chicanery to be exposed?

there is exposed and there is ignored ::

the DSM, the niger docus, brewster jennings, able danger, secret cheney/energy meetings, the lack of troops body armor, bridas, osama, AIPAC, the NO levees, the london jordan bali false flag ops, anthrax investigation, zarqawi is an israeli creation, abramoff and atta were pals, no 757 at pentagon, LARRY effin SILVERSTEIN!, PNAC

do I really need to keep going? I could wear out the comma button on this post alone.

Mr. Corn, Good morning again! Hope you have a wonderful New Years' Eve gathering with loved ones and dear friends. Here's somehting for everyone!

Happy's New Year Wishes or Predictions (12/29/05 Update)

Happy's Assessment of Cornesters: The Learning Potential of the Current Class of Regular (Liberal) posters, by genetics, are highly limited. Also, please forgive the meanest of the bunch. Pandemoniac needs an outlet and Mr. Corn is kind to oblige. Some that were studying Conspiracy Theory 911, seem to have found their way to the correct class room(s). Cluttering of the site continues, unfortunately! Leaving people with more precious view of their own time, limited ability to respond; particularly to light-weight `insignificant’ personal attacks.

DavidCorn.com: The civility asked for by the Corn Host and demanded by the visiting Right is much more evident; except for the Meanest of the bunch. Any visitor can see for oneself! Is Mr. Corn proud of his bunch? Check out his bio at Pajamas Media. Catalyst: Yours truly, Happy, Happy New, Happy News Everywhere, Happy at Night

Iraq: Against the usual pessimism of the Left and lowered expectations of the Right, Iraq `outperforms’ when the Sunnis and Shiites come together. Resulting in a reduction of coalition forces by, say half. Remaining forces are entirely in the Sunni areas as much for their protection as for fighting the die-hards. Catalyst: Saddam (or other well-known Sunnis) and Ali-Sistani (or other well-known Shiites) decide to give a united Iraq a Go until at least the next set of national elections!

Al Queda: One or two at the top (BL, Zarq, Zawa, Omar) is/are captured. Catalyst: major foreign intelligence coup + someone (close to AQ) that comes to see that cave dwelling is going nowhere fast.

Democrats: Events in Iraq, good, bad or ugly, continue to leave the party divided & confused. But, as it often seems, how badly depends on the polls. At the mid-Term Elections, nothing new but the party may well lose more ground. Catalyst: likely None; unless a viable 2008 Contender steps up and becomes a statesman/woman.

Republicans: Mounts legislative attempt to once and for all, firmly establish the Commander-in-Chief’s authority to do what is necessary to fight terrorism against foreign or US citizens. Such legislation will clearly cite technology as too fast-moving and that our defenses must be proactive and preemptive; however, if the CIC is found to have used such power for political purposes, the President shall immediately be subject to impeachment proceedings. Catalyst: Patriot Act extension & beyond

Joe Lieberman: Following in the honorable footsteps of Vermont Sen. Jefford, Joe declares himself an Independent shortly before the mid-Term Elections. Catalyst: Main GOP challenger drops out of the race while the country is treated to a Dem-against-Joe campaign.

MSM: According to one Cornester, perhaps one major `old Media’ players (TV networks & big city publishers) is in the process of surrendering to reality and is transitioning to a `fair and balanced’ approach. If confirmed after further observations, count the eye-popping number of editors and reporters that resign or are fired for a Leftness indicator. Catalyst: Diminished market shares and the competitive spirit lead to internal change or perhaps being bought out by others wanting to compete w/FOX.

Here is wishing ALL a Happy New Year! Everywhere in this great nation, there are smart people (hint: don’t rave and rant, at least in public! This one is for you Mr. Corn!) that passionately disagrees with each other and yet, could be attending the same parties over the coming week. If you find yourself on the cusp of a political discussion with The Opposition, restrain yourself. Like mother taught: “if you don’t have anything good to say, …..” Consider your restraint a gift to the other that cost you nothing! May God Bless America and Mr. Corn, as you (presumably) vacations somewhere, a special New Years’ greeting for your hospitality.

Corn Regulars on the left:

I have spent quite a bit of time trying to get you all to recognize the errors of your ways. Most of you have acted like kids; but much worse. Maybe you really are mental cases waiting to happen! Why have you pushed my hints and some up-side-the-head `whomps' to the point that our very gracious Host has to publicly HINT at you? Come on, are you grownups?

Some of you may recall my son being in the swim team, there is no shame in accepting defeat when met with superior swimmers (force). If your feelings are hurt because this force happens to be just one against all of you, does that tell you something about how `misunderestimating' you have collectively been? Get over it and help David turn this blog site to a unique forum where both the Right and the Left, can meet for civilized and intelligent discussions! Please put aside your wounded pride and learn from your mistakes!!

can't leave this out::
150+ 911 SMOKING GUNS all found in the mainstream media

9)Sept. 7, Jeb Bush puts the FL National Guard on alert. (MyFlorida.com, WorldNetDaily)

19)San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown receives travel warning eight hours before attacks. (SF Chronicle)

34)Occupant in WTC says weeks before attacks they had "unusual" amount of evacuations from WTC and says he thinks "they had an inkling something was going on." (Time)

45)Company hired to help clean up Ground Zero is control demolition experts, Controlled Demolition Inc. (Waste Age)

59)Rumsfeld announces Pentagon lost track of $2.3 trillion the day before it gets hit (CBS, DoD) attacks came near end of fiscal year & important budget information was located in the damaged area (Arlington County) large number of fatalities at Pentagon were civilian accountants, bookkeepers and budget analysts (Pitt Post-Gazette)

David,

I echo James Ha when he said "there is exposed and there is ignore". The criminal acts of the Bush Administration can be exposed all you want - and I want you to keep working towards exposing them - but I fear nothing will come of it.

What everyone needs to do, the ones that want to bring down this corrupt administration, is to work towards taking back control of Congress from the GOP. I for one will work to get Sensenbrenner out of office in '06.

If we take control of Congress away from the Republicans, we may have a fighting chance.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

And Happy - you have a Happy New Year too. While you are annoying and repeat this wierd predictions thing - you are entertaining, very condesending, but also entertaining. I laugh at your posts.

Flan #6 I don't recall skirmishing w/you! I didn't read most long Comments closely. Anyway, thanks! At least you confirmed to me that the `Regulars' are not ALL hopeless! I used the Don Rickles approach and if David did not `come out' today in my support, I am not sure many beside yourself would have ever seen the light! No serious, ntellectually rewarding discussions can take place when civility is not part of the pre-conditions!

Happy,

Let me make myself clear. I do not support you. I laugh at your posts and while I find you very condesending I also find you entertaining because you are so ridiculous. But you just go on and think whatever you want.

The only reason I did not post anything before is because there was nothing worth responding to. I tolerate you and am now regretting I addressed any comment to you.

Happy,

One last thing - your remark about not skirmishing w/me tells me that is what your objective is. Inciting fights, not having an honest debate, otherwise you would discuss real issues.

I will waste any more time on you.

Damn! I meant I will NOT waste anymore time on you and now I have!

Flan #9 Anytime the Opposition shows up, skirmishing is to be expected, No? I don't like fights, not since in my teen years. Don't backtrack on me! Doesn't point/counterpoint, cross fire, cross talk, etc.... all mean skirmishing? Several issues, forward-looking stuff, didn't get discussed during my `Regular' Guest appearances. No one took up the pros & cons of impeaching...lots of pro but just my con. To be credible, one must assesss what happens if you fail in your strategy, you know, the "What if...?"

Didn't I say something like "No sensible Righty/Lefty expects support from the Lefty/Righty"?

Like baf before me, I am becoming bored! I will keep up w/this site but dial back Comments. I can't afford to keep on giving away my time!

"forward looking stuff"?
I fear that means sweeping previous issues under the rug and cheerfully forgetting them - not as long as I'm around

the word "impeachment" has been bandied about so often that it means nothing anymore - if lying the way into a war for profit and bearing false witness are not enuf for impeachment then nothing is

Flan,

Thanks

capt

I will try to be nice to morons.
I will try to be nice to morons.
I will try to be nice to morons.

I know that this will come as no surprise to a world class economist such as yourself (LOL), but us po' folks haven't been having such an easy time getting all those high-paying jobs that you were bragging about, dude.

Jobless claims edged higher last week
New claims for state unemployment benefits rose to 322,000
December 29, 2005

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - New claims for jobless benefits rose by 3,000 last week, in line with forecasts on Wall Street, a government report showed Thursday.
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose to 322,000 the week ended Dec. 24 from an upwardly revised 319,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said.
The number of continued claims -- a measure of how many people remained on benefit rolls after drawing an initial week of aid -- rose for a third straight week. Claims were up 85,000 to 2.7 million in the week ended Dec. 17, the latest week for which data are available.

Can we just chalk it up to another Xmas gift from the Cheney Administration? Yeah, 'tis the season, pendejo.

Could you tell us again that funny stuff about how the economy is booming?

Wait, I forgot to mention the housing boom:
Existing Home Sales Slip in November
Forbes - 28 minutes ago
By JEANNINE AVERSA , 12.29.2005, 10:05 AM.
Sales of previously owned homes fell by 1.7 percent in November, a fresh sign that the high-flying housing market is losing altitude. The latest snapshot of activity ...

Existing home sales slow; inventory highest since '86

That's OK, Nostradamus. Things'll pick up in the New Year. I hear retailers did "OK" this Xmas season.

Mr. Corn's last words of 2005(?):
"the Libby trial, the DeLay trial, the Abramoff scandal, the elections, the war, perhaps another Supreme Court vacancy, and who knows what other Bush administration chicanery to be exposed."
Unhappy,
I'm with ya' on the I-word where the Preznit is concerned. Yeah, he is an Idiot; but that's not the I-word I was referring to. I'm not sure we should Impeach him. Why don't we just let him continue with his single-handed destruction of the Republican party (such as it is)? I'm all for that.

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." —9/13/01

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."—3/13/02

"I am truly not that concerned about him."—3/13/02

"I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him."—3/13/02

"Uhh—Gosh, I —don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those, uhh, exaggerations." — Tempe, AZ, 10/13/2004

George W. bush

The NYT had an article, UN observer in Baghdad calls the voting valid. My 2006 predictions say that the only invalid elections are held in the USA. More Diebold Rigged Voting Machines will be certified in more states and in more counties of the USA. Repugnants will gain more power and Tinkle King Bush will have absolute power. In 2006 we will see the certification of Nazi America. More Americans will adore and revere the Tinkle King. My prayer will continue to be MAY GOD SAVE US FROM OURSELVES!!!

"It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way."—April 28, 2005 - bush

#17 James Ha, your remembrance of Tinkle King's words are priceless jewels.

there's an entire site dedicated to the inanity of bush' words ::
supak.com/bush.htm

An excellent read!!!

Why Fight?

ECHELON: America's Spy in the Sky

This may be old stuff to many of you...this article was written some time ago...

"...ECHELON : Every American interacts with this system on a daily basis, and yet virtually no one on this side of the Atlantic is aware of its existence. ECHELON is actually a computer component to a global spy system controlled by the National Security Agency (NSA) and shared with the GCHQ of England, the CSE of Canada, the Australian DSD, and the GCSB of New Zealand. These organizations are bound together under a secret 1948 agreement, UKUSA, whose terms and text remain under wraps even today..."

Many Americans Still Believe
Hussein Had Links to al Qaeda

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
December 29, 2005

Sizeable minorities of Americans still believe Saddam Hussein had "strong links to al Qaeda," a Harris Interactive poll shows, though the number has fallen substantially this year.

About 22% of U.S. adults believe Mr. Hussein helped plan 9/11, the poll shows, and 26% believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded. Another 24% believe several of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis, according to the online poll of 1,961 adults.

However, all of these beliefs have declined since February of this year, when 64% of those polled believed Mr. Hussein had strong links to al Qaeda and 46% said Mr. Hussein helped plan 9/11. At that time, more than a third said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and 44% said several of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis.

Currently, 56% of adults believe Iraqis are better off now than they were under Mr. Hussein, down from 76% in February. Nearly half of those polled say they believe Iraq, under Mr. Hussein, was a threat to U.S. security, down from 61% in February.

See the full results of the Harris poll:

*****end of clip*****

Okay, we are down to the rocket scientists.

The bottom 20 some odd percent are so clueless they do not even notice they are marginalizing themselves.

capt

Bush is reading again

There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great. G.K. Chesterton

Jesus speaks sanity to a world of lunatics. G.K. Chesterton

Quotes from the Clinton Impeachment

Tom Delay (R-TX):

"This nation sits at a crossroads. One direction points to the higher road of the rule of law. Sometimes hard, sometimes unpleasant, this path relies on truth, justice and the rigorous application of the principle that no man is above the law. Now, the other road is the path of least resistance. This is where we start making exceptions to our laws based on poll numbers and spin control. This is when we pitch the law completely overboard when the mood fits us, when we ignore the facts in order to cover up the truth.

No man is above the law, and no man is below the law. That's the principle that we all hold very dear in this country."

Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.):

"I suggest impeachment is like beauty: apparently in the eye of the beholder. But I hold a different view. And it's not a vengeful one, it's not vindictive, and it's not craven. It's just a concern for the Constitution and a high respect for the rule of law. ... as a lawyer and a legislator for most of my very long life, I have a particular reverence for our legal system. It protects the innocent, it punishes the guilty, it defends the powerless, it guards freedom, it summons the noblest instincts of the human spirit.

The rule of law protects you and it protects me from the midnight fire on our roof or the 3 a.m. knock on our door."

James Sensenbrenner: (R-WI):

"What is on trial here is the truth and the rule of law. Our failure to bring President Clinton to account for his lying under oath and preventing the courts from administering equal justice under law, will cause a cancer to be present in our society for generations. I want those parents who ask me the questions, to be able to tell their children that even if you are president of the United States, if you lie when sworn "to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," you will face the consequences of that action, even when you don't accept the responsibility for them."

Chuck Hagel (R-NE):

"There can be no shading of right and wrong. The complicated currents that have coursed through this impeachment process are many. But after stripping away the underbrush of legal technicalities and nuance, I find that the President abused his sacred power by lying and obstructing justice. How can parents instill values and morality in their children? How can educators teach our children? How can the rule of law for every American be applied equally if we have two standards of justice in America--one for the powerful and the other for the rest of us?"

Bill Frist (R-TN):

"I will have no part in the creation of a constitutional double-standard to benefit the President. He is not above the law. If an ordinary citizen committed these crimes, he would go to jail."

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas):

"When someone is elected president, they receive the greatest gift possible from the American people, their trust. To violate that trust is to raise questions about fitness for office. My constituents often remind me that if anyone else in a position of authority -- for example, a business executive, a military officer of a professional educator -- had acted as the evidence indicates the president did, their career would be over. The rules under which President Nixon would have been tried for impeachment had he not resigned contain this statement: "The office of the president is such that it calls for a higher level of conduct than the average citizen in the United States."

*****end of clip*****

Interesting to relive some of the Reich-wings impeachment comments.

capt

A Reputation in Tatters

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

George W. Bush and his gang of neocon warmongers have destroyed America’≥ reputation. It is likely to stay destroyed, because at this point the only way to restore America’≥ reputation would be to impeach and convict President Bush for intentionally deceiving Congress and the American people in order to start a war of aggression against a country that posed no threat to the United States.

America can redeem itself only by holding Bush accountable.

As intent as Republicans were to impeach President Bill Clinton for lying about a sexual affair, they have a blind eye for President Bush’≥ far more serious lies. Bush’≥ lies have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people, injured and maimed tens of thousands more, devastated a country, destroyed America’≥ reputation, caused 1 billion Muslims to hate America, ruined our alliances with Europe, created a police state at home, and squandered $300 billion dollars and counting.

America’≥ reputation is so damaged that not even our puppets can stand the heat. Anti-American riots, which have left Afghan cities and towns in flames and hospitals overflowing with casualties, have forced Bush’≥ Afghan puppet, "President" Hamid Karzai, to assert his independence from his U.S. overlords. In a belated act of sovereignty, Karzai asserted authority over heavy-handed U.S. troops whose brutal and stupid ways sparked the devastating riots. Karzai demanded control of U.S. military activities in Afghanistan and called for the return of the Afghan detainees who are being held at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

*****end of clip*****

A very good perspective on the Bush crime family from a crazy lefty.

capt

#24 Capt, just goes to show that the american public has successfully been dumbed down. Now we live in a nation of consumer morons. We will find that this is not conducive to good government, which is why we are on the road to tyranny. After all the russians had jobs, didn't they? Slaves had jobs didn't they? So we have this booming economy that invests in other countries and downsizes to send the scant jobs that pay a living wage overseas, creating a mass of low wage, low interest mouth breathers, and they call them the public? Can't wait for the next chapter in this fiasco to play out. Whack a troll when you get the chance.

Vice Axes That 70's Show

Defending warrantless wiretapping last week, the vice president spoke of his distaste for the erosion of presidential authority in the wake of Watergate and Vietnam.

"I do believe that, especially in the day and age we live in, the nature of the threats we face, it was true during the cold war, as well as I think what is true now, the president of the United States needs to have his constitutional powers unimpaired, if you will, in terms of the conduct of national security policy," he intoned. Translation: Back off, Congress and the press.

Checks, balances, warrants, civil liberties - they're all so 20th century. Historians must now regard the light transitional tenure of Gerald Ford as the petri dish of this darkly transformational presidency.

Consider this: when Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, supported by President Ford, pushed a plan to have the government help develop alternative sources of energy and reduce our dependence on oil and Saudi Arabia, guess who helped scotch it?

Dick Cheney. Then and now, the man is a menace.

*****end of clip*****

Dowd, sometimes she kick butt!

capt

Make Your Freedom of Information Act Request

George Bush is using the National Security Agency to conduct surveillance on American citizens without the consent of any court. After initially refusing to confirm the story, the President has admitted to personally overseeing this domestic spying program for years.

These actions are explicitly against the law. But the administration says that other laws somehow allow for this unprecedented use of a foreign intelligence agency to spy on Americans right here in the United States. According to reports, political appointees in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel wrote still-classified legal opinions laying out the supposed justification for this program.

Governor Howard Dean is filing a formal demand that they release these documents. You can add your name to a Freedom of Information Act request by providing the information below.

*****end of clip*****

Some keyboard activism if you agree with the cause!

capt

American Soldiers

This post is a reminder of what the minority of true Americans and patriotic Americans face with the likes of majority Americans who are known worldwide as American Repugnants, American Nazis, and American Taliban.

2,421 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for the bush lies. When will this madness end? Reports now say that America was wrong and inhumane in their attack upon Iraq.

Too many, American soldiers have been killed in Iraq for the bush lies. How do we bring back the American soldiers who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for the bush lies?

2,421 American soldiers are killed for the bush lies and bush is thinking about expanding his war machinery to Iran. Now Iran is the bad guy. The truth is that the bad guys reside in Washington, D.C. Does he have a 2006 surprise to attack Iran? Plans for a 2006 attack are on the drawing board. bush may have convinced the Israelis to attack Iran. The Israelis are to take out a nuclear plant first. Have the Israelis accepted bush’≥ word or is there proof of a nuclear plant? If other nations can have nuclear plants, why can’¥ Iran have a nuclear plant? I hear that the Israelis will also send in ground troops. Why is there always someone to do bush’≥ dirty work? bush wants wars but in order to have wars he must have someone else do his dirty work or he must call for a reinstatement of the military draft. HE SAID IN 2004 THAT THERE WOULD BE NO MILITARY DRAFT. MAYBE HE WILL HOLD OFF ON ANOTHER WAR BUT DON’î COUNT ON IT. Furthermore, if his war loving base WOULD VOLUNTEER FOR THE MILITARY SERVICE, WE WOULD NOT NEED A MILITARY DRAFT. There are enough American Nazis and American Taliban to FIGHT THE BUSH WARS.

I would be for the military draft after we see some of bush, sr.’≥ fourteen grandchildren volunteer for military service. I would also like to see that the sons and daughters of the rich volunteer for the military service. These gestures would serve as role models for other sons and daughters who will eventually be drafted with the reinstatement of the military draft. The rich should sacrifice more for this country because they have more to lose. Sons and daughters of the poor and the middle class have less to lose so they should be exempt from military service.

More and more information mounts that cheney orchestrated the Iraq war and now we read that he is orchestrating the Iran war. cheney has never served in the military but he does love wars. bush and his thugs have increased their hit list to 25 countries.

The military is ready awaiting orders to attack Iran. The feeling is that Iran will crumble in a few days after the attack. WAR, WAR, AND MORE WARS!

For all you War Party members who love hatred and killing you can feel glorified with 2,421 American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for the bush lies and how many more American soldiers will be killed for the possible attack on Iran.

WHY? WHY DOES bush HAVE TO LIE? WAS ATTACKING IRAQ SOME KIND OF THRILL RIDE AND 2,421 AMERICAN SOLDIERS ARE DEAD? WHY MUST THIS SENSELESS KILLING CONTINUE? IS IT TO SATISFY bush’≥ MANIACAL EGO?

AMERICA HAS BECOME A NATION WHERE THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE ARE INSANE BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WORSHIP A LUNATIC.

It appears that bush has been successful in spreading American democracy around the world. Let us take a close look and see what bush has spread and what he will spread corruption, decadence, filth, porn, CORPORATE FRAUD, lies, hatred, killing, persecution, torture, wars, war crimes, crimes against humanity, mass murders, sadistic behaviors, bush worshippers, oppression, submission to the bushgod, RIGGED ELECTIONS, suppression of positive thought, imprinting of American and world brains with nonsense, DEGRADATION TOWARD 90% OF AMERICANS BY 10% OF THE RICH, an end time and rapture mentality, an anti-God belief by the powers-that-be, keep American and the world fearful and stupid, treat people like mushrooms such as keeping them in the dark and feeding them shit, outlaw the U.S, Constitutions and the Ten Commandments, DESTROY AMERICAN FREEDOMS AND RIGHTS, keep the War Party in permanent control, find more and more ways for the rich to take away money from the middle class and also PROTECT THE RICH FROM PAYING TAXES, find ways to kill off Americans with no medical insurance and keep the cost of prescription drugs out of reach for most Americans TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY, rape foreign lands, CONTINUE A DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE TOWARD OUR FELLOW MAN. America, right or wrong? I have shared with you the American way and our way has been opened to all countries on our planet.

I truly believe that America has forsaken the true God for the American way and only for the American way.

2,421 American soldiers have been killed for the bush lies!

The repugnants and bush are working 24/7 on screwing you and me.

When will this total madness end?

#26 capt, these very same words can be spoken for Bush's impeachment.

Stop Bush's illegal wiretaps -- act now!

It's now been 5 days since President Bush admitted to authorizing the National Security Agency to spy on Americans without court order -- a system he reauthorized as many as 3 dozen times since 2001. Yet despite the outcry from millions of Americans -- both Democrats and Republicans alike -- President Bush has stubbornly promised to continue this illegal and unconstitutional activity.

How can the President of the United States -- the highest elected official in our land, a leader who swore an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution" -- so egregiously and repeatedly violate our most basic civil liberties?

It's time for Congress to act -- to thoroughly investigate the President's actions now.

Urge Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter to hold hearings into the President's conduct, before beginning Supreme Court nomination hearings for Judge Alito - sign my petition today!

*****end of clip*****

A little bit more keyboard activism if you agree with the cause!

capt

Capt #26

Capt, are you trying to link the Rep comments on impeachment to Bush's comments of WMD? When did Bush lie under oath? When was it proven in a court of law that he lied about anything? Now you spent about 40 posts on the last topic accusing TRH of being a liar (how old are you man) and I am now accussing you of being a liar also. You try to blur the truth with your own biased views, which is a lie!!!!Now appologize to TRH for being a low life liar!!!

Sign Our Petition to Stop Alito

President Bush wasn't willing to stand up to the far right -- now it is up to the American people and our senators to stand up for the Constitution. Sign our petition urging your senators to oppose Alito's nomination to be associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Dear Senators,

The Senate must reject President Bush's attempt to reward right-wing special interests by nominating Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States. Alito's record as an ideological activist would make his confirmation a threat to civil rights protections, reproductive and privacy rights, environmental protections, religious liberty, and laws safeguarding workers.

I urge you to vote not to confirm Samuel Alito to a lifetime position on the Supreme Court of the United States.

*****end of clip*****

One more for the road!

capt

Americans are too immobile to impeach Bush because they possess ATSD.

ATSD stands for American Traumatic Stress Disorder. The father of this stress disorder is George War Bush, more commonly known as a mass murderer and a war criminal. Americans suffer from this disorder because they live under a tyrannical murderer and a war criminal who lies incessantly and who is enamored with endless wars. Plus, the War Bush heads the most corrupt misadministration in the history of the United States of America.

American Soldiers

2,421 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush's evil lies.

16,000+ American soldiers have been maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush's evil lies.

40,000+ American soldiers are suffering from PTSD.

Over 100,000+ Iraqis have been killed in Iraq since Bush declared shock and awe bombings on March 19, 2003.

Are you feeling more safe and secure with Bush in the WH and Cheney as his chief hatchet man overseeing America and her people.

American elections are rigged to favor the repugnants.

We will have to see how events play out. Seymour Hersh (when he was asked to comment about the 2004 election)

Bush will declare martial law in 2008 and the elections will be suspended.

Our military men and women are used as cannon fodder for a terrorist American government.

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we. George W. Bush, August 5, 2005

There is no sense trying to make sense from those who have no sense.

THE GLORY OF BUSH IS MAN FULLY DEAD!!!

This war in Iraq really pisses me off!!!!!

Rigged elections doom American democracy. American soldiers are being killed and maimed TO PROMOTE AN AMERICAN NAZI STATE.

THE GLORY OF GOD IS MAN FULLY ALIVE. St. Irenaeus

I shall pass this way but once. Any good that I can do let me do it now for I shall not pass this way again. St. Ambrose

We must work tirelessly for man to be fully alive.

American soldiers are being killed like flies for Bush's lies. To date 2,421 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

DON'T PATRONIZE ME WITH TALK ABOUT HUMAN LIVES. COLIN LAPDOG POWELL

It sounds like human lives are not important to Lapdog.

I was provided with additional input that was radically different from the truth. I assisted in furthering that version. Oliver North

There is no sense trying to make sense from those who have no sense!

Wolfowitz + World Bank = War + Poverty

As Diebold goes, so goes the election!

American democracy is dead as we know it. We are now OUTSOURCING our dead American democracy around the world with our dead and maimed soldiers who are fighting in foreign lands so these lands can revel in our dead democracy.

My fellow Americans, Bush does not view our Constitution as a piece of paper. He views our Constitution as a piece of toilet paper so he can wipe his ass with it.

When God means to punish a nation, He deprives its rulers of wisdom. Linda Schrock Taylor

No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices. Edward R. Murrow

All Americans are accomplices in Bush’≥ murders and war crimes.

To sin is a human business; to justify sin is a devilish business. Leo Tolstoy, Russian author 1828-1910

The incestuous relationship between government and big business thrives in the dark. Jack Anderson

PEACE TAKES COURAGE!

HONOR THE TROOPS, DEMAND THE TRUTH!

Shock, awe and Hobbes have backfired on America's neocons

Iraq has shown the hubris of a geostrategy that welds the philosophy of the Leviathan to military and technological power

The spin machine is on full tilt to represent Iraq as a success. Peters, in New Glory: Expanding America's Supremacy, asserts: "Our country is a force for good without precedent"; and Barnett, in Blueprint, says: "The US military is a force for global good that ... has no equal." Both offer ambitious plans for how the US is going to remake the third world in its image. There is a violent hysteria to the boasts. The narcissism of a decade earlier has given way to an extrovert rage at those who have resisted America's will since 2001. Both urge utter ruthlessness in crushing resistance. In November 2004, Peters told Fox News that in Falluja "the best outcome, frankly, is if they're all killed".

But he directs his real fury at France and Germany: "A haggard Circe, Europe dulled our senses and fooled us into believing in her attractions. But the dugs are dry in Germany and France. They deluded us into prolonging the affair long after our attentions should have turned to ... India, South Africa, Brazil."

While a good Kleinian therapist may be able to help Peters work through his weaning trauma, only America can cure its post 9/11 mixture of paranoia and megalomania. But Britain - and other allied states - can help. The US needs to discover, like a child that does not know its limits, that there is a world outside its body and desires, beyond even the reach of its toys, that suffers too.

*****end of clip*****

The only real shock and awe is the complete contempt for the truth from this administration and its supporters.

capt

Cheney's defence

21 December 2005

US VICE President Dick Cheney is always ready to defend the indefensible. Even as the administration is finding it hard to deal with the political storm over domestic spying, Cheney has been bold enough to justify the practice.

Instead of being overwhelmed by the outraged public opinion, the vice president has slammed the previous administrations saying if they had allowed domestic surveillance (or spying on the Americans) September 11 attacks could have been averted.

This is as strange as it gets. Instead of explaining the domestic spying that has angered the Americans on both sides of the political divide, the vice president has turned the whole argument upside down. It’≥ absurd to suggest that eavesdropping on its own citizens could have saved America from the terrorists. The Soviet Union collapsed like a house of cards despite the fact that it had turned spying on its own people into an art. America, the nation that was built on the ideals of democracy, freedom and individual rights cannot turn to abominable practices such as surveillance and phone-tapping to protect itself. America’≥ strength lies in its free spirit and respect for civil liberties.

*****end of clip*****

Cheney is the worst kind of demagogue, he will say anything to preserve his right to take away our rights.

capt

#15
Yeah, 'tis the season, pendejo.

Pande, you're my hero.

Member of Silent Minority!

Cookies placed on NSA visitor's computers

AIRPORT USES CHAT TO SCREEN TRAVELERS: Metro security agents listen for signals you're a threat

The Patriot Act at work - Get this...a friend of mine and her husband decided to pull some of their money out of their mutual funds and park it in a local bank. They deposited a number of sizeable checks (all over $10,000) -- the next day they got a phone call from their "personal banker" who asked them to come back to the bank to fill in some forms required under the Patriot Act -- she asked the personal banker what's on the forms -- two things she mentioned (1) where did you get this money? (2) how do you intend to use it? WTF????????? My friend said she'd get back to her -- so far, friend and husband have not gone to the bank. They are livid! She told the banker (on the phone) that she was tempted to withdraw her money and go elsewhere -- the banker said, "All banks are required to obtain this information because of the Patriot Act."

A Timeline

A comprehensive, searchable database of many of the events, that led up to the US invasion
of Iraq.

This extensive reference contains data on the political and diplomatic decisions and developments, military activity, plans, statements of officials and reports from the media.

*****end of clip*****

They might have missed an item or three but this is a very complete timeline.

capt

International Team to Review Iraq Results

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An international team has agreed to review Iraq's parliamentary elections, announcing Thursday that members would travel to Iraq in response to protests by Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups that the polls were tainted by fraud.

My only question is, WHY CAN'T WE GET SUCH OVERSIGHT HERE?!?!?!

Any transaction over $10k has been required by law to "report" to authorities for several years now. It is a law from before the "Patriot Act" (I am pretty sure)

I will see what I can find on the actual law.

capt

Carol, any time you move more than 10K you have to fill out a form for that, and whether it came from a mutual fund or a loan you have had to do that for some time, not just the patriot act. That law has been in effect since RR or Shrub the first. So the patriot act just sucked it up into it's little corner but still it has been around a while. Of course, criminals know how to move large amounts of money around the world without it attracting any attention so there is not much use of it except to harass law abiding citizens or dimwits with too much cash on hand.

REPORTING CASH TRANSACTION OVER $10,000(PDF)

All based on IRS from #8300.

*****end of clip*****

The law goes way back to that long ago "war on drugs" and was intended to control/trap large cash transactions by drug dealers.

capt

#41, 44, 45

Yes, but...Carol's friend's story goes beyond the fact that banks have been required to report transactions of $10,000 or larger for years. To have to tell "officials" where you got the money and what you intend to do with it BECAUSE OF THE PATRIOT ACT is too damned intrusive for my taste.

We should be outraged by this. Carol, I hope your friend ignores the bank. Time for civil disobedience.

when did bush lie under oath?

is that why he wasn't under oath at the sham 911 commission? so he wouldn't have to lie under oath?

Back in late 2002 we took out an equity loan to buy a fixer-upper house in Lansing. Husband filled out no form. He deposited the check and just had to wait for it to clear. In 1999 husband put an inheritance check in the bank and filled out no form.

capt, I just did a quick read of the pdf file you linked. It obviously applies to the IRS - U.S. Treasury codes, so Carol's friend has found that the Patriot Act does, indeed, go beyond the original intent of the $10,000 reporting requirement.

Conyers calls for IMPEACHMENT

Powerful, Congressional representative and Detroit Democrat John Conyers has introduced a House resolution to create a Select Committee with subpoena authority to investigate the misconduct of the Bush Administration. Conyers' resolution cites "the Iraq war and ... possible impeachable offenses;

Caroline, you're exactly right. It's intrusive and down right stupid because you give the bank a check with a company name on it, like Smith-Barney, or some bank. Duh. Now, I would think some peon like me going to the bank with $30,000 in cash to deposit would seem damn odd. Still, what if you saved it up over the years in your mattress? You're immediately a drug runner, or now a terrorist. We're so doomed.

Compliance Checklists for Financial Institutions - Bank Compliance -Outline of the checklist:

Carol, tell your friend to check out this site -- she'll be horrified at how intrusive the Patriot Act is..
"Banks have a long history of regulation by the Bank Secrecy Act and related regulations, and as a result the checklist for banks at 100 pages and growing is the longest in the series provided here. The reporting and recordkeeping responsibilities for banks have been evolving for decades and there is a great deal of specificity in much of what is required of banks and their employees. "

I did not mean to disagree, just providing the information about the form.

I think it is an invasion of personal property and privacy. The government has turned the banks into an enforcement arm of poor policy.

Not to mention - I think monetary transactions should be as private as a doctor patient relationship.

Add to that : how much time is being wasted by the government checking into the many (surely millions) of legal aboveboard transactions?

I bet they spend millions to invade and inject themselves (the government) into places they have no business being in.

It is in the same vein as making people produce ID for no reason. That really chaps my hide.

What is even worse is the language saying a "string" of "related" transactions requires the disclosure form. What is that about?

capt

Like when the repugs get lots of checks for the amount under 10K and then deposit them, from the same source, like maybe the marianas islands and then claim that they were seperate events. Sure works for some but not for others.

#43 eyes_open, because Americans choose to close their eyes to the truth.

RE: Banking...

I used to make 3 deposits a day in excess of 10,000 (cash and checks)from my last New England Job, around the Holy Shopping Season of Antioch...

Each time I was required to fill out one of those stupid forms...

Meanwhile the drug dealers I, uhm, had HEARD of, would simply roll their cash over into fine autos, houses, etc...

Selling such later both gave them legitimate "cash" AND better "interest" than a bank would have!

I'm going to my first High-School Basketball game since I was in High School!

Unfortunately the local team is playing in the concession game, but I'm looking forward to spending some time with my brother.

Y'all keep the honesty going, now!

-T

Nazi America is tightening the noose around our necks.

This is a strange one. We went to Best Buy yesterday and bought a WWII game. The teeny-bopper check out girl asked for Bob's ID to make sure he was over 18 before she rang up the rated M (mature) game. BOB IS 66 YEARS OLD!!! I might add that he looks great for his age being as he's not bald and hair not yet turned gray, but he certainly doesn't look anywhere near a teenager. We have got to be the DUMBEST people in the world.

Bush's Military Records

I sure am glad I'm poor and don't fly, what a mess! I ran across this today about the early days of our wonderfull Federal Reserve here It is a long read, but interesting nevertheless.

In case you're wondering, I had to throw a small fit, calling the people running the place "IDIOTS".

You couldn't pay me to go near a frickin' airport.

Bush's Resume

I've read with pleasure. Maybe it's offtopic, but i just wanted to say, that it's really interesting to read everything this with the comments... You discuss here a lot of interesting things on different useful themes. Thanks for that =)

I think the info gleaned on this site is amazing. Contrary to what Happy thinks, going off topic is where it's at for me.

Bush's resume on topplebush.com is 12 pages and growing.

My agenda is to share with you how much I loathe Bush with also a touch of humor. Bush is a mass murderer and a war criminal. My theme prayer is MAY GOD SAVE US FROM OURSELVES. Only God can save America. Please add Bill Moyers' speech to your computer benchmark. I will give a link to it in my next post.

"going off topic is where it's at for me"

Me too!

David's posts are always very good (even when I disagree with him on some things) and I can find an education in both the links to articles and sharing of opinion and commentary on this blog.

I am floored as I learn and continue to learn daily.

Thanks to David and all of you guys!

capt

Let's get Jesus back

Wowzer, more spys, spying on us. Surprised? Whats next, Hitler youth?

ha ha my agenda is obvious - click my name to order the FREE DVD:
'CONFRONTING THE EVIDENCE: Reopen 911'

hey hey NSA...put this in my dossier::

OSAMA BIN LADEN IS A SUPER GENIOUS

Gerald, They did hijack Jesus, and in his place they put, Bizarro Jesus, king of the almighty dollar.

Ha ha James, well I've clicked on your name, but all I get is a site about dashboard Jesus painting. And just for the record, my personal agenda is to remain completely innocuous and contribute absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever.

Well, well...Art Buchwald was really annoyed that he hadn't made the Nixon's Enemies List, but maybe some of us have made the grade on Bush's list. Looks like the busheviks are privatizing DATA MINING...

Missouri Congressman William Clay worries that the Bush Adminstration is skirting the law by letting private contractors handle the data mining.

"The agencies involved in data mining are trying to skirt the Privacy Act by claiming that they hold no data," said Clay. Instead, they use private companies to maintain and sift through the data, he said.

"Technically, that gets them out from under the Privacy Act," he said. "Ethically, it does not."

Now, if we could just get everyone else to remove their evil cookies!

"They" want to privatize everything. Isn't THAT great. Deregulating and privatizing sets the predators loose on all of us.

"hmmmm" Tell y'all sumpn weird...

AOL won't let me send and email to my list with the "drunk Bush" video in it. Nor the email with the link to the "law is King" article by Sidney B. I get an error message with both that says sumpn like "see keyword: Mail Rate", like I've been sending too many emails. (on AOL, it's one of the TOS...terms of service things) 'Cept, I can and have sent other emails to my mailing list, that didn't have "drunk" or "King" in it. I've tried editing the link to say something else, and titling the email diff... still they won't go out. I emailed another 'send' from my "waiting to the sent" list after the error message insinuating I've sent too many for my limit, and they go out just fine.
Has anybody else had probs like that?

*"mail waiting to be sent" list

Alan, don't doubt for a moment that AOL is sucking up to big brother. I believe with the RIAA/MPAA "anti-piracy" witch hunt they were one of the quickest ISPs to roll over and provide user information.

Alan,

I concur with Eyes...AOL is a corporate leader and like all corporate leaders these days, are in the administration's pocket - or visa versa - it's getting to be all one big blur.

I think they would say that they are trying to prevent folks from sending offensive e-mails, but who is to define offensive? Offensive to whom?

This just tells me that all of those folks that are sending me penis enlargement e-mails must not be using AOL.

#43 Eyes

Interesting interview going on right now on Air America - about a book called "Fooled Again". It's about Diebold and the stolen '00 and '04 elections. The author is basically saying the same thing you did. If the election fraud that has occured in Ohio and Florida and other states occured in other countries - the international watch groups would have been shouting it to the roof tops.

That is why they won't be allowed in this country, although they should. The PNAC wants to keep the GOP in office. If they don't, the whole lot of them will be thrown in jail as soon as the incoming administration is sworn in.

Where is Jimmy Carter in all of this? I would think he would be front and center calling for watch groups.

Yeah, thats right, I called David a sellout. Sorry David. I am a very mean person sometimes.

Hey David, whats up with the husband of your friend Vivica Novak getting a lucrative appointment in the Bush cabinet at the same time Mrs. Novak saved Karl Rove's ass? Smells a bit fishy to me... I never saw that story on this blog.

My frustration with modern day journalism is not unique. Our democracy is now a dictatorship, and journalism was just another willing and complicit partner in the process.

before anyone points out that I'm an idiot I'll point it out myself - I misspelled the word genius at 73 - fairly ironic

flan,

Jimmy just wrote a great book. I believe it is #1 on the bestseller list. He has a lot to say, but the corporate controlled media rarely gives anyone a chance to speak up against the neocons these days.

I hope you guys did not hand all of your dollars to corporate greedheads this Christmas. I was very cheap this Christmas. It is so simple. Stop buying a bunch of made in China crap you don't need! Americans spent 8 percent more this Christmas than last year! They are gladly funding the destruction of democracy!

speling is harrd

This just tells me that all of those folks that are sending me penis enlargement e-mails must not be using AOL.

haha Flan, you 'bout made me spit Dr. Pepper all over the screen! lol

damn, I finallly get caught up with the posts, and I gotta leave before contributing anything. I like looking and finding interesting articles myself, but you guys have that covered big-time. *good work guys
I'm heading out to Clear Lake (go by NASA on the way) to help and ollllld friend (known him since we played Little League baseball together) set up his new computer. If not from his later, then I'll get back here tonight on my own 'puter.
peashhh,
Alan

Jeanne, Duluth, Minnesota was highlighted on the national news. A recruitment center is next to a store front that honors the fallen soldiers and the maimed soldiers by numbers. The person in the store front says that he is doing what Bush says we should do and that is to honor our soldiers. The military recruiters are upset.

Let us not forget that we honor the fallen with monuments. What is so wrong with honoring them at a small monument, a store front with the numbers killed and maimed?

War is not a video game!!!

Can you start to realize that our government wants brain dead citizens on par with Tinkle King Bush?

Can't you just love how stupid America really is? What is there not to love about America?

Test your Geography Knowledge Apparently, I don't know where anything is unless it's in the U.S. (sheesh)

A quick note on cookies:

http://www.ccleaner.com/

A free piece of software that will assist in managing your cookies. You all should know what cookies you allow and what cookies are new.

The software has some other features for keeping your system clean. The "cookie" function is very simple, it offers two columns - one that has a list of all of the cookies on your unit and a column for the cookies you want to keep. It will delete all that are not on your list. This makes managing the cookies very easy.

Alan, check with James HA about AOL email. Any anomaly could be tested if James has the time to work with you.

I have been having some access issues and am making some changes here. I will share when I have fixed the problem on my unit.

capt

DEN,

That would be the Bushitler youth!

HA!

capt

Wowzer! Think I'll stick to political issues. Geography has changed since I was a kid.

DEN, I went everywhere on that quiz. It was awful. I didn't know ONE place in China. Not one. That was my worst quiz. I got the continent and oceans perfect. Thank goodness for that!

Capt, I'm already running two spyware programs for THAT problem and now I have one called Mail Washer that filters the spam. I suppose a cookie manager couldn't hurt. Plus I love the computer and knowing how to work everything. Carol, the Geek.

David,

You should know better than to regurgitate an AP story which is patently false. A cookie (I checked and have one from the NY Times and MSN on my computer} only tracks the visits from a particular computer to their own site. It cannot and does not track visits to other sites from that same computer. Why? Because it can't!

Your attempt to stir up anger is ridiculous. Cookie Monster? I thought that would be one of your favorite characters from that taxpayer supported television show.

Cookies are small files placed on your computer when you visit websites. They were designed to make surfing easier when you go back to a site.

Now the cookies are used to store all kinds of info like the contents of your electronic shopping cart.

They are helpful, for the most part, but they carry the potential for abuse because they can monitor and document the activities of web surfers. THAT'S why you have to worry. That power, in the wrong hands like Big Brother's, is NOT good.

Pentagon Shakes Up Emergency Hierarchy

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writer

8:01 AM PST, December 29, 2005

WASHINGTON — Heading a military service isn't quite the position of power it used to be. In a Bush administration revision of plans for Pentagon succession in a doomsday scenario, three of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's most loyal advisers moved ahead of the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

A little-noticed holiday week executive order from President Bush moved the Pentagon's intelligence chief to the No. 3 spot in the succession hierarchy behind Rumsfeld. The second spot would be the deputy secretary of defense, but that position currently is vacant. The Army secretary, which long held the No. 3 spot, was dropped to sixth.

The changes, announced last week, are the second in six months and reflect the administration's new emphasis on intelligence gathering versus combat in 21st century war fighting.

Technically, the line of succession is assigned to specific positions, rather than the current individuals holding those jobs.

But in its current incarnation, the doomsday plan moves to near the top three undersecretaries who are Rumsfeld loyalists and who previously worked for Vice President Dick Cheney when he was defense secretary.

The changes were recommended, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman, because the three undersecretaries have "a broad knowledge and perspective of overall Defense Department operations." The service leaders are more focused on training, equipping and leading a particular military service, said Whitman.

Thomas Donnelly, a defense expert with the American Enterprise Institute, said the changes make it easier for the administration to assert political control and could lead to more narrow-minded decisions.

"It continues to devalue the services as institutions," said Donnelly, saying it will centralize power and shift it away from the services, where there is generally more military expertise.

*****end of clip*****

OMG, these neocons are destroying everything to consolidate power and "assert political control." Seems to me they have big plans and their momentum is not even checked by the Libby (and others I hope) indictments. They could not care less about popularity or what we the people might want.

AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

capt

Cookies are the function that adware/malware/spyware uses to track your shopping and preferences from any of the sites you visit. The "Cookie" is a text file that passes a "variable" and that "variable" can be anything from your computer. Sure is has a one-to-one relation with the source but the information it passes can be anything (personal information, keystroke and passwords, sites visited, etc.)

capt

You go James Ha tell it like it is.

My favorite bumper sticker that I have seen during the holiday... "RELIGION IS WHAT KEEPS THE POOR FROM KILLING THE RICH".

How about "RELIGION...WHAT RICH FOLK HIDE BEHIND WHILE THEY SEND THE MIDDLE AND POOR FOLKS KIDS OFF TO WAR"

Happy New Year to all!!

I still have my fingers crossed and hoping and praying that Fitzgerald meant what he said during his October press conference "that TRUTH IS THE ENGINE OF OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM"....please Fitz deliver Rove.

I know Cheney would be a long shot, but if Fitz frog-marched Cheney and Rove out of the White House in 2006 along with a few more neo-cons I would truely believe that there is a God....

"I know Cheney would be a long shot, but if Fitz frog-marched Cheney and Rove out of the White House in 2006 along with a few more neo-cons I would truely believe that there is a God...."

Yes, AND if that happens I will DANCE, DANCE, DANCE!!!

capt

Carol, trouble is most people don't understand what goes on inside their computer so they are vulnerable. It makes them easy prey for the unscrupulous. I'm going to try the capts' cookie site and see how that works. Never have enough anti-syware stuff.

NSA's Lamest Spy Tool: Cookies

Don Weber, an NSA spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the cookie use resulted from a recent software upgrade. Normally, the site uses temporary, permissible cookies that are automatically deleted when users close their web browsers, he said, but the software in use shipped with persistent cookies already on.

"After being tipped to the issue, we immediately disabled the cookies," he said.

Cookies are widely used at commercial websites and can make internet browsing more convenient by letting sites remember user preferences. For instance, visitors would not have to repeatedly enter passwords at sites that require them.

But privacy advocates complain that cookies can also track web surfing, even if no personal information is actually collected.

In a 2003 memo, the White House's Office of Management and Budget prohibits federal agencies from using persistent cookies -- those that aren't automatically deleted right away -- unless there is a "compelling need."

A senior official must sign off on any such use, and an agency that uses them must disclose and detail their use in its privacy policy.

*****end of clip*****

The issue is not so much a cookie but a persistent cookie, one that stay and keeps information. They claim the software set the expiration date to 2035.

"Until Tuesday, the NSA site created two cookie files that do not expire until 2035 -- likely beyond the life of any computer in use today."

Just a OMB rule. The neocon-men never found a rule or law that they cannot break.

capt

Gee what button do I press to disable trolls?

#15
It's hard isn't it. I will try to be nice to morons.
Pandemoniac,
You are the king of the nasties. And if Happy needed a shirt, you'd give him the shirt off your back.
You rule.

Alan, check with James HA about AOL email. Any anomaly could be tested if James has the time to work with you.

I already admitted that I was an idiot! - I wouldn't be able to give any computer advice to anyone - all I know is that aol blocks out spam fairly well, and I've never had a virus, hopefully because McAfee is doing a good job - I have a program that I got off a cdrom called spyware killer and I eliminate at least 30 spy/adwares and cookies every week

#90
Duluth MN is quite an interesting place. Very liberal and very conservative at the same time. I love the town. Love it.

Lawbreaker in Chief

By Jennifer Granick
2005-12-21 08:40:00.0

Ignorance of the law is no defense. Someone should tell the president.

This week, The New York Times revealed that the Bush administration ignored the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, and intercepted telephone calls and e-mails from American citizens without a warrant. FISA requires that investigators provide a judge with evidence that there's reason to believe the person they plan to place under surveillance is an agent of a foreign power. Applications for these warrants are at an all-time high, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (often called "the secret court") almost never denies the requests.

Nonetheless, Bush has authorized the National Security Agency to ignore this relatively insignificant hurdle. The government has been monitoring calls to or from United States citizens to international locations, perhaps eavesdropping on as many as 500 people at any one time, according to the Times.

The surveillance policy is part of a larger Bush administration strategy that includes imprisoning people indefinitely without charges or attorneys in Guantanamo Bay and transporting suspects to countries known to torture, a process the administration calls "rendition." As with these policies, the interceptions are almost certainly illegal.

Statutes prohibit government interceptions of the phone and e-mail conversations of United States citizens unless officials have first sought and obtained court approval, either under the Wiretap Act, for criminal investigations, or under FISA, for national security investigations.

*****end of clip*****

A good piece from Wired

capt

#95
Carol,
It isn't your fault. They don't teach it in school. Somehow Americans have the idea civilization started with the Mayflower. I'm homeschooling my daughter and she's learning Roman and Greek history. As well as ancient history in the middle east. Just a basic lesson. Our military is stomping on the ancient history in Iraq. They don't understand the significance. That was the birthplace of our civilization and our barbaric nature is destroying it.

Mass Mind Control Through Network Television

Experiments conducted by researcher Herbert Krugman reveal that when a person watches television, brain activity switches from the left to the right hemisphere. The left hemisphere is the seat of logical thought. Here, information is broken down into its component parts and critically analyzed. The right brain, however, treats incoming data uncritically, processing information in wholes, leading to emotional, rather than logical responses. The shift from left to right brain activity also causes the release of endorphins, the body's own natural opiates--thus, it is possible to become physically addicted to watching television, a hypothesis borne out by numerous studies which have shown that very few people are able to kick the television habit. It's no longer an overstatement to note that the youth today that are raised and taught through network television are intellectually dead by their early teens.

U.S. to probe contractor's Web tracking

By ANICK JESDANUN
AP INTERNET WRITER

NEW YORK -- Unbeknown to the Bush administration, an outside contractor has been using Internet tracking technologies that may be prohibited to analyze usage and traffic patterns at the White House's Web site, an official said Thursday.

David Almacy, the White House's Internet director, promised an investigation into whether the practice is consistent with a 2003 policy from the White House's Office of Management and Budget banning the use of most such technologies at government sites.

"No one even knew it was happening," Almacy said. "We're going to work with the contractor to ensure that it's consistent with the OMB policy."

An official with the contractor, WebTrends Inc., said later Thursday, however, that although a cookie may be used, no data from it is actually sent back to the company.

The development came a day after the National Security Agency admitted it had erred in using banned "cookies" at its Web site. Cookies are small data files that can be used to track Internet users. The acknowledgments followed inquiries by The Associated Press.

The White House's Web site uses what's known as a Web bug to anonymously keep track of who's visiting and when. A Web bug is essentially a tiny graphic image - a dot, really - that's virtually invisible. In this case, the bug is pulled from a server maintained by WebTrends and lets the traffic analytic company know that another person has visited a specific page on the site.

*****end of clip*****

A bit more on the cookies, and bugs.

capt

Unadulterated Violence is now accepted on regular TV. Killing in the name of the mother government is praised, that is unless the violence is committed in self defense to protect someone from the system. Sharp shooters, bombers, and assassin are worshipped if they are fighting for the system, are in the military, or are associated with groups that control the masses locally, such as the local police department. I don't condone violence, however it's hypocritical to support one form of homicide when it favors the elite, and condemn another when it's done to protect your land, freedom, or loved ones. This odd reality transfers itself into the shady world of video games that are stepped in plots and tasks to kill as much as the player can. The players are getting younger and younger with 7 out of 10 children playing games with a 'Mature' rating.

While the real news rolls quickly by on the bottom of your screen, the anchor is selling you on the idea of having your very own police state hell hole right here in your local jurisdiction, or how 2 sports opposing teams chased around on a court for 2 hours in attempt to score points means something to you. No education, no information, SPIN. Today the media represents a tool of brainwashing and indoctrination that is utilized on behalf of the owners interests.

Who would imagine that in the United States of America, both candidates of both parties in the 2004 election would be members of the Skull and Bones society at Yale University? Out of 290 million Americans, this is the best we could come up with?

#97 TRH, it isn't wise to jump to the conclusions that one (such as you) jumps to, now is it? As Carol and others point out, cookies can be used in a benign manner or they can be abused for ulterior motives.

Cookies are commonly used at commercial web sites, and theoretically can make Internet browsing easier and more convenient by letting sites remember user preferences. One example: visitors would not have to enter passwords at sites that require them.

However, privacy analysts/advocates point out that cookies can also enable a "spyer" to track web surfing -- even if no personal information is collected. In other words, cookies can become a monster in the wrong hands.

#97 Also, TRH, regarding your swipe at public broadcasting and the cost to taxpayers:
The United States spends less money per taxpayer on public broadcasting than any other industrial nation. United States' taxpayers pony up approximately 15 percent of the public broadcasting budget.

Public broadcasting budgets in other countries: Canada provides 66 percent of the expenses; the Brits pay close to 95 percent of the budget of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

In fact, public broadcasting in the United States gets a major chunk of its budget from corporations -- which is evidenced in its "underwriting announcements" that look more and more like commercials every day.

#112
If the white house could track my computer it would find me going to the White House site to watch scotty and then to crooks and liars to watch the rest of the comedy acts.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Timo Cruz: from the movie Coach Carter

Micki, you rock! Didn't I always say so? Thanks for the info.

You lucky people. If David posts nothing new and this thread gets up to 200 my dial-up will be struggling to pull it all up and you won't be hearing from me. Worse than that is I will miss a lot. I'm already upset. Might need Flan to write another wrap-up for me.

Flan #10 & All Lefty Corn Posters

All day, something bugged me. I knew what it was. An unconditional olive branch (clean) to ALL OF you. Bear w/me.

When I first read DavidCorn.com's Comments section, I was floored by the vulgarity. If a new visitor is a moderate, right-leaning Dem, an Independent or a moderate GOP, this site was definitely UNINVITING! Some would be intimadated! Sure, if you wanted to bait Right-wing foulmouths, your (?old?) counterparts, it was effective.

If I wanted just to skirmish & stir things up just for the hell of it, I could have used any of 3 computers in my office and had a hoot. I used the same one throughout, Happy always.

There were instances where I wanted to `attack'! But, to change the tone of the Comments sections was a higher challenge. Example: the Toyota Prius on order. Why send all that money overseas and not to Ford? Plus, Toyota will make a large `windfall profits' of thousands of dollars due to excess demand (wait list). Where was all that concern for American workers? I just have one US-made vehicle, so I am `Guilty' of outsourcing, a very, very, very dirty word among you Regulars.

My `Rules of Engagement' were effective. David's endorsement made that clear. (Hey, David, how about an autographed book?) Keep that in mind and along the way, you might even persuade some future visitors to your points of view. As it were, you were preaching to each other. Any new, hard Left visitors don't need convincing.

I have gotten to know the 15~20 of you that are Regulars. Scrolling past all Comments w/links, it didn't take long to read the personal stuff. Family, children, grand kids, Santa... Not much diffrent than all of us! As a compromise suggestion, regarding my `stay on-topic' demand, why don't you all at least stay on-topic during the first 40~50 comments. New visitors w/interest beyond what David posts, may scroll down some to check out on-topic comments.

The first flunkie, James Ha, kind of spoiled the Comments. You really shouldn't take advantage of David's site. I never did `click' but I think you have your own site of some kind. David posts something on 9/11, fine, that will be your opportunity.

When in Rome, do as Romans Do. This blog is Rome and, the tolerent Emperor's tone & civility should be reflected. Many of you are Founding Regulars and entitled to be David's Guest Host/Hostess. Make Rome inviting! David almost certainly have some friends to his Right just as I have some friends to my Left.

Gerald/Retired Catholic: please stop muttering "all Americans are stupid", only a minority are and at first, I could've sworn I found all of that minority here! Trust me, Gerald, no God-fearing man believes that!

We are far enough down in the Comment section that hopefully, this farewell message will be taken as what it is, friendly.

Treat others as you would want to be treated!

Lastly, "Happy" is such a good, warm word and I want to restore its full meaning to you. Happy New year!

Judge Alito and Executive Power

....So one has to explain Alito’≥ nomination against the background fact that by any plausible account McConnell would have been a more distinguished nominee with easier prospects of confirmation. Key to any answer, I suggest, is the belief by insiders in the Bush Administration that he would be better on the one issue they REALLY care about, which is the aggrandizement of Executive power. The events of the past two weeks, following the disclosures about literally unwarranted wiretapping and data-mining by the National Security Agency, bring into sharp focus the intent by the Administration, led by Dick Cheney, to assert almost unlimited executive powers linked to the 'Commander-in-Chief' Clause of Article II of the Constitution. Dick Cheney has apparently been obsessed since his own service as Gerald Ford's Chief of Staff with returning the presidency to the 'Imperial' status that was, he thought, the victim of Watergate. For him the Bush Administration is about rolling back what are perceived as illegitimate incursions on raw presidential power....

....This makes it essential, obviously, that every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Senator Spector, grills Judge Alito in the hearings. He must be probed on his views of Article II, including the Commander-in-Chief Clause and, for that matter, the Oath of Office, given that University of Minnesota Law Professor Michael Stokes Paulsen reads the Oath to license the President essentially to do whatever he wishes so long as there is a good faith belief that it is 'defense' of the Constitution. Quoting Lincoln, Paulsen argues that just as one can amputate a limb in order to save the life of a person, so can a President in effect ignore any given part of the Constitution, including, of course, any of the protections of the Bill of Rights, in order to save the Nation. To put it mildly, this theory of the 'amputated Constitution' should give us all pause, and we should find out what kind of constitutional doctor Samuel Alito would be on the Supreme Court..

----------------

Iraq war fallacies

Top Taliban commander threatens attacks

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan --A top Taliban commander said more than 200 rebel fighters were willing to become suicide attackers against U.S. forces and their allies -- a claim dismissed as propaganda Monday by Afghanistan's government, which said the hard-line militia was weakening.

In an interview late Sunday with The Associated Press, the commander, Mullah Dadullah, ruled out any reconciliation with the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and claimed the country's new parliament -- its first in more than 30 years, inaugurated last week -- was "obedient to America."

Dadullah spoke to the AP via satellite phone from an undisclosed location. He said he was inside Afghanistan.

Dadullah implied that the Taliban and al-Qaida were working together, and said mujahedeen from various parts of the world, including Arabs, were fighting in Afghanistan. He said the foreigners made up about 10 percent of the fighters.

"Both Taliban and al-Qaida have the same objectives," he said, warning that anyone supporting the Americans and the government "will be dealt with."

U.S. military officials in Afghanistan could not immediately be reached for comment Monday on Dadullah's remarks.

In another sign that links between the Taliban and al-Qaida have continued, a tape of al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri surfaced this month in which he praised the Taliban chief Mullah Omar. In the tape, al-Zawahri claimed the rebel leader had won back control of extensive areas of western and eastern Afghanistan, though government and U.S. officials say the Taliban's influence is in fact waning.
-----------------------
Remind me, why was it more important to go into Iraq?

$100,000 Golf Cart

x 400
-----------
296 million

Happy!!! Dude, what up, dawg?

You hit the nail right on the head. Treat others as you would have them treat you. I believe it was Capt that posted a series of quotes from each of the different world faiths that echoed that precise sentiment.

You know you have a serious hangup with vulgarity. Bottom line: so do we. We (I) just measure vulgarity in a different way. I believe that the way we treat the veterans who defend our liberty is vulgar in the extreme. We lie our way into a war and treat it as a goofup. Bad Intel, and all that baloney. We don't arm them to the best of our ability or plan for peace in a way that provides for their security and the security of most Iraqis. We allow war profiteers to pilfer unabatedly from the taxpayers' pockets. That is money that could go to help the sick, the elderly, the children, those who can't help themselves. Nobody is talking about a welfare state. We're just saying that the wealthiest country in the world has no business treating poor people like trash (even if they sometimes act like it!).

I believe that the way women are treated on this planet is in many ways vulgar. Physical, emotional, and psychological coercion are used in the most insidious ways. Sex is used as a weapon. Money is used to distort their values. Religion is used to devalue their contribution to society.

I believe the way that the Cheney Administration treats the common man, the middle class, the guys at the bottom of the ladder to be more than a little vulgar. Did you even glance at that graph that I linked showing how poverty has risen under both President Bushes? Do you think that is a coincidence? Sustained, uninterrupted decline?

Finally, and I know that TRH would agree with me on this, the current Republican-led Congress is one of the worst in the 225+ years of indirect democracy. They have taken a surplus and run it into the ground to the tune of approximately $1,000,000,000,000. That's a lot of freekin' zeroes, dude. Republicans used "tax and spend" as a slur against Dems and turned right around to become "borrow and spend" representatives. They have countenanced the destruction of the WTC, the drowning of New Orleans and the deterioration of the Armed Forces. They have allowed this administration to commit travesty, after travesty and allowed cronyism, ineptitude and a culture of criminality to dominate the political landscape.

That, to me is the ultimate vulgarity. They are ruining our great country's most-prized possession: the common man. They have turned him into a poltroon of the lowest caliber. Americans once looked down on the KGB as a gang of bloodthirsty thugs who regularly incarcerated anyone they wanted, tortured detainees, spied on all of their citizens, and lied about everything they did without the slightes hint of guilt or shame. The GOP has allowed and now encouraged the CIA to become the KGB and sold it as a necessity to the common man. We have sunk to the level of the bloodthirsty goons that we wish to extinguish.

That is vulgar. We were once the shining city on the hill. And you blame the Dems for being spineless and complicit. They are shouting from the top of capitol hill that crimes are being committed, that our economy is being destroyed, that we need to take care of the middle class, that we need honesty and openness and accountability in government. The braying jackasses of the right, call the Dems obstructionist, unpatriotic and opportunists. Anything to avoid culpability for their misdeeds.

We on this blog are disgusted by these vulgarities and respond in kind.

I could say, and show you the posts to prove, that most of the vulgarity that you complain about was retaliatory. But that would smack of the childish, "he started it." But if there is one truism that you routinely ignore, it is that respect is earned. When you and your wingnut friends come in and dump on "liberals" and "Dems" and "Cornnuts"; you forfeit any expectation of comity or civility. You get treated the way you treat others. It's called reciprocity, my friend. And Jeanne is right; I would give you the shirt off my back. I believe that you care about our wonderful country . . . just not enough to hold your party accountable for running it into the ditch.

One last jibe before you go: remember, only cowards cut and run‚Ñ¢. (just funnin' ya')

Can you believe Hollywood?

What in the world would make Hollywood think that America wants to see a couple of dirty old perverted cowboys with turds smeared all over their dicks, after they shoved them up each others stinky old shit holes.

It is sick enough that some of those old west pervs screw their sheep and cows occasionally, but when they start poking their dicks in human fecal matter, for their gratification, they are just plain mentally twisted sickos.

Amazing, simply fricken amazing.

dunno what to think of this, you decide...

CIA chief on the ground in Afghanistan

BERNTSEN: Well, let me say this. We tracked bin Laden with our reporting from Kabul, down to Nangarhar Province, into Jalalbad, down into the mountains. We had a steady stream. But, you know, every once in a while you get a report that says he's off, you know, in left field.

Here at this place or that place, but when you get a line of reporting, a stream of it, and we're marking it on a map, we can see consistently, you know, which way he's moving and from multiple sources. And then, of course, we were listening to his voice on an unencrypted radio.

O'DONNELL: Can I ask you, Gary, are you a Democrat?

Delay spokesman eats crow

AUSTIN — Media reports that U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay had convinced the state's highest court to hear his appeal were as widely circulated as they were, well, wrong.

Justices for the Texas Court Criminal Appeals agreed merely to consider hearing DeLay's money laundering case. They never said they would accept the case, said Edward Marty, the court's general counsel.

The erroneous media reports, which the San Antonio Express-News published in a wire story and displayed online, come from DeLay's spokesman, Kevin Madden, in an e-mail sent to reporters Tuesday evening, after courts had closed for the night.

“FYI-Breaking news out of Austin, TX,” the e-mail stated. “The state Court of Criminal Appeals has agreed to hear Mr. DeLay's habeas motion...blah blah blah."

Madden said this afternoon that he made an error and never intended to “spin” the story.

“In an effort to be instantaneous, I wasn't precise.....My understanding (of the decision) was correct. The way I relayed it wasn't,” he said.
=====================
What they really decided was to not 'slam the door' on his argument right out, but that they would give 'em a week to hear them out.
*big fkn diff

One does not ACCIDENTALLY place cookies. It's a fairly deliberate act. Code wise.

This wasn't an "oops" moment.
Code is deliberately and specifically inserted. This one stinks on ice.

Big Brother Bush
I don't mean to scare you silly -- but there's a reason we have never given our government this kind of power.

The first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. Thirty-five years ago, Richard Milhous Nixon, who was crazy as a bullbat, and J. Edgar Hoover, who wore women's underwear, decided some Americans had unacceptable political opinions. So they set our government to spying on its own citizens, basically those who were deemed insufficiently like Crazy Richard Milhous.
---
---
We would be safer, as the 9-11 commission has so recently reminded us, if some obvious and necessary precautions were taken at both nuclear and chemical plants -- but that is not happening because those industries contribute to Republican candidates. Republicans do not ask their contributors to spend a lot of money on obvious and necessary steps to protect public safety. They wiretap, instead. You will be unsurprised to learn that, first, they lied. They didn't do it. Well, OK, they did it, but not very much at all. Well, OK, more than that. A lot more than that. OK, millions of private e-mail and telephone calls every hour, and all medical and financial records.
=====================
you really should read the whole article, Molly Ivins kikkz azz.

I love you son.
I absolutely applaud your dedication to what your Grandfather believed in.

You are my son, and you are a Patriot. And you did this without removing a single right from any Other American.......makes me think..........you get it.

Talk the talk and walk the walk.
You rock corky.

Hijacked

In reading Bill Moyers' speech, Let's get Jesus back, he mentions that the religious right has hijacked Jesus and made Him into a killing Jesus and not a healing Jesus.

In 2006 Bush and his cabal will put in place the final phase in the hijacking of America into a Nazi state. America has been a Nazi state for a few years but that was America's probationary period. 2006 will certify that America is a full fledged Nazi state. Americans have finally embraced fully the reality that America is a Nazi state. The probationary period was passed with flying colors.

The hijacking of America actually started with Nixon and began to take hold under Reagan with the birth of the religious right. With Bush certification is completed. Bush is the father of Nazi America.

America is now Nazi America. We have not been the United States of America for many years. For many years we were the Divided States of America. We were divided by colors, such as the blue states and the red states. We have finally found a home as Nazi America. Our new name is Nazi America. Nazi America is a banana republic that is closely related to the Latin America countries. In Latin America about 5% of the population are rich and the other 95% of the population are serfs.

If we look closely, we can actually see the characteristics that make up Nazi America.

Nazi America

Here are the fourteen characteristics that are necessary for a Nazi nation. America currently possesses all fourteen characteristics.
1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism
5. Rampant sexism
6. A controlled mass media
7. Obsession with national security
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together
9. Power of corporations protected
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts
12. Obsession with crime and punishment
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption
14. Fraudulent elections

There should be no doubt in anyway in the people's minds that America is a Nazi nation. Rapidly the self-implosion and destruction of America are starting to take hold. America is no longer America but she is now called Nazi America.

2006

Wake Up Call

Another Nazi Rag

Tragedy

Sex, Give Me Sex

Sniff, happy is gone!!

The NY Times Fails Its Readers

December 30, 2005

by Norman Solomon

Journalists should be in the business of providing timely information to the public. But some –†notably at the top rungs of the profession –†have become players in the power games of the nation's capital. And more than a few seem glad to imitate the officeholders who want to decide what the public shouldn't know.

When the New York Times front page broke the story of the National Security Agency's domestic spying, the newspaper's editors had good reason to feel proud. Or so it seemed. But there was a troubling backstory: The Times had kept the scoop under wraps for a long time.

The White House did what it could –†including, as a last-ditch move, an early December presidential meeting that brought Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger and executive editor Bill Keller to the Oval Office –†in its efforts to persuade the Times not to report the story. The good news is that those efforts ultimately failed. The bad news is that they were successful for more than a year.

"The decision to hold the story last year was mine," Keller said, according to a Washington Post article that appeared 10 days after the Times' blockbuster Dec. 16 story. He added: "The decision to run the story last week was mine. I'm comfortable with both decisions. Beyond that, there's just no way to have a full discussion of the internal procedural twists that media writers find so fascinating without talking about what we knew, when, and how and that I can't do."

*****end of clip*****

The NYT’≥ and WaPo should be boycotted for their failures.

I will no longer post any links to stories in either of those worthless rags.

capt

I can't help it. The old Bugs Bunny line is stuck in my head, "What a maroon!". I'm being criticized for choosing a "foreign" car? Quick, somebody name a car whos entire production takes place in the US including parts manufacturing. The waiting list had no effect on the price either, the markup on the hybrid technology is responsible for that. Some of us are actually concerned with petroleum consumption, which is the whole reason we keep stirring up trouble in the Middle East.

Rob, That has to be the absolute most disgusting post in a long time. Take your hateful, homophobic gay bashing somewhere like Little Green Footballs where it belongs. You obviously don't know anything about the movie anyway, it's not about gay sex. It's about the pain caused to everyone when two people can't live lives true to themselves because they fear hatemongers like you.

Patience, Mr. Bush? How about impeachment, now?

By Jerry Mazza
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Dec 21, 2005, 00:39

After suffering 17 minutes of bobbling homilies, lies, and hand gestures, as if the president were talking in sign language to the deaf and dumb, asking for our patience in pursuing a criminally illegal war, one that so far has cost 2100 American lives, 200,000 Iraqi lives, $200 billion plus (another $80 billion to be asked for), patience is not what is needed. Rather it is Bush's impeachment and that of his entire administration, now. This is a no-vote on his referendum-seeking screed. But let me be specific . . .

It is not "despair" that we the people feel, but an unmitigated disgust for a president who shamelessly lied his way into this war, claiming Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, nucular and chem/bio weapons, and was about to use them, in league with bin Laden, who in fact was known to be repelled by Saddam, as much as we are by Bush. And, as Ambassador Joseph Wilson pointed out, after his trip to Niger, in his July 7, 2003, article in The New York Times, "What I Didn't Find," there was no attempt to buy yellow-cake uranium from Niger. For this, Wilson, previously called a hero by several presidents, was richly rewarded by having his wife, a covert CIA officer, Valerie Plame, outed, and consequently all those who worked for her outed, in effect, ending her career as such, and ending who knows how many lives. Reprehensible.

Again it is not "despair" that we the people feel, but disgust at the fact that the president has not spoken to the American people directly since March 2003, when in fact he ordered the unilateral, illegal preemptive strike on Iraq, against the wishes of the United Nations, and specifically Hans Blitz who was still trying to find said WDD in Iraq. Blitz subsequently found none. In fact, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, who coincidentally won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2005, said the so-called proof about Niger came from forged Italian documents, which were totally untrue, bogus.

And so it is not "despair" that we the American people feel, but disgust at bold-faced Bush lies again: "Some look at the challenges in Iraq, and conclude that the war is lost, and not worth another dime or another day. I don't believe that. Our military commanders do not believe that. Our troops in the field, who bear the burden and make sacrifice, do not believe that America has lost."

This is the kind of lie that comes from sheer stubbornness and an unwillingness to deal with reality. It's delusional. Most notably, the highly decorated, former Marine officer, now Democratic congressman and one-time war hawk, John Murtha, in a speech to the House, called for a withdrawal of troops within six months. He said the unsayable: that the number of attacks in Iraq had increased from a 150 to more than 700 a week in the past year. That an estimated 50,000 American soldiers will suffer from what he called "battle fatigue." That the Americans were seen as "the common enemy" in Iraq. He declared that no more than 7 percent of the Iraq "insurgency," that is, a people fighting an occupying force, "was foreign." The rest were homegrown.

*****end of clip*****

Time for Bush to be impeached.

capt

I sincerely hope this is unnecessary, but for the record, that rob is not me.

I see that the NYT dragged Bill Safire out of retirement so they could publish his 32nd Annual Office Pool list of prognostications.

If I were a sabbath gasbag or a prognosticating pundit, I would wager that the Bush/Cheney cabal is going to topple in '06 because the American Sheeple are waking up to these trials, scandals, crimes, lies, so far under-investigated events, etc....

AIPAC, FISA, Abramoff, Phase II, torture scandal, gulags in Eastern Europe, WMD lies, cooked pre-war intelligence, Pentagon passing secrets to Israel, Niger uranium flap, Bob Ney, Tom DeLay, Ken Lay, the Lincoln Group, renditions, the Christian Right's involvement in scandals, our military's use of Willy Pete, the Chalabi debacle, Diebold, Libby, on and on and on...

Then I realized, nah...the American Sheeple will continue in their slumber.

Possibly the only thing that will get their attention is if someone catches bush GIVING someone a blowjob. Getting one won't do the trick.

"It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the church's pastors wherever it occurs... The intrinsic dignity of each person must always be respected in work, in action and in law." ~ Joseph Ratzinger

Robb,

I know better than that. I think we all know the source of such hate filled speech, never thought it was you for a second.

capt

"Paging mister Gannon! Paging mister Gannon! The President would like to speak with you!"

"Hey has anyone seen Jeff around?"

"Last I saw him he was talking to Karl..."

Robb, same here. I didn't notice the spelling difference but it sure wasn't the you we know.

A vet speaks out about Bush

Tim Abbott is a Vietnam veteran who lives in the Southwestern Virginia town of Hillsville, a conservative, blue-collar community that tends to vote Republican and bleed red, white and blue.

But, like an increasing number of veterans, Abbott is fed up with President George W. Bush.

"Bush talks a lot about freedom, courage, transparent government and the rule of law. He talks," Abbott says. "His speeches are carefully choreographed before audiences of his faithful -- often Christian fundamentalists or, to paraphrase Bush, Christian-fascists -- and they must sign loyalty oaths to Bush. He speaks before audience after audience of soldiers and sailors who cannot speak except as directed by the White House."

Normally, such comments would be risky in a mountain town where Patriotism rules supreme but Abbott expressed his views this week in an op ed article for The Roanoke Times and found many people agreeing with him.

"When I think of Bush, I do not think of liberty and courage, compassion and justice. No, I think of arrogance, greed and lies," Abbott wrote. "He is a thug, a buffoon and a coward. Not only is he incompetent, he is corrupt."

*****end of clip*****

Love the Rant!

capt

Thanks capt and eyes for that. Such ugliness is repellant and I just didn't like the idea of any of it getting on me, even if by mistake. Cheers to all!

Ex-envoy to Uzbekistan goes public on torture

Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
Published: 30 December 2005

Britain's former ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, has defied the Foreign Office by publishing on the internet documents providing evidence that the British Government knowingly received information extracted by torture in the "war on terror".

Mr Murray, who publicly raised the issue of the usefulness of information obtained under torture before he was forced to leave his job last year, submitted his forthcoming book, Murder in Samarkand, to the Foreign Office for clearance. But the Foreign Office demanded that he remove references to two sensitive government documents, which undermine official denials, to show that Britain had been aware it was receiving information obtained by the Uzbek authorities through torture. Rather than submit to the gagging order Mr Murray decided to publish the material on the internet.

The first document published by Mr Murray contains the text of several telegrams that he sent to London from 2002 to 2004, warning that the information being passed on by the Uzbek security services was torture-tainted, and challenging MI6 claims that the information was nonetheless "useful". The second document is the text of a Foreign Office legal opinion which argues that the use by intelligence services of information extracted through torture is not a violation of the UN Convention Against Torture.

*****end of clip*****

Oh my, you mean to tell me neoCondi and Bunnypants have been lying about torture. Go figure!

capt

Technology Runs Amok

In 2005, IBM plans to introduce Blue Gene, a supercomputer that can perform at about 5% of the power of the human brain. This computer could transmit the entire contents of the Library of Congress in less than two seconds.

Researchers at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn have turned a living rat into a radio-controlled automaton using three electrodes placed in the animal's brain. The animal can be remotely steered through an obstacle course, making it twist, turn, and jump on demand.

#148 LOL! (well, sort of LOLing)

A note about those cookies: If anyone knows the name of those cookies, I would surely like to know that name. Why? Because some time ago, I ran into some cookies at the U.S. State Dept. website that I believe were also tracking cookies. The name on those cookies was "ForeseeLoyalty". It might interest you to know that I also ran into a cookie with that same name on the tracfone.com site a couple of days ago... the company that sells pay-as-you-go cell phones. Draw your own conclusions.

crUSAde - neoconfiscate - waronterra -

Remember...your Uncle Sam Loves Ya and kNWOs whats good fer ya.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department has opened an investigation into leaks to the media about the classified domestic National Security Agency surveillance program.

____
Another predictable maneuver from the busheviks' "Justice Department"...it's time to demonize the "leaker" as a traitor, when THEY are the criminals in this matter!

Remember when bush said recently (paraphrasing a little) that "the attorney general is the highest legal authority in the land" as though he doesn't understand the role of SCOTUS.

David, you should break your pledge not to blog until after the first of the year and get on this story! (Just kidding. I know you have a personal life, too!)

#156 The IRS website has used that cookie, too. Don't know if they still do.

The Secret World Of Jack Abramoff
Less than a week before the 9.11 attack, for example, Atta and several other hijackers made a still-unexplained visit onboard one of Abramoff’s casino boats.

Catch this Chalabi has been named as Iraqi Oil Minister? WTF is going on? Even if he loses an election he gets a plum position? Seems that something isn't right here.

#146, for people who may not know, Joseph Ratzinger is Pope Benedict XVI.

161 WTF, more thugs in key Iraqi positions!

Do mean to say that Bush a two bit snot of a kid is lying to us?

from the last graf of Gerald's link at #137...

Perhaps in 2007 we will learn that the New York Times had an explosive story about other ongoing government violations of civil liberties or some other crucial issue, but held it until after the November 2006 congressional elections.

That's what I'm SCREAMING !

"Go massive ... Sweep it all up. Things related and not."
Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
hours after 9/11 attack

Pentagon propaganda program orders soldiers to promote Iraq war while home on leave

Good soldiers follow orders and hundreds of American military men and women returned to the United States on holiday leave this month with orders to sell the Iraq war to a skeptical public.

The program, coordinated through a Pentagon operation dubbed "Operation Homefront," ordered military personnel to give interviews to their hometown newspapers, television stations and other media outlets and praise the American war effort in Iraq.

Initial reports back to the Pentagon deem the operation a success with dozens of front page stories in daily and weekly newspapers around the country along with upbeat reports on local television stations.

"We've learned as a military how to do this better," Captain David Diaz, a military reservist, told his hometown paper, The Roanoke (VA) Times. "My worry is that we have the right military strategy and political strategies now but the patience of the American public is wearing thin."

When pressed by the paper on whether or not his commanding officers told him to talk to the press, Diaz admitted he was "encouraged" to do so. So reporter Duncan Adams asked:

"Did Diaz return to the U.S. on emergency leave with an agenda -- to offer a positive spin that could help counter growing concerns among Americans about the U.S. exit strategy? How do we know that's not his strategy, especially after he discloses that superior officers encouraged him to talk about his experiences in Iraq?"

Replied Diaz:

"You don't. I can tell you that the direction we've gotten from on high is that there is a concern about public opinion out there and they want to set the record straight."

Diaz, an intelligence officer, knows how to avoid a direct answer. Other military personnel, however, tell Capitol Hill Blue privately that the pressure to "sell the war" back home is enormous.

"I’ve been promised an early release if I do a good job promoting the war," says one reservist who asked not to be identified.

In interviews with a number of reservists home for the holidays, a pattern emerges on the Pentagon’s propaganda effort. Soldiers are encouraged to contact their local news media outlets to offer interviews about the war. A detailed set of talking points encourages them to:

--Admit initial doubts about the war but claim conversion to a belief in the American mission;

--Praise military leadership in Iraq and throw in a few words of support for the Bush administration;

--Claim the mission to turn security of the country over to the Iraqis is working;

--Reiterate that America must not abandon its mission and must stay until the "job is finished."

--Talk about how "things are better" now in Iraq.

"My worry is that we have the right military strategy and political strategies now but the patience of the American public is wearing thin," Diaz told The Roanoke Times.

"It’s way better now (in Iraq). People are friendlier. They seem more relaxed, and they say, ’Thank you, mister,’" Sgt. Christopher Desierto told his hometown paper, The Maui News.

But soldiers who are home and don’t have to return to Iraq tell a different story.

"I've just been focused on trying to get the rest of these guys home," says Sgt. Major Floyd Dubose of Jackson, MS, who returned home after 11 months in Iraq with the Mississippi Army National Guard's 155th Combat Brigade.

And the Army is cracking down on soldiers who go on the record opposing the war.

Specialist Leonard Clark, a National Guardsman, was demoted to private and fined $1,640 for posting anti-war statements on an Internet blog. Clark wrote entries describing the company's commander as a "glory seeker" and the battalion sergeant major an "inhuman monster". His last entry before the blog was shut down told how his fellow soldiers were becoming increasingly opposed to the US operation in Iraq.

"The message is clear," says one reservist who is home for the holidays but has to return and asked not to be identified. "If you want to get out of this man’s Army with an honorable (discharge) and full benefits you better not tell the truth about what is happening in-country."

But Sgt. Johnathan Wilson, a reservist, got his honorable discharge after he returned home earlier this month and he’s not afraid to talk on the record.

"Iraq is a classic FUBAR," he says. "The country is out of control and we can’t stop it. Anybody who tries to sell a good news story about the war is blowing it out his ass. We don’t win and eventually we will leave the country in a worse shape than it was when we invaded."

US investigates Bush spying leak

The US justice department has opened an inquiry into how information about President George Bush's secret spying programme was leaked, officials say."

The investigation is expected to focus on how the New York Times newspaper obtained the information.

Earlier this month, the paper reported that the National Security Agency had been conducting surveillance in the US without warrants.

Mr Bush later admitted he authorised the programme after the 9/11 attacks.

He said people "with known links to al-Qaeda and related terrorist organisations" were monitored.

Report 'irresponsible'

He has made it clear there is no plan to stop the eavesdropping although the programme is reviewed every 45 days.

The president has suggested the New York Times report which broke the news of the spying was irresponsible.

He said it meant the enemies of the US had "learned information they should not have".

But senators from both the Republican and opposition Democrat parties have expressed concern about the "inappropriate" and "Big Brother" monitoring programme.

*****end of clip*****

Orwellian is an understatement. Investigate how the truth leaked out but not the crimes the leak exposed.

Duck-speak.

capt

I might add that he looks great for his age being as he's not bald

So you can't be bald and look great for your age? This is a classic example of hairism. I promise you that I will fight hairism wherever I find it. Hairists everywhere should fear my name. You're all on notice.

Sticky-Wing Johnny

For more than 2,000 years, most people thought that the miracle of Chanukah was about the Maccabees and how one day's oil in the Temple lasted for eight. Here’≥ another interpretation.

Dec. 27, 2005 - When the angels heard about God's plan to make a person on the last day of creating the world, they went nuts. You see, they didn't want to share God with people, and because they were desperate, they asked Sticky-Wing Johnny to fix things for them. Sticky was a sneaky angel. OK, he was sometimes even a cheating angel. More than one time at the angel's Wednesday-night poker game they found some extra aces hidden in Johnny's wing feathers. When they caught him he would act really surprised and say, "I don't know how those cards got there! They just must have stuck to my wings!" That's how Sticky-Wing Johnny got his name, and that's why the angels sent him to God to try to convince or trick God into not making people.

*****end of clip*****

A funny little romp for a little fun!

capt

PS - bald is beautiful. Guys with big brains leave little room for the hair to root.

Capt, so if Poker is an ancient game the angels played does that make Vegas more like the Holy Land than Sin City?

169 That is an interesting question. Is there irony in the fact that Mormons began to settle there in the 1850's? Seems it had the only water for miles on the Salt Lake to Los Angeles route. Did Bugsy Sigel know of its pious settlers?

Robb, I don't know but I'm sure there's plenty of praying going on. "Please God, let me win the next hand!"

# 160

Less than a week before the 9.11 attack, for example, Atta and several other hijackers made a still-unexplained visit onboard one of Abramoff's casino boats.

What has remained rather silent:

Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelose were also in attendance on the same Abramoff floating casino.

#163 Alan, Americans need the truth in order to make the right decisions. We cannot leave decisions to a two bit snot of a kid from Crawford, Texas.

Go Beyond Ourselves

Even though we are a Nazi nation, we can still go beyond ourselves and seek to better our world by eliminating wars that are embedded in the American psyche through the lies of a two bit snot of a kid. We can also go beyond ourselves to pursue foreign governments to offer their citizens hope for a better world. We can also go beyond ourselves to work to decrease poverty and diseases throughout the world. We can go beyond ourselves to not be afraid and let Jesus enter our lives.

I have no hair.

Happy new year. I am going to attempt to enter a drunken stupor for the next three days. I hope 2006 is better, this is the worst year I can remember. I did not even get a christmas bonus this year.

Mr. Bush can take his crappy ownership society and cram it up his greedy ass. I will be back in 06 with a vengeance. Till then Happy New Year to David Corn and his loyal Cornbloggers!

Capt. you are my hero!

Las Vegas land of the holy rollers!

HA!

capt

Corky,

*blush*

capt

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: that is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." : John Kenneth Galbraith

=
The strongest passions and most dangerous weaknesses of the human breast; ambition, avarice, vanity, the honorable or venal love of fame, are all in conspiracy against the desire and duty of peace: James Madison

=
"The enemy aggressor is always pursuing a course of larceny, murder, rapine and barbarism. We are always moving forward with high mission, a destiny imposed by the Deity to regenerate our victims while incidentally capturing their markets, to civilise savage and senile and paranoid peoples while blundering accidentally into their oil wells.": John Flynn, 1944

=
We're not a democracy. It's a terrible misunderstanding and a slander to the idea of democracy to call us that. In reality, we're a plutocracy: a government by the wealthy." : Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General

=
"Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy" : John Pierpont Morgan

===
Thanks ICH Newsletter!

#147 capt

No one, except you, brought up hate.

My point is, we should not hate.

All people are born equal, with blank hard drives. People are not born that way. Some where in their childhood, someone corrupted their hard drives with a sick and twisted virus.

It is not their fault they are now such pathetic creatures.

We should not hate these sick people. A person with this type of mental disorder needs our help, not our hate. It will take much psychological help to clean this deviant virus off their hard drives. Hopefully, after serious mental help, they can resume a natural biological life.

Think about it. Do you get sexually excited by the thought of feces on your penis? It is a terrible sickness to be sexually aroused by such a repugnant, revolting thought.

I am asking you to have pity on these poor pathetic souls, and help them, not hate them. By doing nothing to help these sick, deviate people, you enable the aberrant behavior. These poor disgusting wretches, in many cases, don't even realize how sick they are. Their hard drives are so infected, they can not distinguish between natural and unnatural acts.

http://www.juancole.com/

As always, very insightful commentary on the oil situation and the effects of the IMF and now Chalabi.

capt

George W. Bush as the New Richard M. Nixon: Both Wiretapped Illegally, and Impeachably; Both Claimed That a President May Violate Congress' Laws to Protect National Security

By JOHN W. DEAN
Friday, Dec. 30, 2005

On Friday, December 16, the New York Times published a major scoop by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau: They reported that Bush authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on Americans without warrants, ignoring the procedures of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

It was a long story loaded with astonishing information of lawbreaking at the White House. It reported that sometime in 2002, Bush issued an executive order authorizing NSA to track and intercept international telephone and/or email exchanges coming into, or out of, the U.S. - when one party was believed to have direct or indirect ties with al Qaeda.

Initially, Bush and the White House stonewalled, neither confirming nor denying the president had ignored the law. Bush refused to discuss it in his interview with Jim Lehrer.

Then, on Saturday, December 17, in his radio broadcast, Bush admitted that the New York Times was correct - and thus conceded he had committed an impeachable offense.

There can be no serious question that warrantless wiretapping, in violation of the law, is impeachable. After all, Nixon was charged in Article II of his bill of impeachment with illegal wiretapping for what he, too, claimed were national security reasons.

These parallel violations underscore the continuing, disturbing parallels between this Administration and the Nixon Administration - parallels I also discussed in a prior column.

Indeed, here, Bush may have outdone Nixon: Nixon's illegal surveillance was limited; Bush's, it is developing, may be extraordinarily broad in scope. First reports indicated that NSA was only monitoring foreign calls, originating either in the USA or abroad, and that no more than 500 calls were being covered at any given time. But later reports have suggested that NSA is "data mining" literally millions of calls - and has been given access by the telecommunications companies to "switching" stations through which foreign communications traffic flows.

In sum, this is big-time, Big Brother electronic surveillance.

*****end of clip*****

John Dean seems to have hit on some very strong Nixonian connections.

capt

'Brokeback' star focuses on love story

Ledger credits his risky role to trust in director Lee

NEW YORK -- When Heath Ledger read the script for "Brokeback Mountain," a modern Western love story about two ranch hands, he thought he'd be "crazy to walk away from it."

In an interview, Ledger recalled: "It felt like a story that hadn't been told, which is rare. It felt perfect. And there was a seemingly perfect director attached to it."

"Brokeback Mountain" chronicles the complicated long-term bond between an almost nonverbal Wyoming ranch hand (Ledger) and a rodeo cowboy (Jake Gyllenhaal), which begins in 1963 when they're paired for a summer of sheepherding. The movie costars Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway and Randy Quaid.

The perfect director Ledger referred to is Ang Lee, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "The Ice Storm." Having Lee at the helm made Ledger comfortable about accepting a project many considered controversial.

"I don't think I would have made this choice if it was in anyone else's hands," he said.

As for the controversy the movie may generate, Ledger says that's out of his hands.

"It's not really that controversial to me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it," he said. "I think it's unfortunate that it is. We certainly didn't make it to raise any eyebrows."

Leading the Golden Globes pack with seven nominations, "Brokeback Mountain" has drawn critical acclaim and comic barbs.

Ledger said any concerns he had about the film had more to do with the studio or those putting up the money to make the film than with himself.

"I never personally felt like I had a career at risk," he said. "I'm kind of willing to be a little ruthless. If anything, it felt like an opportunity for me to mature as a person and an actor, which is what I'm kind of looking for."

The project certainly has focused attention, and Oscar buzz, on the 26-year-old Australian actor, whose previous movies include "A Knight's Tale" and "The Brothers Grimm."

Ledger said it might seem like the hardest part about making "Brokeback Mountain" would be shooting intimate scenes with Gyllenhaal, but that wasn't the case.

"I hate to break it to you, but it really wasn't," he said. "Once you do the first take, you're kind of over it and you recognize that it's just a person. You're working. You're in cowboy boots. You're acting. You get on with it. You make the film."

The screenplay, cowritten by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, from a short story by Annie Proulx, calls for Ledger's character, Ennis Del Mar, to be a conflicted man of few words, who when he speaks does so through clenched teeth.

Lee talked to Ledger about the stillness of the character as a way to pull off the modern Western theme.

"The way he posed, the way he chewed those lines," Lee said. "The way he leaves space between lines. His body language."

As for whether to call "Brokeback Mountain" a gay love story or just a love story, Ledger said that's a touchy subject best left to the viewer.

"I wanted my story, my particular character, to represent love transcending," he said. "Whether you want to label him gay or not, it's just a human being, a soul falling in love with another soul. It just happened to be in the vessel of a man."

*****end of clip*****

Sounds like a much better story than "Midnight Cowboy."

capt

Like dog day afternoon?

A faithful take on love and hate

"There are a lot of people who see movies who do not read," Proulx says. "It used to be that writing and architecture were the main carriers, permanent carriers, of culture and civilisation. Now you have to add film to that list, because film is the vehicle of cultural transmission of our time. It would be insane to say otherwise, to say that the book is still the thing. It isn't."

After a screening of the film, there was a question-and-answer session with Proulx. "The story began in 1963," said a woman from the audience. "Do you think things are better now, in terms of attitudes?"

"I wish," Proulx said. "But one year after the story was published, Matthew Shepard was killed less than [48 kilometres] from where I live. I was called to be on the jury for one of the killers."

The tough-guy western mythology undergirding the American identity should be questioned, Proulx says, and she hopes her story - and now this film - will spur that kind of dialogue.

*****end of clip*****

A little bit from the author of the story.

capt

Just wanted to let you know the New Homeland Security Bill has passed. Things will be different now and Internet surfing as you know it will be tracked by what the FBI calls a "non-intrusive method." The FBI says you will not notice anything different.

For a demonstration, click on the Homeland Security link below:

Homeland Security

#185
Carol,
Isn't that nice. We won't even notice them. Like an ape in the living room.

I am going to feel so dirty all the time.

HA! - #185 GOOD ONE!

capt

Listening to you guys talking about Bush breaking the law without mentioning the fact that President Carter, President Reagan, President Clinton, and President Bush all claimed this authority through the office of the attorney General. FISA was passed in 1978 and Jamie Gorelic argued that the president had the authority to authorize and carry out warrantless searches and wiretapping. In fact, they went into Aldrich Ames house, searched it and gathered evidence and prosecuted him all without a warrant. I'd be nice to see someone, anyone talk about the three recent court decisions all comming out in favor to the Presidential Authority to do these searches. By the way, Presidents Clinton, Carter, and Reagan did this when we were not in a time of War.
One last thing, if you love the Democratic Party and what it stands for, then please for the love of Pete tell them to present the voters with a platform that they can own and debate with others as they used to do. The past five years have been nothing but: Bush Lied, Bush the Idiot, Bush didn't connect the dots, Bush wants to Privatize Social Security, Bush hates Black People, and Bush is trying to connect the dots with impeachable offenses. Remember one thing, when throwing the noodle agains the wall, it will eventually fall off. When trying on so many suits the Democrats are in danger of standing next to a pile of discarded credability

Ok, this hurts. A lot. I am linking...gulp...Fox.

Snow: Congress Needs to Help U.S. Pay Bills

WASHINGTON Treasury Secretary John Snow on Thursday said the United States could face the prospect of not being able to pay its bills early next year unless Congress raises the government's borrowing authority, now capped at $8.18 trillion.

Snow, in a letter to lawmakers, estimated that the government is expected to bump into the statutory debt limit around the middle of February.

"At that time, unless the debt limit is raised or the Treasury Department takes authorized extraordinary actions, we will be unable to continue to finance government operations," Snow wrote.

If the department were to carry out various accounting maneuvers -as it has done in the past to avoid breaching the limit - that would free up finances and allow the government to keep paying its bills "no longer than mid-March," Snow wrote.

Boosting the debt limit is more a matter of politics than economics.

Economists doubt Congress will refuse to raise the limit. A federal default is considered unimaginable because it would rattle bond markets, force interest rates higher and shake the economy.

The last time Congress agreed to boost the debt limit was in November 2004 - from $7.38 trillion to the current $8.18 trillion. The government's statutory borrowing authority also was pushed up in 2002 and in 2003.

Snow's letter did not say how much of a boost to the current debt limit the department would like to see this time.

Instead, Snow implored: "I am writing to request that Congress raise the statutory debt limit as soon as possible."
---------------
Oh what the hell, who cares.
By the way, I have an idea Mr. Snow. How about if we got rid of the tax cut for the rich? And here's another one. How about if we start collecting on companies that have their one room offices offshore? You know like....hmmm...Haliburton.

Jon,
I'm tired of the line about the Democrats not doing anything. I know of a lot of Democrats who are standing up for the citizens of this country. They are voicing what needs to be said. By the way, Bush did lie. By the way, Bush did break the law. He broke the law. Telling me that someone else broke the law doesn't make Bush's crime any less bad. He broke the law.
And by the way, I love the way we are now investigating the leak. Everybody accepts that Bush broke the law but the powers that be are ignoring the importance of that fact. They are going after the leaker.

Funny, I keep driving by that Gigantic Building on Bellair Street that Says Halibuton Corporate Headquarters. I can see Cheney now, sitting in the Bahamas in that tiny office space taking phone calls, moving around money, taking long walks on the beach (his tan proves this) and Snickering about evading Taxes. I love it when you guys scream about corporate greed and then, in the blink of an eye, the Democratic Governor of Michigan goes on the Ed Shultz Show and braggs about exempting Car Companies from paying their taxes. Is she trying to line her pockets with corporate money? Is she all about Corporate Greed? No, she's trying to make things better for the people of the state of Michigan. She should be applauded for her actions as should any Republican who does the same thing.

You are the one that brought up the hate, let's just take a look at your last post:
pathetic creatures
sick people
pathetic souls
sick, deviate people
aberrant behavior
disgusting wretches
Maybe when you finish wiping the hate oozing from your own keyboard you can do a little reading and learn something.

Professional Associations' statements about Homosexuality

Until the mid 1950's the scientific study of human sexuality was in its infancy; research into sexual orientation was almost unknown. Homosexuality had been condemned by religious leaders for centuries. Almost all gays and lesbians remained securely in the closet. Homosexual behavior was a criminal act in most states of the U.S. It was branded a sexual deviation by mental health professionals. Homosexuality was listed as such by the American Psychiatric Association in their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders.

During the early 1950's, Psychologist Evelyn Hooker was inspired to undertake research into sexual orientation after having befriended Sam From. He was a gay student who attended one of her psychology classes at UCLA. He didn't seem to fit any of the familiar stereotypes of a gay male. In 1957, she published a report called "The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual." It showed that "homosexuals were not inherently abnormal and that there was no difference between homosexual and heterosexual men in terms of pathology." Dr. Hooker headed the Task Force on Homosexuality of the National Institute of Mental Health for many years. She died on 1996-NOV-18, but had lived long enough to see the establishment of a new area of scientific study: sexual orientation in humans.

As of 2001, all of the major professional organizations in the field state that homosexuality is a normal, natural, and fixed sexual orientation.

Jeanne, I didn't say that Democrats weren't doing anything. I did say that they weren't saying anything with any cohesiveness. The Democrats have been fighting President Bush for five years, not because of his policies, but because he's Bush. The fact is that there are lots of conservative Democrats that would be willing to vote their heart if it weren't for the coercive tatics of Pelosi and Reid. Although I myself have been conservative my entire life, I grew up in a Democratic Family. The dinner table is where we discussed our differences and did so with civility. My parents are the face of what I always believed the Democratic Party to be, now I fear that the party is losing them and that would be bad for the Democratic party and make my life a hell of alot more boring.

Dear Jon --

Please get your ducks in order before your spew the GOPher talking points:

On the December 21 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer held a one-on-one discussion with CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin regarding recent efforts by numerous conservatives to falsely equate President Bush's authorization of warrantless domestic surveillance with the Clinton administration's use of physical searches without warrants. In the middle of this discussion, Blitzer informed his viewers that Republican attorney Victoria Toensing "has called us ... and wants to weigh in." Once on the air, Toensing repeated the claim that Clinton "did carry out the same authority" as Bush, citing as evidence Clinton's handling of the Aldrich Ames case and 1994 congressional testimony by Jamie Gorelick, then a deputy attorney general. Blitzer made no effort to challenge Toensing's highly misleading argument.

Toensing appeared to be responding to Toobin's earlier statement that the authority assumed by the Clinton administration regarding the surveillance of foreign intelligence activities "never went beyond those powers" granted the president by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and that the Clinton administration "followed the FISA law." Toensing retorted:

TOENSING: Well, the Clinton administration did carry out that authority when they went into Aldrich Ames's house without a warrant. And they argued before the House -- Jamie Gorelick did -- that they had the inherent -- the president had the inherent constitutional authority to do so.

Toensing's assertion -- that the physical search of Ames's house and the Gorelick testimony demonstrate that the Clinton administration did not consider itself bound by FISA -- is simply false.

When Gorelick testified before the House Intelligence Committee in 1994 that the president had the "inherent authority to conduct warrantless physical searches," FISA did not apply to physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes, as Media Matters for America has noted. A year later, Congress -- with Clinton's support -- amended FISA to require court orders for physical searches. The Clinton administration thereafter never argued that any "inherent authority" pre-empted the new warrant requirements for physical searches under FISA.
++++++++
Jon, sorry fella, ya got it wrong...which is not unusual for the GOPher echo chamber.

Funny, my parents are lifelong Democrats, too, and they would rather be in a midnight fire at sea than switch parties -- especially to the GOP.

Eye's,

They will only know it if they come out. Until then the hate convinces them they are not their worst fears. Hate is an expression of fear. Nobody that is secure in their sexuality and at peace in the hearts can hate.

"We hate some persons because we do not know them; and we will not know them because we hate them." ~ Charles Caleb Colton (1780 - 1832)

"If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us." ~ Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

capt

Micki, the Clinton Administration did defy FISA again when it went into the house of the uncle of Elain Gonzalez, searched the house and gunpoint, found the child and removed him from the home. Interesting, we've suddenly become soooo concerned with Civil Rights. When, Silence while the government steamrolled and burned down a house with women and childred inside (all of which died). Silence when the FBI stakes out a house and shoots and kills people inside, without a warrant no less. All American Citizens and all were prosecuted with out a Jury of their peers. These calls are comming in from other countries, and are from suspected terrorist. These are things that weren't done prior to 911 and would have smoked out the plot if they were.
Congress can't amend the Constitution by passing resolutions. The people have to vote on this. Bush has the same Constitutional Authority that all the Presidents have had and always will have unless we change the Constitution.
This is my first day on this Blog and have enjoyed every minute of it. I must go to work. So please don't be distressed if I fail to respond immediately.

"Listening to you guys talking about Bush breaking the law without mentioning the fact that President Carter, President Reagan, President Clinton, and President Bush all claimed this authority through the office of the attorney General."

Sure, we should always list every dirty presidential creep hat has ever sat in the oval office? That is just insincere or stupid.

Bunnypants is the only one in office and the only one currently subject to litigation, so he really is the point? No?

I do not remember the GOPhers talking about teapot dome when they spoke of impeaching Clinton. I am sure your integrity demanded as much.

Get real, get informed, or just get lost.

None of the presidents you listed are subject to impeachment (except the current arse) so why bring them up? Their crimes (if there were any) are not the issue and their crimes do not mitigate the crimes of Bunnypants.

SCHWING and a miss.

capt

No offense but I doubt anybody would miss such a silly contribution. So do not worry yourself about that.

This is the Bush lies blog. If you think it should be balanced to your liking you will be very disappointed.

Just sayin'

http://www.bushlies.com

Plug the above into your address line and BAM - you'll be right here so do not act surprised we do not commit much on any thread to other topics or what some stranger thinks is balanced.

This blog is an open forum but it is good form to offer a comment to Mr. David Corn about his most recent post before you dive into a broadband critique of the posts from others. You can find his latest post at the top of the page. You are posting on his dime. Good manners would dictate some consideration for him. If you care about that sort of a thing.

capt

King George W. ?

Monday, December 26, 2005

By Martin Frost

Recently I have been trying to figure out who President Bush reminded me of.

Was it Richard Nixon with his willingness to break the law to hold onto the presidency? Was it FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover who bugged Martin Luther King Jr. and anyone he considered to be a political enemy?

And then it struck me. President Bush most closely resembles King George III of England. You remember him -- he’≥ the guy whose high-handed rule led to the American Revolution.

I went back and re-read our Declaration of Independence. Our founding fathers cited King George’≥ various acts of tyranny-- including housing foreign troops in the homes of colonials against their will.

The American Revolutionary War followed, which eventually led to the adoption of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill or Rights (the first 10 amendments).

And there it is in black and white: the fourth amendment. Let’≥ take a moment to look at the exact words of the fourth amendment to the Constitution adopted more than 200 years ago:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized."

Not bad for a group of farmers who were creating a new country -- one that has survived for 216 years and is the oldest continuous democracy in the world.

Now the "new King George" would have us believe one of three things: (1) the president’≥ powers as commander-in-chief supersede the fourth amendment during the war on terror (2) the resolution adopted by Congress shortly after the 9/11 attack can be read to give the president the authority to conduct domestic wiretaps against American citizens without going to court to seek a warrant and (3) modern technology is such that the founding fathers could never have anticipated the need to conduct wiretaps without a warrant.

*****end of clip*****

Another FOX spews piece?

OMG, I feel so dirty.

capt

Three Books to Wake You Up

December 30, 2005

by Paul Craig Roberts

Since his retirement by Ronald Reagan, President Carter has given active service to the causes of human rights and peace. He has written a number of books, and now he has delivered a humdinger: Our Endangered Values (Simon & Schuster, 2005) in which he takes the Bush administration to task.

Jimmy Carter is an uncommonly decent and sincere person to have gone so far in American politics. His presidency failed because it coincided in time with three crises: economic malaise resulting from the exhaustion and failure of postwar Keynesian demand management, the outburst of long-simmering hatred in Iran of U.S. interference in Iran's internal affairs, and a run-up in the oil price (small compared to what Bush and Cheney have achieved).

President Carter finds it unpleasant to write his assessment of the Bush administration, but he steadfastly makes it clear that the Bush/Cheney/neocon "war on terror" is in fact a war on America's reputation and civil liberties. He points out that the Bush administration has used the "war on terror" to justify actions "similar to those of abusive regimes that we have historically condemned." Consequently, "the United States now has become one of the foremost targets of respected international organizations concerned about these basic principles of democratic life."

Carter reports that the deception, naked aggression, and torture that define the Bush administration have caused a tremendous setback for human rights throughout the world. At an international human rights conference in June 2005, "Participants explained that oppressive leaders had been emboldened to persecute and silence outspoken citizens under the guise of fighting terrorism. …†The consequence is that many lawyers, professors, doctors, and journalists had been labeled terrorists, often for merely criticizing a particular policy or for carrying out their daily work. We heard about many cases involving human rights attorneys being charged with abetting terrorists simply for defending accused persons." Carter is especially disturbed that the Bush administration is encouraging these abusive policies in the name of "fighting terrorism."

*****end of clip*****

From a real conservative. All three listed are good books, very good books.

capt

. . . or outside the law?

President Bush preposterously argues the Sept. 14, 2001, congressional resolution authorizing "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons [the president] determines" were implicated in the September 11 attacks provided legal sanction for the indefinite NSA eavesdropping outside the aegis of FISA. But the FISA statute expressly limits emergency surveillances of citizens during wartime to 15 days, unless the president obtains congressional approval for an extension: "[T]he president, through the attorney general, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order... to acquire foreign intelligence information for a period not to exceed 15 calendar days following a declaration of war by the Congress."

A cardinal canon of statutory interpretation teaches that a specific statute like FISA trumps a general statute like the congressional war resolution. Neither the resolution's language nor legislative history even hints that Congress intended a repeal of FISA. Moreover, the White House has maintained Congress was not asked for a law authorizing the NSA eavesdropping because the legislature would have balked, not because the statute would have duplicated the war resolution.

As Youngstown Sheet & Tube instructs, the war powers of the president are at their nadir where, as with the NSA eavesdropping, he acts contrary to a federal statute. Further, that case invalidated a seizure of private property (with just compensation) a vastly less troublesome invasion of civil liberties than the NSA's indefinite interception of international conversations on Mr. Bush's say so alone.

Congress should insist the president cease the spying unless or until a proper statute is enacted or face possible impeachment. The Constitution's separation of powers is too important to be discarded in the name of expediency.

Bruce Fein is a constitutional lawyer and international consultant with Bruce Fein & Associates and the Lichfield Group.

*****end of clip*****

This? From the Washington Times? OMG, I think our neo-troll is a lone voice in a sea of condemnation from the usual suspects (read: sycophants).

capt

Keeping our civil liberties off the war casualty list

BY J.R. LABBE
Knight Ridder Newspapers

It's ironic that on the day when Christians were heralding the arrival of the Light of the World and Jews were beginning their eight-day Festival of Light known as Hanukkah, our nation was re-visiting a very dark chapter of history.

The same document that guarantees every American the right to mark Dec. 25 as a Christian holiday, or a Jewish holiday, or a cultural holiday such as Kwanzaa or just a day off from work is the same document that the executive branch of the federal government thinks it can ignore in the name of national security.

The enumeration of citizens' rights known as the Bill of Rights - everything from free speech to the right to be secure in one's home - isn't just a listing of suggestions that can be ignored when they become inconvenient.

*****end of clip*****

Another good piece.

capt

#200
Where has Martin Frost been? I've been wondering out loud for 4 years if George Bush's brain was affected by syphilsis the way King George's was. Or maybe it's a reincarnation thing. George Bush managed to drag his syphilis drenched brain from another lifetime.

Capt is right. This site has evolved over time but its foundation is the lies of George W. Bush. With that in mind I would like to apologize to everyone for my part in going way off topic today but the discriminization against and demonization of a significant portion of the human race is something I feel very passionate about. I would take up shield and sword to protect any of you should you find yourself in a similar situation. But to tie the subject in with this site we have to remember this is an issue which GWB himself has wieghed in on the side of those who spread fear and missinformation.

Now, where was I before my computer froze up? Hmmmm. Ahhh yes.

Announcing the Best New Government Program Since 1984!!!

Over the past few weeks we've all been listening to Bush apologists defend his recent illegal spying activities. For those of you who don’¥ know, the administration has been spying on American citizens without going through the legal process of obtaining a search warrant before doing so. He's even bypased FISA, a special legal court that has rapidly approved all but four of over 19,000 warrant requests since its inception in 1978.

The "premise" of these spying activities is apparently for national security purposes. However, we haven’¥ been informed of who among us has been spied upon. Not to worry, though –†you can trust the Bush administration to always work on behalf of the best interests of the country as a whole –†I think their track record speaks for itself on this issue....

...Fox News personality (I refuse to call anyone over at Fox a "journalist") Tony Snow has stated on the air that he knows that the president is only using his spying powers on "bad guys". I have yet to hear what his definition of "bad guy" is, nor have I heard any proof from him that illustrates upon whom the administration is actually conducting surveillance. But he does work for Fox News –†so I think it’≥ safe to assume that he knows all the inside poop.

Even on progressive talk shows, callers seem to pop up on the air that support this recent wave of spying. The most common argument falls along the lines of "If you have nothing to hide, then you shouldn't care who spies on you", or "The only ones who complain about spying are those people who don't want to get caught doing something wrong".

If you're one of these apologists - I'd like to propose the creation a program that will allow you to put your money where your mouth is. I will call it the "I've Got Nothing To Hide!"Act.

Under this wonderful new voluntary program, you can allow the government complete access to your home at all times. They can install multiple cameras in every room of your house (including the bathroom). You can also make a key for them so that they can come and go as they please. In addition, you will maintain a diary/journal that you can turn in on a daily basis so that they can monitor all of your out-of-house activities.
-------------------
I've always noticed that the REAL crazies out there are not the ones the FBI are monitoring. Not because they're busy monitoring Capt but because the real crazies are loners. Now why they want to waste their important manpower on me and Micki and well probably Jon becasue he came to this site (stupid move Jon) is beyond me.
And maybe they're not. Lucky for you Jon. Maybe they're wasting it on the people who have done nothing wrong other than being born an Iraqi citizen and living in this country or being a Quaker peace activist or being a cyclist in NY. I think what I'm trying to write in a long winded fashion is that the power will be abused. You can count on it.

Eyes_open,
Your post was a very important one. No need to apologize.

Most Valuable Progressives of 2005

By John Nichols, The Nation. Posted December 29, 2005.

MVP, U.S. Senate: Russ Feingold
He was the first member of the chamber to call for a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq -- a stance that initially was ridiculed but ultimately drew support from many of Feingold's fellow Democrats and even a few Republicans. And he ended the year by forging a bipartisan coalition that beat back the Bush administration's demand for the long-term extension of the Patriot Act, scoring one of the most significant wins for civil liberties that Congress has seen in years.

MVP, U.S. House: John Conyers
No one used their bully pulpit better in 2005 than Conyers, who gathered damning information about electoral irregularities in the 2004 Ohio presidential voting and then led the challenge to the certification of the results, held hearings on the Downing Street Memo's revelations regarding the Bush administration's doctoring of pre-war intelligence, and ended the year by moving resolutions to censure President Bush and Vice President Cheney for lying to Congress and the American people -- and to set up a committee to examine the issue of impeachment.

MVP, Executive Branch: Lawrence B. Wilkerson Wilkerson began revealing the dark secrets of the Bush-Cheney interregnum, telling a New America Foundation gathering in October that during his years in the administration: "What I saw was a cabal between the vice president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know were being made."

MVP, Law Enforcement Branch: Ronnie Earle
The prosecutor who took the greatest risks and who secured the most consequential indictment of 2005 was Travis County, Texas, District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who brought down House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The man who ran Congress for most of the Bush years has not been convicted -- yet -- but DeLay was forced to step down as majority leader and no one who watches Washington thinks he will ever regain that position. Earle got his man, and began the long process of cleansing a Congress that, after all these years of being run by a pest-control specialist, is in serious need of fumigation.

MVP, Citizen Branch: Cindy Sheehan
She put the issue of the war back at the forefront of the national agenda, forcing even the dysfunctional White House press corps to start covering dissenters and getting D.C. Democrats to wake up to the reality that the American people had lost faith in the president and his military misadventure.

MVP, Watchdog Branch: After Downing Street
The real work of exposing the misdeeds of the administration is still being done by activist groups. And the most inspired of these in 2005 was After Downing Street, the coalition of groups that describes itself as "working to expose the lies that launched the war and to hold accountable its architects, including through censure and impeachment."

---------------------------
I would like to add Sibel Edmonds and all the military and vets who spoke out and some who went to prison for their convictions.
Bravo!!!!

#197 Brock, no matter how you try to change your blogosphere persona, you still come through as the sorry SOB you are...if you still intend to become a fiction writer, I suggest you seek a different vocation. You ain't got what it takes!

A fiction writer. *snicker*

Not that I give a hoot what "JonH" has to say, because he has proved (already!) that he's typical of the echo chamber of the GOP message manipulators (it's a disease: "E.cho lie"), but I wish to comment about Governor Granholm's program for tax credits:

Her legislation provides incentives for Michigan companies to invest in their facilities, create new jobs, and consolidate operations in MICHIGAN (not offshore!);

The legislation will:

• provide a 100 percent personal property tax credit for equipment directly related to jobs “insourced” from other states or countries in 2007 and 2008 by any manufacturing or high-tech business, creating an incentive to bring jobs to Michigan;

• give struggling manufacturers an immediate 15 percent refundable personal property tax credit beginning in 2006;

• adjust the sales apportionment factor to benefit Michigan-based companies by increasing the weighting of sales to 92.5 percent in 2006 and 2007, and 95 percent in 2008 and beyond; and,
 
• provide tax cuts for Delphi to encourage the auto-supplier to consolidate workers in Michigan.  The tax break would also apply to purchasers of former Visteon plants in Michigan.

In addition to pushing for passage of this legislation, Governor Granholm has been working with bipartisan coalition of Michigan’s Congressional delegation to direct the Bush Administration to help protect manufacturing jobs. 

The Governor has repeatedly called on the federal government to enforce trade policies, end currency manipulation by foreign countries, protect pension promises to our workers, and address the spiraling costs of health care.
+++++++++++
So, please, "Jon", stop distorting this effort.

#210 Jeanne, you are so polite!

This is bushlies.com?

No wonder my RNC membership was revoked! Somebody at the RNC must have been monitoring my cookies and discovered I have viited this site.

David,

Please send an e-mail to the RNC and explain to them that I did not know this was bushlies.com. Also, please use your influence with the media to get the NYTimes and MSNBC to quit placing cookies on my computer. If it is wrong for the NSA to do it, it i wrong for them to do it as well.

PS

I notice that you don't do the cookie thing.

And while your at it David, could you end the Iraq War? And have the federal reserve send me lots of money. And there are a few people I'd like to meet if you can arrange it. Do you know Daniel Day Lewis?

Eye's,

You must stand for what is right. There is no excusable hate speech and the one "b" Rob is so stupid he does not even know what hate speech is.

I echo :

"Your post was a very important one. No need to apologize." And never ever let a hate filled pustual go by. Right is right. I look to a day in the future when people that love each other are accepted and love is celebrated. That is the future no matter how many jerks hate the idea.

And the troll has no clue what cookies ever are. This site handles the whole blog as a file passed to and fro.

You are never too old for an education, read a book you will be better informed and a better person for it. You should at least read up on the things you spew. You would not hurt your credibility by doing so, you might gain an iota or two.

capt

Jeanne,

Isn't he D-Day from Animal House? I think his whereabouts are still unknown. Flounder became Rush Limbaugh, I think.

Micki,

That sounds like to Gov of Michigan is on to something good!

Bill Richardson, our Gov. has done some good work bringing in business and job growth in spite of the dismal numbers nationally.

capt

Salvador Option

I received a copy of the Catholic Peace Voice newsletter for December, 2005/January, 2006. There was an editorial from Dave Robinson, the Catholic Peace Voice editor and Executive Director of Pax Christi USA.

The title of the editorial is A new Salvador Option taking shape in Iraq. Mr. Robinson mentioned the American armed forces are training Iraqi death squads on the ground in Iraq as they trained death squads in El Salvador in the 1980s. The United States will let these death squads do their job while America increases aerial warfare and destructive bombardment in the cities and upon the civilians in Iraq for the foreseeable future. These two strategies go hand and hand.

U.S. airpower will bring great havoc to neighborhoods and civilians. These aerial bombardments will intensify the Iraqi hatred for the U.S. and our occupation in Iraq for a long time to come.

As the administration moves to claim victory in Iraq while intensifying a covert campaign of air attacks and internal repression, we must remain vigilant in our efforts to place the truth before our communities and call all people of good will to reject this spiral of violence. We must work to replace violence and hatred with love and mercy. There is no question that the U.S. is committing evil acts against humanity.

White House Web site had tags

By Anick Jesdanun
Associated Press
Published December 30, 2005

NEW YORK -- Unbeknown to the Bush administration, an outside contractor has been using Internet tracking technologies that may be prohibited to analyze usage and traffic patterns at the White House's Web site, an official said Thursday.

David Almacy, the White House's Internet director, promised an investigation into whether the practice is consistent with a 2003 policy from the White House's Office of Management and Budget banning the use of most such technologies at government sites.

On Wednesday, the National Security Agency acknowledged it had erred in using banned "cookies" at its Web site.

The White House's Web site uses what is known as a Web bug to anonymously keep track of who is visiting and when. In this case, the bug is pulled from a server maintained by the contractor, WebTrends Inc., and lets the traffic analytics company know that another person has visited a specific page on the site.

Web bugs are not prohibited. But when the bugs are linked to a data file known as a "cookie" so that a site can tell if the same person has visited again, a federal agency using them must demonstrate a "compelling need," get a senior official's sign-off and disclose such usage, said Peter Swire, a Clinton administration official who helped draft the original rules.

The White House's privacy policy does not specifically mention cookies or Web bugs, and Almacy said the sign-off never was sought because it was not believed to be required. He said his team was first informed of the cookie use by the AP.

Almacy said no personal information was collected, and the cookie was used only to determine whether a visitor was a new or returning user.

capt

I like Bill Richardson. He is a true leader who understands that States do have rights and that he has more responsibility to the folks of his state than he does to the federal government. I believe all governors should take a page out of Richardson's book to turn their states around.

Dang, you guys are good. You can tell that George W(idowmaker) Bush's defenders are getting desperate when they resort to unadulterated lies as talking points.

There's the Echelon lies. And ThinkProgress shoots 'em down.

There's the Gorelick lies. And ThinkProgress shoots 'em down.

There's the Clinton and Carter lie. (That's a Drudge link and he covers his tracks when he gets caught lying; so it might not work) And the mythbusters at ThinkProgress are all over it.

There's the Schmidt lies. And Thinkprogress is all over it.

Even the paid liars at the Dept. of Justice (sic) have their own myths. And ThinkProgress makes short work of their bs.

The myth that this is all a fabrication of the vast leftwing cabal gets punked by ThinkProgress.

One of the newer ones is the Z. Moussaoui / Rowley lies. And ThinkProgress is all over that, too.

On Hardball earlier this week, the Gov. of Colorado tried the Schmidt lies on Mrs. Greenspan and she shot him down with the facts. His rebuttal: Well, no, I think you're wrong. He had no facts. No case history. No information. He just kept repeating the same lies over and over and over. Somehow that works with the morons. Funny how logic never does.

The Republican response is the same tactical response that they have to everything else from Schiavo, to Katrina, to 911, to the war in Iraq. When the shit hits the fan, they just start lying and blaming the media or the Dems for piling on and playing the blame game. But as Jon Stewart sez, folks who don't want to play the blame game . . . are usually to blame.

And by the way, a friend sent this to me from the Motherland. Evidently Chimpy bought himself a huuuuuge tract of land in Iraq and wants to turn it into a Ranch. It was reported a couple of days ago on the Univision website. It was reported on December 28th to be exact. Yes, that date is rather crucial (LOL).

192

I think you meant to say:

As of 2001, all of the major professional organizations in the field HAVE BEEN FORCED BY POLITICAL CORRECTNESS TO state that homosexuality is a normal, natural, and fixed sexual orientation, KNOWING FULL WELL IT IS A PERVERSE AND CONTUMACIOUS MENTAL DISORDER.

Pandemoniac,

I like Jon Stewart. So with respect to you and him, I will play the blame game.

I blame me for blaming you for quoting Jon Stewart for blaming those who do not wish to play the blame game with being the blame in the first place.

Now that I've played the blame game, according to Mr. Stewart, I cannot be to blame.

funny bush imposter speech

The guy looks alot like him too!

Note: Your vehicle is not a mobile flashlight!

Man killed in freak highway accident
Last Updated Dec 30 2005 09:19 AM CST
CBC News
Police say a woman accidentally ran over and killed her boyfriend on the highway near Sioux Narrows, Ont. Thursday.

Ontario Provincial Police say the 39-year-old man and his girlfriend were driving from Whitefish Bay to Kenora on Ontario's Highway 71.

The couple stopped for a break at the side of the highway at about 3 a.m., and Beacham got out of the car.

Police say the woman lost sight of the man, so she did several U-turns on the highway in an attempt to find him with the car's headlights.

The man was run over and died as a result of his injuries. Police identified him as Don Beacham of the Washusk Onigum First Nation.

Police have not laid any charges in connection with the death. The investigation continues.

192
eyes open

Have you honestly ever know a Homo that wasn't a:
pathetic creature
sick person
pathetic soul
sick, deviate
aberrant behavior
disgusting wretch

Would you just walk by a sick person lying in the street?

Would you let political correctness gone wild allow you to pass by a cancer victim, or any other terribly ill person?

Why would you not stop to help a poor pathetic Homo with such a devastating mental sickness?

You are the one that is hate oozing, if you would walk by and do nothing for those pathetic souls.

2006: The Year of Revelation? 2005 was a year of indictments –†now, let the trials begin!

by Justin Raimondo

In last year's New Year's column, I wrote:

"If 2003 was the year of the liar, and 2004 the year of the war criminal, then let 2005 be the year of justice. That is not a prediction, but only a hope."

It is a hope that, if not yet fulfilled, is at least now well within sight: the indictment [.pdf] of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, signals a sea change in the political atmosphere in this country, one that has put the War Party on the defensive, albeit not yet thrown them into total retreat.

The gang that lied us into war is getting its comeuppance, and all I can say to that is: how sweet it is! Day after day, in the prelude to war with Iraq, they invented lies of exponentially increasing brazenness. They told us Saddam was an agent of al-Qaeda. They were certain that "weapons of mass destruction" were buried beneath Saddam's many palaces, or hidden in an underground labyrinth beneath ancient Babylon. Saddam, they averred, had been behind the first attack on the World Trade Center, in 1993 –†and ranted that he was behind the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, too. They told us he had nukes, or was within a few months of acquiring them, and was readying a first strike against America. Deploying the key argument of the War Party, Condoleezza Rice infamously warned:

"The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."

*****end of clip*****

Time for justice. Time for impeachment of both Bush and president Cheney. Hastert should be put in jail based on what Sibel Edmunds has to say. Just another bag man for crime family.

capt

192
eyes open

Have you honestly ever known a troll Homo-hater that wasn't a:

pathetic creature
sick person
pathetic soul
sick, deviate
aberrant behavior
disgusting wretch

Would you just walk by a sick person lying in the street?

Would you let political correctness gone wild allow you to pass by a cancer victim, or any other terribly ill person?

Why would you not stop to help a poor pathetic Homo-hater with such a devastating mental sickness?

You are the one that is recognizing hate oozing, if you would walk by and do nothing for those pathetic souls.

*****

We all pray for your homo-hating disease. Cure it before you post on this board.

Hate looks bad on those who choose to wear it.

capt

Rob,

I know homosexuals who are neither of those things you mentioned. Please do not lump all homosexuals you hang out with the ones you do not know.

Mr. Corn,

thanks for the enlightenment.

peace in the new year....

Rob,

Last post to you, you hate filled pustule that needs to be educated to accept your own homosexual desires and issues. No straight person I know has such issues.

The word would be deviant but you will learn that when you graduate from high school.

The only thing that is deviant is the posts from a very juvenile view of adult sexuality. You blow your own cover young man. Stay in school get your diploma and read a book or two. You might even learn how to spell.

Good luck - you have certainly won the read past award on the Corn.

Imagine if you channeled all of your "hate" energy into something positive? Why would you care what any two adults do in the privacy of their homes?

You have a fantasy about what and who but it is a misplaced concern. It is completely none of your business, it will never be any of your business no matter how much you fantasize about the possibilities.

capt

I would pay to see this guy repeat that same list of insults to retired NFL nose tackle Esera Tuaolo.

capt

There you go again, bringing up your HATE.

It only proves you hate Homos so much you won't even try to help them with their terrible and disgusting sickness.

What kind of person are you, that you can just turn your back on pathetic, mentally sick Homos, and just forget about them and their perversion and do nothing to help them rid their lives of their sickening ways?

#233
Yawn.

Eyes_open,

People like Rob would actually do it, for free to boot.

Capt

I've agreed with you on Richardson and Rob this evening. I will now resign for the evening lest I ruin my reputation among the conservative trolls for posting to the regulars. Have a Happy New Year!

the New Homeland Security Bill has passed. Things will be different now and Internet surfing as you know it will be tracked by what the FBI calls a "non-intrusive method." The FBI says you will not notice anything different.

ha. the FBI can blow me. please pardon my french.
they are complicit along with all the other 3 letter words and the mcmedia in the great cover-up. in fact, the FBI's cover-up started even BEFORE the event, so....BLOW ME FBI!

The Eye of Suspicion

by Ray Kimball
09:00 AM Dec 30, 2005

From a column by an Army officer in the 30 December Washington Post:

"What makes me think that the people with whom I interact regularly will somehow believe I won't report suspect words and actions? Now that we've learned that the military may be collecting such "raw, unverified information" in the form of "Talon reports," my fear is that when friends and neighbors see me, in or out of uniform, their speech could be chilled. I wonder: Will I begin to see a change in behavior? Will my neighbors draw their shades more often? Will they think twice about putting a bumper sticker on their car? Will I be deleted from the church list? Will my law school class discussions be more reserved? ... Yes, I took an oath to defend the United States against all enemies "foreign and domestic," but the implication of domestic intelligence-gathering by the military, even by a limited number of soldiers, should be sufficiently disturbing for American citizens in and out of uniform that we think long and hard about crossing the line, even a little. "

Read the rest of the op-ed here. [washingtonpost.com]

LTC Doty does an excellent job of articulating the fears that some of us in uniform feel when we hear advocacy of extreme measures by the uniformed military and a "by any means necessary" approach to the war on terror. Namely, that that the reservoir of trust and goodwill that we have spent so long building up with the American people is on the verge of being squandered in the name of operational necessity.

The most recent Pew surveys show that the public views the US military more favorably than any other federal institution, corporate entity, or political leader, in many cases by dozens of percentage points. This is a far cry from the nadir of the post-Vietnam years, when soldiers were discouraged from wearing uniforms off-post in order to avoid public scorn. Some of that change has to do with how the US changed over the years, but much of ti has to do with efforts to reform the Army and restore its status as an institution that reflects our society, for better and for worse.

Is it selfish of me to want to preserve this exalted status? Perhaps. The main issue here is that those of us in uniform like to believe that we represent the people through our service to the Constitution, and that at the end of our service, we will be welcomed back into the society we served. If that no longer holds true, the already-wide gap between the soldier and the state may widen irreparably, with severe consequences for our republic.

DONT EVER STOP QUESTIIONING OUR FREEDOMS

*****end of clip*****

IAVA - was Operation Truth - always has good articles and blogs from the service members that have been there.

They sound as disenchanted as a group of "librul lefties" with the CIC (read: Coward In Crawford).

capt

rob(one b),

methinks thou doth protest too much

Here in NM we tax gasoline as a percentage of the sale price. The steep increase in gas prices made for a huge windfall of gasoline tax revenue. A few hundred million (sounds high but I think it was that much).

Our Gov. created a fuel rebate in the form of a check, we got $104 from the state. May not seem like much but for the state to keep it seemed wrong.

Bill has also brought international notice to NM from his work as a diplomat overseas.

There is some chit-chat about a 2008 run for the oval office as the number one, I personally think he would be a good president but will surprised if he is offered a VP.

I still see no real strong candidate from any party for the top slot.

Time will tell.

capt

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Does the FBI really need the great reputation the government is helping to establish for it? They went through a low point in the 60's and 70's and they never really recovered from it. This is just going to make them look like goons. Any good they do for the country is going to be overshadowed by the sense of betrayal people feel by the actions of the FBI.

Capt at #198...
SCHWING and a miss.

Yeah, and he might be here in the Houston area, but... he misspelled the street "Bellaire", so I dunno.
He was wrong about Clinton and Carter too. I wrote to the Houston Chronicle (published in "Viewpoints" 12/24/05) with the links for both of their executive orders to do warrantless searches and pointed out that the next lines stated the Attorney General had to certify in writing that "...there is no substantial likelihood that the physical search will involve the premises, information, material, or property of a United States person;". They always forget to mention or remember that!

So, not just one 'swing 'n a miss', I'd say our friend struck out and is on the way back to the dugout. hey

the FREE DVD:: CONFRONTING THE EVIDENCE which can be obtained by clicking on my name has many examples of FBI malfeasance on it

capt,

A man, planting his seed in woman's life giving womb, probably the most beautiful thing on earth, is the most natural thing ever.

For you to compare a man, planting his seed in another mans asshole, and mixing his life giving seed with human feces, is the most reprehensible thing I have ever heard.

If you can not see how perverted and disgusting that is, you are most certainly a pathetic, deviant deserving of my pity.

You have it, and I feel so so sorry for you.

There you go again, Bush LIes, Bush Lies, BUsh Lies, Bush Lies, Bush Lies, Bush. Love how you guys are so willing to give up the past to make your world match your hate for Bush. The fact is that the behavior of Past Presidents Sets a Precedence for the future. The same reason that Senators want Judges to put Roe v Wade in the untouchable realm of Precedence is the same world that you will deny exist so that you may sleep comfortably at night. It's not that simple.
I, (formally Jon Hebert) believe that we are better served when we can emotionally detach ourselves form our political identiy and challenge ourselves to seek true solutions. Call me a "Bush Apologist" a "liar" or any other title, I do believe that he is right to persue the tatic of listening that he is using today. By the way, not one report has said that he is Spying on American Citizens, in fact no one knows exactly who was monitored and what their connections to terrorism are. I would like all of you to take a ddddeeeeep breath, let the congressional process work and see where the results will fall. I promise you, the loyal Bush hater Nation, that I'll stand by the results good or bad. If the congressional investigation says to impeach him, then impeach him. But please, please don't be dissappointed. I can't stand any more images of frustrated Liberals Punching Bush Weebels.

German media: U.S. prepares Iran strike

By MARTIN WALKER
UPI Editor

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The Bush administration is preparing its NATO allies for a possible military strike against suspected nuclear sites in Iran in the New Year, according to German media reports, reinforcing similar earlier suggestions in the Turkish media.

The Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel this week quoted "NATO intelligence sources" who claimed that the NATO allies had been informed that the United States is currently investigating all possibilities of bringing the mullah-led regime into line, including military options. This "all options are open" line has been President George W Bush's publicly stated policy throughout the past 18 months.

But the respected German weekly Der Spiegel notes "What is new here is that Washington appears to be dispatching high-level officials to prepare its allies for a possible attack rather than merely implying the possibility as it has repeatedly done during the past year."

The German news agency DDP cited "Western security sources" to claim that CIA Director Porter Goss asked Turkey's premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan to provide political and logistic support for air strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets. Goss, who visited Ankara and met Erdogan on Dec. 12, was also reported to have to have asked for special cooperation from Turkish intelligence to help prepare and monitor the operation.

The DDP report added that Goss had delivered to the Turkish prime minister and his security aides a series of dossiers, one on the latest status of Iran's nuclear development and another containing intelligence on new links between Iran and al-Qaida.

DDP cited German security sources who added that the Turks had been assured of a warning in advance if and when the military strikes took place, and had also been given "a green light" to mount their own attacks on the bases in Iran of the PKK, (Kurdish Workers party), which Turkey sees as a separatist group responsible for terrorist attacks inside Turkey.

*****end of clip*****

Read the whole piece linked. It gets worse.

capt

the revelation of NSA spying on americans (with or without bush' approval) is the least of our worries - if I were all of you I would stock up on canned food and water pretty soon, and maybe a bullet or two if you have a gun. maybe get out of debt if at all possible. soon.

Rob Rob Rob, sit down, take a pill and stop being so concerned about where other peoples Sperm ends up. Yes, being Gay may be the most reprehensible thing you've ever heard, but so to must be living the life of a total Jackass.

capt,

"What is new here is that Washington appears to be dispatching high-level officials to prepare its allies for a possible attack rather than merely implying the possibility as it has repeatedly done during the past year."

ALL F--KING RIGHT !!!! It is about F--king time we get off our ass and do just DO IT. NOW ... sooner than now if poassible.

Way to go capt, thanks for point out that is something we really need to do NOW.

248 conserv

but so to must be living the life of a total Jackass.

I guess you would know, about being a jackass.

This misadministration wants to be able to play the "war time" card to give Bush dictatorial powers as if his word is law. He can decide who is an enemy combatant and hold whomever he chooses indefinitely, but the outing of a CIA agent that works for a front company dealing with WMD’s - during "war time" and it is not even a crime because, again, Bunnypants says so?

No, we will see if they have over-reached. The calls for impeachment are louder from the right than from the left, that spells trouble for the Bush crime family no matter where hang your umbrella.

Should this group of proven liars try to start another war the resluts are not to be predicted.

"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events." ~ Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

"Wars teach us not to love our enemies, but to hate our allies." ~ W. L. George

capt

#245
Dear Formally,
Bush has too many rights. He broke the law. He lied. The guy is not a freaking punching bag to me you....I will be nice to morons...he's the president. He has a responsibility and an obligation to the nation. He holds the highest office in the land and he abuses the office on a daily basis. He doesn’¥ even deserve the respect of the people anymore, certainly not the families of the military and certainly not the victims of Katrina. His administrations incompetence has left a shambles in too many people's lives. We deserve better. Think of where we were six years ago. I mean honestly, think of where we were. Try it. The damage to this country has been enormous and I am sick and tired of reading statements like yours. They are purely propaganda. I hate propaganda.

Six years ago we were in the last year of an administration that did nothing when the world trade center was bombed, did nothing when two U.S. Embassies in Africa were bombed, did nothing when the Kobar Towers were bombed, and did nothing when the USS Cole was bombed. Seems like a whole lot a Bombin and a whole lot a nothin.
Take it easy Jeanne, if hearing another persons opinions gets you so worked up, then perhaps you need to take and anti-propaganda pill. Unfortunately, popping pills only delays the intrusion of reality. There it is, drink it.

Jeanne,
I hate propaganda.

All you do is spout propaganda. What a hypocrite you are.

President Bush has brought our economy back strong from the Clinton Recession, saved our country from terrorism, removed a genocide maniac, brought democracy to the middle East, has been completely honest with the American people every step of the way, unlike his predecessor, and you seem to stupid to see it.

God you are dumb.

Personal attacks, too predictable.

Okay, we are all dumb. We are all whatever you want to call us.

That is the best argument you have for your political opinion you are weak as water. Bunnbypants is good because we are dumb. Make it into a bumper-sticker and drive all around town. It will not make Bunnypants any less inept.

So whatever.

capt

Jeanne, I agree with you 100%; it is all repugnant. but what can we do? we can get an ulcer. or a migraine. think about this:: the only way bushco will be able to control the public will be by declaring a state of emergency - martial law. and what's the ONLY THING that will enable that? another 911. all the indicators are pointing in that direction - a leaked GOP memo saying that a terror attack will be good for GOP fortunes. the pentagon is readying a plan for deployment of troops on US soil already. $$ is being printed so fast that it will soon be worthless. cheney has built an underground shelter on his property in wyoming or montana or wherever the devil he lives -
my dear, it is rapidly coming up on the time that one might wish to have a great supply of canned food and what not.
let these propagandists live with their own nonsense - 10 to 1 sez that when the stores run out of food, these kind of fools would be the first ones to break down your door and steal yours.

con ser vationist -
do some research on the trade center bombing before commenting on it - the FBI has been fingered as the culprits behind that- it was a false flag operation from beginning to end - this is a matter of historical record now.

Fake voting rights activists and groups linked to White House

December 30, 2005

Top level Republican operatives with ties to the White House, Senate Majority Leader William Frist and the Republican National Committee (RNC) not only engaged in the suppression of poor and minority voters in the 2004 Ohio presidential election' but they spun the election irregularities into a story linking blacks to cocaine and voter fraud. Bush allies in Ohio are now using this myth of voter fraud to pass a repressive "election reform" bill.

In the month prior to and immediately after the 2004 presidential election' the Republican Party engaged in an orchestrated campaign to divert the mainstream media focus away from election fraud and irregularities in Ohio and manufactured the myth of "voter fraud."

According to a former Columbus Dispatch reporter' Ohio Senator Mike Dewine sent his spokesperson' Mike Dawson' to meet with the editorial board of the Dispatch and other Ohio newspapers. The primary talking point for the GOP was that there was no evidence of irregularities in Ohio.

The Republican state legislature used the "voter fraud" spin to introduce the draconian Ohio House Bill 3. The "election reform" bill has passed both Republican-dominated houses and is awaiting a conference committee at the start of the new year.

HB 3's most publicized provision will require voters to show their ID before casting a ballot. But it also opens voter registration activists to criminal prosecution' exempts electronic voting machines from public scrutiny' quintuples the cost of citizen-requested statewide recounts and makes it illegal to challenge a presidential vote count or' indeed' any federal election result in Ohio. HB 3 will also reduce voter rolls by ordering county boards of elections to send cards to registered voters every two years. If a card comes back as undelivered' the voter must rely on a provisional ballot.

*****end of clip*****

The most corrupt administration in history. The ditto heads have had their head too deep on the echo chamber too long. It eventually turns their brains to mush - as evidenced above.

capt

james 257,
the FBI has been fingered as the culprits behind that

You are right. It was the Feds, and they had help from the Argilians, from the planet Argolon. Argolon is a small planet just behind Mars, and they have been helping the FBI and CIA for years. Many people don't believe in the FBI-CIA-Argolon connection, but you and I know the real facts.

You expect anyone to take you seriously you will have to fake it better than that.

The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail
Nonprofit Group Linked to Lawmaker Was Funded Mostly by Clients of Lobbyist

By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 31, 2005; A01

The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax records and former associates of the group.

During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret. The list, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners would not identify the money's origins.
===========================
just a teaser, it's a long page one story

260
You expect anyone to take you seriously you will have to fake it better than that.

You, of course, mean fake it like every post you write, don't you James?

I know you don't really believe all those phony conspiracies you always write about. They are way to silly to even be considered.

to the regulars,

You regulars here on the Corny site are all writers for the Daily Show, aren't you?

I have been reading all your absolutely hilarious posts, and it finally hit me. You are comedians, making up jokes.

You are really funny.

At first I thought you were just Far Left loons, and then realized your material was way to nutty to be believed even by you.

It's all just a joke, isn't it?

I should have known earlier, that no one would really believe the ridiculous thoughts you guys were writing.

They are very funny, but, you sometimes get a little carried away.

Keep up the good work, Maybe Letterman, or Leno will use some of your jokes.

capt
It will not make Bunnypants any less inept.

Inept ???????

George W. Bush is the greatest President we have had in the last 200 years, and you are so stupid as to call him inept.

Wow, what an idiot you are.

How different is the NSA from you, or MSN or Yahoo or any other web related business placing cookies in your computer or mine???!!

Enron and Bill Clinton
Charles R. Smith

Lovers of ex-President Bill Clinton will be overjoyed to find that Enron's top exec Ken Lay did not stay at the White House 11 times.

However, the bad news for those who still worship Mr. Clinton is that Enron not only donated $100,000 to Clinton's 1993 inauguration but, according to the records, also added an additional $25,000 to the Clinton 1993 celebrations.

The documented evidence shows that Enron did make it into the Clinton White House by special invitation. Senior Vice President Terrance H. Thorn had coffee with Bill Clinton on March 5, 1996.

Many of the other attendees of the Clinton White House coffee sessions also make up a long list of convicted criminals, arms dealers and bagmen for illegal DNC contributions.

For example, Wang Jun had coffee with Clinton in 1996. Wang is also the president of Poly Technologies, the largest arms trading firm owned by the People's Liberation Army. Poly Tech is currently banned from doing business in the United States after several of its top executives conspired to smuggle machine guns into the U.S. for sale to a major drug dealer –†who later turned out to be a Customs agent posing as a gangster.

Charlie "Yah Lin" Trie, who was later convicted of illegally passing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Clinton/Gore re-election campaign, brought Wang into the White House. Trie also gave an additional $645,000 to the Democratic National Committee, and most of this money was from illegal foreign sources.

Trip to Russia

Enron's association with the Clinton White House comes even closer to home when you consider the many corporate foreign trade trips paid for by your tax dollars. In 1994, Enron's CEO Ken Lay surfaced on a list of attendees wishing to travel to Russia with Ron Brown.

One person who did make the trade trip to Russia was Roger Tamraz. Interpol then wanted Tamraz, a Lebanese oil financier, for embezzling nearly $80 million from a Middle Eastern bank. Tamraz, who made most of his money selling Libyan oil, would later give more than $300,000 to the DNC after having coffee with Bill Clinton in the White House.

Russia was not the only target of Enron wheeling-and-dealing with the Clinton administration. Enron execs traveled on a profitable trade trip to India with Ron Brown, landing a major contract for a power plant. The India power plant deal later fell apart with allegations of illegal payments and bribery.

Trip to Bosnia

Enron also traveled in 1997 to Bosnia with Commerce Secretary Kantor in hopes of landing a U.S. taxpayer-backed energy deal in the war-torn state. According to the Chicago Tribune, Enron made a $100,000 donation to the DNC just days prior to the trade mission to the former Yugoslav province. Commerce Department documents clearly note that Enron was interested in the "Zagreb" portion of the trip.

Even in the last days of Bill Clinton, Enron execs were on the go. Enron traveled to South Korea with Commerce Secretary William Daley in 1999. Daley would go on to run Vice President Al Gore's failed bid for the White House in 2000.

Trip to Indonesia

The most damning evidence linking Bill Clinton and Enron to corruption is the documentation that shows Enron received U.S. taxpayer monies in order to finance a corrupt deal with Indonesia.

P.T. East Java Power Corp., which was then 50.1 percent owned by Enron, wanted to conclude a deal for a 500 megawatt power plant in East Java, Indonesia. The 20-year deal was later signed by Enron with P.T. PLN Persero (PLN), Indonesia's state-owned electric utility, which agreed to purchase the power from the natural-gas-fired plant.

According to Enron, the natural gas for the project was to be provided by Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company. Commerce Department documents noted that Pertamina stalled the project with excessive demands for gas prices.

"Enron is now engaged with Pertamina over access to natural gas. These discussions may prove difficult," states a 1994 Commerce Department advocacy document.

"Enron is registered for OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) insurance," states the document, noting that the giant corporation obtained U.S. taxpayer-backed insurance if the Indonesian deal fell apart.

Ron Brown Letters for Enron

Ron Brown personally sought approval for the Enron electric power plants inside Indonesia. According to a personal letter directed to the Indonesian Minister for Trade and Industry, Brown endorsed two Enron deals for gas-fired power plants with the corrupt Suharto regime.

"Enron power, a world renowned private power developer, is in the final stages of negotiating two combined cycle, gas turbine power projects," wrote Brown in his 1995 letter.

"The first, a 500 MW plant in East Java, should bring commercial power generation by the end of 1997 if it can promptly negotiate a gas supply Memorandum of Understanding with Pertamina. The other project, a smaller plant in East Kalimantan, also awaits a gas supply agreement.

"I urge you to give full consideration to the proposals," concluded Brown to the Indonesian minister. In October 1995, Brown wrote another letter, this time to Hartarto Sastrosurarto, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Trade and Industry, pressing him to conclude the Enron power plant deals.

"I would like to bring to your attention a number of projects involving American companies which seem to be stalled, including several independent power projects. These projects include the Tarahan power project, which involves Southern Electric; the gas powered projects in East Java and East Kalimantan, which involves Enron," wrote Brown.

"Your support for prompt resolution of the remaining issues associated with each of these projects would be most appreciated," concluded Brown.

On Nov. 18, 1996, Enron CEO Ken Lay announced that the deal with Suharto was complete. According to Enron's public statement, the U.S.-led energy company had finally won the East Java Power project.

Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism

Yet the Enron success was clouded by allegations that the power plant deals were filled with kickbacks for the Suharto family. In October 1998, U.S. Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy wrote a diplomatic cable that he had recently met with Indonesian Director General of Electricity Endro Utomo Notodisoerjo.

"Commenting on corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN), Endro said that in the past there was no separation between 'power' (not electric but former first family power) and business. 'All the IPP's (Independent Power Projects) have a relation with power, and it is still going on,' added Endro."

According to State Department documents, Enron signed on to a deal filled with "corruption, collusion and nepotism." One State Department cable included an entire section titled "Dealing with unwanted partners" that detailed corruption inside the two Enron power plants at East Kalimantan and East Java.

"Unocal executives told resources officer that the firm is close to reaching a deal with its partner, PT Nusamba (controlled by former President Soeharto crony Bob Hasan) to sever ties in two production sharing contracts (PSC) in East Kalimantan and East Java," notes the State Department cable.

Eventually, the Indonesian economy collapsed and Suharto was overthrown. The resulting economic mess forced Indonesia to default on its payments for the Enron power plants. The U.S. taxpayer using its insurance, however, paid off Enron. One such policy for Enron was obtained through the World Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency or MIGA.

"In June of this year, MIGA paid $15 million to Enron Java Power Co. for its investment in P.T. East Java Power Corporation in Indonesia," states the 2000 official public release from the World Bank.

"The venture was one of many suspended by the presidential decree of September 20, 1997, issued in response to the country's economic crisis," noted MIGA officials.

David, did you write about these connections, also?

CharlieD

We have crooks running America!!!

Archbishop Oscar Romero

At one a.m. on November 16, 1989, 26 soldiers, 19 of them trained at the U.S. Army School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, stormed a Jesuit community in San Salvador, El Salvador. They killed six Jesuits and destroyed the house, word processors, Bibles, and filing cabinets. They also killed the cook and her daughter.

The deaths stunned the world. These good people were advocating the end of the brutal war within El Salvador and the daily $1.3 million in U.S. military aid that has funded the war. These people were killed because they were speaking out on behalf of the poor and oppressed. They had encouraged negotiations between the government and the rebel forces as well as the U.S. embassy. They had preached the gospel and comforted the poor and they paid the price.

Archbishop Romero was a champion for the poor, oppressed, and justice. Archbishop Romero was assassinated in 1980 and the people who loved him picked up his works of solidarity, peacemaking, and truth-telling. Since 1980 countless thousands of people in El Salvador have joined Oscar Romero in martyrdom. Romero's life gave strength to the Jesuits. Since 1980, despite their most brutal efforts, the government and soldiers had one great problem: Romero, like Christ, refused to stay dead.

What the Salvadoran and U.S. government death squads did not know was that bullets cannot kill the spirit. They killed the bodies of 75,000 Salvadoran martyrs but they could not kill their spirits.

Perhaps the purveyors of death are beginning to learn a basic Christian lesson. CHRISTIANITY MAINTANS THAT THOSE WHO LOVE LIFE AND LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE, LIVE ON IN THE LOVE OF OTHERS. We Christians call this great truth, resurrection, the eternal spirit of nonviolent, revolutionary love that insists on justice and peace. It grows in the human community of love and truth that side with the poor in the nonviolent struggle for justice. Whoever dies in that nonviolent struggle lives on in the spirit of those who take up the struggle anew. Someone always picks up where the martyr leaves off. The spirit of love and truth lives on, the coming of God's reign of justice and nonviolence gets closer and closer. Peace and justice become reality. Such is the lesson of martyrdom, the practice of resurrection, the essence of Christian love.

ALTHOUGH THE MUSLIMS ARE NOT CHRISTIANS, THEY, TOO, MAY HAVE TAKEN UP THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTIANITY IN A WRONG AND AN IMMORAL WAR IN IRAQ.

Oscar Romero lived and died in that nonviolent struggle for justice. His life message was a call to conversion, solidarity with the poor, a speaking of truth to power. He proclaimed life when the system around him demanded death. He announced peace when the government and rebels waged war. He exuded hope when despair ruled the day. The message of the Christian community today is as dangerous as the message of Romero: Jesus lives! The Salvadoran death squads, the Pentagon, and the U.S war makers know it too: Romero lives! The nonviolent struggle for justice continues.

The Reign of God

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, the founding bishop-president of Pax Christi USA, was interviewed on how we can build the reign of God. He says that we can build the reign of God on two pillars –†justice and love. He says that the top 20% of people have 87% of the wealth; the bottom 20% have 1.7% of the wealth; and the bottom 60% of the people have 11.3% of the wealth. The rich want more and more resources and the group of 7 nations continue to plan and exploit how they can possess more resources. (Nazi) America uses wars to take over the resources. The top 20% of the people disdain the bottom 80% of the people.

The second pillar is a special kind of love and it is called forgiveness. You reject the ideal of love of country in order to hate other countries, like Iraq, China, or whoever we name as the enemy. We need to get to the root causes of terrorism. Attacking other countries is not the answer or to build more and more weapons and curtailing the civil rights of our own people. Helping to get to the root causes of terrorism and to build the reign of God would be justice and love.

The Iraq war did not fit the first criteria of the Just War Theory that is that it is a defensive war. When you are attacked, you defend yourself. There was no way the Iraqis would have attacked us or that they were a threat to us. Iraq was a debilitated nation without a real military force. (We continually have to make up moral justifications for why we attacked Iraq.) Most of the Iraq army was pummeled after the first Persian Gulf War. There was no evidence of WMDs or they would use them if they had them. Our government said that they might attack us so we commenced a preemptive war and that has never been part of the Just War Theory. After we attacked Iraq, the Catholic bishops were silent (and they have remained silent.) The bishops did say that the war was not a Just War.

No war is justified any longer. We have evolved in the history of warfare as John Keegan does, who is a British war historian, that modern warfare is total war. (Nazi America will be in a total war operation forever. We will always be at war. That is Nazi Americans true nature.) Total war means nation against nation and not army against army. Inevitably we bring about death of civilian non-combatants and a far greater number that we can ever justify. In total war you cannot meet the criteria of how we can discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Our actions in Iraq reveal that we are attacking combatants and non-combatants together (just like we are lumping all Americans as combatants.) We cannot meet the criteria of proportionality so we cannot have a just war today. It is impossible.

We have not developed nonviolent strategies at the international level because we have not given up our convictions that wars resolve problems. (Wars do not resolve problems; wars create more problems.) John Paul II said, "We leave behind a trail of hatred and resentment that make it more difficult to resolve the problems that provoked the war." (We are creating an environment to carry on more wars. Nazi America is a blood thirsty warmonger.) War does not bring peace. We have to formulate ways to intervene in a nonviolent fashion. We must give up our conviction that war will resolve problems. We have to say that war is not acceptable; we are not going to go to war. What are we going to do? We must become artisans of peace. We make peace happen and you begin to implement peace. A civil rights movement based on nonviolent ways. Peace is not created through violence.

Nelson Mandela called off violent revolution. He came out of prison with a conviction that we had to work just as hard for the freedom of the oppressor as we did for the freedom of the oppressed. He had to work for whites and blacks, (just as we have to work for browns, yellows, and reds.) Nelson Mandela did not follow violence. (We have examples of how we can bring about peace.) We start with people who reject violence and who envision a peaceful solution. The United Nations should begin to develop peacemaking forces without armed weapons rather than send armed troops to carry on a war.

Artisan of peace is a term used by John Paul II. We must reject violence in responding to terrorism, hatred, and exaggerated nationalism. In being artisans of peace we should become fascinated with the power of love. Artisans of peace have visions of promoting peace. Once you imagine what peace could be, you work to make it happen. (We have too many people who hate and who work to carry out endless wars.)

Iraq has gone from a highly developed country, especially in Baghdad with good education to a country that now lives in constant fear. (Nazi America has a unique way of instilling fear and destroying countries.) There is huge psychological suffering in Iraq. (Are we making Iraq into a Latin American country? Where the top few of people have plenty and the many at the bottom are serfs?) The situation in Iraqis getting worse. (Nazi) America will maintain a military presence in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. We will continue to have a military presence because we want their oil. There will be no genuine peace in Iraq and the Middle East. (Why has Nazi America failed to develop alternative energies?)

In Haiti our government does not want our people to know what is happening in that country. 67% of the people are unemployed. The people are getting poorer and there is a shortage of food and water. Walking on the street is very dangerous. (We should start peace movements around the world and not war movements.) (Nazi) America is creating coups around the world that exacerbate tensions and problems.

As far as the future for Pax Christi USA, the organization should bring about a clearer rejection of U.S. policies that are immoral and irrational and that Pax Christi USA would become much clearer and more cogent voice for the radical teachings of Jesus. Pax Christi should be more of a challenge to the Church and civil society. We begin as a mustard seed and grow into a tree. We cannot be too acceptable to the people but we grow and transform the situation that brings about justice, love, and peace.

(Personal Comments are in parentheses.)

Hey sammy when are you going to enlist to support your idiot in chief? About time some of you war cheerleaders got some dirt on them. Cowards you are and cowards you will be if all you do is talk about going to war and are afraid to put your ass on the line, go on over to Iraq or whereever you think war is good business and get into it. Dumbass. Oh yeh don't tell me you either already went or are too old, that one has been used up.

Remember when in our true America we said give me liberty or give me death. Now in Nazi America we say give blood and give me more blood.

Torture Memos

They are only cannon fodder

American Soldiers

2,424 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush’≥ evil lies.

16,000+ American soldiers have been maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush’≥ evil lies.

40,000+ American soldiers are suffering from PTSD.

Over 100,000+ Iraqis have been killed in Iraq since Bush declared shock and awe bombings on March 19, 2003.

Are you feeling more safe and secure with Bush in the WH and Cheney as his chief hatchet man overseeing America and her people.

American elections are rigged to favor the repugnants.

We will have to see how events play out. Seymour Hersh (when he was asked to comment about the 2004 election)

Bush will declare martial law in 2008 and the elections will be suspended.

Our military men and women are used as cannon fodder for a terrorist American government.

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we. George W. Bush, August 5, 2005

There is no sense trying to make sense from those who have no sense.

THE GLORY OF BUSH IS MAN FULLY DEAD!!!

This war in Iraq really pisses me off!!!!!

Rigged elections doom American democracy. American soldiers are being killed and maimed TO PROMOTE AN AMERICAN NAZI STATE.

THE GLORY OF GOD IS MAN FULLY ALIVE. St. Irenaeus

I shall pass this way but once. Any good that I can do let me do it now for I shall not pass this way again. St. Ambrose

We must work tirelessly for man to be fully alive.

American soldiers are being killed like flies for Bush's lies. To date 2,424 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

DON'T PATRONIZE ME WITH TALK ABOUT HUMAN LIVES. COLIN LAPDOG POWELL

It sounds like human lives are not important to Lapdog.

I was provided with additional input that was radically different from the truth. I assisted in furthering that version. Oliver North

There is no sense trying to make sense from those who have no sense!

Wolfowitz + World Bank = War + Poverty

As Diebold goes, so goes the election!

American democracy is dead as we know it. We are now OUTSOURCING our dead American democracy around the world with our dead and maimed soldiers who are fighting in foreign lands so these lands can revel in our dead democracy.

My fellow Americans, Bush does not view our Constitution as a piece of paper. He views our Constitution as a piece of toilet paper so he can wipe his ass with it.

When God means to punish a nation, He deprives its rulers of wisdom. Linda Schrock Taylor

No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices. Edward R. Murrow

All Americans are accomplices in Bush's murders and war crimes.

To sin is a human business; to justify sin is a devilish business. Leo Tolstoy, Russian author 1828-1910

The incestuous relationship between government and big business thrives in the dark. Jack Anderson

PEACE TAKES COURAGE!

HONOR THE TROOPS, DEMAND THE TRUTH!

samuel, I did not post under the name "george bush" @260 - I don't need to do that. what I DID do was google WTC bombing FBI secretly recorded, which is what anyone with a brain would do -

here is the gist of the plot::

the FBI planted egyptian Emad A. Salem to infiltrate an Arab group in New York. His job was to act as an agent provocateur -- inciting violent attacks. It was Salem who convinced the other participants to bomb the World Trade Center. Salem grew alarmed at the idea and suggested to the FBI that they use phony explosives so no one would get hurt, but they could still arrest the terrorists. the FBI sed 'no we're going to go ahead and use REAL explosives'. unbeknownst to the FBI, Salem was secretly recording their conversations and was able to reveal the truth; that the FBI was behind the entire affair.

unfortunately the mcMedia is not our friend, so this is not common knowledge, although anyone with a brain can uncover the truth of this AND MANY OTHER THINGS AS WELL by using the internet. as I sed @ 257, do some research before commenting.

James, why would Clinton sign off on such a prodject?

who knows why or even if clinton signed off on something like that - my guess is he was clueless like any good figurehead would have to be -

High level officials warn of fake terror

A variety of current and former high-level officials have recently warned that the Bush administration is attempting to instill a dictatorship in America, and will itself carry out a fake terrorist attack in order to obtain one.

Get ready for impeachment

It is often said that American politics today are more acrimonious than they have ever been before. Certainly, from the standpoint of a contemporary observer, they seem to be. The hatred that many Democrats feel toward George W. Bush is truly searing —†quite the equal, it is only fair to say, of the hatred many Republicans felt for Bill Clinton.

Still, when one reflects on the things the politicians of earlier decades said about each other, and even did to each other, it is possible to argue that what is going on today is only par for the course. Lincoln was denounced during the campaign of 1860 as "the Illinois baboon." Even earlier, John Quincy Adams had described Thomas Jefferson, elegantly but viciously, as "an affront to the moral order of the universe."

Nor should we forget that, amid the emotions roused in the middle of the 19th century by the dispute over slavery, a Southern congressman walked into the Senate chamber and bludgeoned Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner with a cane so thoroughly that Sumner never fully recovered from the beating. Verily, as Finley Peter Dunne’≥ Mr. Dooley remarked to his friend Hennessey, "Politics ain’¥ beanbag."

*****end of clip*****

I have been ready since they stole the 2000 election.

capt

Abramoff ready to rat on members of Congress

Pressure has been intensifying on Abramoff to strike a deal with prosecutors since former partner Adam Kidan pleaded guilty earlier this month to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the 2000 SunCruz boat deal.

Abramoff's cooperation would be a boon to an ongoing Justice Department investigation of congressional corruption, possibly helping prosecutors build criminal cases against up to 20 lawmakers of both parties and their staff members.

The people, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks, said the lawyers spoke by phone with U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck, giving him an update on the plea negotiations.

Huck scheduled another status conference for Tuesday afternoon, but the deal could be completed before then, the people said. Abramoff could sign the plea agreement and exchange it with prosecutors via fax over the weekend, they said.

*****end of clip*****

I think there is a typo:

"prosecutors build criminal cases against up to 20 lawmakers of both parties and their staff members"

I think they meant "law-BREAKERS" not "lawmakers" - other than that I think the piece is accurate.

capt

A vet speaks out about Bush

Tim Abbott is a Vietnam veteran who lives in the Southwestern Virginia town of Hillsville, a conservative, blue-collar community that tends to vote Republican and bleed red, white and blue.

But, like an increasing number of veterans, Abbott is fed up with President George W. Bush.

"Bush talks a lot about freedom, courage, transparent government and the rule of law. He talks," Abbott says. "His speeches are carefully choreographed before audiences of his faithful -- often Christian fundamentalists or, to paraphrase Bush, Christian-fascists -- and they must sign loyalty oaths to Bush. He speaks before audience after audience of soldiers and sailors who cannot speak except as directed by the White House."

Normally, such comments would be risky in a mountain town where Patriotism rules supreme but Abbott expressed his views this week in an op ed article for The Roanoke Times and found many people agreeing with him.

"When I think of Bush, I do not think of liberty and courage, compassion and justice. No, I think of arrogance, greed and lies," Abbott wrote. "He is a thug, a buffoon and a coward. Not only is he incompetent, he is corrupt."

*****end of clip*****

Hard to clip such a good piece but . . .

capt

You guys are hilarious. Dictatorship? Evil Bush wants to be President of the World. Killing thousands of Americans so that a Powergrab would be within reach. Funny, for this to work, then that means Bush would had to have had a moment of clairity, in a otherwise drunken blis, Called the Iranians and said: Let's start a world wide terror campaign against America so that I can be Dictator 27 years from now. Called Reagan after the Beruit Bombing and said, Please Mr. President you need to Withdraw now so that we can encourage the terrorist of the future. Then, he would have had to call Clinton and say, Please Mr. President do nothing so that they think they are winning. Then he would have to say, please Democrats, nominate somebody so weak that a politician with virtually no experience can be in a close election with and encumbant during a economic expansion so that I can STEAL IT. And finally He'd have to hide the fact that he knew about the FBI involvement in the first World Trade Center Bombing and the 911 attack.
He'd then have to withstand an intense Impeachment Hearing Because the democrats had found out about his campaing that started in 1979. And the final Finally would be the exposure of the close relationship between Dictator Bush and Dictator Hugo Chavaz.

Holy crap, that's more work that it's worth.

What the LEFT BEHIND series really means

This is a long -- and scary -- piece (don't let the headers dissuade you from reading); as Joe Bageant points out, Tim LeHaye is the most "successful" Christian writer since the Bible. Bageant says we're in a real fix and not likely to get out of it anytime soon.

Bageant writes: "The Godfather of Soul, fundie-style..."

@282 Brock, hang it up. You're making yourself look stupid -- mensa might have to throw you out. LOL.

Ode to trolls....by Flan

Bushlies.com, the original website name
Outing the Bushco lies, the original website game

In come those pesky bushbot trolls
Homophobic, talking point followers all

In come Pande, Saladin, Capt, et al
With links to the truth to counter their calls

James, Hajji, Jeanne and Micki
Too many to name, masters of the game

The trolls come in, the trolls go out
The troll's sole game is to insult and shout

Happy talk, Happy talk
Happy talk and talk and talk
Happy to be gone now

Seems a bit odd that all of the trolls never originate any commentary just critique the commentary of others?

What specific brand of arrogant egotism makes them believe anybody gives a flying flip what they like or dislike about what we post.

I guess they have never tried to actually make a point.

YIP YAP - snipe snip.

What a bunch of ineloquent losers and non-thinkers.

"Bush is the best president ever" Sure, nothing to support that delusion but we can take their word for it because . . well just because, as they NEVER offer anything except their opinion.

Just an observation.

capt

#286 capt, trolls need a brain to offer original comments. They emulate their Tinkle King Bush that two bit snot of a kid.

NSA Spying on Americans is Illegal

What if it emerged that the President of the United States was flagrantly violating the Constitution and a law passed by the Congress to protect Americans against abuses by a super-secret spy agency? What if, instead of apologizing, he said, in essence, "I have the power to do that, because I say I can." That frightening scenario is exactly what we are now witnessing in the case of the warrantless NSA spying ordered by President Bush that was reported December 16, 2005 by the New York Times.

According to the Times, Bush signed a presidential order in 2002 allowing the National Security Agency to monitor without a warrant the international (and sometimes domestic) telephone calls and e-mail messages of hundreds or thousands of citizens and legal residents inside the United States. The program eventually came to include some purely internal controls - but no requirement that warrants be obtained from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as the 4th Amendment to the Constitution and the foreign intelligence surveillance laws require.

In other words, no independent review or judicial oversight.

That kind of surveillance is illegal. Period.

The day after this shocking abuse of power became public, President Bush admitted that he had authorized it, but argued that he had the authority to do so. But the law governing government eavesdropping on American citizens is well-established and crystal clear. President Bush's claim that he is not bound by that law is simply astounding. It is a Presidential power grab that poses a challenge in the deepest sense to the integrity of the American system of government - the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches, the concept of checks and balances on executive power, the notion that the president is subject to the law like everyone else, and the general respect for the "rule of law" on which our democratic system depends.

*****end of clip*****

Funny, none of the blow-hards from the Reich-wing even mention character or the "rule of law" in regard to Bunnypants. Two faced low-lifes that have no critical or objective thinking. Echo chamber echoes are as lacking in substance as the hot air bulls**t they post here about what we think.

Piffle, piffle and more piffle.

capt

Pande #127 & Lefty Regulars
Plus Rob

Of all Comments exchanged w/all, the only one that `scored' any meaningful points, is from you Pande (I guess you are the best regular Guest Hostess). I haven't seen enogh of your humor but look forward to seeing it.

You said "I would give you the shirt off my back. I believe that you care about our wonderful country . . . just not enough to hold your party accountable for running it into the ditch."

It left me pondering! Mind you, it's NOT that I agree with the "...running it into the ditch" part. It is the FACT that I DO NOT vocalize against my party. You do agree I can be quite Effective when `aroused'.

For what is worth, my `Defense' is that the Far Left wing of the Dem party has been so harsh on Bush/GOP, IF even more responsible & fair GOPers' started questioning its leadership, it will mostly increase the `nutty' shrills of Dem's Far Left. An earlier Right poster said something about chucking "noodles on the wall", that is exactly what most Aemricans, from the conservative Dems all the way to the farthest Right, basically sees. And my friends, that is a LOT OF PEOPLE! If I am a consultant, I would ask my client (Dems) to pick a few key fights and do it in the most civilized way possible. When your side choose to fight 100 battles in the style shown since 2000, even if there are 10 truly worthy of merits, you will likley lose all 100! Picking 10 fights in a civil, For Country (not so overtly For Party) manner, may actually lead to a few Wins.

This `Defense' of mine, ties relevantly to my whole `Engagement' with you Regulars over this past week or so. Over this period, the things I recall the most is the Jeanne/Gibson encounter and Pande's Comment cited above. Everything else, weren't credible (to me) because of the Partisanship tone and ranting/raving nature. I trust the Regulars appreciate what I am saying here.

Being the last day of 2005, my busiest admin time period is upon me; leading to probably writing a check to our Uncle by April 15! I like this site a whole lot more than pre-Xmas but will have less time to `skirmish' w/you all.

Miscellaneous:

Rob:

Please take you homo garbage out of this blog. I'm probably more w/you than against you on political stuff; but NOT on this issue. I voted For the Propositon, it didn't pass! It is not so much that I condone `marriage', it is that I am against the Far Right-wings' holier-than-thou stance. I believe homosexuality is primarily a bilogical issue, less a `conditioning' one. For you and some of the Right to charges in guns blazing, don't be surprised that the Regulars just ignore your postings, the ultimate insult!

Lastly, picked this up this morning on RealClearPolitics and it fits well with my Comment to Pande.

DECLINING DEMS [Stanley Kurtz]
So after all the attacks on the president’≥ efforts to hunt terrorists, the Democrats’†poll numbers are down. Unsurprising. This is no passing thing either. The Democrats will never shake this image of weakness. It’≥ set in stone, and for exactly the right reason: the Democrats really are weak on national security issues. Everyone knows that the party’≥ base is pacifist. They want the war on terror to just disappear so that attention will turn back to domestic issues. Ironically, had the Democrats embraced Lieberman’≥ policies, we would probably be focused on domestic issues right now. Consensus on foreign policy would force politics back to the areas where the Democrats believe they are strong. It’≥ the smartest strategy for the Dems, but they can’¥ pull it off because their base really is caught up in the Vietnam syndrome.

I nominate FLAN as our "poet lariat" -- the lass "lass-os" the trolls and corrals them with words!

270 What the F

I did 21 years getting my hands dirty for crying little cowardly pukes like you What the F. Your are real good at bitching about how I save you.

You are also not worthy of further comment from me.

Leaked documents the UK Government are trying to block under Secrets Act - published here

This is a "do not miss" and get your copy of the stuff they want to suppress. Not for national security but because it is evidence of their complicity in crimes.

capt

It was a heckuva thing to say

George W. Bush has a history of mangling the English language as much as he mangles the law of the land. Call it the wrong phrase at the wrong time but "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job" was named on Thursday as U.S. President George W. Bush's most memorable phrase of 2005.

The ill-timed praise of a now disgraced agency head became a national punch line for countless jokes and pointed comments about the administration's handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster and added to the president's reputation for verbal gaffes and clumsy turns of phrase.

Paul JJ Payack, president of Global Language Monitor, a nonprofit group that monitors language use, says Bush's statement in support of the then-director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency may be remembered for years to come.

"The 'Brownie' quote leads our 2005 list of Bushisms -- memorable phrases or new words coined by the president," Payack said, adding that Bush may be the foremost White House creator of new words, citing such past efforts as "misunderestimate" (to seriously underestimate) and "embetter" (to make emotionally better).

Ten days after Bush verbally patted Michael Brown on the back before the TV cameras, Brown resigned amid a public uproar over his qualifications and the administration's failure to get aid to New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Although the president did not originate any new words this year, he had several notable statements, Payack said, citing the following:

-- "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda," Bush said in explaining his communications strategy last May.

-- "I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?" Bush asked in a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a U.N. Security Council meeting in September.

-- "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table," Bush said in Brussels last February.

-- "In terms of timetables, as quickly as possible - whatever that means," the president said of his timeframe for passing Social Security legislation in March.

-- "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law," Bush said in describing illegal immigrants in Tucson, Arizona, last month.

Global Language Monitor uses an algorithm to track words and phrases in print, electronic media and the Internet. The words and phrases are tracked in relation to their frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets.

*****end of clip*****

Hard to say what is worse - What Bunnypants says or what he means to say?

capt

Thanks Micki,

For an IT industry professional, that is a great honor. I liked the "lariat" and "lass-os" play on words. I think you might be the next in line.

Happy New Year one and all - you too trolls!

If ya don't give a damn about what I post, then damnit don't respond to it. My comment about the Absurdity of the Dictator conspiracy is simply that, a comment. Watching you guys lather each other up is quite the site. Facts, you want facts, then try this. Our Economy, inspite of an Internet Bubble that caused over a Trillion dollar loss on the Stock Market, a Terrorist attack that caused Millions to lose their jobs and an estimated 2 trillion dollars is economic losses, the recession that followed, and the costs of war is outperforming France, Britian, Germany, Spain and Russia. France and Germany are experiencing unemployment at rates of around 11% and 12% and thats without a terrorist event. Certainly, Bush leaves something to be desired, frankly he's not conservative enought for me, But few Presidents have had so much to deal with on so many fronts and done so well with it. As far as the Lying to go to Iraq thing goes, Ted Koppel and Tom Brokaw (hardly Republicans and hardly conservatives) sat on "Meet the Press" and said that no matter who was President we would have gone to Iraq. Wasn't covered by MSM and hasn't been discussed since.

If the Tinkle King brain is the best ever, support it with facts and not fiction.

Yes, Tinkle King is the best ever in blowing up frogs with firecrackers in the mouth, murders, war crimes, torture, hatred, greed, lies, corruption, etc.

Pupils Being Given 'Patriotism' Tests in Washington State Schools

Children in Washington State are being given 'Patriotism tests' which are completely unrelated to their studies. The paper gauges whether or not the student shows fealty to the power of the state and whether the student believes in the right to overthrow a corrupt government.

A reader from Washington State writes us to highlight a questionnaire paper handed out to her daughter and the rest of her 10th grade class.

The reader comments,

"We live in Washington state. My daughter is in 10th grade and found this to be interesting. She has a GPA of 3.75 and uses her brain. This was given in her English class, and has nothing to do with the materials they were studying. We thought you might be able to use this. They are grooming our kids. Keep up the great work. Christine."

Considering the fact that this paper is a complete one off in that it is not part of any standard curriculum, we must question the motivations behind it.

Is the paper a means of gauging the level of obedience to the state amongst American teenagers?

We have covered several examples before where the government identifies a target group in society and canvasses their views on the nature of power and when that power goes too far. For example, in the 90's, American marines and national guard were occasionally asked if they would be willing to fire on American citizens in a time of crisis.

We are by no means against patriotism when it means love of country. Unfortunately however, the new brand of so-called patriotism translates as worship of government, and that definition is something that the founding fathers never intended.

This may be an isolated case but if we receive anything similar then watch this space for any updates.

*****end of clip*****

The fascists have to be able to categorize the sheeple. Only the most loyal will enjoy the fruits of totalitarianism.

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." ~ George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

capt

Final Exam

Students, since you are my graduate students, I have upgraded the final exam. An earlier exam was for my undergraduate students. You have worked really hard these past four and one half years. You have seen our country go from a democracy to a Nazi/fascist government. OUR ELECTIONS ARE ELECTRONICALLY RIGGED WITH NO PAPER TRAIL. SHALOM AND THE COMMON GOOD HAVE RECEIVED THEIR DEATH NOTICES. In the process of change you have encountered more stress, nightmares, sickness, loss in wages, diseases, more contaminated waters, no health care, higher cost in drugs, more autism due to the increase in mercury exposure, outsourcing of jobs, more corporate corruption, higher costs in education, more lies, more wrong and immoral wars, a new god known as the bushgod, more porn from companies that contribute great amounts of money into the coffers of repugnants, more hatred, killing, torture, more crimes against humanity, and murders.

Your final exam will be only one question. How do you characterize and evaluate Bush and his Nazi/fascist regime?
a. corrupt
b. rotten
c. vile
d. scumbags
e. slime balls
f. demented
g. depraved
h. deranged
i. low life sludges
j. grubs
k. putrid stenches
l. definitely weasel like
m. decaying, smelling turds
n. broccoli farts
o. greedy
p. liars
q. warmongers
r. miserable
s. pathetic
t. worthless
u. clueless
v. useless
w. all of the above

Good luck with your exam and have a happy and safe vacation! With Bush's temper tantrums increasing and his mind frying from over use of drugs this unstable low life may be signaling new wars to solidify his legacy as a murderer and a war criminal president. Being a war president Americans will be even less safe. After Iran will be North Korea and several thousand off range nuclear missiles aimed at China. These attacks will put the American people in such disarray that there will no longer be any elections and the Nazi regime is in full control.

Bush is
1. distracted
2. crazy
3. uninformed
4. a zombie
5. in a trance
6. all of the above

Can you imagine what Bush would be like now if the journalists did their job starting in 2001?

Do Americans really want to spread their values of murders and war crimes around the world?

Former British envoy is suspended

A UK diplomat who was withdrawn as ambassador to Uzbekistan has been suspended on full pay.

Craig Murray, 45, was recalled from his post in the capital Tashkent this week.

He said the reason for his removal was his criticism of the use of intelligence allegedly obtained under torture by the Uzbekistan Government.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that Mr Murray is suspended, despite earlier statements that he was not facing disciplinary action.

Mr Murray said he became a "victim of conscience" after a memo in which he claimed MI6 had used the information was leaked to a newspaper last week.

*****end of clip*****

More on those pesky documents.

capt

#297 capt, Tinkle King Bush means to brainwash the masses. Anyone who listens to Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and Hannity are already brainwashed.

#284
*snicker*

Capt,
One of my goals in life is to clang the liberty bell in the echo chamber.

#285
I love the ode. Thank you flan.

Researchers Find Every Body is Doing the Locomotion

By Bjorn Carey
LiveScience Staff Writer
30 December, 2005

At first glance, a galloping stallion, a soaring eagle, and a tuna swimming don’¥ look much alike, but a new study on animal locomotion suggests that when it comes to getting from place to place, these and all animals appear to have everything in common.

All animals, whether they run, fly, or swim, follow the newly proposed "constructal theory", the idea that the basic characteristics of locomotion for each animal—®ow rapidly and forcefully they step, flap, or paddle themselves forward—©s related to their mass.

"From simple physics, based only on gravity, density and mass, you can explain within an order of magnitude many features of flying, swimming, and running," said James Marden of Pennsylvania State University. "It doesn’¥ matter whether the animal has eight legs, four legs, two, even if it swims with no legs."

The constructal theory is based on the basic principle that systems evolve to minimize imperfections—≥uch as energy lost to friction or other forms of resistance—°nd making use of the least amount of useful energy.

*****end of clip*****

Fog hat? Or am I confusing it with "Slow-ride"

capt

Little Eva sang the Locomotion in the early 60's and Grand Funk Railroad remade it in the 70's. The writer of the song is Carole King, my all time favorite female artist.

Happy,
From the American Heritage Dictionary:
Big lie (NOUN): Repeated distortion of the truth on a grand scale, especially for propaganda purposes

Propaganda (Noun) 1. Information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause.

Do you believe that crap about Liberals and Dems being pacifists and too weak on Defense to be trusted in today's geopolitical climate?

I said it before, and I'll say it again. Facts are difficult, stubborn things to deal with.

Meet the Fighting Dems. Now read about the Band of Brothers. There are all of 2 Iraqi vets running for Congress as Republicans. Look at the roll call of Republican chickenhawks when compared to the Dems in Congress.

If you're going to accept that crap from Stanley Kurtz as the truth when the facts are staring you in the face, nothing will ever convince you that you are wrong. You've been had, hoodwinked, played like a violin. You want to believe that people like me are afraid to take on the bad guys. I've been screaming on this blog for over a year that W(uss) is a chickenshit liar. He said that he would get Osama Dead or Alive. There are THOUSANDS of families (most of them Bluestate NYorkers) that are still waiting for him to grow a real pair of stones and go after more than our own CIA agents.

W(uss) is too scared to go into Pakistan (the breeding ground for the Taliban), or Iran (home of Hezbollah) or where ever the REAL terrorists are. He chose to go into Iraq and terrorism was never anything more than a pretense.

As for the 100 or so tangents that you think the Dems are chasing down . . . if it weren't for the fact that the Cheney Administration has screwed the pooch 100 different ways, we wouldn't have to harp on so many issues. I could name all 100 or so scandals that these morons have caused; but I don't have the time right now.

I'll get back to show you a little Republican civility.

Victory in name only

Empty talk of turning points has failed to stop Bush's election triumph being reduced to ashes

Sidney Blumenthal
Friday December 30, 2005
The Guardian

In his second inaugural address, George Bush four times summoned the image of fire - "a day of fire", "we have lit a fire", "fire in the minds of men", and "untamed fire". Over the course of the first year of his second term, all four of the ancient Greek elements have wreaked havoc: the fire of war, the air and water of Hurricane Katrina, the earth ravaged by whirlwinds raging from Iraq to Florida, from Louisiana to Washington. Through obsession or obliviousness, rigidity or laziness, Bush got himself singed, tossed about, engulfed, and nearly buried.

He began the year proclaiming "a turning point" in Iraq. In every crisis he faced, he assumed that everything would turn his way, as it always had in the past. He ended the year declaring "victory" within reach.

The first shift in Bush's political fortunes came with his unprecedented intervention in the case of Terry Schiavo, a woman in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, whose husband's attempt to have her feeding tube removed was upheld after 14 appeals in Florida courts, five federal law suits, and four refusals to hear the case by the supreme court.

Bush rushed to sign a bill transferring the case from state to federal courts. For weeks Republicans strutted and the Democrats cowered. Then, on March 21, the spell carried over from the election campaign was broken: an ABC News poll found that 63% backed the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube and 67% believed that politicians urging she be kept alive were demagogic and unprincipled.

*****end of clip*****

I still say: put up the "mission accomplished" sign and bring the troops home.

capt

Poll: First lady embraced, president not

(CNN) -- Far more Americans think highly of first lady Laura Bush than they think of her husband, a poll released Thursday said.

Fewer than half of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of President Bush and his top aides, about the same number who said that last summer, the poll found.

But nearly three out of four (73 percent) said they have a favorable opinion of Laura Bush, the CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll said. Thirteen percent described their opinion of her as unfavorable. (See how the poll numbers add up)

The telephone poll of 1,003 adult American adults was conducted December 16-18 and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Asked their opinions of the president, 46 percent said they were favorable, a figure statistically equivalent to the 48 percent who gave that response in a July 25-28 poll.

In the latest survey, Bush earned an unfavorable rating from 53 percent of respondents.

Vice President Dick Cheney earned favorable ratings from 41 percent of respondents and unfavorable ones from 50 percent; Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld received favorable ratings from 42 percent of respondents and unfavorable ones from 45 percent.

A CNN/USA Today Gallup Poll, also conducted December 16-18, found Bush's approval rating -- which measures how well the public believes a president is doing his job and is different from his favorability rating -- stood at 41 percent, while more than half, or 56 percent, disapprove of how the president is handling his job. (View the president's approval ratings in 2005)

*****end of clip*****

OUCH! I guess if I were a blind supporter of Bunnypants I might be a bit ill too. Bunnypants did not garner any holiday cheer, or the polls will be headed south again. I still do nt believe he care one smack what we think. He will do as he pleases. Unless we can impeach him.

capt

House That Jack Built Comes Tumbling Down on Tuesday

WASHINGTON Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff are putting the finishing touches on a plea deal that could be announced as early as Tuesday, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

*****end of clip*****

This might be kind of fun. I would like nothing better than to see the whole group of liars and criminals frog marched to jail from both sides of the aisle.

I doubt many have clean hands. Some will get a pass but . . .

capt

I do not know about any of you guys but I have not had that annoying entry error in a long time.

Seems like it is fixed, I have not seen the double post thing that goes with it.

High fives to the web wizards!

Thanks!

capt

Lobbyist, Prosecutors Said Close to Deal

In a five-year span ending in early 2004, Indian tribes represented by the lobbyist contributed millions of dollars in casino income to congressional campaigns, often routing the money through political action committees for conservative members of Congress who opposed gambling.

Abramoff also provided trips, skybox fundraisers, golf fees, frequent meals, entertainment and jobs for lawmakers' relatives and aides.

Kidan and Abramoff bought SunCruz from Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, who was slain in 2001 in a gangland-style hit in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Investigators say Boulis and Kidan were fighting for control of SunCruz; Kidan has denied any involvement in Boulis' death.

Three men were arrested in September on murder charges in Boulis' killing and are awaiting trial.

Michael Scanlon, another former Abramoff associate, pleaded guilty in November in a separate case in Washington.

Scanlon said he helped Abramoff and Kidan buy SunCruz by persuading Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, to insert comments into the Congressional Record that were "calculated to pressure the then-owner to sell on terms favorable" to Abramoff and Kidan.

*****end of clip*****

These are the acts of a crime family. Thugs and slugs and even a few murderers.

capt

Chickenhawks Fly the Coop

I do not believe that I posted this article by Cindy Sheehan.

In 2006 I will not vote for any politician who supports the Iraq war!!!!!

As you know, the Iraq war really pisses me off.

Jon Hebert, what's the matter with you son? I pull the strings. I'm the president.

Pres Ch, I mean Vice President Cheney, are you going to run for President in 2008?

#315
Encourage him to run. Please do. The democrats could put Paul Reubens up against that gas bag and win the election.
No offense dick. I know deep down you're a swell guy. You do have a charity after all, your own little charity.

Tut-tut, TRH. We must respect the office of the President and Vice-President. I just have trouble keeping the two straight.

Happy,
Fine examples of Civil discourse on the Right:

Bill Bennett: "[Y]ou could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." 9/28/05 Couldn't you just pre-emptively throw every GOP politician in jail and achieve the same effect?

Pat Robertson: "If [Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." He later lied about saying it. Isn't there something in the Bible about not lying?

Bill O'Reilly to San Francisco: "[I]f Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. ... You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead." 12/8/05

Bill O'Reilly, agreeing with caller that illegal immigrants are "biological weapon[s]": "I think you could probably make an absolutely airtight case that more than 3,000 Americans have been either killed or injured, based upon the 11 million illegals who are here." 4/15/05

Rush Limbaugh: "Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society." 8/12/05

Rush Limbaugh on the kidnapping of peace activists in Iraq: "I'm telling you, folks, there's a part of me that likes this." 11/29/05

Ann Coulter: Bill Clinton "was a very good rapist"; "I'm getting a little fed up with hearing about, oh, civilian casualties"; "I think we ought to nuke North Korea right now just to give the rest of the world a warning." 1/10/05

Ann Coulter: "Isn't it great to see Muslims celebrating something other than the slaughter of Americans?" 2/3/05

Glenn Beck: "[Y]ou know it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families? Took me about a year." 9/9/05

Tucker Carlson: "Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice, but you don't take him seriously. That's Canada." 12/15/05

American Family Association president Tim Wildmon: Liberals "don't have the kind of family responsibilities most people have, and certainly not church responsibilities." 5/11/05 One of our friendly neighborhood Tim's echoed that same sentiment during the Katrina debacle. He said black folks don't have the family values that allow them to thrive in our culture.

David Horowitz on Cindy Sheehan: "It's very hard to have respect for a woman who exploits the death of her own son and doesn't respect her own son's life. ... She portrays him as an idiot." 8/16/05

Neal Boortz: "[T]here will be riots in South Central Los Angeles and elsewhere. ... The rioting, of course, will lead to wide scale looting. There are a lot of aspiring rappers and NBA superstars who could really use a nice flat-screen television right now." 12/12/05

Pat Buchanan: "Our guys" in Iraq "have got every right to have good news put into the media and get to the people of Iraq, even if it's got to be planted or bought." 12/1/05

Rich Lowry: Given EPA-mandated "small-flush" toilets, "[h]ow is it possible to flush a Quran down the toilet?" 8/5/05

Neal Boortz, suggesting that a victim of Hurricane Katrina housed in an Atlanta hotel consider prostitution: "I dare say she could walk out of that hotel and walk 100 yards in either direction on Fulton Industrial Boulevard here in Atlanta and have a job. What's that? Well, no, no, no. ... Well, you know what? [laughing] Now that you mention it ... [i]f that's the only way she can take care of herself, it sure beats the hell out of sucking off the taxpayers." 10/24/05

James C. Dobson: Same-sex marriage would lead to "marriage between daddies and little girls ... between a man and his donkey." 10/6/05

Cliff Kincaid: "Have you noticed that many news organizations, in honor of former ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings, have embarked on a quit smoking campaign? So why don't our media launch a campaign advising people to quit engaging in the dangerous and addictive homosexual lifestyle? ... It appears that the homosexual lifestyle is as addictive as smoking." 12/14/05

Michael Reagan: "Howard Dean should be arrested for treason and either hung or put in a hole until the war's over"

Hannity attacked caller for stating that Rove was "involved" in Plame leak: "You sound like a nut case" 10/25/05 Hey, wait a minute by "nutcase" he must have meant someone who is absolutely correct.

Tony Blankley: "One doesn't mind, so much, mainstream journalists being b*st*rds. It's being such dumb b*st*rds that one finds so irksome." 10/12/05

Sources: Cheney curses senator over Halliburton criticism; says "Go Fuck yourself"

North and Hannity: Kerry not qualified to be "a prison guard at Abu Ghraib" 10/25/04

Glenn Reynolds:I think that this "pressure of public opinion" language is a recognition by Saddam that the "anti-war" movement is objectively on his side, and not neutral. Of course, the old CIA would have just dusted Hans Blix's room with a few anthrax spores. But we don't do things like that now. 12/10/02 No, we don't; do we? Torture. Rendition. Spying on Americans.

And Ann Coulter is a one-man(?) wrecking crew of incivility.

Did somebody say "Jeffy Lube?"

And if you think that words are the only acts of profanity committed by the Reds, just look at their legislative agenda (such as it is).

I could go on and on; but the game is on.
You want civility, dude?

Matthew 7:3
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Jesus sure sounds like a liberal sometimes, and sometimes he just sounds pissed off.

Here are my three major predictions for 2006. Tinkle King's approval ratings will reach 65 to 70% before the election because the snot kid is good for business and the CEOs will make certain that his ratings skyrocket to the top.

There will be more rigged elections in 2006 because more certified rigged voting machines are covering our country from sea to shining sea.

The war emperor will attack some country before the 2006 elections, possibly Iran, Syria, North Korea, and those three powerhouse threats Venezuela, Haiti, or Cuba.

Jesus, the Son of God, came to us in flesh. As a human being Jesus may at times feel frustrated because most Americans will not accept His Words for salvation.

Seems like it is fixed, I have not seen the double post thing that goes with it.

Yeah, I agree there hasn't been too many lately, but... twice in the last few days the link for "comments" wouldn't work for me. IE 'froze' after clicking it and I had to use ctrl/alt/delete to get out of it. Once I was able to right-click the "comments" link, choose 'copy shortcut', then paste it into the browser window to get to the comments section. Then, the last time it 'froze' on me, that didn't even work. I just went on with other surfing for awhile and tried it again. Sometimes the site will do that to me. No telling what the prob is, and it might even be on my end.

hey, happy new years you guyz!@#$

Um. . Happy New Years eve.

Happy new years after midnight~!

capt

Happy New Years to our friends in Australia!

Sibel Edmonds Calls for National Security Officials to Step Forward as Whistleblowers

War is a narcotic.

War is a narcotic. War gives certain people a high. Bush is a drug addict who says he has recovered but the Iraq war is an addictive narcotic that gives bush his daily high. He says that he has recovered but you never recover from an addictive personality. The longer a war lasts the more power goes to the government.

We start hating through language and from language we start to want to kill people. War gives the addictive personality meaning. Bush cannot exist without war. The state begins to define our being. The state must control us in order for us to kill. We cannot look at another person as part of humanity. Friends do not want war. You must, in war, want to kill and a person cannot be a friend to a person whom he is out to kill. People become intoxicated in war toward killing. You lose yourself and your identity as a human person in war.

If you oppose war, you court physical violence to yourself by the nationalists who desire and crave killing and war. You need moral courage to oppose war in America, a land that is overrun by nationalists who want killing and war.

Human beings do not want to kill other human beings. bush and cheney are not human beings because they want to kill human beings. bush and cheney turned away from people who had empathy for us after 9/11. We had an opportunity to build friendships but we became racists.

The republican party possesses extremists who are doing great damage to our relations in the world. Once you become violent, you hang onto and remain violent because you cannot behave any other way. Violence comes back to haunt a country. Our violence to other countries will come back to haunt us. We do not have the right to control other people.

I TRULY BELIEVE THAT BUSH AND CHENEY ARE PLANNING A TERRORIST ATTACK INSIDE THE USA THROUGH A COVERT OPERATION WITH THE JACKALS (CIA) SO THEY CAN REMAIN IN CONTROL AND IN POWER FOREVER.

Is Bush Worship a Cult? According to International Standards Defining Cultism, It Apparently Is

Recently, as President Bush’s poll numbers have dropped, I have noticed some alarming cult-like behavior among his hardcore supporters. In particular, when challenged by harsh facts about their Dear Leader, Bushists - like Moonies - reflexively answer allegations based on hard cold facts with nonsense and practiced nonsequitors.

This made me wonder - is Bushism a cult?
=========================
The picture is worth the trip by itself. haha

Priests and Ministers are going to jail

NSA spied on its own employees, other U.S. intelligence personnel, journalists, and members of Congress

By Wayne Madsen
NSA spied on its own employees, other U.S. intelligence personnel, and their journalist and congressional contacts. WMR has learned that the National Security Agency (NSA), on the orders of the Bush administration, eavesdropped on the private conversations and e-mail of its own employees, employees of other U.S. intelligence agencies -- including the CIA and DIA -- and their contacts in the media, Congress, and oversight agencies and offices.

The journalist surveillance program, code named "Firstfruits," was part of a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) program that was maintained at least until October 2004 and was authorized by then-DCI Porter Goss. Firstfruits was authorized as part of a DCI "Countering Denial and Deception" program responsible to an entity known as the Foreign Denial and Deception Committee (FDDC). Since the intelligence community's reorganization, the DCI has been replaced by the Director of National Intelligence headed by John Negroponte and his deputy, former NSA director Gen. Michael Hayden.

Firstfruits was a database that contained both the articles and the transcripts of telephone and other communications of particular Washington journalists known to report on sensitive U.S. intelligence activities, particularly those involving NSA. According to NSA sources, the targeted journalists included author James Bamford, the New York Times' James Risen, the Washington Post's Vernon Loeb, the New Yorker's Seymour Hersh, the Washington Times' Bill Gertz, UPI's John C. K. Daly, and this editor [Wayne Madsen], who has written about NSA for The Village Voice, CAQ, Intelligence Online, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).

In addition, beginning in 2001 but before the 9-11 attacks, NSA began to target anyone in the U.S. intelligence community who was deemed a "disgruntled employee." According to NSA sources, this surveillance was a violation of United States Signals Intelligence Directive (USSID) 18 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The surveillance of U.S. intelligence personnel by other intelligence personnel in the United States and abroad was conducted without any warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The targeted U.S. intelligence agency personnel included those who made contact with members of the media, including the journalists targeted by Firstfruits, as well as members of Congress, Inspectors General, and other oversight agencies. Those discovered to have spoken to journalists and oversight personnel were subjected to sudden clearance revocation and termination as "security risks."

In 2001, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court rejected a number of FISA wiretap applications from Michael Resnick, the FBI supervisor in charge of counter-terrorism surveillance. The court said that some 75 warrant requests from the FBI were erroneous and that the FBI, under Louis Freeh and Robert Mueller, had misled the court and misused the FISA law on dozens of occasions. In a May 17, 2002 opinion, the presiding FISA Judge, Royce C. Lamberth (a Texan appointed by Ronald Reagan), barred Resnick from ever appearing before the court again. The ruling, released by Lamberth's successor, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelley, stated in extremely strong terms, "In virtually every instance, the government's misstatements and omissions in FISA applications and violations of the Court's orders involved information sharing and unauthorized disseminations to criminal investigators and prosecutors . . . How these misrepresentations occurred remains unexplained to the court."

After the Justice Department appealed the FISC decision, the FISA Review court met for the first time in its history. The three-member review court, composed of Ralph Guy of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Edward Leavy of the 9th Circuit, and Laurence Silberman [of the Robb-Silberman Commission on 911 "intelligence failures"] of the D.C. Circuit, overturned the FISC decision on the Bush administration's wiretap requests.

Based on recent disclosures that the Bush administration has been using the NSA to conduct illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens, it is now becoming apparent what vexed the FISC to the point that it rejected, in an unprecedented manner, numerous wiretap requests and sanctioned Resnick.

#325 Alan, a picture is also priceless.

Alan @325, that is a truly frightening concept.

If you haven't read it, you should take a look at the link I posted at #283 earlier today -- that story @283 by Joe Bageant, coupled with what you posted about cultism, could explain why the bush supporters do not deal in a fact-based, reality-based world.

They are here to stay.

more crazy shyt from idiots

Bill on Illegal-Immigrant Aid Draws Fire

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 - Churches, social service agencies and immigration groups across the country are rallying against a provision in the recently passed House border-security bill that would make it a federal crime to offer services or assistance to illegal immigrants.

The measure would broaden the nation's immigrant-smuggling law so that people who assist or shield illegal immigrants would be subject to prosecution. Offenders, who might include priests, nurses or social workers, could face up to five years in prison. The proposal would also allow the authorities to seize some assets of those convicted of such a crime.
=========================
best not be teaching them English either, so they might 'fit in' better

If you haven't read it, you should take a look at the link I posted at #283 earlier today...

Yeah, I did read it. Un-fkn-believable!
I want our country back!@#$%

#325
Micki,
I agree. That article was something else. I remember when the Left Behind books first came out I had a friend who was freaking out about them. If you strayed from the straight and narrow you were going to be destroyed. It's a book. I would just stare at her for awhile and then say something that would get me destroyed.
My sister read them for the story line. I think she got tired of the books. Same pitch every book. I never wasted my time.
You know, the way I look at it, do I want to have to deal with Pat Robertson and Falwell in the afterlife? I don't even think God wants to deal with those tent evangelists. I always think of the show Rockford when I see those bible thumpers. Either Angel was telling people to believe in something or Rockford's brother would show up as an evangelist. The writers of that show had real insight into that mentality.

Jobless claims rose 3,000 last week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New claims for U.S. jobless pay rose by 3,000 last week while a separate gauge of longer-term unemployment posted a third successive weekly increase, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose to 322,000 in the week ended December 24 from an upwardly revised 319,000 in the prior week. That was modestly higher than Wall Street economists' forecasts for 320,000 claims but the prior week's claims figure was revised up from an originally reported 318,000 so the rise in claims was not far from expectations.

The closely watched four-week moving average of new claims, designed to flatten the volatility in the weekly numbers to provide a clearer picture of the job market, edged up to 325,000 in the week ended December 24 from 324,750.

The number of continued claims - a measure of how many people remained on benefit rolls after drawing an initial week of aid -- rose for a third straight week. These claims were up 85,000 to 2.72 million in the week ended December 17, the latest week for which these figures are available.

*****end of clip*****

Talk about some seeing the economy through Rove-colored glasses.

capt

Pande #306,

The other day Digby commented on the disconnect between the right's two versions of Democrats/liberals. On one hand, Dems/libs are supposedly weak on foreign policy, a bunch of hand-wringing little wussies fussing over wiretaps meant to save our great nation. On the other hand, the wingnuts are constantly whining about the power of the so-called liberal media and far-left cranks in academia. Depending on the wingnuttian circumstances, liberals/progressives are either wimps or tyrants. It's maddening.

By the way, I probably won't be reading again until tomorrow evening or later, Happy New Year to all of my fellow Cornbloggers!

Happy New Year, Don and all.

If war is a Narcotic, then chalk up Dear Franklin, Truman, JFK, Johnson, Nixon, Regan, Bush 1, Clinton and Bushie as Narcos. The truth is that War is Murder. Dresden, a nice little city that had no military significance what so ever was firebombed to the tune of 87,000 dead. The little secret of war, is not how to stop it but how to end it. We can do that by educating people to the unending toll it has on your people. Generally Speaking, Republics and Democracies are far less likely to engage in war than say Dictatorships or Socialist States. Why, because those populations can make positions of war untenable for the Policians who start them.

But, here's the problem we have here in America. Because of the position we have in the world, our number gets called more that any other to right some of the worlds wrongs. And it should be that way. With this comes responsabilities of behavior that we must be aware of and respect. I among many of my Neo-con friends believe that Bush went about this the wrong way and has damaged our standing in the world. I believe that we should be in IRAQ and we're there for the right reasons. However, we should be there with more of our friends in the UN. If, in the future, we want to avoid war then our best chance is to stand up the UN but stand it up on a steel foundation, not the straw that is sits on right now.

#337 huh?

Happy(we hope)New Year to all from soggy Northern California, who ever said it never rains here is definitly wrong!

Haaretz: U.S. preparing NATO for possible strike on Iran

Happy New Year. Sure.

Thats been in the rumor mill for a while, apparently chimpy figures on avoiding the UN this time and go directly to Shock and Awe. Risking nuclear retaliation in the process, suspiciously Armaggedonish.

Sweet Victories and Sweet Katrina

#341
What does Bush care? Somebody read the Left Behind series to him and he thinks he's got to bee line to the great bee hive in the sky.

Hey Jeanne whats this I hear, Al Franken running against Norm(the carpetbagger) Coleman. I was living in Fridley when that shill got elected. Al's got guts I hope it's true.

This is great! I guess people are out for New Year's Eve and not on-line because I haven't had ONE problem bringing up over 300 posts tonight. Flan, you won't have to write a synopsis for me.

Dinner time on the east coast too

Party responsibly everyone, see ya next year!

Den,
I live in New Brighton.

Happy New Year!

(the Old one sure has been a bitch!)

Best wishes in "Ought Six"!

-T

#283 micki, I do not know if my neocon fundamentalist relatives are into the Left Behind series but I can say that they hallucinate 24/7 and live in some kind of fairy tale land. It is interesting how Bush was able to pass his no child LEFT BEHIND bill to Congress. The No Child Left Behind is a terrible bill but the words left behind will sell the politicians to pass anything into law.

I wish that I had a psychiatric background to try assess the people who come across as good ordinary people with diccombobulated brains and thought processes. This Left Behind series has brainwashed the people.

I prefer to not "leave behind" my Bible. The Bible is God's love letter to us.

The Beatitudes

I have shared with you SHALOM as an important part of moving our world to justice and peace. Here is another part that is important from Matthew 5:1-12. The Bible is God's love letter to us. The Bible is not about a punishing and a vengeful God.

You may or may not know that when I examine my conscience I go through the Ten Commandments and the Seven Cardinal Sins. I will also go through the Beatitudes and give an example to examine in my conscience.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Do I share my gifts, talents, time, and treasure to help build the kingdom of God here on earth?

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Do I, in turn, try to assist those who are suffering?

3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Do I ever look down on others because they may not look or act like me?

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be fulfilled. When I see or hear stories of people suffering injustice, what is my response?

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. When I am wronged, am I willing to forgive?

6. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God. Do I respect the gift of my body, created in God's image?

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Do I work for peace in my country and throughout the world?

8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Am I willing to take a stand that is unpopular, but is based on gospel values?

9. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Is my life on this earth focused on the life to come?

Hopefully, born again Christians may want to read the Bible more carefully.

The Old Testament does reveal some frightening examples. But, Job convinces God to not be a punishing and a vengeful God. That is why God came among us in flesh to give us life and love.

Here are some words that blow my mind. "I have come not to be served but to serve." Please reflect on those words from time to time. The Creator of the Universe, our God, came upon earth to serve you and me. God wants to serve us. These words are beyond comprehension for me, a sinner.

Maybe the web wizards fixed a bunch of stuff?

Cheers to the web wizard(s)!

And Cheers to all of those who post on the Corn!

capt

I would have to believe that the people who are brainwashed by the Left Behind series are believers in the Old Testament and they are not Christians who believe in the Words of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Since they do not believe in Jesus Christ how can we have a dialogue with non-believers about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

GOP disillusionment with Bush grows

While die-hard Republicans try to present a unified front in support of President George W. Bush? evasion of the law and Constitution in ordering nonstop spying on Americans, splits are showing in the GOP ranks.

"What's wrong with it is several-fold," former GOP Congressman Bob Barr says of the domestic spying. "One, it is bad policy for our government to be spying on American citizens through the National Security Agency. Secondly, it's bad to be spying on Americans without court oversight. And thirdly, it's bad to be spying on Americans apparently in violation of federal laws against doing it without a court order."

Barr, one of the most conservative members of Congress when he served in the House, leads an increasing group of disenchanted Republicans who have had enough of Bush? misuse of the law and encroachment of civil liberties that are supposed to be protected by the Constitution. He has joined with fellow conservative firebrand Phyllis Schlafly and the ultra-liberal American Civil Liberties Union to fight renewal of many of the rights-robbing provisions of the USA Patriot Act.

And he? not alone. Republican Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Larry Craig of Idaho and Olympia Snowe of Maine question Bush? actions along with Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter, chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.

"I have grave doubts as to its applicability," says Specter. "The President? actions raise very fundamental questions about privacy and the Bill of Rights."

Republican strategists tell me House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist are fighting to hold GOP dissension over the President? policies in check but they may not be able to keep the anger from spilling over into public view.

Frist, hampered by questions over his insider stock sale of Hospital Corporation of America holdings, couldn? keep GOP anger from helping derail Bush? push to make the USA Patriot Act a permanent law of the land.

"The White House is particularly pissed at Frist," says one longtime GOP consultant. "They want him out as majority leader and a more hardball leader in the style of Tom DeLay in his place."

Bush is also angry with Craig, a conservative who joined with Democrats in a filibuster to defeat permanent renewal of the Patriot Act. As a meeting recently, Bush referred to Craig as "a goddamned traitor" and told the National Republican Senatorial Committee to start recruiting someone to run against the Idaho Senator in the GOP primary in 2008.

*****end of clip*****

Let us hope for more disillusionment and a new year of indictments. Whatever happen to Kkkarl? I thought it was suppose to happen before the new year?

Seems this year has support for Bunnypants down to one or two of the last hard-core, dyed in the wool, blinders wearing, excuse making trolls.

May they have an epiphany this year!

capt

#283 micki, I do know that my relatives are faithful listeners of Limbaugh and O'Reilly. I sense from their listening to Limbaugh and O'Reilly that there is a constant underlying hatred about certain people who do not think the way they think. In many ways these people are very sick people. They seem to wear blinders in their life.

#355 capt, I would love to believe the article from Capitol Hill Blue but most of the GOP in Congress are very sick people who gravitate toward lobbyists and the irreligious right.

AULD LANG SYNE

Words adapated from a traditional song
by Rabbie Burns (1759-96)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

Meanings

auld lang syne - times gone by
be - pay for
braes - hills
braid - broad
burn - stream
dine - dinner time
fiere - friend
fit - foot
gowans - daisies
guid-willie waught - goodwill drink
monie - many
morning sun - noon
paidl't - paddled
pint-stowp - pint tankard
pou'd - pulled
twa - two

*****end of clip*****

When you are ready, we can begin the Auld Lang Syne karaoke (requires Macromedia Flash). {on the linked page}

capt

As a New Years' resolution take sometime to read God's love letter to us!!!

356 & 357:

Sadly the binary logic of hate requires an enemy. To keep their herd tight they need "liberals, progressives, thinkers, and the educated" to be seen as the wolf.

They have to demonize and belittle to make themselves feel better about the gnawing questions of logic that demands they recognize the simple fact that we are all Americans, patriots and citizens.

No coincidence they call anybody that does not share their delusional views: Un-American, un-patriotic and think we should leave the country if we do not bow before their Bushitler messiah.

Too bad and too sad for them. We are Americans, we are patriots and we and not going anywhere, we will not "give-up" or surrender our country, our freedom or our way of life to a small band of crazy Bushitler nationalists. Never.

capt

Dear George Bush, from Osama bin Laden (Satire)

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Big Dave from Queens

Dear George W Bush:

Your family and mine have been business partners for almost thirty years and share a passion for ridding the world of "communists" defined of course as any person who disagrees with a Muslim fundamentalist or Christian Conservative more than ten percent of the time. Praise be Allah. Praise be Jesus. To hell with Michael Schiavo, the ACLU, those left-wing Democrats, and the abortionists. Damn liberals.

For months I warned you in advance of a pending attack on your homeland. I understand you were even briefed about those warnings (see your August 6th PDB). Fortunately for both of us, those attacks on your most liberal cities were successful. Reading My Pet Goat was so brilliant. Bet you half of the Fox News audience thinks the non-existent WMDs are hiding in that Goat.

I understood that you had to go into Afghanistan to make it appear to your citizens that you were coming after me. So while you've killed or captured the number 3 man in my organization at least 200 times, I thank you for allowing me to escape Tora Bora and remain free to roam the mountains here on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. And with your friends controlling the media and one of my financiers owning more than 5% of Fox News, my name is still Osama Bin Forgotten.

You see George I am trying to recruit members to join Al Qaeda. I want to turn moderate Arab nations into fundamentalist hotbeds and get rid of all secular governments in the Middle East. I wanted all American air bases off Saudi land and moved elsewhere. By invading Iraq, I thank you.

Saddam Hussein was my harshest enemy in the Middle East and Saddam refused to allow me or my lieutenant Zarqawi to operate in the Sunni Triangle or the Shiite South. Iran has the potential to go Western and this must not happen. With Saddam removed from power in Iraq, I “running and hiding,” nuclear Iran controlled by mullahs aligned with a Shiite-dominated Iraq, and all of Europe and Asia united against you, my dream of a greater Islamic state throughout the Middle East is almost a reality. Please continue to lay low as Iran builds those nukes. Since you don’t have any credibility left, my mullahs in Iran can wipe Israel off the map and you can have your born again Armageddon.

So George I want to thank you for doing everything on my dream list and even for allowing my Saudi family construction cartel to share in the profits of "reconstructing Iraq" with Halliburton and other US corporations. The invasion of Iraq has been a huge success as you've aligned Iran with me and weakened America so dramatically that my Saudis and China own more of your debt. George you've helped recruiting immensely, destroyed your own economy for twenty years to come, and helped kill almost 2200 staff pukes. (Our fellow conservative Rush Limbaugh uses that term to describe US soldiers.)

After September 11th I was deemed the world's most evil man. Thank you for taking my place at the top. Praise be Allah. Praise be Jesus. Both of our dreams are being realized, a world with constant violence, strife, and a clash between our versions of the two major religions. George, as a fellow religious fundamentalist who knows exactly what God thinks and wants, I am somewhat concerned about your image in the world. Because of you, every democracy in Europe and South America has turned dramatically to the left. But with the grace of Allah and Jesus perhaps we can eliminate these liberals altogether.

Sincerely,

"Osama Bin Laden"

Heck of a Job, Bushie
by Paul Krugman
The New York Times
December 30, 2005

A year ago, everyone expected President Bush to get his way on Social Security. Pundits warned Democrats that they were making a big political mistake by opposing plans to divert payroll taxes into private accounts.

A year ago, everyone thought Congress would make Mr. Bush's tax cuts permanent, in spite of projections showing that doing so would lead to budget deficits as far as the eye can see. But Congress hasn't acted, and most of the cuts are still scheduled to expire by the end of 2010.

A year ago, Mr. Bush made many Americans feel safe, because they believed that he would be decisive and effective in an emergency. But Mr. Bush was apparently oblivious to the first major domestic emergency since 9/11. According to Newsweek, aides to Mr. Bush finally decided, days after Hurricane Katrina struck, that they had to show him a DVD of TV newscasts to get him to appreciate the seriousness of the situation.

A year ago, before "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" became a national punch line, the rising tide of cronyism in government agencies and the rapid replacement of competent professionals with unqualified political appointees attracted hardly any national attention.

A year ago, hardly anyone outside Washington had heard of Jack Abramoff, and Tom DeLay's position as House majority leader seemed unassailable.

A year ago, Dick Cheney, who repeatedly cited discredited evidence linking Saddam to 9/11, and promised that invading Americans would be welcomed as liberators - although he hadn't yet declared that the Iraq insurgency was in its "last throes" - was widely admired for his "gravitas."

A year ago, Howard Dean - who was among the very few prominent figures to question Colin Powell's prewar presentation to the United Nations, and who warned, while hawks were still celebrating the fall of Baghdad, that the occupation of Iraq would be much more difficult than the initial invasion - was considered flaky and unsound.

A year ago, it was clear that before the Iraq war, the administration suppressed information suggesting that Iraq was not, in fact, trying to build nuclear weapons. Yet few people in Washington or in the news media were willing to say that the nation was deliberately misled into war until polls showed that most Americans already believed it.

A year ago, the Washington establishment treated Ayad Allawi as if he were Nelson Mandela. Mr. Allawi's triumphant tour of Washington, back in September 2004, provided a crucial boost to the Bush-Cheney campaign. So did his claim that the insurgents were "desperate." But Mr. Allawi turned out to be another Ahmad Chalabi, a hero of Washington conference rooms and cocktail parties who had few supporters where it mattered, in Iraq.

A year ago, when everyone respectable agreed that we must "stay the course," only a handful of war critics suggested that the U.S. presence in Iraq might be making the violence worse, not better. It would have been hard to imagine the top U.S. commander in Iraq saying, as Gen. George Casey recently did, that a smaller foreign force is better "because it doesn't feed the notion of occupation."

A year ago, Mr. Bush hadn't yet openly reneged on Scott McClellan's 2003 pledge that "if anyone in this administration was involved" in the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity, that person "would no longer be in this administration." Of course, some suspect that Mr. Bush has always known who was involved.

A year ago, we didn't know that Mr. Bush was lying, or at least being deceptive, when he said at an April 2004 event promoting the Patriot Act that "a wiretap requires a court order. ...When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution."

A year ago, most Americans thought Mr. Bush was honest.

A year ago, we didn't know for sure that almost all the politicians and pundits who thundered, during the Lewinsky affair, that even the president isn't above the law have changed their minds. But now we know when it comes to presidents who break the law, it's O.K. if you're a Republican.

Mysterious microbe makes life hell for victims who don't die Intestinal bacterium baffles specialists on infectious disease

Washington -- First came stomach cramps, which left Christina Shultz doubled over and weeping in pain. Then came nausea and fatigue -- so overwhelming she could not get out of bed for days.

Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, the nastiest diarrhea of her life hit -- repeatedly forcing her into the hospital.

Doctors finally discovered that the 35-year-old woman from Hilliard, Ohio, had an intestinal bug that used to be found almost exclusively among older, sicker patients in hospitals and, usually, was easily cured with a dose of antibiotics. But after months of treatment, Shultz is still incapacitated.

"It's been a nightmare," said Shultz, a mother of two young children. "I just want my life back."

Shultz is one of a growing number of young, otherwise healthy Americans who are being stricken by the bacterial infection known as Clostridium difficile -- or C. diff -- which appears to be spreading rapidly around the country and causing unusually severe, sometimes fatal illness.

[snip]

"We don't really know what's going on here," McDonald said. "We know it's changing in some ways; we know it's changing the kinds of patients it's attacking, and we know it's causing more severe disease. But we don't know exactly why."

Canadian researchers, however, have found one possible culprit: popular new heartburn drugs. Patients taking proton pump inhibitors, such as Prilosec and Prevacid, are almost three times as likely to be diagnosed with C-diff, the McGill University researchers reported in the Dec. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Those taking another type called H2-receptor antagonists, such as Pepcid and Zantac, are twice as likely. By suppressing stomach acid, the drugs may inadvertently help the bug, the researchers said.

*****end of clip*****

We used to take a fair amount of heartburn medicine. Then we cleaned up our diet and we never have heartburn these days.

Careful with this one it seems very serious and very bad.

capt

The Laws of Irony Are Strictly Enforced

In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, in response to the question whether President Bush is a "uniter" or a "divider," 49 percent of Americans said uniter, and 49 percent said divider.

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Bunnypants supporters will say it shows Bush is a uniter and reality based thinking beings will say it is obviously evidence of a divider, the Bushbots will say we can agree to disagree.

capt

Ooop's

The Laws of Irony Are Strictly Enforced

In a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, in response to the question whether President Bush is a "uniter" or a "divider," 49 percent of Americans said uniter, and 49 percent said divider.

*****end of clip*****

Bunnypants supporters will say it shows Bush is a uniter and reality based thinking beings will say it is obviously evidence of a divider, the Bushbot will say we can agree to disagree.

capt

happy new year to all -
flan, if you can see this, thank you for painting me in a favorable light!

Good lighting is important when you paint favorably!

HA!

capt

I can't be the only one to not wish everybody a happy New Year!

Let us all hope the new year brings:

Jail for the criminals already indicted
indictments for the criminals still unindicted
impeachment for president Cheney and his puppet

Jobs for the jobless
homes for the homeless
food for the hungry
medicine for the afflicted
hope for the needy

peace in the war torn countries
love for the hateful
acceptance and tolerance

A better future for the children

Humanity and concern for truth and all that is right and correct and just.

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it – always." ~ Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

Think of it – always

capt

Is it all better yet?

-T

Administration Seeks To Raise Debt Limit For Fourth Consecutive Year

Treasury Secretary John Snow, in a letter to lawmakers, said Thursday that the Bush Administration will soon ask Congress to raise the government's debt ceiling, now capped at $8.18 trillion.

It will be the fourth time in as many years that the administration will seek to increase the debt limit. Failure to do so would likely cause a federal default by March -- an unimaginable crisis that would rattle bond markets, force interest rates higher and shake the economy.

Congress is likely to raise the limit by next month.

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When are the fiscal conservatives going to say ENOUGH ALREADY?

capt

The Magical Victory Tour

While Iraq burns, the president keeps playing the same old song

December 7th, 10:44 a.m., the sixty-fourth anniversary of Pearl Harbor day. I've just woken up with a line of drool on my face in the back row of a ballroom at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., where any minute now President George W. Bush will give the second address of his barnburning four-speech "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" tour.

There are no T-shirts for this concert tour, but if there were, the venue list on the back would make for one of the weirder souvenirs in rock & roll history. U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, November 30th, no advance publicity, closed audience: check. Here at the Omni, December 7th, again no advance warning, handpicked audience, ten reporters max (no one else knew about it), with even the cashiers in the hotel's coffee shop unaware of the president's presence: check. Dates three and four, venues and dates unknown for security reasons: check and check.

This is how President Bush takes his message to the people these days: in furtive sneak-attack addresses to closed audiences of elite friendlies at weird early-morning hours. If you want to catch Bush's act in person during this tour, you have to stalk him for days and keep both ears open for last-minute changes of plan; I actually missed the Annapolis speech when I made the mistake of briefly taking my eye off him the day before.

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The clip does not do justice to the whole piece.

capt

Searchers Key In On Ivory-billed Woodpecker Habitat

Elvis. That is the nickname that Larry Mallard, refuge manager for the White River National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Arkansas, uses for the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), now being sought in Mallard's woods by Cornell Lab of Ornithology staffers and volunteers.

Mallard betrays a hint of mixed feelings: He has been managing the area for other endangered species, but only since the woodpecker's rediscovery has the refuge's conservation needs received any attention.

"Elvis is the rock star," said Mallard about the elusive woodpecker. "It's one thing to have endangered species. It's another thing to have a species that's been gone for 60 years that reappeared." But he fully appreciates that the bird has brought attention, and could bring money, to the area in an era when national wildlife refuge budgets are low. "You've got to take advantage of what comes along."

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Do we have to call our IBW Elvis? Inquiring minds want to know.

capt

Even though we are a Nazi nation, we can still go beyond ourselves and seek to better our world by eliminating wars that are embedded in the American psyche through the lies of a two bit snot of a kid. We can also go beyond ourselves to pursue foreign governments to offer their citizens hope for a better world. We can also go beyond ourselves to work to decrease poverty and diseases throughout the world. We can go beyond ourselves to not be afraid and let Jesus enter our lives.

I see that the NYT dragged Bill Safire out of retirement so they could publish his 32nd Annual Office Pool list of prognostications.

If I were a sabbath gasbag or a prognosticating pundit, I would wager that the Bush/Cheney cabal is going to topple in '06 because the American Sheeple are waking up to these trials, scandals, crimes, lies, so far under-investigated events, etc....

AIPAC, FISA, Abramoff, Phase II, torture scandal, gulags in Eastern Europe, WMD lies, cooked pre-war intelligence, Pentagon passing secrets to Israel, Niger uranium flap, Bob Ney, Tom DeLay, Ken Lay, the Lincoln Group, renditions, the Christian Right's involvement in scandals, our military's use of Willy Pete, the Chalabi debacle, Diebold, Libby, on and on and on...

Then I realized, nah...the American Sheeple will continue in their slumber.

Possibly the only thing that will get their attention is if someone catches bush GIVING someone a blowjob. Getting one won't do the trick.

While Fending Off DoJ, Google Continues Longstanding Relationship With Intelligence

HSToday.us exclusively reports in its online editor's column, "The Kimery Report," that while Google is refusing a Department of Justice (DoJ) subpoena to turn over its records in a pornography-related investigation, it is continuing to cooperate with US intelligence agencies to provide national and homeland security-related user information from its vast databases, according to sources attending a conference last week of intelligence officials.