Sunday, August 28, 2005

While I was washing dishes...

...I had this thought:

Conservatives exist to keep society from progressing too fast,

Liberals exist to keep it from coming to a complete stop.

,

Friday, August 26, 2005

Jalapeño Rojo Bloggin'


Have a sweet hot Friday night! ,

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Plamegate

Great read in the LA Times today regarding the outing of Valerie Plame and the ongoing investigation.

Go here to read the story.

It's a timeline and goes over the key facts rather thoroughly.
As sick as I am of the whole thing, this article does a rather nice job of putting the pieces of the puzzle together and how it fits in with the bigger picture of the Iraq war.

Here's a snip:

"What motivated President Bush's political strategist, Karl Rove; Vice President Cheney's top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby; and others to counter Wilson so aggressively? How did their roles remain secret until after the president was reelected? Have they fully cooperated with the investigation? The answers remain elusive. As Fitzgerald's team has moved ahead, few witnesses have been willing to speak publicly. White House officials declined to comment for this article, citing the ongoing inquiry.But a close examination of events inside the White House two summers ago, and interviews with administration officials, offer new insights into the White House response, the people who shaped it, the deep disdain Cheney and other administration officials felt for the CIA, and the far-reaching consequences of the effort to manage the crisis."


In other news, I saw that Cindy Sheehan will be going on a Peace Tour that will culminate in DC on the 24th. I'll be sure and say hello to her from anyone and everyone that gives a damn. ,

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Vigil News and then some...


It's been a week to the day since I have posted anything, or even thought about posting anything.

I attended the local vigil for peace and came away with an array of mixed emotions.
An array of mixed emotions. Is that redundant? Who cares.

Here is coverage of the event by the local news. The coverage was fairly lame in my opinon, but I believe it was last minute, much like the event itself.

Here is a link to some photos of the event. I am not armed with a digital camera, and this caused some disappointment for myself. Not being a limousine liberal, it's just not on my 'need' list at the moment. Any personal pics on this website are done by my sister.
ANYhow, those are the photos from the event that a guy with a camera took, and volunteered to send me the link.

Additional news and photos from around the country regarding that particular evening can be found via this Democratic Underground link.
There are some pretty good shots there, like the one I ganked and posted above. That picture is worth a thousand words and then some. (click for larger pic)

I talked about the Silent March idea with a couple of people there, and of course everyone is thrilled with the idea. Getting it to happen of course, is another story altoghter.

September 24th, 25th and 26th there is this event, which I plan on attending. My grandmother is having her 85th birthday on the 25th so that's one day I'll be skipping.
Fortunately I live close enough to be able to drive to a satellite Metro station, and head in from there. So, looks like Saturday and Monday I'll be in DC practicing civil disobedience or something like that.
I will talk to, or attempt to talk to, the organizers of the UPJ event that weekend about the Silent March.

Classes started for me last night, and that yields both excitement and disappointment. I'll save that diatribe for another day, but let me say I cannot for the life of me understand how a student can come to class without a writing utensil or anything to write on. I truly worry for the future of this country, the current debacle aside. That was just the first class, can't wait until tonight and tomorrow night. Oh joy.
I'm sure it will get better, it always does. Long about the drop/add time period there will be more parking in the deck, less noise, and fewer people wasting the professors and dedicated students time.

Over the last week, since attending the small peace rally in front of the Virginia Museum, I have perused many websites that hail from the right. I was tempted to post some of the comments that I came across, but asked myself why? We all pretty much know the postions of the right and the left political spectrums in the good 'ol USA.

What I don't completely understand is the viciousness of what is passing as debate anymore. It's rather depressing observing citizens of a democracy engage in near violence verbally, heck, advocate violence verbally.

I ran afoul among some of the peace protesters at the event I attended by not advocating a wholesale pullout of Iraq. There is no way we can just up and leave, we fucked that place up royally and we own it. We have to own it, and we have to own it for a long time.

What I would like to do, is start formulating real solutions to this debacle we are in. Wholesale pullout is as ignorant as the genius behind going in there in the first place. I would like to ask anyone that reads this blog, and that might be nobody after a week of not posting, to offer real solutions or ideas to solutions that might get us out of Iraq and not leave that place in shambles. Apparently Bush is incapable of doing so, as is his whole entourage. There is no debate on that issue anymore.

There is no debate on WMD's: non-existant.
There is no debate on Iraq being tied to 9-11 and Osama: non-existant.
There is no debate on whether Bush had plans to invade Iraq prior to 911, which again had not one thing to do with Iraq.
If you are still debating any of these topics, you're lost.

The real and only debate now is how we get out of Iraq, not leave that country in shambles, and repair any and all damage that has been done regarding relations with the Muslim community in the middle east.
That's a tall order and one that may never be realized. Much like the ideological extremists that exist in the Muslim world, we have our own ideological extremists here, and they will always want to kill each other off so their ideology can reign supreme.

If Bush is impeached, yay and big deal. He is what he is, everyone pretty much is aware of this except for the diehards. The diehards are just that and will never change.
If Bush committed treason by bullshitting America into war, then his just reward will come. Same for Rove and the other cronies in that gang.

The real question now is what do we do after the dust is settled on the Bush administration?

What's the next presidential election going to bring us? How is the Republican party going to right itself after being hijacked by the religous right? That hijacking has take some time and organization, and even with looney Pat Robertson spouting off and Bush promoting un-intelligent design, it's not going to go away easily.

What if we as a nation re-elect the party that brought all of the current chaos and turmoil front and center? How many theocratic idealists can this country absorb? How much bullshit has to go down before people wake up? In this country, only the economy will do it. Capitalists could care less if our people are dying in a senseless war, until the their pocketbook is affected. Just a guess, but I'm bettin' that capitalist vote Repbublican by and large. Is that a partisan and biased statement? Sure is, but ask yourself is it true?

What will it take to get the 80 million voting age people in this country that did not vote in the last eletion to get involved, to see that by not involving themselves they only add to the misery?

Perhaps this is the course of a free and open capitalist society. We lose our souls slowly at first and then it snowballs into all out war. Our nation is relatively young on the world stage. We have bullied, bullshitted and exploited our way to the proverbial 'top' in a relatively short amount of time.

Look at our nation, look at what is being debated, and look at who is in charge.
How can anyone with a grain of common sense like what they see?

I'm off to class. ,

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Vigil for Cindy Sheehan

Found this via The Liberal Avenger.

It's tonight.

Check this link, it will tell you where in your area there is a vigil.

There is one in front of the Virginia Museum tonight at 7:30. That's where I'm headed armed with candles and water.

If there isn't one, make your own. ,

Cheer UP and Onward!

Oldwhitelady dropped by yesterday and offered up this bit to offset the rage that has boiled within The Pepper Farm regarding the attacks on Cindy Sheehan. This did cheer me up, but more importantly, it provided some strength and hope to Cindy Sheehan and her onsite supporters.

Fred Mattlage is the distant cousin of Larry Mattlage, that real nice fella that fired off his shotgun a couple of times near the Sheehan camp on Sunday.

Fred is offering up his land for the Sheehan to camp, about a mile from Bush’s spideyhole. Fred is showing some courage here, as his neighbors are the rootin’ tootin’ gun totin’ Texas cowboy types. That’s not to say Fred ain’t that way, but he obviously has his head on straight.

(A toast to oldwhitelady over lunch today)

Living here in Richmond, Virginia, I consider myself a redneck. A lot of my friends say “no, you’re not a redneck” to which I reply “yes I am and you are too. You’re not born and bred in Virginia without being some form of a redneck.”

Rednecks, like any species, come in varying degrees of redneckedness; some friendly, some intelligent, some belligerent, and some just plain stupid. Some are good ol’ boys in a good sense, gentlemanly and kind, and some are good ol’ boys in a not so good sense, like the Ku Klux Klan chapter in Colonial Heights. Yeah, we have that just down the road a piece.

Evry now ‘n ‘nen, ah speak redneckese. Usually when I’ma funnin’ or having a bit of the sauce. It’s all good and I like to poke fun at the way I grew up.

My family lineage is Irish, Italian, and Dutch. Yeah, put that in yer pipe and take a puff.
Mix all that up and then grow it in the Capital of the Confederacy and you have my family. YEE HAW!
I’m the black sheep, the liberal. Oh well.

My sister has recently entered the blogosphere and is learning about the political spectrum in her own way. Much to my delight, she is amazed at what she is seeing on the rightwing side of things. That is to say amazed in a ‘what the hell is wrong with these people’ kind of way. She is apolitical currently, but I suspect the more aware she becomes, the more likely there will be dos oveja negra en la familia.

Ok, back to where I was a minute ago:

Recidivist is on top of the Jean Charles de Menezes killing in the London and Paul the Spud adds to the story.

David Swanson , cofounder of AfterDowningStreet.org and MeetWithCindy.org has told me via email he’s putting the idea of the Silent March on Washington to his colleagues. I’ll put forth any info about that when he gets back to me.

In the meantime, have a stupendous day. ,

Sigh...

I love my hometown. ,

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

I Have NO Idea What to Title This

Take a look at our America under the fine leadership of George W. Bush II.

Is this how they solve things in Texas, with a gun and lie?

Larry Mattlage jumps in his truck, races over to his fence near Sheehan’s camp, and fires off a gun while the peaceniks are praying.
How very respectful of prayer.

He said: "I shot at a bird, and missed it a while ago", also known as a LIAR.

"Five weeks of this is too much. We live here, this is our community," Mattlage said in footage shown by CNN television, while insisting the gunshots were just him "getting ready for dove season."

Five weeks is too much huh? How long do we have to stay in Iraq before it’s too much Larry? Huh? How many service men and women have to die before it’s too much Larry? Got an answer for that?

This guy salutes his bravery:

“Other neighbors expressed admiration for Mattlage's one-man stand. "I wish I had the nerve to do something like that," said Army Sgt. Vernon "Dusty" Harrison, who spent a year in Iraq and owns an adjacent property. "I salute his bravery."

Bravery? This is a most cowardly act by any definition. I have to wonder just what the hell bravery is defined as in our military these days. No wonder events at Abu Ghraib unfolded the way they did. Oh wait, that was just a few rogue soldiers…

The right screamed immorality when Clinton lied about his affair. They screamed the leader of the free world is setting the example, and our children will suffer from the immoral behaviour justified by President Clinton.

Take a good damn look at these fools that live in Texas, just down the road from Bush.

“Late Monday, a pickup truck tore through rows of white crosses that stretched about two-tenths of a mile along the side of the road at the Crawford camp. The crosses bore the names of fallen U.S. soldiers. No one was hurt.”

Aww, how patriotic.

“The White House declined to comment on the incident.”
Silence = it’s ok with us.

Think his examples are leading the way?
Solve it with a gun, lie about it, call it bravery.

You decide. ,

Cindy Sheehan and more…

Crooks and Liars has enough stuff on Cindy Sheehan to make your head explode.
There's more at Crooks and Liars, just take a valium first.

If you didn’t see it already, head on over to Dr. C. to see the photoshopped Katherine Harris.

Congressional Dems, led by Conyers, writes a letter asking Bush to meet with Cindy Sheehan. If Bush does meet with her it’s a) too little too late and b) Bush just trying to stem the tide, except see a).

Still plugging away on the Silent March, will post anything of substance once I have something. Right now it’s just a bunch of emailing and phone calls.

Have a stellar day. ,

Monday, August 15, 2005

Cindy Sheehan: A Real American Patriot

Go here and read this.

Read the entire article from beginning to end and think about it long and hard.

Heres a taste:

"As our President likes to speak about "our mission" in Iraq and "our mission of defeating terrorists" in the world, so Cindy Sheehan has found herself on a mission. Our President speaks resolutely of "staying the course" in Iraq. That's exactly what Cindy Sheehan is planning to do in Crawford (and undoubtedly beyond). George prides himself on not flinching, giving ground, or ever saying he's sorry. But he also had remarkably good luck until he ran into Cindy. Whether in his presidential runs, in Congress, or elsewhere, he really hasn't come up against an opponent who was ready to dig in and duke it out blow for blow, an opponent ready never to flinch, never to apologize, never to mince words, never to take prisoners. Now he's got one -- and like so many personal demons, she's been called up from the Id of his own war: A mother of one of the dead who demands an explanation, an answer, when no answer he gives will ever conceivably do; a woman who, like his neocon companions, has no hesitation about going for the jugular. And, amazingly, she's already made the man flinch twice."

If this does not move you, nothing will.

If this (of all things, and by now) does not help those of you that support Bush in this war see things in a different light, nothing will. ,

Silent March on Washington Update 4

Spent part of the weekend compiling all of the information people have been providing plus researching the different organizations. It’s a bit of work to say the least.

Shakespeare’s Sister posted the idea and crossposted at the Big Brass Blog. Many thanks to her for promoting the idea.

There is a ton of work to do up front, it’s a bit overwhelming, but nothing compared to camping out in a ditch in Texas in August, or working around the clock in this place.

Will put forth concrete info as I have it.

In the meantime, enjoy the day. ,

Friday, August 12, 2005

Silent March on Washington Update 3

I have contacted by phone the mobilization unit of the United for Peace & Justice organization and am waiting to hear back from them.

In the meantime I am updating the blogroll and adding those that express support for this idea.

Top billing goes to my sister (family always comes first), and hopefully the tiny blogroll linky list will continue to grow.

Also, there have been a few posts that take issue with the cause at hand. As much as I would like to debate each of you on the merits of your posts, I'll leave that to any others that wish to do so. A personal thanks to recidivist in this department, tangle with him if you dare, just be prepared to go home with head down and tail dragging.

My focus is organizing this march, honoring our fallen service men and women, and removing tryanny from the White House. ,

Silent March on Washington Update 2

Ok, First off I want to thank everyone for chiming in with advice and providing information to get this ball rolling. Everyone so far has made some great points and ideas.

I went directly to some of the major org’s right away and there’s too much registration this and that, emailing and waiting. I want to talk to somebody now and per the suggestions the local org’s are going to be the place to start.

As soon as I have information on that, I’ll post it.

As was pointed out by a True Blue, there is a protest march on Sept. 24th-26th, and I will be attending that one hoping to talk to organizers there as well. If anyone is interested in going with me on that one, I live in Richmond, plan on driving to the Fairfax Metro station, and heading into D.C. from there. Please contact me at redjalapeno@hotmail.com.

I was thinking last night about this, history is repeating itself. I personally feel that we need to try to stop this constant repetition of war and peace, war and peace. There can be no peace if there is constant war, and war has NEVER provided peace.

Once this guy is out of the White House, be it one way or another, we have to get this country going in the right direction. If we take care of our country by example, others will follow. We need to set the example for peace. We need to represent what Cindy Sheehan is doing all by herself. WE CAN DO THIS.

Okay, I’ll put up some info as soon as I have it, and I’ll try to get my tiny blogroll linky list updated today as well.

This is for all of us, for all people, and not just Americans.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice and suggestions and support and by all means keep it coming! ,

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Silent March On Washington Update 1

Well, this is going to be my focus until it either happens or falls apart.
I am truly grateful for the support shown so far, but obviously we need to do more.
This is about our homeland, our country, so the support is for that, not me.

I got this email from Shakespeare’s Sister:
“If you organize it, or find someone who will, I'll promote the hell out of it! :-)”

Step one, I need help. Any suggestions or any people that know how to go about organizing something of this nature, please contact them, send them here, or send their info here for me to contact.
I really don’t know where to start with this thing.

The real crux of this is saving our country from the tyrant Bush.

Cindy Sheehan has single-handedly exposed Bush for what he is. We all have seen him, we all knew, but Cindy has shown the American people that the Emperor has no clothes, NONE.

He’s killing our citizens in a false war, he’s killing Iraqi’s in this same war. He is using our military for his own means. All of these things are treasonous and un-American of the highest degree.

I am tired of whining and complaining and doing nothing. There are million websites out there and we all go there, poke fun at wingnuts and have a laugh.

Here’s the deal: those wingnuts are in power and they are tearing this country apart. Those wingnuts are doing something. They are organized and driven, and we all are seeing the fruits of their labor. Do you like the taste?

It’s time we put the snark on hold and actually do something.

The power of the silence of one hundred, two hundred, five hundred thousand people marching on Washington is what we need. A simple American flag in each hand, silently honoring our fallen men and women who have sacrificed their lives under this tyrant, cannot be in vein. They are fighting for this country, now it’s time for non-military citizens to show what the power of the people can do.

This vision is a vision of unity, of unity we must show or we will NEVER get this country back on the right track. That track being freedom and liberty for all American citizens regardless of race, faith or sexual orientation.

This is the land of the FREE, and the free have to get off of our ass and demand this tyrant step down.

Check your patriotism, check your gut, check what you want out of life and what you want this country to be.

WE CAN DO THIS. ,

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Thai Pepper Bloggin'


Here are some of the Thai pep's that have been picked over the last couple of days.
Notice the nice little curly mutations going on up top, as well as the miniatures just below them. Could be due to the heat and lack of rain as I have been getting a few more mutations than usual, and in all of the produce I planted.



In another way more important arena:
I'm thinking it's time for a 60's style peace march on Washington, minus the wrecklessness.

Cindy Sheehan has become a catalyst of enormous proportions, and I believe the time is right to capitalize on her interaction with Bush, or rather the lack of interaction from Bush.

Her initial meeting with Bush after her son was killed so underscores what a complete moronic psuedo-religous callous frat boy Bush is and has always been.

Now more than ever the time is right for the American people to march on Washington and demand he step down.

This is the goverment of the people, by the people, and for the people and it's time to show that fucktard what democracy is truly about.

Is it possible to march onto Washington in massive numbers, carrying only American flags, quietly honoring our fallen servicemen, and asking Bush to leave the White House? I think so.


Think of how powerful the silence of a mass demonstration would be? The sheer magnitude of people, and the sheer magnitude of silent protest. Can we do it? Can we organize and put together such a powerful peaceful protest? I think we have to.

Currently,
59% disapprove of Bush's handling of the war. By the Republican's own standard, this is a HUGE mandate.

It's time for a democratic revolution.
,

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Busy Busy Busy

Too freakin’ busy to post anything of substance, or of a readable nature.

Implementing a Document Management System at the office (‘compound’ as I like to refer to it), and that task is crushing. Training users, data migration, re-training users, all in addition to our normal responsibilities.

It’s just weighing me down and sapping my strength. Have not visited my favorite blogs in a few days nor have I updated my tiny blogroll linky list.

Have kept an eye on the goings-on in our national political arena, have an ear tuned in to Britain and the reactions and overreactions the knee-jerking but have purposely not gotten too close to the fray to start spouting my own opinion. Go
here if you need up to date news and opinion on this particular topic.

Still pissed about the preznit
declaring that unintelligent design be taught in public schools right along with science. That just amazes me on one hand, but on the other hand, what else could be expected?

Had a discussion with a friend of mine last night, of which this is a topic we touched on. He agreed with the preznit, but he’s also a person of faith, so I can see where he is coming from. What this fella does not see, although he might now cuz it set me off and I began to wave my arms and pace and be quite shrill, is that when the preznit says he would like to see unintelligent design taught along with the science of evolution, what he really means is the Christian faith should be taught along with science.

So, when I start the rantin’ and ravin’ about that, one of the things he said was “that’s the principles this country was founded on”, meaning the Christian faith.
I have avoided addressing that statement, which was made more than once, simply because the people that believe that will not be swayed from what the real truth of that matter really is. To the Christian faithful, this country was founded by God, and based on Judeao-Christian values and faith, and everyone here is doing God’s work, or something like that. The founding fathers were all Christians and/or believed in God and that’s that.
Period.
(Here, you may take apart Judeao-Christian, or Christian-Judeao, if you want or need to, as I fully understand the invalidity of combining those two adjectives)

Raise another toast to ‘unmovable beliefs’. To the inability to adapt to an ever-changing world, to the disregard and disbelief of evolution.

So it’s all good to the faithful that science teachers will be proselytizing to young minds while attempting to teach, or vice versa, or whatever the hell that really means.
The statement ‘founding principles of this country were based on Christianity’ came up when I pointed out that if we are going to teach creationism, which is what ‘unintelligent design’ is, then we should be teaching every religion’s idea about how the earth and it’s inhabitants came to be. That was unacceptable to this person. In other words; ‘our faith ok, other faiths not ok, because our faith is the founding of the morality and laws of which this country was built upon’.

One last time for those that still don’t get it:
A) Religion and faith are just that.
B) Science is hard fact, not conjecture or mythology.

Who am I kidding? They don’t get it. They can’t get it because their faith prevents them from seeing it. Their faith is at odds with the scientific world, aka reality, and to embrace the reality of science means the reconfiguration of their god or religion. (which should be easy since god and religion were created by man to begin with)

It’s an exhausting exercise in futility for sure, but it is an exercise that one must be willing to undertake and endure. Perhaps at some point, it may not be futile so much as a tenant of survival.

Uh, so that’s my quickie drive-by, emotion driven, shrill, unreadable and lacking of substance post for today.
,

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Fish Tale with Reality

Went down to the river yesterday with a couple of buds (friends - not the beer or weed) and had a rather pleasant evening with a jolt at the end.

The river level continues to drop and algae is starting to show in the slower moving areas. We managed to catch a few brim, a couple of stripers, and about 15 or so smallmouth. Yes, will be having smallmouth for dinner tonight.

We also saw a bald eagle cruise on by, circle a small island upstream a bit, and then flew on. Love seeing those.

Ospreys are plentiful down there and we see them all the time. Not too long ago about 6 or 7 of them were dive bombing a wide deeper area towards the middle of the river. Awesome thing to watch.

About 9 o'clock it's too dark to see, the biting insects come out in full force and it's time to go. The path down to the river is very narrow, steep and rocky in some places. It's very overgrown and come nightfall in order to get out of there you basically just look down for the lighter part of the ground, and that's the path.

Well, Joe was up ahead a little bit cuz he was getting chewed by 'skeeters and wanted out of there fast. He's about ten feet away when I see he's stopped and spot something on the ground in front of him. At first it appeared to be a mannequin, and then I realized it was a body.

Face down, mostly in the weeds with their legs on the trail.
When I say face down in the weeds, that's exactly what I mean.

We thought it was somebody that jumped off the bridge at first, but then she moaned and moved a little.

To sum it up quickly, it was a homeless woman apparently lost. She came up with all kinds of stories as to why she was where she was at that moment. None of these stories made any sense.

She said she had been robbed by a teenage couple and they piled rocks on her head. She told us that they took her purse.
"When did this happen?" I said, and she said "last week".

Joe said he saw a purse near the tracks earlier and then dashed off to get it. When he came back and gave it to her she was overjoyed. It was hers. It had a bottle of meds in it she shook a couple of times, and then rifled through the rest of it she found her driver's license and a small pouch.

It's already dark but it's getting darker. Too dark to see anybody's face or anything specific. There is some light filtering down from the bridge but not enough to discern anything unless you get up close, so that's exactly what I was doing. I had knelt down to watch her rummage through the purse and see what she came up with.

She did find her 'meds' and quickly threw them back in. That small pouch was what she was interested in. She unzipped that pouch and I could see a rolled up plastic baggie that had either crack, meth or heroin in it, and a metal pipe to smoke it in. Once she found that, suddenly she was able to stand and actually walk again.

She asked which way to the railroad tracks, we pointed, and off she went. Somewhere out there her friend had a tent and that's where she was headed.

Don't know if that last part was true exactly, but I have discovered a few homeless camps down there on some of the smaller islands.

It's a beautiful river with a couple of small mansions on the bluff overlooking this area, and down below these bluffs, the drug addled homeless wander the tracks and live in camps.

Gives one something to think about and be grateful for while fishing. ,

Monday, August 01, 2005

Tomato Bloggin'


Picked this beauty from the garden a couple of days ago. Not sure if it's the total absence of rain, 95+ degree days, or just a wonderful mutation mom nature likes to display every now and again.

In general the garden has given up. It started off looking great and producing quite a bit of grub, but no rain since late June has taken it's toll.

Had to yank up all but 3 of the zuchinni plants and about a third of the snap beans. Once the bugs get in there, disease and mold follows and that carries right into the produce. The zukes were turning yellow and hairy before they reached 5 inches, and the ants and fruit flies were having a field day.

'Sniff sniff' The jalapeño plants have given up as well. I have one crop, waiting for them to turn red, and no new blooms. It doesn't help that I snatch one occaisonally either.

The Thai peppers however seem to be thriving. I stepped on one picking that freaky tomato and snapped it off at the ground. Now there's a small tupperware in the frig full of green Thai's. I see a Bangkok burrito in the very near future. ,