Answer:
The billions of dollars of federal subsidies included in the Farm
Bill. That's right, the ingredients of that special sauce are making
somebody pretty wealthy. From the Physicians
Committee for responsible Medicine (PCRM):
The Farm Bill, a massive piece of federal legislation making its way
through Congress, governs what children are fed in schools and what
food assistance programs can distribute to recipients. The bill
provides billions of dollars in subsidies, much of which goes to
huge agribusinesses producing feed crops, such as corn and soy,
which are then fed to animals. By funding these crops, the
government supports the production of meat and dairy products—the
same products that contribute to our growing rates of obesity and
chronic disease. Fruit and vegetable farmers, on the other hand,
receive less than 1 percent of government subsidies.
The government also purchases surplus foods like cheese, milk, pork,
and beef for distribution to food assistance programs—including
school lunches. The government is not required to purchase
nutritious foods.
The irony, of course, is that the original Farm Bill was created to
aid small, family farmers the help they needed to compete. But most
the assistance in the 2007 Farm Bill will go to a very small
percentage of American farmers. Efforts to reform the Farm Bill were
defeated, and yesterday the bill was approved by the Senate
Agriculture Committee.
While Oxfam welcomes critical new investments in nutrition,
conservation and renewable energy, the Farm Bill approved by the
Senate Agriculture Committee today failed to reform our unfair and
broken system of commodity subsidies that undercut farmers and rural
economies at home and abroad. Unless the rest of the Senate
intervenes, our taxpayer dollars will continue to encourage excess
production, reduce world market prices and undermine the livelihoods
of millions of small farmers around the world.
You'd never imagine it would happen in YOUR neighborhood. Sometimes
crime has no rhyme or reason for landing on your doorstep, it seems so
random, it is unexplainable. Yet a family in Springfield, Oregon awoke to
a crime scene literally, right in their front yard. Halloween morning.
They looked out their front window only to see 75 various Yard gnomes
& other yard decorations displayed on their lawn! The
problem with having so many yard gnomes, is things start happening.... They
carry weapons They
loiter Make
themselves at home They
drink alcohol Invite
others to join in Seem
to be on hallucigenic substances, such as mushrooms. Some
just seem to mock you...
Neighbors were seen snickering, others gawking, no one seemed to be taking
the crime scene seriously.
The police were called, and they took an incident report.
Of course the gnomes were considered stolen property, and they had to be
seized by authorities. How I wish I had a photo of a squad car loaded with
Gnomes! However,
even the police themselves were laughing about the situation, what with
the station being overrun by the evidence from the crime scene. Some
think it may be the work of the notorious "Gnome Liberation
Front". Apparently this is an International organization, and
information about them, can be found on the internet. It is unknown if
Homeland Security will change the terrorism level as a result. A panel of
experts is reviewing the case.
Beating a dead horse into lutefisk, and
other stuff
From Grace Nearing for Scriptoids
“Well, hello, America. I know I’m beating a dead horse, but this
horse has just got to get up, because our nation is under attack….
We’re being attacked someplace else in the cover of night and if we
lose this battle, we lose it all. Here`s "The Point" tonight.
G.I. Joe is the latest casualty in the war against the American
way….” Glenn
Beck freaking out about a forthcoming
movie based on the G.I. Joe toy and comicbooks.
[h/t to Mr. N.]
##
Reagan21
Introduced Today -- Today, a bicameral group of Senators and
Congressman presented a positive alternative to the current majority in
Congress. Members of Reagan21 are committed to the advancement of a new
and invigorated Republican Party fighting for Reagan’s principles of
liberty and a 21st Century vision for America, including individual
freedom, free enterprise and common-sense values. The Partnership’s
goal is to give Americans a positive choice in public policy by
advancing the integrity and optimism of the Republican Party.
##
Fevered imaginings from a wingnut columnist wickedly named Biggerstaff
--“It ought to be obvious by now to every American that since the
radical homosexual lobby has successfully brainwashed the majority of
Americans into believing their mental illness is a "right" and
their perverted ideas about sexuality are normal, the logical next step
is to encourage children to begin having sex as early as
possible….Soon, it will be normal for adults to have sex with children
and normal for parents and children to have sex.”
##
The Evil Westboro Baptist Church Gets
Served
From PoliShifter for Pissed
On Politics
Perhaps you have heard of these people…they call themselves
Christians. They belong to the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.
The Church founder is named Fred Phelps. His daughters Margie Phelps and
Shirley Phelps-Roper are also very active in the church.
Their focus is to spread a hate filled message that homosexuality is a
sin: that all the soldiers that die overseas, all the natural disasters
that kill Americans, and all the people that die of AIDS are a result of
God’s Wrath for America ‘tolerating’ homosexuality. In short their
infamous message is ‘God Hates Fags’.
That’s fine. I don’t agree with their anger and hatred for humanity
but it is their right to think and preach whatever they want. They can
protest, picket, demonstrate, and promote their hate in a nearly unlimited
fashion. But rather than organize rallies in public parks or protest in
front of City Hall they instead choose to hold up hateful signs at the
funerals of fallen soldiers. They’ve been doing it for years sullying
the funerals and memories of the families of fallen soldiers. It’s
shameful and disgusting.
People have been trying to get them to stop for years and usually the
ACLU steps in to defend their right to free speech. I’m not a lawyer.
I’m not going to pretend to be a lawyer. But I do think what they are
doing is wrong. Their argument is that a funeral is a public event and
they have the right to do whatever they want. I disagree and apparently so
do the courts. You should not have the right to go to a funeral uninvited
and sully the memory of the fallen. I’m sure the case will be appealed.
It’s hard to say what the final ruling will be but these lunatic
Westboro Baptists have gone too far.
These are evil hateful people who relish in ripping out the hearts of
the parents and family members of fallen soldiers. Like jackals these
demons are drawn to funerals for heroes so they can get off on an orgy of
hate with their fellow members.
(CNN) -- A federal jury in Baltimore, Maryland, Wednesday awarded $10.9
million to a father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by members of a
fundamentalist church carrying signs blaming soldiers' deaths on America's
tolerance of homosexuals.
The family of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder -- who was killed in a vehicle
accident in Iraq's Anbar province in 2006 -- sued the Westboro Baptist
Church in Topeka, Kansas, and its leaders for defamation, invasion of
privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Church members showed up at Snyder's funeral chanting derogatory
slogans and holding picket signs with messages including "God Hates
Fags."
They've picketed the funerals of dozens of troops killed in Iraq and
Afghanistan, claiming that God is punishing the United States because of
its tolerance for homosexuality.
Al Snyder, father of the slain Marine, said he considered filing the
lawsuit for a long time before going forward and that he hoped the
judgment would make it harder for the church to continue such protests.
"It's hard enough burying a 20-year-old son, much less having to
deal with something like this," he said, recalling that some of the
other signs at the funeral included "Thank God for dead
soldiers" and "Thank God for IEDs." Watch the fallen
Marine's father describe his reaction »
"As far as their picketing goes, they want to do it in front of a
courthouse, they want to do it in a public park, I could care less. But I
couldn't let them get away with doing this to our military," Al
Snyder said.
Know a blog that
deserves to be featured on the Blog World Report? Contact Robert.
Diego Garcia, The
Death Star
From RickB for Ten
Percent
In 1967 the UK began depopulating, ethnically cleansing the
Chagos islands so it could lease the islands to the US for
it to build a base. The Chagossians were shipped to
Mauritius the British govt. paid the Mauritius authorities
some hush money & the empire got to building its bases.
Only this
year after decades
of fighting did the Chagossians get any justice, Diego
Garcia remains verboten.
Diego Garcia is the largest of the Chagos islands and the
base is crucial to the empire, warplanes flew from it on
strike missions for both gulf wars against Iraq and again
something stirs-
The
US is secretly upgrading special stealth bomber
hangars on the British island protectorate of Diego Garcia
in the Indian Ocean in preparation for strikes on Iran’s
nuclear facilities, according to military sources. The
improvement of the B1 Spirit jet infrastructure coincides
with an “urgent operational need” request for £44m to
fit racks to the long-range aircraft. That would allow
them to carry experimental 15-ton Massive Ordnance
Penetrator (MOP) bombs designed to smash underground
bunkers buried as much as 200ft beneath the surface
through reinforced concrete.
Not only is it a military cuckoo occupying the land
rightfully belonging to the Chagos islanders it’s also a
gulag once called ‘Camp
Justice‘-
MPs
on the all-party foreign affairs committee hope to
find out if the reports that the CIA has a secret prison
on the island are true. The MPs will scrutinise the
allegations that the CIA has been holding al-Qaida and
Taliban suspects on the island.
• Some form of American detention facility has
existed on the island since at least 1983.
• Barry McCaffrey, a retired four-star American
general who is now professor of international security
studies at West Point military academy, has twice spoken
publicly about the use of Diego Garcia to detain suspects.
• Dick Marty, a Swiss senator who led a Council
of Europe investigation into the CIA’s use of European
territory and airspace said he had received confirmation
of the use of the island. He later said that he had
received the assistance of some CIA officers during his
investigation.
• A Gulfsteam executive jet, which has been
linked by its registration number to several CIA prisoner
operations is known to have flown from Washington to the
island shortly after the capture of a leading al-Qaida
suspect in September 2002.
• British officials re-designated a building on
the island as a prison three months after the September 11
attacks.
• Inmates at Guantanamo say that fellow detainees
have described being held, and beaten, on board prison
ships.
• The United Nation’s special rapporteur on
torture, Manfred Nowak, has said that he has heard from
reliable sources that the US has held prisoners on ships
in the Indian Ocean.
Michael Mukasey, current nomination for US Attorney
General doesn’t know if water boarding is torture and
therefore if it is illegal even though enemy perpetrators of
this torture were jailed and some executed
after WWII for using it. Many democrats are debating if
this makes him a bad choice or can they accept it, hmmm, top
law officer, torture isn’t torture hence legal, hmmm what
could possibly be wrong with that…yeah let’s debate that
a lot, we’re civilised…
Has
the CIA been given the go ahead to use torture and
torture-lite techniques in its black sites overseas? The
answer which emerges from everything we’ve seen is: Yes.
The techniques in question include waterboarding,
long-time standing, hypothermia, sleep deprivation in
excess of two days, the use of dogs to terrify detainees,
sexual humiliation techniques, and psychotropic drugs.
Each of these techniques is very clearly illegal and their
use is punishable as a crime. So the question for Michael
Mukasey is this: has the Justice Department yet again been
roped into to giving assurances that these crimes are not
crimes, or that they will not be prosecuted?
The latest historical comparison for Bush’s America is
Hirohito’s reign (a royalist fascist era, hmmm)-
“US
war criminality is justice institutionalised, as
Japan’s once was,” Bix said. “In today’s America,
torture is not only standard battlefield practice in the
so-called war on terror. Torture is celebrated in American
popular culture as evidenced by the popularity of
‘24,’ a TV programme in which the hero confronts a
ticking bomb scenario… designed to justify torture.”
Herbert Bix, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for
his landmark biography of wartime emperor Hirohito, said
he believed US aerial bombings and alleged use of torture
in Afghanistan and Iraq constituted war crimes. “The
current American rampage in Iraq and elsewhere, not to
mention the Bush administration’s threats of war against
Iran, so clearly replicates Imperial Japan during the
period when its leaders willfully disregarded
international law and pursued the diplomacy of force,”
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) - The South
Carolina Democratic Party voted Thursday to keep comedian Stephen
Colbert's name off the Democratic Primary ballot, according to
Executive Director Joe Werner.
This essentially means that Colbert's short lived White House run
in the Palmetto State will come to an end, because he has said that he
would not try to be placed on the Republican Party primary ballot.
We're being attacked someplace else in the cover of night and if
we lose this battle, we lose it all. Here's "The
Point" tonight. G.I. Joe is the latest casualty in the war
against the American way and I know, I know, it's just a toy, a
little hunk of plastic, a cartoon. I know. And that makes it
easy to dismiss this. But I believe that would be a huge
mistake.
Where in the world is Beck going with this and why does CNN
allow him airtime?
I
imagine every writer who has a blog is offering his/her
thoughts on the pending WGA strike today. Here, in no
particular order, are mine.
And yes, I will continue to blog if there is a strike.
***********
Make no mistake about it – industry strikes only
occur when management forces the issue. ALWAYS. Every time.
No exceptions. Who do you think can hold out longer? The
story editor of KIM POSSIBLE with two kids in private school
or Sumner Redstone? So who do you think has more to gain by
playing hardball?
What’s scary is this: in the old days, one of the unions
would strike, it would last for a few months and Lew
Wasserman of Universal would say, “Okay, this has gone on
long enough.” and it would be over. This year there is no
Lew Wasserman. There is not even Universal as we knew it.
*******
Some network officials are saying that since this season is
already a bust with no breakout hits (and whose fault is
that I ask those same network visionaries who programmed
CAVEMEN, VIVA LAUGHLIN, and NASHVILLE?) a strike would be
welcomed. They could cut losses from runaway production.
That’s fine except that after the last strike in 1988 the
combined network share dropped 10% and has continued to fall
ever since. The industry suffered a half-billion dollars in
lost revenue, and MOONLIGHTING ratings never recovered. Can
the AMPTP really afford another big strike?
It’s like if you’re a restaurant that’s struggling is
it a good idea to close on weekends?
*****
How’s this for an idiotic remark? In a recent article in
the LA TIMES, TV writer Robert Eisele suggested that in
light of the strike if writers “can
afford a Bentley, get a Mercedes.” Yeah, that
helps the WGA’s image. We’re all driving Bentleys.
Newsflash: NO writer I know drives a Bentley. And none will
until they start putting Prius engines in the damn things!
Oh...and we don’t light our cigars with hundred dollar
bills either.
******
This acrimony between writers and management has been going
on since the 1930s when scribes first rose up and had the
audacity to…well, ask
for things. Warner Brother czar Jack Warner warned
that any writer who joined the union would “find
themselves out of work forever”. And he claimed
this wasn’t blacklisting because “it
would all be done over the telephone”. Darryl
Zanuck of 20th Century Fox once said, “Throw
that writer off the lot until I need him again!”
Critic David Thomson says Hollywood writers are like divorce
lawyers or private eyes. When you want them you have to have
them, but later you despise them.
Is there any wonder we “Schmucks
with Underwoods” have an inferiority complex and
assume a defensive posture? We spend our entire careers
trying to protect our work against studios, directors,
actors, fellow writers, research gurus, networks, and
girlfriends of the all of the above.
***********
Networks claim that streaming shows on the internet and
making them available for ipods is merely for “promotional
purposes only”. If that’s true, why do they
CHARGE for them on itunes? And even if they didn’t, by
making shows available on the internet they reduce their
value for reruns and syndication.
***********
Nice timing of NBC Universal and News Corp to begin testing
their joint venture – a video site focused solely on TV
and film content – three days before the WGA contract was
up.
************
And is it just me, or don’t writers who feverishly try to
finish and turn in their drafts right before the deadline
undermine the WGA’s cause? If Paul Haggis DIDN’T turn in
the latest installment of the James Bond series, the studio
might have a tad more incentive to make a deal, don’tcha
think??
Meanwhile, other writers turned in multiple variations of
scripts so the studios would have flexibility filming them.
That to me is unconscionable. These are the screenwriters
who stand to benefit from DVD and other delivery system
royalties. All the rest of us are giving up work to fight
for them and they turn in multiple drafts to accommodate the
studios?? No wonder the producers think we’re idiots.
And thank you to actors like Vince Vaughn, who since he
isn’t in the WGA, finds nothing morally wrong with
agreeing to polish scripts during a strike. The fact that we
go out on strike to craft a deal that will be the template
for the SAG deal so HE won’t have to go out on strike
apparently means nothing to him.
************
Without credit arbitration (won by the union in a hard
fought battle) Jeffrey Katzenberg and Brad Grey might each
have four Oscars for co-writing screenplays.
************
I will never make another joke about the Teamsters. I love
those guys!!! If the Teamsters refuse to cross the picket
lines this could be a much shorter strike than management
expected.
*************
I know WGA President Patrick Verrone. Worked with him on a
project. Being in a writers room with someone on a show with
problems is how you can really
learn about a person. Pat is talented, reasonable,
dedicated, and cool under pressure. He is far from the John
Wayne his detractors claim him to be. We need to give him
our support and we need to remain unified and strong.
I’ve been through three strikes already. Many of the
companies I struck are no longer in business. Two-thirds of
the people I struck with are no longer in the guild. And
unlike actors and directors, when we go out it doesn’t
just shut down the industry. It slows it. Hair restoration
crèmes have faster results. But as someone who has
prospered and enjoyed the gains writers before me have won,
I feel it’s my obligation to fight the good fight for the
next generation. And hopefully in twenty years, when the
issue is holograms transmitted directly to the back of
viewers’ eye lids, WGA members will hang tough for a piece
of that pie.
We’re just looking for our fair share. MyPiece not
MySpace. iShare not iTunes. NetWorth not NetFlix.
Who'd a thought that fucking up SO bad would be worth so much? But
hey, this is George Bush's America -- where every turn towards
failure, incompetence and hubris is rewarded with Medals of Freedom
(see Paul Bremer), big promotions (see Coopoleezza* Rice), or big
raises (see Paul Wolfowitz). But with other mega-corporate golden
parachutes already being handed out (see the NY Stock Exchange,
Pfizer, Home Depot, Tyco, Adelphia, Worldcomm) to failed CEOs, we are
left to admire a modern day sect of D.B. Coopers --- folk heroes.
(On November 24, 1971, D.B. Cooper boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines
flight from Portland to Seattle, demanded and received a $200,000
ransom, and then parachuted into the forest and was never seen again.
The disappearance of D.B. Cooper is one of the great unsolved
mysteries of the 20th century and the stuff of urban legends).
The latest urban legend is Stan O'Neal of Merrill Lynch -- you know
the company that is bullish on America.
From AP:
NEW YORK - Merrill Lynch's departing chief executive, Stan O'Neal,
will walk away with $161.5 million in stock, options and retirement
benefits, the company said Tuesday.
O'Neal, the second-highest paid Wall Street CEO in 2006, retired
from Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. on Tuesday, almost a week after
the investment bank reported its largest-ever quarterly loss. The
$2.24 billion loss was precipitated by a $7.9 billion third-quarter
writedown, as the company revalued assets backed by shaky mortgages.
Let's see, O'Neal will walk away with over $160 million after
personally directing Merrill Lynch to get involved with risky loans
and sub-prime mortgages. As we now know -- when the market soured
Merrill Lynch was forced to writedown of $8 billion in bad loans.
Chump change I guess, when it comes to CEO decision making.
Rewind to 2002, as O'Neal takes the reins of Merrill Lynch in the
heady times right after 9/11. O'Neal saw Merrill's (or rather his)
pot-of-gold in the all reward - low risk game of underwriting
and trading of collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs. CDOs are in
reality very risky financial instruments which are bascially pools of
mortgage securities that are sliced up based on risk levels. (whatever
that means). So as the housing market boomed -- this risky business
boomed as well -- for it seemed those housing prices would NEVER come
down. After all. everyone can pay $500,000 for a tiny house in a
crime-ridden neighborhood, this is America - land of opportunity
(would a classy girl like you fall for a poor boy like me). Enough Jay
& The Americans, back to Stan & The Incompetents
O'Neal's parting wealth comes after he spent five years as Merrill's
CEO, earning nearly top dollar. O'Neal's 2006 pay was approximately
$48 million, second on Wall Street only to the $54.3 million earned
by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein.
But like Blood Sweat & Tears said in their 1969 hit Spinning
Wheel "What goes up, must come down" -- and that even
means housing prices. While $500,000 might be what someone is willing
to pay to live in that house in a crime-ridden neighborhood, there
were people who drew the line at $600,000 (or lots of people). Poor
Stan was caught completely off-guard when it all collapsed this past
summer. Maybe because Stan decided to fiddle while Rome burned, as he
was way too busy playing over 20 rounds of golf in August. Not for
nothing, it is also told than Stan was hated at Merrill Lynch, managed
like a bully, and was generally a mean son-of-a-bitch. In other words
he was Dick Cheney.
Hey for that kind of money, even I would learn how to play golf!
I know this is all "negotiated" upfront in a contract and
that basically if a CEO fails -- well it is just too bad! But it just
goes to show how stacked the system is against most common people ---
these "negotiations" are nothing more than a boys (or girls)
club of like-minded, like-rewarded people who all just take care of
themselves -- while the shareholders, customers and populace are
basically left as spectators in a bad movie. So when this happens ---
the shareholders get a little angry, the customers may or may not
change businesses, the people get a little more numb -- and then like
D.B. Cooper, O'Neal gets his money and disappears into obscurity.
And finally the clueless media (who in a very subtle way lionizes
these people) wonders why there is anger in this country, why a
majority of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong
direction, why people think they cannot get a fair break anymore, why
tax cuts for the uber-rich are a bit, shall we say, unfair, and why we
hate and abhor George Bush who protects and enriches these fools
*Condoleezza Rice has been renamed Coopoleezza Rice since this
complete asshole has long ago coopted any values she might have had by
continuing to LIE like railroad tracks for her husband George. This
woman is no condo
Diplomats don't want to die for
Iraq, worry about their kids being parentless, what about our
soldiers?
From James Joiner for An
Average American Patriot
I
really have to laugh and this whole issue should get more
publicity. We should be discussing it more and I have not seen
it at all on the MSM. Diplomats don't want to serve but our
troops must? Let's get this discussed.
last week we discussed the fact that despite the chief idiot
swearing off a draft for our military as he could lie to them
and misuse and abuse their Patriotism. He was reduced to being
forced to Draft Diplomats who know better, to work in the war
zone fortress he has created as a monument to his middle east
breakdown and so called successful middle east democratization,
until he can get his new world order world war three going full
swing which will happen when he attacks Iran. Draft
for Diplomats to man failed Baghdad Fort
We discussed numerous times that we don't know what it will be
yet but Bush will find an excuse to attack them so he can appear
to be forced to fight his Forever war. as Bush and Iran have
been going tit for tat looking for an excuse to get this war
going it seems forever now they feign concern? Many U.S.
officials believe small conflicts on the ground or at sea are
potentially riskier than a nuclear program. While the White
House dwells on Iran's nuclear program, senior U.S. diplomats
and military officers fear that an incident on the ground in
Iraq is a more likely trigger for a possible confrontation with
the Islamic Republic.
In one sign of their concern, U.S. military policymakers are
weighing whether to release some of the Iranian personnel they
have taken into custody in Iraq. Doing so could reduce the risk
that radical Iranian elements might seize U.S. military or
diplomatic personnel to retaliate, thus raising the danger of an
escalation, a senior Defense official said. Read
the changing excuses for war with Iran
We discussed that once the excuse is found the fact that the
world is rallying to take us on in the middle east when Bush
attacks Iran to start his new world order world war three. Read
our story on the world rallying against Bush
We are also watching as Israel steps up threats to invade the
Gaza strip. Israel escalated its threats on Tuesday to invade
the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rocket fire
after a plan to withhold key utilities drew objections from
legal experts and foreign powers.
Since quitting Gaza in 2005, Israel has mounted regular commando
raids and air strikes on rocket crews but the salvoes have not
ceased. Two such operations on Tuesday killed at least four
Hamas policemen and wounded six Palestinian civilians.
Islamist Hamas's takeover of the territory in June stoked calls
in the Jewish state for a big military sweep. "Every
passing day brings us closer to a broad operation in Gaza,"
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told reporters. "We are
not looking forward to it (and) we would be happy if
circumstances prevented it." Read
about Israel's efforts for new middle east order
Turkey is threatening to erupt into civil war over the issue of
going into Iraq in a full scale military attack on the PPK in
Kurdish Iraq thereby making the area even more volatile. Kurds
in southeast Turkey voted this summer in record numbers for
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his promise to bring
peace to their region. Now, with Turkish troops massed for a
possible invasion of Iraq, the talk is of curtailed political
rights and ethnic strife.
Erdogan is threatening a full-scale military operation in
northern Iraq to root out guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK, after almost 50 soldiers and civilians were
killed last month. Such a move would exacerbate tensions between
Turks and the estimated 15 million ethnic Kurds in Turkey, who
represent 20 percent of the country's population.
``The rising tide of nationalism feels directed at Kurds, and
people here fear a civil war,'' said Fahri Timur, 33, head of
the Human Rights Association in the Kurdish town of Hakkari.
``This government has improved the situation for Kurds, but we
can't expect respect for human rights in the Please
read about Turkey joining the middle east breakdown
Amidst this still just beginning middle east breakdown soon to
be world war can you blame American Diplomats for speaking the
truth about being forced to serve in the middle of this mess?
Calling it "a potential death sentence," several
hundred diplomats expressed their resentment Wednesday over a
new State Department policy that could force them to serve in
Iraq or risk losing their jobs. Others pointed out the risks of
such a rule, considering the dangers of a war zone, lack of
security and regular rocket attacks on U.S. personnel.
One State Department worker complained she was not provided
medical treatment for her post-traumatic stress disorder after
she voluntarily served in Iraq. The session was marked by angry
exchanges, according to an audio recording of the meeting held
at the State Department. The sharpest comments came from Jack
Croddy, a 36-year veteran of the Foreign Service. To loud
applause from his fellow workers, he asked how the State
Department could protect people in Baghdad or the Iraq
countryside when "incoming is coming in every day. Rockets
are hitting the Green Zone.
"It is one thing if someone believes in what is going on
over there and volunteers," he said, "but it is
another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment.
And I'm sorry, but basically that is a potential death sentence
and you know it. Who will raise our children if we are dead or
wounded?" please
read the whole story
The thing that angers me is that Iraq is a death trap that is
spreading throughout the entire middle east as it was expected
to and I for one can not blame our Diplomats for not wanting to
get in the middle of Bush's success and risk death but I do not
like the idea that my sons and all our troops are expected to.
What about them? What about their kids? What about our
Grandchildren?
With those questions asked I do not like what I am hearing once
again but I have to hope that the diplomats will not cave in to
threats and will set an example that will reverberate throughout
the military and our America. Many of us are against everything
Bush not just what he is doing in the middle east but around the
world. Hopefully this is the beginning of a growing dissention
that will hopefully work against Bush's new world order control
and warmongering. What do you think?
Republicans Should
Beware of What They Wish For if Bloomberg Runs
By Ron Chusid for
Liberal
Values
The Washington
Times reports that many Republicans hope Michael
Bloomberg will run for president as an independent as it
would improve their chances at winning by dividing the
Democratic vote.
“Ideologically, Bloomberg is much more aligned with
the Democrat base than with Republicans,” says
Republican direct-mail fundraiser Richard Norman. “The
more effective his campaign, the more he spends, the more
he hurts the presumptive Democrat nominee, Senator
[Hillary Rodham] Clinton.”
A political operative close to the mayor’s operation
says New York Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheeky and some top
Bloomberg advisers are urging the billionaire mayor to
make a bid for the presidency in 2008. Mr. Bloomberg
repeatedly has said he will not do so.
“It’s about 50-50 that Michael will go for it, and if
he does I think it would probably help Republicans,”
says David Norcross, a friend of the New York mayor and
chairman of the Republican National Committee’s Rules
Committee
This might help the Republicans, but there is also the
danger that they might regret hoping for Bloomberg to run. A
lot will depend upon how the campaign plays out and who gets
each party’s nomination. If John Edwards wins the
Democratic nomination, a Bloomberg candidacy would probably
draw off enough votes from affluent Democrats who object to
Edwards’ populist campaign based upon class warfare and
junk economics to give the Republicans a victory. Obama and
Richardson would have a far better chance of holding
together a wide based Democratic coalition, and how Hillary
would do in a general election campaign remains difficult to
predict.
The effect of a Bloomberg candidacy would differ in
different parts of the country and among different types of
voters. As suggested above, Bloomberg could attract the
votes of some of the new Democratic voters who gave them
their victory in 2006. Bloomberg could also cost the
Republicans some votes. There are many Republican
businessmen who do not support the social policies of the
Republicans and are seeing that the war was a mistake. Some
are voting Democratic, but there are many long time
Republican voters who only see the Democrats as a threat to
tax them more and are unlikely to vote Democratic under any
situation. A socially moderate businessman such as Bloomberg
could be attractive to many of these voters.
Ultimately it might make sense for Republicans to hope
for anything which might shake up the race since, as things
stand now, it appears that a Republican will have a hard
time winning in 2008.
BLOG RECOMMENDATION
A Hat Tip to Betmo of Life's
Journey for directing us to Post
Secret. An "art project" that asks people to
mail in their "secrets" on the back of a postcard.
Go ahead, let your voyeuristic side loose for a few
minutes
Manufactured
Elections/ Edwards could BE real Front Runner
By Proud Progressive for Some
Notes on Living
This started out as a comment on
Christopher's brilliant blog From
the Left
well i did it…after all my hemming hawing..i just
sent in my voter registration..going back to dem
for the primaries and ONLY to do my part to get
Edwards elected. For the reasons why - peek at his website
Don’t forget he beat HRC,
at a recent multi county , multi democratic club caucus
in Cali …even though Kucinich
was there in person . Hill came in at a pitiful 4th.
over a 1000 ballots. Hill-awry has some surprises
coming. And look at the Edwards site on lgbt
issues please He is extremely ,reasonable,
legally spot on, when it comes to lgbt.
He does not wear his beliefs on his sleeve ,nor would
inject them into public policy simple to pander the
the prejudices people have. But wouldn't stand in the
way of Federal Legislation to ensure full legal rights
of marriage of lgbT
community. In fact he want them there..Federally.
He listens. He
cares more deeply about poverty …oh i better quit
now - but i guess my enthusiasm stems from the fact
that Hillery just might get her ass
handed to her Its not the media's or the big
corporations WHO get to tell us, well they will tell
us who is winning etc..a done deal blah blah blah. But
we sure do not have to listen
This is SOO
not over and its all about the primaries. (it is
crunch time) And he is a really decent alternative
, he is reasonable, and listens, has a passion and
cares about this country, its Constitution
and the people in it. (and does own more than a few
cans of whoop ass, if he's gotta use em) he is publically
financed putting his campaign where his mouth
is) ..no big corps no lobbiests…and
our funds are matched…twice as nice. My 50 became
one hundred. democratic unity is needed if he is gonna
get himself elected , i cannot be a purist , a green
and just walk away in a huff not voting. One could
argue that polls are a measure of democratic unity but
clearly now, this is a three way primary race. - time
to look at the fine points.
I gottta
at least try to put a
speed bump on the road( and Edwards wants the
job !) of our runaway tyranny of empire..We the people
can ease this inevitability of empire over
reach/destruction, and make a bit easier on the
average worker/human. (now) As evidenced in the recent
Peace and justice mobilizations, millions are not
ready to take it to the streets so all we got is the
ballot box for now. Its all about the primaries. I
could not cast a vote for Hillary in the general. This
primary vote for Edwards could be the last vote i cast
in my adult life - i cannot enable outright evil - and
Hillary is not a bit diff then gouli
or mit…
not one iota..and imagine - four yrs of constant clinton
bashing again on top of no end in site for the war.
??? That alone is enough to drive me to vote. SHIT.
Edwards would close Gitmo
, day one of his presidency. Address the violations of
the Geneva Conventions. Restore checks and balances.
Keith Oblermann
in tandem with tweety
and David Shuster
filling for Smucker
?!(talk about a different show) All prompted the post
title. The elections
are manufactured. One week its this, the next
week its that..seriously these pundits..telegraph so
much that is tainted , slanted , sensationalized bull
crap. Its gonna come down to wear the rubber meets the
road. (and its not on the blogs) People need to talk
to other people..Get some interruption
of regularly
scheduled programming and tell people about JOHN
EDWARDS. A Populist, a winner , and supported by the SEIU
unions which give their states autonomy to endorse
their candidates state by state..Andy Stern's hard
workers united. NH and Iowa Chapters support him.
So anyhow..i did it. I am now a Democrat again..UGHHHHH
, the one business party system. Mebbe
we can put at least a dent in that too ?
Edwards disdains big lobbyists,
not owned by AIPAC.
What is this weird
feeling i am feeling ..OMFG
its a pin hole's ray of hope/light through the
engulfing darkness, - damn it feels good. Been so
long. We gotta get Edwards (and help him to amplify
his pretty excellent stances on the issues, and pump
up the volume.) When people hear his , articulated
platform BOLDLY and it is crunch time. They will be
pleasantly surprised.
There are certain things that baffle me in this world
of politics. Purists and i tend to be one , and i am difinitely
a woman, but i cannot fathom - all the woman so called
liberal progressives that do not see or hear Hillary's
message , and endorse her slickness - she is a NEO
lib and that is same beast as a NEO
con. But all they see is a woman being ganged up on
..THIS IS POLITICS PEOPLE. Its about her Character
yes, its about all their characters for fuck sake.
which are reflected in their policies ; AND her
policies line up very very close with the neos'
But somehow because she is a woman we are supposed to
trust her and think she will do better when in office
??? fool me
once..shame on me...fool me twice I am fookin
moron. All the Clintons
have is a legacy of compromise , broken promises ,
same old same deciet
Plus a dynasty in amerikkka
i don't think so....more endless clinton
bashing and Bickering in america.
Dejuvu
all over again.
Noam Chomsky is so right Consent is Manufactured.
Edwards wants the people , us peasants back in the
process again. Lets get in there ! Make it a
landslide, state by state and shock the system.
Envoys Furious Over Diplomat Draft
By TomCat for Politics
Plus
WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of U.S. diplomats Wednesday vented anger
and frustration over the State Department's
decision to force Foreign Service officers to take jobs in
Iraq, with some calling it a "potential death
sentence."
In a contentious hourlong meeting, they peppered
officials with often hostile comments about the move
announced last week that will require some diplomats
-- under threat of dismissal -- to serve at the embassy in
Baghdad and in reconstruction teams in outlying provinces.
Many expressed serious concern about the ethics
of sending diplomats against their will to work in a war
zone -- where the embassy staff is largely confined
to Baghdad's protected Green Zone -- as the department
reviews use of private security guards to protect its staff.
"Incoming is coming in every day; rockets are
hitting the Green Zone," said Jack Croddy, a senior
foreign service officer.
He and others confronted Foreign Service Director General
Harry Thomas, who approved the move to "directed
assignments" to deal with a shortage of volunteers.
"It's one thing if someone believes
in what's going on over there and volunteers, but it's
another thing to send someone over there on a forced
assignment," Croddy said. "I'm sorry, but
basically that's a potential death sentence
and you know it. Who will raise our children if we are dead
or seriously wounded?"... [emphasis added]
I'm sorry, but I don't have a lot
of sympathy for them. First, under the Bush Reich,
diplomats are useless baggage. Bush does not believe
in diplomacy, and that makes it impossible for them to be
effective in their jobs. As long as Bush is in office,
they can provide no real service to the US, because Bush
won't allow it, so they're just taking paychecks for nothing
at taxpayer expense. Second, nobody is forcing them to
work for the Reich. If they don't believe in
what they're doing, why aren't they standing in front of the
White House holding 'Impeach!' signs?
Answer:
The billions of dollars of federal subsidies included in the Farm
Bill. That's right, the ingredients of that special sauce are making
somebody pretty wealthy. From the Physicians
Committee for responsible Medicine (PCRM):
