SSDY (Same Stuff, Different Year) -- Almost

First off, a happy and productive new year to all. This is year two of the blog, and, owing to feedback and posting interests, I've split my 'Pulse' blog into three:

• The Pulse, discussions regarding politics and personal life,
  
• HaDofeq, Middle Eastern-related political and personal posts, and
  
• The Ping, technical and technological posts

I'll be doing political, social and personal commentaries on this blog. So, without further delay, let's start the New Year off with a list of things recently realized:

• Getting out of Iraq is akin to stepping out of a crocodile's mouth -- after he's shut it. Elections only prove that ink works on fingers in that part of the world. But don't take my word for it...
  
• If they're not troops, and it's electronic, I guess Posse Comitatus doesn't count and we can chase after those sneaky reporters instead of worrying about the silly NSA cuties.
  
• So long as your spouse doesn't get paid to do nothing, a politician's spouse can be paid any amount so long as he or she is not absolutely immobile
  
• Indians really are givers, and the White Man hasn't lost his touch at taking
  
• We seem to be helping al Qaida along in its mission to extend it's terror reach
• We're investigating the former House Majority Leader DeLay (check this out!) and current Senate Majority Leader Frist for financial improprieties, and investigators will be working in 2006 in a target-rich environment as they try and tabulate just how much bribery and graft has gone on since our nation's checks and balances were thrown off kilter.
  
• The laws enacted by an outraged Congress after Watergate have been broken by a President who can't be bothered follow the laws (after all, we're trying to catch terrorist law-breakers!). Watch the US ignore the protests from the judicial bench!
  
• The Average American, with crushing credit card debt and no appreciable rise in their standard of living is no better off now than before Bush and his criminal cronies took power. We are sinking into debt at a rate that boggles the imagination; check out these graphs:

To the left is a graph of the US national debt (up-to-date).

The chart to the right is a drilldown of the national debt for the year 2000, the year the Bush administration stole into office.

I have a cure for any despondency this entry may have caused you: talk to your neighbors, co-workers and friends about the issues. Don't let this administration turn away yet another fiasco into more looting opportunities. Refute, respond and admonish people spreading falsehoods. And most of all, don't give up; the mid-term elections are coming, and many current "peoples' representatives" in Washington are going to need to file change-of-address forms before the year is out.

This is a year of action, and of change. Don't lose hope.

An important footnote: I'm honored to be able to provide an occasional cartoon commentary as drawn by the incomparable Richard Bartholomew, whose rendition of the NSA appears in this blog. He has a web site with additional cartoons, and a blog.