If this is true, forget the end of Republican party power in the U.S., we can forget U.S. power for centuires to come, providing that human life lasts that long.
Not that that would be a bad thing.
Nothing would please me more, right now, than the end of American power being projected anywhere,
Bush�s hand in the Terror War������������:
"05/02/06 'ICH' -- -- Robert Fisk has pulled the shroud off Bush's Iraq policy and exposed the rotting corpse below. In his latest article 'Seen through a Syrian Lens' (UK Independent 4-29-06) Fisk fingers the US as the driving force behind the present 'alleged' sectarian violence in Iraq. He produced information from a trusted 'security source' that America is 'desperately trying to provoke a civil war around Baghdad in order to reduce its own military casualties'. It is a charge we've heard before but never quite as persuasively as from a veteran journalist who his relied on for 'getting it right'.
'I swear to you that we have very good information,' Fisk recounts, 'One young Iraqi man told us that he was trained by the Americans as a policeman in Baghdad and he spent 70 per cent of his time learning to drive and 30 per cent in weapons training. They said to him: 'Come back in a week.' When he went back, they gave him a mobile phone and told him to drive into a crowded area near a mosque and phone them. He waited in the car but couldn't get the right mobile signal. So he got out of the car to where he received a better signal. Then his car blew up.'
Americans are sending unsuspecting Iraqis in vehicles to crowded areas, detonating the explosives, and then pinning it on Zarqawi or some other racist invention.
Can we believe Fisk? "
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Power Makes Men Mad
We know Scott! We know.
So now, what the hell do we do about it?
Power Makes Men Mad:
"04/14/06 'Dar Al-Hayat' -- -- Enormously powerful and yet paranoid with fear, the U.S. and Israel act as if the possession of overwhelming force is the only guarantee of their security.
An extraordinary paradox of the current international scene is that the most powerful countries in the world are also the most afraid - and fear has caused them to lose their senses.
Globally, the United States has no immediate military rival; certainly no other state has the power to strike anywhere on our planet - and far beyond it into space - at very short notice. American strategists call this the doctrine of Global Strike.
Similarly, in terms of military power, both conventional and non-conventional, Israel has no challenger in a vast region from Central Asia, across the Arab world, to north, east and central Africa. At a conservative estimate, it has a nuclear arsenal of between 200 and 300 warheads, as well as highly effective long-range delivery systems. As Ariel Sharon, its stricken leader, used to be fond of saying, Israel's sphere of influence extends as far as an F16 can fly. "
So now, what the hell do we do about it?
Power Makes Men Mad:
"04/14/06 'Dar Al-Hayat' -- -- Enormously powerful and yet paranoid with fear, the U.S. and Israel act as if the possession of overwhelming force is the only guarantee of their security.
An extraordinary paradox of the current international scene is that the most powerful countries in the world are also the most afraid - and fear has caused them to lose their senses.
Globally, the United States has no immediate military rival; certainly no other state has the power to strike anywhere on our planet - and far beyond it into space - at very short notice. American strategists call this the doctrine of Global Strike.
Similarly, in terms of military power, both conventional and non-conventional, Israel has no challenger in a vast region from Central Asia, across the Arab world, to north, east and central Africa. At a conservative estimate, it has a nuclear arsenal of between 200 and 300 warheads, as well as highly effective long-range delivery systems. As Ariel Sharon, its stricken leader, used to be fond of saying, Israel's sphere of influence extends as far as an F16 can fly. "
The Raw Story | MSNBC update: Cheney's office knew Plame's work was sensitive
Somehow, it does not matter to me whether or not Cheney knew exactly what Mrs. Wilson's work was. The fact that he definitely knew that she worked in counter-proliferation is enough.
If we remember, that is all the Bush administration had talked about for almost a year. WMD, WMD, WMD...
By that time, Iran had long been included in the "axis of evil."
The Bushites were all about combating "evil" and WMD, or so they said.
So why in the hell would Cheney or anyone else, take a risk like this, simply to get back at Joe Wilson?
Can grown men really be this childish and irresponsible? Can hubris so infect our government that the people running things will sacrifice this nation's security just because someone is embarrased, because he lied, beacause he was dead wrong?
Apparently.
Cheney needs to be in the dock right along with Libby, answering questions.
This is outrageous!
The Raw Story MSNBC update: Cheney's office knew Plame's work was sensitive:
"As MSNBC first reported yesterday, Wilson was not just undercover... but was, according to intelligence sources, part of an effort three years ago to monitor the proliferation of nuclear weapons material into Iran. And the sources allege that when Mrs. Wilson's cover was blown, part of the administration's ability to track Iran's nuclear ambitions was damaged as well.
There is no evidence Vice President Cheney, who gave information to his now indicted chief of staff Scooter Libby, knew what Wilson was involved in. But intelligence experts say the Vice President appears to have had indications that Wilson's responsibilities were sensitive. The Libby indictment says, quote, 'on or about June 12, 2003, Libby was advised by the Vice President of the United States that Wilson's wife worked at the Central Intelligence Agency in the Counterproliferation Division.'
In the Intelligence community, that division means something special."
If we remember, that is all the Bush administration had talked about for almost a year. WMD, WMD, WMD...
By that time, Iran had long been included in the "axis of evil."
The Bushites were all about combating "evil" and WMD, or so they said.
So why in the hell would Cheney or anyone else, take a risk like this, simply to get back at Joe Wilson?
Can grown men really be this childish and irresponsible? Can hubris so infect our government that the people running things will sacrifice this nation's security just because someone is embarrased, because he lied, beacause he was dead wrong?
Apparently.
Cheney needs to be in the dock right along with Libby, answering questions.
This is outrageous!
The Raw Story MSNBC update: Cheney's office knew Plame's work was sensitive:
"As MSNBC first reported yesterday, Wilson was not just undercover... but was, according to intelligence sources, part of an effort three years ago to monitor the proliferation of nuclear weapons material into Iran. And the sources allege that when Mrs. Wilson's cover was blown, part of the administration's ability to track Iran's nuclear ambitions was damaged as well.
There is no evidence Vice President Cheney, who gave information to his now indicted chief of staff Scooter Libby, knew what Wilson was involved in. But intelligence experts say the Vice President appears to have had indications that Wilson's responsibilities were sensitive. The Libby indictment says, quote, 'on or about June 12, 2003, Libby was advised by the Vice President of the United States that Wilson's wife worked at the Central Intelligence Agency in the Counterproliferation Division.'
In the Intelligence community, that division means something special."
After reports, New Jersey senator calls on CIA director to conduct Plame damage assessment
Just over the weekend, MSNBC reported that Valerie Plame Wilson was an not only an analyst, but an analyst with expertise on Iran, which makes her 'outing' even more shameful, if not treasonous.
The Raw Story After reports, New Jersey senator calls on CIA director to conduct Plame damage assessment:
"Current and former intelligence officials familiar with the damage assessment say that what is called a 'counter intelligence assessment to agency operations' was conducted on the orders of the CIA's then-Deputy Director of the Directorate of Operations, James Pavitt.
Former CIA counterintelligence officer Larry Johnson said that such an assessment would have had to be done for the CIA to have referred the case to the Justice Department."
The Raw Story | New Army documents reveal US knew of and approved torture before Abu Ghraib scandal
The Raw Story New Army documents reveal US knew of and approved torture before Abu Ghraib scandal:
"New Army documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union today reveal that Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez ordered interrogators to 'go to the outer limits' to get information from detainees. The documents also show that senior government officials were aware of abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan before the Abu Ghraib scandal broke. "
"New Army documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union today reveal that Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez ordered interrogators to 'go to the outer limits' to get information from detainees. The documents also show that senior government officials were aware of abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan before the Abu Ghraib scandal broke. "
Colbert Affair Exposes Loss of Rights
Read the whole article. This pretty much sums it up, and it is not funny.
Seeing the Forest: Colbert Affair Exposes Loss of Rights:
"Before these changes you would see representatives of Labor, Democrats, anti-war, religions other than far-right Christianity, and other now-banned viewpoints. One particular viewpoint you would see expressed was a concern that concentrated corporate ownership of the channels of information would harm democracy. That viewpoint is also banned now.
It used to be considered essential to democracy that the public had access to information. The pubic used to have the right to demand diversity of opinion in the media. Now even expressing such ideas is banned.
Do you think 'banned' is too strong a word? Tell me when was the last time you saw or heard these viewpoints expressed? When was the last time you heard a representative of Labor expressing that employees should join unions?"
Grandmother deployed to Iraq - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com
Bush should be sent to Devil's Island.
Grandmother deployed to Iraq - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com:
"DUBUQUE, Iowa - A grandmother in eastern Iowa is getting one last call to duty.
Janet Grass, 52, had planned to retire from the military in about 10 months after spending 19 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Instead, she has been ordered to leave her job as a special-education teacher in Cascade to do security work in the Middle East.
'They're changing my career just as I'm retiring,' she said. 'I guess they wanted to try one more thing for me.'"
3 Democrats slam president over defying statutes - The Boston Globe
Where in the hell are the rest of them?
3 Democrats slam president over defying statutes - The Boston Globe:
"WASHINGTON -- Three leading Democratic senators blasted President Bush yesterday for having claimed he has the authority to defy more than 750 statutes enacted since he took office, saying that the president's legal theories are wrong and that he must obey the law."
Terror watch list now at 80,000
SWEDEN.SE - News Article from AFP:
"STOCKHOLM, Dec 8 (AFP) A watchlist of possible terror suspects distributed by the US government to airlines for pre-flight checks is now 80,000 names long, a Swedish newspaper reported on Thursday, citing European air industry sources.
The classified list, which carried just 16 names before the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington had grown to 1,000 by the end of 2001, to 40,000 a year later and now stands at 80,000, Svenska Dagbladet reported.
Airlines must check each passenger flying to a US destination against the list, and contact the US Department of Homeland Security for further investigation if there is a matching name."
"STOCKHOLM, Dec 8 (AFP) A watchlist of possible terror suspects distributed by the US government to airlines for pre-flight checks is now 80,000 names long, a Swedish newspaper reported on Thursday, citing European air industry sources.
The classified list, which carried just 16 names before the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington had grown to 1,000 by the end of 2001, to 40,000 a year later and now stands at 80,000, Svenska Dagbladet reported.
Airlines must check each passenger flying to a US destination against the list, and contact the US Department of Homeland Security for further investigation if there is a matching name."
Alito May Tilt Vote in Reargued Cases
Oh, God...here we go!
Alito May Tilt Vote in Reargued Cases:
"The Supreme Court's newest justice, Samuel A. Alito Jr., has yet to write a signed opinion -- majority, concurring or dissenting. His vote has been recorded in only two cases so far.
But it won't be long before Alito makes his mark. There are three cases on the court's docket in which the 56-year-old junior justice will probably have the deciding vote."
10 States, in Challenge to U.S., Plan Suit to Force Better Mileage Rules for S.U.V.'s - The New York Times
10 States, in Challenge to U.S., Plan Suit to Force Better Mileage Rules for S.U.V.'s - The New York Times:
"The states' lawsuit contends that the Bush administration did not do a rigorous enough analysis before issuing new mileage regulations."
"The states' lawsuit contends that the Bush administration did not do a rigorous enough analysis before issuing new mileage regulations."
STARK CALLS FOR AN END TO THE IRAQ WAR
STARK CALLS FOR AN END TO THE IRAQ WAR:
"WASHINGTON, DC: U.S. Representative Pete Stark (D-Fremont), a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus, issued the following statement on the third anniversary of President Bush's aircraft carrier landing and 'Mission Accomplished' address.
'Mr. President, you and your administration lost the war in Iraq,' said Representative Stark. 'In the three years since you declared major combat operations to have ended, more than 2,250 American soldiers have died unnecessary deaths. Rather than facilitate a lasting peace, the American occupation has led Iraq into civil war. At a cost of nearly $10 billion a month, the American presence continues to embolden our enemies and weaken our friends.'" (Read On ^ it gets better.)
"WASHINGTON, DC: U.S. Representative Pete Stark (D-Fremont), a member of the Out of Iraq Caucus, issued the following statement on the third anniversary of President Bush's aircraft carrier landing and 'Mission Accomplished' address.
'Mr. President, you and your administration lost the war in Iraq,' said Representative Stark. 'In the three years since you declared major combat operations to have ended, more than 2,250 American soldiers have died unnecessary deaths. Rather than facilitate a lasting peace, the American occupation has led Iraq into civil war. At a cost of nearly $10 billion a month, the American presence continues to embolden our enemies and weaken our friends.'" (Read On ^ it gets better.)
Keeping a Democratic Web
Hey, looky here. The NYT has an editorial talking about NET neutrality.
Keeping a Democratic Web - The New York Times:
"A democratic Internet would be in danger if Web sites that pay cable and telephone companies large fees would get priority over little-guy sites."
Keeping a Democratic Web - The New York Times:
"A democratic Internet would be in danger if Web sites that pay cable and telephone companies large fees would get priority over little-guy sites."
May seems to dull the minds of media types
Damn! I didn't think it was possible for them to get much more dulled, without the need for life support
MediaChannel.org Features:
"NEW YORK, May 1, 2006: May Day has many meanings. It was this new month that the Temptations memorialized in a great song that highlights how special many regard it.
Remember the line from 'My Girl.?'
'When it's cold outside I've got the month of May.'
May warms the body and the heart, but for many in the media, it seems to dull the mind."
Iraq Oil Production: On the Verge of Collapse
Bush is an idiot, chapter 1, 9999
Iraq: On the Verge of Collapse - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News:
"The British and the Americans are guarding Iraq's Persian Gulf oil platforms -- the troubled country's only real sources of revenue -- like crown jewels. But Iraqi oil is flowing sluggishly at best, while hoped-for investments haven't materialized and the Iraqi oil industry is on the verge of collapse -- both technical and political."
U.S. bird flu plan outlines worst-case scenario - Bird Flu - MSNBC.com
In other words, Bird Flu outbreak could bring Martial Law.
What an October surprise that would be, eh?
U.S. bird flu plan outlines worst-case scenario - Bird Flu - MSNBC.com:
"WASHINGTON - The government forecasts massive disruptions if bird flu or some other super-strain of influenza arises, with as much as 40 percent of the national work force off the job, but it doesn't foresee closing U.S. borders to fight the spread, according to a draft of the national response plan obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
An outbreak could lead the government to limit international flights, quarantine exposed travelers and otherwise restrict movement in and around the country.
But a complete shutdown of the border would not be likely, nor would it do more than slow the pandemic's spread by a few weeks, according to the plan that is being finalized by Bush administration officials for release Wednesday at the White House."
Market uproar follows Fed 'misunderstanding' - Financial Times - MSNBC.com
Either interests rates go up or the value of the dollar is going to slide against all other major currencies. Those are the choices.
Market uproar follows Fed 'misunderstanding' - Financial Times - MSNBC.com:
"Stocks fell on Monday after CNBC's Maria Bartiromo revealed on air that Ben Bernanke felt his testimony last week had been 'misunderstood.'
The anchor said Mr Bernanke had told her at the White House Correspondents' dinner in Washington on Saturday that he had not intended the markets to infer that the Fed was nearly done raising interest rates."
Fascism Alert; on Campuses
Fascism is not creeping anymore. It is in an all out sprint to the finish line.
Higher ed on high alert over wiretapping rules - Network World:
"Institutions of higher education are up in arms over an FCC ruling on wiretapping they say could cost them billions of dollars in upgrades, expose their networks to more attacks, and jeopardize rights to privacy and freedom of speech. "
Higher ed on high alert over wiretapping rules - Network World:
"Institutions of higher education are up in arms over an FCC ruling on wiretapping they say could cost them billions of dollars in upgrades, expose their networks to more attacks, and jeopardize rights to privacy and freedom of speech. "
Bush in ceaseless push for power
Not shit, Sherlocks of Cato! When did you catch on?
FT.com / World / US - Bush in �ceaseless push for power�:
"President George W. Bush had shown disdain and indifference for the US constitution by adopting an 'astonishingly broad' view of presidential powers, a leading libertarian think-tank said on Monday."
FT.com / World / US - Bush in �ceaseless push for power�:
"President George W. Bush had shown disdain and indifference for the US constitution by adopting an 'astonishingly broad' view of presidential powers, a leading libertarian think-tank said on Monday."
From King George of 1776 to King George of 2006, It's Time Declare Our Independence from Monarchal Rule
We are all down with this!
From King George of 1776 to King George of 2006, It's Time Declare Our Independence from Monarchal Rule:
"The Declaration of Independence states unequivocally:
'In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.'
When you read the document (http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration_transcript.html) that was the birth certificate of this great nation, you can't help but be struck by how the Busheviks would regard it as a radical, perhaps even terrorist call to arms. "
Al Gore's Daughter Says ReTHUGlican Mob Harassed Family at VP Mansion in 2000
If they try this agin, we will meet them head on!
The Ostroy Report:
Al Gore's Daughter Says ReTHUGlican Mob Harassed Family at VP Mansion in 2000: "Remember the ugly 'Brooks Brothers riot' of 2000, where ReTHUGlicans from out-of-state waved fists, chanted 'Stop the fraud!' and pounded windows to intimidate officials in the Florida recount effort? According to Monday's NY Post Page Six column, former vice-president Al Gore's daughter Karenna said that similar aggressive intimidation tactics were perpetrated outside the veep's mansion that same year. In an interview she gave in the May issue of Avenue Magazine, Gore said 'the rancor was overwhelming at times...There was this horrible mob outside the vice president's house that was recruited by political operatives. They just kept yelling 'Get out of Cheney's house.' That was really painful and rude.' It's astounding that the harassment of these disruptive mobs was allowed unchecked. I'd like to know what the Democratic leadership is doing to prevent a repeat performance. "
Sour news for GOP in poll
Duck and Cover!
USATODAY.com - Sour news for GOP in poll:
"WASHINGTON: Six months before Republicans try to hold on to control of Congress in the fall elections, a new poll shows President Bush has slid to the lowest approval rating of his presidency, and a majority of voters say they'll vote for Democrats in November.
A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday found Bush's approval rating at 34%, two points under his previous low. He also received the lowest ratings of his presidency on his handling of the economy, energy and foreign affairs. He tied his previous low on Iraq: 32%.
The poll showed Democrats leading 54%-39% among registered voters who were asked which party they would prefer in a congressional race."
Monday, May 01, 2006
Report: Fitzgerald Mulls Rove Charges
Rove ally says that they are sure Rove will not be indicted.
Why? Have they threatened Fitzgerald?
WKRC 12 Cincinnati - Report: Fitzgerald Mulls Rove Charges:
"Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is expected to decide within two weeks whether to indict top White House aide Karl Rove, The New York Times said Friday.
Citing lawyers involved in the case, the newspaper reported that Fitzgerald will spend the time reviewing Rove's testimony in his fifth appearance before a grand jury investigating the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. Fitzgerald will compare it to Rove's previous statements in the case. "
Iran holds the trump card in oil game
This is going to get really ugly, Folks.
Bought your bicycle, yet?
Found a cave to move into?
JS Online:Iran holds the trump card in oil game:
"Iran's key ally in the current nuclear crisis is not Russia or China. "
Chalabi involved US, Iran policy making again, current and former intelligence officials say
Damn! Will the Bushites never learn?
Guess Curveball can't be far behind.
Wonder who will be their mole at the NYT, this time, since Judy is long gone?
The Raw Story Chalabi involved US, Iran policy making again, current and former intelligence officials say:
"Ahmed Chalabi, the man who helped provide cooked intelligence on Iraq to the Pentagon and the New York Times in the lead-up to war, is once again being engaged in US policy decisions, current and former intelligence officials say.
According to two former high level counterintelligence officials, one former senior counterterrorist official and another intelligence officer, Chalabi is acting as broker between the US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Iranian officials in what are now stalled diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran.
'[Ahmed] Chalabi inserted himself and brought a proposal to Zel,' one intelligence source said."
Guess Curveball can't be far behind.
Wonder who will be their mole at the NYT, this time, since Judy is long gone?
The Raw Story Chalabi involved US, Iran policy making again, current and former intelligence officials say:
"Ahmed Chalabi, the man who helped provide cooked intelligence on Iraq to the Pentagon and the New York Times in the lead-up to war, is once again being engaged in US policy decisions, current and former intelligence officials say.
According to two former high level counterintelligence officials, one former senior counterterrorist official and another intelligence officer, Chalabi is acting as broker between the US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, and Iranian officials in what are now stalled diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran.
'[Ahmed] Chalabi inserted himself and brought a proposal to Zel,' one intelligence source said."
People lose jobs for protesting.
I expect more of this.
It is not at all surprising.
abc13.com: News from KTRK, around Houston and southeast Texas:
"(4/14/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - Some people who skipped work Monday to protest immigration reform are protesting again. The workers claim their decision to march cost them their jobs. "
It is not at all surprising.
abc13.com: News from KTRK, around Houston and southeast Texas:
"(4/14/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - Some people who skipped work Monday to protest immigration reform are protesting again. The workers claim their decision to march cost them their jobs. "
Crminal complaint filed against Cruella Harris
Recent Updates - Common Cause:
"May 1, 2006: Common Cause is filing a complaint requesting that the Public Integrity Division of the Department of Justice conduct an investigation to determine if Representative Katherine Harris (R-FL) has violated the law. The Justice Department has become the de facto enforcement body for the House of Representatives because the House Ethics Committee has effectively ceased to exist."
"May 1, 2006: Common Cause is filing a complaint requesting that the Public Integrity Division of the Department of Justice conduct an investigation to determine if Representative Katherine Harris (R-FL) has violated the law. The Justice Department has become the de facto enforcement body for the House of Representatives because the House Ethics Committee has effectively ceased to exist."
MSNBC: Plame Leak Hurt Ability to Spy on Iran for WMD"
As we reported here several months back, Valerie Plame Wiilson was not only a WMD specialist at the CIA, but she was watching Iran, in partciular.
MSNBC finally managed to stumble across this tidbit, and Brad has the link to the video
THE BRAD BLOG: "VIDEO - MSNBC: Plame Leak Hurt Ability to Spy on Iran for WMD":
"Shuster attended the White House Correspondent's Dinner. He was able to get a short interview with Joe Wilson. Republican operatives have renewed their baseless claim that Valerie Plame-Wilson's identity was not classified. For her part, Valerie Plame-Wilson stood silently by as her husband rejected the well used right-wing talking point.
More importantly, David Shuster reports that sources have told him how National Security was damaged when Valerie Plame-Wilson's identity was leaked by the White House. His sources say that she worked with gathering intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction. The outing of her name specifically damaged the ability to collect intelligence on Iran's nuclear capabilities. "
Not only was the lady a NOC, but the Leakers are guilty of treason.
MSNBC finally managed to stumble across this tidbit, and Brad has the link to the video
THE BRAD BLOG: "VIDEO - MSNBC: Plame Leak Hurt Ability to Spy on Iran for WMD":
"Shuster attended the White House Correspondent's Dinner. He was able to get a short interview with Joe Wilson. Republican operatives have renewed their baseless claim that Valerie Plame-Wilson's identity was not classified. For her part, Valerie Plame-Wilson stood silently by as her husband rejected the well used right-wing talking point.
More importantly, David Shuster reports that sources have told him how National Security was damaged when Valerie Plame-Wilson's identity was leaked by the White House. His sources say that she worked with gathering intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction. The outing of her name specifically damaged the ability to collect intelligence on Iran's nuclear capabilities. "
Not only was the lady a NOC, but the Leakers are guilty of treason.
The Great American Firewall: Why the Net is Poised to Become a Global Weapon of Mass Deception
Find out who the enemies of Democracy are.
Fire at will.
Elliot D. Cohen: The Great American Firewall: Why the Net is Poised to Become a Global Weapon of Mass Deception:
"Hindsight is often touted as better than foresight, yet such a truism should not blind us to an immanent threat before it happens. Like someone who takes up with an abusive mate and rationalizes the threat to life and limb until the battering leaves undeniable, indelible scars, there are good reasons right now to expect the worst when it comes to the survival of the free Internet. Now unfolding is a legal-political-corporate plot for turning a vibrant, democratic Internet into a global web of corporate and government deceit. The tell-tale signs exist but as in domestic abuse, the perpetrators (federal government and a small group of interconnected, powerful telecom and mainstream media monopolies) have done their utmost to keep it hidden behind closed doors. "
Fire at will.
Elliot D. Cohen: The Great American Firewall: Why the Net is Poised to Become a Global Weapon of Mass Deception:
"Hindsight is often touted as better than foresight, yet such a truism should not blind us to an immanent threat before it happens. Like someone who takes up with an abusive mate and rationalizes the threat to life and limb until the battering leaves undeniable, indelible scars, there are good reasons right now to expect the worst when it comes to the survival of the free Internet. Now unfolding is a legal-political-corporate plot for turning a vibrant, democratic Internet into a global web of corporate and government deceit. The tell-tale signs exist but as in domestic abuse, the perpetrators (federal government and a small group of interconnected, powerful telecom and mainstream media monopolies) have done their utmost to keep it hidden behind closed doors. "
Bolivia Military Told to Occupy Gas Fields - Yahoo! News
Everywhere, they are standing up to Bush, except here, of course.
Bolivia Military Told to Occupy Gas Fields - Yahoo! News:
"LA PAZ, Bolivia - President Evo Morales ordered soldiers to immediately occupy Bolivia's natural gas fields Monday and threatened to evict foreign companies unless they sign new contracts within six months giving Bolivia majority control over the entire chain of production."
Gangs claim their turf in Iraq (This is not a joke)
As a nation, we really know how to put our best foot forward, eh?
Oh, and the Aryan Nation is there too.
Gangs claim their turf in Iraq:
"The Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings and Vice Lords were born decades ago in Chicago's most violent neighborhoods. Now, their gang graffiti is showing up 6,400 miles away in one of the world's most dangerous neighborhoods -- Iraq."
Second reprot that Bush wants to attack Iran through Turkey
Turkey says, No Way, Jorge!
A Liberal Dose:
"At the Rubicon: US Asks Turkey to Host Iran Attack
YNet News reports we are at the threshold of the most terrifying moment in human history: a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Iran. Contrary to the public story, the Bush Administration is proceeding full speed ahead, Congressional authorization be damned:"
Polygraph Results Often in Question
If it won't hold up in a court of law, why should its use be allowed to determine whether a person gets a job or continues in a job, either in goverment or for government's corporate masters.
However, if lie detectors are to be used, then let's hook up all of our elected officials, every time they open their mouths about anything offdicial.
The president can be hooked up to one for every official speech. The results could be viewed in real time on a screen behind him. The people will come to understand that it is a waste of time to watch him at any other time.
Same for the Senate and House. Everything they say from the floor of either chamber, will be monitored for accuracy by a lie detector. No more suspending the reading of Bills, or revising and extending remarks. If you don't say it while wired, it hasn't been said and it will not appear in any record that the public pays any attention to.
People who are called to testify before Congress, for any reason of national importance, will also be 'wired,' so to speak.
The American people would then have more time to focus on thier own personal lves and how to get the hell off the grid and learn to ride a motorcycle hybrid of somekind, a skate board, or whatever, because they will no longer have to watch TV news, because they will know that that is a place that politicians and their minion are not wired, so there is really no point in watching, unless one just enjoys being lied to, or likes comparing wired speech to unwired speech.
Yep, I definitely see the possible potential of the lie detector, if the government is going to use it at all.
I say start at the top!
Polygraph Results Often in Question:
"The CIA, the FBI and other federal agencies are using polygraph machines more than ever to screen applicants and hunt for lawbreakers, even as scientists have become more certain that the equipment is ineffective in accurately detecting when people are lying.
Instead, many experts say, the real utility of the polygraph machine, or 'lie detector,' is that many of the tens of thousands of people who are subjected to it each year believe that it works -- and thus will frequently admit to things they might not otherwise acknowledge during an interview or interrogation."
However, if lie detectors are to be used, then let's hook up all of our elected officials, every time they open their mouths about anything offdicial.
The president can be hooked up to one for every official speech. The results could be viewed in real time on a screen behind him. The people will come to understand that it is a waste of time to watch him at any other time.
Same for the Senate and House. Everything they say from the floor of either chamber, will be monitored for accuracy by a lie detector. No more suspending the reading of Bills, or revising and extending remarks. If you don't say it while wired, it hasn't been said and it will not appear in any record that the public pays any attention to.
People who are called to testify before Congress, for any reason of national importance, will also be 'wired,' so to speak.
The American people would then have more time to focus on thier own personal lves and how to get the hell off the grid and learn to ride a motorcycle hybrid of somekind, a skate board, or whatever, because they will no longer have to watch TV news, because they will know that that is a place that politicians and their minion are not wired, so there is really no point in watching, unless one just enjoys being lied to, or likes comparing wired speech to unwired speech.
Yep, I definitely see the possible potential of the lie detector, if the government is going to use it at all.
I say start at the top!
Polygraph Results Often in Question:
"The CIA, the FBI and other federal agencies are using polygraph machines more than ever to screen applicants and hunt for lawbreakers, even as scientists have become more certain that the equipment is ineffective in accurately detecting when people are lying.
Instead, many experts say, the real utility of the polygraph machine, or 'lie detector,' is that many of the tens of thousands of people who are subjected to it each year believe that it works -- and thus will frequently admit to things they might not otherwise acknowledge during an interview or interrogation."
The GOP: A Field Guide (A laugh riot)
TygrBright's Journal - The GOP: A Field Guide:
"Genus: Politiciae troglodyticus, common name 'GOPpie'
Four distinct species, described below. The American genus is distributed widely throughout the continent, especially in the South and West Central regions. Extremely hardy and robust, populations occasionally increase to nuisance levels, degrading habitat and overwhelming other native Politiciae as well as Apoliticus apathiphilius. Although species differ markedly in many respects, all species and subspecies can be identified by the extremity of their distrust of any information that conflicts with a fantasy worldview specific to each species."
"Genus: Politiciae troglodyticus, common name 'GOPpie'
Four distinct species, described below. The American genus is distributed widely throughout the continent, especially in the South and West Central regions. Extremely hardy and robust, populations occasionally increase to nuisance levels, degrading habitat and overwhelming other native Politiciae as well as Apoliticus apathiphilius. Although species differ markedly in many respects, all species and subspecies can be identified by the extremity of their distrust of any information that conflicts with a fantasy worldview specific to each species."
Biden calls for dividing Iraq into three
Seems reasonable, since Iraq is a figment of Brittish imagination anyway.
If the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds really just can't stand one another, why force them to live together?
New York Daily News - Breaking News:
"Also Monday, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee proposed that Iraq be divided into three separate regions - Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni - with a central government in Baghdad.
In a speech in Philadelphia, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware suggested that a residual force would be left in place that would number about 20,000 - a force that presumably would prevent al-Qaida and jihadists 'from essentially taking Afghanistan and moving it to the nether regions of Iraq.'
The White House rejected the idea of a partitioned Iraq, saying the Bush administration supports a 'federal, democratic, pluralist and unified' country. 'A partition government with regional security forces and a weak central government, as you are referencing, is something that no Iraqi leader has proposed and that the Iraqi people have not supported,' White House press secretary Scott McClellan said."
If the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds really just can't stand one another, why force them to live together?
New York Daily News - Breaking News:
"Also Monday, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee proposed that Iraq be divided into three separate regions - Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni - with a central government in Baghdad.
In a speech in Philadelphia, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware suggested that a residual force would be left in place that would number about 20,000 - a force that presumably would prevent al-Qaida and jihadists 'from essentially taking Afghanistan and moving it to the nether regions of Iraq.'
The White House rejected the idea of a partitioned Iraq, saying the Bush administration supports a 'federal, democratic, pluralist and unified' country. 'A partition government with regional security forces and a weak central government, as you are referencing, is something that no Iraqi leader has proposed and that the Iraqi people have not supported,' White House press secretary Scott McClellan said."
White House reporters are Snow-bound
If the "prestigeous" W.H. press corps allows so much a a one day honeymoon with Snowjob they should be tarred and feathered.
Just one more Bushite liar at the podium; so what else is new?
Maybe, old Snowjobs first big test will be the indictment of the pink frogman. himself.
It will no doubt be said that the indictment is politically motivated.
Who knows, by this time, it may well be patriotically motivated; whatever it takes, within the law, to save our country from these thugs.
Wait a minute; I just remembered; according to Bush, the law is just there for everyone else, not him. I don't know why we cannot take the same attitude, if forced to.
Commentary: White House reporters are Snow-bound:
"The White House press secretary change has given new meaning to the term 'snow job.' And it may be more than a matter of going from lower case to upper case.
By pulling the hapless Scott McClellan who was being pounded by a suddenly aggressive White House press corps, and sending Tony Snow in as a long relief man, administration strategists may have concluded that a good offense is the best defense of their crumbling castle of lies and deception.
For months, Cheney and Bush were content to send poor McClellan out to repeat their lies or simply refuse comment, and it worked on a passive press corps. They even got away for a while with planting a male prostitute disguised as a reporter in the audience to lob softball questions at McClellan."
Just one more Bushite liar at the podium; so what else is new?
Maybe, old Snowjobs first big test will be the indictment of the pink frogman. himself.
It will no doubt be said that the indictment is politically motivated.
Who knows, by this time, it may well be patriotically motivated; whatever it takes, within the law, to save our country from these thugs.
Wait a minute; I just remembered; according to Bush, the law is just there for everyone else, not him. I don't know why we cannot take the same attitude, if forced to.
Commentary: White House reporters are Snow-bound:
"The White House press secretary change has given new meaning to the term 'snow job.' And it may be more than a matter of going from lower case to upper case.
By pulling the hapless Scott McClellan who was being pounded by a suddenly aggressive White House press corps, and sending Tony Snow in as a long relief man, administration strategists may have concluded that a good offense is the best defense of their crumbling castle of lies and deception.
For months, Cheney and Bush were content to send poor McClellan out to repeat their lies or simply refuse comment, and it worked on a passive press corps. They even got away for a while with planting a male prostitute disguised as a reporter in the audience to lob softball questions at McClellan."
Sharp Reaction to G.O.P. Plan on Gas Rebate - New York Times
$100 rebate to "taxpayers" is the dumbest goddamned idea I have ever heard.
"Sent to income taxpayers", not gasoline taxpayers? As a matter of fact, the recipient does not even have to own a car or other vehicle.
How the hell is that helping the people who are having the hardest time with the gasoline prices? There are people with cars who do not earn enough money to even pay income tax. But they are sure as hell stuck with the high cost of fuel.
Seems to me that the Repuublicans are just trying to get something, anything, through so that they all won't be ridden out of town on a rail.
Well, it won't work! People are still thinking about the oil company profits and the salaries and other monies paid to the greedy, self-important CEOs and other corporate officers.
The Republcans have hitched their party , and their portfolios, no doubt, to these jackasses, so let them all go to hell with them.
Sharp Reaction to G.O.P. Plan on Gas Rebate - New York Times:
"WASHINGTON, April 30: The Senate Republican plan to mail $100 checks to voters to ease the burden of high gasoline prices is eliciting more scorn than gratitude from the very people it was intended to help."
"Sent to income taxpayers", not gasoline taxpayers? As a matter of fact, the recipient does not even have to own a car or other vehicle.
How the hell is that helping the people who are having the hardest time with the gasoline prices? There are people with cars who do not earn enough money to even pay income tax. But they are sure as hell stuck with the high cost of fuel.
Seems to me that the Repuublicans are just trying to get something, anything, through so that they all won't be ridden out of town on a rail.
Well, it won't work! People are still thinking about the oil company profits and the salaries and other monies paid to the greedy, self-important CEOs and other corporate officers.
The Republcans have hitched their party , and their portfolios, no doubt, to these jackasses, so let them all go to hell with them.
Sharp Reaction to G.O.P. Plan on Gas Rebate - New York Times:
"WASHINGTON, April 30: The Senate Republican plan to mail $100 checks to voters to ease the burden of high gasoline prices is eliciting more scorn than gratitude from the very people it was intended to help."
U.S. Prepares for 'Day Without Immigrants' - Yahoo! News
This will more than likeli flop big time.
However, if it doesn't, consumer boycotts could be the wave of the future.
U.S. Prepares for 'Day Without Immigrants' - Yahoo! News:
"Thousands of illegal immigrants and their allies across the country plan a show of force Monday to illustrate how much immigrants matter in the U.S. economy. "
However, if it doesn't, consumer boycotts could be the wave of the future.
U.S. Prepares for 'Day Without Immigrants' - Yahoo! News:
"Thousands of illegal immigrants and their allies across the country plan a show of force Monday to illustrate how much immigrants matter in the U.S. economy. "
Ohio churches too political?
Slap income and property taxes on them and be done with it.
Ohio churches too political?:
"In a challenge to the ethics of conservative Ohio religious leaders and the fairness of the Internal Revenue Service, a group of 56 clergy members contends that two churches have gone too far in supporting a Republican candidate for governor.
Two complaints filed with the tax agency say that the large Columbus-area churches, active in President Bush's narrow Ohio win in 2004, violated their tax-exempt status by pushing the candidacy of J. Kenneth Blackwell, the secretary of state and favored candidate of Ohio's religious right.
The clergy members said the churches improperly held political activities and allowed Republican organizations to use their facilities.
The goal of the challenge is 'for these churches to stop acting like electioneering organizations,' said the Rev. Eric Williams, pastor of North Congregational United Church of Christ. 'I don't want to harm or demonize these churches. I want these churches to act legally.'"
Ohio churches too political?:
"In a challenge to the ethics of conservative Ohio religious leaders and the fairness of the Internal Revenue Service, a group of 56 clergy members contends that two churches have gone too far in supporting a Republican candidate for governor.
Two complaints filed with the tax agency say that the large Columbus-area churches, active in President Bush's narrow Ohio win in 2004, violated their tax-exempt status by pushing the candidacy of J. Kenneth Blackwell, the secretary of state and favored candidate of Ohio's religious right.
The clergy members said the churches improperly held political activities and allowed Republican organizations to use their facilities.
The goal of the challenge is 'for these churches to stop acting like electioneering organizations,' said the Rev. Eric Williams, pastor of North Congregational United Church of Christ. 'I don't want to harm or demonize these churches. I want these churches to act legally.'"
Frank Rich: Downing Street memo 'proved accurate'
The Raw Story Frank Rich: Downing Street memo 'proved accurate':
"After a three month hiatus, Frank Rich returns to the New York Times with a column slated for Sunday's edition which asserts that '[e]ach week brings new confirmation' that the Downing Street memo leaked last May has proved accurate, RAW STORY has learned."
"After a three month hiatus, Frank Rich returns to the New York Times with a column slated for Sunday's edition which asserts that '[e]ach week brings new confirmation' that the Downing Street memo leaked last May has proved accurate, RAW STORY has learned."
Rice: Tehran is 'playing games'
I wonder if it ever dawns on Condi that all of her saber rattling isn't all that frightening to anyone, save American investors, apparently.
I wonder if it ever dawns on her that she isn't the boss of this planet.
I wonder if it ever dawns on Condi that she will be tarred and feathered when the economic crash comes, and it isn't all that far off.
CNN.com - Rice: Tehran is 'playing games' - Apr 30, 2006:
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran Sunday of 'playing games' with the international community over its nuclear program, but she stopped short of saying whether economic sanctions against the Islamic republic are inevitable.
'Every time they get close to a Security Council decision, there is some effort to say, 'Oh no, we really were in fact interested in that proposal that we rejected a few weeks ago.' Or, 'No, now the IAEA can come,' Rice told ABC's 'This Week.'
'They've had plenty of time to cooperate.' "
I wonder if it ever dawns on her that she isn't the boss of this planet.
I wonder if it ever dawns on Condi that she will be tarred and feathered when the economic crash comes, and it isn't all that far off.
CNN.com - Rice: Tehran is 'playing games' - Apr 30, 2006:
"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran Sunday of 'playing games' with the international community over its nuclear program, but she stopped short of saying whether economic sanctions against the Islamic republic are inevitable.
'Every time they get close to a Security Council decision, there is some effort to say, 'Oh no, we really were in fact interested in that proposal that we rejected a few weeks ago.' Or, 'No, now the IAEA can come,' Rice told ABC's 'This Week.'
'They've had plenty of time to cooperate.' "
Polls Suggest Ethics Issues Could Haunt GOP
If ethics don't matter to the American people, then we should all just gve up and get the hell out of here, now!
Polls Suggest Ethics Issues Could Haunt GOP:
"The day before the Republican House leadership struggled for five hours to bring lobby reform legislation to the floor, Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) declared that voters have little or no interest in ethics legislation.
'Do I think they care about it? No, I don't,' Doolittle told a reporter. Doolittle said that during the April 7-23 recess, he did not hear 'anything about Jack Abramoff,' the central figure in a lobbying scandal."
Polls Suggest Ethics Issues Could Haunt GOP:
"The day before the Republican House leadership struggled for five hours to bring lobby reform legislation to the floor, Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) declared that voters have little or no interest in ethics legislation.
'Do I think they care about it? No, I don't,' Doolittle told a reporter. Doolittle said that during the April 7-23 recess, he did not hear 'anything about Jack Abramoff,' the central figure in a lobbying scandal."
Evidence of Fraud Found by Iraq Audit - Los Angeles Times
Is anyone surprised by this?
It isn't a very far jump from "legal" war profiteering, to out-right theft, now is it?
Evidence of Fraud Found by Iraq Audit - Los Angeles Times:
"WASHINGTON: An American initiative to use private security companies to protect Iraq's oil and power infrastructure collapsed amid reports of possible fraud, missing weapons and destroyed documents, according to a federal audit released Saturday.
Under a program named Task Force Shield, the U.S. paid two security firms $147 million to train and equip tens of thousands of Iraqis to safeguard oil pipelines and transmission towers, the audit found."
It isn't a very far jump from "legal" war profiteering, to out-right theft, now is it?
Evidence of Fraud Found by Iraq Audit - Los Angeles Times:
"WASHINGTON: An American initiative to use private security companies to protect Iraq's oil and power infrastructure collapsed amid reports of possible fraud, missing weapons and destroyed documents, according to a federal audit released Saturday.
Under a program named Task Force Shield, the U.S. paid two security firms $147 million to train and equip tens of thousands of Iraqis to safeguard oil pipelines and transmission towers, the audit found."
| New oil shock ahead as $100 spike looms
Just in time for fun in the sun, eh, America.
If Americans had any sense at all they would stay home this year and do a little home improvement, like installing solar panels, windmills and getting off the grid.
You can always have a little entertainment by sitting on freeway overpasses and shooting the tires out from under those gas-guzzling Humvees, that no one needs to drive, unless they are in Iraq.
The Observer Business New oil shock ahead as $100 spike looms:
"The growing international crisis over Iran's nuclear programme could trigger a catastrophic oil price spike, sending crude prices over $100 a barrel, senior Wall Street analysts are warning.
Shell is also expected to announce close to record numbers next week, with analysts expecting profits around $5.57bn, driven largely by the oil price. "
If Americans had any sense at all they would stay home this year and do a little home improvement, like installing solar panels, windmills and getting off the grid.
You can always have a little entertainment by sitting on freeway overpasses and shooting the tires out from under those gas-guzzling Humvees, that no one needs to drive, unless they are in Iraq.
The Observer Business New oil shock ahead as $100 spike looms:
"The growing international crisis over Iran's nuclear programme could trigger a catastrophic oil price spike, sending crude prices over $100 a barrel, senior Wall Street analysts are warning.
Shell is also expected to announce close to record numbers next week, with analysts expecting profits around $5.57bn, driven largely by the oil price. "
High Gas Prices Will Last Years, Bush Aides Say - Los Angeles Times
Of course, the Iraq war and current saber-rattling by Der Monkey has nothing at all to do with this mess.
High Gas Prices Will Last Years, Bush Aides Say - Los Angeles Times:
"Even as top officials talk up the president's plan for relief, the White House chief of staff concedes the effect of the steps will be modest.
Gasoline prices will remain high for years to come and will be largely unaffected by a new White House plan to bring them down, Bush administration officials said Sunday.
Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said the United States faced an oil price 'crisis' because surging demand from such countries as China and India had outstripped supply, and he predicted that it would be 'two to three years before suppliers are in a position to meet the demands.' "
High Gas Prices Will Last Years, Bush Aides Say - Los Angeles Times:
"Even as top officials talk up the president's plan for relief, the White House chief of staff concedes the effect of the steps will be modest.
Gasoline prices will remain high for years to come and will be largely unaffected by a new White House plan to bring them down, Bush administration officials said Sunday.
Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said the United States faced an oil price 'crisis' because surging demand from such countries as China and India had outstripped supply, and he predicted that it would be 'two to three years before suppliers are in a position to meet the demands.' "
Dollar starts the big slide against major currencies - Sunday Times - Times Online
Here it comes folks; the economic sqeaze play, we have been expecting.
I wouldn't be planning any overseas travel. The dollar isn't going to be worth fish wrap, by the time Junior is through mucking everything up, and the rest of the world is through with us, as a result.
Dollar starts the big slide against major currencies - Sunday Times - Times Online:
"THE dollar has embarked on a big decline that will see it fall against all leading currencies, according to analysts.
The plunge is being prompted by America's $800 billion (L438 billion) current-account deficit, they say.
The dollar has been under pressure following last weekend's meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bankers, which emphasised 'global imbalances' and said currencies should reflect economic fundamentals. Then China raised its key interest rate to 5.85%, its first hike for months, and Ben Bernanke, the new Federal Reserve chairman, hinted that American rates would pause at 5% after a rise in May.
Analysts say that without interest-rate support, the dollar will be weighed down heavily by America's imbalances. "
I wouldn't be planning any overseas travel. The dollar isn't going to be worth fish wrap, by the time Junior is through mucking everything up, and the rest of the world is through with us, as a result.
Dollar starts the big slide against major currencies - Sunday Times - Times Online:
"THE dollar has embarked on a big decline that will see it fall against all leading currencies, according to analysts.
The plunge is being prompted by America's $800 billion (L438 billion) current-account deficit, they say.
The dollar has been under pressure following last weekend's meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bankers, which emphasised 'global imbalances' and said currencies should reflect economic fundamentals. Then China raised its key interest rate to 5.85%, its first hike for months, and Ben Bernanke, the new Federal Reserve chairman, hinted that American rates would pause at 5% after a rise in May.
Analysts say that without interest-rate support, the dollar will be weighed down heavily by America's imbalances. "
Raising Taxes on People Who Work
So, Bolton is now calling the political shots? Maybe off topic, but WTF?
Anyhow, whoever is deciding which points are which. this is really stupid, especially when one takes into consideration how ordinary people are feeling about the those "investing Republicans," right now.
Raising Taxes on People Who Work TPMCafe:
"Time last week got the scoop on Josh Bolten's Five-Point Plan to protect the Bush administration from that which it fears the most -- subpoena power - through the familiar strategy of firing up their base. All of them seem lame or craven, or grotesque, not least the promise to ratchet up tensions with Iran for political reasons. 'In the face of the Iranian menace, the Democrats will lose,' says a source described as 'a Republican frequently consulted by the White House.' But let's focus on point three:
Anyhow, whoever is deciding which points are which. this is really stupid, especially when one takes into consideration how ordinary people are feeling about the those "investing Republicans," right now.
Raising Taxes on People Who Work TPMCafe:
"Time last week got the scoop on Josh Bolten's Five-Point Plan to protect the Bush administration from that which it fears the most -- subpoena power - through the familiar strategy of firing up their base. All of them seem lame or craven, or grotesque, not least the promise to ratchet up tensions with Iran for political reasons. 'In the face of the Iranian menace, the Democrats will lose,' says a source described as 'a Republican frequently consulted by the White House.' But let's focus on point three:
'The Administration will focus on two tax measures already in the legislative
pipeline-extensions of the rate cuts for stock dividends and capital gains. '
'This is very popular with investors, and a lot of Republicans are investors,'
the adviser told TIME."
The Geopolitical Nightmare that Bush Built
Bloomberg.com: Top Worldwide:
"May 1 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush, already weakened at home by the soaring cost of oil, is finding that it's also eroding his ability to achieve his foreign-policy goals.
``It's a geopolitical nightmare,'' says William Cohen, a former Republican senator from Maine and defense secretary under President Bill Clinton who is now chairman of the Cohen Group, a Washington-based consulting firm. Such nations as Iran, Russia and China ``don't see us as the colossus that can cause them any harm, either by our economy or by our prestige.''
Record-high energy prices are weakening Bush's prospects of assembling an international coalition to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions. They are diminishing his chances of influencing energy-rich nations such as Russia and isolating troublesome ones including Venezuela and Sudan. And they are straining U.S. economic and diplomatic ties with China, whose oil needs are skyrocketing"
"May 1 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush, already weakened at home by the soaring cost of oil, is finding that it's also eroding his ability to achieve his foreign-policy goals.
``It's a geopolitical nightmare,'' says William Cohen, a former Republican senator from Maine and defense secretary under President Bill Clinton who is now chairman of the Cohen Group, a Washington-based consulting firm. Such nations as Iran, Russia and China ``don't see us as the colossus that can cause them any harm, either by our economy or by our prestige.''
Record-high energy prices are weakening Bush's prospects of assembling an international coalition to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions. They are diminishing his chances of influencing energy-rich nations such as Russia and isolating troublesome ones including Venezuela and Sudan. And they are straining U.S. economic and diplomatic ties with China, whose oil needs are skyrocketing"
Sunday, April 30, 2006
The Moderate Voice - Colbert's White House Correspondent Dinner Performance Underscores Irony's Power And Delicacy
The Moderate Voice - Colbert's White House Correspondent Dinner Performance Underscores Irony's Power And Delicacy:
"You could see it if you watched it live (we did): while Colbert got laughs, cutaway shots showed some members of the audience unlaughing or seemingly unamused. If in show biz you measure the success of a comedy set by the duration and volume of laughs, Bush & impersonator were a smash. By THAT standard, Colbert wasn't since he got (with a few exception) mostly softer 'titters.'
Yet, in terms of content, Colbert's satire was more biting, had a message and was far less playful; more akin to what you'd hear in a point-of-view 'set' in a comedy club. And irony is always a tougher task."
"You could see it if you watched it live (we did): while Colbert got laughs, cutaway shots showed some members of the audience unlaughing or seemingly unamused. If in show biz you measure the success of a comedy set by the duration and volume of laughs, Bush & impersonator were a smash. By THAT standard, Colbert wasn't since he got (with a few exception) mostly softer 'titters.'
Yet, in terms of content, Colbert's satire was more biting, had a message and was far less playful; more akin to what you'd hear in a point-of-view 'set' in a comedy club. And irony is always a tougher task."
No evidence of pump price profiteering: Bodman
...and if anyone believes this, we have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.
ABC News: No evidence of pump price profiteering: Bodman:
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration sees no direct evidence of profiteering by big U.S. oil companies and is doing all it can to tame near-record prices, U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Sunday. "
ABC News: No evidence of pump price profiteering: Bodman:
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration sees no direct evidence of profiteering by big U.S. oil companies and is doing all it can to tame near-record prices, U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Sunday. "
Ignoring Colbert: A Small Taste of the Media's Power to Choose the News | The Huffington Post
Please read full article. Daou is right.
We predicted that Colbert's hilariously, right-on slashing and dicing of the preznit, the entire right-wing of nutters and the "librul Media" would be all over the NET this morning. It was.
We also predicted that it would be given very short-shrift by the Sunday morning, gas-bag shows and it was.
The preening, D.C. media just doesn't know what to do with the truth. They seem all quite shell-shocked when anyone dares to speak truth to power, even in a comedy skit.
We should be getting rid of the the Bush enablers in the press and MSM, right after the Bushites and their co-conspirators in Congress.
Let it be remembered that the press in Nazi Germany were questioned about their behavior at Nuremberg, and how they assisted Hitler in his quest to conquer the world.
The Blog Peter Daou: Ignoring Colbert: A Small Taste of the Media's Power to Choose the News The Huffington Post:
"It appears Mash's misgivings about press coverage are well-placed. The AP's first stab at it and pieces from Reuters and the Chicago Tribune tell us everything we need to know:
Colbert's performance is sidestepped and marginalized while Bush is treated as light-hearted, humble, and funny. Expect nothing less from the cowardly American media. The story could just as well have been Bush and Laura's discomfort and the crowd's semi-hostile reaction to Colbert's razor-sharp barbs. In fact, I would guess that from the perspective of newsworthiness and public interest, Bush-the-playful-president is far less compelling than a comedy sketch gone awry, a pissed-off prez, and a shell-shocked audience.
This is the power of the media to choose the news, to decide when and how to shield Bush from negative publicity. Sins of omission can be just as bad as sins of commission. And speaking of a sycophantic media establishment bending over backwards to accommodate this White House and to regurgitate pro-GOP and anti-Dem spin, I urge readers to pick up a copy of Eric Boehlert's new book, Lapdogs. It's a powerful indictment of the media's timidity during the Bush presidency. Boehlert rips away the facade of a 'liberal media' and exposes the invertebrates masquerading as journalists who have allowed and enabled the Bush administration's many transgressions to go unchecked, under-reported, or unquestioned."
Thousands Gather in D.C. at Rally for Darfur
Thousands Gather in D.C. at Rally for Darfur:
"Clutching signs that read 'Never Again', thousands of protesters from across religious and political divides converged on the Mall today, along with celebrities and politicians, to urge President Bush to take stronger measures to end genocide in Sudan's Darfur region."
"Clutching signs that read 'Never Again', thousands of protesters from across religious and political divides converged on the Mall today, along with celebrities and politicians, to urge President Bush to take stronger measures to end genocide in Sudan's Darfur region."
Danforth: Ban on Gay Marriage a Silly Idea - Yahoo! News
It is always a bad idea to use the Constitution to take away rights.
Danforth: Ban on Gay Marriage a Silly Idea - Yahoo! News:
"WASHINGTON - Former Sen. John Danforth says a conservative push to ban gay marriage through a constitutional amendment is silly, calling it the latest example of how the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the GOP. "
Powell Forces Rice to Defend Iraq Planning - Yahoo! News
Colin seems to feel left out these days. Wonder why. He was always left out, after the Bushites used him to lie us into the quagmire in Iraq.
As soon as he has sold his soul at the U.N. security council, he was done.
Powell Forces Rice to Defend Iraq Planning - Yahoo! News
As soon as he has sold his soul at the U.N. security council, he was done.
Powell Forces Rice to Defend Iraq Planning - Yahoo! News
US 'allowed Zarqawi to escape'
Another Bush, head-exploding moment, kind of like Tora Bora.
Can't get rid of all them Turrist, cause then,we wouldn't have any reason to keep bombing oil rich Muslim nations.
another signing statement, by Der Monkey.
US 'allowed Zarqawi to escape' - World - theage.com.au:
"The United States deliberately passed up repeated opportunities to kill the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, before the March 2003 US-led invasion of that country.
The claim, by former US spy Mike Scheuer, was made in an interview to be shown on ABC TV's Four Corners tonight.
Zarqawi is often described as a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, whose supporters masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
Mr Scheuer was a CIA agent for 22 years - six of them as head of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit - until he resigned in 2004."
Media finally starting to report the President's systematic lawbreaking
The Media has sure as hell better start catching on, because they are the next Gitmo inmates in Junior's war on truth.
Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: Media finally starting to report the President's systematic lawbreaking:
"On March 24, 2006, The Boston Globe published an article by Charlie Savage reporting that the President, after signing into law the bill which renewed the Patriot Act, issued a 'signing statement' making clear that 'he did not consider himself bound' to comply with various reporting provisions in the law and therefore reserved the right to violate them. The article was extraordinary because it noted that the Patriot Act signing statement was merely 'the latest in a string of high-profile instances in which Bush has cited his constitutional authority to bypass a law' -- and the article tied that ideology of lawlessness to, among other things, the President's deliberate violations of FISA when ordering warrantless eavesdropping on Americans."
Read On ^ and see below
Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: Media finally starting to report the President's systematic lawbreaking:
"On March 24, 2006, The Boston Globe published an article by Charlie Savage reporting that the President, after signing into law the bill which renewed the Patriot Act, issued a 'signing statement' making clear that 'he did not consider himself bound' to comply with various reporting provisions in the law and therefore reserved the right to violate them. The article was extraordinary because it noted that the Patriot Act signing statement was merely 'the latest in a string of high-profile instances in which Bush has cited his constitutional authority to bypass a law' -- and the article tied that ideology of lawlessness to, among other things, the President's deliberate violations of FISA when ordering warrantless eavesdropping on Americans."
Read On ^ and see below
America; the Monrachy. Another Oh, Shit Moment....
....brought to us, by GW Bush.
Now we have a C-student, business major telling us what the Constitution says.
Furthermore, our elected representatives in congress can make all the laws they like, but Bush sees no reason to follow any of them, if he considers the law to be unconstitutional.
WTF does he know? He doesn't know any more about the Constitution than we do.
Maybe we should all start deciding what laws are unconstitutional and simply ignore them.
Bush challenges hundreds of laws - The Boston Globe:
"WASHINGTON -- President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution."
Now we have a C-student, business major telling us what the Constitution says.
Furthermore, our elected representatives in congress can make all the laws they like, but Bush sees no reason to follow any of them, if he considers the law to be unconstitutional.
WTF does he know? He doesn't know any more about the Constitution than we do.
Maybe we should all start deciding what laws are unconstitutional and simply ignore them.
Bush challenges hundreds of laws - The Boston Globe:
"WASHINGTON -- President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution."
Olmert says Iran president "psychopath" - Yahoo! News
He is a scray little dude!
Some of his stage decorations come righ t out of the third Reich.
But, please remember that evil usually appear in the same form twice in a lifetime.
This =guy has studied Hitler. That is why he so much resembles him, in what he say and does.
Saddam looked and sounded like Stalin. Stalin was his hero.
That in no way means that Saddam ever had the ppwer to do what he wanted.
Iran's preznit Kook is no better off.
Our Kook does have the means to destroy the planet.
Feel better?
Olmert says Iran president "psychopath" - Yahoo! News:
"BERLIN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a psychopath and anti-Semite whose declarations resemble those of Adolf Hitler, Israeli acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a newspaper interview on Saturday. "
How Many US Troops are Really in Iraq?
Damn good question!
How Many US Troops are Really in Iraq?:
"The Congressional Research Service has just released a new report on the past and possible future costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pending Congress' action on the new emergency supplemental, which should complete fiscal year 2006 expenses, the costs will be up to $439 billion by the end of this year. But that's just the tip of the iceberg; details follow. The full report is available at www.cdi.org/smrp.
If Congress approves the $71 billion emergency supplemental to pay for the ongoing cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the new total for the war expenses will be $439 billion, according to a new report released on April 24 by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). For the war in Iraq, $320 billion will have been spent; $89 billion for Afghanistan, and $26 billion will have gone toward enhanced security, including combat air patrols, in and over the United Sates.
The Department of Defense (DOD) estimates its 'burn rate' of monthly expenses at $6.4 billion in Iraq and $1.3 billion in Afghanistan. CRS points out that DOD did not include the cost of replacing worn out equipment and upgrades to facilities in theater. Adding those and a few other costs calculates to a monthly 'burn rate' of $8.1 billion in Iraq; $1.6 billion in Afghanistan, and a total burn rate of $9.9 billion per month.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has made projections for possible future costs. That agency projects total additional costs of $371 billion for the years 2007 to 2016, making a grand total of $811 billion. (This CBO estimate assumes an almost immediate downturn in annual war costs; however, it is questionable whether we have crossed that peak.)
DOD's accounting methods continue to be problematic.
No Shit, Sherlock, read on ^
In Support Of Mutiny
Sometimes, Mutiny and worse are nessessary
In Support Of Mutiny:
"Just this past week there was a flicker of information or rumor across the internet that a number of senior U.S. Military officers had threatened to resign if the Iran
Operation comes on, as it now looks like it will. In addition, it was said that DoD was treating the communication of the threat to resign as a 'mutiny'. (Against civilain authority was the Administration's spin.) If, in fact, such a thing did occur, it is indeed a mutiny in my opinion. One I have been expecting for quite some time. The Administration's planned attack on Iran following upon the Bush/ Cheney disaster in Iraq is indeed likely to stimulate a mutiny among our armed forces.
As a declared candidate for Congress here in Vermont and a former Army officer myself, with some legal training, I hereby formally state that I support the 'mutineers' if they exist. And if they are so far only rumors, only ghosts, then I hope to God that real flesh and blood American soldiers will stand against war in Iran soon. It has come to that. I will support it.
('Big Dark coming,' Hunter Thompson is reported to have written in his suicide note not long ago. There was a journalist! Making the tough public call.)
There is no legal or Constitutional authority, to date, under which this administration can proceed to an attack on Iran, much less one involving an unprovoked and unnecessary resort to nuclear weaponry. There has been no Declaration of War. And if this Congress-- almost all of whom ought to be immediately retired--does not declare war on Iran, then no attack on that nation by American forces should be permitted. Congress and courts having now largely failed us, we must rely on the courage and the honor of our military. I believe they will do their duty which is to disobey all unlawful orders.
The Security Council deadline myth
The Security Council deadline myth:
"Under a Safeguards Agreement concluded with the International Atomic Energy Agency, as required by the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Iran agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to 'verify' that no 'source or special nuclear materials' are being used in furtherance of a nuclear weapons program.
During the past three years, every report Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei has made to the IAEA Board concluded that 'as best he can determine' no proscribed materials have been so used.
The NPT and the IAEA Statute and the Iranian Safeguards Agreement all guarantee Iran's 'inalienable' right to conduct research into, and to enjoy all the benefits of the peaceful use of, nuclear energy.
The IAEA Statute ensures, insofar as the IAEA is able, that 'source or special nuclear materials' are not used in furtherance of a military purpose as a secondary mission.
ElBaradei's reports over the past three years are that, while he cannot be absolutely certain that there are no proscribed materials in Iran that he doesn't know about, there are no 'indications' that there are.
Nevertheless, Bush-Cheney-Bolton-Rice strong-armed the IAEA Board into reporting the entire Iranian dossier to the Security Council 'for possible action.'
According to Bonkers Bolton, our representative on the Security Council:
This is a real test for the Security Council. There's just no doubt that for close to 20 years, the Iranians have been pursuing nuclear weapons through a clandestine program that we've uncovered.
Read On ^
"Under a Safeguards Agreement concluded with the International Atomic Energy Agency, as required by the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Iran agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to 'verify' that no 'source or special nuclear materials' are being used in furtherance of a nuclear weapons program.
During the past three years, every report Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei has made to the IAEA Board concluded that 'as best he can determine' no proscribed materials have been so used.
The NPT and the IAEA Statute and the Iranian Safeguards Agreement all guarantee Iran's 'inalienable' right to conduct research into, and to enjoy all the benefits of the peaceful use of, nuclear energy.
The IAEA Statute ensures, insofar as the IAEA is able, that 'source or special nuclear materials' are not used in furtherance of a military purpose as a secondary mission.
ElBaradei's reports over the past three years are that, while he cannot be absolutely certain that there are no proscribed materials in Iran that he doesn't know about, there are no 'indications' that there are.
Nevertheless, Bush-Cheney-Bolton-Rice strong-armed the IAEA Board into reporting the entire Iranian dossier to the Security Council 'for possible action.'
According to Bonkers Bolton, our representative on the Security Council:
This is a real test for the Security Council. There's just no doubt that for close to 20 years, the Iranians have been pursuing nuclear weapons through a clandestine program that we've uncovered.
Read On ^
IAEA Finds no Proof of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program
IAEA Finds no Proof of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program:
"04/29/06 'ICH' -- -- In its April 28 report, the International Atomic Energy Agency mentioned the UNSC mandate to Iran of last February:
' re-establish full and sustained suspension of all enrichment related and reprocessing activities,
including research and development, to be verified by the Agency;
- reconsider the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water;
- ratify promptly and implement in full the Additional Protocol;
- pending ratification, continue to act in accordance with the provisions of the Additional
Protocol which Iran signed on 18 December 2003;
- implement transparency measures, as requested by the Director General, including in GOV/2005/67, which extend beyond the formal requirements of the Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol, and include such access to individuals, documentation relating to procurement, dual use equipment, certain military-owned workshops and research and development as the Agency may request in support of its ongoing investigations."
Read On ^
"04/29/06 'ICH' -- -- In its April 28 report, the International Atomic Energy Agency mentioned the UNSC mandate to Iran of last February:
' re-establish full and sustained suspension of all enrichment related and reprocessing activities,
including research and development, to be verified by the Agency;
- reconsider the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water;
- ratify promptly and implement in full the Additional Protocol;
- pending ratification, continue to act in accordance with the provisions of the Additional
Protocol which Iran signed on 18 December 2003;
- implement transparency measures, as requested by the Director General, including in GOV/2005/67, which extend beyond the formal requirements of the Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol, and include such access to individuals, documentation relating to procurement, dual use equipment, certain military-owned workshops and research and development as the Agency may request in support of its ongoing investigations."
Read On ^
Crooks and Liars
This is interesting:
Please read on; hit the link
Crooks and Liars:
"Q: Quite often about he credibility of the UN, and it seems that
Bolton: And so has Secretary Rice..
Q: Yes and Rice has as well, but that seems to work in your favor when they do what you want them to do, but you violated the UN charter when you went to war against Iraq and you constantly lied to us about the reasons we went to war. ...in 1996 with the Project of New American Century and, you know, why do you have credibility other than you just got the bigger guns?
Bolton: May I ask what media outlet you're from?
Q: (garbled) Weekly.
Bolton: I see. We did not violate the UN charter in the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein and that plan was not drawn up in (H) at the Project for the New American Century."
Please read on; hit the link
Crooks and Liars:
"Q: Quite often about he credibility of the UN, and it seems that
Bolton: And so has Secretary Rice..
Q: Yes and Rice has as well, but that seems to work in your favor when they do what you want them to do, but you violated the UN charter when you went to war against Iraq and you constantly lied to us about the reasons we went to war. ...in 1996 with the Project of New American Century and, you know, why do you have credibility other than you just got the bigger guns?
Bolton: May I ask what media outlet you're from?
Q: (garbled) Weekly.
Bolton: I see. We did not violate the UN charter in the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein and that plan was not drawn up in (H) at the Project for the New American Century."
Democratic Underground - COMPLETE TEXT (clean copy) - Full Video - Great Pic of Colbert
This is too priceless.
Finally, someone told the damned truth to power, and did it in their own language; power that is.
Democratic Underground - COMPLETE TEXT (clean copy) - Full Video - Great Pic of Colbert:
"Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Before I begin, I've been asked to make an announcement. Whoever parked 14 black bullet proof S.U.V.'S out front, could you please move them. They are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof S.U.V.'S and they need to get out.
Wow, wow, what an honor.
The White House correspondents' dinner. To just sit here, at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be this close to the man. I feel like I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what; I'm a pretty sound sleeper that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face.
Is he really not here tonight? The one guy who could have helped. By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly on into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. Will be right over with a cocktail. Mrs. Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps,
Mr. President and first lady, my name is Stephen Colbert and it's my privilege tonight to celebrate our president. He's no so different, he and I. We get it. We're not brain backs on the nerd patrol. We're not members of the fact (police). We go straight from the gut, right sir? That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say I did look it up, and that's not true. That's but you looked it up in a book.
Next time look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that's how our nervous system works. Every night on my show, the Colbert Report, I speak straight from the gut, ok? I give people the truth, unfiltered by ratio"
Finally, someone told the damned truth to power, and did it in their own language; power that is.
Democratic Underground - COMPLETE TEXT (clean copy) - Full Video - Great Pic of Colbert:
"Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Before I begin, I've been asked to make an announcement. Whoever parked 14 black bullet proof S.U.V.'S out front, could you please move them. They are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof S.U.V.'S and they need to get out.
Wow, wow, what an honor.
The White House correspondents' dinner. To just sit here, at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be this close to the man. I feel like I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what; I'm a pretty sound sleeper that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face.
Is he really not here tonight? The one guy who could have helped. By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly on into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. Will be right over with a cocktail. Mrs. Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps,
Mr. President and first lady, my name is Stephen Colbert and it's my privilege tonight to celebrate our president. He's no so different, he and I. We get it. We're not brain backs on the nerd patrol. We're not members of the fact (police). We go straight from the gut, right sir? That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say I did look it up, and that's not true. That's but you looked it up in a book.
Next time look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that's how our nervous system works. Every night on my show, the Colbert Report, I speak straight from the gut, ok? I give people the truth, unfiltered by ratio"
Too Late, Colin.
Dependable Renegade:
"Powell: We Went Into Iraq Without Enough Troops
In an interview aired today on Britain's ITV, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the U.S. went into Iraq without enough troops. Powell said he always 'favored a larger military presence.' Prior to the invasion Powell made the case to Rumsfeld and President Bush but was overruled. As a result Powell said we didn't have 'enough force there at the time to impose order.'
'Hey. Stop it. Come on, don't. Oh, okay.'"
(Read On ^)
"Powell: We Went Into Iraq Without Enough Troops
In an interview aired today on Britain's ITV, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the U.S. went into Iraq without enough troops. Powell said he always 'favored a larger military presence.' Prior to the invasion Powell made the case to Rumsfeld and President Bush but was overruled. As a result Powell said we didn't have 'enough force there at the time to impose order.'
'Hey. Stop it. Come on, don't. Oh, okay.'"
(Read On ^)
AGITPROP: Version 3.0, Featuring Blogenfreude
A target of an investigation cannot be forced to testify. That is why Fitz has not called Rove.
Our prediction: Rover is toast, and many will follow him into the toaster oven.
This adminstration is coming down!
As a wise journalist once told me: "Never underestimate the power of hubris? Heehehehehehe.
AGITPROP: Version 3.0, Featuring Blogenfreude:
"Could it be? The second day of Fitzmas?
Mmmm, and this, from ThinkProgress:
CNN is told by three force sources familiar with the investigation that this morning Karl Rove, the president�s deputy chief of staff and top political adviser, is meeting with his attorney and is to meet this morning, if it is not already under way, with the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald.
More from ThinkProgress:
Rove rumor mill. Lawrence O'Donnell says the 'buzz among the Washington press corps right now' is that Karl Rove asked to testify to the grand jury today, signalling that Rove's lawyer' believes an indictment is imminent and is sending his client back to make a final desperate attempt to avoid indictment. 2:15 pm
UPDATE: 'According to NBC News' David Shuster, legal sources say Rove volunteered to testify and was no[t] subpoenaed. Rove's decision followed a recent conversation with Fitzgerald.
(Please read more at this righteous site ^)
Our prediction: Rover is toast, and many will follow him into the toaster oven.
This adminstration is coming down!
As a wise journalist once told me: "Never underestimate the power of hubris? Heehehehehehe.
AGITPROP: Version 3.0, Featuring Blogenfreude:
"Could it be? The second day of Fitzmas?
Mmmm, and this, from ThinkProgress:
CNN is told by three force sources familiar with the investigation that this morning Karl Rove, the president�s deputy chief of staff and top political adviser, is meeting with his attorney and is to meet this morning, if it is not already under way, with the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald.
More from ThinkProgress:
Rove rumor mill. Lawrence O'Donnell says the 'buzz among the Washington press corps right now' is that Karl Rove asked to testify to the grand jury today, signalling that Rove's lawyer' believes an indictment is imminent and is sending his client back to make a final desperate attempt to avoid indictment. 2:15 pm
UPDATE: 'According to NBC News' David Shuster, legal sources say Rove volunteered to testify and was no[t] subpoenaed. Rove's decision followed a recent conversation with Fitzgerald.
(Please read more at this righteous site ^)
Der Monkey, unplugged
AGITPROP: Version 3.0, Featuring Blogenfreude:
"Proving once again that the only thing he has learned from experience is that he learns nothing from experience, the Dear Leaker is set to approve another Dubai deal today. But guess what? This one's not for port operation, but:
[A] deal under which a Dubai-owned company would take control of nine plants in the United States that manufacture parts for American military vehicles and aircraft, say two administration officials familiar with the terms of the deal, the NEW YORK TIMES will report Friday.
Right. Once again, the company doing the buying, this time Dubai International Capital, is owned by the United Arab Emirates. Sound familiar? It should - this is the same Dubai International Capital that recently invested in an $8 billion Carlyle Group fund. The Carlyle Group? Right again - they're roster is packed with former high-level U.S. government officials and used to include Bush 41. But wait, there's more:
Another family connection, the presiden's brother, Neil Bush, has reportedly received funding for his educational software company from the UAE investors.
You can take the boy out of the corporation (and a few certainly did) but you can't take the corporation out of the boy.
(READ ON ^) More links at which to wonder....
"Proving once again that the only thing he has learned from experience is that he learns nothing from experience, the Dear Leaker is set to approve another Dubai deal today. But guess what? This one's not for port operation, but:
[A] deal under which a Dubai-owned company would take control of nine plants in the United States that manufacture parts for American military vehicles and aircraft, say two administration officials familiar with the terms of the deal, the NEW YORK TIMES will report Friday.
Right. Once again, the company doing the buying, this time Dubai International Capital, is owned by the United Arab Emirates. Sound familiar? It should - this is the same Dubai International Capital that recently invested in an $8 billion Carlyle Group fund. The Carlyle Group? Right again - they're roster is packed with former high-level U.S. government officials and used to include Bush 41. But wait, there's more:
Another family connection, the presiden's brother, Neil Bush, has reportedly received funding for his educational software company from the UAE investors.
You can take the boy out of the corporation (and a few certainly did) but you can't take the corporation out of the boy.
(READ ON ^) More links at which to wonder....
Secrecy News
Click link for more links
Secrecy News:
"U.S. News and World Report reported last January that at least three publications of the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence, all critical of the Agency, had been withheld from the CIA web site ('A Tangled Web Woven,' by David E. Kaplan, U.S. News, January 30, 2006).
Now two of those disfavored publications are available on the Federation of American Scientists web site. The third will follow.
'Intelligence for a New Era in American Foreign Policy' (1.3 MB pdf) is the report of a conference convened by the Center for the Study of Intelligence, published in January 2004.
'Analytic Culture in the U.S. Intelligence Community: An Ethnographic Study' (8 MB pdf) is an interesting and unusual effort to assess intelligence analysis from an anthropological viewpoint, published in 2005.
It is a small irony of the Information Age that by attempting to selectively withhold these publications from the web, the CIA has practically guaranteed that more people will read them than would have otherwise done so.
But CIA seems to have little understanding of that fact, and the Agency's efforts to suppress criticism are as relentless as they are self-defeating.
'The CIA has imposed new and tighter restrictions on the books, articles, and opinion pieces published by former employees who are still contractors with the intelligence agency,' writes Shane Harris."
Not Exactly a Rush
I, for one, do not believe that any person who uses or is addicted to drugs should go to jail.
Rush did express that belief.
Maybe he thinks that addiction to a "legal" drug is somehow better that even the use of an illiicit drug.
Judge not, less ye be judged, Rush!
Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog � Not Exactly a Rush�:
"Now that Rush Limbaugh has turned himself in due to his plea deal with the Palm Beach prosecutor�s office, I thought a bit of discussion about what Rush has in store for his 18-months of supervised release would be helpful for everyone (well, everyone who hasn't gone through a first time drug arrest anyway).
First off, this is a deferred prosecution ' not a deferred judgment' which is a much, much better deal for Rush (and something of a coup for his defense counsel Roy Black, I have to say). Jeralyn did a fantastic job of explaining this in her Lexis/Nexis article, and she covers more about the deal at TalkLeft.
The fact that the prosecutors were this generous in the deal-making says to me they may have had difficulties getting Rush's doctor to cooperate with them in terms of testimony and evidence provision. " (Do read On ^)
Rush did express that belief.
Maybe he thinks that addiction to a "legal" drug is somehow better that even the use of an illiicit drug.
Judge not, less ye be judged, Rush!
Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog � Not Exactly a Rush�:
"Now that Rush Limbaugh has turned himself in due to his plea deal with the Palm Beach prosecutor�s office, I thought a bit of discussion about what Rush has in store for his 18-months of supervised release would be helpful for everyone (well, everyone who hasn't gone through a first time drug arrest anyway).
First off, this is a deferred prosecution ' not a deferred judgment' which is a much, much better deal for Rush (and something of a coup for his defense counsel Roy Black, I have to say). Jeralyn did a fantastic job of explaining this in her Lexis/Nexis article, and she covers more about the deal at TalkLeft.
The fact that the prosecutors were this generous in the deal-making says to me they may have had difficulties getting Rush's doctor to cooperate with them in terms of testimony and evidence provision. " (Do read On ^)
Sadly, probably not, Atrios
The Delusional Lunatic Brigade will be caught and punsihed, to the fullest extent of the law, or Democracy and human decency will go down the tubes, here and in many other countries.
Crooks and Liars:
"As Atrios says, ' will the fact that our country is run by delusional lunatics will ever quite penetrate the skulls of our elite pundit class.'
No it won't Duncan, not while we have pundits like Wolf Blitzer hoping for the administration 'to catch a break,' rather than be held accountable. Lunatics don't catch breaks, they engage in acts of insanity, get caught immediately or escape and get caught later-or escape and are never heard from again."
Crooks and Liars:
"As Atrios says, ' will the fact that our country is run by delusional lunatics will ever quite penetrate the skulls of our elite pundit class.'
No it won't Duncan, not while we have pundits like Wolf Blitzer hoping for the administration 'to catch a break,' rather than be held accountable. Lunatics don't catch breaks, they engage in acts of insanity, get caught immediately or escape and get caught later-or escape and are never heard from again."
Dissector To Press: Investigate Credit Squeeze | MediaChannel.org
We, at the Lantern, agree, wholeheartedly
Dissector To Press: Investigate Credit Squeeze MediaChannel.org:
"When I started out, my film was going to be about other people's economic woes. Pretty soon I realized I was part of this story of how the credit industry targets poor and middle-class Americans. Not only was I a target, too, but all of us are.
There is a credit divide in America that fuels our economic divide. Put another way, the globalization of our economy is about more than outsourcing of jobs. There is a deeper shift underway from a society based around production, with the factory as the symbol of American economic prowess, to a culture driven by consumption, with the mall
as its dominant icon. "
Little interst in Ashcroft; Empy house for speech
Chron.com Salt and Light Conference canceled:
"Today's Salt and Light Conference, which was to feature former Attorney General John Ashcroft, has been canceled due to a lack of ticket sales, organizers said.
The Hobby Center is contacting ticket holders, who will receive refunds. For more information, call the ticket office at 713-315-2525."
"Today's Salt and Light Conference, which was to feature former Attorney General John Ashcroft, has been canceled due to a lack of ticket sales, organizers said.
The Hobby Center is contacting ticket holders, who will receive refunds. For more information, call the ticket office at 713-315-2525."
More from deer camp (This is priceless)
This old Boy is what it is all about.
Arkansas Blog: More from deer camp:
"A few days back, we reprinted a piece that had appeared on the Buzzflash blog. It was a view from the Arkansas deer woods, where writer John Bomar reported that Bush was losing favor with even the good ol' boys. He came in for a fair amount of vituperation from the usual anonymous cowards. So he's back today for more with another assessment of our failed foreign adventures. It's a long piece, so we're posting it on the jump.
To the critics who heaped abuse on him for criticizing the president, he writes:"
(Please Do Read On ^)
Arkansas Blog: More from deer camp:
"A few days back, we reprinted a piece that had appeared on the Buzzflash blog. It was a view from the Arkansas deer woods, where writer John Bomar reported that Bush was losing favor with even the good ol' boys. He came in for a fair amount of vituperation from the usual anonymous cowards. So he's back today for more with another assessment of our failed foreign adventures. It's a long piece, so we're posting it on the jump.
To the critics who heaped abuse on him for criticizing the president, he writes:"
(Please Do Read On ^)
The Predator State
The problem with both Marxism and Capitalism is human greed and lust for power, and the failure to take either or both of these 'givens' into consideration.
Capitalism, just like Marxism, as practiced by the Soviet Union, will eventually fall under the weight of its own corruption. That day is coming sooner rather than later, by the look of it.
The corporations of today cannot be trusted to monitor themselves, anymore than we would have expected Ted Bundy to self-monitor.
Corporations, today, are by their very nature sociopathic. Interestingly, enough, the corporate world is widely populated by narcissistic, sociopathic types, and functional psychotics.
Why would anyone in their right mind depend on these kind of people to police themselves?
When business owners and officers were less anonymous and opaque in their dealing with others, including their own empolyees, stock holders and communities, business did behave more responsibilibly. Not anymore!
Capitalism, just like Marxism, as practiced by the Soviet Union, will eventually fall under the weight of its own corruption. That day is coming sooner rather than later, by the look of it.
The corporations of today cannot be trusted to monitor themselves, anymore than we would have expected Ted Bundy to self-monitor.
Corporations, today, are by their very nature sociopathic. Interestingly, enough, the corporate world is widely populated by narcissistic, sociopathic types, and functional psychotics.
Why would anyone in their right mind depend on these kind of people to police themselves?
When business owners and officers were less anonymous and opaque in their dealing with others, including their own empolyees, stock holders and communities, business did behave more responsibilibly. Not anymore!
Because of their enormous wealth and power in the political systems of every country on earth, they bear watching, closely. They bear heavy scrutiny because they have the ability to, systematically, do so much damage to everyone on the planet; even the planet, itself.
The Predator State:
"The doctrines of the 'law and economics' movement, now ascendant in our courts, hold that if people are rational, if markets can be 'contested,' if memory is good and information adequate, then firms will adhere on their own to norms of honorable conduct. Any public presence in the economy undermines this. Even insurance. Whether deposit insurance or Social Security' is perverse, for it encourages irresponsible risk-taking. Banks will lend to bad clients, workers will 'live for today,' companies will speculate with their pension funds; the movement has even argued that seat belts foster reckless driving. Insurance, in other words, creates a 'moral hazard' for which 'market discipline' is the cure; all works for the best when thought and planning do not interfere. It's a strange vision, and if we weren't governed by people like John Roberts and Sam Alito, who pretend to believe it, it would scarcely be worth our attention"
The Closing of the American Internet
Very good article on the fate of the Net.
Technology, as always, can be used for good or for bad. Look at TV.; a perfect example.
There will also, always be those among us, who are fairly incurious about the world they live in.
Price of the Net is likely to become more of a problem in years to come, as more people are disinfranchized, in quite a few ways.
I believe, if left to grow, in its own way, it can and will become the most important tool for freedom and democracy that has ever come down the pike.
Give it a chance.
The Closing of the American Internet - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com:
"May 8, 2006 - When the U.S. Census Bureau proclaimed the American frontier closed in 1890, it signaled the end of the boom-and-bust era and the beginning of a more stately pace of growth. Now that the dotcom bubble has come and gone, is the same thing about to happen to that other American frontier, the Internet?"
Technology, as always, can be used for good or for bad. Look at TV.; a perfect example.
There will also, always be those among us, who are fairly incurious about the world they live in.
Price of the Net is likely to become more of a problem in years to come, as more people are disinfranchized, in quite a few ways.
I believe, if left to grow, in its own way, it can and will become the most important tool for freedom and democracy that has ever come down the pike.
Give it a chance.
The Closing of the American Internet - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com:
"May 8, 2006 - When the U.S. Census Bureau proclaimed the American frontier closed in 1890, it signaled the end of the boom-and-bust era and the beginning of a more stately pace of growth. Now that the dotcom bubble has come and gone, is the same thing about to happen to that other American frontier, the Internet?"
White House: A Mind of His Own (Who Cares?)
I post this article as an example of just how unreal things have become in this nation.
Why would anyone care if the White House is switching one homegrown professional liar with one that is more polished and apparently, does, on occassion, think?
The nation hangs perilously close to abject disaster.
It is already a failed Democracy, given that we have had, at the very least, two stolen elections and are now governed by one party rule. There is no balance of power. The Constitution is being shredded daily. The Congress is practically complicit in Bush's misdeeds and out-right crimes.
We are bogged down in a criminal war of aggression in Iraq, based on documented lies, where further atrocities have been committed. Our national flag lies in bloody tatters and we have lost our standing and respect in the world community. Many of us will not see it restored in our lifetimes.
Our grandchildren, some of whom are not even in school yet, are already thousands in debt, that is not even there own and for which they have nothing to show. Plus, they will get to reap what the Bush administration has sowed in the world over the last 5 years. Our world is not safer. It is much more dangerous for Americans, and for others around the world.
Our nation is now owned by China, Saudia Arabia and Japan, while the corporate CEOs and other corporate officers in Bushworld make billions and get tax breaks out the wazoo. Bush is doing everyhing he can to cause class warfare of a kind he won't like. He is succeeding and the media seems blissfully unaware of it.
More people are without healthcare, jobs that pay well enough to live on, or shelter (as more people lose their homes to foreclosure than have since the great depression.)
Global warming threatens to make it all mute in a shroter time than anyone expected
Given all of that good news and more, Tony Snow is the least of my concerns. Anyone associated with this White House will be considered a liar unitil proven otherwise. That doubles when the someone was also associated with Faux News.
The media has become much too immersed in itself, which is intersting, given that it makes itself more irrelevent everyday.
White House: A Mind of His Own - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com:
"May 8, 2006 issue - It started as a lunch between old colleagues, and ended as a job interview. Tony Snow and Josh Bolten had been friendly for years. The two worked together in George H.W. Bush's White House and had kept in touch ever since. Not that they'd always agreed. Snow is no liberal (he sometimes fills in for Rush Limbaugh), but the Fox News pundit and radio host had also been one of the president's most unsparing conservative critics. 'When it comes to federal spending, George W. Bush is the boy who can't say no,' Snow once remarked."
Why would anyone care if the White House is switching one homegrown professional liar with one that is more polished and apparently, does, on occassion, think?
The nation hangs perilously close to abject disaster.
It is already a failed Democracy, given that we have had, at the very least, two stolen elections and are now governed by one party rule. There is no balance of power. The Constitution is being shredded daily. The Congress is practically complicit in Bush's misdeeds and out-right crimes.
We are bogged down in a criminal war of aggression in Iraq, based on documented lies, where further atrocities have been committed. Our national flag lies in bloody tatters and we have lost our standing and respect in the world community. Many of us will not see it restored in our lifetimes.
Our grandchildren, some of whom are not even in school yet, are already thousands in debt, that is not even there own and for which they have nothing to show. Plus, they will get to reap what the Bush administration has sowed in the world over the last 5 years. Our world is not safer. It is much more dangerous for Americans, and for others around the world.
Our nation is now owned by China, Saudia Arabia and Japan, while the corporate CEOs and other corporate officers in Bushworld make billions and get tax breaks out the wazoo. Bush is doing everyhing he can to cause class warfare of a kind he won't like. He is succeeding and the media seems blissfully unaware of it.
More people are without healthcare, jobs that pay well enough to live on, or shelter (as more people lose their homes to foreclosure than have since the great depression.)
Global warming threatens to make it all mute in a shroter time than anyone expected
Given all of that good news and more, Tony Snow is the least of my concerns. Anyone associated with this White House will be considered a liar unitil proven otherwise. That doubles when the someone was also associated with Faux News.
The media has become much too immersed in itself, which is intersting, given that it makes itself more irrelevent everyday.
White House: A Mind of His Own - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com:
"May 8, 2006 issue - It started as a lunch between old colleagues, and ended as a job interview. Tony Snow and Josh Bolten had been friendly for years. The two worked together in George H.W. Bush's White House and had kept in touch ever since. Not that they'd always agreed. Snow is no liberal (he sometimes fills in for Rush Limbaugh), but the Fox News pundit and radio host had also been one of the president's most unsparing conservative critics. 'When it comes to federal spending, George W. Bush is the boy who can't say no,' Snow once remarked."
Egypt: Mubarak's Real Targets
His real enemy is Democracy, just like Bush.
Egypt: Mubarak's Real Targets - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com:
"May 8, 2006 issue - They moved under cover of darkness. Batons in hand, visors over their faces, black-uniformed troops charged toward the Judges' Club, a social gathering spot for magistrates in downtown Cairo. For a week hundreds of protesters had gathered there in solidarity with two magistrates who have accused ruling party hacks of rigging last year's parliamentary elections. Now the judges were facing possible prosecution, and pro-democracy forces were outraged. As the protesters held hands and chanted antigovernment slogans, the club-wielding cops fell upon them, beating many and dragging 60 to jail. The following day, thousands of security forces sealed the High Court, arresting even more demonstrators as troop carriers rumbled through the city center. 'This is Mubarak's democracy,' said one young protester who witnessed the crackdown but did not want his name used for fear of retribution."
Iran: Tehran's Known Unknowns
Hey, Junior!
Ask the Israelis.
If there is solid evidence, they have it.
If they don't have it, there is none, anywhere.
...and DO NOT rely on forgeries, so transparent that a 13 year-old with Google could refute them.
Whatever, you do, do not bomb Iran and start WWIII simply because Israel wants you too. That is not a good enough reason.
Neither is your legacy, which cannot be saved through the destruction of the world.
Iran: Tehran's Known Unknowns - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com:
"May 8, 2006 issue - Back in June 2002, as the Bush administration started pushing hard for war with Iraq by focusing on fears of the unknown 'terrorists and weapons of mass destruction' Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld explained that when it came to gathering intelligence on such threats, 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.' Elaborating, Rumsfeld told a news conference: 'There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know.'"
Even Negroponte is resisting the Iran Debacle, in the making.
What to do about Iran?
Maybe that is not the question, given that a nuclear Iran is years away.
Maybe it would be far better to leave Iran to the next president, whom, we can only hope, is not insane.
This president is not trusted by anyone. He has zero credibiltity.
Consortiumnews.com:
"In a replay of the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction charade, neoconservative supporters of George W. Bush are pushing the U.S. intelligence community to take a more alarmist view about Iran's nuclear program; only this time, the nation's top spy John Negroponte is resisting the pressure unlike former CIA chief George Tenet."
U.S. Soldier Dies In Bomb Attack; Military Deaths In Iraq Top 2,400
One soldier is too many to die for lies and liars
10News.com - News - U.S. Soldier Dies In Bomb Attack; Military Deaths In Iraq Top 2,400:
"Military officials said an Army soldier died Saturday when a roadside bomb hit his convoy near Baghdad. The attack raises to 70 the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq during April.
On Friday, officials at The Pentagon said that the American death toll in Iraq since the start of the war has topped 2,400.
The military put the figure at 2,401, which includes three more deaths than an unofficial tally being kept by The Associated Press. The number does not include the death of the Army soldier who was killed on Saturday."
10News.com - News - U.S. Soldier Dies In Bomb Attack; Military Deaths In Iraq Top 2,400:
"Military officials said an Army soldier died Saturday when a roadside bomb hit his convoy near Baghdad. The attack raises to 70 the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq during April.
On Friday, officials at The Pentagon said that the American death toll in Iraq since the start of the war has topped 2,400.
The military put the figure at 2,401, which includes three more deaths than an unofficial tally being kept by The Associated Press. The number does not include the death of the Army soldier who was killed on Saturday."
INDICT ROVE, ALREADY!
Duh..let's see...uhmmm.....maybe, Rove was back for a 5th tour at the Grand Jury because he lied his arse off the first four times?
Indict Rove, already!
Then move on to Cheney and the rest of the thugs in the White House, including the thug-in-chief!!!!
CIA Leak Case: Probing Rove's Role - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com:
"It is impossible to know if Fitzgerald will make a case against Rove. But it is possible now to trace how Fitzgerald came to suspect Rove of not telling the whole truth. The Bush administration has been particularly quick to trigger leak investigations. Often, these probes in high-profile cases are intended to punish political enemies. But this is one that has boomeranged."
Al Gore Talks to Eleanor Clift on Global Warming
The fact is, Mother Earth is getting ready to rid herself of that herd of locusts called homosapiens, before they kill her.
Seems mankind is not all he is cracked up to be; superior species, and all that. Matricidal traits do not make for a superior anything.
Al Gore Talks to Eleanor Clift on Global Warming - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com
Seems mankind is not all he is cracked up to be; superior species, and all that. Matricidal traits do not make for a superior anything.
Al Gore Talks to Eleanor Clift on Global Warming - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com
Cheney exempts his own office from reporting on classified material
Seems like somebody has an awful lot to hide.
Cheney, however, believes that no law applies to him; not even the ones the president makes.
Darth is a totally free, if evil as hell, spirit.
KRT Wire 04/29/2006 Cheney exempts his own office from reporting on classified material:
"WASHINGTON - As the Bush administration has dramatically accelerated the classification of information as 'top secret' or 'confidential,' one office is refusing to report on its annual activity in classifying documents: the office of Vice President Dick Cheney.
A standing executive order, strengthened by President Bush in 2003, requires all agencies and 'any other entity within the executive branch' to provide an annual accounting of their classification of documents. More than 80 agencies have collectively reported to the National Archives that they made 15.6 million decisions in 2004 to classify information, nearly double the number in 2001, but Cheney continues to insist he is exempt.
Explaining why the vice president has withheld even a tally of his office's secrecy when such offices as the National Security Council routinely report theirs, a spokeswoman said Cheney is 'not under any duty' to provide it.
That is only one way the Bush administration, from its opening weeks in 2001, has asserted control over information. By keeping secret so many directives and actions, the administration has precluded the public - and often members of Congress - from knowing about some of the most significant decisions and acts of the White House."
Cheney, however, believes that no law applies to him; not even the ones the president makes.
Darth is a totally free, if evil as hell, spirit.
KRT Wire 04/29/2006 Cheney exempts his own office from reporting on classified material:
"WASHINGTON - As the Bush administration has dramatically accelerated the classification of information as 'top secret' or 'confidential,' one office is refusing to report on its annual activity in classifying documents: the office of Vice President Dick Cheney.
A standing executive order, strengthened by President Bush in 2003, requires all agencies and 'any other entity within the executive branch' to provide an annual accounting of their classification of documents. More than 80 agencies have collectively reported to the National Archives that they made 15.6 million decisions in 2004 to classify information, nearly double the number in 2001, but Cheney continues to insist he is exempt.
Explaining why the vice president has withheld even a tally of his office's secrecy when such offices as the National Security Council routinely report theirs, a spokeswoman said Cheney is 'not under any duty' to provide it.
That is only one way the Bush administration, from its opening weeks in 2001, has asserted control over information. By keeping secret so many directives and actions, the administration has precluded the public - and often members of Congress - from knowing about some of the most significant decisions and acts of the White House."
Colbert Lampoons Bush at White House Correspondents Dinner-- President Does Not Seem Amused
Appranetly, just a bit too much 'truthiness,' last evening, for Der Monkey and La Bush.
For the rest of us, it was a total scream.
Colbert Lampoons Bush at White House Correspondents Dinner-- President Does Not Seem Amused:
"WASHINGTON A blistering comedy 'tribute' to President Bush by Comedy Central's faux talk show host Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondent Dinner Saturday night left George and Laura Bush unsmiling at its close.
Earlier, the president had delivered his talk to the 2700 attendees, including many celebrities and top officials, with the help of a Bush impersonator.
Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, 'and reality has a well-known liberal bias.' "
Who wouldn't want to protect Whistleblowers?
Government crooks, of course!
Government Accountability Project:
"WASHINGTON - April 28 - Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) denounces David Dreier's (R-CA) Rules Committee for twice denying the House of Representatives the opportunity to vote on protections for national security whistleblowers. The Rules Committee rejected whistleblower rights amendments submitted by Tom Davis (R-VA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) for Wednesday's consideration of the intelligence authorization bill. A similar amendment will not receive an up or down vote during debate today on lobbying reform.
'Whistleblowers are necessary for Congress to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to conduct effective oversight,' said GAP Legislative Representative Adam Miles. 'While passing an intelligence authorization bill that condemns leaks of classified information, House leadership refused to even consider alternatives that would allow intelligence employees to bring their concerns to the Congress.'
The lobbying reform bill, H.R. 4975, which the House may vote on later today, has been largely criticized as too weak to reform the legislative process. In adopting a rule in the early morning hours that limits today's debate on the lobbying bill to nine amendments, the Rules Committee did little to quash this criticism. Among the 65 amendments rejected by the Rules Committee was H.R. 5112, an ethics and accountability proposal that includes landmark protections for national security whistleblowers. It was approved unanimously by Chairman Davis' Government Reform Committee on April 6. "
Government Accountability Project:
"WASHINGTON - April 28 - Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) denounces David Dreier's (R-CA) Rules Committee for twice denying the House of Representatives the opportunity to vote on protections for national security whistleblowers. The Rules Committee rejected whistleblower rights amendments submitted by Tom Davis (R-VA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) for Wednesday's consideration of the intelligence authorization bill. A similar amendment will not receive an up or down vote during debate today on lobbying reform.
'Whistleblowers are necessary for Congress to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to conduct effective oversight,' said GAP Legislative Representative Adam Miles. 'While passing an intelligence authorization bill that condemns leaks of classified information, House leadership refused to even consider alternatives that would allow intelligence employees to bring their concerns to the Congress.'
The lobbying reform bill, H.R. 4975, which the House may vote on later today, has been largely criticized as too weak to reform the legislative process. In adopting a rule in the early morning hours that limits today's debate on the lobbying bill to nine amendments, the Rules Committee did little to quash this criticism. Among the 65 amendments rejected by the Rules Committee was H.R. 5112, an ethics and accountability proposal that includes landmark protections for national security whistleblowers. It was approved unanimously by Chairman Davis' Government Reform Committee on April 6. "
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