A Trapdoor In The Sun

I was sitting here at my desk listening to "To the Point" with Warren Olney when I had this sudden compulsion to spit my gum out at my monitor. The topic of today's program is "How Much is America Spending on the War in Iraq?". If you check the link tomorrow, there should be a podcast available. What nearly caused the catapult-ulation of my Coolmints Icebreakers onto my Samsung LCD monitor was a mere number. Two trillion dollars, to be exact. That's two thousand billion dollars, not exactly chump change, so to speak. What will really blow your mind is if you put that amount in perspective with what Congress was told it was going to cost to fight the war in Iraq, a mere 60 billion dollars. Think of it like this. You go to a slot machine in Vegas with the full intentions of winning that million dollar jackpot on nickel slots. You put in your nickel, pull the handle and get nothing. So you put another nickel in. And another. After all, it's a million doll...

I've decided to take a break from blogging for a while. At least political blogging. What started out as a fun spare time hobby has become much too time consuming and sometimes very emotionally draining. Sadly, when I step back and look at the world as it is, I have a hard time believing that anything I say, write or do actually makes a difference. At least not here. Perhaps that seems a tiny bit apathetic, but that's the way I feel right now. To all my friends and family that have at one time contributed to the dialog here on WMD, I thank you for stopping by and leaving your thoughts. It's been a fun little project for me over the last year or so. In the meantime, I will still be contributing to other debates and conversations around the blogosphere when I have time, and I can still be found over at my personal blog, Voyages of a Carpet Yeti . Peace... Drew I have nothing more to offer right now, other than this bunny with pancakes on his head.

Once upon a time, in the not so distant past, American workers and the big Corporations they helped build held a loving if not symbiotic relationship. The worker gave hours of his/her life to further the betterment of The Corporation and thus increase profits for the stockholders. In return, the worker received a good wage, health insurance benefits and a pension to help aid his/her retirement. Now, I don't know how you view it, but when a company offers a pension plan to attract talent which further generates profit for said company, then the company in question has entered into a contractual agreement with the employee to supply the agreed upon pension. After all, word is bond. Or is it? Apparently not. By law, The Corporation does not have to offer it's workers a pension plan in the first place, so it isn't obligated to fulfill pension promises. I wish the same line of thinking worked with credit cards. I could open up as many accounts as possible, max them out, and the...

I read this op-ed piece over at Old American Century and thought it pretty much hit the nail on the head. by August Keso, March 4th, 2006 "With those children [Winston] thought, that wretched woman must lead a life of terror. Another year, two years, and they would be watching her night and day for symptoms of unorthodoxy. Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party." -- George Orwell, "1984" The irony should be lost on no one. A high school teacher in Aurora, Colorado, told his class that there were similarities between Bush's State of the Union rhetoric and things Hitler used to say. The teacher's name is Jay Bennish and he was immediately placed on administrative leave. Yet, the irony is dwarfed when compared to the ultima...

As more money flowed through Washington and as Washington's power to regulate our lives grew, opportunities and temptations for graft, influence peddling and cutting corners grew exponentially. Power breeds corruption. - Steve Forbes We the People. These three words open the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, a document regarded by most as the cornerstone of the American democratic experience. When Gouverneur Morris wrote the preamble, he was of course referring to the common man. The words were to represent the individuals that made up the American union. The Preamble itself was a statement documenting the purpose of the Constitution, and whom it's laws applied to and protected. I propose changing the terminology. I propose rewording these three words to read: We the Corportation. After all, let's get realistic here... who is running our country and who reaps the benefits thereof? The recent Abrhamoff scandals rocking Congress and K Street may only represent a small exampl...

What's worse than a Libertarian? A LINO... or Libertarian in Name Only. Meet Jonathan Leffingwell over at the pseudo-libertarian blog Crush Liberalism . You see, if you argue with Jon's extreme right-wing bullshit topics long enough, like most Bush apologists out there in the blogosphere...he gets itchier with that ban-nation trigger than an intoxicated Cheney at a drive-by quail hunt. Apparently, I must have pushed a few buttons as I'm banned from commenting. That's not surprising though... as it is ingrained in wingnut philosophy to silence what one either cannot defend or that presents an open window to reality. What is surprising is that he accused ME of trying to pass myself off as a Libertarian. Wha wha wha? [snip] And don't peddle your "I'm a libertarian" garbage here, since you spout the Kos kiddies' talking points verbatim. I noticed at Lisa Renee's "Liberal Common Sense" blog that you mention your support for the DNC, your v...

Found this over at You Tube... pretty funny...

Welp. I'll be taking the rest of the week off from my little Blogger console. We'll be attending a Yugo wedding in North Jersey with my in-laws. I'm envisioning scenes from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Hopefully, some crazy old guy won't be squirting me with Windex. We'll also get to see a little bit of the Big Apple... a first for myself. We'll get to see some sites and be nice and touristy! Peace and have a good weekend! Pictures here

Got a gun, fact I got two That's O.K. man, cuz I love god Glorified version of a pellet gun Feels so manly, when armed Glorified version of a pellet gun Double think, dumb is strength Never shot at a living thing Glorified version of a pellet gun Feels so manly, when armed Glorified version of a pellet gun Glorified version of a... Always keep it loaded Kindred to be an American... Life comes...I can feel your heart... Ooh...life comes... I can feel your heart through your neck... Glorified...glorified... Headline: Sydney Morning Herald Lyrics: Pearl Jam/Glorified G./Vs. In the name of free enterprise, some profiteer is already exploiting this poor lawyer's tragic accident . This one is actually funnier.

Old picture, however, still funny. Have a good weekend.

I've been rereading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn over the last week or so. Yeah, you're probably sitting there thinking, "Geez, Andrew, Ishmael is a pretty short book! It's taking you several weeks to read it?" All I can offer you in that regards is a hearty STFU! I rode the short bus to school, okay? Ishmael, if you've never read it, is a philosophical guide to life, environmental responsibility and eco-social understanding, sort of packaged up as a fictional novel. Ishmael is a highly educated lowland gorilla whose purpose in life is to educate human beings as to "the way things came to be this way". The actual character of Ishmael is non-descript. We discover little about his history or how he learned to communicate (telepathically) with his pupils. All of that is superficial at best, as it lends nothing to the real meat and bones of the book. What is important though, is that Ishmael is a non-human habitant of Earth, witnessing and relating the stor...

Who knew Pittsburgh would come to the game with their own 12th man? First of all, I don't want to take anything away from Bill Cowher or the Steelers team. They worked against the odds to get to the Super Bowl and played a hard fought game. But, that being said, they didn't earn the Lombardi trophy last night. They were handed it by the officiating crew. Overall, the Steelers had three big plays in the game, two of which actually resulted in an "earned" touchdown. The first was a touchdown given to the Steelers when Ben Rothleswhatshisname was downed inside the 1 yard line on 3rd and goal. Although he made a valiant effort to get the tip of the ball past the plane of the goal line, after watching it several times in replay, it's obvious that this didn't actually happen. After the officials watched it several times in replay, though, it was obvious that this was going to be a night of one-sided officiating. One would wonder if these clowns were previously empl...

The Toypresidents George W. Bush talking doll plays back 25 prerecorded soundbites, all of which either talk about freedom, terrrist, or September 11th. What wonderful words of wit do you believe is missing from this bumbling Ken? "It's clearly a budget, it's got lots of numbers." "These pretzels are making me..*cough cough*" "No, what I said to Tony Blair was, 'Al Jazeera is tha bomb.'" Doll actually says nothing. Transceiver and earpiece are sold separately. "Watch this drive." And the winner is... Sweet! Finally, I have a bookend-piece to complete my "American Heroes" action figure set ("Flight-Suit George" had been the coolest, until now!) - RK,DS

America is unofficially bankrupt. Meanwhile, tucked into some military spending bill... Makes you wonder if Bush is going to make good on that pledge to cut the deficit in half by 2008. Let's just say I wouldn't place any large wagers on the probability of that occuring. So, given that information, does extending and making tax cuts permanent make a whole lot of sense? Or do the tax cuts only hurt our economy? Well, you don't have to go to college, or try to pay for going to college to come up with the answer .

Exxon Mobil sets record profit in Q4. Let's hear it for unfettered capitalism! Exxon Mobil Corp. set U.S. records for annual and quarterly profits Monday as it easily topped fourth-quarter earnings forecasts. The nation's largest oil company reported net income in the fourth quarter of $10.7 billion, or $1.71 a share, compared to $8.4 billion, or $1.30 a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, Exxon Mobil ( Research ) earned $10.3 billion, or $1.65 per share, topping a consensus forecast of $1.44 a share from analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call. It also topped the record for quarterly profits it set in the third quarter, when it earned $9.9 billion. Shares of Exxon Mobil gained 2 percent in early-afternoon trading, helping to take the Dow into positive territory. For the year the company earned net income of $36.1 billion, or $33.9 billion excluding special items. That's up 31 percent from the $25.9 billion it earned on that basis year earlier. Exxon Mobil...

Bush's press conference, yesterday. Photo courteously stolen from Yahoo! " Did I leave the toaster on? Hmmm....toast. I lahk toast!" "Note to self. Remind staffers to get this damn wire fixed. I can barely hear the lines Rove is feeding me." "Damn... I thought I told that intern to plant the remote camera so it would take out Helen Thomas, but she's still there!" "I'll answer your question about my impeachable activities as soon as a pop this massive zit on my cheek. Stand back!" "Where's McClellan? Isn't he supposed to be the one out here capitulating the propaganda?" And the winner is... "Maybe Laura will let me wear the spurs next time. Man that smarts..." - Rambler Joe Snitty Runners up... "It's hard not to pick. That is to say, it's hard work. By that I mean, it's hard, hard work not to pick." - Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker "Thirty-five months and seven days...how many hours do...

Ever since Hillary Clinton's overreaching Universal Health Care project fell flat in the 90's, we constantly hear Republicans tying the very idea of government sponsored healthcare to Communism and Socialism. Privatization supposedly offers more choices and provides a lower overall cost to the consumer. In theory, they are somewhat correct. In practice, however, that is not the case. The healthcare industry is rapidly consolidating. There are maybe five major players nationally at this point, and as with what is happening to many American industries, you can pretty much make a safe bet that in the next few years, there will be even less choices. Much of this is due to deregulatory legislation that has been very healthy for corporate America over the last few years. I think this is one of the major drawbacks of an unfettered Capitalistic economy. When there are no stops in place, the Corporation is allowed to grow and absorb all that it can, thus eliminating competition and incr...

From Time.com [snip]As details poured out about the illegal and unseemly activities of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, White House officials sought to portray the scandal as a Capitol Hill affair with little relevance to them. Peppered for days with questions about Abramoff's visits to the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said the now disgraced lobbyist had attended two huge holiday receptions and a few "staff-level meetings" that were not worth describing further. "The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him," McClellan said. The President's memory may soon be unhappily refreshed. TIME has seen five photographs of Abramoff and the President that suggest a level of contact between them that Bush's aides have downplayed. While TIME's source refused to provide the pictures for publication, they are likely to see the light of day eventually because celebrity tabloids are on the prowl for them. And th...

One of my recent blogs is the featured piece over at Bring It On!.. sort of a blogging/diary collective. Funny, though Bring It On! is probably more of a liberal site than conservative, I actually found it while browsing through some conservative blogs. It's an interesting idea though, and I'd love to see more partisan views pop up there.