Lawrence O'Donnel claimed that Karl Rove leaked the identity of Valerie Plame to the press.
I don't really have a lot to say on the matter, but it's just creepy that this Administration will probably get off scott free on this, too.
OK, so I'm waiting for Visual Studio to load on my laptop and thought I'd condescend to fill y'all in on my week.
I was in Mathews this past weekend because Tasha's babysitting her parents' dog while they're in Alaska. So in order to get a good night's sleep for my first day at work Monday, I went home Sunday night. However, I didn't get into bed until 1:30 AM for some bizarre reason. Apparently, it's a pattern for me that I don't go to bed when I absolutely need to. So, whatever.
Monday morning went really smoothly. I got to work at about 7:45 AM and barely anybody was there (really small office). I finally introduced myself to somebody and got a small tour. People weren't in yet to help me w/ paperwork so I went out and got some coffee in the meantime.
Anyway, everybody was really nice. I got a bunch of free stuff like shirt, glasses, mugs, hats, etc. and was told to ask if I wanted something. There's free sodas and beers in the fridge. This may be par for the course for some of you readers out there, but after leaving my old job this was a total treat. Plus, they gave me a laptop my first day. So I can take it home and use it for whatever.
Tuesday I went back to Mathews after work and hung w/ Tasha and our friend John. I had to go to Tappahannock on my way to work Wednesday morning to pick up clothes for today because I was hanging out with Sara and Marissa that night. We went to Maggiano's, this awesome Italian place. While we were waiting I bought some clothes and Sara and I looked at furniture. Then we saw this wierd ass band called Special Ed and the Short Bus. It was like bluegrass stomp jug band music but on a record player that is broken and playing at 25 RPM.
I'm already on a project for a client, so I'm not having a lot of time at work to blog like I used to. Wish me luck!
Wow, it's been a while since I spoke up 'round these parts. I've been busy as hell. Friday was my last day at my old job, and I'm starting my new job on Monday. This past week was just about as hectic a work week as I've ever had. Even though I gave my old job three weeks notice, they kind of squandered two of them and saved just about all my tasking to the last week, so I was scrambling to get stuff done all week. But now it's finally all over, and I can look forward to getting my teeth cut on some hardcore .ASP, Java, and .NET programming. I can't wait to be doing programming on a more regular basis, rather than this fucking Systems Analysis stuff I was doing.
Some disappointing news: my friends, Brothers Past, said that they can't play my bachelor-esque party (I'm just throwing a party before the wedding, no strippers or anything tacky, so it's not REALLY a bachelor party - and especially since Tasha will be there). So I think my best man Matt will be setting up a party in Richmond with Copper Sails. I've seen them twice and enjoyed their music each time, and it should be a hell of a lot cheaper and easier to put on than BP.
Generally speaking, wedding planning is getting hot and heavy. We're putting deposits down on everything and starting to collect money from people. Tasha designed the invitations and they're going into production - she came up with a neat design and is doing them herself!
And then get the hell out of there, says Logan Ferree of Democratic Freedom:
I think that many liberals who believe that Kerry had to cast a vote in favor of the war are confused. They think that the American mainstream is jingoistic and imperialistic, so you've got to pretend to be a warrior. I'll offer an alternative version of the average America. While he's rather nationalistic, or should I use the more pc-term patriotic, he's also got a strong isolationist streak in him. Making the world a better place sounds like nice, but it depends on the cost. And it doesn't take much for the cost to be too high. Which is why the Iraq War and the President's handling of the situation is so unpopular right now. But defeat isn't an option, which is why the Democrats have been worried about calling for exit from Iraq. They don't want to be the ones to admit defeat. That's why we need to present this as a victory. We've won, our job is done, let's bring the boys back home.
I'm not sure I agree that it's a "victory", but I'd gladly accept (for the moment) whatever label Dems want to put on it if it gets our troops and country out of danger.
Check out this awesome homemade DJ rig for cassettes!
Wow, something from Russia that is cool. Not that prostitution and organized internet crime aren't cool. Just different.
Listen to The Arcade Fire: Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Like a cross between David Byrne and David Bowie, the Arcade Fire are simply the hottest thing I have heard come out in years. They sing with so much passion, and their compositions are intricate and immediate without being musically over-technical. Additionally, their lyrics are very diverse: they sing about everything from a troubled sibling to family breakdowns to (of course) love in its myriad projections. The Arcade Fire seem to be very interested in childhood and the family, and the experience of being young and thrown into the world with all these people who may or may not really love you. It's a refreshing blast of ice cold air in a music industry choked to death with overproduced, supercompressed love ballads. Like my friend Zippy once said, "They're the eighties band that never was," but they're so much more. Fusing rythmic, cure-like guitar work with violins, xylophones, and accordions, their lack of technical flair is far more than made up for by their musical vision. They are the first group I've heard from this century that paint a compelling and heart-wrinching picture that I can see, feel, and remember.
Sober, insightful commentary on the Federal Gov't and why they want Americans to suffer:
Why is it the American government so hates average Americans?BTW, Jonathan D. Morris is one of my favorite columnists and you should read his articles and like it.I'm not really being facetious here. I think a strong case can be made, based on this decision, that the government actually hates and despises ordinary people-that they, in fact, wish pain on us.
I've discussed a number of civil liberty issues in my column the last few years. We can argue all day about forced mental screenings and the Patriot Act. But this goes beyond civil liberties. It goes beyond federal thugs tapping your phone and rummaging through your sock drawer. This ruling gets to the basic core of human decency. Here you have people with terrible, painful afflictions, who smoke pot because, God forbid, it actually makes them feel better. And Washington wants to stop them? What the hell for? Do they like watching people with tumors writhe in pain? Is that somehow fun for them?
Further signs pointing to a controlled demolition of the 3 WTC towers:
Former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7. Reynolds, who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas and is now professor emeritus at Texas A&M University said, "If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling." Reynolds commented from his Texas A&M office, "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7. If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government's collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three buildings."
From the Antiwar.com blog:
Sixteen private American security guards are under investigation for shooting at U.S. Marines and Iraqi civilians during a three-hour spree west of Baghdad, the military said Thursday.
The Marines said the 16 Americans and three Iraqi contractors were arrested and held in a military jail for three days after spraying small arms fire at Iraqi civilians and U.S. forces from their cars in Fallujah late last month. There were no casualties.
[...]
A group of American security guards in Iraq have alleged they were beaten, stripped and threatened with a snarling dog by US marines when they were detained after an alleged shooting incident outside Falluja last month.
"I never in my career have treated anybody so inhumane," one of the contractors, Rick Blanchard, a former Florida state trooper, wrote in an email quoted in the Los Angeles Times. "They treated us like insurgents, roughed us up, took photos, hazed [bullied] us, called us names."
A Marine Corps spokesman denied that abuse had taken place and said an investigation was continuing. According to the marines, 19 employees of Zapata Engineering (ed: does this ring any bells, people?), including 16 Americans, were detained after a marine patrol in Falluja reportedbeing fired on by a convoy of trucks and sports utility vehicles. The marines also claim to have seen gunmen in the convoy fire at civilians.
This is believed to be the first time that private military contractors have been detained in Iraq by the US military, and it has reignited debate about their status and accountability.
Day after day, it just gets more sad and bizarre over there.
It is very awkward to walk into somebody's office and (basically) tell them you've found something better.
Just when you think we can't become any less American in the U.S.A., Congress has to outdo itself. Check this out:
Congressman Sensenbrenner's (R-Wis.) draconian mandatory minimum sentencing bill will have serious consequences for our democracy, requiring you to spy on all your neighbors, including going undercover and wearing a wire if needed. Refusing to become a spy for the government would be punishable by a mandatory prison sentence of at least two years.Click on this link to do something about it.If you "witness" certain drug offenses taking place or "learn" that they took place you would have to report the offense to law enforcement within 24 hours and provide "full assistance" in the investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of the people involved. Failure to do so would be a crime punishable by a mandatory two year prison sentence.
The first is the official one for the paper:
More engagement pics can be viewed here.
Catallarchy's Johnathan Wilde has a great post about why libertarians are much more comfortable in the blogosphere and the internet in general titled The Blogosphere's Chaos. It rings true to me - I love the dynamism and immediacy of this type of unregulated opinion. All you need is a bit of discretion and you can learn so much and read so much great, unfiltered writing!
Plus, since libertarians tend to have impeckible gramar and speling, who need editors anyway?
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