Am I the only one to notice that the heads of three of the four branches of government have been incapacitated in the past few days? We have Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts felled by a siesure, W with a camera up his butt and Cheney with a replacement battery for his ticker. So, what’s next for Nancy Pelosi?
There is a great threat to America, one right here on our soil. It threatens the very fabric of the Constitution which defines this nation and its people. It is a runaway administration which has circumvented the courts, ignored the elected body of Congress and redefined the laws to serve its on ends.
On July 17th with a stroke of the pen, President Bush annulled parts of the fifth, sixth and fourteenth amendments of our Constitution [Ed. Note: See Below]. He signed an executive order which essentially erased the implicit idea of presumption of innocence and the due process of the law protecting property. This infamous piece of paper is known as: Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq. It is the duty of all Americans regardless political affiliations to demand it to be scrapped. To lose constitutional rights, rights which are self evident and our heritage, we lose what it means to be Americans.
Remind me again why we granted statehood to Alaska and Hawaii (just kidding)…
US senators today made a bipartisan call for the universal implementation of filtering and monitoring technologies on the Internet in order to protect children at the end of a Senate hearing for which civil liberties groups were not invited.Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Vice Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) both argued that Internet was a dangerous place where parents alone will not be able to protect their children.
US Senators call for universal Internet filtering | Press Esc
Every once in a while the US Patent and Trademark Office gets one right. They have just done so by tossing out four patents previously awarded to Monsanto:
Monsanto has filed dozens of patent infringement lawsuits asserting the four challenged patents against American farmers, many of whom are unable to hire adequate representation to defend themselves in court. The crime these farmers are accused of is nothing more than saving seed from one year’s crop to replant the following year, something farmers have done since the beginning of time.
PUBPAT > Monsanto Patents Asserted Against American Farmers Rejected By Patent Office
By way of Heading East:
Fourth Street was abuzz on Sunday when neighbors awoke to find a woman — in full wedding attire — apparently asleep on a ledge above the door of a Park Slope brownstone.
The Brooklyn Paper: The ‘bride of Fourth Street’: Sleeping beauty has block abuzz
I was totally blown off course and beached on the sands of emotion tonight when I received this message in my personal email account:
From: “A Friend”
Subject: Theresa Duncan
I’m a freelance writer with an assignment to write about her recent death–did you know her very well?
I am shocked!!
I have known Theresa on-line for about a year, and always found her blog, The Wit Of The Staircase, to be a pleasant diversion, a reliable guide, and a valuable window into areas of interest which I would not otherwise have followed. She taught me about the importance of scent and the art of parfum, the proper place of art criticism and the value of the use of the third person.
Theresa was so young, barely 40, and now her husband, Jeremy Blake, has followed her into the abyss of suicide. I know not why for either. I have abandoned the third person here, because this is just so abjectly personal that there is no way that the third person could do her and Jeremy the honor that they deserve for the contributions that they made in life, and the promise that they left us. I am so, so upset and pissed off at them both right now.
Sleep well, my young and foolish friends, my children of the staircase. I will never forget you.
ABC News fires off a rapier quip at the over-polished Romney campaign:
Former governor Mitt Romney’s camp is wasting no time in seeking to capitalize on McCain’s bad news. Politico’s Jonathan Martin gets a hold of an e-mail circulated among Romney’s Michigan supporters that reveals the behind-the-scenes poaching. “We are currently reaching out to our friends who are supporters of the Senator’s to see if sometime in the future they may wish to join our Grassroots team.” Good that “Grassroots” is capitalized — makes it sound really official.
The Note: Iraq Policy at Standstill Despite Unease
Okay, not blow, exactly, but a good old bum wiggle:
SALEM, Ore. — A Marion County judge said lap dances in Salem are protected by the free speech provisions of the Oregon Constitution.Judge Albin Norblad’s ruling struck down a city ban Friday on “prohibited touching” — sexually exciting physical contact for pay.
The case involves 24-year-old Laurel Guillen, a dancer at a Salem club called Cheetah’s, who gave a lap dance to an undercover officer in 2005.
Salem residents hoping to limit Salem strip club activity called the ruling a setback. They said they hope to get a measure on the ballot to amend the state constitution to strengthen local government regulation of strip clubs.
Cheetah’s does not serve alcohol and is open to people 18 and older.
Salem City Attorney Randall Tosh declined comment but said the city would review the ordinance and consider an appeal.
Judge: Lap Dances Protected By Constitution – News Story – KPTV Portland
My friend Geri sent me this link to her blog over at the Good News Network: about Mika Brzezinski refusing to cover Paris Hilton. Way to go Mika!
Mika Brzezinski is my new hero! The MSNBC anchorwoman refused to read a Paris Hilton story chosen as the lead for her morning newscast this week. This video shows her trying to burn the script and finally ripping it, and later shreading an updated copy. The public protest against her editors’ news judgement has brought her praise from both viewers and media professionals alike. She says, “I had one woman send me an email that said she was weeping tears of joy that someone finally took a stand… We were making a statement on our show. I hope it will start to change something… We need to have an open discussion about what is news and what is not.”
Good News Network – Editor’s Blog
My letter to Michael Moore:
I just saw you on “Now” and you make an impassioned case for eliminating the health care insurance industry, the largest extractive industry in this country, and yet you keep talking about getting everyone “covered”. Why don’t you talk about getting everyone “care” or “treatment” or “cured”? If we eliminate the insurance industry, we eliminate “coverage” and can just focus on care!
Keep up the good work!
Let’s see what happens…
…Follow Up: I immediately got this message back:
----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- <mmflint@aol.com> ----- Transcript of session follows ----- ... while talking to air-xa02.mail.aol.com.:RCPT To:<mmflint@aol.com><<< 552 mmflint MAILBOX FULL 554 <mmflint@aol.com>... Service unavailable
Oh well…try again later.
Bad Behavior has blocked 411 access attempts in the last 7 days.