] In his five years as governor of Texas, the state has
] executed 131 prisoners -- far more than any other state.
] Mr. Bush has lately granted a stay of execution for the
] first time, for a DNA test.
]
] In answer to questions about that record, Governor Bush
] has repeatedly said that he has no qualms. "I'm
] confident," he said last February, "that every person
] that has been put to death in Texas under my watch has
] been guilty of the crime charged, and has had full access
] to the courts."
]
] That defense of the record ignores many notorious
] examples of unfairness in Texas death penalty cases.
] Lawyers have been under the influence of cocaine during
] the trial, or been drunk or asleep. One court dismissed a
] complaint about a lawyer who slept through a trial with
] the comment that courts are not "obligated to either
] constantly monitor trial counsel's wakefulness or
] endeavor to wake counsel should he fall asleep."
]
]
] This past week The Chicago Tribune published a compelling
] report on an investigation of all 131 death cases in
] Governor Bush's time. It made chilling reading.
]
]
] In one-third of those cases, the report showed, the
] lawyer who represented the death penalty defendant at
] trial or on appeal had been or was later disbarred or
] otherwise sanctioned. In 40 cases the lawyers presented
] no evidence at all or only one witness at the sentencing
] phase of the trial.

And the article goes on to list even more facts about the lawyers and trials that are just stunningly abhorrent.

I think I'll pass on moving to Texas anytime soon.

Texas Executions: GW Bush Has Defined Himself, Unforgettably, As Shallow And Callous

] JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Dario Cruz has lived in the United
] States for 16 years, but just became a citizen last week
] as he and about 200 other immigrants were naturalized.
]
] One of the things he had always wanted to was register to
] vote, but when he was offered the chance to do that right
] outside the ceremony, he knew something wasn't right --
] the place on the form where you're asked to choose
] Democrat, Republican or independent was already filled
] out.
]
]
] "It's like one side," Cruz said. "You don't get to
] choose."
]
]
] According to Cruz and his family, every form was checked
] off Republican.
]
]
] It was something his wife, Linda Cross, first noticed.
] She said she asked what was going on, and was told the
] woman registering voters said they were with a Republican
] organization.
]
]
] "I am Republican," she told Channel 4's Jim Piggott. "I
] was very angry with that if they want to register
] whatever party, you shouldn't try to dictate to people
] what party they are going to register; who they are going
] to vote for, because then you don't have any freedom."

Later it mentions that "For the record, any registered voter can vote for any candidate of any party in a general election, but in most primaries in Florida, people can only vote for candidates of their own party." While this is true, it's still a slap in the face to new immigrants to have their party choice made for them.

News4Jax.com - Election 2004 - New Citizens Say GOP Took Away Their Right To Choose

Somewhere, someone failed because they needed yesterday what you only finished today.

Don't wait. Go.

Mantra #1

This is a horrible story to hear, but the irony in the naming of the girl involved is something I just had to point out. Make sure you never name your children after tragic plays.

A man doused his girlfriend and three small children with gasoline inside a car and set them on fire early Wednesday as he drove, authorities said. All five died after the car crashed in flames.

Residents reported hearing the crash and seeing two adults engulfed in flames, stumbling across a road near Bonny Lake, a small town east of Tacoma.

Antigone Monique Allen, 18, who had recently filed an assault complaint against the 24-year-old man, survived for about nine hours at a Seattle hospital, sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer said. She managed to tell investigators what happened before she died.

Horrible Irony - Careful what you name your children

] Theres a cute guy across the bar.
]
] Not really a guy youd bring home to your parents,
] but he looks like hed be an interesting Friday
] night.
]
]
] If only he knew the dirty thoughts running through your
] mind.
]
]
] Oh wait, he does.
]
] That is, if you're wearing one of motvanilla's
] new T-shirts and the dude can read Braille.
]
] The Vancouver-based company just released a new line of
] provocative T-shirts. With naughty messages written
] across the chest, the shirts encourage people to run
] their hands over them to find out what's on your
] mind.
]
] And if he can't read Braille, just flash him. Turn up the
] bottom of the shirt and the translation is printed just
] above the inside hem.
]
] They translate to "CLickable," "Use Me," "Spank It," and another
] sassy saying.

"Did you know there are 2 typos on your shirt? There are an extra 2 dots at each end of th... oh NEVERMIND! :D" -LB

Braille T-shirts let people get touchy-feely

] In a little-noticed submission to the Federal Register,
] the FCC made clear its intention of levying astronomical
] fines against publications that use dashes or other
] characters in place of letters to print profanity.
]
] "They think they're getting away with it, but I still
] know what they're writing," said FCC Chairman Michael
] Powell, at a press conference attended by two homeless
] men and our reporter, who had been looking for the
] building's exit and felt guilty about leaving once he'd
] entered the room.
]
] Powell continued: "Recently, Entertainment Weekly quoted
] Tom Hanks - the saintly Tom Hanks! - using the word
] 'C-dash-dash-dash-sucker.' That's how they printed it,
] but they put the whole word in my head. They put it in my
] head."

I love his closing sentence there... 'They put it in my head'. Well here is one for your head, Michael Powell. F--K YOU, A--HOLE!

DeadBrain - FCC's New Indecency Target: Dashes in Magazines, Newspapers

Rattle wrote:
] The election was bullshit. The Bush family has many financial
] ties to the Saudis. The Bush family makes money from war.
] The troops are the real victims, support the troops. Eat the
] rich.

The first thing about this movie is that it didn't piss me off as much as I thought it would. Thats mostly because Moore's cheap shots didn't overpower his footage.

Footage of soldiers in Iraq. Their attitudes. What life is like over there. Amputees. Innocent bystanders with their faces burned up. Mothers on both sides screaming at the camera over their lost children. People crying in fear. All of the horror of what is going on juxtaposed with the insolence of business development types who are salivating at the opportunities presented by an open Iraq. Juxtaposed with our stupid media coverage.

You should see it because it is the raw war footage thats been missing from the television. If there is any point that Moore makes that I absolutely agree with, its that the giddy, sports fan coverage that the U.S. media gave of the invasion of Iraq was absolutely disgusting, absolutely disgusting, when held against the horrific reality of what was going on. It was death as a spectator event. Like the roman coliseum. When you see the reality of it held next to our news coverage, our attitudes, you will not think us such an advanced culture.

The movie is worth seeing for that reason.

Does Moore lie? Yes, he certainly does. He says most of the people in Congress haven't read the Patriot act. He says Iraq never murdered Americans. He says that most of Al'Q and the Taliban have escaped. He raises numerous conspiracy theories about Florida, including the implication that Fox News had something to do with it, without providing any proof. He makes the unqualified statement that people who died on 9/11 died "as the result of our actions." The insane leftist attitude that Al'Q are like children who can't be held responsible for the things they do.

The movie, on the whole, presented, in a propagandistic way, the view that wealthy people are bad people and that poor people are good people. The audience blindly applauded on many occasions through the film upon being told, by Moore, what to think. Like sheep. It was even more disgusting to me that they had emotionally recovered from some of the footage enough to be excited about a statement and applaud it. The movie certainly did not leave me in any mood for applause.

Is Moore wrong about everything? Most certainly not. Could you have sat in that room for 15 minutes, staring at the wall in fear, after being told that the United States was under attack? Is the business relationship between leaders of the US, England, and Saudi Arabia a good thing, in that it ensures a strong working relationship, or a bad thing, in that it is more important to those involved then the interests they've been elected to defend? Moore makes a compelling case that this relationship may be a significant conflict of interest.

I do think its important people see this film.

RE: Fahrenheit 9/11 in 4 Sentences

] FINK: When you're talking about politics, what do you and
] [your father] talk about?
]
] DUBYA: Pussy.
]
] -- Interview with David Fink of the Hartford Courant at
] the Republican Convention, 1988

Things I never want the leader of my country, who makes policies about what I can and can't do with my body, to have said.

This was apparently said two years AFTER Rev. Billy Graham helped him to "recommit his life to God".

DubyaSpeak.com : Dubya on Himself

] Congress advanced or passed several bills this week that
] would increase penalties for infringing copyright, and
] outlaw devices and software that could be used to
] illegally copy and distribute content. The legislation
] would also protect computer users from identity theft and
] the spread of spyware.
]
] The Senate introduced the Induce Act, which critics say
] would ban file-sharing networks and stymie the
] introduction of any technology that could be used to copy
] and distribute copyright work. In addition, the Senate
] passed the Pirate Act, which would make it easier for the
] feds to go after file swappers. And on Friday, it passed
] a bill that would throw anyone caught videotaping a movie
] in theater into prison for up to three to 10 years.

What?
3 to 10. For videotaping a movie.
3. To. 10.
THE AVERAGE SENTENCE FOR A RAPIST IS 8 YEARS. Have we gone a little bonkers here, people?

Later in the article, talking about the Induce Act, it states "Schultz said the bill is so broad it would squash rights and legal precedents that allow people to own copying devices, even if they could be used for illegal purposes." So get rid of your CD-R drives, people. You're criminals. Or your CD-ROMs, even. And your photocopiers. And your VCR's. And...

Wired News: Congress Looks Out for Hollywood

] The discovery was made by chance by two biochemists
] conducting research into drugs for cancer and Alzheimer's
] in a medical laboratory at Vanderbilt University,
] Nashville, Tennessee.

Thought this was neat that two guys at vandy in nashville may have found a way to make a blue rose.

Telegraph | News