Happy Halloween!

Good evening to all,
Have a Happy Halloween!

Be safe out there, my friends,
and have fun!

Libby Scooted

Good afternoon to all,
hope your day has been a good one.

Today, after receiving an indictment for Obstruction of Justice, Perjury, and Making False Statements in the Name Leak Investigation (sheesh.... where's the catchy name for this thing), I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby resigned as the Vice President's Chief of Staff. Word from various news sources say there is a possibility of up to 30 years prison time, and over a million dollars in fines for the now former top aide.

Same Ol' Song & Dance

Good afternoon,

In the aftermath of Florida's Hurricane Wilma, there appears to be a unsettlingly familiar finger being pointed, once again pointed at the citizens for not being prepared or heeding the warnings prior to the storm. All I can say is "Oh brother, it's the same ol' song & dance goin' on here". Actually it is a brother of sorts, our President's brother Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida, blaming the people of his state for the long lines to distribute food and water.

"People who have waited in line for hours seeking relief should have done more to prepare for the storm."

“People had ample time to prepare. It isn’t that hard to get 72 hours worth of food and water."

Yep, those are quotes from the "compassionate conservative" governor, the president's brother, who somehow found it difficult to imagine that some people were without transportation, or who might have had little or no money to purchase needed items prior to the storm, or at least before the supplies ran out in the grocery stores as they tend to do. Did he not watch the news at all during the whole Hurricane Katrina fiasco? In the days immediately following Katrina, I heard some of those same words mentioned in response to the terrible difficulties the hurricane survivors were facing, when the news media began widespread coverage of the survivors plight, telling of their socio-economic status being a restrictive factor for evacuation from the city, such talk of "it's the people's fault" ceased almost immediately. I believe much the same will happen here, if only the press would take issue with the governor being so out of touch with the realities many of the regular ol' normal people face. I believe blaming the people is a cowardly move to slough off blame for yet another slow response to a crisis. Such an "I'll point the finger at you, before you point it at me" kind of move is both predictable and sad. Rather than moving in a timely manner to fix what slowed food and water distribution during our most recent of desperate times, our nation once again finds itself at the crossroads of "we'll take a look into the problems and try to learn from the mistakes we made". Ahem, how many looks do these guys need? While they're taking another look, all I can say is that tonight a family will go hungry or will sleep with thirst, in their home that may not have electricity restored for weeks. In the bureaucracy that is our government of late, it seems lessons are learned slowly, and at the expense of the citizens who elected these slow learners, though I don't hear them blaming the people for that mistake.

Still waiting on that "restore"

Good afternoon to all,
hope your day is going well.

Well, here we are, 5 years into the Bush Presidency, and I'm still waiting on that "restoration of honor and dignity to our government" that was promised. Word around the various news agencies has it that indictments are possibly coming within days for several of our top government officials in the case where someone up there leaked the name of a covert operative to the press, the Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading, and Tom Delay the Majority Leader from the House of Representatives has been indicted on Conspiracy and Money Laundering charges. Hmmm.... let me get this straight, restoring honor and dignity to the nations highest offices meant something when it came to President Clinton's extramarital activites, but has nothing to do with all of this other stuff? I think if the nation had a hypocrisy meter, it would register off the charts. At least Ol' Bill was.... and please pardon my language..... just accused of screwing an intern, but it seems the current bunch we have in there are screwing all of us..... YIKES! Which is worse?

Ok, with all wiseguy language and my trying to be clever comparisons aside, for that I apologize. The matter of the covert operative is very important, the leaking of her name jeopardized anyone she came into contact with during her travels abroad, and amounted to the closing of important lines of communication that could have proven useful for intelligence gathering. The other matters of insider trading, money laundering, and conspiracy are equally important and are matters of greed, or one side attempting to gain an unfair upper hand against those who oppose them, by skirting or disregarding the laws intended to maintain fairness within our system. It seems that honor and dignity are lacking in those cases as well, as anyone who would disregard the laws that serve as the checks and balances for fairness within our government, have no place for a job within that government, actions such as those suggest that they don't care about you, me, or the country as a whole.

In fairness, I must say that nothing has been proven, no convictions have been handed down as of yet, and investigations still take place even at this moment, so I will keep an open mind, though it sure doesn't look very good.

Farewell Rosa

Good evening to all,
hope your day was a good one.

Imagine, a small, modestly frail woman, on her way home from work or shopping, simply riding a city bus. Imagine a man, also riding the bus, deciding he needs the woman's place where she is seated. Now imagine the woman not being able to say anything (by law) about her being expected to surrender her seat on the bus to the man, and stand from the remainder of her trip, even with her feet hurting from walking. It all sounds so strange when the elements of race, and our knowledge of racism in America, are removed from the story, almost to the point of being unthinkable as most would think it to be rude or ungentlemanly for a man to expect a woman to stand while he took her seat. However, for African-Americans living in the South, life under "Jim Crow" segregation was a terrible reality, their place in citizenship reduced to at most a second-class existence. Now it's time for me to imagine something, I imagine a scene where the woman simply moves, and stands for the remainder of her bus ride, quietly accepting the way things were, though so blatently unjust. Had the woman simply moved, I wouldn't be typing this today....

On a cold December day in 1955, Rosa Parks didn't quietly go along with the unjust social norms of the Southern town in which she lived, instead she decided to say "No", a word none of us can imagine not being able to say for fear of being arrested. That one word, calmly said by a woman who was just tired and wanted to sit, sparked a string of events that would inevitably change the world for an entire people, the Civil Rights Movement had begun. For whatever reason she said her "No", I applaud her courage, and celebrate her life in how she contributed to this country and our society. On October 24th, 2005, fifty years since her bus ride that day, Mrs. Rosa Louise McCauley-Parks passed away. Her life exemplifies the American love of freedom, our ability to choose the course of our actions, and the expectation of respect, along with the ability for persons of any race to simply live their lives. I don't believe Mrs. Parks thought about all of that while she did what she did, but she did no less than what you or I would have done in a similar circumstance, the difference was that she did it under threat of arrest. None of us can imagine that today, and in a way we owe that to her.

I'm not African-American, nor do I pretend to understand how it must feel to be subjected to blatent racism, though I can imagine how insulting such a thing might feel. I believe it's amazing to see how the actions of one person can provide a spark to get things going in the right direction, peacefully. I'd like to say that the Rosa Parks story provides hope for all who wonder about the importance of their own lives.

Rest well Rosa,
with all my respect and thanks.

Wilma Now a Category 5

Good afternoon to all,
how's your day going?

Well, here we are Wednesday, just two days after I last commented on Wilma, who was projected to become a major hurricane, and did she ever! By measure of barometric pressure, Hurricane Wilma is now the most intense Atlantic storm in recorded history, surpassing both Hurricane Katrina and Rita, and setting the record for gaining such strength in such a short period of time. Though the storm is likely to be downgraded to a Category 3 by the time it makes landfall somewhere on the western coast of Florida, this is still one heck of a storm for all of us near the Gulf of Mexico to keep an eye on. Be prepared out there, my friends, word on the news is that at it's current speed and track (175 mph sustained winds, with movement to the West-Northwest at 7 mph) , the storm could be effecting the Florida coast or neighboring states by sometime Friday or Saturday.

Stay safe!

Wilmaaaaaa!

Good morning to all,
hope your Monday is going well.

For those of us residing near the Gulf of Mexico, all I can say is "Make way for Wilma!" Which wouldn't be so bad if it were the Wilma we all grew up with on reruns of the Flintstones, but isn't so good when it's the name of another storm projected to become a major hurricane.
How the heck did we make it all the way to the "W" in the storm names list? Yes folks, we've come to the end of the names list, and since hurricane season runs until the end of November, we're likely to see Greek alphabet names being used real soon (Alpha, Beta, Theta, etc...), which should sound a bit odd. Interested in tracking this latest storm? We have a Tropical Weather Tracking link in our links list, where you'll find all sorts of useful information. From the looks of things so far, and this is still early in the computer model estimated tracks, within 5 days the storm could be headed to somewhere near the panhandle area of Florida, though it is still too early for the computer models to narrow enough to know exactly where the storm is going. For those of you near the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, I suggest buying your supplies and filling up your car early to avoid the rush, nothing wrong with being stuck with a few cases of bottled water, batteries, bags of ice, or a stockpile of non perishable food if the storm doesn't effect your area, as we'll all most likely use them in time, or if you're feeling nice you can donate them to a church pantry for families in need, it's a win-win situation either way. Once the projected storm track towards a particular area is announced on the news, the rush to grocery stores and gas stations will be on, and it's no fun waiting in those kind of lines in a time when other matters about the house and family also need time and attention. Anyone out there who might have questions regarding the storm, please feel welcome to leave a comment and ask! Nah, I'm not saying I know all there is to know, not even close by any means, but I will be happy to do all I can to help you search to find an answer. The way I see it, nobody should have to go through one of these big storms alone, I sure know how that can be. So remember, we'll always be here to help if needed.

From H to GWB....

Good afternoon to all,
hope your weekend is going well!

Well, what can I say? It seems the power of a few Hallmark cards, words, and letters, is truly amazing, when said at the appropriate moment, or sent to the appropriate person, they seem to have the ability to propel the sender to great heights, perhaps as high as the highest court in the land.

Ok, I'm being a wiseguy again, perhaps she is just a nice person, or has a flowery personality when it comes to writing, though quite frankly, many don't actually know enough about her to form an opinion. However, in a story from TheSmokingGun.com, they have scanned examples of the actual card and letter correspondence between Harriet Miers and George W. Bush, complete words emoting her expressions of great admiration for her generous benefactor. Might be worth a look, as it at least allows for a bit of a first impression about the Supreme Court nominee, you be the judge!

Over the Hill and Far Away...

Good evening to all,
hope your day is going well.

In a tidbit of information scarcely spoken of on our nation's television news networks, the "party of moral fiber" really does know how to party! Ok, I'm just being sarcastic, but ask Jessica Cutler, aka. The Washingtonienne, whose steamy, some may say seedy blog burned up the internet for a time. Miss Cutler describes the work environment she experienced as a staff assistant (a job nicknamed "staff ass" with a wink and a nod in the fratboy atmosphere that has enveloped our highest offices) on Capitol Hill, the seat of power for our nation's government during the Republican reign. Several lawsuits, a deleted blog, and expose's later, the blog seems to have taken on a life of it's own, as it has been re-released in it's original unedited form. I suggest the material only be read by adults, but I'll bet it will leave you wondering why the Republicans were so upset when it came to Bill Clinton's extramarital activities. Oh the hypocrisy of it all.

When ya gotta go.....

Good evening to all,
hope your day was a good one!

In a "pressing issue"....
Well, what can I say.... when ya gotta go.... ya gotta go!
It seems that even the leader of the most powerful country in the world, needs a hall pass when he needs to use the facilities. During a September 19th, 2005, U.N. Summit Meeting, a reporter managed to snap a rather odd picture of our president writing a note asking for permission to use "the can". Who does the president ask when he's crossing his legs uncomfortably, while the important issues of the world are being ironed out? None other than good ol' Condi. (so that's what the Secretary of State does)

Ok, enough of my being a wise-guy, *LOL
I know that it's just one of those things that happen, and he was probably just wondering what the properly diplomatic thing was to do in that sort of situation, still it took me a bit by surprise. I first found the picture on the DubyaSpeak website, but decided to research it to further verify the story as being legit, I found it also mentioned on the ABC News website.

Now that I think about it, what is the proper thing to do when you're seated with leaders from around the world, and you've really gotta go? I wish they had mentioned that bit of information in the story. My best guess is that the president or one of his staff would simply request a 15 minute recess from the proceedings, though if the request were denied, there could be an international incident. Ahh, the world of international politics. *LOL

Boston Bows Out

Good morning to all,
hope you have a good weekend!

Well, it seems that this year's World Series of Baseball will once again be without the Boston Red Sox, as they were swept in their playoff series versus the Chicago White Sox. I guess we'll see the "big B" back "in the big show" maybe in another 86 years. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who hate Boston, last year when they beat the New York Yankees (my favorite team) to make it into the World Series to face the St. Louis Cardinals, I felt they deserved the title of American League Champion, they had done their job and earned the right. Still, and I say this after making a "muwahahaha!" sound, it's nice to see the way cleared for the Yankees this year, that is.... if... they don't blow it again, at this time the Anaheim (Los Angeles) Angels hold a 2-1 game lead in the best of 5 series. All I can say is Gooo Yanks!

We turned on the lights!

Good morning to all,

Thanks to those of you who visit this site, reading my ramblings about the news of the day. You might notice a bit of a change in the blog template used here, we're no longer in the dark, we've added color! The idea came from visiting some of my favorite blogs presented by those of you who have left comments, I came to realize that my blog looked a bit depressing. Hope you like the new look, and please feel welcome to click through the new links that are coming soon. I'll try to find some interesting or useful sites to visit.

To any blog experts out there.....
would anyone happen to know how to add an image to the right of the blog title? I'd sure like to add an American flag, or some other sort of graphic up there. Any help, even a link to where I might be able to find help, would be very much appreciated.

Have a good day,
all are welcome here.

The Possession of Bill Bennet

Good evening to all,

What's going on with Bill Bennett? Tourettes? Just having a bad day? Maybe he's possessed like that girl in a movie not long ago? If you consider that the Republican party has been selling itself as the party of the faithful, possession might be the way to go in explaining the comments made by the former cabinet member to the Reagan and Bush (the father's) administrations. Why isn't the "Right to Life" crowd up in arms about one of their own "raising a hypothetical" that went something like this:

"I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down."

Huh? Whaaaaaat?!
My eyes bugged out when I heard that "hypothetical" mentioned in this day and age. I'm not naive enough to believe that racism doesn't still exist, just that I haven't heard it mentioned so blantantly. In fairness, here's his explanation of what he said:

If somebody thought I was advocating that, they ought to be angry. I'd be angry. I was putting forward a hypothetical proposition, put that forward, examined it, and then said about it that it's morally reprehensible – to recommend abortion of an entire group of people in order to lower your crime rate is morally reprehensible. But this is what happens when you argue that the ends can justify the means.

C'mon now, surely he can come up with something better than just citing a few disclaimer words sprinkled amongst the point he was trying to make. Quoting the "abortion is murder" platform of the Right to Life crowd, wouldn't that have him hypothetically proposing the genocide of an entire people based on race?

All I can say is YIKES!

I have a hypothetical proposition of my own....
If only Mr. Bennett's dad had worn a condom one night a long time ago, let's put that forward and examine it... Hmmm, I guess I wouldn't be typing this right now.

Katrina & Rita: What Now?

Good afternoon to all,
hope your day is going well.

So, here it is, weeks after two of the most devastating storms of recent times, words were aplenty after the Hurricane Katrina debacle, with less words spoken after the "success" of Hurricane Rita preparation. I use the quotation marks around "success", because anyone living down here on the Texas Coast can tell you that things did not go as smoothly as said. In the days leading up to Rita, there was a small bit of chaos taking place in this area, and many people were gridlocked on our highways, running out of gasoline, and worrying about the safety of their families. All these days later, I somehow keep hearing those words "now isn't the time to play the blame game", that were uttered so many times after Hurricane Katrina. I find myself wondering, "Is now a good time?" When is the proper time for us to ask the tough questions? Is there ever a good time for those who might have to provide answers? Probably not, but the questions seem to have all but but slowed to a trickle, which is saddening to those who can still vividly remember what we all saw. However, the news services appear to have now moved on to other stories taking place. When was the last time you heard a question asked on television that even resembles any of those asked during the immediate aftermath of Katrina? My best bet would be that it has been a while. Now, I know that bad memories are best put behind us, isn't that what we all most often do after seeing something that effects us deeply?. I think so, but in this instance, is it best to just move on, and let things sort itself out, or is it better to find answers that might allow us to fix things sooner rather than later? The Mike Brown hearing did little to clear up things, as Mr. Brown removed himself from any responsibility about what took place (or didn't take place) after Katrina, that single hearing was the last I saw of the big questions being asked. What happened? I guess the "wait to ask questions" tactic has worked, as now after the wait, few are still asking, they're all "asked out".

One of the biggest questions people should be asking is, "what is to happen to the Katrina evacuees now?" Now that the fervor has died down, now that the budget appropriation for public housing has been cut, now that the survivors are being shuffled from community to community, with the stability of their lives hanging in the balance. "Limited resources" keeps coming up as a sort of catch-phrase used when talking about evacuees taking up residence in a new location, where is the big dollar figure now? I heard the sounds of money being thrown at the situation, back when administration poll numbers were in a slide, when everyone wanted answers, now I can't help but sense the door closing slowly on those who might be considered to be amongst our poorest of citizens. Why? Why are those who have endured so much, now seeming to have to endure so much more? First, a wave of water washed away their homes, leaving them with not much more than hope, now it seems a wave of bureaucracy is coming to wash away that hope. Money is surely there to help these people get back on their feet, to find some level of stability, though with the no-bid contracts once again finding their way into yet another of our nation's most terrible incidents, I wonder where the money will actually go? Is it really necessary to go with the "no-bid"? If the companies who have been regularly getting the no-bid contracts are truly the best, and can do the jobs at the lowest cost, then that's great! Just that it would be nice to see what the other companies might have to offer. I can't believe that with all of our technology, only a very small handfull of companies have the ability to do work on a big level? Does anyone else think that unlikely? I'm not against the best getting the job, nor am I against an American company getting the job, just that for the sake of the concerned public's peace of mind, why not go through the conventional bidding process? It would surely calm people's nerves, and would leave some sort of record as to why a particular company got the green-light to perform a needed task.

Now, back to the matter at hand, housing for the people... what is to be done? Should dignity be the final sacrifice of the survivors? I say no, it should not be! Even the poorest of people (and I hate to use that term "poor", though it's just that the term "economically challenged" sounds too politically correct, sounding like I would try to clean up the description of the situation to make it not sound as difficult as it is becoming, it's far too sterile of a term, seeming to point away from those who are really in need), so I say that even the poorest of people, ask for nothing more than what most of us would demand or expect, they ask that we don't forget they are Americans, they ask that we care as much... not more, but as much... as we would care about those we know and love, and I believe that isn't too much too to ask. I sure wish I knew what the public housing plan was going to be for them, but nobody is talking, even those in charge of the public housing programs are saying not much more than they're "trying to do their job with limited funding." How typical that sounds nowadays.

For those who might say, "let them find their own homes... get a job, and stop living for free", (and yes, they're out there) I saw a comment like that posted on a news forum somewhere, I just say..... first of all, that is a cold thing for someone to say, and I hope they never find themselves in that sort of situation, but imagine living without a home, without a car, without many clothes, without much money, with a family to support, with some food, but with time running out for the help. How would you feel? Would you consider it charity to simply get a roof over your head, a place to call home, if just only for a time? Would you consider it charity to get a few dollars to purchase a few necessities you need while looking for a job, or would you appreciate the help? I know I sure would appreciate the help. Now, the help needs to get to the people who need it, and the sooner the better. Unfortunately, there are many who are still waiting, still unsure of their futures, and the futures of their families, wondering where they'll be a week, a month, or a year from now, how they will live, the uncertainty of their voices going mostly unheard by a press who has all but moved on, and a public trying to escape the bad times that found it's way into their homes for a time, as they watched the evening news or while they read their newspapers.

Here's a link to a related news story, it describes how the survivors are coming to be regarded in some communities, I believe it to be shameful.