Israel Strikes Syria?
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgAccording to the AP, Syria reportedly complained to the United Nations about an Israeli airstrike within its borders. NY Times A U.S. official confirmed this week that...
View ArticleDarfur and UNAMID
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgThe United Nations - African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was approved by the UN Security Council nearly two months ago. The hybrid peacekeeping force would be the...
View ArticlePrecedents for the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act
The constitution is under assault. Neo-conservatives, christian theocrats, and the current administration are all attacking the very reasoning that has underpinned our society for over two hundred...
View ArticleWhy Atheism?
I was recently turned on to a post by blogger Greta Christina titled Atheists and Anger. It is a very lengthy post, but many of what brought me to atheism is encapsulated nicely there. I want to pull...
View ArticleLiveblogging: New Hampshire Primary Results
I didn't intend to post any such diary, but perhaps we need it. Kos is posting interim results on the frontpage, but you can get realtime results (like the news stations) from politico.com. Results are...
View ArticleA Letter to Speaker Pelosi: Agendas and Impeachment
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgDemocrat Nancy Pelosi has from the beginning of her term as Speaker of the House refused to engage in discussions about impeachment. I saw her attempt to duck the...
View ArticleThe Status of the Polar Bear
The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming recently heard testimony concerning the polar bear's status as a threatened species. The Bush administration has been delaying the...
View ArticleWhy Not to Drill for Oil... At All
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgThe arguments for drilling are thickly numerous this weekend. I have heard supply must be increased to decrease the price of gasoline. I have heard it's all Clinton's...
View ArticleMy Vote - 2008 General Election
Crossposted from Smokeymonkey.orgThings are a bit interesting in this largely Democratic district. I live on the southeast side of Tucson, Arizona. Therefore, I am in the 8th Congressional district,...
View ArticleThe Journal, Nature, Endorses Barack Obama
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgOne of the world's premier scientific journals, Nature, has published an editorial essentially endorsing Barack Obama. This journal does not have a vote, and does not...
View ArticleBetween Iraq and a Hard Place: The Status of Forces Agreement
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgThe Iraqi Parliament has voted to approve the status of forces agreement (SOFA) that has been discussed for some time. This agreement will force US combat troops out...
View ArticleProgressive Proposals on Climate Change
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgThe link between climate change and energy policy has been established in the mainstream. Every oil company advertises their "green" research; every car company...
View ArticleSins of Abortion: The New Catholic Doctrine
I've often detailed my opposition to religion being one of rational acceptance of reality versus the desire to submit the world to myth. Nothing is more egregious to me than the impact of religion on...
View ArticleThe United States Tortures
The United States of America tortures people. This is common knowledge now. The Senate Armed Services Committee has shown the administration from Bush to military commanders are responsible for our...
View ArticleMost Disastrous President
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgGeorge W. Bush is the worst and most disastrous president ever. I am loathe to publish this article before his term has actually, finally, ended, because there is still...
View ArticleEnergy Independence and Security Act of 2007
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.org and at CongressMatters.comI was just diddling through the legislation passed by the 110th Congress, and I thought I'd look a little more deeply at some of the...
View ArticleUS Blocks Call for Ceasefire in Gaza
I've gone well beyond the outrage I feel at this administration's every action into a realm of pure disgust. The neo-conservative chickenhawks want the destruction we are seeing in the Middle East from...
View ArticleMy Inauguaration Day Thoughts
This was a historic day. The transfer of power in this country should be the foundation for peace throughout the world. With eyes red from overwhelming joy, I write my happy and sad thoughts.
View ArticleFate of Bush's Faith-Based Initiative
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgUnder republican rule, the evangelical right has gained a great deal of ground in their war to restore medieval ('traditional') values. A major thrust of their...
View ArticleAn Environmentalist at the EPA?
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgPresident Obama's pick for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lisa Jackson, has assumed her role in the administration. Her first official act...
View ArticleArizona Senators Fail Children
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.org and on CongressMatters.comBoth Senators Jon Kyl and John McCain, republicans of Arizona, voted against SCHIP legislation that easily passed the Senate on a bipartisan...
View Article"Belief" in Evolution: More Proof America is Stupid
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgGallup reports that only 39% of Americans believe in evolution. On Darwin's 200th birthday, we, the American people, still don't "believe" in evolution. Naturally,...
View ArticleObama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighbhorhood Partnerships
I recently wrote about the Fate of Bush's Faith-Based Initiative, and President Obama has answered with an Executive Order continuing Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (FBCI) as...
View ArticleA New Era: Responsibility
You hear it frequently from conservatives, even the unelected ones: it's all about personal responsibility. Why do we need the government, they will say, if we each take responsibility for ourselves...
View ArticleGlenn Beck is an Idiot
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgThis just has to be mocked. Glenn Beck has decided to list some principles that define his concept of the American psyche, one that "surrounds" my concept somehow. ......
View ArticleDomestic Terrorism and Rightwing Extremism
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgThis should probably be filed in the obvious category, but it is nice to see my government get it right for a change. From the Department of Homeland Security's Office...
View ArticleDebating Republicans, One Myth at a Time
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.org. I don't often write much any more as there are plenty of others saying what I want said. Should they not be heard, I will add my voice. However, I do not feel I...
View ArticleTerrorists Strike Capitol - Guard Killed in DC
A security guard at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC was murdered by a white supremicist today. An elderly gunman opened fire with a rifle inside the crowded U.S. Holocaust Memorial...
View ArticleGeorge Will is a Shameless Liar
George Will is a shameless liar. This could be said of many republicans and conservatives, as their only ideological hope in the face of reality is denial and lies, but it is especially egregious from...
View ArticleThe Stability of America
I am not scared. I am furious. I am not worried or concerned or tempted to ask, "What has happened to my country?" No, I understand the American culture. I believe the stability of America is at...
View ArticleI Will Not Be a Bonanza
From the LA Times: "It's a bonanza," said Robert Laszewski, a health insurance executive for 20 years who now tracks reform legislation as president of the consulting firm Health Policy and Strategy...
View ArticleAdmiral Mullen Blames America First
Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.orgIf there is a more insulting canard than the claim by many rightwing nutcases that a given criticism puts someone in the "blame America first crowd", I'm sure it would...
View ArticleSt. Patrick's Potluck: My Guinness Stew Success
It has been so long since I posted a diary (8/28/2009) that I've got to figure out a whole new interface! Kidding, I've been lurking for a year and a half, largely disheartened by what hasn't really...
View ArticleBreakfast, Smokeymonkey Style
Saturday, a day to wake up late, read the latest hate mail-a-palooza, and make some afternoon breakfast for my wife. She's a big fan of eggs; I'm not so much. So I developed a recipe that both of us...
View ArticleMonkey's Baby Back Ribs
Oh, yeah, it's rib night!I recently received a wonderful gift from my wife's employer: a cylindrical smoker. The best I've been able to do thus far with it is pork baby back ribs. I won't start any...
View ArticleMy Last Supper - Canh Chua Cá Tôm
If you could only have one last dish before dying, what would it be?A recent episode of Top Chef got me thinking: What would my last supper be? What is the one dish that I would want to experience...
View ArticleRoad Trip, or My Journey to Jacksonville
Moving is a part of my life. In fact, it is probably a part of life for a great many people in a mobile nation like the United States. With a car and some gasoline, you can journey across the country...
View ArticleReview: Nippers - My First Top Chef Restaurant
When I first arrived in Jacksonville, FL (read my travel diary here), I made a point of hooking up with a close cousin. My mother's youngest brother met his wife here many years ago, and my cousin was...
View ArticleI'm in the South Now: Fried Green Tomatoes
I have always loved fried green tomatoes. I'm not sure why it is considered a southern dish other than that it is ubiquitous here. My first experience with green tomatoes was from my grandmother's...
View ArticleA Simple Veggie Stir Fry
I love to cook the simple stuff. I have no passion for complicated sauces and techniques that require years of practice. I'm interested in sharing the simple pleasures of a quick meal made from fresh...
View ArticleUnusual Cuts: Oxtail Stew
Oxtail just sounds cool. It is really just the tail of a standard beef cow, cut into vertebral sections. There is actually quite a bit of meat on these pieces typically, and the bone is porous -...
View ArticleMonkey's Famous Salsa
Okay, so it's only famous with my friends and family.One afternoon when I was in college, I set a study date with a girl that I was hot for. I have no idea what we were studying, and, no, I never...
View ArticleCooking Adventures: Elk
New Year's weekend was a great time for me and my wife. We visited my father and step-mother at their farm, which I had not seen since the days when the only permanent structure was an outhouse he...
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Healthy Eating: Blackened Fish with Pesto
Our basil pot I've been working for the last couple of months, so I haven't been cooking as much. My wife has taken up the slack quite well and made some great stuff. She's also been able to start a...
View ArticleI voted for Hillary today, but Bernie is awesome
The 2016 Florida Democratic Primary will officially be March 15, 2016. However, as any citizen of Duval County can do, I have registered for an ‘absentee’ or mail-in ballot. I received mine today,...
View ArticlePerspective - My 6000th Comment on DailyKos.com
The tip jar for this diary will be my 6000th comment on the site. Don’t Frist me, dude!Suffice it to say I’ve been here for a while, and it has changed my paradigm in a significant way.If you care to,...
View ArticleA few questions for 'responsible' gun owners
I grew up in the Midwest, spent over 10 years in Arizona, and now I’m in crazy-ass Florida. I have talked to so many people that own guns, love their guns, shoot their guns often, that it is just a...
View ArticleHurricane Matthew: From a Jacksonville Kossack
Mothership. Please use this as check-in, updates, whatever.I’m in the middle of Jacksonville, FL. Apparently, i get a front-row seat to a historic hurricane.Here is what I know:- Storm surge is...
View ArticleMy Hurricane Matthew Experience
So I survived Matthew in Jacksonville, FL. It didn’t really affect us too much, but the neighborhood in general took some damage from falling tree limbs. At least one tree uprooted on a power line...
View ArticleOur Iraqi friend is coming to Chicago!
Just a quick story.After six long years, a friend that my wife has cultivated on Facebook will be on a flight from Amman, Jordan to Chicago, IL, USA very soon!Let me tell you, this man’s story is worth...
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