Once again, leaders are not held accountable. You are absolutely right Mr. Corn. Members of Congress are so afraid of the upcoming elections they sweep everything under the carpet in their attempts to appear hard on terror. Dangerous precedents are being set. Everything just slips on by.

The partianship on the Senate Intelligence Committee is one more example of how our government is broken -- non-functioning almost.

bush came to the WH as a "uniter, not a divider" which, of course, was a lie. bush's version of "uniting" is bullying everyone to fall into line -- behind him and his regime, or else.

If the Senate & House Repugs are so worried about November's elections, why do they keep "negotiating" with bush to the point of rolling over?

More stupid, secret stuff to come...the people and the Constitution be damned!

LOL!!! Their "job" is to keep America terrified and uninformed, and they are absolutely brilliant at it.

"Senator Jay Rockefeller...only would say "it's too...sensitive to talk about." But the public needs to hear more from its representatives than that.
==================================================
David, your "public", a very small part of the American population, WANTS, not necessarily `needs', to hear more about this. Intelligence is most useful when it is obtained covertly, lest we `alert' BOTH external enemies AND internal dissenters. Why don't the Extreme Left get this? Oh, well, keep this up, please, until November!

More:

"The existence of the program ain't no secret now. So there is less justification for the can't-say-anything approach... Their job is not to be secret-keepers but to make sure the secret-keepers are engaged in legal and effective conduct--and to convince the rest of us that they are indeed keeping a close eye on the vast clandestine wing of our government."
=================================================
Wait, you well know that the Exteme Left can NOT be convinced by anything other than indisputable FACTS? I sense irresponsible double-speak here! Weren't you holding up Pillar's comments in that CFR post just a day or two ago, something about "judgements are NOT facts"?

US rights groups ask courts to end domestic spying

DETROIT (Reuters) - Civil liberties groups on Thursday asked federal courts to halt the Bush administration's controversial program of domestic eavesdropping, saying it violated the privacy and free speech rights of U.S. citizens.

The requests for court-ordered injunctions filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in Detroit and by the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York were an extension of legal challenges the two groups had filed in January.

Both civil rights groups said their most actions were prompted by indications that Republican senators were working with the White House to draft a law that would allowing eavesdropping on some communications to and from the United States without a warrant.
+++++++++++
Oh, great. Now, we'll see Snotty McClellan, Alberto Gonzales, Pat Roberts, et al. saying, "I won't comment on that while there is legal action...blah blah blah"

Now, they will clam up real tight. More secrets that don't have to be secret...

Sandra Day O'Connor Speaks out and unbelievably says "that it takes a long time to become a dictatorship but better to stop the slide at the beginning than the end."

Gee thanks, that's too little too late, considering the fact that she cast a vote to give us that psycho in 2000.

There is no provision in the Constitution that provides for executive action in diminution to individual rights with disclosure to a Congressional committee. If the wire taps are illegal, those persons who come to know about them, be they members of Congress or otherwise, become accessories after or before the fact to a crime.

Those who make a living at it, projected 210,000 new jobs for Feb.; the number announced today is over 240k! David, Those economists LIED!! And have lied repeatedly! Over the past 6 years, the monthly estimates have been off the mark by an avg. of 82,000 (WSJ, 3/10/06, page C-1)!

In Houston, the (month earlier) estimate of job growth for all of 2005 of 1.8% job growth, has been revised UP to 3.2% (Houston Chronicle, 3/10/06)! The Texas Workforce Commission's `judgement/estimate' were wrong, they flat out LIED!

On the non-partisan issue of Dubai:

I sent a message of apology to the UAE Embassy for the at-times, counter-productiveness of our democracy. It works in the long term, but often looks quite UGLY in the short term.

I hope our leadership, as a united gesture from both parties, will issue some kind of a message to the UAE to express our regrets. This port deal was simply poorly timed!
=================================================
The market is moving along nicely...Here's to hoping it ends the week on an upnote! Dispite much sneerings on the Corn blog, some of you surely have some `skin' in our financial markets? Or, do you just bury your money in the back yards waiting for the Doom & Gloom to gobble all of us up?

Saladin, I read the police state USA article.

is there a link to that? I would read it-

Alan and Jeanne from previous thread:

Some may think that it is "impractical to talk about impeachment" at this point (Bernie Sanders said that), because the Repugs control the House & Senate. However, I like the fact that those Vermont towns voted to impeach bush, even if it is just to send a message and let those who run for office at the national level know what their feelings are -- sort of a "sense of the citizens" movement.

I'd love it if my blue-state, open-minded town did the same thing, knowing full well that it is "impractical" to think that impeachment would actually happen. But, it would send a powerful message if hundreds of cities and towns across the nation acted on the "Impeach bush" movement.

I didn't know this until recently, but bush (and others) could be impeached even after they leave office. Well...that might be a waste of time and energy.

Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction.
~ Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC), The Frog and the Ox

The smaller the mind the greater the conceit.
~ Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC)

When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.
~ Bernard Bailey

Conceit is God's gift to little men.
~ Bruce Barton

For God hates utterly
The bray of bragging tongues.
~ Sophocles (496 BC - 406 BC), Antigone

The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.
~ Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)

Here it is James.

Police State USA - Part One
Big Brother's Most Cool Tool

Capt

"Deceit"

"Cunning has the effect from the credulity of others, rather from the abilities from those who are cunning. It requires no extraordinary talents to lie and decieve."

Capt

Hypocrisy;Letters;Self-Knowledge;Vanity

"To charge those favourable representations which men give of their own minds with guilt of hypocritical falsehood, would show more severity than knowledge. The writer commonly believes himself. Almost every man's thoughts, while they are general, are right; and most hearts are pure while temptation is away. It is easy to awaken generous sentiments in privacy; to despise death when there is no danger; to glow with benevolence when there is nothing to be given. While such ideas are formed they are felt, and self-love does not suspect the gleam of virtue to be the meteor of fancy."

megalomania
One entry found for megalomania.

Main Entry: meg·a·lo·ma·nia
Pronunciation: "me-g&-lO-'mA-nE-&, -ny&
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin
1 : a mania for great or grandiose performance
2 : a delusional mental disorder that is marked by infantile feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur
- meg·a·lo·ma·ni·ac /-'mA-nE-"ak/ adjective or noun
- meg·a·lo·ma·ni·a·cal /-m&-'nI-&-k&l/ also meg·a·lo·man·ic /-'ma-nik/ adjective
- meg·a·lo·ma·ni·a·cal·ly /-m&-'nI-&-k(&-)lE/ adverb

I'm UNhappy with David Corn's Censor for eradicating my "Happy, Really" post of yesterday. It was not profane. - I simply told Happy, Really that I did not care about his opinion or where his kids do or do not go to school in response to Happy's disparaging of quote un-quote "liberal" institutions like Berkeley.

David held W accountable for the dirty tricks his campaign pulled on McCain in S.Carolina. I hold David accountable for his censor's decision to snuff my post.

I appreciate the support I received from cornbloggters here who said they care about my opinion.

I suggest DavidCorn.com post a link on the site with guidelines to identify the nature of posts which will not be permitted to stand so that we can abide by the rule of guidelines, rather than a capricious rule of man.

Who is this poster that calls them self "setting the Capt straight" and why do they conceal their identity?

"People who are arrogant on account of their wealth are about equal to the Laplanders, who measure a man's worth by the number of his reindeer." ~ Frederika Bremer

O'Reilly, he censored your post? I don't see why, I saw nothing offensive about it. Your opinions are certainly valuable and your insight appreciated. I don't remember David scrubbing posts before.

"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity." ~ Frank Leahy

"Egotism is nature's compensation for mediocrity." ~ L. A. Safian

"Egotism is the anesthetic given by a kindly nature to relieve the pain of being a damned fool." ~ Bellamy Brooks

"Courage is always greatest when blended with meekness; intellectual ability is most admired when it sparkles in the setting of modest self-distrust; and never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive any injury." ~ Author Unknown

Sal, My post is gone. So is the post by goob that asked me rhetorically "Do you think anyone cares about your opinion?" Still on the thread are other posts from cornbloggers who said they did in fact care about my opinion.

I don't understand the standard here for acceptable content and tone.

"Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything." ~ Sydney Smith (1771 - 1845)

Has anyone noticed the first 3 letters of congress are CON?

O'Reilly,

I remember reading your post. Was it taken off the thread after the fact? Which thread was it in? Although it's Mr. Corn's blog and he can do what he pleases, I would still frown upon a censored post that wasn't blatantly offensive, especially since I've seen much worse from the trolls.

The best thing we can all probably do as far as Happy is to ignore his blind, moronic proclamations that all is well in Bushworld. (I know; it's hard sometimes!) He'll eventually go away like they all do.

As for "setting Capt straight," well, that's most likely LBH. I can tell from the way he formats his posts and he got into a "quote war" with capt the last time he fouled the forum.

As for this thread's topic, our Congress is made up of cowards. What else is new? Rockefeller should be making a huge stink, but instead he's praising this bullshit sub-committee as a "step forward." Garbage. Currently, as several regulars (including yourself, I believe) have pointed out, Glenn Greenwald is doing the best blogging on the illegal NSA program. As a matter of fact, I'm going over to his place in a moment. Cheers!

"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." ~ Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963)

"A fool cannot be protected from his folly. If you attempt to do so, you will not only arouse his animosity but also you will be attempting to deprive him of whatever benefit he is capable of deriving from experience. Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig." ~ Robert A. Heinlein

O'Reilly, in the 17 months I have been here I have seen comments of all sorts, some extremely rude and obnoxious insults passed out, mega bandwidth posts containing porn links, ridiculous and inflamatory accusations against David and tons of general bickering, but NEVER have I known there to be any censoring until now. If that is true I am very disappointed, the most valuable thing to me about this blog has been it's complete openness, an endangered species nowadays. David, can you shed some light please?

"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." ~ John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

"Sometimes it seems like God is difficult to find and impossibly far away. We get so caught up in our small daily duties and irritations that they become the only things that we can focus on. What we forget is that God's love and beauty are all around us, every day, if only we would take the time to look up and see them." ~ Matthias, Correction Weblog, 11-01-03

"It's not vanity to know your own good points. It would just be stupidity if you didn't; It's only vanity when you get puffed up about them." ~ L. M. Montgomery (1874 - 1942), The Story Girl

A thousand apologies to David Corn and others. My post was NOT snuffed. I thought it was in one thread and it was in another.

thread (link)

I'd like to amend my post where I made the claim but short of that I will post the retraction here.

Again, I am sorry I mistakenly claimed a post of mine was censored when it was NOT.

O'Reilly, no worries :-)

"Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons." ~ unknown, Popular Mechanics, March 1949

The Conservative Epiphany
Like Dawn over Marblehead

Bruce Bartlett, the author of "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy," is an angry man. At a recent book forum at the Cato Institute, he declared that the Bush administration is "unconscionable," "irresponsible," "vindictive" and "inept."

It's no wonder, then, that one commentator wrote of Mr. Bartlett that "if he were a cartoon character, he would probably look like Donald Duck during one of his famous tirades, with steam pouring out of his ears."

Oh, wait. That's not what somebody wrote about Mr. Bartlett. It's what Mr. Bartlett wrote about me in September 2003, when I was saying pretty much what he's saying now.

Human nature being what it is, I don't expect Mr. Bartlett to acknowledge his about-face. Nor do I expect any expressions of remorse from Andrew Sullivan, the conservative Time.com blogger who also spoke at the Cato forum. Mr. Sullivan used to specialize in denouncing the patriotism and character of anyone who dared to criticize President Bush, whom he lionized. Now he himself has become a critic, not just of Mr. Bush's policies, but of his personal qualities, too.

Never mind; better late than never. We should welcome the recent epiphanies by conservative commentators who have finally realized that the Bush administration isn't trustworthy. But we should guard against a conventional wisdom that seems to be taking hold in some quarters, which says there's something praiseworthy about having initially been taken in by Mr. Bush's deceptions, even though the administration's mendacity was obvious from the beginning.

According to this view, if you're a former Bush supporter who now says, as Mr. Bartlett did at the Cato event, that "the administration lies about budget numbers," you're a brave truth-teller. But if you've been saying that since the early days of the Bush administration, you were unpleasantly shrill.

Similarly, if you're a former worshipful admirer of George W. Bush who now says, as Mr. Sullivan did at Cato, that "the people in this administration have no principles," you're taking a courageous stand. If you said the same thing back when Mr. Bush had an 80 percent approval rating, you were blinded by Bush-hatred.

And if you're a former hawk who now concedes that the administration exaggerated the threat from Iraq, you're to be applauded for your open-mindedness. But if you warned three years ago that the administration was hyping the case for war, you were a conspiracy theorist.

The truth is that everything the new wave of Bush critics has to say was obvious long ago to any commentator who was willing to look at the facts.

more (subscription) link

The Conservative Epiphany
Like Dawn over Marblehead

Bruce Bartlett, the author of "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy," is an angry man. At a recent book forum at the Cato Institute, he declared that the Bush administration is "unconscionable," "irresponsible," "vindictive" and "inept."

It's no wonder, then, that one commentator wrote of Mr. Bartlett that "if he were a cartoon character, he would probably look like Donald Duck during one of his famous tirades, with steam pouring out of his ears."

Oh, wait. That's not what somebody wrote about Mr. Bartlett. It's what Mr. Bartlett wrote about me in September 2003, when I was saying pretty much what he's saying now.

Human nature being what it is, I don't expect Mr. Bartlett to acknowledge his about-face. Nor do I expect any expressions of remorse from Andrew Sullivan, the conservative Time.com blogger who also spoke at the Cato forum. Mr. Sullivan used to specialize in denouncing the patriotism and character of anyone who dared to criticize President Bush, whom he lionized. Now he himself has become a critic, not just of Mr. Bush's policies, but of his personal qualities, too.

Never mind; better late than never. We should welcome the recent epiphanies by conservative commentators who have finally realized that the Bush administration isn't trustworthy. But we should guard against a conventional wisdom that seems to be taking hold in some quarters, which says there's something praiseworthy about having initially been taken in by Mr. Bush's deceptions, even though the administration's mendacity was obvious from the beginning.

According to this view, if you're a former Bush supporter who now says, as Mr. Bartlett did at the Cato event, that "the administration lies about budget numbers," you're a brave truth-teller. But if you've been saying that since the early days of the Bush administration, you were unpleasantly shrill.

Similarly, if you're a former worshipful admirer of George W. Bush who now says, as Mr. Sullivan did at Cato, that "the people in this administration have no principles," you're taking a courageous stand. If you said the same thing back when Mr. Bush had an 80 percent approval rating, you were blinded by Bush-hatred.

And if you're a former hawk who now concedes that the administration exaggerated the threat from Iraq, you're to be applauded for your open-mindedness. But if you warned three years ago that the administration was hyping the case for war, you were a conspiracy theorist.

The truth is that everything the new wave of Bush critics has to say was obvious long ago to any commentator who was willing to look at the facts.

more (subscription) link

Can Good Catholics vote Republican?
By Glenn Greenwald

Bush opponents spend a great deal of time analyzing all sorts of political issues when trying to determine how best to campaign for the 2006 Congressional elections. We hear that Republicans are in serious trouble because of issues such as Iraq, the port controversy, corruption problems, Katrina ineptitude, and a general dissatisfaction with the direction of the country.

All of that may be true, but issues like that are only one level on which these elections are fought and decided. Karl Rove has specialized in winning elections by waging battle on an entirely different level that has little to do with substantive issues and everything to do with cultural symbols and religious divisions -- a level which Democrats want to ignore and seem to be afraid of engaging. But those who want to end the one-party rule under which our country is suffocating have no choice but to engage those levels, and there is no reason at all why they should fear doing so.

One of the most reprehensible (and effective) electoral tactics which the GOP used to defeat John Kerry in 2004 -- and, unquestionably, it is a tactic which Republicans are gearing up to exploit even more aggressively for 2006 -- is the increasingly overt claim that adherence to Catholicism compels a vote for Republicans (and precludes voting for Democrats). It is difficult to overstate the potency and efficacy of that tactic. From Reason Magazine:

Hence, the Republican Party's "Catholic Strategy." Bush strategist Karl Rove identified the Catholic vote as central to his long-term plan to convert swathes of traditional Democratic voters, thereby transforming the Republicans into the majority party. Throughout the 2004 campaign, Rove maintained that, if Bush won the Catholic vote, he would be reelected. Rove was right.

more (link)

Ok no wonder the last post was so quiet, had Corky and I talking to each other, I better go get him.

Deja Vu, how to blow a whale......up, hasn't this been tried already? Holy flying blubber Batman! Those Scottsmen are going to try it too!. Better bring the umbrella, Angus.EEEEWWWW!

Here is the non-happy reality of economics USA style. Don't like it? Take it up with the FED. who is responsible for roughly 8% inflation. But in happyland, there is no such thing as inflation!
-------------
Mogambo Guru

...inflation in the stock market has not even been enough to offset the fall in the value of the dollar. "In other words, "on a purchasing power basis, today's Dow is at 79.74% of its purchasing power compared with the 1/14/2000 peak week."

inflation will kill your purchasing power! And inflation is the only way that everybody can put ten bucks into a tin can labeled "stock market" and everybody can come back later and take out twenty bucks! So do you STILL think that your precious 401(k) is going to help you retire? Hahaha! You will find, to your dismay, that you have "invested" a dollar's worth of buying power today to get back seventy cents worth of buying power when you retire, and probably less! Where the hell is the value in THAT? Hahaha! Put money into common stocks over the long term? Hahaha! What do I look like? An idiot?

The Federal Reserve admitted in a press release that "Average incomes after adjusting for inflation actually fell from 2001 to 2004, and the growth in net worth was the weakest in a decade."

"Average family incomes," the report said "after adjusting for inflation, fell to $70,700 in 2004, a drop of 2.3 percent when compared with 2001. That was the weakest showing since a decline of 11.3 percent from 1989 to 1992, a period that also covered a recession."

The Fed admitted that "The gap between the very wealthy and other income groups widened during the period. The top 10 percent of households saw their net worth rise by 6.1 percent to an average of $3.11 million while the bottom 10 percent suffered a decline from a net worth in which their assets equaled their liabilities in 2001 to owing $1,400 more than their total assets in 2004." I am shocked! In short, poor people, who used to have nothing, now have less than nothing? They now have a negative net worth? Yow!
------------

Statement of Robert A. Levy, Ph.D., J.D. Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies Cato Institute Washington, D.C. submitted to Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Wartime Executive Power and the NSA's Surveillance Authority II................................................To be sure, the FISA statute was drafted to deal with peacetime intelligence. But that does not mean the statute can be ignored when applied to the post-9/11 war on terror. First, the FISA text makes no distinction between wartime and peacetime. To conduct surveillance without statutory authorization, in wartime or peacetime, is a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison.22 Second, in passing FISA, Congress expressly contemplated warrantless surveillance during wartime, but limited it to the first 15 days after war is declared. The statute reads: "Notwithstanding any other law, the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this title to acquire foreign intelligence information for a period not to exceed fifteen calendar days following a declaration of war by the Congress."23 Third, FISA warrant requirements and electronic surveillance provisions were amended by the USA PATRIOT Act,24 which was passed in response to 9/11 and signed by President Bush. If 9/11 triggered "wartime," as the administration has repeatedly and convincingly argued, then the amended FISA is clearly a wartime statute..........................Very clear anaylsis of the illegality of King Georges snooping. Now the question remains, this administration is STILL THERE? read the rest here

the first meeting of the new panel set up by the Senate intelligence committee to oversee the warrantless wiretapping ordered by Bush was a disappointment.

was it? wow, so was the 911 commission and the phase II commission and the plame investigation and the abramoff investigation and is there even a katrina committee at all?
never fear! there will no doubt be another committee/commission/investigation into something or other that we can look forward to being disappointed in again!

click my name.

We owe and owe so off to work we go, The meaningless working poor. Useless Eaters I think was the words used to describe us non-mega rich folks. Gee makes me wonder about our classroom monitor, Happy. Would he define us as such. I think David could have done better hiring an actual human being to be our monitor instead of a wannabe billionaire.

Ok you read the Cato story about the snooping done "for our protection" now read the documents released by the Justice Dept. I must warn any viewers to have BOOTS and an BARF BAG handy. The real deal here.

DEN, what is it about the forth amendment that they don't understand??

I never thought of rummy as a souvenir kinda guy but every now and then I'm wrong, a bit of the plane? that hit the Pentagon.

Sal, oh wow there is life here besides me! disregard the e-mail then.

Sal, reading the JD memos I have to wonder if these yoyos ever graduated High School or they were just High!

"Any man who is under 30, and is not liberal, has no heart; and any man over 30, who is not conservative, has no brains."

Winston Churchill

Hey Jeanne! I wonder if Red Green knows about this.

Oh yea, thats what we need another friggin CRITIC!

Envy of Happy

"Mediocrity doesn't mean average intelligence, it means an average intelligence that resents and envies it's betters."

Ayn Rand

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd."

Bertrand Russell

55, that sounds just like a country I know of, one in which the citizens have an irrational fear of harmless people on the other side of the planet and so become convinced that those people must be eliminated.

Happy to see happy has a happy sense of humor. Just how happy are you happy. Does posting trivial crap on this blog make you happy?

"Keep your faers to yourself, but share your inspirations with others."

Robert Louis Stevenson

"The hens they all cackle, the roosters all beg,
But I will not hatch, I will not hatch.
For I hear all the talk of pollution and war
As the people all shout and the airplane roar,
So I'm staying in here where it's safe and it's warm, And I will not hatch."

Shel Silverstein

Setting happy straight: ahppy, hhpya, hypap, paphy. don't look now but your happyhummer is on fire.

Message to God: Please smite these intolerable cornuts they won't stop and it's making me un-Happy.

"Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool,than to speak and remove all doubt."

Abraham Lincoln

"A word to the wise (Happy) ain't necessary, it's the stupid ones (Cornnuts) who need the advice."

Bill Cosby

Happy is rich,Happy has money, to bad Happy is'nt funny.

He that criticizes others, must be willing to be criticized himself. Robert Smith

I thought that jerk Mr. Foulmouth Bill Cosby had better grammar than that.

*what we've all been waiting for... another online poll from AOL inside this article.

Poll Numbers on Bush Hit New Low
Nearly 70 Percent Say Country Headed in Wrong Direction

WASHINGTON (March 10) - More and more Americans, particularly Republicans, disapprove of President George W. Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.

Nearly four out of five Americans, including 70 percent of Republicans, believe civil war will break out in Iraq - the bloody hot spot upon which Bush has staked his presidency. Nearly 70 percent of people say the U.S. is on the wrong track, a 6-point jump since February.
===============================
haha Happy is one of them 1/3'rs.

How do you rate President Bush on domestic affairs?
Poor 87%
Good 7%
Fair 6%
Total Votes: 32,928

How do rate him on overall foreign policy and terrorism?
Poor 85%
Good 9%
Fair 7%
Total Votes: 33,026

How do you rate him on Iraq?
Poor 90%
Good 6%
Fair 4%
Total Votes: 21,147

How do you rate President Bush's overall performance?
Poor 88%
Good 6%
Fair 6%
Total Votes: 21,504

How do you rate his overall personality and leadership?
Poor 85%
Fair 8%
Good 7%
Total Votes: 20,349

Would you vote for him in 2008 if you could?
No 93%
Yes 7%
Total Votes: 20,632
==========
scratch that 1/3 remark, and correct it to... Happy is one of the 7%'rs. hahaha And he thinks anybody here gives a fk what he thinks.

"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five."

Groucho Marx

"It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense."

Robert green Ingersoll

David:

My apologies for gettting under the skins of your Lefty Groupies. Today, I seemed to have made some unscheduled appearances and was also referenced a few times; especially by somebody who likes to shoot (you) first! I completely understand & forgive them and I think you do as well.

I also noticed that a `setter' has joined in to share this burden of supporting this blog with some `sense and sensibilities'. My thanks to the Setter!

I hope you have a good weekend as we begin Spring Break; temp. in the 80s', imagine that:-)

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

John Wooden

"No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."

Helen Keller

Alan, nobody likes him, everybody hates him, and through it all he remains clueless: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Down in public opinion polls, President George W. Bush said on Friday he realizes he has made some unpopular decisions but that it "comes with the territory" and he will stand by his beliefs. "I know some would like me to change, but you can't be a good decision-maker if you're trying to please people. You've got to stand on what you believe, that's what you've got to do, if you're going to make decisions that are solid and sound," he said.----- More sillyness HERE

"Not to be born is best, but having seen the light, the next best is to go whence one came as soon as may be."

Sophocles

"No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."

*or republican either, cause they wanna go backward

You left out that part.

from People For the American Way...

I want to take a moment to thank you for joining with People For the American Way to address our nation's current constitutional crisis.

Since we launched our campaign, you've sent more than 85,000 petition messages calling for a Special Prosecutor to investigate President Bush's NSA domestic spying program. In the past two days, you've sent 35,000 messages telling Congress that they must not rubber stamp White House lawbreaking. And more than 15,000 of you have taken advantage of FOIArequest.org to file Freedom of Information Act requests in an effort to find out if you've been a target of government surveillance.

Of the four pillars upon which our campaign to restore the Constitution is based -- accountability, transparency, oversight, and public vigilance -- the last of these is critically important. You are playing a crucial role in shedding light on government wrongdoing and letting lawmakers know that you're counting on them to perform their oversight obligations.

Your energy is driving our campaign.

Sincerely,
Ralph G. Neas
President

"Abraham Lincoln did not go to Gettysburg having commissioned a poll to find out what would sell in Gettysburg. There were no people with percentages for him, cautioning him about this group or that group or what they found in exit polls a year ealier. When will we have the courage of Lincoln?"

Robert Coles

#69 Does sucking up to your boss make you a better man? or does it just make you feel better? You should seek psychiatric help for your narcissistic personality disorder. I'd be willing to help at a reduced rate, naw I take that back you're not poor enough to qualify.

petitions at PFAW...

call for a special prosecutor

Congress must not rubber stamp lawbreaking

make a FOIA request

"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be."

Thomas A Kempis

My mother used to say, "He who angers you, conquers you!" But my mother was a saint.

Elizabeth Kenny

Is Gale Norton resigning from Interior because of her connections to Abramoff or because she hasn't helped the cheney/bush OILIONNAIRES enough on opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling? Or both?

*worf another look --- that movie trailer again

Why We Fight

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Stop with the gd quotes already! I had enough.

"I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird."

Paul McCartney

Happy, Im not angry with you, quite possible that you are projecting, it all part of your illness. Please seek help.

Oh I like the Do-Do principle, Do as I say not as I Do. Sen. Frist has no shortage of either, plenty of Do-Do to go around! On the Turning Away(Pink Floyd)

More Texas voting machine goofups, and it wasn't Diebolds this time, Wonder if Tommy boy Delay got the primary this way?

Holy cow! it happened in Florida too, so much for HIGH technology.

With the current record of electronic voting machines and their propensity for errors, I vote we bring pencils and paper back. It worked for many years. Some times the proven methods are best.

More on that Do-Do principle. Do you remember the teacher in CO being chastized for speaking the truth to his students? Well the story isnt over yet, something about another teacher using duct tape to paste one of his students to a chair at the same school. The Red Green approach to teaching is apparently OK but real teaching is not? Bizzaro indeed!

carol 83 -
Stop with the gd quotes already! I had enough.

can I quote you on that?

"I am smarter than anyone who posts here and I find much better quotes than anyone who posts here and my opinion is the most correct opinion here and anyone who disagrees is stupid or at least ignorant and I am happier than anyone here and more successful in terms of my income and the furnishings of my home and the attractiveness of my wife and the intelligence and genetic make-up of my successful and intelligent children.

From the vantage point of me, a superior human, I smite the rest of you for your inferiority in all things

- O'Reilly

Carol,

I apologize for ever posting anything resembling a quote. Never meant to train the troll how to do so.

It is the closest thing to a troll posting something meaningful but alas the troll can misapply even the simple rules of good words, good taste and decorum.

I have always found meaning in the words and phrases, the troll only sees a game. *sigh*

All apologies.

capt

"If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?"

Sydney J Harris

O'Reilly: Blowing Iran "off the face of the earth ... would be the sane thing to do"

On the March 8 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly stated: "You know, in a sane world, every country would unite against Iran and blow it off the face of the earth. That would be the sane thing to do." O'Reilly made the remark during a discussion of Iran's recent threat to cause "harm and pain" to the U.S. if it pursues sanctions against Iran in the U.N. Security Council because of Iran's developing nuclear program.

As Media Matters for America has documented, O'Reilly recently declared that "it's just a matter of time ... before we have to bomb" Iran.
----------
WRH comment:
But President Ahmadinejad is bad for saying the exact same thing about Israel.
--------------
You know, there are some seriously disturbed people in this country. I hope everyone is investing in canned goods, silver and bullets, in that order!

Apparently Texas has a different approach to poverty. Called the meanest city in America, Dallas goes out of its way to discourage poor folks from receiving charity handouts. By eliminating the charity handouts

"Believe you are defeated, believe it long enough, and it is likely to become fact."

Norman Vincent Peale

"Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it."

Josephus Daniels

PRESIDENT OF IRAN IS A ‘TOTAL WHACK JOB,’ SAYS KIM JONG-IL

Recent Comments Make Iranian Seem Like Madman, Madman Says Reacting to recent threats by Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad to inflict "harm and pain" on the U.S. in retaliation for clamping down on its nuclear program, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il today called Mr. Amadinejad "a total whack job."

Kim’s comment about President Amadinejad surprised many in the international community, since it is highly unusual for one member of the Axis of Evil to criticize another in public.

But according to the North Korean dictator, "When Mahmoud shoots his mouth off like that he makes us all look like a bunch of nuts."

"It’s the Axis of Evil," Kim added, "not the Axis of Lunatics."

Hours after Kim made his remarks, however, Osama bin Laden appeared in a new videotape to pooh-pooh any speculation about a rift between the North Korean madman and the Iranian madman.

Mr. bin Laden, who replaced Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the Axis of Evil when he was toppled in 2003, said that trash-talking between Kim and Mr. Amadinejad was "nothing out of the ordinary" for the two evildoers.

"That’s how they roll," Mr. bin Laden said, adding that Axis of Evil meetings often descend into insults and "yo mama" jokes.

While the al Qaeda terror mastermind said that his two colleagues were often exasperating, he said he has no plans to leave the Axis of Evil: "Someone around here has to be the voice of reason."

Elsewhere, Vice President Dick Cheney made his case for warrantless wiretaps today, telling reporters, "Everything else we’ve done for the past five years has been completely unwarranted."

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

"Axis of evil" or "Ask us of evil" - they sound the same to me. HA!

capt

Dont be too hard on Happy, he has issues he needs to deal with. He's really NOT that happy, more lonely. I think David hired him because he felt sorry for little guy. Nuff sed. nite all!

I have a perfect quote for that!

But I digress.

(now if anyone can train the troll in the art of moderation, wit, humor, or class - I know - baby steps)

capt

G'nite DEN.

"Setting whomever straight" Why do you hide behind an alias?

For the project, IBM will collaborate with key sub-contractor, Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company specializing in election management and e-government solutions."With this solution, Texas will lead the country as the state with the most advanced, secure and accurate system for maintaining the highest level of voter integrity," said Roger Williams, Texas' 105th Secretary of State. "We selected IBM for its global leadership in system integration, application development and e-government solutions, and sub-contractor Hart InterCivic for its in-depth elections management expertise.

I'm pretty certain that Harris County (Tom DeLay's stomping grounds) uses the Hart InterCivic voting system. Hart InterCivic was "awarded" a huge voter outreach/voter edducation contract (brazilion dollars!) in Harris County which was promoted as Harris Votes! The Houston office of Hill & Knowlton Public Relations (one of the busheviks' favorite PR firms for their propaganda projects) worked with Hart InterCivic on the project.

There's a saying in Texas, "Vote Early and Vote Often"

oops...my #103 was in response to #87

"I have a fine sense of the ridiculous, but no sense of humor."

Edward Albee

"Wit is the lowest form of humor."

Alexander Pope

"Good taste and humour... are a contradiction in terms, like a chaste whore."

Malcolm Muggeridge

Over the course of a week, I enjoy this site. There is wit, there is dependability; there are LINKS and there are quotes; we have thinkers and we have our trolls. It does not seem possible to be a bush supporter and not be a troll. For oversight to mean cover-up and follow-the-leader to be patriotism is not a defensable(spell) position.HA(as in James)!
I am afraid of posting because it seems that there is a list of anti-Bush Americans.I wish the NSA was keeping track of Bush supporters because our American heritage, our inherent morality,our world standing, and our founders' constitution is under attack by the very people who are watching us. Our only chance is if we can overwhelm them with numbers and restore our constitutional form of America. By the way, The Congress is responsable for oversight!!!!

responsible

All of the bluster and "straightening out" of others is an expression of insecurity. The troll wants acceptance but has never learned how to achieve that end. He makes himself a social pariah to compensate for his lack of social skills and to avoid rejection.

The effort to define himself as our better is a defensive response in anticipation of the abject failure due to a complete lack of social interacrive skills. In other words: he knows he is not going to be embraced by anybody so he sabotages his potential interaction by creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that feeds the fake and exaggerated over-inflated ego.

He was the kid that everybody beat up on in grade school. He is still that same annoying little kid. Emotional destruction is always self-imposed and it is clear he is still punishing himself for past failures. He does not trust himself to love so he hates. How very sad.

Somewhere, beneath all of the "better, smarter, etc." bullshit is a very scared little boy that desperately needs recognition. He convinced himself long ago that nobody will ever really like him, let alone love him so he jumps past the risk of trying to be liked and makes sure nobody likes him. That is a safety mechanism from rejection just like the grandiose uber-ego shields the real ego from the realization that he is no better or no worse just lacking any self acceptance.

Somewhere deep inside all of the insults and belittling is a child that badly needs some acceptance and tolerance, two things he does not think he is entitled to. Obviously he thinks we are his better or he would not try to define himself in the terms he uses. There is obviously a fascination with the issues we speak to and by reading what we post he exposes a deeply denied respect for what we post and opine.

We need to start complimenting him on his best efforts. Congratulate him on his evolution as a person, humor his concerted efforts to be hated because he is just confused.

Let us embrace his mendacity, tolerate his inanity, and accept his insults as a message of love. Somewhere behind the lines and meaningless diatribe is someone who wants to be one of us. He always comes back that is a telling compliment indeed.

Then again what do I know? HA! I think I made a monster by using quotations. *sigh*

capt

Little Green Molecules (pdf)

Chemists have invented a new class of catalysts that can destroy some of the worst pollutants before they get into the environment

The fish that live in the Anacostia River, which flows through the heart of Washington, D.C., are not enjoying its waters very much. The Anacostia is contaminated with the molecular remnants of dyes, plastics, asphalt and pesticides. Recent tests have shown that up to 68 percent of the river's brown bullhead catfish suffer from liver cancer. Wildlife officials recommend that anyone who catches the river's fish toss them back uneaten, and swimming has been banned.

The Anacostia is just one of dozens of severely polluted rivers in the U.S. The textile industry alone discharges 53 billion gallons of wastewater--loaded with reactive dyes and other hazardous chemicals--into America's rivers and streams every year. New classes of pollutants are turning up in the nation's drinking water: traces of drugs, pesticides, cosmetics and even birth-control hormones. The amounts are often infinitesimal, measured in parts per billion or trillion (a part per billion is roughly equivalent to one grain of salt dissolved in a swimming pool), but scientists suspect that even tiny quantities of some pollutants can disrupt the developmental biochemistry that determines human behavior, intelligence, immunity and reproduction.

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

Some very interesting stuff. Times they are a changing.

capt

Lying David Corn wrote:
The point of congressional oversight of national security matters is to assure the citizens of the republic that the government, when it engages in classified action, is not violating the law or the Constitution and not doing anything really stupid.

You mean like attacking its own citizens on 9/11, David, you lying scumbag?

You're as bad as Nancy Lying Pelosi, who praises the current regime with faint damns (as in "one of the worst adminstrations ever").



Besides Lying David Corn and Lying Nancy Pelosi and Lying Harry Reid and Lying Corporate Media, HERE'S WHY ELSE THE TRUTH ABOUT 9/11 HASN'T MOVED:

911TRUTH WEB OF DISINFORMATION

#52
Den,
Yaaa....you betcha.

#93
Capt,
The Bush administration learned early on that troll types are easily trained. It's pretty much all that trolls are good at...except making money of course. *cough*

#114
It's refers to the post 93. It is imitating. I have yet to see a troll who uses creative thought.

Ok, this is about as low as pond scum.

Fancy Ford: GOP slams candidate seeking Senate leader's seat

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has launched an unusual assault against the Democratic candidate seeking to succeed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) in the Senate. Frist has signaled he will retire after this session and is expected to run for president.

The Republicans' website, FancyFord.com, paints Ford as a playboy. "Congressman Harold Ford Jr. likes to live the good life... perhaps a little too much. Lavish hotel stays. Fine dining. Couture suits. Parties with Playboy Playmates... all on his campaign contributor's dime."

....Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, blasted the ad.

"It's hardly surprising that a week after Congressman Ford challenged the White House on its plan to turn our ports over to a country linked to Al Qaeda that the Republicans are resorting to character assassination," Singer said. "They’≤e doing the same thing to Republican Peter King who challenged the White House on the ports deal and suddenly found himself kicked off the plane that was going to take him on a Congressional delegation trip to Iraq."
------------------------
Republicans, the party of the intentionally mean.

Friday Night Surprise: White House Aide Caught In Shoplifting Scheme

When Claude Allen, the former Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, resigned suddenly a few weeks ago, the White House gave its official explanation for the departure:

President Bush’s domestic policy advisor, Claude A. Allen, has resigned to spend more time with his family, the White House said.

Many were skeptical of the White House’s explanation. It turns out the suspicions were justified: Allen was arrested yesterday and charged in a "retail theft scheme." From the police report:

More HERE

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

Lobbying scams, bribes, theft of public funds, lying, exposing covert CIA agents, lying to sitting grand juries - now THIS? I am shocked, I am appalled, I am not surprised as all criminal enterprise is practiced by crimes at every level. Big or little, large or small, these slugs are not able to do anything legal.

capt

"Republicans, the party of the intentionally mean. "

The party that all abused children eventually join.

Poor kids.

capt

Friday Night Surprise: White House Aide Caught In Shoplifting Scheme

When Claude Allen, the former Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, resigned suddenly a few weeks ago, the White House gave its official explanation for the departure:

President Bush's domestic policy advisor, Claude A. Allen, has resigned to spend more time with his family, the White House said.

Many were skeptical of the White House’≥ explanation. It turns out the suspicions were justified: Allen was arrested yesterday and charged in a "retail theft scheme."

...Allen had been receiving refunds in an amount exceeding $5,000 during last year.

...UPDATE: Allen had the highest salary of any employee in the White House, tied with Karl Rove, Andrew Card, and Stephen Hadley, among others. He was earning $161,000 a year.

UPDATE II: Atrios debunks one early right-wing talking point that Allen was some unknown staffer. In fact, he was the top domestic policy adviser and a former Bush Federal Circuit Court nominee. The Washington Post labeled him the embodiment of "conservative values."
----------------
Another great choice for the Bush administration. The expression 'high standards' has no meaning in this administration. No wait, I take that back. If you have high standards you're out.

You did it again Capt. I have to learn to type faster.

Capt,
I always think of the island of fun that Pinocchio goes to. The Bush administration and the Republican party are the grown up version of that story. The funny thing is, in the story they turn into donkeys.

Pentagon's Blank Check May Be Withdrawn

Congressional Unease Mounts
Amid Off-Budget War Spending
And Ballooning Deficits

WASHINGTON -- For nearly five years, defense spending has been on the rise, with little protest in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks and amid the war on terrorism. Now, signs suggest the Pentagon's days of open checkbooks are numbered.

Deficit pressures, scandals involving defense contracts, congressional unease with administration bookkeeping for war costs, and the increased unpopularity of the president and his antiterrorism policies are combining to end defense spending's status as the budget's sacred cow. Expenses for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan will remain favored. But the rest of a defense budget now exceeding a half-trillion dollars a year is in for a squeeze.

"We are at a critical juncture," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg told Pentagon officials at a hearing last week. "Just as we strongly support the war on terrorism, we must also recognize that there is no such thing as an unlimited budget. Difficult choices must be made."

More HERE

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

We spend too much on military stuff that is not necessary, not for the moment. If I were in charge I would shut down all of the expensive research and development and put those guys to work on vests, armor and anti-IED technology.

But what do I know? HA!

capt

Love the same-same posting, like minds and all that!

Love the mixed metaphor!

Of course, I would add, they wish they were able to turn into a donkey. That would be a huge improvement from garden slug. Not to mention the honesty and majesty of the equine class.

capt

#123
I was thinking democrats. (donkey) He He He.

Enough of the D.C. Dems

Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party. I don’t know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating, straddling, hair-splitting son of a bitch up there, and that includes Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I will not be supporting Senator Clinton because: a) she has no clear stand on the war and b) Terri Schiavo and flag-burning are not issues where you reach out to the other side and try to split the difference. You want to talk about lowering abortion rates through cooperation on sex education and contraception, fine, but don’t jack with stuff that is pure rightwing firewater.

I can’t see a damn soul in D.C. except Russ Feingold who is even worth considering for President. The rest of them seem to me so poisonously in hock to this system of legalized bribery they can’t even see straight.

More HERE

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

Chapter and verse!

capt

They can't even win a war of words

Democrats are mired in smallness. How hard can it be to craft a message of passion?

'TOGETHER, America can do better." When you hear that, do you feel inspired?

I didn't think so.

The Democratic Party's current slogan seems to be leaving most people cold. It apparently went down well in focus groups, but that's only because the focus groups probably consisted of the recently embalmed and the alternative slogan was "Together, America can achieve mediocrity."

Watching the Democrats stumbling around in search of a "message" is the only thing more agonizing than watching the Republicans destroy this country. Five years of Republican-controlled government have brought us an unwinnable war, a global reputation in tatters, incomprehensibly irresponsible fiscal policies, shameful neglect of our neediest citizens and a government incapable of coping with either natural disaster or terrorist threats.

Yet somehow the Democratic Party still can't do any better than "America can do better."

"You can do better" is what you say to a dim child whose grades were even worse than expected. Is this really the Democrats' message to the nation: that we don't need to be quite as pathetic as we now are, though excellence is certainly beyond our reach?

More HERE

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

Another good piece speaking to the soft under-belly of the DNC and the legions of DINO’s and lapdog sycophants too spinless or weak to stand up for us.

capt

When Democracy Looks Like Civil War

Recent studies offer a damning assesment of the Bush administration's policies in Iraq. Thanks to US political and military failures, the country could soon become failed state. Experts warn that it's time to implement an emergency plan before civil war breaks out

The verdicts reached by the experts are harsh: "The political system that the United States has helped set up in Iraq ... is a house of cards," writes failed-states expert Marina Ottaway in her recent study "Back from the Brink: A Strategy for Iraq." "Time is running out," warns Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution in a February Atlantic Monthly article. "A six- to 12-month window of opportunity may be all that remains before the spiral toward possible chaos and civil war is beyond control."

More HERE

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

Watch, the MSM will not call it a civil war until after the mid-term election has been stolen. Then they will report about how Iraq has turned into a civil war "almost overnight".

capt

OH MY OHIO: Third Election Official Indicted on Charges of Gaming 2004 Presidential Recount!

All Three Still Allowed to Work at Cuyahoga County Board Even While Under Indictment...
In case you don't know, the ballots from the 2004 Presidential Election in Ohio have never actually been counted. Or even recounted.

The "official" recount, called for by the Green and Libertarian Parties in the state, was gamed and carried out completely against state law by Ohio's Sec. of State (and Bush/Cheney's Re-Election Committee Co-Chair) J. Kenneth Blackwell.

The Green and Libertarian Parties are still challenging that recount in Federal Court. As well, two Cuyahoga County Election Officials were indicted last August for gaming that (non)recount.

And today, AP informs us, a third one has just been nabbed as well...

CLEVELAND (AP) — The third highest ranking employee at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has been indicted on charges of mishandling ballots during the 2004 presidential election recount.

Jacqueline Maiden is the third board worker charged with six counts alleging that Ohio laws were not followed in the selection and review of ballots for the recount.
...
Maiden, now the board's elections coordinator, was the director of the elections division during the recount in December 2004.

Two other board workers, Rosie Grier and Kathleen Dreamer, were indicted in August and scheduled for trial May 8. Dreamer was the manager of the board's ballot department and Grier was an assistant manager.

Amazingly enough -- or perhaps not, since this is Ohio, after all, where the rule of law no longer actually applies -- the story also reports that "All three [indicted] employees continue to work at the board."

"We're in the process of converting to the electronic voting, and we need our best people," board chairman Bob Bennett said. "We've moved them from any responsibility of recount or responsibility of ballots."

Sure you have, Bob. We all feel much better. We guess by "best people" he means the ones who are most indicted.

(Perhaps he should consider hiring the affable Jack Abramoff to answer the phones for them during this busy season?!)
--------------------
Abramoff is looking for a floor sweeping job. Oh and you know, as Jack points out, prison is no place for these people. Maybe they could work for the state of Ohio picking up litter in the ditches for ten years.

Sandia's Z Machine Exceeds Two Billion Degrees Kelvin; Temperatures Hotter Than The Interiors Of Stars

Sandia's Z machine has produced plasmas that exceed temperatures of 2 billion degrees Kelvin -- hotter than the interiors of stars.

The unexpectedly hot output, if its cause were understood and harnessed, could eventually mean that smaller, less costly nuclear fusion plants would produce the same amount of energy as larger plants.

The phenomena also may explain how astrophysical entities like solar flares maintain their extreme temperatures.

The very high radiation output also creates new experimental environments to help validate computer codes responsible for maintaining a reliable nuclear weapons stockpile safely and securely -- the principle mission of the Z facility.

"At first, we were disbelieving," says Sandia project lead Chris Deeney. "We repeated the experiment many times to make sure we had a true result and not an 'Ooops'!"

More HERE

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

From all I read in science publications we are in a scientific renaissance.

capt

Bubbles Get Hotter than the Sun

Just as blowing up a bubble leads to a pop, so can shrinking it. Rapidly collapsing bubbles have long been known to reach astonishing temperatures.

Now scientists have measured just how hot. And they're surprised.

"When bubbles in a liquid get compressed, the insides get hot –†very hot," said Ken Suslick of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "The temperature we measured –†about 20,000 degrees Kelvin [35,540 Fahrenheit] –†is four times hotter than the surface of our Sun."

The bubbles are driven to form and collapse in a process called sonoluminescence, in which a liquid is blasted with high-frequency sound waves between 20 and 40 kilohertz (the highest pitch that humans can hear is about 20 kilohertz).

Inside a collapsing bubble, the temperature rises precipitously. Atoms and molecules collide with high-energy particles to create a fourth state of matter, called plasma. The process emits light.

But the heating is so brief and localized that it cannot be measured directly with a thermometer.

The emitted light, however, can be analyzed to determine the temperature of the imploding gas. Previous measurements of multiple-bubble sonoluminescence have found temperatures of 5,000 Kelvin, or 8,500 degrees Fahrenheit

More HERE

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

"Tiny bubbles" (Don Ho)

Some wild and crazy stuff.

capt

Palmtop Nuclear Fusion Device Invented

The nuclear reaction that powers the Sun has been reproduced in a pocket-sized device, scientists announced today.

Researchers have for years tried to harness nuclear fusion to power the world. But its cousin, nuclear fission -- the breaking apart of atoms -- is the only method so far commercially viable.

The latest invention is not in the same league as efforts to build complex commercial reactors. The new device creates a relatively small number of reactions, and requires more energy to operate than it produces.

But the configuration is so small and simple that its creators think it may inspire unforeseen applications.

"I certainly find it interesting that you can heat a cubic centimeter crystal in your hand, then plunge it in cold water and it will cause nuclear fusion," Seth Putterman from the University of California Los Angeles told LiveScience.

More HERE

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

Pocket sized nuclear reactor. WOW! How about the potential applications?

capt

The "flat-earthers" are scared to death. They cannot wrap thier heads around the technological advances from the last twenty years. How will they deal with the advances tomorrow?

#119 Maybe his $161,000 salary just didn't cut it for his lifestyle. He couldn't keep up with the Big Boys so he had to scam Target for a lousy $5,000.

This is just one more example of how the underlings in the bush regime are an extension of the guy at the top.

No morals. No values.

(But, I guess we should give him the benefit of the doubt that he's innocent until proven guilty...or cops a plea.)

Capt, you have broadband. Can you go back to see the last date that Gerald posted? If he goes out of town he usually says so.

Carol,

He is traveling - He mentioned it to me before he went.

I thanked him because I would have been concerned too. I am sure he will be happy we have missed him.

All is well (as far as I know)

capt

#110 Capt. Capt. you are my Capt. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a trained psychologist, psychiatrist or FBI profiler. Either way hats-off, kudos and tres bien. Now, where's that conservative but interesting and likeable cornposter?

Western Shoshone Victorious at UN; US Found in Violation of Human Rights of Native Americans, Urged to Take Immediate Action

"The Western Shoshone Nation is very thankful to the Committee members for their decision affirming U.S. discrimination and destructive policies do not go on unaccounted for. Truth is what it is -- that can never change. We pray for the healing of our peoples, the land and the harassment and destruction to stop. While others are allowed the freedom of religion, we are kept from the very same right. The Newe (people) use this ancestral land for sacred ceremonies. The federal agencies prevent our access to some of these important areas. Our ancestors' burials are being dug up and placed into local museums' basement storage areas because of surge of gold mines and nuclear developments. This is an outrage to our people." -- Judy Rojo, Western Shoshone.

"This battle has been going on for quite some time, but we've seen a dramatic increase in the federal government and the companies' rush to finalize what they consider a settlement in order to get a hold of our lands for activities that are contaminating our water and our air. Again, we are very pleased that our rights are finally being taken seriously and we look forward to positive actions being taken by the U.S." -- Steven Brady, Western Shoshone.

"We are Shoshone delegates speaking for a Nation threatened by extinction. The mines are polluting our waters, destroying hot springs and exploding sacred mountains-our burials along with them--attempting to erase our signature on the land. We are coerced and threatened by mining and Federal agencies when we seek to continue spiritual prayers for traditional food or medicine on Shoshone land. We have endured murder of our Newe people for centuries, as chronicled in military records, but now we are asked to endure a more painful death from the U.S. governmental agencies -- a separation from land and spiritual renewal. We thank our past leaders for their persistence and courage and the CERD for this monumental step." -- Bernice Lalo, Western Shoshone.

More HERE

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

The way we continue to mistreat Native Americans is inexcusable.

capt

#136,

I'm just a guy with a keyboard.

Thanks

capt

Arizona team develops 'tricorder'

TEMPE, Ariz., March 10 (UPI) -- A University of Arizona researcher is cataloging the spectral fingerprints of all known minerals.

Robert Downs is using a Raman spectrometer and now has 1,500 of the 4,000 minerals in his data base.

A colleague, M. Bonner Denton, is developing a pocket-size spectrometer that can be used on the 2009 Mars Rover to determine the minerals on that planet. The same technology can be used for handheld instruments on earth.

"We're developing a tricorder," Downs said, referring to the instruments the crew of the Starship Enterprise on "Star Trek" used to analyze the chemical composition of the planets they visited.

Denton and Downs will be giving presentations on their work on Sunday at the 57th Annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy in Orlando, Fla.

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

For the Star Trek fans!

The tricorder is another step farther into Gene Roddenberry's world. Look at the "communicator" on Star Trek and compare it to a flip phone.

Did you know he was a cop in the LAPD? So was his dad and his brother.

capt

A Brief Biography of Gene Roddenberry

[Excerpt]

Gene joined the Los Angeles Police Department. The decision was a natural. His younger brother Bob had joined when he returned from the war, several high school and college friends were members, and Gene knew a number of command officers from his time as president of the LACC Police Club. Finally, Gene’≥ father, less than ten years retired from the LAPD, still had a lot of friends on the force.

Papa Roddenberry’≥ old sergeant, Bill Parker, had risen in the ranks. Eleven days after Parker was promoted to Deputy Chief, Gene was assigned to the newspaper unit where he became part of the machinery that turned the LAPD into a professional law enforcement organization.

Gene found himself writing on a daily basis: principally, press releases and later speeches for Parker when he became the Chief of Police. Parker and his staff sought to remake the LAPD internally in structure and attitude and externally in its public image.

Parker was short, balding, politically conservative to the core, a devout Catholic, and the "imperial" chief. Gene was a tall, young, good-looking, moderate Democrat, a wet-behind-the-ears policeman with limited street experience, who had, in childhood, rejected belief in the Christian god.

Despite their differences in philosophy, theology, professional rank, and virtually everything else, the two men liked each other. Binding them was Parker’≥ knowledge of Gene as a powerful intellect, a strong respect for each other’≥ minds, shared ethical standards, the ability to argue on an intellectual level, and their mutual desire to see law enforcement become a recognized profession.

It made for some interesting moments. Decades later, LAPD Chief Daryl Gates remembered the first time he saw Gene and Parker "discussing" an issue. "I walked into Parker’≥ office and straight into a very strange situation. Gene was arguing with the Chief...they were having an intellectual argument over the preparation of a particular speech. Parker would pound his fist and Gene would respond with a reasonable argument of his own, delivered just as vigorously. Gene was clearly not afraid of Parker. He was probably the only person on the department who wasn’¥."

Parker had two ways of influencing public opinion: speeches he would give nearly anywhere to any civic group –†speeches usually written by Gene –†and a television program the LAPD supported with all the vigor at its command: Dragnet.

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

A little fun with dinosaurs! HA!

Bill Parker is the guy they named "Parker Center" after.

capt

#116 Jeanne, Good post about our President's method of operation.

When you disagree with or work against his policies, he'll inflict as much personal damage on you as possible.

"W" has no respect for a genuine difference of opinion, whether within the party, with Dems, or with allies. In Bush's twisted mind, difference of opinion is disloyalty and treason.

One of the results of this approach is increasing isolation for the gun-totting Cheney, who shot his friend in the face, and bubble-boy himself.

Does this kind of punative retribution sound familiar to anyone? Remember Ambassador Wilson and Valarie Plame the CIA NOC? Cheney, Libby and the rest of the WHIG went after him to inflict as much damage as possible and in the process, committed a treasonous act outing a covert CIA agent. Only Libby's lies and obstruction stand in the way of justice.

The antidote to this style of governance is to shine as much light on it as possible. Keep looking for these stories - I'm sure there will be many to choose from as the wheels fall off between now and November.

Can Good Catholics vote Republican?

Karl Rove has specialized in winning elections by waging battle on an entirely different level that has little to do with substantive issues and everything to do with cultural symbols and religious divisions -- a level which Democrats want to ignore and seem to be afraid of engaging. But those who want to end the one-party rule under which our country is suffocating have no choice but to engage those levels, and there is no reason at all why they should fear doing so.

more (here)

G'nite Jeanne. G'nite Capt. G'nite DEN. G'nite Hajji. G'nite Sal. G'nite Gerald. G'nite Happy. G'nite micki. G'nite Carey. G'nite Rowland. G'nite James Ha. G'nite Alan. G'nite David. G'nite cornbloggers.

#6 Saladin--greetings. I finally picked up that very important piece of news. It had been buried until it appeared on Keith Olbermann's show. Yes, Ms. O'Conner may have voted for the ass in 2000 (we'll never live down that atrocity to democratic mankind everywhere), but she's still a retired Supreme Court Justice. That carries some weight. The only record of that speech (I believe it was given at Georgetown Law School) is from NPR. I heard that Nina Totenberg said the speech was dripping with sarcasm. While not naming him, she quoted Tom Delay from the period after his Terri Schiavo debacle when he really went off against the courts. She called this kind of activity dangerous and that it put the balance of power in jeopardy. She was also referring to legislators overstepping their bounds in the interpretation of law. I think the speech may have an impact when you couple it with some of the other rumblings on dictatorship, police state etc.

#81 Micki. There has to be something going on there don't you think? Norton just ups and resigns? It can't just be the Abramhoff scandal, although I remember when the story first broke, the Washington Post did in-depth stories. Norton's name came up repeatedly.

What's with all these "setter's" quotes, as Happy refers to them? I find them a touch boring frankly.

My book for the past week has been a second reading of "The Education of Carey McWilliams". He's a lawyer, journalist, author, historian and was editor of The Nation for 20 years during the tumultuous McCarthy years and the sixties. He offers a historic understanding of the chaotic state we find ourselves in. I proudly tell you he is my namesake.

~night O'Reilly

A lady commented on the nice weather today and I said, "its nice, but I'm a little concerned about global warming." She said, "Global warming isn't mentioned in the bible sweety." I thought for a moment and said, "neither are cars."

video

Guess who said:

"If you look at what Republicans did-promised to do in 1994, when they took control of Congress, and see how they've been acting over the past three or four years, the biggest debt and deficit ever. They are irresponsible and reckless on so many levels. I'm embarrassed right now to be a Republican. It's a disgrace because of the lack of leadership.

A. Ronald Reagan
B. Arlen Specter
C. Lindsey Graham
D. Rick Santorum
E. Tom DeLay
F. Newt Gingrich
G. None of the above

Now that the Senate Intelligence Committee has caved like a bad souffle and voted not to investigate the illegal NSA wiretaps it's time to put some serious pressure on Arlen Specter, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

We need Pennsylvanians to write letters to the editors of every major Pennsylvania paper and call Specter in his DC offices to demand real oversight of the NSA wiretapping program by the Judiciary Committee.

(link)

There's a cancer on the presidency and it's metastisized. If you think Bush is out of the loop, you're wrong.

PHOTO (link), FROM RIGHT TO LEFT

Jack Abramoff

C. Bryant Rogers, Outside Counsel for Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians,

Secretary Norton

Phillip Martin, Chief Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians,

Steve Gleason Inspector General for the Mississippi Band of Choctaws,

DOI Releases Photo in Response to
Freedom of Information Act Request

(link)

That's an interesting title, not only was the government forced to provide the photo but it decided to post it on the agnecy's website.

"I am firmly committed to a process called the Four C's: they are communication, consultation, and cooperation - all in the service of conservation." - Gale Norton.

Make that the 5 C's - communication, consultation, cooperation, conservation and corruption.

(link)

Editorials by Secretary Norton
(link)

Interior Secretary Gale Norton went out Friday the way she came in five years ago, with praise from industry and criticism from environmentalists.

In her tenure at Interior, the former Colorado attorney general oversaw a 22 percent increase in coal production on public lands and a 17 percent increase in natural-gas production. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, part of her agency, went from a backlog of oil and gas permits to producing them faster than companies can drill them.

Still, Norton, who announced her resignation Friday, will leave office at the end of the month without achieving her biggest political goal: opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to drilling.

(link)

- - - - -

When The Clampets struck oil, they moved to Beverly Hills and lived like millionaires. When the DOI opened up public land for oil and gas drilling, did the American people realize any benefit? Were soldier's given body armor and up-armor Hummers? Did the poorest of the poor who receive medicare get increased funding or was the budget cut pushing 60,000 families of medicare?

"neither are cars.""

HA!

I WISH I could think of something like that to say as a comeback.

Excellent!

capt

California GOP Rep quits

U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly abruptly announced Friday that he is dropping his re-election bid because of a medical condition, leaving Republicans without a candidate just before the state filing deadline.

"I have been dealing with a medical issue that is yet to be resolved," the 62-year-old Republican said in a statement Friday. "Although I am hopeful it will be resolved positively, it would not be fair to my constituents and supporters should I be forced to withdraw from the race midyear."

He offered no details on the medical condition. A spokesman did not immediately return calls.

There were no other Republicans in the race. Democrats must gain 15 seats to win a majority in the House.

The primary election for the Democratic nomination is June 6.

Gallegly, elected to Congress in 1986, represents most of Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles.

The 10-term congressman won re-election in 2004 with more than 60 percent of the vote.

He serves on the House Judiciary, International Relations and Resources committees and is a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

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

Seems like more than a couple of the slugs from the Reich-wing are getting out of the game. Makes me wonder if Norton and above talked on the phone to Duke "I wore a wire" Cunningham?

capt

Stop your meddling, Iraqi minister tells US

AMID rising American frustration with the political deadlock in Iraq, the National Security Minister, Abdul Karim al-Enzy, has rebuked Washington for interfering in Iraq's domestic affairs.

In a remarkable broadside against the US, Mr Enzy charged that it was deliberately slowing Iraq's redevelopment because of a self-serving agenda that included oil and the "war on terror".

The attack came as the US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, told a Senate inquiry in Washington that Iraq's political leaders needed "to recognise the seriousness of the situation and form a government of national unity that will govern from the centre, and to do it in a reasonably prompt manner".

To that end, US diplomats have demanded a more generous sharing of key portfolios among Iraq's religious and ethnic populations than the dominant Shiite religious parties are willing to concede.

In particular, they are urging the dismissal of the hardline Interior Minister, Bayan Jabr.

But in an interview with the Herald, Mr Enzy snapped: "The last time I checked, Bayan Jabr was Interior Minister of Iraq - not of the US or the UN. He is one of our best and this is interference in our business."

More HERE

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

Could the mess in Iraq be any more screwed up?

capt

US teen's banner 'free speech'

Alaska - A teen who held up a sign that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" when the Olympic torch relay passed by his school has won an appeals court battle over whether his sign was an expression of free speech.

Joseph Fredrick, then 18, was looking to catch the attention of television cameras converging on the event outside Juneau-Douglas High School in 2002. He was among students who had been let out of class to see the event.

So he held up a banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." The school principal suspended him for 10 days, saying the banner violated the school's anti-drug policies. A bong is a pipe used to smoke marijuana.

Fredrick, sued the school but lost in federal district court. On Friday, however a three-member panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court order and said school officials violated Fredrick's free speech rights.

Fredrick's attorney, Doug Mertz, called the ruling a significant victory for the Constitutional right to free speech. Fredrick, currently a student at the University of Idaho, could not be reached for comment.

Juneau school district officials expressed disappointment.

"My concern is that (the court's ruling) could compromise our ability to send a consistent message against the use of illegal drugs," Superintendent Peggy Cowan said.

Cowan said the school board will decide whether to appeal the latest decision.

The federal appeals court said even if the banner "however vague and nonsensical" could be construed as a positive message about marijuana use, the question came down to whether a school may punish or censor a student's speech because it promotes a social message contrary to one the school favours.

"The answer under controlling, long-existing precedent is plainly "No," wrote Judge Andrew Kleinfeld in an 18-page opinion.

Though the courts give high school students less leeway than adults when it comes to certain offensive speech, such as sexually suggestive comments, Kleinfeld wrote that "'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' may be funny, stupid, or insulting, depending on one's point of view," but it was not "plainly offensive" in the manner of sexual innuendo.

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

Bong hits 4 Jesus? I think the kid should get an "A" for creativity. Far less offensive than Bush saying God speaks through him and tells him to start wars. I imagine Jesus could hit a bong but start a war?

capt

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

Milosevic: Architect of Balkans carnage

(CNN) -- Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian strongman regarded as the chief architect of the carnage unleashed during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the last decade, died Saturday in custody at The Hague, where he was on trial for war crimes in the killing fields of the Balkan states of Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.

The 64-year-old Milosevic -- the leader of the Serbian republic and then the leader of multi-republic Yugoslavia -- held sway over the country when hundreds of thousands of people were killed, and millions were forced to leave their homes as the fall of communism opened the door to ethnic and religious strife.

Today, communist Yugoslavia is no more, now broken up into several independent states, including Serbia-Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. But in the 1990s, its breakup generated savage bloodshed unseen on the continent since World War II.

Will the real conservatives please stand up?

I'm old enough to remember when real conservatives valued freedom over security, and stood for strictly limited government, fiscal discipline, the sanctity of constitutional checks and balances and the rule of law over obeisance to power. I also have vivid, if not entirely fond, memories of that archetypal American conservative, Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, the GOP candidate for president in 1964, whose declaration that "extremism in defense of liberty is no vice" helped clinch an historic landslide victory for his opponent, Democrat Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Goldwater's conservative principles put him in opposition to most of the New Deal-era economic and social reforms that most Americans support. Yet those same convictions also prompted Goldwater to defend gay rights, support Roe vs. Wade, oppose the religious right, demand President Richard M. Nixon's resignation for abusing his constitutional authority and denounce the Vietnam War as "the biggest damn fool mistake we ever made."

It was under President Ronald Reagan's bleary stewardship that real conservatives were largely displaced in the upper ranks of government by an aggressive new breed of so-called neoconservatives, whose ideology was neither new nor authentically conservative but an artifact of the Cold War. The founding philosophers of neoconservatism -- Norman Podhoretz and Irving Kristol -- drew their youthful political inspiration from Leon Trotsky, a radical communist whose doctrine of perpetual revolution was too extreme even for the Soviet Union's ruling Stalinists, who exiled and eventually assassinated him. Among the neoconservatives who came to occupy the West Wing during the Reagan years were Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, all of whom helped shape the Bush administration's misbegotten attempt to pacify the Middle East by waging war there.

More HERE

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

I still get a kick out of being called a lefty or liberal. I disagreed with this same group of slugs back then and more so now. If that makes me a liberal or a lefty then so be it!

capt

Slobodan Milosevic Found Dead In Hague Jail Cell...
Associated Press | Posted March 11, 2006 08:04 AM

Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president who orchestrated the Balkan wars of the 1990s and was on trial for war crimes, was found dead in his prison cell near
The Hague, the U.N. tribunal said Saturday.

Milosevic, 64, apparently died of natural causes, a tribunal press officer said. He was found dead in his bed at the U.N. detention center.

capt, we're on the same page again!

High fivers!~

Hottie Bin Laden to star in new reality show

good old fashioned taliban values!

Carey @144, yeah, I wonder what's behind Gale Norton's sudden desire to spend more time in the mountains of Colordao, too. People are so intertwined in the scandal-ridden bush/cheney regime that I think it might have something to do with her being one of the founders of CREA, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. Grover Norquist is allegedly another founder of CREA.

CREA is more a green scam than an environmental advocacy organization -- but that's par for the course with the bushies. CREA has received financial backing from mining and chemical interests, making it a possible front group for industrial polluters, IMO. Abramoff advised his tribal clients to give money to CREA. One big happy family. Maybe something is catching up with them...

Carey, that is really interesting -- Carey McWilliams. Wow! Back in the early 50s, my dad was a subscriber to The Nation and a nosy neighbor decided he was a communist just because of that! I'll have to track down the book you mention.

bush's BAD SCIENCE

Maybe the busheviks forced Interior Sec. Gale Norton out because they want to bring back James G. Watt, because he's even meaner than she is?

Watt endeared himself to the meanies when he made remarks about a Senate advisory panel consisting of "a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple." Outrage at his bigotry led the Senate to draft a resolution calling for his dismissal, but Watt stepped down before he was forced out.

"...In 1996 Watt pleaded guilty to a minor charge of attempting to sway a grand jury investigation in the 1980s, and he was fined and given five years probation. Watt's legacy was revived in the early 2000s when George W. Bush nominated Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior. Norton had worked under Watt at the Mountain States Legal Foundation and was seen as having similar stances and goals as her predecessor. A spokesperson for the environmental group National Resource Defense Council called Norton's nomination "...dèjá vu all over again..." implying environmentalists would have to fight the battles Watt had ignited in the 1980s a second time. Watt himself was delighted with the nomination of Norton, and seemed to feel the president's choice showed that Watt's ideas of 20 years earlier were still current...."

#166 Micki
I remember reading about CREA! That's right--a of scam by the likes of guess who, Grover Norquist & Abramoff. That's what the Post was writing about in the summer and fall of last year.

On Carey McWilliams, he writes eloquently of the history up to and through the McCarthy years and beyond. People thought my parents were Communists too.

When memories of people like James Watt are brought to mind, don't you feel a cringe of "Oh my God, we endured that too!"

#161 Capt. This book I keep talking about ("The Education of Carey Mcwilliams" c.1978) goes over the run-up to exactly the takeover you're referring to, the change of true conservatism. It's mind boggling how stupid we Americans can be. All in the name of ideologies, instead of good old common sense and a dose of the Golden Rule.

O'REILLY

I forgot to add that I didn't think your post about Happy was offensive, He probably doesn't either. He enjoys that kind of interaction. Do you think maybe it wasn't censored, just a computer slip-up?

#135
Capt,
Glad to hear about Gerald. I was getting worried. Hope he's avoiding neo cons on his adventures. And I hope he meets as least one of his foxes.

#146
That was good James. Tell me the rest. Did she beat the bejesus out of you?

Ok, I'm only to #148 but I know the answer. Scarbourgh.

'Hooded' Abu Ghraib ex-prisoner talks to New York Times

Slated for the front page of Saturday's New York Times is an interview with the former Abu Ghraib detainee who was photographed after being forced to stand on top of a cardboard box with electrical wires tied to his outstretched arms in late 2003, RAW STORY has found.

Ali Shalal Qaissi, along with eight other ex-prisoners, is part of a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU and Human Rights First against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for the torture and abuse that went on at the Iraqi prison while under his command: Ali et al. v Rumsfeld Consolidated Amended Complaint For Declaratory Relief and Damages.

Quaissi also told the Times that he was shocked "five times, enough for him to bite his tongue" while atop the box.

Excerpts from the forthcoming article by Hassan M. Fattah:

-Ali Shalal Qaissi's wounds are still raw.

There is the mangled hand, an old injury that became infected by the shackles chafing his skin. There is the slight limp, made worse by days tied in uncomfortable positions. And most of all, there are the nightmares of his nearly six-month ordeal at Abu Ghraib Prison in 2003 and 2004.

Qaissi, 43, was prisoner 151716 of Cellblock 1A. The picture of him standing hooded atop a cardboard box, attached to electrical wires with his arms stretched wide in an eerily prophetic pose, became the indelible symbol of the torture at Abu Ghraib. The U.S. military said Thursday that it would abandon the prison and turn it over to the Iraqi government.

"I never wanted to be famous, especially not in this way," he said, as he sat in an office in Amman. That said, he is now a prisoner advocate who clearly understands the power of the image: It appears on his business card.

Researchers with both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say they have interviewed Qaissi and, along with lawyers suing military contractors in a class-action suit over the abuse, believe that he is the man in the photograph.

Here's the link to the full NY Times article.
Symbol of Abu Ghraib Seeks to Spare Others His Nightmare
-----------------------
This cruel and inhumane behavior has become an American trademark. We are better than this. Our country is being run by school yard bullies.

Kristol: Karl Rove Told Dubai To "Pull The Plug On The Deal"

Yesterday, President Bush described Dubai Ports World's announcement to sell its U.S. operations as a decision made by the company under pressure from Congress:

-I'm sure that the decision by DP World was a difficult decision, to hand over port operations that they had purchased from another company. My administration was satisfied that port security would not have been undermined by the agreement. Nevertheless, Congress was still very much opposed to it.-

The media has largely bought into that narrative. But according to Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, the White House instructed DP World to concede. Appearing yesterday on Fox News, Kristol said Karl Rove canceled the deal with a phone call on the night of March 8:

-He made that veto threat then he went on the trip to India and went silent basically. Karl Rove calls the people in Dubai two nights ago and tells them pull the plug on the deal, and I think as a result, the president looks weak, frankly.-
----------------

A Veteran's Letter to the President
"I Return Enclosed the Symbols of My Years of Service"

Joseph DuRocher was for 20 years the elected Public Defender of Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit, covering Orange and Osceola counties. Since retirement, he's been writing and teaching law at the University of Central Florida and the Barry University School of Law. He was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy in the 1960s, serving as a Naval Aviator in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. On Monday, Mr. DuRocher returned his Lieutenant's shoulder bars and Navy wings to President Bush, and enclosed the following letter.---

Dear Mr. President:

As a young man I was honored to serve our nation as a commissioned officer and helicopter pilot in the
U. S. Navy. Before me in WWII, my father defended the country spending two years in the Pacific aboard the U.S.S. Hornet (CV-14). We were patriots sworn "to protect and defend" Today I conclude that you have dishonored our service and the Constitution and principles of our oath. My dad was buried with full military honors so I cannot act for him. But for myself, I return enclosed the symbols of my years of service: the shoulder boards of my rank and my Naval Aviator's wings.

Until your administration, I believed it was inconceivable that the United States would ever initiate an aggressive and preemptive war against a country that posed no threat to us. Until your administration, I thought it was impossible for our nation to take hundreds of persons into custody without provable charges of any kind, and to 'disappear' them into holes like Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and Bagram. Until your administration, in my wildest legal fantasy I could not imagine a U.S. Attorney General seeking to justify torture or a President first stating his intent to veto an anti-torture law, and then adding a 'signing statement' that he intends to ignore such law as he sees fit. I do not want these things done in my name.

As a citizen, a patriot, a parent and grandparent, a lawyer and law teacher I am left with such a feeling of loss and helplessness. I think of myself as a good American and I ask myself what can I do when I see the face of evil? Illegal and immoral war, torture and confinement for life without trial have never been part of our Constitutional tradition. But my vote has become meaningless because I live in a safe district drawn by your political party. My congressman is unresponsive to my concerns because his time is filled with lobbyists' largess. Protests are limited to your "free speech zones" out of sight of the parade. Even speaking openly is to risk being labeled un-American, pro-terrorist or anti-troops. And I am a disciplined pacifist, so any violent act is out of the question.

Nevertheless, to remain silent is to let you think I approve or support your actions. I do not. So, I am saddened to give up my wings and bars. They were hard won and my parents and wife were as proud as I was when I earned them over forty years ago. But I hate the torture and death you have caused more than I value their symbolism. Giving them up makes me cry for my beloved country.

Joseph W. DuRocher

!74 Jeanne
I fully agree: That we even tolerate the thought of torture is beyond all rational comprehension. And the media has prolifically contributed to this mutilation of the word torture.

American Hostage Knew the Dangers in Iraq

Those who knew him say Fox had prepared himself for the possibility he would not return from Iraq. He even wrote about it on his Web log when he first arrived in Baghdad in October 2004.

``I am to stand firm against the kidnapper as I am to stand firm against the soldier,'' he wrote. ``Does that mean I walk into a raging battle to confront the soldiers? Does that mean I walk the streets of Baghdad with a sign saying 'American for the Taking'? No to both counts. But if Jesus and Gandhi are right, then I am asked to risk my life and if I lose it to be as forgiving as they were when murdered by the forces of Satan.''

Fox worked with families of incarcerated Iraqis, often serving as the only link between them and their families on the outside, said Paul Slattery, a member of his support group from Langley Hill Friends Meeting.

Fox also escorted shipments of medicine to clinics and hospitals and worked to form an Islamic Peacemaker Team.

``This guy was not after martyrdom by any means,'' Slattery said. ``He actually believed in his heart that he would better them by his conviction and his beliefs and his skills, and I think largely succeeded.

``What he leaves behind is a tremendous challenge for the rest of us and a guiding force.''

In an appeal for her father's life issued through Christian Peacemaker Teams after his capture, Fox's daughter Katherine described him as a wanderer, an outdoorsman and a listener. He also was a gifted musician, a former clarinetist with the Marine Corps Band in Washington, she said.

``My dad wasn't a Marine, he was a musician,'' Fox wrote.

Fox had traded in his fatigues for a life of pacifism.
--
From Today in Iraq

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Too many are willing to die for war and too few are willing to die for peace.” – Thomas Fox, American member of Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq.

President's Nephew Defends Port Deal

That was the title of the Today Show's first segment this morning...and I am not kidding. The Today Show just did a 5 minute interview with Bush's nephew, Pierce Bush. Apparently, the 19 year old Pierce wrote a letter to the editor defending his uncle on the port deal. The Today Show found that newsworthy enough to make it the morning's first story.

I don't know what is more pathetic...that the Today Show thought this was news...or that the only person they could find to defend Bush on the port deal was the 19 year old nephew of the Prez.
---------------------
My husband was watching 'the today show' and saw this segment. He just groaned. All the excuses. It's early in the morning, I'm half asleep. I haven't had my coffe. My husband said he was in a suit for God's sakes. Somewhere in the process of getting yourself into a suit you wake up.

I take it as he was uncomfortable. Bush is really reaching when he sends his nephew out to defend him.

KBR (Halliburton) and their Ports and Harbors Services

Rove is more of a genius than I thought. This whole Dubai ports deal was a huge set-up from the beginning for the bushies to get exactly what they wanted. UAE cooperated because their emir-ruled royal families are cozy with the ruling elites in the U.S., you scratch our back and we'll scratch yours. I look for KBR to be the "entity" that Dubai Ports World "transfers" operations to. Voila! The cheney/bush regime wins again through the secret back door.

What a joke that this deal weakened bush! They are laughing their asses off. And Bill Kristol knows that. More smoke and mirrors.

Brer Libby and the Greymail Briar Patch

Larry Johnson

Today's judicial ruling that Scooter Libby's defense team should get access to highly classified documents probably is a blow to Libby's greymail defense strategy. "Greymail" is a reference to past attempts by government officials charged with wrongdoing to derail their prosecutions by trying to expose national security secrets. In this case Libby's lawyers were clearly counting on the judge to do one of two things--either refuse their request or order the CIA and the White House to turnover everything they desired.

If the judge had refused their request then Libby would have had grounds in an appeal that he had not been allowed to defend himself. If the judge granted their request "carte blanche" (i.e., imposing no limits) then the CIA and White House would certainly stonewall, continue arguing executive privilege, and force the entire process into an appeal that probably would wind up before the Supreme Court.

The judge appears to have undermined the ability of the CIA and the White House to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court. He appears to have insulated himself against that course of action by offering up very reasonable conditions for protecting some of the most sensitive intelligence. As noted on the CNN website:

--The judge said the CIA can either delete highly classified information from the briefing material and provide copies of what Libby received six days a week, often with Cheney. Or, Walton said, the CIA can produce "topic overviews" of the matters covered in the briefings. The judge also ordered the CIA to give Libby an index of the topics covered in follow-up questions that the former White House aide asked intelligence officers who conducted the briefings.---

So, what will Libby's lawyers find in the PDB and other documents? Nothing that will save Libby's traitorous ass....

------------------
Poor Scooter Libby.

Halliburton is a fungus.

#180 Caroline

All along I've thought that this whole ports debacle was a Rovian ploy. I think there was some discussion of that back in the thread somewhere. But, I thought it was intended to make those Repbulicans who spoke against the deal look good for the upcoming elections. They would appear to be responding to constituent demands and look tough on terror. Then they would resolve all the critcisms and everyone on the right would come out rosy while Democratic leaders come out looking racist and anti-free trade.

But, low and behold, no! They had something much lower and sneakier in mind--Halliburton goes under the radar again, but right in front of everyone's eyes. Why, why are we surprised? Why can't we learn to see this coming. I think we're at least getting smarter about it.

TO EVERYONE:

I don't know how to supply the link (not that versatile yet) but I strongly recommend reading Gore Vidal's interview in truthdig.com. The second part was in this (last) week's paper.

'This Place Is Broken'

Gore Vidal interview.
----------
Here you go Carey.

Carey and micki, I remember also reading about CREA and the Gale Norton connection. In the cheney/bush regime, they've got all their bases covered. The foreign policy crooks and the domestic policy crooks keep f**king us big time.

According to documents obtained from the Justice Department by the National Resources Defense Council, CREA provided the Interior Department with public opinion research (dated 5/16/01) from focus groups in several cities suggesting how to talk about energy issues and emphasizing using rising gas prices to promote increased drilling.

The survey was apparently the featured topic of discussion at fund raising dinner hosted by Republican rainmaker Julie Finley on September 24, 2001 and attended by Secretary Norton and other top level officials at Interior, as well as by industry interests and representatives of the Coushetta and other Indian Tribes.  The emails indicate that the tribes paid $50,000 each to participate in dinners set up by CREA.

Countdown: Beat the Press

Here's a good analysis with Keith Olbermann. He talks about the fear that press leakers now have and how it is bringing us closer to dictatorship. All the while it was the administration who leaked Valerie Plames name to the press. The administration just doesn't care what they do. They never cared. They do what they have to do to get ahead. They don't care who they take down.

Anyway, it's a good video.

Hey, I have a good title for a song.

ehem....

'Halliburton is a fungus I found in my back yard'

Halliburton is a fungus,
I found in my back yard.
I must find a pesticide,
that is a growth retard...
ent if you don't believe me,
open up your drapes.
Those shadows are security,
this country has been raped.

Lose Your Job For AmerikaSo far, the promised payoff hasn't materialized for anyone but the shareholders of multinational corporations, most of whom seem to have reinvested their profits elsewhere.

Israel deploys nuclear arms in submarines

Israeli and American officials have admitted collaborating to deploy US-supplied Harpoon cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads in Israel's fleet of Dolphin-class submarines, giving the Middle East's only nuclear power the ability to strike at any of its Arab neighbours.

So, Israel isn't really in any danger from any nation. Israel's using of the United States to conquer Arab nations is therefore part of an eventual expansion of territory.
____________

watch out for Iran! they've been trying to build the same nuclear power plant now for more than 20 years -

Thanks Jeanne.

bush JOKES ARE NO LONGER FUNNY

George Bush is a totally failed president - without doubt the worst president in American history, and he is doing his best-albeit probably unconsciously - to bring the country slowly, but inexorably, to ruin.

Colin Powell,.... may well go down in history as America's Neville Chamberlain,.... couldn't bring himself to stand up for his own convictions to a pathetic weakling, George Bush, but chose, rather, to "obey orders" like a toy soldier. I hope Powell lives long enough to see his disgrace recorded in the history books......Colin Powell will die with his cowardice - not his medals -- clutched to his chest.

Look at .... John McCain, and you see much the same thing, .... but in the end, just another moral coward, unable to lead, a man who stands for nothing -- nothing, that is, except the insatiable desire to be president. There is not an ass in Washington McCain won't kiss to be president.

Jeanne, I loved your little ditty about Halliburton. Made me laugh.

#189 Mr. Ha:

I have to go along with your cynicism. Israel is a lying country, and yes, they do commit state terrorist acts. The Palestinians only have Hamas to answer with, as they see it, there's no alternative; that doesn't bode well with the powers that be. And understandably so. But what would you expect the Palestinians to do? They're being squeezed into a place of destitution and oblivion, where no one can make a dime. Israel is a humanitarian country? Look again people. Palestinians are being smothered. It's been going on for quite a while.

#185 Caroline--This is all flushing out my memory, but with added juice. What does one say? We get so much information on corruption, we can't keep it straight nowadays.

Carey & Caroline, reading this CREA stuff after a passage of time, it makes one wonder, how did we get to THIS place?

Jeanne, I loved your "fungus among us" ditty, too. In fact it inspired me to write a limerick (of sorts):

The bushman was known as a fun guy
Who decided willy-nilly to spy.
His veep shot a man
They didn't give a damn,
The bunch of them were just funji.

"George, your reckless and wanton foreign policies killed my son, Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan, in the illegal and unjust war on Iraq. Helping to bring about your political downfall will be the most noble accomplishment of my life, and it will bring justice for my son and the hundreds of other brave Americans and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis your lies have killed." Cindy Sheehan

===
"I took an oath when I joined the Navy. I swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Nowhere does it state that I must blindly follow the orders of unjust or immoral leaders. This is the reason that I am compelled to speak out against our use of Depleted Uranium. It is the biggest, invisible danger that our troops and the Iraqi people face and most insidious. What we are committing is a silent genocide of both planet and people.": Kim Hawkins - Gulf War Veteran

=
"It was a failure of citizenship of the American people that the Bush cabal was allowed to invade Iraq. Thus, any U.S. citizen who is not doing everything in their power to end this illegal and immoral occupation as quickly as possible is complicit with the war crimes being committed in Iraq on a daily basis.": Dahr Jamail

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Great posts/thread!

and: How do I make a hyperlink? or if you want to make a long URL into a short one try : tinyurl.com (click on my name below)

You guys ROCK! (I know capt kiss butt)

Love the ditty(s) and good discussion on CREA and the rest.

Thanks

capt

Bush Shocked by Arrest of Former Adviser

President Bush on Saturday said he was shocked and saddened to learn that former domestic policy adviser Claude Allen was charged with theft for allegedly receiving phony refunds at department stores.

"When I heard the story last night, I was shocked, and my first reaction was one of disappointment, deep disappointment - if it's true - that we were not fully informed," Bush said. "Shortly thereafter, I felt really sad for the Allen family."

Allen, 45, was arrested Thursday by police in Montgomery County, Md., for allegedly claiming refunds for more than $5,000 worth of merchandise he did not buy, according to county and federal authorities. He had been under investigation since at least January for alleged thefts on 25 occasions at Target and Hecht's stores.

"If the allegations are true, Claude Allen did not tell my chief of staff and legal counsel the truth, and that's deeply disappointing" the president said at the White House following an event on Iraq. "If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad."

More HERE

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

Funny, Bunnypants and I are exact opposites. I was shocked when Scooter was caught lying - and not the slightest bit shocked about Allen?

Go figure.

capt

Vote spike blamed on program snafu

An undetected computer glitch in Tarrant County led to inflated election returns in Tuesday's primaries but did not alter the outcome of any local race, elections and county officials said Wednesday.

The error caused Tarrant County to report as many as 100,000 votes in both primaries that never were cast, dropping the local turnout from a possible record high of about 158,103 voters to about 58,000.

Because the errors added votes equally for each candidate, the glitch did not change the outcome of Tarrant County races but narrowed the margin of victory in some statewide races. In the close Republican primary race for Texas Supreme Court, for example, incumbent Don Willett edged past former Justice Steve Smith by only about 1 percentage point with the corrected vote tallies.

Questions about possible problems were raised by election staff late Tuesday night, as it became apparent to some that the county would far exceed the 76,000 votes cast in the 2002 primary elections.

But elections officials did not look into the discrepancies that night because they were dealing with a new system, new procedures and some new equipment, said Gayle Hamilton, Tarrant County's interim elections administrator.

"We didn't think there was a problem," Hamilton said. "We should have stopped right then.

"But we didn't question it at that time."

More HERE

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

We will be hearing these kind of excuses in Nov.

What to do when they steal the next election?

capt

Alaska hit by 'massive' oil spill

An oil spill discovered at Prudhoe Bay field is the largest ever on Alaska's North Slope region, US officials say.

They estimate that up to 267,000 gallons (one million litres) of crude leaked from a corroded transit pipeline at the state's northern tip.

The spill was detected on 2 March and plugged. Local environmentalists have described it as "a catastrophe".

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez shipping disaster spilled 11m gallons (42m litres) of oil onto the Alaskan coast.

'Painful reminder'

"I can confirm it's the largest spill of crude oil on the North Slope that we have record of," Linda Giguere, from Alaska's state department of environmental conservation, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

The estimate is based on a survey conducted several days ago at the site where the leak was discovered, officials say.

The spill covers about two acres (one hectare) of the snow-covered tundra in the sparsely populated region on Alaska's north coast, some 1,040km (650 miles) north of the state's biggest city, Anchorage.

The source of the spill was a hole caused by internal corrosion in the pipeline, officials say. It remains unclear when the leak started.

Environmentalists from Alaska Wilderness League said the spill was "a catastrophe for the environment".

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

Maybe this influenced Norton? Sure they will leave a footprint in ANWR, biggest footprint yet on the north slope? I remember the argument that nothing except drunk taker captains could cause a problem.

capt

Ick.
Paaatueee....blah..

And the winner is Frist, the home state favorite

And the winner is Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

The climax of a three-day gathering of Republican activists from 37 states came Saturday evening in Memphis as Frist won an early test of strength for 2008 GOP presidential contenders.

Frist won 36.9 percent of the 1,427 ballots cast here by delegates to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.

The shocker of the evening was that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney placed second, besting far better-known rivals Arizona Sen. John McCain and Virginia Sen. George Allen. Romney finished with 14 percent of the vote.

Micki,
Harry would be happy that you reminded readers of the fact that Vice President Cheney shot a man in the face. Better yet, you put it to poety. That immortalizes it.

Why Did Bush Destroy Iraq?

Every Reason Put Forward Has Been Proven False

March 20 is the third anniversary of the Bush regime's invasion of Iraq. US military casualties to date are approximately 20,000 killed, wounded, maimed, and disabled. Iraqi civilian casualties number in the tens of thousands. Iraq's infrastructure is in ruins. Tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed. Fallujah, a city of 300,000 people had 36,000 of its 50,000 homes destroyed by the US military.

Half of the city's former population are displaced persons living in tents.

Thousands of Iraqis have been detained in prisons and hundreds have been brutally tortured. America's reputation in the Muslim world is ruined.

The Bush regime expected a short "cakewalk" war to be followed by the imposition of a puppet government and permanent US military bases.

Instead, US military forces are confronted with an insurgency that has denied control over Iraq to the US military. Chaos rules, and civil war may be coming on top of the insurgency.

On March 9, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the man who has been totally wrong about Iraq, told Congress that if the unprecedented violence in Iraq breaks out in civil war, the US will rely primarily on Iraq's security forces to put down civil war.

What Iraqi security forces? Iraq does not have a security force.
The Shia have a security force. The Sunnis have a security force, and the Kurds have a security force. The sectarian militias control the streets, towns and cities. If civil war breaks out, the "Iraqi security force" will dissolve into the sectarian militias, leaving the US military in the middle of the melee.

Is this what "support the troops" means?

More HERE

Here we go again, LIES, LIES, LIES. Bush says whatever it takes even if it's a lie.

Defense Link News

U.S. Has No Immediate Plans to Close Abu Ghraib Prison
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2006 The United States always has planned to transfer authority for all detention facilities in Iraq to the Iraqis, but announcements regarding the imminent closure at the Abu Ghraib prison are premature, defense officials said today.

News reports that the U.S. military intends to close Abu Ghraib within the next few months and to transfer its prisoners to other jails are inaccurate, officials said.

There's no specific timetable for that transfer or for closure of the Baghdad prison, they said.

Decisions regarding Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities in Iraq will be based largely on two factors: the readiness of Iraq's security forces to assume control of them and infrastructure improvements at the facilities.

John Burns, Back from Baghdad: U.S. Effort In Iraq Will Likely Fail

NEW YORK A day after returning to the U.S., after another long term as bureau chief in Baghdad, John Burns of The New York Times said on Bill Maher's Friday night HBO program that he now feels, for the first time, that the American effort in Iraq will likely "fail."

Asked if a civil war was developing there, Burns said, "It's always been a civil war," adding that it's just a matter of extent. He said the current U.S. leaders there--military and diplomatic--were doing there best but sectarian differences would "probably" doom the enterprise.

Burns said that he and others underestimated this problem, feeling for a long time that toppling Saddam Hussein would almost inevitably lead to something much better. He called the Abu Ghraib abuse the worst of many mistakes the U.S. made but said that even without so many mistakes the sectarian conflict would have gotten out of hand.

He also pointed to a key period coming up, as the top American generals decide over the next two weeks whether to go ahead with the planned "draw down" of U.S. troops starting this spring which, as it turns out, coincides with deteriorating conditions on the ground. The problem is, he said, any U.S. withdrawals could lead to chaos there, with the Iraqi military not ready to take over, but not bringing troops home would prove to be a political disaster for the White House at home.

Speaking from Cambridge, Mass., Burns observed that he had been on the ground for 24 hours and of all the people he had interacted with so far "no one supports this war."

His most recent article from Baghdad appeared in The Times on March 5. He said he was heading to California next.

Burns was one of the few Americans journalists who stayed in Baghdad during the U.S. attack on Iraq in March 2003, and has spent most of his time there since.
--------------------
The Bush administration actually lied and cheated to start this mess.

Bush, pundits & Dems feign "concern" for national security

With the termination of the Dubai ports deal, President Bush now says he is "concerned about a broader message this issue could send to our friends and allies around the world, especially in the Middle East." This line has been parroted by the punditocracy, which claims that legitimate questions of national security are "ethnic profiling" (aka. "racial profiling"). The hypocrisy is as thick as a milkshake - Suddenly, we're expected to believe George W. Bush and the pundits who pushed the Iraq War deep down really cares about the messages America is sending to the rest of the world. What an incredibly insulting joke.

Where was this so-called "concern" when Bush authorized the use of torture? Where was this "concern" when Bush decided to ignore the Geneva Conventions with respect to detainees? What about the "broader message" we sent to the world when Bush deliberately fabricated the perception of an "imminent threat" of WMD and used that perception as a justification to invade Iraq? Or, what about the "broader message" that Bush sent when he cracked a joke immediately after telling the press 30,000 Iraqis - many innocent bystanders - have been killed since the war began? Or what about the "broader message" that continues to be sent when Bush holds White House events to publicly fawn all over the most oppressive dictators on Earth? What kind of message does that send to the millions of ordinary citizens oppressed by those same dictators?

For the pundits, the hypocrisy is even more disgusting. They claim those who do not want the UAE - a country with very recent ties to terrorists - to control our ports are supposedly "racial profiling" all Arabs. These are the same pundits who, knowing that there was no connection between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorists, loudly supported invading Iraq anyway because it would supposedly send a message "in the heart of the Middle East" - clear code for sending a message to all Arabs. The Iraq War was, in other words, the greatest act of indiscriminate ethnic profiling/targeting in America's recent history - ethnic profiling largely supported by the same class of elite pundits that now self-righteously berates those who courageously sought to stop the UAE deal.

The truth is, George W. Bush and the neoconservative opinionmakers that dominate today's news are people who have no "concern" for what the world thinks. Bush is a guy who has tried to slash funding for public diplomacy and foreign aid, and who most recently appointed Karen Hughes as America's top international public diplomacy official, despite the fact that her only experience is serving as a Republican political hack. He's the guy who thinks that reaching out to the world on foreign policy means insulting the world's intelligence by simply repeating over and over again that everything is going perfectly in Iraq. And incredibly, the neutered pundits and reporters, desperate to stay in good graces with their White House masters, has disgustingly interpreted Bush's contempt for the world as "toughness," no matter how much that attitude has actually weakened America's national security....

I think there should be a rule. If the US is going to invade a country the people of the US should know where the country is located.

What country next?

With people that stupid, I often wonder how humans have survived. Many have so little knowledge or education is amazes me they can live.

*sigh*

We all know bushco lied, the question is, what do we do about it? Vote? HA! Vote for democrats? Double Ha! We are freakin doomed.

"He speaks to the audience as if they're idiots. I think the reason he does that is because that's the way these issues were explained to him." - Graydon Carter

Iraq War: Profits Turn to ‘Prophets’

The fundamental principle of a secular society is to keep religion out of politics; a cardinal ‘sin’ according to the secular clerics. Surprisingly, like Bush, Blair has now come out of the closet and claimed that God inspired him to go to war, and he will be judged by the Almighty on that issue.

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

God is telling these warmongers to start wars? Sounds more like another source altogether.

capt

"a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing".

When in the company of savages, one seeks a savage demeanor.

the picture that's worth a million words

shorter (only 25 seconds) of that Scarborough is embarrassed to be a Republican video, for you dial-ups

I've always hated that bastard, but it looks like he's changed his stripes a bit.

*slide show about Katrina set to Springstein's "My Hometown"
prolly just for the broadbanders

click here

Gerald would like this one.

Rush Limbaugh raps "I am a Nazi"

singles-sachsen singles-thueringen singles-schleswig-holstein singles-saarland singles-deutschland singles-berlin singles-hamburg muenchen-singles singles-koeln singles-frankfurt

only 12 more shopping days until the proposed Iranian bourse

Iranian Cartoon Contest Winners

Why Mommy is a Democrat

Certainly there are people who despise both major political parties, and it is their right to do so. But, I remain hopeful that progressive Democrats will help take America back to its ideals and principles. I don't expect any particular elected Democrat to do the job alone, but I do think we have a better chance with Dems than we do with Republicans in charge of the hen house.

Voting is not the sole answer to the problem. We all know that. But, some of us believe that it is part of the solution.

Why Mommy is a Democrat

Certainly there are people who despise both major political parties, and it is their right to do so. But, I remain hopeful that progressive Democrats will help take America back to its ideals and principles. I don't expect any particular elected Democrat to do the job alone, but I do think we have a better chance with Dems than we do with Republicans in charge of the hen house.

Voting is not the sole answer to the problem. We all know that. But, some of us believe that it is part of the solution.

Milosevic might have committed suicide - Del Ponte

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte said on Sunday she could not rule out that Slobodan Milosevic might have committed suicide but said she wanted to wait for the results of an autopsy.

"Of course it could be possible," she said, noting that the death of the former Yugoslav president on Saturday was the second within a week at the tribunal's detention center after the suicide of former rebel Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic.

She added that she expected initial results of the autopsy on Milosevic later on Sunday or on Monday, although she noted that results of toxicology tests could take longer.

Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic claimed the day before he was found dead that he was being poisoned.
--------------
The UN will not allow the autopsy to be conducted in Russia. There is something very fishy going on here.

Voting is no solution at all when it is rigged as it has been for the past 3 elections. We voted and look what we got. And what leading dems are doing anything to address the problem? Even David thinks everythings on the up and up. Such bullshit.

10 March 2006
URUKNET

Dr Mohammed Tuki Hussein Al Talakani Dr Eman Younis Dr Jammour Khammas Dr Mohammed Washed Professor Wajeeh Mahjoub Professor Sabri Al Bayati Professor Laila Al Saad Professor Muneer Al Khiero Professor Emad Sarsaan ProfessorMohammedAl Rawi Professor Munim Al Izmerly Dr Ali Al NaasI The horrific killings of Iraqi intellectuals have left suspicions that occupying forces may be behind some of the cases, says Felicity Arbuthnot.

It is estimated that between 250 and 500 intellectuals have been killed or have disappeared since the fall of Saddam Hussein. There is a rising surge of anger over attacks on Iraq's intellectuals and many believe some of the killings may be part of a deliberate policy of targeting those who speak out against the "occupation".

Tortured, shot, ambushed, victims are found dumped outside morgues. What is happening to Iraq's intellectuals is chilling
A prominent, internationally respected Iraqi academic, who cannot reveal his or her identity for fear of repercussions, says: "Under the American and British occupation, Iraqi academics are being forced out of their jobs and their country under the veil of politics. This is especially true for female Iraqi academics, who once made up nearly half of Iraqi academics in higher institutions and now fear for their lives and the lives of their families. In and outside the workplace they are being targeted by extremists and by the occupiers - more than 200 prominent Iraqi academics have been assassinated in the past three years alone. Those who are not assassinated are abducted or forced out of the country. Iraq is suffering from a huge brain drain that will not be compensated for another 20 years. This is a dramatic loss for the country and, without Iraq's educated middle class, we will be sure to see a rise in sectarianism and extremism, which is what the occupier wants."
----------
Things are going exactly as planned.

Dear Mr. Corn:

I just read Ari Berman's piece in THE NOTION about Sen. Tom Coburn's disgusting behavior on the Senate floor. So now it's cool to mock the public's concern? He issues crap amendments in place of a real attempt, albeit weak, to reform this. He mocks us?

Oh my you and MoveOn have to do something about this.

Carey, just wait, the fun has just begun. James gives us reminders of the Bourse, the war drums against Iran are so loud now I can hear them at my house. Soon, we will have much bigger problems then any politicians behavior on the senate floor.

Even David thinks everythings on the up and up. Such bullshit.

I wonder...does he really think things are on the up n up? or does he willfully ignore blatant evidence of malfeasance for some reason?

Happy in my disillusioned state.

James, it doesn't matter what he really thinks, it's what he says that counts.

On Call in Hell

He left a desk job for the front lines of Fallujah- and a horror show few doctors ever see. How Richard Jadick earned his Bronze Star.
------------------
The real war.

Senator Russ Feingold dropped a bomb on George Stephanapolous "This Week" sunday morning news program. He announced that he has put together legislation to start the censure process of President Bush. This legislation will be introduced tomorrow on the hill.

Stephanapolous challenged Feingold asking him why not start the process by enacting the "articles of impeachment?" Feingold answered that this may not be the best thing for the country at this time,but that this is not off the table. He went onto say that it is the duty of the congress and an absolute obligation to stand up to the claims that the Bush administration has been operating under that the president has "inherent authority to ignore or overrule the law".

I am sure that there will be petitions on line in the next several hours asking all of us to call our senators asking them to stand behind the legislation that Feingold will be introducing.

Senator Russ Feingold is the real deal.

I really think the 2008 ticket will be Gore and Feingold....or Gore and Obama.

This Feingold censure legislation is in response to the Republican controlled congress backing down to living up to their duty in regard to the legality of the NSA wiretappings this past week.

Russert had Michael Gordon and General Trainer on who discussed their newly released book called "Cobra II." This book is about the run-up to the invasion and they both said that the Bush administration had failed miserably and ignored many military analyst who let them know that their pre-war analysis looked faulty, and that a General Wallace was almost dismissed for speaking clearly about the serious gaps in the analysis and the lack of resources to secure the peace in Iraq. This sounds like a great book.

On Hardball Howard Fineman stated what I have been thinking for a long time. That Gore will come out of the closet as the time gets closer and run for the Democratic spot. I really believe this is going to happen.

O'REILLY

I THOUGHT THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SOME MISTAKE. I JUST NOW SAW YOUR MEA CULPA.

Right on, Saladin. It does matter what Mr. Corn says. That's why he's careful to avoid a libel suit. Heck, in this day and age?

About the killing of intellectuals in Iraq: This isn't surprising. What happened in Nazi Germany, in revolutionary Russia, here with the Cold War? People literally died under political persecution. As you noted many times, never be afraid.

About voting corruption, you are absolutely right. But then our Congressmen/women shoot down Barak Obama's idea of an ethics committee. (He's the one I'm waiting for to become President.) We've got to do something in the way of making sure corporations/right-wing shenanigans are not intricately involved in the voting machine stuff. This has been noted in the thread before, but it bears repeating.

I was watching Meet the Press this morning. Republican Senator George Allan was admonishing Biden for being pessimistic about Iraq. I wish I could have seen the look on Biden's face when he make that comment. Jeeez. This was just after Biden made some very very heartfelt and critical statements about this administration. I have to give Biden this...he is trying to make the president see a more realistic picture of Iraq. He met with the president and when the president told him the standard war on terror line Biden stopped him. He told the president that if the got rid of all of al Quada Iraq would still be a danger to the peace of the region. We have to be smart about how we do things there from here on in. At least Biden is trying.

George Allan on the other hand....

He talked about putting sanctions on Iran to stop them from having nuclear weapons. Sanctions? Sanctions!
This is from Meet the Press' own network.

Halliburton operates in Iran despite sanctions

How do U.S. contractors legally do business there?

It's just another Halliburton oil and gas operation. The company name is emblazoned everywhere: On trucks, equipment, large storage silos and workers' uniforms.

But this isn't Texas. It's Iran. U.S. companies aren't supposed to do business here.

Yet, in January, Halliburton won a contract to drill at a huge Iranian gas field called Pars, which an Iranian government spokesman said "served the interests" of Iran.
------------------
Sweet. We order sanctions and Halliburton gets all the business.

How does this administration and these republicans really think any diplomacy or pressure is going to work when there is this kind of hypocracy? Seriously, it's time to get real.

Just wanted you to know that I'm signing off for a little while. My 11 year old is sick and I must tend to him. See ya!

#194 Capt.

Before I sign off for a while, I just saw this post. It's a wonder more mom's aren't doing the same. I'm lucky in that my boys are either too old or too young for this unholy crap.

Jeanne, I thought Allen was playing it more neutral than I have ever heard him. When Russert came out that Allen has voted with Bush 96% of the time basically being a "rubber stamp' for anything the Bushco folks wanted. This number will be tough for Allen to ever separate himself from.

I generally like Biden especially during the Bolton and Condaleeza Rice hearings. He hammered both of them with hard driving questions about their pre-war rhetoric and on Boltons involvement with the NSA transcripts demanding that Bolton hand them over. Of course this has still not happenned.

Although Biden on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is far to the right and I really do not like where he stands on Iran. What happenned to diplomacy in regard to our foreign policy. Last week Wesley Clark was on Stephanapolous and he kept hammering a way at the idea the this administration desperately needs to engage in dialogue with Iran not inflammatory rhetoric (Cheney this week at the Aipac conference). Clark kept repeating that the U.S. military is not the way to deal with the middle east.

I switch back and forth during both of these programs.

Kathleen,
I just wrote Feingold and my Senator Dayton (my senator) and told them I was behind the resolution 100%.

Here's the article if anyone is interested.

Feingold Calls for Bush's Censure

In an exclusive interview on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold called on the Senate to publicly admonish President Bush for approving domestic wiretaps on American citizens without first seeking a legally required court order.

"This conduct is right in the strike zone of the concept of high crimes and misdemeanors," said Feingold, D-Wis., a three-term senator and potential presidential contender.

He said President Bush had, "openly and almost thumbing his nose at the American people," continued the NSA domestic wiretap program.

President Bush has long asserted that the so-called 'warrantless wiretaps' are an essential tool in the war on terror.

But in a copy of the censure resolution obtained by ABC News, Feingold asserts the president, "repeatedly misled the public prior to the public disclosure of the National Security Agency surveillance program by indicating his administration was relying on court orders to wiretap suspected terrorists inside the United States."

....Frist called the censure attempt "political" and a "terrible, terrible signal" to enemies of the U.S. abroad. He assured Stephanopoulos that the resolution would never gain traction in the Republican-controlled Senate.
----------------
Ahhh yah, Senator Frist, we know but by voting for it the Democrats can vote how they feel. And we will how how the Repbublicans feel about it. Terrible signal to the enemies? I think the signal is to the American people.

Carey, it doesn't matter who's president. The one in the oval office is a figure head that does what he's told, even clinton admitted as much. And if you stray away from your instructions you get what Kennedy and Wellstone got. You do NOT mess with that mafia, they will blow your head right off. If Feingold IS the real deal, I would avoid flying if I were him.

Thanks Jeanne for posting that...damn it is great to have someone with some back bone and Feingold is consistent too.

One thing Biden said that I was really glad he pointed out was about port security. He said the Democrats voted on issues for port and rail security every year and I think he said it didn't pass. I can tell you from riding a train, there is no security that I could see. These trains run right into the heart of cities.

And port security? He quickly stated things that should be in place by this time. He was furious that nothing had been put in place. No safeguards. And these were basic things. Why haven't they? The administration and the Republicans are only competent in getting what they want for themselves. I get really frustrated with the Democrats but when you are minority as they are in this era it's hard to look good. It has been easy for the Republicans to play with the minds of Americans. They weren't always being honest about how Democrats felt about issues. They used failures of Democrats for their gain and it was disgusting.

If Feingold and Obama are the real deal, I would like them to look into this. These Mossad agents knew what was coming, they were there to film it and then were seen celebrating afterwards. This needs to be declassified and investigated. But I will bet a million dollars they won't touch this subject, not if they want to keep their jobs.

The Five Dancing Israelis
Arrested On 9-11

A Mossad surveillance team made quite a public spectacle of themselves on 9-11.

The men set up cameras by the Hudson River and trained them on the twin towers. (1)

Police received several calls from angry New Jersey residents claiming "middle-eastern" men with a white van were videotaping the disaster with shouts of joy and mockery. (2)

"They were like happy, you know. They didn't look shocked to me" said a witness. (3)

[T]hey were seen by New Jersey residents on Sept. 11 making fun of the World Trade Center ruins and going to extreme lengths to photograph themselves in front of the wreckage. (4)

Witnesses saw them jumping for joy in Liberty State Park after the initial impact (5). Later on, other witnesses saw them celebrating on a roof in Weehawken, and still more witnesses later saw them celebrating with high fives in a Jersey City parking lot. (6)

"It looked like they're hooked in with this. It looked like they knew what was going to happen when they were at Liberty State Park." (7)

Saladin,
All he has to do is make sure he flies with important republicans. He should fly with Cheney a lot. Not with Scooter though. That would be bad.

Jeanne, even if the dems are the minority, the least they could do is go on record as the party that fought this unbendingly every step of the way. But it's really too late for that now, isn't it?

I agree, Sal. They spent too much time trying to save their own hides instead of working on principle. I think many tried to work with the system that was in front of them. It didn't work. They were stupid not to see the neo cons for what they were. Even people like DeLay were stupid not to see how dangerous this group is. Of course DeLay was too busy lining his own pockets. And the neocons took full advantage of this attitude among the Republicans.
If I could see the truth, anybody could and I could see it from way back.

Saladin .. You are right they will not touch this issue. And when I say "real deal" I mean as good as we are going to get in this country.

We can continue to push the MSM to cover these issues and we may see them budge. That four part series that was taken off of Fox in the fall of Sept 2001 about the dancing Israelis, and Amdocs is on Information Clearing house. I still wish a journalist would interview Fox as to who, what , where, why and how they were pressured to remove this from their broadcast and their site,

Do you know if Fox was ever interviewed about this topic?

Telling the 'approved' story
March 7, 2006 01:12 AM / The Rant .

By DOUG THOMPSON

On an unspecified day last week an employee of a federal agency that cannot be revealed delivered a document that cannot be identified to a company that cannot be named seeking information that cannot be discussed.

The aforementioned federal agent left the unidentified document with an employee of the unnamed company. That employee then called the owner, who must remain anonymous, to inform him that the document that could not be identified sought information that could not be discussed. The owner who must remain anonymous instructed the employee to deliver the unidentified document to a lawyer whose name is protected by attorney-client privilege.

The lawyer whose name is protected by attorney-client privilege examined the unidentified document and then reviewed the information that could not be discussed with the owner who must remain anonymous.

With the approval of the owner who must remain anonymous, the lawyer whose name is protected by attorney-client privilege contacted a U.S. attorney who demanded that his identity be concealed.

The U.S. attorney who demanded that his identity be concealed then claimed the owner who must remain anonymous violated a law that could not be disclosed and faced arrest for charges that could not be specified because he had referred to the document that cannot be identified in an article for a certain, but unnamed, web site.

The lawyer whose name is protected by attorney-client privilege argued that his client could not be charged under the undisclosed law because he had been acting as a journalist at the time of the alleged publication and not as the owner of the company that cannot be named. He had, in fact, learned of the existence of the document that cannot be identified from a third-party, who was not named, and was not aware of its exact contents because he had not seen or read the document and, therefore, was not aware of the exact contents that cannot be discussed.

The U.S. attorney who demanded his identity be concealed consulted with others who names are classified and concluded that the owner who must remain anonymous walked a fine line between legal and illegal and would not face arrest for violating a law that could not be disclosed on charges that could not be specified.

So walking this fine line of justice allowed the owner who must remain anonymous to avoid confinement at an institution at an unknown location for an unspecified length of time.

In exchange for his freedom, the owner who must remain anonymous agreed to write a "clarification" of what happened, following the guidelines for publication laid down by the Bush administration.

Which is what you just read.

Copyright 2006 by Capitol Hill Blue

2006 11:47 AM

Kathleen, I think you know who pressured them. And any politician that is more concerned with his career than the destruction of this country can kiss my ass. I am sick to death of voting for the lesser of the evils.

Saladin "I am sick to death of voting for the lesser of the evils"....so what do you do?

Kathleen, you tell me. I have no idea what, if anything, can possibly stop what is coming. We seem to be at the mercy of career politicians that bow to the slightest pressure from AIPAC, are bound and determined to have all out armegeddon in the middle east, while decimating the economy of this country. So give me some ideas, I'm all ears. There have been thousands of brave and determined people like you through the years that have tirelessly worked towards making this country a better place, and look where we are. I am by no means belittling your efforts, I in fact commend them, nevertheless, here we are, on the brink of destruction, and who's going to help?

If there is not a shift after the aipac trial and after the 2006 election...I am running. ( I am 54 have put three kids through college and feel I have done my best to be a vigilant citizen for the last 40 years). I am in the process of saling my property here in southeastern OHio and headed to Costa Rica or Nicaraugua ( land is cheap). I am truely tired of trying. Although will continue to push until then. Working for Strickland..etc. etc..

Will be leaving it up to the folks who voted for Nader in 2000 (those that I had endlessly tried talk out of voting for Nader). Those that said that there was no difference between the Democratic and the Republican Parties. Now they get to see the difference first hand.

Have finally accepted the "Love it or leave it" challenge

By Helen Thomas
The Nation

Friday 10 March 2006

Of all the unhappy trends I have witnessed - conservative swings on television networks, dwindling newspaper circulation, the jailing of reporters and "spin" - nothing is more troubling to me than the obsequious press during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. They lapped up everything the Pentagon and White House could dish out - no questions asked.

Reporters and editors like to think of themselves as watchdogs for the public good. But in recent years both individual reporters and their ever-growing corporate ownership have defaulted on that role. Ted Stannard, an academic and former UPI correspondent, put it this way: "When watchdogs, bird dogs, and bull dogs morph into lap dogs, lazy dogs, or yellow dogs, the nation is in trouble."

The naive complicity of the press and the government was never more pronounced than in the prelude to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The media became an echo chamber for White House pronouncements. One example: At President Bush's March 6, 2003, news conference, in which he made it eminently clear that the United States was going to war, one reporter pleased the "born again" Bush when she asked him if he prayed about going to war. And so it went.

After all, two of the nation's most prestigious newspapers, the New York Times and the Washington Post, had kept up a drumbeat for war with Iraq to bring down Dictator Saddam Hussein. They accepted almost unquestioningly the bogus evidence of weapons of mass destruction, the dubious White House rationale that proved to be so costly on a human scale, not to mention a drain on the Treasury. The Post was much more hawkish than the Times - running many editorials pumping up the need to wage war against the Iraqi dictator - but both newspapers played into the hands of the Administration.

When Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered his ninety-minute "boffo" statement on Saddam's lethal toxic arsenal on February 5, 2003, before the United Nations, the Times said he left "little question that Mr. Hussein had tried hard to conceal" a so-called smoking gun or weapons of mass destruction. After two US special weapons inspection task forces, headed by chief weapons inspector David Kay and later by Charles Duelfer, came up empty in the scouring of Iraq for WMD, did you hear any apologies from the Bush Administration? Of course not. It simply changed its rationale for the war - several times. Nor did the media say much about the failed weapons search. Several newspapers made it a front-page story but only gave it one-day coverage. As for Powell, he simply lost his halo. The newspapers played his back-pedaling inconspicuously on the back pages.

My concern is why the nation's media were so gullible. Did they really think it was all going to be so easy, a "cakewalk," a superpower invading a Third World country? Why did the Washington press corps forgo its traditional skepticism? Why did reporters become cheerleaders for a deceptive Administration? Could it be that no one wanted to stand alone outside Washington's pack journalism?

Tribune Media Services editor Robert Koehler summed it up best. In his August 20, 2004, column in the San Francisco Chronicle Koehler wrote, "Our print media pacesetters, the New York Times, and just the other day, the Washington Post, have searched their souls over the misleading pre-war coverage they foisted on the nation last year, and blurted out qualified Reaganesque mea culpas: 'Mistakes were made.'"

All the blame cannot be laid at the doorstep of the print media. CNN's war correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, was critical of her own network for not asking enough questions about WMD. She attributed it to the competition for ratings with Fox, which had an inside track to top Administration officials.

Despite the apologies of the mainstream press for not having vigilantly questioned evidence of WMD and links to terrorists in the early stages of the war, the newspapers dropped the ball again by ignoring for days a damaging report in the London Times on May 1, 2005. That report revealed the so-called Downing Street memo, the minutes of a high-powered confidential meeting that British Prime Minister Tony Blair held with his top advisers on Bush's forthcoming plans to attack Iraq. At the secret session Richard Dearlove, former head of British intelligence, told Blair that Bush "wanted to remove Saddam Hussein through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

The Downing Street memo was a bombshell when discussed by the bloggers, but the mainstream print media ignored it until it became too embarrassing to suppress any longer. The Post discounted the memo as old news and pointed to reports it had many months before on the buildup to the war. Los Angeles Times editorial page editor Michael Kinsley decided that the classified minutes of the Blair meeting were not a "smoking gun." The New York Times touched on the memo in a dispatch during the last days leading up to the British elections, but put it in the tenth paragraph.

All this took me back to the days immediately following the unraveling of the Watergate scandal. The White House press corps realized it had fallen asleep at the switch - not that all the investigative reporting could have been done by those on the so-called "body watch," which travels everywhere with the President and has no time to dig for facts. But looking back, they knew they had missed many clues on the Watergate scandal and were determined to become much more skeptical of what was being dished out to them at the daily briefings. And, indeed, they were. The White House press room became a lion's den.

By contrast, after the White House lost its credibility in rationalizing the pre-emptive assault on Iraq, the correspondents began to come out of their coma, yet they were still too timid to challenge Administration officials, who were trying to put a good face on a bad situation.

I recall one exchange of mine with press secretary Scott McClellan last May that illustrates the difference, and what I mean by the skeptical reporting during Watergate.

Helen: The other day, in fact this week, you [McClellan] said that we, the United States, are in Afghanistan and Iraq by invitation. Would you like to correct that incredible distortion of American history?

Scott: No. We are ... that's where we are currently.

Helen: In view of your credibility, which is already mired ... how can you say that?

Scott: Helen, I think everyone in this room knows that you're taking that comment out of context. There are two democratically elected governments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Helen: Were we invited into Iraq?

Scott: There are democratically elected governments now in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are there at their invitation. They are sovereign governments, but we are there today.

Helen: You mean, if they asked us out, that we would have left?

Scott: No, Helen, I'm talking about today. We are there at their invitation. They are sovereign governments.

Helen: I'm talking about today, too.

Scott: We are doing all we can to train and equip their security forces so that they can provide their own security as they move forward on a free and democratic future.

Helen: Did we invade those countries?

At that point McClellan called on another reporter.

Those were the days when I longed for ABC-TV's great Sam Donaldson to back up my questions as he always did, and I did the same for him and other daring reporters. Then I realized that the old pros, reporters whom I had known in the past, many of them around during World War II and later the Vietnam War, reporters who had some historical perspective on government deception and folly, were not around anymore.

I honestly believe that if reporters had put the spotlight on the flaws in the Bush Administration's war policies, they could have saved the country the heartache and the losses of American and Iraqi lives.

It is past time for reporters to forget the party line, ask the tough questions and let the chips fall where they may.

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God Bless Sen. Russ Feingold.

I applaud his idea to get the US Senate on record about illegal wiretapping of US citizens. Republicans will be put to the test: Will they stand and be counted be counted as Senators affirming ours, a nation of laws and in so doing risk their political careers? Or will they line up behind King George and vote No to censure in conflict with their responsibility to uphold the constitution? It's a rhetorical question.

Frist may be able to keep it from ever coming up for a vote but the gauntlet has been thrown. Finally, the opposition party is fighting back against King George.

Unfortunetly, the censure bill may never come to the floor for a vote.

You know David,
This guy, Mike that's advertizing on your blog should be paying you. Maybe you should figure out who he is and send him your fee rate.

For all you "shrill" "bush-haters" and that includes you Happy on Sunday! and you too Setting Shrill Bush-haters straight

We should welcome the recent epiphanies by conservative commentators who have finally realized that the Bush administration isn't trustworthy. But we should guard against a conventional wisdom that seems to be taking hold in some quarters, which says there's something praiseworthy about having initially been taken in by Mr. Bush's deceptions, even though the administration's mendacity was obvious from the beginning.

According to this view, if you're a former Bush supporter who now says, as Mr. Bartlett did at the Cato event, that "the administration lies about budget numbers," you're a brave truth-teller. But if you've been saying that since the early days of the Bush administration, you were unpleasantly shrill.

Similarly, if you're a former worshipful admirer of George W. Bush who now says, as Mr. Sullivan did at Cato, that "the people in this administration have no principles," you're taking a courageous stand. If you said the same thing back when Mr. Bush had an 80 percent approval rating, you were blinded by Bush-hatred.

(link)

O'Reilly,
Happy's on a 'spring break'. I thought he was a small business owner...ehem...but maybe he's a professor. Tehee.

The MsM allowed these claims about Irans nuclear development to go unchallenged for the last three years.

We Have No Choice"
Why They Really Think They Must Defeat Iran
By GARY LEUPP

"The problem of the Iranian regime has become entrenched over the course of an entire generation," Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told the House International Relations Committee March 8. "It may require a generational struggle to address it, but we have no choice but to do so." As the International Atomic Energy Agency---heavily pressured by the U.S. to condemn Iran---was meeting to finalize a report to the UN Security Council about the country's nuclear program, Burns (the number three man in the State Department) left little doubt as to Washington's ultimate intentions. "We must defeat Iran in its pursuit of nuclear weapons and its sponsorship of terrorism and its subjugation of the people of Iran."

He might as well have just said, "We must defeat Iran" and left it at that. The nuclear weapons, terrorism and repression issues are all pretexts for regime change, just as they were with Iraq. If Burns were more candid, less Straussian, he might say something like the following:

"The Iranian regime, which emerged after a popular uprising toppled our puppet the Shah in 1979, has been able to survive these many years. That's a damned shame, because from 1953 to 1979 the U.S. called the shots in that populous, petroleum-rich, strategically located country which we'd placed on a par with NATO allies by the 1970s. It was an incalculable loss---we're still not reconciled to it---made all the worse because we couldn't just dismiss it as an anti-American plot by anyone in particular. The uprising was so huge and inclusive, involving the revolutionary left, progressive democrats, various Islamists and pretty much everybody. The fact is, it happened because our Shah had subjugated the people of Iran, just as we accuse the present government of doing, and the people rebelled as subjugated people tend to do.

"What we could do was use the 'hostage crisis' (that occurred after we refused to hand over the Shah for trial) to encourage anti-Iranian feeling and aggressive nationalism here in the U.S. back in the Carter and Reagan years. In a country burned by the Vietnam War and beset by the pacifistic "Vietnam Syndrome," the outpouring of bloodlust was a comforting sign that Americans might once again unite behind a 'good war' against dehumanized others. But the regime became entrenched, despite the Iraqi war of aggression against it in the 1980s---which we supported, of course---and our tireless efforts to undermine it.

"But since 9-11 we've found that we can manipulate public opinion against any Muslim target, by raising fears of terrorist attacks and mushroom clouds over New York. Fortunately, Iran supports Palestinian and Lebanese organizations that we, for our own and Israel's reasons, list as 'terrorist.' Fortunately, many Americans are willing to believe that all the Muslim 'terrorist' groups are somehow linked to those who attacked the U.S. four and a half years ago. They're altogether willing to believe they're all linked---if only through the presence of Evil in the cosmos---to al-Qaeda. So we can tell them that Iran is trying to build nukes, and repeat that again and again. Inclined to believe the worst about Muslims they'll buy our claims. Of course we don't really know what Iran's up to, and the scientists tell us that Iran's years away from the ability to produce nukes. We just assume, anyway, that any government leading a big self-respecting country like Iran---which is surrounded by nuclear China, India, Pakistan, Russia and Israel and targeted for overthrow by our nuclear selves---probably does want to have nuclear weapons someday. So what we need to say is, they're definitely working on nukes, right now, and even though of course an Iran with nukes would no more threaten the U.S. than (say) Pakistan, we can throw down the gauntlet on this issue.

"So when we say 'we have no choice' but to 'address' the 'Iranian problem' and 'defeat it,' we don't really mean we feel any actual necessity to smash Iran to defend the U.S. (We don't even think we need to do it to defend Israel, although of course Iran's a much bigger threat to Israel than to us, and we need to emphasize that issue---as the president has---before some audiences more than others. It gets a bit tricky, because on the one hand you want to gather support from AIPAC and other groups who've been calling the Iranian government an "existential threat" to Israel and desperately promoting a U.S. attack on Iran as the preferred alternative to an Israeli one. On the other, you don't want people saying, 'Bush wants to attack Iran just to help Israel.' You want to kind of downplay that aspect, and if people start playing it up in the wrong way, you need to accuse them of anti-Semitism and make them shut up.)

"The real necessity we feel here, ladies and gentlemen, is the need to compete with other imperialist countries for geopolitical position in this post-Cold War era, especially in this region overflowing with oil. Used to be that if we wanted to attack one of these countries we'd have to deal with the Soviet Union! But here nowadays we have this huge chunk of real estate stretching from Central Asia to the Mediterranean, this slough of nasty Muslim states that's up for grabs. If we control it, through puppet regimes, dot it with military bases, capitalize its development, control the flow of petroleum products from it---well, then, we'll be well-positioned to take on any emerging rivals. We'll have Europe and Japan and China over a barrel. We have no choice but to seize the opportunity to build empire---or risk decline vis-?-vis our friendly and less friendly contenders in what we intend to make the "New American Century."

"Now, we can't put it in those terms for public consumption, because normal Americans don't think empire-building's worth the lives of their kids. But just between you and me, Congressmen and Congresswomen, if we're going to pull this off we have to use 'noble lies' to scare the masses and make them think we must defeat Iran. Any attack on Iran in the near future will be entirely a war of choice. But we must say in public the exact opposite to obtain our goals. We really have no choice but to say we have no choice in order to take advantage of the opportunities."

Gary Leupp is Professor of History at Tufts University, and Adjunct Professor of Comparative Religion. He is the author of Servants, Shophands and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan; Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan; and Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900. He is also a contributor to CounterPunch's merciless chronicle of the wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, Imperial Crusades.

He can be reached at: gleupp@granite.tufts.edu

Yes yes. I remember now. Thx. These weekend threads get a little long in the tooth. Too bad the father of the corn bloggers Mr David doesn't drop in to start a new thread say maybe after the Sunday morning talking head shows. It quieted down after theis morning. I hope everyone's enjoying a day of rest.

Remeber to write and call you representatives in support of Senator Feingold's censure resolution. Let's get behind him.

K, Will Feingold's resolution be offered in the House or the Senate? I think it's the Senate. If so, write your senators.

Banks Fear Minimum Credit Card Payments

NEW YORK - Making the minimum payment on your credit card bill might not be as easy as it used to be - and two of the nation's largest banks say their own finances might suffer as a result.

Both Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that delinquencies and charge-offs might spike in the second half of the year. That's when the banks believe new federal guidelines that require significantly increased monthly minimum payments will begin to hurt customers already struggling to pay bills.
----------------------
The Bush economy hurts doesn't it Citygroup?

firedoglake (link)

You know, I think Feingold is being very smart here. I'm impressed.

He's opening the door to discussion of impeachment but doing it in a way that even Republicans can potentially discuss: censure. Starting out with "censure" is a more effective wedge than "impeachment" is, and it still gets you into the same conversation, reframing the debate the way you want it.

Start with "impeachment," and you could still see some few points of bounce for the president. After all, while under impeachment threats, Clinton's numbers stayed stubbornly high. There was a rally to the president effect, because people saw the impeachment effort as overblown and partisan.

Bush would not be that popular, but you could still see some coming home to him if "impeachment" becomes the agenda, particularly if the public is not prepared for it.

Censure gets you the conversation you want, wedges the other side, keeps our momentum going for '06 and puts us in a better position to arrive at impeachment later if necessary, especially if we gain a majority in either side of the Hill.

I think this is very smart work on Feingold's part. I'm impressed with his ability to mix principle and aggression with canny politics.

South Dakota New State Logo (link).

Kathleen 248, my philosophy is "hope for the best, prepare for the worst." I do recommend that you avoid any country with strings attached to America. I also hope you are skilled in growing your own food, better safe than sorry. Start collecting heirloom seeds now, they're cheap insurance and will always reproduce.

All Aircraft Carriers at Sea?
Source: KSFO
URL Source: http://www.KSFO.com
Published: Mar 11, 2006

I just heard an interview over KSFO in San Francisco. Barbara Simpson was interviewing the captain of the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircrfat carrier currently in the Persian Gulf. The captain said something really disturbing. He said that all of the aircraft carriers not being refurbished are at sea. He also said that has never happened before during his career.

The other day I had an email forwarded from gun purchasers who said that all ammo that fits coomon US military calibers are on back order as the DOD is buying up everything.
--------
Also on this thread;

Another UAE firm provides security for US Navy: report

Published: Saturday, 11 March, 2006, 09:23 AM Doha Time

WASHINGTON: While Dubai Ports World bowed out of running six US port facilities to quell an outcry over security concerns, another Dubai-owned company has since January provided services in 12 US ports and to the US Navy, Time magazine said on its website. The British company Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) was sold in January to a Dubai government investment vehicle for $285mn, Time said. ISS has more than 200 offices around the world, including more than a dozen US port cities including Houston, Miami and New Orleans, where it engages in arranging pilots, tugs, linesmen and stevedores, among other things, said the magazine. The US Navy in June of last year signed a $50mn contract making ISS its Husbanding Agent for vessels in most Southwest Asia ports, including those in the Middle East, said Time quoting from an unclassified Navy logistics manual. As husbanding agent, ISS is responsible for arranging everything from fuel to spare parts to fresh vegetables for vessels at ports of call. More critically, said http://Time.com, they often provide security, like erecting concrete barriers and what the military calls force protection. The company also knows weeks in advance ships schedules. ...
-----------
I had a feeling that whole Dubai thing was a scam, a set-up to allow an even worse scenario.

Valerie's Thinly Veiled Cover?

By Larry Johnson

Well, the theater of the absurd that tries to pass for journalism has gone to new lows with a goofy story in today's Chicago Tribune. The article, Internet Blows CIA Cover
claims, "It's easy to track America's covert operatives. All you need to know is how to navigate the Internet."

Oh really? Okay Mr. Crewdson (the author of this nonsense). Please search the internet and identify 100 CIA officers for me. Go ahead. Give it a shot. Oh, I forgot, first you need a name. You do not just enter a random name and come up with a flashing sign that says, "this guy is CIA". So really what you are saying is that if I tell you someone works for the CIA you can do a search and find out that someone, who is a private consultant, once worked for the U.S. State Department? In other words, you first have to be tipped off to look at a particular person.

Well, Valerie Plame was safe until the White House pointed reporters in her direction. Even if Crewdson's assertion that Valerie's cover was "thin" (it was not), what we know for a fact is that her neighbors did not know she worked for the CIA. Only those who had a need to know knew.

Crewdson insinuates, but doesn't demonstrate, that a simple search of the internet enables one to easily identify CIA employees. The true story is more complicated. Crewdson's searches were conducted after the names of individuals and companies appeared in the news. He searched on those names and found links to the U.S. Government. Nowhere on the internet will you find a list of undercover folks that says, "they really work for the CIA". Crewdson is right about one point, the CIA has done a lousy job of developing effective cover positions. But that is a failure of leaders like Tenet rather than officers, such as Valerie Plame.

....There is no such thing as ironclad cover. Whether Valerie Plame's cover was thin or deep, the basic fact remains--she was an undercover intelligence officer and expected senior government officials to protect this secret. Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, and Dick Cheney, who learned that she was a CIA officer, were obligated to protect that secret. Instead, they betrayed Valerie and helped destroy an intelligence network that was devoted to trying to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. That's the real story that true Americans should be fretting over.

Greetings from mid Michigan! Spring has just about sprung. I've several signs to report. (sorry for the mundane, non-political stuff, but we here in the frigid north get excited over spring. Temps were near 60° and people were outside doing all kinds of things)

1) I spotted Sandhill cranes in a field Feb. 20
2) I had red-winged black birds and robins on the lawns March 8
3) I have some bulbs coming up
4) Flies have been buzzing around
5) AND TODAY I HEARD FROGS!!!

All I'm waiting for, besides consistantly moderate weather, are the vulture hawks. But as I see it now, even though colder stuff is coming, SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!!!

note:! A couple years ago we had a cardinal start attacking our picture window. He did it all spring and summer. It was a new window and when I cleaned it in the fall I saw that the bird had actually put a million tiny scratches on the glass! Yikes!

Woke up Saturday morning to find a robin doing the same thing. (hate to say this, but being a girl, I burst into tears....can't let this happen again!)

The point of me telling you this is that I found a cure and I SURE wish I would have thought of it two springs ago. I have a pile of CD/DVDs that are trash. For some reason I save them. I used them the last couple years to cover, with velcro, an electric pipe that goes up the garage. Looks so flashy and cool in certain light. I took the CD/DVDs and string and made a long string of flashy, spinning discs and hung it from the gutter. Mr. Robin is gone! Yeah, baby.

HAPPY SPRING TO ALL OF MY FELLOW CORNBLOGGERS!

The Final Frontier

A little-noticed movement led to a law that bans abortion in South Dakota. How it will play out nationally?

...Shortly after the meeting convened, the 14 task-force members present were handed a 72-page report that was identified as containing the group's final findings. Many of the panel's members, including the four pro-choice participants on hand, had never seen the document before. It was unclear who had written it. The panel adjourned for three hours so that the report could be scrutinized.

What pro-choice members of the task force found in the document alarmed them. The authors of the proposed final report had discounted all scientific evidence and testimony supporting abortion rights. The report described the testimony of one respected pro-choice scientist as "offensive" and "eugenic in nature." By contrast, the most scientifically dubious assertions about abortion, such as that it causes breast cancer, were accepted as established fact. The report even went so far as to denigrate the need for access to abortion in cases of incest, citing evidence that 97 percent of the time such pregnancies result in healthy babies.

The document also laid out 14 legislative proposals intended to stem abortion, such as amending the state constitution to provide full legal rights to fetuses from the moment of conception. But superseding all of these proposed measures was a recommendation that the state enact a total ban on abortions.

When the task-force meeting reconvened, the four pro-choice members present attempted to bring up various objections to the report, but their efforts were repeatedly stifled. "At that point I walked out of the room and said, 'This is a sham, I don't want to be any part of this process,'" recalls Dr. Maria Bell, a Sioux Falls oncologist who was vice chair of the task force. The three other task-force members who supported reproductive rights joined her.

After their departure, the remaining committee members passed a resolution supporting the report with just one dissenting vote.

...Pro-choicers now believe the task force was designed simply to provide a veneer of legitimacy to an attack on abortion rights and sex education that has been building for years. "This is not something that was dreamt up overnight," says Bell. "This is a very organized, very well funded group of individuals that have a lot of political power in our state." An anonymous donor, for instance, has pledged $1 million to pay for any legal challenges to the abortion ban, insuring that South Dakota doesn't have to foot the bill.

........."What they have done is given us the opportunity to run an up-and-up battle before the voters of the state and say, 'Do you really want to endorse this extreme position?'" notes Jim Robinson, a veteran South Dakota Democratic pollster and political consultant. "I think this will happen. There will be an initiative and there will be a battle."
------------------
I agree with Jim Robinson. This is going to open up a can of worms for the right to lifers.

Re Voting:

I have posted before that they will steal the 2006 election. I am sure of it.

However, if we choose not to vote, how will we ever know?

I will not vote for any candidate that is pro-war, pro-death penalty, or anti-choice. I will vote, my ticket might be all for unknowns or libertarian or green party but by stealing elections they do not make our votes null or void they commit a crime.

The only way it is a crime is if we vote and vote in numbers that are undeniable and they are forced to change the numbers (which they will do).

Will it change the outcome? I doubt it but it will change future history by recording for the future that they stole the election.

If we all stayed home they do not have to "steal" anything - we just give it to them and they would get it without committing a crime, and the future will record the glorious victory of lock-step tyranny.

So, from my perspective, to not vote (regardless the outcome) is to give away that which they hope to take away.

IMHO

Vote, vote your mind, vote for the issues, vote for your country. It we do not they do not have to steal anything because we just gave it away.

Now the real question is . . What to do with a neocon super-majority?

capt

Carol,
Get a load of this.

National Weather Service, St. Paul MN

It's good for the grass right? It will soak in gently and provide moisture for the....whatever.

INTERNET BLOWS CIA COVER

Here comes the justification for government censorship of the Internet.

Capt,

You wrote:
"Now the real question is . . What to do with a neocon super-majority?"

I'm picturing a giant rubber band.

James,
Read post #263 for Larry Johnson's critique of that article.

Jeanne #267 - oh, poor Jeanne! We almost moved to MN in the late 70's. The weather changed our minds.

This is a great article.

Everything Must Go

It was always tough to rent a movie at Discount Video. It's about to become impossible.

When Lou Bohl and Chuck Hanson opened Discount Video in 1981 on the corner of 27th Street and Hennepin Avenue, snowstorms were their friends. "People would ski down the middle of Hennepin Avenue, put their skis and poles in the [snow] bank, and come in and get some films and ski back home again," says Hanson. They'd often rent one of the store's 30 VCRs, too, which were too expensive for most people to own. "It was a lot of fun," Hanson adds. "We were very well received. We were immediately known for being careful with what we purchased and what we stocked."

....It wasn't hard to find yourself arguing with the men behind the counter at Discount Video. Bohl and Hanson have long been the kind of tastemakers who make the lads from High Fidelity look like customer-service reps of the month. Renting a movie at Discount could be like trying to check out nuclear secrets from the National Security Archives. There were cards to punch and forms to fill out and then return. For years, Bohl and Hanson stubbornly refused to stock DVDs, as if the format itself were a personal affront. It could be enough sometimes to make you want to hug the anonymous clerks at Blockbuster down the street.

A manager of the Blockbuster down the street, in fact, was a Discount Video member ("because she said there's nothing in her store to watch," Bohl says). So were Louie Anderson, Joel Hodgson, Jason Robards's granddaughter, and hundreds more. Walker Art Center was a client for many years, and likely curated at least a few of their film fests after visiting Discount Video. Catherine Deneuve came by in her limo one day. Billy Joel stopped in to pick up 10 Three Stooges movies.
-------------
On and on it goes with good little stories.

Carol,
I finally found the advantage of having a broken arm. I can't shovel.

I can't stand it. I have to post another little part of the article on the video store. It is priceless.
----
"One Friday night this woman came in. She'd rent three videos and say, 'I pick all the videos, all the time. I don't let Stanley pick the videos.' She'd say this all the time. So this time she says, 'I let my husband pick one tonight.' I picked up one of her films and said, 'Is this the one?' It was A Man of No Importance, starring Albert Finney. She got huffy and walked out."

It will be the duty of the Executive, with sufficient appropriations for the purpose, to prosecute unsparingly all who have been engaged in depriving citizens of the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution: Rutherford B. Hayes - 19th President of the United States

=
"Abolish plutocracy if you would abolish poverty." : Rutherford B. Hayes

=
"He serves his party best who serves the country best." : Rutherford B. Hayes

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

This article is another foolish move on the part of the Christian Right. How does this connect to post #265?

When can druggists refuse to sell the Pill?

For the first time, the Minnesota Legislature is poised to give pharmacists the right to refuse to dispense birth-control pills on moral or religious grounds.

And legislators may have found a way to take that step without the kind of battle that has flared across the country over the issue.

A House committee approved a bill last week that would allow pharmacists to decline to fill prescriptions, but only if patients are assured "timely access" to their medications. Some details of the bill are in flux, but sponsors say it's likely to pass.

"This is an issue that is gaining momentum across the country," said Michael Barrett, a Long Prairie pharmacist who is pushing for the bill.

Barrett added: "I think we need to come up with a compromise."

The question of whether a pharmacist's moral views should ever limit a woman's reproductive rights is provoking national debate. That's partly because of the growing use of emergency contraception commonly called the "morning-after" pill.

....The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, reflecting the consensus of the medical profession, does not consider the drug an abortion pill. Medical groups say the pill, which at times is confused with the abortion pill known as RU-486, cannot end a pregnancy.

...Barrett, who manages a hospital pharmacy, said he was under pressure to stock the morning-after pill, known as Plan B.

"I didn't want to," he said, because he is morally opposed to it. "I believe there are other options. But this doesn't mean a woman shouldn't have access to Plan B. I just shouldn't have to provide it."

Emmer introduced a bill that would have guaranteed pharmacists the right to say no. Meanwhile, an opposing bill, also introduced this session, would have prohibited pharmacists from refusing care.

....Sending women to another store, she said, isn't good enough because many don't have the means to travel. "In rural areas, this can be very serious," Matson said.

But Carpenter said pharmacists rarely refuse to serve customers. State officials have only one complaint on record about a pharmacist refusing service, according to the Minnesota Pharmacy Board.

It was filed last year by Rebecca Polzin of Glencoe, who said a pharmacist at a Pamida Pharmacy refused to fill her prescription for birth-control pills last April. The pharmacy board decided not to take action and the complaint was dismissed. The pharmacy declined a request for comment from the Star Tribune.

Polzin, now 27, said she believes the problem is more common than many realize. "Since this happened I've had a lot of women come up to me ... who have had the same thing happen to them," she said. "A lot of women, I think, are scared or embarrassed or afraid to speak up."
------------------
Ok, let me get this straight. Women in Minnesota...a fairly liberal state, can go into a pharmacy and be told they can't get birth control pills. And the rights to abortion are disappearing in this country. AND these right to lifers don't want to pay for the shelter, food and health insurance for the children they demand come into the world.

Huh...sounds like the right to lifers have control issues. They want to control everyone. Well, it's going to be interesting. There's nothing harder than trying to control an independent woman.

Most Americans Decry South Dakota Abortion Ban

Many adults in the United States believe the South Dakota Legislature was wrong to pass a law that bans abortion in most cases, according to a poll by Opinion Dynamics released by Fox News. 59 per cent of respondents would oppose a similar regulation in their state.

The 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling gave American women the right to an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, and regulated the procedure during the second trimester "in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health." In the third trimester, a state can choose to proscribe abortion, except when necessary "for the preservation of the life or health of the mother."

On Feb. 22, the South Dakota Legislature passed a bill that makes performing an abortion a crime unless the procedure is deemed necessary to save a woman’s life, and makes no exception for cases of incest or rape.

More HERE

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

The nature of fascism is a minority enforcing their twisted view on the majority.

capt

Stolen or given away, same outcome. Is that democracy? Or does the word just make us feel better?

Speaking of democracy

Whenever George W. Bush gets to preaching about the need to spread democracy and freedom around the world, we always listen closely to the list of countries he identifies as bad players. He'll mention North Korea and Iran, Burma and maybe even Zimbabwe. But, for some reason, China fails to make the list.

Of course, China is a major U.S. trading partner. And China is a major military power that the Bush administration wants to keep under control.

But China is something else: a brutal dictatorship that oppresses more people than any of the dictators Bush mentions in his speeches. The human rights, labor rights and civil rights abuses of China have been documented at such great length by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups that it would be comic to suggest otherwise.

Yet China goes unmentioned.

More HERE

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

Democracy enforced at the tip of a gun to any country our trillion dollar military can "cake-walk" into but China is too big? Our misleaders are pathetic.

capt

Revealed: UK develops secret nuclear warhead

by Michael Smith

BRITAIN has been secretly designing a new nuclear warhead in conjunction with the Americans, provoking a legal row over the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The government has been pushing ahead with the programme while claiming that no decision has been made on a successor to Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent. Work on a new weapon by scientists at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire has been under way since Tony Blair was re-elected last May, and is now said to be ahead of similar US research.

The aim is to produce a simpler device using proven components to avoid breaching the ban on nuclear testing. Known as the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), it is being designed so that it can be tested in a laboratory rather than by detonation.

"We've got to build something that we can never test and be absolutely confident that, when we use it, it will work," one senior British source said last week.

The secret programme to build a new warhead in close co-operation with the Americans will spark anger among Labour opponents of any replacement of the Trident programme, which is estimated to have cost nearly 10 billion pounds.

Developing a new weapon would also, according to expert advice from Cherie Booth's Matrix chambers, be a material breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The office of Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, refused to comment on whether it had been asked for legal advice by No 10.

Both Labour backbenchers and the Liberal Democrats accused the government of introducing a replacement nuclear weapon by the back door without a parliamentary debate.
-------------------
This neocon group uses the back door a lot. I think we need to slam it shut and turn the dead bolt on it.

One of these days peace is going to break out and these military industrial war profiteers will have to find a new way to sell death and misery.

Someday.

capt

Louisiana Selects SGI For Storm Modeling And Visualization

To enable a wide range of scientific discovery efforts, including storm surge mapping of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana State University (LSU), in August 2005, installed a powerful combination of technology from Silicon Graphics for its Center for Computation & Technology.

Purchased through James River Technical the Silicon Graphics Prism Extreme visualization system and SGI Visual Area Networking (VAN) technology with SGI OpenGL Vizserver software will also add real-time 3D collaborative visualization to the emerging statewide 40Gb optical network called LONI (Louisiana Optical Network Initiative).

LONI, which is connected to the National LambdaRail (NLR), a nationwide optical network infrastructure, will directly link the Silicon Graphics Prism visualization system at LSU with eight Louisiana schools including Tulane and Xavier Universities, and other smaller universities. The SGI technology purchase was made possible by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The Silicon Graphics Prism visualization system, called "Santaka," after a spicy Louisiana pepper, and SGI Vizserver technology join a 1,024-processor Linux cluster and other similar clusters in LSU's High Performance Computing group, a joint partnership between the Center for Computation & Technology (CCT) and Information Technology Services (ITS), on the main campus in Baton Rogue. When considering the advent of LONI, and the growing computational demands in many fields, especially biology, biochemistry, computational chemistry, physics, and computational fluid dynamics, LSU's Director of High Performance Computing (HPC) decided the time was right to bring in another system and architecture.

"After initially considering several other systems and the SGI Altix servers, I met with others in the research community here on campus to discuss their requirements," said Brian Ropers-Huilman, Director of HPC, LSU. "I had quotes from several vendors, we discussed it openly, and in the end there was much more interest in the Altix, in terms of it having a shared-memory system rather than distributed memory like our clusters. With the size of our datasets rapidly growing, everyone believed that having substantial shared memory would enable us to conduct more and better research in less time. People were also quite interested in the visualization and graphics capability that came with the name SGI. That took us down the Silicon Graphics Prism visualization path, which was extremely appealing."

More HERE

I found this article on the Chinese - US connection. US-Chinese trade's early promoter was the govenor of MN Rudy Perpich sor there are people here who are quite knowledgeable on the subject.

Anyway this article is an interesting overview.

China: An expert's take

Richard Bohr's ties to China are well established. From 1980 to 1987, he was director of the Midwest China Center, a position that allowed him to travel on Gov. Rudy Perpich's 1983 trade mission to China - Minnesota's first trade mission there.

From 1987 to 1991, Bohr was director of the Minnesota Trade Office. Since 1994, Richard Bohr has been a history professor and director of Asian studies at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University.

Bohr recently offered some observations in a Times interview:
-------------
He talks about the relationship between the two countries and the human rights issues.

Dash to Baghdad Left Top U.S. Generals Divided

Published: March 13, 2006
The war was barely a week old when Gen. Tommy R. Franks threatened to fire the Army's field commander.

From the first days of the invasion in March 2003, American forces had tangled with fanatical Saddam Fedayeen paramilitary fighters. Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace, who was leading the Army's V Corps toward Baghdad, had told two reporters that his soldiers needed to delay their advance on the Iraqi capital to suppress the Fedayeen threat in the rear.

The firing was averted after General McKiernan flew to meet General Franks. But the episode revealed the deep disagreements within the United States high command about the Iraqi military threat and what would be required to defeat it.

The dispute, related by military officers in interviews, had lasting consequences. The unexpected tenacity of the Fedayeen in the battles for Nasiriya, Samawa, Najaf and other towns on the road to Baghdad was an early indication that the adversary was not merely Saddam Hussein's vaunted Republican Guard.

The paramilitary Fedayeen were numerous, well-armed, dispersed throughout the country, and seemingly determined to fight to the death. But while many officers in the field assessed the Fedayeen as a dogged foe, General Franks and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld saw them as little more than speed bumps on the way to Baghdad. Three years later, Iraq has yet to be subdued. Many of the issues that have haunted the Bush administration about the war — the failure to foresee a potential insurgency and to send sufficient troops to stabilize the country after Saddam Hussein's government was toppled — were foreshadowed early in the conflict. How some of the crucial decisions were made, the behind-the-scenes debate about them and early cautions about a sustained threat have not been previously known.
more
========================
and there you go... chickenhawks who never fought in a war, directing the generals to fight it their way... here's where it went bad for them right from the beginning.

#284
It's like letting children drive.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/12/AR2006031200934.html

Monday, March 13, 2006; Page A13

The Pulitzer Prizes will be announced next month. The next most esteemed prize is the National Security Archive's Rosemary Award, to be announced today to kick off "Sunshine Week," so designated by advocates for more government openness.

The Rosemary honors President Richard M. Nixon 's secretary, Rose Mary Woods , whose contortionist stretch at her desk caused her to "accidentally" erase 18 1/2 minutes of the tape of a key Watergate conversation.

And the winner of the hotly contested second annual Rosemary? The Central Intelligence Agency, which archive director Thomas S. Blanton hailed for "the most dramatic one-year drop-off in professionalism and responsiveness to the public" in 20 years of monitoring compliance the Freedom of Information Act. The CIA's "performance markers that clinched the 2006 Rosemary," he said, include:

· Although the agency handles only 0.08 percent of FOIA requests of federal information, it has four of the 10 oldest pending requests. Some are so old they could get drivers' licenses.

· After stalling for 15 years on a request from a small Pennsylvania newspaper for records on a convicted arms dealer with ties to the intelligence community, the agency responded last year that it had "no records" on the matter.

· "More creatively," the archive said, the CIA said it could "neither confirm nor deny" the existence of records on the relationship between Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden , even though hundreds of such documents have been released by other agencies.

Last year's winner, the U.S. Air Force, was defeated this year in the Rosemary race because it hired new senior staff, reached out to people seeking information and began to clear up its backlog.
====================
This is in a part they call "In The Loop", so there's 2 other subjects too. Bottom one is interesting... the Labor Dept. has a new website monitoring and making labor unions look bad.

*my bad, try this link

Who Gets the Not-So-Coveted Rosemary?

awww, them poor guys
*dabs eyes*

Senior White House Staff May Be Wearing Down

Monday, March 13, 2006; Page A04

Andrew H. Card Jr. wakes at 4:20 in the morning, shows up at the White House an hour or so later, convenes his senior staff at 7:30 and then proceeds to a blur of other meetings that do not let up until long after the sun sets. He gets home at 9 or 10 at night and sometimes fields phone calls until 11 p.m. Then he gets up and does it all over again.

Of all the reasons that President Bush is in trouble these days, not to be overlooked are inadequate REM cycles. Like chief of staff Card, many of the president's top aides have been by his side nonstop for more than five years, not including the first campaign, recount and transition. This is a White House, according to insiders, that is physically and emotionally exhausted, battered by scandal and drained by political setbacks.
=========================
Whataya say we give 'em a break and quit making their life so hard? haha

Another conservative to add to the list of people jumping overboard on this idiot preznit.

He's a right-wing ideologue, not a true conservative

By Jeffrey Hart, JEFFREY HART is a professor of English (emeritus) at Dartmouth College, a former speechwriter for presidents Reagan and Nixon and, most recently, the author of "The Making of the American Conservative"

WILLIAM F. Buckley Jr. has defined conservatism as "the politics of reality." Ideology is the enemy of conservatism because it edits, omits or ignores reality. George W. Bush is an ideologue.

Iraq is commonly said to be the centerpiece of Bush's presidency. The United States invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein supposedly possessed weapons of mass destruction. But nearly three years after the invasion, no such weapons have been found. And evidence is mounting that the intelligence used to bolster the claims for Iraq's WMD was cherry-picked, politically pressured and, to use intelligence expert Thomas Powers' word, "fabricated."

(snip)

Bush is not a conservative. He has bushwhacked the term. He is a right-wing ideologue.

Bush Censure.

What do you think?

corky, I'm not even sure what that is supposed to accomplish. Is that like a slap on the wrist?

Defense Department studies say that 75 percent of all potential recruits are unfit for service.

Of some 32 million Americans now in this group,(prime recruiting age group of 17 to 24) the Army deems the vast majority too obese, too uneducated, too flawed in some way, according to its estimates for the current budget year.

--- Elections Web Mail wrote:

> Subject: RE: Reverse your decision to certify
> Diebold machines
> Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 15:31:59 -0800
> From: "Elections Web Mail"
> To:
>
> Thank you for your e-mail regarding Diebold's OS and
> TSX equipment and its certification with conditions
> for the 2006 elections.
>
> Secretary McPherson shares your concern that we have
> only the most secure, reliable voting systems, and
> he is committed to ensuring the accuracy and
> integrity of every vote cast. That is why he has
> established the most stringent requirements for
> voting systems in the nation.
>
> The recent Diebold certification decision comes
> after the touch screen and optical scan systems have
> met the most rigorous federal and state standards.
> In addition, both the independent panel of experts
> from the University of California and the
> federally-approved Independent Testing Authorities
> have indicated that the Diebold AccuVote Optical
> Scan and the AccuVote TSX systems can safely be used
> for our elections, with the additional security and
> use procedures we have in place in California.
> These stringent use procedures and security measures
> include requirements that the elections official
> reset the encryption key prior to programming any
> units; that each memory card have a permanent serial
> number assigned to it and be programmed in a secured
> facility under the supervision of the registrar of
> voters/registrar of voter's staff; and that each
> unit be sealed with a serialized, tamper-evident
> seal. These security measures must be in place
> before the June 2006 election. For a more complete
> list of these enhanced security and use
> requirements, please visit our website at
>
>
> Secretary McPherson has established clearly
> articulated expectations and standards required of
> voting systems and their vendors so that all who
> wish to be considered for use in California now
> know, for the first time, exactly what will be
> expected of them.
>
> The Secretary remains committed to ensuring the
> reliability and accuracy of every vote, and that is
> precisely why he has set such high performance
> criteria to ensure that the integrity of the vote
> has been protected. With these qualifications for
> our voting systems, we believe voters can have
> confidence in the electoral process and the
> equipment used to capture their votes.
>
> Thank you again for your feedback and for taking the
> time to share your thoughts.
>
> Sincerely,
> Elections Web Mail Representative
>

Hope ya'all had yer boots on for the previous post. Does'nt look like things are going to change in CA real soon.

There was a website ommitted from the post above for this joker: where you too can voice your disgust.

Hey Jeanne, since you're not using it can I borrow your snow shovel? see I have this problem.

Rove Says Troops Will Remain In Iraq
Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version

President Bush's top political adviser says the administration will not pull American troops out of Iraq until victory is won.

Karl Rove made the comment Saturday at Bowling Green State University. He spoke at a Republican fundraiser hosted by Representative Paul Gillmore, from northwest Ohio.

Rove says abandoning Iraq now would signal to US allies that America can't be trusted.

He says he came to Ohio to thank volunteers and local politicians who helped put Bush back in the White House two years ago.

Ohio will be crucial again to Republicans in the 2008 presidential election.

No Republican has won the presidency without carrying the state.

Rove says a key issue in this year's midterm elections will be campaigning against Democrats who voted against the Patriot Act.

America can't be trusted? Has that idiot been living on the moon?

Sal, maybe you should get the latest miracle drug to alieviate those nasty cynical symptoms. Just what the doctor ordered. Substitute Administration for big Pharma and your in!

DEN, all my posts yesterday were the result of all the sword rattling against Iran, and the BS Israel keeps getting away with. I was SO pissed and having a less then pleasant day! Check out this link, a bit of helpful advice in case we need it.

MARTIAL LAW SURVIVAL GUIDE

Rule #1

Never take the government's word at face value-except when they tell you that they'll kill you.

...The criminals that've systematically taken over YOUR government they've removed the last vestiges of Constitutional law. Now it's law by the barrels of their assault rifles in your face-do ANYTHING other than obey in utter fear and you're dead. Or worse. You listened to their lies for over a century, you and your ancestors-where has it gotten you? Don't take their word on any "news" they have. Nor take their advice, their "assistance" their laws at face value because they manipulate everything they do to screw you.

What you can take their word on is, if you DON'T go along with them screwing you, they'll kill you for it.

DEN 299, funny!

Ahhhh...happiness is having a 12 inch snowfall and not having to shovel. High school cancelled. College cancelled. Two able bodied children. I watch from the window. The snow plow goes by dumping another fifteen into the driveway and they both look up in dispair. Picture windows are great.

I have shoveled many a driveway. They will survive.

Sal, No shortage of cowering snitches around here, the highest per capita republican district ruled by abramoff parrot, j.dolittle.

MEMBERS OF THE 911 COMMISSION BRIBED?

New Delhi, March 12: The Pakistan foreign office had paid tens of thousands of dollars to lobbyists in the US to get anti-Pakistan references dropped from the 9/11 inquiry commission report, The Friday Times has claimed.

It claimed that some of the commission members were also bribed to prevent them from including damaging information about Pakistan.

“The disclosure sheds doubt on the integrity and honesty of the members of the 9/11 inquiry commission and, above all, the authenticity of the information in their final report,” it said.

The report quoted an officer as saying that dramatic changes were made in the final draft of the inquiry commission after the lobbyists got to work. The panel was formed to probe the September 11 terror attack and make suggestions to fight terrorism.

FREE OIL!! bring your own bucket though. Here.