NSA Spying On American Citizens

Spying on American citizens is perfectly legal. Pres. Bush can authorize this type of activity under the US Constitution. No courts, no warrants necessary.

But just in case let's pass a law that grants blanket amnesty to anyone who authorized warrantless surveillance under Bush's authority. I mean it's all perfectly legal but....

Thank the Almighty we have Sen. Arlen Specter protecting our rights. While you are at it, why don't you just give Bush amnesty from all laws he may have broken in the past and might break in the future?

I thought good conservatives were opposed to amnesty?

Those Iowans Are Funny People

Flood prevention is good, but what kind of detention basin is this?

Question

What would it take for a right wing conservative to reach genuine pariah status in the political world?

Stefan on Washington Monthly tried to come up with some answers.

Well, he could shoot an old man in the face...no, wait.

Oh, yeah, he could be exposed as a gay prostitute...no, that's not it either...

Perhaps if he harmed national security by revealing the name of an undercover CIA agent for partisan political gain....no, not really....

Hmm, he could be revealed to be a gigantic crook who's been enriching himself for years by stealing the taxpayer dollars of hard-working Americans...huh, no, that doesn't work either, does it....

What if he sold sold weapons to the Iranian mullahs and then lied about it to Congress...or sold weapons to Saddam Hussein and looked the other way while he massacred the Kurds....or held hands with the repressive Saudi monarchs....or brazenly broke the law by spying on Americans in their homes....

Man, this is a harder question than it looks....

Chuckle

Dr. James Dobson, the founder and chairman of Focus on the Family wants everyone to have a choice in what cable channels they have beamed into their homes. That way, the really moral, God-fearing families won't have to pay for that MTV trash etc.

This doesn't really sit well with the Reverends Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell who damn well know that no one would pay to watch their codswallowing TV networks CBN and TBN. They will be out of business.

So to whom does the poor family values constituency pay attention?

Wanna Toss GW Around?

Go here...use your cursor....have fun, then feel better.

6-6-06

Good news! Online oddsmakers say it's 100,000 to 1 that we will survive tomorrow. Yea Earth! The 'rapture index' hasn't really crept up much so I guess that is a good sign too. Even better, rapture expert, the Rev. Tim LaHaye says the apocalypse will not occur tomorrow. There are some suspicious things going on with barcodes however!

A few other important numbers
Octal of the beast = 1232
Binary of the beast = 1010011010
Reciprocal of the Beast = 0.00150150...
Anti-Log of the Beast = 1.738 x 10289
Square Root of the Beast = 25.8069758...
Number of the Blond Beast = 6, uh..., I forget

NOTE: the number of the beast may actually be 616 not 666.

EMERGENCY UPDATE!!!!
Information for mothers from Landover Baptist Church here!

Who Won the 2004 Presidential Election

If you are a citizen of the USA it is your obligation to read the article written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Rolling Stone Magazine. It's called Was the 2004 Election Stolen? and you can read it here.

A good commentary on the article, by Thom Hartmann, can be found here. I followed the 2004 Presidential election very closely and was glued to my computer all night. It was clear early on that the exit polls had John Kerry winning the election. Then a bit later in the evening something happened. It seemed the exit polls were all wrong in predicting John Kerry as leading the race. Next morning I was really disappointed, but I never bought into 'conspiracy theory' of the race being stolen by the Republicans. There was nothing in the 'liberal' mainstream press suggesting such a thing....at least not on the front page and even the liberal blogs didn't really dwell on it for very long. And, being a good citizen, I figured nothing like a stolen presidential race could ever happen in this country. However, as a scientist I know that, when properly applied, statistics don't lie. Kennedy has certainly convinced me that something very fishy concerning the exit poll results went on in several states during the 2004 election.



Take a look at the map and decide for yourself, but definitely read the entire article. Much, much more went wrong than just 'funny' exit polling results took place.

The Finish, The Drums, and Home

The finish line at the Burlington waterfront. A good time was had by all. Can't wait til next year and the year after etc.


A nice show by the Burlington Taiko Drummers. These folks are full of energy and they can really beat those drums.

Heading home on the Grand Isle Ferry to a lonesome bunny.

Vermont City Marathon - 3rd Handoff and Finish

Didn't get a picture of Zippy handing off to Anna, but here is Anna handing off to Kim. Anna had the run up the big hill where the Teicho drummers drum you along.


Zippy, Julia and Anna killing time between the last two legs of the race.


Here is Steph with about a couple hundred meters to the finish. Part of the last leg of the race is run on the shores of Lake Champlain.

Why mMT Mice Don't Have B Cells

For Sara and Susan. mMT mice do not have B cells because the membrane exon of the mu heavy chain has been disrupted. Targeted disruption of this exon results in failure to make productive rearrangements and thus death of the developing B cell. Basically, in order for a pre-B cell to survive it has to make cytoplasmic m. If this doesn't happen the pre-B cell dies so you never get any mature B cells and thus no antibody production.

What is Christianity All About?

Christianity as it exists among fundamentalists isn't about behaving like Jesus. It's all about faith--about believing the story. The underlying message seems to be: you can behave any way you want as long as you believe the story and say you're sorry before you die. Following the teachings of Jesus is much too demanding, whereas with the Christianity of fundamentalists all you have to do is shut your mind off.

From here.

This guy seems to have it right in my mind. Christian fundamentalists rarely seem to follow the teachings of Jesus very closely. To them it's all about the moral values espoused in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), not the teachings of Jesus as described in the New Testament. But even the Old Testament values fundamentalist preach about are chosen very selectively. You don't see them advocating slavery or dietary laws that often. But, bring up the subject of gay marriage and watch out. Christian fundamentalists are obsessed with sex. The values of tolerance, non-violence and love are way, way down the list for these people.

Dependence Day is Today

Today is the day that all domestically produced oil has been used up for the year. We now turn to importing the oil we need. Dependence Day is a visually stunning website worth visiting. It has a petition worth signing.

Vt City Marathon - The Start and 2nd Leg

Get right up in the front for the start. There are about 7000 runners standing behind Julia.



First hand off, Zippy waits patiently. Where is Julia?



The handoff goes well and a Zippy is off on her leg with a smile.

The Saucy Posse Marathon Relay Team - 3rd Year

The Saucy Posse from SLU. Zippy, Anna, Julia, Kim and Steph, roommates, teammates, classmates and good friends. Hopefully this will be an annual event until they can no longer run.



Getting things all set for the race.

Memorial Day Weekend - Juggling Fire

Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, VT. If you've never been there you have to go (not in the winter). Great food, free entertainment, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, Books, shopping, people watching, they have it all. If you are having breakfast, I recommend Henrys Diner at 155 Bank St. You can't do better. Sakura's is a great Sushi place. For a beer, The Vermont Pub and Brewery, 144 College St., behind the Court House. Don't want to drive to Burlington, then take a Lake Champlain Ferry directly into Burlington from Port Kent, NY. Call ahead to be sure and get on the 'Adirondack' ferry. You don't want to be stuck on the 'Valcour' for an hour.

What's On Your Bookshelf?

These are a few of the books in my office. However, the book I reach for most often is "Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary" because I find it embarrassing to mispell words. The next book I find myself reaching for is the "Holy Bible" (King James Version) because I often find biblical quotes online that I don't really believe are in the bible. I'm always surprised.

At home you would mainly find books on Adirondack History and Military Aircraft, Ships etc. Oh yeah, and all my wife's Art books.

Garcetti v. Ceballos (04-473)

Let's start trimming down first amendment rights says the Supreme Court in a recent ruling. Now if you work for the government you had better watch what you say. Didn't White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer once tell us we "better watch what we say"? I guess it's the law now.

UPDATE:
I got a visit from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

208.27.203.# (Admin OFC US Courts)
ISP Sprint
Location Continent : North America
Country : United States (Facts)
State : District of Columbia
City : Washington

They are probably checking to see how the sheeple are feeling about having some of their first amendment rights 'modified'.

Well, I don't think I like it. I don't think I like it one little bit.

Indian Runner Ducks and Belted Galloways

Ok, as promised, here is the picture of the Indian Runner Ducks. As you can see they look like bowling pins with feet. These ducks can run quite well but cannot fly. They have been bred to lay eggs, not to eat. More info here. I've forgotten what breed the other ducks are. Sorry.



Here are the Belted Galloway cattle. They are an old Scottish breed of cattle that have been described as early as 1786 but are probably much older. Belted Galloways are great foragers and, in the summer, thrive on marginal hill pastures. With their extra winter coat, they live out all winter with only hay to eat. More info here.

GOP Lies, Half Truths and Obfuscations

This growing list of Republican lies, half truths, and obfuscations should be posted on every liberal blog in the World. I got this list from "And the clocks were striking thirteen".


Franklin D. Roosevelt was a communist and a terrible president.
Jimmy Carter used to be a waffler, now he's a traitor.
Walter Mondale is a flip-flopper.
Michael Dukakis is a waffler.
Ronald Reagan was the best president in history.
The media is liberal.
Bill Clinton is a flip-flopper.
Hillary Clinton murdered Vince Foster.
Bill & Hillary Clinton are radical leftists.
Al Gore is a waffler.
Al Gore claimed he invented the internet.
Al Gore is boring, stiff and wonky.
George W. Bush is a great guy to have a beer with.
George W. Bush is a Texan.
George Bush was a successful businessman.
Bush won Florida in 2000.

Go to the above link to see the rest of the list. It's too long to keep posted here. I found the HTML code to make an expandable post, but I can't get it to work. I don't know if it's because I'm putting it in the wrong place on the template or what.

Fort Montgomery - Rouses Point, NY

There is a long and weird story about Ft. Montgomery and I'm not going to recount it. You can read about it here. Better pictures also. The reason for more recent interest in the Fort is that it is for sale on eBay here. The current bid is $5 million but the asking price is $9,950,000. The eBay site has lots of information on the fort, the property, the history and lot's of really great pictures. Definitely worth visiting.