Posts from — April 2006

Which Japanese theatrical tradition are the Republicans and the Shrubbery more in tune with: Kabuki or Noh?

As usual, compare and contrast.

Extra credit for references to the films of Stanley Kubrick.

Showing that is has no real concerns for the rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution the Supremes have decided not to rule on the Shrubbery’s violation of US law in his Star Chamber proceedings against “enemy combatants”.

Well, you certainly can’t call the Roberts Court activist.

Tbogg tells us Parsons has only finished 20 of 300 medical clinics it was supposed to be building in Iraq but it has been allowed to withdraw from its contract because it has managed to spend all of the money.

This is apparently the new standard for Federal contracts: you get to stop when you have spent all the money. Oh, the complaints about the security situation are valid, but they should have been obvious to any international contractor.

The only reason for endangering ground troops is to control the land. If you don’t intend to control the ground that is being taken, use air power, not ground forces.

If you fire the army and police, you are obviously going to have a security problem unless you have the forces to take their place. This isn’t a matter of high conceptual thinking; this is common sense.

People were once fired for these kinds of mistakes, now they receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Update: Parsons has only actually finished 6 clinics, but has promised to finish the other 14 that are under construction, unless it doesn’t.

There are probably a lot of admirals on a Maalox diet at the Pentagon after reading this: Iran Tests Powerful Underwater Missile.

The Persian Gulf is narrow and shallow, so large ships all ready have problems maneuvering in the waters, and now the Iranians have apparently developed their own version of the Russian submarine anti-ship missile.

This coming the day after claims of a successful test of a ground-to-ground missile with multiple independently targetable warheads and stealth capabilities should really increase antacid sales in Arlington.

The Pensacola Beach Blogger noticed this opinion piece in the Pensacola News Journal about the Interior Department’s continuing program of not listening to Florida residents when it comes to off-shore drilling.

Florida makes a lot of money from its beaches, more than it would ever make from drilling, and the site of oil rigs is not compatible with tourism. The state is constantly telling the Federal government we don’t want them off the coast of Florida, but corporate interests keep getting Federal attention that the state can’t seem to overcome.

The latest move is to re-draw the maps so that Alabama and Louisiana have jurisdiction over the coastal waters south of the Panhandle. Since those states don’t care about the skyline seen from a Florida beach, they are not apt to object to drilling.

In addition to the visual and pollution possibilities, the oil rigs would encroach on the weapons testing ranges the military uses in the Gulf of Mexico, but those concerns get even less consideration from the current government.

Anyone with ties to tourism or the military in Florida who votes for a Republican is voting against themselves. Having the President’s brother as governor just means the governor makes excuses for bad Federal policy.

Because it is Sunday and the Republicans are all concerned by immigration, I thought I would see what kind of guidance I could find for them in the King James Version:

Leviticus 24:22 Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.

I don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t look like the Bible approves of immigration laws.

Jane Hamsher at Firedog Lake, Kenneth Quinnell at T. Rex’s Guide to Life, and Steve Bates at The Yellow Doggerel Democrat are all rightfully annoyed with the official Democratic Party “leadership”.

The current leadership lacks the intelligence or charisma to what Bill Clinton did so well, triangulation. The current version as practiced by the so-called Democratic leadership is normally referred to as surrender.

The Republicans are in charge, so make them take responsibility and keep pounding on the work that isn’t getting done, the matters that aren’t being investigated, and the oversight that isn’t taking place.

You are not going to get compromises with the Republicans, so stop trying. It doesn’t make you look reasonable, it makes you look weak. Your national security program was ignored, because you have shown no indication that you will fight for it.

People are so fed up with what the Republicans have done that the Democrats will probably pick up a few seats in Congress, but it isn’t the seismic shift that could take place if the Democratic leadership would get their act together and show a little backbone. John Murtha is right and should have been supported. Russ Feingold is right and should have been supported.

When Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt and his troops were landed at the wrong location on D-Day, he didn’t say “everyone back on the ships”, he said “we’ll start the war from here”. An important element of leadership is to play the hand you are dealt, not waiting for a better one.

You have put up with being called names because you are in the band and not the football team, and then you score big because your band has been chosen to march in the New Year’s Day parade in London, not the state capital, but London in England. Then the school superintendent decides the band can’t go because it’s “too dangerous”.

On CBS: H.S. Cancels UK Trip, Brits Fight Back. Even after appeals from the governor and other state officials, school superintendent James Browder said he’s not changing his mind and the band should stay within the United States. declaring London unsafe for Fort Myers High School’s band.

British authorities have responded by warning British tourists of Fort Myers’ crime and homicide rates, the record number of traffic deaths and that the “entire area is prone to catastrophic hurricanes.”

British tourists are a major source of revenue for Florida, and the presence of the band could have probably been underwritten in part by the state’s tourism board, if the members took some oranges and brochures with them to pass around.

If Mr. Browder is one of the elected superintendents, I wouldn’t bet on his being re-elected. Band parents can be a little fanatical.

I noticed that both Lean Left and Pharyngula had Terry Pratchett quotes up today.

I have a Pratchett quote up and my gravatar is a Pratchett reference.

His luck has changed since he was hired as a public affairs spokesman for British nuclear power generation right after the Three Mile Island incident.

Being a realist/cynic Quiddity at Uggabugga says that the corporate interests are not going to allow the government to take the one action that would have the greatest effect on immigration: enforce existing laws against businesses that hire undocumented workers.

As long as business has this steady supply of people forced to accept work at subsistence wages no one in this country legally is going to want the jobs, because they can’t live on their paycheck.

The people from Mexico and Central America are poor, not stupid. If they can’t get jobs they are not going to pay coyotes to bring them to el Norte.

If we increase the fines and add some prison time to the penalties for hiring the undocumented, the flow will stop. If people can’t work here without proper documents, they will apply for the documents. If people can live in the US without fear, they will become part of the culture.

It’s April Fools’ Day and we change clocks this weekend.

Unfortunately the Shrubbery will still be with us on April 2nd.