Somehow, Incredibly, Benjamin Frankin Sends Message to Bush

"There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government." ----- Benjamin Franklin

Happy Meals Without Prizes

The largest contributor to America's obesity epidemic, McDonalds, now offers an "adult" Happy Meal. Problem: no prize inside. Forget the artery-choking, lard-laden, artificial, immitation, food-like product. We want our prizes too!

To Live and Diefault in L.A.

From today's L.A. Times:

Home values in Los Angeles County posted the biggest year-over-year increase in at least 15 years in March as frenetic buying activity pushed the median sale price up 29%, to a record $375,000, according to data released Monday. Confounding predictions by the experts, sales were surprisingly strong, jumping 12% from a year ago to 10,875 new and resold houses and condos. Analysts and brokers said the heavy demand was driven by anxious consumers, many of whom are paying more than the asking price to get in the housing market before interest rates rise and supplies thin further. The inventory of houses available for sale has been at historical lows, and the latest flurry of purchases suggests that the market will only heat up as the busy home-buying season nears. .... The median price in Los Angeles County has nearly doubled since March of 2000, when it was $192,000. The county's rate of appreciation in recent months has outpaced other areas in the region, such as Orange and San Diego counties, as well as nearly everywhere else in the country. In San Diego County, the median price rose 16.8% in March from a year earlier, to a record $424,000. (March figures for other Southland counties will be out later this week.) In Chicago, the median rose 7.3% to $213,500. Miami's median climbed 11.1% to $200,000, and Seattle saw a 7.3% increase to $236,000. Among the country's less expensive big cities is Phoenix, where the median price rose 8.6% to $158,000. The spectacular gains in Southern California have fueled concerns of a possible housing "bubble." But most analysts believe the real estate market is on much firmer footing compared with a decade ago, when sales and prices tumbled. ....There also are risks to some buyers, who may be overextending themselves. DataQuick said 58% of the purchasers in L.A. County last month took out adjustable-rate mortgages, which initially offer lower interest rates than traditional fixed mortgages but could subject borrowers to higher payments if interest rates rise. A year ago, 29% of buyers used adjustable mortgages.....

We sold our home in the L.A. area 20 months ago at a price we thought was ridiculously high then and which has increased yet another 25%, and have rented since then because of the irrationally high prices. The only thing fueling the buying boom is the historically low mortgage rate. Thanks to Bush's shrewd tax cuts over the past three years and the resulting increases in the federal deficit, significant rises in interest rates are destined to kick into high gear within 9-12 months. This of course will put thousands of homeowners, who bought with variable rate loans, out to pasture as they default on their mortgages. The rising mortage rates will also wipe out the sellers' market and prices will consequently drop, like a lead ball from the sky.

That or another good earthquake. I can wait....

"The lesson of Vietnam is that once you make the initial mistake, little you do afterward is right." ---- Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen

Center for American Progress makes a valid point:

In his single-minded push to go to war in Iraq, President Bush defended his lack of definitive proof of a WMD threat by saying, "Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late." However, he used exactly the opposite rationale to justify why he ignored far more compelling evidence about the terrorist threat leading up to 9/11. Despite explicit warnings that al Qaeda might be planning attacks inside the United States, he said, "There was nothing in [the PDB] that said, you know, there's an imminent attack. There was nothing in this report to me that said, oh, by the way, we've got intelligence that says something is about to happen in America."

They didn't tell me the date, time and place of the attack, so I'm just going to ignore this whole thing until something happens. But, that man tried to hurt my daddy, so I'm going to invade, unprovoked, his country and kill thousands of his citizens.

Don't Forget to RSVP

Steve Bates has obtained a copy of the invitation that apparently Bush and Rice were expecting but that never got all the way through the Whitehouse mail...

Also: If They Mated...

Those Darn Deceitful Liberal Ads

I received this message from BushCheney'04 today:

Dear $$$$$$, Last week, I sent you an e-mail asking for your help to keep pressure on the FEC and encourage them to take action to stop the flow of tens of millions of dollars in illegal soft money that is funding attack ads on President Bush. Your response was fantastic. More than 66,000 e-mails have been sent to the Commissioners. Thank you for all you've done. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on the FEC to act anytime soon. We must prepare for the worst and assume that these shadowy liberal propaganda groups - who are illegally working to help Senator Kerry - will outspend our campaign until they are forced to shut down. President Bush needs the help of grassroots leaders like you to respond to the deceitful ads these groups are airing with this illegal cash. Please contribute today, using our secure server, so we'll have the resources to counter their efforts. www.GeorgeWBush.com/Contribute/ Don't let billionaires like George Soros - who has compared President Bush to a Nazi and said he would spend every penny he has to win - side-step the law and use illegal funds to attempt to defeat our President. Please help today.

As you can see they are pleading for even more GOP campaign contributions while simultaneously characterizing as illegal the fundraising actions of "shadowy liberal propaganda groups" such as MoveOn.org . Pretty damn funny. Note: I'm on the BushCheney'04 mailing list specifically so that I can receive these interesting mailings; I of course don't actually contribute to their campaign.

"I was in my home for days, unable to leave, even to treat the sick, for fear of being shot. One morning, I decided I had to make it to the hospital, but just before I left, I saw my neighbor walk from his house. An American sniper shot him, once in the head. I was afraid to go out to him, to treat him. I watched him die."

Quote from a doctor in Fallujah, Iraq.

UPDATE: Received this response from a private source:

"What Dr. Giggles forgot to tell all of you crappy communist maoist liberals is that his neighbor was carrying a rpg & ak-47. Wake up morons this is ww3"

I'm really insulted. I'm not even a decent communist maoist liberal, I'm a CRAPPY one. Now that hurts.

Is Neal for Real?

I'm not familiar enough with this blogger to know if THIS is for real of if he's making it up. Someone please tell me...

Oil Ask You Once More.... Please Leave

I do like Steve Gilliard's rationale for having our troops escape from Iraq.

...Any attempt to expand the Army will come way too late to solve our troubles in Iraq. We need 3-500K men on the ground today, not three years from now. You don't send two battalions to take a city the size of Albany. You send a division to do that. You had a division in Fallujah, there would be sniping, not fighting and a cease-fire. We don't have a division to send there. We will not get a division to send there. We may have problems getting the First Marine Division home. We need to negotiate with the clerics and leave Iraq. We cannot win there, the people are not on our side. If they were, these guerillas would have no support, no food, no ammo. Instead, they are embraced by the people. What is the US waiting for? A massacre of a rear area unit? Bremer's assassination? Every time Bremer speaks for the Iraqi people, he lies worse than Saddam. There has been scant evidence that the Iraqi people want us to stay. Some want us to kill the criminals we unleashed, others just want us to leave, most are pissed that we haven't made them rich. The right doesn't get it. The Iraqis they get lied to by tell them that they want all these things. But the people in the street don't like us or want us there. If they did, the cops and ICDC wouldn't run at the first sign of conflict with the guerillas. They have killed Americans. Take that as a hint. Anyone who exposes themselves as working for the US, not just CPA, but media, risks assassination. Is that support for the US? We are failing in Iraq. Our mission, our war, lies in shambles. How many more Americans and Iraqis have to die before we decide to walk away?

Steve so far is the only high-profile blogger I've found whose views are close to mine, with regards to just dropping our weapons and getting the hell out of Iraq. Everyone else says that if we do that, the country will erupt into civil war, blah, blah, blah, and hundreds or thousands of Iraqis will die. Forgive me for interrupting, but how is that any different than now, with dozens and soon hundreds of new dead American G.I.'s thrown in for good measure? The ONLY solution to this complete screwup by George W. Bush is the replacement of our army in Iraq with a U.N. peacekeeping force. Sure there will be some isolated battles and unrest amongst the religious factions, but nothing like what's going to happen very soon if we don't do the right thing.

Dennis Kucinich has been spouting this line for over a year now, and its about time someone with the power and influence to change things heeds this advice. It really isn't all that complicated, in spite of what all the political pundits say. If the current plan isn't working, then you regroup, gather new facts and then put into action the best solution (which in this case is: get the f*ck out of there). The solution is obvious, and it's been so since long before Mr. Powell sat in front of the U.N., held up his toy antrax vial and proclaimed Iraq a grave threat to the world's existence. It's been painfully obvious only to those who are too proud and selfish to admit their mistakes

The ONLY reason we are still in Iraq is because there is money there in the form of oil that Bush and Cheney just flat out want. The Iraqis and American soldiers are getting maimed and killed ONLY for the opportunity for Bush and Cheney to keep their pockets filled to the brim. Why won't any of you people admit it?

KUCINICH ON AIR AMERICA RADIO TONIGHT

Kucinich is a guest tonight on Janeanne Garafalo's Air America Radio program. Check out www.airamericaradio.com to find out if you can listen to Air America in your area. If Air America is carried on a local station, listen for Kucinich at 10 p.m. in all time zones. Otherwise, you can listen to the online webcast at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

But the School Uniforms Would Be So Much More Colorful

From TheIowaChannel.com:

Senators Say They Won't Confirm Gay Nominee - Vilsack Won't Withdraw Candidate DES MOINES, Iowa -- Gov. Tom Vilsack is taking issue with Senate leaders over his nominee to the state school board. Vilsack said he has no plans to withdraw his nomination of Jonathan Wilson, a Des Moines gay activist, after Senate leaders said they won't confirm him. Vilsack said that's discrimination. Wilson, a Des Moines attorney, was defeated in his bid for re-election to the Des Moines school board in 1995 after he announced he was gay. Sen. Nancy Boettger chairs the Senate Education Committee. The Republican from Harlan blames the controversy on Wilson's activism and concern that he may push a gay lifestyle agenda into curriculum discussions. The nine-member state school board approves policy and accreditation rules for Iowa school districts, area education agencies and community colleges.

When is our society finally going to grow up?

Bush, the 0.60 FTE

From the Washington Post (emphasis mine):

Democrats criticized Bush for taking the Easter-week vacation while U.S. forces are struggling to put down an uprising in Iraq. Campaigning in Milwaukee, Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, said: "I notice President Bush is taking some days off down at Crawford, Texas, and I'm told that when he takes days off, you know, he totally relaxes: He doesn't watch television, he doesn't read the newspapers, he doesn't make long-term plans, doesn't worry about the economy. I thought about that for a moment. I said, sounds to me like it's just like life in Washington, doesn't it?" White House communications director Dan Bartlett retorted that Bush is "not skiing" in Texas, as Kerry did on a recent vacation in Idaho. He said Bush remains in contact with his military advisers and is spending Easter weekend with his family. "Most Americans will understand that," Bartlett said. This is Bush's 33rd visit to his ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency....

What's wrong with Kerry's skiing? He's not a President supervising a war. Plus, I like a job that pays me to be on vacation 40% of the time; where do I sign up?

BUSH THE UNITER

Finally President Bush has brought peace between two adversaries. From The NYT:

Signs That Shiites and Sunnis Are Joining to Battle Americans - By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN Published: April 9, 2004 AGHDAD, Iraq, April 8 — When the United States invaded Iraq a year ago, one of its chief concerns was preventing a civil war between Shiite Muslims, who make up a majority in the country, and Sunni Muslims, who held all the power under Saddam Hussein. Now the fear is that the growing uprising against the occupation is forging a new and previously unheard of level of cooperation between the two groups — and the common cause is killing Americans. "We have orders from our leader to fight as one and to help the Sunnis," said Nimaa Fakir, a 27-year-old teacher and foot soldier in the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia. "We want to increase the fighting, increase the killing and drive the Americans out. To do this, we must combine forces." This new Shiite-Sunni partnership was flourishing in Baghdad on Thursday. Convoys of pickup trucks with signature black Shiite flags flapping from their bumpers hauled sacks of grain, flour, sugar and rice into Sunni mosques. The food donations were coming from Shiite families, in many cases from people with little to spare. And they were headed to the besieged residents of Falluja, a city that has now become the icon of the resistance, especially after the bombing on Wednesday of a mosque compound there. "Sunni, Shia, that doesn't matter anymore," said Sabah Saddam, a 32-year-old government clerk who took the day off to drive one of the supply trucks. "These were artificial distinctions. The people in Falluja are starving. They are Iraqis and they need our help." But it is not just relief aid that is flowing into the city. According to several militia members, many Shiite fighters are streaming into Falluja to help Sunni insurgents repel a punishing assault by United States marines. Groups of young men with guns are taking buses from Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad to the outskirts of Falluja, and then slipping past checkpoints to join the action. "It's not easy to get in, but we have our ways," said Ahmed Jumar, a 25-year-old professional soccer player who also belongs to a Shiite militia. "Our different battles have turned into one fight, the fight against the Americans." ....

"What Falluja and the Shiite attacks Sunday tell us is that failure is now an option." ---- Patrick J. Buchanan, conservative columnist

Pre 9-11 Memo-to-the-President Title of the Day

"Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the U.S."

FRIDAY FUN

Anipoems
How grammatically sound are you?
Comicbook Words
Hamsters Inside Your Computer
How Much is Inside?
Subservient Chicken (interactive)
Underdog Movies
Wacky Warning Labels

Be sure to visit the FRIDAY FUN archives and relive some of your most unforgettable moments in online humor.

Reliant Resources Inc. - not necessarily reliable

Wow, lookie here, some GOOD news:

WASHINGTON (AP) 4.8.04, 12:30p -- A subsidiary of Reliant Resources Inc. and four of its employees were indicted Thursday on charges of driving up prices during the 2000-2001 California energy crisis. It's the first company to face criminal charges in the case. The six-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in San Francisco and released by the Justice Department in Washington stems from allegations that the unit of Houston-based Reliant, Reliant Energy Services Inc., illegally manipulated prices during June 2000 by shutting down four of its five power plants during a two-day period to create a phony shortage. The price of electricity rose through the remainder of the week after that action, according to the indictment. Artificially inflated spot prices were then posted for market participants throughout California, including Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in San Francisco. Once those prices were inflated, the indictment says Reliant Energy Services then sold power at the higher prices, costing electricity purchasers some $32 million in overpayments. The indictment says the intent was to reverse Reliant's losing financial position due to previously low electricity prices.