cbsnew ran a segment on pensions

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

wouldn't you?

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

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

--source

WARNING: more incompetence ahead

from today's papers

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

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

today's jus been one thing after another.

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

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

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

Letter of the WeeQ

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

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

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

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

-Greg Wilcox, Des Moines.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

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

attribution

there's a problem with mac IE's interface

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

Quote of the Day

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

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

Letter Of The Day

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

-James Blackburn, Des Moines

attribution

watching washington journal

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

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

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

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

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

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

source

they jus keep coming

another wonderful letter in the register:

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

—B.R. Douglas, Des Moines.

there just seems to be an overdose of good opinion

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

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

—Erin Linn, West Des Moines.

something else i saw

was another adjective to how the fundamentalists win:

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

from The Rev. Denny Coon, Des Moines.

Letter Of The Day

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

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

—Norene Kelly, Johnston.
attribution

did you know?

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

is europe getting wise to the shenanigans of the bushevics?

seems so, because according to today's papers:

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

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

well, DUH

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

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

Letter Of The Day

comes today from my hometown newspaper.

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

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

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

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

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

--ALAN L. LIGHT, Iowa City
attribution

so much crazy shit is happening today

i don't know which end is up.

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

and that's only the beginning.

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

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

corruption defined

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

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

Letter Of The Day

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

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

-Steve Stanley, Earlham.

attribution

and speaking of incompetence

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

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

--nytimes

incompetence defined

this is why rummy has GOT to GO.

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

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

--nytimes

\

FARPOINT FACTOID

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

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

you tell me

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

got a giggle out of this one

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

source

watching hunter on tvlad

and its showing hunter going up into some fleabag hotel.

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

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

the bushies rule by fear

just like a good dictator would.

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

source

FARPOINT FACTOID

no WONDER washington has lost its collective soul on ethics.

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

Letter(s) Of The Day

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

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

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

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

-Neal Westergaard, Des Moines.

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

-Norene Kelly, Johnston.

attribution

a letter worth remembering

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

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

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

-Jere Busenbarrick, Des Moines.

source

Quote Of The Day

comes from the des moines register's editorial board:

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

bush just never stops rewriting history

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

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

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

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

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

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

the beginnings of civil war

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

--source

Letter Of The Day

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

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

-Arthur Behn, Des Moines.

attribution

ya know?

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

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

didja see cbs news tonite?

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

Quote of the WeeQ

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

attribution

Letter Of The Day

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

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

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

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

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

-Wendell Koch, Waterloo.

attribution

Quote Of The Day

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

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

from today's papers:

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

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

today's MUST READ

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

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

--source

Letter Of The Day

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

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

-Jeff Clingan, Van Meter.

attribution

seems every culprit is represented well

take a look at this:

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

--source

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

FARPOINT FACTOID

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

SOURCE

fallujah, and american chemical weapons

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

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

Letter Of The Year

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

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

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

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

—Frank P. Belcastro, Dubuque.

attribution

Letter of the WeeQ

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

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

—Roy Applegate, Spencer.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—Robin Crabtree, Madrid.

attribution