David,

An interesting take on words from an interesting mind...

Any chance for a full transcript, somewhere?

-T

"Who is the big threat in the world?"

According to certain trolls, it's peace activists!

wow...

Now that is a badass. Where are all the pragmatists?

Bill, why haven't you provided a link or a url to this 42 page DOJ document to which you're so keen on debating the merits of? a summary of it can be found HERE, and a pdf link to the actual document HERE.
you want to debate this document? fine.
the very first sentence of the summary (summarized by the DOJ itself) contains a falsehood::
on sept.11 2001 the al qaeda terrorist network launched the deadliest foreign attack on american soil in history.
sorry Bill, and everybody, but examination of the real evidence (that wasn't hidden, destroyed, manufactured, or gagged) leads to the surprising conclusion that 911 was perpetrated by none other than a faction within our own govt. so right off the bat this DOJ document is predicated on falsehoods (to put it mildly). if you wish to have a debate about 911, then I suggest you wake up first as I'm tired of spinning my wheels needlessly. a little farther down in this summary it states Congress authorized the president to "use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons HE determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks of 911...."
so, unless the president is "using all necessary and appropriate force" against the cabal/faction of which he is undoubtedly a part of, this DOJ authorization is meaningless, aside from allowing the president to spy on whomever he chooses.
so, here is a question for YOU Bill, why are many anti-war groups and peaceniks being spied upon? is cindy sheehan et al a terrorist appeaser?

LBH, correction noted, my mistake.

Go Ducks!!!!

There's much to respond to in this installment from David...I'll go to one comment that Odom made:

"Spreading democracy is a very bad idea. Spreading constitutional order is a very good idea. And we don't have a clue how to do it."

No, we don't have a clue. Witness the ominous signs right here at home with the bush cabal's total disregard for our constitution and the law. "Signing statements" are not mentioned in our constitution; not anywhere does the constitution give a president the power that bush claims. bush says whatever he SAYS is law. How can we bring constitutional order to other nations?

Oh, well...

bush and his boyfriends may decide to withdraw troops from Iraq, but only if they calculate that it would exponentially increase their power...otherwise it ain't gonna happen. It took a long time for 58,000 U.S. soldiers to die in Viet Nam. bush doesn't back down (right, kathleen? good trait, huh?)...Americans are "defeat phobic" not "casualty phobic" and the busheviks are counting on that!

Thanks David for your post and allowing us to post here also. This is a great forum with many diverse people all wishing only for truth....There are certain individuals, we call trolls that continuously post here professing the current administrations actions as unquestionable. I am glad to see The Military question the actions of the Bush adminisration. It gives us skeptics hope that we are not alone in the belief there is something very wrong with what is happening in this country. I believe there is a deliberate effort by the administration to devolve us back in time prior to 1776. Their continual defiance of the constitution as the rule of law is frightening. The lack of the MSM to tackle the many issues we face is also disconcerting as well. Many of the signs are there, the nazifacation of our once gloriously FREE country has commenced. It is through blogs such as this we truthseekers find information that the MSM will not discuss. Once again I thank you for providing us with the tools necessary to analyze the motivations behind the administrations actions. I hope my suspicions are wrong but I believe increasing evidence will prove otherwise.

Rachel Hunter is a big fat elephant.

"Spreading democracy is a very bad idea. Spreading constitutional order is a very good idea. And we don't have a clue how to do it."

Why are we so clueless?

I mean what's so hard about spreading a "Goddamned piece of Paper?"

Mr. Corn, I must say this is one of your finer posts in a long time.

Gen. Odom seems like a very smart individual, and his solution would most likely work except for one small detail:: while the Iraq war is bad for Iraq, America, and the entire world in general, it has and can only continue to be a windfall for the bushco war machine; what is the monetary cost of this war? 6 BILLION/month? where does that money come from and where does it go? it is created out of thin air and it goes into the pockets of the likes of the carlyle group and GE.
the Odom solution could only work if bushco truly was looking for a way out. sorry, but they are NOT.

January 20, 2009

I wake up today in the New American Republic and turn on the television. Sean Hannity is on Freedom News announcing the names of a dozen terrorist helpers to be publicly executed on the mall in Washington D.C. Afterwards Sean begins to discuss the annexing of Canada into the New Republic. I take my government issue detoxification pill and cook up a pot of metallic tasting Walmart coffee. I open my kitchen window. Outside it is a hazy 70 degrees. Now President Bush is on Freedom News announcing the old U.S. Capitol building will be converted into The Dick Cheney Liberty Museum. My dishes rattle as another Apache helicopter rumbles overhead. I almost scowl, but then I remember the cameras that have rested in my house for the past year.
Now President Bush is thanking the American people for unanimously electing him for his third term. He vows to keep the New American Republic safe from freedom hating terrorists. I hear the soft whirr of the little Diebold camera as it follows me across the room. I gulp my last bitter sip of coffee and put my shirt on over the flesh colored freedom bracelet that records my movements...

More keyboard activism from Sen. Harry Reid and other patriotic American Politicians, HERE

What is the tipping point for the bullshit to end? If this whitewash the DOJ just pooped out in defense of the illegal wiretapping passes muster...I think it's time to take things a different route. All disobedience need not be civil. Hitler would have just killed Ghandi and MLK Jr.

Stop corky youre scaring me!

corky,

MY bracelet is red, white and BLUE! Does that mean I'm excused from today's 2 minutes of HATE?

Can I get my coffee at "GOLDstar BUCKS?"

btw,

How's the job search goin'? With your, uhm, expertise, I'd suggest something in the medical/clerical field. Weaseling my way into an ER position over 6.5 years ago has given me access to Docs and other healthcare benefits that most in my financial bracket will never see!

-T

David said..."He did not beat about any bushes."

HA! I'd like to beat about "some Bushes"!!!

"Weaseling my way into an ER position over 6.5 years ago has given me access to Docs and other healthcare benefits that most in my financial bracket will never see!"

Oh, yeah...I ALSO recommend a romantic partnership with a licensed Nurse/Practicioner, too!

GPS gamers identified as terrorists

"Wild-Goose Chasing and" and "Snipe Hunting"
____________________
POLICE FEARING Al-Qaeda will attack Idaho have come close to shooting those who play the latest technology fad, Geocaching.
Geocaching is a treasure hunt where players use the latest GPS technology to find goodies and clues.

You would think that such a game would not attract the concern of the authorities, particularly when similar fads like Chaos, involved going up to a target and shooting them with a water pistol.MO

Scot Tintsman was surrounded by police as he stashed a green bucket under an Idaho highway bridge last September. He was just about to post the location of the bucket on the Internet so others can find it.

At the time, he was trying to turn off his MP3 player and the cops thought he was going for his detonator. Fortunately they didn’t blow his brains out. Instead he was charged with placing debris on public property and could end up with a $300 fine.
_______________

You have the right to DIE, suckah!

"Hide-n-Seek","Wild-Goose Chasing" and "Snipe Hunting" soon to be outlawed...

-T

Tintsman, whose geocache sat high above the whitewater of Idaho's Payette River, was charged with placing debris on public property, a misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail and a $300 fine.

County prosecutor Matthew Williams said that he is not seeking jail time but that he would like restitution for the expense of the law enforcement response.
_____________

So, the "Authorities" overreact and this poor schmo is expected to pay for it!

Only in Amerikka! Say it with me..."Papers, please!"

-T

Don't forget the data fishing expedition in the name of "child porn". Pardon me but cant these snoopologists just "Google" the word child porn and locate it from there? Duh! Or maybe it isnt porn at all.....Naw.

DEN,

Found another low paying dead end job! Gotta love that "strong economy".

Speaking of "strong economy" I wonder how happy Happy is about his beloved stocks today.

When the CIA tried to hit Ayman Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's No. 2, with a missile fired from a Predator drone and ended up killing more than a dozen civilians as well as four or so people later identified as "foreign terrorists" in a Pakistani village near the border of Afghanistan, that was dumb. When George W. Bush did not quickly apologize, offer compensation to the victims and announce there would be an immediate investigation, that was also dumb. For with this strike, the Bush administration essentially aided the enemy, who now can point to this episode as proof that Bush does not give a damn about innocent Muslim lives (which is what many people in the Arab world already suspect).

tompaine.com

(yay)

(yay)

yay

When our soldiers hear politicians in Washington question the mission they are risking their lives to accomplish, it hurts their morale. - bush

is that what hurts their morale? or is it this::
US Troops Lose Death Benefits If They Use Private Body Armor

"I don't know where [Osama bin Laden] is. I'll repeat what I said: I am truly not that concerned about him." - bush

osama bin laden - diabolical boogey man or govt scapegoat?

osama bin laden - evil supergenius?

yay is for yorses

argh

I did it! I posted a link! yay for me!!!

Great job corky! Hope my info helped.

Im outa here, please view the vid I posted on the previous thread regardin the PBS Mcneil episode from last nite, I dont think the OBL tape is legit. Question Authority!

General Odom seems like a smart individual. Personally, I also consider him truthful. What is deadly is a stupid person (Bush) and an untruthful person (Bush). I would prefer a stupidly truthful person over a stupidly untruthful person, aka Bush.

Evangelicals in the UNA, aka United Nazis of America, are a key component in corruption, greed, and lies in the UNA.

Their religious song in the UNA is "Onward wayward bushian soldiers." They are fighting to preserve hatred, murders, torture, war crimes, corruption, greed, and lies in the UNA.

Bushianity is the embedded religion of the UNA.

the issue of osama is based on 911.
the whole global war on terror revolves around 911.
the invasion of afghanistan was based on 911.
the war in Iraq is based on 911. ("find a way to blame this on saddam" - rumsfeld, 9/11/01)
the dept of homeland security (which does absolutely nothing to secure america) was brought into being as a result of 911.
the patriot act (which has it's roots in a very similar document/act by the nazis) was enacted because of 911.
the NSA spying on americans uses 911 as an excuse.

yet despite having such a huge bearing on today's world, very few people are willing to look at the actual facts surrounding 911. I say that all media outlets, blogs, and politicians that are unwilling to investigate/discuss 911 are without credibility. I WOULD WELCOME BEING PROVEN WRONG!

geocities.com/killtown

#20 what exactly is in Idaho that would be worth attacking, it might just be an improvement. Paranoid government or just trying to instill that fleeting emotion of panic into the public sphere. Watch your neighbors, watch your friends, watch everything them evil terrorists are all around us and going getcha!! Feeling safer yet? Remember we have an idiot protecting us, and look how good he has done so far.

Perhaps the typical, non-royal, average citizen
of Saudi Arabia should be allowed to address
the entire American ( taxpaying ) public.

I realize it is a long shot, but just think what MIGHT have been prevented if
certain Saudi Arabians had been able to
openly express themselves with WORDS
twenty years ago.

Now we should prevent terrorism , maybe ,
BY ALLOWING THE
VERY PEOPLE MOST LIKELY
T O D O A ' BIG - TIME '
TerroRist attack TO SPEAK AT

US instead of killing us.

( as if this needs 2 b typed in ....
) call me a racist against Saudi
Arabians or whatever , you know
there's 'something ' in what I say !

Anderson Petition

First post of 2006 ( was I missed ????????? ?????? ? ? Awwww, you
are too kind .... )

(what do you think?)

38
well, since you're here, I obviously missed. just kidding!

Bishop Gumbleton

I have sent Bishop Gumbleton a copy of Bill Moyers' speech, "Let's get Jesus back." Here is part of his letter to me.

Bill Moyers lays out the challenge before us. I pray that we as a country can Let's get Jesus back as he says and this becomes a country where the stock market is not the ultimate arbiter; where economic disparity is dealt with fairly; and where the principles of justice and love for all become a reality.

good link corky!
the poor washington post just doesn't understand why their circulation #'s are falling. maybe it's because they blindly followed the bushco talking points regarding the WMD falsities that lead up to the war. falsities that many blogs with no budget whatsoever were only too happy to point out.

# 40 , I'm impressed . I congratulate
you on your wit. Are you familiar with
the musical recordings of " Michael Franti
and Spearhead " ? ? I recommend that
particular musical ' revolution ' as much
for its political spoutings as its wicked
sense (s) of humor . I also think Billy
Bragg CAN BE funny ; occasionally it
is necessary , if only to allow the rest of us time to recover .

Anyway, I'm still approaching Internet
users, in my forever-menacing manner ( teee heeeeee teeeeeeee HA HARDY HAR HAR )
and asking people
to sign the petition
at www.warisaracket.org

Because, evidently, war IS
a racket.

" They say the punishment is capital
for those who lacking capital "
----------- Michael Franti
and Spearhead ,
" Crime to be Broke in America "

What DEN said at #9 !!

Yeah, what DEN said at # 9 ......

Mainstream Media is aiming for money,
not to educate anybody ........

A. P.

wtf,

My point being that if they'd gone ahead and blown the fool away, they likely would've invoked the "Well we THOUGHT he was one'a them thar teristas!" And, like the British Bobbies, like the "Air Marshalls", what they THOUGHT (wrongly) is somehow their salvation for murder!

(You can extrapolate that mindset to launching an unfounded, illegal and immoral ivasion, if you have friends in high places!)

-t

General Odom's views on Iraq as summarized by David Corn: I agree 100%. It is a brilliant point of view that must be heard. And we must act quickly while we still have some leverage or ability to compel other often freeloading countries to assume some burden to fix Bush's awful mess. A new and decent administration would be able to build off it. But the neo-cons don't really care about results, national security, lives or the good of the country in general. Job one for them is acquire and maintain power. Thus, they will never do anything even hinting at admission of a mistake.

Off topic to Corky: I think you live in the DC area, no? I will not be able to look back into this site until later tonight, but post a way for me to contact you if you can. I would like to see if I can help you with some job contacts, but I won't put my e-mail on here for the multi-headed trolls. Cheers.

I thought I was signing the petition but it doesn't seem to have registered my signature?

General Odom says we'll need at least 700,000 troops in the Middle East to accomplish the neocon goals. I call on all the military-age civilian members of the 82nd Chairborne Fighting Keyboard Commandos, some of whom post right here on this blog, to abandon their parents' basements and go down to their Army or Marine recruiters and sign up for their Dear Leader's jihad, oops, crusade, against "terra"!

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

*crickets chirping*

What am I saying? Of COURSE they won't sign up! The actual, dangerous work of fighting and dying for Empire, oops, freedom, is what all the Jose Rodriguezes and Cornelius Joneses and Billy Bob McCoy, Jrs. are for.

Friday night's work coming and then the glorious weekend! I must be going now; those trees won't peck themselves, you know! (TTWPTYK)

From the swamps of Arkansas, Ivory Bill Woodpecker

James Ha @#29, not saying that they might not try to change the rules on death benefit payments, but according to SGLI:

How Can SGLI Coverage be Forfeited?

"The coverage provided by the SGLI program will be forfeited only when an insured member is found guilty of mutiny, treason, spying, or desertion, or refuses, because of conscientious objections, to perform service in the Armed Forces of the United States, or refuses to wear the uniform of such force.

No insurance shall be payable for death inflicted as a lawful punishment for crime or for military or naval offense except when inflicted by an enemy of the United States."

see rumors and myths here

hmmm, it's possible that the SGLI would use this clause:: or refuses to wear the uniform of such force. from the link at 51, as a way out of paying death benefits. or it's possible that the link at 29 is untrue:: The soldiers were ordered to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action.
for some reason I wouldn't be surprised if the soldiers were actually told that.

Gen. Odom "you're committing the greatest strategic disaster in American history".

So many said similar things before the invasion..Ritter, Zinni, Cia analyst Zbigniew Bryzinski..etc.etc.

According to Michael Ledeen you call this "CREATIVE DESTRUCTION". I call it a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.

James, I wouldn't put anything past them. I do think it is interesting that, reportedly, the "brass" are "testing" the armor. Aside from the fact, that the brass is seldom in the same dangerous situatons as the grunts, what happens if they get killed wearing the Dragon Skin?

Somehow I think their survivors would receive death benefits, don't you?

James Ha,

Great links at #5. Sorry, I was trying to get some things done at work today, and didn't have time.

First, you mentioned that anti-war groups and Cindy Sheehan were being spied upon. If that is the case, I would be truly outraged. It would be Richard Nixon all over again.

Do you have any proof of this?

Second, I take if from your post that you do not believe that Osama Bin Laden and his minions were responsible for 9-11, correct?

If that is the case, and you represent the posters to this blog, I guess you and I don't really have anything to debate.

Does James represent the thinking of you folks, i.e., that Osama was not responsible for 9-11?

Pandemoniac post # 151

"Timmie, you have questions and like RadioShack, we have answers.

Why did Al Qaeda reps meet with Saddam? So that Saddam could get them off his ass. Alan was right. They hated each other. From page 61 of the 911 Commission Report:

"Saddam Hussein, had never had an Islamist agenda—save for his opportunistic pose as a defender of the faithful against “Crusaders” during the Gulf War of 1991. Moreover, Bin Ladin had in fact been sponsoring anti-Saddam Islamists in Iraqi Kurdistan, and sought to attract them into his Islamic army. To protect his own ties with Iraq, Turabi reportedly brokered an agreement that Bin Ladin would stop supporting activities against Saddam. Bin Ladin apparently honored this pledge, at least for a time, although he continued to aid a group of Islamist extremists operating in part of Iraq (Kurdistan) outside of Baghdad’s control."
_________________________________________________

Once again Pandemoniac, you spewing propaganda. The 9/11 commission also pointed that Saddam Hussein offered safe haven to al Qaeda and vice versa. Now, if they were trying to get each other off of their backs, they wouldn't be offering safe haven to each other lmao!!! They didn't hate each other, they weren't the closest of allies, but they still had contacts which could potentially have been collaberative.

"With the Sudanese regime acting as intermediary, Bin Ladin himself met with a senior Iraqi intelligence officer in Khartoum in late 1994 or early 1995. Bin Ladin is said to have asked for space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but there is no evidence that Iraq responded to this request.55 As described below, the ensuing years saw additional efforts to establish connections."

"In mid-1998, the situation reversed; it was Iraq that reportedly took the initiative. In March 1998, after Bin Ladin's public fatwa against the United States, two al Qaeda members reportedly went to Iraq to meet with Iraqi intelligence. In July, an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with Bin Ladin. Sources reported that one, or perhaps both, of these meetings was apparently arranged through Bin Ladin's Egyptian deputy, Zawahiri, who had ties of his own to the Iraqis. In 1998, Iraq was under intensifying U.S. pressure, which culminated in a series of large air attacks in December.75"

"Similar meetings between Iraqi officials and Bin Ladin or his aides may have occurred in 1999 during a period of some reported strains with the Taliban. According to the reporting, Iraqi officials offered Bin Ladin a safe haven in Iraq. Bin Ladin declined, apparently judging that his circumstances in Afghanistan remained more favorable than the Iraqi alternative. The reports describe friendly contacts and indicate some common themes in both sides' hatred of the United States."

They offered each other safe haven for crying out loud, and you Pande can tell me with a straight face that they HATED each other???

Also, the Clinton administration made 2 links between Iraq and al Qaeda, the 1998 indictment of bin Laden and the Operation Desert Fox, where Clinton ordered the bombing of a pharmacutical plant in Sudan because of an Iraq and al Qaeda ties!!! Even Richard Clarke admitted this in 1999. Not in 2004 when he was trying to bring down a sitting president! (of course!)

Plus, Ansar al Islam, operated not only in Northern Iraq, out of Hussein's control, but in Baghdad, Iraq, in Hussein's control!! Ansar al Islam is an al Qaeda affiliate with ties to Saddam Hussein. He did have a collaberative operational with Ansar al Islam.

Also, Ramsey Youssef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing was the nephew and associate of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the MASTERMIND of 9/11!! And guess where Ramsey Youssef got safe haven after he fled in 1993?? Baghdad, Iraq!!! Wait a minute!!! A secularist like Saddam shouldn't be collaberating with a fundamentalist like Youssef!!! They hated each other!!!

And there's no Iraq/al Qaeda link, even after the Clinton administration concluded there was!?!? You're so full of shit!!
But then again, I'm speaking with someone who thought President Clinton waged an aggressive war on terror (LMFAO) treating terrorist attacks as a criminal action, not a military action.

And I'll tell you why Bush COULDN'T have lied about Iraq having WMDs, because the intelligence he cited was BACKED UP by Britain, Russia, Australia, Germany, France, Egypt, Jordan and China, as well as the Clinton administration. So unless your arguement is that these countries were in the tank for the Bush administration, then you're a fool. Plus, France, Russia, Germany and Egypt were AGAINST the Iraq war!! So citing intelligence that was said verbatim by the Clinton administration and backed up by foriegn countries isn't a lie.

"We've been around and around in circles over this. Chimpy chose to attack a secular nation with minimal ties to Terrorism, no WMD, no nuclear program and lots of yummy oil when we still had not finished our mission to kick Osama's ass."

Iraq, did NOT have minimal ties to terrorism, it had strong ties, as the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee Invesitgation, that YOUR party(democratic) called for pointed out:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/congress/2004_rpt/iraq-wmd-intell_chapter12-r.htm

Iraqi Links to Terrorism Conclusions
(U) Conclusion 90. The Central Intelligence Agency's assessment that Saddam Hussein was most likely to use his own intelligence service operatives to conduct attacks was reasonable, and turned out to be accurate.

( ) PARAGRAPH DELETED

(U) Conclusion 91. The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) assessment that Iraq had maintained ties to several secular Palestinian terrorist groups and with the Mujahidin e-Khalq was supported by the intelligence. The CIA was also reasonable in judging that Iraq appeared to have been reaching out to more effective terrorist groups, such as Hizballah and Hamas, and might have intended to employ such surrogates in the event of war.

( ) PARAGRAPH DELETED

(U) Conclusion 92. The Central Intelligence Agency's examination of contacts, training, safehaven and operational cooperation as indicators of a possible Iraq-al-Qaida relationship was a reasonable and objective approach to the question.

( ) PARAGRAPH DELETED

(U) Conclusion 93. The Central Intelligence Agency reasonably assessed that there were likely several instances of contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida throughout the 1990s, but that these contacts did not add up to an established formal relationship.

Conclusion 94. The Central Intelligence Agency reasonably and objectively assessed in Iraqi Support for Terrorism that the most problematic area of contact between Iraq and al-Qaida were the reports of training in the use of non-conventional weapons, specifically chemical and biological weapons. SENTENCE DELETED

( ) PARAGRAPH DELETED

( ) PARAGRAPH DELETED

(U) Conclusion 95. The Central Intelligence Agency's assessment on safehaven - that al-Qaida or associated operatives were present in Baghdad and in northeastern Iraq in an area under Kurdish control - was reasonable.

( ) PARAGRAPH DELETED

(U) Conclusion 96. The Central Intelligence Agency's assessment that to date there was no evidence proving Iraqi complicity or assistance in an al-Qaida attack was reasonable and objective. No additional information has emerged to suggest otherwise.

( ) PARAGRAPH DELETED

(U) Conclusion 97. The Central Intelligence Agency's judgment that Saddam Hussein, if sufficiently desperate, might employ terrorists with a global reach - al-Qaida - to conduct terrorist attacks in the event of war, was reasonable. No information has emerged thus far to suggest that Saddam did try to employ al-Qaida in conducting terrorist attacks.

( ) PARAGRAPH DELETED

(U) Conclusion 98. The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) assessments on Iraq's links to terrorism were widely disseminated, though an early version of a key CIA assessment was disseminated only to a limited list of cabinet members and some subcabinet officials in the Administration.

( ) PARAGRAPH DELETED

caroline, I hope that survivors would get the benefits.

Yea! Corky.
Way to link.

I think empires lose sight of a very fundamental idea. The masses truly control the nation. If the masses are not happy there will be trouble. There will be turmoil. There will be an undermining of leadership. Bush and his 'enlightened' crew went into Iraq thinking they were going to just slap democracy in place. The Iraqi people want democracy right? I don't know. Who in our government knows? Who researched it? I doubt anybody.

The trick is to understand what the masses really want, what will keep them content. Is it religion? Maybe. Is it a free society? Maybe. But underneath that umbrella there has to be security, a transportation system, electricity, water, food, jobs, safe environment, healthcare, etc.

For the life of me, I can't figure out why the Bush administration didn't grasp this very elementary fact. Bush doesn't hate poor people. He doesn't look upon them as human. He doesn't hate Iraqi people and the Iranians. To him they are not human. They are point B in an outline of an agenda. Ok, I understand that but didn’t somebody realize his insensitivity and his lack of human understanding were the road to immediate failure? And the fact that no one in the administration did realize this, is it not a neon sign to the other branches of government? And when are congress and the pentagon going to finally wake up and tell the president he’s a fuckup? Because that’s what needs to happen. The man and his administration are clueless. I’m not sure they are capable of tying their own shoes.

Corky #13

[...put my shirt on over the flesh colored freedom bracelet that records my movements...]

And what color exactly is "flesh" color? Just asking.

Tim L,

Sometimes I wonder if Pandemoniac is a great propogandist or just as stupid as a sack of hair.

I hope for the sake of his own intelligence that he doesn't actually believe what he's saying.

Bill, no I do not think that osama was behind 911. not only has there been NO evidence of his involvement, but the evidence that IS readily available points to 911 being an inside job.

I admit that I only heard of NSA spying on cindy sheehan from my neighbor, and have not looked for a verification of that yet. you asked for proof; I have none.

now, I ask YOU; who told you that osama was behind 911? is there any proof of THAT? I would be most interested in seeing ANY verification of that!

ok - I just googled NSA spying on Cindy Sheehan, and can find no evidence that the NSA was indeed spying on her. I should have done this earlier before opening my big mouth.

however, I stand 100% behind my statement that 911 was an inside job, and challenge ANYONE, ESPECIALLY GOVT. AND MEDIA MUCKITY MUX TO PROVE OTHERWISE!

James, Caroline,

From what I've heard, the military has tried to weasel out of paying benefits for soldiers who were killed while operating "junyard armored" vehilces as well. The primary claim is that such encumbrances caused vehicles to operate at below specified performance and contributed to the likelyhood of injury or death.

When soldiers started standing up and asking why they weren't being provided with properly armed vehicles, such refusals to limit benefits quickly (and quietly) went away and benefits were granted.

While factory-armored HMMV's, improved designs like the BUFFALO and others are proving to help,(Spec.Spank has trained on one and is likely to operate one in Iraq) but the best body armour is still mostly only the difference between a soldier's family recieving death benefits, or a shattered-body soldier recieving long-term VA care.

The "insurgency" isn't static. Every improvement to armor and tactics has been met with greatly improved IED's and fire-fight tactics learned by the ongoing conflict. We've provided a veritable classroom for modern guerilla warfare. The students of it are well-educated, well-funded and its graduates are sure to pass along the results of their learning.

...and there's no summer recess in sight...

-T

Hey, I think I have something figured out. Maybe the trolls have invaded to incite a verbal riot. They think David will go 'Washington Postal' on the blog and shut it down.

Odom is full of hot air. The Europeans weren't concerned about Serbia's genecide in their backyard 10 years ago, they don't give a flying fig what happens in Iraq. They're not going to pitch in on Iraq because Bush PRIVATELY admits his mistake--how would the Euro leaders explain their policy reversal to the angry mobs looking for blood? And how 'bout that? All you have to do to solve Iran is say, let's work together. Why didn't one of the Euro countries think of that? What's that? Oh, they did think of that. Didn't work. Threats against North Korea? Tough talk and damn-the-consequences attitude? If that's going to work, we already have the perfect guy in the Oval Office.

If any bozo can come up with a half-baked plan to solve all the world's problems, here's mine:
1) Put Bush and Cheney on trial for war crimes in return for help from the Europeans on Iraq. 2) Air strikes on anything in Iran that looks like a target. 3) Withdraw troops from Iraq by moving them into western Iran; that'll get their attention. 4) Cut a deal with China to come down hard on N Korea. The North Koreans are afraid of China and for good reason. If we have to give China something big, like control over Taiwan, make sure that the solution in North Korea is certain and permanent--then pay the price.

See? I can blow smoke as well as the general.

Law-Enforcement infiltration of anti-war and anti-Bush groups is hardly UNHEARD OF.

I think it is safe to say that any such group would be wise to imagine that there are Hawks keeping an eye on their flocks, pretty much all the time.

-T

James Ha #61, or could it be that he once once on the payroll and still is? His audio tapes come up whenever needed, like at election time and when Bush is in trouble.

Musharaf took over Pakistan with a coup, just prior to 9/11. Pakistani security agents were in Washington on 9/11. The US has used Pakistan as an intermediary with the Taliban and before that, with bin Laden and the mujahadeen. Pakistan is the quartermaster and if things weren't in our control we wouldn't have turned Afghanistan over to Nato security forces, with the disclaimer that we will still operate independently to raid and bomb possible terrorists homes.

eggman 65-
2) Air strikes on anything in Iran that looks like a target. 3) Withdraw troops from Iraq by moving them into western Iran; that'll get their attention.

how do we know that Iran is a threat? we have only the statements from bushco parroted by the media that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. bushco and the media have already shown us how trustworthy they are with the lead up to Iraq. remember powell's presentation to the UN complete with maps, photos, chalabi, a little vial of 'anthrax', etc.? look how well all THAT panned out! - from what I've gathered, the IAEA has been up oneside and down the other in Iran, and to date has found NO evidence of a nuclear weapons program.

furthermore, does anyone know where tel aviv is?
you can't really get any closer to the heart of israel than that, and yet, yesterday a bomb blast in tel aviv killed 20 people, and is being blamed on Iran/Syria by the israelis. remember, the israeli authorities/MOSSAD have a long history of blowing up their own people (and their allies such as americans), and blaming it on arabs. they are the false flag masters of todays world. and we're supposed to believe that iranians/syrians were able to sneak into the very heart of israeli territory and plant and detonate a bomb? sorry, but I don't buy into the 'iranians are evil' propaganda. especially when the U.S. and Israel both have such an illustrious history of false flag operations.

As IBW said last post...

"Rejoice, my friends, when the fudds (or the fudd with multiple names) come out of the woodwork. When they do that, you know their precious Dear Leader is in what his daddy would call "deep doo-doo"."

Clockworkish, it is!

Dow down 2%, the biggest nose-dive since "Shock and Awe-shucks let's just bomb 'em and feed 'em!" Day in a day, more than that for the week, oil up to $68 and the Treasury likely pumping out Benjamin after Benjamin while Iran starts pulling all their assets in what they hope will be safe places when the feces meets the turbine when they start selling in Euros per barrel 'stead of those JimmyJeff Gankert 3-dollar greenbacks the Whitehouse so loves.

Speaking of JimmyJeff...

They Roll out ol'Treasonous Turdblossom" to 'splain to the Grand Old Pfacists that the "911 is the answer...what's the question?" strategy is still good as gold. (and gold's getting better all the time!)

So the Timmy Factor, et al yells and screams and throws their "He did NOT LiE!, He DID NOT! DIDNOTDIDNOTDIDNOT!!!!! Bwaaaaaaaawllll!" tantrums. And we hear that Chimpy McFlighsuit, hisself is headed out to the NSA to crank up the phone lines, an show what a man he is by listening in on MA and PA Kettle's private Phonesex service!

Yeah, they come out of the woodwork quickly when the good folks start kickin' the baseboards!

-T

geof01, that's a very good point about pakistan - they know which side the bread is buttered on.
about OBL, there's no way of knowing who butters his bread if it even gets buttered. I think it would be easier to just record any old arab agent's voice and say it's OBL, than to actually get OBL to say what they want.

Osama bin Laden is dead. The news first came from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan almost six months ago: the fugitive died in December [2001] and was buried in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan. Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, echoed the information. The remnants of Osama's gang, however, have mostly stayed silent, either to keep Osama's ghost alive or because they have no means of communication.

I don't know if this has any credibility, but it's as likely as not.

Mr. David Corn,

Great post!

Thanks for all of your work.

Kirk

James Ha,

Other than the fact that
a.Osama says he mastermined 9-11.
b.Mohammed Atta met with Osama
c.Mohammed Atta flew the planes into the WTT's
d.All of the post 9-11 intelligence from every country says it was Osama
e.There are no more World Trade Towers
f.Osama had warned about this prior to 9-11

Or do we think the holes in the ground are some David Copperfield illusion.

Do any of you other posters think Osama was not responsible for 9-11?

Odom seems to pick up what Fareed Zakaria says in his book: The Rise of Illiberal Democracy. Fareed points out that liberal constituional governments is more what people want than democracy in particular. Would one rather have their rights respected under a benevolent and fair monarch or the freedom to vote in the minority against an oppressive government. Certainly democracy is good but it comes with maturity. Women, landless men, slaves could not vote at the founding of US Constitution. Do we really want Iraq to be ruled by what the majority of the Iraqis want, or would we rather see them bounded by somewhat tacit principles that protect the minority. Something it seems that we in the US are starting to stray from.

Anyway, on a different note. I think any fear mongering from the administration or the neocons rearding Bin Laden's recent "compromise" should be thrown back at them. I argue that OBL doesn't dictate US policy, we will do the right thing regardless. Having Bush force us in a corner with consistently bad foreign policy has made us vunerable to looking bad when doing the right thing. If Bush was capable of changing his mind from his mypoic foreign policy ambitions, he still has the inability to articulate like a good leader that we do not cower to OBL regardless of what we do. But alas, he will look wimpy doing the right thing, and he will think he looks better (tougher more leader-like) if he keeps doing the incompetent thing.

Have any of you Cornposters read General Odom?

Do you agree with him that we should quadruple troop strength in Iraq?

If so, when did you all turn into a bunch of hawks?

Hi,

President Bush admitted to personally authorizing thousands of allegedly illegal wiretaps, and he doesn't plan to stop. Circumventing the Constitution is serious business.

This is a big moment. People from across the political spectrum are standing together to protect the rule of law and the principles that are core to our identity as Americans.

Can you sign this petition to show Congress that Americans want a thorough investigation of the president's secret wiretapping program?

http://political.moveon.org/ruleoflaw/

Thanks!

OSAMA's "Confession" Video

Eleven Questions about the Osama Video

The Fake bin Laden Video Tape

...and that's just a few.

Capt,
Thanks. I signed it.

Capt,

The rule of law is only as strong as the Supreme's interpetation.

That, in itself, is what Buscheney is counting on, and they're pretty sure they'll be able to count to five all they want.

-T

Odom: Bush Should Admit Iraq Is a 'Mess' And Make Plans for a U.S. Troop Pullout by Next Year

Interviewee: William E. Odom
Interviewer: Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor

May 6, 2004

William E. Odom, the head of the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration, says that President Bush should "eat a little humble pie," admit the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, and seek U.N. forces to take over for U.S. troops. Odom, who opposed the war before it began, argues that Iraq will never become a liberal democracy. He also warns that "we’ve also nearly broken the U.S. Army by over-extension and over-commitment."

A retired three-star general who is now a senior fellow and the director of national securities studies at the Hudson Institute, Odom says that President Bush, "no matter if he’s re-elected or not, will regret it" if he doesn’t withdraw troops quickly. He also says he does not believe Democrat John Kerry can win the presidential election if he does not call for an early pullout.

Odom was interviewed by Bernard Gwertzman, consulting editor for cfr.org, on May 6, 2004.

You’ve said the United States should withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible. Why?

"It was not in our interest to enter Iraq in the first place. It was, however, in the interest of Osama bin Laden for us to destroy a secular Arab leader; it was very much in the interest of the Iranians because they wanted revenge against Saddam Hussein for Iraq’s invasion in 1980.

"Our presence in Iraq risks turning it into a country that could become the base for terrorist operations and organizations like al Qaeda. Of the three war aims that the president set out—destruction of weapons of mass destruction, overthrowing Saddam’s regime, and creating a liberal democracy there—the first has supposedly been accomplished, although it seems to have been accomplished before we invaded; the second, as I just pointed out, was not in our interest, it’s more in our opponents’ interest; and the third I don’t think is possible.

"Our creating a liberal democracy there is not going to happen any time soon. We’re more likely to have an illiberal democracy with theocratic rulers, very much as in Iran. And any Iraqi [leader] who has much legitimacy with the population cannot afford to be pro-Western or pro-United States. Therefore, once U.S. forces leave, it is almost inevitable that an anti-Western, anti-U.S. regime will arise. I don’t see that as an outcome that makes sense for the United States. In fact, it struck me when we invaded last year that if we did it without European and East Asian support, we were risking losing our alliance in Europe in exchange for Iraq, and that is a very undesirable exchange.

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

If anything, you can tell from this interview the good general has been ahead of the curve by a good margin.

capt

Not feeding the trolls is WONDERFUL! Thanks everyone for your control.

Hajji,

Nine to zero would have no effect on Busheney if the oval office is successful in throwing out the founding documents.

They think this power has always been there and nobody ever thought of it? The sheer arrogance of the chicken-hawk neocons.

They have been getting a rubber stamp, control all of the government, Busheney are saying they do not even need the rubber stamp. It is a take-over and we are all but took already.

Damn them

capt

An excerpt from one of the many writings to the fools who reside in the US Senate on (supposedly) my behalf...

"...We've watched this administration rake in all the power it can. Bush says that our Senate's vote for "military action" includes the freedom to ignore the rule of law in any instance the President decides. I am quite fearful such creates a de facto "dictatorship" at the mere words, "we are at war" from any Chief Administrator.

I was not born in a Police State and I do not intend to die in one. Your action, or more likely inaction, will tell me all I need to know about how hard I need to work for your own removal from government service..."

Two more worth a skim:

HERE

HERE

capt

Pentagon man jailed over spying

A former US defence department analyst has been sentenced to 12 years and seven months in jail for disclosing classified information.

Lawrence Franklin passed information to an Israeli diplomat and two pro-Israeli lobbyists about a Middle East country.

No details were given, but that country is believed to be Iran.

Franklin has agreed to co-operate with the prosecution in a separate case against the two lobbyists, and could have his sentence reduced as a result.

'Seeking to help not harm'

The sentence Franklin received was already at the low end of the sentencing parameters for his offences.

As he handed down the sentence, US District Judge TS Ellis III said he was satisfied that Franklin had been driven by a desire to help, not damage the US.

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

Man that BS sounds familiar. . .

"I thought using the Ayatollah's money to support the Nicaraguan resistance ... was a neat idea." ~ Oliver North

And I think he said he lied to congress out of patriotism. See his desire to help not damage. What a crock! Traitors are traitors. Not very complicated that.

Either way, one down many to go!

capt

"...And last August, as I've noted previously, Odom wrote a rather straightforward article calling for withdrawal from Iraq that was headlined, "What's wrong with cutting and running?" He meant that literally..."
_______________

Begs the question..."How can you ask a man to be the LAST man to die for a mistake?"

Many more lives of American soldiers, Iraqi men, women and children are in the crosshairs of this "mistake". Turning eyes to the East of THIS mistake, will do little for the dead.

-T

To initiate a war of aggression...is not only an inter- national crime, it is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. --Nuremberg Tribunal

=
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president (1890-1969)

=
When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest...and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war
: Plato

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

information clearing house has a thought provoking article on the oil bourse iran is starting

Battlefield Iraq

Combat veterans Sean Huze, Paul Rieckhoff and Jimmy Massey discuss the truth -- and the lies -- about the war in Iraq.

.......SEAN HUZE: Again, accountability and responsibility. While the American public is to blame for allowing itself to be manipulated, this administration is to blame for the manipulation. The war in Iraq has been a total failure and an abuse of power. Whether it's the world's second-largest oil reserve, a strategic location for a U.S. presence to intimidate that region of the world or a personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein, none of these justify the loss of life and the billions of dollars that the U.S. taxpayer is paying. Bush and the rest of this administration must be held accountable for their colossal failures following 9/11, chiefly focusing on Iraq while Osama bin Laden is still at large, and for manipulating intelligence, lying to the U.N., and for the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis and U.S. service members.

TERRENCE MCNALLY: What do other service personnel or vets have to say?

SEAN HUZE: While the military ranks tend to be more conservative than the nation as a whole, more and more veterans of this war are becoming disillusioned. For many of us it all goes back to WMD, the president's primary -- or sole -- justification for the invasion. When they weren't found -- hard to find something that is nonexistent -- the ever-morphing rationale for the war is disheartening for those fighting it. With an ever increasing number of KIA and WIA, along with the heavy toll on the Iraqi civilian population, more and more vets are asking, "Is our sacrifice worth it?"

PAUL RIECKHOFF: Recently, I got an email from a very close buddy serving as an officer in Ramadi. He speaks with a candor and level of frustration that you won't hear from the generals. Check this out:

Paul,
I wish I had the time or energy or memory capacity to describe to you how wrong this whole thing has gone. It's just as you described it a couple years ago. We can make a difference here, and I believe in the mission as it looks on paper. But your president and his brain-dead colleagues aren't even trying to give us what we need to do it. The add-on armor HMMWVs are a joke. The terrorists target them b/c they know they offer no protection. The M1114s have good armor, but every time we lose one (I had one blown up Monday, driver had his femoral artery cut -- will recover fully -- b/c there apparently is no armor or very weak armor under the pedals) it's impossible to replace them. So now I have to send yet another add-on armored vehicle outside the wire daily.

The M1114s also have certain mechanical defects, known to the manufacturer, for which there is apparently no known fix. For example, on some of them (like mine) if it stalls or you turn it off, you cannot restart it if the engine is hot. We have to dump 3 liters of cold water on a solenoid in order to start it again. Not that much fun when your vehicle won't start in Indian country. I wonder if DoD is getting a refund for the contract. Speaking of contracts, KBR is a joke. I can't even enumerate the problems with their service, but I guarantee they do not receive less money based on how many of the showers don't work, or how many of us won't eat in the chow hall often because we get sick every time we do.

There is so much. I could go on forever. The worst thing, which we have discussed, is that they are playing these bullshit numbers games to fool America about troop strength. If they stopped paying KBR employees $100,000 to do the job of a $28,000 soldier, maybe they'd have enough money to send us enough soldiers to do the job. As it stands we have no offensive capability in the most dangerous city on earth. General Shinseki should write an Op/Ed that basically says, "I told you so." Idiots.

Where are the AC-130s? The Apaches? They have them in far less active AOs (areas of operations). All we ever get is a single Huey and Cobra team, both of which are older than I am. It's such a joke. They're not even trying. At all. They have Apaches in Tikrit but Hueys in Ramadi.

I wish every American could see this for him/herself. Registering your frustration at the ballot box isn't nearly enough. There should be jail terms for this.
-------------------
When are we going to finally see consequences for these crimes?

Would you provide fingerprints and personal data to a private contractor if it let you get through airport security more quickly?

Interesting how the numbers kinda reflect the "Do you approve or dissaprove of the job Chimpy's doing?"

Watch as thousands of Americans trade their privacy and freedoms, not for "security", but for "convenience"!

-T

The Proposed Iranian Oil Bourse

Thanks, Chip! ICH is a great source of alternative news, great links to international media who aren't so easily bought off by their advertisers!

-t

Life Before Roe v. Wade

More than thirty years later, three people who helped provide abortions before Roe tell their stories.

Mildred Hanson, M.D.

A featured speaker at several congressional briefings on abortion, Hanson spent 30 years as the medical director of what was then Planned Parenthood of Minnesota and South Dakota. Today, she oversees her own Minnesota clinic, where, at the age of 82, she provides abortions to women from Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

"In 1935, when I was 11 years old, my mother left our Wisconsin house on a bitter February night and dashed to the farm next door to help an ailing woman who'd had an illegal abortion. Our neighbor was writhing in pain so severe that she was having convulsions and was chewing her lip raw. It took her two days to die of blood poisoning. She left six children behind - and left me with firsthand knowledge of the injustice of illegal abortion.

"Fresh out of medical school in 1959, I developed a reputation for being the only doctor in this region who would treat women with bleeding, lacerations, and other complications stemming from back-alley procedures. Illegal abortionists would refer their clients to me in the event of complications. In addition to helping these patients, I offered legal abortions to women within the hospital system, which sanctioned the procedure if it was deemed medically necessary. I coached these women on how to get approval. 'Tell hospital officials you are destitute,' I said. 'Tell them you are devastated and will commit suicide if you can't terminate this pregnancy.' If Roe v. Wade were overturned today and if medical exceptions were still allowed, I would tell my patients the same things all over again. For the first time in my life, I would also perform illegal abortions. I didn't do so before Roe v. Wade because I was a divorced mother with four children to support. But today I have nothing to lose and believe reproductive rights are so important that I'm willing to risk whatever legal action or prison time I might face."
..............

Here's a story from the comment section.

I began my career as an Obstetrician/Gynecologist 30 years ago and have seen as well the effects "back-alley" abortions but also the enourmous burden of caring for a life that was unexpected, unplanned and unwanted. What I realized was there was absoultely no understanding of what it took to raise a healthy child by those who proclaimed themselves "pro-life". Two other facts became obvious; that there was almost no support from men who were responsible for pregnancies and no debate regarding the fact that it is well known how pregnancy occurs. It is called sexual intercourse. So I have changed directions and now have a PhD in Health Education focusing on the role of father and sex education. I am not well aware, however, in the social and political climate in this society it is a tought mountain to climb.
Christopher LL
---------------

Bretton Woods is a lovely place to ski or hike. There seems to always be something sinister beneath the most beautiful places!

Hajji,

It sort of reminds me of a time when I went to the local pawn shop to get a cheap used VCR to
keep out in my now former smoking room {the shed} The owner's son was waiting on me and asked to see my drivers license and for a phone number and social security number. First off, I was buying, not pawning, and I was paying cash, $15.00. When I told him no, he asked his dad what he should do and he said, "He's buying, you can't ask him anything. We're not the Government!"

I will be taking Daniel with me tomorrow to visit your bro. My first opportunity to sign the basketball. Daniel made him a homemade card of Star Wars figures battling his disease. Maria said they made some strides this week on his legal work and some stuff she was able to get from his doctor helped. Hopefully everything works out okay.

Tell Spanky to keep his chin up and his eyes peeled. Best to have faith that he will make it home safely. My friend who served for a year in Iraq made it home on 1-6-06. Even though he made it home safe, he always worries about all the troops over there, especially now that his own son is there as well.

My best to Jill and you, you muck raker of inherited turf.

I'd tell Spank exactly that, but one of his comments was how astounded he was at the cliche's people tended to toss at him, once they knew he was headed to the M.E.

"Check your OWN goddamn six!" he'd say, "I'm keeping my ass as low to the ground as possible!"

Smart kid (actually, quite a young man!) that one!

-T

TRH,

I'm thinkin' a bass boat and some warm weather'd do wonders for D's condition!

-T

The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director:

“President Bush and Attorney General Gonzales can manufacture all of the legal justifications they want, but the facts and laws show that this warrantless surveillance violates the First and Fourth Amendment and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

“Any opinion coming from the Justice Department has to be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism, given Attorney General Gonzales’ involvement in the warrantless spying as White House counsel. The fox may now be guarding the henhouse, which is why we need an independent special counsel.

“Congress must hold open, substantive hearings to let the American public know how their privacy was invaded. The president must not use a claim of preserving the nation as justification to undermine the very principles that define our nation. Freedom, liberty and privacy must be protected and preserved.”

Funny you mention that. Daniel mentioned the other day that we should go fishing this spring. It was the first time he ever brought up the subject of fishing, as I am not really one myself. He likes to a read a lot so he probably read a story about it. Sounds like that will be on the agenda for the "vernal equinox" come March 21st and beyond.

"...I will be taking Daniel with me tomorrow to visit your bro. My first opportunity to sign the basketball. Daniel made him a homemade card of Star Wars figures battling his disease..."

That's about the sweetest thing I've heard in a long, long time! I told Jill that, and now she's all misty-eyed...I'm not, though...really...doesn't affect me at all...

Dennis likes fishing, but has never had a real boat. (except for a small canoe that I now have) Ask him about the time a Florida game warden chased him out of an alligator-infested canal when he was fishing from a cheap inflatable!

-T

Speaking of FAKE Bin Laden Tapes...
____________________
Bin Laden Tape Probably Faked by CIA

Back in 2002, the Bush administration was chagrined when the world's foremost voice identification experts, a group in Swizterland called IDIAP analyzed several Bin Laden tapes and concluded that a "CIA-verified" bin Laden tape was NOT Bin Laden, but someone whose voice patterns resembled the terrorist's. Now again we have a Bin Laden tape that arrives just when Bush needs a "terrorist diversion." And once again, we have only the CIA "experts" verifying the authenticity. So why since 2002 hasn't the IDIAP been called in to verify these always conveniently timed tapes? And why is no CIA expert ever actually named?

And as further evidence of how closely the US media is colluding with Bush, journalists who once queried the institute for their opinion on the authenticity of bin Laden tapes are no longer doing so.
_________________

ICH is right on topic...

Mike, are you lurkin' here?

-T

Now that sounds like a story, sort of like the Monty Python Lifeboat sketch. Do you think the gators were in the water all deciding who would be the first to get to eat Hodges?

Hodges is strictly breakfast food! Hands off until sunrise!

-T

Even Al-Jazeera Now Believes Tape was Faked by CIA
________________________

(You will notice the Bushie "freeps" were out in force as soon as this article hit (see postings after the article on Al-Jazeera).

_______________________

So the fluctuation of frequency and voracity of the Trolls laments is not just a local phenomenon?

"Veerrry Eeenteresting..."
-Artie Johnson

Bill's a little slow, isn't he?

I don't understand your point about Odem. He was against the Vietnam War but still managed to serve in that war and become a high ranking General. Regardless of his politics people still need to admire his ability to see the big picture.

Bill #72---Do any of you other posters think Osama was not responsible for 9-11?

Your set of 'proofs' A -F relies heavily on accepting the word of this administration, which has lied too often to be acceptale and Intel which has been all over the map as being faulty and/or drummed up. #C is a non go as Eta could only have been in one plane. A and F Osama takes credit? Why not, he gets instant notoriaty and esteem. In brief your 'proofs' are vague and not backed by hard evidence.

The concept that Osama was not behind 911 or had domestic help lacks evidence as well.

The problem is that the expectation that crime evidence would be gathered and followed to wherever it may lead was coopted by domestics not foreigners. Why? If looking the pictures of a Boing 757 making a highly tecnical and difficult maneuver to pin point entry strike at the Pentagon which had a much to small a hole for a 757 explain that event then why were the tapes gathered up and secreted away? If forensic examination of the steel in the towers-47 columns about 1100 ft tall were layed out in neat little 30 foot sections--was done we could have an explanation of why they failed. But they were rapidly carted away and sent to the orient. Why?

Bill, if you don't smell a dead fish then first consult your ornithologist then tell a waiting audience your explanation. Please don't rely on vague foreign sources. Oh, as long as you are on it why did building 7 drop like it was 'pulled'?
There's more, there is an iceberg awaiting your ability to cube it up.

Hajji,

....and Stupid!
Artie Johnson

I don't put much stock in what this government says or any government for that matter. They all have their agenda's and they will do anything to promote that agenda and say or cite anything to garner support for their agenda. Whoever said "politics is sleazy" was being kind.

And now for something completely different. Whats brown and sounds like a bell? Dung! When I was in the eighth grade, I asked my English teacher if I could tell a joke I had seen on Monty Python. When I finished, nobody laughed. She made me get the dictionary and read aloud to the rest of the class the definition of dung. "The excretements of an animal, manure." I saw this teacher at a recent family gathering (she is Maria's step-father's sister) and asked her if she remembered making me do that and she did. She was always one of my favorite teachers and still is.

Bogus,

That is EXACTLY the point.

Those who see this deadly charade for the "Charlie Foxtrot" it is come from varied backgrounds, political leanings and militaristic opinions. Anti-Bush and Anti-Iraq war doesn't automatically mean "Lefties" anymore than Pro-Bush means "conservative". (although true "conservatives" are getting hit with the shit, just the same!)

Some of America's greatest military minds have found the path of peace usually doesn't travel through a minefield. Others have had their militaristic, political and oportunistic lives ruined by latching on to this Imperial scheme. (see Colin Powell)

Go Figgur!

-T

Hajji, what's wrong with your brother?

Cole...

I liked your post, but I'm a bit confused. (usually I don't need anybody's help to get that way!)

I guess maybe Bill IS a vulure, but I'm thinking "ichthyologist" for a dead fish. "Otolaryngologist" would be a good choice for checking out his sense of smell?

"Ornithologist" could refer to Bill's confusion about the difference between a "Hawk" and a "Dove".

But really, I liked the post!

-T

Carol,

Squamous-Cell Carcinoma of the neck.(and hoepfuly limited to that location.) He's had a (modified) radical-neck surgery to remove quite a bit of un-encapsilated tumor material. Thankfully, no muscle or connective tissue seemed to be involved. The current issue is one of dehydration and bleeding from the devestation to muccous membranes that radiation is causing.

He's also got MS.

He remains pretty well set against getting a feeding tube(Terri Schiavo's case so recent, I suppose) but and he seems to have acquired an infection, possibly from the picc line they placed so he could get almost constant IV fluids and (now) quite a range of anti-biotics. I don't know how long they can logically put off the remaining (11, I think) radiation treatments or even if he's even gonna agree to continue.

As much time as I've spent in healthcare, this is really my first up-close look at the not-so-wonderful world of oncology. We lost another brother to a form of small-cell cancer when he was only about 2. My father died from lung CA, most likely a combination of smoking and asbestosis (TRH mentioned the mill our fathers worked at, Dad was also exposed to raw asbestos early in life as a boiler-tender aboard the USS Iowa and other ships during his navy stint.

Needless to say, the studies on hereditary factors of this type of cancer is certainly on my mind! My only saving grace is that it seems to hit the good-hearted, the innocent and the athletic in my immediate family...and I can hardly claim to be any of the above!

Thank you for your concern...

-T

Hey, Captain, You Old Queen, You:

See you've been posting from the ACLU hymnbook again. And you're not supposed to be a nihilist/Trotskyite?

I'm certain because of your predilection, you're pprobably a big supporter of the ACLU's position on NAMBLA.

Are you a member of NAMBLA? Do you want to be?

Thought so.

Oh, man. How horrible for your brother. I hate the picture of what he must be going thru laying there in the hospital day after day. You don't sound too hopeful. He doesn't sound hopeful either. I hope you have some good news soon. A breakthru. Keep us posted.

Say, Hajii, what do you do at the hospital? Are you a nurse?

Hajji,

You are kind hearted and if I recall, you were once a catcher. As for your innocence, I think we all lost that a long time ago. I don't know if you were old enough to remember, but when Chuck was in the hospital in Lexington, JB and Dennis spent a lot of time in Ironton. JB slipped on a
rock while fishing in the backwaters behind the house and broke his thumb. But, I do recall a time when you still had your innocence. My dad and your dad curled you up inside a tire and rolled you up and down the walk of your house on 1st street. You laughed the whole time. Most kids now days don't laugh like you did on a $30.00 per child visit to Kings Island. Amazingly, Daniel gets a bigger kick out of Camden Park. I took him and Ryan there last summer and they had a great time. No lines! They both rode the Big Dipper about 20 times in a row. Made it easy on this old man, just sat on the bench and relaxed. Ask D about the time when we thumbed home from Camden Park. I believe he was in the 8th grade and I was in the 6th. It took two rides. The second took us to 842 Bath Avenue. It was Cheryl Perkins.

Bill 72
Other than the fact that
a.Osama says he mastermined 9-11.
b.Mohammed Atta met with Osama
c.Mohammed Atta flew the planes into the WTT's
d.All of the post 9-11 intelligence from every country says it was Osama
e.There are no more World Trade Towers
f.Osama had warned about this prior to 9-11
^^^^^^^^^^6
damnit, do I really have to do this? all of my pals on this blog are no doubt exhausted of my harping about 911, but you leave me no choice...

a) osama never sed any such thing. to the contrary, he immediately stated that he had nothing to do with it. I'm not saying that he's a good guy, just that he sed he didn't do it, and our govt. then forged a fake 'confession video' using an obvious phony OBL. Hajji was kind enuf to post a link @76.

b) atta met with Abramoff on his boat as well.

c) atta was not the pilot highjacker of flight11, that chore was filled by another. and in fact, flight11 didn't even exist that day

d) ha. I defy you and anyone to even FIND any post 9-11 intelligence from every country that says it was Osama and make me aware of it. here's my email:: camjnbp@aol.com

e) correct. and are you aware that for the 3 WTC towers to have fallen the way the official story claims for the reason they claimed, the laws of physics themselves would be violated. only controlled demolitions can account for the manner in which they fell:: Professor Jones was not fooled.

f) hmm, I can only assume that you're referring to the memo that con rice lied about:: "uh...I believe the title of the uh...memo was uh... 'bin laden determined to strike in america'" Quote unQuote.
^^^^^^^^^^6
sorry Bill my friend, but if you believe the govt fairytale re: 911, based on A thru F, then I have some nice swampland I think you'd be interested in. peace brotherman.

capt,

That wasn't me at #111.

Bill,

Jimmy Buffet recommends some Mental Floss

They're Just Simple Protoplasm
Clear As Cellophane
They Ride The Winds Of Fortune
Life Without A Brain

In One Ear And Out The Other
Don't You Get Criss-Crossed
I Recommend You Try A Little...
Mental Floss

James, I hear the Long Valley Caldera is up for sale, maybe Bill'd be interested! I promise, no major eruptions for at least 500,000 years.

Bill, I just saw your post calling capt. 'an old Queen' and a 'member of NAMBLA', and I must say that I'm disappointed in you for that. I know capt. well, and he is happily married to a lovely woman as lovely as your own lovely wife.

James Ha,

You are right. Profound apologies are in order both to the Good Captain, to you and to the readers of this blog for a truly malicious post.

I apologize. I don't know what I was thinking.

no prob Bill! we're cool.

check this out everybody::

theoretical physicists at Stanford and MIT addressed whether a universe could be created in a laboratory. They hypothesized that this could be done by creating a bubble of super-dense matter that would expand into extra dimensions.

"If you did create such a universe, how would you tell the occupants of that universe that their universe was made in a lab at MIT?" Hsu said. "One place to put the message would be in a microwave background."

Physicist Hypothesizes Creator Left Messages

I think this new incarnation of Bill is pulling peoples chains.

Easy, Saladin, easy.

Hajji: "Even Al-Jazeera Now Believes Tape was Faked by CIA"

Interesting. I forget the name of the academic whom Jim Lehrer interviewed last night regarding the tape, but this expert mentioned that it sounded as if Bin Laden was reading a speech originally written in English and translated into Arabic.

The academic thought this might indicate that the people around Bin Laden now are not Arabic speakers. Maybe there's a simpler explanation. Maybe the White House dictated the speech and had it translated.

This would be entirely in keeping with the blatant and bumbling disinfo campaigns that the administration has engaged in, like the laughable aljazeera.com site (The Dear Dr. Kareem column is especially a hoot). To think our taxes are paying some bozo in Virginia to produce this comedy.

On OBL:

It was very odd that this time the CIA confirmed it was the voice of OBL on the same day the played the audio.

I might be mistaken but I do not remember any voice verification for days or weeks after previous tapes.

It made me smell a skunk and I do not mean the good skunk!

As far as my sexual orientation or what not - whatever - neither the blog nor any thread is about me. That would make such comments piffle and meaningless. Call me what you will, I could not muster an iota of concern for the opinion of trolls. No biggie!

"I am what I am, and damn proud of it, whatever it is!"

capt

David:

Two excerpts from your Post on Gen. Odom:

1) You said: I'm not saying I endorse all of the "Odom Plan."

I am certain many of us would have liked to know the portions of Odom's Plans you obviously do endorse. The General's ideas are out-of-the-box and worthy of some thoughts/debates.

Perhaps because of time, you mimicked your Regular Cornholes by posting someone else's `stuff' far more than letting us in as to your own thoughts, this time. I have my own opinions (on some) but your opinions are worth far more. I have no problem with our troops leaving Iraq sometime in the reasonable future; say 6~18 months top, but setting no timetables. If Iraq can't work itself out, we did try! `Difficult' should NOT mean `never try'!
------------------------------------------------

2) Gen. Odom said: "If we get enough information in the public domain to talk about it, we won't have an intelligence system."

You followed: "I'd argue this was an overstatement."

Again, you did not follow up with anything to support your `argument'. It seems that while Gen. Odom's Iraq Plans have various upsides and downsides, his statement (here) on our country's intelligence system is eminently logical and beyond reproach. I will just leave it at that!

Good Night!

Probably not a new incarnation, just a drunk one.

Currency War

Well, back in 2000, Saddam Hussein converted Iraqi bank reserves from the Dollar to the Euro, and began demanding payments in Euro for Iraqi oil. Central banks of many countries –†most notably Russia and China –†began keeping Euros and Dollars as monetary "reserves" and as an exchange fund for oil.

And, perhaps at least partially because of Saddam’≥ conversion to it, by 2003 the Euro was stronger than the Dollar.

So, there are some observers who fervently believe that the real reason Bush-Cheney launched a war of aggression against Iraq was to restore the primacy of petrodollars and to demonstrate to any country –†such as Iran, who had begun serious planning for the Iranian Bourse in 2000 –†what would happen to them if they followed Saddam’≥ lead.

Of course, once occupied by the US-UK-Halliburton coalition, Iraqi oil sales were once again denominated in petrodollars.

Now, maybe you’≤e not susceptible to conspiracy theories. Maybe you don’¥ believe Congresspersons from across the political spectrum could be persuaded by Cheney and his Cabal that a successful Iranian Bourse could potentially result in the demise of the Almighty Dollar and with it the American Hegemony for which Congress has authorized the sacrifice of thousands of our servicemen and women, and the expenditure of hundreds of billions of your tax dollars, not to mention borrowing about a zillion dollars from the Chinese, who have already decided it’≥ maybe not such a good idea to have nothing but petrodollars, especially with which to buy petroleum from Iran, denominated in petroeuros.

Nah! Cheney and his Cabal could never get Congresspersons from across the political spectrum to appear wall-to-wall on TV, loudly proclaiming that the IAEA Safeguarded programs in Iran represent the gravest threat we’∂e faced since the Cold War and that we’∂e got to do something –†by March, at the latest.

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

A good piece, above is the last several paragraphs.

capt

Drewp,

The academic thought this might indicate that the people around Bin Laden now are not Arabic speakers. Maybe there's a simpler explanation. Maybe the White House dictated the speech and had it translated.

True or not, dammit, that would make a good screenplay! Let's discuss!

We Will Not Forget

Bottom half or so has more information! A must read article!

Iran's Bomb

I am waiting for Juan Cole to opine. I read somewhere the prayer was not right (maybe a preamble).

I have wondered for years why CNN, MSNBC or FOX have not hired their own independent voice analyzers? They wait for the WH/CIA to verify?

Keep in mind there are tons of recorded statements so independent analysis and comparison could start tomorrow.

Seems very curious indeed, at least to me.

capt

Our Indian Wars

Bush and his cabal manipulate voters' fear of terrorists to maintain its declining domestic support. The Al Qaeda tapes are fake. They are produced every so often to keep the sheeple under control. This is a very effective way to control the masses of sheeple.

Sheeple has been the common name for Nazi Americans in the UNA but maybe turkey would be a better name for Nazi Americans.

Bin Laden Tape Probably Faked By CIA

"Any other retired generals out there who want to speak so candidly?"

See under "Clark, Wesley". He's been doing it for a while now. ;)

The War on Dissent Gets Creepy

Our government is not only causing great suffering by this war, it is also violating dozens of international and domestic laws. See the Veterans For Peace "Case for Impeachment" for a partial list. As citizens we are complicit in these crimes and suffering. That is why historian Howard Zinn’≥ words make more sense to me each day this war continues:

"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience...Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem."

The most important mistake I made on New Year’≥ Day was not that I painted "Troops Out Now" on overpasses, it was choosing a form of civil disobedience not many people are comfortable adopting. If you believe we must end this war, what kind of civil disobedience would you choose? Refuse to pay part of your taxes this April? Sit in at a Congressional office? Organize a strike? Or will we be content to speak quietly, watching the petty criminals go to jail while the grand criminals continue the slaughter in our name?

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

And there is the rub: It is all done in our name.

capt

"The enemies of free enterprise are businessmen [not labor]. They are out to rig the market. I'm on a corporate board. And we talk about how we can rig the market."

And the fall in the market Friday reminds us that investors in these enterprises are being screwed, as well with no gains for six years. I wish their were some way to organize a massive boycott of the stock market to protest the moral corruption of our corporate leaders.

Rove admits GOP will play politics with 'war on terror'

Scandal-tained White House adviser Karl Rove admitted Friday Republicans will seek to capitalize on the war on terrorism as a central campaign issue in November.

His admission confirms Capitol Hill Blue reports from November 10, 2005, that the GOP planned to use terrorism as a way to reverse the party's sagging fortunes.

"Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world. And Democrats have a pre-9/11 view of the world," Rove told Republican activists. "That doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong -- deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong."

Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean denounced Rove's remarks and renewed his call for the deputy White House chief of staff to be fired for his role in leaking a CIA official's name. "That is both unpatriotic and wrong," Dean said.

In November, Capitol Hill Blue revealed a private GOP memo, circulating among top Republican operatives, "suggests that a new attack by terrorists on U.S. soil could reverse the sagging fortunes of President George W. Bush as well as the GOP and "restore his image as a leader of the American people."

HREF="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10944712/from/RSS/">Maryland ban on gay marriage is struck down

Judge finds 33-year-old state law to be unconstitutional

BALTIMORE - A judge on Friday struck down a 33-year-old Maryland law against same-sex marriage, agreeing with 19 gay men and women that it violates the state constitution’s guarantee of equal rights.

The ruling by Judge M. Brooke Murdock rejected a state argument that the government had a legitimate interest in protecting the traditional family unit of heterosexual parents.

"Although tradition and societal values are important, they cannot be given so much weight that they alone will justify a discriminatory" law, she wrote.

Maryland ban on gay marriage is struck down

Judge finds 33-year-old state law to be unconstitutional

BALTIMORE - A judge on Friday struck down a 33-year-old Maryland law against same-sex marriage, agreeing with 19 gay men and women that it violates the state constitution’≥ guarantee of equal rights.

The ruling by Judge M. Brooke Murdock rejected a state argument that the government had a legitimate interest in protecting the traditional family unit of heterosexual parents.

"Although tradition and societal values are important, they cannot be given so much weight that they alone will justify a discriminatory" law, she wrote.

Carol,(#112)

I don't mean to give the impression that we're without hope! His particular form of cancer, however, even with surgery and radiation/chemotherapy has about a 70% chance (I can make argument for more like 58%, if I fudge the numbers around a little) of recurrence within 5years.

It is the effects of the radiation (burning the village to SAVE the village is an apt analogy!) hospital-acquired infection and the drudgery associated with hospitalization that seem to be causing him the most discomfort. He's a radiology techician and hosptial workers are notoriously poor patients!

This morning I got a note that said it looks like he's going to get the feeding tube and try and get it over with as quickly as possible. His desire to fight against this horrible disease is strong and I support any choices he might make in his treatment. Committing to at least an ADDITIONAL 2 weeks hopital stay takes a great deal of balls (ones that shouldn't be autographed) and knowing how bad the pain can get and STILL going through the radiation is a decision I don't know I could make for myself.

I'll e-mail you the rest.

-T

Capt's #136 got me thinkin'. A while ago I heard of a peace organization looking for donated banners, but can't find them, now. Anyone know the group?

Television Cul-de-Sac Mystery: Why Was Reality Show Killed?
____________________

The unscripted series, "Welcome to the Neighborhood," was heavily promoted and scheduled to appear in a summer time slot usually occupied by "Desperate Housewives." Stephen Wright, 51, who was already living in a nice house a few miles away with his partner and adopted son, said he participated primarily for one reason: to show tens of millions of prime-time viewers that a real gay family might, over the course of six episodes, charm a neighborhood whose residents overwhelmingly identified themselves as white, Christian and Republican.

As it turned out, the Wrights did win - beating families cast, at least partly, for being African-American, Hispanic, Korean, tattooed or even Wiccan - but outside of a few hundred neighbors (who attended private screenings last summer) and a handful of journalists, almost no one has been able to see them do so.
_____________________

If Maryland's courts were a TV show, they'd get cancelled TOO!

Why does Dobson's name ALWAYS pop up in these things?

-T

Remember,

I come from the land where trash like THIS is hardly given a second glance.

"Bokeback Mountain" has only just opened here this weekend. I guess the thirst for profits from this wildly successful film is stronger than the fear of getting "DobsonBoated"!

-T

The prophet - profit!

Do you recall the issues most pressing for Nazi Americans were the wedge issues like gay rights? Now that the election is over, the wedge issues were returned to the closet to be brought up sometime this summer so the repugnants can win more house and senate seats. They really know how to yank the chain of Nazi Americans.

Money making issues will always be an issue because the repugs do not want the issues to go away and Nazi American turkeys fall for it every time.

Scientists Say Everyone Can Read Minds

In 1996, three neuroscientists were probing the brain of a macaque monkey when they stumbled across a curious cluster of cells in the premotor cortex, an area of the brain responsible for planning movements. The cluster of cells fired not only when the monkey performed an action, but likewise when the monkey saw the same action performed by someone else. The cells responded the same way whether the monkey reached out to grasp a peanut, or merely watched in envy as another monkey or a human did.

Because the cells reflected the actions that the monkey observed in others, the neuroscientists named them "mirror neurons."

Later experiments confirmed the existence of mirror neurons in humans and revealed another surprise. In addition to mirroring actions, the cells reflected sensations and emotions.

"Mirror neurons suggest that we pretend to be in another person's mental shoes," says Marco Iacoboni, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine. "In fact, with mirror neurons we do not have to pretend, we practically are in another person's mind."

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

I think some people are heartless but they know they are. How could they not know?

capt

OSAMA'S NEW THREAT

MAMOUN FANDY: Right, but this particular tape is not terribly inspiring, just looking at the language of it. This is the first tape of bin Laden that has no single verse from the Koran. It does not have the flowery language of Arabic.

It seems to me that it is written in English first, and then translated into Arabic. It is very western style of tape. It is not very characteristic of bin Laden, at least it tells me that the non-Arabic speaking within the al-Qaida network are taking over the organization --

JIM LEHRER: You mean he didn't write this is what you are suggesting?

MAMOUN FANDY: The Arabic speakers in al-Qaida, the parts that are coming from the Arab world, are losing to the non-Arabic speaker, so it's really becoming more of a South Asian organization, rather than an Arab organization.

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

The whole transcript is interesting.

capt

lj,
peace organization looking for donated banners
is it on here?

Hm..., Help & stop me, this blog is now among a dozen sites I `check in' on a daily basis!

A good insightful quote picked up this morning: "People don' just challenge someone's views, they challenge the other person's integrity. Enjoyable, informative, and civil discussions between people with different points of view are becoming rare."

Bill, Timmie L, LBH, Professor, et. al:
We sure know what it's like to have our integrity challenged by the Regular Cornholes here, don't we? David, your integrity has been similarly `challenged' by your own Lefty fans so I KNOW you can relate to what I'm saying.

Yesterday, Tom Friedman tossed out some suggestions on reducing our energy dependency and the most effective, and most immediate, solution is to impose a gas tax to bring gasoline to $3.50 to $4.00 per gallon, and to keep it there even if oil prices fall. What a sensible idea! Echos of John Anderson back in 1980 ($0.50 gas tax) that led this (then) Independent to back his candidacy. Reagan set me straight later! Did anyone follow up commenting on this definitely usage-reducing `strategy' today in any media? I didn't see any!

Iran is getting more annoying by the day. Yeah, many here that question my `integrity' will think "Happy is going to make a fortune in energy and F--- him!". But I have made money in the stock market with high or low oil prices. So, go ahead and waste keystrokes on my profiteering.

To the smarty pants carrying on about the Iranian Oil Bourse, it is about as significant as most of your snide remarks! What does Iran's pulling its reserves out of Europe tell you? You think it's going to be invested in Yen, Yuan, Riggits, Gold? Some here give far too much credit to what the Iranians maybe up to as far as the Bourse goes. Nukes, another matter altogether. It appears most Lefties here want Bush & Co. to take a much tougher stand, as vs. in Iraq, we'll see what happens (with your Comments) if Bush ends up having to bail the West out. No one, certainly not the Europeans nor the Chinese, Iran's main customers for its exported 2.4 MBL, have the balls to boycott Iranian oil.

Sometime in the last few days, there was a blurb (from one of the better posters here), about the age limit for military service being raised from 35 to 42. As usual, a few snide coattail- comments of no substance followed. Given the nature of the Afghan, Iraq and other recent wars, it seems to me that the key reason is that the military needs more mature (an alien concept to many here) folks with the skill set, likely managerial experience, and less emotional fortitude to handle societal matters. Any recognition of this logical conclusion of mine?

Hummmm. A certain braggart, known for his outrageous lying and play-acting has told the truth about his ethics, character, compassion, honesty, patriotism and willingness to screw his fellow citizens, which includes our men and women in uniform:

Main Entry: prof·i·teer
Pronunciation: "prä-f&-'tir
Function: noun
Date: 1912
: one who makes what is considered an unreasonable profit especially on the sale of essential goods during times of emergency

Collapse of U.S. Economy Imminent

Bank Of America and Compass Bank managers (probably all other U.S. banks too) have been instructing their employees in the last few weeks on how to respond to customer demands in the event of a collapse of the U.S. economy - specifically telling the employees that only agents from the Department Of Homeland Security will have authority to decide what belongings customers may have from their safe deposit boxes - and that precious metals and other valuables will not be released to U.S. citizens. The bank employees have been strictly prohibited from revealing the banks new "guidelines" to anyone. (however, employees have been talking to friends and family)
----------------
Has anyone heard about this? I know the govt. has authorized themselves the right to seize private collections of precious metals, but I would think this would cause a riot. I intend to ask my bank about this. The rest of the article is interesting as well.

Currency War
________________

Fortunately, the recent temporary curtailment of Russian natural gas supplied to Western Europe by a pipeline which passes through Ukraine, and the terms agreed to by Ukraine and Russia for restoration of supply, may have put a hitch in the Europeans gitalong.

And perhaps that hitch caused them to slow down long enough to reflect upon the Iranian Bourse that is scheduled to become operational – coincidently? – as early as March.

What is the Iranian Bourse and what has a Russian natural gas curtailment got to do with it?

Well, to answer the second question; in future, some gas delivered to Ukraine and perhaps on to Western Europe via pipeline will be Iranian.

And, according to Iranian officials, the Iranian Bourse will be a state-owned international oil, gas and refined products exchange, operating principally over the Internet, with transactions denominated principally in Euros.

The Iranian Bourse will be competing directly with London’s International Petroleum Exchange and New York’s Mercantile Exchange, both of which are owned by US corporations, and whose transactions are denominated in Dollars.

At present, the Dollar is the global monetary standard for petroleum exchange. Hence, all petroleum consuming countries – including China and Japan – must buy and keep a large cache of dollars in their central banks.

What would be the effect of an Iranian Bourse operating on petroeuros rather than petrodollars?

Well, back in 2000, Saddam Hussein converted Iraqi bank reserves from the Dollar to the Euro, and began demanding payments in Euro for Iraqi oil. Central banks of many countries – most notably Russia and China – began keeping Euros and Dollars as monetary "reserves" and as an exchange fund for oil.

And, perhaps at least partially because of Saddam’s conversion to it, by 2003 the Euro was stronger than the Dollar.

So, there are some observers who fervently believe that the real reason Bush-Cheney launched a war of aggression against Iraq was to restore the primacy of petrodollars and to demonstrate to any country – such as Iran, who had begun serious planning for the Iranian Bourse in 2000 – what would happen to them if they followed Saddam’s lead?
________________

But (Operation Iraq Liberation)was NEVER about Oil!

-T

micki, is this the same troll who whines and cries about the insults received while freely passing them out, (cornholes) himself?

Paul Pillar was lying out his ass. Watch his body language and listen to what he says, youll see. Mamoun was walking a very thin line with the CIA right there and was very carefull with his words. Keep up the good posts! See the Daily Kos article

Hajji, I have also read that the Bourse, coincidentally coming on line at the same time as the M3 cover-up, will make it easier to buy many goods besides oil, in euros. The economic pollyannas who come here have no idea what this could mean to America's ability to stablize the monetary and trade deficits, that is assuming they ever had any intention of doing so, which I seriously doubt. It's possible the impending attack on Iran is just a tactic to slow down this conversion to the euro until they have finished raping and plundering every speck of wealth possible from the planet.

Ford to cut jobs, shut plants
Some wonder if cost-trimming steps are enough
______________

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. will announce Monday that it is eliminating 25,000 or more jobs in the next four years as the world's third-biggest automaker seeks to stem North American losses, according to people familiar with the reorganization.

Chief Executive Officer William Clay Ford Jr. will announce the job cuts, about 20 percent of the company's North American automotive work force, as part of his "Way Forward" plan. Bill Ford said this month that the plan would include trimming jobs, without giving a figure.

A reduction of 25,000 jobs would be the biggest at Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford since 2002.

Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt refused to comment Friday on details of the plan, including the number of jobs that will be cut from Ford's North American work force of 122,877.

The restructuring is Ford's second attempt to overhaul its North American operations in four years. Under the first plan, launched in January 2002, Ford cut 35,000 jobs and closed five plants, but North American operations failed to turn around.

Shares of Ford fell 32 cents, or 3.9 percent, to close at $7.90 on the New York Stock Exchange Friday. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $7.57 to $13.75.
____________

Hmmm...

35,000
+
25,000
=
60,000
divided by
157,877
=
over 26% of workforce (I don't know how many "early retirements", if any, are part of that figure.

More than a quarter of the company that defined USA industrial production, down the tubes!

-T

saladin, that would be the "one" but that "one" has many monikers.

uhm...did I ever mention that modesty and math aren't one of my MANY fantastic qualities?

-T

A letter I sent to the "liberal media",

There is a lot of disbelief and anger out here in the real world these days. Our president seems to believe he is above the law. Karl Rove seems to believe he can lecture others about national security after he has reportedly damaged our intelligence network by releasing the identity of a CIA operative. Samuel Alito is being rubber stamped into a lifetime appointment on the U.S. Supreme court, despite a record that is out of step with the wishes of most Americans. The party with absolute power operates under numerous wide reaching breaches of ethics and the rule of law.
The common man has never needed the help of journalism more.
So when concerned American citizens open the newspaper or turn on the T.V. news, hoping for an objective voice that will cut through the spin and offer them up a hearty dose of the facts, what they get is not even close. They get Judith Miller selling them a war under false pretenses. They get newspapers holding stories until after elections are over.They get government produced propaganda segments slipped into local news broadcast's without notice of thier origin. The American people recieve years of color coded "terror alerts". They get hours of divisive Crossfire style talking head shouting matches. They get journalist's like Armstrong Williams being paid to feed the people propaganda. They get GOPUSA operative Jeff Gannon lobbing softball questions at Scott McClellan in the White House press room. They get incorrect headlines like "Twelve Miners Found Alive", "Bomb Found in Starbucks Bathroom" and "Terror Cell Buys Cell Phones at Walmart". They get to hear erroneous GOP talking points like "Abramoff gave money to Democrats" repeated over and over again. Citizens are forced to hear Chris Matthews compare an award winning filmaker Michael Moore to psychotic terrorist Osama Bin Laden. This circus has continued for years. It has done little to inform the American people about anything.
In an almost Karl Rovian style, the media has responded to the public outcry by trying to twist the blame on the news consumers themselves. They say "We have'nt done anything wrong, you are all crazy". I must admit, the anger among those who believe they are being bamboozled has reached acidic levels. However this situation has escalated over half a decade. I think people have only begun to get upset.

Hajji, it appears that all of the big money companies are "cutting and running." What do they know that we don't?

The Voice of the White House

January 20, 2006: "Yet again, our grossly incompetent CIA, in conjunction with the prevaricating manipulators in the White House, have produced another faked bin Ladin tape, threatening to attack the United States but offering a truce. The CIA has produced at least ten "original terrorist" tapes in the past three years. A man named Morton Weil, working for the CIA out of Waco, Texas, puts these together using someone fluent in Arabic. The documents are produced in Langley, sent to the NSC for vetting and, if approved as written, sent by courier to Waco, Texas where they are translated (from the English) into Arabic and then recorded by a person, as yet unnamed, fluent in that language .

I lunch twice a week with an Arab diplomat who, obviously, is an educated man and fluent in his native tongue. He not only knew bin Laden but has heard him speak a number of times. His opinion? Fake.

His reasoning?

Bush is presently doing so badly in the domestic (and foreign) opinion polls, yet did so well as the Great Protector of America after 911, that he seeks to recapture his permanently lost glory by first posing a threat to the US and then stepping forward again, shield and sword in hand, to defend the American people against foreign (and non-Christian) terrorists.

He and Rove feel that his poll numbers will rise once again. The problem is that very few people believe these rigged and seemingly never-consummated terrorist warnings and so once again, the boy cried wolf in vain.

I also know someone on the NSC and they told me this morning that they really wished the CIA would be a little more accomplished in their fakes.

His reasoning?

It has been known, officially, that bin Laden died of kidney failure in a Pakistani hospital in August of 2002 and obviously isn't making any tapes now. A live bin Laden, however, is a good boogyman with which to terrify the American public into slavishly believing our government is trying to protect them. Secondly, there is no reference to the Koran in the message, something always found in original, period, bin Laden announcements. Thirdly, the fake bin Laden does not make any references, as original messages have, to past Western atrocities against Muslims and, finally, the tape is far too short.

What is this source's reasoning? That the CIA's blunder in killing 17-25 perfectly innocent Pakistani civilians in a badly botched rocket attack against a bin Laden supporter has caused an uproar in Pakistan, (and elsewhere) an ally, albeit a very dicey one. First, the CIA revealed, through paid Pakistani stooges, that many top terrorists were killed in the attack although the sole victims were women and children and two sets of grandparents. Their logic is that while the intended target was mysteriously absent at the time of the attack, the slaughter of the innocents was justified because many top terrorists were eradicated.

Typical high-level bald-faced lies.

This latest taped fake is designed both to give Bush increased stature to a disbelieving American public and to justify any future actions against more generally completely innocent civilians.

The Bush Administration is drawing an enormous bill that is going to have to be paid by the American people, hopefully for the criminals, long after they are out of office and living in tax-payer supported safe (and non-extraditable) retirement in the south of France or Tahiti.

Something needs to be done about all of this murderous corruption.

When Patrick Henry, addressing the Virginia House of Burgesses, made a negative reference to their King George, some stooge shouted treason! at him.

His reply, and one we all ought to contemplate?

If this be treason, Sir, why make the most of it!
-----------
I also believe OBL is dead and has been for some time. Is it merely coincidence that he is brought back into the public everytime bushies poll numbers collapse?

Well said Corky!

Maybe a position in "Media Criticism" might come your way!

-T

#152 Saladin & all others, I want to deeply apologize to all of you for a wrong prediction. I thought that 2008 was the year of the demise of the UNA (United Nazis of America). The actual date is sometime in 2006. May the UNA rest in peace!

Gerald, 2006 or 2008, doesn't matter, the time bomb is tick tick ticking away. And the rats AKA American corporations, are leaving the sinking ship.

From #157

Headline: Ford to cut jobs, shut plants

Poster's Comment: "More than a quarter of the company that defined USA industrial production, down the tubes!"

Posted by: Hajji at January 21, 2006 11:36 AM

To all visitors, Right or Left, this Poster has a Toyota Prius on order! He did NOT buy/order a Ford hybrid vehicle.

#84 Capt...The Franklin conviction barely made the MSM. Could barely find mention of it anywhere. The aticle that I posted says it best.

The heat is sure being turned up by BOlton's "arms" twisting at the UN, and the rest of the folks who brought us the "cakewalk" in Iraq. They are trying to hurry the regime change up in Iran. it seems Ledeens motto for regime change in Iran "faster please" is on course.

We will be sure to see the next AIPAC CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON IN MARCH focused( once again) on regime change in Iran (exactly like the AIPAC CONFERENCE IN THE SPRING OF 2005).

We will see if the MSM covers the AIPAC/FRANKLIN/ROSEN TRIAL in April. The lack of coverage on the Franklin coviction is sure not a good indicator.

before theJPost.com ÔøΩ Israel ÔøΩ Article Oct. 8, 2005 4:33 | Updated Jan. 20, 2006

Israel: Franklin's trial won't affect us By NATHAN GUTTMAN&

;WASHINGTON&
;Israel alleged that it would not be affected by Lawrence Franklin's plea bargain or by the fact that the names of Israeli diplomats were mentioned in court. Israeli diplomatic sources said Thursday that Naor Gilon, the former political officer at the Israeli embassy in Washington, who was in contact with convicted Pentagon analyst Franklin, had no idea that the information he got from Franklin was classified. "We are not responsible for what is said to us by American officials", said the diplomatic source, "even if an American official did something he was not authorized to do, we had no way of knowing that."&;Mark Regev, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in response to the incident that "the Israel embassy staff in Washington conduct themselves in a completely professional manner in accordance with all international conventions, and no one serious has made any allegations to the contrary.";Naor Gilon met between eight and twelve times with Larry Franklin and discussed with him issues regarding Iran's nuclear program and the internal political situation in Iran. Israeli sources described these meetings as routine and common practice for any diplomat. Franklin himself, in a court hearing Wednesday in which he pleaded guilty to three counts of communicating classified information and holding documents at his home, said he "knew in his heart" that the Israelis already possessed all the information he was giving Gilon. Franklin added that he received more information from the Israeli diplomat than he had given him.&;In a short formal reaction to the Franklin plea bargain, David Siegel, spokesman for the Israeli embassy, said, "we have full confidence in our diplomats who are dedicated professionals who conduct themselves in full accordance with established diplomatic practices".;Israel and the US have not reached yet an understanding concerning the method in which Gilon and two other Israeli diplomats from the embassy will be interviewed by investigators probing the case. Israeli suggested that the US relay its questions to the Israelis and will get in return written answers, but there was yet to be an American response to this offer. While Israel was mentioned only in passing and court documentation showed it was not accused of any wrongdoing, the prosecutors focused on two former officials at the pro-Israel lobby. The trials of Steve Rosen, former AIPAC director of policy, and Keith Weissman, former Iran analyst at the lobby, were slated to begin on January 3rd. Abbe Lowell, the attorney representing Rosen in the case, said Wednesday that he was not surprised by the fact that Franklin, who was under great pressure struck a deal with the prosecution. "It has no impact on our case because a government employee's actions in dealing with classified information are simply not the same as a private person, whether that person is a reporter or a lobbyist", said Lowell in a written statement following Franklin's court appearance.;Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Yuval Steinitz said Thursday that Israel had not 'activated' Franklin, and that Israel was not spying in the United States. He stressed that any conviction was in no way an accusation of Israeli involvement in spying.

Bush emulates his mother in every way. Bush is also a nutcracker. Men, picture yourself with your cajones inside a nutcracker and squeeze. A similar experience will happen to us in 2006. All of our nuts will be cracked.

ha - I would suggest that if anyone has jewels, precious metals, or sneaky technological devices of questionable origin, etc, in a bank safe-deposit box, they immediately withdraw them and stash them in a secure place where they can't be confiscated. like buried in the yard.

Men, the nutcracker experience is similar to when we sit on our cajones from time to time. The feeling is not too good.

Kathleen, I suppose pollard wasn't spying for Israel either, right?
James, I have said keep your precious valuables out of the bank many times, I know many people think I am whacked, but if the worst case scenario comes to pass they won't be able to say they weren't warned. At the very least hiding them in the backyard or some other safe spot will enable you to keep them out of big brothers hands!

Give Me Some Answers and I will Change my Mind
From the Smoking Mirrors blog.

...I want my questions answered. If my questions cannot be answered other than with answers that are not answers; or with justifications for any and all behavior, or with a suggestion that I shut up, or because of national security or any other subterfuge then what am I to believe? What am I to think? What? Should I walk through the looming Judas Gate with all of the other sheep hoping for the best?

I'm tired of people dying for the wrong reasons. I'm tired of special interests and the agendas of a vicious minority, making canon fodder out of humanity. I am tired of useful lies and a controlled media and hegemony and all of the ugly permutations of the world of business, grinding the unfortunate beneath the hobnailed boots of progress. I'm tired of all these bright shining futures with their bombastic poorly written soundtracks. Neither my spirit nor my blood is strong enough in sacrifice to redeem the stupidities of the age. It appears even the spotless lamb could not accomplish it. I am no spotless lamb.

#62 james ha...why would the NSA release any evidence of spying on Cindy Sheehan? Remember at the hearings on John BOlton..the NSA, the Bush administration and Bolton refused to release the NSA TRANSCRIPTS requested by Biden and Kerry in regard to Boltons "alleged" spying on Powell and other officials.

I don't see WHY they would need to resort to spying on Cindy. She is pretty up front and personal with her activities!

Saladin,

Reading more about the oil Bourse. I may be reading more into it than I should but the British decision not to convert to the Euro may
have staved off econimic disaster, for now.

Regarding cutting and running of U.S. industry,

There are two specific reasons that I can cite that give rise to this movement.

Improved education of the populace in countries with a large available workforce.

There is no question that there has been a dramatic rise in the quality of education in overseas countries and quite a dramatic drop in quality for the United States. Years ago, a high school educated person in this country could expect to have a decent job and be able to support a family albeit with modest means. That was because the goal of education then was to actually educate the student. The goal now in this country is to pass the student on to the next grade regardless if they learn or not. Overseas countries are now educating their students better than the United States. I'm not saying this country was the always the leader in this category, but what we have become since the 70's is pathetic.

Unions

I am not a basher of unions. My father and many of my family were union men. Unions paved the way for a lot of progress in the area of industry since the early 1900's. But with the advent of OSHA, the EPA, minimum wage laws, etc. taxpayer dollars via the government has largely supplanted the role of the unions. What unions do now days is largely drive up the cost of the product or service their workers provide. Their workers largely depend on the consumer for their livlihood, as do most workers. So when the consumer makes it clear they no longer desire to buy a union made product because of price, the company has to find ways to cut the price of the product. Many companies have done that for a long time here in this country by having parts made and buying supplies overseas and assemblying them here in the United States. Therefore, it is still union made. That is no longer working. It is now far more cost effective to have the product produced, assembled and shipped to this country than it is to do it here. Why teachers feel the need to have a union, I'll never know. That is the one thing we can't ship overseas to produce.

I'll get back to you on that oil Bourse. That could become the next Exxon Valdez, very quickly.

Hajji,

Did you figure out who was in picture #2?

TRH,

The outsourcing of jobs seems to be the result of a never ending circle of inflation and wage increases. One requires the other. While the prices continue to climb industry can no longer afford the wages needed for the average US citizen to get by, so the jobs go where people can live on much less. I don't think unions have much to do with it. Unions don't cause inflation, printing money does. There are so many problems with our economy right now it is hard to know where to begin. The Bourse is just another wrench in the works. Check out this item I read at Richard Daughty's site,

Bill Bonner reports that "Senator Max Baucus of Montana, along with many others, think there is something wrong. It seems to them that China must be getting away with something. They're not sure what it is that China is doing wrong, but they're determined to put a stop to it. 'Washington may take measures,' Baucus warned the Chinese."

Like what? Well, how about "Among the measures Washington may take is a trade tariff"? What is the effect of a tariff? It "would increase the cost of Chinese exports by nearly 30%." Hahaha! A thirty percent price inflation! Punishing the Chinese by making things more expensive for us? This idiot can't possibly be serious! I howl in my outrage! OwwwwWWWWwwww!
----------
Union or no union they seem bound and determined to make fiscal sanity an impossibility. Tick tick ticking.

What the Heck, Gerald? So George and his Mother are nutcrackers now?

I know Bush has a fixation for bald people. Maybe he likes coconuts as well!

Get back on your meds, Gerald, before you hurt someone. Heh, heh, heh!

Saladin,

Unions do drive up cost of the products or services their workers provide. But, I do not lay all blame at their feet.

Regarding Baucus,

He's just doing what the typical politician does. Make it look like they're doing something good for their constituents when they're actually screwing them.

TRH,

I haven't had a chance to look. "Personal Websites" seem to be blocked by the corporate firewall cookie monster! Don't get me wrong, the compn'y has every right to monitor their computer, ...but...
Ever Feel Like They're Watching!?

When we have problems, MIS calls up our terminal to try and fix it...the mouse is beyond my controll and MY computer is doing things without ME! That's when it really hits home that I'm not ALONE!

-T

TRH, I understand the concept, but how can people be expected, especially in states like CA. to live on anything less than $40,000 a year? You won't get that at Walmart, and who wants to compete with the wages in China or Mexico, you could never live on that here. It is the fault of inflation, plain and simple. The fed. has made our money next to useless, the more they print, the less it is worth. But idiots like greenspan and now bernanke continue down this suicidal path. Is it incompetence? I think not, and blaming unions, or anyone else for these insane policies just distracts people from the real culprits while driving another wedge between left and right. This train wreck has been nearly 100 years in the making, there's no stopping it now.

David: You were AMAZING yesterday on the Diane Rhem show yesterday. In a few words you laid out the chutzpah of the GOP to attach our veterans because they weren't wounded enough in battle. Keep up the good work. CJ

Facing annual `Fun with 1040' always drives me to look for diversions! Ahhhhh, here w/Corn people it is!

Today's paper says Houston gained some 45,000 jobs in `05 and looking for 60,000 in `06. Median house price of something like $140k. We welcome anyone wanting to work, even at WalMart. Good ole Sam, he didn't cater his business model to us in the upper middle class but now, his company is despised by the Leberal elites who ?Represent? WalMart's massive core customers? Go figure!

My Hispanic house cleaner of some 15 years...My, how conversant in English she and her whole family has become. Makes great tamales too! Bought their first house about 2 years ago and she now drives a late-model Camry while hubby has steady job. Kinda puts native English speakers with low aspirations to shame.

The Day Labors I hire from time to time, some are short-sighted and won't be hired back for following days. The good ones, stick w/me until the job is done and gets $300 per week (+ free lunch) for months and send money home while sharing 2-bedroom apartments w/6~10 others for peanuts. They will make it in 10~20 years!

Unions ALSO have traditionally kept the wages of regional employees up over non-unionized workplaces, improved health benefits, retirement programs.

Existing unions, today, are generally being quite generous in granting concessions so that the employer can still operate at a reasonable profit and the union workers can keep getting income, albeit less than what they've been accoustomed to.

Airline employees have been hit particularly hard. Unionized nurses and utility workers are doing pretty well, mostly due to demand greatly exceeding qualified supply.

Teacher's unions (and many, many others) began both to bargain collectively with notoriously stingy school districts AND to be able to ensure a level of quality and training to offer Employers, in echange for better wages and benefits.

The two unions of which I am a lifetime member, National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians and International Theatrical And Stage Employees provided me with more practical skills education than years of college ever could've.

Abuses of power and greed, like in most enterprises, has given a bad name to unions as much as it has to abusive Megacorps!

-T

Saladin,
My husband is reading a book called 'Crossing the Rubicon' by Michael Ruppert. Very interesting.

From #182 by Hajji

Unionized nurses and utility workers are doing pretty well, mostly due to demand greatly exceeding qualified supply.

From #157 by the same Hajji

Headline: Ford to cut jobs, shut plants

Poster's Comment: "More than a quarter of the company that defined USA industrial production, down the tubes!"

Posted by: Hajji at January 21, 2006 11:36 AM

To all visitors, Right or Left, this Poster has a Toyota Prius on order! He did NOT buy/order a Ford hybrid vehicle.

Oh, kind of curious these 2 Comments were made by the same individual.

Well, back to the 1040! Chow..

The attacks on our veterans by gutless repugs will have a backlash when our men and women say why should I fight for this country and get maimed or killed but if I am not maimed or killed enough, I will not receive benefits or if I run for public office, I will be attacked for disagreeing on certain positions because I was not maimed enough in the service of country. I cannot remember his name from Georgia who lost three limbs in Vietnam and lost the election because he questioned the Iraq war. Who in the hell would want to fight for this Nazified country where we have a chickenshit ruler who quivered in the corner of some bar in Alabama by the very thought of going to Vietnam. Or, you escape the military service because you had more important things to do like impregnating your wife to receive a deferment.

His name is Cleland. It just came to me.

The Iranian Nuclear Program

Next week two arms control experts, Paul Kerr of the Arms Control Association and Dr. Jeffrey Lewis of Armscontrolwonk.com, will be joining us to discuss the Iranian nuclear program.
Do you have questions you'd like answered? Post them as comments in this thread.

----------------
Any questions?

Crash of the Titans By Larry Johnson

As Scooby Doo says, "Roh Roh" (i.e., dog speak for OH MY GOD!), the Abramoff scandal damage is spreading big time and the DC economy is likely to be one of the unintended victims. Are we talking recession in the future? I'm not crying crocodile tears for lobbyists and, like prostitution, it does provide a public service (one that many, like hooking, find objectionable).
I have some friends who are big time players in the lobbying industry. They tell me that they are starting to unload baseball tickets to the Orioles and Nationals, boxes and suites at the MCI Center (home to the hockey Caps and the basketball Wizards), and seats at FedEx field, home of the Redskins. I will admint there is a silver lining here for me; I may snag my lobbyist buddy's National's season tickets. This is one way to get front row box seats to the ball game.

The restaurant scene is equally grim. Abramoff's restaurant, Signatures, is not the only one going into the tank. Many Senators, Representatives, and staffers are acting pre-emptively and declining to eat with lobbyists at Charlie Palmer's, Capitol Grill, and the Palm.

What does this mean?

The restaurant explosion, particularly the growth of high dollar steakhouses, will come to a screeching halt. Fewer restaurants, fewer jobs. The middle to low income segments of DC will bear the bulk of this burden, but so too will some cats accustomed to six figure salaries. We may be looking at the lobbyist equivalent of the collapse of the internet bubble. With fewer six figure salaries the demand for housing and office space in the District and the neighboring counties in Maryland and Virginia will also cool.
Unfortunately, all of the posturing appears to be cosmetic. While our elected representatives will now eschew meals with those "nasty" lobbyists they will still break bread as long as the lobbyist shows up with an envelope stuffed with $10,000. A "fund raiser" meal is still kosher. Regular eating ain't. But, who is going to pay lobbyists big bucks if the Congress decides to ban earmarking and other ways of tickling the legislative process?
-----------------------
This is an industry that exists only to feed off its host. I'm sure it serves a purpose but at this time it's so corrupted that it no longer can be trusted in its job. It has also attracted the Tom DeLays of the world to Washington. They go where the money is. Get rid of the lobbyists.

Well, I haven't checked out all the comments from the last few days...been too busy checking in on all the interesting goings on in the world and nation...

It seems we are in very much a trifurcated country...those outraged by the goings on such as the NSA story and continuing conflict, those cheering on the perpetrators of those policies (exposing my own bias in the matter) and lastly those too involved in the day to day of survival to much pay attention.

Did anyone pay attention to Richard Hersh's testimoney at the Conyer's hearing thursday?

While I will note that his story does not directly address the immediate issue of the NSA program thus far admitted to by the administration - that of the listening in on international al CIAda to Americans telephony - it does raise the spector of COINTELPRO which so infiltrated the civil-rights and anti-war groups of my youth.

How are we to accurately judge the news reported yesterday of the 'eco-terrorism' arrests with the history of Judi Bari behind us. Further, the issue of agents provocateurs from the government into leftist organizations has been documented, as well.

Just some morsels to chew on as I peruse the news...

The Day Labors I hire from time to time, some are short-sighted and won't be hired back for following days. The good ones, stick w/me until the job is done and gets $300 per week (+ free lunch) for months and send money home while sharing 2-bedroom apartments w/6~10 others for peanuts. They will make it in 10~20 years! - Happy

I'm curious, do you also pay the taxes and social security, or are you commiting a crime?

Tomorrow [today] morning at 11:00 am, the United Daughters of the Confederacy will host a birthday ceremony for Robert E. Lee in Statuary Hall in the Capitol Building. Confederate flags will be in abundance in the same hall where a statue of the late civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks will soon be displayed. Congressional insiders report that the official congressional sponsor of the Confederate event in House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who received $59,000 from slush funds connected to convicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff in return for his sponsorship. In addition, Federal Claims Court Judge Richard Bender Abell is scheduled to be the guest speaker at the event. - Wayne Madsen

*************************

Also, some juicy bits on Jack's ties with South Africa...

#190
I'd be embarrassed to be HAPPY. He thinks he's doing these people a favor. THEY ARE WORKING FOR YOU, YOU DOORKNOB!
How many hours does - until the job gets done - really mean? Happy is either a roofer or a landscaper. It's hard work. $300 a week? I estimate he's got these guys working 60 hrs a week for $6 an hour.

Jeanne, Ruppert was one of the first to bring into question the lies of 9/11. Since then he has declared those lies to be unimportant. I strongly disagree with that conclusion. I would sure like to know what caused such an about face. And why has he refused to acknowledge the obvious Israeli ties? Something is fishy here.

From the essay, I Greenspan by Bill Bonner

A successful central banker, in the age of compliant paper money, is one
who is able to control the rate of ruin so that the rubes don't catch on.
A little bit of inflation, they believe, is actually healthy. Haven't the
economists told them so? Issuing a little bit more money each year makes
people feel richer, so they spend more; they hire more people; they build
more houses. Everybody is happy. Everyone feels richer. What an elegant
fraud! It's almost a perfect crime, because no one objects as long as it
is done right. (My replacement at the Fed, Ben Bernanke, specializes in
controlling the rate at which central bankers can steal from dollar
holders without getting caught. He says that if necessary, he'll drop
money from helicopters should the currency fail to lose value fast
enough. I predict that there will be a lot of people who will want to
drop him from a helicopter...
---------
Excellent rant on currency debasement. Will the rubes catch on? Nah! Easier to blame unions and any other group they don't like.

"The easiest way to rob a bank is to own one..."

Will wonders never cease? Here I go posting Robert Novak wondering the same damn thing I am...?!

Filibuster Alito?
Jan 21, 2006
by Robert Novak

WASHINGTON -- Pressure from liberal activists to oppose confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court has been so intense that Democratic senators may be trapped into a filibuster that they do not want to wage.

Despite the consensus that Alito performed well in his confirmation hearings, leaders of liberal organizations opposing him -- Ralph Neas, Nan Aron and Wade Henderson -- demand that Democrats vote against him. Consequently, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is the only Democrat at this writing who has announced in Alito's favor.

That means the number of senators voting "no" will be well over the 41 needed to prevent cloture. Pressure groups then could ask why no filibuster had been launched. But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid may not want to risk causing Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist to set a precedent by using the "nuclear" option: to end a filibuster by simple majority vote.

*************************

In light of the proclivity shown by Alito to give deference to executive power, these are dangerous times to allow his elevation to the high court.

FILIBUSTER!

Moreover, any replacement candidate should be held up until after we get to the bottom of the NSA issue, the Plame/Wilson issue, and hopefully, the IMPEACHMENT issue, therefore, not until after the mid-term elections.

Remember the exchange on the Senate floor between Robert Byrd and Bill Frist on the matter of the Nuclear option; should it come to that, as the ship of state is heading precipitiously towards the shoals, we will be at least afforded the spectacle of the parlimentary skills of Byrd v. Frist - better than the Super Bowl for us political junkies as our republic commits suicide.

#190

Let it be pointed out that several people in here lack 5th grade mathematical skills. A person would earn $360 working 60 hours at $6.00/hr.

#197

Which only goes to underscore the primary point; the actual wage would then be less than $6.00 an hour...which allows for the question to be asked about the comprehension skills of some commentors.

Hey! I can afford a Prius!!! I guess that negative balance in the checking account is just some sort of anomaly!

I can't WAIT to see how long a car with about 4-inches of ground clearence lasts on my driveway. (one or two trips up and down, I'm guessing!)

Those of you who know me have heard all about my 2-door Jeep Cherokee Sport,(157,000 miles...about 25mpg) GRACIOUSLY donated to me upon the demise of my dear, old quarter million mile 4-cylinder Isuzu Trooper by my Santa Monica Buddy Vinnie.

I suppose if I my past THREE addresses didn't include directions something like... "Turn right off paved road, cross creek and turn left through the stand of pines..." I MIGHT be able to get a small econo-car, but I doubt my income is sufficient to finance one.

I DID point out to a certain TROLL-ish entity once when he touted American Auto Manufacturers! I 'splained to "LOOSE with Facts LUCY" that they were hardly on the cutting edge of hybrid technology and the highly-touted Ford Excape Hybrid was simply a licensed Toyota technology!

It wasn't very happy then and I'm thinkin' behind its smile, today, are the tears of a CLOWN!

Now I'm sure I know this BOZO! You've got the address, TROLL, c'mon and have a beer on the front porch with me and use that word "hypocrite" to my face!

I just LOVE the cowardly Bushbullies!

-T

I'm not too familiar with tax forms (I can file the EZ! Woo HOO!) but I'd think someone with his own business, owning property, paying laborers AND having lots of investment income would probably need a different form than a simple 1040?

I expect someone will correct me, if I'm wrong.

The LIAR, pathological and PUH-Thetic calls ME a hypocrite!

What fun!

"Or do we think the holes in the ground are some David Copperfield illusion." Bill #72 Yes, the only thing you got right in your A-F.

Houston is getting 100,000 new jobs? That's great, but I'm too close to where Ford lives, and plant closings mean more job losses in the area, and that affects me directly.

Since we've sold our country to the Dutch, the British, the Saudis, and the Chinese, shouldn't the Mexicans be asking them for permission to cross the border, or did Houston already take care of that?

geof01,

As the owners of our debt, those financiers are as happy to see cheap labor come across our borders as they are to see subsidised farm goods going to diplace indigenous farmers allover the hemispere; leading to more displaced persons looking to cross the border.

Houston is getting 100,000 new jobs?

I'd bet more 'n half of 'em are in home-building. They keep going up all around here, and I'm wondering who tha hell can buy them! Also, considering the fine print in alot of those homes is a rule that you have to take any issues of shoddy construction (foundation probs/walls cracking/shyt that plain don't work, etc...) to arbitration instead of court. I believe the 'industry' has to pay those arbitrers salaries too, so how fair does that sound? Illegal aliens doing the work, just happy to get any crumbs thrown their way, skills learned where... crossing a river?? Homes that look nice when you drive by aren't always what they seem.
So we get jobs in an article in the paper, and fast food workers are in demand, cause they go up near them housing editions too. Small shopping centers and parking lots everywhere that a house isn't (no zoning laws here) and who's paying/buying all this stuff when real jobs are going overseas???
*but 'Happy' is well, uhm... happy, so it's all good

Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed

Whole article.

*************************

This is winning? And at what cost?

Hajji, IF he had all that going on he wouldn't be doing his own taxes, he'd have an accountant. His dipshittyness is proven once again with his conclusion regarding your vehicle situation, present OR future. The idiocy is, well, too idiotic to answer.

Hajji: You are SPOT ON! Gee whiz, when my husband and I owned and operated our own company, we hired a qualified CPA to figure out our fair share of taxes that our company willingly paid -- and he sure as hell didn't do it on a 1040!

Just when I thought I had 9/11 all figured out, (kidding) something like THIS comes along.

Financing the New World Order

Did you ever wonder where the money the New World
Order crowd uses to manipulate the media, the
politicians and the events, such as, 9-11 and the 7-7
London bombings comes from? There are 2 very brave
women who say it comes from your taxes.

Catherine Austin Fitts was a former managing partner at
Dillon Read, a New York investment bank. She served as
deputy Secretary of HUD under the first President Bush.
She once found one block in San Diego on which HUD
had financed 10 mortgages for buildings that never existed.
She also found that during the Clinton administration the
federal government gave $4,000,000 in flood relief to
Bronxville, New York which had never had a flood in
the past 100 years. Are these exceptions? Catherine says
no.

Susan Gaffney was the Inspector General for Clinton's
Housing and Urban Development department (HUD)
in 2000 when she testified before the senate. She told
the senators that 59.6 billion dollars of your tax money
was missing. When asked what she did,she said she
adjusted the books to reflect the fact that 17.6 billion
went missing in 1998 and 59.6 billion dollars went
missing in 1999 from this one agency. No attempt
was made to recover any of that money. And few
attempts have been made to recover any of the
money stolen from other departments. Ms. Fitts
notes that the past 4 Treasury Secretaries have
presided over budgets which feature over 4 trillion
dollars in unaudited federal spending which
were just ripe for looting.

The second brave woman in this battle is Indira
Singh. She was a software enterprise consultant
to some of the biggest banks in the United States.
Enterprise wide software gives you access across
departments and agencies even if they are using
different computer systems and languages.

Indira came across a company that had access to
the computers at Treasury, the IRS, the FBI, the
Congress, the FAA, the Pentagon and many other
agencies. This company had the ability to give
anyone who wanted it access to steal billions of
dollars every week from the Treasury which is to
say your pocket.

If you own the, banks, the press
and the government, you have the right to use this
unlimited computer access to steal all the money
you need to bribe the politicians and the press and
to conduct covert operations.

This one company that had access to the computers
at the FAA and the Pentagon and the FBI and Secret
Service on 9-11-2001 was on a terrorist watch list,
because of the supposed links to terrorist organizations.
Michael Chertoff, who is now the head of Homeland
Security, was the head of the Department of Justice's
Criminal Investigation Division on 9-11. He refused
permission to any FBI agents to raid the offices of
this company that had access to the computers which
allowed the second and third planes to hit their
targets.
-----------
The pentagon says it can't account for how many billions? I bet they can, but WON'T! I would LOVE to know what Sibel has to say.

Gerald, this is for you!

The Nazi Bush Regime

The blow-by-blow methodical laundry listing of actual political events leading a nation to Nazification was never more thoroughly documented than by the efforts of William L. Shirer in his Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Journalist Shirer explains how the fun-loving German people were quickly taken over by the Nazis: "they were unarmed and unorganized."

Shirer completely missed the most important of the three "U" descriptives: "uninformed." Hitler's first financial commitment to Nazism was his purchase of a newspaper made possible by the donations of his early backers. Nazism, fascism, communism and any form of government tyranny require all three qualities to facilitate the subjugation of a people: ignorance, lack of organized opposition and lack of the means to exact corrective force.

“President Bush and Attorney General Gonzales can manufacture all of the legal justifications they want, but the facts and laws show that this warrantless surveillance violates the First and Fourth Amendment and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

“Any opinion coming from the Justice Department has to be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism, given Attorney General Gonzales’ involvement in the warrantless spying as White House counsel. The fox may now be guarding the henhouse, which is why we need an independent special counsel.

“Congress must hold open, substantive hearings to let the American public know how their privacy was invaded. The president must not use a claim of preserving the nation as justification to undermine the very principles that define our nation. Freedom, liberty and privacy must be protected and preserved.”

The pentagon says it can't account for how many billions? I bet they can, but WON'T! I would LOVE to know what Sibel has to say. - Saladin

**************************

Uhmm, that would be 2,300 Billion Dollars:

"According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions," Rumsfeld admitted.

Gagged, But Not Dead
By Sibel Edmonds

Always great to hear a bit of the truth.. Last update - 18:16 20/01/2006 It's the occupation, stupid! By Geoffrey Aronson Israel's reoccupation of the entire West Bank in Spring 2002 (Operation Defensive Shield) ended many of the limited powers exercised by the Palestinian Authority. Subsequent measures championed by Israel have deconstructed nominally Palestinian territories into an ever-more complex, almost indecipherable maze of administrative, territorial, legal, and security spaces, lacking territorial coherence and administrative transparency. These physical divisions throughout the West Bank are caused by settlements, their infrastructure, and transportation links. Palestinians and the international community have not effectively challenged Israeli demands to assure the security of settlements and their inhabitants, expansively defined by Israel - even though these demands make the effective exercise and expansion of Palestinian authority across the rump of isolated, disjointed territories which Israel desires neither for settlement or security all but impossible. The points at which these myriad spaces meet - checkpoints, crossing points, and the separation barrier winding its way through the West Bank and East Jerusalem - highlight the conflicts, inefficiencies, and suffering produced by Israeli policy. These hardships are not the unintended by-product of policies carelessly planned or implemented. Rather, they are the inevitable consequence of an arbitrary and lawless regime of occupation. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon intended to solidify the physical separation of Palestinians from settler communities within the West Bank and also between the Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Israel in security, territorial, and economic dimensions. The creation of the physical infrastructure to support this policy is well advanced. Should he choose, Sharon's successor will not easily be able to reverse it. The physical separation of settlers from their Palestinian environment relies on the creation of settlement blocs linked territorially to Israel. This continuity is contrasted by a patchwork of Palestinian areas whose territorial and administrative coherence has been sacrificed to Israeli settlement requirements, and whose linkages to other Palestinian areas, when available, are often limited to narrow corridors of "transportation contiguity." Palestinian access from the West Bank to Israel is soon to be subject to strict, "hard" border-like controls on the Gaza Strip's Erez model at a limited number of crossing points. Access from the Gaza Strip to Israel will continue to decline, and the creation of a regular and efficient transit route between Gaza and the West Bank, despite Israeli promises to the contrary, will not be realized, certainly not as long as claims for its implementation are based upon premises Israel no longer recognizes as binding. "Win-Win" solutions of the kind promoted by the international community have been all but impossible to implement. No one today is claiming, as Israel did in the early decades of occupation, that the system Israel is now imposing will revitalize the Palestinian economy, enhance the quality of life, or enable everyone to "live together forever" under benevolent Israeli rule. Israel long ago abandoned its claim that settlers and settlements do not harm their Palestinian "neighbors." Indeed well-intentioned efforts are being made by Palestinians, Israelis, and the international community to reduce the catastrophic economic and social dislocations that the system is producing in a quixotic effort to approximate the creation of a benign economic and territorial space divided into separate and territorially coherent Israeli and Palestinian political entities. The conceptual framework adopted by the international community - whether in its policy towards settlements, security, or border management - reflects the misplaced notion that a hostile occupation dedicated to the large-scale theft of land for civilian settlement and thus lawless by nature, can be run according to standards that are above all fair. Internationally-led efforts to encourage a regime of law are a misconceived and ultimately unrealizable substitute for a principled demand to dismantle settlements and to end occupation. For example, a recent World Bank report, "The Palestinian Economy and the Prospects for its Recovery," is guardedly hopeful that the November 15, 2005 agreement on the operation of crossing points from Gaza "has the potential to transform border management - from a unilateral, security-based model to one which is cooperatively managed and seeks a sustainable balance between security and economics." Such a system, if it could be created, would not be an occupation of the kind Israel operates in the occupied territories. But occupation - brutal, arbitrary, and opaque - with settlement at its heart, continues to define relations between Israel and Palestinians today. Contrary to the claims of Israeli officials, completion of the separation barrier later this year will not materially affect the draconian closure regime that now defines life for Palestinians in the West Bank, as long as the requirement to protect settlers and the maintenance of their "normal lives" remains paramount, and as long as Palestinians resist this state of affairs. As the World Bank report gingerly acknowledges, "as the separation barrier is completed, it can be assumed that threats to Israel will no longer constitute the core rationale for internal closure (any more than it does in fenced-off Gaza), leaving the protection of Israeli movement in the West Bank [i.e., the protection of settlers] as the key factor. Given this, and the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank, an early return to the September 28, 2000 status quo in the West Bank would seem unlikely." The international community hopes that the efficient, transparent operation of crossing points will take the harsh edge off continuing occupation. But settlements, as the World Bank report notes, are at the core of the closure regime and the associated restrictions on Palestinian movement that have impoverished the country. "Current GOI [Government of Israel] policy," the report notes, "protects settlements and settler access by restricting Palestinian traffic on key highways, and this conflicts with the need to restore movement between towns, villages and the borders .... The system of closures detailed in the Bank's December 2004 report is still largely in place, and remains the key risk to rapid, sustained Palestinian economic recovery." The World Bank report also acknowledges that the Palestinian Authority is justifiably concerned that to the extent that international efforts are aimed at tinkering with this system, "a dialogue of this kind between donors and GOI could be construed as acceptance of the legality of settlements." That indeed is Israel's objective: to compel Palestinians and the international community to recognize the legitimacy of its settlement enterprise. The writer is director of the Foundation for Middle East Peace in Washington, DC.

coincidentally, the unacccounted for 2.3 TRILLION was announced at a press conference by Rumsfeld on 9/10/01. it was easily overlooked by the public due to the events of the following day.

James Ha,

The 2.3 Trillion came up at a town hall meeting held by congresscritters Moran and Murtha.

Murtha denied the figure.

I called his office on it.

Spoke to a spokesperson for a good ten minutes on the phone...

Try it yerselves: 202-225-2065, but wait 'til monday...

oh, Indira Singh does know some things!

TRH (#174)

I'm thinkin' even Saladin knows who THAT is!

She was a year older and THAT much taller?

-T

DAMN Robert,

When you "come back" you make an entrance!

What GREAT links! I'm gonna hafta print most out and read 'em during the commercials during the Pittsburgh/Denver game!

Thanks for your ferretosity in finding facts and opinions!

-T

Break/Fun time!!!!!

From #190
I'm curious, do you also pay the taxes and social security, or are you commiting a crime?

Posted by: Robert Schwartz at January 21, 2006 03:01 PM

Geeeez, I never asked for SS Nos.! How forgetful of me! Such `crime' must be so commonplace, like jaywalking maybe? I'll bet you didn't know the City of Houston operates several `camps' for these eager-to-work folks (to keep them from congregating on street corners).

From #192
How many hours does - until the job gets done - really mean? Happy is either a roofer or a landscaper. It's hard work. $300 a week? I estimate he's got these guys working 60 hrs a week for $6 an hour.

I am a builder. Almost all of my work is done by subcontractors. Direct day lobors have mostly light 35~40 hours work weeks doing (mostly) cleanup, a Clean Job Site is a Productive Jobsite! In fact, my college son was hired on for the whole summer in 2004. They also help in picking up or unloading construction materials.

So many of you have so little real-world experience and thinks that common labor can be exploited! I don't pay them ontime or fairly, there are plenty of others that will hire them. It's a two-way street! The ones I like generally like me! I don't deny that I hear some labors getting screwed out of a few days of wages but I can only control what I do and I am eminently fair!

saladin, 171
I don't think that you're whacked - I was being entirely serious -

Geeeez, I never asked for SS Nos.! How forgetful of me!

So many of you have so little real-world experience and thinks that common labor can be exploited! - Happy

Well, as one who was a Union Sheet Metal Worker for over 15 years, I know exactly how those who work without legal protections can be exploited - indeed, how even with the limited protections afforded the labor market since the Reagan Administration, even Union labor is in decline.

#203 Alan

Mr. fellow Houstonian, somehow, my mentioning 60,000 predicted 2006 jobs jumped to 100,000! I guess it's good!

You are an elevator tech, right? In my corporate days, I helped to build commercial stuff. Last set of elevators (this was back in the mid-1990s') were Kone.

Someone nitpicked my Form 1040, OK, score 0.0001 point for you. It's a 1040A! CPA does my small company's taxes, per TX requirement but I do the `personal stuff'. There, hope this just "makes your day".

#208 Saladin, thahk you!!!

#210 RS, I wonder how much money Bush and his Nazi cabal have in offshore banks. This Nazi regime is the most corrupt in UNA history!!!

I have been preaching ever since Bush was appointed emperor that Nazism would take hold in Nazi America.

Question for Happy...

Has anyone in your employ, whose Social Security numbers you've not bothered to check, had an industrial mishap, or accident, on your jobsite?

If so, what was the fallout?

I will copy and paste an article for you to read on Time to Defuse the Bomb. Our Nazified country and the world have serious problems and we have stupidity in the WH. Stupidity can only control the masses through fear,lies, and corruption.

''We've come to this dark time in which the new Gestapo of Homeland Security lurks here, where citizens are having their rights suspended,'' - Harry Belafonte

That whizbang businessman must run his (imaginary) construction company like George W. Bush ran his failed companies in Texas. There is NO requirement from the Comptroller of Public Accounts in Texas that a business utilize the services of a CPA for tax preparation. Lie. Stupid lie.

Is happy's imaginary company a sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, registered limited liability partnership, corporation (sub C or S), limited liability corporation, a sinking ship partnership?

Did you file your rendition form yet this year?

Time to Defuse a Demographic Bomb
Concern Is Now About Population Decline

SOFIA, Bulgaria, JAN. 21, 2006 (Zenit.org).- A number of countries have published data revealing a serious deficiency in the number of children being born. On Jan. 9 a report by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences predicted that the country's population will fall from 8 million in 2001 to 7 million in 2020, according to Agence France-Presse.

If the current number of children being born per woman, 1.2 to 1.3, were to continue in coming decades the population could even drop to 4.5 million by 2050. Some European countries have seen birthrates increase. But others, such as Spain and Italy, are at the same level as Bulgaria.

Italy has seen a slight rise in its birthrate in the last couple of years, but the situation is still grave. According to official data, reported in the newspaper Corriere della Sera last Oct. 21, the average age of men when their first child is born is now 33. The average age for first-time fathers in Spain and France is 30 to 31.

Moreover, 40% of Italian men ages 30 to 34 still live at home with mom; the comparable figure for women is 20%.

The effects on the age structure of Italy's population are becoming ever more evident. On Nov. 4 Reuters reported that the ratio of those 65 years of age and over to those under 15 reached 137.7 to 100 in 2004. Other European countries -- Germany, Spain, Portugal and Greece -- also have more over-65's than under-15's, but the disequilibrium is not as severe.

Russia also has serious problems. The British newspaper Guardian reported Dec. 29 that a combination of high mortality (especially for men), lots of abortions and few births has led to an almost 7% drop in Russia's population in the last 15 years. Now at 143 million, it is predicted to drop by up to 20 million in the next two decades.

The Guardian cited a report by a business lobby group, Delovaya Rossiya, warning that the country will lose up to $400 billion in the next 20 years if it fails to tackle the population implosion.

"The deficit of labor is already being noticed," said Andrei Korovkin, a labor resources expert. "Even with a pessimistic view of economic growth, by 2010 it will become the most serious fact limiting the development of Russian industry."

Japan shrinking

Just before Christmas Japan announced that for the first time on record its population dropped. A Health Ministry survey showed deaths outnumbering births in 2005 by 10,000, the Associated Press reported Dec. 21. The current average number of children per woman, 1.29, is also at a record low.

Just prior to the publication of the statistics a government report warned that Japan's population could shrink by half by the end of the century, Reuters reported Dec. 16.

"Compared with nations that have recently boosted their birthrates, such as France and Sweden, we cannot say that our nation's policies are really sufficient," the report said.

In South Korea, government officials are also worried about the lack of children. In fact, after decades of promoting birth control South Korea and other Asian countries are now trying to persuade parents to have more children, the New York Times reported Aug. 21.

"In the next two or three years, we won't be able to increase the birthrate," said Park Ha Jeong, a director general in the Health Ministry. "But we have to stop the decline, or it will be too late."

The average number of children per woman in South Korea has plummeted to 1.19. Taiwan is not much better, at 1.22.

Not until last year did the South Korean government commit itself to raising the birthrate. "We should have started these policies in the late 1990s," Park said, "but we had been focused on decreasing the birthrate for 40 years and it was hard to change directions." It remains to be seen how much success the government will have in reversing fertility trends.

Aging trends

The population is also aging rapidly in Canada, announced the official body Statistics Canada. The number of people aged 65 and over will overtake those under 15 by 2015, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported Dec. 15.

By 2031, the number of seniors is expected to be 8.9 million to 9.4 million, almost 25% of the population compared with 13% now. The number of children, by contrast, is projected to be 4.8 million to 6.6 million. At the same time, the number of people of working age (15 to 64) will decline from the current 70% to about 60% in the years after 2030.

In the United States, the population is also aging. A Washington Times report Dec. 26 noted that the first of 78.2 million baby boomers, defined as those born from 1946 to 1964, are about to turn 60. And over the next 25 years the whole country will start to have an age structure like that of Florida, where 20% of the population is 65 or older.

This change presents serious challenges for welfare programs and government finances. The number of people receiving Social Security or Medicare will grow by 27 million in the next two decades, while those working, and paying taxes to finance these benefits, will grow by only 18 million.

Economic impact

"On the path that we're headed on today," said David Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office, a federal agency, "either there have to be dramatic changes in entitlement programs and other federal spending, or dramatic tax increases to close the fiscal gap."

In fact, over the next half-century health and welfare benefits could reach a combined level of around 24% of gross domestic product, which is about equivalent to the entire amount of federal government spending in all sectors currently.

Aging costs were also examined recently by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. An OECD study warned that global economic growth will decline to about 1.7% a year over the next three decades, the Financial Times reported Oct. 11. That growth rate would represent a fall of 30% compared with past decades, unless older people are encouraged to work longer to offset declining birthrates.

By 2050 there will be an average of more than seven older, inactive people supported by just 10 active workers in developed economies, compared with a ratio of four to 10 in 2000. In Europe the ratio will be one to one.

Faced with these facts some erstwhile supporters of family planning have recognized their errors. Adam Werbach, former national president of the Sierra Club in the United States, published an article Oct. 5 on the Web site American Prospect Online admitting that population control policies were a mistake.

In recent years a group within the Sierra Club attempted to adopt policies against immigration, a move successfully resisted by Werbach and others. "In the population-control frame, the number of people and their placement on the planet is the root problem that needs to be solved," he explained.

But, Werbach continued, this is not the key problem. He called upon "population activists" to change course and concentrate instead on working for improvements in conditions for women, and better health care and education. Instead of worrying about population control we need to unleash human potential, Werbach explained. A lesson many countries are only starting to learn as they face population decline.

Yes, Cornposters, the UNA faces huge problems and Hitler Bush and his Nazi cabal will solve them by keeping us in a maze like rats, scurvy rats. That is the UNA's manifest destiny for all Nazi Americans.

Time to Defuse a Demographic Bomb
Concern Is Now About Population Decline

SOFIA, Bulgaria, JAN. 21, 2006 (Zenit.org).- A number of countries have published data revealing a serious deficiency in the number of children being born. On Jan. 9 a report by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences predicted that the country's population will fall from 8 million in 2001 to 7 million in 2020, according to Agence France-Presse.

If the current number of children being born per woman, 1.2 to 1.3, were to continue in coming decades the population could even drop to 4.5 million by 2050. Some European countries have seen birthrates increase. But others, such as Spain and Italy, are at the same level as Bulgaria.

Italy has seen a slight rise in its birthrate in the last couple of years, but the situation is still grave. According to official data, reported in the newspaper Corriere della Sera last Oct. 21, the average age of men when their first child is born is now 33. The average age for first-time fathers in Spain and France is 30 to 31.

Moreover, 40% of Italian men ages 30 to 34 still live at home with mom; the comparable figure for women is 20%.

The effects on the age structure of Italy's population are becoming ever more evident. On Nov. 4 Reuters reported that the ratio of those 65 years of age and over to those under 15 reached 137.7 to 100 in 2004. Other European countries -- Germany, Spain, Portugal and Greece -- also have more over-65's than under-15's, but the disequilibrium is not as severe.

Russia also has serious problems. The British newspaper Guardian reported Dec. 29 that a combination of high mortality (especially for men), lots of abortions and few births has led to an almost 7% drop in Russia's population in the last 15 years. Now at 143 million, it is predicted to drop by up to 20 million in the next two decades.

The Guardian cited a report by a business lobby group, Delovaya Rossiya, warning that the country will lose up to $400 billion in the next 20 years if it fails to tackle the population implosion.

"The deficit of labor is already being noticed," said Andrei Korovkin, a labor resources expert. "Even with a pessimistic view of economic growth, by 2010 it will become the most serious fact limiting the development of Russian industry."

Japan shrinking

Just before Christmas Japan announced that for the first time on record its population dropped. A Health Ministry survey showed deaths outnumbering births in 2005 by 10,000, the Associated Press reported Dec. 21. The current average number of children per woman, 1.29, is also at a record low.

Just prior to the publication of the statistics a government report warned that Japan's population could shrink by half by the end of the century, Reuters reported Dec. 16.

"Compared with nations that have recently boosted their birthrates, such as France and Sweden, we cannot say that our nation's policies are really sufficient," the report said.

In South Korea, government officials are also worried about the lack of children. In fact, after decades of promoting birth control South Korea and other Asian countries are now trying to persuade parents to have more children, the New York Times reported Aug. 21.

"In the next two or three years, we won't be able to increase the birthrate," said Park Ha Jeong, a director general in the Health Ministry. "But we have to stop the decline, or it will be too late."

The average number of children per woman in South Korea has plummeted to 1.19. Taiwan is not much better, at 1.22.

Not until last year did the South Korean government commit itself to raising the birthrate. "We should have started these policies in the late 1990s," Park said, "but we had been focused on decreasing the birthrate for 40 years and it was hard to change directions." It remains to be seen how much success the government will have in reversing fertility trends.

Aging trends

The population is also aging rapidly in Canada, announced the official body Statistics Canada. The number of people aged 65 and over will overtake those under 15 by 2015, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported Dec. 15.

By 2031, the number of seniors is expected to be 8.9 million to 9.4 million, almost 25% of the population compared with 13% now. The number of children, by contrast, is projected to be 4.8 million to 6.6 million. At the same time, the number of people of working age (15 to 64) will decline from the current 70% to about 60% in the years after 2030.

In the United States, the population is also aging. A Washington Times report Dec. 26 noted that the first of 78.2 million baby boomers, defined as those born from 1946 to 1964, are about to turn 60. And over the next 25 years the whole country will start to have an age structure like that of Florida, where 20% of the population is 65 or older.

This change presents serious challenges for welfare programs and government finances. The number of people receiving Social Security or Medicare will grow by 27 million in the next two decades, while those working, and paying taxes to finance these benefits, will grow by only 18 million.

Economic impact

"On the path that we're headed on today," said David Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office, a federal agency, "either there have to be dramatic changes in entitlement programs and other federal spending, or dramatic tax increases to close the fiscal gap."

In fact, over the next half-century health and welfare benefits could reach a combined level of around 24% of gross domestic product, which is about equivalent to the entire amount of federal government spending in all sectors currently.

Aging costs were also examined recently by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. An OECD study warned that global economic growth will decline to about 1.7% a year over the next three decades, the Financial Times reported Oct. 11. That growth rate would represent a fall of 30% compared with past decades, unless older people are encouraged to work longer to offset declining birthrates.

By 2050 there will be an average of more than seven older, inactive people supported by just 10 active workers in developed economies, compared with a ratio of four to 10 in 2000. In Europe the ratio will be one to one.

Faced with these facts some erstwhile supporters of family planning have recognized their errors. Adam Werbach, former national president of the Sierra Club in the United States, published an article Oct. 5 on the Web site American Prospect Online admitting that population control policies were a mistake.

In recent years a group within the Sierra Club attempted to adopt policies against immigration, a move successfully resisted by Werbach and others. "In the population-control frame, the number of people and their placement on the planet is the root problem that needs to be solved," he explained.

But, Werbach continued, this is not the key problem. He called upon "population activists" to change course and concentrate instead on working for improvements in conditions for women, and better health care and education. Instead of worrying about population control we need to unleash human potential, Werbach explained. A lesson many countries are only starting to learn as they face population decline.

Yes, Cornposters, the UNA faces huge problems and Hitler Bush and his Nazi cabal will solve them by keeping us in a maze like rats, scurvy rats. That is the UNA's manifest destiny for all Nazi Americans.

The UNA faces major problems and we do not have the leadership to resolve these problems.

Nazi America is a banana republic with a despot in the WH.

Exploitation of workers?! I DON'T believe it! Upton Sinclair must have made up the whole story in The Jungle. I have a feeling most corporations would be more than happy to have things operating the same way today, and I haven't even gotten to the sick and twisted treatment of the non-human animals. Note to Jeanne, if you haven't read that book, a word of warning, you would hate it, the abuse of innocents was almost more than I could stand, and I'm not a vegetarian.

Nazi America's Future!

Modern Slavery

Here is Tom Delay, the victim!!! Is Tom Delay advocating human trafficking that is taking place in the Mariana Islands?

If Delay was to die let us say tomorrow, what should we say about him?

One of my favorite programs is NOW with David Branccacio. Since Nazi America suffers from a truth deficit, NOW offers viewers truth and information. On Fridays NOW has some interesting programs. On one particular Friday NOW discussed the Mariana Islands. Tom Delay, the born again kkkristian, called the Mariana Islands a model for Nazi America. The islands are in the Pacific Ocean and these islands are a Commonwealth of Nazi America but they are not subject to the same labor laws as in the U.S. The islands import women to work 15-16 hours per day and 7 days per week. The women do not punch a clock and the yearly salary is $350. Delay calls the Mariana Islands the model for Nazi America. He should know because he is having Nazi America headed toward 15-16 hours per day and 7 days a week for a yearly salary of $350.

We all know Delay as a born again kkkristian. He and Bush are poster children for the born again kkkristians. Born again kkkristians carry the Bible in one hand and an uzi in the other hand. Most born again kkkristians read the Bible but the words are meaningless to them.

I love America because America is a nation filled with hypocrites and her politicians are scum and slime. NY Times' Joel Brinkley had an article "US faults 4 allies over forced labor." These four allies are in the Middle East, like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The US says that they practice modern slavery. Hypocrites are calling other hypocrites names and saying that they practice modern slavery. Yet, Delay calls the Mariana Islands a model for America.

When I see born again kkkristians like Delay and Bush, I am beyond puking and into dry heaves. The dry heaves never end. Yes, Delay and Bush are perfect examples of born again kkkristians. I love America because we are so predictable. We've gone from the home of the brave and land of the free to fear, greed, hatred, killing, and torture and born again kkkristians.

As a side note to our killing mentality the war drums are becoming louder and louder. Rummie, the dummie, issues a sharp rebuke of China on arms. Nazi America, a nation, with a nuclear holocaust as a game plan chastises China. Don't you just love Nazi America's hypocrisy?

In case you are interested our intelligence sources are saying that our terrorists are inside Iran. The war drums never stop and are getting louder. Soccer moms should be prepared for the renewal of the military draft and their sons and daughters singing out hut fours as they march off to war, Bush's endless wars.

IT MUST FEEL GOOD FOR THE NEOCONS AND THE BORN AGAIN KKKRISTIANS TO SLEEP SECURE IN THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Gerald, I prefer "Land of the brainwashed, home of the forever enslaved to debt" or something along those lines. How many know that the Federal Reserve and the IRS evolved virtually hand in hand? Can you guess how these criminals work together? And please leave out the obligation of paying your fair share, I mean the REAL reason.

Taxes as an Investment

I attended a Catholic Caucus meeting and the speaker said something interesting to us. Why should taxes be considered a tax relief to reduce taxes, especially for the multi-millionaires. Maybe we should see taxes as an investment for present and future generations. The taxes would be an investment in education, roads, environment, services in law enforcement, firefighters, libraries, health care, affordable prescription drugs, etc. Taxes can be considered a positive life experience and not a negative experience, especially if the taxes are progressive and fairly applied to the poor, middle class, and the rich. The federal government does not receive $300 billion in taxes per year that she should receive and 90% of this money should come from the rich who pay little or no taxes since they have all the tax loop holes and tax shelters. The rich need to pay their fair share in taxes in order to help America. Are the rich really Americans?

The use of the word, liberal, is out and the use of the word progressive is in. There are two myths that tax cuts means more jobs and increase in the minimum wages means loss of jobs.

We need to talk about ethics and not moral values. Progressives are moral people and most definitely they are more ethical in comparison to the conservatives. Progressives stand for community and cooperation and the conservatives stand for selfishness and greed. Progressives are nurturing and sensitive and the conservatives are authoritative and deceitful.

Conservatives are working together to destroy America but the progressives are split in terms of how to best help America.

Appearances are not reality. Church going and Bible carrying people are not necessarily good people.

In order for public policies to reflect gospel values we need to hear more about Matthew 25:31-46.

Seven Basic Principles

When I vote, I use a certain criteria to help me. There are seven basic principles that will help me.

1. Life and Dignity of the Human Person

Democrats are said to believe in a culture of death. Let us take a close look as to what they stand for, pro-health care, pro-affordable drugs, pro-increase in the minimum wage, pro-medical coverage of a person with a preexisting medical condition.
Republicans contribute to the culture of death through their programs of no coverage for a person with a preexisting medical condition, no affordable drugs, no health coverage for all Americans, no clean environment, no increase in the minimum wage.

2. Human Rights and Responsibilities

Democrats have passed civil rights policies and they are pro-education.
Republicans favor the rich and the super rich and tax cuts with people who have money.

3. A Call to Family and Community

Democrats seek for everyone to vote, increase in the quality of life, and improvements in community development.
Republicans thwart the voting rights of Americans like in Florida and Ohio. The rich have offshore tax shelters and the common person pay the bills. Rigged elections favor the Republicans.

4. The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

Democrats have a rich history and a track record of supporting workers.
The Republicans have a sad history and a sad track record toward the workers. They also want to destroy social security and medicare.

5. The Option for the Poor

Democrats have a rich history in trying to help the poor.
Republicans oppose the minimum wage and they attempt to cut programs for the poor so the tax cuts go to the rich.

6. Solidarity

The Democrats favor a community of people working together for the common good.
Republicans have a hate and kill mentality for our global neighbors.

7. Care of God's Creation

Democrats have a strong desire for a clean environment that would enhance the quality of life.
Republicans have exploited the environment for the benefit of corporations and the Republicans have blocked treaties that would improve the environment.

Historically, I see the Democrats as people who are interested in the common good of all peoples. I see the Republicans as people who are filled hypocrisy, lies, greed, and corruption.

Happy is ignoring Robert's and Micki's legit questions about his company. I hate it when people lie. Cowards lie.

Gerald, thank you for reminding us of this fact.

"Democrats have a strong desire for a clean environment that would enhance the quality of life."

Someday we may be rid of the crooks, liars, warmongers in the WH and in DC, but if the Earth is so badly damaged and morbidly will, what good will it do?

I remember when I was about seven years old. There was a guy down the street that I really, really, disliked. At my age, and in those times, about the worst you could call someone was a pooh-pooh head. I would call my neighbor "pooh-pooh head" over and over again. Man, it made me feel good.

Then I grew up, and realized what a total idiot I had sounded like saying such a thing. Perhaps appropriate for a child, certainly not appropriate for an adult.

And so when I see the stupid names and stupid spellings for people with whom you disagree on this blog, I think back to my days as a seven year-old.

So, you may enjoy name-calling, it may feel tremendously good, but all you appear is stupid and immature. Most people lose respect for you and/or your opinions.

Is that your goal, to appear stupid and immature? If it is, you have certainly achieved your aspirations, and much more.

The results are always the same, makes me wonder who is insane when they continue to post to trolls?

What a gigantic waste of time and space.

Very disappointing. I hold all of you in high regard - makes me wonder why you do not hold yourselves above lies, insults, demeaning language and make up crud.

Must be entertainment because it is not a discussion nor is it political discourse.

Like there is nothing better to post on or about?

REALLY? Things are not what they seem, you guys have been waxed by a teenager.

It would be funny to watch but it is just sad.

capt

"realized what a total idiot I had sounded like"

Nice to know some things never change, eh?

capt

Letter from a Disgruntled Iraqi to President Bush

Laced with irony and sarcasm, this letter published in Iraq's Azzaman newspaper 'thanks' George W. Bush for all that he has done. It explains that since Bush invaded on the basis of 'heavenly advice,' Iraqis simply have no option but to 'thank God for all the suffering, grievances and calamities that have befallen' them.

Dear Mr. Bush,

Please accept my warmest greetings and appreciation for all the "good things" your "friendly and liberating" troops have brought to my country.

In the nearly three years since "the liberation," you and your troops have been leading us along the path of "democracy and freedom" and have managed to bring security and stability to our land after decades of oppression.

And because I am so happy with what you have done for us I dreamed of you the other night. Your face beamed, and you kept smiling and you had an olive branch in your right hand.

You were surrounded by angels in the form of birds and looked like an upright, pious man, with a Godly mission. You said all your actions were driven by heavenly advice, including your invasion of our country.

For this reason we thank God for all the suffering, grievances and calamities that have befallen us because of you, since that, at least in your mind, is the wish of God.

Your deeds in Iraq are bearing fruit and your efforts have not gone in vain. "The new Iraq" is a product of your persistence and perseverance.And because of you and your deeds, "'democracy"' is now deeply rooted in Iraq.

Because of you we have gained nothing and lost almost everything –†and may God bless you for it?

We now enjoy the privileges of your humanitarian largess, and because of this our country has returned to the pre-industrial age, which your father once predicted for us.

Our country now has no drinking water, no electricity and no fuel. But what do we need these luxuries for at a time when we are so busy relishing the taste of the "democracy" you have given us?

You should know, now that we are in a tunnel without light, the end of which will be the disintegration of our country into unstable Statelets, that we will be easy to devour for others.

Congratulations Mr. President.

Yours faithfully,

Sammak

Hajji,

Do you remember the picture I e-mailed you of your family with grandma & grandpa McCarthy in Benham? Lisha was standing behind Dennis and she was taller than he was. I think that picture was taken in 72 or 73. We either kept growing or she shrunk. Go figgur?

Wag the Osama

But the Republicans are all attack and no truth. Something the Democratic leadership just can't absorb, so the GOP junkyard dogs project George's short fallings (too numerous to count) on the dreaded "liberal enemy." This is called scapegoating.

It is the eternal tool of the demagogue. Ann Coulter is both the caricature and the real epitome of the strategy. In essence, it relies on making anyone who disagrees with our Il Duce as the enemy.

The Jews in Europe experienced this, and yes the comparison is appropriate. We don't apologize for it. Just read Mein Kampf. You make your opposition (or a "perceived" opposition) into something to be so dreaded that they pose a threat to the national interest and need to be suppressed.

Yes, the Jews in Germany thought, "It can't happen to us, not here in a civilized nation." But what is civilized about the gulag of torture centers that Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld have set up? It's a short leap from "them" being tortured to anyone who opposes the "supreme ruler."

So paid propagandists like Sean Hannity employ the Goebbels techniques of equating terrorism with Republican political opponents. The very title of a recent Hannity propaganda tome reveals this strategy: "Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism." Because evil, in the right wing extremist world, is both terrorism and liberalism.

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

A pretty good piece!

capt

Hajji & Saladin,

I do not blame unions for the dismal state of education or some businesses and industry in this country alone. A lot also has to do with shareholders demand for a certain % of profit
over quality of life for the very people who provide for that profit.

Hajji,

Signed the basketball today. Dennis liked Daniel's card. I took him some movies to watch.
Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Life of Brian. Also took him the first three seasons of Seinfeld. He seemed to be a little down but he told me he was going to begin his treatments again. I got the feeling he was up to the task at hand.

Ah, the Good Captain resonates once again.

The gutless wonder who is devoid of original thought.

The physical and mental coward who is utterly petrified to engage in debate.

The epitome of the loser's loser.

You like quotes, Captain. Here's one for you.

"I HATE QUOTATIONS. TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW."
Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Why don't you heed Emerson's advice? Oh, that's right. You know nothing.

Okay, I'll admit it. I was actually excited to hear Mayor Nagin declare that New Orleans would again be a Chocolate City. I was happy for the Oompa Loompas figuring they would finally get out of that Wonka Factory where Nobody ever goes in, nobody ever comes out!

Even Charlie could find a job!

Bill,

Emerson was speaking of people who were quoting his words. I don't recollect capt quoting Emerson.

TRH,

The Good Captain quotes Emerson, as well as everyone else, all the time.

But not original thought one has he.

Off Topic,

Sort of. This goes along with the apparent privacy grab that the bushies seem to be engaged in. I predect that online "buisness" will fall off consistent with the justice departments willingness to invade online privacy. CNN, MSNBC, FAUX, keep reporting on google's unwillingness to support the "war effort". Let the evil privacy protectors be exposed for what they really are. We the American people are sick and tired of our civil rights. We don't need them anymore. We trust Dick and George. Google could be the first corporation to confess that they are not human!
Hallayulah****

I may of misspelled Hallayulah****

Former U.S. ambassador to Turkmenistan Steven R. Mann, who is also the State Department's Special Negotiator for Eurasian Conflicts and Senior Adviser on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, recently warned Iran against building a pipeline to India.

uncledad, not too far off topic at all. didja hear that bush's "private" nickname for little Scottie McC is "useful tool" and the WH snoops' code name for their NSA spying program is "operation buggery?" Not kidding ya. I heard it on Jon Stewart's news show.

22 Retired Military Officers Ask Bush to Ban Torture

The ruckus over Bush's signing statement attached to the McCain anti-torture amendment continues. 22 high-ranking former military officers have written a letter to President Bush asking him to enforce the amendment.

When U.S. President George W. Bush in December signed the law banning cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees championed by Sen. John McCain R-Ariz., he did so with a caveat: As commander-in-chief, he can waive the limits when he deems necessary for national security.

The generals and admirals who signed the letter Thursday, including a former four-star commander of Central Command, said the issue is less about the detainees as it is about the values that the military holds dear.

"Clear and unambiguous implementation will help ensure that our brave men and women in uniform will never again feel that to prevail against the enemy they must risk their honor or the values they fight to protect," the letter states

As Rear. Adm. John Hutson, a former Navy lawyer puts it:

These rules we have purported so long were not designed to protect the enemy from us, but us from the enemy. The difference between us and the enemy is how we treat the enemy."

Huston also took a swipe at former Guantanamo Commander Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who took the 5th to avoid testifying in a court-martial case of a soldier charged with abusing detainees (background here)

That's not the way it's done. You stand up, testify honestly, take it like a man," Hutson said.
----------------------------
I've never considered Gen Geoffrey Miller much of a man.

Bush and Abramoff—ìay Cheese?

White House press secretary Scott McClellan admits that the White House has been on a search mission for any photos showing President Bush with toxic lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is cooperating with the Justice Department on its investigation of a wide-ranging lobbying scandal.

At a press conference, McClellan said if there were pictures, which officials hadn't found, they might have been taken at a Christmas-party line, where the President poses with hundreds of people. "The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him," McClellan said.

The comment about searching raised images in the press room of a "White House plumbers" operation looking for incriminating photos.

If the White House can't find the photos, prosecutors already know where to look. The Washingtonian has seen five photos of the President with Abramoff or his family. One photo shows the President and Abramoff shaking hands at a meeting in the Old Executive Office Building, where a bearded-Abramoff introduced Bush to several of the lobbyist's native-American clients.

Abramoff was named a "Pioneer" in the Bush presidential campaign, collecting more than $100,000, in $2,000 maximum increments, for his campaign in 2004. Bush has returned $6,000 of Abramoff's contributions, the part that would represent the legal limit for Abramoff; his wife, Pam; and a client.

Sources say the photographs are being kept safe. Abramoff would tell prosecutors, if asked, that not only did he know the President, but the President knew the names of Abramoff's children and asked about them during their meetings. At one such photo session, Bush discussed the fact that both he and Abramoff were fathers of twins.
----------------------------

newsjunkie,
well anything on that program must be true (if by the meaning of truth you mean sarcasim* combined with witty non marketing?) Scotty is a useful tool. I am one of the few idiots that actually watch the WHITE house briefings on C-Span. He is a tool, and he's just about as useful as the "journalist's" that question him. The only news are the questions they don't ask and the answers he doesn't give.

MOLLY IVINS WRITES: AUSTIN, Texas ÔøΩ I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president. Enough. Enough triangulation, calculation and equivocation. Enough clever straddling, enough not offending anyone. This is not a Dick Morris election. Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges. The recent death of Gene McCarthy reminded me of a lesson I spent a long, long time unlearning, so now I have to re-learn it. It's about political courage and heroes, and when a country is desperate for leadership. There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times. There are times a country is so tired of bull that only the truth can provide relief. If no one in conventional-wisdom politics has the courage to speak up and say what needs to be said, then you go out and find some obscure junior senator from Minnesota with the guts to do it. In 1968, Gene McCarthy was the little boy who said out loud, "Look, the emperor isn't wearing any clothes." Bobby Kennedy ÔøΩ rough, tough Bobby Kennedy ÔøΩ didn't do it. Just this quiet man trained by Benedictines who liked to quote poetry. What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing Bush's tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich. The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes. The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF? I listen to people like Rahm Emanuel superciliously explaining elementary politics to us clueless naifs outside the Beltway ("First, you have to win elections.") Can't you even read the damn polls? Here's a prize example by someone named Barry Casselman, who writes, "There is an invisible civil war in the Democratic Party, and it is between those who are attempting to satisfy the defeatist and pacifist left base of the party and those who are attempting to prepare the party for successful elections in 2006 and 2008." This supposedly pits Howard Dean, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, emboldened by "a string of bad news from the Middle East ... into calling for premature retreat from Iraq," versus those pragmatic folk like Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emmanuel, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman. Oh come on, people ÔøΩ get a grip on the concept of leadership. Look at this war ÔøΩ from the lies that led us into it, to the lies they continue to dump on us daily. You sit there in Washington so frightened of the big, bad Republican machine you have no idea what people are thinking. I'm telling you right now, Tom DeLay is going to lose in his district. If Democrats in Washington haven't got enough sense to OWN the issue of political reform, I give up on them entirely. Do it all, go long, go for public campaign financing for Congress. I'm serious as a stroke about this ÔøΩ that is the only reform that will work, and you know it, as well as everyone else who's ever studied this. Do all the goo-goo stuff everybody has made fun of all these years: embrace redistricting reform, electoral reform, House rules changes, the whole package. Put up, or shut up. Own this issue, or let Jack Abramoff politics continue to run your town. Bush, Cheney and Co. will continue to play the patriotic bully card just as long as you let them. I've said it before: War brings out the patriotic bullies. In World War I, they went around kicking dachshunds on the grounds that dachshunds were "German dogs." They did not, however, go around kicking German shepherds. The MINUTE someone impugns your patriotism for opposing this war, turn on them like a snarling dog and explain what loving your country really means. That, or you could just piss on them elegantly, as Rep. John Murtha did. Or eviscerate them with wit (look up Mark Twain on the war in the Philippines). Or point out the latest in the endless "string of bad news." Do not sit there cowering and pretending the only way to win is as Republican-lite. If the Washington-based party can't get up and fight, we'll find someone who can.

Good old Molly Ivins. Tells it like it is.

The War Prayer by Mark Twain

Molly Ivin's mentioned this. He has many essays on the subject.

There are times when regular politics will not do, and this is one of those times. There are times a country is so tired of bull that only the truth can provide relief.

Wow that is fuckin brilliant? Of course Hillary can't win. Only the infomercial news propacandist morons really think shes a viable candidate. Don't you see that hillary is just a ploy. She is as corrupt, if not more than the current administration. Don't let the bastards get you down. Don't let the right wing define who runs the democratic party.

i may of misspelled propacandist ***********

From #200 Hajji, the to-be-Prius-with-Toyota-technology-Owner-and-exporter-of-American-jobs HYPOCRIT

I'm not too familiar with tax forms (I can file the EZ! Woo HOO!) but I'd think someone with his own business, owning property, paying laborers AND having lots of investment income would probably need a different form than a simple 1040?
I expect someone will correct me, if I'm wrong

As usual, you are wrong. Never heard of Schedules A, B, C, D, E, Form 1065, Franchise Tax (Texas) Report...? I use the 1040 plus half an inch of attached Schedules and Forms. The tough one is the Form 1065 but it's prepared and filed by my CPA!

Do I pay the add-ons for general labor, as asked by Robert? You are kidding me, right? Like your Cuba/Pakistan `insight'? You try to explain to No-speak-English amigo: "Instead of paying you $9 an hour, I will pay $7.50 but I will lawfully withhold for..... " And do it dozens of times in a busy year as labors come and go based on available work. I don't have a HR department with multi-language staff. Sure, if somehow all small contractors are made to follow the same rules, then fine, everyone plays under the same rules and hassles!

Not one of you Lefties know what it's like to run a business TODAY nor appear to have any aspirations to run one. There is no other way to explain why you are so detached from reality and are living in Michael's La La Land!

Happy,
You're a racist.

Jeanne 252 -
that's pretty funny that the WH might be scrambling madly around to distance themselves from abramoff, isn't it? I think it is. I think bush should say "f**k off everybody! I'm the president beeotches!" I bet if he did that, the whole mess would go away.

#254 Molly Ivins and Jerry Angel, there is no need to worry. Hillary will not be president. If she gets the nomination, she will lose the election.

The Father of Lies

I think michael moore is a jerk off but this is funny!:: best pals!

Maladjusted

The father of lies is Lucifer! Is Bush, Lucifer's son?

#224 Robert,
AOL shows a small article on Belafonte, with a poll a poll.

What do you think of Harry Belafonte's comments?

He's right on target 45%
He's way out of line 43%
I'm on his side but his criticism goes too far 12%
Total Votes: 25,601

Michael Moore comes through again and again!

The Dossier

lots of videos here. I'm watching one right now that Gerald would like. Under the CIA tab, one of the videos is this one that documents how the US snuck 4,000 Nazis criminals here. Gave 'em new identities 'n shyt.

FEMA For Kids!

DHS has a new program called "Ready Kids!"
ha. it's appropriate that FEMA is in charge of this, as they were so ready that they showed for 9/11 the day before - on 9/10!

Sal, they have a 2-parter on the USS Liberty, at the 'dossier' link above, under the "cover-ups" tab. Scroll pretty far down... though it wouldn't come up for me.
*shrug*
I'm watching one on Panama/CIA/Drugs

WMR

January 21, 2006 -- EXCLUSIVE -- Jack Abramoff's past as a South African spy. According to South African intelligence sources, convicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff was a long-time intelligence asset for South Africa's apartheid era security services. The revelations from South Africa help to explain Abramoff's connections to white supremacists who use Confederate heritage organizations to mask their true agendas (see article directly below).

In 1985, Abramoff launched the International Freedom Foundation (IFF) in Washington. In fact, IFF was a front for South African military intelligence, code named Pacman, and a major front for South Africa's international propaganda efforts. The IFF was a joint project of Russel Crystal, currently a Democratic Alliance official in South Africa, and a former apartheid South Africa top spy, Craig Williamson. According to South African intelligence sources, Abramoff was first recruited by Crystal and Williamson during 1979 and 1980. Crystal and Williamson were both paid agents of the Apartheid Security Police (SAP (V)). Money paid to Abramoff initially came from SAP(V) accounts. South African intelligence files also show:

"Fixed" Intelligence from Feith's "Gestapo Office,"

The CIA and the Bush Administration's Impeachable Lies about Iraq's Prewar Links to al Qaeda

By Walter C. Uhler

01/21/06 "ICH" -- -- Except in the cynical, zealous or spiritually clouded minds of his right wing devotees, it's become a well-established (if under reported) fact that President George W. Bush is a serial liar, if not a congenital liar.1 For example, after The New York Times very belatedly leaked Mr. Bush's unconstitutional order permitting the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens without obtaining the required court-approved warrants, Bush defended his directive as a "vital tool" in the war against terrorism.

But, as liars commonly do, Bush seems to have forgotten that in April 2004 he told an audience in Buffalo, New York: "When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so." He also told the audience that precisely because it was "the United States government talking about wiretap," Americans could rest assured that "constitutional guarantees are in place." 2

Obviously, that specific lie pales when compared with Bush's willful violation of the Bill of Rights, and thus his oath to defend the Constitution -- clearly an impeachable offense. But, even that impeachable offense pales when compared with the heinous crime of spewing lies to scare Americans into supporting war against an enfeebled Iraq. Yet, Americans have failed to impeach him for that crime, in part, because more lies are being told to cover it up.

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

It gets better.

capt

"Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), Letters and Social Aims (Quotation and Originality)

"By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote."

"Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors."

"Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Alito Filibuster: It Only Takes One

With the fate of the U.S. Constitution in the balance, it's hard to believe there's no senator prepared to filibuster Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, whose theories on the "unitary executive" could spell the end of the American democratic Republic.

If confirmed, Alito would join at least three other right-wing justices John Roberts, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas who believe that George W. Bush should possess near total control of the U.S. government during the ill-defined War on Terror. If Anthony Kennedy, another Republican, joins them, they would wield a majority.

Alito's theory of the "unitary executive" holds that Bush can cite his "plenary" or unlimited powers as Commander in Chief to ignore laws he doesn't like, spy on citizens without warrants, imprison citizens without charges, authorize torture, order assassinations, and invade other countries at his own discretion.

"Can it be true that any President really has such powers under our Constitution?" asked former Vice President Al Gore in a Jan. 16 speech. "If the answer is yes, then under the theory by which these acts are committed, are there any acts that can on their face be prohibited?"

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

When we the people empower those in power to empower themselves we have surrendered any recourse.

capt

Anybody notice this in Sibel Edmonds statement Robert posted at 210..."As for reason two, I can assure you that the U.S. foreign business relations they may be referring to are not among those that benefit the majority of the American people; a handful of MIC entities and their lobbying arms can by no means be considered that, can they? In fact, the American people, their national safety and security, and their best interests are being sacrificed for a handful of those with their foreign business interest. Also, since when are nuclear black market related underground activities considered official U.S. foreign business; one may wonder?" ....Nuclear Black Market? HMMMM Please read this article I found and posted on the previous thread, ESPECIALLY the last paragraph HERE This is freaky!

So happy seems like you are some small time contractor that uses lillegal labor to slap up your crap houses wherever you live. Seems you might try to improve yourself and learn another language, but hey you are american and everyone else gets to go fly a kite. Your stupid and condescending remarks about the people that post here show your lack of education and empathy. I guess that is why you troll here, to make yourself feel a little more important to yourself. You are a legend in your own mind, and keep your opinions to yourself, actually STFU and go away!! Your betters require it.

The Franklin Coverup Scandal

This was the biggest scandal in the history of the U.S.A history. The story received some newspaper coverage but there was a TV News Media blackout on the subject. For this reason, most Americans have never heard of it.

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

A bunch of news clippings and commentary on the Bush crime family.

capt

Must of been you,Kathleen, on C-SPAN just now reminding America of the Phase II of SSIC. If democrats are truly opposing this farce of a gov't run by bush, frist, delay, roberts(the kansas reicher and the judge), then Demos should insist on Phase II BEFORE Alito is voted on. Harry Reid closes the senate and still nothing but crap from Roberts. Good job Kathleen although it appears Phase II will not examine the bogus intel of Iraq before it starts the next bogus intel war in Iran. Shit!

I, too, heard the comment on C-Span, and thought, "Kathleen." If so, congrats gain...

Happy responds, but does not address the jobsite misshap question; not surprisingly, truth be told.

I will grant him this much. He did not create the system he contributes to. That said, his vigorous defending of it is hard to stomach.

Did Kathleen's comment stir a response?

Alan thanks for the video link, but trying to watch any videos on a 31.2 kbps system requires more patience than I have. Hopefully Verizon will catch up with us soon! I saw a letter to WRH that suggested a bumper sticker saying "Justice for the USS Liberty," which I thought was a great idea, but then realized that most people might not even know what it meant.

Burns changed vote on bill about the Marianas islands
By JENNIFER McKEE Missoulian State Bureau

HELENA - U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., met with a Marianas official who had close ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in the weeks before Burns received an Abramoff-related $5,000 contribution from the Marianas and reversed his earlier position on a bill about the islands.

The politician, Gov. Benigno Fitial, has said he will cooperate with the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into potential bribery of public officials involving Abramoff, a man Fitial once described as a ңlose friend,Ӡaccording to Pacific Magazine, a Hawaii publication that covers the Pacific region.

The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands is a U.S. territory near Guam. Citizens there are U.S. citizens, although the island is exempt from many U.S. standards, including minimum wage.

More.

*******************************

Not one of you Lefties know what it's like to run a business TODAY [...] Mr. Happy

A finer denounciation of the Corporate Cutthroat culture may be hard to find, what with the cronyism which allows the deregulation of businesses like Happy's to survive in the first place.

You are kidding me, right? Like your Cuba/Pakistan `insight'? Mr. Happy

I don't recall conflating Cuba and Pakistan. I've specifically pointed out the relationship of the Pakistani ISI with the CIA in the arming of the Muhujaddin prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, as reported by Zbigniew Brzezinski.

I've spoken about Cuba, in how they deal with hurricanes and how they export doctors to impoverished areas of the world.

Please be more specific, if you have critisms, otherwise your comments are just verbiage without content, meant to inflame and obfiscate.

OOps, obfuscate, my mistake...

I know how important the Phase 11 is to Kathleen, but I'm not holding my breath that anything that could damage Israel or the Zionist power structure in the least will ever get off the ground. They seem to have a force field surrounding them that is inpenetrable, which is why they get away with things like the USS Liberty. The OSP is crawling with traitors who created this war based on lies, all the politicians know it, so what the hell are they waiting for?

"add-ons?" -- you'd better be careful Mr. Happy. Even in today's "corporate culture" the IRS doesn't look on FICA, withholding taxes, etc. as simple, inconsequential "add ons." I don't believe for a minute that you run a business anyway, but if you do, possibly you're being monitored right now.

BTW, you didn't answer my questions. Why not? Is your business a partnership or do you run the whole sheebang yourself?

Hajji,

The commentor, who may have been Kathleen, suggested that C-Span devote a show to the issue. The Host, in true C-Span deadpan, thanked her for the suggestion and moved on...

One thing that did get mentioned today on C-Span was DIEBOLD Machines have been hacked in FLA...

As Elections Near, Officials Challenge Balloting Security
In Controlled Test, Results Are Manipulated in Florida System
By Zachary Goldfarb
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, January 22, 2006; Page A06

As the Leon County supervisor of elections, Ion Sancho's job is to make sure voting is free of fraud. But the most brazen effort lately to manipulate election results in this Florida locality was carried out by Sancho himself.

Four times over the past year Sancho told computer specialists to break in to his voting system. And on all four occasions they did, changing results with what the specialists described as relatively unsophisticated hacking techniques. To Sancho, the results showed the vulnerability of voting equipment manufactured by Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems, which is used by Leon County and many other jurisdictions around the country.

More.

***************************

So as Mark Crispin Miller asks:

'Why won't the media touch my book?'
Posted on Sunday, January 22 @ 09:51:10 EST

Bush/Cheney stole their re-election in 2004.

They stole it not just in Ohio, but all throughout the USA, from coast to coast.

They stole it not by using any single ploy, but through a stealthy combination of computerized vote theft, bureaucratic monkey business, systematic shortages of viable equipment and old-fashioned dirty tricks, including rampant bullying, disinformation and obstructionism.

Such foul play was not apparent "on both sides" in the 2004 election, but was committed mainly by the Bush Republicans.

The evidence is both abundant and precise--and it's all here in Fooled Again.

"This second heist of the White House is one of the great untold stories of our time - even though it was largely carried out in plain sight. Miller performs the simple but increasingly rare act of journalism and gathers a mountain of overwhelming evidence from publicly available material. This is no "conspiracy theory" stitched together from anonymous sources, strained inferences and dark innuendo, but a solid case based on official records, sworn testimony, eyewitness accounts, news reports - and the Bushists' own words."

Those words were published in an excellent review of Fooled Again that will come out tomorrow--in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Also tomorrow, a number of Web sites will be posting a review of Fooled Again by Paul Craig Roberts, who was Assistant Treasury Secretary under Ronald Reagan. A genuine conservative, Roberts is unafraid to read the evidence and face reality:

"Miller describes considerably more election fraud than voting machines programmed to count a proportion of Kerry votes as Bush votes. Voters were disenfranchised in a number of ways. Miller reports incidences of intimidation of, and reduced voting opportunities for, poorer voters who tend to vote Democrat....

More.

**************************************

We can hope that the Washington Post story has legs, as they say.

********************************

A Tangled Web woven
At the CIA, what gets put up online--and what doesn't
By David E. Kaplan

The CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence is one of the agency's most open branches. The in-house think tank sponsors studies on how to improve intelligence collection and analysis and publishes a respected journal, Studies in Intelligence. But since 2003, at least three unclassified CSI reports--all critical of the agency--have been withheld from the CIA's website, U.S. News has learned. During that same time, the agency has placed online three other CSI reports, all of those relatively positive or neutral.

More.

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What to say? Other than what Thomas Jefferson has put so well in times gone by, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government."
"The best defense of democracy is an informed electorate."

Depleted Uranium - Dirty
Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets
A Death Senterce Here And Abroad

"Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy."
- Henry Kissinger, quoted in "Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POW's in Vietnam"

This week the American Free Press dropped a "dirty bomb" on the Pentagon by reporting that eight out of 20 men who served in one unit in the 2003 U.S. military offensive in Iraq now have malignancies. That means that 40 percent of the soldiers in that unit have developed malignancies in just 16 months.

The number of disabled vets reported up to 2000 has been increasing by 43,000 every year. Brad Flohr of the Department of Veterans Affairs told American Free Press that he believes there are more disabled vets now than even after World War II.

How was the truth about DU hidden from military personnel serving in successive DU wars? Before his tragic death, Sen. Paul Wellstone informed Joyce Riley, R.N., B.S.N., executive director of the American Gulf War Veterans Association, that 95 percent of Gulf War veterans had been recycled out of the military by 1995. Any of those continuing in military service were isolated from each other, preventing critical information being transferred to new troops. The "next DU war" had already been planned, and those planning it wanted "no skunk at the garden party."

When I asked Vietnam Special Ops Green Beret Capt. John McCarthy, who could have devised this omnicidal plan to use DU to destroy the genetic code and genetic future of large populations of Arabs and Moslems in the Middle East and Central Asia - just coincidentally the areas where most of the world's oil deposits are located - he replied: "It has all the handprints of Henry Kissinger."

A Japanese professor, Dr. K. Yagasaki, has calculated that 800 tons of DU is the atomicity equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki bombs. The U.S. has used more DU since 1991 than the atomicity equivalent of 400,000 Nagasaki bombs. Four nuclear wars indeed, and 10 times the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere from atmospheric testing!

No wonder our soldiers, their families and the people of the Middle East, Yugoslavia and Central Asia are sick. But as Henry Kissinger said after Vietnam when our soldiers came home ill from Agent Orange, "Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used for foreign policy."
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This article has a lot of info. DU is by far the most evil betrayal of our troops ever perpetrated by any leaders anywhere in the world. And the fact that thousands of innocent civilians have been exposed when they KNEW how deadly it was makes them responsible for an ocean of blood. kissinger must think all humans are just dumb, stupid animals, he sure doesn't care about how they suffer.

Robert, that just proves that defending democracy is nowhere on the neocon agenda! We must have the most ill-informed populace on the face of the planet.

Fortunately, in times of crisis like this, America always has its number one instrument of diplomacy to fall back on. Here's a song about it:

When someone makes a move
Of which we don't approve,
Who is it that always intervenes?
U.N. and O.A.S.,*
They have their place, I guess,
But first - send the Marines!

We'll send them all we've got,
John Wayne and Randolph Scott;
Remember those exciting fighting scenes?
To the shores of Tripoli,
But not to Mississippoli,
What do we do? We send the Marines!

For might makes right,
And till they've seen the light,
They've got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
Till somebody we like can be elected.

Members of the corps
All hate the thought of war;
They'd rather kill them off by peaceful means.
Stop calling it aggression,
Ooh, we hate that expression!
We only want the world to know
That we support the status quo.
They love us everywhere we go,
So when in doubt,
Send the Marines!

Tom Lehrer

LOL -- Bin Laden Tape
Plugs Book Against His
Jihad In Afghan-Soviet War

By Wayne Madsen

On the tape, Bin Laden suddenly veers from being a traditional right-wing Wahhabi fanatic to the right of the House of Saud to a leftist progressive. The tape by Bin Laden was quickly verified as "authentic" by a CIA that is now firmly in the grasp of neo-cons under Porter Goss.

However, the tape is an obvious fake being used by the Bush administration to scare Americans into believing "Al Qaeda" is making plans for another attack and an attempt to link Bin Laden to Democrats.

The reason the tape is as phony as Niger yellowcake documents and Saddam's weapons of mass destruction is as plain as day. Bin Laden quotes from the introduction of a book written by long-time Washington, DC progressive author and journalist and a friend of mine, Bill Blum. Bill was once an editor and contributor to Covert Action Quarterly, a magazine devoted to exposing CIA operations like the arming, funding, and training of Bin Laden and his mujaheddin guerrillas during the Afghan-Soviet war.

The Bush perception managers are either incredibly stupid or are trying to ensnare liberal journalists as aiders and abettors of Al Qaeda, something that is certainly within their scope. Bin Laden quotes the following passage from Blum's book, Rogue State: "If you (Americans) are sincere in your desire for peace and security, we have answered you. And if Bush decides to carry on with his lies and oppression, then it would be useful for you to read the book Rogue State, which states in its introduction: 'If I were president, I would stop the attacks on the United States: First I would give an apology to all the widows and orphans and those who were tortured. Then I would announce that American interference in the nations of the world has ended once and for all.'"

Bogus tape alert! The Bin Laden tape plugging Bill Blum's book Rogue State is a ridiculous neo-con forgery intended to tarnish the progressive left.

Bin Laden might not be so eager to quote Blum if he was aware of his other work, Killing Hope, an expose of the CIA's covert wars. In it, Blum defends to Soviet occupation of Afghanistan as self-defense against the CIA-backed Islamist guerrillas, including Bin Laden's forces, that were backed by the CIA. Now, why would Bin Laden plug an author like Blum who backed Bin Laden's hated enemies, the Soviet Communists and their Afghan allies? Because the Bin Laden tape and his purported oratory are frauds.

So, we're now supposed to believe that Bin Laden has come around to plug the book written by an author who demonstrated that the Soviet cause in Afghanistan was for self-defense and in furtherance of the well-being of the Afghan people and that Bin Laden's and his mujaheddin compatriots' cause was anti-progressive and destabilizing to the central Asian region? This would be laughable if it were not for the fact that the neo-cons are once again using the Big Lie to further their ambitions of global domination and worldwide fascism. The 911 attacks are beginning to look more and more like the Reichstag Fire, both engineered to bring about fascist control.
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BEGINNING to look like? 9/11 was taken straight from the same handbook! The CIA really should find come competent forgers, the current ones are hacks who can't even find a phony OBL that at least LOOKS like him to make their phony video tape confession.

AOL 2005 Search Year in Review

Jeez Louise. Why didn't AOL just tell the DoJ to take a look here instead of rolling over like yahoo and MSN. Or better still, tell them to shove it....

Sigh. If this list of "important" searches is accurate, no wonder we are f**ked in the drive-thru.

Happy wrote:

Not one of you Lefties know what it's like to run a business TODAY nor appear to have any aspirations to run one.

Wrong again!

I run two businesses, and I do it without breaking any laws. I pay for BC/BS for my employees after 90 days. I start my warehouse help (bottom of the ladder) out at $8.50 per hour; not big money, but better than minimum wage and they have the opportunity to make more. The management team and salespeople make $40,000-$60,000 per year. If the company makes money, everyone gets a bonus at the end of the year. I make it a point to learn about the families of my employees and I allow their hours to be flexible if necessary to deal with special needs. My company is generous with sick and vacation time and holiday pay.

Happy, your generalizations are tiresome. Not all business people are social Darwinists or, for that matter, Republicans. A business can be profitable and have a good soul.

Happy Crappy strikes out again!

We must have the most ill-informed populace on the face of the planet. - Saladin

With more data available than ever...most of it packaged in bright shiny sound-byte lies of half-truths and misdirection.

Video-game graphics replacing critical thought.

FBI agents tracking down Pizza Hut orders, while allowing the Bin-Laden family and friends to scoot back to the House of Saud with only a cursory interview, if that.

oh ya, Bill 72-
b.Mohammed Atta met with Osama

one more brief item that I forgot to mention @114-

atta may or may not have met with osama, but he was CONNECTED to the CIA

The Other Big Brother
The Pentagon has its own domestic spying program. Even its leaders say the outfit may have gone too far.
By Michael Isikoff
Newsweek
Jan. 30, 2006 issue

The demonstration seemed harmless enough. Late on a June afternoon in 2004, a motley group of about 10 peace activists showed up outside the Houston headquarters of Halliburton, the giant military contractor once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. They were there to protest the corporation's supposed "war profiteering." The demonstrators wore papier-mache masks and handed out free peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches to Halliburton employees as they left work. The idea, according to organizer Scott Parkin, was to call attention to allegations that the company was overcharging on a food contract for troops in Iraq. "It was tongue-in-street political theater," Parkin says.

But that's not how the Pentagon saw it. To U.S. Army analysts at the top-secret Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), the peanut-butter protest was regarded as a potential threat to national security. Created three years ago by the Defense Department, CIFA's role is "force protection"—tracking threats and terrorist plots against military installations and personnel inside the United States. In May 2003, Paul Wolfowitz, then deputy Defense secretary, authorized a fact-gathering operation code-named TALON—short for Threat and Local Observation Notice—that would collect "raw information" about "suspicious incidents." The data would be fed to CIFA to help the Pentagon's "terrorism threat warning process," according to an internal Pentagon memo.

More.

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Feelin' better now....

Plucked from the Database: 'Al-Qaeda' boogeymen all share a common past, hidden in plain sight

The ‘Powers That Be’ think Americans won’t remember arabic names – and they’re right!

-Abdullah Azzam fought for the CIA in Afghanistan.
-Abu Abdel Aziz ‘Barbaros’ fought for the CIA in Afghanistan & Bosnia.
-Osama bin Laden fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Gulbaddin Hekmatyar fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Abdurrab Rasul Sayyaf fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Muhammad Jamal Khalifa fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hamzi fought for the CIA in Bosnia
-Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his three brothers, Zahed, Abed, and Aref fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Ayman Zawahiri
Ayman Zawahiri’s brother fought for the CIA in Kosovo.
-Khalid Sheikh Mohammed also fought for the CIA in Bosnia
-Hambali fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Wali Khan fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Ramzi Ahmed Yousef fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Mohammed Haydar Zammar from Hamburg, fought for the CIA in Afghanistan & Bosnia
-Abu Omar , aka Hassan Osama Nasr fought for the CIA in Afghanistan & Bosnia
-Abu Hamza al-Masri fought for the CIA in Afghanistan & Bosnia
-Ahmed Said Khadr fought for the CIA in Afghanistan
-Jose Padilla & Mohamed Hesham Youssef fought for the CIA in Kosovo

Ghost of osama gives bushco spying a boost. How is it that everytime OBL shows up it happens to be a critical moment in DC? The neothugs want to spy without warrants, osama enters from stage left issuing threats. If this is his way to undermine bush, he's doing a horrible job!

Broad Survey of Day Laborers Finds High Level of Injuries and Pay Violations
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: January 22, 2006

The first nationwide study on day laborers has found that such workers are a nationwide phenomenon, with 117,600 people gathering at more than 500 hiring sites to look for work on a typical day.

The survey found that three-fourths of day laborers were illegal immigrants and that more than half said employers had cheated them on wages in the previous two months.

The study found that 49 percent of day laborers were employed by homeowners and 43 percent by construction contractors. They were found to be employed most frequently as construction laborers, landscapers, painters, roofers and drywall installers.

The study, based on interviews with 2,660 workers at 264 hiring sites in 20 states and the District of Columbia, found that day laborers earned a median of $10 an hour and $700 month. The study said that only a small number earned more than $15,000 a year.

The professors who conducted the study said the most surprising finding was the pervasiveness of wage violations and dangerous conditions that day laborers faced.

"We were disturbed by the incredibly high incidence of wage violations," said one of the study's authors, Nik Theodore of the University of Illinois at Chicago. "We also found a very high level of injuries."

More.

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Well, what'dya know about that, who would'a thunk such a thing...?

something seems mighty odd around here....
two days ago, I saw on TV (I think CNN), that tel aviv (a city in israel) was the victim of a bomb attack the day before. 20 israelis were reported dead, and iranians and syrians were supposedly to blame. now, not only have I heard nothing else of this on TV, I can find no mention of it on the internet either. does anyone know anything about this?

James click here.

#269 Alan, the information just keeps mounting as to how evil our government really is. What truly concerns me is that there is no outrage for our government's behavior.

Here is an example. I stopped at #267 last night and this afternoon I find another 30 or so posts with powerful information. It never ends. The crap we are given to chew makes all of us want to choke.

James Ha and Robert Schwartz, truthful information is vital in the decision making process. We have been lied to by Bush and his Nazi cabal and still there is no outrage. Who in their right mind would want to have a loved one die for a pack of lies?

Gerald, that article on DU poisoning is one of the most gag-worthy things I have EVER read. Unless you read the whole thing you can't imagine the depth of evil that is really in charge of, not just this country, but the world. They have somehow convinced people that using WMD's is the only way to stop the "Axis of Evil" from using them, even though we are using them, and have been for many years, against our own troops! How can you get more vile and loathesome than that?

There is a saying that water seeks its own level. The same is true for shit. The shit just keeps piling up and up to the point that it is above our head and we can no longer breathe. I believe that Nazi Americans really love shit because they keep letting it rise and pile up.

HR 2410 IH

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2410
To require certain studies regarding the health effects of exposure to depleted uranium munitions, to require the cleanup and mitigation of depleted uranium contamination at sites of depleted uranium munition use and production in the United States, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 17, 2005
Mr. MCDERMOTT (for himself, Mr. STARK, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. FARR, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. HONDA, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

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

A BILL
To require certain studies regarding the health effects of exposure to depleted uranium munitions, to require the cleanup and mitigation of depleted uranium contamination at sites of depleted uranium munition use and production in the United States, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the `Depleted Uranium Munitions Study Act'.

(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Purposes.

Sec. 4. Study of health effects of exposure to depleted uranium .

Sec. 5. EPA studies of environmental contamination by depleted uranium .

Sec. 6. Environmental mitigation and cleanup requirements for depleted uranium .

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) The highest regard should be given to the health and safety of the members of the United States Armed Forces.

(2) Depleted uranium , a toxic, carcinogenic, and radioactive material with a half-life of 4,500,000,000 years, is used as an ingredient in various munitions used by the United States Armed Forces.

(3) Depleted uranium munitions have been used by the United States Armed Forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom, during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and during the conflicts in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro), with approximately 150 metric tons of depleted uranium being used during Operation Iraqi Freedom, approximately 300 metric tons of depleted uranium being used during the Persian Gulf War, and approximately 12 metric tons being used in Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro.

(4) Among the characteristics of depleted uranium munitions are that--

(A) they are pyrophoric, resulting in the munition burning upon impact with a target; and

(B) the impact of a depleted uranium munition on a target creates aerosol particles, which can be inhaled.

(5) The United States has provided or sold depleted uranium and depleted uranium munitions to allied nations, and the armed forces of the United Kingdom used depleted uranium munitions during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

(6) Depleted uranium munitions have been used at numerous United States military installations, proving grounds, and testing facilities.

(7) No definitive cause has been established for the various illnesses (commonly referred to as Gulf War Syndrome) that affect approximately 130,000 members and former members of the United States Armed Forces who served in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

(8) The former Iraqi Government claimed that depleted uranium from depleted uranium munitions was adversely affecting the health of Iraqis, although such claims have not been independently verified.

(9) The United States Navy and the British Royal Navy are phasing out use of depleted uranium munitions, and the Canadian Navy has ceased using depleted uranium munitions.

(10) It has been reported that depleted uranium munitions use has proliferated to more than 20 nations.

(11) The 1949 Geneva Convention specifically outlines the precautions warring nations must take to avoid harming civilian populations, and it would be a violation of the 1977 Protocol to that Convention to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering to civilians, as depleted uranium munitions may cause.

More.

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Not a bill that gets any attention, at all...

wow thanx robert - I should've googled it. I google almost everything else. but I wonder why that wasn't a big headline everywhere? one whould think that 20 israelis killed by a bomb in the heart of their own country by iranians/syrians would be a big deal, ya?
oh I get it now! either the israelis blew themselves up in a false flag op which is so obvious that they don't want attention drawn to it, or they don't want attention drawn to their treatment of the palestinans.
things that make you go hmmm....

"If this is his way to undermine bush, he's doing a horrible job!"

Saladin, this technique works on the American Sheeple. The boogeyman comes out of his cave --wooooooooooooooo -- the sheeple cower. Big strong macho daddy-will-protect-you-bush benefits. I'd bet you that even if there is another terrorist attack on American soil, the sheeple will stick with bush. They'll be too "scared" to make a move, i.e. change.

#306 Saladin, please give me the number on this website to click on or the link. Thank you! There are times that I am overwhelmed with all the information that we have from the computer and websites.

Cornposters, please believe these words. WARS DO NOT RESOLVE PROBLEMS; WARS CREATE MORE PROBLEMS.

Without having the article before me I can make a comment about depleted uranium from my readings. DU has a life expectancy of one billion years at least. Problems with DU will linger for years and years. More info is being made available from the Gulf War (Desert Storm). Our men and women who fought in Desert Storm are having problems. Plus, babies are born with deformities. This is not what a true Christian would wish for any of God's children who are our brothers and sisters in God.

How Cheney used the NSA for domestic spying prior to 9/11
By Jason Leopold
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Jan 21, 2006, 20:27

In the months before 9/11, thousands of American citizens were inadvertently swept up in wiretaps, had their emails monitored, and were being watched as they surfed the Internet by spies at the super-secret National Security Agency, former NSA and counterterrorism officials said.

The NSA, with full knowledge of the White House, crossed the line from routine surveillance of foreigners and suspected terrorists into illegal activity by continuing to monitor the international telephone calls and emails of Americans without a court order. The NSA unintentionally intercepts Americans' phone calls and emails if the agency's computers zero in on a specific keyword used in the communication. But once the NSA figures out that they are listening in on an American, the eavesdropping is supposed to immediately end, and the identity of the individual is supposed to be deleted. While the agency did follow protocol, there were instances when the NSA was instructed to keep tabs on certain individuals that became of interest to some officials in the White House.

What sets this type of operation apart from the unprecedented covert domestic spying activities the NSA had been conducting after 9/11 is a top secret executive order signed by President Bush in 2002 authorizing the NSA to target specific American citizens. Prior to 9/11, American citizens were the subject of non-specific surveillance by the NSA that was condoned and approved by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, according to former NSA and counterterrorism officials.

The sources, who requested anonymity because they were instructed not to talk about NSA activities, but who hope they can testify before Congress about the domestic spying, said that, in December 2000, the NSA completed a report for the incoming administration, titled "Transition 2001," which explained, among other things, how the NSA would improve its intelligence gathering capabilities by hiring additional personnel.

More.

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The evidence here is fairly clear. The administrations spying efforts, which were already underway before 9/11/01, DID NOTHING to prevent that incident.

Therefore, as an impedement to attack, they are worthless...

As an effort to dull domestic dissent, however...

Enough

Dear Cornposters:

I believe that either daily or most definitely weekly you should check to determine whether or not you are maimed enough or killed enough. That will be the test we will all face in the coming years. If you are not maimed or killed enough, you will not receive any benefits or relief.

This criteria will also spread to if you are attractive enough, wealthy enough, etc. Enough can spread beyond our wildest imaginations until we decide to say enough is enough.

Sincerely,

Gerald

True Christians

Dear Cornposters:

People like Dobson, Franklin Graham, Falwell, Robertson, Bush, etc. are not true Christians. True Christians seek the truth. The truth in religion is God and His Words. These people wave the Bible but the Bible does not say to murder God's children. They are false prophets who roam the world seeking the ruin of souls. They are followers of Lucifer and his devils.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Gerald here you go bud:: depleted uranium
there's all kinds of things to be seen and read at rense.com

caroline -
I'd bet you that even if there is another terrorist attack on American soil, the sheeple will stick with bush. They'll be too "scared" to make a move, i.e. change.

I think that's the whole point of terrorist attax

Saladin, I must have scrolled past #289 and your article.

James Ha, thank you for the back up on DU.

I have entered the article on my computer benchmark to read it more discerningly.

why does the DOJ need a million google results?

Cannon Fodder

Dear Cornposters:

I want all of you to know, but especially our soldiers that all you are is cannon fodder for the government, the corporations and the rich.

"Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy." Henry Kissinger, quoted in "Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POW's in Vietnam.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Just finished watching the Conyers hearings from this past Friday on the Bush administrations illegal domestic survellance.

I found the opinions and the recommendations of Bruce Fein the Former Associate Deputy Attorney General from the Reagan administration the most engaging .He recommended demanding that the Bush administration follow the ground rules that are clearly stated in the FISA laws from here on in.

He then went on and said that if the Bush administration refused to abide by the FISA LAWS from this point forward. At that point it will be completely clear (what we all ready know)that we have a self proclaimed King George. He suggessted that if you hit it from the impeachment angle immediately, all the public would get is stonewalling, secrecy and court cases that would take years to get through.

The Conyers hearings are well worth listening to
.

Powered: High-speed Internet access -- via power lines -- is coming to mid-Michigan communities
Powered: High-speed Internet access -- via power lines -- is coming to mid-Michigan communities

Sure wish they'd hurry it up! I have to skip so many things you wonderful people link on this site.

Carol, I know how you feel! I hate missing out on all the great audio and video links because of this sucky dial-up!
Gerald, FYI, kissinger is a notorious Zionist who couldn't care less about the misery, suffering, birth defects and long, agonizing deaths our troops experience. They are just a means to an evil end to him. He came right out and admitted it. And he is not the only one who feels that way. Most of bushco and his neocon men in arms have exactly the same mindset, and no amount of death and destruction makes the slightest impact on them. As Robert pointed out, DU gets little or no coverage in the NSM, and never will because they just don't give a shit!

I should have wrote LSM for Lame Stream Media!

Today's sermon, apolitical, but did relate to some of the political discourse going on. The pastor cited Luke 14 on the tower builder who didn't plan well enough and couldn't finish it; leaving an eyesore for all to see. My mind drifted to Iraq. No arguements that Iraq is much more difficult than building a tower (I hope). We do need to `finish' it in some fashion; even if it eventually still falters. We, as a nation, should not forget the `eyesore' we left in Vietnam and its aftereffects.

The person hurt the most on my job sites has been me, but just ER stitches. Several bandages on ocassions for various workers, sure! I guess my workers have been `lucky'.

Someone calls me a racist! Does this person know me? Does she know that my vary favorite elementary teacher is black and to whom, I still send anuual X'mas card. I even stayed at her daughter's house w/my family once when traveling. I HAD some sympathy for this name-calling individual, it is now gone!

The worst of you are doing so much good for the GOP, I actually don't want you to stop! Keep up the good work!

Don said something actually reasonable. I didn't create the system but I perpetuate it; I don't deny that. I also didn't create Welfare, Medicxxx, Unemployment Insurance,... but I sure the hell am paying for it and in turn, perpetuating it.

Picked this off the Washington Post bruhaha:

Jim Brady, editor of the Web site, said that when the site was set up, "there are things that we said we would not allow, including personal attacks, the use of profanity and hate speech. Because a significant number of folks who have posted in this blog have refused to follow any of those relatively simple rules, we've decided not to allow comments for the time being. It's a shame that it's come to this."

Do any of you see yourself?

David, your blog needs to be revamped. The postings here are tiresome and repetitive, even mine! It is hard to scroll through to pick out the few worthy posts.

#280 Dubendorf
;#281 Robert

hajji...the host said "thanks for the suggesstion". I keep pounding on the movement forward of Phase 2 of the SSCI. I am not going to give up. I target many representatives, ( and encourage others to do the same), radio programs and c-span. I often change my name on the radio programs and place of residence, although stay in the south eastern ohio region. My name is often kate, kathleen, katie (anna my middle name etc .) Try not to stray to far from the truth, And obviously that is not the point.

I am frustrated by how quickly people become distracted from important issues. This is part of the Rovian strategy and it works effectively.
Even on the blogs people are jumping from one topic to another and I often wonder just how effective we are being.

We need to have people call with questions that the MSM is not asking. Was on Diane Rehm with Corn last Friday having to do with Iran as Kate from Glouster. I encourage others to do the same.

I base my change of name and persistence on the NOBLE LIE strategy of the neo-cons. I have learned a great deal by their repetiveness before the invasion. Just that my "means justify the end angle" does not end up with over one hundred thousand dead.

I do have a suggesstion or a request. I have been able to get TOTN talk of the nation, Diane Rehm , Democracy now and C span to bring on numerous guest and to do certain programs with polite hounding. It truely is worth contacting them.

Several years ago I was able to get our wonderful friend Peggy Gish from the Christian Peace Maker Team (she has been in Iraq 2 out of the last three years) on Talk of the Nation for 20 minutes as a guest. I had to call about 15 times just on that topic. It works.

If c span all of a sudden received 15 phone calls or emails saying "we would like you to do a program on the status of PHASE 2 OF THE SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE." It is worth the try.

When I brought up Phase 2 ( once again over a month ago) the host did say that c-span had contacted Senator Pat Roberts and Rockerfeller and that Roberts had declined the offer. If Roberts continues to decline why not just Rockerfeller and the committee to give us an update.

I did spend 3 hours on the phone several weeks ago on the phone with attorneys from both sides of the Intel Committe. The attorney on the left reported that Douglas Feith was still stone walling. Refusing to give up documents from his OSP and the Counterterrroism office. ;When I asked the attorney from the right (should I say wrong) about whether it was true that there had been absolutely no movement for over a year and a half he said that "there had been movement". That movement involved just one half hour meeting in a year and a half. When I find my notes on these conversations I will print the numbers and names of the people I talked with.

Would anyone be willing to call or write CSPAN ON THIS ISSUE?...Thanks..

I truely believe we need to respectfully hammer the MSM and our represetatives.

CONTINUE TO CALL ...EMAIL VISIT YOUR REPRESTATIVES AND ESPECIALLY REPUBLICAN SENATOR PAT ROBERTS IN REGARD TO THE COMPLETION AND THOROUGHNESS OF PHASE 2 OF THE SSCI. THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT WE DEMAND ACCOUTABLILITY FOR THE FALSE PRE-WAR INTELLIGENCE.

I REPEAT THIS IS THE VERY LEAST WE CAN DO FOR THE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LIVES THAT HAVE BEEN NEEDLESSLY LOST/DIED/MURDERED

Forgot to answer another question:

Form 1065: U.S. Return of Partnership Income

applies to more than just pure partnerships!

Last thought on Don's business of warehousing:

I f I ran your type of business, as I did many years ago (

What a great experiment to see if the Cornposters can politely hammer c-span enough this week to get them to pressure someone to come on their program to give us a report on just what is taking place.

We need a public update about this critical topic

.How about it Cornposters...call.. email cspan this week....

AN UP DATE ON PHASE 2
IS LONG OVER DUE.

Oops! RePost:

Forgot to answer another question, this should do it:

Form 1065: U.S. Return of Partnership Income

applies to more than just pure partnerships!

Last thought on Don's business of warehousing:

If I ran your type of business, with fixed hard assets and employees working (mostly) at one location, as I did many years ago with less than 10 employees and less than $1 million gross, I did it legally just like you do now. Go with the flow and with your competitors.

#Dubendorf. I atrribute the movement forward of Phase 2 of the ssci not only on the "evil" stone walling of Senator Pat Roberts and the criminal actions of Douglas Feith, Rumsfel, Wolfowitz and Wurmser. But also on the american public.(including bloggers) They are so easily distracted. I truely believe that if a sizable amount of americans had stayed focused on what seemed to me the most logical issue to focus on was... holding those accountable for the false pre-war intelligence. These individuals would not have been able to move forward so quickly with the plans for Iran and Syria. Staying focused on those responsible for the lies would have kept them from moving forward so effectively.

oops.....I attribute the LACK OF MOVEMENT

#325
David,
Sounds to me like Happy is trying get you to shut this blog down, Washington Post style.

Happy,
I don't have any favorite black friends or teachers or workers. They are just friends, teachers, fellow workers. It wouldn't even occur to me to use a friend as an example of how I am not racist.
No sympathy? Who cares.

While the leader of Iran seems commited to stirring it up, just like Ariel Sharon and Richard Perle at the Aipac conference last spring.

I have read that the Iranian leader actually sad that there was a "myth that has grouwn up around the Holcaust". He did not say that the Holocaust did not happen. This is a huge difference.

Does anyone know whether there is a question as to the validity of the "Israel should be wiped off the map" comment?

Israel's Mofaz: Ahmedinejad spells Iran's disaster Jan 2006 Source: Reuters By Ori LewisJERUSALEM, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Israel's Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz warned the people of Iran on Saturday that their president would bring disaster and suffering upon them if he continued to call for the destruction of the Jewish state. He also said Israel was preparing to protect itself if international diplomatic efforts failed to convince Iran to give up its nuclear programme.Speaking at the Herzliya conference, an annual gathering of politicians and academics, Iranian-born Mofaz said he knew a large portion of the Iranian people did not support President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's ideology.Mofaz addressed the Iranian people saying: "Ahmedinejad, his hallucinatory statements, his criminal actions and his extreme views will bring disaster upon you. Do what you understand needs to be done in order to prevent this.Mofaz, who was speaking in Hebrew, said Ahmedinejad should look at historical examples of others who tried to destroy the Jewish people. "You, who are leading your country in an ideology of hatred, terror and antisemitism. You had better take a glance at history and see what became of tyrants like you who tried to annihilate the Jewish people. They only brought destruction upon their own people," he said. Ahmedinejad has said that Israel should be "wiped off the map" and has questioned whether the Holocaust took place. Mofaz said that 2006 was a "year of transition" during which Iran would not yet have a nuclear bomb, but that Israel would have to do all it could to make sure the United States and European nations maintained diplomatic pressure on the Iranians.The United States and European Union want Iran's nuclear programme to be referred to the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions, and accuse Tehran of seeking nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear programme is purely for generating electricity. "Israel's policy is ... to bring this hot potato to the Security Council to impose sanctions and invasive inspection," Mofaz said.;He said Israel would nevertheless continue its preparations to protect itself if diplomatic means against Iran failed.;

"Israel must be capable of protecting itself and ... we are preparing for this," he said. Mofaz also renewed an accusation that Iran was directly involved in funding, arming, training and encouraging Palestinian militant groups to attack Israel. "Money is the fuel which drives terror. The annual financial support to (Lebanon-based) Hizbollah stands at some $100 million," Mofaz said. He said in the last year Islamic Jihad, a militant group sworn to Israel's destruction based in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, had received over $10 million of Iranian money compared to some $5 million the year before. ;Iran says it gives only moral support to Palestinian groups.

kathleen, what e address should cspan be contacted at? neither cspan.org nor cspan.com are legit addresses - there's journal@cspan.org and radio@cspan.org, but somehow I'm doubting that those are the ones to use.

From #325 Happy

David, your blog needs to be revamped.

From #332 Jeanne

David,
Sounds to me like Happy is trying get you to shut this blog down, Washington Post style.

Is there a more clear example of how the most ignorant and vicious of the Left tries to twist words and intent? Keep up the good work Jeanne!

Depleted Uranium or DU

Dear Cornposters:

I will try to paraphrase an article that talks about DU. The article is "Depleted Uranium - Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets - A Death Sentence Here and Abroad." I will add personal comments in parenthesis.

Vietnam was a chemical war for oil contaminating large regions and countries with Agent Orange (yes, Nazi America does use nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons). It was also the most environmentally devastating war in world history. Since 1991 the U.S. has staged four nuclear wars using DU weaponry and like Agent Orange meets the the U.S. government of WMD's. Vast regions of the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation (we are an evil terrorist nation).

And what about our soldiers? The Gulf era veterans who are now on medical disability since 1991 reveal the number 518,739 (with Nazi America's endless wars we will soon have no men and women healthy enough to fight). DU is the definitive cause of the Gulf War Syndrome.

DU was first used in 1991 and DU has shown that it is a death sentence and very nasty stuff. DU trashes the body. It is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people (who says that Nazi Americans are not cold blooded killers).

Multiple malignancies have spawn from DU soldiers exposed to DU on and off the battlefields brought it home. DU in the semen of soldiers internally contaminated their wives. partners, and girlfriends. Women in their 20s and 30s who were sexual partners of exposed soldiers developed endometriosis and were forced to have hysterectomies because of health problems (why is Robertson silent about God's punishment of Nazi America for using DU).

In a study in Mississippi of soldiers who had normal babies before the Gulf war had 67% of their post-war babies with severe birth defects. They are born with missing legs, arms, organs, or eyes or had immune system and blood diseases.

Development of DU started with the development of poison gas weapons from radioactive trash of the atomic bomb project of WW II. It could penetrate all protective clothing and contaminating the lungs and the blood, it could kill or cause illness very quickly. With the use of DU permanent terrain contamination was possible and could be used to destroy populations, water supplies, and agricultural land (are you starting to get the feeling that the Project for a Next American Century is on target to wipe out six billion people on planet, Earth).

The first DU weapon system was developed for the Navy in 1968 and the DU weapons were given to and used by Israel in 1973 under the supervision of the U.S. in the Yom Kippur war against the Arabs. DU weapons have sold by the U.S. to 29 countries the U.S. is the chief exporter of WMD's in the world).

Military research report summaries detail the testing of DU from 1974-1999 and today 42 Nazi American states are contaminated with DU from manufacture, testing, and deployment. Women living around these test facilities have reported increases in endometriosis, birth defects in babies, leukemia in children, cancers and other diseases in adults. Fallon, Nevada is the fastest growing leukemia cluster in the U.S. for the past decade (who says that the Republicans are pro-life).

The medical profession has been active in the cover-up and the profession was threatened with fines and jail time if they talked about the soldiers and their medical problems.

Senator Paul Wellstone is credited for revealing certain information before his tragic death (maybe his death was a CIA covert operation). 95% of Gulf War veterans had been recycled out of the military by 1995. Those in the military were isolated from each other, preventing critical information being transferred to new troops. The "next DU war" had already been planned and those planning it wanted "no skunk at the garden party" (now we can see that killing human beings is a garden party for the Nazi rats).

The U.S. has a dirty (DU) little (CIA) secret. DU is being planned to be used in the Middle East and Central Asia where most of the oil deposits are located to destroy the genetic code and genetic future of large populations of Arabs and Muslims (yes Nazi America will eliminate six billion people in the world). Vietnam Special Ops Green Beret Captain John McCarthy was asked who devised the plan to use DU and he replied, "It has all the handprints of Henry Kissinger."

(Are you now beginning to understand why I put my fate in Jesus Christ and not in people like Kissinger, Bush, Cheney, and the Nazi cabal?)

In Zbignew Brzezinski's book, "The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives," the map of Euroasian chessboard includes four regions strategic to U.S. foreign policy. The "South" region corresponds to the region now contaminated permanently with radiation from U.S. bombs, missiles, and bullets made from thousands of tons of depleted uranium (the world is only a chess game to the lunatics who control Nazi American power).

(Cornposters put your fate in God's hands. He is the light and the way to eternal salvation.)

Happy,
Just out of curiosity, in another life were you Texas Star?

I forgot to say that Leuren Moret wrote the DU article (Januaary 21, 2006)

American Soldiers

More American soldiers are killed in the Middle East.

2,484 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush's evil lies.

Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy. Henry Kissinger

Don said something actually reasonable. I didn't create the system but I perpetuate it; I don't deny that. - Mr. Happy

Actually, that was I, but we all look the same to you, I suppose...

As well, there are numerous things you don't respond to, too bad. I will respond to you though, in your own metaphor. Perhaps you'll appreciate it, being in construction and all...

Lets say, you are trying to raise the grade of the land in order to facilitate your plan, but to all your repeated efforts at digging you just keep getting lower. Do you keep digging...?

(Same as Post #238 at Jackgate)

David:

The bruhaha that arose as a result of the Washington Post's shutting down its public comments `experiment' and today's:

The Firestorm Over My Column
By Deborah Howell
Sunday, January 22, 2006; Page B06

has led me to somewhat come to her defense and shed more of my thoughts on this mess.

Indian Casinos are mostly state issues and Abramoff did exactly what any lobbyists or consultant would have done. If JA was a Dem, he would have personally contributed to Dem legislators while directing the tribes to donate to the GOP politicians necessary to the `cause'. Conversely, he did what he did as far as `legal' contributions. Of course, any outright briberies are what has got him in Federal doo doo.

For the Democrats to claim to be `clean' (feeling superior & technically correct) in NOT receiving direct legal contributions from Jack, but did receive from the Tribes, just will not wash! Political contributions always have an expectation for some kind of returns. Americans, and the world, know that Money Talks!

As a Republican, I would not contribute to Dem politicians but I would have no problem, in my corporate days, to direct my employer to contribute to Dem pols to better position our companies' causes.

To be `technically correct' is a very small victory in this Abramoff mess and I just think the Dems are dreaming if they believe this to be a major decision factor for the November elections.

The braintrusts of the GOP are not overly concerned and all they need to do is from time to time, very explicitly point out that directing one's clients to pay the Dems is `technically' the same as paying out of ones' own pocket. People that didn't pull the trigger do get convicted in murder-for-hires everyday, don't they?

Tyrant in the White House Bush Crosses the Rubicon

Dictatorships seldom appear full-fledged but emerge piecemeal. When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon with one Roman legion he broke the tradition that protected the civilian government from victorious generals and launched the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Fearing that Caesar would become a king, the Senate assassinated him. From the civil wars that followed, Caesar's grand nephew, Octavian, emerged as the first Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus.

Two thousand years later in Germany, Adolf Hitler's rise to dictator from his appointment as chancellor was rapid. Hitler used the Reichstag fire to create an atmosphere of crisis. Both the judicial and legislative branches of government collapsed, and Hitler's decrees became law. The Decree for the Protection of People and State (Feb. 28, 1933) suspended guarantees of personal liberty and permitted arrest and incarceration without trial. The Enabling Act (March 23, 1933) transferred legislative power to Hitler, permitting him to decree laws, laws moreover that "may deviate from the Constitution."

The dictatorship of the Roman emperors was not based on an ideology. The Nazis had an ideology of sorts, but Hitler's dictatorship was largely personal and agenda-based. The dictatorship that emerged from the Bolshevik Revolution was based in ideology. Lenin declared that the Communist Party's dictatorship over the Russian people rests "directly on force, not limited by anything, not restricted by any laws, nor any absolute rules." Stalin's dictatorship over the Communist Party was based on coercion alone, unrestrained by any limitations or inhibitions...

.....President Bush has used "signing statements" hundreds of times to vitiate the meaning of statutes passed by Congress. In effect, Bush is vetoing the bills he signs into law by asserting unilateral authority as commander-in-chief to bypass or set aside the laws he signs. For example, Bush has asserted that he has the power to ignore the McCain amendment against torture, to ignore the law that requires a warrant to spy on Americans, to ignore the prohibition against indefinite detention without charges or trial, and to ignore the Geneva Conventions to which the US is signatory.

In effect, Bush is asserting the powers that accrued to Hitler in 1933. His Federalist Society apologists and Department of Justice appointees claim that President Bush has the same power to interpret the Constitution as the Supreme Court. An Alito Court is likely to agree with this false claim.

This is the great issue that is before the country. But it is pushed into the background by political battles over abortion and homosexual rights. Many people fighting to strengthen the executive think they are fighting against legitimizing sodomy and murder in the womb. They are unaware that the real issue is that America is on the verge of elevating its president above the law.
-----------------------------
Bush and the neocon republicans pushed the one issue voting. They lied to make issues work in their favor.

Iran Warned Again -
This Time On Building
Gas Pipeline To India

By Wayne Madsen
1-21-6

According to State Department sources, the United States has laid down an ultimatum to Iran. However, this ultimatum has nothing to do with Iran's nuclear program. Former U.S. ambassador to Turkmenistan Steven R. Mann, who is also the State Department's Special Negotiator for Eurasian Conflicts and Senior Adviser on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, recently warned Iran against building a pipeline to India.
-------------
Ah, NOW we get down to the brass tacks. Listen up Iran, the only pipeline you will be building is the one going straight to the port at Haifa!

#334 James ha journal@cspan.org 202-737-3220 (ask the operator where to leave suggestions) they will connect you. I just went to the INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE WEBSITE and listened to the four part series by Carl Cameron on Fox news that was taken off of their programming in 2001. all about the Israeli student/ possible Mossad sent back to Israel, Amdocs data mining etc. Is ISRAEL IS SPYING IN AND ON THE U.S? Part 1,2,3 and 4. Really worth listening to.

Some comments attributed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

...has now charged that European countries sought to complete the genocide by establishing Israel, a Jewish state in the midst of Muslim countries.

Don't you think that continuation of genocide by expelling Jews from Europe was one of their (the Europeans) aims in creating a regime of occupiers of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) the official Islamic Republic News agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Isn't that an important question?

'Anti-Semitic sentiment was a European tradition'

Ahmadinejad said Europeans had decided to create a Jewish camp as the best means for ridding the continent of Jews and said the camp, Israel, now enjoyed support from the United States and Europe in what he termed the slaughter of Muslims.

Last month, Ahmadinejad said the Holocaust, in which Nazi Germany killed six million Jews, was a myth. After global outrage over the comments, he said that Europeans, if they persisted in reality of the slaughter, should cede some of their territory for a Jewish state.

The Iranian president said anti-Semitic sentiment was a strong and long-term European tradition while Jews had lived peacefully among Muslims for centuries.

According to the ISNA news agency, Ahmadinejad said the crimes committed by Zionists against the Palestinians were the same as the crimes committed by the Nazis in the Second World War.

The one question to be clarified by the West is what crimes did they commit in those days (World War Two) what the Zionists are not doing today,?
Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by ISNA.

'They have shot two targets with a single bullet'

The Iranian president said Judaism should be distinguished from Zionism, asserting that Jews in Islamic countries like Iran have always lived in security with religious freedom and will do so in the future.

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadhas said, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency, as reported from a news conference he gave in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca:

"Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces and they insist on it to the extent that if anyone proves something contrary to that they condemn that person and throw them in jail," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

"Although we don't accept this claim, if we suppose it is true, our question for the Europeans is: is the killing of innocent Jewish people by Hitler the reason for their support to the occupiers of Jerusalem?" he said.

"If the Europeans are honest they should give some of their provinces in Europe — like in Germany, Austria or other countries — to the Zionists and the Zionists can establish their state in Europe. You offer part of Europe and we will support it."

"You oppressed them, so give a part of Europe to the Zionist regime so they can establish any government they want," he said on a visit to Mecca.

When Mommy or Daddy Comes Home From Iraq With a Traumatic Injury, This Should Help

The Pentagon has gained a very welcome and popular reinforcement for the home front —†a furry red monster called Elmo.

As the third anniversary of the war in Iraq approaches and the casualties continue to mount, the creators of Sesame Street, the American educational television show, have announced plans to make an episode for the children of military families.

It is one of several such initiatives to have emerged in recent months as America starts to confront the consequences back home of what looks increasingly like a very long-term commitment to combating terrorism.

Sesame Workshop, the production company behind -Sesame Street, plans to distribute about 125,000 of the new DVDs starring the famous muppets to military families across the country.

The aim is to help children of pre-school age tackle the stress of their parents’†deployment, the absences, and, more sensitively, death and injury.

It is estimated that there are nearly half a million children of serving military below the age of five, and nearly 200,000 of reservists and national guardsmen....

This makes me want to puke. It encapsulates the Bush Republican approach to everything. Create, through incompetence, arrogance, and ideological blindness, the ugliest problems and most unworkable solutions, destroy lives forever, and then put a propaganda bandaid on the festering putrescent wounds they’∂e created. Daddy comes home from an illegal immoral war based on lies with half his face blown off and Elmo is going to help little Susie get used to it. Bastards.
-------------------------

Pentagon enlists US kid show for help
-------------------
I think I know what Jim Henson would have to say about this war.

It was my impression that the Iranian pres. was not denying the holocaust, but rather calling into question the accuracy of many of the claims, (6,000,000 Jews murdered), and he is correct that many people go to jail for questioning. I must admit, he has a point.

Paul Wolfowitz Busy Neo-Conning the World Bank: Staff Rebellion Brewing

Paul Wolfowitz, architect of America's failing foray into Iraq as Rumsfeld's former Deputy at the Pentagon, now heads the World Bank and finally seems like his true self is coming out of the closet.

In recent months, picking up steam in recent weeks, there has been a massive exodus of top talent from the World Bank. According to reports, the senior Ethics Officer at the Bank has departed. Also on the exit roster are the Vice President for East Asia & Pacific, the Chief Legal Counsel, the Bank's top Managing Director, the Director of Institutional Integrity (which monitors internal and external corruption), the Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development, and the head of ISG (Information Solutions Group).

According to one senior insider who feels as if Wolfowitz is gut-punching the most talented teams at the bank and indicated that morale is plummeting, "Wolfowitz just does not talk to his Vice Presidents. He speaks to a few close advisors -- Kevin Kellems, Robin Cleveland, Karl Jackson, some others -- but a lot of very good people are leaving."

What Wolfowitz has done that has started a serious wave of negative sentiment against him among his ranks is that he has appointed Kevin Kellems -- Vice President Cheney's former Communications Director andSpokesman -- as a "director" of the bank, which formally reports to a Vice President of the Bank -- while at the same time making him Senior Advisor to Wolfowitz.

In other words, Wolfowitz is forcing a political appointment at the "director level" of the bank -- which is never done. "Director" positions are fairly low in the World Bank bureaucracy and are filled by a competitive process and the merits of one's work -- not political imposition.

However, Wolfowitz on January 10, 2006 made Kellems Director of Strategy in the External Affairs, Communications and United Nations Affairs Vice Presidency while at the same time Senior Advisor to the President of the Bank.

In addition, the senior Bank staff are bristling at the behavior and antics of Robin Cleveland, a long-time aide to Senator Mitch McConnell who was considered by this writer to be one of the few genuinely monstrous personalities among Congressional staff. She has been shaking World Bank staff and programs on governance and anti-corruption agendas "in her normal, predictable tirade-style" according to one senior World Bank official.

The irony here is that Robin Cleveland was herself deeply involved in the Boeing tanker ethics mess. While soliciting then Secretary of the Air Force James Roche to help her brother get a job at Northrop Grumman, Roche wroter her a reply after receiving his resume:

Be well. Smile. Give tankers (Oops, did I say that? My new deal is terrific.) :) Jim.
While the Financial Times reported that Roche was found guilty of breaching defense department ethics rules, the Pentagon inspector general did not have the authority to inveestigate Robin Cleveland.

Senior bank staff see Wolfowitz withdrawing from his team and senior players -- and relying instead on a group of political zealots -- Wolfowitz's "dobermans" one staffer told TWN.

Here are some comments that have been shared with TWN this morning and yesterday:

"Wolfowitz is not talking to his VPs. He is withdrawing -- and instead using Robin Cleveland and the likes of Kevin Kellems to do his bidding, and they are building massive ill will inside the Bank."
"He is appointing political hacks into positions that should be filled by highly qualified personnel through competitive and transparent processes."

"Cleveland and Wolfowitz talk about anti-corruption and good governance, but she herself was in the midst of the Boeing tanker scandal and he is appointing a hack at the director level, circumventing the VP, and making this same hack his Senior Adviser. Cleveland in particular rankles as she is the single most arrogant and abusive person at the senior level of the bank without anything to be arrogant about. She makes John Bolton look sheepish."

"Wolfowitz is Sovietizing the bank by placing his political watch dogs in key positions in the bank -- and is more interested in political symbolism than the substantive work and challenges of the Bank."

What is clear to TWN is that whatever honeymoon Paul Wolfowitz had at the World Bank -- externally and internally -- is over. ANY major bureaucracy will resist change and attempt to thwart some of the more extensive objectives of its leader. So, some of this resentment of Wolfowitz may be similar to the same kind of resistance that James Wolfensohn encountered when he was shifting things around inside the institution.

However, after having recently listened to Karl Jackson at an informal lunch where Jackson recounted his work on Indonesia and interaction with Paul Wolfowitz, with whom Jackson is very close, I have concerns about the quality of interaction between Wolfowitz and other senior level personalities in the Bank's hierarchy. I can't comment on Jackson's precise comments as they were not for attribution -- but I got a "feel" for some of the problems that others have been describing.

Jackson now serves as an advisor to Wolfowitz and is a former colleague at the Johns Hopkins/Nitze School of Advanced International Studies where Wolfowitz served as Dean. But after just mentioning the names Robin Cleveland and Kevin Kellems to a few Bank staff in phone interviews, people gushed with resentment against them and Paul Wolfowitz.

This simmering tension between Wolfowitz and his staff seems to be deeper and more serious than even the drama of staff reorganization can explain.

Wolfowitz may be showing his stripes now -- and may be finally tilting the Bank into a groove where it becomes a harsher instrument of U.S. foreign policy -- rewarding friends and punishing those who don't fall into lockstep behind George W. Bush's vision.

-- Steve Clemons

Posted by steve at January 20, 2006 09:33 AM
----------------------------------
I know it's a long post but this is just another example of the damage that the neocons are doing. Their influence is world wide and it is dangerous.

Halliburton Cited in Iraq Contamination By LARRY MARGASAK

Troops and civilians at a U.S. military base in Iraq were exposed to contaminated water last year and employees for the responsible contractor, Halliburton, couldn't get their company to inform camp residents, according to interviews and internal company documents.

Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, disputes the allegations about water problems at Camp Junction City, in Ramadi, even though they were made by its own employees and documented in company e-mails.

"We exposed a base camp population (military and civilian) to a water source that was not treated," said a July 15, 2005, memo written by William Granger, the official for Halliburton's KBR subsidiary who was in charge of water quality in Iraq and Kuwait.

"The level of contamination was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River," Granger wrote in one of several documents. The Associated Press obtained the documents from Senate Democrats who are holding a public inquiry into the allegations Monday.
------------------------
The interview I posted yesterday with the Iraq war vets detailed the same illnesses. Said the military was afraid to eat the food. And we are paying these contractors how much money?

Saladin, I have about 15 minutes left of Nickel and Dimed and we just got thru watching the DVD Wal-Mart the high cost of low price by Robert Greenwald. I need not explain my mental state to you, I'm sure.

Saladin .. While I think the Iranian presidents comments are way out of line expecially if it is true that he said Israel should be wiped off of the map. This is an outrageous comment and matches Perle's and Sharon's demands at the Aipac conference (they called for the invasion Of Iran). But I do believe it is critical to mention the WWII genocide.

I think the media does a dis-service to the millions of other people who died in that war..Polish, Gypsies, Russians..etc. etc. Because they are NEVER mentioned in the american media it is just 6 million Jews.;I think the repetitive absence of all who died in that tragic war only serves to feed a mis-perception that only Jews died and suffered. Our media barely touches the other genocides that have taken place over the last 50 years..Tibet..Rwanda...East Timor

The inability to extend ones concerns to others lives and well being demonstrates the arrogance that so many around the world feel americans are filled with. They are not far from the truth.;We finally heard Bush mention how many Iraqi people have died and he lied " 30,ooo more or less". How disgusting .

The question I would have asked George if I were a journalist in the room when he made such a disrespectful comment is "which is it George more or less?"

Thanks Jeanne...Wolfowitz should be in jail not the head of the WORLD BANK. Maybe just maybe if Phase 2 is ever completed he will suffer some for his huge part in killing Iraqi people. Does anyone remember that scene in the movie NETWORK ? Where people stuck their heads out of windows and went out on the streets screaming "we just can't take it anymore". I just keep imagining a group response like that during the STATE OF DENIAL oops , I mean the STATE OF FASCISM ..oops I mean during the "STATE OF THE UNION" COULDN'T YOU JUST SEE IT PEOPLE COMING OUT OT THEIR HOUSES SCREAMING "WE JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE". IT SURE WOULD FEEL GOOD...AND WOULD BE ANOTHER MENTION FROM PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD. signing off

another message to people around the world..that americans do care.

Capt: Currency War

Fascinating stuff from Dr. Prather. For posterity, let it be noted that, as was the case before the Iraq invasion, there are knowledgeable people saying loudly and clearly that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons. So if the Bush and the neocons don't hear this message, it's only because they're willfully ignoring it (or, more likely, trying to squelch it).

Iran's total lack of nuclear weapons

We hear a lot about these beasties, but it is worth noting that not even the coke-addled alcoholic drug-fuck himself, George Bush, has ever attributed any of his many outlandish claims about Iranian nuclear weapons to U.S. 'intelligence' sources .. and as such they don't even attain the credibility rating of Iraqi WMDs.

He has instead relied exclusively on pointing to years of supposed Iranian concealment (and how about over five decades of Israeli concealment?) and questions about why a country with as much oil as Iran would require a large-scale nuclear energy program .. as if the rest of the world (including the United States) isn’¥ trying to reduce its use of fossil fuels to cut CO2 emissions and openly talking about nuclear energy as an "environmentally friendly option".

Now it seems, according to the Washington Post .. but all this report concludes is that Iran, mostly through its energy program, is "acquiring and mastering technologies that COULD be diverted to bombmaking".. as is indeed half the world. So once we take out the racist anti-Iranian prejudice that is the staple fodder of US politics of all persuasions - and the fact that there isn’¥ even a credible suggestion that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons –†we are left with exactly didly squat in the way of supporting evidence for the Bush administration's continued racist vendetta against Iran.

Naturally, Jerusalem doesn't approve of this sort of honesty, so they have immediately responded with the latest round of fabricated crap to rally the Zionist zealots and are now claiming that Iran will be able to build a nuclear bomb within two years; which will now no doubt become the official Bush line, despite the fact that the far more capable US intelligence services see things completely differently .. and still leaves unanswered the question of American nuclear apartheid and why it thinks it is OK for the most rogue of all rogue nations –†Israel –†to have a large enough nuclear arsenal to lay waste to the entire Middle East (yet be too cowardly to even admit it), but not OK for Iran just to generate nuclear energy.

So yesterday it was sweet vindication to hear Richard Clarke, who I believe was in the room at the time of the mutiny, declare that in today's real-world escalation with Iran, there is no military solution to Iran 's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

Drewp -- in light of your above post, you should find this article interesting, if you haven't already read it @ tompaine.com

"Ironically, all this analysis actually supports the Iranian claims that they are not seeking nuclear weapons, only the full nuclear cycle for civilian energy. To check the United States, Iran doesn't need nuclear weapons. It already has that capacity."

PS thnx Caroline for the quotes attributed to the Iranian president; can't spell his name without a cheatsheet.

Carol,
Look what's happening south of the border.

Latin America Shifts Left: It's the Economy

Evo Morales' election in Bolivia, with an unprecedented (for that country) 54 percent of the vote, is seen and analyzed here mostly in political terms. He is a former head of the coca growers union and opposes the U.S.-sponsored attempts to eradicate the production of coca. He has talked about nationalizing the natural gas resources now owned by foreign corporations. "We're not just anti-neoliberal, we're anti-imperialist in our blood," he proclaimed at a recent campaign rally. These things will be more than enough to ensure that he does not get a fair hearing here in the United States.

But we would do well to step back from the politics for a moment and look at this election in economic terms. This explains a lot what is happening in Bolivia, and indeed across most of the region. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America -- its GDP (or annual income) per person is only $2,800, as compared to $8,200 for the Latin American region and $42,000 in the United States.

Bolivia has also been subject to IMF agreements almost continuously (except for eight months) since 1986. And it has done what the experts from Washington have wanted, including privatizing nearly everything that could be sold. Among the most notorious was the water system of Cochabamba, which led to the famous "water war" against Bechtel (the buyer) in 1999-2000 after many residents got priced out of the market. The country's Social Security system was also privatized.

But nearly 20 years of these structural reforms -- or "neoliberalism" as Morales and most Latin Americans call it -- have brought little in the way of economic benefits to the average Bolivian. Amazingly, the country's per capita income is actually lower today than it was 25 years ago. And 63 percent of Bolivians live below the poverty line....

....This difference over economic policy -- much more than drug policy, the war in Iraq, immigration, or Cuba -- is the main thing that has set Washington on a collision course with most of Latin America. Evo Morales is now the sixth candidate in the last seven years to win a presidential race while campaigning explicitly against "neoliberalism." The others were in Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador and Uruguay. And there will likely be more in the near future, as there are 10 more presidential elections scheduled in Latin America over the next year.
---------------------
Good article. Latin America is really seeing change.

Interesting exercept this evening:

Lieberman acknowledged to a newspaper reporter this month that he will be on the ballot in November, no matter what the Democrats do. Lieberman will not be bound by the decision of Democratic primary voters if he loses. To threaten to run as an independent is an extraordinary admission that trouble approaches.

From Robert:

Not all of you Lefties are alike and I apologize for confusing you w/Don! You said:

"As well, there are numerous things you don't respond to, .........."

Absolutley correct! I have far too many things to attend to than to indulge myself here!

You also said:

"... but to all your repeated efforts at digging you just keep getting lower. Do you keep digging...?

This gave me a good laugh! My `digging' at you lefties' are getting lower & getting closer to your styles and I don't like it! On another level of `digging', I seem to be getting higher and higher. If I keep on `digging', the little wife & I can comfortably retire when the 15-yr. old gets out of college!

On another still different level of `digging', my laughing got even harder as I think of the Dems frantic `digging' for 12 years now.... Capt can provide a good quote for this `diggin' syndrome!

I will not run as an independent. I am not independent in any way whatsoever. I jump when Karl and Dick say, "jump." I don't even ask, "How high?" I just jump. I am a mushmouthtoady. I love Karl. I love Dick.

I am so HAPPY that someone thinks I am a threat. It makes me feel so manly. It makes me feel like a bush.

...even though sometimes I act like a Dick.

Tiger had his first birthday party last night and we had a heckuva cleanup job waiting this morning. Then, we had a power outage that somehow knocked out the internets in our quadrant of the city.

I finally got caught up with the latest comments here and brought my usual nuggets o' joy to share with my pals.

As the Grand Ol' Spending Party finds itself struggling to find the right lawyer to keep them out of the nearest penitentiary, they often find that they can't turn their backs on each other. You never know when someone will drop dime on your ass.

Ever since Spygate, the Spineless Dems‚Ñ¢ know that they've got the Reds by the short & curlies. It has emboldened many a Dem to shoot his mouth off (Did she say Plantation?), fight the crappier provisions of the Patriot Act (cf. Schumer, Feingold and Clinton), Kerry blogs on DKos (with links and shit), Molly Ivins gives 'em what for, and the word of the day is "incompetence." I've seen so many Dems on the talk shows repeat it again and again. They've even uttered the word impeachment in public. Heh, I guess impeachment's not just for blowjobs anymore.

It's actually fairly amusing to see the wheels spin slowly at the Department Of Justice (sic). They put out a defense of Spygate that isn't. 42 pages of Silly is a good title.

Will be back for Bill and Happy in a sec. Time to check in on the USA v Canada soccer friendly.
USA! USA! 137 Days, 20 Hrs and 49 minutes till the Kickoff in Germany @ the premier World Cup match.

Has it really been a year!

Happy B-Day little Tigre!

Have you got him lined up in a good union job yet, Pande? Never too soon to learn to make doughnuts!

Love Him every year like its the first AND the last!

-T

That said...

While I'm a little sad it won't be against 'Carolina...

STEELERS in SBXL! Woo Hoo!

It'll be sweet ('Gringo Football League, Pande) dreamin' tonight!

-T

0 - 0. The US has the advantage in possession, shots and corners but haven't managed to stick one.

Hajji notes:
"uhm...did I ever mention that modesty and math aren't one of my MANY fantastic qualities?"

Reminds me of a Tshirt that my sister bought me:
"I cannot be conceited because conceit is an imperfection and I am perfect."
She got me one for Xmas that sez:
"Acting my shoe size since 1979" (can I get an Amen from the Bushbots?)

===+===

My funny bone is tickled unmercifully by Bill as he notes:
I thought you'd be so embarassed by the bitch-slapping I gave you the other night that you wouldn't show your face around here for awhile.
Posted by: Bill at January 20, 2006 09:59 AM

In all my years of being around children, I've never seen one so incurably amused by his own snotbubbles. Bill takes the cake again, prompting Ms. Saladin to remark:

"Bill's a little slow, isn't he?"
Posted by: Saladin at January 20, 2006 10:05 PM

Yeah, saying that Bill is a little slow is like saying the Sun is a little warm.

More unintended humor from the bard of the bushbots, he begins by noting:
"Then I grew up, and realized what a total idiot I had sounded like saying such a thing."

Newsflash to Bill, growing up didn't stop you from sounding like an idiot.

With a flourish, he jots:
"Perhaps appropriate for a child, certainly not appropriate for an adult. Is that your goal, to appear stupid and immature?
Posted by: Bill at January 21, 2006 08:56 PM

Come on Bill, Ne te quæsiveris extra.

Bill gets in touch with his inner baf by typing:
"See you've been posting from the ACLU hymnbook again. ... nihilist/Trotskyite ... you're pprobably a big supporter of the ACLU's position on NAMBLA. Are you a member of NAMBLA? Do you want to be?"
Posted by: Bill at January 20, 2006 11:43 PM

Then he follows it up with an apology. Sal shakes her head and notes:
"I think this new incarnation of Bill is pulling people's chains."
Posted by: Saladin at January 21, 2006 12:38 AM

Pagliacci joins in on the hilarity,
"To all visitors, Right or Left, this Poster has a Toyota Prius on order! He did NOT buy/order a Ford hybrid vehicle."
Posted by: Happy at January 21, 2006 02:35 PM

It was actually a Texan (not Haj) that ordered the Prius. We'll call it a "senior moment" and let it go.

These Bushbots -- they are all a chimera, a bad joke put on by a group of uninformed kids. No amount of spell-checking, grammar help, or cut-and-paste will assoil them of their idiocy.

Hajji,

Steeler's win. When the postseason began I figured them to win the AFC. Something about Indy & the Patriots just didn't look right.
The Steelers will defeat the Seahawks. Of, course, only my prediction.

Pandemoniac,

Congrats and Happy Birthday to your child. Your post regarding acting your shoe size reminds me of a Jimmy Buffect song calld Growing older but not up

I'm growing older but not up
My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck
Let those winds of change blow over my head
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead.

Pande,

"It was actually a Texan (not Haj) that ordered the Prius. We'll call it a "senior moment" and let it go."

Shhh - it is too much fun to hear the troll blather on in error! HA! I half expected Eye's to offer a correction,

"These Bushbots -- they are all a chimera, a bad joke put on by a group of uninformed kids. No amount of spell-checking, grammar help, or cut-and-paste will assoil them of their idiocy."

And well said

As Always

capt

No USA Duplicity with Iran.


Iran Daily, Dear Editor: 1/20/06

A question has surfaced in Iran regarding USA's purported duplicity on the nuclear issue, that is, why can not Iran have nuclear technology when the USA has nuclear technology? I would like to provide you one American's perspective to that question.

The USA has a history of protecting sea lanes for US commerce and global trade, from President Jefferson about 1810 with the Barbary Coast, defeating pirates there, and continuing in earnest to President T.Rosevelt at war when he was bent on civilizing the world. This continued with President Wilson in WWI, President F.Rosevelt in WWII, President Truman in N.Korea, President Johnson in Vietnam, and Bush Sr in Iraq, President Clinton in Bosnia, and current President Bush Jr in Iraq. The list is more complete than these examples. As a result, the USA has an $8 trillion debt, but then, the Nazis, Imperial Japan, Stalin's Soviets, and the Sino-Communists, those majors posing threats to world peace and global trade, are history. Did the USA get its money's worth? Well, goods can be shipped around the world, these days, in relative peace, as USA carrier battle groups play world police protecting those free trade lanes. The Russians and Chinese are becoming good USA trading partners and friends, as did Germany and Japan. The USA tried to buy out the crazy guy in N. Korea, but globalized traders, Russia, China, Japan, and S.Korea are at least helping to contain the threat in N.Korea. Japan is now spending on missile defense in that region. Will Japan get its money's worth? Did the USA get its money's worth to build, maintain, and promote civilization and globalization? Do others eventually benefit from this civilization and globalization? I think so, as the poor third world populations increase their standards of living.

It has been the USA military might and diplomacy over the last century that has lead to a more peaceful world in which Iran can sell its oil. Sure, the USA has made diplomacy mistakes, but the screams of "death to America" are really getting old, like cheerleaders at a football game all ready lost. And now, the USA has new threat in the middle east, a nuclear Iran, posing to destabilize the middle east. The question of USA and Iran having the same power and responsibility goes to the maturity of the country. The USA has 225 years of democracy with many checks and balances to political power, whereas Iran has zero years, as the Mullahs in Iran do not have such checks and balances. With Iran saying that Israel should be wiped off the map, saying death to America, feeding the islamo-facist terrorist, feeding terrorizing Hesbala in Lebanon, feeding terrorizing Hamas in Palestine, feeding insurgents in Iraq, and misleading nuclear inspectors for years, Iran, as a theocratic quasi-democracy, has not matured enough socially to assume the responsibility of protecting nuclear materials from would be terrorists, nor mature enough and without necessity to be allowed to possess enriched nuclear materials, nor with sufficient justification for the possession of nuclear arms.

As it is, Iran has threaten Israel with extinction and has pursued a course of nuclearization, and the two are inherently incompatible in view of the world's propensity to civilize the world by civilized nation states such as Russia, China, Japan, Australia, Britain, Germany, France, USA, inter alia, of economically and politically connected set of countries, whether are not there are those defiant nations who first resist but then eventually join the march of human cultural evolution towards peaceful interactions. If Iran remains defiant, the UN or at least the USA will be forced into a naval and air blockade of Iran, in an oil for food blockade. Iran will initially resist, as the USA taps into its strategic reserves, and there would be $100 oil and a global economic recession, as Iran's economy falls to the ground. This assumes, of course, that Israel's Mr. Netenyahu is not elected in March 2006 and does not strike Iran in advance. With several USA carrier battle groups siting in the Persian gulf, it would be only a matter of time before Iran makes a second mistake and "inadvertantly" strikes USA military forces. Like the Vietnam Token Resolution, the USA would counter-strike, and take out Iranian missile batteries, above ground nuclear facilities, and below ground tunnel entrances. Then, to cease fire, Iran will have to negotiate a treaty which may include that Mullahs do not control the government, that women can vote, and that Iran pay for the cost of the USA blockade, all the while the Iranian economy is destroyed.

The hard-line controlling Mullahs of Iran will take the Iranian population down with them, unless a change of posture is quickly taken. The deal with Russia seems a good one. Iran should move away from terrorism supporting posture, and, work with the west and work with the Russians and Chinese who also don’t want war, so as to improve Iran's standard of living, rather than drive itself into the ground, in its present hostile manner. It would be a mistake to think the west would allow Iran possession of nuclear technology without adequate inspections, safeguards, and process limitations, especially in view of the hate of the west that radiates from Tehran. In stead of the hate speech directed towards the west, Iran should be cooperative with the west, and compliant to international concerns. While Iran may feel and is surrounded these days with pro-west anti-terrorism countries, Iran should understand that the USA will stand against international terrorism and nuclearization of Iran raising tensions in the middle east and posing threats to those pro-west anti-terrorism countries and trade in that region. The west will protect its global investment. The Jihadist mentality has kept the Islamic world for centuries from progressing civilly, notwithstanding the oil income. The oil income is the fuel towards building the nuclear facilities, yet it is that trade globalization that is now threaten by such facilities. Iran's oil income should not be used to defeat itself. Iran's oil income should be used to increase the prosperity in Iran without global confrontation. Like it or not, Iran is a member of the world, and its globalization, and enjoys the benefits of international trade. Iran must be responsible vis-à-vis these benefits, and negotiate with others and reach suitable arrangements to co-exist peacefully. Freedom to globally exploit oil market has its costs and comes with responsibility and civility. Iran has the freedom to sell oil on world markets, but has the responsibility to cooperate with the global community. Human cultural evolution has accelerated over the last 100 years, lead mostly by the west, and has resulted in a more peaceful world and globalized trading partners. Iran is like a tree standing alone in the sand with a big wind blowing, and Iran must decide to either bend or break. So there is the choice. The controlling Mullahs need to understand that nether they nor Iran can stop the 5000 year global progress of human cultural evolution.

The answer to the question poised is that adults (USA) do not let children (Iran) to play with guns, for very good reasons, even though some children believe they can operated and possess guns safely, and some actually do. Likewise, the world community will not allow a hostile theocratic Iran to have nuclear processing capabilities without sufficient safeguards, inspections, and process limitations, so that, hostile theocratic Iran does not obtain nuclear materials that could possibly be used to further its hostile rhetoric, conduct, and associations. I pray Iran will negotiate suitable arrangements with the west and avoid the pending titanic collision, which Iran will certainly lose at great costs, and hopefully, after several decades of peaceful and cooperative civility, Iran will have matured as a fully transparent democracy, without confrontational theocratic control, but with checks and balances, with free and fair elections, with all having the right to vote, when Iran would then be trusted by all as a good friend and good global trading partner. I pray the USA and Iran will become good friends and trading partners. God Willing

Much like Timmie, Bill has Questions and we have answers. Hey, hey, Timmie. Did ya' find that transcript or tape or video of W(uss) testifying about his CIA intel contacts? Didn't think so. We all know he's nothing but a big .... You know the rest.

James notes that our own Govt. has been spying on anti-war kids and tree-huggers. Bill is aghast:
"First, you mentioned that anti-war groups and Cindy Sheehan were being spied upon. If that is the case, I would be truly outraged. It would be Richard Nixon all over again.
Do you have any proof of this?
Posted by: Bill at January 20, 2006 05:16 PM

Did you read Robert's link @298, by Mikey in his new Blue Dress? Here's the money quote:
"In December, NBC News obtained a 400-page compilation of reports that detailed a portion of TALON's surveillance efforts. It showed the unit had collected information on nearly four dozen antiwar meetings or protests, including one at a Quaker meetinghouse in Lake Worth, Fla., and a Students Against War demonstration at a military recruiting fair at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A Pentagon spokesman declined to say why a private company like Halliburton would be deserving of CIFA's protection."

Wow. Cheneyburton is spying on us for the Govt.? Seems a little Nixonion, don't it? Can we just Impeach President Cheney and get it over with? Not Chimpy though, his singlehanded / simpleminded destruction of the GOP is too priceless to derail.

Maybe we need to do more than just fire Cheney. Especially if it turns out to be true that (as had been reported before), Cheneyburton has been poisoning our troops in Iraq. Of course, they go on StateTV to deny that it ever happened. Should we start a congressional investigation? LOL. Congressional oversight(?) I crack myself up sometimes.

Pagliacci noted that the Army was changing it's standards to accomodate a more mature subpopulation of warriors:
"Sometime in the last few days, there was a blurb .... about the age limit for military service being raised from 35 to 42. As usual, a few snide coattail- comments of no substance followed. Given the nature of the Afghan, Iraq and other recent wars, it seems to me that the key reason is that the military needs more mature (an alien concept to many here) folks with the skill set, likely managerial experience, and less emotional fortitude to handle societal matters. Any recognition of this logical conclusion of mine?"
Posted by: Happy at January 21, 2006 10:50 AM

Well, it might make sense if it weren't accompanied by the last article that I linked regarding the destruction of the Armed Forces by a President who refused to serve in our country's greatest time of need. Don't you read any of my links, Pagliacci? Is it really too much trouble to click and see whether there are any facts to be had? Check it out, why do you think they called it GI Schmo?

Reading your asinine platitudes, (If Iraq can't work itself out, we did try! `Difficult' should NOT mean `never try'!), I don't know if I'm more disappointed in your sorry Pukka Sahib attitude or your dishonest, cavalier stance on profiteering at the expense of those who sacrifice blood to fight Chimpy's ill-advised war of choice. Check your portfolio Pags, as they say, if the shoe fits.

journal@cspan.org is evidently not a valid eddress

Matriotism

by Cindy Sheehan

Much as I wish I could take credit for the word "matriotism," another woman wrote to me and gave me the concept. I was so intrigued by the word that I have been meditating on the possible ideology behind it, and a new paradigm for true and lasting peace in the world.

Before I dive into the concept of Matriotism, let's explore the word "patriotism." Dictionary.com defines it as: love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it. When we all know that patriotism in the US means: exploiting others' love for country by sending them and their children off to sacrifice for my bank balance!

There have been volumes written about patriotism, defining it, supporting it, challenging the notion of it, etc. I believe the notion of patriotism has been expediently and nefariously exploited, and used to lead our nation into scores of disastrous and needless wars. The idea of patriotism has virtually wiped out entire generations of our precious young people and has allowed our nation's leaders to commit mass murder on an unprecedented scale. The vile sputum of "if you aren't with us, then you are against us" is basically the epitome of patriotism gone wild. After the tragedy of 9/11 we were on our way to becoming a fledgling Matriotic society until our leaders jumped on the bandwagon of inappropriate and misguided vengeance to send our young people to die and kill in two countries that were no threat to the USA or to our way of life. The neocons exploited patriotism to fulfill their goals of imperialism and plumder.

More . .

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

Go Cindy!

capt

Two things I notice the trolls never comment on, 1. the intentional DU poisoning of our troops, and 2. The malicious attack by Israel on the USS Liberty. This leads me to the following conclusion, that our troops, to the trolls, are just dumb stupid animals that are only good for sacrifice in the name of the all benevolent US govt. If our govt. says it is necessary, than by god, you will take one for the team! Say anything negative you are branded a traitor for life, AKA swiftboated.

The convention which framed the Constitution of the United States was composed of fifty-five members. A majority were lawyers-not one farmer, mechanic or laborer. Forty owned Revolutionary Scrip. Fourteen were land speculators. Twenty-four were money-lenders. Eleven were merchants. Fifteen were slave-holders. They made a Constitution to protect the rights of property and not the rights of man,: Senator Richard Pettigrew - Triumphant Plutocracy (1922)

=
" I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of war, corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the republic is destroyed. I feel, at this moment, more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless." Lincoln in a letter to Col. William F. Elkins on November 21, 1864 :

=
This great and powerful force-the accumulated wealth of the United States-has taken over all the functions of Government, Congress, the issue of money, and banking and the army and navy in order to have a band of mercenaries to do their bidding and protect their stolen property.
Senator Richard Pettigrew - Triumphant Plutocracy - Published, January 1, 1922.

=
I grieve for France ; although it cannot be denied that by the afflictions with which she wantonly and wickedly overwhelmed other nations, she has merited severe reprisals. For it is no excuse to lay the enormities to the wretch who led to them, and who has been the author of more misery and suffering to the world, than any being who ever lived before him.

After destroying the liberties of his country, he has exhausted all its resources, physical and moral, to indulge his own maniac ambition, his own tyrannical and overbearing spirit. His sufferings cannot be too great. But theirs I sincerely deplore, and what is to be their term ?

The will of the allies ? There is no more moderation, forbearance, or even honesty in theirs, than in that of Bonaparte. They have proved that their object, like his, is plunder. They, like him, are shuffliing nations together, or into their own hands, as if all were right which they feel a power to do:

Thomas Jefferson - To Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin -Monticello, October 16, 1815.

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Photos show Bush, Abramoff buddy-buddy

Although President Bush says he doesn't recall meeting convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the two have turned up in photos together, confirming an exclusive story printed last week in Capitol Hill Blue.

Both Washingtonian and Time magazines have reported the existence of about a half-dozen photos showing the two together. Capitol Hill Blue reported on January 18 that Abramoff kept an autographed photo of he and Bush in his office.

Time reported on its Web site Sunday that its staff members have seen at least six photos featuring Bush and Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his lobbying practices and has pledged to cooperate with investigators. They appeared to have been taken at White House functions, according to the reports.

The White House has acknowledged that Abramoff attended some events at the Executive Mansion, and spokeswoman Dana Perino said Sunday it's not surprising that the two would have met.

"The president has taken tens upon thousands of pictures at such events," Perino said.

Abramoff met a few times with White House staff and attended Hanukkah receptions in 2001 and 2002, the White House has said, but officials there have refused to disclose how many times he's been into the complex or what business he had there.

The White House also has not released any photos featuring the president and Abramoff, who was declared a Bush "pioneer" for raising at least $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney '04 re-election campaign.

Contributions that came directly from Abramoff, his wife and one of the American Indian tribes he represented _ a total of $6,000 _ were donated to the American Heart Association by the campaign just days after Abramoff entered his guilty pleas.

The White House, after playing down the Bush-Abramoff photos and the lobbyist's ties to the president, criticized Abramoff for breaking the law. "Mr. Abramoff admitted being involved in outrageous wrongdoing," Perino said.

Iraq's Oil Bust

Oil exports were supposed to pay for the reconstruction. Instead they've been stifled.

Jan. 30, 2006 issue - Guarding the Fatah oil refinery used to be a pretty straightforward job. Insurgents hit the complex only sporadically, at night, and usually missed important targets. But by early last year, attackers were using rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and heavy machine guns in brazen daylight assaults. They seemed to know about everything and everybody in the refinery. Ambushes were common. "We were afraid to even take vacation and go home," says 26-year-old Saif Mohammed, an Iraqi security guard assigned to help protect the vast network of blackened pipes and smokestacks. "The people who worked with us used to tip off the fighters. They wanted to play both sides—¥o keep their jobs and be informants for the terrorists."

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

On September 15th 2002, White House economic advisor Lawrence Lindsay estimated the high limit on the cost to be 1-2% of GNP, or about $100-$200 billion. Mitch Daniels, Director of the Office of Management and Budget subsequently discounted this estimate as "very, very high" and stated that the costs would be between $50-$60 billion [Source: WSJ, "Bush Economic Aide Says Cost Of Iraq War May Top $100 Billion," Davis 09/16/02; NYT, "Estimated Cost of Iraq War Reduced, Bumiller, 12/31/02; Reuters News, "Daniels sees U.S. Iraq war cost below $200 billion," 09/18/02]

"When a reporter asked Daniels yesterday whether the administration was preparing to ask other countries to help defray possible Iraq war costs, as the United States did for the 1991 war, the budget director said he knew of no such plans. Other countries are having economic downturns of their own, he said." [Source: Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, "Byrd attacks cost of possible Iraq War, McFeatters, 9/25/02]

"There’≥ just no reason that this can’¥ be an affordable endeavor." [Source: Reuters, "U.S. Officials Play Down Iraq Reconstruction Needs," Entous, 4/11/03]

"The United States is committed to helping Iraq recover from the conflict, but Iraq will not require sustained aid." [Source: Washington Post, 4/21/03]

~Budget Director Mitch Daniels

capt

And on cue, the nub-end of the chimera makes it's presence known.

I guess, Bill needs a break. But he won't be getting one from me. Bill sez,
"As to Pande's recitation that the Washington Post shut down its website because it didn't want to have honest debate with the Left - au contraire; the Post shut down the thread because the Left's comments were so vile, so personally threatening as to be completely disconnected to the actual post. Typical liberals - no ability to argue and debate; all you can do is hector.
Posted by: Bill at January 20, 2006 09:59 AM

Read the blog. Find one example of profanity amongst the 200+ posts. As for a personal attack. She (Howell) made it personal when she accused respondents of being vile and profane. There are backups of the deleted files and backups of the backups and backups of the deleted backups. Read those comments or simply do a ctrl+F search of the posts and see if you can find one curse word (in those 400+) posts. I found the word "bullshit." That's it.

Now, compare that to two pages amongst several thousand from Little Green Fascists. They repeatedly use words like "shithead," "asshole," and "fuck" in almost all their blogthreads about Dan Rather. I'm not saying that we don't use that kind of language on this blog or that the Little Green Fascists are wrong to use such strong language about Rather. I'm just saying that Wingnuts are lying (Natch, they're Republicans) when they say that the WashPost was shut down because people were being shitty. They were just voicing their concern over shitty reporting. Howell was parroting GOoPer talking points about Abramoff "directing" money towards Dems when it is obvious that he was directing money away from Dems.

And it isn't unreasonable to assume that the Mainstream media is covering for Chimpy and the Grand Ol' Spending Party on the Abramoff scandal. A lot of them have pictures of Chimpy and Abramoff. But for some reason, they're sitting on them. Liberal Media? Obviously.

It's hard to know if the big money media is covering for Chimpy. There's no shortage of all the upfuckery committed by the Cheney Administration. 911 families agree, Chimpy scrood the pooch. And if Iraq get's any worse, I vote they rename it Chimpylandia.

reid, soething strikes me as odd in all that;
you pray Iran will negotiate suitable arrangements with the west and avoid the pending titanic collision, ....

suitable for whom? Iran has repeatedly stated that they have no intention of building nuclear weapons. and from what I understand the IAEA has been all thru Iran and has found no evidence of a nuclear weapons program. do you believe that Iran has no right to nuclear power? they are no real threat to israel or anybody else either. so what if they say that israel should be extinct? every other arab country has sed the same at one point or another. I will say it as well:: israel should perhaps be wiped from the map.

and, you make absolutely no mention of the proposed Iranian oil bourse. are you pretending that it's not a factor? that would be a little too much like the fools who tried to claim that there was really no PNAC and that PNAC hadn't called for a 'new pearl harbor', and subsequently got one with 911.

you can delude yourself 'til the cows come that america is some kind of benign, altruistic big brother protector, and the rest of the world should be grateful, but please, don't try to delude the rest of us. we can see with our own eyes what's really going on.

Over on driftglass.blogspot.com (bookmark it!), someone called "Citizen K" posted this:

THE BALLAD OF THE YOUNG REPUBLICANS

We support the troops
Like liberals never will
But their constant complaining
Is making us ill
Armor this and armor that
And where's the exit plan
And give us filtered water
This ain't the Boy Scouts, man
So put a sock in it, soldier
And salute the C-in-C
Someone's gotta fight Ay-rabs
And it sure as shit ain't me

From the swamps of Arkansas, Ivory Bill Woodpecker

Pande,
Happy birthday to the little feller and thanks for the Ctrl+F. That is always useful.

Never Mind the Truth

Klein writes that since the publication of the New York Times story on domestic spying, "the terrorists have modified their behavior, hampering our efforts to keep track of them." His evidence? "U.S. intelligence officials" told him. Now, that's convincing. The Times reported that virtually without exception, the wiretaps "led to dead ends or innocent Americans." (Perhaps the gullible Mr. Klein might be interested in buying some hot African yellowcake uranium, special price...)

Klein concludes, "For too many liberals, all secret intelligence activities are 'fruit,' and bitter fruit at that. The government is presumed guilty of illegal electronic eavesdropping until proven innocent. This sort of civil-liberties fetishism is a hangover from the Vietnam era." But what Klein mocks as fetishism and a Vietnam hangover is the law of the land, according to fourteen scholars of constitutional law and former government officials who wrote to Congress that "the program appears on its face to violate existing law." The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service also reported that it is "unlikely that a court would hold that Congress has expressly or impliedly authorized the NSA electronic surveillance operations," and added that the Bush/Klein argument "does not seem to be...well-grounded."

So here, apparently, is the punditocracy argument in a nutshell: Never mind that liberals are constitutionally correct. Never mind that their view is supported by a majority of Americans. And never mind that the Bush Administration has repeatedly lied to the American people on exactly these issues. Never mind, most of all, the truth.

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

Sounds way too familiar, eh?

capt

Sorry to let the truth get in the way of a good story. From John Hinderaker:

The quality of antique media's reporting on "domestic spying" stories is abysmal. There seems to be something about the phrase "domestic spying" that sets reporters aquiver, so that they can neither keep facts straight nor separate their feelings from their reporting. The latest example is this Newsweek story by Michael Isikoff on a Pentagon program that keeps track of anti-military demonstrations.

The first absurdity is the headline: "The Other Big Brother." The first "Big Brother" is the NSA's international intercept program. But the suggestion that monitoring international communications between al Qaeda and its American contacts is equivalent to the totalitarian state depicted in 1984 is laughable. The "Other Big Brother," the subject of Newsweek's article, is the Defense Department's Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) program.

Newsweek begins by describing a demonstration of "peace activists" outside Halliburton's Houston headquarters, on which someone in the Defense Department wrote a report. Newsweek then characterizes CIFA as one of several "secret government programs that spy on Americans in the name of national security." But wait! Where is there any evidence of "spying"? Since when is writing a report on a demonstration "spying"?

Newsweek compounds its sloppy reporting with misleading metaphors: "It isn't clear how many groups and individuals were snagged by CIFA's dragnet." Which summons up images of innocent citizens being dragged off the street and jailed; the definition of "dragnet" is "A system of coordinated procedures for apprehending criminal suspects or other wanted persons." But these antiwar demonstrators have not been apprehended or arrested. All that has happened is that someone wrote a report about the demonstration.

What's more, it appears that the information that goes into CIFA's reports comes mainly from the internet. That's right--the Defense Department is surfing the web, and identifying antiwar and antimilitary demonstrations that might be linked to domestic terror threats! This is what passes for "spying" in Newsweek's world.

Newsweek's main source for its story is William Arkin, whom the magazine describes blandly as "a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who writes widely about military affairs." This is, to put it mildly, a tendentious description. Arkin is a vitriolic critic of the Bush administration, and an alumnus of such far-left organizations as Greenpeace. Hugh Hewitt researched Arkin two years ago, and wrote an article in the Daily Standard titled "Who Is William Arkin?". Hugh describes a speech that Arkin gave in 2002:

In his lengthy and vitriolic attack on the Bush administration, Arkin admitted to feeling "cynical about the fact that we are going to war to enhance the economic interests of the Enron class," and declared that "the war against terrorism is overstated." Arkin believed, in fact, that the war "is not the core United States national security interest today." He rhetorically asked the audience: "Aren't I just another leftist, self-hating American?" and condemned the administration for taking "enormous liberties with American freedoms."

So William Arkin is a bitter anti-Bush partisan; yet Newsweek takes his words at face value and describes him only as "a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who writes widely about military affairs."

Of course, notwithstanding Newsweek's breathless and misleading prose, there is nothing illegal or improper about writing reports on anti-military demonstrations. Whether it is worth the effort to write such reports is debatable, but that's another question. And Isikoff offers no evidence that more than a de minimis effort is devoted to keeping track of the military's critics.

The "blockbuster" revelation supporting Newsweek's "Big Brother" characterization is that the Defense Department violated its own regulation by inadvertently retaining the names of some individuals who participated in anti-military demonstrations for more than 90 days. (Such names have now been ordered deleted.) Wow, think of that! Reminds you of Stalin, doesn't it? Well, no; but apparently that's the association--"Big Brother"--that Newsweek makes.

If the Defense Department ever starts shooting or arresting (DoD has no such power, of course) participants in anti-military demonstrations, Newsweek will have a genuine civil liberties scandal to report on. But that hasn't happened and isn't going to happen. No matter how the magazine tries to color the facts, there simply isn't anything wrong with writing reports on demonstrations.

Finally, Isikoff can't resist a parting shot at the first "Big Brother" program, NSA's international electronic intercepts:

[T]he White House has spent weeks in damage-control mode, defending the controversial program that allowed the National Security Agency to monitor the telephone conversations of U.S. persons suspected of terror links, without obtaining warrants.

Note the inaccurate description of the NSA program. The NSA was not "allowed...to monitor the telephone conversations of U.S. persons suspected of terror links." It was allowed to monitor electronic communications of al Qaeda members overseas, including their communications with persons in the U.S. And the suggestion that the White House is in "damage control mode," defending a "controversial" program, is mere wishful thinking. It would be more accurate, based on poll data, to call the NSA program "wildly popular" than "controversial."

And the administration has been on the attack, defending the NSA program aggressively and confidently, hardly in "damage control mode." But when antique media reporters describe the world, they all too often describe what they wish for, not what they see.

CAN'T YOU PEOPLE EVER GET ANYTHING RIGHT?!?!

Oh, no! Now Derrick Michael Reid AKA happy/happy in various incarnations/baf/pagliacci/Bill/tessitura tenor/antoine/et al. shows up again! That very sad, UNhappy fellow is always beaten to a verbal pulp by Pande. Go! Pande!

Los fudds son toros, y Pandito es el matador!

I don't know who hinderaker is, but his statement of
But the suggestion that monitoring international communications between al Qaeda and its American contacts is equivalent to the totalitarian state depicted in 1984 is laughable.

is itself laughable. I think hinderaker should view my post #299 and click on the link provided there to learn something about al qaeda and its american contacts.

One Houston Station to Air Anti-DeLay Ad

HOUSTON (AP) - At least one Houston television station that rejected an ad targeting embattled U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay said Saturday it would air a toned-down version.

The original ad paid for by two liberal groups was supposed to start running on local stations last week, but the DeLay campaign sent letters asking them not to run the ad because it was misleading.

The general manager of KRIV-TV, D'Artagnan Bebel, would not say why the new 30-second spot was approved.

The modified ad addresses alleged links between DeLay and the widespread congressional corruption probe of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The ad, sponsored by Campaign for America's Future and Public Campaign Action Fund, touts itself as ``the ad Tom DeLay doesn't want you to see.'' The announcer in the new version says DeLay ``received'' campaign contributions from Abramoff instead of ``pocketed.''

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

Nevermind the truth~!

capt

Email John Hinderaker at jhinderaker@faegre.com and tell him to read Chapter 21 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. He's the guy who keeps defending Tom DeLay as a fine specimen of upstanding ethics.

Hineraker is the nutjob lawyer over at Powerline who doesn't know shit from shinola in matters of the law. Why would anyone cite him as a reference to make a point? Hinderaker is a proven loser.

James, Hinderaker is one of three Elephascist Borg who run a blog called "Powerline". Hinderaker uses the webname "Assrocket". As Dave Barry would say, I am NOT making this up.---IBW

I know Wolfie is a liar; but he wrote a report about TALON that AssRocket might want to read. It explicitly outlines their work. Pincus reported on CIFA and the domestic spying that was done. Facts are a bitch. They are so hard to wish away. Spying on Americans is so Nixonian, eh Bill. But Arkin is a Bush-Hater. When in doubt, shoot the messenger(s). "It'th a conspirathy," sez Assrocket in his best daffy duck voice. Why not just address the facts? Smears. Baybeee. Smearing its critics is all the Grand Ol' Spending Party can do politically. The facts are not on their side.

"Forcing the World To Be Saved", by William Lind, over on antiwar.com reviews a couple of witless books by some neocon dork named Barnett. If anyone else, like me, has been wondering where in sulfuric Hell Derrick Michael Fudd has been getting his "Core" and "Gap" codewords, it seems he's a disciple of this Barnett nut.---IBW

#343 Saladin, Bush will find something so he can attack Iran. The wars in the Middle East are all for the oil.

The article on DU is very revealing. Bush knew that DU causes such hardships and deformities on human beings but he still attacked Iraq without any care for the people and our soldiers. His evil actions reveal that he is a cold blooded murderer, a war criminal, and a tyrant. Bush is a personification of total evil.

I must admit, I read from the bottom and seldom even skim the piffle posts but it is a sign of well informed here when you can jinx each other in a wack-a-troll slap down!

You guys do rock!

capt

Assrocket is Daffy? Here I was thinking of him as yet another Fudd. Which reminds me:

"Do you want to shoot me now or take me home and do it later?
"Well, uh..."
"SHOOT HIM NOW! SHOOT HIM NOW!"
"You keep out of this! He doesn't HAVE to shoot you now!"
"He does SO have to shoot me now! I DEMAND that you shoot me now!"
*BLAM*

Ahh, pronoun trouble. *snork*

Wespectfuwwy youhs, Ivowy Biuh Woodpeckuh

The cockroaches return Katherine Harris -- you remember HER! (She's the one who helped give us GWB in 2000.) But remember Ed Rollins? He was the campaign consultant who (temporaily) sank his career by yakking that he had handed out walking-around money to New Jersey ministers to get Christine Todd Whitman elected.

Well, old Ed is handling Miss Harris's campaign in Florida to try to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson.

Her campaign is not doing so hot, so Harris dedicated her campaign to her father who died on January 14th. (Family values, Repug-style -- whatever it takes. Use my father's death for the cause, no problem.)

I wonder how much walking-around money Ed will need to buy her makeup?

Pesky wabbit!

Final: Can. 0, U.S. 0. We played the B-team (a bunch of teenagers and noobs). Not bad.

Happy is either a roofer or a landscaper.
Posted by: Jeanne at January 21, 2006 03:12 PM

That was funny, Jeanne. I was thinking more along the lines of plumber -- someone with a hands-on approach to crap.

Was anyone else amused by this little anecdote?
"My Hispanic house cleaner of some 15 years...My, how conversant in English she and her whole family has become. ... Kinda puts native English speakers with low aspirations to shame."

English speakers with low aspirations sounds like code for Chimpy. Why Pags, I didn't know you had it in you to punk the Preznit that way.

Actually, having a mexican housecleaner would provide you with a smidge of Spanish skillz and anecdotes about Saltillo tile and the silversmithing talents of certain Mexicans. (My maternal Great-Grandpa died in a silver mine, BTW. The recent "accidents" in the VA mines have folks in my family shaking their heads.) Having a mexican housecleaner (and working with foreign exchange students) might even make one think that folks could be duped into believing that you were a student in a defunct Mexican University. I'm not saying you're Antoine; but you're both from Houston (Can I get an Amen, Alan?) and you both brag about your businesses (and bemoan the failed ones). And you both try to clean up the blog alla the time. Coincidence? Probably. It gives me the giggles just the same.

From here on in, you're nothing to me, Happy. You're dead. Just funnin' ya', dude. You reactionaries crack me up!

#388 Is there a dictionary definition of "assrocket?"

I do not know the meaning of that word.

But alas, maybe I don't want to know...

The strange case of supernatural water

Florida tested ‘Celestial Drops’ to see if they warded off citrus canker

Florida's citrus crop contributes billions of dollars to the state's economy, so when that industry is threatened, anything that might help is considered. Back in 2001, when citrus canker was blighting the crop and threatening to reduce that vital source of revenue, an interesting — if not quite scientific — alternative was considered.

Katherine Harris, then Florida's secretary of state — and now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives — ordered a study in which, according to an article by Jim Stratton in the Orlando Sentinel, "researchers worked with a rabbi and a cardiologist to test ‘Celestial Drops,' promoted as a canker inhibitor because of its ‘improved fractal design,' ‘infinite levels of order,' and ‘high energy and low entropy.'"

The study determined that the product tested was, basically, water that had apparently been blessed according to the principles of Kabbalic mysticism, "chang[ing] its molecular structure and imbu[ing] it with supernatural healing powers."

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

I would say: Katherine Harris is as level headed as any of those on the Reich! HA!

capt

Capt, remember when the Bushbot that called itself Brian claimed that the troops were behind King George the Clueless' excellent Middle Eastern crusade? He kept saying that, by all accounts, and from everything that he'd read, and according to all the latest polls, the Military was four-square behind King George's plan to flatten Iraq and steal all that yummy oil. I looked and looked and looked the world over for that link that you put up. Google should ask you for links.

Bushbot, the military is losing confidence in Chimpy's plan: a twenty point drop in a very short time and the bottom is nowhere in sight.

Remember, when the fudds visit, they think their Dear Leader has screwed the pooch again and needs the help of his faithful 82nd Chairborne Fighting Keyboard Commandos to cloud the issues.---IBW

Micki, I don't know what "Assrocket" means, either, but I'd guess it's a play on his name, HINDeraker.

Pande, in addition to being one of the best smack-down, slap-down artistes on this blog, you have a remarkable memoray bank for Pags' fiction.

#400 Ohhhhhhh, now I get it.

#396 micki, this may help you. When Bush was a young goon in Midland, Texas, he would place firecrackers in the mouths of frogs. An assrocket is the placement of dynamite sticks up th ass of a Nazi.

Consummate Wanker: John Hinderaker (aka Assrocket)

Best I can tell Assrocket is specifically an AKA for Hinderaker!

Pande,

I do remember - that is I think I remember!

capt

403 and 404, I did not know that "wanker" is a term of endearment. Thank you, capt, for the link.

Gerald, you have the beginning of a great limerick there, "When Bush was a young goon in Midland"

(For the always serious-minded on the blog, sometimes it's just a good thing to have a little fun...)

NY Times has come out against Alito for SCOTUS. Interesting times. Will it matter??

Only if a miracle occurs.

Kaff -- I just looked at the editorial from HTY - thnx.

This summation hits ya in the fact like a wet cat:

The White House has tried to create an air of inevitability around this nomination. But there is no reason to believe that Judge Alito is any more popular than the president who nominated him. Outside a small but vocal group of hard-core conservatives, America has greeted the nomination with a shrug - and counted on its senators to make the right decision.

The real risk for senators lies not in opposing Judge Alito, but in voting for him. If the far right takes over the Supreme Court, American law and life could change dramatically. If that happens, many senators who voted for Judge Alito will no doubt come to regret that they did not insist that Justice O'Connor's seat be filled with someone who shared her cautious, centrist approach to the law.
+++++++++++
Senators will come to regret??? Yeah, and so will many of us regret their vote!!!

The NYT's could say anything or do anything . . except gain my readership. Holding the story (bugging) for a year?

They and the WaPo are worse than FOX or the Washington Times because they have spent the "benefit of doubt" - something I have never given the Reich-wingnut rags.

What good is a free press that carries the WH through an election? They knew what they were doing.

IMHO

capt

HYT? Oops...NYT

that's what I get for typing in the dark...

China to build world`s first "artificial sun" experimental device

HEFEI, 01/21 - A full superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device, which aims to generate infinite, clean nuclear-fusion-based energy, will be built in March or April in Hefei, capital city of east China`s Anhui Province.
It will require a total investment of nearly 300 million yuan (37 million U.S. dollars), only one fifteenth to one twentieth the cost of similar devices being developed in the other parts of the world.
The new device will be an upgrade of China`s first superconducting Tokamak device....HT-7 made China the fourth country in the world, after Russia, France and Japan, to have such a device.
^^^^^^^^^^
so while all of our dumbfux are pretending that the war is not about oil, other countries are actually developing fusion power. unbelievable.

oh.
The program, still in its initial stages, involves Russia, Japan, the United States, the European Union, China and the Republic of Korea.

well, they're still dumbfux for pretending that the war is not about oil.

#390 If you're referring to a writer, J.P. (or J.T.?)Barnett, he is a really smart and interesting writer - no kidding.

The nutty neocon's name is Thomas Barnett.

Any other retired generals out there who want to speak so candidly?

in fact, here is one now::
International Terrorism Does Not Exist
General Leonid Ivashov was the Chief of Staff of the Russian armed forces when the September 11, 2001, attacks took place. This military man, who lived the events from the inside, offers an analysis which is very different to that of his American colleagues. As he did during the Axis for Peace 2005 conference, he now explains that international terrorism does not exist and that the September 11 attacks were the result of a set-up. What we are seeing is a manipulation by the big powers; this terrorism would not exist without them.
It is globalization what creates the conditions for the emergence of these extremely dangerous phenomena.
In this context, if we analyze what happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States, we can arrive at the following conclusions:
1. The organizers of those attacks were the political and business circles interested in destabilizing the world order and who had the means necessary to finance the operation.
2. Only secret services and their current chiefs ­ or those retired but still having influence inside the state organizations ­ have the ability to plan, organize and conduct an operation of such magnitude.
3. Osama bin Laden and "Al Qaeda" cannot be the organizers nor the performers of the September 11 attacks. They do not have the necessary organization, resources or leaders. Thus, a team of professionals had to be created and the Arab kamikazes are just extras to mask the operation.

"Sometimes I wonder if Pandemoniac is a great
propogandist or just as stupid as a sack of hair.
I hope for the sake of his own intelligence that he doesn't actually believe what he's saying."
Posted by: Bill at January 20, 2006 05:37 PM

Bill, all I know is what I read in the papers. Is that what Will Rogers said? Those big bluish-purplish letters are links. Click on 'em. They have facts. Facts are good. That's what a lot of us are here for, to share information that we find relevant.

I read your talking points before you even type them (or cut and paste them). I read RealClearpolitics daily. I read Powerline. I read Redstate. I read Malkin, and Captain's Quarters, and Instapundit and the funny stuff in The Corner. I refuse to read LGF because they are a bunch of Xenophobic chickenhawks who don't know the inevitability or value of multiculturalism. I read the other reactionaries for giggles.

Your talking points on Dems is especially old. These are some of your stupider comments:
"Osama translated transcript sounds like talking points from this blog. So, you and Osama agree on almost every issue and how to resolve them. Doesn't that scare you just a little bit?

Yep, that's why Timmie and I always get into it over Afghanistan. We've been going around in circles over Chimpy and Field Marshall von Rumsfeld's gross negligence in their prosecution of the WOT. Obviously you didn't lose any friends or family on 911. 11 Alumni from my alma mater died in one building alone. Saying that Osama is like any American is a slap in the face to all Americans (not just the grieving families). And the Shit-eating Collaborator Monkeys just play along. Do you like e. e. cummings, Bill?

These posts were especially stoopid:
* "Have any of you Cornposters read General Odom?
Do you agree with him that we should quadruple troop strength in Iraq? If so, when did you all turn into a bunch of hawks?
Posted by: Bill at January 20, 2006 06:49 PM

* "I'm sure you're all very nice people.... But you are weak. You are weak and dangerous and foolish and childish about war. We are not all going to hold hands andsolve the world's problems. Appeasement never works. Negotiated settlements never work. (See Chamberlain, Ford and Carter)
Posted by: Bill at January 19, 2006 06:09 PM

* "Are you beginning to understand why America believes the Left is weak and reactionary? Do you have any intellectual rigor at all in you?

* Since you won't engage in a verbal debate of great importance, I'd hate to be next to you in a foxhole. Both intellectual and physical cowards."
Posted by: Bill at January 19, 2006 10:29 PM

First of all, you ignore (or are incapable of answering) 99% of the questions put to you by us. Don't project your cowardice on us. M'kay? Secondly, I have repeatedly linked the Fighting Dems and the Band of Brothers. Do you know how stoopid your "Dems are weak on the military" bullshit makes you look? Obviously not. There are 52 vets running for the Democratic Party. I've also linked the Chickenhawk Rollcall. Do you know how many vets the Grand Ol' Spending Party is running in '06? 1 or 2, depending on if they can raise any money (paging Mr. DeLay, would Mr. DeLay please pick up the green courtesy phone?). Patriots have the Purple Hearts. Chickenhawks have the money. How fair is that?

Wes Clark warned Chimpy and his merry band of warmongers that they were heading for a kinghell asskicking in Iraq. But they didn't listen. Remind me again how many American troops got killed in the Kosovo Conflict? Wes will fuck your shit up. He said that they needed to learn to eat the elephant one bite at a time. They must have interpreted it as a recomendation for cannibalism. Dumbasses.

Keep bringing you weakazz talking points, Bill. We'll keep shooting 'em down.

Micki, I agree that humor is essential to survival. That was my impetus for #374 here. That one gets me every time.

Hasta la vista, Happy. LOL.

Forcing the World to Be Saved

Among the critics and reinterpreters of Fourth Generation war, the bad is most powerfully represented by Thomas Barnett’≥ two books The Pentagon’≥ New Map and Blueprint for Action. What Barnett advocates is bad in two senses: first, that it won’¥ work, and second, that if it did work the result would be evil.

In both books, Barnett divides the world into two parts, the Functioning Core and the Non-Integrating Gap. This is parallel to what I call centers of order and centers or sources of disorder, and I agree that this will be the fundamental fault line of the 21st Century. Barnett’≥ error is that he assumes the Functioning Core will be the stronger party, able to restore order in places where it has broken down. In fact, the forces of disorder will be stronger, because they are driven by a factor Barnett dismisses, the spreading crisis of legitimacy of the state. By ignoring Martin van Creveld’≥ work on the rise and decline of the state, Barnett’≥ books end up anchoring their foundations on sand.

Barnett’≥ second error, manifested almost comically in Blueprint for Action, is that he thinks restoring the state in places where it has failed will be easy. According to a Washington Post review of Blueprint for Action by Joseph S. Nye, Jr.,

More . .

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

Read this about this Barnett.

capt

IBW,

Very insightful observation about the terminology!

Pande,

re #374 (back) I always thought it was "holmes" unless it was a hommie?

capt

If you want to hear Gen. Odom talk about this you should listen to the hour and a quarter podcast interview I recorded with him on January 4. It's at www.electricpolitics.com and the direct download link is http://www.electricpolitics.com/media/mp3/EP2006.01.10.mp3

I can't think of anything that rhymes with midland

HOUSTON (AP) - At least one Houston television station that rejected an ad targeting embattled U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay said Saturday it would air a toned-down version.

Capt, what it never said is... KRIV is the local Fox station! As James would say... "Ha!"

Hillary Clinton, War Goddess

She wants permanent bases in Iraq and threatens war with Iran

by Justin Raimondo

As the war in Iraq metastasizes into what General William E. Odom calls "the greatest strategic disaster in United States history," and the cost in lives and treasure continues to escalate, we are already being set up for Act II of the neocons' Middle East war scenario with the Democrats taking up where the Republicans left off.

The Bush administration, for all its bellicose rhetoric, has shown little stomach for directly confronting Tehran, and this has prompted Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton to take on the Bushies for supposedly ignoring the alleged threat from Iran. Speaking at Princeton University on the occasion of the Wilson School's 75th anniversary celebration, Clinton aligned herself with such Republican hawks as Sen. John McCain and the editorial board of the Weekly Standard, calling for sanctions and implicitly threatening war:

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

Hillary lost me long ago and she is not saying or doing anything to re-gain any small amount of interest I might have had.

capt

Conversation with a US Military Officer

"I worked my way up through the Navy, starting as an enlistee and then becoming an officer. In every job I had, I was dealing with details, making sure I did my job well and that the people under me did their job well. There was no time to look at the big picture. One time, for example, we were off the coast of Ecuador and I had no idea why we were off the coast of Ecuador. When I got to Professor X's class, that was the first chance I had to look at the big picture. We have this thing called U.S. foreign policy. Why do we have it? What do we want from the world? What do we want the rest of the world to do? We went through all kinds of readings, some of them from the Cato Institute. The more I learned, the more skeptical I became. I had joined the Department of Defense, not the Department of Offense. So why was the U.S. government sending us around the world on offense? One Cato policy analyst whose work I liked was Doug Bandow, who pointed out that we're well-defended already because we have oceans on each side and friendly nations on each border.

"Then I started to understand the negative views that so many people around the world had of the U.S. government. I put myself in the position of someone in one of those other countries and realized that if I saw the U.S. government getting nosy and inserting itself in the business of my country, I'd be pretty angry at the U.S. government, too.

"Take Iraq. Why are we building such a massive embassy in Baghdad? What kind of message are we sending? If that's not imperialism, then what is? After all, what are the nation's goals? If the nation's goals are to plant a foothold in the Middle East, then building that big embassy makes sense. But doesn't that make us a bigger target for terrorists? It seems to me that that makes it more dangerous for an American to travel, not less. We would be better served defending ourselves. I love America and I will defend America. If someone is a threat to America, I have no problem removing that threat. But I don't want a U.S. world. I don't want a U.S. government that dominates people around the world. I don't want to force democracy down anyone's throat. I think the idea of not forcing ideas down people's throat is itself very American. I want a robust military. I want the U.S. government to have a highly developed intelligence operation so that we're not sitting ducks. But I don't believe in invading other countries."

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

Unintended consequences of an education.

capt

"I can't think of anything that rhymes with midland"

Take his birthplace - Connecticut

then . . . rhyme with etiquette

It would be too easy if Bunnypants was born in Nantucket! HA!

capt

Midland, dustbin, farmhand, fatherland?

WARNING - Do not read before work!

'Congress' pension: Nice and secure

Amid the coming pension debate, keep in mind the folks doing the talking have a nice one.

Add it all together and the Congressional pension program is about two-to-three times more generous than the average corporate executive pension plan, according to the National Taxpayers Union.

What did they pay in for this benefit? It's a little complicated, of course, because one kind of pension program applies to senators and representatives elected before 1984 and another applies to those elected after. The Congressional Research Service has a nice little explainer here, if you are a glutton for detail punishment. Basically, the politicians chip in 8 percent of their salary split between the pension program (about 1.3-1.8 percent) and Social Security (contrary to various Internet rumors, Congress does pay Social Security taxes.)

These payments cover about one-fifth of the actual cost of their pension, according to the Taxpayers Union.

So Congress folk get a better pension and don't have to pay for all of it. They also have the equivalent of a 401k program (complete with a 5 percent employer match). In some cases Social Security kicks in. And given their medical, dental and travel benefits, plus expenses paid by the office, members of Congress have plenty of opportunity to save for retirement. (And if they get into trouble, as they sometimes do, the pension often isn't up for grabs). At $165,200 a year (after their raise this month), seems like they have some money to do it with too.

Now don't get me wrong. Plenty of senators and representatives work hard. Very hard.

But in the coming months, when you hear various elected officials bemoan the state of pensions and the need for reform keep this in mind:

They got theirs and it isn't going away ... that would take an act of Congress.

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

I say - they need another raise! (not)

capt

Iraq Is Not a Small Central American Country

At UCSC talk, Juan Cole will offer informed comment on our Middle Eastern adventures

By Sarah Phelan

He's a professor of Middle East history at the University of Michigan, but in the age of the Internet, Juan Cole is perhaps equally well-known as the moderator of Informed Comment, a blog where readers can find analyses of the Alito Supreme Court nomination as well as the rulings of Afghanistan's new chief justice, who reportedly favors amputating thieves' hands and stoning adulterers to death.

But on Jan. 19, Cole will emerge from cyberspace and materialize at UCSC to talk about the Iraqi elections and the future of America.

Reached by phone in Michigan, Cole--who is seen as a leading American expert on Iraq, the role of the United States and the Iraqi resistance--took a shot at answering the question that continues to baffle anyone who understands the first thing about the Middle East, namely, is it actually possible that the Bush administration ever believed it could win a war in Iraq?

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I reply on Juan for his insights.

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Juan Cole Examines Jihadist Groups

Back at UCLA for first of two events, professor and Internet blogger brings sociology of religion to bear on militant Islam's recruiting methods, lending support to view that Iraq invasion revived Al Qaeda.

Even at their peak of support, Jihadist groups are fringe elements within societies, Cole said. During the question period, he rejected the notion of a so-called U.S. global war on terror springing from, in political scientist Samuel P. Huntington's phrase, a clash of civilizations. Certainly, he said, Jihadist groups and the very different regimes in Syria and Iran do not add up to an enemy for so sweeping a conflict.

"The whole thing is a mirage," he said. "Basically, I think the Washington power elite lost their bugbear when the Soviet Union fell, and the only way they could convince us to let them tax us to spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on military things and to throw all this money to their cronies and to take away our civil liberties is if there's a powerful external enemy."

Cole charged that the federal government had taken advantage of the attacks of 9/11 to raise the specter of "this lurking, menacing civilization out there that's throwing up these threats to the United States."

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Tell me that above does not have that ring of truth to it?

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Why the West will attack Iran

Why did French President Jacques Chirac last week threaten to use non-conventional - that is, nuclear - weapons against terrorist states? And why did Iran announce that it would shift foreign-exchange reserves out of European banks (although it has since retracted this warning)? The answer lies in the nature of Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Iran needs nuclear weapons, I believe, not to attack Israel, but to support imperial expansion by conventional military means.

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An interesting take on the Iran issue.

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Pols duel over who's more ethical

Democrats accused Republicans on Saturday of using "doublespeak" and abusing their power in order to help special interest groups.

With Republicans burdened by the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in the weekly Democratic radio address that years of controlling both the White House and Congress had corrupted the Republican Party.

"There is a price to pay for this Republican abuse of power and it can be seen in the present state of our union," Reid said. "Special interests and the well-connected have been rewarded by Republicans while everyone else has been left behind."

The scandal theme is likely to play a role in the run-up to the November congressional elections. Abramoff entered guilty pleas in a wide-ranging bribery investigation that has prompted calls by both parties for reform.

The scandal has implicated at least one member of Congress, Republican Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio, and some former aides to Rep. Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican who stepped down as majority leader.

Reid accused Republicans of using "doublespeak" to sell their agenda.

"When they wanted to let energy companies release more pollution into the air, they called it the 'Clear Skies Initiative,"' he said. "When they wanted to let loggers cut down more trees and weaken environmental laws, they called it the 'Healthy Forests Initiative.'

"My favorite Republican doublespeak is when they wanted to give tax breaks to their special interest friends even though it meant adding more than $50 billion to our deficit, they called their effort the 'Deficit Reduction Act,"' he said.

Reid's harsh criticism followed an apology he made this week to Republicans senators for a news release outlining reports of ethical problems, singling out individual senators.

Reid apologized for the tone of the document released by his office, saying it went too far.

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"Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule--and both commonly succeed, and are right... The United States has never developed an aristocracy really disinterested or an intelligentsia really intelligent. Its history is simply a record of vacillations between two gangs of frauds."

Frauds in the truest sense of the word.

capt

It's "Schadenfreude".

Oh hell lets just continue the Bush Dynasty and do what both chimp and wimp will do and this is install another Israeli puppet regime in DC in 2008 with the fatboy in Florida who is itchin to get a shot especially since this Bush will have 2 ex-presidents pulling strings for him.

And then if you look down the line we got plenty more Bushs waiting in the wings not the least being some mixed race white latino sons of Jebbie so that should play out very well in the overall Bush Dynasty scheme to continue their reign espec since we clearly see how liberal Dubya is with allowing millions more latinos cross the borders illegally who have already taken over the blacks as a bigger minority and their numbers increase every minute of the day.

We got Bushes as far as the eye can see and dont think Bush allowing latinos in this nation is not part of the future Bush Dynasty plans to keep a Bush in power at the top espec when all the latinos will be voting for them.

There once was a chimp from Midland
who turned Iraq into a Wasteland...

With the use of DU
What else was he to do?
They attacked our Land!

I know it was bad...

There once was a chimp from Midland
who turned Iraq into a Wasteland...

But the chain-gang was calling
‘cause his crimes were appalling
and Bubba needed a she-man~!

What a contrast between Odom and his toady successor Michael Hayden. The latter sold out the NSA for a star. That is what the careerists at Ft. Meade think too. That's why they went to the NYT.

This, by the way, is not just my opinion. It comes from a VERY high ex-NSA operative.

Custodians of chaos

In this exclusive extract from his forthcoming memoirs, Kurt Vonnegut is horrified by the hypocrisy in contemporary US politics

"Do unto others what you would have them do unto you." A lot of people think Jesus said that, because it is so much the sort of thing Jesus liked to say. But it was actually said by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, five hundred years before there was that greatest and most humane of human beings, named Jesus Christ.

The Chinese also gave us, via Marco Polo, pasta and the formula for gunpowder. The Chinese were so dumb they only used gunpowder for fireworks. And everybody was so dumb back then that nobody in either hemisphere even knew that there was another one.

We've sure come a long way since then. Sometimes I wish we hadn't. I hate H-bombs and the Jerry Springer Show

But back to people like Confucius and Jesus and my son the doctor, Mark, each of whom have said in their own way how we could behave more humanely and maybe make the world a less painful place. One of my favourite humans is Eugene Debs, from Terre Haute in my native state of Indiana.

Get a load of this. Eugene Debs, who died back in 1926, when I was not yet four, ran five times as the Socialist party candidate for president, winning 900,000 votes, almost 6 percent of the popular vote, in 1912, if you can imagine such a ballot. He had this to say while campaigning:

"As long as there is a lower class, I am in it.

"As long as there is a criminal element, I am of it.

"As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free."

Doesn't anything socialistic make you want to throw up? Like great public schools, or health insurance for all?

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Not a good clip, just the first couple of paragraphs!

capt

#432 & 433 flan, very good and factual!

#435 capt, very good!

Cornposters pay careful attention to Hitler Bush's bait and switch tactics! Never trust anything he says!

I think the reason to attack Iran lies within Tehran, really, whatever one might say. Just take a look at the stuff that contains the following clip:

[i]II. Iranian Oil Bourse

The Iranian government has finally developed the ultimate "nuclear" weapon that can swiftly destroy the financial system underpinning the American Empire. That weapon is the Iranian Oil Bourse slated to open in March 2006. It will be based on a euro-oil-trading mechanism that naturally implies payment for oil in Euro. In economic terms, this represents a much greater threat to the hegemony of the dollar than Saddam's, because it will allow anyone willing either to buy or to sell oil for Euro to transact on the exchange, thus circumventing the U.S. dollar altogether. If so, then it is likely that almost everyone will eagerly adopt this euro oil system:

The Europeans will not have to buy and hold dollars in order to secure their payment for oil, but would instead pay with their own currencies. The adoption of the euro for oil transactions will provide the European currency with a reserve status that will benefit the European at the expense of the Americans.
The Chinese and the Japanese will be especially eager to adopt the new exchange, because it will allow them to drastically lower their enormous dollar reserves and diversify with Euros, thus protecting themselves against the depreciation of the dollar. One portion of their dollars they will still want to hold onto; a second portion of their dollar holdings they may decide to dump outright; a third portion of their dollars they will decide to use up for future payments without replenishing those dollar holdings, but building up instead their euro reserves.
The Russians have inherent economic interest in adopting the Euro - the bulk of their trade is with European countries, with oil-exporting countries, with China, and with Japan. Adoption of the Euro will immediately take care of the first two blocs, and will over time facilitate trade with China and Japan. Also, the Russians seemingly detest holding depreciating dollars, for they have recently found a new religion with gold. Russians have also revived their nationalism, and if embracing the Euro will stab the Americans, they will gladly do it and smugly watch the Americans bleed.
The Arab oil-exporting countries will eagerly adopt the Euro as a means of diversifying against rising mountains of depreciating dollars. Just like the Russians, their trade is mostly with European countries, and therefore will prefer the European currency both for its stability and for avoiding currency risk, not to mention their jihad against the Infidel Enemy.
Only the British will find themselves between a rock and a hard place. They have had a strategic partnership with the U.S. forever, but have also had their natural pull from Europe. So far, they have had many reasons to stick with the winner. However, when they see their century-old partner falling, will they firmly stand behind him or will they deliver the coup de grace? Still, we should not forget that currently the two leading oil exchanges are the New York's NYMEX and the London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), even though both of them are effectively owned by the Americans. It seems more likely that the British will have to go down with the sinking ship, for otherwise they will be shooting themselves in the foot by hurting their own London IPE interests. It is here noteworthy that for all the rhetoric about the reasons for the surviving British Pound, the British most likely did not adopt the Euro namely because the Americans must have pressured them not to: otherwise the London IPE would have had to switch to Euros, thus mortally wounding the dollar and their strategic partner.

Whatever the strategic choice, from a purely economic point of view, should the Iranian Oil Bourse gain momentum, it will be eagerly embraced by major economic powers and will precipitate the d