Joke of the Day

But even here in the president's home state, in a region densely populated by energy and petrochemical industries with warm ties to the White House, consensus is that progress is being made in spite of the federal government, not because of it.

Dissatisfaction with what is seen as a heartless Bush administration recovery effort is widespread.

"We need some compassionate conservatism," said Mark Viator, a chemical company official who is chairman of the Southeast Texas Recovery Coalition, a group of area leaders that has been lobbying Washington for assistance.

"Make no mistake about it: They don't care about you, and they don't care about what is happening in our communities," said Chester R. Jourdan Jr., executive director of the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission. Jourdan made his comments at a public meeting last week less than two hours after returning from a fruitless lobbying trip to the nation's capital.

--source

katrina will have lasting effects for the bush administration. long after the houses are rebuilt, and long after bush is put out to pasture, his legacy will have a katrina labelling.

this fuckn mac is really bothering me today

first yahoo weather stopped reporting current temps ... not only for my town but for every town. that makes their widgets useless. weather.com, which provides their weather, is current, so its a matter of yahoo not reporting it. then i got mac crashing all over the place. safari. the thing jus pisses me off so much that i have to reboot every time i turn around it seems. i want my windows box back.

an open message to yahoo

what yahh hoo decided to drop the current temperature from the weather pages? what a dumb-ass idea. the one who made this decision should be fired. i rely on the yahoo weather widget to tell me what temperature it is outside. now i'm gonna have to buy a thermometer.

from the folks who should know better than anyone else

New York - As debate over the issue flares in several states, a major adoption institute says in a new report that it strongly supports the rights of gays and lesbians to adopt, and urges that remaining obstacles be removed.

--source

when will America rid itself of the bigotry of homophobia? i thought in my lifetime, but i don't know....

see dick sing, see dick hunt, see dick lie

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday rejected charges by Democrats that the Bush administration was mishandling Iraq and said: "If they are competent to fight this war, then I ought to be singing on American Idol."

--source

just like a bush.... keeping it all in the family

The LAT picks up the story that Barbara Bush donated money for Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston, and specifically instructed that part of the money be spent on buying educational software from her son Neil's company. Although the LAT does not mention it, the Houston Chronicle first reported this story on Thursday. The WP's Al Kamen mentioned the story in his column yesterday, and credited the Chronicle for the scoop.

from the GOOD NEWS file

seems the FEC finally has something we can brag about. from today's papers:

The Post goes inside with new rules proposed by the Federal Elections Commission that would pretty much extend the media exemption to the online world, thereby permitting Web sites and bloggers to attack or praise candidates. Campaign advertisement on the Internet will have to be paid with money regulated by federal campaign law and must carry a disclaimer. For the most part, bloggers and their advocates welcomed the new proposals.

why didn't russion join the coalition to invade iraq?

since they were very much a part of duping saddam in the early days of the invasion.

Letter Of The Day

To those who believe sexual orientation is a choice: Surely, then, you must remember the day you made your choice on such an important matter, don’t you?

— Kathy Collins Reilly, Des Moines.

attribution

today's GEM:

I and some other journalists had lunch with Senator Joe Lieberman the other day and we listened to him talking about Iraq. Either Senator Lieberman is so divorced from reality that he's completely lost the plot or he knows he's spinning a line. Because one of my colleagues turned to me in the middle of this lunch and said he's not talking about any country I've ever been to and yet he was talking about Iraq, the very country where we were sitting.

--atrios

tee hee

HYPOCRISY ALERT

President Bush, trying to regain his political footing ahead of this year's critical midterm elections, asserted Friday "the difference is clear" between the two parties on how to sustain the U.S. economic recovery.

"If you want the goverment in your pocket vote Democrat," Bush said. "If you want to keep more of your hard earned money vote Republican."

--source

if i want the government in my pocket, i'll buy a senator. the only record he has to stand on is a broken one, one of deficits so high you could walk to the moon on the money.

watching cspan

listening to josh conlangelo-bryan, of the dorsey & whitney law firm, on the treatment of detainees at gitmo.

that our government is behind the abuses down there of human beings should boil the blood of every red-blooded American.

listening to ex-prisoner shafiq rasul.

GITMO MUST BE SHUT DOWN!! we can no longer allow our government to operate in this fashion. this is not what America is about.

bush looked at putin and saw his soul

i wonder if he saw the soul of a friend or foe, as one has to wonder after reading this:

The Russian government provided Saddam Hussein with intelligence on U.S. military movements and plans during the opening days of the war in 2003, according to a Pentagon report released Friday.

--yahoo

caught this image over on DU and thought i'd share

because it demonstrates exactly how i feel, and why i hate this man so.

why do we even bother to have a congress?

WASHINGTON -- When President Bush signed the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act this month, he included an addendum saying that he did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's expanded police powers.

The bill contained several oversight provisions intended to make sure the FBI did not abuse the special terrorism-related powers to search homes and secretly seize papers. The provisions require Justice Department officials to keep closer track of how often the FBI uses the new powers and in what type of situations. Under the law, the administration would have to provide the information to Congress by certain dates.

Bush signed the bill with fanfare at a White House ceremony March 9, calling it ''a piece of legislation that's vital to win the war on terror and to protect the American people." But after the reporters and guests had left, the White House quietly issued a ''signing statement," an official document in which a president lays out his interpretation of a new law.

In the statement, Bush said that he did not consider himself bound to tell Congress how the Patriot Act powers were being used and that, despite the law's requirements, he could withhold the information if he decided that disclosure would ''impair foreign relations, national security, the deliberative process of the executive, or the performance of the executive's constitutional duties."

--source

signing statements had been used about 70 times before bush. bush has some 200 of 'em, and we're not even half way through his second term. no wonder he's got tortureman gonzales as his attorney general.

FARPOINT.FACTOID

There are thought to be about 20,000 non-Iraqi civilian contractors supporting a range of U.S. efforts, including about 6,000 security contractors. According to Department of Labor statistics, more than 400 U.S. civilians have died there.

--SOURCE

from the smoking gun, cheney's a foxnews-aholic

talk about a man living in a bubble.

The WP and NYT report that when Vice President Dick Cheney stays in a hotel, his staff faxes over a list of requirements for the "downtime suite." The document was posted online by The Smoking Gun, which publishes accommodation demands of big names and elebrities. Unlike some stars, however, the vice presidential requirements aren't too grand and include things like diet caffeine-free Sprite, and that all television channels be tuned to Fox News. Cheney's office also requests certain newspapers: NYT, USAT, WSJ, WP, and a local paper. Interestingly enough, the NYT's story on the document fails to mention the WP in the list of reading material.

ya think? the NYT has a bias.

a job half-assed done - the bush legacy

The United States is winding down its rebuilding programs in Iraq, which, according to one expert, have been a "dismal failure" that have "left a legacy of half-built projects." One of the goals was to create jobs for 1.5 million Iraqis, but USAID said last week they've only managed to get to 77,000.

--source

Letter of the WeeQ

As a gay United Methodist minister, I applaud Leonard Pitts Jr. admonishing those who draw on selective Scripture to support their bias against homosexuals (“Commandment for Literalists: Thou Shalt Not Quote the Bible Selectively,” March 11).

It is particularly annoying when these folks misquote the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), as though it has anything to do with a person’s homosexual orientation. This is a story of heterosexual men desiring to rape other men to assert their power over them.

Read with an open mind. Anyone can see this story has absolutely nothing to do with the wholesome and holy beauty of gay people expressing love to one another. It is always sad when people select Scripture to support their bigoted bias instead of allowing Scripture to personally nourish them and lead them to a better Christian life.
— The Rev. David R. Holmes, Council Bluffs.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

Regarding who can be married, and who cannot: Churches should stay out of state business, and the state should stay out of church business. Who marries whom should be determined by each church denomination or synod and not legislated by politicians.

And one church, should not try to interfere with another church no matter how powerful it is.
— Milford J. Ludwig, Des Moines.

attribution

freedom on the march

except if you're gay

Following a death-to-gays fatwa issued last October by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, death squads of the Badr Corps have been systematically targeting gay Iraqis for persecution and execution, gay Iraqis say. But when they ask for help and protection from U.S. occupying authorities in the Green Zone, the secure area officialdom has carved out within Baghdad, gays Iraqis are met with indifference and derision.

--source

i think i can see what bush means when he talks about progress in iraq. what with the taliban still very active in afghanistan, and now the badr corps in iraq, gays are once again targeted for killing.

the bush criminal enterprise continues to profit from war

WASHINGTON — As President Bush embarks on a new effort to shore up public support for the war in Iraq, an uncle of the chief executive is collecting $2.7 million in cash and stock from the recent sale of a company that profited from the war.

--source

there's a pic of him in the article. he looks like the town drunk.

from the GOOD NEWS file

WASHINGTON - The public backlash over gay marriage has receded since a controversial decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 2003 to legalize those marriages stirred strong opposition, says a poll released Wednesday.

--source

this should help democrats win this year.

Headline Of The Day

Afghan Christian convert may escape conviction due to 'insanity'

--source

one has to wonder, what took them so long

to CATCH the duke

"His personal style veered toward large, dark, wood Frenchy pieces, with lots of marble and mirror and stained glass, and a certain amount of decorative flourish," the Post assesses. "Was the man was just begging to be caught?"

the ground zero grassy knoll

http://newyorkmetro.com/news/features/16464/index.html

A new generation of conspiracy theorists is at work on a secret history of New York’s most terrible day.

...

There is “911truth.org,” "911forthetruth.com,” “911truthla.org,” “nakedfor911truth.com,” “911truthemergence.com,” “911citizenswatch.org,” “911research.wtc7.net,” “911review.com,” and hundreds more.

you know what they say about conspiracy theorists... somewhere in there something has to be true.

collateral damage my a$$

http://www.chris-floyd.com/march/

beware, graphic photos of children in war zone

HYPOCRISY ALERT

The U.S. military hit back on Wednesday at what it called a "pattern of misinformation" following Iraqi police accusations that its troops shot dead a family of 11 in their home last week.

Responding to comments by police and residents in the town of Ishaqi, north of Baghdad, that U.S. officers had failed to attend a meeting on Wednesday about the incident, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, a senior spokesman, told Reuters:

"There was no meeting scheduled with any Coalition investigators today. There appears to be a distinct pattern of misinformation surrounding this entire incident.

"This is another clear sign of that happening, making allegations for the sake of prompting media reporting and attempting to discredit Coalition operations. This is a pattern we‘ve seen the terrorist-backed insurgency use repeatedly."

--SOURCE

round 'em up for interrogation

saddam would be proud of george.

BAGHDAD, 22 March (IRIN) - Aid agencies say thay have been prevented from entering the city of Samarra, in central Iraq, where a major US and Iraqi military operation is underway.

"Our convoys sent on Sunday and Monday have been prevented from entering the city by US troops and our information from inside is that families are without food, power and potable water, particularly because they cannot leave their homes," noted Abdel Hameed, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS).

This, they say, has left hundreds of families without medical assistance and food supplies.

"Innocent people and especially children are suffering from a lack of supplies in and on the outskirts of Samarra," said Muhammad al-Daraji, Director of the Monitoring Net of Human Rights in Iraq (MHRI).

<snip>

"We have been informed that they are taking the men for interrogation and leaving women and children alone in their homes afraid and desperate for supplies," al-Daraji added

--source

Quote Of The Day

"During Saddam's time we couldn't say a word. Now we scream and scream and nobody listens"
--defense attorney Thabit Zubeidi

attribution

"just show us some respect" --iran

this is what is wrong with the bush adminstration. they don't feel they need to respect anybody else. and look where it got us.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that Iran is willing to meet with Americans to discuss ways to stabilize Iraq. At the same time, progress on the country's uranium-enrichment program was reported, and Khamenei said that the United States must treated Iran with respect.

that the USAT is reporting it makes me hopeful

that Americans will begin to see what this administration has wrought upon this country.

USAT reports on a Pentagon investigation of two incidents in which U.S. troops are accused of killing 26 Iraqi civilians. The first incident was reported first in Time magazine and centers around Marines who allegedly killed 15 civilians in Hadithah in November after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine. Separately, Iraqi police claim that U.S. troops killed 11 civilians, including children, during a raid last week at a house 60 miles north of Baghdad; these allegations were first reported by Knight Ridder.

i've always maintained the Knight-Ridder was a good source for breaking news. they have suffered greatly at the hands of the military.

and now on to iraq

once again, it appears we're losing the war.

The LAT fronts an examination of an extremely coordinated rebel attack in a city northeast of Baghdad Tuesday, an area U.S. and Iraqi officials said last year was no longer an insurgent stronghold. A dozen cars and trucks unloaded masked men outside a local courthouse, where they then killed 17 policemen, freed 33 prisoners, and set fire to the courthouse.

staying the course eh?

sounds more like flip-flopping to me?

Reversing an earlier policy, the White House will ban evidence elicited by torture from its Gitmo military courts, according to the WSJ. The new rule, which the Defense Department plans to release later this week, could help the special military commissions survive Supreme Court review. The high court is hearing arguments next week over the legality of the special military courts.

when do we call it corruption?

The Post fronts its investigation into organizations receiving large federal grants under the Bush administration. The paper found that $157 million in taxpayer funds has been farmed out to organizations that promote abstinence and anti-abortion messages and are run by big Bush boosters. Hundreds of once-small anti-abortion and crisis-pregnancy centers have received federal grants that doubled or even tripled their budgets; overall, these groups have gotten more than $60 million for abstinence education and other programming. Rep. Chet Edwards, a Democrat from Texas, told the paper: "The Post fronts its investigation into organizations receiving large federal grants under the Bush administration. The paper found that $157 million in taxpayer funds has been farmed out to organizations that promote abstinence and anti-abortion messages and are run by big Bush boosters. Hundreds of once-small anti-abortion and crisis-pregnancy centers have received federal grants that doubled or even tripled their budgets; overall, these groups have gotten more than $60 million for abstinence education and other programming. Rep. Chet Edwards, a Democrat from Texas, told the paper: "I believe ultimately this will be seen as one of the largest patronage programs in American history.""

why the media has turned lapdog instead of remaining watchdog

from today's papers:

For the most part, the papers concentrate on Bush's "punchy" performance; largely absent from the coverage is a substantial fact-check of Bush's contentions.

Letter Of The Day

I join the sea of protest against Cal Thomas' assertion that peace activists are naive. Those who believe that war and violence bring peace are the ones who are naive and gullible.

Thomas claims that the peace movement mobilizes only against America. This is way wrong. As a peace activist fortunate enough to have been born in a democracy, I am immensely grateful for the heritage of freedom that generations of men and women have nonviolently struggled to bring forward. I have inherited the duty to further this heritage. My responsibility to confront the sins of my own government is greater than my responsibility to confront the sins of the government of Sweden.

Thomas' statement that evil cannot be accommodated is hogwash. Living in a country of savage inequalities, paying taxes for an illegal war and having a government bought by the highest bidder, I accommodate evil every day. Because the United States is a democracy, I am more responsible for it than I would be if I lived under a military dictatorship. Those who love America must protest.

Tom Fox went to Iraq knowing the dangers. Would that I and others could carry on with his courage and commitment.
— Deborah Fink, Ames.

attribution

signs your youngster might be a conservative

found this over on DU. brought a much needed smile to my day.

Brings to school elaborate lunch packed by nanny which includes sandwich, fruit roll-up, potato chips, candy, soft drink, sugar packets, and a $10 bill to purchase whatever he wants from the school vending machine. Insists it is "unfair" when poor kids get free beef-a-roni from government.

American flag Underoos.

Claims that a classmate "recently sought significant quantities of whoopee cushions, tacks, silly string, and Chinese handcuffs from Spencer Gifts." Uses this claim as a pretext to beat up that classmate. Unable to find whoopee cushions, tacks, silly string, or Chinese handcuffs after the fact.

Says "Highlights" and "Weekly Reader" are part of the liberal media.

Pees in pants whenever he is in the vicinity of Middle Eastern-looking classmate.

Favorite Book: "The O'Reilly Factor -- for Kids!"

Tells other boys that "Girls play with dolls; boys play with trucks." Secretly plays with dolls.

Spells potato with an e.

Blames low grade in finger painting on "racial preferences."

Favorite Animal: Elephant

Shoots close friend in the face with Super Soaker. Graciously accepts apology from close friend, who is "deeply sorry for all the bad stuff that has happened this week."

Obsessed with wee-wee of a certain classmate from Arkansas.

Favorite After-School Special: "The poor boy who got kissed by another boy on the school bus and had no choice but to beat up the boy who kissed him."

Takes lunch money from classmates, gives it to friend named Hal E. Burton.

Declines to participate in fire drill because he is busy reading "My Pet Goat."

"Operation Iraqi Freedom" lunch box.

and now for today's CRAZY TALQ

USAT fronts an interesting news feature on a new trend in, ahem, law enforcement: States are now passing laws that grant immunity from prosecution to crime victims who retaliate against their attackers with deadly force. The laws, championed by the NRA, are meant to deter carjackers, muggers, and the like. Critics say they are a license for vigilantism, since it's hard to define what constitutes an attack. Case in point: A tow-truck operator who shot a man for driving his car away without paying a fee is invoking the defense, saying the driver could have run him down.

and on to iran

the saber rattling by some is based on very murky evidence - if that much credence is worthy at all. seems the lack of intel on iran is spookin the spooks.

"It blows me away the lack of intelligence that's out there," one counterterrorism official tells the paper (LAT).

time for some reality checking

bush was in cleveland touting tal afar... the same area cbsnews' lara logan was reporting on, and lapdogging the bushites. i don't know what got into cbsnews lately, but they have been decidedly pro-bush lately. did karl make a call to someone there?

a little reality check is in order:

...lately, residents say, the city has taken another dark turn. "The armed men are fewer," Nassir Sebti, 42, an air-conditioning mechanic, told a Washington Post interviewer Monday, "but the assassinations between Sunni and Shiites have increased."

they could have prevented 9/11

"the FBI would have raised 'alarm bells' and could have stopped the Sept. 11 attacks,"

AND THIS

there was even a suggestion that one might be flown into the World Trade Center, according to the NYT—and said that he raised the possibility to his superiors more than 70 times.

and finally THIS

"You thought a terrorist attack was coming, and you were being obstructed, right?" a defense attorney asked at one point.

"Yes, sir," Samit answered.

what more evidence do you NEED that they KNEW and did NOTHING about it.

the touchplay debacle in iowa

a few months ago, the iowa lottery was told to make more money. in that vein, they went and let convenience stores and grocery stores, just about anybody, have these new slottery machines, called touch play, in their businesses.

now because of established casino lobbying and some very disappointed losers, the legislature acted with a post-haste that hasn't been seen in decades, a state-wide ban on the machines.

but to find out who won and who lost, check out the searchable database HERE.

Letter of the WeeQ

I'm responding to Rob Borsellino's column ("Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Worse," March 8):

Uh-oh. I think I'm the culprit here. You see, after the last election I was feeling blue, so I prayed that this administration would show all of its flaws and people could make a better choice at the polls next time.

But I didn't know I had this kind of power. One calamity followed the other. I tried to stop it with a counter prayer (as in "enough already"), but the laws of physics must have been in play here (a body in motion tends to stay in motion - I guess that must apply to administrations, too). The moral: Be careful what you pray for!
— Cheryl Long, Johnston.

attribution

i read rob's column that day too, and i emailed him right away letting him know how good i felt after reading it.

Letter Of The Day

It shouldn't surprise anyone that President Bush so adamantly embraced the decision approving a foreign country running six of our ports without the 45-day investigation required by law. Just like the FISA law, this law was also created in the pre-9/11 era (1970s), and Bush doesn't feel he has to follow any laws that old if he doesn't want to.

With almost exclusive emphasis on port security, it didn't become obvious why Bush supported the deal until it was revealed that the United Arab Emirates allowed us to dock military ships in its ports and use military bases in the country.

In addition, trade between our countries doubled last year to $9.5 billion, and United Arab Emirates has no income or consumption tax (another tax haven?).

In Bush's simple-minded thinking, that is all that is necessary to call the nation an ally against terror. Remember, we used to consider Saddam Hussein an ally against our enemy Iran, and bin Laden an ally against our enemy the Soviet Union. The lesson: Today's ally could be tomorrow's enemy.
— Larry Claus, Des Moines.

attribution

FARPOINT.FACTOID

According to estimates by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in 2005, the cost to the federal government for a senior on traditional Medicare was $6,527, on average.

When seniors enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, the 2005 payment from the federal government to that insurance company was $7,851 per senior — $1,300 more than it cost the government to pay for a senior's care. In 2006, the reimbursement jumps to $8,223. If the plan offers a drug benefit, the feds fork over an additional $1,100 per year to the insurance company, according to the agency.

So if it costs more to cover seniors through private-sector programs than through traditional Medicare plans, why did Congress expand opportunities for private-sector coverage? One of the main arguments was that more competition in the marketplace would drive down the cost of health care.

But that doesn't mean taxpayers will pay less for seniors' care. If an insurance company holds down health-care costs for seniors, the federal government will continue to pay those companies a set amount, which increases each year.

"Savings" mean higher profits for insurance companies.

--SOURCE

they LIED. why can't people see that? republicans LIE to get their way. they have to because if they didn't they wouldn't get what they want.

we got a shoot-out at the OK corral

http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2006/03/21/opinion/doc441f86683dc62889850366.txt#blogcomments

they KNEW and they LIED

In the period before the Iraq war, the CIA and the Bush administration erroneously believed that Saddam Hussein was hiding major programs for weapons of mass destruction. Now NBC News has learned that for a short time the CIA had contact with a secret source at the highest levels within Saddam Hussein’s government, who gave them information far more accurate than what they believed. It is a spy story that has never been told before, and raises new questions about prewar intelligence.

What makes the story significant is the high rank of the source. His name, officials tell NBC News, was Naji Sabri, Iraq’s foreign minister under Saddam. Although Sabri was in Saddam's inner circle, his cosmopolitan ways also helped him fit into diplomatic circles.

In September 2002, at a meeting of the U.N.’s General Assembly, Sabri came to New York to represent Saddam. In front of the assembled diplomats, he read a letter from the Iraqi leader. "The United States administration is acting on behalf of Zionism," he said. He announced that there were no weapons of mass destruction and that the U.S. planned war in Iraq because it wanted the country’s oil.

But on that very trip, there was also a secret contact made. The contact was brokered by the French intelligence service, sources say. Intelligence sources say that in a New York hotel room, CIA officers met with an intermediary who represented Sabri. All discussions between Sabri and the CIA were conducted through a "cutout," or third party. Through the intermediary, intelligence sources say, the CIA paid Sabri more than $100,000 in what was, essentially, "good-faith money." And for his part, Sabri, again through the intermediary, relayed information about Saddam’s actual capabilities.

<snip>

"A source," he said in a speech on Feb. 5, 2004, "who had direct access to Saddam and his inner circle." Sources tell NBC News Tenet was alluding to Sabri. Tenet said that the source — meaning Sabri — had said Iraq was stockpiling chemical weapons and that equipment to produce insecticides, under the oil-for-food program, had been diverted to covert chemical weapons production. However, in that speech, Tenet also laid out what Sabri had disclosed: that there was no biological program, that Saddam wanted nuclear weapons but had none.

MSNBC

just made myself visible

on technorati. wonder what'll come of it. i wonder how long it'll be before i get some baffoon emailing me on why i named the site poopy when all there is is a bunch of shit.

i'll have to think up something real funny to say.

watching bonanza

and it pains me to say that i know people like the characters playing the townspeople, getting all excited on a hot blistery dry miserable day. i remember seeing the episode, but i cant remember play by play. what happens next. but i remember it being a good one. how people can be manipulated into believing just about anything. how so much could be relative to present day politics.

Hot Day for a Hanging" Episode #406.
A desperate town tries to frame Hoss for murder and bank robbery in order to take the $12,000 he carries; guest Denver Pyle.