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 the ceasefire that ended 34 days of conflict between Israel and Hizbullah. Yesterday, after meeting Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, he called on the Israeli government to end its air and sea blockade of Lebanon, which he said the Lebanese regarded as a "humiliation" and an "infringement of their sovereignty". But Mr Olmert said Israel would not lift the blockade or withdraw its soldiers, who are still deployed in their thousands in southern Lebanon, until the UN ceasefire was fully implemented. A total of 15,000 Lebanese army soldiers and another 15,000 international troops are due to take up positions in southern Lebanon in the coming weeks as part of the agreement. In the meantime, Israel says it wants to stop Hizbullah rearming in the south. Mr Olmert said he hoped the ceasefire agreement might be the "cornerstone" of a new relationship between Israel and Lebanon. But the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, said Lebanon "will be the last Arab country that could sign a peace agreement with Israel". Negotiations appear to be under way to secure the release of two Israeli soldiers whose capture on July 12 triggered the Lebanon war. Mr Annan said he believed the two were alive, although he did not know what condition they were in. In Beirut yesterday Muhammad Fneish, one of two Hizbullah ministers in the Lebanese cabinet, said the soldiers would only be freed in a prisoner exchange. "There should be an exchange through indirect negotiations," he said.

Plamegate over
By Linda Chavez
Wednesday, August 30, 2006

So now we know. The man behind the leak of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity was not presidential adviser Karl Rove, nor Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who is under indictment for allegedly obstructing the investigation into the leak and lying to investigators. It turns out the leaker was former State Department deputy secretary Richard Armitage, a man much loved by the media precisely because he could always be counted on to tell tales out of school. In his own words, Armitage is "a terrible gossip," an admission he made during the Iran-Contra congressional hearings in 1987. The credit for unearthing this information goes to David Corn and Michael Isikoff in their forthcoming book, "Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal and the Selling of the Iraq War."

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.

Corn deserves recognition for reporting what turns out to be an inconvenient fact. It can't please him that the investigative trail in the Plame leak led not to hardliners in the West Wing but to a high-placed dove in Foggy Bottom. But I'm not ready to take my hat off to Corn just yet. His new revelations really beg out for a mea culpa for having got it wrong in the first place when he alleged, shortly after the leak, that "there is evidence Bushies used classified information and put the nation's counter-proliferation efforts at risk merely to settle a score." Yet, Corn has decided to use the publication of the exculpatory information to reassert, once again, his attacks on the Bush White House.

Corn implies that it doesn't matter who the original source of the leak was because Rove confirmed Plame's identity when asked about it by Novak and passed on the information to Matt Cooper of Time magazine. Corn also blames Libby for revealing Plame's identity to another reporter, Judith Miller, then a writer for the New York Times. But neither Cooper nor Miller disclosed the information; and it was Novak's column that spurred the federal investigation that later resulted in Libby's indictment. And Armitage was Novak's primary source.

Corn admits that Armitage was "a war skeptic not bent on revenge" against Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, for publishing a 2003 article critical of administration claims that Iraq was trying to secure materials used in building nuclear weapons. But instead of acknowledging that Armitage's role in the leak undermines the whole conspiracy theory that the White House would stop at nothing -- even jeopardizing national security -- to get even with its foes, Corn says the Plame affair "remains a story of ugly and unethical politics, stonewalling, and lies."

The real ugliness -- indeed, cowardice -- is that the original culprit who leaked Plame's name never came forward publicly to explain himself. Although Armitage did reveal to federal prosecutors that he gave Plame's name to Novak, he did so only when he may have worried that he could become the target of the investigation after Novak noted in a column, three months after the original story, that his source was "no partisan gunslinger." Nonetheless, Armitage let sharks in the press circle the West Wing looking for blood for the next two and a half years, knowing he was the real blabbermouth.

Worse yet, Scooter Libby now faces possible jail time for allegedly misleading statements in an investigation into a non-crime committed by someone else, a person, in any event, who was already known to federal prosecutors. The real crime here appears to be this malicious prosecution.

CEO compensation--30 million here, 15 million there, 25 million here, and 50 million there is not energizing the electorate. It should but it's not.

Sons and daughters of the affluent marching off to Iraq will energize the electorate. Sun City retirees being drafted would energize the electorate.

Sadly, global warming is not energizing the electorate. This is probably the number one issue facing not only America, but the world. Iraq is peanuts. A trillion dollar deficit is peanuts. Same-sex marriage is most definitely peanuts. That's not even a blip on the radar screen.

Global warming threatens the future of our very fragile planet. All of us living today will most likely escape the lethal consequences of global warming. Future generations will not.

The effects of global warming are irreversible. Global warming is the paramount, lasting legacy of the Bush administration. Bush just doesn't get it like he doesn't get a lot of things.

Life isn't fair. Someday, there will be no life on this planet. Fair or not, that's part of life. Death happens to all of us, and planets even die.

David, you have no compunction about calling Bush a liar, yet you hedge about calling him stupid? I for one am certain of both. I wish you would stop insulting OUR intelligence by refering to him as anything less than what he is... a dumbfuck.

If Bush is such an idiot, what does that make us?
Bush is the Insult being projected at the American people (and the world): a walking,
sneering, middle finger leading this nation toward spiritual suicide. A prince of lies. A human being only by appearance. In a Larry King Live interview in 2001, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi said, "There's a demon in the White House". Do you think its less than this?

Here is a comment from Robert Novak, the columnist. He is wrong because unless the repugs totally anniliate the Democrats all elections are pitiful for him. I would put any stock in what Novak says because I consider him guilty of treason.

In a piece released yesterday, conservative columnist Bob Novak called the GOP outlook for the midterm elections "pitiful." Novak cited a slew of problematic races for the Republicans, writing, "Any way one looks at it, the odds are clearly stacked against the GOP and in favor of Democrats. Republicans are certain to lose House seats this year, even under the best scenario they can envision."

Novak charted the course of likely Democratic victory, suggesting that the key to seat gains "will be the removal of their own marginal incumbents from their endangered condition. The less spent by Democrats on their own seats, the more they can spend unseating the many marginal Republicans." In the meantime, "Democrats are clearly at the controls."

Please read this article!

Religious Leaders' Statement on Christian Zionism
"We Stand for Justice. We Can Do No Other"

JERUSALEM, AUG. 30, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is "The Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism" released Aug. 22. The statement was written by Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem and other local heads of Churches in Jerusalem.

* * *

"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9)

Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel.

The Christian Zionist program provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it laces an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ's love and justice today.

We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation.

We further reject the contemporary alliance of Christian Zionist leaders and organizations with elements in the governments of Israel and the United States that are presently imposing their unilateral preemptive borders and domination over Palestine.

This inevitably leads to unending cycles of violence that undermine the security of all peoples of the Middle East and the rest of the world.

We reject the teachings of Christian Zionism that facilitate and support these policies as they advance racial exclusivity and perpetual war rather than the gospel of universal love, redemption and reconciliation taught by Jesus Christ.

Rather than condemn the world to the doom of Armageddon we call upon everyone to liberate themselves from the ideologies of militarism and occupation. Instead, let them pursue the healing of the nations!

We call upon Christians in Churches on every continent to pray for the Palestinian and Israeli people, both of whom are suffering as victims of occupation and militarism. These discriminative actions are turning Palestine into impoverished ghettos surrounded by exclusive Israeli settlements.

The establishment of the illegal settlements and the construction of the Separation Wall on confiscated Palestinian land undermine the viability of a Palestinian state as well as peace and security in the entire region.

We call upon all Churches that remain silent, to break their silence and speak for reconciliation with justice in the Holy Land.

Therefore, we commit ourselves to the following principles as an alternative way:

We affirm that all people are created in the image of God. In turn they are called to honor the dignity of every human being and to respect their inalienable rights.

We affirm that Israelis and Palestinians are capable of living together within peace, justice and security.

We affirm that Palestinians are one people, both Muslim and Christian. We reject all attempts to subvert and fragment their unity.

We call upon all people to reject the narrow world view of Christian Zionism and other ideologies that privilege one people at the expense of others.

We are committed to non-violent resistance as the most effective means to end the illegal occupation in order to attain a just and lasting peace.

With urgency we warn that Christian Zionism and its alliances are justifying colonization, apartheid and empire-building.

God demands that justice be done. No enduring peace, security or reconciliation is possible without the foundation of justice. The demands of justice will not disappear. The struggle for justice must be pursued diligently and persistently but without violence.

"What does the Lord require of you: To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

This is where we take our stand. We stand for justice. We can do no other. Justice alone guarantees a peace that will lead to reconciliation with a life of security and prosperity for all the peoples of our land. By standing on the side of justice, we open ourselves to the work of peace -- and working for peace makes us children of God.

"God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:19)

Patriarch Michel Sabbah
Latin Patriarchate, Jerusalem

Archbishop Swerios Malki Mourad,
Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem

Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal,
Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East

Bishop Munib Younan,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

Let us state what George Warmonger Bush truly is! He is an idiot savant! He is a mentally defective person who exhibits some skill in a limited field!

American Soldiers

2,966 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his lies.

18,500+ American soldiers have been maimed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Bush and his evil lies.

55,000+ of the 140,000 American soldiers are suffering from PTSD. Stress disorder has increased and the percentage is now around 40%.

Over 350,000+ Iraqis have been killed in Iraq since Bush declared shock and awe bombings on March 19, 2003.

Contamination from depleted uranium may have affected 125,000+ American soldiers and several million Iraqis.

I will try to share with you a money figure for our war and occupation in Iraq. Our government taps into different bottomless money wells for wars and it is difficult to always know the correct amount of money that is being spent. Money figures will probably change from time to time. By 2010 we will have spent in Iraq $1.2 trillion. We will be in Iraq for at least 50 years and the money figure that is mentioned is $8 to 10 trillion. We will probably never leave Iraq, especially with 14 permanent bases in Iraq and of the 14 permanent bases 4 are mega military bases. Iraq will have access to a bottomless money well.

Can we say that Rummie, the dummie, was instrumental in the murder of nearly three thousand American soldiers?

Bush Team Casts Foes as Defeatist
Blunt Rhetoric Signals a New Thrust
By Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, August 31, 2006;

President Bush and his surrogates are launching a new campaign intended to rebuild support for the war in Iraq by accusing the opposition of aiming to appease terrorists and cut off funding for troops on the battlefield, charges that many Democrats say distort their stated positions.
With an appearance before the American Legion in Salt Lake City today, Bush will begin a series of speeches over 20 days centered on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But he and his top lieutenants have foreshadowed in recent days the thrust of the effort to put Democrats on the defensive with rhetoric that has further inflamed an already emotional debate.
Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman cited statements by al-Qaeda leaders and other radicals. Bush suggested last week that Democrats are promising voters to block additional money for continuing the war. Vice President Cheney this week said critics "claim retreat from Iraq would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone." And Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, citing passivity toward Nazi Germany before World War II, said that "many have still not learned history's lessons" and "believe that somehow vicious extremists can be appeased." Pressed to support these allegations, the White House yesterday could cite no major Democrat who has proposed cutting off funds or suggested that withdrawing from Iraq would persuade terrorists to leave Americans alone. But White House and Republican officials said those are logical interpretations of the most common Democratic position favoring a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. "A lot of the people who say we need to withdraw from Iraq say we'll be safer, and I don't think that's accurate," said Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, a key architect of the party's strategy heading into the fall congressional campaign. Mehlman noted that al-Qaeda leaders and other Islamic radicals have said they want to drive Americans out of Iraq and use it as a base. "We ought to not ignore when they say they're going to do that." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said it is reasonable for Bush to presume that Democrats will try to cut off funding for the war if they take over Congress, noting that 54 House Democrats voted against a spending bill for military operations last year. "How would they force the president to withdraw troops?" she asked. "Yell?" Democrats contended that the statements went too far. "Maybe there are some people in America who do not want to fight the war on terror, but I do not know them," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said yesterday. "We Democrats want to fight a very strong war on terror. No one has talked about appeasement." The White House strategy of equating Democratic dissent with defeatism worked during the 2002 and 2004 elections, but it could prove more difficult this time. Some Republicans, such as Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.), line up with Democrats in seeking a timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq. When Bush and his allies accuse those favoring such a timetable of "self-defeating pessimism," as Cheney put it this week, they risk spraying friendly fire on some of their own candidates.
In an interview yesterday, Shays said the charges by Cheney and Rumsfeld are "over the top" and unhelpful. "The president should be trying to bring the country together and not trying to divide us," he said. Shays, a longtime supporter of the war who just returned from his 14th trip to Iraq and faces a tough reelection battle, said he plans to outline next month a deadline for replacing U.S. troops doing police-style patrols with Iraqi forces. But he fears the Bush administration might not be supportive.
Other GOP incumbents, such as Reps. Gil Gutknecht (Minn.) and Michael G. Fitzpatrick (Pa.), are also raising serious concerns about Bush's Iraq policy. But many embattled Republicans remain reluctant to break with the administration's current approach. Rep. Rob Simmons, another Connecticut Republican facing a difficult campaign in a Democratic-leaning district, said he will oppose any effort by Shays to establish a pullout deadline. "I don't think that is a good idea," Simmons said.
Instead, Simmons highlights his military service and initial objections to invading Iraq three years ago. "I am a Connecticut Republican, and the environment in which I operate is quite different from elsewhere in the country," Simmons said. As for the emerging Bush political strategy on terrorism and the war, it "is hard to judge whether it helps or hurts," he said. "It may help candidates elsewhere in the country more than it helps me."

Doubts grow over US policy

Is Israel that stupid to trust the USA?

But Bush's adamant refusal to engage Damascus is precisely what has raised doubts in Israel about whether his policies are in the long-term or even in the immediate interests of the Jewish state.

Bush Team Casts Foes as Defeatist
Continued:

While no Democrat has the powerful platform that the White House affords Bush and Cheney, the complaints about the mischaracterizing of positions on the war flow in both directions. Many Democrats accuse the president of advocating "stay the course" in Iraq, but the White House rejects the phrase and regularly emphasizes that it is adapting tactics to changing circumstances, such as moving more U.S. troops into Baghdad recently after a previous security strategy appeared to fail.
"Strategically, we are staying committed to the fact that this is an important mission and one that should be accomplished," said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Democrats, this adviser said, say "we're 'doing the same thing over and over' when that's not the case." Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman cited statements by al-Qaeda leaders and other radicals. The intensity of the exchanges underscores the power of the issue. Although memories of Hurricane Katrina and disputes over the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast generated heated debate in recent days, strategists in both parties believe that the coming congressional elections will turn in large part on the Iraq war and whether voters believe it is part of the global battle against terrorism or a distraction from it. Bush advisers hope that the legacy of Sept. 11 will rally the public back to the unpopular president and his party, while Democrats are trying to tap into broad discontent with the Iraq war. Republicans plan to load the congressional agenda with national security issues, including votes on spending for the military, terrorism-fighting measures and symbolic bills supporting U.S. troops. Democrats plan to force votes on providing more equipment to U.S. troops, implementing the recommendations of the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission and condemning Bush's Iraq policy. Bush's speech to the American Legion this morning will launch his third intensive campaign in the past year to address public anxiety over the war. Aides said he will tackle the perception that the world is in chaos and tie together the conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan and elsewhere into the common ideological thread of fighting "Islamic fascism." The effort will continue with other speeches in Washington and around the country, followed by a whirlwind tour of the Sept. 11 attack sites and a Sept. 19 address to the U.N. General Assembly. During a campaign stop in Arkansas yesterday, Bush denied that the efforts are connected to the election campaign. "They're not political speeches," he said. "They're speeches about the future of this country, and they're speeches to make it clear that if we retreat before the job is done, this nation would become even more in jeopardy. These are important times, and I seriously hope people wouldn't politicize these issues that I'm going to talk about." The Democratic strategy for the next few weeks is twofold: First, punch back every time Republicans challenge their commitment to national security. Yesterday, for instance, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) was among the half-dozen leading Democrats to strike back at Rumsfeld by noontime. "Secretary Rumsfeld's efforts to smear critics of the Bush administration's Iraq policy are a pathetic attempt to shift the public's attention from his repeated failure to manage the conduct of the war competently," she said.
At the same time, Democrats plan a series of events in which to condemn Bush's Iraq policy and amplify their charge that Iraq is not a central front in the campaign against terrorism. In a late-morning conference call, Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the Democrats' leading spokesman on national security issues, said only a small minority of those involved in the bloodshed in Iraq are the kind of international terrorists the United States should be hunting down.
Unlike in the past two elections, it is not clear which party benefits most from these debates. Most polls show that the public is essentially split over which party will keep the United States safe from terrorists. Both sides anticipate that Bush and other Republicans will get a slight bump from the Sept. 11 anniversary and the public's renewed focus on terrorism on that day, but that will not end the focus. "Over the next 69 days," Mehlman said, "there will be an important discussion in America over what it takes to make America safe."

Wikipedia

There continues to be some controversy involving Dick Cheney and the draft, due in part to Cheney's five draft deferments. In January 1959, when Mr. Cheney reached age 18 and was classified as 1-A available for service he was doing poorly at Yale. At that time, however, the military was taking only older men, and like most others who were in college at the time, Cheney had little concern about being drafted. In June 1962, Cheney left Yale to return home to Casper, where he worked as a lineman for a power company. In 1962, only 82,060 men were inducted into the service, the fewest since 1949. While Cheney was eligible for the draft, as he said during his confirmation hearings in 1989, he was not called up because the Selective Service System was taking only older men. By January 1963, with the US actively advising South Vietnamese forces, Cheney enrolled in Casper Community College and turned 22 that month. At that time, he sought his first student deferment which was granted on March 20, according to records from the Selective Service System. After transferring to the University of Wyoming at Laramie, Cheney sought his second student deferment on July 23, 1963. On August 7, 1964, Congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which allowed President Lyndon B. Johnson to use military force in Vietnam. From that point on, American involvement in Vietnam began to escalate rapidly. After graduating from the University of Wyoming in 1963 with a Bachelor's degree in political science, Cheney drank until he was brought up on drunk driving charges at the U of W to complete an MA in political science, graduating in 1965. On August 29, 1964, 22 days after the resolution, Cheney married his high school sweetheart, Lynne. He sought and was granted his third student deferment on October 14, 1964. In May 1965, Cheney graduated from college and his draft status changed to 1-A. Since he was married, however, he had somewhat better protection from being drafted. In July, 1965, Johnson announced that he was doubling the number of men drafted. The number of inductions soared, to 382,010 in 1966 from 230,991 in 1965 and 112,386 in 1964. Cheney obtained his fourth deferment because he started graduate school at the University of Wyoming on November 1, 1965.
On October 6, 1965, the Selective Service lifted its ban against drafting married men who had no children. Nine months and two days later, Cheney's first daughter, Elizabeth, was born. On January 19, 1966, when his wife was about 10 weeks pregnant, Mr. Cheney applied for 3-A status, the "hardship" exemption, which excluded men with children or dependent parents. It was granted. In January 1967, Cheney turned 26 and was no longer eligible for the draft.

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Planning military "non-service)??

Calling Gaza ‘¥icking time-bomb, UN official urges aid to avoid social explosion

Jan Egeland 30 August 2006
Warning that Gaza is a ticking time-bomb marked by conditions so severe a social explosion is inevitable, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator today called on donors scheduled to convene tomorrow in Stockholm to generously fund assistance efforts for the Palestinians. You cannot seal off an area, which is a little bigger than the city of Stockholm, has 1.4 million people, of whom 800,000 are youth and children, and then have 200 artillery shells go in there virtually every day, seal off the borders so that it is very hard for them to send anything out, crippling the economy, for people to live or even humanitarian supplies to get in, Jan Egeland told reporters in New York, calling a ticking time-bomb. He said the conditions will lead to some a social explosion. Is it in 10 days or is it in 10 months? Of course we don't know but it is a time-bomb. Nobody visiting Gaza can avoid the fact that it is a totally untenable situation, he said. Mr. Egeland, who will attend tomorrow's meeting in Stockholm, said the previous humanitarian appeal for the occupied Palestinian territories had brought in only 40 per cent of the $385 million being sought. He voiced hope that more money would be forthcoming and that there would be full diplomatic support for a fresh look at the situation. In a related development, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) today spotlighted the plight of women in labour who are being delayed at Israeli checkpoints, forcing roadside births and even causing the death of some women and infants. The agency issued a statement urging access to health facilities and stressing that humanitarian organizations must be allowed to operate freely. More than 68 pregnant Palestinian women had to give birth at Israeli checkpoints during the last six years, leading to 34 miscarriages and the death of four women, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
A recent report by the Ministry shows that since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000, pregnant Palestinian women in labour are often prevented by Israeli forces from reaching hospitals to receive appropriate medical attention. As a result, 10 per cent of women who wished to give birth at medical centres have had to spend two to four hours on the road before reaching a hospital, while 6 per cent spent more than four hours. The normal time, before the intifada, was 15 to 30 minutes.
These figures underline the need to put an end, once and for all, to the agony of pregnant Palestinian women held at Israeli checkpoints, said UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. It is urgent to facilitate access by pregnant women to life-saving services, as stipulated by international humanitarian law.
UNFPA has been helping pregnant women avoid suffering at the checkpoints by training health personnel and equipping them with delivery kits to provide services within their communities. It has also formed local community support teams to assist health providers and raise awareness of the availability of delivery services. The agency continues to work with its partners on providing the Gaza population with essential emergency services and supplies, including by restoring health facilities, purchasing reproductive health supplies and other essential drugs to support the Ministry of Health, and providing psychological and clinical services to women and their families.

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Let's not forget the suffering among the Palestinians.

#87
Good post.

I'll now stop posting these looooong posts!

Erling

How do I make a hyperlink?

A link is done with something called the Anchor tag.

The anchor tag looks like this:

 <A HREF="pagename.html">Link Here</A>

Anything that appears between the begin and end anchor tags will take you to the specified destination when clicked.

Format tags are as follows

 <B>BOLD TEXT</B>

 <I>ITALIC TEXT</I>

If you use "preview" you can see your formats and test your links by a "right click" then "open in new window". If it works the new window will open with your linked page.

*****

If any of the above gives you a hard time or if you cannot get the results you want, drop me an email. I will help where I can.

capt

#84
Alan,
Thanks for posting that Olbermann piece. It was very powerful. If people can watch it I suggest they do.

Here is my letter to Olberman that I left at Crooks and Liars.

Mr. Olbermann,
If you read this. You are not so far from your hero. He would be very respectful of your courage to speak and of your analysis of the situation. In fact, I don't know how much more he would have said or how much better he could have said it.

Mr. Murrow, I think, would be happy to know that his legacy has lived on, that his words were spoken to remind us all that we can, as Americans, fight the enemy of our democracy, whoever that enemy may be.

Linda Chavez?

I love it! And I am sure, so does Mr. David Corn.

The endorsement of the content, quality and profundity is increased as the list of Reich-wingnut moonbats recite their shrill condemnations of a book few or none have read.

Please, all trolls and Bushbots, cry and whine and bellyache as much as possible, please get on the radio talk shows and camp in your echo chambers and trash talk about HUBRIS as much as possible.

Free advertising and a ringing confirmation!

Thanks!

capt

Jeanne! Thanks for the tip on the book about Minnesotian expressions. Is'nt there also two words that should be added: Lutefisk and Lefse?

Bush launches propaganda offensive on failed Iraq war

President George W. Bush, facing predictions of massive GOP losses in the upcoming midterm elections and eroding public support for his failed Iraq war strategy, opens a new propaganda offensive with lofty predictions of victory that he claims will be "a major ideological triumph in the struggle of the 21st century."

His claims, however, may fall on deaf ears from a country that has turned its back on Bush's failed presidency and his many broken promises.

Beginning a series of war speeches at the American Legion's national convention on Thursday, Bush plans to acknowledge the unsettling times —†marked by sectarian violence in Iraq, disputes along the Israel-Lebanon border and terrorists allegedly plotting to blow up planes between Britain and the United States.

But he will arguing the bloodshed and threats are part of an ideological struggle between freedom and extremism that the United States must not abandon.

"They're not political speeches," Bush said Wednesday when asked if they might have an impact on the congressional elections just over two months away. "They're speeches about the future of this country, and they're speeches to make it clear that if we retreat before the job is done, this nation would become even more in jeopardy. These are important times, and I seriously hope people wouldn't politicize these issues that I'm going to talk about."

Which, of course, is a lie. Every speech Bush makes in this critical midterm election year is a political one, marked by an attempt to overcome the many failures of his administration and the faltering GOP leadership in Congress.

More HERE

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

Not such a critical midterm if Diebold, ES&S and the other "counting processes" are on board in favor of dear leader.

UGH!

capt

Corn and Isakoff's new book

HUBRIS: The Inside Story Of Spin, Scandal And The Selling Of The Iraq War

AKA Snakes on a Plame

Get a grip on your chopsticks...

Personal chopsticks are becoming necessary...take-out food outlets in China and Japan are charging customers for disposable chopsticks or not offering them at all. The reason cited is greater awareness of the importance of protecting scarce forests and water supplies in China (where most disposable chopsticks are made).

Additionally, a Wuhan-based company Far East Green World Corp, is making utensils made of yam starch and rice husks, which are compostable. It has invested heavily to expand its production capacity for green disposable products -- the starch chopsticks project will benefit about 100,000 people in poor areas of China, since the company will be using more than 200,000 tons of sweet potatoes, a staple product in those parts.

Micki,

I'd always assumed that Bamboo was such a fast re-generator, judging by the thickets that are springing up all over my part of the planet, that Bamboo chopsticks were a better answer than just about anything else.

Is bamboo not compostable?

Is bush an idiot? A moron? Not by the strictest definitions. But he is demonstrably lacking intelligence, incurious and, furthermore, I believe he is in pre-senile dementia. I lived in Texas when he was governor and was in the same room with him on more than one occasion -- I was NOT one of those people who found him charming and affable. I thought he was a smart aleck adolescent who was cunning, crafty, and cutthroat.

If one views videotape of him from his gubernatorial days, it is obvious he's never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but one can see that his verbal communication skills have dramatically deteriorated since those days.

Journalists don't want to admit that he's pretty damned stupid, because they helped create the myth of George W. Bush. Who wants to admit that a marginally functioning person became president of the United States, in part, due to the gullibility of REPORTERS who helped sell the American people damaged goods?

George W. Bush is stupid and suffering from dementia, IMO.

TRH 61, what will they be saying about bush? That he is a murderous traitor that allowed a massive attack against his own people for personal gain, in fact, half the people are saying that already. He will go down in history as the president who was responsible for the complete destruction of our Constitution and Bill of Rights and the one who covertly sold our infrastructure and our very borders to foreign interests, he is doing this as we speak. Great legacy, eh?

micki, I'm sure he is paying a heavy price for his party days. I don't think he's an idiot, I do think he's evil, which is far worse.

Sal, Sociopathic personality disorder comes to mind.

Lie By Lie

The first drafts of history are fragmentary. Important revelations arrive late, and out of order. In this timeline, we’∂e assembled the history of the Iraq War to create a resource we hope will help resolve open questions of the Bush era. What did our leaders know and when did they know it? And, perhaps just as important, what red flags did we miss, and how could we have missed them? This is the first installment in our Iraq War timeline project.

Lie By Lie

The first drafts of history are fragmentary. Important revelations arrive late, and out of order. In this timeline, we’∂e assembled the history of the Iraq War to create a resource we hope will help resolve open questions of the Bush era. What did our leaders know and when did they know it? And, perhaps just as important, what red flags did we miss, and how could we have missed them? This is the first installment in our Iraq War timeline project.

Bamboo loves water but loves drainage even more. Some chopsticks are made from hardwoods, from rainforests. Yam-based chopsticks compost to granular-type texture in less than a month. I don't know for certain, but I think bamboo would take a lot longer than a month. Everything is relative, as they say.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

This disorder was previously known as both psychopathic and Sociopathic personality disorder. Like most personality disorders, there are many factors that may contribute to the development of symptoms. Because the symptoms are long lasting, the idea that symptoms begin to emerge in childhood or at least adolescence is well accepted. The negative consequences of such symptoms, however, may not show themselves until adulthood.

Research has shown that a large percentage of individuals with this disorder have recognizable behaviors prior to age 15. These behaviors include difficulty with authority, legal altercations, cruelty to animals, fire setting, and a dislike or anger toward authority. This disorder is diagnosed much more frequently in males.

More here

That is the proper connotation of a Sociopathic personality.

I'm a librarian on Cape Cod. First request for Hubris yesterday. According to Baker & Taylor, we need to wait until October for delivery. I'll try to keep the hordes at bay until then. The patron was very impressed that I could get to your blog but not too impressed that I couldn't spell Issikoff.

Everyone has their own demons they live with daily. However in a position of authority one must be fair and balanced in the treatment of others.

Bush has failed all of us in that regard, choosing instead to use his addled mind to apply a warped view to everything he does

This leaves most people wondering what the hell he is doing. Understanding his disorder puts it clearly into focus.

Bush needs to be removed from office for his deceptive and crimminal acts. We cannot afford to have his type of thinking dominate world events.

He IS NOT an idiot, but he is mentally ill.

Europe's Underwater Chemical Dump

Some 3,500 barrels of mercury have been found in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden. There may be thousands more to be discovered. Experts say the sea is full of industrial waste -- but nobody knows how much.

On August 14, it was 30 barrels. Then it was thousands. And by the end of last week, cartographers with the Geological Survey of Sweden came to the depressing conclusion that there could be as many as 23,000 barrels full of mercury on the floor of the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden. Close to ten tons of one of the environment's worst enemies.

The barrels were found by Ingemar Cato of the Geological Survey of Sweden during a routine mission aimed at creating detailed maps of the sea floor along the Swedish coast. After finding the first barrels -- found in 80-meter-deep water in the outer part of Sundsvall Bay about halfway up the east coast of Sweden -- Cato was asked by local county officials to continue looking. While Cato ultimately found 3,500 barrels, recently discovered documents from a local paper mill indicate that the factory may have dumped tens of thousands of barrels in the bay in the 1950s and 60s.

More HERE

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

Not surprising as the article goes on to explain.

capt

For you dial ups here is the transcript of KO's rip on rummy: GO HERE

A fascinating psychoanalysis of President Bush

[..]

In "Bush on the Couch," Frank presents a compelling argument that George W. Bush is mentally unfit to lead the United States of America. It is an intriguing read with a poignant message more a clarion call, really, to which all Americans should heed. As Frank writes at the end of the book: "Our sole treatment option for his benefit and for ours is to remove President Bush from office. It is up to all of us Congress, the media and voters to do so, before it is too late."

The convincing case Frank builds in "Bush on the Couch" contraindicates a second term as president of the United States of America for George W. Bush. But it will rest with voters to decide whether Bush will continue in his current role. Reading Frank's enlightening work will provide American voters with a decided advantage to act in their nation's best defense this November.

More HERE

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

An interesting read regarding the mental health of our dry-drunk president.

(note the above review was written before the 2004 election)

capt

"I am not afraid of the pen, or the scaffold, or the sword. I will tell the truth wherever I please." ~ Mother Jones

As Americans we must decide if the current administration represents our best interests.

The right wing has been elevated to a level of insanity that defies explanation. Many repugs see stormy waters ahead for their party and the admin. has given repugs running in this year carte blanche to dis them, witness Sanitorum, the first taker.

The right does not realize they will be the first casualty of Bushes ineptitude. Neo-cons are NOT repugs, they are twisted in their thinking the end justifies the means. Sure the Dems are in the minority now but in November the landscape will change.

Like it or not we are stuck with bozo politicians, left, right, middle. We have the obligation to elect those with Americans best interests in mind, not the Administrations'.

"Neo-cons are NOT repugs"

AND neocons are not conservative. They are radicals unleashed and off the constitutional farm, so to speak.

The idea that elections can solve the problems assumes the elections are not being stolen by those currently in power.

I hope and pray for free and fair elections. How will we ever know when the counting of votes is done behind a secret wall of "proprietary software and hardware" run by mega-dollar corporations? It could be a coincidence that pro-corporate politicians are elected with huge corporate political donations but I do not believe in coincidence as much as I believe in the corruptibility of men.

*sigh*

capt

Actor Glenn Ford, Known for 'Blackboard Jungle' and 'Teahouse of the August Moon' Dies at 90

Glenn Ford, the rangy, laconic actor who in a long and prolific career in films and television portrayed characters from gallant leading men to saddle tramps, died Wednesday. He was 90.

Ford, a top box-office draw in the 1950s whose career spanned more than five decades and more than 100 films, was found dead at his Beverly Hills home by Fire Department paramedics just before 4 p.m.

More HERE

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

He was one of the good ones, rest in peace Glenn.

capt

AS much as normal folks have no control over their government it is out of control, so is the environment the government can do nothing to stop the process that has now started. So prepare for change, do not sit around waiting for it to happen then try to prepare for it, then it will be too late. Too bad this was a nice planet while we were allowed to inhabit it. The warming/cooling debate will be just that debate as the glaciers crowd in on New York and or the deserts of the midwest become a problem. We just don't have the capacity to control, adapt? So whatever these posturing clowns that are called politicians do it is inconsequential to the larger picture. Individual preparations might make a small difference for individuals but really if the global change comes will the area that any individual decides to stand going to be viable? It might be too dry, or too wet, or something, population reduction is what is going to happen, as it comes about the supplies will be more than enough to cover the survivors needs for the rest of their lives. Eventually the humans will either be totally extinct and just a memory, or there will be a small group of survivors that will marvel at the edifices that are left and curious as to the metal boxes on the long ribbons of asphalt as they contain the bones of their owners. Nope folks the end game is upon us, you have apporximately six years left, if that. So get ready for the ride of your life. It isn't going to be fun, nor pretty but the good news is that all the concerns of today are going to be forgotten. Ha, it will be worth it just to see the powerful laid low, and the grand march of humanity slowed to a crawl, where the only occupation is gathering supplies for another day of a short and brutal life. Yep, trolls with their investments, ( really doubtful about that anyway) and the other teenagers with no life experience other than the artificial one they enjoy today, is going to be a real show. Nothing you can do so get used to it. Lose your job, your parents lose their job, you are just a paycheck from the street, prepared for that? Think about it when you see the next homeless person that you could be in that position, if you could take his spot from him. So enjoy the current times, these are the good old days. The future isn't quite so bright, and if you can't see the signs then I feel sorry for you, and know you will not survive. Good luck and happy hunting, enjoy your new lifestyle coming soon.

Gore for President

I second that motion!!!

Unlike virtually every major Democrat in Washington Al Gore was dead right about Iraq from day one. This commends him for the Presidency for two reasons, both equally important. The first reason is that with decades of national security experience he was wise enough and smart enough to know that the Iraq War was a tragic mistake. The second reason is profound: Al Gore had the courage and clarity to speak out clearly, forcefully, and unequivocally without the maneuvering and positioning that led virtually every leading Washington Democrat to be dead wrong.

WTF, why so optimistic?

As the world passes us by

America is becoming a moral, cultural, religious and intellectual backwater, a banana republic without a hope or a prayer of catching up to the fascinating new world which is flourishing without us.

It should be obvious, individuals have no power to stop the processes that are endangering and powering the cycle of warming/cooling. HOw are you going to stop air travel? How do you slow the emission of pollutants from power plants? See? It is easy to propose some changes but getting anything done is like pushing a rope. So relax it is pretty much all over. Remember how they studied the tiger to save it from extinction? Now there are more tigers in Texas than India. OK? We don't have the power nor the will to stop consuming the oil, and the crap from China. Keep your eye on Sept 7th and watch what China does to the US, our lifestyle is very precarious, and sitting around comfortable, dumb, and happy that we might have time is going to come as a shock to most here. We won't have much time to prepare. Think if the economy tanked that anyone has any supplies or preparations for a prolonged period of hard times? Nope, one week, one month, or even three months, buying groceries on credit cards. Where you gonna go? No jobs anywhere so travel isn't going to make much difference. Yes, I am optimistic about the changes coming, it will raise an opportunity to reform society, perhaps for a better one, and getting the people out of their houses and away from the boob tube wouldn't hurt either.

Unlike virtually every major Democrat in Washington Al Gore was dead right about Iraq from day one.

Did anybody else see him on ABC's "Last Days of the Earth" 2-hour program last night? I was very surprised at ABC. They did a short spot on each of the top 10 threats to the Earth. That supervolcano thing linked and talked about by a few Corn peeps was #3, I think. They used 1½ hours on the first nine, and saved a full ½-hour for the #1 threat, global warming/climate change. Elizabeth Vargas said straight up, THERE IS NO DEBATE among scientists and they basically mocked Hannity and a few others who say different. There was a short interview of Gore while also showing video while he answered questions. A good show, for sure.
Now, contrast that with this upcoming anniversary show of 9/11 that was done by a conservative producer, basically trying to blame Clinton for everything. ugh! At least they aired one good program.

Some Neglected History that Followed 9/11

The Taliban asked for proof that Osama bin Laden was behind 9/11 before they handed him over to the Bush administration. The Bush administration never gave the proof and went ahead and invaded Afghanistan anyway, killing hundreds if not thousands of innocent civilians.

The anthrax attacks in October of 2001, which involved US military anthrax targetting Democratic leadership in the Senate as well as a few media outlets.

The Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, in which the US military apparently had Osama bin Laden surrounded, but then let him escape.

The Downing Street memo in July 2002, which said the Bush administration was clearly committed to going to war with Iraq no matter what weapons inspectors found.

March 2003, UN weapons inspectors find no evidence of WMD in Iraq, but Bush pulls the inspectors out and invades Iraq anyway. Later Bush lies about this sequence of events a few times by claiming Saddam Hussein wouldn't allow the weapons insepctors into Iraq.

July 2003, Bush dares the Iraqi insurgency to "bring it on". Over 2000 US trops have died since then (Bush was re-elected in spite of this and other horrible gaffes).

2003-2004, the Bush administration does little while ("Axis of Evil" member) North Korea re-processes plutonium and says it will start producing nuclear weapons.

Early 2004, the Abu Ghraib Iraq prisonor abuse scandal broke and was swept under the rug even by presidential candidate John Kerry, even though the abuse was immoral, apparently violated the Geneva conventions and clearly inflamed Iraqi opinion against the US.

Abundant voting irregularities in the November 2004 election were covered up by the national media and strangely underplayed by losing candidate John Kerry.

Meanwhile, the media and politicians miss no chance to promote the official 9/11 story, promote every new ridiculous terror plot and of course refuse to seriously address the evidence that 9/11 was an inside job.

The fact is that there is enough evidence now to impeach Bush and Cheney for 9/11, if someone had the balls to do it.

President seeks pity, sympathy

A truly tough human being, in my view, is measured by his or her ability to approach his or her station in life with honesty, moxy, sympathy, common sense and a touch of humble grace. But our president possesses none of these traits. Rather than owning up to his six year litany of mistakes and shortcomings and taking on his occupation with a kind of work ethic common in all nations and all walks of life, the president is engaged in a sad and embarrassing attempt to attain the nation's sympathy. Listen carefully to his words and watch closely his body language. He's doing it. And it's a posture that's been snowballing for several years now.

Dear Mr. Corn,
The thesis of the Cristopher Hitchens article is not really worth a response. He does not refute the information in your book, instead he accuses you of giving undue credit to the entire Plame story in general. It is a common tactic by the RNC when faced with incontrovertible facts...do not discuss the issue, discuss the person making uncomfortable statements.

And so the issue of Bush's mental capacity surfaces once again. It is ironic that a man who has drained the reserves of the middle class and positioned himself to be one of the world's richest men is still considered to be unintelligent. He has successfully implemented the "NEW WORLD ORDER" of his father. American jobs are overseas, the middle class has been robbed of its reserves through the deregualtion of the lending industry, and 1-in-8 americans live in extreme poverty.

*time for some craziness??

The almost nude female firefighter calendar for 2007 comes in an all-male and an all-female version. Just click on the menu to select which one you want to view. They are available for sale on the site -- the calendars, not the officers.
2007 Calendar

Israel ready to bargain on prisoners?

Israel indicated a willingness to release Lebanese prisoners in exchange for two soldiers held by Hezbollah.

Jerusalem sources said Thursday that if Hezbollah hands over the two reservists snatched in a deadly July 12 border raid to the Lebanese government, Israel might free prisoners in return.

The announcement came as Lebanese media reported German officials were en route to Beirut, apparently on a mission to mediate a prisoner swap.

Hezbollah originally demanded the release of hundreds of Arabs held in Israeli jails, but it is widely expected to settle for Lebanese inmates.

Israel has three Lebanese in its prisons, an unknown number of Palestinians from refugee camps in Lebanon, as well as at least a dozen Hezbollah gunmen captured during the recent war.

More HERE

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

I hope the differences between all people can find some agreement by peaceful means. At some point in time, under other circumstances we have to realize we are all the same in different ways or different in the same ways. For now returning any person held as a political hostage would be a start.

"When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health, and our happiness. Our enemies would dance with joy if only they knew how they were worrying us, lacerating us, and getting even with us! Our hate is not hurting them at all, but our hate is turning our own days and nights into a hellish turmoil." ~ Dale Carnegie

capt

WTF, I was being my usually sarchastic self earlier post.

I totally agree we are in for a very rough ride ahead and with the current preoccupation of the American people with all things consumerism related, the worst economic disaster is imminent. The yuppies are up to their eyeballs in debt, owing big on their 3000 sq. ft. homes and credit cards. Losing their jobs leaves them on the street or in the morgue.

I would like to think the American people together have the strength to weather the impending storm as they have weathered previous ones. We will see.

WILL NAZI ISRAEL PASS NAZI AMERICA AS THE MOST NAZI STATE SINCE THE FALL OF NAZI GERMANY?

Published on Thursday, August 31, 2006 by the Independent / UK
Pressure for Ban on Cluster Bombs as Israel Is Accused of Targeting Civilians
by Ben Russell

Pressure for an international ban on cluster bombs has intensified as Israel stands accused of littering southern Lebanon with thousands of unexploded bombs in the final hours of its war against Hizbollah.

Campaigners yesterday accused the Israel Defence Force of leaving a "minefield" of deadly bomblets in villages and fields after firing hundreds of cluster shells, rockets and bombs across its northern border in the three days before hostilities ended earlier this month.

United Nations officials said that 12 people had been killed, and another 49 injured by such bombs since the war ended and that the casualty rate was likely to rise.

The premeditated targeting of residential areas with high failure-rate cluster munitions in the final days of the conflict means that the rubble-filled villages of southern Lebanon have been deliberately turned into minefields that will indiscriminately kill civilians for years to come.

Simon Conway, director, Landmine Action
The Israeli government insists that it did not target civilians during the conflict and says all weaponry used was in accordance with international law.

Israel insists its use of weaponry is legal. However, anti-landmine campaigners have been pressing for an international ban on their use, arguing that cluster bombs are indiscriminate and their use in populated areas may contravene international law.

Mine-clearance specialists said densely populated southern Lebanon was blighted by thousands of unexploded bomblets, which can kill or maim if they are moved or touched. In one case this week 35 bomblets were cleared from in and around one house, while in another a woman lost her hands when a bomblet apparently became tangled in her tobacco crop.

Yesterday the United Nations official in charge of bomb disposal in southern Lebanon said his staff had identified 390 strikes by cluster munitions, and had disposed of more than 2,000 bomblets since the ceasefire.

Chris Clarke, head of the UN mine action service in southern Lebanon, said: "This is without a doubt the worst post-conflict cluster bomb contamination I have ever seen."

In a presentation at the international conference on conventional weapons in Geneva yesterday, he said that the "vast majority" of cluster bombs had been fired by the Israeli Defence Force in the final three days of the conflict, prompting campaigners to accuse the Israeli government of targeting civilian populations.

Mr Clarke, who has worked in bomb clearance in Sudan, Kosovo, Kuwait and Bosnia, said the number of confirmed strikes was "climbing every day". He said: "They are everywhere in south Lebanon. We are still looking. Pretty much the whole of south Lebanon is carpeted with these things." He predicted that specialists would take up to six months to remove the worst threat from unexploded weaponry and said full clearance could take a further year.

Speaking from Lebanon yesterday Sean Sutton, of the Mines Action Group, which has 80 staff clearing the unexploded bombs, said: "This is pretty widespread across the whole of southern Lebanon. There are literally thousands of unexploded munitions in and around the remains of people's homes and on the roads and streets."

Simon Conway, director of the British charity Landmine Action, condemned Israel's "cynical" use of the weapons. He said: "The premeditated targeting of residential areas with high failure-rate cluster munitions in the final days of the conflict means that the rubble-filled villages of southern Lebanon have been deliberately turned into minefields that will indiscriminately kill civilians for years to come."

Yesterday the charity published a report highlighting the use of cluster bombs in Lebanon and calling for an immediate international ban on their use.

Frank Cook, Labour chairman of the Commons all-party Landmine Group, added: "These weapons are totally indiscriminate. For them to be used by Israel among a civilian population is quite outrageously inexcusable."

Susan Kramer, the Liberal Democrat international development spokesman, said: "Cluster munitions need to be outlawed once and for all. Lebanon is still suffering from their use by the Israelis in 1978 and 1982."

A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London insisted the country's armed forces did not target civilians. He said: "Israel does not use any weaponry that is forbidden under international law or conventions."

Unexploded hazards

Cluster bombs are designed to deliver a devastating blitz on military vehicles and troop emplacements, each device scattering hundreds of explosive "bomblets" over a wide area.

However, their use has become highly controversial, with campaigners likening them to landmines, warning that strikes can leave hundreds of deadly unexploded weapons strewn across a battlefield decades after the troops have left.

The individual devices, about the size of a tin can, can inflict severe or even fatal injuries if they are moved or handled by unsuspecting civilians returning to an affected area.

UN mine clearance experts have identified 390 strikes by Israeli cluster bombs in its recent war in Lebanon. Munitions include American-made M42 and M47 shells which each contain about 80 bomblets. UN staff have also found the remains of Israeli-manufactured M85 weapons, which are fired by rocket and contain 644 bomblets. They say that American-made cluster bombs dropped from aircraft have also been used.

Bomblets are designed to explode on impact. However, campaigners say that a high proportion fail to detonate and remain as a hazard for civilians. Experts in Lebanon say that up to half of the bomblets dropped during the recent conflict remain unexploded.

AFTER READING THIS ARTICLE I MUST SAY THAT NAZI ISRAEL HAS SURPASSED NAZI AMERICA AS THE MOST NAZI STATE SINCE THE FALL OF NAZI GERMANY.

Jeanne,

Thanks for the compliment.

Carolyn Barnes,

Can you imagine a librarian, living in College Station, Texas, receiving requests for David Corn's new book? Books about football-yes. Books about big SUV's--yes. Newt Gingrich books--yes. Books by David Corn--no.

Of course, that's assuming College Station, Texas even has a library. That's a big assumption.

It's highly doubtful if many Texans can even read. Well, I know at least one Texan that doesn't read. His name just happens to be: George W. Bush.

I was reading the other day ( I don't live in Texas, so I do read ), and one Bush associate said that George Bush is the least inquisitive person he had known.

I have a friend who's a librarian--Mrs. Noble. In fact, Mrs. Noble is currently looking for a business partner to open a bookstore, with a liberal point of view.

Gosh, what a great name for a bookstore: BARNES & NOBLE. I think I like it.

One thing is certain: George Bush will never be a patron. I'd like to know the year he was last in a bookstore.

Laura Bush was a librarian. She sure couldn't "READ" George Bush's character very well. I suppose it's hard to "READ" one's character, if all you see is dollar signs.

Prison comforts for Munchs