Dusting off this blog. This is a test post.

Judicial Activism
I haven't felt like posting here much lately. Thinking about the state of our country has drained me of a lot of energy.

Anyways, I'm posting to share this from the Unitarian Universalist website, a list of court decisions by so-called "activist judges.":

1948 Perez vs. Sharp (aka: Perez vs. Lippold)
California's Supreme Court rules by a 4-3 majority that banning interracial marriage is unconstitutional. At the time less than 10% of the country supports interracial marriage.

1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education
"Separate but equal" is ruled unconstitutional. The country takes a giant step toward racial justice and equality and away from two centuries of apartheid and slavery.

1963 Gideon vs. Wainwright
Americans are finally guaranteed the right to legal counsel when charged with a crime, regardless of wealth or education.

1965 Griswold vs. Connecticut
Planned Parenthood is given legal right to distribute contraception to married couples. This right is extended to single people in 1972.

1966 Miranda vs. Arizona
All citizens charged with crimes must be told their basic rights.

1967 Loving vs. Virginia
Interracial marriage becomes legal in all fifty states. Three-fourths of Americans still disapprove of interracial marriage a year later. Today over 77% of Americans support the right to marry the person one chooses, regardless of race.

1973 Roe vs. Wade
Women are given the right to control their own bodies and to make choices about when and whether to become a parent. This benefits both women's health as well as their employment and educational opportunities.

1999 Baker vs. State of Vermont
The Vermont Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples should have the same legal rights as other married couples in the state and orders the Vermont legislature to decide how best to guarantee this.

2003 Lawrence vs. Texas
Sodomy laws used primarily to discriminate against bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people are ruled unconstitutional. These laws had often been used to deny other rights.

2003 Goodridge vs. Massachusetts Department of Public Health
On November 18, 2003 the Supreme Court of Massachusetts rules that same-sex couples have the equal right to marry. The ruling will go into effect 50 years to the day after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. Some 27% of Americans favor equal marriage in the United States.

Riddle
Q: What is the difference between the Vietnam War and the current war in Iraq?

A: George W. Bush had a plan to get out of the Vietnam War.

Busy
OK, I used to updtae fairly often here and when I didn't have anything else to say, I'd just write down what I have done lately. While there is plenty I could say right now about different topics, I don't feel like writing about any of them, so....

Last Thursday, my gaming group had cancelled originally but Neil called in the afternoon and asked if I wanted to come over and play some Magic. So, we hung out and played several games with the cards from the new set, "Champions of Kamigawa." I like the new set, despite losing most of the games. We also played some X-Men Legends, which is a video game I can highly recommend to anyone who liked the Baldur's Gate PS2 games or Champions of Norrath.

Friday, I had off from work and spent the morning playing City of Heroes, the afternoon shopping with Carla and the evening with friends. Carla, Jarrod and myself all started Weight Watchers recently, so kudos to Patrick for cooking an excellent dinner that still managed to be low in points. After dinner, we went to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I had already seen it, but the others had not. They all said they enjoyed the movie and I am happy to say it was just as good the second time.

Saturday was the Buffy RPG. It seemed to go pretty well as the players started unravelling some mysteries left over from the last season.

Sunday was work. No excitement there. After work, I came home and played CoH. I put together a pick-up team to tackle some missions. Despite losing several team members half way through one of the missions, we did pretty well with our remaining members: myself playing a blaster, another blaster and a controller.

Last night, Carla, Kathy and I went to see Starhawk speak at Crazy Wisdom bookstore. Starhawk is the author of "The Spiral Dance," a book on Wicca that I had read years ago and only had vague memories of.

John Stewart Rocks!
John Stewart on Crossfire:

STEWART: See, the thing is, we need your help. Right now, you're helping the politicians and the corporations. And we're left out there to mow our lawns.
BEGALA: By beating up on them? You just said we're too rough on them when they make mistakes.

STEWART: No, no, no, you're not too rough on them. You're part of their strategies. You are partisan, what do you call it, hacks.


* * *

STEWART: I would love to see a debate show.
BEGALA: We're 30 minutes in a 24-hour day where we have each side on, as best we can get them, and have them fight it out.

STEWART: No, no, no, no, that would be great. To do a debate would be great. But that's like saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: Jon, Jon, Jon, I'm sorry. I think you're a good comedian. I think your lectures are boring.

STEWART: Yes.

CARLSON: Let me ask you a question on the news.

STEWART: Now, this is theater. It's obvious. How old are you?

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Thirty-five.

STEWART: And you wear a bow tie.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

CARLSON: Yes, I do. I do.

STEWART: So this is...

CARLSON: I know. I know. I know. You're a...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: So this is theater.

CARLSON: Now, let me just...

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: Now, come on.

STEWART: Now, listen, I'm not suggesting that you're not a smart guy, because those are not easy to tie.

CARLSON: They're difficult.

(LAUGHTER)

STEWART: But the thing is that this -- you're doing theater, when you should be doing debate, which would be great.

BEGALA: We do, do...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: It's not honest. What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery. And I will tell you why I know it.

CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you're accusing us of partisan hackery?

STEWART: Absolutely.

CARLSON: You've got to be kidding me. He comes on and you...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls.


* * *


STEWART: You know, the interesting thing I have is, you have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.

CARLSON: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think.

STEWART: You need to go to one.

The thing that I want to say is, when you have people on for just knee-jerk, reactionary talk...

CARLSON: Wait. I thought you were going to be funny. Come on. Be funny.

STEWART: No. No. I'm not going to be your monkey.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: Go ahead. Go ahead.

STEWART: I watch your show every day. And it kills me.

CARLSON: I can tell you love it.

STEWART: It's so -- oh, it's so painful to watch.


* * *


CARLSON: What's it like to have dinner with you? It must be excruciating. Do you like lecture people like this or do you come over to their house and sit and lecture them; they're not doing the right thing, that they're missing their opportunities, evading their responsibilities?

STEWART: If I think they are.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLSON: I wouldn't want to eat with you, man. That's horrible.

STEWART: I know. And you won't.


* * *


CARLSON: I do think you're more fun on your show. Just my opinion.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: OK, up next, Jon Stewart goes one on one with his fans...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.

copied and pasted from Tom Tomorrow's blog.

Victimless Leather?
It's a possibility.

More Proof....
...that the Republicans have no shame as they exploit 9/11 and, knowing that they can not win on the issues, try to use fear to win the election. Everyone has already heard Cheney's bit by now about making "the wrong choice" but its pretty obvious that this is now the party line.

[Terrorists]are going to throw everything they can between now and the election to try and elect Kerry.
-Orrin Hatch (R. Utah)

I don't have data or intelligence to tell me one thing or another, [but] I would think they would be more apt to go [for] somebody who would file a lawsuit with the World Court or something rather than
respond with troops.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.)

[Terrorists in Iraq] are trying to influence the election against President Bush.
-Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage

If George Bush loses the election,
Osama bin Laden wins the election.
Rep. Tom Cole (R. Okla.)

Final Fantasy VII

You are CLOUD. (My cat is named after you!) You're
a good person at heart, just a little confused
sometimes.


What Final Fantasy VII character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

On this day....
1950: Congress overrides President Truman's veto and passes the McCarran Internal Security Act, requiring registration of members of groups the Attorney General determines to be Communist fronts, and establishing of emergency concentration camps. Truman called the act "the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press, and assembly since the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798." Portions of the Act allowing exclusion of gays and lesbians from the U.S. are still on the books, and enforced at the borders.

Abe Lincoln Quote
We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end.
It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood. . . .
It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.
I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless.
The passage appears in a letter from Lincoln to (Col.) William F.
Elkins, Nov. 21, 1864.

In case everyone has not already realized the Bush strategy....
AP: 'U.S. death toll in Iraq passes 1,000 mark' ... 4:27 PM, Sept. 7th, 2004

AP: 'Ridge: Terrorists hope to disrupt election' ... 4:40 PM, Sept. 7th, 2004

Time to go on the attack!
Working for Change has a great argument today for why the Democratic Party and Kerry's campaign in particular needs to start firing back.

Quote
"A couple of weeks ago, out here on Broadway, a guy comes up to me and says, 'I'm a Navy surgeon. And I was on a ship off Iraq the night you made your speech at the Oscars and I was very angry at you. I remember yelling with the others at the screen. Now I just want to apologize. You were right. You were telling the truth.' And I said, 'Listen, you don't owe me any apology. Apologize for what? That you believed your Commander-in-Chief? That you believed the President of the United States? Why should you feel bad? You should believe the President, because if we can't believe our President we're in deep trouble. You don't have to apologize for anything.'"
--Michael Moore

A Letter to George W. Bush

August 26, 2004


It Takes Real Courage to Desert Your Post and Then Attack a Wounded Vet


Dear Mr. Bush,

I know you and I have had our differences in the past, and I realize
I am the one who started this whole mess about "who did what" during Vietnam when
I brought up that "deserter" nonsense back in January. But I have to hand it to
you on what you have uncovered about John Kerry and his record in Vietnam. Kerry has
tried to pass himself off as a war hero, but thanks to you and your friends, we
now know the truth.


First of all, thank you for pointing out to all of us that Mr. Kerry
was never struck by a BULLET. It was only SHRAPNEL that entered his body! I
did not know that! Hell, what's the big deal about a bunch of large, sharp, metal
shards ripping open your flesh? That happens to all of us! In my opinion,
if you want a purple heart, you'd better be hit by a bullet -- with your name on
it!


Secondly, thank you for sending Bob Dole out there and letting us
know that Mr. Kerry, though wounded three times, actually "never spilled blood."
When you are in the debates with Kerry, turn to him and say, "Dammit, Mr. Kerry,
next time you want a purple heart, you better spill some American red blood! And I
don't mean a few specks like those on O.J.'s socks -- we want to see a good pint
or two of blood for each medal. In fact, I would have preferred that you had
bled profusely, a big geyser of blood spewing out of your neck or something!" Then
throw this one at him: "Senator Kerry, over 58,000 brave Americans gave their lives
in Vietnam -- but YOU didn't. You only got WOUNDED! What do you have to say for
yourself???" Lay that one on him and he won't know what to do.


And thanks, also, Mr. Bush, for exposing the fact that Mr. Kerry
might have
actually WOUNDED HIMSELF in order to get those shiny medals. Of
course he did! How
could the Viet Cong have hit him -- he was on a SWIFT boat! He was
going too fast
to be hit by enemy fire. He tried to blow himself up three different
times just so
he could go home and run for president someday. It's all so easy to
see, now, what
he was up to.


What would we do without you, Mr. Bush? Criticize you as we might,
when it comes
to pointing out other men's military records, there is no one who
can touch your
prowess. In 2000, you let out the rumor that your opponent John
McCain might be
"nuts" from the 5 years he spent in a POW camp. Then, in the 2002
elections, your
team compared triple-amputee Sen. Max Cleland to Osama bin Laden,
and that cost
him the election. And now you are having the same impact on war hero
John Kerry.
Since you (oops, I mean "The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth!")
started running
those ads, Kerry's poll numbers have dropped (with veterans, he has
lost 18 points
in the last few weeks).


Some people have said "Who are you, Mr. Bush, to attack these brave
men
considering you yourself have never seen combat -- in fact, you
actively sought to
avoid it." What your critics fail to understand is that even though
your dad got
you into a unit that would never be sent to Vietnam -- and even
though you didn't
show up for Guard duty for at least a year -- at least you were
still IN FAVOR of
the Vietnam War! Cowards like Clinton felt it was more important to
be consistent
(he opposed the war, thus he refused to go) than to be patriotic and
two-faced.


The reason that I think you know so much about other men's war
wounds is because,
during your time in the Texas Air National Guard, you suffered so
many of them
yourself. Consider the paper cut you received on September 22, 1972,
while
stationed in Alabama, working on a Senate campaign for your dad's
friend (when you
were supposed to be on the Guard base). A campaign brochure appeared
from nowhere,
ambushing your right index finger, and blood trickled out onto your
brand new
argyle sweater.


Then there was the incident with the Crazy Glue when your fraternity
brothers
visited you one weekend at the base and glued your lips together
while you were
"passed out." Though initially considered "friendly fire," it was
later ruled that
you suffered severe post traumatic stress disorder from the assault
and required
certain medicinal attention -- which, it seems, was provided by
those same
fraternity brethren.


But nothing matched your heroism when, on July 2, 1969, you
sustained a massive
head injury when enemy combatants from another Guard unit dropped a
keg of Coors
on your head during a reconnaissance mission at a nearby all-girls
college.
Fortunately, the cool, smooth fluids that poured out of the keg were
exactly what
was needed to revive you.


That you never got a purple heart for any of these incidents is a
shame. I can
fully appreciate your anger at Senator Kerry for the three he
received. I mean,
Kerry was a man of privilege, he could have gotten out just like
you. Instead, he
thinks he's going to gain points with the American people bragging
about how he
was getting shot at every day in the Mekong Delta. Ha! Is that the
best he can do?
Hell, I hear gunfire every night outside my apartment window! If he
thinks he is
going to impress anyone with the fact that he volunteered to go when
he could have
spent the Vietnam years on the family yacht, he should think again.
That only
shows how stupid he was! True-blue Americans want a president who
knows how to
pull strings and work the system and get away with doing as little
work as
possible!


So, to make it up to you, I have written some new ads you can use on
TV. People
will soon tire of the swift boat veterans and you are going to need
some fresh,
punchier material. Feel free to use any of these:


ANNOUNCER: "When the bullets were flying all around him in Vietnam,
what did John
Kerry do? He said he leaned over the boat and 'pulled a man out of
the river.'
But, as we all know, men don't live in the river -- fish do. John
Kerry knows how
to tell a big fish tale. What he won't tell you is that when the
enemy was
shooting at him, he ducked. Do you want a president who will duck?
Vote Bush."


ANNOUNCER: "Mr. Kerry's biggest supporter, Sen. Max Cleland, claims
to have lost
two legs and an arm in Vietnam. But he still has one arm! How did
that happen? One
word: Cowardice. When duty called, he was unwilling to give his last
limb. Is that
the type of selfishness you want hanging out in the White House? We
think not.
Vote for the man who would be willing to give America his right
frontal lobe. Vote
Bush."


Hope these help, Mr. Bush. And remember, when the American death
toll in Iraq hits
1,000 during the Republican convention, be sure to question whether
those who died
really did indeed "die" -- or were they just trying to get their
faces on CNN's
nightly tribute to fallen heroes? The sixteen who've died so far
this week were
probably working hand in hand with the Kerry campaign to ruin your
good time in
New York. Stay consistent, sir, and always, ALWAYS question the
veracity of anyone
who risks his or her life for this country. It's the least that
person deserves.


Yours,


Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com


P.S. George, I know you said you don't read the newspaper, but USA
Today has given
me credentials to the Republican convention to write a guest column
each day next
week (Tues.-Fri.). If you don't want to read it, you and I will be
in the same
building so maybe I could come by and read it to you? Lemme know...

Do I sound little?
Something has bothered me for a while. A while back, when I worked at Interfirst, there was a person I dealt with over the phone almost daily. She worked at our sister company, Standard Federal, and we would call back and forth with diffeent issues all day long.

She showed up at a company party and I got to meet her face-to-face. She told me that she thought I would be smaller.

Now, I know I don't have a very deep voice, but do I sound like a small person? I never liked hearing my voice recorded but today I was checking a phone voice message I was leaving and as always, I winced at the sound of my own voice....and once again I wondered: Do I sound small?