Category: Society

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Bush thumbs his nose at Congress

Back on Thursday, March 27th, Bush pulled his nomination of ambassadorial nomination of Belgium, A Republican donor, Sam Fox (uh no, not THAT Sam Fox) was the head of Bush’s reelection effort in Missouri and gave $50,000 in 2004 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a brand name, controversial group that ran campaigns questioning Kerry’s Vietnam record and smeared his records in the public eye with beyond lies.

Then this week, with the Senate on recess, Pres. Bush railroaded the appointment back through – a tact that allowed the president to bypass Congress while they are on break, and fill vacancies – known simply as Recess Appointment Power.

Senator Kerry stated “It’s sad but not surprising that this White House would abuse the power of the presidency to reward a donor over the objections of the Senate. This nomination was withdrawn because the Administration realized it would lose in the Foreign Relations Committee,”.

Bush also used his recess appointment authority to make Andrew Biggs deputy director of Social Security. The president’s earlier nomination of Biggs, an outspoken advocate of partially privatizing the government’s retirement program, was rejected by Senate Democrats in February. (Fox News)

At this point, his political maneuvering (or is that “manuring”) should not surprise any and disgust most. This isn’t the first recess appointment, the White House installed John Bolton at the United Nations with the same action. We should even admit that Pres. Bill Clinton use the recess appointment option to install James Hormel as an ambassador to for the US to Luxembourg. Hormel was originally blocked by the republican controlled congress because he was gay, and Clinton used his authority to appoint him because he didn’t believe sexual orientation has anything to do with the ability of a person to command the responsibilities of a professional position.

Bush’s appointment is out of spite and he’s still catering to his dwindling base which at this point should be looking for more important wins than a “thank you” appointment. What bush’s actions here tell us is that for the next two years, he’s not going to get anything done, (because of the apparent opposition against him by the Dem controlled congress), and he’s use what ever opportunities that present themselves to conduct selfish political maneuvers.

I think at one time in Civics class I understood the Congress to be the branch of the government designed to provide checks and balances to the other two branches of government and in this case the authority to provide “advice and consent” to make treaties and appointments of federal officers, ambassadors, and federal judges. Bush’s actions purposely avoid those authorities, not for moral, authoritative or legal responsibilities but to appease a personal agenda. So much for democracy in terms of government of the people, by the people, for the people…

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Weekender

A couple good finds this weekend. Saturday went out all night with the locals to watch the final four at a friends house in the upper west. Unfortunately G-town went down even after I thought they had the momentum to take it. The Gators came out on top with a stomping of the best defensive team in the country, UCLA. Great work as the Gators have a repeat of their Florida match up, with Ohio St (keep in mind the Gators blew out Ohio the last time they played, by 26 points).

Off to the Mill, the Gator’s central haven in NY for a few pitchers, games and the gator chants… “It’s great to be…” Not long after we broke off to go to Karma, a spot I will never go to again.

How ironic their name begets a tranquil and positive vibe, when the environment, employees and management promote nothing of the sorts. For one, there’s a line to get in, once in, the spot is barely 30% occupancy. I despise bars/clubs that create an artificial line to give the illusion, it’s a hot spot and they are at capacity. Drinks here are expensive and when asked for a hookah I was charged 15$ for what I found out was actually a $10 charge for girls or other patrons. Not sure if the surcharge was to add a tip for the waitress but this was bull shit. Last they have DJ playing dance tunes for both the upstairs and downstairs, yet they don’t have a cabaret license and will use this excuse to selectively kick out the guys to improve the girl-guy ratio they try to maintain.

So when half my friends were asked to leave, and not the women they were dancing with, we bounced.

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Loss of Bee

There’s been some significant news coming out about the decline in the numbers of Apis mellifera, also known as the European honey bee, the world’s most widely distributed semi-domesticated insect. This news doesn’t just mean a shortage of honey for toast and tea. In fact, the economic value of honey, wax and other bee products is trivial in comparison with the honeybee’s services as a pollinator. However, more than 90 crops in North America rely on honeybees to transport pollen from flower to flower, effecting fertilization and allowing production of fruit and seed. Let’s say that again. 9 of 10 crops rely on the bee to pollinate and grow to harvest. The amazing versatility of the species is worth an estimated $14 billion a year to the United States economy.

There’s still no concrete evidence about what is killing the millions and billions of bees around the country, but there are a lot of guesses. One of those is called Colony Collapse Disorder phenomenon:

The phenomenon is recent, dating back to autumn, when beekeepers along the east coast of the US started to notice the die-offs. It was given the name of fall dwindle disease, but now it has been renamed to reflect better its dramatic nature, and is known as colony collapse disorder.

It is swift in its effect. Over the course of a week the majority of the bees in an affected colony will flee the hive and disappear, going off to die elsewhere. The few remaining insects are then found to be enormously diseased – they have a “tremendous pathogen load”, the scientists say. But why? No one yet knows. (from Celsias)

The latest body of evidence has brought under scrutiny the huge risks of using Genetically Engineered crops and in this case, in particular insect resistant crops producing the Bt-toxin have caused parasite infected bees die at a higher rate (Organic Consumers Association).

Other notes: NY Times opinion