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Olbermann calls for Bush / Cheney to RESIGN.

The Editor's Column
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/7/4 8:40:52 (650 reads)

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Read the D.O.I. Lately? Eerie...

The Editor's Column
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/7/3 16:52:55 (925 reads)

D.O.I. is the Declaration of Independence. We all know the first couple of paragraphs, but when you read the reasoning offered by the Founding Fathers, it is really eerie how close it seems to the current situation with the Bush administration. Seriously.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.


He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.


He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.


He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.


He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.


He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.


He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.


He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.


He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.


He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.


He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.


He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.


He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:


For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:


For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:


For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:


For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:


For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Remember the reasons the founding fathers pledged their lives, fortune, and sacred honor. Support checks and balances to avoid tyranny. Brought to you by the Founding Fathers and WhosPlayin.com

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Traitor Libby Gets AMNESTY

The Nimrods Never Cease to Amaze Me
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/7/2 21:23:58 (943 reads)

Convicted traitor Lewis "Scooter" Libby has had his prison sentence commuted by President Bush. There are two justice systems in this country: One that applies to normal folks like you and me, and one that applies to politically connected crooks.

Libby was convicted for obstructing justice in the case of the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Outing a CIA operative can cause agent deaths, torture, and the compromise of intelligence operations. Bush is SO done now. He's a disgusting hypocrite, and an accomplice to a crime. WORST. PRESIDENT. EVER.


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Late-night Ponderings

Links, Thoughts, and Open Thread
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/6/30 2:04:25 (1043 reads)

Well, it's another sleepless night here - at least for me. MamaSk8z is snoring loudly next to me, and I am writing - about nothing in particular.

Today I had a very bad case of Fridayitis. I'm on vacation all week this coming week, so I was able to crack open a beer just before 5 today, and enjoy some time sitting on the front porch, playing my guitar, and conversing with neighbors.

Work has sucked lately due to a lot of travel, and just general burnout. I hope that the coming week will refresh me a bit in that regard.

It's been really interesting lately to watch the growth of readership of WhosPlayin.com. It is exciting to see an upward trend, and even more exciting when you suddenly get a spike of readers, like we had with our 99 cent wedding story, which at 5460 reads right now, is the most popular post I've ever written here.. I always hope that general interest stories like that will bring more regular readers.

I had started writing a bit of an outline as to where I hoped for the website to go, and the niche I wanted it to fill, but it sits in the folder of unposted items, still waiting for me to finish. I suppose that if I had to do this for a living, it would be no fun. The joy in blogging is writing about what you want when you want to. I have no deadlines, and I have no mandates of "must cover" materials.

That being said, I think that for a person who lives in Lewisville, you could do worse than to set your homepage up for WhosPlayin.com. With the news feeds, local coverage, opinion, and photos, everything you need is at your fingertips. If there's something I could add that would make it the perfect homepage, let me know.

One of the things that has hit me pretty hard lately - a gut shot, if you will- is that I cannot change the world by myself. I know it sounds simple, but a lot of times, I find myself highly frustrated when I don't see people stepping up to the plate to take on tough issues, or stand up to politicians that let us down, or sell us out. In the course of my coverage of the Lewisville Council elections, and in my time in the Democratic Party, I've learned so much that it's humbling. Basically in a nutshell, what I've learned is that each person should do what they can do at the level they can do it, and not try to bite off too much. Sure, it's tempting to say "If I were in charge, I would..." but that's not where change starts.

True change starts within the minds and hearts of individuals, who gradually come to realize that their previous perceptions were wrong, or that there is some imbalance or imperfection in "the way things are". As a father with two boys - now 8 and almost 7, I realize that family is the first level of governance. For myself and my family, we make our own "Energy Policy". We try to teach our children non-violent dispute resolution. We protect the environment by taking it upon ourselves to just do it. We don't wait for government to tell us to. We make our household an example of what we choose to make for our world. Others volunteer their time and money to fill in where government fails.

For me, my circle of influence may be small now - and that's ok with me. But I'm out here opening up my life to the general public and speaking my mind. It may be considered by some to be a Career Limiting Move - but I'm compelled by patriotism (and sometimes sleeplessness or boredom) to tell my thoughts, and let people know that I am a Texas Democrat, and I am your neighbor.

I've not done a perfect job as a citizen journalist, to be sure. One of my greatest failings here on this blog, I think is to have expended so much effort trying to play "gotcha, you S.O.B". There are plenty of other worthy news outlets for that sort of thing. Not that there isn't a place for it here when other news outlets fail, but it doesn't come without risks. It can cause more polarization and politicization of things - which is expressly NOT my intent here.

You know, in person, I absolutely LOVE talking politics - especially with those folks that consider themselves conservatives. Reason being, that I used to be one. I do tend to eschew labels for myself, but what I find, 90% of the time, is that when I talk to conservatives, there is more to agree on than to disagree on. And on the points where we disagree, we often agree that they're not that important.

OK, I'm rambling. I know it. Happens when I'm tired. Just have to do some more brain dump. Bear with me.

So another thing I find interesting is the amount of readership of this blog by folks on Capitol hill. We get an awful lot of hits from the Washington, DC area. We get a lot of .gov hits, a few .mil hits, some hits from the City of Lewisville's computers, and dentoncounty.com. I think it was interesting that last week, I published a piece called "WhosRunnin, WhosNot" where I shared some gossip that has been piling up regarding our local Denton County politicians. Within one hour of the website being viewed by someone at house.gov, there was a post from the Republican chairwoman disputing some of what I said. Definitely shows that there is a line of communication from Washington back to the local Republican Party.

Lastly, an administrative thing: I am embarrassed to admit that I simply cannot get this website's email feature to work correctly. It has prevented users from being able to register and post blogs and comments. If you've tried to register, and failed, feel free to email me and I'll activate your account. Unfortunately, we have to control access to prevent spam. I end up deleting at least 6 posts per day from spammers. I rarely if ever, would delete a post or comment with anything substantial in it - even if I disagree with its content. We had a pretty good discussion here recently about health care policy reform, and I'd like to use that as an example of the type of civility that would be ideal for this website.

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Upcoming Interview with Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX 26)

The Editor's Column
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/6/28 17:03:43 (1168 reads)

Though we regularly take our U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX 26) to task in this venue for what we view as irresponsible voting, Burgess has shown himself again to be a gentleman for agreeing to be interviewed for this blog.

I'll be asking tough questions about his continued support of the occupation in Iraq (which he has stated is not an open-ended commitment), his 2008 re-election bid (whether or not he's running) and other topics.

I very much appreciate and respect the civility of this move. I've been trying for weeks to get a conversation with him, since as you know - his letters and emails toe the party line with talking points. Our country faces some very serious problems, and I strongly believe that our elected representatives need to explain themselves when their actions seem out-of-sync with their constituents' interests.

Because it's OLD and fairly uncivil of me to still have the GOP dunce hat picture on the site here, I'll be replacing it soon with something more appropriate. I know it's fun to play with PhotoShop, and it's a fair bet that I'll continue to do so when circumstances warrant.

Look for the interview sometime around July 4th. If any WhosPlayin readers have questions they would like to direct to Congressman Burgess, feel free to post them here, or email them to me: ses (at) whosplayin (dot) com.

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Summit and Fair on Energy Efficiency - Denton, TX

The Editor's Column
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/6/26 17:11:51 (1541 reads)

From Congressman Michael Burgess' office:

Summit and Fair on Energy Efficiency

Saturday, July 14, 2007
9:00am – 12noon (formal program at 9:30)

Gateway Center
University of North Texas
801 North Texas Blvd., Denton, TX

Special Guest: U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell

Seminars Include:

  • Existing Home Energy Conservation
  • New Home Construction
  • Transportation

  • "We must all do our part to strive for an energy independent America. On Saturday, July 14th, I will bring together leading experts in energy conservation and technology to discuss their ideas and encourage you to be energy efficient. Supporting conservation, funding research universities, and expanding the commercial application of renewable energy systems are just a few projects that are top priorities to ensuring a better life for us all. This summit will also include a fair with information on the latest energy efficient products. In the 26th Congressional District, we run the gamut on renewable energy – from solar panels to wind turbines. We are leading the nation, and I want to encourage you to participate as we bring energy efficiency into our daily lives."


    – Michael C. Burgess, M.D.

OK, folks. Burgess talks a good game when it comes to Energy Efficiency. So why does he consistently vote against improved fuel economy standards and other governmental initiatives that would help our economy move into the "Green Revolution"? I encourage everyone to go. While you're there, ask Burgess why so-called "deregulation" failed to bring the promised lower electric prices to Texans. You might remind him that residents of the Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston MSAs pay TWICE the national average for electricity, and that it's a big turnoff for manufacturing business that would move into these areas.

See you there!

From the 2006 election cycle:

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Potty Loyalty

Links, Thoughts, and Open Thread
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/6/26 7:15:16 (1236 reads)

Marsha Keffer is a long-time Denton, TX resident, and loyal Democrat. She has decorated one of her bathrooms in her house in a distinctly Democratic motif. Click on any of the pictures to see a better quality photograph. You've got to see this.

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Denton Peace Activist Murdered (Updated)

The Editor's Column
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/6/22 11:00:03 (5238 reads)

David Honish was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head, in his still-running pickup yesterday, June 21, 2007. His brother has been arrested in connection with the slaying.

Though I had only known David casually through our participation in several demonstrations, I'm shocked and saddened. David was a fellow member of Veterans for Peace, and will be sorely missed. May God rest his soul and bring peace and comfort to his family and friends.

I'll post memorial information as soon as it becomes available.

UPDATE - 6/26/07
Mr. Honish's remains have been released by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office for transport to the Picha Funeral Home in Lake Belton, WI - (608) 253-7884. Memorial arrangements are still pending, and the funeral home had no information about any Denton-area services. His body is expected to be cremated.

As expected, the Medical Examiner has ruled the death a homicide, caused by gunshot wounds to the face and neck.

I do not have information about whether Mr. Honish had any other family in the Denton, TX area, but if not - perhaps the Veterans for Peace and Peace Action Denton groups could come together and plan a memorial service for him.

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Residents of Oak Point, sick of Mes'cans' Jibber-Jabber

The Nimrods Never Cease to Amaze Me
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/6/21 17:30:25 (1088 reads)

The tiny town of Oak Point, in Denton County, just passed a resolution naming English the official language of the city.

Pegasus News has the story

Basically the resolution lets the city off the hook for providing information about city services and such in languages other than English.

I can understand the strain on a small town with a tight budget, dealing with paying translators, but something gives me the feeling this is about more than our love of the English language, and trying to save money:

"This resolution, like the one in Farmers Branch, will show Washington that we don’t approve of this damn Amnesty Bill and that people are fed up with taxpayer dollars going to enable people to not learn the language of this country," said [Councilman Jim] Almond.


Text of the resolution can be found here.

For what it's worth, I think that English is the "National" language, and definitely a predominate language. For towns in North Texas, if folks are going to live here, they would do well to learn English - this applies to citizens and non-citizens. Children who speak English in the home do better in school. Adults who speak English can get better jobs. (Bilingual adults get even better jobs) I think this issue is a good example of how people with different motivations can arrive at the same opinion, but for different reasons.

I've grown tired of seeing Latinos being scapegoated for all of our society's problems. I hope I don't live to see the day that some fascist American dictator puts Mexicans on cattle cars and sends them down to a concentration camp for the crime of being here. Oh wait - that's right. There is a concentration camp. It's called T. Don. Hutto. Lord help us all.

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Justice Scalia's problems with fact vs. fantasy

The Nimrods Never Cease to Amaze Me
Posted by WhosPlayin on 2007/6/20 22:33:20 (893 reads)

Our friend, the Gonzomuckraker points out that Supreme Court Justice Fu^&nut Antonin Scalia apparently thinks that torture is hunky dorey because "24's" Jack Bauer does it

"Are you going to convict Jack Bauer?" Judge Scalia challenged his fellow judges. "Say that criminal law is against him? 'You have the right to a jury trial?' Is any jury going to convict Jack Bauer? I don't think so."

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