Four Articles Encouraging Impeachment of George W. Bush

The Center for Constitutional Rights recently released Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush, a $10, 144-page paperback they’re encouraging you purchase for your House Representative (that’s where impeachment hearings need to start).

From Onnesha Roychoudhuri’s interview at Alternet.org, here’s the basics of the 4 articles:

  1. Warrantless wiretapping of Americans in the U.S.

    “This constitutes a violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which prohibits and makes criminal any wiretapping without a warrant.”

  2. Falsifications used to justify the Iraq war.

    “You reference any particular day and the administration was making statements that Iraq has a relationship to 9/11, al Qaida and Osama bin Laden; that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. In the one and a half years leading up to the war, the time during which they were making these statements, they knew that they were false.”

  3. Torture, arbitrary long-term detentions, disappearances and special trial.

    “Our law is very clear on these things. You can’t torture people, you can’t commit war crimes, you can’t send people to countries where they’re tortured and you can’t set up special courts for trial. The Geneva Conventions are a part of our law…”

  4. All of the prior three articles together

    “If you look at these things together, you see that they are essentially destroying our republic and our democracy. They are destroying the constitutional structure of our government. Therefore, he should be impeached.”

Wow. This list even leaves out Bush’s poor handling of Katrina, Enron, Plame, and the Dubai Port deal.

Impeachment hearings for Clinton were initiated for crimes not at all related to our national security. Everything on this list is a national security and constitutional issue.

Not good for Bush. Not good at all.

Based on a quick Google News search, 4 towns in Vermont, San Francisco, and 28 of the 435 House Reps have voted for investigating grounds for impeachment.

Of those 28 Reps – MNs own Martin O. Sabo. Rock the House, Martin.

Patriot Act Misuse – Ignorance or Opportunism

Thanks to Bruce Schneier for pointing me to Mark Steyn’s excellent ‘Long war’ is Breaking Down into Tedium column in the Sun Times.

Steyn lists out some actually happened examples of companies and financial institutions invoking the Patriot Act without reason. Given the complexities of most legislation and the Asking Questions = Unpatriotic attitude of the current administration, I can see how this could happen.

Fortunately, Steyn provides ammunition if you suspect overly-zealous corporations are misusing the security bill:

“…we have a policy of reporting all erroneous invocations of the Patriot Act to the Department of Homeland Security on the grounds that such invocations weaken the rationale for the act, and thereby undermine public support for genuine anti-terrorism measures and thus constitute a threat to America’s national security.”

What’s the Opposite of Tarjey?

When we lived in Evanston, there was this Target just a few blocks away. Stuff on the floor, expired milk in the aisle, very un-Target-like.

We got into the habit of asking people about whether or not a particular Target was “good.” We came back up here for a wedding and asked the clerk at the hotel where the closest Target was and if it was good.

She looks at us flatly, “All Targets are good.”

That may be. The Targhetto Project over at Magnetbox uses Twin Cities income and home sale data to calculate which one might be less so.

My local ranks: 145

Amazing Race Season 9 – Episode 2

“Then what are we going to do, hook up with hippies” – Jeremy

So, Team Pink thought they could get a boy to help them build the motorcycle last episode? So, they didn’t watch any of the past seasons.

Roadblock: Fire Drill
Jen’s doing it (yes, you still gotta call it in armchair racing). We finished tonight’s House prior to starting The Amazing Race tonight. Eric’s banter about Team Pink is right out of, well, Boston Legal.

Detour: Press It or Climb It
Half a liter of sugar cane Ethanol for your VW Bug or a 90 ft rope climb. Rope climb for us. Huh, pretty cool that the old Bugs can take Ethanol.

Feels like the editors are trying to put Monica and Team Pink in the same “naughty” light.

Anyone know why the dentist couple has bandages behind their ears? I’m guessing nicotine patch.

Garrick’s Favorites

  • BJ & Tyler – #1, Nice Oprah Hug® guys.
  • Dave & Lori – #4
  • Ray & Yolanda – #7

Tuesday Music – Seven Standouts from SXSW 2006

Here’s my second set of favorites from the 2006 SXSW BitTorrent, 7 this time. A little background on the process: I’ve got all the songs in an iTunes smart playlist – anything with the album of ‘SXSW 2006 Showcasing Artist’, playcount less than 1, and shuffle is on.

Today’s a pretty serious heads down work day, so the songs listed here break through the din of background music in the first listen.

  • Under the Bed by Stephen Clair
    Coincidentally, Jen’s had “Working 9 to 5” stuck in her head for a week now. This is an updated version of that song, not sung by Dolly Parton.
  • St. Patrick’s Day by Neck
    I didn’t realize how much I missed the House of Pain, until this track came up.
  • What if She’s an Angel by Tommy Shane Steiner
    Like any genre of music, country can be trite, clichéd, sappy, and sentimental. Sometimes this works – my favorite example is Hank Williams III. Other times it’s just plain awful. On our longer drives (>3 hrs) for entertainment, Jen and I regularly tune to a country station in hopes of finding that one awful, trite, sappy tune. Well, no need to scan the FM dial this summer – this is that song.
  • Shimokita Dream by The Emerald
    This song reminds me of the time David Carson typeset a interview in dingbats for Ray Gun magazine. It doesn’t matter what language (or typeface) the words are in, the song’s the same as a thousand others. It’s a catchy, driving, poppy punk tune.
  • Poison Control by Old Haunts
    A quick dose of Olympia, WA – a little grungy, a little Ramones, and the voice – what a voice.
  • She’s Gone by P W Long
    There’s very little better in this world than a man singing to his whiskey glass about a love lost. This tune wins best lyrics of this collection with, “She’s not going – she’s gone”. Honestly, I’m not sure if PW’s referring to his woman or ordering another shot. I envision PW being on one end of a bar in El Dorado and Robyn Ludwich on the other, after recently parted ways.
  • Nice Day by Persephone’s Bees
    I’m a sucker for a seductive female singer telling me what a fabulous day it is. Especially on an overcast March day like today.

AT&T – Getting an Annoying Band Back Together

With the recent purchase of Bell South, it’s like you’re least favorite band getting back together for a reunion tour. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth but at least it’s hard to ignore.

Of all the telecom services the new (same as the old) AT&T offers; mobile, long distance, local, DSL, etc. Only 1.5 of them matter; DSL and mobile. Mobile only matters until a wifi cloud approximates current mobile coverage. Leaving DSL – high speed internet services. Everything else can ride on top of that. (Yes, I’m seriously considering dropping our remaining landline phone for a Skype number.)

This means Net Neutrality is the telecom issue. More on this in Public Knowledge’s Good Fences Make Bad Broadband article.

You Have a Higher Tolerance for Ambiguity in Your Thinking Styles

I suspect anyone who spends more than 5 minutes with me could conclude that, including this neuropolitics.org survey.

Here’s their entire first impression of me:

“Your responses are consistent with the following attributes: You have a higher propensity for large-group social bonding. You have a probable elevation in your dopaminergic activation system. Your right prefrontal cortex is more involved in your political decision making than your left. Your olfactory system plays a less than average role in mating behavior. Indicators of enhanced left prefrontal and bilateral temporal activity in humor detection. Temporal cortical regions are facilitating diminished behavioral inhibition. Color preferences may indicate an enhanced dopamine level in your visual cortex. Responses point to a probable increase in activity in the right anterior cingulate and amygdala. You have a higher tolerance for ambiguity in your thinking styles, and a greater inhibition of your left inferior parietal cortex. Your responses indicated a tendency to classify facial expressions as more threatening, and an elevation in activity in your right amygdala. Overall, your cognitive style is balanced between your left and right hemispheres.”

Weblog, Podcast, Videoblog Workshop – March 25, 2006 at Acadia Cafe

If you’re interested in starting a weblog, podcast, or videoblog and don’t know where to start, come by the Acadia Cafe (1931 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403) on March 25th between 2-6pm.

I’ll be there, with (hopefully) many other local bloggers, podcasters, and videobloggers to show you the ropes. Everyone leaves with more knowledge than they left with.

Bring what you have, Learn what you need, Share what you know.

Wanna help or be helped, put your name in the comments and the times you’ll probably be by the Acadia.

See you there.

More on the Uplifter movement at Uplifter.org

So, there isn’t a panel or anything as formal as that. I’ll be near the door saying ‘Hi’ and helping people in search of bloggy knowledge find those with it that are already there.

Real Estate Agents and Dodo Birds

Steven and Stephen, the dynamic duo behind Freaknomics have a bit on Real Estate Agents being added to the Endangered Species list in the New York Times.

Nothing new to anyone with a little understanding of the real estate market and how the internet has dissolved both travel agents and stock brokers. The more conversations I have about the real estate industry, the more I see how ripe for change it is. Nice to see the issue in the NYT.

Let’s say it takes 5 years of owning a home to make it worth the closing costs. Now, let’s say the home sales slow just a tad. Just enough to push out the timeframe to 7 years. As the NYT article reminds us, 7 years ago stock brokers and travel agents had yet to be replaced by online tools.

Now just might be the last opportunity to sell or buy a home with an agent.

Two Tips for Cingular to Improve Customer Service

I caught Matt Ritchel’s Suddenly, an Industry Is All Ears bit in NYT on how Cingular is trying to improve their customer service.

On page two of the article, Ritchel identifies two small, yet high impact changes Cingular could make to dramatically improve their customer service experience:

“There is also a timer that tells the representatives how long the call is taking — the goal is to average less than 500 seconds a call, or about eight minutes.

The databases also instruct representatives how to address hundreds of billing and technical questions for a hundred different phones and multifunction devices.

To gauge the success of its new efforts, Cingular has deployed an automated questionnaire that gives a third of callers a chance to rate their customer service experience.”

First, drop the timer. Or if you must keep it, don’t show it to the representatives. Removing it will keep them focused on solving the customer’s issue rather than racing the clock. The representatives can’t serve both masters equally. Replace it with a metric more reflective of the business; subscriber counts, churn rates, or the stock price.

Second, send the questionnaire to every caller via email immediately after the call ends. A third might return with useful responses. That’s OK. Offering it to everyone means you care about every customer – not just some random third.