Year: 2006

One wonders whether the photographer of this prom couple intentionally placed those flags.

Speaking of desecrating the flag, here’s a great little picture of Bush autographing one:

Thankfully, the Flag Desecration Amendment failed. Thirty-four patriotic Senators voted against the amendment, sending it to the showers for at least another year.

A couple of interesting quotes from the closing debate. First is Senator Bill Frist:

And then Senator Daniel Inouye:

Amen, Senator. I should note that Inouye lost his right arm in combat during World War II and was later awarded the Medal of Honor. A patriot indeed.

Our trampoline is falling apart.

After seven years or so, some of the springs are tearing out of the fabric. Once a few of them go, the strain on their neighbors is too high and a ripple effect takes out the rest of the rim. So we’ve told the kids not to jump on it until we can get it fixed (which may involve buying a new mat).

The funny side effect of this is we haven’t had an army of neighborhood kids in our back yard for the past few days. The trampoline is typically the center of their games– they’re bouncing on it, playing dodgeball, sitting under it in the shade, or just sitting atop it having a popsicle and talking about whatever kids their age do. Without it, I guess they don’t have much to do.

I still maintain it was the best $200 we ever spent. Hopefully we’ll fix it soon.

My friend Derek quoted an article in the National Review that condemned the New York Times for “exposing” the SWIFT monitoring program. I wrote him a lengthy response, some of which I’ve included here…

When the Gov says certain things– like monitoring banking transactions, in this case– should be secret, I roll my eyes. Anyone with the brains of cabbage would realize by now that the feds have been watching money flowing around the world. To prove my point, I actually did some (take a deep breath) research. In December 2002 the United Nations released a report containing this paragraph:

Other groups, ranging from Taliban monitoring agencies to MIT graduate students, have either postulated that the U.S. was watching SWIFT, or had ample evidence that it was actually happening. In this sense, the expose by the Times (and other newspapers) wasn’t revelational or even that surprising. Consider Bush himself, who said this while campaigning in 2004:

This was part of a rah-rah speech about the PATRIOT Act, and he all but told the terrorists he was watching their money. Two days ago, he said the Times article did “great harm” to the U.S. Doesn’t it seem to be a bit of a double standard for Bush to talk about tracking money, but for him to condemn a reporter for doing the same?

Some of the criticism being leveled at the Times and Co. has been that the articles they’ve been publishing– the SWIFT one as well as the past wiretapping exercise and others– are somehow aiding the terrorists by telling them what the U.S. is watching. Give me a break. I’m sure there are dumb terrorists in the world, but the smart ones already knew things like phone calls and banking transactions were being monitored. At a minimum they realize that even if they aren’t being actively watched, the Gov can swoop in at any time and demand records. We’ve seen how THAT turns out, to the great shame of several telecommunications companies.

The National Review article mentions:

I won’t argue that. There’s undoubtably a financial motive for the Times‘ publication of articles like these. But I’d like to believe there’s also another motive: exposing the truth for public comment. That’s an integral part of democracy– transparency of the government, so the people can understand (and have healthy debate) about what is or isn’t being done on their behalf. Remember always that the government exists to serve the people, not the other way around. There SHOULD be accountability for breaches of privacy, for sidestepping the law, for pursuing questionable agendas. To believe that the Gov is always right, and will always pursue its plans with our best interests in mind, is mind-bogglingly obtuse.

Allow me to quote Thomas Jefferson:

He, as well as the other framers of the Constitution, WANTED the press to investigate the government. It was clearly the intent of the First Amendment to allow the press to always distrust the Gov, and vice versa, because only through this mutual dog-fighting does the system maintain balance. If the Gov was allowed to pursue things in complete secrecy, there would be no accountability and there would be no limit on the possibility of abuse. And again I maintain that to believe the government would not abuse its power is obtuse.

Here’s another Jefferson line:

Recall that he and his compatriots were designing the American government specifically to avoid the abuses the British government had levied upon them. They WANTED, very much, for the government to have a system of checks and balances– and even more checks and balances outside the government (i.e., the press). It is a telling sign that the Bush administration and their apologists want to remove the freedom of the press in cases like this because they fear that too much is being exposed.

The closing of the National Review article includes this:

To me, this is the very antithesis of a free press. To imprison a journalist for telling the truth– particularly on a matter of public concern and one that isn’t terribly secret– is taking a step into dangerous territory. It’s saying the government can do whatever it wants, without question or oversight, and those who dare to stand up and ask should be locked away.

I for one don’t trust my government. At all. And to those who do, I say they should examine very closely the events of the past four years, thinking about the abuses we’ve learned about as well as those which are doubtless happening now but cloaked in secrecy. We need more exposes; we need more reporters like those at the Times.

I found this awesome set of images to compare Earth with other celestial objects. Too bad I didn’t have this a few months ago when Laralee and I taught the second-graders about the solar system– it helps put things in perspective.

In a move that probably shocked no one, the New York Times has now been labeled “disgraceful” and “treasonous” because they dared to expose yet another secret spying operation launched by the Bush administration. Rep. Peter King, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told the Associated Press that the Times should not have reported on the SWIFT database snooping that’s been happening for the past four and a half years. Bush also condemned the report, using such wise words as:

Apparently he is still under the deluded impression we can ever “win” a war against an ideology, not to mention his tired but oft-used reference to mysterious Bad Guys who are looking to hurt us. He continues to believe he has infinite jurisdiction in private transactions as long as it’s being done “to fight the terr’ists”.

I always thought we had a free press specifically so the government can’t run roughshod over everything– it’s just another piece of the checks and balances that keep our country from becoming a fascist police state.

Just another step… we’re getting closer.

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”

— Thomas Jefferson

Apparently the Bush administration is (slowly) realizing that the words “al Qaeda” no longer inspire the thrilling fear they once did. People aren’t being hoodwinked by Bush and his cronies waving the Nine Eleven Flag, chanting “terrorism” at every turn, and justifying their growing list of abuses of power and privacy by saying it’s all to protect us from al Qaeda.

So, looking for a new scare tactic, we see people like Attorney General Gonzales talking about “domestic terrorists”. In a news conference yesterday, he mentioned that domestic terrorists could become as big a threat as al Qaeda. Thus, we need to be vigilant and diligent and give up a couple more freedoms along the way… because our next-door neighbors could be terrorists! Or our kids’ teachers! Or the guy next to us at the stoplight!

Only a fool would believe all terrorists come from other countries or are card-carrying members of al Qaeda. Obviously there are terrorists living amongst us, and there have been since long before 9/11. But it’s funny (not in a “ha ha” sort of way, though) that the Bush administration is now turning its propaganda machine in that direction, because the specter of the dreaded al Qaeda doesn’t conjure up the same horror.

Straight from the Associated Press comes this article about a thief who wanted to participate in this year’s Darwin Awards:

Note to self: don’t steal copper if it’s fifty feet above the ground.