Swedish Meatballs
17 hours ago
Friday, January 06, 2006
Homeland Security is opening private mail
Fifteen years after we defeat the Soviet Union we become them.
Read More......
Friday Orchid Blogging
Paphiopedilum Fraser's Fire [prov.] (which is a cross between Kimberley Szabo 'Papa Aroha' B/CSA and Anna Szabo 'Coro')
This little baby I bought early this summer and it's been growing quite well - you can tell partly by the leaves, nice perky leaves mean a nice perky plant. As you can see, it's in the midst of spiking (i.e., blooming) but the bud hasn't opened yet. I was a bit worried that the bud seems to be white - the plant should be super red - but I'm told by wiser orchid growers than me that the red pigment is the last thing to develop in a new bud, so it could be white up until it opens. Or it's not what it's supposed to be. We'll fine out.
Anyway, here is what a sibling of this flower looks like from the greenhouse where I bought mine (though no two sibs are ever alike):
And here are the two parents:
Enjoy. Read More......
Secret Pentagon study finds at least 80% of marines killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived with body armor - where is it?
Dems, if you don't take this issue and run with it now, you don't deserve to be in office.
Just read this from the NYT:
Jesus Christ people. Do something. Anything. Our troops are dying because Bush won't give them their armor. It's been 3 years. Do you think you could maybe, just once, do something when an issue is handed to you in your lap. And just as importantly, our troops are dying. How about, oh I don't know, fixing the frigging problem because we don't want them to die - even those of us who think this war is a disaster really want to do all we can to stop our troops from getting killed, hell, that's one of the major reasons we're against this war in the first place.
Good God. The Republicans' number one issue is that they're strong on defense and we're not. And now we know for a fact that they are killing our troops.
Fix it. Now. Or get out of office and make way for Democrats who can. Read More......
Just read this from the NYT:
A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.They killed these people. And the Democrats are still whining that they can't get their body armor amendment passed. I COULD GET YOUR STUPID AMENDMENT PASSED WITH THESE KIND OF FACTS.
Jesus Christ people. Do something. Anything. Our troops are dying because Bush won't give them their armor. It's been 3 years. Do you think you could maybe, just once, do something when an issue is handed to you in your lap. And just as importantly, our troops are dying. How about, oh I don't know, fixing the frigging problem because we don't want them to die - even those of us who think this war is a disaster really want to do all we can to stop our troops from getting killed, hell, that's one of the major reasons we're against this war in the first place.
Good God. The Republicans' number one issue is that they're strong on defense and we're not. And now we know for a fact that they are killing our troops.
Fix it. Now. Or get out of office and make way for Democrats who can. Read More......
Cliff's Corner
The Week That Was: 01/06/06
Another week. More preposterousness to report.
Opponents of holiday trees and kosher eggnog throughout Congress had to momentarily put down their copies of the 450th installment in the Left Behind series to do battle with a force even more sinister than those who would see Christmas turned into a season of joy and tolerance of others...
Jack Abramoff
Yes, this past week in what is being billed as a potential precursor to the largest congressional scandal in a century, Jack Abramoff, dressed in a rented costume from the film Darkman, plead guilty to pretty much being the anti-Christ Jerry Falwell is still searching for in Teletubbies reruns and Woody Allen movies. And considering Republicans over the past 100 years have been the party of Teapot Dome, Watergate and Iran-Contra, they really had to reach for that extra inner Nixon on this one.
Although at present, there is no evidence of anyone receiving a blowjob from a portly intern, so Chris Matthews is having a hard time understanding how any Republican elected official could be implicated and Jonah Goldberg's mother hasn't yet figured out how to peddle books on the subject and land a member of her nuclear family an unearned writing gig.
The Republican lobbyist, Abramoff, who liked to call Native Americans "troglodytes" and "morons" as he was ripping them off to help Hot Tub Tom DeLay and George W. Bush illegally maintain their grip on power in Washington, has said he could implicate as many as 60 members of Congress with his plea-arranged testimony. As he has personally donated money solely to Republicans (contrary to GOP lies trying to implicate Democrats) this should make him about as popular among their caucus as Tom Cruise at a Brooke Shields baby shower.
It also appears that numerous GOP strategists, lobbyists and fellow-travelers will also be caught up in this net of vice, as Abramoff has more contacts to Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist and Karl Rove than gonorrhea to Paris Hilton. So let's just say that Republican rule in Washington increasingly has a better chance of being aborted than a black baby in a nursing care facility run by Bill Bennett.
Speaking of scandals, we now may have more insight into why Caesar Commodus felt the need to bypass the FISA courts that for 72 hours retroactively grant National Security Agency warrants for spying on terrorists. No matter that these magistrates have rejected only around a dozen out of about 19,000 requests over the past quarter century, roughly equal to the percentage of the time President Bush has caught a terrorist he's claimed was a top priority. It turns out that, as has been speculated by a certain proprietor of this site for at least two weeks now, we may now be nearing proof that the Bush Junta was using its Go Go Gadget listening devices to spy on US journalists, meaning none other than Christiane Amanpour, CNN's Chief International Correspondent. At least NBC's Andrea Mitchell intimated as much during an interview with James Risen, the New York Times reporter who broke the NSA spying story. And we also know they bug CNN's Daryn Kagan by attaching a roughly 300 pound, persistently perspiring, listening device called Rush to her every night.
MSNBC responded to Mitchell's "crazy stunt" - you know, honestly discussing what she may know about the lengths of this Administration's corruption in a venue where Americans might hear it - by doing the responsible thing and redacting the online transcript so this unpleasantness would vanish like personnel records at the Alabama Air National Guard. And now we're just left to wonder if Amanpour, and other journalists seeking to report on terrorism (or Nick and Jessica for that matter if Jenna and the other twin are involved) have had all of their conversations bugged.
Which, in Amanpour's case, wouldn't have any serious implications, as her husband Jamie Rubin only worked for the last Democratic President and more recently as a foreign policy advisor to Democratic presidential candidates Senator John Kerry and General Wesley Clark. Kerry you may remember was the guy who tried to defeat President Bush in the last free and fair presidential election, which we for some reason cling so quaintly to in this democracy of ours. But Amanpour and Rubin are only married, so it's not like they would have had occasion to use the same phone.
Finally, there was the tragedy of the mining accident in Tallmansville, West Virginia. Twelve miners were killed, and much of the nation and media were transfixed with the entire saga. There is not too much one can say about such a sad occurrence. Except whether or not this tragedy could have been prevented, knowing that the mine had been cited for 208 safety violations in 2005 is a bit unsettling. As is the fact that President Bush has placed coal industry executives in charge of policing their own (blackie you're doing a heck of a job), a similar occurrence under his reign with all agencies charged with regulating the safety and propriety of the corporate world from the SEC to the FCC. I'm just surprised President Bush didn't climb aboard Air Force One to fly overhead and survey the wreckage. Maybe he would have spotted Jack Abramoff on his way down to Florida for his second guilty plea in as many days, preparing to name names most likely on the White House invitation list.
NOTE: For anyone interested in my take on the Democrats and privacy politics, check out http://www.alternet.org/story/30391/ (and then immediately return to AMERICAblog of course). Read More......
Another week. More preposterousness to report.
Opponents of holiday trees and kosher eggnog throughout Congress had to momentarily put down their copies of the 450th installment in the Left Behind series to do battle with a force even more sinister than those who would see Christmas turned into a season of joy and tolerance of others...
Jack Abramoff
Yes, this past week in what is being billed as a potential precursor to the largest congressional scandal in a century, Jack Abramoff, dressed in a rented costume from the film Darkman, plead guilty to pretty much being the anti-Christ Jerry Falwell is still searching for in Teletubbies reruns and Woody Allen movies. And considering Republicans over the past 100 years have been the party of Teapot Dome, Watergate and Iran-Contra, they really had to reach for that extra inner Nixon on this one.
Although at present, there is no evidence of anyone receiving a blowjob from a portly intern, so Chris Matthews is having a hard time understanding how any Republican elected official could be implicated and Jonah Goldberg's mother hasn't yet figured out how to peddle books on the subject and land a member of her nuclear family an unearned writing gig.
The Republican lobbyist, Abramoff, who liked to call Native Americans "troglodytes" and "morons" as he was ripping them off to help Hot Tub Tom DeLay and George W. Bush illegally maintain their grip on power in Washington, has said he could implicate as many as 60 members of Congress with his plea-arranged testimony. As he has personally donated money solely to Republicans (contrary to GOP lies trying to implicate Democrats) this should make him about as popular among their caucus as Tom Cruise at a Brooke Shields baby shower.
It also appears that numerous GOP strategists, lobbyists and fellow-travelers will also be caught up in this net of vice, as Abramoff has more contacts to Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist and Karl Rove than gonorrhea to Paris Hilton. So let's just say that Republican rule in Washington increasingly has a better chance of being aborted than a black baby in a nursing care facility run by Bill Bennett.
Speaking of scandals, we now may have more insight into why Caesar Commodus felt the need to bypass the FISA courts that for 72 hours retroactively grant National Security Agency warrants for spying on terrorists. No matter that these magistrates have rejected only around a dozen out of about 19,000 requests over the past quarter century, roughly equal to the percentage of the time President Bush has caught a terrorist he's claimed was a top priority. It turns out that, as has been speculated by a certain proprietor of this site for at least two weeks now, we may now be nearing proof that the Bush Junta was using its Go Go Gadget listening devices to spy on US journalists, meaning none other than Christiane Amanpour, CNN's Chief International Correspondent. At least NBC's Andrea Mitchell intimated as much during an interview with James Risen, the New York Times reporter who broke the NSA spying story. And we also know they bug CNN's Daryn Kagan by attaching a roughly 300 pound, persistently perspiring, listening device called Rush to her every night.
MSNBC responded to Mitchell's "crazy stunt" - you know, honestly discussing what she may know about the lengths of this Administration's corruption in a venue where Americans might hear it - by doing the responsible thing and redacting the online transcript so this unpleasantness would vanish like personnel records at the Alabama Air National Guard. And now we're just left to wonder if Amanpour, and other journalists seeking to report on terrorism (or Nick and Jessica for that matter if Jenna and the other twin are involved) have had all of their conversations bugged.
Which, in Amanpour's case, wouldn't have any serious implications, as her husband Jamie Rubin only worked for the last Democratic President and more recently as a foreign policy advisor to Democratic presidential candidates Senator John Kerry and General Wesley Clark. Kerry you may remember was the guy who tried to defeat President Bush in the last free and fair presidential election, which we for some reason cling so quaintly to in this democracy of ours. But Amanpour and Rubin are only married, so it's not like they would have had occasion to use the same phone.
Finally, there was the tragedy of the mining accident in Tallmansville, West Virginia. Twelve miners were killed, and much of the nation and media were transfixed with the entire saga. There is not too much one can say about such a sad occurrence. Except whether or not this tragedy could have been prevented, knowing that the mine had been cited for 208 safety violations in 2005 is a bit unsettling. As is the fact that President Bush has placed coal industry executives in charge of policing their own (blackie you're doing a heck of a job), a similar occurrence under his reign with all agencies charged with regulating the safety and propriety of the corporate world from the SEC to the FCC. I'm just surprised President Bush didn't climb aboard Air Force One to fly overhead and survey the wreckage. Maybe he would have spotted Jack Abramoff on his way down to Florida for his second guilty plea in as many days, preparing to name names most likely on the White House invitation list.
NOTE: For anyone interested in my take on the Democrats and privacy politics, check out http://www.alternet.org/story/30391/ (and then immediately return to AMERICAblog of course). Read More......
New AP poll, bad for Bush bad for Republicans
AP
1. Generally speaking, would you say things in this country are heading in the right direction, or are they off on the wrong track?Read More......
_Wrong track, 65 percent (64)
2. Overall, do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?
_Disapprove, 59 percent (57)
3. And when it comes to handling the economy, do you approve or disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling that issue?
_Disapprove, 59 percent (55)
4. And when it comes to domestic issues like health care, education and the environment, do you approve or disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling that issue?
_Approve, 35 percent (39)
_Disapprove, 62 percent (59)
_Mixed feelings, 2 percent (1)
_Not sure, X percent (1)
5. When it comes to handling foreign policy issues and the war on terrorism, do you approve or disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling that issue?
_Approve, 44 percent (45)
_Disapprove, 54 percent (53)
_Mixed feelings, 1 percent (2)
_Not sure, X percent (X)
6. When it comes to handling the situation in Iraq , do you approve or disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling that issue?
_Approve, 39 percent (41)
_Disapprove, 58 percent (58)
_Mixed feelings, 2 percent (1)
_Not sure, X percent (X)
7. When it comes to Social Security , do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling that issue?
_Approve, 35 percent (38)
_Disapprove, 60 percent (57)
_Mixed feelings, 2 percent (3)
_Not sure, 3 percent (2)
8. Overall, do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way Congress is handling its job?
_Approve, 34 percent (31)
_Disapprove, 63 percent (65)
_Mixed feelings, 2 percent (3)
_Not sure, 1 percent (2)
9. And if the election for Congress were held today, would you want to see the Republicans or Democrats win control of Congress?
_Republicans, 36 percent
_Democrats, 49 percent
_Neither (VOLUNTEERED), 12 percent
_Not sure, 3 percent
Fundraising time at AMERICAblog
[bump]
As the blog is now my full-time job, and has been most of this past year, I'm doing a once-a-month fundraising drive to supplement what we earn on ad revenues and t-shirts (the t-shirts are nice, but not that significant money-wise, yet.)
I've written before about why you might want to make a contribution to AMERICAblog. You can read about it here.
I prefer online contributions via the yellow "donate" box in the left-hand column, frankly because I'm incredibly disorganized and it takes me a while to get to snail mail (as those of you who have sent checks know, sorry about that). Note that you can donate once or use the second box to make a recurring automatic monthly donation of say, $2 even - that comes to $24 a year, and that would be wonderful.
But, if you prefer, you can also use snail mail: John Aravosis, PO Box 21336, Wash, DC 20009. Make checks payable to "John Aravosis." Contributions are NOT tax-deductible.
Finally, don't forget all the other great blogs, large and small, out there. Many are like me, spending either all or a great deal of their time blogging. That's time they're NOT making money from other sources, especially if they work for themselves. So feel free to give them some love.
Thanks as always, JOHN Read More......
As the blog is now my full-time job, and has been most of this past year, I'm doing a once-a-month fundraising drive to supplement what we earn on ad revenues and t-shirts (the t-shirts are nice, but not that significant money-wise, yet.)
I've written before about why you might want to make a contribution to AMERICAblog. You can read about it here.
I prefer online contributions via the yellow "donate" box in the left-hand column, frankly because I'm incredibly disorganized and it takes me a while to get to snail mail (as those of you who have sent checks know, sorry about that). Note that you can donate once or use the second box to make a recurring automatic monthly donation of say, $2 even - that comes to $24 a year, and that would be wonderful.
But, if you prefer, you can also use snail mail: John Aravosis, PO Box 21336, Wash, DC 20009. Make checks payable to "John Aravosis." Contributions are NOT tax-deductible.
Finally, don't forget all the other great blogs, large and small, out there. Many are like me, spending either all or a great deal of their time blogging. That's time they're NOT making money from other sources, especially if they work for themselves. So feel free to give them some love.
Thanks as always, JOHN Read More......
O'Reilly now a fan of outing?
Sounds like it. Cool. Can we start by asking Ken Mehlman a few questions? Then work our way through Senator George Allen's entire staff?
JUAN WILLIAMS: I was listening to your Talking Points and there you are, threatening Bill Keller and Frank Rich and I thought: What are you gonna do to them if they engage in the politics of personal attack against the President?Read More......
O'REILLY: It's a good question, Juan, and I don't see it as a threat. I mean, I think you have to say to people, as we do with all our guests here, this is what's likely to happen and, if they continue - those people continue - to attack people personally as Frank Rich does almost every week and Keller allows it, then we'll just have to get into their lives.
For your public interest minded lawyers
I'm running to lunch, but have a request. Let's have some fun on this consumer protection issue re gift certificates, and make a little difference while we're at it.
Here's your fact pattern.
Big online business sells gift certificates that expire after 2 years. State law in some states regulates gift certificate experitation - in some states they can never expire, in other states they expire in 5 years.
Question: Has the online business violated state law by saying its certificates expire in 2 years?
Who benefits from State X's 5 year expiration law - does the law apply to the state in which the person buys the certificate, the state law in which the recipient of the certificate resides, or the state in which the company does business?
For example, I live in DC. DC law says 5 years (I think). Amazon says 2 years. Does DC law cover this scenario?
And finally, what's the penalty if the company has violated DC law?
Finally, to be in accordance with the law, what would big companies need to say on their web sites with regards to WHEN gift certificates expire - this is kind of my previous question - do they have to say it depends on the state of the purchaser, the state of the recipient, or what?
Go to it! Let's get some company policies changed, to the benefit, literally, of millions of people. Read More......
Here's your fact pattern.
Big online business sells gift certificates that expire after 2 years. State law in some states regulates gift certificate experitation - in some states they can never expire, in other states they expire in 5 years.
Question: Has the online business violated state law by saying its certificates expire in 2 years?
Who benefits from State X's 5 year expiration law - does the law apply to the state in which the person buys the certificate, the state law in which the recipient of the certificate resides, or the state in which the company does business?
For example, I live in DC. DC law says 5 years (I think). Amazon says 2 years. Does DC law cover this scenario?
And finally, what's the penalty if the company has violated DC law?
Finally, to be in accordance with the law, what would big companies need to say on their web sites with regards to WHEN gift certificates expire - this is kind of my previous question - do they have to say it depends on the state of the purchaser, the state of the recipient, or what?
Go to it! Let's get some company policies changed, to the benefit, literally, of millions of people. Read More......
Financial Times reports on Amanpour spy story
Finally someone in the media who knows how to take a story seriously. From London's Financial Times:
Who is tuning in to CNN's Amanpour?(Hat tip to a reader in DC with no ties to the administration :-) Read More......
Is the scandal over the Bush administration's domestic spying about to get even more scandalous?
[...]
The prospect of the Bush administration listening in on Amanpour is interesting on many levels. As CNN's chief international correspondent, she has worked all over the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel and Pakistan.
But tapping her phones and computers might yield far more.
She also happens to be married to Jamie Rubin, who was a top aide to Madeleine Albright, secretary of state during the Clinton years. More recently, he worked on foreign policy issues for John Kerry's presidential campaign.
Stay tuned to NBC -- or maybe CNN -- for more details.
Amazon.com Recommends The Protocols Of The Meetings of the Learned Elders Of Zion and more.
Subject line of an email I just received from Amazon.com:
I have to admit THAT caught my eye. You may recall that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is the most significant anti-Semitic tract in the history of the world. Of course, the reason I got this email from Amazon is because I bought that anti-Semitic Henry Ford tome last month when we were battling Ford. Amazon's computer saw that I had an interest in anti-Semitic hate literature so it suggested some more for me. I don't blame Amazon for this, it's a computer and it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. (Though I did get a kick out of the fourth entry in the recommendations, right after the Naziesque anti-Semitic tract Amazon recommends Apple Care!)
Priceless.
Ok, I'm posting this because last night I responded to the Wal-Mart racist Web site controversy with the opinion that it could have been a technical glitch (I also think it could have been an employee playing a racist prank (employee should be fired if that's the case, of course)). I didn't buy the uproar over the issue as evidence that Wal-Mart hates blacks - there is just no way that this was sanctioned from on high. And I think the Amazon case shows how computer software can do its job but still screw up (though it's still possible it was a Wal-Mart employee being a jerk).
Having said that, I have a funny story about Amazon that's relevant to today's email. Amazon took $80 from me last month when one of my gift certificates expired. You see, Amazon has a two year life to their gift certificates and not only do they NOT tell you anywhere on their web site WHEN your certificates will expire, but they also don't notify you by email right before they're going to expire. Amazon just happily takes the money, and when you email them they respond oh well, that's our policy.
It got me wondering just how much money Amazon takes from its customers' gift certificates each year - it got $80 alone from me, how much does it get in the aggregate from all its customers?
According to Amazon, "more than 600,000 [Amazon] gift certificates were ordered between Nov. 25th and Dec. 22nd 2005." That's just that month. For the year, let's say conservatively it's twice that number, 1.2 million. Now let's say that, conservatively, each gift certificate is for 10 bucks. That makes 12 million. Now let's say that ten percent aren't redeemed before they expire, that's a million bucks a year. Hardly chump change.
Then it got me wondering if it was reasonable for Amazon to take our money without warning us - they simply give you a piece of paper when you get the certificate initially, and that piece of paper has the expiration on it. But once you enter a special code in the Amazon web site to activate your certificate, which they recommend you do from the start, there's no further mention from Amazon when it expires, so you forget, throw away the paper thinking it's served its purpose, and can't find the expiration dates anywhere online. Convenient.
Anyway, it got me asking myself why Amazon doesn't bother emailing folks right before they take your money. The cynic in me would say that if Amazon emailed you, well, then you'd remember and buy something - and then Amazon would lose lots and lots of free money - your money. But maybe it's too much trouble for Amazon to email each and every one of its customers, you might say?
Well, if Amazon can email me a recommendation to buy Naziesque anti-Semitic tracts, I think they can take the time to email me right before they take my, and your, money for free.
There's gotta be a really nice class action lawsuit here for some enterprising lawyer. I can't believe a court is going to find that it's "reasonable" for Amazon not to have any indication in your online account of when the certificates expire, and for them not to email you a final warning while they gladly email you monthly spam to buy their goods.
But I'm not bitter.
Amazon.com recommends The Protocols Of The Meetings of the Learned Elders Of Zion and more.
I have to admit THAT caught my eye. You may recall that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is the most significant anti-Semitic tract in the history of the world. Of course, the reason I got this email from Amazon is because I bought that anti-Semitic Henry Ford tome last month when we were battling Ford. Amazon's computer saw that I had an interest in anti-Semitic hate literature so it suggested some more for me. I don't blame Amazon for this, it's a computer and it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. (Though I did get a kick out of the fourth entry in the recommendations, right after the Naziesque anti-Semitic tract Amazon recommends Apple Care!)
Priceless.
Ok, I'm posting this because last night I responded to the Wal-Mart racist Web site controversy with the opinion that it could have been a technical glitch (I also think it could have been an employee playing a racist prank (employee should be fired if that's the case, of course)). I didn't buy the uproar over the issue as evidence that Wal-Mart hates blacks - there is just no way that this was sanctioned from on high. And I think the Amazon case shows how computer software can do its job but still screw up (though it's still possible it was a Wal-Mart employee being a jerk).
Having said that, I have a funny story about Amazon that's relevant to today's email. Amazon took $80 from me last month when one of my gift certificates expired. You see, Amazon has a two year life to their gift certificates and not only do they NOT tell you anywhere on their web site WHEN your certificates will expire, but they also don't notify you by email right before they're going to expire. Amazon just happily takes the money, and when you email them they respond oh well, that's our policy.
It got me wondering just how much money Amazon takes from its customers' gift certificates each year - it got $80 alone from me, how much does it get in the aggregate from all its customers?
According to Amazon, "more than 600,000 [Amazon] gift certificates were ordered between Nov. 25th and Dec. 22nd 2005." That's just that month. For the year, let's say conservatively it's twice that number, 1.2 million. Now let's say that, conservatively, each gift certificate is for 10 bucks. That makes 12 million. Now let's say that ten percent aren't redeemed before they expire, that's a million bucks a year. Hardly chump change.
Then it got me wondering if it was reasonable for Amazon to take our money without warning us - they simply give you a piece of paper when you get the certificate initially, and that piece of paper has the expiration on it. But once you enter a special code in the Amazon web site to activate your certificate, which they recommend you do from the start, there's no further mention from Amazon when it expires, so you forget, throw away the paper thinking it's served its purpose, and can't find the expiration dates anywhere online. Convenient.
Anyway, it got me asking myself why Amazon doesn't bother emailing folks right before they take your money. The cynic in me would say that if Amazon emailed you, well, then you'd remember and buy something - and then Amazon would lose lots and lots of free money - your money. But maybe it's too much trouble for Amazon to email each and every one of its customers, you might say?
Well, if Amazon can email me a recommendation to buy Naziesque anti-Semitic tracts, I think they can take the time to email me right before they take my, and your, money for free.
There's gotta be a really nice class action lawsuit here for some enterprising lawyer. I can't believe a court is going to find that it's "reasonable" for Amazon not to have any indication in your online account of when the certificates expire, and for them not to email you a final warning while they gladly email you monthly spam to buy their goods.
But I'm not bitter.
- Amazon screwing you out of a gift certificate: $80Read More......
- Getting your revenge by exposing Jeff Bezos and Amazon's promotion of anti-semitism: Priceless
IRS tracked taxpayers’ political affiliation
Why? Because they could.
Here are the states the IRS playing politics with:
As it hunted down tax scofflaws, the Internal Revenue Service collected information on the political party affiliations of taxpayers in 20 states.Ah yes, that same talking point. It's illegal, so we're innocent. Huh?
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of an appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the IRS, said the practice was an “outrageous violation of the public trust” that could undermine the agency’s credibility.
IRS officials acknowledged that party affiliation information was routinely collected by a vendor for several months. They told the vendor last month to screen the information out.
“The bottom line is that we have never used this information,” said John Lipold, an IRS spokesman. “There are strict laws in place that forbid it.”
Here are the states the IRS playing politics with:
According to Murray’s office, the 20 states in which the IRS collected party affiliation information were Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.More implications of this from MyDD. Read More......
Miner's goodbye
From AP and the IndyStar:
"Tell all I see them on the other side," read the note reportedly found with the body of 51-year-old mine foreman Martin Toler Jr. "It wasn't bad. I just went to sleep. I love you Jr."Read More......
[NOTE FROM JOHN: I'm pretty sure the letter reads "I just want to sleep" - not "I just went to sleep."]
Tom Toler, Martin's older brother, who worked 30 years in the mine with him, said Thursday that the note was "written very lightly and very loosely" in block letters on the back of an insurance application form his brother had in his pocket.
"I took it to mean that it was written in the final stages," the brother said.
A major hat tip
I want to give credit where credit is due. The tip about Andrea Mitchell suggesting CNN's Christiane Amanpour was being spied on by Bush came to me from Patriot Daily. I'm rather careful about revealing who sends me tips since a lot of folks do NOT want their names broadcast, but this story got so big I wrote the folks at the Patriot Daily and asked if I could hat tip 'em. They said to mention their site generally, so there you go. Major kudos.
Read More......
Letter from Conyers on spying made the NY Times
Of course, the Times failed to mention the Amanpour angle, but at least the letter is out there:
Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, released the 27 Democrats' letter. It asks for copies of all legal opinions on the spying program; the numbers of Americans singled out; and the names of agencies getting the information the agency collected.But don't expect an answer anytime soon. There is a concerted effort to shut down any information coming from the government agencies. Because the leadership of those organizations know that their staff know what's been done is illegal. The Bush Administration doesn't want any whistleblowers:
F.B.I. agents and N.S.A. employees have been warned by their bosses not to discuss the program.One note to the headline writers at the NY Times. There are two bodies in Congress: Senate and House. House members are not Senators. The title of the article was "Republican Senator Defends Briefings on Domestic Spying." Representative Peter Hoekstra, who defended the briefing, is not a Senator. Read More......
The warnings at the security agency, which were sent after the Times article appeared, came in two e-mail messages dated Dec. 16 and Dec. 22 from Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, the agency's director, to the N.S.A. work force. They were released on Thursday to The Times in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
11 US troops killed yesterday in Iraq
And for what reason? A bigger mess than existed before? Fear mongering by chicken hawks during election cycles? Hollow chatter about democracy? What a sickening waste.
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Delay inquiry expands to include election money
Darn. He was so close to getting around the money laundering and now that pesky Ronnie Earle wants DeLay to turn over information about campaign money. It's just so heartbreaking that such an honest, decent fellow like Tom DeLay will not manage to re-assert his authority in Congress. What a tragic loss for America, democracy, Old Glory and apple pie.
The subpoenas asked for all documents related to the $500,000 contribution, including any correspondence involving DeLay or Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe public officials and other crimes this week. The Washington Post reported Saturday that the largest donors to the U.S. Family Network were all associated with Abramoff. They contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the group before it folded in 2001.Read More......
Abramoff even bilked Tyco
It's a little difficult to feel sorry for Tyco shoveling over $1.6M to Abramoff to help them avoid paying US taxes and then having the money end up in his pocket instead of being used for work, so let's just call it karma. Maybe they can sit around and chat about it while doing time together.
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