Well, who wouldda thunk it, reason prevails after eight years of giving an idjet and a failure the reigns of the country and having him blow a balanced budget with billions in the bank by spending trillions on bribes tax cuts, more on a ruinous war, and then more on an economic bail-out that rewards the financial failures (with our money) for the mess they created in the first place rather than burning them at the stake. Oh, and God only knows what "W"'s buddies made off with over the years (hey, I'm looking at you Cheney and Halliburton and all the rest of you smiling bastards!).

So, why don't we try something new? How about pulling together, all in one direction, to get us out of the present mess? Sound too smart for politics as usual? Yeah, I know, it's the idealist in me who hates to throw in the towel. I'm alright Jack, keep your hands off my stack... But seriously, I bet we can do it. Yes, we can!

In any case, congratulations President-elect Barack Obama. You've got quite a job ahead of you. And congratulations America!

American Politics has recently gone from the lofty idealisms of our Founding Fathers to the rape of almost everything that they stood and fought for. Our freedoms are attacked almost daily, not by terrorists from the outside but from the inside by our own Congress collaborating with our President; tax breaks do little but feed the economic divide between the rich and the poor; No Child Left behind has bought nothing for our children but inflexible agendas focused on scores instead of learning; and an illegal war against an enemy that didn't need fighting has left the architect of "9/11" sitting in a smelly cave, I suppose, but well enough and quite alive.

And now we're actually looking at electing McBush and his shiny new ultraconservative lipstick wearing VP?!

You're actually telling me, America, that after eight years of Bush you're still not tired of the Iraq war and the disastrous economic policies and the ceaseless assault on our ideals and liberties? You're ready for more of this shit?

For anyone not remembering it, back in 2000 we had a huge surplus and actually stood a chance of paying down our national debt, finally; today we are further in the hole than ever before in our 230+ year history. We're fucked as it is, but we're ready to blow more of the money we don't have? Money our children won't have available because it's all going to fucking Iraq, which we blew up in the first place? Awesome job, that one.

If only we had actually found that Bin Laden guy, for all that time and money and the thousands of American (not to mention Iraqi!) lives it cost us, but I guess we have to make our choices, being all but fucking broke as a nation, eh?

I don't know about you, but I think McCain deserves about 25% of the vote, that being those who are either making out too damn well under Bush's plan and don't give a shit about the long view, or those who are just fanboiz of the word 'republican' and have no regard for what it's come to mean for our nation.

Oh, John McCain is a "maverick"? He'll bring change to Washington?

Guess what? I've heard that shit before. George W. Bush was going to bring change to Washington, too. He sure as shit did, you know, he wiped his ass with the Constitution, blatantly ignored the balanced interplay between the judicial, legislative, and executive branches by ignoring the other two (with help from the legislative branch, who are far from blameless in this whole charade, of course!), and reducing our standing among nations to that not unlike a man among his peers who has inexplicably gone off the deep end and ruined his reputation, almost forever.

And we want more of that? More economic ruin? More war? More of the big divide between the have and the have-nots? More decaying reputation, more fear, more uncertainty, more economic failures, more of all the shit we've endured for eight years?

Dang. If Obama doesn't win by a fucking landslide then I suppose that proves without a doubt that people^H^H^H^H^H^HAmericans are stupid.

If this were the first of April, I'd give no credence to the news, but it's a good many weeks too late for an April's Fool joke, so I'm a bit speechless to read and hear what I would never have thought to see, namely Microsoft's adoption of ODF (OASIS Open Document Format) and Adobe's PDF before the inclusion of their own troubled OOXML format in Office 2007.

What's the world coming to when not even Microsoft can be counted on to be stubborn to the point of stupidity, and suddenly joins the ranks of the sensible?!

The mind boggles.

Dear Al'Qaida --

Thank you for attempting to terrorize the "Free World". We, the powerful and the rich, who set policy and control so much of the world's culture and wealth, we benefit immensely from your alleged attempt to destroy us. The fear you cast into the hearts of the people solidifies our power structures, it feeds our purses, and it allows us to attack other nations based on even the feeblest assertion that they have or had something to do with your activities. Yes, indeed, thank you.

Even better, you are helping us now undermine the unity of the Arab states, predominantly in Iraq. We got rid of that annoying Saddam Hussein, smashed Iraq's infrastructure, and with your help sank the country into a civil war that should keep Iraq from becoming a major player in the foreseeable future. With your continued help we'll keep the racket going for a few more decades. Please keep stirring the pot with us. It's driving up the price of our stock and pushes forward our research into advanced weaponry that other nations want to buy from us at exorbitant prices. We really love the feel of that cold hard cash you're earning us. Yes, indeed, thank you very much!

And in closing, we hope Mr. Bin Ladin's dialysis machine is in good repair and our cinematic invasion of Afganistan wasn't too distressing for him and his Taliban friends. If you provide us similar help in other places that need kicking down in the future, we'll be able to keep the world's attention away from Afganistan for a good while longer. It's a win-win for all of us, wouldn't you agree? Thank you in advance. Bye now.

SCO looks to me like the black knight in Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail, affecting a competent stance and a powerful image at first, but quickly revealing himself to be as clueless as they come and unwilling to face the facts as each blow of the battle cost him another limb. SCO is much like that black knight, reduced to a joke at our feet, unable to ever get up again.

Next up, Darl McBride will declare it a draw.

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries—including Iran and China—who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department's surplus auction. The sales included fighter jet parts and missile components.

Even though some effort is made to prevent such sales, it seems far more important to the U.S. government to get rid of these surpluses for some of that lovely hard cash currency than to ensure that they will not end up in the wrong hands.

Bottom line: The U.S. seems to supply indirectly some of those terrorists we're supposed to be fighting. Nice!

Might as well toss out a conspiracy theory that's far too complex, most likely, for its own good; Fact: U.S. is biggest arms producer in the world, needs to keep the business going. Conflict around the world is good for the U.S., therefore: not only does it keep us in business, but it keeps us calling the shots and everyone else crazy enough to blow shit up is more likely to blow up each other and their neighbors, rather than us. If they do blow up our shit, it's an undesirable side-effect but it also gives us a great opportunity to blow up their shit in a major way and demonstrate just what will come down the surplus pipeline in ten or twenty years or so. Good live demos might cost a few thousand lives, but what the hell, just think of the trillions of dollars to be made down the line…

Oooooo-kay! Now, go out and write a dark and evil novel or whatever. And somebody find Jack Bauer because we may not have much time. ;-)

Hard to believe that Java is now Free. Considering the scope of Java's use, Sun Microsystem's choice of the GNU General Public License (GPL) may be one of the most significant liberations to date. If nothing else, GNU/Linux distributions can now include Java directly, Java software can become a standard component of GNU/Linux, and The Java Trap is hereby no more.

Efforts are afoot in congress to pardon the "President" for the illegal, wholesale spying on Americans, and retroactively declaring these activities legal after all.

The law is respected only if it applies to all equally, from the fast food worker to the President. The moment that our leaders are made "more equal" than the rest, we have truly stepped onto the path of dictatorship.

It is unconscionable that the legislative and/or judicial branches of government would acquiesce to such a grab for power by the executive branch, the President. It would undermine all that America has stood for and, in fact, hands the terrorists a victory by corrupting what America really is: a nation built upon ideas and ideals. A nation once admired would become proof that no ideal can long outlive the fear or greed of a few. Make no mistake: the very future of this, our great nation, is at stake today. Our laws are not a partisan document, nor are they to be bent when it suits one side or another. Our laws are the only thing that truly protects us from those who would tear this nation down and if we do not honor these laws, then we become the instruments of those who would wish us ill.

And just so we're clear on this: I have no issues with the government deciding that someone might be a terrorist and taking steps to investigate, even begin spying on that person at once. They still have 72 hours to get the action approved retroactively by a special court. But wholesale spying on everybody, you, me, your kids, your neighbors, everybody?! Without a warrant? Isn't this exactly the kind of grab for power that the establishment of three exclusive branches of government (legislative, judicial, and executive) was supposed to prevent? Are our leaders daft to go along with this?!

Are you?

The cost of America's war on Iraq is estimated to exceed $1,000,000,000 (1 trillion), or over $3000 for every man, woman, and child in America today. It has already cost more than $1000 for each and every one of us. I don't know about you, but that's a lot of money ticking away that we could have spent on far worthier things!

Back in December it came to light that the federal government was spying on Americans without the use of legal warrants. It's not that warrants were unavailable. They just chose to ignore existing (and lenient!) procedures and ignore the law. Surprisingly, almost a third of Americans professed to be okay with that.

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

Today, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit has ruled that the federal government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and has ordered that it cease immediately.

Of course, the federal government defended its actions quite vigorously, which I find to be reprehensible in its own right: if those who we elect to serve us are so certain that ignoring the law is okay, then are not we, too, entitled to disregard the law? And is their bad example not morally dispicable, too, as it undermines all we as a nation should stand and strive for? Is this disparity not one of the hallmarks of an oppressive regime, in fact, where the leaders are above the law but the people, punished for transgressions?

I don't know about the rest of The People, but I'd like to see a bunch of high ranking people going to federal prison over that one! But who am I kidding? It's not an isolated case. The "President" himself would prefer America to be a dictatorship. <sigh>

After ten days of war the world's patience with Israel is beginning to diminish. Another ten days might see the world getting really fed up with the humanitarian disaster. But this crisis is really to be credited to Hezbollah. That's right, Hezbollah started this war.

That Israel's response to Hezbolla's actions would be anything less than the war we are now seeing does not surprise me in the least. If Hezbollah thought otherwise, their deserve to be eliminated from the human gene pool (a Darwin Award for all of Hezbollah).

The alternative is that Hezbollah knew exactly what reaction they would draw from Israel, and they succeeded in rekindling a war with Israel!

Why? Movements turn into organizations, and the survival of the organization eventually becomes more important than the goal that drove the original movement. Members of the organization become subjects to the organization; changing the goal, the direction of the organization, becomes nigh impossible. In the end it is the people who change to serve the organization. An organization thus ensures its own survival by ensuring that the conditions in which it thrives are maintained. This is referred to as the Systemic Imperative.

Hezbollah, like Hamas, cannot function outside the sphere of a conflict with Israel. The moment Hamas, for example, acknowledged the right of Israel to exist, the core principle of Hamas' raison d'être disintegrates. It is the same with Hezbollah. At most they can give lip service to the idea but they cannot actually exist without the goal of destroying Israel. Conflict, war, and death are their embodiment. They are terrorists.

Of course, Hezbollah and Hamas provide social services to their people and I shall be the first to commend them for it, but they are two-faced dogs: They will not abide a peace and the irrelevance that would befall them as a consequence: no, they must stir the pot and rile up the bees, they must inflict pain so that by Israel's response their existence is once again justified.

They can now give food and shelter to those who were injured by Israel's attacks and claim: "You see what Israel has done to you? That is why we fight them." But it is Hezbollah who inflicted this war on them and it is Hezbollah who is to blame for the tragedy that is unfolding in Lebanon today.

Q: What issue was more critical than any that went before, that for the very first time in about 2000 days of his presidency George W. Bush decided to excercise his presidential veto power?

A: Whether or not frozen human embryos, all but destined for the trash heap, could be used for stem cell research, expand our knowledge of human biology, and help save countless lives by finding cures for deadly or crippling diseases.

Bush explained that "this bill would support the taking of innocent human life," and that "they remind us of what is lost when embryos are destroyed in the name of research."

Better to just throw them away. At least that doesn't involve any researchering and none of that "abandon[ment of] our fundamental morals." We're in the war business! Saving human lives, how silly can you get?

After witnessing how successful (NOT!) Hamas has been in winning from Israel a prisoner release in exchange for a captured Israeli soldier, it seems Hezbollah was unable to resist the temptation of giving the tactic a try, too.

The sheer brilliance of trying out another terrorist group's failed tactics has got to be one of the most straight-forward and unequivocal demonstrations of human stupidity that one might wish for. Hamas was stupid for trying it, of course, but Hezbollah is downright retarded!

Not for a second do I trust that Ahmadinejad would not want to give real (nuclear) teeth to his aggressive statements about his desire to see Israel wiped off the map. Of course Iran wants nuclear power for peaceful purposes. So does America. That does not preclude its use for nuclear weaponse. DUH!

So now Iran wants to talk directly with America if only America dropped "the intimidation tactics". Funny, but I recall that it was Iran who started down the road of intimidation tactics when it refused inspectors, broke the seals, and published how far along it was on the road towards creating fissionable materials, while at the same time spouting aggressive rhetoric.

Europe offered a light-water nuclear reactor to satisfy Iran's desire for power generation. Iran rejected the offer flat-out. It didn't even care to examine the offer or negotiate a better deal. From that it is clear: Iran doesn't so much care to ensure its energy goals are met than it wants access to nuclear technology of its own. Combine that with Ahmadinejad's aggressive statements and you get an Iran that wants the power to threaten any of the nations in the region and quite possibly really follow through on publically stated goals to destroy Israel. With a nuke.

It is widely assumed that Israel has nuclear capability. It is also known that Israel will not shy from defending itself if sufficiently threatened, taking unilateral action if necessary. It will be "interesting" to see just how reckless Ahmadinejad really is and just when Israel decides that Iran becomes too much of a threat. No doubt, the situation is getting more dangerous by the day but it is Iran who fuels this fire with all but reckless abandon.

Now that Iran has claimed ascent into the ranks of nuclear powers and insists that it needs nuclear weapons capability to defend itself, it has effectively revealed as lies those prior claims of needing nuclear power only for peaceful purposes. Add to that the fact that Iran advocates and supports violence, and it becomes amply clear that Iran is a menace that needs to be cut down to size as quickly as possible before any semblance of stability in the region becomes impossible to maintain.

Hitler with nuclear bombs. Think about it!

It seems to me that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is leading Iran directly towards the abyss, unwilling to consider alternatives, and willing to suffer unprecedented destruction of his country as a consequence.

I wonder if he'll end up hiding in a hole in the ground, like Saddam Hussein, or dead in a bunker like Adolf Hitler.

Nothing else demonstrates so splendidly that Muslims are among the foremost purveyors of violence on this planet than recent news of a Muslim who changed the association of his faith from Islam to Christianity and, according to Islamic law, is being condemned to death for it.

The next person who tries to sell me on the idea that Islam is a peaceful religion, better be prepared to explain how this unequivocal contradiction can make possibly sense, or take a kick between the eyes from my steel toe boots. Twice. Death is life? War is peace?

That cartoon was obviously right on!!

Quite frankly, I am astounded at the massive assault on freedom that is underway in this country, the United States of America: illegal spying on citizens is abominable and ought to get the "President" impeached (or does only a blowjob from an intern warrant impeachment these days?) but now they're looking to make it illegal to disclose the president's illegal activities? What is this? Sovjet Russia?!

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is looking to make sure that consumers get to participate in the settlement process of the EFF's class action lawsuit against Sony BMG.

This class action lawsuit was filed in response to Sony BMG placing viral software on a variety of music CDs that installed software on people's computers without even having been given permission, and doing so even if the user disagreed and canceled the installation; their software then compromised the security of the user's machines. Even Sony BMG's uninstall software caused further problems and failed to fully remove the software because it had already overwritten proprietary software belonging to Microsoft.

Go, get 'em!

"President" Bush's push to provide federal funds to faith-based initiatives is in direct violation of the separation between church and state. It matters nothing who is more efficient at using those funds when the principles are eroded upon which the United States was founded. Alas, the erosion of principles seems to be the Bush Administration's lasting legacy.

How about this: any religious organization that accepts federal funds must allow military recruiters onto their property. Their motto? Recruiting God's Army.

I'm sure the Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves by now.