Washington Peace March Nears

See you there. Folks!

Truthdig - Ear to the Ground - Washington Peace March Nears:

United for Peace & Justice—a coalition of more than 1,300 activist groups with the support of MoveOn.org and other progressive organizations—is planning a march on Washington set for Jan. 27. Organizers hope the demonstration will pressure Congress to begin the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and end the war.

Journalists and Civilians Now Vulnerable to Military Justice

Unless we can stop these criminals in the W.H., whom no one elected, we are headed straight for a uniquely American form of fascism.

Lindsay Graham is a sly little Nazi, now isn't he. The very fact that it was slipped into a bill says it all.

Yes, military contractors should be held accountable for crimes; like rape, torture, murder and theft, just to name a few. They should be tried in American courts. They are civilians, after all...making big bucks for their dirty work.

Graham is a sleaze bucket!

Truthdig - Ear to the Ground - Journalists and Civilians Now Vulnerable to Military Justice:

A provision slipped into a spending bill by the last Congress and approved by the president makes civilian contractors in Iraq subject to military court-martial. But legal scholars believe the rule could also be extended to include civilian government employees and even embedded journalists.

CIA Leak Probe: Inside The Grand Jury (01/12/07)

Cheney, Libby and others are responsible for the end of Plame's career, thus blacking out a network of information regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions and capacity.

Interesting, to say the very least. Treason, according to the Bushites own rantings, to be more accurate.

Hang 'em high!

NATIONAL JOURNAL: CIA Leak Probe: Inside The Grand Jury (01/12/07):

Late in the morning of July 12, 2003, Vice President Dick Cheney stood atop a pier at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia awaiting the commissioning of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, a ship 20 stories high that took eight years to construct. More than 15,000 people stood under clear skies to watch the pomp and ceremony. As she christened the carrier by breaking a bottle of champagne over its bow, Nancy Reagan told the crowd: 'I only have one line. Man the ship and bring her alive.'

A Washington Post reporter recounted what happened next: 'With those time-hallowed words, hundreds of crew members wearing dress whites ran aboard the 20-story Reagan and lined the flight deck while four fighter jets flew overhead and every crane, radar, whistle, and alarm aboard was turned on simultaneously.'

Cheney himself later took the podium, and as he spoke, the spirit of the crowd turned somber: 'The Ronald Reagan sets sail in a world with new dangers,' he said, 'The outcome is certain. There will be victory for the United States.'

What they are saying about Edwards in N.H.

There is something about this guy that I like a lot.

Who does he remind me of?

Blue Hampshire A progressive online community for the Granite State.:

You want to know what a preemptive strike on the Obama candidacy looks like? Here is it is, textbook perfect, from John Edwards himself. Today, standing in front of a sign asserting 'Tomorrow Begins Today' he stated:

'Identifying the problem and talking about hope is waiting for tomorrow.'

And in perhaps the most brilliant framing I've seen in this campaign so far, he began to weave a theme into the rest of the remarks: There's hope, and there's action. I'm action.

Examples? Well, perhaps you were waiting for the Federal Government to raise the minimum wage. Not Edwards. He is fresh off a campaign to raise the minimum wage state by state, and has had success so far in six states. He has worked with organizing unions.

It continues. Asked what he will do about issue X, the response is invariably twofold. First, let me tell you what we are already DOING, and second let me tell you what we all can do, with or without me.

And it comes back to us as well. 'What are you all doing about it?', is a question he's not shy about asking. We've got to invest in re-newables, but we also have to conserve. We have to address economic injustice, but we can start by organizing, and getting laws passed on the state level. Don't wait for me in the White House in 2009.

Opposition to Troop Increase Unchanged After Bush's Iraq Speech

Seems like no one, to speak of, is listening to Junior anymore. He is being tuned out by many, and others are counting his lies about the old lies of the administration.

He is like a cheerleader, who keeps cheering for the home team, when we all know that his policies have little to do with the home team, and everything to do with Neo-Conservative visions of American Corporate Empire for the next century. (Can we spell PNAC?)

He is cheering for a losing, idiotic, delusional team of jackasses, whose moniker, "NeoCons," will become as much of a curse-word in the future as "Liberal" has been in the past 40 years.

It is time for America to become a nation again, and not the belly of the beast; a cruel, exploitive empire.

I am one of those people who believes that even the worst of human behavior can be redeemed; not by being "born again," whatever the hell that means, but by people learning lessons, finding hope and acting, together, for the good of all.

George Bush, Dick Cheney and company, through their incompetence, their greed, their delusions, their various mental illnesses...whatever; have destroyed the American Empire they so love.

Thank God!

That may well me the only redemptive factor in all of this and if the human race understands, from this, that empire is evil, no matter who is running it, our soldiers and the Iraqis will not have died in vain.

If the peace movement, the world over, can see this opportunity for what it is, an empire being brought down from within, consciously and with purpose, perhaps the vast majority of the people of this planet can come together in such a way that another empire will be impossible.

What a gift for humanity that would be!

Opposition to Troop Increase Unchanged After Bush's Iraq Speech:

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- There has been little change in the public's overall attitudes toward the Iraq war and the administration's proposed plans for an increase in troops in the days following President George W. Bush's speech to the nation this past Wednesday. Americans continue to oppose, by a 59% to 38% margin, President Bush's plan to increase troops in Iraq. Americans remain unconvinced that it is necessary to send new troops to Iraq to gain victory, as Bush argued, and a majority favors withdrawal of troops within one year. Most Americans continue to say the costs of the war outweigh the benefits of succeeding in Iraq, and a majority of Americans also continue to say it was a mistake to send troops to Iraq initially.

Americans are split on the issue of congressional action that would block funds for the deployment of additional troops. Although, there is majority approval for a non-binding congressional resolution voicing opposition to the surge in troops.

These results are from the weekend USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Jan. 12-14, 2007.

Opposition to Troop Increase Unchanged After Bush's Iraq Speech

No one I know wants to see our troops go without the money it takes to support them, while they are in harms way, unlike the Bush administration, who couldn't get it together, and still can't, apparently, to give them the equipment they needed from day one.

I don't want to hear another word from the Bushites about support of the troops, when it has been them, who have not supported the troops, either in theater or at home!

Opposition to Troop Increase Unchanged After Bush's Iraq Speech:

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE:

PRINCETON, NJ : There has been little change in the publics' overall attitudes toward the Iraq war and the administration's proposed plans for an increase in troops in the days following President George W. Bush's speech to the nation this past Wednesday.

Americans continue to oppose, by a 59% to 38% margin, President Bush's plan to increase troops in Iraq. Americans remain unconvinced that it is necessary to send new troops to Iraq to gain victory, as Bush argued, and a majority favors withdrawal of troops within one year. Most Americans continue to say the costs of the war outweigh the benefits of succeeding in Iraq, and a majority of Americans also continue to say it was a mistake to send troops to Iraq initially.

Americans are split on the issue of congressional action that would block funds for the deployment of additional troops. Although, there is majority approval for a non-binding congressional resolution voicing opposition to the surge in troops.

These results are from the weekend USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Jan. 12-14, 2007.

It is clear that no one is listening to Junior anymore!

Republicans Revolt Over Bush’s Iraq Plan

Trent Lott spoke volumes, by not saying anything.

Seems everone except McConnel is one of the few Goopers who does not get it.

Junior and his Vice do not give a flying rats ass about the GOP, except as vehicle for their idiotic, delusional NeoConservative policies. They will take the GOP, and their country, down with them.

They have committed crimes that could land them in prison for the rest of their miserable live. It would not be wise of the, already, complicit Republicans to continue to support them.

Republicans Revolt Over Bush’s Iraq Plan - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com:

Jan. 22, 2007 issue - Last Tuesday afternoon, a day before President George W. Bush went on TV to explain his decision to send more troops to Iraq, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called his Republican colleagues together for a private talk. Several GOP senators had already come out against the plan. McConnell, Bush's closest Senate supporter on Iraq, hoped to keep others from defecting.

He urged his colleagues to stand together at least until Bush had the chance to speak to the country.

After the meeting, the senators went outside the room to display their unity to waiting reporters.

McConnell said he thought more troops were just the thing to 'give us a chance to succeed.' He then stepped aside so the other senators could second his sentiments. No one came forward. McConnell's eye fell on Trent Lott. 'Trent?' McConnell said, motioning him toward the microphone. 'I don't think I have anything to add,' said Lott.

MLK’S Guide for Antiwar Activists

Dr. King was right the, and his words still hold true today.

That is why, no matter how outraged we are or become, from time to time, violence in the street is not the answer. It only scares the hell out of people.

We have had more than a belly full of fear in this country.

Adrenalin is, truly, "stupid juice."

MLK’S Guide for Antiwar Activists:

This year on Martin Luther King Day everyone will be reading -- or should be reading -- Dr. King’s famous denunciation of the Vietnam war: “A Time To Break Silence.” For those of us working to end the war in Iraq, it holds a valuable lesson: Once we’ve expressed our moral outrage, we’ve only just begun the real work.

Dr. King expressed outrage more eloquently than anyone. But he knew that, if we really want to bring peace, we need to talk to people who aren’t outraged -- people who think in terms of American self-interest -- and convince them on their own terms that we’ll be better off bringing our troops home. This year on Martin Luther King Day everyone will be reading -- or should be reading -- Dr. King’s famous denunciation of the Vietnam war: “A Time To Break Silence.” For those of us working to end the war in Iraq, it holds a valuable lesson: Once we’ve expressed our moral outrage, we’ve only just begun the real work.

Vice-President Capone Meets the Reich Ministry of Justice

If any American's financial records ought to be examined until hell won't have it, that man would be Dick Cheney.

p m carpenter's commentary: Vice-President Capone Meets the Reich Ministry of Justice:

A 'perfectly legitimate activity' is how the vice president described the government's most recently revealed intrusion into civil liberties -- that of the Pentagon and CIA's snooping into financial records of 'suspect' Americans -- an intrusion that the New York Times bluntly reports is 'barred ... by law.'

In the accommodating atmosphere of 'Fox News Sunday,' Mr. Cheney declared, 'There’s nothing wrong with it or illegal. It doesn’t violate people’s civil rights. And if an institution that receives one of these national security letters [i.e., a written Pentagon/CIA demand for private financial records] disagrees with it, they’re free to go to court to try to stop its execution.'

Such institutional pushback would be an odd reaction indeed to a 'perfectly legitimate activity' by the government, however. First of all, financial institutions are being instructed officially as to the letters' legitimacy, so many are apt to automatically comply without question or resistance.

Fox News reporter says Bush admitted using cocaine, then retreats, citing, 'questions'

To our knowledge, he has pretty much refused to answer that question in a direct way, which makes us think that he has used Cocaine. I just hope he isn't using it now.

The Raw Story Fox News reporter says Bush admitted using cocaine, then retreats, citing, 'questions':

As political media buzzed about whether or not Senator Barack Obama's admission eleven years ago that he used cocaine as a teenager would hurt his political prospects, Fox News ran a segment on 'Obama's Cocaine Confession.' Their conversation took an unusual turn, however, when Fox reporter Kirian Chetry said President Bush had also admitted to using cocaine.

Obama 'talks very candidly, as did our current president, who admitted to using cocaine, correct? [Others demur] Well, who wrote, somebody wrote in a book -- well, he admitted that he had an alcoholic, he had a drinking problem. Who was it who said they witnessed him using cocaine? It was somebody who wrote a book...'

As her colleagues tried to talk her down from the line of discussion, Chetry responded, 'Okay, okay, fine, but there were questions about the current president and whether he used cocaine or not as a young guy, but there's something about turning your life around...that people can accept.'

Iran Gets Army Gear in Pentagon Sale

How the hell can anyone take the Bushites seriously, when this kind of crap happens?

My Way News - AP: Iran Gets Army Gear in Pentagon Sale:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries - including Iran and China - who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department's surplus auctions. The sales include fighter jet parts and missile components.

In one case, federal investigators said, the contraband made it to Iran, a country President Bush branded part of an 'axis of evil.'

In that instance, a Pakistani arms broker convicted of exporting U.S. missile parts to Iran resumed business after his release from prison. He purchased Chinook helicopter engine parts for Iran from a U.S. company that had bought them in a Pentagon surplus sale. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, speaking on condition of anonymity, say those parts made it to Iran.

The surplus sales can operate like a supermarket for arms dealers.

Major investment bank issues warning on strike against Iran

Duh.

The Raw Story Major investment bank issues warning on strike against Iran:

Warning that investors might be 'in for a shock,' a major investment bank has told the financial community that a preemptive strike by Israel with American backing could hit Iran's nuclear program, RAW STORY has learned.

The banking division of ING Group released a memo on Jan. 9 entitled 'Attacking Iran: The market impact of a surprise Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities.'

ING is a global financial services company of Dutch origin that includes banking, insurance, and other divisions. The report was authored by Charles Robertson, the Chief Economist for Emerging Europe, Middle East, and Africa. He also authored an update in ING's daily update, Prophet, that further underscored the bank's perception of the risks of an attack.

The Warming of Greenland

More bad news.......

The Warming of Greenland - New York Times:

All over Greenland and the Arctic, rising temperatures are not simply melting ice; they are changing the very geography of coastlines. Nunataks — “lonely mountains” in Inuit — that were encased in the margins of Greenland’s ice sheet are being freed of their age-old bonds, exposing a new chain of islands, and a new opportunity for Arctic explorers to write their names on the landscape.

“We are already in a new era of geography,” said the Arctic explorer Will Steger. “This phenomenon — of an island all of a sudden appearing out of nowhere and the ice melting around it — is a real common phenomenon now.”

Dollar Continues its Meltdown

Just as we predicted months ago.....

Hang on, Folk, we are in for a very bumpy ride, headed straight for a cliff.

Dollar Lower Against Yen - New York Times:

TOKYO (AP) -- The dollar fell against the yen in Asia Tuesday after an early session rise, retreating after comments by Japan's finance minister seen as signaling tolerance for higher interest rates.

The dollar was trading at 120.34 yen at 2:50 p.m. Tuesday, down from 120.41 yen late Monday in European trading. U.S. markets were closed Monday for Martin Luther King Day.

The euro bought $1.2950, up from $1.2934.

Japanese Finance Minister Koji Omi said Tuesday that he sees no need for the government to ask the Bank of Japan to delay decision on interest rates later this week.

Currency traders interpreted his comments to mean that Tokyo may be more willing than previously thought to let the bank lift its key benchmark interest rate to 0.5 percent from 0.25 percent when the meeting ends Thursday.

Clinton Team's Testy Response To Edwards' Speech Against Sending More Troops... | The Huffington Post

Go, Johnny, Go!

Report From Huffpo's Melinda Henneberger: Clinton Team's Testy Response To Edwards' Speech Against Sending More Troops... The Huffington Post:

John Edwards had a hard time getting through yesterday's anti-surge speech at Harlem's Riverside Church, repeatedly interrupted by cheering from the pews. Standing where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached against American involvement in Vietnam 40 years ago, the former Democratic senator from North Carolina declared that, 'As he put it then, there comes a time - not just for Dr. King, but for all of us - when silence is betrayal.''

It is a betrayal to quietly countenance widespread poverty in the richest country in the world, he told a crowd of 1,200, and a betrayal to stand silent in the face of an AIDS epidemic ravaging a new generation of African children. With a Clintonian comfort level at the pulpit, he drew the most sustained ovation of the day when he said, 'It is a betrayal not to speak out against an escalation of the war in Iraq.''

Edwards, who is running for president in '08, has not only opposed the president's plan to send 21,500 more troops into Iraq but has argued that it is time to bring 50,000 home. The only senator mentioned in the speech was Arizona Republican John McCain, when Edwards called the plan the 'McCain Escalation.' But the speech was also an overt challenge to two of his likely competitors for the Democratic nomination in particular: New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama have criticized the president's proposal too but have not said they would go so far as to try and prevent it by cutting funding.

Turn Over The Logs, Mr. Bush

Hey!

The White House belongs to the people, right?

Why shouldn't we have the right to know if crooks are running in and out of our house?

courant.com Turn Over The Logs, Mr. Bush:

All the forced secrecy surrounding the White House visitors log raises an inevitable question: What is the Bush administration hiding and why?

Last spring, in the thick of an influence-peddling scandal involving prominent Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff and questions about the extent of his ties to Congress and the White House, administration officials signed an agreement with the Secret Service declaring the visitors log to the White House off-limits to the public.

The Sociopath Next Door (or in our house)

For anyone who thinks we are just name calling when we call Bush a sociopath, this book will; be an eye-opener.


The Sociopath Next Door (Paperback) and "WTF?" Bush Lemon Drops: (You can buy it from Buzzflash and support Democracy at the same time)

Uh, does the following description sound like anyone we know? Perhaps the 'decider-in-chief' in the White House?

'As Martha Stout explains, a sociopath is defined as someone who displays at least three of seven distinguishing characteristics, such as deceitfulness, impulsivity and a lack of remorse. Such people often have a superficial charm, which they exercise ruthlessly in order to get what they want. Stout argues that the development of sociopathy is due half to genetics and half to nongenetic influences that have not been clearly identified.'

Oh yes, this description fits George to an 'S.'

Although Stout's book -- unlike 'Bush on the Couch' by Justin Frank -- is not about Bush per se, it does deal with Bush's most likely untreated psychiatric diagnosis: sociopathology. Oh yes, this description fits George to an 'S.' Although Stout's book -- unlike 'Bush on the Couch' by Justin Frank -- is not about Bush per se, it does deal with Bush's most likely untreated psychiatric diagnosis: sociopathology.

Can Jews Go To Heaven? Bush said "NO."

How in Hell did this guy ever become president?

The Bush Watch:

Until Bush backed off this position after Billy Graham told him it was a decision for God, not governors, it was unsettling news for Jews, Muslims, and believers in any faiths other than the Christian, perhaps even for backsliding Christians.'

Bush joked to reporters about his '94 answer a year or so ago, prior to a trip to the Middle East.

According to stories in the Austin American-Statesman, he told reporters that he planned to stop in Israel and tell the Jews they were all going to hell. An exchange of messages between Bush and the Jewish Anti-Defamation League followed. While no one has accused Bush of anti-Semitism, there have been comments about his insensitivity, both toward the Jews and his own family. A Jewish reporter said Bush's remarks were quite upsetting to his son. No one in the Bush family has commented, but there's little doubt that Bush has touched a sore spot in family history.

Fire Breaks Out In California Refinery

Sure have been a lot of fires in the past few years; at chemical plants and, now, a major oil refinery.

What's up?

BellSouth - NEWS:

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) - A fire broke out at an oil refinery Monday morning, injuring one employee, sending flames as high as 50 feet into the air and prompting an order for residents to stay indoors, authorities said.

The fire began at about 5:24 a.m. at Chevron's Richmond Refinery, said Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials specialist Maria Duazo. 'We are asking residents to stay inside, close their doors and windows and shut off ventilation,' Duazo said.

The fire was under control by daybreak and the worker's injury was minor, Chevron spokesman Dean O'Hair said.

About 1,200 employees were in the refinery at the time, O'Hair said.

Toll booth workers on the nearby San Rafael Bridge were evacuated, though the bridge remained open to traffic with high patrol officers directing traffic, Duazo said.

The 2,900-acre refinery is the largest in the Bay Area and is more than 100 years old, according to Chevron's Web site.

It had a previous fire in March, 1999, O'Hair said.

Corporate Media Malfeasance:

There are, basically, three groups of people who stand responsible for the current national nightmare. The news media is certainly one of them!

The other two are: The administration and their enablers in Congress.

Corporate Media Malfeasance: A BuzzFlash Update from the Memphis Media Reform Conference -- Part II BuzzFlash:

It is now estimated that more than 3500 people attended the 2007 Conference for Media Reform in Memphis, Tennessee, January 12-14.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated not far from the Memphis Conference Center where the conference is finishing up.

It was noted by more than one speaker that the Civil Rights Movement – and the protests against the Vietnam War – might not have succeeded if the media had not transmitted the horrible images and stories from those two tumultuous clashes.

But now we have a corporate media that censors images of death in Iraq because they might make the viewers squeamish and change the channel. More likely, we cannot even see our war dead or dead Iraqis because the corporate media has put too much money on Bush to risk the wrath of Junior, Cheney and Rove. We rarely see a burial of a fallen GI or a grieving family. That’s 'too real' for the corporate news.