A Plea from Dot Calm: Katrina STILL on My Mind

Please read this letter I wrote to my Senator.
Then please write a check to Habitat for Humanity for whatever you can afford. Thank you!

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Dear Senator:

This is an apolitical plea on behalf of the people who lived on the Gulf Coast. I am a private citizen of limited resources. Nevertheless, I see it as my responsibility, indeed, the responsibility of all Americans, to come together to aid our fellow Americans who share this good earth with us at this moment in time.

It is in this spirit I make my appeal. If you can find it within your heart, will you send a personal check, in any amount you feel comfortable with, to the address and organization provided below?

You may already be familiar with Habitat for Humanity. Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, have worked tirelessly for that organization.

John Edwards has mobilized students from our colleges and universities with Opportunity Rocks. Thankfully, young Americans are well represented by their generous response.

It is the people of the poorest neighborhoods that are of most concern. Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto Me, said the Lord. During this season of reflection, Easter and Passover, let us find within our hearts to do even more than we think we can.

Respectfully,

Dot Calm

make check payable to
Habitat for Humanity, Int’l.
121 Habitat Street
Americus, GA 31709

Dot Calm’s Cure du Jour: the Needless Woe of Katrina in a Form George W. Bush Would Have Understood

George W. Bush has been captured on video in a briefing, blithely promising Americans that we were prepared for hurricane Katrina. This is the same briefing in which a top hurricane expert voiced "grave concerns" about the levees. This is the same briefing in which Michael Brown, then the Federal Emergency Management Agency chief, told Mr. Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff of his fears that there weren't enough disaster teams to aid evacuees at the Superdome. In this same briefing, Bush asked zero questions. "We are fully prepared," he hollowly assured us.

We've all heard how a preparatory DVD was presented to Mr. Bush...

He ignored it, and I know why.

They should have prepared the news in coloring book form...

See, Georgie?

See the organized clouds hovering overhead? Color them Katrina...

See the National Hurricane Center warning? Color it ignored...

See the man in the nice videoconference warning? Color him Max Mayfield, hero...

See the man dawdling around for 5 hrs? Color him FEMA director Michael Chertoff.

See the impeccably well-dressed man who lied on his resume? Color him Brown...

Color the pretty picture of the levees breaking...yes, Georgie, color them wet…

and the people on their roofs...color them screwed…

and the bodies floating by...color them dead...

and the floating cars and houses...color them gone forever...

and water rushing over the Industrial Canal…color it lower ninth ward & St. Barnard parish...

and the shiny, new shoes from 5th Avenue…designer shoes that cost over five hundred dollars per pair…color them Condi's from her shopping spree while people drowned...

See the nice man crying? Color him Mayor Nagin...

and your own weekly radio address? Color it sleight-of-hand...

and the BIG hole in the superdome roof? Color 10,000 storm refugees inside...

See the bitch making ignorant remarks? Color her your mama, Barbara Bush...

and the American people...the ones who suffered most from the storm? Color them dark...color them very dark...

Color the hardest-hit areas poor…color what will replace the people and their heritage gentrified…

See all the empty clean, dry, warm beds? Color them USS Bataan, a large navy ship...

and the pretty parade...color it brave for the survivors in New Orleans.

20 Amazing Facts about Voting in America

Things you should know but won’t hear about on TV.

1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.

2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.

3. The vice president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.

4. The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”

5. Republican Chuck Hagel used to be chairman of ES&S. He became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines.

6. Republican Chuck Hagel, long-connected with the Bush family, was recently caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee.

7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on the short list of George W. Bush’s vice presidential candidates.

8. ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the U.S. and counts almost sixty percent of all U.S. votes.

9. Diebold’s new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters.

10. Diebold also makes ATMs, check out scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail.

11. Diebold is based in Ohio.

12. Diebold employed five convicted felons as consultants and developers to help write the central compiler’s computer code that counted fifty percent of the votes in 30 states.

13. Jeff Dean was Senior Vice President of Global Election Systems when it was bought by Diebold. Even though he had been convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree, Jeff Dean was retained as a consultant by Diebold and was largely responsible for programming the optical scanning software now used in most of the United States.

14. Diebold consultant Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a “high degree of sophistication” to evade detection over a period of 2 years.

15. None of the international election observers was allowed in the polls in Ohio.

16. California banned the use of Diebold machines because the security was so bad. Despite Diebold’s claims that the audit logs could not be hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it!

17. Thirty percent of all U.S. votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail.

18. All–not some–but all the voting machine errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.

19. The governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush, is the president’s brother.

20. Serious voting anomalies in Florida–again always favoring Bush–have been mathematically demonstrated and experts are recommending further investigation.

For each of these statements, there are links provided by Angry Girl at Nightweed.com

Sport Hunting News

In Wyoming, you can hunt with a MACHINE GUN. Still too challenging? You can use a SILENCER on your machine gun. Rat tat tat tat tat...There! That’ll learn those nasty elk, pheasant, deer, etc.

The Widow’s Tax

It’s getting difficult to keep up with this gang of criminals who have infiltrated our government, using the Republican Party as their tool with which to weave a web of deception, deceit, and corruption. I’ve pulled a few choice examples of what is being done to the widows of soldiers killed in this evil war.

A new GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century was unveiled recently with legislation designed to improve benefits for our soldiers and their families while providing long overdue benefits for our veterans and military retirees.

“We recognized that something needed to be done to eliminate the widow’s tax, which penalizes the survivors of those killed in combat by reducing the benefits to which they are entitled.”

Unfortunately, the one-party Congress has chosen to pursue its own agenda—focusing on making the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans permanent. As for the “widow’s tax”? An amendment to repeal it was removed from the latest defense authorization bill by the Republican Congressional leadership. If this subject is of interest to you, go to http://securingamerica.com/node/603 (a link is provided by this post's title).

Looking for Smut in all the Wrong Places?

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter was investigated by our illustrious Republican Party in quest of something with which to smear her reputation. Alas, all they were able to find was her support for the Fairness Doctrine.

A Scam by Any Other Name Still Stinks!

This time, the fickle finger of fate points to Halliburton.
The article, 09-07-2004, 05:09PM was posted by AP, Tuesday September 7, 11:43AM ET:

Halliburton to Lose Multibillion Dollar Iraq Contract. Bids to be Accepted, report says.

WASHINGTON (AP)—Halliburton Co’s multibillion dollar contract for work to support U.S. troops in Iraq will be put back up for bids, according to a published report.

According to Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, an internal Army memo indicates that the move is planned within months. The company, formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations of overcharging and poor accounting.

The value of the contract to feed and house U.S. troops in Iraq is valued at up to $13 billion.

The Journal quoted a Halliburton spokeswoman as saying the move was expected and that its Kellogg Brown & Root unit may bid again for parts of the work.

The awarding of the no-bid contract to Halliburton has been attacked by Democrats because of Cheney’s connections to the company. Cheney led Halliburton from 1995 to 2000.

Last month, Pentagon auditors urged the U.S. Army to start withholding millions of dollars in payments to Halliburton until the company justified its bills.

Various government agencies are investigating several aspects of Halliburton’s work in Iraq, including allegations of kickbacks by Kuwaiti subcontractors and improper charges totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

It’s interesting that the press keeps referring to the Vice-President as the former head of Halliburton. The contract in question was released four years after Cheney stepped down and (theoretically) divested himself of all financial interest in the company and its subsidiaries. Good-bye Halliburton; hello Kellogg Brown & Root.

Nothing Brings Folks Together Like This Administration

Republicans jumping ship? Can’t blame them. Elections are fast approaching. November is a short nine months away. It may be time to stop burying the real debt and start looking it square in the face. That should sober everybody up.

Senator Specter, Why Have You Forsaken Us?

We need oversight, not more secretive spying. FISA court rulings must be obeyed. But Senator Specter wants to write a NEW law...one that supports the Bush administration’s policy of flouting accountability. He wants to further loosen laws. Given how accommodating the FISA rulings are, one can only ask, “Why?” Does Mr. Bush have something to hide—namely, that his dragnets are so broad that not even FISA would allow them? Why does Senator Specter, who is basically an upstanding member of Congress, want to condone and even encourage the Bush administration’s total disregard for accountability?

Port Update—Friend or Foe??

Make that 21 ports. That’s the new, improved number of ports the United States plans on turning over to the United Arab Emirates. As recently as 2004, bin Laden was still using Dubai as one of his bases of operation. Treasonous by this administration? I think so, don’t you?

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is defending a deal giving a company in the United Arab Emirates control over terminals at key US ports. Critics in congress say the deal is a threat to national security. They noted that the UAE served as a base for the hijackers who took part in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the US.

The New York/New Jersey port is typical. It consists of a comprehensive set of terminals and services that span the harbor. Once cargo arrives at the port, no time is wasted as services speed cargo to inland destinations. Direct ship-to-rail connections, barge operations, and trucking offer many ways to avoid delays to key markets. Within one day of arrival at the port, goods can reach 105 million consumers.

If the United Arab Emirates turn out to be an enemy of the US, it will have in its intelligence base more information on this country than I care to acknowledge.

Tom DeLay—That Illustrious American

Here’s a good reason to stay in school and learn to read and cipher. If you don’t, slime like Tom DeLay will hover over you like a hungry vulture surveying just so much prey...hovering...hovering...until finally swooping in for the kill. Pack your belongings in a paper bag; you’re shipping out. Where to? A humid, tropical island jungle…an island not described in travel brochures, I assure you.

Destination: Saipan, where unsuspecting workers will be forced into despicable conditions at coolie wages. Tom DeLay runs the operation. Once garments are sewn together, they are shipped out around the world with labels cunningly if misleadingly made to read Made in the USA.

The 2006 Winter Olympics

We must acknowledge the talent as well as the tremendous responsibility taken on by the host town and country: Turin, Italy. The athletes were nothing less than a joy to watch. We were introduced to young talent from across the globe.

Figure skating is always a crowd pleaser, this year being no exception. Sasha Cohen, an American beauty, won silver in figure skating. I imagine we’ll be hearing more from Sasha.

The closing ceremonies were wonderful to watch. The mayor of Turin (known locally as Torino) delivered a moving speech followed by a short introduction to the mayor of Vancouver, where the next winter Olympics will be held. As the Olympic flame is extinguished, one can’t help but experience a flood of joy and sadness: joy for the talent and determination of the athletes, sadness for the heartbreak suffered by those who trained for years only to fall short. The final sadness comes as the games come to a close and the flame is extinguished.

Ten Commandments for Parochial School; Ten Amendments to the Bill of Rights for Public School

There has been so much brouhaha regarding the Ten Commandments lately. There is an effort by some to post them in public schools. As is often the case, I have a few thoughts on the matter that I’d like to share.

I was public school educated. We were introduced to the Bill of Rights; however, I can’t remember if they were posted in every class. The teacher would explain the purpose of each amendment and eventually test us.

I was introduced to the Ten Commandments at Catholic school, where I took religious instructions. I don’t recall the Commandments being posted in the classrooms. Perhaps there was no real need. I think it was more a case of teaching us to live by them rather than to memorize them by rote.

This might be an appropriate time for us to revisit the Bill of Rights. Some of us haven’t thought about them for a long time. Think of it this way: how many of the Ten Commandments do you know off the top of your head? How many of the original ten amendments in the Bill of Rights?

The Ten Original Amendments: the Bill of Rights

Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791.

AMENDMENT I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for the redress of grievances.

AMENDMENT II
A well-regulated militia, being necessary for the free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

AMENDMENT III
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

AMENDMENT IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons to be seized.

AMENDMENT V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

AMENDMENT VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

AMENDMENT VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right to trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

AMENDMENT VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

AMENDMENT IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

AMENDMENT X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.