Getting it straight from the talking heads
I don't trust the media. They are all spin machines set to in-sanitize. Fox News for all of its unabashed favourtism is at least honest in its bias. They are neo-conservative apologists and they make no bones about it. They don't try to dress up their 'fair and balanced' reporting with a semblence of neutrality. They are talk radio news and they know the audience that they cater to.

Unfortunately their audience seems to be in the majority in this country: the terminally stupid. The great mass that are just not interested that they are being lied to on a daily and dangerous basis by the people that are supposed to be looking out for the welfare of the country. They must be stupid because the alternative is just too frightening for me.

Does it really matter what Kerry did with his medals after Viet Nam? Isn't this an obvious diversionary tactic from speaking about the issues of today? Does it change the fact that Kerry was in Viet Nam while our president was using his father's influence to avoid the war and avoid the consequences of going AWOL? Does it change the fact that the country is now in a quagmire and leaking soldier's lives like a sieve? So why is the media focusing on the medal non-issue instead of going after the failed foreign policy?

Why are they giving air time to Ann Coulter who is not an expert on anything except saying inflamatory things of dubious truth? Aren't there expert sources they could be talking to instead?

I hate the media here. They are really stupid sharks in a perpetual feeding frenzy. They repeat the same stories verbatum with minimal actual reporting or fact checking. They propagate the idea that if you repeat the same lie long enough that it becomes true.

And we've been listening to those lies for a very long time.

posted by Michael Porter 10:08 AM . . .

. . .

How Long Oh Lord. How Long...
It's been quite awhile since I've thought about typing in this sucker. My daughter is now a walking talking agent of chaos. (She's currently sick and throwing up all over the place which isn't fun -not for her and not for me. In fact its the exact opposite of fun. It's anti-fun.) US Politics is a field day for the liberal. Where does one start the mocking? So many areas to choose from!

Kerry was my last choice for the Democratic candidate. I admit it. I was a Dean person. And then a Clark person. And then a Dean/Clark person. Kerry really is Bush-lite. He's voted along Republican lines most of his time in the Senate. He belonged to the same "secret society" as Bush. He's not in the pocket of the Oil Barons but pharmaceuticals has him by the short and curlies. But then again he's not Bush so if I could vote I'd vote for him. Twice.

I love Air America. Al Franken is as dry as toast. He's not a very good radio announcer but he's still saying things that I wish more people were saying. I wish more people were saying "Did you know if a soldier is wounded and dies in a hospital away from combat he's not counted as an official casualty?" Which means nobody in the States really knows how many soldiers have died over there.

Maybe he'll grow into the position with time. I've got my fingers crossed.

posted by Michael Porter 9:36 AM . . .

. . .

Is anyone surprised...

Is anyone surprised that Halliburton has been overcharging the military for gas in Iraq? The very fact that they are importing gas into Iraq should have been the first clue that something was kind of fishy. Importing gas. Into. Iraq. You know that oil rich country whose oil revenues were supposed to fund the rebuilding effort for all the damage that we caused bombing them for weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist.

So Halliburton has been charging 2.20 a gallon for gas when local sources charge about 20cents/gallon (according to CNN) netting the corporation over 60million dollars in profit -a portion of which no doubt finds its way back to Cheney through his lucrative severence package.

The Democrats could run on just this government's corruption. But that would be negative campaigning. It's dirty pool to point out the lies and war profiteering of your opponent.

posted by Michael Porter 11:16 AM . . .

. . .

Nemo has been found!!!

posted by Michael Porter 9:47 PM . . .

. . .

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

While the media has been dutifully reporting the number of casualties in Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?) and Iraq they haven't been saying anything about the number of wounded in those two theatres for good reason. If the slow drip of pointlessly wasted life has such a negative impact on the Administration's support numbers imagine how much larger the outcry would be if the public was hearing about the 2076 wounded in Iraq since March 20th.

I know that numbers are spin, that statistics can be applied to show just about anything. I don't know if those numbers are high or low or somewhere in between but I do know that the media isn't reporting them.

You would think with the liberal media bias that such statistics would be gleefully hounding the Bush Administration but instead silence. Maybe the liberals figure that the 1-2 dead a day is enough of a stick to whip up the public outcry?

Check out the numbers here. The site seems to be pretty well sourced and documented.

posted by Michael Porter 1:41 PM . . .

. . .

You want lies with that?

(image and caption blatantly stolen from Hesiod)

So what's going on in the World of note...
I notice that the Bush administration has quietly stopped using the phrase "the roadmap to peace" with regards to the MiddleEast. A quiet admission that their policy has been a complete failure. As sympathetic as I am to the idea of a Palestinian state and as much as I view the policies of Israel as inflamatory and unwise when it comes to settlements and the Berlin Wall v2.0, I am slowly coming around to the idea that what really needs to be done is kill all the Hamas members. So here's my suggestion... stop shooting missles at cars. It's not very precise. It causes 'collatoral damage'. It is wildly unpopular with the foreign press. Instead, wait for the Hamas spokesperson to come before the cameras and then shoot them. When they send out another spokesman to decry the death of the first, shoot that one too. Continue until they stop sending out spokespeople.

How hard can it be to find these leaders? They are always in front of cameras giving interviews.

At the same time divert some of the millions and millions of dollars that the United States is giving you toward better housing and healthcare for Palestinians. Stop bulldozing down their houses. The tank on the streetcorner isn't doing anything to make anybody safer. Iron fist. Velvet glove. They've got the iron fist part down. They need to start making with the glove.

posted by Michael Porter 11:03 AM . . .

. . .

Fake or not... who cares?

Like the Buddhist monks in Viet Nam, Canadian PrimeMinister Jean Chretien decided to make a public demonstration in protest against modern mediocrity by cutting off his own head with pruning sheers before a stunned press junket.

posted by Michael Porter 8:58 AM . . .

. . .

I Love this comic...

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Tanya.

posted by Michael Porter 8:02 PM . . .

. . .

Who's the Man? Izzard may be the Man

And the new Doctor Who is Eddie Izzard (at least according to Tom Baker and BBC News). This man is a comic genius and I don't doubt that he can pull off a very flamboyantly memorable Doctor. We just finished watching 'Circle' and while it was not as good as "Dressed to Kill" it was still really funny.

I hope someone carries the new episodes here in the States when they start in 2005.

posted by Michael Porter 9:38 AM . . .

. . .

Sort of a Variation on SSDD
Just how desperate are they to put a positive PR spin on Iraq? They wouldn't stoop to fabricating letters from soldiers stationed in Iraq would they? Of course not. That would be dishonest. And the people that brought you Enron and Weapons of Mass Destruction would never do anything patently dishonest...

And yet how do you explain the identical letter appearing in different newspapers all over the United States purported to be written by different hometown heroes?

A Gannett News Service search found identical letters in 11 newspapers. They were signed by different soldiers with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment.

Six soldiers contacted by USA Today said they did not know who wrote the letter but agreed with its message. A seventh soldier said he only learned of the existence of the letter when his father congratulated him for getting "such a good letter" published in his hometown paper.

I suppose propaganda of this sort has to be excused. It must be hard to try and boost public support for the war in Iraq when those pesky facts keep getting in the way. Just waiting for them to trot out the happy smiling children waving American flags.

And much like the Wizard of Oz... pay no attention to the dead soldiers behind the curtain.

UPDATE: According to ABC the form letter from home was actually written by the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Dominic Caraccilo. One soldier, who asked not to be identified, said he was reluctant to sign the letter because he did not agree with the comments in the letter but said he was ordered by a superior officer to sign. More info on the incident available here.

posted by Michael Porter 8:55 AM . . .

. . .

More fun facts from the Catholics
Condoms help spread AIDS... at least according to the Catholic Church.

"The Catholic Church is telling people in countries stricken by Aids not to use condoms because they have tiny holes in them through which the HIV virus can pass - potentially exposing thousands of people to risk. The church is making the claims across four continents despite a widespread scientific consensus that condoms are impermeable to the HIV virus"

While I appreciate that the position of abstinence and condemning the use fo birth control is a matter of Catholic dogma, I'm pretty sure that lying is still considered a sin isn't it? Why make stuff up? Why not stick with "Use a condom and go to Hell!" It may not be a more defensible position but at least it's more honest.

You can read the story here.

posted by Michael Porter 12:54 PM . . .

. . .

Does anybody believe that...

Does anybody believe that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be making policy decisions?
Does anybody believe that we will ever find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq?
Does anybody believe that Arafat is a man of peace?
Does anybody believe that the White House isn't behind the leak?
Does anybody believe that Bush doesn't know who it is?
Does anybody believe that the war is over?
Does anybody believe that we are safer today than we were September 11th, 2001?

Can Open! Worms Everywhere! News at 11.

Who doesn't foresee another recall election (probably) already in the works should Schwarzenegger be elected in California? What sort of bad precedent does this entire recall set? Surely a serious blow against representative democracy. Unless the recall petition contained more signatures then Davis received in the election itself, the voice of the people spoke then during a fairly run campaign. Does it? (I don't know) But if it doesn't then the whole "listen to the will of the people" mantra that prospective governors are shouting is a sham. And so too is this election.

Why am I hearing news about Schwarzenegger's possible groping problems and nothing about his collusion with Big Energy to stop the government from forcing Enron and others from paying back illicit monies that they made off with during the energy crisis. You can read the story here. And read the internal memos that prove it here. (You will need Adobe Acrobat to do so)

Governor for the people? What a joke.

I suppose if the people are foolish enough to vote for him, they will get the government that they deserve. One directed by the interests of Big Energy.

posted by Michael Porter 3:41 PM . . .

. . .

Back From the Dead
Just too much political stuff going on for me to keep quiet. I've been positively bursting to write something about the Democrats and Bush and the California recall but I'll leave that for another post. Instead I'll poke fun at my country of citizenship...

posted by Michael Porter 7:54 PM . . .

. . .

According to the Presidential Candidate Selector
1. Green Party Candidate (100%)
2. Kucinich, Cong. Dennis, OH - Democrat (97%)
3. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (86%)
4. Gephardt, Cong. Dick, MO - Democrat (83%)
5. Leahy, Patrick Senator, Vermont - Democrat (77%)
6. Lieberman Senator Joe CT - Democrat (77%)
7. Jackson, Cong. Jesse Jr., IL - Democrat (75%)
8. Clinton, Senator Hillary Rodham, NY - Democrat (75%)
9. Socialist Candidate (74%) Click here for info
10. Daschle, Senate Minority Leader Tom, SD - Democrat (73%)
11. Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat (72%)
12. Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat (68%)
13. Biden, Senator Joe, DE - Democrat (64%)
14. Feingold, Senator Russ, WI - Democrat (64%)
15. Graham, Senator Bob, FL - Democrat (61%)
16. Dean, Gov. Howard, VT - Democrat (61%)
17. Bayh, Senator Evan, IN - Democrat (60%)
18. Kaptur, Cong. Marcy, OH - Democrat (59%)
19. Dodd, Senator Chris, CT - Democrat (55%)
20. Moseley-Braun, Former Senator Carol IL - Democrat (53%)
21. Feinstein, Senator Dianne, CA - Democrat (48%)
22. Libertarian Candidate (35%)
23. Gore, Former Vice-President Al - Democrat (34%)
24. Clark, Retired Army General Wesley K "Wes" Arkansas - Democrat (27%)
25. Bradley, Former Senator Bill NJ - Democrat (24%)
26. Bush, George W. - US President (22%)
27. McCain, Senator John, AZ- Republican (10%)
28. Buchanan, Patrick J. – Reform/Republican (10%)
29. Phillips, Howard - Constitution (10%)
30. Hart, Former Senator Gary, CO - Democrat (2%)
31. Hagelin, John - Natural Law (2%)
32. Vilsack, Governor. Tom IA - Democrat (-6%)
33. LaRouche, Lyndon H. Jr. - Democrat (-9%)

You can check out your leanings here.

posted by Michael Porter 11:58 AM . . .

. . .

George Bush World Tour
I'm grateful that Bush is taking the time out to see a bit more of the world. Travel is supposed to broaden one's horizons. I just wish I didn't get the feeling that he's looking for the next likely bits of land for us to conquer. I wonder if the Presidents of other countries get nervous when Bush wants to visit. "That's terrible about your elections Liberia... Say... got any oil down here?" "Is that a weapon of mass destruction? An irrigation ditch? My mistake."

And I'm not sure how I feel about him travelling to countries like Nigeria whose record on state sponsored sexual abuse and so called 'women's issues and justice' is attrocious. Wasn't this the country that rioted over the Miss World beauty pagent? Sentenced a woman to be stoned to death for adultery?

I dare you to give one of your "Jesus is king" speeches there.

If this trip translates to some aid where it is desperately needed I guess it is well worth it and then maybe Bono can take a rest for a bit and get back to music. Maybe when Bush comes home he might take some time out to visit a battered women's shelter or maybe an inner city school. There are plenty of people and places right here in the States that could also use the help. And he wouldn't have to commit a single troop.

posted by Michael Porter 9:25 AM . . .

. . .

A Change in Values or an Attempt to Stimulate the Economy through Expanded KY Sales?

The Supreme Court struck down Texas' anti-sodomy laws as unconstitutional today rendering a 6-3 split decision. The dissenting voice came from Justice Scalia who said that he has "nothing against homosexuals" but thought the "court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda".

For the majority decision Justice Kennedy wrote, "The state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime.”

I have to admit that I'm a little suprised by this decision. The cynical part of me thinks that it's a ploy to lull the more liberal justices into thinking that they can retire without handing the Court over to right-wing conservative radicals.

You can read about the decision here.

posted by Michael Porter 1:21 PM . . .

. . .

See! See! WMDs!
The long awaited proof that Iraq was a very real and iminent threat to the American way of life, our health and security was unearthed a few days ago from where it had been hidden for the past twelve years buried in some guys backyard beneath a rose bush. Can't you see the implications? These bits, when assembled, form a key piece of a part that is necessary to build something that could help make a bomb. If they had a facility to use them in. And they hadn't been buried for over a decade.

If that isn't an iminent threat I don't know what is!

Hey, there's a begonia over there that's looking kinda suspicious. Maybe the bomb factory is under there. And if an underground factory existed (as I've heard a couple of those retired generals providing expert and unbiased commentary have suggested) don't you think those parts would have been hidden in it instead of in some scientist's backyard?

Meanwhile our soldiers are under a constant and growing threat from the people that we have 'liberated'. If the war is over and we've won why are we getting weekly reports of new deaths and injuries? Why aren't these people more grateful? We've given them freedom. They now have an opportunity to rebuild their country from the ground up with an unprecidented say in their own future...

But if this is true how come Halliburton is getting assigned the contract for rebuilding the Iraqi oil infrastructure from Washington? Shouldn't Baghdad be deciding who gets the contract? Isn't Iraq the sovereign nation that we keep saying it is?

Welcome to the tiered system that the West is used to! You're free to your opinions so long as they agree with the governments. (Sort of a take on Ford's old 'you can have it in any colour so long as it's black.' theme.) Hey... maybe we can offer the Iraqis a tax cut?

posted by Michael Porter 9:22 AM . . .

. . .

I have a very hard time drudging up any sort of sympathy when hearing the riches to bankruptcy stories of the not so rich and famous. Or the stories of people like this guy whose lives are "ruined" by winning millions. Don't try to sell me on the idea that having money sucks. I'm not buying (mainly because I can't afford to). No. i don't feel bad for MC Hammer because he wasted his money on drugs and cars and houses and baggy pants. Oh those poor celebrities whose lives are so horribly rough that drugs and alcohol are their only options. Give me a break.

I'll tell you what, an open offer to the poverty challenged: give me your money. I will relieve you of your burden. I will take on all the risk and accept any of the danger. Jewels. Houses. Antique car collections. Cash. Just call me a hazard junkie and bring it on.

"Oh please, let me face the peril."

You can make the first deposit to me via Paypal.

posted by Michael Porter 8:17 AM . . .

. . .

The Obligatory Snow Post

And so with a snow day... what's there to do but bundle up the child and chuck her into the white-stuff? And so we did!

posted by Michael Porter 3:31 PM . . .

. . .

Baby Update

Rachel is an evolving wonder of expressions and mannerisms. Last night we went to Costco. I love going there. It’s not just the huge warehouse ambiance that it has going for it or the five gallon drums of mayonnaise that simultaneously intrigue and repulse me... I love going because there’s the off chance that I might run into my old boss working the door and get to watch her squirm and shift uncomfortably. Merry Christmas, L. From manager of a store to a glorified door stopper. I couldn’t imagine it happening to a better person.

Anyway, while we were wandering those vast impressive aisles, CJ puts Monsters Inc into Rachel’s hands and says “Watch this.” As soon as the baby’s fingers go around the DVD her face brightens and her mouth goes into this shocked “O” of surprise and glee as though she was saying, “This is amazing! This is the bestest, greatest thing I have ever seen! Wow. Thanks for giving it to me.”

“She really likes Monsters Inc.” says my wife.

“Really?” I hunt down a copy of Taxi Driver and put it in her hands.

The expression is priceless. This is the bestest, greatest thing I have ever seen! We both start laughing. Well someday she’ll learn to discriminate.

At dinner she mimes dipping her food into a sauce and when we provide her with ketchup (not actually giving her the cup mind you... we may be naive about some parenting things but we’re not stupid!) she dips with gusto displaying the cheese stick with pride. Of course just a little earlier we had to rescue a cheese stick turned lariat that she was busy trying to swing over her head but parenting victories and joys are measured in smaller steps.

I worry sometimes about her scrapes and bruises. She seems to get a lot of them. A scratch on the side of her nose. A row of small bruises on her leg. I’m never quite sure where she gets them and there’s that little fear that passing people will assume that we’ve been beating her. No really... she bopped her head when the swivel chair turned unrepentantly and she kerplowed into the desk.

CJ assures me that such wounds are a normal part of her growing up and that if we wanted to keep her cut and bruise free we’d have to encase her in bubble wrap.

I wonder how much bubble wrap is going for these days.

Note to self: We have to start trying to capture some of these expressions on video tape so we can shamelessly blackmail her with them later in life.

posted by Michael Porter 3:31 PM . . .

. . .