December 29, 2005
December 27, 2005
Amazing ice statue in ice cube tray!
(of course It doesn't looks like anything but...)
I was checking the freezer today to see if the ice are frozen enough to use but caught this in odd shape! I didn't know it would go up and freeze like that. real amazing to see this! (must be result of air pocket pushing up or whatever)
Here's photos and video to prove! this was taken today!
click the picture below to play the video
Of course, the comment feature is still broken... I am holding off till I revamp my blog for 2006 :)
December 24, 2005
The Globe and Mail: Before planting first kiss of 2006, wait just a second
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, one.Revellers will have to wait an extra second to ring in the new year because a "leap second" is being added to the last minute of the last hour of 2005.
Read more at: The Globe and Mail: Before planting first kiss of 2006, wait just a second:
Barron's calls for investigate a possible impeachment
Barron's is a conservative-leaning financial weekly rag, says "consider impeachment"
"AS THE YEAR WAS DRAWING TO A CLOSE, we picked up our New York Times and learned that the Bush administration has been fighting terrorism by intercepting communications in America without warrants. It was worrisome on its face, but in justifying their actions, officials have made a bad situation much worse: Administration lawyers and the president himself have tortured the Constitution and extracted a suspension of the separation of powers . . .Certainly, there was an emergency need after the Sept. 11 attacks to sweep up as much information as possible about the chances of another terrorist attack. But a 72-hour emergency or a 15-day emergency doesn't last four years . . .
Willful disregard of a law is potentially an impeachable offense. It is at least as impeachable as having a sexual escapade under the Oval Office desk and lying about it later. The members of the House Judiciary Committee who staged the impeachment of President Clinton ought to be as outraged at this situation. They ought to investigate it, consider it carefully and report either a bill that would change the wiretap laws to suit the president or a bill of impeachment.
It is important to be clear that an impeachment case, if it comes to that, would not be about wiretapping, or about a possible Constitutional right not to be wiretapped. It would be about the power of Congress to set wiretapping rules by law, and it is about the obligation of the president to follow the rules in the Acts that he and his predecessors signed into law.
Some ancillary responsibility, however, must be attached to those members of the House and Senate who were informed, inadequately, about the wiretapping and did nothing to regulate it. Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, told Vice President Dick Cheney in 2003 that he was "unable to fully evaluate, much less endorse these activities." But the senator was so respectful of the administration's injunction of secrecy that he wrote it out in longhand rather than give it to someone to type. Only last week, after the cat was out of the bag, did he do what he should have done in 2003 -- make his misgivings public and demand more information.
Published reports quote sources saying that 14 members of Congress were notified of the wiretapping. If some had misgivings, apparently they were scared of being called names, as the president did last week when he said: "It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war. The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy."
Wrong. If we don't discuss the program and the lack of authority for it, we are meeting the enemy -- in the mirror.
I got this from MyDD as well as Daily Kos
Clinton and Liel Sing for Peace
click here to watch Full view or double size is best and share the link with everyone!
Happy Holidays to you all!
December 23, 2005
Political Cartoon - Domestic Spying
(From MSNBC/Bob Gorrell)
More cartoon of Domestic Spying at: http://www.cagle.com/news/DomesticSpying/main.asp
Happy Holiday!
December 22, 2005
Daschle: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in U.S.
The Bush administration requested, and Congress rejected, war-making authority "in the United States" in negotiations over the joint resolution passed days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to an opinion article by former Senate majority leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) in today's Washington Post.
Read more: Daschle: Congress Denied Bush War Powers in U.S.
December 19, 2005
What Santa said after Bush's Speech
From: http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/umedia/20051218/cp.f6726...
December 18, 2005
Bush sez: "Yet now there are only two options before our country – victory or defeat." B.S.!!!
Bush’s Prime Time Speech on Iraq
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/18/embargoed-speech/
From this office, nearly three years ago, I announced the start of military operations in Iraq. Our Coalition confronted a regime that defied United Nations Security Council Resolutions … violated a cease-fire agreement … sponsored terrorism … and possessed, we believed, weapons of mass destruction. After the swift fall of Baghdad, we found mass graves filled by a dictator … we found some capacity to restart programs to produce weapons of mass destruction … but we did not find those weapons.
and
I also want to speak to those of you who did not support my decision to send troops to Iraq: I have heard your disagreement, and I know how deeply it is felt. Yet now there are only two options before our country – victory or defeat. And the need for victory is larger than any president or political party, because the security of our people is in the balance. I do not expect you to support everything I do, but tonight I have a request: Do not give in to despair, and do not give up on this fight for freedom.
Nearly three years ago, there were mass protesters in D.C. saying NO to Iraq Invasion and start War. Bush flat out brushed us aside and ignored big time. He forgot that he has to listen to the "We The People" according to U.S. Constitution and "We The People" said no to invasion of Iraq.
Although there were Protests against the 2003 Iraq war has been done before March 2003
Yes, there were several Resolutions brought forth by UN Security Council but President Bush didn't let UN Weapon Inspector finish before because he does not want any delays from those inspector and want to invade on time. So Bush told those inspector to get out of Iraq.
See March 16, 2003 event;
The United States informs UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei that it would not be “prudent” for UN and IAEA staff to remain in Iraq any longer. [Washington Files, 3/17/2003]
People and organizations involved: United States, Mohamed ElBaradei, Kofi Annan
at; http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_timeline_of_the_2003_invasion_of_iraq&startpos=700
then read on...
and you may want to start at beginning of the timeline to get whole picture; http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_timeline_of_the_2003_invasion_of_iraq
That is an important question, and the answer depends on your view of the war on terror. If you think the terrorists would become peaceful if only America would stop provoking them, then it might make sense to leave them alone.This is not the threat I see. I see a global terrorist movement that exploits Islam in the service of radical political aims – a vision in which books are burned, and women are oppressed, and all dissent is crushed. Terrorist operatives conduct their campaign of murder with a set of declared and specific goals – to de-moralize free nations … to drive us out of the Middle East … to spread an empire of fear across that region … and to wage a perpetual war against America and our friends. These terrorists view the world as a giant battlefield – and they seek to attack us wherever they can. This has attracted al Qaida to Iraq, where they are attempting to frighten and intimidate America into a policy of retreat.
The terrorists do not merely object to American actions in Iraq and elsewhere – they object to our deepest values and our way of life. And if we were not fighting them in Iraq … in Afghanistan … in Southeast Asia … and in other places, the terrorists would not be peaceful citizens – they would be on the offense, and headed our way.
well, see this from the timeline; (Jan 17, 2005)
January 17, 2003
Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior member of Hamas, warns, “If Iraq is attacked... all American targets will be open targets for every Muslim, Arab or Palestinian. Any attack against Iraq will be answered by resistance everywhere and American interests everywhere will be targeted. We say that all American targets will be open targets to every Muslim, Arab, or Palestinian.” [Ha'aretz, 1/17/03]
People and organizations involved: Mahmoud al-Zahar
from; http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_timeline_of_the_2003_invasion_of_iraq&startpos=600
He basically made all American targets after Iraq was attacked. That's how we get lots of foreigner fighters streaming into Iraq from all sides plus the rise of insurgency.
Remember Bush and his chorts promised that it will be Liberation to remove Saddam but not to Occupy. Currently Iraq is Occupied by US and US is the major Occupier!
December 04, 2005
The Daily Shooter - Photographer of the Month Kresta King Cutcher
Read my niece's full interview at;
The Daily Shooter - Photographer of the Month Kresta King Cutcher:
The social and political problems in places like Rwanda, Africa are something that we have all heard about. Words like genocide, mass graves, AIDS epidemics are all things that we hear whispers of on the news. Photographer Kresta King Cutcher brings us even closer. Her touching images of the children, often orphans, in Africa remind us of the lives that these types of issues affect. We are proud to have Kresta as our first Photographer of the Month.
Kresta, Congratulation! I am proud of you! I likes your works and you seems to have good taste in camera like I do. Your interview was great!
I like Canon Rebels and I have dreamed of owning a Canon Rebel EOS (35mm of course) over the years since high school. Now that Digital version of that is out... I seems not able to get my hand on it. heh... I have bought and owned two Canon Snappy, the first one was lost on the trip back to NY from summer vacation during my college year. The film was in it! shoot! I had to buy another one of same name but a Snappy LX though.. However, the plan to buy Canon Rebel is still on my to do list. I do have a Poster of Canon EOS Rebel (film based) and all the lens that are compatible but I don't know where I put it. Probably in one of boxes.
Keep up on your good works!
December 03, 2005
"Secular"
From:
Daily Kos :: Comments O'Reilly: Soros is "Moneyman" Behind War on Christmas:
"Secular" (none / 0)
I hate how conservatives are making "secular" a dirty word just lie what they did to "liberal." I guess that's why we're all "progressives" right now.
Being secular does not mean being god-less. I am secular progressive. I am also a Catholic. That means I like to keep my church seperate from my state. And personally I don't give a rat's ass on whether a store has ads saying "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas."
And it's not the fault of "secular progressives" that stores are using ads that say "Happy Holidays." Happy Holidays is much more concise than "Eid Mubarak/Happy Hannukah/Merry Christmas/Happy Winter Solstice" because the stores want to make money out of everybody, not just Christians.
And to be really technical and quoting liturgical calendars, it's not even Christmas Season right now, it's Advent. Christmas Season starts on Christmas Eve and ends on Epiphany.
The Holiday season is about spreading peace, love and joy and I can't believe people who are pretending to be pious are feigning outrage to spread hate.
Perhaps we should do the Christian thing and forgive him as a sign of forgiveness maybe we should buy him a Bill O'Reilly Holiday Ornament.
I agree...
Read http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/2/151252/389
December 01, 2005
Crescent aspect eliminated from Flight 93 memorial site
From:
Crescent aspect eliminated from Flight 93 memorial | www.azstarnet.com ®:
PITTSBURGH - Designers of a Flight 93 memorial have made a bowl-shaped piece of land its centerpiece, replacing a crescent-shape design that some critics had said was a symbol honoring terrorists, officials announced Wednesday.
Regarding the underline above... See below to see the quote from a blog, Flopping Aces, which posted a entry about critics back in Sept and listed several sites that complained of the Crescent shaped. However, now they made a bowl-shaped piece of land instead to appease those wingnut critics. See another underline below and you notice that the winning design before the change WERE selected by "victims' relatives so why can't they honor their wishes instead?
The new design for the memorial, to be built on the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, crash near Shanksville, features most of the details of the original, which victims' relatives helped select after a worldwide competition.
Now here's quote from: Flopping Aces: Flight 93 Memorial:
How in the world could the 15 people chosen to pick a suitable memorial design for the heroes of Flight 93 have picked a design that reminds EVERYBODY of the red crescent of Islam? Is this a joke?
Click the link to read more and at bottoms, there's links to various sites that whined about the shape of the memorial. Those bloggers ARE NOT relatives of those Victims that died on Flight 93! Geez!!
I shrugged and I have seen the memorial website and the "Crescent of Embrace" looks awesome! but however I can't believe those blogger posted picture the wrong way hoping to misled us to think that it looked like a crescent used by Islam or terrorist (you know a flag) when it is not!!
The Original selected design "Crescent of Embrace" can be seen at;
http://flight93memorialproject.org/docs/F93%20Board%2030x40%204-5.pdf via "Selected Design" You can compare it to those other bloggers that complained.
At http://flight93memorialproject.org/ and you can view the announcement which is a lastest project newsletter about the memorial. On page 2 of the PDF will show the revised design.
This website, http://www.zombietime.com/flight_93_memorial_project/ said
"Etaoin Shrdlu" has generated an azimuthal equidistant world map centered on the location of the Flight 93 Memorial which seems to indicate that the crescent is oriented toward Mecca.(see the link to click to see the orienation) however it is not designer's fault, that's how the lanscape looked like before creating the crescent. should the designer orient it other way so the red area would be on top of where victims died? or orient the other way so it sort of pointed to north. But hey Victims's relatives CHOOSE it not the whole world!
Oh yeah you know that Turkey(click to see flag and read about Turkey) has a crescent flag but the nation is predominantly secular! and that the crescent (click to read more in full) shape is not actually a symbol of Islam!
However, it should be noted that the crescent was not a symbol used for Islam by Muhammad or any other early Muslim rulers, as the Islamic religion is, in fact, against appointing "Holy Symbols" (so that during the early centuries of Islam, Muslim authorities simply didn't want any geometric symbols to be used to symbolize Islam, in the way that the cross symbolizes Christianity, the menorah was a commonly-occuring symbol of Judaism, etc.). This is why early Islamic coins were covered with Arabic writing, but contained no visual symbols.
Oh well, it is too late. The change has been made and new revision is better. Now those whiners can STFU!!
Personally, I think those critics should send apologies to victims' relatives that they forced changes and that they forgot that victims are heroes which they have mocked at for no reason!
(Note: Flopping Ace has more updates on it and he's happy sheesh; )
