i just had the thought and it escaped me as soon as i pulled out the pen (if you will). dammit all.
i'd sure like to know why my text paragraphs are double. i like it, but still, i don't remember turning that on.
shit, i wish i could remember what the hell it was i was rememberin'. it had to do with something from years and years ago. back when i didn't have a care in the world, made a ton of money, and spent it like no tomorrow. dammit all anyway.
if it comes back, i'll update this post.
ya out there babe? here's a whisper for your ear:
come up with an agenda. a rock solid one that can even attract the centrists out there. but one that is sure to energize your base. an agenda that sets not only the goals but the time in which they are to be met. an agenda that is bold, and enough out there that some will question the feasibility of the idea. which is where you'll shine even brighter if you have the answer.
but having an agenda when the republicans don't will not only give you that edge but provide you with a foot inside that winner's circle we so desperately want. making your agenda a reality will put your other foot inside the winner's circle.
so go get 'em howard. give 'em hell!
zoundry, which is how i publish most of my posts, has a new version of their software out, and it takes a bit getting used to. more features always get me confused.
"If someone lies to me, and I believe them, then afterwards I realized they lied to me, am I not entitled to say "If I knew you'd been lying to me - or even not giving me the full story - my decision would've been different"?
--Brooklyn Michael
attribution
A leading campaign group has demanded an urgent inquiry into a report that US troops indiscriminately used a controversial incendiary weapon during the battle for Fallujah. Photographic evidence gathered from the aftermath of the battle suggests that women and children were killed by horrific burns caused by the white phosphorus shells dropped by US forces.
The Pentagon has always admitted it used phosphorus during last year's assault on the city, which US commanders said was an insurgent stronghold. But they claimed they used the brightly burning shells "very sparingly" and only to illuminate combat areas.
But the documentary Fallujah: the Hidden Massacre, broadcast yesterday by the Italian state broadcaster, RAI, suggested the shells were commonly used and killed an unspecified number of civilians. Photographs obtained by RAI from the Studies Centre of Human Rights in Fallujah, show the bodies of dozens of Fallujah residents whose skin has been dissolved or caramelised by the effects of the phosphorus shells. The use of incendiary weapons against civilian targets is banned by treaty.
Last night Robert Musil, director of the group Physicians for Social Responsibility, called for an investigation. He told The Independent: "When there is clear testimony that use of such weapons has done this, it demands a full investigation. From Vietnam onwards there has been a general condemnation of [the use of white phosphorus] and concern about the injuries and consequences."
--source
USA TODAY analysis of MZM-related campaign contributions shows how the company's growth and its political activities became intertwined at key moments. In more than 30 instances, donations from MZM's political action committee or company employees went to two members of the House Appropriations Committee — Cunningham and Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. — in the days surrounding key votes or contract awards that helped MZM grow.For example, MZM's political action committee gave Cunningham $5,000 in 2003 the day before his appointment to a congressional panel negotiating the final version of the defense budget. Ten days later, the day after the House passed the final Pentagon spending bill, Wade gave Cunningham $2,000.
Both lawmakers sit on the subcommittee overseeing the Pentagon's spending and have acknowledged putting language in bills that created or expanded contracts that went to MZM.
--source
ROME (Reuters) - The U.S. military in Iraq denied a report shown on Italian state television on Tuesday saying U.S. forces used incendiary white phosphorus against civilians in a November 2004 offensive on the Iraqi town of Falluja.
It confirmed, however, that U.S. forces had dropped MK 77 firebombs -- which a documentary on Italian state-run broadcaster RAI compared to napalm -- against military targets in Iraq in March and April 2003.
--source
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. Republican lawmakers are seeking a congressional investigation into leaks of information used by The Washington Post in an article on the CIA's secret global prison system, congressional aides said on Tuesday.
--source
By BRAD PAULSEN, Mason City
The No Child Left Behind Act, Social Security, Medicare, enough nursing homes for the Americans in their golden years, homelessness, hunger, poverty, environmental concerns, decaying infrastructure, heating our homes, fuel for our cars, trucks, trains, planes, lawn mowers, snowblowers, wars on drugs, illegal immigration, hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, homeland security, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, the trade deficit, the national debt, which, is only $4.50 over $7 trillion.
The issues facing America, mentioned above, are not at all troublesome, worrisome or perplexing whatsoever.
Why? Because we Americans are very fortunate that we have in place a government in absolute complete control of the “compassionate conservatives.” The late Lawrence Welk would say, “A wonderful! A wonderful!”
Dissent of government policy is of no use; ask anyone who knew of the late Rosa Parks. Rosa was arrested and had to pay a fine for practicing the undefined art of dissent.
So stop complaining, Americans. But just as a precaution, open a Swiss bank account and learn to speak Chinese.attribution
(from kos)Italian media going full-bore on the Bush Administration. After its revelations on the subterfuge behind the Nigergate forgeries, documentary evidence of the use by US troops of phosphorus and a new formulaton of napalm [MK77] on the Sunni civilian population will be broadcast tomorrow on international satellite TV. Global coverage of the atrocity, folks.
The document provides the earliest and strongest indication of doubts voiced by American intelligence agencies about Mr. Libi's credibility. Without mentioning him by name, President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Colin L. Powell, then secretary of state, and other administration officials repeatedly cited Mr. Libi's information as "credible" evidence that Iraq was training Al Qaeda members in the use of explosives and illicit weapons.
Among the first and most prominent assertions was one by Mr. Bush, who said in a major speech in Cincinnati in October 2002 that "we've learned that Iraq has trained Al Qaeda members in bomb making and poisons and gases."
The newly declassified portions of the document were made available by Senator Carl M. Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Mr. Levin said the new evidence of early doubts about Mr. Libi's statements dramatized what he called the Bush administration's misuse of prewar intelligence to try to justify the war in Iraq. That is an issue that Mr. Levin and other Senate Democrats have been seeking to emphasize, in part by calling attention to the fact that the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee has yet to deliver a promised report, first sought more than two years ago, on the use of prewar intelligence.
A White House spokeswoman said she had no immediate comment on the D.I.A. report on Mr. Libi. But Senate Republicans, put on the defensive when Democrats forced a closed session of the Senate this week to discuss the issue, have been arguing that Republicans were not alone in making prewar assertions about Iraq, illicit weapons and terrorism that have since been discredited.
--nytimes
so that's their defense? "they did it tooo"?? how infantile.
The LAT fronts an investigation of the extreme mismanagement of equipment procurement in Iraq's military. The U.S. appointed a Polish Iraqi with no weapons-buying experience who proceeded to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on no-bid contracts for shoddy materiel. The Iraqi Justice Ministry is now charging him with corruption, but his case is far from isolated: "The portrait that emerges from interviews and documents," the paper informs, "is a Defense Ministry whose members were picked [by the U.S.] with the care of choosing a pickup basketball team."
again the source for this is today's papers
"National security letters" have been around for decades, the Post reports, but since the Patriot Act became law in October 2001 their use has expanded from 300 to 30,000 per year. Such a letter can compel an institution to hand over "transaction records" on a suspect—who he called, what Web sites he visited, where he traveled, what he bought, etc. Unlike issuing a regular subpoena, issuing an NSL requires no grand jury investigation or judicial oversight, allows for the dissemination of compelled information among multiple government agencies, and prohibits the suspect from even knowing he is being investigated. Since the Patriot Act, an FBI agent need merely request authorization—with little-to-no justification—from one of five-dozen bureau supervisors. NSL-obtained information used to be destroyed when a suspect was cleared; now information on cleared suspects is permanently stored in a database.
--source
that there is no judicial oversight regarding these 'letters' goes against everything this country stands for.
from rawstory:
A new poll of likely voters by Zogby International has found that a majority of Americans support Congress considering the impeachment of President Bush if he “did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq,” RAW STORY has learned.
The poll, to be released this afternoon, finds that 51 percent of likely voters want Congress to eye impeachment, while 45 percent do not. It was commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, a coalition of progressive groups seeking a Congressional investigation of the events leading up to war in Iraq.
The NYT goes off-lead with a U.N. audit report demanding that the United States repay Iraq millions of dollars used to pay a Halliburton subsidiary for shoddy contract work done at inflated prices. Stay tuned: The Pentagon is under pressure to release its own internal audits.
from today's papers. so halliburton is not only the king of no-bid contracts, but does shoddy work on top of it.
Nearly six in 10 Americans, 58%, said they had doubts about the president's honesty, a 13% rise in 18 months. Only 32% believed Mr Bush was handling ethical issues well, a significantly worse score than Bill Clinton achieved in his last scandal-besmirched year in office. His overall popularity has plunged to 39%, a new low for the Washington Post/ABC survey.--source
...The latest popularity poll was published after Lewis "Scooter" Libby became the first White House aide for 130 years to be indicted in office. He appeared in court on Thursday to plead not guilty to five charges of lying to investigators.
At its core, the case concerns the evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction assembled by Mr Libby - at the time the vice-president's chief of staff - and other White House officials to justify the war in Iraq. The president's top political adviser, Karl Rove, is still under investigation for his role in the case, which has refocused attention on the WMD debacle.
According to yesterday's poll, 55% of Americans think the president "intentionally misled the American public" in making the case for war, and 60% now believe it was not worth fighting. Yesterday, Mr Bush was asked whether Mr Rove would keep his job. He refused to discuss the issue on the grounds that the investigation was ongoing.
"One in 20 [D.C.] residents is infected with the AIDS virus, the highest rate of any major U.S. city."--source
A leading human rights group on Wednesday identified Poland and Romania as the likely locations in eastern Europe of secret prisons where al-Qaeda suspects are interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency.http://news.ft.com/cms/s/86734122-4be9-11da-997b-0000779e2340.html
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 - Omar al-Faruq, a confidant of Osama bin Laden who was one of Al Qaeda's senior operatives in Southeast Asia, escaped from an American military prison in Afghanistan in July, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.
Pentagon officials confirmed that he was one of the fugitives only after the information was disclosed this week in Texas at a military trial of an Army sergeant charged with maltreating detainees in Afghanistan. Mr. Faruq was identified by an alias at the time of the jailbreak.--nytimes
His disappearance, a major source of embarrassment to American officials at the base, came to light on Tuesday when defense lawyers for Sgt. Alan Driver demanded to know where he was so that he could testify at the trial.
Citing residents of one Iraqi town, the Post mentions that about 20 people were killed late yesterday by two U.S. airstrikes. "The people gathered to rescue people whose house was bombed in the first strike," said one neighbor. "A short time after they gathered, another plane came and bombed the house again, killing most of them."
(from today's papers @ slate)
this is the 2nd time now that airstrikes have mistaken their targets. and they wonder why they hate us. is it not terror when they come out of nowhere and use weapons that are far into the future of what is available to the man on the street?
As it happens, the American Prospect recently looked at why the report has gone MIA; it saw Republican foot-dragging, Pentagon stonewalling, and Democratic incompetence.
The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe, according to U.S. and foreign officials familiar with the arrangement.The secret facility is part of a covert prison system set up by the CIA nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents.
The hidden global internment network is a central element in the CIA's unconventional war on terrorism. It depends on the cooperation of foreign intelligence services, and on keeping even basic information about the system secret from the public, foreign officials and nearly all members of Congress charged with overseeing the CIA's covert actions.
The existence and locations of the facilities -- referred to as "black sites" in classified White House, CIA, Justice Department and congressional documents -- are known to only a handful of officials in the United States and, usually, only to the president and a few top intelligence officers in each host country.
--source
It is appalling that Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley and his Republican cohorts, who have given themselves seven pay raises since the last minimum-wage increase, voted down the modest increase proposed by Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Diverting money into private accounts won't solve the structural problems in Social Security. Also, young people like Tolle would actually lose benefits over time, said Kingson, who is currently an associate social work professor at Syracuse University. People in their 30s would see a 30 percent reduction over time while teenagers would see their benefits decrease by 40 percent to 45 percent when they reach retirement age because of a method of calculating benefits by the rate of inflation, not wages.
--source
By John Groninga, Mason Cityattribution
The barrage of attack advertising from a group called Project Taxpayer Protection (PTP) has been interesting to observe and study.
... Long ago I learned that if the left hand is waving vigorously in the air, trying to attract my attention, the best thing I can do is check to see what the right hand is up to.
In this case the group PTP is headed by three guys from Mediacom and located in Des Moines, not Mason City. So these guys are looking out for my best financial interests? I don’t think so. With little competition, they’re about as concerned about the cable rates we pay as Exxon is about the price we pay at the gasoline pump. ...
One of their ads asks “Got Money to Burn?” So far I’ve received four slick ads from this group, and I’ve also seen a slick ad on TV. I can only conclude that they are the folks with money to burn — our money we rate-payers send them
A “yes” vote on Nov. 8 will allow our community to consider creating a public utility, a venture that has been highly successful in many other communities.
The next step after the yes vote would be a feasibility study which would examine the viability of such a creation. Following the results of that study, we taxpayers could vote to decide whether actually creating a public utility is a good idea.
Our ballot question really is quite simple: Who do we trust more, officials we elect in Mason City or executives of Great Big Cable Inc., located in Des Moines?
As both a utility rate payer and as a taxpayer, I intend to vote “yes” on Nov. 8. I encourage the rest of you informed voters to do the same.
The WP mentions that a new vaccine against cervical cancer, that could become available as early as next year, has sparked a controversy between health practitioners and conservative groups. The vaccine seems to be almost 100 percent effective in preventing the most serious types of the human papilloma virus that can cause cancer and some want to immunize as many pre-pubescent girls as possible. Because HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, however, some conservatives are concerned that large-scale vaccination among the young could be seen as encouraging pre-marital sex.
I would like to assure Maxine Bechtel (Oct. 24 letter) that there is no law against strong Christians holding public office. Unfortunately, some see this as an invitation to legislate morality, confusing personal beliefs with public interest.attribution
I find it interesting that Bechtel compared President Bush with Thomas Jefferson. While Jefferson was clear on his views concerning the belief that we are "endowed by [our] Creator with certain inalienable rights," his actions spoke otherwise. At least if one considers the slaves he owned until the day he died as "human."
The justification of that act by claiming it happened in another era fails to acknowledge the abolitionists who knew the practice of slavery to be morally reprehensible even then.
-Scott Warner, West Des Moines.
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Thirty Ohioans who raised a combined $4.1 million for President Bush's re-election campaign have received more than $1.2 billion in public funds for their companies and clients, a newspaper reported.http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1130700843224421.xml&storylist=cleveland
Since Bush took office in 2001, the federal government has given those companies more than $447 million in subsidies, contracts and other payments, according to records analyzed by The Blade. Ohio has awarded them about $800 million in the last six years, the paper reported Sunday.
Business leaders and lobbyists who raised money for Bush were called "Pioneers" if they raised at least $100,000 and "Rangers" if they raised $200,000; some also were given political appointments.
One of the fundraisers, coin dealer Tom Noe, was charged Thursday with illegally funneling $45,400 in contributions to Bush's re-election bid. Noe has denied wrongdoing in his fundraising and in his handling of a state investment fund, which prompted an investigation that led to Gov. Bob Taft's conviction on ethics charges...
At least 10 people have reportedly been killed in a renewed US military offensive in Iraq's border area with Syria.and as someone pointed out earlier on another board:
The US military said it had killed 10 fighters in the Hsaiba area near the Syrian border, in the latest military operation.
But residents and witnesses told Aljazeera that all the dead were civilians.
Speaking to Aljazeera, Iraqi journalist Atwar Bahjat said US forces pounded the area with heavy artillery.
Many homes and businesses have been destroyed during the shelling, she said.
Residents and witnesses are enraged by the destruction caused by the shelling and confirmed that all those killed in the latest assault were civilians, not fighters, she added.
--al-jazeera
...this is not just the start of any other War. This is the start of WWIII. If we invade Syria, Israel is going to get the itchy trigger finger to go after Iran. Russia will not allow that to happen and Palestine will go after Israel too. WWIII will be uglier than the two other wars combined. Pakistan has a fragile Government with Nukes. If the Taliban gets a hold of a single Nuke, or Iran is close to having one, Israel will be gone from the map. That's IMHO, but my visions have been known to come true.dear Lord, I pray not. but that would be about the way i would see it unfold.
While it agrees with the NYT that Bush faces something of an uphill climb, it does point out that the pundits counted Bush out once before, early in his first term when he appeared to be "bleeding influence," only to be given a new swell of support after Sept. 11.notice the catastrophic event of 9/11 happened during a period of "bleeding influence" by bush. should there be another terrorist event, bush will no doubt enjoy the same lift he got the first time.
"carrying water for anonymous character assassins is not what journalism is about"
By CHARLENE PIPER, Mason City
I just wanted to say that I disagree with the fact that a town wants to ban certain people.
I feel that we need to protect our children. However, I know that not all people on the sex offender registry are on there because of crimes that included kids. So are we to treat them all the same? If we ban them, should we ban all criminals? Drug dealers, speeders and drunk drivers hurt our children every day, so all crimes affect our children.
I feel that people are blowing this out of proportion. We don’t have an island that we can put people on, so we need to find ways to live our lives and protect our children without infringing on someone else’s rights. If they have done what the courts have asked of them, are on the register and following all the rules, we shouldn’t single them out. If we do, what group will be next?
I am definitely in favor of pedophiles or anyone that hurts children being prosecuted to fullest extent of the law and feel that there should be consequences for their actions. But it is for the court to decide what consequences they receive.
They are still human and therefore have the right to live where they choose. I have been on the side of the victim and on the side of a person who is registered.
We are all equal. We all deserve justice. So please, look at yourself and see if you should cast a stone. As Jesus said, “If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7 New International Version)
(ANSA) - Rome, October 29 - In a television interview to be aired next week, Premier Silvio Berlusconi says he repeatedly tried to convince American President George W. Bush not to invade Iraq .
In the lengthy interview to be shown on private TV channel La7 on Monday, Berlusconi says that: "I was never convinced that war was the best way to make a country democratic and to bring it out of a bloody dictatorship .
"I tried many times to convince the American president not to wage war... I tried to find other ways and solutions, even through joint action with African leader (Libya's Muammar) Gaddafi .
"We didn't succeed and there was a military operation but I believed military action should have been avoided." The comments were released by La7 two days before Berlusconi was due to visit Washington .
The centre-right leader will hold talks with Bush during his one-day Monday visit .
Berlusconi is a staunch ally of Bush and took a pro-US line on Iraq despite opposition from the centre left and strong anti-war sentiment amongst the Italian public .
Italy did not participate in the 2003 war on Iraq but gave Washington permission to use its air space and transport infrastructure, and Italian bases for technical stop-over and refuelling needs .
It now has some 3,000 troops serving there, mainly as part of a British-led multinational stabilization force in the southern part of the country .
The Italian contingent is the fourth largest after those of the US, Britain and South Korea .
The exclusive interview with La7 was the longest interview given by Berlusconi, who is standing for re-election next year, in six months .
GOVT DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN FAKE IRAQ-NIGER DOCUMENTS. His comments on Iraq also came at a time when his government is denying accusations of involvement in the passing on of false documents to the United States which purported to show an attempt by Saddam Hussein's regime to buy uranium in Africa .
The documents, which accused Iraq of trying to buy up to 500 tons of uranium oxide or 'yellowcake' from Niger, were used by the US and Britain to help support the case for the 2003 toppling of the Iraqi strongman .
A series of in-depth articles in the La Repubblica daily this week alleged that Italy's military intelligence service Sismi handed the documents to the United States possibly under pressure from the Italian government .
The daily accused Sismi chief Nicolo Pollari of involvement in the case, saying that he met with America's then-deputy national security advisor Stephen J. Hadley on September 9, 2002 .
The government issued a fresh statement on Saturday denying the daily's allegations .
The statement said that La Repubblica's report on the alleged Hadley-Pollari meeting was "totally false" .
It said that a meeting took place on September 9, 2002 between Pollari and America's then-national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and that Hadley was present as part of the US delegation .
"The dialogue was exclusively between Condoleezza Rice and Pollari. The other people present witnessed the talks but did not speak themselves," the statement said .
"There was no reference, either direct or indirect, to the problems regarding the Iraq-Niger issue," it said .
Earlier this week, the government issued several statements denying any involvement in the case. It also firmly denied any Sismi involvement, saying that it played no "direct or indirect" role in the forging or distribution of the documents .
"There is a fatal limit to the (La Repubblica's) dossier - the news contained is unfounded and inexact," the government said .
{so the government espouses all that is 'unfounded and inexact eh?}
US and British allegations that Saddam Hussein sought to buy uranium for his nuclear weapons programme from Niger was used by the two allies to help support their case for waging war on Iraq .
{hardly}
Bush cited the uranium deal in his State of the Union address in January 2003, saying it was evidence that Saddam Hussein was trying to develop weapons of mass destruction .
The US admitted after the war that the uranium claim was false and Hadley took the blame for including the claim in Bush's State of the Union speech .
According to La Repubblica, the documents were forged in 2000 by a former Carabiniere policeman and ex-Sismi agent Rocco Martino for his own purposes with the help of contacts provided by a Sismi official and friend .
The Italian parliament's intelligence watchdog committee Copaco has announced that it is holding an inquiry into the La Repubblica allegations .
Pollari will be questioned by Copaco on November 3 .
More than half the North Carolina military members surveyed in the latest Elon University poll don't like the way President Bush is handling his job and the war in Iraq.
The survey results were released today.
Of the 539 adults surveyed, nearly 53 percent of military members said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of Bush's handling of his job. And 56 percent of that same group said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of his handling of the Iraq war.
Overall, slightly more than 53 percent of those surveyed did not approve of Bush's job performance, while 57 percent didn't approve of his handling of the Iraq war.
--source
Will Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson stick to her guns? Hutchinson has been assailed lately for dismissing potential perjury charges against Libby, while back in 1999 she thought such crimes were a big deal when it was President Clinton being charged. In today's WSJ, she says: "Everyone needs to take a deep breath and not judge those involved. Today's announcement is the middle of the process, not the end."
"They should have taken care of this a long time ago. They should have done their own investigation. They're going to get very little sympathy on Capitol Hill, at least from me. . . . They brought this on themselves."it's not often i quote republicans for the honor of having QOTD, but today's a beaut.
--House Government Reform Committee Chairman Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.)
attribution
It is curious that there is such a furor over evolution, creationism and intelligent design. The mechanism through which we became what we are may have scientific interest, but it in no way diminishes the awe we experience when we seriously contemplate ourselves.
Whether we were created in six days, 6,000 years or 60 million years does not in the least concern me, nor will I lose sleep wondering if humans evolved from primitive cells, monkeys or spontaneously appeared in the Garden of Eden.
We are physical and spiritual entities capable of communicating with one another and endowed with self-awareness, emotions and intelligence. This is all that really matters.
-Roger W. Tate, Windsor Heights.
Congressional Republicans want us to believe the federal programs they are trying to cut to supposedly pay for the Katrina rebuilding effort don't affect most of us. But, among other things, they are aiming to cut billions of dollars from student loans, including work-study.
I am a middle-income parent of three children - two of whom are in college. There is no way our children would be getting through the University of Iowa and Georgetown University (combined costs in excess of $50,000 per year) without government-backed loans and work-study funds.
These programs are "hand up" as opposed to "hand outs." They enable millions of Americans to achieve a decent quality of life and a better future.
Congress should reject the Republican budget because it goes against the basic values of the American dream.
-Peggy Huppert, Clive.
