Saturday, July 28, 2007

Declaring War Against Ourselves?

Odds n’ Ends in the War on Terror
If the United States attacks Iran preemptively... the signatories of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty [NPT] do have certain obligations... basically Russia and China, as well as France and the United Kingdom, will "provide immediate assistance" to Iran if it "is a victim of an act, or an object of a threat of, aggression in which nuclear weapons are used." Interesting, eh? So if Bush-Cheney bomb Iran, the other NPT members are required under international law TO DEFEND IRAN.
So, if we attack Iran, out allies are obligated to defend Iran against us. Bush-Cheney could end up forcing the rest of the world to declare war against us.

Now, that's what I call a legacy.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Saturday is Music Appreciation Day at Constantly Amazed!

And I hope you'll enjoy a little Django Reinhardt. Trivia: His left hand (the one on the frets) was severely injured and he only had use of two fingers.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

They say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to...

In all the frequent mentioning in the media of oil issues (use, overuse, peak oil, war for oil, price of gas, OPEC, what have you), they are inevitably focused on automobile usage. It's always driving, driving, driving, and the price of gasoline. That's it. As if the whole petroleum industry starts and stops there. Okay, so maybe 1% of media mention heating oil. But the other 99% is all about gasoline.

As you might have already suspected, I think a little differently.

See, when they talk about fuel, I don't think about Joe Mullett's jacked up F250 or the asinine SUV Mr. & Mrs. Suburbia use to drive back and forth from their McMansion to the local warehouse store (driving with a starbuck's froofroo cafe caramel mocha latte half caff whatever in one hand and text messaging on their cell phone in the other). No way, Jose.

I think of all the other stuff. For example, cars a probably a drop in the bucket compared to the bazillions (I don't know exactly how many) of jet airplanes that fly back and forth across the country and across the world, and how much jet fuel goes into those things and gets burned up by the, what, hundreds or thousands of gallons a minute? Does anyone know?

Even more importantly, what about all the stuff that is made from petroleum that we use and toss away every single day? Plastic is a petroleum product, and everything is made from plastic (you may think this is old news, but 70% of Americans don't know plastic is made from oil)! There are even petroleum products in your food. I think more people should be reminded more often that the oil interests who want to control the resources of the middle east are not just interested in fuel and lubricants. If they control petroleum, they control just about every product produced on the planet.

A partial list of products made from petroleum: a partial list of products made from Petroleum (144 of 6000 items):
Ammonia, Anesthetics, Antifreeze, Antihistamines, Antiseptics, Artificial limbs, Artificial Turf, Aspirin, Awnings, Balloons, Ballpoint Pens, Bandages, Basketballs, Bearing Grease, Bicycle Tires, Boats, Cameras, Candles, Car Battery Cases, Car Enamel, Cassettes, Caulking, CD Player, CD's, Clothes, Clothesline, Cold cream, Combs, Cortisone, Crayons, Curtains, Dashboards, Denture Adhesive, Dentures, Deodorant, Detergents, Dice, Diesel, Dishes, Dishwasher, Dresses, Drinking Cups, Dyes, DVD's, Electric Blankets, Electrician's Tape, Enamel, Epoxy, Eyeglasses, Fan Belts, Faucet Washers, Fertilizers, Fishing Rods & gear, Floor Wax, Folding Doors, Food Preservatives, Football Cleats, Football Helmets, Footballs, Footballs, Gasoline, Glycerin, Golf Bags, Golf Balls, Guitar Strings, Hair Coloring, Hair Curlers, Handguns, Hand Lotion, Heart Valves, House Paint, Ice Chests, Ice Cube Trays, Ink, Insect Repellent, Insecticides, Life Jackets, Linings, Linoleum, Lipstick, Luggage, Model Cars, Mops, Motor Oil, Motorcycle Helmet, Movie film, Nail Polish, Nylon Rope, Oil Filters, Paint, Paint Brushes, Paint Rollers, Panty Hose, Parachutes, Percolators, Perfumes, Petroleum Jelly, Pillows, Plastic Wood, Purses, Putty, Refrigerant, Refrigerators, Roller Skates, Roofing, Rubber Cement, Rubbing Alcohol, Safety Glasses, Shag Rugs, Shampoo, Shaving Cream, Shoe Polish, Shoes, Shower Curtains, Skis, Slacks, Soap, Soft Contact lenses, Solvents, Speakers, Sports Car Bodies, Sun Glasses, Surf Boards, Sweaters, Synthetic Rubber, Telephones, Tennis Rackets, Tents, Tires, Toilet Seats, Tool Boxes, Tool Racks, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Transparent Tape, Trash Bags, TV Cabinets, Umbrellas, Upholstery, Vaporizers, Vitamin Capsules, Water Pipes, Wheels, Yarn...
Even $@#^& candy wrappers are made from plastic! Along with just about every piece of product packaging filling the aisles of your local Hell Mart.

And to top it off, you have things like this happening: Boeing Unveils Blockbuster Plane:
"What makes the 787 revolutionary is that it is the first airplane built mostly not of metal, but rather mostly of high tech composite material, a type of reinforced plastic."
Do you see what I mean? They don't just want to control the gas you put in your car. If they control oil, they control everything!

So now you know why, every time I hear someone from either side of the argument proposing to save the day by encouraging the use of biofuels, I feel a little cheated. Honestly, we need to address the big picture here. The fuel thing important, but we really need to address the fact that practically everything else is made from oil, too. And the neocons want to own every drop of it!

P.S. Someone once said that I shouldn't address problems like this without also providing a solution. So... how's this: Henry Ford built an automobile out of soy and hemp!

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Mission Accomplished

Iraq PM: Country can manage without U.S.:
"BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government's military and political progress on Saturday, saying Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave 'any time they want.' "
Whew! Glad that's over!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

In Honor of the "DC Madame" and her list of Political Pervs...

Flynt is tracking 20 congressional sex scandal leads

"Larry Flynt, the porn-industry magnate who first linked Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the escort service of the “D.C. Madam,” said Wednesday that his investigators are tracking more than 20 leads on alleged congressional sex scandals."
What's that I see on the horizon? Is it a whole flock of republican sex scandals headed this way? Why, it is!


Update: Here we go!
[McCain campaign co-chair] Rep. Bob Allen arrested on sex charge

Sunday, July 8, 2007

It isn't too late

Does anyone remember this?

It isn't too late to send him there. We can still do it. Please, please, let's send Bush and his crew to Mars.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

How cheerful

Little bits of random information from a mailer I received from Mother Jones magazine: 60% of U.S. companies don't pay taxes, half of the FDA's drug evaluation budget is funded by drug companies, four of the top richest people in the U.S. are Walmart heirs.

Lovely.

Friday, July 6, 2007

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but...

This is from ImpeachCheney.org

He's the one, you know. Those of us who have maintained that Bush is the stooge and Cheney pulls the strings have been right all along. Cheney must be impeached first. If Bush went first, imagine a world where Cheney was president...!

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Yup, it's independence day...


And everyone will be blogging the Declaration of Independence. You know what? So will I. Part of it, anyway. Because it is that important to remind ourselves that, eventually, we cannot tolerate the status quo anymore.

From the Declaration of Independence:
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another... whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends [life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness], it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government... experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
I tell ya, a lot of us are this close.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Walking the Walk and All That Stuff

These tidbits from the independent column of Blogwatch detail a few very interesting tidbits about our beloved "lesser of two evils" party:

Third Party & Independents:: Facts on Democrats: Part One
Third Party & Independents:: Facts on Democrats: Part Two

Reading these posts, it appears that Dennis Kucinich is the Dem that most closely shares my values. I am still doing research on the candidates, but, as usual, the ones I like are the ones who don't stand a chance, like Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson.

I say "as usual" because in '92 I liked Paul Tsongas (Clinton struck me as the most conservative of the democratic candidates that year, simply an easy sell to the crossover vote, typical Dem strategy). Tsongas was the only one who was responsible enough to say that if people wanted the government to provide goods and services, they would have to be paid for with taxes. No one else was honest enough to admit that. Tsongas lost the primary, but developed cancer and died before his first term would have been completed.

But that's in the past. I'm saying Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson are the guys to watch. As my luck runs, I will watch them lose the primaries to corporate meat puppets of the military industrial complex, and we will have more of the same horrific, surreal political nightmare we have been subject to since the dawn of the new millenium.