Wednesday, February 28, 2007
SHIN WON-GUN: AFP/Getty Images
South Korean civilians wearing traditional costumes march holding torchlights to celebrate the March First Independence Movement Anniversary in Cheonan.
-D.
Labels: Caption this photos, South Korea
New members for the FU Club
An elite team of officers advising US commander General David Petraeus in Baghdad has concluded the US has six months to win the war in Iraq - or face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat.
Oy.
-D.
Oy.
-D.
Labels: Friedman Units, Iraq
'When they own the information, they can bend it all they want.'
My favorite line from this one. John Mayer: Waiting on the World to Change
-D.
Labels: John Mayer, Music Video, Waiting on the World to Change
Off with His Head!
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan -- Suspected Islamic militants captured and beheaded an Afghan teacher whom they accused of being a spy for the United States, an official said Wednesday. The man's body was found early Tuesday in a large sack dumped by a road near Jandola, a town in the South Waziristan tribal district, the local security official said. He asked not to be identified due to the sensitive nature of his job.
Now before you get worked up over this, remember ... Ann says Afghanistan is going swimmingly. It's just like LA. I guess the LA Times is really underreporting the news in those parts.
-D.
Now before you get worked up over this, remember ... Ann says Afghanistan is going swimmingly. It's just like LA. I guess the LA Times is really underreporting the news in those parts.
-D.
Labels: Afghanistan, Teacher Beheaded
An undated portrait of Emmett Louis Till, a black 14 year old Chicago boy, whose weighted down body was found in the Tallahatchie River near the Delta community of Money, Mississippi, August 31, 1955. Local residents Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, were accused of kidnapping, torturing and murdering Till for allegedly whistling at Bryant's wife, but were later acquitted in 1955. The district attorney in rural Leflore County, Miss. had sought a manslaughter charge against Carolyn Bryant Donham, who was suspected of pointing out to her husband to punish the boy, but a grand jury has refused to bring any new charges. No one has ever been convicted in the slaying. (AP Photo)
Labels: Emmett Louis Till, Hate Crimes, Unsolved Murder
754,000 Homeless in the US
WASHINGTON -- The nation has three-quarters of a million homeless people, filling emergency shelters through the year and spilling into special seasonal shelters in the coldest months, the government said Wednesday.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated there were 754,000 homeless people in 2005, including those living in shelters, transitional housing and on the street. That's about 300,000 more people than available beds in shelters and transitional housing.
The report is the government's latest attempt to count people who are notoriously difficult to track. The estimate is similar to one by an advocacy group in January.
The 2000 Census pegged the number of homeless people at 170,700, but it was widely considered an undercount. In 1996, the Urban Institute used data collected by the Census Bureau to estimate there were between 640,000 and 840,000.
Housing officials hope the new report will serve as a starting point to more accurately measure changes in the homeless population.
These two terms of compassionate conservatism have been pure hell in every possible way.
-D.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated there were 754,000 homeless people in 2005, including those living in shelters, transitional housing and on the street. That's about 300,000 more people than available beds in shelters and transitional housing.
The report is the government's latest attempt to count people who are notoriously difficult to track. The estimate is similar to one by an advocacy group in January.
The 2000 Census pegged the number of homeless people at 170,700, but it was widely considered an undercount. In 1996, the Urban Institute used data collected by the Census Bureau to estimate there were between 640,000 and 840,000.
Housing officials hope the new report will serve as a starting point to more accurately measure changes in the homeless population.
These two terms of compassionate conservatism have been pure hell in every possible way.
-D.
Labels: Homeless
The Bush Welcome Wagon
On his last day in CIA custody, Marwan Jabour, an accused al-Qaeda paymaster, was stripped naked, seated in a chair and videotaped by agency officers. Afterward, he was shackled and blindfolded, headphones were put over his ears, and he was given an injection that made him groggy. Jabour, 30, was laid down in the back of a van, driven to an airstrip and put on a plane with at least one other prisoner.
His release from a secret facility in Afghanistan on June 30, 2006, was a surprise to Jabour -- and came just after the Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's assertion that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to prisoners like him.
Jabour had spent two years in "black sites" -- a network of secret internment facilities the CIA operated around the world. His account of life in that system, which he described in three interviews with The Washington Post, offers an inside view of a clandestine world that held far more prisoners than the 14 men President Bush acknowledged and had transferred out of CIA custody in September.
"There are now no terrorists in the CIA program," the president said, adding that after the prisoners held were determined to have "little or no additional intelligence value, many of them have been returned to their home countries for prosecution or detention by their governments."
But Jabour's experience -- also chronicled by Human Rights Watch, which yesterday issued a report on the fate of former "black site" detainees -- often does not accord with the portrait the administration has offered of the CIA system, such as the number of people it held and the threat detainees posed. Although 14 detainees were publicly moved from CIA custody to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, scores more have not been publicly identified by the U.S. government, and their whereabouts remain secret. Nor has the administration acknowledged that detainees such as Jabour, considered so dangerous and valuable that their detentions were kept secret, were freed.
After 28 months of incarceration, Jabour -- who was described by a counterterrorism official in the U.S. government as "a committed jihadist and a hard-core terrorist who was intent on doing harm to innocent people, including Americans" -- was released eight months ago. U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials confirmed his incarceration and that he was held in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They would not discuss conditions inside black sites or the treatment of any detainee.
...
The official said Jabour "provided the money and means for other jihadists to move from Afghanistan to Pakistan" and provided funds that went to an al-Qaeda bioweapons lab. "He's an all-around bad guy," the official said. No charges were brought against Jabour, however, and the official would not say why he is free today.
Do be sure and click through to read all of this account. After being 'released' by the US, Marwan was then handed over to Jordan, and then finally an Israeli detention facility before his eventual release into the Gaza strip.
Aside from the fundamentally global illegality of this practice -- a notion clearly not of concern to the administration -- I cannot fathom a more certain method of creating scores of new extremist Islamics in the middle east than the kidnapping, torture, and including Israel in the final determination of the fate of Muslim peoples put through this process.
It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to see how clearly morally wrong, dangerous, and inflammatory to creating the opposite of the administration's claimed goal of 'fighting the war on terror.'
-D.
His release from a secret facility in Afghanistan on June 30, 2006, was a surprise to Jabour -- and came just after the Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration's assertion that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to prisoners like him.
Jabour had spent two years in "black sites" -- a network of secret internment facilities the CIA operated around the world. His account of life in that system, which he described in three interviews with The Washington Post, offers an inside view of a clandestine world that held far more prisoners than the 14 men President Bush acknowledged and had transferred out of CIA custody in September.
"There are now no terrorists in the CIA program," the president said, adding that after the prisoners held were determined to have "little or no additional intelligence value, many of them have been returned to their home countries for prosecution or detention by their governments."
But Jabour's experience -- also chronicled by Human Rights Watch, which yesterday issued a report on the fate of former "black site" detainees -- often does not accord with the portrait the administration has offered of the CIA system, such as the number of people it held and the threat detainees posed. Although 14 detainees were publicly moved from CIA custody to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, scores more have not been publicly identified by the U.S. government, and their whereabouts remain secret. Nor has the administration acknowledged that detainees such as Jabour, considered so dangerous and valuable that their detentions were kept secret, were freed.
After 28 months of incarceration, Jabour -- who was described by a counterterrorism official in the U.S. government as "a committed jihadist and a hard-core terrorist who was intent on doing harm to innocent people, including Americans" -- was released eight months ago. U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials confirmed his incarceration and that he was held in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They would not discuss conditions inside black sites or the treatment of any detainee.
...
The official said Jabour "provided the money and means for other jihadists to move from Afghanistan to Pakistan" and provided funds that went to an al-Qaeda bioweapons lab. "He's an all-around bad guy," the official said. No charges were brought against Jabour, however, and the official would not say why he is free today.
Do be sure and click through to read all of this account. After being 'released' by the US, Marwan was then handed over to Jordan, and then finally an Israeli detention facility before his eventual release into the Gaza strip.
Aside from the fundamentally global illegality of this practice -- a notion clearly not of concern to the administration -- I cannot fathom a more certain method of creating scores of new extremist Islamics in the middle east than the kidnapping, torture, and including Israel in the final determination of the fate of Muslim peoples put through this process.
It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to see how clearly morally wrong, dangerous, and inflammatory to creating the opposite of the administration's claimed goal of 'fighting the war on terror.'
-D.
Labels: Bush Administration, CIA Detainees, Extraordinary Rendition
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Killing 'em Over there, so they can Kill us Everywhere
Innocent people across the world are now paying the price of the "Iraq effect", with the loss of hundreds of lives directly linked to the invasion and occupation by American and British forces.
An authoritative US study of terrorist attacks after the invasion in 2003 contradicts the repeated denials of George Bush and Tony Blair that the war is not to blame for an upsurge in fundamentalist violence worldwide. The research is said to be the first to attempt to measure the "Iraq effect" on global terrorism. It found that the number killed in jihadist attacks around the world has risen dramatically since the Iraq war began in March 2003. The study compared the period between 11 September 2001 and the invasion of Iraq with the period since the invasion. The count - excluding the Arab-Israel conflict - shows the number of deaths due to terrorism rose from 729 to 5,420. As well as strikes in Europe, attacks have also increased in Chechnya and Kashmir since the invasion. The research was carried out by the Centre on Law and Security at the NYU Foundation for Mother Jones magazine.
Iraq was the catalyst for a ferocious fundamentalist backlash, according to the study, which says that the number of those killed by Islamists within Iraq rose from seven to 3,122. Afghanistan, invaded by US and British forces in direct response to the September 11 attacks, saw a rise from very few before 2003 to 802 since then. In the Chechen conflict, the toll rose from 234 to 497. In the Kashmir region, as well as India and Pakistan, the total rose from 182 to 489, and in Europe from none to 297.
According to Pickles, most of Iraq is 'stable' except for one bombing a day that the media focuses on. If we'd all just focus on those empty, freshly painted school buildings, none of this would seem so bad at all. Perhaps... if we drank the kool-aid, too.
-D.
An authoritative US study of terrorist attacks after the invasion in 2003 contradicts the repeated denials of George Bush and Tony Blair that the war is not to blame for an upsurge in fundamentalist violence worldwide. The research is said to be the first to attempt to measure the "Iraq effect" on global terrorism. It found that the number killed in jihadist attacks around the world has risen dramatically since the Iraq war began in March 2003. The study compared the period between 11 September 2001 and the invasion of Iraq with the period since the invasion. The count - excluding the Arab-Israel conflict - shows the number of deaths due to terrorism rose from 729 to 5,420. As well as strikes in Europe, attacks have also increased in Chechnya and Kashmir since the invasion. The research was carried out by the Centre on Law and Security at the NYU Foundation for Mother Jones magazine.
Iraq was the catalyst for a ferocious fundamentalist backlash, according to the study, which says that the number of those killed by Islamists within Iraq rose from seven to 3,122. Afghanistan, invaded by US and British forces in direct response to the September 11 attacks, saw a rise from very few before 2003 to 802 since then. In the Chechen conflict, the toll rose from 234 to 497. In the Kashmir region, as well as India and Pakistan, the total rose from 182 to 489, and in Europe from none to 297.
According to Pickles, most of Iraq is 'stable' except for one bombing a day that the media focuses on. If we'd all just focus on those empty, freshly painted school buildings, none of this would seem so bad at all. Perhaps... if we drank the kool-aid, too.
-D.
Labels: Iraq, Terrorism, War on Terror
Lying Liars
More on the conservative think tank that has called President Gore a hypocrite:
The think tank said that Gore used nearly 221,000 kilowatt hours last year and that his average monthly electric bill was $1,359. Johnson said his group got its figures from Nashville Electric Service.
But electric company spokeswoman Laurie Parker said the utility never got a request from the policy center and never provided them with any information.
Parker said Gore has been purchasing the "green power" for $432 a month since November. The Gore home is also under renovation to add solar panels, Kreider said.
So. You're pathetic, and you're busted. Next?
-Diane
The think tank said that Gore used nearly 221,000 kilowatt hours last year and that his average monthly electric bill was $1,359. Johnson said his group got its figures from Nashville Electric Service.
But electric company spokeswoman Laurie Parker said the utility never got a request from the policy center and never provided them with any information.
Parker said Gore has been purchasing the "green power" for $432 a month since November. The Gore home is also under renovation to add solar panels, Kreider said.
So. You're pathetic, and you're busted. Next?
-Diane
Labels: Al Gore, Green Power, Utilities
Grapes of Wrath: "All the Things I Wasn't"
-D.
Labels: All the Things I Wasn't, Grapes of Wrath, Music Video
Breaking! Al Gore uses more electricity than average Iraqis!!
(From The Zen Cabin)
So, the RightWing Heathers are all in a latherous orgasm over a story which alleges that Al Gore has high electric bills. Of course they are – they’re scared to death of Al Gore and will take any shot they can to tarnish his reputation because, for some reason, they think it will validate their support for McPresident and his Operation: Magic Beans bullshit.
But I’m not going to talk about Al Gore. Oh no, no, no, my friends. I want to talk about the little psycho-phants, themselves, and the results of their Manly War on Everything What We Don’t Like. While these pissant, dead weight “citizens” are chortling themselves hoarse over an unverified and slightly suspect story about Al Gore’s utility consumption, they’ve neglected a very important question:
Why does Iraq still not have reliable utilities?
Seriously, that’s it. That’s the question that’s just fucking begging for an answer from, and completely ignored by, the sociopathic, morally retarded assholes who support the Bush administration. And do you know what the answer is? Of course you do – the answer is that very same corrupt, incompetent, full-of-shit Bush administration and their straight-from-the-Psychic-Friends-hotline strategeries. Let me give you some examples:
In Sept. 2003, President Bush promised that he would help Iraqis “restore basic services, such as electricity and water, and to build new schools, roads, and medical clinics. This effort is essential to the stability of those nations, and therefore, to our own security.”
But three years later, electricity levels in Baghdad are at an all-time low. Residents of Baghdad are receiving just 2.4 hours of electricity this month, compared to an average of 16-24 hours of electricity before the U.S. invasion. The lowest level prior to this month was 3.9 hours/day.
But by all means, let’s hear more about Al Gore from the Sunshine Patriots Dance and Cheer Squad. “Maybe Al is using up all the electricity and leaving the people of Iraq with none. Oh, naughty Al Gore, you naughty hypocrite, you!”
But do we hear a peep from these doorknobs about the demolished infrastructure? No, we don’t, because that would be traitorous and unhelp-y to Mr. Man’s bold visions of boldness. Need more?
BAGHDAD, 18 February 2007 (IRIN) – Umm Muhammad Jalal, 39, starts every day walking to a river 7km away from her temporary home in a displacement camp on the outskirts of Fallujah, 70km west of the capital, Baghdad. Because of severe water shortages, she and many others make the daily trip to the river to collect water for all their needs.
“For the past four months we have been forced to drink, wash and clean with the river water. There is a dire shortage of potable water in Fallujah and nearby cities,” Umm Muhammad said.
Millions of Iraqis lack potable water and live with bad sewage systems, which have increased the incidence of waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea.
According to the Ministry of Water Resources, only 32 percent of the Iraqi population has access to clean drinking water, and only 19 percent has access to a good sewage system.
Again – what’s a bigger story? Al Gore’s electric bill or the fact that the nation we invaded for no good reason is now worse off than ever before? And these clowns with keyboards have supported the ruination of Iraq from Day One.
It’s been 45 months since Mission Fucking Accomplished and the Iraqi people can’t even get safe, clean water to drink. Are you serious?!? The god damned Cradle of Civilization doesn’t even have proper fucking bathroom facilities anymore, and we’ve got a bunch of monkeyboys pissing their frilly underthings because Al Gore doesn’t live in a cave and make fire by rubbing two sticks together. Fucking unbelievable… And if that’s not enough weekend news for you:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A fuel tanker rigged with explosives killed 40 people when it blew up near a Sunni mosque in western Iraq on Saturday, a day after the mosque’s imam had criticized al Qaeda militants, police and residents said.
The bomb exploded in a market in the town of Habaniya in the restive province of Anbar, where U.S. forces are battling Sunni Arab insurgent groups, including al Qaeda.
In Baghdad, more than 20 loud explosions in quick succession rocked a southern district of the capital after night fell.
On Monday, two suicide bombers in nearby Ramadi killed 11 people when they targeted the house of Sattar al-Buzayi, who has led the anti-al Qaeda drive, which is backed by the Shi’ite-led government in Baghdad and the U.S. military.
Insurgents earlier stormed an Iraqi police checkpoint near Baghdad airport, killing eight policemen in a bold challenge to the security crackdown in the capital.
The greatest sin and the greatest shame this nation has ever produced unfolds before our eyes, day after horrible day, and the self-absorbed towel snappers in RightBlogistan can’t think of anything better to do with their time and few remaining brain cells than try to shout down an Oscar award in the Documentary category. How completely fucking pathetic these people are.
I’d be half tempted to ask for a serious response to this, but I sincerely doubt that any of the self-righteous little right-wing shitbirds has the balls or brains to come up with a decent explanation for what we’ve done to Iraq and why nothing has been fixed or even improved.
Al Gore’s fucking electric bill… ‘Pathetic’ doesn’t begin to describe these people.
Rip –
Labels: Al Gore, infrastructure, Iraq, VRWC
Where are they Now?
(New York, February 27, 2007) – The US government should account for all the missing detainees once held by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
" The CIA program – and the civilian leaders who created it – have inflicted tremendous harm on the reputation, moral standing, and integrity of the United States. It’s time for President Bush to repudiate this program, and to take steps to repair the damage it has done. "
The 50-page report, “Ghost Prisoner: Two Years in Secret CIA Detention,” contains a detailed description of a secret CIA prison from a Palestinian former detainee who was released from custody last year. Human Rights Watch has also sent a public letter to US President George W. Bush requesting information about the fate and whereabouts of the missing detainees.
“President Bush told us that the last 14 CIA prisoners were sent to Guantanamo, but there are many other prisoners ‘disappeared’ by the CIA whose fate is still unknown,” said Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director at Human Rights Watch. “The question is: what happened to these people and where are they now?”
In early September, 14 detainees were transferred from secret CIA prisons to military custody at Guantanamo Bay. In a televised speech on September 6, President Bush announced that with those 14 transfers, no prisoners were left in CIA custody.
The former CIA detainee, Marwan Jabour, told Human Rights Watch about a number of other people who were in CIA detention but whose present whereabouts are unknown. Jabour saw one of these men, Algerian terrorism suspect Yassir al-Jazeeri, as recently as July 2006 in CIA custody.
“The Bush administration needs to provide a full accounting of everyone who was ‘disappeared’ into CIA prisons, including their names, locations, and when they left US custody,” Mariner said.
Human Rights Watch’s letter to Bush contained two lists of missing detainees. The first list names 16 people whom Human Rights Watch believes were held in CIA prisons and whose current whereabouts are unknown. The second list names 22 people who may have been held in CIA prisons and whose current whereabouts are unknown.
If this information is not revealed before Bush is out of office, will anyone ever again have access to the truth of the fate of all of the people who have vanished into thin air via extraordinary rendition?
-D.
" The CIA program – and the civilian leaders who created it – have inflicted tremendous harm on the reputation, moral standing, and integrity of the United States. It’s time for President Bush to repudiate this program, and to take steps to repair the damage it has done. "
The 50-page report, “Ghost Prisoner: Two Years in Secret CIA Detention,” contains a detailed description of a secret CIA prison from a Palestinian former detainee who was released from custody last year. Human Rights Watch has also sent a public letter to US President George W. Bush requesting information about the fate and whereabouts of the missing detainees.
“President Bush told us that the last 14 CIA prisoners were sent to Guantanamo, but there are many other prisoners ‘disappeared’ by the CIA whose fate is still unknown,” said Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director at Human Rights Watch. “The question is: what happened to these people and where are they now?”
In early September, 14 detainees were transferred from secret CIA prisons to military custody at Guantanamo Bay. In a televised speech on September 6, President Bush announced that with those 14 transfers, no prisoners were left in CIA custody.
The former CIA detainee, Marwan Jabour, told Human Rights Watch about a number of other people who were in CIA detention but whose present whereabouts are unknown. Jabour saw one of these men, Algerian terrorism suspect Yassir al-Jazeeri, as recently as July 2006 in CIA custody.
“The Bush administration needs to provide a full accounting of everyone who was ‘disappeared’ into CIA prisons, including their names, locations, and when they left US custody,” Mariner said.
Human Rights Watch’s letter to Bush contained two lists of missing detainees. The first list names 16 people whom Human Rights Watch believes were held in CIA prisons and whose current whereabouts are unknown. The second list names 22 people who may have been held in CIA prisons and whose current whereabouts are unknown.
If this information is not revealed before Bush is out of office, will anyone ever again have access to the truth of the fate of all of the people who have vanished into thin air via extraordinary rendition?
-D.
Labels: CIA Detainees, Human Rights Watch
Surge on Children
A car bomb has killed 18 people - most of them children - playing in a park in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, Iraqi police say.
There is no word on who carried out the attack, in the largely Sunni city.
As the administration claims the Sunnis are aligned with al-qaeda, it would stand to reason that this was not the Sunni nor al-qaeda factions. Which leaves...the US led Shiite troops. Am I wrong?
-D.
There is no word on who carried out the attack, in the largely Sunni city.
As the administration claims the Sunnis are aligned with al-qaeda, it would stand to reason that this was not the Sunni nor al-qaeda factions. Which leaves...the US led Shiite troops. Am I wrong?
-D.
Labels: Iraq
Surge Tuesday
WASHINGTON - Rushed by President Bush's decision to reinforce Baghdad with thousands more U.S. troops, two Army combat brigades are skipping their usual session at the Army's premier training range in California and instead are making final preparations at their home bases.
Some in Congress and others outside the Army are beginning to question the switch, which is not widely known. They wonder whether it means the Army is cutting corners in preparing soldiers for combat, since they are forgoing training in a desert setting that was designed specially to prepare them for the challenges of Iraq.
Army officials say the two brigades will be as ready as any others that deploy to Iraq, even though they will not have the benefit of training in counterinsurgency tactics at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., which has been outfitted to simulate conditions in Iraq for units that are heading there on yearlong tours.
Once again, we see the administration supporting the troops by cutting corners in a manner that could well cost them their lives.
-D.
Some in Congress and others outside the Army are beginning to question the switch, which is not widely known. They wonder whether it means the Army is cutting corners in preparing soldiers for combat, since they are forgoing training in a desert setting that was designed specially to prepare them for the challenges of Iraq.
Army officials say the two brigades will be as ready as any others that deploy to Iraq, even though they will not have the benefit of training in counterinsurgency tactics at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., which has been outfitted to simulate conditions in Iraq for units that are heading there on yearlong tours.
Once again, we see the administration supporting the troops by cutting corners in a manner that could well cost them their lives.
-D.
Labels: Iraq, Military short-cuts
Waiting for the Spin
BAGRAM, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber on foot killed and wounded some two dozen people outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility and said Cheney was the target.
The blast happened near the first of several security gates outside the base at Bagram, north of the capital Kabul. Cheney’s spokeswoman said he was fine, and the U.S. Embassy said the vice president later met with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.
I suppose we'll soon hear this means that Afghanistan is an even huger success than was previously thought.
-D.
The blast happened near the first of several security gates outside the base at Bagram, north of the capital Kabul. Cheney’s spokeswoman said he was fine, and the U.S. Embassy said the vice president later met with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.
I suppose we'll soon hear this means that Afghanistan is an even huger success than was previously thought.
-D.
Labels: Afghanistan, Cheney targeet
Monday, February 26, 2007
QOTD
If Congress were now to revise the Iraq authorization, she said, out loud, with an adult present, quote:
"…It would be like saying that after Adolf Hitler was overthrown, we needed to change then, the resolution that allowed the United States to do that, so that we could deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after he was overthrown."
The Secretary's resume reads that she has a Masters' Degree and a Ph.D in Political Science. The interviewer should have demanded to see it, on the spot.
This is a preview of Olbermann's Special Comment on Dr. Rice that's coming up this pm.
-D.
"…It would be like saying that after Adolf Hitler was overthrown, we needed to change then, the resolution that allowed the United States to do that, so that we could deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after he was overthrown."
The Secretary's resume reads that she has a Masters' Degree and a Ph.D in Political Science. The interviewer should have demanded to see it, on the spot.
This is a preview of Olbermann's Special Comment on Dr. Rice that's coming up this pm.
-D.
Labels: Rice. Olbermann
Talking Heads: Nothing But Flowers
-D.
Labels: Animated Music Video, Talking Heads Nothing But Flowers
February 25: The Iranian government gave foreign envoys and the Western press the rare opportunity to visit the Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan as part of an effort to prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear programs. Some of America's most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran.
(Photo: EPA)
-D.
Labels: caption this photo, Iran
A trip though the Internets
The story of the liberal bloggers who were hired by the John Edwards campaign, and then resigned after a huge public flap led by the bugle call of Bill Donahue -- President of the Catholic League -- has remained a hot-button issue for many in the photosphere. Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon shares her final thoughts on the matter and Melissa McEwan of Shakespeare’s Sister makes her public announcement of her resignation, and it will be a long time before anyone forgets journalist Michelle Malkin’s online diatribe against Marcotte via YouTube.
A new twist in the saga from Lindsay Beyerstein, of the blog Majikthise, as she shares her misgivings on the marriage of political bloggers with political campaigns as she details the offer made to her by the Edwards campaign. Up today at Salon, an offer she declined:
I don't remember who brought up Amanda Marcotte's name first. I said Marcotte was the best writer in the feminist blogosphere. If they wanted a high-profile feminist blogger, Amanda was the best.
Bob is a regular reader of Amanda's blog, Pandagon. We reminisced for a while about some classic brawls and blowups that had erupted at Pandagon.
"The thing you have to realize about Amanda is that she's got real enemies," I said. "We've all got trolls, but Amanda gets a whole different level of abuse."
I told Bob this story to give him some idea of the kind of seething hatred the campaign might have to deal with: The first time I heard Amanda on the radio, an angry caller phoned up to say, "You're Amanda Marcotte, and you're a clerical worker at the University of Texas at Austin." He had his facts wrong, but his message was clear. He was trying to get Amanda fired while leaving some darker threat hanging in the air. The host had to cut him off. Since that incident, at least one of Amanda's trolls had called her then-employer and tried unsuccessfully to get her fired.
I tried to suggest that the campaign might not want high-profile bloggers. I thought it might be better off hiring a well-connected political operative with good connections in the blogosphere.
Bob listened attentively, scribbling copious notes. I didn't feel I was making much headway. The Edwards team was obviously looking for the blogospheric equivalent of star power, but they weren't looking for another high-powered blogger/political consultant like Tim Tagaris or Matt Stoller. They wanted a charismatic audience-builder who could connect with readers who weren't political junkies.
I tried to explain this as delicately and clearly as I could: A-list polemicists are popular because they say things you don't hear on television. The blogosphere isn't just "The Situation Room" with swear words, it's a space for writers to explore ideas that are outside the bounds of mainstream discourse.
If you hire these larger-than-life personalities to blog for John Edwards, they'll have to stop espousing many of the radical policy positions and unconventional values that made them popular in the first place.
As Lindsay put it, there but for the grace of God...
The live-blogging of the trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby at Firedoglake where Jane Hamsher and Christy Harden detail the dismissal of the art curator juror this morning:
They will voir dire the juror in question, as well as all of the members of the jury to see what that juror saw and what, if any, impact it had in deliberations. It could be as innocuous as seeing a headline.
I'm wondering if this is a product of the Toensing nullification argument special in the WaPo, to be perfectly honest.
Once they go through the discussion with the jurors on the record, there will be some determination made as to whether or not there is a substantial impact on the jury deliberations — or whether there is cause for a mistrial. If a mistrial is declared, they will have to retry the whole case.
There was no mistrial, and the jury has returned to deliberations for the day.
Bits-n-Pieces:
Steve Gilliard of The News Blog is in the hospital this week, so do leave those well-wishes for a speedy recovery for him, and from all of us here at MiaCulpa “Get Well Soon!” Steve.
Via SkippytheBushKangaroo,we discover that Karen Hughes, the undersecretary for public diplomacy, has also stepped into the world of blogging and Youtube.
At Catallarchy, Brian Doss discusses the call for mandatory HPV vaccinations for girls.
ChocolateandZucchini can spice up your home cooking with a host of mouth-watering recipes.
Don’t forget your daily dose of humor, today via Bateman365.
Fun with photography at Dependable Renegade today, as always.
The Happy Feminist shares her thoughts on Porn.
And finally, what trip to the blogosphere would be complete without music?
-Diane
A new twist in the saga from Lindsay Beyerstein, of the blog Majikthise, as she shares her misgivings on the marriage of political bloggers with political campaigns as she details the offer made to her by the Edwards campaign. Up today at Salon, an offer she declined:
I don't remember who brought up Amanda Marcotte's name first. I said Marcotte was the best writer in the feminist blogosphere. If they wanted a high-profile feminist blogger, Amanda was the best.
Bob is a regular reader of Amanda's blog, Pandagon. We reminisced for a while about some classic brawls and blowups that had erupted at Pandagon.
"The thing you have to realize about Amanda is that she's got real enemies," I said. "We've all got trolls, but Amanda gets a whole different level of abuse."
I told Bob this story to give him some idea of the kind of seething hatred the campaign might have to deal with: The first time I heard Amanda on the radio, an angry caller phoned up to say, "You're Amanda Marcotte, and you're a clerical worker at the University of Texas at Austin." He had his facts wrong, but his message was clear. He was trying to get Amanda fired while leaving some darker threat hanging in the air. The host had to cut him off. Since that incident, at least one of Amanda's trolls had called her then-employer and tried unsuccessfully to get her fired.
I tried to suggest that the campaign might not want high-profile bloggers. I thought it might be better off hiring a well-connected political operative with good connections in the blogosphere.
Bob listened attentively, scribbling copious notes. I didn't feel I was making much headway. The Edwards team was obviously looking for the blogospheric equivalent of star power, but they weren't looking for another high-powered blogger/political consultant like Tim Tagaris or Matt Stoller. They wanted a charismatic audience-builder who could connect with readers who weren't political junkies.
I tried to explain this as delicately and clearly as I could: A-list polemicists are popular because they say things you don't hear on television. The blogosphere isn't just "The Situation Room" with swear words, it's a space for writers to explore ideas that are outside the bounds of mainstream discourse.
If you hire these larger-than-life personalities to blog for John Edwards, they'll have to stop espousing many of the radical policy positions and unconventional values that made them popular in the first place.
As Lindsay put it, there but for the grace of God...
The live-blogging of the trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby at Firedoglake where Jane Hamsher and Christy Harden detail the dismissal of the art curator juror this morning:
They will voir dire the juror in question, as well as all of the members of the jury to see what that juror saw and what, if any, impact it had in deliberations. It could be as innocuous as seeing a headline.
I'm wondering if this is a product of the Toensing nullification argument special in the WaPo, to be perfectly honest.
Once they go through the discussion with the jurors on the record, there will be some determination made as to whether or not there is a substantial impact on the jury deliberations — or whether there is cause for a mistrial. If a mistrial is declared, they will have to retry the whole case.
There was no mistrial, and the jury has returned to deliberations for the day.
Bits-n-Pieces:
Steve Gilliard of The News Blog is in the hospital this week, so do leave those well-wishes for a speedy recovery for him, and from all of us here at MiaCulpa “Get Well Soon!” Steve.
Via SkippytheBushKangaroo,we discover that Karen Hughes, the undersecretary for public diplomacy, has also stepped into the world of blogging and Youtube.
At Catallarchy, Brian Doss discusses the call for mandatory HPV vaccinations for girls.
ChocolateandZucchini can spice up your home cooking with a host of mouth-watering recipes.
Don’t forget your daily dose of humor, today via Bateman365.
Fun with photography at Dependable Renegade today, as always.
The Happy Feminist shares her thoughts on Porn.
And finally, what trip to the blogosphere would be complete without music?
-Diane
Labels: Round-up
3,155
The Toll.
In this photo released by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Rowan D. Walter, 25, of Winnetka, Calif., is shown. Pfc. Walter was one of three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers who died Friday, Feb. 23, 2007, of injuries suffered a day earlier when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Iraq, military officials said Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
In this photo released by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Travis W. Buford, 23, of Galveston, Texas, is shown. Pfc. Buford was one of three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers who died Friday, Feb. 23, 2007, of injuries suffered a day earlier when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Iraq, military officials said Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
In this photo released by the U.S. Army, Staff Sgt. Joshua R. Hager, 29, of Broomfield, Colo., is shown. Staff Sgt. Hager was one of three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers who died Friday, Feb. 23, 2007, of injuries suffered a day earlier when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Iraq, military officials said Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
-D.
In this photo released by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Rowan D. Walter, 25, of Winnetka, Calif., is shown. Pfc. Walter was one of three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers who died Friday, Feb. 23, 2007, of injuries suffered a day earlier when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Iraq, military officials said Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
In this photo released by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Travis W. Buford, 23, of Galveston, Texas, is shown. Pfc. Buford was one of three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers who died Friday, Feb. 23, 2007, of injuries suffered a day earlier when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Iraq, military officials said Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
In this photo released by the U.S. Army, Staff Sgt. Joshua R. Hager, 29, of Broomfield, Colo., is shown. Staff Sgt. Hager was one of three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers who died Friday, Feb. 23, 2007, of injuries suffered a day earlier when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Iraq, military officials said Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
-D.
Surge Monday
BAGHDAD, Iraq -
Iraq's Shiite vice president escaped an apparent assassination attempt Monday after a bomb exploded in municipal offices where he was making a speech, knocking him down with the force of the blast that left at least 10 people dead.
Adel Abdul-Mahdi was bruised and hospitalized for medical exams, an aide said. Police initially blamed the attack on a bomb-rigged car, but later said the explosives were apparently planted inside the building.
The attack sent another message that suspected Sunni militants could strike anywhere despite a major security crackdown across the capital.
Still no pony for StMcCain. But, he'll keep looking anyway.
-D.
Labels: Iraq
And the Oscar goes to...
An Inconvenient Truth. Congratulations, and thank-you President Gore.
-D.
Labels: Al Gore, Inconvenient Truth wins Oscar
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Rudy: Compassionate Conservatism in Action
Rudy Giuliani makes fun of a man with Parkinson's Disease.
-D.
Labels: Compassionate Conservatism, Rudy Giuliani
Everclear: Santa Monica
Swim out past the breakers, watch the world die.
-D.
Labels: Everclear, Music Video, SantaMonica
Must read.
Sy Hersh:
One contradictory aspect of the new strategy is that, in Iraq, most of the insurgent violence directed at the American military has come from Sunni forces, and not from Shiites. But, from the Administration’s perspective, the most profound—and unintended—strategic consequence of the Iraq war is the empowerment of Iran. Its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made defiant pronouncements about the destruction of Israel and his country’s right to pursue its nuclear program, and last week its supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on state television that “realities in the region show that the arrogant front, headed by the U.S. and its allies, will be the principal loser in the region.”
The rest is up at the New Yorker.
One contradictory aspect of the new strategy is that, in Iraq, most of the insurgent violence directed at the American military has come from Sunni forces, and not from Shiites. But, from the Administration’s perspective, the most profound—and unintended—strategic consequence of the Iraq war is the empowerment of Iran. Its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has made defiant pronouncements about the destruction of Israel and his country’s right to pursue its nuclear program, and last week its supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on state television that “realities in the region show that the arrogant front, headed by the U.S. and its allies, will be the principal loser in the region.”
The rest is up at the New Yorker.
Labels: Bush Administration, Iran, Sy Hersh
From President Gore's film 'An Inconvenient Truth.'
-D.
Labels: I need to wake up, Melissa Etheridge, Music Video
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb 25, 2007 (AP)— A suicide bomber struck Sunday outside a college campus in Baghdad, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens as a string of other blasts and rocket attacks left bloodshed around the city.
Most of the victims near the College of Business Administration and Economics were students, police said. At least 31 people were injured.
The wave of attacks came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki praised the progress of an ongoing U.S.-Iraqi security operation seeking to cripple militant factions and sectarian killings in the capital.
Desperate last throes.
-D.
Most of the victims near the College of Business Administration and Economics were students, police said. At least 31 people were injured.
The wave of attacks came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki praised the progress of an ongoing U.S.-Iraqi security operation seeking to cripple militant factions and sectarian killings in the capital.
Desperate last throes.
-D.
Labels: Iraq War
While Rome Burns, Nero Rides His Bike
Dozens of high-level officials joined in a White House drill yesterday to see how the government would respond if several cities were attacked simultaneously with bombs similar to those used against U.S. troops in Iraq.
White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend and the Homeland Security Council that she heads mapped out in advance a massive disaster involving improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. The attack targeted 10 U.S. cities, both large and small, at the same time, said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Townsend presided over the three-hour exercise, which brought the government's top homeland security officials to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House. All Cabinet agencies were represented by their secretaries or other high-ranking officials, with about 90 participants in all, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
Stanzel said the drill revealed gaps in the government's ability to respond, but also showed that there have been many improvements since Hurricane Katrina. The storm exposed federal inadequacies when it devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. For instance, coordination with state and local authorities and the ability to get federal resources in place quickly -- key missteps after Katrina -- appeared much better now, Stanzel said.
President Bush went on a bike ride yesterday morning and did not take part in the test.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
-D.
White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend and the Homeland Security Council that she heads mapped out in advance a massive disaster involving improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. The attack targeted 10 U.S. cities, both large and small, at the same time, said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Townsend presided over the three-hour exercise, which brought the government's top homeland security officials to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House. All Cabinet agencies were represented by their secretaries or other high-ranking officials, with about 90 participants in all, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
Stanzel said the drill revealed gaps in the government's ability to respond, but also showed that there have been many improvements since Hurricane Katrina. The storm exposed federal inadequacies when it devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. For instance, coordination with state and local authorities and the ability to get federal resources in place quickly -- key missteps after Katrina -- appeared much better now, Stanzel said.
President Bush went on a bike ride yesterday morning and did not take part in the test.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
-D.
Labels: Attack Drill, Bush Administration
Saturday, February 24, 2007
You go, Chicks
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Dixie Chicks are enjoying the benefits of being Grammy winners.
Nielsen SoundScan reports sales of the group's CD "Taking The Long Way" jumped by 714 percent in the week after the awards show. CD sales including digital albums totaled 103,000 the past week, compared to 13,000 the previous week.
-D.
Nielsen SoundScan reports sales of the group's CD "Taking The Long Way" jumped by 714 percent in the week after the awards show. CD sales including digital albums totaled 103,000 the past week, compared to 13,000 the previous week.
-D.
Labels: Dixie Chicks
Surge Saturday
(CBS/AP) A truck exploded Saturday as worshippers left a Sunni mosque in a city in a volatile area west of Baghdad, killing at least 35 people and wounding 62, local police said.
The blast occurred about 3:30 p.m. in Habbaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad, after prayer services at the mosque, which is adjacent to a police station, police officer Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said.
Habbaniyah lie between the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in the insurgent stronghold of Anbar province.
Ooh, yeah, sounds like they're getting desperate.
-D.
The blast occurred about 3:30 p.m. in Habbaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad, after prayer services at the mosque, which is adjacent to a police station, police officer Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said.
Habbaniyah lie between the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah in the insurgent stronghold of Anbar province.
Ooh, yeah, sounds like they're getting desperate.
-D.
Labels: Iraq War
Alberto "Toad" Gonzales Strikes Again...
An eighth U.S. attorney announced her resignation yesterday, the latest in a wave of forced departures of federal prosecutors who have clashed with the Justice Department over the death penalty and other issues.
Margaret Chiara, the 63-year-old U.S. attorney in Grand Rapids, Mich., told her staff that she was leaving her post after more than five years, officials said. Sources familiar with the case confirmed that she was among a larger group of prosecutors who were first asked to resign Dec. 7.
Chiara declined to comment on her departure, which is effective March 16. She will be replaced on an interim basis by Russell C. Stoddard, who recently joined the Grand Rapids office, officials said.
U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell, the chief judge in Michigan's Western District, said in an interview yesterday that Chiara has an excellent reputation in Grand Rapids.
"This is a very classy, distinguished, highly regarded public servant," said Bell, who was appointed to the bench during the Reagan administration. "She's one of the best United States attorneys we've had in this district, and all of my colleagues agree. . . . To have her suddenly disappear without warning catches us all flat-footed."
Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty told senators earlier this month that all but one of the prosecutors were fired for "performance-related" reasons.
After John Ashcroft I figured anyone would be an improvement. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Ashcroft...
~SSquirrel
Margaret Chiara, the 63-year-old U.S. attorney in Grand Rapids, Mich., told her staff that she was leaving her post after more than five years, officials said. Sources familiar with the case confirmed that she was among a larger group of prosecutors who were first asked to resign Dec. 7.
Chiara declined to comment on her departure, which is effective March 16. She will be replaced on an interim basis by Russell C. Stoddard, who recently joined the Grand Rapids office, officials said.
U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell, the chief judge in Michigan's Western District, said in an interview yesterday that Chiara has an excellent reputation in Grand Rapids.
"This is a very classy, distinguished, highly regarded public servant," said Bell, who was appointed to the bench during the Reagan administration. "She's one of the best United States attorneys we've had in this district, and all of my colleagues agree. . . . To have her suddenly disappear without warning catches us all flat-footed."
Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty told senators earlier this month that all but one of the prosecutors were fired for "performance-related" reasons.
After John Ashcroft I figured anyone would be an improvement. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Ashcroft...
~SSquirrel
Friday, February 23, 2007
Cheney on Pelosi, Again.
Dick Cheney:
"Al-Qaeda functions on the basis that they think they can break our will. That's their fundamental underlying strategy: that if they can kill enough Americans or cause enough havoc, create enough chaos in Iraq, then we'll quit and go home," Cheney added. "And my statement was that if we adopt the Pelosi policy, that then we will validate the strategy of al-Qaeda. I said it, and I meant it."
Um, can someone tell Dick that Nancy is in support of phased redeployment, with shifting the US primary role in Iraq to training the Iraqi troops to take control of their own county?
How is giving the Iraqi nation the real freedom 'we' claim we went there to give them validating the strategy of al-Qaeda?
I think Cheney has been globe-trotting around in that plane in the thin air of the upper-atmosphere too long. That, or he could be just a ... well, you know.
-D.
"Al-Qaeda functions on the basis that they think they can break our will. That's their fundamental underlying strategy: that if they can kill enough Americans or cause enough havoc, create enough chaos in Iraq, then we'll quit and go home," Cheney added. "And my statement was that if we adopt the Pelosi policy, that then we will validate the strategy of al-Qaeda. I said it, and I meant it."
Um, can someone tell Dick that Nancy is in support of phased redeployment, with shifting the US primary role in Iraq to training the Iraqi troops to take control of their own county?
How is giving the Iraqi nation the real freedom 'we' claim we went there to give them validating the strategy of al-Qaeda?
I think Cheney has been globe-trotting around in that plane in the thin air of the upper-atmosphere too long. That, or he could be just a ... well, you know.
-D.
Labels: Cheney
'Oh, *that* guy...
(AP) Officials are at a loss to explain how they allowed a homeless, mentally ill man accused of stealing a soda to languish in jail for 17 months.
Edward Perez's attorney, his court-appointed psychiatrist, the judge in his case and Lake County jail officials all apparently believed he had been released a year ago.
As if my opinion of the majority of the state of Indiana could get much lower.
-D.
Edward Perez's attorney, his court-appointed psychiatrist, the judge in his case and Lake County jail officials all apparently believed he had been released a year ago.
As if my opinion of the majority of the state of Indiana could get much lower.
-D.
Don't miss
For those who didn't catch the first edition yet of Raw Story's new Blog Report, including an interview I did with CrooksandLiars John Amato.
-D.
-D.
Labels: Raw Story Blog Report
QOTD
"Just because we volunteered for the military doesn't mean we volunteered to put our lives in unnecessary harm and to carry out missions that are illogical and immoral."
Marine Sgt. Liam Madden
-D.
Marine Sgt. Liam Madden
-D.
Labels: Iraq, QOTD, US Military
Emergency Anna Nicole Smith Update!!!
Still Dead...Uhhh...Just a second...Yep, really really dead.
Also some kind of misunderstanding going on in Iraq, or Iran, or maybe both...One of those icky places anyway...maybe it was Akron...
S(tacey)Squirrel
Also some kind of misunderstanding going on in Iraq, or Iran, or maybe both...One of those icky places anyway...maybe it was Akron...
S(tacey)Squirrel
More Ethics Violations in Ohio?
COLUMBUS - A former state senator may face criminal prosecution for allegedly contacting the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation about reducing his company's premium rates while he was serving in the state legislature.
Jeffry Armbruster, a Cleveland-area Republican, was served with a complaint in December from the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, two Statehouse sources said yesterday on the condition of anonymity. The panel consists of 12 legislators from the House and Senate - six Republicans and six Democrats.
Based on a preliminary investigation, Mr. Armbruster is accused of meeting with bureau officials at his Statehouse office to discuss the workers' compensation premium rate of his company, Armbruster Energy Stores, which operates a gasoline service station in Grafton.
The bureau reduced the rate that the firm paid in 2005 by 88 percent, a cut which continued in 2006, bureau spokesman Keary McCarthy said. He would not provide details, citing the investigation that the inspector general opened in November into the bureau granting premium rate cuts to some employers.
State law prohibits legislators from using their influence for personal gain.
Oops, time for another repub to head off to rehab.
-D.
Jeffry Armbruster, a Cleveland-area Republican, was served with a complaint in December from the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, two Statehouse sources said yesterday on the condition of anonymity. The panel consists of 12 legislators from the House and Senate - six Republicans and six Democrats.
Based on a preliminary investigation, Mr. Armbruster is accused of meeting with bureau officials at his Statehouse office to discuss the workers' compensation premium rate of his company, Armbruster Energy Stores, which operates a gasoline service station in Grafton.
The bureau reduced the rate that the firm paid in 2005 by 88 percent, a cut which continued in 2006, bureau spokesman Keary McCarthy said. He would not provide details, citing the investigation that the inspector general opened in November into the bureau granting premium rate cuts to some employers.
State law prohibits legislators from using their influence for personal gain.
Oops, time for another repub to head off to rehab.
-D.
Labels: Corrupt Repubs, Ethics violations, Ohio
Poverty Reaches 32-Year High
WASHINGTON - The percentage of poor Americans who are living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high, millions of working Americans are falling closer to the poverty line and the gulf between the nation's "haves" and "have-nots" continues to widen.
A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of 2005 census figures, the latest available, found that nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four with two children and an annual income of less than $9,903 - half the federal poverty line - was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than $5,080 a year.
The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That's 56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period. McClatchy's review also found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested that the rise in severely poor residents isn't confined to large urban counties but extends to suburban and rural areas.
I guess they haven't heard about our thriving economy. One of my worst fears is that we'll never return to even where we were before Bushco got into office. In fact, all of my fears are related to this administration's policies.
-D.
A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of 2005 census figures, the latest available, found that nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four with two children and an annual income of less than $9,903 - half the federal poverty line - was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than $5,080 a year.
The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That's 56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period. McClatchy's review also found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested that the rise in severely poor residents isn't confined to large urban counties but extends to suburban and rural areas.
I guess they haven't heard about our thriving economy. One of my worst fears is that we'll never return to even where we were before Bushco got into office. In fact, all of my fears are related to this administration's policies.
-D.
Labels: Poverty in the USA
They Did it Again
FOUR Iraqi soldiers have been charged with raping a woman in northern Iraq three days after similar allegations in Baghdad triggered a bitter political storm.
The mayor of Tal Afar, Brigadier General Najim Abdullah Al-Juburi, said he received a complaint from a local woman "a few days ago" and after a brief investigation had referred the troops to the judiciary for prosecution.
Brig-Gen Abdullah named the victim and described her as a married mother of 11 aged in her forties.
"We received a complaint from the citizen ... that a group of soldiers entered her house few days ago and raped her. They were four soldiers and one officer," Brig-Gen Abdullah said.
"One of the soldiers did not approve. His name is Mushtaq Taleb from Basra. He wanted to stop his mates by threatening them with weapons because it is an immoral act, but the rape took place anyway," he said.
Brig-Gen Abdullah said that a military panel headed by Major General Khorshid Salim, commander of the Iraq Army's 3rd Corps, had decided to press charges against the four attackers after investigating the incident.
Mr. Maliki won't like this.
The mayor of Tal Afar, Brigadier General Najim Abdullah Al-Juburi, said he received a complaint from a local woman "a few days ago" and after a brief investigation had referred the troops to the judiciary for prosecution.
Brig-Gen Abdullah named the victim and described her as a married mother of 11 aged in her forties.
"We received a complaint from the citizen ... that a group of soldiers entered her house few days ago and raped her. They were four soldiers and one officer," Brig-Gen Abdullah said.
"One of the soldiers did not approve. His name is Mushtaq Taleb from Basra. He wanted to stop his mates by threatening them with weapons because it is an immoral act, but the rape took place anyway," he said.
Brig-Gen Abdullah said that a military panel headed by Major General Khorshid Salim, commander of the Iraq Army's 3rd Corps, had decided to press charges against the four attackers after investigating the incident.
Mr. Maliki won't like this.
Labels: Iraq, Soldiers raping civilians
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Obama
While still not convinced 'he's the guy' for the job, Obama just went up exponentially in my book.
-D.
-D.
Labels: Obama on Iraq 2002
Next Excuse, Please.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney issued a rallying call on Friday not to abandon Iraq or other nations he said could provide a haven for terrorists, warning a defeat in Iraq would see violence spread in the Middle East.
"Having tasted victory in Iraq, the jihadists would look for new missions, " he said in a speech during a visit to Australia. "Many would head for Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban, others would set out for capitals across the Middle East."
Um, the terrorists have already gone into Afghanistan and other capitals across the globe, Preznit Cheney. I'm just sayin'...
-D.
"Having tasted victory in Iraq, the jihadists would look for new missions, " he said in a speech during a visit to Australia. "Many would head for Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban, others would set out for capitals across the Middle East."
Um, the terrorists have already gone into Afghanistan and other capitals across the globe, Preznit Cheney. I'm just sayin'...
-D.
Labels: Cheney, Iraq, War on Terror
Newsflash: HolyJoe might Turn Repug if the Dem Party doesn't support His War.
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut told the Politico Thursday that he has no immediate plans to switch parties, but suggested Democratic opposition to funding the war in Iraq might change his mind.
Lieberman, a self-styled independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has been among the strongest supporters of the war and President Bush’s plan to send another 21,500 combat troops into Iraq to help quell the violence there.
"I have no desire to change parties," Lieberman said in a telephone interview. "If that ever happens, it is because I feel the majority of Democrats have gone in a direction that I don't feel comfortable with."
Asked whether that hasn't already happened with Iraq, Lieberman said: "We will see how that plays out in the coming months," specifically how the party approaches the issue of continued funding for the war.
Poor HolyJoe. He doesn't want to do it. The people he supposedly represents don't want his war, Dems don't want his war, we're forcing the poor bastard to fess up and admit he's a Repug. Through and through a repug. WAMWATB.
-D.
Labels: Iraq War, SoreLoser Lieberman
Osama Who?
WASHINGTON -- Dozens of illegal immigrants employed by Rosenbaum-Cunningham International, Inc., a Nevada-based cleaning contractor, were taken into custody Thursday at 63 business locations in the following 18 states and the District of Columbia:
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
advertising
Illinois
Kansas
Maryland
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Maryland
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
No Osama, but now that the Janitors in 18 states(and the District of Columbia) are gone, life is going to be a lot dirtier here in the US of A.
-D.
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
advertising
Illinois
Kansas
Maryland
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Maryland
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
No Osama, but now that the Janitors in 18 states(and the District of Columbia) are gone, life is going to be a lot dirtier here in the US of A.
-D.
Labels: Detention, Homeland Security, ICE Raids, Immigrants
Rape, Pillage, Plunder, Repeat.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four Iraqi soldiers have been accused of raping a 50-year-old Sunni woman and the attempted rape of her two daughters in the second allegation of sexual assault leveled against Iraqi forces this week, an official said Thursday.
Brig. Gen. Nijm Abdullah said the attack allegedly occurred about 10 days ago in the northern city of Tal Afar during a search for weapons and insurgents.
A lieutenant and three enlisted men denied the charge but later confessed after they were confronted by the woman, a Turkoman. Abdullah said a fifth soldier suspected something was wrong, burst into the house and forced the others at gunpoint to stop the assault.
"They have been referred to the judicial authorities so they can receive their just punishment," said Abdullah, who effectively serves as mayor of the city.
A tribal leader from Tal Afar, Sheik Mohammed Khalil Hanash of the Hawyat clan, said the alleged attack took place on Feb. 8. He said the woman told him that the officer's only role was filming it with a cell phone video camera.
Jeezus. Will Maliki be able to keep up with those commendations?
-D.
Brig. Gen. Nijm Abdullah said the attack allegedly occurred about 10 days ago in the northern city of Tal Afar during a search for weapons and insurgents.
A lieutenant and three enlisted men denied the charge but later confessed after they were confronted by the woman, a Turkoman. Abdullah said a fifth soldier suspected something was wrong, burst into the house and forced the others at gunpoint to stop the assault.
"They have been referred to the judicial authorities so they can receive their just punishment," said Abdullah, who effectively serves as mayor of the city.
A tribal leader from Tal Afar, Sheik Mohammed Khalil Hanash of the Hawyat clan, said the alleged attack took place on Feb. 8. He said the woman told him that the officer's only role was filming it with a cell phone video camera.
Jeezus. Will Maliki be able to keep up with those commendations?
-D.
#9?
Baghdad - Another US helicopter has crashed in Iraq, Al-Arabiya television reports said Thursday.
The reports quoted witnesses as saying that a helicopter had crashed north of Baquba, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad. None of the crew were hurt, according to the reports.
If the US military command in Baghdad confirms the report, this would be the eighth helicopter lost by the US military in Iraq within the last month.
US General William Caldwell said that a helicopter attacked by insurgents north of Baghdad on Wednesday was hit by bullets and rocket-propelled grenades.
US media had recently reported that insurgents in Iraq had changed their tactics to step up rocket attacks on helicopters.
Baquba is a Sunni insurgent stronghold.
An Iraqi security source said Thursday that two British military bases in Basra, which has a predominantly Shiite population, had been bombarded with rocket-propelled grenades in the past 24 hours.
It's always good to hear there were no casualties, and it's another replacement $5.9 million dollar helicopter sale for Sikorsky, so it's all good, right?
-D.
The reports quoted witnesses as saying that a helicopter had crashed north of Baquba, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad. None of the crew were hurt, according to the reports.
If the US military command in Baghdad confirms the report, this would be the eighth helicopter lost by the US military in Iraq within the last month.
US General William Caldwell said that a helicopter attacked by insurgents north of Baghdad on Wednesday was hit by bullets and rocket-propelled grenades.
US media had recently reported that insurgents in Iraq had changed their tactics to step up rocket attacks on helicopters.
Baquba is a Sunni insurgent stronghold.
An Iraqi security source said Thursday that two British military bases in Basra, which has a predominantly Shiite population, had been bombarded with rocket-propelled grenades in the past 24 hours.
It's always good to hear there were no casualties, and it's another replacement $5.9 million dollar helicopter sale for Sikorsky, so it's all good, right?
-D.
Labels: Helicopter down, Iraq
Welcome to America
Now get in yer cell, kid:
TAYLOR, Tex. -- The day Mustafa Elmi turned 3 years old he had to report to his cell three times for headcount. To be able to get one hour of recreation inside a concrete compound sealed off by metal gates and razor wire he had to pin his picture ID to his uniform.
Such routines characterized Mustafa's life, as well as that of his mother, Bahjo Hosen, 26, during their first seven months in the United States, the country to which they fled to escape political persecution in their native Somalia. They ended up in the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, one of the nation's newest detention centers for illegal immigrants that the Department of Homeland Security touts as an "effective and humane alternative" to keep immigrant families together while they await the outcome of immigration court hearings or deportation.
Before the facility opened, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) routinely separated parents from their children upon apprehension by the Border Patrol. Infants and toddlers were placed in federally funded foster homes; adolescents and teenagers were placed in facilities for minors run by the Department of Health and Human Services; and parents were placed in adult detention centers.
Despite the change in policy, two national organizations decry the conditions at Hutto and have termed the facility "a penal detention model that is fundamentally anti-family and anti-American."
The center, which the DHS opened last May, is an unacceptable method "for addressing the reality of the presence of families in our immigration system," says a report written by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, in New York, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, in Baltimore, and scheduled for release Thursday.
"As a country that supports family values, we should not be treating immigrant families who have not committed a crime like criminals, particularly children," said Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
During a tour of Hutto this month, Gary Mead, the assistant director of ICE detention and removal operations, said the facility, which is operated under contract by the Corrections Corporation of America, averaged 380 to 420 detainees daily. That day, Hutto housed 180 children and 150 adults -- four-fifths of them mothers -- from 29 countries. Seventy-five families were being detained while they awaited the outcome of their political-asylum petitions.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
—Emma Lazarus, 1883
What an odd circle life becomes. So many of the native Indians of America greeted the immigrants from Europe with open arms. Then we slaughtered them. Has France asked for the statue back yet?
-D.
TAYLOR, Tex. -- The day Mustafa Elmi turned 3 years old he had to report to his cell three times for headcount. To be able to get one hour of recreation inside a concrete compound sealed off by metal gates and razor wire he had to pin his picture ID to his uniform.
Such routines characterized Mustafa's life, as well as that of his mother, Bahjo Hosen, 26, during their first seven months in the United States, the country to which they fled to escape political persecution in their native Somalia. They ended up in the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, one of the nation's newest detention centers for illegal immigrants that the Department of Homeland Security touts as an "effective and humane alternative" to keep immigrant families together while they await the outcome of immigration court hearings or deportation.
Before the facility opened, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) routinely separated parents from their children upon apprehension by the Border Patrol. Infants and toddlers were placed in federally funded foster homes; adolescents and teenagers were placed in facilities for minors run by the Department of Health and Human Services; and parents were placed in adult detention centers.
Despite the change in policy, two national organizations decry the conditions at Hutto and have termed the facility "a penal detention model that is fundamentally anti-family and anti-American."
The center, which the DHS opened last May, is an unacceptable method "for addressing the reality of the presence of families in our immigration system," says a report written by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, in New York, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, in Baltimore, and scheduled for release Thursday.
"As a country that supports family values, we should not be treating immigrant families who have not committed a crime like criminals, particularly children," said Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
During a tour of Hutto this month, Gary Mead, the assistant director of ICE detention and removal operations, said the facility, which is operated under contract by the Corrections Corporation of America, averaged 380 to 420 detainees daily. That day, Hutto housed 180 children and 150 adults -- four-fifths of them mothers -- from 29 countries. Seventy-five families were being detained while they awaited the outcome of their political-asylum petitions.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
—Emma Lazarus, 1883
What an odd circle life becomes. So many of the native Indians of America greeted the immigrants from Europe with open arms. Then we slaughtered them. Has France asked for the statue back yet?
-D.
Labels: Detention Camps, Immigrants
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Even if you don't care for Korn, it's a pretty cool video.
-D.
new link -SS
Labels: Freak on a Leash, Korn, Music Video
Oops, they did it again.
No, I don't mean the obvious -- that the Iraqis shot down another US helicopter -- I mean that the military lied to us again initially:
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A U.S. helicopter that crashed Wednesday north of Baghdad was shot down, the military said after initially stating that the chopper made a "hard landing.''
All aboard were safely evacuated by a second helicopter, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver.
"I can confirm that initial reports indicate that it was brought down by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades,'' Garver said, adding that the site had been secured.
Now we wait to see if those on board were in fact safely evacuated whilst still breathing.
-D.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A U.S. helicopter that crashed Wednesday north of Baghdad was shot down, the military said after initially stating that the chopper made a "hard landing.''
All aboard were safely evacuated by a second helicopter, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver.
"I can confirm that initial reports indicate that it was brought down by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades,'' Garver said, adding that the site had been secured.
Now we wait to see if those on board were in fact safely evacuated whilst still breathing.
-D.
Labels: Iraq
Maverick McCain, RIP.
Rolling Stone:
“I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history,” McCain said this weekend of a man whose prosecution of the war McCain had previously supported, resolutely. A man McCain said at Rummy’s retirement “deserves Americans’ respect and gratitude.”
Forget the kick-a-guy-after-he’s-been-run-over-by-a-train aspect of McCain’s remarks. McCain is clearly trying to distance himself from the failings of this war. As David Gergen put it to me recently: “John McCain’s fortunes are tied Iraq; he’s the tail to that kite now, because the president has embraced the McCain formula of more troops, and the probability is that this kite’s not going to fly very well.”
So Rummy makes a convenient scapegoat. But what chafes my hide is that McCain, alone among sitting senators not named Warner, could have been instrumental in forcing the president to remove Rumsfeld earlier. Years earlier. And yet John McCain offered instead his silent consent to Rummy’s historically incompetent leadership.
This is no longer a man of principle. This is a man so rapt by the idea of becoming The Decider that there is no ideological jujitsu he’s unwilling to perform to gain that power.
Indeed.
-D.
“I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history,” McCain said this weekend of a man whose prosecution of the war McCain had previously supported, resolutely. A man McCain said at Rummy’s retirement “deserves Americans’ respect and gratitude.”
Forget the kick-a-guy-after-he’s-been-run-over-by-a-train aspect of McCain’s remarks. McCain is clearly trying to distance himself from the failings of this war. As David Gergen put it to me recently: “John McCain’s fortunes are tied Iraq; he’s the tail to that kite now, because the president has embraced the McCain formula of more troops, and the probability is that this kite’s not going to fly very well.”
So Rummy makes a convenient scapegoat. But what chafes my hide is that McCain, alone among sitting senators not named Warner, could have been instrumental in forcing the president to remove Rumsfeld earlier. Years earlier. And yet John McCain offered instead his silent consent to Rummy’s historically incompetent leadership.
This is no longer a man of principle. This is a man so rapt by the idea of becoming The Decider that there is no ideological jujitsu he’s unwilling to perform to gain that power.
Indeed.
-D.
Labels: McCain
Deja Vu?
Ahhh...Little Ricky, still brings a little smile to my face...
-Weather? Peachy
-Champagne? Quite Chilly
-Hot Tub of Enlightenment and Mirth? A Perfect Crystal Clear 104 degrees
Dirty Filthy Hippies Welcomed(obviously), no monkeys...
~SSquirrel
Speaking of Celebrations...
If form holds, a host of pious pundits will step forward to bleat that this celebration is "mean-spirited." These are the same smarmy aunties who decry Bush hatred as "extreme" and "obsessive" and fatuously intone that Bush "appears to have driven some people on the left crazy." Rubbish. Those of us who will be celebrating will be giving thanks for the end of a president who launched a totally unnecessary and disastrous war, declared a radical new doctrine of limitless presidential power, threw gasoline on what was once a small jihadi fire, severely weakened the economy, approved of torture and domestic spying, let bin Laden get away, accelerated the destruction of the environment, bashed science, engaged in vicious illegal vendattas against his opponents, winked at gay-bashing, handed out tax breaks to billionaires, lied constantly, made the U.S. hated around the world, and did it all while talking loudly in public on his personal hotline to Jesus. And that's just the short list.
What's not to celebrate?
Waiting on the verdict...Singing "O Fitzmas three, O Fitzmas three"
~SSquirrel
Lookin' for Honor in all the Wrong Places
TOKYO (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday the United States wants to finish its mission in Iraq and "return with honor", despite the war's growing unpopularity at home and doubts among U.S. allies.
Sweet Jeezus, I guess we'll be there forever 'cause I doubt Cheney would know honor if it bit him on the ass.
-D.
Sweet Jeezus, I guess we'll be there forever 'cause I doubt Cheney would know honor if it bit him on the ass.
-D.
There's room.
Inside Iraq:
The price is not paid by those who made the decision and reaped the benefits, but by us.
Democracy and freedom for the Iraqi people!
I issue an invitation to Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.
Come; experience first hand the democracy you brought us.
Come; partake of the freedom you so generously taught us.
Come, I will offer you my home, there is room enough.
I had a brother. He was killed; coinage for your democracy. (11.Aug, 2005 – 52 yrs)
I had a son. He was killed; coinage for your freedom. (3 Dec, 2005 – 18 yrs)
I had a nephew. He was killed; coinage to ease your inflated ego. (12 Feb, 2007 – 30 yrs)
Come, there is room enough in my home to accommodate you; but there is no room in my heart to accommodate your lame excuses.
Come, all those who participated in wounding our hearts; come; there are more than half a million places vacant of their occupants, we will accommodate you.
There is room enough.
Compassionate conservatism winning hearts and minds all over the world.
-D.
The price is not paid by those who made the decision and reaped the benefits, but by us.
Democracy and freedom for the Iraqi people!
I issue an invitation to Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.
Come; experience first hand the democracy you brought us.
Come; partake of the freedom you so generously taught us.
Come, I will offer you my home, there is room enough.
I had a brother. He was killed; coinage for your democracy. (11.Aug, 2005 – 52 yrs)
I had a son. He was killed; coinage for your freedom. (3 Dec, 2005 – 18 yrs)
I had a nephew. He was killed; coinage to ease your inflated ego. (12 Feb, 2007 – 30 yrs)
Come, there is room enough in my home to accommodate you; but there is no room in my heart to accommodate your lame excuses.
Come, all those who participated in wounding our hearts; come; there are more than half a million places vacant of their occupants, we will accommodate you.
There is room enough.
Compassionate conservatism winning hearts and minds all over the world.
-D.
Labels: Iraq
Danes, too.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Denmark was expected to announce plans to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq at a news conference on Wednesday, Danish media reported.
One can only hope that as more allies refuse to stay involved in another nation's civil war, that it will be increasingly difficult for the administration(and his 2 fans)to make a case for US involvement in the debacle.
-D.
One can only hope that as more allies refuse to stay involved in another nation's civil war, that it will be increasingly difficult for the administration(and his 2 fans)to make a case for US involvement in the debacle.
-D.
Labels: Demark withdraws troops, Iraq
The House that Bush Built.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fired a top Sunni official Wednesday after he called for an international investigation into the rape allegations leveled by a Sunni Arab woman against three members of the Shiite-dominated security forces.
A statement by al-Maliki's office gave no reason in announcing the dismissal of Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour al-Samaraie, head of the Sunni Endowments. Al-Samaraie, whose organization cares for Sunni mosques and shrines in Iraq, had joined other prominent Sunnis in criticizing the government's handling of the case.
Al-Samaraie, speaking from Amman in neighboring Jordan, disputed al-Maliki's right to fire him, arguing that only Iraq's Presidential Council -- which comprises President Jalal Talabani and his two deputies -- has that authority.
He said the woman who made the rape allegations was one of many who had sexually assaulted by the security forces. ''Many girls are raped but they refuse to appear in the media so as not to tarnish their reputations,'' he said.
You build a democracy with the rapists you've got.
-D.
A statement by al-Maliki's office gave no reason in announcing the dismissal of Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour al-Samaraie, head of the Sunni Endowments. Al-Samaraie, whose organization cares for Sunni mosques and shrines in Iraq, had joined other prominent Sunnis in criticizing the government's handling of the case.
Al-Samaraie, speaking from Amman in neighboring Jordan, disputed al-Maliki's right to fire him, arguing that only Iraq's Presidential Council -- which comprises President Jalal Talabani and his two deputies -- has that authority.
He said the woman who made the rape allegations was one of many who had sexually assaulted by the security forces. ''Many girls are raped but they refuse to appear in the media so as not to tarnish their reputations,'' he said.
You build a democracy with the rapists you've got.
-D.
Labels: Iraq, The Rape of Sabine
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Genitalia
With all the furor in the internets over what have been described as potty-mouthed bloggers lately, I was reminded of an incident a few years back. There was a public news site that had a political discussion message board that I frequented from time to time using various 'handles' for posting comments. Anonymous posting was the norm, and during the holidays, several of us used different variations of the same word in our handles. I was posting as 'TinselTwat.'
To make a long, crazy story short, another poster became seemingly unglued over the name, and insisted that the word was the most vulgar word in all of colloquial English. I was completely baffled by the reaction, much as I am with everything that Amanda and Melissa were put through, and the repercussions that are still echoing throughout the tubes of the internets.
-D.
To make a long, crazy story short, another poster became seemingly unglued over the name, and insisted that the word was the most vulgar word in all of colloquial English. I was completely baffled by the reaction, much as I am with everything that Amanda and Melissa were put through, and the repercussions that are still echoing throughout the tubes of the internets.
-D.
Heckuva job, Shrub!
The War on Terror has radicalised Muslims around the world to unprecedented levels of anti-American feeling, according to the largest survey of Muslims ever to be conducted.
Seven per cent believe that the events of 9/11 were “completely justified”. In Saudi Arabia, 79 per cent had an “unfavourable view” of the US.
Gallup’s Centre for Muslim Studies in New York carried out surveys of 10,000 Muslims in ten predominantly Muslim countries. One finding was that the wealthier and better-educated the Muslim was, the more likely he was to be radicalised.
The war against non-Judeo-Christians is seen for exactly what it is.
-D.
Seven per cent believe that the events of 9/11 were “completely justified”. In Saudi Arabia, 79 per cent had an “unfavourable view” of the US.
Gallup’s Centre for Muslim Studies in New York carried out surveys of 10,000 Muslims in ten predominantly Muslim countries. One finding was that the wealthier and better-educated the Muslim was, the more likely he was to be radicalised.
The war against non-Judeo-Christians is seen for exactly what it is.
-D.
Labels: War on Terror
Constitution? How Many Republicans Signed That?
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that foreign-born prisoners seized as potential terrorists and held in Guantanamo Bay may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that civilian courts no longer have the authority to consider whether the military is illegally holding the prisoners — a decision that will strip court access for hundreds of detainees with cases currently pending.
"The arguments are creative but not cogent. To accept them would be to defy the will of Congress," wrote Judge A. Raymond Randolph in the 25-page opinion, which was joined by Judge David B. Sentelle. Both are Republican appointees to the federal bench.
"We're disappointed," said Shayana Kadidal of the Center for Constitutional Rights. "The bottom line is that according to two of the federal judges, the president can do whatever he wants without any legal limitations as long as he does it offshore."
Given that Judge Sentelle (who appointed and endlessly expanded Ken Starr's sordid little circle jerk) has never met a Republican politician he wouldn't bow down to and blow enthusiastically, this is just more kicking the can down the road. Still, I think it's time to start impeaching some of these judges. At the least it would be a good way to delay any hearing on Chimpy's parade of Fedaralist Society Fascists.
S(ister Mary)Squirrel
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that civilian courts no longer have the authority to consider whether the military is illegally holding the prisoners — a decision that will strip court access for hundreds of detainees with cases currently pending.
"The arguments are creative but not cogent. To accept them would be to defy the will of Congress," wrote Judge A. Raymond Randolph in the 25-page opinion, which was joined by Judge David B. Sentelle. Both are Republican appointees to the federal bench.
"We're disappointed," said Shayana Kadidal of the Center for Constitutional Rights. "The bottom line is that according to two of the federal judges, the president can do whatever he wants without any legal limitations as long as he does it offshore."
Given that Judge Sentelle (who appointed and endlessly expanded Ken Starr's sordid little circle jerk) has never met a Republican politician he wouldn't bow down to and blow enthusiastically, this is just more kicking the can down the road. Still, I think it's time to start impeaching some of these judges. At the least it would be a good way to delay any hearing on Chimpy's parade of Fedaralist Society Fascists.
S(ister Mary)Squirrel
The 9th Circle of Hell
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, seen here on 14 February, has dismissed allegations that police had raped a Sunni woman and ordered that the officers she accused be commended.(AFP/File/Mohammed Sawaf)
-D.
Labels: caption this photo, Rape of Sabine
A float depicting U.S. President George W. Bush being spanked by the Statue Of Liberty passes by during the Rose Monday carnival parade in Mainz, western Germany, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2007. Thousands of spectators attended the traditional street carnival parade in the state of Rhineland-Palatinates's capital. (AP Photo/Bernd Kammerer)
-D.
Labels: Photo
'Oogomadara' or tree nymph butterflies, the largest butterfly in Japan, gather on a hat worn by visitor Eri Mitsuyama at the Ryugujo Butterfly Garden in Motobu town on Japan's southern island of Okinawa February 16, 2007. The butterfly is attracted to the colour red and hair spray, a garden official said. REUTERS/Issei Kato (JAPAN)
-D.
Labels: Photo
Monday, February 19, 2007
From Baghdad
River writes:
They abducted her from her house in an area in southern Baghdad called Hai Al Amil. No- it wasn’t a gang. It was Iraqi peace keeping or security forces- the ones trained by Americans? You know them. She was brutally gang-raped and is now telling the story. Half her face is covered for security reasons or reasons of privacy. I translated what she said below.
“I told him, ‘I don’t have anything [I did not do anything].’ He said, 'You don’t have anything?’ One of them threw me on the ground and my head hit the tiles. He did what he did- I mean he raped me. The second one came and raped me. The third one also raped me. [Pause- sobbing] I begged them and cried, and one of them covered my mouth. [Unclear, crying] Another one of them came and said, 'Are you finished? We also want our turn.' So they answered, ‘No, an American committee came.’ They took me to the judge.
Anchorwoman: Sabrine Al Janabi said that one of the security forces videotaped/photographed her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the rape. Another officer raped her after she saw the investigative judge.
Sabrine continuing:
“One of them, he said… I told him, ‘Please- by your father and mother- let me go.’ He said, ‘No, no- by my mother’s soul I’ll let you go- but on one condition, you give me one single thing.’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘[I want] to rape you.’ I told him, ‘No- I can’t.’ So he took me to a room with a weapon… It had a weapon, a Klashnikov, a small bed [Unclear], he sat me on it. So [the officer came] and told him, ‘Leave her to me.’ I swore to him on the Quran, I told him, ‘By the light of the Prophet I don’t do such things…’ He said, ‘You don’t do such things?’ I said, ‘Yes’.
[Crying] He picked up a black hose, like a pipe. He hit me on the thigh. [Crying] I told him, ‘What do you want from me? Do you want me to tell you rape me? But I can’t… I’m not one of those ***** [Prostitutes] I don’t do such things.’ So he said to me, ‘We take what we want and what we don’t want we kill. That’s that.’ [Sobbing] I can’t anymore… please, I can’t finish.”
I look at this woman and I can’t feel anything but rage. What did we gain? I know that looking at her, foreigners will never be able to relate. They’ll feel pity and maybe some anger, but she’s one of us. She’s not a girl in jeans and a t-shirt so there will only be a vague sort of sympathy. Poor third-world countries- that is what their womenfolk tolerate. Just know that we never had to tolerate this before. There was a time when Iraqis were safe in the streets. That time is long gone. We consoled ourselves after the war with the fact that we at least had a modicum of safety in our homes. Homes are sacred, aren’t they? That is gone too.
And in conclusion:
Let me clear it up for any moron with lingering doubts: It’s worse. It’s over. You lost. You lost the day your tanks rolled into Baghdad to the cheers of your imported, American-trained monkeys. You lost every single family whose home your soldiers violated. You lost every sane, red-blooded Iraqi when the Abu Ghraib pictures came out and verified your atrocities behind prison walls as well as the ones we see in our streets. You lost when you brought murderers, looters, gangsters and militia heads to power and hailed them as Iraq’s first democratic government. You lost when a gruesome execution was dubbed your biggest accomplishment. You lost the respect and reputation you once had. You lost more than 3000 troops. That is what you lost America. I hope the oil, at least, made it worthwhile.
I weep. Jeebus weeps. StMcCain and HolyJoe want more.
-D.
They abducted her from her house in an area in southern Baghdad called Hai Al Amil. No- it wasn’t a gang. It was Iraqi peace keeping or security forces- the ones trained by Americans? You know them. She was brutally gang-raped and is now telling the story. Half her face is covered for security reasons or reasons of privacy. I translated what she said below.
“I told him, ‘I don’t have anything [I did not do anything].’ He said, 'You don’t have anything?’ One of them threw me on the ground and my head hit the tiles. He did what he did- I mean he raped me. The second one came and raped me. The third one also raped me. [Pause- sobbing] I begged them and cried, and one of them covered my mouth. [Unclear, crying] Another one of them came and said, 'Are you finished? We also want our turn.' So they answered, ‘No, an American committee came.’ They took me to the judge.
Anchorwoman: Sabrine Al Janabi said that one of the security forces videotaped/photographed her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the rape. Another officer raped her after she saw the investigative judge.
Sabrine continuing:
“One of them, he said… I told him, ‘Please- by your father and mother- let me go.’ He said, ‘No, no- by my mother’s soul I’ll let you go- but on one condition, you give me one single thing.’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘[I want] to rape you.’ I told him, ‘No- I can’t.’ So he took me to a room with a weapon… It had a weapon, a Klashnikov, a small bed [Unclear], he sat me on it. So [the officer came] and told him, ‘Leave her to me.’ I swore to him on the Quran, I told him, ‘By the light of the Prophet I don’t do such things…’ He said, ‘You don’t do such things?’ I said, ‘Yes’.
[Crying] He picked up a black hose, like a pipe. He hit me on the thigh. [Crying] I told him, ‘What do you want from me? Do you want me to tell you rape me? But I can’t… I’m not one of those ***** [Prostitutes] I don’t do such things.’ So he said to me, ‘We take what we want and what we don’t want we kill. That’s that.’ [Sobbing] I can’t anymore… please, I can’t finish.”
I look at this woman and I can’t feel anything but rage. What did we gain? I know that looking at her, foreigners will never be able to relate. They’ll feel pity and maybe some anger, but she’s one of us. She’s not a girl in jeans and a t-shirt so there will only be a vague sort of sympathy. Poor third-world countries- that is what their womenfolk tolerate. Just know that we never had to tolerate this before. There was a time when Iraqis were safe in the streets. That time is long gone. We consoled ourselves after the war with the fact that we at least had a modicum of safety in our homes. Homes are sacred, aren’t they? That is gone too.
And in conclusion:
Let me clear it up for any moron with lingering doubts: It’s worse. It’s over. You lost. You lost the day your tanks rolled into Baghdad to the cheers of your imported, American-trained monkeys. You lost every single family whose home your soldiers violated. You lost every sane, red-blooded Iraqi when the Abu Ghraib pictures came out and verified your atrocities behind prison walls as well as the ones we see in our streets. You lost when you brought murderers, looters, gangsters and militia heads to power and hailed them as Iraq’s first democratic government. You lost when a gruesome execution was dubbed your biggest accomplishment. You lost the respect and reputation you once had. You lost more than 3000 troops. That is what you lost America. I hope the oil, at least, made it worthwhile.
I weep. Jeebus weeps. StMcCain and HolyJoe want more.
-D.
Labels: Baghdad Burning, The Rape of Sabine
Yeah, but what are you?
This exchange during the Rumsfeld confirmation caught my eye in light of StMcCain's insistance today that Rummy was the worst secretary of defense *ever. Not that I disagree with that assessment, quite the contrary, but StMcCain attempts to paint himself as as maverick who has always been anti-Rummy, well that's not exactly so:
SEN. JOHN McCAIN: Recently the United States made a very significant investment in the problems in Colombia; largely, not totally, but largely unnoticed by Americans and their representatives. I take it from your answer that I have less-than-well-informed personal views which I'd prefer to discuss with the appropriate officials before taking a public position; is that you haven't paid as much attention to it as maybe other issues, as well?
DONALD RUMSFELD: That could be true. I haven't. I have not been to the country in years, and I know only basically what I know from the press, and...
SEN. JOHN McCAIN: You know that we've just invested about $1.3 billion in the last appropriations cycle?
DONALD RUMSFELD: That's my understanding.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN: And we're upgrading a base in Ecuador, which I found out-- perhaps I shouldn't admit this-- by looking at a newspaper.
DONALD RUMSFELD: I didn't know that.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN: There's a lot of things going on in Colombia, Mr. Secretary, and I hate to harken back to other conflicts, but I hope you'll get very well aware of this situation, what we're doing, what the involvement of U.S. military personnel is in the area, and what kind of investment, but more importantly, what goals we seek here -- because very frankly, I don't know the answer to those questions yet, and I think that at least those of us who sit on this committee should be much better informed, and I hope that the committee will start looking at this situation from an armed forces standpoint very quickly.
DONALD RUMSFELD: I will certainly invest the time needed to do that.
KWAME HOLMAN: McCain's wasn't the only question Rumsfeld wasn't yet prepared to answer. Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia complained about the current state of the Pentagon's financial books-- that it doesn't know how much it spends and how much things cost.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: How can we seriously consider a $50 billion increase in the defense budget when DOD's own auditors, when DOD's own auditors say that the Department cannot account for $2.3 trillion in transactions in one year alone? My question to you, Mr. Secretary, is what do you plan to do about this?
DONALD RUMSFELD: Decline the nomination. (Laughter)
KWAME HOLMAN: Rumsfeld did admit the problem could take a number of years to sort out. Meanwhile, the full Senate is scheduled to meet within hours of George W. Bush's swearing-in on January 20. Donald Rumsfeld will be among several cabinet nominees expected to receive overwhelming Senate approval at that time.
The room broke out in laughter, and the good Saint then voted to confirm Rumsfeld. That showed 'im, eh?
-D.
Labels: John McCain, Rumsfeld
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