The RED mind ...

Arizona Republican Representative Jeff Flake voted off the reservation and 'Seeing Red AZ' is concerned Flake's vote would help legitimatize 'life styles' that will invade Arizona's schools and churches -and 'other' places.

The U.S. House has passed HR3685, or “ENDA,” a bill that ostensibly prohibits discrimination against homosexuals. In reality, it puts in place another plank to legitimize that lifestyle. “Legitimizing” ultimately makes it more difficult to keep it out of schools, churches, and other places where one might want to make reasonable exceptions.

A call for invasion and democracy should come next from the RED sector of the State of Arizona ...

Yesterdays's QUOTES ...

In the right direction? ... The agency does not have data on companies pulling call-center services back from overseas but is aware of the trend anecdotally, said Laura Shaw, a spokeswoman for TREO. ... now lets get some manufacturing back. The same cheaply designed and produced product from every retailer is not what I call progress.

Ya don't say ... “The acceptance of sexist humor leads men to believe that sexist behavior falls within the bounds of social acceptability.”
Chuck Schumer, just another Rubberstamp Democrat ... Yes, isn't it appealing for the United States Senate to say unambiguously that that torture is wrong. Wow, what a concept. But apparently not appealing enough for Chuck Schumer.... so Mukasey told Chuckie Cheesie that he, Mukasey, would follow the law. Told Chuckie privately? But would NOT say the same publicly to the nation? So Chuckie is what? Stupid? So gullible he never learns even after 7 long and painful years? Or he is just plain complicit with the illegal goings-on of Bush's corrupt administration.

Driving while brown ...

Hispanic motorists were the most likely to be searched, arrested, cited and to receive multiple citations and the least likely to get off with warnings.

But hey, don't get too upset ... there could be, uh, 'other' factors ... the authorities don't need no stinking laws to hamper them, they just 'know' who's guilty and what everyone else is thinking! Only those laws that facilitate the authorities control of the public apply.

PHOENIX -- A study of traffic stops conducted by Arizona Department of Public Safety officers found evidence of possible racial profiling by officers, although researchers cautioned that other factors may be responsible for high rates of stops and searches of minority drivers.

The University of Cincinnati report mirrors findings by a Northern Arizona University researchers three years ago. The new study shows Highway Patrol officers were more than twice as likely to search vehicles driven by Hispanics and blacks than white drivers during 2006. Minorities also were far more likely to be arrested or to receive multiple traffic citations.

Hispanic motorists were the most likely to be searched, arrested, cited and to receive multiple citations and the least likely to get off with warnings.

The 223-page report was done to satisfy terms of a 2006 settlement of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and criminal defendants that accused officers of targeting minority motorists along interstate highways near Flagstaff.

Here's how I interpret these findings. I've owned at least one vehicle that had recurring tail light problems (that is the turn signals and/or the tail light would just stop working). In all, I was stopped maybe 5 or 6 times over a period of several years. I would get the warning, get the tail light fixed (again) and after some period of time (months or a year) the light would go out again. Sometimes I caught it myself. The way I read these finding is that if I were dark in color and/or non European looking I would stand a very good chance of being arrested and/or having my car searched because of that damned tail light. To me that's harassment, plain and simple. Certainly I need to get the light fixed but to use such an excuse to stop, search, interrogate and arrest people is not the sign of a free country. In addition it leads to corruption. It becomes just too easy to pretend there is a stoppable problem with any vehicle. Lying has just become too easy for our police. Everyone expects them to do it. They never appear to be held accountable when they are caught lying. So much for integrity. So much for justice. So much for a respect for the law. So much for freedom.

Vehicle CO2 Emissions ...

Arizona will join California in suing the EPA for its intransigence: Ariz., joining Calif. suit, seeks to limit vehicle CO2 emissions --Governor could impose standards on cars sold here by Howard Fischer

In fact, it was the failure of the EPA to even respond to California's request for a waiver that led to the decision Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwar- zenegger to sue. Goddard said it makes sense for Arizona to join in that effort.

"It's important to point out this isn't just a California problem," he said.

"The EPA's failure to act on California's waiver request affects Arizona motorists," Goddard continued. "And it affects the air quality in our state as well because we've adopted the same standards that California seeks to adopt."

Right on ...

A good Fitz cartoon.

How the US supports the troops ...

1 In 4 Homeless Americans Are Veterans

Don't believe your lying eyes?

Sexy walk could be misleading message: --A woman who walks with a seductive sway of her hips is unlikely to be ovulating, a finding that sheds light on the complex sexual signals that women give to men, New Scientist reports.

A team at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, dressed female volunteers in suits which had light reflectors placed on the joints and limbs and filmed them walking in order to analyse their gait, the British weekly says. ...

Believe me, our elected Democrats do NOT believe in Freedom of speech or thought ...

The bill calls for heightened scrutiny of people who believe, or might come to believe, in a violent ideology.

Examining the Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act by Lindsey Beyerstein -- The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act passed the House of Representatives on Oct. 23 by a vote of 404-6. The wide margin is indicative of a growing concern among U.S. authorities about the potential for so-called “homegrown terrorism” in the United States.

So called Democrats like Giffords and Grijalva voted for surveillance of people based on what they may come to believe. I suppose they will start to black list connections to the Internet next, based on what someone thinks you think or may come to think some day, perhaps, maybe.

And can you believe this: "Rep. Harman is careful to emphasize the language in the bill that states that the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts “shall not violate the constitutional rights, civil rights, or civil liberties of United States citizens or lawful permanent residents.”" 'Our' Reps have learned nothing, absolutely NOTHING, in the past seven years. Idiots! Because they refuse do their job and ensure the structure and controls are in place to actually guarantee our constitutional rights they add meaningless words to their laws repeating what should already be manifest. We have rights. These right are already guaranteed in our Constitution. Our elected officials are ignoring and undermining these rights on a daily basis.

And then there's this:

The broad wording of the bill leaves open many questions. If homegrown terrorism is defined to include “intimidation” of the United States government or any segment of its population—could the Commission or the Center of Excellence task itself with investigating groups advocating boycotts, general strikes, or other forms of non-violent “intimidation”?

Could telling my Rep I will never vote for him again 'til Hell freezes over be considered intimidation? One person's negotiation will turn out to be another person's intimidation. Just one more excuse to arrest someone. They won't care if the arrest is overturned. Government officials will like the harassment value. And it's Democrats who created this monstrosity!

These representatives who hardly take our phone calls, who are likely to arrest us if we show anything other than a subservient attitude in their offices and send gibberish in reply to correspondence are in fact very afraid of us, wouldn't you say?

Here's the Border Reporter's take on the subject: FERTILIZER INDEED

Sadly ...

The World Is Not Enough for Humans --Humanity's environmental impact has reached an unprecedented scope, and it's getting worse by David Biello

Sadly, I've come to the conclusion that we humans are not not capable of solving our really critical problems through reason, knowledge, organization and intelligence.

So Senator Reid ...

Today's Must Read

By Paul Kiel - November 6, 2007, 9:42AM

So now that the country has undergone its collective tutorial on the torture technique waterboarding (see here, here, and here if you missed class), Congress is ready to begin voting on the nomination of Michael Mukasey for attorney general.

So Senator Reid once again takes out his RUBBER STAMP for a Bush nominee. By being a non-leading 'leader of the Senate' Reid is ensuring that Mukasey will be approved. Reid helps Bush appoint another pro-torture Attorney General, albeit one not as stupid as the previous one.

I just don't think these people understand that as the driver of a bank robber's getaway vehicle is taking part in the crime the failure of our Senators and Representatives to fight this administration when it is doing wrong (which is most, if not all, of the time) makes them complicit in the crimes being committed in our names. They are also responsible and should be placed in the dock along with Bush and his gang of criminals.

I thought the problem might be generational but then I look at the younger elected Democrats, like Representative Giffords from Arizona and even Senator Obama and I see the same tendencies to the mere spouting of platitudes; making spurious justifications and excessive excuses.

I realize that the Republicans are worse, but Democrats just ain't no prize either ...

Yesterday's QUOTES ...

McCain is a bloodthirsty right wing warmonger. But he's not an outright sadist. That is the range of what passes for morality among the GOP candidates.

And by the way, he's losing because of it.

... No one seems to notice that, as with everything else in Iraq, the Iraqis are going to do what they want, when they want. When al-Sadr lays down his arms, there will be relative peace. When he takes them up, Americans will die in dozens.

Regardless, the fortunes of Iraq will turn on Iraqi decisions made in Baghdad and Najaf, not in Washington, D.C. and the halls of Congress. As this situation shows, peace in Iraq lies in the hands of Iraqis. It cannot—and will not—be forced by Americans at the point of a gun.

Arizona High Country Campground ...

The pictures to the left are from the Arizona High Country Campground which is nice and un-parkinglot-like (which is my main complaint about RV joints). The park is under construction and at this stage looks like it has been well designed. I tried to suggest that I had some photos that would look good on their web page but did not raise any interest. I was not able to connect with Verizon broadband at this place. I was in the National Forest somewhere off road 504 (I think) when I posted that message (higher in altitude and closer to Phoenix).

On posting from the wilderness ...

I've come back to 'civilization,' if one seriously thinks that groups of Homo sapiens who can be so easily led into monster-hood by the mentally impaired and the outright insane approach anything like civilization which by definition is comprised of advancement, progress, enlightenment, culture, refinement, and sophistication. What the US is going through at present must be more akin to anti- or reverse-civilization.

Really, the above paragraph was not where this post was headed when I took up that metaphorical pen. Having a partiality to technology, mostly in the form of computers and cameras (two areas that have beautifully merged in the recent years) I was amazed once again at the changes that have taken place in these field since the 60's which is when my working life began.

Each little mile post, such as posting from a campground, sends my thoughts back to my first Mac and that I had sitting on my desk (or table as really was the case) more power, memory and capabilities than some of computers that I programmed and/or operated by reading in stacks (and I do me stacks) of punched computer cards.

I often resist this trip down memory lane to the time of 1401's, IBM 7072's, 350's, 360's, Univacs, RadioShacks, Macs and Mac Plus' and even more names and numbers than I can recall as

• I don't wish to be thought of as 'living in the past,' and
• a state of ongoing amazement at the rate and extent of technological changes in this field must be politically incorrect, or something.

Ha, it's working, sort of ...

The post is being written from somewhere in a National Forest, with real pine trees and such, between Show Low and Phoenix.