U.S. Throwing away military vets

This is beyond a disgrace. Seems the number of homeless vets is increasing. Our military chews them up and spits them out. This is not how it was supposed to work.

But under George W. Bush’s America, we deny vets housing, medical care, etc. I’m hoping the backlash is formidable. I’ve already seen estimates that the Republicans could lose 30 to 50 seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate is showing signs of flipping to the Democrats.

That being said, while the Democrats are less onerous to me than Republicans I still see the real problems in the party. The DLC would rather promote candidates that don’t have a message than promote ones with a message and a plan.

For once I’d like to see a party distance themelves from the relgious fascists.

But this treatment of our military veterans is disgraceful. The other day an old vet was outside collecting for injured military vets. He and I got to chatting and I agreed with him that the military and our government isn’t doing nearly enough to make our men and women whole again after they’ve been injured during military service. So I dropped a couple bucks into the can, why the hell not. My government won’t make any moves to help these guys and its the least I can do.

The problem is that Iraq isn’t an actual war. It’s a military action. So the protections don’t kick into place. This is what happens when you let the White House direct a preemptive war. Mission Accomplished – I think not.

And it is our job to make George W. Bush and his cronies pay for this callous treatment of our vets. And to those who say that in the event of a Democratic takeover of congress that a move to impeach Bush & Cheney wouldn’t be in our best interests, I say “Bovine Effluvia!”

Amending the Constitution of the United States

Seems the battle is heating up. As a gay man – and yes I’m gay and partnered and very disgusted that the Republicans are attempting to amend the Constitution to exclude recognition of our relationship being legally recognized in any state other than my own.

And the Rhode Island legislature has already proven what cowards they are by not even letting a marriage equality bill eke out of the Judiciary committee. This has been ongoing since 1997. Will the tenth year be the charm, or must we seek redress through the actual Judiciary?

Who do these legislators both state and federal think they are. I’ve emailed and spoken to several. The ones I emailed never responded and the ones I’ve spoken to have used double-speak at every opportunity. Not one of them can give me a reason why gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed without using religious arguments. Not one. What astounds me even more is that one of the Democratic leaders in our state legislature is an out gay man. Not to mention that I know of at least one other Representative who chairs a very important committee that is also gay. But while the former has spoken up, both have been noticeable in their failure to rise up and defend other gay people.

What irks me most is this will be the first time an attempt to modify the Constitution will be made to actually exclude when it was originally written to include and protect. Someone really ought to call Senator Specter on that one. I’ve previously given him some kudos for standing up but this is nothing short of outright deception on his part.

So put me firmly in the column that says we shouldn’t be wasting our time mucking with the Constitution. We should be thinking about an exit strategy for Iraq, or energy independence, or any number of things. But no, the Republicans would rather focus on something to fan the flames of their religious base.

Despicable! That’s what this is

Seems that Bill Katovsky interviewed several people that were arrested for protesting the 2004 Republican National Convention in Manhattan for his book titled “Patriots Act:Voices of Dissent and the Risk of Speaking Out”.

You have to read the excerpt that appears on The Huffington Post.

Now I’ll say my piece. For two years I worked for the state AG’s office as the Director of Information Services. Worked with many fine prosecutors and police officers while there. But reading what NYPD did to the protestors it makes me that much more irate. In my opinion police officers have a duty to be courteous and respectful. Treat others as you’d like to be treated yourself and as I said, I’ve met many officers who were of that mold. And I understand they’re just doing a job. This means that the Republicans got to the upper level commanders in the NYPD and forced their hand into violating so many civil rights.

When I start questioning my own respect for the law that means that something is seriously amiss. But here’s something interesting, if I’m just starting to question it what about the folks that have already made up their mind not to trust the police, or worse that police deserve the same treatment they dish out. NYPD is going down a dangerous road in that respect.

It is also very interesting that greater than 90% of the charges against protestors were simply dismissed. The net effect was that this was harassment, pure and simple.

Electric Cars – the future

I haven’t owned a car in some time because quite frankly everything I need is within walking distance and even when I had a car the most miles I ever put on one was 8,000 miles a year, and that included occasional trips to Boston.

But this has my really excited. One of my co-workers is also intrigued by electric conversions of existing vehicles. In most cases you simply remove the gasoline engine and all it’s trappings (fuel tank, pumps, etc.) and drop in a 35HP DC motor or three and hook it up to a standard transmission or do direct drive. The cars generally have top speeds between 60-100MPH and distances of 40-100 miles depending on the configuration.

And lets face it – electricity per kilowatt is cheaper than gasoline. A good excercise is to take a small generator and put in a gallon of gas. Chances are it’ll run less than an hour. Meanwhile even with electricity at an effective rate of 14 cents per kilowatt hour in RI, it’s economical to use an electric vehicle.

The average electric car takes approximately 2 hours to charge at a load of approximately 1KW. So it takes 28 cents to go a hundred miles. Not bad.

If you want to see some of the conversions done by regular people, go and visit this site.

The Corporate Takeover of the United States

Having just finished Ted Nace’s book “Gangs of America” I happened upon this little gem on The Huffington Post (I get their unfiltered RSS feed – just drag and drop the link into you favorite RSS reader – I use Sage for Firefox)

In said gem, Chief Justice John Roberts, a former corporate attorney, is quoted in the official opinion that “State taxpayers have no standing … to challenge state tax or spending decisions simply by virtue of their status as taxpayers.” Really? We do have the option to throw out lobbyists, and the legislators who let themselves be bought – that would be a start. Then maybe we might have some say in how our tax dollars are spent.

This echos back to Justice Waite in the Santa Clara vs. Southern Pacific Railway case. That’s right – for over a hundred years corporations have managed to stack the United States Supreme Court against the taxpayer. You do realize that in the last fifty years there has been enough case law and legislative action that reduced overall corporate taxation from 33% to 15%. Tell me, how much of a break on taxes have you gotten?

If diddly-squat is your answer as mine is you’ll understand why this makes me so irate. The fact that I don’t own my home, or have kids means I get juiced out the wazoo in tazes – when you add up the federal, state, FICA, etc. it’s a full 28.5% of my gross pay that’s deducted. Then there’s the mandatory 8.75% that goes into my state employees retirement account, except that by the time I’m ready to retire there won’t be any money left.

In “Gangs of America”, Nace makes a good point. We can exercise (Or exorcise) the rule of corporate law by moving to revoke corporate charter for offenses committed by said corporations.

A less squeamish person might say that some assasinatons are in order. I’m not so sure how I feel about that, having read several arguments regarding the fact that assasination for political goals is a slippery slope. But when you’re under the thumb of a fascist government, one that has done a fairly good job of slipping the wool over peoples eyes that they don’t see it as such, what other methods are available to us?

It’s funny but on another site I visit someone was singing the accolades of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela because he called Bush a criminal. I had to bring up the fact that Chavez isn’t a friend to the American citizen because his assinine policies are seriously destabilizing the oil industry in his country. If I’m not mistaken, Venezuela is the third largest provider of oil to the United States.

This has a ripple effect. Granted, the U.S. uses twice as much oil as pretty much every other industrial nation combined. But this comes back to corporations such as auto makers in the United States that saw an opening in SUV’s and took it because each vehicle is immensely more profitable than it is to sell a car.

So there it is, laid bare for everyone.

Cleveland Woman Comitted for posting Anti-Bush leaflets

This is beyond despicable and the cops and the judge all need their clocks cleaned. Since when is expressing an anti-government considered a psychiatric illness? Clearly Ms. Fisher has quite an appeal case before her.

One of the more choice comments by one of the police officers was “Shut up or I will kill you! I am sick of this anti-Bush shit! You are definitely going to the psyche ward.”

Ok, ok, I know that people don’t become cops because they’re humanitarians. But this just smacks of police state tactics. I know several good cops but the majority tend to be authoritarian asses, and this is being said as someone who worked on the correct side of law enforcement.

If anything Ms. Fisher has a good route of appeal and one hell of a civil rights suit against not only the police, but the prosecutor and the judge. I’m hoping some liberal group, maybe even the ACLU, steps in and provides the necessary support for her to proceed with retaliation. Becuase retaliation is what it is all about.

Paul Hipp singing I’m So Loathesome I Could Spy

This is just too funny, but too sad at the same time.

I’m So Loathesome I Could Cry

Give Al a Chance

Al Gore hosted SNL recently and he’s a lot less wooden than he has been in the past. I say they should run him for President again, why the hell not. And maybe give Hillary the veep slot.

Damn it – NBC must have gotten to YouTube. The video has been deleted. Bummer – Al was very good in it, played the perfect straight man. So if he doesn’t step back into the political realm, maybe he’d have a good chance at being a straight laced comedian.

Update! I found the video! Go and take a look if you haven’t seen it already.

Another Winner – General Hayden

Friend of mine sent me this video of General Michael Hayden, Bush nominee for Director of Central Intelligence.

The man completely forgets that ‘probable cause’ is part of the 4th amendment that says:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Not only does he forget that little part about probable cause, sworn oath etc, he also says the entire NSA is intimately familiar with the 4th. And here’s a man that Bush wants for the top spot in the CIA. Oh joy.

The Democrats need to get on message here. Just defend the Constitution – anything. Just stay on message.

Heads should roll for this

Hear Larry David and friend explain how the 2004 presidential election was manipulated.

I am so happy I live in and work for a state that has correctly implemented a Central Voter Registration System. I have deep respect for Jan Ruggiero, the director of the Elections division at the Rhode Island Department of State. She knows voter law inside out and keeps the Board of Elections in line. It’ll be a sad day for Rhode Island when she retires.

The Elections division recently did a mass mailing to every registered voter in Rhode Island. If the pre-paid forms aren’t returned the voter will be scrubbed from the list but still be able to vote a provisional ballot that WILL be counted. What’s more interesting is the Secretary of State’s online voter information center. It’s in beta right now but a very useful tool to find out if you are in fact registered. And the system ties into both the Division of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Corrections in order to implement motor-voter and denial of voting rights to criminals.

So I’m reasonably certain that major hanky-panky can’t happen in Rhode Island. But listening to that dialogue definitely raised my hackles.