Ninja Monkie Bacchanal

Cheney on Russian President Putin: “In many areas of civil society, from religion and the news media to advocacy groups and political parties,” Cheney said, “the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people.”

Cheney on Kazakh President Nazarbayev: “I have previously expressed my admiration for what has transpired here in Kazakhstan over the last 15 years. Both in terms of economic development, as well as political development, I think the record speaks for itself.”

Here is my problem:  Cheney made these comments on two consecutive days, each in the respective countries.  Kazakhstan is listed as a brutal dictatorship by the US State Department:

The government’s human rights record remained poor. Legislation enacted during the year seriously eroded legal protections for human rights and expanded the powers of the executive branch to regulate and control civil society. In particular the extremism law passed in February, election law amendments added in April, and national security amendments enacted in July encroached on political rights, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and other human rights. The following human rights problems were reported:

• severe limits on citizens’ rights to change their government
• instances of military hazing that led to deaths
• abuse and mistreatment of detainees and prisoners
• unhealthy prison conditions
• corruption in law enforcement, the judiciary, and the legal system
• arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of government opponents
• government infringement of citizens’ privacy rights
• selective use of civil and criminal libel cases to punish political opponents
• self-censorship in the media
• harassment of opposition newspapers
• limited freedom of association and assembly
• narrowing of legal protections for freedom of religion
• discrimination and violence against women, including domestic violence
• discrimination against persons with disabilities
• trafficking in persons
• restricted workers’ rights, poor workplace safety in heavy industries, and child labor in agricultural areas

Why the difference? Kazakhstan has oil we want.

This is outstanding!  These are actual answers to the question, “What was the best moment of your presidency?”

• President Carter: the Camp David negotiations
• President Clinton: the resolution of the Kosovo crisis
• President G.W. Bush: that time i caught a big fish on my ranch

I have a bad feeling about this...

[Rep. Peter] Hoekstra, [R-Mich., Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee,] said having a general in charge of the CIA could create the impression among agents around the world that the agency is under Pentagon control, at a time when the Defense Department and CIA have “ongoing tensions.”

If Hayden, 61, is confirmed by the Senate, military officers would run all the major spy agencies, from the ultra-secret National Security Agency to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Here is a review of an open-sourced, Linux-based version of Microsoft’s forthcoming Origami.  Looks pretty kewl.

The Pepper Pad, like Origami, is a mid-point form factor PC that is bigger and more powerful than a PDA, but smaller and less optimized for traditional desktop PC tasks than a notebook computer or a desktop PC. The Pepper Pad is a good buy for people who would like to have a light-weight, dirt-simple, point-and-click open source device for watching videos, listening to music, reading e-books, and doing simple web surfing with a view screen that is actually easy to read.

I have started roasting my own coffee at home.  Wow.  It took me about 3 times to get the roasting process down, but it was worth it.  I bought some Carmen El Finca (partially because I thought the name was funny) green beans from Sweet Maria’s and just started with a $10 pan from Wal-Mart.  It is sooooo yummy.  Ok.  Back to your regularly scheduled ranting and raving.

BTW, here is a good article on the different types of roasts.  I have been working on perfecting the City, Medium roast.

Interesting.  Not really sure they will abandon them in the midterms, but here’s hoping.

Angry conservatives are driving the approval ratings of President Bush and the GOP-led Congress to dismal new lows, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that underscores why Republicans fear an Election Day massacre.

Six months out, the intensity of opposition to Bush and Congress has risen sharply, along with the percentage of Americans who believe the nation is on the wrong track.

It’s too bad that stupidity isn’t painful - Anton LaVey

Yeah, I know who Anton LaVey is.  But it is a funny quote, right?

Umm...I don’t even know what to make of this.  Don’t ask me how I ended up.  The internet is a long and twisted path. Anyway, this guy is a licensed medical doctor...healing through prayer.  And he has books.

Don Colbert, M.D. bases his plan for healing on God’s Word, nutrition, exercise and common sense. Not quick to jump to the invasive antibiotics, pain medications or mood altering drugs. Dr. Colbert works with patients to get to the source of their problem and then strategizes a complete healing, body, mind and spirit.

Board certified in Family Practice since August 1984, Dr. Colbert did his internship and residency at Florida Hospital in Orlando, Florida., Since becoming a physician he has seen over 25, 000 patients. Dr. Colbert has become known as “The Physician To God’s Generals”. When not seeing patients, Dr. Colbert can be found speaking at churches, health conferences, taping his television program and writing his books.

Here is a quote from Dr. Don regarding the importance of sleeping:

As I mentioned, dreams occur during REM sleep. The Bible also has quite a bit to say about sleep and its importance. Psalm 127:2 says, It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Proverbs 3:24 states, When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet

This is going to be good.  I can hardly wait for this to be on C-SPAN!

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ‘’whistle-blower” protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.

Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush’s assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ‘’to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ‘’execute” a law he believes is unconstitutional.

The Tigers are on a five game winning streak.  Woo-hoo!

This article at Networking Pipeline was originally found at my brother’s site.  Go to the FCC and bitch!

The feds know no limits when it comes to Internet snooping: It now appears that they want to require that colleges provide them with backdoors so that they can spy on students, professors, and staff on university networks.

The issue is over an FCC ruling related to the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) wiretapping law. The FCC says that broadband Internet providers and “interconnected” VoIP providers have to comply with CALEA next year.

The problem, say universities, is that the ruling appears to extend the law to colleges. And that, they add, would mean massive invasions of privacy.