If the draft is coming back (thanks, chickenhawks), President Kerry (please, God) better cancel it on January 21, 2005 or we'll get all the blame. Remember Somalia? That was Bush I, NOT Clinton, please.

Or maybe it doesn't matter; the Rightwingnuts manage to deflect all the blame no matter what.

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 08:13 AM PST [Link]

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Ink Pens for Afghan kids (the stuff we take for granted)

"I just heard from Terry, who's serving in Afghanistan, and he has this to say:

"As many of you know, I am currently in the apolitical position of Army public affairs specialist in Afghanistan. I only recently arrived, after waiting for 2.5 months at Ft. Riley, Kansas, but that's another issue. I'm writing you all today because I'm going to take many of you up on your offers and rudely ask a favor of those who made no offer.

"When I first mentioned on my blog that I was going to be deployed, a large number of you asked how you could help me, what I would need for Afghanistan. The truth is, there's not much. However, I just went on my first mission with a civil affairs group and found a way you might be able to help me out.

"It seems that the children of Afghanistan want nothing more than they want a pen.

"It was explained to me that the villages through which I traveled (near Kandahar, where I'm based) are so poor that a pen is like a scholarship to these children. They desperately want to learn but, without a pen, they simply won't. It's a long story. I won't bore you with it. Trust me, though, when I say that it would be a big deal if even a few of you could put up the call for pens for me. Anyone interested in helping out could either send some directly to me or go to these sites and send them, where you can find them for as cheap as $.89 a dozen.

Office Max

They can be shipped directly to:

Terry L. Welch
105th MPAD
Kandahar Public Affairs Office
APO AE 09355

"Let's finish up the week knowing that Americans gave some kids a chance.

"edit: per atrios, who worked out a good way to do this:

"I edited out his site list - he linked to Officemax and Office Depot. Office Depot was making it very difficult to enter a military shipping address, so I went through Office Max. Spend a few bucks - send a few pens.

"...Office Max does require a delivery address phone number, but I just put in my own. I put in "Armed Forces" rather than Armed Forces America or Armed Forces Pacific..."
Completely copied from Sisyphus Shrugged, May 12, 2004 because it is perfect the way it is.

And my two cents is, maybe some pads of paper would be nice to toss in the package, too.

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 10:30 PM PST [Link]

The Mayerson Voter Registration Drive Drives On!

Kentucky
Voter Registration
Secretary of State
League of Women Voters
Rock the Vote
I Want to Vote These people so seriously want you to vote that they will send you the completed forms with an addressed envelope for you to send into voter registation in your area. Much easier than most Secretary of State sites. GM
MVRD

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 06:17 PM PST [Link]

"WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- The family of an American civilian shown beheaded on an Islamic militant Web site huddled in in tears Tuesday after learning of the existence of the graphic videotape.

"The video showed Nick Berg, 26, in a staged execution carried out by an al-Qaida affiliated group. The video said the killing was to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.

"'My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne,' the man said on the video before being killed. 'I have a brother and sister, David and Sara. I live in ... Philadelphia.'

"Berg's family said U.S. State Department officials on Monday had told them Berg was decapitated. The family, though, had wanted that information to remain private.

"When told about news of the Web site Nick Berg's father, brother and sister, collapsed to the ground in a tearful hug in their front yard.

"'I knew he was decapitated before,' said the father, Michael Berg. 'That manner is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn't want it to become public.'

"Michael Berg lashed out at the U.S. military and Bush administration, saying his son might still be alive had he not been detained by U.S. officials in Iraq without being charged and without access to a lawyer.

"Nick Berg, a small telecommunications business owner, spoke to his parents on March 24 and told them he would return home on March 30. But Berg was detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in Mosul on March 24. He was turned over to U.S. officials and detained for 13 days.

"His father, Michael, said his son wasn't allowed to make phone calls or contact a lawyer.

"FBI agents visited Berg's parents in West Chester on March 31 and told the family they were trying to confirm their son's identity. On April 5, the Bergs filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia, contending that their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military. The next day Berg was released. He told his parents he hadn't been mistreated.

"Michael Berg said he blamed the U.S. government for creating circumstances that led to his son's death. He said if his son hadn't been detained for so long, he might have been able to leave the country before the violence worsened.

"'I think a lot of people are fed up with the lack of civil rights this thing has caused," he said. "I don't think this administration is committed to democracy.'"
Berg family angry with American government over son's brutal death, by Jason Straziuso, Associated Press, May 11, 2004 (via Sisyphus Shrugged)

Just when I thought this story couldn't get any worse... it did.

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 06:15 PM PST [Link]

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

The Mayerson Voter Registration Drive Drives On!

Kansas
Voter Registration
Secretary of State
League of Women Voters
Rock the Vote
I Want to Vote These people so seriously want you to vote that they will send you the completed forms with an addressed envelope for you to send into voter registation in your area. Much easier than most Secretary of State sites. GM

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 09:12 PM PST [Link]

I never thought I'd say this, but, okay, thanks, Nancy

"BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Former first lady Nancy Reagan endorsed stem cell research Saturday night and made an impassioned call for taking the controversial procedure out of the political arena, saying it could help cure illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, which afflicts her husband."
Nancy Reagan Calls For Stem Cell Research. Former First Lady Makes Plea in Speech, From News Services, Washtington Post, May 10, 2004

[Grrrrr] Okay, Nancy... thanks. [Mayerson seeks dentist to help her unclench her jaws.]

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 09:11 PM PST [Link]

"Before the start of the Iraq war his media empire did so much to promote, Rupert Murdoch explained the payoff: "The greatest thing to come out of this for the world economy, if you could put it that way, would be $20 a barrel for oil." Crude oil prices in New York rose to almost $40 a barrel yesterday, a 13-year high.

"Those who expected big economic benefits from the war were, of course, utterly wrong about how things would go in Iraq. But the disastrous occupation is only part of the reason that oil is getting more expensive; the other, which will last even if we somehow find a way out of the quagmire, is the intensifying competition for a limited world oil supply."
The Oil Crunch, by Paul Krugman, NY Times Op/Ed, May 7, 2004

Translation: President Carter and his sweater were right!

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 09:10 PM PST [Link]

The Triumph of Bullshit over Meaning

Bullshit: Pulling down Saddam's statue

Meaning: Keeping his infamous prison up and running

Nobody was ever tortured by a statue.

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 08:40 PM PST [Link]

Monday, May 10, 2004

The Mayerson Voter Registration Drive Drives On!

Iowa
Voter Registration
Secretary of State
League of Women Voters
Rock the Vote
I Want to Vote These people so seriously want you to vote that they will send you the completed forms with an addressed envelope for you to send into voter registation in your area. Much easier than most Secretary of State sites. GM

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 07:06 PM PST [Link]

Me and Boondocks on the same page (sort of)

Maybe Rumsfeld has never seen "Oz".

Boondocks, May 10, 2004, on Rumsfeld and the TV show "Oz".

"And I thought women getting off on prison rape in the 'Oz' TV show was sick."
Mayerson, May 6, 2004, on the women soldiers up to their necks in the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 07:05 PM PST [Link]

If all I had to worry about was the LA Lakers...

"But that began to change last season. Team disharmony forced Jackson to eliminate many of the Zen techniques he had used during his nine championship seasons with the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers. Team meditation was thrown out the window.

"'Last year, the team really kind of pushed the spiritual aspect away or couldn't embrace it because there was some divisiveness that kept us apart,' Jackson said late in the season. 'Meditation is very difficult. You have to really be in harmony to sit with one another without being uncomfortable, and it became difficult.'"
Out of Control and Aging, Lakers Near Exit Again, by Chris Broussard, NY Times, May 9, 2004

Okay, because I never think about the Lakers (except when we have Laker riots), I wasn't worried about the Lakers, but now I am. No more Team Mediation, eh? My heart, it breaks.

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 07:04 PM PST [Link]

"'You only live once,' he said. 'Except for Shirley MacLaine.'"
Alan King, 1928-2004

Alan King, Comic With Chutzpah, Dies at 76
By BRUCE WEBER, NY Times, May 10, 2004

Comedian and Actor Alan King Dies at 76, by Adam Bernstein, Washington Post, May 10, 2004

Posted by Ginger Mayerson @ 07:00 PM PST [Link]