We'll never claim to be fair and balanced, just honest and trustworthy
October 23, 2007

Why Fund SCHIP When You Can Just Dump It In Iraq
From Polishifter for Pissed on Politics

By now we've heard about Bush asking for $46 billion more for his wars coming on the heels of his veto of SCHIP, a plan that would have cost $7 billion a year for 5 years to fund children's healthcare. To clarify, according to Bush and his Republican cronies SCHIP is waste but spending our tax dollars on Iraq is sound foreign policy.

So just what happens to all that money we dump into Iraq? We know at lest $13 billion has gone missing. We know in some cases the Iraqi soldiers trained by our troops end up killing our troops. We know the Iraqi police will at times also turn on our troops. Well, now it's being reported that $1.2 billion meant to be used to train Iraqi Police has vanished. Just another example of fiscal discipline brought to you by Bush and the Republicans.

Report: Most of $1.2 billion to train Iraqi police unaccounted for

(CNN) -- The U.S. State Department is unable to account for most of $1.2 billion in funding that it gave to DynCorp International to train Iraqi police, a government report said Tuesday.

"The bottom line is that State can't account for where it went," said Glenn D. Furbish, who was involved in putting together the 20-page report for the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (SIGIR).

The Department of State's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) "did not have the information needed to identify what DynCorp provided under the contract or how funds were spent," the report said.

More Here

Update: US Suspends Iraq Audit of DynCorp

(WASHINGTON) — The State Department so badly managed a $1.2 billion contract for Iraqi police training that it can't tell what it got for the money spent, a new report says.

Because of disarray in invoices and records on the project — and because the government is trying to recoup money paid inappropriately to contractor DynCorp International, LLC —auditors have temporarily suspended their effort to review the contract's implementation, said Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr.

Bowen had been trying to review a February 2004 contract to DynCorp awarded by the State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). The company was to provide housing, food, security, facilities, training support, law enforcement staff with various specialties as well as weapons and armor for personnel assigned to the program.

"I guess it's a familiar theme," Bowen said Monday, in that problems have previously been documented with both DynCorp and the agency overseeing the contract.

More Here

You're voting for Mike Huckabee
From Randal Graves for L'ennui mélodieux

Why? Whaddya mean why? You want to piss off Chuck Norris?

What's that? You don't understand? And why all these questions when there shouldn't be any questions when it concerns Chuck Norris? Let me assuage your fears of Chuck Norris coming over to your house and beating you to a bloody pulp merely by staring at you because his eyes are two extra fists.

Last night on CNN's Situation Room - 30 seconds I'll never get back, curse the motherfucker who invented TV remotes - hosted by the Walking Stubble, we mere homo sapiens (no, Mr. Norris, that's our genus - no, not our genius, only your fists are genius, oh, nevermind - rest assured we're not all gay, and those very few that are, well, they all live in San Francisco and Taxachusetts, so you can Texas Ranger it up all you want - no, I'm not making fun of you, Mr. Norris - please don't kill me) learned that the esteemed defender of Intelligent Design and personal bodyguard to the Super Magical Jesus Baby is backing Mike Huckabee for President. We also learned that there was a flap about Willard's hair at the Who Hates Brown People More and Torture Makes Me Horny debate.

I know this is merely the 752,334,193rd post on why the media sucks, and I also know that I'm not contributing one damn thing to a higher discourse of why they continue to talk about inane, pointless things while complaining that no one really wants to be talking about inane, pointless things but would rather be talking about, but cannot, because this egregious inanity of pointlessness must be highlighted as an example of the superficiality of the blogosphere, the important issues of the day such as the Mukasey nomination and whether he is a supporter of the President's unconstitutional spying policies and why it doesn't matter because if you've done nothing wrong you have nothing to hide; whether any of the candidates have a plan for withdrawal from our illegal occupation of a sovereign nation which they don't because there's all that rich, creamy oil lustily calling our name from underneath all that sand; whether the Indians' monumental collapse could've been prevented by Chuck Norris -

- no, Mr. Norris, I'm not questioning your immense, God-given powers of fisticuffery. If you had played for the 1962 Mets, they would've won the World Series. No, please, Mr. Norris, I was only joking, does anyone remember laughter? Oh shit, tell my wife and kids I love them. Donate my body to science - if there's anything left - Zeppelin ruuuuulllllleeeesss............

Railroaded?
From Candace for Chapterhouse

There's a case here in Dallas that y'all might not have heard about where apparently the government railroaded a local charity group to trial on charges of funding terrorists. Yesterday, a mistrial was declared and one of the jurors subsequently spoke out about the case.

The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development collects donations to help feed and clothe Palestinian refugees, but it has also provided help to refugees in Bosnia, Kosovo, Turkey, and even the United States after floods, tornadoes, and Oklahoma City bombing disasters. Several years ago the government shut it down, freezing its assets and claiming that the Foundation was funding the terrorist group Hamas. But records showed that funds given to Hamas were donated before Hamas was declared a terrorist organization.

The whole thing just didn't pass the smell test, in my opinion. The Foundation seems to be made up of good and caring people who were trying to do the right thing - relieving human suffering. Well, now it turns out, at least according to the juror who was interviewed yesterday, that the government's case was flimsy at best.

Holy Land juror: 'Too many holes' in case
12:30 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 23, 2007
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA-TV

[article excerpt:]

Neal [the juror] said the government tried to scare them into a guilty verdict by showing them bombings in the Middle East.

"Some jurors were talking about 9/11, the Taliban, Osama Bin Laden and I was going, 'What?'" he said.

The defendants, and the foundation itself, were accused of funneling money to Hamas, a known terrorist group. But Neal said in the end, the jurors couldn't reach guilty verdicts based on the facts and evidence presented.

"[There were] too many holes," he said. "They needed to patch those holes."

While he said he couldn't speak for the entire jury, he said on a personal level, he thought the case was politically motivated.

Typically, the government plans to retry the case.

Certainly I am not supportive of anyone or any group that wants to fund terrorists. But looking at this group's record it really seemed to me from the beginning that this was another case of government grandstanding amid post 9/11 hysteria. These are good people, and I believe they were railroaded. I hope nothing happens to the juror who had the courage to speak out.

Zakaria punctures Republican hysteria over Iran
From The Richmond Democrat

Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, has a new opinion piece that masterfully punctures the hysteria being propagated by Republicans over Iran:
Here is the reality. Iran has an economy the size of Finland's and an annual defense budget of around $4.8 billion. It has not invaded a country since the late 18th century. The United States has a GDP that is 68 times larger and defense expenditures that are 110 times greater. Israel and every Arab country (except Syria and Iraq) are quietly or actively allied against Iran. And yet we are to believe that Tehran is about to overturn the international system and replace it with an Islamo-fascist order? What planet are we on?
Zakaria could have gone further here and added the opposition of the European Union as well. Yet Republicans continue to cynically exploit this issue for political purposes:
In a speech last week, Rudy Giuliani said that while the Soviet Union and China could be deterred during the cold war, Iran can't be. The Soviet and Chinese regimes had a "residual rationality," he explained. Hmm. Stalin and Mao—who casually ordered the deaths of millions of their own people, fomented insurgencies and revolutions, and starved whole regions that opposed them—were rational folk. But not Ahmadinejad, who has done what that compares? One of the bizarre twists of the current Iran hysteria is that conservatives have become surprisingly charitable about two of history's greatest mass murderers.
In short, the Republican position--when placed in historical perspective--is ridiculous.

Americans need to open their eyes and look for the truth. We can't afford to let the Republican Party to cynically lie us into another unnecessary war.

Read "Stalin, Mao And … Ahmadinejad?" by Fareed Zakaria at Newsweek.com.

Freepolls.com discriminates against lesbians
From BAC for Yikes!

It had been awhile since I'd changed the polling question in the side bar ... so long that I had to pause to remember my account name and password. Anyway, I decided to do something fun ... like ask people how they self identify.

Do you identify as straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual ... or maybe you can't decide, or simply don't want to decide. Then I always toss in an "other" for people who might be confused by the question.

Anyway, when I clicked on the "next" button, this was the screen that came up!
In case you can't read it, the message says: "* We do not allow inappropriate polls"
I tried again, thinking this must be a joke, but I got the same message!

When I removed the word "lesbian" I was allowed to continue on to the part where they give you the HTML code for your blog or web site.

Can you believe it? In 2007 you can't ask in an online free poll whether or not someone is lesbian. This might just be my last freepoll.com ... what do you think?

Blog Talk Radio
From The Fat Lady Sings

Msocradio14k Blog_talk_radio

Maryscott O'Connor and My Left Wing present: My Left Wing Talk Radio Show

This is pretty cool stuff.  As some of you may know, I am a front-pager over at My Left Wing, one of the best political blogs out there.  It's founder, Maryscott, is launching a new enterprise: My Left Wing talk radio.  Her live show will be every Monday, 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern.  Further information on blog radio can be found here: Blog Talk Radio.  Remember - this is all live!  The call in number for any of you who'd like to participate is:

(347) 215-7634

Good Luck Maryscott!!!

Thomas Merton
From FranIAm

Thomas Merton was one of the most amazing human beings. He is a real hero of mine. While he was a Catholic monk at the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani, he was also a prolific author, man of peace and seeker. If you don't know too much about him, you might want to read a little. He was someone out of the ordinary and very special. You can read more at this link here.

His death was very untimely and considered suspicious by many. His free thinking, tremendous intellect and his stand on peace and social justice were a threat to many. He was of the mindset of Martin Luther King and Thich Nhat Han, Gandhi, The Dalai Lama, Dorthy Day and others who sought non-violent solutions and a way of peace and justice.

Anyway, thinking of all the hypocrisy that falls out of the mouth of our so called "religious leaders", most of whom are neither it makes me very upset indeed.

Then I saw this quotation from Merton and I decided to publish this post as another voice for reason and peace.
"Curiously, the most serious religious people, or the most concerned scholars, those who constantly read the Bible as a matter of professional or pious duty, can often manage to evade a radically involved dialogue with the book they are questioning."
- Thomas Merton, Opening the Bible

And for the complete and total separation of church and state.

Complete.
Total.
Separation.
Always.
No exceptions.
Like, ever.

I did make myself clear- complete and total separation. That is clear, correct?

If anyone else feels otherwise, they should go start their own country. Now.

Ain't Gonna Pay for War No More, No More
By The Raver for RaveFilmsKC

My apologies to Pete Seeger for paraphrasing the song, but it fits.

Bush the Second wants another $46 billion--additional money--to continue the Neocon Republican adventure in incompetence and world class stupidity.

That will bring the total to $800 BILLION they will have spend on this mess. If the trend continues, according to the Post, the figure will surpass ONE TRILLION DOLLARS by the time we finally get rid of these bastards, ie., the end of next year. That would be more than Korea AND Vietnam put together cost the country.

Not to mention all the thousands of deaths, the many, many thousands of horrendous injuries, the millions and millions of refugees, the destroyed homes, the devastated lives of children who are left without parents or places to live and schools to attend and hospitals to die in.

And not to mention what the world now thinks of the U.S.

I heard on the radio this morning that Bush made a speech a few days ago saying if Iran continued its nuclear policies, then World War III would start in Iran.

I think that's a very telling comment. The Neocon Republicans actually WANT World War III. They are so delusional they think that they can win a world war.

Even though they have been in Baghdad for over four years and still have not managed to take that single city!

Whose money are they using for all this? Yours and mine, of course. This whole Iraq misadventure has two purposes: One, to get the oil for big U.S. multinational oil companies; and two, to escalate the transfer of our country's wealth from the middle classes to the upper class. All that taxpayer money is going right to the giant companies, all friends of Bush, all Republican-controlled.

Vote Republican--Bankrupt the Nation.

Stephen Colbert Moves Ahead of Richardson in National Poll
From Pamela Leavey for The Democratic Daily

Stephen Colbert, the faux-pundit from Comedy Central announced days ago that he was running for president. Now, “in” the race just a few days, “Colbert has surged ahead of longtime candidate Gov. Bill Richardson in one national poll gauging the race for the Democratic nod for president.”

And watch out Joe Biden!

The Public Opinion Strategies poll this past weekend of 1,000 likely primary voters that included Colbert’s name — as both a Democrat and Republican, as he wishes — found him drawing 2.3 percent in the Dem race nationally (though he is threatening to run only in his native South Carolina).

This put his ahead of Richardson (2.1 percent), Rep. Dennis Kucininch (2.1) and, of course, Sen. Mike Gravel. And he trails Sen. Biden by just a tad (he’s at 2.7 percent).

Of course he has a long way to go to catch up with the three frontrunners (you know who they are).

But Colbert fares less well among his natural constituency on the GOP side, where he draws less than one percent.

The Fix first noted the the Public Opinion Strategies poll saying, “You don’t need The Fix to state the obvious: Stephen Colbert is everywhere right now.”

Following the announcement of his presidential ambitions last week, Colbert has chalked up quite a run of political coverage, capping the week with an appearance on ultimate establishment Washington TV show: “Meet the Press“.

And now, we have national poll results detailing Colbert’s chances — and, no, we aren’t kidding.

Neil Newhouse, a POS partner said, “It’s clear that Colbert’s truthiness image and ‘I am America’ message has serious resonance among Democrats.” 

Yes, we know that Colbert’s bid is satire and nothing more. But anyone who follows politics as closely as we do knows that it even serious politics often devolves into theater of the absurd. So why shouldn’t Colbert be another actor in the real 2008 race?

I’d welcome Stephen Colbert as president over Fred Thompson any day.

Huckabee Has Starnge Meaning For "Most" 
By Ron Chusid for Liberal Values

Conservatives just cannot resist rewriting American history to support their beliefs. The most common manifestation of this is conservative revisionist history which denies the role of separation of church and state in the establishment of our government. Mike Huckabee practiced some revisionist history of his own as he claimed that most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were clergy men. PolitiFact reports that Huckabee is way off in his count.

During the Republican debate, Mike Huckabee said he believes one of the defining issues facing the country is the sanctity of human life. Arguing that the issue is of historical importance, he invoked the Declaration of Independence’s rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and said that most of the signers of the declaration were clergymen.

Not even close.

Only one of the 56 was an active clergyman, and that was John Witherspoon. Witherspoon was a Presbyterian minister and president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).

A few more of the signers were former clergymen, though it’s a little unclear just how many. The conservative Heritage Foundation said two other signers were former clergymen. The religion web site Adherents.com said four signers of the declaration were current or former full-time preachers. But everyone agrees only Witherspoon was an active minister when he signed the Declaration of Independence.

One issue that may contribute to the confusion about which signers had a history in the clergy is that during the time the Declaration was written, people who studied at universities often received doctorates of divinity, a common degree designation, even if they were not working clergy, said Mary Jenkins of the Independence National Historical Park. As for religious affiliations, all of the signers were Protestant Christians with one exception, Charles Carroll of Maryland, who was Roman Catholic.

Not only is Huckabee wrong in his history, but this claim does not necessarily support his arguments against abortion rights as not all members of the clergy necessarily would oppose this right. Many of the founding fathers were Deists who rejected orthodox Christian beliefs. The founding fathers were also heavily influenced by the principle of separation of church and state and would not necessarily have supported legal restrictions on abortion regardless of their personal beliefs. As this was not an issue at the time Huckabee cannot simply assume that the founding fathers would have supported his view on abortion, and it is clear they differed with him with regards to the role of religion in government.

You Don't Need to Know This
From Tom Harper for Who Hijacked Our Country

Move along. Nothing to see here.

sssshhhhhhh…airline travel is very very dangerous, much more dangerous than you ever suspected. NASA interviewed 24,000 pilots over a 4-year period. Near-collisions and runway interference are much more common than anybody imagined.

But YOU will never have this information. NASA has refused to release it, and they’ve ordered the contractor who conducted the survey to purge all data from their computers.

A senior NASA official, Thomas Luedtke, said the information could damage public confidence and jeopardize airline profits. “Release of the requested data, which are sensitive and safety-related, could materially affect the public confidence in, and the commercial welfare of, the air carriers and general aviation companies whose pilots participated in the survey.”

Hey, remember in Jaws when local tourism officials didn’t want anyone to know about those shark attacks because it would jeopardize tourism? Hmmm, wonder what made me think of that. Anyway…

Luedtke also claimed that pilot confidentiality was one of his reasons for suppressing the information. Nice try, asshole. No airlines or pilots were identified in the survey.

The pilots reported more than twice as many bird strikes, near-collisions and runway incursions than government monitoring systems have shown. Pilots also reported higher-than-expected numbers of “in-close approach changes” — last-minute changes of landing instructions.

Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) said: “If the airlines aren't safe I want to know about it. I would rather not feel a false sense of security because they don't tell us… The data appears to have great value to aviation safety, but not on a shelf at NASA.”

When asked about NASA suppressing this information, he said “there is a faint odor about it all.”

Feel safer yet? Wanna book an airline flight?

Either Primaries MEAN Something... or Stop Holding Them
From Maryscott O'Connor for My Left Wing

Oftentimes, I think I must be cursed when it comes to my place in this "democracy."

Since the first day I became eligible to walk into a voting booth and make my selections -- with pen or stylus or lever, tell the vote counters through a machine whom I wished to represent me in each area, be it county, state or nation -- with rare exception, I've noted my selections nearly always seemed to land in the losing column once the totals tallied and the television told the tale.

One miraculous anomaly appeared in my losing record; oh, how I leapt for joy one hot August evening as the music soared and balloons drifted onto the throng in New York; the youthful foursome on the stage knew as well as I their destiny was unfolding to the strains of Fleetwood Mac that fateful night. I happened to be in New York that evening, staying with a dear friend who shared my joy; as we watched in ecstatic near- disbelief, our euphoria overcame us and we could resist no longer; we kicked off our shoes and began to dance madly around his living room. Once the music faded and the pundits took over the television, we turned it off and searched for the album with that wondrous song, and played it over and over again, rapt with the certainty that this time, our votes would be cast for the winners.

Hope?
From JJ for Unrepentant Old Hippie

Something interesting has been happening here the last few days. No, not the SDA troll invasion, that was about as interesting as a case of diarrhea (and I can't say "case of diarrhea" without referencing that old joke -- Guy #1: "Come on over, we're partying!" Guy #2: "I can't, I've got a case of diarrhea." Guy #1: "Bring it, we'll drink anything!"). Anyway... whlle the swarm was happening, something else was going on.
I recently had a commenter, an American conservative -- a genuine Bush-voting Republican, no less -- who came here all full of piss and vinegar and looking for a fight. But somehow, with a little humour and careful treading around hot issues, we ended up having a pretty good dialogue. He stuck around for a week or so (I appointed him my TCC, "Token Conservative Commenter"), and although we disagreed on things, we found a surprising amount of common ground -- even thought I'm not in any way shape or form a conservative. So it was the highest irony that this was the time rabid right-wing Canadians would choose to attack -- while they were attacking in one thread, on others I was having a courteous, rational dialogue with an American conservative, who as a Republican is likely someone these same people would respect. Funny thing -- I respected him too. In spite of our having completely different, even opposing, opinions on some issues.

I think my TCC has probably left this little swamp for more interesting ground; I doubt he was impressed by what passes for conservatism in Canada. (I had to laugh at his comment referring to one of the SDAers as a "a pissant gulag-worthy POS" -- Ha! Now that's a conservative insult!) But for what it was worth, our scattered dialogue gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, it's still possible to heal the massive wounds we've been inflicting on each other for the last few years. If only so many people didn't have a vested personal (and financial) interest in keeping the volume turned up so loud that nobody can speak.

Equal Opportunities - Unless You're GLBT
From Melissa for Written Rebellion

This comes from Human Rights Campaign:

In most states, you can be fired for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, regardless of your performance or qualifications. HRC has been fighting since 2004 to pass a federal law to end this injustice.
 
Congressional leaders have decided to push a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that includes sexual orientation, but not gender identity. Tell Congress to support the Baldwin Amendment to ENDA, which would place gender identity back into the bill - and ensure all GLBT people have full employment equality.
 
This is a historic vote. For the first time ever, the House of Representatives is poised to vote on employment protections for the GLBT community. Help us make sure every member of the GLBT community is included in those protections.

Make sure the Baldwin Amendment passes! Call Congress today at (202) 224-3121, and tell your representative to support the Baldwin Amendment to ENDA.
Then, be sure to send an email to reinforce your call.
We must do this. It is long overdue.

Strange Food
From Thailandchani for Thailand Gal


I was always a very finicky eater. That is probably why at one point in my life, I was 5'3" and weighed 96 pounds.

Needless to say, that is not the case anymore. And I can't blame it all on metabolism, having gone through "The Change" (Jaws music cue) or getting older. Most of it is because I've eaten crappy food. I like all that greasy, gooey, fatty, breaded, sweet food. There was a time when I couldn't pass a KFC without my car automatically navigating the drive-through. Original recipe. Don't forget the mashed potatoes and cole slaw.

And a big Coke.

So, as much as it may seem at times that I am not what anyone would call a flag-waving pro-American, the truth is that I love American food!

Cheeseburgers, French fries, milk shakes, steak, baked potatoes (with chives and sour cream), fried chicken, ambrosia, BBQ ribs ~ all of it. Every bit of it. I love it!

Well, the truth is that I have had to give up my beloved American food. The weight simply isn't coming off so I made the decision to go back to a Thai diet ~ meaning the stuff I ate when I was in Northern Thailand. The only fat people I ever saw there were farangs (foreigners) and Thai people who spent too much time and money at McDonald's and KFC. When I was there, I lost quite a bit of weight which I've regained here. And the fat cells brought all their friends and relatives.

Real Thai food is not the stuff you find at the local Ting Tong Thai Restaurant!

It's hard getting the "unusual" food here but if I go to South Sacramento, there are quite a few Asian markets. It's not impossible. More time consuming than anything and not too pleasant for my housemates. No matter how you slice it, fish sauce is repulsive. It absolutely stinks!

When I was there, I ate grasshoppers, locusts, and beetles. I ate catfish and very small mud crabs that were caught locally and grilled over an open fire. These crabs were not shelled or gutted. We also ate small lizards, ants and other things I never identified. I once found a tadpole in my papaya salad but one of the strangest things I ever tried was larb [pork mince with garlic,coriander and heaps of chilis]. It was actually quite good but many people ate it raw. Needless to say if I'd tried that, I would have been in the restroom for two days!

Mostly, I stick to rice and fruit, rice and a little bit of meat, rice and [insert whatever happens to be in the fridge].

I'm losing weight.

This got me to thinking though. In your various travels, what is some of the weirdest food you've ever eaten?

Kucinich in 2008
From Betmo for The Sirens Chronicles

Dennis Kucinich is the only democrat running for President who has voted against authorizing the war in Iraq and against funding its continuation.

Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate for President with a plan for a Universal, Single-Payer, Not-for-Profit health care system.

A corrupt campaign finance system, coupled with vulnerable electronic voting have eroded America’s confidence in our elections. The USA Patriot Act and secret strategy meetings to set policy tear into the very concept of We the People. As President, Dennis will protect individual liberty and privacy and restore balance and fairness in America’s electoral system.

As the world population soars towards eight billion, critical issues of survival face all of us. Living on a planet of finite resources means that human life can not be sustained indefinitely without careful thought and compassion coupled with political courage.

Half the world’s population lives on less than two dollars a day. In 2003, 10.6 million children died before they reached the age of five. Without hope and stricken by the AIDS pandemic, religious strife and no opportunity for an education; desperate poverty is a fact of everyday life for the majority of the world’s people. It manifests itself in war, terror and genocide over scarce resources, hopelessness and intolerance. Dennis Kucinich will make it a national priority to fight poverty worldwide. He understands that the path to a safe, strong America is through peace, tolerance and committing our nation to eradicating the root causes of global poverty.

want to hear more? dennis kucinich for president

 

What you WILL NOT hear about on MSM today...
From Amy Branham for Amy's Head


Happening NOW in Washington D.C.

Roads throughout the city are shut down and entrances to several buildings blocked by young people, Iraq war vets, and others who are protesting the war, global warming and other issues. Hundreds reported arrested.

Go to http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/2007/10/live_blog_score.html for more information.

Wingnut Awareness Week
From Blogenfreude for Agitprop

Did you know it's Islamofascism Awareness Week?

David Horowitz, "founder" of IAW, unloads on Alan Colmes about halfway through the video. Priceless.

So who's involved? Among others, Little Ricky, Mark Steyn, and a Giuliani adviser. Maybe next week should be Domestic Fascism Awareness Week. We could do a wingnut a day. Should be fun.

California Burning as Bush ignores it and asks for more money to fight his wars. I am blown away as excuses pile up for Bush to Declare Martial Order!
By James Joiner for An Average American Patriot






California Burning as Bush ignores it and asks for more money to fight his wars. I am blown away as excuses pile up for Bush to Declare Martial Order!please follow it at the link!
After 9/11 I realized we were routinely being lied to and misled so I started to write in order to ensure people learned the unbiased truth as to what was happening and why. Then I became aware that Bush was purposely widening the gap between the haves and the have not's in our society and realized that he was setting up his idea of a new societal order.
It became instantly obvious that Bush was lying about the situation in Iraq and Politicians on both sides of the aisle were falling for the lies, so he could get our military back into the middle east and begin to implement his and Israel's version of a new middle east order.

Since 9/11 he has used fighting terrorism as his excuse to steal more power using the Patriot Act. He uses the excuse of protecting America and that is what it is, is an excuse, to use his bullying underhanded so called diplomacy around the world so he can have his way and implement what he thinks will be his new world order. He has done this with North Korea, is using it with Russia and the world as he uses the missile defense system to force Russia, China, and everyone else that is against his militarism.
He lied and used his underhanded tactics to attack Iraq and is now doing it to Iran so he can get his excuse to attack but the world is allying against his new world order militarism and they will take him on! China as you know is gearing up militarily as is Iran and Russia and they will not back down in the face of Bush's antagonistic, bullying, do as I say or else, so called diplomacy.

I have been saying for quite a while now that Bush will attack Iran Before Congress or anyone else can stop him and that situation is getting closer. War seems to be the only thing that is important to Bush. He shows it daily as he pays attention to furthering his new world order Forever Wars and the countries Governmental, structural, and Societal infrastructure, fails.
Being a Bush Basher was not my intention. It just evolved as I became increasingly aware of what he was doing, why, and how this was going to evolve and turn out. He has done absolutely nothing right period! He talks a good game but plays a terrible one. He does not care how obvious his lying and deceit is as long as he gets his way and follows his course of new order wars.

I say every day now that his coldness and mindless audacity blows me away and gets worse as his time hopefully runs short and he speeds up his damage. His worst is yet to come. I am stunned as I watch California burn down and with 250,000 people mandatorily evacuated and dozens of fires in Southern California that have now jumped to Northern California I heard just now that Bush was preparing to speak about the fires and I thought okay, I guess I misjudged him. Wrong!
I was blown away that a Declaration of Emergency was declared in California as the fires are zero contained and spreading rapidly as well as a declaration of emergency in Georgia and other areas as they are running out of drinking water and the friggen idiot does not even mention it. I told you yesterday that his excuses to be able to declare martial law are adding up and it is only a matter of time until he is able to do just that and appear to be justified which is all he cares about so he can follow his wars.

Yesterday I was wondering what excuse Bush was going to use to declare martial law as he went fishing during Georgia's emergency. Today seeing him ignore the rapidly spreading fires in California while going on TV to ask for more war money I am really getting peeved at this idiot. I am going to leave you with the rim of the world link so you can follow the fires in depth. Please do! Follow California Burning This is serious to the rest of us if not Bush!

Anyway to prove what I keep saying the idiot never mentioned the fires or anything except that he needs more money for his wars. I am stunned.

Bush Sweetheart: 10/23/2007 - Glen Beck
From TomCat for Politics Plus

wildfiresI trust you are all familiar with the wildfires plaguing California at this time.  I'm sure you all agree that we wish safety to all those people in danger and empathize with those who have lost their homes, regardless of their political affiliation.  The GOP/Bush Reich does not share your concerns.  Consider this quote from Glen Beck:

...I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today...

[emphasis added]

Inserted from <Media Matters>

Only a true Bush Sweetheart would take advantage of people's suffering to make political hay.

Dry.
From Nancy Nall

What were we talking about just the other day? The need for a national water policy? How about just a little common sense? Ahem:

ATLANTA, Oct. 22 — For more than five months, the lake that provides drinking water to almost five million people here has been draining away in a withering drought. Sandy beaches have expanded into flats of orange mud. Tree stumps not seen in half a century have resurfaced. Scientists have warned of impending disaster.

And life has, for the most part, gone on just as before.

The response to the worst drought on record in the Southeast has unfolded in ultra-slow motion. All summer, more than a year after the drought began, fountains blithely sprayed, football fields were watered, prisoners got two showers a day and Coca-Cola’s bottling plants chugged along at full strength. In early October, on an 81-degree day, an outdoor theme park began to manufacture what was intended to be a 1.2-million gallon mountain of snow.

In late September, with Lake Lanier forecast to dip into the dregs of “dead storage” in less than four months, the state imposed a ban on outdoor water use.

Like lots of women, I’m a worrier by nature. I’ve been concerned about gas prices since OPEC was a new player on the scene, throughout the era of ’70s road boats and ’90s road freighters. I was an early adopter of recycling. Jimmy Carter didn’t have to tell me to turn down my thermostat; it was already lower than he recommended. So the idea that an area can be in a drought for two years and no one even considered whether it’s wise to keep watering lawns simply baffles me. (John and Sammy, my friends there, have been gray-watering for months, so I know at least some people have the sense to pay attention to the world around them.)

People have pointed out, correctly, that too much caution is as much a handicap to success as heedlessness, but I yam what I yam. My parents were Depression babies, and “waste not, want not” is part of the Midwestern DNA. It drives me nuts to see automatic sprinklers going in a downpour. I say, “Were you born in a barn?” And if my local landscape included sights like this at the reservoir that served us all, I wouldn’t be standing by smiling while someone tried to make snow on an 81-degree day.

I had a job interview a few years ago in Houston. People there crowed about how they had “air-conditioned the outdoors.” Never have I been so glad to not get the offer. Place would have made me insane.

We continue to keep our fingers crossed for our friends and readers in SoCal, no matter what idiots with a national platform say about the place. Three hundred thousand evacuations is quite a lot. Having lived here all my life, it’s hard to get my head around the conditions that could lead to such a disaster, and I give the WashPost credit for some pretty good description of the strangeness of the weather there: The winds were the Santa Anas that routinely sweep into Southern California from the northeast and funnel through its canyons, gaining speed, heat and dryness as they descend and compress. One gust was clocked at 112 mph, which I imagine would be like a blast in the face from a giant hair dryer.

I once asked a native why you couldn’t keep a house safe in a fire like that by, essentially, turning on a roof sprinkler. What if every house had a built-in water line that followed the peak of the roof, and when fires approached, you could attach hoses to the master line, turn them on, and keep it soaked down, the way firefighters will pour water on structures adjacent to out-of-control fires, so they don’t get engulfed, too?

I gather, from his reaction, that it was perhaps the stupidest remark possible, but only now do I fully understand why it wouldn’t work — the conditions are simply too super-dry and super-hot for water to do any good at all. You just have to wait for a break in the weather.

Well, it’s raining here. If I could, I’d send humidity your way.

Our friend Ashley is attending to family business today, but if he were here, perhaps he’d make the obvious New Orleans native remark: Let’s ask ourselves, is it wise to rebuild San Diego? I mean, isn’t it simply inevitable that another fire will come along someday and burn these structures all over again? Isn’t it foolish to develop areas that nature is programmed to clear out with fire every few years? Really, does it make sense?

I’ll leave you to think on that one.

In the meantime, it’s only stuff, folks. Although it’s hard to remember at a time like this.

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Monday Night Football is So Bad It Hurts
By Doug Masson for Masson's Blog

The Colts won tonight, making a good Jaguars team look fairly average. But, the amount of time the clowns on ESPN spent talking about the New England patriots, you would’ve thought Tom Brady put on a Jacksonville uniform for the night. And spending most of the 3rd quarter talking to Russell Crowe? What the hell is that about? It seemed almost rude of the Colts to intrude upon their discussion for a momentum changing safety.

But, over at Stampede Blue, the commentary is more enlightened:

70% of the earth is covered by water. the rest is covered by Bob Sanders!

War $46 Billion, Our Children And Wounded $0
Posted by Larry Sadler for Let's Talk About it



President Bush has denied our children health care and our wounded Veterans help, simply because he does not want to put that burden on the tax payers. Next, he has started his scare tactics with a new video of Osama bin Laden. Now he is asking our Congress for $46 billion dollars more for his war. What is wrong with this picture?


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The Truth About Truth
From niCk (Mem Beth) for This*is*it

Truth isn't black or white.
Wait a minute, yes it is. Something is either true or it's not. Right?
What about what we don't know, that which could be true. That is theory, not truth.
So truth IS black or white?
No, it is not that easy.

Let's say we have opposing views on a topical issue. It is quite possible that those opposing views are both based on truths, and both views are valid. Truths collide. There are many truths.

I can take many issues important to modern cultures, and find that both sides of any issue is based on truths, not theory.

In the next few blog posts I want to document my side of many issues. My views are based on the truths that have had greatest impact on my life, or my mind has tried to rationalize. I will try to accentuate the positive points over the negative. Some might think my side is over simplistic, but that simplicity is only the way I communicate these views, which have had much complication to arrive at this destination, at this point in time.

Opinions are dynamic. My views may be different than ones I had when I was younger, and as I grow older I will certainly change or redefine my stated position. This does not make me wishy-washy, or a flip-flopper. It means that I can learn and grow from my life experiences. It makes me human.

Tortured Logick
From Hart Williams for His Vorpal Sword

bush-idi0t.jpg

On the way out the door, I saw this, and, after rolling on the floor in gales of laughter at the sheer hypocrisy of it, I had to “share” it with you.

Mitt Wrongmney on health care (from the New York Times transcript of last night’s GOP debate):

ROMNEY: But one thing that I’m happy about is that Republicans are talking about health care. This isn’t a Democrat issue. It’s a Republican issue.

For Democrats, they want to have government take it over. And I don’t want to have the guys who did the cleanup at Katrina taking responsibility for health care in this country.

You mean the Bush Administation, Mitt?

The Republican Administration, Mitt?

The FEMA castrated by Bush, given an incompetent administrator (”Brownie you’re doing a heckuva job”) and buried in the gargantuan new “Big Government” Department of Homeland Sekurity run by Michael “Skeletor” Chertoff?

THAT ‘government’?

Actually, I don’t think ANYONE wants that government doing ANYTHING. But, aren’t you parroting their stances and rhetoric? Aren’t you steadfastly refusing to criticize THAT government?

Those guys who did the “cleanup at Katrina”? (”At” is, of course, a substitute for the correct “from,” but, as Mr. Bush proves, an utter lack of facility with English need not be an impediment to a GOP candidate.)

Jeepers. That isn’t an inadvertent and damning indictment of your GOP Administration and its utter incompetence (and incompetents), is it?

Nawww.

Courage.

Eleanor Clift, Unclearly
From TeddySanFran for Firedoglake

LiebermanEleanor Clift uses her recent Newsweek column to rehabilitate the reputation of Rape Gurney Joe Lieberman, presumably for the benefit of fellow Villagers who’ve forgotten just what dear Joe did wrong. It must be a puzzle to the short-attention span cocktail party hostesses and Sunday gasbags who can’t exactly recall why decent Democrats despise Joe, even though they know there’s a bunch of people you can’t invite if he and Hadassah are headed to their drawing-room for brunch.

But Villager Clift tries her best to remind Washingtonians of RGJoe’s sins against the party, while getting essential facts wrong. She writes:

Lieberman himself is scorned by Democrats for adding the ‘Independent’ label to his Democratic Party registration.

Um, no, Eleanor: Connecticut Democrats removed the Democratic party label from Joe’s name in a primary on August 8, 2006. The Independent label he added to his name was a necessity. He was denied his party’s nomination, by those pesky voters.

Regarding RGJoe’s support of Maine Republican and war-enabler Susan Collins, Clifty sez it’s all about “good character:”

Lieberman doesn’t feel obliged to do the Democratic Party’s business and help knock off Collins. She’s in a tough race, straddling opposition to the war with loyalty to the president, and she’s at the top of the Democrats’ target list. Another politician in a similar bind of conflicting loyalty might choose to stay neutral, but Lieberman is upfront with his support

Don’t you find it fascinating that Eleanor neglects to mention that Lieberman’s upfront support of Collins energized the anti-war base in a way that matched the dollars generated by Lieberman? MoveOn raised $350,000 for Tom Allen simply because RGJoe was hosting a DeeCee lobbyist-stuffed fundraising event for Tom Allen’s opponent. (And we helped!)

The power of Joe, indeed. He might be upfront with his support, Eleanor, but do you see other 2008 candidates pleading with Lieberman to do fundraisers? I thought not.

Equally unclear on this Senate’s organizing rule, Eleanor puffs up RGJoe’s importance to Harry Reid’s remaining Majority Leader, not knowing (or caring) that Democratic control is firmly established regardless of party or personnel changes:

In a 51-49 Senate, he’s the Democrats’ firewall. If he goes, so goes their majority.

Finally, Miss Clift resurrects that chestnut Lieberman used last fall to scam Nutmeggers to believe he was really still a Democrat:

Lieberman votes with the Democrats 90 percent of the time.

Except, of course, when American troops are dying in a foreign desert for the amusement of our fratboy President.

Who Ya Gonna Call?
From Mary Ellen for The Divine Democrat

TERRORIST BUSTERS!!!


There are some things you just can't make up....this is our Central Intelligence Agency at work.

My husband e-mailed this to me today from the CIA Website. They actually stole the Ghostbusters logo and theme and made it their own. This is so wrong on so many levels! We're supposed to take their fight on terrorism seriously when we see this? Along with their catchy cartoon theme, they put up this quote from a speech given by the Director of the CIA, Michael Hayden....I'm sure Osama bin Laden is shaking in his sandles after he saw that logo and heard the following tough talk...

CIA & The War on Terrorism
"Victory will come, but it will take time and require the kind of focused and sustained national commitment that we saw during the Cold War. Most importantly, it will require a relentless global campaign, joined by those in the Muslim world who are repulsed by al-Qa'ida's savagery, to expose the terrorists for what they are: peddlers of a hopeless, negative, backward vision of the world...."-May 4,2007

This is more like our government....

Terrorist Busters

When there's something strange,
In the neighborhood.
Who you gonna call?
Terrorist busters!

There's something weird,
And it don't look good.
Who you gonna call?
Terrorist busters!

I ain't 'fraid of Osama!
I ain't 'fraid of al Qaeda!

Who you gonna call?
Terrorist busters!
Who you gonna call?
Terrorist busters!

Is it me, or do the Ghostbuster uniforms look an awful lot like Blackwater uniforms?

[click on the words 'Terrorist Busters' at the beginning of the post or before the lyrics and it will play the Ghostbuster theme--I admit, I had way too much fun with this post.]

Does anyone notice a contrast between the evacuees we see today and those from two years ago?
From Eli Blake for Deep Thought

It's always tough for people facing evacuations. Everything they have may be gone, and they can only wait and hope and pray. And then wait some more.

And the evacuations now under way in southern California are no different. I hope that the people affected are able to return home soon, and that those who in fact have lost their homes are able to begin rebuiliding very quickly.

Nevertheless, it does give me cause to ponder, especially when I see stories about the thousands now packed into Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Not that I am suggesting that they shouldn't get the attention they now are getting, with rock-and-roll bands providing free entertainment, gourmet foods being served on buffet lines and even massage therapists providing 'stress-release' service for evacuees. And I think that all of this is wonderful. I am glad that they are getting all this service.

However it is hard not to compare the way these people are getting along with the complete lack of attention and deplorable conditions that reigned in the New Orleans Superdome, and later at the Houston Astrodome, two years ago after Katrina. Former first lady Barbara Bush (and the mother of the current President) even visited the Astrodome and said of the Katrina evacuees who were then occupying stadium seats there

Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them.

She said this, and then giggled.

Well, now we know where George W. Bush gets his ideas about 'compassionate conservatism' from.

I wonder if the reason why the Katrina evacuees were treated so much worse is that unlike the evacuees in Southern California, they were mostly poor, black and while some owned homes they weren't even close in value to the million dollar houses that are now exploding in flames all over Southern California.

As I said at the outset, the purpose of this post is not to question any of the attention being given to the current evacuees. I certainly feel lucky not to be in any of their shoes today. And the response of government officials at all levels in the current situation has been very good. But it is to question whether a person's economic status and possibly race is directly related to how high a priority they are when it comes to helping them in their time of need.

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