The Tin Foil Hat

In Memorium

2009-09-11T14:10:00.001-05:00

City Canyon, originally uploaded by gesualdo.

The World Trade Center towers as I remember them...

Happy Furry Friday

2009-02-27T09:25:00.001-06:00

MinaTurning, originally uploaded by Philosopher Queen.

Nixonland

2008-09-06T14:35:00.002-05:00

Nixonland: America's Second Civil War and the Divisive Legacy of Richard Nixon, 1965-1972. by Rick Perlstein

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I remember best about the time chronicled in Nixonland was the front page cartoon headline of Madison's underground newspaper at the time - I think it might have been Kaleidoscope. It said: America Elects Asshole...

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand current American politics. Nixon was more than just a crook. He understood and exploited the resentments of the White lower and middle classes. It's the same strategy we see now in the McCain campaign.

View all my reviews.

Video Barfolo

2008-09-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Letter From Knoxville

2008-07-30T15:27:00.006-05:00

I heard this news today from a friend who was in Knoxville's Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church during the shooting there last Sunday July 27th.

Diane and I were both there, and were the east side of the sanctuary where the gunman entered and were only a few feet from the people who were shot. At this point two have died, including our good friend Greg McKendry. Others, several of whom are not members of our church, but were visiting that day are seriously injured. Fortunately the gunman was restrained by members of the after shooting three rounds. It could have been so much worse if not for the heroism of some of our friends who were in position to stop him before he reloaded the gun. Physically we are both fine, and in time with support from others, many of whom were also there, we will recover and be stronger from this experience.

Diane and I have been active members of the TVUUC since we joined in 1991. We initially went to find a place of non-dogmatic religious education for our son Ben in a part of the country where Christian fundamentalism is often the norm. It is a common motivation for many people who join TVUUC. Here we found a loving and progressive community, with a congregation involved in doing good works in the world and in caring for each other.

Diane has chaired the annual church auction a few years and been active in the art gallery. She also organizes a monthly dinner and a movie night for women in the church called "Women's Table." I have served on the board, chaired the annual canvass to raise pledges for the next years budget, taught Sunday School and have been involved a various design projects for the church, including the church logo and sign used as a backdrop for the international press covering the shootings.

Both of us are very proud of our church. In the 1906s TVUUC played a leadership role in the civil rights movement in Knoxville. We have been an anchor for KIN, an interfaith organization here as well. Unitarian Universalists were the first to ordain women ministers and to hold union ceremonies for same sex couples. In recent years we have strived to provide a church home for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in our community. We also have host a monthly coffee house for GBLT teenagers. Too often these youth are at risk for suicide, especially in a culture where they are openly persecuted. TVUUC has also been involved in efforts to improve reading skills at an inter-city elementary school and to prepare meals at a homeless shelter. Being associated with this church community has made both of us better people both in our outward deeds and inner lives. The website is: http://www.tvuuc.org.

The day following the shooting we have learned that the gunman left a four-page letter in which he wrote that he targeted TVUUC , "because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of major media outlets." He also targeted gays and blacks in his letter. The FBI should certainly prosecute this as a hate crime.

The day following the shootings Diane and I attended a 2 hour counseling session for a group of people from our church - most of whom were there. It was healing - and a candlelight service followed, with the President of the UUA Reverend William Sinkford presiding. At the end, the children lead us in singing the song "Tomorrow" from the musical "Annie Jr." - which was cut short by the gunman. Some of the recent blogs about the event have been critical of us for presenting a musical as part of a church service. One of the things we love about Unitarian Universalism is that we allow people to find religious truth in many places including Broadway musicals. Being able to do so is essential religious freedom. The service, in which compassion was expressed for the gunman himself was a beautiful response to an act of hate.

Both Diane and I are so proud of our community but also aware that standing for what is right in the world comes at a cost. This experience has strengthened our resolve to affirm life and continue down this path, as part of this loving community.

We appreciate the phone calls and emails we have received from many of you.

Love, Beauvais

Beauvais had this to say of Greg McKendry, the man who stepped in front of the gunman and drew his fire to protect everyone else:

Greg was a generous soul. We’ll have to make up for his love and good energy in this world...

Let's get started today.

"Keep Up the Fight..."

2008-07-14T22:52:00.001-05:00

There is a circle in Hell waiting for Fournier.

I'm Voting Republican

2008-06-16T17:41:00.000-05:00

Tread On!

2008-06-13T17:16:00.001-05:00

Super Tuesday Tomorrow - Rock ON!

2008-02-04T21:54:00.000-06:00

These last few days have been a political news and poll junky's dream. The Republicans are about to nominate someone they hate over a robot from Massachusetts. The Dems meanwhile have narrowed the field to a black man and a white woman. What's most interesting to me lately is the sense I get from my friends and the media that people seem more ready for Obama than Hillary. Maybe it's Clinton fatigue. But all the very serious coverage of Hillary "crying" and the ponderous navel gazing it's inspired makes me think we just haven't come as far as we'd like to believe on the little matter of equality for women. Yoko said it and John sang it best. Dig it...

Martin's Last Speech

2008-01-21T01:46:00.000-06:00

In late March 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee to support the black sanitary public works employees who had been on strike for higher wages and better treatment. Unlike white workers, African American workers were not paid when sent home because of bad weather.

On April 3, King returned to Memphis and addressed a rally, delivering his "I've been to the Mountaintop" speech at Mason Temple. King's flight to Memphis was delayed by a bomb threat. King said:

"And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don't know what will happen now..."

King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. While standing on the motel's 2nd floor balcony, he was shot dead at 6:01 p.m. April 4, 1968.

Through the Trees

2007-09-19T04:27:00.000-05:00

From Vista Loop Trail in Friedrich Wilderness Park I saw the future. Over the ten years I've been hiking to this spot the green tree canopy has given way to gray rooftops. Isn't this what people come here to get away from? Well you can't anymore. At least not in this otherwise serene place.

Mama with Child

2007-05-13T12:19:00.001-05:00

Mother with child, originally uploaded by gesualdo.

Happy Mother's Day you all.

Polygamous lesbians flee Sharia

2007-04-28T01:11:00.000-05:00

You can't make this stuff up.

Rites of Spring

2007-04-24T21:51:00.001-05:00

"Ah Spring!", originally uploaded by •Laurie•.

Nashville Adopps `English Fust' Policy

2007-02-08T11:41:00.000-06:00

Lordy...

"Nashville's city council has voted t'adopp English as its official language, follerin' similar moves by sevahal smaller cities aroun' th' country. Af'er months of debate, th' city's Metro Council voted 23-14 on Tuesday t'approve th' measure requirin' all govment communicashuns t'be in English, 'cept when multilin'ual communicashuns is required by federal rules o' is needed "to proteck o' promote public health, safety o' we'fare." Th' 'ceptions were added af'er th' city atto'ney corntended thet th' bill's origeenal language was unconsteetooshunal, ah reckon.

Some suppo'ters an' opponents of th' measure said th' 'ceptions mean th' law'd haf li'l effeck on city business. Th' measure moves on t'Nashville Mayo' Billy Joe Purcell, who hadn't said by Wednesday whether he will sign it, veto it o' aller it t'pass into law wifout his signature. Billy Joe sponso' Councilman Eric Craf'on an' his suppo'ters said th' change offers an incentive fo' immigrants t'larn English. "This hyar bill says we'll simply does th' govmental business in English," Craf'on said, cuss it all t' tarnation. "Eff'n we sh'dn't does it in English, I'd like fo' somebody else t'stan' up an' tell us whut language we sh'd cornduck our business in, as enny fool kin plainly see."

Opponents corntend th' noo law'd hurt th' image of Nashville, which bills itse'f as "Music City USA." "Fum our perspeckive, th' job jest got a li'l tougher t'prove t'th' wo'ld thet Nashville is th' inclusive city it is," said Ra'ph Schulz, president of th' Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. Nashville, a city of mo'e than 600,000, is home t'th' nashun's largess Kurdish community an' has been a resettlement site fo' refugees fum Africa an' Southeast Asia. Th' Hispanic immigrant populashun also has boomed, an' researchers say Nashville's fo'eign-born an' raised populashun has grown 350 percent on account o' 1990. Gregg Ramos, a Nashville atto'ney an' fust-junerashun South Car'linan who opposed th' measure, said Nashville is th' largess city an' th' only state capital t'pass sech a law.

Smaller communities includin' Pahrump, Nev.; Taneytown, Md,; th' Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch an' th' Atlanta suburb of Cherokee County all recently passed similar laws o' resolushuns. Twenty-eight states haf adopped English as their official language, includin' Arizona, whar voters approved a law last year, acco'din' t'U.S. English Inc., a Warshin'ton-based advocacy group. Th' U.S. Senate's vahshun of last year's failed immigrashun bill'd haf made English th' nashunal language, but U.S. Atto'ney Juneral Alberto Gonzales said th' measure'd haf been purely symbolic."

Redneck Translation courtesy of The Dialectizer.

Burn Baby Burn...

2007-02-08T11:33:00.000-06:00

The Helotes mulch fire at night smolders big and bright...

Don't Eat the Yellow Snow

2007-02-03T10:37:00.000-06:00

This just in off the BBC newswire:

Smelly oily yellow and orange snowfall is falling in an oil producing region of Siberia. It fell over an area of more than 100 square kilometres in the Omsk, Tomsk and Tyumen regions on Wednesday afternoon.

Locals have been warned to heed the advice of legendary Rockstar Frank Zappa. Don't eat or drink it, let domestic animals near it, and avoid stepping in it if possible.

Furry Friday - Groundhog Day Edition

2007-02-02T09:54:00.000-06:00

Here's to an early Spring!

We are the deciders

2007-02-01T00:16:00.000-06:00

"We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war ... We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'"

Molly Ivins 1945-2007

Historic Gay Football Video

2007-01-23T00:00:00.000-06:00

Go Bears!

Super Bowl Shuffle - video powered by Metacafe

Pro Football Is So Gay - Not That's There's Anything Wrong With That...

2006-12-07T22:58:00.000-06:00

The very appropriately named Smoking Gun reports New England Patriots quarterback and aspiring interior decorator Tom Brady has sued Yahoo for promoting football fantasies about him at Yahoo Fantasy Football. The complaint filed in federal court today alleged Brady's fame is "not limited to the world of sports." Indeed.

Pay close attention to the lyrics.

NRA Heaven

2006-11-29T16:57:00.000-06:00

A story in Editor and Publisher about recent sectarian atrocities in Iraq has this interesting tidbit:

"Iraqi law allows each household to own an AK-47 assault rife for protection."

Well dang boys. That sure puts our puny little second amendment to shame now doesn't it?

Homage to Mister Danny Geisler

2006-11-28T23:10:00.000-06:00

Homage to Mister Danny Geisler, originally uploaded by gesualdo.

Here's to Danny and all the other wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight.

Salvation is Just Around the Corner

2006-11-27T19:25:00.000-06:00

Pastor Hagee Struggles to Pronounce "Beelzebub"

I blame the paucity of recent blog entries here at the TFH on the grueling demands of running for public office. Among the many indignities I suffered as a candidate for director of the Edwards Aquifer Authority District 7, none will be more memorable than watching Pastor John C. Hagee, he of Cornerstone Church fame, struggle to say my name correctly. Frankly, I was grateful for the distraction. Otherwise he might have noticed I wasn't wearing any pants.

Well dear readers, the elections are over. A bit of balance has been restored to the body politic. And best of all, I am now an elected official. So much has happened since I last sat at the keyboard pounding out insights for your benefit. I apologize for any distress you may have suffered trying to figure out what to make of Britney's divorce, Rev. Ted's excellent meth-induced gay adventure or the Bush twin's refusal to leave Argentina because, like, the States are so totally uncool these days. These are confusing times. Without sound guidance and a protective cranial shield one might easily say something semi-demented like "the only way we can win is to leave before the job is done."

I'm back again. This time I'll stay the course. Promise.

I'm Back...

2006-10-17T21:06:00.000-05:00

This month saw a sudden loss of blogging mojo on my part. Nobody noticed except my loyal minions. You know who you are.

The latest on the Texas 21st Congressional race is enCouraging. Kos has this to say

Forensic Economics Data (D) for the Courage campaign. Dates unknown. MoE 5% (No trend lines)

Lamar Smith (R) 45.6
John Courage (D) 30.5
Gene Kelly (D) 4.6
Tommy Calvert (I) 3.4
James Arthur Strohm (L) 2.9
Mark J. Rossano (I) 0
James Lyle Peterson (I) 0
Undecided 12.2

So why is this poll good news? Because this is an open primary. If no candidate breaks 50 percent, there will be a runoff election. And in a runoff election, post-November, things might look even worse for Republicans. Courage's goal right now is to live to fight another day. That's well within reach.

That Lamar is well short of 50% at this point in the game is remarkable. This may be the best opportunity to vote him out we'll see for a very long time. So let's show John Courage a little love.

Corporate Jesus: Another TFH Recommendation

2006-10-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

No doubt there's something rotten in Foggy Bottom these days. As the media frenzy I've sworn to avoid goes on unabated I'm reminded of the words of an earlier sage Oscar Wilde who said he could resist anything except temptation. The events of the last few days have tested my will. But giving in now would mean the terrorists win. So I must stay the course, even if only Laura and Barney stand with me. I know better than to count on that other fellow.

So instead of abetting the puerile interests of the moment, I urge you to explore the wry wit of Corporate Jesus, who warns us all against the likes of Bob the Atheist Ladybug.

Please continue to consume...

Taking the High Road

2006-10-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

Unlike those other blogs, the Tin Foil Hat will not succumb to temptation to write about the ongoing "Predatorgate" scandal involving former Flordia Congressman Mark Foley and an as yet untold number of underaged male pages. That's all so 5 minutes ago. Besides, I'm not sure I can maintain my renowned even toned objectivity when the subjects at hand, man-boy underwear, biking feverishly to the gym and "spanking it" are all on the menu. I also recently wrote a piece over at the Banned Book Cafe about Catcher in the Rye that might shed some light on how I feel about people who prey on children. So let's move on shall we?

2006-09-29T18:36:00.000-05:00

I wish I had some minions to fill in for me when I don't feel like blogging. Oh well. Happy Furry Friday Folks!!!!

Maybe He Means "Coma"

2006-09-29T12:23:00.000-05:00

Greg Sargent over at The Horse's Mouth has an interesting take on whatever the heck Bush means when he says history will show the Iraq War is "just a comma" in the greater scheme of things. Turns out "just a comma" may be a form of evangelical-speak referring to God's ongoing work in the World. How's that? Does the President mean to say we're in Iraq because it's God's Will? I wish he'd just come out and say it. Meanwhile, let's get ready for the end times.

Time To Stick A Fork In Him, He's Done

2006-09-25T01:06:00.000-05:00

Dr. Ken Shelton, a white radiologist who played tight end for the University of Virginia football team when wannabe Presidential candidate Sen. George "Macaca" Allen was quarterback, said Allen "used the N-word on a regular basis back then." Salon has the money quote:

Shelton said he also remembers a disturbing deer hunting trip with Allen on land that was owned by the family of Billy Lanahan, a wide receiver on the team. After they had killed a deer, Shelton said he remembers Allen asking Lanahan where the local black residents lived. Shelton said Allen then drove the three of them to that neighborhood with the severed head of the deer. "He proceeded to take the doe's head and stuff it into a mailbox," Shelton said.

A Lesson in Command Responsibility

2006-09-24T23:34:00.000-05:00

Talking Points Memo, always a worthy read itself, urged me on to an important piece in Sunday's LA Times on opposition to Bush's pro-torture policy among our retired military brass. There's good stuff there about the debate over how America should conduct itself in war.

View over the rock walls from the Union side of Picketts Charge, originally uploaded by KAQuinlan.

But the most striking passage is about the accountability lesson one learns from retracing Pickett's Charge during the battle of Gettysburg:

Retired Army Brig. Gen. David R. Irvine spent 40 years in the Reserve as an intelligence officer, spending much of that time teaching the rules of interrogation to soldiers, Marines and airmen. He remembers a visit to Gettysburg, where he lined up with 125 other officers in front of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, from which they retraced Pickett's Charge.

"Everything there is completely flat," Irvine said. "By the time you get 50 yards out … [you're] right in artillery range of the Union line. And you've got a mile and half to go on foot [to reach the Union soldiers]. As stragglers who survived found their way back to Seminary Ridge, Lee was riding his horse on that line and apologizing: 'It's all my fault.' He sent a letter of resignation to [Confederate President] Jefferson Davis, who refused to accept it. And the point of that whole exercise was command responsibility. That's a powerful lesson."

A sense of command responsibility is so clearly lacking in our President and Vice President. And no wonder, given their chickenhawk backgrounds. Read the rest of the article here.

Pig On The Run

2006-09-15T23:55:00.000-05:00

I've been living the vegetarian lifestyle for about a year now. This story fills me with veggie pride. Who is hard hearted enough not to root for the pig who defied tasers so that he could wallow in the mud and sun for another day?

Mas Cuentos de la Ann

2006-09-15T18:28:00.000-05:00

This Cuento comes from my estimable colleague John Muir, who enabled my career as Lawyer of the Wild Frontier and taught me a thing or two about horse racing.

The order that discharged me from the United States Air Force was dated April 19, 1967; less than a month later, I passed my 21st birthday in Rio Grande City, trying to help out with the farm worker organizing effort and the strike against La Casita's melon harvest. The organizers decided I'd be more useful setting up a boycott of La Casita's melons, in Dallas. The first folks who helped me with the boycott were Ann and Dave Richards. Dave was practicing labor and civil rights law with the Mullinax Wells firm and Ann was an activist in the liberal wing of the Democratic party.

We did what we could with the boycott (not much, given Texas labor law), but Ann earned my admiration by suggesting another tactic: the two of us would go into supermarkets selling La Casita's melons and pierce them repeatedly with long hatpins, trying to make them rot prematurely. We did this, in about half a dozen supermarkets.

A Lovely Bunch of Melons, originally uploaded by SunFlowery.

In the middle of the 1980's, when Ann was known to be considering a race for governor, TRLA got her to speak at a fundraiser for the Hidalgo County Bar Association's Pro Bono Project. When her turn came Ann got up on the stage and did her typically funny schtick but she also did something daring. She described her experience, sticking those pins in the melons, and why she did it. Unquestionably, she understood that there were the usual lawyer power-brokers in the audience that night, but she threw down: this is who I am, when it comes to farm worker issues.

People loved her. It's hard for me to imagine people loving George Bush, Rick Perry, Bill Clinton in the same way.

Furry Friday - Tin Foil Edition

2006-09-15T09:30:00.000-05:00

Oy, what a week...

Don't Fence Me In

2006-09-15T01:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Lamar Smith and the Republican run House of Representatives voted to build a more than 700 mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, one of several anti-immigrant measures promised by GOP leaders before the Nov. 7 congressional elections. As usual, supporters of this new Great Wall claim it's all part of the War on Terror. Smith said of his vote

"The unending flow of people into our country threatens our national security. If we are to prevent another 9/11, we must establish complete control of our borders and ports."

The Long and Winding Road, originally uploaded by Kenny Maths.

Cuentos de la Gov. Ann

2006-09-14T18:26:00.000-05:00

I've read quite a few Gov. Ann stories today. I have a couple to tell myself later when time permits. For now I'd like to share one told by Lawrence Collins over at In the Pink Texas:

"My highschool girfriend, Jenna Repa, had a painting made of her for me. For some reason I had had it my trunk for a long time. It was just one of those things you can’t get rid of. Ann kept seeing it because I would pick her up at the airport or take her around town. Well, once, again at the airport, I opened my trunk with her by my side and was about to lift ber bag into the trunk and she saw this painting of Jenna. It was huge. A big painting of her smiling face. And it was a bad painting. She picked it up and said, “Now, this is bullshit. Take me to Kentucky Fried over by Manor.” I was totally perplexed. But, being young and really dumb, I did just as she said. We got to Kentucky Fried and she asked that I pull around back. When we got there she got out of the car and dumped Jenna in the dumpster!"

Thanks for sharing Lawrence. Now I know how to deal with my own attachment issues.

Goodbye Gov. Ann

2006-09-14T00:04:00.000-05:00

Condolences to her family, especially her daughter Cecile who befriended me years ago.

Bush To Make Sexy Time With Kazakh President?

2006-09-13T03:14:00.000-05:00

Sascha Baron Cohen
Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev is coming to the US for a meeting with President Bush to discuss controversial fictional Kazakh TV reporter Borat, a satirical invention of the fevered brain of Sascha Baron Cohen.

So what might we expect from this epochal encounter between two heads of state? Appearing in Toronto for a viewing of his eponymous film (coming soon to a theater near you) Borat told the crowd, "People in Kazakhstan make sexy time often and heads of state get to use the little hole."

Someone better alert Karl Rove about the mores of our Kazakhstani brothers. Our country can scarely afford to alienate one of our few remaining foreign friends. As Sen. George Allen recently learned, dealing with these ethnic types can get pretty tricky.

The controvesy deepened when Roman Vassilenko a spokesman for the Kazakh Embassy declared:

"The bottom line is we want people to know that he [Borat] does not represent the true people of Kazakhstan."

Excellent choice of words Mr. Vassilenko.

A NAFTA Superhighway Runs Through It

2006-09-12T22:56:00.000-05:00

Awhile back I wrote about Toll Roads as a wedgie issue ripe for exploitation by upstart pols trying to woo upset rural and suburban conservatives. Placed in the broader context of the massive Superhighway boondoggle now underway, the crony capitalist transformation of America's freeways is potentially an "atomic wedgie" aimed at the crotch of incumbents like Texas Gov. Rick Perry. For Gov. Perry and his ilk the future looks something like this:

The project to make America look like a bloodshot eyeball is now underway. And many rural activists like the folks at Corridor Watch are not at all pleased.

On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study

2006-09-12T12:10:00.000-05:00

Now that 9-11 is safely behind us isn't it time we thought about something else besides the Global War on Terror? Yes indeed. Here to help us all out is one Ali Rahimi of MIT who suggests Tin Foil Hat use may actually aid and abet government mind control efforts.

"It requires no stretch of the imagination to conclude that the current helmet craze is likely to have been propagated by the Government, possibly with the involvement of the FCC. We hope this report will encourage the paranoid
community to develop improved helmet designs to avoid falling prey to these
shortcomings."

Thank you Ali. We at the TFH will remain vigilent. In the meantime, don't forget to be afraid. Our Leaders are counting on it.

"That's right -- we got a laugh out of it"

2006-09-11T12:23:00.000-05:00

Link courtesy of Attaturk

2006-09-10T23:09:00.000-05:00

Borat Sings

And you thought it couldn't happen here - right?

2006-09-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

tomorrow belongs to me

Bracing myself for what's to come...

Fool Me Twice...

2006-09-10T19:21:00.000-05:00

What to wear while watching "Path to 9-11" with the kids tonight...

Where's Osama?

2006-09-10T00:53:00.000-05:00

Seems like the Washington Post thinks our government has given up.

Bureaucratic battles slowed down the hunt for bin Laden for the first two or three years, according to officials in several agencies, with both the Pentagon and the CIA accusing each other of withholding information. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's sense of territoriality has become legendary, according to these officials.

In early November 2002, for example, a CIA drone armed with a Hellfire missile killed a top al-Qaeda leader traveling through the Yemeni desert. About a week later, Rumsfeld expressed anger that it was the CIA, not the Defense Department, that had carried out the successful strike.

"How did they get the intel?" he demanded of the intelligence and other military personnel in a high-level meeting, recalled one person knowledgeable about the meeting.

Gen. Michael V. Hayden, then director of the National Security Agency and technically part of the Defense Department, said he had given it to them.

"Why aren't you giving it to us?" Rumsfeld wanted to know.

Hayden, according to this source, told Rumsfeld that the information-sharing mechanism with the CIA was working well. Rumsfeld said it would have to stop.

A CIA spokesman said Hayden, now the CIA director, does not recall this conversation. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, "The notion that the department would do anything that would jeopardize the success of an operation to kill or capture bin Laden is ridiculous." The NSA continues to share intelligence with the CIA and the Defense Department.

At that time, Rumsfeld was putting in place his own aggressive plan, led by the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), to dominate the hunt for bin Laden and other terrorists. The overall special operations budget has grown by 60 percent since 2003 to $8 billion in fiscal year 2007.

Rows and rows of temporary buildings sprang up on SOCOM's parking lots in Tampa as Rumsfeld refocused the mission of a small group of counterterrorism experts from long-term planning for the war on terrorism to manhunting. The group "went from 20 years to 24-hour crisis-mode operations," one former special operations officer said. "It went from planning to manhunting."

In 2004, Rumsfeld finally won the president's approval to put SOCOM in charge of the "Global War on Terrorism."

Today, however, no one person is in charge of the overall hunt for bin Laden with the authority to direct covert CIA operations to collect intelligence and to dispatch JSOC units. Some counterterrorism officials find this absurd. "There's nobody in the United States government whose job it is to find Osama bin Laden!" one frustrated counterterrorism official shouted. "Nobody!"

Rummy ought to get a clue and get the hell out of Dodge.

Carnage Interruptus

2006-09-08T23:28:00.000-05:00

The Huffington Post has gem of a story tonight. Bush has asked ABC to let him break into the middle of the ill starred mock-u-mentary "Path Of 9-11" so he can fill the ears of nation deafened by right wing propaganda with more of the same. The assault on reality continues. This is so transparently evil I wonder if even my Republican friends will feel embarassed.

Why Does Lamar Hate America?

2006-09-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

In March Lamar Smith introduced H.R. 5005 which would prohibit the disclosure of firearms trace data for any purpose other than a specific criminal investigation or prosecution. If H.R. 5005 is enacted into law, cities or other public entities could not use trace data to support lawsuits against gun manufacturers, distributors or dealers. Smith’s legislation would ban the use of “crime gun trace data” collected by the AFT’s National Tracing center for any purpose other than criminal prosecutions or administrative ATF hearings.

This is "tort reform" I suppose. But whatever happened to Homeland Security?

According to Coalitions Against Trafficking Handguns:

The independent 9/11 commission cited a failure to share information among law enforcement agencies as one of the reasons our enemies were able to succeed on 9/11. Yet the sponsors of HR 5005, the "Firearms Corrections and Improvement Act," are trying to make it more difficult for police to access federal crime- fighting data and communicate with other law enforcement agencies.

HR 5005 would:

-- Prevent police from conducting investigations across jurisdictional lines in order to establish patterns of criminal activity and threats to national security.

-- Restrict law enforcement access to a national databank that traces guns used in crime.

-- Bar law enforcement from learning which gun dealers are supplying the bulk of guns to criminals and would-be terrorists through an illegal pipeline.

-- Keep local law enforcement authorities in the dark about possible criminal activities in their communities.

The Mayors of New York, Boston and Los Angeles are not so keen on Lamar's bill either.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, says the bill will weaken the ability of law enforcement agencies to trace guns back to their owners:

Villaraigosa said such restrictions would deny access for law enforcement officials investigating corrupt gun dealers, traffickers or so-called straw purchasers, who buy guns for those unable to pass a background check.

“How many times have you heard about a crime on the evening news or read about a senseless shooting and asked the simple question, ‘Where did the gun come from?”‘ Villaraigosa said during a City Hall news conference...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino have already voiced their opposition to the so-called Firearms Corrections and Improvements Act...

It's no mystery why Lamar panders to the gun lobby. Many Texans love their guns more than than life itself. Unfortunately, the rest of us have to dodge their bullets. It's a tough and lonely job but I urge those of you who want to push back against Lamar and his gun happy pals to support groups like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Dog Blog

2006-09-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

Hi!
originally uploaded by
Jaiier...

The Furry Friday Tradition continues...

Greetings From Fangorn Forest

2006-09-07T20:50:00.000-05:00

Allgaeu - lonely tree,
originally uploaded by
hickoree23.

Tree Speech, a project of the Citizens Tree Coalition, is a welcome addition to the local blogosphere. It offers a perspective not unlike the Ents, the arboreous denizens of Fangorn Forest in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Or perhaps it's more like Dr. Seuss's Lorax, a voice of the wilderness striving to preserve San Antonio's precious canopy.

I can vouch for the difference one tree can make. The drought has stressed out the biggest Pecan tree in my backyard. It barely has any leaves. The shade it used to provide is gone. The Texas summer sun is scorching everything struggling to survive below the old tree's branches.

I'm so glad there's finally Tree Speech. It's about time our barked brethren were heard.

For Whom the Road Tolls

2006-08-31T10:22:00.000-05:00

The Tin Foil Hat is flexible enough to shelter all manner of political noggins.

Tolls roads is another wedgie issue I highly recommend to those who aspire to dethrone conservative candidates like Lamar Smith. Terri Hall, no "pusillanimous pussyfoot" she, the Regional Director of the San Antonio Toll Party scored a victory Monday night against the dark forces conspiring to rob Texans of their Freeways. The Metropolitan Planning Organization for the San Antonio region was posed to write what one reporter called "an imaginary check for all the money needed for the next 25 years." Terri and her cohorts at least delayed this check-kiting scheme, giving hope to all who fight for the right to drive free. All politics is local folks. Tx-21 candidates should give Terri a call.

Click the title to read more about the San Antonio Toll Party's recent victory.

Courage Tests Political Waters in Canyon Lake

2006-08-30T17:59:00.000-05:00

The Canyon Lake Times Guardian has this tidbit from John Courage on the campaign trail:

Democratic Party faithful gathered at Canyon Lake Ranch resort last Saturday to support their candidates and to discuss the changes they hope to see at the federal, state and local levels.

Texas’ U.S. District 21 Representative Democratic hopeful John Courage told guests that politics are “a little like a fairy tale sometimes.”

“I feel like Dorothy in Oz – Bush needs a brain, Cheney needs a heart and Washington needs Courage,” he said.

Courage said that if he takes the place of Republican incumbent Lamar Smith, he will work to simplify Medicare, improve environmental policies and encourage alternative energy sources like wind power.

“I’m looking forward to the day when Democrats will be better represented in Congress,” he said.

I find Courage's clever use of his last name amusing, even encouraging, but I wonder how well his list of promises sells where the big issues all have to do with the quality of life the amenity called Canyon Lake provides.

After 17 months of drought water demands threaten to turn Canyon Lake into a mudhole. Even when the rain returns longterm prospects are grim. The local activist group Friends of Canyon Lake has a detailed laundry list of concerns on its' website. These are some very conservative people who will vote for a Democratic who makes them believe he will fight to save their beloved Lake.

JonBenét Died - And Bush Lied?

2006-08-30T00:24:00.000-05:00

jon benet,
originally uploaded by
nicelyroastedbeans.

Let's get back to our paranoid roots for a moment. The ridiculous flameout of the huge media buttshow known as "The Jon Benet Story" sheds a bit of flickering light on the incredible string of coincidences which time and again manage to obscure the latest Republican malfeasance. This example comes courtesy of the fabulous Only Grrrl. A juicy excerpt below the fold. Click the title for the whole enchilada.

JonBenét Died - And Bush Lied?
by Thom Hartmann

"I was on the air doing my radio program two weeks ago when the story came down the wire that the killer of JonBenét Ramsey had been captured in Thailand just hours earlier. I opened the microphone and said words to the effect of, "Today there must be something really awful going down for the Republicans. Maybe Rove really will be indicted. Maybe Cheney. Maybe some terrible revelation about Bush. And if there isn't, today will be the day they'll toss out the unsavory stories - like gutting an environmental law or wiping out pension plans - that they don't want covered."

Apparently it was worse than I'd imagined.

That same morning - just hours after the JonBenét information hit the press and just after I got off the air - it was revealed that US District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor had ruled that George W. Bush and now-CIA Director Michael Hayden had committed multiple High Crimes, Misdemeanors, and felonies, both criminal and constitutional. If her ruling stands, Bush and Hayden could go to prison."

Remembering How LamarTreated Katrina Victims

2006-08-29T16:31:00.000-05:00

Hurricane Katrina [Emergency Exit], originally uploaded by slight clutter.

On September 6, 2005, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement that it would not bring sanction actions under the Immigration and Nationality Act against employers for hiring individuals evacuated or displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The apparent rationale was to make it easier for displaced Katrina victims to find work wherever they ended up after evacuating their homes.

Lamar Smith lacked even this small degree of common sense and compassion for Katrina's dispossessed. Smith said of DHS's action "Hurricane Katrina has caused a situation unlike any we have ever had to endure, but that does not mean that the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to ignore important laws...the end result may be worthwhile, but that does not mean that federal agencies can disregard statutes put in place to protect American jobs."

Yeah, I bet a lot of people lost their jobs after all those Katrina folks came to town begging for work.

Aaron Neville's Katrina Tribute

2006-08-29T14:30:00.000-05:00

I posted a similar video this morning over at the Banned Book Cafe.

And They're Off!

2006-08-27T15:11:00.000-05:00

With the filing deadline behind us as of last Friday, we now know who is in the race for Tx-21...

Tommy Calvert IND

John Courage DEM

James Lyle Peterson IND

Mark J. Rossano IND

James Arthur Strohm LIB

Gene Kelly DEM ~ No Website. Is this guy lame or what?

And last but not least, Lamar Smith - Incumbent REP

Happy Furry Friday

2006-08-25T16:50:00.000-05:00

x4
Originally uploaded by
adampsyche.
Have a great weekend...

Check Out Tommy Calvert Jr's Video

2006-08-24T20:33:00.000-05:00

It's the same text posted earlier. But the visuals definitely add to the narrative.

Lamar Trolls For A Definition

2006-08-24T18:36:00.000-05:00

patent troll
Originally uploaded by oronzo.

Last Spring Lamar Smith held a new round of patent reform hearings by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts the Internet and Intellectual Property. The hearings were a follow-up to last year’s sideshow that produced Lamar's pet bill H.R. 2795, aka the “Patent Reform Act of 2005.”

Of the trenchant topics Chairman Smith covered my favorite is “Patent Trolls: Fact or Fiction?”. The Subcommittee members adjusted their pocket protectors, furrowed their brows and asked themselves:

"What is a patent troll? How many unreasonable suits do they initiate? Are they harming the economy or just enforcing their property rights?"

Trolls, don't you just know one when you see one?

Is Being a Moron an Impeachable Offense?

2006-08-23T11:41:00.000-05:00

Clearly, the guy has been losing it.

This Just In...

2006-08-22T15:13:00.000-05:00

Tommy Calvert Jr., son of San Antonio Eastside activist TC Calvert, throws his hat in the ring for TX-21. Here's what he had to say this morning. The video is here.

Dear Friends,

I am writing to tell you about the most important thing that I have ever done in my life.

I am running for Congress to clean up the mess in Washington and give the people of the 21st Congressional District of Texas a leader that they can talk to, so that they can believe again in America’s promise. In order to best represent the district, I am running on a centrist, independent platform, devoid of partisan politics, focusing solely on the issues that matter most to you. This campaign is about you taking the power back in this district. People in the 21st Congressional District have told me that they want a Congressman who is accessible and visible. Well I’m your Congressman.

I have been involved in community and political service for two decades. With you, we have worked together on local, national and international issues.

This is the community that trained me for national leadership by allowing me to speak about issues in your churches and community organizations. This training served me well, and by the time I was 15, I was a spokesman for the American Cancer Society. I also served as chief negotiator between San Antonio Fighting Back, an alcohol and substance abuse prevention and intervention organization, and the lawyers for the alcohol, tobacco, and billboard industries. Through these negotiations we reached an agreement prohibiting the advertisement of liquor and cigarettes near schools, community centers, and churches. This agreement received national attention, and was the model for settlements with the tobacco industry in 40 other states.

In San Antonio, we helped bring together the banks, schools, neighborhood associations, churches, and Parent Teacher Associations to create innovative urban financial literacy programs. These programs taught young people and their parents about the importance of managing their money and credit, and how this can help to end the cycle of poverty and lack of economic development in the inner-city.

I was born a few steps from “Freedom Bridge” on the eastside of San Antonio, but I never dreamed I would literally be a bridge for people’s freedom. Internationally, I have been called on by Congress to testify about war and slavery committed by terrorist states. On three occasions, I traveled to the Sudan to help eradicate slavery committed by radical Islamic fundamentalists who seek to destroy our freedoms and way of life. I won victories against these forces prior to September 11, 2001.

As a student at Tufts University, I worked with the American Anti-Slavery Group, to bring international attention to the genocidal war and chattel slavery that jihadists were waging against the people of Sudan. Our organization was instrumental in severing the finances of the terrorists that aided and abetted these groups, which impeded the proliferation of war and contemporary slavery. I never backed down, despite threats on my life, and I will never back down when representing you.

When the UN and Kofi Annan were caught up in bureaucratic confusion over how to resolve this conflict, Bill O’Reilly invited me to his show, The O’Reilly Factor, to provide moral clarity on the suffering. My appearance helped to force Kofi Annan to cease his useless diplomacy, and to hear the victims of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, stopping UN inaction.

The recent redistricting has presented the community with a unique opportunity to unite a seemingly disparate district. I grew up in the heart of the 21st Congressional District. I lived near Perrin-Beitel Road for almost 20 years, and attended school at MacArthur Park Lutheran, St. Luke’s Episcopal, and Saint Mary’s Hall. If anyone wonders whether I can represent the people in the area, all they need do is ask my friends on the Northside, where I was elected president of the student body at both Saint Mary’s Hall and St. Luke’s Episcopal in Olmos Park. I knew that if I wanted to see this community united, that I would have to offer myself as a unifying voice for the District -- a Congressman that everyone could talk to.

I now need your help to raise sufficient funds to spread our non-partisan message of reform and progress to the people of the 21st Congressional District and around this nation. My service to the community has always been about standing up for those in need, and holding both political parties accountable. If you want leaders that will protect you and our nation, you must invest in a leader that will risk his life to protect it. Many in America now feel that now neither political party adequately or accurately represents them, and because I feel the same way, I want to be the change that I want to see in the world, and I offer to be your voice for change.

Please contribute online at www.calvertforcongress.org and help me get on TV by the first weeks in September.

Thank you for taking the time to read this message and may God bless you.

Yours for change,

Tommy R. Calvert, Jr.

18,000 More Promises

2006-08-22T15:08:00.000-05:00

John Courage, Lamar Smith's Democratic opponent, has a new TV ad. Check it out.

The Daily Carnage Report - Haditha Edition

2006-08-19T20:31:00.000-05:00

War sure does suck

Haditha Massacre
Originally uploaded by RedKen.

Backdoor Draft

2006-08-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

More than just a hole in the seat of your trousers...

Little Creamnose

2006-08-18T18:30:00.000-05:00

Little Creamnose
Originally uploaded by erakkotahti.

Happy Furry Friday ....

when lamar visits ted

2006-08-17T22:05:00.000-05:00

OK Lamar's clam dig on the Cape isn't right next to the Kennedy compound. You can't expect Lamar and Ted to be golfing buddies after all. People would talk.

And Lamar doesn't own the whole clam dig either. He inherited what ultimately amounts to a one third interest in this humble abode from his dearly departed first wife Jane Shoults Smith. She died about 15 years ago. Damn shame. I'm sure Lamar did everything he could to save her. Just like he did for Terri Schiavo.

The Daily Carnage Report

2006-08-17T01:19:00.000-05:00

Click the title...

Lamar Smith - Tom Delay, BFF?

2006-08-15T22:07:00.000-05:00

So far the chaos in District 22, Tom DeLay's old fiefdom, hasn't derailed Lamar Smith's re-election prospects. But as Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall pointed out back in January of 2005, Lamar and the Hammer were once best friends forever.

"First there was the DeLay Rule. This one amounts to a whole Tom DeLay Protection Act of 2005 ... the removal of the rule that members of the House 'shall conduct himself at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.'

The rule change was proposed to the House Rules Committee by Reps. Lamar Smith of Texas and Dave Camp of Michigan. Both loyal DeLay soldiers, Smith is a DeLay right-hand-man from back home, who says the 'The [current] rules benefit the aggressors who file complaints.'"

Read the rest of the post here

Lamar Smith - Will We Ever Be Rid of This Wanker?

2006-08-15T21:37:00.000-05:00

For the next few weeks at least I've decided to focus on a particularly annoying boil on the ass of the Central Texas electorate, the 20 year incumbent Congressman "from" San Antonio Lamar Smith. The eternally optimistic lefties over at Burnt Orange Report claim Smith is finally in trouble this time around. Friends have told me we must rally around Smith's challenger John Courage, a nice guy with a great soundbite name. Much as I'd like to believe Smith and his xenophobic politics have met their match, I remain dubious. Here is a man with more skeletons in his closet than Jeffery Dahmer. Yet there's not much you can find out about him on Google other than he is conservative, a Christian Scientist and owns a house in Hyannisport next to the Kennedys.

June poll numbers emboldened the Courageous partisans suggesting Smith is unpopular even among conservatives. But all bets are off now that the Courts have re-gerrymandered Tom Delay's Texas Congressional map. The odious Bob Novak bleats in his Redistricting Report for Human Events:

"The results are finally in for the Texas redistricting case that had turned the entire Lone Star political scene into mush. Finally, the winners and losers of Southwest Texas have been chosen. The Supreme Court's ruling that the 2003 gerrymander had weakened Hispanic voting strength required the federal courts to adopt this new map. The Texas legislature is extremely unlikely to re-open the redistricting can of worms...

Lamar Smith (Texas-21): If there were ever any chance that Smith (R) could lose his district, there certainly isn't now. The addition of the Hill Country -- north of San Antonio -- means Smith can basically mail in his congressional campaign and focus on legislation or self-advancement in Congress. In 2004, the vote in the new district went 65 percent Republican."

Well if Smith decides to "mail in his congressional campaign" I bet the envelope will bear a Cape Cod postmark. And isn't it interesting odious Bob seems to think the Courts, not voters, choose our elected officials?

The Daily Carnage Report

2006-08-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

Meanwhile, back at the Real War.

dada woman poem

2006-08-13T21:32:00.000-05:00

The poem will resemble you
Originally uploaded by enrique.

TO MAKE A DADAIST POEM
Take a newspaper.
Take some scissors.
Choose from this paper an article of the length you want to make your poem.
Cut out the article.
Next carefully cut out each of the words that makes up this article and put them all in a bag.
Shake gently.
Next take out each cutting one after the other.
Copy conscientiously in the order in which they left the bag.
The poem will resemble you.
And there you are—an infinitely original author of charming sensibility, even though unappreciated by the vulgar herd.
—Tristan Tzara, 1920

Try it!

Hazzardous Nation

2006-08-12T23:05:00.000-05:00

The same party controls the White House and Congress. The President, a down to earth Southerner, is hugely unpopular and perceived as incompetent. A Pop Culture Icon known to enjoy a drink or five makes news for his anti-Semitic remarks. Ah 1979. Oil was $16 a barrel. And "The Dukes of Hazzard" premiered on CBS, one of only three channels I could get on my 12 inch Panasonic black and white.

Nobody but Boss Hogg knew it at the time but good old Southern values were about to kick us all in the ass. Hard. Newt Gingrich's first full year in Congress was 1979. By the following year the Reagan Revolution was underway. Republicans chipped away at the Democratic majority in the House then took over the Senate. Corruption in the guise of reform and patriotism became the order of the day. Witness the rise and recent fall of one California Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. "Duke"? Hmmmmm.

"The Dukes of Hazzard" popularized southern culture and stereotypes. So much so it now seems like some of the characters are running the country. Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke along with their uncle, Jesse fight the corrupt Hazzard County Commissioner Boss Hogg whose only loyalty seemed to be the pursuit of wealth. Bo and Luke even took a sabbatical from fighting Hogg Justice for a successful stint on the NASCAR Circuit. The show was popular and funny. Now it's also ironic for the way it foreshadowed almost twenty years of National political life. The South did rise again after all. And NASCAR Dads were the voters to court during the last Presidential election.

In some respects the US has become one big Hazzard County. Our foreign policy boils down to shouting "YEEE-HAWW" over and over again. Nobody can be elected President without Southern bona fides. Our economy is a playground for crooked crony Capitalists. And "Daisy Dukes" are back in fashion. But greedy as he was Boss Hogg had a conscience. Nobody died as a result of his schemes proving he would sometimes put people ahead of profits. As of today we've lost 2601 US troops in Iraq. We can expect to lose many more as our leaders stay the course.

This stopped being funny or popular a long time ago. So maybe finally our National conservative docudrama has seen it's final run.

Let's Begin With A Song

2006-08-11T15:41:00.000-05:00

Join us in a rousing rendition of the Tin Foil Hat Song