Iraqi Religious Leaders Call for Peace

By ALEXANDRA ZAVIS, Associated Press Writer-
Appeals from religious leaders and an unusual daytime curfew Friday curbed violence that claimed more than 140 lives across Iraq after the bombing of a Shiite shrine. President Bush joined in calling for calm, saying "This is a moment of choosing for the Iraqi people." Full story here.

Wrong again, you moron. This is not a moment of choosing for the Iraqi people. This is the nightmare that you have created in Iraq by destroying any stability that ever existed there. All of this is your fault. Do NOT go trying to lay blame or responsibility on anyone else.

Take a good look at the young boy in the orange shirt in the middle of the crowd. Go ahead, take your time and have a really good long look at his face. This is not only a look into what we are responsible for but also a glimpse into our future. He'll eventually grow up to be a man who hates our country with so much venom that he will do anything to destroy us. Now multiply his face by hundreds of thousands. Get the picture?

I wonder if this is the same plan you have for Iran, George. The world is watching you. What are you going to do?

Freewayblogging Gets Upgrade

I'd like to introduce my readers to my new weapon of mass information:

I bought this overhead projector on Craigslist for $20 last week. What a deal, because with this time-saving device, I can now pump out high-quality freeway signs that look like this:

Pretty sexy, huh? I love this font.

So with this simple addition to my arsenal, I can now produce signs faster than a Nike factory in Pakistan makes soccer balls with child labor.

Wanna see what they look like on the freeway? Sure you do. Come on, I'll give you the tour...

This really is the way to go in the way of signmaking. I was previously cutting out cardboard templates for stencils and spray-painting. This is much better. For anyone thinking about doing it, though, don't wait to get a projector, just get out there and start hanging signs. The rest will come later. The most important thing is to use your right to free speech like I have here.

More to come...

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Suicide Bombers Warn U.S., U.K. of Attacks
-Associated Press
Tehran, Iran

An Iranian group that claims its members are dedicated to becoming suicide bombers warned the United States and Britain on Saturday that they will strike coalition military bases in Iraq if Tehran's nuclear facilities are attacked.

You know how you have that hornet's nest out in the backyard, and you're scared to death that any minute the hornets are going to come flying out of the nest and attack you? You could take the standard U.S. approach, and grab a stick and poke at the nest with futility and certain doom, or you could take the approach of trying to figure out how to get the hornets to find a nest somewhere else.

I'm willing to bet that if we cut our ties with Israel and pulled ALL of our military out of the region and put them in our backyard where they can properly protect us, we'd be much better off.

Just a thought. By the way, I'm working on getting my children dual citizenship so that we can avoid them getting drafted and can leave the country easily, if need be. If you have children, you should consider the same. Unless, of course, you actually WANT them to be cannon fodder like the soldiers we have in Iraq right now. Ask Cindy Sheehan what she would do.

Quote of the Week

"Do or do not. There is no try."

- Yoda

Cheney's Got a Gun

For the Love of God, will somebody PLEASE write a parody for this Aerosmith song already?

Where's Wierd Al Yankovic when we really need him?

Terrorism in Texas

Cheney accidentally shoots hunting companion
- Reuters

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally wounded a companion with shotgun pellets on a weekend quail hunt in Texas, his office said on Sunday.

Cheney's companion, Austin lawyer Harry Whittington, 78, was listed in stable condition after being brought in on Saturday night, said Yvonne Wheeler, a spokeswoman for the Christus Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.

I couldn't in my wildest dreams have even contrived a story funnier than this one. By the way, I spoke with the surgeon who removed the buckshot from Mr. Whittington's face and he informed me that his job would have been far less complicated if the Vice-President hadn't tried to de-feather and field dress the lawyer after shooting him.

Impeachment Goes Global

Call To Impeach Blair Over Iraq
-BBC News

Prime Minister Tony Blair should be "impeached" over the war in Iraq, a former top British soldier has said.

The ex-UN commander in Bosnia General Sir Michael Rose said Mr Blair had to take responsibility for his actions.

"To go to war on what turns out to be false grounds is something that no one should be allowed to walk away from," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The general told Today the consequences for Iraq and the war on terror had been "quite disastrous".

"Certainly from a soldier's perspective there can't be any more serious decision taken by a prime minister than declaring war," he said.

He claimed Mr Blair's actions were "somewhere in between" getting the politics wrong and acting illegally.

"The politics was wrong, that he rarely declared what his ultimate aims were, as far as we can see, in terms of harping continually on weapons of mass destruction when actually he probably had some other strategy in mind.

"And secondly, the consequences of that war have been quite disastrous both for the people of Iraq and also for the west in terms of our wider interests in the war against global terror."

Sounds familiar, huh?

More Freeway Blogging

After receiving some sage advice from Scarlet, THE Freewayblogger, I started looking for locations along the side of the freeway that would be so complicated for someone to exit the freeway and double back to try and take my signs down, that they would simply not even bother with them. I believe I have found a couple of those locations.

This first one I knew about because I had seen Scarlet's signs up here in the past. It's on southbound 280 south of 3rd street, just before the 280 / 101 split. Really nice, big and quiet location to work from. And, most importantly, complicated to get to from where you see the sign and become outraged that someone would suggest impeachment of the president.

My apologies for the poor quality of the picture. It's very hard for me to drive and take pictures at the same time, and there's really no place safe to pull over to get a shot of this one. (Don't try this at home, kids). Just to the south of this sign, is one of Scarlet's signs which states, "Osama Who?" Both signs were up on Wednesday, and I'm proud to say that they're still getting the message out today.

The next set of photos were taken just minutes ago. This is a sign I posted last night on my way home from work.

Just on the other side of that hill is Candlestick Park. I know they're calling it Monster Park now, but for me it will always be Candlestick. But I digress. This sign is on the northbound side of Hwy 101 just before the 3rd Street offramp.

Pretty good location as you can clearly see it from both northbound and southbound lanes. It was probably the most complicated journey I've had to go through to hang a sign, but well worth it. Lots of hiking through heavy brush to get to this location should guarantee multiple days of survival. I'll keep an eye on it and let you know.

The only thing that might bring this sign down soon is the homeless guy living in a tent about 50 feet to the left of the sign. I dragged one of my co-workers with me last night to hang this sign, and I think he enjoyed it. I told him to be very quiet so as not to disturb our neighbor while we were hanging the sign. It's pretty hard to be quiet when you're scrambling through heavy brush, though.

I can say that Scarlet was right on the money as far as using a bungee cord and duct tape to hang signs. It's so much easier and quicker.

Well, I'm off to scout out my next target. By the way, I'm in the market for a cheap, slightly used overhead projector, if anyone has one for sale. More to come, so stay tuned...

Oh Crap, They're At it Again

U.S., Britain discuss promoting democracy in Iran
-Reuters

WASHINGTON - American and British diplomats held talks this week on ways to promote democracy in Iran amid concern that Tehran is skillfully exploiting a row over it's nuclear ambitions to fan anti-Western hostility, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

Rough translation: We're invading Iran next month.

Western powers fear that Iran wants to make a nuclear bomb and the International Atomic Energy Agency voted on Sunday to report it to the Security Council, which can ultimately impose sanctions.

Can you say, "Weapons of mass distraction"? I think you can. OK, here comes the "Shock and Awe" part , kids:

U.S. officials, with $10 million to spend this year on promoting democracy in Iran, were interested in "knowing about our experience and working out how it might most effectively spend the funds it has available," the British diplomat said.

I can think of a much better use of $10 million. How about if we use it to clean up our own problems, first?

Maverick's

Beautiful picture of Grant Baker of South Africa dropping in on a big one at the annual Maverick's surf competition in Half Moon Bay yesterday. Grant went on to win the competition. Here he is celebrating on the awards stage:

Photos courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Quote of the Week

"The President's pre-1776 mentality is hurting America and fracturing the foundation on which our country has stood for 230 years."

- Senator Russ Feingold


This quote was in response to President Bush's statement that anyone who dares question his awesome god-like powers over this nation, has a pre-September 11th mentality. For a brief biography on Senator Feingold, click on his picture. To read an excellent article written by the senator on the Daily Kos, click here.

Who's Your Daddy???

Iran Ends Voluntary Cooperation on Nukes
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Sun Feb 5, 9:24 PM ET

TEHRAN, Iran -

Iran ended all voluntary cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency Sunday, saying it would start uranium enrichment and bar surprise inspections of its facilities after being reported to the Security Council over fears it is seeking an atomic bomb.

OK, let me make sure I've got this right before I continue. The United States has Weapons of Mass Destruction in the form of Minuteman II, Minuteman III and MX Missiles, so.....why are we not held accountable for the weapons that we possess? Is it because we are very responsible for our weapons of mass destruction? Because we would never abuse that power, right?

Atomic Bomb Cloud over Nagasaki

Courtesy of the United States Air Force

The United States remains as the ONLY country to ever use weapons of mass destruction against an enemy...

I personally worked at this missile launch facility which is located on the central coast of California. I can assure you that we have missiles that can reach anyone at anytime. What you see here is a test launch of our "nucular" capability. We need to start checking ourselves before we start checking others.

Mea Culpa

My apologies to all of you PTCruiser fans out there. I know my posts have been few and far between(and lacking in the great content you have come to expect). The reason for it is that I have been working on securing a new career field and I believe I have found that in MUNI, which is the public transportation authority for greater San Francisco. I have recently been accepted as an Electric Transit System Mechanic for MUNI, which means that I will be initially working on the electric-powered buses for the city. I hope to someday be working on the cable cars which reach halfway to the stars. I'm very excited about this job opportunity and I want to assure my fans that you can expect the same high caliber journalism and shenanigans you've come to expect from PTCruiser. The only thing that changes on this website is my underwear, and that's only because my wife insists on it.

What a Crappy World We Live In

Photos and story courtesy of Rotten.com
Dateline Germany, January 2005:

Police in the sleepy hamlet of Bayreuth are in a bit of a pickle. Someone -- or something -- is jamming miniature toothpick flag portraits of U.S. President George W Bush into piles of dog shit on sidewalks, public parks, and pedestrian thoroughfares. Josef Oettl, parks administrator for Bayreuth, said: "This has been going on for about a year now, and there must be 2,000 to 3,000 piles of excrement that have been claimed during that time."

The dog-shit-on-a-stick motif was originally thought to be some sort of protest against the US-led invasion of Iraq. When the structures survived for several consecutive seasons (weathering rain, snow, and extreme temperatures in all directions) the flags were thought to be a protest against Bush's campaign for re-election.

In 2006, the dog shit Bush parade is still going strong. Police say they are completely baffled as to who might be responsible.

"We have sent out extra patrols to try to catch whoever is doing this in the act," said police spokesman Reiner Kuechler. "But frankly, we don't know what we would do if we caught them red handed." (If I caught them, I'd put on a pair of rubber gloves and shake their hand.)

Legal experts claim there's no law against using dog shit as a flag stand, although Federal legal analysts warn the Constitution is vague on the issue. One possible source of all the dog shit flags has been identified only as the makeyouthink online entity, which offers downloadable PDF templates for printing, folding, and concealing in a backpack.

To be sure, dog shit is annoying and problematic in every country -- but is it really subject matter capable of depositing a huge, flaming bag of controversy on the entire world's doorstep?

Iraq: The Musical

Yet another brilliant gift from The FreewayBlogger to all of us. Click on the picture to enjoy the musical. Feel free to tap your toes and then, please share it with someone you love.

The True State of the Union

Last night, his lordship pontificated on the state of his kingdom. And what a very sad state it is in.

But it's what took place before the speech that is most revealing about where our so-called democracy stands right now.

Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan, an American soldier killed in the Iraq War, had been invited to attend the State of the Union address last night by Representative Lynn Woolsey of the Sixth Congressional District of California.

After being escorted to her seat, Cindy proceeded to remove her jacket which revealed a t-shirt she was wearing which had the message "2,245 Dead....How Many More?" As soon as she had her jacket removed she was rushed out of the building by Capitol Police so fast, you would've thought she was carrying weapons of mass distraction under her jacket.

Here is a statement from Cindy Sheehan which I found at BuzzFlash.com:

Dear Friends,

As most of you have probably heard, I was arrested before the State of the Union Address tonight.I am speechless with fury at what happened and with grief over what we have lost in our country.There have been lies from the police and distortions by the press. (Shocker) So this is what really happened:

This afternoon at the People's State of the Union Address in DC where I was joined by Congresspersons Lynn Woolsey and John Conyers, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim and John Cavanagh, Lynn brought me a ticket to the State of the Union Address. At that time, I was wearing the shirt that said: 2245 Dead. How many more?

After the PSOTU press conference, I was having second thoughts about going to the SOTU at the Capitol. I didn't feel comfortable going. I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I knew that I couldn't disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket and I didn't want to be disruptive out of respect for her. I, in fact, had given the ticket to John Bruhns who is in Iraq Veterans Against the War. However, Lynn's office had already called the media and everyone knew I was going to be there so I sucked it up and went.

I got the ticket back from John, and I met one of Congresswoman Barbara Lee's staffers in the Longworth Congressional Office building and we went to the Capitol via the undergroud tunnel. I went through security once, then had to use the rest room and went through security again.

My ticket was in the 5th gallery, front row, fourth seat in. The person who in a few minutes was to arrest me, helped me to my seat.

I had just sat down and I was warm from climbing 3 flights of stairs back up from the bathroom so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right to take my left arm out, when the same officer saw my shirt and yelled; "Protester." He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs. I said something like "I'm going, do you have to be so rough?" By the way, his name is Mike Weight.

The officer ran with me to the elevators yelling at everyone to move out of the way. When we got to the elevators, he cuffed me and took me outside to await a squad car. On the way out, someone behind me said, "That's Cindy Sheehan." At which point the officer who arrested me said: "Take these steps slowly." I said, "You didn't care about being careful when you were dragging me up the other steps." He said, "That's because you were protesting." Wow, I get hauled out of the People's House because I was, "Protesting."

I was never told that I couldn't wear that shirt into the Congress. I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things...I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later. I was immediately, and roughly (I have the bruises and muscle spasms to prove it) hauled off and arrested for "unlawful conduct."

After I had my personal items inventoried and my fingers printed, a nice Sgt. came in and looked at my shirt and said, "2245, huh? I just got back from there."

I told him that my son died there. That's when the enormity of my loss hit me. I have lost my son. I have lost my First Amendment rights. I have lost the country that I love. Where did America go? I started crying in pain.

What did Casey die for? What did the 2244 other brave young Americans die for? What are tens of thousands of them over there in harm's way for still? For this? I can't even wear a shirt that has the number of troops on it that George Bush and his arrogant and ignorant policies are responsible for killing.

I wore the shirt to make a statement. The press knew I was going to be there and I thought every once in awhile they would show me and I would have the shirt on. I did not wear it to be disruptive, or I would have unzipped my jacket during George's speech. If I had any idea what happens to people who wear shirts that make the neocons uncomfortable that I would be arrested...maybe I would have, but I didn't.

There have already been many wild stories out there.

I have some lawyers looking into filing a First Amendment lawsuit against the government for what happened tonight. I will file it. It is time to take our freedoms and our country back.

I don't want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ulitmate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government. That's why I am going to take my freedoms and liberties back. That's why I am not going to let Bushco take anything else away from me...or you.

I am so appreciative of the couple of hundred of protesters who came to the jail while I was locked up to show their support....we have so much potential for good...there is so much good in so many people.

Four hours and 2 jails after I was arrested, I was let out. Again, I am so upset and sore it is hard to think straight.

Keep up the struggle...I promise you I will too.

Love and peace soon,

Cindy

In a related story, I feel I should mention that another person was escorted from the Capitol for wearing a shirt that said "Support Our Troops". The bearer of this shirt was Beverly Young, wife of Republican Congressman C.W. Bill Young. It should also be noted that Mrs. Young was not manhandeled and carted off to jail the way Cindy Sheehan was.

The bottom line: The Nation's Capitol is looking more and more like the Kremlin every day. Let's not forget that the Constitution of the United States grants all people the right to freedom of speech and expression. God help us as a nation when we decide to willingly give that up.