Thanks, Michael.

Just a note, Dems.

REMEMBER, the trash will all be gone come Monday morning bright and early. So to pay any attention to them is futile. IGNORE. They are not bright enough to bother with anyways.

Remember only 28% are like this, so pity them.

I watched a "speech" by this Tim Griffin character this morning on c-span and man what a performance he put on. This idiot kept crying and sniffling about how unfairly he has been treated. It was totally mind numbing trying to follow his speech. This fool has apparently been trying to get the job as a Attorney General since the beginning of the bush Mis-Administration and when they finally and illegally gave him the position of course this incompetant idiot gets forced out. He also said that the "caging" issue is not only false but made up by liberal blogs and activists who only want to cause trouble and embarrassment to public officials. Griffin is just another partisan bush republican who gets promoted because of loyality to bush not because they are qualified much less competant....it's pitiful.

After the Democratic candidate is announced, the Party needs to do everything it can to list the legislation that the Democratic Congress tried to pass that was defeated by not having enough votes thanks to the Republicans and those fake Dems. It will show the American people that the Democratic Congress is doing something to address the needs of the American people while the others are against them.
- student loans
- increase in Pell Grants
- energy conservation for independence
- stopping the war systematically

There are so many other issues. Show the American people that the Republicans have their hands in the pockets of these big businesses and corporations as they form these dictarial partnerships to hold the American people hostage with highly inflated prices for their goods and services. Enough is enough.

lets see that score is now evolution 46,998...creationism 0....

long piece on the laws around the teaching of creationism in public schools but quite interesting:

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
The Darwin Debate
20 Years after a Landmark Supreme Court Decision, Americans Are Still Fighting About Evolution

by David Masci, Senior Research Fellow, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
June 13, 2007

Twenty years ago, on June 19, 1987, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that dramatically reshaped the debate over teaching evolution in public schools. In Edwards v. Aguillard, the high court struck down a Louisiana law requiring that schools teach creation science whenever students learn about evolution. The court ruled that the law's purpose was to promote religion and thus that it violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. In issuing its ruling in Edwards, the court effectively closed the door on efforts to teach the biblical creation story in public school science classes. (For a fuller explanation of Edwards and related cases, see the Pew Forum's legal backgrounder From Darwin to Dover.)

Even though Edwards ended efforts to teach creation science in public schools, it has not stifled the debate over how students should learn about the origins and development of life. One major reason the debate continues is public sentiment. Indeed, even though acceptance of evolutionary theory is nearly unanimous in the scientific community, polls have consistently shown that many Americans are skeptical of Darwin's theory.

For instance, a July 2006 survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that 26% of Americans said that humans and other living things evolved through natural selection, while 21% said that humans and other living things had evolved over time but under the guidance of a supreme being. More than four-in-ten (42%) said that humans and other living things have always existed in their present form only. Finally, the same survey found that 58% of Americans favored teaching creationism along with evolution in public schools.

Instead of trying to introduce creationism or creation science into science curricula -- which Edwards made unconstitutional -- many evolution opponents now promote the teaching of criticisms of or alternatives to Darwin. That is not to say that creation science is dead. Just last month, a new, $27-million Creation Museum opened in Petersburg, Ky. But since Edwards, leadership in the fight against teaching evolution in schools has shifted and now comes primarily from other quarters, particularly from advocates of a concept known as intelligent design.

Intelligent design posits that life is far too complex to have developed entirely through undirected, natural processes. Intelligent design supporters argue that God or some intelligent agent or designer had to have intervened -- an idea, they say, which is increasingly supported by new scientific evidence. While the intelligent design movement counts a small number of scientists in its camp, the vast majority of the scientific community rejects the concept, arguing that it is essentially creationism dressed up in scientific language.

The intelligent design movement began in the late 1980s and early 1990s -- soon after the Edwards decision -- and has since grown. Intelligent design proponents generally do not argue that students should stop learning about evolution. Instead, they say, schools should "teach the controversy," presenting the arguments for and against Darwin's theory.

In the last decade, dozens of state legislatures and school boards around the country have debated proposals to teach criticisms of evolution. On a number of occasions these proposals have, at least temporarily, won approval. For instance, the Kansas Board of Education has twice rewritten high school science standards in the last decade to cast doubt on evolution. In each case, the original standards were restored after a subsequent election cost religious conservatives their majority on the school board. Similarly, the Ohio Board of Education voted in 2004 to alter its science standards to allow the teaching of criticisms of evolution, including intelligent design, only to reverse course less than two years later.

A number of school districts, in states such as Georgia and Louisiana, have placed stickers on biology textbooks informing their students that evolution is "a theory," which, in the words of one of these disclaimers, "should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered." In each case, lawsuits were filed and the stickers ultimately were removed.

One school board, in Dover, Pa., voted in 2004 to include brief instruction on intelligent design in the town's high school science curriculum. In Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (2005), a federal district court struck down the new instruction, ruling -- as the Supreme Court did in Edwards -- that its purpose was to promote religion rather than to improve science instruction.

Even though the Dover decision was issued by a lower court, it has had a significant impact on the evolution debate. The ruling prompted Ohio's board of education in February 2006 to strip away the science standards challenging evolution that it had enacted just two years earlier. In addition, in the 18 months following Dover, the number of anti-evolution proposals in state legislatures and school boards decreased significantly.

As with Edwards 20 years ago, the Dover decision is unlikely to close the door on the debate. For many Americans, particularly religious Christians, Darwin's theory goes against long-held, core beliefs about biblical truth. Opposition to teaching evolution may evolve to accommodate jurisprudence, but it will retain a place in the American cultural and political landscape for the foreseeable future

trent lott is complaining about talk radio's right wing nuts jamming up bush's immigration bill. this is great stuff! cheney and bush have pretty much become regulars on rush's show...cheney tried to save the congress for republicans in 06 by kissing the anal cystic ass but of course we all know how that worked out...hahahahaha...hey here is an idea how about trent calls for legislation to bring back the fairness in broadcasting laws? the democrats would be glad to support him!

Good morning Democrats. As I remember Tim Griffin was one of the goons the Republicans sent to Florida during the 2000 recount fiasco to stampeed the office where the votes were being counted. That says enough to run him off. That was a criminal act and should have been dealt with with force.

Good morning, all.

Posted by wldj on June 16, 2007 at 08:29 AM

wldj,

I'm with you. Let's get our agenda out there as House bills that TEN Republican Senators (and Liebemann when he's feeling "Spunky") will vote down in the Senate.

I want something passed in the House about single payer health care, alternative fuels, a "real" tax cut for the 98% coming out of the hide of the 2%, a swipe at those that hire illegals, a roll call "no confidence" vote on NAFTA and CFTA, a tuition/student loan reimbursement program, and a anti-terrorism bill that actually protects key targets.

I'd also like to see Bush humiliated on "his" immigration bill. Until he agrees to a timetable for redeployment in Iraq, he should be told flatly that his "illegal hiring" bill will not be discussed in the House again before he leaves office.

Let's use the House as a club to knock off the incumbent Congressional Republicans. They have been Bush's rubberstamp during his reign of incompetence and corruption, and we would be fools not to make sure the American public are not reminded of it as many times as we can in the next year.

Let's show voters what we want to do and let them show the Republicans in 2008 that we are now the mainstream in this country.

Posted by GasCapOff on June 16, 2007 at 09:25 AM

GasCapOff,

We apparetly think the same. I shouldn't have stopped reading before I got to your post. You said it even better.

Pam,

It sounds like all these Bush appointee castoffs have perfected the Lieberman whine.

If they want absolution for their sins while still on this earth, they better become Catholics...only a priest could forgive their special GOP brand of insolence. But I doubt they would bother to do the penance, so it wouldn't count.

salute, that is excellent news! my congressman, the evil sweeney, was another goon who bum rushed the recount in florida with that asshole ted olsen ( of recent..." sure wolfie you can pad your girlfriends pay according to our law firms reading of the world bank regs but don't tell anyone we told you so cause...") and i worked really hard along with alot of other folks to take him down last november in a supposedly " secure " republican congressional seat and our candidate gillibrand beat him going away!

so if tim was part of that collection of shit heads who got us to where we are today ( that being totally fu_ _ed i am glad to see him go up in smoke....

As I recall, didn't Hamas win the last election?

Abbas aides: U.S. pledges end to embargo

By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The United States strengthened its offer of support for President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, telling him an international aid embargo against the Palestinians would end as soon as he forms a new government without Hamas, aides to Abbas said. There was no immediate U.S. confirmation.

Hundreds of Fatah gunmen stormed Hamas-controlled institutions across the West Bank, seeking revenge for the Islamic group's takeover of the
Gaza Strip.

In Gaza, the deposed prime minister appointed a new security command to solidify control. Despite Hamas pledges to restore calm, looters attacked several prominent Fatah symbols, including the home of longtime Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-controlled West Bank have effectively become separate political entities, endangering the Palestinian dream of forming an independent state in the two territories.

In the West Bank, Abbas' newly appointed Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, moved forward with plans to form an emergency government. Officials close to Abbas said the government would also include members from Gaza, underscoring Abbas' claim to lead all Palestinians. Hamas, which now claims its own government in Gaza, called the move illegal...

//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070616/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

So the Rove/Cheney Middle Eastern policy of divide and conquer is playing out in Palestine, too. They've destroyed stability in Iraq, Lebanon, and now Israel's closest and most angry/dangerous neighbor.

Every time you see international aid being used as a gambit by the West, al Queada wins more recruits and grows stronger. Allowing Bush to create new Dafurs is not going to do anything but stir the pot.

And when Bin Lauden or his successor finally gets an atomic bomb, he will remember who was behind the suffering of all those Muslim refugees. Dead Eye forgets that anyone will be able to pinpoint the coordinates of the Bush crime family compound in Paraguay with Google technology. There will be no rest for the wicked after they leave office.

I wonder what is the fascination for these dysfunctional neocons. Do they just get a rush from making others suffer or do they think performing like a bully makes them look less pathetic than the incompetents we all know they are?

Iraq Contractors Face Growing Parallel War
As Security Work Increases, So Do Casualties

By Steve Fainaru
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, June 16, 2007

BAGHDAD -- Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and company representatives.

While the military has built up troops in an ongoing campaign to secure Baghdad, the security companies, out of public view, have been engaged in a parallel surge, boosting manpower, adding expensive armor and stepping up evasive action as attacks increase, the officials and company representatives said. One in seven supply convoys protected by private forces has come under attack this year, according to previously unreleased statistics; one security company reported nearly 300 "hostile actions" in the first four months...

//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502602.html?hpid=topnews

How come "our military forces" don't get the same equipment?

Like voter suppression, I think this "parallel" privatized mercenary force needs some major publicity during next year's campaign. Most voters will be appalled when they find out what's been going on.

FEMA may have authorized flood insurance overbilling
Posted by Money section June 14, 2007 8:49PMBy Rebecca Mowbray
Business writer

The private insurance industry's alleged practice of overbilling the National Flood Insurance Program for Hurricane Katrina damage has Congress clamoring for answers and a federal judge calling for the Justice Department's intervention.

But there's one problem with the calls to action.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency may have told the insurance industry that it was OK to load up damages on the taxpayer-funded flood program while shorting people on their wind damage payments.

In the now controversial Sept. 21, 2005 memo explaining the expedited flood adjustment procedures that were developed in consultation with private insurance companies, flood program director David Maurstad said:

"FEMA will not seek reimbursement from the company when a subsequent review identifies overpayments resulting from the company's proper use of FEMA depth data and a reasonable method of developing square foot value in concluding claims."

Not "if" a subsequent review identifies overpayments, but "when" a subsequent review identifies overpayments.

FEMA, which houses the flood program, says that the sentence is fairly routine and means that as long as companies follow the rules, the agency won't go after them if a reinspection later finds a difference of, say, $5,000.

"It is easy to question the subtleties of wording two years later," said Butch Kinerney, a spokesman for FEMA. "What was much more difficult was to -- in the maelstrom that followed Hurricane Katrina -- determine the best way to expedite claims processing and get our policyholders back on the path to recovery while still being good stewards of the flood insurance program. There is a balance to be struck between helping people recover and wordsmithing. All of the partners in the NFIP took the best interests of disaster victims to heart in the days immediately following the storm while balancing our appropriate oversight roles."

Others have a different take on the meaning of the sentence.

"That's a blank check, isn't it?" said Bob Hunter, who directs the insurance program at the Consumer Federation of America and held Maurstad's job back in the 1970s. "Even if you want to err on the side of helping people, you shouldn't be lenient to a point of having no recourse. You don't say, 'We'll never go after the money if you abuse case after case.'¤"

"I don't think a bureaucrat has the authority to give away the legal rights of the U.S. government," Hunter added...

//blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/06/fema_may_have_authorized_flood.html

(Bold mine)

Fat chance of this Bush DOJ of looking into its own corruption and collusion with the insurance companies.

How much of those $5,000 overpayments ended up in the pockets of Republian politicians and campaign contributors? I wondered why Trent Lott had quit complaining about restitution for his hurricane damage. Maybe he made money off the tragedy somehow?

War profiteering and now hurricane profiteering?

I like this BuzzFlash blogger's take on this new Katrina FEMA outrage/scandal...

Every time I think I've seen/heard everything, something totally new and unbelievable comes up.

As a young woman, I lived under a commie regime. I thought that their government was corrupt to the core. Now I see, in comparison with what we have in this country, the government in the country of my past was close to sainthood.

This government is so full of greedy thieves, corrupt rotten to the core malefactors and liars, that I think we should really abolish them, remove from power EVERYBODY they ever installed, tar them and feather, and START FROM SCRATCH.

written by Malgoska

During his press briefing yesterday, White House spokesman Tony Snow said the increasing chaos was a positive sign. The new levels of attacks “fit a pattern that we see throughout the region,” he said, “which is that when you see things moving towards success, or when you see signs of success, that there are acts of violence.” Watch it:

Also yesterday, Snow sharply downplayed the importance of the September Iraq report from top U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus. Just last month, President Bush said September would be an “important moment” in the war because “Petraeus says that’s when he’ll have a pretty good assessment as to what the effects of the surge has been.”

Yesterday, Snow described Petraeus’ report as merely a “first opportunity” to “have a little bit of a metric” to “see what happens when you have all the forces in place for the Baghdad security plan.”

This is Bush/HughesSpeak at its finest. Violence is a sign of progress. Progress is being made around the region even as governments fail. Reports are just first steps not a reporting of facts on the ground that need to be faced.

The Republicans live in their own world of incompetence and failure and expect the rest of us to go along with it for another four years?

bbl.

Mail sent to Walter Reed never delivered

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer Sat Jun 16,

WASHINGTON - Turns out the trouble at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the focus of a firestorm of criticism over poor treatment of wounded war veterans, reached into the mailroom.

The Army said Friday that it has opened an investigation into the recent discovery of 4,500 letters and parcels — some dating to May 2006 — at Walter Reed that were never delivered to soldiers.

And it fired the contract employee who ran the mailroom...

//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070616/ap_on_re_us/army_botched_mail

Oh, yes. Privatization saves money and increases productivity. Republicans know how to run a war... and the mail service...about as well as most of them run their marriages.

later.

Dead Eye forgets that anyone will be able to pinpoint the coordinates of the Bush crime family compound in Paraguay with Google technology. There will be no rest for the wicked after they leave office.

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 10:25 AM

Morning Sandy,

I never thought of that. bush's buddy bin laden could target bush's palace in Paraguay. I love it. I wonder where shooter is going to hide out. Will he stay in the bunker or build his own in Wyoming? Wyoming won't be much of a loss.

If bin laden targets bush and cheney, he may leave us alone.

Awhile back we heard that bush is beefing up the Secret Service for he and shooter when they leave office. I think it waa something like 500 agents. Now it all makes sense. They will most likely be attached to that military base next to bush's compound in Paraguay.

gregg on June 16, 2007 at 09:29 AM

I here they're talking about changing the name of Limbaugh's show to: "Dick and Georgie Walker". They'll have Rush directed the orchestra and holding the emoticon cards. Should be a laugh a minute.

davidual on June 16, 2007 at 11:52 A

If I could spell: here = hear, directed = directing

Okay: bbl

From correspondents in Gaza
June 16, 2007 11:35pm

IN their first order since seizing control of the Gaza Strip, Hamas Islamists banned gunmen from wearing masks - unless they are shooting at Israel.

The masks have become commonplace in the Gaza Strip during weeks of factional fighting between the ruling Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction.

Both sides wore the masks to hide their identities.

“A decision was taken last night to prevent (people from wearing) masks,” Khaled Abu Hilal, a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, said.

Hamas made one exception, for militants carrying out cross-border attacks on Israel.

“Wearing masks should only be near the borders and in fighting the Zionist enemy, not in the streets and near people's homes,” Abu Hilal said.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21919451-5005961,00.html

Oh, how decent and noble of these murderous band of hooligans not to wear their masks to frighten the locals. You have got to be kidding me! This is a golden opportunity for Hamas to be pushed back into Iran, Syria and/or Lebanon.

God save me for saying this but, I think the President is correct for restoring aid to the new Abbas government. Hopefully PM's Abbas and/or Olmert along with our State Department can engineer a plan to, preferably peacefully, eradicate the terrorist group known as Hamas once and for all. I will not be holding my breath, though.

Oh great, two trolls for the price of one. Aren't their some old ladies to rob or innocent people to be shipped off to concentration camps for you two to do?

Psst, hey look, there are more Mexicans trying to cross the border that the Republicans failed to secure after 11SEP01. Shouldn't y'all go help?

Posted by burd_man on June 16, 2007 at 01:18 PM

No pigeons here, sport. Perhaps a few lame ducks, though...

Posted by burd_man on June 16, 2007 at 01:26 PM

I think you're mistaken. We got rid of Sen. George Allen in the last election. Sen. James Webb (D-VA) took his place.

VA Bob, Don't even bother. We have one guy here who gave UP this country and lives and works in another,doesn't buy American, can't vote here, nothing, but thinks he can still make comments about those of us who pay for and own it. The other one is a little old man who lurks until one of his buddies comes in, and then gets all puffed up with bravery and comes blubbering in.

Not worth the sweat off your brow, any of them.

Ignore their presence. Monday morning, it will be like they never existed!

Posted by burd_man on June 16, 2007 at 01:23 PM

Oh, come now. It'll take the Chinese at least thirty years before they are in a position to take us over no matter how much the GOP wants to bankroll them with GOP trade policies.

Good afternoon all.

Impeach Chimpy and Shotgun.

Flip Side of the Dream
By Bob Herbert
The New York Times

Saturday 16 June 2007

Camden, New Jersey - Emmanuel Wayne pressed his back against the shabby, one-story building, trying unsuccessfully to escape the downpour. The blue-and-white sign overhead said Bill's Liquors.

I was standing there with him. The water pouring down the teenager's face created a funhouse mirror effect, making it look like he was laughing and crying at the same time. It was an absurd place to conduct an interview, but a lot of things about the inner-city are absurd.

"I been looking for a job," he said, "but you know...." He shrugged. "I went to the McDonald's. I was up to the Cherry Hill Mall. Ain't too much out here."

It was a gloomy late afternoon. Throughout the rundown neighborhood, young people were gathered in clusters on porches, looking out at the rain. I talked to some and they told the same story as Emmanuel. No jobs. No money.

"That's why people go on the hustle," said one young man. "Got to get the money somewhere."

The summer job outlook for teenagers is beyond bleak. A modest 157,000 jobs were added to the nation's payrolls in May. But teen employment fell for the fifth consecutive month, an ominous trend as we head into the summer months when millions of additional teenagers join in the hunt for jobs.

From January through May, according to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, "the national teen employment rate averaged only 33.1 percent, tying for the lowest employment rate in the past 60 years."

For youngsters like Emmanuel Wayne and others in this distressed city just a stone's throw from Philadelphia, the problem is much worse. Last summer, the employment rate for black teens from low-income families was an abysmal 18 percent.

This is the flip side of the American dream. Kids who grow up poor and never work at a regular job tend not to think in terms of postgraduate degrees, marriages and honeymoons, careers and the cost of educating the next generation.

A steady job could make all the difference. Along with the paycheck comes a sense of the possibilities. Kids develop a clearer understanding of the value of education and are more likely to stay in school. The heightened sense of self-worth that comes from gainful employment can be a bulwark against negative peer pressure. Contacts are made and a work history established.

"The more you work today, the more you're going to work tomorrow," said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies. "And the more you work while you're in school, the easier it is to transition to the labor market when you graduate."

It seems obvious that we should be putting as many young people to work as possible, but the opposite is happening. The youth labor market in the U.S. has all but collapsed. Teens were especially hard hit by the recession that followed the employment boom of the late 1990s, and there has been no substantial recovery in the teen job market since then.

Years ago the federal government played a major role in bolstering job opportunities for teenagers. There was substantial bipartisan support for both year-round and summer employment programs. But that important commitment vanished with the conservative onslaught of recent years.

The result was inevitable. As the center has reported, "Far fewer youth across the nation are gaining exposure to the job market and to the real world of work than in the late 1980s and 1990s."

What you are left with are frustrated youngsters, full of energy but lacking appropriate outlets, who have trouble figuring out what to do with themselves. It's an environment that is all but guaranteed to spawn bad choices.

I asked Emmanuel what he might do if he couldn't find a job for the summer.

"Don't know," he said. "I got a buddy doing this and that. He could help me out."

The rain had eased up and Emmanuel was off. A man named Darnell, who said he was 23, came out of the liquor store. He and I talked for awhile about the summer prospects for teens in the neighborhood.

"Well, there ain't no jobs in Camden," he said. "Not for teenagers. If you can't get a job, you have to hustle. People be pushing weed. Cutting hair. Lifting stuff. The girls do their thing. It ain't no picnic out here. It's depressing."

Chimpy is the lamest of lame ducks ever. He should hope that he gets impeached. It's going to get real miserable for him and the shotgun before this is all done.

Pace Says He Refused to Quit Voluntarily
By Robert Burns
The Associated Press

Friday 15 June 2007

Washington - In his first public comments on the Bush administration's surprise decision to replace him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace disclosed that he had turned down an offer to voluntarily retire rather than be forced out.

To quit in wartime, he said, would be letting down the troops.

Pace, responding to a question from the audience after he spoke at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., on Thursday evening, said he first heard that his expected nomination for a second two-year term was in jeopardy in mid-May. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on June 8 announced Pace was being replaced.

"One thing that was discussed was whether or not I should just voluntarily retire and take the issue off the table," Pace said, according to a transcript released Friday by his office at the Pentagon.

"I said I could not do that for one very fundamental reason," which is that no soldier or Marine in Iraq should "think - ever - that his chairman, whoever that person is, could have stayed in the battle and voluntarily walked off the battlefield.

"That is unacceptable as a leadership thing, in my mind," he added.

Pace, whose current term ends Oct. 1, said he intended to remain on the job until then. Navy Adm. Michael Mullen has been announced as President Bush's choice to succeed Pace, who is the first Marine ever to hold the military's top post.

The decision to drop Pace has fed the political debate in Washington over the Iraq war. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid caused a stir when he said Pace had failed in his job of providing Congress a candid assessment on the war. Democrats typically have shied from stinging comments about military officers, instead focusing criticism on Bush and administration policies in Iraq.

Asked for comment on Reid's statement, a spokeswoman for Pace, Marine Col. Katie Haddock, said Pace "is focused on his duties as chairman and is not going to respond to press reports on who's saying what. He will let 40 years of service speak for itself."

A Vietnam veteran, Pace indicated in his Norfolk comments that his experience in that war colored his decision not to quit voluntarily.

"The other piece for me personally was that some 40 years ago I left some guys on the battlefield in Vietnam who lost their lives following 2nd Lt. Pace," he said. "And I promised myself then that I will serve this country until I was no longer needed - that it's not my decision. I need to be told that I'm done.

"I've been told I'm done.

"I will run through the finish line on 1 October, and when I run through the finish line I will have met the mission I set for myself," he said.

Pace was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the run-up to the Iraq war and during the early years of a conflict that has dragged on far longer than the administration foresaw. In October 2005 he succeeded Air Force Gen. Richard Myers as Joint Chiefs chairman, and until recently had largely been spared the war-related criticism that senior civilian officials attracted.

The decision to sideline Pace came as a surprise, since Gates had previously indicated privately that he intended to recommend that the president re-nominate him. In his remarks in Norfolk, Pace confirmed that Gates had told him he preferred to keep him as chairman but in mid-May began to see signs of opposition on Capitol Hill.

When he announced the decision last Friday, Gates said that after consulting with members of the Senate he concluded that sticking with Pace would risk a Senate confirmation struggle focusing on the Iraq War.

"It would be a backward-looking and very contentious process," Gates said. At the same time, he made clear he had made his decision with reluctance, saying he wished it had not been necessary.

"I am no stranger to contentious confirmations, and I do not shrink from them," Gates said. "However, I have decided that at this moment in our history, the nation, our men and women in uniform and General Pace himself would not be well served by a divisive ordeal...."

In his remarks in Norfolk, Pace said Gates had accurately portrayed what transpired.

"He brought me in the office and sat me down and said 'Pete, this is what's happening. I want to re-nominate you. I want you to know that this is what I'm beginning to hear, this is what I'm going to go do, this is how I'm going to go do it.'"

"He went out and did exactly what he said on television, and exactly what he's been saying in his interviews, which is he went out and pulsed various members of Congress and he heard back from them the things that he said that he heard," Pace said.

At that point, Pace said, he assured Gates that he was willing to go through even a contentious confirmation process.

"I also told him that what he needed to do, in my opinion, was what was best for the institution, and whatever he and the president decided was going to be best for the institution was what Pete Pace was going to do," he said. "Oh and by the way, I can read the Constitution, which says the president gets to nominate and the Senate gets to confirm, or not, and neither one of those two things is going to happen, therefore I'm not staying."
****

so, more lies from Chimpy and his front man tony the snowjob.

Democrats Round on Iraq War Generals
Agence France-Presse

Friday 15 June 2007

The top Democrat in the US Senate on Thursday fired off unusually frank criticism of the generals running operations in Iraq, in an acerbic aside to his quarrel with the White House over the war.

Majority leader Harry Reid said he was disappointed in Marine General Peter Pace, outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and hoped for a more candid approach from General David Petraeus, US commander in Iraq.

The comments by Reid, who sparked the ire of the Bush administration by declaring in April that the "war is lost," appeared to reflect a day-by-day strategy by Democrats to crank up political heat over the war.

On Wednesday, Reid bluntly told Bush in a letter also signed by House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi that his troop "surge" strategy in Iraq was failure, a day after vowing to launch a new bid to change US war policy.

In a news conference, Reid did not confirm he had branded Pace "incompetent" in an interview with liberal bloggers, as reported by the Politico newspaper, but left no doubt about his views of the top US soldier.

"I told him how I felt, that he had not done a very good job in speaking out for some obvious things that weren't going right in Iraq. I told him that to his face."

Earlier in the week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would not nominate Pace for a second two-year term, in order to avoid a divisive showdown in Congress over the war.

The White House meanwhile focused on Reid's reported comments that Pace was "incompetent."

"I certainly hope it's not true, because in a time of war, for a leader of a party that says it supports the military, it seems outrageous to be issuing slanders toward the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.

"I don't know if it's true or not. If it is true, I certainly hope he does apologize."

Reid also had caustic words for Petraeus, saying although he had high regard for the general, he believed his past assessments of the US effort to build the Iraqi army were too rosy.

"He told us it was going great. As we've looked back, it didn't go so well," Reid told reporters.

Reid also expressed disappointment about a newspaper interview, in which Petraeus was quoted as perceiving "astonishing signs of normalcy" in half or perhaps two-thirds of Baghdad.

"I was a little disappointed, to say the least, today reading USA Today newspaper where he's saying things are going fine, kids are playing soccer," Reid said.

"I think you would come to the conclusion that this view of what's going on in Iraq is different than what most everyone else is saying, including other accounts today.

"So I am waiting to see if General Petraeus can be a little more candid with us. What took place in USA Today is not being very candid."

The United States has just completed an operation to send 30,000 more troops into Iraq as part of a strategy announced by Bush in January to bring down violence in Baghdad and in the restive, Sunni-majority Al-Anbar province.

Bush said Wednesday after speaking to Petraeus that "the final troops have just arrived," reporting "some progress and some setbacks."

But a Pentagon report to Congress released Wednesday said overall violence in Iraq had not decreased despite the new "surge" strategy.

The latest aggravation between Congress and the White House over Iraq came days after the US military mourned its 3,500th soldier killed in action and followed another bomb attack by suspected Al-Qaeda militants on a revered Shiite shrine in the Iraqi town of Samarra.

Congress-White House sparring is building up ahead of the next critical point in the political struggle over Iraq in September, when Petraeus is due to report on progress in the "surge."

Even senior Republicans have said they expected the president will have little choice but to make adjustments in the Iraq strategy, once the report is made public.
****

We'll see. Thus far it's all hot air with the GOP. They ae tied to Chimpy on Iraq. If it stays that way, they will lose big in 2008.

Not worth the sweat off your brow, any of them.

Ignore their presence. Monday morning, it will be like they never existed!

Posted by PamB on June 16, 2007 at 01:41 PM
****

Definitely not worth the time!

Posted by PamB on June 16, 2007 at 01:41 PM

I know, Pam. Still, I do like a bit of verbal jousting from time to time with the loyal opposition even if it is like shooting fish in a barrel.

The whole world sees them for what they are; a conservative minority hellbent on subjugating the majority for their own financial and political gain using the clout, or what's left of it after the Bush administration, of the United States.

Tony Snow: We Have Never Said That
by BarbinMD
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 01:49:05 AM PDT

During a recent White House press briefing, Tony Snow was once again trying to explain away the scandal surrounding the Justice Department purge of U.S. Attorneys:

Q Okay, but at the beginning of this story, the President, you, Dan Bartlett, others said on camera that politics was not involved, this was performance-based.

MR. SNOW: That is something -- we have never said that. I think you'll have to take a look at comments that have been made by the Justice Department. What we've said is that people serve at the pleasure of the President. That's the operative principle here.

Really? Here's Dan Bartlett, on March 13th, talking about the reason David Iglesias was fired:

...there was a series of issues that they looked at. They looked at his managerial responsibilities...that they felt that he was not managing the office as well as it should be; there was issues about his lack of leadership on key committees that prosecutors, U.S. attorneys serve in capacity for the Attorney General. He served on a key immigration subcommittee, and they felt like he didn't possess leadership skills there and fulfill that job in a way that he should have.

And, also, they took into consideration the complaints that they were fielding from local officials about the lack of prosecution of cases, and the fact that he had lost a high-profile case...

And two days later, from Tony "we have never said that" Snow:

MR. SNOW: ...And it's pretty clear that these things are based on performance and not on sort of attempts to do political retaliation, if you will.

Well, that kind of shoots the old, "never is a long, long time" straight to hell, doesn't it?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/15/the-daily-show-catches-tony-snow-lying/

***

What a lying creep tony snow-job is.

Judge Orders FBI to Release NSL Abuse Records
by kavips
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 06:19:54 AM PDT

This is from EFF's website.

Washington, D.C. - A judge ordered the FBI today to finally release agency records about its abuse of National Security Letters (NSLs) to collect Americans' personal information. The ruling came just a day after the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the judge to immediately respond in its lawsuit over agency delays.
kavips's diary :: ::

EFF sued the FBI in April for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request about the misuse of NSLs as revealed in a Justice Department report. This week, more evidence of abuse was uncovered by the Washington Post, and EFF urged the judge Thursday to force the FBI to stop stalling the release of its records on the deeply flawed program.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/16/9446/65101

****

It's about that judges are re-asserting the rule of law. There has been no worst travesty than how the bush-cheney admin. has systematically undermined the law. They should both be impeached for doing that.

Bu$hCo base support at the breaking point
by Ken in Tex
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 05:59:52 AM PDT

Bu$h’s dropping approval rating

Back on May 16th I noticed something interesting. Rasmussen reports (which gives a daily update of Bu$h’s approval rating) reported that that approval rating had dropped three points in one day to its lowest level ever (35%). Possibly a quirk or statistical noise. It happens once in a while and jumps right back up the next day. But this time it did not. It stayed at 35% for a record three days and then it went down again to 34%. It stayed at 34% for three more days and then it went down again to 33%. OK, now it was significant.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/16/8372/65579

****

Check it out. Chimpo is going down, down, down.

Impeach Chimpo and Shotgun.

Slaves To The System and "Sicko"
by dynamicstand
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 10:47:16 AM PDT

After seeing Moore’s film "Sicko" my favorite saying became even clearer. We, as Americans are "slaves to the system
dynamicstand's diary :: ::

In Brittan, France and Cuba people have free healthcare. In France a mother who has recently birthed a child gets a free nanny to help out through the first few weeks. Full time and part time workers get FIVE weeks of paid vacation. Their taxes are high but they live very well. No worries about healthcare and help when it’s needed not to mention FREE child care. AND free college!

They seem like happy people who aren’t living paycheck to paycheck. They aren’t dying because of a greedy billion dollar profit healthcare system.

Young children have died due to the healthcare industry; people as a whole have died due to the American healthcare industry.

A French woman said "

in France the Government fears the people, In America the people fear the Government"!

Moore clearly shows how a hospital drops sick patients off on the street. These people have no shoes and are only wearing a hospital gown.

Recently making news was a woman who was trying to get treatment in a L.A hospital died. She laid on the floor in pain as the janitor cleaned around her. When her family begged the police officers who work at the hospital (I have no clue why) they ran a check on the woman. She had a warrant and they arrested the unconscious woman.

The officers later stated they thought that the BLOOD that was oozing form her mouth was chocolate!

The woman is now dead.. ".Woman dies for lack of "care"

We have a system of corporations that are so out of control that we are at risk simply by eating a meal! Under Bush Government services that are supposed to protect us have become so incompetent that they might as well not be there.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/16/133528/772

****

Mike Moore has demonstrated that the system failed us all. Now, do we have the courage to fight to change it?

SICKO comes out to theatres on June 29th.

Right wing blowhards are already in attack mode. So when will the cheeseball second rate actor and corporate bag man freddy boy debate Mike Moore?

Ignore their presence. Monday morning, it will be like they never existed!

Posted by PamB on June 16, 2007 at 01:41 PM
***

Pam, that proves what idiots they are. Why would anyone bother posting something knowing it was going to be erased the next day?

Iraq Contractors Face Growing Parallel War
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-06-16 15:24. Media

By Steve Fainaru, Washington Post

As security work increases, so do casualties.

Baghdad - Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and company representatives.

While the military has built up troops in an ongoing campaign to secure Baghdad, the security companies, out of public view, have been engaged in a parallel surge, boosting manpower, adding expensive armor and stepping up evasive action as attacks increase, the officials and company representatives said. One in seven supply convoys protected by private forces has come under attack this year, according to previously unreleased statistics; one security company reported nearly 300 "hostile actions" in the first four months.

The majority of the more than 100 security companies operate outside of Iraqi law, in part because of bureaucratic delays and corruption in the Iraqi government licensing process, according to U.S. officials. Blackwater USA, a prominent North Carolina firm that protects U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, and several other companies have not applied, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Blackwater said that it obtained a one-year license in 2005 but that shifting Iraqi government policy has impeded its attempts to renew.

The security industry's enormous growth has been facilitated by the U.S. military, which uses the 20,000 to 30,000 contractors to offset chronic troop shortages. Armed contractors protect all convoys transporting reconstruction materiel, including vehicles, weapons and ammunition for the Iraqi army and police. They guard key U.S. military installations and provide personal security for at least three commanding generals, including Air Force Maj. Gen. Darryl A. Scott, who oversees U.S. military contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23704

I know we've had this discussion here before but, I still do not like the practice of deleting posts that are not straight down the Democratic party line. Of course, frivilous and malicious posts, like these two jokers are notorious for, should be deleted, however, I, for one, like to show all who read here just how fundamentally flawed GOP conservatism is. This is a great venue to do that in a thoughtful and respectful manner.

All of us who post here have a responsibility to the general public who may come here for the first time to represent the Democratic Party in a manner worthy of calling one's self a Democrat. any first-timers will see the trolls for what they really are and that'll be another vote for us. Just like in 2006, let the GOP self-destruct. At least in here, we'll have front row seats. :-)

2. Foreigners will NOT have the right to vote, no matter how long they are here.

3. Foreigners will NEVER be able to hold political office.

Posted by burd_man on June 16, 2007 at 12:44 PM

Good afternoon,

Are you saying Arnold will have to pack his bags an move back into the Beverly Hills mansion with his Hummers?

Americans Unready to Revolt, Despite Revolting Conditions
by Joel S. Hirschhorn | Jun 14 2007 - 8:42am | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more Joel S. Hirschhorn

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll results vividly show a population incredibly dissatisfied with their nation’s political system. In other countries in other times such a depressing level of confidence in government would send a signal to those running the government that a major upheaval is imminent. But not here in the USA. Why?

First, here are the highlights of the poll that surveyed 1,008 adults from June 8-11, with a margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points.

A whopping 68 percent think the country is on the wrong track. Just 19 percent believe the country is headed in the right direction - the lowest number on that question in nearly 15 years. And most of those with the positive view are probably in the Upper Class.

Bush’s approval rating is at just 29 percent, his lowest mark ever in the survey. Only 62 percent of Republicans approve, versus 32 percent who disapprove. Take Republicans out of the picture and a fifth or less of Americans have a positive view of Bush.

Even worse, only 23 percent approve of the job that Congress is doing. So much for that wonderful new Democratic control of Congress. Bipartisan incompetence is alive and well.

On the economic front, nearly twice as many people think the U.S. is more hurt than helped by the global economy (48 to 25 percent). Globalization does not spread wealth; it channels it to the wealthy, making billionaires out of millionaires.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/8111

****

Article V convention ... interesting ...

The New Slavery
by Daveparts | Jun 15 2007 - 5:55pm | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more Daveparts

Recently Chinese officials have raided Hongtong Shanxi an area of Northern China and rescued almost 500 workers from slavery type conditions. The workers were forced to work in brick kilns, iron mines and coalmines. Some 29 of the workers were children and some were mentally disabled.

Of course the easy thing to do here in fat and happy America is to look down our nose at the Chinese. That’s the most wonderful aspect of outsourcing the corporate capitalist has the ability to bring about these conditions and yet stay at arms length saying, tisk tisk. Is it a stretch to believe that the coal or the bricks or iron mined by these slaves would not have been used for the products that fill our Wal- Marts shelves today?

Globalism is but a synonym for slavery, the hunt for the cheapest workforce on the planet, so how could the inevitable outcome of slavery be a surprise to anyone? The corporate master doling out bread in a reverse auction of labor, no different from the Incas or the middle evil serf. The old style practice of American slavery was abolished in 1863 for areas in rebellion meaning play along and you can keep your slaves but this was soon replaced by a more modern version.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/8139

Pam, that proves what idiots they are. Why would anyone bother posting something knowing it was going to be erased the next day? Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 02:02 PM

One reason, rj. So much hatred in their souls they have nowhere to expel it but here. I never saw such hatred and anger before.

We all know those guys who never had a girlfriend in their lives, but once they are off overseas, fall for the first naive female who looks at them!

Oh well, back out to the neighborhood tag sale, followed by block party. Talk later, rj and Bob.

any first-timers will see the trolls for what they really are and that'll be another vote for us. Just like in 2006, let the GOP self-destruct. At least in here, we'll have front row seats. :-)

Posted by BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 02:06 PM
****

So do the trolls really represent the GOP and do we really represent the Democratic party? I don't think anyone has that expectation from this blog. The only blog entries that come from the Party are those posted by the DNC.

Posted by burd_man on June 16, 2007 at 01:58 PM

If you are such a patriot, why would you buy items that support foreign workers instead of U.S. workers? Try this on for size, BUY AMERICAN!

Yet again, a conservative, and admitted redneck, proves he has nothing but empty rhetoric and circular logic.

Take care, Pam. See you here next week.

Are you saying Arnold will have to pack his bags an move back into the Beverly Hills mansion with his Hummers?

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 02:08 PM
****

The Governator ...

Subpoenas Issued in Rash of Prosecutor Firings.
Huffpo

Quote:

I haven't seen the earlier hearing transcripts. Has anyone asked the folks at DoJ, and specifically Gonzales and McNulty, what if any communication they had with the White House about the firings? (It's not hard to guess that Karl Rove knew that someone was being fired to make a U.S. Attorney spot for one of Rove's aides, but what about the rest?)

If the DoJ folks start muttering about "executive privilege," the folks on the Hill ought to start muttering about "conspiracy to obstruct justice." I've seen this flick before, I believe, and it has a happy ending, with the bad guys resigning in disgrace or going to jail.

Check out the bar graphs:

http://bp2.blogger.com/_1xQeOPE9ePU/RnLHcEhC1cI/AAAAAAAAAa0/BLKvsfbhNxI/s1600-h/unabaedviolence.jpg

Absolutely nothing has improved since the "surge". All that's changed is there are even more fatalities.

Pace: Bush fired me
by John Aravosis (DC) · 6/15/2007 01:57:00 PM ET
Discuss this post here: Comments (146) · digg it · reddit · FARK · · Link

Oh my.
In his first public comments on the Bush administration's surprise decision to replace him as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace disclosed that he had turned down an offer to voluntarily retire rather than be forced out.

To quit in wartime, he said, would be letting down the troops....

Pace said, he assured [Defense Secretary] Gates that he was willing to go through even a contentious confirmation process.
So is Pace saying that Bush let down the troops by firing him? And it seems that Bush is only willing to fight for something when it's other people who are doing the fighting, and suffering the consequences. He never was one for supporting the troops outside of political rallies.

Yes, I'm sure that headline surprises you. Drudge has been helping spread an anti-Clinton smear about Bill honoring September 11 by making $100,000 (the rumor reportedly got started by the Obama people). In fact, Clinton spent September 11 at a memorial honoring the 9/11 victims. Which begs the question, what was Matt Drudge doing, and with whom was he doing it, this past September 11? Was he honoring the dead?

http://www.americablog.com/2007/06/drudge-spreads-false-smear-about-bill.html

****

Sludge Drudge is a filthy liar like all GOP waterboz.

Bush fundraising ability plummets
by John Aravosis (DC) · 6/15/2007 09:59:00 AM ET
Discuss this post here: Comments (112) · digg it · reddit · FARK · · Link

AP:
President Bush says polls don't matter to him, but his slumping popularity appears to be influencing fellow Republicans in a way that hurts — money. Bush's yearly fundraising dinner for Republican congressional candidates on Wednesday generated $15.4 million — no small amount, but almost half as much as the $27 million the event brought in last year. Bush raised $23 million at the same dinners in 2005 and 2004.

The take at this year's annual gala benefiting the national Republican Party also took in much less than usual.

Bush helped raise $10.5 million at the event last month, compared with $17 million last year, $15 million the year before and a record $38.5 million in 2004, when he was running for re-election.
****

Word has it that Chimpy's event in NJ was a blow-out. Hardly anyone came to it. The GOP would not even let the media in for fear of who would be seen with Chimpo.

Cartoon on lame duck Chimpo:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e164/bobgeiger/toons/cartoons_061607_a.jpg

Reid tells it like it is
by cmkay
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 10:46:39 AM PDT

From The Hill’s Pundits Blog:

Sen. Reid Is Right About Gen. Petraeus

Brent Budowsky

In a democracy it is extremely unhealthy to put any commander in the position of being the de facto commander in chief for credibility...

Regarding what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said about Gen. Peter Pace: The problem with Pace was not his ability as a military leader, but his lack of political courage in speaking out when he knew that policies were wrong...

Many have reacted to Reid’s remarks, but few have actually understood what he was saying and very few have read the June 13 USA Today story that prompted his warning.

MORE MORE MORE
cmkay's diary :: ::

Everyone should read that story closely...

It is genuinely alarming because the portrait Gen. Petraeus paints is dangerously out of touch with the reality on the ground in Baghdad. He makes Baghdad appear like a Fourth of July picnic, with soccer balls in green grass parks, and friendly markets with happy faces.

There are places in Baghdad where this is true, but they are few and far between, and the portrait from Petraeus in this story is far out of touch with the ugly reality in Iraq. Had he given that portrait in testimony before the Congress it would have been a disaster.

Sen. Reid was firing a cannon across the bow of the president to stop the talking points and spin, to end the public relations hype and happy talk of war. Reid was warning that our country has paid a heavy price for the distortions, misrepresentations, falsehoods and lies that have far too often surrounded this war and led us to the crisis today...

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and to Bill Alexander, then-chief deputy whip of the House. He is a contributing editor to Fighting Dems News Service. He can be read on The Hill’s Pundits Blog and reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.

Click the title, above, to read more and to post a comment that may be read by your congressman and senators!

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com

The excerpt above is posted with the full knowledge and permission, even encouragement, of the author, who wants his essays to be read by as many people as possible.

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 02:13 PM

So do the trolls really represent the GOP and do we really represent the Democratic party? I don't think anyone has that expectation from this blog.

On the contrary, I respectfully disagree. While I know that we do not officially represent the DNC no more than the trolls represent the RNC, the differences are quite clear in the respective posts. Even the "sheeple" can tell the difference between a conservative, moderate, and liberal by their posts.

God save me for saying this but, I think the President is correct for restoring aid to the new Abbas government. Hopefully PM's Abbas and/or Olmert along with our State Department can engineer a plan to, preferably peacefully, eradicate the terrorist group known as Hamas once and for all. I will not be holding my breath, though.

Posted by BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 12:54 PM

Bob,

You are going to let a bunch of masked men persuade you to join forces with Bush? You know that's the way the KKK used to intimidate and scare the locals into backing lynchings.

Come on, Bob, you are far too sophisticated to fall for that neocon clip trap. I condemn Hamas for its suicide bomb tactics, too. It's criminal and hypocritical to talk about honor and dignity when you are threatening innocent Israeli children...wearing a mask no less to hide your shame.

But then the Israelis didn't have any problem using car bombings and the like to get their way in establishing their nation either. Hamas is just doing what suceeded for others in the region. They tried going political and won their election. All it accomplished was the end to international aid, because Bush wants only his puppet governments running things around the world.

Israel had a good opportunity to meet face-to-face at a bargaining table (without masks), but they refused the Arab League's offer to host such a plan. Sooner or later, after much suffering on both sides, these two enemies will have to decide to find a way to live with one another...but not when they won't face each other without wearing physical or theatric masks of distain.

Those super powers who continually encourage the distain aren't helping anyone.

jmo.

Even the "sheeple" can tell the difference between a conservative, moderate, and liberal by their posts.

Posted by BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 02:28 PM
****

So, Bob what's your point? Read their posts. They don't represent any political position at all. They are mainly direct attacks on the people posting. Such posts should be deleted.

I don't care if you converse with them. That's your choice. I sure am not going to argue for their posts to be kept. That's the DNC's choice!

Slave labor bust in China
by Yamaneko2
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 10:16:29 AM PDT

Chinese officials are raiding brick kilns in Henan and Shanxi provinces, freeing men and boys who were tricked or kidnapped into working 16-hour days with minimal food and no pay.

As of 9:41 am PDT, CNN decided that Bob Barker's backing of Rosie O'Donnell to take his place was more important news -- this story which has made headlines from Paris to Beijing does not worthy of the CNN home page. MSNBC's home page had nothing to say as of 9:47 am PDT about this. FOX News reports that so far 548 slaves have been freed, and this story is linked to from its home page.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/16/124015/036

****

Lovely huh? These are the people our american companies use to manufacture products. This is simply shameful. We should not trade with china at all.

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 02:27 PM

rjsnj,

That's a nice analysis. But the 28% will never understand what he's talking about. Parallel universes operate with a different set of logic.

All it accomplished was the end to international aid, because Bush wants only his puppet governments running things around the world.
****

Sandy,

Chimpo and his neocon elfs have set the entire Middle East on fire. This can not have a good outcome. This nation will be the target of attacks for decades to come because of Chimpo's idiocy.

Impeach Chimpy
Impeach Shotgun

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 02:22 PM

The GOP is afraid of the media, except for FNC of course. That is why they keep trying to convince the "sheeple" that the media has a liberal bias because conservative incompetence gets aired on an almost hourly basis.

Ask yourself who made the rule that the candidate with the biggest war chest wins the election? War chests used to be spent on advisors, staffs, transportation and fund-raising "events." Candidates worked their asses off getting elected or re-elected. Now, war chests are spent mostly on advertising in "prime-time." Ask yourself who invented (or discovered) "prime-time?" The same corporations and broadcasters who feed you daily rations of bullshit through the "news," are the ones who sell prime-time to candidates at exhorbitant rates. These rates are ostensibly determined by competition in a "free market," but that market is membered by brother and sister corporations of the broadcasters who make and sell products to you by advertising. These brother and sister corporations own their own infrastructure and means of production and distribution. The boadcasters distribute over the airwaves, which you own! Do you get a share of their profits, like a stockholder in any other business would? My answer is no, I don't, but I don't want a share of the profits in money. I want broadcasters to let candidates on the air in prime-time without charge. That's how to pay me my share. The details of all this can be worked out in Congress, with the broadcasters and the appropriate oversight agencies, but I want it done, goddamn it, and I want it done before the 2008 election really cranks up.

We citizens own the airwaves. We need to stop letting the coporations use our property to corrupt the politicians we depend on to help us achieve a decent life. That's no way run a republic, and it is up to us to put a stop to it. Wake up, and get active!

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 02:31 PM

RJ, that is what I said in my previous post. Absolutely the malacious posts should be deleted. However, if a conservative wants to come here and have a civilized debate, we should encourage that.

The kiln operators recruited men and boys, some as young as eight years old, to operate machinery that makes bricks. The workers were given only steamed buns, noodles and water to eat, and had to eat their daily meal within 15 minutes. Children who fell behind were beaten, and one child was buried after a foreman hit him with a shovel. The owner of the most notorious kiln is (surprise) the son of a local Communist Party boss. The local cops, of course, were in cahoots, letting one father rescue his own son, but not any other children. The price of a human life: US$50-$65.

The central government acted after 400 fathers of missing people signed an open letter online asking the government to investigate. Beijing has dispatched 14,000 police to the area to investigate the 7,500 kilns where workers may be enslaved.

The grinding poverty and corruption that spawned this monstrosity continues to feed workers to the factories of China's southeast, where $2 for a 12-hour day beckons. Such widespread use of slave labor helps to keep the price of production inputs down, as well, which means even lower prices and higher profits for American retailers.

****

For shame America! Our trade policies created these conditions. Our corporations know damn well this sort of stuff is going on.

Paging Charlie Rangel! So Charlie is this what you stand for when you want labor and environmental protections to be toothless side letters in trade issues?

However, if a conservative wants to come here and have a civilized debate, we should encourage that.

Posted by BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 02:39 PM
****

Bob, I am okay with that. But, I am ignoring all that I think aren't here to do anything except sneer.

Slavery in China? Refugee camps springing up outside all major Iraqi cities?

Who want to hear about that bad news when CNN can give you the latest celebrity insights? Has Travolta weighed in yet on the O'Donnell game show gig...while he publicizes his new movie?

Real human suffering has be relegated to the back pages, if reported at all, in this country by the Republican corporate-controlled media. No wonder the younger evangelicals are at the end of their ropes and are actually appealing to liberal Democrats for help in Dafur.

Democrats act like family; Republicans act like dysfunctional libertine incompetents without any other cause but war and hoarding money.

Good Afternoon, ALL!

That's a nice analysis. But the 28% will never understand what he's talking about. Parallel universes operate with a different set of logic.

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 02:34 PM

Buied in the small print of that Daily Kos diary linked to by rj @ 1:56 is this little tidbit:

Who are these people?

Frequently, people can’t understand who in the country can possibly be undecided about their opinions of Bu$hCO after six years of this Administration. Who in the hell are the undecided? Well let’s remember that these polls are supposed to be a representative sample of the American population (or a demographically similar subset like registered voters, likely voters, or people with land line telephones, etc.). Assuming that is the case, we should remember that the bottom 2% of people responding to the poll will have an IQ no higher than 69 (mildly mentally disabled) and the bottom 8% will have an IQ no higher than 79 (borderline mentally disabled).

I’m not saying that all of the undecided are the dumbest people in the poll, but before asking about what the remaining Bu$h supporters or the undecideds are thinking, consider please that a reasonable portion of them might not be thinking of very much at all.

Bu$hCo base support at the breaking point

However, if a conservative wants to come here and have a civilized debate, we should encourage that.

Posted by BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 02:39 PM

A few actually used to do post here, but they gave up when those representing the 28% trivalized everything they were trying to say.

On yesterdays blog - this sick person said:

I don't know why this country ever had to fight any Injun wars. All they needed to do was back a wagon load of whiskey into their camp and then wait until morning when the ones that were still alive were all passed out and go into camp and wrap a rope on each ones foot and tie the other end to a buffalo herd and then stampede em.

I wonder why Custer didn't think of that.

Posted by FrostyDelanoRoosevelt on June 16, 2007 at 03:28 AM
################################################

Frosty, thats not a bad idea. Do that with the vampires, bait them with legal free abortions, and when they are assembled, bash them with garlic and silver crosses.

Posted by burd_man on June 16, 2007 at 04:18

I find this stands ground for a direct threat to any Native American who uses this blog. I therefore am asking the DNC to check the posters of these remarks and accordingly, charge them with making direct threats to those who are Native American. I also am requesting that any further threats from the above posters be it directly or indirectly to anyone who posts on this web site, be investigated and charged with making threats against those who post here.

You have been reported and a complaint has been filed with the DNC team who man this site.

No wonder the younger evangelicals are at the end of their ropes and are actually appealing to liberal Democrats for help in Dafur.
****

Sandy, this is the crux of the issue. I am finding myself drawn more and more to Jim Wallis's movement. I think everyone, even those who aren't particularly religious, should check out what is going on over at Sojourners. They really are talking about many of the issues that progressives are concerned about - social justice, globalization, health care, the environment, ending the use of torture, etc...

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 02:29 PM

Like you, I hope Israel decides to restart a bi-lateral peace process after the Palestinian civil war is over.

The Palestinians did have an election and did elect Hamas. That was their right. We cut off foregin aid because Hamas, for all intents and purposes, is a terroroist organization with the stated goals of detroying Israel and the United States. I do not want one single dollar of my tax revenue going to a terrorist organization whether it be Hamas, Hezbollah, or the reactionary elements of Israel that just want to go in and bulldoze the West Bank and Gaza. Having said that, I think both us and Israel need to stay out of it for now. Let one group of bad guys kill the other group of bad guys and Israel will make peace, hopefully, or eradicate what is left.

Posted by DPD on June 16, 2007 at 02:49 PM

DPD,

The Undecided are probably Hollywood celebrities who accidently shave their heads on the way to rehab...and their loyal fans base, the wives of the 28%.

I don't think many of them ever vote...because they can't find their way there.

And don't gripe at me, Essie, for insulting potential voters and discouraging them from wanting to participate as citizens. You know what I'm saying is true. These people are are more than borderline birdbrains; they are as useless as Bush.

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 02:44 PM

The worst part of that analysis is understated. The "sheeple", when given the choice of watching Paris Hilton go to jail or watching an in-depth documentary on, say, the Darfur crisis, will, en masse, gravitate to the Paris Hilton story.

There is one positive note to the Hilton saga. Reaction to another rich person getting off easy and receiveing preferential treatment was visceral. We can use that to our advantage in 2008.

I also am requesting that any further threats from the above posters be it directly or indirectly to anyone who posts on this web site, be investigated and charged with making threats against those who post here.

You have been reported and a complaint has been filed with the DNC team who man this site.

Posted by Kathy_in_Indiana on June 16, 2007 at 02:50 PM
****

Kathy, welcome to the growing group that has been directly/indirectly threatened by these internet predators. I also have filed a complaint against these people. That is why at minimum their posts should be deleted.

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 02:56 PM

And don't gripe at me, Essie, for insulting potential voters and discouraging them from wanting to participate as citizens. You know what I'm saying is true. These people are are more than borderline birdbrains; they are as useless as Bush.

Essie will have no reason to gripe at you. The birdbrains, as you put it, won't come here. Those with some sense will. Then, it is up to us to keep them here.

There is one positive note to the Hilton saga. Reaction to another rich person getting off easy and receiveing preferential treatment was visceral. We can use that to our advantage in 2008.

Posted by BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 02:59 PM
****

Bob very true. At least, Americans still expect even treatment under the law. The day that the system of justice is overtly different for the wealthy is the day that we really do become nothing more than a dictatorship. It's already balanced towards wealth because they can hire the best lawyers but when judges give more lenient sentences just because someone is wealthy then we are in big trouble.

rjsnj - it's gotten why out of control. I was one of the first users of the blog when it first went on line and we always had our trolls. But they are getting bolder and bolder and making threats that I find could be investigated and charges files. Freedom of speech is always welcomed here - threats are not. If the DNC can not control this blog - then they need to control the people who use it with threating remarks. I am not a Native American but if I were, I would be seeing an attorney on Monday. This has to stop or they will threaten anyone here - no matter what. It has to stop.

Has anyone noticed that the trolls have disappeared yet again when confronted with logic and reason? The old analogy that sunlight is the best antiseptic has proven itself true again.

This has to stop or they will threaten anyone here - no matter what. It has to stop.

Posted by Kathy_in_Indiana on June 16, 2007 at 03:04 PM
****

Kathy, I agree. I said as much to the DNC. I think they are making a mistake being too tolerant of what is in effect predatory activity.

Posted by BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 02:52 PM

Bob,

I don't think it makes sense to say all those that voted for Hamas are terrorists and don't deserve the basic human rights of food, shelter, clean water, and medical care.

Many of them registered a protest vote...against the inept Fautah government and decades of Arafat's incompetence, the international community for not encouraging negotiations between the parties, and with the rest of the human race which has left these people languish in refugee camps for over 40 years.

Sometimes it takes a complete breakdown in a society before any action is taken to correct it. Bush isn't acknowledging that breakdown in Palestine...he's taking steps to make it worse.

Bin Lauden is going to win without lifting a finger. Forget about Iran. I wouldn't be surprised if Pakestan doesn't give him a nuclear bomb.

And Israel is going to pay the supreme price. They better start looking around the Palestinian kitchen. The coffee pot is burning and the house is going up in flames...the whole neighborhood is going to go up with it. Bush has pulled all the fire trucks out of the region.

And there is nothing we can do about it till Janurary, 2008, unless Bush resigns and takes Cheney with him.

Has anyone noticed that the trolls have disappeared yet again when confronted with logic and reason? The old analogy that sunlight is the best antiseptic has proven itself true again.

Posted by BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 03:08 PM
****

Bob, they generally get bored when no one reacts to their attempts to stir up an emotional reaction. Naturally, that means they are incapable of logical discussion.

Has anyone noticed that the trolls have disappeared yet again when confronted with logic and reason? The old analogy that sunlight is the best antiseptic has proven itself true again.

Posted by BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 03:08 PM

They went on vacation or are attending a Newt rally.

And by the way, we all know that the FBI and the CIA pop in once in awhile. They have means on finding out who these people are who have made these threats against Native Americans. I would strongly urge them to investigate who these people are and urge them to put a stop to it. In the meantime, I find that because of threatening remarks by some, this site is becoming creepy. If the DNC doesn't get a handle on this growing problem of people who come here to make threats, then no one will want to use it and it will lose the reason why it was created in the first place. The DNC and the team members of this site have got to put an end to those who come here and make threatening remarks for whatever reason.I as a Democrat and an American must feel safe in coming to this blog. If that feeling goes away - then so will people who use this blog.

I'm asking the team memebers of this blog to put an end to this abuse.

And there is nothing we can do about it till Janurary, 2008, unless Bush resigns and takes Cheney with him.

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 03:11 PM
****

Sandy, can't we give the two of them to Albania for awhile?

They went on vacation or are attending a Newt rally.

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 03:13 PM
****

Or a freddy boy film festival!

Try this on for size, BUY AMERICAN!

We don't make clothing anymore in this country. All we make is mistake after mistake after mistake.

Posted by Kathy_in_Indiana on June 16, 2007 at 03:04 PM

Kathy, I agree with what you are saying in principle and you've done your civic duty as any fine Democrat would. However, I think you may be overreacting a bit. There is a fine line between cheap shots and actual threats. If we start messing with that line, it could very easily start us down the slippery slope of censorship. That would make us no better than the Republicans. These jackasses are just trying to get a rise out of you.

If the DNC doesn't get a handle on this growing problem of people who come here to make threats, then no one will want to use it and it will lose the reason why it was created in the first place.
****

Kathy, to some extent that's why they are doing it. But, I think it goes deeper. These ones really do act like internet predators. I wouldn't be surprised if they already have FBI files on them.

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 02:59 PM

Do you still have that link to the "new" Internet harassment law of 2006? The one that makes it a Felony to constantly log on to sites under assumed names and IPs after being banned? I'm not convinced that there really are 4 regular trolls. They come on within 10 minutes of each other as a team and "sock puppet" for "each other". They're just trying to do a "radical overthrow" of this site.

Or a freddy boy film festival!

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 03:15 PM

Three bit parts in three B movies? A Three Stooge festival would last longer and be more entertaining.
(Forgive me for I have sinned....this is sure to bring them back from whatever place they have been watching the NBA playoffs.)

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 03:11 PM

I don't think it makes sense to say all those that voted for Hamas are terrorists and don't deserve the basic human rights of food, shelter, clean water, and medical care.

On that point, we are in full agreement. Hamas cannot provide it for them though and we'd be fools to give one red cent to Hamas. Now if Hamas wants to open up and provide safe haven for the Red Cross, Red Crescent, or some other international aid group, we can talk.

I knew it. The GOP interns can't resist a Three Stooge comparison.

bbl.

Three bit parts in three B movies? A Three Stooge festival would last longer and be more entertaining.
****

Tee, Hee, Hee ... but oh so true.

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 03:15 PM

Sad, but true.

Censorship is one thing and we all agree that we as Democrats must stand against any form of cenorship But cenorship and freedom of speech stop when a person feels that they have been threatened? Think about how a Native American might feel if he were to read what was posted? A cheap shot is one thing so is censorship but I find it was a threat. Who is to make that call and how far would it take for someone or anyone for that matter to say enough is enough. You can't say that without a reaction and you will have to pay a price for your threats.

I understand that we as Democrats take great pride in letting people say what they want. I am very proud of this. But I also feel this troll went way out of line here.

Just how I feel. Someday, someone will have enough on this blog and charges will be filed. I just hope it doesn't go that far and that the DNC team will put safeguards in place so that this doesn't happen again.

Everyone - must leave for now. It's too good of a day to be indoors.

Keep on Rockn'

They come on within 10 minutes of each other as a team and "sock puppet" for "each other". They're just trying to do a "radical overthrow" of this site.

Posted by DPD on June 16, 2007 at 03:18 PM
****

dpd, no I don't have a link to it.

It's possible that there is less than 4. There is basically one ring leader who has been doing this nonsense for years. The others are either fakes or just just foolish people attracted to this person's hate speak (like hate radio). They are going to get themselves in trouble because the ring leader already has a FBI file ...

Sandy, can't we give the two of them to Albania for awhile?

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 03:14 PM

No, rjsnj, Borat has been reporting back to them since Spunky left and they now know they were tricked, too.

Bob, you don't have to defend freedom of speech for people who would turn you off in a second if they had the means to disable this blog.

later.

I knew it. The GOP interns can't resist a Three Stooge comparison.

bbl.

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 03:22 PM
****

yeah they are very predictable. Just a couple of hate filled sad saps.

No, rjsnj, Borat has been reporting back to them since Spunky left and they now know they were tricked, too.
****

Borat huh ...

Typical of the Pugs who sent death threats to Skooter's Judge, they are now going after C-SPAN for not covering a TAPED speech by Michael Wiener.

C-SPAN Gets Savaged By Right-Wing Radio Listeners

WARNING - LANGUAGE!

White House Subpoenas
By Congressman John Conyers
DailyKos.com

Wednesday 13 June 2007

I wanted to share with all of you the reasoning behind a significant step I have taken in the investigation of the mass firings of federal prosecutors and the politicization occurring within the Department of Justice.

Today, I issued subpoenas to former White House Counsel Harriett Miers to compel her to testify before the House Judiciary Committee and to provide documents related to our investigation. My counterpart in the Senate, Chairman Leahy, issued separate subpoenas to former Rove assistant, Sara Taylor.

I consider these subpoenas to be essential because the evidence our investigation has uncovered points to the pivotal role the White House played in the U.S. Attorney firings. We have only sought to compel cooperation through subpoenas after more than three months of stonewalling by the White House.

I had hoped that the White House would be more forthcoming in assisting our investigation. Unfortunately, this subpoena provided the only legal means for the American people, through their elected representatives, to find out how their government functions.

This subpoena represents a very serious step by Congress not to be taken lightly. Defiance or failure to comply would run counter to the checks and balances that are the foundation of our constitution and democratic government.

Here is what we have learned in our investigation so far:
Key White House political advisers Karl Rove and then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales were involved from the beginning in plans to remove U.S. Attorneys. According to documents obtained from the Department of Justice and Mr. Sampson’s testimony, Mr. Sampson discussed the plan with then-White House Counsel Gonzales not long after President Bush’s re-election in late 2004. A January 9, 2005 e-mail released by the Department shows that Karl Rove initiated inquires as to "how we planned to proceed regarding U.S. Attorneys, whether we were going to allow all to stay, request resignations from all and accept only some of them, or selectively replace them, etc." In his response to queries from David Leitch, a White House official, Mr. Sampson expressly deferred to the political judgment of Mr. Rove as to whether to proceed with plans for the replacement of U.S. Attorneys, writing, "[I]f Karl thinks there would be political will to do it, then so do I."

Mr. Sampson, who has testified that he "aggregated" the list of U.S. Attorneys to be fired, was in frequent contact with White House officials about multiple versions of proposed lists of possible U.S. Attorneys for dismissal and potential replacements over the course of nearly two years, sending draft lists for review in March 2005, January 2006, April 2006, and several drafts in September 2006 through the firings on December 7, 2006.

According to documents and testimony, Sara Taylor, the head of the White House political operation and deputy of Karl Rove, and Scott Jennings, another aide to Mr. Rove, were involved in the discussions and planning that led to the removal of Bud Cummins and bypassing the Senate confirmation process to install Tim Griffin, another former aide to Mr. Rove, as U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Arkansas. They were part of a group that discussed using the Attorney General’s expanded authority under the Patriot Act Reauthorization to avoid the opposition of the Arkansas Senators by appointing Mr. Griffin as interim indefinitely. In one e-mail, Mr. Sampson described Mr. Griffin’s appointment as "important to Harriet, Karl, etc." After the firing, writing from her RNC email account, Ms. Taylor writes that "Bud is lazy - which is why we got rid of him in the first place."

Mr. Sampson testified that Ms. Taylor was upset when the Attorney General finally "rejected" this use of the interim authority - a month after telling Senator Pryor he was committed to finding a Senate-confirmed U.S. Attorney.

The evidence gathered so far also shows significant White House involvement - including by Mr. Rove - in the decision to dismiss David Iglesias as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico. We have learned from the testimony of the Attorney General and Mr. Sampson that Mr. Rove directly complained to the Attorney General about concerns that prosecutors were not aggressively pursuing voter fraud cases in districts in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New Mexico. One of these districts was that of Mr. Iglesias, who was added after that complaint to the list of U.S. Attorneys to be replaced. We have also learned that Mr. Rove’s aide, Mr. Jennings, set up a meeting between White House Liaison Monica Goodling and New Mexico Republican officials in June 2006 to talk about the U.S. Attorney "situation" in New Mexico, describing it as "sensitive." Those officials also met with another aide to the Attorney General, Matthew Friedrich, told him that they were seeking Iglesias’ ouster and that they had spoken to Karl Rove about the subject, according to Friedrich’s testimony to congressional investigators.

Media reports and the White House Press Office have confirmed that Mr. Rove relayed complaints about Mr. Iglesias to the White House Counsel’s office and to the Justice Department.

Press accounts and congressional testimony have also revealed that after the midterm election, Mr. Rove discussed the performance of Mr. Iglesias with Senator Domenici, who himself had called Mr. Iglesias before the election to ask whether he was bringing indictments against a Democratic official in the lead up to the election. According to Allen Weh, Chairman of New Mexico's Republican Party chairman, when he asked Mr. Rove during a holiday party in 2006 "is anything ever going to happen to that guy?" - referring to Mr. Iglesias - Mr. Rove responded, "He’s gone."

The concern by White House officials with purported voter fraud extends beyond New Mexico. We have learned that Mr. Rove sent Mr. Sampson a packet of information related to Wisconsin. According to his testimony, Mr. Sampson gave this packet to another Department official, Matthew Friedrich, and also asked him to look into the voter concerns in districts relayed by Mr. Rove to the Attorney General. The packet sent by Mr. Rove contains a 30-page report concerning voting in Wisconsin in 2004 and also handwritten notes suggesting a concern with prosecution in numerous districts. Some of these Wisconsin materials appear to have been viewed and printed by Mr. Rove in February 2005, just a month before the US Attorney in the Eastern District of Wisconsin was place on the termination list.

John McKay, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, testified that when he met with Ms. Miers and her deputy William Kelley in August 2006 to interview for a federal judgeship, he was asked to explain "criticism that I mishandled the 2004 governor's election," in which Republicans were upset with him for not intervening in that closely contested election.

Since the firings of these U.S. Attorneys for political reasons became public, there has been an effort to minimize, and in some instances, cover up, the role of White House officials. According to documents and the testimony of Mr. Sampson, the Attorney General was upset after the February 6, 2007, testimony of Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty because Mr. McNulty’s testimony put the White House involvement in the firings into the public domain. Former Justice Department White House Liaison Monica Goodling recently told the House Judiciary Committee that she was told not to attend a briefing by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty on the firings to the Senate Judiciary Committee in February, 2007, because of the concern that her presence might prompt Senators to ask questions about White House involvement.

The Administration’s February 23, 2007, response to a letter from Senators Reid, Schumer, Durbin and Murray regarding the firings stated, "I am not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the AG’s decision to appoint Griffin." Earlier e-mails indicate that the appointment of Mr. Griffin, another former deputy to Mr. Rove, was important to Mr. Rove. The White House, Associate White House Counsel Chris Oprison, signed off on this letter. Before Griffin was installed, Mr. Oprison, who signed off on the letter, had written that the Griffin issue was "front/center on [his] radar screen" and that he had "had several conversations with [Rove aide] Scott Jennings" about "the controversy." Many parts of this letter have since been retracted by the Department.

According to the testimony of Department officials, Mr. Rove and other White House officials attended a meeting at the White House on March 5, 2007 - the day before Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General William Moschella testified before the House Judiciary Committee - to "go over the admin position on all aspects of the US attorney issue." Rove is reported to have spoken at this meeting and directed the Department to provide reasons to explain the firings in the next day’s testimony.

Given what we have learned, clear answers from the White House are needed to shed light on its role in this process. These steps today will hopefully bring us closer to those answers.

Posted by Kathy_in_Indiana on June 16, 2007 at 03:26 PM

...But cen[s]orship and freedom of speech stop when a person feels that they have been threatened?...

I respectfully disagree. Just because a person feels threatened does not mean an actual threat has taken place. Again, I respect your decision to do what you did and the DNC will be the final authority on this matter. Like you, I'm comfortable with that.

Silence in the Senate
The New York Times | Editorial

Wednesday 13 June 2007

The most remarkable thing about the debate on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales this week was what didn't happen. Barely a word was said in praise him or his management of the Justice Department. The message was clear even though the Republicans prevented a no-confidence vote through the threat of a filibuster - a tactic that until recently they claimed to abhor. The sound of Mr. Gonzales not being defended was deafening.

The senators who rose to speak in favor of the no-confidence vote made a compelling, and by now well-known, case. Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, and Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, both former prosecutors, were especially eloquent about the way in which Mr. Gonzales has betrayed the ideals of American law.

The senators who defended Mr. Gonzales clearly did not have their heart in it. Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, went off on such a long and belabored attack on Senator Charles Schumer of New York, who has done a commendable job on this matter, that he seemed to think Mr. Schumer, not Mr. Gonzales, was the subject of the resolution.

Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, complained that the Senate was wasting a "whole day" on the vote. Actually, it took just a couple of hours, and anyone who watches C-Span knows how little the Senate can accomplish in two hours.

For Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi, the issue seemed to be that the vote would not matter. In other words, since the president does not care what Congress thinks about the integrity of the Justice Department, it is a waste of time to tell him.

President Bush said the investigation of Mr. Gonzales and the Justice Department over the firing of nine United States attorneys was being "drug out" by the Democrats, and that it was purely partisan political theater. If the investigation is dragging on, it's the fault of the administration, not the Democrats in Congress. The Justice Department has withheld critical documents and released the uncritical ones in dribs and drabs. The White House is refusing to let Karl Rove; Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel; and others testify under oath.

What has slowed things down the most are the repeated misstatements by Mr. Gonzales and other officials. Just this week, Bradley Schlozman, a former United States attorney in Missouri who appears to have used his office to help Republicans win elections, wrote to the Senate to say that he had made untrue statements in his testimony last week.

As for the charge of politics, seven Republicans voted with Democrats to end debate, and many more have been critical of Mr. Gonzales. Christopher Bond, Republican of Missouri, stuck with his party on the vote, but told The Associated Press, "The president might decide that the current leadership remaining at D.O.J. is doing more harm than good."

That so many Senate Republicans supported an attorney general that they cannot bring themselves to defend shows that politics is not behind the drive to force him out. It's behind the insistence that he stay.

-------

Posted by radlib on June 16, 2007 at 02:38 PM

With people using TiVo I doubt anyone will be watching any of those primetime political advertisements. Even the hopelessly in debt must have their techno gagets in this country.

I say we get off our behinds and do more neighborhood canvassing like our grandparents did. It really works with voters, and it's great exercise. fade even found a few great barbershops in East St. Louis where they don't laugh at white women when they talk sense.

Just because a person feels threatened does not mean an actual threat has taken place.
****

Bob, you need to look at the language to make that determination - it has nothing to do with subjective feelings.

What The Public 'Knows' - Congressional Spending
by davej
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 11:46:47 AM PDT

I often write about what the public 'knows.' (For example, the public 'knew' that Iraq attacked us on 9/11 and was about to attack us with weapons of mass destruction before we invaded.)

Right now the public 'knows' that in the last few years Congress went way out of control with the spending. And Republicans understand that the public 'knows' that Democrats tax and spend.
davej's diary :: ::

I'm not sure that the public knows - or cares - that it was the Republicans who controlled Congress who were the spenders. I am sure that they won't remember that for very long because it is not being repeated and is not being tied to a larger narrative about Republicans.

What is being repeated is that Democrats tax and spend. And the Republicans are busy reinforcing that: Bush blasts Democrats over budget spending,

"I will use my veto to stop tax increases and runaway spending that threaten the strength of our economy and the prosperity of our people," Bush said in his weekly radio address. He was spending the weekend at his Texas ranch.

"By keeping taxes low and restraining federal spending, we can meet my plan to have a balanced budget by 2012," he said. "The Democrats in Congress are trying to take us in a different direction."

I wonder if the Democratic leadership understands what is happening. Everything that the public is upset about after years of Republican government is being transferred - in the public mind - over to them.

****

What a bunch of GOP lies. It's the GOP that has spent without any restraint. It's the GOP that thinks borrowing trillions of dollars is just fine. The GOP never figures out how to bring in enough revenue to back their spending. They simply borrow and spend. That's as irresponsible as it gets.

Posted by FrostyDelanoRoosevelt on June 16, 2007 at 03:32 PM

Yeah like the 7 or 8 of you, and this...

Just like a Republican to leave off the zeroes like they did when preparing the budget for 2002 through 2006. It's not just "7 or 8 of [us]". It'll be the 70 to 80 million who vote Democrat in November of 2008.

I say we get off our behinds and do more neighborhood canvassing like our grandparents did. It really works with voters, and it's great exercise. fade even found a few great barbershops in East St. Louis where they don't laugh at white women when they talk sense.

Posted by SandyH on June 16, 2007 at 03:38 PM
****

We won the Pennsylvania that way in 2004 ... especially Philadelphia where knocking doors is the only effective way to bring out voters. But, we must end the illegal GOP caging list practise which is calculated to diminish such efforts.

Netroots TV Presents Keith Ellison
by MinneaPolitics
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 12:49:07 PM PDT

Hey everyone, this is my second posting on this video interview with Keith Ellison. Although this time I am using a sexier title and posting on a Saturday.
MinneaPolitics's diary :: ::

I don't know when this place reaches peak traffic, but I thought the interview was worth seeing. I also wanted to impart upon you all the need for local content. Get out in your communities and get people talking to each other. There are thousands and thousands of really great thinkers and reality oriented folks on here. I agree that progressives can create a platform that the entire country can agree on because from issue to issue, they already do. We just have to purge the top dems, the ones who are there right now. If anything, now is the time to be less disillusioned with the party and make a hitlist of blue dogs and dlc candidates and knock them off in 08 primaries. Is there such a list or website? But I think the most important things to know, short of taking the federal government, is focusing on our states and our cities especially, wherever you live. We need to reconnect neighborhoods. Another video I just posted was on Minneapolis' new public WiFi system. If we make all the necessary contributions, our residents will have the ability to affect change in their government through php scripts making participation of the masses a reality.

We need these basic units of power sharing because they may in fact be our primary power wielding structure, if we can continue to decentralize the current hierarchy paradigm.

Two great websites to learn about decentralization of political economy are the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy and Institute for Local Self Reliance.

Again, I wish to assure you that we have a great chance of getting Obama in for 08, but should probably start protesting support of Hillary as a sure loser. Outside of MSM outlets, identifying ourselves as the party faithful.

We should also take a look at the www.nationalinitiative.us that gravel is pushing. It is a sound plan for national participation. Hope you find this helpful.

In unusual move, West joins global-warming fight
Huntsman, other Western leaders say they will prevail
By Glen Warchol
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 06/16/2007 01:12:40 AM MDT

Click photo to enlarge

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., left, talks with Wyoming Gov. Dave... (Chet Brokaw/The Associated Press )
DEADWOOD, S.D. - It was something of a jolt when the governors of the traditionally conservative, independent American West - where "environmentalist" can be an epithet - joined in calling on the federal government to not only partner with them in developing clean energy sources, but to enter the battle against global warming.
"All of us - the country, states, industry and individuals - must change our behavior if we are to succeed in addressing climate change," said the Western Governors' Association's new chairman, Gov. Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming, a Democrat.
Not to be outdone, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., vice chairman and a Republican, said the West is on the cusp of a revolution. "If we do this right, our citizens are going to have a better quality of life, we're going to spawn new technologies and industries, and we're going to leave our most important belongings in better shape for the next generation."
Though California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was absent from the association's annual meeting this week, you wouldn't have known it from the green rhetoric.

Bringing it home
But less forthcoming from the top state executives was a strategy for taking their revolution back to their own statehouses. There they might find enthusiasm for battling global warming scarce - with or without an Advertisement

influx of federal clean-energy Advertisement

research cash to develop, in particular, coal-power technology.
Though Christopher Field, director of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and other scientists assured the governors that "there's not a reputable organization in the world that opposes the core conclusions" on global warming, quite a few Western politicians do.
Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland, is not alone in Utah's Legislature when he calls environmentalists' near-apocalyptic predictions "junk science."
"Show me the rational argument. Show me the science that this is happening," Dougall argues. "Just because global warming is the fad du jour - who cares?"
Huntsman, however, said at the conference: "All we can do as policymakers is rely on the best information. What you have to do is go on the findings and directives of nine out of 10 scientists around the world."
Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake City, who saw her bill for a credit for buying energy-efficient vehicles get swatted down in the last session, says: "The Utah Legislature has a steep learning curve. It's going to take a substantially different way of thinking, particularly in the area of transportation."
Many Republican Utah lawmakers, in fact, were miffed last month when Huntsman joined Schwarzenegger in his Western Regional Climate Action Initiative that calls for a cap on greenhouse gases, which scientists believe accelerate the planet's warming trend.
The opposition in Utah, moreover, doesn't just come from the GOP.
"Huntsman, before he gets too far into it, should look at the economics," said Sen. Mike Dmitrich, D-Price. Dmitrich, who represents Utah's coal country, was the author of a 1998 resolution - passed overwhelmingly in the Legislature - calling on the governor to prohibit state agencies from taking any action to reduce greenhouse gases.
The outgoing chairman of the governors, Gov. Michael Rounds of South Dakota, may not have known how right he was when he said energy and global warming policies "are not Republican or Democratic issues."

From blue and red to green
The Western Governors' Association as a group has tipped Democratic over the last two election cycles, with 11 of 19 being Democrats. But all seem to agree the global warming challenges of drought, wildfire and tapping clean energy resources dwarf party politics.
"The only people who get excited about [the governors' political shift] are the media and the professional politicos," says Freudenthal, arguing that citizens pay little attention to party politics and expect their governors to push as hard on environmental issues whether they are red or blue. "Huntsman is clearly vocal on this issue, and he's clearly Republican."
"If you closed your eyes and listened," Rounds said of the three-day conference, "you would have a hard time determining who were the Republicans and who were Democrats."
The newest Democrat in the group, Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado, agrees the Western governors "have far more in common than they have differences."
But he says the increase in Democratic leadership shows a shift in attitude in the West, calling for aggressive leadership on environmental issues.
"Hunters, anglers, ranchers, no matter their party stripe, care that we have sound and sensible 21st century environmental policies," Ritter says. "On an issue like this, Democrats are willing to tell the oil and gas industry, 'We want you to continue to thrive as an industry - but we will monitor and we will be stewards of the land.' ''
This ground-up pressure on climate change has prompted mayors such as Salt Lake City's Rocky Anderson and other local leaders to launch initiatives to cut greenhouse gases. Local and now state action seems to be a reaction to Washington's inaction.
Wyoming's Freudenthal emphasizes the group's willingness to partner with the federal government to develop clean energy and reduce greenhouse gases does not mean the West is giving up its independence. "It's consistent with the sagebrush rebellion in that we are telling the federal government to do what they should do," he says, "and stay the hell out of the rest of it."

Global warming future: Drought, wildfire, floods, pestilence
By GLEN WARCHOL

June 14, 2007
Friday

Top climate scientists offered Western governors an assessment on the impacts of global warming that sounded like something out of the Old Testament: drought, wildfire, floods and pestilence.

More importantly, the governors themselves put to rest any remaining doubt on a human role in the problem.

"Are there any respected scientific organizations left that dispute what you are saying?" asked Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., adding, "and you can't say the White House and Congress."

"Where there is skepticism, it is coming from an increasingly small number of individuals who have some kind of ax to grind," of a moral or religious point of view, said Christopher Field, director of global ecology at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "There is not a reputable organization in the world that opposes the core conclusions."

The scientists' briefing Tuesday only reinforced what the Western Governors' Association that represents 19 Western U.S. states had been hearing during the three-day conference. Greenhouse gases spewed by automobiles and coal- and gas-fired power plants are increasing Earth's temperature. Global warming of even a few degrees causes flooding in coastal cities, deadly urban heat waves, longer and more severe droughts, and possibly the onslaught of tropical diseases, such as malaria.

The governors must grapple with how the policies of their individual states can impact a global problem with solutions that will take 10 to 50 years to put in place, the scientists said.

"In 2007, we have to design an energy system for 2050 to 2100," said Field. "That will require incentives and leadership."

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal asked, for instance, if nearly sacrosanct Western water laws would be a barrier to adapting to global warming.

"Most of the water systems are already over-allocated. Somehow there have to be shifts," Field said. "A lot of current water law makes it difficult to make those changes."

Freudenthal, incoming chairman of the Western Governors' Association, vented some of the frustration his colleagues share in making policy to meet the almost-apocalyptic predictions.

"You're asking us to base policy on your data. How damn sure are you of this data?"

The scientists acknowledged that while the science is good, more information needs to be gathered and analyzed for detailed local projections.

"If we were really sure, we wouldn't bother to monitor," said Peter Kareiva, The Nature Conservancy's chief scientist.

"We are not going to reduce the growth of need in energy and we need to understand the economics of it," Freudenthal said later. "It is important we move aggressively on this. But whenever we would push (energy experts about) how much will it cost and how soon it can be done, the discussion became less precise."

Freudenthal and incoming vice chairman Huntsman pledged to keep the group focused on high energy costs and climate change.

"It is clear that this is certainly the issue of our time and it makes no sense for us to ignore what is the 900-pound gorilla of policy decisions," said Freudenthal. "We are looking for the silver lining in a black cloud."

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 03:39 PM

RJ, this'll have to be one of those points we agree to disagree on. Having looked at the language in this particular case, I saw no real threat. I did see another conservative bigot spewing crap about someone who is not white, Christian, and upper-middle class or higher.

Again, I'm all for whomever the DNC designates to make the final determination.

SICKO is Leaked - Only the Corporate Press Cares
by Dr. Gerry Lower | Jun 16 2007 - 2:28pm | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more Dr. Gerry Lower

Herewith is provided a little glimpse into what the American press considers to be newsworthy these days. MSNBC and other news outlets are currently running the latest hot news on Michael Moore's new movie, "SICKO". The MSNBC headline reads "SICKO filmmaker Michael Moore's latest opus, has been leaked onto the Internet before its release. What kind of sicko would do such a thing?"

This "news" was apparently not too bothersome to Michael Moore. The Weinstein Company, Moore's distributor, put a positive spin on the apparent piracy. “Health care impacts everybody right in their homes, and it is not surprising that people are eager to see 'Sicko' and become part of a larger movement” (1).

What was most bothersome about this "news" coverage is the singling out of Michael's movie ... just because it is a convincing condemnation of what medical care in the U.S. has become under bipartisan corporate capitalism.

In point of fact, virtually ALL new movies are leaked onto the Internet, days if not weeks before their release to the public. Most movie producers send out "screeners" to a hundred or more established reviewers prior to public release. All reviewers are, of course, instructed not to leak copies - and virtually every movie screened somehow gets leaked as a matter of certainty. Imagine that.

For those few movies that do not get leaked, "CAMS" appear within days of public release, copies generated seripticiously in the movie theaters with a minicam. These movies are then shared on a global basis, by folks from Russia to China to Europe to the U.S. and Japan. Any given movie will typically have several thousand people downloading it at the same time on a 24/7 basis.

It is a truly global phenomenon and participants can acquire movies made in virtually every country. "Pan's Labrinth" out of Mexico is a marvelous example for its sheer creativity in smoothly telling two stories simultaneously. All in all, this piracy is a global unifying experience on human ground.

It is not difficult to find very savvy people in every country on earth. So, with all of this human sharing and togetherness, one does wonder why Michael's movie was singled out of the sharing chaos for newsroom analysis.

The reason, of course, is to provide a dysfunctional American press with an avenue to attack the work of a "lefty" whose views cannot be tolerated by red or blue America, certainly not by the republican corporate capitalists and the democrat corporate capitalists who run everything in America to the point of even defining what it means to be human and "educated".

In the first place, and on intellectual ground, piracy of intellectual property likely exists as a response to our over-capitalized approaches to intellectual property. Copyright protection has been extended from a little over a decade in Jefferson's day to lifetime plus decades (all hail the Disney Corporation) such that the rich and powerful "now own culture" from the top down. This is more than offensive to people who prefer democracy over capitalism (2).

Since the concept of democracy was revitalized by Spinoza in the late 17th century, "the ultimate aim of government is not to rule, or restrain, by fear, nor to exact obedience, but contrariwise, to free every man from fear, that he may live in all possible security. In other words, to strengthen his natural right to exist and work - without injury to himself or others" (3). If fiscal security were guaranteed to the people, the need for copyright protection would be reduced to years or eliminated altogether.

The news articles on the leaking of "SICKO" do not constitute "news" at all. They are merely a morally and ethically bereft capitalism attempting to defend itself in the face of reason, which it cannot tolerate. Above all, it is critically-important to keep Americans from knowing anything on intelligent ground, which is to say that it is critically-important to keep Americans both enamored with and ignorant of capitalism and its greed-driven destruction of democracy.

These problems with the American press convincingly suggest that we, as a people, are far beyond realistic hopes for self-correction, too far gone and nowhere to go but down. We ought all look forward to the upcoming American Revolutionary awakening, no doubt after the horrible fact.

It is possible to establish a true democracy, based entirely in human rights and the freedoms that flow therefrom, a democracy that would soon convince most of us that we had died and went to heaven, right here on earth. So be it in America. So be it on global human ground.
****

So when is that chickensh*t weasel freddy boy going to debate Mike Moore?

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 03:46 PM

GOP caging? I'm not familiar with that term. Is that where the GOP targets predominantly Democratic districts to try to keep the voters from voting?

Physicians Take on Psychologists over Interrogations Issue
by Valtin
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 12:45:01 PM PDT

(Tip of the hat to Stephen Soldz at Psyche, Science, and Society)

Executive Director Leonard Rubenstein of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has written a letter to Sharon Stephens Brehm, PhD, President of the American Psychological Association (APA), asking her to respond affirmatively to the recent revelations in a Pentagon Office of Inspector General report on detainee abuse. These revelations directlyimplicated military psychologists from the Pentagon's SERE program in "reverse engineering" POW resistance techniques from its schools for use as abusive interrogation guides and torture at Guantanamo Naval Base prison, and elsewhere.
Valtin's diary :: ::

Mr. Rubenstein's letter further lists a number of abusive practices that it asks the APA to abjure 19 different unethical interrogation practices. (At least two of these practices, the use of drugs in interrogation, and the use of sensory bombardment or overload to "overwhelm the senses", have been studied by the APA, in conjunction with the CIA, in only the past three years. See my article on this from a few weeks back.)

In addition, beyond asking for APA to support the currently proposed moratorium on psychologist participation in interrogations, put forth by internal opponents to the current APA policy, PHR is suggesting the following ethical position to guide psychologists in the murky waters of interrogation:

Psychologists do not participate directly in the interrogation of an individual prisoner or detainee. Direct participation includes being present in the interrogation room; asking questions; suggesting questions; providing any advice, consultation, or assistance regarding the use of interrogation techniques with a specific interrogation subject; or monitoring an interrogation for the purpose of offering advice, consultation, evaluation or assistance in the use of techniques with a particular subject.

Psychologists do not offer general advice or training, research, experimentation, facilitation, or any other general assistance, outside the context of an interrogation of a specific subject, regarding use of interrogation methods that are intended to, or that the psychologist has reason to believe will, result in increased levels of psychological distress or harm to the subject.

Many kudos to PHR and its Executive Director, Leonard Rubenstein, for taking on the issue of torture and bringing it to the doorstep of those who participate, and in certain instance, cover or alibi the use of torture and other cruel and inhumane treatment by U.S. military and spy personnel.

GOP caging? I'm not familiar with that term. Is that where the GOP targets predominantly Democratic districts to try to keep the voters from voting?
****

caging list - Caging is a term of art in the direct mail industry, as well as a term applied to an alleged technique of voter suppression. A caging list is a list or database of addresses, updated after a mailing program is completed, with notations on responses received from recipients, with corrections for addresses that mail has been returned undelivered from, or forwarded onward from.

This is a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (that was renewed). The GOP have been caught doing this. It was in emails from the RNC and WH - a couple are tracable back to attorney's in the DOJ.

Here you go Bob in VA:

Tim "Caging List" Griffin to Join Fred Thompson Campaign?
by Tod Westlake
Wed May 30, 2007 at 09:34:34 AM PDT

The WSJ is reporting that Tim Griffin has interviewed to take "a top job" with the Fred Thompson campaign (via The Muck):

Backers look for Fred Thompson to use a June 2 speech to Virginia Republicans to step closer toward the race. Thompson allies have had discussions with Tim Griffin, the Arkansas U.S. attorney and Rove protégé, about taking a top job with the campaign.

Does it get any better than this?
Tod Westlake's diary :: ::

Griffin is the Rove acolyte who became the US Attorney for Arkansas as a part of the USA Purge. As EmptyWheel reminds us in her article for the Guardian, Griffin still serves, unconfirmed by the Senate:

It has been more than 150 days since Griffin's appointment, more than 90 days since Griffin announced he would not submit to Senate confirmation, and more than 50 days since the White House received three recommendations from Boozman. Now, with the process in the hands of the White House, DOJ will not say when it expects a nomination.

It certainly looks like Tim is looking for work. Maybe he sees the writing on the wall, even if the White House doesn't.

Griffin is also at the center of the recent dust-up over Greag Palast, as it was Griffin's emails to which the alleged "caging" lists were attached (I'm in the group who believes Palast is on to something big, so please be polite):
‘Caging’ voters is a crime, a go-to-jail felony.
Griffin wasn’t "involved" in the caging, Ms. Goodling. Griffin, Rove’s right-hand man (right-hand claw), was directing the illegal purge and challenge campaign. How do I know? It’s in the email I got. Thanks. And it’s posted below.
On December 7, 2006, the ragin’, cagin’ Griffin was named, on Rove’s personal demand, US Attorney for Arkansas. Perpetrator became prosecutor.

And this is a person Thompson wants to hire for a "top job" in his campaign? Oh lordy.

Thompson shows his true colors if this is a guy he wants working on his team (not that we should be surprised); and the fact that Griffin is likely to become a lightling rod in the coming weeks could make him a difficult hire. It is clear, however, that Griffin is thinking about moving on, if the WSJ is correct in its reporting.

Is it just me, or is this like some kind of harmonic convergence?

BobVADemHawk on June 16, 2007 at 02:06 PM.

In a respectable manner, I could not agree more with your opinion on this, Bob!!;-)

Note to Goodling & Congress on Caging: It's Voter Suppression, Stupid!
by Vyan
Wed May 23, 2007 at 11:43:30 AM PDT

During the opening statement of her congressional testimony Monica Goodling let slip a little nugget that might go unnoticed but shouldn't.

Tim Griffin was allegedly involved in Voter Caging during the 2004 Elections.

During her questioning Rep Linda Sanchez, who was unfamiliar with the term asked - "What is Voter Caging?"

Monica answered...

It has to do with direct mailing...

As a matter of fact, it has to do with far, far more than just sending out a few postcards.
Vyan's diary :: ::

From Wikipedia.

Caging is a term of art in the direct mail industry. After a mailing is sent, caging is when information is processed that can be learned from the returns. A caging list is the compiled information that is transferred to the organization that hired the direct mail firm, in order for them to update their mailing lists and databases.

Ok, so what?

This what.

Caging has also been used as a form of voter suppression. A political party challenges the validity of a voter's registration; for the voter's ballot to be counted, the voter must prove that their registration is valid.

Voters targeted by caging are often the most vulnerable: those who are unfamiliar with their rights under the law, and those who cannot spare the time, effort, and expense of proving that their registration is valid. Ultimately, caging works by dissuading a voter from casting a ballot, or by ensuring that they cast a provisional ballot, which is less likely to be counted.

With one type of caging, a political party sends registered mail to addresses of registered voters. If the mail is returned as undeliverable - because, for example, the voter refuses to sign for it, the voter isn't present for delivery, or the voter is homeless - the party uses that fact to challenge the registration, arguing that because the voter could not be reached at the address, the registration is fraudulent. It is this use of direct mail caging techniques to target voters which probably resulted in the application of the name to the political tactic.

And why does this matter? Because it's a direct violation of the Federal Voting Rights Act.

On the day of the election, when the voter arrives at the poll and requests a ballot, an operative of the party challenges the validity of their registration.

While the challenge process is prescribed by law, the use of broad, partisan challenges is controversial. For example, in the United States Presidential Election of 2004, the Republican Party employed this process to challenge the validity of tens of thousands of voter registrations in contested states like Florida, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Hey don't those particular states sound familiar. What could it be.. hmm what - oh yeah, I know.

Fired U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden - Nevada.
Fired U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic - Wisconsin.

Temporarily included on the Firing List - U.S. Attorney Gregory Miller - Florida.

As noted by Josh Marshall, U.S. Attorney's were fired from seven out of Nine "Battleground States" as identified by Karl Rove's Office, which as it turns out happened to employ Tim Griffin following the 2004 Election.

And by the way - let me repeat - Caging is Illegal.

The Republican Party argued that the challenges were necessary to combat widespread voter fraud. The Democratic Party countered that the challenges were tantamount to voter suppression, and further argued that the Republican Party had targeted voter registrations on the basis of the race of the voter, in violation of federal law.

It's one thing to simply send out mail and request that a voter who have not cast a vote in the last two Presidential elections verify that their registration is still valid. This is one method of helping ensure for example that the old Chicago tactic of having dead people vote, can be avoided. It's another to specifically target Democrats without doing to same thing to Republicans and then subsequently removed them from the rolls so that their votes won't be counted.

Here's more from Greg Palast at Truthout on how this strategy was used against African-American Servicemen serving in Iraq.

Here's how the scheme worked: The RNC mailed these voters letters in envelopes marked, "Do not forward", to be returned to the sender. These letters were mailed to servicemen and women, some stationed overseas, to their US home addresses. The letters then returned to the Bush-Cheney campaign as "undeliverable."

The lists of soldiers of "undeliverable" letters were transmitted from state headquarters, in this case Florida, to the RNC in Washington. The party could then challenge the voters' registration and thereby prevent their absentee ballot being counted.

Over one million provisional ballots cast in the 2004 race were never counted; over half a million absentee ballots were also rejected. The extraordinary rise in the number of rejected ballots was the result of the widespread multi-state voter challenge campaign by the Republican Party. The operation, of which the purge of Black soldiers was a small part, was the first mass challenge to voting America had seen in two decades.

How exactly was Tim Griffin involved in all this?

Well, it seems he only ran the entire operation.

Voting rights attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called for prison time for the new US Attorney for Arkansas, Timothy Griffin and investigation of Griffin’s former boss, Karl Rove, chief political advisor to President Bush.

“Timothy Griffin,” said Kennedy,”who is the new US attorney in Arkansas, was actually the mastermind behind the voter fraud efforts by the Bush Administration to disenfranchise over a million voters through ‘caging’ techniques - which are illegal.”

Ok, here's something really interesting in the Palast article - you want to know how Monica (who used to be Tim's assistant at the RNC in 2000) knew about the Caging allegations against Griffin? Griffin sent her quotes from Palast's Book and bragged that "U.S. Media hasn't picked the story up".

Palast first reported on the caging list operation for BBC Television’s premier current affairs show, Newsnight, in 2004. In a February 7, 2007 email obtained by subpoena from Rove’s office, Griffin boasted that, “No [US] national media picked up” the BBC story. Griffin attached an excerpt of Armed Madhouse.

Griffin sent his remarks to Monica Goodling, Senior Counsel to Attorney General Gonzales, who has since resigned and invoked the Fifth Amendment rather than answer Congressional questions.

Well, she's answering questions now. But one question we don't have to ask her - thanks again to Josh Marshall - is why she's so chummy with Tim Griffin? Well, you see - she used to work for Griffin doing opposition research for the RNC.

Under questioning by my own representative Maxine Waters, Goodling revealed that she did in fact use her "oppo research skills" to help torpedo and/or delay prospective appointees and career DOJ officials who she thought were "too Liberal".

But it was under questioning by Rep. Bobby Scott that the ramifications of this were made crystal clear when she was asked "Did you break the law [when you used a political litmus test within DOJ hiring]"

Goodling: that’s not a conclusion for me to make. But I do know I crossed the line.

Scott: Which Line?

Goodling: I crossed the line of the civil service rules.

Scott: Rules? Laws! You crossed the line on civil service laws, is that right?

Goodling: I didn't mean to... I don’t believe I intended to commit a crime

Yeah, well you did babycakes.

The Justice Department is investigating whether its former White House liaison used political affiliation in deciding who to hire as entry-level prosecutors in U.S. attorneys' offices around the country, The Associated Press has learned.

Doing so is a violation of federal law.

Isn't it beyond galling that someone who worked as an assistant to Alberto Gonzales, a person who was charged with overseeing the hiring of not just the political appointees, but the career employees also - doesn't know the Fracking LAW!.

Just like her comments about Tim Griffin and caging.

Goodling: I don't believe he intended to do anything wrong...

It was illegal as all hell, but gee - it wasn't wrong.

Maybe, just maybe - the fact that Griffin was known to be involved in an effort to violate Federal Voting Laws was why the Attorney General specifically avoided Senate Confirmation for his appointment to Arkansas?

I'm just saying...

Vyan

Greg Palast has a rec'd diary up on this now.

As usual, it's also crossposted on My Blog.

Black Soldiers were "caged" while fighting in Iraq: Rove emails found!!!
by NMDan
Fri May 25, 2007 at 06:26:20 AM PDT

But whose letters were caged? Here’s where the game turns to deep evil. They targeted Black students on vacation, homeless men — and you’ll love this — Black soldiers sent overseas. They weren’t living at their home voting address because they were shivering under a Humvee in Falluja.

4.5 million voters stand to be excluded from the voting process in 2008 thanks to the Karl Rove and Attorney General Gonzales stunt unless we do somthing about this.
NMDan's diary :: ::

Here is the link to the whole story.
http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/...

I am in a rush this morning so please forgive me for such a brief diary or if someone else has posted on this topic. The rest of the story that is not getting traction are the Attorneys that are still in place and ready to defend this conspiracy of voter suppression. Greg Palast, an investigative reporter claims to have 500 emails proving Rove was deeply involved with the whole caging list and was confirmed by the BBC.

It is important that everyone contact their representatives and the media to make the ground shake!!! We need to make a big wave regarding this issue. If we can push and educate the public on caging. Those guys who have been disenfrachised can re-register to vote by 2008 and Rove and Gonzales's efforts are all in vain.

It would make Rove froth at the mouth....

P.S. Please, Please contact your representatives especially if they are on the senate judiciary committee

If everyone one of us call caging will become an issue they will be investigate!!!

caging list for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term.

Bush Prosecutor Ran 2004 GOP Campaign to "Cage" Black Voters
by Mr Populist
Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 11:24:32 AM PDT

In the curious case of the fired federal prosecutors, the Republicans have once again challenged skeptical Democrats to run the gauntlet and prove a crime has committed, even as they refuse to provide critical evidence to the Judiciary Committee and lawyer-up to avoid any subpoenas to testify under oath. The White House and the RNC are beginning to Mafia dons using their consligliere attorneys to play hide the cheese from a grand jury. Like Michael Corleone told the congressional sub-committee, "You can't prove a thing, I'm respectable pillar of my community." Yeah, right.

Read on for the story behind the story.
Mr Populist's diary :: ::

Tim Griffin: Rove Protégé and Specialist in Black Voter Suppression
The most ethically offensive part of Bush's federal prosecutor replacement plan was to bypass the Senate approval process by using an obscure provision of the Patriot Act that allowed him to make interim, uncontested, appointments of federal prosecutors for his entire second term. Apparently Bush knew early on he'd have to cover his butt from criminal charges if he was elected to a second term. Congress has since rescinded that loophole in the Patriot Act.

Tim Griffin one of the replacement prosecutors is the worst example of the kind of political hacks that Bush has appointed as replacement prosecutors. Tim Griffin would have never gotten the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee charged with vetting the background of federal prosecutors. Griffin is a protégé of Karl Rove's who has since been appointed as a federal prosecutor in Arkansas to replace one of the fired prosecutors. The current Judiciary Committee would like a shot at screening Griffin's credentials as they are obligated to do under the law.

In December 2006, Griffin was named to replace Bud Cummins, a Republican who was well-regarded for his fairness by both Republican and Democratic lawyers in Arkansas. Cummins was put on the Justice Department hit list as early as March 2005 with Griffin tapped as his replacement by January 2006, according to internal administration documents and e-mails. http://www.consortiumnews.com/...

Griffin: Hatchet Man Directing the 2000 Florida Recount War for the RNC
In September 1999, Griffin joined the Bush-Cheney campaign as deputy research director handling what’s known in the Washington political world as "oppo" or opposition research, digging up dirt on political opponents. He also worked as a legal adviser in the Florida recount battle that gained Bush the White House. The appointment of Griffin as a federal prosecutor would be the equivalent of Bill Clinton appointing a partisan operative like James Carvelle to a federal prosecutor position. Carvelle also has a law degree and as much courtroom experience as Griffin. There would be outrage, moaning and gnashing of teeth by the GOP, if the Democrats ever appointed full breed partisan creature like Griffin to a federal prosecutor post.

Fast forward to the 2004 to the 2004 presidential election sweepstakes.

The Salt Lake City Trib:

In an e-mail uncovered and released by the House Judiciary Committee last month, Tim Griffin, once Karl Rove's right-hand man gloated that ''no national press picked up'' a BBC Television story reporting that the Rove team had developed an elaborate scheme to challenge the votes of thousands of African Americans in the 2004 election."

"Caging" African American Voters
In 2004, Griffin used a technique known as "caging" to identify suspect voters. Griffin’s team sent letters to newly registered voters in envelopes barring any forwarding, so they would be returned if a voter wasn’t at that address.

Any African Americans who lived in multi-family dwellings or weren't heads of the household with their name on the mailbox were "caged" by Griffin and challenged. Most of those caged voters did indeed live at the address on the voter registration list. A return of registered letter to the RNC simply meant that the registered voter wasn't in the home to sign for the letter or didn't have his or her name on the mailbox. But still, the Republican poll watchers were given a list of names of voters with returned register letters and challenged all of them regardless of what their identification said. That nullified those votes by legally registered African American voters to the twilight zone of provisional ballots that never get counted into the final vote.

Hint to Tim Griffin: Most people aren’t at home during the day when the mail is delivered, if they have a job. You could get the same rate of returned letters in any zip code area of the United States, Democratic or Republican.

Why weren’t all of those African Americans turned away at the polls using Griffin’s caging technique ever prosecuted for voter fraud? Nearly all of them were legally registered voters and Griffin’s only intent was to conspire to deny voting rights to black Americans. Griffin's subversion of the Voting Rights Act makes him great federal prosecutor timber by the standards of the GOP.

The Beeb Exposes Griffin's Racist Modus Operandi
BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast uncovered Griffin’s role in this practice was proven especially effective in "caging" African-Americans who lived in low-income areas or who were in the U.S. military. "Caged" voters would then be challenged by Republican lawyers when they arrived at the polls or cast absentee ballots. http://www.sltrib.com/...

The American news media ignored this sordid tale of racism by the RNC and now we have a federal prosecutor that actually was a primary organizer of a well orchestrated campaign to deprive black Americans of their voting rights.

It's pathetic that a political hack like Griffin who masterminded a plan to deny blacks the right to vote is now a federal prosecutor sworn to protect the voting rights of African Americans.

Griffin Puffed Up Resume
To make matters worse Tim Griffin puffed up his resume as an attorney. The 38-year-old Griffin claims on his official Web site that he prosecuted 40 criminal cases while at Ft. Campbell, where he was stationed from September 2005 to May 2006. But Army authorities say Ft. Campbell’s records show Griffin only serving as assistant trial counsel on three cases, none of which went to trial. Apparently Griffin was dispatched to Ft. Campbell by the Bush administration for 8 months to be able to make a credible claim that he had as a experience which he never did prior to that.

Somebody in the White House was busy beating down a career path to a federal prosecutor appointment for Tim Griffin a year prior to his appointment during the 2006 winter recess of Congress when Tim was appointed. Could it be the pudgy, self acclaimed "genius" with the same first name as the author of the Communist Manifesto? The man who is our president's most trusted adviser? The one who's last name rhymes with loathe?

Now that his protection from congressional approval has been rescinded by Congress Griffin has refused to cooperate with any attempt to actually confirm him as a federal prosecutor. Griffin also has indicated he will not submit himself to the Senate confirmation process.

Griffin told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette that "I have made the decision not to let my name go forward to the Senate. ... I don’t want to be part of that partisan circus." Yeah right; another Bushevik above the partisan fray. Give me a break, Tim.

The Bible School Zombie Lawyers Invade the Civil Rights Division
It gets worse folks. Over the past six years President Bush has the Justice Department Civil Rights Division with hundreds of grads from fourth tier law programs at evangelical Christian Law Schools like Pat Robertson's Regent University, Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, Oral Roberts University and Messiah College. For every Tim Griffin appointed as federal prosecutor there's 50 Bible school attorneys waiting in the wings at Justice. Is it any wonder that only one case (you've heard me right: 1 case!) of racial discrimination filed by the Civil Rights Division on behalf of a black American since Bush took office in 2000!

What's this I hear about the President having the power to set the tone of the racial climate in the nation? Bush and his personal Egor, Karl Rove apparently are tone deaf.

99% of the cases filed by the Civil Rights Division are reverse discrimination lawsuits filed by white males, religious discrimination complaints, and cases involving First Amendment complaints brought by conservative Christians around such issues as aggressive techniques used by anti-abortion protesters, teaching intelligent design in public schools, putting the 10 Commandments in public buildings, teaching Biblical scripture in public schools, the right of churches to participate in partisan politics, voucher based religious education and the right of churches to receive federal funds to run social service programs.

Indeed both parties play a certain amount of politics but when it gets to the point where you want to vomit from a six year Republican partisan feeding frenzy, it's time for the GOP to go on a fast.

Excellent and depressing new Seymour Hersh article
by leevank
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 01:01:15 PM PDT

Seymour Hersh has an excellent, and extremely depressing new article in the June 25 issue of the New Yorker, about the investigation of Abu Ghraib and other abuse of prisoners. It is the first article I've seen containing extensive interviews with Major General Antonio Taguba, who was forced to retire this past January. And as usual, Hersh interviewed numerous other people.

It's not so much that the article contains anything new and startling, although there are revelations about some truly disgusting conduct at Abu Ghraib that I hadn't previously heard about (including the forced sexual humiliation of a father with his son watching, and a female detainee being forcibly sodomized by a male guard) as how it paints the reaction of bureaucracies (and although it's many other things, the military is definitely a bureaucracy) to those who tell their superiors things that their superiors would really rather not hear. Rather clearly, the bureaucracy was more upset with General Taguba for revealing the conduct than it was with the conduct itself.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/16/1409/88157

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 04:03 PM

Have you heard anything to indicate the Attorney General has been implicated in this?

The reason I ask is because Gonzalez is holding on by a thread. The only reason he is still in there is to provide legal cover for the illegal acts of the Bush administration.

Rjsnj?

Do you have links to go with these posts? You're killing people with dial-up! Not complaining, just saying! IMHO

Do you have links to go with these posts? You're killing people with dial-up! Not complaining, just saying! IMHO
****

yeah ... I have links ...

Bush Administration: Journalist Bill May Benefit Terrorists
By Zachary Coile
The San Francisco Chronicle

Friday 15 June 2007
Committee chair says Justice officials' remarks are "absurd."

Washington - The Bush administration, which opposes legislation to shield journalists from revealing their confidential sources, warned lawmakers Thursday that the measure's broad definition of journalists could protect the media wings of terrorist groups.

But House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., challenged the Justice Department's claim, calling it "totally absurd."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061507H.shtml

Bush Shafts Enron Victims
By Robert L. Borosage
TomPaine.com

Thursday 14 June 2007

Wall Street's investment banks just got another one step closer to making defrauding investors an accepted line of business. And Enron's employees who lost their pensions and the small investors who got fleeced in the Enron frauds just got shafted again - this time at the urging of President George W. Bush.

Wall Street's most powerful investment banks and their friends in high places lobbied the U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement to reject the recommendation of the Securities and Exchange Commission that the Justice Department support defrauded investors in their appeal to the Supreme Court.

The case before the Supreme Court is called Stoneridge v. Scientific-Atlanta, but the Court decision will directly impact the millions of victims of Enron's collapse - and say much about the honesty of U.S. markets.

Briefs in support of the defrauded investors were filed by dozens of state attorneys general, by the Council of Institutional Investors and some of the nation's largest pension funds whose investments are at risk if Wall Street banks can concoct fraudulent schemes with impunity. Yet, in an unprecedented failure to meet his responsibilities to the public, Solicitor General Clement, who represents the United States before the Court, decided to punt.

Clement is not exactly a neutral party. He's a star of the right-wing bar. He clerked for Laurence Silberman and Antonin Scalia, among the most partisan and reactionary judges of our time. He served as an aide to Sen. John Ashcroft. He is an activist in the right-wing Federalist Society that seeks a return to 19th century jurisprudence.

And this spear carrier for the right got his marching orders from the top. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson called directly and arranged for President Bush to weigh in personally.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061407H.shtml

****

Nice ... Count on Bush to protect corrupt corporations.

12 State Legislatures Introduce Impeachment
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-06-16 19:31. Impeachment

By David Swanson

New Hampshire has joined the list of states where a resolution in support of the impeachment of Bush and Cheney has been introduced in the state legislature. The list includes 12 states: New Hampshire, Vermont (where the resolution passed in the Senate), New Hampshire, Texas, Washington, New Mexico, Missouri, Minnesota, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Maine. Similar resolutions have been introduced in a great many cities and towns and have been passed by at least 79 of them. At least 15 state Democratic parties have passed such resolutions as well.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=nh

Impeach Chimpy and Shotgun.

Labor Protests Iraqi Oil Scheme at BearingPoint, Inc. and on Capitol Hill

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23705

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 04:20 PM

Would you really expect anything less from a Republican, money-worshipping, soulless, entity? Republicans, by and large, care about nothing other than their wallets.

Rjsnj,

I thank you, people with dial-up thank you, and your posts are much easier to read when one can click to the source as opposed to scrolling down the blog. IMHO

I wonder how many people do I as do when confronted with a long post; scroll past it. I'm really not trying to be mean, or mad. I'm just presenting my subjective opinion!:-)

bbl, gonna go throw the baseball again.

I thank you, people with dial-up thank you, and your posts are much easier to read when one can click to the source as opposed to scrolling down the blog. IMHO
****

No sweat ...

12 states: New Hampshire, Vermont (where the resolution passed in the Senate), New Hampshire, Texas, Washington, New Mexico, Missouri, Minnesota, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Maine.
Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 04:22 PM

rjs,
How many states are needed? Is it the same as passing a constitutional amendment?

12 states: New Hampshire, Vermont (where the resolution passed in the Senate), New Hampshire, Texas, Washington, New Mexico, Missouri, Minnesota, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Maine.
Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 04:22 PM

rjs,
How many states are needed? Is it the same as passing a constitutional amendment?

I was just catching up on some of my favorite blogs and I ran into this one @ tbogg. I hit me that the CONSTANT use of "I don't "recall" could be a clever dodge to avoid perjury.

Unlike Ray-Gun who kept insisting that he couldn't "remember" this seems too calculated. Of COURSE Ray-Gun couldn't "remember", he was basically a vegetable, but Abu GOnzo stating that "I don't recall" could mean that he remembers everything, but doesn't do it for some underlying reason.

Notice that he doesn't say "I can't recall? He changes (subtly I grant you) the MEANING of that declarative statement from "I have no ability to recall" to "I DO NOT discuss that for reasons of my own ".

So, (to steal a line from Jack Cafferty), the question is WHY "does not" Abu GOnzo recall, and under whose orders "does" he "not"? e-mail your answers to Caffer......

The Memories Collection

They all seem to be doing it after Monica Goodling's pathetic performance, but she was granted immunity she really didn't have much choice. (Watch all the clips at the end, they were obviously coached).

Y'all have a good weekend. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. The liberal revolution is now.

How many states are needed? Is it the same as passing a constitutional amendment?
****

Only one! If only one passes it right through the state house, the constitution compels a resolution for impeachment to be debated in the House. In other words, it's on the table whether the leadership wants it or not.

Now he's worried about runaway spending...after six years of it under his belt?

Bush warns he'll veto runaway spending

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jun 16

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush warned Congress on Saturday that he will use his veto power to stop runaway government spending.

"The American people do not want to return to the days of tax-and-spend policies," Bush said in his radio address.

The House passed a $37 billion budget for the
Homeland Security Department on Friday, but Republicans rallied enough votes to uphold a promised veto from Bush.

The measure — one of several annual spending bills that Congress began to consider this week — exceeds Bush's request for the department by $2.1 billion.

Democrats on Friday defended the extra money in the homeland security bill, noting it contains money to hire 3,000 additional border agents, improve explosive detection at airports and provides money to double the amount of cargo screened on passenger aircraft.

The administration, hoping to appease Republicans who demand fiscal restraint, has pledged to keep overall spending to the level in Bush's proposed budget in February.

The president has had uneven success...

//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070616/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

As opposed to "borrow and spend?" Who does he think he's fooling?

Bush has been running an All-you-can-eat Texas-style Republican "Porkfest out of the White House since 2000...only credit cards accepted.

Who in Congress has said anything about raising taxes? We'll just add it on to the tab that the Republican Congress has already racked up...and which they said would be covered by the economic recovery.

Don't they have any faith in their own domestic policy forecasts?

Posted by DPD on June 16, 2007 at 04:46 PM

"I don't recall means"...I don't intend to tell the truth and have decided to obstruct justice instead.

Organized crime started doing this long ago instead of taking the 5th. I suppose they don't think it sound as bad, but it sure demonstrates a complete lack of respect for the process.

In BushWorld feeling good about lying is more important than how it looks to others.

As opposed to "borrow and spend?" Who does he think he's fooling?

Bush has been running an All-you-can-eat Texas-style Republican "Porkfest out of the White House since 2000...only credit cards accepted.
****

Sandy, it's very simple - now that Democrats are calling the shots in Congress, the Chimp doesn't want to go along with them. I say the relationship should be reciprocal. At this point, there is nothing to be gained from compromising with Mr. 25% and falling. No more money for Iraq and major cuts in military spending should be next.

SiCKO nation: From bakes sales to bankruptcy
by nyceve
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 02:01:09 PM PDT

Did you know that in most American communites you'll see flyers promoting garage sales, bakes sales and all manner of fundraisers, all for one purpose: to assist sick people to pay their medical bills?

And make no mistake, many of these people holding medical fundraisers and begging for money are "insured". But we also know that in the United States being insured by a for-profit insurance company, is a guarantee of absolutely nothing.

Yes indeed, we see things like this constantly and don't blink an eye. I certainly don't. We've been inculcated to think this is normal. Well, it is normal in the United States. This is what they want us to believe. But it isn't. It's sick. It's SiCKO nation.

Perhaps some of you reading this diary will want to tell us about the sort of health care fundraising you've seen promoted, in diners, drugstores, movie theaters, schools, churches, YMCA's, etc. where you live.

Perhaps you or someone in your family has been the recipient of medical fundraising. Please tell us about your experience, if you can.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/16/1719/34548

Nato troops kill Afghan civilian
Nato troops have killed a civilian at the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghan and Nato officials say.
Full Story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6759309.stm

The aftermath of the suicide bomb attack
Watch the video:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/world/video/100000/nb/100744_16x9_nb.asx

Let me assure you that this doesn't happen in the rest of the civilized world. In other industrial societies (with the notable exception of the United States, where healthcare is a privilege, not a right), of course communites come together to assist families mired in illness, but they do it out of a sense of solidarity--not as the payor of last resort.

In the United States, communites come together out of necessity--driven by fear. In the United States, we recognize today it's our neighbor, tomorrow it will be our own family.

Yes indeed, at this very moment, families across America are holding raffles to pay for their neighbor's healthcare.

Let's just say it's as American as apple pie. Garage sales, cakes sales, then . . .bankruptcy.

This is normal, this is just how things are in America.

This was recently in the Billings Gazette.

Medical bills leave many feeling 'there's no way out'

As Christian missionaries in Europe in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Melinda and Troy McInnis aided Afghani refugees hiding from the government.

Some of the refugees so feared being discovered and shipped back to Afghanistan that they refused to seek medical care.

"I almost feel like the same thing," said Troy McInnis, who moved his family to Billings after returning to the United States in 2003. "We cannot take our kids to the doctor."

They can't afford it.

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/06/03/news/local/25-bills.txt#comments

5 killed in Afghanistan suicide bombings
A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up near a U.S. military convoy in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Saturday, killing one civilian and wounding seven others, security officials said.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/06/16/afghanistan.html

Impeachment Without A Conviction? Hell Yes!
by buhdydharma [Subscribe]
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 02:24:22 PM PDT

Ok, first..........Read The Diary!

The rules are about to change and a big chunk of your previously stored talking points are about to get thrown out! I suggest you do some quick limbering up before for you stretch for that NEXT Talking Point to oppose Impeaching our Criminal- in -Chief and his merry band of protofascicts!

Right now and forever after you can stop telling me one thing. You can stop with the whole "we don't have the votes" um, stuff....before you post it.

Because....

I don't CARE if we have the votes anymore.

Impeachment proceedings have consequences that normal hearings don't. It is time to invoke those consequences.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/16/172422/311

The Death of the Bush Doctrine
by Avenging Angel [Subscribe]
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 01:45:21 PM PDT

That wheezing sound you may have heard this week amid the chaos in Gaza, the carnage in Baghdad and the conflict in Lebanon was the final gasps of the Bush Doctrine in its death throes. Just two years after the President and his neo-conservative allies basked in the glow of their self-proclaimed moment of triumph, the Bush Doctrine of no safe havens for terrorists, American preventive war and democracy promotion is discredited, discarded - and dead.
Avenging Angel's diary :: ::

The ruins of the Bush foreign policy vision lay strewn about the Middle East. In the Palestinian territories, Hamas militants now control Gaza after routing the Fatah forces of President Mahmoud Abbas. As Abbas seeks international support for his new prime minister in the West Bank, Hamas, the winner of the 2006 Palestinian elections, has established a de facto parallel government in Gaza. In Lebanon, Walid Eido became the fifth anti-Syrian politician assassinated in two years, even as the U.S.-backed Siniora government battled both Al Qaeda fighters in Palestianian refugee camps and the incessant pressure of Hassan Hasrallah's ever more powerful Shiite Hezbollah movement. And in Iraq, the new rubble of the Shiite shrine in Samarra and Sunni mosques in Basra symbolizes the unending sectarian violence and civil war which has paralyzed both the Baghdad government and the U.S. military surge. From Kabul to Cairo, U.S. backed governments find their democratic institutions under assault, their forces in retreat and their legitimacy in doubt.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/16/16420/7879

****

More like Cheney and Wolfowitz's doctrine. Bush's doctrine is on the best way to cut brush.

Elliot Abrams' plan to build up Fatah Backfired in Gaza
by Lefty Coaster [Subscribe]
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 01:41:50 PM PDT

Elliot Abrams was building up Fatah's forces in Gaza with infusions of arms and money in an attempt to overthrow the Hamas Government. This alarmed Hamas and they acted to eleminate the threat. Abrams' plan blew up in his face. Abrams' meddling has resulted in an embarassing setback for the U.S. in the Middle East.

Abrams said last month

... a lot of what is done during Rice’s frequent trips to the region is "just process" — steps needed in order to keep the Europeans and moderate Arab countries "on the team" and to make sure they feel that the United States is promoting peace in the Middle East.
According to one of the participants in the meeting of Jewish Republicans, Abrams said that he does not believe that the United States can make much progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front. The United States could only see success, Abrams added, on limited issues relating to freedom of movement for Palestinians in the territories and efforts to strengthen the presidential guard of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/16/164150/115

****

Eliott Abrams ... ughhh, Mr. Death Squad. These goons just keep turning up like bad pennies.

U.S. Losing Ground Through Tribal Allies
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-06-16 20:21. Media

By Ali al-Fadhily, Inter Press Service, http://dahrjamailiraq.com

RAMADI, Jun 15 (IPS) - U.S. attempts to win over tribal collaborators
in the al-Anbar province have won it more enemies instead.

The U.S. military has launched one of its biggest operations to date to
regain control of the province, to the west of Baghdad. It had lost
control over the region more than a year back.

The province, which represents a third of the total area of the country
and is inhabited by roughly 2.5 million people, mostly Sunni Muslims,
has stood firm against the U.S. occupation of Iraq since the early days
of occupation that began in March 2003.

Fallujah, the second biggest city in the province after capital Ramadi,
ignited fierce resistance to U.S. forces after they killed 17 unarmed
demonstrators protesting in front of a school occupied by the military
in May 2003.

Resistance then spread to Khalidiya, 80 km west of Baghdad, then Ramadi,
105 km west of Baghdad, and reaching Hit, Haditha and then al-Qa'im on
the Syrian border.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23709

The "surge" is a lie. It's a dismal failure. At this point, there is no reason to fund this occupation further.

Canadian convoy hit by suicide bomber: witnesses
A strike against a Canadian military convoy in Afghanistan on Friday was the work of a suicide bomber, witnesses said.
Full Story:

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/06/15/canada-kandahar.html

New Orleans Turns to International Aid
By Becky Bohrer
The Associated Press

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061607E.shtml

The Bush Administration In One Sentence
by William Rivers Pitt | Mar 2 2007 - 9:40am | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more William Rivers Pitt

History is bunk.
- Henry Ford

Just because the Supreme Court set that poison precedent and anointed Bush, who brought in a crowd of neocon yahoos which earned no attention before the 2000 campaign, just because we 'Muricans vote for the man and not the mob, which in this case turned into the mob that ruined the country, you know, Cheney and Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz and Perle and Feith and Ledeen and Negroponte ...

... just because unreasonably massive tax cuts were combined in 2001 with the economic depth-charge that was the Enron/Arthur Andersen/inflated revenues/overstated tax earnings scandal, which was umbilically connected to the White House, just because the economy (not to mention our whole psyche) absorbed another blow when four commercial airplanes somehow managed to pierce the most impenetrable air defense system in the history of the universe, fooling the entire intelligence community as well, if you believe what you hear...

... just because this happened despite a blizzard of warnings delivered in the weeks and months beforehand, along with a raft of information gathered by the previous administration, just because a bunch of anthrax got mailed to Democrats by the Ashcroft wing of the Republican Party in what were obvious assassination attempts and yet nothing but nothing has been done about it, just because the 9/11 attack was immediately - and I mean the day after immediately - grasped as an excuse to invade Iraq, just because virtually everyone in the administration lied with their bare faces hanging out about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, terrorism ties in Iraq, so break out the plastic sheeting and duct tape because we're all gonna die ...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/5822

****

Impeach the Smirking Chimp and the Shotgun as well.

Canadian convoy hit by suicide bomber: witnesses
****

Kicking, Afghanistan is getting worst and worst. That's because Smirky took his eye off the ball and decided to invade Iraq to take their oil.

It would be nice to say that Iraqi oil had paid for the expensive military occupation of that country. We can not say this, of course, primarily because several Bush appointees made two tragic errors. First, they decided not to accept the advice of military commanders who insisted that a force of no fewer than 450,000 would be needed to ensure that Iraq did not slip into a state of civil unrest. Second, they decided to tear down and rebuild from scratch all military, political, and police structure in Iraq.

The consequences of the first mistake are obvious. Failure to accept the advice of trained military professionals who had spent years working up and testing a plan for military action inside Iraq, has resulted in the civil unrest we see across Iraq today and created an atmosphere there that foreign terrorists have successfully manipulated to their advantage. It has also resulted in a more costly and drawn out war effort than was necessary.

The second error, the disbanding of all Iraqi groups experienced in maintaining order in that nation, left Iraq is disarray. With no familiar structure in place, Iraqi society quickly crumbled. Next, with Iraqis desperate for direction, armed groups unfamiliar with the responsibility of power began roaming the streets of Iraq. This soon led to racially motivated interaction that was typically deadly and significantly enflamed long held resentments.

My point, of course, is that Bush appointees and not military leaders are ultimately responsible for our failures in Iraq, of which their are many. The two I pointed out are to blame for the direction the people of that nation have moved in. Desperate situations, such as those created by this administration in Iraq, typically lead people to take the law into their own hands, as many groups of Iraqis have done.

Obviously, this assesment does not answer the question, "Where do we go now?". It was not meant to. Before we can know what direction to take, we must first know what direction has been taken and what errors in judgement caused the most damage. We want to know this and who was responsible, because in doing so we learn what not to do and learn who not to listen to. This is important because those in error often speak loudest in an attempt to add strength to their position.

My point, of course, is that Bush appointees and not military leaders are ultimately responsible for our failures in Iraq, of which their are many.
****

Marine, the absolute worst two were Douglas Feith and Paul Bremer. If you read Woodward's book, it's obvious they are both clueless ideologues.

Gas rip-off: Tens of thousands tell Congress to get tough with price-gouging!
by Joshua Holland | May 24 2007 - 10:02am | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more Joshua Holland

— first posted at AlterNet

Congress begins hearings today on H.R. 1252, a bill that would make gas price-gouging a federal crime, punishable by 10 years in the slammer. Nancy Pelosi said she'll move the bill to a vote this week if she gets the two-thirds majority she needs to fast track it through.

Price-gouging -- and its flip-side, manipulating prices downwards for electoral gains -- is the epitome of low-hanging fruit. High gas prices hurt, and they hurt ultra-nationalists and white evangelicals and security moms as much as anyone else.

Public Citizen estimates that Big Oil has taken in a quarter of a trillion in profits under the Bushies. Two-thirds of adults in a recent poll said gas prices had caused them "financial hardship."

Earlier this month, gas prices reached an all-time record high, beating out inflation-adjusted prices from 1981. When it comes to the energy sector, you have to be deeply brainwashed to believe the "hidden hand" of the market is at play.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/7665

Our Long National Nightmare Has Just Begun: Like Cornered Rats, GOP Losers More Dangerous Than Ever
by Ted Rall | Nov 9 2006 - 9:21am | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more Ted Rall

"My fellow Americans," assured incoming president Gerald Ford hours after the Watergate scandals forced Richard Nixon to resign, "our long national nightmare is over."

I'm tempted, in the aftermath of the widest and most stunning electoral repudiation of Republicanism since Watergate, to mark the Democratic recapture of governorships, the House of Representatives (and probably the Senate) as the beginning of the end of Bush's fascism lite, and thus a long overdue vindication of what I've been saying about him since his December 2000 coup d'état.

Back in 2001 and 2002, state-controlled media called me radical. Now, with most Americans seeing things my way, I'm mainstream. Yet I'm more scared now.

"Iraq," I wrote a week before the 2003 invasion, "will probably be Bush's Waterloo." And so it has been: Exit polls found voters more motivated by opposition to the war than any other issue. "There was general revulsion in the country, particularly among Democrats and independents, against the conduct of the war in Iraq," said pollster John Zogby. "This was, at the grass roots, a referendum against the war and the president. For Republicans, there was significant disappointment about opportunities lost through enormous budget deficits, threats to civil liberties, a failed social agenda, and the war." Although Democrats failed to nationalize the election, Iraq succeeded: a pitiful seven percent of respondents to the latest Gallup survey still want to "stay the course."

A White House controlled by an unpopular, highly partisan lame duck, a rival party majority without enough votes in Congress to override his veto, and the early start of a highly anticipated 2008 presidential campaign add up to one likely result: gridlock. Bush's legislative and military agendas are dead. But our long national nightmare has just begun.

A Frightening New Security State

We'll be cleaning up Bush's mess long after his scheduled abdication on January 20, 2009. But the trillions of dollars in national debt he has run up and his two losing wars will drain our economy for decades to come. We've provoked a new generation of terrorists. Yet even more damaging and nearly impossible to unravel will be the threats to Americans posed by the neofascist national security apparatus the Bushists will leave behind--unless they use it to remain in power.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/2816

Now, the reason why we must reduce the influence of the Bush administration over military direction is made obvious. The individuals who make up this group are themselves responsible for the greatest failures made in the course of seeking to stabilize Iraq. They have also proved themselves a danger to military planning, as they have shown a willingness to promote only the ideas of those who agree with their ideology and approach.

Often, the most popular ideas turn out to be the worst. This is all that much more common when popularity itself becomes a part of the planning process. In military planning, there are always going to be differences of opinion because their are differing perspectives.

One commander sees the field from one angle, and another from another angle. Each will have different notions of how to proceed as a result. Strangely, both are right and wrong. Good military planning looks at the battlefield from all available angles and incorporates those assessments into a final plan. Adaptation ensures that a given plan is successful.

The Baker/Hamilton report represents the closest thing thus far to a good assessment of the situation in Iraq. Failure to adopt the recommendations of that report should be the last straw. Our success in Iraq may depend upon it.

Obviously, this assesment does not answer the question, "Where do we go now?".
****

marine, as I see it, an evil war is unlikely to ever be won. Of course, we guaranteed failure when Jay Garner was ignored and Bush/Cheney inserted two neocon hacks into the coalition provisional government - namely, Douglas Feith and Paul Bremer. their main concern was in disbanding the Iraqi military, cleaning out anyone who may have been a Baathist and privatizing everything - esepcially the oil industry. What was the result? Chronic unemployment, massive breakdowns in the electrical, water and sewarage systems and chaos - remember all of the looting that went on? It was clear back then that this was degenerating into lawlessness and an environment where factions were going to form to fight for "their turf". Bottom line ... Bush and Cheney couldn't care less. Their main goal was to get a PSA so that the oil profiteers could get in there. Would that have paid for the war? Heck no! It was never all about using Iraqi oil to pay for the war. It was all about Bush/Cheney oil cronies getting the loot.

Marine, the absolute worst two were Douglas Feith and Paul Bremer. If you read Woodward's book, it's obvious they are both clueless ideologues.

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 06:34 PM

They were certainly responsible for a considerable amount of misdirection and misinformation. Still, the people responsible for allowing them to make the tragic errors in judgement that they did are ultimately responsible. Other major failures in judgement made by other individuals selected to fill important positions suggest that an overall lack of leadership exists within the Bush administration. One of the most important thing that a leader must be able to do is identify capable subordinates.

The Baker/Hamilton report represents the closest thing thus far to a good assessment of the situation in Iraq. Failure to adopt the recommendations of that report should be the last straw. Our success in Iraq may depend upon it.
****

Marine, it may too late even for that to work. I read one report that said Bush is determined to make it next to impossible for the next President to withdraw from Iraq. That tells me that not only is he ignoring that report but he may be purposely doing the exact opposite of it's recommendations. The next President is going to need the courage to simply say that enough is enough and it's time to leave.

Still, the people responsible for allowing them to make the tragic errors in judgement that they did are ultimately responsible.
****

That would be mainly Cheney and Rumsfeld. I think Bush is basically Cheney's puppet.

Unhinged Republicans Can't Even Get Their Insults Straight
by Matt Taibbi | Mar 23 2007 - 9:47am | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more Matt Taibbi

I turned on C-Span the other morning, expecting to watch the latest chapter in the purification-by-fire of Alberto Gonzales, and saw an amazing thing. It was so amazing and so hilarious that I coughed hot coffee all over my new laptop. Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Republican of Florida, was howling on the House floor about the lack of "openness" demonstrated by the new Democratic leadership.

"In bill after bill after bill," he shouted, "the minority is closed out!"

Diaz-Balart ... you really have to see this guy to believe him. His public speaking method is something truly awesome to behold. Imagine a Mummenschanz dancer trying to pass a drunk test after downing a bottle of strychnine, and you've got Diaz-Balart explaining himself in congress. He waves his hands and head spasmodically as he talks, and sometimes actually adds words to match his twitches and gestures that make no sense and do not necessarily relate to the subject at hand.

"It's not theory, not height, not almost closed -- it's a closed rule!" he shouted, demonstrating the nonsensical added word "height" by making a "high-low" gesture with his hands.

The issue at hand -- the reason the esteemed Florida congressman was addressing the House floor -- was the failure of the Democrats to allow an "open rule" in the matter of the Gulf Coast Recovery Act, an aid package directed to hurricane victims. An "open rule" is a bill that is sent to the House floor without any restrictions on the number or type of amendments majority or minority members might want to tack on. For instance, a few years ago, when the reauthorization of the Patriot act was sent to the House floor, Vermont's Bernie Sanders submitted an amendment to restrict government access to citizens' library records. The Republicans who controlled the Rules committee at the time rejected that and other amendments, and sent a closed rule to the floor.

They did that a lot in those years. In the two years of the 109th congress, the Republicans allowed only one completely open rule. This was a reflection of a decades-long general evolution in congressional procedure away from bipartisanship and in the direction of unilateralism. The trend really began with the Democrats -- in 1977, when the Democrats were the majority party, eighty-five percent of all bills went to the floor as open rules. By 1994, when the Democrats were kicked out of power, that number had dropped to thirty percent. Particularly during the Reagan years, congressional Democrats had turned the House floor into something of a bully pulpit. And guess who led the Republican charge in bitching about it? You guessed it, Mr. Strychnine-Mummenschanz himself, Lincoln Diaz-Balart. This is the congressman's remarks on the subject back in 1994:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/6293

****

the GOP are all hacks.

The president of this country has never had the last say. It is time that we grew up, stopped throwing up our hands and saying, "It can't be done because the president doesn't want it done." George Washington and the many founders of this republic insisted that no leader in the American government ever be allowed to hold this nation hostage as the Kings of England had once held them hostage.

Are we afraid of how Americans will react if we releave George Bush of his position or simply move in a direction that he does not approve of? Tough. We don't have that luxury. We have to find a viable solution for the good of this country and it matters not that the president approves.

Are we afraid of how Americans will react if we releave George Bush of his position or simply move in a direction that he does not approve of? Tough.
****

Marine, I am 100% on board with impeaching Bush and Cheney for a variety of reasons. I believe that both of them have violated their oathes to uphold the constitution, laws and treaties.

We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by showing that no one is above the law. Quite honestly, I don't care if we have the votes ... it's time to stand up for our constitution and put political calculus away.

Talk to military leaders and see if you don't find that most are willing to challenge their superiors when necessary. It must be done with tact, but when it must be done it must be done. Occassionally one will run into a commander who is absolutely opposed to the notion of a subordinate speaking up, but such a thing is very uncommon. Typically that leader has not been significantly challenged by his superiors nor by the missions they are assigned.

Your best military leaders, those tasked with the most challenging assignments, know that their success depends upon the skill of their subordinate leaders. If they can not be trusted to provide guidance in the absence of supervision, then the mission may fail. Some guideance is absolutely dictated, but outright rigidity is not adopted because it causes subordinate leaders to reframe from make decisions on their own when necessary. In a field that depends upon a leaders ability to adapt to a given situation, this ability is absolutely essential.

George Bush, and the men he and his administration chose to provide direction were incapable of leadering in this manner. They were significantly unskilled when it came to the practice of this type of leadership. Likely, they were more accustomed to administrative leadership roles than to leadership roles in the field.

I need to get busy. Have a nice evening.

Changing gears a bit, from bonddad:

FELIX ZULAUF makes a very interesting observation about why the bond market is selling off:

Suddenly, it seems, everyone agrees the secular downtrend in yields is over, and cyclically and probably secularly yields are on the way up. So far the back-up in yields has not been driven by rising rates of inflation, because inflation in industrial and emerging economies is behaving well. In the later stages of the cycle, inflation will turn up, but it's the supply/demand situation that is driving bonds now. There is less demand. The corporate sector is seeing deteriorating free cash flow because of more capital expenditures. Private-equity companies are buying equities and selling bonds. Also, nations that are running large surpluses, like China and Russia, have announced they plan to buy more equities and other assets, not just government bonds. It's a step-by-step process.

****

If you paid close attention to what unfolded the past couple of weeks, treasury yields are going up despite tame core CPI and PPI numbers. Treasury auctions have been weak ... meaning that there were no buyers wanting 4.8+ percent treasury notes. It was not until the bid was at 5.25% that it started to move. What does this say? Yields are going up for no other reason that there is too much debt! This is why debt does matter ... get it GOP bone-heads, debt does matter. Why should we care about higher yields? It takes away tax money that can be spent elsewhere.

Likely, they were more accustomed to administrative leadership roles than to leadership roles in the field.
****

Bush the MBA presidunce. He was a failure at everything he did in the private sector so it's not surprising that he is a poor leader. Cheney is just an evil person. An evil man can never be a good leader.

For the Chimp MBA = Major Bong Action.

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 04:20 PM

Evening rj,

I suppose this means that he screwed the entire State of California out of any compensation from Enron.

bush is the biggest POS ever and he must be made to pay for screwing America.

It seems like everything bush does is entirely opposite what is expected from OUR government. I think he stays up at night, with cheney, dreaming up ways to screw America so his daddy's crime syndicate will prosper.

This fascist bastard is so much like Hitler that it is frightening.

Education is Goal of Group Pushing for President’s Impeachment
Submitted by Chip on Sat, 2007-06-16 04:43. Impeachment

Education is Goal of Group Pushing for President’s Impeachment
By John Waters Jr.

Inspired by speakers at a Healdsburg impeachment forum early this year, a group of Calistogans have formed the Calistoga Truth and Justice Coalition, hoping to raise awareness of the alleged abuses of the current White House administration — and possibly make a case for the president’s impeachment.

“We were inspired by the speakers — especially Elizabeth de la Vega — at that event,” said Nick Triglia. “We left with a feeling that maybe we could do something to get the community enthused about the erosion of liberties that has taken place in our country.”

Triglia, along with local poet Kirk Fierensen, and Ernesto and Suzy Marron — all coalition charter members — urged author and former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega to state her case against the present Bush administration to the public in the Napa Valley.

Vega will speak at 7 p.m. Monday at the Community Presbyterian Church, Washington and Third streets in Calistoga.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23701

"Do It Yourself" Impeachment - Minneapolis Mobilizes for Citizen-Initiated Impeachment - You Can, Too!
Submitted by Chip on Sat, 2007-06-16 04:30. Impeachment

DIY Impeachment - Here and Around the Country
by DENNIS GEISINGER

Representatives of the grassroots activist group Impeach for Peace and the Green Party of Minnesota met with Minneapolis City Council Members Cam Gordon, Green Party-Ward 2, and Elizabeth Glidden, DFL-Ward 8, in a public forum at the Wolves Den on Franklin Avenue last night.

In his speech to the audience of 30 to 35, Impeach for Peace co-founder Mikael Rudolph exhorted Gordon and Glidden to resolve in favor of impeachment, saying, "America desperately needs leaders at this time, this crucible in our nation's history. I am calling upon you to lead. The rest can follow or tell them on my behalf to get the hell out of our way. Justice must and will be served."

"Honor your oaths," he said.

Cam Gordon, in a phone interview today (Thursday), said that he has no immediate plans to introduce a resolution in the City Council supporting the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, but that he hasn't ruled it out either. "It might come up. There seems to be growing support for it," Gordon said.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23700

The Tower of Babble
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-06-16 00:43. Media

By Steve Bhaerman, www.wakeuplaughing.com

Having spent two weeks in Europe now with four more weeks to go, I see many contrasts between here and the U.S.A. As we flew into Frankfurt, then Paris and then Vienna we saw green fields and thick forests right up to the outskirts of the city. On a bus ride through Slovenia on the way from Croatia to Italy, we saw vast expanses of land not "for" anything, but just "there."

In Vienna, everyone takes public transit, not just the poor folks with no alternative. As one our new friends told us, "I have the luxury of not owning an automobile." There seems to be little of the age segregation that we find in the States. Old people hobble along through the streets where they might well have spent their youth. In Venice, even dogs have a particular European "attitude." On leashes or walking free, they make their way through the narrow streets going about their business, unmindful of the crowds and seeming to crave no attention.

But perhaps the biggest contrast -- and the one most relevant to the challenges we face in America -- is the news. CNN Worldwide and CNN America broadcast two different stories. While America is fed "babblum" about the latest narcissistic misadventures of Paris Hilton, the same CNN shows Europeans the demonstrations at the G8 meetings. While the U.S. media prattles about which of the Presidential candidates is doing a better job manipulating public opinion, CNN World is doing features about peak oil and climate change. The American media shows talking heads rationalizing the latest surge in Iraq. CNN World shows dead Iraqi civilians.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23691

****

Useless corporate media.

About all that Lieberman talk...
by Kagro X
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 01:27:36 PM PDT

When I brought up Joe Lieberman's Backstab o' the Day earlier today, it generated all the usual questions: Why can't we just kick Lieberman out of the Democratic Caucus, and/or strip him of his committee chairmanship?

And the usual questions garnered the usual responses: That Lieberman would switch parties, and that would make Harry Reid the Minority Leader, handing control of the chamber over to the Republicans.

But because this comes up so often, I thought it'd be worth pointing out that the way the Senate organizes itself isn't quite so simple as all that. This subject first came up when Tim Johnson first fell ill, and the answer in that case applies here as well. The Senate, at the start of a new Congress, adopts "organizing resolutions" which are pretty much just what they sound like. They set partisan ratios on the committees, assign chairmanships, etc. And in some rare cases (as when the Senate is evenly divided or anticipates possible changes in control), these resolutions can provide for an orderly transfer of control in the event of a change in the partisan composition of the Senate.

That was the case in the 107th Congress (2001-02), so that when then-Republican Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the GOP, the Senate became evenly divided, and a provision incorporated into the organizing resolution for the 107th kicked in, requiring a power sharing arrangement.

No such clauses exist in the organizing resolutions for the 110th (current) Congress. For that reason, it would be no simple matter for Republicans to take control of the chamber if Lieberman were to officially become a Republican, since the organizing resolutions would still be in effect. In order to change the way the Senate was organized, they'd have to pass a new resolution to supersede the old one, and while they'd have a numerical majority with Lieberman on their side, remember what we're constantly being told: it takes 60 votes to do anything in the Senate.

Yes, the organizing resolutions can be filibustered. Which is why there was so much concern around the time of Senator Johnson's illness. The worry was that the Republicans could filibuster the 110th Congress' organizing resolution, and that because the Senate is a "continuing body" (renewing only 1/3 of the chamber with each election, unlike the House, which renews itself entirely every two years), the organizing resolution of the 109th Congress would presumably still be effective.

Why that didn't happen is a subject unto itself (you can read about it here), but for today's purposes, what matters is that it didn't, and a new set of organizing resolutions were adopted on January 12th: S. Res. 27 and S. Res. 28.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/16/155739/363

rf,

I heard one report that there were tens of thousands of people in Rome demonstrating against president POS. Our POS MSM is downright criminal. They are part of the dumbing down of America.

It has worked well so far on the 35% of morons that still support the POS. They pick their asses with one hand and their noses with the other. Then they switch hands when the POS gives them the signal. The same applies to repig senators and congressmen.

U.S.: 60 Pct of Baghdad Not Controlled

By KIM GAMEL
Saturday, June 16, 2007 4:45 PM EDT

BAGHDAD - Security forces in Baghdad have full control in only 40 percent of the city five months into the pacification campaign, a top American general said Saturday as U.S. troops began an offensive against two al-Qaida strongholds on the capital's southern outskirts.

The military, meanwhile, reported that paratroopers had found the ID cards of two missing U.S. soldiers at an al-Qaida safe house 100 miles north of where they were captured last month, but there was no sign of the men. The house contained computers, video equipment and weapons.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said American troops launched the offensive in Baghdad's Arab Jabour and Salman Pac neighborhoods Friday night. It was the first time in three years that U.S. soldiers entered those areas, where al-Qaida militants build car bombs and launch Katyusha rockets at American bases and Shiite Muslim neighborhoods.

The overall commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said during a news conference with visiting Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the operation would put troops into key al-Qaida-held areas surrounding Baghdad.

Odierno said there was a long way to go in retaking the city from Shiite Muslim militias, Sunni Arab insurgents and al-Qaida terrorists. He said only about "40 percent is really very safe on a routine basis" _ with about 30 percent lacking control and a further 30 percent suffering "a high level of violence."

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/06/16/ap/headlines/d8pq4ano0.prt

****

The surge is yet another GOP fool's errant.

U.S.: 60 Pct of Baghdad Not Controlled

By KIM GAMEL
Saturday, June 16, 2007 4:45 PM EDT

BAGHDAD - Security forces in Baghdad have full control in only 40 percent of the city five months into the pacification campaign, a top American general said Saturday as U.S. troops began an offensive against two al-Qaida strongholds on the capital's southern outskirts.

The military, meanwhile, reported that paratroopers had found the ID cards of two missing U.S. soldiers at an al-Qaida safe house 100 miles north of where they were captured last month, but there was no sign of the men. The house contained computers, video equipment and weapons.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said American troops launched the offensive in Baghdad's Arab Jabour and Salman Pac neighborhoods Friday night. It was the first time in three years that U.S. soldiers entered those areas, where al-Qaida militants build car bombs and launch Katyusha rockets at American bases and Shiite Muslim neighborhoods.

The overall commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, said during a news conference with visiting Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the operation would put troops into key al-Qaida-held areas surrounding Baghdad.

Odierno said there was a long way to go in retaking the city from Shiite Muslim militias, Sunni Arab insurgents and al-Qaida terrorists. He said only about "40 percent is really very safe on a routine basis" _ with about 30 percent lacking control and a further 30 percent suffering "a high level of violence."

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/06/16/ap/headlines/d8pq4ano0.prt

****

The surge is yet another GOP fool's errant.

I heard one report that there were tens of thousands of people in Rome demonstrating against president POS. Our POS MSM is downright criminal. They are part of the dumbing down of America.
****

Hi John,

They seem to like Chimpo in Albania. I think we should give them Chimpo and throw in a Shotgun for free.

The MSM is absolutely useless.

Impeachment Without A Conviction? Hell Yes! Updated
by buhdydharma [Subscribe]
Sat Jun 16, 2007 at 02:24:22 PM PDT

Ok, first..........Read The Diary!

The rules are about to change and a big chunk of your previously stored talking points are about to get thrown out! I suggest you do some quick limbering up before for you stretch for that NEXT Talking Point to oppose Impeaching our Criminal- in -Chief and his merry band of protofascicts!

Right now and forever after you can stop telling me one thing. You can stop with the whole "we don't have the votes" um, stuff....before you post it.

Because....

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/16/172422/311

Good discussion going on impeaching Chimpo and Shotgun. Most are in favor of starting proceeding.

rj,

All we have heard from NASA through our MSM is that the five Russian computers on the space station failed.

What they aren't telling us is that the American solar panel that we brought up and plugged in most likely shorted out the Russian computers.

Why do the repig troll crony POS's always take every opportunity to badmouth Russia?

Enough already.

Yes, that's right folks. If YOU want to "play the game" then You OWE IT TO YOURSELF to have several decks of the NEW BU$HCO "It's ALL in the "Cards"!! Traditional Family Values FUN Game!!

Think of the "FUN" you'll have on your family trips to the Fundie Museum where you can play such "family friendly" games like "Look at the Colored Folks", and "look at those "LIBERULLLL Hippies cleaning up that river".

Order NOW, Cards are being replaced by the minute!! As one Pug CRIMINAL falls on his or sword the EFFIN' MINT will replace the disgraced Bushie with a NEW one. This collection can go on forever, but if you order NOW you will get a "SPECIAL GIFT"!!!

So send your money NOW. Just give us your Credit Card Numbers and hold on to your ass because it's going to be a wild ride!

Send CASH or MONEY ORDER to "Dick Cheney: Hidden Account, Dubai".

(Taxes and License waived. Offer valid EVERYWHERE!--Including Saudi Arabia, Dubai, the Cayman Islands and OTHER "off-shore" income dodges).

Hopefully "offer expires January, 2009".

but...wait there's more!...(one can only hpoe).

What they aren't telling us is that the American solar panel that we brought up and plugged in most likely shorted out the Russian computers.
****

John,

The story is right here:

Two more space station computers revived
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: June 16, 2007

Hoping for the best, space station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov hot wired two computers aboard the international space station today that engineers had feared were victims of fatal power supply failures. To everyone's delight, the machines promptly booted up and appeared to be running normally, two more successes in an improbable recovery from crippling computer crashes last week.

Two of the three computers making up the Russian segment's guidance, navigation and control computers, along with two of three central control computers, were successfully revived Friday when Yurchikhin and Kotov used jumper cables to bypass suspect surge protectors in secondary power supply circuits.

The redundant so-called soft switches were designed to shut off power to their respective computers in the event of surges or spikes in the incoming electricity. Engineers now believe the installation of a new solar power truss last Monday triggered a subtle change in the station's power grid that somehow caused the secondary power supply switches to respond, preventing their computers from booting up.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts117/070616fd9/index2.html

The media is just plain lazy. They can't even get the facts right. Seems likely that a power surge caused the failures.

rj,

Based on chimps record of appointing cronies, I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't appointed astronauts based on their party and religious affiliation.

falwell, dobson, robertson, and the rest of the freakos are most likely thrilled. They get to see God up close. These astronauts obviously know nothing about computers and that they should be shut down whenever one is messing with their voltage supply. Even a two-year old knows that. DUH!

rj,

It looks like you beat me to it. Thanks for finding a report on it. It does appear that the American solar panels did cause the problem. Maybe they bought them at walmart or they were manufactured by cheneyburton.

falwell, dobson, robertson, and the rest of the freakos are most likely thrilled.
****

John, maybe they can shoot them up into space next ... one way ticket of course. They can then be raptured to their hearts content ...

Bye, Bye Birdies?
BOSTON, June 16, 2007
(Christian Science Monitor) This article was written by Mark Clayton.
New data show the populations of some of America's well-known birds in a tailspin, thanks to the one-two punch of habitat fragmentation and, increasingly, global warming.

From the heartland's whippoorwills and meadowlarks to the Northern bobwhite and common terns of the nation's coasts, 20 common bird species tracked by the National Audubon Society have seen their numbers fall 54 percent overall since 1967, with some down about 80 percent, the group reported Thursday.

Most of the trouble lies with loss of bird habitat, and has for decades, due to expanding agriculture and suburban development. The Rufous hummingbird's population has fallen 58 percent due to logging and development in its Pacific Northwest breeding range – and in its winter range in Mexico. The same thing has happened to whippoorwills, whose numbers are down 57 percent due to loss of their forest habitat. At the same time, scientists say changes in migration patterns due to global warming are emerging, too.

"Habitat loss is still the major concern," says Greg Butcher, Audubon's bird conservation director in an interview. "But we're also seeing increasing impact from large-scale problems like global warming."

Thursday's study updates and expands earlier efforts: It adds to the annual Breeding Bird Survey, which is done by the U.S. Geological Survey, some 40 years of data gathered by thousands of volunteers from the Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count program. Together, these data make the new study one of the most comprehensive looks at bird-population trends in North America.

Crows, bluebirds, mourning doves and robins are wintering farther north and their populations are still robust, Dr. Butcher says. But other species that rely on cold climates, like the snow bunting and greater scaup, which breed in Alaskan and Canadian tundra, are showing signs of trouble. As the tundra warms, it cedes to shrubs unsuitable for the birds to breed, Butcher says. Scaup numbers are down 75 percent and bunting 64 percent, in part because these species can't go farther north to breed.

Although populations in some cases dip as low as 500,000 globally, none of the "common" bird species cited is in danger of extinction, Butcher notes. But their struggle mirrors a larger global trend among endangered migratory songbirds and tropical species.

At the current rate, global warming and destroyed bird habitat could lead to the significant decline or extinction of at least 400 of the world's 8,750 bird species, reported another new study, this one focused on climate-change impact. Under certain scenarios, 750 to 1,800 bird species could be imperiled by the year 2100, the study released earlier this month reported.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/15/national/main2933617.shtml

It does appear that the American solar panels did cause the problem.
****

John, I think the engineers miscalculated. They didn't figure out how much voltage these panels would put out and how much the computer's failsafes would tolerate. At least, they found a workaround for the problem.

rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 06:36 PM

Speaking of high gas prices. Did you see the economic news about inflationary pressure?

Here's what the EPI says about gas price inflation.

Inflation forecast

Gas prices are up 43% since January, but inflation is up only 2.45% though June of this year. How can this be? The only way I can justify this is if we are experiencing deflation in other aspects of the market to compensate for the magnanimous gas inflation. Housing market is down, we know that, the automobile industry is depressed.

I find it interested that nobody reports on what inflation really is if the gas inflation is left out of the equation.

Insurers to Halt Medicare Plan Sales

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 16, 2007; A07

Seven insurance companies have agreed to stop marketing private Medicare plans temporarily amid complaints that agents used illegal or unethical sales tactics, Medicare officials announced yesterday.

The companies -- United Healthcare, Humana, WellCare, Universal American Financial, Coventry Health Care, Sterling Life Insurance and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee -- will not resume marketing Medicare Advantage fee-for-service plans until they meet six basic conditions, although they can still sell policies to consumers who ask for them.

Congressional investigators said in hearings last month that some agents seeking to cash in on high commissions have enrolled the mentally incompetent, impersonated Medicare representatives and misrepresented provisions of the plans.

The requirements include telling beneficiaries that the plans do not guarantee a doctor will accept them as a patient, requiring agents to pass a written test on how the plans work and calling prospective beneficiaries to make sure they understand the plan they are enrolling in. The companies also must help doctors and other providers understand how the plans work and provide the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with lists of all agents and marketing and sales events.

"This isn't really enforcement," said Abby L. Block, director of the agency's Center for Beneficiary Choices. "This is a voluntary agreement. In terms of the conditions we've put forward, they are just what we would consider to be good business management."

Collectively the companies account for about 90 percent of the 1.3 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in private fee-for-service plans, Block said. The plans promise extra benefits (and extra profit for insurers) in exchange for reimbursement from the government that is on average 19 percent higher than that for traditional Medicare coverage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061501943.html

****

yet another Bushie failure. It was Chimpo that pushed for these privatized Medicare plans.

rj,

Fantastic. I am surprised that they didn't send falwell's asses (oops ashes) into space.

Have you heard anything about the creationists looking for dinosaurs on Mars? Is bush's planned trip to Mars a "safari" to look for dinosaurs and people? This may be the case since the freakos believe that dinosaurs and people coexisted.

Well, time for the salmon to hit the grill, the crab and shrimp stuffed avocados were a nice Summer salad.

BBL.

Gas prices are up 43% since January, but inflation is up only 2.45% though June of this year. How can this be?
****

david, it's all in how you calculate inflation. When the Federal Reserve bank looks at inflation they consider core CPI:

core CPI:

Core inflation is a measure of inflation which excludes certain items that face volatile price movements.

The preferred measure by the Federal Reserve of core inflation in the United States is the core Personal consumption expenditures price index. This is based on chained dollars.

Since February 2000, the Federal Reserve Board’s semiannual monetary policy reports to Congress have described the Board’s outlook for inflation in terms of the PCE. Prior to that, the inflation outlook was presented in terms of the CPI. In explaining its preference for the PCE, the Board stated: The chain-type price index for PCE draws extensively on data from the consumer price index but, while not entirely free of measurement problems, has several advantages relative to the CPI. The PCE chain-type index is constructed from a formula that reflects the changing composition of spending and thereby avoids some of the upward bias associated with the fixed-weight nature of the CPI. In addition, the weights are based on a more comprehensive measure of expenditures. Finally, historical data used in the PCE price index can be revised to account for newly available information and for improvements in measurement techniques, including those that affect source data from the CPI; the result is a more consistent series over time. —Monetary Policy Report to the Congress, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Feb. 17, 2000

The older preferred measure of inflation in the United States was the Consumer Price Index. This is still used as the indicator for most other countries, and is presented monthly in the US by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This index tends to change more on a month to month basis than does "core inflation". This is because core inflation eliminates products that can have temporary price shocks (i.e. energy, food products). Core inflation is thus intended to be an indicator and predictor of underlying long-term inflation.

The concept of core inflation as aggregate price growth excluding food and energy was introduced in a 1975 paper by Robert J. Gordon.[1] This is the definition of "core inflation" most used for political purposes. Analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicates that this measure is no better than a moving average of the Consumer Price Index as a predictor of inflation. [2]

There are also other types of measuring inflation rates. In the United States the Dallas Federal Reserve computes a trimmed mean PCE price index, which separates "noise" and "signal". This is trimmed at 19.4% at the lower tail end and 25.4% at the upper tail. The Cleveland Federal Reserve computes a Median CPI and a 16% trimmed mean CPI. Trimmed means that the highest rises and declines in prices are trimmed by a certain percentage, attributing to a more accurate measurement on core inflation. In relation to this, the Median CPI is usually higher than the trimmed figures for both PCE and CPI. There also is a median PCE, but is not used for any purpose in determining inflation.

****

Note that core CPI excludes food and energy prices!

Have you heard anything about the creationists looking for dinosaurs on Mars? Is bush's planned trip to Mars a "safari" to look for dinosaurs and people?
****

John,

Tee, Hee, Hee ... I would really love to hear the creationists explain how Mars lost it's atmosphere in just 10,000 years. Clearly, it had a thin atmosphere at one time. There is also evidence of erosion that was likely due to water:

NASA announces discovery of evidence of water on Mars
By Andrew Bridges
Pasadena Bureau Chief
posted: 08:03 pm ET
20 June 2000

SPACE.com has learned that NASA hasdiscovered evidence of water on the Red Planets surface. The finding, made bythe Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, fuels hopes that there may be life onMars.

****

Mars: A Water World? Evidence Mounts, But Scientists Remain Tight-Lipped
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 01:00 pm ET
29 February 2004

PASADENA, California -- Evidence that suggests Mars was once a water-rich world is mounting as scientists scrutinize data from the Mars Exploration rover, Opportunity, busily at work in a small crater at Meridiani Planum. That information may well be leading to a biological bombshell of a finding that the red planet has been, and could well be now, an extraterrestrial home for life.

There is a palpable buzz here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California that something wonderful is about to happen in the exploration of Mars.

There is no doubt that the Opportunity Mars rover is relaying a mother lode of geological data. Using an array of tools carried by the golf cart-sized robot -- from spectrometers, a rock grinder, cameras and powerful microscopic imager -- scientists are carefully piecing together a compelling historical portrait of a wet and wild world.

Where Opportunity now roves, some scientists here suggest, could have been underneath a huge ocean or lake. But what has truly been uncovered by the robot at Meridiani Planum is under judicious and tight-lipped review.

****

Mars may still have large amounts of water
Posted: Fri, Jan 26, 2007, 6:33 AM ET (1133 GMT)
Much of the water and carbon dioxide that Mars had early in its history may still be locked up within the planet, scientists said Thursday. In a paper published in the journal Science, scientists said that the rate of escape of water and carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere, as measured by an instrument on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, is only a small fraction of what was earlier believed. Scientists had previously thought that most of the carbon dioxide and water the planet had early in its history, when the planet was warmed, had been stripped from the atmosphere by solar winds. However, at the current rates of escape, only a small fraction of that original supply would have been lost. Researches argue that either much of the carbon dioxide and water is locked up in hidden subsurface deposits, or that other mechanisms stripped the planet of those volatiles.

I love when the troll morons complain about my posts. What's the matter trolls - is the material too complex for your simple simon brains?

Keep complaining and I'll keep posting even more!

FBI Finds It Frequently Overstepped in Collecting Data
By John Solomon
The Washington Post

Thursday 14 June 2007

An internal FBI audit has found that the bureau potentially violated the law or agency rules more than 1,000 times while collecting data about domestic phone calls, e-mails and financial transactions in recent years, far more than was documented in a Justice Department report in March that ignited bipartisan congressional criticism.

The new audit covers just 10 percent of the bureau's national security investigations since 2002, and so the mistakes in the FBI's domestic surveillance efforts probably number several thousand, bureau officials said in interviews. The earlier report found 22 violations in a much smaller sampling.

The vast majority of the new violations were instances in which telephone companies and Internet providers gave agents phone and e-mail records the agents did not request and were not authorized to collect. The agents retained the information anyway in their files, which mostly concerned suspected terrorist or espionage activities.

But two dozen of the newly-discovered violations involved agents' requests for information that U.S. law did not allow them to have, according to the audit results provided to The Washington Post. Only two such examples were identified earlier in the smaller sample.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061407D.shtml

****

This one should get interesting next week.

Begging His Pardon
by Bill Moyers | Jun 16 2007 - 10:56am | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more Bill Moyers

We have yet another remarkable revelation of the mindset of Washington's ruling clique of neoconservative elites - the people who took us to war from the safety of their Beltway bunkers. Even as Iraq grows bloodier by the day, their passion of the week is to keep one of their own from going to jail.

It is well-known that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby - once Vice President Cheney's most trusted adviser - has been sentenced to 30 months in jail for perjury. Lying. Not a white lie, mind you. A killer lie. Scooter Libby deliberately poured poison into the drinking water of democracy by lying to federal investigators, for the purpose of obstructing justice.

Attempting to trash critics of the war, Libby and his pals in high places - including his boss Dick Cheney - outed a covert CIA agent. Libby then lied to cover their tracks. To throw investigators off the trail, he kicked sand into the eyes of truth. "Libby lied about nearly everything that mattered," wrote the chief prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald. The jury agreed and found him guilty on four felony counts. Judge Reggie B. Walton - a no-nonsense, lock-em-up-and-toss-away-the-key type, appointed to the bench by none other than George W. Bush - called the evidence "overwhelming" and threw the book at Libby.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/8155

rj.

Don't stop posting. I for one really like your posts. The trolls are imploding because failure is their first language.

Trouble on the Horizon for Mitch McConnell?

by Jonathan Singer, Thu Jun 14, 2007 at 10:25:00 PM EST

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell isn't terribly popular. Despite having served over two decades in the Senate (or perhaps because of this) his approval rating has been stuck in the range of 49 percent to 56 percent for the better part of the last two years, according to SurveyUSA. Polling also indicates that McConnell would have serious trouble dispatching at least one potential Democratic candidate. That's why the Kentucky Republican might be a bit worried about news that a major league Democrat in his state is perhaps gearing up for run in 2008, as Joseph Gerth reports for The Louisville Courier-Journal.

Attorney General Greg Stumbo said yesterday he may challenge U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in his bid next year to become the longest-serving senator in Kentucky's history.
During a filming of a public affairs show on WKYT-TV in Lexington, Stumbo said he has been receiving encouragement to run against McConnell, who as minority leader is the most powerful Republican in the Senate.

[...]

Despite the fact that McConnell is only the second Kentuckian ever to lead a party in the U.S. Senate, Democrats appear to be lining up to challenge him. They believe McConnell will be weakened by his support for President Bush's policies, including the war in Iraq.

Because of his role leading Senate Republicans, McConnell must be the chief defender of Bush's policies.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/6/14/22250/7741

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Oh is poor little ole Mitchy in trouble with thvoters ... I can't imagine why. Could be that he is a Chimpo loyalist?

Don't stop posting. I for one really like your posts. The trolls are imploding because failure is their first language.

Posted by Johnedwrd on June 16, 2007 at 09:20 PM
****

John,

Have no fear. The trolls are idiots. They are getting ticked off because their stupid posts are being ignored and what they do post is deleted anyway.

NEW MEDIA Should Not Assist The Resurrection Of Bill Frist Before Or After "SICKO"
by Linda Milazzo | Jun 16 2007 - 8:59pm | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more Linda Milazzo

As much as I personally believe in the goals of ONE VOTE '08 (http://www.onevote08.org), I cannot and will not endorse former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist as its spokesperson. Bill Frist misused his roles as political leader, businessman, citizen and doctor (Terri Shiavo being a prime example) and does not warrant such a reputation-restoring role.

NEW MEDIA mustn't permit Frist to use his position with ONE VOTE '08 to resurrect his public image. NEW MEDIA should be aware that Frist's attempted resurrection is timed conspicuously just prior to the June 29th release of Michael Moore's latest movie, SICKO, which spotlights the sorry state of America's healthcare system.

In SICKO, Moore reveals vast improprieties throughout the nation's healthcare system and focuses on health services providers who have cheated their patients, their patients' families, the government, and we-the-people-taxpayers. Bill Frist's family-owned business, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), certainly fits that bill.

Those who have seen SICKO predict it will have a profound effect on Americans' perception of the healthcare industry. Corporate healthcare providers like Frist's HCA will not be looked upon kindly. In fact, it's likely they'll be despised. Therefore, it is not the least bit surprising that Bill Frist signed on with ONE VOTE '08 in a veiled attempt to sweeten his image before SICKO hits the fan.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/8160

****

Mike Moore is about to kick the Pugs butts yet again. Sp when is that chickensh*t freddy boy going to debate him?

rj,

If much of the water is underground then the core may be cold unlike earth. Have they said anything about Mars' core?

On Coast-to-Coast radio, Art Bell has Richard Hoagland on the radio every once in a while. In fact he will be on June 20. He claims that there are real problems with the Enterprise Mars Mission. He even suggested some time ago that they have found what appear to be man-made structures on Mars. Very interesting.

Richard Hoagland -Fixing NASA- enterprisemission

America's educational bridges to nowhere.

Freedom’s winds write Free spirits,
Democracy’s wings ride Speech currents,
Patriotism never redefined.
Trilogy of a nation’s heart,
Education its diamond gem.

Teachers are the trees of learning
Students picking up the ripe fruits
Spreading apple seed cherry blossoms,
Rainbows all season full spectrums,
Painting homes All American.

Seeds some cloned on slaved columns,
Some weeds of inner city’s blight,
Congress’s Royal select garden,
Flowers bridging homework failures.
Wildflowers that seed Public Schools.

God Bless America’s teachers!
Bridges to someone’s conscience
Where intelligence is truth
Statue of Liberty’s bright torch
Reaching the apex of one’s dreams.

If Congress cannot give the earmarks to PUBLIC EDUCATION then Congress has reach the slums of human compassion for our children and their future. Congress has failed their moral Country Club Religion. What God would elect them to office, what religion claims this Congress, the White House. Is this what religion is about when we get married to Royal Families of Creative Intelligence and Created Wars Creations? Is this religion when we teach hate over love? I think Global Warming is teaching US a lesson with its Warning!

My dreams tortured me on Iraq last night that today is the apex of the Big Lie and tomorrow is the rotation to the bridge back to America. Too many soldiers have lost their dreams of a Created Bush Civil War Quagmire with the signatures of Congress. Some of whom want us to trust them again, then research the intelligence for treason and impeachment. Show US truth is more than a Corporate Promotion to the Highest Office that serves people not Halliburton’s friend’s profits.

I think voters need to send you back to Public Schools that somehow you forgot the Main Streets of the American Conscience. Who am I but a Liberal who they Label and Judge Un-American terminating my dreams to be a writer. Maybe someday the ghost of these words will generate seeds.

Corp’s using Patriot Act info to track down Delinquencies
by Justanothercoverup | Jun 13 2007 - 11:24pm | permalink
article tools: email | print | read more Justanothercoverup

I stumbled on this accidentally, have given the lead to a couple of major Newspapers, but so far haven’t heard anything back yet. I’m a commentator, not an investigative reporter, but even I can tell if it’s newsworthy or not by the stench of our burning civil liberties. The putrid smell of a democracy in decline is becoming overwhelming as it creeps into every segment of our lives – and yesterday it hit home in the oddest of ways…

In order to protect the identity of an individual that has spoken out, I will describe the issue without going into great detail. I received a call from A FEDERAL CREDIT UNION that was looking for a relative of mine. My cell phone is in another of my son’s girlfriend’s name, so is impossible to trace without me giving it out. (There is a way, but I didn’t reveal this to who I spoke with.) I demanded to speak with a manager and wanted to know exactly how they had found my phone number – as it wasn’t on any account with the other individual.

This is part of the message I sent to the media:

I was transferred to a manager – and he was extremely nice. He stated they had some new software that became available after implementation of the Patriot Act, and if I had called XXXX’s cell phone number, it could be traced to me. I said, “Hey, isn’t that illegal?”

The man stated they had just had a meeting about it this morning, and he stated at the meeting he thought it was illegal and an illegal intrusion into people’s personal lives – but found out that because of the Patriot Act, information like that is now sold to the highest bidder, and that COMMERCIAL ENTITIES are able to purchase information mined by NSA to find people on Delinquent accounts.

Yes, I have his name, 800 #, and extension. I told him I would write something about it tonight, and told him I wouldn’t use his name. He seemed outraged that his company was using those practices.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/8104

****

Hmmm, this doesn't sound at all like the "spirit of the law". You create a bad law and it's bound to be abused.

If much of the water is underground then the core may be cold unlike earth. Have they said anything about Mars' core?
****

John, that may be true. Mars is way colder than Earth. The water may be frozen deep beneath the surface. Bottom line is that there is no way Mars went through all of these changes in just 10,000 years. The universe is millions of years old as far as we can currently detect.

Why do the creationists have to take a literal interpretation of the Bible? It seems reasonable that the people of the Bible wrote in terms of their understanding of nature at the time. There is nothing irreconcilable about evolution and God.
God started the process. So what if it took millions of years and many changes.

I suppose the GOP-ERS don't like the idea that they may have come from Chimps. Well, some of the GOP-ERS are prove of de-evolution ... like the main Chimp Bush.

America's educational bridges to nowhere.
****

dlester, good line! Our education system is a bridge to nowhere now with globalization. What will young people study that won't be globalized to cheap foreign labor? We simply need to get a handle on this issue. Putting labor and environmental regulations in every trade agreement is a necessary first step.

Biographical Information

Richard C. Hoagland is a former museum space science Curator; a former NASA Consultant; and, during the historic Apollo Missions to the Moon, was science advisor to Walter Cronkite and CBS News. In the mid-1960's, at the age of 19 (possibly "the youngest museum curator in the country at the time"), Hoagland created his first elaborate commemorative event -- around NASA's first historic unmanned fly-by of the planet Mars, Mariner 4. A simultaneous all-night, transcontinental radio program the evening of the Encounter (linking the museum in Springfield, Mass., and NASA's JPL control center, in Pasadena, Ca.), co-produced by Hoagland and WTIC-Radio, in Hartford, Ct., was subsequently nominated for a Peabody Award, one of journalism's most prestigious.

In the early 1970's, Hoagland proposed to Carl Sagan (along with Eric Burgess) the placement of a "message to Mankind" aboard Pioneer 10 -- humanity's "first unmanned probe of Jupiter"; subsequent to its 1973 Jovian Encounter, celestial mechanics resulted in Pioneer 10 becoming the first artifact to successfully escape the solar system into the vast Galaxy beyond -- carrying "the Plaque" -- whose origins were officially acknowledged by Sagan in the prestigious journal, SCIENCE (175 [1972], 881).

http://www.enterprisemission.com/hoagland.html

****

John,

Richard Hoagland is certainly a credible commentatot. I don't know what to make of the images in the Spirit Landing site. Keep in mind that images are sometimes deceptive. For many years there were observers who thought Mars had canals. We now know this about the so-called canals:

apparent systems of long, straight linear markings on the surface of Mars that are now known to be illusions caused by the chance alignment of craters and other natural surface features seen in telescopes near the limit of resolution. They were the subject of much controversy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and influenced popular thinking about the possibility…

rj,

There has to be a God. I see the stars at night here in the desert and I am in awe of everything around me, the universe, the wildflowers, the insects, human life, trees. There must be a God.

But when someone tries to tell me that their version of God is the right one then I get my back up.

Humans don't have a clue. We are steeped in superstition. The people who wrote the Bible truly thought they had the answer but didn't have a clue. I don't have a problem with them writing all the Bibles they want just don't tell me how to run my life.

I cannot believe that God is hateful as the evangelicals and fundies say.

I believe in a God who is truly loving, and lets us make our own mistakes no matter what we accomplish in life or whatever sexual orientation we possess.

I believe in the Golden Rule which is something the evangelicals and fundies detest. They wouldn't help their own mother fight off a vicious tiger. They would most likely run away and hide behind a rock and cheer the tiger on.

rj,

Art Bell thinks Richard Hoagland should have been the head of NASA and not the crony that bush appointed.

I cannot believe that God is hateful as the evangelicals and fundies say.
****

John, let's start separating the two. Evangelicals are not all fundies. Jim Wallis is an evangelical. I doubt you would have a problem with most of what he has to say on the issues. The right wing fundies, the ones who preach sedition and want to re-write our constitution, are dangerous and hateful.

Art Bell thinks Richard Hoagland should have been the head of NASA and not the crony that bush appointed.
****

Mike Griffin is terrible. As I said, Hoagland is definitely credible. It's just tricky to interpret optical images. A rover sent to this area will prove out what is there.

rj,

It appears that I have the same disease bush has. he didn't have a clue that there were three different religious sects in Iraq. I have an excuse. I never took a course in comparative religions in school. bush is just stupid.

Note that core CPI excludes food and energy prices!

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 09:01 PM

rjs,

Thanks for the feedback about the PCE vs. CPI. I just wish we could see what the whole economy inflation rate is, even though for long term policy decisions the Fed must eliminate the extremes. It is probable that the economy is experiencing deflation, but nothing is being done to correct this because one of the variables is eliminated.

I do not foresee oil prices, and henceforth, energy prices coming down any time soon. I think the wild fluctuations are over and the price will continue skyrocketing for the next forty years, which BTW is when the world runs dry of oil (at current usage level).

By eliminating this reading, like it was 1975 again, the fed is getting a false economic reading. Do you know what I mean?

John, the word has been contorted by some to mean "conservative Christians" ... it's not necessarily the case.

Check this web site out some day:

http://www.sojourners.com/

You can tell from the blogs that they cross-post that it's a decidedly liberal Christian movement.

By eliminating this reading, like it was 1975 again, the fed is getting a false economic reading. Do you know what I mean?

Posted by davidual on June 16, 2007 at 10:16 PM
****

david, I agree - especially in periods where there is a prolonged upward trend in food and energy prices. The decision to eliminate those factors in 1975 was to weed out temporary bumps in the road. But, they no longer seem so temporary ...

I believe in the Golden Rule which is something the evangelicals and fundies detest. They wouldn't help their own mother fight off a vicious tiger. They would most likely run away and hide behind a rock and cheer the tiger on.

Posted by Johnedwrd on June 16, 2007 at 09:59 PM

John,

I consider myself more of a Taoist now that religions have exposed their thirst of money and materialism. The Tao Te Ching (pronounced - Dow Day Ching) was written be Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu around 632 BCE. Here's a link to an online version of The Tao.

Liberal Evangelicals Begin Campaign
by Phillip Elliott
Associated Press 9-18-2006

Liberal evangelicals, weary of a Republican-centric image, launched a campaign Monday to promote Christian values beyond the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.

Red Letter Christians, a project of Sojurners/Call to Renewal, announced plans to establish a grass-roots network of 7,000 moderate and progressive clergy members.

"A debate on moral issues should be central to American politics, but how should we define religious values?" said Jim Wallis, an activist and executive director of the Christian ministry, which also publishes the liberal Sojourners Magazine.

The project's name comes from the color of some Bible's type, with words directly attributed to Jesus appearing in red.

Wallis said Christian conservatives have limited the discussion to abortion and same-sex marriage, two fears that mobilized voters in 2004, and that voters care about more than two the issues.

"We must insist that the ethics of war — and whether we tell the truth about going to war — these are moral values issues too," Wallis said. Democrats have pinned part of their midterm strategy on voters' restlessness with the war in Iraq.

The Red Letter Christians campaign plans to use voter guides for congregants and briefings for their leaders to argue education, poverty and the environment are all evangelical issues. Wallis also launched a new blog this week at BeliefNet.com, debating with former Christian Coalition head and failed Republican Georgia lieutenant governor candidate Ralph Reed.

The faith-based group also hired a full-time coordinator in Ohio, where conservative Ken Blackwell is running against Rep. Ted Strickland, a former Methodist pastor. Another coordinator is soon to arrive in Pennsylvania, where Sen. Rick Santorum faces a tough re-election bid.

Faith-based get-out-the-vote efforts registered scores of new voters during 2004's presidential election. The Southern Baptist Convention's iVoteValues.com campaign alone reached 400,000 voters, the majority of whom voted for President Bush.

And later this week, the Family Research Council will have its Values Voters Summit in Washington, D.C. Speakers will include Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Wallis said the Christian conservatives have lost their independence with too-cozy ties to the Republican Party. He also is quick to note his group is not an extension of the Democratic Party. He is openly critical of Democratic politicians and titled his best-selling book "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."

Hoagland served as a "Curator of Astronomy & Space Science" [3] at the "Springfield Museum of Science", located at The Quadrangle in Springfield, Massachusetts, and as a science adviser to Walter Cronkite and CBS News during the Apollo program. [4]

Hoagland also claims to have co-produced [5] with WTIC (AM) a Peabody Award-nominated radio program, "A Night of Encounter", covering the July 14, 1965, Mariner 4 flyby of the planet Mars. However, the official Peabody Awards entry form (51-65R) lists only Charles Renaud as the producer of the program.[1] WTIC announcer Dick Bertel hosted the program and interviewed Hoagland, and the program also featured a conversation between Hoagland and astronomer Dr. Robert S. Richardson, Associate Director of the Griffith Observatory. [2]

****

I merely said he is technically credible to comment on NASA. I didn;t say I thought he should be the head of NASA.

I also quite clearly said that interpreting images from phtographs is often wrong. I wouldn;t put stock in that until there was a probe right in the area.

Any other interpretation of what I said by the stupid trolls is just spinning.

Richard C. Hoagland is a former museum space science Curator; a former NASA Consultant; and, during the historic Apollo Missions to the Moon, was science advisor to Walter Cronkite and CBS News. In the mid-1960's, at the age of 19 (possibly "the youngest museum curator in the country at the time"), Hoagland created his first elaborate commemorative event -- around NASA's first historic unmanned fly-by of the planet Mars, Mariner 4. A simultaneous all-night, transcontinental radio program the evening of the Encounter (linking the museum in Springfield, Mass., and NASA's JPL control center, in Pasadena, Ca.), co-produced by Hoagland and WTIC-Radio, in Hartford, Ct., was subsequently nominated for a Peabody Award, one of journalism's most prestigious.

****

To me that's technically qualified. If he's into conspiracy theories then I have no interest in that unlike the childish idiotic trolls who live for their right wing conspiracy theories.

JohnE, Here's a nice verse from The Tao:

34
The great Tao flows everywhere.
All things are born from it,
yet it doesn't create them.
It pours itself into its work,
yet it makes no claim.
It nourishes infinite worlds,
yet it doesn't hold on to them.
Since it is merged with all things
and hidden in their hearts,
it can be called humble.
Since all things vanish into it
and it alone endures,
it can be called great.
It isn't aware of its greatness;
thus it is truly great.

If you'd like to purchase a book Ai recommend one translated be Ellen Chen it's a little nicer than this one. There are 81 chapters, but each chapter is a verse and includes the meanings of the verse.

Zbigniew Brzezinski on Charlie Rose Gives Bush an F
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2007-06-16 20:39. Iran | Video and Audio

Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, in a video available at http://www.charlierose.com discusses his new book. He favors negotiating with Iran. He grades three presidents as follows:
Bush I gets a B
Clinton gets a C
Bush II gets an F

****

Chimpo gets an F! So, what else is new.

If you'd like to purchase a book Ai recommend one translated be Ellen Chen it's a little nicer than this one. There are 81 chapters, but each chapter is a verse and includes the meanings of the verse.

Posted by davidual on June 16, 2007 at 10:40 PM
****

david, that is very interesting. I can't say I understand alot about Asian religions. They are very different from Christian/Jewish/Islamic faiths. This is something I need to learn about some day. Thx for the link.

Speaking of Al Gore:

Gore's Global Warming Film Gets Rave Reviews From Climate Scientists

Wednesday, June 28, 2006
E-MAIL STORY
PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION

WASHINGTON — The nation's top climate scientists are giving "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's documentary on global warming, five stars for accuracy.

The former vice president's movie — replete with the prospect of a flooded New York City, an inundated Florida, more and nastier hurricanes, worsening droughts, retreating glaciers and disappearing ice sheets — mostly got the science right, said all 19 climate scientists who had seen the movie or read the book and answered questions from The Associated Press.

The AP contacted more than 100 top climate researchers by e-mail and phone for their opinion. Among those contacted were vocal skeptics of climate change theory. Most scientists had not seen the movie, which is in limited release, or read the book.

But those who have seen it had the same general impression: Gore conveyed the science correctly; the world is getting hotter and it is a manmade catastrophe-in-the-making caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

"Excellent," said William Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School of Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University. "He got all the important material and got it right."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201208,00.html

****

Oh heavens be, Fox news wrote this ... it must be ... true! Tee, Hee, Hee

RJS,

A little background:

Laozi (Chinese: 老子; Pinyin: Lǎozǐ; Wade-Giles: Lao tzu; also Lao Tse, Laotze, Lao Zi, and other variations) was a philosopher of ancient China and an important figure in Taoism (also called Daoism). Laozi literally means "Old Master" and is generally considered an honorific. According to Chinese tradition, Laozi lived in the 6th century BC. Many historians contend that Laozi actually lived in the 4th century BC, concurrent with the Hundred Schools of Thought and Warring States Period, while others claim he is not a historical figure.[1] Laozi was credited with writing the central Taoist work the Daodejing (also called the Tao Te Ching), which was originally known simply by his name. Taishang Laojun is a title for Laozi in the Taoist religion, which refers to him as "One of the Three Pure Ones".

Lao Tzu

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.

Lao Tzu

How can you tell if someone is a religious nut job from the repugnant x-tian reich faith?

The religious nut jobs of the repugnant x-tian reich faith get their Sunday sermon from the office of Rove’s faith based initiative, circulated through the mouth of Bill O’slap-the-monkey.

evening john, david and rjsnj. hope the night finds you all well.

Lao Tzu

Posted by davidual on June 16, 2007 at 10:53 PM
****

Very interesting David:

Some legends elaborate further that the "Old Master" was the teacher of the Buddha, or the Buddha himself.[6]

So this ties into Buddhism ...

There is a theory that Christ actually traveled to the East and learned about Buddhism:

Parallel Sayings of Buddha and Christ

These parallel sayings of Buddha and Christ were shared with people at the joint Buddhist/Christian religious service held at Lake Street Church in Evanston, IL in May.

Although the Buddha and Jesus lived hundreds of years and cultures apart, there are striking parallels to the sayings attributed to them. It is not that they said exactly the same things, it is rather that their distinctive and independent sayings pierce the veil of illusion, reminding us that God, or truth or whatever word that we choose to call that which is ultimate, binds us together in a timeless and infinite garment of mutuality.

The parallel teachings of Buddha and Christ are from the book Jesus and Buddha, the Parallel Teachings by Marcus Borg, Jesus scholar and Buddhist writer, Jack Kornfield. The Buddha sayings are taken from the Dhammapada and the sutras of the Buddha. The Jesus sayings are taken from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

http://www.heartlandsangha.org/parallel-sayings.html

Funny how all these religions really have more in common than you might suspect ...

hi gregg and hybrid,

So let me understand what these childish idiotic trolls are saying. A man who was a science commentator for CBS news is NOT qualified for the job? Why? Just because he subsequently bought into goofy conspiracy theories just like they do!

Yeah, I suppose the trolls should do science commentary. That should be amusing. So tell us trollies about the creationist museum where the humans play with the dinosaurs? Come on idiots - tell us all about it.

global warming takes its toll on human culture but the right wing is still taking the rummy "its the same vase being carried out over and over again" line on reality. and just like rummy was a million miles off in all his assessments and opinions about everything so are the anti-environment no nothings of the right:

A Sacred River Endangered by Global Warming
Glacial Source of Ganges Is Receding

By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, June 17, 2007; Page A14

VARANASI, India -- With her eyes sealed, Ramedi cupped the murky water of the Ganges River in her hands, lifted them toward the sun, and prayed for her husband, her 15 grandchildren and her bad hip. She, like the rest of India's 800 million Hindus, has absolute faith that the river she calls Ganga Ma can heal.

Around Ramedi, who like some Indians has only one name, people converged on the riverbank in the early morning, before the day's heat set in. Women floated necklaces of marigolds on a boat of leaves, a dozen skinny boys soaped their hair as they bathed in their underwear, and a somber group of men carried a body to the banks of the river, a common ritual before the dead are cremated on wooden funeral pyres. To be cremated beside the Ganges, most here believe, brings salvation from the cycle of rebirth.
"Ganga Ma is everything to Hindus. It's our chance to attain nirvana," Ramedi said, emerging from the river, her peach-colored sari dripping along the shoreline.

But the prayer rituals carried out at the water's edge may not last forever -- or even another generation, according to scientists and meteorologists. The Himalayan source of Hinduism's holiest river, they say, is drying up.

In this 3,000-year-old city known as the Jerusalem of India for its intense religious devotion, climate change could throw into turmoil something many devout Hindus thought was immutable: their most intimate religious traditions. The Gangotri glacier, which provides up to 70 percent of the water of the Ganges during the dry summer months, is shrinking at a rate of 40 yards a year, nearly twice as fast as two decades ago, scientists say.

"This may be the first place on Earth where global warming could hurt our very religion. We are becoming an endangered species of Hindus," said Veer Bhadra Mishra, an engineer and director of the Varanasi-based Sankat Mochan Foundation, an organization that advocates for the preservation of the Ganges. "The melting glaciers are a terrible thing. We have to ask ourselves, who are the custodians of our culture if we can't even help our beloved Ganga?"

ganges

Oh yes for those who don't know, here is a link to the Creationist Museum:

http://www.creationmuseum.org/

Judge for yourself ...

Inside the Creation Museum

Adam and Eve frolic amid the dinosaurs in the new $27 million museum that demonstrates Darwin has nothing on the Book of Genesis.

By Gordy Slack
Pages 1 2
Print Email Digg it Del.icio.us My Yahoo RSS Font: S / S+ / S++

Photo © 2007 Monica Lam

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, depicted in the Creation Museum.

May 31, 2007 | PETERSBURG, Ky -- The Creation Museum swung open its stegosaurus-guarded gates to the public Monday, and I have to say it's out of this world. For those of us raised in natural history Meccas like the American Museum in New York, the Smithsonian in Washington, or the Field in Chicago, the beautifully designed museum induces an eerie vertigo. All the familiar characters are here: T. rex, giant skeletons of triceratops and apatosaurus, a pterosaur spreading its wings above the crowd, live exhibits of birds, amphibians and reptiles, and the dripping, hooting and chirping soundtrack of the primeval forest. There are also a couple of unfamiliar faces, for a natural history museum, in the tan and finely muscled bodies of Adam and Eve.

At the ribbon cutting, Ken Ham, the rugged-faced CEO and president of Answers in Genesis, the nonprofit ministry that built the museum, tells an enthusiastic crowd that the Creation Museum will undo the damage done 82 years ago when Clarence Darrow put William Jennings Bryan on the stand in the famous Scopes trial in Dayton, Tenn. "It was the first time the Bible was ridiculed by the media in America, and that was a downward turning point for Christendom," Ham says. "We are going to undo all of that here at the Creation Museum. We are going to answer the questions Bryan wasn't prepared to, and show that belief in every word of the Bible can be defended by modern science."

The Book of Genesis, that famous first chapter of the Bible, which Ham's group has interpreted to claim that the universe was created in six 24-hour days a mere 6,000 years ago, serves as the blueprint for the museum. Astronomy, geology and evolution, as they are commonly understood in mainstream science, have no place here. As Ham later tells me, the conclusions of modern science are not to be trusted, as they are biased by the fickle reasoning of man and a modern antagonism toward faith. On the other hand, he says, the Book of Genesis is true "from the first word to the last."

With a staff of nearly 300 employees, Answers in Genesis, devoted to "Biblical apologetics," produces a daily radio program fed to 860 stations, operates a Web site instructing visitors how to out-argue Darwinists, and organizes about 300 traveling lectures each year. It's also a well-oiled money-raising machine and opened the $27 million museum without a penny of debt to banks or lenders.

The museum is situated in Petersburg, Ky., just 20 miles southwest of Cincinnati, an area chosen in large part because it's within a one-day drive for two-thirds of the country or 200 million Americans. Recent polls show that 40 percent of all Americans would feel at home with the views put forth in the Creation Museum. Only about an equal percentage accept the underlying message of the country's mainstream science museums. Only 39 percent answer yes to the question, "Do you believe that human beings as we know them developed from earlier species of animals?"

The museum's 49 acres of carefully landscaped grounds are encircled by a tall metal fence. Visitors tempted to enter without paying will be discouraged by armed guards in black state-trooper-like uniforms and attack dogs. On Monday, just outside the fence, a group of 50 die-hard atheists and skeptics are gathered in the light rain under a "Rally for Reason" banner. Overhead, a small airplane pulls a sign that says, "Thou Shalt Not Lie." Edwin Kagin, national legal director for American Atheists, explains that as far as he's concerned, AIG "can teach that things fall up if they want. But we want to make it clear that this nonsense is not accepted by those who do not share its fundamentalist religious views. They are trying to drag us back to the Dark Ages."

Among the damp roadside protesters is Lawrence Krauss, author and physics professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and a member of the advisory board of Defcon: Campaign to Defend the Constitution, the group that paid for the airplane tugging around the Seventh Commandment. Krauss calls the museum "anti-science" and says it reflects an erosion of American science education, posing "a threat to American kids already struggling just to get the basic concept of what science is and how it works."

Inside, the museum is organized according to the "Six C's of History": creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, and the final C, consummation, which isn't given much time or space in the exhibits because there still isn't consensus on just how the apocalypse will come down or who goes to heaven and when. At the Creation exhibit, two young T. rexes peacefully watch fish swim in a placid pond. Two curly-haired robotic kids play nearby. In any other place, this would be the setup for a massacre. But this pre-Noah's-flood Jurassic Park is benign. The animals are vegetarians and plants don't have thorns. The fossil record, says the museum, confirms all of this.

Mark Looy, co-founder of Answers in Genesis, is walking me through the museum. He explains that the great flood is responsible for the fossil record. Plants and animals are distributed in different strata based not on the time of their formation, but on where the flood waters moved them before receding. Those areas where no thorns or other defensive or hostile plants are found, he explains, are pre-flood forms.

Later Ham tells me that his skeptics, who cling to the "millions of years" theory, are wrong about when dinosaurs stalked the Earth. He cites a recent discovery of intact blood vessels in some T. rex tissue, suggesting that the finds are only thousands of years old, not 65 million, as paleontologists say. "They will try to come up with an explanation to keep the fossils old," says Ham, "but we don't need to. The explanation of their age is already right there in the Bible."

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/05/31/creation_museum/

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Judge for yourself ... yes some real sound science here.

In this 3,000-year-old city known as the Jerusalem of India for its intense religious devotion, climate change could throw into turmoil something many devout Hindus thought was immutable: their most intimate religious traditions. The Gangotri glacier, which provides up to 70 percent of the water of the Ganges during the dry summer months, is shrinking at a rate of 40 yards a year, nearly twice as fast as two decades ago, scientists say.
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Gregg, you'll have to ask the trolls for their scientific opinion ... they seem to think they know more than everyone else.

Now, about that Creationist Museum where the humans ride the Dinosaurs ...

evening john, david and rjsnj. hope the night finds you all well.

Posted by gregg on June 16, 2007 at 10:58 PM
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Hi there gregg! Doing just fine.

Evening david,

Thanks for the information on Taoism.

Evening gregg,

i have taken the troll ignoring oath and can not waver for fear of being hit in the face with a custard pie.

this is an interesting study about happiness in the usa:

Americans less happy today than 30 years ago: study
Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:34AM EDT
ROME (Reuters Life!) - Americans are less happy today than they were 30 years ago thanks to longer working hours and a deterioration in the quality of their relationships with friends and neighbors, according to an Italian study.

Researchers presenting their work at a conference on "policies for happiness" at Italy's Siena University honed in on two major forces that boost happiness-- higher income and better social relationships -- and put a dollar value on them.

Based on that, they concluded a person with no friends or social relations with neighbors would have to earn $320,000 more each year than someone who did to enjoy the same level of happiness.

And while the average American paycheck had risen over the past 30 years, its happiness-boosting benefits were more than offset by a drop in the quality of relationships over the period.

"The main cause is a decline in the so-called social capital -- increased loneliness, increased perception of others as untrustworthy and unfair," said Stefano Bartolini, one of the authors of the study.

"Social contacts have worsened, people have less and less relationships among neighbors, relatives and friends."

He and two other Italian researchers looked at data from 1975 to 2004 collected by the annual General Social Surveys that monitors change in U.S. society through interviews with thousands of Americans.

By contrast, it appeared that based on the limited data available the happiness trend had remained largely stable in Europe, which had apparently avoided some of the changes in the American workplace like longer hours and more pressure.

..."increased perception of others as untrustworthy and unfair,"....i find this consistent with the flood of paranoid television shows we watch in which most everyone is some sort of demented flesh eater and the leadership we have received from political and corporate folk encouraging greed, consumption and the view that personal security should always be one's agenda for the day...

happiness is not really a warm gun...bang, bang shoop shoop...

good evening john. nice clear starry night here.

You are an incredibly stupid person rj. P.T. Barnum built an successful enterprise catering to you and your ilk.

Posted by Harpo_Says_Hello on June 16, 2007 at 10:59 PM
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harpo, you are truly the most childish moron I ever ran across. What are you about 5 years old? I am surprised daddy and mommy let you use a computer late at night.

You distorted everything I said. In fact, it was John that brought up Hoagland. I know nothing about him except that brief biography.

I also clearly said that pictures he is showing on that Coast to Coast web site can easily be wring and that you need hard data to come to a conclusion that a structure was man made. Data from a robot.

From the biography posted, he does have a background in science commentary. Do you think you know more science than he does? Come on, impress us with your genius baby harpy.

This is typical right wing bullcrap. Thank a small comment and blow it all out of context.
In short harpy, get lost.

Evening Hybrid.

rj,

Do you think the dinosaurs helped write the Bible?

Do you think the dinosaurs helped write the Bible?

Posted by Johnedwrd on June 16, 2007 at 11:26 PM
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John, we will have to consult the trolls on that one. Man, I bet those folks had to do lots of running back then. It can't be fun getting bitten by a T-Rex.

gregg,

We have a flash flood warning for the county. There are some huge red cells just west of us. They appear to be just hovering with no general direction. It's 80 degrees.

rj, funny the dinosaurs aren't mentioned in the Bible.

Why did God kill off the dinosaurs and not the crocodiles, or alligators or snakes? They are reptiles too.

Good evening, all.

Just stopping by.

Note that core CPI excludes food and energy prices!

david and rj,

As these figures don't affect the top 2%, what do they care?

But to those living on a minimum wage, any flucuation in either can be a back breaker for some poor working class families. Is there any question that this is at the root of all the mortgage defaults and bankrupcies now happening in this nation?

It might not seem like a big problem to the Fed, because the are looking at the economy from a marcro perspective, but most citizens live from a micro economical standpoint. Once you fall off the edge, it's hard to claw yourself back in this fake global economy.

If Republicans really cared about family values, they would start compiling realistic enconomic numbers again and face the problem straightfoward instead of encouraging citizens to continue to speculate with their few remaining resources.

But they don't care about others. They think they can survive even if the rest of us end up in the gutter.

Those in the middle class are starting to see the bottom falling out right beneath them and it's not an encouraging sight...no matter how much the Fed says things are O.K. Blaming all our trobles on scapgoats like illegal workers instead of the governmental officals that have led us down this path of deception, isn't going to work this time, Mr. Rove.

Reagan got by with it because he was senile and likeable.

By contrast, Cheney is old and mean. Bush is sneaky and dopey. Rove is corrupt and dastardly. And Karen Hughes is witching and bitchy. When you are a baby boomer facing retirement, you don't turn to the Seven Dwarfs for financial advice.

The largest voting block in the near future will be predominately females reaching retirement age. They look for financial security not risky business and endless wars. And they don't take kindly to any crooks cheating their children and grandchildren out of a promising future.

Fiscal conservatives are also angry that they were conned. On the this issue and other like separation of powers, habeus corpus, and torture there is a coalition of right and left forming that does not bode well for the Republicans.

The Independents and moderates are already is full revolt. Just let Bush bring up Social Security reform or immigration one too many times and the barbarians will be at the gated communities these GOP multinationals are hiding behind.

The religious nut jobs of the repugnant x-tian reich faith get their Sunday sermon from the office of Rove’s faith based initiative, circulated through the mouth of Bill O’slap-the-monkey.

Posted by HybridFuel on June 16, 2007 at 10:57 PM
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The Luffa Boy BillO ... he's been sorta quiet lately. He must be gearing up for the "war on Christmas".

It's called evolution moron trolls.

it is a well known fact that dinosaurs played no roll whatever in writing the bible. on the other hand all the extras in the parting of the sea scene in the ten commandments staring " you'll never pull my makeup kit from my cold dead hands " heston were played by dinosaurs dressed up to look like people. and of course it is well known that all participants in that very northern territories sport called curling are actually genetically engineered offspring of the first dinosaur that adam and eve rode to the serpents house for a sangria party...

Is there any question that this is at the root of all the mortgage defaults and bankrupcies now happening in this nation?
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Sandy, food and energy are back breakers. But, don't forget the real killer and one of the leading causes of bankruptcy - health care costs.

bush is has never failed to turn gold into shit. he has the shit touch:

CBS) By CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller.
To hear President Bush tell it, he's on the side of the angels when it comes to federal spending.

In his Saturday radio address, he blasted congressional Democrats for pursuing "tax and spend policies," while trumpeting his own commitment to keep taxes low and restrain federal spending.

He said his plan will produce a balanced federal budget by 2012.

But what Mr. Bush didn't mention, and what he almost never mentions, is the National Debt.

With good reason.

On the day he took office, the National Debt stood at this unfathomable number:

$5,727.776.738,304.64

In fiscal shorthand, that's $5.7 trillion dollars. Trillion with a "T."

Six and a half years later, the Bureau of Public Debt tells us the National Debt clocks in at a staggering:

$8,835,268,597,181.95

That's $8.8 trillion – an increase of $3.1 trillion dollars since January 20, 2001. And that amounts to a jump of 54% during Mr. Bush's watch.

gregg?

hit in the face with a custard pie?

such a waste of a custard pie.

might be fun though!

Adam and eve rode to the serpents house for a sangria party...
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Tee, Hee, Hee

The Flintstones come to the Garden of Eden ...

When you are a baby boomer facing retirement, you don't turn to the Seven Dwarfs for financial advice.

****

Good one Sandy!

gregg,

Where did adam and eve learn how to ride?

I thought "you'll never pull my makeup kit from my cold dead hands" had an alternate saying "you'll never pull my NRA approved gun from my cold dead hands".

Evening Sandy.

You guys are on a roll tonight.

david, blueberry pie with home made vanilla ice cream would be fun...anyhow i must continue with my pledge to avoid any interaction with the you-know-whats and tomorrow a guy is coming at 7:30am to give me an estimate for the foundation of the kitchen addition i plan to spend the rest of my life procrastinating about so i will take my leave friends and see you in the morning when the coffee will be strong and the early birds loud.

careful of those storms john and watch out for groups of velociraptors hanging around the back of the church during services in the morning...word is they "make change" from the collection plate in ways that are never to the advantage of the saved.

good night

Posted by rjsnj on June 16, 2007 at 11:38 PM

Thom Hartman was saying last week that over 50% of bankrupcies are for medical reasons. What the do-nothing 109th congress did with the bankrupcies act is shameless. They couldn't have done it without president POS's blessing.

Speaking of foreclosures, here's an article in the WSJ:

Home Foreclosures Hit Fresh High
Troubles Could Deepen
As Effects of Higher Rates
And Tighter Credit Kick In
By DAMIAN PALETTA AND JAMES R. HAGERTY
June 15, 2007; Page A3

WASHINGTON -- A record number of homeowners entered the foreclosure process during the first quarter, topping the previous high set in the final quarter of 2006 and reflecting continued stress on the jittery housing market, according to a report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The trade group's chief economist, Doug Duncan, predicted that delinquencies would likely rise, peaking later in the year. He also said rising foreclosures probably wouldn't peak until next year. "Our view is that we will probably see modest increases in delinquencies and foreclosures for the next couple of quarters," Mr. Duncan said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118183372305735393.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

john, adam learned to ride at his local public high school from the gym teacher who doubled as a drivers ed instructor. of course there were no other students at that time as adam and eve were in the process of deciding to stop using condoms having watched an abstinence video they found in the library....anyhow where was i?...oh yeah so the parking lot back then was filled with all sorts of really sharp dinosaurs and adam would go out practice driving with the gym teacher ( who was of course an alien from venus ) alot.

off to bed now.

Evening gregg,

Good luck on your kitchen. I am still paying for my indoor swimming pool and hot tub. I think I will be paying for the rest of my life.

Thom Hartman was saying last week that over 50% of bankrupcies are for medical reasons.
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John, that's round about what I read when the GOP-ERS changed the bankruptcy laws. There was a study from a Harvard in this area:

Medical Bills Leading Cause of Bankruptcy, Harvard Study Finds

Advertisement

February 3, 2005
Illness and medical bills caused half of the 1,458,000 personal bankruptcies in 2001, according to a study published by the journal Health Affairs.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/bankruptcy_study.html

Inside, the museum is organized according to the "Six C's of History": creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, and the final C, consummation

It's not hard to see where Rove found his calling. The six Cs seem to be a description of his political philosophy and the tenets that have guided him in his career as a dirty tricks GOP strategist. Does the museum have an exhibit on Satan?

Perhaps the creators of the Creation Museum should have spent some time considering the supreme C as in "crass commercialism"...as in their exploitation of the Lord's Word to achieve glory and profit?

We have a Museum of Quakery in Missouri that epitomizes the snake oil salesmen of another era in America. Perhaps it should be moved to Kentucky and planted down the road as a companion museum?

I thought the Blackwell mercenary troops with attack dogs on leashes are a nice touch. It adds a degree of authenticity to the place...I wonder why they aren't wearing white-hooded robes and planting burning crosses at the gate?

I wonder why they aren't wearing white-hooded robes and planting burning crosses at the gate?
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Sounds like a job for the trolls.

BBL

The "Chiller" channel has ads concerning Mortgages. "you can borrow $200,000 and pay only as low as $850 a month". Wow.

What they don't tell you is that this is interest only so a person is in debt for the rest of their lives. They go on to say "Use the money saved to buy a boat, a car or remodel your house".

Do you believe these criminal ads? Where is the FTC. They should be stomped on but instead, bush's rich buddies get richer. Soon, cheney will open debtor prisons. The globalists will then have free labor since the camps will be adjacent to their factories.

That's $8.8 trillion – an increase of $3.1 trillion dollars since January 20, 2001. And that amounts to a jump of 54% during Mr. Bush's watch.

Posted by gregg on June 16, 2007 at 11:40 PM

The Lord created the world in six days and Bush destroyed it in six years. I guess Bush wasn't trying hard enough?

Well, you all I must turn in.

All have a great today!

The globalists will then have free labor since the camps will be adjacent to their factories.

Posted by Johnedwrd on June 17, 2007 at 12:01 AM

John,

Someone posted an article earlier today about Chinese slave labor camps...no doubt filled by those that got too much in debt to the company store.

SandyH on June 17, 2007 at 12:06 AM

And, just think, Mr. Bush still has a year and a half to go, one more budget cycle to screw with (2009).

I'm heading out, too.

Good Night, everyone.

My satellite was off for about 10 minutes. We had a heavy rain with a little lightning but no wind. Very unusual.

My satellite was off for about 10 minutes. We had a heavy rain with a little lightning but no wind. Very unusual.

Athletes' remains found in Iraq
The decomposed bodies of 13 members of an Iraqi taekwondo team seized a year ago have been found, officials say. Hundreds of mourners gathered at a funeral procession. Full Story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6759937.stm

Good luck on your kitchen. I am still paying for my indoor swimming pool and hot tub. I think I will be paying for the rest of my life.

Posted by Johnedwrd on June 16, 2007 at 11:52 PM

John,

I'd love to have one of those small indoor pools that you can swim against the current. But they are too pricey for me.

Enjoy your new additions, guys. I believe DPD is going through a major rehab, too. Sounds like the Rev is just starting his second career as a homesteader.

I'm too old for all that drama and dust. I think I'll just move into one of those cute little garden villas and enjoy my retirement in comfort...with a laundry on the ground level.

Good night.

Sandy,

Do you think walmart has slave labor camps in China?

Goodnight Sandy.

I am hitting the sack too. See y'all in the morning.

wow! i had no idea. this is straight up 700 club madness. too much!

anyhow good morning democrats, liberals and progressives.

Morning gregg,

I guess those moron trolls never heard about coal and peat. Coal was formed in ancient lake beds where vegetable matter deposited over the millenia and was covered in later millenia with silt and clay from the surrounding mountains.

These beds were under great pressure from the overlying silts, and over the millenia were turned into coal. We have bituminous coal and anthracite coal. Anthracite is just a little more "done" so to speak.

Vegetable matter under these conditions that has not yet been covered sufficiently to produce coal is called peat.

There is my geology lesson for today.

"Behemoth" description fits that of a dinosaur
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Frosty, you are a mental midget. Did you stop to think that a Behemoth could mean almost any large creature?

I bet those biblical folks had lots of fun running away from the dinosaurs.

What a right wingnut!

God bless you too US.. I don't know where they went, I had to go to the saloon for awhile.

Posted by FrostyDelanoRoosevelt on June 17, 2007 at 02:42 AM
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As opposed to continously ... frosty, you are a drunken baffoon.

This is news. Who gives a crap. the ray-gun library is probably filled with his coloring books and "B" movies.

Step taken to make Reagan Library officially part of Simi Valley

Not "small" statements... small stupid statements.

Posted by Harpo_Says_Hello on June 17, 2007 at 07:47 AM
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Give it up loser baby harpy. You are just distorting a true statement. Hoagland was a science commentator. Do you figure he knows nothing about the subject?

I also clearly said that I don't go for conspiracy theories like you idiotic right wingnuts. What Hoagland let hiomself be turned into is not very scientific.

Now buzz off asshat.

This is news. Who gives a crap. the ray-gun library is probably filled with his coloring books and "B" movies.
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So what will the Chimpo library be filled with?

My Pet Goat and fart jokes.

For you trolls out there "B" movies are the movies we used to see at the Saturday Matinee. They are crap and corny as hell.

ray-gun was never part of the incredible MGM star system because he was a crappy actor.

I am still trying to find out who is paying the $550 Million for the chimp library.

It had better not be the taxpayers or I will flip out. I believe all past presidents paid for their own libraries with donations.

Morning rj.

For you trolls out there "B" movies are the movies we used to see at the Saturday Matinee. They are crap and corny as hell.

Posted by Johnedwrd on June 17, 2007 at 07:53 AM
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John, explanation are wasted on these losers.

There's a new thread at the top.

Morning rj.

Posted by Johnedwrd on June 17, 2007 at 07:58 AM
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mornin John, I am moving up to the top thread in awhile. This one is now way too long.

Please copy/paste the original statements you have referenced above.

Posted by Harpo_Says_Hello on June 17, 2007 at 08:00 AM
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harpy you really are a child. I know what I said.

To paraphrase, I said he has credentials to comment on Mars. That was all I said. I also cautioned John not to take "evidence" from photographs taken at a distance too seriously, They often are wrong. I also said I thought Griffin was a Bush hack and not a very good NASA admin.

So, where are you going from there asshat?

Do you even have a point?

Harpy, you have no valid point. I never said that Hoagland should replace Griffin. I did say that Griffin was not a good administrator. the reason I say that is that it took him way too long to get the shuttle program back online. When it did come online, there still were problems with foam breaking off and striking the orbiter. Fortunately, nothing bad happened. He also is a bit a flake given his comments on global warming. It's not what he said but that he completely reversed himself in a week's time. A scientist does not do that without compelling reason - new evidence, etc...

I cannot possibly say this better than Mr. Dyckman, so I will not try or even comment beyond saying that this article should inform our dialog.