This should be fun!
The Raw Story | DC madam says she may announce decision to distribute phone records:
In an email sent to supporters Friday, former DC madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey says she's considering releasing all the phone records provided to ABC News -- from 1993 to 2006.
[My lawyer] 'Mr. Sibley and I will be guests on 'Geraldo,' Saturday, June 23rd, Palfrey wrote in an email acquired by RAW STORY. 'The interview will be my first in a nationwide setting, since the 20/20 piece aired on May 4th.'"
Saturday, June 23, 2007
| Conyers admits Justice Dept. whistleblower website was 'premature' after GOP complaints
The Raw Story | Conyers admits Justice Dept. whistleblower website was 'premature' after GOP complaints:
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) altered the content of a website launched Wednesday to securely elicit reports of politicization of prosecutions from Justice Department staff.
The move came in response to complaints issued by his Republican counterparts on the House Judiciary Committee that the whistleblowers website was set up in violation of Congressional rules.
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) altered the content of a website launched Wednesday to securely elicit reports of politicization of prosecutions from Justice Department staff.
The move came in response to complaints issued by his Republican counterparts on the House Judiciary Committee that the whistleblowers website was set up in violation of Congressional rules.
Democrats plan to cut Cheney out of executive funding bill
Hoorah!
The Raw Story | Democrats plan to cut Cheney out of executive funding bill:
Following Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that his office is not a part of the executive branch of the US government, Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) plans to introduce an amendment to the the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill to cut funding for Cheney's office.
The amendment to the bill that sets the funding for the executive branch will be considered next week in the House of Representatives.
'The Vice President has a choice to make. If he believes his legal case, his office has no business being funded as part of the executive branch,' said Emanuel in a statement released to RAW STORY.
'However, if he demands executive branch funding he cannot ignore executive branch rules. At the very least, the Vice President should be consistent. This amendment will ensure that the Vice President's funding is consistent with his legal arguments.'
U.S. Government’s Own Official Web Site Lists Vice President's Office As Part Of "Executive Branch"
BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com: U.S. Government’s Own Official Web Site Lists Vice President's Office As Part Of "Executive Branch":
So now Dick Cheney is claiming his office is not an 'entity within the executive branch.'
Hmmm, Cheney had better inform USA.gov, about this startling development. It seems they've been misleading the public.
And what is USA.gov, you might ask?
I'll let the site speak for itself:
'As the U.S. government's official Web portal, USA.gov makes it easy for the public to get U.S. government information and services on the Web.'
USA.gov's 'Federal Executive Branch,' section includes information for the public about all the offices and departments that made up the Executive Branch. And right there, under the Executive Office of the President section is a helpful link to the Vice President's official home page.
So now Dick Cheney is claiming his office is not an 'entity within the executive branch.'
Hmmm, Cheney had better inform USA.gov, about this startling development. It seems they've been misleading the public.
And what is USA.gov, you might ask?
I'll let the site speak for itself:
'As the U.S. government's official Web portal, USA.gov makes it easy for the public to get U.S. government information and services on the Web.'
USA.gov's 'Federal Executive Branch,' section includes information for the public about all the offices and departments that made up the Executive Branch. And right there, under the Executive Office of the President section is a helpful link to the Vice President's official home page.
Terrorism is Worse Under GOP Regimes
No kidding!
The Existentialist Cowboy: Terrorism is Worse Under GOP Regimes:
So much so that one would think GOP regimes cause terrorism. According to FBI stats, terrorism has been worse under GOP regimes at least since 1980. Reagan's 'War on Terrorism' caused terrorism, or at least, made it worse. During a period of two years, terrorist attacks against the United States increased. [Source: Total Acts of Terrorism in the US 1980-98, America's Response to Terrorism, The Brookings Institution (Based on FBI Statistics)]
Some history is needed to put this all in context. Ronald Reagan ordered a US invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and, like Bush now, his invasion was premised upon what was politely called a 'deceitful pretext', in other words - a lie! The 'pretext' was that the PLO, called a terrorist organization, had shot the Israeli ambassador to London. In fact, the shooter may never have been a PLO member.
[Fading Illusions: D-Day and Reagan].
Watching Those We Chose: Rudy Giuliani
As we have said before, let Rudy win the Rethug nomination!
We can't wait.
We have got the goods on this bastard, so let 'er rip.
The man is a crook!
Watching Those We Chose: Rudy Giuliani, SSDW:
Rudy's tough guy image continues to enrapture the media but his creds don't support the hype. From Media Matters -- who took CNN's Frank Sesno to task for asserting that Giuliani was 'tough on crime, taxes, and spending' without checking the facts -- I gathered a few more sources on Rudy's fiscal record as NYC's mayor.
If President Rudy behaves like Mayor Giuliani, his not-so tough budgetary mis-leadership could dive the U.S. deeper into debt. Like Bush, Rudy doesn't walk the talk.
We can't wait.
We have got the goods on this bastard, so let 'er rip.
The man is a crook!
Watching Those We Chose: Rudy Giuliani, SSDW:
Rudy's tough guy image continues to enrapture the media but his creds don't support the hype. From Media Matters -- who took CNN's Frank Sesno to task for asserting that Giuliani was 'tough on crime, taxes, and spending' without checking the facts -- I gathered a few more sources on Rudy's fiscal record as NYC's mayor.
If President Rudy behaves like Mayor Giuliani, his not-so tough budgetary mis-leadership could dive the U.S. deeper into debt. Like Bush, Rudy doesn't walk the talk.
Justice is color-blind
Yeah, Right!
...and I'm a tomato
the talking dog: June 21, 2007, Justice is color-blind:
Such is the story we get from this WaPo piece documenting the sorry saga of one Bradley Schlozman, acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights of the United States Justice Department.
Schlozman removed a number of career attorneys from key civil rights functions. Those attorneys happened to be women of various ethnic minorities, only to be replaced by White males... to be fair, some of those women were Democrats... (and I understand one couldn't be trusted because she once voted for McCain). Traditionally, it was felt that 'diversity' in the government agency responsible for ensuring diversity elsewhere... is a good thing.
I point out that there is no law against replacing competent career professionals with incompetent partisan hacks in those positions that don't have civil service protection; it is, of course, 'icky', and traditionally not done. But then 'traditionally' we didn't lock up people without charge or trial the way dictatorships do, no did we?
And the second one actually is against the law, so nyah!
Starbucks barista or Iraqi cop? You decide
Jeebus!!!
Starbucks barista or Iraqi cop? You decide - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth:
It takes almost 7 days of training to become a Starbucks barista. But add just one more day and you can become a gun-toting member of the Iraqi police. From NPR:
For now, these men get only eight days of training and at the end of it, they get to keep their gun and their uniform.
Which explains why we read the following in the Washington Post last October:
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., predicted last week that Iraqi security forces would be able to take control of the country in 12 to 18 months. But several days spent with American units training the Iraqi police illustrated why those soldiers on the ground believe it may take decades longer than Casey's assessment....
Food Prices Increasing
Well, this was predictable!
How effing stupid can we get?
The Bonddad Blog: Food Prices Increasing:
The Big Picture calls it agflation. I think that's a really good title because it explains the concept very clearly and succinctly. The bottom line is food prices are in the news again:
May food prices rose 4.7% from a year earlier, according to the latest consumer price index. The cost of eating out rose only slightly less.
The Agriculture Department said consumer food prices will rise 3% to 4% this year, notably faster than last year's 2.3% gain.
Tighter world grain supplies on top of extra ethanol demand could send those numbers even higher.
That's straining some of the equilibrium in markets that are used to a little more wiggle room, analysts say.
'We could be adding to the mix a supply problem,' said Darin Newsom, a commodities analyst at DTN in Omaha, Neb. 'We could have both situations going on this summer where we have long-term demand change and the short-term supply problems. It could get very interesting over this summer until we get a better handle in late August or early September on what's actually been produced.'
How effing stupid can we get?
The Bonddad Blog: Food Prices Increasing:
The Big Picture calls it agflation. I think that's a really good title because it explains the concept very clearly and succinctly. The bottom line is food prices are in the news again:
May food prices rose 4.7% from a year earlier, according to the latest consumer price index. The cost of eating out rose only slightly less.
The Agriculture Department said consumer food prices will rise 3% to 4% this year, notably faster than last year's 2.3% gain.
Tighter world grain supplies on top of extra ethanol demand could send those numbers even higher.
That's straining some of the equilibrium in markets that are used to a little more wiggle room, analysts say.
'We could be adding to the mix a supply problem,' said Darin Newsom, a commodities analyst at DTN in Omaha, Neb. 'We could have both situations going on this summer where we have long-term demand change and the short-term supply problems. It could get very interesting over this summer until we get a better handle in late August or early September on what's actually been produced.'
Henry, stop being a wuss!
We are in the midst of a freakin' constitutional crisis!
When is someone going to start acting like it?
Henry, stop being a wuss! | Corrente:
"Come on! Don’t you get it:
Vice President Cheney’s office has refused to comply with an executive order governing the handling of classified information for the past four years and recently tried to abolish the office that sought to enforce those rules, according to documents released by a congressional committee yesterday.
Cheney’s office argued that it is exempt from the rules in this case because it is not strictly an executive branch agency. [although the President is!]
*Not anymore: The Preznit now says he is above such silly laws as well.
When is someone going to start acting like it?
Henry, stop being a wuss! | Corrente:
"Come on! Don’t you get it:
Vice President Cheney’s office has refused to comply with an executive order governing the handling of classified information for the past four years and recently tried to abolish the office that sought to enforce those rules, according to documents released by a congressional committee yesterday.
Cheney’s office argued that it is exempt from the rules in this case because it is not strictly an executive branch agency. [although the President is!]
*Not anymore: The Preznit now says he is above such silly laws as well.
The Blog Report
Pure Insanity!
Salon - The Blog Report - Home:
O'Reilly's version of 'serious' news: Fox News personality rejects war coverage, embraces news about Rosie and bear attacks - Fox’s Bill O’Reilly claims he doesn’t cover the war because explosions in Iraq “don’t mean anything.”
Instead, he covers topics that are “new” and “relevant to your life.”
This week, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann reviewed some of the “relevant” stories that O’Reilly has been exploring lately (like bear attacks and Playboy centerfolds). C&L has more.
Bush's Good and Evil BS
Nothing is that simple, except to a simpleton. Unfortunately, we have one in the White House.....
....and then there is his evil Dick.
Glenn Greenwald - Salon:
In virtually every speech and interview he has given, George Bush has made the same argument -- that we are in an epic battle in defense of Good against Evil and therefore must take every step possible to triumph. In large part, that is the mentality that has led to the excesses and abuses of the last six years.
In response to this morning's Salon excerpt, there are numerous comments objecting to (what is perceived to be) my argument, all of which are based on the assertion that George Bush does not sincerely believe in these moralistic premises, that his claimed evangelical beliefs are a sham, and that 'Good versus Evil' moralism is merely a rhetorical device to manipulate support for his policies.
The Face Of A NeoCon Psychopath
Is there any other kind?
Glenn Greenwald - Salon:
Neoconservative icon Norman Podhoretz followed up his Commentary article titled 'The case for bombing Iran' -- excerpts of which were re-published in The Wall St. Journal -- with an interview elaborating on why he 'hopes and prays' that we bomb Iran and how he envisions the bombings.
Though he generously acknowledges that such an action would likely 'unleash a wave of anti-Americanism all over the world that will make the anti-Americanism we've experienced so far look like a lovefest' -- consequences to which he is transparently (and revealingly) indifferent -- he goes on to suggest that Europeans and even the Muslim world might be grateful for our attack; the bombs will be greeted as Bombs of Liberation and Protection: Read On^
Glenn Greenwald - Salon:
Neoconservative icon Norman Podhoretz followed up his Commentary article titled 'The case for bombing Iran' -- excerpts of which were re-published in The Wall St. Journal -- with an interview elaborating on why he 'hopes and prays' that we bomb Iran and how he envisions the bombings.
Though he generously acknowledges that such an action would likely 'unleash a wave of anti-Americanism all over the world that will make the anti-Americanism we've experienced so far look like a lovefest' -- consequences to which he is transparently (and revealingly) indifferent -- he goes on to suggest that Europeans and even the Muslim world might be grateful for our attack; the bombs will be greeted as Bombs of Liberation and Protection: Read On^
We've all gone crazy lately...
Crooks and Liars:
It’s little wonder, then, that the White House seems to not only be hemorrhaging staff, but also suffering some morale trouble. (via TP)
When asked whether he was quitting the Bush administration because it would be good for his political future, Rob Portman, the outgoing budget director, replied: “It would be good for my mental health.” Although Mr Portman was joking, a growing list of officials have already acted on that impulse.
At least 20 senior aides have left important posts in the White House, Pentagon or State Department over the past six months, as chaos has deepened in Iraq. “There’s a real sense of fatigue and very little sense of purpose,” said a senior official, who asked not to be named.
It’s little wonder, then, that the White House seems to not only be hemorrhaging staff, but also suffering some morale trouble. (via TP)
When asked whether he was quitting the Bush administration because it would be good for his political future, Rob Portman, the outgoing budget director, replied: “It would be good for my mental health.” Although Mr Portman was joking, a growing list of officials have already acted on that impulse.
At least 20 senior aides have left important posts in the White House, Pentagon or State Department over the past six months, as chaos has deepened in Iraq. “There’s a real sense of fatigue and very little sense of purpose,” said a senior official, who asked not to be named.
Can the Dems find courage?
Crooks and Liars:
What’s Good For The Dick Is Good For The Shrub
By: Nicole Belle @ 6:45 AM - PDT
bush-cheney.jpg
RawStory:
“The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, President Bush’s office is exempt from a presidential order requiring government agencies that handle classified national security information to submit to oversight by an independent federal watchdog,” the Los Angeles Times will report Saturday[..]:
“The executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 covers all government agencies that are part of the executive branch and, although it doesn’t specifically say so, was not meant to apply to the vice president’s office or the president’s office, a White House spokesman said.
How much more is it gonna take, Dems?
Really, what is it gonna take? Mass murder in Nazi-like ovens?
The Democrats are becoming nothing but yellow-bellied cowards in my eyes. I think that the rest of the Lantern Brigade feels the same, according to the frustration I'm hearing on a daily basis.
There had better be a show of courage soon, or else!
You don't want to know what "else" is.
What’s Good For The Dick Is Good For The Shrub
By: Nicole Belle @ 6:45 AM - PDT
bush-cheney.jpg
RawStory:
“The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, President Bush’s office is exempt from a presidential order requiring government agencies that handle classified national security information to submit to oversight by an independent federal watchdog,” the Los Angeles Times will report Saturday[..]:
“The executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 covers all government agencies that are part of the executive branch and, although it doesn’t specifically say so, was not meant to apply to the vice president’s office or the president’s office, a White House spokesman said.
How much more is it gonna take, Dems?
Really, what is it gonna take? Mass murder in Nazi-like ovens?
The Democrats are becoming nothing but yellow-bellied cowards in my eyes. I think that the rest of the Lantern Brigade feels the same, according to the frustration I'm hearing on a daily basis.
There had better be a show of courage soon, or else!
You don't want to know what "else" is.
No surprise here: Good Luck Michael
We love ya
By: Nicole Belle @ 11:01 AM - PDT
ThinkProgress:
For his damaging exposé of the health care industry, (SiCKO filmmaker Michael) Moore is now under attack from front groups supported and funded by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. The New York Sun reports:
The pharmaceutical industry and think tanks it backs financially are readying a multifaceted counteroffensive against Michael Moore’s film about the health care industry. […]
The drug companies and their allies have been on their toes ever since the movie was being filmed, when they warned personnel to watch out for film crews from the “Fahrenheit 9/11″ director. But in advance of the film’s release, they are upping the volume and the tempo of their activities.
And it’s not limited to Michael Moore either. The 9/11 first responders that Moore took to Cuba in a pivotal scene in the movie are worried that they’ll be persecuted as well.
By: Nicole Belle @ 11:01 AM - PDT
ThinkProgress:
For his damaging exposé of the health care industry, (SiCKO filmmaker Michael) Moore is now under attack from front groups supported and funded by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. The New York Sun reports:
The pharmaceutical industry and think tanks it backs financially are readying a multifaceted counteroffensive against Michael Moore’s film about the health care industry. […]
The drug companies and their allies have been on their toes ever since the movie was being filmed, when they warned personnel to watch out for film crews from the “Fahrenheit 9/11″ director. But in advance of the film’s release, they are upping the volume and the tempo of their activities.
And it’s not limited to Michael Moore either. The 9/11 first responders that Moore took to Cuba in a pivotal scene in the movie are worried that they’ll be persecuted as well.
>>>: 70 reasons to doubt...
>>>: 70 reasons to doubt...: "70 reasons to doubt...
DISTURBING FACTS ABOUT THE 9/11 ATTACKS
John Doraemi
1. The president of the United States, when informed that a second plane had struck the World Trade Center, continued to read about a pet goat.
2. This same president was moved from his high rise hotel in Genoa Italy two months previously for security reasons, because of a known al Qaeda plot for hijacking and 'crashing an airliner into the Genoa summit of industrialized nations.' The assumption in July 2001 was that there existed a plot that 'terrorists would try to crash a plane to kill Bush and other leaders' (LA Times, 9-27-01)."
DISTURBING FACTS ABOUT THE 9/11 ATTACKS
John Doraemi
1. The president of the United States, when informed that a second plane had struck the World Trade Center, continued to read about a pet goat.
2. This same president was moved from his high rise hotel in Genoa Italy two months previously for security reasons, because of a known al Qaeda plot for hijacking and 'crashing an airliner into the Genoa summit of industrialized nations.' The assumption in July 2001 was that there existed a plot that 'terrorists would try to crash a plane to kill Bush and other leaders' (LA Times, 9-27-01)."
70 reasons to doubt...
Please do read on
>>>: 70 reasons to doubt...:
1. The president of the United States, when informed that a second plane had struck the World Trade Center, continued to read about a pet goat.
2. This same president was moved from his high rise hotel in Genoa Italy two months previously for security reasons, because of a known al Qaeda plot for hijacking and 'crashing an airliner into the Genoa summit of industrialized nations.' The assumption in July 2001 was that there existed a plot that 'terrorists would try to crash a plane to kill Bush and other leaders' (LA Times, 9-27-01).
3. The Secret Service did not secure the president, even though his location was publicly disclosed in the press for days before the school photo op on 9/11. This was a break in standard operating procedures that left the president vulnerable in the middle of a purported 'attack' on America.
4. NORAD has told three different and conflicting stories explaining why no jet fighters intercepted any of the four hijacked airliners.
People to Bush, the GOP and the Congress: the Constitution is not Negotiable
Please do read on:
The Existentialist Cowboy: People to Bush, the GOP and the Congress: the Constitution is not Negotiable:
"Congressional Memorandum: Summary of Prima Facie Evidence of Treason
A Summary of the threshold of prima facie evidence is as follows.
I. The attacks of 9/11, as portrayed in the official account, could not have succeeded if standard operating procedures between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NORAD had been followed. The Pentagon, under the leadership of Donald Rumsfeld, has provided three mutually inconsistent accounts of NORAD’s response, which means that at least two of them are false. Moreover, the third account, articulated by the 9/11 Commission, is contradicted by a wide range of facts, including evidence that the FAA had notified NORAD in a timely fashion. There must have been stand-down orders, and these could have come only from the highest levels of the Pentagon and the White House.
People to Bush, the GOP and the Congress: the Constitution is not Negotiable
The Existentialist Cowboy: People to Bush, the GOP and the Congress: the Constitution is not Negotiable:
Saturday, June 23, 2007
People to Bush, the GOP and the Congress: the Constitution is not Negotiable
The polls don't lie. Bush is neck and neck with Nixon for the monicker America's most hated 'President'. But Congress fares even worse. Congressional Democrats didn't get the memo: the people want the war against Iraq to end and they want it to end now; the Constitution is not negotiable; and, finally, it's stupid to create dictatorship in America while claiming that we are fighting for Democracy in Iraq. Democrats might have been in a better position but for the cave-in on funding Bush's tar baby to the tune of $100 billion. Democrats will pay the price for having made a Faustian bargain.
Bush defies Congress and the people with his every signing statement yet Congress seems strangely acquiescent. What reason have we to expect that Bush will suddenly stop defying Congress and the people? And, if he should be impeached, what reason have we to believe he will leave willingly?
The situation is surreal if not unprecedented. Although Bush enjoys the support of only about 28 percent of the American people, he faces no real Congressional opposition. What gives? I am more angry with Democrats than with the GOP.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
People to Bush, the GOP and the Congress: the Constitution is not Negotiable
The polls don't lie. Bush is neck and neck with Nixon for the monicker America's most hated 'President'. But Congress fares even worse. Congressional Democrats didn't get the memo: the people want the war against Iraq to end and they want it to end now; the Constitution is not negotiable; and, finally, it's stupid to create dictatorship in America while claiming that we are fighting for Democracy in Iraq. Democrats might have been in a better position but for the cave-in on funding Bush's tar baby to the tune of $100 billion. Democrats will pay the price for having made a Faustian bargain.
Bush defies Congress and the people with his every signing statement yet Congress seems strangely acquiescent. What reason have we to expect that Bush will suddenly stop defying Congress and the people? And, if he should be impeached, what reason have we to believe he will leave willingly?
The situation is surreal if not unprecedented. Although Bush enjoys the support of only about 28 percent of the American people, he faces no real Congressional opposition. What gives? I am more angry with Democrats than with the GOP.
Hillary's tone-deaf campaign
FU LA Times: We like the theme song
Hillary's tone-deaf campaign - Los Angeles Times:
I mean the votes from the Clinton campaign's YouTube 'pick our theme song' contest. And, in case you missed this major national event, the winning song was 'You and I,' by Celine Dion.
Clinton staffers have declared the 'pick our theme song' contest a resounding success. And who knows what her wacky campaign will do next? Maybe Clinton will soon have YouTube viewers select her campaign's strategy for ending Iraq's civil war or reducing greenhouse gases. If she's going to base her decisions on the lowest common denominator, Clinton could just eliminate her cadre of overcompensated consultants and pollsters and go straight to YouTube for all her policy needs.
And Celine Dion really is the lowest common denominator. If the SAT's analogies section tested politics and pop culture, even the dimmest teenager would agree that 'Hillary Clinton: Politics = Celine Dion: Music.' Both Clinton and Dion have enjoyed astounding career success. Both showed early talent but are now widely accused of being sellouts. Dion's interesting, edgy early songs were replaced, during her bid for superstardom, by trite and formulaic crowd pleasers; Clinton's interesting, edgy early policy positions were replaced, during her bid for elected office, by trite and formulaic crowd pleasers.
Hillary's tone-deaf campaign - Los Angeles Times:
I mean the votes from the Clinton campaign's YouTube 'pick our theme song' contest. And, in case you missed this major national event, the winning song was 'You and I,' by Celine Dion.
Clinton staffers have declared the 'pick our theme song' contest a resounding success. And who knows what her wacky campaign will do next? Maybe Clinton will soon have YouTube viewers select her campaign's strategy for ending Iraq's civil war or reducing greenhouse gases. If she's going to base her decisions on the lowest common denominator, Clinton could just eliminate her cadre of overcompensated consultants and pollsters and go straight to YouTube for all her policy needs.
And Celine Dion really is the lowest common denominator. If the SAT's analogies section tested politics and pop culture, even the dimmest teenager would agree that 'Hillary Clinton: Politics = Celine Dion: Music.' Both Clinton and Dion have enjoyed astounding career success. Both showed early talent but are now widely accused of being sellouts. Dion's interesting, edgy early songs were replaced, during her bid for superstardom, by trite and formulaic crowd pleasers; Clinton's interesting, edgy early policy positions were replaced, during her bid for elected office, by trite and formulaic crowd pleasers.
Bush claims oversight exemption too
IMPEACH THESE BASTARDS NOW!
Bush claims oversight exemption too - Los Angeles Times:
WASHINGTON — The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney's office, President Bush's office is not allowing an independent federal watchdog to oversee its handling of classified national security information.
An executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 — amending an existing order — requires all government agencies that are part of the executive branch to submit to oversight. Although it doesn't specifically say so, Bush's order was not meant to apply to the vice president's office or the president's office, a White House spokesman said.
The issue flared Thursday when Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) criticized Cheney for refusing to file annual reports with the federal National Archives and Records Administration, for refusing to spell out how his office handles classified documents, and for refusing to submit to an inspection by the archives' Information Security Oversight Office.
The archives administration has been pressing the vice president's office to cooperate with oversight for the last several years, contending that by not doing so, Cheney and his staff have created a potential national security risk.
Bush claims oversight exemption too - Los Angeles Times:
WASHINGTON — The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney's office, President Bush's office is not allowing an independent federal watchdog to oversee its handling of classified national security information.
An executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 — amending an existing order — requires all government agencies that are part of the executive branch to submit to oversight. Although it doesn't specifically say so, Bush's order was not meant to apply to the vice president's office or the president's office, a White House spokesman said.
The issue flared Thursday when Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) criticized Cheney for refusing to file annual reports with the federal National Archives and Records Administration, for refusing to spell out how his office handles classified documents, and for refusing to submit to an inspection by the archives' Information Security Oversight Office.
The archives administration has been pressing the vice president's office to cooperate with oversight for the last several years, contending that by not doing so, Cheney and his staff have created a potential national security risk.
'There Is No Law'
Just what we have been saying...
There Is No Law':
"'You are in a place where there is no law--we are the law.' That's what US military intelligence officers told Hadj Boudella, a Guantánamo detainee, according to his lawyer, Robert Kirsch. On February 20 a divided federal circuit court in Washington, DC, appeared to back the views of the intelligence officers. It ruled that the 2006 Military Commissions Act had eliminated habeas corpus jurisdiction over lawsuits by Guantánamo detainees and that the Constitution requires no judicial review, even if the detainees are held there for the rest of their lives. If the 2-to-1 decision is affirmed by the Supreme Court, all pending lawsuits regarding the indefinite detention of 'enemy combatants' at Guantánamo will be dismissed.
In Praise of Red Tape
In Praise of Red Tape
Is there any figure in American political discourse more reviled than the bureaucrat? Say the word and a potent caricature leaps to mind: the petty and shiftless paper pusher who wields his small amount of power with malice and caprice. Whatever the issue--from school reform to overhauling the nation's intelligence apparatus--the bureaucrat is on the wrong side of it.
It's slander with a long pedigree--Cicero called the bureaucrat 'the most despicable' of men, 'petty, dull, almost witless...a holder of little authority in which he delights, as a boy delights in possessing a vicious dog'--but in the last forty years, conservatives have converted this casual contempt into an ideological fixture. Since as far back as the Goldwater campaign, the American right has generally found that 'the government' is too abstract an entity for most people to actively loathe. It's far more effective to demonize the people who execute its daily functions. Bureaucrats are to conservatives what the bourgeoisie was to Marx: an oppressive class of joyless knaves.
Is there any figure in American political discourse more reviled than the bureaucrat? Say the word and a potent caricature leaps to mind: the petty and shiftless paper pusher who wields his small amount of power with malice and caprice. Whatever the issue--from school reform to overhauling the nation's intelligence apparatus--the bureaucrat is on the wrong side of it.
It's slander with a long pedigree--Cicero called the bureaucrat 'the most despicable' of men, 'petty, dull, almost witless...a holder of little authority in which he delights, as a boy delights in possessing a vicious dog'--but in the last forty years, conservatives have converted this casual contempt into an ideological fixture. Since as far back as the Goldwater campaign, the American right has generally found that 'the government' is too abstract an entity for most people to actively loathe. It's far more effective to demonize the people who execute its daily functions. Bureaucrats are to conservatives what the bourgeoisie was to Marx: an oppressive class of joyless knaves.
Romney aide takes leave amid probes -
Are they all crooks or worse?
Romney aide takes leave amid probes - Yahoo! News:
BOSTON - An ever-present aide to Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney took a leave of absence Friday after he became the subject of investigations in two states for allegedly impersonating a law enforcement officer. His attorney denied the charges.
Jay Garrity, who serves as director of operations and is constantly at the side of the former Massachusetts governor, is accused of leaving a lengthy message with the answering service of a plumbing company on Mother's Day, identifying himself as 'Trooper Garrity' of the Massachusetts State Police and complaining about erratic driving by a company driver.
The district attorney in Boston is investigating the call, which was tape recorded by an after-hours operator. Impersonating an officer is a misdemeanor charge carrying a fine of up to $400 and one year imprisonment.
Cars will use less fuel, Senate assures - Yahoo! News
'bout time.
But too little too late
Cars will use less fuel, Senate assures - Yahoo! News:
WASHINGTON - The cars, SUVS and pickups people will buy in the years ahead are likely to use less fuel, and many will rely on ethanol or household electricity instead of gasoline.
The energy legislation pushed through the Senate this week provides a roadmap to the future, demanding higher automobile fuel economy, mandating huge increases in ethanol as a motor fuel and supporting more research into building 'plug-in' hybrid-electric vehicles.
While Senate Republicans complained that the bill does nothing to increase domestic oil production, Democrats said that's because the nation must move energy policy away from its heavy reliance on oil.
The House is preparing its own version.
But too little too late
Cars will use less fuel, Senate assures - Yahoo! News:
WASHINGTON - The cars, SUVS and pickups people will buy in the years ahead are likely to use less fuel, and many will rely on ethanol or household electricity instead of gasoline.
The energy legislation pushed through the Senate this week provides a roadmap to the future, demanding higher automobile fuel economy, mandating huge increases in ethanol as a motor fuel and supporting more research into building 'plug-in' hybrid-electric vehicles.
While Senate Republicans complained that the bill does nothing to increase domestic oil production, Democrats said that's because the nation must move energy policy away from its heavy reliance on oil.
The House is preparing its own version.
Conyers Grills Deputy Attorney General McNultyTranscript Greg Palast
Conyers Grills Deputy Attorney General McNultyTranscript Greg Palast:
Conyers Grills Deputy Attorney General McNulty
Transcript
Published June 21st, 2007 in Articles
June 21, 2007
Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
Hearing on: The Continuing Investigation into the U.S. Attorneys Controversy and Related Matters
Transcript:
McNulty: … and the second has to do with the caging issue. And there it’s a rather simple issue of where she’s challenging my testimony. Senator Schumer asked me about an allegation involving Tim Griffin and a practice known as caging. And I said that I was aware of an article on that subject. But I didn’t and here is my quote ‘I didn’t know anything about it personally’, and that’s perfectly true. I didn’t know anything about it personally. The night before my hearing I was given an article and a short explanation and I did not have an opportunity to read those things, I knew about the existence of the issue, and I therefore did not wanna testify about a matter that I did not know about personally. And I just said that at the time.
Rep. Conyers: Thank you Madam Chair. Now you never, did you just say you didn’t know anything about caging?
Conyers Grills Deputy Attorney General McNulty
Transcript
Published June 21st, 2007 in Articles
June 21, 2007
Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
Hearing on: The Continuing Investigation into the U.S. Attorneys Controversy and Related Matters
Transcript:
McNulty: … and the second has to do with the caging issue. And there it’s a rather simple issue of where she’s challenging my testimony. Senator Schumer asked me about an allegation involving Tim Griffin and a practice known as caging. And I said that I was aware of an article on that subject. But I didn’t and here is my quote ‘I didn’t know anything about it personally’, and that’s perfectly true. I didn’t know anything about it personally. The night before my hearing I was given an article and a short explanation and I did not have an opportunity to read those things, I knew about the existence of the issue, and I therefore did not wanna testify about a matter that I did not know about personally. And I just said that at the time.
Rep. Conyers: Thank you Madam Chair. Now you never, did you just say you didn’t know anything about caging?
Attorney General Curses Reporter Outside Obama Event
We've all gone crazy lately....
ttorney General Curses Reporter Outside Obama Event:
EW YORK" Ohio's chief law enforcer was caught on tape cursing a reporter outside a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama because of an article about a woman Dann raised as his daughter landing a state job.
Attorney General Marc Dann, a Youngstown Democrat, was headed into the fundraiser Wednesday when he spotted Warren Tribune Chronicle reporter Steve Oravecz and shouted, 'Hey Steve, write this down: Go (expletive) yourself!'
Dann and Oravecz declined to comment on Friday.
Television station WYTV caught the swearing on camera and posted it online.
ttorney General Curses Reporter Outside Obama Event:
EW YORK" Ohio's chief law enforcer was caught on tape cursing a reporter outside a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama because of an article about a woman Dann raised as his daughter landing a state job.
Attorney General Marc Dann, a Youngstown Democrat, was headed into the fundraiser Wednesday when he spotted Warren Tribune Chronicle reporter Steve Oravecz and shouted, 'Hey Steve, write this down: Go (expletive) yourself!'
Dann and Oravecz declined to comment on Friday.
Television station WYTV caught the swearing on camera and posted it online.
GALLUP: Only 29% Say U.S. Winning War on Terrorism -- Lowest Number Since 9/11
The war on an extreme emotional state is bogus!
ALLUP: Only 29% Say U.S. Winning War on Terrorism -- Lowest Number Since 9/11:
NEW YORK A new Gallup Poll reveals that fewer than 3 in 10 Americans saying the United States is winning the war on terror -- the lowest figure since the 9/11 attacks.
Further, while most Americans consider the war in Afghanistan part of the war on terror, more than half reject the idea that the war in Iraq is.
Results of the June 11-14 national survey of 1,007 adults find that that 29% of Americans say the United States is winning, while 20% say the terrorists are winning and 50% say neither side. Independents and Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to doubt U.S. progress, but even so only 53% of Republicans feel we have the upper hand.
Concerning Iraq, 43% say it is part of war on terrorism but 53% reject this notion.
ALLUP: Only 29% Say U.S. Winning War on Terrorism -- Lowest Number Since 9/11:
NEW YORK A new Gallup Poll reveals that fewer than 3 in 10 Americans saying the United States is winning the war on terror -- the lowest figure since the 9/11 attacks.
Further, while most Americans consider the war in Afghanistan part of the war on terror, more than half reject the idea that the war in Iraq is.
Results of the June 11-14 national survey of 1,007 adults find that that 29% of Americans say the United States is winning, while 20% say the terrorists are winning and 50% say neither side. Independents and Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to doubt U.S. progress, but even so only 53% of Republicans feel we have the upper hand.
Concerning Iraq, 43% say it is part of war on terrorism but 53% reject this notion.
Impeach Bush For Peace » March of the People Commences
Good on You Guys!
Impeach Bush For Peace » March of the People Commences:
Mario Penalver worked on his walking stick among other preparations that went late into the night Wednesday and into the early dawn of Thursday, June 21st as friend and accomplished artist Sergio Quinones put the finishing touches on a graphic on the recently acquired support van.
First Day marchers Bruce Berry and Mikael Rudolph, Mario, his father Ovideo and Russ Christensen came together for a photograph before Mikael and Ovideo headed back after about ten miles of walking along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive - the first street in the nation named after the famed preacher and activist who led thousands to protest in the March on Washington in 1963.
Impeach Bush For Peace » March of the People Commences:
Mario Penalver worked on his walking stick among other preparations that went late into the night Wednesday and into the early dawn of Thursday, June 21st as friend and accomplished artist Sergio Quinones put the finishing touches on a graphic on the recently acquired support van.
First Day marchers Bruce Berry and Mikael Rudolph, Mario, his father Ovideo and Russ Christensen came together for a photograph before Mikael and Ovideo headed back after about ten miles of walking along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive - the first street in the nation named after the famed preacher and activist who led thousands to protest in the March on Washington in 1963.
Army officer says Gitmo panels flawed
No shit, Sherlock, thanks for stepping up, years late.
Better late than never, eh?
Army officer says Gitmo panels flawed - Yahoo! News:
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - An Army officer with a key role in the U.S. military hearings at Guantanamo Bay says they relied on vague and incomplete intelligence and were pressured to declare detainees 'enemy combatants,' often without any specific evidence.
His affidavit, released Friday, is the first criticism by a member of the military panels that determine whether detainees will continue to be held.
Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, a 26-year veteran of military intelligence who is an Army reserve officer and a California lawyer, said military prosecutors were provided with only 'generic' material that didn't hold up to the most basic legal challenges.
Despite repeated requests, intelligence agencies arbitrarily refused to provide specific information that could have helped either side in the tribunals, according to Abraham, who said he served as a main liaison between the Combat Status Review Tribunals and those intelligence agencies.
Corporate Media Entertains but Fails to Inform
Sorry, we don't usually find them all that entertaining; just a huge insult to our intelligence and we'll be glad when they are all in soup kitchen lines.
Peter Phillips and Kate Sims: Corporate Media Entertains but Fails to Inform | BuzzFlash.org:
Paris Hilton's Symptoms Said to be from Prescription Drug Withdrawal,' was the headline news on the Fox News Channel on June 13, 2007. This was the 56th headline on Paris Hilton covered by Fox in the previous 30 days. Even The New York Times got in on the Paris Hilton hoopla with a front-page story June 9 entitled 'Celebrity Justice Cuts Both Ways for Paris Hilton.'
Regular readers of Project Censored are familiar with our annual list of Junk Food News -- in which we select a list of the dumbest, least important, most overplayed stories of the year. Almost certainly, the incarceration of Paris Hilton will feature prominently in next year's Junk Food edition, but it will have to wait until then to be considered.
Meanwhile, here are the Junk Food News stories of Project Censored's annual April-to-April listing for 2006-07:
House Parties for 9/11 Truth
Count us in.
Until the truth comes out about 9/11, nothing will ever make sense.
House Parties for 9/11 Truth | Democrats.com:
From our friends at 911pressfortruth.com:
Congressman Dennis Kucinich has just announced that he will begin holding new hearings into 9/11 beginning in September because 'the Commission Final Report... never resolved certain conflicts.' The acclaimed film 9/11 Press For Truth details those conflicts like no other movie has, featuring five members of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee (the small group of victim's relatives who forced the creation of the 9/11 Commission), who revealed for the first time in the movie that '70% of our questions' were not answered by the Final Report.
In response to Kucinich's announcement, the makers of 9/11 Press For Truth are launching of a new campaign to bring about real answers for the September 11th families -- and a brand new web site at 911PressForTruth.com.
From August 3rd - 12th, a coalition of organizations will join forces to host 'Answers For 9/11 Families' week. Hundreds of Americans will come together at house parties across the country to screen 9/11 Press For Truth, telling the powerful story of the September 11th families' continuing fight for answers.
What Giuliani gets away with
Making huge amounts of money off murder?
TheHill.com - What Giuliani gets away with:
Back on June 18, Newsday broke what should be a highly damaging story about former New York mayor and current presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. It turns out that Giuliani was originally one of the members of the congressionally chartered Iraq Study Group (aka the Baker-Hamilton commission) that brought forward its findings late last year.
This wasn’t a secret. There were press reports about it at the time. And at least a few press mentions when Giuliani left the commission and was replaced by Reagan-era worthy Ed Meese.
What wasn’t known was just how it all went down. According to the Newsday story, two months into the commission’s work, Giuliani had failed to show up to a single meeting. That got him a talking-to from lead Republican commission member James Baker. Either do the work, Baker told him, or you’re off the commission. But Giuliani apparently had booked too many high-priced speaking engagements and he just didn’t have the time. So he resigned from commission in May 2006.
Giuliani memo cites ‘tightening’ race
Again we say, Rudy is a joke.
TheHill.com - Giuliani memo cites ‘tightening’ race:
A top strategist for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani acknowledged in a memo Friday that the race for the GOP presidential nomination has been tightening and will continue to tighten over the summer. But he maintained that Giuliani’s leadership and issue positions make him the top candidate.
Giuliani Strategy Director Brent Seaborn wrote in the memo that former Sen. Fred Thompson’s (R-Tenn.) likely entry into the Republican field makes for a four-candidate top tier and will make things crowded at the top of the polls.
He also cites an ABC/Washington Post poll that shows Giuliani as the leader of the field when voters are asked who is “closest to you on the issues.”
Questions about Giuliani’s viability among the conservative base as a pro-abortion rights and pro-gun control candidate have dogged his front-running campaign early in the election. While not explicitly mentioning the social issues, the memo makes the case that more Republicans agree with Giuliani than pundits think.
TheHill.com - Giuliani memo cites ‘tightening’ race:
A top strategist for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani acknowledged in a memo Friday that the race for the GOP presidential nomination has been tightening and will continue to tighten over the summer. But he maintained that Giuliani’s leadership and issue positions make him the top candidate.
Giuliani Strategy Director Brent Seaborn wrote in the memo that former Sen. Fred Thompson’s (R-Tenn.) likely entry into the Republican field makes for a four-candidate top tier and will make things crowded at the top of the polls.
He also cites an ABC/Washington Post poll that shows Giuliani as the leader of the field when voters are asked who is “closest to you on the issues.”
Questions about Giuliani’s viability among the conservative base as a pro-abortion rights and pro-gun control candidate have dogged his front-running campaign early in the election. While not explicitly mentioning the social issues, the memo makes the case that more Republicans agree with Giuliani than pundits think.
White House contempt
Amen!
Hold then in contempt. Do something!
Let the constitutional showdown n begin!!!
TheHill.com - White House contempt:
House Judiciary Committee Democrats warned yesterday they would pursue a contempt of Congress motion if the White House fails respond to subpoenas for testimony and documents related to the firings of U.S. attorneys last year.
The deadline for a response is Thursday, June 28. If the White House does not comply, it opens the possibility of a constitutional showdown between the two branches. In an ironic twist, the Department of Justice (DoJ) would be called on to enforce the contempt motion.
During yesterday’s testimony by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, panel Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) asked McNulty whether he would enforce such a motion. McNulty responded that he would recuse himself from handling such matters because of an internal DoJ investigation into the U.S. attorneys matter.
One of the contempt motions would likely be directed at Presidential Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, to whom the subpoena for documents was addressed, according to a Democratic aide.
Hold then in contempt. Do something!
Let the constitutional showdown n begin!!!
TheHill.com - White House contempt:
House Judiciary Committee Democrats warned yesterday they would pursue a contempt of Congress motion if the White House fails respond to subpoenas for testimony and documents related to the firings of U.S. attorneys last year.
The deadline for a response is Thursday, June 28. If the White House does not comply, it opens the possibility of a constitutional showdown between the two branches. In an ironic twist, the Department of Justice (DoJ) would be called on to enforce the contempt motion.
During yesterday’s testimony by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, panel Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) asked McNulty whether he would enforce such a motion. McNulty responded that he would recuse himself from handling such matters because of an internal DoJ investigation into the U.S. attorneys matter.
One of the contempt motions would likely be directed at Presidential Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, to whom the subpoena for documents was addressed, according to a Democratic aide.
The Dick: Un-freakin'-believable
If impeachment hearings to not begin soon, the U.S. will, indeed, be a lawless land.
David Corn:
The following press release sent out today by Representative Henry Waxman is almost unbelievable.
The Oversight Committee has learned that over the objections of the National Archives, Vice President Cheney exempted his office from the presidential order that establishes government-wide procedures for safeguarding classified national security information. The Vice President asserts that his office is not an 'entity within the executive branch.'
As described in a letter from Chairman Waxman to the Vice President, the National Archives protested the Vice President's position in letters written in June 2006 and August 2006. When these letters were ignored, the National Archives wrote to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in January 2007 to seek a resolution of the impasse. The Vice President's staff responded by seeking to abolish the agency within the Archives that is responsible for implementing the President's executive order.
Conyers Slams Gonzales’ Deputy Over Voter Caging Greg Palast
He should be slammed up-side the head with a 2x4, just like the old mule, to get his attention, don't ya know..
Conyers Slams Gonzales’ Deputy Over Voter Caging Greg Palast:
Congressman John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, grilled Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty on voter caging. Conyers forced McNulty to reveal that he had, in his original briefing papers, an article by Greg Palast about the attack on Black voters yet did nothing about it.
Read the Transcript ^
Listen to the exchange here and watch this space for more information.^
Envoy: Tehran open to nuclear compromise
Envoy: Tehran open to nuclear compromise - Yahoo! News:
VIENNA, Austria - Key U.S. allies are debating the idea of a nuclear compromise with Iran that would call for only a partial freeze of Tehran's uranium enrichment program — a stance that could put them at odds with Washington, officials said Friday.
The officials — U.S. and European diplomats and government employees — told The Associated Press that the deliberations among senior British, French and German decision-makers were only preliminary and that no conclusions had been drawn.
Germany was supportive, France opposed and Britain noncommittal, they said.
'Nothing is on paper,' said one European diplomat, describing the tentative plan as a 'freeze for peace.'
VIENNA, Austria - Key U.S. allies are debating the idea of a nuclear compromise with Iran that would call for only a partial freeze of Tehran's uranium enrichment program — a stance that could put them at odds with Washington, officials said Friday.
The officials — U.S. and European diplomats and government employees — told The Associated Press that the deliberations among senior British, French and German decision-makers were only preliminary and that no conclusions had been drawn.
Germany was supportive, France opposed and Britain noncommittal, they said.
'Nothing is on paper,' said one European diplomat, describing the tentative plan as a 'freeze for peace.'
How the People May Bring Criminal Charges Against Bush
This could be a winner, eh?
The Existentialist Cowboy: How the People May Bring Criminal Charges Against Bush: "
The people themselves may petition a court to convene a grand jury to investigate Bush's corrupt administration. Such a panel will have the power of the subpoena and the indictment.
It's not just 911 that such a panel might investigate. An overwhelming number of those favoring Bush's impeachment say that there is 'plenty' to warrant Bush's removal from the office he seized.
But, given the recalcitrance of Congress, how are 'the people' to proceed? I recommend the following handbook for the would-be activist: Facts About Grand Juries
Cheney Defiant on Classified Material
Does this not put the nation's security at risk?
Cheney Defiant on Classified Material - washingtonpost.com:
Vice President Cheney's office has refused to comply with an executive order governing the handling of classified information for the past four years and recently tried to abolish the office that sought to enforce those rules, according to documents released by a congressional committee yesterday.
Since 2003, the vice president's staff has not cooperated with an office at the National Archives and Records Administration charged with making sure the executive branch protects classified information. Cheney aides have not filed reports on their possession of classified data and at one point blocked an inspection of their office. After the Archives office pressed the matter, the documents say, Cheney's staff this year proposed eliminating it.
Meet the New Bosses
It was bound to happen.
The major bloggers, the big guns, so to speak, did however, go the way of their predecessors in a relatively short period of time.
We don't have any bosses around here. No one tells us what we can write, when or about whom. Very little is out-of-bounds.
We like it like that. The true revolution will be leaderless for the most part. That is at it should be, at this point in our history.
Meet the New Bosses:
Last June, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, former soldier, one-time Reagan Republican, and proprietor of the wildly successful liberal blog Daily Kos, sent an email to an invitation-only listserv known as Townhouse. Consisting of some 300 liberal bloggers, journalists, activists, and consultants, the list was an outgrowth of weekly strategy sessions held at a D.C. bar—a forum for brainstorming on issues and tactics, and a means of creating a 'unified message,' as Moulitsas later put it. Its members were bound by one main rule: Nothing from the list was to be quoted or distributed, which, this being politics, meant that a leak was bound to happen.
The major bloggers, the big guns, so to speak, did however, go the way of their predecessors in a relatively short period of time.
We don't have any bosses around here. No one tells us what we can write, when or about whom. Very little is out-of-bounds.
We like it like that. The true revolution will be leaderless for the most part. That is at it should be, at this point in our history.
Meet the New Bosses:
Last June, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, former soldier, one-time Reagan Republican, and proprietor of the wildly successful liberal blog Daily Kos, sent an email to an invitation-only listserv known as Townhouse. Consisting of some 300 liberal bloggers, journalists, activists, and consultants, the list was an outgrowth of weekly strategy sessions held at a D.C. bar—a forum for brainstorming on issues and tactics, and a means of creating a 'unified message,' as Moulitsas later put it. Its members were bound by one main rule: Nothing from the list was to be quoted or distributed, which, this being politics, meant that a leak was bound to happen.
What to Do About Joe?
How about a big whopping does of Haldol and a padded cell?
What to Do About Joe?:
Listening to Senator Joseph Lieberman ☼ these days, it's difficult to believe that this is the man who was once Al Gore's running mate and not some Pioneer or Ranger or Mis-adventurer raising money for the Bush-Cheney campaign.
The Washington Post chronicled the Senator's recent 'Jomentum' as he continues to carry water for the neocons, touting 'evidence' to support an attack on Iran last Sunday on Face The Nation (and again on Friday); opposing the vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto 'R. for Recall' Gonzales; telling CNN that the surge in Iraq 'has worked'; and telling Fox News that 'he was more in sync with ‘the leading Republican candidates for the presidential nomination,' especially on ‘Islamist extremist terrorism,' which he called ‘the defining issue of our time.''
"Republicans Begin to Cannibalize Their Own"
Let's all celebrate the feast!
Hoorah!
The Progressive Daily Beacon: "Republicans Begin to Cannibalize Their Own":
A. Alexander, June 22nd, 2007
They're called cannibals for a reason. They eat people. And, so it would seem, when they're hungry they eat their own.
At least that is what is happening in the Republican Party. And, of course, by now everyone knows 'Republican' is synonymous with 'cannibal.' Okay fine, in fairness to Republicans they don't literally eat their own, at least it hasn't been officially documented; but of late and in a very real, albeit only in the political sense, they've taken to consuming the flesh of their fellows.
It wasn't that long ago, just last week, that every Jack Abramoff bought-n-paid-for Republican was salivating like a Pavlovian dog awaiting to make an appearance on one of the radical right-wing's many radio propagandist programs. Inside-the-beltway Republican politicians had even taken to commandeering nonsensical lines and policy positions that were created or advocated by the most nutty and extreme among the radio propagandists.
For all intents and purposes, it appeared to be an electoral match made in heaven.
Then, in 2006, the Republicans were routed from Congressional control and the party and became about as popular as Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter at an evangelical revival.
Don’t Veto, Don’t Obey
I think we should all issue signing statements. Anyone of us knows more about the law than Junior does.
We shall start with the following:
Number 1: We do not recognize the Bush administration as legitimate. This statement stems from the fact that the very Supreme court ruling that put them in the White House was, itself, unconstitutional, in that it applied only to Bush v. Gore and no other case. The Supremes are not suppose to rule on just one single case and not have their ruling apply to all similar ones, because it is their job to rule on the law itself, not individual cases..
So much for the 2000 election.
We won't even get into election 2004, for the moment, but we all know what happened in Ohio and Florida and several Western states.
The point being, we do not recognize the Bush administration as being the legitimate leaders of this country.
Don’t Veto, Don’t Obey - New York Times:
President Bush is notorious for issuing statements taking exception to hundreds of bills as he signs them. This week, we learned that in a shocking number of cases, the Bush administration has refused to enact those laws. Congress should use its powers to insist that its laws are obeyed.
The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan arm of Congress, investigated 19 provisions to which Mr. Bush objected. It found that six of them, or nearly a third, have not been implemented as the law requires. The G.A.O. did not investigate some of the most infamous signing statements, like the challenge to a ban on torture. But the ones it looked into are disturbing enough.
Precedents Begin to Fall for Roberts Court - New York Times
Stare Decisis my Stare ass.
These two will change everything they can, including Roe V. Wade, which will, unfortunately, not stop abortions. But it will create jobs, for back alley abortion practitioners, while the well-to do just go to Canada or Switzerland or somewhere.
Just simply making something illegal doesn't stop it, especially when the people see how little their own leaders think of the law.
Precedents Begin to Fall for Roberts Court - New York Times:
Both Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. assured their Senate questioners at their confirmation hearings that they, too, respected precedent. So why were they on the majority side of a 5-to-4 decision last week declaring that a 45-year-old doctrine excusing people whose “unique circumstances” prevented them from meeting court filing deadlines was now “illegitimate”?
It was the second time the Roberts court had overturned a precedent, and the first in a decision with a divided vote. It surely will not be the last.
These two will change everything they can, including Roe V. Wade, which will, unfortunately, not stop abortions. But it will create jobs, for back alley abortion practitioners, while the well-to do just go to Canada or Switzerland or somewhere.
Just simply making something illegal doesn't stop it, especially when the people see how little their own leaders think of the law.
Precedents Begin to Fall for Roberts Court - New York Times:
Both Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. assured their Senate questioners at their confirmation hearings that they, too, respected precedent. So why were they on the majority side of a 5-to-4 decision last week declaring that a 45-year-old doctrine excusing people whose “unique circumstances” prevented them from meeting court filing deadlines was now “illegitimate”?
It was the second time the Roberts court had overturned a precedent, and the first in a decision with a divided vote. It surely will not be the last.
CIA Skeletons, The Mortal Sins of Dick Cheney, The Nobility Of Al Gore
And where will that get us?
Why focus on the CIA skeletons of yesteryear. when we have plenty today, falling out of every agency of government, to keep us busy for the next 25 years.?
Methinks this is another Bushite misdirectioon.
The Hill’s Pundit Blog » CIA Skeletons, The Mortal Sins of Dick Cheney, The Nobility Of Al Gore:
Soon, CIA Director Michael Hayden will release documents that describe major misdeeds of the CIA in darker days, after General Antonio Taguba went public in The New Yorker with charges of an Abu Ghraib cover-up.
A great and noble debate will begin in America. Revelations about past and current misdeeds will bring into focus what went wrong in the Iraq war, and why opponents of these policies are voices of American patriotism.
Why focus on the CIA skeletons of yesteryear. when we have plenty today, falling out of every agency of government, to keep us busy for the next 25 years.?
Methinks this is another Bushite misdirectioon.
The Hill’s Pundit Blog » CIA Skeletons, The Mortal Sins of Dick Cheney, The Nobility Of Al Gore:
Soon, CIA Director Michael Hayden will release documents that describe major misdeeds of the CIA in darker days, after General Antonio Taguba went public in The New Yorker with charges of an Abu Ghraib cover-up.
A great and noble debate will begin in America. Revelations about past and current misdeeds will bring into focus what went wrong in the Iraq war, and why opponents of these policies are voices of American patriotism.
Bush pick for No. 3 at Justice withdraws
Leahy nails it.
Mercer didn't want to testify under oath, again.
Bush pick for No. 3 at Justice withdraws - Yahoo! News:
Bill Mercer sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales saying it was unlikely that the Senate would confirm him as associate attorney general, a post he has held on an interim basis since September. He plans to leave Washington and turn his full attention to his work as U.S. attorney for Montana.
'With no clear end in sight with respect to my nomination, it is untenable for me to pursue both responsibilities and provide proper attention to my family,' Mercer wrote.
The Judiciary Committee had scheduled a hearing on Mercer's nomination for Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the committee had said senators needed the facts from an investigation into the firings of several federal prosecutors before he could be confirmed.
'The White House has found many ways to keep sunlight from reaching some of the darker corners of the Bush Justice Department, but this is a new one,' Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement. 'With a confirmation hearing looming next Tuesday, they have withdrawn this nomination to avoid having to answer more questions under oath.'
Mercer is the sixth senior Justice Department official to leave the tight-knit circle of Gonzales' advisers in the wake of the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last December.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Conyers seeks Contempt of Congress against White House
Fat chance that the Bushites will give in on this one.
Be prepared to go all the way to the Supremes.
Conyers seeks Contempt of Congress against White House:
Showdown at the DC Corral via The Hill
House Judiciary Committee Democrats warned yesterday they would pursue a contempt of Congress motion if the White House fails respond to subpoenas for testimony and documents related to the firings of U.S. attorneys last year.
The deadline for a response is Thursday, June 28. If the White House does not comply, it opens the possibility of a constitutional showdown between the two branches. In an ironic twist, the Department of Justice (DoJ) would be called on to enforce the contempt motion.
Be prepared to go all the way to the Supremes.
Conyers seeks Contempt of Congress against White House:
Showdown at the DC Corral via The Hill
House Judiciary Committee Democrats warned yesterday they would pursue a contempt of Congress motion if the White House fails respond to subpoenas for testimony and documents related to the firings of U.S. attorneys last year.
The deadline for a response is Thursday, June 28. If the White House does not comply, it opens the possibility of a constitutional showdown between the two branches. In an ironic twist, the Department of Justice (DoJ) would be called on to enforce the contempt motion.
The New 1% Doctrine
Excellent!
So, when are we going to, somehow, hold them accountable.
It had better be damned soon, or the economic collapse will become evident, and all hell will break lose.
Oh well, maybe things have become so bad that nothing short of external American outrage can hope to bring back justice.
The New 1% Doctrine:
As far as I can tell, the Hindenburg pilots masquerading as our executive branch have two goals for media management on Iraq.
First and foremost, they must convince us that we are facing a viable and imminent existential threat.
But of no less importance, they must also demonstrate that they and they alone can guarantee our collective salvation. Of course, one can’t but help notice that such aims are mutually exclusive – with the success of one, our naked emperor loses the other by default.
Yet balanced efficiently, Jonestown the American people have historically proven willing to cede virtually unlimited authority. Anyone caught paying attention will have noticed an administration quite adept at maintaining such an equilibrium.
Sure, it was rocky there for a while with Iraq galloping toward civil war, but it seems our darling Machiavelli’s have found a way to accomplish both aims in one swoop – arrest some flaming idiots and call them terrorists (deepest apologies to Signore Machiavelli for comparing him to our president).
Do You Ever Hear Voices?
Interesting and worth a moment or so of contemplation
Do You Ever Hear Voices?:
On June 13, 2007, on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert interviewed the author of Muses, Madmen and Prophets, Daniel B. Smith who spoke about how hearing voices is not always psychotic and could actually be a good thing.
I began to 'hear voices' shortly after I began the practice of lectio-divinia/holy reading, in the year 2000, which was two years after beginning the practice of Centering Prayer as outlined by Father Michael Keating.
The 'voices' speak to me in scripture verses, except for 'DO SOMETHING!' which has been the most persistent and loudest, and began the second I looked into the eyes of George, a little boy of Bethlehem.
Violent Rhetoric About The Clintons Falls On Deaf Ears At Secret Service---But Watch What You Say About Bush
It's vile, is what it is.
BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com: Violent Rhetoric About The Clintons Falls On Deaf Ears At Secret Service---But Watch What You Say About Bush: "
By MARC McDONALD
Right-wing nutcase Michael Graham's latest controversy---in which he said he wanted to see someone 'whack' the Clintons in a Sopranos spoof isn't the first time he's used violent rhetoric when discussing the Clintons. In 2003, Graham said of Hillary Clinton: 'I wanted to bludgeon her with a tire iron.'
Such inflammatory language is nothing new for the right-wing. Recall how Ann Coulter once wrote that the debate over Bill Clinton should be about 'whether to impeach or assassinate.'
Recall also the comment by Jesse Helms in 1994: 'Mr. Clinton better watch out if he comes down here. He'd better have a bodyguard.'
Or G. Gordon Liddy's comment in 1995, when discussing how he'd used stick figures of the Clintons for target practice. 'Thought it might improve my aim,' he said.
I guess the right-wing nut-cases excuse the above inflammatory comments as 'humor.'
BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com: Violent Rhetoric About The Clintons Falls On Deaf Ears At Secret Service---But Watch What You Say About Bush: "
By MARC McDONALD
Right-wing nutcase Michael Graham's latest controversy---in which he said he wanted to see someone 'whack' the Clintons in a Sopranos spoof isn't the first time he's used violent rhetoric when discussing the Clintons. In 2003, Graham said of Hillary Clinton: 'I wanted to bludgeon her with a tire iron.'
Such inflammatory language is nothing new for the right-wing. Recall how Ann Coulter once wrote that the debate over Bill Clinton should be about 'whether to impeach or assassinate.'
Recall also the comment by Jesse Helms in 1994: 'Mr. Clinton better watch out if he comes down here. He'd better have a bodyguard.'
Or G. Gordon Liddy's comment in 1995, when discussing how he'd used stick figures of the Clintons for target practice. 'Thought it might improve my aim,' he said.
I guess the right-wing nut-cases excuse the above inflammatory comments as 'humor.'
Guest Of CNN’s Beck: Watching Someone Murder The Clintons Would Be ‘Great’
It must be about ratings because it sure as hell isn't about news; unless one thinks that there are sick people like this guy is news. In that case I would have to wonder if one has been living in a cave.
Let's just forget, for a moment, that this kind of talk is just short of calling for the murder of two of our fellow citizens and maybe, their daughter. (Gee wouldn't that be fun?)
Doesn't CNN realize that this kind of psychotic babble is terrible for the country.
Yes, hatefulness exists in America. Always has. But should news organizations be legitimizing it by hiring the hate-mongers and having guests who say things like this?
It's insane!!!
Think Progress » Guest Of CNN’s Beck: Watching Someone Murder The Clintons Would Be ‘Great’:
Guest Of CNN’s Beck: Watching Someone Murder The Clintons Would Be ‘Great’
Last night on CNN Headline News, host Glenn Beck and former GOP consultant and radio host Michael Graham discussed a new video of President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) spoofing the final episode of the Sopranos.
During the conversation, Graham asked Beck if he wanted to see the Clintons murdered in the video. “[S]eriously, Glenn, didn’t you at one point want to see, like, Paulie Walnuts or someone come in and just whack them both right there. Wouldn’t that have been great?” Beck responded with a smile, “No, I did not want to see that.” Graham said, “C’mon. … I wanted that.”
Watch it:^
Let's just forget, for a moment, that this kind of talk is just short of calling for the murder of two of our fellow citizens and maybe, their daughter. (Gee wouldn't that be fun?)
Doesn't CNN realize that this kind of psychotic babble is terrible for the country.
Yes, hatefulness exists in America. Always has. But should news organizations be legitimizing it by hiring the hate-mongers and having guests who say things like this?
It's insane!!!
Think Progress » Guest Of CNN’s Beck: Watching Someone Murder The Clintons Would Be ‘Great’:
Guest Of CNN’s Beck: Watching Someone Murder The Clintons Would Be ‘Great’
Last night on CNN Headline News, host Glenn Beck and former GOP consultant and radio host Michael Graham discussed a new video of President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) spoofing the final episode of the Sopranos.
During the conversation, Graham asked Beck if he wanted to see the Clintons murdered in the video. “[S]eriously, Glenn, didn’t you at one point want to see, like, Paulie Walnuts or someone come in and just whack them both right there. Wouldn’t that have been great?” Beck responded with a smile, “No, I did not want to see that.” Graham said, “C’mon. … I wanted that.”
Watch it:^
C-SPAN shares Lamb skewers on air
Good for Brian.
Savage is....well.... savage.
C-SPAN shares Lamb skewers on air - Politico.com:
Michael Savage vs. Brian Lamb.
Sounds like the unlikeliest of media showdowns, right?
Well, it's happening right now, it's bloody, and Lamb is winning.
First, some quick background. Talkers magazine recently awarded Savage -- a radio host whose talk show I enjoy -- a Freedom of Speech award. Savage did not pick up the award in person at a gathering in New York. Instead, he sent a speech on DVD. C-SPAN cameras were at the conference and covered parts of it but not the taped Savage speech.
How did Savage react? By selling a DVD of the speech on his website with these messages: 'See the Speech that C-Span Banned!' and 'See the Speech Too Hot for Left-Wing C-Span!' He even posted a list of C-SPAN phone numbers and e-mail addresses, including that of C-SPAN president and CEO Lamb."
Savage is....well.... savage.
C-SPAN shares Lamb skewers on air - Politico.com:
Michael Savage vs. Brian Lamb.
Sounds like the unlikeliest of media showdowns, right?
Well, it's happening right now, it's bloody, and Lamb is winning.
First, some quick background. Talkers magazine recently awarded Savage -- a radio host whose talk show I enjoy -- a Freedom of Speech award. Savage did not pick up the award in person at a gathering in New York. Instead, he sent a speech on DVD. C-SPAN cameras were at the conference and covered parts of it but not the taped Savage speech.
How did Savage react? By selling a DVD of the speech on his website with these messages: 'See the Speech that C-Span Banned!' and 'See the Speech Too Hot for Left-Wing C-Span!' He even posted a list of C-SPAN phone numbers and e-mail addresses, including that of C-SPAN president and CEO Lamb."
Eco Justice Can We Take Back America Without Confronting
Good question.
Danny Schechter: Eco Justice Fight Needs To Go Beyond Union Fight: Can We Take Back America Without Confronting The Debt Crisis? | BuzzFlash.org:
Writing on TomPaine.com, Dmitri Iglitzin reprised labor's challenge and eroding position.
'In many ways, the lack of overwhelming support for EFCA is surprising. Under current law, workers who want to form a union must currently undergo a risky, grueling, and time-consuming 'pre-election' period that culminates, if they're lucky, in an election held under the auspices of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). If they're not lucky, the workers are instead fired or otherwise discriminated against. One recent study, conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, found that about one in five union organizers or activists can expect to be fired during the pre-election period.
'Should the workers succeed in unionizing, moreover, their chances of ever obtaining a collective bargaining agreement with their employer are grim. According to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a federal agency, nearly half of newly organized bargaining units fail to negotiate a first contract within two years of a successful organizing drive. The result of these barriers to successful unionizing is manifest in the steady decline of union membership, now 12 percent of the workforce (7.4 percent in the private sector), down from 20 percent in 1983 and 35% in the '50s.
Danny Schechter: Eco Justice Fight Needs To Go Beyond Union Fight: Can We Take Back America Without Confronting The Debt Crisis? | BuzzFlash.org:
Writing on TomPaine.com, Dmitri Iglitzin reprised labor's challenge and eroding position.
'In many ways, the lack of overwhelming support for EFCA is surprising. Under current law, workers who want to form a union must currently undergo a risky, grueling, and time-consuming 'pre-election' period that culminates, if they're lucky, in an election held under the auspices of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). If they're not lucky, the workers are instead fired or otherwise discriminated against. One recent study, conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, found that about one in five union organizers or activists can expect to be fired during the pre-election period.
'Should the workers succeed in unionizing, moreover, their chances of ever obtaining a collective bargaining agreement with their employer are grim. According to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a federal agency, nearly half of newly organized bargaining units fail to negotiate a first contract within two years of a successful organizing drive. The result of these barriers to successful unionizing is manifest in the steady decline of union membership, now 12 percent of the workforce (7.4 percent in the private sector), down from 20 percent in 1983 and 35% in the '50s.
The Fake Issue / Taming the Watchdogs of Media Concentration
People who scare other people run a huge risk of blowback.
Rather says there is fear in every newsroom. I'd bet my next paycheck that it isn't al Qaeda that's giving them nightmares. Nope, my bet would be that it is the huge conglomeration heads for whom they work.
We must break up the news corporations.
They are, often by their own admission, doing a piss-poor job of actually informing the people of Democracies all over the world, which essentially means there are no healthy Democracies where these corporate monsters exist.
If there is one thing worse for democracy than an uninformed electorate, it is a misinformed electorate.
The only news organization that is not complicit in Bush's war, built on out-right lies, is Knight-Ridder (now McLatchy). All the rest became cheerleaders for the mother of all war crimes, a war of choice, a war of aggression, making them all complicit in International crimes of horrendous proportions
Adbusters : The Magazine - #72 The Fake Issue / Taming the Watchdogs of Media Concentration:
When Australia’s Rupert Murdoch threw his support behind the Iraq War, so did the 175 media outlets he owns as part of News Corp. When Canada’s CanWest Global Communications justified the Afghanistan invasion, so did its eleven daily newspapers and 16 television stations.
And when the major US media conglomerates signed off on the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq, American journalists lined up right behind them. In a recent interview on PBS’s Bill Moyers Report, former CBS Evening News anchorman Dan Rather explained why journalists were so afraid to question the war.
“Fear is in every newsroom in the country . . . particularly in [the] networks,” said Rather. “They’ve become huge international conglomerates. They have big needs, legislative needs, regulatory needs in Washington. Nobody has to send you a memo to tell you that that’s the case – you know. And that puts a seed in your mind of well, ‘If you stick your neck out, if you take the risk of going against the grain with your reporting, is anybody going to back you up?’
Giuliani and anthrax
Rudy is a joke and not a very funny one, at that.
Think Progress:
Former Bush EPA Chief: Giuliani ‘More Concerned With Image Than Safety’ During Anthrax Scare
In an interview last night with New York NBC affiliate WNBC, President Bush’s former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman revealed that mayor Rudy Giuliani’s administration “appeared to be more concerned with its image than the safety and speedy response of EPA employees in the wake of the 2001 anthrax scare.”
Whitman disclosed for the first time that when anthrax letters were sent to NBC headquarters, Giuliani and then-New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik would not allow EPA inspectors to be seen entering the building in their hazmat suits. Instead, a tent had to be set up where they first could change into their gear, “hidden from public view.” Whitman said:
There was concern by the city that EPA workers not be seen in their hazmat suits going in because [the city was] still recovering from 9/11. They didn’t want this image of a city falling apart. I said, “Well, that’s not acceptable, and this is the way we’re going to have to do it.
Think Progress:
Former Bush EPA Chief: Giuliani ‘More Concerned With Image Than Safety’ During Anthrax Scare
In an interview last night with New York NBC affiliate WNBC, President Bush’s former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman revealed that mayor Rudy Giuliani’s administration “appeared to be more concerned with its image than the safety and speedy response of EPA employees in the wake of the 2001 anthrax scare.”
Whitman disclosed for the first time that when anthrax letters were sent to NBC headquarters, Giuliani and then-New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik would not allow EPA inspectors to be seen entering the building in their hazmat suits. Instead, a tent had to be set up where they first could change into their gear, “hidden from public view.” Whitman said:
There was concern by the city that EPA workers not be seen in their hazmat suits going in because [the city was] still recovering from 9/11. They didn’t want this image of a city falling apart. I said, “Well, that’s not acceptable, and this is the way we’re going to have to do it.
U.S. special ops forces on American soil.
Say what?
Commandos are not supposed to be deployed on U.S. soil. Who are they going after, the Quakers?
Think Progress » U.S. special ops forces on American soil.:
U.S. special ops forces on American soil.
“The U.S. military command in charge of protecting the homeland asked the Pentagon earlier this year for a contingent of special operations officers to help with domestic anti-terrorism missions.”
Military sources told The Examiner that U.S. Northern Command, established at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado in 2002, requested its own special operations command similar to ones assigned to overseas war-fighting commands, such as U.S. Central Command.
The request was approved six months ago by the then-commander of NorthCom, Adm. Timothy Keating, who has since moved to U.S. Pacific Command.
Keating’s decision, which “raised some eyebrows because of the sensitivity of deploying commandos domestically,” is now being reviewed by the new NorthCom commander, Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart.
Newsweek Poll: How Low Can Bush Go?
He still has a few points before he reached Nixon levels, but then Nixon was impeached
Newsweek Poll: How Low Can Bush Go? - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com:
June 21, 2007 - In 19 months, George W. Bush will leave the White House for the last time. The latest NEWSWEEK Poll suggests that he faces a steep climb if he hopes to coax the country back to his side before he goes. In the new poll, conducted Monday and Tuesday nights, President Bush’s approval rating has reached a record low. Only 26 percent of Americans, just over one in four, approve of the job the 43rd president is doing; while, a record 65 percent disapprove, including nearly a third of Republicans.
The CIA's torture teachers |
Anyone proud to be an American, anymore?
The CIA's torture teachers | Salon News:
June 21, 2007 | WASHINGTON -- There is growing evidence of high-level coordination between the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. military in developing abusive interrogation techniques used on terrorist suspects. After the Sept. 11 attacks, both turned to a small cadre of psychologists linked to the military's secretive Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape program to 'reverse-engineer' techniques originally designed to train U.S. soldiers to resist torture if captured, by exposing them to brutal treatment. The military's use of SERE training for interrogations in the war on terror was revealed in detail in a recently declassified report. But the CIA's use of such tactics -- working in close coordination with the military -- until now has remained largely unknown.
Our 6th rate health care system
Our 6th rate health care system | Capitol Hill Blue:
46 million Americans have no health care at all. Most of us still receive health insurance through our employer, and most have seen sharp increases in premiums, deductibles and the coverage of such policies meaning we have less coverage than ever before. Yet health insurers see record profits. It is time to pull ourselves up from the bottom tier and actually DO something about our criminally deficient system. It is time for the candidates running for President to come forth with solutions not more platitudes.
'The U.S. spends more on medical care than any other nation, and gets far less for it than many countries. According to the 2006 analysis by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. spends an annual $6,102 per person — more than any other country and more than twice the average of $2,571. Yet Americans have the 22nd highest life expectancy among those nations at 77.2 years compared with the analysis' average of 77.8 years. People in Japan, the world leader in longevity, live an average of 81.8 years.' – Los Angeles Times
46 million Americans have no health care at all. Most of us still receive health insurance through our employer, and most have seen sharp increases in premiums, deductibles and the coverage of such policies meaning we have less coverage than ever before. Yet health insurers see record profits. It is time to pull ourselves up from the bottom tier and actually DO something about our criminally deficient system. It is time for the candidates running for President to come forth with solutions not more platitudes.
'The U.S. spends more on medical care than any other nation, and gets far less for it than many countries. According to the 2006 analysis by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. spends an annual $6,102 per person — more than any other country and more than twice the average of $2,571. Yet Americans have the 22nd highest life expectancy among those nations at 77.2 years compared with the analysis' average of 77.8 years. People in Japan, the world leader in longevity, live an average of 81.8 years.' – Los Angeles Times
Is Dick Cheney above the law?
Hell, no he is not above the law!
Furthermore he is answerable to the people who elected him. If he is not a part of the executive, he should relinquish his office in the White House Complex and find his own housing, as well.
Is Dick Cheney above the law? | Capitol Hill Blue:
House Democrats on Thursday denounced Vice President Dick Cheney's idea of abolishing a government office charged with safeguarding national security information — and criticized him for refusing to cooperate with the agency.
Cheney's office — over the objections of the National Archives — has exempted itself from a presidential executive order that seeks to protect national security information generated by the government, according to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Under the order, executive branch offices are required to give the Information Security Oversight Office at the archives data on how much material it has classified and declassified.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Send John Some Money!
Edwards predicting big second-quarter drop-off
By Sam Youngman
June 22, 2007
Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) is expecting a significant drop-off in campaign contributions for the second quarter that might look like a pittance compared to the dollar amounts Democratic rivals Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) are expected to raise.Though it would not be unheard of for a campaign to try and lowball its fundraising expectations, an e-mail to supporters from senior adviser Joe Trippi, of Gov. Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign, tells Edwards’s fans the campaign is two-thirds of the way to its goal of $9 million for the quarter.
That would give Edwards a $6 million rake with nine days to go. And even then, the campaign would realize $5 million less than it did in the first quarter.An Edwards campaign official said the goal for the campaign from the outset has been to raise $40 million total to compete in the first four primary or caucus states.“We were never going to raise $25 million in the second quarter,” the aide said, alluding to the giant sums expected of Clinton and Obama. “They’re pretty much more based on their celebrity. We are based on the early four states strategy, and we need $40 million to do that.”The dollar decrescendo is nothing new to Edwards. In 2003, Edwards was the talk of Washington after raising $7.4 million in the first quarter, which was a lot of money back then.
But in the second quarter, he reported raising $4.5 million.“This is not about out-raising our opponents in a meaningless fundraising arms race,” Trippi said in the e-mail to supporters.
“This is about executing our plan — raising enough money to push our message in the critical early states and building our operation around the country.”
Meanwhile, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) told reporters after he first entered the race to wait and watch his second-quarter numbers instead of his first.
A senior adviser to his campaign said that risky strategy came through, and they expect to report more this time around than the $6.2 million they reported after March. And all of that money will be primary election donations.An aide to Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) said the senator’s campaign was expecting to raise around the same amount as the $2.1 million he raised in the first quarter, which he combined with just under $2 million from his Senate reelection funds.
Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) campaign declined to comment on its expectations. Dodd raised about $4 million in the first quarter, which he complemented with $4.7 million from his Senate reelection chest.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free
By Sam Youngman
June 22, 2007
Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) is expecting a significant drop-off in campaign contributions for the second quarter that might look like a pittance compared to the dollar amounts Democratic rivals Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) are expected to raise.Though it would not be unheard of for a campaign to try and lowball its fundraising expectations, an e-mail to supporters from senior adviser Joe Trippi, of Gov. Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign, tells Edwards’s fans the campaign is two-thirds of the way to its goal of $9 million for the quarter.
That would give Edwards a $6 million rake with nine days to go. And even then, the campaign would realize $5 million less than it did in the first quarter.An Edwards campaign official said the goal for the campaign from the outset has been to raise $40 million total to compete in the first four primary or caucus states.“We were never going to raise $25 million in the second quarter,” the aide said, alluding to the giant sums expected of Clinton and Obama. “They’re pretty much more based on their celebrity. We are based on the early four states strategy, and we need $40 million to do that.”The dollar decrescendo is nothing new to Edwards. In 2003, Edwards was the talk of Washington after raising $7.4 million in the first quarter, which was a lot of money back then.
But in the second quarter, he reported raising $4.5 million.“This is not about out-raising our opponents in a meaningless fundraising arms race,” Trippi said in the e-mail to supporters.
“This is about executing our plan — raising enough money to push our message in the critical early states and building our operation around the country.”
Meanwhile, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) told reporters after he first entered the race to wait and watch his second-quarter numbers instead of his first.
A senior adviser to his campaign said that risky strategy came through, and they expect to report more this time around than the $6.2 million they reported after March. And all of that money will be primary election donations.An aide to Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) said the senator’s campaign was expecting to raise around the same amount as the $2.1 million he raised in the first quarter, which he combined with just under $2 million from his Senate reelection funds.
Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) campaign declined to comment on its expectations. Dodd raised about $4 million in the first quarter, which he complemented with $4.7 million from his Senate reelection chest.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free
W.H. Conteptuous, of all of us.
White House contempt
By Susan Crabtree
June 22, 2007
House Judiciary Committee Democrats warned yesterday they would pursue a contempt of Congress motion if the White House fails respond to subpoenas for testimony and documents related to the firings of U.S. attorneys last year.The deadline for a response is Thursday, June 28. If the White House does not comply, it opens the possibility of a constitutional showdown between the two branches. In an ironic twist, the Department of Justice (DoJ) would be called on to enforce the contempt motion.
During yesterday’s testimony by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, panel Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) asked McNulty whether he would enforce such a motion. McNulty responded that he would recuse himself from handling such matters because of an internal DoJ investigation into the U.S. attorneys matter.One of the contempt motions would likely be directed at Presidential Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, to whom the subpoena for documents was addressed, according to a Democratic aide.
Others who could face contempt motions include ex-White House Counsel Harriet Miers and former White House political director Sara Taylor. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee voted to subpoena testimony from Miers, while the Senate Judiciary panel voted to subpoena testimony from Taylor.“The House and Senate judiciary committees have issued subpoenas to the White House for documents and testimony,” said Conyers. “We’re still hopeful they may cooperate.
But it’s still possible that enforcement action may be taken.
”Democrats have been unsatisfied with the testimony they’ve heard so far from top officials and former officials at the DoJ, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Under questioning, all have said either that their roles were limited or that they were not directly responsible for suggesting certain U.S. attorneys be placed on the firing list.Because of these claims, Conyers said, Democrats’ only choice is to seek more information from the White House.“We want to know where the lines go from the DoJ to the White House,” he said. “That’s where these bread crumbs keep leading us and then they get lost in the snow or something.”Conyers said he wanted McNulty to go on the record about the DoJ’s commitment to enforcing such a contempt motion, but his question was an indication of the Democrats’ awkward position.
If the House passed the motion, it would be referred to the U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia. The DoJ would then be called on to enforce it.
After the hearing, Conyers said he was not satisfied by McNulty’s testimony.“It was not a fully candid discussion,” he said.Conyers said McNulty was walking a fine line between defending his previous testimony and wanting to avoid contradicting other DoJ officials’ accounts of his role in the firings. Some have stated that he misled Congress in previous testimony.
The chairman also said McNulty was trying to avoid antagonizing former DoJ White House liaison Monica Goodling, who was granted immunity.
In her own testimony before the panel, she accused McNulty of not being forthcoming in his February Senate testimony about the White House’s involvement in the firings. She also rejected any suggestion that she had misled McNulty when she briefed him for that appearance.McNulty agreed with lawmakers’ depictions of him as largely “cut out of the loop” during the process of determining which U.S. attorneys to fire, being brought in only at the end of the process, essentially to sign off on the list of names. He said he first learned about the firing list in October 2006, and that he attended his first meeting about the firings Nov. 27.
But he claimed he didn’t discuss the matter with Gonzales until Dec. 7, the day the prosecutors were asked for their resignations.“I think you were poorly treated,” remarked Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.). “It’s my belief that you were thrown under the bus.”
McNulty pointedly refused to say that anyone, including Goodling, misled him while he was preparing for February testimony.
When news was breaking about the U.S. attorneys’ controversy back in January, he said, the department was “moving quickly” and “trying to respond to questions.”“I’m not in a position to conclude that individuals were trying to keep information from me,” he added.
McNulty also acknowledged that an Oct. 4, 2006, a phone call by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) complaining about the performance of then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias kept him from objecting to Iglesias’s placement on the list of those to be ousted. He did not disclose the influence of Domenici’s call during his February Senate testimony.McNulty testified that he was given the opportunity to voice his objections to the names on the list and that at least one U.S. attorney was taken off the list at his suggestion. He refused to disclose that attorney’s name, even though media accounts have identified the prosecutor as the U.S. attorney for Tallahassee, Fla., Greg Miller.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free
By Susan Crabtree
June 22, 2007
House Judiciary Committee Democrats warned yesterday they would pursue a contempt of Congress motion if the White House fails respond to subpoenas for testimony and documents related to the firings of U.S. attorneys last year.The deadline for a response is Thursday, June 28. If the White House does not comply, it opens the possibility of a constitutional showdown between the two branches. In an ironic twist, the Department of Justice (DoJ) would be called on to enforce the contempt motion.
During yesterday’s testimony by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, panel Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) asked McNulty whether he would enforce such a motion. McNulty responded that he would recuse himself from handling such matters because of an internal DoJ investigation into the U.S. attorneys matter.One of the contempt motions would likely be directed at Presidential Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, to whom the subpoena for documents was addressed, according to a Democratic aide.
Others who could face contempt motions include ex-White House Counsel Harriet Miers and former White House political director Sara Taylor. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee voted to subpoena testimony from Miers, while the Senate Judiciary panel voted to subpoena testimony from Taylor.“The House and Senate judiciary committees have issued subpoenas to the White House for documents and testimony,” said Conyers. “We’re still hopeful they may cooperate.
But it’s still possible that enforcement action may be taken.
”Democrats have been unsatisfied with the testimony they’ve heard so far from top officials and former officials at the DoJ, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Under questioning, all have said either that their roles were limited or that they were not directly responsible for suggesting certain U.S. attorneys be placed on the firing list.Because of these claims, Conyers said, Democrats’ only choice is to seek more information from the White House.“We want to know where the lines go from the DoJ to the White House,” he said. “That’s where these bread crumbs keep leading us and then they get lost in the snow or something.”Conyers said he wanted McNulty to go on the record about the DoJ’s commitment to enforcing such a contempt motion, but his question was an indication of the Democrats’ awkward position.
If the House passed the motion, it would be referred to the U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia. The DoJ would then be called on to enforce it.
After the hearing, Conyers said he was not satisfied by McNulty’s testimony.“It was not a fully candid discussion,” he said.Conyers said McNulty was walking a fine line between defending his previous testimony and wanting to avoid contradicting other DoJ officials’ accounts of his role in the firings. Some have stated that he misled Congress in previous testimony.
The chairman also said McNulty was trying to avoid antagonizing former DoJ White House liaison Monica Goodling, who was granted immunity.
In her own testimony before the panel, she accused McNulty of not being forthcoming in his February Senate testimony about the White House’s involvement in the firings. She also rejected any suggestion that she had misled McNulty when she briefed him for that appearance.McNulty agreed with lawmakers’ depictions of him as largely “cut out of the loop” during the process of determining which U.S. attorneys to fire, being brought in only at the end of the process, essentially to sign off on the list of names. He said he first learned about the firing list in October 2006, and that he attended his first meeting about the firings Nov. 27.
But he claimed he didn’t discuss the matter with Gonzales until Dec. 7, the day the prosecutors were asked for their resignations.“I think you were poorly treated,” remarked Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.). “It’s my belief that you were thrown under the bus.”
McNulty pointedly refused to say that anyone, including Goodling, misled him while he was preparing for February testimony.
When news was breaking about the U.S. attorneys’ controversy back in January, he said, the department was “moving quickly” and “trying to respond to questions.”“I’m not in a position to conclude that individuals were trying to keep information from me,” he added.
McNulty also acknowledged that an Oct. 4, 2006, a phone call by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) complaining about the performance of then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias kept him from objecting to Iglesias’s placement on the list of those to be ousted. He did not disclose the influence of Domenici’s call during his February Senate testimony.McNulty testified that he was given the opportunity to voice his objections to the names on the list and that at least one U.S. attorney was taken off the list at his suggestion. He refused to disclose that attorney’s name, even though media accounts have identified the prosecutor as the U.S. attorney for Tallahassee, Fla., Greg Miller.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free
Cheney: "The rules don't apply to me"
This man is about as psychotic as they come and should be removed from office ASAP!
Published on Thursday, June 21, 2007 by ABCNews.com
Cheney Power Grab: Says White House Rules Don’t Apply to Him
by Justin Rood
Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a presidential order governing the protection of classified information by government agencies, according to a new letter from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to Cheney.
Bill Leonard, head of the government’s Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), told Waxman’s staff that Cheney’s office has refused to provide his staff with details regarding classified documents or submit to a routine inspection as required by presidential order, according to Waxman.
In pointed letters released today by Waxman, ISOO’s Leonard twice questioned Cheney’s office on its assertion it was exempt from the rules. He received no reply, but the vice president later tried to get rid of Leonard’s office entirely, according to Waxman.
Leonard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a statement e-mailed to the Blotter on ABCNews.com, Cheney spokeswoman Megan McGinn said, “We are confident that we are conducting the office properly under the law.”
As director of the tiny, 25-person Information Security Oversight Office, Leonard is responsible for keeping track of the nation’s secrets and making sure they are properly protected.
For the first two years of the George W. Bush administration, Cheney’s office complied with a presidential order that requires officials to report statistics on the number of documents it classifies and declassifies.
Since 2003, however, Cheney’s office has refused to submit the data to ISOO. And when ISOO inspectors tried in 2004 to schedule a routine inspection of the vice president’s offices, they were rebuffed, Waxman’s letter claims.
Other White House offices, including the National Security Council, did not object to similar inspections, according to Waxman.
“Serious questions can be raised about both the legality and advisability of exempting your office from the rules that apply to all other executive branch officials,” Waxman said in his letter to the vice president, and asked him to explain why he felt the rules didn’t apply to him and his staff and how he was protecting classified information in his office.
Former Cheney aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was recently convicted on several counts of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from the leak of the identity of former covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, Waxman noted, and in 2006, former Cheney aide Leandro Aragoncillo pleaded guilty to sharing classified U.S. documents with foreign nationals. Aragoncillo also worked under former Democratic Vice President Al Gore, who complied with ISOO’s requests.
Copyright © 2007 ABCNews Internet Ventures
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free
‘SiCKO’: Michael Moore’s Prescription for Change
‘
SiCKO’: Michael Moore’s Prescription for Change - CommonDreams.org:
Michael Moore screened his new film, “SiCKO,” on Father’s Day at a special New York event honoring Sept. 11 first responders. Moore spoke of their heroism and recognized their role in the film. “SiCKO” is about the broken U.S. healthcare system. Case in point: the 9/11 rescue workers.
Their stories of selfless courage, followed by years of creeping, chronic illnesses, from pulmonary fibrosis to cancer to post-traumatic stress, often exacerbated by poor or no health insurance, drive home Moore’s point, that the medical/pharmaceutical industry is failing Americans—not only the 40-plus million Americans with no health insurance, but the 250 million Americans who do have health insurance.
Moore doesn’t like health insurance companies: “They’re the Halliburtons of the health industry. I mean, they really—they get away with murder. They charge whatever they want. There’s no government control. And frankly, we will not really fix our system until we remove these private insurance companies. I mean, they literally have to be eliminated. They cannot be allowed to exist in this country.”
SiCKO’: Michael Moore’s Prescription for Change - CommonDreams.org:
Michael Moore screened his new film, “SiCKO,” on Father’s Day at a special New York event honoring Sept. 11 first responders. Moore spoke of their heroism and recognized their role in the film. “SiCKO” is about the broken U.S. healthcare system. Case in point: the 9/11 rescue workers.
Their stories of selfless courage, followed by years of creeping, chronic illnesses, from pulmonary fibrosis to cancer to post-traumatic stress, often exacerbated by poor or no health insurance, drive home Moore’s point, that the medical/pharmaceutical industry is failing Americans—not only the 40-plus million Americans with no health insurance, but the 250 million Americans who do have health insurance.
Moore doesn’t like health insurance companies: “They’re the Halliburtons of the health industry. I mean, they really—they get away with murder. They charge whatever they want. There’s no government control. And frankly, we will not really fix our system until we remove these private insurance companies. I mean, they literally have to be eliminated. They cannot be allowed to exist in this country.”
Neocon “Scholars” Call for Dismembering Bill of Rights
Is it time yet?
To declare war on these bastards?
Neocon “Scholars” Call for Dismembering Bill of Rights:
Imagine my surprise. A “guest scholar at the center-left Brookings Institution,” Benjamin Wittes, wants to gut the Second Amendment. Wittes told CNSNews “that rather than try to limit gun ownership through regulation that potentially violates the Second Amendment, opponents of gun ownership should set their sights on repealing the amendment altogether.”
Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett, however, did not limit his comments to the Second Amendment, suggesting instead that much of the Bill of Rights has “no contemporary relevance.” As an example, Barnett cited the Fourth Amendment. “Sure it was fine that persons should be secure in their papers and effects back in the old days when there wasn’t a danger of terrorism and mass murder.” According to the professor, the Fourth Amendment is “archaic [and] we don’t need it anymore.”
Of course, this sort of authoritarian nonsense should be expected, as we have allowed the government to be hijacked by a gaggle of neocons and their neoliberal kissing cousins who favor the sort of government operating in China to a constitutionally limited republic of the sort we had until 1791 when the Federalist Alexander Hamilton set-up the first central bank in America modeled after the Bank of England.
Egypt invites leaders to peace summit
Egypt invites leaders to peace summit - Yahoo! News:
"RAMALLAH, West Bank - Closing ranks against Hamas, Egypt's president invited Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to a peace summit, officials said Thursday, the biggest show of support yet by moderate Arab states for beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The meeting will take place Monday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, said Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II. Jordan confirmed Abdullah would attend.
Abbas will call for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, arguing that only progress toward Palestinian statehood can serve as a true buffer against Hamas, which took control of Gaza by force last week, Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said.
'The most important thing to realize is that time is of the essence,' Erekat said. 'We need to deliver the end of occupation, a Palestinian state. If we don't have hope, Hamas will export despair to the people.'
"RAMALLAH, West Bank - Closing ranks against Hamas, Egypt's president invited Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to a peace summit, officials said Thursday, the biggest show of support yet by moderate Arab states for beleaguered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The meeting will take place Monday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, said Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II. Jordan confirmed Abdullah would attend.
Abbas will call for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, arguing that only progress toward Palestinian statehood can serve as a true buffer against Hamas, which took control of Gaza by force last week, Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said.
'The most important thing to realize is that time is of the essence,' Erekat said. 'We need to deliver the end of occupation, a Palestinian state. If we don't have hope, Hamas will export despair to the people.'
US military: 14 troops killed
The carnage continues.
Impeach Bush and Cheney, Now!
US military: 14 troops killed - Yahoo! News:
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said 14 American troops have died in multiple attacks, including five killed Thursday in a single roadside bombing in Baghdad.
Elsewhere, a suicide truck bomber struck the Sulaiman Bek city hall in a predominantly Sunni area of northern Iraq, killing at least 16 people and wounding 67, an Iraqi commander said.
Thousands of protesters also rallied in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, waving Iraqi flags and the black and green Shiite banners with slogans such as 'Death to al-Qaida' in a show of unity following the bombing that brought down the twin minarets of a revered mosque in Samarra.
The latest U.S. deaths raised to at least 3,545 the number of American troops who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The deadliest attack was a roadside bomb that struck a convoy in northeastern Baghdad on Thursday, killing five U.S. soldiers, three Iraqi civilians and one Iraqi interpreter, the military said.
A rocket-propelled grenade struck a vehicle in northern Baghdad about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, killing one soldier and wounding three others, another statement said.
Impeach Bush and Cheney, Now!
US military: 14 troops killed - Yahoo! News:
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said 14 American troops have died in multiple attacks, including five killed Thursday in a single roadside bombing in Baghdad.
Elsewhere, a suicide truck bomber struck the Sulaiman Bek city hall in a predominantly Sunni area of northern Iraq, killing at least 16 people and wounding 67, an Iraqi commander said.
Thousands of protesters also rallied in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, waving Iraqi flags and the black and green Shiite banners with slogans such as 'Death to al-Qaida' in a show of unity following the bombing that brought down the twin minarets of a revered mosque in Samarra.
The latest U.S. deaths raised to at least 3,545 the number of American troops who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The deadliest attack was a roadside bomb that struck a convoy in northeastern Baghdad on Thursday, killing five U.S. soldiers, three Iraqi civilians and one Iraqi interpreter, the military said.
A rocket-propelled grenade struck a vehicle in northern Baghdad about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, killing one soldier and wounding three others, another statement said.
Uncivil Liberties and the Empire's War on its own Citizens
OMG. We are so screwed!
The good news is, we don't have a damn thing to lose!
Uncivil Liberties and the Empire's War on its own Citizens:
In the seventh year of the current presidential administration which has eviscerated more aspects of the Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution than any previous administration in American history, I recently had the opportunity of viewing a new documentary “Uncivil Liberties: What Lies Between Liberty and Security”, written and directed by Thomas Mercer. I am pleased to offer my review of the film; however, it is not possible for me to authentically review this work of art or any other pertaining to civil liberties without attaching to it my own addendum of the history of attacks on the well being of its citizens by the United States government.
Unlike Robert Greenwald’s “Unconstitutional” or Aaron Russo’s “America: From Freedom To Fascism”, Mercer’s film is not a documentary but fiction, closer in purpose to the genre of “Star Wars”, “Farenheit 451”, or “Brazil.” It is intentionally murky in its message, filled with purposeful ambiguity, devoid of stark contrasts between good guys and bad guys, with everything in shades of gray. Every character has his/her faults—like life.
It’s Official: The Crash of the U.S. Economy has begun
Who will profit from the crash?
Why, the Carlyle Groups, of course
It’s Official: The Crash of the U.S. Economy has begun: "It’s official. Mark your calendars. The crash of the U.S. economy has begun. It was announced the morning of Wednesday, June 13, 2007, by economic writers Steven Pearlstein and Robert Samuelson in the pages of the Washington Post, one of the foremost house organs of the U.S. monetary elite.
Pearlstein’s column was titled, “The Takeover Boom, About to Go Bust” and concerned the extraordinary amount of debt vs. operating profits of companies currently subject to leveraged buyouts.
In language remarkably alarmist for the usually ultra-bland pages of the Post, Pearlstein wrote, “It is impossible to predict when the magic moment will be reached and everyone finally realizes that the prices being paid for these companies, and the debt taken on to support the acquisitions, are unsustainable. When that happens, it won't be pretty. Across the board, stock prices and company valuations will fall. Banks will announce painful write-offs, some hedge funds will close their doors, and private-equity funds will report disappointing returns. Some companies will be forced into bankruptcy or restructuring.
VIDEO: 9/11: Disappearing explosions
Will we ever know the truth?
VIDEO: 9/11: Disappearing explosions:
Secondary explosions: explosion devices unrelated to the planes planted in the buildings?
by Brasscheck TV
Global Research, June 17, 2007
brasschecktv.com
Global Research Editorial Note
The following webcast is based on a compilation of video material from September 11, 2001, from a number of different sources.
We make this information available to our viewers and readers. Global Research does not necessarily share the conclusions of the producers of the video.
Now you hear it, now you don't
New presidential directive gives Bush dictatorial power
In case you missed it....this is damn scary
New presidential directive gives Bush dictatorial power:
The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, signed on May 9, 2007 declares that in the event of a “catastrophic event”, George W. Bush can become what is best described as 'a dictator':
'The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government.'
This directive, completely unnoticed by the media, and given no scrutiny by Congress, literally gives the White House unprecedented dictatorial power over the government and the country, bypassing the US Congress and obliterating the separation of powers. The directive also placed the Secretary of Homeland Security in charge of domestic “security”.
The full text is below. A critical analysis on the directive can be found here.
This is another step towards official martial law (see “US government fans homeland security fears”), which suggests that a new 'catastrophic event' 9/11-type pretext could be in the pipeline.
New presidential directive gives Bush dictatorial power:
The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, signed on May 9, 2007 declares that in the event of a “catastrophic event”, George W. Bush can become what is best described as 'a dictator':
'The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government.'
This directive, completely unnoticed by the media, and given no scrutiny by Congress, literally gives the White House unprecedented dictatorial power over the government and the country, bypassing the US Congress and obliterating the separation of powers. The directive also placed the Secretary of Homeland Security in charge of domestic “security”.
The full text is below. A critical analysis on the directive can be found here.
This is another step towards official martial law (see “US government fans homeland security fears”), which suggests that a new 'catastrophic event' 9/11-type pretext could be in the pipeline.
Global Ruling Class: Billionaires and How They ‘Made It’
Let's find out who they are and where they are.
It is information we will need in the future..
Global Ruling Class: Billionaires and How They ‘Made It’:
Even as the world's billionaires grew in number from 793 in 2006 to 946 this year, major mass uprisings became commonplace in China and India. In India, which has the highest number of billionaires (36) in Asia with total wealth of $191 billion, Prime Minister Singh declared that the greatest single threat to 'India's security' were the Maoist-led guerrilla armies and mass movements in the poorest parts of the country.
In China, with 20 billionaires with $29.4 billion net worth, the new rulers, confronting nearly a hundred thousand reported riots and protests, have increased the number of armed special anti-riot militia a hundred fold, and increased spending for the rural poor by $10 billion in the hopes of lessening the monstrous class inequalities and heading off a mass upheaval.
The total wealth of this global ruling class grew 35 per cent year to year topping $3.5 trillion, while income levels for the lower 55 per cent of the world's 6-billion-strong population declined or stagnated. Put another way, one hundred millionth of the world's population (1/100,000,000) owns more than over 3 billion people. Over half of the current billionaires (523) came from just 3 countries: the US (415), Germany (55) and Russia (53).
Green Market Hustlers
The market cannot save us from anything, unless the people demand it in such a way that the Moneyed-marketeers are scared shit-less of what the people might do to them.
Green Market Hustlers:
On the opening panel of the Arctic Science Summit Week, Jeff Miotke announced, “Climate change policy must be based on sound silence.” It was a poignant and telling slip of the tongue. Miotke, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary of Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental Scientific Affairs, joked that his error might have “just cost me my job.” Then he promptly corrected himself: “sound science not silence.” The audience at the March 2007 meeting, a veritable who’s who of leading polar scientists, burst into laughter.
Miotke’s Freudian slip was bittersweet given the failure of leadership on climate change from Washington in general and the White House in particular. The Bush administration’s legacy of denials has morphed into present-day foot-dragging. In November 2006 the shrill pronouncements of President Bush and his advisors prompted outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to note that climate skeptics “are out of step, out of arguments, and out of time.”
While scientists agree that climate change is human caused, there is no consensus on the litany of proposals to check this leading and growing threat to humanity. There is, however, a widely held assumption that the market might be able to rescue us from climate catastrophe.
Green Market Hustlers:
On the opening panel of the Arctic Science Summit Week, Jeff Miotke announced, “Climate change policy must be based on sound silence.” It was a poignant and telling slip of the tongue. Miotke, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary of Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental Scientific Affairs, joked that his error might have “just cost me my job.” Then he promptly corrected himself: “sound science not silence.” The audience at the March 2007 meeting, a veritable who’s who of leading polar scientists, burst into laughter.
Miotke’s Freudian slip was bittersweet given the failure of leadership on climate change from Washington in general and the White House in particular. The Bush administration’s legacy of denials has morphed into present-day foot-dragging. In November 2006 the shrill pronouncements of President Bush and his advisors prompted outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to note that climate skeptics “are out of step, out of arguments, and out of time.”
While scientists agree that climate change is human caused, there is no consensus on the litany of proposals to check this leading and growing threat to humanity. There is, however, a widely held assumption that the market might be able to rescue us from climate catastrophe.
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