It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.

These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread.

Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.


 
A quick note for those enquiring minds who've just got to get an interesting piece of news on a Saturday night:

The British newspaper The Observer has uncovered a heretofore secret Pentagon report that was sent to George W. Bush about 4 months ago suggesting that climate change is a much greater security threat to the United States than terrorism. Read about it at This Here Link!

Canny, Bush is. After getting the report, he refused even to fund research into climate change. Head-In-The-Sand-George may be his name in history.

Posted by J. Clifford Cook at 9:43 PM# (permalink)  


 
To help you show your support for same-sex marriage, we're producing two buttons, one simple and one snarky. Each is just $2.25, including shipping and handling. I make them myself in my upstairs office and ship them out the same day ('cept for weekends). Click on the button image to pick one up and make your own personal stand.






Posted by Matthew Cook at 9:08 AM# (permalink)  


 
Talk about a betrayal. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who campaigned with the promise that he would support equal rights for gays, turned his back on his promises and proved himself to be a true, socially conservative Republican as he said that the gay marriages taking place in San Francisco were leading California down a "dangerous path".

Personally, I think it shows a hell of a lot of nerve for a man who has repeatedly humiliated his wife by hitting on other women in public to make such judgements about what makes a good marriage.

Tell you what, Governor Arnold, why don't you take your groping hands elsewhere, mind your own business, and let the good people of "Caleeforneea" get married in the way that they choose?

Posted by J. Clifford Cook at 7:25 AM# (permalink)  


 
It's that time again... let's play Find the Black Bush Supporter!

What is George's thing with white-only audiences? Well, I'm sure he didn't mean it to be that way...

Posted by Matthew Cook at 6:50 AM. # (permalink)  


 
There's a movement afoot.

You're living in Peoria. How can you show your support for the same-sex couples getting married in San Francisco?

How can you let the newlyweds know they've got America's support? How can you send a message to the rest of America that you support these marriages?

Barely Breathing has the right idea, and it's spreading like wildfire over the 'net:

Shower Them With Flowers!

Call Flowers on the Bay at 1-888-217-9119 and order a bouquet of flowers to be delivered to City Hall to any same-sex couple getting married. Include a note of support.
If they're busy, call Mariner and Co. at 1-800-797-7744.
If they're busy, look up another florist using San Francisco Citysearch (search for "florist" and sort by distance)

What will the right-wingers think when they're confronted with pictures and videos of such overwhelming love and support?
More importantly, what might moderates on the fence conclude?

Let a thousand flowers bloom!

Posted by Matthew Cook at 9:42 PM# (permalink)  


 
Getcher Howard Dean bumper stickers for memory's sake. We'll keep them up for a couple of more days, but then they must go.

Aw, who am I kidding? Nobody's bought a Dean sticker for over a month. It's Kerry, Kerry, Kerry. And the occasional Kucinich or Sharpton.

How did Howard Dean go so quickly from organizational suuupergenius to has-been in one month?

Posted by Matthew Cook at 8:27 AM. # (permalink)  


 
Mother Davis shakes her jowls in disbelief as she sees...

... I had heard that the supposed photograph of John Kerry and Jane Fonda together was a blatant forgery, but I was shocked when I saw the real photograph:





So that's where George W. Bush went to when he was missing for his National Guard Duty!

Shocked and awed,
Mother Davis

Posted by Katherine Davis at 9:00 PM# (permalink)  


 
Today's Guardian Reports:

"A new dirty tricks campaign to embarrass the Democratic frontrunner, John Kerry, backfired ignominiously yesterday when it emerged that a widely circulated photograph of a protest against the Vietnam war was a crude forgery.

The photograph, falsely credited to Associated Press, combined two separate images to make it appear as if Mr Kerry shared a stage at an anti-war rally in the early 1970s with the actress, Jane Fonda."

First pass: Republican are trading falsehoods and forgeries to make John Kerry look bad. Bad, bad Republicans.

Second pass: According to Republicans, if John Kerry stands next to Jane Fonda, that makes John Kerry culpable of Jane Fonda's sins (real or imagined).

Do Republicans really want to go down that road? If so, I offer the following into evidence:



Shocking! Well, we know what that makes Ronnie. What are Nancy's hands doing behind her back? And what's going on under that podium?

I'm waiting for NewsMax to pick up this "exclusive."

And if we're going to trade in fake, doctored photos of guilt by association, we might as well go full tilt:



Oh, the horror!







Posted by Matthew Cook at 1:51 PM# (permalink)  


 
Over at Daily Kos, Katydid asks about how to know which local races to help out with campaign contributions:

"I see all these new ads on dailyKos for different races. I don't know who deserves money. I gave to Boswell because Dean asked. I gave to Chandler and Herseth because Kos asked. But I don't know candidate X from candidate Y, and now there's a bunch on the main page. Just think of the fall...

What is the best way for there to be honest review of who deserves our money the most? Could one person who knows each race intimately post an invited column on the main page? Could you tell us the truth about the person's past and positions so we can decide honestly if we support the race? I don't want to give money blindly."

My guidance on this issue: A good first pass, although of course not completely informative, is the score given a current member of Congress by Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) based on her or his voting record.  ADA is a moderately lefty group, so the higher the ADA score, the better.

link: House and Senate Vote Scores for 2002 (and look for 2003 to come soon)

Of course, we could also look at the similar voting scores given by the American Conservative Union (boo, hiss), with a lower score meaning a better candidate:

link: House and Senate Vote Scores from 1971-2003 (always better organized, those conservatives)

The limitation of the above data is that only incumbents are rated. My favorite place to look for more qualitative data is Project Vote Smart, which sends the same questionnaire to all people running for office, whether incumbents or not.  Not everyone responds, unfortunately, but it's a great place to start.

link: Project Vote Smart

Posted by Theodiclus Lock at 11:36 AM. # (permalink)  


 
"Too bad Al-Queda doesn't bomb you all.... I'll sue, oppose, or whatever to get guys like you out of business. FU!"

-- Misterelley@aol.com

How nice!


Posted by Matthew Cook at 10:14 AM# (permalink)  


 
After Halliburton (the big oil corporation Dick Cheney led until he became Vice President) was caught overcharging the American military for oil in Iraq, George W. Bush promised that they would make sure that no further such corruption would take place.

Count that as another promise broken by Bush.

Now, Halliburton has been caught in "substantial overcharging" on millions of meals it has been hired to serve to American soldiers and other personnel. It looks like Vice President Dick Cheney created a pervasive culture of corruption when he led Halliburton. It also looks like George W. Bush is unwilling to crack down on this corruption when it takes place under his watch.

Posted by J. Clifford Cook at 7:13 AM. # (permalink)  


 
"Hey loser, Bush rules. You liberal fag!!!"

-- Michael Helms
german74@adelphia.net

Be kind.

Posted by Theodiclus Lock at 12:35 PM# (permalink)  


 
Someone sent me this mockup of a poster today:



It's not the first time I've come into contact with the theory that Osama bin Laden is actually in custody and will be "found" as an October Surprise, handily just before the election.

So is this evidence that opposition to Bush has taken a trip off the deep end? Or is it a reasonable supposition given George W. Bush's other nefarious shenanigans?

Tell me what you think!

Posted by Matthew Cook at 11:19 AM# (permalink)  


 
An anagram for "Weapons of Mass Destruction Program-Related Activities":

A radical, monstrous deception. Travesties a wimp forgets.

Posted by Matthew Cook at 11:13 AM# (permalink)  


 
News item courtesy of the Associated Press (February 15): The College Republicans of Roger Williams University have initiated a scholarship available to white students only, with an essay on white pride required.

'Nuff said.

Posted by Matthew Cook at 10:01 AM. # (permalink)  




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