ScaramoucheBlog

Politics, Sex, Religion, and all those impolite Human Conversations...

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Monday, November 28, 2005

Bush Contemplated Bombing NPR

This just in. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, talks Bush out bombing the news agency, overriding advice from Ann Coulter.
New Report Says:
:
A new report published today indicates that President George W. Bush briefly contemplated bombing National Public Radio in the run-up to the Iraq war but was ultimately talked out of it by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

According to the report, Mr. Blair had just convinced Mr. Bush not to bomb the Arabic-language television network al-Jazeera when the president suddenly shifted gears, turning his sights on the left-leaning NPR.

“Those clowns at NPR have been tearing me a new one, Tony,” the president reportedly said. “Well, that’s nothing a good old daisy cutter wouldn’t fix.”

Mr. Blair reportedly raised strong objections to Mr. Bush’s plan to bomb NPR, after which the president said, “All right already – I’ll just cut their funding instead.”

According to a source quoted in the report, the president had drawn up an elaborate plan that involved bombing several prominent media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Charlie Rose Show.

“The only thing left standing was Fox News,” the source is quoted as saying.

Mr. Bush was eventually talked out of bombing The Washington Post when a top aide reminded him, “If we take out the Post, we won’t have any way to leak things to Bob Woodward.”



(via Other Crap)

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Equinophoboia


Laura Bush once said about her husband, "George didn't know much about ranches when we bought the place. Andover and Yale don't have a real strong ranching program. But I'm proud of George. He's learned a lot about ranching since that first year when he tried to milk the horse. What's worse, it was a male horse."

Maybe that would explain this bit of international wrangling over Bush's visit to Mongolia:
Mr. Bush did face one delicate diplomatic mission here. U.S. leaders on world tours arm themselves with a list of demands when they visit foreign countries. In preparing for Mongolia, the president needed to figure out how to tactfully refuse a gift horse.[ed. -Look it in the mouth?]

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld got a horse -- a black-maned steed he named 'Montana' -- when he visited this visually stunning nation of desert steppes in October. Such gift horses aren't actually taken home; instead, they are kept around but not ridden, in anticipation of the next visit.

But White House aides say Mr. Bush was worried about the obligations of ownership. Would taxpayers be on the hook for upkeep? Was there any way to guarantee the horse's well-being down the road? The question occupied not one but several meetings at the National Security Council in the days leading up to Mr. Bush's trip, one participant said.

Eventually Mr. Bush's aides gently persuaded the Mongolians not to proffer a horse. What Mr. Bush wasn't able to avoid was a sip of the local specialty -- fermented mare's milk -- even though he's a teetotaler.


Well that's got to be the first time he's been worried about spending our tax dollars. More likely, the closest he'll ever get to a horse is its saddle -- as pictured above.


(Via Salon's War Room where they suggest that those several NSC meetings might have been put to better use, like talking about how to get out of Iraq.)

Monday, November 21, 2005

Torture, Has it got a Future?

I must admit I have always been fascinated by torture.

First hand I got to see torture museums in Amsterdam and Milan. Both were held in ancient, dank stone enclosures, mostly for effect I think. A perfect background effect for the replicas of torture devices, the rack, the shoe, and the most famous Iron Maiden.

Devices for rending flesh, permanently incapacitating a victim, were on display. Quite a bit of it hearkened back to the time of the Inquisition, when the practice was to extract a confession of heretical beliefs. Much of it caused permanent harm and organ failure. Oddly enough, much of it was directly sexual. Extract confessions by tearing the soft flesh of sexual organs, or bounce them on sharp pyramidal object on their anus or vagina. Almost all damage was irreversible and led to death or disfigurement.

My fascination was not in the technique, per se, rather it was in the depravity - to use the Latin, Homo homini lupus , or Man is a wolf towards man.

Actually I've never believed wolves are that evil, yet mankind obviously is.

Historically torture has been used for punishment, like for cruel and unusual execution. Broken on the wheel is a euphemism for smashing ones arms and legs until they thread jelly-fish like through the spokes of a wagon wheel. The Inquisition saved a few souls by using this technique, others were burned alive.

But if you really want to put down an insurrection, look no farther than Julius Cesar, who civilized the Gauls, and who put down their revolt by purposely blinding and cutting of the hands off of 250,000 defeated warriors. Now that sure taught them a lesson. Plus it had the added benefit of keeping regular people busy caring for the survivors. That sure quelled that insurgency.

But we are better than that, right? We are beyond punishment and we don't do torture. Not to the point of irreparable harm or organ failure. At least that's the way the Administration defines it.

We are modern, we have science. Maybe if we have more science, scientific miracles even, we can drill holes in people and then use cellular regeneration to restore them, and then drill some more holes.

Maybe we can ascertain that detainees have a fear of rats and then threaten them with it. Put caged rats right next to the face; tell them the rodents will only eat the soft tissue. That'll make 'em talk.

Possibly we can come up with a device that'll make one think that their hand is be being melted off the bone. All without it happening.

I'm sure eventually we can come up with a system that will psychotronically extract the thoughts and memories of a detainee. Unfortunately early techniques will require the removal of brain matter through the nasal cavity; possibly the death of personality might occur. After many trials it will be just a bright light and a chair to suck out that actionable intelligence

Given time it will be more like date rape. No, saying no, won't matter. Just tell us what we want to know.

Also, what's a little rape? After all,in this country we celebrate when freaks go to ass-pound prison. Why should suspected terrorists expect anything less? At least there is no organ failure. Promoting torture should not have any impact on own society, right?

So does torture have future? I once thought that the American Ideal was fighting for the advancement of the rights of man. Now I think we've only got an advancement that goes one century forward and then two centuries backwards.


(Edited for clarity and tone)

For the Holidays Remember Your Pooch


Beer for dogs. What a wonderful way to not leave your special member of the family out the picture while boozing it up with the in-laws.

This beer is guaranteed not to start fights, or biting remarks, let alone accentuate gnawing doubts over electoral politics during Thanksgiving dinner.

It might even give the crazy relative something to do, like dog tricks, instead of making everyone uncomfortable.

Give thanks and everyone can focus on dog.

Sure, there are lots of ways you show your dog you love him: Taking him for a walk, giving him a belly rub, tossing him a few treats...but how about a beer? Of course, you can't give him the same beer you grab from the fridge when YOU want a treat! Alcohol, hops and carbonation are bad for dogs. But what about giving him a drink that not only tastes good, but is healthy as well?

Your dog will love our Happy Tail Ale, cold from the fridge and in a flavor he loves!


Heck, this stuff only seems to be for sale locally. Let's hear it for Barkbarians...

(via Everlasting Blort)

Hated Authority Figure...

The other day on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, David Brooks dropped this steaming load of an explanation of the role of US forces in Iraq:
...It's true the US presence is incitement to violence a lot people hate, so hate us so much. They are committing violence. But the main incitement to violence is the Sunni Shiite split. It's the incipient civil war

And every expert I talk to, Republican, or Democrat, says if we get out there will be a full bore civil war. We are a hated authority figure to keeping that complete civil war from breaking out.

So as a policy statement I think what Murtha did was shallow and incomprehensible. (transcription and emphasis mine)


So the role of our military is to be the targets so the Iraqis won't shoot each. What a way to honor the troops and keep up morale. So let's keep them hating us over there, and democracy will magically flourish throughout the region.

If this is the current policy (and why doubt it?), it sure strikes me a a poor use of the military. And I'm sure as hell that's not what any of them signed for.

"Be all the hated authority figure you can be." Sounds like a shitty recruitment commercial to me.

Conduct your own war on terror.

Here is a compelling flash simulation of The War of Terror. The rules are deadly simple. You can shoot. Or not.

This is not a time waster!

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Near the Heart of Darkness

I see I have not written for the last week. Partly because I got more involved in local politics and, mostly, because the the national news has been so distressing.

I have been skirting the edge of despair. I fear the bright and beautiful experiment in civilization that is America might be coming to an end. You know, that experiment in Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, albeit, at first, we weren't big on the equality or fraternity buy in. All gone! All flushed down the toilet by our representatives in Washington.

I wouldn't post because all my rants were coming up as incoherent, like a big sob of anguish. I should have been perked up by the disastrous numbers of the President in opinion polls. But his party, even though in it's wounded, can still, and sure seems to wants to, cause damage to the weakest and most vulnerable amongst us. Like when the House votes to make cuts in food stamps, Medicare, and student aid to balance the budget all on the backs of poor. Yet they still push for tax cuts for the rich and are nowhere near balancing the budget. On top of that the find time to vote themselves a raise in pay. I'd like to hope that it's the wild thrashing, before death, of the Grover Norquist faction but that is not a foregone conclusion. Maybe this will be the last damage the GOP can do for a while, but it still strikes too close to home for due due to my brother's medical and financial condition.

The atrocities of war continue. More rumors of torture exposed while the Senate votes to restrict Habeas Corpus and then debates whether we should allow the CIA to use proscribed methods on our "enemies" and not follow our own laws on the matter. I can only imagine the Vice-President Cheney is arguing so forcefully for the CIA exemption so he will have a legal excuse to avoid prosecution of war crimes that, just so happens, is punishable by death under US laws. Sort of spread the guilt far and wide, as it were.

In the last few years our country is unravellings the fabric of progress that made America a beacon of light for the advancement of civilization - our claim to being the greatest country on earth. Funny that, my impression of the folks that still spout we are number one, have never live abroad; if they traveled it was with the "Let's Go" books clench tightly in their paws and never got off the the beaten path, all the while criticizing the places they visited because it wasn't like back in the States.

I guess I could go on and on. Who knows it might even be therapeutic to give vent (now this is funny idea: blogging as therapy!). However, there was also a sense of futility this last week. I believe I am a born optimist and it's the world around forcing me to be cynical. But when I look to future in the most hopeful way, when we get out of this mess and try and make amends, I see us tearing our country apart over necessary investigations and trials over war profiteering and war crimes. And maybe, just maybe, we can find our soul again.

That's the best I can envision at the moment...

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Mark Fiore: Indictment Circus


To watch click Here.

Friday, November 11, 2005

MIT Tin Foil Hat Study Flawed

While MIT students advance the study of the effectiveness to block mind control frequencies through the use of aluminum foil, their conclusions, that tin-foil hats amplify government signals, is deeply flawed.

But first let's examine their premise:
Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We theorize that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason.


Photographic evidence from their own test shows that their test helmets, the "Classical", the "Fez," and the "Centurion," all have the dull-side outwards.

While their experiment has shown that:
For all helmets, we noticed a 30 db amplification at 2.6 Ghz and a 20 db amplification at 1.2 Ghz, regardless of the position of the antenna on the cranium. In addition, all helmets exhibited a marked 20 db attenuation at around 1.5 Ghz, with no significant attenuation beyond 10 db anywhere else.


Their conclusion that:
The helmets amplify frequency bands that coincide with those allocated to the US government between 1.2 Ghz and 1.4 Ghz. According to the FCC, These bands are supposedly reserved for ''radio location'' (ie, GPS), and other communications with satellites (see, for example, [3]). The 2.6 Ghz band coincides with mobile phone technology. Though not affiliated by government, these bands are at the hands of multinational corporations.


While highly revelatory it is no way conclusive. Studies at the Dharma Institute have reached similar conclusions when the dull-side is outwards, however:

It can't be stressed enough how important it is to have the shiny side pointing out. This is needed because the shiny side is most reflective to psychotronic radiation, while the dull side can actually, in certain environmental conditions, absorb it. However, as is illustrated in the instructions above, it is also wise to complement this with a layer of foil pointing shiny side in. This will keep your brain waves, which are also reflected by the shiny side, from being picked up by mind-reading equipment. There is a small number of aluminum foil researchers who believe that this may cause an alpha-wave harmonic to build up in the skull resulting in memory loss or pseudo-religious visions, but their findings have never been replicated by the aluminum foil research community at large. Even if their findings are validated, the risk involved is small compared to the potential of mind-intrusion.


While research at the Swan Station has been problematic about the nodal points of magnetism and psychotronic radiation the research from MIT adds a bit to the knowledge base despite functional flaws in the scientific method deployed.

We can not ascertain at this time whether these frequencies originate from covert governmental agencies or supra-national corporations until experiments are thoroughly concluded with the shiny-sided outward helmets.

Why Does Bill O'Reilly Hate Firefighters?

O'Reilly, frothing as usual on his radio show, suggested that Al-Qaida blow up San Francisco's Coit Tower. He reacted to San Franciso voters passing a propisition that would restrict military recruitment in local schools and college campuses.

The target of his bile just happens to be a momument that honors firefigthers. As San Francisco Supervisor, Chris Daly, shot back:

Daly responded on the KRON 4 Morning News, "Coit Tower's a monument to San Francisco's firefighters. They put out the fires in San Francisco after the great quake. American heroes -- they were there on Sept. 11 and now you want al-Qaida to blow up Coit Tower? Give us a break. You are out of line."


O'Reilly also pissed of the president of the San Francisco Firefighter's Union Local 798:
"Coit Tower is a monument to the bravery of the men and women of the San Francisco Fire Department," Hanley said. "When Bill O'Reilly makes an attack on Coit Tower, he's attacking us and our bravery."

He added, "Mr. O'Reilly, maybe we should bring you into some of our burning buildings and see how brave you are."


Well since, time and again, Bill O'Reilly has proven to be a coward when confronted with those who strongly disagree with him, I don't expect him to invite these critics onto his show.

Wal-Mart's Tax on Us

I used to have one of those super stores around the corner from where I live. The service was always terrible. But it was the only place to shop a 2 in the morning which would let you drive the little electric carts around.

Thank god it it's gone and we now have a Home Depot in its place. Still miss the electric carts though.

The store was bad in in so many ways as you can see in this report, Wal-Mart's Tax on Us:
Wal-Mart's reaction to the 2004 survey of its reach into taxpayer subsidies was classic bait and switch. The company responded by saying it couldn't verify the figures, but that if they were correct, then 'it looks like offering tax incentives to Wal-Mart is a jackpot investment for local governments.'

Specifically, the company claimed that over the past 10 years, it collected $52 billion in sales taxes, remitted $192 million in income taxes, wage withholdings and unemployment insurance, and paid $4 billion in local property taxes. 'Do the math and you will see that every dollar invested returned more than thirty,' the company summarized.

Of course Wal-Mart 'collected' sales taxes; as a retailer, it's required by law to do so. But that's consumers' money, not the company's. Wal-Mart is just a pass-through. And since much of its sales come at the expense of other retailers, any gain is obviously offset by lower sales taxes collected at competing stores -- and by the taxpayer costs of abandoned downtowns and malls.

Of course Wal-Mart 'remitted' income and payroll taxes -- it's an employer, and is required to deduct taxes from its workers' paychecks. But income tax is not the company's money; it's money from the workers' meager paychecks. And since Wal-Mart jobs are largely shifted from other retailers and Wal-Mart pays so poorly, any net revenue gain is unclear.

And, of course, Wal-Mart paid some property taxes -- all property owners have to support local services. Unless, of course, they get an abatement; our study found more than 40 such instances. But Wal-Mart offered no disclosure on how much in property taxes it hasn't paid. And as economists point out, companies pass on the cost of property taxes to customers as much as market conditions allow.

So there you have Wal-Mart's version of cost-benefit analysis. Taxpayer costs for economic development are balanced by 'benefits' that mostly consist of, well, workers.



(via Buzzflash)

Joe Wilson in his own words.

Former Ambassador Joe Wilson spoke to a large crowd at the Chevron Auditorium International House, in Berkeley, last Wednesday. It was very detailed about his trip to Niger, why he chosen, his bonifides, and how he determined that Niger could not be the supplier of yellow cake.

Watch the webcast here.

For more detail, read the wonderful You Forgot Poland or the Barbarian Blog.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

WTF of the day.

From John Derbyshire comes this WTF of the day.

You'd never think it to look at me. I have the tall, bony English physique that Heinrich Himmler admired so much. (He put it down to oatmeal porridge, and made his SS men eat porridge for breakfast.) Yet here is is, 10 a.m., and I'm going nuts already.

CA Election Results

Don't weep for me Arnoldtina. It's been along time since I woke after an election not feeling down. The morning sun was chasing back the storm clouds early today as if to congratulate me.


Californians spent the price of a cup of coffee to tell the Gropinator to stuff it. The Governator spent $7 million of his own cash to get told that. The only people who made out like bandits were the political consultants and their public affairs operations.

Arnold has not seen such a disaster since his film Jingle All the Way which this critique could substitute for yesterday's performance (substitute initiative for movie):
I always tend to have a "whipping boy" movie every year. This movie is so bad that I hold a grudge against it for whatever time or money I spent to watch it. The current, and still undefeated, champion remains Jingle All The Way. I believe the best review I have ever read about this movie, or any movie for that matter, came from the review in THE ONION whose review's first line read, "As mirthful as an icicle shoved straight up your !#*."


The other thing that made my day was that John McCain has no coattails. His support for prop 77 failed miserably. Even despite the message he left on my answering machine telling me that the political smear on this was the worst he'd ever seen. Say John, how's your black child doing these days?

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

The Votenator


If this happened to anyone else it wouldn't be funny. I know I'd be pissed.

Schwarzenegger Hits Snag at Polling Place:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up to his Brentwood neighborhood polling station today to cast his ballot in the special election — and was told he had already voted.

Elections officials said a Los Angeles County poll worker had entered Schwarzenegger's name into an electronic voting touch screen station in Pasadena on Oct. 25. The worker, who was not identified, was testing the voting machine in preparation for early voting that began the next day.

Somehow, Schwarzenegger's name was then placed on a list of people who had already voted, said Conny B. McCormack, the Los Angeles County registrar.

Schwarzenegger's aides were informed of the problem when they arrived this morning to survey the governor's polling station. The poll worker told the governor's staff he would have to use a "provisional" ballot that allows elections workers to verify if two votes were made by the same person. McCormack said the poll worker did the correct thing.

The governor, however, was allowed to use a regular ballot.


Now, if this did happen to me I wouldn't be allowed to use a regular ballot, nor would you most likely. Also how they find out so fast that a pollworker had placed his name into the system while testing the machines? Does it only take a few phone calls to find that out? If so, then why couldn't the same thing be put in place for regular voters with similar problems?

(hatip to fubar at Needlenose)

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Jarhead, War Film or Gay Film?

I have not seen this movie yet. So I can't give an opinion on it. However, when I do see the film I know I'll be thinking of this critic's theory:
I think Mendes makes films that are exercises. And Jarhead succeeds as an exercise in gay metaphor. By emphasizing the male bonding rituals that go on between the troops, Jarhead is the gayest war film of all time.

Recipe for gayest war film of all time:

1. Combine macho homophobic comments of soldiers with showering together (loads of slapping of asses)

2. Mix in tight bonding (note the pairing-off of sniper teams) of often topless hard-bodied troops (even the stereotypical nerdy recruit is ripped)

3. Juxtapose with sub-theme of cheating by far-away girlfriends and wives (including one who is said to only wear her boyfriend's military clothes and have a soldier fetish)

4. Equate shooting of gun with masturbation (x10!)

5. Add General who keeps saying he's getting a hard on while speaking to the assembled male troops

6. Simulate gay group orgy to embarrass Sergeant

7. Climax film with scene about as close as you can get to a literal circle jerk (firing guns into the air until all their rounds are spent)

This film is comparing war with busting your gay cherry. Or, if you want to get all film-crit 101 with it: the sexualization of war. They're all waiting for their first kill, to fire a shot, to do something, anything! And everything they do while waiting is highly sexualized. And then when it doesn't come, when nothing happens, it's like the biggest cock-tease in history.


There is only one punchline for this...Don't ask, don't tell...

Thou shall not...

Break all 10 Commandments before breakfast.

This short film catches them all.

Baghdad Burning: What happened to the dream of a democratic Iraq?

Riverbend explains:
Americans constantly tell me, “What do you think will happen if we pull out of Iraq- those same radicals you fear will take over.” The reality is that most Iraqis don’t like fundamentalists and only want stability- most Iraqis wouldn’t stand for an Iran-influenced Iraq. The American military presence is working hand in hand with Badir, etc. because only together with Iran can they suppress anti-occupation Iraqis all over the country. If and when the Americans leave, their Puppets and militias will have to pack up and return to wherever they came from because without American protection and guidance they don’t stand a chance.

We literally laugh when we hear the much subdued threats American politicians make towards Iran. The US can no longer afford to threaten Iran because they know that should the followers of Sadr, Iranian cleric Sistani and Badir’s Brigade people rise up against the Americans, they’d have to be out of Iraq within a month. Iran can do what it wants- enrich uranium? Of course! If Tehran declared tomorrow that it was currently in negotiations for a nuclear bomb, Bush would have to don his fake pilot suit again, gush enthusiastically about the War on Terror and then threaten Syria some more.

Congratulations Americans- not only are the hardliner Iranian clerics running the show in Iran- they are also running the show in Iraq. This shift of power should have been obvious to the world when My-Loyalty-to-the-Highest-Bidder-Chalabi sold his allegiance to Iran last year. American and British sons and daughters and husbands and wives are dying so that this coming December, Iraqis can go out and vote for Iran influenced clerics to knock us back a good four hundred years.


What happened to the dream of a democratic Iraq?

Iraq has been the land of dreams for everyone except Iraqis- the Persian dream of a Shia controlled Islamic state modeled upon Iran and inclusive of the holy shrines in Najaf, the pan-Arab nationalist dream of a united Arab region.


What is the raison du jour for why we are we over there?

Friday, November 04, 2005

Still Won't Do The Fandango

For fans of the show Lost, here is a flash musical treat -- Lost Rhapsody.

(via Presurfer)

Give us your tired, your poor...Maybe they'll go away.

This is just sick and stupid and most likely part of the plan. Because of the new federal Medicare Prescription Drug Program, Bush's baby, now the Poor face Medicare premiums :
About 35,000 low-income seniors and disabled in California — including 15,000 in the Bay Area — will have to start paying monthly health insurance premiums for their Medicare managed care plans in January because the state will no longer pick up the tab.

According to a draft letter to beneficiaries from the California Department of Health Services obtained by the Oakland Tribune, if affected seniors want to stay with their health maintenance organization, they will have to pay premiums of up to $70 a month.

"We have informed your Medicare HMO that as of Jan. 1, 2006, Medi-Cal will no longer pay Medicare HMO premiums for you," reads a draft of the letter, which affected seniors will receive within the next few days.

"You may need to pay your monthly Medicare HMO premiums yourself if you wish to keep your current Medicare HMO membership," the letter continues.

The affected seniors and disabled are known as dual eligibles — they are poor enough to qualify for both Medicare and Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for those living on very low incomes.

The annual income for most dual eligibles in California is $9,570 for individuals and $12,830 for couples, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.


So people making under 10 grand a year could see their medical costs go up by over $800. Disabled people and senior citizens will be hit hard, especially if they can't work, or find that second job to pay for their medical treatments.

That is not compassionate, but sure as hell, it's conservative.

The promise of the new Medicare Prescription Drug Program only get's worse:
California will pay the federal government an additional $57 million in 2006 under Medicare's new prescription drug law, Rosenstein said, though it was supposed to save $100 million under the program.

"There are flaws in how the federal government has calculated the payments to the states," Rosenstein said. "States that have done a good job in controlling costs (of their prescription drug programs) are being penalized."

Yeah, I bet those flaws hit states that trend blue in their politics more likely than not.

As it is, for many Americans Getting Sick Has Its Price
"These patients are the canary in the coal mine of any health care system," Schoen said.

Nearly a third of U.S. patients reported spending more than $1,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for their care, far outpacing all other nations. Canadians and Australians came next, with 14 percent of patients spending that much. The proportion reporting similarly high costs was far lower in the other countries.


Oh, if that's not enough they want to cut 40,000 kids from school lunch program to pay for tax cuts.

It's almost like they want poor people to die early. Maybe that's their final solution for Social Security.


(all added emphasis is mine)

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Italito Bashing



High court meets lower court...

Revenge -- best served cold

Via Slate I found this little nugget of personal insight into Scalito.

His college roomate is quoted:
"One of our other roommates pulled some practical joke on Sam, which I do not remember," Grais said in an email. "The other guy drank scotch-on-the-rocks every night. Sam retaliated by putting salt in the water used to make ice cubes in the refrigerator in our room. The other guy went through a full bottle of terrible-tasting scotch before realizing that his ice cubes had been sabotaged."


One anagram for Sam Alito is, "I am salto..."