CMoore.com

Hard, hard, hard work. Luckily, you can outsource your torture to an ally.

Seven months before Sept. 11, 2001, the State Department issued a human rights report on Uzbekistan. It was a litany of horrors.

The police repeatedly tortured prisoners, State Department officials wrote, noting that the most common techniques were “beating, often with blunt weapons, and asphyxiation with a gas mask.” Separately, international human rights groups had reported that torture in Uzbek jails included boiling of body parts, using electroshock on genitals and plucking off fingernails and toenails with pliers. Two prisoners were boiled to death, the groups reported. The February 2001 State Department report stated bluntly: “Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with limited civil rights.”

Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, however, the Bush administration turned to Uzbekistan as a partner in the global fight against terrorism.
…
Now there is growing evidence that the United States has sent terror suspects to Uzbekistan for detention and interrogation, even as Uzbekistan’s treatment of its own prisoners continues to earn it admonishments from around the world, including from the State Department.

It’s the showdown of the century, nay the millenium! Bush! Wang! Who will be the winner?!? 3 million years of evolution have led to this moment. I, for one, am waiting with bated breath.

Update: Bush is better. I’m comfortable with that. I’ve always liked Bush better than Wang.

Otherwise identical rape victims in private Catholic hospitals in Colorado are receiving different treatment based on their ovulation cycle.

Imagine two rape victims taken to the same hospital emergency room. Imagine them put in adjoining examination rooms.

Let’s say they have identical injuries.

Presume everything about them is the same except for where they are in their menstrual cycles.

Do they deserve access to the same medical treatment?

At most Catholic hospitals in Colorado, they can’t get it.

The protocol of six Catholic hospitals run by Centura calls for rape victims to undergo an ovulation test.

If they have not ovulated, said Centura corporate spokeswoman Dana Berry, doctors tell the victims about emergency contraception and write prescriptions for it if the patient asks.

If, however, the urine test suggests that a rape victim has ovulated, Berry continued, doctors at Centura’s Catholic hospitals are not to mention emergency contraception. That means the victim can end up pregnant by her rapist.

Hmm… how do I say this politely? I can’t. So, here goes: fuck you you fucking fucktard Cathofuckinlics and your fuckwad fucking conservative fuckface motherfucking friends.

Don’t they realize, they’re just increasing the numbers of abortions? Don’t they ever look in the mirror? Intolerance? Jesus freaks? Alan Keyes’ daughter is a lesbian. Dick Cheney’s daughter is a lesbian. I can’t even begin to imagine how many of these people’s daughters have had to have an abortion after one of the Kennedys raped ‘em. Just mind-boggling, gobsmacking, patriarchal evil here.

Fer fuck’s sake, people.

BUSH: One other point on Social Security that people have got to understand is that the system of today is not fair for a person whose spouse has died early.

In other words, if you’re a two-working family, like a lot of families are here in America, and two people working in your family, and the spouse dies early — before age 62 for example, then when the other spouse retires, he or she gets to choose the benefits from his or her own work or the other spouse’s benefits,,,,,but not both.

See what I’m saying? Somebody who’s worked all their life, the money they put into the system just goes away. It seems unfair to me.

Does George not understand that Social Security has more in common with an insurance policy, than it does a bank account? How about the person who dies and leaves a wife a children who have never worked? Those people receive survivor benefits but only the worker and the worker’s employer have paid in. That might not be fair in the GOP’s opinion, but the system is doing what it was intended to do……give them an entitlement safety net. Of course, during the 2000 campaigne George riduculed Al Gore for thinking that Social Security is a Federal Program.

So, the GOP mentality is that it should be a savings bank, and that one worker with his/her own social security should be able to draw a second social security check of another worker. I’m not sure THAT sounds fair.

Here is something that is not being discussed but it should be. Dr. David G Bronner, head of the Retirement Systems of Alabama presented an idea in an editoral entitled Social Security –Part II which appeared in the April Edition of the RSA Advisor.

Bronner, who transformed the Alabama Retirement system into a money making machine recommeds two major changes in social security. First he says to raise the $90,000 cap on the Social Security tax. Let the wealthy pay the same flat rate as the working stiff.

Second, if the GOP wants a market based retirement account, then let them do with social security taxes as Alabama has done with the state retirement dollars and invest in the ecomony. Bronner’s proposal would have professional money managers investing social security taxes in stocks, bonds, real estate etc. and getting a return of 200 to 400 percent more than simply buying treasury bonds. This is the way Bronner has been doing business with Alabama’s retirement fund, and his system has saved the state of Alabama millions upon millions of dollars and rescued a retirement system that was on the verge of not being able to pay promised benefits.

Bronner argues that with Social Security invested in the economy, you would do away with automatic cost of living raises and make adjustments on an adhoc basis. When the fund is doing well, you increase benefits, and when it is doing less well you don’t.

Why not take a look at this solution, George?? You might actually earn so much money that you could REDUCE TAXES and then your buddies could put THAT MONEY into individual retirement accounts.

In last night’s press conference Preznit Bush made the following statement:

That’s exactly what I’ve been saying to the American people. Ten years ago, if we’d have had an energy strategy, we would be able to diversify away from foreign dependence.

Ten years ago, George?? We had a working energy strategy Thirty Years ago. We had a 55 mile per hour speed limit. We had Corporate Average Fuel Economy that was to keep fleet fuel economoy averages at 27.5 miles per gallon. We had alternative energy development strategies. What happened to all of that?

Ten years ago a Republican Congress repealled the federal 55 mile per hour speed limit law. Its unfortunate that it sailed through into law without opposition from President Clinton, but don’t try to put the blame for a lack of an energy policy on the previous administration which is what you are trying to do with your 10 year time frame.

CAFE is failing because your redneck and corporation buddies wanted pickup trucks and SUVs exempted from it. So, now we have lots of fuel inefficient vehicles out on the road. Why don’t you just tighten up and do away with the two fleet rule?

Geroge, each of your budgets has reflected a policy of slowly bleeding support for renewable energy and energy efficiency. – a policy the Alliance to Save Energy says is the ‘wrong approach at the wrong time.’ Instead of funding, these sources, you choose to go after non renewable sources at the expense of the environment. I guess your Saudi buddies don’t have any stock holdings in hydro electric production. At any rate, it is dishonest to place the blame on others when you are systematically destroying programs that were meant to address the energy crisis and divert oil profits from your good supporters.

Pentagon officials say a new Army manual on interrogation techniques will prohibit the kind of abuse revealed last year at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. The new rules take into account lessons learned at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo. This information was reviewed with the Senate armed services committee.

Pentagon officials stressed that the command structure had been found blameless for the abuses that occurred but the new rules would help prevent future abuses.

Former POW Senator John McCain quipped during the hearing,

“So, we didn’t do anything wrong, but we won’t do it again??“.

Its always entertaining to listen to George, just to hear what is going to spill out of his mouth when his mouth is in high gear and his brain is reverse.

While talking about his wonderful ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS LEFT BEHIND law, George told America that he wants to measure LITERACY IN MATH.

You know, simply objectives, like literacy, literacy in math, the ability to read and write.–Preznit Bush

Expounding on his proposed energy policies, the Preznit gave us all a good lesson in physics when he explained that we needed special ships to transport liquid natural gas because it had to be converted to its “solid form” for shipping.

Gas can only be transported by ship, though, when you liquefy it, when you put it in solid form. –Preznit Bush

The prez said that he dosn’t pay attention to polls. Translation: “I don’t give a crap what y’all think”.

In attempting to convey to American People just how many folks could expect to be means tested out of their social securtiy benefits, Mr. Bush said:

“As a Democrat economist had a very — he put forth this idea. And he had a level of — I think 30 percent of the people would be considered to be on the lower income scale”.

Gee, how much more clear and concise can you get than our beloved Preznit, huh?

“That’s right. I mean, obviously it is means-based when you’re talking about lower income versus wealthier income (wealthier income??) The lower- income people’s benefits would rise faster.”

. Translation: “I’m going to cut benefits by freezing them at current levels for all but a few.”

Wiretaps in U.S. Jump 19 Percent in 2004.

The number of court-authorized wiretaps jumped 19 percent last year as investigators pursued drug and other cases against increasingly tech-savvy suspects. Every surveillance request made by authorities was granted.

All of them? Every single one?!? Wait a minute…

The numbers, released Thursday, do not include court orders for terror-related investigations under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, which reached a record 1,754 warrants last year, according to the Justice Department.

So, figure double the reported number. I’m sure glad we’ve got civil liberties-respecting non-fascists in charge, aren’t you?

Darth Vader has a blog. Good times.

Darth Vader and the stinking, rotten, terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Do you ever have one of those days where you find yourself asking, “Hey, I know I’m bad, but what did I do to deserve this?”

Have I mentioned before that I am surrounded by idiots? Let me cut to chase and just tell you up front: the rebels got away. All of them. General Veers, bless his heart, must have destroyed two dozen armed speeders and and an entire line of infantry — but those were just ants. We failed to take Mothma, Organa, Rieekan, Skywalker or even the traiterous fish Ackbar.

Because insecure morons write questions such as the following:

My husband is serving a two-year prison sentence for simple assault resulting from a bar fight in which he was physically attacked by two women. They struck first, leaving bloody gouges and deep bite marks on him, yet they were never charged because they are women – it was automatically assumed that he initiated the fight. Do you think it’s fair for society to have this double standard – shouldn’t women be held accountable for their actions, too?

Why yes I think society should have a double standard! Thanks for framing the issue so clearly for me! You see, I believe men such as your husband should be allowed to get high on crank, go to titty bars, drink 4 gallons of whiskey and sexually assault two dancers. Those bitches had it coming. They shouldn’t have worn those thongs.

My story is probably not unusual. I have become smitten with a client. I am in my early 50s, although most people mistake me for much younger. Three years ago I began working with a client 14 years my junior. I thought he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen … [blah blah blah] … Eventually I had to call him with some very bad news about the death of another person involved in our work. I broke down crying while telling him, promising him that I would cry if he died, too. His girlfriend at the time had moved away … I am terrible at knowing how or when to take the step to move a relationship toward more intimacy. … The girlfriend moved back after a year, and I hear it is serious. I can’t help wondering if things would be different if I had been clearer about my feelings.

My guess? This woman is an attorney. Only we attorneys are this socially retarded and write 500-word questions. First of all, lady, you missed your chance. You could’ve boned the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen, could’ve been boning him for 3 years. But no, you’re too much of an emotional coward to even so much as, you know, date this angelic creature, this visage of loveliness that has your heart all atwitter.

You snooze, you lose. Too bad, so sad. He’s obviously not into you or he would’ve put the moves on you while he was single; you were his comforting mother figure after his girlfriend left him. You comforted, but there was no sex in y’alls champaign room, so that’s all you’ll ever be, soft mother. He’s back with his ex and he’s gettin hitched, Mrs. Robinson! Deal.

Prudie says go for it. I say go for it too, because then you’ll write in some 3000-word question full of despair and tales of woe about how your poor little heart was torn asunder by Apollo here, how you took a chance and it didn’t work and now you’re just crying because if you’d done it 2 years ago, you’d be with Adonis every night but now you’ll never take another chance again so long as you live… at least until you meet the next impossible relationship guy upon which you can have a crush and cast all of your feelings upon because you know they can never become a reality.

President John Adams said that George Washingnton’s sword would have been wielded in vain, had it not been for the pen of Thomas Payne. Payne stirred up the cry for revolution with his booklet Common Sense. He was the first to use the words United States of America and the first to suggest in writing that the separate states be unified into a nation. He not only participated in the American Revolution but took his fight against tyranny across an ocean and participated in the French Revolution as well.

So, what did this founding father have to say about Xianity?? Try this:

I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.

Hey, that pretty much sums up how I feel about James Kennedy, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell so I guess the churches haven’t changed much since the time of Thomas Payne.

This view of religion is exactly why the first ammendment to the constitution was written. The fact that religion still seeks to enslave, and to monopolize power and profit is why our GOP brethern want so very much to have their religion incorporated into our public institutions.

Said on NPR today, that MS didn’t change their position, they just chose not to get involved.

Which is complete and utter horseshit. Shame on you, Gates. What kind of pussy monopoly are you if you can’t stand up to one threatened boycott?

What, you need another reason to use Free/Open software? Or even a Mac? Ditch the doze, now!

I’ve got your mandate, right here, with tongue even.

Holding hands with the #5 worst dictator in the world. Awwww, brings a tear to my eye. The best parody, though, is from electablog:

One of the problems with a democracy is that individual freedoms can be subject to the whims of the majority. Men and women elected to the legislative bodies often act in a manner that will get them re-elected and not necessarily in a manner that protects the rights and freedoms of all of our citizens. The GOP is proving itself to be the American Taliban, trampling the rights or attempting to trample the rights of those who don’t buy into their religious agenda.

There is relatively little tolerance for difference of opinion in our democracy. The majority, no matter how slim their majority really is, insist that they have a mandate. They back this up with maps that misrepresent the relative equality in numbers by showing massive amounts of red territory with small splotches of blue. Now they proceed to roll over the opposition.

One thing in our government that has limited tyranny by the majority is the filibuster. This weapon has allowed the minority to exercise some control to keep the majority from running rough shod over the rights of all. With the filibuster in place, the majority must give some due consideration to working with the minority. Without it, the majority is free to impose its will without restraint.

Teams carrying 12 pitchers. Why? This is so unnecessary. For that matter, so’s the 5-man pitching staff, but we’ll come back to that later. For 12 pichers, that means 5 starters and 7, count ‘em, 7 relievers. I can guarantee you that 12th pitcher is going to not be very good, probably replacement level at best. Say you have 3 relievers that are the key ones – closers, stoppers, whatevers. Then you need 2 guys to spell the key 3 and/or do longer stints. Then you need 1 swingman (long reliever/spot starter).

That’s it. With a 5-man pitching staff, that totals 11 pitchers. With a 4-man rotation, that makes 10. Now you take that extra one or two roster spots and you use it on hitters. Hitters who are both more versatile and more predictable than the pitchers. You can go for multiposition super utility, you can go for the “big cocksucker who hits the three-run homerun,” you can go for that third catcher you’ve always wanted, or what have you. It’s the difference between carrying Blaine Neal and Kevin Youkilis. The difference between Matt Thornton and Chris Snelling. The point being that having more hitters provides more flexibility and better performance than the 12th pitcher.

Then again, I’m just agreeing with Earl Weaver. What would he know about it, anyway?