... and to be able to house and keep our citizens safe with prisons.

Charlie Crist, not too long ago, made it a bit easier for ex-felons to regain their voting rights here in Florida. Now, with his proposed $70,000,000,000 The People's Budget for FY 2009, he aims to counterbalance that by making it harder for felons to become ex-felons in the first place.

Governor Crist is committed to continuing today’s sentencing policies, which keep criminals off the streets and ensure that inmates serve greater portions of their court-imposed sentences. As a state Senator, Governor Crist sponsored landmark legislation requiring criminals to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. The average percentage of time served by all inmates has risen from 78.8 percent in 1999, to 86.7 percent in 2007.

To continue the 85 percent requirement, Governor Crist proposes $342.9 million for prison construction, which will provide funding for prison beds to address the increasing inmate population. The Governor also recommends $28.8 million to implement a bold initiative to significantly expand substance abuse treatment to inmates and probationers who committed crimes as a result of substance abuse. This initiative protects the community by lessening the chances that ex-offenders will return to a life of crime fueled by the need for drugs and offers these offenders the opportunity to re-enter society drug free, so they can contribute in a positive manner to their communities. These measures will aid in closing the revolving door of criminal justice of the past.

I'm all for spending money on substance abuse treatment, but we should be able to offer it to folks without locking them up in prison.

Speaking of keeping them in prison longer, take a look at the graph, Keeping Criminals Behind Bars, at that link. Florida's non-violent offenders serve a greater percentage of their sentences than do the violent offenders. With the possible exception of people like Enron executives, I'm thinking we could save a hell of a lot of money by just turning the non-violent offenders loose. $343 million would provide health care for a lot of kids for instance.

Oh, wait... no new prisons would wipe out 990 of the 1300 or so new jobs that The People's Budget will bring us.

Speaking of health care for kids, we've got a lot of them here in Florida whose parents can't afford to buy them insurance, so Crist wants to expand enrollment in KidCare, the public program for poor kids. Unfortunately, if I'm reading these tables right [and I could be wrong, they don't make this straightforward] that $60.6 million increase in spending looks like it's going to be spent on administration, with about a $4.5 million cut in actual health care spending for poor kids.

Nor do I feel especially well-cared-for seeing what looks like a $29 million cut in Health Care Regulation.

Oh, and because dipping into capital to pay your bills is how the rich get richer [/snark]:

McDaniel said the budget depends on $1.1 billion taken out of reserve, including $740 million taken from agency trust funds.

Crist said the "unique challenges" faced by his administration necessitated the use of reserves. He said that even if his recommendations are followed, Florida will still have about $4.5 billion in reserves.

Edwards for President!

Elizabeth, that is.



more from Greg Sargent

kuhm-plis-i-tee

Jay Newton-Small has been covering the horse-race aspects of the Edwards campaign for Time magazine, and in her latest article Why Edwards Never Caught On she writes this:

But even Edwards' boundless optimism and energy has his limits, and today he admitted what all the pundits and politicos have been saying for the past month: the Democratic contest is a two-person race, and Edwards is not one of them.

She left out a few words:

But even Edwards' boundless optimism and energy has his limits, and today he admitted what all the pundits and politicos have been saying for the past month: the Democratic contest is a two-person race, and we're doing our best to ensure that Edwards is not one of them.

She's written a whole string of articles [in no particular order]

• Has John Edwards' Moment Arrived?
• A Second-Place 'Victory' for Edwards?
• Edwards Fights To Stay Relevant
• South Carolina: No Haven For Edwards
• Huckabee Surges, Edwards Fades

It's not quite the hatchet job that was done on Al Gore, but with press like that, you're better off without coverage.

Memento mori

from maru---

Alongside his kitten-in-a-jar, bonsai puppy and pickled baby heart, Dick Cheney keeps a piece of a house that was destroyed in Iraq as a souvenir.

Would you like fires with that?

Bah, humbug. Amendment 1 passed. Homeowners look to save maybe $20/month on their property taxes, thus saving us from squandering our hard-earned money on frivolities like schools, firefighters, police [nice to have, when they're not overstepping some boundaries]....

Reaching for the nearest dead corvid

I've railed against Obama's illiberal, the-market-will-solve-everything economic advisers -- Austan Goolsbee, Jeffrey Liebman, and David Cutler -- throughout cyberspace and for months on end, and this is one of the big reasons why I decided to not vote for Obama.

Now, though, it looks like I'm going to have to eat crow, at least a small helping anyway.

John Edwards, the candidate I have endorsed and [kindasortamaybe] voted for, has Leo Hindery -- apparently the epitome of evil thieving corporate bastards -- for an economic adviser, while Hillary Clinton's chief adviser -- Gene Sperling -- is associated with The Center for American Progress and believes that educating the girls is the key to eradicating poverty in the Third World.

On the other hand, Edwards does appear to have by far the best plan for getting us through the subprime mess.


Bonus link: Charlie Rose interview with the economic advisers of the three leading candidates. I don't know yet if this one is worth watching; the cats have dismantled my computer speakers [probably because I won't make them some of those kewl toys].

Using hidden cameras to peek into the bedrooms

of owls

If it's Tuesday, this must be Florida.

Slavery and human trafficking

Right here in the US.

Whole economies in rural areas of the country are built on the imprisonment of other human beings. Families are building their dreams of home ownership and sending their kids to college on their decent-paying jobs as prison wardens. Communities get much-needed free labor for civic and charity functions, labor that they could otherwise never afford, from imprisoned workers.

Escalation

Taserbots [via]

Taser-resistant clothing [via]




Tasers suck
Taser of the Day
Tasered While Black

It's not the economy, stupid

It's, like, every damned thing.

h/t

What am I, chopped liver?

Apparently so.

According to Paul Krugman, I'll be getting a check for $300. A paltry amount, if the idea is to move a sluggish economy, but I'll be spending it, rather than hoarding it, so I'll be doing my part. Three guesses what I'll be spending it on.

And if the check arrives in June, that'll keep all the [four-footed] critters here well-fed and flea-free until about the end of December 2008. How very canny of them, our Congress, timing that little subsidy so that it lasts just long enough to make me feel all warm and fuzzy about them on Election Day, but no longer than that. Can't be wasting those tax dollars, y'know.

Oooooooooooo! Cat toys!

Now, if you topped one of these with a peanut....

You might be a racist if

you're considering using blackface on your blog.

In fact, it's not a bad template to use if you're considering using any racist, sexist, or other -ist stereotype to try to get your point across.

The definitive Ron Paul

Ron Paul is saying some things that resonate with a lot of otherwise good people. It's just an accident, though, that his anti-war views line up with the anti-war views of liberals and progressives.

This lengthy post has got to be the best and most complete analysis out there of just exactly why a Ron Paul presidency, or that of any Ron Paul clone who may come along later, would be a disaster.

Otoh, if you truly believe that the solution is dissolution, then Ron Paul is your man.

It's time for tourniquets, not aroma therapy.

[yes, i stole that.]

I've spent my 3-day weekend reading all their in-depth plans, reviewing all their votes, reading articles and editorials about them, and re-viewing some of their YouTube videos.

There are things I like and dislike about all 3 candidates, but it's John Edwards, by a whisker.

If I'm all at once suffused with another burst of energy, I may even get around to detailing what I like and don't like about each of them, but in the end I was swayed by rhetoric and wishing to see this horse race go down to the wire.

The rhetoric. On lobbyists: Give them a seat at the table and they'll eat all the food. On health care: If Congress doesn't pass universal health care within 6 months, I'll take away their health care. You can't ask for a more forthright identification of the barriers to universal health care or a finer pinpointing of the directions from which to attack them.

The horse race. Our election system needs some major reform, including the media's participation in distortion of the process. Arriving at the national convention with 3 viable candidates, none of whom has a convincing lead, may or may not serve to highlight some of the problems, but it's well worth trying. Plus, Edwards is the only one who chose to go the public financing route and this is a reform I'd truly like to see.

It's official, this blog endorses John Edwards.


PS. I'll be voting NO on Amendment 1.

Wanted: corpses

and from the very adventurous and talented, perhaps a zombie or two.

No, not dead bodies this time.

If you're into collaborative creativity with a Surrealist bent, you should try an exquisite corpse, of one flavor or another. I've played many a game of the hand-drawn variety over the years, and a poetic one or two [hi, august!], so I was thrilled to discover recently [via those amazing guys from area 51] a collection of some really excellent corpses. You should take a couple hours out of your life to browse their archives.

Sadly, that group is no longer active, but a new one has sprung up, and they are looking for players [one of my sockpuppets has joined]. The rules are easy to follow, and if, like me, you're too cheap to go out and buy Photoshop, you can always download GIMP.



And just because I can, here's a different Exquisite Corpse.

Becuase FICO scores have been such a rousing success

in determining who should get mortgages and credit cards, soon we'll be able to similarly contain the rising cost of health care with the implementation of MedFICO scores.

The cats regurgitated my homework

More on disbursements...


John Edwards
total disbursements reported: $6,457,032.42
listed by purpose: $6,457,028.42
listed by payee: $6,457,763.02
listed by date: $6,457,028.42

In a perfect world all 4 totals would be the same. I noticed that all the quarterly reports from all the candidates seem to be headed something along the lines of "Amended Report..." so I guess that covers them if the math comes out fuzzy. I'm not enough of an accountant to know or care if that's sufficient CYA, and this isn't a make-or-break issue for me, but as a citizen/voter/taxpayer I do find it reassuring when the numbers all add up.

So, all the numbers [in this particular post] are taken from various candidates' reports for the 2nd quarter of 2007. John Edwards' report has ~$700 perhaps that could have been better accounted for.


Some selected others...


Hillary Clinton
total disbursements reported: $12,763,905.50
listed by purpose: $12,762,183.45
listed by payee: $12,762,183.45
listed by date: $12,762,183.45
Or about ~$1700 that perhaps could have been better accounted for.


Barack Obama
total disbursements reported: $16,043,002.66
listed by purpose: $16,038,969.80
listed by payee: $16,096,635.60
listed by date: $16,038,969.80
Or $57,000+ that perhaps could have been better accounted for.


Dennis Kucinich
total disbursements reported: $717,653.23
listed by purpose: $731,019.74
listed by payee: $731,019.74
listed by date: $731,019.74
Or ~$13,000 that perhaps could have been better accounted for.


Ron Paul
total disbursements reported: $539,517.01
listed by purpose: $611,289.92
listed by payee: $611,289.92
listed by date: $611,289.92
Or nearly $72,000 that perhaps could have been better accounted for.


Being of a somewhat disorganized bent myself [ha!] I'm not about to fault Obama for his lack of organizational skills. And I agree with him completely about the vision thing:

... seem to think the job of the president is to go in and run some bureaucracy. Well, that’s not my job. My job is to set a vision of 'here's where the bureaucracy needs to go.'"

This whole government should be run as a business shtick that we've been fed for too many years now is a load of horsefeathers. Government most definitely should not be run like a business, though it is a good idea to try to at least keep an eye on where the money's going.

Anyways, I find it less interesting that the numbers don't quite add up and more interesting to see just what the candidates are spending their money on. I doubt this will provide any clues at all about what their spending priorities would be if they got elected, but I have fun speculating on this.

This all just bites.

The modem is fixed [replaced] but the cats are all sick and one of them is missing.

I'm hoping she's just hiding somewhere in the house, because between the hawks, the coyotes, animal control, the rain, and the cold front that is moving in this weekend, she doesn't stand much chance if she's managed to sneak out the front door. Just in case, I've made a fairly well-insulated little cave on the front porch and left out food and water, and the dog and I have been keeping our eyes peeled on our walks today.


Update: The Howard Hughes of chez hipparchia has been spotted and now all cats are present and accounted for. She wasn't sneezing, so maybe she's just avoiding everybody else's germs.

The cat ate my homework

and lightning [or something] hit my modem and I've only got a few minutes on this borrowed computer. Back whenever.

Nickels and dimes

The FEC, charged with administering and enforcing federal campaign finance laws, has a slew of reports from all the candidates published on their website. I've spent a happy couple of hours alternately cleaning the bathroom and surfing the various disbursement categories, which is how I found out who shops at WalMart, among other fascinating tidbits.

Among the reports that you can find is "Disbursements By Purpose" and of the gazillion or so purposes for which money can be spent is the little catch-all category "No Purpose Was Supplied".

Campaign finance reform has long been one of my pet peeves, and I was thrilled when John Edwards decided to go with public financing. As a taxpayer and supplier of these funds, I'm happy to see that his campaign appears to be accounting for every single penny they've spent [reports are available through Sept 2007].

Unlike some others. Granted five figures is insignificant when you're spending millions, but still...

Cool!

Back in March of 2007 John Edwards pledged to make his campaign carbon neutral. I'm a bit skeptical of some of the schemes that have been put forth for achieving carbon neutrality, but I can't fault Edwards for putting his money where his tailpipe is: he's reported spending nearly $22,000 in carbon offsets so far [through Sept 30, 2007].

You'll note that Chris Dodd was the only other candidate who did this.

Republicans shop at WalMart

So do Clinton and Obama.

There's gold in them thar bills!

There's not a snowflake's chance in hell of a return to the gold standard any time soon, so this is merely amusing, rather than cause for concern: Ron Paul owns stock in mining companies.

Kittens look good in orange. Humans, not so much.

show your colors january 11

Go iron your own shirt!

[from the inbox]

Thank You & Read Speech

Dear Friend,

It is with great pride, understanding and acceptance that I am ending my campaign for President of the United States. It was my hope that all of you would first hear this news from me and not a news organization. But unfortunately, as with too many things in our world today, it's the ending of something that garners the most intense interest and speculation.

I knew from the beginning that this would be an uphill climb. When I entered the campaign, it was clear that we, as Democrats, had the most talented field of candidates in my lifetime running to change the direction of our country. And in the end, one of them will.

Despite overwhelming financial and political odds, I am proud of the campaign we waged and the influence we had on the issues that matter most to the future of this country.

A year ago, we were the only major campaign calling for the removal of all of our troops within a year's time from Iraq. We were the only campaign calling for a complete reform of education in this country, including the scrapping of No Child Left Behind. And we were the campaign with the most aggressive clean energy plan and the most ambitious standards for reducing global warming.

Now, all of the remaining candidates are coming to our point of view. I am confident that the next President of the United States will implement much of what we've been urging for the last twelve months, and our nation and world will be the better for it.

There are so many of you who gave so much to this campaign. For that, I will be forever grateful. Running for president has been, at times, humbling and at other times, exhilarating. I have grown and learned a great deal from the experience, and I am a better person for it.

Also, because of your close friendship and support throughout the ups and downs of what is a very grueling and demanding process, I have never felt alone.

Running for president brings out the best in everyone who graces the stage, and I have learned much from the other candidates running. They have all brought great talents and abilities to the campaign.

Senator Biden's passion and intellect are remarkable.

Senator Dodd is the epitome of selfless dedication to public service and the Democratic Party.

Senator Edwards is a singular voice for the most downtrodden and forgotten among us.

Senator Obama is a bright light of hope and optimism at a time of great national unease, yet he is also grounded in thoughtful wisdom beyond his years.

Senator Clinton's poise in the face of adversity is matched only by her lifetime of achievement and deep understanding of the challenges we face.

Representative Kucinich is a man of great decency and dedication who will faithfully soldier on no matter how great the odds.

And all of us in the Democratic Party owe Senator Mike Gravel our appreciation for his leadership during the national turmoil of Vietnam.

I am honored to have shared the stage with each of these Democrats. And I am enormously grateful to all of my supporters who chose to stand with me despite so many other candidates of accomplishment and potential.

Now that my time in this national campaign has come to an end, I would urge those who supported my candidacy to take a long and thoughtful look at the remaining Democrats. They are all strong contenders who each, in their own way, would bring desperately needed change to our country. All I ask is that you make your own independent choice with the same care and dedication to this country that you honored me with during this campaign. At this time, I will not endorse any candidate.

Now I am returning to a job that I love, serving a state that I cherish and doing the work of the people I was elected to serve. As I have always said, I am the luckiest man I know. I am married to my high school sweetheart. I live in a place called the Land of Enchantment. I have the best job in the world. And I just got to run for president of the United States.

It doesn't get any better than that.

With my deepest appreciation for all that you have done,

Bill

Governor Bill Richardson
The Governor's Mansion
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Speaking of blowing stuff up

graphic from Dark Wraith

I have to admit that it was a jolt to realize that I'm not especially worried about the lives of any of my favorite candidates. Worse yet is that even as Martin Luther King Day draws near, it hadn't occurred to me to actually remember King, or Medgar Evers, or Malcolm X.

Clinton and Obama both are at the bottom of my list of Democrats that I want for President, Hillary because she's Republican-lite on going to war and Obama because he's Republican-lite on economic policy.

Still, I'd be willing give up my hopes for single-payer health insurance or a populist champion for the little guy [me!] in exchange for the intangible but important social benefits to be gained from having our next President be a person of either the wrong sex or the wrong color.

One of the things I'd been wondering was which issue is more pressing, racism or sexism?

Al Qaeda is watching you

and they're going to blow us up if we elect the wrong President.

So, if experience is what's going to keep us in one piece, maybe we should just keep the President we already have. He's got years more experience in the job.

Game on!

Did I call it?

Looks like maybe.

Need a new brain? Go to China.

Americans have been traveling to China [and other countries] as medical tourists for some time, but now there's a new wrinkle: you can get stem cell therapy for a number of problems, including injections of stem cells into your brain to treat Parkinsons.

Western doctors and medical scientists are decrying this, saying that with the lack of rigorous clinical trials and published, peer-reviewed research, Americans are just offering themselves up as guinea pigs for treatments that at best seem to work only a little and only temporarily.

I'm inclined to agree that it would still be playing Russian roulette right now, though if I had some horrible disease and no other hope, I might try it. Then again it's not like our clinical trials here are carefully and rigorously watched over by the FDA.

A capital idea

The Supreme Court is pondering the death penalty yet again. Some excerpts:

Polls show that Americans are still supportive of capital punishment but that they favor life imprisonment if given the option.

------------------

The justices in recent years have eliminated the death penalty for the mentally retarded and for juveniles. They have also been more demanding about the evidence presented to juries during sentencing and about the competence of lawyers defending the accused.

------------------

According to the petition filed by the Kentucky inmates, Ralph Baze and Thomas Bowling, resulting court decisions are a "haphazard flux ranging from requiring 'wanton infliction of pain,' 'excessive pain,' 'unnecessary pain,' 'substantial risk,' 'unnecessary risk,' 'substantial risk of wanton and unnecessary pain,' and numerous other ways of describing when a method of execution is cruel and unusual."

------------------

"There's nothing speculative about whether there can be problems," said Elizabeth Semel, director of the Death Penalty Clinic at the law school at the University of California at Berkeley. But proving widespread problems is difficult, she acknowledged, because of secrecy surrounding the procedures and an inability to know whether inmates were properly anesthetized.

I've got an easy answer to those last two problems: abolish the death penalty.

From the inbox,

[emphasis mine]:

Dear Friend,

I may be the underdog in this campaign, running against two candidates with more than $200 million between them – but the real underdogs are the middle class and those without a voice in America today.

They are losing ground while the CEOs of huge corporations pocket million dollar bonuses and corporate lobbyists get their way and promote their special interests in Washington.

While ExxonMobil rakes in record profits and receives government handouts, gas prices are going through the roof, oil has skyrocketed to $100 a barrel and the middle class is paying through the nose at the pump.

Meanwhile, 200,000 veterans – men and women who proudly wore America's uniform and served with honor on behalf of our country – will sleep tonight under bridges and on grates, ignored and uncared for by their government.

I know you cannot negotiate with the entrenched, moneyed interests who are strangling our government. You have to fight them and stand up to them. That is what I have done my whole life – and that's exactly what I intend to do as president of the United States. It's why I need your support today.

Click here to make a contribution

We can't simply replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats and expect change. I've never taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or political action committees. That's why I'm the candidate of change who can take them on – and win for the American people.

I know who the underdogs are in this fight. I know that the fight to save the middle class will be an epic battle – but I will never give up.

We're going to take this fight to save the middle class and to speak up for those who have no voice all the way to the convention and to the White House. And we're going to look our children in the eye and tell them, "We left you a better life than we had."

I'm asking you to join me in this epic battle – a fight to preserve the greatness of America.

Click here to make a contribution

Franklin Roosevelt said, "There is nothing I love so much as a good fight." He spoke for the underdogs and the voiceless of an earlier generation of Americans.

Today, the fight for bold and lasting change continues. With your help, I will fight for the real underdogs of America every single day.

Sincerely,

--John
January 6, 2008

Bloggers: start your blogs!

From an op-ed in the NYT:

Public trust in all kinds of communication is eroding, with a notable exception: word of mouth. A Roper poll found the number of people who said they get good ideas and information from television ads declined from 1977 to 2003, while the number who said the same about word of mouth increased by 25 percentage points.

[snip]

Whether by chance or design, such citizen advocates created the explosive growth in support for Mike Huckabee and sustained John Edwards, even as both were vastly outspent by their opponents.

Our polling found 23 percent of Republicans were advocates for Mike Huckabee as against 16 percent for Mr. Romney. At 30 percent, Mr. Edwards had the most word-of-mouth advocates among Democrats by a narrow margin, which explains how he was able to remain competitive in Iowa despite his financial disadvantage.

That's the good news, we should keep on talking to the people around us.

Something I found interesting, the authors of the above piece are described thusly:

Mark Mellman and Michael Bloomfield are, respectively, chief executive and executive vice president of a research firm.

A research firm? Why not just tell us which research firm? A little googling turns up the Mellman Group, of which Mark Mellman is [surprise] president and CEO. For a glimpse into the world of political consulting, you should read the staff bios.

Some snippets from Mellman's bio:

The Mellman Group counts among its clients the Majority Leaders of both the U.S. House and Senate (Leader Harry Reid, Leader Steny Hoyer). The firm has picked up a Republican seat every election cycle for the 25 years Mellman has been in business and is the only major Democratic polling firm never to have lost an incum-bent re-election for Senate or Governor. In addition to Leader Reid, Senate clients includes Maria Cantwell, Dan Akaka, Barbara Boxer, Carl Levin, and Frank Lautenberg. Gubernatorial clients include Jon Corzine, Jennifer Granholm and Jim Doyle.

-------

Respected entities also turn to Mellman for his objective, unvarnished analysis of public opinion. The U.S. Departments of Justice (under President Bush), State and Labor have all turned to The Mellman Group for critical studies, as has the World Bank. In addition, Mellman works with some of the nation’s most important public interest organizations ranging from the American Cancer Society to the AFL-CIO, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the National Environmental Trust, and the League of Women Voters.

[i just died of cute overload]

moar funny pictures

[also, the quality at ICHC has gone up recently]

The Surge! brought to you in [formerly] living color

by the NYT.


This is a crappy way to illustrate technical information, way too busy and hard to read, but each one of those figures represents a human being, on "our" side, who was alive before 2007, and each one of those black blocks represents 500 more deaths.

Total for the year = 2,592


But hey, it's ok, because civilian deaths are down.

No word yet on when our oil, that they're hiding in their sand, will be transported to US gas tanks where it rightfully belongs.

Kucinich explains his endorsement of Obama

Dear Supporter,

For the record:

1. New Hampshire is the first state where we are aggressively campaigning. Due to the Party lockout in Iowa, we chose to focus on New Hampshire.
2. I am the only person running for President who voted against the war, against funding the war 100% of the time, against the Patriot Act, and who stands for a universal single-payer not-for-profit healthcare system. Nevertheless I was excluded from Saturday night's ABC Presidential debate, or four tone monologue as it was.
3. In answer to your questions about why I didn't support former Senator John Edwards on the second ballot in Iowa: I have serious concerns about his connections to a Wall Street hedge fund, Fortress Investment Group. While attacking others for accepting campaign money from Washington lobbyists, he is up to his ears in money from Wall Street special interests.

He made half a million dollars in a single year for attending a few meetings for Fortress and has invested a substantial part of his own personal wealth in the hedge fund whose portfolios are responsible for sub-prime predatory lending practices, Medicare privatization, and an entire range of corporate sharp dealings that are driving the middle class into poverty.

While I indicated Senator Obama as a preferred second choice in Iowa, Progressives have fundamental disagreements with him and all of the other Presidential candidates on most of their major positions on the issues.

We must have the courage of our convictions to fully support and vote for what it is we really want. For once, we must realize our power, stop playing tactical games, and vote as a bloc - which, as you know, is what the religious right does and why they often win.

We Progressives are in the majority in this election. We will win only when we refuse to compromise and vote with integrity.

Dennis Kucinich

My armband, let me show you it

The Guantanamo Gulag has now been in existence for six years.

Six. Years.



Things to do on January 11:
wear orange
get an armband
more...




[yes, i know, my photoshopping skills have degraded horribly, i'll work on that]

No spy left behind

from the WaPo:

The keepers of the nation's secrets soon will be evaluated against common standards on how well they analyze problems, share information and stand behind their professional judgments.

Because NCLB is working so well for our childrens.

Those job performance standards and others will apply to all rank-and-file civil service employees in the government's intelligence community, according to a directive issued last month by the director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell.

Because Rule Number 2 rules. [rule #1: the boss is always right. rule #2: when the boss is wrong, see rule #1.]

It marks the first time that the employees, across 16 agencies, will be evaluated according to the same performance requirements.

Because no country needs 16 spy agencies, we'll start rolling them all into one. Kinda like the unitary executive; who needs redundancy? [actually, 16 does seem excessive.]

Intelligence agencies have been faulted in Congress and by independent commissions for missing opportunities to detect the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists and for a flawed analysis of the threat posed by Iraq under Saddam Hussein. In a bid to pull intelligence agencies closer together, Congress approved a law in 2004 that permits the director of national intelligence to set policies for managing intelligence employees.

It's been awhile, and I haven't been paying attention lately, but didn't we decide that the underlings repeatedly tried to warn Bush about all those people taking their flying lessons only half-seriously? Learning to take off but not bothering to learn how to land?

It's also been awhile since I read The One Percent Doctrine, but ever since 9/11 [and perhaps even before then] Cheney's worldview has essentially been: If there's a 1% chance that Iraq has nukes... if there's a 1% chance that some guy's a terrorist... if there's a 1% chance that some other guy knows a terrorist... if there's a 1% chance that ___insert your favorite fear here___, then we have to act as if it's true and we're in imminent peril.

[from the inbox]

Dear Friend,

I count the past year of campaigning for the presidency as one of the most rewarding in a career of public service.

Unfortunately, I am withdrawing from that campaign tonight.

But there is no reason to hang our heads this evening -- only the opportunity to look towards a continuation of the work we started last January: ending the Iraq War, restoring the Constitution, and putting a Democrat in the White House.

I know a lot of you came to this email list through a shared desire to return our nation to one that respects the rule of law, and I want to make one thing clear to all of you:

The fight to restore the Constitution and stop retroactive immunity does not end with my Presidential campaign. FISA will come back in a few weeks and my pledge to filibuster ANY bill that includes retroactive immunity remains operative.

You've been an invaluable ally in the battle, and I'll need you to stick by my side despite tonight's caucus results.

So, one more time, thank you for all of your efforts throughout the course of this entire Presidential campaign.

We made a real difference in shaping the debate, and we'll continue to do so in the coming days, weeks and years.

I'll never forget you, and what we've fought for, together, over the past year.

Chris Dodd

Iowa [hearts] Obama

I'm not surprised that Iowa would favor the midwesterner, and I'm thrilled to see that Edwards is as popular as he is.

alternate energy

for Circular Joe

just because he's so cute [christmas 2006]



also, new favorite website[s], courtesy circular joe, in comments