Month: April 2012

When do We Issue the Crown

Like any good dictator President Obama has been unhappy with the legislative process and therefore has decided to simply bypass it whenever it becomes inconvenient to his goals:

One Saturday last fall, President Obama interrupted a White House strategy meeting to raise an issue not on the agenda. He declared, aides recalled, that the administration needed to more aggressively use executive power to govern in the face of Congressional obstructionism.

“We had been attempting to highlight the inability of Congress to do anything,” recalled William M. Daley, who was the White House chief of staff at the time. “The president expressed frustration, saying we have got to scour everything and push the envelope in finding things we can do on our own.”

For Mr. Obama, that meeting was a turning point. As a senator and presidential candidate, he had criticized George W. Bush for flouting the role of Congress. And during his first two years in the White House, when Democrats controlled Congress, Mr. Obama largely worked through the legislative process to achieve his domestic policy goals.

[…]

Each time, Mr. Obama has emphasized the fact that he is bypassing lawmakers. When he announced a cut in refinancing fees for federally insured mortgages last month, for example, he said: “If Congress refuses to act, I’ve said that I’ll continue to do everything in my power to act without them.”

The real story here isn’t that Obama is using executive orders to bypass Congress, many presidents have done that. No, the real story is that Obama is actually blatantly stating that he’s using executive orders to bypass Congress. Traditionally a president issuing an executive order doesn’t brag about the fact that they hold dictatorial powers, that’s something that should be kept under the radar so the proles don’t get riled up that the political process isn’t what they were taught in college.

Apparently Obama has become so brazen that he might as well just come out of the dictatorial closet. He doesn’t need to keep up the charade of a republic anymore so why pretend he’s a president and not a king?

More Scare Mongering

If the state loves one thing it’s scare mongering. Agents of the state realize regular individuals wouldn’t be willing to put up with many of the more draconian measures used to beat down the citizenry so they package them up as solutions to fight terrorists. Since the United States hasn’t suffered a terrorist attack in some time the state periodically tries to remind the citizenry that certain death is just around the corned and if we don’t comply with the state we won’t survive. That’s all this little stunt is, an attempt at fear mongering:

Nearly 40,000 Twin Cities residents will go to their mailboxes on Sunday, May 6, to find an unusual delivery: An empty pill bottle representing a powerful antibiotic that would be delivered in the event of a bioterrorism attack in Minnesota.

The exercise, dubbed “Operation Medicine Delivery,” has united the Minnesota Department of Health with the U.S. Postal Service to answer questions that have plagued public health officials since the terror attacks of 9/11. What if an airborne anthrax attack struck the Twin Cities? How would millions of Minnesotans get the medicine to survive?

More than 300 mail carriers will participate in the test, fanning out across four neighborhoods in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Robbinsdale and Golden Valley. They plan to reach 37,000 households in four ZIP codes: 55101, 55102, 55411 and 55422.

The overall goal of the exercise would be to deliver preventive doses of medication to most people within the first 48 hours of a bioterror attack, though much of that would happen through local medicine dispensing sites run by area public health organizations. During an actual bioterror crisis, the couriers would be alerted through an automated phone message.

Let me get this straight, in case of a biological attack on the Twin Cities medication will be delivered through standard mail delivery? So you will have to wait 48 hours (unless it’s a weekend, the Post Office doesn’t do Sundays and they don’t want to do Saturdays either) until you get medication necessary to save your life? That’s not even a solution. You know what a better idea would be? Getting the hell out of the Twin Cities if it comes under attack. Fortunately I live and work in the suburbs so if Minneapolis or St. Paul are attacked I’m on the outer edge already and therefore can make a rapid escape. Of course attacking the Twin Cities would be a complete waste of time since nobody else in the Union gives a crap about Minnesota.

Minnesota Republican Party Served Eviction Notice

It appears that OccupyGOP has officially begun:

Massachusetts-based Hub Properties Trust filed paperwork in Ramsey County on Wednesday to evict the state GOP for failing to pay more than $96,000 in rent over the last year.

“Tenant remains in default under the lease by failing to pay in full when due, rent from April 2011 through the present,” the court papers read. “As of April 1, 2012, the tenant owes landlord a total of $111,192.14.” (A security deposit on the property and several partial payments since June 2011 have reduced the total outstanding debt to about $96,000.)

The eviction action follows a series of revelations last winter regarding debts accrued by the party during the reign of former RPM Chairman Tony Sutton. In December, an internal review of finances revealed that the party owes $1.23 million to creditors, plus more than $700,000 in legal fees accrued during the 2010 gubernatorial recount, and is facing possible fines from the Federal Elections Commission for undisclosed debts. The party is also currently being investigated by the state campaign finance board.

[…]

“Rather than continue discussions with us, the landlord chose to exercise its rights and filed a notice of eviction in Ramsey County court. We’re not going to be evicted, and at the same time, are continuing to negotiate on the back payments as well as on a lease that better fits both our space needs and our budget. While this is a situation none of us wants, it’s part of the rebuilding process. No one ever said it would be simple or easy or without bumps along the way. But I wanted you to hear about it from me rather than from any other source.”

Damn… $96,000 in unpaid rent? The landlord must be pissed. I also like how they are saying that they’re “not going to be evicted.” I wonder what makes them so sure? Are they actually planning an occupation or are they just hoping the landlord will lover look their minor $96,000 debt?

Either way it couldn’t have happened to nicer people. Instead of focusing on actual issues the Minnesota Republican Party has been working on getting constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage and implement voter ID. Meanwhile this fine state continues to spiral into deeper debt with no hope in sight. If this state is going to burn then the political machinery should go down in flames with it.

The Hypocrisy is too Much

I hate hypocrisy but can still tolerate an awful lot of it. With that said, this is beyond my ability to cope with:

On Monday, he announced an executive order that allows U.S. officials for the first time to impose sanctions on foreign nationals found to have used new technologies, including cellphone tracking and Internet monitoring, to help carry out grave human rights abuses.

The order specifically targets companies and individuals aiding the Iranian and Syrian governments, but administration officials say it could be expanded in the future to include other countries using technology to crack down on dissent.

Does this mean the United States is going to declare sanctions against itself? The world waits in anticipation to find out.

Better Advocacy Through Vandalism

Let’s say you’re an advocate of a hypocritical organization that claims to want to save the children in Joseph Kony’s army by bombing the living shit out of the children in Joseph Kony’s army. You want to pressure the United States, United Nations, and everybody else into invading Uganda even though Kony hasn’t been in Uganda in over six years. What would be the best way to get your message out that also mirrors your ideological hypocrisy? Vandalize a well-known landmark of course:

The sculpture that signifies Minneapolis now bears the name of an African warlord whose reputation has recently gone viral.

The Walker Art Center’s “Spoonbridge and Cherry” sculpture, created by Claes Oldenburg, bore the word Kony as of Sunday evening.

The graffiti is an apparent reference Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

For those of you who haven’t been following this story the whole Kony 2012 campaign is nothing more than a propaganda machine trying to get Americans behind yet another war in a country 90% of the population probably couldn’t point out on a map if their lives depended on it. Perhaps I’m just being cynical, after all the United States only likes to invade countries that have resources for us to grab and it’s not like Uganda has oil or anything:

The refinery is a key element of the strategy to maximise revenue from Uganda’s newfound oil resources; 2.5bn barrels have been confirmed along the Albertine rift in western Uganda, and the oil sector is expected to generate more than $2bn annually – equivalent to 70% of the country’s current GDP – once commercial production begins in three to five years.

Never mind.

I’m Proud of My State

Minnesota is a weird state politically. Although a majority of the state leans heavily to the left we still end up with crazy religious fundamentalists like Michelle Bachmann and have even elected a professional wrestler as our governor. Needless to say if Ron Paul was going to win any state it was going to be Minnesota:

The RNC National Committeewoman for the state of Minnesota reports in this Tweet that Ron Paul takes 20 of 24 Congressional District delegates to the Republican National Convention from Minnesota:

16 more delegates are yet to be awarded, three at large delegates and 13 to be awarded at State Convention, so Ron Paul has half of the delegates for the state of Minnesota, already!

For once I’m actually proud of my state.

Tampa Mayor Trying to Ban Guns at Republican National Convention

Apparently the mayor of Tampa isn’t happy about Florida’s preemption laws that prohibit local municipalities from overriding state gun laws:

Frustrated by a Florida law that blocks all local regulation of guns, Mayor Bob Buckhorn expects to reach out to Gov. Rick Scott for help keeping concealed firearms away from protests during the Republican National Convention.

The 2011 state law pre-empts the ability of cities and counties to pass any laws regulating firearms or ammunition.

So while Tampa plans to ban a wide range of weapons (clubs, switchblades, Mace) and things that could be used as weapons (chains, glass bottles, water pistols) outside the convention, it cannot prohibit guns carried with a concealed weapons permit.

If ever a place existed where you would want a firearm it would be the Republican National Conventions (RNC). The RNC will be one of the very few locations that will have armed mobs both inside and outside of the building (honestly, I’m more fearful of the armed mob inside the RNC). What will be interesting is seeing if the newly passed law that makes it illegal to “knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions” anywhere the Secret Service is guarding people. At this point all the candidates have Secret Service protection, well except Ron Paul:

So the new law may certainly be enforced at the RNC. I’m guessing this year’s RNC will mirror 2008’s RNC, in which most of St. Paul was turned into more of a police state than it normally is (they had barbed wire and everything).

OccupyGOP

I reported a short while back that the Minnesota Republican Party has been unable to pay the rent on their headquarters. From individuals connected to the party I’ve learned that the Minnesota Republican Party aren’t planning on paying the rent and they’re also planning on fighting any potential eviction. At this point I believe it’s time to declare a new occupation, OccupyGOP. To help get this initiative off its feet I’ve decided to offer some ideas to help get OccupyGOP rolling.

First some slogans are going to be needed. One of the biggest fights Occupy has selected is trying to get local municipalities to allow tents erected on public property. Occupy’s argument is that housing is a human right so I believe the OccupyGOP needs to adopt a new slogan: office space is a human rights. The idea is simple, the Minnesota Republican Party currently occupiers office space and they don’t want to pay for it. What is one to do when they want something but don’t want to pay for it? Declare it a human right! People sick of paying for Internet access have petitioned the United Nations (UN) to declare Internet access a human right, which they happily did. Now when somebody wants Internet access but doesn’t want to pay for it they can just argue that they are owed Internet access by “society” because it’s a human right (positive rights theory is so convenient that way). Since OccupyGOP is already occupying a building there is no need to erect tents, although it would add to the movement if they fought endlessly for the right to erect tents on their property.

Next OccupyGOP needs to raise awareness. OccupyMN has been attempting to raise awareness by marching down major streets and obstructing traffic. Perhaps OccupyGOP can attempt something similar, but with a slight twist. Instead of marching down busy streets to annoy people OccupyGOP could march into polling places this November and attempt to prevent people from voting. This would raise awareness by annoying politically minded individuals who are trying to vote and it won’t require the passage of a constitutional amendment like the Republican Party’s current voter ID initiative does.

What about the police? Eventually the police are going to be called by the landlords to evict the occupation. OccupyGOP is in a better position than any other occupation since OccupyGOP actually has political connections. While screaming “WE’RE RESISTING ARREST!” several members of OccupyGOP could work with “representatives” at the capitol to pass legislation that will cut the pay of Minnesota police officers. This could lead to the police making a deal with OccupyGOP: in exchange for keeping their pay the police can refuse to evict OccupyGOP from the building they’re not paying rent on.

Overall it’s rather ironic that the Occupy movement, which has traditionally been considered a left-leaning movement, has more in common with the Minnesota Republican Party than the Minnesota Democratic Party.

Monday Metal: Pyre of Gods by Tarot

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Nightwish (even with their new singer), but their bassists, Marco Hietala, is extremely talented and it simply isn’t made apparent in Nightwish’s music. Thankfully Hietala has his own band that allows him to display his ability to not only play the bass but also sing and write music. This band is Tarot and it’s pure heavy metal: