Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey folks,

Well Thanksgiving is just about upon us. I've been enjoying a much-needed vacation from my bill-paying job, and it's sort of good that I got some time to relax and chill out, especially with the holidays here. Cripes! The holiday shopping traffic is ALREADY here! It's insane!

So while I have a few minutes in between working on stuff for this week's very vocal rant, I want to cover a few things...

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Well Dan Rather is stepping down from his comfy anchor desk over at CBS News. I'm sure some of you are saying "There! Happy? He's gone!" No, I'm sorry, but I'm not happy that he's leaving, because it is still ON HIS OWN TERMS!

Dan Rather needed to either resign IMMEDIATELY after the fraudulent memos were announced. Either that or he needed to be FIRED, along with the producer who provided the memos. Both of them still have their jobs! Rather isn't leaving CBS News, he's just leaving the anchor desk. He's still going to draw a paycheck from them.

Meanwhile, a night-shift network producer was FIRED from CBS because he DARED to interrupt the last five minutes of CSI with the official news of Yasir Arafat's death! CBS apologized for interrupting five minutes of airtime with an ACTUAL NEWS STORY!

And Dan Rather kept his job, and so did the producer of that forged memo story. Now THAT is social injustice for you! Yeah, that's sticking up for journalism. Heaven help us if a nuke goes off during the finale of "Survivor"! You won't get the late-breaking news from CBS, that much is certain!

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NBA riot: that's the subject for this week's audio rant, so I won't cover it here.

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Spending my off-time playing "Dead or Alive Ultimate" on the Xbox. That is a KICK-ASS game! Great graphics and audio. That and a nice classic tune from Aerosmith in the intro.

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So the Congress managed to FINALLY get the budget passed! Hey, it only took them almost two months this time. Last year it took them SIX MONTHS! Six months of operating without a budget for the year.

It finally occurred to me why members of Congress drag their asses on this time and time again... because it's due in October, and if they pass it with all of the pork and unconstitutional laws that they want before the elections in November, it would end their careers!

Oh, and there's one little bit added in this "omnibus spending bill" that should piss you off. It seems that the Chairman of the House Finance Committee penned in a little law that would give him and any member of his staff the right to look at ANYONE'S tax returns! Anyone! Not just Congress... not just members of the military... EVERY TAX RECORD FOR ANY CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

Congress is calling this either a "mistake" or a "misunderstanding", depending on which apologist describes it.

Well if it's a mistake, then why don't they ask Bush Junior to exercise his line-item veto power? Bush Junior hasn't vetoed a single bill in his four years in office! What's wrong with this guy? Why hasn't he carried out some of that fiscal responsibility that he claims to possess?

Moralists strike again!

Anyone see the Fox TV realitiy show "Married by America"? Apparently some folks did... enough for them to generate protests.

The Federalist Christian Censors reported that over 150 complaints came in about the content of a certain episode. But when a freedom-loving individual filed a request through the Freedom Of Information Act to see these compalints, it turns out that MOST of the complaints were copies and form letters, which the FCC supposedly ignore.

The ACTUAL number of original complaints? Three! THREE!

Check it out if you don't believe me!

THREE MORALISTS are supposedly enough to get the FCC to go after Fox!

And you folks wonder why I call moralism the biggest threat to freedom?

(Actually I was surprised that this guy could even GET a response from the FCC using a FOIA request. Ashcroft supposedly declared FOIA null and void after 9/11.)

Category 6: What A Waste!

Okay brutally honest supporters, I made a mistake...

I made a mistake and decided to watch part 1 of the CBS miniseries "Category 6: Day of Destruction". This was Viacom's version of a big-budget "sweeps week" disaster special, and believe me, it WAS a disaster.

We start with a "supercell" storm sweeping through Las Vegas, decimating the city of neon. The folks at the National Weather Service get upset about it because "they didn't detect it in time". Yeah, right. I'm sorry folks, but I get warnings all of the time from them. And they couldn't tell one "supercell" storm was sweeping across the desert?

By the way, does this sound familiar? Sure it does! Remember "10.5" on NBC? The first thing you see is Seattle being destroyed. I guess it's supposed to be an ominous warning of things to come, but you know that this isn't it.

We have a hurricane-type storm (but not a hurricane) that magically forms in the Gulf of Mexico and plows through some oil refineries, causing energy problems. Again, NWS was supposedly "unable" to spot this one too. So our intuitive father-figure there makes the announcement that he wants to know when a dog farts anywhere outdoors.

Speaking of energy, that brings us to Chicago and an Enron-style crisis in the works. It's incredibly hot, energy is at a premium, and we have an evil energy corporation doing everything possible to get as much control over the grid as possible, including sending attractive blondes to get into affairs. One power grid worker gets seduced, another blabs about the security flaws to a reporter... who, of course, is being barred from pursuing the story because IT IS a big EEEEEVIL corporation.

Oh, and of course we have the various boilerroom human interest stories. You can't have a big-budget miniseries disaster (as compared to a big-budget disaster miniseries) without a few dozen people to get personally involved. We have Randy Quaid playing a thrill-seeking mercenary storm-chaser and tour guide who leaves a bunch of paying customers in the middle of a thunderstorm so he can chase that Vegas "supercell" towards Chicago. All he needs is that crop-duster and he can bring back his "Independence Day" character. We have Nancy McKeon playing the frustrated reporter, who keeps on dropping hints of doom and gloom and pissing off her boss. We have Diane Wiest, who is playing the Secretary of Energy, and apparently she's only good for making vocal threats and complaining about the environment. (What? No White House people?)

Okay, I won't tie you up with too much of the story, because it's pretty much boilerroom trash. We have the standard EEEEEEEVIL corporation creating both an environmental AND technological disaster, and when a "hacker" suddenly crashes electrical grids right and left... including just before this big "mother" of a storm comes through Chicago, you have to wonder if the EEEEEEVIL corporation is behind it as well. So we have "Mother Nature" cause havoc over our energy consumption, and we have the "evil hacker" causing havoc over our "unsecured" utility systems. And as we finish off part 1, our reporting heroine is signing off with a twister forming right over her head.

What a WASTE of time, energy, and talent!

And I probably will not see part 2 either... mostly because it comes on when I'm doing my show, and I just don't see it worth taping. I mean, the only reason why I was watching it in the first place was because ABC did that equally pathetic American Music Awards show instead of airing "Desperate Housewives" and "Boston Legal".

I should have just popped in a DVD.

Quick EEEEVIL thought...

Looking and listening to the chaos surrounding the arrival of Yasir Arafat's corpse in the West Bank brought out an interesting and EEEEEEEVIL thought.

If the Israelis were such the hell-spawed devils that the Arabs and scroll-thumpers make them out to be, then they would use this opportunity to cull the ranks of the Palestinians by a few thousand with one-felled military strike. You're seeing an INCREDIBLE concentration of Palestinians, including active or potentially active terrorists. These are people who pray for and act towards the extermination of Israel and every Israeli on the face of the planet. Some hellfire missiles and some napalm could easily cripple the Palestinian cause. Of course that is IF the Israeilis were the evil malicious murderers that the Arab world wants people to believe.

Just a quick EEEEEEVIL thought... nothing more.

FCC Strikes Again!

The Federalist Christian Censors have struck again!

Today is Veteran's Day, a day to remember those who served in defense of America. People like my father, who saw active combat in the Bay of Pigs and was on point on board the USS Joseph P. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. People like my grand-uncle, who served and died in World War II.

The folks at ABC thought that it would be appropriate to mark the day by airing the Steven Spielberg movie "Saving Private Ryan", which was based on an actual account of World War II and of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. They've done this before without any problems, so they figured that they can do it again this year.

But not so fast. The movie contains GRAPHIC depictions of combat, including all of the blood and gore associated with war. Plus some of the soldiers used profanity. They weren't all choir boys saying "Golly" and "Gee wilikers"!

And due to the contract ABC signed with Spielberg, this movie CANNOT BE EDITED FOR CONTENT! That means that if ABC wants to air this movie, they have to air it uncut, uncensored, and unedited! All of those nasty words and blood and guts and severed limbs have to stay if ABC wants people to see this movie.

Now in the past, if TV stations wanted to air something that would obviously be disturbing to bible-thumpers and freedom-haters, all they had to do was go to the FCC and get a waiver. CBS did that with "Schindler's List", and ABC did that in the past with "Private Ryan". But this year, the FCC refuses to issue such a waiver. They're also not warning broadcasters that they could be fined for airing this movie. They're essentially leaving it up to TV stations to decide whether or not this movie is worth risking their broadcasting license over.

So several ABC affiliates have made the conscious decision to NOT air the movie, stating that until they can assertion whether or not they would be punished for the content of the movie, they will err on the side of caution. They will, instead, air local programming or rehashed grade-Z specials like "Return to Mayberry".

THIS IS CENSORSHIP! This is the iron hand of the imperialist government lording over broadcasters, baiting them to get in trouble so they can act. This is what the politicians mean when they talk about "family values" and "moral integrity". They're talking about bringing in and using THIS kind of power over us!

You still think it's just Eminem? You think it's just Marilyn Manson? You think it's just Madonna and Britney Spears? You think it's just about Mancow and Howard Stern? Once you bring in censorship to squash the things that you don't like, you open the door to censoring the things that you DO like!

THIS is your government at work, boys and girls. This is the government that YOU voted for. Now aren't you proud of yourself?

Ashcroft: Good-bye and good riddance!

So John Ashcroft followed through and became the first person in Bush Junior's Administration to pack up and leave following the 2004 Election.

Well I say good riddance to him!

Let's count the ways that Ashcroft has hurt America.

• For starters, Ashcroft lost his US Senate seat in 2000 to a DEAD MAN! That should tell you how much trust the voters in his own state had in him. I mean, if this guy was supposed to be so great, how is it that the morals and standards of someone who DIED are stronger than him?

• Second, not too long after getting his job in the DOJ, Ashcroft spent $8000 to cover up two statues depicting Truth and Justice because they were created with a permanent "wardrobe malfunction" on them. (In other words, their mammary glands were exposed.) That in and of itself should have been a sign of things to come.

• Third, right after 9/11, he essentially told all government departments that the Freedom of Information Act is null and void, and that any FOIA requests should go through him to be summarily rejected. This is in direct violation of a federal law. The US Attorney General has ZERO AUTHORITY to override a law passed by Congress and signed by the President.

• Fourth, he used his friends in Congress to RAM the USA PATRIOT Act through to passage. Congress may get the blame for not reading what they were voting for, but Ashcroft was the architect of this and even MORE Gestapo-style infringements. You think secret warrants and foreign courts are bad enough? How about losing your citizenship for just being ACCUSED of associating with groups with terrorist connections? That was just one of many ideas on Ashcroft's wish list for PATRIOT II.

• Fifth, his department's handling of the Anthrax letters and hoax letters is suspect. Even after the President declared any such sender as a terrorist, Ashcroft's people didn't follow through in treating such people as terrorists, especially when they were Christian terrorists like Clayton Lee Waagoner. Hey, a terrorist is a terrorist, no matter what religion they claim to profess! You went out of your way to grab Jose Padillia and to frame Muslim soldiers for wrongdoing, but you soft-pedal a confirmed Christian bad guy? That's not only hypocrisy, but also bad government!

• Sixth, Ashcroft's scare tactics and fear-mongering go right up there along with another former US Senator by the name of Joe McCarthy. Osama bin PigBastard didn't need to send out tapes to scare Americans. John Ashcroft was doing it for him!

• Seventh, Ashcroft challenging the patriotism of his critics. Hey, you don't even have the AUTHORITY to challenge my love of country. And if you do, you better say it to my face so I can give you the appropriate response back at you.

Now despite these seven things that he did to harm America, Ashcroft did do two GOOD things. First, he helped resolve that matter with Microsoft. The "Better Bill" (Gates) was getting persecuted in the courts, and the DOJ under Ashcroft helped bring that to a quick end. Second, he changed federal policy in regards to private gun ownership. His people RECOGNIZED that the Second Amendment was designed to protect INDIVIDUALS by allowing gun ownership.

Unfortunately, Ashcroft's minuses destroyed any of his pluses.

Sadly, his departure will not fix all of the problems that he helped create. The endless persecution of American freedoms will continue. His people will still be in office, carrying on his crusades. Those $8000 curtains will still be in place after he's gone.

And worse yet, he's leaving thinking that he's done a good job for America. That's probably the biggest of insults to any freedom-lover in America. If it were up to me, his departure would begin with the following words: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you..."

No sympathy for Arafat

So Yasir Arafat is on death's door, huh?

Sorry, but I really don't have too much sympathy for him. This man has been the instigator of so much death and destruction, so much hate and venom, so much anti-Semitism, that the only thing that I can think of about his eminent passing is that he's getting off easy. He should shuffle off this mortal coil in the same way that his victims had to.... C4, bullets, shrapnel...

Of course maybe the reason why he's clinging to life is because he knows once he exits from this world that the next won't be filled with clear white rasins and virgins.

Oh, and forget trying to bury him in Jerusalem.

Update: 11/11/04 - Arafat died last night. The PLO already has a new leader. They didn't even wait for his body to get cold before putting another person in charge.

They will not be burying him in Jerusalem, although I'm sure the Palestinians will try multiple times to move his body there.

There has been more than one occasion where the Palestininans were actually offered their own country. The UN even proposed creating one just for them. Guess who blocked such ideas? That's right, Arafat did! Yeah, what a visionary this guy was! What a great leader for the cause! The Palestinians could have already been enjoying their own country right now if not for their "great leader" pissing it away.

THAT is Arafat's true legacy!

Aftermath 2004 - quick thoughts

Well, Election 2004 is over with... now it's time for Aftermath 2004.

• Hope everyone will tune in this weekend to hear my post-mortem of the Kerry campaign. Someone asked me if I'll be cremating the corpse and scattering the ashes... sorry, but I don't see any need for that. The DNC will do that all by themselves.

• Senate MINORITY Leader Tom Daschile got voted out. Nice! Sorry guys, but he was a demonic SOB who deserved to be voted out of office. Now the Dems will have to find another MINORITY Leader.

• The whole Georgia legislature will be under GOP control in January. I'm sure the Dems never saw that coming.

• The Republicans are SO full of themselves right now it's almost unbearable. You know, that's how most fights begin... by overbearing arrogance and attitude.

• Air America and Al Frankin are no doubt beside themselves right now... they were created for two purposes: to counter conservative radio show hosts and to tout John Kerry. Kerry lost. My advice, though, is to stay the course. Rush Limbaugh didn't fumble when Clinton took over in 1992. He actually got stronger because he was the voice of resistance. Frankin and company need to adopt that same tactic. You guys will now have to rally the resistance, keep them up to date with current events, keep them frosty, and get them ready to act when the opportunity arises.
  
  Hey, the VOR tactic works. Why do you think I still try to keep the old flames of Talk Liberty going?

• All of this talk about "healing" and "uniting" is basically crap. Republicans don't want to "heal" and "unite" the nation. They want the 49% of America who don't agree with them to SURRENDER. Just give up! Repent your sins and let yourself be assimilated into the GOP Collective. Resistance is futile. And if they can't do that, then the Republicans just want the rest of America to sit down, shut up, and let them run the country from now until the Apocalypse.
  
  And yes, since I did not SPECIFICALLY vote for Bush, the GOP is making the same demands of myself as well. To which, my reply is to kindly DROP DEAD.

• Bush Junior... or is that St. George?... is talking about possible cabinet changes. On the short list of possible departures: Secretary of State Colin Powell, Homeland Secretary Tom Ridge, Attorney General John Ashcroft.
  
  I actually would like Powell to stay. He's one of the few voices of reason over there... the problem being that he has to deal with a bunch of rabid Neo-cons.
  
  Ridge could go. Yes, he set the post up, but it's basically become just another overbearing bureaurcracy. Unfortunately any possible replacement will either be useless or else turn the department into the American version of the Gestapo.
  
  Ashcroft needs to go! His heavy-handed abuse of power is reason enough for him to be shown the door. Unfortunately if he leaves, his lieutenants will still be there causing havoc on Americans. The only way they would leave would be if Kerry won the election, and of course it didn't happen. Still, getting rid of Ashcroft would be a huge step forward.

Quick election thoughts...

So the 2004 Election Day is HERE! And I have a few quick thoughts...

• First, yes I DID VOTE! I showed up at 6:45am at the polling place and waited an hour in the morning drizzle to make it inside. Should have brought a book. (I'm currently reading "The Art of War", in case anyone is wondering.) Traffic around the area was a mess!

• Contrary to some of the video jokes, the Diebold machines did NOT play games with my ballot. I've been using electronic voting for several elections now, and I really don't see any problems with it. If anything, it's made voting easier and faster. I was done and back on the road by 8am. Only a 75-minute wait.

• If you haven't heard my election rant, please do so now! No, not because I'll be uploading the new rant tomorrow, but because it's important stuff!

• Watching the number of SUVs parked in drainage ditches made me realize that it was probably the most extreme situation that any of those drivers would EVER need an SUV! Meanwhile there was ample parking in the parking lot behind the polling place! (I should know, that's where I parked my car.)

• Osama bin PigBastard's speech: I was waiting for Bush Junior to say three little words that would have probably clinched his re-election. All he had to do was look straight at the camera and say "Dead Terrorist Hiding!" Guaranteed it would secure at least two more states. But, of course, he didn't. We need to stop pussyfooting around with trying to capture Osama.

• A good friend forward to me a link showing Bush Junior's "one-finger victory message". I thought it was a joke or something. Sure enough, it was for real. It was one of those "off-air" moments like Reagan's infamous "outlaw Russia" message.

• Prediction: I could see the election going in either direction. But like I said in my show, no matter which way it turns out, America is SCREWED! It's just a matter of whether we'll be screwed over by socialists or theocrats. At least the socialists won't try to claim that they're there because GOD told them to take over!

• Some people are speculating that rain will dampen the spirits of Democrats, thus allowing Bush Junior to win in those areas... because we all know that Republicans are just mind-nummbed robots doing whatever their leaders (Limbaugh, Hannity, Rove, Falwell, Robertson) tell them to do, no matter what the weather is like. How quickly they forget those days when the Dems would show up at nursing homes with busses. Besides, I think this election season has become too caustic to let a little rain spoil the election mood.

• The tenative title for this week's Brutally Honest Rant is "Aftermath 2004". Right now I'm working on notes for whomever will lose and why they lost.

• From the folks at the First Amendment Center:
  

  ''Election coverage without results is like pornography without nudity.''
  - Tom Shales television critic, The Washington Post, 2002

  
  

• The latest from Whazituya News: CBS News has now officially confirmed that the winner of the 2000 Election in Florida is... George W. Bush. Come back in 4 years to find out who won in 2004.*
  

  *Whazituya News: When news breaks, you buy it.