Obsessive compulsive lego artist, meet looney cat loving christian type.

Catholic Sex Scandal Timeline.

Almost forgot the Catholics.

Indictment says $700K stolen from local church

Prosecutor: Ky. pastor spent cash on Porsche.

Hey, a two-fer.

When former Christian Heritage Party leader Graham Capill was preaching the good word he was also raping and molesting young girls...

...it was alleged in court today.

It NEVER ends.

I am just fascinated by non-lethal weaponry.

The real thing to remember of course, is that they are by definition used against people who are in fact usually NOT being violent or using lethal force themselves.

If they were, the authorities would just shoot them.

Something to ponder: Why do you need to use ANY weapons on people who are not being violent?

Still, probably beats a boot to the head, or tazer shock.

Wonder what the long term effects are.

So, my friend Chuck, who actually reads this blog on occassion...

...is just short of being addicted to long distance running.

Which is really funny considering the fact that until just a few years ago, he smoked Camel unfiltered and was generally one of the most layabout sofa spuds you could ever meet.

This link is for him.

Hi Chuck.

Ok, as a general rule, I find politicians to be a pretty sordid lot (see prior posts).

Even the ones whose talking points I generally agree with.

Here's a guy who seems to be alright:

Eliot Spitzer.

New York State Attorney General.

Might just be the next guv-uh-nay-tah of New York.

From the above link: "liberals have hailed his take-no-prisoners approach as a runaround of corporate-captured federal agencies, courts, and Congress."

Sounds like my kind of guy, the kind of guy to get under the skin of the Bush administration.

Gonna be fun to see what kind of dirt they sling when the 2006 New York Governor's election nears.

Ok, let's go back a couple of posts.

CONDITIONS FOR CURRUPTION:

Concentration of power in decision makers who are not directly accountable to the people as often seen in non-democratic regimes.

Lack of government transparency in decision making.

Costly political campaigns, with expenses exceeding normal sources of political funding.

Large amounts of public capital involved in a project.

Self-interested closed cliques and "old-boy" networks.

Weak rule of law.

Weak legal profession.

Minimal freedom of speech or freedom of the press.

Poorly-paid government officials.

Apathetic, uninterested, or gullible populace that fails to give adequate attention to political processes.

Absence of adequate controls to prevent bribery or so-called "campaign donations."

So, in case you were wondering WHY we should be concerned, click, clicky de above linky.

Set phasers on stun.

Makes more sense than a "gay bomb."

More.

Caption contest.

Man this guy even grits his teeth when he smiles.

Leave comments with your suggestions.

Best web site of the day.

And it's sister site which until recently was called Disinfopedia.

And how does corruption happen?

You just need the right conditions.

From the above link:

• Concentration of power in decision makers who are not directly accountable to the people as often seen in non-democratic regimes.
• Lack of government transparency in decision making.
• Costly political campaigns, with expenses exceeding normal sources of political funding.
• Large amounts of public capital involved in a project.
• Self-interested closed cliques and "old-boy" networks.
• Weak rule of law.
• Weak legal profession.
• Minimal freedom of speech or freedom of the press.
• Poorly-paid government officials.
• Apathetic, uninterested, or gullible populace that fails to give adequate attention to political processes.
• Absence of adequate controls to prevent bribery or so-called "campaign donations."

Uh-oh.

We may be in trouble.

Old News

I mean REALLY old news.

If you've ever wondered how these bastards think they can get away with the levels of graft, greed, corruption, speculation, favoritism, et cetera they've been doing lately well you just need to go back and look at American History.

They've been doing it for 400 years.

I recommend a book called "Stealing from America: A History of Corruption from Jamestown to Whitewater."

It's a nice little omnibus about the corruption that has shaped the American political landscape over time.

Very few events in our history have escaped the convoluted mechanations of small cabals of men making fast grabs for money and power, it's just that now their power grabs are more exposed, not less.

Did you know that the ENTIRE gold market of the U.S. was almost cornered by just two (that's right TWO) guys in 1869? It caused "Black Friday".

It is much more difficult to get away with huge land grabs and giveaways today, as there are mechanisms in place to expose all the shitty things they try to do.

Why do you think they have to buy up all the media and lie so vehemently about, well, everything?

'Cause we are watching.

Oh, by the way, one of the REALLY serious watchsigns of government corruption is when a residing president tries to appoint someone to a post who has flagrantly stated that the institution he is being assigned to govern should be dismantled, reformed or otherwise done away with. Teapot Dome taught us that. Albert Fall, the major player in that affair, was installed as Secretary of the Interior. He believed that the Department of Interior should be abolished and the federal government had no right to supervise or control the nations resources.

That was almost 100 years ago.

Sound like anyone we know?

How much you wanna bet that the Iraq war ends up costing more than $1,000,000,000,000?

I'll bet you a trillion dollars.

That's a lot.

Oh, and this is an interesting subject...

It might have a name or two you recognize.

The second guessing of CIA field work by conservative hard liners that overstates enemy capabilities to shape national and foreign policy.

Huh, where else have I seen that?

Now I live and work and raise a family here in lovely Washington (state).

And I am pretty sick of my republican friends going on about the 2004 Governor's election being bogus.

People in glass houses.

Everynow and then, you can just type something into the google-o-matic and have fun.

JACKPOT!

I don't know if he's right, wrong or just plain nuts, but he needs a class in web design.

I mean SERIOUSLY.

He is in jail though, so I'll cut him some slack.

Speaking of jail, here is everything you ever wanted know about prison populations.

Here is a chart that breaks down offenses by type.
(Violent, Drug, Property, Public Order)

Here is another.

Can't wait til they add "Terrorism" to the list.

Oh, wait those are all "detainees" or "enemy combatants" not prisoners, so we don't count them.

Oh, and pray you never EVER end up in the Pike County Jail in Pennsylvania.