Blessed are those who ask the tough questions.

At the Hearst Newspapers Bureau, Helen Thomas is surrounded by roses sent to her by well wishers who enjoyed her recent exchange with President Bush in the White House Briefing Room.
Photo by Sara Henderson



I've long adored Helen Thomas, and admired her tenacity. This was a wonderful piece of news to round out the week:

The roses kept coming - and coming - and coming - to the Hearst Newspapers office in downtown Washington on Thursday, until they filled a large conference room to overflowing.

By the time the Federal Express delivery was complete, there were 108 dozen roses, nearly 1,300 in every color. They were the result of an e-mail campaign to show support for Hearst columnist Helen Thomas after she grilled President Bush about his Iraq policy at last week's White House news conference.

The campaign was the brainchild of Clarity Sanderson, a 31-year-old Democratic activist from Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, who was motivated by the sharp exchange between Thomas and Bush, and by an op-ed article Thomas wrote about the exchange in the Salt Lake Tribune.
[...]
Thomas shared her roses with Hearst bureau chief Chuck Lewis and other colleagues and sent the bulk of them to wounded military personnel at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

Asked about Bush's response to her pointed question about his Iraq policy, she said, "He could not answer my question. He kept referring to Afghanistan. He never articulated the reasons we're in Iraq. I don't think there's any justification for an unprovoked war against somebody who did nothing against us."

Thomas had received hundreds of supportive e-mails by Friday afternoon, bearing such messages as, "O-M_G … I LOVE THAT LADY!" "We all owe her so much more than roses," "Her little finger has more class than George Bush does," and "Helen Thomas kick ass!"

Sanderson said she's never spoken with Thomas but received an e-mail from her via Hearst office manager Kristen Collie, who wrote that "Helen asked me to send you the following note:

"Blessed are the peacemakers. The bounty of beautiful roses from such wonderful people has lifted my heart and will remain in my memory for the rest of my life. Thank you for caring that others may live."

Thank you, Helen.

Will you walk into my parlour?

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran today successfully test-fired a missile that can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously, the airforce chief of the elite Revolutionary Guards said.




Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to shew when you are there."
Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."


"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!"


Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, " Dear friend what can I do,
To prove the warm affection I 've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome -- will you please to take a slice?"
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "kind Sir, that cannot be,
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"


"Sweet creature!" said the Spider, "you're witty and you're wise,
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I've a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,
If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you 're pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."


The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.
Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
"Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple -- there's a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue --
Thinking only of her crested head -- poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour -- but she ne'er came out again!


And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.

The Spider and the Fly
Mary Howitt

aarrrrgggh!

[REUTERS/Larry Downing]
A portrait of Terri Schiavo stands with a bed of roses to honor her legacy during a five-person vigil to mark the one-year anniversary of her death on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington March 31, 2006.

Uh, yeah, the tottering one in the middle.

Mexican President Vicente Fox (L), U.S. President George Bush (C) and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper climb the Castle, or Kukulkan Pyramid, as they tour the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula March 30, 2006. The three leaders began their meetings in Cancun to discuss immigration, border security and trade with a visit to the Chichen Itza ruins.[REUTERS]

Day 7

Metro musings

This caught my eye in cnn's money section, re the situation with GM and Delphi corp:

Still there are others who believe that GM should be able to weather these gathering clouds. David Healy of Burnham Securities said that he thinks GM would have the resources to weather even a two-month strike at Delphi, and that the company's battered stock is probably at or near a low point.

"My guess would be that a two-month (Delphi) strike would raise net losses by $4 billion to $5 billion," said Healy. "That's a kick in the nuts, but they can afford it. They could have an extra $11 billion come Monday (from a sale of GMAC)."


While I don't work for GM or Delphi for that matter, I should choose my words carefully. I don't believe anyone in the financial world fully grasps what's happening right now, and in the Metro area especially. Perhaps once all the ill effects have rippled across the board, and millions more families have no health insurance, lose their homes, real estate values plummet, average wages tumble, someone will have a light-bulb moment and exclaim "holy shit, what happened to that blue state with all the lakes?"

I just hope that moment doesn't arrive until after we have a new Congress, and preferrably a new POTUS.

Caption this.

~Music

The Who: Won't get fooled again

QOTD

"Had the Senate or House, or both, censured or somehow warned Richard Nixon, the tragedy of Watergate might have been prevented," Dean told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Hopefully the Senate will not sit by while even more serious abuses unfold before it."

-- John Dean, White House counsel to Richard M. Nixon

Okay, we have a tie:

"The congress passes laws the country must abide by. Except for the president. For him laws are just polite requests. God Save The King."

-- Digby

Chogye Temple

A South Korean Buddhist decorates a lantern to celebrate Buddha's upcoming birthday on May 5 at the Chogye Temple in Seoul, Friday, March 31, 2006. About one-third of South Korea's 48 million people are Buddhists.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Wanker of the Day

Jonah Goldberg

Imus show responds to calls for apology to Jill Carroll

With more insults. I think it's boycott msnbc time. I don't intend to do anything that might bolster the ratings of assholes. I'll take my complaints directly -- once again -- to msnbc, and anyone who buys ad time on the Imus show. If I get my hands on a list, I'll be sure to update.

A short film

"This guy is Falling"

Despicable

The WSJ "covers" a story that Raw Story broke 3 MONTHS AGO -- WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION!


Drop the WSJ a line and ask them if they plan to properly attribute this article to Raw Story. This is beginning to happen all to often . Raw Story has always been blog friendly, so let's back them up.

Still driving an SUV?

Take that!



[Hat tip to Lynne.]

Fucking fucker fucking says:

"We're fucking fuck-ups, but fuck all if we ain't fucking tryin'!"

Heh heh.

Kaloogian needs cash to buy real photos.

TGIF

Cat Blogging

~Music

Queen: I want to break Free

The elephant in the room.

HARTFORD :Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, rallied Connecticut Democrats at their annual dinner Thursday night, throwing his support behind mentor and Senate colleague Joseph I. Lieberman, who was booed by some of the party faithful.

Obama is a rising star in the national Democratic Party and was the keynote speaker at the annual Jefferson Jackson Bailey dinner. He worked at unifying the state party even as hundreds hissed and booed Lieberman, who has incurred the wrath of some Democrats by crossing party lines to support ongoing military efforts in Iraq.

I know some of you have differences with Joe Lieberman, I see the elephant in the room, Obama said. We have our differences, but Joe Lieberman has a good heart, a keen intellect, (and) cares about the working families of America.


I am absolutely certain Connecticut is going to have the good sense to send Joe Lieberman back to the U.S. Senate so he can continue to serve on our behalf, Obama said.

Obama was, of course, referring to someone wearing an elephant costume in the crowd while completely oblivious to the scrawny little elephant next to him with the "Bush's favorite Democrat" sign around his neck.

"Insufficient Funds"

September 17, 2005: "Our third commitment is to ensure that the communities we rebuild emerge better and stronger. Out of this tragedy comes an opportunity to harness the good and gracious spirit of America, and deliver new hope to neighborhoods that were suffering before the storm. Our reconstruction efforts will be guided by certain principles: When cities are rebuilt, those cities should have many new businesses, including minority-owned businesses. When houses are rebuilt, more families should own, not rent, those houses." -- G.W.Bush




The Bush administration said yesterday that the cost of rebuilding New Orleans's levees to federal standards has nearly tripled to $10 billion and that there may not be enough money to fully protect the entire region.

Donald E. Powell, the administration's rebuilding coordinator, said some areas may be left without the protection of levees strong enough to meet requirements of the national flood insurance program. Those areas probably would face enormous obstacles in attracting home buyers and investors willing to build there.

The news represents a shift for the administration; President Bush had pledged in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina to rebuild New Orleans "higher and better." Now, some areas may lose out as they compete for levee protection. Powell's announcement, in a conference call with reporters, prompted denunciations from state and local officials who said the federal government is reneging on promises to rebuild the entire region.

"This monumental miscalculation is an outrage," said Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). "This means that, just two months before hurricane season, the Corps of Engineers informs us they cannot ensure even the minimum safety of southeastern Louisiana. This is totally unacceptable."

He forgot to say "read my lips."

Bamboozle Paloozle

"Let's face it. This guy's awash in a sea of his own bamboozles. He's fallen and he can't get up."

Day 6

How wingnuts react to good news from Iraq

Imus Executive Producer: Carroll is “The Kind of Woman Who Would Wear One of Those Suicide Vests, Sneak Into the Green Zone”

Full transcript and video at ThinkProgress.

To Email the show:

imus@msnbc.com

Contact info for MSNBC


I'll be putting my letters together later. Apologies are needed immediately for Jill and her family. This is inexcusable.

Today's new word.

Kaloogian.

Let no man scare you.

These are really cool.

So glad I left Las Vegas

The U.S. military plans to detonate a 700 ton explosive charge in a test called “Divine Strake” that will send a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas, a senior defense official said March 30.
”I don’t want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you’ll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons,” said James Tegnelia, head of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

The photo above is a "normal" smoggy day in Vegas. Soon the casinos won't be all that lights up when it's dark out.

Mesa Verde National Park

Visitors tour Cliff Palace, an ancient cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park, Colo. The park celebrates its centennial this year.
(AP/Beth J. Harpaz)

~Music

Three dead trolls in a baggie: The System Administrator Song

Daily Show

Fox news covers a serial killer.

All's not fair in love and law.

Former federal prosecutor who won the nation's first "terror" trials after 9/11 was formally indicted yesterday on charges that he built that case based on perjury and deception.

When John Ashcroft boasted of this as a huge victory in the war on terror, that should have been the first clue that something was wrong.

Jill Carroll update

Breaking on cnn:

American hostage Jill Carroll, the freelance journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad January 7, has been released unharmed, The Christian Science Monitor said today. Carroll called her father in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to let him know she was safe, officials and newspaper staff said. "This is a wonderful day," said the paper's David Cook.

Many thanks to all of you who kept Jill in your thoughts and prayers, and never allowed her to be forgotten.

[Update: Jill says she was treated "very well."]

al-Jaafari to Bush

Bugger off.

Well?

The lonesome death of Rachel Corrie

Via The Guardian:
Exclusive download (MP3): The Lonesome Death of Rachel Corrie




An Israeli bulldozer killed poor Rachel Corrie
As she stood in its path in the town of Rafah
She lost her young life in an act of compassion
Trying to protect the poor people of Gaza
Whose homes are destroyed by tank shells and bulldozers
And whose plight is exploited by suicide bombers
Who kill in the name of the people of Gaza
But Rachel Corrie believed in non-violent resistance
Put herself in harm's way as a shield of the people
And paid with her life in a manner most brutal

But you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.

Rachel Corrie had 23 years
She was born in the town of Olympia, Washington
A skinny, messy, list-making chain-smoker
Who volunteered to protect the Palestinian people
Who had become non-persons in the eyes of the media
So that people were suffering and no one was seeing
Or hearing or talking or caring or acting
And the horrible math of the awful equation
That brought Rachel Corrie into this confrontation
Is that the spilt blood of a single American
Is worth more than the blood of a hundred Palestinians

But you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.

The artistic director of a New York theatre
Cancelled a play based on Rachel's writings
But she wasn't a bomber or a killer or fighter
But one who acted in the spirit of the Freedom Riders
Is there no place for a voice in America
That doesn't conform to the Fox News agenda?
Who believes in non-violence instead of brute force
Who is willing to confront the might of an army
Whose passionate beliefs were matched by her bravery
The question she asked rings out round the world
If America is truly the beacon of freedom
Then how can it stand by while they bring down the curtain
And turn Rachel Corrie into a non-person?

Oh, but you who philosophise disgrace and criticise all fears,
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now's the time for your tears.

Day 5, Seafood embargo, embargo on designers who use seal skin in their fashions.

Vehicular homicide

A 23 year old white woman hits and kills a 5 yr. old and her 2 yr. old sister as they cross a street with their mother. Woman pleads guilty, how much time will she serve?

Would you believe 15 days per child? Read the details, and share your thoughts.

~Music

Super Furry Animals: Not the end of the World.

The Scarlet Letter

From SNL

Caption this.

An Open Letter to John Kerry

Dear Sentor Kerry,

Any other time, if you ask for help for a cause I help as much as I can.

But this time, the pinhead in Ohio? You're on your own, dude.

Best Regards,

Desi

Inshallah

In case you haven't followed Baghdad Burning -- or yet checked out the latest post, I'd like to stress the importance of a point that River was making:

The line said:

وزارة الدفاع تدعو المواطنين الى عدم الانصياع لاوامر دوريات الجيش والشرطة الليلية اذا لم تكن برفقة قوات التحالف العاملة في تلك المنطقة
The translation:

“The Ministry of Defense requests that civilians do not comply with the orders of the army or police on nightly patrols unless they are accompanied by coalition forces working in that area.”

That’s how messed up the country is at this point.

We switched to another channel, the “Baghdad” channel (allied with Muhsin Abdul Hameed and his group) and they had the same news item, but instead of the general “coalition forces” they had “American coalition forces”. We checked two other channels. Iraqiya (pro-Da’awa) didn’t mention it and Forat (pro-SCIRI) also didn’t have it on their news ticker.


This gentle young woman is far more polite than most of us would be in similar circumstances, I believe. Her demeanor leads me to check my words carefully, leaving me with little to say.

Wednesday Blog Round-Up

Still recouperating from my surgery, and not feeling even as well as yesterday. So, today for Round-up, check out some of the very worthy sites listed in my blogroll to the right. There's a current post from Riverbend at Baghdad Burning as pointed out by Oy, and many of your other favs as well as some you may not have yet heard of. Enjoy, and maybe later I feel up to posting something.

They call it democracy.

An Iraqi fireman checks the identification of a victim after an attack by gunmen, in Baghdad March 29. 2006. Gunmen wearing the military uniform worn by Iraqi police commandos killed at least eight people in a raid on an electronics store in western Baghdad on Wednesday, police sources said. [REUTERS/Stringer]

Wednesday and time for . . .

Monkey Blogging

Uh-oh Kathy.

This morning's poll in the Orlando Sentinel is looking good . . . for Bill Nelson.

Day 4

~More Music

Golden Earring: Twilight Zone

Duke suspends lacrosse team from all further games

Duke University's lacrosse team will not participate in any further games until the school's administration learns more about the rape allegations stemming from the off-campus party where team members admit to hiring an exotic dancer, and underage drinking taking place.

Sad that tensions in the college town had to reach a fervor before the school's administration decided that a two-game suspension was ridiculously inadequate in light of the allegations of the gang rape of the young single mother who was paying her college tuition with money earned from dancing.

Pyinmana

Myanmar soldiers march in formation in the new capital city of Pyinmana, 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Yangon.
[ST/AP]

Dirty, evil repub minds

Here we go again:

Rep. Debra Maggart, R-Hendersonville, said she still believes homosexual couples should not be allowed to adopt children. In fact, in addition to e-mail correspondence with a master’s student at Vanderbilt publicized recently, in which she said as much, she has also said homosexual couples may molest the children they adopt.

"We also have seen evidence that homosexual couples prey on young males and have, in some instances, adopted them in order to have unfretted access to subject them to a life of molestation and sexual abuse," she said.

Whenever some backasswards individual espouses this old meme, interesting that they never seem to cite any actual "evidence" to back up their claims.

Fact: There is no connection between homosexuality and pedophilia. All of the legitimate scientific evidence shows that. Sexual orientation, whether heterosexual or homosexual, is an adult sexual attraction to others. Pedophilia, on the other hand, is an adult sexual attraction to children. Ninety percent of child abuse is committed by heterosexual men. In one study of 269 cases of child sexual abuse, only two offenders were gay or lesbian. Of the cases studied involving molestation of a boy by a man, 74 percent of the men were or had been in a heterosexual relationship with the boy's mother or another female relative. The study concluded that "a child's risk of being molested by his or her relative's heterosexual partner is over 100 times greater than by someone who might be identifiable as being homosexual, lesbian, or bisexual."

If repubs can't use common sense before speaking, perhaps it's time to get serious about restricting them from adoption.

[Hat tip to reader Abbey]

QOTD

Via Josh Marshall:

The late Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater on John McCain's new pal Jerry Falwell, July 1981: "I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass."

Da Man!

"Atrios" on West Wing!

Is that totally cool or what?

Fox News

They never have anything to say about all the good things happening in Iraq.

Katrina 7 months Later

Video from Chris Hume.

~Music

I've never heard of this one, but here it is:

Peter Schilling: Major Tom

Black Tuesday in Iraq

Document the atrocities.

[Note: "Black Tuesday" is what today in Detroit is being called as near 500 salaried workers are "laid off."]

White House rumblings

WASHINGTON (AP) -- White House chief of staff Andy Card has resigned and will be replaced by budget director Josh Bolten, President Bush announced Tuesday, in a White House shake up that comes amid declining poll standings for President Bush.

Caption this.

David Letterman

Fast food chains are selling flavored coffee!

"Oops, I didn't expect a repub to be indicted on a felony."

The author of the law that revokes the right to carry a concealed weapon of those indicted of felony crimes in Texas wants to toss the law so that Tom DeLay can carry his handgun again.

You never know when a repub might need to shoot a lawyer in the face.

Day 3

Girl Interrupted

Shad Mohammed, 6, is comforted by a neighbour after being wounded in an attack by insurgents which doctors said also killed both of her parents, in Baghdad March 27, 2006. A surge in violence in Iraq has claimed the lives of over 50 people in the past two days, including at least 30 army recruits at a base near the northern town of Mosul. [REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz]

Unnessary Censorship

Jimmy Kimmel.

Patriot Act

The home version.

Atrios for President.

Atrios has done an excellent job of keeping the internet community informed of the regulations from the FEC that effect the blogging community, as well as speaking out on our behalf.

I think I'll quit feeling bad for "poor" Duke now.

Before former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.) headed to prison, he prepared a small parting gift intended to help his colleagues in the upcoming election: a $2,000 check from his expiring campaign committee to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

That relatively small gesture, made Dec. 13 according to Cunningham’s campaign records, followed on the heels of an Oct. 24 donation of $11,684 to the NRCC. It also came about two weeks after he admitted to taking $2.4 million in bribes to direct government business to certain defense contractors.

NRCC spokesman Carl Forti said yesterday that the party never received the $2,000 check and that it has “no plans” to return the nearly $12,000 it accepted before Cunningham’s Nov. 28 guilty plea.

“I mailed it to them,” said Cunningham’s campaign treasurer, Kenneth Batson. “If it hasn’t cleared, I’ll stop payment and send it again.”

Batson said he hopes to close Cunningham’s account this quarter, which ends Friday.

Whether or not the last injection of money made it to the NRCC, the donation shows that a lawmaker can continue to influence elections even after a federal bribery conviction. And it’s perfectly legal.

"Look guys, I've got all this illegal bribe money that I can't use, but you can take it and it's perfectly legal. Heh." Good luck fitting your fat ass on a prison cot, Duke.

Know your helicopter anatomy

DavidNYC from SwingStateProject has some valuable information for Repub challenger to Hillary Clinton, Katherine McFarland.

I had no idea that the black helicopters came with crop circle generators now. Technology is amazing.

It hurts to laugh like this.

From ThinkProgress:

Undercover Blogging from the “War on Christians” conference. The event — organized by Baptist minister Rick Scarborough, author of the new book “Liberalism Kills Kids” — will feature talks by Sen. Brownback (R-KS), Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), and various other right-wing luminaries.

The link from ThinkProgress detailing the event describes DeLay as "the ever-moral Tom DeLay." BWAAAHAAHAA!!

another one bites the dust

Another key adviser in U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris' campaign for the U.S. Senate announced his resignation today -- two days after Harris accused him of leaking information to the press and then made a series of confusing statements about his status.

Adam Goodman, a long-time Harris confidante and media consultant, released a three-sentence statement that his firm was "ending our relationship with the Katherine Harris for U.S. Senate campaign."

I've lost count. Anyone know how many members of her campaign staff Kathy has gone through now?

Blogging

Posting will be lighter than normal today. I'm off for some minor surgery. No biggie, I may even be home later. See y'all when the anesthesia wears off. Play nice.

Dumb and Dumber

A newly revealed secret document shows -- among other things -- the unbridled stupidity in planning the Iraq war. Of Bush and Blair:

The two leaders apparently predicted a quick war and “manageable” aftermath, Van Natta writes. Bush predicted that it was "unlikely there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups," and Blair agreed.

At what point do we finally determine ineptitude is criminal?

~Music

Pink Floyd: Welcome to the Machine

They spit, too.

Saddam Hussein planned to use "camels of mass destruction" as weapons to defend Iraq, loading them with bombs and directing them towards invading forces.

The animals were part of a plan to arm and equip foreign insurgents drawn up by the dictator shortly before the American-led invasion three years ago, reveals a 37-page report, captured after the fall of Baghdad and just released by the Pentagon. It is part of a cache of thousands of documents that the United States Department of Defence says it does not have the resources to translate.

Lord love a duck. See previous post that details the pursuit of vegetarians, etc.

Anarchist Vegans and Evil Truthsayers

LA Times:

The murky connection that the federal government makes between some left-wing activist groups and terrorism was illustrated in a Justice Department presentation to a college law class this month.

An FBI counterterrorism official showed the class, at the University of Texas in Austin, 35 slides listing militia, neo-Nazi and Islamist groups. Senior Special Agent Charles Rasner said one slide, labeled "Anarchism," was a federal analyst's list of groups that people intent on terrorism might associate with.

The list included Food Not Bombs, which mainly serves vegetarian food to homeless people, and — with a question mark next to it — Indymedia, a collective that publishes what it calls radical journalism online. Both groups are among the numerous organizations affiliated with anarchists and anti-globalization protests, where there has been some violence.

Elizabeth Wagoner said she was one of the few students who objected to the groups' inclusion on the list. "My friends do Indymedia," she said. "My friends aren't terrorists."

Rasner said that he'd never heard of the two groups before and didn't mean to condemn them. But he added that it made sense to worry about violent people emerging from anarchist networks — "Any group can have somebody that goes south."


Anyone wondering whether or not the FBI has gotten it's act together since that over 70th+ time on September 10, 2001 when agent Harry Samit desperately tried to inform his superiors that Zacarias Moussaoui was an al-Qaeda operative plotting to hijack an airliner and he needed a warrant to get access to his computer should be having some serious doubts about our national security if they don't already.

We still haven't caught Osama, but we're spending money to stalk vegetarians who feed the homeless, and blogs that rebel against the mainstream media with the steady diet of runaway brides, missing white women, and old toasted cheese sandwiches that look like they have Christ's face imprinted on them. Jeebus, Indymedia even describes itself as "radical" tellers of the truth. These are threats? Although the point that

"Any group can have somebody that goes south."

is well noted, just look at Scooter Libby, and Duke Cunningham for examples.

Forgive them, they didn't know the war was going well.

A bomb has exploded at a military base housing US and Iraqi forces in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Interior Ministry sources say.

Police sources say that 15 people are believed to have been killed, and an unknown number injured.

This news is just breaking, and as the Mosul base was also the site of the killing of 18 US troops in 2004, it will be difficult to show the optimistic side, but, I'll try. *sigh*

Day 2

69

Sunday, bloody Sunday.

Orchid and the Rose

The Orchid and the Rose.

A beautiful video.

You must read.

Jane Smiley. Post of the year stuff.

Ben

Atrios finds more Ben.

Killing kids over there, so we don't have to kill them at home.

A group of men view the body of a youth killed by a blast in the Iraqi city of Basra, 550 km (342 miles) south of Baghdad March 26, 2006. A 14-year-old student was killed and two others wounded by a bomb planted in front of a school in Basra, police said. [REUTERS/Atef Hassan]

3 Years

Ava @ PeaceTakesCourage looks at 3 years of the Iraq war.

Freedom on the March

An assassination attempt on al-Sadr, and 30 beheaded corpses in Baghdad. More on the evil peacemaker's attempts to undermine Bush's progress in the middle east.

Lame Ducks

Michigan's 28 term-limited law makers have accumulated war chests of over one million dollars. What they're doing with that bonanza of tax-free cash that's all legal under Michigan's campaign finance laws might surprise you, or maybe not.

~Music

Peter Gabriel: Games without Frontiers

9/11 Revisited

9/11

Another little gift for Future presidents

Tancredo

ThinkProgress offers up a much needed lesson in the teachings of Christianity to Tancredo.

K Street Musings

I thought it interesting to note, that of the top 15 Lobby groups in the US, #9 -- Hogan and Hartson -- their top client is Nissan Corp. to a tune of over $1 million dollars.

They also lobby for Ford Motor Co., although to just under a quarter million.

Note whose 'song' is getting more play and isn't struggling in the US market.

"I do believe in fairies! I do, I do!"

Josh Marshall caught this one in the NYT's, from a repub challenger of Hillary Clinton:

"Hillary Clinton is really worried about me, and is so worried, in fact, that she had helicopters flying over my house in Southampton today taking pictures," according to a prominent GOP activist who was at the event.


I used to have an english teacher who believed she saw pink bunnies. They were her friends, the bunnies. I'm just sayin'.

Monty Python

The Meaning of Life Pt.7

Maybe NSFW, brief nudity.

It's begun.

Today marked the first day of the annual Canadian harp seal slaughter that will see over 300,000 dead pups. Most will be clubbed to death, and then skinned -- sometimes while still living -- and their carcases tossed back onto the ice. I'm not a PETA supporter, and am not even anti-hunting, yet I still find this practice extremely barbaric. We gathered many signatures on the petition to ask Canada's Prime Minister to hault the event, but our pleas were ignored. Don't give up hope, the seals don't have a voice.
(AP Photo/IFAW, Stewart Cook, HO)

Caption this.

The Force be with You

Kid Rock and Star Wars.

First of all, their team logo is Satan.

Duke University's men's lacrosse team members have been accused in the rape of an exotic dancer they hired to perform at a party. The team deny the rape, but do admit to hiring exotic dancers, and underage drinking taking place. As no criminal warrants have yet been issued, the University's athletic director has taken a tough stance on the situation. The men will have to miss 2 lacrosse games while the 46 member team have their dna tested. I'm certain the punishment will send the message that such behavior is vile, reprehensible criminal behavior, and will not be tolerated at Duke University.

Jesus on his Sleeves

Via CrooksandLiars Via the Stakeholder:

"John Culberson, R-Houston. "I think the percentage of people unhappy with the deadbeats from New Orleans would be larger but for the big hearts of Houstonians who want these folks to get back on their feet, as I do."

As long as the good christian people of Houston realize that these folks are not deadbeats through any fault of their own . . .

To lighten the mood.

KC's been blogging, and she's found something funny. Go and laugh, I'm begging you all now please . . . go laugh. It's good laughter, not the 'ha ha my potus is a psychotic' laughter.

Verbatim

[Time]

"Mainstream Media" Plagiarism

After recently penning an article of significant importance to GLTB groups, Larisa of Raw Story shared her article and research notes with these groups after they contacted her. The groups then took the information to the MSM to demand they cover the story. What happened next must be condemned for the crime that it is, plagiarism:

On March 14, 2006, the AP did their own article, left out any attribution to me or my publication and lifted not only my research but also whole sections of my article for their own (making cosmetic changes of course).

"We contacted an AP senior editor and ombudsmen both and both admitted to having had the article passed on to them, and both stated that they viewed us as a blog and because we were a blog, they did not need to credit us. What we are or are not is frankly irrelevant. What is relevant is that by using a term like blog to somehow excuse plagiarism, the mainstream press continues to lower the bar for acceptable behavior. It need not matter where the AP got the information, research, and actual wording from. What matters is that if they use it in part or in whole, they must attribute properly. A blog or a small press publication or grads students working in the corner of a library all equally deserve credit for their work, period.

Unfortunately this is far too common and has happened to me and to other writers and bloggers far too frequently. This time, however, we made a point of tape recording the AP apparatchiks admitting to taking our work and using it without attribution, stating "we do not credit blogs".

While they will not credit us in any way; they will instead credit advocacy groups, as though that somehow excuses them from having to attribute rightfully. This is what their first article on the documents' said: "Lesbian and gay advocacy groups recently found the change in an 18-page document distributed by National security adviser Stephen Hadley on Dec. 29, without public notice." Yes, they groups had found it in my article, which they gave to the AP."

Continue reading the rest of Larisa's post at HuffPost.

To share your thoughts on the theft of another writer's work, contact the Associated Press:

Headquarters
450 W. 33rd St.
New York, NY 10001

Main Number
+1-212-621-1500

Family Members Reunited

Iraqis search among bodies laying outside a morgue of a local hospital in Baghdad, for missed relatives. (AFP/Ali Al Saadi)

More Ethnic Cleansing aka things are going great in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 25 — Mohannad al-Azawi had just finished sprinkling food in his bird cages at his pet shop in south Baghdad, when three carloads of gunmen pulled up.

In front of a crowd, he was grabbed by his shirt and driven off.

Mr. Azawi was among the few Sunni Arabs on the block, and, according to witnesses, when a Shiite friend tried to intervene, a gunman stuck a pistol to his head and said, "You want us to blow your brains out, too?"

Mr. Azawi's body was found the next morning at a sewage treatment plant. A slight man who raised nightingales, he had been hogtied, drilled with power tools and shot.

In the last month, hundreds of men have been kidnapped, tortured and executed in Baghdad. As Iraqi and American leaders struggle to avert a civil war, the bodies keep piling up. The city's homicide rate has tripled from 11 to 33 a day, military officials said. The period from March 7 to March 21 was especially gruesome, with at least 191 corpses, many sadistically mutilated, surfacing in garbage bins, drainage ditches, pickup trucks and minibuses.

There were the four Duleimi brothers, Khalid, Tarek, Taleb and Salaam, seized from their home in front of their wives. And Achmed Abdulsalam, last seen at a checkpoint in his freshly painted BMW and found dead under a bridge two days later. And Mushtak al-Nidawi, a law student nicknamed Titanic for his Leonardo DiCaprio good looks, whose body was returned to his family with his skull chopped in half.

What frightens Iraqis most about these gangland-style killings is the impunity. According to reports filed by family members and more than a dozen interviews, many men were taken in daylight, in public, with witnesses all around. Few cases, if any, have been investigated.

Part of the reason may be that most victims are Sunnis, and there is growing suspicion that they were killed by Shiite death squads backed by government forces in a cycle of sectarian revenge. This allegation has been circulating in Baghdad for months, and as more Sunnis turn up dead, more people are inclined to believe it.

Amid calls from our government leaders for the Iraqis to hurry on and finish building their government, we are backing possibly the most vengeful, hate-driven group of thugs in the world. We've armed them, trained them, and are giving them back-up. But as long as it doesn't interfere with Americas reality television shows, it's all good, eh?

~Music

The Wallflowers: Heroes

Flipper

In an effort to jump-start her sputtering Senate campaign, Rep. Katherine Harris went on national television invoking the memory of her late father and saying the money he left her will form the financial foundation of her challenge to Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Now the Harris campaign says that's not the case.

Campaign spokeswoman Morgan Dobbs said Thursday that Harris will sell her existing assets rather than rely on money from her father, a bank executive who died in January.

"It is my understanding from her statements that she does not plan to use inherited money on the campaign -- rather, money from liquidating her personal assets, which she says total $10 million," Dobbs wrote in an e-mail to the Orlando Sentinel.

"I think I am being pretty clear."

However, Dobbs' explanation is at odds with the message Harris has been delivering for more than a week.

The Republican from Longboat Key appeared on national television saying she would use the money left to her by her father to infuse her campaign with a badly needed shot of financing.

The announcement was the centerpiece of her appearance on Fox News, where Harris reaffirmed her commitment to the race.

"I'm going to take his legacy that he gave to me, everything I have, and I'm going to put it in this race," she told Sean Hannity. "I'm going to commit my legacy from my father -- $10 million."

A moment later, Hannity asked, "This is money from your father?"

"Yes," replied Harris.

Since then, Harris, who is scheduled to campaign in Central Florida today, has answered few questions about the details of her plan.

She has said she'll run the race to honor her late father and use all the money she has for her Senate campaign.

In a transcript of an interview with ABC News this week, Harris makes reference to a poor, pious widow in a biblical parable, saying she, like the widow, was "willing to take this widow's mite . . . and put everything on the line." A mite is an ancient coin.

Dozens of news stories have mentioned the inheritance from her father. In fact, a story on Harris' campaign Web site says the $10 million is money "she described as a legacy from her late father."

On Friday, a day after being asked about the apparent discrepancy between what Harris said last week and what Dobbs said Thursday, Dobbs sent an e-mail to the Sentinel saying she would provide no additional information.

It was probably the sensible thing to do. Afterall, Kathy may find herself in need of a good defense attorney in the near future.

On this day in History, Saturday, March 25, 1911

Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire 1911

The Triangle Shirtwaist Company always kept its doors locked to ensure that the young immigrant women stayed stooped over their machines and didn’t steal anything. When a fire broke out on Saturday, March 25, 1911, on the eighth floor of the New York City factory, the locks sealed the workers’ fate. In just 30 minutes, 146 were killed. Witnesses thought the owners were tossing their best fabric out the windows to save it, then realized workers were jumping, sometimes after sharing a kiss (the scene can be viewed now as an eerie precursor to the World Trade Center events of September, 11, 2001, only a mile and a half south). The Triangle disaster spurred a national crusade for workplace safety.

Letterman

Bush: Inspiring our Nation's Elderly.

Tweety?

Okay, I've not paid much of any attention to Tweety lately, so it seems I've missed something. Who got hold of him and knocked some snot bubbles out of his head?

Via Think Progress, and they have video as well:

"Everybody was led to believe that we were getting payback, we were avenging what happened on 9/11 and that we are going to get them. … We pursued the terrorists back to Iraq. And it’s all nonsense. The reason there are terrorists in Iraq today like Zarqawi is we created the opening by blowing the country apart. …

I mean the denial has been continuous. So you really can’t count on the administration to tell you what is going on. That is just the fact. You’ve got to check it out. By the way, the president said this week that he wants the whole truth about what is going on in Iraq, the whole truth and that the media isn’t telling the whole story. I’ll tell you what we are not telling. We are not showing pictures of the twenty five hundred bodies coming back because they won’t let us show the pictures. They don’t want the whole truth out and that’s the fact."

Don't tell him I said so, but he sounds like he knows what's really going on. I'm not complaining. I just want to know how the hell this happened.

Caption this.

[Reuters]

Haiti, the poorest nation.

Haitian girls stand on a street in Port-au-Prince March 24, 2006. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and has the highest death rate for under-5-year-olds, with 117 children dying for every 1,000 births, UNICEF said in a report this week. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

[Artist: Napo/LeMonde/Paris]

Bye, bye Boxturtle

From Jim Brady @ WaPo:

"In the past 24 hours, we learned of allegations that Ben Domenech plagiarized material that appeared under his byline in various publications prior to washingtonpost.com contracting with him to write a blog that launched Tuesday.

An investigation into these allegations was ongoing, and in the interim, Domenech has resigned, effective immediately.

When we hired Domenech, we were not aware of any allegations that he had plagiarized any of his past writings. In any cases where allegations such as these are made, we will continue to investigate those charges thoroughly in order to maintain our journalistic integrity.

Plagiarism is perhaps the most serious offense that a writer can commit or be accused of. Washingtonpost.com will do everything in its power to verify that its news and opinion content is sourced completely and accurately at all times.

We appreciate the speed and thoroughness with which our readers and media outlets surfaced these allegations. Despite the turn this has taken, we believe this event, among other things, testifies to the positive and powerful role that the Internet can play in the the practice of journalism.

We also remain committed to representing a broad spectrum of ideas and ideologies in our Opinions area."

But, they're 'okay' with the bigotry?

[Hat tip Eric Jaffa of SpeakSpeak.org in the comments section]

"Ben"

Okay, it's the only video version I could find.

Colbert Report

Colbert interviews another homeschooled kid named Ben.

Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World"

Babs beats out Castro.

I'm not certain why Castro would be on the list in the first place. He even offered all of Cuba's MD's to assist after Katrina, which was of course quickly rejected by Bush.

A Kaiser Permanente Hospital Dumps patient on Skid Row

LA hospital caught on video dumping an elderly female patient on skid-row wearing only her hospital gown and slippers.

This goes beyond violating the written policies of most any hospital in the nation. It's a deeply ingrained 'tradition' of intolerance of the poor and the disabled, and of disrepect towards our senior citizens.

Ben, Ben, Ben

William and Mary school paper weighs in on "the poison of plagiarism".

[Update: There is an update in the link above from William and Mary College. Apparently there is one instance that Domenech is now cleared of any possible plagiarism.]

The Bakerman, too.

Residents help to put a body of a bakery employee, into an ambulance, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 24, 2006. Two unidentified gunmen broke into a bakery and killed two employees, as suspected insurgents killed one policeman and wounded three others in a drive-by shooting in west Baghdad Friday morning, police said. (AP Photo/ Mohammed Hato)

TGIF

The perfect cat blogging video for Pidomon.

And double-feature: "Help, me, he's crazy!"

Loquacious

Why did we go to war?

Focusing on the good news from Iraq: Look! There's people left standing!

March 23, 2006 Residents and relatives carry the bodies of Shiite pilgrims during a funeral in Baghdad, Iraq. Thousands of Shiite Muslims marched with coffins containing the bodies of fellow Shiites killed while returning home from a pilgrimage to Karbala.
(Photo: Kamir Kadim / AP)

Repubs investigating themselves . . .

Who the fuck expected reality?

Republicans controlling the congressional investigation say they will finish by next week a spate of reports on how the White House used intelligence headed into the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. They will include topics like predictions before the war on how a post-Saddam Iraq might look and whether the Bush administration was duped by Iraqis with a vested interest in war, like Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi.

But they have set no timetable for issuing reports on their probe into what some Democrats consider the most explosive questions: Whether political appointees at the Pentagon deliberately distorted intelligence and subverted analysis by the Central Intelligence Agency to gin up support for the invasion.

"There were a lot of mistakes in the lead-up to the war, and if we don't look at all the issues we won't get a complete picture of what happened," says Wendy Morigi, a spokeswoman for the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia. "The role of the former Undersecretary of Defense's office is an area of concern."

Some people familiar with the Senate investigation say politics may overshadow substance on the matter. "I think people will be surprised when these things come out because the buildup has been made that there's some smoking gun," says William Duhnke, Republican staff director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. "This has all outstripped the reality."

If the Dems would all get busy and back Russ Feingold's motion to censure, we wouldn't have to sift through the haystacks the repubs are building. With the elections looming, it would force them into the defensive position in terms of the Bush administration just when they need to distance themselves the most politically. But, some folks like rolling around in the hay, so, there it is.

Stumped speech

The Daily Show

Take back your uterus!

There's a new drive in South Dakota to overturn the state's abortion ban and refer it to a public vote. They need over 16,000 signatures by June 19, think you can help?


[Note: Oops. Link corrected.]

Not fit for grocery store tabloid fodder.

"Two clarifications for the many folks who have risen up in force to attack the existence of this blog (I appreciate the attention, by the way).

"Some people have taken issue with an old two-line comment of mine on RedState.com where I referred to Coretta Scott King as a Communist on the day after her funeral. Coretta Scott King was many things, and her most significant contribution was the unflagging support of her husband in his own noble work to bring equality to all Americans.

"She was also a liberal activist on a number of issues, including same-sex marriage and abortion. The thread where my comment appeared discussed President Bush's attendance at Mrs. King's funeral, which was criticized by some for its political nature. My comment questioned the president's decision to attend the funeral after he had phoned in a message to the March for Life, the largest pro-life rally and a significant annual event. Mrs. King participated in many different political causes, some of which involved associations with questionable people, but referring to her as a Communist was a mistake, hyperbole in the context of a larger debate about President Bush's political priorities. Mea Culpa."

I take it Jr. felt that Bush should have attended the March for Zygotes rather than attend Mrs. King's funeral, but hey, he'll 'take back' the reference to her as a 'communist' . . . how white of him. Pathetic. Truly.

Media Matters

I Love David Brock!

Shit!

When you get killed off of South Park, they don't mess around.

Listen to some Aerosmith

And send some good vibes out to Steven Tyler, having throat surgery.

The link goes to Aerosmith music videos.

Bab's Beautiful Mind

Money that she gives to her son, she'll now be able to write off on her taxes.

Spring in Poland

A municipal guard looks on as three figures on stilts dance during traditional celebrations of the first day of spring in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday, March 21, 2006.( AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

The Not -a -Civil War

GuardianUK:

The headquarters of the anti-terrorist unit in Baghdad was today targeted in a wave of bomb attacks that left at least 56 people dead.

A suicide car bomber struck at the building in the capital's central Karradah district, killing 10 civilians and 15 policeman.

It was the third major assault on a security compound in as many days. Officials at the site investigate major crimes, and had about 20 suspected insurgents in their custody.

More than 35 people, mainly employees at the unit, were wounded, officials added.

A second car bomb hit a market area outside a Shia mosque in the mostly mixed Shia-Sunni neighbourhood of Shurta in the south-west of the city. At least six people were killed and more than 20 wounded, many of them children, police said.

Roadside bombs targeting police patrols killed four others - two policemen and two bystanders - in Baghdad and at least one policeman in Iskandariya, 30 miles south of the city. Police said dozens were wounded.

Another two policemen were killed and two were wounded when gunmen ambushed their convoy in north Baghdad in an attack police said was an aborted attempt to free detainees who were being transferred to the northern city of Mosul.

Elsewhere, throughout the capital, two police were killed in gun battles with insurgents and two civilians, a private contractor and power plant employee, were shot dead in drive-by shootings.

Fourteen more bodies were found in the continuing wave of sectarian killings - six in the capital and eight brought in by US forces to a hospital in Falluja, 40 miles west of Baghdad, police said.

I don't think these people can take 2 more years of this.

Katie sez . . .

Wal-Mart "is as American as mom and apple pie"