Is there a GOOD way to get around LJ's access permissions? There's something I very badly want to read, but can't get to, as I'm no longer allowed access to this persons more private writings. FUCK!

Sometimes, you know something is (su)real only because no one would believe you if you made it up. Take for example the following MySpace email I got from my crazy ex tormentor, who unfortunately, also happens to be the mother of my sister, Mary. Yes, that part of my family lives in Virginia, and no, I don't want to talk about that aspect of this. What I want to talk about is the blatant hypocrisy, and the epiphany I had while reading this crap.
 
To whit:
 

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Linnie
Date: Aug 21, 2007 1:17 PM
Subject: In doing some thinking I have decided..............
 
 

That I would rather you not have anything to do with Mary.......... or at least not up close anyway........you can write to her, etc, but I think it best you keep your distance.

You think I don't know your lifestyle, but I do. I do not want Mary to have to deal with any of that until she is an adult and can decide for herself. She right now does not want anything to do with that and thinks it is wrong and feels that it goes against Gods word.

You have a girlfreind who is married and has a child or children and her husband and she swing. This is not acceptable behavior for my daughter to be around or be around anyone who thinks that is acceptable behavior. It is wrong and it is against Gods word and anyone who says it is not has not read the Bible nor cares if it is wrong or not, they are doing what they want to do and do not care if it is wrong or not. Nothing you can say is going to change my view on that and its just what I said and I am not going to change my mind on this.

You do not know what love is, you only know what sex is and lust, you will never know what love is because you are not capable of feeling it. You would come here when Bill dies and say and do things that would make it uncomfortable for all of us and I am not willing to put up with that. You have a tendency to mouth off at people and do what you want and they cannot do anything back because you get mad and act as if you are so put upon. Well I am not going to have that in MY house. So you are not welcome to come and Mary will be fine without you. She has many, many people who love her and are her support and that includes the church and the friends she has and extended family.

You have decided you are better than Bill and should be able to say and do whatever you want about him, well you are not better and you should do better than he did only you do not. YOU act worse and in that I do not want you around my daughter.

Live your life the way you want but don't expect others to accept or like it. And also don't expect them to put up with it just because you are Scott Lockwood. I don't have to and will not. Mary is my daughter and you are only her half brother and you have no say in anything that happens to her at all. When you choose to live your life the way you do, you choose to lose your sister and anything else about family ties when it comes to her. You might have thought about that before you started doing this again...........or I guess you never stopped.

Do not respond to this as I have blocked you from here. Do not write to Mary and tell her a bunch of garbage about her father and me as it will do you no good and she will likely delete it as she is tired of that bullshit. She knows a lot more about you than you think........it doesn't take much when you can look at your page and see all the trash on it in your freinds list. What do you think a innocent young girl would want with that in her life and its somewhat embarrassing to her. You don't care, you do what you want........always have, others do not matter. So now you have what you want. Go cry the blues that you are the victim and got hurt once again.........doesn't matter what you do........you are so innocent in everything. Poor Scott.

Just don't contact her with anything negative or you will lose all contact with her. I mean what I say and you need to listen this time.

WOW. First of all, what does one even say to that? "Hi. This is your brain calling. I'm very lonely. Would you please consider letting me back in your skull?"

Ok. That might make a good, emotionally satisfying start, but I even admit, it's not very helpful. The thing is, why should I be helpful? This is the woman who emotionally abused and manipulated me for 7 years, cost me my marriage and children, and now feels it's her place to come down off the mountain, having just had a conversation with a burning bush no doubt, stone tablets in hand, so that she can bash me for a bunch of imagined BULLSHIT. WHAT. THE. FUCK!

For starters, I'm not a swinger. I was, once, a long time ago. I used that to justify a lot of bad behavior. I don't do that anymore. I am not a monogamous person, either. I'm Poly. If you don't know what Polyamory is, look it up. Wikipedia is a good place to start, for example. Look for a book called, "The Ethical Slut". It's referenced in the Wikipedia article on Poly, so you can get the ISBN there, if you're interested.
 

I'm tempted, in true Lockwood fashion, to write a point by point rebuttal of Linda's bullshit, but it's really not necessary, is it? For those of you who are joining the train wreck that is my life late, Linda and I were once together. Very quickly, I realized that she was kind of less than stable. The fact that she was married to my father also kind of bothered me, a little. I tried to break it off. She responded by swallowing a bottle of pills. I then spent the next 6 and a half years, trying very hard to have a 'normal' life and relationship with someone who kept abusing that trust. Multiple attempts to kill herself, almost always because she'd fuck things up for both of us in some form or fashion, and I'd then want nothing to do with her. Breaking her word repeatedly, like saying "I won't try to kill myself again, honest - oh, what? You're leaving me because I'm a crazy bitch and I scare the shit out of you? ARRGH!!! Where are teh pillz0rs!!!". Spitefully trying to ruin my life on several occasions "Oh, you're marrying that woman? Here, let me send her every email and naked picture we've ever traded. You didn't actually think I meant it when I said that I could handle a no-strings relationship with you, did you? That was all bullshit. You belong to me, now, and if you even think about trying to get away, I'm going to kill myself, and leave your sister without a single decent parent."

Let me be the first to say that I am not a saint. Far, far from it. I also don't have a 'standard' concept of morality, though it's getting much closer than you might think. For example, though I DID used to be a swinger, and would basically fuck anyone who wanted to, I stopped doing that quite a while ago. I realized at some point that sex wasn't what I really wanted, what I wanted was a good woman (or two) to love me for who I am, to hold me, to care about ME like I want to care about her, or them. All the sex, and the lies, all that did was hurt ME in the end. Is Linda hurt? If the above rambling rant is any indication, I'd say yes. Am I responsible? Perhaps, to a degree. Let's face it - I really should have figured out if she was a raving lunatic before sticking my cock in her. Not that it wasn't fun, mind you. It was. I enjoyed it every single time. She makes really excellent noises, and could suck a golf ball through a garden hose. Unfortunately, she also has at best a fleeting, intermittent connection to reality. This allows her to pass judgement on me, for example, when she's just a big a fucking ho bag as I am.

Yes, that's right. I have spent much of my life acting like a low down, dirty, ho. I had no respect for myself. I tried to find it in others, specifically, between their legs. Know what? I never did. What I did find was a lot of hurt, abuse, scorn, loneliness, and $1100 a month in child support that I pay out, every month, without fail. So yes, I have spent most of my life catastrophically failing it, hard.

The good news? I got some therapy, I took some medication, and I started to DEAL WITH MY OWN SHIT! And now, it doesn't have power over me. My shit doesn't define who I am, I do. My shit doesn't cause me to take a giant crap on people in my family, no matter how badly I think they deserve it. My shit is getting cleaned up.

For example, I have met someone very special. Her name is Dot (Hi dear!). She is the most amazing woman I have ever met. I truly love her, and have a commitment to her that I have honestly never felt to anyone else. Yes, she is married. Her husband has a Girlfriend, too. Know what? We all know. Honesty. That was the thing lacking from damn near every single other relationship I've ever been in, and I have to tell you, it's freeing. I don't have to hide anything from Dot, not even the ugly, venomous, cancer that is my former lover, Linda. For once in my life, I'm with someone who loves me for me, not who judges me based on my baggage. All I have to do, is stay 100% honest, not repeat the mistakes of the past, and I get to spend some real quality time with her.
 
Do you know what that makes me feel for Linda? Pity. It's a pity, that she has to tear me down, to feel good about her self. That she has to talk about her religion of peace and love and tolerance - and yet, look at how she acts! It's a pity that my sperm-donor is dying, and my sister needs a shoulder to cry on, yet now I can't come out? I can't visit? I can't comfort my sister? What bullshit. Here's a big "FUCK YOU" to you, Linda. I hope you get over yourself at some point.
 
As to my sister, I forwarder her your little note. I let her know that I love her, and that she's always welcome in my house, that once she turns 18 and you can't control her, she's always got a place here. Who knows, maybe she'll take me up on it.
 
In the meanwhile, I suggest some research. For starters, open that bible you were thumping at me so hard, and re-read James, Chapter 4, paying close attention to verses 10 through 12.
 
Again, to whit:
 

10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?

This really convinces me. There is no God. Not in the way we were all taught. God would not stand idly by and let his followers preach intolerance and hatred, almost without exception. Christian Fundamentalists are no different than their Muslim cousins. They are all, nearly without exception, self-righteous, self-centered, self-important assholes with nothing better to do than force their view of morality down my throat. ENOUGH.
 
I should never have come back to Catholicism. I should have just stayed Buddhist. I think now, I will learn about Paganism. After all, if I'm such a reprobate, I might as well indulge my curiosity, right? Besides, two of the people I care about the most are both Pagan, and they seem way more well adjusted than the idiots I have spent so much of my time around. Linda, for example.
 
So. What have we learned? Well, I think I have finally figured out that sex is not love. Neither is control. Nor abuse. Love, real honest, true love - that's a very special thing. I have that now. I don't want to ever give it up. It's also very freeing. That bitch no longer has any control over me, and soon, she won't have it over my sister, either. 4 years is not a long period of time. What will you do, Linda, when your hate and invective, and intolerance come home to roost? I don't know, and I no longer care. I have something you don't. I have true love. And it's taught me some very humbling things. I was wasting my time, trying to bag everything that I could. What I wanted wasn't there. What I wanted doesn't even always come from sex! All that time, all those women. What a complete waste. It was sad, and pathetic. It was like groping in the dark, finding lots of switches, but never the one that turned on the lights. I have that light now, and I thank my lucky stars every single day for being exposed to it. No matter what happens to me, I have known real love. I pity you, Linda, that you have not, and never will.

Ok, I hate these stupid quiz's that people send around all the time, but I'm curious to know the answer to this, so I figured I'd ask, and post it as a bulletin (and maybe also a blog). After all, the fastest way to spread something on MySpace, is to post it as a bulletin, which will cause all 50 million people to repost it (and repost, and repost, and repost, etc. etc.) for the next billion years. :-)

Note that questions 2 and 5 do not necessarily have to include the numbers from questions 1, or 4, but may.

If you're not comfortable posting this, but are still willing to participate in the survey, any responses emailed back to me will be treated as strictly confidential.

My answers are in the parenthesis that follow the questions.

1: How many friends/loves/others do you have in your top X list (where X can equal 4 to 24) with whom you have had actual, physical sex? (3)

2: How many friends/loves/others do you have in your top X list (where X can equal 4 to 24) with whom you want to, or strongly desire to have sex? (6)

3: How many friends/others do you have in your top X list (where X can equal 4 to 24) with whom you are willing to have sex, but not enough that you would initiate a sexual relationship? (5)

4: How many friends/loves/others do you have in your total, aggregate friends list (your top list, plus the ones not listed there) with whom you have had sex? (3)

5: How many friends/loves/others do you have in your total, aggregate friends list (your top list, plus the ones not listed there) with whom you want, or strongly desire, to have sex with? (14)

6: How many friends/others do you have in your total, aggregate friends list (your top list, plus the ones not listed there) with whom you would be willing to have sex, but not enough that you would initiate a sexual relationship with them? (5)

I'm really, really fucking tired of Jhon and Pudge's bullshit. Since they've decided to invade a moderate, tolerable republican's journal, please feel free to jump in and add your two cents. I'd actually devote the time to researching my replies more, except that I have a life.

xap/pidgin-2.0.0-i486-2.tgz: Here's a little excerpt from:

http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/WhyPackagesExist

"We have no developers using Slack, and furthermore, several of us actively dislike that distribution for its history of broken installs, as well as for its non-existant package management. You cannot create true packages for Slack."

Well, I'm somewhat shocked by this, having never (to my knowledge) done anything to any of the former GAIM or Pidgin developers to make them mad at me, Slackware, or anyone on the Slackware team. I guess if they feel it's not possible to make a "true" Pidgin package for Slackware, there's no point in continuing to try. Having put out 7 security advisories on GAIM, I'm quite sure there will be less work here if Pidgin is not included.

The Pidgin package has been moved to the "unsupported" directory. For the record, I do not actively dislike Pidgin or any of their developers, but I do plan to use Kopete from now on.

Now, while I myself cut my teeth on slackware in 1993, I haven't actively used it for years, since adapting Ubuntu as my distro of choice. I don't think that declining market share of Slack justifies such a crappy comment from the Pidgin team however, and I'm glad to see that the page the comment was made on has been changed to reflect a far more professional attitude. However, it does beg the question: Is Slackware still relevant? Is it time for Slackware to go the way of SLS and Yggdrasil?

Jack Valenti, 85; former Hollywood lobbyist and former MPAA head, dies from complications post stroke.

I'm on Multiply too... Click here and join me there!

This is a reprint of what I originally wrote here: Wow. Michelle Malkin is one ugly turd.

Is it just me, or are we facing one of those moments in history where both sides of the political spectrum are not only wrong, they're incredibly, stupidly wrong? Take for example, that roaring elephant seal, Michelle Malkin, criticizing Senator Clinton. The roaring Nazipublican elephant seal, native only to lala land, in the U.S.

Not only did she lie about why Senator Clinton was booed, worse, she thinks that the real liberals give a shit what she, or Senator Clinton thinks. We don't.

You see, we know better. We know that Senator Clinton is what you call a D.I.N.O. She's a 'Democrat In Name Only'. Not only is She MUCH more conservative than her husband, her voting record is really pro-administration, and she represents everything that real liberals don't.

On the other hand, the gun toting right wing idiots out there seem to have NO problem frothing at the mouth at the mere mention of the word "Clinton", and have been crying "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!" about her wanting to run since before the Bush presidency. Frankly, I think they secretly want her to run, since this would most likely mean another four years of RepubliNazi rule. See, the thing is, she's not electable, and we've KNOWN that she's not electable since way, way, way before the rabid idiots on the Red side of the isle started to freak out about the possibility. If she stands any chance at all of running, it's because they made it happen - a self fulfilling prophecy, if you will.

The really scary thing is, this pig is putting on lipstick. I'm about as excited about that happening as I would about either Libby Dole, or uber-Nazi Tipper Gore being elected. I'm not saying a woman can't be president, and I'm not faulting Al for marrying well. I think a white woman will be president before a black man will be. I just don't think any of them are qualified for the job.

The most disturbing part of ALL of this to me, is that lots of people on the left are actually getting on board with the idea. Are we that fucking stupid? Seriously, c'mon people! We're going to pick a candidate for the election based on what - how much the other side hates her? THAT'S a winning strategy! </sarcasm> Why don't we do something intelligent for once - like, fire everyone at the DNC, and start over? While we're at it, let's give some thought to making the people in the party who do represent us at the national level answer to US, the PEOPLE, and not dictate to us what they know (better than we do) has to be done by us to win. So far, the current set of 'tards are 0/2, against a guy who stole the first election, and got his buddies at Diebold to hand him the second one with crooked machines in places like Ohio.

When are we going to grow some balls, and start holding the right accountable for what they're doing to our country? As the bumper sticker says, "When Clinton lied, nobody died."

I wrote that 8 months ago. I still believe that every single word of it is true. What are your thoughts and feelings?

I keep getting the following error, and nothing I do seems to be able to fix it. Google has been less than helpful, as has ubuntu's official and non-official support forums, and sendmail.org's documentation has been equally useless. Sendmail, it seems, cannot find the local host name! This is despite it being correctly set in /etc/hosts, in /etc/mail/local-host-names, in DNS, etc. I've verified that DNS works. All other errors have been squashed. When issuing a make all, or a sendmailconfig in /etc/mail, I get the follow error:

"WARNING: local host name (;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached) is not qualified; see cf/README: WHO AM I?"

The sendmail.org documentation suggests the use of FEATURE(use_cw_file), which is already in my .mc file.

It's interesting to note that ";; connection timed out; no servers could be reached) is not qualified; see cf/README: WHO AM I?" actually shows up in the sendmail.cf in a variety of locations (like $j). Manually editing the .cf (bad, I know) and restarting sendmail seems to have no beneficial effect.

Even our local sendmail guru is confused. Anyone have any other ideas?

Also, amazing that slashdot has no Ubuntu, Email, or Sendmail topic icons. Weird, huh?

Meh. I think I'll go back to sleep now.

If you haven't read this, please do so. My basic question is this: Do you support what your party is doing in your name? Pretending to call from the opposition, and then smearing the other candidate? Doing so at a time that it's basically too late for judicial review?

Let's get this out of the way right now: I would condem such a move if the Democrats did it. What say you?

This week marks Character Counts Week. The Bush White House even issued a proclamation encouraging "Americans to remember the importance of good character" this week. [Whitehouse.gov, 10/13/06] Over the last five years, President Bush and the Do-Nothing Republican Congress, with their failed policies and rubberstamp oversight, seem to have forgotten the importance of the six pillars of character celebrated by schools across the country: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. President Bush reaffirms his rejection of these key principles today as he attends fundraisers for two ethically-challenged Republican incumbents. Republican Congressman Don Sherwood of Pennsylvania is embroiled in scandal, and Senator George Allen of Virginia is also facing numerous questions after he "failed to tell Congress about stock options he got for his work as a director of a high-tech company." [AP, 10/8/06]

"It is no surprise that President Bush is celebrating Character Counts Week by campaigning today for two ethically-challenged Republican incumbents," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. "President Bush and his Do-Nothing Republican Congress have repeatedly broken their promises to the American people and our troops. They have not taken responsibility for their failed foreign and domestic policies and have promoted an agenda that only serves to divide Americans. Republicans in Washington have lost all credibility. Democrats are offering the American people a new direction that includes a return to responsibility and ethics and an end to the Republican culture of corruption."

The Six Pillars Of Republican Character:

Trustworthiness

Bush Broke Promise To Fire Anyone (Even Karl Rove) Who Was Involved in CIA Leak:

September 29, 2003: McClellan Said Leaker Would Be Fired. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said: "If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration." [White House Press Briefing, 9/29/03]

September 30, 2003: Bush Said That If There Was A Leak In His Administration They Would Be "Taken Care Of." President Bush reiterated stern treatment for the culprit, saying, "if there was a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of...And so I welcome the investigation...I have told our administration people in my administration to be fully cooperative. I want to know the truth." [White House, Bush Travel Pool, 9/30/03]

Bush Used Faulty Intelligence To Sell The Iraq War:

Bush Administration Used Faulty Pre-War Intelligence On Numerous Occassions. Despite the warnings from within the Administration, "faulty intelligence from the group [Iraqi National Congress] made its way into several pre-war intelligence reports, including the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate that directly preceded the Senate vote on the Iraq war...sources introduced to American intelligence by the group directly influenced two key judgments of that document: that Mr. Hussein possessed mobile biological weapons laboratories and was trying to re-constitute his nuclear program." In addition, "a DIA official who knew that the source was unreliable sat in on two meetings in which the mobile labs information was incorporated into the speech Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered in February 2003 to the U.N. Security Council." [New York Times,, 9/8/06; Washington Post, 9/9/06]

Respect

The Republican Congress Offers Policies And Rhetoric That Only Serve To Divide Americans:

Conrad Burns Said "A Faceless Enemy" Of Terrorists "Drive Taxi Cabs In The Daytime And Kill At Night." "First lady Laura Bush campaigned for U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns here [in Montana] Wednesday, calling the Republican a strong advocate for Montana farmers and families. . Burns talked about the war on terrorism, saying a 'faceless enemy' of terrorists 'drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night.'" [Associated Press, 8/31/06]

Allen Called Webb Volunteer "Macaca" and Welcomed Him To America. "At a campaign rally in southwest Virginia on Friday, Allen repeatedly called a volunteer for Democrat James Webb 'macaca.' Depending on how it is spelled, the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs. 'The kid has a name,' Webb communications director Kristian Denny Todd said of Sidarth, a Virginia native who was born in Fairfax County. 'This is trying to demean him, to minimize him as a person.'" [Washington Post, 8/15/06]

Baker Thanked God For The Damage Katrina Wrought On New Orleans Housing Projects, Which Predominantly Housed African-Americans. "[Rep. Richard] Baker, a white Republican from Baton Rouge who is serving his tenth term in the US House of Representative, did little for the cause of racial trust when he was overheard talking to lobbyists thanking God for the damage Katrina wrought on New Orleans housing projects, which predominantly housed African-Americans. 'We finally cleaned up public housing,' he said. 'We couldn't do it, but God did.' Baker later claimed he was misquoted." [New York Times, 8/27/06; Advocate (Baton Rouge), 9/10/05]

Responsibility

The Bush Administration Avoids Taking Responsibility For Their Failed Policies In Iraq:

Bush Has Full Confidence In Rumsfeld Despite Mounting Criticism. "President Bush retains 'full confidence' in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a top White House official said Sunday, responding to newly published allegations that Rumsfeld has mismanaged the Iraq war and alienated senior members of the Bush administration with his autocratic personal style. 'The president has full confidence in Secretary Rumsfeld,' White House Counselor Dan Bartlett told ABC's 'This Week' in one of three appearances he made on the Sunday talk shows." [Los Angeles Times, 10/17/06]

Bush Awarded Tenet, Bremer And Franks Medal Of Freedom Despite Problems In Iraq. "Mr. Bush presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to retired Gen. Tommy Franks, who oversaw combat in Afghanistan and the initial invasion of Iraq, former CIA Director George Tenet and former Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer. ... Tenet left the CIA in July after seven years as director. He has been criticized for intelligence failures before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the never-proven prewar allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. ... This fall, Bremer suggested the United States had paid a price in Iraq in the immediate aftermath of major combat operations because it did not have enough troops in place to stop the looting." [CBSNews.com, 10/17/06]

U.S. Intelligence Agencies: War In Iraq Hurting The War On Terror. "The war in Iraq has become a primary recruitment vehicle for violent Islamic extremists, motivating a new generation of potential terrorists around the world whose numbers may be increasing faster than the United States and its allies can reduce the threat, U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded. A 30-page National Intelligence Estimate completed in April cites the 'centrality' of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the insurgency that has followed, as the leading inspiration for new Islamic extremist networks and cells that are united by little more than an anti-Western agenda. It concludes that, rather than contributing to eventual victory in the global counterterrorism struggle, the situation in Iraq has worsened the U.S. position, according to officials familiar with the classified document." [Washington Post, 9/24/06]

Fairness

Republican Officeholders Routinely Showed That They Don't Think The Rules Apply To Them:

GOP Changes Rules For DeLay. "House Republicans proposed changing their rules last night to allow members indicted by state grand juries to remain in a leadership post, a move that would benefit Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in case he is charged by a Texas grand jury that has indicted three of his political associates, according to GOP leaders. ... House GOP leaders and aides said many rank-and-file Republicans are eager to change the rule to help DeLay, and will do so if given a chance at today's closed meeting." [Washington Post, 11/17/04]

Cunningham Sentenced To Jail For 8 Years For Bribery. "Former Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, who collected $2.4 million in homes, yachts, antique furnishings and other bribes on a scale unparalleled in the history of Congress, was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in prison, the longest term meted out to a congressman in decades. ... He also was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for back taxes and forfeit $1.85 million in valuables he received. Cunningham accepted money and gifts including a Rolls-Royce and $40,000 Persian rugs from defense contractors and others in exchange for steering government contracts their way and other favors." [CBSNews.com, 3/3/06]

In Wake Of DeLay Scandals, Boehner Had No Plan To Change Lobbying Rules. John Boehner became House Republican Leader after Tom DeLay stepped down amid a swirl of ethics problems. In an interview with the Washington Post shortly after taking his new post, Boehner "emphasized that he has no plan to change lobbying rules." He also said that he would not seek a ban on "provisions in spending bills that fund lawmakers' pet projects," also known as earmarks. [Washington Post, 2/4/06]

Caring

Republicans in Congress Have Consistently Blocked Measures That Help America's Working Families And Our Troops:

Senate GOP Blocked Minimum Wage Vote For 9th Time; Congressional Pay Up $30,000 During Same Period. "The Republican-controlled Senate smothered a proposed election-year increase in the minimum wage Wednesday, rejecting Democratic claims it was past time to boost the $5.15 hourly pay floor that has been in effect for nearly a decade. ... The Senate vote marked the ninth time since 1997 that Democrats there have proposed -- and Republicans have blocked -- an increase in the minimum wage. ... Kennedy also said lawmakers' annual pay has risen by roughly $30,000 since the last increase in the minimum wage." [AP, 6/22/06]

Katrina Cleanup Still Far From Complete, But Cost Has Ballooned. The AP wrote, "The [cleanup] job still isn't done. More than 100 million cubic yards of debris have been cleared from the region affected by Katrina. So far the government has spent $3.6 billion, a figure that might have been considerably smaller had the contracts for debris removal been subject to competitive bidding. Working through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA gave each of four companies contracts worth up to $500 million to clear hurricane debris. This spring government inspectors reported that the companies - AshBritt Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla., Phillips and Jordan Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn., Ceres Environmental Services Inc. of Brooklyn Park, Minn. and ECC Operating Services Inc. of Burlingame, Calif. - charged the government as much as four to six times what they paid their subcontractors who actually did the work." [AP, 8/19/06]

Bush Cuts Veterans Health Care Funding by $10 Billion Over Five Years. Over five years, President Bush's 2007 budget cuts funding $10 billion below the level the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates is needed to maintain purchasing power at the 2006 level. Almost all appropriated funding for veterans goes to provide medical care and hospital services. [House Budget Committee, Democratic Staff; 3/21/06]

Bush Planned To Impose New $250 User Fees and Double Prescription Drug Co-Payments For Veterans -- Increasing Costs by $2 Billion. For the fourth year in a row, Bush's proposed budget would more than double the co-payment charged to veterans for prescription drugs and would require some to pay a new user fee of $250 a year for health care. Bush would also increase the co-payment for a month's supply of a prescription drug from $7 to $15. Veterans' groups said that at least 200,000 veterans would be driven out of the system entirely, and would cost veterans remaining in the system more than $2 billion over five years. [Budget of the US Government, 2/06; House Budget Committee, Democratic Staff; 3/21/06]

Pentagon Study Found That 80 Percent Of Marines Killed By Wounds To Upper Body Could Have Been Saved If They Had the Right Kind of Armor. A Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. Such 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. [New York Times, 1/7/06]

Citizenship

Republicans Have Outsourced Our Diplomatic Efforts With North Korea To China:

North Korea Getting Ready For Second Nuclear Test. "Satellite images indicate North Korea appears to be getting ready for a second nuclear test, officials said Tuesday, as the defiant communist regime held huge rallies and proclaimed that U.N. sanctions amount to a declaration of war. ... U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill told reporters in Seoul that another nuclear explosion would be 'a very belligerent answer' to the world." [AP, 10/17/06]

White House: North Koreans Failed At Diplomacy; China and Others Better Able To Handle North Korean Problem. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow argued that, "I'm not sure anything went wrong. The failed diplomacy is on the part of the North Koreans ... So rather than having something going wrong, what you really have is the emergence of a process now in which the people who have the most leverage over the North Koreans -- and let's face it, the Chinese, the South Koreans, the Japanese, they all have more direct leverage over the North Koreans than we do -- the people who have the greatest ability to influence behavior are now fully invested as equal partners in a process to deal with the government of North Korea." [White House Press Briefing, 10/10/06]

America's Standing Around The World Has Been Hurt Under Bush:

Favorable Opinions Of US Have Fallen In Most Of the 15 Countries Surveyed By Pew. According to Pew, "favorable opinions of the United States have fallen in most of the 15 countries surveyed. Only about a quarter of the Spanish public (23%) expresses positive views of the U.S., down from 41% last year; America's image also has declined significantly in India (from 71% to 56%) and Indonesia (from 38% to 30%)." [Pew Global Attitudes Project, http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=252]

I never even noticed when he foed me. I'd foe him back, but really, he's not worth expending the effort.