Thursday, March 22, 2007

Your Baby Has a Fever

Coming up next! Andrew C. Revkin, reporter for the New York Times and author of The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World.

Remember Sam's ultimatum for today: Call Congress about under-oath testimony for White House officials ... or Sam will play children's music. He's serious, folks.

353 comments:

1 – 200 of 353   Newer›   Newest»
bibimimi said...

baby's still on fire

Anonymous said...

Mornin!

Sunshine Jim said...

Spoink!

Anonymous said...

"Cate [Edwards] was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 4, 1982. She attended public schools and graduated at the top of her high school class in 2000 from Broughton High School in Raleigh. ...She currently attends Harvard Law School."

what a disappointment she is...

GBC said...

Hola Sunny J!

toniD said...

Why Conservatives Can't Govern
Robert L. Borosage
March 19, 2007

'Robert L. Borosage is co-director of the Campaign For America's Future.

Donald Rumsfeld has been axed. Tom DeLay cut and ran. “Scooter” Libby stands convicted. Michael “you’re doing a heck of a job” Brown was tossed. Newt Gingrich disgraced himself. And now the clueless Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, is surely the next to go.

Why this confederacy of dunces? The conservative National Review cover asks plaintively, “Can’t Anyone Here Play this Game?” Time Magazine puts conservative icon Ronald Reagan on its cover, a tear rolling down his face, reporting on “How the Right Went Wrong.” But it’s not incompetence or corruption—although both abound—that fostered the misrule of this conservative administration. And Reagan would feel not dismayed, but right at home with the follies and crimes. Remember: Reagan’s attorney general, Edwin Meese, was disgraced. His national security advisor copped a plea. Oliver North stood convicted. His defense secretary, Caspar Weinberger, would have been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice if George Bush the first hadn’t issued a preemptive pardon.

What is it about conservative administrations that lead them into disgrace and indictment? Incompetence isn’t at the core of these scandals—ideology is.

Conservative presidents—from Nixon to Reagan to Bush—believe in the imperial presidency. They assume that in the area of the national security, the president operates above the law, or as Nixon put it, “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” They operate routinely behind the shield of secrecy and executive privilege, with utter disdain for the law. So Reagan spurned the Congress when it cut off funds for his loony covert war on tiny Nicaragua. And Bush trampled the laws to set up the torture camps in Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo and elsewhere. Each would seek to keep their lawlessness secret; and that would foster lies, obstruction of justice and ultimately disgrace.

LINK

Sunshine Jim said...

eya GBC!

mornin bud.

glad i live on a hill.

too bad it's made of clay...

Sunshine Jim said...

most of the life in the ocean

depends on that very small zone that hugs the worlds shores.

the area where we dump all our shit and pollutants.

we've just about killed them off.

toniD said...

I was thinking, if Edwards has to drop out, it might be a great time for Gore to get in.

blah blah blah said...

i got an idea. lets buy some ocean front property and set up preservations for conservatives. they could all live right down at sea level, under the condition that they stfu that global warming isn't real. one caveat is that they can't leave when the water rises...

toniD said...

TPM: It's a direct attack on the rule of law
by Joe Sudbay (DC) · 3/22/2007 08:57:00 AM ET

Josh Marshall explains it. Josh knows:
Back up a bit from the sparks flying over executive privilege and congressional testimony and you realize that these are textbook cases of the party in power interfering or obstructing the administration of justice for narrowly partisan purposes. It's a direct attack on the rule of law.

This much is already clear in the record. And we're now having a big public debate about the politics for each side if the president tries to obstruct the investigation and keep the truth from coming out. The contours and scope of executive privilege is one issue, and certainly an important one. But in this case it is being used as no more than a shield to keep the full extent of the president's perversion of the rule of law from becoming known.

It's yet another example of how far this White House has gone in normalizing behavior that we've been raised to associate with third-world countries where democracy has never successfully taken root and the rule of law is unknown. At most points in our history the idea that an Attorney General could stay in office after having overseen such an effort would be unthinkable. The most telling part of this episode is that they're not even really denying the wrongdoing. They're ignoring the point or at least pleading 'no contest' and saying it's okay.

LINK

Sunshine Jim said...

http://www.realclimate.org/

we slash dotted the server.

keep trying!

GBC said...

In Utah, an Opponent of the ‘Culture of Obedience’

SALT LAKE CITY — Rocky Anderson may not be the most liberal mayor in America. But here in the most conservative state, he might as well be.

Just being himself is enough to galvanize, divide or enrage people who have followed his career as Salt Lake City’s mayor, and who are now watching him become, in the twilight of his final term, a national spokesman for the excoriation and impeachment of President Bush.

[“President Bush is a war criminal,” Mr. Anderson, a Democrat, said at a rally here on Monday marking the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. “Let impeachment be the first step toward national reconciliation — and toward penance for the outrages committed in our nation’s name.”]

Mr. Anderson, a 55-year-old lapsed Mormon and former civil litigator with a rich baritone and a mane of patrician-silver hair, is no stranger to strong talk and political stances that leave his audiences breathless with exasperation, admiration or sometimes a mixture of both.

LINK

toniD said...

Looks Like GOP New Hampshire Election Phone Jamming Case That Appears to Have Been Directed by the RNC -- And Possibly With Rove Involvement -- Will End Up With No One Going to Jail. Disgusting.

And could this be why the US attorney in NH wasn't fired?

blah blah blah said...

Rocky Anderson rocks. I've heard him speak when cspan covers marches in washington, et.al.

Sunshine Jim said...

"And could this be why the US attorney in NH wasn't fired?"

BINGO!

toniD said...

LA Times: Justice Department memos show performance issues were being detailed after the fact in order to justify the terminations.

LINK

blah blah blah said...

the court opinion about the republicans jamming the phone lines is at:

http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=06-1883.01A

i wonder more about the judges pedigree than i do about the prosecutor. they appear to have done a good job having gotten other participants to be convicted.

Sunshine Jim said...

http://www.realclimate.org/

Has Pacific Northwest snowpack declined?

Yes.


Filed under: Climate Science Instrumental Record Reporting on climate — eric @ 2:38 am

There has been a bit of a flap here at the University of Washington over the state of the snowpack in United States Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle city mayor, Greg Nickels (a well known advocate for city-based CO2 reduction initiatives) wrote in an Op-Ed piece in the Seattle Times that

The average snowpack in the Cascades has declined 50 percent since 1950 and will be cut in half again in 30 years if we don't start addressing the problems of climate change now. That snow not only provides our drinking water, it powers the hydroelectric dams that keep our lights on.

Jenise said...

"And could this be why the US attorney in NH wasn't fired?"

i'm assuming the US attorney in ohio wasn't fired either...?

Sunshine Jim said...

Supoena Power!

Sunshine Jim said...

OMG!

Myla Alblum Threats!

wheres my phone?

toniD said...

Number 18, Number 18 -- 18-Day Gap in Release of Latest E-mails in AttorneyGate, 18 1/2 minute gap in Nixon tape; Shades of Watergate

LINK

bibimimi said...

goodbye |so long |farewell

toniD said...

From the Ostrey Report blog. Great graphic:

LINK

bibimimi said...

Imhofe = douche

bibimimi said...

GBC said...
In Utah, an Opponent of the ‘Culture of Obedience’

OBEY

[Andre the Giant]

bibimimi said...

IM-oaf:

live like a pauper, i don't plan to.

blah blah blah said...

did you ever notice that its a common republic response that you need to live an impoverished lifestyle or you need to use the least if your philosophy disagrees with theirs.

why should al gore live in a house lit by candles if he cares about the environment?

why should john edwards give up his money to care about the poor?

elections have consequences, oh yeah baby.

Jenise said...

boxer! that's one of my senators, i'm proud to say.

Alice said...

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Shorter White House
Sam Seder nailed it this morning:

"We'll tell you the truth, so long as its in secret, there's no record made, and we don't have to promise to tell the truth, because we have nothing to hide."

# posted by Ol' Froth

http://olfroth.blogspot.com/2007/03/shorter-white-house.html

Alice said...

McCain warns against socialism

...
McCain said his first trip if elected to the White House in 2008 would be to Mexico, Canada and Latin America to reconfirm his commitment to the the two continents.

As president, McCain said he would work on political, diplomatic and economic fronts to counter the rise of socialism, including efforts to spread free trade.

Yet the United States must also stress the advantages of capitalism and democracy to win "a war of ideas" in the region, he said.
...

http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?id=102432

toniD said...

Senate votes to authorize subpoenas, per CNN

bibimimi said...

hello everybody|

so glad to see you|

blah blah blah said...

morning bibimimi. wheres a-o this morning?

toniD said...

So the challenge is made. Now we have to see if these subpoenas are actually going to be issued.

Anonymous said...

Gonzales just said he is not going to resign. Bush says he will tie the congress up in court for years. Looks like this is all falling apart before it starts.

Sunshine Jim said...

Nodes hooking up,

like synapses developing.

bibimimi said...

jim;

that 'spoink!' sounds painful.

Jenise said...

Senate votes to authorize subpoenas, per CNN

March 22, 2007 8:36 AM

: )

bibimimi said...

blah blah blah said...
morning bibimimi. wheres a-o this morning?

March 22, 2007 8:39 AM

good sanguine question. intriguing, if you will. hopefully he didn't piss anybody off last night. maybe he not home from the salt mine yet.

Sunshine Jim said...

eya BB!

http://www.photographic-dreams.com/flowers.php/pictures/desert-rose-1.jpg

Sunshine Jim said...

deff a 4 aspirin breakfast.

Sunshine Jim said...

thank gawd for coffee!

Alice said...

Huh...I recevied another comment under my post by Joel Hirschhorn

Delusion Destroys Democracy, by Joel S Hirschhorn

...
A number of electoral reforms are necessary to rescue American democracy:
1. Expand the use of Clean Money, Clean Election programs.
2. Provide a None of the Above option on ballots.
3. Permit fusion candidates to promote third-party candidates.
4. Reform the Electoral College or its use by states.
5. Provide Instant Runoff Voting.
6. Pass the “Our Democracy, Our Airwaves” federal law.
7. For primary elections, support an open or crossover primary that
favors third-parties.
8. Make voting compulsory after other reforms
...

There's some disagreement with IRV apparently....

BROKEN LADDER has left a new comment on your post "Delusion Destroys Democracy, by Joel S Hirschhorn...":

Instant Runoff Voting is a delusion itself.

http://RangeVoting.org/IRV.html

.....

Range voting eh...? huh...

...
With Range Voting, each voter simply assigns a score (say from 0-10) to each candidate, and the candidate with the highest average score wins. It's simple and intuitive, and suffers far less harm from the use of strategic ("insincere") voting than other known methods, like plurality and IRV. It also has the enormous benefit of giving third party supporters a chance to always express their sincere first choice preferences (or put another way, with Range Voting, a vote for Nader is NEVER a vote for Bush, as it easily can be with plurality or IRV). The Libertarian Reform Caucus acknowledges these benefits, and as of 2006 began to support range voting, and use it for internal processes as well. And unlike IRV, Range Voting can be implemented on all standard U.S. voting machines!
...

GBC said...

Bush says he will tie the congress up in court for years.

In other words, they have PLENTY to hide.

Senate authorizes subpoenas.

Gauntlet has been thrown down.

Game on!

blah blah blah said...

time out for some fun:

http://space.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn11432&feedId=online-news_rss20

is a link to an article about a new japanese space probe that is returning astounding pictures of the suns surface.

Alice said...

Is it today that Barbara Lee's Iraq bill gets discussed?

bibimimi said...

SunshineJim said...
deff a 4 aspirin breakfast.

March 22, 2007 8:47 AM

YOU GOT 222's UP THERE!

toniD said...

So Politico says that Edwards will suspend his campaign because of the reoccurance of Elizabeth's cancer.

We'll see when they give their joint press conference in a few!

Unknown said...

Musharraf at the Exit

Since March 9, when Musharraf suspended the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, public protests have escalated every day -- as has a violent crackdown by the police and intelligence agencies on the media and the nation's legal fraternity.

The legal convolutions about Chaudhry's dismissal boil down to one simple fact: He was not considered sufficiently reliable to deliver pleasing legal judgments in a year when Musharraf is seeking to extend his presidency by five more years, remain as army chief and hold what would undoubtedly be rigged general elections.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101786.html

"He was not considered sufficiently reliable to deliver pleasing legal judgments"

Hmm. sounds familiar...

blah blah blah said...

SunshineJim said...
thank gawd for coffee!


i'm impressed. aspirin and coffee would burn a hole to the bottom of my feet...

blah blah blah said...

allright, time for a 10 second tidy over at the whitehouse...

bibimimi said...

cleanup! cleanup!

everybody! everywhere!

blah blah blah said...

i was just reading cnn and they are saying that theres a conondrum with the subponeas. seems that gonzo is the one who has to serve and enforce them.

bibimimi said...

aspirin and coffee would burn a hole to the bottom of my feet...

March 22, 2007 8:54 AM

iron jim!

bibimimi said...

the veins in Mike's neck were fixin' to blow.

Anonymous said...

Anti-war vote failing in the House! More to follow.

Anonymous said...

Elruin said...

Now we have callers singing kids songs. What the shit is going on?



Just what do have against kids songs? I've about had it with your corporate anti-kids song agenda.

:-)

;-)

Anonymous said...

Edwards joins Kerry and Gore on the sidelines. More to follow.

Sunshine Jim said...

i'll dig the ibuphrofin out of the trailer later.

what a week.

organise a cubical rebellion.

or write up the fictional version, publish it and get rich!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Elruin said...

You know what cruchyknee?

Kids have it really easy these days...


Excellent!

"diaperstraps" :lol:

toniD said...

From firedoglake with link to Sydney Blumenthal's article at Salon:

What is the Bush White House so afraid of, I keep asking myself? Sidney Blumenthal has a theory in Salon this morning:

The man Bush has nicknamed "Fredo," the weak and betraying brother of the Corleone family, is, unlike Fredo, a blind loyalist, and will not be dispatched with a shot to the back of the head in a rowboat on the lake while reciting his Ave Maria. (Is Bush aware that Colin Powell refers to him as "Sonny," after the hothead oldest son?) But saving "Fredo" doesn't explain why Bush is willing to risk a constitutional crisis. Why is Bush going to the mattresses against the Congress? What doesn't he want known?

In the U.S. attorneys scandal, Gonzales was an active though second-level perpetrator. While he gave orders, he also took orders. Just as his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, has resigned as a fall guy, so Gonzales would be yet another fall guy if he were to resign. He was assigned responsibility for the purge of U.S. attorneys but did not conceive it. The plot to transform the U.S. attorneys and ipso facto the federal criminal justice system into the Republican Holy Office of the Inquisition had its origin in Karl Rove's fertile mind.

Just after Bush's reelection and before his second inauguration, as his administration's hubris was running at high tide, Rove dropped by the White House legal counsel's office to check on the plan for the purge. An internal e-mail, dated Jan. 6, 2005, and circulated within that office, quoted Rove as asking "how we planned to proceed regarding the U.S. attorneys, whether we are going to allow all to stay, request resignations from all and accept only some of them, or selectively replace them, etc." Three days later, Sampson, in an e-mail, "Re: Question from Karl Rove," wrote: "As an operational matter we would like to replace 15-20 percent of the current U.S. attorneys — the underperforming ones …The vast majority of U.S. attorneys, 80-85 percent I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc., etc."

The disclosure of the e-mails establishing Rove's centrality suggests not only the political chain of command but also the hierarchy of coverup. Bush protects Gonzales in order to protect those who gave Gonzales his marching orders — Rove and Bush himself. (emphasis mine)

LINK

Anonymous said...

Today, Thursday, on the air, Sam, the subject came up about the increased influence of the left thanks to the internet. And how conservative blogs paled in comparison. The short history on this is that The Extreme Right Minority was organizing in the late 80's and 90's for the coup they accomplished with George Bush in the churches. In southern churches. Nobody could go to a baptist church seeking real spiritual peace, it was all politics, fueled by the abortion issue and an institution that saw a way to gain power and relevance in american life once again. Preachers saw potential revenues and power bases growing.The Southern Church organized first and delivered votes for the Corporate RobberBaron Neocons who pretended to care about "Religion", too, because they saw the votes that could be delivered. Neocons don't care about Christianity. It's smoke and mirrors. Its a dog and pony show to hide the real agenda.

The point is that Evangilicals didn't need the internet. The have had a couple decade jump on organizing through the churches. The the point where a minority looked like a majority.

The left were never so organizable. The miracle of the internet is that it found the one thing that educated progressive thinking people had in common, a computer and time spent exploring its every corner, nook, blog, its every potential. The beauty of how I could listen to Air America's live stream before it hit Austin radio. The Communication and information web of it all for we progressives, along with the incompetency of Bush is finally turning the tables.

Progressive beware, however, of hits on democrats in this primary season because remember, we are about 30%, we who have been called the "Pajama-jadin", we activists in front of our laptops. And those evangelicals who are 30% on the other side.
In the middle are the 40% who will vote in a lesser informed way and who will determine the elections. Only a moderate can win those people when the other person running is not George Bush. We will never again in an election have the criminal-idiot Bush to sway the election our way with such certainly.

bibimimi said...

"Pajama-jadin"


Mullah Pete al-Domenici

Alice said...

III

See!
Ashur-ban-i-pal,
the archer king, on horse-back,
in blue and yellow enamel!
with drawn bow--facing lions
standing on their hind legs,
fangs bared! his shafts
bristling in their necks!

Sacred bulls--dragons
in embossed brickwork
marching--in four tiers--
along the sacred way to
Nebuchadnezzar's throne hall!

-March, William Carlos Williams (excerpt)

*

Betrayed, George Packer

The Iraqis who trusted America the most.

*

Bolivian farmers demand Coke name change

Bolivia's ruling party demanded that Coca-Cola drop the "coca" from its name to "dignify" the "bioenergetic" leaf that provides the main ingredient in cocaine.

"If we are not permitted to commercialize coca, then why should Coca-Cola be allowed to do it?" said Margarita Teran, president of the Coca Committee, which is part of a nationwide convention to write a new constitution. She said her committee has sent letters telling the soft-drink manufacturer to change its name.

Coca-Cola declined, suggesting that Coke, not Bolivia, is the real thing.
...
"The coca leaf should be declared a national patrimony and incorporated into our national seal because it's sacred and should not be used as a mere commercial label," she said.

"Coca is not poison, and it does not harm anyone in Bolivia," she said. "Making it part of our national coat of arms symbolizes the state's commitment to take it off the international list of toxic substances."
...

bibimimi said...

things go better with Coke!

toniD said...

Republican Frustration Grows
Roll Call: "Every time they think they have turned a critical public relations corner on Capitol Hill, they find themselves back in the unpleasant position of having to deal with the latest White House snafu. And, at least privately, many GOP Senators and aides say they've hit their boiling point."

On a scale of one to 10, "The level of frustration is at an 11," offered one Senate Republican aide.

LINK

bibimimi said...

Elruin said...
Looks like Edwards is out boys and girls :(

March 22, 2007 9:14 AM

Limbaugh can shove his 'Breck girl' cracks up his OWN crack

bibimimi said...

"The level of frustration is at an 11," offered one Senate Republican aide.

uh.

boo-freakin'-hoo.

Anonymous said...

Sam really needs to stop quoting Politico. This is the so-called new online newspaper. It is really comprised of the same old Washington media insiders. It's chief editor is Jim Vandehei. He was previously a columnist for the Washington Post. Vandehei is no friend to the left. As a matter of fact , he was interviewed last month by right-winger Hugh Hewitt. Politico's chief political analyst is none other than Mike Allen-who previously work for Time. Mike Allen is also no friend to the left either. He is the balding, silly looking guy who seems his happiest when esteeming Republicans. As a matter of fact, it is believed that Politico is receiving funding from the RNC.

I urge you to go to Media Matters and check Politico out. They have already been sighted for misinformation, as usual, against the Democrats.

So stop it Sam! Stop it now!

bibimimi said...

edna ellen poe said...
Sam really needs to stop quoting Politico.


I have thought this myself. Same cesspool, same disease...

blah blah blah said...

imagine what progress could have been made in the battle against cancer with the money that has been wasted by this fools war in iraq.

bibimimi said...

WHITE HOUSE SAYS SUBPEONAS NOT APPROPRIATE IN LIGHT OF LARRY “BUD” MELMAN’S DEATH
A House Judiciary subcommittee authorized subpoenas Wednesday to force several of President Bush's closest aides to testify about the firings of federal prosecutors. But President Bush told Democrats, “I already made you an offer to interview my folks off the record. Take it or leave it. But if you leave it, I’ll see you in Supreme Court.” After the President stormed out of the meeting, Tony Snow elaborated. “Calvert DeForest, best known for his dead-pan appearances as the pudgy, bespectacled everyman Larry "Bud" Melman on David Letterman's late-night TV show—who had also performed at the pleasure of the President—has died. Under these circumstances, the President feels that subpoenas are unacceptable and that an interview with Karl Rove and Harriet Miers off the record and with no sworn testimony is appropriate.”

toniD said...

Edwards. The campaign goes on!!

She does have cancer that was found in her right rib bone. It is treatable. It will be a cronic desease, like diabetes.

So worry not. The campaign continues.

blah blah blah said...

wow. fuck the monkeys at drudge and politico. if i heard it right, even though the edward's have had a setback they still believe in what and why they are running.

the cnbc correspondent is just beside themselves saying this isn't what politico told us.

Unknown said...

"WHITE HOUSE SAYS SUBPEONAS NOT APPROPRIATE IN LIGHT OF LARRY “BUD” MELMAN’S DEATH "

++++

hahahahah!

toniD said...

To be honest, I think this will help his campaign and boy do I hope for that!!

Send good wishes to Elizabeth. She is a real person, not a fake! I think she would make a tremendous First Lady, especially into health care.

Anonymous said...

TURNING YOU OFF.

The kids' music is not funny, not what I want to hear.

Alice said...

So...is John Edwards the candidate that MRR is supporting...?

Anonymous said...

It really is heartbreaking, you know. Elizabeth Edwards is a beautiful soul. A brilliant woman in her own right. John Edwards is the real deal. He is primarily responsible for the minimum wage legislation. He came to Ohio several times- advocating for the poor. His concern is for all Americans.

God be with them.

Unknown said...

My favorite memory of Calvert DeForest is his role as an acting coach in Martin Mull's "Mr. Write" in which he says these immortal lines to Paul Riser: "You're vomit! Get off my stage, vomit!"

Arguably the worst movie in history.

We'll miss you, Calvert.

toniD said...

I don't know Shell. Seems to me he's the best. We need a change and he seems more down to earth and seems to want to help people rather than hurt.

I think he would be more diplomatic and yet tough if need be.

My opinion.

I know Sam likes him.

Alice said...

dada said...

My favorite memory of Calvert DeForest is his role as an acting coach in Martin Mull's "Mr. Write" in which he says these immortal lines to Paul Riser: "You're vomit! Get off my stage, vomit!"

Arguably the worst movie in history.

We'll miss you, Calvert.

March 22, 2007 9:38 AM

"Toast on a stick!"

Me too...he was funny...

toniD said...

I like the scroll at the bottom of MSNBC. The campaign goes on, and goes on strongly!

Alice said...

Audio: Troop Withdrawal Measure Up for a Vote Today
http://gabcast.com/casts/7616/episodes/1174530491.mp3

Alice said...

The Ugly Truth About the Guest Worker Program

...
The company told the men--who were among 300 guest workers brought to the shipyard in December by the company on H-2B guest-worker visas--that they were terminated and would be transported out of the U.S.

The firings took place after workers complained about their living conditions.
...

blah blah blah said...

i'm curious, what are others listening to in the post sam timeframe. i have xm, so i get to choke down a good sized helping of big ed. i like his populism but there's not a lot of content. if i'm out in the car, i have sirius and get hartmann who just bores me to death or lynn samuels who can make a sailor blush.

toniD said...

Sometimes I stream Hartmann, I can't take big Ed and he has the spot here in Chicago.

I just watch TV or it is a good time to watch the videos.

Anonymous said...

The die is cast for John Edwards. It is just a matter of time now. Liz is the Edwards story now. Husband first will be his final epitaph. It's hard to quit this early, but either way he is done

Sunshine Jim said...

the old stream is sorta working again. Thom on now, i'm cruising news sites, thinking about giving my two soaking wet dogs a bath.

toniD said...

Radioactive water near Hopi springs
By CYNDY COLE
Daily Sun Staff
Monday, March 19, 2007 9:28 AM MST

Two Hopi villages and their wells lie in the path of a radioactive plume of water

A plume of radioactive water is moving toward two Hopi villages, threatening to contaminate wells and spring-fed drinking water for about 1,000 residents.

Nothing has been done to contain or remove the waste.

Hydrologists, geochemists and consultants have said the radioactive waste appears to have been taken from a Cold War-era uranium milling site near Tuba City and buried at a public dump 1 mile east of the communities.

The villages of Upper Moenkopi and Lower Moencopi have seen levels of radioactive uranium in their ground water that appear to be above normal for the area, though these levels are still well within drinking water standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Hopi water managers fear these readings are a sign the leading edge of the radioactive plume might already be hitting the villages' groundwater supply.

"It's a matter of jeopardizing people's lives" if nothing is done, said Harris Polelonema, community service administrator for Lower Moencopi.

LINK

Anonymous said...

Gore is out. Kerry is out. Edwards is not crippled. Obama is black. Hillary is woman. Republicans are licking their chops. We need a winning candidate, and soon. This is all going down the wrong road.

Unknown said...

Four Years Later... And Counting
Billboarding the Iraqi Disaster
By Anthony Arnove

Anthony Arnove considers what that fourth anniversary means in Iraq, offering a few figures and comparisons of his own. Arnove is the author of Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal, a small paperback modeled on a famous volume Howard Zinn wrote way back in 1967, arguing for a U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. If you want to make the case -- and it's a compelling one -- to friends, neighbors, workmates, those who disagree with you, your Congressional representatives, or anyone else, this is probably the book you should have in your hands.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=176493

Anonymous said...

I am still handsome!!!

bibimimi said...

tony snow; 'we're gonna make the truth possible'

Anonymous said...

Dems!

Take MY advice...

George Clooney for president....

Alec Baldwin for VP

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Teen Beaten For Looking "Chinese"

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Police Seek ID of Bronx Store Robbery Suspect

Deli clerk clings to life, shot during robbery

bibimimi said...

I've said quite a few times now that this administration has a deep anti-constitutionalist bent. And now Tony Snow has come out and said it flat out.

This morning Snow told ABC News: "The executive branch is under no compulsion to testify to Congress, because Congress in fact doesn't have oversight ability."

-- Josh Marshall

and you should have heard the bullshit he was spewing on CBS this morning!

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Soaring Arrests Clog Court System, Force Releases

Anonymous said...

This morning Snow told ABC News: "The executive branch is under no compulsion to testify to Congress, because Congress in fact doesn't have oversight ability."

-- Josh Marshall

and you should have heard the bullshit he was spewing on CBS this morning

===

Sadly it is true. They are co-equal branches of government. And. The prosecutors are appointed to four-year terms by the president and serve at his pleasure. meaning they can dismissed at any time.

Alice said...

I'm waiting to go in to the dentist for a half cleaning & a filling....

*cringe*

Alice said...

Funding War? A Democratic Debate Between Rep Lynn Woolsey and Robert Borosage

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/22/1413255

AMY GOODMAN: Congressmember Woolsey, I want to end with a different question.

REP. LYNN WOOLSEY: I have to say something about -- I have to say something about this if we have an amendment, they have to have an amendment. For six years we’ve been in the minority. We have had vote after vote after vote, where there were no Democratic amendments. We do not have to give them an amendment because we have one.

AMY GOODMAN: Congressmember Woolsey, I want to end with a question from Graham and Barbara that was just sent into mail(at)democracynow.org. They said there’s a movement in the towns in Vermont and other states to bring the issue of impeachment to town meetings, and towns are passing resolutions calling for impeachment. The movement is growing. The list of malfeasance by the administration is astounding. When will the more progressive members of Congress do their constitutional duty and call for the impeachment of this administration? We’re going to end with that, Congressmember Woolsey.

REP. LYNN WOOLSEY: Well, the answer to that: if we dive into impeachment right now, it will suck all the oxygen out of the Capitol and out of our offices and out of our hearing rooms. We’re having hearings. We’re having oversight. Let's let that go forward, and then we’ll see where that leads us.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we're going to leave it there. We want to thank you both for joining us from the Capitol. Congressmember Lynn Woolsey, Democratic Congress member from California, co-founder of the Out of Iraq Caucus in the House; and Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, I want to thank you for being with us. And, again, if you would like to comment on this debate, you can email us at mail(at)democracynow.org.

Alice said...

- House Judiciary Panel OKs Subpoena For Rove
- Al Gore Testifies Before Congress On Global Warming
- Canadian Boy Released from U.S. Immigration Jail
- U.S. Looks to Send More Arms to Middle Eastern Nations
- Pentagon: Reports of Sexual Assault in Military Up 24%
- 20 Die in Intense Fighting in Somalia
- U.S. Gives Pakistani Gov't Sophisticated Spy Technology
- Chiquita Defends Paying Colombian Terrorist Group

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/22/1413247

9-Year-Old Canadian Citizen and Iranian Parents Arrive in Toronto After Six Weeks in Texas Immigration Jail

After six weeks in a Texas immigration jail, a nine year-old Canadian citizen and his Iranian parents were released and allowed back into Canada last night. Canadian immigration authorities have granted the boy's parents temporary residency. We speak with their attorney.

Anonymous said...

Alice said...
*cringe*
March 22, 2007 11:05 AM

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

It's not as bad as it used to be.

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

'$80 Bribe' Rap Against Former Cop

toniD said...

Grassley supports Rove, Miers subpoenas. “Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) voted with Democrats Thursday to give Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) the authority to subpoena current and former White House officials… The panel voted by voice vote on the authority, but Grassley said he wanted the record to show that he voted ‘yes’ on the issue.” But remember, this is all about politics.

LINK

toniD said...

Kyle Sampson has a date with the Senate Judiciary Committee next Thursday.

-- Paul Kiel

LINK

bibimimi said...

When someone starts his sentence with "I'm very conservative..." I no longer brace myself.

toniD said...

Shays wants Iraqi vote on troop withdrawal
By PETER URBANpurban@ctpost.com
Article Launched: 03/21/2007 01:54:02 AM EDT


WASHINGTON — As the Iraq war enters its fifth year, Rep. Christopher Shays wants the Iraqi people to decide whether American troops should stay or go.
Shays this week plans to offer an amendment to a supplemental spending bill that would require the president, within 60 days, to develop an exit plan from Iraq. The timeline for withdrawal would be entirely the president's to decide, but would be put to a vote in Iraq — either through its Council of Representatives or a public ballot.

If 60 percent or more approve, Bush's plan would go forward. If not, a phased withdrawal would begin immediately under Shays' proposal.

"If Iraqis want us to leave, I'm happy to leave," Shays said.

House Democratic leaders were working Tuesday to cobble together enough support to pass a $124 billion war supplemental spending bill that would set a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. They hope to begin debate Thursday.

Shays plans to ask for his amendment to be considered, but Democrats will likely disallow it. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer hinted Tuesday that amendments would be strictly limited.

Shays first suggested the idea of a plebiscite in August, following his 14th visit to Iraq.

He decided to bring it up again because he opposes the Democrats' timetable for withdrawal, but believes that Iraqi leaders need to know that American troops will not stay indefinitely.

LINK

toniD said...

Work tonight. Getting ready. I'll try to pop in b4 I leave.

Later

shawnfassett said...

Bushies love messing with courts & attorneys. Look at how Rush got his sweetheart deal -

Gov. Bush taps Limbaugh investigator for county judge

Susan Spencer-Wendel
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

December 20, 2005

James Martz, the prosecutor leading the Rush Limbaugh investigation, is headed out of the state attorney's office and on to the judicial bench.

Gov. Jeb Bush nominated Martz on Monday to a seat on the Palm Beach County Court. He's expected early next year to fill a vacant seat created by the Florida Legislature.

Martz, 48, of Parkland, did not return a call for comment.

For more than two years, Martz has led the investigation of conservative talk show king Limbaugh, arguing successfully through protracted appeals a prosecutor's right to seize medical records and subpoena doctors during the course of a criminal investigation.

Limbaugh, of Palm Beach, has not been charged with any crime. Limbaugh, an acknowledged painkiller addict, has been under investigation for alleged doctor-shopping, seeking duplicate prescriptions from doctors.

Limbaugh has called the investigation a political fishing expedition and adamantly denies he ever doctor-shopped.

A spokesman for the state attorney's office would not comment on who would take over the investigation or how Martz's departure would affect the case.

Anonymous said...

Who cutta da cheese?

bibimimi said...

aw christ

when they are providing cheap labor they're 'illegals'

when yer helping bury civil rights, he's a stand up guy in it for the kids.

i thot foley was in it for the kids.

bibimimi said...

Ken Starr was spankin' it

bibimimi said...

KATHLEEN'S WILLEY!!

Alice said...

Could I be any happier that's over?

No..

You're right, NC..but still bleh...when I was getting the shots, I could feel it in my ear canal...but the trade off of more shots is less drill feeling...2 hours man...well..ok.. enough whining...

*

dada said...

Four Years Later... And Counting
Billboarding the Iraqi Disaster
By Anthony Arnove

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=176493

March 22, 2007 10:20 AM

I'm constantly pushing that book...I think he co-wrote either People's Voice, or Voices of the People with Howard Zinn...

Anonymous said...

SUPERIOR, Wis. - A 20-year-old man received probation after he was convicted of having sexual contact with a dead deer. The sentence also requires Bryan James Hathaway to be evaluated as a sex offender and treated at the Institute for Psychological and Sexual Health in Duluth, Minn.

"The state believes that particular place is the best to provide treatment for the individual," Assistant District Attorney Jim Boughner said.

Sunshine Jim said...

i think of it as

tooth body work.

we'll have some

meds waiting.

whine all ya want.

Alice said...

How's your mouth feel today, SJ?

Sunshine Jim said...

i let the tylenoltenuffs wear off and when letting my upper and lower teefs touch explodes my hwad i take a coupla more.

six so far today... every coupla hours they wear off.

i'm hoping to be able to eat with one side or the other sometime this month.

i'm about ready to take a real pain pill and sleep through 3 or 4 hours of this.

warm salt water, hydrogen peroxide, gentle brushing and a good book might work pretty well.

usally a week or so for root canals...

back better but still ouchy.

pain is my middle name,

and it's raining.

think i'll go to the

library and get some SF and

curl up under the blankets with my somewhat soggy pack.

Alice said...

*sends warm fuzzies to SJ*

Oh good..you like SF? I will keep my eye on that area at work for good stuff...there's a whole family that comes in and they all read SF...

Alice said...

I got my new first edition George Seldes book today...Facts & Fascism...

Some things never change...as Voltaire foresaw...

bibimimi said...

jim;

don't you have some carpentry or bosch hammering to do 2day??

Alice said...

Bibi!

:)

Nuttin'...just hi... :)

Alice said...

Memory
by H. P. Lovecraft-Written in 1919-Published May 1923 in The National Amateur


In the valley of Nis the accursed waning moon shines thinly, tearing a path for its light with feeble horns through the lethal foliage of a great uperas-tree. And within the depths of the valley, where the light reaches not, move forms not meant to be beheld.

Alice said...

PATROLLING

Patrolling with Sean Kennedy shows you how to kit up your mind and body for patrolling. This video series prepares you mentally and physically to survive in our modern world. Sean takes you through the process from the bottom up on how to deal with everyday life.

bibimimi said...

tony snow's evening agenda:

1. go home

2. stiff drink

3. beat wife

4. bong hit

5. Cartoon Network

6. a sound wank

7. a deep dreamless sleep

8. Routine 3AM vomit

bibimimi said...

:)

Nuttin'...just hi... :)

March 22, 2007 2:25 PM

hey kitty-baby-mama

Alice said...

Hifana - Wamono

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2QclFMoxhE

Anonymous said...

Still looking said...

Gore is out. Kerry is out. Edwards is not crippled. Obama is black. Hillary is woman. Republicans are licking their chops. We need a winning candidate, and soon. This is all going down the wrong road.

March 22, 2007 10:19 AM

---------

Watch out! Rant coming at you.

Okay. The above is a tough conclusion ... but there is some truth to it.

Cause there are Candidates blowing in the wind and Swiftboats in every port.

Scary one

... "so-called" liberal nitwits in the media and netwits who think they can make a difference in 2008 by ridiculing and bashing the Dem hopefuls they don't support ... by slowly Swiftboating themselves to death by repeating rightwing talking points and then some.

Scary two

...anybody saw Mitt Romney on Larry King the other day? Didn't Mr. and Mrs. Romney give you the heebie jeebies? Not even a little bit? No wonder the conservative insiders think he is their man. Read the transcript if you missed it. Its a shock to the system I tell you.

Forget McCain. Forget Giuliani. Mitt Romney will be the candidate to beat in 2008 IMHO. Polls don't mean anything until the going gets tough and this is just warm-up time.

Mitt Romney. You read it here first.

Scary three

... the huge Republican media machine rules even stronger and with more effect than in 2000 and 2004 because all the talking points have now become "fact." And I see no progress in the liberal media impact at all except for Olbermann and that is just not enough. Was v. interesting to see how tweety, Keith, and Joe Scarboro each dealt with Al Gore at Congress. But typical.

Still fwiw and it is my thanks go to a few liberal fighters, esp. Media Matters with its excellent journalists who try to set the record straight. But See what happens when they go on a one on one with a rightwing pundit. Yesterday's Hardball could serve as a case study here. And that reminds me of another "so-called" liberal blowhorn. Has "Its so much fun for us to ridicule Al Gore" Margaret Carlson changed since 2000? Is the Pope Polish?

Anonymous said...

Georgia Republican says Gore not allowed on House floor

WASHINGTON - Democrats cheered Vice President Al Gore's return to Capitol Hill Wednesday to testify on global warming; Georgia Republican Lynn Westmoreland didn't.

As Gore visited with former colleagues on the House floor around lunchtime, Rep. Westmoreland argued that the Democrat was violating recently enacted ethics rules rescinding floor privileges for former congressmen working as agents of a foreign government.

Because Gore serves as an adviser to Britain on climate change, Westmoreland said, he shouldn't have been allowed.

"It is in total violation of the House rules," Westmoreland, a third-term lawmaker from Grantville, said in an interview after raising a parliamentary inquiry on the issue. "They don't even pay any attention to their own rules." .... read on

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/16954861.htm

passiveconsumer said...

Mitt Romney. You read it here first.----

he owns a substansial interest in clear channel.

I've been saying romney since day one.

Alice said...

Stevie Wonder Drum Solo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SCZv7786KY

Waiting for Cicero said...

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."

H.P. Lovecraft

---

Thanks for the link, A.

Anonymous said...

re abortion
ultrasound required
--

S.C. Lawmakers Advance Abortion Bill

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- With calls of emotional blackmail from opponents, a measure requiring women seeking abortions to first review ultrasound images of their fetuses advanced Wednesday in the South Carolina Legislature.

The legislation, supported by Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, passed 91-23 after lawmakers defeated amendments exempting rape or incest. The House must approve the bill again in a routine vote before it goes to the Senate, where its sponsor expects it to pass with those exemptions.

read on
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101722.html

Alice said...

Hi bridge, PC...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T99X-QVEA8
Gumby's First Episode: Gumby on the Moon

Alice said...

Hey WFC...sure.. :)

Waiting for Cicero said...

Read about that over at the kollective earlier, bridge. Such bullshit.

Women should have sovereignty over their own bodies. Period.

Mandating a guilt trip before an abortion is a way of saying that women don't know their own minds, and should leave decisions up to the menfolk.

After thousands of years of "civilization", we are still debating the basic idea of gender equality.

(sigh)

Ajata said...

Beck continued attacks on "fat witch" Rosie O'Donnell

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703220010

On the March 21 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Glenn Beck aired a clip from the March 20 edition of ABC's The View in which co-host Rosie O'Donnell -- during a discussion on allegations of torture at Guantánamo Bay -- said to conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck: "Okay, wait, Elisabeth, you have to stop, you have to stop. You can ask a question but you can't just blather on your opinion." Beck then said of O'Donnell: "She goes off on her opinion every step of the way. But there's a conservative on the show and she's shut down. You can't just say your opinion. What the hell is this show all about, you fat witch? What is this show about?" Later, Beck claimed that O'Donnell has "blubber ... just pouring out of her eyes," and asked, "Do you know how many oil lamps we could keep burning just on Rosie O'Donnell fat?" Steve Burguiere, the executive producer and head writer of Beck's radio show, who is known on-air as "Stu," also attacked O'Donnell: "I mean, she's the type of idiot that watches documentaries online about 9-11 and conspiracies that a fourth-grader made on a PowerPoint and believes them. So there's much more to go to on that direction than just her rolls and rolls of hideous fat."

Ajata said...

More media attacks on Clinton: Makes "some want to drink a gallon of rat poison"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703220013

In his March 22 column, Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Chapman wrote that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) makes "some want to drink a gallon of rat poison while lying across a railroad track." He also asserted, without evidence, that "[m]uch of the support she has comes from people who wish her husband could serve a third term." The column's subhead read, "The Big Sister we can do without," a reference to an unauthorized video produced by a self-identified supporter of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and uploaded to YouTube in which Clinton is portrayed as a Big Brother-like figure.



****

Gosh.

It's great the way we women are treated, isn't it?

Such respect.

Ajata said...

Not that I'm complaining... because we're not allowed, of course.

I mean... god forbid...

Now, if you're a Bill O'Reilly kinda white male...

Well then!

Ajata said...

NY Times omitted Republican objections to Bush restrictions on testimony

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703220012

A March 22 New York Times "White House Memo" by reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg suggested that only Democrats raised objections to the conditions under which President Bush has "offered" to make White House senior adviser Karl Rove and other White House aides available to speak with members of Congress about the controversy over the firing of several U.S. attorneys. The article said Bush's conditions for testimony -- "only in private, without transcripts, and not under oath" -- were "not acceptable to Democrats," and added that Republicans have "lined up behind the president on the testimony issue," citing this as evidence that the issue had "seemed to turn" into a "partisan battle." However, the article made no mention that two Republican senators have declared their support for the public testimony of White House aides on this issue. As Media Matters for America noted, on the March 21 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash reported that Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said that "if there is going to be information provided, it best be provided in public." And Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) said, "It would be very helpful to have a transcript. My own preference would be to have it open, so that people see what is going on."

Ajata said...

I'm thinkin' Specter is thinkin' that here's his chance to get rid of the "Bushies" before they get rid of him.

They were trying to twist his nuts on a lot of issues lately, threatening him...

Ha!

Just how many friends do you think this administration has left in Congress or the Judicial branch at this point anyway?

Maybe ... 3?

Naw.

Zero.

Ajata said...

From Wayne Madsen:

March 22, 2007 -- Open memo to General Michael Hayden, CIA Director.

General, you probably remember me when I was writing about all the whistleblowers at the National Security Agency (NSA) who criticized you for cuddling up to the Bush administration on illegal wiretaps and electronic eavesdropping, purging and setting up NSA signals intelligence analysts who did not agree with White House cookie cutter pre-ordained intelligence on Iraq or the illegal surveillance programs, wholesale outsourcing of critical NSA operations to contractors with questionable foreign connections, and other dubious NSA policies directed from the White House and the Pentagon. And General, you remember I asked you a question about NSA whistleblowers at your press conference at the National Press Club? You were quite irritated at the question and at me.

Ajata said...

General, since you are from Pittsburgh, I once told an author who was writing about NSA that since Pittsburgh was a Democratic city, for all I knew you might be a Democrat yourself. I began to doubt that later. However, General, Bob Novak, who outed one of your agency's covert agents and an entire non-official cover operation directed against WMD proliferation, is now accusing you, General Hayden, of being "too close to the Democrats." Novak is now going after you General Hayden in his OP ED today in the Washington Post, which now spews forth more neo-con drivel and bile on a daily basis than the Moonie-owned Washington Times.

Ajata said...

Novak, citing your phone call yesterday with former House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chairman Peter Hoekstra, says that you did not answer a question from Hoekstra about whether Valerie Plame Wilson was a covert agent under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. However, Novak cites your recent meeting with House Government Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, in which you said that Mrs. Wilson was a covert agent. Novak left out the fact that your meeting with Waxman was also attended by HPSCI Chairman Sylvestre Reyes. Novak will now try and turn you into a liar with only Waxman, who Novak feels is a partisan hack, as the other witness to a "lie.". But that is just Novak's shoddy style of Swiss cheese journalism. Hoekstra and his pals at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue likely have something else in store for you.

Ajata said...

General, Novak, Karl Rove, the Post (which conspired with the White House to out Mrs. Wilson and Brewster Jennings and debase Ambassador Joseph Wilson), and Hoesktra are setting you up for a fall. They will do to you what the White House directed you to do to others at NSA. General, you don't have to become yet another victim of the "Bushies" (a somewhat more cuddly term than what they really are -- Nazis). If you are a blue collar-rooted Pittsburgh Democrat, come forward and denounce the Bushies before you end up like Paul O'Neill, Eric Shinseki, Colin Powell, at least 8 U.S. Attorneys, and those who you may be more familiar with -- Russ Tice, Ken Ford, Jr., Sibel Edmonds, and others in the US Intelligence Community who shall remain nameless. The Bushies and their co-conspirators at the Washington Post can and will begin a campaign to bring you down -- they are in scapegoat search mode right now. Novak has fired the first shot across the main gate at Langley.

Ajata said...

A recent German movie called "The Lives Of Others" features an East German Stasi Colonel who secretly helps dissidents evade arrest and prison. He is the hero of that movie. General Hayden, you can also help restore the broken lives of others, people who served this country loyally, and come out as a hero.

Ajata said...

March 22, 2007 -- It is time for Congressional investigators to drive to Olney, Maryland with subpoenas in hand. The last time the Bush White House could not find e-mails was last year when it could not find 250 e-mails from 2003 on the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson and Vice President Dick Cheney's smearing of her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Now the White House is missing 18 days of email traffic concerning the sacking of 8 U.S. Attorneys for political purposes. It is all reminiscent of Rose Mary Woods' 18-minute gap in recordings of Richard Nixon's Oval Office during the Watergate scandal.

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

Ajata said...

Last year, WMR was contacted by an anonymous source who claimed to have intimate knowledge of how the "EOP" (Executive Office of the President) archived older e-mail and other documents. The source said that it is EOP policy to send archival documents to an underground Federal Support Center at 5321 Riggs Road in Olney, Maryland for safekeeping. WMR passed this "tip" on to those who have "back channel" communications with Patrick Fitzgerald's office with an emphasis that the anonymous source appeared to have a very good working knowledge of White House document handling and archival procedures. The anonymous source suggested that Fitzgerald and a team of FBI agents show up unannounced at the Olney facility and simply seize the e-mails in question. Shortly thereafter, most of the the "missing" 2003 smoking gun e-mails involving Cheney's office were found.

Ajata said...

Road Trip!!!

Ajata said...

Cindy Sheehan: White Hot Rage
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Wed, 03/21/2007 - 9:33pm. Guest Contribution

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Cindy Sheehan

I have long suspected that Blackwater Security and L. Paul Bremer (what's his nickname? Scooter? Pookie?) were responsible for the insurgency in Iraq and subsequently the death of my son, Casey. I am reading Jeremy Scahill's new book: Blackwater and it is doing nothing to decrease my suspicions, only to confirm them.

Bremer arrived in Iraq in 2003 to oversee reconstruction and the occupation as the Assistant Fuhrer to BushCo and the war profiteers. He surrounded himself with a virtual small army ("Praetorian Guard," as Scahill calls them) of Blackwater security personnel; two helicopters; armored humvees; and armored SUVs. He traveled from place to place heavily guarded, as a hated, marked man, while Casey (a motor pool driver and mechanic) was sent to do battle in the back of a wide open trailer.

LINK

Ajata said...

Bremer's devastating "Orders" disbanded the Republican Guard -- causing 400,000 former armed soldiers to hate and target the U.S.; he began de-Baathification that let go myriads of professionals who could help with putting the Bush-torn country back together. The mere fact he slunk out of the country, secretly, under the cover of darkness with almost 9 billion reconstruction dollars missing only increased Iraqi hatred of Americans.

Ajata said...

So Punky Bremer, or whatever they call him, is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for totally making FUBAR of the occupation and escalating an insurgency by allowing Blackwater to run rampant over the citizens of Iraq. In one horrible instance, a Blackwater employee brags about using a bullet that can pierce through armor, but when it gets into a body, it explodes and does horrible damage. He was really proud of himself when he shot someone in the ass who died from internal injuries. Blackwater agents randomly kill innocent Iraqis with impunity because Bremer also issued an order that they could not be held accountable for killing innocent Iraqis, unlike our soldiers who are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Ajata said...

So, on March 31, 2004, the residents of Fallujah, already mad at America for a "stray" bomb during the first Gulf War that missed a bridge and hit an apartment complex, killing and injuring dozens of residents, were already fed up with the oppressive occupation of Iraq, Buster Bremer, and Blackwater, who strut around like cocks of the walk with their Oakley sunglasses and sub-machine guns. On that fateful day, four security agents were killed, burned, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah. I don't condone or support those killings and my heart aches for their families -- and for the families of Fallujah who have been devastated (time and again) by Bush and his cronies. On that day, Sporty Bremer instituted oppressive measures against the Fallujans and Moqtada al-Sadr called for ambushes on American soldiers. That's as far as I have gotten in the book.

Waiting for Cicero said...

Rat poison, eh? She's not the candidate I will support in a primary, but rat poison? No.

About the "Big Sister" ad:

I think it was maybe too early to have a negative ad, but this was not an ad by CampObama, so I don't blame them. I'm tired of seeing it characterized as an "Obama attack ad".

Still hope that the fella that authored the vid turns his sights toward the Repugs next. He's not bad at making a decent political ad.

Ajata said...

Enter Spc. Casey Sheehan. On the fateful day of March 31, he began a letter to us, because he finally knew where we could write to him. He never finished the letter or sent it to us. We got it back with his "personal effects" from Iraq. He said that they had an uneventful convoy to Baghdad from Kuwait and that they were looking forward to a pretty "smooth year" because "only two" soldiers from the unit that they were replacing were killed the previous year. He also said something that broke my heart and will haunt me until I die.

Ajata said...

He called me from Kuwait one day before his unit convoyed to Iraq. It was about noon his time and after midnight our time. I was thrilled to hear his voice and I would have kept him talking forever if I knew it was the last time I would hear from him. But in his letter, he expressed his doubts that I would remember the conversation because I was half asleep. How could my boy think I would forget that he called me? I am forgetting what his voice sounded like. I am forgetting what he smelled like. I am forgetting how smooth his cheeks felt when I kissed him. I will never forget his last call or what he looked like in his coffin, though, after I have forgotten many other things.

Waiting for Cicero said...

Gtg, back another time.

Ajata said...

Anyway, on April 4, 2004, his unit got the call that some soldiers had been trapped in one of the insurgent's ambushes. Casey's sergeant was told to put together a Quick Response Force to go help them. There was no room in the back of that open trailer for Casey, but he made a private get out, pulling rank on him. His sergeant told him: "Sheehan you don't have to go." "Where my sergeant goes, I go," Casey replied. Well, Casey and 6 other soldiers -- 5 from the first Cavalry like Casey, and one, Michael Mitchell from the First Armored Division who only had one week left in Iraq -- were killed in an ambush on the way to rescue the other soldiers that were ambushed. Eight soldiers were killed that day in Baghdad, and from reports I have heard from two un-embedded reporters that were there: scores of innocent Iraqis were killed in a First Cavalry bloodbath retaliation.

Ajata said...

Some people accuse me of being "angry." I just want to say, I am not "angry." I am filled with a white-hot rage that my first born is dead. My courageous, sweet, honorable, honest, funny, irreplaceable Casey is dead so companies such as Blackwater, Halliburton, KBR, Exxon, Raytheon, etc. can rape the American taxpayers. But can it be rape when the partner is willing?

Ajata said...

I am outraged that Congress expediently buys into Bush's evil rhetoric that voting to cut off the funding will not be supporting the troops! THE TROOPS AREN'T GETTING THE MONEY! Blackwater security agents make more in two days in Iraq than our troops do in a month. Blackwater security agents are better equipped and armored than our troops. Our troops are dying guarding pipelines and Halliburton convoys.

Ajata said...

I am angry for 3,200 other wonderful lives cut short like Casey's and I am angry that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are dead, because L. Paul did his job of increasing the insurgency well and was rewarded handsomely for it.

The people who say I am angry are correct. I am also angry that there is not sufficient fury in this country to get our citizens to demand that Congress pull back the money from the war profiteers and bring our troops home.

Ajata said...

I am especially enraged that BushCo are still in power: reigning free to commit any crimes impervious to all slings and arrows. I am sick of waiting for the time when BushCo's "Get out of jail free" card expires.

When will the nightmare end?

I suspect never, as long as the Military Industrial Complex is running roughshod over every branch of our government with the silent complicity of the American public.

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/868

Ajata said...

WaitingForCicero said...


Still hope that the fella that authored the vid turns his sights toward the Repugs next. He's not bad at making a decent political ad.

*****

He got fired.

Ajata said...

I think people forget why Cindy does what she does.

*

What is wrong with us?

Ajata said...

Oh don't you lift your pretty little heads... we women will carry the emotional burdens, the physical burdens, and the mental burdens... and all of the blame.

Ajata said...

OK. SO in case you didn't get it: The Right wing talking point today was to bash Gore, by falsely claiming that he doesn't follow his own proposals:


Carlson on Gore: "[H]e's going to global warming hell"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703220016

On the March 21 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, host Tucker Carlson suggested that "if [global warming] is a moral issue" then former Vice President Al Gore is "a major sinner" who is "going to global warming hell," because, according to Carlson, Gore "won't even join [the] fight" against global warming by reducing his own carbon emissions. Carlson's remarks came in response to Gore's testimony before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works earlier in the day, during which Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) asked Gore to pledge "to consume no more energy in your residence than the average American household by one year from today." Carlson aired a brief clip of Inhofe requesting that Gore commit to the pledge, then showed only a small part of Gore's response, and -- ignoring its substance -- went on to cite the fact that Gore "rides on private aircraft," and further asserted, "I use less carbon than he does. That's an outrage."

Anonymous said...

Shells,
I watched the clip. Loved it ;-)

wfc,
the rightwingers wont rest until abortions are illegal again - it has been the number one goal of the Falwell types for the last 25 years and they are packing the court.

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the Romneys on Larry King discuss abortion in particular - its worth checking the transcripts - it really is.

pc,
I really don't know much about Mitt Romney except remember him from the Salt Lake Olys - didn't believe he had a chance when he announced his candidacy.

Changed my mind.

Anonymous said...

The open threads are confusing...and causing me great anxiety

and i left my xanax at home!!!!

i left links to more Gonzo pics on the other 'current' thread and I do not feel like posting them here.

-conbo

Anonymous said...

just upsets me is all

i went to a lot of work finding those on Google, pasting the url naming the links pic1, pic2, ect.

and for what?

-conbo

Anonymous said...

for nothing

labor wasted

money thrown in the trash

water down the tubes

tubes clogged with emails

ect. ect.

-conbo

Anonymous said...

Alice said...
Could I be any happier that's over?
No..
March 22, 2007 1:37 PM

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Oh, Ooo, Owww!

SHOTS!!!

The Dentist

Alice in the chair

Anonymous said...

Tom Friedman has three hands ...
another must read article by fabfabfab Matt Taibbi -

----

NYT's Tom Friedman and the Pundits Will Blame Us for Iraq

By Matt Taibbi

As the political class and the media establishment wake up to the nightmare in Iraq they are going to start looking for someone to scapegoat -- and it looks like they are going to blame the American people.

-clip
"What we have to remember about America's half-baked propaganda machine is that, dumb as it is, it always keeps its eye on the ball. The war in Iraq is lost, everyone knows that, but there are future wars to think about. When a war goes wrong, the reason can never that the invasion was simply a bad, immoral decision, a hopelessly fucked-up idea that even a child could have seen through. No, we always have to make sure that the excuse for the next war is woven into the autopsy of the current military failure. That's why to this day we're still hearing about how Vietnam was lost because a) the media abandoned the war effort b) the peace movement undermined the national will and c) the public, and the Pentagon, misread the results of the Tet offensive, seeing defeat where there actually was a victory.

After a few decades of that, we were ready to go to war again -- all we had to do, we figured, was keep the cameras away from the bloody bits, ignore the peace movement, and blow off any and all bad news from the battlefield. And we did all of these things for quite a long time in Iraq, but, maddeningly, Iraq still turned out to be a failure.

That left the war apologists in a bind." .... read on
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/48941/

Anonymous said...

"NEWS CONSUMER" said...

Queens stolen car ring busted

(They're probably out on bail.)

Anonymous said...

Colbert (crank) baits the Democratic majority.

Anonymous said...

At 87, I'm too old now to "take it to the streets," as I was willing to do in my youth.

I am an atheist and I oppose organized religion...but, I believe in the power of "prayer."

And, that is why I pray every night, when I go to bed, that George W. Bush and Richard Cheney will have heart attacks and die during the night.

If that prayer would come true, I would wake up happy and refreshed and filled with new hope for our country.

Ajata said...

***

dr said...

If a body can look past how thoroughly these two camps fuck everything up all over the world -- call it the perfect storm of mendacity and stupidity -- it's really sorta sweet how they each have a shared psychopathy to give them both something to not talk about.

March 22, 2007 5:20 PM

***

oh yeah... sweet.

Anonymous said...

aunt elsie said...

... And, that is why I pray every night, when I go to bed, that George W. Bush and Richard Cheney will have heart attacks and die during the night.

March 22, 2007 5:57 PM
_______________

I'll be back!

Ajata said...

Here Conbo: I know exactly how you feel. I was posting on the open thread earlier.....

I did notice that pic 2 and 3 are the same, though

****

more Gonzo pics for the Seder Braintrust:

pic 1

pic 2

pic 3

pic 4

pic 5

pic 6

I found them on Google's picture search engine.

Google is a premiere search engine that finds word matches for you based on the traffic of a particular site.

Its like magic.

-conbo

Anonymous said...

toniD mentioned that Howard Fineman called Al Gore "the Gore-acle".

But Howard Fineman fucks everything up.

Al, a Gore-acle?

Al Gore is nothing if not the definite indefinite article.

Anonymous said...

aww!

thanks Catherine!

:)

-conbo

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

aww!

thanks Catherine!

:)

-conbo

March 22, 2007 6:36 PM

_________________

Your glib indifference to apostrophes can be forgiven by all but Crank.

But I must say: goading Catharine w/a vowel movement is treading on perilously dangerous ground.

Anonymous said...

//Your glib indifference to apostrophes can be forgiven by all but Crank. //

What is an apostrophe exactly?

//But I must say: goading Catharine w/a vowel movement is treading on perilously dangerous ground.//

I was being sincere...Is it my fault I talk like a monkeY?

let me be

;)

I was greatful tho, that Catherine transplanted my pictures. No glibby her.

-conbo

Anonymous said...

//I did notice that pic 2 and 3 are the same, though//

Yes. they are. I noticed that too.

Mistakes were made

Ajata said...

Great pics Conbo!

They could not have gone unappreciated!

Ajata said...

Crank Bait said...

Here is a simple device to remember the correct spelling: Catharine is Cathar-like only smaller.

March 22, 2007 6:49 PM

***

Very proud of that 'potential' heritage of the Cathars. Although, I like to think that the name spelled Catharine [passed down to me from my grandmoter] really means "female" Cathar. And from what I know of the Cathars... those are the best kind.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

I was greatful tho, that Catherine transplanted my pictures. No glibby her.

-conbo

March 22, 2007 6:46 PM

_______________

channeling Bait headlines:

Scooter Glibby Poo-Poos Greatful Dead

Ajata said...

This ass MUST be stopped!

***

O'Reilly ordered Wiehl's mike cut after mishearing her on U.S. attorney issue

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703220018

On the March 21 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor, host Bill O'Reilly attacked co-host Lis Wiehl for asserting that the Bush administration had offered to allow White House staffers to appear before the congressional committees investigating the controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys only if no transcript of the interviews is produced. O'Reilly called her claim a "lie" and maintained that Wiehl "did not do [her] homework." In response, Wiehl read from a March 20 letter from White House counsel Fred Fielding to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, in which he laid out the conditions under which White House staffers could appear. Wiehl read: "Such interviews would be private and conducted without the need for an oath, a transcript, subsequent testimony." O'Reilly apparently misheard Wiehl -- replacing "oath" with "open" -- and went on to state: "Open transcript means it gets to The New York Times. There is a transcript to the senators who, if they lie, can charge them with crimes. You know it, and you misled my audience, who comes here for the truth."

Revisiting a common tactic, O'Reilly instructed his staff to turn off Wiehl's microphone: "Cut her mike. Cut her mike. She's not allowed to speak for three minutes." He went on to ask: "What can we do to her? What can we do to her?" While Wiehl's voice could be heard in the background, her microphone appeared to be turned off.

Ajata said...

On TOP OF ALL THAT [O'Leilly being a stupid ass]; She totally misrepresented the letter anyway:

Regardless of O'Reilly's misinterpretation, Fielding's letter -- which Wiehl read accurately -- stipulates that such interviews be "conducted without the need for [a] transcript." At no point in the letter did Fielding use the term "open transcript" or indicate that he would allow the production of a private transcript available to the committee members, but not the public or the press. From Fielding's March 20 letter:

air-ono said...

yeah, big deal

they're gonzo pics *yawn*

they have no artistic merit in & of themselves

so, connie...
leave the pics to me in future
(ty)

(d'oh!)
you made me break my solemn promise

Ajata said...

Gregory again omitted White House preconditions for Congress to interview aides in U.S. attorney probe

http://mediamatters.org/items/200703220019

On the March 22 edition of NBC's Today, NBC News chief White House correspondent David Gregory again omitted White House preconditions for allowing White House senior adviser Karl Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers, and other current and former staff to be interviewed by congressional committees investigating the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. Gregory reported that President Bush has said that "White House officials will not testify under oath, and if Democrats issue subpoenas, the offer to make adviser Karl Rove and others available for interviews will be withdrawn." Gregory then uncritically aired a clip of White House press secretary Tony Snow saying that the "options that are laid out" are either intended "to get at the truth" or "create a political spectacle." But in addition to insisting that Rove and Miers not testify under oath, White House counsel Fred Fielding laid out further demands in a March 20 letter: that interviews be conducted behind closed doors, that they not be televised or transcribed, that there would be no "subsequent testimony," that no subpoenas be issued following the interviews, and that questions may not concern internal White House communications.

Ajata said...

****

air-ono said...

*yawn*



March 22, 2007 7:09 PM

****

Oh *Yawn* ...

... it's ono ... with the same ol' tired act...

air-ono said...

//with the same ol' tired act//

tired!?

no, ma'am...

the same ol' boring act, if you please

(i'm bored)

air-ono said...

no, carth'run
(my plum)

i wore my finger to the bone scrolling past it...

just a quick count of posts and then a quick plunck of the counted posts on your lap

(11)

air-ono said...

//This ass MUST be stopped!//

you and me gurl

you lure him with a vibrating falufah & some of that charm you're always flaunting

"come, bill... come around here, bill"

(into this dark alley way)

(and slit!)

bill's voice box is silent & bloody

Anonymous said...

End of another day....

Uh, blah-blah???

blah blah blah said...

lets hope war with iran doesn't start at 5:45 tonight...

seriously, i would expect gonzo to be gone by the end of the day.

March 20, 2007 1:00 PM

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