« How Do We Balance Liberty vs Security? | Main | It's About Damn Time »
The Weasel Words
Photo by Jerry Holt, courtesy of Minneapolis Star Tribune
DCP Readers:
Please welcome Guest Blogger "Gob Ears", colleague and professional engineer addressing current affairs in infrastructure.--FB
On August 1 the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed suddenly and catastrophically dumping dozens of vehicles into the Mississippi River and stranding many more. There were an as yet undetermined number of people killed and dozens more injured. A vital transportation link in this major American city was destroyed.
We take our infrastructure for granted in this country with not much consciousness of how important it is to our health and well being. Consider the upheaval we in the Bay Area experienced when the Bay Bridge was out of service for a month in the wake of the Loma Prieta earthquake. People in the Twin Cities area will be without a similar transit link for a longer period.
Imagine the effect of losing our potable water supply for a month, or even a week. What would happen if a major sewerage treatment plant was knocked out of service?
Some ten years ago when I was working in downtown San Francisco, a garden-variety construction screw-up knocked out the electricity for six hours. Things came to a halt. Six hours! Imagine six weeks.
What the bridge in Minneapolis shows us, or should show us, is that all our infrastructure is vulnerable. Knowledgeable people working on these things have been saying for some time that we’re not maintaining our infrastructure and we’re moving into peril as a consequence. Yet, other than the typical run of bloviation from the political leadership, little gets done.
The I-35W bridge, along with over 70,000 others have been deemed structurally deficient. There’s been a lot of speculation about what that means and doesn’t mean.
What it means in essence is that some engineers looked at the bridges and found areas of potential structural weakness. They were then faced with a dilemma of how to report their findings. They could not in good conscience say the bridge was okay, because obviously it wasn’t. Nor could they call for the bridge to be closed until repaired because 1) it would not happen and; 2) they would never get work inspecting bridges again.
So they said the bridges were “structurally deficient” which is weasel wording for “somebody should do something here, we don’t know what but in case something bad happens, our asses are covered.” This is not meant to denigrate these people, just to say that they know how their business works and that it works by denial and deferment.
Anyone who has worked in the infrastructure business knows that no one wants to put money or effort into maintenance and repair. Everyone loves a shiny new project. They put plaques on them with the names of all the folks involved. They hold dedication ceremonies that you can watch on the evening news. Politicians who happened to be in office at the time cite the project when they go for higher office. By contrast, maintenance and repair are orphans.
And then when something like I-35W happens there is a run of concern, studies are commissioned, blue ribbon panels make reports. Will anything change? Here’s hoping, we will be watching, you should be too because it might be your bridge next time.
What’s needed most is a commitment of more money. In Minneapolis, I-35W was scheduled for replacement albeit at some date well into the future – again asses were at least partially covered. Had there been the money available maybe it would have been replaced in time, who can tell?
It’s interesting that a number of reports have pointed out that the Governor of Minnesota had recently vetoed a gas tax increase that might have provided some money for this work. While we can all be sure the good Governor now regrets this, we also damn well know that vetoing tax increases plays well politically. This will change only when we face further infrastructure failures, such as the bridges, and that we need to pay full price for the way we live.
More later.
"Gob Ears" and I will be blogging more about all matters infrastructure at The Infrastructure Report. Stay tuned. FB.
Welcome Gob Ears.
Is it a difficult decision to maintain our infrastructure? For the short sighted individuals it certainly is a difficult choice. However, most people realize the value in maintaining functional power grids, bridges, and roads. It is the quick buck, greedy, selfish crowd that has no interest in maintaining our infrastructure. These are the same individuals who show little concern for the well being of their fellow citizen. Those individuals think that the shrinking middle class exists only to serve the wealthy and damn any problems they may encounter.
The fact they may come to realize is that while the middle class struggles to keep its head above water, and while the bridges and roads are crumbling, the plutocrats will be brought to the same level as those who serve them. They can not let this happen. So, the bridge collapse while not a shock -given the state of disrepair that has allowed to evolve - is a warning to those who will do anything to maintain their places of privilege, even if it means spending money to maintain the infrastructure which serves the working class.
Oh, we're just starting to pay the full price for the way we live.
Lying In Wait
OT, but thought that DCPers would enjoy this article from today's Boston Globe: OutsideIn says that Boston is the "bloggiest" city in the nation (with Philadelphia a close second):
http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2007/08/14/home_of_the_bean_and_the_blog/
Hint: there's a link that asks the question: what are your favorite blogs and why?
EXCERPT:
"According to OutsideIn.com, a website that tracks neighborhood blogging, Boston was the "bloggiest city" in America for the two-month period it examined, March and April.
Behind Boston were Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C.
OutsideIn.com said it tracks blogging activity in about 60 urban areas. It based its rankings on a "blogging quotient" that factored in a metropolitan area's population with the number of blog posts tied to specific locations.
By that measure, Greater Boston had 89 posts per 100,000 residents, edging out Greater Philadelphia, which had 88 posts.
Surprisingly, perhaps, such well-wired places as San Francisco and Seattle were farther down the list.
Why was Greater Boston number one? Outsidein.com's chief executive, Steven Berlin Johnson, offered this theory: Blogs thrive where locals are wired, well-educated, and obsessed with politics, a topic that inspires bloggers to vent their opinions."
. . . .
So, the bridge collapse while not a shock -given the state of disrepair that has allowed to evolve - is a warning to those who will do anything to maintain their places of privilege, even if it means spending money to maintain the infrastructure which serves the working class.
Posted by: oncall at August 14, 2007 09:00 AM
I completely agree with you, oncall, about the sinking middle class and the short-sightedness of the wealthy class re. having safe bridges for their servants to cross in a timely manner, but I also think the continuing stratification presents some even more unpleasant potential scenarios.
What I fear: a collapse of the economy in a way that primarily affects the middle class, sending many into poverty, where the only jobs people can get are serving the wealthy. Each wealthy person has accumulated enough houses, cars, and celebrity that s/he is really a small corporation. The corporations pay minimal taxes; therefore the government is down to the size Grover Norquist set out to make it.
There is still an army and the Pentagon, but that's it. No social programs, because everyone could just get a good job as pool boy or color advisor to some schmuck.
Of course, the scenario is not universal, and the international markets will collapse along with ours, leading to general sinkage everywhere. But I think that the scenario is where the neocons want to go. They too are faith-based, although not with any faith in spiritual matters. They have faith their policies, designed to benefit themselves, are sound and necessary.
Mass delusion is never fun to watch, but this time, it's not a small cult in Guyana. It's all of us and we are all on the sinking bridge together. If you have no talent for serving, consider an island community off the coast of Portugal...
Or get into the streets and tell people what's going on!
Roves biographer:
"This is the end of the Bush presidency," Slater concluded. "Absolutely."
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Rove_must_bear_responsibility_for_colossal_0813.html
It's amazing that the neocons can keep parroting "terrorist threats" all the time re: our infrastructure, and let the infrastructure crumble on its own from lack of maintenance.
But then what else can we expect from the neoCONS anyway?
Another disgusting reading.
As if crumbling infrastructure isn't enough, we will be using it - in our Chinese built cars.
Aren't Toyota slave labor and Hyundai barbarism bad enough?
There is, of course, the standard lie about Detroit's auto workers being too expensive to build $13,000 subcompacts profitably. It's all in engineering and marketing, morons.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCar/CheapChineseCarsSpeedTowardUS.aspx
I for one cannot wait until we replace the meme "tax and spend" Democrats with "freeload and destroy" republicans.
The same folks who make millions in businesses that rely on the infrastructure (automobile and oil companies, shipping, for example) rely on the politicians to give them the tax breaks to increase their profit margins.
All the while, those same said politicians make their bones on making sure they cater to the lowering taxes mob. And then the infrastructure deteriorates. And finally when it comes time to pay the piper, the mess is even more expensive to take care of than it is to just maintain it.
This had BETTER be a sobering lesson to any politician who makes their bones on the backs of the middle class, and who use the "tax and spend" meme against common sense as a mantra. Most of the services we rely on depend on public revenue. Most of these services are taken fully for granted. And their destruction is devastating on all levels that matter. We are being killed by short-sightedness.
Rove gone:
CHENEY IN CHARGE - COMPLETELY!!!
Posted by: Ralpheh at August 14, 2007 01:42 PM
... and still, the table is not set with impeachment.
Food Fight
Food Fight
Posted by: monkey at August 14, 2007 01:50 PM
Banana Cream Pie!
Quote from Gob Ears:
It’s interesting that a number of reports have pointed out that the Governor of Minnesota had recently vetoed a gas tax increase that might have provided some money for this work. While we can all be sure the good Governor now regrets this, we also damn well know that vetoing tax increases plays well politically. This will change only when we face further infrastructure failures, such as the bridges, and that we need to pay full price for the way we live.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tim Pawlenty (MN Governor) was "kind" enough to put the proposal of MN state taxpayer monies slated to build yet another damned sports stadium on hold until money for the bridge could be taken care of. He is now saying he's going to approve a gas tax hike. The residents of one county (Hennepin, I believe) are already being taxed for the cost of one stadium that got approval, and they had no say-so or vote as to whether or not they approved the county tax hike, but it will go toward the cost of one of the stadiums.
Pawlenty and the other 'PubliCons don't mind spending tax money for the welfare of their corporate buddies, you see. When it comes to taking care of the citizens of this state or for infrastructure, then he, like the other 'PubliCons, has a hissy fit, and out comes the veto pen....
Priorities, you know.
Oh, the sports figures in this state make the news headlines at the top of the news hour for committing crimes such as rape, beating up girlfriends and wives, sex parties, drunk driving, drug abuse, etc., so why the overgrown spoiled brats deserve to have their very own sandboxes to play in - courtesy corporate welfare - is beyond comprehension. The Twins' owner makes headlines every year for being in the Fortune 500s list of wealthiest people, so he can well afford to pay for a stadium for his boys.
This stadium issue has me wanting to move to another state that does not have a professional sports team.
Rove a Genius? Please
In light of the big retirement announcement, the media has spent the day gushing over Karl Rove. But it's worth asking some tough questions. Besides the fact that he got an intellectual lightweight with no particular qualifications for the office elected to the presidency, what has Karl Rove done? That is, what will he be remembered for post-2000? Andrew Sullivan takes a crack:
The man's legacy is a conservative movement largely discredited and disunited, a president with lower consistent approval ratings than any in modern history, a generational shift to the Democrats, a resurgent al Qaeda, an endless catastrophe in Iraq, a long hard struggle in Afghanistan, a fiscal legacy that means bankrupting America within a decade, and the poisoning of American religion with politics and vice-versa.
Too much blame? One could argue that Rove always got too much credit, and this is simply the flip side of the coin. Regardless, there's no way to spin this man's legacy as a success. Sullivan's not done. "Rove is one of the worst political strategists in recent times," he writes. "He took a chance to realign the country and to unite it in a war — and threw it away in a binge of hate-filled niche campaigning, polarization and short-term expediency." Conservatism is not entrenched in the American identity, as Rove had intended. It is a dying breed in many parts of the country, and increasingly unpopular even in its former strongholds.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2007/08/5159_rove_a_genius_p.html
FIVE U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED IN HELICOPTER CRASH IN IRAQ - U.S. MILITARY
Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L14838872.htm
22 US, 4 Brits, 543 Iraqi Killed, 364 Iraqi Wounded this week
Tuesday: 6 GIs, 53 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 4 GIs, 41 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded
Sunday: 5 GIs, 57 Iraqis Killed; 37 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 1 GI, 81 Iraqis Killed; 34 Iraqis Wounded
Friday: 81 Iraqis Killed, 89 Wounded
Thursday: 3 GIs, 2 Britons, 46 Iraqis Killed; 21 Iraqis Wounded
Wednesday: 121 Iraqis, 1 GI, 1 Briton Killed; 87 Iraqis Wounded
Tuesday: 3 GIs, 1 Briton, 63 Iraqis Killed; 50 Iraqis Wounded
American Wounded
Official
27279
Estimated
Total Wounded:
23000 - 100000
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w070813&s=peterson081407
Code Pink in the New Republic
Judge presses $64m pants appeal
A US judge appealed his $US54 million ($64.24 million) lawsuit today against the dry-cleaning shop that misplaced his trousers, shrugging off legal setbacks and international ridicule.
Judge Roy Pearson filed a notice of appeal with the District of Columbia Superior Court, indicating that he won't abandon the crusade that has turned him into a symbol of America's lawsuit-happy legal culture.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22248223-5005961,00.html
Very bad day in Iraq.
3 organized car bombs, 100 dead so far, hundreds more wounded. Chopper down killing 5 US soldiers and high profile kidnappings with 'dozens' of masked men.
It never gets any easier to accept.
It never gets any easier to accept.
Posted by: Christy at August 14, 2007 04:58 PM
No, it doesn't and we have to continue to dog the Members of Congress while they are outside their bubble.
We are the deciders, but we have to decide to act.
Check out the Code Pink story I linked to, above, and see if that inspires anyone.
Note to Fellow Democrats
Karl Roves resignation is a real and stunning victory. The fact that it happened despite the elite dems best efforts to shield George W. Bush from an accountability moment is incredible. That moment is coming wether Nancy Pelosi likes it or not. Every day that passes the outrage grows. It does not diminish it only increases in ferocity..
In spite of the betrayal by our own democratic leaders, every day gives the rest of us all that much more reason to fight. Every day the battle lines extend as more people, sickened by what they see happening, joins the fight to stand against a tyrant.
Yet, in spite of a renewed vigor and the very real signs of this administration imploding, many many democrats get frustrated and forecast, not a day of reckoning, but a day when georgie and all his cronies simply walk away, never to be touched by accountability. Because we have a history of letting such men walk away, that past not only seems logical to repeat, but most likely to do so. Nobody wants it, but it seems a lot of people are resigned to it. We believe it in spite of ourselves.
The problem is, such beliefs can become true just by believing it is true.
My fellow Democrats, we can not afford to entertain such notions at this time. A final battle with a monster is looming right before us, and we can not for a moment allow doubt, fear, or fatigue give him the impression he will be allowed to get away with it. Any of it.
I understand many in my party are committed pacifists and peace activists, but regardless, are you honestly willing in your own hearts to walk away from confronting George W. Bush? After all you have witnessed these last years, can you let him walk away unhobbled by the dead in his wake? Can you live with not doing it?
Yes, the odds are enourmous, and the outcome seems a foregone conclusion, but is it really over yet? Not by a long shot Nancy.
The truth is the repercussions of George W. Bush will still be a problem long after George, himself, is gone. The trajectory of what he has set in motion will reach far into the future and infect our childrens lives. They will be old hands by then, at torture, domestic spying, and committing fraud and atrocities upon this earth. Is that a future we must resign ourselves too? Absolutely not!
There is only one person that benefits by assuming that he will get away with it. And that person is George W. Bush. He wants you to believe he is larger than law, history, or any accountability what so ever.
He wants you to believe it. When you believe it, it becomes the most likely outcome.
We all fear he may slip away, beyond the grasp of any law. But the moment he does, is the moment our Constitution completely FAILS. Completely, totally, and utterly destroyed. Like the mark of Cain, our future generations will have to endure his legacy, with walls and detainment camps, already constructed.
Now, more than ever, we must believe in justice and the United States Constitution, and that belief must be absolute. Only by believing in it can we make it a reality.
Do not say IF they will be impeached, say when. Do the same with being held accountable for war crimes, not IF....WHEN? Do not accept Nancy Pelosi deciding to fail in her Constitutional obligation. Do not believe she can stop the will of 200 million people who want their country back. When she says she has that right, doubt her. Do not believe it.
These next few months will be a test, perhaps like none other we have yet endured. A test of will, of law, but mostly, of faith.
Not belief in God or baby Jesus or even Islam or Muhammad. It all comes down to faith in our nation, our people and our Constitution. At this point sheer faith alone can change the outcome entirely.
Don't doubt. Don't fall. Don't fail. Believe we shall overcome, and we will. Believe in a better nation, where men like George W. Bush are not allowed to walk away from their crimes, and we will live in that better nation.
Iraqi deputy oil minister kidnapped
By KIM GAMEL
(AP) Umm Nadhim is seen through a damaged gate after her son was arrested in their Sadr City home in...
Full Image
BAGHDAD (AP) - Dozens of uniformed gunmen in 17 official vehicles stormed an Oil Ministry compound in Baghdad and abducted a deputy oil minister and three other officials, a ministry spokesman and police said. Outside the capital, two suicide truck bombers separately struck a strategic bridge and a complex housing a small religious minority, killing at least 19 people, police said.
The attacks came as 16,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops began a new operation north of the Iraqi capital targeting insurgents who have fled a crackdown in the restive city of Baqouba, the military said Tuesday.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070814/D8R0UK0G0.html
Oh my God.
The death toll in those bombings just jumped to 175.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL1484109720070814
Me and Rossi used to look at so many pictures of so many Iraqi dead, we got so good at it, we could tell whose victims they were.
Now there is no clear rational behind the attaks and they are all using each other tactics to disguise their own signatures. It is absolutely the worst scenario I can think of.
Civil wars are not fought like this. This is just kill kill murder death for whatever reason happens to emerge. Cause its' tuesday.
This isn't a civil war. It is hell.
georgie has created hell on earth.
georgie has created hell on earth.
Posted by: Christy at August 14, 2007 06:03 PM
Amen to that Christy
Two questions for rummy before he gets too frail to remember...
Is there a 'mass grave' located around the Bagdahd Airport?
Are there any 'mass graves' in Iraq that hold the remains of people wearing US military issue clothing, either US citizens or so called 'green card soldiers...?
Ok 3.
Is our dead and wounded toll completely accurate...?
By the way.
Is our stock market crashing? Cause it looks like it is crashing to me.
Posted by: Christy at August 14, 2007 06:29 PM
Yes!!!
ARTICLE: Blackwater brass forms intelligence company (The ...Cofer Black, vice chairman of Blackwater USA, announced Tuesday the formation of a new CIA-type private company to provide intelligence services to ...
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=119833&ran=88794
You feel safer already, coming to a community near you
Yes, the stock market is down - because more people are running out money toward the end of the month, because gasoline costs as much per gallon for the poor as for the middle and rich, and because people can't afford to remodel kitchens and bathrooms. That hurts Walmart and Home Depot. The owners are Republican billionaires but plenty of stockholders are regular people with retirement mutual funds, and those people may end up no better off than those who held retirement stock in Enron and lost their shirts.
I am repeating this post for the HIllary fawning club and the kissing-up Lame Stream Media:
The Dems don't need a Super-star candidate - we need someone competent, hard-working, honest (imagination and charisma would be a plus but hey, George doesn't have either and look how he has gotten - to say nothing of the former qualities); someone who will respect dissent and at least listen to the opposition on occasion.
The Republican rightwing is so bigoted and hateful they have turned off:
Blacks
Gays
Women (the Republican agenda strikes me as strongly anti-woman)
Hispanics
the Middle Class
unions
etc...
Posted by: Ralpheh at August 13, 2007 09:49 PM
reading more on the markets ..
According to the Telegraph:
Economic woes had got so bad, Wal-Mart said, that more and more people - both staff and customers - were resorting to stealing from its stores as the financial pressures began to bite.
Hispanics - don't count on them. Protestant Hispanics are a Republican leaning bloc, and virulently anti-choice and anti-gay (as in 90%+). Moreover, much of W's cabinet is made of these conservative Hispanics.
Gays - not even they can be trusted. Considering the Republican drive to exterminate them, I expect nothing less than at least 95% support for Dems. Yet gays are only 77% likely to support the Dems. There are too many who just can't let go of the white male privilege of the Republicans - and that includes many formerly men, like Mann Coulter.
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at August 14, 2007 01:31 AM
@@@@@@
I disagree on the Gays and the Gays who thought they were Republicans. In 2004 campaign, when the Republican strategy was whip up hatred against homosexuals (in ballot initiatives in Ohio and Michigan and several other states), I called the Log Cabin Republicans office in New York City. I asked the fellow on the phone if he was aware at all of the ballot initiative in Michigan and the constant gay-bashing by almost all Republican candidates for Congress. He told me "We do not endorse George Bush."
That was a stunning admission for a Log Cabin Republican. I pressed him a little more on the nature of the Republican party, I asked how he could be in a party, the vast majority of whom loathes gay people. He gave the lame ( and, I think he even sensed it was weak) response that the LCR were going to turn the GOP around......
My last question: wouldn't it just be a heckuva lot easier to become a Democrat? I then hung up..
(BTW: If the Hispanics have been paying attention, they have become the new whipping boy for the rightwing.... replacing the Gays)
osted by: Ralpheh at August 14, 2007 01:42 PM
... and still, the table is not set with impeachment.
Food Fight
Posted by: monkey at August 14, 2007 01:50 PM
@@@@
H. Res. # 333..... needs more co-signers..
found out ..
U.S. housing prices will fall this year, the first annual decline since the Great Depression, according to the National Association of Realtors, based in Chicago.
.. housing-related is 1/4 of US GDP
.. alot of foreign investment in mortgages
Wo'Pop .. streaming now at http://www.kexp.org with DJ Darek Mazzone .. Enjoy!!
Posted by: Ralpheh at August 14, 2007 08:18 PM
Never underestimate the commitment necessary to belong to, and support, a movement that wants to exterminate you.
Such is the level of commitments that the Log Cabiners have to the Republican Party.
And it only takes one gay Republican - namely, Mann Coulter - to ruin things for every single LGBT.
Bush Admin to Designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard as Global Terrorists
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/14/AR2007081401662_pf.html
That's like .. their elite military
Off to war we go
(BTW: If the Hispanics have been paying attention, they have become the new whipping boy for the rightwing.... replacing the Gays)
Posted by: Ralpheh at August 14, 2007 08:18 PM
Wrong.
Alberto Gonzales. Carlos Gutierrez. Linda Chavez. Jeb Bush's wife. George P. Bush. The entire Cuban exile community. All powerhouse Hispanics under the W regime.
And they are doing the same sh*t to the Asian community, especially in California - vilify the Chinese, coddle the Koreans and the Vietnamese.
Posted by: Not My President at August 14, 2007 10:05 PM
It is the same deal as designating Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, at the urgings of the Cuban exiles in Florida, even though Cubans have not committed an act of terrorism in, like, forever.
Or North Korea, even though its last act of terrorism was 20 years ago.
Urban Dictionary: Mann Coulter
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mann+Coulter
Wikipedia inquiry:
Mann Coulter?
Is it short for MaryAnn Coulter? Google isn't solving this when I looked. DyslexicEditor 13:46, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
It's a commonly-used slur that refers to Ann Coulter, in much the same way that Slick Willie is used to refer to Bill Clinton or Shrub refers to George W. Bush.
Atlant 14:03, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
Ah, an insult! DyslexicEditor 14:04, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
Ally
So it's class warfare .. pitting foreign-born against each other on the basis of class and money.
It's also done with Native Americans and African Americans.
As a matter of fact, Log Cabin Republicans are social climbers as well. Two gay men typically make alot of money than two lesbian because of sex discrimination against women in the arena of money-making and pay.
Posted by: Not My President at August 14, 2007 10:09 PM
Good point. Two childless white gay men living together = fabulously rich (not always, but often) = attractive advertising target = lots of resentment from conservative nonwhites.
Meanwhile, lesbian couples barely make ends meet, and transgenders are in poverty (except the Mann, anyway).
Want to see the Adam's Apple?
Click on my name.
I am a certified Speech Pathologist.
I know larynges.
I took a look at the Board of Equalization for the State of California, the one body that's very Asian-dominated.
Five positions, three Dem and two GOP.
The three Dems are all Chinese-Americans, one representing San Francisco area, one Los Angeles, and one I don't know.
The two Repukes are one white and one Korean-American (wife of former state GOP chair). The white represents Central Valley, the Korean represents inland SoCal.
I assume that they don't get along very well at all...
Also remember that the Republicans have always painted Al Gore as a puppet of the Taiwanese or the Chinese (depending on which side is more convenient for them).
Never mind that McCain is a puppet of Little Saigon, and Brownback a puppet of Koreatown and Moon.
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at August 14, 2007 10:14 PM
FYI here are the names of the Asians in CA Board of Equalization:
Dems: Betty Yee, Judy Chu, John Chiang
GOP: Michelle Park Steele
Truck bomb took out the bridge between Mosul and Baghdad.
All those people are just sitting ducks for the death squads.
My kids first day of the school year starts tommorrow, and all I can think about is people I don't even know on the other side of the world.
I feel so freaking helpless I just want to scream.
Seattle is 11% Asian and originally workers came from China, Japan and Philippines primarily to do work others didn't want to do such as mining, railroad building, crop picking. Sound familiar? Reading through the history, I could easily substitute Hispanic. Often men would come alone, and send money home to their families, often working under contract.
When I was in Chicago, it struck me how at one time, immigrants were Irish, Italian, Polish etc. and endured discrimination and skepticism. When I lived in the upper midwest, I lived among 2nd and 3rd generation Germans, Norwegians and Dutch, many who came to "homestead" land no one wanted.
Tonight my son has the assignment of debating against immigration (his actual position is pro-immigration, with certain conditions). It is part of a Communications class on how to construct logical arguments. It'll be interesting.
I've just been reading some of the local history re immigration. I really do believe that people within various groups are pitted against each other, and whole groups are pitted against each other as well. The more splintered and fragmented people are, the easier they are to manipulate.
Christy
I'm glad you are thinking of people on the other side of the world. That is what I mean by global citizen. Their children want to go to school, like your children. I also understand the American patriot thing, as I was thinking about it on the drive home. If our government turns against the people, then I would of course be on the side of the people. & it seems to be happening.
I have signed up for some rightwing stuff - well let's just say Mann signed me up without my permission. Anyway, some of the conservative book clubs are promoting books which pit Christianity against Islam and say that Christianity is superior and more peaceful. What could be more inflammatory than promoting religious war? It's not so different than promoting race war or genocide. I hit the delete button as soon as I can but kind of like to know what's out there. It scares me. What should be marginalized is far too mainstream.
Of course, some of the WANT the Apocalypse because they believe they will be "raptured up" ..
Ally
Here is some stuff by way of explanation, from University of Washington (curriculum on Asian local history):
Asian Americans, long stereotyped as passive laborers, also made political inroads of their own as well. They became an increasingly vocal constituency in Washington state politics. In 1963, Wing Luke became the first Chinese American elected to the Seattle City Council; Ruby Chow, the first Chinese American woman, was elected in 1973; and in 1996 Gary Locke, then King County Executive, was elected as the first Chinese American governor on the mainland United States. Such victories were made possible by political coalitions that united Asian Americans of all orientations. In political as well as cultural terms, Asians began referring to themselves as Asian Americans, or Asian/Pacific Americans, reflecting an identity that transcended previous ethnic bonds.
But the growing diversity of the Asian American community also threatened this communal harmony. Resettlement of Cambodians, Laotians, Vietnamese, and Hmong refugees introduced new problems. In 1960, two-thirds of the state's Asian Americans were native born; by 1980, two-thirds were foreign born. Most of these refugees settled in areas with an established Asian presence, usually in Seattle, Tacoma, and the Yakima Valley. Fleeing war and extreme poverty, they faced the residue of anti-Asian feeling; moreover, they often faced resentment from those Asians already established in the United States.
Generational and class conflicts also divided and split communities. By the 1970s, Asian Americans nationwide were hailed as the "model minority" because of their academic achievement and gains in the workplace. But such gains often masked deep tensions between young Asian Americans, who seemed to assimilate fully into traditionally white institutions, and older Asian Americans, who worried about the survival of old ways and customs. The relative achievement of some also masked the difficulties facing newer arrivals from Southeast Asia, Korea, China and the Pacific Islands.
Email from Senator Stabenow regarding impeaching Cheney:
Thank you . . .
. . for contacting me about the Valerie Plame leak case. I share your concerns about the Administration's conduct in this matter.
The Senate Intelligence Committee, which has jurisdiction over the CIA, has investigated this matter thoroughly. A basic obligation of all citizens is to speak truthfully under oath and not create barriers to official investigations. Breaching CIA protocol undermines our national security and could put the lives of Americans in danger. You can count on my continued support for holding those involved accountable and for ensuring proper government oversight so incidents like this will never happen again.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. Please continue to keep me informed about issues of concern to you and your family.
Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator
Never underestimate the commitment necessary to belong to, and support, a movement that wants to exterminate you.
Such is the level of commitments that the Log Cabiners have to the Republican Party.
@@@@@
I am not saying Dems will get 100% of the Gay vote. But, I think the LRC is dead in the water in the Repub party and they will have to go back in the closet to remain active Republicans. The mere fact the LRC national office did not endorse the Republican presidential candidate is absolutely stunning. I really did not expect a complete repudiation of Bush in 2004 - this is an excellent sign. It means those LCRers are going to be splitting their tickets or giving up on the GOP altogether.
I don't recall the MSM even picking up on this shift and the demonization of Gays in 2004. (the logical thing for any political reporter would be to ask gay Republicans what they thought of this etc...) Hammering on the gay marriage issue was one of Rove's ideas to divide, smear and conquer and to get the rightwing vote out.
Wrong.
Alberto Gonzales. Carlos Gutierrez. Linda Chavez. Jeb Bush's wife. George P. Bush. The entire Cuban exile community. All powerhouse Hispanics under the W regime.
And they are doing the same sh*t to the Asian community, especially in California - vilify the Chinese, coddle the Koreans and the Vietnamese.
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at August 14, 2007 10:05 PM
@@@@@@@
Not in Michigan.
Here the Hispanics are terrified of the government - even those who are legal. They are afraid to go to the polls and vote. The police stake out the polling places in Michigan and scare Hispanics and others away.
In the news recently, was the story of a woman born in Peru who did not have permanent resident status. The feds deported her back to Peru. It made front-page news. The woman had been living with a man and they had a young son who had health problems (I guess they were not married because doesn't marriage give you citizenship?... I forget the details)
It turned out that Senator Levin got involved and the woman was able to return to Michigan and be with her son.
Rightwing radio constantly bashes "illegal aliens" (Mexicans).
It's amazing that the neocons can keep parroting "terrorist threats" all the time re: our infrastructure, and let the infrastructure crumble on its own from lack of maintenance.
But then what else can we expect from the neoCONS anyway?
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at August 14, 2007 11:11 AM
So, who needs imagined terrorists to strike fear into the very hearts of the nation? The pass-the-buck governments from local to Federal ignoring the maintenance of infrastructure across the country, are perfectly capable of generating as much, or more, devastation through negligence. as a terrorist with a bomb.
An avoidable catastrophe. Governments have tagged your taxes to fight ideologies in various parts of the world. And they do it while the wealth of the nation loses its value across the globe.
Who needs terrorists when you have all kinds of structures that would be well past their use-by-date of acute stress and fatigue. Negligence is perhaps the greatest terror of our time. And we need to fight it at home. Bring the money back home. How can we live safely in a house made dangerous through lack of maintenance? This is even more absurd than invading other lands.
Woz
I was just hearing Senator Patty Murray from my state of Washington today - touring around police departments and such, to see how Homeland Security money has been spent. She was making her recommendations & one thing the commentator mentioned on the radio was that Bush wants to local governments to do everything (security), not the Feds.
That is NOT the way it is supposed to work in America. Federal government is NOT supposed to be flushed down the drain the way this Administration has done. No wonder the infrastructure is crumbling. There is no way local governments can generate the money to keep up all infrastructure (bridges, hospitals, schools, roads etc.). We are already taxed to the gills for property, sales and via local business tax. There are constant bond issues for schools, libraries, mass transit and roads.
The Federal government is supposed to help out but they are beyond broke.
Bill Kristol/Jon Stewart
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/14/stewart-kristol-journalism/
Iran/Iraq - Hawk
Posted by: Not My President at August 15, 2007 12:02 AM
So what are your federal taxes to be spent on?
So what are your federal taxes to be spent on?
Posted by: woz at August 15, 2007 12:34 AM
The Death Industry, AKA weapons, weapons, more weapons, even more than the Department of Defense wants.
I've just been reading some of the local history re immigration. I really do believe that people within various groups are pitted against each other, and whole groups are pitted against each other as well. The more splintered and fragmented people are, the easier they are to manipulate.
Posted by: Not My President at August 14, 2007 11:00 PM
Exactly. Immigrants against other immigrants. Immigrants against unions. Unions against environmentalists. All of them against gays.
Posted by: Not My President at August 14, 2007 11:03 PM
To me, there is no difference between the Christianity (at least as the right wingers practice it) and sharia Islam.
Both will be more than happy to put the likes of Mann to death.
Then, perhaps you need to start withholding federal taxes on moral or legal grounds and channel all of those taxes to your state infrastructure.
And why, Ally, why is the American military force so badly and unsafely equipped so that parents have to fund raise to provide their children with safe body protection?
Posted by: Ralpheh at August 14, 2007 11:41 PM
Marriage gets you permanent residency, and makes you eligible for citizenship after 3 years (as opposed to 5 years for all other permanent residents).
Of course, if there are any problems with the marriage, then your permanent residency is subject to revocation.
My sister is going through a nasty divorce with a Korean patriarch who had used her to get himself legalized. I don't think he'll ever be legal again after the divorce. Good riddance.
And why, Ally, why is the American military force so badly and unsafely equipped so that parents have to fund raise to provide their children with safe body protection?
Posted by: woz at August 15, 2007 12:45 AM
Good question.
The answer: "Support the Troops" is only an empty slogan. The real mantra is "support the death industry."
And we can ill afford to withhold federal taxes, when the Koreatown neocons are evading taxes in really outrageous ways. People who report negative income are living in multimillion-dollar homes and driving BMWs. I'm (and we all are) paying their taxes too, and I am fed up as hell.
Ralpheh, one more thing:
I will say this again and again, until you get sick of me and put me on ignore, then will say some more:
Republicans bash immigrants at their own peril.
Posted by: Not My President at August 15, 2007 12:02 AM
So what are your federal taxes to be spent on?
Posted by: woz at August 15, 2007 12:34 AM
1. the military-industrial complex
2. activities and industries approved politically by the one-party state (that was Karl Rove's plan)
2. activities and industries approved politically by the one-party state (that was Karl Rove's plan)
Posted by: Not My President at August 15, 2007 12:51 AM
That would include unconstitutional funding of religious activities.
Woz
You ask how so much can go to the military (from federal taxes) but friends and relatives have to pay for body armor etc?
(I paraphrased, I hope, ok)
..because there are as many military contractors as soldiers in Iraq and they "provide" what is there (no-bid contracts, often going to the company that our Vice President was once the CEO of)
There has been so much mismanagement - there are lots of recent articles on how hundreds of thousands of weapons got into the hands of insurgents and others - they were never properly accounted for.
This is the land of $400 toilet seats. Brown Root & Kellogg (affiliated with Halliburton off & on) even provided all the portable toilets in the Vietnam War.
War's good business - invest your son.
Some people do withold federal taxes. We really should.
Or our labor. How to organize though?!
Woz
Alot of the richest do not pay any taxes at all.
They have loopholes.
The only way to get out of paying them is to be a criminal.
& many are (at all levels).
& now Congress can just change the law so whatever they did is not illegal.
Who are the real criminals?
War's good business - invest your son.
Posted by: Not My President at August 15, 2007 12:55 AM
That's so very true, and that is the macho America that my neocon father loves.
No wasting money on some sissy socialist domestic program.
Suppose you are American and very rich.
You may have billions of assets. If you sell them, you should owe a capital gains tax. If you die before you sell them, your heirs should owe capital gains tax when they sell them. If they die, then their heirs will owe capital gains tax when they sell the assets. Most Republicans want to REPEAL the capital gains tax. They would rather their chauffeurs and maids and employees of the corporations that made them wealthy pay the taxes, and they pay nothing at all.
Under the plan they prefer, you could inherit a billion dollars in stock and sell it that day and owe no income tax.
Check this out - Windfalls of War - Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/default.aspx
Check this out - Windfalls of War - Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/default.aspx
It isn't even up to date - has to be worse now. This site will be updated before the 2008 elections.
Posted by: Not My President at August 15, 2007 01:03 AM
Don't forget the estate tax!
My father's doing well contracting with the military, and that means he may have enough assets left over to force me to pay that "death tax."
Paying estate tax forces me to actually work for my own wealth, instead of sitting on some large inheritance, Paris Hilton-style. If it's wrong for that black Chicago welfare mom to drive a Cadillac with AFDC payments, it's just as wrong for me to live the high life without working for it myself.
I will, however, state that there are ways of reducing that burden through financial planning. And given the mistaken priorities of my government, I will legally reduce my tax burden as much as possible.
nmp and ally -
It is truly obscene!! The very rich here dodge tax too, in all kinds of clever ways - but various ones have gone to jail for many years, like Alan Bond - winner of the Americas Cup the first time in umpteen years. Others have done serious time, but they've usually had some warning and have been able to downsize considerably by making family members mega-rich. Or they go overseas and become too sick to be extradited. With all of that money misdirected, you could have had your universal healthcare and social programs and infrastructure maintenance and taken care of Katrina's victimes and ...... and .......
It's obscene. Things have changed throughout history, but only through revolution when the rich are involved. Perhaps it's time to rally together and storm the Bastille - if only we knew where it was.
woz,
The ultra-rich say: Katrina's victims deserved it. They were poor bums who needed the government to look after them because they couldn't afford a car themselves.
Actually, not-so-ultra-rich people, even the poor, sometimes share this mentality.
Some of the most avid supporters of our misguided policies are those who get the short end of the stick themselves - the poor, mostly white but sometimes Latino or Asian too.
US Set To Officially Label Iran's Military A Terrorist Organization
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070814/us-iran-terrorism/
Stupid ass georgie.
They have all convinced themselves Iran is a 'paper tiger' and can be bombed at will.
More of the Bush-Rove ownership society legacy on display...
Asia, Europe markets slide on U.S. credit woes
Tokyo and New Zealand benchmarks tumble to 9-month lows
TOKYO - Asian and European shares dipped Wednesday as markets continued to battle jitters over a credit crunch started by problems in the U.S. subprime credit sector and as broader concerns emerged about the U.S. economy.
In Asia, Tokyo and New Zealand benchmarks tumbling to their lowest closes in nine months. In Europe in morning trade, the Britain’s FTSE 100 index fell 1.0 percent, France’s CAC 40 benchmark fell 1.4 percent, and Germany’s DAX fell 0.7 percent.
Some economists and dealers said the gyrations on Asian stock markets were short-term. Some issues could even be good bargains, they said, given the strong growth and earnings data from China, Japan and other regional economies.
The Nikkei 225 stock index, the benchmark for Asia’s biggest stock market, plummeted 369.00 points, or 2.19 percent, to 16,475.61, its lowest since Dec. 8, as financial issues got hammered by the nervousness about a fallout from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis.
Battering
Japanese export issues also took a battering from the strong yen. Worries have been growing about a slowdown in the U.S. economy, fueled by faltering profit forecasts by major retailers.
Weak American spending would be a blow to the Japanese and other Asian economies, which are all still heavily dependent on exports to the United States.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20273871/
U.S.Arbusto
All my babies got all dressed up and disappeared onto a bus.
I don't know wether to snivel a little or dance naked while making happy noises.
8 full hours of uninterrupted whatever I want to do. Oh lala!
I forgot what is it I do to fill up 8 hours alone.
Any rap fans on here?
I don't know how much more I can take.
In Iraq, sex is traded for survival
By Afif Sarhan in Baghdad
When Rana Jalil, 38, lost her husband in an explosion in Baghdad last year, she could never have imagined becoming a prostitute in order to feed her children.
A mother of four, Jalil sought out employment, but job opportunities for women had decreased since the US invasion.
She begged shop owners, office workers and companies to hire her but was treated with what she calls chauvinistic discrimination.
Within weeks of her husband's death, a doctor diagnosed her children with malnutrition.
Fighting tears, she recalled the desperation which led her to the oldest profession: "In the beginning these were the worst days in my life. My husband was the first man I met and slept with, but I didn't have another option … my children were starving."
She left the house in a daze, she recalled, and walked to the nearest market to find someone who would pay her for sex.
She said: "I'm a nice-looking woman and it wasn't difficult to find a client. When we got to the bed I tried to run away … I just couldn't do it, but he hit and raped me. When he paid me afterwards, it was finished for me.
"When I came home with some food I had bought from that money and saw my children screaming of happiness, I discovered that honour is insignificant compared to the hunger of my children."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/36B04283-E43F-4367-90BB-E6C60CB88F76.htm
Christy
Rap fans? I like some.
Woz
That is so true that we could have had universal healthcare etc. Just the tax cuts given to the top 2 percent would do it. There are 45 million or so without healthcare out of 300 some million. There are many many uninsured children. That I have personal experience with through my occupation, and my own son is also uninsured. It would cost at least $300/month out of pocket and a $1000 deductible to do insure him. He is 26. His employer doesn't pay it and the government doesn't help. In other developed countries, they do. We are number 45 for infant mortality, I think. I'll look it up.
Well, one article says U S infant morality had steadily declined since 1961, instead of getting better.
This article says we are 2nd worst in the developed world.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/05/08/mothers.index/index.html
There are plenty of high tech ways to stay alive if you are rich (like our Vice President). U S also spends more per person (on average) than any nation. Where is the money going? It's unequally distributed so probably into the pockets of drug companies, manufacturers and insurance companies, possibly doctors as well.
Christy
All women ought to withold sex until there is peace, like in Lysistrata.
That crap is just, gutwrenching, and the further it goes the worse it gets.
What a sick sick situation.
As for the rap, a new day is dawning. Eminiem would have been an exception in any color, but Haystack just left no doubt it is now bicultural.
Check out 'White Boy'...and 'Big Ass White Boy' by Haystack. The man just has talent.
The first one has some very interesting political declarations, not what you would expect from a southern white man, but I would say it is atypical. Very liberal.
The New South.
IMPEACH THIS DICK ......(CHENEY)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmATM7UWepE
watch video
Video Description
Nancy asks a friend for advice.
Thanks for rating!
289 ratings Save to Favorites
Add to Groups Share Video
Post Video Flag as Inappropriate Views: 14,983 |Comments: 50 |Favorited: 28 times Honors: 3Links: 5
Sites Linking to This Video:
337 clicks from http://www.democrats.com/dump-dick-video-contest-poll
28 clicks from http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/8/9/1537/00955
20 clicks from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/9/1537/00955
4 clicks from http://www.americanpoliticsforum.com/nancy-gets-lect...
2 clicks from http://leftinaboite.blogspot.com/
Loading Info...
Close
Christy
All women ought to withold sex until there is peace, like in Lysistrata.
Posted by: Not My President at August 15, 2007 09:48 AM
@@@@@@
All women should call Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi and have a woman to woman "talk".
Withholding sex may just work, but I am not sure mass celebacy is possible in our freaky deaky society.
We are sex crazy. They use sex to sell BUTTER. Little girls dolls look like hookers on the corner.
If you ain't sexy, we are not rescueing you from, say, a hurricane.
Yeah, try getting US women to give up sex until their is peace, and Black Snake moan will look more like Snakes on a Plane.
Ahhh, what a wonderfully refreshing cold shower that was....
Half A Boy And Half A Man
by Nick Lowe
You'd better run
You'd better hide
You'd better lock you house and keep the kids inside.
Here come the twentieth century's latest scam
He's a half a boy and half a man
He ain't a fool but he's a tool
Because his left don't know what his right hand's doin'.
He'd keep a King Kong eating out of the palm of his hand
Now he's a half a boy and half a man.
Best be fleet up on your feet
Or else the S.P.G.'s gonna clear the streets.
They never made no provision in the original plan for half a boy and half a man
Oh when his fingers do the walking
in the middle of the night.
When his people stalk in
baby let me tell you
nothing comes out right.
Best be fleet up on your feet
Or else the S.P.G.'s gonna clear the streets.
They never made no provision in the original plan for half a boy and half a man
Oh when his fingers do the walking
in the middle of the night.
When his people stalk in
baby let me tell you that
Nothing gonna turn out right.
You'd better run
you'd better hide
You'd better lock you house and keep the kids inside.
Here come the twentieth century's latest scam
He's a half a boy and half a man
he's a half a boy and half a man
He's a half a boy and half a man - come on.
FOX News Caught Re-Writing Wikipedia History
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
Not General Petraeus: White House To Write Iraq Report
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/08/15/not-general-petraeus-whi_n_60567.html
Author of 'Bush's Brain': Rove 'is pathological ... in absolute denial'
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Author_of_Bushs_Brain_tells_Olbermann_0814.html