candidate could get more delegates by winning less states. But this is not something I should have to go over.

The reason I bring it up is that pundits like Bill O'Reilly have outlined a scenario (and I think Dick Morris who is bitter toward the Clintons since they ruined his career and the only people who will hire him are Fox) where Obama wins the most delegates but the Super Delegates decide to go with Clinton at the convention. He says there will be a riot and that they will tear the arena down.

If one were to seriously consider Bill O'Reilly's wishful ranting, the democrats would all tear each thoer eyes out on network television for the Conservative power mongers to gloat over. First of all, I don't think it will get that bad. Second, are you really serious? Have you been to a Democratic anything? Democrats won't even yell a person out of the room. Since I'm in the Democratic party, I can't say I've ever felt violence toward another Democrat. I honestly think that Bill O'Reilly would just like to see this happen. A fractured Democratic party would make his day.

On to something that is not political for a minute. There was a shuttle launch. It was not impressive. That is if you consider the better launch pictures that have been done. Come on NASA!!!! Give us a night launch.




Yeah!!!!!!!!!!! That's more like it. Thats what I call a launch!!!!!!



Ok, so there were a lot gun toting violence lately. The deaths at a Lane Bryant recently, the home in LA with the SWAT team taking a casualty along with 4 other people. Now some guy in Kentucky opens fire on a city hall meeting. So, was there something in the stars I didn't see? Like the constellation gunus loadus? There sure are a bunch of crazies running around getting their crazy on.

Speaking of crazies... John McCain went to CPAC (I really couldn't help myself... I really love politics but I'm usually not so mean... and that's nice for politics). Before he could speak Mitt Romney did. He said that he couldn't be the one to blame if the Democrats got the White House. The Democrats he claims, would allow us to be defeated by surrendering the war in Iraq. So, he suspended his campaign. This means he has pulled out. He's still in denial. The Mitt Romney ship has sunk. All right.... it hit a sand bar... but it lost almost all of its sails.... or its in a dead calm.... something....

Before McCain got up to speak, cons at the con (heh) were switching their Romney T-shirts for McCain t-shirts. How astounding: the red headed stepchild of the Republican party at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Group) where even they can't stick to their convictions and principles [grind teeth].

I'm not a conservative. There are beliefs I hold that are conservative but I will not consider myself a conservative for some pretty big reasons. 1. I like people of all types and refuse to be exclusionary and/or intolerant. 2. I think religion is for the church/synagoge/temple/home. It has no place in politics, as part of domestic policy or the basis for laws. No one should expect a country to be made in the mold of a particular faith. Its unfair and intolerant. It infringes other people's 1st amendment rights. 3. I use reason and logic. I think therefore I am not conservative or liberal. You all have your neuroses and need therapy.

To me, McCain is like that. He doesn't judge a person by their party but takes time to get to know them as people. He reminds me a bit of professor of history (a subject McCain likes) who is a bit more hippie than McCain but he is still on of those guys who likes to get to know his students as people. McCain does that with his fellow Senators and enjoys meetings of the mind with them. I've said this before and I'll say it again: We need someone with a proven record of working with the other party. McCain has that.

I watched the speech with baited breath. Hell, I'd been waiting for this one. First, cowboy boot wearing George "macaca" Allen of Virginia introduced Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. I can't help but wonder if not for that video in 2006, would Allen be running and winning this nomination? Anyways, Tom Coburn came out and talked about McCain's courage. Coburn might be commended for his courage, too. In the late '90's, he locked horns with then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich because the Republican led Congress was spending just like the Democrats had been before they had taken over. Nothing had changed and the "Contract with America" was in shambles. He's also worked with Senator Obama. I'd say he like McCain is not afraid to work with someone who has a "D" attached to their name. He also has the regret of his remarks against the airing of Schindler's List to contend with for the rest of his life.

But getting on to the speech itself. I liked it. It was perfect, quiet, John McCainness and simple. He didn't get into specifics which is fine. There were some real nice parts. Like the boo that turned into a cheer. I'll call it a beer. I have no idea why this happened. I only saw McCain do this sort of beseeching shrug that he does. It always seems like his arms are awkward for him. I blame that on the fact that the range of motion in his arms is limited. I believe he cannot raise them to a certain point.

Anyways, this beer started out with the crowd booing when he brought up immigration. I understand their reason for doing that. McCain worked with Ted Kennedy, the living God of Democrats, to formulate a bill on immigration that ultimately failed. He admits to this. It was a so-called "path to citizenship". I'm with the conservatives on immigration but I'm also with McCain. I find immigrants to be criminals. They broke our laws to get in here and continue to break them with their continued presence here. I won't generalize and get into statements of tenement housing and bad driving. These are stereotypes that are as dangerous as general statements about Jews and Roman Catholics.

But, as much as they broke laws and entered our nation illegally, which means they have little respect for a nation's government and lack integrity, there needs to be a solution that works for everyone. We cannot throw the 12+ million people back to Mexico. This would be a humanitarian disaster. It would destroy Mexico. Some would welcome this but hold on a second! Destroying Mexico would not help us but rather, hurt us. If their fragile economy collapses due to a sudden influx of people that it cannot support, we'd have to prop up the flagging economy anyway.

The other option is to figure out a way to reduce the illegal immigrants coming across our border and to get those here to become citizens so they can pay into a system they already benefit from. Getting them out would be far more problematic and violent. No one wants the blood of another country's citizens, criminals or not, on their hands. So, the compromise that he made with Kennedy is justified.

But this boo... as it progressed, it turned into a cheer. A loud and resounding cheer. I don't know if Allen and Coburn started scowling at the audience since they were told to be nice. Maybe conservatives saw it within themselves to be nice. I'd like to know what actually happened there in the ballroom because they certainly didn't show it on TV.

And did you see the covereage of CPAC on Fox? I nornally watch CNN or MSNBC but considering the nature of this speech, getting reaction from the conservatives themselves would be key. But Fox did something that I find reprehensible. Look at the picture below. See if you can pick put out any errors.

That's right!!! Fox has democratized John McCain (I'm taking credit for this new use of the word right now) . They misidentify any republican they want to and claim its a typo. The odds that there'd would be these typos at moments when the Republican party is in a crises or, like when Mark Foley admitted one of their own screws up and only these times are slim. The odds of that each time these mistakes occur, it would always be a "D" is even more slim. I'm no mathematician but I understand probability and randomness from my experience as a pollster and working in statistics. There is no way that Fox can stand by their assertions. At least not without knowing how stupid they look. If I were self-respecting journalist, I could not work with/for Fox without either walking away from this excuse for a "fair and balanced" news outfit or losing my integrity for remaining with them. What a fucking joke!!!!!!!

All right, this post has gone on long enough. I did want to add some clips from The Daily Show from Wednesday night. Jon Stewart takes on the coverage of the primaries on the News outlets. Enjoy!!!



and this!



Ok, The moment of Zen, too.



Bonne Soiree!!!!!!

McCain wins big; Dems split vote

So, Super Tuesday has happened.

Mike Huckabee was definitely the surprising force of the night. He started out winning West Virginia which had a convention. This began Mitt Romney's cry that there was some backroom deal between McCain and Huckabee. Here's why: the WV convention is basically run as two rounds of voting. After the first round, when the McCain supporters realized there was no way they could win, moved their support to Huckabee.

I will address this on two fronts. First, there has been some suspicion that McCain has bee n making deals ala Survivor to gain the nomination of the Republican Party. It has been suggested that he asked Thompson, who stood no legitimate chance of winning, to stay in through South Carolina to run interference for McCain. The same thing is believed to have occurred with Rudy Guiliani in Florida. Guiliani and McCain are known to be friends as Thompson is as well. McCain tends to appeal the center and has political friends who are centrists. I'll even throw Colin Powell in there though I've never read that they were friends but I can definitely see the two of them getting along. Hell, Joe Lieberman is running around with McCain!!! Maybe that bothers the conservatives: a liberal Connecticut Orthodox Jew is supporting a Republican.

Second, that's politics!!!! Anyone knows that those things happen. Its the nature of the game. Even though Romney outspent both his opponents by millions, it was all for not. And he cried foul after that West Virginia convention which was the first contest called of the day. What a whiny, little pussy!

Though I will grant this: McCain is winning for some unexplainable reason. He didn't win the conservative vote. The Southern Cons went for Huckabee and the Northern cons went for Romney. He won amongst moderate Republicans who are anti-war (which he is not) and those in favor of aboritionrights (which I won't try to qualify him on. He is pro-life but has also been on record saying the alternative would be worse). I like him because he is pragmatic. I like someone who is more concerned with being practical and making sense than satisfying idealogues who want someone to do their bidding. McCain has been rebellious since about the age of 8 and is unapologetically so. I want a president who thinks for himself. The alternative is a government run by committee.

Radio blowhards are just attacking him. Conservative Talk Radio is just plain babble. These village idiots with their radio soapboxes are ranting about how they cannot stand the other side. Rush Limbaugh vilifies McCain for reaching across the aisle to work with the other party. All Limbaugh is doing is proofing the rest of the country right: Conservatives are smug, hateful and cold people who would rather hate their fellow American than learn to live with them.

And I hate (not really, but it sure sounds good) to break it to Conservative Republicans but he is the last hope for your broken down, mean little party. This is the party that gave us Abraham Lincoln who felt that after the Civil War, the north should reach out to help the South and not grind the Confederate states under the northern boot. Somehow, I feel that empathy is missing.

Americans are tired of the "My way or the highway" approach to politics. It is fracturing this country and is leading us down the path of destruction. People are fed up with neo-conservatism. True conservatism, which is what McCain is closer to, is preferable compared to the shit that Bush, Limbaugh and all their ilk keep shoveling down our throats. I think they're poor sports and bad losers just like Romney.

On the Democratic side there isn't really much to talk about. Hillary lost her voice in the days leading up to the primaries. She was fighting a cold. She cried at one point on Monday. When all was said and done, she had won the more populous states whilst Obama had taken the less populous ones but more of them.

The races coming up on Saturday: Louisiana, the caucus in Washington, Democrats in Nebraska, Republicans in Kansas and as well as the Democratic primary in the Virgin Islands which like American Samoa, can vote in primary but has no voice in the general election. On Sunday, Maine holds its Democratic primary in Maine. There will be a Potomac primary is next Tuesday. This is a primary that I am more interested in. It is the states of Virginia and Maryland and Washington, D.C. Look for LOTS of press on that day. it won't be near the juggernaut that last night was but it will be important.

Tidbits: Clinton saying "missourah". She's from Illinois. She should be saying Misery.

"What we've got here is failure to communicate"

Could it really be possible? Is Iraq in a civil war? Or are they just playing? When is this administration going to wake up and smell the shit they've been shovelling? Don't answer that...

Colin Powell, former Secretary of State, and before that, Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff (shouldn't that be cheives?) and he was also National Security Advisor to Reagan. Anyways, he has kind of been the voice of reason in the Republican Party. But that should not surprise anyone. He's the most moderate man in public service aside from John McCain, though McCain is starting to look a little too red. Regardless, he's one of those rare men: he can see both sides of the issue and look at things objectively. Now, if only we could get more journalists like him. He opposed going into Iraq as we did and has even been known to call Neoconservatives "fucking crazies" (I have a source). He's pro-choice and for affirmitive Action. When he resigned from his jpb as Secretary of State, one cannot help but wonder (at least, I can't) that it had something to do with his 1) dragging his heels on Iraq, 2)stating that we needed UN backing before going into Iraq not to mention the nation's support and 3) calling neocons "crazies" even if they are. They're crazy! What do you think they will do to you?

Yeah. That Guy. By the way, check out that cheesy grin. Sort of scary that a retired General can smile like that. (Note: Do not get the high resolution picture on Wikipedia. There is no reason to see anyone at a resolution of 2400x3000. NO ONE!)

Colin Powell has come out and said Iraq'a in a civil war. Just admit and move on. Current NSA dude Stephen Hadley said "We're clearly in a new phase characterized by an increase in sectarian violence that requires us to adapt to that new phase". Well, I'm glad that cleared up. Since no one in the White House will say it. It might look bad. But even Iraq's government is shirking this detail. Hadley also said "The Iraqis don't talk of it as a civil war. The unity government doesn't talk of it as a civil war". Because there is no clear grab for power or territory, its not a civil war. What the hell was the British Civil War? They fought for power thereby control of the country, i.e. territory. Ugh...

Moving on because stupidity is depressing. Fiji might have another coup. Sweet! Lets have some action! Apparently, the Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase wanted to offer leaders of the 2000 coup some amnesty. He had two bills presented to the parliament proposing that. Commodore Frank Bainimarama, leader of the Fijian military forces, was a little ticked. He asked for the MP to resign in mid October. In return, Qarase tried to sack him. It didn't work. Now, New Zealand and Australia, both a bit concerned over possible instability in the region, have arranged talks, but negotiations have been unsuccessful.

The military began "practicing" in case of international intervention. But it looks more like preparation for overthrow. And the residents know it. They are stokpiling goods and cash. Even if there isn't a coup, they may destroy their small country's banking system. Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain have expressed concern about travelling there and Australia is pulling workers out of its embassy there. Wait and see!

The case of Alexander Litvinenko (the pictures at right are him: Before and After his poisoning) gets even bigger. Let me give a brief rundown on this man. Alexander Litvinenko was once a KGB (КГБ (Committee for State Security)) agent (as was Vladimir Putin). Later, he worked for the FSB (ФСБ (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation)). In 1998, he began making accusations of killings, extortions and so forth. Eventually he'd spend some time in prison. While awaiting trial in 2000, he fled to Turkey and rejoined his wife, Marina, and son, Anatoly. He had no passport but he managed to make it into the United Kingdom on Political Asylum. He wrote a couple of books detailing how the FSB blew up apartments to further give rise to oppositition of the Chechen rebels and help Putin win election. He became a citizen if the UK in October of this year.

He had received papers from Mario Scaramella concerning the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. She was shot in the elevator of her apartment building on October 7th. On November 1st, the day he acquired the documents, he also met with two former KGB officers. But Oleg Gordievsky, a long time friend of Litvinenko's, believed the poisoning happened at the flat of a Russian friend. He had tea there before meeting Scaramella (who has since gone into hiding) at Itsu, a sushi restaurant, in Piccadilly.

He is believed now to have been poisoned with Pulonium 210. This is a highly rare substance that an only be made in a nuclear reactor. And the half life on it assures that it was not stolen from stores that the USSR had and were easily taken after the collapse. Yegor Gaidar, a former acting Primie Minsiter under Boris Yeltsin, was found unconscious in Ireland on Novemeber 28. His health is not good and raises even more suspicions after Litvinenko's November 23rd death. A Post Mortem examination is scheduled for today and there has evidnce of radiation has been found on two British Airlines planes.

Well, I need to do some back on this day stuff. There were a lot of important things that happened through out history on this date. For example, The November Uprising of the poles against the Russian happened November 29, 1830. In 1890, the Meiji Constitution took affect in Japan. Yugoslavia became the Federal people's Republic of Yougoslavia in 1945 (aka they became Commies).

In 1967, Robert S. MacNamara resigned as Secretary of Defence amidst bungling of that era's quagmire, Vietnam.

And finally....You see that map at the top? that is the United Nations Partition as devised in 1947 for Palestine. Today, in 1947, the UN voted to go forward with partition. A month later, the Arab League met in Cairo to devise their own military solution to partition. We now have Eretz Israel (ארץ ישראל) and Palestine (فلسطين‎ ). Someone actually asked me where the name Palestine came from. Its from the Phillistines. They have long since been gone but their name still continues.

✡

Elections....

So, its been two days since election day. And three weeks since I posted anything. Let's just say, I needed the break. In fact, there are still things I should be doing like a mid-term and a presentation tomorrow but, eh...

The House is now controlled by the Democrats. If you didn't hear about this, put down the funnies. Nancy Pelosi, a congresswoman from the gloriously liberal city of San Francisco will indeed be the new Speaker of the House. Dennis Hastert, the outgoing Speaker of the House and Republican from the weird as all fuck state of Illinois (I'm from there, I can say that), has stated he will not seek any leadership positions in the new house.

It is not clear if the Senate will be controlled by any party. The Senate race in Virginia between George Allen and Jim Webb has not been completely decided. Due to the slim margin, there is a recount going on. Allen's people have stated that he does not wish to drag this out. This is the last thing to decide before control can be determined. It would come down to 49 senators for both parties and two independents, both from New England. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat until he lost the primary to Ned Lamont, ran as an independent this year due to backlash for being pro-Iraq war.

Bernie Sanders, the only independant in the House, will take over for outgoing independant Senator, Jim Jeffords. This is an interesting story. Sanders is a Democratic socialist. Jeffords was a Republican until 2001 when the GOP shunned him enough to make him flee the party. So, he decided not to run again and is seat was won by another independant, albeit, a very different independant. So, does this make Vermont the capital of Independant thinking, or what?

Both Senators have stated publicly that they will caucaus with the Democrats. Lieberman is still a registered Democrat and may literally announce his decision to remain a Democrat. One can switch their party affiliations without any conscience or consultation with say their constituency. Just ask that fucker Norm Coleman from Minnesota. He was elected as the mayor of St. Paul as a Democrat (from New York, no less), then two years into his term, he decides he wants to be a Republican (granted the DFL party ain't lemonade and sweetcakes). St. Paul elected a Democrat and got a Republican. Let me tell ya, they felt gypped. So, go ahead Joe.

President Bush held a press conference yesterday and was properly humble. He announced that Donald Runsfeld, one of his toadies, would resign from his office as Secretery of Defence. He will be replaced by former CIA cheif Robert Gates who also ran the Iraq War Study Group. Apparently, this was in the works prior to election night. Why choose to announce it the day after the election? Well, it looks like Bush is listening to us. It also would have smacked of political ploy (more than it does now?) if he had done it in the last days of the election. I suppsoe the saying "The Buck Stops Here" means very little to the president. However, he took the blame for his party's loss this week to the outrageously motivated Democratic party.

And this is a loss for the GOP. The Democrats did not win the election. It was merely the GOP doing poorly. With Mark Foley and the fallout from that, the stupid asinine things Republicans did and the fact that a one-party government with no concerns for the largest sector of the country (the Middle Fucking Class!!!) was doing nothing to help them might have done it. When the Republican Party starts to regroup and figure out what they did wrong, I hope they realize it was not soley the war that turned voters off. It was the cronyism, response to Hurricane Katrina, the Religious Right, contracts for Halliburton and anyone else in Iraq, No Child Left Behind, Macaca, The Faith-Based Initiative, Arrogance, Karl Rove, Record profits for Exxon-Mobil, Dick Cheney's Shadow Government...

I could go on and I likely will. There are more things that leave middle class voters with a bad taste in their mouths. But I think nearly 3,000 dead is also one of them. Those who've died in Iraq for a cause that many of us are uncertain about should never be discounted. THese men and women are fighting and dying in service to our country. Our reasons for going into this war were vague and proved uncredible. Yet, we must remain until the job is done. My reasons for stating this is history. In 1983, there was an attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut. Over 200 marines were killed (and some Navy and Army personell) and the US left Lebanon. This was followed up by our hasty withdrawal from Iraq in 1991 after then President George Herbert Walker Bush told the Kurds and Shi'ites to rise up against Saddam Hussein. Regardless of how anyone feels about the war, we have to continue until the job is done and done well or we will be seen as the country who can't follow through with shit in the Middle East. That, dear readers, is what is at stake now.

Moving on to local politics: Amy Klobuchar, the Hennepin County Attorney, was elected to the Senate seat being vacated by fellow DFLer Mark Dayton. The margin of victory for Klobuchar was 1,278,915 to Mark Kennedy's 837,484. In precentages, that's 58% of total votes for Klobuchar to Kennedy's 38%. There were 87,324 votes cast beetween Independence (Ventura's formerly named Reform Party), the Green Party and the Constitution party.

Colleen Rowley, the FBI whistleblower, who lives literally down the street from me, did not win
the 2nd Congressional District here in Minnesota. The seat was won by its incumbant, John Kline, a man who once carried the "football" for Reagan.

To many here in Minnesota, the re-election of Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty was a surprise. As the night went on it appeared at one point that Hatch had a sizable and insurmountable lead over the Governor. But when all the ballots were counted, Pawlenty had won a second term. The margin of victory was slim: 21,132 votes seperate the two. Independence party Peter Hutchinson, a far cry form the flamboyant Jesse Ventura, yet endorsed by him, won 6% of the vote. While this is, yes, not enough to win, it does enable the party to gain more public funding for campaigns. This can only help to build the party to be an even stronger and legitimate voice here in Minnesota. That is a good thing.

One other point about the Minnesota Gubernatorial Election this year: the withdrawal of Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey. This Satanist and Vampire announced his candidacy for Governor on Friday the 13th of January. On the 31st of that month, after his schoolbus driver wife lost her job due to being Wiccan, he was arrested for stalking, fleeing and I think faking his own death. His trial was supposed to begin in July but I've heard nothing on him. The man also founded the Vampires, Witches and Pagan party last year. One can only imagine what happened to that.

On this day, in 1989, an event occured that changed my life forever. After 28 or so years, the wall dividing Berlin was opened. East and West Germany ceased to exist as seperate entities. Since that day, I've looked at the world with a different view. I've seen what can be done when people work, strive, dream, hope... for change. I have since then devoured the news looking for more stories like this. Well, I really just love the news. But my desire to work in the field of politics, NGOs, diplomacy or journalism was sparked by seeing people dancing on the Berlin Wall.

That's about it from here. Currently, CNN is reporting that Ed Bradley, correspondent for CBS' 60 Minutes, has died of Leukemia at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. I can't help but be a little sad as another of my heroes passes. His candor and style will be sorely missed.

Perverts! Liars! Terrorists! Oh My!

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Fascism? Surely you jest!

I've always wanted to live on the East Coast somewhere like around North Carolina or Virginia. I'm rethinking that dream right now. Tropical Storm Ernesto, which really isn't much of a storm anymore, may in fact move in a Northeasterly direction back out to the Atlantic Ocean. If it does mind you, the chances are it will reorganize and restrengthen. If it stays out there, say 24 hours, and then hits Virgina or Maryland, it could come onshore as a Category 1, possibly higher, hurricane. So, Ernesto is not finished with his meandering journey nor are we done with him.

And speaking of hurricanes, there's one out in the Pacific Ocean. One would think we'd call them Cyclones or something else but apperently in the East Pacific (by us), hurricane is still the name of choice. These storms form off the coast of Mexico. However, they have never affected us (meaning California. Wouldn't that be a great headline: "Hurricane targets Hollywood for destruction") and usually affect Mexico and Central America. Hurricane John has strengthened to a Category 4 storm. This means its packing winds of at least 130 mph. Areas affected by this storm range between Acapulco and Cabo Corrientes with Puerto Vallarta included.

According to CNN, the GOP have a new buzzword and that word is fascism. Normally I'd be applying it to them because of their dogmatic, nationalist worldview. But the unpopular war in Iraq means they need to sell us what they're shovelling in a different way. Fascism is an ideology focused on nationalism, militarism, corporatism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism, anti-liberalism and not to mention, authoritarianism and a ton of over-the-top propaganda. If you are thinking of Hitler and Mussolini then you'd be on target. It has never been popular like it was before and during World War II but it is out there as Nazi persist in existing.

Going so far now as to call Radical Islamic terrorists fascists may indeed be the right way to go. Terrorism in merely the method a faction or party chooses to demonstrate to the world that they mean business and want... whatever it is they want. Fascism is more palpable. One can remember what fascists have done especially Europeans. You tell Europeans they need to fight terrorists, they have to ask "Which ones?" and "Aren't they only terrorists when their on the other side? They're freedom fighters otherwise." But you'd never call the Nazis freedom fighters. They're evildoers which brings us right back to Bush's original label for terrorists. Kudos to Bush and his cronies for stumbling upon the old term. They must've heard the rest of us using it.