Our Spoiled Brat

I know this isn't exactly new or underrepported news, but Bush this week.. Wow. What an asshole. First he issues a list of countries whose companies are allowed to bid on Iraqi reconstruction contracts, including nations like Micronesia (population 108,143) and Estonia (population 1,408,556), and excluding countries like Canada which paid hundreds of millions of dollars to help the rebuilding of Iraq. Not to mention Russia, France, and China getting the shaft. You know, large nations which have industry that fosters them to have large companies which could help in rebuilding Iraq, if only they were allowed to bid for the contracts. On the other hand, the combined population of Micronesia and Estonia wouldn't be enough people to run a McDonalds, nevermind run a corporation large enough to bid on contracts to help rebuild Iraq. It's just an insult to tell the world that useless nations with nothing to provide are able to place their bids, but large nations with industry who can help are barred. It's like saying a French corporation can offer up billions for a contract and that's wrong, but it's all right for the Estonian government to muster up a few sheep for their bid. I can imagine it now: "We'll give you one dollah and 5 sheep! Eat like kings!"

Of course, we all know that Bush only wants to feed contracts to corporations that him or members of his administration are buddy-buddy with. In a story I commented on two months ago, the mainstream media has finally caught on to Halliburton's price gouging, robbing the government of millions of dollars. Yes, Halliburton, the same corporation which still issues Dick Cheney a paycheck, the same corporation he used to run, and the same corporation which just happened to receive a no-bid contract that, to show their gratitude, they overcharge the government because millions in profit just isn't enough. This is like inviting somebody over to your house and they come in drunk, track mud all over the place, and they start breaking your stuff. You kick them out! But, apparently, this kind of behavior is fine with Dubya.

But the real "Omigod" moment of the week came when Bush asked nations which he won't let bid on Iraqi reconstruction contracts to forgive all of Iraq's debts to them. There is no one word in the english language to describe how stupid and selfish such a move like this is. You have to combine words, like "Unfuckingbelievable" and "HolyfuckingFUCK!," because that's the only way you can describe his callousness with any degree of accuracy. It's just stunning.

This week showed the world just how much of a spoiled brat our president is. This man still expects to get his way after what he's done. Worse yet, his defenders will find his positions to be defendable. We already have assholes trying to tell us that this is the right thing to do, that Bush is right in everything that he does. This is like saying that there's nothing wrong with plowing into somebody while you're driving down the road, having it be completely your fault but sticking them wih the medical bill for their wounds and also asking them to pay for your new car. This is the mindset of the Bush administration; "We're right, period."

No wonder the rest of the world regards us as a bunch of ignorant assholes.

They wouldn't use this to put down a dog

But it's fine to use pancuronium bromide to put down people on death row. At least until this week.

Texas had to postpone three executions this week because of a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of using pancuronium bromide to execute people. This chemical isn't just used on Texas death row, but all around the country.

According to The American Veterinary Medical Association, the chemical can "mask suffering," and they also claim that it's illegal in 18 states to use o put down a pet. One of those states is Texas. So how come we ever started using this on humans in the first place?

Working in America

I'm not one to shy away from relating personal experience to labor issues, so I'm going to give you a rundown of my work week and how much time of it was spent on being employed. I know I'm far from the "typical" worker, but I doubt I'm alone. Consider this to be a work week in the life of a worker who can't have a job in his career field anymore because it got shipped across the ocean. There's plenty of us out there.

2 jobs. 5 days. 60 hours at work.

Since 5 days = 120 hours, half of my hours right off the bat have been devoted to work. This isn't counting the hours needed to prepare for work, plus commute to and from work.

I wake up at 6:30am to get to my first job at 8:00am, so that's an 1:30 hours in the morning devoted to preparation and commuting. I have one hour inbetween the end of first shift and the start of second shift on my second job. It takes me roughly 20 minutes to get home from my second job. So, preparation time, and commute each day is almost 3 hours. I had one day off from my night job this week, so deducting that, 3 hours for 4 days = 12 hours. 60 + 12 = 72 hours, so that means I spent more then half of my time in the past five days commuting to, preparing for, and working.

I try to get 6 hours of sleep a night. 6 * 5 = 30 hours spent sleeping in the past five days. 72 + 30 = 102 hours.

This leaves me with 18 hours in the past five days to get anything else that I need to do done. To tell you the truth, I'm surprised it's that much because it sure doesn't feel like that much.

A friend of mine pulled 67 hours between two jobs this week, which makes my schedule seem rosy.

Welcome to working in America.

Scientists at Harvard stop light

This is an interesting curiousity.

Christmas Wish List

Somebody get me this for Christmas. It's cheap and I'll love you forever.

Add this to my list, too.

Oooh.. Good News on the LM Tip

Matt's done with his exams, and subsequently his semester in college. He told me that he has some things to bitch about on here. Hopefully I can convince he to post on a semi-regular basis before the next semester starts, that way my 60 hour work weeks won't hurt the blog that much.

Or I could jut get fird from my part-time, seasonal job. That would be nice.

The Truth About Al Gore

ANd why you should be worried about his endorsement of Howard Dean, from Counterpunch:

Excuse me, but wasn't Gore the guy who, when running for the Democratic nomination, chose to trash black voters in the New York primary in 1988, with the help of Mayor Ed Koch? This guy, who couldn't stand up and demand a Florida recount based upon the blatant disenfranchisement last election of hundreds of thousands of black voters, is the African American's friend?

[snip]

Still others suggest that Gore's endorsement will suck union votes away from Dick Gephardt? But whoa! Isn't this the same Al Gore who so ardently backed and continues to back President Clinton's crooked NAAFTA job destruction treaty?

[snip]

Gore's endorsement betrays, and probably ultimately dashes those hopes. A corporate whore of the first order, Gore's 2000 presidential campaign took money from pretty much all of the same powerful groups that bankrolled the Bush campaign--oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, physicians, hospital companies, the insurance industry, the communications and power industries. Indeed, the difference between the two campaign contributor lists of Bush and Gore was really a matter of emphasis, not substance. Bush got the big oil bucks, Gore got the big medical bucks. They both got big defense industry bucks. More generally, they both got big contributions from big business, which is the main point.

Dean can still refuse this Judas kiss and the purse of silver coins that will follow, but he hasn't done so yet, and the Gore endorsement, more than anything else, has to be seen as a coded message to the big corporate interests, which have no doubt been watching the Dean bandwagon in dismay, that it's okay to back the former governor of Vermont; that he's "one of us."

Work Log

34 hours down. 26 more hours to go. Then I have to finish packing up all my stuff this weekend, find some time to see my friends.. So, anybody think I should quit the seasonal job?

The Anal Right

Republicans have their panties in a bunch all because Dean dared to say: "The most interesting theory that I've heard so far – which is nothing more than a theory, it can't be proved – is that he was warned ahead of time by the Saudis." The "theory", of course, is that Bush had advance knowledge of 9/11.

Newsmax (.duh) had this to say: "It looks like ex-congressional nutball Cynthia McKinney has picked up some new support for her conspiracy theory..." It's not worth continuing. And, of course, the head of the Republican National Committee has said his piece.

You know, it's funny that not one of these GOP assfucks has the balls to ask why Bush has been holding up the 9/11 investigation. What does Bush have to hide? Maybe if Bush just cooperated witht he inestigation, [put on your sunglasses in preparation for the blinding light of logic].. There wouldn't be a "theory"! Holy fucking shit, who woulda thunk it?!

But, since Bush obviously has something to hide, it could prove the theory correct. So the GOP strategy is to belittle it as some "Crackpot" theory and defend the man who shouldn't be president in the first place. Democracy? Screw that! If you disargee with us, we'll call you names! Boogerhead!

God fucking damnit. I'm moving to Mars.

Bush is letting polluters off the hook

Sure, it's not a big surprise, but still important to point out.

Monthly hours

There's going to be light blogging until the end of the month. I have two jobs now, so I'll be working 55-60 hour weeks and have some das, like today, where I'll be pulling 13-14 hours. I also have to find time to collect the rest of my belongings from the house I used to live in, and I have to get a high speed connection put in here. Dial up just doesn't cut it anymore. So hopefully I'll have my shit together take year...