robrohr.org : political

Lisa is blogging (and running for President)

robrohr — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:30:45 GMT

A good friend of mine, Lisa Cox, has just started blogging, while starting a grassroots run for president. This gives you an idea of her energy level and verve for multitasking. Personally blogging while running for President. That's virtually unheard of, and may be the edge she needs to overcome the Romneyatch political juggernaut that has swept her state.

Lisa's still figuring out the little niggling details, like inserting images, hyperlinking, and universal healthcare, but if I know Lisa, these technicalities do not stand a chance when pitted against the sheer force of her will.

Lisa recently brought my attention to the artist, Alex Katz, who she had "discovered" at the Denver Art Museum. In her stead, I offer an artwork by Alex Katz found at the Neptune Fine Art gallery in New York, titled Cow.

Click the image for a larger view. Now look into the eyes of this bovine. You will not win a staring contest with this artwork. It's unnerving, yet fascinating; disturbing, yet soothing.

Lisa, best of luck with your Presidential bid, and with your blogging. If you need any assistance with any of the more arcane aspects of blogging, I'll be glad to help. If you need assistance getting elected to represent the folks of this fine country, I believe there will be a lot of unemployed staffers for the Romneyatch campaign in the near future.

By the way, anybody wishing to join in my not-so-subversive campaign to give Romneyatch a new, hip, 21st century nickname so he can connect with the younger generation of voters, feel free to ask me how to "juice the google."

A look back into the vaults...

robrohr — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 03:23:01 GMT

Tom Toles (WaPo, goComics) is a perennial favorite of mine. Here's a comic from back in 2002 that I scanned from my copy of the Funny Times (subscribe if you dare.)

Law enforcement chimes in...

robrohr — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 12:24:46 GMT

A police officer responds to a post on Glenn Greenwald's blog concerning the detention of Jose Padilla. I have not heard this argument put any better.

What strikes me in reading the account of Jose Padilla's maltreatment at the hands of the government is the contrast with what I experience as a municipal police officer. The seizure of a human being is often underappreciated by those who have never experienced it and by those who carry it out. However, even the basic act of confinement by the government is a profound act of power that can easily be trivialized when the one confined is presumed to be guilty.

I and my fellow officers work in an environment that constantly reinforces the fact that when we arrest someone we assume a responsibility for their welfare for the duration of the time we hold them. As one can imagine, some prisoners will act in ways while confined that requires the use of force against them and thus worsen their experience. However, even the vast majority who are compliant during their confinement cannot properly be viewed as anything other than someone who has been placed into a radically different realm of human experience even though they have some access to the outside world and avenues to gain their release prior to the initiation of court proceedings.

To find oneself in the situation of Mr. Padilla with no contact and no assurance of any aspect whatsoever of your future is something that isn't even known by the most closely confined inmates in a super-max prison where their guilt has already been adjudicated. Even those inmates have access to the judicial system. To defend even the basic character of Mr. Padilla's confinement absolutely requires that the defender assume that Mr. Padilla is guilty even if they are unwilling to acknowledge that belief. To allow the executive branch, on its own initiative, to operate on this basis is something that I, who routinely deal with those accused of crimes, can scarcely imagine exists outside of the pages of 1984.

Regardless of Mr. Padilla's genuine guilt or innocence of any act, the bare facts of his confinement make an absolute mockery of the death of every soldier, sailor, airman or police officer who has ever been killed in the performance of their duties. To retort that this raw power is necessary to "protect Americans" is to assume that there is nothing in being a citizen of this nation for any of us beyond the mere fact of being alive. My own judgment is that this is not what the signers of the Declaration of Independence had in mind when they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the task of creating the United States of America and it horrifies me that those who have taken oaths to defend the Constitution view their fellow citizens as having no greater aspirations as Americans than craven physical safety.

If they are right and I am wrong then being American is little more than being situated in a certain place on the globe with no claim to moral authority beyond what can be enforced through bullets and bombs. Then we are little more than a street gang with assertions of control over our turf. Then we are truly lost.
Diana Powe | 10.10.06 - 6:25 pm | # Original comment

Our Congress just made the indefinite detention and torture of American Citizens on American soil without charge or judicial review/redress the legal authority of the President of the United States. The government at of the Soviet Union had an excellent track record against terrorism. I hardly think the U.S.S.R. should be our model.

Presidential Vacations...

robrohr — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:53:06 GMT

I think I've figured out why George W. takes so many vacations.

George Bush spends approximately 40% of his time on vacation...
therefore, he spends only 60% of his time in (the) office.
Three terms at 60% occupancy rate = 1.8 terms, which is shy of the constitutional limit of two full terms.

Don't be surprised if A. G. Gonzales comes out with a finding that it is perfectly legal for George W. to run again in 2008 and serve another 0.6 terms.

I think it will take another four years for this crew to completely shred what remains of the Constitution, so I'm getting ready for the long haul.

You heard it here first, folks.

Caption contest entry at AmericaBlog

robrohr — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 02:03:00 GMT

I'm a big reader of political blogs, AmericaBlog among them. Back in April, I ran across a caption contest at that site which showed a number of graphics that were generated by the Homeland Security Department in the hopes of conveying useful safety information, without excluding those who don't read English. You can decide for yourself how successful the designers were. Next to each graphic below, I have posted my caption entry, with slight revisions from the original.

1. Government secrets are secret for a very good reason. Because of this, it is important that you do NOT ask to see what is stored in government file cabinets. Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests are a tool of communists and the ACLU. Knowledge of the internal workings of the government will either reduce the effectiveness of anti-terrororist programs or show our European allies and other terrorists how ineffective these programs already are.

2. Should you be stricken by some malady or terrorist act, it is important that you protect your identity. By tattooing the barcode from your National ID card on your torso, looters will be unable to steal your identity and use it to buy DVDs, pornography, auto parts and armaments on the internet. By placing the tattoo on non-prurient areas of your upper thorax, your identity will be easily accessible by police for speedy processing through security checkpoints. Safety tip: looters and terrorists sometimes disguise themselves as liberals, white persons, emergency responders or high government officials.

3. When liberal-americans (communists) counter your deeply held convictions with a barrage of facts and clouds of data, derail the conversation by "losing" your contact lens and crawl into the next room where it is safe to place a call to us at the Department of Homeland Security, notifying us of the location of any terrorist-sympathizers or peace activists still at large.

4. The study of sciences such as biology, chemistry and climatology is dangerous in that it reduces the time available for prayer, contemplation and Bible study. Be assured that the government is gathering massive quantities of the best research produced by American scientists and depositing it into abandoned salt mine shafts in Nevada, two miles below the earth's surface, beneath tons of nuclear waste, minimizing the harm such rational thought can do to our national theology.

5. The noxious bloviation, tortured logic and rhetoric of conservative media outlets such as Fox News and right-wing radio can cause dizzyness, nausea and shooting pains in the listener's neck. By exaggerating the amount of pain you feel, you can stir in the average liberal feelings of compassion, and a desire to ease your suffering. If you receive offers of assistance, ask for Oxycontin, which is quite effective in treating these symptoms. Liberals are more likely to share their prescription medications without charging excessive markup.

6. Beware of any seafood meal that has visible gills or fins. Such meals are usually available only in French restaurants or effete liberal-coastal eateries. If you must eat fish, make sure it comes in one of the following DHS inspected and approved forms: fish-stick, fish-wich, or hockey puck (tuna cans.)

7. In the event of the Rapture, pull over to the side of the road. Quickly but calmly exit the car, and help any travelling companions who are saved out of the vehicle. Find a flat open area from which you can ascend into heaven without interference from overhanging branches or other obstacles. While you are waiting to begin your ascent into heaven, you have a few moments to finish consuming any remaining natural resources.

8. Emergency brakes are notorious for spreading disease. It is best to simply abstain from using the emergency brake altogether. Liberals say you can use a condom on the emergency brake to limit the spread of disease, but what they won't tell you is that condoms are ineffective against the spread of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV,) a leading cause of cervical cancer in people who drive standard transmission. It is best to avoid temptation and leave the emergency brake to Hollywood elitists who screech around corners in car chases.

9. For God's sake, don't even go to San Francisco. Once you enter the city, there is nothing the Department of Homeland Security can do for you.

It's God on the phone for you, and she's pissed!

robrohr — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 03:24:00 GMT

Roe v. Wade passed decided 33 years ago today.

George Bush has issued a proclamation that today be "National Sanctity of Human Life Day - (click for text of proclamation)." Thanks, George.

"Our Nation was founded on the belief that every human being has rights, dignity, and value. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we underscore our commitment to building a culture of life where all individuals are welcomed in life and protected in law."

It's nice to know that our dear leader has such a high regard for human life. I'm sure those people who have the misfortune to live in the cross-hairs of American munitions delivery vehicles are comforted by G.W.'s concern for the sanctity of human life.

I'm sure the increasing ranks of the poverty-stricken in the U.S. and abroad, are thrilled that G.W. has gone to the effort of proclaiming today National Sanctity of Human Life Day.

I bet the families of the coal miners in West Virginia can be comforted by the fact that George values the sanctity of human life, almost as much as he values our national ability to extract combustible energy from deep within our soil.

I suspect the President's concern for the sanctity of human life brings solace to those devastated by the ravages of AIDS in sub-saharan Africa. Yeah, I bet this proclamation gives them the hope to carry on, stigmatized, and wasting away to a horrid, painful death.

I suspect the folks trying to rebuild their lives in the ruins of New Orleans are thrilled by the priorities of the CINC.

Wouldn't it be shocking to read an unvarnished proclamation that said what George really feels?

"Our Nation was founded on the belief that every human being has rights, dignity, and value (government actuaries update tables annually which list the exact value of human life, corrected for inflation). Luckily, our citizens allow us to abridge the rights of our citizens and strip them of their dignity in the name of complacency, apathy, and digital cable. Therefore let it be proclaimed that females, never having the capacity to make decisions for themselves, should submit their uteri to the state for the purpose of providing enemy cannon with ready fodder, in the name of spreading our liberties, such as they are, to the furthest heathen corners of the world.
"NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and/or Diebold and the Supreme Court, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 22, 2006, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans who are not sufficiently brown to merit summary deportation and rendering to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to reaffirm our commitment to respecting and defending the life and dignity of every republican human being in good standing.

"IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.
"GEORGE W. BUSH"

Thanks again, George. While you're chatting with God, be sure to find out how she feels about torture, and let us know.

Finite boy versus the multiverse

robrohr — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 16:52:00 GMT

I've been reading up on the Intelligent Design debate quite a bit lately, and have decided to subject the theories of the ID movement to the flawless logical processes that generated these ideas in the first place.

Premise: Any biological structure that is too statistically improbable to have developed by a random process (i.e., evolution) must have been designed by an intelligent designer.

Other Premise: Any complex structure or chain reaction that, with the removal of any one component of the complex chain, fails completely, is termed irreduceably complex. According to ID proponents, such structures or systems would have to emerge all at once, fully developed, the likelihood of such happening randomly is so startlingly remote, that it must have been the work of an Intelligent Designer who is not necessarily "God" but is definitely more powerful than you or me. Well, you, anyway. Some examples of structures or sequences that are offered up as examples; The eyeball, the bacterial flagellum, blood clotting.

Rob's super duper thought experiment: The argument goes, that the human sack of genetic material is so chock full of remarkable systems that are so wildly unlikely to have happened by chance, that we must have been created by an intelligent designer. In order to tantalize the ID crowd, I'm going to stipulate that this position is true and correct for the duration of this thought experiment. "Have you completely lost your senses?" you say (to me, not the ID crowd, for this is a civil debate.) Bear with me.

For the sake of argument, I have been created by an intelligent designer, whose name is Adrienne. We know this is true because I am obviously too statistically unlikely to have happened by chance. Ask my parents. They took all the precautions.
For the sake of argument, it is even less likely that Adrienne occurred by chance, for designers are predominately more complex than their creations.
Adrienne, the intelligent designer must have been herself designed by another, more intelligent designer. His name, incidentally is Barry.
Before Barry left the family disco band, and began designing highly improbable designers, Barry was himself designed by a more intelligent designer named Carla, who, incidentally worked at Apple on the PowerMacs.
Carla is designed by Devon; Devon designed by Earl; Earl designed by Fiona who disgusted by Earl's work ethic retires in a huff, but not before she can be designed by Gerhard.
I could go on, but I don't want to tax the bandwidth of my server.

If humanity or life or the US tax code is too complex to have developed randomly and is therefore the product of an intelligent designer, you have to be ready to consider the same argument applied to your designer. By this argument, every designer must have been designed, and now you get to explain to me how an infinite number of creators fit into a finite universe, while leaving enough space for tacos, Tom Cruise's ego, and SUVs.

I don't go around trying to disprove the "There is no god but G_d" crew, but I'd say if Intelligent Design and Irreducible Complexity were successful in making their way into the science curriculum, it would only result in introducing malleable young minds to polytheism, for any single designer is too complex to have randomly occurred, and ergo must have been designed. My goal here is not to disprove G_d, nor is it to prove a multiplicity of them, I just think the ID crowd might want to polish up another "scientific theory" if monotheism is at all important.

An economist's view of Social Security

robrohr — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 19:46:00 GMT

This essay by Paul Krugman takes a look at the numbers behind Social Security reform.

From America's Senior Moment

"Privatizers hate it when you talk about fees—about the fact, for example, that the much-touted Chilean system has administrative costs about twenty times those of Social Security, or that according to Britain's Pensions Commission, "providers' charges" in that country's privatized system reduce the size of retirement nest eggs by between 20 and 30 percent. But when we're talking about the narrow equity premium produced by realistic expectations of future yields, fees become a central issue."

Harrumph.

Global warming? Nah...

robrohr — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 16:59:00 GMT

I am always a fan of Toles, but I particularly like this one.

This is high art, folks.

My foreign language study continues...

robrohr — Fri, 12 Nov 2004 13:23:00 GMT

Margot sent me these...

"Hello. Are you a Canadian border guard?":
"Bonjour. Êtes-vous une esti de garde canadienne de frontière?"

"I would like to apply for permanent residence"
"Je voudrais solliciter la résidence permanente"

"I am a political refuge. The reason? My former country has been overrun with morons and rednecks."
"Je suis un chris de refugé politique. La raison? Mon ancien pays a été débordé avec des asti d'innocentes et des batardes."

"Before I step over the border, I have a couple of questions for you."
"Avant que je passe la frontière, j'ai un couple des questions pour vous."

"Can the Prime Minister say the word 'nuclear'?"
"Peut le premier ministre dire le mot 'nucléaire'?"

"Is Canada at war with anyone for no good reason?"
"Le Canada à la guerre avec n'importe qui, et est-il pour aucune bonne raison?"

"Do you allow pretend cowboys to be in positions of power?"
"Laissez-vous des osti de cowboys dans des positions de pouvoire?"

"Yes, no, and no? Fine. Let me the [fsck] in."
"Oui, non, et non? Et ben, Laissez-moi rentre la dedans chris de tabarnaque de callis."

If the elections were held today...

robrohr — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 18:55:00 GMT

...who would win the Electoral College vote? This web site (http://electoral-vote.com/) would let you know based on the latest polls. Updated daily. RSS feed available - here.

A conversation with God.

robrohr — Mon, 10 May 2004 19:54:00 GMT

If George W. Bush did have a conversation with God, I suspect it might go something like this.

Courtesy of http://www.stripcreator.com/

The lost blog entry...

robrohr — Wed, 05 May 2004 18:52:00 GMT

Some of my colleagues, upon hearing that I joined the ACLU, seemed to think that with my leaning so far to the left, I was in danger of tipping over. In the interests of balance, I decided I would join the Presidential Prayer Team. Apparently, good things don't happen in America unless honest God-fearing folks like you and me (well, you, anyway) sit at home and turn their eyes skyward and humbly beseech the good graces of Our Lord and Saviour, ____________ (insert name of deity here). On the website, you get the opportunity to pray for various aspects of the presidential foreign policy plan, as well as additional military leaders, soldiers abroad, and the poor Iraqi innocents that chose to live in squalor directly underneath our laser-guided munitions. Apparently, it is their fault that they haven't overthrown their brutal dictator. I've decided to pray for Captain Wilbur C. Douglass, Chief Chaplain of the Coast Guard. He's fifth on the list of Additional Leaders to Pray For This Week. Since most of the other service branches are more likely to see action in the upcoming skirmish/armageddon, it would behoove us all to pray that the Coast Guard not be lost in the rush for glory.

Sample Prayer: Let us pray that the Coast Guard, under the spiritual guidance of Chief Chaplain Captain Wilbur C. Douglass, be allowed the dignity and grace of routing the Iraqi Navy with a show of spirited boarding, search and siezure, and boating safety lectures. Amen.

It is free to join, but they really need a dropdown box for choice of deity. Otherwise, this organization may be viewed as exclusionary. I personally will be praying to the ACLU. Or Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds.

Card Carrying Member

robrohr — Fri, 22 Nov 2002 17:31:00 GMT

I haven't actually received the card yet, but I signed my sweetie and myself up as card carrying members of the ACLU. After hearing of the results of the mid-term elections, I decided whatever civil liberties I had were now being shifted onto the endangered species list where they would be subject to drilling/logging/leg-hold-trapping/jet-ski-mashing, etc. (Not that there's anything wrong with any of these fine, upstanding American pastimes.)

If the president's National Security Policy goes through unscathed, I'll be replacing this web site with the New, Improved robrohr.org! Now with 25% less sedition! I hope it doesn't come to this.