] Starting with 2003, the year Bush began his re-election
] campaign, the Social Security poll began mentioning his
] proposals for changing Social Security.

How to skew the elderly vote. Change your poll wording and make sure your screwed up poll gets out there. Now it looks like you're in charge.

If this is paid for by someone, I don't mind. Polls are generally worded to get a specific result. However, when that money is coming from me, and you, and everyone else, it shouldn't be pushing an agenda. And the list of obnoxious things done in Washington goes on...

Public Money Funds Social Security Polls

] Here's a chronology of DeLay's recent infractions,
] followed by The Hammer's responses. You might notice a
] pattern.

DeLay's (Broken) Record

] Lighters haven't been permitted in checked bags for at
] least 30 years because they might start fires in cargo
] holds. Congress passed a bill last year adding lighters
] to the list of items prohibited in the cabin.
]
]
] The genesis for the ban was Richard Reid, who tried
] unsuccessfully to light explosives hidden in his shoes on
] a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001. He used matches.

In the words of Hannover Fist, "Aw, gimmie a break!" Want a list of easy ways to kill everyone on an airplane? Here's a couple. 1) Mix ammonia and bleach. In an enclosed area you have a good chance to simply overcome everyone with the fumes before they can land the damn thing. This works best in first class. 2) Store your explosives properly. Druggies have been getting drugs through airports in this way for years. 3) Properly packaged chemical agent. What happens when you fill a mini hairspray container with something nasty? You don't even need something ugly like Sarin, plain old ether would work just fine.

Richard Reid was a moron who might have managed to blow off his foot, but the potential for actual damage to the plane was minimal. Maybe if he'd flushed his shoes down the toilet after lighting them he might have been able to do something, but let's get real folks. Everything we've done to "improve air travel security" has made a plane safer, maybe, but has without question made getting to the plane much more dangerous.

Cigarette Lighters Banned From Airplanes

] But the controversy that erupted around Schiavo, who died
] on Thursday, ought to remind us once and for all what
] "activist judge" really means: a jurist whose rulings
] dissatisfy a right-wing political constituency.

Thank you Cynthia Tucker. This is the United States of America, not Jesusland, and I for one, love my country. When the "religious right" (read people who are still pissed off slavery is dead) pokes it's ugly head from the ground, and starts to make policy, it deserves it's head smacked down. Ideally with the Hammer of God in his whack-a-mole gaem.

RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS SEEK THEIR OWN 'ACTIVIST' JUDGES

] In the strange world of immigration law, detention is
] indefinite and "the burden is on the girls to prove that
] they are not potential suicide bombers, rather than on
] the government to prove they are,"

They're young! They're Muslim! They MUST be suicide bombers! Hey DoJ jackasses, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." The very first thing in there is religion. I'm not very partial to religion in general, but it doesn't get much more straightforward than that.

The Nation | Blog | The Daily Outrage | Young and Arrested | Ari Berman

] While many Democrats argue that the system can be
] extended with minor changes that may include tax
] increases and benefit cuts, most Republicans warn that
] the situation is more dire. They note that in 2008, the
] growth in contributions to the trust fund will peak. That
] could trigger draconian budget cuts because the
] government has been borrowing excess Social Security tax
] payments to pay for other government programs. If that
] tax money starts to diminish, it would leave less free
] cash for other domestic and foreign spending.

You know, maybe if these people weren't spending money they don't have, it wouldn't be an issue. Or to put this in even more brutal terms;

Over the last couple of years we have seen the largest official defecits in history. On top of that they have been borrowing the excess money coming in from FICA payments to bankroll everything else?

Folks, there isn't a problem with Social Security, the problem is the people who run this crap have been spending all the money and not giving a damn where it comes from or IF IT'S EVEN THERE! This isn't a Social Security problem, and the "fixes" won't make a damn bit of difference when the whole system goes down like a house of cheap cards in a thunderstorm.

Bush Urged to Focus on Soc. Sec. Solvency

] In that way, he argued, the precedent could ultimately
] hurt the GOP by allowing Democrats to bar the filibuster
] the next time they hold the White House and a majority in
] the Senate.
]
]
] "If we don't protect the rights of the minority %u2026 if
] you had a liberal president and a Democrat-controlled
] Senate, I think that it could do great damage," said
] McCain, who sought the GOP presidential nomination in
] 2000 and is considering another run in 2008.

And here's why McCain won't be allowed to become a nominee. He just doesn't have that same "kick em when they're down" attitude.

McCain Sees 'Slippery Slope' in Filibuster Ban

] Ominously, Vieira continued by saying his "bottom line"
] for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from Joseph
] Stalin. "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for
] him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no
] problem,' " Vieira said.

Unbelievable! In very unmistakable terms, this guy advocated the assassination of federal judges. There is a certain disconnection from ethics and reality here that is truly terrifying.

Now, let me go out on a limb here.. After reading this, I feel pretty damn safe saying a radical thing or two. Hell, I feel driven to balance it out. Madness does beget madness.. You'd think that in comparison, it would be pretty hard to breech some line missed by Edwin Vieira. Google this guy and scan over a few items. In short, he is very unhappy with "the Establishment", and thinks that the dollar and the federal reserve system is a bad idea.

So, In a world where someone making purchases with two-dollar bills can be arrested on terrorism suspicions, are fools invoking Stalin and talking about "fixing" the judiciary the answer? I don't think so, and I'm pretty sure Jefferson would agree with me. Would it be acceptable for me to say that people like this should be rounded up and send to "education camps"? Shit, maybe that is the plan. After all this guy does have several college degrees, including a doctorate and a law degree, from Harvard no less.

On one page it said he argued the "last" case involving money the Supreme Court heard, quite awhile ago. I didn't look that hard for any information involving his cases before the court, but I get this image in my head of this guy arguing before the justices and thinking about how he wants to kill them..

This guy needs to get hip to the Conspiracy. Its much more fun than the Establishment. You can't prove it exists, but you can take part! If you build your delusions on something solid, like the Conspiracy, it offers much more personal freedom. Rather then fight the Establishment, join the Conspiracy! Start conspiring! That's how we made the dollar! ho ho ho..

We are all about the principles of the founding fathers in the Conspiracy. Edwin would like that. However, we are not about whacking judges or using Stalin as a role model. Edwin's world view is broken.

These guys are scary as hell, and they're the mainstream of that wing.

One man, one problem.

] The supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr,
] whose Mahdi Army militiamen signed truces last year with
] U.S.-led forces, filled Firdous Square and spilled into
] nearby avenues, waving Iraqi flags and burning effigies
] of U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister
] Tony Blair and Saddam.

Two years ago when we tore down the statue of Saddam, the square was largely empty. I guess things are better because people aren't as afraid, but the fact that they fill the square against us is telling.

Yahoo! News - Thousands Protest on Baghdad Anniversary

] Scientists now believe that there is an intrinsic logic
] to our reality, that there are absolutes, laws of nature.
] Much remains a mystery, and as one question is answered,
] many others arise. The question now facing Pennsylvania's
] Dover School District is whether or not the imposition of
] one creation belief on a multi-ethnic, secular student
] body is in keeping with the law that prohibits the
] creation of a state religion. If they allow one belief
] system to be taught, surely they must also teach others?
]
]
] To help out with this dilemma, LiveScience presents a
] list of those Creation Myths that helped define
] civilizations both past and present.

Ah, comedy!

The Top 10 Intelligent Designs (or Creation Myths)