Bush worst President ever? Zogby pollsters think so

It finally is dawning on people: President George W. (the 'W' is for Worst or Woeful) Bush is a terrible president, quite possibly the worst ever. I've made myself clear in the past: I voted for Bush the first time around and realized very early on that he was a fraud. He is by no means conservative on any front, unless you think conservative means "Pro Life."

Bush has never vetoed a spending bill. Look at our deficit.

He's never met a tax cut he didn't like. Look at our deficit.

No Child Left Behind. A massive waste of money that's doing its best to leave as many children behind, as long as they're poor and/or non-Christian.

Small government: Fail.
Fiscally conservative: Fail.
Keeping us safe: Monumental failure.
Keeping out of our personal, private lives. Dismal failure.

It may have taken close to 2 terms, but it's clear now that many Americans have seen the light: George W. Bush is a disastrous president who's made the world a more chaotic, more dangerous place.

I wonder what he wins for being the worst president ever? You be the judge.

The Stupid Department: Bikers blow selves up

Suicide bombers aren't the sharpes tools in the shed, are they? After all, they're a dime a dozen, success only occurs if they die (kind of like the male black widow), and they usually miss.

These Pakistani idiots strapped bombs to themselves, rode their bikes toward the target, but blew themselves up before they reached it.

What's the payoff for these dangerous clowns? I know, it's the 70 virgins or whatever. First, virgins aren't all they're cracked up to be: They have no experience. It's like getting a hooker on her very first night, only worse because you'll probably see her again. Second, why 70? Why not 100? 500? These guys have set the bar pretty low if you ask me. For if you commit these attacks, and you go to heaven and meet Allah, there's no time limit, you live forever, and there's no disease. So why wouldn't you want 100000 free hookers?

I just don't get it. What I do get, however, is that sex is a hell of a motivator: Sex sells. It's just not worth killing myself. So I guess the bottom line, and you already knew this, is that these crackerjacks have nothing to live for (they can't get virgins while alive) so they kill themselves and others as a "bonus."

Gee, thanks.

Oscar losers are really winners: $71k gift bags

I don't normally pay much attention to this stuff, for the subject of these stories always complain that they get too much attention (but they also seek that attention -- it's a disorder called "acting" or "performing") and I really don't care about them (oh, a few I enjoy watching, but not many), but these gift bags are crazy.

A $26,000 trip to Las Vegas? Does it include gambling money? Because if it doesn't, what good is it? Seriously, where does the money come from? I'd like to see an unofficial boycott of Hollywood. I don't care about their politics, their crying foul every time somebody "steals" from them, their shaved heads, or their rehab (well, the rehab I like -- like I said before, this is a disorder that should be addressed and rehab is the first of many (12?) steps to take to rid themselves of the need to incessantly seek attention.

If only these "stars" had good, caring, parents who were around when they were growing up. Betty Ford would be out of business.

Barack Obama calls Cheney a Chump

Barack Obama didn't really call Cheney a chump. But he did offer one gem:

"Now, keep in mind, this is the same guy that said we'd be greeted as liberators, the same guy that said that we're in the last throes. I'm sure he forecast sun today," Obama said to laughter from supporters holding campaign signs over the heads to keep dry. "When Dick Cheney says it's a good thing, you know that you've probably got some big problems."

Obama may not have enough political capital to pull this thing off, but he sure is an appealing candidate.

It's too bad that money rules politics. The only way Obama can win is to figure out how to raise a TON of money. Otherwise, Hillary Clinton wins and the Dems lose, even without a good candidate offered up by the Republicans. So far, the only somewhat viable candidate on the right is John McCain and I think he's easily defeated by anybody but Clinton. She's wackier than he is and the American public will soon figure this out.

Meetings Make Us Dumber

Okay, the headline says meetings make us dumber, a theory to which I've subscribed ever since I started going to meetings, but the article really says that meetings make us less creative.

I believe both. Herd mentality often rules meetings; you can almost hear the creativity sucked from the room. But I think meetings actually do make us dumber, as in, if you go to enough meetings, you will soon be a tad dumber. Over time, this can have a significant impact on your IQ, not to mention your willingness to live.

What do you think? Drop me an email and maybe we could set up a meeting to take some measurements.

Wildly Wrong: Beaver spotted in New York for first time in 200 years

I find this revelation impossible to believe. I know that Paris Hilton and Britney Spears have both been in NYC at least in the last couple of years. This is bad and old news.

General Motors to buy Chrysler from Benz?

This is a pie-in-the-sky dream that might just happen. But only in an idiot-filled business like auto manufacturing. Benz' purchase of Chrysler only a few years ago reminds me of "The Germans" buying out Monty Burns' nuclear power plant on the Simpsons.

They paid a LOT, couldn't turn it around, and sold it for next to nothing. Same here. Way to go, Daimler!

25 hot startups

CNNMoney.com has come up with a list of the "Next Net 25," 25 startups that are bound for great success, great failure, or something in between (my bet is great failure for most, if not all).

They're very interesting startups. There seems to be an overweighting in television and video startups, but my pick is joost.com, founded by the same guys who started kazaa and Skype, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom. These guys don't know how to fail, it seems.

They're smart, inventive, and not afraid to knock over the apple cart. Joost just signed a deal with Viacom, beating out Google-owned YouTube.

Republicans and Cannibalism: 2008 Presential race IS ON!

Arizona Senator John McCain has thrown a grenade over the bow, aimed directly at Donald Rumsfeld, and indirectly at President Bush. He's said that Rumsfeld will go down as the worst Secretary of Defense in history.

This, after mis-managing the Iraq war, which I thought was being managed by George Bush, as he's been known to call himself the War President and is undoubtedly the Commander in Chief (it says so in the US Constitution).

McMissile lands Virginia woman in jail for 2 years

A Virginia woman, Jessica Hall, mother and wife of an Iraq war veteran, has found herself in quite a pickle. She will spend up to the next 2 years after having committed a felony, by throwing a cup of ice into another car on the roadway.

No one was injured, but the cup launcher, Jessica Hall, 25, of Jacksonville, N.C., was charged and convicted by a Stafford County jury of maliciously throwing a missile into an occupied vehicle, a felony in Virginia. The instructions given to the jury said that "any physical object can be considered a missile. A missile can be propelled by any force, including throwing."

Are you freakin' kiddin' me? A missile made out of a cup of ice? A missile?

Unbelievable that the jury sent a woman to prison on a felony conviction for throwing a cup of ice! More ridiculous: That the judge was cool with this. He/she needs a lesson in dignity and honor.

We cannot even convict people who confess to raping and murdering people, but we find it okay to convict this woman of propelling a friggin' missile! Wow!

Congress in action (Congress inaction?)

Those do-gooders in Congress decided to screw with the Daylight Savings time (I had no idea there was a law!) and change the dates on which the "savings" went into effect. From the Chicago Tribune

Actually, it's a potential problem in any software that was programmed before a 2005 law decreed that daylight-saving time would start three weeks earlier and end one week later, beginning this year. Congress decided that more early-evening daylight would translate into energy savings.

So they think they can screw up my calendar? I think NOT!

McCain: "Roe v. Wade should be overturned"

I guess the only Republican candidate for president in 2008 for which I had one iota of respect has now lost it...John McCain, Senator from that ever-fair state of Arizona, said in a recent appearance that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Futhermore, he stated that he would appoint judges, in elected, who "strictly interpret the Constitution of the United States and do not legislate from the bench."

Whoa. Wait a minute, Punchy!

Isn't it a judge's job to interpret not only the Constitution but also other court rulings, as well as laws passed by the Congress? I think anybody who believes that their only job is to interpret the Constitution (and somehow guess what our founding fathers were thinking with all that ambiguous language) is a serious psychopath in need of some shrink time. Where did they get such an idea?

It must have come from the greatest Republican of all time, George W Bush. That's sarcasm, in case you couldn't tell.

Ten Largest Databases in the World

Here's a list of the ten largest databases in the world. Some of them are pretty cool, like the Centre for Climate, at #1. The CIA, you'd think, and you'd be correct, would be huge. Same for the Library of Congress. Of course, the phone companies, you'd rightfully think, would have gigantic databases. The concerning thing is what's in those databases. The right, or wrong (depending on your perspective), person or entity could get a pretty clear picture of who you are and what you do, based on your consumer behavior, by piecing together a lot of this disparate data.

Additionally, by doing this wrong, they could paint a pretty ugly picture, too. Who knows if this really ugly picture might be painted on purpose for nefarious reasons?

Here's to Big Brother. He will rule all lives, if he doesn't already.

1. World Data Centre for Climate
2. National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center
3. AT and T
4. Google
5. Sprint
6. ChoicePoint
7. YouTube
8. Amazon
9. CIA
10. Library of Congress
    

Apple to become gigantic P2P network?

Robert Cringely, of I, Cringely, is onto something in the article at the Jump. He makes a good case of Apple's new AppleTV product, which has a built-in 40GB hard drive, as being Apple's entry into cable/satellite territory. Cringely posits that the hard drive, for which Apple has given out very little operational information, will be used to seed bittorrent-like distribution.

I have thought for a while that Apple should just buy TiVo. It would be a really good acquisition. It would bring the whole iTunes experience, DRM and all, to the television. It would bring music and video to the television. However, this new AppleTV product casts a shadow over this possible acquisition. Or does it? Will it run TiVo's interface, for a fee, of course? Perhaps.

In any event, the fact that there's a hard drive in the product gives the possibility of a myriad of things. Things could get really interesting in the "television" space.

Something wrong with google?

Looks like google's logo, which is ever-changing depending upon topical events, got a little dose of misspelling on Valentine's Day. Looks like "googe" rather than "google" -- maybe somebody removed the "L" from google's programmers' keyboards?

I wonder if they told the artist/designer/programmer to get the "L" out after this gaffe?

Yahoo Music, SanDisk chiefs urge labels to 'ditch DRM'

From the linked story at the Jump --

A senior Yahoo chief has spoken out in favour of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' call for major labels to abandon digital rights technology (DRM).

It's starting to look like a snowball effect might be taking place, but the music (and movie, let's not forget those idiots) industry execs are too stupid to see the train coming and get out of the way.

3 excellent quotes

Three great quotes to start your day. All by the same, obviously omnipotent, person -- Eleanor Roosevelt.

1. To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.
2. Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
3. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.

Rudy Giuliani -- Lots of baggage -- don't think he'll run after this

I think Rudy Giuliani ought to bow out of the presidential race before he bows in. This report, surfaced by The Smoking Gun, airs a lot of Giuliani's dirty laundry prior to his successful mayoral run for New York.

Apparently, he had married his second cousin, which is just weird. I've heard of kissing cousins, but only in the movies, and they only ever just kissed. Rudy, while he doesn't talk about this marriage, which he had annulled after 14 or so years (nobody knows), has never said that they never consummated the marriage, so one must assume that he did the freaky thingy with his cousin, which is seriously freakish.

If that's not bad enough, he has lots of vulnerabilities. He's flipped from Democrat to Republican, pro-life to pro-choice, there's evidence he's been anti-gay rights, and he dodged the draft.

So all his "heroics" aside, he's vulnerable in the primaries and, if he wins, he loses big time if the Dems exploit his weaknesses as called out in the linked report.

Enjoy. It's quite a read. Get the barf bag.

Pelosi to lead way in debate over Iraq - Yahoo! News

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is set to begin a debate on raising troop levels in the Iraq war. Of course, Democrats, in a slight majority, will vote 'yea' on the non-binding resolution, while Republicans will vote against it. According to Republican leader John "Don't Call Me Boner" Boehner,

We will embolden terrorists in every corner in the world. We will give Iran free access to the Middle East. And who doesn't believe that the terrorists will just follow our troops home?

First of all, to be a little facetious here, it was discovered a long time ago, by Christopher Columbus, that the world was not flat. In fact, it is round (mostly). Therefore, there are no corners. So Boner's contention that "We" will embolden terrorist in corners of the world is patently false, based on his false, or stupid, claim that the world is still flat.

This is the difference between thinking people and ideological Republicans -- "they" like the status quo. They hold onto "facts" that were established hundreds and thousands of years ago that have been disproved.

The other stupid statement Boner made is the suggestion that the terrorists will follow our troops home. First, nobody believes that. I don't know who he talks to, other than other stupid Republicans, but nobody in their right minds (should we call them "left minds" since "right minds" are so stupid?) believes that, as the troops board their military planes to leave Iraq and join their families who have missed them for 4 freakin' years while they were off fighting a stupid war for even stupider reasons, the terrorists will board planes bound for America.

John Boehner has to be one of the dumbest oafs in Congress. But he comes from Ohio, so that may explain a lot (Ohio is only smarter than Florida and Texas. "We're number 48!").

Now, I don't agree with Nancy Pelosi on a lot of things, I'm sure. Well, I'm not sure because I really don't know what she stands for. And I really don't think "non-binding" resolutions are of any value. I think it's grandstanding. I believe our representatives (that's a key word) ought to do what we tell them to do.

I think it's obvious what the American public wants. Our troops to be safely returned home and taken care of for the rest of their lives, for our President sent them off to an ill-advised war, on false pretenses, and he's been making excuses ever since. All because his daddy's life was threatened by the evil dictator Saddam Insane.

That's the only reason I can think of that makes sense for going to war. There were no WMDs (Words of Mass Deception?) and Bush doesn't give a rat's ass about freedom or democracy. If he did, would he wiretap American citizens' phone conversation, watch their internet activity, keep them from protesting the war and other Executive branch policies, etc.? No. Of course not.

Getting back to the story that inspired my little rant, it doesn't matter whether this resolution passes or not. Bush will do what Bush wants to do: Send more troops to Iraq to die, get their limbs blown off, and/or destroy their mental capacity for the rest of their lives.

I really think Bush, the boy who wanted to grow up to be a cowboy, ought to send himself and his staff over there to fight. That would be a little fairer than his latest "brilliant" idea.

What an ass.

Department of Homeland Security: What to do in case of signs

"If you have set yourself on fire, do not run."








"If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud."

DHS Link

Get rich quick (quickly?)

This is one of the most well-done parodies of a get-rich-quick web site scheme. Take it for a read. The web address is priceless, too.

ZZ Top Volkswagen Ball

This is kind of off-topic, but you could ask, what is on-topic here at Rants 'n Reviews?

Seems that Billy Gibbons, the lead guitarist of ZZ Top (also Jimmy Hendrix's favorite picker), wanted to build a somewhat different kind of custom car. He's well-known as a car nut; a lot of musicians are. But this one takes the cake. It's not very functional, but it's totally cool.

Pat Robertson seems to have a habit of threatening people

I guess when you're as close to God as Pat Robertson is, you could make some pretty mighty death threats, too. In this case, a so-called bodybuilder is suing Robertson because the televangelist has used the bodybuilders "likeness" in commercials for his stupid, I mean, God-powerful protein shakes, the same shakes that Robertson claims gives him super-human strength.

I'd say if you're so damned close to God, would you really need protein shakes? Couldn't you just eat and drink anything you pleased and still be omnipotent?

Anyways, the bodybuilder claims that Robertson, upon entering the courtroom for a deposition, said he'd kill the bodybuilder and his family. Of course, Robertson denies it. I'm sure one of his other 75 personalities said it.

Top Ten David Letterman Late Show Moments

10. 'Late Night' Debuts

9. Letterman Moves to CBS

8. Stupid Pet Tricks

7. The Guy Under The Seats

6. Madonna, Cher and Drew

5. Comedian Andy Kaufman and Crispin Glover

4. Oprah? Uma.

3. Dave’s Heart surgery

2. 9/11

1. Here’s Johnny

Could "a platoon of lesbians" really "chase us out of Baghdad?"

This is one of those "funny because it's true" stories:

Yesterday, during hearings on the State Department’s 2008 budget, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) slammed the U.S. military’s ban on gay servicemembers, saying the Pentagon “seems more afraid of gay people than they are [of] terrorists,” and that if the terrorists were smart, “they’d get a platoon of lesbians to chase us out of Baghdad.”

What the hell is wrong with people?

The mother of a boy who got in a fight gave him a handgun and told him to take revenge on the boy he fought.

Clarence Johnson shot the 17-year-old boy in the stomach. The boy died. The New Orleans police are looking for both Clarence and his mother, Vanessa Johnson.

Just what in hell is wrong with Ms. Johnson? She needs to be found, prosecuted, and made to go around the country and forced to meet with parents of kids who were killed with firearms.

What a stupid, immoral woman. She's an animal, no other way to say it. Used to be, back in the "old days," that kids would fight, there'd be a winner, the winner would be heralded, the loser scorned, and eventually, everybody would just settle down.

Then people started using knives. Now it's guns. I know, this has been going on for years, especially in the big cities. But where I grew up, a tiny little cow-town, fights were always about who was the better fighter and the better fighter always won. Now, the guy with the gun wins. Every time.

But does he really? How's this kid, Clarence Johnson, feel now that he's taken another person's life? I cannot place all the blame on his mother. After all, Clarence is 17 years old. He should know better. But he might be mentally deficient; I'd say both he and his mother are, in some form. But how's he feel now? He's most likely going to spend a LOT of time behind bars. For losing a fist fight. Big deal. You lost. No matter how bad you are, there's ALWAYS somebody badder. Get over it. Grow up. Get a girl friend. Get some self esteem. Get some BALLS.

Police: Mom gave teen gun in slaying - Crime Punishment - MSNBC.com

Pentagon sure Iraq surge will fail, plans for worst

Too bad the idiots who run the Pentagon didn't plan for the worst from the beginning. Everybody knows that you hope for the best, plan for the worst...in war, business, life, and death.

Except our government. Things are always rosy. Unless it's a social program. Then it's dire straits.

Bush and his cronies are nothing if not stupid. Dick Cheney is the anti-Christ. Donald Rumsfeld is the Devil. George Bush is the Village Idiot.

The Pentagon's not-so-little secret | Salon.com

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Top Ten Signs An Astronaut Is Trying To Kill You

10. "This is a giant leap for mankind" as she tosses you off a bridge
9. You turn on CNN and see the Hubble Telescope focusing on your house
8. She promises to "Take you out like Pluto"
7. It sounds crazy, but you could swear Mars is following you
6. You were on the "Maury" episode: "I Had A Booty Call And Now An Astronaut Is Trying To Kill Me"
5. Her previous attempts to kill you have been postponed due to high winds
4. She poisons your Tang
3. Says she looks forward to being the first to walk on your lifeless corpse
2. Been getting threatening emails from Connie@International Space Station.com
1. She keeps stabbing you with a pen that writes upside down

Workplace Goals

This just about says it all.

SF Mayor and Chief Homewrecker seeks alcohol abuse treatment

Following in the footsteps of other fallen leaders like disgraced Congressman Bob Ney and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, subject of a scandal where he had an affair with his appointment girl who happened to be married at the time to Newsom's campaign manager and good friend, has said that he needs help with alcohol abuse.

These guys know the easy ways out of everything.

• Screw your friend's wife -- "The whiskey made me do it."
• Take bribes for political favors -- "I have a drinking problem."
• Steal thousands of people's retirement funds -- "Sign me up for AA."

Let's hope that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom does the right thing and do what his cheated-on friend did: Resign.

Walk away. Political aspirations be gone.

But he won't. He's holier than thou. He's better than you and me. He's richer, more handsome, has more political clout, and, well, he's entitled to everything he's ever been handed.

NEWSOM TO SEEK HELP FOR ALCOHOL ABUSE / SUPERVISORS REACT

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Molly Ivins is Dead

I loved Molly Ivins' work. She had a writing style all her own and taught me some great lessons. One that I especially like is a rule she was fond of saying: The first rule of holes is to stop digging when you're in one. I love that!

I don't know that she was the originator of the line, but she made it all her own. I only knew Molly through her writing. In fact, I have only seen her once on television (where, by the way, she is even funnier than in print). She was an old wise lady who had followed politics, with an expertise in the Texas-style, for many years. She told it like it was, wasn't afraid to piss people off, and had charisma out the kazoo.

I will miss her. Undoubtedly, many others will, too. The link below is to Workingforchange.com, where her writings were featured. The front page has a few passages on Molly as well as a few links. Check them out.

R.I.P. Molly Ivins. We love you.

Welcome to WorkingForChange

President George W. Bush: Impeachable?

Certainly, he is. But will he be impeached? I doubt it. The idealist in me says that Congress should impeach him, for he has, at the very least, the appearance of having committed some serious crimes, one of which is what the link below describes, when he authorized wire tapping without FISA approval.

But the pragmatist in me says, "Let's not be so hasty." You see, we'd have to impeach Cheney along with Bush (Cheney may be on his way out anyway, with what's coming out in the "Scooter" Libby trial) and that would be really ugly for the country. Nobody wants to go through another Watergate or Monica Lewinski ordeal.

And nobody really thinks Nancy Pelosi is presidential material.

However, as soon as Bush and Cheney are out of office, I think federal investigations need to begin and charges need to be made against both former presidents. This may happen, but only if the Dems win the presidency and keep control of Congress, both dubious and doubtful outcomes.

But we seriously need to examine all of the policies and practices that this Bush administration undertook. There are some serious breaches that threaten the fabric of this country if not reversed and corrected.

Bush Is Not Above the Law - New York Times

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