Dyre Portents The Rantings and Ravings of a Radical Moderate Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 136 6046

Articles from Dyre Portents

Memorial Day 2007-05-28 10:02:54 And when the wind in the tree-tops roared,The soldier asked from the deep dark grave:"Did the banner flutter then?""Not so, my hero," the wind replied."The fight is done, but the banner won,Thy comrades of old have borne it hence,Have borne it in triumph hence."Then the soldier spake from the deep dark grave:"I am content." Then he heareth the lovers laughing pass,and the soldier asks once more:"Are these not the voices of them that love,That love--and remember me?""Not so, my hero," the lovers say,"We are those that remember not;For the spring has come and the earth has smiled,And the dead must be forgot."Then the soldier spake from the deep dark grave:"I am content." ...

The Nature of the Beast 2007-05-28 01:42:34 Courtesy of LGFThis one makes the Hammas' Version of Mickey Mouse look tame. An elementary school play complete with suicide belts and AK47s ...

If you only read one other blog post 2007-05-28 00:00:56 this month make it this one. Seriously. Quit reading my crappy post and go read the good one. ...

Daily KOS Turns 5 (and still acts it) 2007-05-27 02:48:17 Kudos to Atrios at Eschaton for this post: Worst American Birthdays Vol. XVI The Daily Kos, born on this date in 2002, is perhaps the most malevolent force in American politics today. Since its establishment, it has done everything possible to silence other voices through the establishment of its diary system, to stop the progress of progressive candidates by bankrolling (with the help of its primary backer George Soros) a series of neo-Nazis like Ned Lamont, and has been openly hostile to the concept of open politics on the internet with its insistence on supporting "net neutrality" and an internet free of FEC regulation.When historians look back on the decline and fall of America, May 26, 2002, will mark the point when order turned to anarchy, where liberal society turned to fascism, where our political discourse was snatched away from our betters and handed over, without thought to consequence, to the dirty masses whose ignorance and incivility drove our elites into hiding and our c ...

Please Chip In 2007-05-27 02:05:46 Joe Gandelman founder of The Moderate Voice needs a little help from his friends. His Father is stricken with lung cancer and multiple types of pneumonia and this happened very shortly after he moved his blog to Wordpress Pro. (1200$ minimum). Joe makes a living entertaining/educating children for a living. In order to deal with this time of crisis he's had to cancel shows and buy plane tickets etc etc etc. TMV has been around for years and was voted the Best Centrist Blog of 2006 so it's not like I'm asking you to help out some schmuck like me.So please drop by and hit his tip jar if you can. If you don't have any spare change then at least post a message on your blog asking your readers to help Joe out.As for me, I've already put my money where my mouth is.Note: I do not advise anyone to just go to TMV and click some ads. That would be wrong. Very wrong. Shame on you for even thinking that. ...

Senate Reneging on TX State Park Funding? 2007-05-27 00:56:43 I doubt if anyone but me recalls but I first brought up this topic Jan 20 2006Senate interest may be waning in parks funding AUSTIN ? The lawmaker pushing a major funding increase for state and local parks is worried that Senate leaders are losing their will to rehabilitate Texas' ailing park system. "I am concerned. ... There is not really a champion in the Senate," House Culture, Recreation and Tourism Chairman Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, said Friday, three days before the legislative session ends. "I'm championing it here, and I champion it in the Senate, too," Hilderbran said about his efforts to lift the sporting goods tax cap on revenue that flows to state parks. "I'm going over there, bursting into meetings with the lieutenant governor and other people on other bills, saying, 'What in the hell's going on? You promised this.'" More than 20 of the state's 31 senators originally signed on to legislation to remove the cap, but questions about the funding and ...

Problem and Solution Update 2007-05-27 00:51:20 So while I was busy working on the proposal to the Sierra Club I came up with a way to fund my proposal and that is this: The creation of a Conservation Impact Fee on building permits. The fee would be based on the total square footage of the buiding project. How's that for an idea?So then I suggested that the state coordinating group of the Sierra Club compile a list of hunting clubs, fishing clubs, gun clubs, birdwatching groups, and environmental organizations along with the contact emails of their current leader. Then they contact the following two organizations Republicans for Environmental Protection and The Audubon Society and enlist their aid on this project. The list is then split up 3 ways REP contacts the gun, hunting and fishing clubs, The Sierra Club contacts the Environmental groups, and the Audubon Society the birders and enlist their aid in an E-Campaign to promote my idea. We'll have a site for Pennies for Parks set up so that visitors can email or fax the Governor ...

Problem and Solution 2007-05-27 00:50:55 We got our copy of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine and inside on the very first page is a sort of State of the State Parks Address and the long and short of it boils down to this:1: They get this much money at the beginning of the year: 51 million dollars2: They pay back this much money in entry fees and sales per year: 32 million3: Actual cost to the state per year: 19 million dollars for 124 parks and historical sites4: Which averages out to a cost of 170,000 per park per year or 1 cent per park per Texan5: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept had to fire 39 employees and eliminate 40 open positions this year due to budget constraints.Texas ranks 48th or 49th in Park spending.One Penny Per Park? What a bargain! I mean if I have a Park pass (60$ per year) I can visit every single state park and historcal site in texas at a cost of 61.24$ to me. However I have a son so it costs him a about a buck and a quarter too. So that's 62.48$ as park passes covers everyone in the car.I'd pay ...

First U.N. Peacekeeper Killed in Darfur 2007-05-27 00:09:46 Gunmen in Darfur kill U.N. peacekeeperA United Nations peacekeeper who was among a small group of reinforcements sent to Darfur was shot to death at his residence ? the world body's first casualty since its long-negotiated arrival in the troubled region, officials said Saturday. Gunmen looted the home of the U.N. peacekeeper ? an Egyptian lieutenant colonel ? in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, and fatally shot him late Friday, the African Union and U.N. said. "The senseless killing of an innocent man in the confines of his residence is beyond comprehension," said Hassan Gibril, the deputy head of the AU mission, at a memorial for Lt. Col. Ehab Nazir. The gunmen who killed him were thought to be burglars, but an official close to the investigation said authorities would not exclude other motives. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. In Cairo, the foreign ministry deplored the Egyptian officer's death and condemn ...

Introducing Saturday Open Trackbacks and Comments 2007-05-26 02:16:59 There are only two rules keep it clean and no sales/marketing trackbacks/posts.Knock yourself out. ...

Texas Divests from Sudan 2007-05-26 01:07:07 ?Stop the Darfur Genocide Act? Garners Unanimous SupportAUSTIN, TEXAS (May 15, 2007) ? Senate Bill 247, the ?Stop the Darfur Genocide Act?, passed the Texas House of Representatives unanimously today. The bill has already cleared the Texas Senate and is on its way to the Governor?s desk, pending a procedural vote tomorrow. Governor Perry endorsed the targeted divestment legislation in his inaugural address and State of the State speech.The bipartisan legislation, led by Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale (R ? Tomball) and Senator Rodney Ellis (D ? Houston), has over 85 co-authors and enjoys tremendous support from both ends of the political spectrum. Religious conservatives and liberal activists found common ground and formed an alliance to pass the legislation in Texas. The bill is similar to legislation that has already passed in 12 states and is currently pending in 15 others.SB 247 would require the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) and the Employee Retirement System of Texas (ERS) to ... Texas

An Open Letter to America 2007-05-25 20:42:34 Dear America,America is sick. In fact we've been ill for so long we've forgotten what a clean bill of health feels like. Our diseases' symptoms are rampant corruption, influence peddling, and apathy that have rendered America almost senseless. What should be an outrage is now the status quo. Those that we have charged to lead this great nation have instead carved up this nation with the intent of selling it off to the highest campaign contributor. And we allowed this to happen. We even make jokes about it. But its not funny and it will destroy this great land if we allow it to continue.Believe me when I tell you that I am not overstating anything. What your average American has failed to realize is that in addition everything I have stated that the current march of globalization will soon have our leadership beholden to foreign owned corporate and special interests if this is not stopped.The good news is there is a simple solution. The bad news is that our current leaders, corpora ... America

Token Ethics Bill Passed in the House 2007-05-25 17:02:21 Ethics Legislation Easily Passes HouseBy Elizabeth WilliamsonWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, May 25, 2007; A01Prodded by Democratic leaders and by freshmen elected partly on promises to clean up Washington, the House approved new ethics legislation yesterday that would penalize lawmakers who receive a wide range of favors from special interests, and would require lobbyists to disclose the campaign contributions they collect and deliver to lawmakers.Party leaders and new lawmakers worked until the day before the vote to sway some longtime members who had balked at the proposals. It took weeks of persuasion by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other key lawmakers to convince recalcitrant Democrats -- among them some members of the speaker's inner circle.The new proposals, which in the end passed overwhelmingly, would expand the information available about how business is done on Capitol Hill and make it available online. They would provide expanded, more frequent and Internet-acce ...

U.N.-AU draw up plans for large Darfur force 2007-05-25 15:13:04 By Evelyn LeopoldReutersFriday, May 25, 2007; 8:55 AM UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations and the African Union drew up plans for a peacekeeping force for Darfur of more than 23,000 troops, police and other personnel to protect civilians and be able to use force to deter violence.The so-called AU-UN "hybrid" force still has to be approved by the U.N. Security Council and the AU's Peace and Security Committee and then submitted to the Sudanese government.U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the Security Council could adopt a statement as early as Friday on the 40-page plan."I think that is a positive development," he said. "Now the ball will be in Sudan's court."Sudan has not rejected the force but various top officials have said the number of troops were too large and that the United Nations should finance and augment the African Union force of 7,000 with logistics, command and control functions, transport and financing. moreTo stay up to date on the crisis in Darfur visi ...

New Strategy in The War Against Spam 2007-05-24 22:03:29 Hey, at least its a war that everyone can support.From the BBC:Backing for tool to battle spam The DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) system is a method of validating the identity of the sender of an e-mail. Spammers hide their identity by using a false, or spoofed, address in the millions of messages they send out. DKIM uses encrypted digital signatures to prove a message's origin and a draft standard has been accepted by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The IETF is the umbrella group representing firms such as Yahoo, Cisco, Sendmail and PGP Corporation. The firms have pledged to work with ISPs, businesses and financial institutions to roll out the technology as soon as possible. Protecting e-mail users from scams was a top priority, sai ...