Guesses At Nothing

I would like to take the chance to coin a new meme. I was driving home in the car today and I heard about a German man who was wrongfully imprisoned in a secret CIA prison in Europe. Our administration is claiming that the man cannot receive a trial as state secrets are in jeopardy. This sounds like a load of malarkey.   Bush has already admitted the existence of the covert prisons.  All of a sudden the phrase "Enemies of our Forefathers" popped into mind.

And why not? Consider:

1. The Patriot Act, as well as warrantless domestic and international electronic eaves dropping.  I am no civil liberty attorney, but this seems to me to be a pretty clear case of illegal search and seizure.  Consider Benjamin Franklin's quote, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
   
2. Guantanamo Bay. The indefinite detention of "enemy combatants" is in breach of our right to a speedy trial, as well as our right to be innocent until proven guilty.   Okay, okay, technically the combatants are not citizens of our country and are thusly not protected under our constitution, but we should treat these human beings with the dignity that we would want our own soldiers to be treated with if they were taken prisoner in accordance with the Geneva Convention (a document that is being disregarded by our government).  I fear that we our losing our moral authority. This do as we say not as we do attitude is costing us our reputation. 
   
3. Separation of Church an State.  Freaks like Katherine Harris argue that there should be no line between church and government.  While this is sort of a fringe issue (championed by the religious right)  and Harris was handily defeated in her bid for re-election, it is still an affront to the very ideals this country was founded upon.  The first settlers were here to escape religious persecution in Europe, and the founders of our great democracy saw fit to include a provision separating church and state in the very first amendment in our Bill of Rights.   If the sentiment that  Christianity and the US should be one and the same becomes popular opinion, God help us all. 
   
4. Lastly, Newt Gingrich stated today that Freedom of Speech should be limited in an effort to combat the growing threat of terrorists.  What!?!   I agree that people should generally speak with civility and sensitivity towards others feelings, but we should not be forced to do so.  Printing a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohamed in a negative fashion, or talking in an academic atmosphere about the history of Islam, while tasteless, is a matter of personal ethics and shouldn't be the subject of legislation or mandated censorship. 
   

So for all these reasons and probably more that I couldn't think of, I propose the label "Enemy of our Forefathers," for any individual our group who acts in a way that undermines the principles and ideals that our founding fathers stood for.  Our freedom is what makes this country great and should not be disregarded in this troubled time. 

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had to cast a provisional ballot for the November 7th general election.  Well, the results are in and my vote didn't count.  I have to say I was prepared for it, but it still stung a little.  It seems asinine to me that there is not a system in place for handling people who have moved from one county to another.  But in the end it is my fault as I didn't update my registration so I can't really complain.  And besides, I couldn't have been happier with the results. 

 I will say I am thankful just to make it to NY in one piece.  Five point six miles into the trip we were rear-ended on the highway by a car that was traveling quite fast.  It was a rental, and in a couple of hours we had a replacement even with a trip to the hospital for my sister who fainted as soon as the fire trucks arrived.  The important thing is that we are all okay besides some sore necks. And once we got there it was a blast.  Good food, good family, good friends.  It was great for Meghann to get to know my family a little bit better and I got to spend some time with a childhood friend and his adorable son.   All in all a great trip.

Very similar to the old look.  A new color scheme and a nifty Jim's Notes badge in the header of the page, thanks to an easy-to-follow tutorial found here.  The badge is a bit of false advertising though, as I don't update this page every day.  I'd like to but, a) I have a real job, and b) I don't really have all that much to say.  I do feel like this is a good endeavor though, as "blogging" has a few positive aspects.  It is a form of expression.  It allows me to be creative.  And, it is an excuse to write and writing is good for the soul.  The sad part is is that if I didn't "blog" then I probably wouldn't write at all.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what any of my six loyal readers think of the new design.  (You know who you are.) So if you have any comments, suggestions, criticisms, or complaints feel free to drop me a line in the feedback or via the contact page. 

>You decide:

The mood of the day?  Jubilation.  If waking up to the Dems winning control of the House and possibly the Senate is like Christmas morning, then Rumsfeld's resignation is like a big old Christmas ham.  I seriously feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.  It looks like things might be tied up in Virginia for a little while but 7000+ votes is hard to overcome even if it is less than one percent.  Winning the House AND the Senate would be huge.

The entire HBO documentary detailing Diebold's horrible voting machines and their susceptibility to hacking and election fraud is available on Google Video. Diebold, in response to the video sent HBO a cease and desist letter which drummed up quite a bit of publicity for the video.   My question is, why switch to electronic voting to begin with?  Paper ballots have been working for years in this country and others.  If the system ain't broke then don't fix it and certainly don't replace it with a system that is not as functional.  This is speculation, but I bet that this is lobbyist's dollars at work.  Now there is a system that is broken.   Side note:  if you are going to watch the video I would pause it and let it load for a while before I hit play.

This is pretty funny.  It appears that the White House is not above manipulating media for political reasons.  Check out this video.  Remember that big "Mission Accomplished" banner?  On the site Whitehouse.gov, the webmaster whoever that may be (Karl Rove?) opted to edit the video to remove the banner. 

Being a bonehead I neglected to update my voter registration when I moved so I had to cast a provisional ballot today.  The woman at the Election Board for Durham (where I used to live) informed me that I could not vote.  When I pressed her and said that I was pretty sure I had the right to vote, she said, "Well, you can vote.  But it won't count."  Last time I checked a provisional ballot meant that it might count upon review, not that it wouldn't count.  I wonder how many people she told that to who didn't question her.  Not that it'll come to this, but I bet the ACLU would have something to say about it.  In any event my provisional ballot is cast and I'll find out in two Mondays if it counts or not. 

This surfaced on digg today and I have to say his other ads are just as bad as this one:
As if that commercial didn't offend enough people another plays footage of the World Trade Center attack repeatedly. Yup, nothing says vote for me like watching innocent people die. To top it off, his radio spot says that if his opponent wins then it will be a "fiesta" for illegal immigrants and homosexuals.

Just to be fair, here is an ad by his competitor Brad Miller:

Not only is this lady Karen Karls a scientific expert on global warming, she is also blessed with quick wit and a deadly sense of humor: