Subservient Chicken

Just couldn't wait until FRIDAY FUN to show you this. It's hilarious! SUBSERVIENT CHICKEN. Type in a command and the live "chicken" actually does it! I've asked it to skip, bow, stretch and do jumping jacks. See what you can get it to do.

Saddam's Replacement

Moktada al-Sadr, as Steve Gilliard points out, is rapidly becoming a hero and a power base:

....What the US doesn't realize is that their Vichy government is roundly detested by Iraqis of all stripes. They may hate and fear the thugish theocracy Sadr would impose, but they revile the IGC and its handpicked exile collaborators. Cowards is the kindest words for them. The US seems not to realize that the only loyalty Iraqis have to them is money. Which is why the insurgent-riddled police and Civil Guard have turned their backs on their American paymasters. There is no political figure working with the US who inspires any kind of loyalty. Why shouldn't they throw their lot in with the rebellion? They still have to live there and the Americans have been all too cavalier with their lives. Not enough weapons, protection, facilities. Sadr, for all his flaws, inspires loyalty. They know he's suffered with them and paid a tremedous personal price because of Saddam. And he hasn't backed down to the Americans. As much as you can dislike his beliefs, and question his judgment, his character inspires people. It's not that Sistani and Hakim were wrong in trying to get an election out of the Americans. But too many people have been killed, robbed and abused by Americans for that to stand. Sadr lost his entire family to Saddam. He's the last man standing and that carries a great deal of weight with people The Americans treated him like a pest until it was much too late. He was no pest, but the representative of the poor and disenfranchised. And because he helped them, they will help him. Americans neither respect nor understand Iraqis and refuse to admit this. Anyone who knew the Iraqi character knew we would reach this day. The Iraqis were destined to chafe under US rule, even indirectly. Saddam had to kill 300,000 people to control Iraq. The Americans cannot do that. Iraqi nationalism is what held the country together and kept the Shia quiet for decades. The Army was held together by nationalism, not Saddam. It is that Army which has popped up from time to time, most recently in Ramadi. When they checked the dead, it was filled with middle aged men, people who had fought against the Iranians and Americans. If middle age men are fighting the Americans, people with families and kids to support, our troubles in Iraq will soon be over. Because we will no longer be there.

So, basically, if the present course of events continue then Sadr will end up as Saddam's replacement, in so many ways, and all the death and destruction we have thus wrought upon this nation will be for naught.

HERE is some background info on Moktada al-Sadr.

If you ever have an MRI, be sure to read this first. It could save you from injury.

Standoff 101A .... Course prerequisite: experience in arrogance and stupidity.

"I call upon the American people to stand beside their brethren, the Iraqi people, who are suffering an injustice by your rulers and the occupying army, to help them in the transfer of power to honest Iraqis. Otherwise, Iraq will be another Vietnam for America and the occupiers." ---- Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr

"There are thugs and terrorists in Iraq who are trying to shake our will. And the president is firmly committed to showing resolve and strength ... They cannot shake our will." ---- chief White House spokesman, Scott McClellan

From Baghdad Burning:

This is crazy. This is supposed to be punishment for violence but it's only going to result in more bloodshed on both sides… people are outraged everywhere- Sunnis and Shi'a alike. This constant bombing is only going to make things worse for everyone. Why do Americans think that people in Baghdad or the south or north aren’t going care what happens in Falloojeh or Ramadi or Nassriyah or Najaf? Would Americans in New York disregard bombing and killing in California?

Here is a map, courtesy DEBKA, that shows the current hot points in Iraq.

Little Green Footnoballs

If you need a gentle slap to the face to remind you why we do what we do here in the blogiverse, just go to THIS SITE.

Say, Bush and Cheney are throwing a Party! Mark your calendars.

Irony in Art

This image work of art was created by Joe at AMERICAN LEFTIST. It is composed of photos of American G.I.'s killed in Iraq.

Infriggin'credible, Joe. If ever there was one image that most completely summarizes this profoundly monstrous period in our history, you're looking at it.

If you squint real hard to block out the details (a.k.a. facts) you can see exactly how the Republican Right sees everything (i.e. ol' luvable Dubya). If you look closely, you see what the rest of us see, the end result of a horrifyingly misdirected foreign policy (dead, innocent young Americans).

UPDATE: You can get this image in three sizes: small, medium and large, courtesy Dan Shannon.

DLC: You're worthless.

Received a message from the Democratic Leadership Council today. The DLC is apparently the Right wing of the Democratic Party, which they proved last year by undermining the candidacy of Howard Dean. Excerpt (emphasis on incorrectness mine):

This will require a change of military tactics. U.S. troops have kept their distance from Fallujah as well as Sadr city. Unfortunately, our enemies seem to have misinterpreted our military restraint as a sign of weakness. Now, with the crackdown on Sadr's militia and with U.S. Marines and Special Forces clamping down Fallujah and hunting for the perpetrators of the previous week's atrocities, we're sending the right message. Responding to the upsurge in violence in Iraq, President Bush this week was adamant about sticking to the June 30 deadline. "We will not be shaken by thugs and terrorists," he said. That's the right sentiment. But the administration's decision to reduce U.S. troop levels in Iraq during this election year may have signaled lack of resolve. What America needs today is not an exit strategy, but a more effective counterinsurgency strategy. Such a strategy entails speeding the pace of reconstruction in Iraq, redoubling efforts to bring in the United Nations and thereby take the U.S. face off the occupation, and a long-term commitment to using our military power to prevent Iraq from collapsing into civil war and chaos....

Now, doesn't that sound like it was written by Bush's cohorts? Damn DLC, can't live with them, can't live without them. Kinda like a plumber who showers once a week and wears his pants halfway down his ass.

Today's Intellectual Quote

"This is a person and followers who are trying to say we don't want democracy, as a matter of fact, we'll decide the course of democracy by the use of force, and that is the opposite of democracy," ----Bush on Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

It's comments like this, from Bush, Rumsfeld et al. that prevent critique because you can't rationally criticize something that makes no sense. And I'm sticking to that theory.

Time to Go Home, Guys

The only things Iraq and Vietnam have in common are the massive numbers of senseless deaths, the utter disregard and disrespect by the U.S. for another nation's sovereignty, the totally justified rebellious response of the victims of the lawless invasion, and the incredible stupidity and arrogance of the Executive Branch of our Republic. I hope the Iraqis can somehow convince the occupying invasion force to leave their country now. It's going to get worse whether or not we stay there, so lets show a modicum of respect and get out of a place where we obviously don't belong.

(P.S. Oh, and one more common thing: young adults who were hoodwinked into fighting, at risk of death and for paltry wages, for the freedom of American corporations to control that which they do not deserve.)

Mouthing Off

Good News for Mouth Breathers Who are Allergic to Mouth Breathers

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Bystanders who want to help a heart attack victim are increasingly being told by 911 dispatchers to skip the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and concentrate on giving chest compressions until medical help arrives. Driven by medical surveys and continued public resistance to giving mouth-to-mouth, emergency medical groups across the country have either changed or are considering changing the traditional instructions given over the phone to untrained individuals helping a heart attack victim. "If someone is going to do nothing because they are apprehensive about doing mouth-to-mouth, it is simple to tell them to find the middle of the chest and start pressing," said Dr. David Wald, a physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. "That is better than nothing." The reasoning is simple: A heart attack victim's chance of survival drops about 10 percent for every minute he or she does not get some type of help. Giving an untrained person instructions on performing mouth-to-mouth wastes some of those precious minutes, but it is relatively easy to tell someone how to properly do chest compressions. ....

But couldn't I at least try mouth to mouth if it's Cindy Crawford or Denise Richards?

Can't Vouch for Vouchers

Steve Gilliard hits it on the head when describing the failings of school vouchers:

"The voucher school is reflective of America's wider contempt for expertise. Americans have a native belief that any guy, with common sense, can do any job. Which is why we have barely educated parents home schooling their kids, using right-wing Christian books (often the only ones available). You just had a mother, who home schooled her kids, sent to the loonie bin after she brained two of them. The fact that dealing with small kids all day takes four years of education and extra training eludes most people. It's now understood that the earlier the kids are exposed to education, the more they learn and can retain. They don't need to be stuck at home becoming little anti-social freaks. School is only partly about education. It's also about socialization. You can be a genius, but if you can't hack school, life is gonna be that much harder. Voucher schools were created by conservatives to destroy public education. Instead of increasing the flexibility of schools and allowing teachers to teach and principals to have real control of their school, this was a way to siphon money off and usher in a system of private schools where rich, white kids going to private schools would eventually get government money, and the rump public schools would have to take the loser kids, the cripples, the idiots and violent abused kids. Now, the only kids affected by these scam voucher schools, and they showed one in Brooklyn in a storefront, are poor, black and desperate. Yet, they're literally thrown to the wolves without any educational support. Schools of education exist for a reason. And even if some teachers and some schools suck, ripping them apart and handing out the money to any hustler who talks a good game is an especially cruel hoax. Where did the idea that voucher schools needed to be exempt from the same rules that public schools come from? The right, blathering about market forces. Yet, they wouldn't let their precious prep schools be run without accountability. That's only suitable for poor kids."

KOS To Be Named Captain of First All-Star Blogger Team

Terrific analysis, by Matt Stoller, of the potential consequences brought on by the evolving smear campaign, spearheaded by the Right, of Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, a.k.a. Daily KOS. The filthy, shameless, immoral tactics of the Neocon Religious Right have spilled out of the written and broadcast media and onto the formerly free and virginal blogiverse. The blogwars have begun, and the Right has the better resources (money, practice, support from their 'christian god') to be more successful at it. Snippet:

I'm going to describe a character assasination attempt, the first one of import, in the blogosphere. This is a complicated story. It involves exploiting a heavily reactionary media environment to strike at speech for political purposes. It reveals a bipartisan problem, because blogs carry some characteristics that make them uniquely vulnerable to exploitation. And it's something that's going to happen, again and again, to both Republicans and Democrats, because of the surfeit of information and mainstreaming of online politics. The short story is that Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of the Daily Kos said a terrible comment about contractors in Iraq, which he retracted but did not apologize for. The right complained, then attacked, the Daily Kos's advertisers pulled their ads from the site, John Kerry delinked him, several 'reasonable' liberal bloggers piled on him, and the controversy has shown up so far in the Wall Street Journal and on the South Dakotan GOP's web site. It probably won't end there. But this is something that was going to happen, and it will happen again, because the web creates memory, and all of a sudden, leaves open to exploitation a huge amount of political speech that was never before traceable.

We totally agree with the comments that KOS made regarding the mercenaries in Iraq, so if you jackass right-wing jerks want to come after Left is Right, here we are. As your W-leader said so succinctly and so idiot-like (and we repeat here so that you can adequately comprehend), "Bring 'Em On".

Stuck in Iraq

Well, the sane portion of our population started saying, over a year ago, that this would happen if we invaded Iraq and tried to institute our laws and politics.

US helicopters fire on Sadr supporters in Baghdad - April 5, 2004 - 11:44PM US Apache helicopters sprayed fire on the private army of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr during fierce battles today in the western Baghdad district of Al-Showla, witnesses and an AFP correspondent said. "Two Apaches opened fire on armed members of the Mehdi Army," said Showla resident Abbas Amid. The fighting erupted when five trucks of US soldiers and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) tried to enter the district and were attacked by Sadr supporters, Amid said. Coming under fire, the ICDC, a paramilitary force trained by the Americans, turned on the US soldiers and started to shoot at them, according to Amid. The soldiers fled their vehicles and headed for cover and then began to battle both the Mehdi Army and the ICDC members, he said. Their vehicles were set ablaze. Heavy gunfire rattled the district and columns of black smoke billowed into the sky. Burning tyres and tree trunks were used to barricade the neighbourhood, where young men toting clubs and carrying light weapons patrolled the streets. But 16 US Humvees all-terrain vehicles, backed by two tanks, rolled into Showla, the AFP correspondent said. Tension was also running high in the Shi'ite-controlled Sadr City slum in northern Baghdad, a day after pitched battles between Sadr partisans and the US military left 22 Iraqis dead and 85 others wounded, and killed seven US troops....

Phase II of Operation Iraqi "Freedom" has officially begun. There is no turning back, there is no way out. We are conclusively stuck in Iraq, murdering countless Iraqi citizens and sacrificing our own teenagers and young adults in order to protect the business interests of the Republican Party, and to also now exact revenge for the killing of highly-paid, intimidating and portentious private militia hired by those same business interests.

When are the parents of our hapless American reservists going to come to their senses and say enough is enough? I thank the ruler of the universe (if there is one) that my family is living on the opposite side of the planet, away the immediate target of the innocent Iraqi population,which is becoming more enraged and revenge-filled with each murder by an American on their soil.

Please, Mr. Bush, I will forgive you for the horrific acts that you've executed against all of us decent Americans over the past 3+ years if you stop this madness. I beg you to pack up the humvees and get the American soldiers out of Iraq now. Today. I'm sure the parents of our G.I.'s would thank you profusely.

Quote for This Week

KOS today:

"Despite the sacrifice in lives (both coalition and Iraqi) we're still losing control of Iraq at an alarming rate. And for what? For Chalabi? For war profiteers? And if we fail, who benefits? The Bathists? Taliban-like Islamic fundamentalists? We're screwed whether we "win" or we lose. And that's the final testament to Bush's Folly. By the time we're supposed to "hand over" Iraq sovereignty on June 30, we may no longer have anything to deliver."

White House: Yes. No. Yes.

Too Funny! If you haven't already seen it, here is the Letterman Show clip with the bored kid at the Bush speech.

NZ Done Playing Soldiers

New Zealand to Pull Troops out of Iraq

By Patrick Goodenough - CNSNews.com Pacific Rim Bureau Chief April 02, 2004 Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - New Zealand's Labor government said Friday it would withdraw the country's small contingent of 60 military engineers from Iraq in September. Prime Minister Helen Clark made the announcement as she met with the visiting leader of the Labor Party in neighboring Australia, Mark Latham, who is at the center of political storm over his position on withdrawing Australian troops from Iraq. Clark said that after pulling out its troops -- which are working with British forces in southeastern Iraq -- New Zealand may investigate other ways of helping Iraq to return to full sovereignty. "With the commitments we have made to the international effort against terrorism and the reconstruction of Iraq, we have tended to take ... decisions which have a time period on them," she said. "But we may then come back and do the same thing again at another point when we have force regeneration." Clark noted that New Zealand had contributed Special Air Services forces to the U.S.-led war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The SAS troops were later withdrawn and then subsequently redeployed there again. At an international donors' conference in Berlin this week, New Zealand said it was extending by another year its commitment to help Afghanistan's reconstruction. "New Zealand is contributing more than 80 million New Zealand dollars [$53.3 million] in military and development support to Afghanistan, a significant sum for a small country of four million people, thousands of kilometers from Afghanistan," Foreign Minister Phil Goff said....