The GOP Theft of the 2004 Presidential Election

"New charges filed against Ohio Governor Bob Taft's former top aide have blazed a new trail between "Coingate" and the GOP theft of the 2004 presidential election.

"Brian Hicks appears in court today to answer charges that he failed to report vacation trips he took to Coingate mastermind Tom Noe's $1.3 million home in the Florida Keys. A top Taft aide for a dozen years, Hicks stayed at Noe's place in 2002 and 2003. Another Taft aide, Cherie Carroll, is charged with taking some $500 in free dinners from Noe.

"Noe is a high-roller crony of Taft, US Senator George Voinovich and President George W. Bush. Noe charged the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation nearly $13 million to invest some $58 million. Ohio Attorney-General Jim Petro, to whom Noe once donated money, says some $4 million disappeared into Noe's pocket.

"The new charges against Taft's former aide are at the edge of Coingate's links to Bush, Voinovich and organized crime. Through Noe's wife Bernadette, those links extend to the GOP theft of Ohio 2004".

There's more and it gets interestinger. Read the rest at TheFreePress and a big hat tip to the Dark Wraith for the heads-up.

Driftglass is Just So Damned Good!

Today I want to give up my post space and ask you to please drop over to Driftglass.

Scroll down to his post titled “Get Up Stand Up. Is that the best writing you have read on the “internets” in a long time, perhaps ever? After you read that post, you may want to read them all, but be sure to read the one titled “Hitler got my knickers...” which was posted yesterday. His letter to Jebus is outstanding!

Rhetorical Question of the Day:

If people will presently strip themselves naked and let others look up their assholes in exchange for a plane ride, what will people be willing to exchange for a plate of bread?

Rape cases in US prisons number in the thousands

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Nearly 2,100 incidents of rape and other sexual violence were recorded in US prisons in 2004, US justice authorities said.

The Department of Justice said that the highest rate of prison rape and other forced sexual acts was in state-run juvenile prisons, and that the largest portion involved prison staff abuse of inmates.

According to a department report on prison sexual violence, a total of 8,210 cases of sexual violence were reported in adult prisons, local jails and juvenile correctional facilities in 2004.

This amounted to 3.2 allegations per 1,000 inmates.

Roughly half of the alleged incidents that the Justice Department investigated could not be substantiated, however.

Of the 7,000 investigations completed by the department, about one-third of cases, or about 2,100, were substantiated, the report said.

Nearly 42 percent of reported cases of sexual violence involved prison staff abuse of inmates, while 37 percent was inmate-on-inmate violence.

Males comprised 90 percent of inmate-on-inmate violence.

The report also noted that sexual violence in state-run youth prison facilities was 10 times higher than that in adult prisons.

US prisons held more than 2.1 million people in 2004, not including juvenile offenders.

There appears to be a higher rate of sexual abuse in juvenile prisons than in churches. Nothing else about the article surprised me. When the pretzeldent said that we don't do things here in Amurka that were done in Abu Ghraib, boy was he talking out of his asshole.

How about a contest?

Inspired by cabana boy's silly post below, I wrote a some bad opening sentences to bad novels.

Faith based medicine: A parent's dream or nightmare?
While abstinence is certainly a parent's ideal wish for their teenage offspring, if they reminisce about that awkward teenage situation in the back seat of their future father-in-law's cigar smoked car and ended up doing that which is forbidden by god almighty himself, even though it started out innocently enough (as a mere blow job), and the subsequent forced marriage by shotgun to a once dream lover who turned out to be anything but, are sadly reminded that it's pure folly to believe that their precious angels who took the 'virginity until marriage' pledge won't end up following in their own dismal footsteps.

Dick Sanitorium's Dilemma
"I'm not apologizing to that fat fuck in Massachusetts" spewed the shaking senatorial, frothy mix of fecal matter and lube, visibly upset by the public and indignant request for an apology for declaring what he knows is true: Liberalism is what allows priests to enjoy a near Pompeiian lifestyle; "Liberalism is what made ME homosexual," sweat was now pouring from his brow, red and swollen with veins he hadn't popped since his altar boy days, "If I have to pretend to be righteous, catholic AND heterosexual, then I will use all my power to see to it that all homosexuals are put back in the closet where they belong, so help me God!"

"Time's up, Senator. You'd better see me again tomorrow," winced Dr. Seymour Cohen, psychiatrist and sex therapist for the US Senate.


It sucks! Wanna try it? Pick a topic in the news, a stupid politician or a stupid government policy and write your best worst opening sentence to an essay or novel. Loser Winner gets a prize from the blondesense activist active-wear shop. Judging will be done by blondesense writers, if we don't end up not speaking to each other.
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Carburetor breast fantasy wins bad writing contest

"As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire, highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold, aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual," went Dan McKay's winning entry in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.

Everything ya' need to know go get through a Saturday: Reuters

Which Paperback Book Would You Recommend?

Week after next Mr. and Ms Pop are off to the beach to be beach bums. Yep, big decisions will be made that week. For me the decisions will be which restaurant to choose for dinner and whether to read on the beach or just go into a semi-coma on the sand. Mr. Pop will have to decide if he wants to swim or fish. Vacations are “hard work” plus of course you have to squeeze in some shopping. Toss me in that briar patch, please.

We’ll drop off Murphy and Fred the Cat in Tampa with the sister in law who is a veterinarian and who will keep them at her house with her pets. Nice, huh? Her house is like a second home for our “kids”. After the kids are ensconced at their aunt’s, the two of us are on our way to our yearly honeymoon. No responsibilities, just kick back, laugh, drink, eat, sleep and have fun. You think I’m looking forward to this? You’re right, I sure am.

Mr. Pop is totally burned out from work so he’s like a little kid getting ready to go to the circus. You would really like him. He’s fun, he makes me laugh, he’s kind and gentle and he has a great big soft heart for animals. He’s my very best friend and the person who has, by association, made me a better person. See why I look forward to this time away? I’ll be spending it with my best buddy and the person I love most in the world, plus we’ll be at the beach.

Of course I’m watching the weather station 24-7 to see if any of those little puffs hopping off the coast of Africa will become hurricanes that might head our way. Mr. Pop’s attitude is, Fuck the Storms. He says if one is headed this way we will put up the shutters, take in the outside stuff and go as we planned. I like his bravado and I’m inclined to agree with him. What the hell good will it do to stay here during another hurricane? After last year we are sort of calloused. Being here during Frances last year didn’t make a damned bit of difference, the damages happened. When you’re sealed up inside your house during a hurricane there’s nothing you can do but ride it out. Might as well be on the beach on the opposite coast. Why waste the time at home in the dark with no electric? Tried that last year and you know what? It’s not a bit of fun, plus you can’t have cocktails without ice.

So here’s the deal. Border’s bookstores emailed me a coupon for 30% off any paperback book in their store. I’m going to use that coupon so I’m asking you to suggest a paperback you think I should read while I’m at the beach. Please nothing too heavy and serious. A sun fried, hung over brain doesn’t deal well with deep serious stuff. Any suggestions will be deeply appreciated.

Criminals should never determine the definition of a crime.

So they want to take away a woman’s right to have an abortion. Might they also want to prevent a man from having a vasectomy? Lots of sperm are denied a future as an embryo when a man has a vasectomy. Are they not?

Are they really that concerned about the life of a fetus or is this about the rights of women in general. Will the next step be to take away the voting rights of women? Why not? If they don’t think we are wise enough to decide whether we want to have children, wouldn’t the next step be to decide that we aren’t wise enough to be entrusted with the vote? Maybe they will even step back farther and decide that wives are once again the property of their husbands. Hell, what’s to keep them from backing all the damned way back to bopping women over the head and dragging them home as their mate?

This is all about rights and privacy. This is about the government stepping into a woman’s life and telling her that she must give birth. That’s exactly what it is. It is insane to tell a woman that unless she wants to have a child she should never experience sex. You can preach it forever, but you’ll never succeed. Hormones trump laws just about every time. You can tell men and women that if a woman has sex with a man and a pregnancy occurs, they must have the child and tend to it for at least 18 years, but you’ll not succeed. Why? Because the sexual urge and desire between two people is one with no rationale. At the moment just before sex, the brain is not thinking about consequences. It surely isn’t. The instinct to experience sex will never be totally controlled. It’s as large a part of the normal human being as any other human emotion.

If women lose their right to legal abortions two things will happen and you can count on it. First women will continue to get abortions and those abortions may well be preformed by less than educated doctors. Women will die as a result. Next, America had best be prepared with a plan to care for many abandoned newborns. Even now in the area where I live, women can drop off newborns at fire departments and no questions will be asked. You can drop off unwanted kittens at the office of animal control. It’s sort of the same plan, in my opinion. The woman or young girl gets pregnant but for some reason, most likely religious or financial, she doesn’t have an abortion, so she has the baby and drops it off for someone else to deal with. Imagine how many drop off spots will be needed if abortion is ruled illegal.

If Roe v Wade is overturned, it will be the saddest day for women in this country, because it will be the ruling that forces women to have unwanted children. Seems a sad way to begin life. Women will be torn between breaking the law or having a child they do not want. Poor women will be hit the very hardest because they cannot afford to hop on a jet and fly away for a legal abortion. Poor women will be forced to either put their life in the hands of the man in the dirty room off the alley or bring another child into a world knowing full well that she cannot give this child the kind of life she feels that it deserves.

Remember the right to have an abortion does not require an abortion. It’s the choice that matters. That choice is the most important choice a woman will make. She, and she alone, must forever deal with the consequences. Most of us do not take lightly decisions of that magnitude. We must fight for the right to continue to be able to make those decisions ourselves. Decisions such as these are too important to be made by government. The government, as of late, has a track record of decision making that is not enviable.

Until our government shows me that their hands are clean in every way, I would appreciate it if they left my life, and the lives of all women, the hell alone. Criminals should never determine the definition of a crime.

John "Got Milk" Bolton: Shocking revelation

He lied forgot.

When Milky testified to the senate, he said that he wasn't questioned in the government investigation into faulty prewar intelligence that Iraq was seeking nuclear materials in Africa. In fact he was interviewed in 2003. He says he doesn't remember. With such a faulty memory, he really shouldn't qualify for UN Ambassador in the real world. But we're not in the real world.

[State Department spokesman Noel] Clay said Bolton "didn't recall being interviewed by the State Department's inspector general" when he filled out the form. "Therefore, his form, as submitted, was inaccurate," Clay said. "He will correct it." Link

The shit is flying according to Yellow Dog Blog and Bob Geiger asks the million dollar question:

So what's Bush going to do with the nomination now that it looks like Bolton is fibbing all over the place? For this administration, I say it will be either the Medal of Freedom or a recess appointment to the United Nations.

I say both.
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Oh Lord, Take My Money, Please

When I was a regular church goer (yes I actually was), every so often they would haul in witnesses who had tithed 10% of their income to the church. They would proclaim that because of their tithing, they had recieved riches tenfold in return. It wasn't only money they recieved- some of them won cars in raffles, were cured of disease and magic like that. The priest would then cite biblical references to the benefits of tithing- mostly being that the Lord demands it, but the faithful were already picturing themselves driving around in new Ford Explorers.

But being that the RC Church is quite adept at instilling fear in the faithful and is just as money grubbing as any television religion or corporation, bringing in successful regular people to shill testify brought the church coffers up to par (whatever that is). Now I won't argue that a parish needs money to keep going. I won't argue that my parish did wonders in reaching out to the community and helping our least bretheren, but employeeing dirty trickery in amassing money is outrageous in a church setting. Naturally, I didn't give money during the tithing drive being that I have been a rebel since day 1. I also read in the bible that Jesus, who spent most of his time explaining that being rich was contra-indicated if you wanted to sit at his table at the end of time.

I look back and see that there was something to the tithing drive that perhaps was true in a quantum mechanics sort of way but gawd forbid that it was used for good. Visualizing and feeling yourself in a new reality does make a difference. Tony Roberts and that hypnotism lady who advertises on Air America all the time teach (and make a lot of money) that you can change your reality and it starts inside your head. I suck at this, by the way- all the years of Catholic guilt are hard to shed. There is something to the concept though but it doesn't exist to make preachers rich.

Upon further inspection of the very theological gospel of John and comparing it to quantum mechanics, there is some very important wisdom and insight happening there. It is in keeping with beliefs of more mystical religions who use this knowledge to achieve peace and contentment. Unfortunately the christian religion sprang up and used those passages to oppress, subdue and keep the masses from discovering the true spiritual meaning of the gospels and mysteries of life. If there's money and power to be made from something, leave it to those white men who possess that quantum power to use it against their fellow man.

There are Christian weight loss programs now. Love the lord and shed those unwanted pounds. I get spam mail from a Christian mortgage company regularly and a lot of mail from other "christian" companies, capitalizing on the current rash of existential angst among the faithful. No entity, other than the Catholic Church, has made such inroads in capitalization off the faithful than the US government. Not only do they take your money, they contribute to the fear, the angst and the terror in tangible ways. The Church used fear of hell which is merely a man made concept. The government on the other hand uses that fear of hell plus the added bonus of nukes, wars, violent extremists™ and the media to pound terror into the submissive, terrified masses. Here, take our money, our freedom! Just keep us safe.
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Year Of The Dog

1994

Do you remember where you were in 1994, and what you were doing?

I do.

It was the best year of my life. I was working for my first radio station, slogging away at 5 bucks an hour, up to 80-90 hours a week (only about 35 of that "on the clock"), I was learning radio, I was writing my ass off (okay, granted, most of it was dirty jokes and commercials, but at least it was part of the job description), I was doing things in the production studio that were blowing the minds of quite a few higher-level radio geeks, and I had a circle of friends that felt like family. And yes, we got rather shit-faced on occasion, but it was almost all good. The radio station wasn't perfect by a long shot, but it was the best job that I'd ever had, or ever would have, which tells y'all a lot about my resume.'

I remember hearing something, vaguely, in the news, about Rwanda, but I didn't pay enough attention or nobody spoon-fed the information to me in the right way, but I knew that it was severely fucked-up and that we (the United States) weren't doing DICK about it. And then, as 23-year-olds are wont to do, I got wrapped-up in my own personal and professional dramas, and forgot about it.

Most likely, I'm one of twelve or thirteen people on the planet who haven't seen "Hotel Rwanda." Until tonight.

Y'ever been humbled?

I don't just mean the kind of "humbled" that you get by being dumped or cheated-on by your significant (or one-night-stand-gone-wrong) other. I don't just mean the kind of humbling that comes from standing in the long-ass line at the New Orleans unemployment office. I don't even mean the kind of humbled that drives you to open a vein in a plasma center, just to put gas in your vehicle or food in your stomach.

I mean wiped out. Eviscerated. Vivisectioned. Made to feel smaller than the first time that you see the Atlantic Ocean. Made to feel like the most insignificant speck of dust on a dot of flyshit under the naugahyde seats at the bus station.

That's what this movie was like to me.

Being born white & Southern and NOT a mouth-breathing trogolodyte or kuntry-klub klansman means that I have known, all of my life, the horrors that have been rent upon Africa by white people.

Yeah, yeah, I will never know what it means to be black in America. I will never feel what it means to be black anywhere. But at least I give a fuck.

I feel like a big ol' piece o'shit right now. I dunno if that's too foul for a blog front page, but there it is. While I was going to concerts and playing DOOM and watching television and just being a knob, almost a million people in Rwanda were murdered. For what?

For bullshit, that's what.

The only difference between a Tutsi and a Hutu is that the Belgian colonists told them that they were different from one another. That's it. Paperwork. Eeenie-meenie-miney-moe. And hence began the race warfare in a country that had almost recovered from the colonists when all hell broke loose.

It really makes you realize how fucking trivial our lives really are in this country. It also makes you understand HOW so-called Americans can not only CONDONE the mass murder of "BROWN PEOPLE" in Afghanistan and Iraq (and Kuwait, too, btw) --- but to ENDORSE IT.

Because they, quite simply, just don't fucking CARE.

There were no real differences between the Tutsi and the Hutu except that the Belgian massahs TOLD them that they were different and then the Belgians favored one over the other, so that generations-long resentments built-up. So they then began "ethnic cleansing" (much like Chad & Sudan today) by killing their own PEOPLE.

Hence the analogy between the Hutu and Americans. Brown people don't "look like us," right? So that makes it EVEN EASIER.

Everybody knows that Anntichrist S. Coulter is an avowed atheist. And most of y'all know why.

But I was partially raised by the last two GOOD Baptists on the planet, my maternal grandparents. My grandmother was so glad when Bill Clinton got the nomination, because not only was he SOUTHERN, but he was a SOUTHERN BAPTIST.

Needless to say (?), Nannie was more than a tad pissed when Bill let the republicunts catch him with his dick hanging out. She was pissed at Bill for being a 'ho, and she was pissed at the republicunts for wasting millions of tax dollars on the witch-hunt. She never said it outright, but if Baptists did excommunications, Bill's ass would've been TOAST. Okay, granted, with the neanderthal, recidivist sexist-pig THUGS who are running the Southern Baptist Convention nowadays, that would be more like a blessing than a curse, but Nannie wasn't anything like THOSE MORONS. She was genuinely broken-hearted when Bill couldn't act right.

My grandfather, btw, was a Baptist preacher. One of the last good ones. Franklin Graham ain't tick-piss upside of my Papa. But then, Papa wasn't a republicunt, either. How any BORN Southerner could be a republicunt, I will never understand. Papa was one of those old-school preachers, the ones who actually WENT OUT into the world to TAKE CARE OF PEOPLE. Giving his money to the poorest in the congregation. Giving his food to the hungry. Cutting the grass of widows or the sick. He wasn't perfect --- he chain-smoked Salems --- but he was a helluva lot better than these fag-bashing douchebags that call themselves "baptists" nowadays.

Bill Clinton didn't just screw up because of his sexual addictions. When it came to Rwanda, Bill Clinton tucked & taped and acted like the wussiest tranny on the planet. Bill Clinton pussed out.

Now, I know, most staunch Democrats will cry, "HERESY!" and want my voter-registration card burned.

I was born a Democrat, I registered to vote on my 18th birthday as a Democrat, and I will, most likely, DIE a Southern Democrat (an endangered species, I might add).

But watching this movie, "Hotel Rwanda," made me SO fucking ashamed to be an American. I know what little that we are ALLOWED to know about the attrocities in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo, and that makes me ashamed as well. Let's face it, kids --- this was never about "defense" any more than it was EVER about "democracy." THIS IS *NOT* A HUMAN-RIGHTS CAMPAIGN.

Sure, sure, they can talk about school supplies and take pictures with all of the little village kids that they want. It will never change the genocide that WE ARE COMMITTING RIGHT NOW. It will never change THE WAR CRIMES that our country has committed in our names. It will never change the fact that this fake-ass war has never been about anything but GREED AND COLONIALISM.

"Hegemony" is too kind a word for it.

But in addition to VietNam, in addition to Cambodia, in addition to the horrors in the Middle East that WE HAVE COMMITTED --- we will always be guilty of abandoning Rwanda.

Almost a million dead.

Bill Clinton broke my heart tonight. What little faith that I still had in that man, that post that I put up here about him helping, what? A THOUSAND kids with AIDS? How fucking naive was I.

I never knew that we, as a country, through our government, "the good guys," back then --- we signed the death warrants on almost a million people. We didn't know, and we didn't fucking care.

Bill Clinton is not only no Baptist, he is no Democrat.

Go ahead, light the pyre, I don't care. I've said what I had to say.

http://www.mgm.com/ua/hotelrwanda/intro.html

More Fecal Matter

"Why would Republicans working on the energy bill in conference sneak in a provision that gives a 'consortium' conveniently located in Tom DeLay's district control of a billion-dollar handout to big oil? Because they'd never get away with it had the measure been subjected to a vote. According to a letter from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., this secretly inserted and obscenely costly provision is a 'serious abuse' and "should be deleted" before the final energy bill is brought to the House floor.

"Even President Bush's own energy secretary, Samuel Bodman, conceded yesterday that the energy bill gives too much money to industry. About the $3 billion in tax breaks and incentives in the bill, Bodman said that oil and gas companies 'don't need incentives with oil and gas prices being what they are today.' And Bodman was commenting only on the provisions that were inserted in the clear light of day, not those added after all discussion of the legislation had officially been closed."

Continue reading here at TomPaine.com

Bin Laden Brothers Tip-Off Two NASA Research Scientists In 1987 About U.S. Government Plans To Cause 9/11

Now Third Person Comes Forward To Verify Scientists' Incredible Story

From ArcticBeacon.com:
Besides the tip-off about 9/11, one of the researchers involved in a government-funded advanced brain development program says she uncovered a secret study called "Global Cleanse 2000" outlining U.S. Government strategies for intitiating global war and population reduction.
July 27, 2005

By Greg Szymanski

"Rene Welch cut 'a deal with the devil,' a deal she recently broke when she went public about her two 1987 encounters with Saudi royals, including two of the bin Laden brothers who claimed the U.S. government was actively involved in pre-arranging 9/11.

"Welch’s incredible story, first made public in May, has already been verified by one other former NASA scientist. But this week another person present at the meeting also came forward to verify Welch’s story.

"The meetings with the Saudis took place in Sedona and Pleasant Valley, Arizona, and lasted more than eight hours each time, the bin Ladens revealing in 1987 detailed plans how the U.S. government was planning to attack the World Trade Center, kicking off a global catastrophe, including a massive war in the Middle East.

"Besides being verified by Ronald Logsdon, 49, of Philadelphia, a scientist who worked in a NASA program with Welch and also present at the bin Laden meetings, this week long time Sedona resident, Naomi Niles, also verified the Sedona meeting took place.

"Yes, I was there at one of the meetings back in 1987," said Niles this week from her Sedona home, adding the details of the story should be left for Logsdon and Welch to describe since she was not a part of the NASA program.

"And Welch not only learned about the U.S. government’s pre-planning of 9/11 from the bin Ladens back in 1987, but this week from her Albuquerque home Welch added more, saying when working for NASA as a scientist on brain development research in Phoenix, she obtained a secret computer code and was able to uncover the findings of a government-funded project titled “Global Cleanse 2000,” a study outlining strategies for global war and population reduction.

"After learning of the government’s evil intentions almost 20 years ago and being a government target ever since, Welch talked about 'the deal she made with the devil,' adding she always had a tacit understanding with FBI and CIA operatives, that if she’d 'shut up and lay low,' they’d leave her alone.

"But two months ago Welch broke the deal, deciding to tell America what she learned about the U.S. government’s pre-planning of 9/11, saying although the story’s a hard pill to swallow and 'may sound unbelievable,' she felt the need to risk public humiliation, government harassment and warn Americans anyway.

"Just like before, they’ll be after me again now that I went public", said Welch who has been drugged and beaten on several occasions by government operatives.

"And since she went public in May the harassment stated again, starting in the similar subtle manner it did after she was unexpectedly approached by the Saudis, including the bin Ladens.

"But Welch, instead or running and hiding, is now prepared to fight back hard, making public a 200 page document detailing information obtained about the staging of 9/11, Global Cleanse 2000 and about FBI and CIA civil rights violations.

"I’m naming names and want justice", added Welch.

"She also said she wants to document her story in a book, starting from the time she was a ‘military brat,’ her father being an Air Force B-52 pilot, when at the age of three she displayed exceptional ESP abilities and channeling powers, powers that eventually led her into the NASA program as an adult.

"Concerning the 200 page diaries documenting her FBI troubles and knowledge of 9/11, copies of the documents have previously been sent to several members of the former Clinton White House, including Hillary Clinton, as well as to Taos, NM. former district attorney John Paternoster, who Welch approached in 1995 about government death threats.

"Paternoster, now in private practice in Taos, recently said he couldn’t remember ever meeting Welch or hearing about the bin Laden story.

"He knows me and an investigator named Martinez was even assigned to my case", said Welch this week in a telephone conversation from her New Mexico home. "I saw him several times and even have kept receipts from his office, given to me regarding the 200 page document I gave him. He just wants the whole thing to go away and is probably afraid to tell the truth".

Regarding possible FBI and CIA further retaliation, she added:

"What’s the difference if they’re planning global war and mass population reduction", said Welch. "When I worked for NASA Application Technical Center in Phoenix, involved in brain development and mind control projects, I accessed the code for the computers and read a secret project they were working on called 'Global Cleanse 2000', outlining certain strategies like 9/11 to start a global war and how other strategies regarding how to reduce the world’s population.

"Now, again, after I went public, the harassment has started, my phone is tapped and they are starting to mess with my life. This time I am really frightened since they are very serious about keeping people like me, who know too much, quiet since they are getting closer to their objective of destroying this country.

"In the past I noticed when I stayed quiet, they left me alone. But when I started talking, the harassment then followed. That’s how I know they are still watching me and have always been watching me".

"Welch’s claim that two of the outspoken bin Laden brothers, not Osama, told her about the U.S. government’s plans to stage 9/11 in 1987 is not an idle fantasy or a story made up by a hyper-sensitive person’s imagination.

"Logsdon, the other NASA employed scientist who worked along side Welch, verified her story this way:

"Two of the bin Laden brothers came some 90 miles from Phoenix, Arizona, and stopped at our doorstep unannounced. Their bodyguards set up a surveillance parameter around our property and others came into our house, taped up the windows and set up a film projector. The people in this motorcade seemed very scared, and presented this as a matter of life and death", recalled Logsdon, who said at the time in 1987 the couple had no idea about the eventual 9/11 implications.

"These men told us to be very cautious and to assume that we were under surveillance by our government. For several hours they showed us films of meetings of key Arabs and U.S. government officials discussing the oil issues. The bottom line was that if the Arabs did not do it their way, the U.S. would simply take their oil by force. They also explained that they have been manipulated into setting up bank accounts where oil profits were siphoned off and were no longer under their control.

"They then explained why the World Trade Centers were the ideal target for this purpose. The two bin Ladens showed us this film because they made it very clear how they did not want to be involved with any U.S. plot to manipulate the Arab governments or start a war".

"Regarding the ongoing government harassment to keep her quiet, Welch said a two year period in the mid 1990s was most troubling when an agent infiltrated her life, finally using drugs and other types of physical harassment to get information after gaining her trust.

"I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t tell you I was scared again and I know some people have a hard time believing this story, but it’s true", said Welch, recalling the years when she said the agent who used the name Alfred Hermendorf injected her with several types of different drugs.

"But I am going to release the information and tell my story in a book because these people are evil and want to destroy America. There is a global catastrophe right around the corner and they may even make it look like a natural disaster. But I saw the plans back in the 1980s and after 9/11. I know it is going to happen unless we quickly get Bush out of power".

"Welch and Logsdon became aware of this radical element in our government, trying to create this new world order, when they worked together as scientists at NASA’s Application Technical Center Institute in Phoenix.

"Together with over 100 'think tank' participants, Logsdon, an engineer, and Welch, a licensed hypnotism-therapist and head of the Global Elite Scientist’s Club, were developing technology to better understand the brain’s memory and psychic ability capacities.

"The pair came up with they called the 'light and sound' machine, receiving much praise during the 80s for what was thought then to be ground breaking work. It was this project that eventually brought them in contact with the bin Ladens, creating the backdrop for why they both know 9/11 was a staged U.S. government event.

(Editor's Note: I asked a trusted, learned friend for an opinion on the above article. Here is his reply: "Old news. Highly reliable. Global Cleanse 2000 had other names, too. You might want to probe that".)

Winning Bumper Sticker Idea of the Week:

Shamelessly ripped off from the Dark Wraith Discussion Forum.

Unemployed? Republican? Join Bushco's military and be buried with work.

This is Why We Are Where We Are

Before the CAFTA vote last night, this is the atmosphere as described by the Washington Post:

“The last-minute negotiations for Republican votes resembled the wheeling and dealing on a car lot. Republicans who were opposed or undecided were courted during hurried meetings in Capitol hallways, on the House floor and at the White House. GOP leaders told their rank and file that if they wanted anything, now was the time to ask, lawmakers said, and members took advantage of the opportunity by requesting such things as fundraising appearances by Cheney and the restoration of money the White House has tried to cut from agriculture programs. Lawmakers also said many of the favors bestowed in exchange for votes will be tucked into the huge energy and highway bills that Congress is scheduled to pass this week before leaving for the August recess.”

The votes had nothing to do with what was best for our country, they were about favors like fundraising appearances by Cheney. Gives you a queasy feeling in your stomach, doesn’t it?

The Pentagon has a secret new strategy for taking on terrorists--and taking them down

By Linda Robinson

"On March 3, with little fanfare, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, signed a comprehensive new plan for the war on terrorism. Senior defense officials briefed U.S. News on the contents of the still-secret document, which is to be released soon in an unclassified form. Officially titled the 'National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism,' the document is the culmination of 18 months of work and is a significant evolution from the approach adopted after the 9/11 attacks, which was to focus on capturing or killing the top al Qaeda leaders. For the first time since then, Pentagon officials say, they have a strategy that examines the nature of the antiterror war in depth, lays out a detailed road map for prosecuting it, and establishes a score card to determine where and whether progress is being made."

Continue reading here: U.S. News & World Report.

Case of C.I.A. Officer's Leaked Identity Takes New Turn

From the New York Times:
“Mr. Pincus has not identified his source to the public. But a review of Mr. Pincus's own accounts and those of other people with detailed knowledge of the case strongly suggest that his source was neither Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political adviser, nor I. Lewis Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, and was in fact a third administration official whose identity has not yet been publicly disclosed.”

It's Summer For Gawd's Sake

Of course it's hot as hell. And yes, I've been cranky because the sweat drips into my eyeballs and my glasses are always fogged up. Yes, people are melting. Some areas are sopped with rain and others aren't. What else is new? It's summer. Why all the "news" coverage about the hot weather when we can just turn on the weather channel for typical summer heat wave news?

Our admitted C student pretzeldent says that he doesn't think global warming is an issue and that is why the US doesn't cooperate with the rest of the world to curb pollutants. The corporate media depicts environmentalists and those of us who give a shit about the environment as kooks anyway, so the media should just quit their yammering about the damn heat wave.

We're at war and our government is involved in a huge coverup of the false pretenses that led us to war. Now that's news.

PS. The heatwave just broke here in NY. Ahhh.

Used Space Shuttle Fleet For Sale

Used space shuttle fleet for sale, as is. Some parts missing and may require application of glue and foam insulation before being flown again. Hopefully the shuttle Discovery will be available in about ten days. Fly at your own risk.

Contact NASA and ask for the Grounded Shuttle Dept.

NASA to Ground Shuttles Again

"NASA said Wednesday that it will again ground the space shuttle fleet after analysts discovered that during the launch of Discovery the external fuel tank lost chunks of foam insulation similar to those that fatally damaged Columbia 2 1/2 years ago".

The rest is at The Washington Post.

Sad Tale of Disfigured Iraq Boy

The NY Times reports a story about a 13 year old Iraqi boy was maimed by an American cluster bomb when his cow set it off. The boy was so traumatized by his facial scars and the other kids making fun of him that he dropped out of school. He dreamed of having his old face back.

A retired law professor in Miami read about his plight and arranged for him to come to the US to get the shrapnel removed from his face and to fix his eye which was blinded. He was unable to get a cornea transplant because of the severity of the damage so he got a contact lens instead, which he lost already but his sponsors said they hope to send him a replacement. What, they couldn't give him a lifetime supply?

He got sort of fixed up here in the states, visited some tourist sites, went shopping, met with all sorts of politicians and even saluted George Bush's picture. So, there ya go warmongers, a nice story from Iraq. Kind of. The sad part is that he came to America and got to see all the decadence, get medical treatment and is now being sent back to the war zone. It's really kind of creepy in a propaganda sort of way.

They were scheduled to leave New York on an 11 p.m. flight for the Middle East and the sight of their suitcases stuffed with new clothes, cameras and Herbal Essence shampoo depressed them.

"I thought the Americans could do everything," Ayad's father said.

Ayad stared at the carpet and whispered, "I hope we come back." (The NY Times)

(use bugmenot.com for a user name and password)

Police State News

The following story is quite frightening. If it can happen in London, you can be damn sure, it could happen here. British police shooting to kill? Something is soooo rotten.

Brazilian did not wear bulky jacket
Relatives say Met admits that, contrary to reports, electrician did not leap tube station barrier

Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian shot dead in the head, was not wearing a heavy jacket that might have concealed a bomb, and did not jump the ticket barrier when challenged by armed plainclothes police, his cousin said yesterday.

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with the Metropolitan police, Vivien Figueiredo, 22, said that the first reports of how her 27-year-old cousin had come to be killed in mistake for a suicide bomber on Friday at Stockwell tube station were wrong.

Thursday July 28, 2005
The Guardian

"a global struggle against violent extremism"

The powers that be probably couldn't take all the jibing about the term "War on Terra"™. After all, you can't declare war on a concept or a method of violence. So now we are going to call U.S. Imperialism, "a global struggle against violent extremism". (IHT)

Wow that's a mouthful. A.G.S.A.V.E. ag-save. Not very catchy though.

Let's think of something better.

Forget the Hand Basket, We’re in a Cute Little Tote Bag Now

I’ve heard a couple of times lately that the name of the war is being changed. Now they’ve decided to call it "global struggle against violent extremism" or, I guess, GSAVE for short. That’s GSAVE, as in George SAVE your ass and find a way to get us the hell out of this freakin’ war that someone convinced you was a good idea, a war that cannot end as long as someone somewhere wants to kill a bunch of people. Idiot! What the hell were you thinking?

Well, I have a bunch of questions about this name change deal.

This morning it was said that Iraqis are calling for a swift American withdrawal from their country. So is the war over and has the struggle begun? Are we going to stop bombing countries on a whim and instead struggle with violent extremists? How shall we define violent extremist? What about the terrorists? They aren’t terrorist groups any longer? Is that supposed to make us feel better?

Calling it a war on terror was insane, because terror is an emotion. But now in the middle of the war, to change the war to a struggle is kind of lame. Bush said he was a "war president". Is he now a "struggle president"?

So now that we are in the midst of a struggle against violent extremism and extremists, do all the rules of war no longer apply? What are the rules of struggle? Can you take prisoners during a struggle? What about the prisoners of struggle? I bet the Geneva Conventions do not apply to a struggle.

So if you have a family member serving in Iraq, are you now supposed to say he’s in a struggle against violent extremism? Guess so.

This reminds me of some of the football teams. If they are constantly losing games and fans, they change things - new team name, new uniforms, everything/anything to change the reputation of the team. Change the team's name from The Losers to The Winners. Cover the losing seasons with a new and hopefully more appealing coat of paint. Of course underneath you still have the root of the problem--namely the players couldn’t play well enough to win. But at least they aren’t called The Losers any longer.

Washington seems to be trying to do a do-over with this war. Oops sorry, this struggle. Things are going to hell in a hand basket so they toss out the hand basket and put everything in a cute little tote bag. Everything is the same, but damn, doesn’t it look better now?

WHEW! Just in time...with the national elections coming up.

"US aims to sharply cut Iraq force within a year"

"The United States hopes to sharply reduce its forces in Iraq by the middle of next year, its top commander on the ground said on Wednesday.

"The remarks by General George Casey appear to have been the first time since the insurgency worsened sharply in April that top Pentagon officials have suggested a timeline for withdrawal".

You can read the rest at Reuters.

Cannon Fodder Shortage Threatens Our Effort to Do Whatever it is We’re Doing

Driving Over Bombs and Dodging Bullets Not as Alluring as Army Would Hope

From USA Today:

"The Army, which expects to miss its 2005 recruiting goal by about 12,000, already is falling behind for next year".

And

"Next year's recruits may also not be as qualified as this year's, because the Army will be looking for enlistees it can quickly ship to basic training. That means recruits whose options are limited, 'are not in school and not in a job,' said Cheney, chief operating officer of Business Executives for National Security in Washington, D.C.

"The Army is offering unprecedented enticements — including enlistment bonuses as high as $20,000 and service stints as short as 15 months — but so far has been unable to persuade enough young men and women to join.

"Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey recently proposed increasing the top enlistment bonus to $40,000 and is about to add 800 additional recruiters to the force. Even the new recruiters and higher bonuses 'may not be enough for everyone,' Rochelle said.

"None of the recruiting trends bode well for the Army, said Loren Thompson, an analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.

"If you think of the Army as a watershed, their reservoir is about to run dry," Thompson said. "They have nothing left in reserve."

"Join the Police Force in Iraq and Become 'Cannon Fodder'" Yahoo News (Link)

"A US government report has concluded that likely insurgents have infiltrated Iraq's police service, while other recruits have criminal records or are barely literate.

"In a more controversial opinion, according to Time magazine, the report by the Department of Defense and State Department inspector generals also says that the Pentagon has been using Iraqi police as 'cannon fodder' in Iraq."

And

"The so-called progress report, which is expected to be released in Washington this week, also states that the training of Iraqi police recruits is badly behind schedule.

"It notes that 'too many recruits are marginally literate; some show up for training with criminal records or physical handicaps,' Time said, citing the conclusions of the inspectors general."

And finally this tidbit July 23, 2005 NY Times:

"The Pentagon announced Friday that Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has been in charge of efforts to train Iraqi security forces, has completed his yearlong tour of duty and will become commander of the Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan."

Is it any wonder that Rumsfeld is making a surprise visit to Iraq today? We’re running out of cannon fodder, the Iraqi cannon fodder isn’t up to snuff, so what happens now? If we don’t come up with more and better cannon fodder do we have to end the war?

I guess it’s "hard work" when you are in the process of running and ruining two countries at the same time. Not to mention this from MSNBC.

9/11 Scandal

C-SPAN Lecture & Excellent Article in Scholarly Journal

"A Zogby poll in late August 2004 found 49 per cent of New York City residents and 41 per cent of New York citizens overall agreed that 'some leaders in the U.S. government knew in advance that attacks were planned on or around September 11, 2001, and that they consciously failed to take action.' Stanley Hilton -- a former aide to Senator Bob Dole -- has filed a $7 billion suit on behalf of the families of 14 victims of the 9/11 attacks, alleging that Bush, along with Cheney, Rumsfeld and others, actually ordered 9/11 to happen for political gain. Hilton says he has incriminating documents and witnesses showing this."


It's a bit of a read. But it's a keeper. Click HERE for the entire article.

Put Away All Sharp Objects Before Reading This

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate put off until fall completing a $491 billion defense bill in order to act this week on the National Rifle Association's top priority: shielding gun manufacturers and dealers from liability suits stemming from gun crimes.

On a 66-32 test vote Tuesday, the Senate indicated there's plenty of support for Republican leaders' determination to pass the gun bill before lawmakers leave at the end of this week for a month long vacation.

The rest is here in the Guardian.

Ancient phallus unearthed in cave

From BBC News (this is my favorite part of the story):

Its life size suggests it may well have been used as a sex aid by its Ice Age makers, scientists report.

Catapulted Propaganda List

Entries in the 2005 Josef Goebbels Award Contest for Official Veracity TBRNews (Link)

This is fun to read, in a morbid sort of way. It’s about half way down the page. You might want to bookmark this page for future reference; I did.

"Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons."

George W. Bush
Speech to U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 12, 2002


"If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world."

Ari Fleischer
Press Briefing, Dec. 2, 2002

Two-thirds of Muslims consider leaving UK

Maybe that is what the Anglo Saxons wanted all along?

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have thought about leaving Britain after the London bombings, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll.
The figure illustrates how widespread fears are of an anti-Muslim backlash following the July 7 bombings which were carried out by British born suicide bombers.

The poll also shows that tens of thousands of Muslims have suffered from increased Islamophobia, with one in five saying they or a family member have faced abuse or hostility since the attacks.

Police have recorded more than 1,200 suspected Islamophobic incidents across the country ranging from verbal abuse to one murder in the past three weeks. The poll suggests the headline figure is a large underestimate. (the Guardian)

Look at the bright side: Crime in NY subways is down 22.6%

Oh for gawd's sake, this is what graced the cover of the morning paper. Barely awake, my existential angst kicked in. 1984 1984 Police State Police State The man on the top has kind of sexy eyes in a Frida Kahlo sort of way, but I digress. What should I be afraid of today? Mayor Bloomberg of NYC said that we should beware of sweaty people using mass transit. Bwahahahaha. Arrest them all! The humidity is 95%. He must have never stood on a sweltering underground subway or train platform. It's not unusual to see homeless people wearing ALL their clothes at once even in the summer.

According to Newsday:

In the days since a second round of bombs exploded in London last week, an informal survey conducted both above and below ground -- in subway stations and cars, as well as Long Island Rail Road platforms -- suggests that relatively few New Yorkers have seen anything that makes them suspicious or uncomfortable.

That's because we've seen it all. We see it all everyday. This is New York! The most suspicious thing is all the police presence hanging around mass transit. Open zee bags or walk, you swines. Foreigners? Try to spend one minute here without hearing foreign accents. Dark skinned people? It's summer! What are we supposed to find unusual other than planes crashing into buildings? Unattended bags? hmmm. ok. Nice try.

There's a great account at Buzzflash of a NY man telling the baffled but pissed off cops at a subway station that they WILL NOT check his bags and he WILL still ride the subway.

The chubby cop caught my bait, "Is that right, you're going to get by all four of us?" "I will, and without much difficulty," I told them, just as easy as a terrorist would be able to do it. I continued, I will simply go upstairs and cross the street and enter on the other side where there are no cops standing around. And if tomorrow there are cops there, I will simply walk to the next station."

In NYC, 5 British tourists were mistaken for terrorists (tourist-terrorist... kind of sounds the same), a lunch box in Brooklyn was mistaken for a bomb, New Yorkers were evacuated from their buildings due to a loud police water gun, A Grayline busdriver reported 5 "suspicious" men causing 100 armed cops to evacuate a bus. Hey! All this paranoia means the terrorists won, doesn't it? British police, of all people on earth are told to shoot to kill. Don't tell me that world leaders and terrorists aren't using Orwell's 1984 as their handbook.

Attention suicide bombers: Stay out of the sun, learn to speak with a Noo Yawk axxent, tweeze those eyebrows, wear short sleeves and find a subway station without cops.

I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so facetious, but this latest exercise in futility has gotten my blonde dander up. If all our fighter planes, all our "intelligence", the PDB that declared OBL was determined to strike in the US, all the air traffic controllers and all the cameras in airports couldn't prevent 9/11, I seriously doubt that bag checks in subways, plus all the media coverage of said bag checks, will prevent a terrorist attack. If terrible pilots could crash commercial airplanes into buildings with such precision, then what's to stop a suicide bomber from finding another way into the subway system? The government blew it. The War on Terra™ sucks.
.

Fingers Crossed at NASA

As I write this, it’s about three hours before the shuttle liftoff and I’m edgy about it. Never having been a space geek I have no desire to ever ride inside a shuttle and especially not this one. The Palm Beach Post says there is one chance in a hundred that something will go wrong. Not the kind of odds that I like. The Kennedy Space Center is an hour and a half drive from my backyard. On a clear day you can see the shuttle about three minutes after liftoff and for quite some time before it disappears into the heavens. I’ll be out in the yard with the binoculars this morning and I hope I don’t see anything more spectacular than usual.

To me this flight is like getting in your car prepared for a long trip across the desert. You notice your oil light is on so you pull into the dealership and ask them to check the oil and the light. The mechanic tells you that it’s just a malfunctioning light and you are good to go. Would you venture to drive across the desert in this car? In my opinion that’s the way this shuttle is today except if something does go wrong you can’t just stop and wait for help.

The reports we have heard from NASA make it sound like the shuttle has been duct taped and bungee corded up for this flight. Remember before the last planned attempt some pieces fell off the shuttle as it was sitting still on the pad? I don’t think that’s reassuring. Then there is the problem of the stubborn little fuel sensor light. Nope, I don’t believe Florida has a lemon law that covers the shuttle so let’s all hope if there is a problem that the astronauts have a heavenly parachute. Most of all let’s hope that this mission comes off without a single hitch. The folks at NASA say they, “have their fingers crossed”. Is that for luck or is that for when they tell us the shuttle is good to go? Neither makes me feel good about this.

This is probably a repost, but what the hell...

I'm probably going to piss off the resident christians around here, but sometimes this kind of thing needs to be said.

Bobo's World keeps a running tally of the crimes of church-related crimes, the large majority being against children, and a few education-related crimes (against children), to boot.

It'll probably nauseate the hell out of you, but reality does that sometimes.

Now, back to the Kudzu Rove Adventures!

In smaller news...

Bill Clinton Launches HIV/AIDS Program

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Former President Bill Clinton launched a program Saturday that will nearly double the number of children receiving treatment for HIV infection in Kenya by the end of the year.
Some 100,000 children are infected with HIV, but only 1,200 receive treatment. The Clinton Foundation's Pediatric HIV/AIDS Initiative will provide treatment to an additional 1,000 children in this East African nation.

Say what you will of Bill's bad taste in paramours, not to mention his oft-rumoured "techniques" --- it made me very glad to see this article in Sunday's paper. Maybe now he's trying the Jimmy Carter approach --- embarrassing the living shit out of the current administration by quietly, deliberately setting about a life of good works. I'm not going to say that Bill Clinton has the huge heart or the altruism of Jimmy Carter, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

In crappier news:

Judge Rejects American Indian's Appeal

FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- A judge has rejected an appeal by imprisoned American Indian activist Leonard Peltier, who argued the U.S. government had no right to try him for crimes that occurred on a South Dakota reservation.
Peltier, 60, is serving a life sentence for killing two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was convicted in 1977 and has filed numerous appeals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Much Unresolved After 1975 S.D. Shooting

Before President Clinton left office in January 2001, he considered granting Peltier clemency. Among those who urged Clinton to keep Peltier behind bars: then-FBI Director Louis Freeh, former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle and former Gov. Bill Janklow, who flew to Washington and had a lengthy meeting with Clinton at the White House.
In April, a federal judge in St. Paul, Minn., admonished the FBI for withholding documents on Peltier's case but denied a request by Peltier's lawyers for quicker access to information used to convict him.

I don't think that we will ever know the whole truth about the AIM standoff at Pine Ridge, especially why the FBI was on sovereign territory in the first place. The truth probably died with a long time ago, but maybe we could get a bit more of it by freeing Leonard Peltier. And I am still pissed that Clinton dismissed any concern over this case, as well as having viewed both documentaries about the West Memphis (Arkansas) Three and having done NOTHING to pursue actual JUSTICE in either case. www.wm3.org

Excellent books on the subject:

• "In The Spirit Of Crazy Horse" by Peter Matthiessen
• "Prison Writings: My Life Is Sun Dance," by Leonard Peltier, Harvey Arden, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, and Ramsey Clark

Also:

I wanted to also include a link to the Public Library of Science article/study about cats & the genes that determine how mammals taste & smell ("Cats don't like sweets because they're missing the gene,") since my two heathens can dispute those findings in under 15 minutes. All it takes is one bag of Oreos. (and yes, I know that chocolate is dangerous for small mammals, but the little thieves STOLE my Oreos and destroyed the whole bag!)

Couldn't find the link through AP or PLOS, but I did find this tidbit:

How Linux Could Overthrow Microsoft... heh heh heh...

Remember?

If you were ever a member of the Federalist Society, would you remember it?

Well, according to what they’re saying on CNN, The white house says that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts can't remember if he was ever a member or not.

Shoot, I remember being a member of the National Honor Society in high school and that was longer ago than 1998. If Judge Roberts’ memory is this bad, perhaps he shouldn’t be confirmed.

Will the Republicans just sit there?

What kind of man is Gonzalez? He decided to wait to see if there'd be a criminal investigation of the Plame leak. Hey, no sense in trying to find out who leaked unless he already knew or he was trying to cover something up. Frank Rich's story in the NY Times claim that Gonzalez waited 12 hours before notifying the WH staff (except Andy Card) of the criminal investigation.

Today at 4:30 26 Democratic Senators will hold a Press Conference urging congress to investigate the role of Alberto Gonzalez. (Raw Story)

A Way Out of Iraq, but No Takers in DC

Do they really want out of Iraq? Do they really want to end the blood shed? Why not?

From TomPaine.com link:
"Currently, Sammarae, an engineer and CEO of KCI Engineering Consultants, heads the National Assembly for the Unity and Reconstruction of Iraq, an organization of Iraqis seeking to prevent the breakup of the Iraqi state and to find a nonsectarian solution for Iraq’s divisive politics.

"Sammarae delivered an astonishing speech and then spoke to me afterward, making it clear that if the United States wants to negotiate a political solution in Iraq, it could do so with an opposition that is neither faceless, nor invisible, nor disorganized. When I asked him about the reception he received from the U.S. government, he smiled, and said, “It was mixed. It depends on who you talk to.” Behind the scenes, other sources say that there are people in the State Department and elsewhere in the U.S. government who are thinking hard about an exit strategy in Iraq and who might be receptive to Sammarae’s ideas. Others, predictably at the Pentagon and in the White House, vociferously oppose anything other than the stay-the-course view espoused by President Bush".

Please, please read the rest following the link above.

If You Put the Right’s Spin Together, Here’s What You Hear

There’s this desk jockey who works at the CIA. We know she’s nothing more than a desk jockey because she drives from her home to where she works everyday. Everyone knows that CIA undercover agents get to work some other sneaky shadowy way, perhaps underground or something. One day she and her husband schemed to send her husband to Africa so that he could come back and falsely report that Iraq had not tried to buy yellow cake uranium from Niger, even though Iraq never did. Anyway, they planned this scheme so that they could expose the report and try to make the president and his administration look like lying crooks for getting America to support the invasion of Iraq. Now, here’s the good part. A reporter/journalist magically acquired the information about the desk jockey’s job description and called the white house to report this. This reporter said, hey, the wife of this crooked guy who reported about no attempt by Iraq to purchase yellow cake uranium from Niger, even though there was no attempt, is a pencil pusher, desk jockey who drives from her house to work everyday. Then more magically, for some reason several reporters just happen to call the white house and ask about the job description of this desk jockey. They ask if it’s true and the white house says, I heard something about it. When the liberal media wouldn’t reveal the identity of the pencil pusher a good Republican journalist steps up to the plate and put the story out for all to see. He said the wife of the lying bastard who exposed the reasons why our president should be impeached for lying to the world is, get ready, a desk jockey. So everyone relaxes, knowing that anything the husband of a desk jockey says or does must be unreliable. Obviously he can’t be trusted if he’s married to a pencil pusher. He obviously lied when he said no attempt was ever made by Iraq to buy yellow cake uranium from Niger, even though there never was.

Now somewhere along the way all hell broke loose, but we’re not sure where or why. But all of a sudden the pansy Democrats began whining that the pencil pusher was a CIA agent and that her husband is not a lying, treasonous, son of a bitch. They say that they see evidence that someone like Karl Rove, who is famous for hitting below the belt, has hit someone below the belt. They say he told reporters/journalists about the desk jockey’s ID so that she would no longer be able to push her pencil. They are raising such hell you would think they had a case or something. Next thing you know a special prosecutor is involved and subpoenas are flying. They are accusing the Republicans of treason and gosh knows what else. They even go so far as to accuse our president of lying in order to begin this war that is going so well now. They say just because he was wrong about a few little details, that the US never should have invaded Iraq. Instead of allowing everyone, even the president, a little mistake or something, they call him a liar. They claim that someone in the white house was so mad about the report that Iraq never attempted to purchase yellow cake uranium, even though it never did, that this angry person exposed the pencil pusher because she was, get this, a CIA agent. They say that her cover as an “agent” was blown in order to get even with her and her husband for that little scheme they cooked up to expose the big scheme the white house was cooking up. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reporter who called the white house to give them information on the pencil pusher’s job description did so because it said so much about the kind of person a pencil pusher’s husband can be. What other reason could there be? And, why would Rove want to leak her job description? Why would he or anyone go to so much trouble just to out a pencil pushing desk jockey, and why?

The Many Names of Death

Death on 9-11, victim of terrorist
Death of civilian in Iraq/Afghanistan war, collateral damage
Death of civilian in Iraq/Afghanistan war killed by those fighting against US, tragedy
Death of soldier, hero
Death on July 7, in London, victim of terrorist
Death of innocent man shot in London, example

So many people have died and the world gives them so many names, but no matter what they call them, they are all equally dead.

My first Blondesense post

Dumbass Of The Week:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/tribettmug1.html

Meanwhile, in Opposite-World...

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0721053bush1.html

This teacher was allegedly fired for having a mini-shrine to Dumbya in her classroom. Of course, this was in NEW YORK STATE, far, far away from the redneck hellhole where I currently hang my hat.

And the reason that this is "opposite world" is --- anywhere else in the country right now, this teacher would make tenure for this shit.

For those of you who missed the little drama last year between myself and the local junior-high principal, I was blackballed from the parish ("county") schools as a substitute teacher for being an atheist. And he didn't even have the gonads to say it to my face.

Since this is Blondesense's front page, I'm leaving out my real descriptions of that "principal" --- but you can imagine the color commentary.

And yes, I'd give both of my bosoms to have been a sub in Nassau County, NY. A "drama & communications" degree isn't worth a whole lot more than subbing in Louisiana, so I dunno, maybe in another state, it might actually warrant a "real job."

But that's my hissy-fit for the day. Enjoy!

(P.S.: When & if I can get outta this parish, yes, I fully intend to call in the ACLU on that jackass.)

Abu Ghraib Revisited

The women were passing messages saying ‘Please come and kill me, because of what's happened.’

Yeah, I'm sure you were waiting breathlessly for the rest of the pictures from Abu Ghraib's college pranks but the gubmint decided to withhold the pictures afterall. The description of what was withheld is making me ill.

"’The American public needs to understand we're talking about rape and murder here. We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience,’ Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters...

“A report by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba on the abuse at the prison outside Baghdad says videotapes and photographs show naked detainees, and that groups of men were forced to masturbate while being photographed and videotaped. Taguba also found evidence of a ‘male MP guard having sex with a female detainee.’

“Rumsfeld told Congress the unrevealed photos and videos contain acts 'that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman.’”

The military later screened some of the images for lawmakers, who said they showed, among other things, attack dogs snarling at cowed prisoners, Iraqi women forced to expose their breasts, and naked prisoners forced to have sex with each other.

In the same period, reporter Seymour Hersh, who helped uncover the scandal, said in a speech before an ACLU convention: “Some of the worse that happened that you don't know about, ok? Videos, there are women there. Some of you may have read they were passing letters, communications out to their men….The women were passing messages saying ‘Please come and kill me, because of what's happened.’

“Basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys/children in cases that have been recorded. The boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. The worst about all of them is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. They are in total terror it's going to come out."

The Week in 9/11

* Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr opines that 9/11 brought an upsurge in yahooism. This is not news, but it's in the paper.

* Mindy Kleinberg, whose husband was killed in the north tower on 9/11 has yet to have her very important questions regarding the lack of military air intervention answered.

* A local congressman here on LI, Peter King has been drunk on Jim Jones' koolaid for sometime now.

"The vulnerabilities inherent in a free society were exploited by people who came here, have a hatred for our freedom and a hatred for anyone whom they declare to be an infidel," King said.

"We need all of the tools the Patriot Act provides to preempt terrorist attacks on us in this country. Those tools so far have been a major part of the reason why we have not been attacked again."

Hope he moves to a red state after he loses the election next year. He's being watched carefully by voters.

* Lee Hamilton of the 9/11 Commission says:

"We still do not have a single watch list (for terrorist suspects) ... that law enforcement can check on. That's been years that we've been working on it."

"There must be "even greater urgency in implementing the recommendations. The Congress has not made the changes to enable it to have very robust oversight of the intelligence community." "We still don't have a law on the books to permit the first responders to talk to one another" when they get to the scene of an attack, Hamilton said.

Something is very very wrong and many have noticed since that tragic day in Sept, 2001 that some (or all) of the villians behind it all are white American men who were elected running this country to hell and beyond. But that's just my opinion and what do I know?

Stay vigilant. Watch your leaders closely.

Holy Shit, It's 1984 Batman!

From Newsday this morning regarding the cold blooded murder of an innocent Brazilian man who had permission to work in England for the past 3 years:

Menezes' family was Roman Catholic. When asked if he had become Muslim in Britain, Agostino Ferreira Rosa, a policeman in Gonzaga said: "According to his family, he had nothing to do with Muslims or Islamism. He was Catholic."

"There was no reason to think he was a terrorist," Menezes' grandmother, Zilda Ambrosia de Figueiredo, told the Globo TV late Saturday. "He was very easygoing and very communicative with everybody. It's terrible what they have done to him."

Mayor Ken Livingstone said the killing was a "human tragedy" that was a consequence of the attacks.

"The police acted to do what they believed necessary to protect the lives of the public," he said. "This tragedy has added another victim to the toll of deaths for which the terrorists bear responsibility."

Livingstone drew a hard line before the mistake became clear, declaring that anyone believed to be a suicide bomber faced a "shoot-to-kill policy."

Um. Stay out of London, folks.

Oh and Long Island is gearing up to become a police state too in Foot soldiers to safeguard Long Island:

"If everybody does their bit to be vigilant and report suspicious activities, then they become part of the mosaic contributing to making the whole nation safe," said Nassau Assistant Police Chief Anthony Rocco. "Homeland security is hometown security." ...

...

"It's based on people acting or looking differently and that definitely includes race," Feuer said, arguing that Arabs and people of the Muslim faith are more likely to be singled out by Operation Safeguard, given that the terrorists who attacked New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, came from the Middle East.

For Kevin McCoy, chairman of the Suffolk County Library Associations's intellectual freedom committee, Operation Safeguard presents a stark choice.
"They are asking us to spy on our patrons," he said "It's sweeping. You no longer look at people as patrons but you're looking at everyone as potential criminals."

This sooooo totally sucks. Sure I won't be mistaken for a Muslim terrorist but there are an awful lot of middle easterners living here whom I know, love and respect. Not to mention NY City denizens are under surveillance as well. Don't ride the subway if you don't want anyone to search your bags:

Officers, some with bomb-sniffing dogs, will stop people carrying bags as they enter subways, buses and ferries at various points in the city, police said. Anyone who refuses a search will be turned away, and those caught carrying drugs or other contraband could be arrested.

Police officials said they had considered taking the measure to thwart bombings for the past three years. Two terrorist attacks on transit targets in London forced their hand, said Paul Browne, the police department's chief spokesman.

Browne called it "the first time this regimen has been used in (New York's) transit system."

Do they mean to tell us that no one thought about the mass underground rails in NYC after 9/11? I can assure them that each and every person I know was terrified to ride a train through a NYC tunnel after 9/11, including moi.

This still begs the question for the London police... if a terrorist has a bomb strapped to his body, what makes you think that the bomb won't explode if you riddle him with bullets to his body? Wouldn't it be prudent to shoot would-be terrorists in the head, if in fact you were trying thwart a subway attack? Just asking.
.

PS. The story was updated and according to my readers, the man was shot in the head, not the body. But still... what if they missed? And how many times do you have to shoot someone in the head?

MCKINNEY REOPENS 9/11

Conspiracy theories implicating president aired at 8-hour hearing

By BOB KEMPER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/23/05

Washington — "Revisiting the issue that helped spur her ouster from Congress three years ago, Rep. Cynthia Mc­Kinney led a Capitol Hill hearing Friday on whether the Bush administration was involved in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"The eight-hour hearing, timed to mark the first anniversary of the release of the Sept. 11 commission's report on the attacks, drew dozens of contrarians and conspiracy theorists who suggest President Bush purposely ignored warnings or may even have had a hand in the attack — claims participants said the commission ignored.

You can read the rest in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
(Some registration might be required.)

Dealing In Shit

A Turd Blossom is manure flower. What a fitting description for that man who fell in love with Bush decades ago and eventually pushed his substance abused but supposedly charismatic ass into political life regardless of his qualifications. Rove's initial impression of Bush: "Huge amounts of charisma, swagger, cowboy boots, flight jacket, wonderful smile, just charisma—you know, wow."

I have wrongly remarked in the past that Karl Rove was a marketing genius when in fact it is not marketing but manure that Rove uses to achieve his goals. There is a fine line between marketing genius and manure spreader. Being adept at destroying your competition by spreading vicious lies, dirty rumors and hurting people is not marketing at all. It's the M.O. of a bully, a shit slinger, an all around terrible guy. Turd Blossom honed these skills in college. Lee Atwater, a master ruiner of political ambitions and former Rove mentor actually apologized on his death bed for all the damage he caused. But Atwater didn't create Bush Sr the way Rove took his loser son and made him president. Rove branded George McGovern, a decorated WWII veteran as a "Left wing peacenik" in 1972. The Turd destroyed McCain's chances in 2000 by a dirty campaign which made McCain appear to be an unstable POW survivor with a drug addicted wife and illegitimate black child. We won't soon forget how Kerry's fellow Swift Boat veterans turned against him. Bush who was AWOL in his stint in the TANG, had a drunk driving charge and a trail of failed corporations came out victorious.

If Rove had used legitimate marketing strategies in trying to achieve his agenda, he wouldn't have succeeded because you can't promote crap unless you shovel it on to your opponent. This isn't marketing at all. It's manure flinging. If you have nothing good to say about your product, you have no other choice than to destroy the competition. Rove chose to deal in shit for a living and he will drown in it one day.
.

PS. thanks to readers for all the corrections.

Reporting on the War Against Liars and Abusers (WALA)

"The White House on Thursday threatened to veto a massive Senate bill for $442 billion in next year's defense programs if it moves to regulate the Pentagon's treatment of detainees or sets up a commission to investigate operations at Guantanamo Bay prison and elsewhere.

"The Bush administration, under fire for the indefinite detention of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and questions over whether its policies led to horrendous abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, put lawmakers on notice it did not want them legislating on the matter.

"In a statement, the White House said such amendments would "interfere with the protection of Americans from terrorism by diverting resources from the war."

"If legislation is presented that would restrict the president's authority to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack and bring terrorists to justice," the bill could be vetoed, the statement said".


This is where you yell at the top of your lungs, Bull Shit! Do it again. Feels good, doesn’t it?

Please read the rest of the article here at Yahoo News.

I think that tells you about the heart of this administration. Yes, they have a heart it just works to pump blood through their bodies, it has no other function.

This threat isn’t aimed at just Democratic Senators; there are some Republican Senators with ideas of their own. This whole thing is so mean and so nasty and so dictatorial that it should scare the freakin’ breath right out of you.

From another front in the War Against Liars and Abusers, check out Rove Gate, Who Leaked to the Leakers? (Subtitle: This Isn't About Karl Rove by Justin Raimondo.)

This sheds a different light on the investigation and it’s very interesting.

it is always something

One of our Boston terriers died this past Tuesday. Pancreatitis,brittle diabetes, respiratory failure. There is this huge hole in our lives and we miss her. Her sister is confused. She was apparently not well for sometime, but Boston's don't complain, Zelda never whimpered, not once and by the time she had overt symptoms, she was not responding to treatment.

My Bar exam is next week. I am trying to prepare, focus, concentrate. I have written about our dog's death over at my personal rant-page, http://windingroad.typepad.com, but I haven't posted much here of late due to the Bar, the dog's decline and death, and the inability to keep all those plates spinning like that act on Ed Sullivan's show when I was a child. Life can sure play hell with your politics and politics can sure play hell with our lives. My thoughts about Rove, Libby, et. al. are probably no secret to BlondeSense's readers. Perhaps perjury indictments will come down next week. What a delicious turn of political fortunes. The nation will finally get a real lesson about the difference between civil and criminal perjury. The local news isn't discussing it in Houston. Our top story this week has been the conviction of a woman who cut off her ex-boyfriend's penis. Wow, thinks the television anchor, I get to say penis on live television.

Speaking of penises or is that peni, the President evidently thought that having penis is a requirement for the Supreme Court. He hopes to replace the first woman on the Court with another white, male, Anglo-Catholic, without a paper trail. Not that any of Bush's picks would make me jump up and say, "Those people who said you weren't qualified to be baseball commissioner or president were just wrong." Anyone he sent up to the Hill for hearings would not be my choice. And this guy ain't pro-choice. But, you knew that. Not that it was actually like discussed or anything. Bush actually asked in his interview of Judge (for two years)Roberts how often he exercises. Is that like the new pick up line? I remember when it was, have you read any good books lately?

Even with the distractions of life and politics, I am trying to get that law license next week. I keep telling myself if John Mitchell passed the Bar, so can I. I can't say how important our week's lessons have been from the life of our dog: Love fiercely; don't take any single walk with your friends for granted; be determined to be yourself; live fully; run with your pack; loyalty, devotion, love are true comforts in this seriously fucked up world.

"Damned Disturbing"

"During more than seven hours of testimony this week, a Senate committee heard that Iraq is in a low-grade civil war, that there are no additional U.S. or allied troops to help and that Iraqi soldiers are far from ready to take over.

"From experts on the war in Iraq, senators heard that a new constitution could make things worse, and wouldn't quiet the insurgency.

"They heard that the oil industry is sabotaged for profit, not just politics, and that much of the billions of dollars spent on reconstruction so far have accomplished nothing.

"Discount half of what you said, it's still damn disturbing," Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., told the witnesses."

There’s more "Experts offer pessimistic outlooks on Iraq" at NBC Action News.

Happy Birthday Craig Crawford

Craig, I hope you enjoy those ribs your dad is cooking tonight just as much as I enjoy watching you when you’re on TV

We don’t always agree, but I always respect your point of view. Plus, you make me laugh with your dry sense of humor.

Have a Happy Birthday today and many more in the future.

You too can wish Craig a Happy Birthday by going to his site CrawfordsList

Here we go again.

The sentence below appeared in the op-ed section of today's Daily Iowan:
"Are Iowa's Caucuses Worth Being First"?
"Above all, the Iowa caucuses put the candidates in the spotlight. It's a test. It might not be what the campaigns want, because extended media attention often leads to gaffes or loud, obnoxious shrieks (i.e., Howard Dean)."

So says Mark Simons, UI student.

Here is how I replied to the Daily Iowan:
"But of course, serious students of politics, journalism, and economics will realize that in the case cited, the media caused the "loud, obnoxious shriek" by manipulating the audio (from Truthout):
"Last year, a young cable news producer attended one of our twice-yearly Ethics Institutes at Washington and Lee University, in which students and journalists gather to discuss newsroom wrongdoing. He brought two clips.
"The first was the familiar pool footage of Dean in Iowa. The candidate filled the screen, no supporters were visible. Crowd noise was silenced by the microphone he held, which deadened ambient sounds. You saw only him and heard only his inexplicable screaming.
"The second clip was the same speech taped by a supporter on the floor of the hall. The difference was stunning. The place was packed. The noise was deafening. Dean was on the podium, but you couldn't hear him. The roar from his supporters was drowning him out.
"Dean was no longer scary, unhinged, volcanic, over the top. He was like the coach of a would-be championship NCAA football team at a pre-game rally, trying to be heard over a gym full of determined, wildly enthusiastic fans. I saw energy, not lunacy.
"The difference was context. As psychiatrist R.D. Laing once wrote: We see a woman on her knees, eyes closed, muttering to someone who isn't there. Of course, she's praying. But if we deny her that context, we naturally conclude she's insane.
"The Dean Scream footage that was repeatedly aired rests on a similar falsehood. It takes a man who in context was acting reasonably, and by stripping away that context transforms him into a lunatic.
"But that clip was aired an estimated 700 times on various cable and broadcast channels in the week after the Iowa caucus. The people who showed that clip are far more technically sophisticated than I and had to understand how tight visual framing and noise-suppression hardware can distort reality." (emph. PoLT)

"Dean scream" "media manipulation" yields 245 "hits" in Google Search. But this sounds like a conspiracy, doesn't it? Perish the thought! By the way, I would have phoned this message into the Daily Iowan's offices but I feared some of you wouldn't be able to hear me unless I was shrieking".

Drinking the Kool-Aid, Summer of 2004

Middle East Policy Council Journal

If you read it then, please read it again.

If you haven’t read it, please take the time to read it soon.

Just about all that’s needed to know is in this article. This should be the bible of why we’re in the mess that we find ourselves in today.

The author, W. Patrick Lang, was on the panel today at the hearing regarding Public Disclosure of Covert Agents.

Col. Lang is president of Global Resources, Inc. and former defense intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Trapped Soldiers Need Help!

“My son in law in Iraq said they are being pressured round the clock to re-enlist or face stop loss. They are being offering $30,000 tax free signing bonus, and told if they don't re-enlist they are going to be Stop Lossed and get zero dollars. They are pushing the troops round the clock to re-enlist. Mark got only three hours sleep in 48 hours but when he got back he was again faced with re-enlisting. Mark said many guys are scared and are signing up, and their families at home are very upset -- for good reason. We really need to push our media and congressmen to expose the horrible way our troops are being treated.”

-Lisa Gill-
Son-in-law in Iraq

"March 05, it was time for both to make the decision to re-enlist. Already under orders to redeploy and already under Stop-Loss, their choices were 1) don't re-enlist but wind up in Iraq anyway under Stop-Loss and 2) re-enlist; while you'll still wind up in Iraq under, at least you'll have the attractive bonus being offered.

"The point is that the 'high retention' rate that is being touted as demonstrative of a soldier's fervor and good faith in the war is another deception being foisted on the media and public. Closer to the truth is that they are in and they cannot get out. It is entrapment from the front end with deceptive recruitment practices, again at re-enlistment time with the threat of deployment to Iraq under Stop Loss, and again when their contract ends and they are kept in and deployed via Stop Loss. What continues to be called an 'all voluntary military' has become an 'involuntary military' through the use strategies of deception and legal maneuvering for which there seems to be no remedy for Stop Loss."

-Lietta Ruger-
Family with two Iraq veterans; second deployments


Intervention Magazine (LINK)

Cindy Sheehan also has something to say in the article.

Too Bad No One Listened Too Bad No One Spoke Up

"Another example of disputed intelligence used by the Bush administration to build its case for war is Iraq's attempts to obtain uranium from Niger as evidence of another secret nuclear weapons program. Bush, in his State of the Union Speech in January, used this information as an example of a "smoking gun" and the imminent threat Iraq posed to the U.S. But the information has since been widely discounted.

"One person who heard a classified briefing on Iraq in late 2002 said that there was laughter in the room when the uranium evidence was presented," Albright said. "One of (the) most dramatic findings, revealed on March 7, was that the documents which form the basis for the reports of recent uranium transactions between Niger and Iraq are not authentic."

And

"In addition to Albright, other military experts also were skeptical of the intelligence information gathered by the CIA.

"Basically, cooked information is working its way into high-level pronouncements and there's a lot of unhappiness about it in intelligence, especially among analysts at the CIA," said Vincent Cannistraro, the CIA's former head of counter-intelligence, in an interview with London's Guardian newspaper last October.

"Cannistraro told the Guardian that hawks at the Pentagon had deliberately skewed the flow of intelligence to the top levels of the administration".


So you say, where did you get this information Missy? Well honey child, it was written June 12, 2003. Too bad no one listened, huh?

Here it is: Antiwar.com link

Who wrote it, you ask?

Jason Leopold is the former Los Angeles bureau chief of Dow Jones Newswires.

Goose and Ganders

If Martha Stewart did the crime and had to serve the time, well then why not these guys?

From Raw Story:

“Bloomberg's Richard Keil will reveal tonight: "Two top White House aides have given accounts to the special prosecutor about how reporters told them the identity of a CIA agent that are at odds with what the reporters have said, according to persons familiar with the case.”

Now we have Tim Russert involved.

“Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first learned from NBC News reporter Tim Russert of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador and Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson. Russert has testified before a federal grand jury that he didn’t tell Libby of Plame’s identity.”

I just don’t see Tim Russert lying to the grand jury. Novak, possibly, but not Russert.

How’s It Going?

Go here Guardian and read, “Lawmakers Blast Pentagon Over Iraq Report”

Then , go here Daily War News

You decide. How’s it going?

Good Information!

“Not to be diverted by the business of vetting the Supreme Court nominee, the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) and the U.S. House Government Reform Committee Minority announced that they will conduct a joint hearing on Friday to “examine the national security to examine the national security implications of disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence officer”.

There are more details here: Light Up The Darkness.

(Editor's Note: "examine the national security to examine the national security implications..." sorta makes sense and since that's how it appears on their site, so be it.)

Life Happens and Then There’s This

Somehow we survived the hardships of childhood, teen-hood and young adulthood. Well, maybe some of us are still waging war with young adulthood. Then you move on into middle-aged and old-hood. All along the way we face the hurdles and we leap as high as we can. Some we clear and others may trip us up, but when the hurdle is too high we find another way around. No matter where we are on the path, we don’t give up, we move on.

As a kid there are those family matters that may have gotten in our way. In school we thought the hurdles were confusing. As adults we saw the hurdles as puzzles to figure out, and most of the time the puzzle pieces eventually fit nicely together. Life is an adventure and a challenge but most of us would agree it’s worth fighting every damned hurdle. Every one we clear is a star in our life crown.

Then there’s the completely unexpected hurdle of this war and all that it entails. Our crown begins to dull as we see our name dragged through the blood and sand in Iraq. After all that we have overcome in our lives, we are faced with something that we seem unable to stop and unable to avoid its consequences. Damn! We went through all this life stuff running full speed and here’s a brick wall staring us in the face. There appears to be no way around this hurdle. Some are content to stand still at the base of the brick wall while others of us are determined to figure out how to take it down. All that damn effort we put into our lives to make ourselves better and to be better people is behind us, but now we have this, this war. People are being killed in our name and we don’t know how to make it stop. People are being tortured in our name and that’s hurting us too. We aren’t killers. We aren’t torturers. That’s not what we do, yet it was and is being done and it’s being done using our hard earned good name. All our efforts to become the people we always wanted to be are being nullified by the present administration. And hell yes, we’re mad.

No wonder we are angry and frustrated. We didn’t run this far or this fast to come to this. This is what we fought to avoid all our lives and now it’s been placed in front of us, forced on us, and this isn’t what we worked for at all. As you have tried all your life to succeed beyond all hurdles, make yourself a better person, help your fellow man and do what you believed to be right in life, you realize now that someone else is trying to undo all you have done. They have taken that good strong name you made for yourself and stamped all over it the actions and tragedies of a murderous war.

Some may be wondering now if it was all worth it? Was it worth the all the struggles of life just to come to this? Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness may be creeping up more each day, and that’s understandable. But we can’t allow those feelings to linger. Yes, this is a hurdle that we did not expect, but due to the other hurdles we have faced in the past we have become stronger and that strength will come to our aid now. Yeah, we didn’t expect something so awful to occur during our lifetime, but it has and none of us are going to give up our good name without a fight. It’s a different type of hurdle that we haven’t yet figured out how to overcome. We aren’t even sure that we can, but we know that we are absolutely the right people to try. We didn’t get this far in life, we didn’t work as hard as we have just to give up over this. No matter how dismal it may seem at times, no matter how ashamed, anguished and embarrassed we may be to see what is being done in our name, we’ll keep trying to make it stop. We aren’t people who kill and torture. We’re Americans and we know something about overcoming hurdles. We’ve been doing it all our life.

Plamegate is getting juicy

Last night I suggested that Turdblossom should just do us all a favor and kill himself. But no, we need this story to stay alive. This is the beginning of the end of this administration as this case will bring to light all the heinous lies (like the Downing Street Memo and who forged the Niger Yellow Cake documents) that led our country into an illegal war that you and I are paying for in many ways. Sure, we expected truth tellers to be smeared by the neocons who only play dirty, but I suspect this time that crying wolf about all these unpatriotic souls' will not sway public opinion nor will stop the investigation. Cockinmouth Mehlman can spew all the lies talking points on television, but he can't explain why Miller is in jail if this investigation is nothing and Joe Wilson is a liar. The dirty coverups leading to the war will be what takes the neocons down.

Peter pointed out this article worth checking out.
Patrick J. 'Bulldog' Fitzgerald, American Insurgent
Occupied Washington under siege
by Justin Raimondo

*A Psalm for Today

Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want.
He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests.
He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.
He restoreth my fears.
He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution
and war, I will find no exit, for thou art in office.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy media control,
they discomfort me.
Thou preparest an agenda of deception in the
presence of thy religion.
Thou anointest my head with foreign oil. My health insurance runneth out.
Surely megalomania and false patriotism shall follow me all the days of thy term, And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever


*I found this little jewel at Kill4Jesus.

Smirky's nominee

It seems that Ann Coulter doesn't trust John Roberts and doesn't believe he will overturn Roe v Wade. (therefore he is not a true conservative supposedly) Is this the only topic that anyone on the right cares about in a judge? Coulter should quit pretending to be a female and end this charade already.

Roberts doesn't scare me that much. Not yet but I'm still reading everything I can find including this (not very nice). Then again, knowing this administration, anything is possible. I'd like to think that a man with his education would possibly be intellectual enough to know that overturning Roe v Wade would instigate a shitstorm worse than the Iraq invasion and the end of the Republican party. I still believe that Republican politicians are bluffing about their anti-abortion stance. I sincerely doubt any one of them truly gives a shit about the future of an embryo because they don't give a shit about the already born. It's all talk and it appeases their so called religious base.

I would imagine that Bush is saving the real bad nomination for when Rhenquist retires or dies. My opinion is subject to change. (not that it matters)

Bombed and Damned It All to Hell

You tell me if this doesn’t sound like hell to you. Hell has been created in your name and in mine. Somebody has to stop this.

Next time you hear someone talk about “hell on earth”, tell them about this:

"Rome, 20 July (AKI) - US and Iraqi troops have launched another offensive on the city of Fallujah in the volatile Anbar province in western Iraq. US military leaders believe a group of guerrillas has established itself in the city once more, taking advantage of the last few months of relative calm. News of the new operation comes from aid workers from the Italian Solidarity Consortium (ICS) in Iraq, who are carrying out monitoring and humanitarian assistance programmes in the area to help the many citizens displaced by the last military offensive on the city, which began in November last year.

"In the last few days there have been a number of explosions in Fallujah, a statement from the ICS aid workers says, and the multinational force has closed the city, to comb it house by house. This has sparked another mass exodus of civilians. Hundreds of families have already abandoned the city, they report, "further worsening the humanitarian emergency.

"ICS director Rosita Viola, commenting on the latest news from her workers said: "At the moment in the governorate of Anbar, around 30,000 people are homeless, in a state of total poverty."

And

"Those who have returned to the city have been starting to rebuild their houses, but recently there has been a slowdown in the number of people making their way back to their homes, or what remain of them, because of the fear of new attacks. Therefore, any new action by troops is certain to increase the level of fear and distrust in the people, the ICS says.

"What is worrying is the all too real hypothesis that the example of the citizens of Fallujah will also be followed by those of Ramadi, Hit, Qaim and all the other cities that have suffered tough attacks by the multinational forces and Iraqi army in the last few months," the ICS statement points out. "It is impossible to predict when this will finish, and even harder to say when the humanitarian emergency situation will start to get better."


There’s more here ADNKRONOSINTERNATIONAL Link

UH-OH! MORE TERROR DRILLS ARE SCHEDULED.

I would have thought that the guys who organize these things would have realized by now that every time they have a terror drill, the real thing happens.

But HERE they go again. It's from a site entitled appropriately enought, "U.S. Northern Command". (Might take a few seconds to open the link; I think it's getting more than a few visits.)

Hannity Thinks Americans Must be Stoopid

He blames everything on the liberal media. Isn't this the same media that had Americans believing that a blow job in the Oval Office is the worst thing that ever happened in the history of the United States of America?

Watch Isikoff vs Hannity at Crooks and Liars.
-Isikoff- Fitzgerald isn't finished yet, you moron.
-Hannity- Wilson's a liar, media bias, boo hoo hoo, yadda yadda yadda
-RudePundit: "So all Democrats really have to do is stand back and let these fuckers twist in the wind."

A Dahl-esque Review of Dahl

From The New Yorker
THE CANDY MAN
by MARGARET TALBOT

...They liked the fact that Dahl, unsatisfied with desks, had designed a baize-covered writing board, to balance on his lap just so. And they loved that he kept, on a side table, a jar containing gristly bits of his own spine, which had been removed during an operation on his lower back. Next to the jar was a waxy-looking knob that turned out to be Dahl’s hip bone, along with a titanium replacement.

“It makes a good letter opener,” one little boy said of the prosthetic hip.

“Has it got blood on it?” another asked hopefully.

Oh yeah and the kids were also excited to see Dahl's books when they visited his writing cottage. I always held a fascination with Roald Dahl and enjoyed his stories as much as my son did... the article explains why most grown ups don't exactly enjoy Dahl. And perhaps this tidbit from Matilda is why:

It’s a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think he or she is wonderful.

Some parents go further. They become so blinded by adoration they manage to convince themselves their child has qualities of genius.

Marvelous writing!
.

Well, How About This?

“The latest poll shows more support for impeaching Bush now, than there was for impeaching Clinton when Congress did so in 1998.”

“More than four in 10 Americans, according to a recent Zogby poll, say that if President Bush did not tell the truth about his reasons for going to war with Iraq, Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment.”

There's some interesting stuff here at Zogby.com (LINK).

What’s in the Box? Does the Dog Bite?

Seems to me that bush gave the American people a sealed box last night. All over the outside of the box is stamped the word, “Conservative”. If you shake the box you don’t hear anything rattling around. Your only hint to the contents of the box is that word stamped all over it.

It’s like getting a pit-bull puppy. You know the puppy’s parents had bad temperament, so common sense leads you to believe that the puppy is very apt to have his own bad temperament. But, you can’t be absolutely sure.

We can’t judge this Supreme Court nominee based upon the cases he has worked on no more than we can judge an attorney’s personal actions just because he was hired to defend a murderer. We just don’t know much about this nominee except who he’s worked for in the past. Think about some of the jerks you have worked for; would you want to be judged based on that person’s actions?

The Right wing says they are tickled pink with the nominee. Maybe they are and maybe they aren’t. If their leaders say they are happy with the choice, the flock will follow. Those the Right extremists follow can’t afford to show any displeasure, because it would disturb the precious base. I truly believe the leaders, some ministers included, could care less about abortion, but their feigned belief and concern keeps the collection plates full on Sundays and keeps Party donations flowing in. Just tell the flock everything will be fine and the flock will calm down and follow. They’re easy to lead because they outsource their thinking.

Will Roberts be confirmed? Probably. When Rehnquist leaves the bench, that’s when I expect all hell to break loose. That’s when we will have another box delivered, but what’s inside that box may be painfully apparent. That’s the box to beware of, the one to watch. That will be the box with the truly dangerous contents.

The next pit-bull puppy may arrive snarling and biting. There will be no question about his temperament.

24,865 Civilians Dead, 42,500 Injured

"Nearly 25,000 civilians have been killed since the start of the Iraq war, according to a group that tracks the civilian death toll from the conflict.

"The Iraq Body Count -- a London-based group comprising academics and human rights and anti-war activists -- said on Tuesday that 24,865 civilians had died between March 20, 2003 and March 19, 2005.

"The group said 42,500 injuries were recorded as well.

"The report also said that "U.S.-led forces were sole killers of 37 percent of civilian victims" and that "anti-occupation forces were sole killers of 9 percent of civilian victims." It added that "criminals killed 36 percent of all civilians."

Continued here at CNN.

The Most Awful Nominee?

Oh man, we are all thinking about judges, but bush could nominate anyone for the Supreme Court.

“Generally, a justice's qualifications are judged by the President and, most visibly, by a Senate hearing. There is no definitive qualification of age or experience that is a standard to be met; instead, there is a much more subjective process taken by the Senate, occasionally resulting in a sometimes controversial defeat of judicial nominees.”

Wikipedia (Link)

So who would be the most awful nominee?

A Rant, Iraq, A Rat and More

Notice Mehlman is the only one we hear from the dark other side these days. Could it be because he’s the only one who is pretty sure he won’t soon be learning to do the shackled shuffle? Everyone else is hunkered down in the bunker and occasionally we see Rove and Bush strolling around the grounds, but not much chit chat from bush and not a word from Karl, Porky Pig, Rove.

Hey, if they want to do some legal torture down at Guantanamo send Mehlman down there. No, not to put him behind bars, although that sounds tempting. Send him there, put him in the same room with a prisoner and let him tell the prisoner why Karl Rove has done nothing wrong. I guarantee within a half hour that prisoner will sing like a bird. He’ll promise to tell them all they want to know and more if they’ll just make Mehlman shut the hell up. I would.

Andrea Mitchell was on Imus this morning and they were speaking of Scooter Libby. Andrea said that Libby has written several books, and then she said he can write stories as well as tell them. Remember, she was one of the journalists contacted by someone about the Plame deal. (Are you channeling something to us with that comment, Andrea? I grew up using the word “story” instead of “lie”. Did you too?)

The word seems to be that bush wants to get his Supreme nominee’s name out there to push Leakgate out of the headlines. Well, here’s a news flash for bush. We can multitask! We can keep the Downing Street Minutes, Leakgate and his nominee in the air all at the same time. We can juggle it all simultaneously. And if he doesn’t believe it, just watch us. To me the Minutes and Leakgate fit together so nicely that they are almost one. When you read the word “fixed” and the words “no wmd”, well it just meshes, doesn’t it? So with those two on the same ball, what the heck, toss in the nominee ball. No sweat!

I keep waiting and waiting for some, way the hell out there right wing shill, to suggest that President Clinton had something to do with the Plame leak. I mean they’ve tried to blame everything else on him. They’ve said if he had blown the hell out of Iraq during his time in the white house we wouldn’t have had to “liberate” Iraqis now. Is there another meaning for liberate that I’m not aware of? I ask this because I keep hearing a lot of right wingnuts say that we should just blast the entire fucking country of Iraq to bits. Uh, what kind of liberating is that? Did we also liberate Hiroshima? (Atomic Bomb Dome link)

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

On George W. Bush: “Oh, why doesn’t he wake up and just fall on his sword.” -- Russ Wittenberg, former F-100 Vietnam fighter pilot

The Biggest “Crime” of Them All

You know, I'm not putting as much into what the Chimpster in Chief said yesterday, because we know how his non-mind works. He often messes up the English language so he may have just said "crime" because he heard the word somewhere.

If he is changing the rules of the game that shouldn't surprise us either. It's not like it's the first time he's done it. Remember the switch from wmd to liberation? When you are as shifty as this bunch you have to be ready to switch directions at a moment's notice. That's the trouble with telling so many lies; sometimes they just don't fit together so you have to make up new ones in order to tie in the old ones.

Ethics be damned; these guys are on a mission. Remember the mantra, “9-11 changed everything”? No it didn’t, but they sure have. They’ve used it as an excuse to change too many things. September 11, 2001 was a hellish day and they have, in the name of the nearly 3000 who died that day, used those deaths to advance their agenda and their mission. In my mind that is the biggest and most tragic crime of them all.

Edith v. Edith

Seems the name, Edith, could be written a lot in the not so distant future. Here’s why. There are two women, both named Edith, and both may be on bush’s short list for nomination to the Supreme Court. Hadley Arkes, the Ney Professor of Jurisprudence at Amherst College and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, has written about both women for the National Review (LINK)

The professor gives some perspective on each woman and he also says some things that scare me.

Waking Up To His Smirkness

Imagine waking up, looking at the Newsday on the kitchen counter and seeing the face that launched a billion winces: Chimpy.

Chimpster should start wearing a lapel pin with a flip flop on it:

President George W. Bush gave trusted aide Karl Rove some added job security yesterday by shifting his stance on when he would fire White House staff in the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity -- now signaling that the person must have broken the law to get the ax.

In the past, Bush said merely revealing the officer's identity would be enough to get someone fired from the White House.

...

"If someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration," Bush said at a news conference yesterday. He declined to discuss the matter further, citing the ongoing investigation, and didn't answer a specific question about Rove. (newsday)

Well it comes as no surprise that chimpy would defend turdblossom. It wouldn't surprise me that if, by some miracle, old turdy was indicted and convicted that chimpy would pardon him anyway.

The more I read about this stuff, the more disgusted I become... especially when I think back to the Lewinsky scandal and the giant circle jerk in the Senate while they read the Starr Report. This news doesn't involve sex, so the Republican politicians aren't really all that interested in it. Treason? Ha. Where's the dirty part? Ask Jeff Gannon.
.

Crazy Fundies

They are scared shitless. If this is what they believe, it's no fucking wonder they are acting like crackpots. Their god is a mean SOB.

Does George Pataki Hate Women?

Should NY Governor George Pataki pander to those ignorami who think that emergency contraception is the same as having an abortion so he can run for president in 2008 or behave like a compassionate human being and pass a bill in NY State that will allow emergency contraception to be available without a prescription to all females who may need it?

A NY Times article today reports:

A simple veto could indicate that he was trying to win support among Republican voters nationwide who are opposed to abortion, they said, and simply signing it could show that Mr. Pataki was thinking of New York voters and of seeking a fourth term as governor.

One possibility for a compromise is that he might veto the bill - since it contains no age limits to keep the pill away from young teenagers - but at the same time call for a revised bill including such age restrictions.

If Pataki calls for an age restriction or parental notification, how many young women would have to ask their abusers for permission to prevent a possible pregnacy? The longer you wait, the more likely that an unwanted pregnancy make occur.

Emergency contraception is NOT having an abortion. EC prevents contraception, the trauma of a later abortion or an unwanted pregnancy. Emergency contraception is not RU-486, a pill that aborts a fetus. Even American Catholic bishops have no problem with EC. I repeat, EC is not an abortion pill and Pataki should not pander to those who are misinformed simply to appease them for future votes. Furthermore, most women don't even know that this pill exists. At the moment a prescription is needed. The bill would make this available over the counter.

Emergency contraception pills are high doses of oral contraceptives and it works by preventing ovulation, fertilization or implantation. If taken within 72 hours of a sexual assault, emergency contraception is shown to prevent pregnancy approximately 90% of the time. (link)

Fact: 54% of New York State hospital emergency rooms fail to provide rape survivors with emergency contraception (EC). 54,000 rapes annually result in pregnancy. The consequenes of an unintended pregnancy resulting from sexual assault further exacerbate the physical and psychological trauma the woman is already experiencing. (link)


The Times article says that Pataki has been visiting Iowa to see what his chances are as a presidential candidate. I'll be damned if Iowans are going to determine NY State policy. Letter writing time, folks.
.

When I Read Words Like These I Get A Little Bit Of Hope:

Commenter at Cannonfire says:

"You're pursuing a perspective I have pushed (and been ignored on), which is that there is a secret war going on in D.C., with subtly-shifting allegiances. The war is basically between those who want Bushco out, and those who still support him. The intelligence community (FBI, CIA, etc.) is increasingly disenchanted with Bushco, and the anti-Bush forces within it are being joined by corporate/political powers that feel Bush has to go. That is why the MSM has magically joined "our" side. Not because they finally heard our voices.

"The tide has turned. Once these powerful and wealthy forces turn against anyone, even a President, he is doomed. Doesn't matter how many Bible Belt fundamentalists wave anti-abortion placards. The forces I'm talking about represent power/wealth beyond imagination. And they aren't going to let it be blown to hell by a figurehead lunatic who blithely anticipates Armageddon and the Rapture.

"...Unfortunately for us, it is too late to avoid economic Armageddon. Sell your overpriced real estate, and your overvalued collectibles. Get down to your local coin shop, and purchase all the bullion gold and silver coins you can lay hands on. And you might want to stop at the gun store on the way home.

"After Bush, the deluge".


And what prompted this and other observations? Well, it's a fascinating study of the Plame/Wilson/Cheney/Powell affair. What happened to Rove? Oh, he's still around but but maybe he's just a bit player in this ghastly spectacle taking place on the world stage. Joe Cannon's article can be found at Cannonfire.


"...And the angels uprising, unveiling affirm that the play is the tragedy "Man" and its hero The Conqueror Worm". -- Edgar Allen Poe

If you're reading this, you might be wondering why your neighbors seem so stupid. Give 'em a break; maybe it ain't their fault.

At least a partial answer can be found in the following article at Counterpunch:

An Interview with Col. Sam Gardiner
The Bush Administration's Psy-Ops on the US Public

Here's some quotes:
"As the war unfolded, I became increasingly uneasy about what was being reported out of the White House..."

"One of the first items that made me uneasy was when I heard we were encountering 'terrorist death squads.' I was very familiar with the Iraq military forces. There were no terrorist death squads. It became obvious the Pentagon wanted us to connect Iraq with 9/11. Terrorists did 9/11. There are terrorists in Iraq. Iraq must have been behind 9/11.

"There is absolutely no question that the White House and the Pentagon participated in an effort to market the military option. The truth did not make any difference to that campaign.

Zeese: "Is the media being fooled by the Administration or is it complicit in this effort to misinform the public?"

Gardiner: "The media have been fooled. They have been lazy. They have lost sight of the historic calling of journalism. Journalists have been replaced on television by cheerleaders."


When you get through with the Zeese/Gardiner article, try This Page on for size. It's entitled "MKUltra techniques of mind control being used on the public?"

Bomb Mecca?

MSNBC Link

Congressman Tancredo seems to think we might need to someday.

“Well, what if you said something like — if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites,” Tancredo answered.

“You’re talking about bombing Mecca,” Campbell said.

“Yeah,” Tancredo responded.

The congressman later said he was “just throwing out some ideas” and that an “ultimate threat” might have to be met with an “ultimate response.”

Not a wise man, this Rep. Tancredo. Open mouth and create even more hate. These are the words of a foolish, thoughtless man.

Bad News at RiverBend

RiverBend (LINK)

She has a new post and it’s frightening

“Prayers for Khalid...
Raed of Raed in the Middle (LINK) has some very bad news. His brother Khalid of the blog Tell Me a Secret http://secretsinbaghdad.blogspot.com/ has been abducted by the new Iraqi mukhabarat.”

Now go to A Family in Baghdad. (LINK) Read as much as you can. This is what a person from Iraq saw in America and sees in Iraq. She is the mother of Khalid and her name is Faiza.

Here’s some of what she writes:

"As to the rest of the stations, they only show those who support the war, stations like (CNN, FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC)… the strong, rich stations, owned by private companies...or the pure governmental stations, financed by the government.
So...the picture is clear, and sad...America lives in a semi-dictatorship condition now...What difference between that, and Iraq, at the time of Saddam Hussein? What is the difference between the Americans opposing the war and the government policies, and the Iraqis who opposed Saddam Hussein, and his wars against Iran and Kuwait?
Weren't they afraid of him, and his wrath? Didn't he wash the minds of the majority of people, through the media, and force them to accept his viewpoint, and none other? Didn't he accuse each Iraqi who opposes him of being a traitor to the country, or of anti-patriotism"?

Bush Changes His Mind!?!?

Yeah, I know. How can you change something that's non-existent? Anyway,

From the AP (of all places):

"Bush said in June 2004 that he would fire anyone in his administration shown to have leaked information that exposed the identity of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame. On Monday, however, he added the qualifier that it would have be shown that a crime was committed".

The next thing you know, he'll be saying things like, "If you're not with us,...uh, you're with that group of people who have differing opinions and whom we need to sit down with and have a calm, rational discussion".

Liz, you once said you were thinking of purging comments from "trolls". Are you going to allow comments from kill-crazy, war-mongering imbeciles?

Is Lying to a Soldier a Crime?

It wouldn't matter if Wilson were Mickey Mouse. His report right or wrong was apparently right enough for the words about the yellow cake to be removed from at least one speech. Later to never be heard of again. Bottom line is the US went to war based on false "fixed" info as justification for the consumption of the American people. Almost 1800 members of our military are now dead and Iraqis are dying every day while the US screws around with whether or not Joe Wilson is a good guy or a bad guy. The really bad guy is the one who so loves to call himself the Commander in Chief. He’s the principle in this case. He’s the one who declared this war. All responsibility is his and his alone. If he didn’t know all this “fixing” was going on, he should have. If he didn’t know then he’s incompetent and should be fired. If he did know about the “fixing” then he’s a liar and should answer to the legal system. Either way, forget all the leaking, get the crooks who lied to America, to you, to me and to those dead soldiers. Seems to me that if an American citizen lies to a soldier and as a result that soldier loses his life, that would be a crime.

Telling Transcript

There’s a great, up to now, account of Leakgate in the LA Times this morning.

The following is from page 2 and 3 of this article. It’s also the last bit of the article.

"And Fleischer also seemed attuned to a strategy of discrediting Wilson. Two days before Novak revealed Plame's identity, Fleischer questioned the former envoy's findings in remarks to reporters during a trip with Bush in Africa.

"The transcript of that press gaggle (the term for an informal question-and-answer between reporters and the White House spokesman), which took place in the National Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria, has been requested by the prosecutors".

Well, here it is: WhiteHouseNewsReleases

There must be something about this that my blonde head doesn’t understand because I Googled “Ari press National Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria” and found the site in a second. Maybe government transcripts on line don’t carry the weight that official pieces of paper carry. I’m trying to learn and figure this stuff out. I’m trying.

Anyway, here’s the transcript if anyone wants to read it. It’s pretty interesting in light of what’s going on today. If I were you, I would read the whole article in the LA Times before reading the transcript. It works better that way, at least it did for me.

More Toll of War

A chilling piece in the LA Times "Shrapnel From Home" recounts one of the great casualties of war: divorce.

Can you imagine the pain of soldiers when eagerly checking their email in the row of internet trailors in Iraq and they find out that their wives have found other men, drained their bank accounts and moved on? Once soldier called his home answering machine to hear another man telling his wife he loved her. Imagine having to go outside after that and face bombs? Sure most of these men and women are very young and were barely adults when they married and had kids but war is such a strain on families that this is nothing new during war time, but the deployments are so long and absense is not making the hearts of those left behind grow fonder. The article is very worth reading as it recounts some tragic family breakups and the divorce rate in the military. Only the truly heartless would not be moved. (go to Bugmenot.com to get a password if you don't have one for LATimes.com)

While the politicians are warning us how much gay marriage is ruining families across our land, they completely ignore the young people who sign up to serve (based on lies) their imperialistic asses. Soldiers are merely cannon fodder in the eyes of those who send them off to war. Wives and mothers of their children feel lonely and abandoned wondering if Johnny will come marching home. As long as this country engages in senseless wars, this country will never foster a "culture of life".

As much as it pains me to read about the innocent Iraqi's being mercilessly slaughtered each day, it pains me equally to read of the tragic circumstances that our military men and women must face: depression, mutilation, divorce, suicide, death, nightmares, fear, hopelessness and betrayal. Yeah sure, they signed up under their own free will but don't tell me that these people weren't somewhat desperate and promised a better life (which trumps living in poverty) if they would serve.

If the Bush family and the administration along with all the politicians and corporate heads can sleep at night knowing that their greed has caused such worldwide heartbreak, I can only hope that maybe there is some sort of angry vengeful god who will inflict his infinite justice on them for all eternity. Those who support this administration are on my shit list (yes even my relatives) and I will not associate with any of them. I do not have to be nice and act politically correct towards those complicit in the horror they have inflicted. I'm angry, I'm worried, I'm hurt and I fear for the future of mankind. May the evil leaders suffer the pain of a hard assfuck by their own missiles and then slowly bleed to death after it detonates while being webcammed by laughing soldiers. Amen.

Quotes of the Day

They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.
- Ernest Hemmingway


What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?
- Gandhi

The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that refuse military service.
- Albert Einstein

What If?

I know I'm putting myself up as a target by asking this, but if women were in charge of everything, do you think things in general would be as bad as they are today? I’m talking about leading countries, running most departments in the government and that sort of thing. I’m not talking about running domestic households etc, we all know that’s pretty much already happening. :)

A Different Kind of Torture

If you watched Meet the Press this morning you were tortured too. You were tortured via Mehlman’s mouth, and yes, his face. His mannerisms make me cringe. Talk about shifty eyes, watch him if you dare. His eyes are the very definition of shifty. Oh my goodness that man is one bad, disgusting dude. I hate to be mean, but not all the time. Everything that comes out of his mouth is torturous to hear and as a matter of fact it’s torturous to watch his mouth as he speaks. He had his phrase du jour, most likely issued via the white house today for everyone to use when on a talk show. He praised special prosecutor Fitzgerald’s legal abilities but when Tim asked him if he would abide by Fitzgerald’s decision if Rove or one of the others was indicted, Melhman fumbled with words and said as usual, nothing. Tim tried to get a straight answer but all he got from Mehlman was bs. The party line was in use today.

So how many more times will we see Mehlman on our TV screen before this is all over? How much more can we take? If there is a god, he’ll let us know the outcome of this investigation soon, because we just can’t take much more of Mehlman’s verbal torture.

The Week In God (vs. Science)

It's quite clear now that Iraq had been a secular nation for a good reason: Who can ever decide which brand of Islam is the right one? It looks like the best bombers will win that debate. Who won the war between Ireland and Northern Ireland anyway? Which Christians will claim America as their own?

Oh yeah? You're Catholic? You're not Christian.
Catholics make up the largest mainstream religious denomination in the country. Protestants collectively outnumber Catholics... but then again, there wouldn't be so many different protestant religions if they agreed on what to believe in. Then you have those make believe evangelist bible churches where the "believers" never read a whole paragraph of the bible at one time to see if the sentence they used to hate someone was taken out of context. Their leaders are counting on that hatred and fear.

Today, the majority of Americans declare that this is indeed a Christian country. Sure it's a slap on the face to those of other faiths... but watch the bitch slapping between Christians begin. The war between the lovers vs the haters:

The sinners of the United Church of Christ were warned by christianistas that they are way off track (link):

Members of St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ awoke Saturday morning to discover their church severely damaged by smoke and anti-gay graffiti painted on the side of the building...

The vandalism contained anti-gay messages and a declaration that United Church of Christ members were sinners. The graffiti's message appeared to be a reference to the national church's decision last week to endorse gay and lesbian marriages, Shultz said.

There is a growing controversy in the Air Force as evangelical preachers are zealously spreading their "christian" beliefs among the military. It's interesting to note from this NY Times article that evangelists bring in the most recruits. But tensions are rising in the military. Whose christian religion is the right one? Even our military is at odds.

Earlier this week, I posted: Catholics are not Christian, you silly goose (link)

A Christian adoption agency that receives money from “Choose Life” license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency’s “Statement of Faith.”

According to the statement of faith, this group asserts that the scriptures are the final authority. The Catholic Church officially includes human reason into their theology. This is officially at odds with evangelists. How will the RCC appease the fundies? Just ask Cardinal Christoph Schönborn...

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna wrote an op ed piece in the Times (article posted here) recently causing controversy over the issue of evolution, which most Americans don't really understand by the way, unless you went to Catholic school. Heaven forbid that uneducated, ill informed christian zealots accuse Pope Benedict of being a "satisfied evolutionist". Schönborn is trying to come up with a way to include human reason AND God's intervention in the evolution process. It seems more like the RCC is going to cow tow to the christo-fascists. Agitprop posts more about this here.

NewScientist (reg required) had a great article about creationists which I posted here. Become an instant expert in evolution here.

Breaking News: Maybe quantum physicists have discovered a way to explain the will of god in creation. If you're into quantum mechanics and/or theology, the entanglement theory may just answer what this passage in John1:1 is all about: In the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was (a) god. The article is here but if you want to read the whole thing. Write to me at blondesense@optonline.net and I'll send it to you.

I Kant Decide Who is My Fave Philosopher

The BBC polled British Radio4 listeners regarding their favorite philospher. The information is here. Karl Marx got 27.93% of the vote and second place philosopher, David "Why bother?" Hume got 12.67%. Not much of a second place percentage. I never thought of Marx as a philosopher, per se. Maybe an economist with a philosophy that may very well be realized? The results, are causing a bit of a shit storm.


Other philosophers of note:
"To be is to do" - Socrates
"To do is to be" - Plato
"Do be do be do" - Sinatra

Plan Called for Covert Aid in Iraq Vote

“In the months before the Iraqi elections in January, President Bush approved a plan to provide covert support to certain Iraqi candidates and political parties, but rescinded the proposal because of Congressional opposition, current and former government officials said Saturday.”
But it doesn’t end there. Read the rest at The New York Times.
Come on, you really aren’t surprised are you?

Just Thought I'd Mention It In Passing:

"Prior to his appointment as Commissioner of Transport for London in January 2001, Robert Kiley served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York City Partnership.

(...)

"Early in his career, he was with the CIA, where he served as Manager of Intelligence Operations and then as Executive Assistant to the Director.

"Robert Kiley is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Board Member of the Salzburg International Seminar, the American Repertory Theater, MONY Group Inc, the Princeton Review Inc and Edison Schools, Inc. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Harvard University Center for State and Local Government.

For a complete profile of this fellow go to Transport For London-Board and Chief Officers.

Well, so maybe it's not a complete profile. There's also this tidbit from Newsday: "Kiley ...had emerged as a strong candidate for city schools chancellor and was backed by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani".

What was Giuliani doing in London last week anyway?

Yes, They are Stupid and Funny!

The following are three comments from three different commenters . I saw them today on a conservative website. I will not give their screen names in order to save them the embarrassment.

“Here's a little logic for our liberal friends who seem short on that commodity. Firstly you can't "out" that which has already been "outed". Second, you can't "out" something when that something is nothing. Lastly, you can't "out" something without "outing" it.”

…..

“Though, I will beg this question...yes, Wilson could have been googled for his wife's name, though I haven't heard anything about whether or not she was in the CIA, much less what she did, is also searchable. Which is where the problem is coming in for me. Who said she was in the CIA, and when?”

…..

“Oh, you're talking (out the wrong orifice, to be sure) about the investigation into a President LYING before a Federal Grand Jury, which is a felony. Somewhat different than someone mentioning that so-and-so works somewhere, I think.”


Could three people be any more ill informed? The first one made me laugh because of the “logic” issue. The second one made me laugh with the last sentence. And the third one also got me going with the last sentence. I know it’s not nice to laugh at ignorance, but sometimes I just do.

The Most Interesting Article I Have Read About Leakgate

Yes, it is a long article and don’t start reading it until you have some time, because once you begin, you won’t be able to stop. Is it all factual and true? I don’t know but it sure makes a lot of sense.

COUP D’ETAT (Link)

“The real reason Tenet and Pavitt resigned from the CIA”

Please note, this was written June 8, 2004

Go read and let us know what you think. After I read this, it kept flashing in my head that George Bush Sr was head of the CIA from 1976 to 1977

The Pale, Horseless World is Not For Me -- Sometimes silence is golden

So I'm in the barn. The sound of the slaps resounded through the arena, echoed off the high ceiling of the scared space. Each followed by a steam of parental invective: "Now STOP that, mister. "if I even see----even see---those teeth of yours once more I'm going to make you sorry." "You know not to.........."

A few seconds later, another thwack, another sermon in Donna's mellifluous tones.

She and her horse, a young and strapping Dutch warmblood ( the breed of choice for every rider on the rise these days, the Lexus of horses), go through this routine every time they are together, he turning to pull at some bit of her clothing with his handsome teeth, she responding with a slap on his neck with her open palm and a foretaste of what she'd be like as a mother. No matter how colorfully strident her remonstrances, her horse was apparently too thick to get it. His English language skills failed to progress.

Every time I watch their pas de deux, I was reminded of dog owners who keep crying "Come Buster, come. Come, come!" as their dogs are running merrily away. Their calls arise from the bottom of a deep well into which they didn't even know they had fallen, unable to escape: the well of speech. If only someone could pass a law prohibiting the use of spoken language in animal training, or a least require alternates, such as chair for "sit," rice for "come." Then maybe people would realize they have to teach first, speak second. Or not at all----visual cues work just as well as verbal ones.

I wondered why Dalton did not inform Donna that if you have to rehearse the same play over and over again without ever getting to a real performance, it's the director's fault. Then again, knowing the financial role of Donna's fiancé in buying the expensive animal, as well as the natural recalcitrance of Donna's intellect to expand, I wasn't that surprised. Nonetheless, I remained appreciative of her wardrobe of trim $400.00 breeches and the fact that she stood definitively on one side of the great divide: women whose hair stayed perfectly coiffed no matter what they did around horses, and women like me.

The Fifteenth-Century mystic Margery Kempe saw a man striking a horse, and as she stared the image dissolved. Its particles reformed and there before her was Christ being lashed, his blood flowing like tears. Hey, maybe Margery ate too many mushroom. But to blasphemously put her beloved Christ's face where before there was only a beast's (only, certainly, the very least of his brethren) this, as we have come to see, is rank sentimentality, woman's foolishness. We are supposed to be civilizing ourselves out of it, but there is one slight problem. That Sentimentality, also know as compassion, is the one thing that has allowed human civilization to continue, for without it we would leave our children hungry into he streets and our babies tied to tables to learn how long it takes them to expire from neglect. As some British critic, I don't remember his name, who has the knack of seeing this clearly, has written: "Whenever people say 'we Mustn't be sentimental,' you can take it they are about do something cruel. And if they add,'We must be realistic,' they mean they are going to make money out of it.
.

And in other news...

Grand Theft Democracy: Hidden Sex Irks Senators
Senator's Clinton and Lieberman are incensed over sexual content in Grand Theft Auto, the video game, and want to introduce legislation to help keep inappropriate video games out of the hands of children, and has asked the FTC to investigate the "Grand Theft Auto" game because it has super secret sexual content.

"The disturbing material in 'Grand Theft Auto' and other games like it is stealing the innocence of our children, and it's making the difficult job of being a parent even harder," Clinton said. (link)

Oy vay. Being a parent was always a hard job and living in a democracy makes it harder for sure. Parents usually check out babysitters before they leave their kids with one. The same goes for video games. GTA is a very violent game. In my opinion, if you allow your minor child to play such an intense video game with an M (mature) rating , they can stand to watch a little sex. If you want the government to regulate everything so you don't have to be a diligent parent, then move to Saudi Arabia. It's letter writing time again.



Tunisian Astrologer Predicts:
Impending Doom for The Eiffel Tower, GWB, Saddam, King Faud (www.albawaba.com)

EPA Hopes You Choke on the Air: Court Rejects States' Attempt to Force EPA to Regulate Greenhouse Gases As Air Pollutants: A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Environmental Protection Agency acted properly when it rejected a nonprofit group's petition. The group had asked EPA to impose new controls on carbon dioxide and other automobile pollutants that scientists say trap heat in the atmosphere like a greenhouse. (link)

Catholics are not Christian, you silly goose (link)

A Christian adoption agency that receives money from “Choose Life” license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency’s “Statement of Faith.”

According to the statement of faith, this group asserts that the scriptures are the final authority (God quit speaking to humankind after the bible was written, except for bush) and they are happily awaiting the rapture. Hey nice way to raise your kids. Tell them that they are doomed.

All the while, Harry Potter's new adventure is a real tear jerker.

Cool Site of the Week:
Post Secret Blog: Ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.
.

My Hair is Now Naturally Curly

The air is so thick, you can slice it with a knife. The humidity is 97% so one can just step outside and be drenched in minutes without even moving. Afternoon thunderstorms and accompanying fireworks do nothing to relieve the heaviness. More hurricanes head this way sopping half the nation in rain and mugginess.

Arizona and Southern Cali are looking better and better to me. Sure it's hot there, but at least it's dry.

Armageddon Anyone

From the only man I ever really loved. Go head, walk on the wild side, read it and y'all will understand why I loves him.

I Cannot Yet Skin A Deer / Are you prepared for the Big Collapse? Peak Oil? Rural life? Can you pickle meat...
by Mark Morford

Rare is the opportunity to use authentic, down 'n' dirty rural survival skills in the city. It's true.

You don't need to know, for example, how to skin a deer or pickle your own asparagus or nurture an understanding of which kind of deadwood is best for cookin' pig snouts over the fire pit, or how to shingle your roof with rocks and clay, or how to dig really large holes in the backyard for long-term storage of winter wheat and dead chickens and hoary annoying relatives.

City-bred skills and intuitions are, to be sure, unique. But there will apparently be very little call, after the Bush-branded apocalypse rains down, for knowledge of which seat in the café gets the best Wi-Fi signal or where to find the finest burrito after midnight in the Mission when you are post-coitally blissed and in need of refueling.

Very little call, after the Big Ungodly Crash, for knowledge of where to get the most amazing cheap dim sum, how much the large bottle of Astroglide costs at the local Good Vibrations, or which tiny parking spaces in my girlfriend's neighborhood I can sneak into for emergency booty calls without her uptight neighbors calling Bob's Towing. ... read the rest

Caption Anyone?

Notice the blurred turdblossom.

What Is The Latest Buzz Anyway?

And all this disinformation looks like the work of one Karl 'Turdblossom' Rove.

THE BUZZ: Gimme five
The Kansas City Star

The “Blogometer” compiled by The Hotline political newsletter summarizes a handful of theories that have surfaced in the Bob Novak-Karl Rove-Valerie Plame-Judith Miller-etc. affair:

1) Rove could face espionage charges rather than mere indictment under intelligence protection statutes.

2) Former Ambassador Joe Wilson may have leaked wife Plame’s role in his Niger trip to friends in the press.

3) The New York Times’ Miller may have leaked the Wilson/Plame gossip to the White House. (This just in)

4) Or, The Times may be protecting another source, one unsympathetic to the White House.

5) Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer may have leaked Plame’s name.
(fox and fiend's Steve Doocy this morning said that it was Ari Fleischer. Ari quit his job right around the time of the Plame leak, or so people are saying.)

Ahhh Krugman

Ultimately, this isn't just about Mr. Rove. It's also about Mr. Bush, who has always known that his trusted political adviser - a disciple of the late Lee Atwater, whose smear tactics helped President Bush's father win the 1988 election - is a thug, and obviously made no attempt to find out if he was the leaker.

Most of all, it's about what has happened to America. How did our political system get to this point? read the whole thing

WHY DO REPUBLICANS HATE AMERICA AND FREEDOM?

"Democrats in the Republican-led Senate proposed an amendment to a homeland security bill to strip any federal employee who disclosed classified information, including the identity of a covert CIA agent, of their access to sensitive information. The amendment was defeated on a party-line vote, 44-53".

From a Reuters article on the Wilson/Plame/Rove affair.

Rove, 2001

This is a very interesting article and gives you some insight into Rove’s world.
“The Busiest Man in the White House As Bush hits 100 days in office, his top strategist, Karl Rove, is already eyeing 2004. His latest task: cleaning up W.'s anti-environment image”
Time Magazine, April 22, 2001 (Link)



Also at this site (Wikipedia Link) you can find links to just about everything you ever wanted or didn’t want to know about Rove.

The War Against Truth Rages On, but This Time There are Casualties

Joe Wilson said there’s no reason to believe that Iraq tried to buy yellow cake. Basically the government didn’t want us to know that, so they didn’t tell us. Joe was frustrated by them ignoring his report and continuing to lie, so he told us himself via an op-ed piece. The government was angry at him for doing that, so they tried to discredit him. Somewhere in this effort to discredit him they mentioned his wife to several journalists. Was their intent to out his wife or belittle his report by saying the white house didn’t send him; his trip was a result of his wife’s request? I don’t know, and right now I don’t know if anyone knows except the person(s) who made the calls to the reporters. Either way, Wilson’s wife was outed as a CIA agent. The biggest, most important part of all this is why didn’t our government tell the American people the truth? No matter who made the phone calls, why did they go to so much trouble in order to continue their lie to you and to me? They wanted this war so much that they worked like hell, took legal chances and lied so they could get America to support their desire. And now here we are in a very deadly war that no one seems to be able to determine how or when it might end. People in Iraq are dying and soldiers are dying while the white house continues to fight the release of the truth. It’s no longer, if the government lied; it’s how much longer are they going to be allowed to do it. While the bloody, deadly war rages on in Iraq, the war against truth rages on over here. Both could have been prevented. Lives could have been saved, money could have been saved, our reputation as a country could have been saved, if only those in the bush administration had been statesmen instead of liars. Someday we’ll know who they were, but they will know all their lives that they didn’t fight a war, they created one. They shielded the truth and sent Americans to fight and die. Good Lord, that is surely a most heinous crime! What kind of monsters could commit such an act? Possibly the same ones who tried to destroy a president who lied about his personal life.

Two presidents, two lies, but this time there are thousands of casualties.


Do They Have a Future?

I guess in Iraq you don’t ask a little kid what they want to be when they grow up. I guess it would be better to ask what do you want to be if you grow up?

From Juan Cole (Link):

Borzou Daragahi of LA Times “reports on the gruesome bombing in the poor Shiite "New Baghdad" district on Wednesday. US troops in the neighborhood attracted the interest of children. At first the soldiers tried to wave them away, but then gave in and handed out candy. Presumably Baath or fundamentalist intelligence already had the US convoy under surveillance, and they saw this moment as an ideal time to act. A bomb-laden SUV slammed into the scene, killing over 30 persons, mostly children, and at least one US soldier. It also left over 25 wounded. The dead were immediately taken to the Shiite holy city of Najaf for burial.”

Irony Watch

Bush urges Iran to free jailed journalist

Excerpt From AFP:

McClellan said Ganji had been jailed "for his political views" and that his hunger strike showed "he is willing to die for his right to express his opinion."

"The President calls on all supporters of human rights and freedom, and the United Nations, to take up Ganji's case and the overall human rights situation in Iran," said the spokesman.

"The President also calls on the Government of Iran to release Mr. Ganji immediately and unconditionally and to allow him access to medical assistance," he said.

Greg Palast on Judy Miller:

The only thing more evil, small-minded and treasonous than the Bush Administration's jailing Judith Miller for a crime the Bush Administration committed, is Judith Miller covering up her Bush Administration "source."

Judy, Karl Rove ain't no "source." A confidential source -- and I've worked with many -- is an insider ready to put himself on the line to blow the whistle on an official lie or hidden danger. I would protect a source's name with my life and fortune as would any journalist who's not a craven jerk (the Managing Editor of Time Magazine comes to mind).

Rove attacked a friend of mine

Have I told you that I have a personal interest in seeing Karl Rove frog marched out of the White House?

From Boy Genius, an excellent book on Rove, “From a rowdy past as a young Republican in Richard Nixon’s Washington; to masterminding the defeat of Ann Richards, the popular governor of Texas; to his triumphs on the national stage, Karl Rove has taken no prisoners in his quest to elect his candidates and destroy his rivals.” The FBI agent mentioned in Peter's post investigated every major, popular Democratic office holder in the state who could whip Republicans.

“His first victim had been an ambitious Waco district attorney named Vic Feazell.”

My husband worked for Vic and he has been a personal friend for 20 years.In 1985, twenty years ago this spring, I started dating the man who is my husband. He worked in the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office as the D.A.’s press secretary. He took me on our first date and over Chinese food at the House of Chen restaurant he told me that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together.

Three weeks later, after a dinner at Baylor University, I told my husband to be that I saw on the local television news that the District Attorney, Vic Feazell, was bringing Henry Lee Lucas before a grand jury in Waco. I said, “I have an acquaintance at Baylor who says his father, a federal judge, says that no way Lucas killed hundreds of people. It must be a hoax.”

My new boyfriend’s eyes grew huge. Normally he was the poker-faced press spokesman, he had revealed something sensitive to me. “Wait right here, I have to make a phone call.”

He came back with the telephone receiver stretched on a long cord, “Tell Vic, what you just told me.”

I did.

What I had learned was that indeed Lucas could not have possibly killed hundreds of people. They were going to a grand jury to prove just that. Lucas was coming to Waco to tell the grand jury that he had lied to law enforcement officials who were eager to jump on the serial killer bandwagon to self-aggrandizement and promotion. Law enforcement, the F.B.I. and Texas Rangers, and local police and sheriffs were clearing cases they could not solve through Lucas’ confession spree and telling the American people that a monster was living as a drifter. Law enforcement perpetrated a fraud on the American people. They said, straight faced that Lucas, the penniless drifter, was wondering the United States randomly killing people in every possible manner. The science of DNA evidence was in its beginnings but Lucas and leaving no scientific or physical evidence of his crimes. No blood samples, no semen, no witnesses, and no fingerprints. He confessed to over 200, 350, 600 murders, the number kept changing like some McCarthyesque accusations about communists in the State Department. The more media, the more murders.

Little did I know that our lives were moving from McCarthyesque to Kafkaesque. When the McLennan County District Attorney Vic Feazell and Attorney General Jim Mattox brought Lucas to Waco and before the grand jury, Lucas said he made the confessions up to get better treatment from law enforcement. He got to travel the country first class and the officers had fed him crime scene information from the case files so he could re-tell the story of his murderous travels on video tape. He would confess until he could get the lie to match the unsolved case.

The Texas Rangers were embarrassed and enraged. They began investigating the District Attorney. They found lawyers who owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes to the I.R.S. and they lawyers testified that they gave envelopes of money to my husband to pass on to the District Attorney. They testified to this lie in exchange for an agreement that the federal government would not prosecute them for income tax evasion.

60 Minutes received a letter from my husband describing the confession hoax and the retaliation the District Attorney was facing. They did a story on the Lucas matter and the investigation of us and confided in us that we had no idea how much trouble was coming our way.

My husband did not pass envelopes of money to his boss. It simply did not happen, but I would hear testimony in federal court about how lawyers gave money to the District Attorney through my husband, the “bag man.” My husband did run for office, for McLennan County Judge in May 1986. He lead his Democratic Party primary, but lost the run off election because the F.B.I. told the media that they would bring him before a grand jury to testify that he passed envelopes of money to the District Attorney. The press reported that the feds would produce my husband in chains and handcuffs. When the story made the papers, the F.B.I. called and canceled their subpoena. The press did not report that. And we lost our election. And my husband was never called to testify before the grand jury or the subsequent trial.

The District Attorney was indicted. He had been arrested six weeks before the general election in November 1986. My husband ran the D.A.’s re-election campaign and got him re-elected 2 to 1. Now the feds who had actually written in the D.A.’s F.B.I. file that with enough pressure on him, Vic Feazell would kill himself, had to face Vic in federal court. They had to try him.

The trial lasted six weeks. I volunteered for the defense team. I heard testimony that my husband was involved in a criminal enterprise and had accepted bribes on behalf of his boss. It was a lie. A lie that witnesses told so they could avoid prison. The federal prosecutor never called my husband to the stand. They never indicted my husband, but smeared his name in open federal court.

The jury was out for a weekend. They had voted to acquit with in an hour, but one of the jurors was had a birthday and they wanted to go to lunch to celebrate. We waited for the verdict on Monday.

Governor George W. Bush granted Henry Lee Lucas a reduction in his sentence from death row to life in prison because Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox went to the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole and advised them that Bush would be executing an innocent man. Lucas couldn’t be released because then the public, fed with fear from law enforcement and media, would discover the truth. The truth was official truth. The truth had died with the prosecution of Feazell. The feds and the Texas Rangers would have to admit that they lied about Lucas and Feazell. Lucas died in prison.

Feazell sued a Dallas television station for reporting the feds fabricated story about bribes. Feazell had been indicted on the strength of that television news story. The Dallas television station libeled the District Attorney and my husband, who was accused of “stiff arming” citizens on behalf of the D.A. They jury awarded Feazell $58 million –the highest jury award in American history in a libel case. We settled out of court. But the pain, the humiliation, the agony of false accusations and the damage to our reputations, the wire taps on our telephones, the surveillance, the police stealing our trash off our curb, the friends who believed the government, still hurt us.

No one was fired for the Lucas matter. Not one person had to answer for their hoax. Not one prosecutor or investigator was reprimanded. No investigation by a government official, other than the District Attorney and the Texas Attorney General, has been done.

Question of the day

Do you think Karl Rove (a/k/a Turdblossom) advised the White House to retain full confidence in him?

Timeline

From the website Bella Ciao: (and a tip of the cap to Holly)

"25 Dec 1950 Karl Rove born, Denver CO.
1970 Karl Rove sneaks into the campaign office of Illinois Democrat Alan Dixon and steals some letterhead. He then prints up 1,000 party invitations promising "free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing," which he then distributes to homeless shelters.
1971 Drops out, University of Utah.
1980 First person hired by the George HW Bush presidential campaign.
1981 Starts political consulting firm Karl Rove & Co.
Mar 1991 Testifying under oath before the Texas Senate for an appointment to the Texas State University Board of Regents, Karl Rove prefigures Bill Clinton:

SENATOR GLASGOW: How long have you known an FBI agent by the name of Greg Rampton?
ROVE: Ah, senator, it depends -- would you define "know" for me?

1993 John Ashcroft campaign pays Karl Rove & Co. over $300,000 to help with his senate race. New York Times.
1999 The George W Bush campaign effort pays Karl Rove & Co. $2.5M for July through December. According to Rove, "About 30 percent of that is postage."
1999 Sells Karl Rove & Co..
Dec 2000 Signs a campaign disclosure form, but neglects to mention he is still President of Karl Rove & Co.
Mar 2001 White House political adviser Karl Rove meets with executives from Intel, seeking approval for a merger between a Dutch company and an Intel supplier. The government rubberstamps the deal, and Rove’s $100,000 in Intel stock surges.
Apr 2001 Arnold Schwarzenegger meets with Bush political advisers to discuss whether the actor should run for Governor of California in 2002. Karl Rove says "That would be really nice. That would be really, really nice."
Jun 2001 White House political adviser Karl Rove meets with two pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. At the time, Rove holds almost $250,000 in drug industry stocks.
Jun 2001 White House political adviser Karl Rove meets with a group of Muslim activists including Sami Al-Arian.
12 Mar 2000 George W Bush and his wife Laura are photographed with Karl Rove, during a campaign stop at the Florida Strawberry Festival.
30 Jun 2001 White House political adviser Karl Rove divests his stocks in 23 companies, which included more than $100,000 in each Enron, Boeing, General Electric, and Pfizer.
30 Jun 2001 The White House admits that political adviser Karl Rove was involved in administration energy policy meetings, while at the same time holding stock in energy companies including Enron.
10 Apr 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger meets with White House political adviser Karl Rove to discuss anything other than whether the actor should run for Governor of California in 2006.
14 May 2003 During a meeting with South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun, President George W Bush brings only two officials: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and political adviser Karl Rove.
29 Aug 2003 Retired ambassador Joseph C. Wilson names Karl Rove as the White House insider who leaked his wife’s identity as a CIA operative to the press.
28 Mar 2004 Several hundred supporters of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act pile out of school busses in front of Karl Rove’s house in Washington D.C., swarming onto his front lawn and shouting for him to support the act. Rove appears briefly to order the mob off his property, at which point they rush his house, banging on the windows and doors. He finally agrees to talk to two representatives if the mob disperses; they do, and after a couple minutes of discussion he shuts the door on them midsentence".

Hit the link above; there's more.

George Bush Responsible For The Deaths Of Over 70,000 Iraqi Women And Children

By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

"07/12/05 "UPI" - - BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi humanitarian organization is reporting that 128,000 Iraqis have been killed since the U.S. invasion began in March 2003.

"Mafkarat al-Islam reported that chairman of the 'Iraqiyun humanitarian organization in Baghdad, Dr. Hatim al-'Alwani, said that the toll includes everyone who has been killed since that time, adding that 55 percent of those killed have been women and children aged 12 and under.

"'Iraqiyun obtained data from relatives and families of the deceased, as well as from Iraqi hospitals in all the country's provinces. The 128,000 figure only includes those whose relatives have been informed of their deaths and does not include those were abducted, assassinated or simply disappeared".

Read the rest.

Thanks to Tom Feeley at International Clearing House.

Y'all might notice it's the UPI again--Moon's outfit bringing this story. Readers are invited to speculate what a supposed buddy of boygeorge is doing publishing a story that is somewhat...revelatory of the warcrimes of the Bush administration. (I started to say "embarrassing" but it's well-nigh impossible for a neo-fasc...er, neo-conservative to be embarrassed.)

QUOTE OF THE DAY (and) DEFINITION OF THE DAY:

QUOTE: "Valerie Plame should have been outed by somebody". -- John Gibson, FOXNEWS

DEFINITION: Sedition: incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority -- Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary

Gibson's complete hysterical bleatings can be found here. Of course, if you're preparing to eat, you might lose your appetite; and if you've just eaten, well...

And another look at a related article from a comment I posted at AllSpinZone where I first caught this tip:

“Sauce for the goose...”?

From AP Link:
“ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A prominent Islamic scholar who exhorted his followers after the Sept. 11 attacks to join the Taliban and fight U.S. troops was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.

”Ali al-Timimi of Fairfax was convicted in April of soliciting others to levy war against the United States, inducing others to aid the Taliban, and inducing others to use firearms in violation of federal law.

“Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg said al-Timimi ”hates the United States“ and has called for its destruction.

”He's not allowed to solicit treason. He deserves every day he gets." (emph. PoLT)

Somebody better tell Kromberg about this guy Gibson. Eh? 'Course, maybe it makes a difference if you're a focksucker from Coxnews. Somebody remind me to ask Liz where the spellcheck feature is.

Coincidence theory

I'm an avid student of coincidence especially if it can be proven that all these coincidences really happened. Some things seem too convenient to be brushed aside so I do like to check things out... and I will check the following out more... but maybe some of you have more information about this:

I recently read somewhere and I can't find it now that there were bombing exercises happening in London on that fateful day. How coincidental that the US was practicing their tactics concerning a plane being used as a missile on 9/11/01, I thought, and Britain was doing a similar exercise. And wasn't the military doing excercises when TWA Fl 800 went down right off the coast here on Long Island? I headed over to Alex Jones to see if he had news footage that would back up these coincidences. (I would never suggest that one's government would be complicit in terror attacks... it's just an amazing coincidence, is all.)

So first we can look at a story from the AP just to make sure that the CIA was really doing exercises on 9/11 regarding hijacked planes. Here it is at the Boston Globe: "In what the government describes as a bizarre coincidence, one U.S. intelligence agency was planning an exercise last Sept. 11 in which an errant aircraft would crash into one of its buildings. But the cause wasn't terrorism -- it was to be a simulated accident."

hmmm. There are dozens of similar stories on the internet. Maybe hundreds. Alex Jones has footage from the BBC where you can hear audio of an air traffic controller asking if the plane headed for NYC was real or an excercise. Wow sounds pretty real but you can always do video editing. But you should look at this very interesting video from the BBC.

Here's a video from ITV in London on the day of the London bombings... and wowie zowie wouldn't you know, a man whose company was running an exercise that very day using the scenario of simultaneous attacks on the London underground transit! At the same time and place! Amazing coincidence. I have to reread the Celestine Prophecy again. He said that that they suddenly had to switch from fictional to real when the terrorist bombs went off. Of course this man may just be lying because I haven't read or heard anything about this in American press which is the one true press.

Oh wait, maybe I should read this again: London Underground Exercises and the Magically Exploding Terrorists: Important Questions Sure there is a lot of coincidence theory here but it sure makes you wonder. There are so many coincidences and inconsistencies that my mind is boggled. Further research needs to be done.

Oh and yes, even though hundreds of witnesses on Long Island saw a missile attack Flight 800, and our local news reported that a missile struck the plane when our regular programming was interrupted, the official report is that nothing of the sort happened... even though, coincidentally, the Navy was performing super secret exercises in that very vicinity. Probably was an accident if it happened but most likely all those witnesses were having some sort of happy hour delusion. But at least they weren't blaming anything on terrorists in this situation.

I don't think the government is smart enough to pull this stuff off and they are too dumb and greedy to have such a grand conspiracy... but it sure makes you wonder why it's so coincidental that there are excercises in anti-terrorism on the same day as terrorist attacks or a downed airplane. Of course, there are probably lots of excercises that go on where there are no simultaneous terrorist attacks and it's just statistics and probability that some would happen on the same days using the exact same situation. So like I said, I am just a student of things that make you go, "hmmm".

Makes you wonder

Even Doomocracy blog writer Billydoom is starting to believe that our government isn't beyond doing whatever is necessary to incite war.

Billydoom writes: The American democracy exemplified a social model of coming out of an outmoded, cruel, bloodsucking, feudalistic system. It even inspired The French Revolution.

Determined by it's Constitution the USA had never attempted to colonize foreign land or people. Rather it had adopted a policy of "commonwealth" with the acceptance of the subjects of the foreign land.

That certainly hadn't stopped the USA from attempting a World Dominance. Unfortunately, government is made up of individuals and self serving people. It is human nature that compromises the perfect social system, no matter how hard our forefathers worked to write a Constitution with checks and balances, and amendments to assure liberty for individuals within society and withstand time, the social system will be compromised.

Even if you don't believe in conspiracy theories, the abundance of them points to the lack of trust in our government. That is an alarming sign, and the reasons are scattered throughout history.

Indeed.

Climate Scientists See Intimidation in Letter from House Energy Chair

"Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton, powerful chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has created a stir among many of the nation's leading climate scientists over what they call an 'unprecedented' inquiry into their research.

"In late June, Barton sent a letter to three scientists whose findings show that global temperatures have increased dramatically since 1900. [1] The letter calls on them to provide all the raw data that contributed to their research. Barton has also called on the National Science Foundation for a list of 'all grants and other funding' given for climate research.

"Critics within the scientific community assert that Barton's request is a blatant political maneuver to discourage scientists from pursuing studies that might verify the link between global warming and human activity".

Read the rest here: BushGreenWatch

the right stuff

Speaking strictly as a person with some journalism background and as an observer of news cycles:

You had better hope to Gawd or whoever it is that isn't taking our calls, that the shuttle gets off the ground today. Because if something happens, and the media is all over this like some sort of death watch, we are going to be distracted by about a week's worth of mewing and puking about the next shuttle disaster.

Forget The Right Stuff, like Deep Throat told Woodward, "these guys really aren't very smart."

Dropping a window shield and having it slide the length of the shuttle, that could only be accomplished by the lowest bidder.

Speaking of guys and gals with the right stuff, did you notice how Scotland Yard was able to produce more credible information quickly about the young bombers than our FBI could about the 9/11 highjackers? Wire this country for television, put cameras everywhere and shut the hell up about privacy. Damnit, when you are standing on a street corner, you have no expectation of privacy. In your house, yes, not at the intersection of Main and Roosevelt in downtown River City.

I like the government to stay out of my business, I don't want them pulling my reading purchases from Borders--not that I really give a shit. I am not ashamed of my purchases, even if they are not anyone's business, but I do not have an expectation of privacy about the fact that I am driving on a public street, or going into an airport, or other public places.

Texans are up in arms, as usual, about cameras at intersections catching them speeding. I would love to have video of the woman that ran a red light and T-boned me two years ago. Put the cameras up. God or the courts don't grant you the right to speed, run lights, and be drunk or have some privacy as you board the bus you want to blow up. The youthful offenders in London were observed on video from the many multitudes of cameras at public locations all over London.

If you didn't see Frontline with Lowell Bergman last night, you really missed quite a program. He talked to terrorist leaders and intelligent, thoughtful terrorist analysist and experts like MICHAEL SCHEUER the author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror.

Bergman was the 60 Minutes producer of The Insider story on big tobacco. He left corporate media. I am sure the fine folks that think PBS is too liberal were thrilled with how stupid they looked last night as Bergman talked to people who essentially said that we are not winning this conflict.

My point is this. We don't need hours of video tape and weepy newscasters. We need thoughtful programing on this war and on this administration. Why have we failed at catching bin Laden? Where is a our intelligence and talent? Where is the right stuff?

Rove Vs. Wait

Seems to me we have a couple of choices here. We can speculate this Rove deal until we turn blue or we can wait and see what comes of it.

Pat Buchanan was on Imus this morning and he feels there will be an indictment, but as far as I could tell he didn’t seem to be leaning toward any particular person. I agree with him about the indictment because I don’t believe the special prosecutor would work on a case for two years to come up empty.

I have a feeling that this will come down to perjury. If everyone in the white house has sworn under oath that they didn’t make the call, then someone is lying. Calls were made to journalists by someone.

Unless something happens, I think I’ll just sit back and wait. It is funny to hear someone like Mehlman as he appeared on Wolf Blitzer’s show yesterday. Mehlman, in his usual exaggerated verbal way, was in high denial of even the facts. Wolf gave him the old one-two with questions and Mehlman kept repeating the party line. If you can stand it, you can hear it here. (Americablog link).

Backyard Paradise

I was cleaning out my bookmark links this morning and I found a fun time waster. Create your own backyard paradise. Pick the setting add the decorations and voila! My Dream Backyard. They even send you a link to your creation.

They didn't have any Karl Roves that I could put in the alligator's mouth. Darn.
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MEMO TO THE MILITARY: PLEASE PROVIDE THE TRUE NUMBERS OF COMBAT DEATHS (YOU LYING SACKS OF SHIT)

The emphasis in the quotes below is mine. Why? Because I believe it reveals a lie. A lie of omission. Call it disinformation. Call it misinformation. I call it a lie.


"Blum said more than 250,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen have been mobilized for active duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and 262 of them have been killed in the global war on terrorism. Pentagon casualty statistics show more than 90 percent of those deaths were in Iraq.

"In all, more than 1,750 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003 - the vast majority since President Bush declared the end of major combat operations on May 1, 2003. More than 170 have died in and around Afghanistan as part of the ongoing offensive against Taliban and al-Qaida fighters".

The entire piece of shit Associated Press (and yes, I know I'm being redundant) article can be accessed here.

How the hell many have died after being airlifted out of Iraq? How the hell many have died after reaching the main hospital in Germany? How the hell many have died after coming home? Is it 6,000? 7,000? 8,000? More?

Go here to this Google Search site
for more looks at the death toll.

Random Thoughts From My Keyboard

Rove, Rove, Rove’s the Goat
Sail him down the stream
Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily
Is this but a dream?

***


Justice in a Small World
I find it interesting that Ted Olson is representing Cooper and or Time in the Plame case. He also represented george bush in the, bush vs. Gore, Supreme Court case in 2000. The outcome of which placed bush in the white house. And, Mr. Olson’s wife was a victim in one of the planes, Sept. 11, 2005. Now some are mentioning Olson’s name as a possible nominee for the Supreme Court vacancy. Another name mentioned for the position is Judge Luttig. “At 63, Olson might be too old to be nominated to the court. Olson certainly would endorse Luttig, who delivered the eulogy for Olson’s wife, Barbara, after she was killed on the plane that hit the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.”

Small world, huh?
Luttig clerked for Scalia from 1982-83. And for Burger from 1983-84 You can read a lot more about Luttig here

***
Bullshit!
Say it over and over, because that’s what it is. It’s all been bullshit from the day the Supreme Court unlocked the white house door for george bush and all who entered with him.

Who the hell knows what transpired before 9-11? Who the hell knows who put the anthrax in the envelopes? Who the hell knows what happened in order to start this war? What we do know is that there has been a maximum amount of bullshit. From the time the key entered the lock until right now, all we have heard is the most prime example of bullshit. When we weren’t being lied to about it, we were being told it was “classified” When they couldn’t come up with a lie to cover something, they buried it. The bullshit has flowed for way too long. It stinks!

Now the bullshit is smoking from a little fire. Rove apparently dropped the match and the smoke is rising. Maybe bullshit burns. Let’s hope so. It’s time to fan the flames. It’s time to call every damned thing we have been told and not told, what it seriously is, it’s bullshit.

Every American should be screaming, “It’s bullshit!”, because the families of almost 1800 soldiers are crying and god only knows how many other families are hurting as a result of this war based on bullshit. This has been a time of blood, death and yes, bullshit.

This could possibly be the most bullshit ever hurled at the American people and our allies. If all the bullshit could be measured it would be beyond the average person’s ability to comprehend.

No more excuses. No more wordplay. No more lies. No more bullshit, because damn it, we know what it is, we’ve seen and heard enough. Henceforth, when we hear it or see it we’ll call it what it is, we know what it is, it’s the vilest form of bullshit.

Hail Caesar

It's the birthday of Julius Caesar, born in Rome around 100 B.C., who said, "Beware the leader who bangs the drum of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor. For patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind."

From reader Williamus Maximus: We get the words, "Czar and Kaiser" from Caeser.

I did not know that. Thank you Williamus.

What do you suppose

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is thinking?

There are a lot of things wrong here...

U.S. President George W. Bush (L) speaks with members of Soldier Ride 2005 National Tour Team on the South Lawn of the White House, July 10, 2005. Soldier Ride 2005, comprised of wounded service members, is a 4,200-mile, cross-country bike ride to raise money and support to help prepare wounded soldiers for long-term rehabilitation. Reuters





For instance... these wounded service members have to raise money and build support for wounded soldiers? Um... I would think that the government should pay for their rehabilitation... or am I just a complete asshole for thinking humanely in a time of war?

I wonder what the hell bush could possibly be telling them.
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Tracking Scottie's Lies

All Hill recommends that we read Whiskey Bar today and he's right. Billmon's got a history of the official WH excuses regarding the Plame leak:

excerpt:

QUESTION: Scott, has there ever been an attempt or effort on the part of anyone here at the White House to discredit the reputations or reporting of former Ambassador Joe Wilson, his wife, or ABC correspondent Jeffrey Kofman?
McCLELLAN: John, I think I answered that yesterday. That is not the way that this White House operates. That's not the way the President operates . . . No one would be authorized to do that within this White House. That is simply not the way we operate, and that's simply not the way the President operates.

QUESTION: In all of those cases?

McCLELLAN: Well, go down -- which two?

QUESTION: Joe Wilson and his wife?

McCLELLAN: No.

Scott McClellan Press Briefing July 23, 2003

GOP blasts Hillary's Bush comments

"At a time when President Bush and most elected officials are focused on the security of our nation, Mrs. Clinton seems focused on taking partisan jabs and promoting her presidential campaign," added New York's GOP chairman, Stephen Minarik. "Her priorities are clearly out of whack."

Oh Stephen, get a grip. It's about fucking time that someone told it like it is.

"Sometimes feel that Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington," Clinton said during the inaugural Aspen Ideas Festival, organized by the Aspen Institute, a non-partisan think tank.
The former first lady drew a laugh from the crowd when she described Bush's attitude toward tough issues with Neuman's catch phrase: "What, me worry?"

She's right. So what is the problem? Oh yes, telling the truth is a problem and it's ok to attack Dems but not ok to attack Republicans during a time of war. Makes you wonder if they started the war so they could have a built in excuse. I just wrote to Newsday:

Dear Newsday,

I thoroughly enjoyed the article "GOP blasts Hillary's Bush comments". Sure her comments were insulting, but that was what she meant to do and she was right. The GOP knows she's right. When she speaks the truth, they go ballistic. What else is new?

Everything this administration does seems to be contra-indicated: cutting taxes during wartime, not giving NY more money for counter-terrorism, lack of armor and equipment for our troops in Iraq, the missing 30 billion dollars, the seemingly blase attitude towards the draining of the treasury, no bid contracts to Cheney's cronies, and the list goes on. And the Republicans are supposed to be fiscally conservative? Who are they kidding? I read "1984". I read "It Can't Happen Here".

When I see those "Support Our Troops" ribbons on gas guzzling SUV's across the island, it makes me laugh and cry. If everyone who supported the ribbon manufacturers contributed those couple of dollars towards body armor for our troops, it would make a lot more sense. Or maybe they don't even realize that they are supporting Chinese manufacturers and they don't realize that our troops are in need of body armor. Whose fault is that? People still believe that Iraq had something to do with 9/11. Why isn't the media clearing that up?

Now that London has been tragically bombed, security is being stepped up here in NY again. What's with all the automatic weapons on display? I thought we were fighting the war on terror over there so we don't have to fight it here. Is there something we should know? Perhaps the war on a 'concept' was not such a good idea after all?

Mrs. Clinton should blast the administration and keep at it. Remember the EPA was told to temper their assessment of the air quality after 9/11 by this administration. Why? How many rescue workers and downtown denizens are suffering from lung diseases now? NY gets as much counter-terrorism money per capita as any other state. Why? Why does Idaho need so much counter terrorism money? NY is home to many progressive, tolerant people and this administration has allowed hatred of women, gays and Muslims to flourish across the country. They would like to make federal laws that hurt women, poor people, gays and innocent Muslims while doing everything in their power to help corporations and war profiteers.

Thank you Mrs. Clinton for telling it like it is. I would have used harsher language. Maybe people will start to wake up and smell the fascism.

Love
Blondie

A Plan for Change

We’ve all heard it repeated time and again that the Democrats don’t have a plan. It’s used as a blanket statement to infer that Democrats are wandering around blind while the Republicans are taking care of everything.

Each time I hear someone say that the Democrats don’t have a plan, I have to respond with one question. A plan for what? Our country is in such an unbelievable mess today that there can’t be a plan until we can clean up what’s already been done. Okay, you want some plans? I have suggestions.

First thing is to get priorities in order. No more invasions of other countries and plans to make them into our own image until we have an image that other countries admire and aspire to reflect.

When our schools are shining examples of the best education in the world, then and only then, will we be painting schools in other countries. When our own elections are fair and honest beyond reproach, then and only then, will we be showing others how to emulate our process. When our soldiers have made the borders of our own country secure from infiltrating terrorists, then and only then might we consider sending them to war for the benefit of other countries. Yes there might be exceptions, but they absolutely will not be based on lies, especially lies that primarily bring financial benefit to large corporations. When every American has affordable health care, a safe place to live and nutritional food to eat, then and only then will we criticize other countries for how they maintain their own country.

I believe we should begin bringing our soldiers home. We are told that a time line would give those fighting us a date and they would wait until the last soldier was gone before continuing their slaughter. If that is the case, why wouldn’t those who are fighting us sit back now, let the military think they had bested them and then when America declared victory and left, the hell could restart? I believe the argument against setting a date to leave Iraq is at best weak. I think the actual reason for not setting a date for leaving is because there is no desire to or a plan for leaving. If this war ends during bush’s term, he will be faced with the hell it has caused our country. The American people will come out of their war-induced coma and begin to ask questions. That would not be good for bush or his party.

We have heard that 9-11 changed everything; well it’s time to change it back. It’s time to begin rebuilding our own country. Making America great again and admired again must be our goal. It’s time to stop allowing 9-11 to change everything. It’s time to change it back. The day we do will be the day we win the war on terror. When we stop being terrified, the terrorists lose. It’s time to bring the soldiers home and it’s time to reclaim our country. It’s time to declare this country America again and not the capital of war and deception. It’s time to change it back. That’s a plan.

Scotty Finally Gets Chased

Go over to Crooks and Liars and listen to today’s press briefing or read it if you like. The press wants answers about Rove. Scotty was chased up a tree.

What would give the press the guts to go after him like this? Could it be the Judy Miller jailing or is it that they smell blood in the water and want some of the action? Are they tired of being kept on a leash? Something has got them going and whatever it is, let’s hope they keep it up.

Diamonds and Rhinestones

Perhaps when one is born, we have little settings in our heads. These little settings are capable of holding either diamonds or rhinestones. Which is placed in the settings is one’s own determination.

Some are curious and they seek answers. They want to educate themselves and determine what they believe to be right and wrong, fair and unfair. They learn, they read, and they listen. They may follow others' paths, but they come to their own conclusions based on experience and knowledge. These people place as many diamonds in their settings as they possibly can. They are seekers of nothing but the real thing, the diamonds.

Others find it easier to let someone else fill their settings. They really don’t care whether diamonds or rhinestones are used because they don’t see the difference as long as the settings are filled. Filling the settings is their ultimate goal. The content’s value is not important. When all those around them are satisfied with rhinestones, diamonds don’t appear to be required or necessary. When others appear to be making it through life with only rhinestones, what’s the incentive to seek out diamonds?

Who provides the rhinestones? Is it the church, the family or the community? No matter the provider, rhinestones are never anything more than diamond imposters. Rhinestones require no effort. Diamonds must be pursued.

There are some who try to convince the world that their rhinestones are actually diamonds. Only those who themselves have rhinestones in their settings will be fooled by that claim. They may even say that because so many have rhinestones instead of diamonds that that gives rhinestones some value. They may say it.

Rhinestones provide a façade. Diamonds are enduring. Which we choose to place in our settings will determine our own view of the value of our life. A diamond’s sparkle is real and lasting. A rhinestone’s sparkle fades and dulls. While both fit equally well in our settings, only one is worth pursuing. The choice is ours. We may choose our own gem or we can allow someone else to choose for us. It’s easier to allow someone else to make the decisions but just remember all you’ll get is what they want you to have. And it’s not very often that diamonds are given away.

Et tu Time Magazine?

My inner Republican is stamping her feet. ha.
Why they've gone positively leftist truthful!
What is going on sheeple?

Time Magazine Cover Story
Why Iraq Has Made Us Less Safe ...
By DANIEL BENJAMIN

Sunday, Jul. 10, 2005
Sir Ivor Roberts, Britain's Ambassador to Italy, declared last September that the "best recruiting sergeant for al-Qaeda" was none other than the U.S. President, George W. Bush. With the American election entering its final furlongs, he added, "If anyone is ready to celebrate the eventual re-election of Bush, it is al-Qaeda." The remarks, made at an off-the-record conference, were leaked in the Italian press, and Sir Ivor, facing the displeasure of his Foreign Office masters for committing the sin of candor, disowned the comments. But now, as the soot settles in the London Underground, the words hang again in the air.

read the whole thing

Money trumps humanity in conservative-land.

Pure and simple. That's what it's all about and that is why it's impossible for people-people to jump on board with neocons. Then again you have to wannabees on board with the cons. The London bombing looked like a good investment opportunity for Brit Hume on Fox News. Also on Fox News, the hurricane is viewed as not so bad..."there are some positive sides to this". Dem Bloggers

Sure a hurricane is a nightmare for the victims but it's not all bad when you care more about business than humanity for it creates jobs and new homes. duh. I forgot to look at the bright side from a business standpoint.

Proud Anti-War Mom

You know, I don't believe in sending our kids off to fight wars. As a mom, it's unthinkable. I mean you barely get finished raising your child and you'd send him/her off to be killed? C'mon. You must have a chromosome loose or something. All wars are caused because of world leaders being unreasonable, greedy, power hungry shits. Let them fight it out in a duel. As far as I'm concerned, our military is there to ward off invaders.

With that said, I am so offed that so called "Young Republicans" who belong to such unenlightened groups are not signing up to fight in Iraq. They are oblivious to the facts behind this war, are unaware that our troops are underequipped and think that they are better than everyone else. My son has come across quite a few of these types in his poli-sci courses at his university. He and his teachers have even suggested to the pro-war kids that they ought to enlist so that we can get this war over with faster. heh. My observation is that the scholarship kids- the smart ones in the honors program are mostly anti-war and know the real deal behind Iraq. The kids whose parents can afford to pay full pop for this school are typically conservative, haven't a clue, refuse to get one and are arrogant to boot.

Crooks and Liars has a video of a Young Republican declaring that he would never fight in Iraq because he's "0pposed to killing"... not only that, he doesn't have his facts straight and he is not a white man. Someone's gotta screw that kid's head on straight.
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A Battle For Science's Soul

I posted an article from New Scientist over at Was Blind But Now I See (Me and Agitprop)

Excerpt From Creationism special: A battle for science's soul

In the US, Kansas has long been a focus of creationist activity. In 1999 creationists on the Kansas school board had all mention of evolution deleted from its state school standards. Their decision was reversed after conservative Christian board members were defeated in elections in 2002. But more elections brought a conservative majority in November 2004, and the standards are under threat again.

This time the creationists' proposals are "far more radical and much more dangerous", says Keith Miller of Kansas State University, a leading pro-evolution campaigner. "They redefine science itself to include non-natural or supernatural explanations for natural phenomena." The Kansas standards now state that science finds "natural" explanations for things. But conservatives on the board want that changed to "adequate". They also want to define evolution as being based on an atheistic religious viewpoint. "Then they can argue that intelligent design must be included as 'balance'," Miller says.

Oy crazy people.
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Who Are You?

Do you really want to know?

Now you can really find out who you are- especially there seems to be an air of mystery about your family or if you want to confirm what your ancestry really is. Just how Italian are you? Would you be shocked to realize that you were Jewish? I wonder how many white southerners may have some African roots. Maybe it will be shocking to get your DNA results. Maybe not. I was told I was half Irish and half Italian, but since I never met my birth parents, as far as I'm concerned, it was hearsay.

From Time Magazine: Can DNA Reveal Your Roots?

More than 100,000 Americans, including such celebrities as Oprah and Spike Lee, have sought to do the same by taking genealogical DNA tests now offered by commercial labs. Starting at $95 and using a sample of cells swabbed from inside the cheek, the tests can answer questions ranging from whether you have Native American or African ancestry to whether you are related to someone with the same last name. One of the newest services, launched by the National Geographic Society in April, provides a glimpse of your ancestors' migratory history and helps fund a five-year research project aimed at mapping the migratory path of modern humans.

While the test results can pack an emotional wallop that brings many to tears--especially adoptees, descendants of slaves and others who previously had little knowledge of their roots--skeptics have raised questions about their accuracy. "When genetics becomes a direct-to-consumer product, it gets oversimplified and oversold," says Hank Greely, an ethicist and lawyer at Stanford Law School who specializes in genetics and biotechnology. Although it is relatively easy to determine African or Asian ancestry, it's more difficult to pinpoint roots in, say, the Ivory Coast or Sri Lanka. Accuracy will improve as genealogical databases acquire more samples, but many in this nation of immigrants and ethnic hybrids are happy to have even approximate answers to that universal question, Who am I?

I found some websites with more information: AncestryByDNA.com , DNA Print Genomics , FamilyTreeDNA.com

Your results are put into a database and you may find some long lost relatives. There are also surname projects for males. Might be interesting to check on those pesky Smiths. Where is my son? Wake up! Mommy needs your cheek sample.

Has anyone out there tried this? Would you?
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Sunday Funnies

After three weeks in the Garden of Eden, God came to visit Eve. "So, how is everything going?" inquired God.

"It is all so beautiful, God," she replied. "The sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking, the smells, the sights, everything is wonderful, but I have just one problem. It is these breasts you have given me. The middle one pushes the other two out and I am constantly knocking them with my arms, catching them on branches and snagging them on bushes. They are a real pain," reported Eve.

And Eve went on to tell God that since many other parts of her body came in pairs, such as her limbs, eyes, ears, etc..........she felt that having only two breasts might leave her body more symmetrically balanced," as she put it.

"That is a fair point," replied God, "But it was my first shot at this, you know. I gave the animals six breasts, so I figured that you needed only half of those, but I see that you are right. I will fix it up right away."

And God reached down, removed the middle breast and tossed it into the bushes.

Three weeks passed and God once again visited Eve in the Garden of Eden. "Well, Eve, how is my favorite creation?"

"Just fantastic," she replied, "But for one oversight on your part. You see, all the animals are paired off. The ewe has a ram and the cow has her bull. All the animal's have a mate except me. I feel so alone."

God thought for a moment and said, "You know, Eve, you are right. How could I have overlooked this? You do need a mate and I will immediately create a man from a part of you.. Now let's see............where did I put that useless boob?"

Now doesn't THAT make more sense than that crap about the rib?

Thanks to neighbor Pat for the joke.

Fully cognizant that I may be imperiling my journalistic career I offer this as a rejoinder to Liz' "Eden Story":

After reading Liz' post I am reminded of the story of the Creation and its aftermath. God was sitting around feeling quite self-satisfied with His week's work when the Archangel Michael showed up and said, "Hey, what's this I hear about You creating a new world"? And God replied, "Right you are. Why don't you go down and have a look around and then get back and tell me what you think." So Michael flew down to the Earth and began his inspection and was just overwhelmed with the majesty of everything he beheld--the mighty towering mountains, broad blue oceans, verdant green lands, and in particular, the beauty and variety of all the living beings populating the Earth. But as he was preparing to leave, he noticed that God had neglected to provide any means of procreation for the living beings. "Oh my", he said to himself, "I'd better let the Old Man know about this right away". So, he flew quickly back to Heaven, approached God and immediately complimented Him on the fine job he had done, with the exception of not providing the living beings any means of reproduction. "What's that you say. Good grief", replied God, and grabbing a bag off his creation shelf, He handed it to Michael and said, "Get down there quick and take care of it for Me". Michael obeyed and proceeded down to Earth to dispense the necessary attachments. But when he came upon the humans, he studied them for a time and looking in the bag, said to himself, "Uh-oh, I'd better ask the Big Guy exactly what he wants me to do about this situation". Once again, he approached God and explained the dilemma. "I see what you mean", said God, looking in the bag. After thinking for a few moments he told Michael, "Tell you what. Why don't you give the dumb one the vagina"?


(Cabana Boy prepares for double duty.)

Just Wondering

Did Tony Blair tell the British that they were in Iraq in order to "fight terrorism, THERE rather than here"?
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Matt Cooper's Source

by Michael Isikoff at Newsweek.

Excerpt:

In a brief conversation with Rove, Cooper asked what to make of the flap over Wilson's criticisms. NEWSWEEK obtained a copy of the e-mail that Cooper sent his bureau chief after speaking to Rove. (The e-mail was authenticated by a source intimately familiar with Time's editorial handling of the Wilson story, but who has asked not to be identified because of the magazine's corporate decision not to disclose its contents.) Cooper wrote that Rove offered him a "big warning" not to "get too far out on Wilson." Rove told Cooper that Wilson's trip had not been authorized by "DCIA"—CIA Director George Tenet—or Vice President Dick Cheney. Rather, "it was, KR said, wilson's wife, who apparently works at the agency on wmd [weapons of mass destruction] issues who authorized the trip." Wilson's wife is Plame, then an undercover agent working as an analyst in the CIA's Directorate of Operations counterproliferation division. (Cooper later included the essence of what Rove told him in an online story.) The e-mail characterizing the conversation continues: "not only the genesis of the trip is flawed an[d] suspect but so is the report. he [Rove] implied strongly there's still plenty to implicate iraqi interest in acquiring uranium fro[m] Niger... "


Nothing in the Cooper e-mail suggests that Rove used Plame's name or knew she was a covert operative. Nonetheless, it is significant that Rove was speaking to Cooper before Novak's column appeared; in other words, before Plame's identity had been published. Fitzgerald has been looking for evidence that Rove spoke to other reporters as well. "Karl Rove has shared with Fitzgerald all the information he has about any potentially relevant contacts he has had with any reporters, including Matt Cooper," Luskin told NEWSWEEK.

Hat tip to Aunti Roo

UPDATE: John at Americablog raises some good questions:

So, we now know (apparently) that Rove told TIME that Ambassador Wilson's wife was a CIA agent (mind you, Wilson himself alleged this over a year ago and was skewered for suggesting it). Rove's defense, apparently, is that he didn't say what Plame's name was (he simply said "Wilson's wife"), and he didn't "know" that Plame was an undercover agent, he only knew she was CIA. Ok, a few points.

1. Whether he said "Valerie Plame" or "Wilson's wife" is irrelevant. It's the same thing, and if Bush tolerates this "definition of 'is'" garbage from Rove, well, then we really have a story.

2. Bush said he wanted to get to the bottom of this over a year ago. Why then did we have to waste all this money on a special prosecutor and a grand jury if Rove knew from day one that he was the guy who leaked Plame's identity? If Rove was so innocent, why didn't he just come forward immediately and say "yeah, it was me, but I didn't realize she was undercover"? Did he tell the president it was him? And if so, why didn't the president go public and put this investigation to an end? Or did Rove refuse the president's request and NOT come forward a year ago? And if so, what is he still doing working in the white House?

3. Perhaps it's legally relevant if Rove "knew" Plame was undercover or not, but it's not relevant in terms of him keeping his job. Rove intentionally outed a CIA agent working on WMD, it is irrelevant whether he did or didn't know if she was an undercover agent. First off, he knew she wasn't THAT public about her identity or there'd have been no need to "out" here - everyone would have known her already.

Second, the very fact that he appears to be claiming that he did NOT know about her undercover status is reason enough to fire him now. How dare the top political aide to the president out a CIA agent and not even think of checking whether she's undercover? I have worked before with CIA agents at several points in my career. The FIRST thing you learn is NOT to out them, period. If you don't know that they have some public CIA job, like spokesman, then you know from day one that you do NOT tell ANYONE who they are. It is totally unbelievable that Rove didn't know this simple fact about Washington - you don't tell people who is and who isn't CIA. Rove knew that, and he chose to out an agent working on WMD. The man should be fired.

The only remaining issue is to see if Bush starts haggling over the definition of is.

3. Who told Rove that Plame was a CIA agent? She was undercover after all.

4. Who was the SECOND administration source who leaked the info about Plame? Remember, Novak said TWO administration sources confirmed that Plame was CIA. Who was the second one?

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What Happens When You Monkey Around

The other night Fred the Cat and I were monkeying around on the patio and in the midst of the monkeying we knocked over two of Mr. Pop’s orchids. Yeah, terracotta orchid pots break like a mother when they hit the hard patio. There was first the noise of the breakage and then there was the mess. Orchid potting soil and broken chips of pots and in the middle lay two orchid plants that didn’t know what the hell had just happened. Mr. Pop, the man who never hears a word I say, heard the crash of his orchids all the way in the other end of the house. I shan’t go into his reaction to the two monkeys playing carelessly on the patio. Let’s just say he wasn’t as amused as Fred the Cat and I had hoped.

So this morning in the rain and strong breezes we trekked to Lowe’s to buy new orchid pots. Once inside the garden dept. I noticed a rack of little house plants that had been reduced because they were basically dying due to a lack of water. Of course Lowe's could have put the rack out in the open garden area and let mom nature water the plants, but no, they just let them slowly die to the point where they have to be marked down, and of course the next step for these little plants would be the dumpster. There was this one poor little plant. All of its leaves were brown and falling off the stem save about three. Here’s where my heart is larger than my brain. I bought that little plant and we just brought it home. The first thing I did was water its arid little dirt. He drank a lot of water. I cleaned off and out all the dead leaves so now it looks sort of like a Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. Remember how pathetic the tree is when he first buys it? Okay, then you get the mental image of what my new little ivy tree plant looks like. Just a couple of pretty green leaves are all that remain. Will I be able to take this little plant from the intensive care ward to the realm of good health? I don’t know but I have to try.

So see, there are silver linings. If Fred the Cat and I hadn’t been acting a fool, this little plant might well be still sitting at Lowe's and dying. As things worked out it gets one more chance. That’s the way it should be.

(Weather report from here. We have only had a couple of rain bands so far and some minor poofs of wind. After last year, this has been a piece of cake for my area.)

More Spew From the Right.

...an unending embarrassment for the good people of our country.

Lush Bimbo is just an idiot and he isn't considered a newsman, thank gawd, but he has millions of listeners. Nevertheless, his comments and comments of Faux News talking heads in the wake of the London bombings are heinous and most insensitive.

From Media Matters:

From the July 7 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: It's like I said -- 40 people dead, 150 seriously wounded, 1,000 wounded, out of over 1 million people in that transit tube. It's not a successful terrorist attack, folks. They didn't succeed in doing anything, and that's just what you just heard the mayor say: "You don't scare us. You didn't accomplish diddly-squat. We've been through this before, much worse than this. And look at us -- we're in the 20th century, you're still back in the 14th century. Blah, blah, blah."

It's still a terrorist attack to those who were killed or injured or lost their loved ones. Fox News (they shouldn't even be allowed to use the word "news" on their channel... talk about Newspeak) spewed some gems this week:

Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade suggested that the attacks were somehow beneficial: "And he [British Prime Minister Tony Blair] made the statement, clearly shaken, but clearly determined. This is his second address in the last hour. First to the people of London, and now at the G8 summit, where their topic Number 1 -- believe it or not -- was global warming, the second was African aid. And that was the first time since 9-11 when they should know, and they do know now, that terrorism should be Number 1. But it's important for them all to be together. I think that works to our advantage, in the Western world's advantage, for people to experience something like this together, just 500 miles from where the attacks have happened."

Fox's Brit Hume saw the attacks as a way to make a quick buck in the futures market: "I mean, my first thought when I heard -- just on a personal basis, when I heard there had been this attack and I saw the futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought, "Hmmm, time to buy.""

Fox's John Gibson suggested that the real tragedy of the bombings wasn't that they happened at all, but that they didn't happen in Paris: "The bombings in London: This is why I thought the Brits should let the French have the Olympics -- let somebody else be worried about guys with backpack bombs for a while."

Fox News correspondent Simon Marks distinguished between Arabs and "regular" Londoners: "It [Edgeware Road] is an area that has a very large Arab population. Surrounding that station, a large number of Middle Eastern restaurants. So, it's a further indication, if in fact these attacks were carried out by Al Qaeda-affiliated cells that these people are, if necessary, prepared to spill Arab blood in addition to the blood of regular -- of non-Arab people living in London."

Dick's In London

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Turkish Sheep Mimic American Voters

From USA Today:

First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff.

In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned.

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Hurricane Hell, It’s Not Easy

Are you or any of your family living in the projected path of Hurricane Dennis?

If so, perhaps we can keep a special comment area open so you can tell us what you are seeing and hearing. I remember last year in the hours before both hurricanes came onshore just a few miles from my house, how nervous I was. If I had had someone on the net who was experiencing everything I was it would have been so nice to talk to them. From the time you finish your preparations until the storm hits can feel like a miserable, fearful and anxiety-laden lifetime.

For those of you who have never gone through weather hell like this, I’ll share a couple of things. Whether you cover your windows with plywood or metal hurricane shutters, once you put them up your house is dark inside. You can’t see what’s happening outside and you keep the lights on as long as you can. Once your electric goes out your house is like a cave. It’s so dark you can’t see your hand before your face. You try to be stingy with your flashlight because even though you have spare batteries, you don’t know how long the power will be out, it could well be weeks. You know for sure you don’t want to go through a night without a flashlight or lantern. Lighting candles is not a wise idea unless you’re very very careful. Now you’re in pitch dark and every sound you hear sounds threatening. You can’t sleep so you lay on your bed and wonder, what was that sound and what damage did it do? The sounds are loud and often.

Even though you know the power is out, each time you enter a room you automatically hit the light switch and then feel like a fool. About the third or fourth time you do this, the reality sets in. You’re going to have to deal with this situation and you have no idea how long. Don’t forget that the house is sealed up and you have no AC. Some have portable generators but even with those you can run only the minimum of electrical appliances. No AC!

From this point on you wait and you wait. You listen to your battery powered radio ever so often to stay in touch with the world outside. Your land line is out and the cell phones lines are swamped, so you can’t call anyone. Soon you have to eat your food you stocked up on for the storm. It’s not good, but you have to eat it so you don’t get sick.

There is so much more, but that’s a hint of what is about to happen with those in the path of hurricane Dennis. I feel for them and hope that they come out on the other side with their homes and lives intact. No matter what, it’s not easy.

Well Done Faithful servant

Few of us know how to end it gracefully or get out while we're ahead.

Three cheers for Billy Graham who is about to do both. The most famous living Protestant minister has announced that his crusade in New York will probably be his last. He says he carefully avoids using the word "never" when following the Lord's command, but as of now he says this will be his final appearance in a crusade. I just hate the word crusade. But good for you, Billy. You done good, son.

A quote often attributed to Gandhi is, "Christianity is a wonderful idea. I wish someone would try it." While the rest of Christiandom has done its best to give the faith a black eye through bloody crusades and political party affiliations, a few Thomas Aquinasas, Mother Theresas and Billy Grahams have continued to set the gold standard for following a life devoted to Christ's teachings.

Graham is a son of North Carolina farmers and to hear him speak, even today, you might mistake the graying statesman of the Lord as the fellow on the next farm over. I watched a good many Graham crusades over the years and when he left the platform there was never any doubt about what he meant to say. His language is plain, softened by gently Carolina draw, and his eyes always speak of his personal truth.

Billy has one remarkable trait that sets him apart from most that profess to follow Christian teachings: HE ADMITS HIS MISTAKES. In recent interviews he's said that he regrets the few times he's strayed too far into the political pastures, and his biggest regrets not jumping into the civil rights movement more quickly. Even though he demanded integrated seating at his crusades a full year before the Supreme Court's desegregation rulings, he said, "I think I made a mistake when I didn't go to Selma" with many clergy who joined the Alabama civil rights march led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "I would like to have done more."

Even on the verge of death, Billy's mind did not rush to his many accomplishments. Four years ago he was at the Mayo Clinic, about to have a brain shut implanted. He said, "I thought I was dying. The doctor wasn't sure whether I was or not, but late at night I knew that that was the end. At least I thought it was. And I prayed and all of a sudden all my sins throughout my life came into my mind. And I asked the Lord to forgive me and I had the greatest peace that I've ever had, and that peace has never left me, because I put it all in the name of Christ."

To me, a man's humility is a pretty sure indication of character. I've noticed that each of Billy's crusades follow a similar pattern: a massed choir sings, a celebrity gives a testimony, then the soloist comes forward for a final song before Dr. Graham's appearance. Each portion of the event is announced and the crowd applauds. But when it comes time for Billy to mount the podium, there is no announcement. No applause. He tends to sneak behind the microphone before anyone sees him coming, and he begins to speak. He puts the focus on his subject matter before the audience has a chance to focus on him.

Compare that to the entertainers who refuse to go onstage without the proper flowers, backstage refreshments and waiting limo. Compare that to the speakers who carry their bulbous biography in their coat pocket lest the master of the ceremonies should overlook one of their honorary degrees.

And compare Billy Graham to the mounting army of evangelicals who put their trust no longer in God but in politics. And they who know the will of God will enough to put it into legislation, and whose idea of freedom of religion becomes narrowed to the tenants of their own particular faith.

The poor boy from North Carolina got a degree in anthropology from Wheaton College, found a job preaching at a Baptist church in Western Springs, Ill., then went on to bring the message of good news to 210 million people in 185 countries, picking up a few little tidbits like the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and an honorary British knighthood along the way.

As the Whacko and Jockos of the world keep grabbing the headlines and holding the media in breathless anticipation of their next ego-driven antic, Billy keeps on preaching for one country, one city, one soul at a time. Well done, thy good and faithful servant! You rock. Your convictions may not be mine but you've been faithful to them. And your ego doesn't seem to rule your world.
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Got Some Interesting Emails Lately

Accusing me and the blondesense community of being radical commie Democrats. In no way shape or form am I (as well as most of this community) a commie nor are we all Democrats here. Our readers are Christians, Jews, atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists... our readers belong to all the political parties and we share a common goal- to stamp out fascism. Fascism is bad for all of us but the very wealthy.

It's funny how much of the criticism and labeling comes from people who don't know much about history and it's funny how so called Christians filled with hatred and contempt for their fellow man are claiming to be the good guys. It's also funny that the neoconservatives who have all the power in the country are so angry. What are they afraid of? That we will stop their war? It's pretty hard to protest a war when free speech has been relegated to specific zones out in the boondocks and the "liberal" corporate media refuses to cover it. They have everything including black box voting. It may take nothing short of an all out revolution to let go of the fascists unless the willfully ignorant wake the hell up.

I'm a Republican as are many of our readers and I don't take offense when someone makes Re-puke-lican cracks because I know who they are talking about- the neo-con fascists who are trying to take over America in the name of god and pulling the wool over they eyes of many decent Americans who don't understand that a fascist society will destroy their quality of life just as much as a communist regime and maybe even more so because you can at least get fed in a commie regime. There's a difference between socialism and communism. There's a difference between capitalism and fascism. People are not well informed when it comes to history. I don't know where it's written that moderates and liberals have to be politically correct. I think the lefties coined the term and they can use it if they want but I'm not buying it. When the future of America's experiment in democracy is at stake, there is no time for niceties. Of course we're angry. We are the people stuck in the middle of this madness. Where is it written that we are supposed to be nice when we see nothing but injustice in the world? If we roll over and play dead, I see no hope for the future.

PS: If you are having trouble posting comments at this blog, try a different browser or quit your browser and reopen it. There seems to be a glitch in haloscan and IE.
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Nothing Remains of the Remains

While everyone focused on the carnage in London yesterday, and rightly so, something else happened. No one noticed because it happened and made hardly a sound. Seems the sideshow at the entrance to the big tent in Florida quietly disappeared. The posters have been ripped down from the fence posts and the tent is gone. Nothing left but an area of well trampled sand and some empty and smashed paper cups. The guys who stood outside and hawked the public to pay their money and enter the sideshow’s little tent are nowhere to be found. They liked the costumes they got to wear and all the attention their hawking provided them, but where are they today? Wait; there is still a little bit of one poster that’s still legible. You can barely make out the words but it looks like it says “Terri Sh…. Sorry, can’t make out the rest.

Ah, what a sideshow it was in its day. The poor woman with only half her brain remaining and her eye sight gone was such an attraction for the masses. The hawkers used her body to garner attention and bank their own political capital. Outside the tent they showed movies of the woman in her better days. They showed her in the company of family and a balloon. The public swooned to see the film. One of the hawkers, a doctor, joined in the chorus and hailed the woman’s capabilities. Another politician flew to the tent to make his own proclamations. The sideshow obtained its license one night under the cloak of darkness and was even endorsed by the president of the United States. The president never actually attended the sideshow but he gave it his blessing declaring it a very fine show indeed. Such a fine show, but he never saw it for himself.

They propped up this helpless woman and drained as much attention as they could fro