Editorial on the news of the Day and Review of the Gridlock around the world.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Wand Waving Bush

President Bush spoke yesterday in a rose garden question Q&A regarding the slumping economy and other hot topics. When probed a number of times about the current state of the economy, President Bush offered to wave his magic wand but suggested that even that might not be enough.
The news conference was presented in lieu of both Senator McCain and Clinton’s initiative to suspend the gas tax. President Bush stated that he was “open to any ideas…” In addition to his comments regarding the tax suspension, President Bush mentioned this might be another opportunity to explore the possibility of opening up ANWAR.

The President has never been accused of being with it, but maybe he has bigger issues and its time to recommend him for psychological screening and possibly drug rehab

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Howard Dean's Divisive Response -Meet The Press



Here is Howard Dean's response on Meet the Press to the Governor of Michigan (Hillary supporter) who wants his State to have representation in the Democratic Primaries.



Even if Michigan broke the rules, it seems to me that Dean's attitude is divisive and is not helping the situation one bit at all. That makes me suspect that his tone and demeanor going into the planning of the primaries was probably also divisive and may have escalated the tensions that resulted in Michigan taking the action that it took.



If the Democrats lose this election cycle, I suspect that the blame can be easily associated with Howard Dean. If the Democrats win the election in November, I suspect that it will be despite Howard Dean.



What do you think? Does Howard Dean need to go after this cycle is over? Is it time for Dean to pack the moving boxes and get out of the way of Democrats looking for change and success?

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Stimulus Check Gridlock

President Bush was pleased as punch this week to deliver a little bit of good news to Americans regarding the hotly contested economic stimulus checks. It turns out, that some households will begin receiving their checks as early as Monday the 5th.
There have been many rumors emanating from conversations around the water cooler in regards to the stimulus program.

Some folks seem to think that the money they receive will be taken from their tax return for ’08, other folks seem to be under the impression that the checks will be taxed additionally with their return this year. Isn’t it funny how the only thing we know for sure is when we’ll receive this “mystery” check.

Can anyone out there tell me where the money actually came from?

Better yet, can anyone give me an example of how spending this check will make the economy better.  For example, where would you spend it if you didn't owe an arm and a leg like everyone else.  Downpayment on a car?  laptop memory so that you can finally use Windows vista?  a new cell phone?  Paying off the old cell phone?  or just buying some bread, gas and milk at the new inflated prices.

For me, I may never know because I submitted my taxes on time, but they were not 'processed' until after April 15th.  There is no schedule for payouts when the government is late to process.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Gridlock in Laughlin Nevada River Run

There are times when gridlock is not a problem but a communal celebration.  This week I'm visiting Laughlin, Nevada to cover the Laughlin River Run 2008.

IMG_1923

The city fills up with bikers and music lovers from all around the country coming in for the oldest biker rally in the country.  Its also the second largest in the country, which means there's a little bit of gridlock from time to time.

Gridlock at the concerts, gridlock in the lines for restaurants, gridlock in the casinos, gridlock on the sidewalks and motor home parks, and of course gridlock on the streets.

But people come here for that gridlock to be together and enjoy and gawk at the crowd.  So in this case its a rye situation that the gridlock is actually a positive.  Who knows maybe next up, waiting on hold or getting a life insurance quote will be a positive.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Equal Time - Barack Obama Doesn't Like Me

image

I think it might be a good thing, but Barack Obama doesn't like me.  I never get any emails from him like I do John McCain, who I'm disenfranchised with and from Hillary Clinton, who I do not trust.

Obama calls my in laws, but I get nothing.  He follows me on twitter but never talks to me.

I just wanted to say "Thank You Barack Obama" for not talking to me on a daily basis.  I'm not likely to vote for you, Hillary or John McCain and it probably saves all of us some time and trouble.  Gives me maybe that extra 5 minutes a year to clean the bathroom faucets and I like that.

Hillary Says its Time to Play "Who Wants to be a Telemarketer?"

I guess I can expect a lot of telemarketing phone calls this weekend.  I just received an email from the Hillary Clinton Campaign asking if I want to be a telemarketer.

Truth be told, I don't want to be a telemarketer.  I've been there and done that working inside sales and I don't feel the need to go back to cold calling anyone on a Saturday.  Thanks anyway!  :)

image

No, I'd rather dress up in equestrian clothing and hike through the desert without any water.

I talked about this email a bit with some family members and we talked a lot about how this election cycle has taught both campaigns how to get out and touch every single voter across the United States.  In the old days, you were in the minority if you actually saw or heard from a politician.  These days, you are in the minority if you haven't actually seen, touched or heard a politician somewhere near your house or home town.

Ten years from now, we'll probably have high definition toilet paper TV with politicians talking to to our attention giving face while we put the TP to good effect.  Seems like a lot of effort and money down the drain to me.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Hillary's Campaign Reminds Me I can vote early in NC

First, I am not a Hillary supporter.  I am definitely completely undecided as I do not like any of the three candidates.  I am currently registered as a Democrat I believe here in North Carolina.

A couple weeks back, I covered a speech given by Bill Clinton and now I must be on a mailing list for the campaign as I just picked up this email offering an early reminder to go vote now in the North Carolina Primary (Early Voting Season is here).  I may actually go vote early, just so that I can spend more time on election day covering the action myself as opposed to waiting in line.

Dear Brett,
North Carolina is going to play a key role in picking the Democratic nominee for president, and you don't have to wait to vote.
North Carolina’s primary is on May 6, but you can vote for Hillary today. Early voting in North Carolina began on April 16 and ends on May 3.
Registered voters can show up, walk in, and cast a ballot for Hillary. No lines, no waiting.
Visit our website to find the early vote location in your county.
We're expecting record turnout in North Carolina this year, so early voting is an easy and convenient way to avoid the long lines on Election Day. You can vote on your own schedule.
We want to make sure every North Carolinian has an opportunity to vote early and make their voice heard. So find your early vote location by clicking here, and tell your friend, family, and neighbors to head down, register (they will need a North Carolina ID or utility bill to show proof of residency), and cast their votes for Hillary!
I hope you can get out and vote early.
Thank you for all you're doing to help Hillary win.
Ace Smith
State Director
Hillary Clinton for President

Regardless, the email above will not influence my vote any more than Oprah influences my book (or candidate) choices.  Her latest that I will ignore is A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose.  I've already awakened to my life's purpose.  :)

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Defining a Cult - Target Scientology?


America seems to be embarking upon a journey towards religious intolerance and the illegalization of religions.



Using the word 'cult' is pretty much a loaded word. I think you could make the argument that every religion is a cult.



I've seen this guy, protesting Scientology before, but everytime I see him and others like him, I have visions of Jewish people being lined up to get into cattle cars or witches being burned at the stake or even the massacre in Waco, Texas. (Yes, I think those people that were massacred were nuts, but it was still technically a massacre, just look up the definition of massacre.)



Here's a few definitions of the word, but before you read these understand that the debate over what a cult is and how you define the word cult and how you define what groups constitute a cult is contested in a way that is almost a cult itself. ;0



# adherents of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices

# fad: an interest followed with exaggerated zeal; "he always follows the latest fads"; "it was all the rage that season"

# a system of religious beliefs and rituals; "devoted to the cultus of the Blessed Virgin"

wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn



# In religion and sociology, a cult is a term designating a cohesive group of people (generally, but not exclusively a relatively small and recently founded religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be outside the mainstream or ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult



# Cult is a novel by Warren Adler

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult (novel)



# Cult is Apocalyptica's third album, released in 2000 with a special-edition released in 2001 containing an extra disc. This album also saw a small trend starting in their single releases, as both Hope and Path have a second version called Path vol.2 or Hope vol. ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult (album)



# In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings ("scriptures"), its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult (religious practice)



# used in this (limited popular) context only, "cult" refers to the organisation that develops around an abusive guru, and which enforces the abuser's authority, usually by means of an inner circle of lieutenants or close disciples who have taken on the abusive guru's dysfunctional sadomasochistic ...

www.kheper.net/topics/gurus/glossary.html



# A religious group that follows a particular theological system. In the context of Christianity, and in particular, CARM, it is a group that uses the Bible but distorts the doctrines that affect salvation sufficiently to cause salvation to be unattainable. ...

www.carm.org/dictionary/dic_c-d.htm



# The word cult is a derogatory term used to express disapproval or those who hold beliefs other than one's own. ...

www.godweb.org/dictionary/dic_c-d.htm



# Veneration ( or honoring ) of a saint expressed in public acts, local or universal, and formally approved by the Pope.

www.ichrusa.com/saintsalive/glossary.htm



# the rituals and observances of a particular religion, esp. those pertaining to a single deity.

www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/soc_studies/rome/vocab/



# A religious group which denies the essential doctrines of Christianity. The term is usually reserved for groups founded after 1750.

www.dtl.org/trinity/misc/glossary.htm

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Friday, April 11, 2008

Blame Me for the Bad Economy



I apologize to all my readers and to all Americans. I will be filing my taxes a little late this year.



I will file for an extension, but I will not be agressively filing in order to get my George W Bush Tax cut. I could use the $2.1k in the bank to pay down my bills like anyone, but I have work and projects to complete and I have to insure that my tax records and book keeping reconcile to the penny, so that means that Uncle Sam and the rest of my fellow Americans will have to suffer.



I do apologize to the banks, builders, airline companies, stock speculators, and anyone else that might loose their billion dollar company because I didn't get my $2k and spend it faster.



Like this image, I guess I'm just a lazy dog when it comes to taxes. . . .

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Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Save or Hide Our Monkey Heritage?


We have had several interesting conversations on Utterz about the topic of race. Many of these have been in part inspired by the Presidential race and the events that relate to it, both good and bad. I'd like to explore this topic with the goal of showing just how similar we are and as an extension hope to help us start acting like we are really this close!



I was struck by this story about an Obama Delegate that had to resign from the campaign after the following exchange with neighbor children in Chicago.



http://www.chicagotribune.com/…8283.story



-She said the parents were outside, but she intervened because she was concerned about the boys' safety and because the small magnolia tree was being damaged.



-"I went over to the kids and told them to get out of the tree," Ramirez Sliwinski said.



-The father of one of the boys told her it was none of her business, she said, and "I calmly said the tree is not there for them to be climbing in there like monkeys."



She was later ticketed by police $75 for using a comment that could have been racially threatening. Sliwinski has a Hispanic heritage and her neighbors are African American.





Now the word 'monkey' has definitely been utilized over the years as a derogatory word directed at African Americans.



That said, the word monkey unlike other words, is not 'always' a racially derogatory word emotionally charged with hate.



I regularly refer to my kids as monkeys. They are monkeys. In fact genetically, they are about 92% monkey. By calling my kids monkeys, I am not charging them with a racial epithet.



Personally, I consider it a boastful comment when I call them monkeys. I want them to be able to climb around in trees or anything else as part of their evolutionary genetic birth right.



I have many many friends and neighbors of every race that also do and have referred to their own children (and mine) as monkeys as well.



Now, in the story that I refer to (http://www.chicagotribune.com/…8283.story ) It would appear that the lady involved that worked for Obama, probably had a long history of problems with her neighbors. In fact, it sounds like both this lady and her neighbors could probably be categorized as something that knows no boundary of race, ethnicity, religion or sex.



It sounds like all the parties involved are assholes.



So with that obvious caveat out of the way, what do you think?



Do you think of your kids as monkeys? When you were a kid, did you ever feel like a monkey, pretend to be a monkey, play like a monkey or anything like that?



Do you think that the word monkey when used in this situation was racial slur or hate speech?



Would you call a child not your own of a different race a monkey? If the parents of a child of a different race were to refer to their own children as monkeys, would you concur with them or tell them that maybe that is not an appropriate comment.



On that last question, I would add that I am and have been sensitive enough to not refer to children of other races as monkeys, even when their own parents did so. I did not think of them as monkeys for racial reasons, but for the same reason I think of my own kids positively and proudly as monkeys, because they were hanging from and swinging from trees. But due to the extra politically correct environment and country that I have grown up in, I have been conditioned to not use that word in that context.



As I reflect on this story, I have to now wonder if I have been harmed in this conditioning and if I have helped to propagate that harm on others.



I have to wonder if maybe I should have fought to keep the word monkey in my lexicon. I am a very small part African American and a slightly larger part but still relatively small part Cherokee, but I am 92%+ monkey(99% chimp), and you know what so are you!



Should we fight to save our monkey Heritage?







Image: Black-capped Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri boliviensis). Picture taken in Apenheul zoo, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. Photo by Jens Buurgaard Nielsen Caption by Brett Bumeter

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Monday, April 07, 2008

NYC Preparing to Write Off plan to Charge Commuters Entering City

new-york-city-traffic-jam
125th Street, New York City, USA
photographer manamanah

Even someone wearing a pair of cheap glasses can read between the lines and see that the New York City plan to charge incoming commuters environmental fees for driving into the city is likely going to be written off on a procedural technicality.  The City's Assembly will likely not vote on the concept and that will void NYC's chance at bringing in $354 million in federal mass transit aid.

But on Monday, Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who killed Bloomberg's plan for an Olympic stadium on Manhattan's West Side, had made no announcement ahead of the deadline, which if missed will cost the city $354 million in federal mass transit aid.

The city's best-known transit advocates had already begun focusing on future battles to get more dollars, adding in a statement: "The Straphangers Campaign is sorely disappointed that congestion pricing will not move forward at this time."

Kevin Sheekey, a mayoral aide, warned lawmakers that they risked angering voters, businesses, environmental advocates and working people if they charge weekday drivers the fees during rush hour for entering Manhattan.

"I don't think they should worry about the mayor, I think they should worry about the other people," Sheekey said on an Albany radio show.

But he also explained why Bloomberg's leadership might have failed. "This was a plan that was advocated by the business community, the environmental community ... In many ways, the mayor came late to the game, put his office behind it."

UPDATE 1-New York anti-traffic fees may die without a vote

Friday, April 04, 2008

Preparing for Clinton Rally

Here's a weird situation. I'm currently getting everything together so that I can head to a political rally where Bill Clinton will be speaking today in Charlotte.

I missed him the last time he came to town (about a week ago) and so I'm looking forward to covering this one.

Have my cell phone (for utterzing), small camera and video camera for the event. I'm leaving my laptop at home, so I won't be mobile blogging this one, but I was torn on that one. I may even change my mind at the last minute.

I am not a Clinton supporter. In fact, I do not support any of the top 3 candidates. Saying that I am undecided is incorrect.

I am decidedly against the top 3 candidates actually. The options for people like myself that don't trust Democratic politicians any further than we can throw a Republican politician are definitely limited these days. But hey what are you going to do?

Vote for someone that you do not trust to get the job done?

Vote for someone that you think is corrupt?

Every person will answer those questions differently, but imho life is to short to support Delsey people like that.

I usually try and find the positive in these situations. Something to create, something to build, something to improve, but when you have to go so far outside of the box to find some material to work with that is not easy. :)

I'd definitely like to see a strong 3rd party candidate stand up and swipe this election away from the 2 party system in 2008.

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Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Abu Grahib Linked to White House


Rough Voice Transcripts



Covering the article in the Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/…02171.html



View or download the actual memo in 4 parts here

http://media.washingtonpost.com/…mo1-19.pdf

http://media.washingtonpost.com/…o20-39.pdf

http://media.washingtonpost.com/…o40-59.pdf

http://media.washingtonpost.com/…o60-81.pdf



Anything new for him but it's been following the scandals coming out of the Bush administration during the last seven years but it does basically prove that one of those scandals is true.
the abuses that took place about the grave of previously been blamed on a handful of enlisted people in the military. Privates and one sergeant basically, prosecuted for the abuses that took place as if they were the ringleaders. The real ringleaders include George Bush and Dick Cheney and several people that work on their staff.
In this memo written by John Yoo was a deputy at the Justice Department legal counsel to the President Vice President and to Donald Rumsfeld wrote an 81 page long memo describing how the office of the President basically has the right to throw out every law in the country and ignore the Constitution, to do whatever they like to anyone in the pursuit of information about what Al Qaeda is doing.

Now we've seen the administration act on this concept for years now and its upset quite a few people but this memo actually describes it in great detail. The policies that they had why they felt they could give the president as much authority as they liked even though there are constitutional controls. and prevent this type of thing covers this recovery history of the investigation into this problem it's deeply troubling but it's again is not terribly surprising anybody that's ever served in the military would know that you can't get ringleaders out of a handful of enlisted people to run something like the abuses that we saw that with grave mental deep basically describes how these techniques and the justification for these techniques were essentially exported from Guantᮡmo Bay across the ocean to Iraq so the same techniques were used on prisoners in Guantᮡmo and then later as you know people were moving into Iraq and they were getting enough intelligence as they are basically discovered they couldn't find weapons of mass distraction that they needed to use some better techniques zero what was really going on and so it was basically insinuated through the government and help in getting the Intel you need are some tools that we've used in Guantᮡmo and you can use them because we've done the analysis of the Justice Department and that's what drove all of us I think it's important to note is read this article in the Washington Post that they describe how the Justice Department basically did a runaround around the Pentagon there were lawyers and the Pentagon people have worked in military and military legal system for years that were very against this whole concept torturing prisoners of any type and the Justice Department basically wrote this document went around the Pentagon military lawyers and took it to Don Rumsfeld and from there to get to Vice President Cheney did one of his aides at a time and that just goes to show how screwed up is ministration is also a goes to show just how poor a job they've done and running the country and failing utterly to understand the Constitution alone uphold or defend the Constitution's identity to be brought to justice themselves along with everybody that allow this to happen there were far too many greenways and the administration should have stood up and said hey you know it's our ministration but this is wrong is against the Constitution it is the very anybody that stood up in the Bush ministration at work for George Bush had the balls to say this is wrong is against the Constitution and for that you know what Republicans don't deserve to win the election come this fall I've supported Republicans in the past and frankly all the Republicans are their work in the ministration today and implement but supporting the president on Capitol Hill the need to go they didn't have what it took to stand up and defend the Constitution instead they backed a Republican president who we can now see was extremely flawed extremely and capable streetlight and competent and extremely misguided in his belief that he could do whatever he wanted that he was above the law goes for everybody blog as well so that's all on to say about that it's I'm sure going to be up a lot more evidence that will come out on this this is just one memo even though it's an 80 page memo and I am sure there will be more like this one that will be uncovered in the years to come.

Its not like we are talking about subjecting people to a 1 hour talk to get vacation deals or a major financial scam, or steroid investigation or another Enron or sub prime fiasco. We are talking about life and death and in some people's minds something almost worse.



~ Transcribed with Dragon Naturally Speaking, most inconsistencies can be chalked up to the fact that I was recording video with Pinnacle Studio, while recording sound with Audacity and transcribing with Dragon Naturally Speaking. Its amazing my PC didn't just self destruct, by I do appreciate any text corrections that you would like to point out.

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Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Truckers Paying $500 - $1200 to Fill Up


To Put this issue of higher consumer products in perspective, Truck Drivers are paying $3.80 - $4.25 per gallon right now to fill up. Thats $500 - $1200 to fill up their tanks before they ever get paid for the freight that they hall (typically pays on terms after delivered).



My father is a truck driver and if you look at the load boards (think ebay for freight loads), there are many shipments that are not shipping at all because they are only paying about $2 a mile. That doesn't cover the cost of fuel and those rates used to look attractive to many truck drivers.



Now, lets put the cost of things in to perspective.



No freight, equals no stuff in the stores, and that means the prices are completely arbitrary.



Low supply equals high demand and that translates into very high prices.



Well the problem with that scenario is that many retail chains such as Wal-Mart have product prices locked up with their suppliers contracts and freight is typically locked up as a percentage of cost.



That means that if suppliers pay higher prices to ship crap from China to the US, or if China pays a higher energy cost to produce crap to later be shipped, that higher price can not be passed on to retailers. Furthermore, the suppliers have to eat the higher freight costs because the retailers will not.



That means that their only option is to do business at a loss or stop shipping products to the major retailers.



This is an on going dilemma by the way.



To complicate things more, Wal-Mart who is also a grocery store these days has been working since about December to keep prices on many grocery products arbitrarily low. They have been shaving about 30 percent of the price out of their own margins hoping to attract more customers into Wal-Mart to make up for bad sales.



Now, I was just at Wal-mart the other night and could see the price of milk for example. The promo milk prices are about $3.78 a gallon there. The non promo milk is $5.75 a gallon at Wal-Mart.



Now Wal-Mart (as Hillary Clinton can attest after running the company from the board of directors for several years in the late 80's and early nineties) is one of the most efficient corporations in the world and most effective at sales growth and generating a profit.



They are not keeping prices low to be nice to Americans. They are doing it to hook more people on their stores and up sell them on the other crap (floated over from china). [Look at it like crack dealers hooking school kids on crack in the late 80's]



The thing is they will not keep the prices low for ever. Not even Wal-Mart can afford to subsidize the entire US population. The Wal-mart stimulus plan by the way is rapidly approaching the size of the US government stimulus plan.



When Wal-Mart pulls the plug on their teaser rates, then we are going to have a very nasty wake up call about the real price of milk and other products.







My advice, go plant a big freaking garden this year so that you have enough food to survive the winter.

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