Friday... TGIF

Hello folks,

First, a big thank you to Mick, for the conversation last night. It was a good'un. Thanks also to our wives, Michelle and My Lady, for allowing two guys to go out and have a "boy's-night out" it was appreciated.

Okay... Here's a new one: Death By Squirrel. I mean, how are you meant to recover from the shock, as a family member. "Margie always HATED the little tree-vermin, and they finally caught up with her." Sorry, sick sense of humour, I know.

Rock posters are art. I guess. Okay. Nice to know. Now I understand why I don't make any money as an artist. I need to start doing art for other reasons. We'll see. Hmm... Ger.

And this one, is just great: Japan refuses U.S. Beef. This all stems from a 2003 case of "BSE" that was found in the North West in the U.S. Our beef now is "tainted" just like Britain's has been for years (at least, according the the French.) Hmm... I still think this is amusing, especially as the cow in question back in 2003 was actually from Canada. That's right... Canada. Damn Canooks! Look at all the trouble your country is causing to mine! Damn Canooks! Ger.

(Above paragraph was typed with my tongue firmly in cheek. Although it's true the cow was from Canada.)

Anyhoo... Here's another example of my government being just a bit paranoid:
GOOGLE SEARCH RECORDS SUPOENA.

You know... (Here's a political rant) This is what bugs me about wire-taps, and internet records being searched, and our e-mails combed through by the U.S. Gov.:

They say they're only watching "People with known Al Qaida links." And yet... How do we know that they have the right people? Seriously. My wife is British, I've just returned from living in Britain for two years... There's "supposedly in-grown" terrorists in Britain... Thus, a British person could have ties to Al Qaida. Thus, my wife, according to the U.S. Government could be under suspicion. The fact that she's a white/celtic woman from Scotland who belongs to the Church of Scotland, and is married to a white/celtic/norse guy who was raised in St. Paul as a Catholic doesn't seem to matter.

There are TONNES of people who are on "Watch lists" for terrorism, and thus have problems flying. The fact that they are obviously NOT actually terrorists doesn't seem to remove them from this list. Hell, two weeks ago a four year-old boy was not allowed to board a plane. FOUR YEARS OLD!

By the current administration's own words... They have the right, to look for terrorists. Yes. I agree. I don't agree that they have the right without an oversight through the courts. There are laws already set up that allow for domestic wire-taps, and doing an end-run around this law from the freaking 1970's, is just wrong. The government keeps saying "trust us" and prove over and over again, that it's citizens CANNOT trust them.

How far are we willing to allow our rights to be trampled upon? Just how far? I ask our congress that is meant to be a check against an overwhelming Executive branch to start BEING a CHECK! Think about this, Republicans... You don't really worry about it now, 'cause your guy is in office. How are you going to feel about it if Hillary is the president in 2008? Are you still going to be happy with the president being able to ignore the constitution? Are ya?

Don't bloody well think so.

-- T