LEFT is RIGHT (blogging against The Bush-war) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
###
Iraq War Cost
 
 
 Buy it Here for $12.95      
 ::::: MY PROFILE ::::: VIDEO: When the Good Guys Do NOTHING Welcome to the New World Order Truth, War & Consequences In the Name of Freedom Oreo Calculator Army of One Remind Us One Year THANKS ESSAY/SITE: Bush's 40/IRAQ/SOTU/OTHER Lies A Declaration of Progressive Principles A Declaration of Impeachment World's Leading Terrorist Why Bush Invaded Iraq Coalition Deaths in Iraq Altruism is Out of Focus Official Bush Lie Outlet The Devil's Handbook Third World Traveler Paying for Wal-mart Those Elusive WMDs Ongoing Scandals The Bush Record Bush Scorecard Who Served Halliburton AWOL Evil
 I reserve the right to publish your e-mail.
Archives  
My Ecosystem Details Who's Linking to Left is Right Who links to me? Who's on Left is Right right now # Visits by day of month Most Recent Visitors Recent Visitors by Location United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights Humanist Manifesto III         The Brand New Bag Books about the Iraq War 
|  Front Pages / 10 x 10 / Open Secrets / VillageVoice / The New Standard / The Hill / Washington Note
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "We support the right of self-determination in the struggle against imperialist domination, and believe the Iraqi people have the right to resist occupation by any means chosen. The right to resist occupation is a concept enshrined in international law. . . . This is not a matter of political or ideological affinity. Nor is it an issue of the tactics of war --al of which are ugly. It boils down to this simple equation: On the one side are all the forces fighting a war against colonialism and occupation, and on the other side are the colonialists, neo-colonialists and their Iraqi agents. In that struggle we take an unambiguous position opposing the colonizers. To do otherwise would be to put entirely secondary issues --ideology, war tactics, etc. --at the forefront, while ignoring the core issue of colonialism in Iraq and elsewhere. Moreover, since we are a U.S. antiwar movement, and it is our country that has invaded Iraq, we are obligated to be crystal clear on this issue." - - - ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
| Mourn not the dead in that cool earth lie But rather mourn the apathetic throng The cowed and the meek Who see the world's great anguish and its wrong And dare not speak —Solidarity Forever - - - Ralph Chaplin |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
What if Jeffrey Dahmer had been a right-wing pundit?
Not to beat a dead horse, but: A strain of bird flu deadly to humans has killed five times the number of migratory birds in China initially reported, an agriculture official said on Friday, as scientists in the west warned of a possible global pandemic.
William Rivers Pitt of PDA talks about withdrawing our troops from Iraq (snippet):
Leaving the left for fun and profit
I know so many people who actually believe this.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Unheeded Warnings - II
Not to beat a dead horse, but: A strain of bird flu deadly to humans has killed five times the number of migratory birds in China initially reported, an agriculture official said on Friday, as scientists in the west warned of a possible global pandemic.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
"Stand and Be Heard"
William Rivers Pitt of PDA talks about withdrawing our troops from Iraq (snippet):
| By William Rivers Pitt - Progressive Democrats of America ...The occupation of Iraq has lasted some 800 days. In that time, 1,653 American soldiers have been killed, along with 180 soldiers from other nations of the ‘Coalition of the Willing,' putting the butcher's bill at 1,833 in total. Ten times that number have been wounded, many of them permanently. The most common injuries are to the brain; when a roadside bomb goes off in Iraq next to an American armored personnel carrier, the soldiers inside get their brains jarred within their Kevlar helmets. They come away without a scratch, but are never, ever the same again. More than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed during this invasion and occupation. There is no accurate numbering of the dead, because we don't do body counts. At least as many have been wounded. They are shot by snipers, strafed by helicopters, buried under the rubble of their houses by bombs, incinerated by fire, and left to rot in the streets of cities like Falluja to be gnawed on by dogs. The only crime these people committed against America, in the words of MP George Galloway, was to be born Iraqi. Hospitals in Iraq are without trained medical personnel and without doctors. Ambulances are targeted for attack by American forces because they are suspected of transporting ‘insurgents.' Hospital bathrooms are filled to the walls with urine and feces because the plumbing does not work. Buildings that were blasted two years ago remain piles of shattered cement. Electrical power in the best neighborhoods is sporadic at best, and almost nonexistent everywhere else. Citizens of this oil-rich nation sit in endless lines for two days to receive their rationed 7.5 liters of gasoline, because the American corporations that have taken control of the petroleum infrastructure are not pumping any oil. They are sitting on it, hoarding it, keeping it for themselves like some kind of noxious nest egg. Unemployment stands at 70%. And the rage there builds. Every day it builds, festering in the streets like the corpses left unburied after the echoes from bombs and bullets fade. The keepers of the cleansed consensus in the media tell us those who attack our troops are Ba'athist holdouts and foreign fighters who have come to Iraq for the pleasure of killing American soldiers, but this is only a small part of the story. Everyday Iraqi citizens who would never have dreamed of doing violence to anyone have taken up arms and now fight to rid their nation of its occupiers. Iraqi citizens who have seen their wives, husbands, children, parents, brothers, sisters and friends turned into red smears across what used to be the family dinner table now drink deep the bitter dregs of vengeance, because that is all they have left to them. There is in the Bible a verse to describe what has been done to Iraq by the Bush administration, what has been done to our soldiers and their citizens, what has been done to us all. "For they have sown the wind," reads Hosea 8:7, "and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal." There is no freedom to be found in Iraq. There is no democracy. For sure and certain, there are no weapons of mass destruction, nor was there ever a threat posed by that nation against ours. There is only the whirlwind, and if we do not put an end to the crime that was this invasion and is this occupation, that whirlwind will consume us in fire and blood and tears. It is enough. By all that we hold true and dear, it is more than enough. This must be ended. Rep. Woolsey's efforts to bring national attention to the need for an end to this occupation of Iraq made it to the floor of the House of Representatives on May 25th. Rep. Woolsey offered an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill which asked Bush to develop a plan for the withdrawal of American troops. Though the amendment was defeated, it garnered the support of a large majority of House Democrats. Perhaps more encouraging was the fact that five Republicans – Harold Coble (NC), Walter Jones (NC), John Duncan (TN), Jim Leach (IA) and Ron Paul (TX) – likewise voted in favor of the amendment. This happened with little advance warning and little time to get the grassroots mobilized, yet PDA joined with several groups and was able to successfully organize activists to urge Representatives to support the amendment. There is daylight here. Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son Casey to this invasion and occupation, who lost her son after Bush proclaimed "Mission Accomplished," believes in her heart that there is daylight here. "Members of Congress know that Iraq is a mistake," says Sheehan. "I know, because I have spoken to many members of the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans alike, who all acknowledge that Iraq is a catastrophe. It has been encouraging to me to see that conscientious Republicans have begun to split with their party line on such things as the Bolton nomination and the so-called 'nuclear option.' It is time that Republican members of Congress break with their party and their President on the issue of Iraq, and work with like-minded Democratic members of Congress to get our troops out of the quagmire as soon as safely possible." In the name of all that you hold dear and true, in the name of the soldiers who have fallen and the soldiers who still stand waiting to come home, in the name of the men, women and children of Iraq, both the living and the dead, in the name of a justice that has been all too absent of late, I urge you to join us in our campaign next week. Call, write, stomp and shout to demand this catastrophe be brought to an end. It can be done, and it must be done. In your hands lies a better future for us, for them, for the world entire. Ask your Representatives to support Rep. Lynn Woolsey's resolution to end the occupation. In the name of all that you hold dear and true, stand and be heard.... |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
"Why I'm joining the GOP"
Leaving the left for fun and profit
| - Jeff Gillenkirk - Sunday, May 29, 2005 After a lifetime voting for and working for Democratic candidates and independents, I'm finally going to make the switch and become a Republican. The reasons are many, not the least of which is age. I turned 55 recently and, having lived more than half my life, I can't afford to worry anymore about the other guy. It's time for me. As a Republican, I can now proudly -- indeed, defiantly -- pledge to never again vote for anyone who raises taxes for any reason. To hell with roads, bridges, schools, police and fire protection, Medicare, Social Security and regulation of the airwaves. President Bush has promised to give me more tax cuts even though our federal government owes trillions of dollars to its creditors. But that's someone else's problem, not mine. Republicans are about the here and now, and I'm here now. As a Republican, I can favor exploiting the environment for everything she's got. No need to worry about quaint notions like posterity and natural legacy. There are plenty of resources left for everyone, and if we don't use them, someone else will. I want a party that doesn't worry about things before we have to. Republicans refuse to get hog-tied by theories such as global warming, ozone depletion, fished-out oceans and disappearing wetlands. The real problems -- if there are any -- aren't forecast to take hold for at least 50 years. So what do I care? I'll be dead. As a Republican, I can swagger and clamor for war -- in Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, wherever -- even though I've never fought in one or even been in the military. I can claim that we're fighting for Democracy, ignoring reports of torture at Abu Ghraib, Bagram Air Base and Guantanamo Bay, and a spreading gulag of secret detention centers around the world. Freedom, as every American should know after spending $300 billion for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, isn't free. As a Republican, I can insist on strict moral values when it comes to sex and ignore the growing moral chasms in business, politics, sports, journalism and the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. A society that loses control of its sexual urges faces unwanted pregnancies, socially transmitted disease, broken families. Those overzealous about wealth, however, produce only a higher GDP, lifelong security for their family and more minimum wage jobs for the lower classes. What's wrong with that? As a Republican, I can favor strict punishment of criminals, except for those who happen to be my friends or neighbors. Isn't that the very definition of community -- looking out for friends and family? I will be pro-death penalty and anti-abortion, pro-child but anti-child care, for education but against funding of public schools. As a Republican, I'll have a better chance of getting to spout my opinions in the media, which for some reason seems convinced that since Bush was re-elected with the smallest electoral margin of any sitting president in history, liberals are passe. As a Republican, I'll say goodbye to "old Jesus" and hello to "new Jesus." Sure Christ started out as a liberal Jew, and look where that got him. Compassion, love and diatribes against the rich only encourage the weak and punish the most successful among us. The Jesus that Republicans worship is a muscular, decisive, pro-war crusader hard at work cleansing the world of evildoers, not, God forbid, turning the other cheek. My decision to become a Republican didn't come easily. For years I clung to the idea that the foundation of a democratic society was our implied social contract, each of us committing some level of personal sacrifice to the common good of all. I regarded taxes as dues we pay for better roads and schools, safe inspection of meat and dairy products, maintenance of parks and protection of wilderness areas. I see now that looking out for the common good resulted in shortchanging the most important element in this formula -- me. Let Democrats continue promising the "greatest good for the greatest number." Republicans clearly have my number -- No. 1. I'm sure a lot of my friends reading this will ask me, "How can you sleep?" My answer will be, "Who's got time? I'm busy earning money." While they're bellyaching about rising deficits, the outsourcing of jobs and casualties in Iraq, I'll be marveling at the march of freedom in the Middle East, upticks in the GDP and the president's plan to link Social Security to the magic of the marketplace. As a Republican, I simply won't listen to bad news anymore. Bad news doesn't get me or my family anywhere. If you don't have anything good to say about somebody, don't say anything at all -- unless it happens to be about a Democrat, of course. |
I know so many people who actually believe this.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
After Downing Street
| After Downing Street is a Coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, which launched on May 26, 2005, a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. The campaign focuses on evidence that recently emerged in a British memo containing minutes of a secret July 2002 meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top national security officials. The name is a reference to the Downing Street Memo, a British memo recently made public in the London Times, which contained the minutes of a secret July 2002 meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top national security officials. After Downing Street reports: In response to the release of the memo, “John Bonifaz, a Boston attorney specializing in constitutional litigation, sent a memo to Congressman John Conyers of Michigan, the Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, urging him to introduce a Resolution of Inquiry directing the House Judiciary Committee to launch a formal investigation into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to impeach President Bush. Bonifaz's memo, made available today at www.AfterDowningStreet.org, begins: ‘The recent release of the Downing Street Memo provides new and compelling evidence that the President of the United States has been actively engaged in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people about the basis for going to war against Iraq. If true, such conduct constitutes a High Crime under Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution.’" Congressman Conyers is now seeking 100,000 signatures to sign a letter on the Downing Street Inquiry. Information available at Raw Story and dKos. Sign the letter here. Write to your Congresspeople here. |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Owners of Gas-Guzzling Cars to be Hit by Five-Fold Tax Increase. Unfortunately, NOT in the United States.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 28, 2005
45 Iraqis, GI Killed in 2 Days of Attacks
Insurgents say killed Japanese hostage in Iraq
Every time President Bush tries to put Iraq into perspective, he makes things look worse.
Two U.S. soldiers killed in crash
Insurgents regrouped and refocused, analysts say
Many Iraqis See Sectarian Roots in New Killings
Insurgents Flourish in Iraq's Wild West
The failure of the United States to rethink its Iraq strategy means endless war in one of the world’s most volatile regions.
May on target to become one of deadliest months for U.S. troops
From The Roundup (emphasis added):
Huh? I'm Confused...
45 Iraqis, GI Killed in 2 Days of Attacks
Insurgents say killed Japanese hostage in Iraq
Every time President Bush tries to put Iraq into perspective, he makes things look worse.
Two U.S. soldiers killed in crash
Insurgents regrouped and refocused, analysts say
Many Iraqis See Sectarian Roots in New Killings
Insurgents Flourish in Iraq's Wild West
The failure of the United States to rethink its Iraq strategy means endless war in one of the world’s most volatile regions.
May on target to become one of deadliest months for U.S. troops
[Go to Top] [HOME]
| "Our United States military personnel go out of their way to make sure that the Holy Koran is treated with care." - - - Scott McClellan, Bush's |
| "The Koran is treated with care, but Iraqis, Afghanis, Muslims and Arabs can be beaten to death, have electric shock treatment administered to their genitals, have their faces smeared with fake menstrual blood, can be made to crawl while naked and chained wearing a dog’s collar and led on a leash by a wimpy female “soldier,” and can be forced into a river by Coalition heroes where non-swimmers are drowned. But this, by no means at all, should lead anyone to the erroneous conclusion that the great United States of America, and its “duty-honor-country” military, would ever condone any display of contempt or disdain for the venerable Holy Koran!" - - - Ted Lang |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Digging a hole for Groperzenegger
From The Roundup (emphasis added):
| The governor's stagecraft reached another peak yesterday, as he presided over the filling of a 10-by-15-foot pothole to illustrate his commitment to transportation programs. The twist is that a San Jose City Crew had dug the hole a few hours earlier. (For more information, see metaphor) The Chronicle reports: "[Nick] Porrovecchio and his business partner, Joe Greco, said that at about 7 a.m. they became fascinated watching "10 city workers standing around for a few hours putting on new vests," all in preparation for the big moment with Schwarzenegger. But their street, he noted, didn't even have a hole to pave over until Thursday morning." They couldn't find a real pot hole anywhere? Maybe this study could have helped. Anyway, back to the Chronicle story... "'They just dug it out,' Porrovecchio said, shrugging. 'There was a crack. But they dug out the whole road this morning.' 'It's a lot of money spent on a staged event,' said Matt Vujevich, 74, a retiree whose home faced the crew-made trench that straddled nearly the whole street. 'We still have the same problems. Everything's a press conference.'" |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 27, 2005
I Used to be a Neocon
Sorry, I just couldn't resist!
After 9/11 your government established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for the protection of our nation's resources and infrastructure. How terrific a job have they done in securing our internet? The Government Accountability Office this week released an analysis on the progress (excerpt, emphasis added):
Our precious tax dollars hard at work? More like hardly working. What a friggin mess. DHS has already spent $Billions and has zilch to show for it.
Xan at Corrente connects the dots to forcast a June-05 attack of Syria or Iran by our military, or by Israel with our support. Hey rednecks, neocons and fundagelicals: it's time to dust off those clip-on Americam flags for your pickups!
You won't hear this on Fox News:
I have two boys in their twenties. They realize the illegality of this Bush-War and would never consider the military as an option for themselves. But I do fear the eventual draft headed their way. Another son is a teenager and the longer this corporate profits-driven war persists, the more worried I become.
The Newest Graduation Hat (video, slow loading)
Hyperspace Explained
The Sith Explained
Traffic Control (game)
Retitled Romace Novels
Crying While Eating
Finally! A Toilet for the Car
Hundreds of short instructional videos of Home Improvement
Sample Sign Language or Learn Sign Language (ASL) Online
What is YOUR Star Wars Name?
Fireworks Factory Fire (video)
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Giant Penis Shuts Down Major Highway
Sorry, I just couldn't resist!
| Suspicious package was fake foot-long plastic penis By SARAH LUNDY - SLUNDY@NEWS-PRESS.COM The “suspicious package” that caused Interstate 75 and Daniels Parkway to be shut for more than an hour Monday was not an explosive pipe bomb — but rather wrapped-up plastic foot-long penis. “Someone took construction-grade plastic, molded it into a penis and wrapped it with duct tape,” said Lee County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Charles Ferrante. “They wrote ‘Happy Father’s Day’ on the duct tape.” The device was first described by the sheriff’s office as a prosthetic penis. Later, it cops described it as a paper sculpture made to look like a penis. "(The rumor that it was actually a prosthetic penis) just took a life of it's own," said Cpl. Larry King. Ferrante later spoke with a member of the bomb squad who described it in more detail. “Somebody molded it to look like a penis,” Ferrante said. “It was not detected until the suspicious package was removed.” A motorist called the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Monday shortly after 3 p.m. about a suspicious package on the side of the road under the northbound Interstate 75 overpass. The cylinder was more than a foot long in a plastic bag and wrapped with duct tape. It looked like pipe bomb and was in a position that could cause structural damage. Deputies arrived and alerted the bomb squad, which used a robot to disable the cylinder. The north- and southbound lanes of Intestate 75 were closed for about an hour between Alico Road and Colonial Boulevard. Traffic was blocked on Daniels Parkway at the overpass for an hour while the device was removed.... |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Bush Administration Leaving Internet Security High and Dry
After 9/11 your government established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for the protection of our nation's resources and infrastructure. How terrific a job have they done in securing our internet? The Government Accountability Office this week released an analysis on the progress (excerpt, emphasis added):
| As the focal point for critical infrastructure protection, DHS has many cybersecurity-related roles and responsibilities that are called for in law and policy. These responsibilities include developing plans, building partnerships, and improving information sharing, as well as implementing activities related to the five priorities in the national cyberspace strategy: (1) developing and enhancing national cyber analysis and warning, (2) reducing cyberspace threats and vulnerabilities, (3) promoting awareness of and training in security issues, (4) securing governments’ cyberspace, and (5) strengthening national security and international cyberspace security cooperation. To fulfill its cybersecurity role, in June 2003, DHS established the National Cyber Security Division to serve as a national focal point for addressing cybersecurity and coordinating the implementation of cybersecurity efforts. While DHS has initiated multiple efforts, it has not fully addressed any of the 13 key cybersecurity-related responsibilities that we identified in federal law and policy, and it has much work ahead in order to be able to fully address them. For example, DHS (1) has recently issued the Interim National Infrastructure Protection Plan, which includes cybersecurity elements; (2) operates the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team to address the need for a national analysis and warning capability; and (3) has established forums to foster information sharing among federal officials with information security responsibilities and among various law enforcement entities. However, DHS has not yet developed national threat and vulnerability assessments or developed and exercised government and government/industry contingency recovery plans for cybersecurity, including a plan for recovering key Internet functions. Further, DHS continues to have difficulties in developing partnerships—as called for in Page 3 GAO-05-434 DHS’s Role in CIP Cybersecurity federal policy—with other federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector. DHS faces a number of challenges that have impeded its ability to fulfill its cyber CIP responsibilities. Key challenges include achieving organizational stability; gaining organizational authority; overcoming hiring and contracting issues; increasing awareness about cybersecurity roles and capabilities; establishing effective partnerships with stakeholders (other federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector); achieving two-way information sharing with these stakeholders; and demonstrating the value DHS can provide. In its strategic plan for cybersecurity, DHS has identified steps that can begin to address these challenges. However, until it effectively confronts and resolves these underlying challenges, DHS will have difficulty achieving significant results in strengthening the cybersecurity of our nation’s critical infrastructures, and our nation will lack the strong cybersecurity focal point envisioned in federal law and policy. We are making recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security to strengthen the department’s ability to implement key cybersecurity responsibilities by completing critical activities and resolving underlying challenges. DHS provided written comments on a draft of this report (see app. III). In brief, DHS agreed that strengthening cybersecurity is central to protecting the nation’s critical infrastructures and that much remains to be done. In addition, DHS concurred with our recommendation to engage stakeholders in prioritizing its key cybersecurity responsibilities. However, DHS did not concur with our recommendations to identify and prioritize initiatives to address the challenges it faces, or to establish performance metrics and milestones for these initiatives. Specifically, DHS reported that its strategic plan for cybersecurity already provides a prioritized list, performance measures, and milestones to guide and track its activities. The department sought additional clarification of these recommendations. While we agree with DHS that its plan identifies activities (along with some performance measures and milestones) that will begin to address the challenges, this plan does not include specific initiatives that would ensure that the challenges are addressed in a prioritized and comprehensive manner. For example, the strategic plan for cybersecurity does not include initiatives to help stabilize and build authority for the organization. Further, the strategic plan does not identify the relative priority of its initiatives and does not consistently identify performance measures for completing its initiatives. |
Our precious tax dollars hard at work? More like hardly working. What a friggin mess. DHS has already spent $Billions and has zilch to show for it.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Xan at Corrente connects the dots to forcast a June-05 attack of Syria or Iran by our military, or by Israel with our support. Hey rednecks, neocons and fundagelicals: it's time to dust off those clip-on Americam flags for your pickups!
[Go to Top] [HOME]
A Father's Lament
You won't hear this on Fox News:
| Meanwhile, Back in Iraq: BigOkie Edition by BigOkie - Wed May 25th, 2005 at 17:34:36 PDT Many of you who know me and read my posts know that my son, a Marine in the First Battalion, Fifth Regiment, is in Iraq for the third time since this little party began. Thanks, Cheney and Chimpo, you will never know how this has affected our family. If you have been around here for a while you may recall me telling of how he was wounded in the initial "war"--you know the mission that was accomplished. We got "the call" today. Three weeks ago, he called me on my cell phone. He didn't want to risk talking to his mother. He told me about how they were considering letting all of the guys who were on their third trip go home in a couple of weeks. He then told me that he extended his enlistment to stay with his company until their deployment was finished in early October. Shit! He had an opportunity to leave and he chose to stay. He said he felt a responsibility to the new guys in his company and battalion. A responsibility to help keep them safe and alive. I do not understand it, but what can I do? Tonight, as we are sitting by the pool with our oldest daughter and the two grandchildren, the phone rings. The caller ID says: US Govt. It's a Marine sargeant. He tells us how our son has been wounded yet again--a part of Operation New Market. He says a roadside bomb exploded near the Humvee in which he is the gunner. He took shrapnel in his hands, arms, and face. He was "medi-vac-ed" out. He was "treated". He isn't "critical". He was sent back to his unit. Again. The sergeant told us that he knew our son from a previous deployment. That he was tough. That he is the best gunner in the United States Marine Corps. That they appreciated men like him. My wife is a basket case. I cannot fucking stand it anymore. These goddamned bastards are killing and maiming an entire generation of Americans and several generations of Iraqis. And they fill our airways with talk of valuing life and of "human dignity". Save the embryos, but fuck your children. I just poured my fifth bourbon in an effort to quit feeling this pain and anxiety. The only thing I truly regret is that Dear Leader will never have to experience the fear and anxiety of having his children fight in an unjust war for the benefit of corporate whores. No, that is for the "little people". |
I have two boys in their twenties. They realize the illegality of this Bush-War and would never consider the military as an option for themselves. But I do fear the eventual draft headed their way. Another son is a teenager and the longer this corporate profits-driven war persists, the more worried I become.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
FRIDAY FUN
The Newest Graduation Hat (video, slow loading)
Hyperspace Explained
The Sith Explained
Traffic Control (game)
Retitled Romace Novels
Crying While Eating
Finally! A Toilet for the Car
Hundreds of short instructional videos of Home Improvement
Sample Sign Language or Learn Sign Language (ASL) Online
What is YOUR Star Wars Name?
Fireworks Factory Fire (video)
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 26, 2005
| "The biggest political joke in America is that we have a liberal press. It's a joke taken seriously by a surprisingly large number of people... The myth of the liberal press has served as a political weapon for conservative and right-wing forces eager to discourage critical coverage of government and corporate power ... Americans now have the worst of both worlds: a press that, at best, parrots the pronouncements of the powerful and, at worst, encourages people to be stupid with pseudo-news that illuminates nothing but the bottom line." - - - Mark Hertzgaard |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Go HERE for video clips of some of the speeches in the Senate this week, regarding the confirmation of Bolton and Owens.
Do me a favor. Go HERE, look around at the faces, names and descriptions, and come back and tell me honestly that there is nothing more you can do to stop this.
Bird flu virus 'close to pandemic'
This from IRIN (emphasis added):
Withdraw the U.S. troops NOW.
I just saw the final 2-hour episode of "24" last night. Sheesh, why do these fictitious terrorists keep trying to destroy Los Angeles every season? I mean, we've got enough to worry about, with this now increasingly threatening fault line and all...
[Go to Top] [HOME]
[Go to Top] [HOME]
A side of Lincoln they don't teach our kids
| “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.” - - - Abraham Lincoln |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Gone Forever
Do me a favor. Go HERE, look around at the faces, names and descriptions, and come back and tell me honestly that there is nothing more you can do to stop this.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Warnings Going Unheeded
Bird flu virus 'close to pandemic'
[Go to Top] [HOME]
YET ANOTHER WAY WE ARE MURDERING IRAQI CIVILIANS
This from IRIN (emphasis added):
| BAGHDAD, 25 May (IRIN) - Heath professionals in Iraq have warned of an increase in smoking-related lung disease caused by the sale of low quality cigarettes in the country. According to local officials, inferior cigarettes have affected particularly the young, who are unable to pay for better brands that are less harmful to health. Some cheap brands from unknown sources have gone on sale in the capital and according to specialists, they can seriously damage health. Youssef Ahmed, 16, became very sick after smoking a new brand of cigarettes. Doctors say he has a serious lung disease caused by some kind of toxins found in the cigarettes. "My friends told me that the cigarettes were good and cheap," Ahmed told IRIN, after receiving treatment at a hospital in the capital, Baghdad. Although there are no official figures on the number of smokers in the country, cigarettes are in high demand and sold everywhere to all age groups. Some brands, which were prohibited during Saddam Hussein's regime, are being sold without undergoing any tests according to sources. Some types have never been heard of before, such as "DJ", which is sold for only US $0.15 cents per pack. Vendors in Baghdad markets stock the cigarettes but say they should have been tested. "People come to our shop offering cheap cigarettes and we stock them because they sell well and we are not responsible for carrying out the tests," Sinan Abdul-Klalak, a shop owner in Shorgia market, Baghdad told IRIN. Raad Razak, chief of investigations on new products at the Ministry of Health (MoH) told IRIN that these cigarettes, as well as other products, are not being checked. He said that for laboratory tests to be carried out at the centre, they need to receive an order from a government ministry but added that very few items had been sent for testing since 2003. "We don't have the authority to check any food or other products without an order from the government with the exception of Iraqi products and for this reason bad quality supplies are entering Iraq and no one has opened their eyes to the health problems they can cause," Razak added. The official inspected one of the inferior brand cigarettes given to him and after a few basic tests he said that the product was rotten inside and full of fungus. He said it had been covered in dried tobacco again to make it look like a new cigarette. A senior official from the Iraqi border, who preferred not to be named for security reasons, told IRIN that no products entering Iraq were being subjected to testing. The official said that during Hussein's regime, products entering the country were kept at the border until tests had been done and results certified that they were safe for human consumption. Today, all border laboratories are closed and are being used to house Iraqi troops, he explained. Dr Ahmed Deli, a spokesman for the Cancer Centre Studies (CSC)at the MoH, told IRIN that according to their reports, there has been an increase in smoking amongst young people in the country and a corresponding emergence of lung diseases. Deli added that since last year there had been a 20 percent increase in cancer cases, especially among young people and most were smokers of low quality cigarettes. "The new cigarettes which have been entering Iraq since last year contain a huge amount of tar and nicotine, which can cause higher levels of addiction. The government should take urgent action," he said. Tar acts as a toxin when it occurs in large amounts. It can cause mental problems and the development of both lung disease and cancer. Tar is believed to release internal radiation which affects the normal body enzymes and causes a decrease in blood cells. Inferior quality cigarettes in Iraq contain more than seven percent tar; whereas the internationally accepted standard is less than six percent. According to a survey released in September 2004 by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) there was a worrying increase in the number of youngsters smoking. Of respondents in the 12-14 age group, 31.7 percent said their peers were smokers and 55.9 percent in the 15-18 group were found to be regular smokers. Smoking was even more common in the 19-24 age group, where an estimated 67.4 percent smoke cigarettes and or cigars. |
Withdraw the U.S. troops NOW.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Nuke or Shake?
I just saw the final 2-hour episode of "24" last night. Sheesh, why do these fictitious terrorists keep trying to destroy Los Angeles every season? I mean, we've got enough to worry about, with this now increasingly threatening fault line and all...
[Go to Top] [HOME]
The only two good things about the Star Wars movies, according to Mark Morford:
And the prequels?
Well, I still had fun last weekend seeing Episode III (catch it in digital format if you can).
| Let's just say it outright: Harrison Ford carried the first three movies, period. Carrie Fisher was amusing enough, the droids were cute and infinitely annoying, James Earl Jones' Vader voice work was nearly a character unto itself. But no one topped Ford at delivering a cynical line or expressing incredulity or offering up that famous "Who, me?" look that would later come to such wondrous fruition with Indiana Jones. "Star Wars" without Ford's dry humor and bewildered mug is like a cheesy pinball machine without the ball: all bells and whistles, few genuine pleasures.... ...Two words: Jim Henson. Next to Ford, Henson's astonishing Creature Shop gave the first movies brilliantly wacky life, silly and tangible and honest. The last three flicks are just painful reminders of how much he, and his entire Muppet universe, are missed in this world, and how much computers have drained many movies of their soul. |
And the prequels?
| Raise your hand if you love the concept of prequels. Ten years of crappy CGI and 10 years of lumpy stiff acting and 28 years of waiting and you watch "Sith" where only the last 30 minutes really finds any sort of cinematic footing, and after all that screaming and all the cheeseball animation and all the slaughtered Jedis and the stilted, lifeless dialogue and heavy Vader wheezing and Yoda's irritating speech impediment, where do we finally end up at the end of Episode III? That's right: 1977. And who the hell wants to be back there? |
Well, I still had fun last weekend seeing Episode III (catch it in digital format if you can).
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 25, 2005
"Arnold, Arnold stop the scam - don't be a corporate girlie man."
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Hey Californians! Please go HERE and sign the petition to close our youth prisons and open rehab centers for our misguided kids.
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
(Thanks for the lead, Alon.)
[Go to Top] [HOME]
"Ex-FBI agent Rowley again mulls Congress run"
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
| Greg Gordon, Star Tribune Washington Bureau - Correspondent - May 24, 2005 WASHINGTON, D.C.--Former Minneapolis FBI agent Coleen Rowley, who gained fame by publicly assailing the bureau's pre-Sept. 11 counter-terrorism lapses, said Monday that she is pondering a run for the U.S. House. Rowley, of Apple Valley, said she is "seriously, seriously considering" running as a Democrat in Minnesota's eastern suburban Second District, a seat held by second-term Republican Rep. John Kline. She said she hopes to make a decision in two to three weeks. Rowley flirted for months with challenging Kline in the 2004 race, but decided against a candidacy that would have forced her to retire early from the FBI. She retired on Dec. 31, 2004, ending a 24-year career after turning 50 and qualifying for a full pension. Rowley said she and her husband, Ross, have discussed a possible House race since February, and consulted with numerous people. Some Democrats have encouraged her to run, she said. Earlier this year, Rowley made a pitch for a seat on a new federal Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, to be created as part of an overhaul of U.S. intelligence agencies. She said she doubts the White House will select her. As someone with no interest in keeping up with fashion trends and who favors substance over image, she said, she has snickered over suggestions that she may need a makeover to be a successful politician. Rowley took the spotlight in 2002 -- and was named a Time Magazine "Person of the Year" -- when she charged publicly that bureau headquarters bungled the pre-Sept. 11 investigation of Al-Qaida captive Zacarias Moussaoui after his Twin Cities arrest. Angelyn Shapiro, a spokeswoman for Kline, brushed off questions about a Rowley candidacy, saying that the election is 500 days away and that Kline is immersed in congressional business. |
(Thanks for the lead, Alon.)
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Mark Fiore has an animated cartoon about the right-wing takeover of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
| “What no one seemed to notice. . . was the ever widening gap. . .between the government and the people. . . And it became always wider. . . the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting, it provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway . . . (it) gave us some dreadful, fundamental things to think about . . .and kept us so busy with continuous changes and ‘crises’ and so fascinated . . . by the machinations of the ‘national enemies,’ without and within, that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us. . . Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, ‘regretted,’ that unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these ‘little measures’. . . must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. . . .Each act. . . is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow. You don’t want to act, or even talk, alone. . . you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble.’ . . . But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves, when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. . . . You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, things your father. . . could never have imagined.” - - - From Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free, The Germans, 1938-45 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1955) |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 24, 2005
Amen to that.
Howard Zinn had some words of encouragement at a recent Commencement address at Spelman College (snippets):
American Progress Action Fund summarizes the diffusion of the Nuclear Option:
Democrats everywhere are "rejoicing" at the apparent defeat of the Neocon steamroller in this one issue.
Let's put things into perspective. The Neocons have rolled effortlessly over Congress since 9/11. They have successfully obtained legislation and funding for practically everything they've wanted, which is unprecedented in American political history. Why? Only ONE REASON: the failure of the Democrats to mount any substantial resistance. Enough Democrats in Congress have voted with the Republicans to allow the Neocons to roll us back into the dark ages of corruption in and total corporate control of government.
This latest "compromise" of the filibuster is just that. This unique method of giving minority parties some control of legislation has been weakened because the Democrats were too fucking cowardly to stand up to the obviously fractured GOP. They had a chance to finally start turning the tide of total GOP control and they blew it. Now several right-wing extremists are going to get important court appointments that will forever alter the citizens' rights and further empower corporate control of our nation. Democrats everywhere should be ashamed of their senators and realize that, once again, things are now worse today than they were yesterday, compromise or not.
Secondhand smoke - even a wisp - found dangerous
They'll just do it again
| "After all the bluster and shadow boxing was over, President Bush got his way. Under the terms of a "compromise," three of Bush's worst nominees will be voted on and they will likely be confirmed. And what did the Democrats get in return? They got to keep the right to filibuster, provided they promise not to use it! "That's right. The Democrats got nothing. And what will happen when even more disgusting candidates are brought up as nominees for the Supreme Court? The Republicans will simply roll out the threat of the "nuclear option" once again, since nothing in the so-called "compromise" prohibits them from doing that. "Once again this demonstrates the need for a mass popular movement of resistance. Without the kind of mass upsurge that we witnessed in the 1960s, there is nothing that will prevent the current threatening dynamic from continuing. This is why we called on people to go to Washington, and make their presence felt in the streets. The world can't wait any longer. We need to be about the business of driving the Bush regime from power." - - - C. Clark Kissinger |
Amen to that.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Zinn Speaks
Howard Zinn had some words of encouragement at a recent Commencement address at Spelman College (snippets):
| My first hope is that you will not be too discouraged by the way the world looks at this moment. It is easy to be discouraged, because our nation is at war -- still another war, war after war -- and our government seems determined to expand its empire even if it costs the lives of tens of thousands of human beings. There is poverty in this country, and homelessness, and people without health care, and crowded classrooms, but our government, which has trillions of dollars to spend, is spending its wealth on war. There are a billion people in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East who need clean water and medicine to deal with malaria and tuberculosis and AIDS, but our government, which has thousands of nuclear weapons, is experimenting with even more deadly nuclear weapons. Yes, it is easy to be discouraged by all that. ------ The lesson of that history is that you must not despair, that if you are right, and you persist, things will change. The government may try to deceive the people, and the newspapers and television may do the same, but the truth has a way of coming out. The truth has a power greater than a hundred lies. I know you have practical things to do -- to get jobs and get married and have children. You may become prosperous and be considered a success in the way our society defines success, by wealth and standing and prestige. But that is not enough for a good life. ------ My hope is that whatever you do to make a good life for yourself -- whether you become a teacher, or social worker, or business person, or lawyer, or poet, or scientist -- you will devote part of your life to making this a better world for your children, for all children. My hope is that your generation will demand an end to war, that your generation will do something that has not yet been done in history and wipe out the national boundaries that separate us from other human beings on this earth. ------ Is not nationalism -- that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary, so fierce it leads to murder -- one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred? These ways of thinking, cultivated, nurtured, indoctrinated from childhood on, have been useful to those in power, deadly for those out of power. Here in the United States, we are brought up to believe that our nation is different from others, an exception in the world, uniquely moral; that we expand into other lands in order to bring civilization, liberty, democracy. But if you know some history you know that's not true. If you know some history, you know we massacred Indians on this continent, invaded Mexico, sent armies into Cuba, and the Philippines. We killed huge numbers of people, and we did not bring them democracy or liberty. We did not go into Vietnam to bring democracy; we did not invade Panama to stop the drug trade; we did not invade Afghanistan and Iraq to stop terrorism. Our aims were the aims of all the other empires of world history -- more profit for corporations, more power for politicians. ------ My hope is that your generation will demand that your children be brought up in a world without war. If we want a world in which the people of all countries are brothers and sisters, if the children all over the world are considered as our children, then war -- in which children are always the greatest casualties -- cannot be accepted as a way of solving problems. ----- My hope is that you will not be content just to be successful in the way that our society measures success; that you will not obey the rules, when the rules are unjust; that you will act out the courage that I know is in you. There are wonderful people, black and white, who are models. I don't mean African- Americans like Condoleezza Rice, or Colin Powell, or Clarence Thomas, who have become servants of the rich and powerful. I mean W.E.B. DuBois and Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and Marian Wright Edelman, and James Baldwin and Josephine Baker and good white folk, too, who defied the Establishment to work for peace and justice. ------ ....you can help to break down barriers, of race certainly, but also of nationalism; that you do what you can -- you don't have to do something heroic, just something, to join with millions of others who will just do something, because all of those somethings, at certain points in history, come together, and make the world better. |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Nuclear Option Morphs Into Yet Another Swift Kick Of The Democrats
American Progress Action Fund summarizes the diffusion of the Nuclear Option:
| Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and right-wing conservatives suffered a major defeat last night when a bipartisan group of 14 senators struck a deal to defuse the nuclear option. In reaching this deal, these senators rejected Frist’s core argument that the judicial filibuster is unconstitutional. The compromise recognizes the right of senators to filibuster judicial nominees in extraordinary circumstances and two Bush nominees – William G. Myers III of Idaho and Henry Saad of Michigan – will probably be withdrawn or subject to filibuster. Conservatives declared this compromise a defeat, and while this agreement has its downsides – the probable confirmations of Judges Pryor, Owens and Rogers Brown – it is a victory for those who want to preserve the filibuster and traditions of the Senate. |
Democrats everywhere are "rejoicing" at the apparent defeat of the Neocon steamroller in this one issue.
Let's put things into perspective. The Neocons have rolled effortlessly over Congress since 9/11. They have successfully obtained legislation and funding for practically everything they've wanted, which is unprecedented in American political history. Why? Only ONE REASON: the failure of the Democrats to mount any substantial resistance. Enough Democrats in Congress have voted with the Republicans to allow the Neocons to roll us back into the dark ages of corruption in and total corporate control of government.
This latest "compromise" of the filibuster is just that. This unique method of giving minority parties some control of legislation has been weakened because the Democrats were too fucking cowardly to stand up to the obviously fractured GOP. They had a chance to finally start turning the tide of total GOP control and they blew it. Now several right-wing extremists are going to get important court appointments that will forever alter the citizens' rights and further empower corporate control of our nation. Democrats everywhere should be ashamed of their senators and realize that, once again, things are now worse today than they were yesterday, compromise or not.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Secondhand smoke - even a wisp - found dangerous
| BY DELTHIA RICKS - STAFF WRITER - May 24, 2005 Secondhand smoke may be more dangerous than previously thought, amplifying blood clotting and damaging the walls of blood vessels within minutes of exposure, researchers reported yesterday. Scientists in California found that exposure to small doses of smoke, equivalent to the amount encountered when several people gather to puff in smokers' zones, delivers enough punch to change blood chemistry. "We asked a lot of questions: What does secondhand smoke do to platelet function or to arterial walls?" said Dr. Stanley Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who has produced one of the largest studies to date on the effects of secondhand smoke exposure. He also asked questions about cholesterol chemistry and heart rhythms. "We found that exposure to secondhand smoke is about 80 percent as bad as being a smoker," he said. The study examined 29 previous medical investigations on secondhand smoke. One long-held notion, he said, is that researchers have believed bystanders needed to inhale large doses of smoke for extended periods of time, the equivalent of being "in a smoky bar for a very long time." But the new study shows much larger cardiovascular effects with much less exposure. "In five minutes of exposure your aorta gets stiffer and in 20 minutes the smoke affects your platelets," Glantz said of the sticky cells that cause blood to clot. "Smoke has the opposite effect of aspirin and Plavix and other anti-platelet medications. It causes more clotting." He added that about 20 minutes of exposure spurs changes in cholesterol chemistry. And in two hours of exposure changes occur in the heart's rate. Dr. Joaquin Barnoya, co-author of the new analysis, said, "Even a little secondhand smoke is dangerous. The effects on blood, blood vessels and heart rhythm occur quickly, often within minutes." Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc. |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 23, 2005
Knowledge News (subscr. only) has a nice simple explanation for novices of what a filibuster is. I reprinted it here:
Found this great quickie on DailyKos, taken from a press conference today:
Draw you own conclusions (if you can stop the embarrassed laughter long enough)...
What constitutes a filibuster?
Knowledge News (subscr. only) has a nice simple explanation for novices of what a filibuster is. I reprinted it here:
| On Monday, the U.S. Senate braced for a filibuster fight. Unless Republicans and Democrats can reach a last-minute deal, the Senate will likely decide tomorrow whether Democrats, who are in the minority, can continue to filibuster a handful of the president's nominees for federal judgeships. Both sides say a crucial precedent is at stake. Republicans say the president's judicial nominees deserve an up-or-down vote from the Senate. (By filibustering, the Democrats can prevent such a vote from taking place.) Democrats say the Republicans' effort to stop their filibuster strikes at the heart of America's system of checks and balances. We say it's time to learn more about filibusters. The Ultimate Filibuster Imagine you're a United States senator. (For political junkies, this may not be the first time.) You're absolutely desperate to stop a proposed piece of legislation. But when you tally the vote pledges, you realize that you don't have enough allies to defeat the bill. You have only one option: stall, and then stall some more. That's the idea behind the filibuster, an age-old tactic that allows senators to use parliamentary procedure to wear down their opponents. We usually think of a filibuster as a long speech by a single senator, but the term actually covers all kinds of delaying tactics, such as offering pointless amendments and then requiring a roll-call vote. (That usually kills half an hour.) Filibusters occur for one simple reason: there's no rule preventing them. Unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate's rules do not limit how long a senator may speak about the issue up for discussion, nor do they limit how many senators may speak on any one issue. Once a senator has been recognized by the presiding officer and "has the floor," that lawmaker can talk until the cows come home. Usually, senators in the minority party filibuster together. That way, they can take turns speaking. But even one senator can hold his colleagues hostage for a long while. When Strom Thurmond had something to say about a civil rights bill in 1957, he said it for 24 hours and 18 minutes. From the Beginning The Constitution doesn't mention filibusters, but parliamentary delaying tactics have plenty of precedent, having been used since the first session of Congress. In fact, the idea goes back 2,000 years--to the Roman senate, where senators like Cato tried to manipulate the system with lengthy speeches. By the 1860s, delaying a bill with speeches or other tactics had been tagged with the "filibuster" label. The word originally meant something like "looter" or "pirate," so it's pretty clear that critics wanted to imply that obstructionist senators were stealing their victories by clogging up the Senate's schedule. In 1893, delaying tactics caused one piece of legislation to occupy the chamber for more than eight weeks. During that filibuster, the Senate generally recessed for the evening, but one of the ways the majority party can try to break the filibuster is to require a continuous sitting of the Senate. That means that the speeches have to go on round-the-clock, like Jimmy Stewart's famous address to the Senate in the 1939 movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The speeches nowadays tend to be about the legislation at hand, but for most of the Senate's history nothing required the lawmaker who had the floor to even pretend to discuss the relevant legislation. In 1935, Huey Long famously spent some of his 15-and-a-half-hour filibuster describing how to cook some of his favorite foods. The next year, a West Virginia lawmaker read aloud from Aesop's fables. They Need Cloture Only since 1917 has there been a way to cut off the senator who has the floor. A rule adopted that year allows the Senate to invoke "cloture" (a variant of the more common "closure"). But even that is time-consuming and complicated. First, 16 senators have to get together and present a motion to end the debate. Then, 60 senators have to come to the floor to cast "aye" votes. Even if the motion passes, it doesn't immediately end the debate--it simply puts a limit of 30 hours on how much longer the Senate can spend on the issue. And there's a special rule that says that the whole Senate cannot vote on a cloture motion until two days after it's first proposed. So it's easy to see how the Senate could lose a week of work during a filibuster, even after invoking cloture. In the current case, a cloture vote is set to occur on Tuesday. But that's not the end of the story. If that vote fails, many expect Republican leaders to make what's called a "point of order" to limit debate on judicial nominees. Essentially, the Republican majority could then use the Senate's procedural rules to end the filibuster. Democrats have promised to respond, if that happens, by exploiting more procedural rules to tie the entire Senate in knots. In a sense, that would amount to the ultimate filibuster. Colleen Kelly May 23, 2005 |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Our Sharp President
Found this great quickie on DailyKos, taken from a press conference today:
| Q: [...]And if I may ask you, Mr. President, as you know, the casualties of Iraq is again high today -- 50 more people dying. Do you think that insurgence is getting harder now to defeat militarily? Thank you. PRESIDENT BUSH: No, I don't think so. I think they're being defeated. And that's why they continue to fight. [Kos's comment: So if the insurgents stopped fighting, would that mean we were losing? What the hell kind of answer is this? What the hell kind of logic is this supposed to be?] |
Draw you own conclusions (if you can stop the embarrassed laughter long enough)...
[Go to Top] [HOME]
If you like your news fair and balanced, then THIS looks promising.
Buy Your Gas at Citgo: Join the BUY-cott!
I made the switch (I used to buy Chevron gas). HERE is a Citgo gas station locator; just type in your zip code. Here in Los Angeles they are often associated with 7-Eleven markets.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
CITGO
Buy Your Gas at Citgo: Join the BUY-cott!
| Published on Monday, May 16, 2005 by CommonDreams.org - by Jeff Cohen Looking for an easy way to protest Bush foreign policy week after week? And an easy way to help alleviate global poverty? Buy your gasoline at Citgo stations. And tell your friends. Of the top oil producing countries in the world, only one is a democracy with a president who was elected on a platform of using his nation's oil revenue to benefit the poor. The country is Venezuela. The President is Hugo Chavez. Call him "the Anti-Bush." Citgo is a U.S. refining and marketing firm that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company. Money you pay to Citgo goes primarily to Venezuela -- not Saudi Arabia or the Middle East. There are 14,000 Citgo gas stations in the US. (Click here http://www.citgo.com/CITGOLocator/StoreLocator.jsp to find one near you.) By buying your gasoline at Citgo, you are contributing to the billions of dollars that Venezuela's democratic government is using to provide health care, literacy and education, and subsidized food for the majority of Venezuelans. Instead of using government to help the rich and the corporate, as Bush does, Chavez is using the resources and oil revenue of his government to help the poor in Venezuela. A country with so much oil wealth shouldn't have 60 percent of its people living in poverty, earning less than $2 per day. With a mass movement behind him, Chavez is confronting poverty in Venezuela. That's why large majorities have consistently backed him in democratic elections. And why the Bush administration supported an attempted military coup in 2002 that sought to overthrow Chavez. So this is the opposite of a boycott. Call it a BUYcott. Spread the word. Of course, if you can take mass transit or bike or walk to your job, you should do so. And we should all work for political changes that move our country toward a cleaner environment based on renewable energy. The BUYcott is for those of us who don't have a practical alternative to filling up our cars. So get your gas at Citgo. And help fuel a democratic revolution in Venezuela. Jeff Cohen is an author and media critic (www.jeffcohen.org) |
I made the switch (I used to buy Chevron gas). HERE is a Citgo gas station locator; just type in your zip code. Here in Los Angeles they are often associated with 7-Eleven markets.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 20, 2005
Grocery "STORE WARS" (video; broadband req.)
Dress Up Your Pet as a Star Wars Character
Deere John (a John deere fantasy) (video)
Mitchell Rose Movies (I strongly recommend "Case Studies from the Groat Center for Sleep Disorders)
Cliche Hell- Star Wars
4 More Years of Darth Vader (video)
Geek Fantasies
The Boring Page
Quantum Physics for Dummies
Something to do with all those pennies
Review of Star Wars Twisted Cheetos
Sugar Bush Squirrel
FRIDAY FUN
Grocery "STORE WARS" (video; broadband req.)
Dress Up Your Pet as a Star Wars Character
Deere John (a John deere fantasy) (video)
Mitchell Rose Movies (I strongly recommend "Case Studies from the Groat Center for Sleep Disorders)
Cliche Hell- Star Wars
4 More Years of Darth Vader (video)
Geek Fantasies
The Boring Page
Quantum Physics for Dummies
Something to do with all those pennies
Review of Star Wars Twisted Cheetos
Sugar Bush Squirrel
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 19, 2005
New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg just now used the emperor character from Star Wars in an analogy of the irreparable harm to our government if the nuclear option is invoked. Like the Republican senators care? I know, I know... the democrats are trying to appeal to the constituents of the Republican senators who theoretically would then "pressure" their senator to vote sensibly. Again, like the Republican senators care? Unless, by some miracle, six Republican senators actually listen to their consciences and vote morally, this is indeed going to go down as one of the darkest days in the history of our government.
Iraq. Election Fraud. Torture. Global Warming. The Media. Social Security. Medicare. Education. Health Care. Pollution Laws. And now the Senate Filibuster Rules. Is there anything left for the Bush-war regime to wrap their Iraqi-civilian/American-soldier blood-soaked fingers around and slowly destroy?
Joshua Marshall puts it accurately and succinctly:
New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg just now used the emperor character from Star Wars in an analogy of the irreparable harm to our government if the nuclear option is invoked. Like the Republican senators care? I know, I know... the democrats are trying to appeal to the constituents of the Republican senators who theoretically would then "pressure" their senator to vote sensibly. Again, like the Republican senators care? Unless, by some miracle, six Republican senators actually listen to their consciences and vote morally, this is indeed going to go down as one of the darkest days in the history of our government.
Iraq. Election Fraud. Torture. Global Warming. The Media. Social Security. Medicare. Education. Health Care. Pollution Laws. And now the Senate Filibuster Rules. Is there anything left for the Bush-war regime to wrap their Iraqi-civilian/American-soldier blood-soaked fingers around and slowly destroy?
| "What happened was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to be governed by surprise, to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security ... To live in the process is absolutely not to notice it -- please try to believe me -- unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, regretted. Believe me this is true. Each act, each occasion is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow. Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven't done (for that was all that was required of most of us: that we did nothing) ... You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair. " - - - German professor after World War II describing the rise of Nazism to a journalist |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
It's about the power, the whole power, and nothing but the power
Joshua Marshall puts it accurately and succinctly:
| As we wait on the sidelines for the seemingly inevitable chain reaction to take place on the senate floor, it is worth observing and considering the fact that every Republican senator certainly knows that the proposition they're about to attest to is quite simply a lie. Perhaps they have so twisted their reasoning as to imagine it is a noble lie. But it's a lie nonetheless. What do I mean? Whether you call it the 'nuclear option', the 'constitutional option' or whatever other phrase the GOP word-wizards come up with, what "it" actually is is this: the Republican caucus, along with the President of the Senate, Dick Cheney, will find that filibustering judicial nominations is in fact in violation of the constitution. (Just to be crystal clear, what the senate is about to do is not changing their rules. They are about to find that their existing rules are unconstitutional, thus getting around the established procedures by which senate rules can be changed.) Their reasoning will be that the federal constitution requires that the president makes such nominations "by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate" and that that means an up or down vote by the full senate. Nobody believes that. Not Dick Cheney, not any member of the Republican Senate caucus. For that to be true stands not only the simple logic of the constitution, but two hundred years of our constitutional history, on its head. You don't even need to go into the fact that other judicial nominations have been filibustered, or that many others have been prevented from coming to a vote by invocation of various other senate rules, both formal and informal, or that almost countless numbers of presidential nominees of all kinds have simply never made it out of committee. Indeed, the whole senate committee system probably cannot withstand this novel and outlandish interpretation of the constitution, since one of its main functions is to review presidential appointees before passing them on to the full senate. Quite simply, the senate is empowered by the constitution to enact its own rules. You can think the filibuster is a terrible idea. And you may think that it should be abolished, as indeed it can be through the rules of the senate. And there are decent arguments to made on that count. But to assert that it is unconstitutional because each judge does not get an up or down vote by the entire senate you have to hold that the United States senate has been in more or less constant violation of the constitution for more than two centuries. For all the chaos and storm caused by this debate, and all that is likely to follow it, don't forget that the all of this will be done by fifty Republican senators quite knowingly invoking a demonstrably false claim of constitutionality to achieve something they couldn't manage by following the rules. This is about power; and, to them, the rules quite simply mean nothing. -- Josh Marshall |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Senate Filibuster-busting debate live right now on CSPAN-2.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
The Top 10 filibuster falsehoods
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 18, 2005
Greg Palast's perspective strikes again (snippet):
I received this (form) letter from Senator Barbara Boxer today:
It's comforting to know that she has the mindset to get our troops out of that hellhole.
From PFAW:
In honor of tonight's opening of Episode III, I give to you Forbes Magazine's breakdown of Star Wars' dollars (snippet):
Newsweek is Winner of Award
Greg Palast's perspective strikes again (snippet):
| Cowardice in Journalism Award for Newsweek; Goebbels Award for Condi by Greg Palast - Wednesday, May 18, 2005 "It's appalling that this story got out there," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on her way back from Iraq. What's not appalling to Condi is that the US is holding prisoners at Guantanamo under conditions termed "torture" by the Red Cross. What's not appalling to Condi is that prisoners of the Afghan war are held in violation of international law after that conflict has supposedly ended. What is not appalling to Condi is that prisoner witnesses have reported several instances of the Koran's desecration. What is appalling to her is that these things were reported. So to Condi goes to the Joseph Goebbels Ministry of Propaganda Iron Cross. But I don't want to leave out our President. His aides report that George Bush is "angry" about the report -- not the desecration of the Koran, but the reporting of it. And so long as George is angry and Condi appalled, Newsweek knows what to do: swiftly grab its corporate ankles and ask the White House for mercy. But there was no mercy. Donald Rumsfeld pointed the finger at Newsweek and said, "People lost their lives. People are dead." Maybe Rumsfeld was upset that Newsweek was taking away his job. After all, it's hard to beat Rummy when it comes to making people dead. And just for the record: Newsweek, unlike Rumsfeld, did not kill anyone -- nor did its report cause killings. Afghans protested when they heard the Koran desecration story (as Christians have protested crucifix desecrations). The Muslim demonstrators were gunned down by the Afghan military police -- who operate under Rumsfeld's command.... |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Boxer Says Withdraw
I received this (form) letter from Senator Barbara Boxer today:
| May 18, 2005 Mr. Mike XXXXX Anycity, California Dear Mr. XXXXX: Thank you for contacting me about the war in Iraq. I appreciate hearing from you. I recently traveled to Iraq and would like to share my thoughts with you regarding my experiences. Meeting with our nation’s brave service men and women was truly inspiring. I admire and appreciate their courage, skill, and devotion to duty. In order to best support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, I voted for the 2005 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill to get them the equipment and support they need. However, my trip to Iraq confirmed my view that the United States must set a timetable to withdraw our forces. I agree with retired Marine Corps General Gregory Newbold, one of the prime planners of the war in Iraq, who proposes that we set a goal for withdrawal. I believe our long-term presence in Iraq is becoming counterproductive. Many Iraqis have come to view us as permanent occupiers, intensifying the cycle of hatred and anger that is attracting terrorists to the area and making our troops a primary target. In addition, the Iraqi people must take over their own security. Please know that for as long as our troops remain in harm’s way, I will continue to push for an international effort to reduce the hardship on our troops while increasing the pace of training Iraqi Security Forces. Once again, thank you for your letter and for caring deeply about this critical matter. Sincerely, Barbara Boxer United States Senator |
It's comforting to know that she has the mindset to get our troops out of that hellhole.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
From PFAW:
| Getting the Word Out On The 'Nuclear Option' We told you Sen. Frist would begin his nuclear countdown this week, and as you read this he is using one extreme judicial nominee, with more to follow, to launch the rule-breaking plan.You may have also heard in media reports that some senators have been discussing ways to avoid a nuclear showdown. Our position remains simple: the filibuster must be protected to prevent our courts from being packed with right wing judges who would turn back the clock on decades of social justice progress. The filibuster is a critical part of our system of checks and balances, a tool for the minority to prevent out-of-the-mainstream judges from taking lifetime positions on the federal bench. The nominee being debated - Priscilla Owen - has a record of pushing a right-wing agenda hostile to individual rights and Senate Democrats are right to filibuster her nomination. Furthermore, People For the American Way Foundation continues to provide research that describes how the "Nuclear Option" could break at least six senate rules and precedents, concluding that the senate Republican leaders plan to break the Rules in an attempt to change them for momentary partisan advantage." Since Sen. Frist is steering the Senate into dangerous and uncharted territory, the timing is unclear. Debate on the Nuclear Option may continue into next week please watch for upcoming alerts as the vote may occur quickly. Meanwhile, the senate must hear from us! |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Star Bucks
In honor of tonight's opening of Episode III, I give to you Forbes Magazine's breakdown of Star Wars' dollars (snippet):
| ....While Lucas himself has done very well--he's personally worth $3 billion, according to our ranking of the world's richest people--the amount of money generated by the Star Wars franchise over the course of its lifetime is sufficient to eclipse the annual gross domestic product of Paraguay--nearly $20 billion.... |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
| "What makes our nation immune from the normal standards of human decency? Surely, we must renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed. We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation. We need to refute the idea that our nation is different from, morally superior to, the other imperial powers of world history." - - - Howard Zinn |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 17, 2005
If you haven't yet seen this video, a snippet of a British MP George Galloway reply to oil-for-food allegations by U.S. Congress, you are missing something special. (Four minutes long.)
Regarding this Newsweek retraction:
I give you this analysis:
***UPDATE: James Goodwell has numerous recent references of desecration of the Koran against detainees by the U.S. military. (Thanks, Tim)
Dear LEFT is RIGHT Reader:
Republicans want to go “nuclear” and turn the Senate into a rubber stamp for President Bush. They want to silence Senate Democrats - the one remaining check on President Bush’s power. If they can do away with debate in the Senate, they can get whatever they want – right-wing Supreme Court Justices, Social Security privatization and tax breaks for the wealthy that will plunge us deeper in debt.
But Senate Democrats are going to fight them every step of the way. And this fight will be different than any other fight in the history of the Senate – because it will include all of us. Senate Democrats need our help, and that is why they are using your names and comments as part of our debate on the floor of the United State Senate. Imagine all of us standing together in the Senate Chamber during this debate.
Stand with Senate Democrats today. I did and you should too:
http://democrats.senate.gov/filibuster-form.cfm
Holy shit (emphasis added):
All those who are surprised by this comment from the Bush Administration, raise your hands.
Same descriptions, different country. So how does it feel now?
"I told the world, contrary to your claims..."
If you haven't yet seen this video, a snippet of a British MP George Galloway reply to oil-for-food allegations by U.S. Congress, you are missing something special. (Four minutes long.)
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Newsweek Does NOT Deny That Koran Desecration Occurred
Regarding this Newsweek retraction:
| Editor's Note: On Monday afternoon, May 16, Whitaker issued the following statement: Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Qur'an abuse at Guantanamo Bay. © 2005 Newsweek, Inc. |
I give you this analysis:
| "....What exactly has the magazine retracted? Most reporters, particularly on television, are reporting that Newsweek has retracted the allegation that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay. But that's wrong: The magazine has said only that it no longer stands by its claim that allegations of Koran desecration appear in a forthcoming report from U.S. Southern Command. That's a very different point. There have been numerous other reports -- mostly from detainees -- suggesting that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo did abuse the Koran. We don't know exactly what happened, but we do know that there's a significant difference between what Newsweek said -- that its source can no longer be sure that the allegations appear in an upcoming military report -- and what the press is reporting the magazine said -- that no desecration of the Koran ever took place...." |
***UPDATE: James Goodwell has numerous recent references of desecration of the Koran against detainees by the U.S. military. (Thanks, Tim)
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Urgent Request
Dear LEFT is RIGHT Reader:
Republicans want to go “nuclear” and turn the Senate into a rubber stamp for President Bush. They want to silence Senate Democrats - the one remaining check on President Bush’s power. If they can do away with debate in the Senate, they can get whatever they want – right-wing Supreme Court Justices, Social Security privatization and tax breaks for the wealthy that will plunge us deeper in debt.
But Senate Democrats are going to fight them every step of the way. And this fight will be different than any other fight in the history of the Senate – because it will include all of us. Senate Democrats need our help, and that is why they are using your names and comments as part of our debate on the floor of the United State Senate. Imagine all of us standing together in the Senate Chamber during this debate.
Stand with Senate Democrats today. I did and you should too:
http://democrats.senate.gov/filibuster-form.cfm
[Go to Top] [HOME]
That Damn Holocaust Thing...
Holy shit (emphasis added):
| ...."You have to make a distinction between the science and the technological applications," says Francis Fukuyama, a member of the President's Council on Bioethics and director of the Human Biotechnology Governance Project. "It's probably true that in terms of the basic science, it's pretty hard to stop that. It's not one guy in a laboratory somewhere. But not everything that is scientifically possible will actually be technologically implemented and used on a large scale. In the case of human cloning, there's an abstract possibility that people will want to do that, but the number of people who are going to want to take the risk is going to be awfully small." Taboos will play an important role, Fukuyama says. "We could really speed up the whole process of drug improvement if we did not have all the rules on human experimentation. If companies were allowed to use clinical trials in Third World countries, paying a lot of poor people to take risks that you wouldn't take in a developed country, we could speed up technology quickly. But because of the Holocaust -- " Fukuyama thinks the school of hard knocks will slow down a lot of attempts. "People may in the abstract say that they're willing to take that risk. But the moment you have a deformed baby born as a result of someone trying to do some genetic modification, I think there will be a really big backlash against it.".... |
All those who are surprised by this comment from the Bush Administration, raise your hands.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Los Angeles Attacks Escalate
| By GARTH GRUNFELD, Associate Press Writer LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Coalition troops of the China-Mexico-Canada-South American Invasion Forces of "Operation Retaliation", backed by attack helicopters and jet bombers, clashed with militants in an East Los Angeles neighborhood Tuesday. In Pasadena, gunmen killed a Protestant pastor, and two missing Baptist ministers from Santa Monica were found shot dead, occupational police said. Elsewhere in Los Angeles County residents cowered in the shelters and elsewhere while the buildings collapsed overhead and burst into flames, with dead bodies hurtled about and, when it was over for the day or the night, emerged in the rubble to find some of their dear ones mangled, their homes gone, their hospitals, churches, schools demolished. The killings of the religious leaders threatened to increase sectarian tensions in California a day after the occupation government vowed to crack down on anyone targeting Protestants and Catholics. The defense minister said coalition troops no longer would be allowed to enter houses of worship or universities. "I am hearing that coalition-supervised American National Guards are raiding churches and temples," Interim Defense Minister Donald Rumass said Monday. "We have issued orders to all units that say it is strictly prohibited to all members of the defense ministry to raid churches, temples and even mosques." Those orders follow a call by Interim Secretary of State Condomn Riceroy for greater inclusion of Jews in America's political process. Militants belonging to the disaffected Jewish minority are believed to be driving the insurgency, and respect for temples is a sensitive issue. On Tuesday, troops and militants clashed in the northern city of Sacramento, and heavy exchanges of machine-gun fire were heard, according to an Associate Press reporter at the scene. Coalition forces were seen advancing into the eastern neighborhood of Riverside, a known insurgent stronghold in California's eleventh-largest city, which is 25 miles east of Los Angeles. The city has suffered well-organized attacks by insurgents and dozens of deadly car bombs in past months. "Forces were attacked and called in helicopters to support them in the battle with insurgents," Coalition military spokesman Sgt. John K. Ramirez said. He did not release any more details. Amid the violence, China's foreign minister arrived in San Diego for talks with top officials Tuesday, marking the highest-level visit by an official from China to its Pacific neighbor since the invasion of Washington, D.C. |
Same descriptions, different country. So how does it feel now?
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 16, 2005
Copied from TWN:
This is the crux of the situation. The Neocons in the White House are trying to coerce the moderate Republican Senators into altering the constitutional and historical workings of your federal government, destroying the inherent balance of powers that have kept this republic more or less working for the past 200+ years. If the Republicans are successful, we are all screwed, big time. Before the Democrats ever have a chance of retaking Congress, The Republicans will have had years to alter the government's structure and function in ways that will detrimentally affect all of us for the rest of our lives.
Going Nuclear on the Filibuster: What You Need To Know
Copied from TWN:
| Financial Times, 16 May 2005 A threat to impartiality in the American Senate Bruce Ackerman During the coming week, the US Senate will be struggling with a question that will affect the path of American constitutional law for decades. While senators are battling over Democratic efforts to filibuster George W. Bush's nominees to the courts of appeal, this conflict will set the stage for a larger struggle in June, when William Rehnquist is expected to announce his retirement as chief justice of the Supreme Court. Mr Rehnquist's retirement will be the first of a series. Eight of the court's nine justices are over 65. Depending on the new appointments, the court may continue down its present course or launch revolutionary changes in constitutional principle. Under existing rules, it takes 60 senators to terminate debate, enabling Democrats to filibuster judicial nominations that pander too obviously to the religious right. But rightwing activists are pressing the 55 Senate Republicans to allow a simple majority to confirm the president's judicial nominations. Their prime target is Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader. As a leading candidate for the presidency, Mr Frist is especially eager to pacify his religious constituency. But the Senate rules do not make this easy. A special provision requires "two-thirds of the senators present and voting" to end debate on rule changes and Mr Frist will fall far short of the 67 senators this requires. His predicament is exacerbated by another provision stipulating that no rule may be changed except as "provided in these rules". Faced with this unambiguous command, the Republican leadership has manufactured a constitutional objection to the rules themselves. The constitution says each house "may determine the rules of its proceedings", and for two centuries the Senate has exercised this power in a distinctive fashion. As only one-third of its members enter with every election, the Senate has viewed itself as a continuing body. Unless there is a challenge at its opening session, the Senate continues to operate under its established rules. Mr Frist is urging his fellow Republicans to repudiate this understanding. He claims that the Senate has the constitutional right to be like the House of Representatives, which approves its rules each session by simple majority vote. Conservatives do not often insist on repudiating a practice dating from the founding fathers. In any event, Mr Frist's analogy to the House does not get him where he wants to go. Once the House organises itself at its opening session, it must follow its own rules if it wants to change them later. In contrast, Mr Frist claims that a Senate majority may simply repudiate the rules at any time. This raises the question, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Reference Service, of wheth-er the Senate will become "a chaotic environment in which a temporary majority could change precedents any time it wanted to". The constitution gives the Senate the power to "determine its rules", but nothing gives it the authority to ignore them. Nevertheless, the Republican leadership wants change before the Rehnquist vacancy opens. Mr Frist plans this week to make a pending judicial nomination into a test case. He is counting on vice-president Dick Cheney, as president of the Senate, to declare the key Senate rules unconstitutional, and to end debate on the basis of a simple majority vote. Unsurprisingly, he is having trouble rounding up 51 votes to support this manoeuvre, leading Mr Cheney to offer further assistance. As Senate president he has the power to break tie votes and has said he would cast the deciding ballot to destroy the rules. There is more at stake than sheer lawlessness. The filibuster permits the Senate to play a moderating role within the constitutional system of checks and balances. Except when there is a decisive landslide, it requires the majority party to moderate its initiatives to gain the support of at least a few minority Senators. Mr Cheney's role in destroying the moderating role of the Senate is particularly problematic. For two centuries, the Senate president has been the pre-eminent guardian of the rules. Thomas Jefferson first put them in writing when he served as vice-president. His aim was to prevent political manipulation by the presiding officer, and Senate presidents have consistently served as impartial arbiters. In breaking with this tradition, Mr Cheney has a clear conflict of interests. As president of the Senate, he owes the institution fidelity to its rules, but as vice-president to Mr Bush, he wants to see his boss's judicial nominations confirmed. By allowing his executive interest to trump his duty to the Senate, Mr Cheney is undercutting the separation of powers. Constitutional tragedy turns to farce in the light of Mr Cheney's professed aim: to appoint judges who will return to the original understanding of the constitution and the rule of law. The writer is Sterling professor of law and political science at Yale University. |
This is the crux of the situation. The Neocons in the White House are trying to coerce the moderate Republican Senators into altering the constitutional and historical workings of your federal government, destroying the inherent balance of powers that have kept this republic more or less working for the past 200+ years. If the Republicans are successful, we are all screwed, big time. Before the Democrats ever have a chance of retaking Congress, The Republicans will have had years to alter the government's structure and function in ways that will detrimentally affect all of us for the rest of our lives.
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Lapel Flags
| “I wore my flag tonight, first time. Until now I haven’t thought it necessary to display a little metallic icon of patriotism for everyone to see. It was enough to vote, pay my taxes, perform my civic duties, speak my mind and do my best to raise our kids to be good Americans. Sometimes I would offer a small prayer of gratitude that I had been born in a country whose institutions sustain me, whose armed forces protected me and whose ideals inspired me. I offered my heart’s affection in return. It no more occurred to me to flaunt the flag on my chest than it did to pin my mother’s picture on my lapel to prove her son’s love. Mother knew where I stood. So does my country. I even tuck a valentine in my tax returns on April 15th. So what’s this doing here? I put it on to take it back. The flag’s been hijacked and turned into a logo, the trademark – the trademark of a monopoly on patriotism. On most Sunday morning talk shows, official chests appear adorned with the flag as if it’s the Good Housekeeping seal of approval. During the State of the Union, did you notice Bush and Cheney wearing the flag? How come? No administration’s patriotism is ever in doubt, only its policies. And the flag bestows no immunity from error. When I see flags sprouting on official labels, I think of the time in China when I saw Mao’s Little Red Book of orthodoxy on every official’s desk, omnipresent and unread. ”But more galling than anything are all those moralistic ideologues in Washington sporting the flag in their lapel while writing books and running web sites and publishing magazines attacking dissenters as un-American. They are people whose ardor for war grows disproportionately to their distance from the fighting. They’re in the same league as those swarms of corporate lobbyists wearing flags and prowling Capitol Hill for tax breaks, even as they call for spending more on war. ”So I put this on as a modest repose to men with flags in their lapels who shoot missiles from the safety of Washington think tanks. or argue that sacrifice is good as long as they don’t have to make it, or approve of bribing governments to join the ‘Coalition of the Willing.’ I put it on to remind myself that not every patriot thinks we should do to the people of Baghdad what bin Laden did to us. The flag belongs to the country, not to the government, and it reminds me that it’s not un-American to think that war, except in self defense, is a failure of moral imagination, political nerve and diplomacy. Come to think of it, standing up to your government can mean standing up for your country.” - - - Bill Moyers |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
| "A free press is one where it’s okay to state the conclusion you’re led to by the evidence." - - - Bill Moyers |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
So Maybe Syria Is Next
| Khaleej Times Online >> News >> MIDDLE EAST Syria officials worried over US troops on border (Agencies) - 15 May 2005 LONDON — Syrian sources have expressed their grave concern about the massing of US troops on their country’s border with Iraq under the pretext of targeting Iraqi insurgents in the border town of Al Qaem. The sources said the huge US attack in which the latter used various types of air and artillery powers on insurgents could be a prelude to the massing of a larger number of US troops on the border to bring pressure on Damascus and perhaps to prepare for the implementation of any attack on Syria in the future. |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
| "I explained that their tactics were alienating the civil population and could lengthen the insurgency by a decade. Unfortunately, when we explained our rules of engagement which are based around the principle of minimum force, the US troops just laughed." - - - A British officer, when explaining that some of the tactics employed by American forces [in Iraq] would not be approved by British commanders |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
| "COWARDICE, n. A charge often levelled by all-American types against those who stand up for their beliefs by refusing to fight in wars they find unconscionable, and who willingly go to prison or into exile in order to avoid violating their own consciences. These 'cowards' are to be contrasted with red-blooded, 'patriotic' youths who literally bend over, grab their ankles, submit to the government, fight in wars they do not understand (or disapprove of), and blindly obey orders to maim and to kill simply because they are ordered to do so—all to the howling approval of the all-American mob. This type of behavior is commonly termed 'courageous.'" - - -Chaz Bufe |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Calling All Los Angeles Democrats:
| Vote Villaraigosa for Mayor of Los Angeles Tuesday, May 17th - Polls Open - 7 AM - 8 PM Polling Location Info: www.lavote.net - Click on Where Do I Vote You Can Walk in Your Absentee Ballot On Tuesday at Your Polling Place. If you have questions about your registration status or if you lost your absentee ballot, go to your precinct and cast a provisional ballot. It is your right. Call your friends to remind them to vote for Antonio on Tuesday, May 17th, Election Day. Arrive with Five. Pundits Predict a Close Race! Make the Difference! |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 15, 2005
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Googlebombing the evidence
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Downing Street Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
Rycroft Memo
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 14, 2005
A young John Bolton.
Who is John Bolton?
A young John Bolton.
| Dear Sir: I'm writing to urge you to consider blocking in committee the nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the UN. In the late summer of 1994, I worked as the subcontracted leader of a US AID project in Kyrgyzstan officially awarded to a HUB primary contractor. My own employer was Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly, and I reported directly to Republican leader Charlie Black. After months of incompetence, poor contract performance, inadequate in-country funding, and a general lack of interest or support in our work from the prime contractor, I was forced to make US AID officials aware of the prime contractor's poor performance. I flew from Kyrgyzstan to Moscow to meet with other Black Manafort employees who were leading or subcontracted to other US AID projects. While there, I met with US AID officials and expressed my concerns about the project -- chief among them, the prime contractor's inability to keep enough cash in country to allow us to pay bills, which directly resulted in armed threats by Kyrgyz contractors to me and my staff. Within hours of sending a letter to US AID officials outlining my concerns, I met John Bolton, whom the prime contractor hired as legal counsel to represent them to US AID. And, so, within hours of dispatching that letter, my hell began. Mr. Bolton proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel -- throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door and, generally, behaving like a madman. For nearly two weeks, while I awaited fresh direction from my company and from US AID, John Bolton hounded me in such an appalling way that I eventually retreated to my hotel room and stayed there. Mr. Bolton, of course, then routinely visited me there to pound on the door and shout threats. When US AID asked me to return to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in advance of assuming leadership of a project in Kazakstan, I returned to my project to find that John Bolton had proceeded me by two days. Why? To meet with every other AID team leader as well as US foreign-service officials in Bishkek, claiming that I was under investigation for misuse of funds and likely was facing jail time. As US AID can confirm, nothing was further from the truth. He indicated to key employees of or contractors to State that, based on his discussions with investigatory officials, I was headed for federal prison and, if they refused to cooperate with either him or the prime contractor's replacement team leader, they, too, would find themselves the subjects of federal investigation. As a further aside, he made unconscionable comments about my weight, my wardrobe and, with a couple of team leaders, my sexuality, hinting that I was a lesbian (for the record, I'm not). When I resurfaced in Kyrgyzstan, I learned that he had done such a convincing job of smearing me that it took me weeks -- with the direct intervention of US AID officials -- to limit the damage. In fact, it was only US AID's appoinment of me as a project leader in Almaty, Kazakstan that largely put paid to the rumors Mr. Bolton maliciously circulated. As a maligned whistleblower, I've learned firsthand the lengths Mr. Bolton will go to accomplish any goal he sets for himself. Truth flew out the window. Decency flew out the window. In his bid to smear me and promote the interests of his client, he went straight for the low road and stayed there. John Bolton put me through hell -- and he did everything he could to intimidate, malign and threaten not just me, but anybody unwilling to go along with his version of events. His behavior back in 1994 wasn't just unforgivable, it was pathological. I cannot believe that this is a man being seriously considered for any diplomatic position, let alone such a critical posting to the UN. Others you may call before your committee will be able to speak better to his stated dislike for and objection to stated UN goals. I write you to speak about the very character of the man. It took me years to get over Mr. Bolton's actions in that Moscow hotel in 1994, his intensely personal attacks and his shocking attempts to malign my character. I urge you from the bottom of my heart to use your ability to block Mr. Bolton's nomination in committee. Respectfully yours, Melody Townsel Dallas, TX 75208 |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
| ....When America goes to war because her elected leaders have no choice but to send troops in harm’s way to defend the country against “an imminent threat” to national security, the families of those who make the ultimate sacrifice for home, family, and country feel no need to publicly declare the goodness, decency, nobility, and patriotism of their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, and cousins, because the honor of their cause and the qualities that endear them to us and ensure our survival are never in doubt. "But when America goes to war because dishonest and corrupt leaders want to tighten and maintain their hold on power, provide a boost for a sagging economy, and make it possible for their inordinately wealthy friends to reap windfall profits at the expense of the troops and their families, cruelly divisive and demoralizing dynamics obtain. Mass round-ups and detentions of innocent civilians, torture and abuse of prisoners and detainees, America’s honor and prestige at the lowest point ever, and investigations that whitewash the president’s men and blame it all on the enlisted personnel. "Thus the obscene spectacle of the grieving families at funerals forced by the president’s dishonesty to defend the honor of their dead even as they mourn: 'He was noble and always carried himself with honor.' '[He was] a loving husband and father, a devoted son and brother.' 'He wanted to go where good people needed help.' 'He will be dearly missed.' "Small wonder that the president, desperately attempting to hide behind a façade of rigid religiosity that glorifies war and false patriotism that exalts the very evils it claims to despise, never attends the funerals of those who have died in the line of duty. How could he?...." - - - Michael Gillespie |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
May 13, 2005
This from the ARA:
What North Korean kids think of Bush-war:
This is a relief to Wendy's I'm sure, but not a relief to the millions who eat Wendy's food before realizing they've purchased crappy food from a corporation that ranks near the bottom of Buy Blue's list of companies in political contributions: 94% to Republicans, 6% to Democrats.
Borrowing from the Future
This from the ARA:
| Budget “Borrows” Another $150 Billion of Social Security Surplus Tucked away in the fine print of the budget resolution recently passed by Congress, Social Security’s $150 billion annual surplus was transferred, yet again, to the government’s operating expenses. Social Security’s Trust Fund has accumulated a $1.7 trillion surplus thanks to legislation passed in 1983 that built reserves to anticipate retiring baby boomers. Since taking office in 2001, the Bush administration has borrowed almost $700 billion from the Trust Fund while enacting massive tax cuts that have cost the government more than $800 billion. In fact, the cost of tax cuts for the top 1% of Americans would cover Social Security’s future shortfall. This year’s budget resolution includes, at President Bush’s request, an additional $106 billion in tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans. “When President Bush promotes his plans to replace Social Security’s guaranteed benefits with risky private accounts, he repeatedly insists the Trust Fund does not exist and is ‘just IOUs,” said Ruben Burks, secretary-treasurer of the Alliance for Retired Americans. “Yet when it comes to tax cuts, billions of those ‘IOUs’ flow straight to the wealthiest Americans.” |
[Go to Top] [HOME]
[Go to Top] [HOME]
Wendy's Gives the Finger to Democrats
| SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) 5.13.05, 12:40p -- Police on Friday said the finger a woman claimed she found in a bowl of Wendy's chili came from an acquaintance of her husband who lost it in an industrial accident in December. "The jig is up," Police Chief Rob Davis said during a news conference. "The puzzle pieces are beginning to fall into place, and the truth is being exposed." Davis said the tip was called in to a hotline established by the Ohio-based fast food chain, and police found the man -- very much alive -- in Nevada this week. He said scientific tests confirmed the finger was his. "This subject was in fact the source of the fingertip allegedly found in the chili," Davis said. He said the man, who was not identified, was an acquaintance of Jaime Plascencia, the husband of the Las Vegas woman who made the claim, Anna Ayala. He also said detectives had determined the man had given the finger fragment to Plascencia. Ayala told police she discovered the finger March 22 in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's franchise in San Jose. Police arrested Ayala and accused of her making up the story to get money from Wendy's. Wendy's has offered a $100,000 reward and has said it has lost millions in sales since Ayala made the claim. Dozens of employees at the company's Northern California franchises also have been laid off. "There are victims in this case that have suffered greatly," Davis said. |
This is a relief to Wendy's I'm sure, but not a relief to the millions who eat Wendy's food before realizing they've purchased crappy food from a corporation that ranks near the bottom of Buy Blue's list of companies in political contributions: 94% to Republicans, 6% to Democrats.