Saturday, 11 of February of 2012

Archives from month » January, 2007

Upgrade of Diary Software: How Does It Work For You?

We’ve just upgraded the software that’s used to run the diaries on this page. The new system should be somewhat smoother and somewhat faster, too.

How is it working for you? Are there any glitches you’re running into? Please let us know either way so that we can fix something if it’s gone all buggy, or so that we can know that everything’s A-OK.


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HR 393: a very bad draft bill

I just read through the text of HR 393, submitted by Rep. Charles Rangel of New York. The summary says:

To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the favorable treatment afforded combat pay under the earned income tax credit, and for other purposes.

Now, supposedly, Rangel submitted the bill because he wants to stir up some trouble over the fact that the children of the people who got us into this war are not at risk to fight in it.  But, even if that’s true, this is a bad bill:

  • The President would have the sole power to determine what qualifies as national service. He could conscript people from Massachusetts to pick up trash in Crawford, TX.
  • Although the summary of the bill refers to “during wartime”, the bill would also permit military conscription during a national emergency (as declared by the President) or during any military operation authorized by Congress.
  • The President gets to set the criteria for deciding whether someone has performed adequately in civilian service, and the penalties for failure to do so.
  • The President gets to choose the manner of selection.
  • There’s a provision that everybody inducted for national service has to undergo a physical and mental examination; being found unfit may get you a deferment…but not necessarily. (For military conscription, you do have to meet the same standards as a volunteer.)
  • Although it says every citizen (or resident) between 18 and 42 is obliged to serve, it doesn’t specify whether you’re automatically discharged on your 42nd birthday (maybe you can be inducted the day before, and kept for 2 years?); nor does it mention whether a non-citizen has the option to leave the country to avoid service.

It seems to me that, if a Congressman submits a bill, even if it’s just a strawman that he doesn’t want to be passed, he should hold it to a higher standard than this. As written, this bill would basically authorize the President to order anybody he wants to do anything he wants. “Oh, gee, Senator, looks like your name came up for the post of crash test dummy.”


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Unity 08 Insults Member, Attempts Coverup

Unity 08 staff members were caught calling a grassroots member of Unity 08 a jackass. Why? Because that member asked awkward questions about Unity 08 financial dealings.

Unity 08 is an organization that promises to overcome the nasty tone of partisan bickering in Washington D.C. by holding online elections to annoint a presidential candidate and vice-presidential candidate. Today, Unity 08 proved itself incapable of both overcoming the nasty tone of political bickering and of maintaining the most basic standards of online security.

Without realizing that its online chat was already visible to the public, Unity 08 staff members started insulting a grassroots member of Unity 08, calling that member a “jackass”, a “menace”, and a “M______ F_______”. Hint to the innocent: Unity 08 staff was calling that grassroots activist a mother fucker.

That grassroots member of Unity 08 was mighty offended that the staff of Unity 08 was insulting him in this way, and thought that other Unity 08 members would want to know the extreme disrespect that Unity 08 staff has for the grassroots activists it claims to speak for. So, that member of Unity 08 posted the transcript of the insults from the Unity 08 staff on the group’s discussion board. How did the Unity 08 staff respond? They deleted the transcript, on the web site, and on the discussion board too.

Then, Unity 08 staff member Shane Kinkennon tried to convince everyone that when he referred to the grassroots Unity 08 activist as a “jackass”, what he really meant to say is that the activist was “appreciated.” That’s what political insiders like the people who control Unity 08 call “spin”.

Why did the Unity 08 staff attack this grassroots member of their own organization? Because that member dared to ask questions about what appears to be some very unusual financial shenanigans going on over at Unity 08.

Insulting grassroots activists. Censoring political expression. Deleting embarassing information to cover up misbehavior. Running sloppy, botched online political operations. Crass political spin.

Why would anyone trust Unity 08 with a presidential election?


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Aesthetic Gain and Personal Pain

The guitartist gets the message from his fingertips that they are suffering. He feels their pain, but he demands that they continue. It's the aesthetically-obsessed brain of the guitarist that insists that the music go on.

The man finished laughing at his own joke, took a sloppy slurp from his cup of coffee, and then told me in the straightest voice he has ever used, “What you don’t understand about the plight of the poor is that society as a whole finds their suffering to be worth the overall benefit that it enables. The pain of impoverished people around the world is heard by people in power, but it is felt as the guitarist feels pain in his fingertips at the height of a sold out concert before an appreciative audience. The guitartist gets the message from his fingertips that they are suffering. He feels their pain, but he demands that they continue. It’s the aesthetically-obsessed brain of the guitarist that insists that the music go on. That brain won’t stand up and tell the audience that the performance has ended until it feels satisfied itself. Don’t expect the toes, or the knees, the eyes or the mouth of the guitarist to stick up for the fingers, either. They may not be enjoying the music as the brain does, but neither do they feel the pain of the fingers. They won’t rebel against the controlling brain and its abstract, grand aesthetic visions until they hurt themselves.”


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political doubts in the 2008???

hi, i’m angelgil. my job is to “ride the world of evil”. part of it requires that the “more rightous” do their part when they are educated, properly.
go to my website for spiritual “re-education”:
http:www.angelgils-instant-healings.com,
now go to the “search bars” and look up the profiles of the 2008 presidental candidates, especially “mrs. hillary clinton”. i have and this is what i’ve come up with, so far, you may find “more dirt”. if so please be a good citizen and “post it”, ok? thanks our american patriots.

now, here is the “dirt” on: “mrs. hillary clinton:
1. she is “santanic”.
2, she is “illuminati”.
3. she is “free massonary”. all 32rd. degree masons must murder, for to obtain 33rd. degree mason.
4. she is “nazi”, a “facist”. study “hitler” and “his ways”, as it’s becomming “her ways”, and if she becomes president, it will be “your ways”, if you live!
5. she is a “flaming lesbian”. “gays and lesbians” were “labeled “mentally ill” in the “1990 mental health referance book”. for some odd reasom it “dissapeared” in the “1992 mental health referance book”. but the “mental delusional disease” did not. the problem with “gays”/”lesbians” as that they were “recruited” “too young”, and “lost their childhood”. they will never “mature properly”. they will always “live in a delusional world”. “gays” and “lesbians” are not “born gay”! as “an Angel of God”, you have my word on it!
6. the “usa head of the illuiminati” have sworn “oaths with satan” to see that “mrs. hillary clinton” becomes president of the “usa” in 2008, even if they have to “dig up dirt” on her “oppontants”, or “bribe them”, or “kill them”, that is the way of “satanism”!!!
7. now be careful, this information, in the “wrong hands” could get you “killed”, as by “forced sucide”! that’s already happen “several times” in america’s “political intrige”.
8. to obtain protection: call 1-800-240-2685, place “your entire family” on the “LDS Temple” “Prayer Rolls”. now, they may be closed, but you can still leave a message, and it will be “posted” when they open next. God bless you.
9. live a “more righteous lifestyle”, even when alone.
10. keep “digging up dirt” on “all evil persons” whom content “to be america’s leaders”, and “tell-all”!
11. america must “stay free”, or we “displease” the LORD, GOD OF ISRAEL”. WE, AMERICANS MUST PREPARE THE EARTH FOR THE COMMING OF THE LORD, IN GLORY! AMEN. ANGELGIL.
12. DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE “BUSH”/”CLINTON”
“CRIME FAMILY” SCREWING WITH THE “ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES”, I’VE ALEADY “TAKEN CARE OF THAT”, JUST LIKE I TOOK CARE OF THEM IN “THE NOVEMBER 2006 ELECTION”. “EVIL WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VOTE”!
GOD BLESS YOU AND GOD BLESS AMERICA”!
AMEN. ANGELGIL.


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Honestly, an Honest President?

I’ve been reading the diaries on IT for the past few months and find “it” somewhat intriguing and semi-addicting to see what others are thinking politically, environmentally and culturally. However, my oldest child (who is still in elementary school) recently asked me, “Mom, can you name the only two honest Presidents our country has ever had?” I thought I knew the answer until he proved me wrong. Then, it made me stop and think for a moment how important it was to a 9-year-old that I get the answer right. I didn’t want to fail him, and yet, I didn’t want to look stupid either. Parents are supposed to know everything, especially when it comes to being honest. Isn’t that what we teach our children? Our future leaders? Honesty is the best policy? Short of a complete answer, I asked him if I could mail him the answer! He thought that was funny and agreed! So, I would like to hear who you honestly think were the only two honest Presidents our country has ever had.


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Canada Hiding Something In Temperate Rainforests

Could these Canadian terrorists sit in Starbucks coffee shops in America's major cities with their deadly suitcases, just waiting for a signal to detonate them, as Tom Tancredo has suggested? I think we all know what this is about. If logging is not allowed in the Great Bear Rainforest, the terrorists win!

The headline from the Associated Press article reads: “Canada to spend $25M on rainforest plan”. The ticker that runs across the bottom of my mind reads, “What are they trying to hide?”

Of course, you know those Canadians. They’re too polite to use the word “hide” to describe what they’re up to with this conspiracy in the so-called Great Bear Rainforest. They use the word “protect” as a euphemism instead. I can see what’s really going on.

The Canadian government is making it against the law to do any logging in one third of the forest. That means that, in something like 5 million acres of woods, no logs can be removed. Now, why would the Canadians want to do that? It’s not for the backpackers who like to go hiking amongst the ferns. Oh, no. The logs making hiking more difficult, after all.

What logs are really good at is at blocking paths, and blocking roads, preventing people from getting into an area. In the old-growth forests, these logs can get really big, blocking even the biggest of trucks.

So just what is it that’s so important in that Canadian rainforest that the government of Canada doesn’t want us to see it? Are they, perhaps, developing a new generation of nuclear suitcase bombs to send across the open border with the United States, a border that is almost completely free of logs to block the path of infiltrators? Could these Canadian terrorists sit in Starbucks coffee shops in America’s major cities with their deadly suitcases, just waiting for a signal to detonate them, as Tom Tancredo has suggested?

I think we all know what this is about. If logging is not allowed in the Great Bear Rainforest, the terrorists win!


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Adel Hamad Is Innocent

I say that Adel Hamad is innocent, because making such a declaration is the American way.

Someone happened by the Irregular Times web site tonight and left a message about something called Project Hamad. The project, in short, exists in order to bring attention to the plight of a man named Adel Hamad, a prisoner in the America gulag at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The federal government says that Adel Hamad is a terrorist.

I say that Adel Hamad is innocent.

How can I say that Adel Hamad is innocent? Well, how can the federal government of the United States of America declare that Adel Hamad is a terrorist?

The simple truth that Americans have forgotten is that I have solid legal standing to say that Adel Hamad is innocent, and the U.S. federal government has no legal standing to say that Adel Hamad is guilty of terrorism.

The simple truth that Americans have forgotten is that our legal system is based upon the presumption of innocence. The Supreme Court has ruled consistently, in the past, that it is a fundamental aspect of America law that a person accused of a crime is considered innocent until that person is proven to be guilty.

The federal government has not proven that Adel Hamad is guilty. The government has not brought any evidence against Adel Hamad before the public. The government has not put Adel Hamad on trial. The government has not even charged Adel Hamad with a crime. The government has not given anyone any reason to believe that Adel Hamad is guilty of anything.

So, I say that Adel Hamad is innnocent. I say that the government of the United States of America is imprisoning an innocent man. I will continue to say this, until I am proven wrong, until Adel Hamad is proven guilty. And so, I am joining Project Hamad.

Feel squeamish about that? Why? Because the name of the organization is Project Hamad? Because you think that makes the group sound like it’s some kind of terrorist front organization? Well, maybe it is, but then again, maybe Amway is a terrorist front organization. We can speculate on and on about who might be secretly coordinating with terrorist groups. The people at the Department of Homeland Security would probably love us to do that. But it’s paranoid to do so.

Besides, what reason do you have to think that Project Hamad is a terrorist group, other than the name Hamad in the title. It’s not a European name, that’s for sure, but what difference does that make? Are we now supposed to assume that all people of non-European descent are likely terrorists? That’s the mindset of people who suspect Barack Obama because his last name sounds like Osama and his middle name is Hussein. I won’t engage in that kind of ethnic hatred.

Here’s all that joining Project Hamad requires: You have to agree to the following statement:

“I believe people detained by the U.S. government have the right to:
— know the charges against them
— have access to a lawyer
— be able to have the merits of their case reviewed by a federally appointed judge”

The federal government of the United States of America has declared that people do not have these rights. Congress has assented to that declaration by passing the Military Commissions Act. Now, you have to decide whether you will be complicit.

Will you join Project Hamad, or are you too afraid to do so? Do you agree that these rights no longer exist?

As for myself, once more, I say that Adel Hamad is innocent.

Why do I insist on saying this? Because it’s the American way, that’s why.


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Mike Gravel Calls For End of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

American soldiers are being sent to serve tour after tour after tour, and it's driving them crazy. All this, in the name of a right wing sexual obsession.

Democratic candidate for President Mike Gravel has called for an end to the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy instituted by President Bill Clinton, which confirmed that the military has the right to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation, but suggested that people try to look the other way and pretend that nothing was going on. Mike Gravel can see what other politicians refuse to see see – that it is hypocritical to say that our soldiers are fighting for freedom when we won’t even allow them to have basic freedoms themselves.

Support our troops but discriminate against them? That’s the policy the Republicans follow… and some Democrats too. I wonder how Hillary Clinton justifies her support for Don’t Ask Don’t Tell discrimination against gays and lesbians. And how about Al Gore? Let’s not forget that, as Vice President, Al Gore was complicit in the crafting of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

Thanks to this discrimination, American soldiers are being sent to serve tour after tour after tour, and it’s driving them crazy. All this, in the name of a right wing sexual obsession.

This issue will be one that shows which Democrats are truly fit to lead as President come 2009.


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I’m smarter than you!!!!

Sadam is lying in his grave saying to Bush “I’m smarter than you. I lured you into a war that you cannot win, dumb ass.”


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