A Trapdoor In The Sun

Normally, I do not like to post entire articles on my blog. But this is a very good read..as well as a great viewpoint of what is really going on in Iraq, through the eyes of a soldier. Link - The American Conservative Nation Breaking A soldier discovers that training the Iraqi army is not President Bush’s priority. By Joe W. Guthrie I didn’t grow up with dreams of spreading democracy. I was an all-American kid from a small southern town who went to college on a baseball scholarship and joined the National Guard to earn some extra money. During graduate school, recruiters persuaded me to join the Army through ROTC so that after graduation I would enter as an officer. I bought their pitch and believed our newly elected president when he promised no more nation building. My dad told me, “It’s a great time to join the military. It has done an excellent job of repairing itself after Vietnam.” I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in December 2002 and, after paratrooper and additional o...

I briefly want to thank all the people that have stopped by here and at my other blog to check up on me. I'm fine, just going through some intense life changes at the moment. When I was a kid, I remember once going to San Francisco with my grandparents for a long weekend. I was facinated by the cable cars that rolled up and down the slopes. dwawn by thick underground cables that seemed to continuously move in one direction. "What happens," I though, "when the car comes to the end of the route? It can't just stop." It turned out, as we walked down to of the endpoints on the Powell-Hyde St. line, that some of the cars were turned around.. or in a new direction.. on giant turntables. It wasn't easy work. The car conductor would have to get out and physically turn the whole turntable, car included, with help from the grip man. Then the car would set out on the new tracks. In a new direction. I've reached that turntable in my life, so to speak. Where my ...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/15/libya/index.html "I was sponsoring air terrorism before it was even cool." "They like me! They really like me!" (Flashing gang-sign) "LBC, biaaatches. That's Lybian Bad-Ass Crips to you. Better check yoself before you wreck yoself!" "Hmmm... in certain indirect light, I'm sure I could pass for Bono..." "Lockerwho?"

May is here and everything is becoming beautiful here in Westerville again. It's so nice to see green on the trees again, and witness the spring flowers blooming. We've been trying to spend a good amount of time outdoors, so I've left little time to my other interests... blogging ect. Ah, but so goes life. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recent polls show a pretty encouraging trend (or discouraging depending on who you talk to, I suppose). Bush is at an all time low of 31%, not too far off from Nixon's 27% during the Watergate scandal. Polls also show that the general public's trust in the Republican party versus the Democrats is also suffering. You hear Republican pundants constantly spouting off a "lack of agenda" problem with the Democratic Party. In my opinion, the Dems don't need one at this point. Bush continues to drive the party like a coked-up drunk headed for a brick wall at 110 ...

Thank you, Stephen Colbert!

I don't know if you've ever checked out "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central, but it's quickly becoming a staple in my household. I would even go as far as to say that it outshines Jon Stewart's "Daily Show". While I love Stewarts swarmy wiseass commentary and humorous assignment reports, Colbert is near impossible to turn off. In character, he comes off as a well dressed, ill informed neocon apologist, with a little bit of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and a lot of Bill O'Reilly thrown in to boot. Bill actually believed that Colbert was sincerely attempting to imitate him. Saturday, Colbert was invited to the White House Corrospondent's Dinner, and gave a rousing speech (or roast, if you will) directed at the Bush Administration. George and Laura, in attendance, forgot to laugh. Story Here's some gems from the speech. [snip]He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck cha...

In a not-so surprising move today, the Bush Adminsitration named Fox News Anylist Tony Snow to replace Puffy McMoonface as Press Secretary. Bush stated he felt the move would eliminate some of the needless beauracratic layers between the Administration and the fourth arm of the government, the Ministry of Disinformation.. or Fox News. Bill O'Reilly is still waiting on his appointment. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/26/snow/index.html

My little sister forwarded me an email this morning that after opening, just about made my head explode. It was a little "poem" about illegal immigrants. Illegal Immigrants Poem I cross ocean, poor and broke, Take bus, see employment folk. Nice man treat me good in there, Say I need to see welfare. Welfare say, "You come no more, We send cash right to your door." Welfare checks, they make you wealthy, Medicaid it keep you healthy! By and by, I got plenty money, Thanks to you, American dummy. Write to friends in motherland, Tell them 'come fast as you can.' They come in turbans and Ford trucks, I buy big house with welfare bucks They come here, we live together, More welfare checks, it gets better! Fourteen families, they moving in, But neighbor's patience wearing thin. Finally, American moves away, Now I buy his house, and then I say, "Find more aliens for house to rent." And in the yard I put a tent. Send for family they just trash, But they, ...

If ever there was a reason to consider impeachment...

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...