Mike Kuykendall

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Guess the Quote!
2007-06-20 23:23:00
Take a guess what prominent political group said this;We are in danger of squandering the opportunity and failing the challenge. We are living off the capital -- both the military investments and the foreign policy achievements -- built up by past administrations. Cuts in foreign affairs and defense spending, inattention to the tools of statecraft, and inconstant leadership are making it increasingly difficult to sustain American influence around the world. And the promise of short-term commercial benefits threatens to override strategic considerations. As a consequence, we are jeopardizing the nation's ability to meet present threats and to deal with potentially greater challenges that lie ahead.It's amazing how well that stands up to current events! No, it isn't a left-leaning group criticizing the Bush administration; this is from a 1997 Statement of Principles from the Project for the New Americ...
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5 Things Politicians Can Do To Change the World
2007-06-20 19:57:00
I decided to start a list for those blowhards in D.C. who might need a reminder of what needs done in order to change our country, and by extension, the world. I'll do one step a week, so without further ado...1. Find common ground with their political enemies.My puppy came up to me the other day, his whole ass wagging in excitement. I greeted him enthusiastically, and noticed slightly too late that he was excited because of a wad of bloody fur in his mouth. He had found a baby rabbit in our new backyard, and after a few years as a city dog he was obviously ecstatic about his acquisition. The thing was barely born and still alive. I had conflicting emotions about it- the peace-loving hippy type in me was nearly puking at the sight of a bloody, newborn, cute-ass rabbit baby. On the other hand, my poor dog, starved of doglike normality, had finally accomplished surely every dog's ultimate goal; a mouthful of your enemy's spawn. It was a clear canine victory, and as a dog-lov...
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Public Service Announcement- Fuggedaboutit!
2007-06-16 13:20:00
You've got to love the labor movement- I don't know who put this together but I nearly pissed myself...
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The Tragedy Continues in New Orleans
2007-06-15 16:38:00
It be unbelievable, nearly inconceivable, but NOLA is turning to foreign countries for aid rebuilding the city;Of course, we would love to have all the resources we need from federal and state partners, but we're comfortable now in having to be creative," Smith said. He did not know if the city would have to overcome any obstacles if it got firm pledges for aid, but "we want to make sure we're leaving no options unexplored."For months Nagin has complained bureaucracy is choking the flow of much-needed federal aid dollars to New Orleans - slowing the city's recovery. As of June 8, the city said it had received just over half of the $320 million FEMA has obligated for rebuilding city infrastructure and emergency response-related costs. The city has estimated its damage at far more than that - at least $1 billion. And that doesn't include other improvements - such as raised neighborhoods - meant to help build the stronger city promoted by Nagin and his recovery director.Discussions...
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Quote Retirement
2007-06-15 02:09:00
Nearing the end of an uncharacteristically prolific posting day for the Indigent A-hole, I retire this exceptional quote;Reform is affirmative, conservatism negative; conservatism goes for comfort, reform for truth.-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Comity and Right-Wing Lunacy
2007-06-15 00:51:00
Here's a comment I posted despite being boiling mad at a silly right-wing blog post (you know the type, Islam will kill us all, nuke Iran and anybody else who doesn't like it, whatever, that song and dance.) I'm kind of proud of it because I managed to keep the bile in check somewhat and push for comity between our warring American factions. The topic was "Democratic Party and Al Qaeda Start Summer Offensive" (sorry, I'm not linking to that kind of trash, whatever the proper etiquette may suggest) and I could not help but stop and drop a book on them.Anyway here it is, enjoy (or not, whatever floats your boat!)__________OK you blind fools need a dose of reality in your little, flawed, shared vision of the world. Some folks, once instilled with fear by their governments, will do ANYTHING, marching in lockstep toward whatever goal they are herded towards.As Bertrand Russell said;Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not reg...
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New Study: Genes Not as Important as Everyone Thought
2007-06-14 18:35:00
Just when certain scientific concepts begin to sink in to the average American's consciousness it seems sciences always manages to make a 180 degree turn.Take genes, for instance. "It's in his genes," "I can't help it, it's genetic!" All that may change according to a new study by an international team of investigators called ENCODE (ENCyclopaedia of DNA Elements);Until now, researchers had thought that the pressure to survive would relentlessly sculpt the human genome, leaving it with a slim, efficient core of genes that are essential for biological function. But the ENCODE consortium were surprised to find that the genome appears to be stuffed with functional elements that offer no identifiable benefits in terms of survival or reproduction. The researchers speculate that there is a point behind this survival of the evolutionary cull. Humans could share with other animals a large pool of functional elements -- a "warehouse" stuffed with a variety of tools on which...
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Go Visit the Largest Minority
2007-06-14 17:32:00
As thanks to a fellow blogger I'd like to direct my pitifully-small readership to go check out The Large st Minor ity.Great blog with a great writer. Go check it out!
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Looking for WMDs? Don't Go Too Far...
2007-06-14 16:14:00
Daily Press reports that the Army has been dumping weapons of mass destruction in the ocean since World War II (via C&L) Why look for chemical weapons in Iraq when you can pick up mustard gas in New Jersey?The scope of this dumping is almost impossible to fathom;The reports reveal that the Army created at least 26 chemical weapons dumpsites off the coast of at least 11 states - but knows the rough nautical coordinates of only half.At least 64 million pounds of liquid mustard gas and nerve agent in 1-ton steel canisters were dumped into the sea, along with a minimum of 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, grenades, landmines and rockets - as well as radioactive waste, the reports indicate.The Army's documents are incomplete or vague. Years of records are missing or were destroyed to clear office space at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, a longtime chemical weapon research and testing base.Isn't that great? Not only have we endangered the environment around a good chunk of our n...
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Noam Chomsky on Materialism and the Future of Our Society
2007-06-14 15:10:00
Today's must see video- I found this poking around this morning, and just loved the progressive message.
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Reposted: President Bush Publicly Wipes His Ass on the American Flag
2007-06-14 15:04:00
I just had to repost this golden oldie- I was looking through my early stuff and this one just jumped out at me!__________Ok that didn't really happen. It did make you look, of course. I wonder frequently on this blog what it will take to make the average American voter get angry and revolt against these Republican clowns in every meaningful electoral way.How about the fact that Giuliani's decision to end the search for victims at Ground Zero may have led to human remains being used to fill potholes?? I shit you not, check the link.So they imprison children, execute retarded people, advocate wiretaps, torture, and concentration camps, all while siphoning money in huge amounts to churches in a flagrant violation of our nation's principle of separation of church and State, and oh incidentally, use the powdered bones of firefighters killed in the worst terrorist tragedy to ever occur in this country's history to fix potholes.I could include the fact that Cheney eats his Cheerios ou...
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AT&T Special Room Helps NSA Spy on Americans
2007-06-13 14:42:00
The Electronic Frontier Federation released key documents from their class-action lawsuit regarding government surveillance of AT&T's Internet traffic;Some of the unsealed information was previously made public in redacted form. But after negotiations with AT&T, EFF has filed newly unredacted documents describing a secret, secure room in AT&T's facilities that gave the National Security Agency (NSA) direct access to customers' emails and other Internet communications.That's right, a special secure room was built in AT&T's (then SWB) San Francisco facility, as recounted in this declaration by whistleblower Mark Klein (transcribed from the PDF by the A-hole, all mistakes mine);A fiber optic circuit can be split using splitting equipment to divide the light signal and to divert a portion of the signal into each of two fiber optic cables. While both signals will have a reduced signal strength, after the split both signals still contain the same information, effectively duplica...
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Animal Cruelty in Hurricane Katrina Aftermath
2007-06-13 14:27:00
Few things in this world truly piss me off, and animal cruelty happens to be near the top of the list. That's why this story got me hopping mad;ABC's Nightline described on Monday how, in the days following Hurricane Katrina , police killed many stranded pets that had been left behind by their owners. Residents of St. Bernard Parish have since claimed they were forced to leave behind their dogs, which were then wantonly killed by sheriff's deputies. The dog owners have filed a class action lawsuit, asserting their pets were executed in three schools that were supposed to serve as shelters. One woman told ABC of being forced under threat of being handcuffed to hand over the tiny poodle she never saw alive again. Animal rescuers spoke in tears of being prevented from helping and how how the animals were not killed mercifully but were shot from a distance in massive volleys that left bullet holes in school walls. The deputies have claimed they shot only dangerous animals, but anoth...
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An Appropriate, Yet Anticlimactic End For the Sopranos
2007-06-11 04:53:00
I just got done watching the Soprano s season finale, and simply because I have a blog I feel compelled to post. I expected a bloodbath, as I am sure most every viewer, and for sure the real die-hard fans, salivated for.Some would say they felt let down, hoping for a tidier ending. I have read some reviewers who felt that the ending scene was obviously a setup for a hit on the entire Soprano family, with the obviously noted Italian gangster type going into a very Godfather-esque bathrooms for a gun behind the toilet.This is one interpretation, but I don't really think that was what the creators wanted to leave us with. The connotation was there, but I feel the real story is that life goes on for all our favorite characters, or at least some of them. There's a trial ahead for Tony, who as noted in the last episode had never done any time. Paulie decides to go out in style in a fated role as Capo of a crew who's boss tends to die unexpectedly, rather than let down Tony and in e...
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Liberal Hate? Try Progressive Reasoning!
2007-06-09 19:00:00
It has been an intense pleasure and a useful stress-reducer for me to venture out to the Internets to do battle with right-wing lunatics in comments all over the place, and amongst their many pitiful, uneducated and typically logically-fallacious arguments I hear one statement more often than any other;Conservatives seem to think we progressive/liberal types are motivated by "liberal hate."Nothing could be farther from the truth!I will admit to emotions closely approaching hate for the Bush administration and it's water-carriers, simply because they will surely be the only nimrods in my lifetime to attempt such heinous, un-American acts (such as revoking habeus corpus and illegally wiretapping American citizens, to name only two of the many misdeeds of the conservative movement!)I think there is a misunderstanding of a sort, however. As a rational, educated man I'd like to think I make my judgments based on reason and careful deliberation. Despite what I feel, I will take the ti...
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Surgeons to Attempt to Locate Cheney's Heart
2007-06-08 20:40:00
Did you know that the Vice-President of the United States is technically a cyborg? By definition, a cyborg is, "a person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device."Consider this story;Vice President Dick Chen ey, a survivor of four heart attacks, will have his internal heart-regulating device replaced later this year, his office said on Friday after he had his annual checkup. "The ICD (implanted cardioverter defibrillator) battery has reached the level where elective replacement of the device is indicated over the summer," his deputy press secretary Megan McGinn said in a statement. "This will be scheduled at a time convenient for the vice president." She said the internal device was functioning properly and had not treated any abnormal heartbeats, also known as arrhythmia.Here's an explanation of an ICD;An implantable cardioverter defibrillator is used in patients at risk for recurrent, sustained ventricular t...
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French President Sarkozy Amazed at Bush's Sheer Stupidity
2007-06-08 14:45:00
Ok, Ok, he didn't say that, but that's what I think is going through his mind in this photo from the AP;"I've got to work with this guy?"
More About: President , French , Stupidity , Sarkozy , Amazed

Bush Boozing Again
2007-06-08 13:55:00
Is it just me or does it look like ol' W fell off the wagon? I got the photo from this AP story about Bush getting sick at the G8 summit.I'd bet my ass that's a beer. I guess ruining your nation in the eyes of the world would be a job that could drive one to drink.It makes you wonder if the "illness" they speak of is in actuality a hangover.UPDATE: A strange virus that takes you out for one morning? I know that kind of thing happens, but this story really sounds fishy;The president was already dressed when he began feeling ill in the morning, Bartlett said. The aide said Bush's illness was "probably more viral in nature" and did not appear to be the result of anything he ate at the summit of eight industrialized democracies being held at a luxury resort here.Call me crazy but I prefer my leaders with known issues such as alcoholism to stay away from their drug of choice, especially when the guy with the "football" is always close at hand!As noted here the beer looks like the ...

Breaking: Senate Dems Oppose Immigration Bill
2007-06-07 18:26:00
Just caught the flash on CSPAN- seems like Senators Baucus, Levin, Webb, Landrieu, McCaskill, Dorgan, Conrad, Bingaman opposed the Immigration bill. The final vote shows as 34 aye, 61 nay.Victory for the left, perhaps?UPDATE: Per Yahoo AP top stories the vote was 33-63, so maybe I just caught a procedural vote out of the corner of my eye... still, the bill goes down in flames.I find I am happy, at the least, considering had we not won in '06 the vote would surely have been to create a permanent under-class out of immigrants from our neighbor to the south.UPDATE YET AGAIN: Boy that teaches me to count my chickens! Per the AP story above there still more votes to come Thursday;By a vote of 33-63, the Senate fell far short of the 60 votes that would have been needed to limit debate on the immigration measure and put it on a path to passage. Republicans ? even those who helped craft the measure and are expected to support it ? banded together to oppose that move, while a majority o...
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SUBSCRIBE!
2007-06-06 18:31:00
I want to take a moment and urge everyone who digs my work to click to the right and subscribe. You can do it through a reader or my Technorati "email feed" service, just take your pick.Also, don't forget what an obsessive blogger the Indigent A-hole is- there's plenty more in the archives, so check below the blogroll in the sidebar.More posts to come later today!
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Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice Proves Incompetent (Surprised?)
2007-06-06 14:55:00
You know the Department of State is in trouble when they can't even get passports done in any kind of timely manner- the A-hole applied for one nearly two months before my recent cruise, and promptly received it a week after my departure date.That's why this story of managerial incompetence at Ms. Rice 's house caught my eye;"Every secretary of government has responsibility to at least lead that institution as healthy as they founded, if not to improve it," he said. Boyatt stressed that the State Department was "more overstrectched (sic)" than the military. The report said that some 200 existing jobs -- mostly overseas -- were unfilled and than an additional 900 training slots necessary to provide essential "linguistic and functional" skills "do not exist." All 1,069 new positions and program funding increases between 2001 and 2005 had been absorbed by assignments in Iraq, Afghanistan and other "difficult" posts, it said. "Morale of course is strongly impac...
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I'm Back!
2007-06-06 14:13:00
Ahhhh! The sultry Caribbean air! The calming blue water! Now that I'm back I have comforting car-exhaust and neon signs. If only I could have stayed forever!The vacation was fantastic- Freethinker and I went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, and had the time of our lives! For those of you who are interested, we'll be getting together a little travel blog with photos and some video. I'll update this post with a URL once we have something going. For those who are jealous or pissed, well, I believe the appropriate answer would be, "nanny, nanny boo-boo!"I turned off my cell and did not get online once during the whole week (misery!) so I am still getting my bearings. It seems at first glance that, at least for now, our democracy is still limping along. No major calamities or craziness from Se?or Bush, which is mildly encouraging.So fear not, noble progressive friends! The A-hole is back and ready to dig in and fight the good fight!
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Jamaica, Mon
2007-05-23 17:56:00
I know a lot of my regular readers may not like the news after I had to slow down my posting recently, but as of Friday morning I will be in the Caribbean, so as you might expect posting will either be extremely limited or non-existent.I plan on posting some- I'm taking a copy of Al Gore's new book "The Assault on Reason", so as I get through some of it I will try to find some bandwidth and post a review.Whatever happens I wouldn't hold your breath. This is the first vacation in a LONG time for the A-hole so I plan to make the best of it.I may post today and tomorrow but as of Friday feel free to explore some of my lefty cohorts at the Political Grind.
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Bill Richardson Delares His Candid- BREAKING NEWS! CNN Hears Another Gunsho
2007-05-21 19:14:00
With the military action in Lebanon flaming up, having a known quantity like New Mexico governor Bill Richard son as the presidential candidate may be the best choice Democrats can make for 2008. His outstanding resume, his proven negotiating experience, his solid governing record in New Mexico, all prove he's by far the most qualified candidate (barring former Vice-President Al Gore, of course!)You wouldn't know it to watch CNN just now. The Governor got about 15 words into his speech and they cut away for more never-ending shots of billowing smoke and completely context-free sounds of explosions and gunshots.Yes, the violence in Lebanon is news. Yes, we Americans are deeply concerned about the fate of that region of the world, with so many of our sons and daughters at risk there.No, story-free live video of "fresh fighting" (which has stayed "fresh" since this morning, of course) is NOT news. They are even now flashing back to a comment-free period earlier with MORE gunshots,...
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White House Contradicts Itself Over Iraq Funding
2007-05-19 14:42:00
Someone please tell me how the White House can get away with saying this;In a bid to retain the timelines in an emergency war funding bill they want to send to the White House by Memorial Day, Democratic congressional leaders offered to allow President Bush to waive them.But Bush's Chief of Staff, Joshua B. Bolten, flatly rejected the idea at a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and other lawmakers."Whether waive-able or not, timelines send exactly the wrong signal to our adversaries, to our allies and, most importantly, to our troops in the field," Bolten said, flanked by House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.While at the same time contradicting itself here (emphasis mine);Republicans and the White House essentially embraced language included in an amendment that Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., offered May 16 to an unrelated water resources bill that commanded a 52-44 majority but fe...
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Bush Screws the Troops Yet Again
2007-05-18 14:29:00
It may shock some of my loyal readers to hear it, but believe it or not there was a time the Indigent A-hole came this close to voting for George Bush .Sacrilege!The time was 2000, the tepid Presidential race was just starting up, and I was an Airman First Class in Tokyo, Japan.At the time all the candidates seemed like a bunch of stuffed shirts, including my current favorite non-candidate Al Gore. He was overly scripted, as were all of them. There was no fire. Before Bush's criminality, his ineptitude and bumbling foreign policy, there was no real reason to get overly worried about the Presidency. Everything seemed to be in good hands; Bill Clinton had helped our country rise to new levels of greatness, everybody was getting rich and we still had a surplus. The world loved us, more or less. Russia was America's partner (bitch is a better word, really, considering the money we were pouring in to Moscow) and we had peace.As a servicemember I felt short-changed- there was plent...
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Republican Draft Dodgers
2007-05-17 19:26:00
Ok so here are the top Republic a n candidates via the latest polls;Giuliani- 25%McCain- 24%Romney- 9%Thompson (Law and Order, not goofy ears)- 8%Gingrich- 7%Other than McCain, none of these jokers served any time in the military, despite living through the draft. Here are the details-Rudy Giuliani- 2 student deferments, one special deferment (originally rejected, overturned after a petition by the federal judge Rudy was clerking for.)Mitt Romney- draft deferral due to a 2-year Mormon church missionary trip to France. Fred Thompson- Curiously, I looked and looked for a good, solid link regarding this guy?s Vietnam record and found nothing. The best I could come up with is some anecdotal evidence assuming he had received a deferment for college. Regardless, he did not serve in the military. Newt Gingrich- Let?s leave it to a quote from his stepfather; Bob Gingrich says his stepson never discussed joining the military. "Without corrective lenses, he couldn't see across the ro...
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GoreWatch '08
2007-05-17 15:37:00
More tidbits about a possible Gore run- first the negatives;Some people who know Gore assume he's biding his time, waiting to pounce; since he's at 12% in the polls?tied with John Edwards, without even being in the race?he would easily get on the primary ballots if he declared before the deadlines. He may not be rich enough to self-finance, but with his Apple and Google stock, Web following and Silicon Valley connections, money wouldn't be a huge problem either. "He just has to say the word," says a wealthy friend. But those who know him well would be very surprised if it happened. He hasn't built a shadow organization. His travel isn't calibrated to the primaries. And he's just not thinking much about politics anymore. "He used to be intensely interested in political gossip?who's up in the latest poll, and did you hear about so-and-so," says Carter Eskew, an old friend and former media adviser. "I haven't had a conversation like that with him since 2002 or 2003 [around the ...

Republicans Threaten to Shut Down the House of Representatives
2007-05-17 14:16:00
I was amazed that after so much mismanagement and bungling, incompetence and utter hubris, the GOP minority in the House of Representatives would have the audacity to threaten to shut the House down with useless procedural votes;House Republicans Wednesday threatened to shut down House business by calling a series of procedural votes until the Democratic leadership assured them that rules governing key parliamentary procedures would go unchanged. Republicans began their assault in the mid-afternoon after hearing that the Democratic leadership allegedly planned to change the germaneness rule, which would limit the ability of the minority to challenge provisions in a bill on the floor. I have not yet found information on the specific rule in the House, but a similar rule regarding what germane amendments can be offered on legislation for South Carolina goes like this;The General Appropriations Bill and Supplemental Appropriations Bills shall include only provisions for appropriating...
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Area the Size of California Melts Off Antarctica
2007-05-16 21:15:00
As if we needed any more evidence substantiating the fears of global climate change- satellites catch the largest melting in 30 years.Scary!
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