Drug-Sniffing Dog Becomes Latest Victim of War on Civil Liberties

An innocent Springer Spaniel named Max who was used by a police department in Devon (the one in southern Britain) to violate the human rights and civil liberties of people who chose to possess recreational drugs has been euthanized after coming down with an extremely rare and aggressive nasal tumor. Although there is no scientifically demonstrated link between nose candy and nose cancer, Max's vet refuses to rule it out as a potential cause since this type of cancer is so rare in dogs, and Max spent most of his life inhaling things most dogs normally don't. Max's owner, a cop named Ispector Higgins, is quoted in the Telegraph saying,

He was a fighter until the end and always very dignified. He has had a good life and a successful one as a police dog. Just think of all the bad people he managed to put away.

"Bad people." Hm. That's a loaded statement. While I'm very sorry for Inspector Higgins' loss, I would like to point out that Max might [would probably] be here now if he hadn't been trained and used on a daily basis to violate the privacy of people who are obeying all the laws of common sense [by not doing things that victimize other living beings]. No one has the moral authority to tell other mentally competent and consenting adults what they may or may not smoke, snort, swallow, inject or otherwise ingest in the privacy of their own homes. The "War on Drugs" is a transparent farce--an excuse for corrupt and fearful governments to assert physical control over their populations. It is also a massive and perverse monument to the power of corporate pharmaceutical, alcohol, and tobacco lobyists. Max is its latest innocent victim. His life could have been much more fulfilling if he had died of tumor caused by sniffing explosive residues.

First Presidential Debate Makes Clearer What Some of Us Already Knew

During last night's presidential debate, John McCain did an excellent job of projecting the image of a cranky, misinformed, narrow-minded, older straight white guy who can't think beyond his anger at the fact that the world and most of the people on it have changed around him despite his static position of inherited wealth and the power it can buy–most likely while he was napping. He is the kind of guy I would avoid sitting next to at a diner counter or corner bar so as not to ruin a good meal and/or beer with psycho-socio-racial-pathic heterosexist bile that should have been vented to a paid therapist in the Twentieth Century. When pressed by the moderator to answer a specific question about the economy with specific proposals rather than general campaign slogans, he recites the polysyllabic names of former Soviet naval ports, proving only that some cells in his brain containing memories from the 70s and 80s are still alive. He can't pronounce the name of the current, elected leader of Iran and becomes visibly annoyed when circumstances force him to make an attempt. I wouldn't trust him to conduct me safely through any of Philly's rougher neighborhoods after midnight without unnecessary gunfire and bloodshed, let alone to conduct two wars [one of which is completely illegal and counterproductive] in my name and allegedly on my behalf.

In addition to his poor and unsurprising performance in the debate, McCain has previously made clear his intention to prolong the Republican and Christian extremist-orchestrated suspension of our Constitution and Bill of Rights in order to continue the proactive denial of basic human rights to all non-heterosexual Americans, which he did not make any attempt to recant last evening. Before the debate, that was the deal-breaker for me. Now I don't feel so much like a one-issue voter.

I wish Obama would have been a little bit more assertive, but I agree with most of the specific proposals on his web site, which means I'll still vote for him. I suspect at this point he'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar anyways.

Help Slow Down the McCain-Palin Cabal With Ghost Contribution

Go to this online contribution link for the McCain-Palin cabal and enter garbage data. It will waste their time and money. And the best part is, they'll think you were referred by Matt Drudge's blog. If this doesn't sound like enough fun for you, see if you can do it using only obscenities or Obama campaign memes.

McCain Campaign Continues to Shelter Palin from Real People Who Have Real Questions About Her Qualifications to Lead

Under the very close guard and control of dozens of lethally armed men in dark suits and sunglasses, Christoextremist candidate for vice president, Sarah Palin, delivered a very well orchestrated speech at a Republican retirement community just outside Disneyworld on Sunday, proving once again that she is capable of reading out loud while moving her lipstick. Members of the press as well as the general public were forbidden from asking Ms Palin any questions so as not to expose further her complete lack of qualifications and knowledge that many believe are required to run the United States without risking global financial catastrophe or a full-scale nuclear conflagration.

Reason Number 48 to Vote McCain-Palin

Despite what the Constitution and Bill of Rights say, you think it is a good idea to use the secret service to prevent American citizens who happen to disagree with the president and his surrogates from exercising their right to assemble and protest peacefully.

Reason Number 49 to Vote McCain-Palin

You think the best way to combat homelessness is to elect people who have lost count of their houses.

Reason Number 50 to Vote McCain-Palin

You would like to live in a country in which the new vice president ushers in an era of change by removing all the offensive and Satanic books from the Library of Congress.

Ganymede's Ghost Begins New Feature

Beginning this evening and continuing daily until the second Tuesday in November, Ganymede's Ghost will be providing one unique reason to vote for McCain and Palin in the upcoming US presidential election. In the event of travel beyond the corporeal plane of existence or the internet [which some people still do intentionally], more than one reason will be supplied on the day prior to travel [or the day after return].

What Does Ronald Reagan's Former Speech Writer Have to Say About the Republican Vice Presidential Nominee?

You can find out by clicking this link, which will take you to Youtube.

What Happens When a Man Who Stole the Presidency Through Fraud and Intimidation Is Allowed to Rule a Cowed Populace for Eight Long Years?

Many so-called law enforcement officers become inflated with a generalized and pervasive disrespect for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Before you know it, even corporate media reps are getting arrested and carted away by cigar-smoking, jack-booted thugs for engaging in perfectly safe and legal activities that happen to annoy members of our political elite.

Boycott the 2010 Census [Unless They Decide to Allow Their Workers to Record Data Accurately and Truthfully]!

According to this story in the Silicon Valley Mercury News [that I read about on Pam's House Blend], the US Census Bureau has announced that it plans to instruct its employees to lie when recording data about married gay and lesbian families in the upcoming 2010 census. Because of the irrational refusal of the federal government to acknowledge the existence of non-heterosexual marriage, [which those taking the red pills often attempt to excuse by uttering the magic incantation, "Well, it's because of DOMA,"] federal workers recording data for the upcoming census will be instructed to "classify" married non-heterosexual couples as "not married." The full effect of all this inaccurate data is yet to be determined, but it might have something to do with lower funding for social programs in communities with higher concentrations of gay and lesbian families.

A good way for gay and lesbian families to respond to this affront to their dignity might be to boycott the census entirely and refuse to provide any data beyond a statement such as, "Due to the federal government's pig-headed, naive, irrational, and superstition-based refusal to acknowledge the nature of reality as it pertains to the existence of non-heterosexual marriage, this household refuses to participate in the 2010 Census in any way." I think that might be technically illegal, which would make this an act of civil disobedience. You have been warned. However, I personally have refused to participate in the census and sit on federal juries since the mid-nineties for the very same reasons and have never had to face any consequences.

American College Students Banned from Withholding Personal Contact Information from Military Recruiters

In a clearly desperate attempt to maintain troop levels more than five years into an ill-conceived, ill-fated, illegal, and disastrous invasion of Iraq, the Defense Department has dreamed up a new, superdraconian interpretation of existing draconian regulations that clearly interfere with the free speech rights of every employee of every university in the country that receives any federal funding whatsoever. If the DOD gets its way, students who request that their respective universities withhold personal academic, demographic and contact data (such as academic interests, home addresses, and unlisted phone numbers) from military recruiters will have to have that data withheld from ALL prospective employers, even if those students specifically request that that information is withheld only from military recruiters. The DOD is very well known in the United States for its discriminatory and unfair treatment of gay and lesbian citizens. It is unclear why it has become so intent on obtaining the personal data of many folks it would never hire because of its own discriminatory and abusive policies.

Coincidence?

We think not. Today Dick Cheney's offices were engulfed in flames and billowing smoke (thank goodness no support staff were injured) while Bush-Cheney junta stoodges cried alligator tears for the media after being exposed lying to the American public about how they didn't really or actually did encourage the CIA to destroy all of its taped intorturegations.

Editor of Ganymede's Ghost Is Old Enough to Be Father of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Over 12,000 military careers have been cut short since we decided to allow gay and lesbian Americans to serve their nation secretly fourteen years ago. Apparently not asking is not the same thing as witch hunts that solicit unsubstantiated accusations from a soldier's piers.

US Park Service Police Ignore Constitution to Violently Supress Peaceful Demonstrators

So far, most corporate media [except for French-owned AFP] seem to be ignoring what happened in Lafayette Park yesterday. Long story short, a hopefully massive antiwar demonstration in DC is scheduled to coincide with the release of the Bush-Cheney "report" on Iraq by General Petreus on September 15 [in yet another craven attempt by the Bush-Cheney junta to confabulate their disaster in Iraq with the Saudi islamoextremist-sponsored terrorist attacks against the US on September 11, 2001]. One of the groups sponsoring the peaceful demonstration, ANSWER, was threatened with a $10,000 fine for using the wrong kind of tape on posters advertising the demonstration unless they removed all the posters. Yesterday, less than a dozen members of ANSWER held a press conference in Lafayette park to demonstrate a new adhesive that would appear to conform to DC's legal guidelines, at which point they were charged by mounted US Park Service Police "officers." Secret sources within the Bush-Cheney junta claim that Bush has already signed a supersecret signing statement exempting all executive branch employees from following the rule of law so the victims no longer have any legal recourse.

It's probably better to have no Attorney General rather than a craven, self-serving one dead set on subverting the Constitution and the liberty and justice for which our ancestors fought and died.

Homeland "Security" Inappropriately Targets Gay, Lesbian, and Environtmentally Concerned Americans for Intimidation and Harassment

Apologists for the United States' pathetic and deplorable slide into fascism [and especially for allowing the Bush-Cheney junta to get away with election fraud twice] would like to explain away this web page as the ramblings of a bigoted Alabaman whose internet user privileges need to be curtailed. The page was pulled down after a minor hubbub began to swirl around it on the web. [Of course, most corporate "news" outlets ignored the story until the existence of widely read independent bloggers made that impossible.] Ganymede's Ghost obtained the copy shown above from a Google cache after simply searching the Alabama Homeland Security URL for the word gay. It was the only hit despite the fact that they tried to remove it. Having just been singled out for antigay harassment by a homeland "security" associate myself [for the putative offences of wearing a belt and forgetting to remove my keys and iPod from my pockets at an airport checkpoint] over a thousand miles away from Alabama in the birthplace of our liberty, I suggest that this web page is indicative of a national policy directive that is not yet widely publicized.

LA Cops Respond With Disproportionate Force

And a happy effen May Day to you, too. Apparently, a few dozen troublemakers, in a crowd of thousands demonstrating for fair legal treatment of economic migrants, started trouble with the cops and messed things up for everybody. Still. Two wrongs don't make a right, and the LA cops look very wrong. These scenes are especially disturbing to me because I've seen MacArthur park on what would pass for a better day in downtown LA, and it's very close [by LA's car-dependent standards] to the homes of two close friends.

Here's some more free publicity for gay and lesbian human rights activists in the Aborted Confederacy. This time, a major daily on Long Island is reporting on arrests made down the coast in [the Old] South Carolina at Bob Jones' Fascist Wholly Hell Hole.

Rush Limbaugh, I mean, Carl Rove [I always get them confused because they look and sound so much alike] didn't do it. He just thought about doing it [aloud in the presence of others whose job it is to do what he says]. That's still a sin.