Friday, June 23, 2006

Desperate for Cannon Fodder

The Army has raised the enlistment age yet again. Now you can enlist even if you are 42 years old. If you support the Iraq war, you really should enlist.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Watada

I've finally made up my mind on the situation with Lt. Watada refusing to go to an illegal war.

As long as we have a commander-in-chief who deserted his post during Vietnam, misconduct on the part of our military up to and including desertion (and certainly including refusal to follow illegal orders!) is ok with me. I refuse to criticize any of our troops for following the example of their so-called "leader".

Monday, June 19, 2006

Bullies on the Bus

I was just watching Olbermann, and saw images caught on cameras now installed on schoolbuses of bullies beating up their victims.

I cannot tell you how much I wish there had been cameras on the bus when I was going to school.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

More from Mark Evanier

Mark Evanier on the Estate Tax, and the lies the very rich are using to try to repeal it.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Net Neutrality

This post goes into great detail about what net neutrality means, but here's the really basic lowdown...

If Net Neutrality is NOT passed, it is almost certain that you will have to pay extra money to the providers of the internet (the folks who own the cables and lines) to get access to many sites. The only sites that will be free will be corporate sites who are willing to pay tons of money so consumers will have unrestricted access. Small businesses, blogs, fansites, private websites... all will load much slower... if they load at all.

The threat is real. It's ALREADY HAPPENING. Call your congresscritters and let them know that you think the internet should be protected from corporate greed.


Save the Net Now

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Bad Astronomy Blog

Go read.

A Dilemma

Mark Evanier points out a really big problem with today's Supreme Court decision.

Bob Harris on Coulter

Not that it's an important topic, but Bob Harris has an intriguing look at something making news.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Great little music video!

This is a fan-made Flash music video that combines two of our favorite things: LEGO and "Weird Al" Yankovic. As the page says, it takes a long time to load, but it's worth it. Check out the little details as things progress. Oh, yeah, the address? http://www.weirdal.com/legohardwarestore/index.html.

DIY Impeachment

Boing Boing reports on the rights of each citizen to start the impeachment process.

What He Says

What he says.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

I Don't Know How I Feel

I really don't know how I feel about 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who is refusing to deploy to Iraq because it is an illegal war and therefore orders to report to Iraq are illegal. I completely agree that the war is illegal, and I sympathize with his decision, but I don't know all the details of his situation and therefore I'm just not sure what to think.

I do know that this opens a very ugly can of worms that was opened in the Vietnam war. I hope we learned our lessons from Vietnam, but I'm very afraid that we haven't learned anything, and that history is about to repeat itself yet again.

Monday, June 05, 2006

"Defense" of Marriage?

AmericaBlog asked its readers to call senators and representatives on their hypocrisy. The results have been incredibly funny and also enlightening. While the Congresscritters have no problem legislating what goes on in OUR bedrooms, they refuse to answer questions about their own sexual activities.

Here are some of the calls: Lindsay Graham, Lamar Alexander, and Senators office in Utah, Sen Crapo (also recorded so you can hear the flustered staffer), Sen Burns, Sen Martinez, Kay Bailey Hutchison (divorced), and Sen Allen. Keep checking the Main Blog page for more calls.

I think "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" is the order of the day, here. For people who are supposed to be religious, they do tend to ignore the Bible unless it supports what they think.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Happy birthday!

Mom, happy birthday today. I'll call later, I promise!

More on Pharmacists

Washblog tackles the issue. The money quote for me:
And as for being professionals: Once you abandon the roots of the profession, you cease to be professional. You become a fraud. See, here's the thing: Say I work for a company that designs game software. If I decide that our games promote promiscuity, can I just refuse to work on that game software anymore? Would I be called a professional who can't be forced to work against his morals? Or would I be called the guy who used to sit in the new guy's office? If you can't do the work, you're not professional. You need to find a new profession.
David Postman points out the Pharmacy Board members were never confirmed, and might be removed by the Governor.

Friday, June 02, 2006

The Pharmacy Problem

The Seattle Times and The Seattle PI are both reporting that the Washington state Board of Pharmacy has put forward a proposal that will allow Pharmacists to refuse to sell medicine that is in conflict with their beliefs.

I say: If you are a pharmacist, your job is to provide the medicine that the doctor prescribed, checking only to make sure that it doesn't conflict with other medicines the patient is taking, and lecturing only to make sure the patient understands how to take the medicine. If you have a problem dispensing any medicine that is legal to dispense, YOU SHOULD NOT BECOME A PHARMACIST. Find another job.

If any pharmacist should refuse to fill my legal prescriptions based on their moral beliefs, I will do my best to get that "pharmacist" fired, because such a person is morally repugnant in a job where people's lives depend on the medicine they get. They conflict with MY beliefs.

What if there isn't an alternative pharmacy? What if all the pharmacists in an area decide that they can't morally provide certain medicines? Despite its weak attempts to protect the patient from such situations, they can and will happen if these kind of exceptions are allowed. Therefore, these exceptions should not be allowed.

Do we have garbage haulers who refuse to haul garbage that contains certain items? Do we have teachers who refuse to teach certain children? Do we have policemen who refuse to work on certain streets? Do we have firemen who refuse to respond to calls to certain buildings? Why, then, should we have pharmacists who refuse to dispense certain drugs?

Canadians Healthier than Americans

According to Forbes. Of course, some folks who really like the American system dispute the findings, pointing out that Americans who actually have health care are more satisfied with the care they get.

Which doesn't mean a thing if you don't have insurance. Like me.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Intense...

I saw this segment. I've rarely seen Olbermann look that angry. But the anger was well-aimed. When a blowhard falsely claims American troops committed atrocities in WWII, when THEY were the victims, that blowhard deserves punishment for dragging the names of innocent men through the mud.

Mark Evanier

Once again, I agree with Mark Evanier. When there is an election, there should be no doubt. I really wish elections in this country could be simplified and cleaned up. Then folks wouldn't feel like conspiracy nuts when they noted the problems in the election process.

Update: By the way, the article in Rolling Stone that Evanier links to is pretty convincing. Lots of evidence that there was fraud in the 2004 election. Whether or not it was stolen is not proven, but there's enough evidence that I no longer feel like a conspiracy nut when I consider the possibility.