Saturday, December 30, 2006
Dam Breaks On 9/11 Truth
God help us, if the people do not get it!
Dam Breaks On 9/11 Truth: (see the video)
Two more major influential Hollywood stars using their fame to attract attention to 9/11 truth proves the dam is breaking and November's election result has failed to stop the momentum of a growing chorus across the political spectrum demanding answers on inexplicable facets of the 9/11 fraud.
Actor James Brolin used a spot on ABC's popular chat show The View to plug a 9/11 website that goes into detail on how the towers and Building 7 were imploded by incendiary devices.
Iconic producer David Lynch appeared on Dutch TV news to react to a clip from the Loose Change documentary and sounded off on several different aspects of how the official story is impossible.
The danger that the Democrats gaining control of the House and Senate would put Hollywood and leftists in general to sleep seems to have diminished in recognizing that the vast majority still understand 9/11 to be a seminal event and not just a symptom of the corrupt Republican Party.
GOP corporate allies in Congress's cross hairs
Quite a few of them, corporate officers, that is, deserve to be imprisoned for treason
GOP corporate allies in Congress's cross hairs» http://www.opednews.com:
When Republicans expanded their majority in 2004, their first target was the trial lawyers, virtual ATM dispensers for Democratic candidates. A new law curbing class-action lawsuits was on the president's desk by mid-February. Now, Democrats are targeting some of the GOP's strongest corporate allies - Big Oil, big pharmaceutical companies, and, in all likelihood, defense contractors.
John Dean: What Should Congressional Democrats Do, When the Bush Administration Stonewalls Their Efforts To Undertake Oversight?
There are very few people I admire more than John Dean.
He says there are "no rules."
John, I believe you, just as I did, ack in the day, and when I read, "Worse than Watergate."
FindLaw's Writ - Dean: What Should Congressional Democrats Do, When the Bush Administration Stonewalls Their Efforts To Undertake Oversight?:
'We see a war coming on Capitol Hill,' a well-connected Republican attorney based in Washington recently told me, as I reported in my last column on the subject. The clash is not surprising, because Vice President Dick Cheney -- who is at the center of many of the subjects the Democratic Congress will be investigating -- is strongly opposed to Congress's inquiring into these areas. He believes the power of the presidency is at stake. Accordingly, as I noted earlier, he has made it quite clear that he is not going to cooperate with these investigations.
Before the conflict develops, it might seem helpful to go over the rules of the game -- to appreciate who is on solid ground, who is on shaky ground, and why this is the case. But as it happens, there are no rules! 'We see a war coming on Capitol Hill,' a well-connected Republican attorney based in Washington recently told me, as I reported in my last column on the subject. The clash is not surprising, because Vice President Dick Cheney -- who is at the center of many of the subjects the Democratic Congress will be investigating -- is strongly opposed to Congress's inquiring into these areas. He believes the power of the presidency is at stake. Accordingly, as I noted earlier, he has made it quite clear that he is not going to cooperate with these investigations.
Before the conflict develops, it might seem helpful to go over the rules of the game -- to appreciate who is on solid ground, who is on shaky ground, and why this is the case. But as it happens, there are no rules!
He says there are "no rules."
John, I believe you, just as I did, ack in the day, and when I read, "Worse than Watergate."
FindLaw's Writ - Dean: What Should Congressional Democrats Do, When the Bush Administration Stonewalls Their Efforts To Undertake Oversight?:
'We see a war coming on Capitol Hill,' a well-connected Republican attorney based in Washington recently told me, as I reported in my last column on the subject. The clash is not surprising, because Vice President Dick Cheney -- who is at the center of many of the subjects the Democratic Congress will be investigating -- is strongly opposed to Congress's inquiring into these areas. He believes the power of the presidency is at stake. Accordingly, as I noted earlier, he has made it quite clear that he is not going to cooperate with these investigations.
Before the conflict develops, it might seem helpful to go over the rules of the game -- to appreciate who is on solid ground, who is on shaky ground, and why this is the case. But as it happens, there are no rules! 'We see a war coming on Capitol Hill,' a well-connected Republican attorney based in Washington recently told me, as I reported in my last column on the subject. The clash is not surprising, because Vice President Dick Cheney -- who is at the center of many of the subjects the Democratic Congress will be investigating -- is strongly opposed to Congress's inquiring into these areas. He believes the power of the presidency is at stake. Accordingly, as I noted earlier, he has made it quite clear that he is not going to cooperate with these investigations.
Before the conflict develops, it might seem helpful to go over the rules of the game -- to appreciate who is on solid ground, who is on shaky ground, and why this is the case. But as it happens, there are no rules!
Resurrecting 1918 Flu Virus Took Many Turns
WTF?
Resurrecting 1918 Flu Virus Took Many Turns:
It took a lot of digging to bring back to life the Spanish influenza virus of 1918. Some was done with invisible molecular primers in a PCR machine in Rockville. Some was done with pick and shovel in the frozen ground of Alaska.
Either way, it was a huge amount of work on a project whose chance of success at the start seemed very, very slim. Now, it will go down as one of the most astonishing technical feats in the history of science -- the viral equivalent of bringing dinosaurs back in the fictional 'Jurassic Park.'
Friday, December 29, 2006
Pundits: Chances slim for Kerry, Edwards
Excuse us, but go "Cheney yourselves!"
Where is there a Kerry/Edwards connection in 2008, number 1?
Please, you right-wing, talking-head asshats, do not try to tell us who is in or out of the race. We are the "Deciders," in this matter, not you!
You people should really be studied, for the good of mankind and the Universe.
BostonHerald.com - National Politics: Pundits: Chances slim for Kerry, Edwards:
John Kerry and John Edwards have gone their separate ways, but already some pundits are scoffing that either Democrat is on the road to the White House.
Edwards, the ex-North Carolina senator who appeared overjoyed to be tapped as Kerry’s presidential running mate, yesterday announced he’s striking out on his own on a presidential bid as the Bay State’s Kerry continues to mull another run.
“Edwards is obviously the more serious of the two candidates, but the two do have one thing in common: They’re both losers,” said Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
Bush and Rove Blew the Election on Purpose?
Honestly, cannot say that it hasn't crossed our minds; this idea that elections were thrown in order to Nixonize the Dems or accuse them, for all eternity, of losing the criminal war in Iraq, as if winning at a criminal enterprise is a good thing.
These are, indeed, paranoid times, and with good reason. The Bushites specialize in spreading paranoia for political gain, not to mention Moolah (not to be confused with Mullah) and never-ending authoritarian power. (Same thing these days, eh, Mr. Rove?)
There were more comments than I can count from Rethug political operatives, immediately after the election, saying that this election was really meaningless in the authoritarians' struggle (Jihad?) for permanent power in this country, not to mention NeoCon power all over the planet:
Just a slight bump in the road they said; and it could be a damned useful one, as well, we say.
So, take off your tin foil hats and put on your thinking caps. How can we, the people, turn this election outcome, no matter its source, to our own advantage? Isn't that what Democracy is, after all?
That's the question. How can we make this past election a victory for the people, not any party, per se?
Karl Rove, and we have studied him for while, is not capable of real wisdom, because he has a hateful heart. He is capable, in spades, of very effective conspiracies, always against Democrats and their supporters. (Hasn't shown any ability, whatsoever, when it comes to conspiracies against real terrorists.)
Karl is a little like a political, idiot savant, not a genius as one normally thinks of the word..
Mostly, Karl is a Party-man (political, that is); not so much because he really cares about the GOP, especially my father's GOP, but because it is the only instrument available to him to eff up the people he hates the most: Democrats.
No, not Al Qaida, but the Democrats and of course "libruls" and their uppity cousins, the progressives.
Karl sees, in his enemy, all of the character traits which exist in him, albeit in a really twisted manifestation.
Out of all the recorded statements of Mr. Rove, there was one I shall never forget:
I can't repeat it word for word, as my cranium imploded, shortly after I heard it on C-Span. But it can't be all that hard to dig up, should one want to and not take my word for it. Never the less, it went something like this:
Liberals want to treat terrorists as criminals; they want to get a warrant, indictments and give them due process in a court of law.
Liberals also would like to give people like Osama bin Laden psychotherapeutic treatment of some kind.
After each of these misspoken descriptions of "librul," if not Democratic, beliefs and attitudes, Rove received applause and laughter from his cheerleaders in whatever controlled environment he was speaking from; I forget (remember the annoying cranial implosion.)
Damn good thing he was in a controlled environment, and a long way from me. I might have been sorely tempted to break my own life-code and slap him into the next age.
Instead, please allow me to assure Mr. Rove, that contrary to his belief, and those of many who laugh at his asinine jokes and mis-comprehensions of those of us who are, at least, slightly to the Right of Atilla the Hun; we are a lot tougher and stronger than he might think, and in ways he has no way of understanding.
Number 1: Mr. Rove is dealing with people who would not be thought of as liberal, under its current mis-definition, in most places around the country.
Number 2: Mr. Rove does not understand most Liberals and Progressives as well as he thinks he does.
Memo to Mr. Rove, spiritual son of Richard M. Nixon and biological son of a drag queen:
You are very correct in assuming that we would like nothing better than a few real indictments of the people who really planned and/or were complicit, in any way in the events of 9/11 and the anthrax attacks. As a matter of fact, many of us have not taken our eye off the ball, for one moment, where justice for those folks are concerned.
We want every last one of them caught, indicted and brought to justice in a criminal court, post haste, unless they choose death by fighting justice until there own death is inevitable. It that is their desire, so be it. We do not, however, wish them dead.
We want then alive and as comprehending as they possibly can be. We want them treated in a civil manner, not out of weakness, but out of a type of strength, I fear you, Mr. Rove, will never understand,.
This brings me to just one of the reasons we do not want them tortured to the point where nothing they have said or will say can be held against them or any other conspirator. That is a reason you, in your hateful little mind, should understand.
The other reason, of course, is because we really believe in the Golden Rule, which can be found in every major and minor world religion or true spiritual tradition, ancient or modern.
Even the dreaded secularists understand the Golden Rule.
(The only people who do not understand it, or think they can break it, willy-nilly, for an ideological or dogmatic agenda, without consequence, are sociopaths and other deeply psycho-pathological people.)
Which brings us to the co-called Liberal belief in psychotherapy and the healing of the human mind and heart.
I can't speak for all Liberals, Progressives, Democrats or, even, independents and moderates, so I shall speak, now, only for myself.
Anyone found to be involved in the events of 9/11 and/or the anthrax attacks, should be treated for psychological disorder, if not disease, right after they are locked away, so they can no longer pose a threat to themselves or others.
Who the hell are we, Mr. Rove, to deny anyone the chance at redemption? God doesn't.
We claim that we believe in redemption, yet we are quite willing to deny any chance of it to a fellow human being. Either we believe in the power of redemption or we don't. We can't have it both ways.
Now, "redemption" in no way entails a lack of civil and criminal liability and accountability, for a person's acts or behavior, which can be shown to intentionally or negligently inflict on others death, loss of family and loved ones, dismemberment, theft, severe psychological damage and the like.
We are not talking about absolution, which has never been in the sphere of mental health professionals, but remains a province the Divine and its operatives on earth; priests and the like. Such absolution is BS if you ask me, without real redemption, which has to do with behavior, not words, and requires time.
Yes. Mr. Rove, I would volunteer my time to engage in a psychotherapeutic relationship with Osama bin Laden, but I would not ever suggest that he be released back into any society, provided he is ever captured and if it can be proven that he did what he is accused of doing.
The same holds true for people who deceive a nation into backing mass murder of innocents for political gain or power grabs.
Do you understand me, Mr. Rove?
Bush and Rove Blew the Election on Purpose?:
Bush and Rove Blew the Election on Purpose?
Asks Will Bunch of The Philadelphia Daily News, while admitting it's a 'tin-foil hat' conspiracy theory. But after a few drinks, you may start to wonder about it. How else to explain, for example, not firing Rumsfeld sooner?
By Greg Mitchell
(November 12, 2006) -- He might have been kidding, but the more you read and think about it, the more it provides a plausible explanation for the wholesale White House bungling in the closing weeks of this year’s campaign: Bush and Rove blew the midterms on purpose. How else to accept that the normally hapless Democrats not only won, but as the president put it, “thumped”?
Okay, even reporter/blogger Will Bunch of The Philadelphia Daily News, who concocted the idea -- likening it to “The Producers” plot to engineer a flop -- revealed that he had to put on his tin-foil hat first. I admit, I still don’t believe it one bit.
Why John Edwards Changes Everything
On the face of it, Edwards is looking good.
While very far from choosing our favorite candidate, I, personally, will say, I like this fellow. There is something about him that reminds me of someone. Can't quite put my finger on it.
It isn't his physical being; his body or face. It's more of an inner thing. It's his energy, his way of speaking, his obvious passion, his willingness to face unpleasant truths; to admit being wrong and capable of even more mistakes.
The guy seems willing to put forward some ideas, to be willing to listen to the people and to really lead, not rule over.
Anyone with more than 3 neurons firing knows that this nation faces some of the greatest challenges it has ever faced in all of its history. That includs the Civil War, because there is most definitely a Cold (un)Civil War going on at the moment and I believe that Edwards knows it.
Whether or not it is because Elizabeth reads blogs, Edwards knows what's happening in this country and, hopefully, he will make it an issue, in a positive, forward-looking way.
Nevertheless, the Democratic candidate must....must be willing, to, at the very least, hold his/her tongue and stay out of the way, when accountability comes to the authoritarian nitwits who have wrought such a hellish nightmare on this nation and many other people around the world.
Memo to the Honorable John Edwards, D. North Carolina
John, this time is really like no other in American history. Oh, certainly, the basics are the same; various combintations of the 7 deadly sins, writ large, doing what they always do, when they are unleashed in such a powerful way.
Admittedly, somethings never change. What makes this time different is our own evolution as a race and the products of our own collective cortex, so to speak.
You know, things like nuclear weapons, the Internet; a connectivity, world wide, as has never before, in recorded history, been known on this planet, all kinds of technology, of which my Dad could have never even dreamed.
As with anything on this earth, technology can be used for life and good or death and evil.
The next leader of this nation must be a man or woman who can lead this nation in the use of technology for good, life-giving, life-uplifting and deeply spiritual causes.
It really is do or die time on planet earth.
BobGeiger.com: Why John Edwards Changes Everything:
In the backyard of a Hurricane Katrina victim in New Orleans' 9th Ward, former Senator and Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards announced today that he is running for the Democratic presidential nomination. And, in what can be better characterized as a talk than a formal political speech, Edwards changed the dynamic of the fledgling Democratic race for 2008 with both the tone and substance of his message.
Asking Americans to 'be patriotic about something beyond war,' Edwards stood in the middle of a New Orleans yard and talked about getting Americans mobilized to create domestic change now and not just in conjunction with a political campaign. He talked earnestly about the need to restore America's battered global image, the critical mass being hit in the country's health-care crisis and the fact that he believes his vote to allow George W. Bush's war in Iraq was just flat-out wrong."
While very far from choosing our favorite candidate, I, personally, will say, I like this fellow. There is something about him that reminds me of someone. Can't quite put my finger on it.
It isn't his physical being; his body or face. It's more of an inner thing. It's his energy, his way of speaking, his obvious passion, his willingness to face unpleasant truths; to admit being wrong and capable of even more mistakes.
The guy seems willing to put forward some ideas, to be willing to listen to the people and to really lead, not rule over.
Anyone with more than 3 neurons firing knows that this nation faces some of the greatest challenges it has ever faced in all of its history. That includs the Civil War, because there is most definitely a Cold (un)Civil War going on at the moment and I believe that Edwards knows it.
Whether or not it is because Elizabeth reads blogs, Edwards knows what's happening in this country and, hopefully, he will make it an issue, in a positive, forward-looking way.
Nevertheless, the Democratic candidate must....must be willing, to, at the very least, hold his/her tongue and stay out of the way, when accountability comes to the authoritarian nitwits who have wrought such a hellish nightmare on this nation and many other people around the world.
Memo to the Honorable John Edwards, D. North Carolina
John, this time is really like no other in American history. Oh, certainly, the basics are the same; various combintations of the 7 deadly sins, writ large, doing what they always do, when they are unleashed in such a powerful way.
Admittedly, somethings never change. What makes this time different is our own evolution as a race and the products of our own collective cortex, so to speak.
You know, things like nuclear weapons, the Internet; a connectivity, world wide, as has never before, in recorded history, been known on this planet, all kinds of technology, of which my Dad could have never even dreamed.
As with anything on this earth, technology can be used for life and good or death and evil.
The next leader of this nation must be a man or woman who can lead this nation in the use of technology for good, life-giving, life-uplifting and deeply spiritual causes.
It really is do or die time on planet earth.
BobGeiger.com: Why John Edwards Changes Everything:
In the backyard of a Hurricane Katrina victim in New Orleans' 9th Ward, former Senator and Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards announced today that he is running for the Democratic presidential nomination. And, in what can be better characterized as a talk than a formal political speech, Edwards changed the dynamic of the fledgling Democratic race for 2008 with both the tone and substance of his message.
Asking Americans to 'be patriotic about something beyond war,' Edwards stood in the middle of a New Orleans yard and talked about getting Americans mobilized to create domestic change now and not just in conjunction with a political campaign. He talked earnestly about the need to restore America's battered global image, the critical mass being hit in the country's health-care crisis and the fact that he believes his vote to allow George W. Bush's war in Iraq was just flat-out wrong."
The Age of Republican Extremism is Not Over"
Hell No, it isn't over and it won't be until there is accountability with a capital "A."
Authoritarianism has always been a dirty word in my vocabulary. It should be in anyone's vocabulary, who believes in our Constutution and the Bill of Rights.
People like the ones holding power at the moment and their jack-booted pals who are not in government at the moment, do not simply go away when they are voted out of power. They hang out on K-street and in various think-tanks, plotting and planning their next coup.
Thing is, these people know that they will never win another election, if they tell the truth about their agendas who they really are, and do not cheat like hell in every election.
Expose them and hold them accountable.!
It's the only way to get rid of them for the next few generations, or until people forget again.
The Progressive Daily Beacon: "The Age of Republican Extremism is Not Over":
The age of Republican neo-fascism, neo-theocracy, and neo-conservatism or to use an appropriate catchall label, 'Neo-Insanity,' is not over. Indeed, the Republican Party's march to the extreme fringes of the radical right has only just begun and it is going to get a whole lot crazier before it gets better. The exponential escalation of 'crazy' is the only way extremist movements like today's Republican Party can keep their followers interested, engaged, and simmering on the verge of rage.
It isn't by accident that Newt Gingrich has suddenly championed the anti-American concept of censoring the internet and limiting free speech. They weren't joking when the neo-theocratic-wing of the Republican Party suggested that, perhaps, gay people should wear armbands denoting their sexual preference. There isn't a smirk on any Republicans' faces when they say the so-called 'war on terror' has morphed into a 'Third World War.' And the jackboots in the GOP, those who are championing the absurd idea that school teachers should be armed, are deadly serious.
Censorship, limiting free speech, Nazi-like Star of David armbands for gay people, a world at war, and sending our children into schools with authoritarian figures armed to the teeth - kind of makes Terry Schiavo and warrantless wiretapping seem almost benign. But it does highlight the way in which extremism escalates - how, in order to survive and thrive, it must become increasingly radicalized.
Authoritarianism has always been a dirty word in my vocabulary. It should be in anyone's vocabulary, who believes in our Constutution and the Bill of Rights.
People like the ones holding power at the moment and their jack-booted pals who are not in government at the moment, do not simply go away when they are voted out of power. They hang out on K-street and in various think-tanks, plotting and planning their next coup.
Thing is, these people know that they will never win another election, if they tell the truth about their agendas who they really are, and do not cheat like hell in every election.
Expose them and hold them accountable.!
It's the only way to get rid of them for the next few generations, or until people forget again.
The Progressive Daily Beacon: "The Age of Republican Extremism is Not Over":
The age of Republican neo-fascism, neo-theocracy, and neo-conservatism or to use an appropriate catchall label, 'Neo-Insanity,' is not over. Indeed, the Republican Party's march to the extreme fringes of the radical right has only just begun and it is going to get a whole lot crazier before it gets better. The exponential escalation of 'crazy' is the only way extremist movements like today's Republican Party can keep their followers interested, engaged, and simmering on the verge of rage.
It isn't by accident that Newt Gingrich has suddenly championed the anti-American concept of censoring the internet and limiting free speech. They weren't joking when the neo-theocratic-wing of the Republican Party suggested that, perhaps, gay people should wear armbands denoting their sexual preference. There isn't a smirk on any Republicans' faces when they say the so-called 'war on terror' has morphed into a 'Third World War.' And the jackboots in the GOP, those who are championing the absurd idea that school teachers should be armed, are deadly serious.
Censorship, limiting free speech, Nazi-like Star of David armbands for gay people, a world at war, and sending our children into schools with authoritarian figures armed to the teeth - kind of makes Terry Schiavo and warrantless wiretapping seem almost benign. But it does highlight the way in which extremism escalates - how, in order to survive and thrive, it must become increasingly radicalized.
Living in America’s Fringe Economy
If Americans really want to begin anew, besides holding elected officials accountable for the nightmare in which we find ourselves, they would do something simple, but, as we know, hardly easy: Cut up their credit cards and downsize.
Yes, this applies to families, too. If there is one thing American kids have no idea about, it is the value of money and its proper use. Mainly they don't have a clue, because their parents never knew, either.
When we have a president and a congress that has no better sense than to live off plastic, the people had better start saving, not spending money they don't have, and may never have, at the rate the American economy (the real one) is going.
There is class warfare in this country and it wasn't the lower socio-economic classes who started it.
However, we can all damn well finish it, if we act forcefully, intelligently and together.
AlterNet: WorkPlace: Living in America’s Fringe Economy:
Millions of Americans live on the margins of the American economy, depending on the likes of payday lenders and pawnshops, who charge excessive interest rates and superhigh fees for their services.
Yes, this applies to families, too. If there is one thing American kids have no idea about, it is the value of money and its proper use. Mainly they don't have a clue, because their parents never knew, either.
When we have a president and a congress that has no better sense than to live off plastic, the people had better start saving, not spending money they don't have, and may never have, at the rate the American economy (the real one) is going.
There is class warfare in this country and it wasn't the lower socio-economic classes who started it.
However, we can all damn well finish it, if we act forcefully, intelligently and together.
AlterNet: WorkPlace: Living in America’s Fringe Economy:
Millions of Americans live on the margins of the American economy, depending on the likes of payday lenders and pawnshops, who charge excessive interest rates and superhigh fees for their services.
: "What's Going On?" A Vietnam-Era Song Rings True Today
In case you haven't noticed, most all the protest songs, from back in the day, fit just as well today, as many of them are as timeless as the abject stupidity of war. itself.
AlterNet: "What's Going On?" A Vietnam-Era Song Rings True Today:
In 1971, singer Marvin Gaye raised hackles when he tried to make sense of the madness of the Vietnam War by asking, 'What's Going On?' He sang:
Mother, mother/ There's too many of you crying/ Brother, brother, brother/ There's far too many of you dying/ You know we've got to find a way/ To bring some lovin' here today -- Ya/ Father, father/ We don't need to escalate/ You see, war is not the answer/ For only love can conquer hate/ You know we've got to find a way/ To bring some loving' here today.
The song, told from the perspective of a returning Vietnam veteran, was inspired by Gaye's brother who had recently returned from that disastrous war.
Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons / Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order
How many more ways can we find to annihilate oueselves?
What a fun game, eh?
Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons / Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order:
"The U.S. Air Force is quietly spending millions of dollars investigating ways to use a radical power source -- antimatter, the eerie 'mirror' of ordinary matter -- in future weapons.
The most powerful potential energy source presently thought to be available to humanity, antimatter is a term normally heard in science-fiction films and TV shows, whose heroes fly 'antimatter-powered spaceships' and do battle with 'antimatter guns.'
But antimatter itself isn't fiction; it actually exists and has been intensively studied by physicists since the 1930s. In a sense, matter and antimatter are the yin and yang of reality: Every type of subatomic particle has its antimatter counterpart. But when matter and antimatter collide, they annihilate each other in an immense burst of energy.
During the Cold War, the Air Force funded numerous scientific studies of the basic physics of antimatter. With the knowledge gained, some Air Force insiders are beginning to think seriously about potential military uses -- for example, antimatter bombs small enough to hold in one's hand, and antimatter engines for 24/7 surveillance aircraft.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Yet another strange suicide
Hummmm....How many does this make now?
Monterey County Herald 12/27/2006 Lawyer falls to death at hotel:
In what police describe as a 'probable' suicide leap, a prominent Monterey Bay Area attorney fell at least nine floors to his death at the Embassy Suites Hotel Monterey Bay in Seaside the morning before Christmas.
Shortly before 9:30 a.m. Sunday, officers found the body of Aptos attorney Paul Sanford in the west end of the hotel lobby, where he had landed on a large ventilation grate.
Police Capt. Steve Cercone said horrified guests were eating breakfast in the atrium at the time, and a number of witnesses saw Sanford fall from somewhere between the 9th and 12th floors.
'I'm at a loss for words,' said Sanford's friend and business associate, Monterey attorney Shawn Mills. 'Paul really had his fingers in a lot of different pies. He was from the East Coast, and I used to call him our 'West Coast Kennedy.''
In addition to running his criminal defense practice in Capitola, Sanford was active in community organizations and hosted several independent radio shows in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
For several years, he was programs supervisor at the Volunteer Center in Santa Cruz and a teacher at the Monterey College of Law, where Mills said Sanford was an alumnus who mentored many students.
Sanford recently purchased his mother's home in Pebble Beach, and Mills said his friend planned to retire there one day.
Monterey County Herald 12/27/2006 Lawyer falls to death at hotel:
In what police describe as a 'probable' suicide leap, a prominent Monterey Bay Area attorney fell at least nine floors to his death at the Embassy Suites Hotel Monterey Bay in Seaside the morning before Christmas.
Shortly before 9:30 a.m. Sunday, officers found the body of Aptos attorney Paul Sanford in the west end of the hotel lobby, where he had landed on a large ventilation grate.
Police Capt. Steve Cercone said horrified guests were eating breakfast in the atrium at the time, and a number of witnesses saw Sanford fall from somewhere between the 9th and 12th floors.
'I'm at a loss for words,' said Sanford's friend and business associate, Monterey attorney Shawn Mills. 'Paul really had his fingers in a lot of different pies. He was from the East Coast, and I used to call him our 'West Coast Kennedy.''
In addition to running his criminal defense practice in Capitola, Sanford was active in community organizations and hosted several independent radio shows in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
For several years, he was programs supervisor at the Volunteer Center in Santa Cruz and a teacher at the Monterey College of Law, where Mills said Sanford was an alumnus who mentored many students.
Sanford recently purchased his mother's home in Pebble Beach, and Mills said his friend planned to retire there one day.
Robert Scheer: Ike Was Right
We've been saying this for months, if not years, by now. Yes, oil plays a role in why we are in Iraq, but this oil grab, if that's what it really is, is to control the flow of oil, so that oil comany CEOs continue to make more money in salaries and bonuses than the budgets of quite a few small nations.
War, this war, any war, is always about the same thing; money and power. The U.S., since WWII, has needed wars to fatten portfolios, which tend to sag when peace, unexpectedly, breaks out, as it did when the Soviet Union fell apart.
Remember the Peace Dividend? Poppy used it to blow hell out of Iraq in the early 90's; redirecting the peace windfall, right back into war and his pal's portfolios.
Ike did, in fact warn us, about this unholy alliance, he called the military/industrial complex. Today, it has morphed into the military/corporate/security complex, but it is the same insatiable beast it has always been. if not worse, with the current crop of CEOs in the White House.
Until we find ways of making money off peace, we will be having this never-ending struggle, between Hawks and Doves.
It will also be necessary to levy a greed tx.
Truthdig - Reports - Robert Scheer: Ike Was Right:
The public, seeing through the tissue of Bush administration lies told to justify an invasion that never had anything to do with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 or weapons of mass destruction, now has begun a national questioning: Why are we still in Iraq? The answers posted most widely on the Internet by critics of the war suggest its continuation as a naked imperial grab for the world’s second-largest petroleum source, but that is wrong.
It’s not primarily about the oil; it’s much more about the military-industrial complex, the label employed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower 45 years ago when he warned of the dangers of “a permanent arms industry of vast proportions.”
The Cold War had provided the rationale for the first peacetime creation of a militarized economy. While the former general, Eisenhower, was well aware of the military threat posed by the Soviet Union, he chose in his farewell presidential address to the nation to warn that the war profiteers had an agenda of their own, one that was inimical to the survival of American democracy:
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq
Gerald Ford was not part of the conspiracy.....
I never beleived he was.........
Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq - washingtonpost.com:
Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. 'I don't think I would have gone to war,' he said a little more than a year after President Bush had launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford's own administration.
In a four-hour conversation at his house in Beaver Creek, Colo., Ford 'very strongly' disagreed with the current president's justifications for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously. In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice President Cheney -- Ford's White House chief of staff -- and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served as Ford's chief of staff and then his Pentagon chief.
I never beleived he was.........
Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq - washingtonpost.com:
Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. 'I don't think I would have gone to war,' he said a little more than a year after President Bush had launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford's own administration.
In a four-hour conversation at his house in Beaver Creek, Colo., Ford 'very strongly' disagreed with the current president's justifications for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously. In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice President Cheney -- Ford's White House chief of staff -- and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served as Ford's chief of staff and then his Pentagon chief.
This is Where Bush Gets Dangerous!
I didn't catch it, but a friend of mine did. She caught few glimpses of our preznit at the Kennedy Honors last evening.
She called this morning to ask if I had seen it, knowing that one of my major, on-going concerns, for the last three years or so, has been what I perceive as the continuing disintegration of Bush's mental status.
She told me that he looked absolutely terrible; bizarre body language, seemingly completely out of touch with the celebrities sitting around him.
So, I guess, he is off to Crawford, now, to ponder the Iraq situation, or so we are told.
God help us!
One Thousand Reasons:
We now have six years of evidence that George Bush is not all there. The occupant of the White House has consistently demonstrated an extraordinary ability to evade reality and a reckless proclivity to steer the nation by a distorted compass made up of cocaine-induced delusions and two decades of insobriety. Add to this mix a little religious fanaticism and a gigantic ego that serves to accentuate an acute case of intellectual dwarfism.
In Bush, we have a man who accepts only the counsel of those that agree with his rudimentary understanding of history. The man is a gambling fool – the kind of loser who doubles up as his political fortunes evaporate.
It seems forgotten that the 9/11 atrocities happened on the president’s watch. Turn back the clock and witness a distraught nation rallying around the president and giving him a carte blanche to react as he saw fit. Recall that virtually every government around the world instinctively embraced America, wished her well, demonstrated solidarity and offered full cooperation in hunting down the terrorists responsible for the carnage.....
Bush is baaqcking hiself into a hopeless corner.....
...... A corner, he will have to blow himself out of, I am afraid.
Look out Iran!
Bush is very close to the end of his particular tether, from what we hear from a few D.C. insiders and from what we see for ourselves.
'Tis a dangrous time.
Deck the fallout shelters!
RecordPub.com:
"CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- After weeks of deliberation, President Bush is honing in on a national security team meeting at his Texas ranch that will take him a step closer to deciding a new U.S. policy in Iraq.
With each passing day that he gathers advice, Bush is creating more than a new way forward. He's building expectations that will be hard to meet no matter what he unveils.
By the time he announces his Iraq plan in January, roughly two months will have passed since Democrats won control of the House and Senate in the Nov. 7 election that was widely viewed as a referendum on U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Anticipation of Bush's decision is high not just because people are weary of war, but also because of the way Bush has gone about deciding his next move.
Chief Moonie's $3 billion dollar GOP propaganda machine
This, alone, should sink the GOP for several generations.
The very idea that they are mixed up with this grandiose, delusional crackpot should pose some very serious questions, perhaps, by the Congress.
Consortiumnews.com:
The American Right achieved its political dominance in Washington over the past quarter century with the help of more than $3 billion spent by Korean cult leader Sun Myung Moon on a daily propaganda organ, the Washington Times, according to a 21-year veteran of the newspaper.The American Right achieved its political dominance in Washington over the past quarter century with the help of more than $3 billion spent by Korean cult leader Sun Myung Moon on a daily propaganda organ, the Washington Times, according to a 21-year veteran of the newspaper.
WH is lawyering up.
..... and Tony Snow is a big liar.
Why does anyone even ask him questions anymore?
Bush is bracing for new scrutiny - baltimoresun.com:
WASHINGTON: President Bush is bracing for what could be an onslaught of investigations by the new Democratic-led Congress by hiring lawyers to fill key White House posts and preparing to play defense on countless document requests and possible subpoenas.
Bush is moving quickly to fill vacancies within his stable of lawyers, though White House officials say there are no plans to drastically expand the legal staff to deal with a flood of oversight.
'No, at this point, no,' Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, said recently. 'We'll have to see what happens.'
Snow rebutted the notion that Bush is casting about for legal advice in the wake of his party's loss of control of the Congress.
'We don't have a war room set up where we're ... dialing the 800 numbers of law firms,' he said.
Gerald Ford, dead at 93
Our condolences to Betty and the kids.
BellSouth - NATIONAL NEWS:
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) - Former President Gerald R. Ford, who declared 'Our long national nightmare is over' as he replaced Richard Nixon but may have doomed his own chances of election by pardoning his disgraced predecessor, has died. He was 93.
The nation's 38th president, and the only one not elected to the office or the vice presidency, died at his desert home at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.
'His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country,' his wife, Betty, said in a statement.
Gerald Ford: Locked and Sealed Watergate with a Pardon
As much as I, at the time, loathed and despised Richard M. Nixon, I could not help but agree that Ford had to pardon him, for the sake of the nation.
However, in the past six years I have changed my mind. I believe that President Ford did what he honestly believed was in the national interest, but how could he have known where that pardon would lead; what lessons would be learned by his own Party.
Unfortunately, it seems they learned that not much would happen, even to a president caught in gross abuses of power and major decptions of the American people and Congress. Yes, the president might have to resign, but he would live out his life in peace, allowed to come and go, live where he pleased and, even, advise new presidents.
I am convinced that that pardon led to Iran/Contra. What's the worst thing that can happen, eh? What do we really have to lose? So, a few people get convicted of some crime or the other, but they will be pardoned, eventually.
Now, we have a true national nightmare that makes the Nixon years seem mild in comparison. Would we have this mess now, if Nixon had gone to prison? I can't help but wonder.
Whatever, it is now time for accountability. The kind of accountability that will make any president or vice president or any of their staff think long and hard before they lie to us and to Congress and commit crimes in our name and with our blood and treasure.
If there is no real accountability this time, we are finished as a nation.
BellSouth - NEWS:
WASHINGTON (AP) - On a September Sunday in 1974, President Gerald Ford told the nation it was time to 'shut and seal this book' of Watergate by pardoning his predecessor, Richard Nixon.
Ford's stunning announcement may also have sealed his political fate, since the nation's only president never elected to nationwide office - a Republican - lost the 1976 election to Democrat Jimmy Carter. Many said the unpopular pardon was a cause of Ford's defeat.
But years later, Ford's act of conscience was viewed differently. In 2001, Ford, who died Tuesday, received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award named after the former Democratic president. He was chosen by a bipartisan committee of political and community leaders, who had the luxury of looking back at the fateful day of Sept. 8, 1974.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Biggest Bushlies; 2006
Happy effing New Year!
Wonder what he will try to tell us in 2007, and will anyone even be listening?
Eleanor Clift: Bush's Worst Lies of 2006 - Newsweek Capitol Letter - MSNBC.com:
Dec. 22, 2006 - In the spirit of holding our political leaders accountable, this year-end review will tabulate the worst lies told by Bush and company, along with several stories that were underreported in the media. Much of what was generated got lost in the fog of war, but the long arm of history will retrieve these moments. As the president said in his news conference this week, if they’re still writing about No. 1—George Washington—there’s plenty of time before the historians can properly evaluate No. 43.
Judging by the mess in Iraq, it could be 200 or 300 years—if ever—before Bush is vindicated.
Bartlet says some shocking stuff about his boss
OMG:
Congress: Get you happy, overfed butts back to DC! We have a problem!
Impeachable Treason:
We know Bush has something of an Apocalyptic worldview with a touch of Messiah complex.
As Bruce Bartlett said:
Congress: Get you happy, overfed butts back to DC! We have a problem!
Impeachable Treason:
We know Bush has something of an Apocalyptic worldview with a touch of Messiah complex.
As Bruce Bartlett said:
' ... this instinct he's always talking about is this sort of weird,
Messianic idea of what he thinks God has told him to do ... This is why George
W. Bush is so clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalists. He
believes you have to kill them all ... He understands them, because he's just
like them ... This is why he dispenses with people who confront him with
inconvenient facts ... He truly believes he's on a mission from God. Absolute
faith like that overwhelms the need for analysis. The whole thing about faith is
to believe things for which there is no empirical evidence ... '
Impeachable Treason
No wonder the Dark Dynasty is so insufferably out of touch with the rest of us; or just plain insufferable.
Off with their heads! (Wonder if QEII would let us use the Tower. She can't stand Junior either)
Impeachable Treason:
The Bush Monarchy
Oh so many things are crystal clear to me now. While this article isn't the final piece in the 'why the hell has the U.S. become the country it is today?' puzzle, it certainly fills in a lot of the blanks. Take some time and read this article. I guarantee it's worth your time. The second paragraph of the article:
The Bush family considers itself among the special chosen ones if based only on its royal heritage. The family is connected by blood to every European monarch on and off the throne including every member of the British House of Windsor. That relationship is more than familial and extends to the president’s father having close business dealings with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip who themselves are connected to the notorious Carlyle Group that also employs GHW Bush as a 'senior consultant' and master-rainmaker/fixer-arranger at a very high price for his services.
If this doesn't light a fire under your ass to impeach this idiot, I really don't know what will.
Feds: Homeland Security project didn't protect privacy
Surprise. surprise! Did anyone really believe it ws meant to?
Feds: Homeland Security project didn't protect privacy CNET News.com:
A Department of Homeland Security program that linked details on millions of air travelers with profiles drawn from commercial databases was plagued by 'privacy missteps' that misled the public, a new government report concludes.
Bush omes up with a way of killing other nation's poorer citizens
Who will stop this madness?
Military considers recruiting foreigners - The Boston Globe:
WASHINGTON -- The armed forces, already struggling to meet recruiting goals, are considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks -- including disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and putting more immigrants on a faster track to US citizenship if they volunteer -- according to Pentagon officials.
Foreign citizens serving in the US military is a highly charged issue, which could expose the Pentagon to criticism that it is essentially using mercenaries to defend the country. Other analysts voice concern that a large contingent of noncitizens under arms could jeopardize national security or reflect badly on Americans' willingness to serve in uniform.
The idea of signing up foreigners who are seeking US citizenship is gaining traction as a way to address a critical need for the Pentagon, while fully absorbing some of the roughly one million immigrants that enter the United States legally each year.
Military considers recruiting foreigners - The Boston Globe:
WASHINGTON -- The armed forces, already struggling to meet recruiting goals, are considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks -- including disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and putting more immigrants on a faster track to US citizenship if they volunteer -- according to Pentagon officials.
Foreign citizens serving in the US military is a highly charged issue, which could expose the Pentagon to criticism that it is essentially using mercenaries to defend the country. Other analysts voice concern that a large contingent of noncitizens under arms could jeopardize national security or reflect badly on Americans' willingness to serve in uniform.
The idea of signing up foreigners who are seeking US citizenship is gaining traction as a way to address a critical need for the Pentagon, while fully absorbing some of the roughly one million immigrants that enter the United States legally each year.
Troop 'surge' in Iraq would be another mistake
No shit, Sherlocks.
Troop 'surge' in Iraq would be another mistake:
12/26/06 'Information Clearing House' -- -- - Robert Gates' report to the White House on his discussions in Iraq this past week is likely to provide the missing ingredient for the troop ''surge'' into Iraq favored by the ''decider'' team of Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush.
When the understandable misgivings voiced by top U.S. military officials made it obvious that the surge cart had been put before the mission-objective horse, the president was forced to concede, as he did at his press conference on Wednesday, ``There's got to be a specific mission that can be accomplished with the addition of more troops, before I agree on that strategy.''
The president had led off the press conference by heightening expectations for the Gates visit to Iraq, noting that ''Secretary Gates is going to be an important voice in the Iraq strategy review that's under way.'' No doubt Gates was given the job of hammering out a ''specific mission'' with U.S. generals and Iraqi leaders, and he is past master at sensing and delivering on his bosses' wishes.
Troop 'surge' in Iraq would be another mistake:
12/26/06 'Information Clearing House' -- -- - Robert Gates' report to the White House on his discussions in Iraq this past week is likely to provide the missing ingredient for the troop ''surge'' into Iraq favored by the ''decider'' team of Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush.
When the understandable misgivings voiced by top U.S. military officials made it obvious that the surge cart had been put before the mission-objective horse, the president was forced to concede, as he did at his press conference on Wednesday, ``There's got to be a specific mission that can be accomplished with the addition of more troops, before I agree on that strategy.''
The president had led off the press conference by heightening expectations for the Gates visit to Iraq, noting that ''Secretary Gates is going to be an important voice in the Iraq strategy review that's under way.'' No doubt Gates was given the job of hammering out a ''specific mission'' with U.S. generals and Iraqi leaders, and he is past master at sensing and delivering on his bosses' wishes.
Shift in Congress Puts Health Care Back on the Table
It's past time for this.
If we do not have universal health care by the end of this Congress, there should be national strikes!
Given that our government tells us how afraid we should be of bioterrorism, universal health care should be a national security imperative.
Shift in Congress Puts Health Care Back on the Table - washingtonpost.com:
Health care is set to return to the national political stage in 2007, setting up partisan clashes in Congress that could end with rare vetoes from President Bush and help to define the 2008 presidential campaigns.
After years in which Iraq and national security dominated the debate -- and memories of the 1994 Clinton health plan debacle made major health-care changes politically radioactive -- the return of Democratic control in the House and Senate and the ramping up of the presidential campaigns are expected to bring health policy back into the legislative mix.
Probes of Bush policies in works
Let's Roll!
Probes of Bush policies in works - The Boston Globe:
Mass. lawmakers to launch hearings
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff December 23, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Massachusetts lawmakers are set to launch a blizzard of investigations in the new Congress, probing issues such as wartime contracting, post-Katrina housing assistance, and the Bush administration's relationship with Cuba and other countries in Latin America.
Keeping Iraq attack numbers under wraps
If you think this is bad, just wait until the really bad news about the economy, the Bushites are trying to hide, comes to light.
The Carpetbagger Report » Blog Archive » Keeping Iraq attack numbers under wraps:
A close look at the chart, however, notes that a few details are missing — specifically, the number of attacks in September, October, and November of this year, despite the fact that the report having been produced in December.
So, where are those numbers? Rood called Joseph Christoff, the GAO official who produced the document, who said he had all of the data, but had to leave the report incomplete because the Pentagon classified the numbers.
The number of attacks from August 2006, and every month prior, are publicly available, but the fall of 2006 has to remain classified? Without explanation?
Of course, this does fit nicely into the Bush administration’s m.o. — when data is inconvenient, hide it.
* In March, the administration announced it would no longer produce the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, which identifies which programs best assist low-income families, while also tracking health insurance coverage and child support.
Hey, Osama, who needs you?
Bush has now responsible for more American deaths than all the attacks on 9/11/01.
U.S. deaths in Iraq exceed 9/11 count - Yahoo! News:
Iraq - At least 36 Iraqis died Tuesday in bombings, officials said, including a coordinated strike that killed 25 in western Baghdad. Separately, the deaths of six U.S. soldiers pushed the American toll beyond the number of victims in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The three coordinated car bombs in western Baghdad injured at least 55 people, a doctor at Yarmouk hospital, where the victims were taken, said on condition of anonymity because of safety concerns. The attacks occurred in a mixed Sunni and Shiite neighborhood.
In separate attacks, a bomb exploded in a central Baghdad market, killing four people and wounding 15 others, police said. Two roadside bombs targeted an Iraqi police patrol in an eastern neighborhood of the capital, killing four policemen and injuring 12 people.
In Kirkuk, 180 miles north of the Iraqi capital, another roadside bomb killed three civilians — including an 8-year-old girl — and wounded six other people, police said.
The U.S. military on Tuesday announced the deaths of six more American soldiers, pushing the U.S. military death toll since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003 to at least 2,978 — five more than the number killed in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Monday, December 25, 2006
The Retreat from Empiricism and Ron Suskind's Intellectual Scoop
One of the most scathing, but clearly analytical pieces I have read about this administration.
Ron Suskind must, if we, as a nation, manage to survive Bush Inperial reality, be an American hero, when future generations look back on this time, as they surely will. I hope that we, who have seen this administration for the deceptive disaster that it is, for longer than most, will see to it that out grandkids remember people like Suskind, and, yes, Jay Rosen.
I hope they will, one day, remember, with reverent fondness, people who have continued to tell the truth to the American people, even when it was not popular and to do so may have, even, been dangerous to them, personally, in some way.
I will be the first to admit that we, at the Lantern, can have our problems with cynicism. We call it the big "C." Mainly, we call it that because there was a time when people referred to cancer like that, by its single initial. Cynicism is every bit as malignant to the human spirit as cancer is to the human body.
We all have flare-ups very once in a while, but can ill-afford to allow it to go on long, before we take our medication. One of those medications, for me, is reminding myself that we do have heros, even now, in this time of darkness.
They have been with us, almost, from the beginning of this illegitimate, corrupt, murderous administration, and they have grown in number over the years.
It is not the job, IMHO, of the press, to speak truth to elected power. It is the job of the press to speak truth to the people, who may or may not have elected the power. It is the job of the press to confront un-truth everytime it is uttered by an elected official. (Do your damn homework, before you question an elected, or appointed and approved-by-the-senate official.)
These people are our employess and if they are spouting carefully crafted talking points, truthiness; the press should challenge them on it. Pin them down, when they are talking about matters of state; serious matters which mean life or death, living in dignity or poverty, health or illness.
Thank all goodness that there are still public servants and press members, who do all in their power to make the electorate aware of real danger from within, as well as from without.
Thank You, Jay Rosen, for the best Chrsitmas present I received this year; a simple reminder.
The Blog Jay Rosen: The Retreat from Empiricism and Ron Suskind's Intellectual Scoop The Huffington Post:
The only piece of political journalism ever to make me cry was Ron Suskind's article, Without a Doubt, published in the New York Times Magazine shortly before the 2004 election. It was in that article that the famous passage appeared quoting a senior administration official on the myopia of the 'reality-based community' when it came to understanding the government of George W. Bush.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about that article because the 'realist' school in foreign policy is thought to be back in charge. The release of the Iraq Study Group's report on December 6th and the re-emergence of James Baker, famous for being pragmatist, a realist, and a fixer, were the triggers for this observation. The Guardian's report was typical: 'This is a return to the realist policy of Mr. Bush's father.'
Dan Froomkin said the report and reactions to it 'marked a restoration of reality in Washington.
Ron Suskind must, if we, as a nation, manage to survive Bush Inperial reality, be an American hero, when future generations look back on this time, as they surely will. I hope that we, who have seen this administration for the deceptive disaster that it is, for longer than most, will see to it that out grandkids remember people like Suskind, and, yes, Jay Rosen.
I hope they will, one day, remember, with reverent fondness, people who have continued to tell the truth to the American people, even when it was not popular and to do so may have, even, been dangerous to them, personally, in some way.
I will be the first to admit that we, at the Lantern, can have our problems with cynicism. We call it the big "C." Mainly, we call it that because there was a time when people referred to cancer like that, by its single initial. Cynicism is every bit as malignant to the human spirit as cancer is to the human body.
We all have flare-ups very once in a while, but can ill-afford to allow it to go on long, before we take our medication. One of those medications, for me, is reminding myself that we do have heros, even now, in this time of darkness.
They have been with us, almost, from the beginning of this illegitimate, corrupt, murderous administration, and they have grown in number over the years.
It is not the job, IMHO, of the press, to speak truth to elected power. It is the job of the press to speak truth to the people, who may or may not have elected the power. It is the job of the press to confront un-truth everytime it is uttered by an elected official. (Do your damn homework, before you question an elected, or appointed and approved-by-the-senate official.)
These people are our employess and if they are spouting carefully crafted talking points, truthiness; the press should challenge them on it. Pin them down, when they are talking about matters of state; serious matters which mean life or death, living in dignity or poverty, health or illness.
Thank all goodness that there are still public servants and press members, who do all in their power to make the electorate aware of real danger from within, as well as from without.
Thank You, Jay Rosen, for the best Chrsitmas present I received this year; a simple reminder.
The Blog Jay Rosen: The Retreat from Empiricism and Ron Suskind's Intellectual Scoop The Huffington Post:
The only piece of political journalism ever to make me cry was Ron Suskind's article, Without a Doubt, published in the New York Times Magazine shortly before the 2004 election. It was in that article that the famous passage appeared quoting a senior administration official on the myopia of the 'reality-based community' when it came to understanding the government of George W. Bush.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about that article because the 'realist' school in foreign policy is thought to be back in charge. The release of the Iraq Study Group's report on December 6th and the re-emergence of James Baker, famous for being pragmatist, a realist, and a fixer, were the triggers for this observation. The Guardian's report was typical: 'This is a return to the realist policy of Mr. Bush's father.'
Dan Froomkin said the report and reactions to it 'marked a restoration of reality in Washington.
: DeLay bound for D.C. to lobby for conservatives, but some say no thanks
It must be really awful to have, even, other crooks, not want to be seen with you. Couldn't happen to a more deserving jackass.
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Robert Novak :: DeLay bound for D.C. to lobby for conservatives, but some say no thanks:
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is about to return to the Washington political scene as a high-profile operative for the American Conservative Union if his negotiations with group Chairman David Keene are successfully completed.
DeLay, who has moved his residence from Texas to Washington's Virginia suburbs, would serve as a high-profile strategist and lobbyist for the group to promote conservative causes.
Although DeLay is highly regarded among conservatives in the face of his prosecution by a
Democratic district attorney in Austin, such support is not universal. At least two of the group's board members have threatened to resign if the deal with DeLay is consummated.
Bush plan will send children to war
No, not 18 year old kids. We are talking Jr. High Grads....
How many of these boy and girl warriors do you think will come from the upper socio-economic strarta?
This is worse that Vietnam, when there actually was a draft!
So far they have lowered the standards just about as low as they can get, without emptying the prisons and insane asylums. They are talking drud addicts, gang members and all kinds of militia type hate groups.
(remind me again, why we want our troops home?)
No, seriously, American tax dollars are going to train gang members and militia members to fight serious, urban warfare.
Now, Bush is planning a call up that will include, what...13 year olds, 14 year olds?
Is it time, yet? You know, the men in the little white coats?
Actually, this makes sense in a horrible twisted sort of way. If this war is going to rage on for 50 years, why not train soldiers at very young ages? Maybe you can even train them to be as vicious, heartless and cold-blooded as other child soldiers, in other armies. Natural born killers. eh?
Expanding the military, without a draft - Los Angeles Times:
WASHINGTON — President Bush's call to build up the size of the Army and Marine Corps confronts the U.S. military with a sizable and potentially costly challenge, especially given its recent history of war-related recruiting problems. But one solution remains firmly off the table: reinstituting a draft.
Bush last week endorsed proposals to increase the size of the two services. The proposals have wide support, from those who advocate a short-term boost in the number of troops in Iraq as well as those who say a larger overall force will be needed even if troops are moved out of Iraq.
At Axis of Episcopal Split, an Anti-Gay Nigerian
The lead paragraphs say alot about this Bishop of Nigeria.
The rest of the article is telling in other ways. To sum up briefly, he is a literalist, opposed to the ordination of women, has problems with women's political and civil rights as well; basically, he is a religious loon who likes oppressing people and has his eye on the wealth that can be found in America's Episcopal Church.
Ok, for what it's worth, this is what I think about this whole bruhaha.
The congregations who wish to leave the Episcopal Church, of course, must be allowed to do so. However, the Church property should remain with the American Episcopal Church.
Furthermore, Unless we can all just start deciding on our own personal Bishops, no matter where we reside, the congregants should b required to move to Nigeria.
I mean, if I am in the Savannah Diocese, can I just decide that I want to follow the Bishop of the Atlanta Diocese, or the San Francisco Diocese, because I do not agree with the Bishop of my own Diocese? As far as I know, the resounding answer to that would be, no.
If it really was all that important to me, I would have to move to another Diocese or, atleast, attend church in another one.
The new Presiding Bishop of the Church in America is a woman, the first woman ever to hold that post. I hope she is tough enough to do, gently, what must be done and not feel that she must give away the farm, so to speak.
Keep the property and do not recognize the primacy of a foreign Bishop in the American Church. There is an Anglican Church in America. These congregations should join that communion or start their own church, but they may not refer to themseves as belonging to the American Epicscopal Communion, and should not the be granted any of the privileges or property of the Church.
Let the Anglicans figure out the mess for themselves.
At Axis of Episcopal Split, an Anti-Gay Nigerian - New York Times:
ABUJA, Nigeria, Dec. 20 — The way he tells the story, the first and only time Archbishop Peter J. Akinola knowingly shook a gay person’s hand, he sprang backward the moment he realized what he had done.
Archbishop Peter J. Akinola, right, internationally known for his harsh stance against homosexuality, with bishops in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2005. Archbishop Akinola, the conservative leader of Nigeria’s Anglican Church who has emerged at the center of a schism over homosexuality in the global Anglican Communion, re-enacted the scene from behind his desk Tuesday, shaking his head in wonder and horror.
“This man came up to me after a service, in New York I think, and said, ‘Oh, good to see you bishop, this is my partner of many years,’ ” he recalled. “I said, ‘Oh!’ I jumped back.”
Archbishop Akinola, a man whose international reputation has largely been built on his tough stance against homosexuality, has become the spiritual head of 21 conservative churches in the United States. They opted to leave the Episcopal Church over its decision to consecrate an openly gay bishop and allow churches to bless same-sex unions. Among the eight Virginia churches to announce they had joined the archbishop’s fold last week are The Falls Church and Truro Church, two large, historic and wealthy parishes.
The Rumor Mill, in full swing:: Karl Rove Leaving As Soon As January? | The Huffington Post
We will believe this when we see it.
Don't think Junior can function wihtout Karl around. Remember what happened the last time Karl was temporarily indisposed, running in and out of the Grand Jury like his pants were on fire (because they were)?
Junior went off he deep-end into Paranoia Valley and tried to appoint his personal lawyer to the SCOTUS, causing a veritable epidemic of cranial explosions in just about every province of Wingnuttia.
Karl is the real Party-man. Junior will crap all over the GOP if he feels threatened enough. Karl will protect the Party.
The Blog Sean-Paul Kelley: Karl Rove Leaving As Soon As January? The Huffington Post:
Will Karl Rove be replaced by the current US Ambassador to Japan? Informed speculation in Washington last week hinted at the possibility.
Don't think Junior can function wihtout Karl around. Remember what happened the last time Karl was temporarily indisposed, running in and out of the Grand Jury like his pants were on fire (because they were)?
Junior went off he deep-end into Paranoia Valley and tried to appoint his personal lawyer to the SCOTUS, causing a veritable epidemic of cranial explosions in just about every province of Wingnuttia.
Karl is the real Party-man. Junior will crap all over the GOP if he feels threatened enough. Karl will protect the Party.
The Blog Sean-Paul Kelley: Karl Rove Leaving As Soon As January? The Huffington Post:
Will Karl Rove be replaced by the current US Ambassador to Japan? Informed speculation in Washington last week hinted at the possibility.
Lynne Cheney longs for a Jutice System that doesn't apply to Republicans
Libby has done good things in his life, therefore, he should not be tried for perjury, and to do so reflects badly on our Justice system. Yep, that's what Maddam Vice had to say.
Hey, Lynne, does that apply to everyone? How about Bill Clinton? He has done good things in his life, too.
As a matter of fact, I would suggest that the vast majority of Americans have done some good in their lives, probably, even you. Should we all be allowed to lie in a court of law, or to the FBI, just because we have done good things in our lives? How many free passes should we get?
I might have missed it, but I have never heard you say that Clinton should not have been impeached over perjury, especially a kind of perjury which is so rountinely committed in this nation's family courts that it is almost never even charged, let alone taken to trial.
Both Clinton and Libby were public servants when they were charged with perjury.
Bill Clinton just happened to be the POTUS, so the charge of perjury, a lie about adultery, led to a constitutional crisis, and so distracted the nation that few Americans even knew who Osama bin Laden was, on the morning of 9.11.01, even though he was a Saudi Gazillionaire who had openly declared war on the U.S.
Libby, on the other hand, lied about a gross abuse of power, perpertrated, at least in part, by your husband; an all out effort to "get" a critic of administration's lies that have led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in a criminal invasion and occupation of another country.
Can you honestly say that you believe that Libby should walk free, while Bill Clinton was impeached for a matter of far less concern to the well-being of this nation?
Think Progress » Lynne Cheney: Putting Scooter Libby On Trial ‘Does Not Reflect Well On Our Judicial System’:
Scooter Libby, the former Chief of Staff for Vice President Cheney, has been charged with “obstruction of justice, lying to the FBI and committing perjury before a grand jury.” His trial is scheduled to start in January. Libby’s lawyers plan 'to call Cheney as a witness.'
Yesterday on Fox News, Lynne Cheney, the wife of the Vice President, described Libby as “a man who spent a great deal of his life as a dedicated public servant who’s done an awful lot of good.” Ms. Cheney said putting Libby on trial “does not reflect well on our judicial system. Watch it ^
Bush is obviously, seriously out-to-lunch, and the NYT outs out this piece of drivel
The only thing this man is trying to save in Iraq is his own ass.
Bush-Watchers Wonder How He Copes With Stress - New York Times:
"WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 — President Bush marched into his year-end news conference last week with the usual zip in his step. As always, he professed little worry about his legacy or the polls. As always, he said the United States would win in Iraq. The nation might despair, but not Mr. Bush; his presidential armor seemed firmly intact.
Bush-Watchers Wonder How He Copes With Stress - New York Times:
"WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 — President Bush marched into his year-end news conference last week with the usual zip in his step. As always, he professed little worry about his legacy or the polls. As always, he said the United States would win in Iraq. The nation might despair, but not Mr. Bush; his presidential armor seemed firmly intact.
Troop 'surge' plan for Iraq meets growing opposition in US
Only 11%, in a new CNN Poll, approve of Bush's new PR stunt.
We doubt seriously that he cares.
Troop 'surge' plan for Iraq meets growing opposition in US - Yahoo! News:
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Opposition to a proposal to send additional American troops to Iraq grew stronger in the United States over the Christmas weekend as President George W. Bush pondered new ways to stabilize the country sinking deeper into sectarian strife.
Bush discussed his options with new Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior security officials at his Camp David retreat in Maryland on Saturday.
And although the White House declined to disclose specifics, top administration officials are reported to be increasingly focusing on a proposal to pour up to 30,000 new troops into Iraq to help the 140,000-strong US force already there quell sectarian violence.
But a troop 'surge' of that magnitude, experts say, will have to be financed through new budget appropriations, which in effect will give the new Democrat-controlled Congress a say in the matter.
The president was expected to ask for these funds early next year as he announces his highly-anticipated new Iraq policy.
Report posits that Chris Matthews has accepted hefty speaking fees from conservative groups
If true, this certainly explains alot!
The Raw Story Report posits that Chris Matthews has accepted hefty speaking fees from conservative groups:
A new report advanced to RAW STORY Thursday suggests that Chris Matthews, the star of the MSNBC's daily talk show Hardball, has accepted hefty speaking fees from an array of conservative trade associations.
Matthews has given speeches to at least ten major conservative trade associations since 2001. The report's author, Dave Johnson, who blogs at Seeing The Forest and is also a fellow at the progressive Commonweal Institute, could find no records indicating that Matthews has spoken before any Democratic-leaning organizations. The report is not a product of the Commonweal Institute.
'Why is Matthews speaking at so many events with Republican-associated trade organizations?' Johnson asks. 'What is NBC policy on speaking engagements and why does NBC keep it hidden? Are these trade associations paying Matthews to purchase influence?'
The Raw Story Report posits that Chris Matthews has accepted hefty speaking fees from conservative groups:
A new report advanced to RAW STORY Thursday suggests that Chris Matthews, the star of the MSNBC's daily talk show Hardball, has accepted hefty speaking fees from an array of conservative trade associations.
Matthews has given speeches to at least ten major conservative trade associations since 2001. The report's author, Dave Johnson, who blogs at Seeing The Forest and is also a fellow at the progressive Commonweal Institute, could find no records indicating that Matthews has spoken before any Democratic-leaning organizations. The report is not a product of the Commonweal Institute.
'Why is Matthews speaking at so many events with Republican-associated trade organizations?' Johnson asks. 'What is NBC policy on speaking engagements and why does NBC keep it hidden? Are these trade associations paying Matthews to purchase influence?'
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Archbishop attacks US, Britain on Iraq | NEWS.com.au
We believe that Rowan Williams is a true Holy Man.
We accept his guidance and his counsel.
Archbishop attacks US, Britain on Iraq NEWS.com.au:
THE spiritual head of the Anglican Church launched an outspoken attack on the British and US governments on Saturday, saying their 'ignorant' policy in Iraq has put Christians in the region at risk.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, said Christians were being attacked and forced to flee the Middle East because their countrymen saw them as supporters of a 'crusading West'.
'This Christmas, pray for the little town of Bethlehem, and spare a thought for those who have been put at risk by our short-sightedness and ignorance,' Williams wrote in an article for The Times newspaper of London.
Williams, who is not shy of controversy, has long been a critic of the Iraq war, saying there was no moral basis for military intervention.
He said the consequences of Anglo-American foreign policy have been the erosion of good relations between the Muslim and Christian communities and made Christians an increasing target for Muslim extremists.
Holy Crap!
12/23/06 "CRG" --- -
Alex Jones was joined on air this week by a leading American professor, practitioner of and expert on international law to discuss his detailed knowledge of the cover up of the 2001 anthrax attacks, which he is adamant were perpetrated by criminal elements of the US government in an attempt to foment a police state by killing off opposition to hardline post 9/11 legislation. Dr Franics A. Boyle literally helped write the law with regards to terrorism, as he was responsible for drafting the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 that was passed unanimously by both Houses of Congress and signed into law by President Bush Snr. Professor Boyle teaches international law at the University of Illinois, Champaign. He holds a Doctor of Law Magna Cum Laude as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science, both from Harvard University. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International (1988-1992), and represented Bosnia- Herzegovina at the World Court. The professor started off by explaining the motivation behind the October 2001 anthrax attacks:
"After the September 11th 2001 Terrorist attacks, the Bush administration tried to ram the USA PATRIOT Act through Congress, that would have, if already had not, set up a police state. And we know for a fact that the PATRIOT Act had already been drafted and was sitting on Ashcroft's desk as of September 10th. Senators Daschle and Leahy were holding it up because they realised what this would lead to, indeed the first draft of the Patriot Act, they would have suspended the writ of habeas corpus. And all of a sudden out of nowhere come these anthrax attacks. And at the time I myself did not know precisely what was going on, either with respect to September 11th or the anthrax attacks, but then the New York Times revealed that the technology behind the letter to Senator Daschle. A trillion spores per gram, special electro-static treatment. This is super-weapons grade Anthrax that even the United States government, in its openly proclaimed programs, and we had one before Nixon, had never developed before.
So it was obvious to me that this was from a US Government lab, there is no where else you could have gotten that." Dr Boyle proceeded to call a very high level official in the FBI who deals with terrorism and counter-terrorism, Spike Bowman, whom he had met at a terrorism conference at the University of Michigan Law School. He told Bowman that the only people that would have the capability to carry out the attacks were people working on US government programs on Anthrax and with access to high level a bio-safety lab. Dr Boyle went through all the names, the contractors and the labs for Anthrax work with the FBI's Bowman. Bowman then informed Dr Boyle that the FBI was working with Fort Detrick on the matter, to which he responded that Fort Detrick could really be the main problem. It was documented at the time that the anthrax strain used was military grade. This was widely reported in 2002 in publications such as the New Scientist. "Soon after I had informed Bowman of this information, the FBI authorised the destruction of the AMES cultural Anthrax database."
The Professor continued. The destruction of the anthrax culture collection at Ames, IA., from which the Ft. Detrick lab got its pathogens, was blatant destruction of evidence as it meant that there was no way of finding out which strain was sent to who to develop the larger breed of anthrax used in the attacks. The trail of genetic evidence would have led directly back to a secret but officially-sponsored US government biowarfare program that was illegal and criminal. "Clearly for the FBI to have authorised this was obstruction of justice, a federal crime.
That collection should have been preserved and protected as evidence. That's the DNA, the fingerprints right there. It later came out of course that this was AMES strain anthrax that was behind the Daschle and Leahy letter." At that point Boyle says it became very clear to him that there was a cover up in operation by the FBI. He points out that later on on reading one of David Ray Griffin's books on the 9/11 attacks, he discovered that Agent Bowman was the same FBI agent who sabotaged the FISA warrant for access to Zacarious Moussaoui's computer, which contained information that could have facilitated the prevention of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Later on Bowman was promoted and given a decoration, presumably because he did such a fine job on Moussaoui's computer and also on the anthrax. So it was to be that the patriot act was rammed through, because the opposition from Leahy and Daschle, whom they had tried to kill, disappeared.
Congress and even the House itself officially shut down for the first time in the history of the Republic. The Senate refused to shut down. Dr Boyle commented that he believes this to be one of the biggest political crimes in the history of America. The professor agreed that actions such as this and legislation such as the Patriot act and the new Military Commissions act are the precursors to a military dictatorship. "And remember that the first draft of the Patriot act that sat on Ashcroft's desk before 9/11, and also remember that Ashcroft was flying around in a private jet because he was told that there was going to be a terrorist attack with airplanes, so all this had been planned.
They were going to move to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, which is all that really separates us from a police state. And that is what they have done now with respect to enemy combatants." With regards to 9/11 itself the professor asserted that it is clear Bush, Rice, Tennet, Ashcroft and other Bush Administration officials all knew a terrorist attack was coming and that the attacks were at the very least allowed to go ahead. "They let it happen because they wanted a war and they wanted a police state, all the elements for a war against Afghanistan were there in place, even the military force in the gulf were there on the scene, there were massive military forces in the gulf, in the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean, in the Arabian Ocean before September 11th poised for an attack, whether it was going to be Afghanistan or Iraq would be decided by Bush and the rest of them."
The professor pointed out that it is now being argued by lawmakers that the 14th amendment does not mean what it has been taken to mean and that under the Military Commissions Act any US citizen can be stripped of their citizenship and thus be labeled an enemy combatant. "So in other words they are taken the position that in some point in time if they want to, they can unilaterally round up United States native born citizens, as they did for Japanese Americans in World War Two, and stick us into concentration camps. That is correct. They haven't actually yet done it but my guess is that the papers have been drawn up... and we know that the FEMA camps are out there.
So it's clear that the Bush people, I guess they are waiting for some other terrorist attack, another anthrax attack, who knows what, and then they will proceed to invoke these emergency orders." Dr Boyle believes that the domestic police state is a seen as a must by the neoconservatives who are pushing for dominance in the middle east in order to quell dissent from an American public who, the informed majority of, clearly will not stand for such aggression in their names. The professor then went on to talk about the sickness of the neoconservative sympathizers who are pushing for the practice of torture to be made legal. Legislators such as John Yu and Professor Goldsmith of Harvard Law School. Dr Boyle believes that there is a move afoot to infiltrate both the legal profession and legal education with opinion and legislature that subverts long established US law. His warning is stark: "The Nazis did the exact same thing too. They had their lawyers infiltrating law schools. Carl Schmidt was the worst and he was the mentor to Leo Strauss, the founder of the neoconservatives.
So the same phenomena that started out in Nazi Germany is happening here and I exaggerate not... we could all be tortured, we could all be treated this way." Dr Boyle stressed that in order to seek justice over the anthrax attacks it is vital to keep the pressure on Senator Leahy who will apparently be becoming the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy will have subpoena power and investigative power, and if anyone would have motivation to try to get to the bottom of the attacks, it would be him. Dr Boyle ended by urging readers and listeners to become informed and spread this information. He also admitted that in the Summer of 2004 he was interrogated by an agent with the CIA/FBI joint terrorism task force. The agent tried to recruit Dr Boyle as an informant to provide the FBI with information on his Arab and Muslim clients. When he refused the FBI placed him on all of the government's terrorism watch lists and he now finds it very difficult to travel in and out of the US.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Information ClearingHouse endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
....and the truth shall set you free.
Alex Jones was joined on air this week by a leading American professor, practitioner of and expert on international law to discuss his detailed knowledge of the cover up of the 2001 anthrax attacks, which he is adamant were perpetrated by criminal elements of the US government in an attempt to foment a police state by killing off opposition to hardline post 9/11 legislation. Dr Franics A. Boyle literally helped write the law with regards to terrorism, as he was responsible for drafting the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 that was passed unanimously by both Houses of Congress and signed into law by President Bush Snr. Professor Boyle teaches international law at the University of Illinois, Champaign. He holds a Doctor of Law Magna Cum Laude as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science, both from Harvard University. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International (1988-1992), and represented Bosnia- Herzegovina at the World Court. The professor started off by explaining the motivation behind the October 2001 anthrax attacks:
"After the September 11th 2001 Terrorist attacks, the Bush administration tried to ram the USA PATRIOT Act through Congress, that would have, if already had not, set up a police state. And we know for a fact that the PATRIOT Act had already been drafted and was sitting on Ashcroft's desk as of September 10th. Senators Daschle and Leahy were holding it up because they realised what this would lead to, indeed the first draft of the Patriot Act, they would have suspended the writ of habeas corpus. And all of a sudden out of nowhere come these anthrax attacks. And at the time I myself did not know precisely what was going on, either with respect to September 11th or the anthrax attacks, but then the New York Times revealed that the technology behind the letter to Senator Daschle. A trillion spores per gram, special electro-static treatment. This is super-weapons grade Anthrax that even the United States government, in its openly proclaimed programs, and we had one before Nixon, had never developed before.
So it was obvious to me that this was from a US Government lab, there is no where else you could have gotten that." Dr Boyle proceeded to call a very high level official in the FBI who deals with terrorism and counter-terrorism, Spike Bowman, whom he had met at a terrorism conference at the University of Michigan Law School. He told Bowman that the only people that would have the capability to carry out the attacks were people working on US government programs on Anthrax and with access to high level a bio-safety lab. Dr Boyle went through all the names, the contractors and the labs for Anthrax work with the FBI's Bowman. Bowman then informed Dr Boyle that the FBI was working with Fort Detrick on the matter, to which he responded that Fort Detrick could really be the main problem. It was documented at the time that the anthrax strain used was military grade. This was widely reported in 2002 in publications such as the New Scientist. "Soon after I had informed Bowman of this information, the FBI authorised the destruction of the AMES cultural Anthrax database."
The Professor continued. The destruction of the anthrax culture collection at Ames, IA., from which the Ft. Detrick lab got its pathogens, was blatant destruction of evidence as it meant that there was no way of finding out which strain was sent to who to develop the larger breed of anthrax used in the attacks. The trail of genetic evidence would have led directly back to a secret but officially-sponsored US government biowarfare program that was illegal and criminal. "Clearly for the FBI to have authorised this was obstruction of justice, a federal crime.
That collection should have been preserved and protected as evidence. That's the DNA, the fingerprints right there. It later came out of course that this was AMES strain anthrax that was behind the Daschle and Leahy letter." At that point Boyle says it became very clear to him that there was a cover up in operation by the FBI. He points out that later on on reading one of David Ray Griffin's books on the 9/11 attacks, he discovered that Agent Bowman was the same FBI agent who sabotaged the FISA warrant for access to Zacarious Moussaoui's computer, which contained information that could have facilitated the prevention of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Later on Bowman was promoted and given a decoration, presumably because he did such a fine job on Moussaoui's computer and also on the anthrax. So it was to be that the patriot act was rammed through, because the opposition from Leahy and Daschle, whom they had tried to kill, disappeared.
Congress and even the House itself officially shut down for the first time in the history of the Republic. The Senate refused to shut down. Dr Boyle commented that he believes this to be one of the biggest political crimes in the history of America. The professor agreed that actions such as this and legislation such as the Patriot act and the new Military Commissions act are the precursors to a military dictatorship. "And remember that the first draft of the Patriot act that sat on Ashcroft's desk before 9/11, and also remember that Ashcroft was flying around in a private jet because he was told that there was going to be a terrorist attack with airplanes, so all this had been planned.
They were going to move to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, which is all that really separates us from a police state. And that is what they have done now with respect to enemy combatants." With regards to 9/11 itself the professor asserted that it is clear Bush, Rice, Tennet, Ashcroft and other Bush Administration officials all knew a terrorist attack was coming and that the attacks were at the very least allowed to go ahead. "They let it happen because they wanted a war and they wanted a police state, all the elements for a war against Afghanistan were there in place, even the military force in the gulf were there on the scene, there were massive military forces in the gulf, in the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean, in the Arabian Ocean before September 11th poised for an attack, whether it was going to be Afghanistan or Iraq would be decided by Bush and the rest of them."
The professor pointed out that it is now being argued by lawmakers that the 14th amendment does not mean what it has been taken to mean and that under the Military Commissions Act any US citizen can be stripped of their citizenship and thus be labeled an enemy combatant. "So in other words they are taken the position that in some point in time if they want to, they can unilaterally round up United States native born citizens, as they did for Japanese Americans in World War Two, and stick us into concentration camps. That is correct. They haven't actually yet done it but my guess is that the papers have been drawn up... and we know that the FEMA camps are out there.
So it's clear that the Bush people, I guess they are waiting for some other terrorist attack, another anthrax attack, who knows what, and then they will proceed to invoke these emergency orders." Dr Boyle believes that the domestic police state is a seen as a must by the neoconservatives who are pushing for dominance in the middle east in order to quell dissent from an American public who, the informed majority of, clearly will not stand for such aggression in their names. The professor then went on to talk about the sickness of the neoconservative sympathizers who are pushing for the practice of torture to be made legal. Legislators such as John Yu and Professor Goldsmith of Harvard Law School. Dr Boyle believes that there is a move afoot to infiltrate both the legal profession and legal education with opinion and legislature that subverts long established US law. His warning is stark: "The Nazis did the exact same thing too. They had their lawyers infiltrating law schools. Carl Schmidt was the worst and he was the mentor to Leo Strauss, the founder of the neoconservatives.
So the same phenomena that started out in Nazi Germany is happening here and I exaggerate not... we could all be tortured, we could all be treated this way." Dr Boyle stressed that in order to seek justice over the anthrax attacks it is vital to keep the pressure on Senator Leahy who will apparently be becoming the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy will have subpoena power and investigative power, and if anyone would have motivation to try to get to the bottom of the attacks, it would be him. Dr Boyle ended by urging readers and listeners to become informed and spread this information. He also admitted that in the Summer of 2004 he was interrogated by an agent with the CIA/FBI joint terrorism task force. The agent tried to recruit Dr Boyle as an informant to provide the FBI with information on his Arab and Muslim clients. When he refused the FBI placed him on all of the government's terrorism watch lists and he now finds it very difficult to travel in and out of the US.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Information ClearingHouse endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
....and the truth shall set you free.
Just as a reminder
Most of us, here at the Lantern, do have some kind of obligations Christmas Eve through Christmas day, so blogging will be light if at all.
Whatever your plans, may you have a peaceful and loving holiday.
Make the most of it.
We have much work to do in the New year.
Whatever your plans, may you have a peaceful and loving holiday.
Make the most of it.
We have much work to do in the New year.
The Projection Preznit, Chapter 278
A must read.
Remember when Bush was busy slamming Clinton.....?
By Ivo Daalder bio
I was talking to a reporter the other day, arguing that while Bush inherited a lot of problems from Clinton, in each instance he had done everything possible to make things worse. The reporter told me take a look at the 2000 GOP foreign policy platform, and reread the litany of indictments Bush & Co. had issued with respect to ClintonÂ’s foreign policy.
So I did. Sure makes for interesting reading.
Some of my favorites:
The administration has run AmericaÂ’s defenses down over the decade through inadequate resources, promiscuous commitments, and the absence of a forward-looking military strategy.[As opposed to breaking the Army and Marine Corp, sending troops to war without adequate body armor and equipment, and only deciding to increase force levels five years into a global conflict.]
The arrogance, inconsistency, and unreliability of the administrationÂ’s diplomacy have undermined American alliances, alienated friends, and emboldened our adversaries. [My all-time favorite!]World trade talks in Seattle that the current administration had sponsored collapsed in spectacular failure. [Doha anyone?]
An initiative to establish free trade throughout the Americas has stalled because of this lack of Presidential leadership. [Ah, yes. Bush’s leadership on this issue really has made a difference — 6 years later and we’re not a step closer to a deal.]
The problems of Mexico have been ignored, as our indispensable neighbor to the south struggled with too little American help to deal with its formidable challenges. [Think the Mexicans feel theyÂ’ve gotten any help from Bush lately? After declaring the relationship with Mexico AmericaÂ’s most important on September 9, 2001, Bush has ignored our southern neighbors ever since.]
The tide of democracy in Latin America has begun to ebb with a sharp rise in corruption and narco-trafficking. [And since then, only AmericaÂ’s friends in Latin America have won electionsÂ… Not!]
With weak and wavering policies toward Russia, the administration has diverted its gaze from corruption at the top of the Russian government, the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians in Chechnya, and the export of dangerous Russian technologies to Iran and elsewhere. [The biggest mistake wasnÂ’t seeing PutinÂ’s soulÂ…]
A generation of American efforts to slow proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has unraveled as first India and Pakistan set off their nuclear bombs, then Iraq defied the international community. Token air strikes against Iraq could not long mask the collapse of an inspection regime that had — until then — at least kept an ambitious, murderous tyrant from acquiring additional nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. [North Korea? Iran? Oh, and what do we do when inspectors in Iraq return?]
Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin within each individual heart.
....and the truth shall set you free.
Remember when Bush was busy slamming Clinton.....?
By Ivo Daalder bio
I was talking to a reporter the other day, arguing that while Bush inherited a lot of problems from Clinton, in each instance he had done everything possible to make things worse. The reporter told me take a look at the 2000 GOP foreign policy platform, and reread the litany of indictments Bush & Co. had issued with respect to ClintonÂ’s foreign policy.
So I did. Sure makes for interesting reading.
Some of my favorites:
The administration has run AmericaÂ’s defenses down over the decade through inadequate resources, promiscuous commitments, and the absence of a forward-looking military strategy.[As opposed to breaking the Army and Marine Corp, sending troops to war without adequate body armor and equipment, and only deciding to increase force levels five years into a global conflict.]
The arrogance, inconsistency, and unreliability of the administrationÂ’s diplomacy have undermined American alliances, alienated friends, and emboldened our adversaries. [My all-time favorite!]World trade talks in Seattle that the current administration had sponsored collapsed in spectacular failure. [Doha anyone?]
An initiative to establish free trade throughout the Americas has stalled because of this lack of Presidential leadership. [Ah, yes. Bush’s leadership on this issue really has made a difference — 6 years later and we’re not a step closer to a deal.]
The problems of Mexico have been ignored, as our indispensable neighbor to the south struggled with too little American help to deal with its formidable challenges. [Think the Mexicans feel theyÂ’ve gotten any help from Bush lately? After declaring the relationship with Mexico AmericaÂ’s most important on September 9, 2001, Bush has ignored our southern neighbors ever since.]
The tide of democracy in Latin America has begun to ebb with a sharp rise in corruption and narco-trafficking. [And since then, only AmericaÂ’s friends in Latin America have won electionsÂ… Not!]
With weak and wavering policies toward Russia, the administration has diverted its gaze from corruption at the top of the Russian government, the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians in Chechnya, and the export of dangerous Russian technologies to Iran and elsewhere. [The biggest mistake wasnÂ’t seeing PutinÂ’s soulÂ…]
A generation of American efforts to slow proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has unraveled as first India and Pakistan set off their nuclear bombs, then Iraq defied the international community. Token air strikes against Iraq could not long mask the collapse of an inspection regime that had — until then — at least kept an ambitious, murderous tyrant from acquiring additional nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. [North Korea? Iran? Oh, and what do we do when inspectors in Iraq return?]
Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin within each individual heart.
....and the truth shall set you free.
Robert Fisk: Alice in Wonderland; America
Good read:
Independent Online Edition > Robert Fisk:
Here in America, I stare at the land in which I live and see a landscape I do not recognise.
I call it the Alice in Wonderland effect. Each time I tour the United States, I stare through the looking glass at the faraway region in which I live and work for The Independent - the Middle East - and see a landscape which I do no recognise, a distant tragedy turned, here in America, into a farce of hypocrisy and banality and barefaced lies. Am I the Cheshire Cat? Or the Mad Hatter?
I picked up Jimmy Carter's new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid at San Francisco airport, and zipped through it in a day. It's a good, strong read by the only American president approaching sainthood. Carter lists the outrageous treatment meted out to the Palestinians, the Israeli occupation, the dispossession of Palestinian land by Israel, the brutality visited upon this denuded, subject population, and what he calls 'a system of apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and suppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights'.
Independent Online Edition > Robert Fisk:
Here in America, I stare at the land in which I live and see a landscape I do not recognise.
I call it the Alice in Wonderland effect. Each time I tour the United States, I stare through the looking glass at the faraway region in which I live and work for The Independent - the Middle East - and see a landscape which I do no recognise, a distant tragedy turned, here in America, into a farce of hypocrisy and banality and barefaced lies. Am I the Cheshire Cat? Or the Mad Hatter?
I picked up Jimmy Carter's new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid at San Francisco airport, and zipped through it in a day. It's a good, strong read by the only American president approaching sainthood. Carter lists the outrageous treatment meted out to the Palestinians, the Israeli occupation, the dispossession of Palestinian land by Israel, the brutality visited upon this denuded, subject population, and what he calls 'a system of apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and suppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights'.
"'The Decider' Fooling Himself Again, Fires Disagreeing Generals"
What a total jackass!
The Progressive Daily Beacon: "'The Decider' Fooling Himself Again, Fires Disagreeing Generals":
George W. Bush knows how to get Generals to concur with his disastrous plans: he fires all that disagree and promotes the numbskulls who agree. When Bush wanted to invade Iraq, General Shinseki warned that it would require a few hundred thousand troops ... not to win the war, but rather to secure the peace. Bush and his people -- Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz chief among them -- disagreed. They fired Shinseki and, of course, we all know now that the General knew exactly what he was talking about and that the President and his people were fools.
After learning a hard lesson like that, one might think the President would have taken his own advice and followed that old saying in Tennessee; the one he knew to be 'in Texas, probably in Tennessee....fool me once, shame on, shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again.'
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