It appears as though a new outbreak of the Nipah virus has emerged in Bangladesh.  I first read about this virus in a recent National Geographic Magazine.  It has been traced to bats, and has a fatality rate of about 75%.  The NG article discussed a case in Australia, where horses were eating underneath a fig tree.  The horses proceeded to get very sick, and then die, and the disease spread to humans.

Recently, a prominent psychologist, Ken Pope, resigned his membership in the American Psychological Association out of conscience.  His point being, the acceptance by the APA to allow psychologists to be present during torture was unethical, and in breach of everything that the ethical standards of the APA were about.

I got to thinking about the point of resigning due to conscience...what a quandary.  If you are no longer a member of the group/office/department, you have no say in how it conducts its business.  On the other hand, if the organization no longer represents your values, it is hard to continue to participate and/or support it.

I got to thinking today of a couple of "What ever happened to...?" questions.  The staggering amount of abuses, corrupted policies, moral failures and outright evil actions that the Republican Party has been responsible and unaccountable for is so great that we forget things.  Of course, the inaction of the Democratic Party in bringing about hearings, or accountability moments, makes it so easy to forget – sheer numbers are against us.  If not for blogs, we’d never have access to the truth, or saturation and centralization of important issues – we’ve been saved by the Internet, no wonder so many people in power are lobbying to restrict, tax and spy on everyone and everything that goes across the wire.

So let’s get to the list...

After Abu G resigned with the statement that public service is "Honorable and noble," I got to thinking about those words.  Bush uses them...a lot.  Wordsmithing is always one of the most fun aspects of breaking down spin, Frank Luntzbeing one of the more elite voices in our current media state.

So when Gonzo used those words, it sent a chill down my spine.  I think these people really think that we should have a dictator or king.  

Back in the 80's, there was a local station that ran Wally George's TV show, Hot Seat.

The show ran at night, and the phrase, "Know your enemy" came to mind every time I watched it.  (Note:  all links in this diary are videos)

So, I was listening to the radio today, and animal/dog lovers across America are united in their belief that Michael Vick should have the book thrown at him (in some cases, they even qualified this with an "...if he's found guilty.").

This Michael Vick story is really huge.  At first, I didn't really think much of it...you know, pro sports players do illegal things like anyone else does - this is ugly, but is it a national story?

But this story is more than that.  The ugly details contained in the indictment are enough to make even jaded people cringe...but there's much more to it than that.

Here are some of the things they don't want you to hear (originally a comment, but someone suggested a diary):

• You really need to get a piece of that hunk, Jeff Gannon.
• Well, it may not poll well, but we really do need to glass Iran.
• None of those tree-huggers is going to do shit about it...call it the Clean Skies Initiative and see what happens.  Don't worry.
• That's your last one, sir.  You're pretty lit.
• We can't get caught if we don't have tapes.
• That percentage you got out of the lost 9 billion should show up in your offshore account in a couple of days.
• Tell that Foley guy to keep it in his pants for a while...people might start suspecting.
• Screw those guys, you're on vacation Dude.

Here we go again.  Impeachment, arguments for and against.  "They" say it is off the table, it is counterproductive, it would harm our chances here in the run-up to elections, it would look bad for Democrats...are we overthinking this thing?

What else have "They" said in the past?

We need to keep the powder dry on Roberts and Alito.

We stand united with the President in this time of war.

It is important to give the President this authority in the interests of national security.

We only need one Senator to side with the CBC on the election results of 2000 (crickets chirping)...

Betrayal.  That is the word that best describes my feelings after watching "United Flight 93" on cable last night.  We were betrayed by our leaders on and after September 11, 2001.  It all welled up in me again.  The shock, the sinking feeling in my gut as those towers fell, the images of that morning...the solidarity with my fellow Americans that I felt.

All the goodwill...gone.  I joined thousands of people, waiting in line to donate blood to ship to New York, despite the folly of this simple act - first, there was no real need, there were few survivors who would need blood; and second, it wouldn't get to them in time anyways, due to processing and logistics.  But I stood in line anyway, helpless to do anything else, save flying there to pick through the rubble.

I know there are great diaries floating around about the "Lost" White House emails, but I'm going to chime in anyway.

You can understand how email systems operate without having a detailed understanding of  SMTP, IMAP and POP.  The beauty of the Internet is that all the systems out there ensure redundancy and recoverability if they are set up by professionals with any skills at all.  A very simple email infrastructure has several components:  a mail client (pine, Eudora, Outlook, Blackberry, etc.), a mail server (qmail, sendmail, Exchange, Lotus Notes, etc.), and the multitude of equipment and servers that support the Internet (routers, MX servers, switches).

Ah, George W. Bush.  In 2000, I was worried about this failure as a person, not realizing just how disastrous things would get.  We were told in the big ol' propaganda machine how George would be the CEO President (oh, great, he never ran a company that he didn't bankrupt after he cashed out, why should that scare me?).  We were told he'd "restore" honor and dignity to the White house, and we all know how that's turned out.  As terrible as things have become, I'm optimistic that some recovery is possible...but America will never recover from some of this.  Ever.
We've managed to go from a Rhodes Scholar to an intellectually inept president in no time.  Sure, Joe America would rather have a beer with George, probably because Joe America would revel in watching him get trashed, throw some money around and make Joe look good for the honeys on their way back to the pad for some lines and, hopefully, a blow job.  An interesting problem with the "Who would you rather have a beer with?" question is that in the Muslim world, the answer would be "We don't drink alcohol, it is against our religion."

In 2000, I knew we were headed for a bad period as Americans, simply because of the anti-choice, war-mongering and far-right politics of Bush and his ilk.  I never thought I'd see a time, as an American, that I would be so disgusted with my leadership:  from Abu Ghraib and secret rendition/torture chambers; to invasion of my civil liberties online, on the phone and through the PATRIOT Act; to our country engaging in a war of choice based on lies and deceit, to the demise of hundreds of thousands of people, unnecessarily.  

Sure, we see today a different face, but it is not over by any means...the folks who are out will be back.  

I read blogs daily.  There are some that would call it an obsession, but I've always had a problem with the "MSM," and blogs have filled the vacuum caused by TV news and eventually the newspaper (although there is still a warm spot in my heart for the old "Bat Boy" articles in the Weekly World News).  I even discovered this weekend that there's a classification for people like me..."Lurker."

I am not afraid.

Osama bin Laden has no grip on me, I do not fear him.  I do not fear terrorists, in general.  I am not worried for my family, I am not worried that I am going to be bombed riding a bus, or sitting in a movie theater.  The Bush Administration, Republican Party, Christian Right and Corporate Lobbyists of the world can say and do nothing that will increase my resolve to stand in the face of "Terror," and be unthwarted.

The supporters of America's venture into Iraq have what appears to be a gambling problem, and they're not going to stop until they've lost the house.  As a member of the anti-war community, I was right (even in hindsight) to protest the war before Bush committed our troops to this horrible decision.  Now the stakes are such that we need an intervention in our government, and we need it now.

Barbara Boxer made some statements the other day about the Iraq War, claiming "We are in a mess because they have no plan."  I agree with the statement, generally, but I would like to point out a couple of things about comments like this.

When President Bush was appointed to his office in 2000, he claimed he wanted to be a uniter, not a divider.  As we all know, when "they" make statements like these, one can usually assume the opposite is true.  It is interesting how the Democrats have responded, however.  Maybe disappointing is the word I'm looking for...  

I know the Democrats are in the minority, but I've found over and over again that they have very little fight in them (or at least that's what they display).  According to this article, it would seem that there would be enough ammunition to bring down not only the White House, but also Congress...

I watched Hotel Rwanda on DVD a month or two ago, and was absolutely uneasy afterwards.  The thing that resonated in my mind was, "It can happen here."  Hearing live reports from underground reporters in New Orleans, Iraq doesn't sound that far away...