Michael Bérubé uses this latest example of governmental intrusion to reiterate that conservatism ain’t what it used to be:
bq. People who support a clandestine program of warrantless domestic spying are not “conservativesâ€? or “libertarians.â€? Neither are people who support the creation of a worldwide archipelago of secret torture sites. Neither are people who support the [...] Read more »

Posted in Politics, What The...?!? No Comments »

p=. !/textpattern/images/10t.jpg (Merry Christmas 2004)!
Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest — and to me, one of the most sacred — days of the year. After today, things get brighter. The challenge of the season is to turn the astrophysical truth into a metaphorical one. If the world does not operate by the “pathetic fallacy”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathetic_fallacy [...] Read more »

Posted in Diary 5 Comments »

From today’s Washington Post:
bq. At the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan was asked to explain why Bush last year said, “Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking [...] Read more »

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Look:
* The spying the NSA did on domestic residents is illegal.
* The order to the NSA to spy on domestic residents, without going through proper channels, was an illegal act.
* It also violated the Constitution of the United States.
* It also violated the Oath of Office.
I know that the canonical response to a statement like [...] Read more »

Posted in Politics 5 Comments »

Ooops! I guess “last week’s Guess Ten” went a little off the mark, with only four out of six guessed. Here’s another ten, hopefully a little easier…
I provide a lyric, you provide the artist and song title. If it matches you win. You win me saying “you’re right!”
*Update 12-17*: Dang that was fast! We still [...] Read more »

Posted in Art and Writing 7 Comments »