I worked all night last night so I decided to steal this from my friend's blog for today, http://www.hahn@home.com

 

These are the men
That fleeced the tribes
That paid the money
That made the bribes
That purchased the Congress that
Jack built.

This is the Duke
That sailed the yacht
That raised the eyebrows
And got him caught,
Who helped Mitch Wade,
Who bought Duke's land
And kicked in 700 grand;
Which raised Duke's taxes,
And gave Duke pain;
So Wade paid the tab
On Duke's capital gain.
Bigger than Abscam:
Randy "Duke" Cunningham!
Top gun in the Congress that
Jack built.

This is Bob Ney,
Who knew the fine print
That could pass a casino
And rev up its mint,
Who spawned the e-mail
Where Jack foretold:
"Just met with Ney.
"We're [expletive] gold!"
And Ney in 2000,
A moment quite checkered
Ripped magnate Gus Boulis
In the Congress'nal Record.
His tirade was meant
To frighten the fellow,
Who cops say was shot
By Big Tony Moscatiello,
Who got a small fortune
From Jack's pal in D.C.,
A guy Ney said was known
For his "honesty."
Their pal was indicted
And then copped a plea
Guilty of fraud
And conspiracy.
For creating the vibes
That condoned the bribes
That corrupted the Congress that
Jack built. 

This is DeLay,
Who built the machine
That redrew the districts
And raised the green,
That decided the races
That claimed the new seats,
That made the new friends
That owned luxury suites,
That held big galas
That brought the donations
That helped him to greet
The great Coushatta Nation!
With 800 members
And fund-stream support
From the famous Coushatta Casino Resort!
Which paid several million
For Jack to abort
A rival tribe's parlor
In nearby Shreveport,
Which prompted the letter
That outlined their claims
That went to Gale Norton,
Co-signed by these names:
Tom DeLay, Eric Cantor,
Roy Blunt, the chief whip,
Speaker Dennis Hastert.
That's the House leadership!
That played the game
And wears the shame
That hangs over the Congress that
Jack built.

This is the Jack,
Jack Abramoff,
Who bought the souls,
Then sold them off,
Who shook the hands
And financed the houses
And feted the staffs,
And hired the spouses,
And fleeced the tribes
And spread the bribes
That ransomed the Congress that
Jack built.

Hart Seely is the editor of "Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld."

C|net News.com reported on Thursday March 29^th that “A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday heard testimony from police agencies that envision using UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs  for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring.”  Claims by Homeland Security officials that such technology would be used for patrolling borders and ports seem at first examination to be a good idea.  The reduced cost of man hours to pilot surveillance aircraft and the reduction of accidents due to pilot error and fatigue make the UAV appear to be a viable tool in the attempt to protect our ports and borders. 

            The article went on to point out that a North Carolina county is implementing the drone aircraft to perform surveillance on its own citizens.  The pilotless planes were used with low-light and infrared camera’s to fly over a motorcycle rally at the Gaston County Fairgrounds.  Additional uses include aerial detection of marijuana fields.  There is an emerging highly profitable aerial vehicle industry which will be pushing congress to adopt the use of UAVs for domestic surveillance and aerial photography.  We have already seen the Bush administration not only deny infringement on our liberties but boast of their domestic spy program on American Citizens outside of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.  At what point are we going to be outraged that the government is creating a climate of fear for its citizens to exercise their right of free assembly?   Would you or would you not be less willing to attend a peace rally, a lobby reform rally or a immigration rally if you knew that your attendance was being  documented by the government for an unknown agenda? 

            Slashdot is a website which bills itself as “The Nuts and Volts of News for Nerds” http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/06/03/30/0113220.shtml, had some interesting threads posted to its coverage of the unmanned drones being used for surveillance over domestic soil.  Most intriguing was this:

            By MyNymWasTaken  on Wednesday March 29, @09:53PM

“Place a frog in a pan of cold water. He doesn't hop out.
Place a frog in a pan of boiling hot water. He immediately hops out.
Place a frog in a pan of cold water, and slowly raise the temperature to boiling. He remains in the pan until being boiled to death.

Place a person in a peaceful, law-abiding (gov. & civilian) society. He doesn't speak out.
Place a person in a totalitarian nightmare. He fights back.
Place a person in a law-abiding society and slowly remove his civil rights bit by bit. He doesn't fight back because "it doesn't affect me" until he is living in a totalitarian nightmare with no rights and no one to back him up. “

Another poster, belgandNO@SPAMplanetfortress.com on Thursday March 30, @02:29AM wrote of our founding Fathers, “They weren't patriots because they supported the current government. They were patriots because they didn't.”

So what are you doing July 14^th?  Yesterdays post describes a grassroots attempt to attract vast gatherings of citizens in a demonstration of solidarity against corrupt concentrations of power and the power of a unified populace.  When we see evidence of our civil liberties being threatened more and more, when we see evidence that our elected officials are beholding to multi-national corporations and accumulated wealth, and when we see the reduction of a middle class and a growing disparity between the haves and the have nots in this country it is time that we pay attention to where our country is headed.  Truly we live in a time which poses obstacles never before seen in the history of man.  Weapons of mass destruction exist, not where we thought they did, but we know that they exist because we have them.  We take comfort in the idea that our weapons are under the supervision of rational and peace loving caretakers who are committed to reserving their deadly use for only the direst of circumstance.  It requires an informed citizenry to monitor the actions and intentions of their elected and appointed officials in an attempt to offer a true balance of power. “They weren't patriots because they supported the current government. They were patriots because they didn't.”

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/03/29/revolution/index_np.html

 

If you come to this site often then I know that, in your heart, you have a belief or maybe a need to believe, that somehow, someway things in the world could be better and that things should be better.  Maybe you don’t like the incidents of corruption in our capital.  Maybe you think people ought to be treated with more dignity and respect.  Maybe you are tired of people attacking you and questioning your moral values and patriotism because you do not believe fiscal favoritism is the founding principle upon which our democratic government was formed.  I have to tell you that even though I grow weary of the divisive positioning and bi-partisanship I will only grow stronger in my fight to speak out in defense of liberty, justice, compassion and fairness not just for a chosen few but for all Americans.    

I truly believe that most all Americans very much understand what is right and wrong, what is fair and what is not.  Where we differ is in the governments role in ensuring certain rights and liberties are guaranteed and our expectations of the governments delivery of those guarantees.  Most all of us fall in the realm of moderate but in spite of ourselves we buy into polarizing pundit spin, headline news, talk shows and bullet point headlines.   

Hey, what are you doing July 14^th?  Anne Lamott has come up with an interesting idea in a feature article she wrote for Salon.com.  When you visit the site, it is free, you need to agree to watch a short internet commercial but that is not any different than going to the movies and you pay them eight bucks for that privilege.    She is calling for a revolution.  This revolution will be more about coming together as a people, about a demonstration of solidarity, about demonstrating a commitment to a kinder gentler nation.  It is not about lip service to compassion.  It is not about the rhetoric of moral values.  It not about positions and sound bites.  This is a first step in a revolution of kindness.  A revolution about kindness and libraries?  Libraries?  Yep.  In standing together in homage to kindness and libraries we will be standing up for education, enlightenment and tolerance.  This will not be a rally to understand what is right or wrong with regards to the issues of today’s headlines.  This will be a gathering to show that we are united and in America that means something.  It is a demonstration that we care. 

There are those whose hearts are already hardened and believe that a day celebrating kindness and libraries will accomplish nothing.  There are those who would snidely laugh at the hippy-like gathering that would appear to understand nothing of how the world really works, how money is influence, how influence is god.  There are those who believe that a revolution must come from a show of strength and that a rally of kindness and libraries will undermine the message as it ascribes weakness, and whackiness.   Let them find misplaced comfort in their beliefs.   America is a nation built on the strong backs and minds of everyman.  Extremists my draw attention in one direction or another but in the hearts of men and women who care about their families, their friends and their way of life are the indomitable force that can wrest control from a democracy bogged down by special interests.

So what will you expect if you attend such a rally?  The call is for no distracting cell phones.  Your participation should be about being in the moment.  There will be no speeches.  Your attendance should be about sharing space with the persons next to you and the people next to them.  You should expect to see a lot of green.  The color of the day has been determined to be green.  Green represents life and our gathering will represent the rebirth of the power of people.   Bring some fruit.  It’s hot in July and wouldn’t it be a great gesture to offer a refreshing and cooling piece of fruit to a brother or sister in green on the green?   For those of us fairly wrapped up in the demands of our hectic lives we could just consider this to be a huge networking event.  It should be a gathering of people who are mad as hell and aren’t gonna take it anymore.  It should be a gathering where those mad people can get together in a spirit of kindness and solidarity.  It should be a day where those who hold political power and use it abusively can witness a sleeping giant.  It should inspire fear in those who might infringe on the kind nature of like minded people.  Bring your American flag.  It belongs to all of us.

Please share a link to this website or the salon.com link to as many people as you can on your mailing list.  A better world can begin with you.

 

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/03/29/revolution/index_np.html

 

 http://www.redhogdiary.com/

I love the tunes.  I have a routine for doing this daily blog.  It involves cigarettes, a glass of Fine Tawny Port and appropriately selected tunage.  I “gots” to have the tunes.  Okay, really, all I “gots” to have are the smokes although I am beginning to fear a possible dependency on the Port.  As long as I keep it at the current glass or two limit I don’t think I have too much to worry about with regards to dependency.  See, here is the thing.  This experience of blogging has pretty much captured the attention of all of my free time, energy and enthusiasm for life.  While it may not look all that profound and meaningful on your end this is a process for me.  It takes a certain amount of commitment to crank this thing out every day and it gives me something creative to do with my time.  Engaging the brain is a good thing.  I think. 

Take the cigarettes, if you don’t smoke, you should.  All your friends are doing it and it makes you look cool!  I think what the smokes are giving me in this whole experience is that imagery from the old time reporters from the days of black and white movies.  Reporters were always chain smoking as they hunched over their typewriters scrambling to meet their deadlines.  Damn, I should get a hat!  I already have the wrinkled clothes which adorned the silver screen beat-writers but they always wore a hat.  I will have to work on that.

The tunes.  Tonight it is “The Best of Manhattan Transfer.”  The decidedly 40’s swing sound fits perfectly with the imagery of the chain smoking reporter described above.  See how it works, this is fun isn’t it?  Typically I will be listening to either some variety of smooth jazz or classic R&B.  Occasionally when I am writing about the legislature or executive branch I will opt for some acid rock. Typically,however, the jazz does the trick.  I always thought that if I didn’t do what I do it would be cool to be a DJ.  What could be better than getting paid to spin tunes all day?  Maybe being a teacher would rival that.  You could be one of those cool teachers who played tunes while the class was working on projects and you would have the benefit of warping the minds of a captive audience.  I would like that.  Let’s not forget they get summers off.  For a Harley guy like me it wouldn’t matter how much I got paid.  Summers off would rock.

The Port.  Wow, how do I describe the Port?  “Port wine is typically thicker, richer, sweeter, and possesses higher alcohol content than most other wines. This is caused by the addition of distilled grape spirits to fortify the wine and halt fermentation before all the sugar is converted to alcohol.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_wine I guess I describe Port by ripping a description off from wikipedia.org.  I love those guys.  I discovered Port wine from the recommendation of my sister blogger at http://www.hahnathome.com.  On occasion we will chat on-line and she made these glowing references to the tranquility and serenity which an evening glass or Port would afford her so I tried it.  If you have not had the opportunity to try a glass of Port let me make a couple of recommendations from my limited experience.  First you need a very small glass.  Typically Port is served in dessert wine stemware which typically would have a capacity of three to four ounces.  You only pour about a half a glass and if you do it right, small sips Homer!, that glass should last you the better part of an hour. 

Clocktower Port is a fine tawny product from Australia and is strongly recommended as it is most affordable.  “Tawny port is aged in wooden barrels, exposing it to gradual oxidation and evaporation, causing its color to mellow to a golden-brown after roughly ten years "in wood."”  (Quote, once again, from my buddies at wikipedia.org) Typically you could expect to pay approximately twelve bucks for a bottle.  Another affordable “Fine Tawny” Port is Taylor Fladgate.  It costs a couple dollars more but is worth the money and can be easier to find than the Clocktower.  If you want something dreamy I strongly recommend Grahams Six Grapes Tawny Port.  It is to die for.  Costing about $24 per bottle, it is a little pricier but the whole experience is enriched.  Your finer Port wines are aged ten, twenty or even thirty years.  Port Dr. Hahn of HahnatHome.com and I have agreed to research some fine 20 year Ports in the near future.  We will collaborate and present our findings in a future posting.  Gotta love the internet. Dr. Hahn lives way-way out west somewhere but through the power of cyber space we will be able to provide this service to you and you don't even have to pay for it.

Readership is up to about forty regular readers and the website demographics report shows regular readers in Boston, Washington DC, Atlanta, Nashville, Little Rock, Sacramento, San Fransisco, Portland OR and Salt Lake City.  We have had repeated hits from Switzerland, Japan, Canada and the Ukraine.  Huh, now I know why they call it the world wide web. I’m glad you stopped by to visit today.  Please tell your friends about this site if , from time to time,you find any of it entertaining.  We would love to have them visit.  If you would be interested in participating in our Port research please contact me and then go buy your own damn wine.  We would be happy to toast you and discuss your findings.  I hope you enjoyed this glimpse behind the scenes of this powerful and almight blog today.  I know the cigarette thing does not do much for many of you but I gotta tell ya, in some warped way, the elements involved in my daily blogging ritual afford me a sense of sophistication and purpose.  I guess that isn’t a bad thing.  Be excellent to each other today.  See ya tomorrow! 

I took organ lessons from a sweetheart of a little old lady who had the patience of Job.  I am not sure if she had an annual recital but I know I was only invited to participate in one during my five years under her fine tutelage.  I owe so much of the confidence I have to this day from my opportunities to perform in the artistic recitals of my youth.  I am sure you will enjoy this story but in the near future you will get to hear about one of the five dance recitals I had to endure during my youth.  It just wasn’t right.  I digress.

I remember poor old Mrs. Faye was freaked out on the eve of our recital.  She was a proud woman and she took her music very seriously.  An accomplished musician herself, she had the distinction of being the senior teacher at the prestigious Hammond Organ Retail Outlet on University Avenue in Waterloo, Iowa.  I had a lesson the night before the big event.  I sucked.  I couldn’t make it five bars into the song without Mrs. Faye stopping me pounding on her end of the keyboard and crying, “NO, NO, NO!”  After my final lesson before the recital Mrs. Faye ran the idea past my parents that perhaps it would be best if I did not perform.  She was certain I would destroy the evening.  My parents would have none of that.  They had just bought me a new pair of wingtip shoes and had invited friends and family to see their little Denny McClain jam on the ivories.  Mrs. Faye sighed in resignation and escorted us out the door. 

The night of the recital I was in full panic. The cause of my panic was the damn wingtips.  I had always played in stocking feet at home and the slippery stiff soles of the shiney new shoes would make it impossible for me to do my peddle work.  While nobody was looking I kicked off my shoes and slid them under my chair.

When my turn to perform finally arrived I walked my 10 year old Ewok body across the front of the auditorium, up the stairs and across the stage in my stocking feet.  It didn’t go unnoticed.  My parents were upset that the expensive new shoes had been stashed, the teacher was horrified at my unprofessionalism and the audience snickered as I slipped and almost hit the floor of the waxed hardwood stage.  If that were not enough I had convinced the teacher to let me carry my sheet music on stage.  Everybody else had memorized their selection.  The laughter swallowed me whole.  I was crushed.  Things went down hill from there.  I got to the organ and it was a model significantly different than the one I had at home.  I had no idea what to do with the presets on this organ so I just sat there and stared at them.  I was hoping to will the tabs to the correct configuration so that I could finish my song and get the hell off that stage.  It didn’t work.  Mrs. Faye ran up on stage and apologized for me, explaining that I had a different organ at home and set my tabs.  She turned to leave and I began my rendition of Over the Rainbow in the most excruciatingly discordant combination of keyboard abuse that had ever been performed on a stage anywhere at any time.  Losing no velocity the embarrassed teacher did a pirouette, reached across me and turned my sheet music right side up.  At that point the laughter erupted and overwhelmed all of my senses.  My vision of the audience was seen in as if in a fish eye lens and my focal point zoomed back and forth.  And then I began to sob.  And I began to play.  At this point I guess God had had his laughs and decided I had been through enough.  Divine intervention was all that could have saved me and I played that song perfect from start to finish.  The whole time snot was running down my nose and I was sobbing.  Once the song was done I grabbed my music and ran for my seat and never even noticed that I had received a standing ovation for my effort.  I never heard the applause or any of the remaining songs.  I just cried.

I dreaded my next lesson because I knew Mrs. Faye would want to be done with me but not before telling me how I had destroyed her concert and all the hard work she had put into the event.  I was suprised to discover she wasn’t pissed.  It seems somehow I had become a celebrity among the parents of her students.  She had received numerous phone calls of people wanting to tell her how wonderfully talented I was and how their hearts had gone out to me.  I think, forgive them, I will not.  They could have not laughed.  Butt-weasels.

WE ARE A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS!  The first restrictive immigration law in the United States was the Page Law of 1875.  America’s first restrictive federal immigration law “used rhetoric about prostitution and polygamy to accomplish a hidden agenda of racial exclusion against Chinese immigrants.” according to law professor Kerry Abrams at a conference sponsored by the Center for the Study of Race and Law, UVA Law School.  The majority of the first wave of immigrants to the United States was from Western European nations.  The 1920’s saw immigration begin from Southern and Eastern Europe.  As Latino’s do, these immigrants came to the United States seeking better economic opportunities for their families but very often they came across strong feelings of prejudice from established citizens.  It reeks of, “I got mine and you don’t deserve it.”  Furthermore, current proposed immigration hides behind rhetoric of National Security where it really is an aged attempt to discriminate against darker skinned immigrants. 

This weekend saw hundreds of thousands of protestors in major cities across the nation in support of immigrant civil rights.  One of my readers, Jay Sherman, emailed me and excitedly pointed out, “This is what democracy is all about!”   Truly it was refreshing to see the people out to make their voices heard.  Peaceful rallies were motivated by proposed legislation that will crack down on undocumented immigrants and penalize those who help them.  People from all walks of life and divergent cultural backgrounds participated in the rallies.   The Los Angeles Police estimated that more than 500,000 people marched in that city on Saturday.  In Denver, Colorado police estimated that more than 50,000 people marched at a park next to the capital seeking rejection of a ballot issue that would deny government services to immigrants in that state.  Tens of thousands of people marched into downtown Chicago on Friday in support of immigrant rights.  Thousands protested Washington DC to express opposition to the Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act.  Phoenix saw a demonstration of 20,000 people.  Georgia reported tens of thousands of workers did not show up to work Friday to protest a state bill that would deny services to adults living in that state illegally.  Approximately 30,000 people marched into downtown Milwaukee on Thursday to oppose tough anti-immigration legislation sponsored by Republican congressman Jim Sensenbrenner.  This scene was repeated in many of the major cities across the nation.  Could it be that America is mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore?

Enthusiastic but peaceful protestors across the land were waving American flags and chanting “Si se puede!” (Yes we can!)  AP News reported, “There has never been this kind of mobilization in the immigrant community ever.” according to Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.  “They have kicked the sleeping giant.  It’s the beginning of a massive immigrant civil rights struggle.”  Supporting this struggle are labor, religious and civil rights groups.  The proposal of tougher immigration laws, which are born of divisive intent, would appear at first glance to be a unifying event for our land . 

Under the guise of National Security much of the aversion to immigrant workers rests in the idea that “those” workers are coming across the borders and stealing our jobs.  The American Immigration Law Foundation reports that, “Foreign-born workers do not substitute perfectly for, and therefore do not compete with, most native-born workers. Rather, the complementary nature of the skills, occupations, and abilities of foreign-born workers increases the productivity of natives, stimulates investment, and enhances the choices available to consumers. Even among workers with the same level of formal education, the foreign-born tend to be employed in different occupations than U.S. natives. Less-educated foreign-born workers, for instance, are found mostly in agricultural and personal service jobs, while less-educated natives are found mostly in manufacturing and mining.”  http://www.ailf.org/ipc/infocus/2006_skillswages.shtml

We are a nation of immigrants.  Our land was founded by immigrants and has held a long standing reputation as being a haven for the oppressed.  Send us your tired your poor and your hungry.  Currently the United States must decide what to do with as many as 12 million people living in this country illegally.  Condoleezza Rice said Sunday, it is important that Mexico “recognize the importance of defense of the border and of American laws.”  The president, working with business leaders who rely on cheap labor is pressuring Congress to allow immigrants to stay in the country legally if they take a job that American’s are unwilling to do.  It would seem more humane to open our borders to documented guest workers and allow them to have what ever job they are qualified to perform.  If American corporations would quit dumping all of our good jobs over seas to take advantage of lower wages perhaps immigration to the United States would diminish.  I have no problem with a global economy so long as workers in those countries are not being taken advantage of.  When we seek to take advantage of people who live in countries that lack the protections which our country provides its own work force it is a negative representation of our morality. 

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immig26mar26,1,4493204.story?coll=la-headlines-california

          John Glover Roberts Jr. was sworn September 29^th, 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States.  This confirmation has changed our Supreme Court for decades to come.  History will show us if this legacy of President Bush will help us evolve as a just and compassionate nation.  The Senate voted 78-22 to confirm Roberts and in the House all fifty-five Republicans and half of the Democrats voted in favor of confirmation.  The division in the Democratic vote refuted the idea that the minority party, which is often accused of myopically voting on partisan lines, has the ability to work with the majority.  Perhaps those ol’ liberals are more independent thinkers than Rush Limbaugh would have us believe.  I won’t comment on the observation that the Republican leadership was one-hundred percent behind the conservative Chief Justice. 

The Constitution provides that the President "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint" judges.  For advice to be meaningful it needs to be informed and shared among those providing it.  President Clinton understood that.  Bi-partisan support of Clinton Supreme Court nominees clearly demonstrated a manner of leadership attentive to all Americans which is less evident today.  As proof, the results of the two nominations under the Clinton administration had 96 Senators vote in favor of Justice Ginsburg’s confirmation, and only three Senators voted against; Justice Breyer received 87 affirmative votes, and only nine Senators voted against.

Judicial nominations were not always made from an agenda to impose a specific ideology on the citizens of this country.  The appointment of Samuel Alito certainly appears to have been politically motivated.  Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was a pivotal swing vote and a moderate voice that resonated broadly through out the land.  President Bush’s first choice to fill her seat was Harriet Miers.  The president met immediate and forceful opposition to this appointment by the far right.  The bitter resistance to Harriet Miers was primarily because of her moderate views on a variety of legal issues.  Once faced with the opposition the President, with tail between his legs, sought to placate his conservative critics by appointing Samuel Alito.  Alito had long been a favorite candidate of the extreme right.

On Tuesday, January 31^st Samuel Alito was sworn in as the 110^th Supreme Court Justice in the closest confirmation since Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991.  The final Senate vote was 58-42, all but four of the Democrats voting against him.  We can only hope that no additional vacancies will occur during the Bush Administration.  Bipartisan consultation would not only make any Supreme Court selection a better one, it would also reassure the Senate and the American people that the process of selecting a Supreme Court justice has not become politicized.  That would go a long way to restoring my faith that this truly is the “Land of the Free and the Brave!”