once a liar, ALWAYS a liar

and ken mehlman is no exception:

So the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ken Mehlman, who like everyone else says he barely knows Abramoff was actually killing nominations for him only a few short years ago.

--source

R.I.P. MAUREEN STAPLETON

one of my favorite actresses. and i watch her daily on tvland..

Maureen Stapleton, the Oscar-winning character actress whose subtle vulnerability and down-to-earth toughness earned her dramatic and comedic roles on stage, screen, and television, died Monday. She was 80.

--source

one has to wonder why she's resigning

Sandra Day O'Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the supreme court, has said the US is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party's rightwingers continue to attack the judiciary.

In a strongly worded speech at Georgetown University, reported by National Public Radio and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Ms O'Connor took aim at Republican leaders whose repeated denunciations of the courts for alleged liberal bias could, she said, be contributing to a climate of violence against judges.

Ms O'Connor, nominated by Ronald Reagan as the first woman supreme court justice, declared: "We must be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary."

She pointed to autocracies in the developing world and former Communist countries as lessons on where interference with the judiciary might lead. "It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings."

--source

why wasn't this reported in our own media?

watching cbs 60 minutes, on tal afar

and kimberly dozer, who i knew was a puppet of the administration, delivers her best. showing pictures of streets abandoned, and making it appear that the terrorists are responsible.

read what they didn't tell you. read the truth. kimberly, you are now a full fledged mediawhore. did they pay you enough for your soul dear?

i'm trying to find out who's doin it

the song bang a gong in penney's new commercials.

and it appears i'm not the only one who noticed it:

Penney’s is using “Bang A Gong” in its commercials. The end of the world is near. - http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=6819

no the end of the world is not here, and it certainly wouldn't be due to the latest rendition of BAG. but i sure wish i could get a comment on who's doing it

do you have something to say?

http://www.popcultmag.com/huh/guidelines/guidelinesdefault.html

what's their reasoning for such gouging?

from the new york times:

On Feb. 3, Joyce Elkins filled a prescription for a two-week supply of nitrogen mustard, a decades-old cancer drug used to treat a rare form of lymphoma. The cost was $77.50.

On Feb. 17, Ms. Elkins, a 64-year-old retiree who lives in Georgetown, Tex., returned to her pharmacy for a refill. This time, following a huge increase in the wholesale price of the drug, the cost was $548.01.

there outta be a law against this sordid practice of gouging not only Americans, but SICK Americans.

Quote of the WeeQ

"President Bush ignores the Constitution and the laws of the land, and the cowardly, rigidly partisan majority in Congress helps him out by rewriting the laws he's broken."
--New York Times Editorial Board in their Kabuki Congress editorial

attribution

Quote of the Year

"In their psychotically twisted logic, "reminding me that you exist is an attack on my values"; frankly, I don't see much hope for anyone that insane."
--dicksteele

attribution

the devil is in the details

or in this case, buried in a story about something else. from the article about the previous post:

Mr Griffin's allegations came as

the Foreign Office minister Kim Howells, visiting Basra yesterday, admitted that Iraq was now "a mess".

that's certainly not how we're hearing thing on this side of the pond.

you MUST read his interview.. he is my hero.

holy crap

borrowing a phrase from the ol' man on everybody loves raymond:

from the telegraph in the UK:

An SAS soldier has refused to fight in Iraq and has left the Army over the "illegal" tactics of United States troops and the policies of coalition forces.

After three months in Baghdad, Ben Griffin told his commander that he was no longer prepared to fight alongside American forces.

He said he had witnessed "dozens of illegal acts" by US troops, claiming they viewed all Iraqis as "untermenschen" - the Nazi term for races regarded as sub-human.

what else could explain away the atrocities of abu ghraib?

from the GOOD NEWS file

A liberal Democratic senator (Russ Feingold - WI) who is considering a White House bid in 2008 said Sunday he is seeking to censure President Bush over his domestic eavesdropping program. The Senate majority leader called it "a crazy political move."

A censure resolution, which simply would scold the president, has been used just once in U.S. history — against Andrew Jackson in 1834.

--source

he announced it on ABC's This Week as a first step. hopefully this will put everybody on record before the '06 elections.

and two more stories that deserve keeping around

for later referral:

Drug prices aren't necessarily based on manufacturing costs, finds the NYT ...

... And neither is the price of electricity in states that deregulated their power providers in the late 1990's, according to the WP.

both myths perpetrated by the greed of industry barons.

they should see how much these recruits like it after they join

that's where the real story is,

A simple referral bonus program has helped the Army National Guard post its best recruiting numbers in 13 years, reports the WP. Guard members get $2,000 dollars for convincing a new recruit to sign up, an incentive so effective that the Army Guard is on track to raise its membership by 14,000 before the year's end.

the numbers

from the straw poll at the repuke leadership (sic) fuckfest in memphis:

Sen. McCain came in a distant fifth in the straw poll, however, due to Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., having an overwhelming home-field advantage and President Bush taking a sizable share of the votes, despite not running for office.

these idiots are still passing sickening adulation to a man who's not even running. why? because they're idiots without brains.

gov huckabee on face the nation

the pure definition of repuke.

Quote of the Day

it's a long one today from the editorial board of the des moines register:

The threat of terrorism has given the federal government a new excuse for concealing information from the public. This trend serves neither democracy nor public safety.

Knowledge veiled in terrorism 'war'

The natural response to the terrorist attacks on American soil 4 1/2 years ago was to declare war on terrorism. In hindsight, it is increasingly clear that the war metaphor was inappropriate. Terrorism does not fit the ordinary definition of war as an engagement of sovereign nations on a battlefield. This war has no foreseeable end. Yet it comes with all the trappings of wartime, including an excuse, under the guise of national security, for stuffing all manner of government information into secret compartments.

from the GOOD NEWS file

The state of Maryland stands poised to put its entire $90 million investment in Diebold Election Systems Inc. touch-screen e-voting systems on ice because they can’t produce paper receipts.

--source

until they agree to open source their software, i will fight them tooth and nail. they delivered electoral votes to bush, just like their CEO promised. and if it were up to me, they wouldn't have an opportunity to repeat that mistake.

talk about headline madness

Haig: Vietnam Mistakes Repeated in Iraq

and

Vietnam War deserter arrested at border

it's true, you're known by the company you keep

When Claude Allen, President Bush's longtime domestic-policy adviser, resigned suddenly on Feb. 9, it baffled administration critics and fans. The White House claimed that Allen was leaving to spend more time with his family, while the Washington Times speculated that the 45-year-old aide, a noted social conservative, might have quit to protest a new Pentagon policy about military chaplains. Allen himself never publicly explained the reason for his departure.

News today may shed light on the mystery of Allen's resignation. According to the Montgomery County Police Department, Allen was arrested yesterday and charged in a felony theft and a felony theft scheme. According to a department press release, Allen conducted approximately 25 fraudulent "refunds" in Target and Hecht's stores in Maryland. On Jan. 2, a Target employee apprehended Allen after observing him receive a refund for merchandise he had not purchased. Target then contacted the Montgomery County Police. According to a source familiar with the case, Target and the police had been observing Allen since October 2005.

Allen is charged with practicing a form of shoplifting called "refund fraud."
source

they should ALL be charged with refund fraud. so, they lied about why he left. and he left because he was a thief. one has to wonder why he was even hired to begin with, since one doesn't have a job with that stature and suddenly becomes a thief. one's a thief, FIRST, then gets a job with stature.

the des moines register does it again

with a terrific editorial on touch play.

Quote of the Day

Nena Corozon was dressed up in a tiger-striped cat costume because she’s so tiny, Sauers said. “People say, ‘Oh, she looks like a diva,’ ” Sauers said.
--source

in a story about petco grand opening in town. my cat's name is diva.

FARPOINT.FACTOID

"We need a net inflow of capital of $3 billion a day to keep the economy afloat," said Clyde V. Prestowitz Jr. Some analysts warn that further political hostility against foreign companies buying American assets could boomerang against the United States.
--SOURCE

another repuke idea that has backfired.

FUN SITE Of The Day

http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=13

the good news just keeps on coming

from yahoo

More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of President Bush's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.

Nearly four out of five Americans, including 70 percent of Republicans, believe civil war will break out in Iraq — the bloody hot spot upon which Bush has staked his presidency. Nearly 70 percent of people say the U.S. is on the wrong track, a 6-point jump since February.

(snip)

Bush's job approval among Republicans plummeted from 82 percent in February to 74 percent, a dangerous sign in a midterm election year when parties rely on enthusiasm from their most loyal voters. The biggest losses were among white males.

On issues, Bush's approval rating declined from 39 percent to 36 percent for his handling of domestic affairs and from 47 percent to 43 percent on foreign policy and terrorism. His approval ratings for dealing with the economy and Iraq held steady, but still hovered around 40 percent.

Personally, far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable than they did just after his re-election campaign.

By comparison, Presidents Clinton and Reagan had public approval in the mid 60s at this stage of their second terms in office, while Eisenhower was close to 60 percent, according to Gallup polls. Nixon, who was increasingly tangled up in the Watergate scandal, was in the high 20s in early 1974.

all i can say is oh WOW

from reuters:

ROME (Reuters) - The granddaughter of Italy's wartime dictator Benito Mussolini has defended being a fascist by saying it was better than being a "faggot".

Alessandra Mussolini's televised derogatory remarks came less than a month after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi welcomed her far-right political party into his coalition before a general election in April.

Mussolini, proud of her ancestral ties to "Il Duce", had been criticised by a drag queen-turned-politician about being a fascist on Italian TV talk show Porta a Porta.

"I'm proud of it," she snapped in comments due to be aired later on Thursday.

Vladimir Luxuria, who hopes to be Europe's first "transgender" MP and is running with the Communist Refoundation party, then asked if Mussolini wanted to lock up homosexuals.

"Better to be a fascist than a faggot," Mussolini said, using the highly offensive Italian word "frocio", according to Porta a Porta's press office.

It was not the first time one of Berlusconi's allies publicly insulted homosexuals. Mirko Tremaglia, an outspoken right-wing minister for Italians living abroad, said in 2004 that Europe was ruled by "culattoni".

The word derives from the Italian colloquial for bottom (culo) and refers to sodomists.

Quote of the WeeQ

from david ignatius:

"The collapse of the deal was a measure of Bush's political weakness—but even more, of America's traumatized post-Sept. 11 politics. The ironic fact is that the UAE is precisely the kind of Arab ally the United States needs most now. But that clearly didn't matter to an election-year Congress, which responded to the Dubai deal with a frenzy of Muslim-bashing disguised as concern about terrorism. And we wonder why the rest of the world doesn't like us."

what wonder? who's wondering? i don't wonder. do you?

today's MUST READ

http://www.slate.com/id/2137793/

Rumsfeld was asked about the Zogby poll reporting that 72 percent of American troops serving in Iraq think the United States should pull out within a year. He replied that he hadn't examined the poll, that he'd only read about it in the newspapers, and that he didn't believe it anyway, because every soldier he's talked with over there is enthusiastic about the mission.

Two reasonable follow-up questions that no senator bothered to pose:

• Do you really think, given the way you've hounded generals and colonels who dare disagree with you, that some enlisted man or woman is going to tell you we should get out?
• Maybe the poll is flawed, but don't you even want to take a look at the thing? If it really does reflect the thinking of a majority of troops, shouldn't you be aware of that?

civil war in iraq?

(at yesterday's senate hearings)

In one of the few interesting bits, the U.S.'s top general for the Mideast testified that the "sectarian violence is a greater concern for us security-wise right now than the insurgency."

so it's not the insurgency any more, it's called sectarian violence. got that?

Quote of the Day

How is it that lying over a DNA-stained blue dress is an impeachable offense while lying over war, torture, gross malfeasance, cronyism, bribery, corruption and secret spying is worthy of little more than a few shrugged shoulders?
— Dan Drasheff, Cedar Rapids.

attribution

Letter of the WeeQ

and we have a winner:

The Register’s March 1 article, “Oh, Homey! Simpsons More Known Than Rights,” describing constitutional knowledge is an eye-opener as to what we’re teaching about our country’s history and a sad testimonial to our lack of knowledge.

Makes one wonder just exactly what the 535 congressional representatives know about the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and amendments to the Constitution.

These are the 535 who have usurped more power and authority than ever envisioned by our Founding Fathers.

The same 535 who have no problem seeing Martha Stewart or Enron and MCI executives thrown in jail for wrongdoing, yet have no problem creating between $50 trillion and $70 trillion of unfunded federal promises to buy votes to either enter or maintain membership in the club.

The same 535 who have no practical accountability other than the remote possibility of being voted out of office, leaving with their pockets stuffed with cash.

Remember, this select group takes an oath to uphold the Constitution. If a surprise test were given to this group as to what the Declaration, Constitution and its amendments say, they would do no better than the folks surveyed.

These club members should, at a minimum, have some knowledge as to what they take an oath to uphold.

Passing a basic constitutional test before one can enter the race might even lead to more common-sense legislation.
— J. Robert Hopson, Altoona.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

it looks like there's a real contest today, but today's winner is:

I am outraged that Officer Stewart Drake was given special privileges (“Officer Drives 99 mph, Isn’t Cited,” Mar. 3). I was arrested eight years ago for an OWI. I had to spend the night in jail, complete two days in the OWI treatment class, pay about $4,000 or $5,000 in fines, lost my license for six months, was placed on probation for one year, had to pay for and complete the Employee and Family Resources evaluation and have the Interlock device put in my vehicle.

Not to mention the civil penalty with the Iowa Department of Transportation and the cost of the work permit. It was my first offense. He’s complaining about a two-day suspension without pay?

I am so angry. It’s time for an internal investigation. The way this was handled was unprofessional. It teaches the next generation that being a cop is a good idea not because you get to help the community but because you don’t have to worry about getting into trouble.

I want my record wiped clean, too, and all the money paid back that I had to dish out. This just proves they don’t practice what they preach.
— Tiffini Shepard, Des Moines.

attribution

and no thanks to our own senator grassley

from today's des moines register, who endorsed grassley last election, and now they're bitching about what he's doing. what hypocrites.

Don't take seriously the reports that Congress is finally standing up to President Bush.

Those reports are based on congressional opposition to the Dubai ports deal — an easy pandering to public sentiment that requires no political courage whatsoever.

On a more difficult question, which involves a threat to the Constitution itself, Congress has, as usual, caved in to pressure from the White House and shirked a clear duty.

Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee have decided not to investigate whether the president violated the law when he ordered government agents to wiretap Americans without obtaining warrants.

Instead, the committee said it would increase "oversight" of the wiretapping by asking the president to inform, in secret, a few more members of Congress about the program than he currently does. In essence, Congress will be content with selected members being told what Bush chooses to tell them. The committee will make no attempt to gather information on its own.

That's not oversight. It's abetting a cover-up.

--source

to hell with what the people want

The House approved a bill Wednesday night that would wipe out state laws on safety labeling of food, overriding tough rules passed by California voters two decades ago that require food producers to warn consumers about cancer-causing ingredients.
--source

what is it that they don't want you to know is in the food you eat? why are they so afraid of telling you what's in the food you eat? and forget that the voters wanted this law. it's stuff like this that really pisses me off.

every time i watch highway to heaven

and see that ford LTD II, i'm reminded of the time i had back in the late 70's. it was a car i had inherited from this guy who picked me up hitchhiking in california. he just disappeared in hollywood, and *poof* i had a car on my hands. so i managed to keep it for another 6-8 months until one night in kansas city, it got towed. see, it was a stolen vehicle from texas. i'm only glad they didn't stop me driving the thing. i may not be writing this had that happened. but every time i see it on highway to heaven, and i watch that show every day jon tvland (a whole 'nother story), i always think about the good ol' days when i drove the hell out of that car. man those were the days.

if and when i die

i would like to be holding jason reitman's cock.

another reason it'll take years to recover from the bushites

The Internal Revenue Service has proposed a new rule that would let tax preparers sell or share a client's tax-return information with third parties, as long as they got the client's consent.

--source

so forget the constitution

the president can do whatever the hell he pleases.

that's what dictators demand dammit. not presidents of democratically run countries.

Yesterday, the NYT reported: "G.O.P. SENATORS SAY ACCORD IS SET ON WIRETAPPING." The niggling details the Times buried: The GOP blocked an investigation of the program while, as TP noted, the "accord" would let the no-warrant-needed poking around to continue. Or as the NYT puts it this morning, "PLAN WOULD ALLOW LONG-TERM SPYING WITHOUT WARRANTS

so forget the constitution

the president can do whatever the hell he pleases.

that's what dictators demand dammit. not presidents of democratically run countries.

Yesterday, the NYT reported: "G.O.P. SENATORS SAY ACCORD IS SET ON WIRETAPPING." The niggling details the Times buried: The GOP blocked an investigation of the program while, as TP noted, the "accord" would let the no-warrant-needed poking around to continue. Or as the NYT puts it this morning, "PLAN WOULD ALLOW LONG-TERM SPYING WITHOUT WARRANTS

they don't want you to know the truth

The WP goes Page One with an unnamed Health Ministry official saying an unnamed Shiite politician ordered government hospitals and morgues to exclude execution-style killings from its death counts. A mere 30 paragraphs down we learned that when "contacted a second time" the "ministry official refused to speak further, saying, 'Forget what I told you.' " Queasy or questionable source aside, it's worth knowing that, according to the Post, the Health Ministry is currently under the control of a party loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr.

are they trying to hide a civil war?

The lengthy health ministry piece, by Bureau Chief Ellen Knickmeyer, amounts to a detailed defense of the paper's report last week that 1,300 people had been killed in the recent sectarian violence, a far higher number than other outlets have reported. Summarizing its series of reports last week, today's WP cites four sources: There's the original one who's now ID'd as a Baghdad "morgue worker" and then later three backups who all put the figure at about 1,000: a "Health Ministry official, an official with the Interior Ministry and an international official in Baghdad." Last week, the Post actually cited a named source, a Gen. Ali Shamarri. Other papers haven't been able to find him; Iraqi officials say they have no record of such a general. And curiously, he's not mentioned in today's Post.

something else that's been bothering me lately

is all the nameless sources we're seeing. people are afraid to give their names to newspapers any more. why? because of retribution tactics used by the bushites that can be very bad for careers and just a downer on life in general.

from today's papers

a daily read.

Everybody mentions that the State Department's just-released human-rights report said Iraqi police activities include "intimidation, beatings, and suspension by the arms or legs, as well as the reported use of electric drills and cords and the application of electric shocks."

golly gee, where ever on earth did they learn THAT from?

couldn't have said it better myself

and i'm a howard dean fan, er used to be. i dont know what happened to him, but he seems to have been melded into the woodwork like all other democrats before him. anyway, what i wanted to say, but didn't have the words to do it, comes from slate:

Since assuming their positions, the three of them have shown themselves to be somewhere between useless and disastrous as party leaders. Individually, they lack substance and policy smarts (Pelosi); coherence and force (Reid); and steadiness and mainstream appeal (Dean). Collectively, they convey an image of liberal elitism, disarray, and crabbiness

Letter of the WeeQ

Since many children may soon be riding the MTA, will we next restrict all sex offenders from using public transportation?
— Toni Ford, West Des Moines.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

The Feb. 26 letter from Robert Zeis Jr. (“Israel Has Worked for Peace”) was racist in its claim that Palestinians are a “politically created race of people that never existed until the 20th century.”

This racist lie has been repeatedly debunked by numerous Israelis such as Benny Morris and Tom Segev, and by American Jews such as Norman G. Finkelstein and Albert Einstein.

The Romans named this region “Palestinia” and the people of the region “Palestinians” in the time of Herod (39 B.C.).

It was referred to as Palestine for centuries earlier than this.
A fitting retort to this lie is that the Palestinians are the only direct descendants of the 12 apostles.
— John Hauptman, Ames.

attribution

from the GOOD NEWS file

The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll finds more than 4 in 10 Americans strongly disapproving of the job George W. Bush is doing as president. His support among core supporters (Republicans and conservatives) is as weak as it has been. Only 40% of Americans believe Bush can manage the government effectively, the worst rating he has received on this measure of his presidency. Other measures of Bush's personal characteristics are also at or near their lowest points.

When Americans were asked a follow-up of whether they strongly approve or disapprove of Bush, more than twice as many Americans say they strongly disapprove of Bush, more than twice as many Americans say they strongly disapprove (44%) as say they strongly approve (22%) of Bush. The strong disapproval rating is the highest Gallup has measured for Bush by a percentage point, and is the highest for any president since Richard Nixon during the Watergate era.

--source

we need a regime change

starting with the house of (mis)representatives. now we can say republicans don't care about the children.

Washington) Using a procedural maneuver Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee chopped an amendment to the Children's Safety and Violent Crimes Reduction Act that would have included gays, lesbians and the transgendered in federal hate crime laws.

The amendment was passed by the House last September on a 223 to 199 vote with 30 Republicans casting their votes in support of the measure.

"The United States Congress is not a card game. You can't just keep re-shuffling the deck if you don't like the first hand the majority deals you," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

"The House has already passed hate crimes legislation by a clear majority. To callously disregard that vote signals how far out of step House leadership is with both the majority of Congress and the American people."

A Senate version of the bill is currently before the chamber.

--source

gotta luv them hooters

scooter's hooters are a hoot. did you know:

that MSNBC flunky Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson's father, Richard Carlson (oh, great - another Dick in a bowtie), is Libby's Defense Fundraiser go-to guy. A tiny fact that both MSNBC and Tucker Carlson either didn't think was important to disclose, or they were too busy to remember. On a sub-Hooter #2 note, Tucker's mom is the Swanson's Frozen Food heiress. The boycott will now commence.

you do now! so get on with that swanson boycott, and i'll lead the way (i really hate those tv dinners)

Article Of The Day

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/06/03/01_blogosphere.html

the brownshirt brigade is hard at work in california

Elizabeth Dole sent out an NRSC fundraiser intentionally disguised as a "Return" and sent to "U.S. Individual Resident". Upon a quick second look I did see that the return address had the American Eagle and Elizabeth Dole's name at the top of the envelope. Someone else might honestly think that this was an official notification from the government. Especially, an elderly person or a new registrant who hasn't been politically active in the past.

links to the document in question. pretty scary tactics if you ask me.