TPM Muckraker has complete coverage of the Monica Goodling testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. She stated that Todd Graves " had been under investigation by the department's inspector general when he was asked to step down. She did not say what the investigation was about. She also said that she did not remember anything about voter fraud being a reason for his firing. "
The Columbia Tribune has a report from the AP that adds:
Goodling’s testimony focuses new attention on the revelation earlier this month that a former counsel to Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., called the White House in the spring of 2005 to urge that Graves be replaced because of the fee office controversy.
Around the time Graves was asked to resign in January 2006, U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins of Little Rock, Ark., was investigating whether there was any wrongdoing in the awarding of Missouri license office contracts.
The News-Leader also presents a AP report, but does not tie in the fee office implications. Chatter has comments on the Goodling testimony, as does The Turner Report.
Fired Up Missouri has three postings from Howard Beale.
The Kansas City Star comments "In testimony full of revelations, admissions and accusations, Monica Goodling — a key figure in the U.S. attorneys’ firing firestorm — dropped a smoldering ember into Missouri politics Wednesday." in a well-balanced report from Dave Helling.
Todd Graves is scheduled to testify in June.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
A Little Bit Of Paranoia
A small dose of paranoia for today. Trust me, it's better than drugs. This letter was printed in the Aspen Daily News. I don't necessarily agree with the conclusion that ground is being laid for a coup, but I would like to know more. It would be good if someone with a better grasp of the big picture could elaborate on his (conspiracy) theory.
Rove rewrites the Constitution
Letter to the Editor -
Tue 05/22/2007
About 40 years ago a group of wealthy right-wingers started to think that if they played their cards right, they could take over this country. They did.
Today the Bush administration has created the most powerful presidency and vice presidency ever. Led in part by today's Machiavelli, aka Karl Rove, counselor and strategist for "the prince," they have remade government in this country. The goal is a Republican Party dynasty for the foreseeable future. It could happen.
On May 9, an obscure presidential directive was released. Our president has declared himself the "go-to guy" in the event of just about any national emergency. After 200-plus years of presidents, why this, why now?
Consider the creation of Northcom, a brand-new Pentagon command that puts all of North America under the "command" of a four-star general. We have had a Southern Command, in the Middle East a Centcom, and in Africa a new Africacom. For the entire history of this country, the military has been denied any role on U.S. soil, except in extreme circumstances. This wise policy dates to the Roman Empire, where it came under tragic abuse.
Similarly, the president has created a new policy whereby he will be the primary commander of the National Guard of all of our states. These "militias" were created in the Constitution for a very different reason: to protect the states from an overly ambitious federal government.
And perhaps most tellingly, a subtle restructuring of all of the institutions of the federal government has been taking place. That is, new layers of bureaucracy have been created to supersede the traditional roles. For example, instead of the director of central intelligence, we now have the new director of national intelligence, a man who works directly for the president. Or, the Department of Homeland Security now controls dozens of formerly independent agencies as diverse as the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Agency.
Most recently, a new position was created called the war czar. The federal government has had no shortage of people with responsibility for the conduct of war from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Department of Defense, to the Congress of the United States. It is difficult to imagine how a position created out of thin air, with no precedent, no staff and no budget could possibly serve any useful purpose.
I see one possible explanation, and it has Karl Rove written all over it. I believe the real purpose of these pseudo leadership positions is not to streamline the management of the affairs of government, but to shield the president from the usual constraints imposed on the executive by the separation of powers in the Constitution. The president can now bypass the usual channels of government and accountability to take direct control of the key machinery.
Phony czars, directors of directors of intelligence, Homeland Security are all preparation for a coup. For those of you that have steadfastly supported George W. Bush these last few years, take heart; he could be around for many more.
Patrick Hunter
Carbondale
Rove rewrites the Constitution
Letter to the Editor -
Tue 05/22/2007
About 40 years ago a group of wealthy right-wingers started to think that if they played their cards right, they could take over this country. They did.
Today the Bush administration has created the most powerful presidency and vice presidency ever. Led in part by today's Machiavelli, aka Karl Rove, counselor and strategist for "the prince," they have remade government in this country. The goal is a Republican Party dynasty for the foreseeable future. It could happen.
On May 9, an obscure presidential directive was released. Our president has declared himself the "go-to guy" in the event of just about any national emergency. After 200-plus years of presidents, why this, why now?
Consider the creation of Northcom, a brand-new Pentagon command that puts all of North America under the "command" of a four-star general. We have had a Southern Command, in the Middle East a Centcom, and in Africa a new Africacom. For the entire history of this country, the military has been denied any role on U.S. soil, except in extreme circumstances. This wise policy dates to the Roman Empire, where it came under tragic abuse.
Similarly, the president has created a new policy whereby he will be the primary commander of the National Guard of all of our states. These "militias" were created in the Constitution for a very different reason: to protect the states from an overly ambitious federal government.
And perhaps most tellingly, a subtle restructuring of all of the institutions of the federal government has been taking place. That is, new layers of bureaucracy have been created to supersede the traditional roles. For example, instead of the director of central intelligence, we now have the new director of national intelligence, a man who works directly for the president. Or, the Department of Homeland Security now controls dozens of formerly independent agencies as diverse as the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Agency.
Most recently, a new position was created called the war czar. The federal government has had no shortage of people with responsibility for the conduct of war from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Department of Defense, to the Congress of the United States. It is difficult to imagine how a position created out of thin air, with no precedent, no staff and no budget could possibly serve any useful purpose.
I see one possible explanation, and it has Karl Rove written all over it. I believe the real purpose of these pseudo leadership positions is not to streamline the management of the affairs of government, but to shield the president from the usual constraints imposed on the executive by the separation of powers in the Constitution. The president can now bypass the usual channels of government and accountability to take direct control of the key machinery.
Phony czars, directors of directors of intelligence, Homeland Security are all preparation for a coup. For those of you that have steadfastly supported George W. Bush these last few years, take heart; he could be around for many more.
Patrick Hunter
Carbondale
Monica Goodling Testifies With Immunity Today
Monica Goodling testifies today before the House Judiciary Committee regarding her role in the irregularities alleged to have taken place in the firing of U. S. Attorneys. She is also alleged to have played a major role in selective hiring maneuvers to exclude those whose credentials seemed to suggest a liberal slant.
Monica Goodling was former counsel to Alberto Gonzales and the Justice Department's liason to the White House. She is a 33 year old graduate of Pat Robertson's Regent University with six months of prosecutorial experience.
From Think Progress, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias said he believes that Goodling holds the “keys to the kingdom” in terms of uncovering the roots of the U.S. Attorney purge:
"I think Monica Goodling is holding the keys to the kingdom. I think if they get her to testify under oath with a transcript, and have her describe the process between the information flow between the White House counsel, White House and the Justice Department, I believe the picture becomes a lot clearer."
TPM Muckraker points to profiles of Goodling in The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post this morning. Paul Kiel at TPM has the " impression that Goodling was a true believer. From her high perch in the Justice Department, Goodling worked to make sure that the Justice Department was staffed with staunch conservatives. "
An observation from Think Progress. Hiring for such positions based on political affiliation is a violation of federal law.
Why should we care? The tangled web includes the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys in Missouri and Arkansas with a little voter fraud scam and attempted intimidation of John Ashcroft thrown in for good measure.
Monica Goodling was former counsel to Alberto Gonzales and the Justice Department's liason to the White House. She is a 33 year old graduate of Pat Robertson's Regent University with six months of prosecutorial experience.
From Think Progress, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias said he believes that Goodling holds the “keys to the kingdom” in terms of uncovering the roots of the U.S. Attorney purge:
"I think Monica Goodling is holding the keys to the kingdom. I think if they get her to testify under oath with a transcript, and have her describe the process between the information flow between the White House counsel, White House and the Justice Department, I believe the picture becomes a lot clearer."
TPM Muckraker points to profiles of Goodling in The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post this morning. Paul Kiel at TPM has the " impression that Goodling was a true believer. From her high perch in the Justice Department, Goodling worked to make sure that the Justice Department was staffed with staunch conservatives. "
An observation from Think Progress. Hiring for such positions based on political affiliation is a violation of federal law.
Why should we care? The tangled web includes the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys in Missouri and Arkansas with a little voter fraud scam and attempted intimidation of John Ashcroft thrown in for good measure.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Senator McCaskill Opens Springfield Office
From the 5/18/07 Springfield Business Journal:
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., will be in Springfield Saturday to open the doors of her local office, located in downtown’s former Busy Bee building off the square...
Services there will include community outreach and case work, as well as assistance with Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, veterans benefits, passports and other federal assistance-related topics, according to Adrianne Marsh, communications director for McCaskill.
The 800-square-foot office will be staffed full-time, five days per week by District Director David Rauch, interns and several volunteers, Marsh said.
McCaskill has offices in Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia – in addition to her Washington, D.C., office – and plans to open one in Cape Girardeau soon...
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., will be in Springfield Saturday to open the doors of her local office, located in downtown’s former Busy Bee building off the square...
Services there will include community outreach and case work, as well as assistance with Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, veterans benefits, passports and other federal assistance-related topics, according to Adrianne Marsh, communications director for McCaskill.
The 800-square-foot office will be staffed full-time, five days per week by District Director David Rauch, interns and several volunteers, Marsh said.
McCaskill has offices in Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia – in addition to her Washington, D.C., office – and plans to open one in Cape Girardeau soon...
Missouri GOP Feuding
Via the Columbia Tribune:
Graves case another sign of rift between rival GOP camps
By SAM HANANEL Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Revelations that Sen. Kit Bond's office urged the White House to replace former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves in the Western District of Missouri came as little surprise to those familiar with the long-standing political feud between rival Republican camps in the state.
Graves' brother - Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo. - has clashed with Bond for years over how to wield Republican clout in the state...
Read the entire article here.
Graves case another sign of rift between rival GOP camps
By SAM HANANEL Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Revelations that Sen. Kit Bond's office urged the White House to replace former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves in the Western District of Missouri came as little surprise to those familiar with the long-standing political feud between rival Republican camps in the state.
Graves' brother - Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo. - has clashed with Bond for years over how to wield Republican clout in the state...
Read the entire article here.
McClatchy Has More Voter Fraud Revelations Today
Efforts to stop `voter fraud' may have curbed legitimate voting
By Greg Gordon
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - During four years as a Justice Department civil rights lawyer, Hans von Spakovsky went so far in a crusade against voter fraud as to warn of its dangers under a pseudonym in a law journal article.
Writing as "Publius," von Spakovsky contended that every voter should be required to produce a photo-identification card and that there was "no evidence" that such restrictions burden minority voters disproportionately.
Now, amid a scandal over politicization of the Justice Department, Congress is beginning to examine allegations that von Spakovsky was a key player in a Republican campaign to hang onto power in Washington by suppressing the votes of minority voters.
"Mr. von Spakovsky was central to the administration's pursuit of strategies that had the effect of suppressing the minority vote," charged Joseph Rich, a former Justice Department voting rights chief who worked under him...
Read the entire piece here.
By Greg Gordon
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - During four years as a Justice Department civil rights lawyer, Hans von Spakovsky went so far in a crusade against voter fraud as to warn of its dangers under a pseudonym in a law journal article.
Writing as "Publius," von Spakovsky contended that every voter should be required to produce a photo-identification card and that there was "no evidence" that such restrictions burden minority voters disproportionately.
Now, amid a scandal over politicization of the Justice Department, Congress is beginning to examine allegations that von Spakovsky was a key player in a Republican campaign to hang onto power in Washington by suppressing the votes of minority voters.
"Mr. von Spakovsky was central to the administration's pursuit of strategies that had the effect of suppressing the minority vote," charged Joseph Rich, a former Justice Department voting rights chief who worked under him...
Read the entire piece here.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Plastic Ocean
A few excerpts from an article in Best Life Magazine: Plastic Ocean: Our Oceans Are Turning Into Plastic - Are We? by Susan Casey
A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility...and worse...
This news is depressing enough to make a person reach for the bottle. Glass, at least, is easily recyclable. You can take one tequila bottle, melt it down, and make another tequila bottle. With plastic, recycling is more complicated. Unfortunately, that promising-looking triangle of arrows that appears on products doesn’t always signify endless reuse; it merely identifies which type of plastic the item is made from. And of the seven different plastics in common use, only two of them—PET (labeled with #1 inside the triangle and used in soda bottles) and HDPE (labeled with #2 inside the triangle and used in milk jugs)—have much of an aftermarket. So no matter how virtuously you toss your chip bags and shampoo bottles into your blue bin, few of them will escape the landfill—only 3 to 5 percent of plastics are recycled in any way.
Though marine dumping is part of the problem, escaped nurdles and other plastic litter migrate to the gyre largely from land. That polystyrene cup you saw floating in the creek, if it doesn’t get picked up and specifically taken to a landfill, will eventually be washed out to sea. Once there, it will have plenty of places to go: The North Pacific gyre is only one of five such high-pressure zones in the oceans. There are similar areas in the South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean. Each of these gyres has its own version of the Garbage Patch, as plastic gathers in the currents. Together, these areas cover 40 percent of the sea. “That corresponds to a quarter of the earth’s surface,” Moore says. “So 25 percent of our planet is a toilet that never flushes.”
... Each of us tosses about 185 pounds of plastic per year. We could certainly reduce that. And yet—do our products have to be quite so lethal? Must a discarded flip-flop remain with us until the end of time? Aren’t disposable razors and foam packing peanuts a poor consolation prize for the destruction of the world’s oceans, not to mention our own bodies and the health of future generations? “If ‘more is better’ and that’s the only mantra we have, we’re doomed,” Moore says, summing it up.
Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, Ph.D., an expert on marine debris, agrees. “If you could fast-forward 10,000 years and do an archaeological dig…you’d find a little line of plastic,” he told The Seattle Times last April. “What happened to those people? Well, they ate their own plastic and disrupted their genetic structure and weren’t able to reproduce. They didn’t last very long because they killed themselves."
A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility...and worse...
This news is depressing enough to make a person reach for the bottle. Glass, at least, is easily recyclable. You can take one tequila bottle, melt it down, and make another tequila bottle. With plastic, recycling is more complicated. Unfortunately, that promising-looking triangle of arrows that appears on products doesn’t always signify endless reuse; it merely identifies which type of plastic the item is made from. And of the seven different plastics in common use, only two of them—PET (labeled with #1 inside the triangle and used in soda bottles) and HDPE (labeled with #2 inside the triangle and used in milk jugs)—have much of an aftermarket. So no matter how virtuously you toss your chip bags and shampoo bottles into your blue bin, few of them will escape the landfill—only 3 to 5 percent of plastics are recycled in any way.
Though marine dumping is part of the problem, escaped nurdles and other plastic litter migrate to the gyre largely from land. That polystyrene cup you saw floating in the creek, if it doesn’t get picked up and specifically taken to a landfill, will eventually be washed out to sea. Once there, it will have plenty of places to go: The North Pacific gyre is only one of five such high-pressure zones in the oceans. There are similar areas in the South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean. Each of these gyres has its own version of the Garbage Patch, as plastic gathers in the currents. Together, these areas cover 40 percent of the sea. “That corresponds to a quarter of the earth’s surface,” Moore says. “So 25 percent of our planet is a toilet that never flushes.”
... Each of us tosses about 185 pounds of plastic per year. We could certainly reduce that. And yet—do our products have to be quite so lethal? Must a discarded flip-flop remain with us until the end of time? Aren’t disposable razors and foam packing peanuts a poor consolation prize for the destruction of the world’s oceans, not to mention our own bodies and the health of future generations? “If ‘more is better’ and that’s the only mantra we have, we’re doomed,” Moore says, summing it up.
Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, Ph.D., an expert on marine debris, agrees. “If you could fast-forward 10,000 years and do an archaeological dig…you’d find a little line of plastic,” he told The Seattle Times last April. “What happened to those people? Well, they ate their own plastic and disrupted their genetic structure and weren’t able to reproduce. They didn’t last very long because they killed themselves."
Voter Fraud: BuzzFlash Interviews Greg Palast
Just when I thought my monstrous paranoid appetite for voter fraud info had been satiated, I came across this interview on Buzzflash with investigative reporter Greg Palast, Author of Armed Madhouse, on "How Rove May Have Already Stolen the 2008 Election"
According to BuzzFlash, Palast's "specialty has really been how the Bush/Rove GOP political machine keeps persons who are likely to vote Democratic or Independent from voting. "
From the interview:
Greg Palast: ...The prosecutor firings were 100% about influencing elections -- not about loyalty to Bush, which is what The New York Times wrote. The administration team couldn’t tolerate appointees who wouldn’t go along with crime. In the book I present the evidence that Karl Rove directed a guy named Tim Griffin to target suppressing the votes of African American students, homeless men, and soldiers. Nice guy. They actually challenged the votes and successfully removed tens of thousands of legal voters from the voter rolls, same as they did in 2000. But instead of calling them felons, they said that they had suspect addresses.
BuzzFlash: In which election cycle?
Greg Palast: 2004. And in 2006 and 2004, they challenged tens of thousands of black soldiers. They stopped their votes from being counted when they were mailed in from Baghdad. Go to Baghdad and lose your vote -- mission accomplished.
BuzzFlash: How did they do that?
Greg Palast: By sending letters to the homes of soldiers, marked "do not forward." When they came back undelivered, they said: Aha! Illegal voter registered from a false address. And when their ballot came in from Fallujah, it was challenged. The soldier didn’t know it. Their vote was lost. Over half a million votes were challenged and lost by the Republicans -- absentee ballots. Three million voters who went to the polls found themselves challenged by the Republicans. This was not a small operation. It was a multi-million dollar, wholesale theft operation.
...the guy they put in charge of this criminal ring to knock out voters is a guy named Tim Griffin. Today, Tim Griffin is -- badda-bing -- U.S. Attorney for Arkansas. When they fired the honest guys, they put in the Rove-bots to fix the 2008 election. That’s what I’m saying -- it’s already being stolen, as we speak. Tim Griffin is the perpetrator who’s become the prosecutor, and that’s what’s going down right now.
BuzzFlash: This is not conjecture on your part. You're very methodical.
Greg Palast: We've got the documents. We ain’t guessing. When I say they had caging lists targeting innocent black soldiers, I have the lists. I have the soldiers’ names. We spoke to their families. In fact, interestingly, "60 Minutes" came into our office and said, “My God, to prove what these caging lists are, you’re going to have to make hundreds of calls and spend hundreds of hours going through this stuff.” And we said, “Yeah, it’s reporting. Try it. It won’t hurt you.”
If these tidbits have snagged your attention, read the entire interview at Buzzflash. I haven't yet read Armed Madhouse, but I'll move it to the top of my list.
According to BuzzFlash, Palast's "specialty has really been how the Bush/Rove GOP political machine keeps persons who are likely to vote Democratic or Independent from voting. "
From the interview:
Greg Palast: ...The prosecutor firings were 100% about influencing elections -- not about loyalty to Bush, which is what The New York Times wrote. The administration team couldn’t tolerate appointees who wouldn’t go along with crime. In the book I present the evidence that Karl Rove directed a guy named Tim Griffin to target suppressing the votes of African American students, homeless men, and soldiers. Nice guy. They actually challenged the votes and successfully removed tens of thousands of legal voters from the voter rolls, same as they did in 2000. But instead of calling them felons, they said that they had suspect addresses.
BuzzFlash: In which election cycle?
Greg Palast: 2004. And in 2006 and 2004, they challenged tens of thousands of black soldiers. They stopped their votes from being counted when they were mailed in from Baghdad. Go to Baghdad and lose your vote -- mission accomplished.
BuzzFlash: How did they do that?
Greg Palast: By sending letters to the homes of soldiers, marked "do not forward." When they came back undelivered, they said: Aha! Illegal voter registered from a false address. And when their ballot came in from Fallujah, it was challenged. The soldier didn’t know it. Their vote was lost. Over half a million votes were challenged and lost by the Republicans -- absentee ballots. Three million voters who went to the polls found themselves challenged by the Republicans. This was not a small operation. It was a multi-million dollar, wholesale theft operation.
...the guy they put in charge of this criminal ring to knock out voters is a guy named Tim Griffin. Today, Tim Griffin is -- badda-bing -- U.S. Attorney for Arkansas. When they fired the honest guys, they put in the Rove-bots to fix the 2008 election. That’s what I’m saying -- it’s already being stolen, as we speak. Tim Griffin is the perpetrator who’s become the prosecutor, and that’s what’s going down right now.
BuzzFlash: This is not conjecture on your part. You're very methodical.
Greg Palast: We've got the documents. We ain’t guessing. When I say they had caging lists targeting innocent black soldiers, I have the lists. I have the soldiers’ names. We spoke to their families. In fact, interestingly, "60 Minutes" came into our office and said, “My God, to prove what these caging lists are, you’re going to have to make hundreds of calls and spend hundreds of hours going through this stuff.” And we said, “Yeah, it’s reporting. Try it. It won’t hurt you.”
If these tidbits have snagged your attention, read the entire interview at Buzzflash. I haven't yet read Armed Madhouse, but I'll move it to the top of my list.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Slate Article Highlights ACVR Voter Fraud Scam
Fueling my paranoia, is an article at Slate.com penned by Loyola Election Law Professor Rick Hasen titled The Fraudulent Fraud Squad - The Incredible, Disappearing American Center For Voting Rights.
Brad Friedman comments: "After more than two years of the story being "chronicled indefatigably" here at The BRAD BLOG, as Hasen is kind enough to point out/link to, his article summarizing the rise and fall of one of this century's most insidious assaults on American values under the guise of the ACVR GOP front-group fraud comes not a moment too soon."
Considering the attempt of ACVR to influence the 2006 election in Missouri, Professor Hasen's analysis is food for thought. Here are a couple of small excerpts:
Brad Friedman comments: "After more than two years of the story being "chronicled indefatigably" here at The BRAD BLOG, as Hasen is kind enough to point out/link to, his article summarizing the rise and fall of one of this century's most insidious assaults on American values under the guise of the ACVR GOP front-group fraud comes not a moment too soon."
Considering the attempt of ACVR to influence the 2006 election in Missouri, Professor Hasen's analysis is food for thought. Here are a couple of small excerpts:
... ACVR—the only prominent nongovernmental organization claiming that voter fraud is a major problem, a problem warranting strict rules such as voter-ID laws—simply stopped appearing at government panels and conferences. Its Web domain name has suddenly expired, its reports are all gone (except where they have been preserved by its opponents), and its general counsel, Mark "Thor" Hearne, has cleansed his résumé of affiliation with the group. Hearne won't speak to the press about ACVR's demise. No other group has taken up the "voter fraud" mantra...
... But despite the collapse of ACVR, the idea that there is massive polling-place voter fraud has, perhaps irrevocably, entered the public consciousness. It has infected even the Supreme Court's thinking about voter-ID laws. And it has provided intellectual cover for the continued partisan pursuit of voter-ID laws that may suppress minority votes.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Rupert Murdoch Goes Green
Global warming deniers must be a little confused today.
From News Hound:
Also of interest:
From News Hound:
Holy Conundrum, Batman! News Corp, Parent of FOX News Going Green!
Reported by Marie Therese - May 10, 2007 -
Buried in the FOX STOX segment of yesterday's Your World with Neil Cavuto was this stunning announcement.
Rupert Murdoch has declared that News Corporation will be "carbon neutral" by 2010. Since FOX News Channel is a part of News Corporation, one wonders how its hosts and guest will "alter" their anti-enviromentalist, anti-global warming reportage to fit this startling development. Does this mean that Sen. James Inhofe will no longer be allowed to spout his idiotic theories on global warming on FOX? Will Hannity finally stop bashing Al Gore? Presumably, there will be
much more "in depth" analysis today on Cavuto's "premiier" business show.
Also of interest:
A Fox News poll from 2/7/07 had these surprising results:
NEW YORK — Most Americans believe in global warming, according to
the latest FOX News poll, and a majority thinks it is caused at least in part by human behavior, though many believe normal climate patterns are a factor.The national poll, conducted before the release of the United Nations’ report on climate change last week, finds that fully 82 percent of Americans say they believe in global warming, up from 77 percent in October 2005, while 10 percent disagree and 8 percent are unsure.
Democrats (91 percent) and independents (84 percent) are much more likely to say global warming exists than Republicans (72 percent),
although sizable majorities of all demographic groups are in agreement.When those who believe in global warming are asked what they think is the main cause of the situation, there is widespread belief that human behavior — such as driving and burning too much fossil fuel like coal and oil — is a contributor to the problem. Four in ten Americans say people are to blame outright (41 percent) and another 38 percent think it is a combination of human action and normal climate patterns. Few believe that global warming is an entirely natural occurrence (14 percent).
No Local Coverage of Missouri Involvement in DOJ Scandal
Where is the local coverage of Missouri Republicans' involvement in the DOJ scandal??
With front page mention in today's Washington Post (Number of Fired Prosecutors Grows) and a big article in the New York Times (Missouri Prosecutor Says He Was Pushed to Resign) the spotlight is on Todd Graves resignation and it's implication in the fee office scandal/voter fraud scam. The New York Times also has an editorial today U.S. Attorneys, Reloaded featuring the Missouri players Schlozman and Graves as relates to the GOP attempt to sway the Talent/McCaskill race.
The Kansas City Star has been criticized for lax coverage. From Fired Up Missouri, 5/8/07 (Star Bowing to Pressure From It's Attorney Lathrop & Gage to Soften Coverage of GOP Scandal?). The St. Louis Post-Dispatch seems to be ignoring the whole mess.
Yesterday's Columbia Tribune carried a bit from the AP report Bond Staffer Suggested Attorney Should Be Replaced, the McClatchy feature Bond's Staff Sought Graves' Firing and from the Politics Blog, Was Bond Intertwined in Graves Drama?
The John Combest political headlines site points to the NYT and WP, but he has no comment on his blog.
The Turner Report has two contributions today --Times editorial: Senate committee should question Graves and Graves Says He Was Fired.
The News-Leader has, well, nothing to say about any of this, the KY3 political blog is talking about Fred Thompson, and I suppose Chatter would chime in only if one of the players were to die suddenly.
I'm sure if this had to do with any impropriety on the part of Democrats it would be front page news all over the state. Forget "fair and balanced", the plan seems to be to just keep Missourians in the dark on anything that requires criticism of the Republicans.
With front page mention in today's Washington Post (Number of Fired Prosecutors Grows) and a big article in the New York Times (Missouri Prosecutor Says He Was Pushed to Resign) the spotlight is on Todd Graves resignation and it's implication in the fee office scandal/voter fraud scam. The New York Times also has an editorial today U.S. Attorneys, Reloaded featuring the Missouri players Schlozman and Graves as relates to the GOP attempt to sway the Talent/McCaskill race.
The Kansas City Star has been criticized for lax coverage. From Fired Up Missouri, 5/8/07 (Star Bowing to Pressure From It's Attorney Lathrop & Gage to Soften Coverage of GOP Scandal?). The St. Louis Post-Dispatch seems to be ignoring the whole mess.
Yesterday's Columbia Tribune carried a bit from the AP report Bond Staffer Suggested Attorney Should Be Replaced, the McClatchy feature Bond's Staff Sought Graves' Firing and from the Politics Blog, Was Bond Intertwined in Graves Drama?
The John Combest political headlines site points to the NYT and WP, but he has no comment on his blog.
The Turner Report has two contributions today --Times editorial: Senate committee should question Graves and Graves Says He Was Fired.
The News-Leader has, well, nothing to say about any of this, the KY3 political blog is talking about Fred Thompson, and I suppose Chatter would chime in only if one of the players were to die suddenly.
I'm sure if this had to do with any impropriety on the part of Democrats it would be front page news all over the state. Forget "fair and balanced", the plan seems to be to just keep Missourians in the dark on anything that requires criticism of the Republicans.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
McClatchy Puts Spotlight on Missouri '06 Voter Suppression
Todays Brad Blog points to a great article from the McClatchy Washington Bureau written by Greg Gordon, highlighting the efforts of Karl Rove, Thor Hearne, U.S. Attorney Bradley Schlozman and the Missouri legislature to suppress the vote in Missouri in 2006.
Of course, Talent got the boot anyway. Wonder what treats they have in store for 2008...
Of course, Talent got the boot anyway. Wonder what treats they have in store for 2008...
Global Warming is on a Roll
Yesterday our favorite weather guy at The Two Dollar Bill pointed out to us that the melting of Arctic sea ice is proceeding at a rapid clip. According to USA TODAY, it's about 30 years ahead of projections.
A new island has appeared off the coast of Greenland, aptly named Warming Island. It was previously thought to be a peninsula, before the glacier melted that connected it to the mainland. The Independent calls this "the most alarming sign of global warming." If the entire Greenland ice sheet melts, sea level will rise 23 feet.
If you are living in a coastal area, you might want to invest in a nice rubber raft.
A new island has appeared off the coast of Greenland, aptly named Warming Island. It was previously thought to be a peninsula, before the glacier melted that connected it to the mainland. The Independent calls this "the most alarming sign of global warming." If the entire Greenland ice sheet melts, sea level will rise 23 feet.
If you are living in a coastal area, you might want to invest in a nice rubber raft.
Monday, April 23, 2007
The Brad Blog Highlights Blunt Connections to Cummins Firing
Don't miss investigative blogger Brad Friedman as he weighs in today at The Brad Blog with a long post on the Blunt/Fee Office/DOJ scandal. He draws from the ongoing coverage at Fired Up Missouri and other state and local sources, including the SBJ article from May 2006.
The role of Mark F. "Thor" Hearn of Lathrop & Gage lawfirm is highlighted. The Brad Blog has been keeping tabs on the activities of Thor Hearn for quite some time and his activities as founder of the American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR). According to Brad, the ACVR "was, in turn, behind virtually every report, initiative, claim, piece of legislation, Congressional testimony, legal case, "official commission" or public statement concerning the cooked-up case for the mythical epidemic of Democratic "voter fraud" that has been at the heart of the GOP/White House/DoJ attempts at vote-shaving via politicization and suppression at the ballot box since at least 2004."
Several years of Brad's investigation into the ACVR are archived on his blog at http://www.bradblog.com/?page_id=4418. Brad also assures us that as much of the material about Thor Hearne and his activities is scrubbed from internet sources, he has saved that info for future reference.
Thanks Brad, great reporting.
The role of Mark F. "Thor" Hearn of Lathrop & Gage lawfirm is highlighted. The Brad Blog has been keeping tabs on the activities of Thor Hearn for quite some time and his activities as founder of the American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR). According to Brad, the ACVR "was, in turn, behind virtually every report, initiative, claim, piece of legislation, Congressional testimony, legal case, "official commission" or public statement concerning the cooked-up case for the mythical epidemic of Democratic "voter fraud" that has been at the heart of the GOP/White House/DoJ attempts at vote-shaving via politicization and suppression at the ballot box since at least 2004."
Several years of Brad's investigation into the ACVR are archived on his blog at http://www.bradblog.com/?page_id=4418. Brad also assures us that as much of the material about Thor Hearne and his activities is scrubbed from internet sources, he has saved that info for future reference.
Thanks Brad, great reporting.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Governor For Sale
That 30-some percent of Missourians who approve of Matt Blunt's performance as governor are willing to pony up some big bucks to support his upcoming political campaign.
The elimination of contribution limits has resulted in an early windfall for Blunt, including $200,000 in contributions from Texas homebuilder Bob Perry and his wife Doylene. Perry is the man behind the deceptive Swift Boat ads that adversely affected John Kerry's Presidential bid in 2004.
Also chipping in a total of $200,000 is David and Ethelmae Humphreys of Tamco Roofing Products, Joplin, MO. Jerry and Patricia Hall of Monett, MO weighed in with a combined total of $125,000.
Contributing $100,000 each were Stanley Herzog, Herzog Construction, St. Joseph, MO; Rex Sinquefield, Show-Me Institute, Westphalia, MO; Dennis Jones, Retired, St. Louis, MO; and a Georgia contributor, William Ulm, MLU Service, Inc., Bogart, GA. Jeffrey, Marilyn and Merle Fox, Harbour Group Investments, St. Louis also gave a total of $100,000.
Donations from those giving $100 or less totaled $12,596.50. So much for the little people.
Source for data Missouri Ethics Commission.
HT: The Turner Report, Fired Up Missouri
The elimination of contribution limits has resulted in an early windfall for Blunt, including $200,000 in contributions from Texas homebuilder Bob Perry and his wife Doylene. Perry is the man behind the deceptive Swift Boat ads that adversely affected John Kerry's Presidential bid in 2004.
Also chipping in a total of $200,000 is David and Ethelmae Humphreys of Tamco Roofing Products, Joplin, MO. Jerry and Patricia Hall of Monett, MO weighed in with a combined total of $125,000.
Contributing $100,000 each were Stanley Herzog, Herzog Construction, St. Joseph, MO; Rex Sinquefield, Show-Me Institute, Westphalia, MO; Dennis Jones, Retired, St. Louis, MO; and a Georgia contributor, William Ulm, MLU Service, Inc., Bogart, GA. Jeffrey, Marilyn and Merle Fox, Harbour Group Investments, St. Louis also gave a total of $100,000.
Donations from those giving $100 or less totaled $12,596.50. So much for the little people.
Source for data Missouri Ethics Commission.
HT: The Turner Report, Fired Up Missouri
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Abstinence Programs Are A Failure
This comes as no surprise to those of us living in the real world. Teens and pre-teens are more savvy about sex than ever, and have more unsupervised time in which to indulge their explorations.
From MSNBC: Abstinence Students Still Having Sex
WASHINGTON - Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex a few years later as those who did not, according to a long-awaited study mandated by Congress.
Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes, and they first had sex at about the same age as their control group counterparts — 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc.
The federal government now spends about $176 million annually on abstinence-until-marriage education. Critics have repeatedly said they don’t believe the programs are working, and the study will give them reinforcement.
From MSNBC: Abstinence Students Still Having Sex
WASHINGTON - Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex a few years later as those who did not, according to a long-awaited study mandated by Congress.
Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes, and they first had sex at about the same age as their control group counterparts — 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc.
The federal government now spends about $176 million annually on abstinence-until-marriage education. Critics have repeatedly said they don’t believe the programs are working, and the study will give them reinforcement.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Global Warming Denial
In the last couple of weeks a couple of Republican guys have lectured me (in very loud voices) about their disbelief that global warming is real.
They are essentially parroting guys like this. From News Hound:
"The science is out on global warming. There are a number of scientists who say the earth is cooling. There are others that say it's not. I know that the leadership in the House and the Senate right now are trying to suppress the scientific community from coming forward and saying anything in opposition to what they want." - Bob Murray, CEO, Murray Energy, Inc. a coal mining company.
In 2006, Murray's PAC donated $202,000 to 24 Republicans and 0 Democrats.
Your World with Neil Cavuto, April 5, 2007
They are essentially parroting guys like this. From News Hound:
"The science is out on global warming. There are a number of scientists who say the earth is cooling. There are others that say it's not. I know that the leadership in the House and the Senate right now are trying to suppress the scientific community from coming forward and saying anything in opposition to what they want." - Bob Murray, CEO, Murray Energy, Inc. a coal mining company.
In 2006, Murray's PAC donated $202,000 to 24 Republicans and 0 Democrats.
Your World with Neil Cavuto, April 5, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
Peak Oil and Future Shock
Nino Cocchiarella has some astute observations about life after Peak Oil.
From the Evansville Courier & Press:
Peak oil crisis will require fundamental cultural change
By NINO G. COCCHIARELLA Special to the Courier & Press
Sunday, April 8, 2007
The recent congressional report "CRUDE OIL, Uncertainty about Future Oil Supply Makes It Important to Develop a Strategy for Addressing a Peak and Decline in Oil Production" firmly recommends that we "better prepare for a peak in oil."
The report clearly states that there is no U.S. policy to deal with global peak oil. Oil peaked in the United States in the 1970s. We were saved by OPEC, Alaska and the North Sea discoveries, and we never looked back.
Humans have for all practical purposes found, drilled, pumped and refined half of the crude oil on the planet — the easiest half: 900 billion barrels — so far this century. What's left are declining fields with hard-to-extract heavy (sour) crude, oil shale and tar sands. These will require ever more energy to extract and will approach a negative net energy result.
Plus, there are only a limited number of refineries that can make gasoline from heavy crude, let alone tar sands and oil shale. This will create exponential price increases and shortages as oil exploration and production and oil wars take precedence over poor consumers. Not to mention the side effects of burning two barrels of oil to get 2.5 barrels to market. Can you say "accelerated global warming"?
Like addicts, we have our drug of choice, "The American Way of Life," which, by Vice President Dick Cheney's recent statement, "Is not negotiable." However, in this case, there isn't a new dealer on the planet.
I wonder if there is oil on the moon?
Oil, for all its dirty, nasty attributes, is the best thing since man discovered fire. There is nothing to replace it. To put this greasy energy in perspective: One cubic mile of crude oil has the energy equivalent of 104 coal-fired power plants running for 50 years; 1 cubic mile of oil equals 22.7 billion barrels, or about the first nine months of what the world used last year. Yet, crude oil costs only 12 cents a cup.
Is there anything you can think of, besides sand, that can be bought for less than 12 cents a cup? That won't even buy a bottle of water.
The majority of the world's significant oil fields are in decline. That, I'm afraid to say, is fact.
New discoveries have only been a fractional part of current consumption and may be taking more energy to search for than they net in new finds.
Whether you believe the oil companies (40-plus years), the U.S. government (20-30 years), scientists and geologists (zero to 10 years), former oil industry insiders (zero to five years) or us "doomers" (it's happening now), the undeniable fact is we cannot continue the "American way of life" forever. Most likely not even for another 10 years.
Oil, the very thing that fuels 6.6 billion lives, is going to soon start to, or already is in, decline. World oil production has declined 3 percent a year for the last several years.
This is the biggest, most global event man will ever face. Yet no one is talking about it. Well, maybe a few of us are yelling about it.
Ethanol, bio-diesel, synthesized coal liquids, methane gas, hydrogen fuel cells, and other "alternatives" have been passed around like a lump of hot coal for years. All of these, in their best possible forms of production, still have a net energy loss. Some are closer than others, but, realistically, they're not going to save us.
More important, they all have one vision — to keep all the cars running by any means.
And speaking of coal: We can't power our cars with it, and the same geologic laws that pertain to oil also affect coal (and even uranium). They all are finite, and we are consuming them like a cancer consumes a body.
What do we do? Conserve. Change. Elect intelligent people.
Conservation is only a feeble start. For a society to survive intact, philosophies have to change. The car mentality has to go, and the sooner the better.
We have to stop urban sprawl and let the land around our cities be used, as it once was, for growing food for its region; use light rail for distance transportation and trolleys, bikes and pedestrian walkways for local transportation.
We must localize communities around centers of food production and local-needs manufacturing. We must learn to live with less.
All of these would use less energy and could allow a world closer to what we know today to continue for a significantly longer time than would doing nothing.
Technology will not fix this. No amount of high-tech know-how, drilling techniques or "Googling" will save us from ourselves.
In reality, we all will have to learn to live a different life under different conditions. It's not going to be easy or fun.
Peak oil will be the issue of our generation. There is not going to be a heroic Hollywood ending or Hail Mary pass to save us on this one. This is an issue that should not be seen as a liberal, tree-hugging, doomsdayer's obsession. This is a global geological fact that needs to be considered in every aspect of our lives.
Nino G. Cocchiarella is a resident of Evansville.
From the Evansville Courier & Press:
Peak oil crisis will require fundamental cultural change
By NINO G. COCCHIARELLA Special to the Courier & Press
Sunday, April 8, 2007
The recent congressional report "CRUDE OIL, Uncertainty about Future Oil Supply Makes It Important to Develop a Strategy for Addressing a Peak and Decline in Oil Production" firmly recommends that we "better prepare for a peak in oil."
The report clearly states that there is no U.S. policy to deal with global peak oil. Oil peaked in the United States in the 1970s. We were saved by OPEC, Alaska and the North Sea discoveries, and we never looked back.
Humans have for all practical purposes found, drilled, pumped and refined half of the crude oil on the planet — the easiest half: 900 billion barrels — so far this century. What's left are declining fields with hard-to-extract heavy (sour) crude, oil shale and tar sands. These will require ever more energy to extract and will approach a negative net energy result.
Plus, there are only a limited number of refineries that can make gasoline from heavy crude, let alone tar sands and oil shale. This will create exponential price increases and shortages as oil exploration and production and oil wars take precedence over poor consumers. Not to mention the side effects of burning two barrels of oil to get 2.5 barrels to market. Can you say "accelerated global warming"?
Like addicts, we have our drug of choice, "The American Way of Life," which, by Vice President Dick Cheney's recent statement, "Is not negotiable." However, in this case, there isn't a new dealer on the planet.
I wonder if there is oil on the moon?
Oil, for all its dirty, nasty attributes, is the best thing since man discovered fire. There is nothing to replace it. To put this greasy energy in perspective: One cubic mile of crude oil has the energy equivalent of 104 coal-fired power plants running for 50 years; 1 cubic mile of oil equals 22.7 billion barrels, or about the first nine months of what the world used last year. Yet, crude oil costs only 12 cents a cup.
Is there anything you can think of, besides sand, that can be bought for less than 12 cents a cup? That won't even buy a bottle of water.
The majority of the world's significant oil fields are in decline. That, I'm afraid to say, is fact.
New discoveries have only been a fractional part of current consumption and may be taking more energy to search for than they net in new finds.
Whether you believe the oil companies (40-plus years), the U.S. government (20-30 years), scientists and geologists (zero to 10 years), former oil industry insiders (zero to five years) or us "doomers" (it's happening now), the undeniable fact is we cannot continue the "American way of life" forever. Most likely not even for another 10 years.
Oil, the very thing that fuels 6.6 billion lives, is going to soon start to, or already is in, decline. World oil production has declined 3 percent a year for the last several years.
This is the biggest, most global event man will ever face. Yet no one is talking about it. Well, maybe a few of us are yelling about it.
Ethanol, bio-diesel, synthesized coal liquids, methane gas, hydrogen fuel cells, and other "alternatives" have been passed around like a lump of hot coal for years. All of these, in their best possible forms of production, still have a net energy loss. Some are closer than others, but, realistically, they're not going to save us.
More important, they all have one vision — to keep all the cars running by any means.
And speaking of coal: We can't power our cars with it, and the same geologic laws that pertain to oil also affect coal (and even uranium). They all are finite, and we are consuming them like a cancer consumes a body.
What do we do? Conserve. Change. Elect intelligent people.
Conservation is only a feeble start. For a society to survive intact, philosophies have to change. The car mentality has to go, and the sooner the better.
We have to stop urban sprawl and let the land around our cities be used, as it once was, for growing food for its region; use light rail for distance transportation and trolleys, bikes and pedestrian walkways for local transportation.
We must localize communities around centers of food production and local-needs manufacturing. We must learn to live with less.
All of these would use less energy and could allow a world closer to what we know today to continue for a significantly longer time than would doing nothing.
Technology will not fix this. No amount of high-tech know-how, drilling techniques or "Googling" will save us from ourselves.
In reality, we all will have to learn to live a different life under different conditions. It's not going to be easy or fun.
Peak oil will be the issue of our generation. There is not going to be a heroic Hollywood ending or Hail Mary pass to save us on this one. This is an issue that should not be seen as a liberal, tree-hugging, doomsdayer's obsession. This is a global geological fact that needs to be considered in every aspect of our lives.
Nino G. Cocchiarella is a resident of Evansville.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Ashcroft Undermined Civil Rights Division at DOJ
From the salon.com article Bush's Long History of Politicizing Justice:
... Instead of attending to the Civil Rights Division's historic mission, addressing the legacy of slavery by enforcing anti-discrimination laws, the Bush administration has employed the division to advance the political agenda of a key GOP constituency, the Christian right and also, quite literally, to get Republicans elected.
Accomplishing these goals required a drastic change in personnel, which necessitated dismantling the hiring system, forcing out or silencing career (nonpolitical) staff, and replacing them with people without civil rights expertise but with demonstrated ideological and partisan loyalties. It was a project that took years to execute because several checks on such a scenario had long been in place, checks that earlier administrations of both parties had respected...
In an e-mail to his 125,000 employees on his first day on the job, Ashcroft promised to guarantee "rights for the advancement of all Americans." But actions were soon speaking louder than words. Regular meetings of the division's section chiefs and the political leadership were virtually discontinued. In a tradition dating to the 1950s, presidents have asked an American Bar Association committee to provide a confidential rating of the qualifications of judicial candidates before the nominations are sent to the Senate for confirmation. Ashcroft and then White House counsel Alberto Gonzales met with the ABA and then terminated the ABA's advisory role. Once Ashcroft began hiring his own choices, career attorneys noticed that many of the new hires were members of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group. Ashcroft himself was called an active supporter of the Federalist Society, and several of the top legal positions throughout the administration were all held by Federalist Society members.
Then, much the way some companies go green, DOJ under Ashcroft went Pentecostal. In correspondence, use of the word "pride" was forbidden because the Bible calls pride a sin; employees were also asked to never use the phrase "no higher calling than public service." Ashcroft instituted prayer meetings, leading a Bible study at 8 a.m. sharp each day, some days even in his office, on others in a conference room at Main Justice. All department employees, regardless of their religious affiliation, were invited to attend, but in reality few did...
Hat tip to FiredUpMissouri.
... Instead of attending to the Civil Rights Division's historic mission, addressing the legacy of slavery by enforcing anti-discrimination laws, the Bush administration has employed the division to advance the political agenda of a key GOP constituency, the Christian right and also, quite literally, to get Republicans elected.
Accomplishing these goals required a drastic change in personnel, which necessitated dismantling the hiring system, forcing out or silencing career (nonpolitical) staff, and replacing them with people without civil rights expertise but with demonstrated ideological and partisan loyalties. It was a project that took years to execute because several checks on such a scenario had long been in place, checks that earlier administrations of both parties had respected...
In an e-mail to his 125,000 employees on his first day on the job, Ashcroft promised to guarantee "rights for the advancement of all Americans." But actions were soon speaking louder than words. Regular meetings of the division's section chiefs and the political leadership were virtually discontinued. In a tradition dating to the 1950s, presidents have asked an American Bar Association committee to provide a confidential rating of the qualifications of judicial candidates before the nominations are sent to the Senate for confirmation. Ashcroft and then White House counsel Alberto Gonzales met with the ABA and then terminated the ABA's advisory role. Once Ashcroft began hiring his own choices, career attorneys noticed that many of the new hires were members of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group. Ashcroft himself was called an active supporter of the Federalist Society, and several of the top legal positions throughout the administration were all held by Federalist Society members.
Then, much the way some companies go green, DOJ under Ashcroft went Pentecostal. In correspondence, use of the word "pride" was forbidden because the Bible calls pride a sin; employees were also asked to never use the phrase "no higher calling than public service." Ashcroft instituted prayer meetings, leading a Bible study at 8 a.m. sharp each day, some days even in his office, on others in a conference room at Main Justice. All department employees, regardless of their religious affiliation, were invited to attend, but in reality few did...
Hat tip to FiredUpMissouri.
John Stone, A Short Reminiscence
I knew John Stone when we were both in our late 20's. He referred to himself as Jack much of the time then, to differentiate himself from his father. His dad owned a magic shop and I often wondered what life would have been like growing up with a magician.
Jack frequented a bar where I worked for a couple of years, while finishing my degree at SMS-MSU. He usually began the conversation with a proposition, which I never took seriously. On a slow night we would smoke some menthol cigarettes and talk about every subject under the sun.
I lost touch with him after I left the bar job, but remember him with fondness.
After I discovered his blog, it often was the highlight of my day. RIP John Stone, you will be missed
Jack frequented a bar where I worked for a couple of years, while finishing my degree at SMS-MSU. He usually began the conversation with a proposition, which I never took seriously. On a slow night we would smoke some menthol cigarettes and talk about every subject under the sun.
I lost touch with him after I left the bar job, but remember him with fondness.
After I discovered his blog, it often was the highlight of my day. RIP John Stone, you will be missed
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