WiserBlog

NOPE.

The Lovefest will apparently continue along its slime track.

John Coleman on the Climate Change Scam, Part 1

"I'm not one to attribute every man -- activity of man to the changes in the climate. There is something to be said also for man's activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet."[well, um, you know what she means]
--Sarah Palin in last nights vice presidential debate.

"There is no significant man made global warming. There has not been any in the past, there is none now and there is no reason to fear any in the future. The climate of Earth is changing. It has always changed. But mankind’s activities have not overwhelmed or significantly modified the natural forces. ... I think stamping out the global warming scam is vital to saving our wonderful way of life."
--John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, in his comments before the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, July 2008

This video of John Coleman was posted on youtube by Palin's friends at the John Birch Society. Come on, I didn't say she was a JBS member, mind you. I said she had friends there. You can read their views on Global Warming here.

The Vice-Presidential Debate Transcript

Transcript of the vice-presidential debate between Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Gov. Sarah Palin in St. Louis on October 2, 2008
as recorded by CQ Transcriptions:

GWEN IFILL: Good evening from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. I'm Gwen Ifill of "The NewsHour" and "Washington Week" on PBS. Welcome to the first and the only 2008 vice presidential debate between the Republican nominee, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, and the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden of Delaware.

The Commission on Presidential Debates is the sponsor of this event and the two remaining presidential debates. Tonight's discussion will cover a wide range of topics, including domestic and foreign policy matters.

It will be divided roughly into five-minute segments. Each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond to a direct question and then an additional two minutes for rebuttal and follow-up. The order has been determined by a coin toss.

The specific subjects and questions were chosen by me and have not been shared or cleared with anyone on the campaigns or on the commission. The audience here in the hall has promised to remain very polite, no cheers, applause, no untoward outbursts, except right at this minute now, as we welcome Governor Palin and Senator Biden.

(APPLAUSE)

Dare I hope that the Palin Lovefest is winding down?

"Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League. No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted."
--Kathleen Parker, right-wing columnist, and one of Sarah Palin's biggest fans from the beginning, in her column for National Review Online (NRO), September 26, 2008.

What a Surprise!

So, now we know that a bailout plan has been in the works for "months," but I am curious (and aren't you?) what anyone was doing to help correct the problem??? Head it off?

Apparently there is just "no time" to waste, none at all, for careful consideration on this monumental decision. Not now. Not for us. Not for the American people. Not for Congress. We are in danger, grave danger... so, no time for any any naysaying, fact-checking or investigating... and certainly not for implementing any provisions to hold anyone accountable should things turn out to be um... not quite the way they've been represented to us.

No, while these people were holed up for months designing this comprehensive $700 billion (possibly trillion dollar) bailout plan none of that was considered. And, sorry, people, really, we wish it were otherwise, but there is just no time now. Next time we'll know better.

Sound familiar?

Invading Iraq, shoving through the Patriot Act, etc... it's just all part of our new way of doing things courtesy of the Bush administration. By the time the accurate or complete facts come trickling down, the damage will be done and can't be undone. of course, that's if anyone even remembers or gives a sh*t by then.

Who cares if Sarah Palin is a Birch Society member?

In the three-ring binder in front of Sarah Palin is an article from a John Birch Society publication. The photo appeared recently in the New York Times, leading observant readers to speculate about whether she is a John Bircher.

So, is Sarah Palin a John Birch Society member?

Well, the John Birch Society (JBS) posted a statement on their website that doesn't exactly say one way or the other, but suggests that she is not. What it says specifically is that:

"It does not connect her to The John Birch Society any more than a copy of the New York Times sitting on her desk would connect her to the New York Times Company."

Well, that's some fine logic considering the readership numbers of the New York Times and JBS newsletters respectively and, of course, the fact that the New York Times is a NEWSPAPER and the JBS is an membership ORGANIZATION. But whether Ms Palin is a card-carrying member of the John Birch Society or not, I really don't care.

The John Birch Society presents "From Homosexual Marriage to Bestiality"

"Bestiality has become widespread enough that the Humane Society, medical and veterinarian organizations and publications, and animal rights groups are treating it as a serious problem. Evidently, the zoophile lifestyle is spreading and progressing from vicarious satisfaction via video on the Internet to actual bestiality at pay-for-action farms. ... if same-sex marriage is legalized, the battle lines simply will be moved further down the slope. Those who proudly identify themselves as "polymorphous perverse" will not be satisfied even if every vice is freely permitted; it must then be accepted and promoted (by government, with taxpayer funds) as natural and good. The great danger is that these perversions are so absurd, repellent, and beyond the ken of most Americans — and are festering just far enough beneath the surface — the average person will not see the threat (or allow himself/herself to believe it could possibly be that real or that serious) — until it is too late."
--From an article in The New American by William F. Jasper entitled, "From Homosexual Marriage to Bestiality."

Westbrook Pegler on Eleanor Roosevelt

More from the guy that Sarah Palin likes to quote but would not name.

Fair Enough By Westbrook Pegler
From The Washington Post, February 12, 1942

Mrs. Roosevelt's Public Life

"For all the gentle sweetness of my nature and my prose, I have been accused of rudeness to Mrs. Roosevelt when I only said she was impudent, presumptuous and conspiratorial, and that her withdrawal from public life at this time would be a fine public service."

The um... Lynching Story?

More from the guy that Sarah Palin likes to quote but would not name.

The Lynching Story
by Westbrook Pegler

[From 'T Ain't Right, 1936, pp. 256-259]

As one member of the rabble, I will admit that I said "Fine, that is swell," when the papers came up that day, telling of the lynching of the two men who killed the young fellow in California, and that I haven't changed my mind yet for all the storm of right-mindedness which has blown up since. I know how storms of right-mindedness are made.

The city editor calls a fellow over and tells him to call up a lot of names on the office right-mindedness list and get about a column of expressions of horror and indignation.

There are various standard lists in all shops. One is the list to be called up when some police captain in Boston bars some dirty book from public sale. This one includes a lot of one-book novelists who will say that the Boston police captain undoubtedly is just an ignorant cop who ought to be out shooting hoodlums.

There is another group to be called up for expressions on the restlessness of modern youth when some drunk gril falls out the window of a penthouse while drunk. There is a feminism list, a nudism list, an is-jazz-music? list, and so forth.

Do You Know the Way?

The Way International
"The Way is a worldwide, nondenominational Biblical research, teaching, and fellowship ministry headquartered in rural Ohio. It is designed to teach those who are hungering and thirsting for the truth how to understand the Bible."

"The Way is a practical teaching ministry, concerned with teaching people how to transform their lives from negative and fear-filled to positive and joyous.

Transformation occurs when people believe and apply the basic spiritual truths made known in God’s Word. For God’s plan in His Word to be made known, it requires someone teaching it to willing students—those who desire to know God’s will."

"The Power of Pentecost
God had waited through the ages
To be loved and worshiped by His children-
Dear ones of the Father, reconciled to be His family.
Now we love Him and we serve Him,
Proud and thankful to be called together
Standing in the household,
Looking forward to our lord’s return.

The day is fully come; now you are His sons!
The power of Pentecost-filled to overflowing,
The spirit of God in Christ within.
The power of Pentecost-proof that he is risen
And he is coming back again!

© 1986 by The Way International. All rights reserved."Download TheRenewedMindIsTheKey2.mov

Happy Constitution Day!

Well, today is Constitution Day. 221 years ago today, the founding fathers wrapped things up in Philadelphia--they completed the document and it was signed by a majority of delegates in attendance there at the Constitutional Convention. True, they didn't solve that little slavery problem for almost another 100 years. And only white, male landowners counted as "We The People," but you know... setting that aside for now, the U. S. Constitution is a very fine document. It was then, and still is now, a shining example of what enlightened human beings can conceive of for a society.

I guess we don't usually hear much about this particular anniversary, but given, the near-relentless attacks on the Constitution during the last eight years by the GWB admistration. And the frightening prospect of Sarah No-Separation-Between-Church-and-State Palin in the pitbully pulpit, I thought it might nice to take a minute show some appreciation for our Constitution. It's had a rough time after all.

"if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation."

"Okay, now I don€'t know about you, I want you to remain standing, because church, we have got to pray about this presidential election coming up. I watched the debate. How many people watched the debate, debate number two? Man, I've never felt more grieved in my life. I mean, I've, every time I'€™ve watched the debate, you say, 'Well, this president here does this, this president this here.' You know it sounds like, sounds like a bunch of people leaving a church. When I was sitting there, I said, '€œGod, why do I feel so gut-wrenching??-- because that's the same spirit when people come into your office.'€

[Pause] Come on. It'€™s easy to find what'€™s wrong, but it takes a spiritual, developed, mature person to pray in what's right. Are you with me church? Church, I have never seen a line drawn like I did in presidential ele--, in this debate, number two. I'€™m tellin'€™ ya-- I'€™m not going to tell you who to vote for. But if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I'm sorry man. I'€™m not sayin' a name, am I?

I'm tellin' ya, if every Christian would vote righteously, it would be a landslide every time. Church, we don'€™t need laws to change people, we need the gospel. And we got, we got, I'€™m tellin' ya we gotta pray right now. So why don'€™t we pray right now church for this presidential election that's coming up."

--"Pastor Ed" in his made in a sermon on October 10th, 2004 sermon, telling his congregation that they would go to hell if they voted for Senator John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential Election.

September 11, 2001

His Pet Goat and My Pet Peeve—As I said it one of my very first posts, September 11 happened on George W. Bush's watch. Whether another Commander-in-Chief could have managed his administration or our nation’s agencies in such a way to have prevented September 11, we will never know. [Of course, I feel pretty confident that September 11 would never have happened at all if not for George Bush, but whether evidence surfaces to corroborate this in my lifetime is another matter.] What we do know is that President Bush did not. So, how is it that the "American people" continue to believe that he and his ilk are best suited to handle national security? Okay, I know. But even so?

A Modern Form of Barbarism

originally posted 9/10/05, exactly three years ago today

From GregPalast.com

The racial horrors of Louisiana underneath the quaint touristy gloss of New Orleans exposed by Hurricane Katrina are old news for those of us who have worked there. Not that Louisiana is more racist than the rest of America, it's only that its poverty makes deadly the bias endemic throughout the USA. here is a dispatch from GregPalast.com investigator, Adrianna Alty, who was conducting research in Louisiana prior to the Great Flood.
--G. Palast 

By Adrianna Alty

Securing the Homeland pre-Katrina: Baton Rouge's finest respond to "suspicious" activity by environmental students touring "Cancer Alley."

photo by Antioch New England student, Stephen C. Kowal

My flight landed in Costa Rica at about the same time that Katrina—which I had experienced as a Category One hurricane in Fort Lauderdale three days earlier—made its landfall in Louisiana. I have not yet returned to the States, but I know that the death and destruction that visited, or rather made itself at home, in New Orleans a week ago is providing endless loop footage for news-entertainment-reality shows on every channel there.

While the country should be focused on what Hurricane Katrina has done to Louisianans and others in the Gulf Coast, it is equally important that this tragedy is viewed in its broader context. By now everyone is aware of the dangers presented by the contaminated standing water, which will be an environmental nightmare whether it is pumped into Louisiana’s lakes or back into the Gulf of Mexico or continues to foul the streets of New Orleans.

Mainstream coverage may even be acknowledging that it was black people and poor people who bore the brunt of the storm—or at least reporting that this is being alleged by others who might actually care about black people and poor people.

It’s even possible that the various unconscionable circumstances preceding and following Hurricane Katrina’s rampage are being discussed. However, what is probably not being discussed is that the full degree of devastation is not so much attributable to a random natural disaster or isolated examples of poor judgment on the part of specific actors as it is the foreseeable result of positions and policy decisions when taken to their logical conclusions.

 

Time to take it in the... arm

According to CityWatcher.com, a private surveillance company that "provides security cameras [accessible] in real-time over the Internet," about 70 people in the US have been voluntarily injected with the encapsulated RFID chips so far.

It's been so long since I posted something on this site, that I 'd almost forgotten how.  But if some of us are currently letting our 21st Century technology go to waste, well, others are not. Unfortunately.

If you are wondering what I am I complaining about now? What it was that roused me from my malaise-- my generalized feelings of depression and cynicism about anything related to society as we know it--long enough to find out if the WiserBlog.com domain name was even still active?

It was this little piece in the Financial Times.

 

Not that I read FT any more than I do any other word of print media these days, but I did happen to see the article reporting the "first known case in which U.S. workers have been 'tagged”' electronically as a way of identifying."  So there you have it.

In the United States, these RFID chips were at first, like barcodes  only being embedded in things. Then livestock. Then pets.

Surely you've seen by now the cheerful TV commercials for HomeAgain. The new best friend to man's best friend, this company sells  RFID identity chips that you can inject into your dog. A sort of pet LoJack, without which one out of three pets apparently disappear each year.  The ads feature a yellow dog and the brighter, smiley-face-yellow HomeAgain logo.  You can't have missed it (you can watch it here if you did), but you might not have realized what the ad was for.  Maybe it was announcing a sort of Cialis for dogs?  A Crestar formulas for every breed?  Or maybe an over-the-counter canine remedy? After all, HomeAgain's tagline claim is "Pet Recovery."  They just don't go into much detail about about the RFID chips, what they are and how they work.

But never mind HomeAgain for now because, surprise, surprise, the chips are being injected into ordinary U.S. citizens.  As noted before in these pages, Japanese children, Mexican government officials, and Spanish nightclub goers in Barcelona have gotten "chipped." And here in the states, VeriChip has been inviting people to get themselves a chip to store, say, emergency medical information. As creepy a decision as that may be, it is entirely voluntary. You've got to go find yourself a doctor who will inject you with the chip and although VeriChip is offering discounts to early adopters, it's a procedure that will be cost-prohibitive for some. Predictably it is being marketed as a potentially life-saving modern convenience. If you care about protecting your loved ones and pets, you'll fork over the cash.

But, no, there hasn't been much talk of people getting chipped for "security" reasons for fear that the American people might start listening to pesky privacy and civil liberty advocates who fail to appreciate the real dangers to national security and and private industry presented by those outdated Constitutional Amendments--One through Ten. Better to focus on the revolutionary convenience afforded by not only the above-mentioned innovations, but by EZ Passes, and supermarket discount cards and the opportunity for anyone with $9.95 to search multiple databases for private information about whomever they want. 

A lot of people are willing to give up some privacy for more convenience and what they believe to be more security. So, no need to get things all stirred up by talking about injecting people with tracking chips that hold more than 80 times the information stored on a barcode, all of which can be read and updated via a handheld "scanner" from  quite a distance these days.

Except now that is what we are talking about. Of course, technically, participatiion in CityWatcher.com's employee-chipping program is voluntary too. If you don't want to be injected with a chip, you can work somewhere else. But while it's true that the Ohio company is itself in the business of tracking and surveillance, there is no reason to imagine that workplace conditions there are so unique or sensitive that other employers will not see the benefit of tagging their employees.

Versatile and inexpensive, RFID technology is not only here to stay, but it is a huge growth industry. And in our current climate, It's not difficult to see how RFID's future uses will consistently outpace any privacy or civil liberty protections that might be legislated to address them. Injectable national ID "cards" that can conveniently store not only driving, mediical and police records, and credit scores, but broadcast a person's Global Position are no longer the stuff of science fiction. They exist.

What remains to be seen is whether implementation of such chips will, in the end, be mandated or if by then, people will happily roll up their sleeves in the belief that a shot in the arm will yield greater national security--to say nothing of the shorter lines at the airport and the extra discounts at checkout. I am not sure which is the more frightening scenario.