I Just Love Me Some Cheney!

Yet another story about our cuddly VP's hilarious hi jinks. What will that crazy madcap rascal think of next? He's such a card... I just want to hug him. - Maltok 5

'A Different Understanding With the President'

By Barton Gellman and Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 24, 2007; Page A01

Just past the Oval Office, in the private dining room overlooking the South Lawn, Vice President Cheney joined President Bush at a round parquet table they shared once a week. Cheney brought a four-page text, written in strict secrecy by his lawyer. He carried it back out with him after lunch.

In less than an hour, the document traversed a West Wing circuit that gave its words the power of command. It changed hands four times, according to witnesses, with emphatic instructions to bypass staff review. When it returned to the Oval Office, in a blue portfolio embossed with the presidential seal, Bush pulled a felt-tip pen from his pocket and signed without sitting down. Almost no one else had seen the text.

Cheney's proposal had become a military order from the commander in chief. Foreign terrorism suspects held by the United States were stripped of access to any court -- civilian or military, domestic or foreign. They could be confined indefinitely without charges and would be tried, if at all, in closed "military commissions."

"What the hell just happened?" Secretary of State Colin L. Powell demanded, [more]

A Most Profitable Farce

From our good friend Chris Nelder. He crunches the numbers and worries late at night... so you don't have to! - maltok 5

2007-06-15
By Chris Nelder

I hope you’re watching the debate right now over the sprawling S.1419/H.R.6,12 ball of energy legislation in Congress, because if you aren’t, you’re missing some real comedy.

You can almost figure out which state a Congressman is from just by reading what he or she is saying.

Bashing wind power? Clearly from a coal state. Probably Illinois or West Virginia.

Bashing coal? Clearly from a solar state. Probably California or Nevada.

And so on. Those bills are already encumbered by some 20 amendments, and the debate only started Tuesday. It’s real-life comedy in earnest.

We’ll get to the “profit” part in a minute. But first we need “broad satire and improbable situations” to make it a true farce.

We don’t have to look too hard for that.

Take the battle over CAFE standards. They haven’t been updated since 1983, leaving America still grinding away with 210 million inefficient guzzlers. We set standards of 27.5 mpg for cars and 24 mpg for light trucks, and wound up with a fleet that gets about 20.4 mpg on average, while European cars are getting an average 40+ mpg and Japanese cars 45 mpg. [more]

Now Here Are Some Real Amurcans!

Happy Birthday, Habeas Corpus!!

Today, June 15th, marks the 792nd anniversary
of the writ of habeas corpus.*

There’s rarely been more at stake for our friend
Habeas Corpus than there is this year. So we’re
taking a moment to celebrate him and show him
we care. And you can be a part of the celebration.

Perhaps Our Last Hope Dances To The Beat Of An Internal Defibrillator

Some forward thinking folks may be on to something here. Who but the whining, knee jerk, elite, poo-poo head liberals would need to hide behind something like the Constitution anyway? The man is nothing if not dashing, muscular and oozes credibility. Do you think that in this picture he's asking where the Queen got her handsome hat? - M5

Dick's the Man: Dick Cheney 2008

America is under attack from people who hate our freedom, and the Democrats are every day growing bolder in their support of the kind of radical " 21st century fascism" practiced by the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Hugo Chavez, and in their attacks on our brave troops. Indeed, the situation is so dire for our country that some have begun to ask a very relevant question: is a military coup and dictatorship the only thing which could save this great land?

There is a much more positive solution for our country, and some are already beginning to recognize it: [more]

Governments Claim Timeshare Rights in Melting Arctic

It's staggering to think of the ramifications of what this article reports on. A new land rush of governments to claim waterways and land for when you humans melt all that ice up on top (and bottom) of your planet. Just think, a timeshare on the beach with imported GMO palm trees planted outside a wonderful fake plastic igloo condo building! Now that's a place to party, eh? One giant step for mankind...

Sleep well. - Maltok 5

From OnThe Commons.org

Reclaiming a True Global Commons in the Arctic Melt

Posted by Kathryn Milun on Wed, 05/09/2007 - 1:22pm

New territorial claims on islands and sea-routes emerging as the Arctic icecaps melt might make you laugh if you could forget the last 500 years of Euro-American expropriation and colonization. (See “Arctic Ice Melts Create New Land Rush” by Robert J. Miller, May 7, 2007.) With global warming we have a ludicrous display of national patrimony along with the usual international theft. Denmark, Canada and Russia are dispatching warships to hoist flags on frozen tundra. Bottles of brandy have been buried as proof of discovery and claim. The U.S. is also making claims in the region on behalf of an international community eager to see the emerging waterways as “neutral,” open access global commons whose assets are ready for the taking by First World nations and multinational corporations. Folks, what is this nonsense of flag raising and bogus international commons all about?

In the wake of global warming there is a vast water and land grab now taking place under the guise of international law. Who are the rightful owners of the right-of-way, resources, and wealth potential now surfacing along with the disastrous effects of global warming in the Arctic region? Can the legal tradition of a global commons be invoked at the international level to secure justice in this new domain? [more]

D'oh!!

A choice article from Chris Nelder of the GetReal List and Energy and Capital.
Excerpted from Energy and Capital.

There’s a Hole in the Bucket

2007-05-18
By Chris Nelder

That does it. Time to set this record straight.

If I get one more email petition asking me not to buy gasoline on some day or another, or from one company or another, I'm gonna scream.

Some consumers actually decided not to buy gasoline yesterday, because an email chain letter suggested that if enough of them stayed away from the pumps on May 15, it would bring prices down.

Get a grip, people.

Such tactics could never reduce the price of gasoline. And that chain letter has been going around since 1999.

One instance claimed that if all 72 million MySpace users participated in the "gas-out," it would bring the oil companies to their knees by depriving them, at $30/tankful, of $2 billion in revenue that day. (Huh, I only wish I could fill up my tank for $30!)

Eeeyeah . . .

Before I get into this flawed math, allow me to cite yet another nursery rhyme . . . after all, everything we needed to know we learned in kindergarten, right?

Sing along, now: [more]

FREE the evil galactic overlord named XENU

Isn't it time to let Xenu go free? He's been locked up for 75 million years. So what if he blew up trillions of people, implanted their souls into our human bodies and this is now the main cause of all our problems today. Hey, we all make mistakes.

Xenu and I, Maltok 5 have been sworn enemies for the last 36 million years, (but who's counting?) I think it's finally time to bury the hatchet. -Maltok 5
Satire.

read more | digg story

Consumans - Not A Pretty Picture

Boy, the raw consumption of humans is always astounding, but when depicted in artistic form, brings the sheer volume home... with a vengeance. Check out these beautiful and terrifying art pieces by artist Chris Jordan; and be sure to "zoom in." Thanks to Chris Nelder of the GetRealList and Energy and Capital for posting this on his venerable energy blog. Now get back to consuming... the world won't end itself now, will it? -Maltok 5


Running the Numbers
An American Self-Portrait
By Chris Jordan

This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. [more]

The Man In Black

I dig this track. -maltok


Lyrics: Man Comes Around (by Johnny Cash)
There's a man going around taking names
And he decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won't be treated all the same
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down
When the Man comes around

The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup
Will you partake of that last offered cup?
Or disappear into the potter's ground
When the Man comes around

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling, voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

Till Armageddon no shalam, no shalom
Then the father hen will call his chickens home
The wise man will bow down before the throne
And at His feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the Man comes around

Whoever is unjust let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteous let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down
When the Man comes around

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling and voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's very hard to kick against the pricks

In measured hundred weight and penney pound
When the Man comes around.

Close (Spoken part)
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
And I looked and behold, a pale horse
And his name that sat on him was Death
And Hell followed with him.

Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right...

Full left ain't the answer neither... Chavez is one to look out for. But at least he's more direct about nationalizing/shutting down the TV network; your rights and liberties are just being taken over slowly and oh so much more subtley ... so that you don't notice.

From the Washington Post:

Dead Air in Caracas

By Jackson Diehl

Monday, May 14, 2007; Page A15

For years defenders of Venezuelan President Hugo Ch?vez have harped on what they described as the domination of the country's independent media by his opponents -- proof, it was said, that Ch?vez was no dictator. Two weeks from today that argument will lose all credibility. By then, Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, Venezuela's most popular television network, will almost certainly be off the air -- on Ch?vez's personal order.

A lot has been happening in Venezuela the past few months. Having obtained the power to rule by decree from a rubber-stamp congress, Ch?vez has nationalized telecommunications and electricity companies, taken over oil fields developed by multinationals, and formed a single pro-regime political party. For Venezuelans, however, the loss of RCTV will be the greatest shock. For 53 years the television network has been a national institution, counted on for its wildly popular soap operas and variety shows as well as for its news coverage. It was on RCTV that Venezuelans saw Neil Armstrong step onto the moon in 1969, the first live-from-satellite broadcast in the country's history.

more

A Good Link For Those Less Cynical

Now here's a nice Terran who's out putting it out there and giving some solid basic info on what can be done to maybe turn some things around. - Maltok

https://www.perpetualgreen.com/ (Will open in new window)