UncommonSense

6/14/02

"I'm coming to think that conspiracy theories have had a bad press. What are they, after all, but "joined-up government" by another name?"

The barbarians are at the gate? We are the barbarians.

Yet another example of the arrogant, unconstitutional attitude of the Bush administration.

I've got an idea. I want to get together a set of political signs to post near polling places during the November elections. I'm thinking three different signs, all with essentially the same message.

The first sign is the Bush Knew banner at the top of this page. The second is the "Looks Like I Hit the Trifecta" image, with Bush laughing in front of the burning WTC. Bartcop runs this image every few days. The third is this pic, with the words "Who Cares What You Think?" - GW Bush

I need hi resolution images. That's the key. Then I need to find out how much these signs will cost. I think this would be an effective means of political activism just before the elections this November. If you want to get involved, contact me. Maybe we can get something started.

Meanwhile, be sure to get your Bush Knew bumper stickers from Buzzflash.

6/13/02

The Miami Herald Speaks Out It's about damned time, too!

The Washington Post Speaks Out It's about damned time, too!

The UK Guardian Speaks Out But then again, they've been speaking out for a long time now.

In these days of illegal military detentions of American citizens, let us not forget that at one time, the FBI wire-tapped Albert Einstein. Hoover tried to link him to a Soviet espionage ring. Of course, John Ashcroft could very well out-Hoover Hoover. Does he wear women's clothes, too?

Bush and Powell about to split? Part of me says, I hope not. Powell seems to be the only voice of moderation in this administration, and he is sure to be replaced by someone with a talent for insulting world leaders second only to Bush himself. At the same time, a bitter split, with Powell coming forward with all sorts of nasty insider details, and maybe even a Republican challenge in 2004, would be a welcome diversion and might even get the ball rolling.

You know all that secrecy the Bush administration projects, telling us they can't reveal details about terrorist investigations because it might disclose how they gather intelligence? Meanwhile, "European satellite TV viewers can watch live broadcasts of peacekeeping and anti-terrorist operations being conducted by US spyplanes over the Balkans."

The Senate rejects a permanent repeal of the estate tax, proving that on occasion, they can do something right. Senate Republicans have vowed to make this an issue in the November elections. Let them try. I'm sure Americans can't wait to learn that the estate tax only affects the most affluent members of our society. With informed people arguing this issue, the Republicans have no chance. Here is a great place to begin informing yourself.

6/12/02

The NEW YORK TIMES Speaks Out It's about damned time, too!

DubyaSpeak Quote of the Day:

The country is -- has gotten to know Laura, like I have gotten to know her.

Des Moines, Iowa, June 7, 2002

Thanks to xfundy at DU for pointing this out.

The man on the left is Jose Padilla, the so-called dirty bomber.

The man on the right is the composite sketch of John Doe #2 from the Oklahoma City bombing.

Is this freaky or what? Now try this on for size, kiddies:

Terry Nichols' ex-wife? Lana Padilla. Coincidence?

No one is paying attention.

6/11/02

Will the real Chris Matthews please stand up?

I guess George found all those informed critics of his missile defense system just too bothersome. So what does he do? Stop wasting money on a system that won't work? Why, of course not. He classifies all information about missile defense. Now the critics won't be informed.

Get a torture room ready for this guy. After all, anybody who would say we are protecting freedom by destroying it would do just about anything to silence his critics. But first, look at this guy. He don't look like no towel head to me.

Hint: The person who alerted us to Jose here is the same guy who warned us about an impending attack against the Statue of Liberty and the looming peril of suicide frogmen. You think he'd give up his best terrorist? I suspect Jose is a sacrifical stooge whose sole purpose is to show us that racial or religious profiling is pointless (remember the shoe bomber?). You're still losing this war, Mr. Ashcroft. If Abraham Lincoln had adhered to the maxim that you don't question leaders in times of war, he'd have never gotten rid of McClellan. John Ashcroft is the new Little Napolean, George Bush's McClellan. "I need at least 100,000 more troops."

Tennessee falls to 39th in the nation on the New Economic Index. By Gawd, it makes me proud. If we work really hard, maybe in three years we can beat West Virginia to the bottom.

It's remarkable how insidious is the assault on our rights. Sometimes, you don't even realize that it is happening. For example, there was a Faux News poll that asked if residents of the US should have to pass a test before being allowed to register to vote.

This reminded me of a recent experience with the Tennessee Board of Elections. You remember Tennessee's fine performance in the November elections of 2000, don't you?

Anyway, we moved to a new house in March, and I wanted to make sure that I filed a change of address with the Election Commission. I called and learned that to change your address, you have to send in written notification over your signature. I did this without really thinking about it.

But after seeing that Faux News poll question, I thought, what if I couldn't read or write? It seems to me that a test has already been built into the system. If you can't read or write, you can't file a change of address. If you can't file a change of address, you can't vote. So, if you can't read or write, you can't vote.

Funny how that works out, huh?

6/10/02

Well, I avoided the big Lewis/Tyson deal. The news here was filled with celebrity watches, radio stations were broadcasting live with celebrity watches (Look, there's Lorenzo Lamas!), people were paying good money to get into places so they could look across a crowded room and maybe see the back of Brad Pitt's head for .73 seconds. The closest I got to the fight was watching the Lears and Gulf Breezes coming in to Olive Branch airport. If I had wanted to celebrity watch, I could have gone down there for free and avoided all the crowds. Private jets were coming in pretty steadily all morning and into the afternoon. One missed his mark and buzzed the house low enough to see my finger, I'm sure.

I could have ordered the fight on PPV, but I have many other uses for $60. Which is what brings me to today's anti-consumerism rant. I needed pants more than I needed to see Lewis maul Tyson for a combined total of less than 24 minutes. I needed some shorts, and another pair of slacks to wear to work. Flipping through the ads in the Sunday paper, I saw a good sale at Goldsmiths. Plus, there was a 15% off coupon.

Upon selecting my purchases, I discovered that my coupon couldn't be used for the Levis I had selected. I hadn't bothered to look at the fine print. It was a coupon, after all. What could the fine print say?

Well, it said that this coupon was not good for just about every name brand in the store. Not to mention most of the expensive items like jewelry, housewares, etc., etc.. For the rest of the stuff, it was only good for 10% off. Oh, and you couldn't use it for any items that were also on sale. That left maybe three things in the entire store.

But it did it's job. It got me in the store. It got me to the racks of clothes. It got me to the cash register with my money in my hand. That's what it was designed to do. I was supposed to not bother to read the fine print. I was supposed to impulsively rush to the mall and buy, buy, buy.

But the exceptions on this coupon were a joke. You expect to see stuff like this on SNL or Mad TV, not in the Sunday paper.

What's more, Goldsmiths had programmed the cash registers for this coupon. The clerk couldn't do the moral and ethical thing, acknowledge the deception, and grant the discount. The cash register wouldn't allow any discount on those items. No use arguing. No use complaining.

Lucky for me, I had cabbage for lunch. Diverticulitis is a wonderful curb for compulsive consumerism.