gives a 'four-letter word' a whole new meaning.
newtimesbpb.com | Prostrate Loyalty | 2005-01-27: "So when North Palm Beach lawyer Thomas Dougherty tried on December 13 to register the company name To Hell With Bush Inc. with the State of Florida, it didn't surprise him that Hood's flunkies denied his request a day later. 'As you could probably gather, I'm not a big Bush supporter,' says Dougherty, who planned to use the company to start an anti-Bush website. 'So I wasn't shocked they would try something like this.'
Hood's office claimed the name was 'slanderous or immoral.' Hood spokeswoman Jenny Nash says the decision is not about politics. 'It could have said To Hell With Jane Doe and we wouldn't have registered it,' she told Tailpipe.
But a quick search of company names approved by Hood's office shows that, as the 'Pipe has observed, morality is often in the eye of the beholder. How about Damn Inc., Screw Co., and TITS Inc.? How did they pass muster in the era of state-sanctioned evangelism? Then there're the rivals Boobs Inc. and Boobs of Florida Inc. (soon to appear on a resurrection of CNN's Crossfire). There's also ASS Inc. and, from Ocala, the questionably spelled Pusy Inc. Maybe most startling of all: a pair of companies out of Orlando named Friggin Inc. and Balls on Your Forehead Inc. Those were founded by DJ Robert 'Taco Bob' Miller, who thinks he got one by Hood and her flunkies. "
Friday, January 28, 2005
and you can get a vivid look inside the man they call the chimp-in-chief.
James Wolcott: Dubya's Zippity Do-Dah Day: "The White House announces a press conference in the morning. After the announcement comes the news that 31 Americans died in a chopper crash in Iraq (6 others died today in seperate incidents). The president takes the podium fresh with the knowledge of that tragedy--and radiates a cheerful disposition bantering with the press about senior citizens and their faulty memories. She can't see something scarily wrong with that? She doesn't spot some sort of emotional disturbance or disconnect? Imagine if Bill Clinton had been chirpy and chipper having just received the news of 31 soldiers dying in the theater of combat--Rush Limbaugh would have devoted three hours to it, and Fox News would have dragged Dick Morris out of the all-you-can-eat buffet for his 'expert analysis.'
When Bush did address the soldiers' deaths, he said that we 'weep and mourn' when Americans die, but as he was saying it his hand was flatly smacking downwards for emphasis, as if he were pounding the table during the business meeting, refusing to pay a lot for a muffler. The steady beat of his hand was at odds with the sentiments he was expressing--he didn't look or sound the least bit mournful or sombre. And why should he? Death doesn't seem to be a bringdown for him. There isn't the slightest evidence that he experiences the anguish LBJ did as casualties mounted in Vietnam. His record as chief executioner in Texas is of a man for whom the death of another is an administrative detail, a power exercise. As Sister Helen Prejean wrote in The New York Review of Books:
'As governor, Bush certainly did not stand apart in his routine refusal to deny clemency to death row petitioners, but what does set him apart is the sheer number of executions over which he...presided. Callous indifference to human suffering may also set Bush apart in his routine refusal to deny clemency to death row petitioners, but what does set him apart is the sheer number of executions over which he...presided. Callous indifference to human suffering may also set Bush apart. He may be the only government official to mock a condemned person's plea for mercy [Karla Faye Tucker's], then lie about it afterward, claiming humane feelings he never felt. On the contrary, it seems that Bush is comfortable with using violent solutions to solve troublesome social and political realities."
James Wolcott: Dubya's Zippity Do-Dah Day: "The White House announces a press conference in the morning. After the announcement comes the news that 31 Americans died in a chopper crash in Iraq (6 others died today in seperate incidents). The president takes the podium fresh with the knowledge of that tragedy--and radiates a cheerful disposition bantering with the press about senior citizens and their faulty memories. She can't see something scarily wrong with that? She doesn't spot some sort of emotional disturbance or disconnect? Imagine if Bill Clinton had been chirpy and chipper having just received the news of 31 soldiers dying in the theater of combat--Rush Limbaugh would have devoted three hours to it, and Fox News would have dragged Dick Morris out of the all-you-can-eat buffet for his 'expert analysis.'
When Bush did address the soldiers' deaths, he said that we 'weep and mourn' when Americans die, but as he was saying it his hand was flatly smacking downwards for emphasis, as if he were pounding the table during the business meeting, refusing to pay a lot for a muffler. The steady beat of his hand was at odds with the sentiments he was expressing--he didn't look or sound the least bit mournful or sombre. And why should he? Death doesn't seem to be a bringdown for him. There isn't the slightest evidence that he experiences the anguish LBJ did as casualties mounted in Vietnam. His record as chief executioner in Texas is of a man for whom the death of another is an administrative detail, a power exercise. As Sister Helen Prejean wrote in The New York Review of Books:
'As governor, Bush certainly did not stand apart in his routine refusal to deny clemency to death row petitioners, but what does set him apart is the sheer number of executions over which he...presided. Callous indifference to human suffering may also set Bush apart in his routine refusal to deny clemency to death row petitioners, but what does set him apart is the sheer number of executions over which he...presided. Callous indifference to human suffering may also set Bush apart. He may be the only government official to mock a condemned person's plea for mercy [Karla Faye Tucker's], then lie about it afterward, claiming humane feelings he never felt. On the contrary, it seems that Bush is comfortable with using violent solutions to solve troublesome social and political realities."
under the radar....
Xinhua - English: "BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States is preparing a future invasion of Venezuela to control the petroleum of the South American country as it did in Iraq, said Venezuela's acting ambassador to Paraguay, Elmer Nino.
Nino, cited Thursday by local Paraguayan daily ABC Color, said the present diplomatic crisis between Venezuela and Colombia was created by the United States as part of its future plans for an invasion.
The Venezuelan oil reserves have a strategic value as they will last 350 years at the present exploitation level, the diplomat was quoted as saying.
Venezuela is Latin America's second largest oil producer behind Mexico and the principal oil exporter in the region. "
Xinhua - English: "BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States is preparing a future invasion of Venezuela to control the petroleum of the South American country as it did in Iraq, said Venezuela's acting ambassador to Paraguay, Elmer Nino.
Nino, cited Thursday by local Paraguayan daily ABC Color, said the present diplomatic crisis between Venezuela and Colombia was created by the United States as part of its future plans for an invasion.
The Venezuelan oil reserves have a strategic value as they will last 350 years at the present exploitation level, the diplomat was quoted as saying.
Venezuela is Latin America's second largest oil producer behind Mexico and the principal oil exporter in the region. "
Troops Mobilize for Iraqi Balloting (washingtonpost.com): "Citing Iraq's profound insecurity, foreign countries and international organizations mustered only a single accredited observer, and she is expected to remain in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. "
however, the article does attribute this good news: 10,000 civilian iraqi volunteered to stand around polling places and make sure everything's kosher (no pun intended, of course).
while i applaud those who are clearly risking their lives to take part in what is the bedrock of democracy, one can hardly imagine that they are indeed trained properly in the processes of voting. maybe they had a seminar last week and nobody reported on it.
however, the article does attribute this good news: 10,000 civilian iraqi volunteered to stand around polling places and make sure everything's kosher (no pun intended, of course).
while i applaud those who are clearly risking their lives to take part in what is the bedrock of democracy, one can hardly imagine that they are indeed trained properly in the processes of voting. maybe they had a seminar last week and nobody reported on it.
get ready for freedom and liberty all you iraqis. george w. bush is bringing it to you in his own special style:
Iraqis Get Ready for the Worst: "Starting Saturday, borders will be sealed and the airport will be shut down. Government offices and most companies will take a three-day holiday. Nightly curfews begin at 7 p.m. and last until 6 a.m.
In addition, cars will be banned from roads unless occupants have special election badges, except in cases of medical emergency.
Traffic in Baghdad, a city that loves cars as much as Los Angeles does, appeared Thursday to be down by about half. Road closures and police checkpoints made navigating the capital difficult. Many drivers said they wouldn't risk taking to the roads, noting that insurgents had threatened to attack anyone attempting to vote or assisting in the election."
Iraqis Get Ready for the Worst: "Starting Saturday, borders will be sealed and the airport will be shut down. Government offices and most companies will take a three-day holiday. Nightly curfews begin at 7 p.m. and last until 6 a.m.
In addition, cars will be banned from roads unless occupants have special election badges, except in cases of medical emergency.
Traffic in Baghdad, a city that loves cars as much as Los Angeles does, appeared Thursday to be down by about half. Road closures and police checkpoints made navigating the capital difficult. Many drivers said they wouldn't risk taking to the roads, noting that insurgents had threatened to attack anyone attempting to vote or assisting in the election."
yesterday, georgie said that we would leave iraq if the new 'iraqi government' (one can only assume that's what they'll call themselves after the selection, er election on sunday) asked us.... then added but they won't.
just how in God's name does he know they won't?
and starting here, i'm going to keep track of just how many MSM outlets have such direct access to the oval office. nytimes just got 40 minutes. who's up next?
just how in God's name does he know they won't?
and starting here, i'm going to keep track of just how many MSM outlets have such direct access to the oval office. nytimes just got 40 minutes. who's up next?
Thursday, January 27, 2005
propaganda-gate?
Salon.com News | Third columnist caught with hand in the Bush till: "One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, 'Ethics & Religion,' appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative. McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed. "
Salon.com News | Third columnist caught with hand in the Bush till: "One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, 'Ethics & Religion,' appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative. McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed. "
IT'S CALLED PROPAGANDA, AND IT HAS GOT NO PLACE IN AMERICAN POLITICS.
Yahoo! News - Report: PR spending doubled under Bush: "The Bush administration has more than doubled its spending on outside contracts with public relations firms during the past four years, according to an analysis of federal procurement data by congressional Democrats."
Yahoo! News - Report: PR spending doubled under Bush: "The Bush administration has more than doubled its spending on outside contracts with public relations firms during the past four years, according to an analysis of federal procurement data by congressional Democrats."
hurtful? i can't believe i'm reading this.
Veterans' Benefits "hurtful" to National Security, says Pentagon :: Alternative Press Review :: Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream: "The Wall Street Journal describes the pittance set aside for veteran's benefits as 'Congress' generosity,' even as the Republican-controlled Congress and Bush Pentagon get set to slash billions more from Veterans Administration's (VA) programs. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (1-25-05), Pentagon official David Chu, in a mockery of the contribution of veterans, defended a new round of cuts by ironically describing funding for programs like veterans' education and job training, health care, pensions, VA housing and the like as 'hurtful' to national security.
Despite Republican pretense that spending increases for the VA budget under the Bush administration have been large, new spending neither has matched inflation over the same period, nor does it keep pace with growing need. "
Veterans' Benefits "hurtful" to National Security, says Pentagon :: Alternative Press Review :: Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream: "The Wall Street Journal describes the pittance set aside for veteran's benefits as 'Congress' generosity,' even as the Republican-controlled Congress and Bush Pentagon get set to slash billions more from Veterans Administration's (VA) programs. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (1-25-05), Pentagon official David Chu, in a mockery of the contribution of veterans, defended a new round of cuts by ironically describing funding for programs like veterans' education and job training, health care, pensions, VA housing and the like as 'hurtful' to national security.
Despite Republican pretense that spending increases for the VA budget under the Bush administration have been large, new spending neither has matched inflation over the same period, nor does it keep pace with growing need. "
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
you can bet your life on the fact that this story hasn't ended. God what an injustice, and at the hands of the American government, er rather, NOT the "American" government, but bush's jaunta government. proud to be American is really a hard thing to do when stories like this surface.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Police release Guant?namo four without charge: "Four Britons who were returned to the UK after being detained at Guant?namo Bay for up to three years were released tonight without charge, police said.
Moazzam Begg, from Birmingham, Feroz Abbasi from Croydon, south London, Martin Mubanga from Wembley, north-west London, and Richard Belmar from St John's Wood, north-west London, were all released from Paddington Green station.
The men have been escorted to a location of their choice to be reunited with their families.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Shortly before 9pm four men arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on January 25 were released without charge."
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Police release Guant?namo four without charge: "Four Britons who were returned to the UK after being detained at Guant?namo Bay for up to three years were released tonight without charge, police said.
Moazzam Begg, from Birmingham, Feroz Abbasi from Croydon, south London, Martin Mubanga from Wembley, north-west London, and Richard Belmar from St John's Wood, north-west London, were all released from Paddington Green station.
The men have been escorted to a location of their choice to be reunited with their families.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Shortly before 9pm four men arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on January 25 were released without charge."
this week has been full of instances where images of nazi germany are easily conjured up.
Two Florida Boys Charged With a Felony for Violent Stick Figure Drawings - from TBO.com: "OCALA, Fla. (AP) - Two boys were arrested for making pencil-and-crayon stick figure drawings depicting a 10-year-old classmate being stabbed and hung, police said. The children, charged with a felony, were taken from school in handcuffs.
The 9- and 10-year-old boys were arrested Monday and charged with making a written threat to kill or harm another person. They were also suspended from school. "
Two Florida Boys Charged With a Felony for Violent Stick Figure Drawings - from TBO.com: "OCALA, Fla. (AP) - Two boys were arrested for making pencil-and-crayon stick figure drawings depicting a 10-year-old classmate being stabbed and hung, police said. The children, charged with a felony, were taken from school in handcuffs.
The 9- and 10-year-old boys were arrested Monday and charged with making a written threat to kill or harm another person. They were also suspended from school. "
for reference only
Dick Cheney in April 1991, then Defense Secretary:
If you're going to go in and try to topple Saddam Hussein,you have to go to Baghdad. Once you've got Baghdad, it's not clear what you do with it. It's not clear what kind of government you would put in place of the one that's currently there now. Is it going to be a Shia regime, a Sunni regime or a Kurdish regime? Or one that tilts toward the Baathists, or one that tilts toward the Islamic fundamentalists?
How much credibility is that government going to have if it's set up by the United States military when it's there? How long does the United States military have to stay to protect the people that sign on for that government, and what happens to it once we leave?
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2072479
President GHW Bush, 1998;
"Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
http://www.rense.com/general43/quote.htm
James Webb, former Sec. of Navy under Ronald Reagan, Decorated Marine Veteran:
"Do we really want to occupy Iraq for the next 30 years? …In Japan, American occupation forces quickly became 50,000 friends. In Iraq, they would quickly become 50,000 terrorist targets…. Nations such as China can only view the prospect of an American military consumed for the next generation by the turmoil of the Middle East as a glorious windfall."
http://www.sftt.org/article09302002a.html
Col. David Hackworth (ret), America's most highly decorated soldier:
"Should the president decide to stay the war course, hopefully at least a few of our serving top-uniformed leaders - those who are now covertly leaking that war with Iraq will be an unparalleled disaster - will do what many Vietnam-era generals wish they would have done: stand tall and publicly tell the America people the truth about another bad war that could well lead to another died-in-vain black wall. Or even worse."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29786
Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, former Head of Central Command for U.S.:
"It's pretty interesting that all the generals see it the same way, and all the others who have never fired a shot, and are hot to go to war, see it another…We are about to do something that will ignite a fuse in this region that we will rue the day we ever started."
Hawks in the Bush administration may be making deadly miscalculations on Iraq, says Gen. Anthony Zinni, Bush's Middle East envoy.
"I'm not sure which planet they live on"
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/10/17/zinni
Republican Dissent on Iraq"
Full page ad in Wall Street Journal by major GOP contributors:
"Mr. President, …The candidate we supported in 2000 promised a more humble nation in our dealings with the world. We gave him our votes and our campaign contributions. That candidate was you. We feel betrayed. We want our money back. We want our country back…. A Billion Bitter enemies will rise out of this war."
- Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2003
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/001444.html
General Joseph Hoare (Ret), the former marine commandant and head of US Central Command:
"The idea that this is going to go the way these guys planned is ludicrous. There are no good options. We're conducting a campaign as though it were being conducted in Iowa, no sense of the realities on the ground. It's so unrealistic for anyone who knows that part of the world. The priorities are just all wrong."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091704Y.shtml
Col. Mike Turner (ret), Schwarzkopf's personal briefing officer during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm:
“The uniformed Joint Staff in the Pentagon strongly opposed this plan early on...The uniformed Joint Staff was overridden, yet in so many horrifying ways this operation resembles Somalia, not Desert Storm...Perhaps we can pull this off, but here's a far worse scenario that's at least as likely...Photos of American soldiers amid landscapes of Iraqi civilian bodies blanket the world press which aligns unanimously against the US. The US is condemned by NATO and the UN...The war ends within a few weeks, but the crisis deepens...”
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/transcripts/2003/mar/030311.turner.html
Dick Cheney in April 1991, then Defense Secretary:
If you're going to go in and try to topple Saddam Hussein,you have to go to Baghdad. Once you've got Baghdad, it's not clear what you do with it. It's not clear what kind of government you would put in place of the one that's currently there now. Is it going to be a Shia regime, a Sunni regime or a Kurdish regime? Or one that tilts toward the Baathists, or one that tilts toward the Islamic fundamentalists?
How much credibility is that government going to have if it's set up by the United States military when it's there? How long does the United States military have to stay to protect the people that sign on for that government, and what happens to it once we leave?
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2072479
President GHW Bush, 1998;
"Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
http://www.rense.com/general43/quote.htm
James Webb, former Sec. of Navy under Ronald Reagan, Decorated Marine Veteran:
"Do we really want to occupy Iraq for the next 30 years? …In Japan, American occupation forces quickly became 50,000 friends. In Iraq, they would quickly become 50,000 terrorist targets…. Nations such as China can only view the prospect of an American military consumed for the next generation by the turmoil of the Middle East as a glorious windfall."
http://www.sftt.org/article09302002a.html
Col. David Hackworth (ret), America's most highly decorated soldier:
"Should the president decide to stay the war course, hopefully at least a few of our serving top-uniformed leaders - those who are now covertly leaking that war with Iraq will be an unparalleled disaster - will do what many Vietnam-era generals wish they would have done: stand tall and publicly tell the America people the truth about another bad war that could well lead to another died-in-vain black wall. Or even worse."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29786
Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, former Head of Central Command for U.S.:
"It's pretty interesting that all the generals see it the same way, and all the others who have never fired a shot, and are hot to go to war, see it another…We are about to do something that will ignite a fuse in this region that we will rue the day we ever started."
Hawks in the Bush administration may be making deadly miscalculations on Iraq, says Gen. Anthony Zinni, Bush's Middle East envoy.
"I'm not sure which planet they live on"
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/10/17/zinni
Republican Dissent on Iraq"
Full page ad in Wall Street Journal by major GOP contributors:
"Mr. President, …The candidate we supported in 2000 promised a more humble nation in our dealings with the world. We gave him our votes and our campaign contributions. That candidate was you. We feel betrayed. We want our money back. We want our country back…. A Billion Bitter enemies will rise out of this war."
- Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2003
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/001444.html
General Joseph Hoare (Ret), the former marine commandant and head of US Central Command:
"The idea that this is going to go the way these guys planned is ludicrous. There are no good options. We're conducting a campaign as though it were being conducted in Iowa, no sense of the realities on the ground. It's so unrealistic for anyone who knows that part of the world. The priorities are just all wrong."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091704Y.shtml
Col. Mike Turner (ret), Schwarzkopf's personal briefing officer during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm:
“The uniformed Joint Staff in the Pentagon strongly opposed this plan early on...The uniformed Joint Staff was overridden, yet in so many horrifying ways this operation resembles Somalia, not Desert Storm...Perhaps we can pull this off, but here's a far worse scenario that's at least as likely...Photos of American soldiers amid landscapes of Iraqi civilian bodies blanket the world press which aligns unanimously against the US. The US is condemned by NATO and the UN...The war ends within a few weeks, but the crisis deepens...”
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/transcripts/2003/mar/030311.turner.html
more on the criminal who wants to be America's top law enforcement officer, from today's WP:
In his written answers to questions from the committee, prepared in anticipation of today's vote on his nomination as attorney general, Mr. Gonzales was clearer -- disturbingly so, as it turns out. According to President Bush's closest legal adviser, this administration continues to assert its right to indefinitely hold foreigners in secret locations without any legal process; to deny them access to the International Red Cross; to transport them to countries where torture is practiced; and to subject them to treatment that is "cruel, inhumane or degrading," even though such abuse is banned by an international treaty that the United States has ratified. In effect, Mr. Gonzales has confirmed that the Bush administration is violating human rights as a matter of policy.
...
The CIA today is holding an undetermined number of prisoners, believed to be in the dozens, in secret facilities in foreign countries. It has provided no account of them or their treatment to any outside body, and it has allowed no visits by the Red Cross. According to numerous media reports, it has subjected the prisoners to many of the abuses Mr. Gonzales said "might be permissible." It has practiced such mistreatment in Iraq, even though detainees there are covered by the Geneva Conventions; according to official investigations by the Pentagon, CIA treatment of prisoners there and in Afghanistan contributed to the adoption of illegal methods by military interrogators.
give that guy a cigar!
DesMoinesRegister.com: "The presidential inauguration saw the greatest security force in history monitoring Washington, D.C. The Homeland Security Department issued no color-coded terrorist warning as an alert. Who or what was feared?
-William C. Page,
Des Moines."
DesMoinesRegister.com: "The presidential inauguration saw the greatest security force in history monitoring Washington, D.C. The Homeland Security Department issued no color-coded terrorist warning as an alert. Who or what was feared?
-William C. Page,
Des Moines."
in iowa, the pigs are squealing extra loud this year.
DesMoinesRegister.com: "There's a legislator who wants to outlaw those snazzy hubcaps that keep spinning even after the car stops. One reason given - and the bill's sponsor doesn't seem to be kidding - is to keep somebody from rear-ending the driver with the spinning hubcaps. This is apparently because the legislator thinks the trailing car's driver will see the hubcaps spinning and think that vehicle is still moving. How a driver can see another car's hubcaps from behind is a mystery, but the Iowa Legislature can be a very mysterious place."
DesMoinesRegister.com: "There's a legislator who wants to outlaw those snazzy hubcaps that keep spinning even after the car stops. One reason given - and the bill's sponsor doesn't seem to be kidding - is to keep somebody from rear-ending the driver with the spinning hubcaps. This is apparently because the legislator thinks the trailing car's driver will see the hubcaps spinning and think that vehicle is still moving. How a driver can see another car's hubcaps from behind is a mystery, but the Iowa Legislature can be a very mysterious place."
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
like buzzflash asks: will America have a criminal as its top law enforcement official?
News Release - CREW: "WASHINGTON, DC ? Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the State Bar of Texas requesting an investigation into misrepresentations White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales made in a written response to a question posed to him by the Senate Judiciary Committee which is considering Gonzales?s nomination for Attorney General.
The complaint alleges that Gonzales inaccurately portrayed his role in appearing before a Texas court when President Bush, then Governor of Texas, was summoned for jury duty. Gonzales has claimed that although he appeared in court with the Governor, he merely observed the defense counsel make a motion to strike the Governor from the jury panel and then when asked by the Judge whether the Governor had any views on this, replied that he did not.
In marked contrast, Michael Isikoff, reporting for Newseek, has written that the defense lawyer, prosecutor and judge involved in the case all recall the incident differently. In their version, Gonzales asked to have an off-the-record conference in the judge?s chambers where Gonzales then asked the judge, David Crain, to strike Mr. Bush from the jury, arguing that the Governor might one day be asked to pardon the defendant. Isikoff writes that Judge Crain found Gonzales?s argument ?extremely unlikely? but out of deference, agreed to allow the motion to strike, which the defense lawyer then made.
CREW?s complaint alleges that by misstating the facts surrounding the conversation in the judge?s chambers Gonzales may have violated 18 U.S.C. ?1001, which makes it a federal crime to make false statements to a congressional committee. The complaint further alleges that Mr. Gonzales has violated two Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure: 8.04(a)"
News Release - CREW: "WASHINGTON, DC ? Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the State Bar of Texas requesting an investigation into misrepresentations White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales made in a written response to a question posed to him by the Senate Judiciary Committee which is considering Gonzales?s nomination for Attorney General.
The complaint alleges that Gonzales inaccurately portrayed his role in appearing before a Texas court when President Bush, then Governor of Texas, was summoned for jury duty. Gonzales has claimed that although he appeared in court with the Governor, he merely observed the defense counsel make a motion to strike the Governor from the jury panel and then when asked by the Judge whether the Governor had any views on this, replied that he did not.
In marked contrast, Michael Isikoff, reporting for Newseek, has written that the defense lawyer, prosecutor and judge involved in the case all recall the incident differently. In their version, Gonzales asked to have an off-the-record conference in the judge?s chambers where Gonzales then asked the judge, David Crain, to strike Mr. Bush from the jury, arguing that the Governor might one day be asked to pardon the defendant. Isikoff writes that Judge Crain found Gonzales?s argument ?extremely unlikely? but out of deference, agreed to allow the motion to strike, which the defense lawyer then made.
CREW?s complaint alleges that by misstating the facts surrounding the conversation in the judge?s chambers Gonzales may have violated 18 U.S.C. ?1001, which makes it a federal crime to make false statements to a congressional committee. The complaint further alleges that Mr. Gonzales has violated two Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure: 8.04(a)"
looks like your tax dollars are working overtime on the propaganda front. from tomorrow's WP:
In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush's push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.
"The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples" and "educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage," she wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could "carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children."
But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal. Her work under the contract, which ran from January through October 2002, included drafting a magazine article for the HHS official overseeing the initiative, writing brochures for the program and conducting a briefing for department officials.
"Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it?" Gallagher said yesterday. "I don't know. You tell me." She said she would have "been happy to tell anyone who called me" about the contract but that "frankly, it never occurred to me" to disclose it.
Later in the day, Gallagher filed a column in which she said that "I should have disclosed a government contract when I later wrote about the Bush marriage initiative. I would have, if I had remembered it. My apologies to my readers."
once again, are we living in saudi arabia or the United States of America?
Rocky Mountain News: Local: "A Denver police sergeant is under investigation for allegedly threatening to arrest a woman Monday for displaying on her truck a derogatory bumper sticker about President Bush.
'He told her that this was a warning and that the next time he saw her truck, she was going to be arrested if she didn't remove the sticker,' said Alinna Figueroa, 25, assistant manager of The UPS Store where the confrontation took place. 'I couldn't believe it.' "
Rocky Mountain News: Local: "A Denver police sergeant is under investigation for allegedly threatening to arrest a woman Monday for displaying on her truck a derogatory bumper sticker about President Bush.
'He told her that this was a warning and that the next time he saw her truck, she was going to be arrested if she didn't remove the sticker,' said Alinna Figueroa, 25, assistant manager of The UPS Store where the confrontation took place. 'I couldn't believe it.' "
pretty soon, it'll be really hard to recognize America.
Newsday.com - Long Island News: "But while that rib and several others on barristers got some giggles from the crowd, the attorney standing in line about five people ahead wasn't laughing.
' 'Shut up,' the man shouted,' Lanzisera said. ''I'm a lawyer.''
The attorney reported Kash and Lanzisera to court personnel, who arrested the men and charged them with engaging in disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.
'They put the handcuffs on us, brought us into a room, frisked us, sat us down and checked our driver's licenses to see if there were any warrants out for our arrest,' Lanzisera said yesterday. 'They were very nasty, extremely nasty.'
The men are founders of Americans for Legal Reform, a group of outspoken advocates who use confrontational tactics to push for greater access to courts for the public and to monitor how well courts serve the public. One tactic is driving a truck around the Huntington area emblazoned with the slogan 'Stop The Lawyer Disease.' They said their rights to free speech were violated Monday."
Newsday.com - Long Island News: "But while that rib and several others on barristers got some giggles from the crowd, the attorney standing in line about five people ahead wasn't laughing.
' 'Shut up,' the man shouted,' Lanzisera said. ''I'm a lawyer.''
The attorney reported Kash and Lanzisera to court personnel, who arrested the men and charged them with engaging in disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.
'They put the handcuffs on us, brought us into a room, frisked us, sat us down and checked our driver's licenses to see if there were any warrants out for our arrest,' Lanzisera said yesterday. 'They were very nasty, extremely nasty.'
The men are founders of Americans for Legal Reform, a group of outspoken advocates who use confrontational tactics to push for greater access to courts for the public and to monitor how well courts serve the public. One tactic is driving a truck around the Huntington area emblazoned with the slogan 'Stop The Lawyer Disease.' They said their rights to free speech were violated Monday."
ted turner, ever the one to say what's on his mind, had some bitchslappin to do at the National Association for Television Programming Executives' conference:
On Fox News: While Fox may be the largest news network [and has overtaken Turner's CNN], it's not the best, Turner said. He followed up by pointing out that Adolph Hitler got the most votes when he was elected to run Germany prior to WWII. He said the network is the propaganda tool for the Bush Administration. "There's nothing wrong with that. It's certainly legal. But it does pose problems for our democracy. Particularly when the news is dumbed down," leaving voters without critical information on politics and world events and overloaded with fluff," he said.
... snip ....
The war in Iraq: "We've spent 200 billion destroying Iraq. Now we've got to spend 200 billion to rebuild it, if they'll let us -- and all to find a nut in a fox hole -- one guy," Turner said. "He posed no threat to any of his neighbors, particularly with us there with overwhelming military superiority." --"it is obscene and stupid"
pretty soon it'll be illegal to express opinions that are contrary to republicon values.
Rocky Mountain News: Local: "A Denver police sergeant is under investigation for allegedly threatening to arrest a woman Monday for displaying on her truck a derogatory bumper sticker about President Bush.
'He told her that this was a warning and that the next time he saw her truck, she was going to be arrested if she didn't remove the sticker,' said Alinna Figueroa, 25, assistant manager of The UPS Store where the confrontation took place. 'I couldn't believe it.' "
Rocky Mountain News: Local: "A Denver police sergeant is under investigation for allegedly threatening to arrest a woman Monday for displaying on her truck a derogatory bumper sticker about President Bush.
'He told her that this was a warning and that the next time he saw her truck, she was going to be arrested if she didn't remove the sticker,' said Alinna Figueroa, 25, assistant manager of The UPS Store where the confrontation took place. 'I couldn't believe it.' "
busted again. how long will the American people put up with the lies and deceptions by this administration?
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Secret Pentagon spies confirmed: "Senior officials in the US Defense Department have confirmed reports that the Pentagon ran a secret unit to help gather human intelligence.
The Washington Post first revealed on Sunday that the Strategic Support Branch (SSB) was set up on the orders of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The Pentagon was re-interpreting US law and trying to bypass the CIA, it said.
But the department denies bending laws, saying the group was set up to provide better support for military forces.
It was in regular touch with the CIA and Congress over its plans, officials say. "
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Secret Pentagon spies confirmed: "Senior officials in the US Defense Department have confirmed reports that the Pentagon ran a secret unit to help gather human intelligence.
The Washington Post first revealed on Sunday that the Strategic Support Branch (SSB) was set up on the orders of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The Pentagon was re-interpreting US law and trying to bypass the CIA, it said.
But the department denies bending laws, saying the group was set up to provide better support for military forces.
It was in regular touch with the CIA and Congress over its plans, officials say. "
Monday, January 24, 2005
from Horse with no Name" in response to the news that the supreme court has ruled that dog nsniffers are ok even when the stop is not warranted. (story below)
Small question.the story he was commenting on came from Newsday
Do you carry money in your wallet?
Are you aware of money's 'other' uses...ie being rolled up to snort cocaine, etc?
Do you feel that there aren't traces of that on your hands or clothes when you handle money?
Do you go to the grocery store?
Do you carry grocery bags in your car to get them home?
How do you know that the kid carrying out your groceries isn't a meth cook and have residual all over his hands when he handles your stuff?
If you have children--are you 100% certain they or their friends aren't doing drugs and didn't leave something behind in your car?
Do you lock your car door every single time you get out? Can you be certain that someone didn't slip something under your seat for a joke?
This gives 'probable cause' and could ultimately put you on some type of government watch list if these things are detected in your car and it is not far fetched to think that they might.
There are people in our prison system who are innocent--not just the ones trying to beat raps--but completely innocent and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Can you be 100% certain that someone matching your description wasn't being targeted as a drug lord--then they pull you over and find traces of drugs?
Personally--I would rather it never be allowed to get that far.
Random drug searches using dogs should not be allowed to happen and yes they can infringe on our constitutional rights."
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court gave police broader search powers Monday during traffic stops, ruling that drug-sniffing dogs can be used to check out motorists even if officers have no reason to suspect they may be carrying narcotics.this is george w. bush's idea of 'spreading freedom' and ending 'tyranny' and all that snakeoil talk.
In a 6-2 decision, the court sided with Illinois police who stopped Roy Caballes in 1998 along Interstate 80 for driving 6 miles over the speed limit. Although Caballes lawfully produced his driver's license, troopers brought over a drug dog after Caballes seemed nervous.
this is how the bushite people work. they suspend gathering information which contradicts with their agenda. see the WSJ. iow, they are now able to 'not lie' and say they never knew.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Daily Times Monitor
According to a stunning report posted by a retired Navy Lt Commander and 28-year veteran of the Defense Department (DoD), the Bush administration’s assurance about finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was based on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plan to “plant” WMDs inside the country. Nelda Rogers, the Pentagon whistleblower, claims the plan failed when the secret mission was mistakenly taken out by “friendly fire”, the Environmentalists Against War report.
Nelda Rogers is a 28-year veteran debriefer for the DoD. She has become so concerned for her safety that she decided to tell the story about this latest CIA-military fiasco in Iraq. According to Al Martin Raw.com, “Ms Rogers is number two in the chain of command within this DoD special intelligence office. This is a ten-person debriefing unit within the central debriefing office for the Department of Defense.”
The information that is being leaked out is information “obtained while she was in Germany heading up the debriefing of returning service personnel, involved in intelligence work in Iraq for the DoD and/or the CIA. “According to Ms Rogers, there was a covert military operation that took place both preceding and during the hostilities in Iraq,” reports Al Martin Raw.com, an online subscriber-based news/analysis service which provides “Political, Economic and Financial Intelligence”.
Al Martin is a retired Lt Commander (US Navy), the author of a memoir called “The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran-Contra Insider,” and is considered one of America’s foremost experts on corporate and government fraud. Ms Rogers reports that this particular covert operation team was manned by former military personnel and “the unit was paid through the Department of Agriculture in order to hide it, which is also very commonplace”.
According to Al Martin Raw.com, “the Agriculture Department has often been used as a paymaster on behalf of the CIA, DIA, NSA and others”. According to the Al Martin Raw.com story, another aspect of Ms Rogers’ report concerns a covert operation which was to locate the assets of Saddam Hussein and his family, including cash, gold bullion, jewelry and assorted valuable antiquities. The problem became evident when “the operation in Iraq involved 100 people, all of whom apparently are now dead, having succumbed to so-called ‘friendly fire’. The scope of this operation included the penetration of the Central Bank of Iraq, other large commercial banks in Baghdad, the Iraqi National Museum and certain presidential palaces where monies and bullion were secreted.”
“They identified about $2 billion in cash, another $150 million in Euros, in physical banknotes, and about another $100 million in sundry foreign currencies ranging from Yen to British Pounds,” reports Al Martin.
“These people died, mostly in the same place in Baghdad, supposedly from a stray cruise missile or a combination of missiles and bombs that went astray,” Martin continues. “There were supposedly 76 who died there and the other 24 died through a variety of ‘friendly fire’, ‘mistaken identity’ and some of them—their whereabouts are simply unknown.” Ms Rogers’ story sounds like an updated 21st-century version of Treasure Island meets Ali Baba and the Bush Cabal Thieves, writes Martin.
“This was a contingent of CIA/ DoD operatives, but it was really the CIA that bungled it,” Ms Rogers said. “They were relying on the CIA’s ability to organise an effort to seize these assets and to be able to extract these assets because the CIA claimed it had resources on the ground within the Iraqi army and the Iraqi government who had been paid. That turned out to be completely bogus. As usual.”
“CIA people were supposed to be handling it,” Martin continues. “They had a special ‘black’ aircraft to fly it out. But none of that happened because the regular US Army showed up, stumbled onto it and everyone involved had to scramble. These new Iraqi “asset seizures” go directly to the New US Ruling Junta. The US Viceroy in Iraq Paul Bremer is reportedly drinking Saddam’s $2000 a bottle Napoleon-era brandy, smoking his expensive Davidoff cigars and he has even furnished his office with Saddam’s Napoleon-era furniture.
According to a stunning report posted by a retired Navy Lt Commander and 28-year veteran of the Defense Department (DoD), the Bush administration’s assurance about finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was based on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plan to “plant” WMDs inside the country. Nelda Rogers, the Pentagon whistleblower, claims the plan failed when the secret mission was mistakenly taken out by “friendly fire”, the Environmentalists Against War report.
Nelda Rogers is a 28-year veteran debriefer for the DoD. She has become so concerned for her safety that she decided to tell the story about this latest CIA-military fiasco in Iraq. According to Al Martin Raw.com, “Ms Rogers is number two in the chain of command within this DoD special intelligence office. This is a ten-person debriefing unit within the central debriefing office for the Department of Defense.”
The information that is being leaked out is information “obtained while she was in Germany heading up the debriefing of returning service personnel, involved in intelligence work in Iraq for the DoD and/or the CIA. “According to Ms Rogers, there was a covert military operation that took place both preceding and during the hostilities in Iraq,” reports Al Martin Raw.com, an online subscriber-based news/analysis service which provides “Political, Economic and Financial Intelligence”.
Al Martin is a retired Lt Commander (US Navy), the author of a memoir called “The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran-Contra Insider,” and is considered one of America’s foremost experts on corporate and government fraud. Ms Rogers reports that this particular covert operation team was manned by former military personnel and “the unit was paid through the Department of Agriculture in order to hide it, which is also very commonplace”.
According to Al Martin Raw.com, “the Agriculture Department has often been used as a paymaster on behalf of the CIA, DIA, NSA and others”. According to the Al Martin Raw.com story, another aspect of Ms Rogers’ report concerns a covert operation which was to locate the assets of Saddam Hussein and his family, including cash, gold bullion, jewelry and assorted valuable antiquities. The problem became evident when “the operation in Iraq involved 100 people, all of whom apparently are now dead, having succumbed to so-called ‘friendly fire’. The scope of this operation included the penetration of the Central Bank of Iraq, other large commercial banks in Baghdad, the Iraqi National Museum and certain presidential palaces where monies and bullion were secreted.”
“They identified about $2 billion in cash, another $150 million in Euros, in physical banknotes, and about another $100 million in sundry foreign currencies ranging from Yen to British Pounds,” reports Al Martin.
“These people died, mostly in the same place in Baghdad, supposedly from a stray cruise missile or a combination of missiles and bombs that went astray,” Martin continues. “There were supposedly 76 who died there and the other 24 died through a variety of ‘friendly fire’, ‘mistaken identity’ and some of them—their whereabouts are simply unknown.” Ms Rogers’ story sounds like an updated 21st-century version of Treasure Island meets Ali Baba and the Bush Cabal Thieves, writes Martin.
“This was a contingent of CIA/ DoD operatives, but it was really the CIA that bungled it,” Ms Rogers said. “They were relying on the CIA’s ability to organise an effort to seize these assets and to be able to extract these assets because the CIA claimed it had resources on the ground within the Iraqi army and the Iraqi government who had been paid. That turned out to be completely bogus. As usual.”
“CIA people were supposed to be handling it,” Martin continues. “They had a special ‘black’ aircraft to fly it out. But none of that happened because the regular US Army showed up, stumbled onto it and everyone involved had to scramble. These new Iraqi “asset seizures” go directly to the New US Ruling Junta. The US Viceroy in Iraq Paul Bremer is reportedly drinking Saddam’s $2000 a bottle Napoleon-era brandy, smoking his expensive Davidoff cigars and he has even furnished his office with Saddam’s Napoleon-era furniture.
about about twisted thinking.
Security Vies With Danger at Iraqi Polls: "... and Jan. 29 to 31 has been declared a national holiday period. During those days, most vehicular traffic will be prohibited, an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew will be in effect, the country's borders will be shut down and Baghdad's international airport will be closed, he added. Civilians will be barred from carrying weapons."
Security Vies With Danger at Iraqi Polls: "... and Jan. 29 to 31 has been declared a national holiday period. During those days, most vehicular traffic will be prohibited, an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew will be in effect, the country's borders will be shut down and Baghdad's international airport will be closed, he added. Civilians will be barred from carrying weapons."
Friday, January 21, 2005
from cheney's favorite site ....
FactCheck.org Does Social Security Really Face an $11 Trillion Deficit?: "President Bush and Vice President Cheney have told audiences that Social Security faces an $11 trillion shortfall if nothing is done to fix the current system. But they fail to mention that this is over the course of the ?infinite future.' Over the next 75 years -- still practically a lifetime -- the shortfall is projected to be $3.7 trillion.
The 'infinite' projection is one that the American Academy of Actuaries says is likely to mislead the public into thinking the system 'is in far worse financial condition than is actually indicated,' and therefore should not be used to explain the long-term outlook."
FactCheck.org Does Social Security Really Face an $11 Trillion Deficit?: "President Bush and Vice President Cheney have told audiences that Social Security faces an $11 trillion shortfall if nothing is done to fix the current system. But they fail to mention that this is over the course of the ?infinite future.' Over the next 75 years -- still practically a lifetime -- the shortfall is projected to be $3.7 trillion.
The 'infinite' projection is one that the American Academy of Actuaries says is likely to mislead the public into thinking the system 'is in far worse financial condition than is actually indicated,' and therefore should not be used to explain the long-term outlook."
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Did Bush Homeland Nominee Michael Chertoff Shield NJ Terror Ring?: "Michael Chertoff, appointed by President Bush to head the Homeland Security Department, may have shielded from criminal prosecution a former client suspected by law enforcement of having funneled millions of dollars directly to Osama Bin Laden while in charge of the U.S. Government?s 9.11 investigation."
Democratic Underground Forums - Michael Chertoff and the sabotage of the Ptech investigation: "Michael Chertoff and the sabotage of the Ptech investigation
Remember Ptech? That's the Boston software firm financed by Saudi businessman Yassin Al-Qadi, who also happens to be an al Qaeda bagman, whose clients happened to include numerous sensitive US federal branches and agencies, including the FAA, the FBI, the military and the White House."
Remember Ptech? That's the Boston software firm financed by Saudi businessman Yassin Al-Qadi, who also happens to be an al Qaeda bagman, whose clients happened to include numerous sensitive US federal branches and agencies, including the FAA, the FBI, the military and the White House."
Social Security: There Is No Crisis -: "YES, with 200+ bloggers united we are certainly making ourselves heard. NO, Bush did not offer any meat in today's Inauguration speech."
when they dont want to admit to the truth, they evade the question entirely, and it seems to be working.
No Speedy Gonzales By Eric?Umansky: "Milbank even counts up Gonzales' written evasions: 'I am not at liberty to disclose' at least 10 times; 'I do not recall' or 'I have no recollection' six times; I did not 'conduct a search' seven times; 'I am not at liberty [to discuss certain matters]' 10 times; and 'I have no present knowledge' seven times. 'It's a little bit appalling,' said one Reagan administration official. 'A conservative should want greater congressional scrutiny?it limits government.' "
No Speedy Gonzales By Eric?Umansky: "Milbank even counts up Gonzales' written evasions: 'I am not at liberty to disclose' at least 10 times; 'I do not recall' or 'I have no recollection' six times; I did not 'conduct a search' seven times; 'I am not at liberty [to discuss certain matters]' 10 times; and 'I have no present knowledge' seven times. 'It's a little bit appalling,' said one Reagan administration official. 'A conservative should want greater congressional scrutiny?it limits government.' "
DesMoinesRegister.com: "Courtesy of The Associated Press, here are some key numbers for President Bush from four years ago vs. today:
The federal budget then had a $127 billion surplus. Now it has a $413 billion deficit, the worst on record.
Unemployment is 1.5 percentage points higher.
There are 2.2 fewer Americans with jobs.
The stock market, measured by the Dow Jones average, is flat - up 41 points.
Home ownership is up nine-tenths of a percentage point."
The federal budget then had a $127 billion surplus. Now it has a $413 billion deficit, the worst on record.
Unemployment is 1.5 percentage points higher.
There are 2.2 fewer Americans with jobs.
The stock market, measured by the Dow Jones average, is flat - up 41 points.
Home ownership is up nine-tenths of a percentage point."
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
WHAT UTTER BULLSHIT. and the timing, the day before the election, is suspicious. but one thing is clear. they used exit poll data to define moral values as being the top factor in this election, among other things, but refused to use the same data to explain why kerry isn't president. three words: FUCK YOU CNN!
CNN.com - Report suggests changes in exit poll methodology - Jan 19, 2005: "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Exit polls overstated John Kerry's share of the vote on November 2, both nationally and in many states, because more Kerry supporters participated in the survey than Bush voters, according to an internal review of the exit-polling process released Wednesday.
The report said it is difficult to pinpoint precisely why, in general, Kerry voters were more likely to participate in the exit poll than were Bush voters. 'There were certainly motivational factors that are impossible to quantify,' the report said."
CNN.com - Report suggests changes in exit poll methodology - Jan 19, 2005: "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Exit polls overstated John Kerry's share of the vote on November 2, both nationally and in many states, because more Kerry supporters participated in the survey than Bush voters, according to an internal review of the exit-polling process released Wednesday.
The report said it is difficult to pinpoint precisely why, in general, Kerry voters were more likely to participate in the exit poll than were Bush voters. 'There were certainly motivational factors that are impossible to quantify,' the report said."
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Insurgency: Archbishop Freed in Iraq, but 8 Chinese Are Captives: "He said the insurgents kept asking the same question: Are you an American spy? 'I told them, you do not know me,' he said. 'We are Christians, and we believe the Americans are occupiers.'"
DesMoinesRegister.com: "If Republicans don't like Governor Vilsack's idea of raising taxes, we should remind them former Governor Branstad raised the sales tax.
-D. A. Benda,
Toledo."
-D. A. Benda,
Toledo."
Monday, January 17, 2005
from variety:
The presidential inaugural committee has settled on its final list of celebrities and entertainers coming to Washington this week to participate in festivities associated with President Bush's swearing-in for a second term. Among those taking leading roles in the two days of events are former "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer, former Nixon staffer cum actor-comedian-gameshow host Ben Stein, teen idol Hilary Duff, country singer Kenny Chesney and boxing promoter Don King.and here is ben stein on abu ghraib:
I am going to get straight to the point. Something is terribly wrong with media coverage of the war in Iraq. The media hysteria about Iraq and the prisoners reached a crescendo last Friday when another network breathlessly disclosed that American guards at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad had stomped on the toes of suspected Iraqi terrorists to make them more likely to talk about murders of Americans and innocent Iraqis in Iraq.the clusterfucks attending the pigfest will be running out of lipstick too soon.
This toe stomping was treated as a stunning revelation of American brutality. It was added to the torrent of hysteria about photos of nude Iraqis piling on each other and a nude Iraqi being led by a woman soldier with a leash. All of this --according to the media and some in Congress --is supposed to show that America is itself a terrorist nation and that we are really no different from the terrorists.
This is dangerous nonsense.
Here is what is important. This conflict started because a group of Islamic fundamentalist mass murderers killed three thousand totally innocent civilians on September 11, 2001. We did nothing to provoke it except in the terrorists' crazy brains. We had to fight back. That's why we went into Afghanistan and used harsh methods to get answers out of captured Al Qaeda there. To prevent more 9/11's.
josh marshall sums up this whole social security nonesense rather nicely:
We'll be talking shortly about some very disappointing events today on Meet the Press. But for now, a reading suggestion.
If you're following or care about the Social Security debate, you really must read the article by Roger Lowenstein in today's New York Times Magazine. It is probably the best single piece of journalism I've read on the subject -- mixing clarifying statistical and historical information with elegant description and context.
Along the way the author touches on a number of points that are commonly either ignored or distorted. For instance, you'll remember that Tim Russert today noted that in 1997 the Social Security actuaries predicated that the Trust Fund would run out in 2029.
Now they say it will run out in 2042, thirteen years later. As we've noted again and again, the forecasting assumptions upon which the predictions are based are fairly pessimistic. So it's not surprising that each time the SSA actuaries revisit their estimates they've pushed them further out into the future since each time there's a little more data that has come in that isn't as feeble as they'd predicated.
Another point. You know how back when Social Security was created most people didn't live much longer than 65 years, so the program just isn't designed for the world we're now living in?
Well, this just turns out to be a canard. As Lowenstein relates, when the actuaries sat down to design Social Security only 5.4% of Americans were over 65. But contrary to the understanding of Tim Russert and other Beltway mandarins, the founders weren't fools. They knew lifespans would increase.
When they designed the program they estimated that by 1990 -- more than fifty years later -- the number would increase to 12.65%. In fact, when 1990 rolled around, the percentage was 12.45. In other words, they knew almost exactly what the demographic profile of the retired population would be. And they designed the system accordingly.
One thing they couldn't know about quite so accurately were the effects of the baby-boom and the subsequent decline in birth-rates. But those are the factors that were taken into account by 1983 Social Security Commission that raised payrool taxes and began raising the retirement age.
So for instance you have Sen. Bill Frist today, with about as much knowledge as taste, saying that in 2008 Social Security will be hit by a "huge demographic tidal wave."
But Frist must be in a time warp. Because in 1983 we knew all about the baby-boom generation and that is precisely why they decided to build up a surplus in the Social Security Trust Fund and raise the retirement age in phased stages. We've already done the reform for that.
And what happens when Social Security starts drawing on the Trust Fund? Will the world stop turning on its axis? "Since 1970 there have been 11 years in which Social Security has operated at a deficit; each time, it redeemed bonds from the trust fund without a fuss." So, I guess the answer is, no.
Then there's one other point the author brings up toward the end of the piece -- and it's a point we should all be focusing on, with regards to the seemingly arcane and abstract distinction between wage and inflation indexing of benefits.
"If the index was changed," he writes, benefits "would be pegged to a fixed portion of a previous generation's income. If this standard had been in force since the beginning, retirees today would be living like those in the 1940's ... which would mean $300 a month in today's dollars, as opposed to roughly $1,200 a month."
That puts it in perspective. The benefit cuts President Bush is talking about would slowly grind Social Security away into nothing, not a foundation for retirement security but an all-but-meaningless subsidy that wouldn't keep many retirees off the streets.
President Bush figures that as long as current retirees are assured that their checks will keep coming in for the next decade or two, that they really don't care what sort of America their young grandchildren will be living in half a century or more from now. In other words, he looks at them and sees himself. But I think America is better than that. And if the facts can speak with as big a megaphone as the president's lies, then I think we'll see that.
But don't stop with my summary, read the Times Magazine piece itself here.
some of my conservative friends, and yes, i do have friends that lean conservative, proving that i do not pick my friends because of politics, often ask my definition of dumb. i should provide them with this lil' tidbit from ny newsday:
WASHINGTON -- The White House on Friday played down a government report which said the war in Iraq is providing an important training ground and recruitment center for Islamic terrorists.on top of bush explaining why he hasn't yet caught osama bin laden.... "because he's hiding", has to to make the books of all-time-dumbspeak.
...
Bush has frequently described Iraq as the central front in the war on terror, and has said the United States wants to confront terrorists overseas rather than at home.
"The report confirms that we have the right strategy for winning the war on terrorism," McClellan said.
Asked about the finding that the war had created a breeding ground for terrorists, he said, "That's assuming that terrorists would just be sitting around and doing nothing if we weren't staying on the offensive."
Sunday, January 16, 2005
iraq is getting messy. time for some new excitement for the bushites. and what better way to provide the only excitement that republicons cum over than war, bloodshed and chaos. they LIVE for it. only, they like YOU to die for it.
CNN.com - Journalist: U.S. planning for possible?attack on Iran - Jan 16, 2005: "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration has been carrying out secret reconnaissance missions to learn about nuclear, chemical and missile sites in Iran in preparation for possible airstrikes there, journalist Seymour Hersh said Sunday.
The effort has been under way at least since last summer, Hersh said on CNN's 'Late Edition.'
In an interview on the same program, White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said the story was 'riddled with inaccuracies.'
'I don't believe that some of the conclusions he's drawing are based on fact,' Bartlett said.
Iran has refused to dismantle its nuclear program, which it insists is legal and is intended solely for civilian purposes. (Full story)
Hersh said U.S. officials were involved in 'extensive planning' for a possible attack -- 'much more than we know.'"
CNN.com - Journalist: U.S. planning for possible?attack on Iran - Jan 16, 2005: "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration has been carrying out secret reconnaissance missions to learn about nuclear, chemical and missile sites in Iran in preparation for possible airstrikes there, journalist Seymour Hersh said Sunday.
The effort has been under way at least since last summer, Hersh said on CNN's 'Late Edition.'
In an interview on the same program, White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said the story was 'riddled with inaccuracies.'
'I don't believe that some of the conclusions he's drawing are based on fact,' Bartlett said.
Iran has refused to dismantle its nuclear program, which it insists is legal and is intended solely for civilian purposes. (Full story)
Hersh said U.S. officials were involved in 'extensive planning' for a possible attack -- 'much more than we know.'"
no, this is not a skit from saturday night live.
CBS News | Bush: Voters Ratified Iraq Policy | January 16, 2005?10:00:01: "Asked why bin Laden was not been captured yet, the president responded, 'Because he's hiding.' "
CBS News | Bush: Voters Ratified Iraq Policy | January 16, 2005?10:00:01: "Asked why bin Laden was not been captured yet, the president responded, 'Because he's hiding.' "
Saturday, January 15, 2005
i'm too lost for words.
Yahoo! News - U.S.-Led Soldiers Said to Damage Babylon: "LONDON - U.S.-led troops using the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon as a base have damaged and contaminated artifacts dating back thousands of years in one of the world's most important archaeological sites, the British Museum said Saturday.
For example, military vehicles crushed a 2,600-year-old brick pavement, and archaeological fragments, including broken bricks stamped by King Nebuchadnezzar II around the same time, were scattered across the site, a museum report said.
The dragons at the Ishtar Gate were marred by cracks and gaps where someone tried to remove their decorative bricks, the paper said.
John Curtis, keeper of the British Museum's Near East department, who was invited by the Iraqis to study the site, also found that large quantities of sand mixed with archaeological fragments have been taken from the site to fill military sandbags.
"This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain," Curtis said in the report.
In an interview Saturday with Associated Press Television News, Iraq (news - web sites)'s Minister of Culture Mufeed al-Jazairee said coalition troops in Babylon had used "armored vehicles and helicopters that land and take off freely. In addition to that, the forces also set up other facilities and changes."
He added: "I expect that the archaeological city of Babylon has sustained damage but I don't know exactly the size of such damage."
The remains of Babylon have been occupied since the early days of the invasion by U.S. Marines and, more recently, by soldiers from Poland and other countries. Babylon is 50 miles south of Baghdad.
A Polish military spokesman in Iraq said troops were cooperating with Iraqi authorities in efforts to protect the site.
"I have asked our archaeologists to prepare a specific answer to the accusations, but I have to give them some time," Lt. Col. Artur Domanski said.
The city's main sites — the Ishtar Gate, the ruins of Babylon and the Nebuchadnezzar Palace — are in a separate area on the camp's perimeter, run by Iraqi officials as an archaeological park to paying visitors.
The U.S. military says all earth moving has been halted and it is considering moving troops away to protect the ruins.
Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said all engineering works were discussed with the head of the Babylon museum.
"An archaeologist examined every construction initiative for its impact on historical ruins," he said.
In the report, Curtis acknowledged that at first the U.S. presence had helped to protect the site from looters.
But subsequent work — including the decision to cover large areas of the site with gravel brought in from elsewhere to provide car parks and helipads — was damaging, he said.
Lord Redesdale, an archaeologist who heads a parliamentary archaeology committee, described the report's findings as "just dreadful."
"Not only is what the American forces are doing damaging the archaeology of Iraq, it's actually damaging the cultural heritage of the whole world," he said.
"
Yahoo! News - U.S.-Led Soldiers Said to Damage Babylon: "LONDON - U.S.-led troops using the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon as a base have damaged and contaminated artifacts dating back thousands of years in one of the world's most important archaeological sites, the British Museum said Saturday.
For example, military vehicles crushed a 2,600-year-old brick pavement, and archaeological fragments, including broken bricks stamped by King Nebuchadnezzar II around the same time, were scattered across the site, a museum report said.
The dragons at the Ishtar Gate were marred by cracks and gaps where someone tried to remove their decorative bricks, the paper said.
John Curtis, keeper of the British Museum's Near East department, who was invited by the Iraqis to study the site, also found that large quantities of sand mixed with archaeological fragments have been taken from the site to fill military sandbags.
"This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain," Curtis said in the report.
In an interview Saturday with Associated Press Television News, Iraq (news - web sites)'s Minister of Culture Mufeed al-Jazairee said coalition troops in Babylon had used "armored vehicles and helicopters that land and take off freely. In addition to that, the forces also set up other facilities and changes."
He added: "I expect that the archaeological city of Babylon has sustained damage but I don't know exactly the size of such damage."
The remains of Babylon have been occupied since the early days of the invasion by U.S. Marines and, more recently, by soldiers from Poland and other countries. Babylon is 50 miles south of Baghdad.
A Polish military spokesman in Iraq said troops were cooperating with Iraqi authorities in efforts to protect the site.
"I have asked our archaeologists to prepare a specific answer to the accusations, but I have to give them some time," Lt. Col. Artur Domanski said.
The city's main sites — the Ishtar Gate, the ruins of Babylon and the Nebuchadnezzar Palace — are in a separate area on the camp's perimeter, run by Iraqi officials as an archaeological park to paying visitors.
The U.S. military says all earth moving has been halted and it is considering moving troops away to protect the ruins.
Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said all engineering works were discussed with the head of the Babylon museum.
"An archaeologist examined every construction initiative for its impact on historical ruins," he said.
In the report, Curtis acknowledged that at first the U.S. presence had helped to protect the site from looters.
But subsequent work — including the decision to cover large areas of the site with gravel brought in from elsewhere to provide car parks and helipads — was damaging, he said.
Lord Redesdale, an archaeologist who heads a parliamentary archaeology committee, described the report's findings as "just dreadful."
"Not only is what the American forces are doing damaging the archaeology of Iraq, it's actually damaging the cultural heritage of the whole world," he said.
"
the definition of what democracy means to george dubya boosh:
Times Online - World: "THE plan sounds more like the preparations for war than the holding of Iraq?s first democratic elections. But such is the dire state of Iraqi security today that the authorities in Baghdad are considering a complete lockdown of the country ahead of polls in two weeks? time.
According to Iraqi and Western sources, international borders will be sealed, movement between cities tightly controlled, mobile phone networks switched off and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi security forces and foreign troops deployed in a show of force not seen since the height of the war nearly two years ago.
The draconian measures aim to prove to the estimated 15 million voters that it is safe to cast their ballot, while deterring the insurgents from killing off the election with their campaign of violence and intimidation.
Although details will be kept secret until the last moment, it is clear that Iyad Allawi, the Prime Minister, is planning a countrywide alert similar to the one he imposed during the storming of Fallujah in November by US Marines.
A state of emergency law, granting the authorities sweeping powers, has recently been renewed until the beginning of February to cover the January 30 election date.
That will allow curfews to be imposed, restrict movement between cities, open special courts where police can obtain arrest warrants around the clock and seal off Iraq?s land and air borders to civilian traffic. With that in place the Iraqis are also planning to halt the movement of insurgents, who seem able to strike at will from southern Iraq all the way to the northern capital of Mosul, currently the bloodiest city in the country.
Traffic is expected to be strictly limited to those with special passes and the mobile phone network, which is a patchy service at best, will be turned off to hamper rebel commu"
Times Online - World: "THE plan sounds more like the preparations for war than the holding of Iraq?s first democratic elections. But such is the dire state of Iraqi security today that the authorities in Baghdad are considering a complete lockdown of the country ahead of polls in two weeks? time.
According to Iraqi and Western sources, international borders will be sealed, movement between cities tightly controlled, mobile phone networks switched off and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi security forces and foreign troops deployed in a show of force not seen since the height of the war nearly two years ago.
The draconian measures aim to prove to the estimated 15 million voters that it is safe to cast their ballot, while deterring the insurgents from killing off the election with their campaign of violence and intimidation.
Although details will be kept secret until the last moment, it is clear that Iyad Allawi, the Prime Minister, is planning a countrywide alert similar to the one he imposed during the storming of Fallujah in November by US Marines.
A state of emergency law, granting the authorities sweeping powers, has recently been renewed until the beginning of February to cover the January 30 election date.
That will allow curfews to be imposed, restrict movement between cities, open special courts where police can obtain arrest warrants around the clock and seal off Iraq?s land and air borders to civilian traffic. With that in place the Iraqis are also planning to halt the movement of insurgents, who seem able to strike at will from southern Iraq all the way to the northern capital of Mosul, currently the bloodiest city in the country.
Traffic is expected to be strictly limited to those with special passes and the mobile phone network, which is a patchy service at best, will be turned off to hamper rebel commu"
anybody know how many members are left in this so-called coalition?
Reuters AlertNet - Portugal to withdraw force from Iraq on Feb. 12: "LISBON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Portugal will withdraw its paramilitary force from Iraq on Feb. 12, a government spokesman said on Saturday, after extending its stay to help provide security for the Jan. 30 elections."
Reuters AlertNet - Portugal to withdraw force from Iraq on Feb. 12: "LISBON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Portugal will withdraw its paramilitary force from Iraq on Feb. 12, a government spokesman said on Saturday, after extending its stay to help provide security for the Jan. 30 elections."
there's a brew-haha brewing in iowa over the grocers' refusal to accept returns on bottles & cans. a letter in today's register hits the bullseye.
DesMoinesRegister.com: "Your Jan. 7 story ('Iowa Threatens To Sue Fareway Over Bottles') stated 92 percent of bottles and cans sold are returned and 1.4 billion a year are being returned. Some simple arithmetic shows that the unreturned bottles and cans represent profits to the distributors of more than $6 million. Maybe the distributors should share some of that wealth and set up recycling centers for the grocers that don't want to accept returns.
-Glen Breuer,
Coralville."
DesMoinesRegister.com: "Your Jan. 7 story ('Iowa Threatens To Sue Fareway Over Bottles') stated 92 percent of bottles and cans sold are returned and 1.4 billion a year are being returned. Some simple arithmetic shows that the unreturned bottles and cans represent profits to the distributors of more than $6 million. Maybe the distributors should share some of that wealth and set up recycling centers for the grocers that don't want to accept returns.
-Glen Breuer,
Coralville."
Friday, January 14, 2005
from yahoo:
DISASTER TO THE RESCUE AGAIN! as someone posted on DU observes, the total picture isn't lost.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said he regretted sending the wrong impression of the United States when he used phrases like "Bring 'em on" and "dead or alive" in his first term and pledged to be more diplomatic.
In an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters to be broadcast on Friday, Bush said some of his past remarks were too blunt.
"'Bring it on,' was a little blunt," the president said in a transcript of the interview released on Thursday.
"I remember when I talked about Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), I said we're going to get him dead or alive. I guess it's not the most diplomatic of language," Bush said.
The president in July 2003 used the phrase "Bring 'em on" when speaking of insurgent attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites). The comment was widely interpreted as a challenge to the insurgents but Bush said his intent was to rally U.S. troops.
Days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Bush said he wanted to catch Osama bin Laden "dead or alive," a phrase that reinforced the U.S. president's international image as a cowboy.
Bush said his wife, Laura, disapproved and "chewed me out right after that."
"So I do have to be cautious about, you know, conveying thoughts in a way maybe that doesn't send wrong impressions about our country," he said.
Asked about bin Laden, who remains at large, Bush reiterated his vow to "bring him to justice."
Bush's expressions of regret over his use of language contrasted with his comments at a news conference in April 2004, when he struggled for an answer to a reporter who asked him to name his biggest mistake since the Sept. 11 attacks.
In another mea culpa, the president said he felt his administration had done a poor job bolstering its image in the Muslim world.
"Our public diplomacy efforts aren't ... very robust, and aren't very good, compared to the public diplomacy efforts of those who would like to spread hatred and ... and vilify the United States," Bush said.
But he said he thought U.S. efforts to aid victims of the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami would help improve Washington's image abroad.
DISASTER TO THE RESCUE AGAIN! as someone posted on DU observes, the total picture isn't lost.
1. A tape appears in which eevil moslem "terrists" chide Bush for saying "bring it on"
2. Of course, no one knows where the tape came from--and as usual no one questions its authenticity
3. Right on cue, Bush makes this statement: "Gee, I guess I was undiplomatic"... and we're supposed to read into that: "I'm just a rough-hewn man from the back country... kind of a rail-splitter type, like Lincoln... did I ever tell you all how I used to read by firelight in my family's primitive room in the Waldorf-Astoria... I'm just like you people... a real man of the people..."
4. Everyone smiles and thinks, "Gee, he's just one of us... not some guy from the rarefied rich..."
At least when Sam Ervin said "I'm just a little old country lawyer", he knew he was making a joke, and he knew people knew he was making a joke.
the sun-sentinel checking in with the latest lie:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency misrepresented weather data it used this week to justify $30 million in disaster assistance paid to Miami-Dade County residents, according to the government scientists who developed the information.
In a phone conference with reporters Monday, FEMA officials said they had found no evidence of widespread fraud in Miami-Dade and were confident in the legitimacy of the Hurricane Frances claims. As proof, FEMA cited wind speeds of up to 85 mph "in the parts of Miami-Dade County that received our assistance," according to a statement from Daniel Craig, recovery division director.
FEMA backed up its statement by releasing a wind map of the Labor Day storm, citing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Research Center as its source.
But NOAA spokeswoman Donna McCaskill told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "We didn't make this map. It looks like some of [NOAA's] data might have been misrepresented in it."
NOAA atmospheric scientist Mark Powell said he knew of no sustained winds in Miami-Dade as high as FEMA claimed. "I don't know what they did with our data," he said.
The top sustained winds, lasting at least one minute, in Miami-Dade reached 63 mph on Key Biscayne, but were no more than 53 mph elsewhere in the county, according to NOAA's figures.
The only 85 mph winds were three-second "gusts" about a half-mile offshore from Miami Beach northward, the Sun-Sentinel determined using NOAA's method formula for calculating gusts.
blackwell can't be all that dumb. hypocrites generally are. stupid, yes, but dumb? hardly.
toledoblade.com: "Mr. Blackwell, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2006, said: 'We fundamentally believe what Patrick Henry believed; that constitutions are not vehicles for the government to restrain the people. To the contrary, constitutions are vehicles for the people to restrain government.'"
toledoblade.com: "Mr. Blackwell, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2006, said: 'We fundamentally believe what Patrick Henry believed; that constitutions are not vehicles for the government to restrain the people. To the contrary, constitutions are vehicles for the people to restrain government.'"
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