My 4th of July photos in DC

Ok, I took these LAST 4th of July, but still, I think they're more interesting than the usual same-old photos everyon takes. None of these were doctored at all, I swear. - JOHN

Here are a few samples - you can check out all my 4th of July pics, and more of my photos, here (click on the small photos to see them larger).



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Time magazine to Bush: Go fuck yourself

Michael Moore is this week's cover story. Bush ain't gonna be pleased about that. Not to mention, you can't buy this kind of publicity. Read More......

So that's where Jack Ryan went

And here I thought the Republican convention wasn't until NEXT month. Read More......

Kerry-Edwards Meeting Fuels VP Talk

I just got back from a bbq where we discussed the possible veep choices for Kerry. Here's what we decided:

1. Edwards. The choice if Kerry really wants to win. Edwards will energize Democratic supporters, and he'll do a good job of bring energy and charisma and charm and personality to the ticket. Downside: young, not too much experience in politics (but hey, look at Bush). Won't win NC even with him on the ticket.

2. Gephardt. The choice if Kerry wants to pick the "best" man for the job who he'll get along with best. Both men are very similar, years in DC together, etc. But is Gephardt over-the-hill - in the sense of, lost a few too many times? Will he energize the base? Missouri is too conservative, Gephardt won't help win it.

3. Ronald Reagan, Jr. I know, it was just something someone threw out and we all went "oooohhhhhhh."

4. That governor from Iowa or something with the funny pickle-sounding name - Vlasik? I have no idea why this guy would be a good choice as no one has even heard of him.

5. Nader. Hey, it'd be interesting, though Nader would be a total pain in the ass, and would probably alienate lots of undecideds, but maybe not...

6. Madeleine Albright. Can't. She wasn't born in the US. But she'd be fun.

7. Senator Joe Biden. I hadn't thought of him. He's smart, funny, good-natured, and can't say "go fuck yourself" with the best of them. He'd give Bush and Cheney a run for their money, and he'd be eminently likeable by the public.

I suspect it's between Gephardt and Edwards. No clue which would be better. Your take? Read More......

Der Spiegel: More Than 100 Children Imprisoned; Report Of Abuse By U.S. Soldiers

Buzzflash has the story. Read More......

Anybody know this guy? Want to make sure he follows the Bush's family values

Just asking. ;-) Read More......

Big Energy hits a roadblock in Montana

Some people sure have a lot of nerve. Homeowners in Gallatin County, Montana have been fighting J.M. Huber Corp. who has leased mineral rights to about 16,000 acres of land in the county and so far they're winning. The drilling process is an environmental mess though as you can guess, it is supported by the Bushies.

"To get at it, drillers must first pump out huge quantities of water, which is often tainted with salt and other minerals. The process -- especially the disposal of huge quantities of foul water -- tends to be far messier and, environmentalists say, more destructive than conventional deep-well gas drilling.

"Mineral rights on most of the disputed land in Gallatin are owned separately from surface rights and have been leased to Huber by absentee landlords. State and federal courts have generally ruled that energy companies, if they have valid leases to gas and oil beneath the ground, can operate on that land, even without the consent of owners who have surface rights. Most of the county's new landowners do not own mineral rights."

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Summer vacation, why so little in the US?

Since Bush is now preparing for his summer vacation (he's of course now finished with his spring vacations), I thought I would raise the issue of why US vacations are so pathetically low. Why is it that conservatives will mock Europeans who have a lot more vacations, yet none of them voice an opinion on Bush? Some estimates have Bush on vacation up to 43% of his time since coming into the White House. Others argue that once you take away weekends and visits to Camp David the percentage is actually down around 13%. If you use the low number, that's still just under 7 weeks per year. Meanwhile, Americans generally have 2 weeks per year and possibly 3 if you negotiate hard or stick around for five years. I'm not suggesting that Bush is necessarily wrong for taking seven weeks of vacation but for me, the more important question is why do Americans continue to settle for so few weeks of vacation per year? If it's good enough for the President, why not everyone else? No links, just food for thought. Read More......

Bush's "New Environmentalism" policies distort science

These people never seem to let fact and science get in the way of policy. I guess they think that those lazy bastards that are dying off just need to get with the program or find a corporate sponsor. If only they were Bush-Cheney Pioneers, their voices would be heard.

"Federal officials have added an average of 9.5 species a year to the endangered list under President Bush, compared with 65 a year under President Bill Clinton and 59 a year under President George H.W. Bush. They have designated as "critical habitat" only half the acreage recommended by federal biologists. And they are transferring key decision-making powers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to other agencies with different priorities.

"Instead of taking the Endangered Species Act head on, the administration is working to destroy the effectiveness of it through executive rule changes," said Brian Nowicki, a conservation biologist at the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, which promotes species conservation. "They can't just attack it outright, so they try to stop it out of the spotlight."

"This administration has set new records in terms of the perversion and distortion of science," said John Kostyack, the federation's senior counsel.

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Kerry Says He Believes Life Starts at Conception

I have to ask it. Can you really be pro-choice if you believe life begins at conception? Doesn't that mean you're pro other people deciding to kill? I personally have no clue when life begins, and I have a problem thinking of a blastula (or whatever it's called) as a person. But if I really really really believed that it was a person, I'd have a hard time saying "but it's your choice to kill it." Just me, or is Kerry making an odd distinction?

A Catholic who supports abortion rights and has taken heat recently from some in the church hierarchy for his stance, Kerry told the paper, 'I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception.'

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