This is just sad

I lifted this from South Knox Bubba:

First in acid rain!
Thursday June 24, 2004

Smokies most polluted national park in America:
Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been designated once again as the most-polluted national park in America.

The report also concludes that views that should range from 80 to 117 miles average only 20 miles in the summer. The Park, according to the conservation groups, also records the highest acid precipitation levels of all monitored national parks.

"Three of the five most-polluted national parks are situated fairly near to and downwind from clusters of power plants," said Appalachian Voices Chairman Harvard Ayers in a press release. "Between the power plants and parks are towns where people breathe the same polluted air."

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia were number two and three respectively. Gee, I wonder which cluster of power plants they could be talking about?

If you've ever been out Bubba's way, you know how beautiful his corner of the world is. I've been priveliged to drive through there many times when heading home on leave and it's sad to see this land spoiled thanks to bureaucratic mismanagement. You can thank the Tennessee Valley Authority for this fiasco.

The costs of war

Via Melanie at Just a Bump in the Beltway:

From the Institute for Policy Studies:

Paying the Price: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War

U.S. Military Deaths: Between the start of war on March 19, 2003 and June 16, 2004, 952 coalition forces were killed, including 836 U.S. military. Of the total, 693 were killed after President Bush declared the end of combat operations on May 1, 2003. Over 5,134 U.S. troops have been wounded since the war began, including 4,593 since May 1, 2003.

Contractor Deaths: Estimates range from 50 to 90 civilian contractors, missionaries, and civilian worker deaths. Of these, 36 were identified as Americans.

Journalist Deaths: Thirty international media workers have been killed in Iraq, including 21 since President Bush declared the end of combat operations. Eight of the dead worked for U.S. companies.

[. . .]

Low U.S. Credibility: Polls reveal that the war has damaged the U.S. government's standing and credibility in the world. Surveys in eight European and Arab countries demonstrated broad public agreement that the war has hurt, rather than helped, the war on terrorism. At home, 54 percent of Americans polled by the Annenberg Election Survey felt that the "the situation in Iraq was not worth going to war over."


Military Mistakes: A number of former military officials have criticized the war, including retired Marine General Anthony Zinni, former commander of the U.S. Central Command, who has charged that by manufacturing a false rationale for war, abandoning traditional allies, propping up and trusting Iraqi exiles, and failing to plan for post-war Iraq, the Bush Administration made the United States less secure.


Low Troop Morale and Lack of Equipment: A March 2004 army survey found 52 percent of soldiers reporting low morale, and three-fourths reporting they were poorly led by their officers. Lack of equipment has been an ongoing problem. The Army did not fully equip soldiers with bullet-proof vests until June 2004, forcing many families to purchase them out of their own pockets.

Read the whole report here.

PDF

Fucking Bush and his Ship of Fools. Little boys playing with soldiers but, unlike GI Joe, real soldiers die. As I said in the past, we wasted resources in Iraq that we could have used to build goodwill in the world. These amateur assholes can't fathom that people don't respond well to bullys, let alone snap to at the point of a gun. Idiots.

What's going on here?

From the AP via Jim Hightower:

Court Won't Order Cheney Papers Released

By GINA HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer, June 22, 2004

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court refused Thursday to order the Bush administration to make public secret details of Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites)'s energy task force, but kept the case alive by sending it back to a lower court.

[. . .]

The decision extends the legal fight over the information. Justices could have allowed a judge to immediately move ahead with ordering the release of the papers.

[. . .]

Thursday's decision buys the administration more time. If it loses in the appeals court, the administration can return to the Supreme Court in another extended appeal before having to release information as to whether Cheney's task force was cozy with energy executives, including those with his former company, Halliburton.

[. . .]

The suing groups allege the industry representatives in effect functioned as members of the government panel, which included Cabinet secretaries and lower-level administration employees. The open government law requires advisory committees with nongovernment members to conduct their business in public, and allow the public to inspect their records.

Until the government produces some records it won't be clear who drafted the government's policies, lawyers for the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch argued.

Now, unlike many on the Left, I still give the Supreme Court Justices the benifit of the doubt after the 2000 election. I don't believe they are accessories to the rape of the nation that November, I sure as hell don't want to believe it, but they dropped the ball here. With all the questionable dealings concerning the Bush Administration vis a vis Enron, these documents and meeting minutes should be made available. In a sense, the Supremes are obstructing justice here. A state governor was brought down over California's energy crisis, a crisis evidence suggests was manufactured by energy corporations in an effort to bilk the citizens of California. I mean, after all, the Justices are officers of the court, aren't they?

Update 17:25: Lambert at Corrente isn't as generous toward SCOTUS as I am.

Ugh

Well, had dinner and drinks with the King of the Jews and a good time was had by all, until I opened my eyes this morning. Boy am I fuzzy. Mrs. F had more fun than the rest of us and she's doing better than I. With the hangover I have, I'll probably set customer relations back 20 years at work today. Oy! Well, gotta get ready, off to the mines.

The list

The industrious South Knox Bubba publishes an "updated list of Bush accomplishments so far". This one torqued my sphincter more than most of the others:

Appoints administration made up of former executives and government officials who helped Saddam develop WMD, were involved in illegal arms sales, traded with the enemy in violation of U.S. law, and whose companies now profit from war.

How can people still support this guy? Oy! Well, gotta get ready, have a good night.

Pleasant dreams.

You gotta be shitting me

Remember what I said yesterday about Jack Ryan, Illinois Senate candidate? Well, Eschaton reports that good ol' Rick Santorum, that right wing whacko senator from Pennsylvania is holding fundraisers for Ryan. Despite the fact that they're throwing good money after bad in light of yesterday's revelations, what in Hell is the self-proclaimed Moral Arbiter of the United States doing standing up for this sex fiend? In light of yesterday's revelations, of course.

Actress Jeri Ryan accused ex-husband Jack Ryan of insisting she go to "explicit sex clubs" in New York, New Orleans and Paris during their marriage - including "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling."

Santorum is the same guy who equated homosexuality with beastiality and necrophilia. Another Jesus freak fucking asshole. Well one, it seems, who is okay with a little light BDSM and swinging. Hypocritical tight ass.

Oh, and don't forget, it's John Kerry Thursday at Eschaton tomorrow. Give if you can.

Commitments

Light blogging today. Gotta make myself pretty for the King of the Jews this evening. Mrs. F and I are having dinner with him later.

Another thing I keep forgetting to mention. I'm trying not to make product endorsements, just because what works for me might not work for you. However I must make an exception for the place where Mrs. F and I buy our vehicles. If you live on Long Island or the NY Metro Area and you're in the market for a new car, you owe it to yourself to check out Newins Ford in Bay Shore. There is nothing I hate more than salesmen, car salesmen in particular (well, maybe lawyers). Now, I know the car business (too goddamn well), and I warn these assholes that I'm in the business and I don't want their usual sales dog and pony show. Every where I have gone, except Newins, I get the bullshit regardless of what I tell them. It's as if they operate from a script. Now, I don't even consider other dealers. I'm buying a Ford anyway, so I'm not going to competing brands, but there's a choice of Ford dealers and I'm particular about whom I give my money to. After just buying my fourth vehicle from Newins, I would recommend them to anyone, especially their salesman Hal Hickey, who arranges my wife's Explorers and who I bought my truck from. They are here:

Newins Bay Shore Ford
219 West Main Street
Bay Shore, NY 11706
631-665-1300

Sun 11:00 AM-4:00 PM
Mon-Thu 9:00 AM-9:00 PM
Fri-Sat 9:00 AM-6:00 PM

I hope you'll have the same pleasant experiences I did.

Our children and their murderers

Lifted this from Democratic Veteran. Read it here.

Snapshot of a lie

This is what it looks like. Today. The numbers can't go down any more than the lies can be put back in Preznit Dental Appointment's face.

Of the 842 U.S. service members who have died in Iraq since the invasion 15 months ago, 622 were killed by hostile fire, according to a Pentagon tally. The largest part of that combat death toll, 513, has come since President Bush's declaration on May 1 last year that major combat was over.

The Post opines that the deaths are indirectly being caused by Iraqis and foreign fighters who are "seeking to derail" the occupation. Duh.

I guess that with all the RNC Blastfax facilitation that the Post and other media outlets of the SCLM* kind have done since January 2001 it's hard to hold that mirror up to view themselves. I'm guessing about 842 pairs of Lost American eyes stare right back at the SCLM* whores everytime they look towards Iraq.

For the people who think I'm crazy to be as pissed at Bush as I am. Unfortunately, most of you have never served, let alone seen combat. If you would, you would be just as angry as I am over this waste of lives. I'm sick and tired of you people sitting back in your easy chairs, all happy about us 'kicking Arab ass'. If you knew what war was really about, you wouldn't be so gung ho for it, let alone one so unjustified. Time to stop watching Rambo reruns and take a look at the human wreckage in our VA hospitals, goddammit.

*SCLM = So Called Liberal Media

A good day

Well, a pleasant surprise this morning. Our office guy, Not So Dead Ed is back on duty full-time. He still has yet to get a release from the doctor, allowing him to go back to work, but he's sick and tired of hanging around at home. 'Bout time the slacker came back to work. It's good to have him back.

One more

I have been remiss about an enlightened soul, although I do pirate from him regularly. Jonathan Edelstein, better known as The Head Heeb, has his finger on the pulse of the Holy Land and Africa and one of my primary links to news from that part of the world. You should make him a regular stop while you're surfing. I read his insights every day.

Tonight

It'll probably be a light day for me. The King of the Jews (our dear friend Dave from California) is in town and we're having dinner with him. Since he has business in NYC and we live on the Island, we're going to meet at a restaurant equidistant from both which, coincidentally, is not far from where I work. So I'm driving 30 miles home to change can clean up my nasty ass before heading back, meeting Mrs. F at the nearby LIRR station, and then meeting the King. Oy! Anyway, it'll be good to see him, though my productivity at work tomorrow will be much lower than normal thanks to the hangover I'm certain to have. It's worth it. Well, gotta empty the dog and I'm off. Have a good day.

Parsing

Remember when Slick Willie got all funny about the definition of 'is' and the Republicans broke his balls? Well, seems President Bullshit Artist has a different idea of what 'all' means than the rest of us, especially regarding his military records.

Via Lambert at Corrente. Seems the Associated Press is suing to get the complete record from the Department of Defense. Full story.

There are questions as to whether the file provided to the news media earlier this year is complete, says the lawsuit, adding that these questions could possibly be answered by reviewing a copy of the microfilm of Bush's personnel file in the Texas archives.

I really don't care, but there's one document that I haven't seen that would put this all to rest. It's called a DD Form 214. Ask any veteran about it and he (or she, you PC busybodies) will explain it.

I'm livin' large

Melanie over at Just a Bump in the Beltway points out that not only are we pissing away American money in Iraq, we're blowing the Iraqis' money too according to a just-released report from the U.N. Read the full story here.

The Financial Times, which obtained a copy of the report, said the auditors judged the fund to be "open to fraudulent acts".

"The CPA does not have effective controls over the ministries' spending of their individually allocated budgets, whether the funds are direct from the CPA or via the ministry of finance," it quoted the report as saying.

The US-run DFI was mandated by the UN security council to collect and spend Iraqi oil revenues in May last year, but has been dogged from its inception by accusations of a lack of transparency.

Bush and Company are corporate raiders, pure and simple. It would be something if they were good at it, but they're all-around inept morons and everything they touch goes to shit. And they say Dubya has grown up. Ha. When he was a businessman(and a drunken cokehead), he was a failure too.

I like surprises

And the Mrs. just walked in from Jersey, able to beat the horrendous rush hour traffic in the NY Metro Area. I'm happy and the dog's happy. I'll say good night now.

Pleasant dreams.

With friends like these

From the Asia Times:

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan: Grim choices
By Ehsan Ahrari

America's two major allies, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, "played important roles in the growth of al-Qaeda". That is one of the themes filtering out of the information provided by members of the 9-11 Commission in Washington to the American media on a background basis. The brunt of this support or acquiescence, according to those members, existed before the terrorist attacks of 2001.

The troubling aspect of that information is that these members - basing their information from all the information that they have acquired from various classified sources - are claiming that support or acquiescence for al-Qaeda in both those Muslim countries existed even in 2003, more in Saudi Arabia than in Pakistan. The unstated aspect of these contentious assertions is that both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have now turned against al-Qaeda and their hardline Islamist supporters, when those elements threatened the very survival of the two regimes.

Details here.

Who needs fucking enemies?

Morality

Before you try to legislate morality, you'd better be squeaky clean yourself. And yet another Republican crashes and burns, this time it's the GOP candidate for an Illinois Senate seat named Jack Ryan, ex-husband (or soon to be) of Jeri Ryan of Boston Public and Star Trek: Voyager. Billmon has all the dirt over at Whiskey Bar.

Actress Jeri Ryan accused ex-husband Jack Ryan of insisting she go to "explicit sex clubs" in New York, New Orleans and Paris during their marriage - including "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling."

Jack Ryan wanted her to have sex with him while others watched, the star of "Boston Public" alleged...

Now, I give a shit what you want to do in private as long as it's with consenting adults. You want to be caged, gagged, whipped, whatever, have a nut, but don't come off holier than thou and preach to my ass while you're taking it in yours. I smell the stench of hypocrisy, or did you forget to wash that thing off?

Like I always say, people who live in glass houses shouldn't get stoned.

She blinded me with scripture?

Stole this from Kicking Ass:

Sound science

President Bush recently said, "When we make decisions, we want to make sure we do so on sound science; not what sounds good, but what is real." But what does "sound science" mean to him?

Let's see:

• In October 2002, the Bush administration replaced an online fact sheet containing information about condoms with one lacking critical information on condom use and effectiveness.


• Bush's Interior Secretary omitted key studies from her testimony before Congress on oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.


• Bush let industry lobbyists write mercury pollution regulations.


• In 2001, President Bush sent Jeanne Head (of the National Right to Life Committee) as the U.S. representative to the World Health Summit, where the United States is usually represented by professionals from organizations like the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association.

John Kerry, along with 48 Nobel Prize winners, takes issue with Bush's definition of "sound science" — saying that Bush allows ideology to overshadow the facts when determining science policies.

"We need a president who believes in science again in America," said Senator Kerry. Kerry pledged to lift the ban on federal funding of stem cell research, which offers new hope for people with life-threatening illnesses ranging from Alzheimer's to diabetes. Kerry also said that when elected, he would immediately lift the global gag rule, reinstated by Bush on his first day in office in January 2001.

Science? We don't need no stinking science. The Scriptures tell us everything we need to know. Yeesh, I'm off to the mines.

Caution: This is no satire

See what I mean about the Jesus freaks? Ever heard of a Rapture Index? Lifted this directly from their website:

The Purpose For This Index

The Rapture Index has two functions: one is to factor together a number of related end time components into a cohesive indicator, and the other is to standardize those components to eliminate the wide variance that currently exists with prophecy reporting.

The Rapture Index is by no means meant to predict the rapture, however, the index is designed to measure the type of activity that could act as a precursor to the rapture.

You could say the Rapture index is a Dow Jones Industrial Average of end time activity, but I think it would be better if you viewed it as prophetic speedometer. The higher the number, the faster we're moving towards the occurrence of pre-tribulation rapture

These are the type of people running your government. Jesus freaks waiting for The End, presumably happy it's coming so the world will be free of sinners like me. Fucking asshole, rat bastids.

I'm REALLY done

Nite-nite. By the way, I had a steak sandwich and washed it down with a Dos Equis.

Unhappy majority

Mother Jones just ran a poll and what they find is interesting:

Voters remain deadlocked in a partisan divide over which candidate to support, but this split is not indicative of the bipartisan discontent felt by most Americans, a new national poll by Mother Jones reveals*. Nearly two thirds of American voters say the country is "on the wrong track" and most -- including a majority of independents and even many moderate Republicans -- believe that they are personally worse off than three years ago on a broad range of issues, from their tax burden and job opportunities to their access to quality health care and schools. This "discontent gap" between party loyalty and the issues indicates a strategic opening for a candidate who promises real change.

Details here.

*Conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research between May 17 and May 22, this poll of 1,007 registered voters has a margin of error of 3.1 percent for the complete sample, and up to 7 percent for polling of subgroups, such as evangelicals or voters from swing states.

The feeling I get is that this election might not be as close as the pundits think.

Aw, Jeez

Bill at Whiskey Bar comes up with an apt, albeit sad, metaphor.

Contractors, again

About these civilian contractors who are meeting their demise in the Middle East. Now, I feel bad for their families, but these guys knew the risks, especially those going into Iraq. Why in Hell do they think they're getting these great salaries for going there? I knew a guy who worked in Saudi Arabia for quite a few years, and he knew the risks. He worked in Iran too, just before the Shah fell. There are risks, great ones, and those who go over there are aware of them, or they should be. If you're gonna work in a war zone or some other unstable place, you should be prepared for the danger.

Good

Connecticut Governor John Rowland to resign this evening at 6 p.m.

Rowland, who is 47, was easily reelected to a third term in 2002. He's admitted lying about accepting gifts and favors from friends, and he is also accused of helping out a wealthy real estate businessman, making phone calls for him, and earning a wind fall profit in the process.

Full story.

About time the crook left. Another Republican crashes and burns. Good, damn good. Remember Ella Grasso? I miss the old broad. Now she knew how to run Connecticut.

Another reminder

Fahrenheit 9/11 opens Friday. Go see the trailer here.

Drawbacks

One of the drawbacks to Mrs. F going away on business (aside from not having her to curl up with tonight) is that I have to cook for myself. Well, not really. I have to heat something up for myself; she did all the cooking on Saturday. The problem is that I'm a lazy bastid when it comes to food. Eating has never been a priority for me, although Mrs. F's cooking has brought it up quite a few notches. In years past, I would have gone to bed without eating dinner, knowing she'll be home tomorrow and I won't starve, or I would have just eaten some potato chips or some crap. Now I know there's barbecue chicken and steak in the fridge, and some of Mrs. F's homemade cucumber salad and potato salad. but I don't want to have to put it all together and heat up the meat. See, lazy. Makes the Mrs. nuts, but hey, I'd eat burgers for every meal if she'd let me. That makes her crazy too, because that's all I'll eat if she's gone for any length of time. Burgers and dogs, a meal in one pan and I can eat it off a paper towel without using utensils. Only one thing to wash. I guess my being lazy about washing dishes is directly proportional to my enthusiasm for cooking. Or heating stuff up as it were. Oh well, I'll think of something.

Anyway, I'm knocking off, although I might be on later if I'm laying in bed, surfing the Net with my pants around my ankles. I'll say goodnight now, however.

Pleasant dreams.

The Kiwi view

Via Today in Iraq, from the Ashburton Guardian, Ashburton District, New Zealand:

Without in any way denigrating our soldiers’ professionalism, maybe they’d be better off at home.
We’re wasting them in the so-called “war on terrorism”. Sending troops out against terrorists doesn’t work.
The British know. Crack SAS troops fought IRA Provisionals for decades and never looked like defeating them.

[. . .]

Some reports suggest that al Qaeda wants President George W. Bush in the White House for another four years.
Why? Well, for starters, Mr Bush’s Middle East policy is providing a bonanza of new funding and new recruits for al Qaeda. Almost three years after the September 11 atrocity, al Qaeda is flourishing. Instead of being pounded into dust, it’s stronger.
Another reason for al Qaeda to back the Republican ticket is the gulf emerging between Europe and the United States.
This gulf is in the best interests of terrorists worldwide, and President Bush seems hell-bent on widening it.

Sounds about right. Read the whole story here.

A bright spot

Remember when I spoke about actual cooperation between Isrelis and Arabs?

Too bad you don't hear more of this. From The Head Heeb.

More quiet cooperation

Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Jordan's first private university, wants to open a branch in Israel. Maher Hurani, the university's owner, evidently hopes that an influx of Israeli Arab students - and possibly Jews as well - will make up for the 500 Syrians who have threatened to resign if the Israel branch is built.

Details here.

I posted that on 2 June and today The Head Heeb has more good news on this front.

Maher Hurani, the owner of Al-Ahliyya and a Jordanian millionaire of Palestinian descent, has put together an organizing team that consists of Israeli Arab businessmen and both Arab and Jewish professors. The designated president of the Israeli branch will be Eitan Ben-Tzur, a former director-general of the Israeli foreign ministry, and much of the financing and planning will come from Nizar and Annan Darawshe, who have long-standing connections in the Jordanian business world.

It does my heart good to hear this. Read the whole story.

Appropriate

How can you stand the silence
That pervades when we all cry?
How can you watch the violence
That erupts before your eyes?
How can you tell us something
Just to keep us hanging on?
Something that just don't mean nothing
When we see it you are gone.
Clinging to some other rainbow
While we're standing, waiting in the cold
Telling us the same old story
Knowing time is growing old.

That was a wonderful remark
I had my eyes closed in the dark.
I sighed a million sighs
I told a million lies, to myself, to myself.

How can we listen to you
When we know your talk is cheap?
How can we ever question
Why we give more and you keep?
How can your empty laughter
Fill a room like ours with joy?
When you're only playing with us
Like a child with a rubber toy.
How can we ever feel the freedom
Or the flame lit by the spark?
How can we ever come out even
When reality is stark?

That was a wonderful remark
I had my eyes closed in the dark.
I sighed a million sighs
I told a million lies, to myself, to myself.

--Wonderful Remark
1983 WB Music Corp/Caledonia Soul Music(ASCAP)
From The Best of Van Morrison.

Had it on the CD player in the truck the other day and it struck me as appropriate on many levels.

BTW, a great album, but I'm a big Van the Man fan.

Toga, toga, toga

Mrs. F is off to New Jersey and it's just me and the dog. Not like anything will change. I sure as hell ain't throwing a party, but it's nice not having to run for the train later. Dancing girls would be nice, but I'd just have to clean up afterward and I'd miss some valuable sleep. Oh well, it'll be just me, the dog, and this beige box. No pun intended. Ha!

Now this is important

------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC Breaking News
------------------------------------------------------

Private manned space mission is successful -
The first privately funded space mission soared 62 miles above the earth Monday.

MOJAVE, Calif. - With a triumphant thumbs-up and a broad grin, the pilot of the SpaceShipOne rocket plane celebrated becoming the first private-sector astronaut to steer his ship into space.

Go read the whole thing here. Privatization of space is a must for humanity to develop. NASA has dropped the ball along time ago, turned into a top-heavy, meandering bureaucracy. It is human nature to break the bonds which stagnate us and space is the next frontier, just as crossing the oceans and the continents were centuries ago. Hopefully, the Ruttan boys and others can get us up there before I'm too old. Congratulations, fellas.

How dare he

Stolen from Jesus' General:

Klinton dishonors Our Leader

Like many of you, I watched Klinton's disgraceful acceptance of responsibility for the Lewinsky Scandal last night on 60 Minutes. He did not try to lie his way out of it or blame it on an underling. It's as if he believes that it's acceptable for a President to admit to making mistakes.

If Our Leader had been in Klinton's position, he'd have done the honorable thing and blamed the White House cigar provisioner. He'd do so with the knowledge that today, Rush would back him up by railing against tobacconists, O'Reilly would be calling for a boycott of wrapper leaf from the Dominican Republic, and Coulter would have killed some elderly Cuban cigar roller in Tampa with a homemade shiv. By next week, no patriotic American would dare voice the slightest doubt about presidential infallibility. That's Bush Era leadership--the kind of leadership we missed during the Klinton years.

Yes, how dare that sex addict [sic] take the moral high ground. Ha!

Campaign finance

If you're planning to give to a campaign (I'm talking Democrats here), one of the best places to figure out where to put your money so it does the most good is Eschaton. Along the left side of his page are links to almost all of the campaigns and committees for President, Senate, and House candidates.

Another good place to follow the races is Daily Kos. If you're a wonk and love polls, Kos does a fine job of keeping up with them and disseminating the latest information.

Something to do while I'm fixing your piece of shit car today. Later.

Thanks for your help, motherfuckers

I never believed we should be in Iraq in the first place, but since we are, I'd like the outcome to be as good as possible. Well, it seems that the Israelis are running their own operations, independent of U.S. oversight, in the Kurdish-controlled areas of Iran, Iraq, and Syria. They are helping the Kurds, but their involvement isn't helping to bring the different ethnicities in Iraq together under one government.

Via Corrente and Seymour Hersh.

By supporting Kurdish separatists, Israel also risks alienating its Turkish ally and undermining attempts to create a stable Iraq. "If you end up with a divided Iraq it will bring more blood, tears and pain to the Middle East and you will be blamed," a senior Turkish official told Mr Hersh.

Read it all here.

Mrs. F heading to Jersey this afternoon so I'll be without adult supervision tonight. Party at my house, provided everybody's out by 8 so I can go to sleep. Ha! I'm getting old. Well, time to empty the dog and head out. I wonder how many people broke their shit this weekend. Have a good day!

Off to the mines.

Michigan

Uh, boys, uh, I know you know all about engines and shit, and while I'm not a NASCAR-type crewchief, I have built my share of race motors over the past 30 years. Listen to me. You cannot run a conventional V-8 at close to ten thousand rpm for an extended period and expect it to last. Hello, McFly!

Conventional valvetrains can't keep up with the increased rpm and eventually something up there fails (lifter, valvespring, rocker arm). It seems that seasoned veterans in the pits and the managers of the engine programs at all the big shops forgot that this week. Three quarters of the way through the Michigan race and they're dropping like flies. Until NASCAR approves the use of overhead cam cylinder heads, better to keep the rpms closer to nine thousand than ten thousand. Silly boys.

The one bright side is that a Penske car (Ryan Newman) won. Don't ask about Rusty Wallace. Seems his engine succumbed to over-rpm too. His season's essentially over. As my parents used to say about the Brooklyn Dodgers, wait until next year.

Now I'm really done

Stick a fork in me

I'm done. Been rather prolific today and now I'm gonna crack a beer and watch the race. Have a good evening, ladies and germs.

Pleasant dreams.

I'm not the only one

There are a lot of NASCAR fans who are pissed about the spate of rule changes since Nextel took over sponsorship from Winston. Even that mental midget Darell Waltrip thinks so. NASCAR is turning into the NBA where, if you look at someone crosseyed you get penalized. Stock car racing is about banging fenders. Think Richard Petty (The King), David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson, and their feuds and outright aggression, fisticuffs in the pits, and all that good shit. Stock car racing was started by guys like me and my dad, real guys who liked going fast, not this whiny, yuppie-type scum that's taking over the sport.

Oh, and Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there. Unfortunately, mine isn't around anymore. He passed away before we could get some things straight, but I miss him regardless.

9/11 Hearings

Been killing time before the race and watching the 9/11 Commission special on MSNBC. I'm sure they'll rerun the hell out of it, so look for when it's on again and watch it. It's a good recap of the hearings that have stretched over such a long time period.

From Richard Ben-Veniste, Commission member on VP Cheney's insistence on the Saddam-Al Qaeda connection, even though 9/11 Commission found none. "If the Vice President has this information, he should make it known to the Commission."

I guess Cheney has himself convinced, but he's beginning to look like a mental patient as he flies in the face of all the evidence. I wish his pacemaker would short out.

Via Glen at A Brooklyn Bridge:

Happily, in addition to the Times, the Commission is also calling Cheney's bluff: show us the proof. Rather elegantly, by means of his own mouth, Dick has put himself in awkward position. Either he and George withheld critical information from the commission, further eroding their credibility (wouldn't that be a surprise?), or they're lying now (same note). And a word of advice, guys: if you do "suddenly" find some proofs lying around [sic], do us the courtesy of making sure the ink is dry. (That means exactly what you think it does.)

Read it all here.

Tax petition

The local Rock & Roll station on Long Island, 102.3 WBAB, has a 'repeal the gas tax' petition going on their website. They've already got the attention of the New York State Assembly and the Governor's office. If you live in NY, it behooves you to sign it here.

Who knows if those idiots in Albany will do anything, but nagging them can't hurt.

Thinking with the little head

As Maureen Dowd explains, both Clinton and Bush are guilty of it, only Bill's little willy never got anybody killed. Well, Hillary might have wanted to kill him while he slept, but 800 troops didn't die because Monica blew him.

The Clinton alpha instinct on Monica, fueled by a heady cocktail of testosterone and opportunism, was the same one that led W. into his march of folly with Iraq. After 9/11, the president, vice president and secretary of defense wanted to go to the Middle East and knock the stuffing out of somebody bad — because it would feel good, because it would put our enemies on notice, and because it would make the president look strong.

Go read it here.

BTW, Mrs. F just walked out of the shower so now I'm beginning to think with my little head.

So?

Whaddaya think about the new format? Easier on the eyes for me.

I'm jealous

Via Wonkette.

So That's Why the Book Took So Long to Finish

Variety doesn't shy away from the shocking headlines:

Clinton blows his own horn

You know what this means: While he doesn't have Monica around anymore, there are still some things he does just because he can. . .

Wish I could do that, but I'd be in traction for weeks!

Yeesh!

This is an email sent to yankeedoodle at Today in Iraq.

Monkey Mail!

From: xxxx@rjia.net
To: yankeedoodle@gmail.com

Subject: you need to put our country down

It would seem to me that you should live elsewhere. This is our country, our President and our code of living standards. If you do not like it....leave it. Our president needs us now and it is really like a spiritual war. We will win, but whose side will you end up on? Those people come over here, use our resources, thanks to people like you, get an education and turn it against us. You apparently are so busy kissing foreign butt that you can't see that will be your permanent job in hell. Learn to defend what you have. They came over here with their ideas of grandiosity and now, they and their tribes are going to reap the benefit of some good ol American kick-butt.

Have I mentioned that I've had it with these fucking Jesus freaks? I might be classified as part of the 'East Coast Intelligensia' (intelligensia, ha!), but Jesus H. Christ! Read what I said about Biblical Literalists. I had one of them tell me once, that if you killed a snake and burned it afterward, you would see the Devil in the smoke. And you wonder why the East Coast Liberals call you morons?

Update 10:55: See what Anna Quindlen has to say on this subject here. She has a calmer disposition and writes far more eloquently than I can without cursing or calling people names.

Gun control

You think the NRA can use this in their next ad? Via The Head Heeb.

An entirely new argument against gun control

The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands appears to have run afoul of the law of unintended consequences with its gun amnesty and confiscation program. The gun confiscations have succeeded to a great extent in calming the violence in the Solomons, but they have also led to an increase in crocodile-related deaths because the islanders no longer have weapons to shoot the man-eating crocs. At the moment, RAMSI and the Solomons government are considering whether to give back some of the guns or institute a crocodile control program.

It would be funny if it weren't so serious.

Barking Spiders

Via South Knox Bubba. Another choice in 2004, the National Barking Spider Resurgence Party.

From their Mission Statement:

We of the National Barking Spider Resurgence Party will not -- unlike our Democrap counterparts -- treat the rule of law like a used kleenex when it doesn't suit our objectives; and unlike our Republican't counterparts, will not legislate morality from the oft-hypocritical halls of Congress. We'll do it over Happy Hour at the local bowling alley, where everyday rationale and morality is more likely to be found. And unlike the myriad of fractionalized third parties, we won't propose totally impractical, moonbeamish programs, such as a world without cars or flushing toilets, 100% taxation on income above $107,000, etc.

We will look at global warming as a threat to the world ice cream supply, however. No price is too high when such threats arise.

Anybody who makes policy over drinks is for me!

This is what I mean

When you take the Bush Administration's claim that regardless of the lack of WMDs, or an Al Qaeda connection, we were doing the humanitarian thing going to war to oust Saddam Hussein. "The torture chambers and rape rooms are closed," President Numbnuts is fond of saying. Fine, even forgetting about the tortures and rapes that occurred at Abu Ghraib on the part of 'Americans'. But if that's the case, why haven't we gone after, aguably, more dispicable tyrants and regimes? From Matt Yglesias:

Sudan

For the record, those folks out there who were so eager for America to involve itself in a little humanitarian do-goodery ought to take a look at a genuine humanitarian emergency. Once upon a time I would have counted myself a strong proponent of the view that we ought to be willing to deploy the American military to try and halt a genocide, but the reality is that the whole Army's in Iraq. That we can't solve all the world's problems was a cliché of the 90s-era debates over humanitarian intervention, but right now we're stretched so thin that we can't solve any of them.

Meanwhile, the government of Sudan somehow got itself on the UN's Human Rights Commission and the European opponents of American hegemony have managed to allow an extremely wealth continent with over 300 million inhabitants to have no real capacity for military action independent of the United States, so even those countries who wisely stayed out of the fray in Iraq can do almost nothing. A lovely world.

And there are other places in Africa, and the Far East, more deserving of U.S. attention than Iraq. But then, they aren't floating on a sea of oil, are they? Had we not squandered our resources and treasure in Iraq, we might be able to help more people who desperately deserve it.

Oops

Mrs. F reminds me that she is not going to Atlantic City on Monday, but to Princeton, N.J. All I know is that I'll have to sleep alone that night. After waking up next to the Mrs. for close to fifteen years, I find I have trouble sleeping when she's away on business. It especially sucks when she's gone for a week at a time, but hey, that's life. She is good at what she does and I support her 100% in her career endeavors. Even if it means her riding on the NYC Subway system and working right across the street from Ground Zero (World Financial Center). Gives me the willies when I think about watching the 2nd plane hit the tower and the flaming engine blow right past her window. I thought I lost her that day and I sorely wanted to put my foot down and force her to find a job somewhere closer to home. It's a good thing I didn't. Her company moved to Ft. Lee, N.J. for 6 months while they rebuilt the place, and I saw the difference in my wife as soon as they went back to WFC. The deperession and funk she was in after 9/11 seemed to lift instantly. She was back in her element, the pointy end, it's what makes her the woman I love. My wife needs to be at the Crossroads of the World, and she thrives on the pressure of the place. Wall Street, the Financial Center, and all that comes with it is her strength, the place she draws her energy from, the place that allows her to shine. As they say, 'if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere'. Not only do I love her more than anything else, but I am also proud of her professionalism, intelligence, and competence. I knew she was capable of greatness when I met her, but she has far exceeded anything I could have dreamt. And the best thing is that she still puts up with me. I'm a lucky dude.

Fucked up beyond all recognition

From the ever-vigilant Melanie over at Just a Bump in the Beltway:

FUBAR

As Handover Nears, U.S. Mistakes Loom Large

Harsh Realities Replaced High Ideals After Many Missed Opportunities

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran

Washington Post Foreign Service

Sunday, June 20, 2004; Page A01

First of three articles

In many ways, the occupation appears to have transformed the occupier more than the occupied. Iraqis continue to endure blackouts, lengthy gas lines, rampant unemployment and the uncertain political future that began when U.S. tanks rolled into Baghdad. But American officials who once roamed the country to share their sense of mission with Iraqis now face such mortal danger that they are largely confined to compounds surrounded by concrete walls topped with razor wire. Iraqis who want to meet them must show two forms of identification and be searched three times.

The Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S. entity that has administered Iraq, cites many successes of its tenure. Nearly 2,500 schools have been repaired, 3 million children have been immunized, $5 million in loans have been distributed to small businesses and 8 million textbooks have been printed, according to the CPA. New banknotes have replaced currency with ousted president Saddam Hussein's picture. Local councils have been formed in every city and province. An interim national government promises to hold general elections next January.

But in many key quantifiable areas, the occupation has fallen far short of its goals.

The Iraqi army is one-third the size U.S. officials promised it would be by now. Seventy percent of police officers have not received training. When violence flared across the country this spring, many soldiers and policemen refused to perform their duties because U.S. forces failed to equip them, designate competent leaders and win trust among the ranks.

About 15,000 Iraqis have been hired to work on projects funded by $18.6 billion in U.S. aid, despite promises to use the money to employ at least 250,000 Iraqis by this month. At of the beginning of June, 80 percent of the aid package, approved by Congress last fall, remained unspent.

Electricity generation remains stuck at around 4,000 megawatts, resulting in less than nine hours of power a day to most Baghdad homes, despite pledges from U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer to increase production to 6,000 megawatts by June 1.

Iraq's emerging political system is also at odds with original U.S. goals. American officials scuttled plans to remain as the occupying power until Iraqis wrote a permanent constitution and held democratic elections. Instead, Bremer will leave the Iraqis with a temporary constitution, something he repeatedly promised not to do, and an interim government headed by a president who was not the Bush administration's preferred choice.

Iraq = Diminishing expectations and increasing failure. Rat bastids.

Update 08:00: Matt Yglesias has his own take on this subject here.

Bush on Sept 11

From the Washington Post:

On 9/11, a Telling Seven-Minute Silence
Interpreting the President's Image in Crisis
By Joel Achenbach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 19, 2004


You're at a photo op, reading a book with schoolchildren and an aide suddenly whispers that a second plane has hit the World Trade Center. "America is under attack."



You're the president of the United States. What do you do?

[. . .]

Instead he continues to sit in the classroom, listening to children read aloud. Moore lets the tape roll as the minutes pass painfully by.

[. . .]

Presidential historian Robert Dallek of Boston University thinks Bush focused too much on appearances, rather than leaping into action.

"It speaks volumes about the preoccupation these politicians have about manipulating image," Dallek said yesterday. Bush should have immediately excused himself and started figuring out what was happening and what he could do. "The way to project calm and strength is to take care of business."

Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at the University of New Orleans, concurs: "I don't understand how one sits there. I just don't. Minutes are an eternity in that sort of situation. . . . A quick presidential decision may save lives."

Read it all here.

Moron would have continued to sit there had his aides not suggested he do something. Fucking asshole.

That's a help

Seems the Bush Administration just gave Israel a bunch of C-130 air refueling tankers to they can replenish their fighters in the air and give them a longer range. Could it be that now Israeli planes can reach Iran without having to land, Bush and Sharon have figured out a way to keep Iran from producing nukes without U.S. involvement? I see the day when we see a news broadcast that the Israelis have struck Iranian nuclear facilities with bombs and missiles. While I agree a nuclear Iran is not a good thing, having the Israelis do our dirty work can only lead to more unrest in the region. What the fuck are Bush and Sharon thinking? Can't they get the Egyptians or another Arab goverment we support to do it?

It wasn't me

Once again, no one in the Administration takes responsibility for their actions. After getting a free pass from the press for the past three years, Cheney turned on them this week after the 9/11 Commission reported that there was absolutely no connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda.

Democratic Veteran has a good take on it:

If the press had done their jobs four years ago, Dick, you'd still be picking lint out of your AssCrack at PNAC and Preznit Lethal Incarceration would still be executing his fellow Texans at sadistically incredible rates. So you know, maybe it's a good thing that the major editorial pages are finally coming around to their own Mea Culpa's over supporting the Mess in Mesopotamia; it just makes you look like what you are: A Lying Cowardly Chickenhawk Chickenshit. Maximus.

Read the whole thing here.

Aaaahhhhh!

A lot of running around to do today and I'm doing something I rarely do, wash cars. I never used to wash the junk I drove around in, the dirt kept them together, and Mrs. F's Explorers are leased, so I give a shit if I send them back dirty. But since I got my new truck this week, and I want it to last, and it's white (Why the fuck did I buy a white one?), I have to wash it regularly. Mrs. F wants her Explorer clean too, since she's going to a business meeting in Atlantic City on Monday, and I haven't washed it since we got it 2 years ago August. I figure I should since I've been using the shit out of it after blowing up the transmission in my Taurus.

So that's my morning. I haven't watched or read any news yet and it's sorta nice. I'll be ranting and raving later I'm sure, but now it's nice to just enjoy being outside and disconnect from the world. Well, cigarette break's over, back to work.

Later, much

I'm done. Waiting for Mrs. F to call and advise what train I have to meet. Gonna watch Star Trek reruns until I have to split. Have a good evening.

Pleasant dreams.

You see

Where this nonexistent diplomacy pursued by the Bush Administration got us? The members of the world community are sending us messages, we're just too stupid to see them. We're becoming isolated and not by choice. Via The American Street.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China said on Friday it would abstain on a resolution giving the United States immunity from the new International Criminal Court, a decision that may leave Washington short of votes to pass the resolution.

"I said to my colleagues we will abstain," Beijing's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, told Reuters after a luncheon among the 15 Security Council members and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Wang said earlier the resolution would send a wrong signal in light of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.

China's abstention could deprive the Bush administration of the nine "yes" votes required to adopt a resolution. So far only Britain, Russia, Angola and the Philippines are considered sure votes in favor.

[. . .]

Among the 15 council members, Germany, France, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Benin, Romania and now China are expected to abstain, diplomats said. Pakistan and Algeria were undecided.

The Chinese position is unusual because Beijing has not signed or ratified the court's treaty. Diplomats believe it was also related to disputes with Washington over Taiwan, although Beijing envoys have denied it.

Read the whole story here. Fucking idiots.

Moose?

From High Desert Skeptic. Typical.

Petition to boot Ashcroft

The Center for American Progress has a petition up to throw SS Chief . . . the Attorney General out of office. Read it and sign it here.

Hmmm

I lifted this from CNN after heading there from Lean Left.

Bush's statements, in chronological order, were:

"Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons." --United Nations address, September 12, 2002

"Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons."

"We have sources that tell us that Saddam Hussein recently authorized Iraqi field commanders to use chemical weapons -- the very weapons the dictator tells us he does not have." --Radio address, October 5, 2002

"The Iraqi regime . . . possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons."

"We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas."

"We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States."

"The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his "nuclear mujahideen" -- his nuclear holy warriors. Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the past. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons." --Cincinnati, Ohio speech, October 7, 2002

"Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent." --State of the Union Address, January 28, 2003

"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." --Address to the nation, March 17, 2003

Read the whole story here.

Man, I'm no legal weenie, but there has to be a way to indict this bastard after we impeach him.

O'Reilly

You know, Bill O'Reilly is a fucking idiot. Not because of his politics, I actually think he's a stupid man. Shit, he grew up not far from me and went to the same shitty Long Island schools I did, oh, except for Sachem, which isn't shitty and is the gold standard in public school systems. At least that's what they tell me. I'm sure they turn out just as many dope fiends, losers, and thieves as the others.

Anyway, my point is that O'Reilly is a fucking moron and Media Matters for America explains why to my satisfaction.

Yay!

I'm home and it's Friday and I'm a happy fucking camper. Nothing like doing cylinder heads in a Taurus, outside, in 90 degree heat. What isn't good is that Mrs. F is gonna be in the city late tonight, getting together with an old friend of hers who, coincidentally, has the same name as my ex-wife. Yeesh, gives me the willies every time I hear it. Let's just say my first marriage didn't end on good terms. Fortunately, we didn't have children, so we didn't fuck them up. But that's the past. I'm gonna crack a beer and hang out with the dog under my favorite shade tree. It's too hot to do anything else.

NASCAR Sunday, they'll be at Michigan. The DHL 400 they're calling it this year. Oy! I'm keeping my fingers crossed my boy Rusty Wallace doesn't go home on the trailer two weeks in a row. He's starting 41st so it doesn't look promising. It's on Fox at 1 Eastern.

A plug

Just a plug for a talented artist named Joel Pelletier. Encino Man also passed this along this morning:

I am fond of joking that everything I do is a work of art... and while it's true in its own warped way, I also want to pass on info on a true work of art I've had the pleasure to be a small part of, and watch grow. Visit www.joelp.com, and click on the art section. This was done on the paint frame in my scene shop, and Joel is not only a talented painter, but a fine musician (playing bass on many of our musicals) and a friend. I'm honored to pass on this info so that others may see this work. He's in the process of having it shown for the first time soon, and hopes to tour it around the country provoking discussion. I hope it speaks to some of you as well....

I agree with EM that this guy is good. You owe it to yourself to visit his site. Gotta go!

Later

Rent control

Well, the NYC Rent Stabilization Board met and approved a 3.5% rent increase for the coming year. Oy, you should hear the bitching from tenants' groups. Now, I know that NYC rents are crazy, but if you're paying $250 a month for 2 bedrooms on the Upper East Side, a little increase ain't gonna kill you. People are paying $4000 a month for the same apartment in a non-rent controlled building. So, to all you people who are living close to free, shut the fuck up and pay your rent. It could be worse, a LOT worse.

Ah well, off to the mines. Happy Friday!

It's FRIDAY!

Yay!!! I'm just killing time before Mrs. F has to go to work, and I wanted to say thanks for the words of encouragement from Encino Lady (wife of Encino Man, who's Mrs. F's cousin). And this morning, Encino Man sent along this joke.

How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to replace a lightbulb? The answer is SEVEN:

(1) One to deny that a lightbulb needs to be replaced.

(2) One to attack and question the patriotism of anyone who asks questions about the lightbulb.

(3) One to blame the previous administration for the need of a new lightbulb.

(4) One to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret stockpile of lightbulbs.

(5) One to get together with Vice President Cheney and award a million-dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton Industries for supplying a lightbulb.

(6) One to arrange a photo-op session showing Dubya changing the lightbulb while dressed in a flight suit and wrapped in an American flag.

(7) And finally, one to explain to Dubya the difference between screwing a lightbulb and screwing the country.

Just a giggle to get you smiling on a Friday. Let me just go on record to say that I love the Encino Family dearly, even if they are . . . CALIFORNIANS!

And speaking of Californians, the King of the Jews will be in next Wednesday. Can't wait to see him, although I probably will have to call in hungover on Thursday. Thankfully, it's an excuse Harry will accept. Anyway, Happy Friday, gotta take Mrs. F to the train.

Also, Encino Lady reminded me that I was remiss in not adding Billionaires for Bush to my links list. It's a great site and I will remedy the situation this afternoon when I get home.

My people call it maize

Got Indian to do a rain dance and it looks like it worked. The thunderstorms started five minutes ago and it's cooling off already. Mrs. F's dog isn't too pleased about it, but that's just tough shit. Speaking of the Mrs., she'll be on the early train so this'll be it for tonight. Thanks to these storms however, MSNBC is out and I have to watch Crossfire on CNN. Yeesh, Begala and Carlson. At least that fucking Novak isn't on. Have a good night, ladies and gentlemen.

Pleasant dreams.

Update 16:40: MSNBC's back on; the two airheads, Contessa Brewer and Chris Jansing, but easier on the eyes than Begala and Carlson.

Rummy-speak

Does SECDEF Rumsfeld ever give a straight answer? This guy doesn't even bother trying to dazzle anyone with his brilliance, he just baffles them with bullshit. In-fucking-credible. By the time he's done answering a fucking question, you forget what the press weenie asked him in the first place. I want to throw him a beating. No, I want to see him in jail for the murder of 800 of our children and thousands of Iraqis. Rat bastid.

Update 15:05: He's still on and my head is spinning. I look up to my Samurai Katana, hanging on the wall 25 feet away. The act of Seppuku is an honorable one. If I kill myself, I won't have to hear him ever again. Yeah, but who'd walk the dog and keep Mrs. F smiling?

The C-word

It's the one word Mrs. F doesn't let me say, and after fifteen years, I hardly do, even with the guys. General J.C. Christian introduces us to one woman (Elizabeth Hoffman, Ph.D., President of the University of Colorado) who says it can be a term of endearment. If I ever used that 'term of endearment' toward Mrs. F, she'd endear a stiletto between my 3rd and 4th ribs on the left side while I slept. Anyway, read the General. The article he refers to is here.

Update 14:55: They're not as dumb as they look over at Bush/Cheney '04. The General's party has mysteriously disappeared from the web page.

Rats from a sinking ship

Even the Conservative queer, Andy Sullivan, is turning on Bush. As Glen over at A Brooklyn Bridge points out, Democrats are justified in feeling a bit optimistic about our chances in November.

Is it August?

Feels like August here. It's hot and humid as Hell. The weather nitwit has been promising thunderstorms since Tuesday but none have materialized. It would be nice to get some of these clouds emptied out.

Nice accident on the Expressway coming home. A guy in a straight truck ran, full speed, into the back of a tour bus carrying old folks to Atlantic City. Killed his ass. There were three secondary accidents too, from morons having to rubberneck and not pay attention to the traffic in front of them. Ha! Assholes.

Gonna hose myself off and I'll be back.

Little Friday

It's Little Friday and it's already a Triple-H (hazy,hot,humid) day even though the sun is just coming up. It's gonna suck at work but that's part of the job. Gotta empty the dog and then I'm off.

Don't forget it's John Kerry Thursday at Eschaton. Give if you can.

Later.

Nite-nite

Mrs. F missed the early train and I got shit to do before she comes home. Have a good night. Don't do anything I'd do.

Pleasant dreams.

A month

I can't believe I've been doing this blog for a month. It makes me wonder just how much bullshit I spout in a single day. The fact that my short-term memory was shot in '74 means I probably forget half the shit that went on at work. I forget half the shit Mrs. F tells me to do. Have I mentioned she is a kind and patient woman? The fact that she's put up with me for fifteen years still surprises the shit out of me. I keep expecting her to come to her senses one day.

So it's a month and I have to admit I'm enjoying myself. I can't say the same for you, but I give a shit. You don't have to read my bullshit if you don't want to. I'm doing this for me. For those who've been supportive, thanks. For those who haven't, fuck you.

I'm going in the shower.

The General

Jesus' General managed to get his Bush/Cheney '04 party listed on the campaign's website. It would be great if the campaign sent a representative to speak to the General's 'Little Soldier'.

Drugs

Wanna see how we'll dick up Iraq? Just look at Afghanistan. Eschaton does and finds, among other things, poppy production is way up over there. So, all we managed to do was rearrange the rocks and turn warlords into drug lords. Bush and Company are incompentent assholes. Indian and I were just talking today and we believe our boss Harry would make a much better president that the current nitwit. At least, we wouldn't have to wonder about how to get rid of our leftover nukes and we'd have 25-cent-a-gallon gas.

Kerry endorsement

Via Kicking Ass. The Philadelphia Daily News gave its endorsement to John Kerry for President in November. Yay!

Update 14:55: Don't forget it's John Kerry Thursday over at Eschaton tomorrow. If you can give, please do.

I'm happy

Well, got my truck last night and Mrs. F and I put about 50 miles on it with the Rolling Stones blasting from the stereo. By the way, 40 Licks is the best, most complete, compilation of Stones tunes. It's fun to drive, though it doesn't have the horsepower of the Explorer. It ain't as thirsty either.

Well, gotta empty the dog and I'm off to the mines. We'll see how the new vehicle does on the Expressway during rush hour.

Rats

I can't take a shower until Ray the Mailman gets here and I'm naassy. Ray's supposed to be bringing my cigarette order from the Sovereign Nation of the Poospatuck. (I refuse to pay any more cigarette taxes to the State of New York and the United States of America.) Ray is a great mailman but he's been on this route for about 25 years and he knows everyone on my street. He bullshits with everyone that's outside and now that it's summer, well . . . Let's just say I expect him anytime between 3:30 and 5:00. He's gonna bullshit with me for 20 minutes when he brings my smokes too. If the case of cigarettes would fit in the mailbox, I wouldn't be in this dilemma, oy!

Anyway, I got other shit to do. I'm also going to pick up my new truck tonight so I'll say good night now. Mrs. F and I will probably head down to Robert Moses State Park to break it in.

Pleasant dreams.

Are you better off now

than you were four years ago? By way of South Knox Bubba. How have the Bush Administration's economic policies helped your state? Read the report here.

Heat it up

This is one of the reasons I hate the NYC area. Let me just say that so far, the reasons I love New York far outweigh the reasons I hate it.

I don't like humidity. My body hates it and my brain hates it. I sweat like a fucking pig and it was humid today. Shellhead brought a car in for inspection and it overheated on the dyno, spitting 230 degree GM Dexcool anti-freeze every-fucking-where. Then Idiot (a guy from another shop) brings one in that doesn't pass emissions. So after we run it twice, fail it, he takes it back and fiddles with it, then returns an hour later and it fails again after running twice, the shop is 105 and we're dripping. The fans couldn't keep up. I hate New York.

On the bright side, Not So Dead Ed stopped by and he's looking better. Hopefully, the doctors got him a little more time before he's Really Dead Ed. At least he answered the phone while he was there. Slacker.

Comfort

Democratic Veteran pulls an article from the Washington Post that just about sums up how I feel. I stole both of 'em.

Fred Hiatt

Pretty good column in the Post.

Because the administration seeks to obfuscate rather than inform and because congressional oversight has been so anemic, there is still much we don't know about the U.S. torture scandal. President Bush will say only that he has followed the law. "That ought to comfort you," he told reporters last week.

It cannot comfort us, though, because we have read the leaked Defense Department memorandum arguing (in March 2003) that no law banning torture or regulating interrogation can bind the president when he is operating in his role as commander in chief. So he may authorize abuse and still believe he is, as he said, adhering to the law.
...
Instead, we see a president who ducks responsibility and gives lawyers' answers. And the difficult choices are kicked down the chain of command, where they do not belong.

Yeah, what he said. Nothing that Preznit No Cojones would say would comfort me, except "I quit". At this point to call the 1600 Crew Nixonian is an insult to Nixon.

Never thought I'd see the day when I said that.

We've been lied to for four years people. If you think Nixon was bad, wait until everything comes out about this administration over the next few years. We gotta get those assholes out of the White House.

Joggers and cyclists

Goddammit, I hate you fucking people. Yeah, you have a right to be on the road, but use some common-fucking-sense. If you jog, and there is a sidewalk available, use the fucking thing, don't meander your ass out in the street. Unless you can keep up with my 300 horsepower, keep out my fucking way. What the fuck are you thinking? I almost ran over this brother the other morning because he's jogging down the middle of a 40 mph road at 5 a.m. Aside from the fact you're black and wearing dark clothing, why are you in the street? You were about to be just another speed bump in my day. Jesus H. Christ!

And now for you fucking cyclists. The same goes for you, if you can't do 40 mph, GET OUT THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING ROAD. Do you want to be a hood ornament? Look, none of you are Lance Armstrong and most of you don't have to body to wear those tight fucking spandex clothes. Look in the fucking mirror, old man. Aside from not wanting to see your big ass in bright yellow pants, I don't want to have to navigate around a bunch of you on the service road of the Long Island Expressway. It's bad enough those who are on there in the first place, let alone be pretentious enough to believe you have a right to the left lane. If the most you're doing is 10 mph, stay to the fucking right, WAY to the right. Trust me, if I hit you, I won't feel a thing. Do you want the tracks of my Michelin All-Terrain tires up your back? I don't go holding up tractor-trailers, what gives you the right to deny cars the road built for them? And what ever happened to the liesurely bike rides around the neighborhood that I used to take with my parents when I was young? Why does everybody have to be Greg LeMond? Just remember this, if you want to piss with the big dogs, you have to piss on the big trees. Your two wheels and leg power ain't cutting it. Stay in the bike lane and out my fucking way. With that, I'm off to the mines. Have a good day.

Schlafen Sie gut, schatz

Time to get Mrs. F at the station. No martinis tonight, I was fuzzy for half the morning. I'm getting old. Have a good night.

Pleasant dreams.

The American Imperium

I like Molly Ivins, a tough, sassy, Fort Worth woman who calls 'em the way she sees 'em.

AUSTIN, Texas -- When, in future, you find yourself wondering, "Whatever happened to the Constitution?" you will want to go back and look at June 8, 2004. That was the day the attorney general of the United States -- a.k.a. "the nation's top law enforcement officer" -- refused to provide the Senate Judiciary Committee with his department's memos concerning torture.

In order to justify torture, these memos declare that the president is bound by neither U.S. law nor international treaties. We have put ourselves on the same moral level as Saddam Hussein, the only difference being quantity. Quite literally, the president may as well wear a crown -- forget that "no man is above the law" jazz. We used to talk about "the imperial presidency" under Nixon, but this is the real thing.

The Pentagon's legal staff concurred in this incredible conclusion. In a report printed by The Wall Street Journal, "Bush administration lawyers contended last year that the president wasn't bound by laws prohibiting torture and that government agents who might torture prisoners at his direction couldn't be prosecuted by the Justice Department. ...

"The report outlined U.S. laws and international treaties forbidding torture, and why those restrictions might be overcome by national security considerations or legal technicalities."

The report was complied by a group appointed by Department of Defense General Counsel William J. Haynes II, who has since been nominated by Bush for the federal appellate bench. "Air Force General Counsel Mary Walker headed the group, which comprised top civilian and uniformed lawyers from each military branch and consulted with the Justice Department, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies. It isn't known if President Bush has ever seen the report."

When members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Ashcroft about his department's input, he simply refused to provide the memos, without offering any legal rationale. He said President Bush had "made no order that would require or direct the violation" of laws or treaties. His explanation was that the United States is at war. "You know I condemn torture," he told Sen. Joe Biden. "I don't think it's productive, let alone justified."

But another memo written by former Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee, now a federal appeals court judge in California, establishes a basis for the use of torture for senior Al Qaeda operatives in custody of the CIA. I am not one to leap to conclusions, but it seems quite clear how whatever perverted standards allowed at Guantanamo Bay jumped across the water to Abu Ghraib prison.

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, commander at Gitmo, was dispatched last August to Abu Ghraib to give advice about how to get information out of prisoners. "Miller's recommendations prompted a shift in the interrogation and detention procedures there. Military intelligence officers were given greater authority in the prison, and military police guards were asked to help gather information about the detainees," according to The New York Times.

Among the legal memos that circulated within the administration in 2002, one is by White House counsel Alberto Gonzalez, famously declaring the Geneva Convention "quaint," and another from the CIA asked for an explicit understanding that the administration's public pledge to abide by the spirit of the Geneva Convention did not apply to its operatives. The only department consistently opposing these legal "arguments" was State. In April 2002, Secretary Rumsfeld sent a memo to Gen. James T. Hill outlining 24 permitted interrogation techniques, four of which were considered so stressful as to require Rumsfeld's explicit approval before they were used.

It has been apparent for some time that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were not isolated instances -- torture from Afghanistan to Gitmo to Iraq has so far resulted in 25 deaths now under investigation. As the late Jacabo Timmermann, the Argentine journalist who was tortured during "the dirty war," said, "When you are being tortured, it doesn't really matter to you if your torturers are authoritarian or totalitarian." I doubt it helps any if they're supposed to be bringing democracy, either. And as Ashcroft said, it isn't productive.

The damage is incalculable. When America puts out its annual report on human rights abuses, we will be a laughingstock. I suggest a special commission headed by Sen. John McCain to dig out everyone responsible, root and branch. If the lawyers don't cooperate, perhaps we should try stripping them, anally raping them and dunking their heads under water until they think they're drowning, and see if that helps.

And I think it is time for citizens to take some responsibility, as well. Is this what we have come to? Is this what we want our government to do for us? Oh and by way, to my fellow political reporters who keep repeating that Bush is having a wonderful week: Why don't you think about what you stand for?

Molly writes a weekly column at Creators.com where I unabashedly stole this whole fucking article.

DW

You know, I hate Darell Waltrip. If you don't follow NASCAR, you have no idea who I'm talking about, but he's the token redneck racer in the broadcast booth giving color commentary usually when he shouldn't. He has funny stories and shit but he's an asshole and after 14 races he's becoming tedious. Thankfully, Fox and NBC/TNT split the season in terms of coverage and it's almost time for NBC to take over. NBC's guy is Benny Parsons and he has good stories but not as obnoxious as DW. I didn't like Waltrip when he raced and I like him less now. I'm done and I feel better now.

You want me to what?

Reenlist? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. The ever vigilant Melanie at Just a Bump in the Beltway says reenlistments are down, worryingly so.

The 're' in reenlistment means people who have put in more than one hitch. That means staff and senior NCOs, just the guys you want to stay, the guys with experience who can groom the young-uns. I owe a lot to the older guys who mentored me and turned me from a green recruit into a responsible NCO. Couple old chiefs to whom I owe more than a lot, I owe 'em my ass. These are the guys the military has to retain. If we can't meet manpower requirements, and there is an 'experience drain', the draft can't be far behind. Glad I'm old.

A personal note: Shellhead, an ex-artilleryman who works in the shop next door, told me that the Army just sent him a letter asking him to come back. He's been out two years and basically told them to go fuck themselves. His old unit is in Iraq now, so guess where he'd be going? Bush and Rummy have fucked up the military.

Jesus' General

I know I've told you to read him before, but this guy is just too good. Make Jesus' General a regular stop when you surf. If you like political satire, he's just the ticket. Check out General J.C. Christian, Patriot, "A 10 on the manly scale of absolute gender." This guy is a riot.

Duh

Three of our idiot customers got tickets this weekend for expired inspections so they were all in this morning, whining about getting a new sticker right away. I don't need to hear whining at 7:15 on Monday morning. The reason I call them names is they aren't regular service types. If they would change their oil regularly, we would have spotted that their inspections were coming due and done them at the last service or make them an appointment before their stickers expired. Oh well.

Remember what I said about regular oil changes? No? Then read here and here, Lugnut.

Al Qaeda

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MSNBC Breaking News
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Man allegedly in al-Qaida plot to bomb Ohio shopping mall -
Federal authorities on Monday unsealed charges against a Columbus, Ohio, man alleging that he was involved in an al-Qaida plot to blow up a shopping mall in Ohio

I love hearing this, being that one of Mrs. F's biggest clients is in Columbus and she goes there regularly. My wife is a terrorist magnet, or at least it seems that way. She was at the World Trade Center for the '93 bombing, on the LIRR train with Colin Ferguson when he decided he wanted to kill everybody, and she had a front row seat for 9/11. Thankfully, they caught this putz or she would probably have been shopping there when he blew the fucking place up. As I always say, if they kill my wife, they're going to know what an American terrorist is all about cause I'm gonna go on a rampage throughout the Middle East, killing everyone I can before they kill me. Nuff said.

Armies, booze, and whores

Not a bad thing if it doesn't involve the abuse of prisoners. Melanie at Just a Bump in the Beltway has an article from the New York Times on the Abu Ghraib fiasco. Read while I'm gone. Off to the mines.

Pocono

Well the Penske cars (Wallace, Newman, and Gaughan) are all out ofthe race. Rusty's chances for the championship are all but shot unless the next 12 races are miraculous. Oh well. It's gonna end on a caution, Jimmie Johnson won. Big fucking deal.

I wasn't as prolific as usual this weekend becasue I had husbandly duties to take care of. Oh the joys of home ownership. I'll be back to my normal pace tomorrow. After all, Mondays in the car business are always crazy.

I think I hear Mrs. F making martinis. Time to go.

Pleasant dreams.

Yesterday

It was a crazy day, starting at 6 when I had to go to Home Depot to pick up some plumbing and electrical supplies. Then off to Wal-Mart (fuck you, I like low prices) to get some necessaries. Then Mrs. F and I had haircut appointments. And then to the Ford dealer.

One of the reasons I was all fired up Friday is that the Benzmeister put me off for another week. I couldn't wait that long so I blew off the Mercedes plan and went to the Ford shop where we get Mrs. F her Explorers. I walked out an hour and a half later with a new Ranger Sport pickup, close to 20 grand poorer. It's got a V-6 and 5-speed stick. It's 2-wheel drive with a bunch of cool things like sport seats, gauge package, step bars, fog lights, 6-CD player, and sport suspension. Looks like it'll be fun to drive. I pick it up Tuesday evening.

And in case there is any doubt, yes, I am a Ford man. "Friends don't let friends drive Chevys."

Late

Got hung up at the shop over stupid billshit and it took me an hour and a half to get home. I'm pissed, annoyed, and a bunch of other shit so I'm gonna say good night and pick this up in the morning when I'm not so fired up.

Pleasant dreams.

The token blind guy

On Imus this morning they're showing Ray singing "America" at the Republican Convention. You know, I think Ray was the only brother in the place.

Friday morning

Yay, it's Friday And being that it's Friday, a thought comes to mind. Scheduling.

There are generally two mindsets in the auto repair world. One says you work by appointment. A customer calls or stops in, saying their car is doing something wrong. Someone at the shop looks at it, determines whether it's safe for the cutomer to drive or not, and makes the customer an appointment a few days hence, after taking down the vehicle info to order parts.

The other says, leave it now and I'll fix it. Stay away from these guys, they're looking to make a quick buck. These guys don't look long-term and don't care if you come back once you pay the bill. These are the same guys who, when you call to see about your car, will use a myriad of excuses to explain why your car will be done at a time other than that specified originally.

When I make you an appointment it gives me time to get the correct parts for your car and I have the time blocked out to give it my undivided attention. In Harry's place there's no mad scramble at the end of the day because we didn't have time (or forgot) to work on so-and-so's car and they're coming to pick it up in 15 minutes. Haste leads to mistakes, wrong parts, sloppy workmanship, etc. Mistakes, enough of them, kill a business. Harry's been in the same spot for 35 years; do you think he would be if word got out he was a fuck up? We have customers who've been coming there that long, their children bring their cars to us, and their grandchildren that are driving bring their cars to us. Know why? Becasue we don't jerk them off or feed them bullshit.

As much as we do like to think we're perfect, once in a great while mistakes do happen, even to us. But the idea is to admit them and make things right. As I said, we have 3 generations of some families giving us their business. They wouldn't do it if they didn't trust us. Look for a guy who makes appointments (emergencies are emergencies, but not everything is 'right now' or 'today'), who takes down your name, daytime phone, and a description of your complaint. If you go into a place because you hear a noise and the guy says, 'leave it and pick it up tonight', best move on. Look for a guy who'll take the time to fix your shit right, not fast. And most of all, advise them to call you with an estimate of the repair cost before they do any work. If they're not willing to do you the courtesy of calling before they spend your hard-earned money, you shouldn't be going there. There should be no surprises when you pick up your car. They only surprise you should have is when the bill comes in under cost. A pleasant surprise that is.

With that, off to the mines.

Friday, Friday, Fri-day!

Letter from Ronnie

Via Eschaton, Charles Pierce at The American Prospect reads a letter from Ronnie in Heaven.

Thank you and good night

News seems lighter today and not much went on at work worth noting, so I'm calling it a night. Mrs. F is on the early train and I'm defrosting shrimp for dinner. Have a good evening and put on a Ray Charles record. (Yes, I'm old, I still have records.)

Pleasant dreams.

A Conservative's view

Jim Pinkerton at Newsday notices the neocons glomming onto the Reagan aura and compares old Ronnie with Nitwit Dubya. I stole the last two paragraphs but read the whole thing here.

Indeed, Reagan avoided any significant and protracted commitment of U.S. troops anywhere. In 1982, to be sure, he ordered U.S. forces into Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission. But after a suicide bomber killed 241 Marines the following year, he saw that he had made a mistake, and he pulled the troops out, giving no thought to "liberating" Lebanon. It was a small, sad chapter in American history, but at least Reagan kept it from becoming a big, sad chapter. [Emphasis mine]

And so, the Cold War drew to its victorious close just months after Reagan left office in 1989. In his eight years, Americans fired barely a shot. That was the Reagan Doctrine, and it worked brilliantly. The claims of today's neoconservatives notwithstanding, the Bush Doctrine is something else entirely.

Pinkerton is a real Conservative, not a Jesus freak, and I respect his opinions.

A sad day

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MSNBC Breaking News
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Music legend Ray Charles has died, his spokesman says -

This hurts me much more than Reagan kicking the bucket. Ray was the soudtrack to a good part of my life. I've loved and danced to his music for the better part of my life. Talk about losing a national treasure.

Rest in peace, Brother Ray.

Georgia

I'm listening to President Draft-dodger from this G8 conference and one thing always strikes me when I listen to him answer questions. He sounds like my third grade teacher. Just the syntax and cadence of his speech sounds like an elementary school teacher lecturing a class of six year olds. The words he chooses to emphasize sound like he's teaching them to us for the first time. Do you think Laura talks to him like that so he'll remember the talking points when the press asks him questions, softball as they are? The camera pans off to the wings and there's Eva . . . er, Laura, sitting right next to Hermann Goering . . . er, Karl Rove, watching Dubya like a couple hawks waiting for him to fuck up. Do you think he'd lose it and start singing 'Deutschland uber alles'?

Ahh, David Gregory (NBC WH correspondent) is tweaking Dubya's testicles. Good.

I'm tired

Thunderstorms rolling in. It was 97 and humid all morning. I thought we were out from under the inspection backlog but we had a couple more today. I'm fucking tired. The good thing about the heat is that all the women going to the Post Office (next door to us) are scantily clad. Some shouldn't be but most wear it well.

I'll probably be back later but I'm gonna take a shower and do some laundry. And then I'm gonna fuck off for a while.

Later.