What has happened to mornings?

What I try to do is get to work on time. that is all I am asking for. It used to be ok on the highway. But lately I have been bogged down so much.

Michelle Bachman inserts foot in her mouth - Take 2

After that train wreck of an interview with Chris Matthews last year we get this gem:

On the Chris Baker Show - KTLK - Feb 12, 2009

"ACORN is "under federal indictment for voter fraud," but the stimulus bill nevertheless gives ACORN "$5 billion."

Actually its only former temporary employees who were charged with voter fraud (of which ACORN was the victim) Also ACORN is not even named in the stimulus bill. (PDF link) ACORN are only eligible for grants in poverty and housing.

"The Census Bureau will report directly to the White House. Hey, for a community organizer-in-chief, that is the mother lode of all data, so that he can redraw all of the redistricting lines, so that democrats can control by a wide majority, every congressional seat across the country."

1. Redistricting was done in Texas by Tom Delay (R)
2. States have the right to redraw redistricting not anyone else.
3. The Census data is public
   
4. Democrats already control congress.

She falls for Betsy McCaughey's deception about Health care.

"So now we'll have a national rationing board, and your doctor will no longer be able to make your health-care decisions with you. Now a rationing board will be making those decisions."

Podcamp

Admittedly no idea what I am doing or if I did it right. But I signed up for podcamp and plan to attend (hopefully something won't come up before then.

Bob Corker FAIL

I wrote to Bob Corker expressing my outrage at the republican obstruction and cutting of the stimulus bill. I wrote of how tax cuts to the rich, trickle down economics and tax breaks for corporations have been tried and failed. I asked him (and Lamar) to stop obstructing and work for the American people for once. I also told both that I did not vote for them but expected them to vote for the people and not for Rush Limbaugh.

Here is Bob Corker's response:

Dear Mr. A..,



Thank you for contacting my office to share your concerns about the proposed economic stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts.



I agree with you the stimulus package introduced in the Senate will have little benefit for our economy and I voted against this bill. I am disappointed that we have chosen to spend nearly $1 trillion and still have not solved the issues that created this economic crisis - credit and housing.



To turn our economic crisis around, I believe our priority should be to address the problems in our credit markets and get banks lending again. Additionally, we need to take steps to improve the challenges in the housing market. Unfortunately, the proposal considered by the Senate would borrow hundreds of billions of dollars and spend this money on government programs, many of which will clearly not help us address the two challenges I mentioned above. Until the housing and credit markets are dealt with in a serious and real way, anything else we do for the economy is just throwing good money after bad.



I know right now our country is experiencing tremendous economic turmoil and people are hurting. My heart goes out to all those who find themselves in financial situations that in many cases are beyond their control. I assure you that the difficulties being faced by Tennesseans during these times of economic uncertainty and hardship are of the utmost concern to me, and my staff and I will be using all the resources and options at our disposal to help in the months ahead.









Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me.



Sincerely,

Bob Corker
United States Senator

Words resonate with me [VIDEO]

May be taken down in future due to copyright.

Happy Darwin Day

Before I forget, I should make people aware. That today is Charles Darwin's birthday.

Kudos to Google for pointing this out:



Kudos to the bank of England for honoring him on the £10 banknote (one of which - I saved and took a photo of the one pictured above)

In which I go off on a rant (what else is new)

Wing nuts: To these people using stem cells that would ordinarily be thrown away (that are not living humans) is "killing the innocent". To them, aborting a blastocyst is murder, but killing a doctor who performed abortions, or killing a man for murdering someone as sanctioned by the death penalty is ok. Explain to me how this makes sense again? These people live on a different planet. They put up tasteless billboards similar to the one posted above.

To them its a black and white issue, They feel its ok to dictate, as men, to a woman about her body when they do not have that right. I disagree with abortion, I find it very sad indeed, but I have no place telling a woman what she can do with her body - unless I am the father. You do have the radical fringe feminists who use abortion as a form of birth control, which is of course wrong. But the issue we are dealing with here is you cannot paint all "pro choice" people with the same poop brush. They like to preach abstinence and sit on a moral high ground instead of teach something that actually works, PREVENTION.

When Bristol Palin was exposed as being pregnant the right wing nuts commended her for making the right "choice" when Sarah Palin wanted to make that choice for the rest of American women by banning abortion.

Roe Vs. Wade set the standard in 1973. We now have accountability, safe medical facilities to do these operations, and also COUNSELING (no one ever mentions that) none of which were present pre R.V.W. If someone tries to tell you a horror story about a botched abortion, firstly ask them if the person was born pre 1973 or after. Yes it is not a pretty subject nor is it happy. But it shouldn't be the political third rail that will either electrocute or propel a candidate. This is the year 2009, I would have thought that we would have advanced by now.

These people need to make a visit to St. Jude Hospital in Memphis and look one of those poor children in the eye -who within weeks will die of a disease. When treatment and the ever-advancing wave of medical science that benefits from stem cell research could very well PROLONG HER LIFE.

These people are the height of hypocrisy.

Important -

I got this email from Shawn Otto and I felt I had to pass it on:

Dear Chris,

I am writing to alert you to efforts underway this morning to zero out a large portion of the science funding from the Senate American Reinvestment and Recovery Act as a part of a $77.9B reduction effort led by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

As you know better than most, science and technology are responsible for half of the economic development of the United States since WWII and yet, if current trends hold, some, such as the Business Roundtable, have predicted that 90% of all scientists and engineers will live in Asia within 5 years.

The United States simply MUST renew our investment in the single greatest economic engine this country has ever known. Small federal investments in scientific research have helped produce things like the internet and the transistor that have consistently delivered multi-trillion dollar economies.

The United States is at a critical juncture, and if this concerns you we suggest now would be a time to contact your Senators and urge them to support science funding. Here is what is being proposed to be cut from the bill, according to TPM:

NASA exploration $750,000,000 = 50%
NSF $1,402,000,000 = 100%
NOAA $427,000,000 = 34.94%
NIST $218,000,000 = 37.91%
DOE energy efficiency & renewable energy $1,000,000,000 = 38%
DOE office of science $100,000,000 = 100%

Collins-Nelson Group Staff Paper Potential Cuts -- $77.9 Billion
02-05-2009

12:48CST EDIT:

1. WHAT TO DO: call and email your two U.S. senators. Contact from a constituent on a wonky issue like this will have enormous influence. Calling is better than email, but do both if you can.

Go here to find your Senator, and select your state in the drop down box in the upper right hand corner:
http://www.senate.gov/

Tell them in your own words to reject the reduction
effort in the stimulus bill led by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) when it comes to science.

Note that most Senator's web pages contain a form (e.g. - CONTACT ME) that you can fill out to contact the Senator. Also, use your own words since identical
messages get rejected by the Senators' staff. You can adapt language from my previous email or from below, but be sure to personalize it.

2. TALKING POINTS:

A) Science & technology have produced half of the economic growth of the United States since WWII.

B) Spending on basic research is the single greatest economic engine this country has ever known.

C) Funding to federal granting agencies is about as "shovel-ready" a stimulus as you can get. If the granting agencies lower their score thresholds for awards across the board the money will be flowing within months, leading to rapid hiring and increased purchasing from technical service and supply companies that are largely American, and creating thousands of the kinds of high-quality jobs the country needs.

13:02 CST EDIT:

I just fired off letters to both Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker. Expressing my disgust. I don't know if it will do any good or not though.

Finally, a Gmail client that works

Finally, a Gmail client that works
Originally uploaded by Chris1051

Wow what a trial! the original client that shipped with the N810 worked - but was not very effective. Then after Diablo release of OS2008 came a new client. This one has never worked for me. I finally got around to install Claws. After some pain in the ass configuring I finally got it to work (fingers crossed)

Very cool. After the Feedcircuit debacle I am glad to feel something positive again.