Say What?

Spy Spy Away

2006-04-29T12:14:00.000-04:00

FBI secretly sought data on 3,501 people in 2005
Agency ramped up use of approach that requires no court approval

Updated: 6:40 p.m. ET April 28, 2006
WASHINGTON - The FBI secretly sought information last year on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court's approval, the Justice Department said Friday.
Full Story

Worlds going to hell and we're escalating spying on our own citizens. What's wrong with this picture? September 11th isn't billed as 'home grown' terror - yet it's being used to instill homegrown terror tactics by our own government on its citizens. There's something seriously wrong here. Something very very wrong here.

U.S. Reports a Surge in Global Terrorism
The count has soared since the Iraq invasion, but only now are attacks there being included.
By Josh Meyer, Times Staff Writer
April 29, 2006

WASHINGTON — The State Department's annual report on global terrorism, released Friday, concludes that the number of reported terrorist incidents and deaths has increased exponentially in the three years since the United States invaded Iraq, largely because of Iraq itself.

The report also said that although the United States had made some gains in fighting terrorism, Al Qaeda and its affiliate groups remained a grave threat to U.S. national security at home and abroad — both in Iraq and elsewhere.
Full Article

You mean not because of American citizens? That would blow that whole justification to HELL then, wouldn't it? And if it ever came to light, man people would be pissed ... what to do?

Feds Move to Dismiss Domestic Spying Suit
By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 50 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO - The Justice Department said Friday it was moving to dismiss a federal lawsuit challenging the Bush administration's secretive domestic wiretapping program.

The lawsuit, brought by the Internet privacy group, Electronic Frontier Foundation, does not include the government.
Full Article

And the sun came up this morning.

A court case would certainly shake the whole 'it's because of September 11th and terrorism' idea, because declassified NSA documents prove it was ordered by Tates before September 11.
Sticky situation, that whole truth thing. Bites you in the ass. Lovin the hell out of the small, nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation right now, in addition to supporting them financially.
I like putting my money where my mouth is. You're on shaky ground complaining about something you do nothing about.

Tates declared today, "...the enemies of freedom have suffered a real blow in recent days, and we have taken great strides on the march to victory."

Thousands of Shiites Displaced in Iraq
By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer
8 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sectarian violence has forced about 100,000 families across Iraq to flee their homes, a top Iraqi official said, and 16 Iraqis were killed Saturday, six of them tortured in captivity. -more-

Obviously 'terror' families are suffering a blow, deathsquads and a real housing shortage.

Ex-head of interrogation at Abu Ghraib charged
Lieutenant colonel is highest-ranking officer to face criminal abuse charges

Updated: 6:10 p.m. ET April 28, 2006
WASHINGTON - The Army on Friday charged the former head of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq with cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty and other criminal offenses for his alleged involvement in the abuse of detainees at the notorious prison in 2003.
Full Article

The wages of sin, paid by the little guys. Let's not bring up the obvious fact that his bosses knew, approved and implemented these policies. If they 'claim' innocence, then they are too incompetent to command anyone in the field. Criminal or incompetent - I frankly don't care what they charge them with. But they need to clean house from the TOP DOWN, not the bottom to the knee. However, they are already honoring Army investigator Brent Pack honored for Groundbreaking Work on Abu Ghraib, which is very cool unless the investigation stopped right at the middle.

SuperDon_™ Corner (squeeeeaaaaaal!):

I'd like to answer this argument, other than pointing out the sky is blue, gravity works and oh yeah, the UCMJ:
"Where are the officers serving now? Where are the enlisted? Huh? Those Generals are retired!"
Right here:

Embassy, April 26th, 2006
COLUMN
By Richard Gwyn
A week ago, it was the generals. Now it's the colonels and majors and captains. Moreover, these officers are in uniform and have none of the security from retribution of the generals who have all already retired.

In a front-page story Sunday, The New York Times described an "extraordinary debate" now going on among younger American officers "in military academies, in the armed services staff colleges, and even in command posts and mess halls in Iraq."

This debate is about the war in Iraq, about the tactics and prospects of the American forces there, and, most particularly, about Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, already the target of stinging criticism by a half dozen recently-retired senior generals, most of whom had served in Iraq.

The names of these junior officers have all been withheld by the Times. If ever identified, they would be court-martialed. So readers have to take it on faith that the paper has described their opinions accurately.

But it's hard to doubt that the report is close to the truth. To heighten its credibility, by no means all of its findings are predictable.

Thus, while the younger officers overwhelmingly fault Rumsfeld, they are less critical of President George W. Bush.

Several thought their own generals were as much to blame as Rumsfeld, for having gone along silently with his bad planning.

The sense of malaise, though, is widespread.

FULL ARTICLE

Sucks to be an idiot, doesn't it?

Yunno, like this guy - who has declared The Iraq War is Over. Hey, I'll pass it along to the guys who died there this month, the deadliest month this year. Assclown.

Today, thousands marched in Manhattan.
I wish we could bring them home right this minute. But we've started something that we can't just walk away from. We invaded them. We caused this. This is our fault. We can't take out toys and go home. 'Sorry, too bad, so sad, now you can just go straight to hell and die horribly because of our mistakes.' It's called responsibility. And it's ours.
What we need are real military strategists, real planners, real policies and a real exit plan. We've got the finest military and finest military minds in the world. Let 'em get to work - away from the political screwup appointees and SuperDon_™ syncophants.

.

Yahoo for Iranian Rice Chinese Style

2006-04-28T00:18:00.000-04:00

Yahoo cited in jailing of China Internet writer
1 hour, 8 minutes ago

BEIJING (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) has been cited in a Chinese court decision to jail a dissident Internet writer for 10 years for subversion in 2003 -- the fourth such case to surface implicating the U.S. Internet giant.
-more-

That Yahoo, what a buncha practical jokers. They didn't really mean to ruin someones life. They were just ... cooperating with a tyrannical foreign power.

China launches "Remote Sensing Satellite No.1"
Ahhh, the good old days, when they would consider launching primates into space. You know ... before they started taking office.

Israel: NO to peace
The prospect of a peace summit between Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was shot down by Israel Wednesday almost as soon as it was floated by the Palestinians.
-Full Story-

Coming Up: Those mean Palestinians don't want peace! All they care about is terror and suicide bombs! Let's launch missiles!
And they wonder why those people elected Hamas. Israel, come down off the cross and save yourself. Your fine people deserve it. Your leaders, on the other hand, should join ours for a nice War Crimes Tribunal.

She did not ask that...

Rice Says U.N. Must Act on Iran Nuke Plan
By ANNE GEARAN AP Diplomatic Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Iran seems determined to defy international demands to control its disputed nuclear program, so it is time for the U.N. Security Council to act, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday.

"Is the Security Council going to be credible?" Rice asked after meetings with NATO foreign ministers.
-Full Story-

Sweet Britches, glass houses and all that. Wait, here's a good idea. Get together a satellite presentation, head over to the UN, and show them all those suspicious trucks and weapons of mass destruction. I think there might be some leftover in Colin's old drawer.

We are the World. We think You're Idiots.

Pakistan: No violence against Iran
"We are against any resort to force," Foreign Secretary Riaz Khan said after a meeting with Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns.
-Full Story-

Brzezinski: Do Not Attack Iran
Brzezinski: Air Strike on Iran Could ‘Merit the Impeachment of the President’
In an op-ed titled “Do Not Attack Iran,” former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski today makes the case against launching an air strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
-Full Story-

The problem is entirely a public relations one. What we need is a catchy tune, like say this one: Let's Bomb Iran.
Wooo! Catchy.

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:

29 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are current defendants in lawsuits
84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the past year

It must be Enron, huh?
This ‘company’ is called the US Congress.

Definitely Not Kansas

2006-04-28T00:09:00.000-04:00

House passes draconian intelligence bill
By Bev Conover
Online Journal Editor & Publisher
Apr 27, 2006, 00:37
The cretins in Congress better start using their gray matter, if they have any, because the repressive legislation they pass that bites the people today will also bite them tomorrow.
No one is immune from the horrors of a police state. No one. None. Fall out of favor with the ruling clique, for whatever reason, and your goose is cooked.
And a police state is what they are creating, all under the guise of "national security" and keeping us "safe" from "terrorists."
The latest nightmare is buried in the HR 5020, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, which the House of Representatives passed, 327-96, yesterday. Among its provisions are giving National Security Director John Negroponte authority to devise a plan for revoking the pensions of retired intelligence agency employees "who commit unauthorized disclosures of classified information." That takes care of any retired whistleblowers.
If that weren't bad enough, the Baltimore Sun is reporting "It also would permit security forces at the National Security Agency and the CIA to make warrantless arrests outside the gates of their top-secret campuses."
Plus, according to the Sun, "The measure also directs Congress to conduct a study of possible new sanctions against those who receive leaks of classified information, including journalists."
In effect, a total shutdown of any knowledge of the crimes your government has committed or is committing in your name.
Is this a sign that we are reaching the tipping point and the real terrorists in the executive branch and their fellow travelers in Congress are fearful of a rebellion? Is this a preemptive attempt to thwart an uprising?
It's better to put all the control mechanisms in place while most Americans are still preoccupied with the daily dose of lies and omissions dished out by their handmaidens in the corporate media. After all, how long can the Busheviks continue to trot out phony Osama tapes and Zarqawi videos, threatening mayhem, when things are going badly for the administration?
With Hitler, it was the Jews, homosexuals, gypsies and anyone else who opposed him. With Bush, it's darker complexioned people ("terrorists," possible "terrorists," and aiders and abettors or sympathizers of "terrorists") and anyone else who opposes him.
Fascism doesn't descend all at once. It comes creeping in, in seemingly benign ways at first. A little chip off your liberties here and a little chip there -- all for your safety and welfare, you're told -- and one day you wake up to find all your liberties are gone. We are nearly to that point.
The USAPATRIOT Act, which too many persist in calling the Patriot Act, has nothing to do with patriots or patriotism. The full title alone should have horrified people: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. As slickly as it was rammed through both houses, without being read or debated, in the wake of 9-11 and reauthorized this year, its provisions weren't harsh enough to keep us in line. So now the Congress critters have come up with HR 520 to punish anyone who discloses things the Busheviks want kept secret. The question is will the Senate also vote for this abomination?

The irony is that the chippers in Congress, in the state legislatures, in the city halls, fail to realize that one day they, too, make become victims of their chipping. Absolute power may corrupt absolutely, as Lord Acton noted, but power of the smallest degree is a siren song that tends to blind.

Copyright © 1998-2006 Online Journal
Original Article

Here’s the text of the Bill.

Here’s the roll call of who voted, note the shameful 'representatives' who voted in favor.

If this legislation passes in the Senate, it becomes Law.
Isn't it time to email, write and call your Senators before the Bill of Rights becomes a distant memory?

And while you're at it, send a clownbeating to those 'representatives' who aren't representing anything resembling America The Free anymore.

You cannot disagree:
Silencing The Squeaky Wheels
By Shane Harris, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Thursday, April 27, 2006

The CIA has imposed new and tighter restrictions on the books, articles, and opinion pieces published by former employees who are still contractors with the intelligence agency. According to several former CIA officials affected by the new policy, the rules are intended to suppress criticism of the Bush administration and of the CIA. The officials say the restrictions amount to an unprecedented political "appropriateness" test at odds with earlier CIA policies on outside publishing.
Full Article

Draconian measures, silencing critics. Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore.

You ever get the feeling we woke up in the Soviet Union via the Third Reich?

SuperDon™ goes to Iraq

2006-04-26T05:42:00.000-04:00

SuperDon_™ will be visiting a warzone near you! Be the first in your bunker to get an autographed sandbag! Ask about your nifty-difty stop loss plan!
Inquire into top placement in the next Ramadi all-fire-all-the-time billet! You,too, can be part of the SuperDon Squad*
*some restrictions apply; offer not valid to those in a free fire zone, all applicants must be at least certifiably insane for over 30 days, submit requests in triplicate signed in blood (preferrably your own). Please note: background in military and/or foreign policy not neccessary, proctological sobriquets preferred.

Rumsfeld Makes Surprise Visit To Baghdad
April 26, 2006 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Baghdad on an unannounced visit aimed at showing support for Iraq's emerging government.

Rumsfeld has so far held talks with the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey. After the meeting, Rumsfeld stressed the importance of the new Iraqi government, calling the formation of the "first government that doesn't have a qualifier in front of [its name] ... another important milestone."
Full Story

So without a qualifier, would that make it un-qualified? A state which I'm sure he can fully empathize with. Because you know he's just going there to gloat because they tossed out the guy they didn't like.
But hey, anytime SuperDon's out of the country sounds like party time to me.

Let's do a Fun & Profit Edition!

Spying on people for Fun & Profit:

AT&T Sees Net Income, Sales Jump
Cingular's growth helps profit rise 63% in the first full quarter since SBC purchased the erstwhile Ma Bell.
By James S. Granelli, Times Staff Writer
April 26, 2006
AT&T Inc. on Tuesday reported a 63% increase in profit and a 54% jump in revenue, as the former SBC Communications Inc. released its first full quarterly results as a combined company. Full Story

You gonna share some of that with the National Spook Association? I mean, the NSA has to be one of your biggest customers by now.
Right after reading this, I made another donation to EFF. I sincerely hope their profits rise another 63%, so they can be sued silly.

Terorrism and Death for Fun & Profit:

Silverstein announces World Trade Center Deal
The developer Larry A. Silverstein announced yesterday that he had accepted the economic terms of a new deal at ground zero. The proposal reduces his overall role on the 16-acre site and clears the way for construction of the Freedom Tower, the tallest and most symbolically important of five towers planned for the site.

Larry Silverstein made the announcement at 7 World Trade Center.
The deal calls for Mr. Silverstein to surrender control of the $2 billion Freedom Tower, along with more than one third of the ground zero site, to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But he would retain the right to build three office towers on the most valuable parcels there. Full Story

Wow, I'm all choked up. Let me wipe away the tear with one of Larry's billion dollar bills.

Schilling for Fun & Profit:

FOX Host to be named White House Spokesman
By TERENCE HUNT AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON Apr 26, 2006 (AP)— Conservative pundit Tony Snow will be named White House press secretary, Republican officials said Tuesday night, in the latest move in President Bush's effort to remake his troubled White House.Full Story

Stop. It's too easy. Snow jobs..Yellow Snow... TSno... there's no challenge.
I do think it would be economically wiser if Fox News just broadcast from Cheney's rectum.

Strawmen for Fun & Profit:

Iraqis Condemn Al-Zarqawi Video
Wednesday April 26, 2006 10:01 AM
By THOMAS WAGNER
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi politicians and citizens on Wednesday condemned terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a foreigner determined to destroy their country, but they also seemed to take his new video promising more attacks as a serious threat.Full Story

Uh, guys, we don't all have the attention span of snap peas.

Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi
Jordanian Painted As Foreign Threat To Iraq's Stability
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 10, 2006; A01
The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program. The effort has raised his profile in a way that some military intelligence officials believe may have overstated his importance and helped the Bush administration tie the war to the organization responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The documents state that the U.S. campaign aims to turn Iraqis against Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, by playing on their perceived dislike of foreigners. U.S. authorities claim some success with that effort, noting that some tribal Iraqi insurgents have attacked Zarqawi loyalists.
Full Story

Workin on some serious credibility issues here. I mean, how can they honestly expect Americans to take anything the Pentagon claims seriously anymore?
Yeah, you wanna impress us? Find Waldo.

Hey listen up. I'm going to assist my loyal military psyops brigade and spell out just where you're losing us. We know there are militant groups. We know about the Mujahadeen and Radical Islam. For crissakes, why do you have to talk UP somebody? Aren't there enough real threats to go around? Stop invoking this already discredited puppet. And while you're at it, enough with all Al-Qaeda all-the-time. I mean, apparently Al Qaeda has a base in my laundry room - because they're just about everywhere else. If they're that omnipotent, I say we give up the ghost and move to the Outer Hebrides.
It is impossible to win a war that you're losing at home. (cough, Somalia, cough Vietnam) You want support? Stop lying to us. Stop pretending we're adolescents unable to comprehend that soldiers are going to die in war zones. Stop showing us Iraqi 'successes' and start laying it out on the table: good and bad.
Fallujah was a nightmare, Ramadi is under 24/7 siege, Baghad is a few ducks short of a revolving wheel, Al Anbar's official uniform has a moving target crest... as a matter of fact, just admit the whole Triangle has us in the crosshairs.
See, if there's one thing about honestly, it begets respect. While doling out happy horsepuckey wins you one free ride on the Magic Skeptical Garden Kingdom and a free all day pass to DelusionQuest:3D.
And increasingly waning support at home.
Or... you could keep dressing up AlQaeda leaders, hiding soldiers coffins, gagging military experts, promising draw-downs we can't afford, and telling us things are going swimmingly. Because it's working so well for you.
Bill O'Reilly and at least nine other people are thoroughly convinced.

As to seasoned experts, thanks to Mr. Goss, that's undergoing a nice purge:

Top leaders of CIA's clandestine service resign
From David Ensor
CNN Washington Bureau
Monday, November 15, 2004 Posted: 11:14 PM EST (0414 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Steven Kappes and Michael J. Sulick, the top leaders of the CIA's directorate of operations, resigned Monday morning, sources told CNN.

Their departures come in a period of turmoil at the intelligence agency as the new director, Porter Goss seeks to impose his control.
Full Story

Has anyone bothered to point out to Porter that he works for us? Or would that totally decimate his rampant God-complex? Clear indication, as Freud would say, of big egos coming with tiny packages. Not that he's alone in purging the best for the kiss assiest:
State Dept sees exodus of weapons experts, replaced by syncophants w/ no experience
Hey, let's not let experience get in our way:

Tehran insider tells of US Black Ops
By an Asia Times Online Special Correspondent

TEHRAN - A former Iranian ambassador and Islamic Republic insider has provided intriguing details to Asia Times Online about US covert operations inside Iran aimed at destabilizing the country and toppling the regime - or preparing for an American attack.

"The Iranian government knows and is aware of such infiltration. It means that the Iranian government has identified them [the covert operatives] but for some reason does not want to show [this]," said the former diplomat on condition of anonymity.
Full Story

Wow, what choices! Destabilize the country, topple the regime, or prepare for an American attack. Gimme a second here.

Okay, back. I'm not even going to point out that this has never worked. We've spent decades and decades toppling regimes and destabilizing countries. It coined the term 'blowback'. That invasion idea is fabulous. Here's an animated scientific presentation of what their limited nuclear strike on Iran would do: HAVE A LOOK. It's a quick animation, and will give you an idea of what they are considering a viable strategy.

And lest we forget another nuclear tragedy:

Chernobyl Horror Remembered
Ukrainians mark 20th anniversary of nuclear disaster
SLAVUTYCH, Ukraine -- Bells tolled across Ukraine and the families of victims carried red carnations and candles Wednesday to mark the 20-year anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl.

The April 26, 1986, pre-dawn explosion which spewed radioactive contamination across whole swathes of Europe was being marked in Ukraine with daylong events on a day of national mourning.Full Story

The victims of Chernobyl continue into this day, a lesson to all men who seek the possibility of winning against the Chaos Theory.

With a determination to leave you with the positive, I urge you to go watch this online Eagle cam, a nesting pair with eggs. It makes you realize what it it is we really stand and fight for. To preserve life at all costs, not to take it needlessly.

.

Witch Hunts & Green Zones

2006-04-24T23:56:00.000-04:00

Can you say Witch Hunt?

Mueller: FBI Probes Classified Data Leaks
By TIM WHITMIRE, Associated Press Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The FBI is conducting investigations similar to the one that resulted in last week's firing of a senior CIA analyst who acknowledged leaking classified information, director Robert Mueller said Monday.
Full Story

Hey, you could start at the White House.

Since this is all spurred on by the supposed 'leak' of CIA-agent Mary McCarthy, take a look at this article about her. Just to preempt any partisanship shots that should be coming from the LGF crowd. She protested a Clinton nonstrategy, too. Try again.
What do I mean 'supposed leak'? She leaked classified information, that's why she was fired! Well, according to one official at the CIA and Mary McCarthy, she didn't. It appears up for grabs at this point. One thing is certain, she did disagree with patently stupid neo-policy. Which makes her still fired.

Australian PM Howard: No indication US intends to draw down troops by end of year.
Would the clue be the biggest embassy ever built on foreign soil?

Let's take a look at the Green Zone:

One must keep in shape for dodging mortar rounds & IEDs.

Hey American food!

Delivered by third world slave labor!

I'm ready to sign up for dessert!

....except it comes with Guard Duty.

Here's a more Prophetic photograph taken at the Green Zone:

Remember the Alamo?

Yes, I know I know - we can't leave (thanks neojerks). But how's that Iraqi training going?

U.S. Military Warily Eyes Iraqi Forces
By ANTONIO CASTANEDA, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops aren't just training Iraqi forces, they're also keeping an eye on them, watching for signs they could be moonlighting in the Shiite death squads that target Sunnis.
Bound and tortured bodies — both Sunni and Shiite — turn up every day in the capital, dumped in the streets. Sunni Arabs say their people are the victims of Shiite militiamen who have infiltrated government forces, especially paramilitary commando units of the Shiite-led Interior Ministry.
Full Story

Maybe not so good.

Now considering there are Arab and Muslim coalitions and countries all around Iraq who would be more welcomed by them in offering diplomatic solutions, why are we not reaching out to them to assist in defusing the quagmire? Or should we wait until the last American is evacuated off the rooftop of Baghdad, then say, 'Wow, we should've done that differently.'

Weird, Wacky, Unexplained Links Day

2006-04-23T22:51:00.000-04:00

Apologies for the lateness: I couldn't connect today at all after a traffic accident interrupted service to our area. I also lost the first transfer of links I was posting and all the commentary at the time. Those of you who know me are unsurprised. The internets, frankly, hate me. They conspire to make my online existence virtual hell. Well, I've visited hell (and so did you in our Sundays links 2 weeks ago) - and frankly, I'm not impressed.

The Flat Earth Society
Giving us hope that the moon really IS made of green cheese.

Searching For the Chosen Ones
Featuring this disturbing tidbit:
You have the future, I have the past,
Together we create the world.
I had no idea the past was kidnapped. Where do you think he keeps it?

Stop Clown Porn Now
And you thought two unwinnable wars were bad.

The Toilet Museum
Urging us to grab popcorn and a drink is a bit much.

Money Origami
It's refreshing to know our money will be good for something.

9:05 - The Adventure Game
To start with, I typed: Answer Phone and hit enter. Hey, good start!
Then I got bored.

Super Robot Monkey
Your guess is as good as mine.

Extreme Elvis
Fatherland Security got here first. No, they really did.

Geek of the Day
Tell me 'Cino' doesn't look stoned. And 2Hot4U should be filed under 'Geek Dream', because odds are she's entirely photoshopped.

The Travel Brain™ guides you through Roadside America
I think the Merman is being comletely maligned. Mermen are a minority, after all. Ever since Caligula first declared War on Poseidon, these guys have been getting a bad rap. It's not all Chupacrabra and Sasquatch, yunno.

Adopt a Ghost
Whatever you do, don't tell Angelina Jolie. She'll give it a strange name and a mohawk.

I Hate Men.Com
Because Amazon.com was already taken.

Dead People Server
I wouldn't say this was macabre.... yes I would.

Sub Genius Recovery and Support Network
Damn, the cults you don't know about, huh? But here they are, and X-Day is rapidly approaching: X-Day: The End is Coming
July 5th. It figures, a day sooner and I wouldn't have to peel 10 lbs of potatoes for salad. It's just so unfair.

Great, now a violent thunderstorm complete with lightning just started. So I'll have to leave you with Bone Garden Estate - a virtual online haunted house, and real truth in advertising:

Who ever said labels were misleading?

The real reason we should buy American.

Until tomorrow...
Stay cool.

Unappealing Repeal

2006-04-22T15:23:00.000-04:00

After reading of the resolution to repeal the 22nd Amendment, that godsend which limits the President and Vice President to two terms, I was thunderstruck. What kind of chuckleheads would consider proposing this? Yunno, outside of Tojo's inner circle? So I thought it was time to do some snooping. I put on my Encyclopedia Brown hat and consigned myself to the dank backrooms and shadowy alleys of net sleuthing. Yeah, I went to Google.
Turns out, it's been a pretty popular idea, although thus far with nonidiot presidents:

109th Congress - HJ Res 24 (2005)
108th Congress - HJ Res 25 (2003)
107th Congress - HJ Res 39 (2001)
106th Congress - HJ Res 24 (1999)
105th Congress - HJ Res 39 (1997)
104th Congress - HJ Res 71 (1995)
103rd Congress - HJ Res 107 (1993)
102nd Congress - HJ Res 61 (1991)
101st Congress - HJ Res 84 (1989)
100th Congress - HJ Res 156 (1987)
99th Congress - HJ Res 687 (1986)

So it's not looking too extraordinary, right? Except we're talking about Bush & Cheney, possibly the worst criminal mental midgets to ever to suck a taxpayer paycheck off the public dole. Whereupon this idea (still in committee, I might add) becomes downright scary in a wholly sinister way. It's like substituting a placebo for Adolph's last bennie or asking Fritz Haarman to dinner. Something Mensa-centric like that. Not only baffling, but akin to political suicide. Face it, they didn't win the first two times, and Congress better count on having a theses hammered on their door if they think we're going to hand a third one over. Just won't happen - even with a lot of Tiannamen Square people mowers. Ask the students at Stanford, who didn't even want Tates on their campus, and faced down a 2 ton firetruck to prevent it. Students: 1 Firetruck: 0.
Or all over California, where protestors lined the streets to 'serenade' his motorcade - with catcalls. They greeted him Mussolini-style in Portland, him being Mussolini and they being wannabe Colonello Valerios. Even in hardcore redstate Utah, the mayor chose to attend the anti-Bush rally while the Tater was visiting.

Hell even nerds are protesting Bush. When geeks venture out of their basements into actual sunlight and voluntarily disconnect the CPU drip, you're in world of trouble. Right about now the Ku Klux Klan is getting a warmer reception in heartland America than Senor Slinky.
So rate this idea up there with New Coke and The Segway.

Fair. Balanced. The Good News.
In my fruitless search for good legislation to balance out the bad news that somewhere someone with opposable thumbs believed this an idea on a par with issuing Helen Keller a drivers license, nowhere did I discover a bill in Congress to Repeal Tates. A legislation which would receive widespread support, an outpouring of gift cards from BestBuy© and an offer to father my child . This could be attested to by Senator Feingold, the cojones con pelo who is pushing presidential censure, who has seen his campaign contributions double in the 4 weeks since introducting that legislation...and who could probably father my child if he's not busy anytime in roughly the next 99 years.

Congress - Cowering Or Never Getting Real Executive Stuff Signed

Meanwhile the bodycount mounts: Australia suffered its first loss, Canada lost four soldiers, a British engineer was beheaded, and five more were added to the American tally of soldiers coming home in hushed up, unphotographed flag draped coffins. Because if we saw a photograph, we'd say, 'Whoa, it must be real.' Yeah, otherwise we'd believe they were erecting those stone markers as some form of macabre art. Asshats.

Army suicides rose to the highest rate since 1999, the majority taking place in the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.
And amidst all this death and destruction, the solution is to put the dissenters on trial. Like attempting to prosecute the peace-loving Granny Brigade into jail for 15 days.
We must stop terrorism at it's roots, people. Clearly, killing 2,385 soldiers is nothing compared to feisty senior citizens protesting to stop it. They pose a clear and criminal threat to being able to quietly kill 2.5 good soldiers daily.
This, then, is a national security issue of utmost importance. A Homerland Security issue, where the grants for good Nazis will get you clowns and gym equipment.

Eh, I don't even have reach here. It's like going to a tanning salon at the equator. Un-necessary.

It's the same deal with sending 'detainees' on CIA rendition flights so they can be tortured. Not a problem. Now daring to bring that illegal and immoral practice to light? You get fired and face pending prosecution. So if you think calling them Nazis is extreme, then here's a heads up - Harpers is already calling them the German Wehrmacht. Pota-toe, Pota-toh. You could dress it up and take two FDA-Certified PharmaProduced Vioxx....but that's just a quicker way to die believing in the overwhelming competency of private interests in your government. It won't change the facts and it certainly shouldn't make you feel any better.

It might help you forget Bush droning on about 'Free Speech' at Chairman Hu's visit - minutes before his SS (secret service for the Vioxx impaired) put their hand over the mouth of a doctor excersizing that very right. They hauled her off and charged her. Free speech, what a freakin concept in Bushworld. Then Tatertot goes and apologizes to Hu. Apologizes! Hey, dinkwad, apologize for this.(Warning: Graphic Photos) That's what happens in China when you're a dissenter.
Are you sure Vioxx is strong enough for you?

I can't leave you without hope, because there is hope. While there may be a few glimmers at the top like Feingold & Murtha, Kerry & Gore, there are even larger lights shining among the ordinary protestors and the principled whistleblowers, the gutsy Generals and the small organizations taking on the NSA and illegal spying, the Blackwater families taking on the private merchant armies, the soldiers coming back as Iraq veterans and running for office, the college students waking up and walking out, and the internet - where information is exchanged, shared, passed and disseminated so action can be undertaken.

And there are the cities and towns and states, the towns in Vermont and across this country that have already passed Impeachment proceedings. And the state of Illinois, who are about to rock the nation:

The Illinois General Assembly is about to rock the nation. Members of state legislatures are normally not considered as having the ability to decide issues with a massive impact to the nation as a whole. Representative Karen A. Yarbrough of Illinois' 7th District is about to shatter that perception forever. Representative Yarbrough stumbled on a little known and never utlitized rule of the US House of Representatives, Section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature. From there, Illinois House Joint Resolution 125 (hereafter to be referred to as HJR0125) was born.
The Illionis State Legislature is about to drop a Bombshell

There is a moral to this story. And it's very simple:
Don't Take on Heartland America.
That's where the real sleeping giant lives.
And once you wake up the Sleeping Giant ... there's no going back.

See you at Nuremberg II.

.......
Yes, tomorrow is Weird, Wacky and Unexplained Links day.

Technorati Tags: Bush, CIA, Democrats, Humor, Politics, America, War, Protests, Censure, Impeach,Cheney, Government

China, Cheney, Superpower

2006-04-22T00:23:00.000-04:00

Yes, we know Dick Cheney was sleeping during a crucial China meeting, but don't ever believe he's asleep at the wheel. Proof?

a Carlyle Group to be biggest ever foreign investor in China .
a Dick and the Carlyle Group
a Meet the Carlyle Group

Is China serious about being a superpower? Dead serious. And they'll employ any methods possible to gain it.

Chinese Military linked to Missile Smuggling
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 20, 2006
Court papers made public yesterday in the case of a California man who pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle anti-aircraft missiles into the United States show that a Chinese general and state-run manufacturer are linked to the crime.
more

The thing is, they don't really have to resort to strictly dirty tricks to succeed. They are doing it militarily, economically, and politically.

But still, we're superior to them militarily, right?
China has invested heavily in 'leapfrog' technology. They have an enormous nuclear arsenal of ICBMs(InterContinental Ballistic Missiles) with MIRVed warheads. MIRV, which stands for multiple independently targeted reentry vehicle, allows one warhead to carry multiple nuclear bombs with separate city destinations. Their Sunburn cruise missile is capable of 'ship killing' every one of our deployed aircraft carriers, battle groups, cruisers, and floating platforms. Once launched against them, our navy would have a scant 2.5 seconds to attempt a response. Suffice to say, it's not something that can be done.
They can hit us at land and at sea. Swift, silent, deadly. Done.

But still, we're superior to them economically, right?
China owns more of our national debt than anyone. Why would they want to buy debt? It's not profitable. But it is a powerful sway to hold over a nation's economy. If China decides to sell off their investment, our economy would collapse. While our trade deficit runs over year after year, China handily pockets surplus billions. China is invested in cheap goods, genetically modified foods, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, optoelectronics, and robotics just to name a few. Microsoft located a Research & Development facility in Beijing. Bad idea. China's modus operandi is to steal technology and then produce it cheaper and in larger quantities.
NEC & Intel better take note, though you know they won't.

But, we have the largest alliance with foreign powers, yes?
In April 2001, China's President (really Chairman - the President makes him seem all Western friendly) made a trip into our strategic Latin American backyard to cement alliances with Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela. He went to Mexico and pow-wowed with Vincente Fox. They've even reached out to Japan. By investing, buying goods and giving out hundred million dollar loans to these countries, they've built up goodwill relations for their 'New International Order'.

Yup, that's what they are peddling across the globe and they repeat it incessantly - a 'New International Order' - as opposed to what they view as the current American dominated one. All this is happening while we bomb third world countries and fearmonger. They are building blocks for global superiority and dominance one patient step at a time.
China is reknown for their patience. One need only to look to 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu for the strategic benefits of stealth and patience. And they are doing it very, very successfully.

A UK paper blared of the recent meeting, "US to meet the New Superpower".

Meanwhile, we've turned our spy agencies inward on our own people.
How brilliant is that?

.

Friday Fun

2006-04-21T17:02:00.000-04:00

I'm off to dinner, but I thought I'd post this before I leave. Weekends just need a little lightheartedness.
You can click on the image for an enlarged and clearer view.

Nibbles n Bits

2006-04-20T02:29:00.000-04:00

The Secretary of Statements issued this prophetic missive to the masses:

Condi: No VE day for Iraq
Even assuming Iraq forms a national government, there will be no sudden stop to violence such as the V-E Day that formally marked the end of World War II in Europe, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.
Full Story

Yeah, and using that analogy, there was no Pearl Harbor either. Shh, don't tell Dick, he's still milking it for all it's worth.
China's President (really Dictator, thanks for the semantics though) Hu is here to meet with the guy who says he is President (and really wants to be Dictator) of the Free World, and my-oh-my there was a lot of speculatin going on:

US/China Meet 'Historical'

Awaiting China’s Hu, unavoidable topic is Oil

What an opportunity for American foreign policy to shine! So here's the summary of that historic meeting:

Uh, yay for historic meetings!

Which would cement the fact that things such as good friend Japan's problems weren't discussed:

Japan: 107 alerts on Chinese spy planes
By HIROKO TABUCHI, Associated Press Writer Associated Press
April 20, 2006

TOKYO (AP) - Japan has scrambled fighter jets 107 times this year to intercept suspected Chinese spy planes, a top general said Thursday, amid growing concern in Tokyo over China's arms buildup.
The 107 alerts in the first three months of 2006 - the most in at least a decade - were a dramatic increase from the previous year, when fighters scrambled only 13 times against Chinese planes, said Gen. Hajime Massaki.
More

Good photo op, though.
I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he wanted to have serious talks, but as Senator Joe Biden says, "No one believes the President". He's talking specifically about foreign countries, but listen up, Joe, WE don’t believe him either.

However, let's look at a few things we should be concerned about with China:

China's alliance with Russia:
Russia, China join BRICS alliance

China allied with Russia, Russia's alliance with Iran:

Russia will deliver Air Defense system to Iran
MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - The chief of the General Staff said Wednesday that Russia would honor its commitments on supplying military equipment to Iran.

"We discussed supplies of military equipment to Iran, including the Tor M1, in the framework of bilateral cooperation, but it does not fall into the category of strategic weapons," Army General Yury Baluyevsky said after talks in Moscow with NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe General James Jones.

"And I can assure you it will be delivered under the control of the relevant organizations," he said.
More

Iran ticked at the US, Russia ticked at the United States:

MOSCOW, April 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador in Moscow Tuesday to hand him a note of protest against a seminar in Washington which it said called for new terrorist attacks in Russia.

"The organization of such events in the United States contradicts the country's international obligations in the sphere of counter-terrorism," the ministry said.

A seminar entitled, Sadullaev's Caucasian Front: Prospects for the Next Nalchik, took place in Washington on April 14 under the aegis of Jamestown Foundation, an American non-governmental organization. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the floor had been given to speakers who called for new terrorist acts in Russia.

"Such concessions on the part of Washington to Chechen militants and separatists also run counter to the spirit of partner-based bilateral anti-terrorist cooperation, and damage bilateral relations," the Russian ministry said.

In October 2005, at least 150 militants attacked administrative buildings in the city of Nalchik, the capital of the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Russian officials say that during two days of fighting, 35 law-enforcement officers and 12 civilians were killed. A total of 92 militants were killed and dozens captured.
Article

The JAMESTOWN FOUNDATION that is mentioned in the article.
Now check this out on their own webpage under Connections:
Right Web connections
• American Committee for Peace in Chechnya

• Center for Security Policy

• Project for a New American Century <--------

• Freedom House

• Dick Cheney <---------

• Nicholas Eberstadt

• Laurent Murawiec

• Keith Payne

• Nina Shea

• John Tkacik

• Arthur Waldron

• R. James Woolsey

PNAC, Dick Cheney – nuff said, no?

So while we are appealing to Russia about Iran, Cheney's little buddies are muckracking terror hits in Washington against them. Smmmooooth criminals.

Back to Iran, and we find:

Iran Testing New Nuclear Centrifuges
April 19, 2006

TEHRAN: A claim by Iran's president the country is conducting tests on a more sophisticated type of nuclear enrichment centrifuge could – if true – mean Iran has a quicker ability to make fuel for either electrical plants or bombs, analysts feared yesterday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Islamic republic was testing the P-2 centrifuge – a more sophisticated type that has quadruple the capacity of the P-1 centrifuge. A day earlier, he had trumpeted Iran's success in enriching a small amount of uranium using a less-sophisticated type of centrifuge.

The president's words were Iran's first acknowledgement it is working with the faster centrifuge – after the country told the UN nuclear watchdog it had given up all such work three years ago.

It is not clear if Iran had been doing work all along on the more-sophisticated model, or had recently restarted such work.

Either way, Mr Ahmadinejad's assertion is sure to raise concerns that Iran might have a more sophisticated program than thought.
more

Iran->Russia->China->USA

So, is it possible that Bush's strategy since taking office been actually to contain China?
Taking Aim at the Sleeping Dragon
Well, if there has been such a strategy, the smart money is that George W. Bush had absolutely nothing to do with it. However, he does tend to surround himself with smarter-type individuals. (I know, I know, the pool is endless).

But even the 'smart' ones get caught sometimes.

Here's a fun new political game. Let's connect the following dots:

Libby, going down down in an earlier round....and sugar he's going down singing.

Okay, I have much more to update but as I am typing this Nikita is literally drooling on my knee. She's wants outside big time.

As Ahnold would say, nahhhh... just kidding. See you in a little bit.

DoD Question of the Day: When filling out forms, we are asked to use a No. 2 pencil because it's most popular. Well, what happened to No. 1? And how is that less popular?

Isn't it bubonic ironic?

2006-04-19T01:22:00.000-04:00

Ugh. It's official. I'm sick.
Which is awful, but at least it's not Bubonic Plague - which recently reared it's 'extinct' ass in LA. Now we dug up the 1918 Spanish Influenza victims in 2005 to 'resurrect' the virus:

Using lung tissue from long-dead victims, researchers hoping to prevent another flu pandemic said they have reconstructed one of history's deadliest pathogens - the 1918 Spanish flu virus.

The Spanish flu began as a virus in birds before jumping to humans and killing an estimated 20 million to 50 million people worldwide. Determining why it was so lethal and how it spread could help scientists blunt the threat posed by the avian flu in Asia and future variations. Full Story

Hold on, the Coincidence Fairy just knocked. Ostensibly this expedition was for research purposes lockstepped with Bird Flu fears. So digging up a virulent killer just seems like a - what am I searching for? Colossally stupid idea. Yeah that works. While the 1918 pandemic quickly hopped from birds to their victims, Bird Flu does not.

Fortunately so far, the H5N1 virus seems to only reluctantly infect people. Almost all cases of confirmed infection can be traced to close contact with birds, Stanford

Chances of aiding us? Well, 1 year later = Zero results. Chances of not being weaponized at Fort Detrick? I'd venture it's about the same chances as us discovering the source of that US military-milled weapons grade Anthrax that scared the living hell out of everyone 4 years ago.

Now I know I've missed a ton of news, so bear with the attempt at a recap tomorrow.

Unexplained Links

2006-04-16T04:36:00.000-04:00

HAPPY
EASTER

Once again, it's time for that weekly feature of stress relief. Although considering that I have to fix an entire Easter dinner in about four hours, I'm not so sure it's going to work in my case.

Everyone decided dinner was at my house and forgot to consult me. Thanks guys. The 24 hour notice thing is sah-weet. But I digress (and whine). I'm actually totally cool with it.
I've stocked up on real wine.

Enough about me, it's time for Weird, Wacky, Fun and Unexplained Links:

The Worst Sin: from 19th Century
Now this could be a real pandemic.

Play with Gee Dubya
I made him look a lot better. I did.

Rate My Kitten
Picture the oversexed 15 year olds who googled here... only to realize it really is all about cats. I dunno why, but I rated them all 1. Just cause I could.

Ghost Sites of the Web – Where dead sites live on
No ghosts...just an internet graveyard of sorts. Bring pixel wreaths for the HTML coffins. Actually overall pretty interesting.

Manson Family Picnic
Author of Dahmer Family Picnic: MIA

The TWINKIES Project
These snack cakes may or may not be filing a class action suit for extreme duress. Also, I may sue this website for bad haiku.
Famous People Punch steve
Who Steve is I have no idea. But after seeing these pictures, it seems like a good idea to punch him. Or at least it’s semipopular.
Wingmakers
The Wingmakers are something something and all about ancient tech or something future and people who left ancient-future stuff. Oh, and one of them is now living among us translating documents. Yeah, who did he piss off on another planet?
Dr Neruda Interview
They completely lost me during the Neruda interview – by the time I got to Blank Slate Technology it was more like Blank Stare Nephrology. Because I was brain dead.

Aliens abducted her panties
Gail, seriously – look in the dryer.

The Mars Times
And their journalists suck as much as ours. So much for Advanced Civilization.

What Should I put on the Fence?
This guy in the UK chains things to his fence.
And YOU can help him decide.
It seems he disappeared in about 2002, it could be someone suggested he chain himself to the fence. Just sayin.

American Atrocities
U-S-A! U-S-A!
REEMCO
Shopping as an Art...with crayons. Featuring:
CDC Ebola Outbreak ™ Action Playset
Now I love the whole catalogue, but who could resist that Action Set? Right?

Bun-O-Vision
Fuzzy theatre in 30 seconds. I particularly liked Titanic.
And Reservoir Dogs: The Unbleeped Version

The Best Page in the Universe
I hope he comes to MY state and eats all my food.

Kelly Hu
I don't know who she is, either, but David Arquette better stop leaving her phone messages he DOESN’T want posted on the internet..
The Teen Girl Squad
Because you can’t be popular AND smart.
Hey, thanks for sending back the cultural revolution 76 years.

Picture of the Week

Holy Hell

.... this is seriously disturbing.

That's all for this week.

Have a great, great day.
And for inspiration, make sure you watch this: Battle For America. Watch it. There will be a test.

Food and wine and friends and family. Today is gonna be.....

Technorati Tags: , HUMOR, WEIRD, STRANGE,UNEXPLAINED,INTERESTING, COOL, FUNNY,ODD, FUN

Snap Fun

2006-04-14T22:49:00.000-04:00

From MSNBC online: Read the Caption. View the Expression.

Mondo Updato (1)

2006-04-14T04:05:00.000-04:00

The sitch in Iran is heating up, and it's the ridiculously inept neoCondi hand on the dial. The UN date is April 30th for showing it has suspended any enrichment-related activities - so it doesn't mean anything to them if they prove they have not enhanced enrichment.

Iran says it will cooperate with nuclear agency
Uranium enrichment will continue, however, Ahmadinejad says

Thursday, April 13, 2006; Posted: 9:29 p.m. EDT (01:29 GMT)
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran has agreed to increase cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog but did not commit to halting its uranium enrichment program, an agency spokeswoman said Thursday.
The announcement came after International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei met Thursday in the Iranian capital with two of Iran's top nuclear officials.
"I don't think the issue of enrichment right now, emotional as it is, is urgent," ElBaradei said. "So, we have ample time to negotiate a settlement by which, as I said, Iran's need for nuclear power is assured and the concern of the international community is also put to rest."
Full Story

Hear Condi say: Iran remains defiant over Nukes. Huh?
Hear the experts say:

Iran Is `Some Years Away' From Making a Nuclear Bomb, U.S. Says
April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Iran is ``some years away'' from developing a nuclear bomb, said Thomas Fingar, deputy U.S. director of national intelligence.
Fingar, who chairs the National Intelligence Council, said that's the shared assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies. Fingar, one of three deputies who reports to national intelligence director John Negroponte, is in charge of intelligence analysis.
Full Story

Hear more experts say:

Military options against Iran carry big risks
Strategic and policy experts analyze tactics available--and possible retaliation--if the U.S. launches an attack designed to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions
Full Story

Hear Top US Strategists say:

Military options against Iran carry big risks
Strategic and policy experts analyze tactics available--and possible retaliation--if the U.S. launches an attack designed to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
-snip-
Military action against Iran could provoke an array of responses, experts said. The United States would have to prepare for an aggressive campaign of suicide bombings or other terrorist reprisals from such groups as the Iranian-linked Hezbollah. Oil prices might spike, either because of an Iranian cutoff of exports to world oil markets or harassment of shipping in the Persian Gulf. Iran could launch missiles--potentially armed with chemical weapons--against Israel, Arab allies of the U.S. in the Persian Gulf region or U.S. troops in Iraq.
-snip-
Violence in Iraq probably would increase, particularly in the Shiite-dominated southern regions that so far have been relatively calm. A strike against Iran would antagonize Shiite militias, which have close ties to Iran, and cleric Moqtada Sadr, who leads one such militia and has twice mounted uprisings against U.S. troops. Sadr already has threatened a revolt if Iran is attacked. A broad network of Iranian intelligence agents now in Iraq also could instigate or assist with attacks against U.S. troops.

U.S reprisals against Iraqi counterattacks, analysts suggest, could lead to a cycle of response and counter-response.
-snip-
"The critical thing is we should not start any shooting," Kirk said. "This is a political struggle as much as a military one, and I think the side that shoots first weakens its political case."
The Full Article You NEED to Read

Hear Lech Walesa say,

U.S. Needs to Reassert Moral Leadership
Thursday, April 13, 2006
MANHATTAN, Kan. — America's role as a global economic power is unchallenged, but it must reassert its role as a moral superpower, former Polish president and Nobel laureate Lech Walesa said Thursday.
"No one has the least doubt that you are the economic leader and the military leader to the world, but I have heard a lot of doubts regarding the moral and political leadership of the United States," said Walesa, speaking through an interpreter during a lecture at Kansas State University.
Full Story

Hear China say: Dialogue key on Iran and N.Korea. Now read another missive from Rice: Secretary of State-ments issued strictly by her handlers. Because no one, no one, could believe this is a winnable policy ... with the exception of, perhaps, Israel who has a long simmering feud that should be taken into account. Instead of doing things like barring American citizens and concerns from doing business with Palestinians. Now there's a fair, unbiased policy. Starve them out. It only affects innocent women, children and the elderly. What absolutely filthy excuses for human beings these neocon 'diplomats' are. I'm ashamed of them. Oh, but the illogic is priceless: "It said the decision was based on "existing terrorism sanctions."" Terror? You mean like, lobbing 300 missiles a day into a civilian sector? How is that not terror? What dictionary are they using? Because apparently it's one without fair, balanced, or diplomacy within it's pages. But it does have oil. And the surest sign a country has oil...

Massive US military exercises in the Caribbean
Hands Off Venezuela (Jorge Martin): According to a press release by the US Southern Command on Monday, March 27: "A U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group will deploy from the U.S. east coast to the Caribbean Sea to conduct Operation Partnership of the Americas from early April through late May 2006."
Full Story

The surest signs we're not winning the war we're in:

1 Marine, 1 Soldier bring death toll to 40 at halfway mark this month.

Troops step up Baghdad patrols

Bomb explodes at Mosul police station.

US, Afghan troops launch massive offensive Operation

2 injured in Afghanistan when suicide bomber hits convoy

9 killed; Iraq police convoy ambushed

6 Iraqi Policemen killed by insurgents

Keeping all this in mind, how about this for living on a planet that looks like earth but mustn't have a center of gravity:

Bush voices strong support for Rumsfeld
Remarks come after six ex-generals call for defense secretary to resign
WASHINGTON - Brushing aside an intensifying clamor among retired military commanders for Donald H. Rumsfeld’s resignation, President Bush said Friday that his defense secretary enjoys his full support and that Rumsfeld’s leadership of the Pentagon was “exactly what is needed at this critical period.” Tale of an Idiot

But I can see how SuperDon_™ would have your unconditional support, against those who are like military experts in the field and those who have actually served under his command.
It's in the rewards:

A Daily Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq

Apr 13, 2006 (AP)— As of Thursday, April 13, 2006, at least 2,368 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 1,853 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is four higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT.

The British military has reported 103 deaths; Italy, 27; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, Denmark three; El Salvador, Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, one death each.

It's in the policy:

US ‘optimistic’ about new base alignment in Japan
But Japan was expected to reiterate its opposition to US demands for it to pay 75 percent of the 10 billion-dollar bill to move the troops off the southern island of Okinawa.
Full Story
ed: Their position, 'Hell, no!'

It's in the scary proposals raising alarm bells across the spectrum:

America’s Secret Police?
Intelligence experts warn that a proposal to merge two Pentagon intelligence units could create an ominous new agency.
Full Story

It's in allowing the little guys to make all the apologies:

US offers Babylon damage apology
By Jonathan Charles
BBC World affrairs correspondent

A senior US marine officer says he is willing to apologise for the damage caused by his troops to the ancient Iraqi site of Babylon.
US forces built a helicopter pad on the ancient ruins and filled their sandbags with archaeological material in the months following the 2003 invasion.
Colonel Coleman was chief of staff at Babylon when it was occupied by the First Marine Expeditionary Force.

Babylon's Hanging Gardens were among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Full Story

But mayhaps it all comes down to simply following the script:

Rallying the troops with a timid cry
April 14, 2006
Good men always rally to the battle cry when the issue stands in doubt: "We have not yet begun to fight." Or this one: "Rally to the Virginians, boys, there stands Jackson like a stone wall." Or this one: "Remember Pearl Harbor."
But nobody rallies to this one: "Every man for himself."
The congressional Republicans have scattered now for two weeks, to return to their districts to convince skeptical constituents that they're still not as bad as the Democrats -- or even as bad as the president, if that's what their constituents want to think. "We're bad," they're saying, "but not that bad."
Full Story

In which case, SuperDon ™ is doing just swell.
Now make no mistake, the military's got the coolest toys in school:
US testing RPG ‘forcefield’. And Whoa - check out the testing. Shades of George Lucas and James Cameron! How 'bout this mini tactical UAV for your backpack.
As a matter of fact some things seem straight out of a Sci-Fi movie:

The new breed of soldier: Robots with guns
Updated 4/14/2006 12:19 AM ET
By Steven Komarow, USA TODAY
Spurred by the risks from roadside bombs and terrorist ambushes, the military is aggressively seeking to replace troops with battlefield robots, including new versions armed with machine guns.
"There was a time just a few years ago when we almost had to beg people to try an unmanned ground vehicle," says Marine Col. Terry Griffin, manager of the Robotic Systems Joint Project Office in Huntsville, Ala. "We don't have to beg anymore."
Although the Pentagon initially focused on aircraft, such as the Predator drone, now new ground- and sea-based robots are being developed and tested, military records show. Full Story

Or maybe James Bond:

It may look a little like the fake dragon in the James Bond movie "Dr. No," but the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle is actually the next-generation amphibious troop carrier for the U.S. Marine Corps. The EFV is due to go into service at the end of the decade, a higher-tech replacement for the Marines' aging workhorse, the Amphibious Assault Vehicle, originally fielded in 1972.
On Thursday, the Pentagon awarded General Dynamics a $44 million contract to complete the current phase of development.
Credit: U.S. Marine Corps
Full Story w/Pics Here
Another Pic Here

It's enough to send a geek into convulsions, I tellya.

Things to keep your eye on:

China, Singapore to boost military cooperation

Theft of Military Drives exposes larger problem.

China relaxes foreign currency investment:
The administration said each domestic resident may buy up to 20,000 U.S. dollars worth of foreign exchange from the State-owned banks each year, and they may apply to the banks for additional amount of foreign exchange with certificates that prove their needs. (600 million people is helluva lot of people who could now own US currency)

National Archives participated in document cover-up:
The National Archives agreed to seal previously public CIA and Pentagon records and to keep silent about U.S. intelligence's role in the reclassification, according to an agreement released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The 2002 agreement, requested three years ago by The Associated Press and released this week, shows archivists were concerned about reclassifying previously available documents - many of them more than 50 years old -but nonetheless agreed to keep mum.

US spies failed to warn of Indian nuclear tests
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US intelligence failed to warn of India's nuclear tests conducted in 1974 and 1998 despite tracking the Asian giant's atomic weapons potential for nearly half a century, according to documents.

The Indian nuclear activities scrutinized by the US intelligence agents are at the core of a current controversy over President George W. Bush administration's landmark civilian nuclear deal with New Delhi.

The National Security Archive, in releasing 40 secret documents covering the 1958-1998 period, said the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) and other intelligence groups had been monitoring and analyzing Indian civilian and military nuclear energy programs since the 1950s and could have provided decision-makers with "far more detailed assessments."

U.S., Iraq commanders protest policy that lets Iraqi troops leave
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (AP) — U.S. and Iraqi commanders are increasingly critical of a policy that lets Iraqi soldiers leave their units virtually at will — essentially deserting with no punishment. They blame the lax rule for draining the Iraqi ranks to confront the insurgency — in some cases by 30% or even half.
Iraqi officials, however, say they have no choice but to allow the policy, or they may gain virtually no volunteers

Librarians win their challenge against the so-called ‘Patriot Act’
And across the pond: UK rules ‘terror laws’ illegal
Times Online April 12, 2006
UK terror suspect wins challenge against control order
By Sam Knight
The Government's system for monitoring terror suspects was thrown into jeopardy today when the High Court ruled that control orders were "conspicuously unfair".
In a judgment that threatens the entire anti-terror scheme, Mr Justice Sullivan declared that a British suspect's order was "incompatible" with the Human Rights Act, as it denied his human right to a fair hearing

Navy/NSA battle in Cyberspace
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Midshipmen at the Naval Academy took part in a simulated battle Tuesday, defending their computer systems against an attack by hackers from the National Security Agency in Fort Meade.

The Mids were guarding their network against intrusions by NSA experts, who were sniffing around on servers, sneaking into systems and adding fake users, complete with passwords, that could allow unauthorized access. The intruders even induced the dreaded blue screen of death on a Navy machine.

Wall Street bankers face insider trading probe
Workers at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch face charges that they were part of a $6.7m insider trading ring that used stolen magazines and exotic dancers to profit from future mergers

Investment bankers at two of Wall Street's leading firms have been arrested for allegedly participating in a $6.7 million international shares trading scam that involved stolen magazines, a stripper and a retired Croatian underwear seamstress.

Wasted Katrina funds could top – ONE BILLION

Joe Galloway: Ex-Generals show some spine

Going TOO far – again. The ATF (with picture)
This photo, taken by a student’s camera phone, shows ATF officials pinning down Jeremiah Ransom in front of Snelling dining hall. He was coming from a pirate vs. ninja event at the Wesley Foundation and was not arrested. (Kathleen Ruark The Red & Black).College kids playing Ninja – the new ‘terror’ threat

What happens when you wholeheartedly support the military but not the people who sent them there, the illegal war they are forced to fight, or the policies which threaten them? Try reading this. Excerpt:One of the main reasons that most of the American people have decided to passively oppose the Iraq war instead of joining active anti-war protests is that their children are no longer being involuntarily yanked from productive years of college and work onto the killing fields of war in a faraway land.
But shouldn’t Americans still be concerned about the death and dismemberment of young men who volunteered to “fight for all of us”?

Class action suit filed re: Sep 11 dust

UK AF Doc refuses 3rd tour in Iraq

Iraqi refugee population explodes

US building Massive Embassy in Baghdad
Military lags in spending to train Iraqis

Former AT&T technician Mark Klein has come forward to support the EFF's lawsuit against AT&T for its alleged complicity in the NSA's electronic surveillance. (I hope they get fried with a little butter and a side of some truffles and their illegal little program with them.)

Whew - end game! As always, I leave with...

DoD Question of the Day: You know that little indestructible black box that is used on airplanes .... well, why can't they make the whole plane out of the same substance?

General Outrage

2006-04-13T05:40:00.000-04:00

Keep count with me, this is nine - count em - nine Generals coming out against SuperDon_™ and the policies being implemented in the Pentagon ... including the ex-Secretary of State (who also just happens to be a General):

Rumsfeld Rebuked By Retired Generals
Ex-Iraq Commander Calls for Resignation
By Thomas E. RicksThursday, April 13, 2006; Page A01
The retired commander of key forces in Iraq called yesterday for Donald H. Rumsfeld to step down, joining several other former top military commanders who have harshly criticized the defense secretary's authoritarian style for making the military's job more difficult.
"I think we need a fresh start" at the top of the Pentagon, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004-2005, said in an interview. "We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork."
Batiste noted that many of his peers feel the same way. "It speaks volumes that guys like me are speaking out from retirement about the leadership climate in the Department of Defense," he said earlier yesterday on CNN.
Full Story

Another general joins ranks opposing Rumsfeld
Defense secretary 'carries too much baggage,' Swannack says
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Posted: 6:53 p.m. EDT (22:53 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The commander who led the elite 82nd Airborne Division during its mission in Iraq has joined the chorus of retired generals calling on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to leave the Pentagon.
Full Story

That brings together the score thus far to: Newbold, Eaton, Zinni, Batiste, Riggs, Clarke, DeLong, Swannack and Powell.
Unfortunately, Peter Pace - the current JCOS - seems intent on doggedly, if cannily, appearing to support the SecDef. His comment on the criticism,

"People can question my judgment or his judgment, but they should never question the dedication, the patriotism and the work ethic of Secretary Rumsfeld,"

Thanks, Pete, it seems a lot of people are anyways.
Officers appear to be speaking out as well. Recently, this group appeared on the Web:
West Point Graduates Against The War
Duty, Honor, Country, Indeed.
Note they are not against war - they are against this war. This unneccessary, poorly run, fatcat bank account swelling, dangerous, incompetently planned and devolving fiasco of a 'war'.

We must recall that while SuperDon did serve in the military, he was an aviator and flight instructor. His knowledge of grunts and ground pounders is vastly limited.
Recall also that the last time he was Secretary of Defense we had :drumroll: ... the panic of 'Swine Flu':

In 1976, a military recruit in New Jersey died from a flu that experts speculated might be the "swine flu". At Rumsfeld's urging, the Ford administration quickly produced and distributed large number of doses of the vaccine. However, some batches were contaminated and 52 people died while 600 fell ill. The program was stopped and nobody got swine flu.

Swine Flu, Bird Flu... imagine that. Oh, and Tamiflu - that just happens to be a SuperDon™ stock. Nevermind that it was debunked as effective. Or that in a world population of 6 billion, there have been 100 deaths. One hundred. Yes, it's virulent. It's SARS with wings. But banging the fear drum is a bit premature.

U.S. border computer crash caused by worm
WASHINGTON,
April 12 (UPI) -- A Homeland Security computer crash that stranded thousands of arriving passengers at U.S. airports last year was caused by the Zotob worm.
Full Story

The Security part appears to be a sidenote.

Bravo to Israel, kudos for sticking to your word...

Israel storms synagogues, removes holdout Gaza 'settlers'
Israeli forces have raided two synagogues in the Gaza Strip to remove hundreds of hardliners protesting against the removal of settlers. Police faced strong resistance from activists who had barricaded themselves behind barbed wire in Kfar Darom. On the second day of evictions in Gaza, troops also dragged protesters from the synagogue at nearby Neve Dekalim, the largest settlement in the territory. Israel is withdrawing its settlers from Gaza, which it has held since 1967.
The confrontation at Kfar Darom was the most violent incident so far in the two-day-old operation to evict settlers from Gaza. Full Story

See, I may be critical of policies (I'm critical of any policies that don't make sense), but I also always give credit where credit is due.

2 British Soldiers wounded in Afghan suicide bomb.
PC users are being urged to apply software patches that close "critical" vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows.
US investigates secret sale of data in Afghan market.

ForeignWatch Summary in Brief:

China's president makes his first visit ever to the WH next week. China is staunchly opposed to actions towards Iran. What will be offered to change/soften their attitude? Because you know it's certainly on the agenda. Will China give in?

N. Korea is just off the scale with real threats. But, no oil and they need to be kept viable to allow for the huge overhaul in nuclear facilities and the addition of a few hundred new nukes that are in the process. Paper tigers are too valuable on paper to be taken on.

Venezuela, sadly for them, does have oil - and right now we are staging 'military operations' right off their coast. Flex those muscles.

more to come...

Late Update Sans Most Commentary

2006-04-13T03:19:00.000-04:00

Our money's on a nice Jimmy Choo, size 7...

Rice Urges Security Council to Take 'Strong Steps' Against Iran
By Steven Donald Smith
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2006 – It's time for the U.N. Security Council to take action against Iran following its announcement yesterday that it has enriched uranium, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today.
Full Story

First it was Dragon Skin – now it’s Under Armour:

Synthetic Clothes Off Limits to Marines Outside Bases in Iraq
By Lance Cpl. Stephen Holt, USMC
Special to American Forces Press Service

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq, April 12, 2006 – Marines conducting operations outside forward operating bases and camps in Iraq can no longer wear synthetic athletic clothing containing polyester and nylon, Marine Corps commanders have ordered

The ban on popular clothing from companies like Under Armour, CoolMax and Nike comes in the wake of concerns that a substantial burn risk is associated with wearing clothing made with these synthetic materials, officials said

Full Story

Halliburton should be rapidly branching out into the 'approved' issue line any time now.

Afghanistan….so not over

Coalition Launches 'Operation Mountain Lion' in Afghanistan
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2006 – Coalition forces, in cooperation with the Afghan National Army, began "Operation Mountain Lion" yesterday to establish security, deter the re-emergence of terrorism, and enhance the sovereignty of Afghanistan, military officials reported today.
Afghan and coalition forces killed six insurgents today while conducting offensive operations in the Marawara district of Afghanistan's Kunar province.
Full Story

Basically cause they keep finding weapons caches all over.

On the Iran front:

ElBaradei Visits Iran Seeking Controls on Uranium Enrichment
April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is visiting Iran seeking to convince the government to agree to suspend its nuclear program producing enriched uranium.

ElBaradei arrived in Tehran late yesterday after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced two days ago Iran has produced enough enriched uranium to fuel a reactor and will accelerate enrichment to reach ``industrial-scale production.''

``We hope to convince Iran to take confidence-building measures including suspension of uranium enrichment activities,'' Agence France-Presse cited ElBaradei as saying. ``I hope that conditions will be created for all parties to return to talks.''
Full Story

Note: El Baradei is the one Bolton unleashed on because he was ‘too neutral’. He’s a Nobel Prize Winner. Boltons an asshole. You decide.

N Korea - the real scary Mofos:

Say they cannot compromise on Nuclear goals

And...

N Korea may boost military deterrent force
TOKYO Apr 13, 2006 (AP)— North Korea threatened Thursday to use the delay in six-party nuclear talks to bolster its military "deterrent force," a phrase the isolated communist nation often evokes in reference to its nuclear weapons program.

The Gaza strip is going buckwild and unnoticed:

Another innocent child dies in bombing

IDF kills two armed Palestinian ‘militants’

Keep your eyes on this:

Chinese President Hu Jintao will face hundreds of protestors when he makes his first visit to the White House next week, organizers said.

The four-hour demonstrations at Lafayette Park north of the White House will begin as Hu steps in for talks with President George W. Bush on April 20.
Full Story

Chances of discussing Iran: Fairly Certain with a definite cloud of too bloody likely.

and last of all...

DoD to Set Up Joint Intelligence Operations Centers Worldwide.

Joint is the new buzzword. God forbid one of them specialize in what they specialize in. Look how well it worked out in Operation Anaconda. (uhhh..)

So we have Special Forces in Embassies replacing the CIA pretending to be State Department personnel, the CIA in Abu Ghraib replacing the Army pretending to be military guards, the Navy replacing the Green Berets training Iraqi forces pretending to be Special Forces, and Marine's replacing Army Engineers and defusing IED's after a few weeks of shake-n-bake training pretending they are not scared witless.

SuperDon _™ ... he can believe it's not butter.

Iraqnam Redux - With a Rully Cool Mushroom Cloud

2006-04-12T23:53:00.000-04:00

So we hear simultaneously that any thought of a military strike on Iran is 'wild speculation'.

So...

US Fields New Nuclear Capability
The United States is now fielding a new tactical and strategic nuclear military capability that has already been used to threaten a non-nuclear country. This new capability was certified without nuclear testing, using an existing surrogate testing facility with capabilities much less than those under construction and planned. The weapon was developed and deployed in secret, without public and congressional debate, contrary to domestic and international assurances that no new nuclear weapons were being developed. Other new or "modified" nuclear weapons, earth-penetrating and otherwise, are planned.
Full Story

U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan
The administration's proposal would modernize the nation's complex of laboratories and factories as well as produce new bombs.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Times Staff Writer
April 6, 2006

The Bush administration Wednesday unveiled a blueprint for rebuilding the nation's decrepit nuclear weapons complex, including restoration of a large-scale bomb manufacturing capacity.

The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernization of the nation's massive system of laboratories and factories for nuclear bombs since the end of the Cold War.
Full Story

Well pardon us if we aren't persuaded. Especially after you roll out stuff like this...

US: they can have nukes in '16 days'
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Iran, which is defying United Nations Security Council demands to cease its nuclear program, may be capable of making a nuclear bomb within 16 days if it goes ahead with plans to install thousands of centrifuges at its Natanz plant, a U.S. State Department official said.

``Natanz was constructed to house 50,000 centrifuges,'' Stephen Rademaker, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, told reporters today in Moscow. ``Using those 50,000 centrifuges they could produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon in 16 days.''
Full Story

Hell, God invented the World in 7 days, what's the hold up? I'm sure they could whip up a nuke all ready to launch in 384 hours.

Hold on, I'm unscrewing my eyes from the back of my skull.
Now if we recall those Bio Labs from Iraq, yunno...the scary ones that never existed. And put them together with a look at those advising you: National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and his Deputy Advisor Jack Crouch II, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone, William Schneider, who is Chairman of the Defense Science Board at the Pentagon, and who could leave out John Bolton, the raging maniac who represents us at the United Nations? Yeah, I'd say there's more than 'wild speculatin' going on. I mean there hasn't been this many dedicated hawks gathered since Tony reinvented skateboarding.

Space

WEAPONS

Command

Is anyone keeping an eye on India? Because they've decided to build a space weapons command system. Not that we haven't already let Indian advisors into top level systems in our DoD, but you might want to monitor where they are going, friendly democracy or not. Seems like wise policy. Uh, what am I saying?

Being the safety guy he is, Tates says okay - he was a Pentagon officer sworn to uphold the Constitution, and he turned over critical top secret information to a foreign government - but hell, let him free:

Esther Pollard: Bush is Willing to Free Pollard This Week
Monday, April 10, 2006 / 12 Nisan 5766

Jonathan Pollard's wife Esther said this morning that U.S. President Bush is ready to free the imprisoned Israeli - but that Prime Minister-designate Ehud Olmert has to make the request.
Jonathan Pollard was a U.S. Navy intelligence analyst in the 1980's when he came across information vital to Israel's security that was not being transferred to the Jewish state - contrary to an intelligence-sharing agreement between the U.S. and Israel. He then passed along the information to Israel, ultimately helping Israel to protect itself from Iraqi missiles. He was later caught while trying to find asylum in the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Full Story

Jeez, the Rosenbergs were executed for this crap, and most people believed they were innocent.

DoD Question of the Day: If they were really smart bombs, wouldn't they defect and take up a condo in the south of France?

Today: All About the Military

2006-04-11T22:56:00.000-04:00

-This will be short today, but more analysis and indepth will follow. Schedules a bit hairy and the emails reflect that I didn't wrap the whole package as usual. I was feelin mighty snarky .... n'cest pas?

Iran Watch

Iran succeeds at enriching uranium, and Israel calls on everyone to go after Iran.
If you didn't see that coming, you aren't paying attention.

. Back at Lt. General Keyboards house, IsraPundit calls for the US to "Kick the Shit out of Them". He has no fear, he'll do without his cheetos if he has to!

Lt. General Keyboard is a manly man, and the loss of five more American troops is just the 'Cost of War'. The price is very cheap when you're not paying it. Blog on, O Englightened One.

Meanwhile several reports are out that special operations troops are already in Iran. Jeebus H Ceerist, get yer asses back to the two frickin wars we're already mired in now.

In our gee-we're-stupid category today we have:

U.S. Military Secrets for Sale at Afghan Bazaar

By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer

April 11, 2006, 3:00 PM PDT

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — No more than 200 yards from the main gate of the sprawling U.S. base here, stolen computer drives containing classified military assessments of enemy targets, names of corrupt Afghan officials and descriptions of American defenses are on sale in the local bazaar.

-snip-

A reporter recently obtained several drives at the bazaar that contained documents marked "Secret." The contents included documents that were potentially embarrassing to Pakistan, a U.S. ally, presentations that named suspected militants targeted for "kill or capture" and discussions of U.S. efforts to "remove" or "marginalize" Afghan government officials whom the military considered "problem makers."
-more-

I'll be looking for my information to show up in a few years at Wal-Mart.

When Go-Pills backfire:

'Friendly Fire' Pilot sues Air Force
The U.S. pilot who dropped a bomb on Canadian soldiers in 2002, killing four of them, is suing his country's air force, saying it ruined his reputation.

National Guard Maj. Harry Schmidt says air force officials erred when they released the letter of reprimand that he was given for the bombing.

The military violated privacy laws when it released confidential personal information. It also violated a settlement agreement that he signed at the time.
-more-

To refresh your memory...

‘Go pills’: A war on drugs?
Air Force use of amphetamines raises questions
SEATTLE, Jan. 9, 2003
In conflict after conflict, whenever one of its most deadly enemies rears its head, the U.S. military employs a potent weapon: a little orange pill. The enemy is fatigue, a foe that claimed more deaths among military pilots in the past two decades than combat duty. The solution is selective use of amphetamines, an effective stimulant that has kept military aviators fierce-eyed and alert from the Battle of Britain to night strikes over Afghanistan. With air wings deploying again to the Persian Gulf, questions are surfacing about the safety of “go pills” in the cockpit.

Speed kills. Legal speed kills faster.

And now it's time for SuperDon's Corner_™(squueeaaaal) :

Rumsfeld: Recruiting Successes Reflect Troops' Caliber, Commitment
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2006 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today he's encouraged that the military services are exceeding their recruiting targets and called it an indication of the caliber of men and women joining and serving in the armed services.
"It is encouraging that so many outstanding young people are continuing to raise their hands and volunteer to serve our country," he told Pentagon reporters.
-more-

Using my Ultra-Secret-Super-Insider-Top-Level Access, I have uncovered the newest recruit for SuperDon's Army_™:

I have it on good authority that he's in it for the Snausages.

Unlike, say, Peter Pace, who apparently thinks the Marine Corp motto is 'Semper Fiction':

Top officer defends Rumsfeld from ex-generals
Tue Apr 11, 2006 6:15 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer on Tuesday defended Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld against three retired generals demanding his ouster, and denied that the United States invaded Iraq without sufficiently weighing its plan.

Standing next to Rumsfeld at a Pentagon briefing, Marine Corps Gen. Pete Pace said critics could legitimately question the defense secretary's judgment but not his motives. -more-

Hang on, Peter, Wendy will be along shortly to take you back to NeverNever Land.

And that's it for now. I didn't start out to make this all about the military, but somehow that's how it ended up.

DoD Question of the Day:

So where is Carmen Sandiego?

Update: Iraq

2006-04-11T02:34:00.000-04:00

It appears things are going very, very well in pacified Iraq.

From the Army Times:

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A month ago, areas of western Baghdad were testament to the U.S. strategy of handing over security responsibility. Iraqi soldiers manned checkpoints while U.S. troops carefully kept their distance.

But American soldiers have again hit the streets of west Baghdad neighborhoods such as Shula and Ghazaliyah, shouldering a larger security burden amid tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.

The shift in U.S. strategy is temporary, due to sectarian tension unleashed by the Feb. 22 bombing of a major Shiite shrine in Samarra, which triggered a wave of sectarian attacks.

Fewer attacks are directed against Americans, soldiers say. But the number of Iraqis found slain, apparently in tit-for-tat killings by Shiite and Sunni extremists, has sharply increased.

The U.S. mission has been refocused to confront sectarian death squads that have brutally tortured and killed hundreds. The new mission is a tacit acknowledgment that Iraqi troops had not been able to control sectarian violence on their own. -more-

As I've said over and over, and I repeat - the military are not the ones who are fooling themselves about the realities of the situation in Iraq. It is the neocon spindoctors, with Rumsfeld as Grand Marshall, who are parading the line up Mainstream Street. In the process, the put brave lives on the line.

But Iraq is just old news, now innit?

Been Here Before

2006-04-10T22:24:00.000-04:00

Last Standoff

The Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960's pushed America and Russia to the brink of nuclear annihilation. No one entertained anything as nebulous as 'tactical' strikes or considered it a successful plan of 'limited warfare'.

Australian news is reporting that Iran has shot down a US plane (later reports correct this to an unmanned 'surveillance drone' taking pictures along the Iranian border). More on that can be found here, here, and here. Now the question is - was this painted in UN colors? Cause a good plan for provocation needs to be recycled.

Yet more published accounts of simmering plans to attack Iran. Allright, simmer we can handle, but how long before they decide to move it to the microwave? I don't want to build a fallout shelter. I went here and discovered I'd end up off the Australian coast smack in the middle of the ocean. I don't do underwater well.

The SuperDon Squad has unveiled the latest wanktastic plan:

US blueprint for 125 nuclear bombs a year

THE Bush Administration has unveiled a blueprint for rebuilding the US's decrepit nuclear weapons complex, including restoration of a large-scale bomb manufacturing facility. The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernisation of laboratories and factories involved in building nuclear bombs since the Cold War.
The US has depended on ageing bombs produced during that period. But now the Administration wants to be able to produce 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022, so the Pentagon can retire older bombs that it says are no longer reliable or safe. more

We need more nuclear bombs, there's just no question. Once we're all fried into carbon dust....the cockroaches are going to need to arm themselves with something.

Retired General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell joins the chorus of 'mistakes made in Iraq". Mention of humiliating forced shill to United Nations: none.
Bird Flu? Not Bloody Likely, says UK's top scientist. I look at it in simple math. World population: 6 Billion. Casualties from Bird Flu: 100. It's just not looking like an epidemic. It's looking a whole lot like fearmongering. But SuperDon's Tamiflu stock has skyrocketed. There's just no downside for these guys.

Ben Affleck gets jiggy with it on Bill Maher. Lookout, Jen, if I weren't all up in Russell Feingold's grill I'd be squidging all over this guy.

Hillary Clinton calls leak 'Nixonesque'. Ugh, still not my favorite Republicrat.

TERRORGOONS

Don’t cross school kids at a bus stop. No, you have to read this. I'm picturing a brown shirt with maybe a red armband and a fondness for Wagner. You?

And for God's sake don’t play the Clash. There is an approved list of music, dammit.

In summary, Keep your eye on ...
when he has

And I leave with the usual:

DoD Question of the Day: If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

Monday Madness

2006-04-10T15:09:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's one of THOSE days.

I'm trying this new upload software to enable me to post with less problems.
News and Current Events will be posted in the next few hours.

Note to new readers: Yesterdays links was a regular feature here. It does not reflect a change in direction for this blog. But we all need a break, and I take one day a week to providesome humor and oddities.....other than those we face in the news every day.

ALERT: An Australian, 2 Pakistan and several Iranian papers are claiming that Iran shot down an unmanned US drone that was on a photo reconnaisance mission on their border. There is no confirmation of this yet in Western Media outside the report in the Australian. So stay tuned.
I'm sorry I can't provide the link right now, but I am inside 'Picasa' and have no access to my closed bookmarked links. Jeez, sounds like I'm in a bubble now. Just giving a heads up to all of you, but I cannot say whether this is a real account or propaganda.

Fun, Weird, and Totally Unexplained Links

2006-04-09T22:13:00.000-04:00

[Note to new readers: This is a special Sunday feature and does not reflect a change in the direction of this blog. It is still a political/current events blog. Except...maybe on Sundays.]

I know I'm late today. I spent the whole afternoon outdoors, and then Mallory comandeered my computer after I bought Sims 2 in a fit of impulse buying last night.
I had to pry her off my keyboard with dinner and veiled threats of writing Orlando Bloom using her name and expressing deep stalker-inspired devotion. Needless to say, I have my computer now.

Death Clock
Enter your stats and you'll sit there staring...and staring...and staring...

Drunk Calls
You know when you've had too much to drink and you call your friends?
Bad idea.
But don't miss this one, where the guy actually announces, "I speak Lesbian!"

Pi Music
Make music online using the first notes of Pi. I guess because you can.

Hitman, Incorporporated
A privately owned company of assassins. When you care enough to kill the very best.

Rapture Letters
When the Rapture hits and you disappear, you definitely need to leave a note here so people realize they are the rotten sinners who have been left behind. Gloat a little.
Obviously the website owner has no shot at it, otherwise who would send the letters? I'm not buying the machine thing. I've seen Terminator.

If Fox News had been around throughout History
Too funny. Too true.

Crop Circles Show up on Google Maps
Aliens: AWOL or could be marching in Los Angeles.

Revenge Lady
And the lesson I learned is: Do Not piss this Lady off.

Online Card Games Special Edition
Freeper solitaire. Really.

Kevin Federline jams ... TO HIS OWN SONG
What. An. Idiot.

Filed under the Gilmore Girls at You Tube
Why? Why? WHY??? This has nothing to do with the Gilmore Girls, so like WHY?
Here's a direct quote ”I’m kinda boring today”. So you filmed it to share with US??
Omigod – and there's a whole freakin SERIES
More Its not the Gilmore Girls But I Filed it There
And here she tells us that she has her period. I kid you freakin not.

Crux Photos
She'll make a cross out of anything....including a picture of your truck.

Harry the Frog Puppet Productions
They act out everything, from Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire to something that looks like it aired on the BBC. Because there just isn't enough puppets in the Screen Actors Guild after Max Headroom retired.

Tracking Hurricane Wilma, a television viewer noticed the weirdass appearance of the number 2. See for yourself: Video and Pic.

Have a great and fabulous night....because we so deserve it.
And I leave with yet another:

Question of The Day: (from an actual Court Transcript by Attorney John E. Shemanski)
Was it you or your younger brother who was killed in the war?

Leakers, Squeakers, Squawkers, Oh My

2006-04-09T01:17:00.000-04:00

Patrick Fitzgerald has unveiled the big guns ... and they are pointed right at Dick Cheney.

As he drew back the curtain this week on the evidence against Vice President Cheney's former top aide, Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald for the first time described a "concerted action" by "multiple people in the White House" -- using classified information -- to "discredit, punish or seek revenge against" a critic of President Bush's war in Iraq.

Bluntly and repeatedly, Fitzgerald placed Cheney at the center of that campaign. Citing grand jury testimony from the vice president's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Fitzgerald fingered Cheney as the first to voice a line of attack that at least three White House officials would soon deploy against former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.
- more -

Apparently, Libby has no intention of 'taking one for the team'. Cheney, who is rumored to be 'leaving' the White House after November, is perfectly situated to fall on the sword for his production-in-chief.

Someone has to go down - and Karl Rove seems determined to cling to the belief he is the center of the solar system. Or that the only reason there is outer space is because it's afraid of sharing Earth with him.

IRAN
watch

a Nuclear inspectors arrive today in Iran - So undoubtedly these chuckleheads are just not cooperating. See Fox News for details.

a Israel ‘impatient’ with US not going after Iran - Me, I'm impatient someone hasn't told them to STFU and stay in their own politics. I'm going to dissect a little of this line by line directly from the source:

"President Bush says Iranians are behind the more lethal IEDs, the roadside bombs killing our troops in Iraq."
To start off with, Tates, IED means improvised explosive device. If Iran is manufacturing them, that would take away the improvised part, no? But I quibble. It appears your own top general, Peter Pace, has admitted there is no hard evidence of this whatsoever. Maybe it's like that Nigerian Yellowcake....all made-up like. Could you tell me again why our troops are in Iraq being killed? I'm sure it has something to do with Iran. Hey, those million people marching in solidarity with us after 9/11 .... I bet that was all just a ruse. I bet they secretly had something to do with it all.

Yesterday I played Clue. It came out: "George Bush. In the White House. With a Signing Order."

"Rumsfeld warns the Iranian Revolutionary Guard may now be in Iraq."
Rumsfeld, you can count on him to keep this shit up until 'Invasion USA' becomes a documentary.

"Cheney says Iran will not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon."
What, no mangoes?

"McCain says, “the military option is on the table.” "
McCain, the only guy who can honestly say he peaked in Vietnam. Proving once again there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, because they are all in Washington.

"And Israel is getting impatient."
Well we wouldn't want that to happen. We're already behind schedule on 1984.

"Writes Yaakov Katz in the March 10 Jerusalem Post, “The United States has until now not done enough to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons..."
There’s an order to the universe: space, time, Israel.... Just kidding, Israel is first.

For an insight into another egregious error of Irans ways, have a peek at what they are daring to do by switching to a Euro Bourse. And what that effect will have on American money. Maybe there's a reason it now looks like it comes from Monopoly.

On a last Iran note, Seymour Hirsch believes the WhiteHouse attacking Iran is all sewed up. It seems they favor 'limited nuclear war'. I love semantics like that. It's like saying that you're 'mostly dead'.

More on Brian Doyle, Department of Homeland Safeness: Co-workers: DHS official had previous pornography incident - don't you love it when the people we pay to keep us safe have criminal tendencies? It totally cuts out the middleman.

Website exposes Air Force One defenses - And, to untold horror, exactly how they can be breeched. Bet I know whose phones are going to be tapped next. Look for this guy in their back yard:

And that's it for now. Tomorrow is Wacky, Weird and Unexplained Links day. Until then, I leave with...

DOD QUESTION OF THE DAY: So, like, where is Carmen Sandiego?

Catch Up

2006-04-08T14:32:00.000-04:00

New day, new attempt to update.

US will not join the UN Human Rights Council for United States

marking the first time in more than half a century that the United States has chosen not to pursue membership in the United Nations' principal rights organization

Well, guess that'll undercut any argument about our having to lead by example. Thanks, guys. It would be awful to have to address those charges of allowing human rights violations...only to be viewed as a hypocrite. This must be what 'America taking the global lead' means. Yunno, in subtext. 'We don't give a rats ass about human rights, why should you?'

There are other things that must be taken seriously. Such as
Katie Couric becoming CBS News Anchor. Which opens the door for Pamela Anderson to become president of the Screen Actors Guild.

Or, Rumsfeld to head up the DoD. Which brings us to....
Rumsfeld Corner

The Airborne Laser, or ABL, is a Boeing 747 aircraft being equipped with a high-powered chemical laser to destroy ballistic missiles in their boost phase. Chicago-based Boeing Co. is the prime contactor on the effort.=more=

Warning: Do Not Inhale.

Since 2005,backwards American flags with yellow fringe now mandatory on all military uniforms. Peculiar. Why does the military personnel have to wear our flags reversed (hey it’s not so we can see them in a mirror) – and with yellow fringe (the signal for martial law). Does the new uniform consultant have dyslexia and a color fetish?

When billions fall short...

Pentagon tells Congress of weapons cost overruns
Fri Apr 7, 2006 8:04 PM ET
By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two multibillion-dollar Northrop Grumman Corp. projects -- the Global Hawk surveillance drone and a weather satellite system -- are running more than 25 percent over budget, the U.S. Defense Department told Congress on Friday in a filing that could lead to program cancellations. -more-

...accountability must be demaded...

Pentagon still years from having books in order
Fri Apr 7, 2006 6:40 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department's finances may not be able to meet normal accounting standards for several more years, possibly not until after President George W. Bush leaves office, a Pentagon official said on Friday.
- more -

Or not.

See, the question of money is always very important militarily. Which is why we most probably are still funding Al Qaeda:

Mystery N.Y. Bank Allegedly Funnels $3B In Funds To Terrorists
Source: InstitutionalInvestor.com

A bank identified only as being one of the largest and most prominent in New York has been caught allegedly funneling an estimated $3 billion in profits from drug deals and other illegal activities to Mideast terrorists, The New York Post reports. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, the paper says, plugged the profits pipeline as part of an ongoing investigation of suspected funds flowing through local banks.

In the most recent scheme, according to The Post, the money originating from the so-called "tri-border region" of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, was transferred to an account at the New York bank through a money-transfer company in Uruguay and then on to accounts in the Mideast, where they were distributed over the past two years to the likes of Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah. "I can't go out and arrest Osama bin Laden," the 84-year-old Morgenthau told The Post. "But I can try to cut off his money."
-more-

Guess that means we need to arm our enemies or something. Yunno, like how we're arming our own people:

Army prohibits personal armor
WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- A top Army official has said soldiers who wear a new, unapproved type of privately purchased body armor in Iraq could face discipline.

The service issued a safety message last week prohibiting the use of the armor, arguing it has not been shown to protect soldiers as well as the body armor and ceramic plates issued by the U.S. Army.

The message specifically prohibited Dragon Skin gear made by Pinnacle Armor Inc., of Fresno, Calif. -more-

except...

Defense Review: "Interceptor vs. Dragon Skin: Body Armor Fight Gets Ugly"
by David Crane
defrev@gmail.com

Everyone who’s been following the U.S. Army’s body armor drama involving Interceptor body armor program vs. SOV/Dragon Skin body armor is probably already aware that U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center (Natick)/Natick Soldier Center and PEO Soldier (Program Executive Office Soldier) have essentially declared war on Pinnacle Armor. According to Major General Jefferey A. Sorenson, Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management, not only has Dragon Skin “not yet passed testing”, but it also “isn’t anywhere near” standard Interceptor body armor’s capabilities.

Really? That’s interesting, considering that Murray Neal, CEO of Pinnacle Armor, has told us that both Level III/III+ and Level IV (classified) Dragon Skin have undergone testing at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) and Army Research Laboratory (ARL)--to Secretary of Defense Standards (military standards), no less--and passed those tests. This information would seem to be at direct odds the following statements made by Mr. Sorenson: "In some cases we haven't seen this capability ... has done anything to provide force protection we evaluate is even standard," and "all other claims being made (about Dragon Skin are) ... exactly what they are: claims." It’s our understanding that the DoD ballistic test standards mentioned above are more stringent than NIJ standards. In those tests (which did happen, by the way), Dragon Skin reportedly proved to be superior to Interceptor body armor. - more-

As long as we have our priorities straight. Because it's important that our brave men and women have the best armor and equipment available.

It's so important, in fact, that we need to outsource it to other countries.
Britain invests heavily in US military production Britain, now making our Bradley Fighting vehicles.

Ya see, it's importan that we get lessons in economy and spending delivered by people whose pork budget fails in the house.

After all, increased spending can help us do things like, I dunno, Spy on Americans... because Gonzales now suggests it's okay to do it domestically in the United States on innocent Americans. (from the guy who brought you Torture is acceptable)
And guess what? They're doing it:

Telecoms let NSA spy on calls
By Leslie Cauley and John Diamond, USA TODAY
The National Security Agency has secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to seven telecommunications executives. -more-

Thankfully, the EFF is standing up for us. They brought a class actionlawsuit against ATT.

AT&T provided National Security Agency eavesdroppers with full access to its customers' phone calls, and shunted its customers' internet traffic to data-mining equipment installed in a secret room in its San Francisco switching center, according to a former AT&T worker cooperating in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's lawsuit against the company.

Mark Klein, a retired AT&T communications technician, submitted an affidavit in support of the EFF's lawsuit this week. That class action lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco last January, alleges that AT&T violated federal and state laws by surreptitiously allowing the government to monitor phone and internet communications of AT&T customers without warrants. - more at link above-

Now it's important to understand that the EFF is small. Yet they've been in the trenches protecting our rights and privacy for 16 years. But as they are only a small non-profit group, they can only be as good as the resources they have. I donated yesterday and intend to do so every single chance I get. If you can't afford a large donation, don't worry! Five bucks when you have it will do. I gave $25 this time, and when my check comes there will be an earmarked portion every time. Someone has to stand up against this egregious abuse of power on civilians. And they can't do it alone. Take a look at all the good they have done silently protecting you and I. Their Victories. Their Cases. If we don't support fighters like these, then we lose without ever trying.
Yeah, anger talks...but money walks and prosecutes.
Please help them. Electronic Frontier Foundation.

How else could we find the new Osama video.

Iran Watch:
Iran fires THIRD missile

Iran said Wednesday it has successfully test-fired a "top secret" missile, the third in a week, state-run television reported.
more

Okay....now that I got a pure HTML post to work (I think) I'm going to try and finish up... more to come. And don't forget tomorrow is crazy and unexplained links day!

19 Times and Counting

2006-04-06T20:31:00.000-04:00

That's the count, folks. That is the official number of times in two days I've tried to post to this blog.
I'm cutting down the posts into nibbles and trying again.

updated: below are two posts - one which went through and was subjected to wacky formatting, then opened and re-uploaded only to get more wacky (in between takes of where the browser would close, or stall, or just sit and spin and need to be restarted and then restarted, you get the idea), and the one below that was literally eaten alive. Not even a tenth of the whole post made it through - and it was lost to saving in edit posts as well. So tomorrow I'm going to try and update both or combine and also put together the other posts. I'm not sure what to do right now, but I might just use Homesite like in my old webmeister days.

If anyone knows of any editor that works well for blogger, email me: kira *at* yahoo *dot* com

Abbreviated Snip 1 (thanks Blogspot)

2006-04-05T23:02:00.000-04:00

I'm Doyle, Brian Doyle, Spokeman for Department of Homeland ~~Security~~, Predator

Yes, indeed, those now entrusted with our National Security are coming forth as an upstanding bunch. While not protecting us against ourselves, they seek to protect our teenagers from having a youth unfettered by pornography or sex with adults old enough to be their father. Creepy and disgusting? Yes. Isolated? Not. He would be the third from that particular agency to be charged in similar crimes. Keep in mind this is the agency which has a department called 'Operation Predator'.

Homeland Security oversees Operation Predator Unit

Operation Predator is a subdivision of DHS which investigates child predators and pornographers. While their spokesman attempts to solicit 14 year old girls online for sex. Brian Doyle, 55 years old, faces no less than 23 felony charges, including 16 counts of sending pornographic video clips to a minor. Turns out the 'minor' was a Polk County, Florida detective. Fatherland Security is going to launch it's 'own internal investigation' into the incident. Which is similar to asking Al Capone to audit his own IRS returns.
There's Doyle:
Homeland Security Spokesman Brian Doyle charged in Child Predator Case
and then there's this guy:
Homeland Security employee caught in NBC child solicitation ring
and yet another:
Homeland Security Senior position holder caught exposing himself in front of a teenage girl at an Orlando mall Please note, this guy used to HEAD UP Operation Predator.

Chertoff .....doin a heckuva job.

Rummy doesn’t know what Rice is talking about – he sees no mistakes in Iraq, and coughs up the immortal observation that the enemy has a brain. Whoa, dude, go easy on the Cheesy Poofs.

Speaking of Iraqnam, Don, this idea of blowing up a bridge and then trying to rebuild it comes straight out of MACV, Da Nang, 1969. Just sayin.

But we must add some federally decried balance. So here's some good news. Russ Feingold yesterday at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing:

"U.S. -India Atomic Energy Cooperation"

"I’ll be straight with you. I’ve been troubled by the way the Administration has handled this issue from the start: not consulting with Congress prior to announcing a deal that requires changes to U.S. law; submitting legislation asking Congress to remove itself from any oversight; and, pushing Congress to approve this legislation without the benefit of seeing the agreement." -more-

I may just have to marry this guy.

Media in the 21st Century

This half hour program examines the drive by the telephone industry to dismantle local video franchising. A panel of experts discuss the implications for consumers as well as the threats posed to local communities and cable access stations. Hosted by Mara Tapp, the panel includes Anthony Riddle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Community Media, Joseph Bast, President of the Heartland Institute and Ben Scott, Policy Director of Free Press. = View Program =

When a PR move blows up in your face: Military PR Blogger forced to disclose ties. This shows an inherent lack of understanding regarding the blogosphere. If she'd been up front, it would have been accepted without question. 'Hey I work in PR for the Engineers, which gives me a lot of insight into the things going on here...' Bam. Instant validation. Agree or disagree, the cards are on the table.
Another baffling move: Lt. Brian Anderson, CIFA affairs officer, did a hit-and-run around the Blog Dial to generate interest in news from the military standpoint. Unfortunately, Lt Anderson never stayed around to become a part of the community he was hoping to inform. Integration is critical. You want to bestow a viewpoint, then you need to stay around and defend it. We all defend our particular ideas. That is what makes this a unique and interactive forum - rather than a one way television newscast or print media outlet. Know your audience or you are destined to fail.

In the mood for something to do?

a Fourmilab EarthView - view Earth from an orbiting satellite (choose from the list)
a Listen to the World via Live Radio - listen to live broadcasts from across the globe. Apparently the UK has decided to become a girl about the whole thing, and pulled a lot of theirs. Aren't they responsible for bringing us Benny Hill? Is this any way to atone?

Crowds of Thugs

2006-04-05T14:45:00.014-04:00

[ okay, it officially ate my posts up until now. This is a partially survived post. I'll have to redo and repair them tomorrow, but I'm exhausted now....and like, ready to scream ]

UK Grannies the new 'face of terror’

SENIOR CITZENS new security threat

They fly the skies to keep you safe:

2 Air Marshals Plead Guilty to Drug Smuggling
Updated: 2:32 a.m. ET April 4, 2006
HOUSTON - Two U.S. air marshals pleaded guilty Monday to accepting money to smuggle cocaine on a flight to Las Vegas and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

The marshals admitted they accepted $15,000 to use their positions as air marshals to bypass airport security and smuggle 15 pounds of cocaine. [more]

Halliburton got $68 more million for Iraq.

Our Trade Deficit with China is officially: Insane

The Founding Fathers Never Counted on GW Bush
By Gary Hart & Joyce Appleby
“His interpretation has produced a devilish conundrum: President Bush has given Commander in Chief Bush unlimited wartime authority, but the "war on terror" is more a metaphor than a fact. Terrorism is a method, not an ideology; terrorists are criminals, not warriors. No peace treaty can possibly bring an end to the fight against far-flung terrorists. The emergency powers of the president during this "war" can now extend indefinitely, at the pleasure of the president and at great threat to the liberties and rights guaranteed us under the Constitution.”

Flash Animation of the Day: PreEmptive Apology

Quit Yer Whining

2006-04-03T23:21:00.000-04:00

Condi, Jack and the Little Dutch Boy
Ms Rice and Jack Straw pooled their mighty Power of Thinking and headed to Baghdad. Iraq, they chorused, must have a government! Wow, the brainpower that must've been expelled. Unfortunately for the Iraqis, '....you go to civil war with the government you have, not the government you wish you had.'

But despite their awesome powers of persuasion, the news in pacified Iraq went this way:

10 US troops killed over weekend, 3 missing.
Army helicopter shot down - both crew dead
Well somebody didn't get the memo.

Tom DeLay is taking his ball and going home. Chances are it's Jack Abramoff's ball.

The Bill of Rights and the Constitution were not repealed on 9/11”
~ Russell Feingold

Feingold throws a party – and almost nobody comes but opponents.
Michael O'Hanlon, senior defense analyst at the Brookings Institue had this to say about the censure move:

".. on its legal merits, I'm not sure that Feingold is wrong."
Thank you, Captain Obvious.
Arlen Specter knew how to hold a ‘hearing’ – on a Friday when everyone is shuffling back to their limo after last vote. But hey, the Republicans showed up en masse. It was the Democrats outside of Leahy (who rocked) and Kohl (who showed up and promptly left) that should be ashamed. Abdicate your duties on someone elses dime. DC Dems - handing over America one AWOL Senator at a time. For instance, this Judge was censured for mocking a victim. Which is reprehensible, but nothing like mocking a whole nation . That, apparently, is not censurable.

Feingold on Fox News courtesy of CrooksnLiars or as some of us would like to dub it: Mike Wallace's shame gets a clownbeating.

Donald Rumsfeld: He can't lead the military, but he did spend last night at a Holiday Inn Express.

Anthony Zinni joined the chorus of voices over the weekend calling for Rumsfelds resignation. That's one a week for 2 weeks.
Democrats call for a change in Pentagon Armor Policy They want it to be provided. Imagine that. Is that Halliburton I hear crying?

We know you did it but we ain't tellin you what we know :

Judge won't open NSA wiretaps for Terror Case
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge overseeing a case against a Pakistani-American father and son accused of terrorism-related activity denied on Monday a defense request to review related National Security Agency wiretaps. [more]

So, the whole purpose of the illegal wiretapping is to catch suspected terrorists. And when we catch them, then we say they have no right to know the information they are being prosecuted for. Berlin sure is lovely in the 1930's!

But if you don't tell us what you know:

FBI accuses Film Director of lying about Wiretapping
By Alex Vega
April 3, 2006, 9:04 PM EDT
LOS ANGELES -- "Die Hard" director John McTiernan was charged Monday with making a false statement to the FBI about his knowledge of wiretapping by an indicted Hollywood private detective, authorities said.

Because illegal wiretapping is only deplorable when other people do it.

Moussaoui is ruled eligible for Sept 11th penalty
Now the thinking is he could have prevented the terror attacks on September 11th had he divulged intelligence .... like, say, a memo entitled, “Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside United States’. That kind of intelligence?

Let's round it out with a look at Iran:
The American Jewish Council calls the UN move against Iran a good ‘first’ step. I know a good step. Diplomacy. And no one dies.

Iran fires a second test missile in the Gulf. So they got the firepower, what about the allies?

Iran reaching out to Egypt
Well, even with allies, you need money...

Where’s the money going??
4/1/06
Iran denies Swiss paper's claim in withdrawal of Gold assets

Tehran, March 31, IRNA-An informed source in Central Bank of Iran on Friday denied the news published in a Swiss daily on withdrawal of 250 tons of Iran's gold reserves from that country's Credit Bank.

The Central Bank official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Economy Desk at IRNA Head office in Tehran Desk, "The news published in the Thursday edition of the Bern-based daily Der Bund, on Iran's withdrawal of 250 tons of its gold reserves, worth five billion Swiss francs, and transferring them to Tehran is totally baseless."

Der Bund had added in its story that apparently Iran has ever since last October withdrawn 700 tons of its gold reserves, worth sixteen billion Swiss franks, from various Western monetary funds and transferred them to other unknown destinations.
-more-

Firepower, allies, money....but what about having the moral high ground? Do they have a right to be angry at the UN?

In 1981 when without thought to consequences, Israel attacked and destroyed Iraq's nuclear power plant – Osirak, even though in 1981, Iraq had proven itself to be an aggressor by attacking its neighbor, Iran, and one which would not shy away from using chemical weapons, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed resolution 487 which stated the following:
So Israel can attack Iran, and Iraq can attack Iran. But Iran is the aggressor?
For shame UN, for shame. -more-

A complex issue, in need of thoughtful deed and action.
Nah, just kidding.
Let's go for playground politics and the "our-military-is-better-than-your-military" ideology angle. Hell, throw in some simplistic neocon good vs. evil underpinnings for good measure.
I'll pencil it in.

Quid Pro Quo

2006-04-03T02:01:00.000-04:00

Many lament the 'lack' of people speaking out against the abuses of this administration. Well I say you haven't been looking very hard.

Russell Tice blew the lid on illegal NSA spying.
Sgt Joe Darby blew the lid on Abu Ghraib, and for his honesty and courage, his family has been threatened, he can't find a job, and he's under attack by the military.
Richard Covertino, a federal prosecutor, blew the lid on the federal governments inability to effectively utilize the criminal justice system as a component in the “war on terrorism.” Guess who's being prosecuted? He is.

Lt Col Shaffer blew the lid on Able Danger.

Another Lt Colonel, Karen Kwiatkowski, is speaking out. She's former Navy Intelligence who watched the policies implemented by the Neocons right after 9/11 spiral out of control. The insight she provides is needed information for every American and every citizen abroad whose policies this now affects. (is anyone excluded?) Take time to view Her interview on C-Span . A transcript is also available.

These whistleblowers just ratted on Dick Cheney, et. al. for influence peddling on a Mexican project.

These Whistleblowers detailed the corruption and fraud of Halliburton.

And if you think they aren't scaring the hell out of the Crooked Cabal, read on:

The Justice Department now applies the Espionage Act against journalists and their possible government sources, not to silence dissension like in the past - but to hide the criminal activities of the Bush administration. In reality, this administration wants to continue breaking the laws and violate our constitutional rights.

They have even pushed through legislation in attempts to stop them. To effectively allow abuses of the system and this government to go unpunished and unreported. Because if you speak out, you're the one who's now a traitor.

Why aren't WE speaking out to assist them?

I leave with this by Stephen Rohde:

Then They Came for Me

by

Stephen F. Rohde, Esq.

First they came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Muslim.

Then they came to detain immigrants indefinitely solely upon the certification of the Attorney General, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an immigrant.

Then they came to eavesdrop on suspects consulting with their attorneys, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a suspect.

Then they came to prosecute non-citizens before secret military commissions, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a non-citizen.

Then they came to enter homes and offices for unannounced "sneak and peek" searches, and I didn't speak up because I had nothing to hide.

Then they came to reinstate Cointelpro and resume the infiltration and surveillance of domestic religious and political groups, and I didn't speak up because I had stopped participating in any groups.

Then they came for anyone who objected to government policy because it aided the terrorists and gave ammunition to America's enemies, and I didn't speak up because...... I didn't speak up.

Then they came for me....... and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Stephen Rohde, a constitutional lawyer and President of the ACLU of Southern California, is indebted to the inspiration of Rev. Martin Niemoller (1937).

I urge you to watch Karen Kwiatkowski. Listen to all of these principled Americans who wouldn't be silent. Get behind efforts to overturn the filthy laws the Regal Ruling Republicans have implemented to overturn Whistleblower protections.

Because one day, they may be us.

On the 7th Day

2006-04-02T05:17:00.000-04:00

...everybody rested. And so shall we.

News will be posted in links with brief commentary at the end of the page. But right now, it's time for fun links.

Welcome to
The Weird, the Strange, and the Totally Unexplainable

Three Point
A blog apparently dedicated to swamps. Pictures of swamps. And...swamps.
Unexplained stories and Mysteries of America
WTF? George's not listed?
Just plain Unexplained
Bcz musk ez srus yno
EVP
Creepiest Shit Ever. Click on the recorded sound 'help'...it had the hairs on my arm standing up.
The First Church of Simba
Yes but, does Scar know?
Ron Newcom’s celebrity pictures of everybody
The Stalkerazzi has a spokesperson.
Tour HELL
No, really.
I guess some Christian group thought it would bring the heathens back in line. The pencil demons were especially frightening. And who thought there were mattresses in hell?
Rednecks Unite
His name is K-Man, which stands for Killer. Oh yeah, and he owns a mink farm. Check out the awesome pics of his truck, his wrecked boat, and uh, him.
Redneck Anti-Terrorist Training
I feel safer now. You?
A lego set of concentration camps???
Noeffinway
I'm pretty sure he's serious
I know it’s English. And he has his own domain name. But what the hell is he talking about?
And he's dead serious, too
Dude, drugs, a psychiatrist, take your pick.

And that concludes a brief tour of the funny, unintentionally funny and outright weird on the web.

I'm going to keep this as a regular Sunday feature. I will also dedicate a day to useful links on the web. Recently I came across a site which allows you to download GoogleVideo and YouTube presentations. Purty neat. If you'd like to submit links for either feature or both, just leave them in the comments or email me.

Now onto serious-type stuff. Close your eyes if you want.

Remember when we talked about ‘permanent bases’ in Iraq?
Video Excerpt of Talk with Baghdad's Time Bureau Chief
and
Enduring bases in Iraq by US and UK
Yeah, we thought so.
Apparently, however, we're the only ones who want to stay.
Iraq chaos , civilians flee violence
Ehh, we're so done with them. What we need is a fresh war.
The UK is in secret talks about ‘military actions against Iran’
Wow, see how that happens?
WaPo: Attacking Iran may trigger Terror
And like, nuclear war, too.
But we've got a ‘nuclear shield’
Uh, guess not. Is there an expiration date on fraud?
GOP meets in secret – help Priests avoid sexual lawsuits
Obviously there's an expiration date on predators, though.
Army relaxes tattoo Regulations
Because recruiting is down, and there's a lack of seriously hot body art.
Pentagon Reveals Plans for a “War on the Web”
Comes complete with Truth Squads. Tearing a page right out of the Third Reich, they are. If this dissemination of a published Pentagon report doesn’t scare the hell out of you, nothing will
Condi flies w/ Jack Straw to Iraq
.... and imparts this font of wisdom:
“Thou must form a working government"
Babe, we're still waiting for one in America.
Right Wing Nuthouse chastises the piling on of Jill Carroll
And that is thier name. So there.

Set your clock. Enjoy your day.
Say a prayer for the ones who aren't coming home. All 2,327 of them.

Until next time...

So Many Wars, So Little Time

2006-03-31T01:12:00.000-05:00

IRANRESPONDS

We're losing the wars we're in, but dammit let's have another one. Iran has unilaterally stated that they have no intention of stopping uranium enrichment based on the rights contained in the signed Non-Proliferation Treaty which guarantees the full nuclear fuel cycle.
Condi's response? Deep, dark warnings. Iran's response?

Iran plans 'war games'
29/03/2006 21:44 - (SA)
Tehran - Thousands of Iranian troops will on Friday start a week-long military manoeuvre in the Gulf to ready armed forces for warding off "threats", a senior commander announced on state television. -more-

Iran fires Test Missile with Multiple Warheads
Mar 31, 2006 (AP)— Iran successfully test-fired a missile that can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads, the military said Friday
-more-

Cue up Tom Petty singing, "I won't back down. No, I won't back down...."
So how's that Threatmongering™ going for you, Condi? Have you had time to read your own mission statement yet?

These aims are anchored in the President’s National Security Strategy and its three underlying and interdependent components - diplomacy, development, and defense.
Mission Statement of the US Department of State

No mention of offense, but what's that I see? Diplomacy? Diplomacy: See dictionary entry:
(I'd lend you mine, but right now it's on the way to the FBI.)

di·plo·ma·cy
n.
The art or practice of conducting international relations, as in negotiating alliances, treaties, and agreements.
Tact and skill in dealing with people. See Synonyms at tact.

Tact and skill. What a concept.
Now Condi's making friends all over the globe. Here's her reception in Britain. Scroll down for pictures. Here's her being UN-invited to a mosque due to mass protests. Here's how they showed her love in Sydney.
Chairman Mao had warmer receptions. Thanks for representin, homegirl!

Since we're hellbent on stomping our elephant feet all over the oil rich nations of the world, you'd think our nonserving little dweebs in charge would take care of the one asset they need to achieve their corporate wars. Namely, soldiers. Well, guess again. Soldiers are now forbidden to wear privately acquired armor. Yeah - it's a luxury allright. Look, if you insist they wear your provided equipment, fine. Start PROVIDING IT.
I suppose they are too busy blocking efforts to provide clean water to their own people. And no, this isn't the Halliburton debacle. They've found a whole new way to suck.

Jill Carroll is free.

The wingnuts are thoroughly upset that she wasn't tortured.

And no, I'm not kidding.

Joe Galloway, the young reporter immortalized in the book "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young" and in the Mel Gibson film of the same title, has written an article that reflects the sorry state of Rumsfeld's helming of our military. Here is an excerpt:

Damage to the military will take years to repair
Joe Galloway
Knight Ridder
Anyone else might be embarrassed when not one but two detailed studies of the way he's doing business conclude that his plans and assumptions are totally wrong, but not Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.
A recent Rand Corp. study commissioned by the Pentagon of the U.S. Army in this time of war concluded that without an increase in manpower the Army ''simply cannot sustain the force levels needed to break the back of the insurgent movement'' in Iraq.
Read the Full Article.

A Map of the Projected Population for 2050

The Democratic Underground sent 100 dozen of roses to Helen Thomas to thank her for honesty in reporting. Her response is golden, and I will only give the beginning, "Blessed are the Peacemakers..." See pictures and full story here

Friends say UK's Tony Blair will be gone by Christmas.

The US military will test a 700-Ton warhead in Nevada in June.

Now, with all that awful stuff, I'm off to find some fun links to put here over the weekend. Because growing old is mandatory. Growing up? Definitely optional.

One last shoutout ...

Enter Ye, Unafraid

2006-03-29T23:29:00.000-05:00

IRAN HAS 30 DAYS TO COMPLY.
The United Nations Security Council has issued their edict. Iran remains unbowed. What does that mean for America?

Today the United Nations Security Council agreed unanimously that one of it's founding members must cease uranium enrichment within thirty days. Watchdog IAEA will report at that time on the progress, or lack of progress, in complying with this demand. Iran's Ambassador Javad Zarif reacted with the following statement, "Iran will want to cooperate with the international community, but it does not accept pressure or intimidation."

The initial language favored by the US, and naturally the UK, has been watered down considerably by Security Counsel dissenters. It no longer contains language which would make sanctions an automatic response to noncompliance.

Do I believe Iran is all puppy-dog soft and ready for adoption? About as much as I'd invite Condi Rice into my shoe closet. But facts need to be faced. We're on a war in two fronts, and we sure as hell are in no position to take on a third. So knock off the ominous warnings, and get with the process of diplomacy. You can dust off a copy of Foreign Policy for Dummies, we already know it's unread.

White House incompetence has even long-time GOP insiders trying to imagine them with an IQ above the speed limit. Take, for instance, the recent highwire decision to 'bow to pressure' and shake up the Whitehouse ... uh...with a harness. Chief of Staff Andy Card (check links for clues)resigned and was replaced by Josh Bolten. (Was Michael busy?) Call me underwhelmed. Josh leaves a tsunami the size of a wading pool. What a shake-up. Call a press conference! We're replacing an insider with an insider! Is FOX able to carry us live? I swear, these guys are so dense that light bends around them.

So how qualified is Josh, the budget director who helped swell national debt $2 trillion dollars on his watch? Well, he actually used to be Karl Rove's supervisor in 2001 (inmates. asylum.). He helped set up ~~Father~~Homeland Security. And for one of those cozy Republican moments, he was named as one of the co-defendants in Cheney's energy task force lawsuit, the one where the WhiteHouse refused to release any documents concerning either one of them. (okay serious links from here on)

Yet Josh's roots go much deeper. It's a family thing. Josh's daddy, Seymour, was a great asset to Bush Senior, as revealed in the documents wrestled out by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting under the Freedom of Information Act.

All in all, a real negative 4 on the Richter scale.
Passenger list on the Lusitania: unchanged.

Now George is just making friends everywhere in America. Take Utah. Big red-type state. Love their Republicans. Tater's there for a big speech. Ruh-roh. Would that be the mayor at the Anti-Bush rally giving a Rocky type knockout punch? Guess he's heard the speech before. We all have. It's Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
Of course Tates, he feels it's all good. He just whined-and-twistered top reporters...yunno, on the condition they wouldn't report it. Personally, I like it when my main source of news remains unbiased like this. It strengthens my faith in mainstream media.
Right now it could wear a top-hat and fit under the belly of a pregnant ant.

Anyone who comes around here knows how I feel about the NotSoAmerican program of illegal wiretapping. I've never quite figured out what part of illegal is under debate in the Senate. It's against our laws vis-a-vis, it's freakin illegal. Now top FISA judges, including one who resigned in protest over it, testified that it is, indeed, freakin illegal. They could hire me real cheap.
Which, with this administration, is a drawback.

Despite all this, Cheney has stated "If Democrats can lead, then I can sing!"
Yes, but can you sing the Dixie Chicks?

Let's take a peek at how our nostrategy strategy is working in, oh, say, the space of a single day:

IRAQ ain't lookin so good

03/28/06 AP: Recruiting in Ramadi: Attacks, few applicants
03/28/06 13wham: Local Soldier’s Unit In Iraq Hit By Suicide Bomber
03/28/06 CENTCOM: MND-B SOLDIER KILLED BY SMALL-ARMS FIRE BAGHDAD
03/28/06 MLive: Marine injured for third time while serving in Iraq
03/28/06 KUNA: Bomb at governorate headquarters in Kirkuk wounds five
03/28/06 CNN: Vehicle explosion wounds one in Baghdad
03/28/06 CNN: Rocket wounds an Iraqi civilian in Balad Ruz
03/28/06 Reuters: Dean of Anbar University kidnapped in Ramadi
03/28/06 14 bodies found in western Baghdad, Execution Style killings
03/28/06 News World: Roadside bombs wound seven iraqis in Baghdad, Samarra
03/28/06 News World: Six police wounded near Kirkuk
03/28/06 AP: Three Groups of Gunmen Kidnap 24 Iraqis

In a bizarre daylight abduction, five employees of a foreign exchange company and a customer were kidnapped by gunmen who arrived in several cars, police said. The gunmen also stole $60,000 worth of cash from the company, Musa Exchange, located in the mixed Harthiya neighborhood. In another kidnapping, Auf Abdel Rahman Al Duri, a high school teacher in the Qahira neighborhood of the capital was seized by gunmen. His fate is unknown. In the northern city of Kirkuk, a bomb went off next to a police patrol near the governor's building, wounding four policemen and two schoolgirls, police said. Six other policemen were also wounded by a bomb targeting their patrol 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Kirkuk, with three of them listed in critical condition. In north Baghdad five people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a restaurant, while two policemen were injured when a similar bomb went off against their patrol near the northern town of Samarra, police said. In the oil-refinery town of Baiji, an open-ended curfew was declared at 6 am (0300 GMT) as raids were carried out by US and Iraqi forces throughout the city, police said. Baiji, which has become rife with insurgent activity, was where two German engineers were kidnapped on January 22. In other attacks around Baghdad a member of the interior ministry's public order brigade was injured by gunfire in the southern Dura district. Four more were killed across Baghdad, including a former army officer shot in the Yarmouk district, police said. Three others were killed in different areas of the capital, while one unidentified body was also found. The spate of attacks on Tuesday came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Iraqi army recruitment center in northwestern Iraq, killing 40 people.

AFGHANISTAN ain't lookin so good either

*03/28/06 AP: Roadside bomb kills six Afghan soldiers
A roadside bomb blew up a vehicle carrying Afghan army soldiers in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing six of them, a senior Afghan army general said.

*03/28/06 MOD: Death of Lance Corporal Peter Edward Craddock in Afghanistan
It is with great regret that the Ministry of Defence confirms the death of Lance Corporal Peter Edward Craddock of 1st Battalion The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment in Lashkar Gah, Southern Afghanistan on Monday 27 March 2006.

*03/28/06 BBC: Afghan mine attack kills four
The South African is reported to have worked for US firm USPI, which provides security for road building projects. An Afghan driver and two guards also died.

*03/28/06 Xinhuanet: Mine explosion leaves 5 dead in Afghanistan
"Two foreigners and three Afghans worked for the USPI company (U.S. Protection and Investigations) were killed this morning when their vehicle was targeted by a remote-controlled mine in Sandak area," Ghulam Dastgir Azad told Xinhua.

*03/28/06 CP: Roadside bomb kills civilian
an improvised explosive device detonated about three kilometres from the city. A civilian vehicle was hit by the explosion, which killed one Afghan and wounded a second person.

*03/28/06 CP: Canadian base mortared
There were no injuries when the mortar rounds exploded near the runway at the main Canadian base around 3 a.m. local time Tuesday. The three successive blasts forced everyone to scramble for concrete bunkers, which are situated around the camp.

Total Fatalities since May 1, 2003: 2361
March 20th through May 1st: 140

Where's that Mission Accomplished banner?

Okay, I know I'm exhausted so, here's...

Todays FUN

Make your own Chevy commerical online. For serious entries, you can win prizes. For hilarious ones, you can win plaudits from other environmental types.

Wrestling For Jesus The site comes with Pictures.

White mom says IHOP discriminated against her. Tonight they forgot my ranch sauce with my nuggets. And I thought it was just incompetence.

These Diebold "Ads" are hilarious.

Quote du Jour:
George W. Bush on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez:
"I judge the president based upon his honoring of the institutions that make democracy sound in Venezuela ... And it's very important for leaders throughout the hemisphere, whether they agree with America or not, to honor the tenets of democracy. And to the extent he doesn't do that, then I believe he should be subject to criticism."

Does the guy need comedy writers?

Thought for Today:
"I'm married to my career, although recently I've been considering a trial separation"

Eyes, Ball, Our Focus

2006-03-27T17:24:00.000-05:00

China is taking advantage of American chaos to continue solidifying their economic and strategic strongholds across the worldwide base.
...while America flounders...

As Charles Smith states, "Overlooked during America's preoccupation with the Dubai ports deal is a much more imminent threat - China's methodical campaign to gain control of global ports that are strategically positioned to support military or economic actions against the United States - a move that has gone virtually unnoticed"

Recently China's gold reserve investments doubled, in a move so astonishing as to have critics flabbergasted and heaping them with economic praise.

Hutchinson Wampoa, a Chinese flagship company, currently operates the base in the Bahamas that everyone is so concerned about having our cargo scanned for nukes by a Hong Kong company at.
We need to keep our eye on the wider picture. Do you have faith that this Administration of robber barons and oil dukes are doing anything more than lining their pockets with as many financial resources as they can get their paws on?

There are just too many things to worry us to keep up with. With the ability to type 200 words per minute, I'm still stymied trying to blog about it. See under: Saved Blogs Ready to Post, also - Blogs exceed Bandwidth Available. But here's a roundup before I go back to rework those puppies.

The Federation of American Scientists are begging people to help them stop Bush from trying to rubberstamp legislation to REMOVE ALL OVERSIGHT from his Indian nukes for mangoes deal. Can we point out mangoes do not survive at ground zero?

The GOP-controlled congress just took away legislation for health care. We all know that diabetics are terrorists. And pregnant women? Demanding those primo parking lots? A definite act of domestic terrorism, if you ask me. Now we can thankfully eliminate that potentially scary group of Pregnant Diabetics altogether.

Food deregulation escalates. The latest - to allow carbon monoxide gas to be used to make meat look fresher. It also works well in closed environments, like your garage.

In an addendum to the already insane unPatriotic Act, Bush says the meager provisions in the law don't actually apply to him. The boy is living in a amendment-free zone.

Teachers in Arkansas are forbidden to say the 'e-word' - I'll take an 'r' for 200, Alex. This must be Faith-Based ~~education~~ indoctrination at work. Also, please eliminate all Q words. There's no real reason, but I'm suspicious of it anyway.

Lest thine eyes decieve you: Video is worth a Thousand Words, Multiple Videos: Priceless

And the MAYOR OF BAGHDAD bails...he doesn't want anything to do with either the American military or US-backed Iraqi forces anymore. I think he's tired of being liberated.

A nifty-difty animated map of US casualties in Iraq by area, updated thru February 2006. Are we tired of liberating yet?

I'd wager the opinion that those in Paul Revere country are tired. One ride, four impeachment resolutions. So far they are 4-and-oh.

Wait a minute, wait a minute - Trot on over to the American Conservative:

The paranoia of the Bush circle has infected the whole regime. The entire government—elected officials, appointed staff, permanent bureaucracy—has shifted in the last decade from pretending to be the people’s servants to admitting that they regard the people as a threat. Thus do we see the stream of legislation permitting ever more powers to spy, confiscate, and jail without trial.

The party is gettin big. Throw on a few extra dogs.

Threat Du Jour: American Journalists

Obvious Delusionoid Hypocrite of the Day:

Supreme Justice Scalia Criticizes the EU on torture.
Yup, after the Iron Maiden, it all went downhill from there.

Scalia uses 'obscene hand gesture' in Church
Scalia flips the finger at Church
Cause if you ain't goin to hell for torture, stack the deck.

We interrupt this blogcast to introduce the following from CNN:

Report: Dirty bomb material smuggled into U.S.
Two teams of government investigators using fake documents were able to enter the United States with enough radioactive sources to make two dirty bombs, according to a federal report made available Monday. -Full Story-

Are we safe yet? Is this the safe part?

Video of the Day: No Bravery

This does not mean our fighting men and women in uniform are not brave. The military starts and ends with the Flounder-in-Chief.

Reading Room: They Thought They Were Free

Nonfiction. Read the review. I certainly will be adding it to my shelf.

My thought of the Day:

"God put me on this Earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now, I am so far behind I will never die."

Regularly Scheduled Programming

2006-03-26T14:59:00.000-05:00

...will resume as soon as I return from V for Vendetta.

I tried posting Friday with no luck, and Saturdays is saved as well.
So obviously an incident of mass-publication will occur later this evening.

But I shall leave you with this:

This is the military's Coronado Naval Amphibious Base.
Here is a larger satellite photo.

Now, I ask you...

...surely there are better architectural designs. Nein?

One Big Tag

2006-03-23T11:23:00.000-05:00

Harry Reid says, "Bush is dangerously incompetent." Welcome to the party, Reid. We’ll still never forgive you for wanking on Russ after he presented the censure motion. So sign on and be redempted. For courage and a reality check of where people stand on this, you might want to have a look at Russ's reception on The Daily Show . (tippin it to crooks & liars)

Oh. My. Gawd. Irony, thy name be DoD.
DoD considers proposal to not allow testimony rendered through torture
You’re joking, right? Tell me you’re joking. So…..if it’s not admissible as evidence, why are you doing it again? Fill us in please.
....Waiting.

Oh, and while I wait, cause that will virtually take my lifetime, might I supply this little tidbit:

Pentagon hired private contractor to advise on collecting information on churches, mosques, other U.S. sites
WASHINGTON - A Pentagon intelligence agency that kept files on American anti-war activists hired one of the contractors who bribed former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., to help it collect data on houses of worship, schools, power plants and other locations in the United States.
MZM Inc., headed by Mitchell Wade, also received three contracts totaling more than $250,000 to provide unspecified "intelligence services" to the White House, according to documents obtained by Knight Ridder. The White House didn't respond to an inquiry about what those intelligence services entailed
there's more

So if the terrorists are over there, threatening us over here, why again are we spying on Americans over here? Cause, I dunno, what? Grade Schools are the new terror centers? Oh, and thanks for following the new tradition of outsourcing jobs to private companies. Cause you can keep track of what they do with that information and all that, right? Not so much?

Eh, who cares, we need to be watched for our own good. We're all basically children and you are the recess monitor. Never know what we can get up to in churches and schools. And we carry mean wicked signs on those protests marches, which could encourage various persons to read. Send dogs! Send guns! Arrest more people! Protestors actually want to prevent soldiers from dying for corporate greed!! Damn them all!

When will you realize that you aren't defending us against our enemies, you're attacking us just like our enemies?
I, whose family has served in every conflict up to Gulf War I.
I, who love the military and actively support you even today with letters and care packages.
I, who have always thought the profession of noble warrior in service to my beloved country worthy of my eternal gratitude.
I, yes I, am telling you now that if you say the sky is blue, I'll be checking.

The Great $$$ Ripoff Continues
56 more Iraqis die in Violence

How widespread is Donald Rumsfeld in contributing to politicians to curry favor?
Oooooh, such a busy boy! I may run for office, my vacuum is broken. I'd like a new car. A vacation. And some Jimmy Choo's.

Now I do understand that you need favors to assure appropriations ... for such things as the recent operation whereupon 3 Christian activists were rescued in Iraq in a daring raid by US/UK special forces.

Kidnappers…..not home.

Apparently I’ve forgotten to give the DOD it’s tag today, as per Operation Own It standard procedures.
Shall we serve the dessert first?
READ IT.

DoD you've been tagged royally. Stop screwin with my beloved military.

Now onto other bidness....

Threat Du Jour: Italy
Yes, the calamari terrorists have arisen!!

Political WTF of the Day:

Senator Arlen Specter seems to feel the Intelligence Oversight on illegal wiretapping won't amount to anything. Thanks for the heads up. I mean, it is his party in control, isn't it? His reasons give a good glimpse into the climate of the 'screw-laws-we-do-what-we-want' mindthink in the upper echelons of deluditude.

Media WTF of the Day:
Fox News and Neil Cavuto asks, "What if I told you we were already at war with Iran? That it's too late?"
Sir, I'd tell you that you need to go to the head of the draft line. Have no fear, oh brave windbag, these people will on your side.

and last but not least....

Internet WTF of the Day:

Well, well, well….right wing Drudge Report guru Matt has conveniently had some private email messages delivered right into his hands, from none other than an ABC news exec saying Bush is “making him sick” (I feel your pain). This plays right into the ‘media distorting Iraq’ stuff….no way to spin the deaths or the corruption or the lies or the lack of WMDs or the IEDs or the lack of body armor or uparmored humvees or the sectarian violence or the over 17k injured or the death squads or the poisoned water given to our troops or the nonpermanent permanent bases or the cakewalk turning into Vietnam the middle east edition…so…let’s blame the media! How could such emails have been intercepted (cough,cough)?

I lied, okay? One ....last....bit....

Wargasm of the Day:

Breaking the Silence
A prominent former insider is criticizing the administration’s handling of Iraq’s reconstruction. And there’s more to come.

“In an interview with NEWSWEEK on Tuesday, he harshly criticized the Coalition Provisional Authority led by L. Paul Bremer III for botching the reconstruction effort and allowing ill-qualified or corrupt contractors to dominate it. "”From Newsweek.

Fan. Blowback. You.

Doncha hate it when that happens?

Cracks in the Facade

2006-03-22T22:50:00.000-05:00

Charlie

Sheen has been doing his homework. You need to listen to his radio interview. Interview on GCN

Today's Threat-Du-Jour: US threatens China over Currency

Which would explain why the GOP trails Democrats in fundraising, no?

Sick of Butch and nonstop mongering (scare,war,terror)? So is the majority of America. So what do we get? Speeches! Wooohooo! I'd like to respond, but I'll just let Murtha respond to the full court-press of speeches.

Terrorists? They're popping out all over the place. Now we've got Narco-Terrorists. Coming soon: Jaywalking Terrorists, Shoplifting Terrorists, Terrorist who have Baby-on-Board signs.

Historians are sick of Bush and the neocons. Take a look.
Professors are sick of Bush and the neocons. Take a look.
63% of America is no longer with this administration, which must mean we are FreedomTerrorists, or AntiWarTerrorists, or maybe we're just FedUpwithYourCrap Terrorists. Label us what you will. Because you can't be afraid of a word. Or a name. Or a label.
My mom taught me that in kindergarten.

Shining Path

2006-03-21T20:49:00.000-05:00

...four years and the loss of two thousand three hundred and twelve lives with 17,000 wounded...

Rumsfeld woke up today and realized, 'Yippee! We're still at war!' Cheney woke up today and said, Yippee! Halliburtons stock is still on the rise! And 2,312 loyal Americans will never wake up again. 17,000 wounded will wake up with scars, disfigurement and lost limbs. I woke up today and thought, 'Does that all inclusive pre-emptive policy include 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?'.
Make no mistake, unlike the Whitehouse, I don't want them dead. I want them punished. In court. On trial. Preferrably in nice orange jumpsuits with a complimentary black hood. While awaiting trial, I would like Task Force 626 to take a lead in providing top rate prison quality. All food and water must be provided by Halliburton. Entertainment to be provided by Mark Fiore, author of the tribute Thank you, Neoconmen! Each cell will be given three coats of depleted uranium . Special showers will provide hot and cold running White Phosphorous. Stock reports will periodically be shredded and urinated on. A special kennel for attack dogs will be on hand for near instantaneous deployment, in case the inmates consider doing something against the Geneva Conventions like, say, sleeping. In accordance with those same conventions, a supply of ladies undergarments shall be kept on hand for use as headgear. It's rumored Cheney prefers the lace thong in pink with a minimalist bow, while Rumsfeld can't get enough of the leopard print highwaist with peekaboo airvent. All events will be meticulously catalogued. Videocameras will be installed in each cell, livestreamed via satellite on Fox News. Bill O'Reilly will post three updates daily from the PortAJohn on bowel movements and other critical minutaie commensurate with his expertise.

I have a Dream, and it isn't mine alone.

Spin Puppy

2006-03-20T12:22:00.000-05:00

The Tater delivered his 'impromptu' (80% screened) Q&A after pimpin his Progress speech(really, we mean it this time!) . In a totally related incident, large storms spiralled wildly across several states in a countercluewise direction.

I would point out some highlights, but they escaped me. The few on-target questions, those which didn't include the baffling and glaringly unrandom use of 'clarity' (i.e. 'thank your for clarity', 'you gave us clarity','now I have clarity') which we simply know was a word the fraudience pulled directly out of thin air, anyhoo - those few on target questions were buried in a sea of talking points and never answered.

A question about warrantless wiretaps, for instance, somehow became September 11th, terrorists (a word I lost count of after reaching double digits), a rambling discourse about Afghanistan, Iraq and wound up with a need to move quickly. Which, apparently, being able to listen in for a full 45 days without a FISA warrant doesn't cover. Check your IQ's at the door.

Let's have an impromptu, unscreened Q&A.

Is 23 billion hard to keep track of?
At the beginning of the Iraq war, the UN entrusted $23bn of Iraqi money to the US-led coalition to redevelop the country. With the infrastructure of the country still in ruins, where has all that money gone? Callum Macrae and Ali Fadhil on one of the greatest financial scandals of all time. [more]

Why is it that your 'people' have been caught masquerading as first Fox News reporters, then Secret Service agents? The secret service stated they do not engage in such unneccessary tactics. Paranoid much?
Why do you keep attacking China and Russia on one hand, then insisting they are allies on another? Do your hands ever meet? Have coffee? Lament the lack of opposable thumbs?
If we're safer at home, why is our legal system and our federal Judges under widespread attack?Why have three quarters of the nation's 2,200 federal judges asked for government-paid home security systems? Have they provoked terrorist-envy with their hot tailored mandresses?
If we have to 'think success about Iraq', shouldn't someone send the memo to the 'American-friendly' Kurds? Because they're goin buckwild. So much for the whole calm and lawful stuff.
Oh, and today while you were giving this speech, 2 dozen people were killed , countless wounded, and 80 were found executed in widespread violence over there in Iraq. Will we be sending them speeches?

And so concludes yet one more blandiose and content-free missive from our favorite spunk bubble. George, when they made you, they broke the mold - and beat the mold maker with the pieces.

From the NoWay Inbox:
A leaked G8 Summit memo reveals: It's all about Oil.

Raping Rights to their hearts content:
As blogged earlier, our soupy spies were not content with warrantless wiretaps, the Tatership wants warrantless searches. Pesky laws keep gettin in the way every time! Damn that democracy. Ohh, keep an eye on the Senate as they are now trying to retroactively make the warrantless wiretaps legal. I'd like to retroactively send Sandra Day O'Connor to Supreme Court 2000. I'm thinkin she might swing her vote a different way.

Check out the video of Olbermanns take on this and a lawyers disbelief and the potential implications of such and illegal program against Americans.

Cause they'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize:
In the United States, the new creed is a be as scary as possible against the big bad peace protestors. Check out the Mr Sneaky in the window with an earpiece, binoculars and a camera.
Check out the attack dogs, horse mounted police, weapons, guns, flexcuffs, riot gear. Then check out the people holding paper signs.

A perfect example of neo-logic there. Let's take a look at their policies at work:

The Black Room was part of a temporary detention site at Camp Nama, the secret headquarters of a shadowy military unit known as Task Force 6-26. Located at Baghdad International Airport, the camp was the first stop for many insurgents on their way to the Abu Ghraib prison a few miles away.
Placards posted by soldiers at the detention area advised, "NO BLOOD, NO FOUL." The slogan, as one Defense Department official explained, reflected an adage adopted by Task Force 6-26: "If you don't make them bleed, they can't prosecute for it." [more]

And again:
Iraqi police report 11 murdered by Americans; Women & Children mostly

Task Force 666, you should do some soul searching....maybe you'll find one.
Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.

To recap - George gave a speech and answered nothing, our soldiers tortured people to get them to say something, we're spying on Americans who know nothing, and we killed people who didn't do anything.

And our Bill of Rights is becoming a fond memory.

At the rate we're exporting freedom, there won't be any left.

Lazy Days and Sundays

2006-03-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

I've come to realize one defining basic principle:

I am one lazy sumbyotch on Sundays.

It may start , say, around Saturday at 11:59p. Today it was my intention to see V (sold out) - to work on changing the template here (later?) - and to work on graphics (lotsa surfin, no workin). I guess maybe it's time to face up to the fact that Sundays and appreciable gains just don't mix in KiraWorld.

I have tons of links, commentary, and even some earlier graphics. And.zero.motivation.

So right now I'm going to leave two important videos here for those who stop by. One is a hard hitting delivery to the Foreign Policy Association by the Republican advisor to George Bush I on the NeoCon policy:
Neoconservatists and the Global Order
Two good quotes:

“The policies advanced by the neoconservatives do not serve this nation…”
and he asked himself:
“Where was the tough questions of the media?”

This Cafferty video is a stand-up-and-cheer favorite. With fewer and fewer real journalists out there, the tiny circle who ask tough questions and give real commentary are like diamonds on the sand. Olbermann, Stewart, Lou Dobbs, Cafferty....these guys should get our wholehearted support. They are asking questions and not regurgitating the teleprompter.

I'll be back. I'm pretty sure.

Warrantless Searches

2006-03-18T21:34:00.000-05:00

Last night Keith Olbermann broke a story that would be coming out online from US News & World report that indicates not only was their unauthorized, illegal wiretaps and spying....they went so far as to decide the Fourth Amendment didn't apply to them in regards to WARRANTLESS SEARCHES.
US News & World Report Article

I'll be back with analysis, but I wanted to get this up now.

Operation Own It

2006-03-17T00:22:00.000-05:00

In honor of the new Operation Swarmer, I would like to announce the launching of a domestic counter-crap offensive we shall call "Operation Own It".

If you're spewing talking points, then plan on feeding them, watering them, and taking them for a walk.

Since making this retroactive would exceed the bandwidth of three large countries and Japan, I'll just go with recent events and highlights. So lets play tag:

U.S. Won't Seek Bases in Iraq, Rumsfeld Says

No plans for permanent US bases, Rumsfeld

Ruh-roh...

US builds four Major Bases in Iraq

Not permanent, you say?

Balad: a small American town smack in the middle of the most hostile part of Iraq

"For those bored with the mess halls, there are a Subway, a Pizza Hut, a Popeye's, an ersatz Starbucks called "Green Beans" that serves up triple lattes, and a 24-hour Burger King."

Then Burger King, Subway and Pizza Hut just came for the beach? Short term returns? Kicks n giggles?

Rumsfeld, you've been tagged.

Bush: ‘We do not torture’ terror suspects
New Abu Ghraib Photos Released at Salon.com

Bush, please, are there enough tags?

Prolly not, which is why we are giving him virtual tags and not devastating the national forest with paper ones.

What else?

Operation Swarmer, the biggest offensive air assault since the end of the {Mission Accomplished} Iraq War, has yielded much controversy. First let me begin by saying that Operation Swarmer was thus named in honor of the 'biggest peacetime operation ever conducted in North Carolina'. Peacetime operation? Offensive? It didn't seem to jibe until a reporter from Time magazine broke news that all this stormin was looking like nothing much other than a public relations showcase. Yes, sir, the 3rd Brigade (Rakkassans) of the 101st are now considered mere actors for a neocon pimpin stage show. They should be furious. Hell, I'm furious for them. You don't risk lives so politicians can pat themselves on the back and crow, "See..we toldja the Iraqis can do ~~pretend~~ maneuvers."

The yield for this playacting was 6 whole weapons stashes and a few military uniforms. Iraq is endemic with weapons stashes, as we didn't do much other than surround and protect oil facilities once we invaded. 1,500 troops and this is the return. But the Iraqis were on the invasion!
Except the Iraqi Commanding General stated on the same day of the raid:

“We cannot be specific on time when we should lead, and the US leave. Iraqis need to be trained before they leave. Threat of terrorism needs to reduce. Iraq military needs to be trained. We have to do this….very cautious….they could gradually reduce the forces here but we cannot say they should leave, no, we cannot say they should leave altogether.”

Well, train them if you must ... but not at the risk of our soldiers. Thank you very much.

The Pentagon also announced the launch of "Operation Scales of Justice" - the addition of 4,700 additional troops to patrol the streets of Baghdad. Because, apparently, they are not in a civil war. Which is why the city of Baghdad was put in total lockdown so the Parliament could meet for 30 minutes and politicians could declare a resounding success. Although they didn't do anything other than meet, followed rapidly by leaving. Maybe they have an Iraqi version of Crawford.

Or maybe they went to one of these US facilities in Iraq, which are not, I say, not, in any way permanent. Just very numerous.

In conclusion of todays Operation Own It, I hereby tag the Pentagon for innumerable spawn droppings and then trying to tell us they are M&Ms. Eat up!

Because we need more war, the US State Department reaffirmed the wanktastic foreign policy of attacking because they feel like it. Call it preemptive privilege. I wonder if this works in the real world? My neighbor looks awful shady. And since we need more people to preempt, they came out with a handy-dandy new list:

Check off Afghanistan and Iraq
Add:
Iran...
Venezuela...
Cuba...

and…why be shy?
China

China, of course. wasn't added outright in the official document...but the Washington Times just reported that we're just moving troops in anticipation of China retaliating for us striking at Iran. Striking Iran? Yes, striking at Iran is still on the table because US advisors have said Iran is bluffing about talks they invited! In the Bush world, a closed mind is a terrible thing to waste. You gotta share it with everyone.

Suddenly there's an enemy under every bed! (along with your tuna and canned milk) We've got enemies crawling out of the woodwork. And not one is friendly to Israel! Those bastards. How dare they? How dare they ....hey, wait a minute...do I live in the United States? Yup, scratch that outrage. Along with your 'List'. The only reason any of them are the slightest bit stinked at us is that we keep promoting Israel against everyone else. We've abandoned diplomacy and any small semblance of foreign policy. We need to promote policy based on equality, not bias. Instead our policy is currently threat....scaremongering...more threats....invade!

So who benefits from this constant state of warhawkiness? We could try Halliburton.
Have a peek at Halliburton Around The World...and the non-taxable places they are hiding their money. Cause they're so American. If it weren't for people like them, we'd be isolationists! Right? Uh, no... have a look at America's non isolationist interventions.
Scotch that, then. I guess if we didn't have war, Halliburtons stock wouldn't have risen by 73%. Which woulda been tragic.

As long as we have Bolton decrying Iran as the biggest threat since 9/11, you guys will be kept in air conditioned private jets, while providing our soldiers with filthy water for the billions we pay you.

And to pay for that filthy water and nonexistent rebuilding projects, our GOP led congress just put every man, woman and child in $30,000 worth of debt. Not for one or two generations, either. But three generations and beyond. Can I have a ride in that jet? I like to know what I'm paying for.

Exporting freedom is an exhausting process. Maintaining freedom at home is even more exhausting. Now posting lyrics to a song substituting George Bush for JFK on your personal My Space will get your computer taken away.
But we're not spying on Americans. We're not spying on their personal websites and blogs (hi there!). Because that would be against the Bill of Rights outlining Freedom of Speech and Expression. FYI - the president is not exempt from the rule of law - and if you think he is, turn in your badge now. There exists no law against disliking a president or hurting his poor little feelings. If anyone should be pissed in all this, it would be John Kennedy being linked to this bombastic excuse for a presidency. While you're at it, stick to the idea of "credible threat". A college student blogging from his basement about song lyrics? Might he throw a cheeto or something? C'mon... are there any real investigations anymore or just stormtrooping?

What we need to do is have a federal screening of this clip from Boston Legal. That's what America is all about. I'll spring for the popcorn.
The whole Faith-Based hijack has sprung new nuttiness. . More religion, before you get booted, evangelicals tell GOP controlled congress. As a Christian, I find this outrageous. People, Jesus would be kicking over your stalls about now. And could you change your affiliation, please? Because you are giving the faith a bad name. How are the suites on K-Street, btw?

On behalf of my beloved Nikita - possibly the most faithful mutt on the planet - I hereby give you the True Disgrace of Dick Cheney:
Killing hundreds of penned birds for sport
Dick and the Neocons love to kill, just not make a sport of it

This is the most disgusting thing I have ever read. And in a litany of disgusting that's saying something.
Mass slaughter of humans, mass slaughter of helpless animals.
Yeah, they are such manly men.

Holy Crusades, Bushman!

2006-03-15T23:48:00.000-05:00

I scrapped my original post when I found this new release:

President Bush plans to issue a new national security strategy today reaffirming his doctrine of preemptive war against terrorists and hostile states with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, despite the troubled experience in Iraq. more

Do you see between the lines here? It just takes a new letter:
IRAQN

Look, this guy is now officially freakin off his twirl.

Forget comparing this to Vietnam - this is a country with enough nuclear neighbors to fry the world. Our people are over there. Hell, our people are over here.

It's time to tell them straight out:

Insanity and Presidency do NOT mix.

Now I'm off to finish that last post (done- Please see "Beware and All That" below), which you will prolly find under this...but please don't miss it because there is a video link there that is Must See Viewing.

So I'm off to post -
And possibly throw up.

Beware and All That

2006-03-15T22:43:00.000-05:00

Today in 44 BC, Julius Caeser met his fate at the hands of Brutus. How much do you want to bet the White House had Dick's hunting rifles confiscated this morning?
Et tu, Dickie?

As much as I shake my head at what the mainstream media considers reportage on our "news" channels, I keep them on as background. If anyone else has caught the following trend, I'd be interested in knowing it. Over and over for the past two days Republican strategists/advisors/talkingheads have said regarding Bush's dismal polls:
"I can't see him overcoming this with his current agenda unless there is an external event...which he handles well and therefore it shoots up his numbers blah blah blah"
External event??? WTF?

Is he picturing it now? Dubs in a crisp new jumpsuit with the new banner "Confidence Restored" snapping behind him. Ehhhh...yeah. Someone's getting into Limbaugh's stash.

Hey, can you believe CHRIS MATTHEWS had on the filmaker of "Why We Fight"? Remember the link I posted here several days ago? Go figure. Well, you can bet that todays full-length feature recommendation won't be getting any publicity on his show. Poor Chris...he looked like he was passing a kidney stone the whole time, although technically that could be his natural look.

Big Brother grows more ominous every day. Recent FOIA requests by the ACLU have netted FBI memos documenting their surveillance of ~~terrorists~~ a group of pacifists. Their weak (did I say weak) justification was that they were Anti-war protesters....only, well, it was before the war.

And of course there "may have been middle eastern looking people around". Red Alert! Red Alert! Danger notification to all seven-elevens across the land - middle eastern looking type people may be infiltrating your minimart...posing as middle east type looking people. They may be in your college campus, posing as exchange students! I think one did my taxes last week! Danger! Danger! Hold on, let me unscrew my eyes from the back of my head.

Actually this has served as a valuable educational lesson. Through this I have identified the reason for these extraordinary actions. You see, the FBI simply has not been provided with enough dictionaries.

pacificist
n : someone opposed to violence as a means of settling disputes

Please mail dictionaries to your local FBI today.

If you blaze the blogosphere, by now you will have heard of several being invaded by CentCom, CIFA, DOD, and various .mil addy's. Yup, popular leftist blogs (known for their wild typing ways and refusal to sheepout) are now a favorite target for visitors of the government. Some are very straightforward, such as a CentCom, who are simply trying to get the ~~orders~~ good news out about the ~~civil war~~ good things in Iraq. Others might be looking for a dictionary.

Speaking of Iraq: 700 new troops headed there to um, guard Pilgrims. They have assured us this has nothing to do with sectarian violence. Which is kinda good, since you know if George got worried about sectarian violence, he would want to invade Sectaria.

If it's to guard pilgrims, I ask ya, where oh where were they that horrible Thanksgiving in Plymouth? If they'da showed up then, I wouldn't be double-speeding my treadmill in November.

Of course if we had been there, they would've given it some wacky name like Operation Pumpkin Pie, John Smith would've been jailed for fraternizing with the enemy and Halliburton would've charged us $40 billion for pre-packaged faux Turkey byproduct and an extra $300 million because they saw an Indian with an arrow once.

Back in the wacky world of infotainment, Joe Scarboroughs dad, one hardcore Republican has pretty much had it with Bush. The guy supported Nixon thru Vietnam, how bad do you have to be to get written of his list??

Well, I'm exhausted about now. I spent my free time today assembling what I call "Three Degrees of Neocon Madness"... a chart linking the main figures of the Tatership, CFR, PNAC, UAE, KKR, KBR and our Fearful Leader. It's not hard, it's just frustrating trying to fit all the connecting lines on one page. I don't think I've seen a bunch this incestuous since reading 'Flowers in the Attic'.

Now, since this is a link-deficient post (totally on purpose, I assure you) you have plenty of time to watch the following BBC documentary. (which was my plan all along)

This is a most comprehensive, fascinating look at how we came to be where we are politically in the world - specifically with our Neocon Whitehouse and the radical Muslims. It goes back to the beginning in pictures and words, and by the end you'll be passing it along to everyone you know.

Todays Must See Video

The Rise of the Politics of Fear:
BBC Documentary
The Power of Nightmares
Part I
Part Two
Part Three Well, go on .... get to it! I'll see you tomorrow.

Silent Poison

2006-03-14T13:35:00.000-05:00

G'day Mates! One day I'm going to come here and fire up the blog and be able to talk about the beautiful spring weather, my insanely funny dog, or what we should feed Nicole Ritchie before she disappears. I am holding out for that day.
Unfortunately ... not here yet.

Somebody forgot to give the memo to Dubai on that whole Ports Deal thang:
DP has no Immediate Plans to Sell Miami Ports.
Is Miami moving out of the United States?

Math Quiz! Math Quiz!
Can you connect Dubai + Carlyle + Cheney + Bush?
Answer

From the country not in a Civil War: Iraqis Find 85 Executed Bodies Updated: Now 87 in 24 hours.
More speeches, please!

Bush, the NSA, Reporters and You....no quiz needed. So are reporters exempt from a new law that could put them in prison for 15 years, fine them up to $1 million and probably take their first born? You decide.
Fuzzy Math be damned! We got Fuzzy Laws!!!
Should we be surprised they are backing down from stories of national importance?

Math Quiz! Math Quiz!
Can you connect Grover Norquist + Jack Abramoff + Gale Norton?
Answer: Scroll to March 12 2006
Grover Norquist - Just Got Zapped with IRS Complaint
Jack Abramoff - Being Prosecuted
Gale Norton - Resigned Suddenly

I'd say the new Federal uniforms should be black and white pinstripes.
Oh, and speaking of yesterdays RepubliFelon-of-the-Day Claude Allen:
He's got him an Evil Twin. Even soap operas gave up on that old chestnut years ago. A little imagination, please.

Senior British diplomatic and military staff gave Tony Blair explicit warnings three years ago that the US was disastrously mishandling the occupation of Iraq, according to leaked memos. Take a look at some of the newest photos from Iraq. More speeches, please.

Tony Blair is reducing forces in Iraq by the end of 2006.

John Howard, Australian MP, has already slammed Bush and the whole Iraq deal in an Address to the Nation. Their force of 460 people are committed until 2007 for now.

Bush....he's giving speeches.

A look at the sorry state of politics in Washington by a recent political visitor.

Followed by a look at the sorry state of our privacy rights:

US, Google Set To Face Off in Court
SAN FRANCISCO - The Bush administration will renew its effort to find out what people have been looking for on Google Inc.'s Internet-leading search engine, continuing a legal showdown over how much of the Web's vast databases should be shared with the government. More

.
They got no stickin right to know what we privately put in our search engines. It's so blinkin ridiculous I can't even begin to think of the justification. Thought police, meet your maker. Note that all of Googles recently headlined problems can be linked directly back to when they first refused to "cooperate"?? Yahoo and AltaVista caved. Say what you want about China, they played by the rules there. Now they are fighting for our rules here. I dropped them an email and said thanky much for standing up for all of us. Bless your heart and Kick some tail, boys!

Hey, maybe the Feds will coach witnesses again! What do I mean, maybe??

Guess I hoped too much on the Google thing.

Today's Must-See Video George Clooney talks about today's media. A fascinating, insightful and all-too-short clip of a DVD extra from the upcoming "Good Night & Good Luck".

Now I'm off to take my gigantic, frantic mutt for a walk. Hopefully we'll find a nice Bush/Cheney sign to water.

All truths that are kept silent become poison." ~Nietzche

Tireless Minority

2006-03-13T23:11:00.000-05:00

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
~Thomas Paine

Today....
Because Upper Left Moosejaw doesn't carry CSPAN2, I thought
I was going to miss Russell Feingold introduce his resolution today.
Luckily a blogger pointed me to CSPAN online mediastream.

Thus I was able to watch the Biggest. Legisblock. Ever.

BEFORE the motion is introduced, Cheney is denouncing it.
BEFORE the motion is introduced, indeed while he is presenting it
Senator Specter (doing PA proud..not) interrupts him and demands to have
the resolution NOW. Mr Feingold explains he intends to submit it after presenting it. Nope, Specter wants it NOW. NOW. NOW, you understand??
So Russell Feingold agrees to give him the resolution and then goes on to present it.
He....just...rocked.

Debate begins to flow. Specter is uncertain about the scope of the NSA spying, because basically they're refusing to tell anyone.
NeoCon #2 also has no idea about what actually is going on, but - get this- he's certain it's legal. Umm, can you pick my lottery tickets??
I'm on the edge of my seat. Reid stands up to address the assemblage...
and promptly we go into:
THE 109th CONGRESSIONAL EUOLOGY CONVENTION
WTF?
I'm sorry Mr Inouye's wife died, truly I am...but we're talking about censuring a sitting President here! Hello?!
Hello?
Anybody home? Anybody?

Keith Olbermann had fun with it. As a matter of fact, even in the Mainstream Media they were looking a little wilted. Sure, they were making their best efforts to dismiss it - but with his ratings falling, I don't think even they are convinced anymore. Their audience sure isn't.
Just remember, the Media isn't red, white and blue. It's Green.

They'll be adding more rats to the Taterships sinking ship.

Now onto a disturbing and fascinating Documentary that our "free" society has tried to block. Yup folks, there's no censorship. Except when there's Censorship.

Censored in the USA: The Documentary Why We Fight

You won't see it in a theater, or on television. And once you watch it, you'll understand why. Do yourself a favor. If you love this country, watch this movie. I guarantee you will never be sorry. You'll be enlightened. Did I mention Dick Cheney, John McCain are interviewed in it? Here's the trailer.
Not to be confused with the 1940-era classic or PBS/History Channel offering

Money, money everywhere...but not a drop going where it's "allocated":
Katrina Relief: $88 Billion Dollars
Katrina Rebuilt: less than 19%

So where is all that hard cash going? Ask yourself. BILLIONS. Because it sure as chit isn't going to those poor people who are living under tarps - with demolished homes, few businesses, and no work. It'll be interesting to check out next year's 'new billionaires'.

The Scholars for 9/11 Truth have put up a petition. We deserve the truth, whatever that may be. The truth about Able Danger, the Truth investigated by an impartial panel. We Deserve That. It's only been 3 days and we are halfway there, you can help us reach the goal more quickly. 10,000 signatures and we're over 4,000 already. Please Consider Helping by taking less than 30 seconds of your time.

Sign Petition

Send an Email to Your Senators to Support Censure

Always keep in mind:

It doesn't take a majority - it takes a tireless minority.

Various Insanities Small & Large

2006-03-12T13:22:00.000-05:00

Because it's Sunday - because I'm feeling lazy, I'm just going to link n briefly comment.

Over 2,000 still 'Missing' in Katrina How many months and billions later has it been? So now they want to bulldoze the bodies under and give more money (it's always more money with these wankers) to "Faith Based" cleanup in Nawlins. What are they gonna do, pray? I'm a Christian, but I sure know my church group is UNQUALIFIED to serve as a Disaster Relief Force.

SAS soldier quits Army in disgust at 'illegal' American tactics in Iraq Can't fault him on either the illegal part or the hijacking of our noble military to do it. Torture, White Phosphorous in Fallujah...any arguments? They aren't doing it themselves, they're doing it on orders.

Has Your Senator/Congressman been getting Pro-Israel AIPAC Money? Chances are Yes. I know my full itinerary shows up there, sucking money. When will they publicize the 2005 "Thank You" report? That should be an eye-opener.

How widespread was the Stealing of the election by Bush & Company? Before you trust your votes to these newfangled evoting machines, you might want to check up on their performance so far. "Lost" votes keep emerging from some well-coordinated black hole.

"This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy."
U.S. Representative Christopher Shays, R-CT

Theocracy Watch
Faith Based Initiatives, Faith Based Department in Fatherland Security, Faith Based money for Hurricane Katrina. Oh, goody - they built a nicer church with the money!

Rumsfeld Out of Touch with the Military's Reality The mothership should just pick this twit back up already.

Donald Rumsfeld makes $5m killing on Bird Flu Drug And it's coming..it's coming...it's coming...it's killed 50 whole people out of 6 BILLION! The television, the newspapers, the radio - they all keep us informed on every chicken around the globe. SARS with wings, baybee. It's Good thing people are scared enough to buy this 'cure' now....for someone.

Doctor Says Bird Flu Drug is Useless ROTFLMAO - raise your hand if you saw this coming.

And on the bright side:
Go,Russ, Go Russ Go Russ Go!
Feingold to Censure President
Kick them to the curb, indict them, convict them and then parade 'em through the streets without Fatherland Security stormtroopers. What are the odds they make it a block?

I'm taking wagers.

Reading Room:
The US-Iran Timeline:
US/Iran Timeline

-and-

Thomas Jefferson is Rolling Over in His Grave
Excerpt below:

As Capitol Hill Blue editor and publisher Doug Thompson notes today, “Bush has launched a war against reporters who write stories unfavorable to his actions and is planning to prosecute journalists to make examples of them in his ‘war on terrorism,’” obviously a war on the Constitution and assorted “fifth columnists,” or critics exercising First Amendment rights, as well. “Reporters for The New York Times, which along with Capitol Hill Blue revealed use of the National Security Agency to monitor phone calls and emails of Americans, say FBI agents have interviewed them and criminal prosecutors at the Justice Department admit they are laying ‘the groundwork for a grand jury that could lead to criminal charges’…. As part of the investigation, the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency are wiretapping reporters’ phones, following journalists on a daily basis, searching their homes and offices under a USA Patriot Act provision that allows “secret and undisclosed searches” and pouring over financial and travel records of hundreds of Washington-based reporters.”

Weekend Grins

2006-03-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

After a week of mo an mo insanity - the weekend is time to kick back and unwind. We deserve it. You know the IIC (idiots in charge) are kickin back countin their money and planning their next assault on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And our pocketbooks.

How bout some jokes?

A Marine was coming home from the Pentagon one day. He noticed that there was a lot more traffic than normal. As he got further up the road all of the traffic had come to a halt. He saw a policeman coming towards his car, so he asked the cop what was wrong. The cop said, "Man, we are in a crisis situation. Mr. Rumsfeld is in the road very upset. He does not have the $2.5 trillion that he owes, and his family hates him. He is threatening to douse himself in gasoline and start a fire." The marine asked the cop exactly what he was doing there. The cop said, " I feel sorry for the secretary so I am going car to car asking for donations." The marine asked, "How much do you have so far?" The cop replied, "Well as of right now only 33 gallons, but many people are still siphoning as we speak!"

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is politics?"

Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I'm the breadwinner of the family, so let's call me capitalism. Your Mom, she's the administrator of the money, so we'll call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the people. The nanny, we'll consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we'll call him the Future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense." So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what dad had said.

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed. The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now." The father says, "Good son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about."

The little boy replies, "Well, while Capitalism is screwing the Working Class, the Government is sound asleep, the People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit."

Have a great nite!

.

QuikNews

2006-03-11T18:54:00.000-05:00

Scaremongering or Preparation?
Islamic websites carry al-Qaida's 'Last Warning'

The threat suggests the attack will be far greater in magnitude than Sept. 11, 2001, because following this one, "there will be no one to analyze and investigate, because the mind and the heart will be unable to comprehend it. ... This will not be a single operation, but two; one bigger than the other, but we will begin with the big one and postpone the bigger one, in order to see [how] diligent the American people is [in preserving] its life. If it chooses life, [it must] carry out the demands of the Muslims, and if it chooses death, then we are its best perpetrators."

Now before you get all crazy, it might be time to Think.
Why would al-Qaeda put such a thing online?? Doesn't that take away the "shock" value, and not only allow people to prepare but to prevent such an attack?
It's tactically stupid.
It would, however, be a perfect psychological operation intended to put fear,intimidation and terror into average Americans.

You can draw your own conclusions as to who would post online, in English, a dire prediction of an 'imminent threat' by the murky terrorist group we've supposedly been hunting to extinction for five freakin years already.

UPDATE: When you're right, you're right:
NO credible threat, FBI says

KA-CHING!
We've heard the story about $2 TRILLION being unable to be accounted for by Rumsfeld's Pentagon. Recently flying by the radar was the story of Halliburton's subsidiary KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root a/k/a King Bush Reapers) had been outed as overcharging multi-millions by Pentagon accountants, who were then overruled and only a measly $2 million was earmarked to be refunded. That's our money, folks.

Read. Weep.

From Capitol Hill Blue:
Pentagon auditors have concluded that Halliburton Co., the company that Vice President Dick Cheney headed before joining the Bush Administration, failed to adequately account for more than $1.8 billion of work in Iraq and Kuwait, a Pentagon report says.

The amount represents 43 percent of the $4.18 billion that Houston-based Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root unit has billed the Pentagon to feed and house troops in the region. more

We know they ain't flying in filet mignons.
It would be mighty interesting to figure out how much it costs to pay our troops by anyone else who doesn't dangle on Cheney's purse strings. We could move a stinkin McDonald's there for less.
Oooops, I forgot. Burger King, Pizza Hut ... they are already over there. On our "non-permanent" American bases.

American peace activist Tom Fox was found dead today in Iraq.

Kidnapped Peace Activist Found Murdered

I am profoundly saddened at the loss of such a noble man, attempting to
make a difference in the madness perpetrated by war. His family is urging that no retaliation be taken.

A widely unreported story caught my eye:
More Americans Kidnapped on Mexican Border than All of Iraq

It is so important to disseminate the information we are fed. On one hand, Iran is 'willfully agressive', 'wantonly threatening' for a nuclear program no one can actually confirm exists. The we give nukes to India, a mortal enemy of our 'coalition partner' and 'ally in the fight on terror' Pakistan (in exchange for mangoes, no less).
Yet India...

India involved in illicit nuclear activities:
India is involved in illegal nuclear activities, US think-tank ISIS said in its report. India circumvents other countries' export controls and leaks sensitive technology in procuring materials for its nuclear programs, according to a report by former U.N. weapons inspector David Albright. The report challenges a central U.S. argument in favor of a landmark U.S.-India nuclear deal: that India has such an impeccable record of protecting technology it can be trusted with U.S. and other foreign nuclear materiel. Albright, a physicist who heads the Institute for Science and International Security(ISIS), said he had "uncovered a well-developed and secret Indian program to outfit its uranium enrichment program and circumvent other countries' export control efforts."

Is there rhyme or reason in this Administration? Clearly the objectives are not the welfare of this nation or her people, it is the benefits and rewards it can reap by raping our nations resources.

But what about the Tax cuts, you say?
"Hunger in America: 2006" shows that here in the land of plenty, more than 25 million men, women and children too poor and too powerless to interest Congress are forced to rely on donated food or go hungry sometime during the year.

That number is 8 percent more than in 2001, when the first of the Bush administration tax cuts were enacted. Obviously, the benefits of some $880 billion in tax savings to date have yet to trickle down to those most in need.

The War on Intellectuals is in full swing. Don't doubt it:
Pomona College Professor Gets 'Gestapo-Like' Visit
His crime? Being a professor of Latin American Studies.
More on targeting civilians from official files gained by the ACLU: [here]

Sorry this is so quick, bare, and cobbled, but today is just a crazy day timewise. I have no less than three posts saved I mean to rework, polish and upload - and I keep spinning my wheels.
Ack!

I Am Not A Crook

2006-03-10T19:26:00.000-05:00

“Bush is smart. I don't think that Bush will ever be impeached, 'cause unlike Clinton, Reagan, or even his father, George W. is immune from scandal. Because, if George W. testifies that he had no idea what was going on, wouldn't you believe him?”
~Jay Leno

I don't know about you, but if I were going to risk prosecution...I'd make sure the payoff was worth it. Target, of all places?

You'd think the thrill of looting the nation's treasury would do it. But noooo...
Claude Allen, recently Top Domestic Advisor to Bush, Charged

Keep in mind that they are only spying on terrorists... well,
except when they admit they're spying on regular people
Rumsfeld Admits Spying in Vermont

The Pentagon spying program, intended to root out foreign terrorists who might be targeting Defense Department facilities, came under scrutiny in December when NBC News reported that it had documented protests by peace activists, including Quakers. NBC News reported that some of the entries included alleged incidents in Vermont.

Take notice that the letters asking about this by a Senator went unanswered...twice.
Apparently, our own representatives in Congress are so beneath contempt they don't need to answer a simple letter of inquiry.

Alrighty Then

2006-03-10T11:19:00.000-05:00

Today is a miserable, gray, overcast morning. Nothing predicates a feel-good day. But guess what? I'm feelin mighty fine! No post-blah hangover here. I'm back and ready to take up the mantle again, both here and by phone and by pen.

First I'll round up the morning news developments, then I'm going to spin into a little personal stuff. If you're here and you don't know me, we'll change all that.

Ports, Ports, Ports. Getting dizzy with this. My guy's all fired up 'bout the ports. (He works in Philly and that's a huge issue there - altho I don't think he's even seen a port) Then I printed out this mornings BBC news for him (he's here during time-off). Imagine his expression!
I guess it was kinda mean of me, he actually hadn't mainlined any caffeine yet.
Grab a cup yourself then and read:

Dubai Already Owns US Ports, since January
Oh, and did you catch the part about one of it's clients being the US Navy??
This Administration is all about safety. They're safety pimps.

Because everything...everything can be tied back to Al Qaeda, right?
Ooooops....
Madrid Bombing Finds No Al Qaeda Links
Scratch that, then.

Pretty fed up with all the scaremongering?
I'd say America is, with cities all across America passing resolutions to Impeach the President.
In Vermont alone, five cities and towns just did it. Hey, when Congress won't do their jobs, the American people will.
They're coming out all over. Like the guy who attended Condoleeza Rice's Defense Budged Hearing, stood up and said:
"How many of you have children in this illegal and immoral war. The blood is on your hands and you cannot wash it away."
"Fire Rumsfeld!" (video included)

Vanity Fair runs an article on The Case For Impeachment.

Poll Numbers continue to plunge in free-fall mode. New AP Poll.

Do they address these extraordinary steps? Listen to the voice of Americans?

They-

Beat the drums of MORE war
Rice Says US Faces No Greater Challenge than Iran

Push for MORE money for 'Faith Based' Groups
Bush Urges More Money for Religious Charities
(keep in mind we're more broke than ever and getting deeper each day)

and then he tells us today- a scant 24 hours later:
Congress needs to be wise about the people's money.

Who writes this stuff? Do his speechwriters even work in the same building?

Watchwords of the Day for the Dubai-transfer-to-US-Company: Halliburton, Bechtel, Fluor, Carlyle Group. Or we'll just trace the money back to them.
The Rovian Circus has pitched a tent.

Okay, onto the personal stuff. I'll come back later with some more news and analysis I've been working on.

So yesterday my guy sails in from 6 days of workin the Big Pokey. He's a prison guard at a max security - and his tales go a long way in opening my mind to the other side of the prison issue.
Take a (hypothetical) multiple-murderer. He was given a pass on execution because of his 'insanity'. The guy had laid on his bed in his cell unmoving during this whole process. Clearly insane. They pass the verdict. He gets the word. And promptly is up bopping around, cleaning his cell, joking with guards.

HIV positive inmates are very prominent. Many of them commit second crimes just so they can get medical care (and not only for HIV, but for hepatitis, heart disease, kidney failure) These guards are given strict safety rules regarding blood contamination with HIV. Take for instance the mentally challenged HIV positive guy who sat with a Bic pen stabbing his arms. Blood everywhere. They don simple plastic gloves and go in with medical personnel. I know you might be saying, "but that's their job!" And that's not my point. My point is, they face a lot of things that we, who are civilians outside the system, don't know about. My guy's two roomates have both been medically hospitalized with severe injuries in prison incidents. One was on medical leave for over a year. He's had numerous surgeries. One of his good friends took a metal mop end to the head - permanent damage. It happens, and it isn't publicized. There are mini-"Attica's" all the time. Yet most of the focus is on the prisoners and their treatment. There are two sides to every story, so I'm just highlighting a side that rarely gets any press.

These guys n gals do a job every day I'd be lost at. And very few realize they risk their lives to do it. I certainly didn't.

We wake up to things each day.

Today there were birds in my yard - and my favorite robin redbreast has returned! I think he stakes out my land because I'm a seed-buying sucker. It amazes me how many people fail to look around when they are scurrying to their car or into WalMart or out to the video store or running to a lunch date. How many people look UP? Well, everyone who is with me does now.
The other day we were heading to the video store and Courtney stopped and said,
"Look at those stars!"
This was a practice I've been consistent with, but this was the first time I'd realized she was becoming used to observing the world around her. And it was, indeed, a spectacular sky.
Thousands of points of light just stretching from one end of the horizon to the other. We stood there in the cold for a full five minutes, marvelling and pointing out constellations. As we moved to get into the car, I happened to look down the street. A dog walker was standing there....and he was now looking up to the sky. Maybe he'd glanced up to catch what we were fascinated with. But it didn't matter anymore. He was as enthralled as we were. Try it.

I've got a saved post about this trip - a failed attempt to rent a movie I'd been determined to see in the theatres, missed out on and was now equally determined to see on DVD. It has proven a fruitless attempt thus far. I'll try to rework the thing and post it later. Usually these things are just off the top of my head.(see my Post of Misery entitled 'Bette Davis Eyes' or better yet - don't)

I'm off to haul a fresh bag of birdseed outside for my fair weather friends. It's comforting to remember Spring always follows Winter.

And so, thus, will Spring come to this American Winter of Discontent.
Kicking and screaming, maybe, but it will come.

Bad News Bear

2006-03-09T16:33:00.000-05:00

Today I'm in a horrible mood. I can trace it directly back to watching Georgius WalkonUs sign the "Patriot" Act into law. In one stroke of a pen, he dismantled the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

250 years of democracy....no longer applies.

And he grinned.

Remember these?

First Amendment: Freedom of religion, speech, assembly and the press.
Fourth Amendment: Freedom from unreasonable search and seizures.
Fifth Amendment: No person to be deprived of life, liberty or person without due process of law.
Sixth Amendment: Right to a speedy public trial by an impartial jury, right to be informed about the facts of the accusation, right to confront witnesses and have the assistance of counsel.
Eighth Amendment: No excessive bail or cruel or unusual punishment shall be imposed.
Fourteenth Amendment: All persons within the US are entitled to due process and the equal protection of the law.

Our Bill of Rights.....Gone.

GWB? Still there.

.

Bette Davis Eyes

2006-03-09T14:08:00.000-05:00

"Strap yourself in, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."

Please note: The Dubai breaking news occurred just moments before Bush signed the Patriot Act Renewal into Law.
Look over there, while we're doin stuff over here.

So onto the UAE/Dubai Ports Deal since its now 'headline news'.
I've tried to keep current on that whole messl here, but honestly folks, it's like focusing on the Salad instead of the Main Course.
Anyhoo, onto Dubai breaking news- it seems they are either:
CNN "Threatening to Dump US interests"
-or-
Faux News "Selling Management Portion to US company"

So they've announced they are going to give up management of the US portion of their Ports deal to a US company. Halliburton? Carlyle Group? Pick a group.
And the Crusading NeoCons believe they look good in all this...just like they wanted to.
The people who sent us into an illegal war, stripped our rights, and refuse to reverse or even LAUNCH AN INVESTIGATION the admittedly illegal wiretapping of US citizens?

".....it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing."
William Shakespeare - (Act V, Scene V) King Lear

So I would like to pose a question to these safety giants:
Why did you just vote in a deal that would remove safety warnings on our Food? This would override the State's own laws, protecting the people from contamination and poisoning.
House Moves to Strip Safety Food Warnings
There's a safety issue for you.

Keep in mind:
Aspartame - that is in Diet Drinks like Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet Tab, Then drop a line to Rumsfeld thanking him for his involvement.
Recent Salmonella Outbreak in Tainted Steak - so the current standards aren't even safe enough.

But let's trash even those small precautions.
Alrighty then.

From an Australian paper, towards which the stench has apparently begun to drift.
This concerns the school student encouraged to tattle and record his teacher who dared to discuss politics unfavorable to the WhiteHouse:
Whiff of McCarthyism
The press has just about buried the fact that the students themselves are protesting en masse.

When there’s Blood on your hands, you can’t preach anymore. These mental midgets have effectively neutered us as the voice of human rights.

China Strikes Back
China Lashes Back at U.S. Criticism of Its Human Rights Record

By AUDRA ANG

BEIJING Mar 9, 2006 (AP)— China on Thursday lashed out against U.S.
criticism of its human rights record, saying racial discrimination and crime
were still rife in the United States and prisoners were being abused at U.S.-run
detention centers abroad.

US orders spying to "influence" decisions makers towards their policy. Blackmail, Anyone?
US WhiteHouse Orders Spying

Excerpts are all around of this from every place imaginable:

US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war (The Observer, 3-2-2003)
A leaked NSA memo makes it clear that the Bush administration intended to spy on UN delegates during the run-up to war in order to obtain "'whole gamut of information that could give US policymakers an edge in obtaining results favourable to US goals or to head off surprises." A later article by The Raw Story has more information and reveals that the plan was authorized by Condoleezza Rice.

FBI scrutinizing anti-war protesters (New York Times, 11-23-2003) Another leaked memo details how the FBI collected information on numerous anti-war groups and discusses "innovative strategies" such as videotaping arrests as a way of "intimidating" police".Large Volume of FBI Files Alarms US Activist Groups (New York Times, 7-18-2005) The FBI has collected at least 3,500 pages of documents on antiwar and civil rights groups. 1,173 pages are on the ACLU alone.

Is the Pentagon spying on Americans? (NBC News, 12-14-2005) It's revealed that the Pentagon keeps a database of "suspicious" dissident groups and a list of protests.

NSA: Amanpour, other CNN reporters not targeted for surveillance (CNN, 1-6-2006) The possibility exists that Amanpour or other CNN journalist was spied on by the NSA. It should be noted that Amanpour is married to James Rubin, an advisor to John Kerry's presidential campaign.

NSA Used City Police as Trackers (Baltimore Sun, 1-13-2006) The NSA used local law enforcement to spy on Quakers on their way to an antiwar protest outside Fort Meade. The group has a history of non-violence. The Raw Story has more information and the relevant documents.

The Other Big Brother (Newsweek, 1-20-2006) Michael Isikoff discloses the role of a Pentagon program known as the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) in spying on domestic activists, including an anti-Halliburton group that showed up outside the company's headquarters in Houston.

Did The National Guard Spy On 'Raging Grannies'? (ABC 7 KGO-TV/DT, 2-28-2006) The California National Guard is accused of spying on an antiwar group called the "Raging Grannies" at a Mother's Day Rally. A hard drive with information on it about the spying was erased, and boxes of documents have been blacked out.

ACLU files lawsuit demanding military turn over records on alleged government spying (Associated Press, 3-7-2005) A student protest at Berkeley showed up as a threatening activity on a DoD database. It was done under a Pentagon program called Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) which was started in 2003 for the purpose of tracking people and groups with terror ties.

So let's get this straight....GRANDMOTHERS ARE NOW TERRORIST THREATS????

(more later)

Shrub Scrubbin

2006-03-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

Try sayin that three times fast.
By now, you know one of the recurring themes here is "Secret". Because, yunno, everythings now a secret. What GW had for breakfast this morning: Secret. Laura's lipstick shade: Secret. Documents released twenty years ago: Secret in Reverse.

Now, apparently, things posted on the open WhiteHouse Website are Secret....like, after, they've been posted. Caught Scrubbin the Official Site

I've managed to pierce this veil of secrecy, and choose to risk torture by the Alphabet Mafia (see also CIA, DIA, NSA), to blow the whistle on Dick Cheney's recent online purchase. View

Sources deeply embedded with the hand-picked WhiteHouse Yes Corps have also leaked a copy of an upcoming Scotty McClellan press release:
"No one could have foreseen that Iran would retaliate."

Sticking to our Secret agenda - let's check out how da gubment works. They're told a program is illegal. It must be discontinued. What to do? Oh What to do? Change the Name and Move It. Never heard of TIA, the Total Information Awareness program which mines computers for your personal information? No worries. They know about You.

And babycakes, don't think it's some nebulous 'other' person they're looking at.

Todays Reading Room is a MUST:
America the Pitiful
If you read nothing else today, read this. It's worth it.
Okay, I lied, there is something else you need to read today. I don't care if you print it out. Just read it.
A Global Infrastructure for Mass Surveillance

Now you've got your reading assignments...believe me, Dan Brown dreams of this stuff. Go now, before there's some more Shrub Scrubbin.

Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear. --Harry S. Truman

Ch-Ch-Ch-Cheney

2006-03-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

Dick Bullies Senate
Wonderin why the Senate voted down investigating the highly illegal NSA Domestic spying?
The outnumbered Dems tried valiantly to at least make it look
like this wasn't a morally bankrupt constitution-hating omnipotent dictatorship ... but no deal. It's a morally bankrupt, constitution-hating omnipotent dictatorship. And Dick's gonna be sure it stays that way. Got it?

8,000 troops have deserted since the Iraq War. Rumplesfeldsted has decided to send them a message....by hunting down ailing old Vietnam Era deserters.
One then Two and more promised on the way.

President Jimmy Carter pardoned people who avoided the draft, ergo deserting before even serving. I feel I have a dog in this hunt. My brother, a Marine, was killed in Vietnam before I was born. Why aren't they hunting down the lying sheep who staged the Gulf of Tonkin incident to put us in a useless, lying, losing War??
Those are the posers I want.

The House moved to halt the UAE Ports deal.
Moving Towards = Looking Good
see also: We Tried. Really.

Bush Urges to clean up faster in Nawlins after Katrina. Don't choke. He actually said that. Who the christall is he urging? Isn't he the frickin President? Does he talk to himself now??
The guy who played guitar while a city drowned. The guy who let the Coast Guard sit helpless because no one would sign a paper for their fuel. The guy who allowed people to sit for six solid days with no food, no water, no restrooms and no medical help. He "feels the pain". Omigod, it's time to up his medication. Or mine.

"It's a heck of a place to bring your family."
—George W. Bush, on New Orleans, New Orleans, La., Jan. 12, 2006

The 9th District is still in shambles, they are still finding bodies, and useless FEMA trailers sit empty - in Arkansas. 1/2 the population has fled. It's a heckuva-place, George.

FYI - usually I demand to be kissed.

Wicked Wednesday

2006-03-08T17:37:00.000-05:00

A very thoughtful essay on the Oil-Dollar-Euro bourse is a must read for understanding the motives of our dearly reviled Tatership. It is about Iraq and the hidden Euro-Dollars war. It is vital to keep in mind that Iraq was planning the same thing Iran is intent upon doing now, switching from dollars to euros. Then we invaded them. Took care of that. Iran is intending this by March 2oth. Guess who's rattling the saber again?
The Hidden Euro Dollar War

Note: This is my third time attempting to post this. It's the weirdest thing...suddenly the entire thing closes, my internet explorer, everything....just poof. Never happened before. Freakin cyberdogs.

The way things are going, you might want to venture over here: Third Reich
And no, it's not a Nazi site by a Nazi, it's merely a historical site.
Humor me, then email me and say, "Whoa - you gotta be kiddin me."

Sometimes I sit to do this and my thought is, "What can I say to balance the negative?"
I've never been pessimistic about my country or it's chances for remaining the beacon of freedom for the world. But now my Freedom has been stripped, my 'leaders' lie and then lie and then lie some more, everythings a "Secret", illegal things are just fine as long as they are the ones doing it, the Constitution doesn't mean squat, the Bill of Rights might as well be toilet paper, my country now spies on it's people, civilian camps are being built by a shady Halliburton's KBR thru even shadier Homeland Security, war and war and more threats of war, selling off everything not nailed down, threatening the media from telling the truth, threatening whistleblowers telling the truth about illegal activities, drilling in the natural preserves like the Arctic for yet more oil, telling us Muslims are a security threat yet putting them into our schools and selling our ports to them....it just goes on and on until there isn't enough Tylenol on the planet to alleviate it.

Impeach Bush? Too good for him. What we need is a trial - for Bush, Cheney, Chertoff, Rice, Frist, Gonzales, Rumsfeld, and the lot of them. A real trial, not one of these sham "Senate Committees". 99% of the people now sitting on those Committees should be on the other side in the defendants chair. Look up the definition of complicit. Check who voted in all these illegal acts then promptly refused to do anything about them.
History will judge you all harshly. Ooh, I forgot, Bush says, "Who cares about history? Those guys are dead."
All I can say is, it can't happen quick enough. Trial by Impartial Jury.

And I vote we put their asses into one of those "Civilian Labor Camps".

Cartoon of the Day:
Won't Get Fooled Again

The Truth Shall Set You ...Free?

2006-03-08T13:53:00.000-05:00

The Truth will send you to JAIL if these wankers have their way:

Planned Media Gag May Save America
By Mary Pitt

Senator Pa tRoberts, (R-KS), has announced that he is working on a bill that. if passed, will criminalize the publication of any “classified” information by the media.
This would make the reporter who writes, and the news media for whom they work,
equally liable under the anti-spy regulations with any whistle-blower who dares
to try to get the truth out regarding the misfeasance and malfeasance of this
administration. However, the very suggestion of the revocation of the First
Amendment may be the one thing that will wake up our sleeping media to the truth
of what has been and is being done to our democracy.
Replubicans Seek Amemdment to Ban Truth

How scary is our world becoming? More so every day, I fear.

Yet more on Iraq's newfound [in]Sercurity:
Iraqi Forces Kidnapped; Bodies Found

Heckuva-Job Israel (led by or following US example?):
Gaza Settlers Failed By Israel
Four Killed in Israeli Air Strike

We've got money for more Military Spending, but....
US Government Near Debt Limit
So whaddya do? Ask them to raise the limit so we can be MORE in debt! What a sound economic principle. Take note: if you're in debt, get more debt.
Also keep into account the Cheeny Financial Principal: If you're poor, save more money.

These assclown do not need a comedy writer.

Best Joke of the Day:

At New York's Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a
public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in
possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule, and a
calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said he
believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. The FBI
is charging him with carrying Weapons of Math Instruction.
"Al-Gebra is a fearsome cult," Gonzalez said. "They devise average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the Axis of Medieval with coordinates in every country.

"As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every triangle'."

When asked to comment on the arrest, Bush said, "If God had
wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have
given us more fingers and toes".

And now for something REALLY different...

2006-03-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

I wish. Unfortunately it's the same parade these days - they just keep redressing the floats.

US Demands UN Security Council Meeting on Iran

Why Iran?

As William Clark argues in his forthcoming book Petrodollar Warfare (New Society, summer 2005), the denomination of global oil sales in US dollars has kept the American dollar artificially strong throughout the period from 1974 to present, enabling Washington to run up huge foreign-funded government debt and trade deficits. Tehran's action, whether or not deliberately calculated to do so, could cause a dollar crash. Iraq was the first nation to announce intentions to sell oil for euros instead of dollars (in November 2000), and one of the first acts of the provisional government put in place by in invading US forces was to return oil sales to the dollar standard. [More from Energy Bulletin]

a Fatherland security now has set up a "faith-based" department using a Presidential Executive Order. Read the WhiteHouse Press Release:
Establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security

see: Separation of Church and State

a The Senate Republicans(the current majority in office) REJECTED any look into the illegal NSA Warrantless Domestic Spying Program. Domestic is you and me, folks. Warrantless is without any legal authority. Illegal, yes, but too bad. Ilegal means nuthin to us. Nothing to see here, they say. Gag me.

Senate Rejects NSA Probe

a Good thing we "liberated" them:
US Records Serious Rights Abuses in Iraq
Serious rights abuses now worse under USA than under Saddam. That's just spiffy. Forget heckuva-job Brownie, we're heckuva-job USA.

Does anyone else feel that the severe dip in polls is about 3 years behind the times? Catching up only after a Ports Deal?
Well if you're worried about Dubai taking over our ports, the deal is done. They also own Grand Central Station.
Israel's ICTS owns 68% of AMERICAN airport security...including all of the airports used in 9/11. See how that works?
In Indiana, they are moving to sell their toll roads to foreigners.
I think we still own the flag, but you might want to check.

Go back and check the "drumbeat" before we invaded Iraq. Hear the drumbeat now about Iran. WMDs in Iraq? WMDs in Iran? Where have we heard this before? They didn't even bother changing the drum.
Listen to the rhetoric about 99.9999% of the countries we're 'mad' at.
Then ask yourself, do they have Oil?

Military Deaths projected to 2008 based on current trends:
Projected American War Dead

The Administration that's willing to send out children to war was absent from theirs:

Fer Cryin Out Loud

2006-03-07T17:02:00.000-05:00

Recently I've been hearing some people lament about how it's just too scary to speak out and oppose these wankers. Reprisals would be wiretapping, hounding, trashing your career, financially ruining you, and labelling you a dangerous dissenter. (gotta love that patriot act)

People, unless you are building bombs in your basement, you've got nothing to fear. Safety in numbers. By fostering a feeling of powerlessness, they achieve it.

This is YOUR country. There are 300 million of us and a handful of "them".
"They" work for us.

Do you get it?
Your voice counts.

They can only do the things you fear to you because you sit silent and allow them to do it.
Don't become unwilling participants.
Write your elected officials. Call them. Be heard.
Donate your money to the decent politicians who are trying to reverse this dangerous trend. Vote. Support them.
March. Walk. Go door to door. Talk. Talk to everyone.
Nothing, but nothing, is written in stone.

If the fathers of this country sat on their couches and moaned, we'd be part of the British Empire right now.

Are We There Yet?

2006-03-07T16:36:00.000-05:00

In 1933, the German's experienced the bombing of the Reichstag.
In 2001, America experienced September 11th.

Hitler and his Party used this to implement wideranging policies to limit freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of movement and removed the freedom to vote.
Bush and his Party implemented the Patriot Act, the No-Fly list, and the corrupt BlackBox voting system.

Hitler promptly went to War.
Bush promptly went to War.

The SS spied on German civilians.
The NSA, DIA, CIA, spies American civilians.

The Germans were told this was to protect the Fatherland.
The Americans are told this is to protect the Homeland.

The Germans had "civilians labor camps" in their country.
Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root have recently begun constructing "civilian labor camps" in our country.

The Germans were told they were spreading their ideals across the globe.
The Americans are told they are spreading freedom, our ideal, across the globe.

Scared yet?

Now sing it with me to the Sesame Street Tune:

One of these things is just like the other,
One of these things is just the same,
And if let these things be just like the other,
The end result will be just the same.

Twinkle Twinkle Little War

2006-03-06T23:26:00.000-05:00

Tell us, Tell us,
Tell us True,
Do you want out of Afghanistan,
So you can march off to Iran?

Is this another Bait and Switch?
Look over there, while we get Rich!

Iran is scary, we know that, of course,
Why they think they can go to a Euro Dollar bourse!

Tick-tock, Tick-tock, we mean our words to spook,
If we don't get what we want, then we'll just send a nuke,

Ports, Courts, Spies, Lies,
Keep your mouth quite closed,
Stop lookin for your freakin rights,
Look at those mangoes!

I thought a little fractured prose might be entertaining for a change .... okay, okay, at least for me. No doubt Frost is rolling in his grave.

Anyhoo, I watched C-Span's Pentagon briefing of General James Jones, NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. Apparently ISAF is intending on taking over major operations in Afghanistan. The US is 'likely' to be drawing down it's active military forces under CENTCOM General Abizaid, in half by the end of 2006, while NATO's forces would increase from 9,000 to 21,000. This Phase III will begin in Southern Afghanistan. Phase IV - at a yet undetermined date - would encompass the remainder of the country. See the briefing here (require Real Media).

Now what stuck out for me was his emphasis in this dynamic, new "expansion of NATO" and it's "new pro-active stance".
Proactive: [pro·ac·tive or pro-ac·tive] adj.
Acting in advance to deal with an expected difficulty; anticipatory: proactive steps to prevent terrorism.
The included example of preventing terrorism is the defintion right from Dictionary.com - sometimes it just spells it out for you, I guess.
When NATO arrives, Gen. Jones tells us, there will be "more military than ever before." Even the reporters found this odd, since technically Afghanistan is supposed to be under control. Watch his backpedalling about "drugs" and um, "nation building". Raise your hand if you've heard that nation-building doesn't work.
As for NATO and Iran, he admits that while they have a plan and always have a plan, they've got no military plans at the moment. Hey, it is the military after all. Anticipatory plans are apparently not really plans at all.
Keep in mind that NATO is SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) - the same organization Kay Griggs spoke about way back in 1996.

Excellent article from Charlie Reese "The Value of George Orwell".

I wrote an entire post earlier this afternoon about the sad business of Pat Tillman, but the cybergods 86'd it and I had no time to rework the whole thing. You can sure bet I'll be saving this sucka before I try to post it.

BEST CARTOON OF THE DAY

Back to Work

Who Watches the Watchers?

2006-03-06T13:29:00.000-05:00

We keep hearing....and hearing....and then hearing some more how people in America need to be watched. My question is, Who Watches the Watchers?

Who guarantees the information they wrench out of my cold, unwilling hands is not to be used against the few laws we still retain?
Good question, huh?

It seems they seek some rarified state high above all the humble law-abiding masses where they can make determinations at their own will. And how dare we question that?

America: Home of the Free, the Brave ...and then there's the Few. Laws need not apply.

60 Minutes

2006-03-06T12:41:00.000-05:00

The CBS show "60 Minutes" on the case of 2 torture deaths by our soldiers seems to have wakened some up to the widespread (not just confined to Abu Ghraib & Gitmo) new practices by our previously Geneva-loving America. I feel for some of these soldiers, they are trained to take orders, above everything, and when they do...it's only them that are hung out to dry. You start at the top when housecleaning hierarchies.

Last nite my guy called for our usual "away-from-each-other-nightynite" type phone interaction, and I brought up the torture. Imagine my horror when his alpha-dog started barking.

"If they're torturing enemies to keep us safe, then that's what they should do." he states.
"These guys haven't even been charged with anything! In FOUR years. Even if they were the enemy, what sort of actionable intelligence do you think they have NOW?"
says I, beyond incredulous.

He had to concede the point, but it definitely proves that even the most informed and intelligent among us holds misperceptions about what is going on.

ROUND UP:

Tatership wants a line item veto. Despite the Supreme Court Ruling that they were illegal.

Australia rejects India's request for Uranium.

The UN seeks calm after US warning to Iran.

Another probe into the 'friendly fire' death of Pat Tillman . Pat's dad holds little hope for the process, "Patrick Tillman Sr. believes he will never get the truth, and he says he is resigned to that now." "Maybe lying's not a big deal anymore," he said. "Pat's dead, and this isn't going to bring him back. But these guys should have been held up to scrutiny, right up the chain of command, and no one has." Mr Tillman, we grieve for you. Lying has certainly become the modus operandi these days.

Gen Pace says things are doin' just great in Iraq, United Nations Pace has a different story.

Todays watchword is "Secret".

Pretty People All In A Row

2006-03-06T02:04:00.000-05:00

Oscar

Well, I spent a good deal of the night fighting my 100 lb dog for couch space while Hollywood saluted the best of...Hollywood. Although I haven't seen all of the films due to excessive laziness and a guy-type companion that needs a hot dog on a stick to lure him to the cineplex, I was heartily anticipating Jon Stewart. He didn't disappoint, and actually caused me to promptly burst out laughing at the inference to pulling down the Oscar (Saddam Statue) so hard the dog took off into the office for cover. That actually dims my prospects of any kind of canine rescue in case of an aneurysm or other sudden attack (my dog would be found cowering under a bed somewhere instead of heroically pawing 911 on the cell). But it's all good. Except for the 99% of the show that didn't include Jon Stewart, George Clooney or some great performances. I felt like I was watching an episode of Prozac Nation. Were the presenters all subject to pre-show halcyon injections? Only Dustin Hoffman dared to go off script ... and he did so for about 2.2 seconds before fearing he wouldn't be "asked back" by the Academy. It's show-business, guys! Have some fun!! We certainly couldn't care less about the "Special Advances in Synchronized Backediting" or the people who sewed 200 kimonos for a movie 3 people in Peoria saw.

The only celebrity with the guts to say anything of remote importance...was Clooney. And even that was mild.

Jon, on the other hand, made one of the most pointed observations about the appalling lack of anything approaching journalism our "mainstream media":

In a pointed barb at another of his favorite usual targets, the news media, Stewart saluted both "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Capote" as important films about journalism's "relentless pursuit of the truth," adding, "Needless to say, both are period pieces."

Which makes you wonder if the recent threats of treason for doing something as insane as telling the truth made via the Dept of Injustice will wake these wankers up. You aren't safe because you're silent.

More scaremongering on Faux News today - Iran...Iran...Iran....terrorists...umm...Iran...nukes...
Iran doesn't have any nukes capable of reaching mainland America. The only transgression I'm seeing is the fact that on March 15th, they plan on using the Euro bourse rather than US Dollars for their oil. Now, who among us is affected by that? Lemme think.

Best guess I'd say there are two scenarios possible:

Suddenly there's going to be a huge false flag "terror" attack on US soil, catapulting us into (you guessed it) a "retaliatory" strike against Iran.
The mental midgets decide the deadline has expired for US demands to do it our way or else and we strike...Iran.

Now it could be saner heads that prevail - recalling that fine old age of a thing called "diplomacy" and "reason".

Although:

The 101st Airborne is now deploying over there.
Gunships et al have been deployed to Iraq (on Irans border)
Israel is guarding "limited" nukes for us. (to use where exactly?)
The US Ambassador to the UN just "hinted" that we could invade Iran

Dontcha just love the WE??? Not them, of course, they'll be sitting in Cheyenne Mountain with a bottle of chivas, some good stogies, and their accountant.

Sunday Sunny Sunday

2006-03-05T19:02:00.000-05:00

I'm worn out today. As many of you who have "discovered" my recent venture (this blog) know, I've been gradually... over the period of these last few years... growing upset and then outright alarmed with what was going on in this country. Prior to that, most of you know me as a practical joker who rarely took anything too seriously. So now the questions are overflowing, "What happened??"

I will try and splain here.

The iconic tipping point for this country has been widely touted as 9-11, and thus it was for me. It was beyond my imagination that such a thing could happen, but far more beyond my imagination that people sat quietly by and accepted that while we could intercept private planes carrying professional golfers in 20 minutes -- it was impossible to intercept commercial jets carrying hijackers for over an hour and a half. It went against every form of logic or intelligence or indeed the practice of our military. Not then, and not now, but just on September 11th.

Nor how, for such a tremendous American Tragedy, true investigation has been almost nonexistent. And don't point me to the Congressional Report because I've read this "Official Commission Report".
And if you've read it, then you can join me in saying: Color Me Entertained.
Monty Python should opt this for movie release. Not only isn't it credible, it's contradictory, ridiculous, shoddy, and at times laugh-out-loud funny. The novelistic approach is a fine addition. Too bad Sidney Sheldon wasn't around.

In rapid fire succession came the Patriot Act. It takes years and years and years to send up legislation, but this was ready in a matter of weeks. Not one politician even read it - and the public sure didn't understand it. But it was signed into law not once, but twice. Have you read it? I have. Want a real horror story? Pull out the Constitution and Bill of Rights, then print out the Patriot Act.

Hey, I was as stunned as anyone by 9/11 - but WTF? We're not the terrorists here, people. This legislation curtails OUR rights, not some nebulous Middle Eastern fanatics. It takes away, by my count, pretty much every freedom WE OWN.

You're damned right the "terrorists" won, but they sure aren't pacing some remote Valhalla with 29 virgins. They're sucking your tax dollars into their corporate purse for an illegal war while cutting every single program designated to help us. We're no longer working for our own good, we're working to make them billionaires.

They can Bite Me.

I cannot possibly catalogue the insanity that has ensued since September 11th. Every single day it's crazier and more outrageous. Every. Single. Day. I wish I was kidding. I wish I was over-exaggerating. I actually long for the days when rescuing a kid down a drainpipe was big news. I'd even take a Presidential sex scandal.

This is far more serious, and it's going to get worse. Count on it.

This administration is the scariest thing that has ever happened to this country. And this comes from someone who has never pressed an alarm bell in their life.

So now we get to me being worn out. Remember Platoon where our hero says,

"The shit piles up so fast in Vietnam, you need wings to stay above it."

Well welcome to Vietnam.

Are your wings tired yet?

Free Speech? Not Anymore!

2006-03-04T23:58:00.000-05:00

So the Tatership now is threatening:

Truth Tellers
Journalists

FBI, CIA threaten journalists, own people

They are threatening them with:

Prosecution for Treason (for investigating their dirty dealings)
Imprisonment(jail em)
Loss of Employment(take away their livelihood)
Legal Redress (bankrupt them)

Who will stand up to them? Sadly most will join along in goose-step, cower in fear, and regurgitate lies to protect themselves. That's what this country is coming to, folks. And if you aren't scared, you live in a bubble of denial that's going to burst in fairly spectacular fashion.

Remember the First Amendment of the Constitution? The one that guarantees Free Spreech?

Yeah, well, trash that. Freedom is on the march all right...it's marching backwards into the dark abyss of McCarthy's wet dream.

Say No To Big Bro

2006-03-04T20:46:00.000-05:00

"Congress wants to Check every employee's social security number against a list in a federal database."

"Critics see the move - aimed at stemming illegal immigration - as the beginning of a government information stockpile that could be used to track U.S. residents. "

"We're getting closer and closer to a national ID card," says Tim
Sparapani, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

If It Quacks Like a Duck <---links are in this crappy color

Since no one in their right mind wants a National ID Card, isn't it much better to just creep up and around the idea?

The excuse is spurious at best. If they wanted to stem illegal immigration, they'd protect our borders. Isn't this the surest way of stopping illegal immigration?

Poor Sports

2006-03-04T19:09:00.000-05:00

They don't listen when we speak.

One protest among countless

And they don't listen when their own troops speak either:

Pentagon Dismisses Soldier Poll 70%

Yeah, whaddo they know? They're only there - while you sit on your asses rubberstamping Halliburton contracts.

Can't ignore it forever, my dear Tatership:

The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush's approval rating has
fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has
risen to a new high.

You're sinking faster than the Titanic, and the only lifejacket you'll be thrown is made by Acme Anchor... laced with Depleted Uranium.

Thought Police Strike Again

2006-03-04T18:52:00.000-05:00

Fatherland Security is kickin butt and takin names....of Hurricane Katrina victims: poor, broke and unemployed....and apparently giving away t-shirts.

Did I mention it's message was Anti-FEMA?

Katrina Victim vs Fatherland Security

Dontcha just love it? If only it weren't so sad, in a thousand different ways.

When caught being total IDIOTS...they bluster about how hundreds of people are going to show up in FEMA parking lot and disrupt business - business? The business of giving away a t-shirt?? Are they even serious?????

Rise up, Nawlins, and bitch slap these posers.

Secrets Secrets Everywhere

2006-03-04T13:59:00.000-05:00

It's always a 'Secret' and it's always in direct opposition to Our CONSTITUTION:

Secret 'Justice' :
Despite That Pesky 4th Ammendment

Secret Committees that rubber stamp foreign port takeovers:

Secret Committee Approved Arab Ports Deal

Secretly removing THOUSANDS OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS from the National Archives:
Your Right to Know Has Been Revoked

Secret Interrogations in Europe:
Are these exempt from the Torture Ban Too? Count on it.

Secret American Prisons:
Exposing America's Secret Prisons

The new watchword is 'Secret'.

Well, here's a few secrets for 'em straight from Patrick Henry:

"The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.”
~ Patrick Henry

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”
~ Patrick Henry

Spy Wars

2006-03-04T12:57:00.000-05:00

The Truth is a Terrible Thing to Waste:

Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: Bill Frist threatens to re-structure the Intelligence Committee in order to block NSA hearings

Wouldn't want to let a little thing like the constitution get in their way, would they?

Smells like Fear. When they are this desperate to cover something up, you can just bet something highly illegal is going down.

Time to fire up the phones and call now. Call them, then call them again.
Then email them. Then call to make sure they've got the email.

Remember, They work for You.

Round Up

2006-03-04T12:24:00.000-05:00

Round em up....

How many ports is that again?

United Arab Emirates Deal: 23 Ports

Oh.. TWENTY THREE, not six.
And at least two are - wait for it - Military Bases. Transferring military equipment.
Now they fall under United Arab Emirates control. (make no mistake, it's a done deal)
And let's not forget they already own Grand Central Station. Or that Israel owns 63% of our airport security.
I feel safer already.

Speaking of Safety - while our own blood is being spilled almost daily, I'd say the Tatership is Feeling downright safe.

Our “War” Government:
courtesy of Harold at AmericaBlog

George W. Bush - AWOL from the National Guard 1972-'73
The mighty warriors of the bullshit administration, the guys sending other people’s children to war:
* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Five deferments, marriage, baby.
* Dennis Hastert: did not serve.
* Tom Delay: did not serve.
* Roy Blunt: did not serve.
* Bill Frist: did not serve.
* Mitch McConnell: did not serve.
* Rick Santorum: did not serve.
* Trent Lott: did not serve.
* John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.
* Jeb Bush: did not serve.
* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." This is the creature who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Vin Weber: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.
* Richard Shelby: did not serve.
* Jon Kyl: did not serve.
* Tim Hutchison: did not serve.
* Christopher Cox: did not serve.
* Newt Gingrich: did not serve.
* Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as non-combat flight instructor.
* Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served making movies.
* B-1 Bob Dornan: enlisted after he was sure fighting was over in Korea.
* Phil Gramm: did not serve.
* Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve.
* John M. McHugh: did not serve.
* JC Watts: did not serve.
* Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem, " although continued in NFL for 8 years as quarterback.
* Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.
* Rudy Giuliani: did not serve.
* George Pataki: did not serve.
* Spencer Abraham: did not serve.
* John Engler: did not serve.
* Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army base.

They don't mind us fightin and dyin....long as it's not them

Short N Sweet

2006-03-04T12:20:00.000-05:00

The Incompetent, leading the Unwilling, to do the Unthinkable.

Gitmo

2006-03-04T03:51:00.000-05:00

The Pentagon has released, under pressure by the Associated Press via the Freedom of Information Act, files on some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
The New Pentagon Papers
There be no torture here...nothing to see here...move along, move along.

"The horror...the horror..."
Joseph Conrad