meta-roj

ok, just so i’m absolutely certain that my government has their priorities straight. the house committee on government reform has issued subpoenas for its hearings on steroid use in baseball. is this really the right place to address the issue?

Hearing slate not yet settled [san jose mercury news, march 11, 2005]

…in a letter Thursday to Major League Baseball, Davis and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, the committee’s top Democrat, pointed to a provision in House rules giving the committee authority “to conduct investigations of any matter” at “any time.”

well, in the interest of good sourcing, let’s find the rules in question… i’ve never heard this rule invoked in public discourse before. sounds pretty broad. sounds like the the kind of rule we should’ve heard about dozens of times as our government got into one stupid situation after another… does it really exist?

(c)(1) NOTE: Sec. 749. Government Reform. The Committee on Government Reform shall–
(A) receive and examine reports of the Comptroller General of the United States and submit to the House such recommendations as it
considers necessary or desirable in connection with the subject matter
of the reports;
(B) evaluate the effects of laws enacted to reorganize the
legislative and executive branches of the Government; and
(C) study intergovernmental relationships between the United
States and the States and municipalities and between the United States
and international organizations of which the United States is a member.
(2) In addition to its duties under subparagraph (1), the
Committee on Government Reform may at any time conduct investigations of any matter without regard to clause 1, 2, 3, or this clause conferring jurisdiction over the matter to another standing committee. The findings and recommendations of the committee in such an investigation shall be made available to any other standing committee having jurisdiction over the matter involved.

yep. there it is. any matter at any time. they picked steroids in baseball. a house committee with the broadest possible scope has picked steroid abuse. surely, this means steroid abuse is the most important issue in america today.

you’re kidding me, right?

education

psych

the voice

molly hatchet

obviously, not my america, but not my uk either.

sorry, british subjects… you may need one of these

could it be true? could the capture of the greatest threat to american security (excepting all others) have been a staged event?

Ex-Marine Says Public Version of Saddam Capture Fiction [upi, via wbwt tv, march 10, 2005]

A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated.

Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.

reminds me of rumors about kurds nabbing saddam, drugging him and leaving him in a hole for the americans to find. and something about trees out-of-season. oh, the conspiracy theories are so confusing.

but more importantly, does anyone trust the united states anymore?

video rental

just curious about the extent….

Cop Uses Taser Gun On Man Who Refused Urine Sample [wkmg, march 9, 2005]

Authorities say a police officer twice used a Taser stun device on a drug suspect who was restrained to a hospital bed because the man refused to give a urine sample to medical staff.

i’m sure this doesn’t qualify as torture in the New America, so what exactly is it?