The recent surge of violence there--about 10,000 civilian deaths over the course of three months-...
Holy shyt.

Is bush screwing up their war? Does anyone actually believe bush is allowed to make any decisions regarding something more important then which suit to wear? For God's sake the guy is a puppet, he has serious mental disorders and is on prescription drugs, probably drinking as well. Look to the neocons from the reagan days for the answer to who is screwing up. I think they got too cocky and things just aren't going quite to plan. Israel suffered the same humiliation for being so gung-ho for war and destruction rather then trying diplomacy first. Both countries are run by the same mindset and will have the same outcome. It is inevitable.

A very good article from David Corn! My wife said that Bush will speak out until September 19, 2006 claiming that the Democrats are fascists. Does Bush know who the fascists are? They are the Republicans in the WH, Congress, and the Supreme Court. What is so special about September 19? Is the that the nuke Iran date?

From the previous blog!

#179 kathleen, when I was younger, people would say that I was a kind person. Every so often I must try to return as a kind person on some of my posts.

#181, Jeanne reminds me of a woman who possesses the characteristics of nurturing and sensitivity. Lynn Chainey and Barbara Bush remind me of women who possess the b-word.

#194 capt, Bush is now claiming that the Democrats are fascists.

#204 capt, Brian Williams did a good job interviewing Bush. He brought in some criticisms of Bush's fascist administration.

We are in for some interesting times in terms of rhetoric and our future attack on Iran. Israel will attack Syria.

I forgot to add that my wife made a comment that Bush does not look well. I try to avoid looking at Bush because he brings out the puke in me.

David Corn --- I do not find it 'deriding' to speak the truth. The truth is that George XLIII is verbally challenged, that George XLIII reads very little, that George XLIII is incurious, etc.

Strictly speaking George XLIII is not dumb. He can, after a fashion, speak. Strictly speaking George XLIII is neither an idiot nor even a moron. But he certainly does appear to be intellectually challanged far beyond what Americans expect and deserve from their President.

As for getting elected, twice, many here think the first was an appointment by Scalia, et al., and the second by hanky-panky in Ohio. George XLIII is simply run by his handlers, so he can claim he is the decider.

In summary, there is nothing wrong or even impolitic in speaking truth to power...

From the previous blog!

#217 Drewp, brilliant post!

Bush in Brian Williams interview: The key for me is keeping expectations low.

Mission accomplished!

BUSH IS ONE STUPID DUDE!!!

For a person who cannot accept blame for anything Bush is starting to receive more and more blame for his ignorance. Yes, Bush is an idiot!!!

The Bush-Is-An-Idiot Camp Grows
David Corn
August 30, 2006
www.TomPaine.com

People catch on slowly.

The issue isn't whether Bush is smart or dumb. The issue is whether his policies are helpful or harmful. The problem with the "He ia as dumb as a post" political argument is that the answner is, So what? We have him until Jan 2009.

#5, David B. Benson does offer some pertinent points in his assessment of Bush.

Have people all ready seen this one?

August 16, 2006
"Look What You've Done!"
AIPAC Congratulates Itself on the Slaughter in Lebanon
By JOHN WALSH

"My fellow American," Howard Friedman, President of AIPAC, begins his letter of July 30 to friends and supporters of AIPAC, "Look what you've done"! After warning that "Israel is fighting a pivotal war for its life," by which he means Israel's wanton slaughter and all-out destruction in Lebanon, Freiedman condemns "the expected chorus of international condemnation of Israel's actions" and Europe's call for "a cease-fire immediately." Then he exults: "only ONE nation in the world came out and flatly declared: Let Israel finish the job. . That nation is the United States of America--and the reason it had such a clear, unambiguous view of the situation is YOU and the rest of America Jewry." (All emphases in the original here and below.) Here I must take issue with President Friedman since I bet that most Jewish Americans, in contrast to the AIPAC crowd, were horrified by the slaughter in Lebanon. In fact if anyone other than President Friedman wrote this, he would be accused of fabricating a Jewish plot and labeled a nutty conspiracy theorist and scurrilous anti-semite.)

at counterpunch

Personally, I fear that we will have to look at Bush well beyond January, 2009. We may have him until he dies in office?

Aipac still pushing hard for military action in Iran

Daily briefing at Aipac
August 30, 2006

Iran Starts New Nuclear Work on Eve of U.N. Deadline
Just days before a Thursday U.N. deadline mandating Iran suspend its nuclear program or face possible sanctions, U.N. inspectors confirmed Tuesday that Tehran has begun new uranium enrichment work, a key step in assembling atomic arms, The Washington Post reported. Iran last week rejected an internationally backed nuclear deal offering Iran multilateral talks and possible incentives in return for an end to its pursuit of atomic arms. Visit www.aipac.org/iran to learn more about the threat that a nuclear Iran would pose to the United States and its allies.

United States Freezes Assets of Terrorist Fundraising Group
The Bush administration on Tuesday froze the U.S. assets of a Hizballah fund-raising front and banned Americans from contributing to the organization, The Washington Post reported. U.S. Treasury Department officials presented receipts indicating that the front group, the Islamic Resistance Support Organization, has raised funds used to purchase rockets used against Israelis. Hizballah fired more than 4,000 rockets into northern Israel during recent fighting that erupted after the group raided Israeli territory and kidnapped two servicemen. Read more about the Treasury Department’≥ efforts to shut down terrorist funding sources.

Poll Shows Strong U.S. Support for Israel
A Quinnipiac poll released this week shows Americans continue to view Israel as a strong friend and ally, ranking Israel as the third ҭost friendlyӠnation to the United States, behind only Britain and Canada. The poll indicated that U.S. support for Israel strengthened during its recent conflict with Hizballah, with Israelճ score rising three points, more than any other nation polled. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed this sentiment in a recent interview, stating that the United States is ҧoing to be a defender and ally of Israel. Israel is a democracy. Israel is our friend, and we share values.Ӡ

There are rumors of an inpending "terrorist" attack against a NJ oil refinery sometime in Oct. Stay tuned.

Terri Gross's interview on Fresh Air with Joseph Cirincione from the Center for American Progres is excellent. Cirincione talks about the push for military action in Iran by the same folks who lied our nation into the quagmire in Iraq. This guy is brilliant

Worth listening to.

#9 kathleen, America may never live down her shame for letting Israel slaughter the Lebanese people. America's cold-blooded actions will haunt our nation for many generations. America's actions places her firmly in the camp of mass murderers and war criminals.

12 October 12?

This is an absolute MUST SEE from C-Span.

Council on American-Islamic Relations News Conference on Israeli Influence

Council on American-Islamic Relations holds a news conference on the Israeli influence. Participants are: John J. Mearsheimer, Univ. of Chicago; Stephen M.Walt, Kennedy School of Government; Nihad Awad, CAIR executive director; Corey Saylor, CAIR government affairs director. 8/28/2006: WASHINGTON, DC: 1 hr. 30 min.

You will need Realplayer to view it.

I watched it Monday, wowzer! Hammered AIPAC's influence real hard.

Ron Paul Rocks North American Union Plan
Source: Lew Rockwell
Published: Aug 30, 2006

Globalists and one-world promoters never seem to tire of coming up with ways to undermine the sovereignty of the United States. The most recent attempt comes in the form of the misnamed "Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America (SPP)." In reality, this new "partnership" will likely make us far less secure and certainly less prosperous.

Let's examine just a couple of the many troubling statements on the SPP's US government website:

"We affirm our commitment to strengthen regulatory cooperation...and to have our central regulatory agencies complete a trilateral regulatory cooperation framework by 2007"

Though the US administration insists that the SPP does not undermine US sovereignty, how else can one take statements like this? How can establishing a "trilateral regulatory cooperation" not undermine our national sovereignty?

The website also states SPP's goal to "[i]mprove the health of our indigenous people through targeted bilateral and/or trilateral activities, including in health promotion, health education, disease prevention, and research." Who can read this and not see massive foreign aid transferred from the US taxpayer to foreign governments and well-connected private companies?

Also alarming are SPP pledges to "work towards the identification and adoption of best practices relating to the registration of medicinal products." That sounds like the much-criticized Codex Alimentarius, which seeks to radically limit Americans' health freedom.

Even more troubling are reports that under this new "partnership," a massive highway is being planned to stretch from Canada into Mexico, through the state of Texas. This is likely to cost the US taxpayer untold billions of dollars, will require eminent domain takings on an almost unimaginable scale, and will make the US more vulnerable to those who seek to enter our country to do us harm.

This all adds up to not only more and bigger government, but to the establishment of an unelected mega-government. As the SPP website itself admits, "The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America represents a broad and ambitious agenda." I hope my colleagues in Congress and American citizens will join me in opposing any "broad and ambitious" effort to undermine the security and sovereignty of the United States.

August 30, 2006
==============
Think about who is promoting this and what all those warm and fuzzy labels actually portend, along with the fact that we the people are not only being kept in the dark but also are given no voice in these decision making plots. When are the dems going to speak up on this, or are they planning to bend over as usual? We already know what the traitorous repubs will do.

Gerald, America cannot prevent Israel from doing anything it wants, we give unconditional support in all things related to Israel. Have you ever wondered why?

Dumb, stupid, asinine, doltish, thick, dense, moronic, clueless....

A veritable CORNucopia of thesarus synonyms can be ascribed...

But what, then, does that make the "majority" of 'Murkun voters?

-T

16 This is an absolute MUST SEE from C-Span.

Council on American-Islamic Relations News Conference on Israeli Influence

Council on American-Islamic Relations holds a news conference on the Israeli influence. Participants are: John J. Mearsheimer, Univ. of Chicago; Stephen M.Walt, Kennedy School of Government; Nihad Awad, CAIR executive director; Corey Saylor, CAIR government affairs director. 8/28/2006: WASHINGTON, DC: 1 hr. 30 min.

You will need Realplayer to view it.

I watched it Monday, wowzer! Hammered AIPAC's influence real hard.

Posted by: DEN at August 30, 2006 05:17 PM

I saw it too. I agree with DEN. You'll learn a lot.

LINK HERE

Do ya think Bush & Co. don't have a plan to get out of Iraq because they never WANTED to get out of Iraq? Has anyone ever considered that this was their plan all along: to invade, overthrow and stay?

It's a new form of Eminent Domain called IDIOT DOMAIN.

Forget wars and fascist threats.

Most occupants of Mother Earth will be goners anyhow if you can believe this report from ABC.

Seems we are overdue for a supervolcano.

No matter what we humans do, think, or believe, the Earth is capable of shrugging us off like planetary fleas.

DEN, I have been saying that all along. I just read an article about Russian scientists giving dire warning of global COOLING, that the earth has now reached it's max temperature and will begin to cool dramatically. I could only laugh. Warming, cooling, what are we going to do about it? Just like meteor strikes and super volcanoes, not a damn thing.

One of the things to do to slow down anthropogenic global warming:

Compostable Eating Utensiles: knife, fork and spoon.

Made from cornstarch and a bit of wood fiber. Don't look for these in your stores right away as it'll be a few years before the factory in Yakima is completed. But its on the way...

#18 Saladin, birds of a feather flock together. Nazi regimes are always close to each other.

Welcome to the One-Party Police State

Counterpunch

...As for the "War" on Terror, the confusion seems to date back to the 1960s, when Lyndon Johnson, deeply involved in a genuine war in Indochina, decided to divert public attention with a second "war"--this one on poverty.

That "war" wasn't much more successful than the Indochina War. The Vietnamese won their war in 1975, and poverty won its "war" almost without firing a shot.

The main legacy of Johnson's "war" on poverty, really, was not on poverty, but on political language. It led directly to the subsequent Nixon/Carter/Reagan/Clinton "war" on drugs.

That deceptively titled policy initiative had nothing to do with a war, but everything to do with expanding police power and police tactics within the U.S., and with filling prisons with people who didn't belong there.

In that regard, the "war" on drugs was a model for Bush's subsequent "war" on terror. Claiming that hordes of dark-skinned "Islamofascist" terrorists are out to destroy America, Bush and his cronies, following the 9-11 attacks, declared "war" on the terrorists.

But a strange "war" this has been. First they attacked Afghanistan, reportedly to go after the alleged author of those attacks, Osama Bin Ladin and his Al Qaeda hordes. But then, with Osama reportedly surrounded, Bush pulled his troops out and attacked Iraq, a bankrupt third-world state which had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks and which posed no threat to the U.S. Several hundred thousand US troops, and a handful of troops from a "coalition" of the "willing" were dispatched to Iraq where they have remained (well okay, the "willing allies" have mostly slipped away) since, while the pursuit of Bin Ladin has languished and, by some accounts, been called off altogether.

But as for the "war" on terror? It's going strong, but all along it's been all about not military, but police activity. In Europe, alleged terror cells have been efficiently infiltrated and busted. In Britain, there was the bust of a cell which succeeded in blowing up some buses and subway cars and another bust of an alleged plot to blow up multiple airliners. In the U.S., there have been...well, not much in the way of productive busts of terror actions, but certainly a lot of police activity...
============
Sorry if this has been posted already, but it's good.

David B, how much energy will be required to produce these new eating utensils, and how will it be produced? And, what is wrong with just using regular flatware and washing it? It lasts forever once it is made.

Good to know one of my winners, SBL, a leader in RFID technology, is also helping our Troops w/IEDs!

Updated:2006-08-30 14:54:25
Correction: Aug. 29 Symbol Tech Story

HOLTSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - Symbol Technologies Inc. (SBL), provider of wireless computer technology, said Tuesday it supplied a mobile computer for the Army to help detect and disarm remote-controlled roadside bombs.

The device is part of a task order for $10 million in products and services.

Symbol said the MC70 computer can work as part of a mobile computer network that offers communications and mission support for soldiers in war zones.

The Pentagon said about half of U.S. casualties in the Iraq War have been caused by roadside bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to Symbol.

Symbol completed the task order as a subcontractor for GTSI Corp., a provider of technology services to government agencies.

UN Condemns Israel's Use of Cluster Bombs in Lebanon
By Peter Heinlein
30 August 2006

The top U.N. humanitarian aid official has condemned Israel's use of cluster bombs in the final days of its offensive in Lebanon. It may take years to clear the unexploded bombs.

Humanitarian aid chief Jan Egeland said U.N. mine experts have identified more than 350 cluster bomb strike locations in Lebanon. He says the sites are contaminated with more than 100,000 unexploded bomblets.

As he prepared to leave for a Lebanon aid conference in Stockholm, Egeland said Israeli forces had dropped many of the bombs in the final hours of their recent offensive in southern Lebanon.

"What is shocking and I would say completely immoral is that 90 percent of cluster bomb strikes occurred in the last 72 hours of conflict, when we knew there would be a resolution, when we knew there would be an end of this," said Jan Egeland.

Lebanese child injured by an Israeli cluster bomb
Egeland called it "an outrage" that there are now 100,000 unexploded bombs in civilian areas.

"Either a terribly wrong decision was made, or one did something that was very wrong, one bombed first and then one started thinking afterwards," he said. "Civilians will die disproportionately again, not only during the war, but after the war as well. [This] should not have happened."

Egeland said it would take up to two years to clear the contaminated areas. He called on the United States, which manufactured some of the bombs, to talk with Israeli officials about the dangers posed to non-combatants.

Saladin --- The new compostable eating utensiles will be about the same price as the plastic ones are now. That, incidently, answers the energy question.

There is nothing wrong with using metal flatware and washing it, provided there is ample clean water available. But some food service providers find the washing costs to be significant and so use throwaway plastic. For them, this will provides a recyclable alternative, one which local food service providers are looking forward to utilizing.

Published on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 by the Boston Globe
Soldiers Die, CEOs Prosper
by Derrick Z. Jackson

More than 2,600 US soldiers have died in Iraq. July's toll for Iraqi civilians was 3,500, the deadliest month of the US occupation. Iraq's civil war is on pace to kill 25,000 to 30,000 civilians by year's end. If you add in the tens of thousands of deaths from the 2003 invasion (we do not know the exact number because the Pentagon won't comment), researchers will inevitably say that the body count has crossed 100,000.

All of this madness to stop a madman, Saddam Hussein.

The litany of US mistakes and excessive force has the Pentagon commissioning at least two secret strategy studies in Afghanistan and Iraq. ``This is a struggle for the soul of the Army," said Colonel Peter Mansoor, the head of the Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center.

Just as odorous, a mountain of corporate cash grows next to the piles of bodies. In this bizarre war where Iraqi civilians fear both suicide bombers and the United States, the biggest sacrifice that President Bush asked of American civilians was to get on a plane and show those terrorists a thing or two by going to Disney World.

Defense contractors took that request to a logical extreme. They built their own fantasy land.

There is no evidence of a contractor having a soul in the 13th annual Executive Excess CEO survey by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank, and the Boston-based United for a Fair Economy. The report found that 34 defense CEOs have been paid nearly $1 billion since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

As soldiers have died in displaying personal patriotism, the pay gap between soldiers and defense CEOs has exploded. Before 9/11, the gap between CEOs of publicly traded companies and army privates was already a galling 190 to 1. Today, it is 308 to 1. The average army private makes $25,000 a year. The average defense CEO makes $7.7 million.

``Did this surprise us? No, because we've been watching since Sept. 11," said Betsy Leondar-Wright, communications director for United for a Fair Economy. ``While the rest of us were worrying about terrorism and mourning the people who died, the CEOs were maneuvering their companies to take advantage of fear and changing oil supply, not just for competition but for personal enrichment."

The top profiteers after 9/11 were the CEOs of United Technologies ($200 million), General Dynamics ($65 million), Lockheed Martin ($50 million), and Halliburton ($49 million). Other firms where CEO pay the last four years added up to $25 million to $45 million were Textron, Engineered Support Systems, Computer Sciences, Alliant Techsystems, Armor Holding, Boeing, Health Net, ITT Industries, Northrop Grumman, Oshkosh Truck, URS, and Raytheon.

While Army privates died overseas earning $25,000 a year, David Brooks, the disgraced former CEO of body-armor maker DHB, made $192 million in stock sales in 2004. He staged a reported $10 million bat mitzvah for his daughter. The 2005 pay package for Halliburton CEO David Lesar, head of the firm that most symbolizes the occupation's waste, overcharges, and ghost charges on no-bid contracts, was $26 million, according to the report's analysis of federal Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

``Those examples take the cake, especially because it's all related to their government contracts, which is money straight out of the taxpayer's pocket," Leondar-Wright said.

The Executive Excess report, with the help of the Wall Street Journal's 2006 survey of executive compensation, made similar observations of oil executives as their firms enjoy record profits during war. The pay gap between the average oil and gas CEO and the average oil worker is 518 to 1. The general national CEO to worker gap is 411 to 1. The report said that the typical oil construction laborer would have to work 4,279 years to match the $95 million pay last year for Valero Energy CEO William Greehey.
===========
I'm sure "happy the fascist" is bummed he missed out on these great and profitable blood contracts.

HUBRIS Hits WSJ; Do Cons Fear Bush Is Screwing Up their War?

Some, perhaps! But mostly, the fear is the Cut-and-Run Dems will screw up our War! I'll put more stock into James Baker's plan-in-the-work....likley far superior to the Biden-Gelb Plan which boiled down is Cut-and-Run-at-end-of-2007....Publicly announcing a FIRM Cut-and-Run Date is a Stupid Idea, no matter who comes up with it! Clanning for multiple exit dates based on how situations may evolve....Yes!

This is not something you'll see in the MSM in regards to GW. The fact is that alcohol damages the brain.
http://alcoholism.about.com/od/brain/

Alcohol’s Effects on Brain Structure and Function

Results of autopsy studies show that patients with a history of chronic alcohol consumption have smaller, lighter, more shrunken brains than nonalcoholic adults of the same age and gender (1).

This finding has been repeatedly confirmed in living alcoholics using structural imaging techniques, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Structural imaging reveals a consistent association between heavy drinking and physical brain damage, even in the absence of medical conditions previously considered to be clinical indicators of severe alcoholism (e.g., chronic liver disease or alcohol-induced dementia).

Imaging reveals shrinkage to be more extensive in the folded outer layer (i.e., cortex) of the frontal lobe (2), which is believed to be the seat of higher intellectual functions. In men, vulnerability to frontal lobe shrinkage increases with age (2-4). Current studies will determine if the same effect occurs in women. Repeated imaging of a group of alcoholics who continued drinking over a 5-year period showed progressive brain shrinkage that significantly exceeded normal age-related shrinkage (5). The rate of frontal cortex shrinkage in this study correlated approximately with the amount of alcohol consumed (5).

Twin leaders are remaking Poland
By Jan Cienski and Stefan Wagstyl

Poland's new prime minister has rarely ventured outside his country's borders in his 57 years. Want to know why? So Jaroslaw Kaczynski's brief trip to Brussels on Wednesday, his first foreign visit since taking office in July, was something of a personal as well as a political event.

link

Actually Saladin, some of the most surprising people are coming out lauding Bush on his pro-Israel policy as the one good thing he's done in the Middle East. Bill Maher, for one, the other night! Can you believe it? I know he's half-Jewish, but again, I don't think religion is relevant here. It's all about power and water.

David Benson speaks eloquently when he implores David Corn to see nothing wrong with pointing to Bush's nonpolicies or strategies and his ignorant stupidity. But Sal is right, he really is just a puppet for Rumsfeld/Cheney/neocons. All must be held accountable. That's why we need to get some balance of power back into Congress.

Mr. Corn,

I saw Biden on Hardball last week interviewed by Matthews. I was quite impressed actually. The one thing that completely struck me was his take on Maliki. He doesn't trust him. Biden sees the Iraqi internal situation as a power play with Maliki leading the Shiites and leaning towards Iran. He cited a falsehood that Maliki tried to pull on him about the Iraqi Constituition when Biden suggested his ideas about partitioning. Maliki claimed that everything was balanced out in the Constitution. Biden looked at him and said (paraphrased): Sir, you know as well as I there is nothing in this Constitution that addresses Sunni concerns. It is completely lopsided towards Shiia interests.

Even though I did not appreciate everybody and their brother jumping on Maliki during his visit here for not condemming Hezbollah outright (he couldn't for God's sake, he would have been ousted back home) I still saw a man expediently pleading for the U.S. not to leave Iraq. His motives are questionable. He wants the oil. He wants the Bush administration on his side. He wants to exclude Sunnis from any say or sharing of the resources.

This piece of history, which I'm sure most of you remember, is enough to really anger you.

America's Shame in Iraq's History

by Jim Hoagland

Change is news, and the important news from the second trial of Saddam Hussein is this: The U.S. government is helping expose the ex-dictator's genocidal assault on Kurdish tribesmen instead of helping hide it.

Welcome the change. But do not rush past the original malfeasance: U.S. officals were directly involved two decades ago in covering up and minimizing the horrifying details that were finally spread on the legal record in a Baghdad courtroom last week. In a long history of U.S. involvement in Iraq stained by official mistakes, betrayals and misunderstandings, the initial coverup of Saddam's Anfal campaign is among its darkest moments.

...The Reagan-Bush administration remained silent as it helped the Iraqis fight the Iranians; Washington even made sure Iraq was invited to a prestigious international conference on chemical weapons in 1988.

_________________________________________________

Then Bush Sr. turns coat and instigates the 1991 Gulf War supposedly because of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (even though there is evidence that Hussein was given tacit approval by the Bush Sr. administration).

Rumsfeld's hands are all over this. Remember the infamous picture of him smiling and shaking hands with Saddam.

DEN --- The article by Ilya Bindeman in the June 2006 issue of Scientific American can be taken as more authoritative with regard to supervolcanoes than the ABC News piece. Using Bindeman's dates for the last three super-eruptions of Yellowstone, it appears that the next ought to be due anytime soon: some 2,000 to 16,000 years from now with an average of 9,000 years.

I'll not lose any sleep over it.

David -

What is Bush's strategy? That's easy:
1. Shock and Awe
2. Enter Baghdad on roads strewn with rose petals
3. Find the WMDs and then prosecute Saddam for having them.
4. Pump out all the oil and cut out the Iraqis
5. Stuff his oil cronies' pockets with tons of moolah.
6. Brag to Pappy Bush about how he kicked Saddam's ass, whereas the old man wimped out in 1991.

Sounds like a strategy to me! So what if reality hasn't proven it to be a SUCCESSFUL strategy?

the fear is the Cut-and-Run Dems will screw up our War!

Are you serious. The fear is the Dems will screw up your war? Oh, it's not completely screwed already? I gotta say, either you're in denial or you're an ass.

I'll put more stock into James Baker's plan-in-the-work....

It should be a good one. He's had three years to work on it. What's he waiting for? Any longer and there'll be no "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"

likley far superior to the Biden-Gelb Plan which boiled down is Cut-and-Run-at-end-of-2007....

Likely or not, how about a new strategy, tactics, goals SOMETHING. Your sacred cow BUSH ruined Iraq for no positive result and you're equivocating about whose plan to withdrawal would be better. OMG, ura moron.

Publicly announcing a FIRM Cut-and-Run Date is a Stupid Idea, no matter who comes up with it!

Looks like the slogan is catching up with the slogan-makers.

Clanning for multiple exit dates based on how situations may evolve....Yes!

You are one suave dude.

Posted by: Happy w/dry Powder at August 30, 2006 06:06 PM

#23 Saladin

I disagree. There is something we can do about climate changes. Manmade greenhouse gas emissions can be curtailed. No driving, no airconditioning, on and on. Tons of things each and every one of us can do. Foremost, however, is electing a President and Congress who don't hide their heads in the sand all the while raking in the money anad not caring for their children's or grandchildren's future.

Cornuts, eat this up! Authored from your side of the aisle:

Message of Misery
By Anne Kim, Adam Solomon, and Jim Kessler

.....an emphatic repudiation of all things Democratic among the white middle class.....

.....may be harder for Democrats to swallow. Many believe the middle class have been duped by a what's-the-matter-with-Kansas scheme in which clever conservatives trick the beleaguered middle class to vote against their own economic interests through the use of irresistible cultural wedge issues and national security concerns.

....In 1996, before the culture wars were fully ignited, Clinton also lost the middle class to the combination of Dole and Perot, as did congressional Democrats.

At Third Way,.....we isolated five areas of disconnect between how Democrats talk about the middle class and view the economy and how the middle class view their own economic situation and that of America.

Disconnect one is optimism versus pessimism.....

Voters may feel that the economy is heading in the wrong direction at a particular point in time, but they consistently view their own outlook as better....And they are turned off by a message of gloom and doom.

Disconnect two is economic decline versus economic strength. Democrats have become the "falling behind" party. America is falling behind....Our kids are falling behind.....And by the year 2062 our GDP will be half the size of Burma's.

Fortunately....this does not reflect economic reality. Most economists....are confident in America's future.....They know that our economy boasts strengths unmatched by other nations, including......

Disconnect three is economic security versus individual opportunity. Democrats rarely talk about individual aspirations of greatness or success; they mostly talk about people's economic status or about their economic fears.

As Americans have grown more affluent....they have come to care less about economic security and more about economic opportunity.....

Disconnect four is ideas. Most signature Democratic ideas do not benefit middle class people; they benefit those who aspire to the middle class.....

Among households headed by prime age Americans...the median household income is about $63,000.....The point is that Democrats have a view of the middle class that is at one place on the income spectrum, when the reality is in a very different place.....

Disconnect five is an unconvincing economic critique of conservatives. Folks, if bashing rich people, the oil industry, and the drug companies were an effective political strategy, jets would be landing at Michael Dukakis National Airport in Washington.

An effective economic critique should tell a story. The conservative story about Democrats is that they believe the government does a better job of spending your money than you do. Every conservative economic argument against the left derives from this statement....

That brings us to repairing these five disconnects....

Anne Kim is the Director of the Middle Class Project at Third Way, Adam Solomon is the Chairman of StoneWater Capital LLC and a Third Way Trustee, and Jim Kessler is the Vice President for Policy at Third Way.

The point is not the amount it takes to manufacture climate-agreeing items. A whole industry will crop up with alternative methods.

The point is to do everything possible to stop the undeniable manmade contribution to what is a real crisis--global warming.

Money can be made without harming the planet any further.

Unlike some Nuts here, I don't talk to myself!

Mr. David Corn,

"why can't Bush describe a plan of his own in such concrete terms?"

Obvious enough to me, Bush is the leader of a notion not a nation.

Thanks for all of your work.

Kirk

Unlike some Nuts here, I don't talk to myself!
Posted by: Happy reflects at August 30, 2006 06:32 PM

You think anyone reads the crap you post?

Come on Saladin even Hamas knows it's not the Zionist pigs fault. "Bacteria of stupidity ", damn but that has a nice ring to it.

'Gaza caught in anarchy and thuggery'
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

"When you walk in the streets of Gaza City, you cannot but close your eyes because of what you see there: unimaginable chaos, careless policemen, young men carrying guns and strutting with pride and families receiving condolences for their dead in the middle of the street."

This is how Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority government and a former newspaper editor, described the situation in the Gaza Strip in an article he published on Sunday on some Palestinian news Web sites.

The article, the first of its kind by a senior Hamas official, also questioned the effectiveness of the Kassam rocket attacks and noted that since Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip, the situation there has deteriorated on all levels. It holds the armed groups responsible for the crisis and calls on them to reconsider their tactics and to stop blaming Israel for their mistakes.

"Gaza is suffering under the yoke of anarchy and the swords of thugs," Hamad wrote. "I remember the day when Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and closed the gates behind. Then, Palestinians across the political spectrum took to the streets to celebrate what many of us regarded as the Israeli defeat or retreat. We heard a lot about a promising future in the Gaza Strip and about turning the area into a trade and industrial zone."

Hamad said the "culture of life" that prevailed in the Strip has since been replaced with a nightmare. "Life became a nightmare and an intolerable burden," he said. "Today I ask myself a daring and frightening question: 'Why did the occupation return to Gaza?' The normal reply: 'The occupation is the reason.'"

Dismissing Israel's responsibility for the growing state of anarchy and lawlessness in the Gaza Strip, Hamad said it was time for the Palestinians to embark on a soul-searching process to see where they erred.

"We're always afraid to talk about our mistakes," he added. "We're used to blaming our mistakes on others. What is the relationship between the chaos, anarchy, lawlessness, indiscriminate murders, theft of land, family rivalries, transgression on public lands and unorganized traffic and the occupation? We are still trapped by the mentality of conspiracy theories - one that has limited our capability to think."

Hamad admitted that the Palestinians have failed in developing the Gaza Strip following the Israeli withdrawal and in imposing law and order. He said about 500 Palestinians have been killed and 3,000 wounded since the Israeli pullout, in addition to the destruction of much of the infrastructure in the area.

By comparison, he said, only three or four Israelis have been killed by the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip over the same period.

"Some will argue that it's not a matter of profit or loss, but that this has an accumulating effect" he said. "This may be true. But isn't there a possibility of decreasing the number of casualties and increasing our gains by using our brains and making the proper calculations away from demagogic statements?"

The Hamas official said that while his government was unable to change the situation, the opposition was sitting on the side and watching and PA President Mahmoud Abbas was as weak as ever.

"We have all been attacked by the bacteria of stupidity," he remarked. "We have lost our sense of direction and we don't know where we're headed."

Addressing the various armed groups in the Gaza Strip, Hamad concluded: "Please have mercy on Gaza. Have mercy on us from your demagogy, chaos, guns, thugs, infighting. Let Gaza breathe a bit. Let it live."

Trolls have arrived home from work, eaten dinner and are sitting down for a night of....

DOODY OUT!

Carey,

"The point is not the amount it takes to manufacture climate-agreeing items. A whole industry will crop up with alternative methods."

I have always thought there are whole industries that can make millions addressing the issues like clean air, clean water, recycling, renewable energy resources and such.

I read that even with the rather poor solar converters we have today it would only take a solar panel one hundred miles square to power all 48 states.

Way too many "good" things can and should be done.

capt

Is there any truth to the rumor that a prominent genealogist is about to announce the discovery of a common ancestor of President Bush and someone who has been killed in Iraq?

Capt,

Here in California there's a bill coming up for legislation that promotes alternative energy industries. Isn't that exciting? Ironically Schwarzenegger (sp?) is all for it, someone I'm normally totally opposed to.

I saw that Den's been posting. I've been holding onto this article for a few weeks and wasn't able to post it because of computer problems.

However, this is not just for Den, although he's the one that seems to have read the most on this subject. By the way, I'm starting a new book that I've had for quite some time titled Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies and the CIA in Central America by Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall, c.1991. Supposedly it's "the first book to demonstrate the extent to which Contra support and other U.S. covert operations in Central America have fostered and sustained ongoing relations with corrupt and criminal elements who have counted on their U.S. governmental connections to protect their drug-and-arms smuggling activities in the United States."

Shoot, wait a minite...I lost the link Be right back.

Re #48: Well, everybody in the world is 19th cousin or closer...

I heard about this story on BBC this evening. Nothing about it in the mainstream "liberal" media.

#3
Thank you Gerald.

BTW, did you notice that Euro Trash spelled your wrong?

Carey 39, "each and every one of us." That's the rub isn't it? It will take every one of us to make even a speck of difference. Do you realistically believe people will stop driving and turn off the AC? What about support for the industrial meat/AG machine, burning up 20% of the fossil fuels in this country alone. Will people boycott that as well? You may have faith, but I don't. And the US govt. has already proven that they legislate with the money, that will never change unless the people wise up and force a change. That is why I believe it is ultimately up to us and why I feel pretty pessimistic about the chances. We were having this conversation a few days ago, I was commenting on the power of consumers on the free market and the need for change in response to demand, but first the demand must be there, we are seeing a bit of progress here and there, but we still have a long way to go.

Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong: James Bryce

=
Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may: Mark Twain

=
A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle: George William Curtis

=
It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars: Arthur C. Clarke

===
Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Re #49 my post

I didn't have much luck retrieving this link. However, here's the abstract of the article entitled "The Truth in 'Dark Alliance'" by Nick Schou published in the LA Times Aug. 18.

ABSTRACT

I'll type in the remaining parts:

Ten Years ago today, one of the most controversial news articles of the 1990's quietly appeared on the front page of the San Jose Mercury News. Titled "Dark Alliance," the headline ran beneath the provocative image of a man smoking crack--superimposed on the official seal of the CIA.

The three-part series by reporter Gary Webb linked the CIA and Nicaragua's Contras to the crack cocaine epidemic that ripped through South Los Angeles in the 1980's.

Most of the nation's elite newspapers at first ignored the story. A public uproar, especially among urban African-Americans, forced them to respond. What followed was one of the most bizarre, unseemly and ultimately tragic scandals in the annals of American journalism, one in which top news organizations closed ranks to debunk claims Webb never made, ridicule assertions that turned out to be true and ignore corroborating evidence when it came to light. The whole shameful cycle was repeated when Webb committed suicide in December 2004.

Many reporters besides Webb had sought to uncover the rumored connection between the CIA's anti-communism efforts in Central America and drug trafficking. "Dark Alliance" documented the first solid link between the agency and drug deals inside the U.S. by profiling the relationship between two Nicaraguan Contra sympathizers and narcotics suppliers, Danilo Blandon and Norwin Meneses, and L.A.'s biggest crack dealer, "Freeway" Ricky Ross.

Two years before Webb's series, the Los Angeles Times estimated that at its peak, Ross' "coast-to-coast conglomerate" was selling half a mmilion crack rocks per day. "[I]f there was one outlaw capitalist most responsible for flooding Los Angeles' streets with mass-marketed cocaine," the article stated, "his name was 'Freeway' Rick."

But after Webb's reporting tied Ross to the Nicaraguans and showed that they had CIA connections, The Times downgraded Ross' role to that of one "dominant figure" among many. It dedicated 17 reporters and 20,000 words to a three-day rebuttal to "Dark Alliance" that also included a lengthy musing on whether African- Americans disproportionately believe in conspriacy theories.

All Three major U.S. dailies,..... (First paragraph of Abstract.)

The Washington Post titled one of its stories "Conspriacy Theories Can Often Ring True; History Feeds Blacks' Mistrust." The New York Times chipped in with a scathing critique of Webb's entire career, suggesting that he was a reckless reporter prone to getting his facts wrong.

"That article included virtually none of the good things Gary did," said Webb's former Cleveland Plain Dealer colleague, Walt Bogdanich, now a New York Times editor. "It didn't include the success he achieved or the wrongs he righted--and they were considerable. It wasn't fair, and it made him out to be a freak."

There is no denying that the papers were right on one serious count--"Dark Alliance" contained major flaws of hyperbole that were both encouraged and ignored by his editors who saw the story as a chance to win a Pulitzer Prize, according to Mercury News staffers I interviewed.

Webb asserted, improbably, that the Blandon-Meneses-Ross drug ring opened "the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles," helping to "spark a crack explosion in urban America." The story offered no evidence to support such sweeping conclusions, a fatal error that would ultimately destroy Webb, if not his editors.

At first, the Mercury News defended the series, but after nine months, Executive Editor Jerry Ceppos wrote a half-apologetic letter to readers that defended "Dark Alliance" while acknowledging obvious mistakes. Webb privately (and accurately predicted the mea culpa would universally be misperceived as a total retraction, and he publicly accused the paper of cowardice. In return, he was banished to a remote bureau in Cupertino, Calif., he resigned a few months later.

Meanwhile, spurred on by Webb's story,....
(Second paragraph of abstract.)

Unable to find suitable employment, a bewildered Webb left journalism, endured a difficult divorce and battled growing depression and financial despair. But even his suicide failed to dull the media's contempt for "Dark Alliance." The L.A. Times and the New York Times published brief obituaries dismissing Webb as the author of "discredited" stories linking the CIA to Southern California drug sales.

Unlike the media pariahs who came after "Dark Allianace"...
(Third paragraph of abstract.)

History will tell if Webb receives the credit he's due for prodding the CIA to acknowledge its shameful collaboration with drug dealers. Meanwhile, the journalistic establishment is only beginning to recognize that the controversy over "Dark Alliance" had more to do with poor editing than bad reporting.

"In some ways, Gary got too much blame," said L.A. Times Managing Editor Leo Wolinsky. "He did exactly what you expect from a great investigative reporter."

_________________________________________________

Once again, we see the errors of editors affect major stories.

Carey,

I have to tell you that I appreciate your concern regarding global warming but your solution will never be realized. Even those who claim it is happening, I happen to think differently, jet around the country to give speeches and arrive at the specified site in SUV's or Limos. They give their their speech in air conditioned auditiorums, and should it be winter, heated auditoriums. They give their speeches to hundreds of people who drove or took public transportation to hear them speak of the perils of global warming. Whether the speech took 30 minutes or 2 hours, they were all conributing to "global warming" in the process. The hottest day on record, prior to this summer, in New York City occurrred in the early 1900's. Was it global warming then?

I agree with Saladin. Your concern is worthy of merit, but the outcome 99.9% impossible. The mean old conservatives and the limousine liberals will never give up their luxuries. And if they do not, why should I suffer?

#53 Saladin

Faith is not something one can easily call upon currently. Once, in a few years, people start to feel the climate change and all of it's myriad consequences, like no more vineyards folks, things will quickly change.

You and I basically agree on everything. We just say it differently.

People here are very good on this subject, especially the scientfically oriented ones. David Benson is great on this. As is James, Hajji, Capt et al. I do consider it the most important crisis facing us. We've got to be able to live comfortably before we educate the masses.

Anemic Phytoplankton Absorb Less Carbon than Thought

Phytoplankton in the Pacific Ocean are starved for iron, and as a result these microscopic plants soak up less of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than was previously thought, researchers have found. Although the difference in carbon uptake is not enough to perturb climate predictions significantly, the research should lead to an improved understanding of how climate changes will affect phytoplankton's ability to take up carbon.

The world's oceans tend to absorb carbon dioxide in the form of carbonate, but the Pacific Ocean actually emits CO2 in areas of cold, upwelling water that warms as it reaches the surface, releasing the gas. Phytoplankton thrive on this CO2, using it to drive their photosynthesis. But the plankton don’¥ grow very fast given the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus at their disposal. To find out why, marine researchers took a zigzagging 12-year journey through the Pacific, collecting tens of thousands of plankton samples. Fluorescence imaging gave them a measure of the plankton's photosynthesis.

Too little iron is the problem, the group finds. Phytoplankton living in water with lower iron concentrations perform less photosynthesis than those in iron-rich conditions, even though they both make the same amount of chlorophyll. "When these little ocean plants are starved for iron they produce more chlorophyll than they need," says lead researcher Michael Behrenfeld of Oregon State University. That way, if iron levels rise, they can then take advantage of the increase immediately, he explains. Prior studies of ocean photosynthesis relied on satellite images, which measure chlorophyll levels alone, so they wouldn't have revealed this distinction.

The group identified three regions of the Pacific where iron is holding phytoplankton back: the south near Antarctica, the north below Alaska, and at the equator. Taken together, the iron deprivation in these areas means that estimates of global ocean carbon uptake are probably 2 to 4 percent too high, the group reports in the August 31 Nature. "In the tropical Pacific that change is a significant amount," comparable to changes resulting from El Nino transitions, says Behrenfeld.

Mapping ocean nutrients fills in another gap in climate change models. A major source of iron for the oceans is dust blown in from the deserts (as in the dust storm pictured above). As the climate changes, new wind patterns may alter the ocean's iron content, which may in turn alter carbon uptake, Behrenfeld notes. --JR Minkel

More HERE

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

Always learning, such is the nature of science.

capt

#56 TRH

Never say impossible. The thought of not stopping global warming is too dreadful to contemplate.

It is no longer deniable. The science is in and utterly sound. There's no way around it any longer. Certain lifestyles will have to change, I dare say it will not really be by choice in the near future. It will be forced upon all. Don't let creature comforts get in the way. It is possible to be comfortable, but also to change certain habits that are to the detriment of the planet. Otherwise, it's simple. Nonexistence on earth. It's really an either this way or no way.

Think, would you have imagined what's happened to our Republic, say, six years ago? Never say impossible.

I see the climate and environmental issues as just another area of expertise that the next generation will make our generation laughable.

Like it or not change is happening and technology is a wild crazy roller-coaster ride with some very sharp and savvy youngsters at the helm.

I hope for a future where everybody will look back and laugh at the use of fossil fuels and learn from the mistakes we have made by realizing the long term cost of abusing parts of our environment.

Twenty years from now everything will look very different and work in very different ways. There is an unstoppable and unyielding force of nature that is the progression of technology. Maybe not everything is progress if progress only refers to positive change but I do see the thought train gaining both speed and momentum.

As bad as things are (on so many levels) there will be some good strides and advances. Our generations true utility might be as an example of what not to do so our mistakes do serve a purpose.

It has to happen - sooner or later fossil fuels as a basis of energy will be as obsolete and quaint as rotary phones are today. I say the sooner the better.

capt

Carey,

Your global warming will be solved in 2008 at the snap of a finger if a Democrat is elected president. There will also be:

No more homeless.
No more pollution.
No more layoffs.
No more outsourcing or jobs overseas.
No more unemployment.
No more government bureaucracy.
No more government corruption.
No more war against terrorism.
No more high interest rates.
No more high inflation.

There will be,

Higher taxes.

The first list is a myth. The MSM will simply ignore the real problems since a Democrat would be president.

The second is fact.

The greatest gift the presidency of Jimmy Carter gave to America was Ronald Reagan. It will be interesting to see what is said of Bush 43. Any guesses?

At Hussein's Hearings, U.S. May Be on Trial

The ongoing trial of Saddam Hussein could prove increasingly uncomfortable for the Bush administration. The first crime of which the deposed dictator is accused, the secret execution of 143 Shiites arrested in 1982, seems an odd choice for the prosecution, and politics may be behind it. Hussein is accused of using poison gas against Iranian troops, of genocide against the Kurds and of massacring tens of thousands to end the 1991 uprising after his defeat in the Gulf War. The problem for the Bush administration with these other, far graver charges, is that the Americans are implicated in them either through acts of commission or omission.

More HERE

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

Good piece from Nov 29, 2005 that includes the famous Rummy shaking hands with his pal Saddam.

capt

It will be all over the web tommorrow but Keith Oberman ripped a big one this evening, nuff said. nite all!

Capt,

I agree. I think a first step would be toward nuclear power to wean the populace off the necessity for home heating fuels, coal and oil.
Nuclear power is safer today than it was 30 years ago. Even France has widespread use of nuclear energy. That would buy time to work on other sources of energy to power autos, planes and mass transit. Who knows what that solution may be but all it takes is time and effort and it will happen.

"Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance but to do what lies clearly at hand." ~ Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881)

"The birthplace of success for each person is in his Inner-Consciousness. The Inner-Consciousness will use whatever it is given. If constructive thoughts are planted positive outcomes will be the result. Plant the seeds of failure and failure will follow. And since the only real freedom a person has is the choice of what thoughts he will feed to his Inner-Consciousness he is totally responsible for the outcomes he gets. " ~ Sidney Madwed

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better." ~ King Whitney Jr.

Abramoff cooperation continues

Judge delays disgraced lobbyist's status hearing for the third time

WASHINGTON - A federal judge has again deferred a status hearing for disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the center of a wide-ranging public corruption investigation. This marks the third time since Abramoff's January guilty plea to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials that he has avoided a Washington court appearance.

U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle agreed to a joint motion by Justice Department lawyers and Abramoff's attorney for the delay citing the former mega-lobbyist's continuing cooperation in the probe. The motion to delay the court appearance originally scheduled for September 6th, said, "Abramoff has been cooperating with government agents and prosecutors. The government anticipates that Mr. Abramoff's cooperation will continue for the foreseeable future." Judge Huvelle has scheduled a December 8th status hearing for Abramoff.

More HERE

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

I wonder what names dates and places Jack is singing about these days?

capt

Bush Seeks Retroactive Laws To Protect Himself From War Crimes Prosecution

When I was a kid John Wayne war movies gave us the message that America was the good guy, the white hat that fought the villain. Alas, today the US and its last remaining non-coerced ally, Israel, are almost universally regarded as the bad guys over whom John Wayne would triumph. Today the US and Israel are seen throughout the world as war criminal states.

On August 23 the BBC reported that Amnesty International has brought war crimes charges against Israel for deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure as an "integral part" of Israel's strategy in its recent invasion of Lebanon.

Israel claims that its aggression was "self-defense" to dislodge Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. Yet, Israel bombed residential communities all over Lebanon, even Christian communities in the north in which no Hezbollah could possibly have been present.

United Nations spokesman Jean Fabre reported that Israel's attack on civilian infrastructure annihilated Lebanon's development: "Fifteen years of work have been wiped out in a month."

More HERE

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

A good piece from PCR.

capt

FYI,

Since the Jonbenet fiasco, I have been alerting the feds that I may have been present at a crime in Hawaii. Also in Aruba, Cancun and the French Riviera. So if you do not hear from me for a while, it could be that I am traveling the globe courtesy of the respective taxpayers only to realize it was all a dream. I will then plead guilty to a law that is still on the books in Kentucky, at last I heard, that one must bathe at least once a year. I will waive extradition and take a shower when I get home. Of course, after paying the fine.

What is Senator Stevens Hiding?

Hundreds of billions of tax dollars go to private contractors every year -- a lot of it needless pork barrel spending. There's a bill to create a public database of every federal contract, but a Senator who famously fought for a "bridge to nowhere" won't let it come up for a vote. Demand accountability now and we'll deliver your message to Republican Sen. Ted Stevens.

Sign the Petition HERE

Capt,

I agree again. But is it not the responsibility of the GAO to investigate, account for and report on government spending? How can one Senator block that from happening? Bureaucratic largess is a pet peeve of mine and how any politician who supposedly represents the people can block that information getting to he people he or she represents is nothing short of scandalous.

Re: "After all, he managed to become president--which is not an easy task (even if Karl Rove is your master strategist). He also managed, against the odds, to change the tax code to benefit folks like him."

Please Dave, let's not give him too much credit. HE became pres. due to the questionable circumstances in the FL 2000 election, and again in the now questionable 2004 OH election. HE managed to change the tax code as a puppet of the GOP party, who in charge, HE bowed to their every whim, guided by those who are really pulling the strings. He's just steering a ship that is navigated by those who are truly in power, e.g. Cheney.

Knock on the door. Bags packed for Hawaii. Must run.

Arabic T-shirt sparks airport row
_______________
An architect of Iraqi descent has said he was forced to remove a T-shirt that bore the words "We will not be silent" before boarding a flight at New York.
Raed Jarrar said security officials warned him his clothing was offensive after he checked in for a JetBlue flight to California on 12 August.

Mr Jarrar said he was shocked such an action could be taken in the US.
______________

Spanky had his name, in Arabic, tattoo'd on his chest when he was home on leave...I guess he'll have to play for the "shirts" on the MILE HIGH HOOPS pickup squad!

Puh-F'in THETIC!
_____________

...and with that, I'm off to pick up Jill at GSP.

She's flying in from 2 luxurious nights at the Atlanta Hyatt (downtown) after being called up for her DMAT (FEMA, DHS Disaster Medical Action Team) Strike team along with 600 other emergency workers.

They toured CNN, saw the "Bodies" exhibit and ate, drank, swam, sauna'd and slept in high style, then flew a whopping 150 MILES!!! home...all on the Tax-Sprayer's dime.

Pearlie, yer doin' a HECKofaJOB!!!

-T

Damn! It was Dominos.

I hope Jill has a good flight. She didn't get a tatoo also, did she? You and she may both be detained for questioning.

The Man Behind the Leak
Linda Chavez, Opinion, Yahoo

Corn's role is noteworthy because he is the Washington editor of the left-wing magazine The Nation and an outspoken critic of the Bush administration. What's more, he did much to transform the Plame incident into the national scandal it became. Corn admits that he was the first reporter to float the idea that whoever revealed Plame's name to syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who then published it in a 2003 column, may have violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. The law prohibits government officials from revealing the identity of covert officers, provided the official knew that the person was covert and obtained the information through his official duties. And since Novak cited "two senior administration officials" as his sources in the article, Democrats in Congress began clamoring for a full-scale investigation, which ultimately led to the appointment of Patrick Fitzgerald as a special counsel and the indictment of Scooter Libby in October 2005.

-----------
I thought the CIA asked the Justice Department to investigate. Who knew Corm had the power to incite Democrats to demand an investigtion?

MORE (link)

National Review
The Editorial: The Real Scandal

This revelation lays waste to the notion that Vice President Dick Cheney, former Cheney chief of staff Lewis Libby, and top White House aide Karl Rove conspired to ?out? Plame as a way of smearing her husband, the anti-Bush gadfly Joseph Wilson. But it does more than just debunk left-wing conspiracy theories. It also raises a vitally serious question about the CIA leak investigation itself: Why did it happen?

MORE (link)
------
Didn't the CIA ask the Justice Department to investigate if law were broken in revelaing the classified information of Val Plame's status with the CIA?

Plamegate: Another Hitch-Slap
Tom Bevan, Opinion
Wed Aug 30, 8:58 AM ET

First Juan Cole, now Michael Isikoff and David Corn. Christopher Hitchens nimbly points out the hypocrisy and sheer chutzpah of Isikoff and Corn being instrumental players in ginning up allegations that Plamegate was a blatant Bush administration hit job, and then turning around (and making money on a book, no less) and fingering Richard Armitage as Novak's original source. In other words, there was never any "there there."

More (link)

National Review Online
Hitchens on Plame [Cliff May]
Tuesday, August 29, 2006

A few [actually many] choice excerpts from Christopher Hitchens? latest:

[N]ow we have the final word on who did disclose the name and occupation of Valerie Plame, and it turns out to be someone whose opposition to the Bush policy in Iraq has?like Robert Novak's?long been a byword in Washington. It is particularly satisfying that this admission comes from two of the journalists?Michael Isikoff and David Corn?who did the most to get the story wrong in the first place and the most to keep it going long beyond the span of its natural life. ?[Y]ou have to laugh at the way Corn now so neutrally describes his own initial delusion as one that was ?seized on by administration critics.? ?

What does emerge from Hubris is further confirmation of what we knew all along: the extraordinary venom of the interdepartmental rivalry that has characterized this administration. In particular, the bureaucracy at the State Department and the CIA appear to have used the indiscretion of Armitage to revenge themselves on the ?neoconservatives? who had been advocating the removal of Saddam Hussein. Armitage identified himself to Colin Powell as Novak's source before the Fitzgerald inquiry had even been set on foot. ?

[R]ather late in the day, at the end of September 2003, then-CIA Director George Tenet himself sent a letter demanding to know whether the law had been broken.

The answer to that question, as Patrick Fitzgerald has since determined, is ?no.? But there were plenty of senior people who had known that all along. And can one imagine anybody with a stronger motive to change the subject from CIA incompetence and to present a widely discredited agency as, instead, a victim, than Tenet himself? The man who kept the knowledge of the Minnesota flight schools to himself and who was facing every kind of investigation and obloquy finally saw a chance to change the subject. If there is any ?irony? in the absurd and expensive and pointless brouhaha that followed, it is that he was abetted in this by so many who consider themselves ?radical.?"

More (link)

Mother Jones Blog
Plame Case: The Plot Thickens

Thereís long been speculation about Richard Armitageís role in the ongoing Valerie Plame saga, which has already forced the resignation of Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, and, to an extent, ensnared the Veep himself. In the past two weeks, though, the former deputy secretary of state has emerged not just as a bit player in the leak case but as a central figure. Last week the AP reported that an entry in Armitage's State Department calendar reflects a one-hour appointment with Bob Woodward (who has acknowledged having an informal discussion about Plame with an administration official) on June 13, 2003, not long before Plameís status as a covert CIA operative was blown in a column by Robert Novak. Today Newsweek, plugging a new book by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, is reporting that Armitage was Novak's primary source, the ìsenior administration officialî Novak has previously referred to as ìnot a partisan gunslinger.î According to the story:

(link)

Im about a third of the way through Fiasco, and I can say with some conviction, that this war was mismanaged from the TOP from the start.

Look at History, when was the last time 6 or eight high ranking General Officers got together to say the Commander and Chief GOT IT WRONG?

When was the last time our TV and Print media so let us down?

Long live blogs,they made a difference, and because of this the neocons feel the need to privatise them too. Beware. These boys play dirty.

If I were to write a book now, it would be; SKAPEGOATS OF THE ROVIAN ERA......Part 1.
AKA; Snakes on a Plane.

Nice piece David.

Did you catch Olberman tonight? Well done to Kieth too.

ATTENTION! Tim the conservative:
what were you saying about the corporati being our friend? what DID you tell me two weeks ago? something about the corporati being the patriotical american way? here this one's for you:

While Army privates died overseas earning $25,000 a year, David Brooks, the disgraced former CEO of body-armor maker DHB, made $192 million in stock sales in 2004. He staged a reported $10 million bat mitzvah for his daughter. The 2005 pay package for Halliburton CEO David Lesar, head of the firm that most symbolizes the occupation's waste, overcharges, and ghost charges on no-bid contracts, was $26 million, according to the report's analysis of federal Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Did you say?

If I were to write a book now, it would be; SKAPEGOATS OF THE ROVIAN ERA......Part 1.
AKA; Snakes on a Plame.

here's Olberman's closing speech about rummy the dummy that DEN mentioned...

olbermann-delivers-one-hell-of-a-commentary-on-rumsfeld

All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.
~ Alexis de Tocqueville

More on rummy...

Begala: "He sounded like a batty old man. A more decent society would put him in one of those coats with no cuffs and take him off to one of those rooms with padding on the walls."

Rummy is an idiot

There's no question in my mind that Bush has above average intelligence. If he wasn't born with "smart genes," he certainly has been around intellectually-gifted people his entire life. Surely, by osmosis, he's smarter by having been in the company of curious, intelligent, capable people.

When one judges Bush's competence, or incompetence, one must look at his brain at a much, much, much, much deeper level. The "smarts" may be there, but obviously other things are going on. We have clues. Psychiatrists have mentioned clues. His mother has been upfront with at least one depressive episode. I would imagine she's had more than one depressive episode. In fact, she's probably having a massive depressive episode now seeing the mess our country is in.

The red flags are there for George's own personal depressive episodes. I think it's a fair statement to say that he's wrestled with demons his entire life. Other people have alluded to demons, in addition to alcohol. The rumors are out there.

Unfortunately, it appears that our president is not a stable guy. At one point he was taking an antidepressant. When a person is not stable, it's difficult to make rational decisions. That's one of the hallmarks of depression.

Abraham Lincoln had similar demons, but George Bush is NOT Abraham Lincoln. He has two years to redeem himself, and my best hunch is that he's not going to eclipse the genius of Abraham Lincoln.

I think it's hard for Bush to develop a stategy, when he is struggling with demons. He's had an adequate amount of time to develop a stategy. More than enough time. More than enough time. He knew he was going to invade Iraq years ago. We all know he wanted to even the score with Saddam--whatever the cost. And, the cost is a very, very, very, very high cost.

Today, General George Casey stated that he definitely sees in his crystal ball-- a time fame of 12 to 18 months for American troop withdrawls. Duh! Duh! Duh! Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we hard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before.

It will be years, decades; before Iraq can get on its feet. Our military machinery alone has a very short shelf-life, and it's costing billions of dollars to replace it on a monthly basis. We can barely afford to do this. Does it make sense that Iraq can afford to replace the military machinery? No! No! The oil revenue is gone. If there are pipe lines gushing with oil, the insurgents will make sure that they are blown up.

For a plan to materialize, I would suggest that George Bush up his antidepressant dosage. Whatever he's taking, it's not enough. Maybe his psychiatrist has recommended an increased dosage, but George forgets to take the pills.

Without a doubt, George forgets many things. Forgetting about tax breaks for the rich, is not one of them.

There's no question in my mind that Bush has above average intelligence. If he wasn't born with "smart genes," he certainly has been around intellectually-gifted people his entire life. Surely, by osmosis, he's smarter by having been in the company of curious, intelligent, capable people.

When one judges Bush's competence, or incompetence, one must look at his brain at a much, much, much, much deeper level. The "smarts" may be there, but obviously other things are going on. We have clues. Psychiatrists have mentioned clues. His mother has been upfront with at least one depressive episode. I would imagine she's had more than one depressive episode. In fact, she's probably having a massive depressive episode now seeing the mess our country is in.

The red flags are there for George's own personal depressive episodes. I think it's a fair statement to say that he's wrestled with demons his entire life. Other people have alluded to demons, in addition to alcohol. The rumors are out there.

Unfortunately, it appears that our president is not a stable guy. At one point he was taking an antidepressant. When a person is not stable, it's difficult to make rational decisions. That's one of the hallmarks of depression.

Abraham Lincoln had similar demons, but George Bush is NOT Abraham Lincoln. He has two years to redeem himself, and my best hunch is that he's not going to eclipse the genius of Abraham Lincoln.

I think it's hard for Bush to develop a stategy, when he is struggling with demons. He's had an adequate amount of time to develop a stategy. More than enough time. More than enough time. He knew he was going to invade Iraq years ago. We all know he wanted to even the score with Saddam--whatever the cost. And, the cost is a very, very, very, very high cost.

Today, General George Casey stated that he definitely sees in his crystal ball-- a time fame of 12 to 18 months for American troop withdrawls. Duh! Duh! Duh! Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we hard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before. Haven't we heard this before.

It will be years, decades; before Iraq can get on its feet. Our military machinery alone has a very short shelf-life, and it's costing billions of dollars to replace it on a monthly basis. We can barely afford to do this. Does it make sense that Iraq can afford to replace the military machinery? No! No! The oil revenue is gone. If there are pipe lines gushing with oil, the insurgents will make sure that they are blown up.

For a plan to materialize, I would suggest that George Bush up his antidepressant dosage. Whatever he's taking, it's not enough. Maybe his psychiatrist has recommended an increased dosage, but George forgets to take the pills.

Without a doubt, George forgets many things. Forgetting about tax breaks for the rich, is not one of them.

Iraqi forces to take over in 12-18 months
The top American general in Iraq said on Wednesday he foresaw Iraq assuming control of its own security within 12 to 18 months with "very little" support from US-led forces.
But General George Casey said it was not clear yet at what point Iraqi troops would be able to go it alone and Washington would be able to start withdrawing its 135,000 troops.
"I'm not sure yet, and we'll adjust that as we go. But a lot of that, in fact the future coalition presence, 12-18 months from now, is going to be decided by the Iraqi government," he told reporters in Baghdad.
He said a mutiny by the 10th Iraqi Army Division, whose troops reportedly refused to redeploy from Basra to Baghdad, and the failure of Iraqi soldiers to stop the looting of a military base vacated by British troops were "troubling events".
"It's troubling. It's something we watch all the time, but it's a very small percentage of the Iraqi armed forces."

(Reuters)

David,

Sorry about the double post.

When I submitted the first one, there was a message on my screen saying that an error had occurred. I just assumed that it didn't go through, when in fact it did go through.

I didn't want to lose the post, which can sometimes happen if you start punching keys. I've had that happen a few times.

Cluster bombing of Lebanon 'immoral' UN official tells Israel
᠈umanitarian chief says civilians are killed daily
᠁nnan urges Olmert to end Gaza blockade
Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
Thursday August 31, 2006
The Guardian

Israel faced a stinging rebuke from the UN yesterday when the world body's humanitarian chief expressed shock at the "completely immoral" use of cluster bombs in Lebanon and Kofi Annan called for a rapid end to the conflict in Gaza. Jan Egeland said civilians were facing "massive problems" returning home because of as many as 100,000 unexploded cluster bombs, most of which were dropped in the last days of the war. "What's shocking - and I would say to me completely immoral - is that 90% of the cluster bomb strikes occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict, when we knew there would be a resolution," Mr Egeland said. "Every day people are maimed, wounded and are killed by these ordnance." Earlier, the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, called on Israel to end its closure of the Gaza Strip and to halt the fighting that has claimed the lives of more than 200 Palestinians in the past two months.
Yesterday Israeli troops killed eight Palestinians in air strikes and gun battles around the Shijaiyeh neighbourhood of Gaza City. One of the dead was a 14-year-old boy who was in a crowd watching the fighting. At least two others were militants, doctors said. The Israeli army said it found a large tunnel for smuggling that ran 150 metres towards a cargo crossing.
Israel's military incursions into Gaza have been overshadowed by the conflict in Lebanon. But Palestinian officials say more than half of those killed in the past two months have been civilians - among them 39 children killed in July alone. "Over 200 Palestinians have been killed since the end of June. This must stop immediately," Mr Annan said, after meeting Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank. "I have made my feelings known in talks with Israeli officials. Beyond preserving life, we have to sustain life, the closure of Gaza must be lifted, the crossing points must be opened, not just to allow goods but to allow Palestinian exports out as well." Crossing points into Gaza for cargo and pedestrians have been closed for long periods in recent months because of what the Israelis say are security concerns. Israel has defended its military operations in Gaza, saying it is trying to find a captured Israeli soldier and stop militants firing rockets into Israel. Mr Annan's visit was also intended to reinforce t