pomes of buddy don: pig in a poke fer eye-rack

pig in a poke fer eye-rack

tuther day we herd dick cheney say
them terr'ists git emboldened when we lack
the will to take revenge – so now we say –
if suiciders bomb us – bomb em back!

thats whut we dun we they attacked us here –
them al qaeda saudis n thar gang –
we hit em whar thay wuz n lets be clear –
we stayed till we cleaned up afghanistan

n then becawz we had the will to fite
we gut a franchise over in eye-rack
to recruit terr'ists enemies that mite
attack us so we could attack em back!

so to eye-rack we offer faith-based smoke
to buy with votes a pig still in its poke.

pinions of buddy don: reality on the rise!

ye mite coulda dun notissd how reality aint no big frien of the bush add ministrayshun, witch thats why they dont cotton to scientists that aint drunk thar koolaid. seems that them facks is biased agin sum of the thangs they dun been a'claimin to be true.

as a lil reeminder, here is the scientifick method agin, jes in case ye ever missd it:

1. obsurv sum part of the worl, women fer instunts
2. make a hype-o-thesis bout how to splain it
3. use yer hype-o-thesis to perdick how other parts of the worl wood ack, other women fer instunts
4. test yer hype-o-thesis n modify it accordin to how close yer perdickshun cum to bein rite
5. repeat steps 3 and 4 till ye git a perdickshun that wurks ever time.

as ye mite member, back in summer of ought 2, thay wuz a big fussn fite bout whuther we should invade iraq in retaliayshun fer osama bin laden cunvintsin 15 saudis n four other non-iraqi folks to crash airplanes into the worl trade center n pentagon. even then sum or yer reality-based folks wuz of the pinion that we orta go after them that attacked us, but the add ministrayshun dint see it thataway. they wuz cunvintsed saddam hussein had weppons of mass deestruckshun n that he wuz a'plannin to use em agin us or his naybors, speshly israel.

them reality-based folks wonted to foller that scientifick method to find out ifn saddam really did have the weppons n the means to attack us. they brung em in a group that duz that verr thang fer a livin, the iaea folks frum the united nayshuns. they wuz a'doon a purty good job n turnt out they wuz rite whenever they sed thay wuznt no weppons of mass deestruckshun to be found in iraq. we have since verrifide thar claims.

i am happy that they finely gut a lil good publicity fer whut they dun, witch mayhap ye dun read bout it in that articull name of Nuclear Arms Inspectors Get Peace Prize; Nobel Committee Honors Work of Director and Staff of U.N. Agency:

The International Atomic Energy Agency and its director, Mohamed ElBaradei, won the 2005 Nobel Prize for Peace yesterday for their efforts to prevent the spread of atomic weapons and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The award for the 63-year-old ElBaradei and his army of international inspectors was seen within the U.N.-sponsored organization as a vindication of its work in Iraq before the war and currently in Iran, where they are leading a cautious investigation of that country's nuclear program while promoting diplomacy as a way of resolving the crisis there.

In announcing its selection yesterday at a ceremony in Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said ElBaradei "stood as an unafraid advocate" for disarmament, relying on diplomacy, rather than confrontation, to rid the world of nuclear threats.

but since it seemd lack the add ministrayshun wuz a'gone invade no matter whut, sum of them reality-based folks gut to puttin out scientifick hype-o-theses bout how the eggspearmint wuz a'gone turn out. they hype-o-thesized that the follerin bad thangs could happen ifn we invaded:

• we wood make iraq a terrist stagin-area whar would-be suicide bombers wood larn thar craft, how to make car bombs, pick targets, n git tharself reddy to end thar life fer a cawz they sumhow bleeve justifies whut thar a'doon
• twood becum a recruitin tool fer al qaeda n osama n all them otherns that claims the united states is the grate satan
• twuz sed that twoodnt be so easy to make them iraqis git along to make a constitushun on a counta how they wuz three differnt ethnick groups that dint bleeve everthang the u.s. wonted em to bleeve, meanin that they orta all jes git along n make a new gummint modeled after ourn n becum a beacon fer democrussy n our way of life
• finely, twuz perdickted that purty soon our eggspearmint wood result in sum of them terrists that wuz made in iraq wood wonta cum here to ply thar trade

turnt out this eggspearmint has dun proovd to wurk out jes lack sum of them reality-based folks wuz perdictin. fer eggzample, thay wuznt never no suicide attacks in iraq befor we invaded; now thays a'plenty everday. fer a even wurser eggzample, they dun cummenced makin plans to attack us over here (i reckon they dint git the memo that we dun deecided to fite em over thar sos we woodnt half to fite em over here). ye kin read bout that in this here story name of N.Y. Threat Tip Came From Source in Iraq:

The information that led Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to raise a public alert about a "specific threat" against New York City's subway system originated in Baghdad from an Iraqi informant who approached U.S. authorities in the past two weeks, U.S. officials said yesterday.

While officials in New York and Washington played down the credibility of the threat to varying degrees, the incident appears to be the first reported time that authorities in the United States have openly responded to information gathered in Iraq concerning an alleged domestic terrorist attack since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

According to a senior U.S. military officer, the report originated with an Iraqi informant who voluntarily approached U.S. authorities. Information was developed over the past two weeks, said a Bush administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because analysis is ongoing.

The military officer, who is in Iraq and has access to intelligence reports, said the story that the informant told was very detailed. It alleged a complex international scheme involving about 20 people in different countries, explosives packed in suitcases and a series of attacks targeting New York's transit network.

mayhap ye caint win harts n minds with bullets?

now we gut ourself in a horrbull posishun, whar our army is pinned down jes lack them turks wuz in worl war I, witch ye orta read t.e. lawrences Seven Pillars of Wisdom, whar he led them arabs in attackin them turks a'usin the same tackticks thats bein used today, witch that means ye dont even wonta drive em out, jes to make em suffer as much as possibull in a possishun whar they caint do nuthin but hemmorage money n soljers n equipment.

are we in a verr similar situwayshun? seems lack it frum whut dimcrat senator carl levin has to say in todays washington post in a articull name of Using Our Leverage: The Troops:

As the Iraqi people prepare to vote on a new constitution Saturday, the political situation in that country is highly unstable. There are troubling signs of a split in the political alliance of Kurds and Shiites that has thus far kept Iraq from complete chaos. Sunni Arab leaders, meanwhile, openly call for the constitution to be defeated. And Iraqis from all ethnic groups have lost faith in the transitional government's ability to protect them or provide basic services.

Our hope was that a new constitution would serve to unite the Iraqis, but that has not happened. As Gen. George Casey, commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee recently: "We've looked for the constitution to be a national compact, and the perception now is that it's not, particularly among the Sunni." Casey acknowledged that if a constitution were approved by the majority of Iraqis but disapproved by a strong minority of the Sunni Arabs, it could actually make the situation worse.

Our military leaders have long told us that there can be no purely military solution in Iraq and that a genuine, broad-based political settlement among the Iraqis is essential for success and for the defeat of the insurgency.

There is, however, one point on which leaders of the three main groups in Iraq agree: None of the Iraqi groups wants U.S. troops to leave precipitately. The Shiites want us to stay until Iraqi security forces are strong enough to deal with the insurgency on their own. The Kurds want us to remain for the impending future. And the Sunni Arab leaders want us to stay as a deterrent to those who might seek revenge against them for the actions of Saddam Hussein.

We must use that leverage -- the possibility of an American withdrawal -- to achieve the broad-based political settlement that is essential for defeating the insurgency.

thay wuz a passel of folks a'warnin bout this, but as mr michael gertler of the washington post add mitts in a articull name of A Parting Thought on Iraq, Again, the press dint eggzackly let them reality-based folks git thar argument out:

Much has already been written -- including about two dozen columns of mine -- about the press and the general failure to challenge in prewar coverage. As I look back at the past five years in this job, that is by far the single most important and most disappointing performance by the press, including The Post. And The Post -- along with the Los Angeles Times and the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service -- was among the best. But it was nowhere near good enough.

The Post is surely one of the top newspapers in the world, and I think it has been on something of a roll during the past two years or so in terms of especially solid and revealing coverage of many subjects that some would prefer not to be covered. But the period before the Iraq war is so important because it was one of those historic, chips-are-down moments when a newspaper, especially one as important as The Post, must commit to using its resources and exercising its responsibilities to probe fully what the government is saying and doing.

As I've noted in previous columns, The Post contributed a fair number of stories that raised questions about the issue of weapons of mass destruction. But too many of these were placed well inside the paper. Several other stories that challenged the official wisdom and unfolded in public were either missed or played down. I have attributed this mostly to what seemed to me to be a lack of alertness on the part of editors who at the time were also undoubtedly focused on preparing for the coming war.

Editors up and down the line are the key to this and, in my view, at times are the weak link between reporters and readers. Reporters are as good as they've ever been. But editors set the tone. They should be experienced and as informed as reporters. They need to contribute to, and transmit, the sense that there are very important stories out there -- whether war or health care or budget deficits or other subjects that affect our lives and future -- and that there is a determination and commitment to get to the bottom of them in a timely fashion.

twuz also sed that usin tortchur woodnt hep us nun, witch ye kin member all them hype-o-theses that wuz writ bout whut twood do to our reputayshun in the worl n whut it could do to endanger our own soljers. mr. bob herbert has writ bout that this mornin in a lil articull name of Who Isn't Against Torture?

point is, we dun had plenty of chants to know frum a scientifick analysis how thangs wuz lackly to wurk out. now that we dun the eggspearmint, invaded, kin we look at the results n larn innythang?

on a counta ifn we dont, reality is only a'gone git uglier. tiz on the rize!

pinions of buddy don: whuts the big news of the day?

thought twuz innerestin how the big us noosepapers is handlin todays news. heres whut ye gut at the moment on the frunt pages of the four big papers (ny times, dc post, latimes, & boston globe):

• the washington post has these stories on thar frunt page --
  
  
  1. Bush Says 10 Plots by Al Qaeda Were Foiled; Speech Aims to Rally U.S. Support for War
  
  
  2. Right Sees Miers as Threat to a Dream
  
  
  3. Virginity Becomes a Commodity In Uganda's War Against AIDS
  
  
• the new york times has these --
  
  
  1. New York Named in Terror Threat Against Subways
  
  
  2. Rove Ordered to Talk Again in Leak Inquiry
  
  
  3. Foe of Abortion, Senator Is Cool to Court Choice
  
  
  4. San Antonio Proudly Lines Up Behind the Military Recruiter
  
  
• over at the la times, ye gut these stories as the mane noose of the day --
  
  
  1. Bush Likens War on Terror to Cold War
  
  
  2. Coroner Chafes at Morgue Rules
  
  
  3. 100 Very Busy Days for Mayor
  
  
  4. Co-Chiefs of Paramount's Specialty Films Unit Fired as Studio Shake-Up Continues
  
  
• finely, heres yer boston globe mane hedlines --
  
  
  1. Mass. Senate OK's track slot machines
  
  
  2. Rove to testify again on leak
  
  
  3. Suffolk sheriff cleared in probe

now ye speck them papers to give major play to local stories, witch thats why ye gut studio stories in the la times n that subway threat story as mane leed fer the ny times (avridge new yorker responts: 'yeah, rite').

but how kin it be that the washington post dont have nuthin bout the karl rove story? how is it that a speech by bush that dint have nuthin new to say gits to be the top story? them 10 plots is ackshly ole news, kindly lack the subway story that wuz knowd by them offishulls fer 6 days befor they sharrd the informayshun with the folks that rides them subways.

i half to add mitt i caint figger how these folks figgers whuts importunt, but i know this: taint room fer moren three or four stories on the frunt page. that means that ye kin hide a importunt story by puttin it sumwhars else. so dont it seem a lil odd that the washington post woodnt have the rove story -- witch is bout treason, after all, even ifn taint rove thats gilty -- as its mane thang?

mayhap its jes me, a wanderin (and wunderin) hillbilly.

ramblins of buddy don: pride n shame

ye kin be proud of this: Senate Supports Interrogation Limits; 90-9 Vote on the Treatment of Detainees Is a Bipartisan Rebuff of the White House. but they lef sumthin verr importunt outta that story, witch that wood be the lis of them nine senators that bleeves ye kin win harts n minds by tortchurin folks. here they are, in all thar glory:

• Allard, R-CO
• Bond, R-MO
• Coburn, R-OK
• Cochran, R-MS
• Cornyn, R-TX
• Inhofe, R-OK
• Roberts, R-KS
• Sessions, R-AL
• Stevens, R-AK

i gut to leeve early today, so nuff sed.

anger of buddy don: f*(#in blogger

i had writ a long post. i tride to publish it. twuz on this here articull name of Cynical Conservatism. i hit publish post n gut this page sayin current page kin not be displayd. went back to git my post. twuz gone!

f*(#in blogger!

ramblins of buddy don: a few quick lanks

tiz a blessin to have blogger wurkin, to have no symptums of migraine, to have a good job, yew name it. even the news is purty innerestin. heres a few stories ye mite have missed.

• Fossil Fuels Set to Become Relics, Says Research Group:

  Energy drawn from the wind, tide, sun, Earth's heat, and farm waste is poised to begin replacing oil and other fossil fuels, a prominent research group said Wednesday in a wake-up call to industry executives and government officials worldwide.
  
  "Energy markets are about to experience a seismic shift," Christopher Flavin, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Worldwatch Institute, said in a speech to oil executives and energy ministers in Johannesburg, South Africa, site of the 18th World Petroleum Congress.
  
  "The question for oil executives is whether you're in the oil business or the energy business."

• DeLay Is Indicted on Two New Charges; Money Laundering Alleged in Texas:

  A Texas grand jury indicted Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) yesterday for alleged involvement in money laundering related to the 2002 Texas election, raising new and more serious allegations than the conspiracy charge lodged against the former House majority leader last week.
  
  The surprising new indictments followed by a matter of hours a motion by DeLay's Texas legal defense team to quash last week's charge on grounds that the Texas prosecutor in charge of the case lacked authority to bring it. The lawyers alleged that the crime of conspiracy was not covered by the state election law at the time of the alleged violation.
  
  Later on Monday, a different grand jury -- which had no prior involvement in the case -- brought the new charges, which roughly match allegations made against two of DeLay's political associates one year ago.

• Tax-Cut and Spend Republicans:

  As Republicans celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Contract With America, where is the zeal for smaller government that was such a central aspect of the 1994 Republican Revolution?
  
  In the five years he has been in office, President Bush and the GOP-led Congress have added $1.5 trillion and counting to the federal debt they inherited after Bill Clinton left office. Even many of today's conservative pundits and activists are questioning the party's priorities.
  
  But does the president deserve all the blame?
  
  With a large number of Republicans left over from the 1994 revolution, what happened to the zeal for reining in spending?

• Weak Responses Led To 9/11, Cheney Asserts; Inadequate Retaliation Seen in 7 Cases [no comment -- this aint news, jes a repeat of the same ole same ole]


• Gulf Firms Losing Cleanup Contracts; Most Money Going Outside Storm's Path:

  Companies outside the three states most affected by Hurricane Katrina have received more than 90 percent of the money from prime federal contracts for recovery and reconstruction of the Gulf Coast, according to an analysis of available government data.
  
  The analysis by The Washington Post takes into account only the first wave of federal contracts, those that had been entered in detail into government databases as of yesterday. Together they are valued at more than $2 billion. Congress has allocated more than $60 billion for the recovery effort, and the ultimate total is expected to rise far higher.
  
  But already the trend toward out-of-state firms is clear, despite pledges by administration officials that federal funds for Katrina relief will become an engine of local economic redevelopment. Among the contracts analyzed, 3.8 percent of the money went to companies that listed an Alabama address, 2.8 percent to firms in Louisiana and just 1.8 percent went for Mississippi contractors. Taken together, that amounts to less than $200 million.
  
  The lack of contracts for firms in the devastated area has angered local political and business leaders who say they fear that even with the massive commitment of federal money, the region's recovery will be stymied if funds primarily flow into the pockets of large, out-of-state corporations. It has also raised the ire of small-business advocates, who say the government has tilted the playing field against the companies that most desperately need the work.

• A Specious 'Experiment':

  So now that we have Bennett on the couch, shouldn't we conclude that he mentioned only black children because, perhaps on a subconscious level, he associates "black" with "criminal''?
  
  That's what it sounds like to me. I grew up in the South in the days when we had to drink at "colored" water fountains and gas stations had separate "colored" restrooms; I know what a real racist is like, and Bennett certainly doesn't fit the description. But that's what's so troubling about his race-specific "thought experiment" -- that such a smart, well-meaning opinion maker would so casually say something that translates, to African American ears, as "blacks are criminals."
  
  What makes it worse is that his words came in the context of abortion. That Bennett staunchly opposes abortion is beside the point. He should know enough history to understand why black Americans would react strongly when whites start imagining experiments to limit black reproduction. For hundreds of years, this country was obsessed with the supposed menace of black sexuality and fertility. Bennett's remarks have to make you wonder whether that obsession has really vanished or just been deemed off-limits in polite discourse.
  
  I've heard people argue -- mostly in discussions of affirmative action -- that the nation's problem of racial discrimination has mostly been solved. The issue now is class, they say, not race. I'd like to believe that, but I don't.

• Big S.U.V.'s Lag in Sales, Hindered by Gas Cost:

  DETROIT, Oct. 3 - The heyday of the giant sport utility vehicle keeps moving farther away as gasoline prices loom larger.
  
  In September, industrywide sales of large S.U.V.'s were down 43 percent from a year earlier, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. That is particularly bad news for General Motors and the Ford Motor Company, which are dependent on truck-based S.U.V.'s.
  Last month, G.M.'s overall sales fell 24.2 percent and Ford's declined 20.3 percent, compared with the same month a year earlier.
  
  In contrast, Japanese carmakers reported increases last month, propelled by passenger cars and smaller S.U.V.'s known as crossover vehicles. Toyota's sales rose 10.3 percent, Honda's increased 11.7 percent and Nissan's, 16.4 percent.

as ye kin see, the furst n last stories is sorta lack bookends. hope yer day goes as good as mine has started!

a short message from miz bd

Howdy, readers. Miz BD here to let you know that Buddy Don is OK and back to work today. He didn't get a chance to post before he left for work this morning because Blogger was down for maintenance. He asked me to let you know he's OK so you wouldn't think he was having another migraine. I would have posted this sooner, but I just now discovered that if you're on the page that says "Blogger is down for maintenance" and you reload that page to see if it's back up again, all you're going to get is that page, over and over and over again, because its only purpose is to deliver that particular message. Once I clicked on the Blogger logo instead of reloading the "down for maintenance" page, I got right through. Thanks, and stay tuned for more from Buddy Don soon.

hopes of buddy don: after a tuff week

las week wuz one of the wurst ever fer me. but i cum thru it. ever time i git one of them migraine sesshuns, it 'clicks' off, witch that means sumthin seems to kill it. one time twuz a shower, nuther time twuz a hot foot bath. thang is, i aint never found nuthin to wurk evertime. so i am thankfull innytime one duz.

yesterdy after i had been sick all week, takin up to two zomigs in a day, witch thats the limit, i felt a lil better but in a big fog. i couldnt do much but lie still, so miz bd give me sum reiki treetmints. i am at the point whar i will try mos innythang thay is.

since all ye do fer a reiki sesshun is lie still, i had no truble a'doon my part. miz bd then gut her hands warm n combined layin on of her hands with breath n i dont know whut all, but purty soon my body felt lack twuz flyin. then i wuz slowly landin (ye kindly half fall asleep durin yer sesshun), then i landed. twuz the click. i dint have no more nausea.

then i seen a beeyootifull sunrise, witch tiz always heavens sign of hope fer me.

mizry of buddy don: terrbull day yesterdy

i dont know ifn i ever had a wurser day fer wontin to vomit than yesterdy. ended up takin zomig twice n still feel fogged. miz bd is spozed to pick up a new erb formula today, witch frank butler the acupunkchurst thanks twill knock this out. he sez whut i gut is 'liver invadin spleen,' ifn ye use tradishunull chinese medicine terms.

jes to be safe, i gut the quickest pointment with my reglar docter (10/18) on a counta i wonta git tested fer whut could be rong with my digestchun.

ifn i wuz well a nuff, i wood be talkin bout the follerin stories:

• Decline in Iraqi Troops' Readiness Cited; Generals Tell Lawmakers They Cannot Predict When U.S. Forces Can Withdraw:

  The number of Iraqi army battalions that can fight insurgents without U.S. and coalition help has dropped from three to one, top U.S. generals told Congress yesterday, adding that the security situation in Iraq is too uncertain to predict large-scale American troop withdrawals anytime soon.
  
  Gen. George W. Casey Jr., who oversees U.S. forces in Iraq, said there are fewer Iraqi battalions at "Level 1" readiness than there were a few months ago. Although Casey said the number of troops and overall readiness of Iraqi security forces have steadily increased in recent months, and that there has not been a "step backwards," both Republican and Democratic senators expressed deep concern that the United States is not making enough progress against a resilient insurgency.
  
  Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and his commanders yesterday publicly hedged their forecasts of U.S. involvement in Iraq, leaving it unclear when troops will be able to come home or how long it will take before Iraqi security forces can defend their homeland. The officials also gave somber forecasts of significant insurgent attacks in the coming weeks as Iraq faces important political milestones.
  
  Yesterday in Iraq, three suicide attackers set off a series of car bombs in a northern, mainly Shiite town, killing at least 40 people and wounding many more. In western Iraq, a roadside bomb killed five U.S. soldiers. Sunni insurgents have said they want to disrupt the constitutional referendum next month and the elections set for December.

• N.Y. Times Reporter Released From Jail; Miller to Testify In CIA Leak Probe
• DeLay Faces Tough Road Back to Top; Indictment, Ethics Questions, Abramoff Case Are Obstacles

but all i kin do is cut n paste. mayhap i kin do better in the mornin.

mizry of buddy don: unbearabull

i thought i wuz better yesterdy, but once i gut out on the streets of man hattan, i nearly vomited n couldnt shake it. gut releaf whilest i wuz at the acupunkchurst n had the needles in, but it cum back once they wuz out. my erbs wonta cum up now, so a nuther day will go missin due to bein in a zomig coma. whenever i kin see my reglar docter, ima gone try to git everthang tested.

pinions of buddy don: reality strikes back!

thays been a war on the partisan tricks bein used by reality. tiz becummin a real problem on a counta how ye kin beat reality back long a nuff to trick folks into votin yer way, but that jes seems to rile up reality till it deecides its gut to have a lil revenge.

fer instunts, we wuz tole that thars no way to know whuther global warmin in real without more study, even tho thays been studies a'plenty up to now, but lack i jes sed, reality has been foolishly partisan, cunsistently cummin out agin them that thanks we orta slow down on how much carbon die-oxide we putt into the atmosfear.

now we are bein tole that global warmin caint be proovd to have innythang to do with them hurricanes. how could it possibly cuntribute? all it duz is raze the temperchur of the water a few lil deegrees, but duz that mean it has really caused them hurricanes to git wurser? is that realitys point?

Yet these same scientists - in research reports appearing in reputable journals like Science, Nature and The Journal of Climate - have detected increases of up to 70 percent in hurricane intensity, a measure that combines the power of a hurricane and its duration.

is thay sum dots we gut to conneck?

then thays 'heckuva-job' brownie trine to take a nuther cheap shot at reality, claimin that his biggest miss take wuz not gittin the dysfunkshunull gummint of new awlins n louisianan to wurk together better. but reality fought back a'usin its main weppon, facks, first them that brownie dint know:

Brown displayed the command of facts that made him famous over the past month. He did not know how much FEMA had spent on communications, guessing, "a boatload of money." He had to ask members of his entourage how many MREs were in a trailer load. "I don't have a clue how many [people] were truly in the Superdome," he volunteered at one point. Asked whether he is still a federal employee, Brown said: "You know, I don't know." (He is.)

then, once reality had im down fer the count, twuz able to pump sum truth out of the fackless feller:

One hour and 36 minutes passed before Brown acknowledged that "FEMA has a logistics problem." Gradually, Brown's admissions grew more damaging.

Money for "catastrophic planning" for a New Orleans hurricane "was removed by the Department of Homeland Security," he said. Brown said he should have asked for President Bush's help earlier, and should have urged the military to come in sooner. He said it was a mistake that FEMA had no contingency contract for recovering dead bodies.

Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Tex.) elicited the biggest confession. "One of my frustrations over the past three years has been the emaciation of FEMA," Brown told him. Speaking of dwindling funds and a "brain drain," Brown said he struggled just "to keep that place together" and asserted that he "predicted privately for several years that we were going to reach this point."

As the questioning progressed, Brown turned his fury on the administration. "I probably should have just resigned my post earlier and gone public with some of these things," he told Granger.

ye mite could thank reality wood be pleasd as punch with that lil victry, but taint so. nex thang ye know, reality is seepin into the buyin patterns of them that lacks to drive cars! as ye know, thonly reason them car cumpnies makes suvs is that folks wonts em (thats why ye dont never half to see no addvert-eyes-mint fer em since they sell thayself ... i bet reality hates that lie!) so magin thar shock whenever this day cum:

John Mathews of Universal Toyota in San Antonio has witnessed the day that auto industry executives in Detroit said would never come.

"We are seeing people who are driving $40,000 Suburbans trading them in on $15,000 Corollas," said Mathews, who manages a dealership in a state where big trucks and sport-utility vehicles rule the roads. "The last 30 days have been unlike anything I've ever seen in the automotive industry."

Even in hurricane-addled Alabama, people pouring in from Louisiana and Mississippi are popping into Treadwell Honda looking for replacements for destroyed cars. Harold Wesley, a salesman, in the midst of fielding calls last week, said he can't keep Civics on the lot -- new or used. "As soon as the new ones get here, they are sold." Wesley said the manufacturer is allocating dealers a few at a time to be fair. Treadwell's last shipment of 12 sold in three days, he said.

thar even havin truble gittin folks to bleeve that reality is too cumplex to be here without a intelligent deesigner even tho they dont take up the cumplexity of the intelligent deesigner n whut intelligent deesign wuz needed to make him/her/it! mayhap ifn ye call them that bleeves in reality n in larnin bout it usin the scientifick method, mayhap ifn ye call em names thar partnership with reality mite fail em:

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 27 -- Parents in federal court Tuesday described an atmosphere of intimidation and anger when school board members in Dover, Pa., last year decided to require high school biology teachers to read a statement that casts doubt on the theory of evolution.

Bryan Rehm, a parent who also taught physics at Dover High School, testified of continual pressure from board members not to "teach monkeys-to-man evolution." He said that the board required teachers to watch a film critical of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and that board members talked openly of teaching creationism alongside evolution.

The atmosphere became so heated that neighbors began to call him an "atheist with . . . a lot of words added on to it," Rehm said. He said that "it was turning into a real zoo" and that students were quarreling about evolution.

fer that matter, ye mite half to wunder whut bizness reality has in stickin its nose into the stories we dun herd bout how torchur wuz jes a bunch of bad apples with this kinda thang frum a letter writ by a feller name of captain fishback to john mccain frum todays washington post that wuz over thar cunfruntin reality on the frunt lines:

I am a graduate of West Point currently serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army Infantry. I have served two combat tours with the 82nd Airborne Division, one each in Afghanistan and Iraq. While I served in the Global War on Terror, the actions and statements of my leadership led me to believe that United States policy did not require application of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan or Iraq. On 7 May 2004, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's testimony that the United States followed the Geneva Conventions in Iraq and the "spirit" of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan prompted me to begin an approach for clarification. For 17 months, I tried to determine what specific standards governed the treatment of detainees by consulting my chain of command through battalion commander, multiple JAG lawyers, multiple Democrat and Republican Congressmen and their aides, the Ft. Bragg Inspector General's office, multiple government reports, the Secretary of the Army and multiple general officers, a professional interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, the deputy head of the department at West Point responsible for teaching Just War Theory and Law of Land Warfare, and numerous peers who I regard as honorable and intelligent men.

Instead of resolving my concerns, the approach for clarification process leaves me deeply troubled. Despite my efforts, I have been unable to get clear, consistent answers from my leadership about what constitutes lawful and humane treatment of detainees. I am certain that this confusion contributed to a wide range of abuses including death threats, beatings, broken bones, murder, exposure to elements, extreme forced physical exertion, hostage-taking, stripping, sleep deprivation and degrading treatment. I and troops under my command witnessed some of these abuses in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

turns out reality dont even lack ye trine to outsource safety inspeckshuns n repairs! kin ye bleeve whar jetblue takes keer of its long term airplane maintenance:

Amid the horrific images that flashed across our TV screens during the past month, there was one last week that stood out because it was so unexpectedly reassuring: that of a supremely competent pilot steering a JetBlue airliner with jammed front wheels to a safe landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

Since last week's landing, though, we've learned a couple of other things that aren't quite so comforting -- for instance, that this was at least the seventh time that the front wheels on an Airbus A-320 have gotten locked in the wrong position.

More surprising still was the news about JetBlue's long-term maintenance of its aircraft. When the planes are inspected for damage and then reassembled, the work takes place either in Canada or El Salvador.

El Salvador?

mayhap karen hughes kin beat back reality. shes startin in the rite place, our grate ally saudi arabia, home of 15 out of 19 9/11 terrists. birthplace of osama bin laden:

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 27 -- Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes questioned Tuesday the Saudi ban on driving by women, telling a crowd of several hundred Saudi women, covered head to toe in black clothing, that it had negatively shaped the image of Saudi society in the United States.

"We in America take our freedoms very seriously," Hughes said. "I believe women should be free and equal participants in society. I feel that as an American woman that my ability to drive is an important part of my freedom."

Women in the audience applauded after she also mentioned that they should have a greater voice in the Saudi political system, including eventually receiving the right to vote.

mayhap we kin git on one of them cruises to nowhar, witch thats whar ye git ifn ye deny reality long a nuff.

mizry of buddy don: more of the same migraine

i couldnt even watch the game last nite. feels lack im missin my own life. i hope to choke down my erbs befor takin that awfull zomig. i count the blessin of havin such nice folk drop by here to wish me well. mayhap i will have to try a nuther form of medicine? thay has to be a anser.

mizry of buddy don: nuther migraine

caint seem to kill em off. dun went 3 hole munths without one, but woke sick. barely could choke down the erbs. hope they dont cum back up. trine ever trick me n miz bd knows befor lettin that black hole name of zomig suck me in.

pinions of buddy don: saturdy noosepapers

thays a thang folks duz to git bad news out without nobidy hardly notissin, witch whut ye do is give it out on a fridy nite. that way, tiz only cuverd in the saturdy noosepapers, witch dont hardly nobidy read em. todays a good eggzample of that:

• New Reports Surface About Detainee Abuse; Mistreatment Was Routine, Soldiers Say


• Report: U.S. Image in Bad Shape; Hughes Set to Begin Public Diplomacy


• SEC, Justice Investigate Frist's Sale of Stock


• Bill Would Permit DNA Collection From All Those Arrested


• FDA Commissioner Steps Down After Rocky Two-Month Tenure


• Claim Atta Was Named Debated; Security Chief Denies Getting Chart Identifying Hijacker

shhh! dont tell nobidy bout them stories! mayhap nobidy will notiss! i jes posted them lanks sos ye kin know witch stories yer spozed to ignore.

mazement of buddy don: weaker?

i been playin round with sonnets lately, trine to rite my pinions with rhymes. fer doin that, i lack to use a cuple grate tools frum the innernets. ifn yer a'gone rite ye sum rhymes, tiz a good idee to use a rhymin dickshunairy, witch i lack to use one name of rhymezone.

corse, ye caint always find jes the rite wurd or sumtimes ye git ye a wurd lack 'orange' that dont hardly rhyme with nuthin else, so ye need to use ye sumthin fer synonyms, witch everbidy knows that wood be a thesaurus. i been usin one frum a site name of dictionary.com. tiz purty good on a counta how ye gut four thangs ye kin search frum one site:

• a dickshunairy
• a thesaurus
• a encyclopedia
• the web

i caint say i ever had no cumplaint bout that site befor. whut they do is give ye ansers frum a slew of dickshunairies. ye kin git translayshuns n puzzles n have the wurd of the day sent to ye.

but wuz i ever amazed whenever i wuz lookin fer a synonym fer the wurd 'weaker'! heres whut i gut:

• frum Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.1.1) ye larn that the main entry fer 'weaker' is 'fair sex' n the definishun is female sex. heres the synonyms they give fer the wurd 'weaker':

  gentle sex, second sex, softer sex, weaker sex, women, womenfolk

• frum that same sorce, ye gut a nuther main entry, witch thisns 'female' with the definishun 'woman' n this amazin list of synonyms:

  amazon, babe, beauty, broad, cheesecake, chichi, cupcake, cutie, dame, doll, dowager, duchess, femme, filly, fox, frail, gal, gentlewoman, girl, hussy, kid, lady, madam, mama, matron, old bat, old lady, old woman, petticoat, piece, pinup, seductress, she, she-stuff, shrew, siren, sis, skirt, temptress, ten, tomato, weaker sex, wench, wren

• but wait, thays more, still frum that same roget's thesaurus. third one has main entry of 'gentle sex' with definishun of 'female sex.' the synonyms aint gittin no nicer neethur:

  air sex, softer sex, weaker sex, womankind, women

• n ifn that aint a nuff, ye gut one more shot frum rogets, this with main entry of 'lady,' definishun of 'woman' n this list of synonyms:

  adult, babe, bag, baroness, bitch, broad, butterfly, contessa, countess, dame, doll, duchess, empress, female, gal, gentlewoman, girl, little woman, mama, mare, matron, missus, mistress, noblewoman, old bag, old lady, old woman, petticoat, princess, queen, queen bee, rib, squaw, sultana, weaker sex

is it jes me, or wuz ye also specktin to git sum kind a synonym that meant sumthin that wuznt a woman, jes weaker, sumthin lack 'less strong' or 'more anemic' or 'limper' or 'punier' or 'sicklier' or mos innythang. but all ye git is women.

i been on this earth moren fifty years. been marrd moren once. been studyin women off n on the hole time. i half to be honest: weaker aint whut i wood use to deescribe em!

pomes of buddy don: War's Welfare Must End

War's Welfare Must End

When it came to welfare reform we said
to subsidize our poor is wrong. Instead
we must make sure that our poor understand
that they on their own must learn how to stand.

And yet when it comes to our Iraqi friends
our fear for their safety somehow transcends
the fact that sooner not later they must
announce to the world that they'll put their trust

in Iraqi forces to make secure
their own independence. For aren't we sure
that coddling the weak just makes them weaker?
Or do we believe that bleak would be bleaker

if we proclaim Iraqis must defend
their homeland themselves? War's welfare must end!

pomes of buddy don: Something Complex

Something Complex

We've all heard the claim once made by the Greeks
That anything moving must have been forced
From earth's deepest seas to her highest peaks
The moved from mover cannot be divorced

And something complex must have a maker
A watch, for example, can't just appear
And each loaf of bread must have a baker
Each levee built needs its own engineer

Some think this proves their god must be real
That nature's great mysteries have to reveal
The rightness of all their faith makes them feel
It's known as the argument from design
We know it will work if you just define
A complex designer that needs no design

pomes of buddy don: For Money to Work

For Money to Work

For money to work its amount must be
Maintained at a rather constant supply.
For if you expand the whole quantity
Each dollar's worth starts to wither and die.

That means just one billionaire to create
Requires one million others decrease
The net worth potential of their estates
By one thousand U.S. dollars apiece.

Rich folks have castles protected by moats,
Communities that their great walls surround.
And though rising tides can lift all the boats
If you have no boat, you'll prob'ly be drowned.

Why do tears fill Jesus' eyes to the brim?
What's done to our poor is done unto Him.

pinions of buddy don: gummint is not the problem

ronald raygun lacked to claim gummint is the problem. tiz a insult to all of us that bleeves the gummint is of the people, by the people n for the people. so ifn ye claim gummint is the problem, then yer really saying people is the problem.

in fack, gummint aint the problem. the problem is letting folks guvern who bleeves gummint is the problem.

heres whut ye git whenever ye let such folk guvern ...

• Bush Official Arrested in Corruption Probe:

  The Bush administration's top federal procurement official resigned Friday and was arrested yesterday, accused of lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with the federal government. It was the first criminal complaint filed against a government official in the ongoing corruption probe related to Abramoff's activities in Washington.

• Kerry, Edwards Criticize Bush Over Response to Hurricane:

  Using the nickname Bush used for Brown, Kerry said, "Brownie is to Katrina what Paul Bremer is to peace in Iraq, what George Tenet is to slam-dunk intelligence, what Paul Wolfowitz is to parades paved with flowers in Baghdad, what Dick Cheney is to visionary energy policy, what Donald Rumsfeld is to basic war planning, what Tom DeLay is to ethics and what George Bush is to 'Mission Accomplished' and 'Wanted Dead or Alive.' "

• Recruits Sought for Porn Squad:

  The new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and assorted support staff to gather evidence against "manufacturers and purveyors" of pornography -- not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults.
  
  "I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

• Immigration Nominee's Credentials Questioned:

  The Bush administration is seeking to appoint a lawyer with little immigration or customs experience to head the troubled law enforcement agency that handles those issues, prompting sharp criticism from some employee groups, immigration advocates and homeland security experts.

• Bush Proposes Vouchers for All Displaced Students:

  Under President Bush's plan to cover most of the cost of educating students displaced by Hurricane Katrina, parents could enroll their children in a private or religious school this year at federal expense, even if they had gone to public schools back home, administration officials said yesterday.
  
  [...]
  
  The expansive eligibility for private-school payments intensified the dispute over Bush's approach to providing federal relief to people and places harmed by the hurricane. Democrats on Capitol Hill and public education advocates had begun to complain that the president was using the catastrophe to weave into legislation a version of federal funding of vouchers for private education, which the administration has sought, unsuccessfully, since 2001.

• FEC Sues Pro-Republican Political Group:

  The Federal Election Commission filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington against the Club for Growth, the first case of its kind to arise from high-dollar fundraising during the 2004 elections. The pro-Republican group spent at least $21 million in the 2003-2004 election cycle.

• British Smash Into Iraqi Jail To Free 2 Detained Soldiers:

  British armored vehicles backed by helicopter gunships burst through the walls of an Iraqi jail Monday in the southern city of Basra to free two British commandos detained earlier in the day by Iraqi police, witnesses and Iraqi officials said. The incident climaxed a confrontation between the two nominal allies that had sparked hours of gun battles and rioting in Basra's streets.
  
  An Iraqi official said a half-dozen armored vehicles had smashed into the jail, the Reuters news agency reported. The provincial governor, Mohammed Walli, told news agencies that the British assault was "barbaric, savage and irresponsible."

• Two Unanswered Questions:

  Two pretty basic questions are throwing President Bush and his top aides for a loop as they push their ambitious reconstruction plan for the Gulf Coast:
  
  1) What will it cost?
  
  2) Who is going to pay for it?
  
  For a White House that normally has a smooth comeback at the ready for even the most caustic queries, the response to these two straightforward questions has been notably fumbling.
  
  Bush, who has not held a regular press conference in more than three and a half months, made a brief public appearance with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. That gave Associated Press reporter Terence Hunt the chance to ask the obvious:
  
  Who will pay?
  
  Bush wouldn't say.

• Bush and the mad scientists; The administration strikes again in its infuriating war against science:

  THE LAMENTATION in the forthcoming New England Journal of Medicine is typical of a growing genre: complaints about the misuse of science by the Bush administration. It is merely the latest jeremiad, from a group of distinguished experts, about the loss of reason by our leaders. This particular editorial, titled "A Sad Day for Science at the FDA," concerned so-called Plan B emergency contraception (the "morning after" pill), but it just as well could have been about the science of global warming or mercury pollution. Yawn. We've heard it all before.
  
  There's an inherent difficulty when it comes to sustaining outrage over how science gets continually misused in the Bush administration. The complexity of scientific disputation, paired with the intricacies of bureaucratic decision-making, make for a truly soporific combination. It's tough to get past the latest scandal and see the big picture — even when, as in this case, three distinguished doctors are writing that the Food and Drug Administration has made "a mockery of the process of evaluating scientific evidence, disillusioned scientists both inside and outside the agency, squandered the public trust and tarnished the agency's image."

• A new storm on the right:

  Unfortunately, the president still seems to believe that the severe poverty of New Orleans is an anomaly exposed by the storm, rather than a disturbing national reality he should have long since confronted. One wishes he would take to heart the words Bishop T.D. Jakes of Dallas offered before Bush spoke at the National Cathedral on Friday: "Katrina, perhaps she has done something to this nation that we needed to have done. She has made us think, and look, and reach beyond the breach." He also noted: "We can no longer be a nation that overlooks the poor and the suffering and continue past the ghetto on our way to the Mardi Gras, or past Harlem for Manhattan, or past Compton for Rodeo Drive."
  
  Of course, it should not have taken a devastating hurricane to reveal to our president the depth of human misery in a nation that could easily afford to have no poor people. Perhaps Bush simply hasn't fallen far enough from the tree, considering it was famously said of his father that he was a man who was born on third base and thought he hit a triple. His even more clueless mother thinks letting devastated African American evacuees sleep in the Astrodome worked out "very well for them" because they "were underprivileged anyway."
  
  One would have hoped that the avowedly "born again" younger Bush would have witnessed the disconnect between the teachings of the son of God, which repeatedly counsel aiding the poor and vulnerable, and his own family's "let them eat cake" approach to governance. After all, 37 million Americans — 13 million of them children — are living in poverty, 4.5 million more than when Bush was first inaugurated. This sad fact is never mentioned when the president trumpets the alleged benefits of his tax cuts for the rich.

• Bush’s uncaring tax-cut math:

  WE HAVE two wars abroad. Moreover, we must rebuild a Gulf Coast region so thoroughly devastated that had the destruction come from human hostilities, we would have declared a third war. Yet President Bush pretends in a critical way as if nothing happened at all.
  
  ‘‘You bet, it’s going to cost money,’’ Bush told reporters last Friday. ‘‘But I’m confident we can handle it, and I’m confident we can handle our other priorities. It’s going to mean that we’re going to have to make sure we cut unnecessary spending. It’s going to mean we don’t do — we’ve got to maintain economic growth, and therefore we should not raise taxes.’’
  
  Bush then hid behind a familiar prop of politicians: the common person. ‘‘Working people have had to pay a tax, in essence, by higher gasoline prices,’’ Bush said. ‘‘And we don’t need to be taking more money out of their pocket.’’
  
  What Bush really meant was better said by White House spokesman Scott McClellan. On Sept. 8, a day after White House requests for emergency aid in the wake of Hurricane Katrina soared past $62 billion, McClellan was asked, ‘‘Why does the president believe it is morally justified, why is it the right thing, to give some of the richest people on the planet a huge tax cut right now?’’
  
  McClellan said, ‘‘It’s not a fair description.’’

nite life of buddy don: dinner with the ambassadoor

me n miz bd went into the city tuther day. thats whut local folks sez when they mean they went into man hattan. furst thang we wunderd wuz whuts everbidy a'lookin at?



puzzlin behavyer indeed. could these folks be a'lookin fer the same feller we wuz? let me eggsplain a lil better.

twuz saturdy nite n me n miz bd had us a dinner pointment with a feller ye all orta know by now. heres a pitcher of im, witch tiz true how taint in focus, but thats kindly how yer bloggers are ere ye meet em:



mayhap ye caint make im out. twuz sorta thataway fer me whenever i cummenced to readin his blog. twuz hard to tell much bout im, but the more i red, the closer i cum. corse, with ritin as good as his, yer drawn back time after time. heres a lil closer shot, witch even tho taint in focus neethur, mayhap ye know who tiz by now on a counta how tiz a lil closer:



as ye kin see, ye kin git closer n still not git a clear view. but we wuz lucky a nuff to have dinner planned n we reckon-eyesed him immediately: twuz the blogger known as straight white guy, eric to them that reads his blog.

twuz our grate good fortchune to have dinner with eric n his beeyootifull wife fiona, witch shes gut as musicull a voice as ever ye did here. as luck (or fate) wood have it, we met at the verr same place, st andrews, n the verr same table we sat at whenever we had dinner with them red mollys.

once we met up n tuck our table, we gut down to the serious bizness of figurin out witch scotch to drank, witch as ye know, thays quite a seeleckshun at st andrews. me n eric settled on a talisker 10 fer the furst round on a counta that bein one of the three he reckomended whenever he gut us started on our obsesshun with the amber liquid of the gods.

ye mite could thank we woodnt talk bout nuthin but scotch n blogs on a counta how we bofus have grate innerest in em, but twernt so. eric is a well-traveled feller who can talk on mos inny subjeck. hes dun lived fer years over in scotland, witch me n miz bd has a fondness fer that place on a counta we gut marrd in edinburgh. twuznt till we wuz makin our secunt choice -- miz bd gut the verr las drops of sum port ellen, eric sum aberlour a'bunadh n i had sum ardbeg uigedail -- that we gut onto the topick of blogs.

turns out eric is the ambassadoor of the blog worl. he has met n drunk whisky with more bloggers than i have probly even read. ifn ye ever meet im, ye kin see why. he has that gift of gittin along with mos innybidy, mayhap on a counta thay aint no hypockrussy in im n he dont lack to argue bout pallticks on a counta how tiz a fack that ye caint really change nobidys palliticull pinions by whut ye say or argue bout.

ifn ye wonta git to know the ambassadoor, check out his site. i reckun hes back home by now n soon ye kin read much better ritin -- his -- bout his trip to the big city.

havin a close encounter with a nuther blogger gives ye a chants to larn a lot. tiz true in real life as well. ifn ye wonta larn sumthin more bout sumbidy or sumthang, ye gut to cum a lil closer.

tiz our hope to drop in on im whenever we git down to tennessee, witch were bettin on the end of october now on a counta we hope to take a trip to ohio to see miz bds mom early in october. but everthang deepends on when we kin close on our dwellin.

have a grate day, yall.