NoCalMike

Have you guys seen a pic of this guy? He highly resembles Ron Kuby, the attourney who would defend OJ Simpson on a nightly basis as a victim of police tampering.

I think he could have maybe thought out a little better what to say, but really, it doesn't bother me, and I don't even think it deserves to be "news" at all.

Pop acts have it so easy today anyway. We are in an era where pretty much any top 40 artist of any genre on radio merely has to "look the part" I don't care if you are rock, rap, pop, country. Most of these people don't write their own music, and if they happen to, it is 2 songs at the MOST per CD. On top of that, they don't compose their own music. Well rock bands do I suppose, but most hip-hop and pop acts have about 20-50 people working on an album to make it perfect for public consumption. And then there is the entire issue of, originality, creativity, innovativeness that has all but died over the course of the last ten years. IMO, the ARTISTS(if they even deserve to be called that) of music are the ones writing and composing the music, the pop stars and such are just the pretty face thrown out to the public for approval.

I choose to kid myself and predict early 2006.

Last time the 'Skins won in '92 is my fondest memory. I was only 12, but I will never forget that feeling. Seeing the Packers go down to the Broncos was nice, same with the Rams melting down against the Pats. If only the Panthers had the ball a little longer last season on the final drive......

It really depends though. The cycle of the last four years may continue which is, networks want more power, thus stay bush-friendly in news and reporting, thus Bush throws them back a bone by pressuring the FCC to back off. Who knows.

Also, Bush had to get in his shots about Gays and a "culture of life" in order to give the evangelicals some red meat as Karl Rove has been getting email boxes full of letters stating that if Bush didn't mention the constitutional amendment and pro-life tidbits, they wouldn't help him on Social Security. It wasn't suprising either, I mean when Bush brought all that stuff up, it just seemed like petty pandering, and seemed rather out of place, and broke up the rythym of the rest of the speech.

Is it a coincidence that Bush avoided the term "WMD" and instead said "weapons of mass murder" ? Also, Bush kind of skidded over any mention of climate change, and/or global warming, even though in the last couple of weeks there has been many summits and meetings in Europe where everyone besides Bush seems to be taking the issue quite seriously. Bush did mention getting off of foreign oil, but now after the war, is Iraqi oil even considered "foreign" anymore? And he didn't add much in the way of looking for alternative resources of energy besides using the same tag-line. While instead eluded to wanting to drill in Alaska instead.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=82266 Coates on do-not-admit list By Mary Jo Almquist and Teri Finneman,The Forum Published Thursday, February 03, 2005 · advertisement · The Look - Hanson Photo Fargo City Commissioner Linda Coates is among more than 40 area residents included on a list of people barred from attending President Bush's speech today in Fargo. Among the 42 area people on the do-not-admit list: two high school students, a librarian, a Democratic campaign manager and several university professors. White House spokesman Jim Morrell and Don Larson, a spokesman for the North Dakota governor's office, say they don't know anything about such a list. "This is the first I'm hearing of it," Morrell said when contacted Wednesday. But two sources close to Tuesday's ticket distribution confirmed the list exists and includes a handful of names of people who were not to receive tickets to today's event at North Dakota State University's Bison Sports Arena. Fargo city commissioner Linda Coates RELATED CONTENT In-Forum Web Icon 33 on list connected to F-M democracy group In-Forum Web Icon Fargo-Moorhead Democracy for America Meetup Group In-Forum Video Icon WDAY: Commissioner not allowed at President's visit In-Forum Talk About It Icon Talk about this story The list was supplied to workers at the two Fargo distribution sites, along with tickets and other forms citizens were asked to fill out upon receiving them. People who handed out tickets had copies of the list at their tables to determine if anyone should be denied access, both sources said. The list contains a wide range of people. Several wrote opinion page letters to The Forum criticizing Bush or the war in Iraq. Others wrote letters in support of gay rights or of Democratic policies. It's not clear if any one issue links the names together, but several are found on a Web site of a local progressive organization. Coates, for one, said she has no idea why she would be on a list other than the fact she's outspoken about her left-leaning beliefs. "I thought that was democracy," she said. Coates said she was shocked and "creeped out" Wednesday to learn she was on the list. Now she's outraged. "To me, this is very revealing as to what this administration is all about … someone who doesn't want disagreement," said Coates, whose husband, Mike, is also on the list. "That's not healthy." Coates said she originally wasn't planning to go to the 11:30 a.m. speech but was able to get a last-minute ticket Wednesday night from Fargo Mayor Bruce Furness, who offered tickets to all city commissioners. Coates said she now plans to attend. If she's denied access, she'll demand to know why. Morrell said the White House is not directly involved in the ticket distribution. Rather, it works with state and local officials to coordinate the process. "I'm not aware of any list or of anyone being denied," he said. Hoeven's Larson echoed that statement. "I don't know anything about the list," he said. "No one was denied tickets." Readers can reach Forum reporter Mary Jo Almquist at (701) 241-5531 and Teri Finneman at [701] 241-5557

As if the worst problems are even going to be about fines and indecency. I can't wait to hear his ideas on de-regulating even MORE media outlets. Ugh.....

Ok, I have a question thought. Supposing Iran is using it's nuclear plans/programs or whatever to make nuclear plants for energy proficiency, well isn't that EXACTLY what Bush said America should do in the state of the union address, as part of a new energy policy? I am not sure Bush's stance as far a "nuclear" goes. Is Bush saying, abandon anything related to nuclear power, or is he just talking about nuclear weapons plans? Cause it seems kind of contradictory.

Here is a not so positive opinion on the Iraqi elections and the occupation by a retired Iraqi engineer. He was interviewed in his home on Democracy Now, by Amy Goodman. If you get Free Speech network, you can watch it when it comes on. AMY GOODMAN: And this is Democracy Now! democracynow.org as we move from Kurdistan back to Baghdad, to get response from retired Iraqi engineer Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar. Throughout key points of the invasion and occupation we have checked in with him on the first anniversary of the invasion, on the siege of Fallujah, the so-called transfer of sovereignty on June 28. Today we get his thoughts on the elections. We reached him just before the program. This is Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar at his home in Baghdad. GHAZWAN AL-MUKHTAR: I do not believe that the election is legitimate, the election is held under the occupation. The occupying power has modified the basic rules in Iraq as to who is an Iraqi and who is not. The election was shoved down our throat because all the major parties, including Allawi's party, requested that the election be postponed. That was in November. And before even the independent electoral commission could decide on the request, that President Bush said he does not want the election to be postponed and Ambassador Negroponte said, oddly enough, it came from Fallujah. He was in Fallujah, and declared that the elections will be held on the January 30. It is an Iraqi election, it is not a U.S. election, it is not Negroponte's election, it is the Iraqi people's election. So, if the Iraqi parties wanted to postpone the election, they should have been able to do so without the interference of the United States government. Anyway, having done the election now, it was forced down our throat, a lot of people have boycotted it. The Sunnis have boycotted the elections. Some of the Shias boycotted it. Muktadar Al Sadr faction boycotted the election. Al Khalaf faction boycotted the election. There is a resistance to the occupation in Iraq. This resistance stems from the fact that our life has been, for the last 22 months, deteriorating day and night and we have not seen any improvement in our condition for the last 22 months, nor that anything has been reconstructed. The telephone system is bad, the electricity is worse, the security condition is worse. A lot of people are saying, why do I vote? What does the government do for me? They did absolutely nothing. The shocking thing is that the conditions after 22 months of occupation is a lot worse in every single aspect of life than with Saddam Hussein, after 12 years of sanction. While I'm talking to you I just heard two bombs exploding not too far from here. I did not vote and I will not vote to any one of those people who came on the back of the American banks. I do not see any change because there is no will to reconstruct anything. There is no will to improve the life of the Iraqis. It is going to take another two years and a lot of will. Mind you, in 1991, with the huge destruction in Iraq, we, the Iraqi people, despite the sanctions and with no help from anybody, we were able to restore the electricity, we were able to restore the water, the sewage and in six months we were able to rebuild the country in less than a year. Now that time has gone. The U.S. had 22 months occupation and they have not fixed a single thing in Iraq. We are still getting 2,000 to 2,200 calories on the ration system. We were told that Saddam Hussein was stealing our money both in the palaces and keeping us poor and hungry. But now after 22 months, we are still getting 2200 calories or sometimes less. Halliburton -- we have added crisis right now of petrol, Iraq was an exporting country of diesel fuel and refined oil products. Since the occupation, we have been importing oil from Turkey. No one fixes the refineries. There is a huge queue of cars waiting to get oil or petrol. And the Congress, the U.S. Congress said in 2003, May 2003, seven out of 18 governmentals had more than 16 hours of electricity. Now we are getting two hours of electricity right in Baghdad. I am lucky today, I have electricity from 7:00 to 9:00 and that is going to be all. Until late in the evening, maybe, I don't know when, I'll get the electricity. So, all those factors will indicate that the people are discontent, the people are resentful of the presence of the American forces, that the people are dissatisfied with the occupation, because they have not seen any improvement in their life. Unemployment is very high; it's at about 60%. People are starving. This is the basis for the resistance. It's not the Mussabu Al Zarqawi and Abu, I don't know who, or the terrorists coming from the outside of Iraq. It is the indigenous Iraqi resistance. While we were told that Saddam Hussein was torturing us, we are finding after 22 months that the Americans are torturing us, the British are torturing us, the Danish are torturing us and now we discover that the Iraqi forces, the ING is torturing us. So, instead of one having one torturer, now we have four torturers. And you want us to be happy with the election. This reminds me of a story when Mary Antoinette, when she was told that the people did not have bread to eat. She said why don't they eat cake? We don't have anything and they tell us here it is democracy. Take democracy. What do I do with democracy? Does it allow me to walk across right the street without being feared of being kidnapped or being shot at or being mugged or being stolen? Would democracy feed my children? Would democracy allow me to quench my thirst? The U.S. has not done anything at all to improve the life of Iraqi people. And that is one of the reasons why you are seeing all those attacks. AMY GOODMAN: Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar, a retired Iraqi engineer speaking from his home in Baghdad.

For the love of gawd, Tyler, will you just bring Tyler M. back.

I nodded off about halfway through for about 7 minutes....did I just miss any mention of him, or did Osama Bin Laden's name NO-SHOW the SOTU?

Tom, both sides moan and groan when they disagree strongly. This isn't something new.

Well let me clarify, when I say he has points, I am more talking along the line of how our military in the past bombed Iraq's sewage systems thus destroying and contaminating water supplies, directly leading to death. I mean if the guy wanted to make that argument alone, then fine. Instead he starts going off on a rant about too broad a subject, and making some rather extreme statements.

He does makes some points though, however the essay as a whole is outrageous.

A torn quad, how ironic.

Why did the networks miss out on the GOOD SHIT? Check it out....... This is gonna be all over the news networks by morning........

Like Bob Marley said, "Alcohol makes you drunk, herb makes you think"

a lot of colleges will technically pass you with a D, but you don't get the course credit unless you get a C or higher.

Kobe will pick himself fo course.

"why focus on casualties all the time" ALL THE TIME? WTF....when was the last time the networks even sought after an accurate account of Iraqi casualties?

by gawd, what are you implying?

So Orton could be turning, but is he re-joining Evolution or something? I mean hello, I know WWE can be nonsensical but this is just stupid.