FARPOINT.FACTOID

Merriam-Webster Online's list of the top ten most looked-up words of 2005. In order of popularity: 1) integrity, 2) refugee, 3) contempt, 4) filibuster, 5) insipid, 6) tsunami, 7) pandemic, 8) conclave, 9) levee, 10) inept.

zoundryt needs to hear about this

how the focus won't stay in the title field. that popup helper 'enter post title' keeps makin the focus move back into the body field. i use zoundry too much for this to be a simple pest of a feature.

plus, the fact that you can't press OK on the post dlg box. how lame is THAT.

here's a bullseye into how American

It's sadly ironic when people in America, the wealthiest country in the world, go into debt while trying to pay for a basic need such as health care. Then that debt prevents them from securing other basic needs, such as housing and car loans. This has become, unfortunately, the American way.

--source

today's MUST READ

it's a long thread, but one worth reading and getting a jest of what North Iowa is all about.

saw on irc today

"In this season finale episode, which first aired on December 7, a local statue of the Virgin Mary bleeds from its ass. Townsfolk think it's a miracle. Emperor Palpatine Pope Benedict XVI visits to inspect the statue in person, determines that it is instead bleeding from its vagina, and declares: "A chick bleeding out her vagina is no miracle. Chicks bleed out their vaginas all the time.""

from

saw on irc today

"In this season finale episode, which first aired on December 7, a local statue of the Virgin Mary bleeds from its ass. Townsfolk think it's a miracle. Emperor Palpatine Pope Benedict XVI visits to inspect the statue in person, determines that it is instead bleeding from its vagina, and declares: "A chick bleeding out her vagina is no miracle. Chicks bleed out their vaginas all the time.""

from

does this say more than it reads?

The House has a mortgage-lobby-friendly bill pending; one of its two sponsors is Bob Ney, R-Ohio, perhaps better-known these days as the "Representative No. 1" cited in an indictment revolving around fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

i see civil war

i just can't tell what the time frame is. but there is civil war being brewed in the middle east.

and like all things bush, this will be a disaster. both for the region, and for the world. too much is at stake. and too little available.

cbs news isnt very full of good news tonite. story after story. misery everywhere. and some would have you believe that i would blame bush for it all.

and after that, i've got a bridge to sell ya.

any question on who's the president now?

A front-page article last Tuesday about foreign governments' security concerns regarding satellite photography available through Google referred imprecisely to security measures applied to some of the imagery. Although images of the White House and its environs are now clear in the Google Earth database, the view of the vice president's residence in Washington remains obscured.
(go to article)

--nytimes

i just had to reprint one last letter

because this one hits the nail on the head without even swinging.

According to the Army Times, the Army and Marine Corps are recalling more than 18,000 body-armor vests because they failed ballistic requirements when they were manufactured in 1999-2000.

Many of those vests may now be in the war zone. The Nov. 16 recall order is the second in six months for the Marines. The Corps recalled more than 5,000 vests in May. All of the vests involved were produced by the same manufacturer, Point Blank Body Armor Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla., under contract to the Marine Corps.

The first recall, and a subsequent investigation that led to the second recall, came in response to a Marine Corps Times investigation that showed that the Corps knowingly accepted vests that failed to meet requirements in 2003 and 2004.

This is the Bush administration's version of "support the troops."

—Frank P. Belcastro, Dubuque.

Letter of the WeeQ

It is said that if we leave Iraq now, Iraq will sink into a civil war. I thought that I knew the definition of civil war, but I looked it up just to be sure. Iraq is already engaged in civil war. The politicians say that the insurgents now concentrate on Iraqi civilians. That is civil war.

—Paul Jensen, Ogden.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

comes today from my hometown newspaper, and there were several that made the short list of contenders. you should really read them all.

By KEVIN YOUNG, Sheffield

And so we have come to the end of the long, sad, sordid story of Angela Johnson and Dustin Honken.

If there is an appropriate comment to make, it would have to be the words of wisdom we used to have on a sign that sat in our living room which said, “No one is completely worthless. They can always serve as a BAD example.”

this is a test, this is only a test

and no, there's no need to contact your local DHS snitch.

what it means

was the first header of the letters to the editor in today's des moines register:

"Substantial stability has been achieved in the north and south," Dec. 19 editorial). English translation: The Kurds and Shiites have established de facto independent states complete with secret prisons and torture chambers in the oil-rich north and south while retaining joint control of the central government.

—Ian Binnie, Des Moines.

i am amazed at the letters today

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051225/OPINION04/512250320/1035/OPINION

under the heading eavesdroppers.

and not one thought it was ok for the president to spy on Americans.

i'm sorry

i'm sorry to all the catholics out there who might be offended by my next statement:

pope benedict looks like he's saying to himself: gee, all this for me, i'm the king, i get to sit on the throne, they come for ME.

Letter Of The Day

The president says he has allowed spying on United States citizens to protect U.S. citizens. My question is who, or what, is going to protect us from the president?

attribution

life has vindicated seymour hersh how many times now?

The WP does front a big story on U.S. air strikes in Iraq killing many civilians in the Anbar province. And inside, the WP reports that U.S. air strikes have overall increased five-fold in the past few months-which might be evidence that Seymour Hersh's New Yorker article was on target.

from today's papers

Letter Of The Day

Gay and lesbian couples are asking for equal rights granted by state-recognized marriage. Certain heterosexuals oppose granting gay couples the privilege of marriage partly because they think it would unravel their revered institution of marriage.

The reluctance to change is usually driven by the unknown. Maybe the heterosexual couples are afraid a homosexual marriage institution would have a lower divorce rate, a higher marriage percentage, less spousal-abuse cases, less child neglect and, heaven forbid, the children of homosexual marriage would grow up to be well adjusted, successful adults and possibly heterosexual.

Change is never easy, even in Iowa.

-Craig Seymour, Ames.

attribution

the difference between us and them?

us: we take our dates to movies

them: they take their wives to opening sessions of parliament in afghanistan.

i can hear cheney now: see huney, i did all this for you.

can you tell me which one of these acts are christian?

A little after 6 a.m. yesterday, the House of Representatives approved a five-year budget plan that included almost $40 billion in cuts to programs such as Medicaid and student loans. An hour earlier, the House also passed a $453 billion military spending bill that included a provision to permit oil drilling at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The bill, which includes money for hurricane relief and preparations for an avian flu pandemic, might put lawmakers who are against ANWR in a tough spot if they do not want to be seen as voting against funding the troops. Also, some are pointing out that the legislation to help prepare the country for a possible outbreak of bird flu protects vaccine-makers from any liability, including the result of negligence.

the latest numbers

from today's papers:

The WP fronts its latest poll that shows a jump in President Bush's approval ratings to 47 percent, an increase in 8 percentage points since November. USAT, on the other hand, goes inside with its own poll, taken in almost the exact same days, that says Bush's approval rating is 41 percent. The polls agree that 52 percent of the population does not believe the Iraq war is worth fighting or that troops should have been sent in the first place. The USAT poll also reveals that 55 percent of the population sees the war in Iraq as separate from the war on terrorism.

guess us critics of this law were proven right again:

Two Des Moines children were sexually abused over the weekend by a man wanted by police since October for violation of the Iowa Sex Offender Registry law, authorities reported.

A parent contacted police Saturday accusing James Alex Conway, 35, of molesting two boys ages 7 and 10.

"He was baby-sitting at the time," Sgt. Todd Dykstra said of Conway, who had been living at the house where the alleged incident occurred.

...

Critics of the sex offender residency restriction say it does nothing to restrict where child molesters can go, and point out that most abuse occurs when an offender lives in the same home as a child.

--source

Letter of the WeeQ

President Bush wouldn't comment when asked about U.S.-run secret prisons abroad, but did say that the United States does not torture and will do everything in its legal power to protect Americans while abiding by U.S. law ("Bush: U.S. Won't Use Ransom for Captives," Dec. 7).

This president doesn't have to worry too much about U.S. law on torture (or anything else) when he's got the attorney general to write it for him as he goes along, the chief justice of the Supreme Court installed (and another justice waiting in the wings) to bless it for him, a Congress too afraid to oppose anything he does and a mainstream media that will barely raise its voice.

-Roy Applegate, Spencer.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (U.S.A. Patriot Act)is set to expire on Dec. 31.

This cleverly crafted acronym implies that anyone opposed to the provisions of the act is unpatriotic. While one may argue that they have not personally noticed any loss of freedoms during the past four years from this hastily drafted legislation, that does not make it good legislation. Many of the provisions go too far and give government too much authority, authority that is not necessary for domestic security.

Let's hope Congress, in its haste to get home by Christmas, does not simply continue the provisions in the first legislation. There is nothing patriotic about the Patriot Act.

-Rod Braun, Pella.

attribution

today's must read

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/18/AR2005121801006.html

FARPOINT.FACTOID

we're jus FULL of 'em today. from moneycentral over at msn:

More than 500,000 bankruptcy cases were filed in the two weeks before the law took effect, compared with a normal weekly volume of 30,000 to 35,000. So far this year more than 2 million cases have been filed, 49% more than the same period last year and eclipsing all previous records.

FARPOINT.FACTOID

The NYT reports that the wealthiest Americans are not the most generous in terms of the proportion of their investment assets they give to charity. A "pioneering study of federal tax data" shows that working-age people earning $50,000 to $100,000 are two to six times more generous than those earning more than $10 million.
--FROM TODAY'S PAPERS

watching 60 minutes

and there was a segment on morgan freeman.

now he's an actor who would draw me to the movies, and i don't think i've seen 3 movies in the last 20 years.

he had a line toward the very end of the piece: how do you be good to life.

you live it. i said that very same thing years ago on christopher street when i was doing my junga jim psycho babbles under the headphones walking the streets of new york city.

you live it. as true then as it is now.

Letter Of The Day

Even I could write a better column about health care than David Yepsen offered us on Dec 11.

Yepsen erected a straw man called "socialized medicine," then began stabbing it with his ink pen. The result was merely confusing because no one is proposing socialized medicine — where all doctors work for the government — as a solution to runaway health-care expenses.

I would begin my column by typing "Google.com" into my computer. There I could quickly find the 2004 Harvard study that found we could all save money by booting the thousands of tangled health-insurance plans we now endure and adopting a single plan that covers us all. That takes government action, to be sure, but it is not socialized medicine. And it has nothing to do with Italy or FEMA or any of the other inkblots that bled from Yepsen's straw man.

—Jerry Depew, Laurens.
attribution

what is UP with pinnacle systems?

they don't seem to support mac at all, much less for the digital video creator 80 i paid $100 for.

it's hard to imagine why someone who lends themselves to being at the pinnacle of digital video (no pun intended), is sorely lacking support for the macintosh.

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Dazzle/Digital+Video+Creator+150+Support/Download+Area/Drivers+-+Updates/Pinnacle+USB+Hardware+Installer+for+Studio+8+and+Studio+8+QuickStart.htm?mode=documents

Letter Of The Day

Letter-writer Tom Quiner says, "Contrary to the multitude of letters about the greedy rich, it is the superproducers who pay our nation's bills far beyond their numbers. We owe them our thanks."

Oh, quit playing that violin already.

According to the IRS, the top 1 percent had incomes of at least $295,000 per year, while those of us in the bottom 50 percent had incomes that did not exceed $30,000 per year to spend on rent, food, transportation, etc.

Considering the rich are getting President Bush's tax-cut windfall while funding for student loans and public assistance is being slashed and kids from "the bottom half" are fighting an ill-planned pre-emptive war, the last thing the superproducers deserve is our thanks.

—Michael Nottingham, Coralville.

attribution ⁃

a good example of the folx i live around

can be found HERE

it's the VOTING MACHINES stupid!

A top election official and computer experts say computer hackers could easily change election results, after they found numerous flaws with a state-approved voting-machine in Tallahassee.

--source

from today's papers

The NYT says inside that Democrat and Republican senators have agreed on a measure that would require the White House to give Congress regular, classified updates about the U.S.'s secret prisons abroad. The House hasn't considered similar legislation, so, of course, nothing might come of this.

nothing might come of the fact that the administration has been denying the very existence of secret prisons and yet they're gboing to be giving regular updates on them? how exactly does that work?

testing out the new mac GUI for blogger

and i think i may just be at that point where i can tell zoundry to go stuff it. they were actually getting worse, not better imho. anyway, um, this is the new mac GUI, etco. i guess you can find it anywhere. but i'll try and get a link in there.

and even the quote is a fine piece of work. WOW. i'm in heaven.

cbsnew ran a segment on pensions

and was glad to hear one of the delta pilots that is suing delta over it, that it was 'grand theft in the first degree' and somehow it didn't take much for me to believe him.

wouldn't you?

that's the way i like it, uh huh, uh huh.
that's the way i like it, alright.

Asked if they would "definitely" or "probably" vote for the Democrat or the Republican in next year's fall congressional election, 48% said the Democrat would get their support, compared to 40% who said they would vote for the Republican. While 3% said they plan on supporting a third-party candidate, 9% said they were unsure.

--source

WARNING: more incompetence ahead

from today's papers

USAT takes a brief look at the companies that have been assigned the $300 million project. One of them is named the now-often-cited Lincoln Group, which started two years ago and had "no experience in public relations, advertising or other media work." One of the group's founders is a 30-year-old guy who's been active in the Republican Party. Meanwhile, during the bidding process, one of the companies asked the Pentagon if the military will "protect them from U.S. and foreign media inquiries."

tuesday, december 13th.... sure it's not friday?

today's jus been one thing after another.

woke up at 5 to the humidifier off. and the nightlight out. strange. they're all plugged into this surge protector and it was like ... real wet down there. i immediately saw that there was a problem with the humidifier. just bought the thing and have been raving about it to almost everybody who would listen and read. anyway, um, it didnt take long before i knew ihad a problem that would require me getting shoes on and going down into the basement, amidst morw cobwwebs than the house on 1313 mockingbird lane.

so after flipping the circuit breaker, to both of the breakers for the living room (thank GOD i knew something about electricity), i realized i had to cut the mac off ... oh well. i could have had a fire. and i can't think of any reason i DIDNT have a fire. this house would have gone up in a second. shit. i really really need to take better care of these kinds of things. i'm kinda worried about all the cables i got going into this wall-socket. i thinki'm ok tho. i reallydont run taht much. tv, and the computer. and now that i have the lcd's., it should be less. anyway, um, i need to get on over the bathroom. i had to stick 3 suppositories up there and i'm starting to feel the rush. it normally will get right down to the very end, and then bug the hell outta me with this constant feeling of having to go.

like i said, its only half way thru the day. what was your morning like?

Letter of the WeeQ

Sunday, at Wal-Mart, I saw a person try to put an item in their jacket. At first I thought this person was a jerk. I was buying and they were stealing. I paid for my purchase without notifying anyone.

But after I returned home, I became convinced that it was OK to steal. Perhaps this person lost their job due to the cascading effects of the superstore's dominance of other businesses. Perhaps this person has a minimum-wage, part-time job without health care. In any case, the Walton family certainly has enough money to cover the loss.

When I compare the theft of a $15 item to the grand larceny by corporate America, which ran Enron into the ground, which reaps record oil profits, which passes out cash to God knows who in Iraq, and which occupies the seats of government and takes bribes, I now see the act of stealing a small gift for a poor child as heroic.

I dare say that the treatment by Wal-Mart and the police of this person would be harsher than for those who do not steal their millions in the bright fluorescent light of a store.

-Greg Wilcox, Des Moines.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

Is Iowa 41st in the nation in the amount it pays the football coaches at its state universities? Why not?
-Anne Crane,
Des Moines.

attribution

there's a problem with mac IE's interface

there are noi buttons for italic, bold, and what have you like there are in other browsers' windows. i wonder if anybody knows about it. because as it is, there's not much you can do with this

Quote of the Day

A man couldn’t start his car because a cat was in front of it. I saw that on the news. Who wants to know?”
-- Sandra Schultz

attribution
http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2005/12/12/local/doc439d14b5d582f938523390.txt

Letter Of The Day

I am sickened that our government would kidnap, questionably interrogate, and hold an innocent German man, Khaled Masri, in a manner reminiscent of Stalinist Russia ("Pressured to Stop al-Qaida, CIA Makes Mistakes," Dec. 5). That is not consistent with our nation's ideals.

-James Blackburn, Des Moines

attribution

watching washington journal

and he's doing a program on how the media never shows the good stuff about iraq. he's got lines only for officers, and lines for enlisted. then there's the rest of us who dont matter.

the one thing that this 2nd lieutenant said was: "it's very hard to get the brass to listen to ya"

sums it up rather nicely about how this administration has basically flipped every body who didn't matter off, like punks.

a long time ago, i proclaimed that the definition of terrorist didnt exist

and i wondered just who could be classified as terrorst - making the example of george washington would have been a terrorist in present day. and now we see the definition of terrorist is being used against peaceful protestors.

The names and licenseplate numbers of about 30 people who protested
three years ago in Colorado Springs were put into FBI domestic-terrorism files,
the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Colorado said Thursday. The
Denver-based ACLU obtained federal documents on a 2002 Colorado Springs protest
and a 2003 anti-war rally under the Freedom of Information Act. ACLU legal
director Mark Silverstein said the documents show the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task
Force wastes resources generating files on “nonviolent protest.” “These
documents confirm that the names and license plate numbers of several dozen
peaceful protesters who committed no crime are now in a JTTF file marked
‘counterterrorism,’” he said. “This kind of surveillance of First Amendment
activities has serious consequences. Law-abiding Americans may be reluctant to
speak out when doing so means that their names will wind up in an FBI
file.”

source

they jus keep coming

another wonderful letter in the register:

In response to your Dec. 5 headline, "Pressured to Stop Al-Qaida, CIA Makes Mistakes," I suggest that kidnapping and torturing someone should be described as crimes, not "mistakes."

—B.R. Douglas, Des Moines.

there just seems to be an overdose of good opinion

in today's des moines register. another writer's opinion rings true to form of how to be good citizens:

We need to put a stronger emphasis on these subjects, and the first step is to find highly qualified and dedicated teachers instead of relying solely on them to fill coaching positions.

—Erin Linn, West Des Moines.

something else i saw

was another adjective to how the fundamentalists win:

This is a typical fundamentalist reaction. Take the extreme, dehumanize the outsider and produce hatred

from The Rev. Denny Coon, Des Moines.

Letter Of The Day

well, i'm back to using blogger's GUI to enter my blog entries. there's no zoundry for the mac. sure wish there was, what a great tool. anyway, on to today's show. today's winner:

Why do we need a victory plan for Iraq when Bush declared "mission accomplished" two and a half years ago?

—Norene Kelly, Johnston.
attribution

did you know?

that American law does not apply to prisoners held abroad. one has to wonder, just what laws DO apply? i think the bushevics believe they are above the law. how else to explain condiloozer rice running around the globe proclaiming that we do not torture, when the whole world knows we do, and that American law is this, and American law is that, or rather isn't anything when it comes to doing what they want to do.

is europe getting wise to the shenanigans of the bushevics?

seems so, because according to today's papers:

ABC News reported last night that just last month the U.S. moved the 11 top al-Qaida suspects held secretly in Europe to somewhere in North Africa.

wanna bet that the bushevics were kicked out of those countries?

well, DUH

when it comes to money, do you really think this administration would ever get graded poorly? from today's papers:

The former 9/11 commissioners, who are—really, honest—closing shop after this report, graded the administration's efforts on various homeland security fronts. In about half the categories, the administration was hit with a "D," "F," or "incomplete." "None of this is rocket science," said one Republican member of the commission. "None of it is in the 'too hard' category." The one area that got as high as an A-minus: the administration's work against "terrorist financing."

Letter Of The Day

comes today from my hometown newspaper.

President Bush has unveiled his “National Strategy For Victory In Iraq.” I am tempted to ask, shouldn’t he have had a strategy for victory before he started his war? He’s almost three years late.

But he did have a Plan A, it just didn’t work out so well. Remember Plan A? It was something about 30,000 troops, about throwing flowers, being greeted as liberators and being carried through the streets to George W. Bush Square.

Now comes his “National Strategy For Victory In Iraq.” It has an impressive title, but it’s just for public relations and damage control. It’s another PR stunt for the TV cameras, like “Mission Accomplished.” These things never live up to their impressive titles.

This administration relies on a constant parade of PR stunts and lies to hide the fact that, behind the facade, a bunch of incompetents are running the show.

Here’s Bush’s real “Plan For Victory”: Distract and mislead the American public long enough to get Republicans re-elected next November.

--ALAN L. LIGHT, Iowa City
attribution

so much crazy shit is happening today

i don't know which end is up.

IE, *cough* a browser i really hate, but cant seem to stop using, all of sudden lost all my history. cant even view today's sites. i have it set for 99 days, but like that makes any difference.

and that's only the beginning.

i've gone way above and beyond the call of duty to get this mac in shape to be my main machine, but every time i turn around, it kicks me in the ass with something really stupid. then i spend 3 hours trying to figure out why its acting like a sour pussed bitch, only to discover there's no reason whatsoever, it jus decided to act that way. anyway, that's nothing compared to what i went thru today with a client.

to sum it all up, i'm sick and tired of computers, ALL computers. so until tomorrow, i'm not touching one.

corruption defined

The LAT off-leads a deep look into the not-so-deep psyche of disgraced Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif. Cunningham came to Washington as a war hero, succeeding a predecessor who was plagued by scandal, and leaves in handcuffs. What's striking about him, the story says, is his brazenness: "Honest graft" has become the norm on Capitol Hill (as Michael Kinsley pointed out in his recent Slate column), but whereas other lawmakers bend the rules on the sly, Cunningham deposited checks for tens of thousands in bribes in his account at the congressional credit union, and partied on a defense contractor's yacht christened, in his honor, the "Duke-Stir." The paper speculates that some of his below-decks mischief may have gotten him in trouble with his wife, and that that in turn may have led to his sudden need for "the lavishly furnished mansion … to make things up."

one just has to wonder, with such brazenness, how nobody noticed until now this was all going on.

Letter Of The Day

General Motors is going to lay off 30,000 employees. Last November, union members voted 60 percent Republican. Union members today enjoy the wages and benefits they receive but refuse to recognize that every labor-friendly bill passed in the last 80 years was done by the Democratic Party.

All I can say is, "Merry Christmas. You guys got exactly what you wanted, and when your unemployment benefits run out, go to your Republican representative in Washington and see how much sympathy you receive."

-Steve Stanley, Earlham.

attribution

and speaking of incompetence

almost every aspect of the bush administration falls under the category of incompetent baffoons.

"We need everything you've got," Blanco is quoted in a memo as telling President Bush on Aug. 29, the day Katrina made landfall. But despite assurances from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that 500 buses were "standing by," Blanco's aides were compelled to take action when the FEMA buses failed to materialize, documents show. "We need buses," Andy Kopplin, chief of staff to Blanco, said in an e-mail to Blanco staffers late on Aug. 30, the day after the storm hit. "Find buses that can go to NO [New Orleans] ASAP."

--nytimes

incompetence defined

this is why rummy has GOT to GO.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - The prisoners were considered some of the most dangerous men among the hundreds of terror suspects locked behind the walls of a secretive and secure American military detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Their escape, however, might as well have been a breakout from the county jail.

--nytimes

\

FARPOINT FACTOID

listening to MTP, and the 9/11 chairs, one thing that stood out when they were talking?
after 4 years, there still is no unified terrorist watch list.
that bears repeating:

AFTER 4 YEARS, THERE STILL IS NO UNIFIED TERRORIST WATCH LIST.

you tell me

ok, um, i'm baffled. had more coffee and apple fritter. then did some pain pills. 8M3PP, which is my usual dose. only i'm sweating, and its 59 degrees in here. jus turned on the heat AT 59. go figure. i havent had any of the explorer hanging either. and everything's running. so you tell me....

got a giggle out of this one

Yesterday's employment report—more than 200,000 new jobs—gets an unusual amount of discussion. The LAT fronts a straight story looking at the economy's strengths. But the WSJ's front-pager reports that opinion polls show Bush getting little credit, a development that has frustrated the White House.

source

watching hunter on tvlad

and its showing hunter going up into some fleabag hotel.

shivers went through my body watching it. reminded me so much of the whore hotel, formerlly the Amsterdam. on lexington & 26th, kitty corner from the armory.

that period deserves not only its own chapter, but probably a couple of books.

the bushies rule by fear

just like a good dictator would.

Cambria County -- In the most current issue of The New Yorker magazine, one article alleges that many of our military's most senior generals are deeply frustrated by the happenings in Iraq, but won't go public for fear they may jeopardize their career. Congressman John Murtha says he knows about these fears

source

FARPOINT FACTOID

no WONDER washington has lost its collective soul on ethics.

The WSJ's Washington Wire (following the Post) notes that the Office of Government Ethics, an executive branch office charged with "preventing conflicts of interest on the part of Government employees," has a position open: Its directorship. Must be a really tough gig though. They haven't found a taker for two years.

Letter(s) Of The Day

today we're blessed with 2, 2 on the same topic no less.

Cal Thomas ("Bush and Rove Finally Start Playing Hardball," Nov. 16) mistakenly attributes the administration's declining poll numbers to a lack of "offense." Thomas suggests that the Bush administration "play hardball with the left" to shape public opinion. I do not find the Bush administration lacking in offense, although I suspect I am using the word differently than Thomas.

I am deeply offended that the administration misled the country into going to war against a nation that had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I am offended that oil company executives met with the vice president's staff to influence the nation's energy policy. I am offended that the Medicare prescription drug benefit law was written by the nation's pharmaceutical companies.

I am offended that tax cuts for the wealthy are more important to this administration than providing basic services to citizens and communities. It is the offensive actions of this administration that has led to declining poll numbers. It is unfortunate but not surprising that Thomas recommends a hardball strategy rather than dealing with the issues.

-Neal Westergaard, Des Moines.

Cal Thomas says, "Republicans too often compromise their ideals, hoping the Left will like them" (Nov. 20). Exactly which ideals is he talking about? Astronomical spending, ill-conceived military action, rampant cronyism, mixing church and state, lining the pockets of war profiteers, cutting food stamps for kids and elderly, or ineptitude during disaster?

-Norene Kelly, Johnston.

attribution

a letter worth remembering

Regarding your call to convene a national summit on energy policy ("Convene National Summit to Chart Energy Future," Nov. 26):

The editorial failed to mention the National Energy Policy Initiative, a non-governmental, non-partisan, foundation-funded project, and its plan for implementation. For $180 billion (less than one year in Iraq) it returns $140 billion a year to the U.S. economy, revitalizes the auto industry and eliminates oil use by 2016.

This study offers solid solutions. Every citizen should study it for themselves, and any politician who opposes implementation is fighting against American interests and should be removed from office.

-Jere Busenbarrick, Des Moines.

source

Quote Of The Day

comes from the des moines register's editorial board:

"Republicans took control of Congress a decade ago with promises of bringing higher ethical standards to Washington. We're still waiting."

bush just never stops rewriting history

there's an article in today's des moines register from john carlson, a reporter who went to iraq and is making sure everybody knows it. he points out the things bush left out in his 'major speech on iraq' on wednesday.

well, john, here's your chance to come clean and proclaim your allegiance to truth and honesty in journalism. and you barely passed.

President Bush was delivering what was called "a major speech on Iraq" on Wednesday when he mentioned a very familiar name and spoke a few somewhat familiar words.

The president was discussing the training of Iraqi security forces and, to demonstrate the success of the effort, quoted Lt. Col. Todd Wood, an Indianola native who commands the Army's 2-7 Infantry Battalion based in Tikrit.
...
Bush's speech plucked Wood's quotes from four different places in the article and made it appear to be one statement.

The quotes accurately represent Wood's view of the Iraqi soldiers that his battalion has spent the better part of a year training. It's just that Bush's speechwriters carefully avoided the chief frustration faced by the American soldiers — at least the ones in Tikrit.

hey john, it's called cherry picking. something the bushisistas have mastered. they do it all the time to mislead you into thinking one thing, while the truth is something else.

the beginnings of civil war

BAGHDAD — A controversial oil exploration deal between Iraq's autonomy-minded Kurds and a Norwegian company got underway this week without the approval of the central government here, raising a potentially explosive issue at a time of heightened ethnic and sectarian tensions.

--source

Letter Of The Day

Once more it has been suggested that support for our troops is the same as support for the war. I served from 1968-1972. Part of my time was spent in Vietnam and part in California.

The entire time was spent in opposition to the war. I was a member of an organization of active-duty officers and enlisted persons, all of whom opposed the war. We participated in marches and demonstrations opposing the war. We were very active and vocal in our opposition to the war. Yet, we were the troops.

-Arthur Behn, Des Moines.

attribution

ya know?

ya listen to these service members, always seems to be men, talk about how 'they've never been happier' with lost limbs.

one has to wonder, what the hell kinda life did they lead before going to iraq??

didja see cbs news tonite?

how in the HELL are the iraqis supposed to defend themselves with only clubs and knives? this is why we haven't succeeded. we destroyed their equipment, disbanded their armies, and now we're whining that they can't defend themselves?

Quote of the WeeQ

"The people of Fallujah love Cindy Sheehan."
--Farouk Abd-Muhammed, a candidate for National Assembly (Iraq)

attribution

Letter Of The Day

Things have not been going well for Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin.

First, Grassley received a lot of flak regarding his part in obtaining $50 million in pork for the proposed rain forest. People have discovered that a tent full of man-made trees in zero-degree weather is a poor investment.

Then Harkin was denied naming rights to a new $200 million federal building. Well, you can't really blame him, he voted for it.

But not to worry, folks. Members of the Senate voted themselves a $3,000-plus raise to soothe their sorrows. With a national debt of $27,000 for each person in the United States, they obviously thought we could afford it.

But the question remains, how and when are we going to retire this debt? You can bet the family farm that that question will not be answered before their next $3,000 raise.

-Wendell Koch, Waterloo.

attribution

Quote Of The Day

"The ability to live somewhere is a right. The ability to travel is a right. Freedom from being punished twice for the same crime is a right. Freedom from being punished for a crime that is created after the fact is a right. Those rights are protected by the U.S. and Iowa constitutions — for everyone."
--Des Moines Register Editorial Board

wanna bet we're being set up for a lie?

from today's papers:

The Post says Karl's Rove's lawyer asked Novak (no relation to that Robert) to testify because he thinks it could somehow help Rove. We're not going to have to wait long for the details: "Viveca Novak is expected to write a firsthand account after she is deposed."

see what's key here? "somehow help rove" is code-speak for coverup.

today's MUST READ

seems things haven't gotten much better in iraq than what they were under saddam. and they talk about progress in iraq. some progress.

BAGHDAD — Shiite Muslim militia members have infiltrated Iraq's police force and are carrying out sectarian killings under the color of law, according to documents and scores of interviews.

--source

Letter Of The Day

The abortion rate went down under Bill Clinton and up under George W. Bush. Clinton understood that the way to decrease abortions was to provide hope. When a poor woman gets pregnant, it is one more brick on a load she has no hope of ever carrying, one more mouth she can't feed, one more child she has no health care for.

If we truly want to reduce the number of abortions, we have to provide our poor women and their children with health care and day care. (Five million more have slipped into poverty under Bush.) And we need to cover mental health as well, including treatment for drug and alcohol abuse so the baby has a chance to be healthy and the mother isn't living in despair.

-Jeff Clingan, Van Meter.

attribution

seems every culprit is represented well

take a look at this:

According to the police commander in the city, the 10 men allegedly involved in the assassination plot were caught with a document containing orders to carry out the killing from Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam's former vice president and a man considered by many to be the leader of the insurgency. Investigators also found three car bombs, as well as other documents linking the men to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, and to Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy to Osama Bin Laden.

--source

one just has to wonder.... just who is in charge here?

FARPOINT FACTOID

• Consumer credit has skyrocketed from $672.2 billion to $2.1 trillion;
• Outstanding household debt has grown $2.7 trillion, to $10.764 trillion;
• The trade deficit has plummeted from negative $150.7 billion to negative $756.8 billion;
  The total of foreign-owned U.S. assets has shot from $1.7 trillion to $11.5 trillion.

SOURCE

fallujah, and american chemical weapons

Vivid images show civilians, including women and children, who had been burned alive in their homes, even in their beds. This use of chemical weapons – at the order of the Bushist brass – and the killing of civilians are confirmed by former American soldiers interviewed on camera. "I heard the order to pay attention because they were going to use white phosphorous on Fallujah," said one soldier, quoted in the Independent. "In military jargon, it's known as Willy Pete. Phosphorous burns bodies; in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone. I saw the burned bodies of women and children. Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone within a radius of 150 meters is done for."

read more, much more @ http://www.chris-floyd.com/fallujah/

Letter Of The Year

and finally, we have a winner for the annual Letter Of The Year award. the register was chocked full of great letters today.

Powerful new evidence emerged recently that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns. Phosphorus melts the flesh down to the bone.

Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud, and anyone within 150 meters is dead. As evidence, dozens of high-quality color close-ups show bodies of Fallujah residents, some still in their beds, whose clothes remain largely intact but whose skin has been dissolved or caramelized or turned the consistency of leather by the shells.

The use of phosphorus is a betrayal of core American values, is barbarism of the first order and displays the darkness of spirit that animates this ruthless administration.

—Frank P. Belcastro, Dubuque.

attribution

Letter of the WeeQ

I agree with Rekha Basu's column on torture ("Torture Policies Abuse Credibility," Nov. 13). We all know about the black hole at Guantanamo, and we know about the ugliness at Abu Ghraib, and reports are starting to leak out about a secret CIA gulag of interrogation cells all over the world.

So, what do Republican leaders in Congress want to do? Well, they want to investigate the leak rather than the reports. Meanwhile, our President is telling us, "We do not torture," but it's sounding more like, "We do not call it torture."

—Roy Applegate, Spencer.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

it's a long one, but worthy of the award.

I've had my bellyful of articles in the Register reporting how pheasant hunters are whining and crying because they are increasingly not allowed to hunt the private farmland in Iowa. I have little sympathy for these "sportsmen" from my experiences on our farm.

More than 30 years ago, I used to go hunting with my dad. He'd shoot a couple of squirrels or rabbits, just enough so Mom could pan fry them for a couple of weeks' worth of meals. He'd ask the farmer who owned the land for permission to hunt, and seldom was he denied.

The farmer knew there would be no full-scale ravaging of the wildlife since it was just the two of us — Dad shot only what we could eat. The farmer also knew there would be no vandalizing since we lived nearby and neighbors didn't — and still don't — destroy each other's property.

This relationship between farmer and hunter is long gone, and many examples prove it on our farm. We allowed pheasant hunters from the southern United States out on our land one year. They came in with a convoy of trucks and just as many dogs to run the fields for this thing they called a sport.

They didn't come just one day, but several, and "harvested" so many birds that we didn't see any pheasants for several years on our place. Since then, hunters, who haven't asked permission to hunt, have cut our fence wires, shot our "no trespassing or hunting" signs and killed our pets.

We've had trappers tie snare traps to our fence lines, only to find that the trapped animal tried to eat its leg off to get loose since the trapper didn't check snares as required by law. One morning, a kid who lost his head when a pheasant flew up shot across our highway and peppered the front right panel of my pickup. If he had shot a couple inches away from his mark, I would have been hit.

The Register's articles don't depict these particular types of experiences we have endured out here in the country, and the Department of Natural Resources really is only interested in selling the hunting licenses to shore up the budget. All the suburbanites who can afford their quarter-million-dollar homes, and those who come from out of state and have the financial means to bring in a half-dozen extended-cab pickups with purebred dogs to hunt, should surely be able to afford to lease or buy a 40-acre parcel where they don't need to care if they shoot the hell out of everything.

—Robin Crabtree, Madrid.

attribution

Rant of the Day

Sometimes I think the entire Republican party either is or has been on long term Prozac therapy, and those who are now starting to finally wake up have either stopped taking the drug or have developed a tolerance. They "had trouble pinning their current discontent on any one thing?!" Come on! Fraudulent elections didn't bother them? The Constitution stripped of its original intent, and they don't find that disturbing? Hey, Bushies! Ever hear of separation of church and state? The blurring of that boundary doesn't bother you? How about this illegal, preemptive war? Any problems with that one? And you didn't think disaster preparedness should presuppose having qualified managers in important posts in the event of an emergency? It doesn't concern you that this administration has allowed wealthy industrialists to determine the course of environmental policy? It's okay that the government commits treason, during wartime no less, by exposing the identity of one of its own covert operatives? You don't note a certain inconsistency in our engaging in a "war on terror" while condoning torture ourselves? And last but certainly not least, the administration that pledged to bring respectability back into the White House is so scandal-ridden that it makes Bill and Monica look like just another episode of "All My Children," and this seems normal to you?
--source

this was in a thread about the nytimes article where some bushies were showing signs of discontent for their fuhrer.

everybody's denying it

In Germany, prosecutors are investigating both the alleged kidnapping by the CIA of one of its citizens and a number of suspicious flights into German air bases. Sweden and Norway launched investigations after similar incidents. The Dutch accused Washington of hiding its alleged use of secret prisons in Europe, and the 46-member Council of Europe told Romania to investigate reports that it was the site of such illegal detentions.

Investigations into alleged CIA landings or flyovers are underway in Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

source

Cartoon Of The Day

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1650498,00.html

incompetence defined (again)

The SBA has only processed half the number of loans it did in a similar period after last year's Florida hurricanes, despite having hired more staff. USAT has previously suggested the culprit was a glitchly computer "upgrade." Another potential factor not explored by USAT: The head of the SBA is a former GOP fund-raiser who appears to have little relevant experience and previously headed up the SBA's bumbling response to 9/11.

the numbers

and they're just beautiful! from the online journal

A majority of U.S. adults believe the Bush administration generally misleads the public on current issues, while fewer than a third of Americans believe the information provided by the administration is generally accurate, the latest Harris Interactive poll finds.

While the telephone survey of 1,011 U.S. adults indicates about 64% of Americans believe the Bush administration "generally misleads the American public on current issues to achieve its own ends," opinion on the topic is clearly divided along party lines. A large majority (68% to 28%) of Republicans say the Bush administration generally provides accurate information. However, even larger majorities of Democrats (91% to 7%) and Independents (73% to 25%) think the information is generally misleading.

When asked about former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who has been indicted on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements, more than half of U.S. adults say the situation indicates "a larger problem in the Bush administration," while 35% say it was an "isolated incident." About 82% of Democrats say it indicates a larger problem, while 70% of Republicans feel the Libby case is an isolated incident.

The latest poll also finds U.S. adults are divided on the direction they feel Mr. Bush is trying to move the Supreme Court. About 42% of those surveyed think Mr. Bush is trying to make the high court too conservative, while 44% think he is trying to make it neither too conservative nor too liberal. Only 9% believe Mr. Bush is trying to make the Supreme Court too liberal, according to the poll.

the true reason we invaded iraq

Up to $US194 billion ($263 billion) in Iraqi oil revenues are going to multinational oil companies under long-term contracts, and not to the Iraqi people, a social and environmental group said.

--source

this thanksgiving day

i give thanks that there are young people out there able to win Letter Of The Day.

Congressmen are debating whether they can really give tax breaks to the wealthy while cutting money from programs for the poor.

One legislator actually said Congress had to cut funds for the poor because that's where all the money is.

The other reasoning offered to justify cuts was that the programs were not as effective as they should be. I was just wondering how giving a struggling program even less money solves the very real problem that this person brings to society's attention?

It is not as if the money taken away is assisting the poor in another, more effective way. It's used to balance the tax breaks in the budget.

— Erin O'Hern, Johnston

attribution

i'd call it CHECKMATE

for bush to continue to say that congress saw everything he saw, is astounding in the fact that amongst the other lies he has made, this one screams for impeachment.

Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.

The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders.

and there's more

if that's the mark of an accomplishment....

God help us for one that is a failure.

DHS Today will highlight FY05 Accomplishments in this column over the next several weeks. This week's focus is on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The top FY05 FEMA accomplishments included:

Hurricane Katrina: The response to Hurricane Katrina was FEMA's largest response in its history

--source

today's MUST READ

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/22/AR2005112201692.html

the cheney "X"

seems there's something that happened on cnn's larry king live, where there was an "X" that appeared over cheney's face for 1/15th of a second. c'mon, that's 2 frames.

they got the 2 frames, and it was a glitch. but the right-wingnuts are out for blood. and as someone on DU (thread HERE) posted:

This is the game the wingnuts play. Make a controversy where none exists or find a red herring in one that does and create such distortion and confusion that the main issue is long lost in the noise created by the uproar.

NO SHIT!
cheney deserves to be "X"d out of the video my pretty eyes see.

my first response was

is he NUTS? but then, i knew the answer, and it was affirmative.

US President George W. Bush planned to bomb pan-Arab television broadcaster al-Jazeera, British newspaper the Daily Mirror said today, citing a Downing Street memo marked "Top Secret".
--source

the news is travelling around rather quickly

SCOTSMAN: Blair 'convinced Bush' not to launch strike at Al-Jazeera

MIRROR: Bush Plot to Bomb his Arab Ally

goat, the new red meat

everytime i hear "goat" i am reminded of 7 long minutes while our country was under attack, where george bush jr. sat reading MY PET GOAT in some elementary school in florida.

Letter Of The Day

Thanks for printing Rick Johnson's Nov. 12 letter, "Take Out Your Dictionary." Of all the letters to the editor I've read in recent years, this sure did say a lot — especially to all those Americans that are so obsessed with attaching the words liberal or conservative to every political issue that comes up, as if there is no room for negotiation or compromise. All that does is create animosity and foil democratic discourse.

-Don Hill, Windsor Heights.
attribution

talk about rewriting history

i knew it wouldn't be long before rummy got into the action:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has asserted that he did not press for the US-led invasion of Iraq, as public disaffection for the US military operation there reaches new highs.

--source

i'll jus leave it up to the rest of the world to prove otherwise. even kindergarteners will find the task immensely easy.

and now the brits have to get into the act

British-trained police operating in Basra have tortured at least two civilians to death with electric drills, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

John Reid, the Secretary of State for Defence, admits that he knows of "alleged deaths in custody" and other "serious prisoner abuse" at al-Jamiyat police station, which was reopened by Britain after the war.

Militia-dominated police, who were recruited by Britain, are believed to have tortured at least two men to death in the station. Their bodies were later found with drill holes to their arms, legs and skulls.

The victims were suspected of collaborating with coalition forces, according to intelligence reports. Despite being pressed "very hard" by Britain, however, the Iraqi authorities in Basra are failing to even investigate incidents of torture and murder by police, ministers admit.

The disclosure drags Britain firmly into the growing scandal of officially condoned killings, torture and disappearances in Iraq. More than 170 starving and tortured prisoners were discovered last week in an Interior Ministry bunker in Baghdad.

American troops who uncovered the secret torture chamber are also said to have discovered mutilated corpses, several bearing drill marks

--source

jeee, i guess all that's missing are poland's contributions.

do you know anybody else who could say to you

i am holding a year's worth of cum in my testicles.

boy THAT was fast!

talk about corrupt sons of bitches.... asscroft gets to wear the crown today. from the WaPo:

WASHINGTON -- Less than a month after Oracle Corp. hired former Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's lobbying firm, the Justice Department notified Oracle that an antitrust inquiry into its proposed $5.8 billion acquisition of a rival database software firm had been dropped

as someone along the way mentioned:

While he's on his knees pretending to pray to Je$u$.

how stupid can they get?

pretty friggin stupid, if the GOP really thinks they can sink murtha with their whining. if they want to play that game, they are in no position to be pointing fingers. and like all things repuke, it'll backfire.

Republican lawmakers say that ties between Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and his brother’s lobbying firm, KSA Consulting, may warrant investigation by the House ethics committee.

--rollcall

Quote Of The Day

"The Republicans are taking food out of the mouths of children to give tax cuts to America's wealthiest. This is not a statement of America's values,"

--Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after seeing the GOP deliver themselves a $3,100 pay raise.

attribution

down with diebold

the diebold is fighting transparency speaks volumes about their desire to have fair elections.

In a last-minute filing, e-voting equipment maker Diebold asked a North Carolina court to exempt it from tough new election requirements designed to ensure transparency in the state’s elections. Diebold obtained an extraordinarily broad order, allowing it to avoid placing its source code in escrow with the state and identifying programmers who contributed to the code.

--source

Letter Of The Day

Chuck Grassley has belatedly threatened to close the barn door after $2.9 million of his promised 50 million tax dollars for the rain forest have been spent. On what? Do we as taxpayers get an accounting?

There are four requirements for a genuine rain forest. A year-round, near-vertical sun. Pure rain water. Poor laterite soil. Bugs — billions of them. Iowa can't supply the first three and wouldn't attract many visitors with the fourth.

—Ian Binnie, Des Moines.

attribution

Quote of the Day

"We're asking very traditional questions: Was information withheld? Was there deceit about the information? Those are the familiar Watergate/Iran-contra questions. But they overlook the Ideology of Information that the administration created. By this I mean the whole practice of evaluating all information going into the war not for its truth value, but for whether it promoted or hindered the administration's goal of being free to go to war. The President could have been given every bit of intelligence information available, and he and/or Cheney would have reached the same decision because they would have discarded, discounted, or disregarded most of it. Information that was Useful to that goal was put in one box, Not Useful put in another. Entire categories of information were assigned to the Not Useful box because their source was deemed an opponent of U.S. military action, or assumed to have some other motive."
--Mark Schmitt

didnt halloween pass already?

then what's going on with this kid?
http://www.pantheones.com/images/avatars/large/167.jpg

murtha on cheney

i'm linking this to josh marshall's site, but i had read it in one of the papers earlier.

Murtha on Cheney: "I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."

if i'm not careful, i'm likely to reproduce the whole column here

another TP gem. this time it's about the pat act. and the favor business gets when their feathers get ruffled. remember all the excuses the repukes used when liberals were pissed off about how the act infringed on our rights? well, now that business is whining, congressional leaders are all ears now.

Everybody mentions that the tentative deal to extend the Patriot Act hit a snag as some Democrats threatened to filibuster. Also, a bipartisan group of six senators said they'll vote against renewing the about-to-expire law unless the civil-liberties protections are strengthened.

The WSJ notices that among those lobbying against the renewed Patriot Act are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business lobbies. Apparently they don't like the idea of the government snooping on company records.

also from today's papers

they seem to be full of shockers today.

but then, when you're reporting on criminals and thieves in our government, what else would you expect?

The Post and NYT both front the arrest of two U.S. men for allegedly rigging rebuilding contracts in Iraq. But only the NYT picks up on the real shocker: One of the men was a U.S. government comptroller and financial officer in Iraq "despite having served prison time for felony fraud in the 1990's." He oversaw $82 million in contracts.

what else would you expect from pathological liars?

caught over on today's papers:

Also, the papers play up the U.S. embassy saying, "We have made clear to the Iraqi government there must not be militia or sectarian control or direction of Iraqi Security Forces, facilities or ministries." Which is very nice and very misleading. The reality seems to be that the U.S. long ago acceded to such control.

and he's not even a democrat

"We face a demographic tsunami" that "will never recede," David Walker tells a group of reporters. He runs through a long list of fiscal challenges, led by the imminent retirement of the baby boomers, whose promised Medicare and Social Security benefits will swamp the federal budget in coming decades.

The breakfast conversation remains somber for most of an hour. Then one reporter smiles and asks, "Aren't you depressed in the morning?"

Sadly, it's no laughing matter. To hear Walker, the nation's top auditor, tell it, the United States can be likened to Rome before the fall of the empire. Its financial condition is "worse than advertised," he says. It has a "broken business model." It faces deficits in its budget, its balance of payments, its savings — and its leadership.

Walker's not the only one saying it. As Congress and the White House struggle to trim up to $50 billion from the federal budget over five years — just 3% of the $1.6 trillion in deficits projected for that period — budget experts say the nation soon could face its worst fiscal crisis since at least 1983, when Social Security bordered on bankruptcy.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-14-fiscal-hurricane-cover_x.htm#

woo hoo

i just ordered my mac. my first mac. and probably my last.

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Grand Total: $3,807.97

from CLUBMAC

things you probably never knew

another letter writer in today's register opened my eyes to bush's nominee sam alito.

Is President Bush out of his cotton-picking mind? Samuel Alito supported a strip-search of a 10-year-old girl. He opposed the family medical leave act. He supported requiring a husband be informed before a women may get an abortion. He allowed discrimination based on race and disabilities. This man cannot possibly be the best possible candidate for the Supreme Court.

(written by Alice Haugen, Iowa City.)

Letter Of The Day

The Rev. Pat Robertson warned the residents of Dover, Pa., that they have angered God by voting intelligent-design proponents off the local school board. Since intelligent design does not claim God as the designer, why would God be angered? Robertson has confirmed what many suspected. Intelligent design is simply creationism in disguise.

-Laurie Howland, West Des Moines.
attribution

they're confirming white phosphorus in fallujah

US troops used white phosphorus as a weapon in last year's offensive in the Iraqi city of Falluja, the US has said.

"It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," spokesman Lt Col Barry Venable told the BBC - though not against civilians, he said.

The US had earlier said the substance - which can cause burning of the flesh - had been used only for illumination.

--source

and as someone on DU mention, and put it so adeptly:

The R's will now say DUers don't support our troops and applaud when Blackwater contractors are Bar-B-Que'd . Then the Rush Limballs of the world will chime in saying same.

The atrocities of the Blackwater guys and the use of WP in Fallujah go hand in hand with guerilla war just as in Vietnam. Occupation spawns this.

With "Hama Rules", which means no rules at all as Thomas Friedman has shown us in From Beirut to Jerusalem, playing to the Arab world media, which showed the Blackwater atrocity, is now forcing them to show the Fallujah pictures. This is what happens when the US military 'takes the gloves off'.

Bush's role in creating this war in Iraq with phoney pretexts and no end in sight, the current Republican hijacking of the Democratic Levin amendment today as proof of that -- it still leaves no exit strategy or timetable-- means that the R's will claim to be supporting the troops while keeping them in place for more losses in a war whose purpose is STILL ill-defined.

Are they there to secure the oilfields ? There to 'promote democracy', whatever that means in a region content to vote in Islamic theocracies ? There on a military holiday so to speak in order to test new weapons and strategies ? WTF are they there for ? Bush's annual press conferences never seem to get this answered.

yup. back when the italians were pissed off about it, good ol' rummy was washing it as white as possible. no pun intended. but this thing needs to be exposed and stopped.

liars beget liars

A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.

surprise surprise

why MSM has lost their collective credibility

gets summed up rather nicely in today's papers:

There are "allegedly" bad headlines in the torture stories. For example, the Post: "TORTURE ALLEGED AFTER U.S.-LED RAID UNCOVERS IRAQI-RUN PRISON." As NYT notes, "An Interior Ministry statement said flatly that torture had occurred." So, what's it take to move something from an allegation to an apparent fact?

One final point on the torture coverage: The papers mention that there have long been "rumors" about torture by the new Iraqi government. What there has also been is scant coverage of the torture that's been documented. Human Rights Watch released a report early this year titled "Torture and Ill-treatment of Detainees in Iraqi Custody." Judging from a quickie Nexis search, of the majors only the WP gave it more than wire copy. And then there was the time six months before that when GIs witnessed and photographed Iraqi police torturing prisoners. The Oregonian reported the story, and the national papers let it fly by. The guy the Oregonian suggested was behind the abuse: the then-head of the Interior Ministry.

Letter Of The Day

Sen. Chuck Grassley voted last week against a proposal to boost the fiscal 2006 budget for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program from $2.2 billion to $5.1 billion. Iowa currently has 180,426 households with unpaid energy bills, an average of 1,822 households per county.

MidAmerican Energy currently charges almost double the rate for natural gas from a year ago.

Grassley's attempt to balance the federal budget on the backs of the poor, disabled and geriatric is pathetic. He supports pouring $2 billion a week into the rat hole called Iraq, while low-income Iowans freeze in their homes. Grassley probably keeps his sows warmer than some of these people will be this winter.

-David Brewbaker, Indianola.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

David Yepsen ("Gingrich Preaches Radical Reconstruction of GOP," Nov. 3) stated Newt Gingrich was the architect of the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in 1994.

Yepsen failed to mention that Gingrich used family values and how the Republicans were morally superior to the Democrats.

Gingrich is a hypocrite. Gingrich served his first wife with divorce papers while she was in the hospital with ovarian cancer.

His second wife of 19 years was informed over the telephone that Newt wanted a divorce. Newt then married a young staffer 23 years his junior.

I ask, are these family values, compassionate conservatism or just plain hypocrisy?

-Steve Stanley, Earlham.

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FARPOINT.FACTOID

"It is virtually certain that on Jan. 1, 2006, some dual eligibles will not be receiving prescription drug coverage under [Medicare]," the lawsuit said. "There is no way to know with certainty how many will fall through the cracks this way. However, even if the [current] enrollment process captures 97% of all dual eligibles, more than 180,000 will not be enrolled."
--source

what else would you expect from pathological liars?

remember this?

“We do not have any direct evidence that Iraq has used the period since (Operation) Desert Fox to reconstitute its WMD programs,” Tenet said in an agency report to Congress Feb. 7, 2001. “Moreover, the automated video monitoring systems installed by the UN at known and suspect WMD facilities in Iraq are still not operating… Having lost this on-the-ground access, it is more difficult for the UN or the U.S. to accurately assess the current state of Iraq’s WMD programs.”

so much for that lie. what's your next lie gonna be georgie? that white is black again?

Quote of the Day

"The country can't get past what has happened or move forward until we can get the truth on the table, deal with it and move on."
--Josh Marshall, attribution

mehlman's sad sorry excuse for existence

is that he lies like a rug. and yesterday, on MTP, he was in shining mode, telling so many lies, in so little time, it was impossible to catalog them all without tape.

the best writeup i've seen yet of this advernture throught the looking glass, is josh marshall:

One was that the Senate intel report exonerated the administration of any effort to mislead the American people over Iraq. Wrong. They specifically did not look at that question.

He also said the Silbermann/Robb Commission concluded the same thing. Wrong. They too were specifically not authorized to examine that question.

He said the British Butler Report said the same thing. First of all, who cares what a Report written to cover Tony Blair said? Second of all, it said no such thing.

He said the Duelfer Report said Saddam "was trying to reconstitute his weapons programs." That is at best a highly, highly misleading description of the report.

He said that Saddam "had supported terrrorists, had terrorists operating out of his country." There are so many different lies and canards potentially underlying this claim it's hard to know where to start. But again, wrong. None of the purported evidence for this claim has ever stood up.

Letter Of The Day

Bully for Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid ("Democrats Force Senate Into Rare Closed Session," Nov. 2). It is high time the minority party exercised some intestinal fortitude with regard to our adventure in Iraq. Forcing the Senate into closed session was an excellent first salvo.

Now the focus ought to be on what convinced the Bush administration to go to war that the previous administration and our allies did not see when looking at the same flawed intelligence. Inquiring minds still want to know, and Senator Reid has artfully posed the question.

-Jeff Clothier, Colfax.

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and finally....

"This Drug Benefit Brought to You By…": Before TP went to www.medicare.gov he accidentally typed in www.medicare.org. This took him to a site purporting to be "A Resource for Medicare Information," with an official-looking seal—featuring a bald eagle—at the top. He clicked on the "Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit" link and was taken to … www.gop.com. Needless to say, TP found no information about the drug benefit. Instead, he was invited to sign a petition in favor of Judge Alito and to read about the strong and valuable leadership of Sen. Rick Santorum.

my my my, those republicons never tire do they.

FARPOINT.FACTOID

Even before the (French) riots, an average of 3,500 cars a month were burned across the nation.

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wanna read a scary story?

The LAT's investigation, the first of four parts, shows how conservatorship is virtually unregulated in California. Most conservators are friends or family members of the elderly charge, but the 15 percent who are professionals typically take control with startling swiftness. About half the time, an elderly person loses control of his life and assets in emergency court hearings lasting just a few hours. In 90 percent of these hearings, the court never bothers to interview the elderly person. The professionals who become conservators have the power of attorneys and accountants, yet never have to pass licensing exams. Anyone with a college degree and $385 for a state registration fee can get in the business. When the elderly charge fights his conservator in court, he must pay both his own legal fees and those of his conservator.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-conserve13nov13,0,4940740,full.story

beware of republicons who charge democrats with rewriting history

because, that's exactly what they're up to.

a worthy ready

it's not often that i read the front page of DU, (here's where i declare my $10/month membership), but this one was a worthy read by all.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/05/11/12_believe.html

read it and tell me that it's not true. i dare ya.

any narnia fans out there?

this was mentioned on DU about narnia:

It is the big daddy who makes the rules and doesn't tell you what they are and requires that you live your life by them and as means to his end, and judges you by them and bestows rewards or imposes punishment on you when you die, except you really don't die, according to whether he likes you or not content.

shit, you cant unquote out of this damn GUI on blogger. i hate their shit. but if that's what narnia is really all about, i think i wanna take a gander at it.

Paragraph Pick of the Day

Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus, in a Page One WP fact-check, note that the administration's defense—that Congress saw the same intelligence as the White House before the war and that independent commissions have determined the intelligence to have been represented accurately—is not quite true.

(thanks to today's papers for their patriotic service to America)

Letter of the WeeQ

After the last election I made the statement that mass education was not working in America. Well I was wrong. President Bush's approval rating is down to 34 percent, Vice President Dick Cheney's is down to 19 percent. The public can be educated — it just takes time.

—William Tempelmeyer, retired special education teacher, Marshalltown.

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i jus happen to know bill tempelmeyer. he used to come into the tallcorn hotel where i worked as a bartender.

Letter Of The Day

today, you get to make the choice. which letter would you pick to win LOTD?

Why do President Bush and Vice President Cheney continue to fight Sen. John McCain's amendment to codify what is the armed forces' official stance on torture?

This is from the White House's official statement on the matter: "The administration strongly opposes such amendments, which would interfere with the protection of Americans from terrorism by diverting resources from the war to answer unnecessary or duplicative inquiry or by restricting the president's ability to conduct the war effectively under existing law."

Set aside the fact that torture has been shown to be ineffective. Ignore the fact that we condemn such behavior in other countries (such as Saddam's Iraq), or that the Army's own guide to conduct explicitly forbids such behavior.

Ask yourself this question: Why is President Bush willing to exercise the first veto of his two terms in office to allow torture? And then ask yourself this: If the president is successful, are you still proud to be an American citizen?

—-Jeff Dickey-Chasins, Grinnell.

Regarding the recent Nov. 5 article, "Cheney Says Exempt CIA From Suspect Torture Ban": The truly interesting, below-the-surface part of this article is not that Vice President Cheney wants to continue ignoring the Geneva Convention rules on the treatment of prisoners of war. That is to be expected from this crowd.

The interesting part is that someone "leaked" what Cheney said at a weekly private meeting of Republican senators.

This has been the most secretive and behind-the-scenes administration for many years. The fact that the dike is cracking and that the veil of secrecy and the "house of cards" is coming down is the real headline.

It's due time.

—Rodger Routh, Ankeny.

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