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More Sanford

Well, shortly after I made my last entry, the truth came out (actually, it sort of dribbled out in between the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson) that Mark Sanford was in Argentina getting some 'strange'.

I really have always disliked Mark Sanford as a politician. Even if he hadn't voted to impeach Bill Clinton while serving in the US Congress, I have found his views to be repugnant and his governance to be just as bad. I'm glad to see him going down.

But not like this.

I have always held that where a man puts his penis has nothing to do with his ability to govern. In fact, it seems to be the most dynamic men who seem to get themselves in trouble this way. I agreed with Mark Sanford on almost nothing; but I have to admit that he is a dynamic personality with strong viewpoints and the ability to express them.

In order to consider impeachment, I believe that we need to look at what Mark Sanford did when he wasn't fucking a beautiful 41-year old Argentinian MILF. As much as I despise his views on evolution, his vote to impeach Clinton and his inability to work with the state legislature, he has not committed any offense which, when not combined with issues related to his dalliance is worthy of impeachment.

I imagine that a lot of my fellow liberals in this state are dancing for joy. Politically, this is an unexpected windfall. For my own part, I won't be sad to see him go. But I'm tired of marital fidelity being substituted for ability in government. I didn't like it when they did it to Bill Clinton, and I sure don't approve of it being done to Mark Sanford.

Whither Sanford?

This is starting to sound awfully funny ... the governor disappears for five days. He doesn't tell his family or staff where he's going. When he's spotted at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport he says that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. Then he changes his story and says that he went to Buenos Airies in Argentina. I'll leave it to your imagination to speculate, but this is a guy who wants to be president?? I wonder what would happen if President Obama disappeared for five days and didn't tell anyone where he was going?

In A Little Town Where I Used to Live ....

In a little town where I used to live, they're putting up cameras. One hundred and Sixty Five of them. And the story even made the LA Times and Slashdot.

[READ]

Privacy is getting hard to come by. And not all people who wish to remain anonymous are doing something wrong.

Unfortunately, in this country the law seems to hold property rights over individual liberties (they're not the same). The guys who are operating this thing may -say- that they're only looking for criminals, but details about where a person is going can be easily gotten from the video that they're shooting via face recognition and other computer techniques. And why wouldn't they sell that information? The folks operating those cameras are responsible to their investors, not to the public good. So in the end, the 'law and order' cameras end up being used for political suppression, entrapment and corporate espionage.

And there's worse to come. Let's say that the company that operates the cameras goes broke. In that case, their data is regarded as an asset, to be auctioned off to the highest bidder (this already has happened elsewhere). So you went to a private medical clinic to get treatment for a venereal disease? You weren't doing anything illegal or even wrong, but now you're in a database as having visited the Walnut Street Clinic for the Treatment of Social Diseases. Well, now the postman knows because he sees you getting junk mail from pharmaceutical companies. And what will your neighbors think when they see you getting adverts from companies that sell sex toys?

Walking the Walk in Iran

Not since the late 1960s has anyone in America had to get his head bashed in for Democracy. Maybe that's why it took us eight years to get rid of W.

Now the Iranians are dealing with their very own shithead, and he's not going away quietly. Ahmadinejad (the shithead in question) has not gotten the message that his brand of demagoguery
is unsustainable in the 21st century. Unlike popular movements in the past, Iranians don't have to guess how free people in other countries are -- they're getting the truth directly via social networking. And they're sending the truth about the oppression in their country back through the same channels.

Update : check this out -- these people are risking death by protesting like this.

Does Anybody Else Think This is Funny...?

... or at least ironic? South Carolina, the state that started the Civil War (aka 'The Late Unpleasantness') is selling Confederate currency. That is to say, Confederate dollars are currently exchanging with Yankee greenbacks at a very favorable rate. So if great-grandpa had a stash put away somewhere in case the South rose again, maybe now is the time to cash in!

Abortion Provider Gunned Down in Church

Some folks say that abortion is murder. I say that religion is crack.