Postcards From Myself

Just a quick posting of two pictures I took. Out of all that I took last Sunday, I think these came out the best.

The first, here, is of the Charleston Unitarian Universalist Church. I took it from the back in the cemetery.

The second, here, is of the ceiling of the church from inside. I took this same basic picture numerous times with flash, without flash, and such. I think this one came out the best.

These were both taken with my new Nikon D40x and its standard kit lense.

First . . .

President Bush has threatened to veto legislation renewing and expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The legislation would extend health coverage to as many as 10 million children — four million of whom are currently uninsured. Bush has claimed the SCHIP bill contains “excessive spending,” but in fact, just 41 days of the war in Iraq would fully pay for the coverage: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/24/41-days-iraq/

Second . . .

David Shuster, substitute hose for Tucker on MSNBC, confronts Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) about the blatant hypocrisy of the Republican party decrying the NYT ad when he asks her about Rush Limbaugh’s “”Senator Betrayus”" smear against Senator Chuck Hagel. Instead of answering the question, all Blackburn wants to do is rehash tired slams against the New York Times over the MoveOn ad.

As Blackburn goes on about the NY Times betraying the public trust and making sweetheart deals, Shuster turns the tables on her and asks her to name the last soldier from her district who was killed in Iraq — and what do you know? She had no idea what his name was, or even why she didn’t know. If you watch the exchange you will see Blackburn stutter and get backed into a corner, with Shuster proving she cared more about making partisan hits than she did about the dead soldiers from her own district.

The exchange went like this:

Shuster: “Let’s talk about the public trust. You represent, of course, a district in western Tennessee. What was the name of the last solider from your district who was killed in Iraq?”

Blackburn:”The name of the last soldier killed in Iraq uh - from my district I - I do not know his name -”

Shuster: “Ok, his name was Jeremy Bohannon, he was killed August the 9th, 2007. How come you didn’t know the name?”

Blackburn: “I - I, you know, I - I do not know why I did not know the name…” [Snip]

Shuster: “But you weren’t appreciative enough to know the name of this young man, he was 18 years old who was killed, and yet you can say chapter and verse about what’s going on with the New York Times and Move On.org.” [Snip]

Shuster: “But don’t you understand, the problems that a lot of people would have, that you’re so focused on an ad — when was the last time a New York Times ad ever killed somebody? I mean, here we have a war that took the life of an 18 year old kid, Jeremy Bohannon from your district, and you didn’t even know his name.”

See the full thing here, on CrooksAndLiars.com

And finally, third . . .

Mitt Romney has remained mum on the alleged killing of 11 Iraqis by a company where one of his top advisers serves as vice chairman, even as the case has led to an uproar in Baghdad and Washington. Barack Obama, John McCain and other politicians have raised the possibility of tighter controls on the firm. The top counterterrorism and national security adviser to Romney’s presidential campaign is Cofer Black, vice chairman of Blackwater USA.

You can read more about that, here.

In a great piece titled Why The Right Is Wrong, Azadeh Ensha of the Huffington Post nicely addresses some of the reasons why Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should be allowed to speak at Columbia University. No one is saying that they agree with him. What we are saying is that if we don’t allow people, anyone, the freedom of speech, then we have become what we are fighting against.

One of the most important things about free speech is that it must be free for even those with ideas you do not like. This is something that liberals forget as often as conservatives. If you are truly liberal and open, then you must allow people who don’t agree with you to have their say and hold their own ideas. If you do not, then you are just as closed minded as those you protest against.

I like to say that I am a liberal, but I am a liberal in the true sense of the word. I pull my ideas from all types of sources. I am neither Democrat, Republican, Independent or Whatever. I am liberal with a small “l” not a capital “L”. I am that way because I believe the power and the choices should be made each time on the basis of each idea - not along a party line.

And I believe that everyone has a right to speak. Just as everyone has a right to not-listen or to turn off a television. But I should not have the right to stop you from listening.

Who said the British car industry was dead? This is the new Farbio GTS – sometime known as the Farboud – and it is now officially in production, near Bath.

The GTS was initially developed as the Farboud GTS, produced by Arash Cars, which is owned by Arash Farboud. But earlier this year Farboud sold the majority of his rights to the GTS, to concentrate on a new supercar project.

And so, in June, the Farboud GTS became the Farbio GTS, to clear up any potential confusion over the two different cars. Confusion cleared? We didn’t think so.

There’s certainly no confusion over the make up of the car, and from the spec sheet it looks likely to be a cracker.

The GTS uses a spaceframe chassis and carbonfibre body, with a flat underfloor and venturi to aid aerodynamics. Power comes from a 3.0-litre V6 – believed to be a Ford Duratec unit – that produces 262bhp in standard form, and shoves the GTS from 0-60mph in an estimated 4.8sec. Go for the supercharged version and that comes down to an estimated 3.9sec.

The kerb weight is a pretty slimline 1066kg for the supercharged car and 1048kg for the standard machine, making the power to weight ratios 360bhp per tonne and 250bhp per tonne respectively.

Braking is by four-pot AP Racing calipers, with 350mm vented discs up front and 328mm discs at the rear. Suspension is by Eibach springs with adjustable dampers.

Farbio says the GTS is suitable for touring thanks to a 76-litre fuel tank and a 220-litre boot that can fit a set of golf clubs. Sat-nav is standard.
And the price of all this promise? It’s a lot less than you might think. The standard car is £59,925 and the supercharged version £71,675, and there’s an eight-month UK waiting list.

AutoCar

Information about an organization and movement I support…

The Habeas Corpus Restoration Act gives us a chance to reverse one of the Bush Administration’s many assaults on our civil liberties.

We all want to make America safe from terrorism, but becoming a nation that sanctions the unlawful detention of its own residents — detaining and jailing them without the chance to appear before a judge — does not make us safe. Instead, it violates a value that we have held dear for centuries — safeguarding our individual freedom before arbitrary state action.