Cable News

So, about that TeeVee.

Holy Crap.

We don't watch much TV. I did finally buy a TV last year, mainly because I wanted a second monitor for working from home (which I rarely use in that capacity because as it turns out, televisions make lousy monitors due to some weird difference in the format of pixels, blah blah blah)

We do have television hardware, but we do not have cable or the digital antennae necessary to watch broadcast TV. Which? Is fine. I don't want to watch it and I don't have time. I have just barely enough time to watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report and the internet the day after they air.


But in Kansas!
We watched. So. Much. TeeVee.
And so much "news"

And
so
many
republicans.


So interested in lady parts.
I'm honestly shocked that prenatal testing is the next frontier of "controversy" for them to take away.

Anyway, the only way to recover from sitting through hours of cable news about republican primaries in Kansas, is to give some money to Planned Parenthood.

Thank you, rick santorum, for reminding me to support all the good work Planned Parenthood does. I hope I was able to provide some women some abortions or something. Or, shudder, some PRENATAL TESTING. ZOMG.

I hope that every time we have to watch some of this crap, we remember to respond by pitching in to the frontlines to counteract this garbage. So please, if you've just sat through some horrendously offensive republican "debate" or accidentally forgotten to mute the TV before being exposed to a soundbite about how muslims are ruining America, or atheists are waging war on Christians (puhlease!), or how torture is just fine...
The best way you can wash your ears, eyes, and soul out after such a trauma is surely to visit the donation pages for ACLU, Planned Parenthood, or Rootstrikers!

Do it NOW!

https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?alertId=365&pg=makeACall

Decisions

I have always been stubborn.
Really. I am a vegetarian for, now, 17 years? Because I am stubborn. I was being a brat in class in 6th grade. I was saying the girl sitting next to me, her brand new leather boots stank, they were made of dead cows, something, I don't know what. I think they had fur bits on them, which must be what I was complaining about. Fur bits. Fur is bad. At 12, I did not wear fur. (duh)

My teacher asked me why I was being a pain about it. "Don't you eat hamburgers?"

"No."

And I never did eat a hamburger again.


Tomorrow (I was hoping to put this off over the weekend due to being out for dental work on the day it was due) I will be asked to sign, with a witness, a form saying that I consent to my company's new drug and alcohol testing policy, including that I consent to being randomly drug and alcohol tested (the policy says we should expect to be testing every two years)

I have been employed at this place for a little over 4 years. I have been Employee of the Month twice. I have been promoted twice. I arrive early, stay late, and usually am the one to set the alarm at night. I frequently work from home in the evening.

I am clearly a threat.

I had to think about this one. The policy is clear that you will be terminated for refusing. I kind of don't see that happening, at least not immediately, but I have to consider it a given anyway. I figure that most likely they will pressure me, realize I won't sign it, and then quietly try to figure out how long it will take to get caught up on how to do my job and replace me.

The reason for all of this is supposedly tied into some Homeland Security C-TPAT bullshit for importers. You know, the terrorists. They love their dress pants, they do. I know, it's for UHMURKA, I should not question it. Civil rights are for people who hate our freedom. Or something.

Here's the way I see it:
1.) I have a contract with my employer. I give them work, good work, and I give them time, and talents. In return, they give me money. End of story. I don't give them my whole life, my off hours, or my medical information. It's none of their goddam business, as long as I fulfill my half of the contract. And I do, I fulfill it well enough to be recognized, as noted above. If I go on a coke bender every night after work and show up every morning and do my job well, that's MY business.
2.) I do not drive a forklift, or control air traffic. I do not do surgery, or answer 911 calls. I sit in front of a computer and draw pants and tell China what to do and solve problems for our customers. Occasionally I explain computers or very simple scientific principles to my boss.
3.) Drug testing procedures are really icky and invasive. I'm totally disgusted that they even asked.
4.) They expect us to give them a list of every prescription and non-prescription drug we've taken in the past two weeks when we get randomly tested. Um, hello, complete invasion of privacy and potential for abuse? That's ok, it will be "confidential." Your name won't be attached, only your social security number. (How stupid are these people? I would rather give my name!)
5.) You just really cannot do drug testing in the fashion industry. Duh.
6.) I don't even like this job.

For the record, of course, no, nothing would come up but the advil I just took this afternoon (which is not working). But, again, I am stubborn. I have wondered, though, if this were a dream job, and they asked this, would I be able to be so stubborn?

Have you ever been asked to drug test for a job that didn't really need it? What did you do?

No Backsies!

WTF, is this 4th Grade?

Fielding said the two would speak to lawmakers in private and not under oath. He indicated he was not prepared to negotiate in the matter.

So the sticking point is that Bushco demands they not be under oath?!?!
So, what, they can just cross their fingers behind their backs?

Isn't requesting that something said not be "under oath" pretty much the same as saying beforehand that you plan to lie through your teeth?

I mean, not that anyone in this administration would ever do that.

Worst. President. Ever.

Instead, Sampson wrote, "we would like to replace 15-20 percent of the current U.S. attorneys -- the underperforming ones. ... The vast majority of U.S. attorneys, 80-85 percent, I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc., etc."

I know, they haven't named Bush in this, and they probably never will. This administration always has a fall guy to blame and fire. Bush never does anything. Somehow he just sits in the middle of all of these scandals (real, constitution-abuse scandals) and shrugs. It was someone else on his staff, never him. Are they so totally out of his control? Is he that clueless? No, he's either at the center of all of this, or he's a puppet in a way I can't even imagine.

Makes me nostalgic for Presidents who get blow jobs and then lie about it. Were we really so upset then? How sweet.

Well, color me shocked!

"The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday."

This is so surprising!
Although, I think the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act stinks so much, that even "legal" use of it is wrong, wrong, wrong, and illegal, in many cases.

"The American Civil Liberties Union said the audit proves Congress must amend the Patriot Act to require judicial approval anytime the FBI wants access to sensitive personal information. "The Attorney General and the FBI are part of the problem and they cannot be trusted to be part of the solution," said Anthony D. Romero, the ACLU's executive director."

I know, the ACLU is so evil. They want a judge to be involved in, you know, making judgement calls and interpreting law. Wait, remind me again what it is judges are for?



Now, this is not tin-foil hat news for me. I sincerely doubt the FBI has spent much time tracking me. If they did, they would be very bored. "she ate pizza for dinner... again?!?!" "Look at this, boss! She bought $26 of groceries today!" (can they tell it's mostly beer?) "she's googled 'fancy pigeons' fifteen times this month! Is it a code for some terrorist cell operation?"

But this is so not OK. Are you all ACLU members yet? Wake up; this is important.

The sky is pink. And it is NOT falling.

cnn
Reuters

"The privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities. We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans," Bush said.

The president came out to defend the administration's domestic spy program after USA Today reported the National Security Agency was secretly collecting phone records of tens of millions of Americans from phone companies to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity.

How the hell this president can be so bold and just out and out lie about things that are very very obviously untrue is beyond me.

"We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans," What? No, you're just recording all their phone activity. Ahem, that's not personal life, I guess. Not in Bush's mind? (sorry, did I use "Bush" and "mind" in the same sentence?)

"Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda and their known affiliates," Bush said. "The privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities."

OH! OK, phew! You're only spying on BAD guys! So if I'm not bad, I have no reason to worry! Thank God! But, wait...

"domestic telephone call records from millions of Americans beginning shortly after the attacks on September 11, 2001."

Millions? So, there are MILLIONS of al Queda operatives in the USA? Shocking. But I won't worry, 'cuz if I'm worried, that must mean I'm a terrorist right? Uh, not worried!

Keep your head down, don't raise a peep.

I keep getting these stupid mails and bulletins from military folks, slamming on anti-war and other protesters, saying they shouldn't be speaking out, that they're somehow unpatriotic or unamerican. Next military person that tells me they're fighting for the USA, that protesters are too cowardly to fight for, might want to re-examine what exactly they are fighting for. A country that tightly controls freedom and monitors everyday people and their telephone conversations? Not so much worth fighting for then, is it? Protesters? That is what you ought to be fighting for, the right to call out and struggle for change as needed, that is the essence of our Great Democratic Experiment. There is nothing so American as protesting.

Once we betray those ideals, we might as way lay down our weapons and admit that what we have is nothing worth protecting.

She's a FUCKING LOBBYIST

This disgusting news from CNN

"According to documents released with the questionnaire, Miers pledged unflagging opposition to abortion as a candidate for the Dallas City Council in 1989. She backed a constitutional amendment to ban the procedure in most cases and promised to appear at "pro-life rallies and special events."

Asked in a Texans United for Life questionnaire whether she would support legislation restricting abortions if the Supreme Court allowed it, Miers indicated she would. Her reply was the same when asked, "Will you oppose the use of city funds or facilities" to promote abortions?"


Wait a minute? I thought that she and Bush were claiming that she had no interests for or against abortion? Wasn't that the bullshit they were trying to feed us last week? So were they LYING? That is unimaginable.


Backing an amendment and promising to appear at rallies make her a fucking LOBBYIST for something, a far cry from the impartial judge they claimed her to be.


Let your senator know this is NOT OK.