oh yeah, we'll pick up the slack. haha Have a safe trip Mr. C.

All the links to WTC 7 are either old, or ya gotta buy 'em for $4. FuhQ NYTimes.

large pdf file seen as an html file

Sal, I can't copy 'n paste off this one, but in section L-3 (ya gotta scroll down some), it talks about the Con Ed station below 7. I'll type some of the pertinent info.

Lateral loads from WTC 7 were passed directly from the core above to the Con Ed braced frame below. There were also two moment frames within the sub-station oriented in the north-south direction, one on each end of the WTC 7 core.

The WTC 7 columns, which were in the perimeter of the sub-station, were supported by the sub-station columns. During construction of WTC 7, heavy plates were welded to the tops of the existing sub-station columns, which then received the new building columns.

That is your 'scaffold' on which 7 was built.

Get to work cornbloggers and pick up the slack!

Revenege of a War Skeptic

The urgency to attack and disarm Iraq, rather than corral them with other measures, was driven by the administration's belief that;
-Iraq possessed WMD, that
-Iraq had a relationship with Al Qaeda, and that
-Iraq might give WMD to terrorists, which in turn would use them against the United States.

In short, the urgency was driven by the threat of WMD attack on the USA by armed terrorists. All of the other reasons to start a war in Iraq, while potentially valid reasons, were not part of the argument that compelled immediate response.

Moreover, the issue of proof - demonstrable evidence - of WMDs in Iraq was dismissed by the consequences of not acting: "We don't want the smoking gun to come in the form of a mushroom cloud." In spite of all its arguments to convince the UN and the American people, the administration knew it did not have demonstrable evidence of WMDs in Iraq. Nonetheless, they proceeded with a pre-emptive, which is to say UNPROVOKED, war. Just think about that for a moment.

It can be argued (by Bush apologists) that the intelligence on WMD in Iraq was incorrect but not manipulated by administration officials. Unless and until Senator Roberts allows the completion of Phase 2 of the Senate Intelligence Committee?s report on the use of intelligence in the run up to the war, we will not know if intelligence was manipulated (reads falsified) or cherry-picked (means the "threat" was overstated.)

Nonetheless, senior officials including the President, the Vice President, and the National Security Advisor repeatedly and aggressively asserted the threat and did so without voicing any reservation. What is even harder to defend is the administration's claim of an Iraq/Al Qaeda strategic alliance. WMD intelligence aside, the Iraq alliance with Al Qaeda is a fabrication. It stands as evidence of Bush's intent to defraud Congress and the American people. George Bush got his war in Iraq and now he must pay the consequences for it.

Hello Mr. Corn,
If Mr. Lowry had obtained a worthwhile education, he would know that when you attack the person, and not the argument, it is a concession of defeat. The hallmark of the Bush administration and the pro-war junta are the overwhelming amount of Bible college and fifth tier universtiy degrees. In the academic world, a Bible college degree worth less than a GED.

I am no fan of Rich Lowry's politics nor his swipes at David Corn but the irony of you defaming Lowry's undergraduate school - The University of Virginia - is not lost on me. Perhaps you meant to signal a second topic and forgot to initiate a new paragraph.

Forget about what the owner posts let's have every thread be about the beams, the elevators and the missing blueprints.

I used to read this blog daily. Now it is a 911 site?

What a loss.

BB

#7 TRUE PATRIOT and O'Reilly,

Maybe the reference is to: Did they even attend a college? Hard to believe isn't it? The U. of Virginia is a fine school.

What came to my mind is Ken Starr and his masquerade as a professor out here at Pepperdine.

relax skygazer - you guys will all survive the uncomfortable effect of seeing the word 911 once in a while

Anti-war Protests on Yahoo! News Photos http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060318/photos_ts_afp/b6f08ae61f8f41d3a36f4cf38d27ca9b Three years on: the tragedy of the Iraq invasion is that there won't be another Published 03/20/2006 London, UK "FOR SOME REASON, and for a number of years, I have been on the e-mail list for the Stop the War coalition. This is bizarre, though in fairness to them each newsletter explains how I could “unsubscribe” should I wish to. Having never subscribed in the first place, and finding these manic missives entertaining in a macabre sort of way, I have never removed myself from their records. After this column, they might do it for me. Anyway, the latest call to (non) arms arrived last Thursday. It asked: “Where will you be on March 18?” The supermarket would be the truthful answer but not the one that was being solicited. Where they would have prefered me to be was Parliament Square for the demonstration marking the third anniversary of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. The e-mail contained rhetoric that has become familiar, though fatuous. It railed against “lies about weapons of mass destruction”, an “illegal war”, “Abu Ghraib” and the “expropriation of Iraqi resources”. All the words so often employed about Iraq were there, except, of course, “Saddam” and “Hussein”. In any case, the entire episode started in March 2003 was condemned as an “occupation” that has “brought nothing to the Iraqi people except ever increasing death and destruction”. I suppose it depends on how you define “nothing”. If two elections, one constitutional referendum, a free press, an independent judiciary, greater religious liberty, the lifting of economic sanctions, reintegration into the region and the wider international community count for “nothing”, then nothing is a reasonable assessment. As many leaders of the anti-war movement have nothing but contempt ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- for “bourgeois democracy” and hate capitalism and its manifestations, then, for ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- them, “nothing” is entirely accurate. ----------------------------------------------- The rest of us, however, might reach a more rounded conclusion. When told that Iraq has been a “tragedy”, we might agree but not in the way that those who use that term take it. The tragedy is not that troops went into that land in 2003 but that they did not arrive earlier or in larger numbers. For the first tragedy of Iraq is that this is the third and not the seventh anniversary of its liberation. I am not one of those who thinks that it would have been possible for the US to have pressed on to Baghdad in 1991 after expelling Saddam’s conscripts from Kuwait. The older President Bush opted to take the “UN route” and was thus shackled by its limited mandate. What should have happened, though, was a showdown in March 1999, four months after the Iraqi dictator expelled UN weapons inspectors. This was the umpteenth violation of the terms under which he had earlier sued for peace and more than enough justification to remove him from power, irrespective of whether France, Germany or Russia had scant enthusiasm for the venture. If America and Britain had acted then, life would have been considerably easier. Delay after that point meant that it could always be asked “why now?” by opponents of intervention. As it was, Bill Clinton, handcuffed by the manner in which he avoided the conflict in Vietnam and shamed by the exposure of his exploits with Monica Lewinsky, could no more launch an assault on Iraq than he might claim membership of the American Celibacy Association. The second tragedy lies in the miscalculations made about weapons of mass destruction. It should be acknowledged that these mistakes did not rest with the CIA or MI6 alone; every leading intelligence agency believed that Saddam had or was close to securing a biological, chemical or nuclear capacity and that he was inclined to deploy it. We now know that the senior ranks of Iraq’s armed forces assumed that there was an advanced WMD programme and were astonished to discover on the eve of war that none was available. The tragedy of what went wrong in Iraq, therefore, is that the failure to locate WMD has made action against Iran or North Korea far harder to advance to Western public opinion. This would have been true even if Iraq, post invasion, was now a land of peace and plenty. The final tragedy is that while many will prosper within Iraq over the next three years, the price of inept peacetime policies between 2003 and 2005 is that there will be no more Iraqs in the foreseeable future. To that extent, the Stop the War coalition, assisted, ironically, by the Pentagon, will be satisfied. And what does this mean in practice? It means no more sadistic totalitarian dictators removed from office. It means no more free and fair elections for those who have never had them. It means no more openings for civic and religious liberty. It means no more chances of a cultural reawakening. Democracy might well progress in parts of the Middle East but, alas, mostly in the states that were most benign to begin with. There is little reason to suppose that the ruling elites in Damascus, Tehran or Tripoli have the cause for fear that they must have briefly felt three years ago. Nor have the people under their yoke any reason for optimism that they might yet escape servitude. It has become fashionable in certain American neo-conservative circles to declare that Iraq has been “lost” and to wash their hands of the enterprise. Personally, I have never been part of that fraternity. It seems to me that their logic is dubious. Iraq has not been “lost”, there is still a reasonable chance that by the actual seventh anniversary of the incursion the vast majority of people there will be more content than at any time in their history. It is the enslaved Middle East beyond Iraq that has been “lost” and thus remains an intense threat to our security. “What were you doing on March 18?” Lamenting what could and should but did not occur. "

Everything that has happened in Iraq is part of President Bush's secret plan for winning the war.

Mr. HA why would you assume I am not in complete agreement with you? This used to be a political discussion blog, seems like you and Alan have an ongoing discussion that it totally off topic, why not exchange email addresses and save the rest of us from Alan's lack of concern for the truth.

With all due respect this makes three threads in a row? All 911 all the time. You are losing those who are in agreement with you. It is like whipping a dead horse. Alan is not going to listen to anything you say. When is enough too much?

BB

"One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed. . . . And the administration has, now, to cope with failure."
william f. buckley -
_____________

so how will bushco cope with 'failure in Iraq'?
probably by increasing the war budget for their 'defense' contractor pals - maybe they'll concentrate most of the forces near the border with Iran so that after they bomb the tar out of Iran they can just swoop in and occupy Iran's oil fields since 90% of them are located right there next to Iraq. - and who's to say that the american objective in Iraq has failed anyway? it's just a matter of perspective -I saw on TV no less, that the 'war on terror' is now costing over $9 BILLION every month! - doesn't really sound like a failure to the 'defense' contractors I bet!

skygazer - point taken

IT COULD GET WORSE FOR BUSH

Is there any word to describe George W. Bush...other than "failure"?

9-11 happened on his watch...a failure.

His ability to preserve the most cherished Republican values (fiscal responsibility, limited government)....a total failure.

Can anyone look at the totality of the last three years in Iraq, and come up with any other adjective than "failure"?

Think about this....what if the South Dakota abortion law hits the Supreme Court, and Alito and Roberts vote as O'Connor did (Bob is expecting Roberts to, but what if both do)? You might see Bush's approval ratings in the 20% range at the end of his term. Bush's most undying supporters are pro-life people. What if he failed to deliver for them, too? Who will he have not failed?

Bob

"As I noted on this blog in response to Lowry's reply to me, I had indeed expressed delight at Saddam's capture and had called Iraqi elections a positive and encouraging development. "

Please stop confusing and clouding the issue with facts. Everyone all about with all their facts and knowledge that waste time in solving an issue.

All we need to win this war on terror is kneejerk reactions and pure optimisism and blind faith that we will prevail!

I agree with Skygazer, mainly because I think if the majority of America knew the truth it wouldn't change a damn thing. No one will do anything, jeez, they don't even want to talk about it anymore, it's SO yesterday! On to bigger and more interesting topics, like the latest bush lie and how David was unfairly maligned!
Alan, I'm not going to address this issue with you anymore. If after watching the footage of #7 collapsing in on itself from the top to bottom in 8 seconds is something that in your weird world of physics is due to some faulty bridge construction design, so be it. But I believe my own eyes, not some made up theory that is completely unprovable in the real world. This country is doomed anyway, whether from Arab psychos that hate our freedom or facist NWO psychos that hate out freedom, the end result will be the same.

Jeez whats the problem with discussing 9/11? Its the weekend for christs sake, LIGHTEN UP!

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

Thomas Jefferson

Sal, seems like the PNAC plan has aquired a few chinks in its armor. Consant war is an unaffordable effort, 9B per month. The PNAC poster children are one by one being spanked with reality. I'm not ready to give up yet, not to say things wont change, but for right now there are faint glimmers of hope. This should be a interesting week ahead.

Keep the 9/11 stuff coming! It gets more believable with every lie that slithers from Emperor Bush's lips!

If we had a competent government before 9/11 I believe the attack could have been thwarted.

Karl Rove says the word of the week is:

PROGRESS

Just keep repeating it, over and over again, and it will become reality!

There is no place like home- there is no place like home- there is no place like home-

Now tap your magic ruby slippers together...

Corky, I find it odd that in direct testimony from Norman Mineta who was actually in the underground WH bunker with cheney, he said, "During the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, 'The plane is 50 miles out.' 'The plane is 30 miles out.' And when it got down to 'the plane is 10 miles out,' the young man also said to the Vice President, 'Do the orders still stand?' And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, 'Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?'"
Now, what was that order? And why was the plane allowed to proceed when there was plenty of time to shoot it down? More importantly, why wasn't this question pursued further? It's my understanding that the airspace around the pentagon is some of the most protected in the world, the pentagon has it's own missle defense system that was for some reason disabled. Just one of many, many unanswered questions, that the leaders of our country were not required to answer under oath, or answer at all as far as I know.

P.J O' Donovan,

If Bush is so intent on saving people from oppression, then why does he send all of our jobs and money to China, another brutal dictatorship?

Or holding hands with Prince Bandar (literally) of the Saudi Arabian police state?

Since David is on the subject of Iraq, the fresh words of the Iraqi PM should be a valid Rebuttal, redacted to spare David some $$:

My Vision For Iraq
By Ibrahim al-Jafari
The Washington Post
Monday, March 20, 2006; Page A15

BAGHDAD -- The elections last December in Iraq were a monumental stage in my country's history.... As the wheels of democracy have begun to turn in Iraq,...and I am humbled and honored to ...lead Iraq's first democratically elected full-term government.

My ....first challenge will be to stifle the terrorism...It is paramount that all Iraqis work together to build a democratic, free Iraq.

Since I took office, I have sought to bring every community into the political process. I refused to marginalize the Sunni Arabs after the January 2005 election boycott, ensuring they made up over a fifth of the cabinet.

Sidelining Moqtada al-Sadr's group from the Governing Council was a mistake. Had it been integrated into the political process back then, long before the formation of the Mahdi Army, events would have turned out differently in the south. I corrected this policy and brought Sadr's group into the democratic process. This inclusive approach resulted in the huge nationwide turnout for the December elections and a parliament that truly reflects Iraq.

During my term as elected prime minister, Sadr's group has not attacked any coalition troops. Furthermore, Sadr and several Sunni leaders are now catalysts for maintaining the peace in Iraq, calling on their followers not to retaliate against terrorist provocations, which aim to ignite civil war.

Unfortunately, we have suffered setbacks during the past year....

The long-term solution to this problem will be multifaceted.....

The other major challenge my government will face is reviving Iraq's economy....We must encourage entrepreneurship and enterprise...
...Such steps can be made only by a popular government that has ...the political capital to be able to bring about these necessary changes.

Ultimately, I will work to secure the reality of a democratic, liberal, peaceful Iraq -- a beacon for freedom in the Middle East. This is not merely a wish but an article of faith. Having lived in London for the majority of my years in exile, I appreciate the importance of liberty for both guaranteeing democracy and ensuring human development.

The road ahead will be tough, but the Iraqi people have demonstrated their bravery, determination and resolve. The world should not falter at such a crucial stage in history.

The writer is prime minister of Iraq.

Saladin,

Or how about the fact that the plane headed for the White House "crashed" and nobody was allowed to get anywhere near the wreckage?

Way too many unanswered questions.

Did you hear that the director of "Crash" is planning to make Richard Clarkes book "Against All Enemies" into a movie?

Any body catch MTP with Rep. Murtha? I found one thing interesting, he obviously wants the troops out of Iraq. Most of the show he stated why he thought they should be brought home, among the reasons was the apparent civil war placing more of the troops in unnecessary danger. But the most striking part of the interview was at the end when Tim questioned him about his opinion on the wiretap scandal. He said he did not have enough information to make a judgement. WWWHHHHAAAATTTT! Wait a minute, not enough information? How much information does he need? Bush violated FISA, Bush violated the Constitution, then Bush flipped the nation the BIRD! Ya I did it, so what! This Murtha is a member of the House of Representatives and took an OATH to uphold the Constitution like every other govt. official(elected). Seems strange to me he would be the barking dog on troop withdrawels but ignore what is f**king us up right here in the good ole USA. November cannot get here soon enough for me. Lifer politicians gotta go!

I kinda think the Saddam thing was just a prize thrown to the "crowd" to appease it. I don't think it mattered much if Saddam was ever found as the real reason US went into Iraq had little to do with Saddam's regime (regardless of what was stated publicly).

In fact, modern warfare is resembling Ancient Rome, more and more. With Bush II as a modern "Commodus" who just wants to throw bigger and bigger "games" to keep the populace happy - while the empire continues to decay. Who's going to play the "Gladatior"? Maybe there is no Gladatior in real life. Oh well, better go back to the movies - maybe that's easier to look at than real life.

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST (RESEARCH) PAPERS I HAVE EVER READ ABOUT THE POWER OF ISRAEL'S LOBBY VIA AIPAC/JINSA..ETC. IT IS LONG BUT WORTH TAKING THE TIME TO READ

dated 23 March 2006 | John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt

The Israel Lobby
John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt
For the past several decades, and especially since the Six-Day War in 1967, the centrepiece of US Middle Eastern policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of unwavering support for Israel and the related effort to spread Ԥemocracyՠthroughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardised not only US security but that of much of the rest of the world. This situation has no equal in American political history. Why has the US been willing to set aside its own security and that of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of another state? One might assume that the bond between the two countries was based on shared strategic interests or compelling moral imperatives, but neither explanation can account for the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the US provides.

Instead, the thrust of US policy in the region derives almost entirely from domestic politics, and especially the activities of the ‘âsrael Lobby’Æ Other special-interest groups have managed to skew foreign policy, but no lobby has managed to divert it as far from what the national interest would suggest, while simultaneously convincing Americans that US interests and those of the other country –†in this case, Israel –†are essentially identical.

Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing that given to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct economic and military assistance since 1976, and is the largest recipient in total since World War Two, to the tune of well over $140 billion (in 2004 dollars). Israel receives about $3 billion in direct assistance each year, roughly one-fifth of the foreign aid budget, and worth about $500 a year for every Israeli. This largesse is especially striking since Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to that of South Korea or Spain.

Other recipients get their money in quarterly installments, but Israel receives its entire appropriation at the beginning of each fiscal year and can thus earn interest on it. Most recipients of aid given for military purposes are required to spend all of it in the US, but Israel is allowed to use roughly 25 per cent of its allocation to subsidise its own defence industry. It is the only recipient that does not have to account for how the aid is spent, which makes it virtually impossible to prevent the money from being used for purposes the US opposes, such as building settlements on the West Bank. Moreover, the US has provided Israel with nearly $3 billion to develop weapons systems, and given it access to such top-drawer weaponry as Blackhawk helicopters and F-16 jets. Finally, the US gives Israel access to intelligence it denies to its Nato allies and has turned a blind eye to Israel’≥ acquisition of nuclear weapons.
more at the LONDON BOOK REVIEW.

An uneditd version of this article is at
http//ksgnotes1/harvard.edu/research

John Mearsheimer is the Wendell Harrison Professor of Political Science at Chicago, and the author of The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.

Stephen Walt is the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. His most recent book is Taming American Power: The Global Response to US Primacy.

DEN, they have a line that they are not permitted to cross. They can rabble rouse just enough to keep people at each others throats, but not enough to interfere with the plan. What will be the choice in Nov? I am not holding my breath. If I see anyone standing firm against all the BS going on in this country, I will vote for them, otherwise they can f**k off! (Yes, this is my all or nothing stand!)

From #9
Forget about what the owner posts let's have every thread be about the beams, the elevators and the missing blueprints.

I used to read this blog daily. Now it is a 911 site?
What a loss.

BB
Posted by: Skygazer at March 20, 2006 08:38 AM
=================================================
Skygazer, you are likely a Lefty but I, and our Host David, do appreciate your comments on 9/11 Diversions that are constant annoyances. I made many non-partian & constructive comments exactly along your line but to no avail. Abuse of David's hospitality and $$ is pretty rampant here. As a self-employed, I know what business costs w/out higher offsetting higher revenues is a Loser!

Sometimes, it takes folks of similar mindset to correct each other. We are all much the same and I admit that I'm more inlcined to take advice from GOP than a Dem. Human nature!

Allawi said:

Iraq is in a civil war!

Allawi was the acting PM of Iraq before the Iraqi people voted for a muslim fundimentalist theocratic government.

Happy,

Did you look into joining the Army? I think it may be a more effective use of your time than coming here with your "partian" talking points.

1 800 USA ARMY

"Constructive comments"?

That is funny.

poor happy, he finds some comments here to be an annoyance. What shall we EVER do?

Happy where the hell have you been? We had a spam post of about 2 feet for tickets and sex toys. You went to the market Friday and disappeared. Its your job to hang around and watch the blog right? Talk about a double standard. David, I dont know how much your paying happy but a wage DECREASE is in order. Happy I dont spose you remembered the milk and bread you should have picked up while you were at the Market either. Minimum wage for you pal!

David, Rich Lowry is like the bunglers in the bush regime: He is consistent in his rejection of criticism. You are wrong; he is right. End of discussion. Unless, of course, it is necessary to attack the person, rather than addressing the issue.

The busheviks have no strategy, so they impose their will (and, in some cases, their faith.

REPUBLICAN Senator Chuck Hagel says: "The Generals have told me Iraq is in civil war."

Rare truth from GOP

ABC News went to the set of a new Iraqi sit com to try and cover some of the "progress" in Iraq.
Just like in Vietnam, the administration has been spinning the line that the negative news about the war is all the fault of the press. After setting up for the fluff piece about a happy new Iraqi sit com they were suprised to find out the guy who set up the whole thing had been assasinated that very morning.

PROGRESS

Study: Whining, sniveling, tattletale kids more likely to grow up to be conservatives, Study results.

NEWSFLASH!

President Bush to deliver a major speech about Iraq!

I have managed to get a transcript of part of the speech! Here it is:

Blah blah freedom blah blah progress. Progress blah blah blah, freedom, blah blah progress. Progress progress progress blah freedom blah progress. Its all the medias fault blah blah progress blah freedom. Progress progress freedom progress freedom progress freedom progress progress progress. Cut and run blah freedom progress in the freedom of the progress. The freedom of the cut and run of the progress will be the progress. Blah blah progress. Progress blah freedom fight them there so we dont have to fight them here. Some people say that we should cut and run. Blah blah progress.

The `usual' suspects PLUS Saladin's total surrender!

Happy, did you call the army yet?

Progress. Progress. Progress.

Today in Iraq

No way. The Army is for poor black and Latino kids. I only like talking about how great the war is, not actually fighting in it!

I used to think he lived up to his name, Doolittle has an interesting connection through his wife resulting in a boost in family income, Major pinhead. Unfortunately he is my Rep....... Going bye bye in Nov.

Yellow elephant.

DEN,

That study was so dead on! They are the party of insecurity.

Iraq in civil war, says former PM

Iraq is in the middle of civil war, the country's former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi has told the BBC.

He said Iraq had not got to the point of no return, but if it fell apart sectarianism would spread abroad.

The UK and US have repeatedly denied Iraq is facing a civil war, but Mr Allawi suggested there was no other way to describe the sectarian violence.

More HERE

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

Civil war or not, Bunnypants has made Iraq the biggest GD mess since Vietnam. Maybe worse.

capt

#48 If there is a hell it will look like a giant eternal fire and brimstone GOP fundraising dinner.

Sup capt.!

Progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress progress...

corky, and they call US snivelers, I guess it takes one to know one. Theyre the pros!

When you are stealing, accuse everyone else of being a thief. It is a basic principle of the whole Rovian doublespeak PR strategy.

Regional vultures circling Iraq

If Iraq wasn't on the brink of civil war before last month's bombing of the previously gold-domed Askariya Mosque in Samarra, which is sacred to Shi'ite Muslims, it certainly is now. The attack turned what was a low-intensity sectarian conflict hot, with media reports saying that Baghdad's central morgue alone recorded 1,300 Iraqis dead in four days of reprisal killings after the attack.

That increased violence between Arab Sunnis and Shi'ites has persisted, and fears are growing that civil war could draw Iraq's neighbors further into the conflict, or even spark a wider war. That fear was recently expressed by US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, who warned that if US troops pulled out, a regional conflict could result. Religious extremists could triumph, he said, and use Iraq as a base for expansion, while Persian Gulf oil supplies could be disrupted.

Khalilzad is hardly a disinterested party, so his motives bear scrutiny. But his belated observation that the United States had opened a Pandora's box in Iraq echoed the concerns of those who wanted the Ba'athist lid kept on to begin with.

With the lid nearly off, the incipient civil war is capsizing the failing Iraq project, complicating the formation of a government, turning the armed forces into just another militia, and transforming Iraq into a bigger, meaner version of the Lebanon of 1975-90.

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

Murtha really nailed it when he pointed out the comparison to Vietnam. I think Mr. Corn missed one associated dynamic - that in the minds of the delusional - the media is the problem.

capt

Happy wrote:

>The Army is for poor black and Latino kids.

The most common demographic of military recruits, are kids from rural areas. I don't know if it is still true, but a year or so ago the state with the largest per-capita representation in Iraq was....North Dakota (the least black and Latino state in the union).

I agree that the urban poor are over-represented with regards to the military....but the rural hearland has traditionally been the main source of recruits....farm kids from North Dakota included.

What is missing from the enlisted ranks, are the kids up upper-middle-class families (mine included).

Bob

Task Force 6-26 a highly secretive collection of THUGS to beat the Iraqis into submission, still beating and torturing prisoners. Read here Comprised of American troops, CIA, FBI and whoever else the Pentagon can find willing to bust heads for the good ole USA.

true idiocy!

"We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
--Al Gore, VP

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
--Bill Clinton, President

"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president."
--Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.

"I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix."
--Dan Quayle

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
--Al Gore, Vice President

"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"
--Lee Iacocca

"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people."
--Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instrutor.

War-Loving Pundits

Wrong then, wrong now. Three years in, why does anyone still listen to them?

The third anniversary of the Iraq invasion is bound to attract a lot of media coverage, but scant recognition will go to the pundits who helped to make it all possible.

Continuing with long service to the Bush administration’≥ agenda-setting for war, prominent media commentators were very busy in the weeks before the invasion. At the Washington Post, the op-ed page’≥ fervor hit a new peak on Feb. 6, 2003, the day after Colin Powell’≥ mendacious speech to the U.N. Security Council.

Post columnist Richard Cohen explained that Powell was utterly convincing. "The evidence he presented to the United Nations –†some of it circumstantial, some of it absolutely bone-chilling in its detail –†had to prove to anyone that Iraq not only hasn’¥ accounted for its weapons of mass destruction but without a doubt still retains them," Cohen wrote. "Only a fool –†or possibly a Frenchman –†could conclude otherwise."

Meanwhile, another one of the Post’≥ syndicated savants, Jim Hoagland, led with this declaration: "Colin Powell did more than present the world with a convincing and detailed X-ray of Iraq’≥ secret weapons and terrorism programs yesterday. He also exposed the enduring bad faith of several key members of the U.N. Security Council when it comes to Iraq and its ‘∑eb of lies,’†in Powell’≥ phrase." Hoagland’≥ closing words banished doubt: "To continue to say that the Bush administration has not made its case, you must now believe that Colin Powell lied in the most serious statement he will ever make, or was taken in by manufactured evidence. I don’¥ believe that. Today, neither should you."

More HERE

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

The tincture of insanity is that some people still watch and listen to the sycophantic GOP lapdog lame-stream medium (media implies more than one source).

Cruise around the GNN site if you have not see it before - it is pretty cool.

capt

Bob,
We just lost a cop in St. Paul in Iraq. It has also been forgotten that many of the people serving in Iraq are career people who were deployed. Lawyers, doctors, cops, farmers...
and many of these people have children they are leaving to fight in the war.
It's just a tragedy. For what? A war Bush wanted so that the neocons could control the middle east? How freaking stupid are these people? Most of them have never set foot in the real middle east. Go out to the desert. Go to the ethnic towns. Get out of your 5 star hotels. And what do you discover when you do? You'll never control the middle east.

#61
Oh and a lot of teachers have been deployed. So they are leaving behind entire classrooms of children who worry daily whether their teacher will return.
What a tragedy.

I had a dream:

On Tuesday Karl Rove announced he will be forming a special Army brigade called the "Progress Brigade". In order to relieve thousands of tired National Guardsmen the new unit would begin training for combat operations in the Iraq Civil War. The "Progress Brigade" would be comprised of thousands of wealthy young republicans and members of evangelical churches. "We finally decided that we should take a more active role in the Iraqi Civil War" said Karl Rove "it isnt fair for us to just sit here on the sidelines beating the war drums, we should be over there fighting to fix the mess we made of it". Among the new recruits, the Bush twins started thier first day of basic training yesterday. Jenna is getting pretty good with her new M16. Frat houses in expensive colleges across the nation are empty.
Alcohol sales in college town liqour stores have dropped 120%. Rich stockbrokers everywhere have said farewell to thier multimillion dollar mansions. "I feel alot of responsibilty for what has happened" said a Halliburton executive wearing his new Progress Brigade uniform "I think
we need to show our support for this war in a tangible way."

Then I woke up.

Monday Funny: Donald Rumsfeld is briefing president Bush: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed." "Oh no!" exclaims the president, "that's terrible!" His staff is stunned at this unprecedented display of emotion, watching as Bush sits, head in hands. Finally, he looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"

On Saturday I carried a flag draped 'coffin' down Hollywood Blvd in the L.A. protests...

Wouldn't it be reasonable to draft the enablers of this military disaster into the Congress Brigade?

I wonder how long the Bush admin is going to stick with the 30000 Iraq deaths number?

More Deaths As Iraq War Enters Fourth Year

At least 2,314 U.S. military personnel have died in the war, which is estimated to have cost $200 billion-$250 billion so far. Bush says about 30,000 Iraqis have been killed, while others put the toll far higher

Robert Fisk: 'The farcical end of the American Dream'

"Despite the recent arrest of one of his would-be suicide bombers in Jordan and some top aides in Iraq, insurgency mastermind Abu Musab Zarqawi has eluded capture, US authorities say, because his network has a much better intelligence-gathering operation than they do."

Now quite apart from the fact that many Iraqis - along, I have to admit, with myself - have grave doubts about whether Zarqawi exists, and that al-Qai'da's Zarqawi, if he does exist, does not merit the title of "insurgency mastermind", the words that caught my eye were "US authorities say". And as I read through the report, I note how the Los Angeles Times sources this extraordinary tale. I thought American reporters no longer trusted the US administration, not after the mythical weapons of mass destruction and the equally mythical connections between Saddam and the international crimes against humanity of 11 September 2001. Of course, I was wrong.

Here are the sources - on pages one and 10 for the yarn spun by reporters Josh Meyer and Mark Mazzetti: "US officials said", "said one US Justice Department counter-terrorism official", "Officials ... said", "those officials said", "the officials confirmed", "American officials complained", "the US officials stressed", "US authorities believe", "said one senior US intelligence official", "US officials said", "Jordanian officials ... said" - here, at least is some light relief - "several US officials said", "the US officials said", "American officials said", "officials say", "say US officials", "US officials said", "one US counter-terrorism official said".

I do truly treasure this story. It proves my point that the Los Angeles Times - along with the big east coast dailies - should all be called US OFFICIALS SAY. But it's not just this fawning on political power that makes me despair. Let's move to a more recent example of what I can only call institutionalised racism in American reporting of Iraq. I have to thank reader Andrew Gorman for this gem, a January Associated Press report about the killing of an Iraqi prisoner under interrogation by US Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jnr.

Mr Welshofer, it transpired in court, had stuffed the Iraqi General Abed Hamed Mowhoush head-first into a sleeping bag and sat on his chest, an action which - not surprisingly - caused the general to expire. The military jury ordered - reader, hold your breath - a reprimand for Mr Welshofer, the forfeiting of $6,000 of his salary and confinement to barracks for 60 days. But what caught my eye was the sympathetic detail. Welshofer's wife's Barbara, the AP told us, "testified that she was worried about providing for their three children if her husband was sentenced to prison. 'I love him more for fighting this,' she said, tears welling up in her eyes. 'He's always said that you need to do the right thing, and sometimes the right thing is the hardest thing to do'".

Yes, I guess torture is tough on the torturer. But try this from the same report: "Earlier in the day ... Mr Welshofer fought back tears. 'I deeply apologise if my actions tarnish the soldiers serving in Iraq,' he said."

[...]

Now let's praise the AP. On an equally bright summer's morning in Australia a few days ago I open the Sydney Morning Herald. It tells me, on page six, that the news agency, using the Freedom of Information Act, has forced US authorities to turn over 5,000 pages of transcripts of hearings at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. One of them records the trial of since-released British prisoner Feroz Abbasi, in which Mr Abbasi vainly pleads with his judge, a US air force colonel, to reveal the evidence against him, something he says he has a right to hear under international law.

And here is what the American colonel replied: "Mr Abbasi, your conduct is unacceptable and this is your absolute final warning. I do not care about international law. I do not want to hear the words international law. We are not concerned about international law."

More

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

New Satellite Data On Universe's First Trillionth Second

Scientists peering back to the oldest light in the universe have new evidence for what happened within its first trillionth of a second, when the universe suddenly grew from submicroscopic to astronomical size in far less than a wink of the eye.

Using new data from a NASA satellite, scientists have the best evidence yet to support this scenario, known as "inflation." The evidence, from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite, was gathered during three years of continuous observations of remnant afterglow light -- cosmic background radiation that lingers, much cooled, from the universe's energetic beginnings 13.7 billion years ago.

More HERE

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Interesting article. The graphic is worth a look-see for those interested.

capt

UAE helped families of Palestinian fighters

The United Arab Emirates has given money to families of Palestinian "martyrs" killed or injured in the intifada.

The money to the families of both civilians and militants was provided through the UAE’s Red Crescent Society, The New York Times reported. In at least one case, the money went to the family of a member of Islamic Jihad who was killed in clashes with Israel.

The documents were provided to the Times by Gary Osen, an American lawyer who is working on legal cases for American victims of Palestinian terrorism.

The UAE is a federation of states that includes Dubai, where a government-owned company recently said it would it sell its port-security operations to an American firm following an outcry about allowing a UAE-owned firm to oversee security at U.S. ports.

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Maybe Bunnypants was right? Maybe security of our ports was the last thing on his list of concerns about the UAE?

capt

Amazing, we can seemingly determine the timeline of the universe with increasing precision, but we cannot convince each other about the application of practical physics here on earth...

Corky,

You are in rare form this morning! Thanks for the laughs.

Wasn't Cheney just a peach yesterday--his same old reliance on utter heights of arrogance?

Saladin,

I think we're all coming to grips with the fact that 911 was no accident. It's just hard to fathom this kind of evilness.

War in Iraq marks third anniversary; more than 2,300 U.S. troops killed

On March 19, 2003, the United States began combat operations in Iraq. Since then, at least 2,314 U.S. troops have died and more than 17,000 have been wounded. In addition, 205 allied forces and 125 U.S. civilians have been died in Iraq. Estimates vary widely on the number of Iraqi deaths in that time; President Bush has put the number at 30,000, but researchers and Iraqi officials have offered much higher figures.

Some faces of the fallen

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Look at a handful of the faces. Morn for the loss, grieve for their families, honor their sacrifice and fight like hell to bring our troops home.

capt

Some troops headed back to Iraq are mentally ill

"...The redeployments are legal, and the service members are often eager to go. But veterans groups, lawmakers and mental-health professionals fear that the practice lacks adequate civilian oversight. They also worry that such redeployments are becoming more frequent as multiple combat tours become the norm and traumatized service members are retained out of loyalty or wartime pressures to maintain troop numbers.

Sen. Barbara Boxer hopes to address the controversy through the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health, which is expected to start work next month. The California Democrat wrote the legislation that created the panel. She wants the task force to examine deployment policies and the quality and availability of mental-health care for the military..."

capt, interesting the scientists project a fairly linear expansion outward during the big bang. I always assumed it was omni-directional as most explosions are. Neat stuff.

...regarding rural America
"...Other studies of Iraq war deaths have found that troops who hail from small rural areas are shouldering a heavier burden of war.

An ongoing study by sociologist Robert Cushing for the Austin American-Statesman newspaper, for instance, has found that soldiers and Marines from small, rural areas are dying at disproportionately high rates when compared to those from cities and suburbs...."

"...Small states such as Vermont (roughly 600,000 residents) often have a relatively large number of casualties, said Edward Miguel of the University of California at Berkeley, an economics professor who looked at state-by-state per capita death rates in Iraq for a recent study.

In the per capita death rate analysis, for instance, sparsely populated North Dakota and Wyoming have the second- and third-highest rates behind Vermont...."

Capt...#68

I'm more curious about what happened, just before that trillionth.

"In the beginning was the WORD...and the word was BANG!!!"

-T

#75,

"I always assumed it was omni-directional as most explosions are"

That is what I thought until I saw "Colours of Infinity" on PBS. The Mandelbrot set (fractals) of visual infinity changed the way I think of time. We interpret time in a linear fashion but that is likely the result of our perspective (of self) and the limits of that perception.

"When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about." ~ Albert Einstein, The World as I See It.

capt

Is "singularity" then, just a mathematical term for "God"?

Depends on the singularity or monotheism is dead.

capt, I did a yahoo search and came up with this. Mandelbrot set exploration page. Way cool. Gotta go play.

"It is the theory that decides what we can observe." ~ Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

They say there is no civil war in Iraq.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Iraq -- U.S. News Media's Waterloo

For more than three decades, the U.S. news media has been living off – or living down, depending on your perspective – its Watergate-era reputation of helping to unseat a power-abusing President and exposing a raft of other political scandals.

But the U.S. media’s debacle over Iraq – failing to seriously question George W. Bush’s case for invasion and often acting as pro-war cheerleaders as the casualty lists lengthened – has dealt a death blow to that 30-year-old mythology. The bloody spectacle of Iraq has become the Waterloo of Washington’s "Watergate press corps," its crushing defeat.

Even the nation’s preeminent news outlets, such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, were sucked into the fiasco, shattering the trust that many Americans had placed in their "free press" as a vital check and balance on Executive power.

More HERE

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"The Press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of the government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people." : Justice Hugo L. Black - (1886-1971) US Supreme Court Justice - Source: New York Times v. Unites States (Pentagon Papers) 1971

I bet Hugo is turning in his grave.

capt

"Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity; Im not so sure about the universe."

Einstein

from thinkprogress.org

STEPHANOPOULOS: So we have to start thinking about a staged withdrawal?

CHUCK HAGEL: Well, we always should be thinking about that. But somehow we are going to have to bring into the mix here the obligations, responsibility, not just of the Iraqi people but of the region.

And this mindless kind of banter about, well, if we leave, the whole place falls apart; we can’t leave; we can’t even think about leaving. Wait a minute: You just showed on your screen the cost to the American people of the last three years.

It’s helping bankrupt this country, by the way. We didn’t think about any of that and not just the high cost of lives and the continuation of that but our standing in the world.

And I would define it this way. Are we better off today than we were three years ago? Is the Middle East more stable than it was three years ago? Absolutely not. It’s more unstable.

A little post-lunch indulging/bashing Blade:

From "Still Looking" thread @ #260

...I guess the Happy endorsement makes it official: McCain doesn't have a snowball's chance. That would make Nostradamus 0 for 133 in the prediction / analysis department...

...It takes me on average about 10 minutes to put together a single post....

Carrie needs to defend me...

Posted by: Pandemoniac at March 19, 2006 07:08 PM
==================================================
Where it really, really counts, in electing `your' people, I've lost just thrice, Jimmy in 1976 and Clinton in 1992 & 1996. Care to compare? I believe you have a much shorter record that dates to about the 1994 Dem diseaster. Poor Blade, lifetime loser in politics! Unless, of course, you voted for GOP Texas Senators all these years, or voted for Bush or Rick Perry as Governors...You are certainly the biggest Loser among the Corn Lefties since you are a Texan, ha, ha, ha...And just to rub it in, you will continue to lose in Texas...Oh, Happy thought!

Blade, your reading ability is below par; I clearly said McCain-Rice was my "HOPE", not (yet) a prediction...

As for your "10 minutes per average post", those that believe you are 9' tall will belive you if you said 1 minute. I am no average troll, as you well know. On my 4-page TRIBUTE that so touched me, with tracking down half-a-dozen of my past comments, AND writing the new verbage....10 minutes? Yeah, right!

BTW, I think you are a 5'3" Hispanic midget with a 9' tall ego. Lastly, for my deseert, I ask: If you are such a wiz, you ought to be swamped with venture capital money instead of needing two jobs and needing to buttress your Ego here.

Did you call the Army yet Happy?

"As a self-employed, I know what business costs w/out higher offsetting higher revenues is a Loser!"

Chickenhawk yellow elephant.

Channeling David Corn:

"Skygazer, you are likely a Lefty but I, and our Host David, do appreciate your comments on 9/11 Diversions that are constant annoyances."

during that first trillionth of a second after the big bang, everything was travelling faster than the speed of light! a hell of a wave to surf on, that.

Anybody here love Democrats? Anybody here blindly following "lefty" rhetoric?

Anyone? All I hear are chirping crickets.

I would have to say this group is very critical of the Democratic party. I personally think the Democrats are jellyfish.

No the "lefty librel" label is a dog that won't hunt on this quail farm.

wow, is he only 9' tall? I would've sworn he was 9' 1"!

Since `prediction' was brought up and we are at the 3rd Anniversary of the Iraq War, here are my actual YearEnd 2005 Predictions for 2006, minus some Cornhole bashing:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stock Market: Up, following recent trendline!

Economy: Up

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

Here is wishing ALL a Happy New Year!
=================================================
So far, other than some likely House seat loss due to Jack-gate, an issue that blew open this year, my Preditions are panning out so Far (knock on wood)!

I put my ideas and money on the line all the time! My success speaks for my batting average!

My work here on the cornblog is just too important for me to join the military. Plus I would pee my pants a lot.

My response to post # 95:

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

I really think you should call 1 800 USA ARMY right now Happy. A dose of reality may shake you loose from your downward spiral into madness.

From #88
Did you call the Army yet Happy?

Posted by: corky at March 20, 2006 02:32 PM
=================================================
Corky, I swear that I have tried my best to be gentle to you; especailly knowing yuor mother is watching over you!

I am sorry that you are making less money than ~15 years ago and that you are on the lowest rung when it comes to Corn community here. On the other hand, your behavior on this blog more than justify your current status in life.

I'm no Pat Tillman and I know you know that I am ~50-Yrs old so Armed Forces is not an option. You, however, could use some growing up in the Army along w/better pay, benefits and certainly a better future (than what I could conceivably imagine for you at your current rate).

Tichaba: If I offended you by my adult talk to Corky, my apologies. Kids sometimes don't meet expectations, that's life!

Here's another, for the lack of another word, really, really good insight by hapless. But first this story: Yesterday a man came into the gas-n-sip and ordered three scratch tickets. The hapless store attendant, in an attempt to demonstrate sophistication, quipped "The thrice time is a charm."

"Where it really, really counts, in electing `your' people, I've lost just thrice, Jimmy in 1976 and Clinton in 1992 & 1996. Care to compare?"

I'll translate: Let's compare our votes for president. I voted for Republicans. Democrats won three times. How about you?

Sistani on Homosexuality

Readers have been asking me about the stance of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani regarding homosexuality. I take it they are inquiring about this entry at my colleagues' great Pandagon site.

Let me begin by saying that the charge leveled by some, and mentioned at Pandagon, that Sistani has called for the killing of Sunnis, is completely untrue. The implication given by exiled gay Iraqi, Ali Hili, of the London-based gay human rights group OutRage, that Sistani has called for vigilante killings of gays, is untrue, though it is accurate that Sistani advises that the state make homosexual activity a capital crime; it is also accurate to call this "sick."

In traditional Islam there was no conception of the "homosexual" as a permanent identity or social role. As in ancient Greece, the real distinction in sexuality (as Michel Foucault showed) was between the penetrator and the penetrated. Medieval and early modern Islamdom were like the Greece of Plato. Adult males were the penetrators. In premodern Muslim society, women could be penetrated if they were legally married to the man or if they were his slaves. Likewise, slave-boys (catamites) could be penetrated, although it was typically disapproved of by the Muslim clerics. Exclusive adult male-male sexual relationships are not recorded, and a taste for a slave-boy did not stop a wealthy man from being married or from having liasons with his female slaves, as well. About half the famous love-poems of the medieval Baghdad literary figure, Abu Nuwas, appear to have been addressed to boys.

More HERE

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"Informed Comment" always lives up to the name. I learn stuff from nearly all of Juan Cole's work.

capt

Dont "fees" sorry for me Happy, I can spell. I wonder how you can manage your vast financial empire with third grade level grammar.

"I am ~50-Yrs old"

Alzheimer's?

I'm fees tired of Hapless. How about you?

STOCKS STRUGGLE

I was talking to one of my co workers yesterday. He told me how he bought into that whole "ownership society" bullshit and invested a few thousand into a mutual fund a few years back.
Sadly, he lost money on the deal.

Wow, so sad when a person substitues financial success for being a person of value.

Happy, the Army Reserve will be "happy" to have you at 50! They are recalling people into active duty after being out of the military for decades!

You CAN be all that you can be Happy!

1 800 USA ARMY!

V for Vendetta

Britain's near future features a Fox/Sky News type propaganda news network called "British Television Network." Its major racist, right-wing blatherer also happens to enjoy romping around in a specially-built shower in his office (hmmm... I wonder who that might really be?). There is also the bald, pudgy, and thoroughly revolting top assistant and chief dirty tricks operative to the fascist High Chancellor (hmmm...again, I wonder who that could be?). And then there is the English Bishop who happens to like little girls (well, that could be any of our so-called "moral majority" religious leaders, except in some cases, little boys could be substituted for little girls).

In the end, all these fiends are eliminated, one by one, by our man "V." And this is what probably, more than anything else, has the right-wing defecating in their pants. They know that one day they will face a reckoning for the damage they've done to the United States, to Iraq, to the United Nations process and international law, and to peoples and nations around the world. And that reckoning will be far from a slap on the wrists and the right-wing is beginning to wake up to that fact. Some on the right now understand they overplayed their hand and are trying to change their spots.

The left has always been tolerant to a point. But pushed against the wall, the progressives of the world have always discovered how to treat their vanquished enemies -- just look at what happened to Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Pierre Laval, Vidkun Quisling, and other fascist leaders of the 20th century.

V has one bit of advice that is already echoing around the Internet: "People shouldn't be afraid of their government, government should be afraid of their people."

More HERE

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WMR - Always good and interesting!

capt

capt.

I am gonna go see it right now!

So far, other than some likely House seat loss due to Jack-gate, an issue that blew open this year, my Preditions are panning out so Far...? Mr. Happy

Iraq: Against the usual pessimism of the Left and lowered expectations of the Right, Iraq `outperforms’†when the Sunnis and Shiites come together. Resulting in a reduction of coalition forces by, say half.[...]

"We have to admit that we are right in the middle of a civil war, lamentable though it may be. About 50 to 60 people are being killed every day," said the one time prime minister, after he pointed at his early warnings against possible gaps in authority. Allawi also stressed that Iraq is moving towards the point of no return, at which time the nation might become fragmented.

Panning out?

Hapless measures people by the wad of cash in their wallet. Money is no substitute for character fellow composter.

Please rethink the practice of calling your children "idiots." If you are frustrated with them, it's your problem to figure out how to manage it. A constructive approach will deliver the best results. Taking your frustration out on them serves no one.

Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools - The Mission Was Indeed Accomplished

Get off it. All the carping, belly-aching and complaining about George Bush's incompetence in Iraq, from both the Left and now the Right, is just dead wrong.

On the third anniversary of the tanks rolling over Iraq's border, most of the 59 million Homer Simpsons who voted for Bush are beginning to doubt if his mission was accomplished.

But don't kid yourself -- Bush and his co-conspirator, Dick Cheney, accomplished exactly what they set out to do. In case you've forgotten what their real mission was, let me remind you of White House spokesman Ari Fleisher's original announcement, three years ago, launching of what he called,

"Operation

Iraqi

Liberation."

O.I.L. How droll of them, how cute. Then, Karl Rove made the giggling boys in the White House change it to "OIF" -- Operation Iraqi Freedom. But the 101st Airborne wasn't sent to Basra to get its hands on Iraq's OIF.

"It's about oil," Robert Ebel told me. Who is Ebel? Formerly the CIA's top oil analyst, he was sent by the Pentagon, about a month before the invasion, to a secret confab in London with Saddam's former oil minister to finalize the plans for "liberating" Iraq's oil industry. In London, Bush's emissary Ebel also instructed Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, the man the Pentagon would choose as post-OIF oil minister for Iraq, on the correct method of disposing Iraq's crude.

More HERE

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An insult to Homer J Simpson but I will let Greg slide.

capt

"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends"

Hapless, who are your friends?

Jon Stewart on deficit spending:

"Good news today out of Washington -- they haven't paid down the debt or come up with any program to do so. What they did is raise the limit of debt we can go to, to $9 trillion. It sends a great message to the kids: 'Hey are you getting an F? Don't study harder. Just make the grading curve go out to K! Then your F looks like a C!'"

OK, I'm having a relaxed day editing and copying some photo libraries and I'll play Right Host! David, sorry about your Lefties infatuations with me!

Corky: You know what LBH stands for, besides Happy to some of you, right? Post under your own name lest you are, ahem, ashamed of who you are. You like my handle hold my views dear, maybe even dearer than David's and I thank you for that.

Robert S.: The year is only 1/4 over! Your knee-jerk response is just so typical of the Far Left!

Capt: I never made any bones about my capitalist credentials/beliefs and financial success enables me to support my family and causes far more effectively than playing around, for pure fun, here! We ski 2 out of 3 winters, travel overseas, pay for college w/cash, have an interest in almost 10 mutual funds and own or monitor up to 100 stocks at a time. My business is more or less half-time but my investment activities are far more important and consistently profitable, 2002 not withstanding.

I don't back down nor can be remotely be `shamed' by your sorryass sourpouss Loser's gibberish! You want to waste your life or retirement here on David's $$, you go right ahead!

"The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible. " ~ Albert Einstein

The year is only 1/4 over! Your knee-jerk response is just so typical of the Far Left! - Mr. Happy

Ah, but it was yourself that posted the predictions at this point, and I merely pointed out that the trendlines do not seem to be going in the direction you seem to indicate. Not according to me, according to Mr. Alawi.

my Preditions are panning out so Far.

No they are not. Characterizing my comment one way or the other does not even address the lack of reality you seem to be exhibiting.

#114
Ish.

I'm with Albert Einstiens way of looking at things.

Here's a sentence. Try to read it.

"I don't back down nor can be remotely be `shamed' by your sorryass sourpouss Loser's gibberish!"

Ironic, isn't it?

Nobody here is challenging you to spend your time here. That was, is, and always will be, your choice. We just wish you'd choose to find a place to post where you're needling; provocative and argumentative opinions are appreciated by others, as much as by you.

A legend.....in his own mind!

That bares repeating...

We just wish you'd choose to find a place to post where you're needling; provocative and argumentative opinions are appreciated by others, as much as by you.

Where your opinions are appreciated by others, as much as by you.

Where your opinions are appreciated.

Don't waste you time here.

Corky: Continuing Education Just for you!...

Tradecraft
Money in the Middle
By Jonathan Hoenig
Published: March 20, 2006

I DON'T PICK TOPS or bottoms...and for good reason. Although investors spend an inordinate amount of energy talking about them, like stock market crashes, there are actually barely a handful of days when tops and bottoms actually occur. In the past 100 years of trading, there's been ÔøΩ what ÔøΩ maybe four or five stock market crashes? The reality is that, in the price lifetime of individual stocks or securities, tops and bottoms are equally rare. A market spends the vast majority of time rising, falling or trending nowhere....
===================================================
Like I told you last time you gave me a mid-day `Alert'!

After Criticizing Bush, Harry Belafonte Says he was Disinvited from Delivering Eulogy at the Coretta Scott King Funeral

What struck me was on the day of the ceremony, I saw how the altar was adorned. I saw who sat there, and as the camera moved about, I saw who was sitting in the audience, and I saw all of the power of the oppressor represented on the stage, and all those who fought for the victories that this nation was experiencing and enjoying sat in the outhouse, sat out in the field, sat removed, and if it not been for Lowery, for President Carter and for Maya Angelou, we would have had no voice and no representation at all.

Some ministers who were quite angry at all of this said, "Come on down here. Let's -- let's -- We have to talk to the press," and I said, "Talk to the press about what?" "About this. We cannot let it stand." I said, "I don't think that's appropriate. These are the children of my friend. These are the children of the movement. Where did we let them get caught? Why was Bernice giving this kind of sermon? How did you let Reverend Long become the minister of choice? Why wasn't it at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King preached? And before we go public and begin to vent our anger, let us understand what role we played in this capitulation that has led to this moment, and let us try first to repair it rather than to go into public discourse.

When do we sit in a circle of healing? When we begin to talk about getting back to where we lost stride. How do we fix this? Not how do we play the vanity game, and get off on going public and talking about how I was crucified. You know, it’s what it is, and there is a way in which we have to do this that not only prevents – I don’t know that there’ll be another moment quite like that, because Dr. King and Malcolm X and Fannie Lou Hamer, folks like that were so rare that to be a part of the final ceremony of their departure is a rare moment in history, but I think that it goes along with what I have been saying here. What role have we played in letting all this happen? Where were we? What were we doing that had us so distracted? How can it be this way? How did you priests and ministers let the evangelical rightwing Christian forces co-opt the greater truth about Christianity and the philosophy of liberation? And how did you all let that happen, and where are your voices in opposition publicly?
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The right wing christians are a group of con men. They say what people want to hear. They don't encourage tough choices. They just make the choices sound like tough choices.

Inviting Harry Belfante was the tough choice but he should have been at the funeral. Too bad for Bush. What role did he play in the civil rights movement that defined Coretta Scott Kings life? What role did he play in the children's lives? What role did he play in the lives of the minorities in this nation? The only role Bush played in any of those things was to make life harder. The Iraq war is one example. The poor look at the military as a way out of poverty. And look where it got many of those kids.
Why is the military a way out of poverty? Because this administration and corporate America don't supply hope and opportunity for life sustaining work.

Why was Bush at Coretta Scott King's funeral? He didn't belong there.

Chimpy pisses off the folks in Cleveland during a Q&A, Here. You cannot believe what the maroon said.

FYI: Latest on one of my Stocks, a stock bought long before I Happily learned of you folks' fondness for this American powerhouse:

Diebold, Al Rajhi Bank Ink Deal for Biometric Opteva(R) ATMs, Agilis(R) Software
PR NEWSWIRE
NORTH CANTON, Ohio, March 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Customers at a Saudi Arabian bank will soon know and appreciate the convenience, security and dependability of conducting self-service transactions on biometric automated teller machines (ATMs). Diebold's (NYSE: DBD) biometric Opteva(R) ATMs will provide service to a select group of government customers in need of the new technology.

Al Rajhi Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, recently purchased 240 Opteva ATMs through Diebold's business partner in the Kingdom, Alhamrani Universal Company (AU). Diebold's Agilis(R) software will enable the integration of biometric technology in Opteva terminals purchased by the bank. Agilis terminal software interfaces with a variety of multivendor products to provide flexibility and help protect investments in legacy systems.

Working with AU's technical professional team, Diebold Professional Services will manage the implementation of 82 biometric terminals, providing overall development of the biometric software solution, and will create a customized user interface in the local language. The biometric units will be deployed at Social Security offices throughout Saudi Arabia. The machines will allow 400,000 retirees to use the unique geometry of the index finger in conjunction with a magnetic stripe card to access monthly retirement payments. The biometric technology will replace the use of personal identification numbers (PINs) for the authentication of identity.

"Diebold's biometric ATMs will allow us to expand our business by distributing government-mandated pension payments on a monthly basis," said Suliman Al Obaid, general manager of IT and Shared Services at Al Rajhi Bank. "Our biometric program may be expanded to include the enrollment of other customers in rural areas who are unfamiliar with the use of PINs."

The agreement also includes the replacement of legacy Diebold ATMs with new Opteva island ATMs equipped with Diebold's exclusive Extreme Environmental Kit, which incorporates an air conditioner within the ATM to provide reliability and superior operating performance. The kit extends the useful life of ATMs by allowing them to operate in regions with excessive hot and cold temperatures.

#127
Anybody work here in this town?
Unbelievable.
Freaking unbelievable.
Cruel.
What an a$$hole.

Here's a sentence. Try to read it.

"I don't back down nor can be remotely be `shamed' by your sorryass sourpouss Loser's gibberish!"

Ironic, isn't it?

Nobody here is challenging you to spend your time here. That was, is, and always will be, your choice. We just wish you'd choose to find a place to post where you're needling; provocative and argumentative opinions are appreciated by others, as much as by you.

Posted by: more nonsense at March 20, 2006 03:51 PM
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120
A legend.....in his own mind!

Posted by: DEN at March 20, 2006 03:53 PM
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121
That bares repeating...

We just wish you'd choose to find a place to post where you're needling; provocative and argumentative opinions are appreciated by others, as much as by you.

Posted by: more nonsense at March 20, 2006 03:55 PM
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122
Where your opinions are appreciated by others, as much as by you.

Posted by: more nonsense at March 20, 2006 03:57 PM
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