Sensibly Eclectic is Moving!

Due to popluar demand and some great feedback from our readers, we have created a brand new site for your eclectic pleasure, (hit the link above and see).

This site has had a lot of hits and some excellent contributors. So, we are moving upwards and onwards now.

While our current script software is not perfect, it does the job. The software we have chosen is certainly in major development and the authors have many features in store, so patience is important. Plus, we may try to do some hacks of our own as time and manpower permit. This is an evolution as well as a revolution.

We encourage our current contributors to sign up over there now, (just click admin). In a short time, we will give you posting permissions. Please be sure to read the guidelines and disclaimer before you begin.

Oh, and don't worry, not too long from now users will be able to post with limits and build up a status based on comments, etc., just like you are used to. For now, we will manually allow users to post.

Let's get that info flowing! Thanks to everyone who has made this possible.

Enron Tapes Should Be Nail in Coffin of Schwarzenegger

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 4 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Consumer advocates called on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez to give up deregulation components of their energy proposals in light of the devastating revelations found in recently uncovered taped conversations among Enron employees.

The tapes, which are available at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/01/eveningnews/main620626 . shtml, provide a curse-laden play-by-play of how energy companies stole millions from California and manipulated the deregulated energy market in the name of profit.

Some Big Conservative Donors, Unhappy With Bush, Say They Won't Back His Campaign

Some major donors to the Club for Growth, a principal fund-raising engine of the conservative movement, have said they plan to sit out this year's presidential election to protest what they see as the administration's big-government tendencies.

Bush Late for Meeting With the Pope

ROME - President Bush arrived 15 minutes late for his meeting with Pope John Paul II — unusual for a president who makes no secret of his impatience when others keep him waiting.

It was a rare breach of protocol in Vatican (news - web sites) City, too, and raised eyebrows in the papal delegation.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Based in San Francisco, EFF is a donor-supported membership organization working to protect our fundamental rights regardless of technology; to educate the press, policymakers and the general public about civil liberties issues related to technology; and to act as a defender of those liberties. Among our various activities, EFF opposes misguided legislation, initiates and defends court cases preserving individuals' rights, launches global public campaigns, introduces leading edge proposals and papers, hosts frequent educational events, engages the press regularly, and publishes a comprehensive archive of digital civil liberties information at one of the most linked-to websites in the world

If you ever want to hear the latest on where our civil liberties stand with regards to technology or have just recived a notice that says you are being sued by RIAA, eff.net should be your first stop.

Second Top Official to Quit CIA

A second top CIA official is to retire from his post, less than a day after the surprise resignation of the agency's director George Tenet.
James Pavitt, deputy director for operations, who was in charge of the agency's spies, is said to have made the decision some weeks ago.

The CIA says Mr Pavitt's decision was unconnected with Mr Tenet's departure.

But analysts say the move will mean more upheaval at a critical time for the agency

Transcript of Lou Dobbs in comments

U.S. Military Struggles to Maintain Adequate Troop Levels (Military recruitment is down)

The U.S. Army issued orders today that will keep thousands of soldiers in the military longer than they may have planned, in an effort to ensure there are enough combat-ready, fresh forces to continue serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Pentagon is facing another challenge to manpower: Recruitment is down.

The most alarming recruiting decline is in the Air National Guard. Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate panel today that recruiting is off by 23 percent.

Recruitment overall in the National Guard and the reserves is down several percentage points.

Airport Accused of Ejecting Woman With Anti-War Poster - Dallas, Tx

A 57-year-old woman says she was ejected from a terminal at the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport after showing military recruits an anti-war campaign poster. Carole Ward showed the recruits an 8 1/2-by-11 inch poster of a composite illustration of President Bush made up of the faces of soldiers who have died in Iraq. It bore the title "Faces of Death."

Some people found the poster offensive and the woman became belligerent with an American Airlines gate agent, according to Tim Wagner, a spokesman for the airline. He also said Ward made some passengers feel uncomfortable while waiting to board her plane during a thunderstorm Tuesday night and presented a security threat.

Terror Police Quizzed Guitarist Over Clash Lyrics

The guitarist in a rock tribute act was quizzed as a terror suspect after sending a text message containing lyrics from a song by punk rock act the Clash to the wrong person.

Band member Mike Devine, 35, the bass guitarist in a Clash tribute group called London Calling, intended to text the lyric from the band's song Tommy Gun to singer Reg Shaw - but sent the message to the wrong number.

Fahrenheit 911 - Watch the trailer

Very well done, gonna be a great movie.

Remember Fahrenheit 911 opens June 25th, nation wide!

Military: Soldier Injured In Cuba

The Army confirmed Tuesday that a former military police officer was injured while posing as a prisoner during a training session at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last year.

Baker said he posed as an uncooperative prisoner and was beaten so badly by four U.S. soldiers that he suffered a traumatic brain injury, requiring a medical discharge.

The Great Escape: 300 Saudis in 55 Planes

...new evidence shows that the evacuation involved more than the departure of 142 Saudis on six charter flights that the commission is investigating. According to newly released documents, 160 Saudis left the United States on 55 flights immediately after 9/11 - making a total of about 300 people who left with the apparent approval of the Bush administration, far more than has been reported before.

Enron Traders Caught On Tape

Four years after California's disastrous experiment with energy deregulation, Enron energy traders can be heard – on audiotapes obtained by CBS News – gloating and praising each other as they helped bring on, and cash-in on, the Western power crisis.

"He just f---s California," says one Enron employee. "He steals money from California to the tune of about a million."

"If you took down the steamer, how long would it take to get it back up?" an Enron worker is heard saying.

"Oh, it's not something you want to just be turning on and off every hour. Let's put it that way," another says.

"Well, why don't you just go ahead and shut her down."

That utility, like many others, is trying to get its money back from Enron.

"They're f------g taking all the money back from you guys?" complains an Enron employee on the tapes. "All the money you guys stole from those poor grandmothers in California?"

"Yeah, grandma Millie, man"

"Yeah, now she wants her f------g money back for all the power you've charged right up, jammed right up her a------ for f------g $250 a megawatt hour."

Let me just say that if I wasn't in such a good mood today and if I had their Addresses I would prb go to their homes and smash up their %&%&$ and then make them eat their *%^*$&*% and ....(Do other things that are not PG-13)

Economic evidence: rural farming

Seems as though farmers in rural areas are taking on the political arena after being discontent with the job Bush is doing. Mostly it emphasizes the economy--unemployment, cost of farm substances like grain, wheat, etc. Few even care about Iraq, but these farmers don't like it when their land is threatened.
It is interesting, because kngpmp pointed that out in the comment for "You know..." post. So I figured I should give a more nudge on it. I am aware of the other half who do care... I just had to get that off my chest (sigh). Yet these farmers are reluctant for choosing Kerry, also. They have the true republican heart. blah! Read up!

A Galaxy Devoured

Centaurus A is a well-studied galaxy about 10 million light-years away. Now it has been seen in even greater detail with the infrared eye of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This image, released yesterday, shows the remains of merger and helps explain the galaxy's history.

About 200 million years ago, this galaxy is believed to have consumed a smaller spiral galaxy, the contents of which appear to be churning inside Centaurus A's core, triggering new generations of star birth.

Never knew galaxies could devour each other, strange universe we live in.

UK Laws Could Allow Hybrid Human-Animal Experiments

Britain could become the first country where scientists successfully create a human-animal hybrid, thanks to a legal loophole allowing such experiments.

The wording of the government embryology watchdog's legal mandate means it has no power to regulate experiments in which human and animal material are fused to create new cells, the Times of London reported Tuesday.

Big Bucks for Biometric Screening

A group led by Accenture won a U.S. government security contract worth up to $10 billion on Tuesday to track foreign visitors using digital photographs, fingerprints and other "biometric" information.

The contract, awarded by the Homeland Security Department, covers five years with five one-year options after that. The package could be worth up to $10 billion, Homeland Security officials said.

Im wondering how much time do we have before all US citizens are biometrically scanned.

'Fahrenheit' has elder Bush boiling

The 41st President of the United States has stepped up to defend his son, the 43rd President of the United States, against "slimeball" filmmaker Michael Moore.
"I have total disdain for Moore," George H.W. Bush told us when we saw him at the T.J. Martell Foundation Awards gala, where he was honored along with Stevie Wonder and Dr. Daniel Vasella the other night.

We asked what he thought of Moore's use of the comment Barbara Bush made at the start of the Iraq war: "Why should we hear about body bags, and deaths? ... Why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that? And watch suffer."

Said her furious husband: "For him to take on Barbara is just beyond the pale. She's a decent, wonderful person, and to have to answer anything about what that slimeball says is just too much."

Crawford Mayor is Kerry Supporter

Crawford may be the heart of Bush country, but the town's mayor says John Kerry is the best choice for president.

"I don't see where I'm better off than I was four years ago," Robert Campbell said Tuesday. "I don't see where the city is any better off."

The Kerry campaign recently listed Campbell as one of 100 black mayors around the country - seven of them Texans - who support the Massachusetts senator over President Bush. But the campaign has not focused particular attention on the endorsement.

G.O.P. Seeking Congregations for Bush Effort

The Bush campaign is seeking to enlist thousands of religious congregations around the country in distributing campaign information and registering voters, according to an e-mail message sent to many members of the clergy and others in Pennsylvania.

Liberal groups charged that the effort invited violations of the separation of church and state and jeopardized the tax-exempt status of churches that cooperated. Some socially conservative church leaders also said they would advise pastors against participating in such a partisan effort. But Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the Bush administration, said "people of faith have as much right to participate in the political process as any other community" and that the e-mail message was about "building the most sophisticated grass-roots presidential campaign in the country's history."

NY Times article, see the rest in comments

Tip of the Iceberg?

Officials of the NSA and DIA declined to comment. But law-enforcement sources confirmed that the FBI has opened an investigation into the codebreaking leak. The investigation will look into whether Chalabi or his group supplied information about U.S. codebreaking efforts to the Iranians. But, given that Chalabi is not a U.S. citizen and does not have a U.S. security clearance, the more critical issue for investigators will be to find out who in the U.S. government might have leaked such highly sensitive information to Chalabi and the INC, some officials say. Law-enforcement sources indicated that the American investigation will likely focus on whether sensitive information might have been leaked to Chalabi by officials in either the Pentagon or the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.

One Bush administration official said that in addition to harboring suspicions that Chalabi had been leaking sensitive U.S. information to Iran both before and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, some U.S. officials also believe that Chalabi had collected and maintained files of potentially damaging information on U.S. officials with whom he had or was going to interact for the purpose of influencing them. Some officials said that when Iraqi authorities raided Chalabi’s offices, one of the things American officials hoped they would look for was Chalabi’s cache of information he had gathered on Americans.

Ozzfest 2004

Yes!!! Darkness is seeking your obedience to worship the almighty Ozzy! =:> Ozzfest 2004 is coming this summer with some hot line ups. Black Sabbath is reuniting with Ozzy after being gone for three years, and other famous rock idols such as Judas Priest, Slayer, and Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society will be there. Check out the web site above for more info on other bands and tour dates!

You know...

I've been thinking. Nobody gives a fuck about the economy and business etiquette, because they're too busy being scared of "terrorism." No one gives a fuck about the enviroment, because they are too busy being scared of "terrorism." No one gives a fuck that they are biassed of many things without proper disscretion, because they are too busy being scared of "terrorism." No one gives a fuck that their liberty is at stake by the executive power, because they are too busy being scared of "terrorism." And nobody gives a fuck when their minds are under complete control of something they adore, because they are too busy being scared of "terrorism." And my God I hope I am wrong.

Fahrenheit 9/11 Opens Nationwide Friday, June 25th.

Michael Moore (news)'s award-winning documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" has picked up a U.S. distributor and will hit theaters June 25.

The film will be released by a partnership of Lions Gate Films, IFC Films and the Fellowship Adventure Group, which was formed by Harvey and Bob Weinstein specifically to market Moore's film.

It's only TREASON.

President Bush has consulted an outside lawyer in case he needs to retain him in the grand jury investigation of who leaked the name of a covert CIA operative last year, the White House said Wednesday.

There was no indication that Bush is a target of the leak investigation, but the president has decided that in the event he needs an attorney's advice, "he would retain him," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said.

The lawyer is Jim Sharp, Buchan said, confirming a report by CBS News.
"The president has said that everyone should cooperate in this matter and that would include himself," the spokeswoman said.

She deflected questions about whether Bush had been asked to appear before a grand jury in the case.

Win-Win Spin-Spin

..last week Ashcroft (apparently unbeknownst to Ridge) announced the latest terror threat that is supposed to scare the crap out of us. He told us an attack is coming - the terrorists are "90% ready"

Now, should this "spectacular attack" occur prior to the elections, does anybody - on either side of the political fence - think for a second that such an attack wouldn't be the newest reason for why "we need to re-elect George W. Bush as President?" He will, no doubt, be then spun as "the tough man we need in these difficult times in wake of this horrible attack."

Got it?

He deserves to be re-elected because we haven't had an attack since 9/11. Unless we get attacked again. In which case, he deserves to be re-elected because we need him to keep us safe.

Goodbye Miranda

The Supreme Court reinstated a 17-year-old's murder conviction on Tuesday, ruling 5 to 4 that the California courts were not wrong to disregard his youth in deciding that the police were not obliged to read him his Miranda warnings before questioning him.

It's a NYT article, so I'll post the full article in a comment (don't want to clog the main page).

The Bush-bin Laden Connection

An intriguing sideline to the War On Terrorism lies in the murky Texas ties that existed between the Bush and bin Laden clans before September 11th. According to the official story, the rest of the huge bin Laden family has disowned Osama. While this argument creates a moral firewall for anyone dealing with the other bin Ladens, the firewall is undermined by circumstantial evidence to the contrary.

After W. lost a bid for Congress, he decided to launch an oil company in Midland in 1979. For $50,000, Bath bought a 5 percent stake in W.’s Arbusto (Spanish for "Bush") partnerships. At the time, Bath also served as business agent for several prominent Saudis, including Salem bin Laden. In exchange for a percentage of the deals, Bath made U.S. investments for these clients in his own name, according to Time. Although Bath has said that he invested his own money in Arbusto, not Saudi money, the fact that he was Salem’s agent at the time has fueled speculation that Osama bin Laden’s eldest brother was an early investor in W.’s first oil venture. It was around the time of this investment, incidentally, that Osama bin Laden made his first trip to the Khyber Pass, where he would soon join the Mujaheddin and the CIA in the holy war that expelled the Soviets from Afghanistan. (Salem, for his part, owned a house in Marble Falls, and died in a 1988 plane crash near San Antonio.)

Turning The Tide

"The official weblog of Noam Chomsky, including exclusive, original observations drawn from personal correspondence, ZNet Sustainer Forums posts, and direct blog entries"

I think Chomsky is right on target with most of the important issues of our world.

Harpers Index for May 2004

"Years in prison to which two ex-Pentagon officials were sentenced last year for taking bribes of money and prostitutes : 24 [U.S. Department of Justice (Alexandria, Va.)]

Number of years a North Carolina man has been in prison for stealing a television : 33 [Rich Rosen, UNC School of Law (Chapel Hill)]"

Just some interesting facts...