Did You Know?

Sometimes it's nice to see some numbers for facts that we already know intuitively.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U

i wrote my congressmen today

i wrote about REAL ID, passed in 2005. i consider it an assault on liberty and the groundwork for terrible abuses of power.

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We know Congress rejected REAL ID twice before it was passed, lumped into the "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005." i understand that it would be extremely difficult to vote against a measure with such a name, and have a measure of sympathy for such a vote.

Now, however, is the time to repeal REAL ID, which is an affront to the liberty and privacy of citizens, and gravely inflates the powers of unelected officials in the Executive Branch.

When i look at the Constitution, i think Hitler himself could be President and the people would be protected if the Congress and Courts played their Constitutional roles. i believe that principle should be applied when considering legislation. The Founders didn't count on the benevolence of this nation's leaders, rather they built measures to restrict the powers of government in order to prevent abuses of power.

REAL ID flies in the face of that wisdom and creates a mechanism that could be used for terrible ends at some point in the future.

Let me also remind you of my support for the "One Subject at a Time Act (OSTA)", that would have prevented REAL ID from being injected into that bill. Please support the OSTA by introducing it in Congress. More information on the bill is available here:

http://www.downsizedc.org/osta-legislation.shtml

Why would Sprint expect me to ever have a phone bill totalling MILLIONS of dollars?

Music with a purpose?

I heard a new song on the radio today. At first listen, I didn't give it much thought. But it was catchy, so I figured I would look it up, and I found this video (Handlebars by Flobots).
It's one of those songs/videos that has you thinking (and a bit uncomfortable) by the end. I think that's good for people, so I'm sharing. Give it a watch, if you get a minute.

Note: The first link is the radio edit, the second is the video I liked.

So now the US is officially supporting terrorists?

Great. According to this Andrew Cockburn op-ed,

"Six weeks ago, President Bush signed a secret finding authorizing a covert offensive against the Iranian regime that, according to those familiar with its contents, 'unprecedented in its scope.'"

Kicker is, some of the groups we're supporting (such as Mujahedin-e Khalq and Jundullah) are on our own State Department's list of terrorist groups.

How's that for moral high ground? If this is true, now we're "aiding and abetting" terrorist groups, which has been the very charge leveled at Afghanistan and Iraq preceding our invasion.

In any case, this certainly lends itself to conjecture that the US may pursue more aggressive action against Iran for the same reasons, which in my opinion, would be even more of a disaster, not to mention ironic, given this latest news.

As Cockburn mentioned, Centcom commander Admiral Fallon recently left his post and will be replaced by Gen Petraeus. i was alarmed when Fallon left, and have been keeping my ear to the ground with issues involving Iran ever more so carefully since.

Surely a piece like Cockburn's has to be taken with a grain of salt (or in my case, a few grains) but i think we can all sift through the alarmism and find the important warnings we won't be getting elsewhere.

Look, they made a robotic version of Jason

Robot Drummer Has Planty of Rhythm

Happy B-Day Shannon