Here's a piece by a friend's 8-year-old nephew...

...his name is Sabri, and President Bush ain't get nothing past him:

Fascinating immigration-related facts...

from 2 agencies withhold key data on workers - Records could help find illegal immigrants
by Liz Chandler, Knight Ridder News Service

The IRS and the Social Security Administration routinely collect strong evidence of potential workplace crimes, including names and addresses of millions of people who are using bogus Social Security numbers, their wage records and the identities of the bosses who knowingly hire them.

But they keep those facts secret... The two agencies don't analyze their data to root out likely immigration fraud – and they won't share their millions of records so that law enforcement agencies can do that, either. Privacy laws, they say, prohibit them from sharing their files with anyone, except in rare criminal investigations.

But the agencies don't even use the power they have. The IRS doesn't fine even the most egregious employers who repeatedly submit inaccurate data about their workers. The Social Security Administration does virtually nothing to alert citizens whose Social Security numbers are being used by others...

To work lawfully in the United States, individuals must have valid Social Security numbers or authorization from the Department of Homeland Security. But the law doesn't require companies to verify that workers give them names and numbers that match Social Security records. So most companies don't check. That loophole, created by Congress in 1986, makes it hard to prove whether employers know they're hiring illegal workers.

There's another War we need to end...

...it's the War on Drugs, and in a way it's even more twisted than Iraq, as it's largely a war our country fights against its own citizens. But don't forget that - by fostering a massive black market whose tentacles slime through dozens of other countries - our War on Drugs is in many ways as much an affront to the rest of the world as is our seige of Iraq.

Take this news item from the city of Acapulco, one of Mexico's major resort destinations. To me, it seems that the cloak of fear that shrouds this city is akin to one of terror - and is woven by policy here in the States.

Two Mexican Police Officials Decapitated
By NATALIA PARRA Associated Press Writer
April 20,2006 | ACAPULCO, Mexico -- The decapitated heads of two police officials were found early Thursday dumped in front of a government building in this Pacific coast resort, authorities said.
The heads of police commander Mario Nunez Magana and officer Jesus Alberto Ibarra were found at the same site where four drug traffickers died during a shootout with law enforcement. The heads of the two -- who were involved in the Jan. 27 shootout -- were accompanied by sign that warned, "So that you learn to respect."
...Federal investigators link the violence to a turf war between drug gangs in northern Mexico for lucrative smuggling routes into the United States.

Here's a timeline of Iranian history...

...from The Sun magazine, the latest issue of which includes an insightful collection of blog entries by Iranian citizens. Note how Western intervention disrupted the country's development 50 years ago - and how Iran's current president, Mr. Angry Nuclear Guy, was elected just last year...a reaction to more-recent Western meddling in the Middle East, perhaps?

1953: To protect Western oil interests, U.S. and British intelligence agencies orchestrate a coup, overthrowing the Iranian prime minister and reinstating the traditional monarch, the shah, a pro-American dictator.

1979: The shah is deposed during the Iranian Revolution, and Iran becomes an Islamic republic. A president and parliament are elected, but true power is held by a council of clerics headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

1980: Iraq invades Iran, starting the Iran-Iraq War.

1988: A cease-fire is declared, and the war ends in a stalemate.

1997: Iranian voters reject the state-approved presidential candidate and elect reformist Mohammad Khatami by a wide margin.

2001: Khatami is reelected, but meaningufl reforms are blocked by the conservative clerics who control the government.

2005: Hard-line conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is elected president.

In a partnership with AfterDowningStreet.org...

...and with San Diego-area peace activist Barbara Cummings, we began offering "Impeach Bush!" shirts in February of this year. Thanks to an ad at the top of the awesome After Downing Street blog - and to the growing realization that Bush's Iraq-related activities have included impeachable offenses - we've shipped well over 200 shirts to concerned citizens across the United States.

Proceeds from sales of "Impeach Bush!" shirts help support Barbara's tireless activism. This week, she's back in Crawford, TX, where Bush was supposed to take a spring vacation. Last month, Barbara helped a group of UCSD students put together a big anti-war rally, which featured speakers like Cindy Sheehan and After Downing Street's David Swanson.

After Downing Street is a coalition of over 100 veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups that pressure both Congress and the media to investigate whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. The coalition takes its name from the emergence in 2005 of several documents that quickly came to be known as the Downing Street Memos.

OMG, is this Iran stuff for real?

If you're like me, you're dumbfounded by the Bush administration's Iran saber-rattling, and you're wondering what to make of the whole thing. Well, here's some good news: a recent Bloomberg/LA Times poll shows that 54% of Americans "don't trust" Bush to make the right decision about going to war with Iran. Dude, there's my country.

So what the hell is Bush's rationale this time - and how separated is it from reality? Here are some key takeaways from an excellent article by Bill Scher of LiberalOasis.com:

Bush frames the case against Iran like this:
1. Iran is close to getting nukes.
2. Iran's President is crazy and irrational and committed to wiping Israel off the map. He can't be reasoned with.
3. Bush is trying real super hard to get the UN to do something about it, but if they won't...

Here's a less war-happy way to look at the situation:
1. Iran has legitimate, rational, self-defense-related incentives to want nukes.
2. To resolve the current stalemate, we need to address those incentives.
3. Because Iran is at least 5 years from getting nukes, time is on our side.

Check out Scher's full article - a short but reassuring read - for more details. And then start spreading the word!

Cheney Surreality continues...

...with this picture and accompanying caption from MSNBC.com. Maybe I am becoming unhealthily fascinated with the guy, or hating on him as kind of a physical representation of war and greed and all that...but sometimes the situations I see him in strike me as ironic or just bizarre. Check out all the symbolism going on in this photo...

Vice President Dick Cheney waits outside the dugout to be introduced before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of the home opener baseball game between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium, Tuesday, April 11, 2006, in Washington. Behind Cheney, from left, are Purple Heart recipients Army Staff Sgt. Derek L. Drew of Goldsboro, N.C.; Marine Cpl. Jamel Daniels of New York; who were injured in Iraq and Army Spc. Javier Torres of New York, who was injured in Afghanistan.

Got a nice note from a Wavelength shopper...

...named Michelle, who recently ran into someone with similar sensibilities:

"I was on vacation and I saw your Impeach Bush shirt...the man said his wife gave it to him...I saw his wife and she told me about your web site. I cracked up...I showed her my daughter's Wanker shirt and she laughed. I don't drink, but she offered me one, just want to tell you that....nice to see that really one person makes a difference..."

Indeed, it is nice to see that one person makes a difference, and that Wavelength shirts are helping foster some positive communication. Thanks for the note, Michelle - and if you receive any more complimentary drink offers in the future, feel free to pass them our way!

Fiscal 2005 was kinda tough for Wavelength...

...at least from a profit/loss perspective. The business lost a significant amount of money, most of which came in the form of an "inventory write-down." Let me explain.

Wavelength Clothing hit the web in June 2005, unveiling nine t-shirt designs and marketing them with Google's AdWords program (which I've described in a much-earlier post to this blog). As sales receipts came in, it quickly became clear that only 4 of the 9 designs were decent sellers. With impressive regularity, shoppers ignored the other 5 designs nearly completely...to this day, I've only sold one or two shirts with the So Money design, and the same is true for each of the designs in the WackWear collection, with the exception of W is for Wack.

Whether I should have seen this coming is the topic of another discussion. My point here is that - because no one wanted to buy them, even at severely discounted prices - the shirts with the unpopular designs were worth nothing. They had no cash value. And as a result, the money spent on them could be written off as a loss.

This loss combined with 2005's other expenses to total significantly more than the sales revenues brought in by the business during the year. The difference between total expenses and total sales is the amount I, as sole proprietor of Wavelength, was able to declare as a "business income or (loss)" on my tax return. In the end, the IRS had to cut me a substantial refund check.

Now, I don't mind paying taxes - in fact, I try to look at paying taxes as a duty and an honor, and I also think I get a pretty good return on the money I send to Uncle Sam. But this year I'm going to indulge myself and enjoy knowing that I took a little loot back out of W's war chest.