Truth Surfer

While most of the media this week is focus on Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court and undoubtedly will replay nightly how Elena Kagan crosses her legs , I believe it's too late to turn back from the rash of recent court rulings such as 'corporation rights' and their right to unlimited funding of  political campaigns, to the Supreme Court recently refusing to hear  Maher Arar's case . It's more than obvious that the Supreme court has stripped the justice from the American justice system. Our 'highest court in the land' won't set right any issues unless the partisan puppeteers they are beholding to direct them.  "My case is unique in the sense that I was the only person who was rendered from US soil. But hundreds of other human beings have been rendered by the CIA and handed over to brutal regimes. No one knows how many of these people have died under torture or completely disappeared. Those of us who were luck...

I always thought that old age and being a women made you invisible. From PhysOrg : Researchers have proposed a new design for an invisibility cloak - a device that could make objects invisible by guiding light around anything placed inside the cloak   The Rolling Stone article featuring McChrystal is actually a very good read. Although it does present Obama as the one making decisions which is disappointing given the war efforts outcomes and costs. McChrystal dismissed the counter terrorism strategy being advocated by Vice President Joe Biden as "shortsighted," saying it would lead to a state of "Chaos- istan ." The remarks earned him a smack down from the president himself, who summoned the general to a terse private meeting aboard Air Force One. When to stop blaming Bush? Hmmm ..So, let’s see… A Very Political Women sezs : 1.When every child left behind from No Child Left Behind is caught up 2.When every woman denied equal access to birth control aro...

In the two months that oil has poured into the ocean from BP's well, most of us have lowered our expectations that containment will be anytime soon. Now, I'm wondering if I should come to expect more sludge to pollution more waters from BP projects with hope of containment or future spills. I pledge all egia nce to the flag and one nation under BP with Liberty... Regulators have exempted BP’s project, “ Liberty,” from President Obama’s offshore drilling moratorium because “it sits on an artificial island built by BP” and so it  qualifies as “onshore.” "But about three miles off the coast of Alaska, BP is moving ahead with a controversial and potentially record-setting project to drill two miles under the sea and then six to eight miles horizontally to reach what is believed to be a 100-million-barrel reservoir of oil under federal waters" Really? Fool me once, shame on you, but full me twice...sigh. Wonder if there is an end in sight or this is just the beginn...

I really don't care if McChrystal took public shots at Obama. Really when McChrystal provided the Obama administration with the means to justify the current war misadventure, both became the biggest losers. It was a defining moment for the Obama administration to actually get in front of the war and lead the way out...instead they brought the magic bullets offered by old war generals. Obama said today the McChrystal showed 'poor judgement'...well, that sword cuts both ways. The current policy of counterinsurgency (COIN) is nothing more than backing one corrupt war lord over others for favors granted. There is no chance of 'victory' or 'democracy'. There is only the continuence of death that reinforces the Afghanistan's hate of America (yes America and not Americans, there is a difference!). Unfortunately, Obama fired the General when he should have fired the war effort. Meet the new boss , same as the old boss.

Last February I fell and broke my right ankle on both sides. It's been a very long healing process requiring surgery and lots of flat on my back in pain down time (damn my allergy to morphine!). This Friday I will undergo a final surgery (hopefully) to remove a screw that held the two bones in place (just leaving 7 screws and an eight inch plate woot !).  It will finally free me up to (1) start phys rehab, (2) drive again! yeah, and (3) hopefully start on a full recovery. Most ankles break on just one side, the other side holding in place tendons, ligaments, muscles, and nerves...but mine broken on both, so I lost most of the tendons, ligaments...well you get the picture...I actually saw my foot point 180 degrees off...or more to the point my t oes were pointing behind me...Ouch. So I can now look forward to a painful and stressful physical therapy utilizing electrodes, ultrasound and an ice-boot. (just imagine putting your leg in a bucket full...

Franken Continues to both surprise and delight me! Al Franken gave an interview about his feminist beliefs. Beside being well articulated and thoughtful, Al raise a much larger question of why women don't have more truly wonderful feminist roll models in literature. Off hand I can think of a couple but as Al pointed out, there is a void. My favorite part of the interview is when asked the whimsical question of which one feminist he'd pick if going on a desert island. He didn't even have to give it thought, it was his wife Franni all the way... A S ign from G*d? A six story statue of Jesus in Monroe, Ohio, was struck by lightning and burned to the ground...The landmark stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church...The founder of the church said he was trying to help people, not impress them, with the statue. It was to be a beacon of hope and salvation... enuff said, obviously a sign or omen...there's no more hope...give it up, just saying-) Do I Seem...

Let's see...52 years old, white male (construction worker Gary Brooks Faulkner) hunting for Osama Bin Laden with weapons and bible verses...I'm sure he wouldn't decapitate Osama as he claimed, just make sure Bin Laden is saved by embracing Jesus. Sure...Right... He reminds me of every christian fanatic that ever knocked on my door wanting to save me. And I agree with Martin Bender's observation that we hold ourselves to a lesser standard when dealing with foreign countries especially with media reporting: "How would you feel if a Pakistani was caught in the forest of Washington, hunting for someone the Pakistani government had declared a criminal, covered in religious Koran texts? Right" Killing in the name of G*d happens all the time...Religion using their god as a license to kill, or to consolidate power, or obtain wealth, or control. Sadly, Americans only label them as terrorist or zealots if they are brown skinned or Muslim.

Sigh...funny but not so funny...

I often wonder why...if the GOP doesn't like big government spending, they continue to support the huge investment in war? Then I ran across HR 5353, better know as 'The War is Making You Poor Act' . It's legislation that would make the first $35,000 American's make income tax free! The catch is the savings require the militry to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan out of it's current budget without using supplementary funds (additional money). That might mean tightening their belt, eliminating poor and wasteful spending but seems like they already have a disapportionate piece of the Ameircan budget (somewhere around a quarter to half depending on if you fact the magical 'additional funding' ?) Source: http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm  Total Outlays (Federal Funds): $2,650 billion MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion Of course..this is not only about the money costs: "The U.S. military mark...