Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Center-left coalition predicted to win majority of Knesset seats

Israel election results, hot off the exit polls:

Kadima-Labor-Meretz-Arab Parties: 62-66 seats

Likud-rightist parties: 48-51 seats.

If these results hold, Olmert will have the support he needs to make his unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank a reality. And I say more power to him.

Had I been in Israel, I would have been torn between Kadima and Labor, but very curious to learn more about Yisrael Beitenu. They've jumped into the political mainstream with 12-14 seats, beating out even the Likud, which seems to have sunk to the 4th largest party. This is a major, huge, enormous change in Israeli politics--it would be the equivalent of the Reform Party winning a majority in the American House of Representatives. No, more than that--it's the equivalent of a new party, formed last year by, say, Bill Clinton, surging to power and winning a mandate in the House. No, Kadima didn't win a majority in the Knesset, but because of differences in the way the Israeli system works from the way the American system works, the analogy holds.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Hamas will not arrest terrorists who attack Israel

Incoming Palestinian interior minister Saeed Seyam, chosen by Hamas to oversee three security services, said on Thursday he will not order the arrest of militants carrying out attacks against Israel.

"The day will never come when any Palestinian would be arrested because of his political affiliation or because of resisting the occupation," Seyam told Reuters in an interview. "The file of political detention must be closed."


This article also says that Hamas will "try to coordinate militants' operations."

Sounds like a declaration of war to me. Israel needs to take this threat very seriously. If the Palestinian government is going to become an agency that coordinates terrorist attacks against Israel, then a state of war will exist between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and it's time for Israel to treat the situation as such. No more talk about dialogue, no more talk about a non-existent "peace process," nothing. If it's war Hamas wants, then war we should give them. Either that or we go for complete cut-off. Build the wall, close the borders, say "Fuck you, we're done, you can go have your little terrorist state and be miserable, we don't want any part of it."

God damn. I'm leaning Likud now.

Monday, March 20, 2006

The Sinister CafePress store!

Shameless promotion! The SinisterBlog CafePress store is open for business! Now featuring the "I hate this war" line of products, and soon to be expanding infinitely into the universe!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Hamas Denies Running Suicide Bombing Website for Palestinian Children

Sickening article--there's apparently a website that encourages kids to become suicide bombers. An Israeli agency accuses Hamas of running the website, and Hamas denies it.

This is the face of the Palestinian "resistance" to the Israeli "occupation." Websites that encourage children to kill themselves and take innocent civilians with them. Virulent hatred and lies spread about Jews in schools, mosques and society in general. A glorification of violence in the pursuit of a fanatical Islamist state. And the Palestinian people have elected the worst, most vicious killers to be their representatives.

Is peace even possible under these conditions? Every time I hear about another inhuman Palestinian "resistance" tactic, like this suicide bomber website for kids, it pushes me that much closer to Likud's thinking. But I'm still not there--yet. If I were in Israel today, and I had to vote, I don't know who I'd vote for. My heart is with Meretz, but my desire for Israeli security and some kind of an end to the farce that this "peace process" has become might lead me to vote Kadima. I think that's about as far right as I'd go.

Still. This story disgusts me. The inhumanity of the Palestinian extremists disgusts me. The fact that these extremists have been elected as "legitimate" representatives of the Palestinian people disgusts me. And the fact that much of the world community doesn't see these terrorists for what they are disgusts me.

Tulsa Cops Endorse "Democrat" Taylor

Well, the mayoral election has taken an interesting turn. Bill LaFortune is eating it for putting police chief David Been on administrative leave. Been had received unanimous support from the FOP, and last night, during a meeting to discuss a vote of confidence for the mayor, the police union cancelled the vote of confidence and instead decided to endorse LaFortune's "Democratic" challenger, Kathy Taylor.

That certainly puts a new wrinkle in this particular electoral scrotum.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Sign the petition!

Dear Friend,

Yesterday, in an interview for Fox News Radio, Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) accused Senator Russ Feingold (D - WI) of "[siding] with terrorists" by introducing a resolution to censure George Bush.

Senator Feingold's censure resolution seeks to hold the President accountable for authorizing a domestic spying program that clearly violates federal law and for misleading the country about its existence and its legality.

To question Senator Feingold's patriotism and suggest that he is "siding with terrorists" by seeking to hold President Bush accountable for violating federal law is despicable.

Click on the following link to join me in calling on Senator Allard to apologize publicly:

http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/petition/allardapologize/kvtxg

Click on the following link for an audio clip of Allard's attack on Senator Feingold: http://www.ProgressNowAction.org/AllardAudio

Thank you!

Monday, March 13, 2006

Bill Frist: We must support our dear leader!

Frist, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” said that he hoped al-Qaida and other enemies of the U.S. were not listening to the infighting.

“The signal that it sends, that there is in any way a lack of support for our commander in chief who is leading us with a bold vision in a way that is making our homeland safer, is wrong,” Frist said.


All power to our glorious leader!

For god's sake, you fascist pinhead, this is not a dictatorship. If I want to show a "lack of support" for our "commander in chief" who is (mis)"leading" us, then bloody hell it's my right as an American to do so. Where are we, North Korea? And this is the asshole that Republicans want running for President in '08? Yeah, he's the same asshole who diagnosed a patient in Florida via old videotapes. Remember that one?

I swear, sometimes Republican rhetoric sounds so much like fascism it's absolutely terrifying.

My letter to Minority Leader Harry Reid

Senator Reid,

I urge you to support Sen. Feingold's resolution to censure the President for his illegal wiretapping. It is time for the Democratic Party to show bold leadership on this issue. After all, I'm sure you'd agree that spying illegally on Americans is much better grounds for censure, or even impeachment, than a stained dress ever was.

While I'm not one of your constituents, I'm writing to you because you're the leader of all Democrats in the Senate. I'm also writing to my own Senators, but I believe, and I think you'll agree, that I'm probably wasting my time writing to Senators Coburn and Inhofe.

Thank you for your attention to this crucial matter.

Sincerely,

Ethan Jones


Write to Senator Reid here.

What about Russ?

Interesting post about Russ Feingold's prospects as Presidential candidate in '08. I've always liked Russ Feingold, though I was not happy that he voted to confirm John Roberts. He was the only dissenting vote in the Senate against the Patriot Act. And he's a Jew, which gives him several gold stars in my book. We've had enough of these meshugenah goyim in the White House. It's time to put a mezuzah on the door! And Joe Lieberman ain't the shmendrick to do it.

If Russ Feingold runs, and he's got a good message, and he's got charisma, and he's got the netroots and the grassroots behind him, then he might just have a shot--at beating the purportedly inevitable DINO force that is Hellary Clinton. Also, he's from a swing state--Wisconsin, which is a bonus, so if he picks a veep from the South, say John Edwards, again, or maybe Mark Warner, then that'd be a pretty strong ticket. Yeah, that's the thing: Feingold-Warner '08. Make everyone happy.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Russ Feingold is the MAN

Russ Feingold is about to introduce a measure calling for censure of the President for breaking the law with his wiretapping program. That's fantastic news. Russ for President '08!

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Primary Election Roundup

Kathy Taylor wins the Democratic nomination for Mayor. That's right, once again the Democratic Party has allowed itself to capitulate to the Republicans before the battle is even joined, by selecting a candidate who was, until recently, a Republican herself, and in fact gave money to Republican candidates as recently as 2002. But hey, if she's the more "electable" candidate, then what the fuck does it matter, right? That's the Democrats' credo: "We stand for nothing except trying to get elected!"

Yeah, kids, that's why we always fucking lose. Because faced with the choice between a real Republican and a Democrat trying to be a Republican, most independents will choose the real Republican--and independents are the real power players in politics. (See Coburn v. Carson 2004). When we have a real Democrat in the race, advocating real alternatives, that's when we have a real shot at winning (see Sullivan v. Dodd 2004--which we lost, but it was still a good contest). Even in red states, blue blooded Democrats can win on the important issues, if they stick to what's actually important--health care, education, you know, stuff that affects more than 1% of the population, and talk in real terms about real issues.

Anyway, one good piece of news is that Proposition One passed, which changes the Tulsa city charter so that zoning changes will require a super-majority of city council members to override citizen protest. That'll stop crap like banks building branches where the citizens of the area clearly don't want them. Which happened in my parents' neighborhood.

Now if we could only get the bloody roads fixed.

And could someone tell me what the fuck is up with gas prices all of a sudden?

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

HB 2884, the "Pharmacists are smarter than doctors" bill

A friend of mine alerted me that HB 2884 has passed committee in the Oklahoma House. The bill would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions based on "religious or moral convictions." Here's the letter I wrote to my state representative, Lucky Lamons (a Democrat).

Dear Rep. Laymons,

I'm sure you're aware of HB 2884 that just passed committee. This is a terrible bill that will give pharmacists license to overrule doctors in deciding what prescriptions to fill and not to fill. This bill will not only affect women seeking birth control or the so-called "morning after pill," but it may even affect drugs for depression, anxiety, ADHD, or any other drug to which an overzealous pharmacist might have an objection.

I urge you to oppose this bad bill. Doctors are the ones who should have the final say over what their patients should and shouldn't take. The role of a pharmacist is to dispense prescriptions, and it is a pharmacist's moral obligation to carry out the directives of the doctors that do the prescribing. A pharmacist's personal or religious convictions have nothing to do with the science that goes into prescribing medicines, and thus any such objections that a pharmacist might have are irrelevant.

Thank you for your consideration.

Friday, March 3, 2006

Better than Bush

A great post researched by a blogger that lists percentages of things that are higher than Bush's 34% approval rating. Here's a sample:

35% of Americans see themselves as rude.

36% of Americans say that God speaks to them directly.

37% of Americans believe that fictional "24" agent Jack Bauer can stop real terrorism.

38% of American adults contributed to tsunami relief.

39% of Americans have changed their diets to lower the risk of cancer.

40% of Americans can name at least 4 of the 10 commandments.

41% of Americans think Eddie Murphy has the best celebrity laugh.

42% of Americans pee in the shower.

43% of Americans say online advertising is a nuisance.

44% of Americans blame American oil companies for the rise in energy prices.

45% of Americans nurses say health care quality care is worsening.

46% of Americans avoid overcrowded gyms.

47% of Americans know how long it takes the earth to go around the sun once.

48% of blog creators are under the age of 30.

The post itself gives links to sites where those numbers were gathered.

Tulsa Mayor's Race: a DINO vs. a Republican

Democrat In Name Only Kathy Taylor looks set to win the Democratic Primary on Tuesday, and current mayor Bill LaFortune looks likely to fend off his Republican primary challengers.

Now, this poll was taken before news of Kathy Taylor's alleged voter fraud surfaced, but her margin against McCorkell is too big for that to matter enough.

Well, looks like I'll be casting a protest vote for one of the insane independent candidates (like Paul Tay, who runs around town on a bicycle with a big inflated penis on the back) in April. I won't vote for a candidate who gave money to the campaigns of Steve Largent and BOTH of W's Presidential runs. And the other candidate is a Republican.

I'll still vote for McCorkell on Tuesday though. Here's hoping for a surprise victory. Of course, I have no idea if any of these candidates have a shot in hell against LaFortune.

Thursday, March 2, 2006

Support us now, support Israel, even though we're going to Hell

Jerry Falwell and some other Evangelist jackass have denied embracing something called "dual covenant" theology, which holds that Jews are saved through a "special covenant" with God and thus do not have to accept Jesus to attain salvation.

So, according to Fartwell and this other jackass, they support Israel and the Jewish people, even though every single one of us is going to Hell unless we stop being Jewish. Yeah, that makes sense.

It's all a ruse, because the scriptural doctrine that makes these jackasses support Israel is the one that says that the apocalypse and the second coming can't happen till all the Jews are ingathered to Israel. Basically, we're all supposed to go back to Israel so that Jesus can come back and convert us anyway.

Jackasses.

Tim Robbins directs new play adaptation of "1984"

Robbins accuses the entertainment industry of being far more conservative than we are led to believe. "I'll bring up the most crucial time in the last ten years, right before the Iraq war; Hollywood was essentially silent about that. I had many people tell me 'Now's not the time to protest.' Well, if now's not the fucking time, when is the time?"



Tim Robbins is directing a new play adaptation of Orwell's 1984, in which he parallels a lot of what's going on now in Bush's America with the horrific anti-utopia of Orwell's book. One of the key points in this production is the idea that "capitalism uses continual warfare as a means of economic exploitation and control." That idea is taken from the novel written by Big Brother's nemesis, Goldstein.

Robbins is also planning a film version of 1984, set in present-day New York.

Should be interesting.

Katrina Warnings Failed To Stir Laid Back Bush

Wonderful headline from the Sydney Morning Herald.

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

And again, we're on fire.

CNN is now reporting on the grass fires that us Okies have come to regard as "a big statewide barbeque!" No, it's a bad thing, we're in a serious drought, and it got as high as 94 degrees here in Tulsa today. Still, the fact that the grassfires made the national news is surprising.

FYI I'm in the middle of the city. Not too many grassfires around here, though I have smelled them a bit while driving.

Yeah, we need some rain. Soon.

GOP Revolt




Republicans who once marched in lock step behind their president on national security are increasingly willing to challenge him in an area considered his political strength.



Now if only the Democrats would get more visible on these issues and paint the Republican Party as an antagonistic, ideological mess. Then we might have a shot. The good news is that recent polls have put the Dems ahead on security for the first time ever.