Why Did the Chickenhawk Cross the Road?

I've had this image up for some time on Cafepress, and I just had occasion to re-examine the page. I try and create relevent and interesting promotional copy, but in this case, I outdid myself - and it's trenchant enough and long enough that it probably affects sales negatively.

Well, almost certainly. I've only sold one - other than my own. And yet you have to admit, it's a powerful image!

 

Why Did the Chickenhawk Cross the Road? : GraphicDesign : CafePress.com:

"I'm damn tired of those who support the war just as far as it takes to slap a magnet on their pickup and say nasty things to liberals in email.

I'm tired of the gutless wonders whose real motivation for supporting the war is the visceral thrill they get equating American military power with their own tiny little penises.

And I'm especially tired of the chickenhawks who call into Liberal talk radio, are given a chance to express real, logical, reasoned positions supporting the war - there are many arguable reasons for doing so - and simply utter dumbass shit they picked up from Rush or Hannedy or Savage, none of which are noted for their ability to rub two thoughts together themselves.

When this is met with argument they are stunned, and generally immediately say something obscene, racist, utterly ignorant or all three at once.

They, and the people who started this war of lies, are bullies. They picked a target they thought was weak, a 'walkover,' a 'cakewalk' - targets that they thought nobody would or could defend, free fire-zones for dickwaving and posturing.

And like all bullies, they cannot imagine a universe in which they do not get their way. Nor can they defend their actions or beliefs intelligently, because thinking about what they do would make them have to think "

There's more. LOTS more... but perhaps a little modesty is in order. 

WHAT freakin' Liberal Bias? 2.0

Media Matters reports:

The only hookers Fox WON'T cover ...

As Media Matters has repeatedly documented, if there's one kind of story Fox News likes nearly as much as partisan smears of progressives, it's a story about the sex trade. From the arrest of a man who left his son in his unlocked vehicle while he went to a strip club to a porn star at a fundraiser to Playboy's newest Playmate of the Year to interviews with Victoria's Secret models to a segment advising women to show "less skin" at the workplace (a segment that, naturally, required Fox to air images of women showing a great deal of skin) to a piece about a pole-dancing Pamela Anderson, Fox takes every available opportunity to broadcast photos and video of scantily clad women.

So when you have a story that involves A) prostitutes and B) corrupt politicians, you would think Fox News would be all over it, taking advantage of the ratings gold that had fallen into its lap.

Ah, but the corrupt politicians allegedly involved are Republicans. That changes everything, doesn't it? And not just for Fox News -- as blogger Joshua Micah Marshall has noted, major media outlets have all but ignored a story about "members of Congress getting sauced up at rollicking parties and set up with hookers by crooked defense contractors in exchange for help bagging pricey defense contracts." Marshall and his colleagues at TPMMuckracker.com (along with Harper's Magazine's Ken Silverstein and The Wall Street Journal's Scot J. Paltrow) have taken the lead in covering the federal investigation into whether contractors implicated in the bribery case of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (currently serving a jail term for his misdeeds) provided Cunningham and other members of Congress with prostitutes and free limousines and hotel suites. As part of the probe, Silverstein wrote, the FBI is reportedly investigating current and former lawmakers on congressional defense and intelligence committees, "including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post" -- a description that fits CIA director Porter Goss to a "T."

Now, I haven't blogged about this, or Porter Goss's conspiciously abrupt resignation, because it's really not my sort of story. While I might mention something like that when I stumble across it, it's other, larger matters that concern me, above and beyond one corrupt and incompetant Bush appointee, more or less.

Likewise, I tend to shrug at the "immorality" of public officials. I'm less concerned with their morals and more with their professional ethics. So long as their peccadilos are confined to consenting adults and well-paid professionals, I feel it's none of my business.

However, I do get testy about government officials who screw the pooch AND prostitutes with an equal lack of finesse and a media that takes neither seriously unless, of course, the official has the wrong politics.

I have this old-fashioned idea that the calling of a journalist is to tell the truth, no matter what it does to any favorite sacred cows. When media whores itself out to the highest bidder, it ceases to deserve respect as "The Fifth Estate."

Vote with your dollars - patronize free media and offshore sources.

tag: journalistic ethics, free media, media matters, porter goss, MSM, propaganda

WHAT freakin' Liberal Bias?

If there were "Liberal Bias" in the Mainstream Media, you would think that they would take every opportunity to make Rummy look as bad as he is.

Instead, NBC, CBS, FOX and the Associated Press all edited his responses to former CIA analyst Ray McGovern. Here's the actual exchange, via Media Matters.

Then see how they edited it to make McGovern's questions seem impertinent.

Media Matters - NBC, CBS, Fox cropped Rumsfeld questioner's challenges, Rumsfeld's "stammer[ing]" replies:

From Rumsfeld's May 4 speech:

McGOVERN: Atlanta, September 27, 2002, Donald Rumsfeld said -- and I quote: There's "bulletproof" evidence of links between Al Qaeda and the government of President Saddam Hussein.

Was that a lie, Mr. Rumsfeld, or was that manufactured somewhere else? Because all of my CIA colleagues disputed that, and so did the 9-11 Commission.

And so I would like to ask you to be up front with the American people. Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary and that has caused these kinds of casualties? Why?

RUMSFELD: Well, first of all, I haven't lied. I did not lie then. Colin Powell didn't lie. He spent weeks and weeks with the Central Intelligence Agency people and prepared a presentation that I know he believed was accurate. And he presented that to the United Nations.

The president spent weeks and weeks with the Central Intelligence people and he went to the American people and made a presentation. I'm not in the intelligence business. They gave the world their honest opinion. It appears that there were not weapons of mass destruction there.

McGOVERN: You said you knew where they were.

RUMSFELD: I did not. I said I knew where suspect sites were and we were just --

McGOVERN: You said you knew where they were near Tikrit, near Baghdad, and north, east, south, and west of there. Those are your words.

RUMSFELD: My words -- my words were that -- no, no, no wait a minute, wait a minute. Let him stay one second. Just a second.

McGOVERN: This is America.

RUMSFELD: You're getting plenty of play, sir.

McGOVERN: I'd just like an honest answer.

RUMSFELD: I'm giving it to you.

McGOVERN: We're talking about lies, and your allegation that there was "bulletproof" evidence of ties between Al Qaeda and Iraq. Was that a lie or were you misled?

RUMSFELD: Zarqawi was in Baghdad during the prewar period. That is a fact.

McGOVERN: Zarqawi? He was in the north of Iraq in a place where Saddam Hussein had no rule. That's where he was.

RUMSFELD: He was also in Baghdad.

McGOVERN: Yeah, when he needed to go to the hospital. Come on, these people aren't idiots. They know the story.

RUMSFELD: You are -- let me give you an example. It's easy for you to make a charge, but why do you think that the men and women in uniform, every day when they came out of Kuwait and went into Iraq, put on chemical weapon protective suits? Because they liked the style?

They honestly believed that there were chemical weapons. Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons on his own people previously, he'd used them on his neighbor, the Iranians, and they believed he had those weapons. We believed he had those weapons.

McGOVERN: That's what we call a non sequitur. It doesn't matter what the troops believe, it matters what you believe.

Read the edits for yourself:

I'm a trained journalist, and this is not journalism. This is not even biased journalism; it is a complete misrepresentation of the truth. In other words, Rummie may be a lying bastard - but those who hide that fact are worse.

It's time to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.

Or if you prefer a more Libertarian approach - ignore the MSM. There's no sense wasting precious photons or brain space on lies and pandering.

However, as a Libertarian, I then feel that television and radio should pay fair market value for their right to "free speech."

tag: conservatism, national security, liberalism, rumsfield, Ray McGovern, MSM

Damnfoolishness is not Conservatism

Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: Bush Age: the Meltdown

Andrew shows two graphs, which I commend to you, and then cites the author.

The data are really quite remarkable. Here are two graphs, cited by Mark Blumenthal and created by Charles Franklin here and here.

Franklin comments:

I was frankly shocked at the above results. Other presidents have suffered low approval ratings, and President Bush still stands above the lows of four of the ten other post-war presidents. But I had not appreciated how much the current approval is below other mid-term approval ratings, even without extrapolating current trends. We have simply never seen a president this unpopular going into a midterm election.

I will be surprised if the current rate of decline continues. But I will also be surprised by a sustained upturn at the rate of November-January. Either would be an extreme outcome. But approval between the upper 20s and lower 30s seems entirely plausible. There is no precedent for a midterm with approval at those levels.

Emphasis mine.

Sullivan is predicting the Dems win control of both houses. I personally would not be surprised to see a sweep of both houses, inasmuch as I feel that GWB is seen as merely the head of a large, red pimple that needs squeezing.

Ew. Pardon my metaphor, but it's early in the morning for me; the internal censors are not yet online. But I've been thru something like this before; the Progressive-Conservative meltdown in Canada.

The Rt. Hon. Avril Phaedra Douglas
("Kim") Campbell,
PC, QC, LLB, LLD (h.c.)

Prime Minister of Canada
Periods in office:	June 25 – November 3, 1993
Deputy Prime Minister:
Predecessor(s):	Brian Mulroney
Successor(s):	Jean Chrétien
Date of birth:	March 10, 1947
Place of birth:	Port Alberni, British Columbia
Political party:	Progressive Conservative\Social Credit

Here's my Home girl, Kim Campbell, the only person who has had the honor of having me work on their campaign.

I thought it would be good for the country, and not incidentally, it would be good to be on the winning team.

Now, unlike GWB, Kim went into the election with a 30 point lead, it wasn't a midterm (Canada doesn't do that) and really all she needed to do was prove that she was neither Brian Mulroney nor Jean Chrétien. To borrow a feminist joke likely older than I, "fortunately, this was not difficult."

What she could not overcome was institutional arrogance within the party itself.

There was strong negative reaction to an ad created by US consultants targeting the Liberal Leader for, well, having a face like he has; the result of a stroke. It was a misstep that could have been handled, had it been possible to communicate, but campaign staffers were so busy jamming everyone's faxes with self-congratulatory doodles that we could no react to the breaking news, get candidate reactions out to the papers, etc.

The rank and file were so assured of victory, so sure they deserved victory for being the party in power with an overwhelming majority and an overwhelming approval rating they did not even consider the need to pay attention to the news, or work to dispel the unavoidable shadow of the previous leader, who had instated the Goods and Services Tax - more commonly referred to as the "Gouge and Screw Tax."

When this situation came up, it was sort of a litmus test; would Kim go on air, retire the arrogant sods who put such an offense on the air and in one stroke recast the image of the Leadership? Or would there be the Usual Silence? The Conservatives had long since lost the habit of being sensitive to the whims of public opinion, trusting that Canadians were too conservative to vote for a Scary Liberal. They held a crushing majority in Parliament. It was simply a pro-forma anointment of a new face on the old machine.

There was no response from Kim, nor any significant member of the team that disavowed the offensive ad as being beyond the pale.

But it probably would not have helped, for the stream of useless chatter proved that the complacency among the real body of the party - the rank and file, the volunteers, the people who do the work - was immovable. That attitude comes from the top down, and even had Kim been an exception – she would have been up against the party people who thought going negative was a good idea.

Well, multiply that sort of entrenched arrogance by several orders of magnitude. Read a Rightie blog these days. Listen to talk radio, to here what the Right in general considers to be issues of importance, who's to blame and what to do about them and you will hear a radical disconnection from the rest of the nation.

It's not a difference in viewpoints as to how to proceed; we are speaking of entirely separate realities.

I found this citation while searching for "Bill Manders," a local Conservative talk show host who's noted for his amiable persona and reflexive conservatism. I was going to speak to that, but I think the link should suffice. So I'll just let you go look at all the "feel-good" pictures designed to assure the unthinking that We Are Doing The Right Thing and instead quote something that will not insult your intelligence.

This comes from a local blog with the unwieldy title of Say No To Jim and Dawn Gibbons, written by Jack Bower, who's blogger blurb reads:

Jack Bower

Location:Fernley, Nevada, United States

Native Nevadan political junkie and die-hard progressive democrat that stays active and involved in the color blue.

Jim Gibbons: Lock-Step Tail Grabbing Elephant

This afternoon Jim Gibbons was live on the Bill Manders Show spouting fresh GOP talking points about the new Democrat plan for America called “Real Security”. He accused the so-called “Do As We Say, Not As We Do” Democrats of playing politics and said the plan would make “America weaker”. Something else revealed during the interview was his yes vote on HR4437.

Democrat “Real Security” plan…
1. Eliminating Osama bin Laden
2. Providing our troops with the necessary armor in Iraq
3. Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations
4. Transitioning full sovereignty in Iraq to the Iraqi people
5. Inspecting 100% of inbound cargo
6. Energy Independence
7. Securing loose nukes

Republican “Security” Plan...
1. Try catching Osama Bin Laden
2. Start a war first, arm troops second
3. Ignore 9/11 Commission Recommendations
4. Stay in Iraq as long as it takes
5. Sell ports to foreign countries and inspect limited cargo
6. Invade and occupy insecure oil nations
7. Ignore loose nukes
8. Defend President Bush's Iraq policy and call Democrats un-American for opposing the war in Iraq.

posted by Jack Bower at 6:18 PM

Ok. Now, a few little comments here. I don't know where Bower sourced his "Real Security" plan, but it is entirely consistent with what I think of as good old-fashioned classic Conservatism. The dismissal of actual Republican plan is a reasonable summation of apparent policy from an informed public perspective. Ignoring loose nukes and fissionables (a vital issue central to the entire Plamegate issue) is to me a complete failure of intelligence. Not in the information gathering sense; I’m speaking of willful stupidity.

This, and the cascade of utter failure in regard to basic domestic disaster planning by FEMA proves to me Bushites simply do not comprehend the realities behind their own rhetoric. They do not think beyond the bumper sticker. The Republican reaction to any complicated problem is to smash something or imprison someone. And if all else fails, it’s Clinton’s fault.

I think we deserve leadership that has more to offer us than petulant whining and temper-tantrums. But that is the sum of it; a cabal of three-year-olds is leading us. They need to be spanked and sent to bed.

If one is genuinely concerned about having large and sudden radioactive holes appear in our major cities, then securing stray fissionable material would seem like a priority for our national security apparatus. In a time of “war,” it might also be best for our premier domestic counter terrorism apparatus – the FBI – to focus on that, instead of Internet Porn. Pornographers – even the worst of them – are simply not a threat to our national security.

Prudence is the hallmark of Conservatism. "Look first, THEN leap." The ideal of Conservative leadership is a long stretch of history wherein nothing much of interest happens. But under this so-called conservative government, we live in the most interesting times I can recall - and I recall the Cuban Missile Crisis!

tag: bill manders, reason, rationality, vote, voting, stupidity, unitary executive, commander in chief, liberalism, conservatism, valerie plame, national security, george w. bush

Anti-torture

This stunning, sharp design on black shirts, white buttons and super-popular oval stickers. Make a statement; it's important. No URL's or logos to detract, all white shirts, sweats and jog outfits are two sided. Make it clear how you feel about this important civil rights, constitutional and foreign affairs issue. 

End Conservative Whining

It is bold, dramatic and so very apt, as Right Wing Pundits continiue to Wax Unamused About Steven Colbert speaking truth to power.

It is also on a black t-shirt, so it stands out from the crowd like a well-informed delegate at the Republican National Convention. 

Who said that?

Emboldened : America Moving Towards a Radical Republic

"In January 2001, with the inauguration of George W. Bush as president, America set on a path to cease being good; America became a revolutionary nation, a radical republic. If our country continues on this path, it will cease to be great - as happened to all great powers before it, without exception.

From the Kyoto accords to the International Criminal Court, from torture and cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners to rendition of innocent civilians, from illegal domestic surveillance to lies about leaking, from energy ineptitude to denial of global warming, from cherry-picking intelligence to appointing a martinet and a tyrant to run the Defense Department, the Bush administration, in the name of fighting terrorism, has put America on the radical path to ruin.

Unprecedented interpretations of the Constitution that holds the president as commander in chief to be all-powerful and without checks and balances marks the hubris and unparalleled radicalism of this administration."

Larry Wilkerson, Colin Powell's former chief of staff, is who.

He goes on to say this, aimed more toward the buttons of the Right.

"Moreover, fiscal profligacy of an order never seen before has brought America trade deficits that boggle the mind and a federal deficit that, when stripped of the gimmickry used to make it appear more tolerable, will leave every child and grandchild in this nation a debt that will weigh upon their generations like a ball and chain around every neck. Imagine owing $150,000 from the cradle. That is radical irresponsibility.

This administration has expanded government - creation of the Homeland Security Department alone puts it in the record books - and government intrusiveness. It has brought a new level of sleaze and corruption to Washington (difficult to do, to be sure). And it has done the impossible in war-waging: put in motion a conflict in Iraq that in terms of colossal incompetence, civilian and military, and unbridled arrogance portends to top the Vietnam era, a truly radical feat."

Retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a visiting professor of government at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, was chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell from 2002 to 2005.

I should add that the College of William and Mary is the oldest educational institution in the United States, predating our Republic's birth by centuries. It is not generally spoken of in the same breath with, say, Berkeley or Evergreen State University. Indeed, Virginia herself is hardly noted as a hotbed of radicalism, even in it's coastal regions.

One still finds only grudging acceptance of Mr. Lincoln's Federalist notions, which were seen then as entirely dubious from a Constitutional viewpoint. (As indeed is slavery, and I should point out that a noted Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, wished to explicitly rule out slavery. He was outvoted at the Constitutional Convention - by representatives from other states.)

Then as now, the principle of individual liberty is second in the hearts of many to the principle of individual prosperity at the expense of the freedom of others.

Now as then, liberty comes at a price, and regrettably, that price must be one that is supportable, philosophically, economically and politically. It is therefore the duty of all that love liberty for themselves to be as liberal as possible with those things that make Liberty Herself thrive; the potential for upward mobility, the flow of information, the suppression by argument and argument for those who would restrict the freedom of the few for the comfort of however many.

Liberty that depends on the consent of others is not liberty, nor is it freedom; it is either permission, or commandment.

tag: freedom, liberty, liberalism, Jefferson, Lawrwenc Wilkerson, radicalism, radical republic, constitution, constitutional, Bush, unitary executive, commander in chief

Colbear's in the Air - a roundup of reaction

The Working Families Party Man | My hair is on fire...: Jon Stewart is the man...


Geek and Freak.com

The audience was one of two things: seriously pissed that they let his man into their room, or wondering whether they would lose their jobs if they laughed at his jokes.

Go and download the torrent of the whole thing as covered by CSPAN, or go see the dozen or so clips on youtube.com

The Torrent for the CSPAN Coverage
Video of presidential roast attracts big Web audience - CNet News

and of course:

Thankyoustevencolbeartbreathlesslydotorg

“…This is a battle that can’t really be won — you either got it Saturday night (or Sunday morning, or whenever your life was made a little brighter by viewing Colbert’s performance) or you didn’t. Personally, I’m enjoying watching apologists for the status quo wear themselves out explaining why Colbert wasn’t funny. It’s extending the reach of his performance by days without either side breaking character — the mighty Colbert or the clueless, self-important media elite he was satirizing. For those who think the media shamed itself by rolling over for this administration, especially in the run-up to the Iraq war, Colbert’s skit is the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you, Stephen Colbert!”

-Joan Walsh, Salon Magazine

And then some counterpoint from the blogger named "Jon Swift" who says about himself: "I am a reasonable conservative who likes to write about politics and culture. Since the media is biased I get all my news from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno monologues."

Finally, Stephen Colbert spoke and he immediately laced into the liberal media and commended the President, which probably annoyed the media even more. The media is apparently not used to having the tables turned on them and the nervous laughter soon died away.

...

I had never heard of Stephen Colbert before this event but he seems to be a very articulate and sincere conservative. Some are even saying he is courageous for facing down the liberal media the way he did. I'm not sure I would go that far. Is it really all that courageous to do your job? Have we sunk so low that merely having convictions makes one a hero?

Jon, Steve. Steve, Jon.

tag: white house correspondants dinner, irony, satire, steven colbert, jon swift, george w. bush, comedy central, MSM

Truth can be Tragic.

Idol Study: You Really, Really Like Simon

According to a study released by Pursuant, Inc., 58 percent of poll respondents who have voted for American Idol say they respect Simon Cowell's opinion the most. That's more than double the 26 percent who favor Randy Jackson, and don't even get me started on Paula Abdul and her measly 6 percent backing. "It's not surprising," one expert says of the study. "American Idol... is reality-television's Cinderella story [and Cowell] is symbolic of the cutthroat underside to the fairy tale." Other findings: 35 percent believe their Idol votes count as much or more than voting in a U.S presidential election; fans are more likely to be from the South (39 percent) and least likely to be from the West (19 percent); and 73 percent of voters are tone-deaf women.

Posted by: Matt Mitovich 05/3/2006 1:22 PM

Sometimes the only thing you can do about the reality that some people can't handle reality is shake your head - and then thank all the Odd Gods of the Galaxy they do not contribute to the public forum.

Especially Southern women who think American Idol voting is as or more important than voting for President.


tag: american idol, simon cowell, reason, rationality, vote, voting, vote for president, demographics, stupid, stupidity, stupid news

Truthiness that was hard to Colbert...

Wanna know why you only hear crickets chirping when you seek MSM coverage of Colbert's entertainingly vicious 20 minutes at the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday night?

Hear's an excerpt from the transcript:

"And as excited as I am to be here with the president, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of Fox News. Fox News gives you both sides of every story, the President's side and the Vice President's side.

But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on N.S.A. wiretapping or secret prisons in Eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason, they're superdepressing. And if that's your goal, well, misery accomplished.

Over the last five years you people were so good over tax cuts, W.M.D. intelligence, the affect of global warming. We Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.

But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The President makes decisions, he's the decider. The Press Secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home.

Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know, fiction.

Because really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg."

God forbid that anyone should criticise the Fifth Estate. Accurately.

tag: steven colbert, truth, george w. bush, MSM, white house correspondant's dinner

Autism & Asperger's : "Cures" more expensive than the "disease."

There are some important insights to be gained for autistics and their loved ones from "The Fleecing of the Autism Community."


There is a great deal of grief and regret, but I shall pass that by with a respectful grimace, to the very core of the matter:

"You want to know how many research validated treatments there are for autism? Do you want to know how many treatments are considered well established empirically validated? I’ll tell you how many: NONE. How about “Probably efficacious?”

NONE.

No single treatment or treatment approach has passed muster to be considered empirically validated according to Division 12 of the American Psychological Association."

I should add that we aspies our own selves do not generally feel sanguine about being seen through the lens of repeated "failure;" one obvious outcome of failed quests to "cure" us of what may well be our natural state.

My slightly aspie wife has raised, together with her ex, a truly well-mannered aspie son. I mean, in aspie terms, but nonetheless; he is well liked and has friends. How?

Simple. She did her best to understand what wants, wishes and needs he expressed, and met them, without any attention to whether or not those needs, wishes and desires were "appropriate" for his age.

She has, and continues to fight like a rabid bear on his behalf. He's never had a one-on-one aide, never needed one. He's never been chelated, exposed to aversive or drugged without his own consent. He's never been required to behave as if he were anyone other than himself. Partly, that's due to my wife's Special Ed background, but I think it's more that she doesn't expect anyone to be anything other than themselves.

I've seen Todd grow up from a gawky 9 year old to a gawky adolescent who outgrew his fencing club inside of two years. I lived through the Pokemon phase. I started the Magic, the Gathering phase, in self defense. I managed to generate a short, passing fascination in Legos and Connexx, but I think he outgrew me.

You can learn more about Todd at wampi.org/aspergers, but here's one delicious quotation.

"You lied to me. You said this was a game. But it is a test. I can tell, becauseyou are writing things down,” said during yet another developmental screening given by the kindergarten teacher, before entering kindergarten. He also had difficulties beginning kindergarten. "The teacher LIED. How can I trust her now? I need to know when things are going to happen, or what is changing. But now I won’t believe her. I am staying home."

The difference between Todd at that age and a "typical" aspie child is that Todd still felt safe enough to say that aloud. Had I dared say anything that "willful," I would have risked being subject to an adult temper tantrum for my presumption.

Of course, that didn't change what I thought.

Gematriculator:The results cannot be disputed!

The Gematriculator is a service that uses the infallible methods of Gematria developed by Mr. Ivan Panin to determine how good or evil a web site or a text passage is.

Basically, Gematria is searching for different patterns through the text, such as the amount of words beginning with a vowel. If the amount of these matches is divisible by a certain number, such as 7 (which is said to be God's number), there is an incontestable argument that the Spirit of God is ever present in the text. Another important aspect in gematria are the numerical values of letters: A=1, B=2 ... I=9, J=10, K=20 and so on. The Gematriculator uses Finnish alphabet, in which Y is a vowel.

Experts consider the mathematical patterns in the text of the Holy Bible as God's watermark of authenticity. Thus, the Gematriculator provides only results that are absolutely correct.

I thought I'd put it through it's paces:

http://www.nogreaterjoy.org is

75% evil, 25% good

http://www.whitehouse.gov is

48% evil, 52% good

http://www.godhatesfags.com is

71% evil, 29% good

http://www.graphictruth.com is

33% evil, 67% good
Clearly, the results are beyond dispute.

You Might be an Aspie If:

You Might be an Aspie If:

...your boss says, "Do such and such", and you can't do it until you know "why", because you are not going to waste your time on doing something that doesn't make sense.

...you have dreams of communicating with extraterrestrials and nightmares about chatting with the next-door neighbour.

...you go to buy butter and come back with 12 different items, none of which is butter.

...whenever someone freaks out about a spider, snake, mouse, angry dog etc. they will call you because you can deal with almost all animals. 5 extra points if they have your number on speed dial, 10 extra points if police is one of them.

...your SO has to wait with using the comp because if you stop what you are working at you'll never get it right later.

...your aunt had an accident while she was out with the dog, and you ask if the dog is alright.

…you're told "You need to get all your ducks lined up" before you do such-and-such, so you interrupt your interruptions to go to Toys 'R Us, buy a dozen rubber duckies, being them home, and set them in a line on the table, then proudly proclaim that you're ready to do whatever-it-was.

...your teacher commands every one in the room to pair-off to discuss a topic and you are extremely relieved that no one wants to be your partner.

...you don't think an aspie board would be very authentic without some argumentative pontificating...

tag: aspie, aspergers, autistic spectrum, aspie humor, you might be aspie if, oddzim, funny

Colbear vs Co-Bullshitters.

Crooked Timber » » Speaking Truthiness to Power

Saw part of it, I think he managed to both kill, and die.

The line about rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg was pure gold .. and all you could hear was crickets.

But then, there was no genial fun-poking amoung compadres and co-conspirators. This was more along the line of vicious mockery; both totally inappropriate for the occasion - and long past due.

Duty, Compliance, Country.

via: Hit and Run

Cadets Vent at West Point After Drug Searches:

"The officer's report called the incident a riot, but Cassella disputed that characterization. 'The term 'riot' is going a little too far,' he said. 'They blew off steam.' He said he did not know the name or rank of the officer who wrote the report.

[Lt. Col. Kent P. Cassella, a spokesman for West Point] ..said he believes that the incident grew out of a 'misperception' among cadets that they had been tricked into complying with a surprise drug search. They had been awakened around dawn on April 19 for a fire drill, but while they were still outside, police squads entered the buildings with drug-sniffing dogs. Frustration built during the day, and the outburst began at about 10:30 that night and lasted an hour, he said.

No narcotics were found in the search, and no disciplinary charges have been brought since the incident."

I'll agree it was a "It was a shameful, pitiful day" as the Duty Officer wrote in the incident report. I'd always wondered what happened to Col. Flagg after M*A*S*H ended it's run.

There is an Honor Code in force at West Point. That means that just as it is dishonorable to ignore the code for a Cadet, it is equally dishonorable to presume there is ongoing dishonorable conduct.

It was a shameful, pitiful display of the misuse of authority. I suggest that that officer be reassigned to some station more suited to his or her abilities - say, "Asset Preservation Officer" at a mothballed army base somewhere in Nebraska.


tag: duty, Army, West Point, cadets, military, authority, ethics, authority abuse