Owner: Mike Kuykendall URL:http://indigentahole.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:19:48 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Mike Kuykendall, beyond using the third person to seem humble, is a progressive, patriotic veteran of the US Air Force, fighting hard as a civilian to save our democracy. Site statistics:Click here
Patriot Act Loses Appeal 2007-12-11 13:25:00 Vague language helped strike down a small part of the Constitutionally-unsound Patriot
Act Monday;The ruling released Monday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal
s in San Francisco affirms a 2005 decision by a lower court judge.That judge, Audrey Collins, ruled on a petition seeking to clear the way for U.S. groups and individuals to assist organizations in Turkey and Sri Lanka with training on applying for disaster relief or conducting peace negotiations.Collins said language in the Patriot Act was vague on matters involving training, expert advice or assistance, personnel and service to foreign terrorist organizations.Here's the part that throughly enrages me;Collins' ruling prevented the federal government from enforcing the vague Patriot Act provisions as they apply to the terrorist groups named in the lawsuit.In its 27-page decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that to survive a vagueness challenge, a statute "must be sufficiently clear to put a person of ordina
Obama's Attacks on Edwards Backfire 2007-12-11 07:15:00 Presidential contender Senator Barack Obama
released an opposition research paper on John Edwards
in response to requests from a local union (United Auto Workers Region 4.) It was full of cheap shots; one of which may come back to haunt the "positive" candidate. From an ABC News blog;The cheapest shot ... that Edwards somehow has something to do with Whirlpool when the company was closing down Maytag plants in Iowa, Illinois, and Arkansas.Why is that a cheap shot? Because the link is that Edwards worked for the controversial Fortress Hedge Fund while it owned stock in Whirlpool as it was shutting down those plants.But some argue a far more direct link exists between Obama and those plants shutting down. It's not one I agree with -- I think both are silly attempts to link candidates to lost jobs -- but I think the one linking Obama to the Crown family to those lost jobs is slightly less ridiculous.The Crown family -- Lester, Renee, James, Paula -- have been supporters, fundraisers, Read more:Backfire
Huckabee Advocated Quarantine for AIDS Patients 2007-12-08 09:58:00 Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee
advocated isolating AIDS
patients, amongst other fascist and clearly homophobic responses, in a 1992 Associated Press questionnaire. From the AP;Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."As a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in 1992, Huckabee answered 229 questions submitted to him by The Associated Press. Besides a quarantine, Huckabee suggested that Hollywood celebrities fund AIDS research from their own pockets, rather than federal health agencies.[...]"In light of the extraordinary funds already being given for AIDS research, it does not seem that additional federal spending can be justified," Huckabee wrote. "An alternative would be to request that multimillionaire celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor (,) Madonna and others who are pushing for
Drudge Denies Polar Bears Threatened by Global Warming 2007-12-08 08:46:00 The factually-challenged Drudge Report, the fountainhead of news for most of the conservative blogosphere, has an absurd headline this morning; "PolarBears
Not at Threat From Global
Warming." From the Daily Mail article;Although the town is still accessible only by train or light aircraft, its guesthouses are packed during late summer and autumn, when the vast ice-sheet over the bay melts, forcing around 1,000 bears to lollop around for months on the shore. Lately, however, it is not only polar bear watchers who come flocking. With the clamour over global warming, it has become a magnet for an army of environmentalists and climatologists who have given Churchill an air of impending doom. The Arctic ice-cap is shrinking fast, is their message, and as it disappears, so too will the polar bears. Today, the polar bear population may hover healthily around 25,000 (they live in Russia, Alaska, Greenland, Norway and Canada). Yet, we are repeatedly warned, if the planet continues to ov Read more:Global Warming
, Polar Bears
CA Ballot Initiative Fails to Make June Ballot 2007-12-07 08:38:00 As I have previously posted about here and here, the backers of the controversial GOP plan to steal California electoral votes has failed, yet again, to find enough fundraising to qualify for the June ballot. It looks like this sneaky move may not affect the 2008 race at all.From the LA Times, emphasis mine;A proposed initiative that drew national attention for its potential to affect next year's presidential election will not appear on the June ballot, organizers said Thursday.Republican backers of the measure, which could have tilted the presidential contest toward the GOP nominee by changing how California awards electoral votes, conceded that they were unable to raise sufficient funds.Sacramento consultant Dave Gilliard, the campaign manager, said that even if a financial angel were to shower the campaign with $1 million, there was not enough time to qualify the measure for June."I was surprised that more people that finance these types of efforts didn't step forward," Gilliard Read more:Ballot
President Bush Lied About Iran's Nuke Program 2007-12-06 07:52:00 Most progressives who watched Bush's press conference surely thought the same thing I did when the President
said this (emphasis throughout this post mine);Q Mr. President, thank you. I'd like to follow on that. When you talked about Iraq, you and others in the administration talked about a mushroom cloud; then there were no WMD in Iraq. When it came to Iran, you said in October, on October 17th, you warned about the prospect of World War III, when months before you made that statement, this intelligence about them suspending their weapons program back in '03 had already come to light to this administration. So can't you be accused of hyping this threat? And don't you worry that that undermines U.S. credibility?THE PRESIDENT: David, I don't want to contradict an august reporter such as yourself, but I was made aware of the NIE last week. In August, I think it was Mike McConnell came in and said, we have some new information. He didn't tell me what the information was; he did tel Read more:President Bush
, Program
Entrepreneur to Challenge Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) 2007-12-05 17:10:00 In an effort to unseat the man who helped Bush cover up warrantless domestic wiretapping, the manipulation of intelligence to shanghai us into war in Iraq, the outing of a covert CIA agent, and the CIA's use of torture, I'm posting this release from entrepreneur Greg Orman, an Olathe, Kansas area Democrat who announced today he will challenge Pat Roberts
in 2008. From the press release;Kansas Businessman and Entrepreneur
Greg Ormanto Run for United States SenateOrman: “Everyday Kansans Deserve a Senator
with the Right Priorities”Olathe, KS – Olathe businessman and entrepreneur Greg Orman (D) today filed his official Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission, making it official that Orman will challenge long-term incumbent Pat Roberts in the 2008 election for United States Senate.“As I look at what’s going on in Washington, and the course we’re on as a nation, I am convinced we can and should be doing better,” Orman said of his decision to run.“Like Read more:Challenge
Abstinence Debunked: Lessons from the Front Lines 2007-12-05 08:02:00 Regular readers are going to get a treat this morning- Freethinker, long absent, is back and she means business!As a social worker, psych major, and soon to be starting law school, Freethinker tends to get really wonky, so if you can't stand the citations get out of the library. Without further ado...__________This freethinker’s fired-up, and because I am not restrained by the traditional “follow the leader without questioning his authority” paradigm that many people have so entangled themselves in, I must speak out, and speak freely, the way I as an American was intended to.I’ve been seeing an increasing amount of public and media attention being given to abstinence-only (until marriage) education; more specifically, that it does not work. As a supporter of and worker for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU’s reproductive freedom project, I have some expertise in this arena, and here is what all the experts have to say about it: WE HAVE BEEN SAYING THAT FOR YEARS!!!But since i Read more:Abstinence
, Front
, Lessons
, Lines
NIE Report Clearly Proves Iran Warmongering 2007-12-04 08:11:00 The big news splashed everywhere is the new national intelligence estimate that states Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003;A new U.S. intelligence report concludes that Iran's nuclear weapons development program has been halted since the fall of 2003 because of international pressure — a stark contrast to the conclusions U.S. spy agencies drew just two years ago.The finding is part of a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran that also cautions that Tehran continues to enrich uranium and still could develop a bomb between 2010 and 2015 if it decided to do so.The conclusion that Iran's weapons program was still frozen, through at least mid-2007, represents a sharp turnaround from the previous intelligence assessment in 2005.This despite the dire assessments of the 2005 NIE;A major U.S. intelligence review has projected that Iran is about a decade away from manufacturing the key ingredient for a nuclear weapon, roughly doubling the previous estimate of five years, accordin Read more:Proves
US Asserts Right to Kidnap Anyone in the World 2007-12-01 19:29:00 In a case in the United Kingdom this weekend the United States officially asserted its right to legally detain and abduct citizens of any nation. From the Times Online (h/t Mefi); AMERICA has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States. A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.[...] Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the “extraordinary rendition” of terrorist suspects. The American government has for the first time made it clear in a British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise, suspected of a crime by Washington. Legal experts confirmed this weekend that America viewed extradition as just one way of getting foreign suspects back to face trial. Rendition, or kidnapping, dates back to 19th-century bounty Read more:Anyone
, Right
, World
Bomb-Strapped Man Takes Hostages at NH Clinton HQ 2007-11-30 13:29:00 Just in from the AP;A man claiming to have a bomb walked in to Hillary Rodham Clinton
's campaign offices Friday and took hostages, police and witnesses said.The man had what appeared to be a bomb strapped to himself, said Bill Shaheen, a top state campaign official. He took two hostages, both volunteers, and released others, Shaheen said.Witness Lettie Tzizik told television station WMUR of Manchester that she spoke to a woman shortly after she was released from the office by the suspect. The woman was carrying an infant, and crying."She said, 'You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape," Tzizik said.Clinton was not in the New Hampshire office Friday. She was scheduled to give an address at the Democratic National Committee meeting in Vienna, Va., but it was unclear if the address would go forward as planned.Authorities were sending a tactical bomb unit to assist local police, and the
Putin Heads to Landslide Victory with Rigged Vote 2007-11-30 12:11:00 Vladimir Putin
proves Bush's soul searching judgment may very well have been inaccurate; his United Russia party is poised to win in a landslide amidst cries of vote rigging by the Kremlin;Campaigning for Russia's parliamentary election ended on Friday with President Vladimir Putin's party on course for a landslide victory and opposition groups voicing fears of widespread ballot-rigging.[...]One of Putin's most vocal critics, former chess champion Garry Kasparov, said the vote would be illegitimate because, he said, the Kremlin would rig the result.Officials deny any such rigging campaign and Putin has said he expected the election to be fair and transparent.Kasparov, who served five days in prison this week for organizing an illegal demonstration, urged voters to spoil their ballot papers on Sunday in protest."We must show people that these elections are absolutely illegal and illegitimate," Kasparov told a news briefing. He is not running in the election and his opposition coalit Read more:Heads
, Landslide
, Victory
Bush Official "Improperly Influenced" Species Decisions 2007-11-28 10:16:00 Adding to a growing list of Bush administration black eyes, the Fish and Wildlife Services is reversing 7 decisions made by crony Julie MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, regarding protecting imperiled wildlife. From the Washington Post;The policy reversal, sparked by inquiries by the Interior Department's inspector general and by the House Natural Resources Committee, underscores the extent to which the administration is still dealing with the fallout from the tenure of Julie MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks who repeatedly overruled agency scientists' recommendations on endangered-species decisions. MacDonald resigned from the department in May after she was criticized in a report by the inspector general and as she was facing congressional scrutiny.In a letter dated Nov. 23 to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), acting Director Kenneth Stansell of the Fish and Wildlife Servi Read more:Decisions
, Official
Stopping the FCC from Consolidating Media Ownership 2007-11-27 11:59:00 Bush's FCC chairman, Kevin J. Martin, announced his intention to push through new plan to relax media ownership laws in October;The head of the Federal Communications Commission has circulated an ambitious plan to relax the decades-old media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city.Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, wants to repeal the rule in the next two months — a plan that, if successful, would be a big victory for some executives of media conglomerates.Among them are Samuel Zell, the Chicago investor who is seeking to complete a buyout of the Tribune Company, and Rupert Murdoch, who has lobbied against the rule for years so that he can continue controlling both The New York Post and a Fox television station in New York.Here's the Chairman himself describing the need for such changes;If we don’t act to improve the health of the newspaper industry, we will see newspap Read more:Ownership
Trent Lott To Resign Senate by the End of the Year 2007-11-26 08:10:00 Senator Trent
Lott becomes the sixth GOP Senator this year to retire. From the AP; Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Senate
's No. 2 Republican, plans to resign his seat before the end of the year, congressional and Bush administration officials said Monday.Lott, 66, scheduled two news conferences in Pascagoula and Jackson later in the day to reveal his plans. According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement, Lott intends to resign effective at the end of the year.No reason for Lott's resignation was given, but according to a congressional official, there is nothing amiss with Lott's health. The senator has "other opportunities" he plans to pursue, the official said, without elaborating. Lott was re-elected to a fourth Senate term in 2006.The Republican rats continue to jump ship as permanent minority status for the GOP begins to become reality.UPDATE: More from Think Progress;“While the exact reason Lott is stepping down before he finish Read more:Resign
Another Bush Ally Bites the Dust 2007-11-24 07:27:00 Australian PM and zealous Bush ally John Howard has conceded to Labor leader Kevin Rudd- from the BBC;Australian Prime Minister John Howard has admitted defeat in the country's general election, and looks set to lose his parliamentary seat.Mr Howard said he had telephoned Labor leader Kevin Rudd "to congratulate him on an emphatic victory".Mr Rudd said the country had "looked to the future" and he pledged to be a prime minister "for all Australians".With 70% of votes counted, Labor were on course to win the 76 seats needed to form a government.More than 20 constituencies from a total of 150 are still to produce a result, but Labor already has 72 seats compared with 48 for Mr Howard's Liberal-National coalition. Counted among the reasons for his defeat were his staunch support for Bush policies;During the campaign, Labor sought to capitalise on the Howard administration's refusal to sign the Kyoto protocol on climate change.Mr Howard campaigned on his record of sound economic managem
Saudi Arabia to Attend Annapolis Peace Summit 2007-11-23 08:31:00 Though I think it is a little too late to start making like they are worried about an Israeli/Palestinian peace accord now, it is encouraging that Saudi
Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal has agreed to attend the hastily thrown together peace summit in Annapolis
;Saudi Arabia
and other Arab nations decided Friday to attend next week's US-sponsored Middle East peace conference, but the Saudi foreign minister insisted he would not allow "theatrics" like handshakes with Israeli officials, saying the gathering must make serious progress.Participation by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal was a key goal of the United States to show strong Arab support for the conference in Annapolis, Maryland, which is to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks for the first time in seven years. Until Friday, the kingdom had balked at saying whether it would attend and at what level, seeking assurances Israel would negotiate the most difficult issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict in negotiations governed by Read more:Peace
, Saudi Arabia
, Summit
Lacking US Help, "Combat Camels" Sent to Darfur 2007-11-23 06:17:00 In lieu of a strong American military presence in Sudan's troubled Darfur
region, it seems Indian "combat camels" will be sent to assist the joint United Nations/African Union peacekeeping force. No, I'm not kidding- from the AP;India plans to send combat-trained camels to solve the transport headache facing a fledgling UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region, officers here say.India's Border Security Force (BSF) said it received a request last week from the United Nations to send the specially schooled animals to the troubled African region."In principle the BSF has agreed to the request and will wait for the UN to approach it through the ministry of home affairs," said the chief of India's elite 200,000-member frontier force, A. K. Mitra.Last week the head of the UN department of peacekeeping operations, said they may fail to protect civilians in Darfur without the required air mobility and firepower.American forces continue to police a civil wa Read more:Camels
Edwards' Health Care Gambit 2007-11-22 09:03:00 Factcheck.org ran a piece on Senator John Edwards
' idea to try and use the power of the presidency to remove health care for the president, all cabinet officials, and Congress if some form of universal health care is not passed by July 20th, 2009. In it, they try to debunk his claims that he could use presidential power to do such a thing, citing separation of powers doctrine;All Edwards could do as president is to push Congress to legislate away its own health-care coverage. And in fact, that's as far as he goes when stating his position on his Web site. According to a campaign press release from earlier this fall:Edwards press release: Edwards said on the first day of his administration he would submit legislation that ends health care coverage for the president, all members of Congress, and all senior political appointees in both branches of government on July 20th, 2009 - unless universal health care legislation that meets four specific, non-negotiable principles has been passed Read more:Health
, Health Care
Another Milestone to be Thankful For 2007-11-22 08:15:00 I was just going over my numbers today and noticed I just passed 35,000 total unique visitors on this blog. The strange part is it was only a few weeks ago, on November 6th actually, I was crowing about passing 30,000. So apparently I have picked up as much traffic this last 16 days as I had for all of September and October. Woo hoo!Anyhow, Happy Thanksgiving to all my regular readers, to any new folks I have managed to wrangle in here, and of course, to the weirdo Ron Paulites and GOP trolls that make my comments a living hell.What am I thankful for? Firstly, as an atheist I don't give thanks to any supernatural beings for the good in my life. Not to demean those of you who do, I just don't find it necessary to pay obeisance to higher powers at all, really. I do, however, thank my friends and family for putting up with me, my readers for keeping me going, and the American public for finally starting to get a clue.So once again, Happy Thanksgiving to all!! Hopefully by this ti Read more:Thankful
GOP California Electoral Heist Prospects Dim 2007-11-22 06:47:00 The California
ballot initiative I first posted about here, the one initially funded by Giuliani supporter and hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, is back in the news- apparently supporters are still rushing to get the 700,000 signatures needed to get this blatant GOP attempt to hijack the presidential vote on the ballot. From the LA Times;Backers of a California initiative that could significantly aid the next Republican presidential nominee said today they're still collecting signatures to qualify it for the state's ballot in June, terming as premature reports that they have wrapped up the process. "The goal is to be completed by Dec. 1," Mike Arno, the contractor heading the signature-gathering effort, told The Times' Dan Morain. He added that "people are still out working" and circulating petitions. To qualify the measure, its supporters must obtain signatures from 434,000 registered California voters. They say they have obtained roughly that number of names, but inevitably
Bush Threatens Congress with 100K Christmas Furloughs 2007-11-20 11:06:00 Upping the ante in the Iraq funding stalemate with Congress
, the White House announced furloughs for 100,000 civilians employees just in time for Christmas
. From the Swamp;Merry Christmas from Washington: With Congress balking at continued war funding, the White House says the Defense Department will issue furlough notices to about 100,000 civilian workers at military bases in mid-December. The threat of notices is the White House’s way of reminding Congress that it must authorize continued funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The House has voted to tie $50 billion in continued funding to a timeline for troop withdrawals, but that measure has been shelved in the Senate. The White House is calling on Congress to approve a spending bill before year’s end. If funding isn’t provided, the Defense Department says, the stall will have a “profoundly’’ burdensome impact on its operations. “Before you furlough anyone, you have to provide notice,’’ White House Pres
Ron Paul Won't Return White Supremacist's Money 2007-12-20 15:42:00 The fringe groups supporting longshot GOP candidate Ron Paul
don't seem to be helping his campaign much- first it was folks trying to make their own Ron Paul money, and now the campaign won't return a donation admitted white supremacist Don Black. From USA Today;Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has received a $500 campaign donation from a white supremacist, and the Texas congressman doesn't plan to return it, an aide said Wednesday.Don Black, of West Palm Beach, recently made the donation, according to campaign filings. He runs a website called Stormfront with the motto, "White
Pride World Wide." The site welcomes postings to the "Stormfront White Nationalist Community."Here's the campaign's weak excuse for taking money from someone espousing racial hatred;"Dr. Paul stands for freedom, peace, prosperity and inalienable rights. If someone with small ideologies happens to contribute money to Ron, thinking he can influence Ron in any way, he's wasted his money," Paul spokes Read more:Money
, Return
Iraq Casualty Update 2007-12-17 09:14:00 With Iraq
essentially dropping off the radar due to drastically lower coalition casualty rates, I thought it would be a good time to reiterate the continuing true human cost of what America has unleashed with Bush's illegal, immoral, supposedly-preemptive war.Iraqis are still dying in droves as the ethnic cleansing continues, albeit at a reduced rate, across the country. Here's a list compiled by iCasualties showing just the atrocities reported over just the last seven days;12/14/07BAGHDAD - Two dead bodies were found in western Baghdad, police said.202 12/14/07KIRKUK - Gunmen posing as Iraqi army soldiers killed one civilian in a drive-by shooting near the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, an Iraqi military source said.101 12/13/07BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed one civilian and wounded five others including two policemen in the Waziriya district of northern Baghdad, police said.101 12/13/07BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed a contractor working with U.S. forces in Read more:Casualty
, Update
Good quote 2007-12-15 21:55:00 Here's a little quote for my new little buddy out there. He can't help but read my blog, even though he calls me an asshole (anyone who has read me at all knows I typically admit to this freely.)"Your true self can be known only by systematic experimentation, and controlled only by being known."-Francis Bacon
A Note to My Loyal Readers 2007-12-14 16:30:00 I thought I'd take a second to use my blog to bitch about my job. Hey! It's my blog!Well, actually, non-job. Now that my corporate overlords are no longer part of the picture, I can freely say the hated company I slaved for was Sprint. Some of you old-timers may remember me complaining in the past about these assholes. Well, the other shoe finally dropped and yours truly is now officially on the dole.Sprint in Kansas City has a horrible reputation. This isn't the first time they have reorganized and laid people off. In fact, they have quite a history of such shady, heartless moves. As such, folks who work there are called the Borg, ala Star Trek, due to the listless, head-down demeanor of the average Sprint employee. Not to mention the corporate philosophy seems to mirror the Borg credo;We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is f
Why I'm Not Voting for Hillary 2007-12-13 07:45:00 I do my best on my blog to maintain a modicum of objectivity- anyone who reads for a few minutes quickly discovers my progressive bias, but otherwise I try to be as fair as I can.I have avoided naming a horse in this race for that reason, amongst others. The ridiculous media obsession with polling and image in the Democratic primaries drives me nuts. I mean, who really cares about Senatorial cleavage and haircut prices after all? This election is so critical we cannot afford to lose it, so I'm still trying to evaluate the best candidate for the general election, regardless of their religion, grooming fees, or any other trivial detail.To be honest, I favor John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich, but as of yet I have not decided on who I'll vote for in the primaries. Mainly because my state (I live in Kansas City, but vote Missouri) has little or no effect on the overall contest. The nomination will be decided in Iowa and New Hampshire this year, so by Super Tuesday it will already be w Read more:Hillary
, Voting
Recommend Site To A Friend
