Rantings of a New Yorker

Yeah, we should have done this two years ago, but, last night, Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President Bush.  They are, as follows,

Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.
Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With
Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.
Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.
Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.
Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.
Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114.
Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.
Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.
Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor
Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes
Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq
Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation’s Natural Resources
Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries
Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency
Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq
Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors
Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives
Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy
Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to “Black Sites” Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture
Article XX
Imprisoning Children
Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government
Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws
Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act
Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment
Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens
Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements
Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply
Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice
Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare
Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency
Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global
Climate Change
Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.
Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001
Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

I even made a t-shirt for my webshop if you want to walk around with the Articles of Impeachment.   You can also read the Articles for yourself (pdf warning).

So, this guy decided that it would be a good idea to capture a deer and feed it corn for a few weeks before it was fattened up and he could kill it.

The deer kicked his ass and it’s totally hilarious.

Yes, you read the title right. This guy was told that he couldn’t get past airport security until he changed his shirt because, you know, Transformers are real and they carry guns.

Here’s the offending shirt.

The Sun did a story on him.

So did the BBC.

In Miami, Spanish is quickly becoming the language to speak if you want to get anything done. Miami natives are pretty pissed off about it, saying that it’s getting more and more difficult to find a job if you don’t speak Spanish.

In many areas of Miami, Spanish has become the predominant language, replacing English in everyday life. Anyone from Latin America could feel at home on the streets, without having to pronounce a single word in English.

In stores, shopkeepers wait on their clients in Spanish. Universities offer programs for Spanish speakers. And in supermarkets, banks, restaurants - even at the post office and government offices - information is given and assistance is offered in Spanish. In Miami, doctors and nurses speak Spanish with their patients and a large portion of advertising is in Spanish. Daily newspapers and radio and television stations cater to the Hispanic public.

But this situation, so pleasing to Latin American immigrants, makes some English speakers feel marginalized. In the 1950s, it’s estimated that more than 80 percent of Miami-Dade County residents were non-Hispanic whites. But in 2006, the Census Bureau estimates that number was only 18.5 percent, and in 2015 it is forecast to be 14 percent. Hispanics now make up about 60 percent.

This influx of Hispanics has caused many non-Hispanics to leave, with many more considering doing the same.

“I do resent the fact that people seem to expect that the people who live here adjust to their ways, rather than learning English and making adjustments,” she said. “Obviously I don’t expect an older person to learn to speak English, but younger people come in and they don’t seem to make much of an effort to learn to adapt to this country and they expect us to adapt to them.”

Some Spanish speakers say they have their own trouble with those who only speak English.

Mary Bravo, a 37-year-old Venezuelan business owner, moved to Miami nine years ago. She understands English but only speaks a little.

“This land is theirs. We should try to speak English,” she said, “but they don’t even try to understand us.”

Therein lies the problem. No feels that they should have to be forced to learn the others’ language, leading to resentment. However, Ms. Bravo was 28 when she moved here and, in nine years, still speaks little of the language. Despite the fact that she claims she should be learning English, she has done little in her time in America to become fluent, something most countries of the world require you to do in two years.

In yet another bizarre scheme, British MPs want their citizens to be required to carry carbon rationing cards to be used for purchasing big ticket items such as gas, airline tickets, and their electric bills.

The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain’s CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.

Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.

Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven’t used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company.

The government currently thinks this is a good idea, though a bit ahead of its time, and also thinks that everything, including food, could be added to the ration card.  That, indeed, could penalize the poor.  Plus, the plan is flawed, as it would penalize those in the country and the elderly as well.

The scheme would penalise those living in the countryside who were dependent on their cars, as well as the elderly or housebound who need to heat their homes in the day.

Large families would suffer, as would those working at nights when little public transport is available.

Fraud is also a concern.  No one knows how the cards will be made or how easy it would be to clone or duplicate them.  Instead of taxing the people, the government should be spending that £2 billion researching alternative energies so that we can forgo the current system we have now.  Taxing the people more is not the way to change things.

[SRG] Metallica sold out in 45 mins :/

[NotOneOfUs] Yeah I know.

[NotOneOfUs] Oh wait

[NotOneOfUs] You mean, like, a concert?

[SRG] yes

After reading about Metallica now wanting to share their music online (the bastards!) it reminded me of this link to Bash.org.

Postville, Iowa is a small town.  There are about 2,300 residents who live here and they all seem to be upset that ICE has come in and arrested about 10% of the population for being in the USA illegally.

Monday’s raid on the Agriprocessors plant, in which 389 immigrants were arrested and many held at a cattle exhibit hall, was the Bush administration’s largest crackdown on illegal workers at a single site. It has upended this tree-lined community, which calls itself “Hometown to the World.” Half of the school system’s 600 students were absent Tuesday, including 90 percent of Hispanic children, because their parents were arrested or in hiding.

Those arrested include 290 Guatemalans, 93 Mexicans, 2 Israelis and 4 Ukrainians, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Iowa.

Eighteen were juveniles who have been released or turned over for refugee resettlement, and the prosecutor’s office would not say if there were underage workers at the plant. Of the adults, 306 face criminal charges for aggravated identity theft and other crimes related to the use of false documents. A lawsuit filed on behalf of the workers on Thursday, meanwhile, accused the government of violating their constitutional rights through arbitrary and indefinite detention.

We are, again, supposed to be upset that these families are being broken up because the government is actually doing their job.  The response from several people were to the effect of, “but they don’t arrest the CEOs.”  While I agree that this should be happening, this is not the point of the arrests, nor is it to be used as an excuse for violating the law.

First, there is the claim that the illegal immigrants have had their constitutional rights violated through arbitrary detention.  Arbitrary detention would mean that they were arrested for no reason and on a whim.  This is entirely incorrect.  Their first instance of breaking US law was entering the country illegally.  Their second instance of breaking US law is by committing identity theft and forging documents so that they can work.  Yet, we are still, somehow, supposed to feel sorry for them because they are working.

Second, there is the claim that the illegal immigrants have had their constitutional rights violated through indefinite detention.  Uhm, they were arrested a few days ago.  You have no idea if their detention is indefinite or not.  You also can’t just release them on bail because they are illegal immigrants!  You need to ensure they are processed properly and sent back to their home countries.  If you release them on bail they are not going to appear for a court date.  They will just disappear into the American landscape.

Naturally, the question will be asked, “Who is going to replace these workers?”  Well, how about good old Americans?  We’ve seen it before and we’ll see it again.  If you remove illegals from a job, there are plenty of Americans willing and able to line up and replace them.

Armatage Elementary School in Minneapolis has banned touching of any kind after parents complained that some kids were too aggressive.

“Since we cannot have different rules for different children, I have shared with many of the classrooms today [and the rest tomorrow] that touching in any form is no longer acceptable while in school,”

“Unfortunately, we live in a time when actions although honorable can be misconstrued and before you know it, the situation gets out of hand. We want our students to learn how to get along with others as well as learn that there are boundaries that if encroached can feel offensive and even scary.”

No, unfortunately, we live in a time when people pander to anyone who might take something out of context and get all bent out of shape about it.  Play fighting, freeze tag, etc., all help children to learn how to get along with one another socially.  These people need to stop being so politically correct and let children be children.

“The hardest place to supervise is the playground. There’s kids running around everywhere,” Henriksen said in a telephone interview. “They could trip, get hit accidentally with a tetherball or by a jump rope. Things happen.

Oh my God!  We’d better just make them stand still during recess or else an accident might happen.

What this school has now taught children is that touching people and having fun is a bad thing.  Stop treating children like babies.  Let them learn how discretionary decisions are made.  Stop punishing the kids who don’t do anything wrong.  Let them have fun and stop worrying about every damn infinite thing that could possibly happen to a child at school.

Barack Obama is facing large amounts of racism in West Virginia.  It’s not really a surprise to many, but it is a reason people will point to when they say all Americans are stupid.

Check out Metacafe’s short video clip of the ignorant in West Virginia.

When first announced, I said the passport cards for people who make frequent trips to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean were a bad idea.  My opinions appear to have been verified.

Security specialists told The Washington Times that the electronic-passport card can be copied or altered easily by removing the photograph with solvent and replacing it with one from an unauthorized user.

James Hesse, former chief intelligence officer for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Forensic Document Laboratory, which monitors fraudulent government documents, said the card should have been designed with a special optical security strip to make it secure and prevent counterfeiting. The selection of a card with an RFID chip is “an extremely risky decision,” Mr. Hesse said in an interview.

“The optical strip has never been compromised,” he said. “It’s the most secure medium out there to store data.”

I’m sorry Mr. Hesse, this is the American government we’re talking about.  We can’t have anything working properly here.  Our citizens might start expecting competence if we did that.