Bill Richardson, Democrat, Governor of New Mexico, announced he will file his papers to seek the Democratic nomination for President.

Full Story:  http://www.unionleader.com/...

Although I need to get to know more about him, I really like what I see so far.  He's against the war in Iraq, he's against illegal immigration, and he's against gun control, and he supports drastic changes to our energy policy that would get us off fossil fuels once and for all.  Have we finally found a suitable candidate?

I'm curious, for those of you who are moderates, what are your thoughts about Bill Richardson?  What do you like and dislike about him? 

Here it is... The moment we've all been waiting for has almost arrived! In a little less than 2 hours, Saddam Hussein, enemy of G.W. Bush, Killer of thousands of his citizens, the former dictator of Iraq will be hanged.

Regardless of your views on the war in Iraq, regardless of how angry you are about the lives lost and the money spent, regardless of how you feel about the death penalty, Hussein is about to be killed in the name of democracy.

Considering how all of this has happened, that seems to me to be the biggest oxymoron created by our government since my birth, almost 35 years ago.

Granted, if anyone in the world deserves to die for his actions, it is certainly this animal. This horrible excuse for a man. But why are we really killing him? And why are we killing him like this?

The government has told us the reason is two fold. They have said it's to teach Iraq the importance of the rule of law, and it's to teach Iraq how to properly administer a democracy. Again, all we're showing them (and the rest of the world) is hypocracy.

There is no way we would be able to execute him under these circumstances inside the US.

There are two major reasons why Hussein should not be executed in this manner.

1. Hussein was tried by the new Iraqi government, installed by the US government, after deposing the former Iraqi dictator and capturing him as a POW. He was tried by the new government of Iraq for things he did when he was the government of Iraq.

Suppose for a minute you are hauling ass down a dirt road in your pick up truck. Your neighbors see this, and a few years later the area is incorporated into a city, the dirt road is paved, a code of laws is developed that creates a speed limit for that road, and you receive a traffic ticket for the day you were driving fast down that road before the new government came in and created all of these new laws.

This is precisely what has happened in Iraq. Hussein did a bunch of stuff that you and I both believe were horrible, so we invaded Iraq, installed a new government, created a bunch of new laws there, and have judged him and sentenced him for violating laws that didn't exist when he allegedly committed the crimes.

Some might say Hussein was tried for violating international human rights laws... I beg your pardon. That would not happen in Iraq. That would have happened in the Hague maybe, but not in Iraq.

2. It took 3 judges to try the former dictator, the second of which was fired from the job because he wasn't he wasn't perceived as strict enough, and people we worried he wouldn't have sentenced Hussein to death.

This whole process has been nothing more than a dog and pony show. It was a sham, not a real trial.

If they wanted him dead, they should have just shot him in that hole they found him in, instead of proving to the world once again what liars and hypocrits we are as a country.

Long live democracy! Long live hypocracy!

I hope we are proud of ourselves now.  I hope we're proud that we've invaded a foreign country under false pretenses, sacraficed soon to be 3000 of our sons and daughters, wasted hundreds of billions of dollars, re-enforced the terrorists idea of why they should be attacking us, and made the rest of the world more suspicious of us and more hostile toward us.

Well, I hope we can at least live with ourselves after doing this.

Lots of people are talking about elections right now...  From the upcoming presidential race, to the recent primary election SNAFU here in good old Kern County, just about everyone seems to have it on their mind lately, which brings up something that is really bothing me...

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I've lived in Kern County almost my entire adult life.  I've gone to school here, I've worked here, I've paid almost all of my taxes here, etc.  Now I've moved into a new phase in my life, and I'm planning to relocate out of the area within 3 years, but I still plan to own property here.

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What bothers me is this.  When it comes to owning property, it doesn't matter if you live in Kern County or not, if you own property here, you must pay property taxes.  However, unless I reside in Kern County, I cannot vote here.  That really bothers me.  It really feels to me like taxation without representation.  I believe if I move to and reside in San Diego county, for example, and I can show I pay property taxes in Kern County and Los Angeles County, then I should be entitled to vote in the local elections in all three counties.

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I'd love your thoughts on this.  Whether you agree or disagree, and why.  If you agree with me, I'd like to hear your thoughts on if and how this could be changed.

Would you please take a look at this persons weblog  

http://people.bakersfield.c...

and then tell me why a person would put their full name, address, and date of birth online for everyone to see?  Is this something the BC has done or has this guy volunteered to be the next identify theft victim?

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Certainly he can't be that naive.

http://www.bakersfield.com/...
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As much as I don't want Kern County to be sued, if Brian Carr is infact being harassed for his part in the Moore murder investigation/trial, and if he has reported the problems to the Sheriffs Department, and if the department has not taken steps to protect him, Carr should sue the county and he should get the "golden hand shake."
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I find it very hard to believe anyone in their right mind would assign Fowler supervise Carr's squad without intentionally expecting Carr to be harassed.
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You know if you're going to harass someone, you could be a little smarter about it and not use the husband of the woman Carr is testifying against.
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Is it just me or are these people really stupid?  They've set themselves up for one hell of a lawsuit and it's our tax dollars that will be used to compensate Mr. Carr.

Welcome to my weblog.  I meant for this to be my first post, but didn't have time to write it until now, and I just had to post that bit about Dr. Laura.  She's one of the worst media people I've ever encountered.

Anyways, I decided to start a weblog because I think Bakersfield needs to remember there's much more to Kern County than our beautiful county seat, and the politics and issues our county deals with sometimes looks a little different on the other side of the mountains, so I decided to provide you all with a view from East Kern County on local, state, and national issues that affect our wonderful County.

While most of you (Kern County is a very conservtive place, and I'm not very conservative) will probably not agree with my perspective, it's very healthy to be exposed to and discuss varying points of view, even if they're in conflict with your own.

Please feel free to leave your comments or send me a message.  Although you'll all probably think I'm way too liberal to be living in this county, I'm a pretty nice guy, as long as you don't try to force your religious or moral choices onto me.

You may have heard this before...I've seen it on the internet before. I am transcribing this text directly from 'The New Internationalist: The uses and abuses of Religion.' (August 2004)

***Dr. Laura Schlesinger is a talk radio host on KFI 640 AM who dispenses advice based on her religion (One part Jewish, two parts Christian) and her morality to people who call her radio show. This is a letter from an appreciative listener.***

Dear Dr. Laura,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. when someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle for example, I simply remind them that ~Leviticus 18:22- clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to follow them.

a) When I burn a bull on the altar of sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord. (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbours. They claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

c)I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstural uncleanliness. (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.

d) Lev 25-44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't own Canadians?

e)I have a neighbour that insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev 11:10), it is less of an abomination than homosexuality. Can you clarify this?

g)Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if there is a defect in my sight. I have to admit I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

i)I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

j)My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/ polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. is it really necessary to go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just bring them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev 20:14).

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your faithful listener,

P. Uzzled.