Osiris Journal

No blow jobs yet, but new compelling wet evidence to impeach Bush and Cheney

2008-10-15T07:47:00.002-04:00

It is amazing to me that with new solid evidence about supporting torture such as George Tenet receiving two letters confirming waterboarding on prisoners from the White House, that impeachment proceedings have not gone forward.
With such a trail of lies, torture and deceit via direct memos linking Bush and Cheney, had this been a Democrat in the Oval Office with a GOP majority, the president would have been thrown to the wolves long ago!
How has president and vice president escaped all the evil they have done while in office? No blow jobs I suppose is the only rationale I can figure. It looks like you can lie, torture and act like a warlord, but if you are a Republican president under a Republican majority , and even with the Democrats needing some GOP supporters for a 60 vote majority, the GOP Congress has been an enabler for 8 years of protection.anything goes!
Bush and Cheney have done it all! Yet, paper trails link them to lying to go to war, memos permitting torture, attorneys fired to fit the GOP agenda, to outting Valerie Plame. More and more keeps coming to us as this duo get ready to scramble from office in disgrace! they have basically sold us off to China for trillions to finance the Iraq War we didn't need to fight! And look at the state of the nation, though Bush will never ever think he did one thing wrong, his conscience should be throbbing every day until it drives him insane, (or was that the problem all along?)
Go to the Dennis Kucinich home page and tell him to re-introduce impeachment proceedings! Just because the monumental ethics charge of illicit sex did not occur, the crimes that Bush and Cheney have committed are of such magnitude, that they, along with Rove and Gonzales, Woo and Miers should have them sitting on prayer rugs in their 'Gitmo' cells with no chance at legal representation!
http://kucinich.us/
photo credit zaius.blogspot.com

Palin and GOP take delight in race baiting - and don't you love how she smiles when she does it!

2008-10-09T22:40:00.000-04:00

This has now become a campaign of race and hate spurned by the GOP! It's bad enough to hear Rush Limpdick tell his listeners today that Obama is a "sleeper cell" funded by the Palestinians, and then to hear one of our Florida smaller conservative talk show hosts use his own format of fear by saying one of the shirts used by the Obama campaign has a red star, clearly, he says to his dummy listeners, that it must mean Obama could be a Commie. Once that seed is planted, the ignorant "Right-wingers" get itchy and worried that someone who has a talk show must know something they don't. The worst was listing to the callers then who agreed Barack Hussein Obama is dangerous. They know how to get fear working for their own voters. BUt it only makes the voters look ignorant
What seems more dangerous is to watch McCain use his two women to make hate charges for him. Between his wife and Palin, he seems emasculated, he has no balls and the girls have to do the smearing, it's the most pathetic campaign by the GOP ever. McCain looks like a man in desperation, looking for his own damn balls for sure! To use his wife to say Obama didn't protect her son by voting against the funding for troops when McCain himself just months ago voted against funding programs for our own returning veterans, this is so pathetic, he is no maverick, he's not even a man!
Why does the GOP need to use race to hate and divide? The GOP and McCain use the Pitbull in lipstick, Palin to do the main dirty work, attack attack attack, say Obama has a strange middle name and has terrorist friends. And if you notice she is smiling at such hatred, she is salivating over the fact that the crowd believes she must know what she is talking about, you can see how it excites her to use hate to get voters on her side. The GOP clearly make it look like a black man, (they ignore Obama's white roots), with the strange name cannot be someone who should own the presidency, it has been white, Christian men from elite backgrounds who have been our presidents, clearly the GOP is homophobic about letting a black man into the White House, the GOP almost has people thinking that if Obama is in the White house, it will be fried chicken, Koolaide, Rap music and Malcolm X and Farrakhan types in high positions. They are using race and homophobia of their fearful religious right voters who are willing to believe anything for the sake of the party. It looks like the religious right is aligned with the haters of their GOP party because they are not secure enough to know that someone outside their party could be a good president! For the GOP to use Palin over and over invoking the middle name Hussein and saying Obama is Ayers pal makes her look lost in space. It makes them look like they cannot accept blacks or Muslims or anyone outside their own elite-ist, Christian country club set. And do you remember at first how they portrayed Obama as too intellectual and detached? Well now he is black and has neighborhood terrorists for friends. HOW CAN THEY SELL THIS RACIST CRAP TO THEIR VOTERS? WHICH ONE OF THEIR ADVISORS DECIDED THAT PRETENDING OBAMA COULD BE A TERRORIST WOULD SWAY THEIR CHRISTIAN RIGHT VOTERS? It seems to be working for them, Palin goes and stokes the fires, I would not want to have a middle eastern sounding name around that bunch, they act like the name Hussein is a mantel of assurred decimation. What are the GOP really afraid of? This election is about the future of America, this should be beyond the tactics of using fear mongering to win votes, it should be strategy for the times we are in and the problems consuming us, not this childish hate the GOP thrive on! It is a despicable strategy the GOP are using! Rush today sounded like a clan member, Palin looks like a clan member stirring up hatred for the man with the weird name during her rallys. And Cindy just sounds like a dummy who never knew her own hubby had voted against funding for her son. they need to step back because if this is how a maverick operates, we are in deep trouble if they win!

Make sure to educate a GOP friend today! Point out this hatred is not working, this is America - we should not be haters and dividers, look at who can best solve the issues! John McCain claims he can solve this Depression - How? McCain says he can find Bin Laden, he needs to tell Bush, Dubya needs him before he leaves office with a 22% approval rating! McCain says he can do everything once he gets into office, well John, be a miracle worker now and clue in Paulson on how to get this market going, don't keep all these miracles to yourself. And someone, help McCain find his balls, he's talking like a girlie man without them...

OMG is Cindy McCain off her meds? And John, Viagra has zapped all your blood to the wrong parts...

2008-10-09T14:11:00.001-04:00

|Cindy McCain claims that Obama is running the most corrupt campaign ever? Excuse me Cindy, are you off your meds? What about what Karl Rove did to you in 2000? SO you don't care how they smeared you and John back then with throwing your drug abuse out there and trying to say that John had a 'love child' you had to adopt? All those prescription pads full of illegal Rx's must have warped your brain. You stand up and say how Obama voted against funding our soldiers, I got news for you, so did your husband! I think all the viagra he is taking must deprive his brain of much needed blood. Here's one stat from Bill Press:
John McCain is against giving proper health care to our nation's veterans. In 2006, he voted against a bill that would give $20 million to the VA for health care facilities. He also voted against a bill that would increase Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion.

It seems to me McCains have the worst campaigning in history from how Palin gets her rocks off trying to associate Obama with home grown terrorists. But never mind that, look at McCains voting record and see what the vets think...

From Vetvoice.com:

McCain Voted Against Increased Funding for Veterans' Health Care. Although McCain told voters at a campaign rally that improving veterans' health care was his top domestic priority, he voted against increasing funding for veterans' health care in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. (Greenville News, 12/12/2007; S.Amdt. 2745 to S.C.R. 95, Vote 40, 3/10/04; Senate S.C.R. 18, Vote 55, 3/16/05; S.Amdt. 3007 to S.C.R. 83, Vote 41, 3/14/06; H.R. 1591, Vote 126, 3/29/07)

Opposed an Assured Funding Stream for Veterans' Health Care. McCain opposed providing an assured funding stream for veterans' health care, taking into account annual changes in veterans' population and inflation. (S.Amdt. 3141 to S.C.R. 83, Vote 63, 3/16/06)

McCain Voted Against Adding More Than $400 Million for Veterans' Care. McCain was one of 13 Republicans to vote against providing an additional $430 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs for outpatient care and treatment for veterans. (S.Amdt. 3642 to H.R. 4939, Vote 98, 4/26/06)

Voted Against Establishing a $1 Billion Trust Fund for Military Health Facilities. McCain voted against establishing a $1 billion trust fund to improve military health facilities by refusing to repeal tax cuts for those making more than $1 million a year. (S.Amdt. 2735 to S.Amdt. 2707 to H.R. 4297, Vote 7, 2/2/06)

McCain Opposed $500 Million for Counseling Services for Veterans with Mental Disorders. McCain voted against an amendment to appropriate $500 million annually from 2006-2010 for counseling, mental health and rehabilitation services for veterans diagnosed with mental illness, posttraumatic stress disorder or substance abuse. (S. 2020, S.Amdt. 2634, Vote 343, 11/17/05)

McCain Voted in Support of Disabled Veterans Only 25 Percent of the Time from 2004-2005. While McCain claims he "has been a leading advocate" for veterans with disabilities, statistics show he supported the Disabled American Veterans' interests only 25 percent of the time in 2004-2005. In 2006, that figure slipped to 20 percent of the time. (Project Vote Smart)

McCain Voted Against Providing Automatic Cost-of-Living Adjustments to Veterans. McCain voted against providing automatic annual cost-ofliving adjustments for certain veterans' benefits. (S. 869, Vote 259, 11/20/91)
Source: AFL/CIO

Point 2: The LegendTM states that John McCain is admired by all Veterans and all Veterans support his candidacy.
John McCain's presidential aspirations have shined a light on how Veterans really feel about him. Veterans of two generations, emboldened by the window of opportunity to challenge The LegendTM afforded to them by his candidacy, are organizing and are vocalizing their disdain for John McCain.

Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain is a group formed by Vietnam Veterans and POW/MIA activists Jerry Kiley and Ted Sampley. From their website, their mission statement is :

"Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain was formed to dispel the myth of "Straight talkin', principled, maverick war hero" John McCain. Through more than two decades of investigation of his behavior, through open-source documents, public statements of his colleagues, and personal conversations with other Vietnam POWs, we have come to the unavoidable conclusion that he is unfit by virtue of his temperament, character, dishonesty, and emotional instability to serve as President of the United States or in any other position of public trust."

Their website includes a challenge to John McCain that if he can prove their statements about him to be incorrect, they will stand down. They even include their phone number on the website so he can call them. Contributors to the website include the late Col. David Hackworth, a Vietnam combat legend.

The warriors of this generation feel equally slighted and have similar oppositions to the thought of John McCain becoming the President of the United States and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

VoteVets.org, a group founded by Iraq War Veterans Jon Stolz and Brandon Friedman, campaigns actively against John McCain. It's tagline is "The Voice of America's 21st Century Patriots." Their website includes video ads supporting Veteran candidates for public office, as well as support links for all veterans. Their organization is building grassroots support for Veterans' issues by helping returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans get elected to local and state offices. VoteVets has funded national ads opposing the policies of George Bush and of John McCain. Those videos are available for view at their website.

This week, a study by the Center for Responsive Politics reported that members of the military are giving more donations to Senator Obama than Senator McCain. The troops in the field are seeing first hand what the policies of the current Administration are doing to the readiness and morale of the military, and are contributing to the candidate who they believe will remedy the situation. Their support is absolutely contrary to The LegendTM, and was not a variable that was planned for by the McCain organization. When the donations of troops that are actually deployed are isolated for examination, Barack Obama attracts more donations by a 6 to 1 factor. The troops are looking out for themselves and for the future of our military, in direct contradiction to The LegendTM.

John McCain's military service and his POW history have served him for decades as a shield against criticism and scrutiny. Until now, even taking a closer look at his Senate business and financial dealings have been considered a nearly traitorous act. Any question of his integrity or his intentions have been perceived as a direct attack against all Veterans due to the creation of The Legend of John McCainTM. We must shine the light on this false media creation that threatens the future of our American way of life.

"Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters." - Albert Einstein

The gloves are off, short selling allowed again, watch market rise, watch it fall

2008-10-09T14:10:00.002-04:00

Our political system we have is corrupt! The market is poised to open higher in a couple minutes. Today short selling is allowed again, see market go up, then watch later or tomorrow as the short sellers take their profits. What was the purpose of banning short selling in a market like this for only a few weeks? Someone is benefitting! Wouldn't you like to see the investments of our Congress and the Administration? They should be made public when you take public office! Show us your hands you liars and thieves who are supposed to be our regulators, let us look for ourselves to see how you have profitted off our backs, (hey, I will be the first to look at what you are doing and copy it as long as it's legal!)
Somehow I just don't get it! Why are the taxpayers having to pay for luxury vacations for some at AIG who are taking more in a few weeks - damn, the taxpayers won't send me to the Motel 6 for free!
And Paulson-- I see you speak and the market slides, ummm, so lets watch, the 'shorters' will be buying buying buying today I bet, and Paulson will speak in the morning tomorrow and the sticks will slide and millions will be made off our backs! Capitalism at it's finest as long as it benefits our rich rulers!

The Pope and The word of the day... "money can't buy me love"

2008-10-09T14:09:00.000-04:00

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI says the global financial crisis show the futility of money and ambition. Benedict says that "now with the collapse of big banks we see that money disappears, is nothing and all these things that appear real are in fact of secondary importance." He urges those who build their lives "only on things that are visible, such as success, career, money" to keep that in mind. The pontiff was speaking Monday as he opened the works of a meeting of 253 bishops at the Vatican. Benedict says "the only solid reality is the word of God."

Yes, the Pope can be a critic of the financial market as he sits in his nice clean, (pressed by the nuns) dress in the Vatican surrounded by all the food, (cooked by the nuns) and artwork, (dusted by the nuns) and company that he wants. He will never want for a roof over his head, (cleaned by the nuns) or a warm, clean bed, (made by the nuns) or even a meal, (again cooked by the nuns.)

The Pope might not realize it, but as he preaches against material things, he lives in it's midst. HELLO Popey, wake up - You'll never have to worry about missing your Mastercard payment, nor a mortgage or health insurance. The Church and it's tremendous cash flow will see your are always warm and tucked in, (the nuns are provided for that.)
If the word of God was frugality, Joel Osteen, Pat Roberson and sex pervert Ted Haggard would not be raking in all those bucks over 'Lordspeak'. No they would be paupers giving all away to the needy like Jesus. Joel's wife would not be arguing with flight attendants in first class, she would be behind the wheel of a donated 1993 Ford Aerostar doling out clothing and food to the poor.

Don't get me wrong --the religious groups have done wonders especially after tragedy, they always come to the rescue, and it's those real people with their true hearts and souls getting down and dirty and volunteering who make a difference in troubled times, I can't picture Joel getting dirt on him, nor do I see James Dobson lowering himself to take a pay cut from his millions. I don't see them as true Christians the way I see someone like ex-president Jimmy Carter who will actually build homes for the poor at Habitat for Humanity, who will actually go to where the poor are and advocate for them, who is able to try and talk peace with our enemies. It's people like Carter and other volunteers who go out and many using their own means, help out. They are the ones who walk the walk and talk the talk.
Mr. Pope, money is actually a necessity these days, without it, people will be living like Jesus out on the streets with only the word of the Lord to digest instead of food. Does the Pope know anyone actually living in poverty? Is that how he would like to see the world live --thrown to the bottom feeders because they have no way to earn a living? Does he understand what happens in Africa? Afghanistan? Does he have an inkling that women and children in these countries and others around the world are raped and abused and have nowhere to go, no status and can't make any money to get out of their situation? AND don't give me that crap about 'Free Will', that argument is only for people who can comfortably sit at home and rationalize.

Right now within our own borders, we are losing resources to have a job and to support our own families, and it is not for lack of ambition. You hear of people working 2 minimum wage jobs to try and make ends meet.
Money is not the root of all evil Pope, it's the greedy who are the root of all evil! It's those executives who would pillage from their own companies just before it's going into bankruptsy. It's business owners who sell their work to cheap labor pools so THEY can make a bigger bonus. It's Al qaeda using money to try and kill our people and it is also the USA wasting trillions bombing innocent people and taking over countries we have no business in. It's presidents and leaders who give their friends big government no-bid contracts, it's the exploitation of the workers by the government. BUT, it is also the Church letting pedophiles stay within The Church domain and still supporting them through pensions while paying victims millions upon millions for those dirty 'little secrets', now that's evil, preying upon children! The Pope fails to recognize that having full time lawyers on staff takes money. Without money, there would be no Church, The Pope might as well be speaking to his rings. And when the word of God is not good enough to protect the innocent, all it can do is comfort some of them after the fact.
I don't know Pope, I'd say when you speak out about money and ambition being a lesson in futility, you should be saying it while you are living out of your abandoned car after losing everything, somehow your words are not so effective while staying in a billionaires borrowed palace. Somehow it makes the word of God sound quite hollow.

photosource: Fark

you betcha, she's a maverick - she's gunning for Cheney's job only bigger

2008-10-09T14:07:00.000-04:00

OMG, she's a maverick you betcha! I have never been so talked down to in my life, so patronized by a candidate seeking office. Yep, you betcha I mean Sarah, the maverick Palin, or rather sarah Pain-in-the-ass! She might as well have come out and said, "Who am I? Why am I here?"
You betcha she was talking like the American public were idiots! And she was wasn't answering all her questions, but hell, she's a maverick leaning on a 72 year old maverick to give her some validity, (and some coaching). She studied hard and gave all her stock answers you betcha! That's all it takes to give the right wingers a hard-on you betcha!
And did she seem genuine to you? You betcha she looked like Gomer Pyle visiting Washington. She looked like a goofball trying to play a homey politician and her voice is absolutely annoying like a moose with it's paw caught in one of her traps overlooking Russia. Maybe that's the tone and the 'tawk' in Alaska, maybe that's how them there mavericks articulate?
The best was her answer about expanding the VP powers, - watch out McCain, she might find some way to get rid of your old ass all together once she gets you away from the masses on one of those private trips to visit Anwr cause she wants her pipeline and you're not givin' it to her, and she's gonna get her way cause she's a maverick you betcha!
Don't you get the creepy feeling that she would have no problem bombing lots of innocent citizens in Iran or Pakistan with the justification that they had looked at Israel the wrong way? And what's with the ways she grabs that baby like a sack of flour and pounds it repeatedly on the back for a while so the press can take some photos of her before pawning it off on that poor little daughter --- someone call DFYS - dept. of family and youth services! Make her tie her tubes! Hey, National Enquirer, did her lover, Brad Hanson watch his favorite maverick?
But hell, Sarah's a maverick, so she doesn't have to look like she really cares about anything other than making sure she acts tough and gets her answers right, you better believe they will sequester her now!
Do people really look at this style and think she can do the VP job? She's better off staying in Alaska and going aerial wolf hunting. Washington has one too many assholes, I mean mavericks already... you betcha!

The Bush Administration's misogyny shows their parallel to the Taliban mentality

2008-10-09T14:06:00.000-04:00

I could understand it if I read an article today that said the Bush Administration had denied funding for medication for poor men with erectile dysfunction living overseas. That would not bother me in the least, but to read that once again, The American Taliban, The Bush Administration has shown it's misogyny by denying African womens rights by taking away funding for birth control and family planning. By denying Marie Stopes International funding, funding for a group founded by a woman dedicated to helping women learn about their own anatomy and for helping women with family planning decisions including abortion, the Bush Administration demonstrates how they feel they can still hold power over women by interfering in womens lives, lives that include women and girls who have so very little and some who have been raped and have no other means for getting help.
From Wikipedia: In 2006 alone, the organisation provided services to 4.6 million clients and by 2010 aims to protect 20 million couples from unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortion
Denying women in Africa their desperate need for contraception and even abortion is outlandish, it's a power play by white men in the White House who think they should fling their religious dogma over women wherever they wish worldwide. This need for control over helpless women who are so desperately trying to help themselves and their families reeks of how some middle east countries would exercise control over their own women. Why not just put up a sign at all clinics overseas that receive our funding saying "the USA just doesn't give a shit what happens to you, you are a women and that means you are a second class citizen according to George W. Bush".
IT"S INEXCUSABLE! Who is Bush to tell a rape victim or an impoverished woman that they have shut off birth control resources for their own good? Whose good? Bush has been pulling this crap since he came into office -- he has no business telling women what they can and can't do and then stop the resources because of his own religious views. Marie Stopes would be seething at this notion of a man acting like he is an overlord! We can only hope that private pharmaceutical companies will step up and help, they must know how the real world operates versus Bubble Boy Bush in his warped reality. What century are we in that men can still hold something like birth control over a womens head just because the clinic deals with abortion? You can bet if the shoe were on the other foot, and men could get pregnant, they would not hesitate to offer men whatever they needed for family planning....
US cuts off family planning group in Africa

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 2, 5:46 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has taken action against an international charity in Africa over work it does in China, a step the group says is politically motivated and dangerous for poor African women and girls. The State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development denied the charges but said Thursday that they had told six African governments to stop giving U.S.-donated contraceptives to the British-based Marie Stopes International family planning organization for distribution to their needy populations. The move affects Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe and follows a determination by USAID that the organization is a major player in a U.N. program in China that the administration says promotes coerced abortion and sterilization. "Given these circumstances, USAID made the policy decision to inform governments in these countries that it does not want USAID-funded commodities to be provided to Marie Stopes International," the State Department, which oversees USAID, said in a statement. The United States does not give any direct assistance to the group but it is a leading family planning health provider and one of several distributors of U.S.-donated "contraceptive commodities" — including condoms and intrauterine devices — in some of Africa's least developed countries. Under U.S. law, the government must withhold assistance to agencies and groups found to support or participate in management of family planning programs abroad that involve abortion and coerced sterilization.

Marie Stopes International, one of the world's largest family planning organizations, complained bitterly about the step, which it said was "purely political" and "dangerous" because it could result in more abortions, maternal deaths and health problems for poor African women and girls.

"This senseless decision is likely to have only one clear consequence: the death of African women and girls."
Since 2002 the Bush administration has refused to release $34 million in annual funding to the U.N. Population Fund because of its activities in China despite protests that the programs do not promote abortion or forced sterilization. Only Republican administrations have enforced the Reagan-era Kemp-Kasten amendment and it has been a political hot potato in Congress for years, pitting abortion rights advocates against abortion foes. But it has not thus far been an issue in this year's presidential race.

Bush the Bubble boy bragged about how he was saving the economy in front of The Economics Club in March 2008, how did they not laugh him offstage?

2008-10-09T14:05:00.000-04:00

Just take a gander at the excerpts (mostly at bottom of page) of the speech Our president Dubya gave to the Economics Club in March 2008. Our president kept interrrupting his own speech with his heroism during 911. He would say something about the economy, as it was going through a "rough patch", Then he would interrupt himself with "we whooped the terrorists and gave democracy" tangents every option he could, (I didn't include those). The biggest claim was how he and his minions had all but fixed the economy:

3/14/08 "We're going to deal with the issues as we see them. We're not afraid to make decisions. This administration is not afraid to act. We saw a problem coming and we acted quickly, with the help of Democrats and Republicans in the Congress. We're not afraid to take on issues. But we will do so in a way that respects the ingenuity of the American people, that bolsters the entrepreneurial spirit, and that ensures when we make it through this rough patch"
Someone please tell me how Bush does not have a negative number for popularity? How can it even be 30?
Are there enough Friends of Fox to give him that number? They must be loading the president's popularity poll. The Wimpy president should be a minus 30!

Anyway in March Bush gave a speech dismissing any talk at all of the dreaded word "recession". He also used cute little words describing the economy, and was propping up all the trade, so happy to be shipping our jobs off... That's our Bush!

Blog from March 2008 after Economics Club visit:

Bush just finished his speech to the Economics Club in New York and he and Fox News and their FOX Business Network are so very proud of how he has reacted to step up and save the economy! Bush noted that we caught the ‘bug’ early by God, yes he did say that, to catch the falling economy and that his stimulus program is guaranteed to work! By putting $600 into “qualified” tax payers mailboxes, we will find the economy is back to working order when everyone spends it. In another quarter we should be back in the black according to Bush! The trouble is, everyone I asked was going to use it to pay bills, (mostly their escalating mortgages, credit cards, and gas,) maybe Bush is only going by what his rich friends are telling him they will do with their $600, like buy a bottle of Dom or tip the illegal lawn maintenance people?
Secondly, I guess Bush thinks only “some housing markets are bad”, that’s a direct quote! So since he has a couple FHA programs that let “certain” home owners refinance, he will save the housing market! Plus he is offering counseling on how to deal with the refinances. And even when a Wall Street journalist at the end of his speech, (only one of two questions allowed, because of how Bush rambles and is so incoherent,) when asked about the record low dollar in comparison to the euro, $4.oo a gallon gas, food and staples being higher and would Bush call this recession, Bush went off on a tangent about how North Carolina factory workers were saved by being re-educated to new jobs when his free market economy shipped the textiles off to 3rd world markets allowing cheap labor, and that is how the loss of textiles job resulted in people being better educated, (we still don’t know if the educated people found work).
Bush was busting at the seams about how stubborn he is, (he admitted to being like bitchy Barbara) and he will stick by his principles, (who knew he had principles the way he sold us out to China and a trillion dollar debt, used lies to attack Iraq and was so proud of his methods of interrogation?).
He would not say the recession word, nor did he answer the complete Wall Street Journal question about recession he literally said he would “dodge the rest of the question.” (Direct quote.)
This idiot of a president is so out of touch that it was like listening to a person off their medication and in full bi-polar mode rambling from one disconnected subject to the next. The only other question he responded to was about overseas trade and then he went off on a 911 “Rudy tangent” about how we are spreading democracy and in essence are saving the world by our Iraq war policies and how we should be able to listen in on terrorists. Half the time he was stuttering over his own speech. He sounded like he was on the ’sauce’ again as he mangled so many words.
Soon as the idiot left the podium, I turned on FOX news and they were so proud of all Bush! So proud of all he has done to stimulate the economy, completely dismissing the fact that Bear Stearns this morning announced they have low liquidity and must take a loan from JP Morgan. Bush is so out of the loop and Fox news is trying their best to save face for their president, and they can have him!
It was another speech where you look at our president and wonder who lets him off the leash? Isn't Dana Dana Perrino embarassed of her job yet, cleaning up his verbal dog doo? Oh, forgot to mention that Cheney is going to Israel to try and save the middle east, it’s almost like seeing Nero fiddle as Rome burns. I wish these two fiddlers were out of office already, the bullshit they spread with the phony policies and words just make us more volatile. How low can we go we all wonder–how low can bush/dick sink us….
Actual exerpts from Speech to Economics Club:
"Fortunately, we recognized the slowdown early and took action. And it was decisive action, in the form of policies that will spur growth. We worked with the Congress. I know that may sound incongruous to you, but I do congratulate the Speaker and Leader Reid, as well as Boehner and Mitch McConnell and Secretary Paulson, for anticipating a problem and passing a robust package quickly."
"This morning the Federal Reserve, with support of the Treasury Department, took additional actions to mitigate disruptions to our financial markets. Today's events are fast-moving, but the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the Secretary of the Treasury are on top of them, and will take the appropriate steps to promote stability in our markets."
Last month Hope Now created a new program. They take a look -- they took a look at the risks, and they created a program called Project Lifeline, which offers some homeowners facing imminent foreclosure a 30-day extension. The whole purpose is to help people stay in their houses. During this time they can work with their lender. And this grace period has made a difference to a lot of folks. An interesting statistic that has just been released: Members of the Alliance report that the number of homeowners working out their mortgages is now rising faster than the number entering foreclosure. The program is beginning to work, it's beginning to help. The problem we have is a lot of folks aren't responding to over a million letters sent out to offer them assistance and mortgage counseling. And so one of the tasks we have is to continue to urge our citizens to respond to the help; to pay attention to the notices they get describing how they can find help in refinancing their homes. We got toll-free numbers and websites and mailings, and it's just really important for our citizens to understand that this help is available for them. "We've also taken some other steps that will bring some credibility and confidence to the market. Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of HUD, is proposing a rule that require lenders to provide a standard, easy-to-read summary statements explaining the key elements of mortgage agreements. These mortgage agreements can be pretty frightening to people; I mean, there's a lot of tiny print. And I don't know how many people understood they were buying resets, or not. But one thing is for certain: There needs to be complete transparency. And to the extent that these contracts are too complex, and people made decisions that they just weren't sure they were making, we need to do something about it. We need better confidence amongst those who are purchasing loans."

"And secondly, yesterday Hank Paulson announced new recommendations to strengthen oversight of the mortgage industry, and improve the way the credit ratings are determined for securities, and ensure proper risk management at financial institutions. In other words, we've got an active plan to help us get through this rough period. "
You know, when I was overseas in the Middle East, people said, did you talk to the King of Saudi about oil prices? Of course I did. I reminded him two things: One, you better be careful about affecting markets -- reminding him that oil is fungible; even though we get most of our oil, by the way, from Canada and Mexico, oil is fungible. And secondly, the higher the price of oil, the more capital is going to come into alternative sources of energy. And so we've got a plan that calls for diversification, but it's -- our energy policy hadn't been very wise up to now.

Attorney General Mukasey, is he just Alberto Gonzales light?

2008-10-09T14:03:00.000-04:00

Yes, you see him being sworn in as Attorney General, but Michael Mukasey seems to be Alberto Gonzales light, or as David Addington is referred to, Cheney's Cheney, so Mukasey might be Bush's Gonzales.
Is Mukasey the right Attorney General for the job if it shows GOP partisan politics? I doubt it, he was brought in for a reason, well, you decide:
Mukasey would not say that water boarding was torture -
he would not appoint a special counsel to investigate if the CIA destroyed tapes during torture sessions-

He allowed detention of our own citizens on our own soil without giving criminal charges. AND according to Newsweek's Michael Isikoff, [10/1/2007],
"a series of private meetings arranged by chief of staff Josh Bolton PRIOR to nomination...reassured top conservative hard liners such as Federalist Society executive Leonard Leo and Edwin Meese that he, (Mukasey) supported Bush Administration's war on terror policies." According to SourceWatch.org
The news today is that Mukasey will be calling a special prosecutor to investigate the firing of those nine attorneys, the attorneys were fired when 'inside' Bush operatives found the attorneys were not hard enough on going after Democrats and they even so fair as to investigate Republicans -- how dare they? Well, apparently they shouldn't have dared because they were fired and Gonzales appointed, (actually it might have been more like Karl Rove and Harriet Miers) their own 'GOP friendly' lawyers in their places. There were questions Congress asked of then AG Alberto Gonzales, but he just could not remember anything, it was termed it an "extraordinary lack of recollection". While they found "substantial evidence" of partisan politics, they could not get Rove to testify, nor Harriet Miers, so basically we let them off the hook. No backbone!
Mukasey has put his cold hard cash behind only one candidate, a rather 'iffy' one, that would be Rudy Guiliani, Mukasey was Guiliani's back up system during the Mafia trials. Both Mukasey and his son were affiliated with Guiliani's failed presidential campaign and Mukasey's son Mark just happens to be employed by Guiliani's Law firm, gee what a coincidence!~
Source Watch noted that Mukasey during the Mafia trials used tactics such as "the practice of subpoena-ing defense lawyers to testify at their clients grand jury hearings, which lawyers argued were a violation of client confidentiality..." Will Mukasey dare let someone like Rove or Miers be subpoenaed if the committee finds they were insturmental in the case of the attorney firings? You can bet it won't happen. These hearings will end up being a farce and someone low on the scale will take the fall just like Lyndie England did for Torture. The allegiance to Bush and the use of the hijacked Constitution still has a few months left to protect itself against it's own illegal dealings. I think it will take Bush being out of office to finally deal with the illegal tactics used to justify all the crap they pulled over on us, the Iraq war, the firings, torture, hijacked Constitution, on and on. This was clearly an Administration abusing power through their attorneys like David Addington and through that "lack of recollection" misfit, Alberto Gonzales who should be prosecuted, but won't be under Mukasey. This new special Prosecutor will be called in, but this is still the fascism of the Bush Administration, they selectively protected themselves, and Mukasey is just one more of Dubya's henchmen...

Bailout - or Bust or both? DOW DOWN RECORD LOW -500 points

2008-10-09T14:02:00.000-04:00

Before we approve this bailout make a portion of the salaries of our Treasury Secretary Paulson, Bernanke, and the other 'bigwigs' in House and Senate contingent upon making a profit on that bailout money! No profit, no full pay to these jerks!

Yawn, the debate sucked and Palin needs to "do it for her country"

2008-10-09T14:01:00.002-04:00

What was the point again? The old dude and Obama were supposed to debate and show their differences and how they each reek of "change"? Well, all I saw was 'same bullshit, different day' debate. Neither advanced, it was really boring, a waste of 90 minutes. Now if McCain had shown some temper that he is famous for, maybe if he had reached over and put Obama's head in a headlock and rubbed some nuggies on his forehead. Or if Obama had said, "Dude, you are just too old and your own aides are complaining that your running mate Palin is incompetent, so just give me the job", well it might have made it worth while. There was no adrenilin running through their veins. And what gave me the real willies is McCains movements, he moves himself like a robot, (and if anyone reminds me for the umpteenth time that he was a patriotic, beaten up, starved POW, war hero, I will puke).
And speaking of that as for Palin, WHOA, Kathleen Parker beacon of conservatism wants Palin to bow out, to "do it for your country" ... she wrote:

"If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself. If Palin were a man, we’d all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes. But because she’s a woman — and the first ever on a Republican presidential ticket — we are reluctant to say what is painfully true.
What to do? McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden. Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.
Do it for your country. " — Kathleen Parker is a nationally syndicated columnist.

September 26, 2008, 0:00 a.m.

Palin Problem
She’s out of her league.

By Kathleen Parker

© 2008, Washington Post Writers Group

McCain IS Senile and it's getting way too expensive to keep bailing out George H. W. Bush's sons!

2008-10-09T14:01:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I think John McCain HAS TO BE senile! He's so forgotten the 1980's! I'm sure McCain figured people had forgotten the rolls that his friends have played along the way, like crooked financer, Charles H. Keating Jr., and recent dismissed campaign economic advisor Phil Gramm and his wife who had previously screwed people via Enron deregulation. Do people know McCain had to go before the Ethics Committee back then for his role in the Keating Five?

According to Joe Conason, (4/30/08) "Back in the '80s, Gramm smiled upon the abrupt deregulation of the savings-and-loan industry, described by his idol Ronald Reagan as America's opportunity to "hit the jackpot" of growth. He used his political clout to protect the Texas operators whose crooked machinations eventually helped to bankrupt the S&L industry. In fact, the S&L debacle cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars."
And we must not forget to add to that another Texan's son, that would be George H.W. Walkers son, Neil, he cost the taxpayers a billion dollars too, remember the Silverado Savings and Loan scandal?

Here's a little reminder from Washington Post, Staff writer Peter Carlson, (Sunday, December 28, 2003) " In the late '80s and early '90s, Bush embarrassed his father, George H.W. Bush, with his shady dealings as a board member of the infamous Silverado Savings and Loan, whose collapse cost taxpayers $1 billion." I suppose with the cost of inflation, our president had to cost the taxpayers today trillions for a bailout! It is just to be expected when your last name is Bush and your father is Poppy Bush #41. It's all part of the Bush legacy, those Bush boys, God bless em, love spending other people's money! But, getting back to McCain, Poppy Bush is not the only one who should be embaressed by the connection to the 1980's S & L scandal, John McCain was right there sucking up lobbyist money:
The Nation -- "Back in the 1980s, when the US faced a major savings & loan crisis, John McCain intervened to protect S&L magnate Charles Keating--a major McCain donor and friend--from federal regulators. McCain was later rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee for "poor judgement" and embarrassed by the $112,000 in campaign contributions, trips and gifts he accepted from Keating. Following the entanglement, McCain became a born-again reformer and tried to scrub the Keating episode from his resume."
So while we look at this tremendous financial mess we are in, remember these names, McCain, Keating, Gramm and Neil and George W. Bush, because we will be paying back trillions for assholes like these who
screw us and end up running for the presidency and possibly winning! OY! Take heart -- We won't have much left to lose after Bush leaves office...

From The Politico By LISA LERER | 3/28/08 2:06 PM

"The general co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), led the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law that Democrat Barack Obama claimed on Thursday contributed significantly to today’s economic turmoil.
“A regulatory structure set up for banks in the 1930s needed to change because the nature of business had changed,” the Illinois senator running for president said in a New York economic speech. “But by the time [it] was repealed in 1999, the $300 million lobbying effort that drove deregulation was more about facilitating mergers than creating an efficient regulatory framework.”
Gramm’s role in the swift and dramatic recent restructuring of the nation’s investment houses and practices didn’t stop there. A year after the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed the old regulations, Swiss Bank UBS gobbled up brokerage house Paine Weber. Two years later, Gramm settled in as a vice chairman of UBS’s new investment banking arm. Later, he became a major player in its government affairs operation. According to federal lobbying disclosure records, Gramm lobbied Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department about banking and mortgage issues in 2005 and 2006. During those years, the mortgage industry pressed Congress to roll back strong state rules that sought to stem the rise of predatory tactics used by lenders and brokers to place homeowners in high-cost mortgages.
For his work, Gramm and two other lobbyists collected $750,000 in fees from UBS’s American subsidiary. In the past year, UBS has written down more than $18 billion in exposure to subprime loans and other risky securities and is considering cutting as many as 8,000 jobs. "
Phil Gramm quotes:

* "Most people don't have the luxury of living to be 80 years old, so it's hard for me to feel sorry for them."[2] — In response to a claim that a Social Security proposal would hurt people over 80.

* "Has anyone ever noticed that we live in the only country in the world where all the poor people are fat?" — During his first Senate Campaign against Democrat Lloyd Bentsen.[3]

Throw Charlie Rangel to the Wolves

2008-10-09T13:59:00.000-04:00

What the hell is he thinking? He's on the damn committee that deals with taxation and he doesn't care a shit about paying his own taxes? Shame on you Charlie Rangel! Not only doesn't he pay some of his taxes, he uses the Congressional parking lot as a place to store a car, has never reported his income from rental property in the Dominican Republic, got an interest free loan on the property - wow! Plus he has like 4 rent controlled homes that are being investigated. I say throw the bum out! The Democrats should join Republicans on kicking Charlie's keester to the curb. Make an example of the new way things will operate. Grow some balls Congress and show the people you actually have some ethics inside those corroded arteries of yours! The Democrats are afraid to hold their own accountable and they pretend want change - then show that you mean it, show Rangel the door. Take him off his Ways and Means committee until he is investigated and either charged or dismissed. Give these asswipes an inch and they take everything...

Sarah's ready to lead...us right into debt and taxes like she did as Mayor or being in love blindly with Palin means never having to say you're sorry!

2008-10-09T13:58:00.000-04:00

WHOA! Just when we thought Bush was the biggest screw up, suddenly I hear the angelic, can do no wrong because she is a Right Wing, fiscal conservative, Sarah Palin has yet another screw up that cost her Washilla's tax payers big money and not just because she upped their taxes. No, she decided the town needed that indoor sports complex, but never got clear title to the land before starting to build on it. Originally the tract of land cost $126,000 from the Nature Conservatory, except, the city never did the deal. So along comes Gary Lungren, a real estate investor and scarfs up all the property along with with that tract from the NC paying a million bucks for all of the property. So "pain in the ass" Palin had the city sue Lungren and when they THOUGHT they had won, Lungren appealled. Palin, being quite impatient and used to getting her way, went ahead and had the roads cleared, utilities put in and prepped the land without even waiting for the court decision. Lundgren offered Palin a smaller tract of the land for FREE, but Palin being a stubborn ass like Dubya who has to have their own way, continued to sue. Palin left office and the city tried to use emminent doman on Lundrgen who went to a mediator and received:
$836, 000 for all HIS land. The legal bill for Sarah's folly, $250,000 (so far), plus Wasilla owed Lundgren another $336,000 in interest. Needless to say, (but I will anyway) the taxpayers are still footing the excessive bill for Sarah's folly. (over $1,400,000,00) Is this the kind of fiscal conservative Palin is? Is this the crap we want continuing in government? Vote for McCain and Palin and that's the continuing crap you will get... Are the right wing people blind to her faults? Just because you are a women does not mean you can't make a mistake or two, or three or more in Palin's case...
Don't believe me, check out the Wall Street Journal, Sept. 6th, 2008
Palin's Hockey Rink Leads To Legal Troubles in Town She Led, by Michael M. Phillips

why does McCain need to cover Sarah Palin's ass? GOP 'values' at work

2008-10-09T13:57:00.000-04:00

why does McCain need to cover Sarah Palin's ass if she has "nothing to hide and welcomes the investigation"? Why are all the people subpeoned refusing to testify? This reeks of GOP cover-up - here we go again
Once again we see how the GOP uses ethics and values! "For me to poop on" as Triumph the Comic dog would say...
AP

McCain campaign clamps down on questions in Alaska

By ANNE SUTTON, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 17, 3:11 AM ET

...Republican efforts include dispatching a former top U.S. terrorism prosecutor from New York, Ed O'Callaghan, to assist Palin's personal lawyer working to derail or delay a pending ethics investigation in Alaska. The probe, known as "Troopergate," is examining whether the governor abused her power by trying to remove her former brother-in-law as a state trooper...

O'Callaghan is just part of a cadre of high-powered operatives patrolling Alaska as reporters and Democrats scrutinize every detail of Palin's tenure in government, plus her family and friends. One strategy: Carefully coordinate any information that's released. The McCain campaign is demanding that it becomes the de facto source for answers about the operations of Alaska's government during the past 20 months.

Palin - open government except when the investigation surrounds her -- Dubya would be proud of his new protege

2008-10-09T13:54:00.000-04:00

A 'Clear" and present danger, Sarah Palin!

The GOP now have the lawyers in place in Alaska trying to squash the investigation of Palins' alleged abuse of power, (Troopergate.) The GOP are saying the committee is prejudiced even though there are a majority of GOP on the investigating committee and Palin appointed them. Now she and McCain want the investigation and the committee to go bye bye fast. For those of you GOP who love how Bush operates during an investigation by trying to subvert attention from it and then letting someone take the fall and later giving them a Pardon. Palin has already shown she can be Bush's clone, she and McCain are ready to use any Karl Rove methods of getting their candidate into office. Congrats Palin for trying to interfere in the investigation when you keep saying you are for open government, except in the case where it involves investigating you...

photo Huffington Post

And to get the real story from Associated Press:

JUNEAU, Alaska - Five Republican state lawmakers filed suit Tuesday to end the bipartisan investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of the public safety commissioner even though the vice presidential candidate once said she welcomed the probe into allegations of abuse of power.
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The lawsuit called the investigation "unlawful, biased, partial and partisan." None of the lawmakers who filed the suit in Anchorage Superior Court serves on the bipartisan Legislative Council that unanimously approved the investigation.

The scandal known as "Troopergate" gained national attention after Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose Palin as his running mate. Since then, Palin and the McCain campaign have sought to distance Palin from the controversy and have taken actions that could slow its resolution until after the November election.

Palin fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan in July. Weeks later, it emerged that Palin, her husband, Todd, and several high-level staffers had contacted Monegan about state trooper Mike Wooten, who had gone through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister before Palin became governor. While Monegan says no one from the administration ever told him directly to fire Wooten, he says their repeated contacts made it clear they wanted Wooten gone.

Palin maintains that she fired Monegan over budget disagreements, not because he wouldn't dismiss her ex-brother-in-law. Still, she said in July that she'd welcome and cooperate with the investigation ordered by the Legislative Council. "Hold me accountable," said had said.

McCain campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan now calls the investigation "tainted."

Alaska's House Speaker, a Republican who voted to authorize the review two months ago, on Tuesday questioning its impartiality.

Rep. John Harris wrote that what "started as a bipartisan and impartial effort is becoming overshadowed by public comments from individuals at both ends of the political spectrum." His comments were in a letter to the Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton, the committee chairman.

On Tuesday, three state representatives and two state senators sued Democratic Sen. Hollis French, who is overseeing the investigation; Juneau Democratic Sen. Kim Elton, who heads the Legislative Council; independent investigator Steve Branchflower; and the Legislative Council itself.

The lawsuit seeks to either delay the investigation until after the Nov. 4 general election or remove French and Elton.

"There is no nonpartisan reason to complete this investigation until after the election," said Anchorage attorney Kevin G. Clarkson. "We just want to take the politics out of it and bring fairness back into it."

Clarkson said he and a nonprofit legal firm in Texas, Liberty Legal Institute, were donating their work on the suit. A phone message for French was not immediately returned.

The Legislative Council, made up of four Democrats and eight Republican, voted unanimously to investigate the circumstances of Monegan's dismissal. Although Monegan was an at-will employee who could be fired for almost any reason, lawmakers wanted to see whether Palin tried to use her office to settle a personal score with Wooten.

Last week the state Senate Judiciary Committee voted to issue subpoenas for Todd Palin as well as nearly a dozen others and to gain phone records of a top aide to the governor. The subpoenas seek to compel their cooperation in the investigation.

O'Callaghan said Monday that Sarah Palin, who was not subpoenaed, was unlikely to speak to Branchflower and that he didn't know if Todd Palin would challenge his subpoena. At the same time, the campaign released e-mails it claimed supported Sarah Palin's assertion that disagreements over budget were behind Monegan's firing.

Among the e-mails released was a farewell note by Monegan. In it, he suggested the governor had reason to believe she had lost his support, and he urged his former colleagues to communicate better with her.

"For anyone to lead effectively they must have the support of their team, and I had waited too long outside her door for her to believe that I supported her," he wrote. "Please, choose a different path."

Palin's lawyer has sought to have the three-member state Personnel Board take over to investigation, alleging that public statements made by French indicated the probe was politically motivated. French had said the results of the investigation could constitute an "October surprise" for the McCain campaign, and he later apologized.

The good ole boy we elected because he's the one most people would like to have a beer with

2008-10-09T13:51:00.001-04:00

Well, we got what we deserved, There is no doubt more stupid people elected George W. Bush cause he 'tawked' tough and cause he was the guy they thought would be more fun to have a beer and barbeque with. They thought he was a good ole boy with great family connections, values and even though his past was shady, he was born-again, for the Christian Conservatives, that meant they could forgive him. Unfortunately, never once did they look at this guy as a CEO with a lousy business sense, well, it's biting us in the ass now.
After he graduated Bush had a series of lousy business dealings. He had the options though whenever his businesses were failing, his family name gave him the GOP clout to pull in investors who knew his father. That was how Bush made his money. Every time something was failing, some GOP family friend would give him a break. When he sold his failing Spectrum 7 company in the 80's to Harken, they took him and put him on the Board of Harken. Bush happened to sell his shares conveniently days before the company was posting a huge loss, he took the money and never had to be held accountable, heck, the head of the Texas securities commission was Richard Breedan, Bush's daddy's old pal who Poppy #41 put in charge so Dubya didn't have to even be accountable to filling out the paperwork that accompanied the sale.
Dubya, like many of todays greedy seedy CEO's seem to be one and the same, they raid their failing companies with millions and in cases billions in bonuses for themselves and get out of the company. Look at Lehmans today, the financials, the auto and insurance industry. The top brass get their money despite the company going belly up -- just like Dubya, they take their profit and don't look back.
On September 2, 2004, Bush challenged the mortgage companies to cut people slack and make everyone a homeowner. The mortgage industry scarfed up the business, giving people zero interest loans, and adjustable mortgages, heck, no verification of income needed, just a hand shake and a signature. Bush wanted to be the good-ole president who made it possible for anyone to own a home. Well, he got his goal and since then, everything fell apart. Wall Street got greedy too and hand in hand, we now have a society of more people in foreclosure and losing their homes than ever before. Thank you Mr. Dubya Bush for one more failure adding to the 9/11 Iraq mess and Katrina among many many other screw ups!
Mr. President only made money because his rich friends either bailed him out, or like the Texas Rangers, they let him in on THEIR deals. This economic crisis probably means you and I, common taxpayer will be paying for all the screwed up decisions Bush has made over 8 years. Eight years of two screw-balls running the country and our reputation into the ground, so much so that even McCain will not be seen with either Bush or Cheney and denounces the Bush policies.

One can only hope this election people will look at the issues and vote intelligently, not because of what they think is the popularity of the contestant! Look before you leap this time, back track on the profiles. take a look at how each candidate will solve our problems, make sure to elect someone this time who is not the most friendly boozehound or they are born again or even because they might be a 'hottie'. We have a lot at stake this time! Personally, at this point, I wish Michael Bloomberg were running, I wish it were someone who knew how to make money and turn these 8 years around. I guess I am looking for a miracle worker...

some good reading:
Influence and bailouts a business tradition in Bush family
trigaux
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By ROBERT TRIGAUX

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 29, 2000

Once upon a time, a rich and powerful father gathered his four young sons and urged them to become rich and powerful, too. Take risks. Push yourselves. Influence others, he ordered in a bold voice.Then he whispered, "And if you muck things up, a fairy godfather will always appear to make things better."

Those may not have been the precise words spoken, but this is no tall tale. It's the business model adopted long ago by George and Barbara Bush to propel sons George W., Jeb, Marvin and Neil into the high ranks of industry and, at least for two boys, politics. Sure, by now in the presidential campaign Dubya's dubious business transactions have been poked at repeatedly by the media. No question, Jeb's numerous and often questionable business dealings have been scoured more than once. Little has been written about Marvin, an investment adviser. Neil, the youngest, took some serious legal heat in the 1980s for his role in the demise of a Denver savings and loan. But he has since retreated to the Bush home turf of Houston and largely disappeared from the national spotlight. Altogether, the Bush boys' business deals have received scant attention. What's intriguing is that, time and again, all four brothers have chosen to use a remarkably similar two-step business model.

STEP 1: Leverage the Bush family name and a small personal investment into really big money, always provided by others. STEP 2: If any deal goes sour, exit early with personal fortune intact. Or rely on a bailout from one of Dad's fairy godfathers: some of the thousands of wealthy Republican fundraisers and longtime supporters of former President Bush. Of course, playing off the privileged and famous Bush name is inevitable. To a point. But to the Bush boys, dubbed the "Shrubs" by detractors, it's become a chronic dependency. A habit of striking consistency. The Bushes uniformly deny any wrongdoing and insist they haven't profited improperly on their family's political and financial connections. But let's just take a quick peek at some of the more interesting "Bush business model" deals pursued over the years by each of the boys.

George W. Alaska construction: At age 27 and halfway through two years at Harvard Business School, Dubya spent the summer of 1974 in Alaska working for a small airline-and-construction business. The company, Alaska International Industries, had received a letter from an executive at a Houston construction company asking about a job for Bush. The aviation arm of Alaska International had an unusual list of clients that just happened to include the shah of Iran and the Central Intelligence Agency. Dubya's father would be appointed CIA director the following year.

Oil deals: In Texas, Dubya took his $50,000 trust fund and in 1977 started his first company, Arbusto Energy Inc. He got friends to invest in various drilling ventures that mostly went nowhere (but did generate big tax deductions). Friendly investors arranged a 1984 deal in which struggling Arbusto was acquired by another drilling company called Spectrum 7. When Harken Energy bought Spectrum in 1986, George wound up on the board with a $120,000 consulting gig and $530,380 worth of stock. In the midst of his father's presidency in 1990, Bush unloaded his Harken shares for $848,560. Less than two months later, Iraqi troops marched into Kuwait, throwing the oil business into turmoil. Harken shares plummeted and the company reported a $20-million quarterly loss. The Securities and Exchange Commission investigated Dubya for improper insider trading but issued no reprimand. At the time, the SEC was headed by Richard Breeden, a former aide to President Bush.

Baseball: Dubya was appointed managing partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, even though he put up only $600,000 of mostly borrowed money for a 1.8 percent stake in the team. Among the big backers buying the Rangers were William DeWitt (a fellow Yale alum of Dubya's) and Mercer Reynolds. Both were major contributors to President Bush's campaign. Earlier, the two also were in on the rescue of Dubya's oil company. Dubya later sold out of the Rangers' ownership group. His take: $15-million. That sum made Dubya rich and finally in a comfortable position to pursue a political career. In 1998, Dubya and his wife reported income of $18,405,524, on which they paid federal taxes of $3,772,252, or 20.5 percent. Most of their 1998 income came from long-term capital gains. And nearly all of that resulted from the original $600,000 investment in the Texas Rangers.

Almost 40 years ago, in the height of the Kennedy era, a competitive George Bush was heard to say: "Just wait 'til I turn these Bush boys out." So far, the former president and wife have done a pretty good job. If you don't look too closely. -- Robert Trigaux can be reached at (727) 893-8405 or trigaux@sptimes.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush073099.htm

From White House site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040902-5.html

Increasing Affordable Housing and Expanding HomeownershipWe live in a time of change, and our dynamic economy can create great opportunities for America's families to realize their dreams. During this time of change, President Bush believes that government should help families to have the security, dignity, and independence that comes with owning their piece of the American dream. President Bush has a bold agenda for promoting an ownership society: giving young people the option of voluntary personal accounts under Social Security to give them more control over their retirement savings; Health Savings Accounts to give individuals expanded access and choice in health care; lower taxes and less burdensome regulations on entrepreneurs; and policies to eliminate barriers to homeownership. President Bush supports homeownership, which gives Americans a greater stake in their communities. The President has been leading a three-part strategy for increasing homeownership by: Supporting low-income families who are saving for a downpayment, and ensuring that good financing options are available;Ensuring that the homebuying process is fair to consumers and that consumers understand their options; and

*creating a larger supply of affordable housing units available for ownership.

The President's New Proposals for Affordable Housing and Increased Homeownership

To help more Americans achieve the American dream of owning their own home, President Bush set a new public-private goal of increasing the supply of affordable housing by seven million over the next 10 years. To meet this goal, the President is calling for passage of his Homeownership Tax Credit and encouraging communities to reduce regulatory barriers through the Department of Housing and Urban Development's America's Affordable Communities Initiative and the President's new Opportunity Zones initiative. The Homeownership Tax Credit. Under the President's plan, homebuilders that build affordable homes for middle-income purchases will receive a tax credit. Federal government estimates indicate that this Homeownership Tax Credit will result in an additional 40-50,000 affordable single-family homes annually. The Homeownership Tax Credit would allow state housing finance agencies to award tax credits to single-family developments located in a census tract with median income equal to 80 percent or less of area median income. The credits could not exceed 50 percent of the cost of constructing a new home or rehabilitating an existing property. The program would be limited to homebuyers who earn no more than 80 percent of area median income. Each state would have a homeownership credit ceiling adjusted for inflation each year and equal to the greater of 1.75 times the state population or $2 million.

* Regulatory Reform. Studies have shown that regulatory barriers can add to the costs of a home by 20 to 35 percent. Removing these barriers would reduce development costs and enable millions of American families to buy or rent suitable housing that they otherwise could not afford. Removing regulatory barriers that add to the costs of a home are integral to meeting housing needs for middle-income individuals such as teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses, service sector employees, and others.
o The America's Affordable Communities Initiative was launched by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to focus more attention on the need for regulatory reform. The initiative is an aggressive effort to help communities across America identify and overcome regulatory barriers to affordable housing.
+ HUD has identified regulations contributing to higher housing costs and production delays, including: out-of-date building codes; duplicative or time-consuming design review or approval processes; burdensome rehabilitation codes; restrictive or exclusionary zoning ordinances; unnecessary or excessive fees or taxes; extreme environmental restrictions; and excessive or "gold-plated" land development standards.
+ While many of these regulations were well-intentioned and even useful in their early implementation, many have become outdated and cause unintended harm to local communities. By helping local communities remove these regulatory barriers, HUD seeks to open doors for millions of American families who want to buy or rent an affordable home in the community of their choice.
* Challenging the Private Sector. The President is calling upon the housing industry, including the, Federal Home Loan Banks, the homebuilders, and the mortgage and finance industry to join with Federal, State, and local governments to help America meet the goal of increasing the supply of affordable housing.

Increasing the Supply of Affordable Housing Units Available for Ownership

The lack of affordable housing can be an insurmountable barrier for low- and moderate-income homebuyers in many parts of the country, especially along the coasts. Traditionally, affordable housing efforts have focused on the short-term goal of increasing the affordability and number of available rental units, and have not focused on ownership. As part of the President's plan to build an ownership society, he has focused on encouraging homeownership, particularly among minorities and low-income families. In 2003, the number of homeowners increased by 1.7 million as the number of renters declined in the United States by over one million families.

The President's Homeownership Accomplishments

Congress and the President have worked together to accomplish important elements of his strategy - providing downpayment support for low-income families and good financing options for rural buyers. Under President Bush's leadership, overall U.S. homeownership in the second quarter of 2004 reached an all-time high of 69.2 percent. Single-family housing affordability is at its highest level in 30 years, and minority homeownership set a new record-high of 51 percent in the second quarter.

The President has called on Congress to work with him on additional steps to promote homeownership in America. He has set bold goals for homeownership, including his challenge to the Nation to create 5.5 million new minority homeowners by the end of the decade - and he has now set an additional goal of 7 million new affordable homes.

* Downpayment Assistance and Homebuying Education:
o American Dream Downpayment Initiative. To help low-income families overcome the hurdle of a downpayment, the President proposed the American Dream Downpayment Initiative in June 2002 and signed the American Dream Downpayment Act into law on December 16, 2003. In June 2004, HUD announced $160 million in funding for this initiative to 400 local and state governments across the country to assist low-income families with down payment funds. The President requested $200 million for the American Dream Downpayment Initiative in his FY 2005 budget, which will assist an estimated 40,000 families.
o Zero-Downpayment Initiative. In his FY 2005 budget, the President proposed the Zero-Downpayment Initiative. Preliminary projections indicate this Initiative would help about 150,000 homebuyers in the first year alone. This proposal would eliminate the statutory requirement of a minimum three percent down payment for FHA-insured single-family mortgages for first-time homebuyers.
o Housing Counseling and Homebuying Education. Since 2001, President Bush has doubled the funding for housing counseling for families. These HUD housing counseling grants help take the uncertainty out of home buying for thousands of Americans, empowering them to avoid predatory lending, make more informed home purchases, and understand the lending process more clearly. The President has also called for an increase in funding for comprehensive housing counseling and education, including pre-purchase and default services, and renter counseling to potential homeowners and tenants. The President's FY 2005 budget request for these important programs is $45 million, more than doubling the $20 million level in FY 2001.
o America's Homeownership Challenge. In June 2002, President Bush issued America's Homeownership Challenge to the real estate and mortgage finance industries - to encourage them to join the effort to close the gap that exists between the homeownership rates of minorities and non-minorities. Due to the President's leadership, more than 2 dozen companies have made commitments to increase minority homeownership, including pledges to finance more than $1.1 trillion in mortgage purchases for minority homebuyers this decade.

Playing God - Could the atom smasher send us into another dimension?

2008-09-12T00:53:00.002-04:00

September 12, 2008
Playing God…could the “God” particle, suck us all into another dimension?

It’s against my programming to impersonate a deity.

C-3PO, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Remember in Ghostbusters when they said, “don’t cross the streams”? Well in Cern, Switzerland, some scientists are drinking champagne and getting smashed over their atom smasher. This is no small feat, it involves a $10billion dollar machine weighing “thousands of tons” with giant magnets that fire protons like it’s a potato gun firing through the landscape trying to duplicate the “God Particle” that duplicates the “big bang” - what are they thinking? I don’t want some drunk scientists with the potential to create a few blackhole voids getting too exuberant about “playing God”. They seem drunk with power over their use of quarks and gluons and universal power shot out of a long tube into our earth. AND we still don’t know what will happen for weeks possibly. Maybe France will be sucked into a blackhole? Maybe the scientists will go insane and hold the earth for ransom, maybe Osama Bin Laden will buy it and point it toward Crawford Texas and Cheney’s cave? Or could it blow our moon out of orbit? Or get one pissed off God to finally show his face?
I envision mad scientists laughing manically and plotting and planning both good and evil once they master the atom smasher and get it up to full speed — they have not gotten it up to full tilt boogy yet. Maybe they should point it toward hurricane Ike and suck the juice out of the storm, but what if it twirled it’s beam into the ocean floor and created a hole that sucked out all our Gulf water? Oh my! The possibilities are kind of creepy, really creepy. A bunch of people who get together and want to do anything that has “God” in their game plan gives me the heeby -jeebys!
Watch the news in the weeks to come, the election, the war on terror, drought, hurricanes, they might be secondary to the threat of going down the tube, literally!!!

By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS
Associated Press Writer

The CERN experiments could reveal more about “dark matter,” antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time. It could also find evidence of a hypothetical particle - the Higgs boson - which is sometimes called the “God particle” because it is believed to give mass to all other particles, and thus to matter that makes up the universe…

Gillies said the only risk would be if a beam at full power were to go out of control, and that would only damage the accelerator itself and burrow into the rock around the tunnel. No one would be endangered because the tunnel is evacuated when beams are being fired.

Should whats between the legs determine a candidate? Answer, as long as she can lie like a man!

2008-09-07T16:16:00.002-04:00

This sudden propulsion of Sarah Palin for VP is an example of genus yet perverted use of politics. The GOP were smart putting a woman they hardly vetted as their candidate. It gives them a leg up, ( they think) to grab women voters disgruntled because of Hillary, say what? Maybe strict conservatives have such limited brain banding, but not the rest of us. My question is, can she lie as well as the men? Why yes, yes Sarah has proven she can! AND she is good at it too! Facing those crowds with her pretty face, she woos the conservative crowds saying she sold a plane on ebay for a profit, when the records prove otherwise, but the Conservatives cheer those lies on, she is very convincing! The "Right" is not about questioning a woman. When Sarah boosts before a crowd that she said no to the bridge from nowhere, Conservatives go wild. Yet, we know from the press reports she accepted the earmarks she proudly tells the GOP she would never accept. We will soon find out what the Ethics committed has to say about the lies she told in regard to the emails and calls trying to fire her brother-in-law. But worse than that is how Sarah is touting to be an advocate for special needs children, and as Paul Harvey would say, here is the rest of the story:
Palin says: "To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House."
But the REALITY of her lie is, she cut Special needs funding to education by 62%! Yes Right to Lifer, sucker-up-to-Paliners, 62%! What type of advocate is that?
It amazes me that the public, especially the Right to Life, conservatives, go blind for a candidate they like. They see nothing but a nice looking women with her litter of 5, soon to be 6, who is offering them pretty dishes of abstinence, reformation, creationism, banning books in the libraries, and uses a series of whoppers to promote herself though some of her self absorbed 'assets' make her look like an asshole.
But ya gotta give it to her, she can lie just like any of the men. Especially the likes of the great GOP liars like Tom The Hammer Delay, JAck Abrahmoff, Tom Foley, Larry Craig, The president himself! As a Democrat we have our own heroes, but lately, not as many as the values GOP voters.
So it becomes a case of yes, she is a woman candidate for VP, and we all wanted a Women in high office, but if you have some quadrant in your brain for cerebral reasoning, you must look beyond the Palin twat - her brain is as Conservative thinking as they come, she will set the country back into a time of the Moral Majority. She might look like another pretty face to conservatives, but her reality has a much harsher look for those of us who want to continue to be progressive.
I am happy to see a woman like Palin whose ego is as big as any of the guys, but the real test is can she throw out a big old whopper and have the crowd mesmerized because of her looks and her sex...well, all you have to do is look at the GOP conservatives in Colorado Springs and listen to the cheers for her lies, she has passed the "good old boys" test with flying colors! Go Sarah Go...
This is posted on Mudflats:

Sarah Palin Slashed Special Needs Education by 62%

For those of you who seem so enamored with Gov. Sarah Palin, it might be worth noting that she oversees the budget for the Department of Education and Early Development Special Schools in Alaska.
These funds provide supplementary educational services to students with severe disabling conditions and the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy. The resident school where the child would normally be placed does not have the resources to provide an adequate educational program. Without the supplementary services the child’s needs would not be met by the local school district in most cases.
The following programs are included within this component:
Special Education Service Agency (SESA)

The Annual budget for 2007, which preceded Gov. Palin was $8,265,300.

2007

The Annual budget for 2008, enacted by Gov. Palin is $3,156,000.

2008

The Annual budget for 2009, enacted by Gov. Palin is $3,156,000.

2009

This is a cut in special needs services to children in Alaska of 5,109,300 , or 62%.

So, as the Alaska State Budget description states, “Without the supplementary services the child’s needs would not be met by the local school district in most cases.”

Did 62% of all of the special needs children in Alaska stop having needs once Gov. Palin took office?

Bombing Pakistan and how God tells us what to do and who to vote for

2008-09-05T08:37:00.001-04:00

I haven't heard much from the White House lately because of the media focus on the conventions, but has President Dubya gotten another message from God to go ahead and bomb our ally, Pakistan? We all know how Bush/Cheney want Bin Laden so badly they can taste it. But when random drones are being lobbed over the border and killing women and children, well, here we go again making another attempt at weird Bush bloody diplomacy. The innocent victims living in these places just might not appreciate our efforts and that is a perfect example of how we make more terrorists, we give them all the more reason to hate us. It is chilling to hear that so many women and children are baring the brunt of our missiles.
According to Stephen Cohen, Fellow of the Brookings Institute:
"George Bush [the US president] wants to leave office with the record of having captured Osama bin Laden [the al-Qaeda leader] ... I think this raid was an attempt to either capture him or some of the senior al-Qaeda leadership...

"The Americans probably said 'we are going to have to go in and get some of these guys and we don't want to run into Pakistani soldiers on the way in or out' and my guess is that Kayani probably said 'okay do it - were not going to approve it but we're not going to stop it'."
So is this another regime change? Our Pakistan Ambassador was recently called in because of the raid involving the bombing of 20 people mainly women and children. Pakistan was pissed and protested this raid. Don't get me wrong, there are real bad people out there who don't like us and I'm sure the military has their ways of knowing where the 'bad guys' are, but they do make mistakes and they still can't find a 6'7" Bin Laden with all their modern, military, heat-seeking, satellite equipment.
There have been several of these bombings lately, others killed because we screwed up. 26 Pakistani police recruits on their "way to college" said one Pakistan official, and of course, 'we the people' have to wonder if all this was "legit", or is it Bush delusional bombing again? These strikes have been growing lately as Bush has fewer days in office and he and Cheney won't be able to get their 'kicks' out of blasting things and people anymore.
I don't know the way we find all "the bad guys". It seems that if Sarah Palin were to become our president, the "pitbull/barracuda" would be using the same Religious Right, God speaking, patriotic rationalization techniques that 'born-again' Bush has used. Oh, she might not say God told her, but she would play her religion card the same way she does in her Church when she told the congregation about praying for God to show them the way to get a nice $30billion government contract for a gas pipeline:
"I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," Palin said.
This is what we want again? The Grand Old Party to "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" just like McCain is itching to do? Has the country caved to the Republicans Patriotic regurgitation that we must continue to bomb the shit out of any suspected 'might-be' terrorist villages? Does anyone ever wonder why so many terrorists hate us in the first place? Ummm, how about occupation? How about US forces on their land killing innocent people, bombing their homes and villages? How about Abu Garib memories? How about our aggression without diplomacy because a president speaks to his Old Testment God?
We all know that the Madras is a school and a tool for making and harboring terrorists, is there anyway to lean on countries, like say our 'oil buds', Saudi Arabia for example and say, cut the shit already, quit the terrorism boarding schools? (Oh, guess not since they have us in an oil stranglehold.) Has all hope for any peace vanished? And especially because of the way we have acted in the past 8 years to make our country so hated for going into places that had nothing to do with 9/11 and occupying and and bombing the villages into a bloody Fred Flintstone pulp? How would we feel being occupied and bombed constantly? Having only a few hours a day of electricity and limited water, and we had to fear for our lives when we stepped out the door? Would we be picked up for interrogation and hung from a meat hook till we gave them the info they think we have?

Scare tactics are what the GOP are drilling into our heads about what will happen to us if we are not aggressive, or "patriotic". I got news, it's going to happen one day again anyway, our borders and ports are still wide open thank you GOP...(and thanks to John McCain). Is there no one who practices the art of diplomacy anymore?

In Afghanistan the only way to have peace is through the warlords, we can't change history though we keep trying. President Karzai knows he has limited control. iraq has seen the passing of Anbar Province which they say is a result of "the Surge", the real test will be when we are out of there and to see what actually takes place when there is no United States presence. According to McCain and Palin, we will stay and spend billions enforcing our will, enforcing our patriotism upon these countries because otherwise, it will make the Bush/Cheney presidency look like losers, (as if they didn't already). The GOP needs to save face and not make Iraq like Vietnam with less casualties, but more money. Iraq wants us to leave, Al-Maliki wants us out with NO immunity for our soldiers. When can we try something new? I am tired of seeing our military and money wasted. We could have built a bullet proof dome and a solid enforcable border wall coast to coast for all the billions we have spent in the middle east pushing our "patriotism".
I am sick of watching the Republicans claim that just because they screwed up for 8 years we should give them more opportunity to do the same for 4 more --i f there is a God, can he tell us who to vote for?
OH, God just told me, he said to write in Ralph Nader...

photo credit" Prisonplanet.com

Let's cheer GOP clamping down on protestors at the convention

2008-09-01T05:29:00.001-04:00

How dare the protesters think they have the right to free speech! Apparently the anti-Bush/Cheney protesters are still going to show up in throngs during what's left of the GOP convention. Good thing the police have been aware of this and have been busting heads before the protesters get started! Maybe that will slow them down if they are booked into jail! And what have they got to protest now? Bush is in Texas to monitor Gustav, he will have little word cards this time so there will be no slip ups like saying, "heck of a job Brownie". Michael Chertoff, looking more like Skeletor every day is waiting in the wings with fresh asbestos trailers and assuring FOX viewers all will be under control because the GOP are in charge! How can there be so many protestors mad at Bush and Cheney and the GOP party? Don't they like McCain's pick of Palin, she is a perfect Bush-woman! There will still be war and money to spend on it. And, Palin might even take a stab at removing women's reproductive rights down the road by helping to appoint another conservative women hater, I mean judge to the Supreme Court. How can protesters be so upset? I suspect it's because they think their free speech is being suppressed by the GOP and the police monitoring, possibly a result of illegal spying sanctioned by Bush and Cheney team so they can monitor terrorists.
Everyone knows there won't be a big GOP convention because they don't want to appear like Caesar fiddling as Rome burns, and New Orleans drowns. The plan this time is for our president to 'appear' engaged. The GOP convention will be about making donations to causes to help the victims of Gustav in an effort to suck up for last time the GOP policies failed and the poor people were all but ignored.
Protesters? What in the world would they have to protest about? Bush is almost out of office and all his35 Articles of Impeachment will become null and void. The Bush regime will have gotten away with great Karl Rove/ Alberto Gonzales strategies for bypassing the Constitution whenever it wasn't convenient. They had to torture, they had to fire attorneys who weren't vigorously prosecuting Democrats, they had to uncover Valerie Plame, her husband might have stopped us from invading Iraq and spending billions upon billions with Halliburton and giving newcomer start up companies like Blackwater a chance at the pie. How can protesters be mad that we are in the largest deficit ever? (thank you China for taking on our debt). And who can be mad at our president for wanting everyone to be a homeowner? So what if we have more foreclosures and homeless families than in any time of recorded history?
It's all good, the protesters will for the most part be out of sight and many will be busted so the GOP convention can go ahead and give the appearance of one party with complete national unity to further the cause. McCain and Palin will be named the nominees, the GOP will give the thumbs up to continue the same old Bush agenda, like staying in Iraq till we can pretend we win no matter how much money it costs the American taxpayer, now who can protest a victory like that? Clamp down on them GOP and Minneapolis police, what patriotic right do these people have to protest? You'd think it was something in the Constitution, but everyone knows by now that Rupert Murdoch will see to it that anyone who is caught protesting will look un-American on FOX noise. How dare these protesters think free speech is really free speech!

Gustav holdouts

2008-09-01T02:48:00.003-04:00

During these wee hours I am drawn to watching the cable stations and absorbing all the news about Gustav. It's going to do a number on the cities of impact and on the outskirts, afterall, it is over 300 miles wide.
CNN is talking to people who are holdouts, they are not going anywhere as the majority of others have chosen life over property. One family, are 'Nor'lins' people from generations past. Never mind that they live in a 'bowl' for a city with untested levies, they refuse to leave because they think they will not be too affected. They sat on their front porch swinging acting quite confident for CNN. They looked like the type of family you would not want to fuck with. The other was a gentleman who lost his wife in Katrina when 9 feet of water suddenly poured into their home and though they both made it to the attic, she died of stress just after getting up there. He stayed with her body in the attic for two days having nowhere else to go. He says he has to stay in his rebuilt house and can't leave his wife's memory. You know there are others who are hold outs. I think about our own perils of having these storms bearing down on us in Florida, and had the path been charted differently, this could be us. Would I have left? I don't know to be honest. I might have hunkered down too. I have the generator, the supplies, a cinderblock house, (which could flood if we had enough water,) but the thought of getting on the highway with a million people sitting in traffic for hours is scarier than the hurricane. (Have you experienced Florida drivers???) Maybe I would hold out till it was the last minute to avoid the panicked masses who leave all at once, I don't know. There is always the thought that when it comes inland, the hurricane's impact goes down. And even with 4 hurricanes that were bearing down on us in 2004, the only reason to leave were the huge pine trees waving over the house and those have been cut down. We were inconvenienced by having no electricity for a week during two storms in the oven of Florida heat and the swamp of mosquitos that came to bite through the ripped screens at night, but "Wally-world" was open, there was gas at the stations, even Pizza Hut was ready for business answering their phones, they just weren't delivering.
We have not seen the devastation that New Orleans and the Gulf coast experienced. During Katrina, though many in the Keys like my brother had their homes flooded. The tornadoes spawned off from these storms in Florida are the worst part it seems. They are 'under the radar' tornadoes, the water vapor keeps them from showing on weather radar till too late almost.
So I watch this like a addictive soap opera clinging to every weather update and watch these reporters put themselves in harms way so we can see them being battered about by furious wind and rain for our amusement and horror - (please Anderson Cooper, don't let your petite figure get launched into space).
I look at the face of Skeletor, I mean Chertoff reassuring FOX news viewers that he is in charge of a newer FEMA and they are on the ground and ready, (does that mean more asbestos filled trailers are lined up and ready to be occupied after the storm?)
Our lameduck Bush is in Texas monitoring the storm and he has been 'propped up' to look like he is on the job this time to save his legacy and try and smooth his past screw-up.
Now all one can do is wait and wait and wonder, if this was going to hit Orlando would I have stayed? I think I might be a holdout.
photocredit: gigglepotz.com

Whoops, Focus on the Family is raining on wrong convention

2008-08-31T10:18:00.003-04:00

Remember how Focus on the Family parishioners were called to pray for torrential rains to disrupt the Democratic convention? Well, sometimes you get what you pray for only for the wrong convention. Seems God has chosen to rain on the GOP parade and Bush and Cheney might not even speak, (like that's a loss). The religious right must watch what they ask for, it seems God is a bit tone deaf these days with all the clamoring for his attention.
While the religiously impaired pray for selfish things such as flooding, why don't we all pray for peace, pray to heal a nation torn apart, pray for all those recent victims of flooding in India and other areas and for the victims of Gustav to come. I would think if you are going to pray, how about leaving destructive forces out of the mix...

photocredit: paiz.typepad.com

Democratic Convention -- the love for Obama was created by GOP president and VP

2008-08-29T00:33:00.007-04:00

www.gangstas-hugs.com

Poor Rush Limp-balls, he must be so disappointed that his prediction of chaos and riots and the 1968 atmosphere did not materialize over Denver at the Democratic convention. Rush likes to delusion that he is an agent of change, that by his crappy suggestions, he can plant the seeds of discontent in his listeners' minds and his drone audience will follow the directions of those words. He likes others to do his dirty work for him. Unfortunately he must be very upset that his power is really minuscule and he should confess that his brain is always hopped up on that illegal Viagra that he brought over in 2006 from the Dominican Republic, (remember he was detained for illegal drugs AND Viagra!)
Actually Viagra in HIS body becomes brain farts, nothing on Rush swells south of his ears. So all he can actually do while under the influence of erectile dysfunction medication is to get a brain boner and ask his audience to participate in his
political, brain boner fantasies! His big move to get Hillary elected really back fired. Looks like he got Obama to deal with instead and it is driving him crazy.
After the Obama speech, I turned to FOX the government propaganda station and the only word out of Bret Hume's Bassett hound lips was "spectacle". He was so intrigued by using this single big word, he kept repeating it over and over. But what amazed me was Bill Kristol, the guy was impressed by Obama?! I almost fell off the couch.
The others of course were not kind, actually in their contract with FOX they must only be loyal and dutiful to Murdoch's agenda, they are not allowed to bite the hand that feeds.
I had a friend today who sent over a You Tube photo called, Obama's Temple. It showed the stadium where Obama was to give his acceptance speech. The GOP is totally perplexed by the fact that Obama is drawing these crowds to fill 75,000 seats. They can't stand that Barack is so popular, it's eating them alive, especially on FOX network. What the diehard GOP don't get is that their own party created this wonderful opportunity! Their blowhard, ass backward man in the oval office, George W. Bush and Dickless Cheney made it all possible with their perversion of the Constitution, their lies, their underhanded tactics, and their corrupt policies. People are fed up by Bush, he has created more division and hate than any other president in history including Nixon who at least had a brain. (And never mind the years filled scandals starring Larry Craig, Jack Abrahamoff, Foley, Ted Stevens, just to name a few.) GOP have Bush and Cheney to thank for Obama's packed houses! The GOP regime has made people disgusted by how our country has operated the last 8 years that even Republicans will be voting Democratic for a change.
We all want change -- me too! But do I think it will happen? Hell no, all the pretty speeches and rhetoric by both parties are just giving the masses velvet verbiage to try and soothe their worried minds. It sounds good, but will anything change? Not while there is an almost evenly split Congress and a 60% majority needed to get things done.
Here's an example of how things are controlled. My son got a hydrogen fuel cell on his SUV, the guy who installed it explained how it worked and how in the future we would have many hydrogen cell cars and other vehicles that would cut use of gas and oil way down. In fact, he said that there are actually Car Companies with lots of fuel efficient vehicles ready for sale, but if the public had access to all these fuel efficient cars right now, the automobile Industry would be stuck with excessive gas guzzling inventories that are now out on their lots and they would not be able to get rid of them. That was why they only let so many fuel efficient cars out at a time, to save the auto industry from drowning in their own metallic waste. No one is out to help us, they are only out to help themselves by screwing us one way or another.
From Rush Limp-ball's brain boners, to pretty speeches by candidates, the public can only listen to the hollow sound of change, will any of it happen? Well, McCain will see to it that we stay in Iraq and squander billions more each month while doing nothing for healthcare, and maybe even buying a few more condos because the housing market is so bad for the rest of us. And Barack says he will change life as we know it and all will be great. All I can tell you is, vote for whomever you feel is the best liar!

Whoops, did Hillary have a Freudian Error?

2008-08-27T12:51:00.007-04:00

photo: www.3billard.com

Okay, I saw the speech and this is what caught me off guard, the beginning:
I am honored to be here tonight. A proud mother. A proud Democrat. A proud American. And a proud supporter of Barack Obama.
NO mention of being a proud wife of Bill Clinton? Is she pissed off or what? Something was sure amiss there. Hillary must go home at night, sit in front of the dressing table mirror and sob. She has to have a lot of hostility for some Senator young guy who really had nothing to make him outstanding and yet, he upstaged her.
I would never ever vote for Bush lite, John McCain, and I will vote for Obama as the GOP have screwed up way way too much for all these years, but I sure would have enjoyed having such a prestigious first women President.
Hillary has made her mark and her speech was really all about her and her accomplishments and she deserves a lot of praise for the fighter she is! I am hoping Obama gets in and gives Hillary some big Cabinet post, or names her to the Supreme Court when someone steps down. I don't think anyone has worked as hard as Hillary with so much fight and determination.
The best thing McCain could do is select Carly Fiorina as VP. It would be very smart on his part to put a women who has headed Hewlett Packard as his second in command. Mitt Romney will be in there to make money connections for himself and his family, we already have Cheney doing the same thing, once was enough.
As for next week's GOP Convention? WHAT A CROCK OF LOADED SHIT - all of a sudden we are going to release the dangerous Anbar province in Iraq back to the Iraqis! It of course has to be done to rally the funky GOP to make them feel psycologically like they have won the war, that their president has been successful, (I doubt Bush will be on stage with McCain.) As for success, Success??? SUCK-ASS, thats' what I say, lets see what happens in Anbar in the upcoming months! Bush and the GOP need to leave office saying they were right and we won, otherwise it really makes the GOP look like losers for supporting this no-talent, joker, George Bush and his minions who have brought us to an all time low and ugly place in history, a place that needs total restoration of our name and our economy and most of all , of our Constitution after King George has wiped his dirty butt with it!
We are limping on the world stage because of 8 years under a fascist GOP, neo-con agenda!
People, get out and rally round Obama and change, Biden is smarter than Dickless Cheney and not a war mongerer who wants to conquer the world to make big bucks off the back of the suppressed, (ie: The American Taxpayer) Let's start a movement for change! And here in Florida vote against Amendment 2, the homophobic amendment by the religious right to name a man and woman as the only people who can marry is so puritan! So very against the priciples that all people are created equal!
From votenoon2.com
Amendment 2 does nothing to protect marriage. But it does take away important family protections, health care insurance, hospital visitation and medical decision-making authority, from all unmarried couples, gay and straight. It permanently bans civil unions and dismantles domestic partner benefits that seniors, teachers, police officers and firefighters rely on in more than 18 communities across the state.
Better make the older Floridian folks who live together and do not want to lose their social security aware they WILL lose many of their rights as a couple if this amendment goes through! They will not be able to visit their partner in the hospital if something tragic happens and only 'family' are permitted. What year is this when the Moral Majority still dictates that gay people are not permitted the same rights that the rest of us enjoy? Who are THEY to judge anyway? I thought if they believe in a higer power, that HE is the one and only true judge... let's leave people's sexual orientation out of the mix, vote against Florida Constitutional Amendment 2.
And speaking of a bunch of religious losers, what about Focus of the Families quick removal of their video asking their believers to pray for bad weather during the democratic convention? How Christian is that praying for bad things to happen to good people -- when will people learn to think for themselves???

God, please don't talk to John McCain.

2008-08-21T10:40:00.009-04:00

photocredit: Liberian Devil via fliker.com

John McCain is out of touch with the public and according to the newspapers. He is an old coot who can't count either. Just what we need, another president who has no math acumen!
Todays headlines AP:
WASHINGTON - Days after he cracked that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least $5 million a year, Republican presidential candidate John McCain acknowledged that he wasn't sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own.
Say what? Say this to yourself 3 times: he does not know how many houses he owns, he does not know how many houses he owns, he does not know how many houses he owns... did that sink in? Here's an Ap headline this morning:
"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain responded to a question posed by Politico, according to a story Thursday on the publication's Web site. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you.">
Do you know how many homes or condos you own? This is a guy who has no idea how the average person lives, he lives in la la land and his wife can pay to keep him there. He has no idea how much credit card expenses and interest his kids accrue, those kids have enough on their average monthly bill to put down payments on a couple more condos! (But that would just add to John's confusion)
According to AP and Politico July 2, 2008:
Their credit card bills peaked between January 2007 and May 2008, during which time Cindy McCain charged as much as $500,000 in a single month on one American Express card and $250,000 on another, while one of their two dependent children had an AmEx card with a monthly balance as large as $50,000.
Old John has no business running for the presidency, unless he picks a VP like Bush has Cheney. Someone needs to lead him around and show him the expenses the average joe deals with on a daily basis! He is too old and too rich, he is forgetful and out of touch. His senior moment in the Whitehouse might mean he could sleep walk and push the "button" and have a world war of epidemic proportions and not even remember doing it. We can only hope if he does get in, that Cindy will put him to sleep each night in his adult diaper, with his arm and leg restraints and a C-pap machine that delivers a good does of Tylenol PM so he can't put us in harms way while thinking he is living out his old Viet Nam detention dreams...Lord help us, do us a favor, don't talk to this one!!!

http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Rule # one of fight club, to be the Chinese team at table tennis, you must be Chines

2008-08-14T15:43:00.005-04:00

photocredit: Brickhousebra via www.flikr.com

I was watching the Olympic table tennis championships today and laughed my ass off when they said that we, The USA had never won at table tennis, it was always the Chinese.
So if you notice, the whole USA table tennis team is Chinese! The announcer said they actually had to even import players from China to do practices.
So the strategy is, if we, the typical USA athlete can't compete with China for table tennis, then we must build and import a competitive team...from China to beat them at their own game...SAY WHAT....
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

The GOP must be so happy with the Bush legacy

2008-08-11T18:41:00.004-04:00

As if we didn't have enough reasons to hate Dubya Bush
According to the Associate Press:
Bush to relax protected species rules By DINA CAPPIELLO
38 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Parts of the Endangered Species Act may soon be extinct. The Bush administration wants federal agencies to decide for themselves whether highways, dams, mines and other construction projects might harm endangered animals and plants.
New regulations, which don't require the approval of Congress, would reduce the mandatory, independent reviews government scientists have been performing for 35 years ...The draft rules would bar federal agencies from assessing the emissions from projects that contribute to global warming and its effect on species and habitats, according to a draft first obtained by The Associated Press.
Here's one more to solidify the way Bush does business with wildlife:
By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer
Thu Aug 7, 6:17 PM ET Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument
WASHINGTON - Two years ago with fanfare, President Bush declared a remote chain of Hawaiian islands the biggest, most environmentally protected area of ocean in the world. It hasn't worked out that way. Cleanup efforts have slowed, garbage is still piling up and Bush has cut his budget request by 80 percent.
...And the Bush administration slashed the debris cleanup budget from the $2.1 million spent in 2005, requesting only $400,000 a year through 2008.

Why should it even come as a surprise that Bush is more interested in rewarding his cronies with big contracts and tax breaks than about caring for life? Is there a "Christian" bone in his body? The guy has no respect of life, (just by faking documents and the Downing Street Memo so he could "play war" can show you that.) And certainly, if he does not care about people, other than his own ilk, why would he care about animals and the environment? LOOK AT HIS RECORD PEOPLE!
King George, isn't he a pisser!!!
IMPEACH THE PHONY ASSCLOWN!
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

John Edwards - Dickhead!

2008-08-08T16:55:00.002-04:00

photo credit steelturman.typepad.com

Well, hope you realize that picture is quite sarcastic. After denial denial denial, guess who else had an affair and might have a love child? yep, that's his photo all right.
No, he is no criminal, but that just pisses me off that that tom cat, Edwards would do this to his family as a time especially when his wife has cancer.
Even when he says in the press that he didn't love that skuz bucket, Rielle, that sounds so damn dumb, what kind of rationalization is that?
Another politician with lust in his heart and dirt on his dick!
Is there anyone honest who is running? Tonight at the grocery I saw in the Globe while standing there, that Obama has a love child, please, I am so sick of such accuisations, either give the proof or don't tell me about it. Even that "old white haired guy" McCain, was fooling around on his first wife with Cindy. These guys are dogs, put a women in there, these men are thinking with their other brain...
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

If they can impeach Musharraf, why not Bush and Cheney?

2008-08-07T12:11:00.005-04:00

Wait a minute, how come Pakistan can find the honesty to bring impeachment charges against Musharraf for "eroding the trust of the nation," and we have fifty scandalous things to pin on Bush, but can't bring hold him down to one single impeachable offense! How about Iraq, Katrina, largest deficit ever, spying, , how about our soldiers lack of care, Gitmo, Torture, buying an election via Diebold in Ohio...
How about this for starters:
Cheney, Libby Blocked Papers To Senate Intelligence Panel
National Journal
By Murray Waas, special to National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005
Vice President Cheney and his chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, overruling advice from some White House political staffers and lawyers, decided to withhold crucial documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 when the panel was investigating the use of pre-war intelligence that erroneously concluded Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to Bush administration and congressional sources.
Among the White House materials withheld from the committee were Libby-authored passages in drafts of a speech that then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered to the United Nations in February 2003 to argue the Bush administration's case for war with Iraq, according to congressional and administration sources. The withheld documents also included intelligence data that Cheney's office -- and Libby in particular -- pushed to be included in Powell's speech, the sources said.

It goes to show that some countries have balls! We have a bunch of losers except for Dennis Kucinich who are only worried about their upcoming elections!
It's not to late! IMPEACH THE ASSCLOWNS BUSH AND CHENEY - WE HAVE PLENTY OF REASONS!!!

From Associated press, August 6.
By MUNIR AHMAD,

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's ruling coalition said Thursday it would seek the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf, alleging the U.S.-backed former general had "eroded the trust of the nation" and increasing pressure on him to resign...
"His policies have weakened the federation and eroded the trust of the nation in national institutions," Zardari added.
"The coalition further decided that it will immediately initiate impeachment proceedings. The coalition leadership will present a charge sheet against Gen. Musharraf," Zardari told a news conference, alongside leaders of the other coalition parties.
Write your senator and tell them Bush and Cheney need impeaching ASAP use the same reason, They have eroded the trust of our nation!!!
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Forged letter and more lies...

2008-08-06T09:18:00.005-04:00

While The White House denies Ron Susskind's "forged letter" - linking Mohammed Atta to Saddam Hussein so Bush could go to war with Iraq, here's a time line and some other facts to make you think about other lies that have been proposed by White House. Little lies can have big consequences! This is to show how these lies are used, (as I have quoted) via people like Bill O'reilly Fox News and beyond - read and then you decide if someone like Robot neo-con, Dick Cheney 'might' have put pressure to take the country to not just one, but other wars if he had the time...Cheney was busy behind the link of Mohammed Atta and could have made sure this letter was put out there, he was down at the CIA offices and pressuring them for a long time, but not only that, he wants Iran too!
Here's the statement by Suskind that would constitute an impeachable offence:
The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001," Suskind wrote. "It said that 9/11 ringleader Mohammad Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq thus showing, finally, that there was an operational link between Saddam and al-Qaida, something the vice-president's office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq. There is no link."
From David Knowles AOL news 8/5/08:
"While accusations of this magnitude should always be met with skepticism, one only needs to look back to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident to realize that such tactics of deception have been employed before to start a war. In fact, as Seymour Hersh recently uncovered, the Bush Administration was planning similar smoke-and-mirrors options for Iran."
And more recently, how about these Iranian ties:
From reporter Gareth Porter - The Iran Attack that Wasn't 8/2/2007 The American Prospect: The revival of the charge of Iranian involvement in the Karbala attack, despite the earlier Petraeus denial, has the all the hallmarks of a White House decision. The alleged Iranian export of arms to Iraqi Shiites, on which the U.S. command briefed the media in Baghdad in February, reflected the administration's decisions in the preceding months to hold Iran responsible for the killing of U.S. troops in Iraq with armor-piercing explosives. After the replacement of the top commander in Iraq with a general who had pledged to carry out the surge strategy chosen by the White House, and the June arrival of a new U.S. command spokesman in Baghdad -- Gen. Bergner -- who had been special assistant to the president and senior director for Iraq, the command’s briefings were tied more closely to the White House propaganda machine than ever before.
OR ---David Manning's famous memos - a prewar meeting between George Bush and Tony Blair, he says that Bush admitted that WMD was unlikely to be found in Iraq and then mused on some possible options for justifying a war anyway:
"The U.S. was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in U.N. colours," the memo says, attributing the idea to Mr. Bush. "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach."
OR --How about this rouse planned by Cheney
EXCLUSIVE: By ThinkProgressive.Org To Provoke War,
Cheney Considered Proposal To Dress Up Navy Seals As Iranians And Shoot At Them»
Speaking at the Campus Progress journalism conference earlier this month, Seymour Hersh — a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist for The New Yorker — revealed that Bush administration officials held a meeting recently in the Vice President’s office to discuss ways to provoke a war with Iran.
In Hersh’s most recent article, he reports that this meeting occurred in the wake of the overblown incident in the Strait of Hormuz, when a U.S. carrier almost shot at a few small Iranian speedboats. The “meeting took place in the Vice-President’s office. ‘The subject was how to create a casus belli between Tehran and Washington,’” according to one of Hersh’s sources.
During the journalism conference event, I asked Hersh specifically about this meeting and if he could elaborate on what occurred. Hersh explained that, during the meeting in Cheney’s office, an idea was considered to dress up Navy Seals as Iranians, put them on fake Iranian speedboats, and shoot at them. This idea, intended to provoke an Iran war, was ultimately rejected:
HERSH: There was a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war. The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up.
Might cost some lives. And it was rejected because you can’t have Americans killing Americans. That’s the kind of — that’s the level of stuff we’re talking about. Provocation. But that was rejected.

This 'letter' was written as if were genuine.
The (London) Sunday Telegraph who wrote about it on the front page of Dec. 14, 2003headline, “Terrorist behind September 11 strike ‘was trained by Saddam.’” by Con Coughlin. It ran the day Hussein was captured and was used by the U.S. media. Coughlin was interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"Fox's Bill O'Reilly trumpeted the story Sunday night on 'The O'Reilly Factor,' talking breathlessly about details of the story and exhorting, 'Now, if this is true, that blows the lid off al Qaeda—Saddam.'" (From Suskind's book, Way of The World)
From CNS James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
http://cns.miis.edu/research/iraq
Timeline:December 2, 2001
Secretary of State Colin Powell on CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer:
BLITZER: “As you know, some former government officials and perhaps some within the government are saying there are some strong signs that the Iraqis were connected to the September 11 terrorist attack, specifically the meetings in Prague between Mohammed Atta, the suspected ringleader, and Iraqi intelligence, an Iraqi intelligence agent. As far as you're concerned, was there a connection there?”
POWELL: “Certainly, these meetings took place.”
December 9, 2001
Vice President Dick Cheney on NBC News’ Meet the Press [link to source]
“It's been pretty well confirmed that [Mohamed Atta] did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack.”
December 17, 2001
The U.K.’s Daily Telegraph reports
“Czech police said yesterday they had no evidence that the ringleader of the suicide attacks, Mohammed Atta, met an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague earlier this year.
“…Jiri Kolar, the police chief, said there were no documents showing that Atta visited Prague at any time this year…”
December 28, 2001
Richard Perle, chairman of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board, writes an Op-Ed entitled “The U.S. Must Strike at Saddam Hussein” for the New York Times
“Evidence of a meeting in Prague between a senior Iraqi intelligence agent and Mohamed Atta, the Sept. 11 ringleader, is convincing.”
April 28, 2002
Journalist Michael Isikoff reports in “The Phantom Link to Iraq” in Newsweek that ]
September 8, 2002
Vice President Dick Cheney speaks with Tim Russert on NBC News’ Meet the Press
VICE PRES. CHENEY: We spent time looking at that relationship between Iraq, on the one hand, and the al-Qaeda organization on the other. And there has been reporting that suggests that there have been a number of contacts over the years. We've seen in connection with the hijackers, of course, Mohamed Atta, who was the lead hijacker, did apparently travel to Prague on a number of occasions. And on at least one occasion, we have reporting that places him in Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence official a few months before the attack on the World Trade Center...
Mr. RUSSERT: What does the CIA say about that? Is it credible?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: It's credible. But, you know, I think a way to put it would be it's unconfirmed at this point.
October 21, 2002
The New York Times reports
“The Czech president, Vaclav Havel, has quietly told the White House he has concluded that there is no evidence to confirm earlier reports that Mohamed Atta, the leader in the Sept. 11 attacks, met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague just months before the attacks on New York and Washington, according to Czech officials…
“Czech officials did not say precisely when Mr. Havel told the White House to disregard the reports of the meeting, but extensive interviews with leading Czech figures make clear that he did so quietly some time earlier this year in an effort to avoid publicly embarrassing other prominent officials in his government…
“For months, American intelligence and law enforcement officials have cast doubt on the reports of the Prague meeting, which proved to be based on the statements of a single informant, and last week the director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet, told Congress that his agency could find no evidence to confirm that the meeting took place.”
February 5, 2003 [reported at a later date]
Lawrence Wilkerson, retired U.S. Army Colonel and former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, chronicled the days he spent at CIA headquarters helping to prepare Powell’s U.N. presentation of February 5, 2003 (from Wilkerson’s testimony on June 26, 2006, before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee’s “Oversight Hearing on Pre-War Intelligence Relating to Iraq”)
“In the rehearsal and discussion sessions at Langley [CIA headquarters], the give and take was mostly the Secretary of State trying to eliminate unsubstantiated and/or unhelpful material and others from the White House trying to keep that material in, or add more. One such incident occurred several times and the final time it occurred provided an example of the Secretary’s growing frustration. Repeatedly, the OVP [Office of the Vice President] or NCS [U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Communications System] staff personnel tried to insert into the presentation the alleged meeting in Prague between al-Qaeda operative and 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta and Iraqi intelligence personnel. Repeatedly, Secretary Powell eliminated it based on the DCI’s [Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet’s] refusal to corroborate it. Finally, at one of the last Langley rehearsals, Secretary Powell was stopped in mid-presentation by deputy national security advisor Steve Hadley and asked what had happened to the paragraph describing the meeting in Prague. Secretary Powell fixed Hadley with a firm stare and said with some pique, ‘We took it out, Steve — and it’s staying out.’”
March 19, 2003
The U.S. launches military strikes, commencing the Iraq War.
August 3, 2003
The Boston Globe reports
“Last week, congressional investigators declared in their major report on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that after tracing Atta's movements for two years, including trips made under all known aliases, there was no evidence of the Prague meeting. A former intelligence official in the Bush administration told the Globe the CIA obtained evidence soon after the Czech report that the Iraqi agent [al-Ani] was elsewhere at the time of the purported meeting.
“‘The CIA had proof that Iraqi guy was not in Prague at the time,’ said the official, who asked not to be named. ‘The mystery here is why did the CIA allow that story to live when it could disprove it with hard information.’”
September 14, 2003
Vice President Dick Cheney on NBC News’ Meet the Press [link to source]
“With respect to 9/11, of course, we've had the story that's been public out there. The Czechs alleged that Mohamed Atta, the lead attacker, met in Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence official five months before the attack, but we've never been able to develop any more of that yet either in terms of confirming it or discrediting it. We just don't know.”
December 19, 2003
Newsweek reports that the FBI has found no evidence to support the alleged meeting
“… [The FBI] has long since discounted claims by Czech intelligence—and widely promoted by some Iraq hawks in the Bush administration—that Atta had flown to Prague to meet with an Iraqi intelligence agent around April 8, 2001.
“FBI records show Atta and fellow hijacker Marwan Al-Shehhi checking out of the Diplomat Inn in Virginia Beach, Va., and writing a check for cash for $8,000 for a SunTrust account in that city on April 4, 2001. For the rest of that week, Atta's cell phone was used to make repeated calls to Florida. On April 11, Atta rented an apartment in Coral Springs, Fla. While acknowledging that a few days are unaccounted for, the FBI has found no evidence that Atta departed the country overseas during this period, an official said.”
“… Newsweek has learned that a few months ago, the Czechs quietly acknowledged that they may have been mistaken about the whole thing [Atta allegedly meeting with an Iraqi agent in Prague]. U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials now believe that Atta wasn’t even in Prague at the time the Czechs claimed. ‘We looked at this real hard because, obviously, if it were true, it would be huge,’ one senior U.S. law enforcement official told Newsweek. ‘But nothing has matched up.’
Here's some more facts:

November, 2003 New York Times story by James Risen. Risen’s article is about last-minute attempts by Iraq to avert war, using a Lebanese-American intermediary, Imad Hage aqauintance of Richard Perle:
"A week [after February, 2003 meetings in Beirut with the Iraqi Intelligence Service’s chief of foreign operations], Mr. Hage said, he agreed to hold further meetings in Baghdad. When he arrived, he was driven to a large, well-guarded compound, where he was met by a gray-haired man in a military uniform. It was Tahir Jalil Habbush, the director of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, who is No. 16 on the United States list of most wanted Iraqi leaders. Mr. Hage said Mr. Habbush asked him if it was true that he knew Mr. Perle. “Have you met him?”
Mr. Hage said Mr. Habbush began to vent his frustration over what the Americans really wanted. He said that to demonstrate the Iraqis’ willingness to help fight terrorism, Mr. Habbush offered to hand over Abdul Rahman Yasin, who has been indicted in United States in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Mr. Yasin fled to Iraq after the bombing, and the United States put up a $25 million reward for his capture.
Mr. Hage said Mr. Habbush offered to turn him over to Mr. Hage, but Mr. Hage said he would pass on the message that Mr. Yasin was available.
Mr. Hage said Mr. Habbush also insisted that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and added, “Let your friends send in people and we will open everything to them.”
Mr. Hage said he asked Mr. Habbush, “Why don’t you tell this to the Bush administration?” He said Mr. Habbush replied cryptically, “We have talks with people.”
Mr. Hage said he later learned that one contact was in Rome between the C.I.A. and representatives of the Iraqi intelligence service. American officials confirm that the meeting took place, but say that the Iraqi representative was not a current intelligence official and that the meeting was not productive.
In addition, there was an attempt to set up a meeting in Morocco between Mr. Habbush and United States officials, but it never took place, according to American officials.
Nouri Sabri,Iraq’s foreign minister secretly told the US in 2002 that Iraq had no
active WMD programs.
• Alan Foley, the head of the CIA’s Weapons Intelligence Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Center, told an acquaintance just before the war that he expected we would find “Not much, if anything.”-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And finally this to president assclown Bush from Henry Waxman:
This documentation appears in the June 13, 2003 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
DOCUMENTATION
Waxman: 'Explain Why
You Cited Forged Evidence'
The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Increasing questions are now being raised within the United States and around the world about whether you and other senior U.S. officials misrepresented the evidence regarding Iraq's nuclear weapons capability. In response, investigations have been launched and your spokesman has stated that everything you said was "valid."[1]

As these investigations move forward. I urge you to explain why you cited forged evidence about Iraq's efforts to obtain nuclear materials in your State of the Union address on January 28, 2003.

I first wrote to you about this matter on March 17, before the Iraq war had begun. As I explained in that letter, your own intelligence experts at the CIA questioned the veracity of the nuclear evidence at the same time that you and other senior Administration officials were repeatedly using the evidence as a major part of the case against Iraq. Yet despite the seriousness of this matter, the only response I received was an ambiguous one-page letter from the State Department that raises far more questions than it answers.

News reports this weekend were filled with accounts of how carefully Secretary Powell prepared for his February 5 address to the United Nations, spending nearly a week at CIA headquarters going over his remarks to ensure their accuracy. But there is no speech given by any government official that is more carefully constructed than a State of the Union address. The State of the Union address takes weeks—not days—to prepare, and every line is reviewed by a myriad of high-ranking officials. That a President could cite forged evidence in such an address on a matter as momentous as impending war should be unthinkable.

There are many complex issues that are now being raised by our failure to date to discover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. These need to be examined closely in the coming months. But explaining your statements in the State of the Union should not take months of investigation—just candor. With the credibility of the United States being called into question around the world, I urge you to address this vital matter without further delay.

The Evidence in Question
The allegation that Iraq sought to obtain nuclear material from an African country was first made publicly by the British government on September 24, 2002, when Prime Minister Tony Blair released a 50-page report on Iraqi efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. As the New York Times reported in a front-page article, one of the two "chief new elements" in the report was the claim that Iraq had "sought to acquire uranium in Africa that could be used to make nuclear weapons."[2] According to the Washington Post, the evidence included "a series of letters between Iraqi agents and officials in the central African nation of Niger."[3]

It is now conceded that these letters were rudimentary forgeries. Recent accounts in the news media explain that the forgers "made relatively crude errors that eventually gave them away—including names and titles that did not match up with the individuals who held office at the time the letters were purportedly written."[4]

The world did not learn that this evidence was forged, however, until March 7, 2003, when the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, released the results of his analysis of the evidence. Reportedly, it took IAEA officials only a matter of hours to determine that these documents were fake. Using little more than a Google search, IAEA experts discovered indications that should have been evident to novice intelligence officials. As a result, Director ElBaradei reported to the U.N. Security Council that the documents were "in fact not authentic."[5]

We also now know that the CIA was not incompetent in this matter—it had consistently expressed significant doubts about the validity of these documents. Press reports are replete with statements by CIA officials who warned about the lack of credibility of this information.[6] As the Washington Post reported on March 22, CIA officials "communicated significant doubts to the administration about the evidence."[7] According to another CIA official, "it's not fair to accuse the analysts for what others say about our material."[8] Indeed, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof revealed that Vice President Cheney's office became aware of the evidence early in the process and dispatched a former U.S. ambassador to Niger to investigate. On February 22, 2002—nearly a year before your State of the Union address—the ambassador "reported to the CIA and State Department that the information was unequivocally wrong and that the documents had been forged."[9]

The Use of the Forged Evidence
Despite the doubts of your own intelligence experts, you and your most senior advisers asserted repeatedly over a period of months that Iraq attempted to obtain nuclear material from Niger. The State Department featured the evidence in its written response to the Iraqi weapons declaration in December.[10] National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice made this allegation again on January 23, 2003,1[1] Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld repeated this allegation on January 29, 2003,[12] and senior officials continued to repeat this claim in contacts with press outlets. As a result of the emphasis given the evidence by senior Administration officials, the nuclear evidence was featured on national network news and front-page articles in major national newspapers.[13].

The most prominent use of the forged nuclear evidence occurred during your State of the Union address to Congress. You stated: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."[14] As I wrote you on March 17, your statement was worded in a way to suggest that it was carefully crafted to be both literally true and deliberately misleading at the same time. The statement itself may be technically accurate, since this appears to have been official British position. But given what the CIA knew at the time, the implication you intended—that there was credible evidence that Iraq sought uranium from Africa—-was simply false.

This was not the only time you emphasized Iraq's nuclear threat. Just four days before Congress was scheduled to vote on a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq, you claimed that Iraq could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year.[15] You also raised the ominous specter of a "mushroom cloud" if the war resolution was not adopted.[16] On March 17, just days before the war began, Vice President Cheney said: "We know he's been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.[17]

These statements played a pivotal role in shaping congressional and public opinion about the need for military intervention in Iraq. I voted for the congressional resolution condemning Iraq and authorizing the use of force. Like other members, I was particularly influenced by your views about Iraq's nuclear intentions. Although chemical and biological weapons can inflict casualties, no threat is greater than the threat of nuclear weapons and no subject requires greater candor.

The Ambiguous State Department Response
In order to obtain information about your Administration's reliance on the forged nuclear evidence, I wrote to you on March 17, 2003. As I stated in that letter, it is hard to imagine how this situation could have developed. The two most obvious explanations—knowing deception or unfathomable incompetence—both have immediate and profound implications. Consequently, I urged you address the matter without delay and provide an alternative explanation, if there was one.

Unfortunately, to date I have received only a cursory, one-page response from the State Department's Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs. Although this April 29, 2003, letter asserts that the Administration acted "in good faith," the letter in fact further confuses the situation and raises additional questions.

The State Department letter makes clear that the nuclear evidence from Britain that you cited in your State of the Union address was the evidence that was "discredited" as a forgery. The letter also indicates that this evidence was "available to the U.S." The response thus appears to rule out the unlikely explanation that the CIA did not know the basis of the British evidence when you gave your State of the Union address. But the letter does not begin to explain why you used the obviously forged evidence in your State of the Union address.

The letter says that another Western European nation relayed similar information about Iraq's nuclear program to the United States privately. But the letter acknowledges that the United States did not know the basis of this information until March 4, over a month after the State of the Union, at which time the United States learned that the information was based on the same forged documents. Moreover, the letter reveals that during the period prior to March 4, U.S. intelligence officials were aware that the information might be based on the same discredited information provided by the British and "sought several times to determine the basis for the ... assessment, and whether it was based on independent evidence not otherwise available to the U.S." No explanation is offered for why it took so long to learn the basis of the reporting from this "Western European ally."

At its core, the argument in the State Department letter is ludicrous. U.S. intelligence officials knew that the available Niger evidence was unreliable and based on forged documents. Despite this, the State Department argues that it was acceptable for the United States to use this information as a central part of the case for military action in Iraq, because the United States received reporting from another nation. In essence, the argument seems to be that it is permissible to use fake evidence so long as the evidence can be attributed to another source.

The State Department response also raises questions about the CIA's role in reviewing and clearing various Administration statements relating to the Niger allegation. The letter states that the written information about the forged nuclear evidence provided to the United Nations on December 19 "was a product developed jointly by the CIA and the State Department." But this is contradicted by other published accounts. Just last weekend, the Washington Post quoted a senior intelligence official as saying that the "only" statement that was "reviewed by the intelligence agencies in detail and backed by detailed intelligence" was Secretary Powell's February 5 speech before the United Nations.[18] In fact, according to one administration official, when the State Department document was issued on December 19, "people winced and thought, 'Why are you repeating this trash?' "19

Conclusion
Mr. President, I recognize that you have many demands on your time and that there are many issues that you cannot address. But this issue should be different. The credibility of the United States is now in question.

To date, you have offered no explanation as to why you and your most senior advisers made repeated allegations based on forged documents. Yet your entire pre-emption doctrine depends on the ability of the United States to gather accurate intelligence and make honest assessments. This matter raises fundamental issues that cannot be ignored. So I again request that you respond to my March 17 letter and the additional questions raised in this letter.

Sincerely,

Henry A. Waxman
Ranking Minority Member

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
some articles to look up-

Nicholas D. Kristof, "Missing in Action: Truth," New York Times (May 6, 2003).

U.S. Department of State, Illustrative Examples of Omissions from the Iraqi Declaration to the United Nations Security Council (Dec. 19, 2002).

Dr. Condoleeza Rice, "Why We Know Iraq is Lying" (Jan. 23, 2003) (online at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/print/20030123-1.html).

Press Conference with Donald Rumsfeld, General Richard Myers, Cable News Network (Jan. 29, 2003).

"U.S. Accuses Iraqi Weapons Report of Failing to Meet U.N. Demands," NBC Nightly News (Dec. 19, 2002); "Threats and Responses: Report by Iraq; Iraq Arms Report Has Big Omissions, U.S. Officials Say," New York Times (Dec. 12, 2002); "U.S. Issues a List of Shortcomings in Iraqi Arms Declaration," Los Angeles Times (Dec. 20, 2002); "Iraqi Weapons Declaration Full of Holes, U.S. Officials Say," Associated Press (Dec. 12, 2003).

The White House, "President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat" (Oct. 7, 2002) (online at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html); see also "Matters of Emphasis," New York Times (Apr. 23, 2003) (noting that President Bush cited an IABA report for this assertion, but that no such report exists).

U.S. Officials Make It Clear: Exile or War," Washington Post (Mar. 17, 2003).

Tenet Defends Iraq Intelligence," Washington Post (May 31, 2003).

CIA Questioned Documents Linking Iraq, Uranium Ore," Washington Post, (Mar. 22, 2003).
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WHY DOES BUSH NOT TRUST WOMEN

2008-08-04T04:21:00.005-04:00

PHOTOCREDIT: WWW.guzer.com

What year is this? Who is running our country -- The Taliban? No, it's that asshole president Dubya and he does not want women using birth control, he thinks it's wrong to deny the country a larger population of more starving and neglected people! What the Hell did Babs do to make Dubya Bush so cynical about women and their choices? He does not think women know themselves at all and George Dubya thinks he does -- so he is about to mandate orders to take away their reproductive rights!
It was bad enough that one of his first things when he became our president was to outlaw all funding for overseas abortion and limit birth control in favor of using abstinence. He virtually shut off resources for women overseas at family planning clinics telling them to use abstinence, right, like in reality that really works. So if your were raped, talk your attacker into using abstinence.
Now Bush wants to play God again and staff our federally funded hospitals with personnel who oppose any, ANY birth control options including the pill! Suddenly that ass of a man wants to screw the female sex over by denying them their rights to birth control options.
From July 31st Wall Street Journal:
A draft regulation, still being revised and debated, treats most birth-control pills and intrauterine devices as abortion because they can work by preventing fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus. The regulation considers that destroying "the life of a human being."
But on top of that he will have selected people put into place who do not believe in birth control of any kind! THIS IS INSULTING AND THIS IS strong>MISOGYNY!
Hillary Clinton was one of the first to put her opposition to this. How can any person in Congress even think twice about this proposal regarding all the women in their districts? HOW DARE BUSH MANDATE THIS INTO LAW TARGETTING WOMEN?
Wasn't it bad enough he had that abstinence program put into place so he could reward his buddy, Dr. Joe McIlhaney with a large contract for using questionable facts?
From Salon.com 2004, Michele Goldberg
The Bush administration has lately come under fire for distorting science for political expediency. Last week, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report on the administration's abuse of science, along with a statement signed by more than 60 scientific luminaries, including 20 Nobel laureates. "When scientific knowledge has been found to be in conflict with its political goals, the administration has often manipulated the process through which science enters into its decisions," the statement says. "This has been done by placing people who are professionally unqualified or who have clear conflicts of interest in official posts and on scientific advisory committees; by disbanding existing advisory committees; by censoring and suppressing reports by the government's own scientists; and by simply not seeking independent scientific advice. Other administrations have, on occasion, engaged in such practices, but not so systematically nor on so wide a front."

As an example of the president's disregard for science, the report lists Bush's appointment of abstinence advocate Dr. Joe McIlhaney to government advisory panels. It describes McIlhaney as a doctor of "questionable credentials" who is "known for his published disdain for the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and his continued advocacy of abstinence-only programs despite negligible evidence that they actually reduce pregnancy rates among young people."

The founder of a Texas-based pro-abstinence think tank called the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, McIlhaney is an old Bush friend who many say has shaped the president's policies on abstinence. Demonstrating his faith in the doctor, Bush placed him on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and on the advisory committee to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's an enormous leap in legitimacy for McIlhaney, a former OB-GYN and conservative Christian who just nine years ago was reprimanded by the Texas Department of Health for spreading false information about sexually transmitted diseases and condoms' ineffectiveness. In 1995, the Texas Department of Health wrote a letter to McIlhaney's institute criticizing a slide presentation he'd been showing throughout the state. It included a detailed slide-by-slide critique, prepared by two doctors, a registered nurse and the director of the state's HIV/STD Epidemiology Division, that pointed out a number of distorted, downright false and "ridiculous" statements in McIlhaney's lesson. "Some of the data presented suffers from investigator bias," the letter said. "Dr. McIlhaney's presentation tended to report the outlier data as 'proof' that condoms don't work rather than present those reports in the context of the entire data set. The only data that was reported in the presentation are those which supported his bias on the topics he addressed. Intellectual honesty demands that he present all the data."
Yet even as the Texas Department of Health was criticizing McIlhaney's program, the state's governor, George W. Bush, was embracing it.
"When he was governor of Texas, he promoted and lobbied for and pushed abstinence-only education," says Fred Peterson, a professor of health education at the University of Texas at Austin, who trains instructors to teach comprehensive sexual education classes. McIlhaney was and is a "major player" in Bush's abstinence agenda, says Peterson. He's also a beneficiary -- his Medical Institute for Sexual Health has received $1.5 million in federal contracts related to abstinence education and STD research.

You know the drill - Contact your Senators and give them the news, we are not run by the Taliban, women should still have reproductive rights! DENY THIS PROPOSAL BY HHS! And write a note to Mike Levitt who heads HHS and give him a piece of your mind. Women are still second class to these old farts who have been given license to set the agenda for dealing with our reproductive systems, Don't give them that privilege! GET TO WORK BEFORE BUSH TAKES AWAY OUR SHOES AND KEEPS US BAREFOOT AND PREGNANT JUST BECAUSE HE CAN!
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Mississippi River Oil spill kept awfully quiet...

2008-07-31T09:00:00.005-04:00

photocredit: news.nationalgeographic.com

The Mississippi oil spill last week did not get much press, but "Staggering" profits announced for Exxon today sure is generating a lot of publicity. Shell had huge profits too. Our President is on the news saying that after almost 8 years
of his presidency, and 6 of them under GOP domination, the Democrats are to blame for his not doing one damn thing for the energy crisis. His big speeches before leaving office are all about blaming everyone else for all his failures. Are you surprised? Not me, that's what he has done through out his life and then his father usually comes to his rescue, Not this time though, Bush will finally be remembered for the lying doofus his is. All his flaws have shown through and the majority of us see the phony assclown that he really is!
But enough about that. Bush suddenly is insisting on drilling all over the place while Pelosi says there are many many existing sites with leases not being used.
And it is "we the people" who end up getting screwed!
But one argument for me against drilling anywhere near Florida is because of what happened last week that is kept so quiet -
July 24, 2008 (CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard closed 98 miles of the Mississippi River from New Orleans, Louisiana, southward after a fuel barge and a tanker collided early Wednesday, spilling more than 400,000 gallons of fuel oil.
Coast Guard personnel try to contain a fuel oil spill in the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Wednesday.
The closure -- on what is a major shipping route between the Midwest and the Gulf of Mexico -- could last days, and the cleanup could take weeks, said Capt. Lincoln Stroh, the Coast Guard chief in New Orleans.
The collision between the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker Tintomara and the barge pushed by the tug Mel Oliver happened about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, splitting the barge nearly in half and dumping more than 419,000 gallons of oil into the river, the Coast Guard said...
The accident left a sheen of oil over much of the river and its banks. Booms were deployed to contain the oil, and skimmers are being used to suck it off the surface, said Petty Officer Thomas Blue, a Coast Guard spokesman.
... Wilma Subra, a chemist who advises the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, said the oil could affect wildlife and work its way up the food chain into residents, many of whom fish for subsistence. This is a spill that occurred in a very urban area, and it can impact a very large number of people," she said.
Also:
Mississippi River Oil Spill Almost 100 Miles Long, Barge Still Leaking
Jul 25, 2008 | Parker Waichman Alonso LLP
The slick from the oil spill that occurred Wednesday on the Mississippi River in New Orleans now spans nearly 100 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. The barge involved in the spill is still leaking heavy fuel oil into the river, and officials in New Orleans have characterized the incident as the city's worst oil spill in a decade. Concerns are rising that the toxic oil could soon endanger wildlife in the Delta National Wildlife Refuge down stream.
Two days after the spill, fumes from the fuel oil can still be smelled throughout New Orleans and up and down the river. Despite the acrid odor, health officials say the fumes pose no respiratory risks to residents.
...there is a great deal of concern about its impact on the Delta National Wildlife Refuge. According to The New York Times, tens of thousands of feet of the plastic booms had already been put in place around the refuge. Thursday. If the oil flows through the main pass, or outlet, and on into the Gulf of Mexico, the effect will be limited; but if it seeps into the secondary passes, there is a more serious risk to the environment. ...when it goes down to the area where there are no longer levees, it gets into the swamp,” said Wilma Subra of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network told The New York Times. “It’s going to contaminate the marsh.”
This is scary to me, we have a beautiful coast, we make money from our tourist industry. They try to calm the nerves of our locals saying they will drill 50 miles out, well look at the reality of what can happen, the spill travels a lot further than that!
If you live in Florida and value this place, write your senators and tell them to drill somewhere else! Don't let a catastrophy happen here from an accident or a hurricane that damages oil rigs. Our wildlife, rivers and ocean are so much more valuable than that! Let the GOP screw up the other states, leave my Florida alone!
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The Arrogance of Bob Novak

2008-07-29T05:52:00.004-04:00

photocredit: clearchannel.com

So I am hearing that poor "Prince of Darkness", Bob Novak has a brain tumor. Very sad to hear, but how does that excuse his hit and run and a $50 fine for hitting and running? Could you or I do that without being put in jail for attempted homocide? We would have had to pay a huge bond for such antics!
The pedestrain who Novak hit said Novak's black corvette was not going to stop. A bicyclist had to stop Novak and tell him what he did.
From The politico:
The bicyclist was David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, who was on his usual bike commute to work at 1700 K St. N.W. when he witnessed the accident. As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said "a black Corvette convertible with top closed plows into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed into the windshield.” Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. “This car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said. He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street, finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blaring, until commuters behind Novak backed up so he could pull over.
In 2001 Novak gave his opinion about pedestrian jaywalkers:
"Novak explained to the paper: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."
And that my friends, (to quote every other word out of John McCain's mouth,)is the difference between you and I, Joe Public and the Prince of darkness who has money and clout! A mere $50 for running down a man. Brain tumor or no brain tumor, this sounds like Novak arrogance, true to form.
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Scott McClellan

2008-07-25T23:30:00.003-04:00

photo credit: dubyasworld.com

Scott McClellan was on Hardball Friday night and Chris asked him straight out if the White House fed news and talking points to FOX to use for swaying the public and Scott said yes, FOX was used by the Whitehouse to spread their 'propaganda', (my words, not Scott's.)
So if people actually thought that FOX was "fair and balanced", they have it straight for the horses 'patootie' that FOX is the butthole that craps out the GOP shit from Dubyas spin machine and pretends it is fair and balanced. The only ones who don't know this are the diehard FOX viewers. Guess they enjoy thinking their news
is from honest brokers. There could be nothing further from the truth, ask Scott, he is revealing the B/S he used to lie about for Bush and the Administration during his job as Press Secretary. I'm sure you can hear the clip on 'You Tube'...now if only the FOX viewers could distinguish the difference between truth and consequences...And if only Dennis Kucinich could bring those articles of Impeachment to the forefront to be voted on, ah, life is such a bitch! 158 days and the biggest idiot is out of office!!!
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Cayman Island Tax havens the best for people like Dick Cheney and terrorists

2008-07-24T10:05:00.006-04:00

Today the General Accounting Office, (GAO) is going to give their assessment of the use of offshore tax havens. You might not know how businesses set up cleaver routing of their company through banks set up in the Cayman islands. Incorporating there to avoid paying United States Taxes.
Example, our current guys in office: George W. Bush got his daddy to have their
Saudi friends buy Dubya's failing oil company, Harken. in 1989 as 'Dubya' served on the board of this company, it's subsidiary was set up in the Cayman islands to avoid paying US taxes.
Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton:
From Commondreams.org Nov. 17, 2005 Tom Turnipseed (it's legit)
At last count Halliburton had 58 offshore subsidiaries in Caribbean tax havens. With Cheney at the helm Halliburton’s tax payments to the U.S. went from $302 million in 1998 to zero in 1999, when they also received a refund of $85 million from the Internal Revenue Service.
During Cheney’s tenure as CEO from 1995 to 2000, Halliburton Products and Services set up shop in Iran. The Halliburton subsidiary does approximately $40 million a year worth of oil field service work for the Iranian government. 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl visited the subsidiary in the Cayman Islands and found that it had no office and no employees. The mailing address was a local bank with which the subsidiary is registered. Stahl was met there by the bank’s manager who informed her that all mail to the subsidiary is forwarded to Halliburton headquarters in Houston. Halliburton had created the subsidiary to allow itself to do illegal business with a rogue state and to skip out on its taxes in the process.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) recently asserted that Cheney's stock options which were worth $241,498 a year ago, are now valued at more than $8 million-- for an increase of 3,281% .Cheney continues to received a deferred salary from the company. He was paid $205,298 in 2001; $162,392 in 2002; $178,437 in 2003; and $194,852 in 2004...Calling on Cheney to sever his financial ties to Halliburton, Lautenberg points out that the company has already raked in more than $10 billion for work in Iraq, and was handed some of the first Katrina contracts. The company has been criticized by auditors for its handling of no-bid contacts in Iraq, and there have been numerous allegations of over charging for services. Auditors found the firm marked up meal prices for troops and inflated gas prices in a deal with a Kuwaiti supplier. The company also built the American prison at Guantanamo Bay. Lautenberg said, "It is unseemly for the Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his Administration funnels billions of dollars to it.”...
How about this report from CBS 60 minutes in August 2004:CBS)
Did it ever occur to you that when President Bush says, "Money is the lifeblood of terrorist operations," he's talking about your money -- and every other American's money?...
In other words, there are U.S. companies that are helping drive the economies of countries like Iran, Syria and Libya...companies that have invested in these rogue countries, including Halliburton, Conoco-Phillips and General Electric.
...New York's pension funds own nearly $1 billion worth of stock in these three Fortune 500 companies, which have operations in Iran and Syria.
In fact, U.S. law does ban virtually all commerce with the rogue nations, but there's a loophole that G.E., Conoco-Phillips and Halliburton have exploited: The law does not apply to any foreign or offshore subsidiary so long as it is run by non-Americans. “These three companies, as far as we were concerned, appear to have violated the spirit of the law,” says Thompson. “In the case of Halliburton, as an example, they have an offshore subsidiary in the Cayman Islands. That subsidiary is doing business with Iran.” ...subsidiary, Halliburton Products and Services, Ltd., is wholly owned by the U.S.-based Halliburton and is registered in a building in the capital of the Cayman Islands – a building owned by the local Calidonian Bank. Halliburton and other companies set up in this Caribbean Island, because of tax and secrecy laws that are corporate friendly. Halliburton is the company that Vice President Dick Cheney used to run. He was CEO from 1995 to 2000, during which time Halliburton Products and Services set up shop in Iran. Today, it sells about $40 million a year worth of oil field services to the Iranian government.
In the case of Iran, Thompson says they earn most of their revenues through their oil industry.
60 minutes wasn't allowed to go into Halliburton using a camera. They went with a hidden camera. They went to the Calidonian Bank and met David Walker, manager of the Bank where the subsidiary is registered.
"to our surprise, Walker told us that while Halliburton Products and Services was registered at this address, it was in name only. There is no actual office here or anywhere else in the Caymans. And there are no employees on site. We were told that if mail for the Halliburton subsidiary comes to this address, they re-route it to Halliburton headquarters in Houston."
“If you understood what most of these companies do, you would, they're not doing any business in Cayman per se. They're doing business, international business,” says Walker. “Would it make sense to have somebody in Cayman pushing paper around? I don't know. And some people do it. And some people don't. And it's mostly driven by whatever the issues are with the head office.”
a letter to New York City Comptroller Thompson, Halliburton says its Cayman Island subsidiary is actually run out of Dubai. 60 Minutes went there and learned that it shares office space, phone and fax lines with a division of its U.S.-based parent company -- which raises more legal questions about its independence from Houston. But once again, our inquiries went unanswered.
...As for General Electric and Conoco-Phillips, they say they are breaking no laws, and like Halliburton, make no apologies for their business dealings with states that sponsor terrorism.
Just remember as you invest, especially using a vehicle such a mutual fund, the dollars are going to some companies that;
1. Avoid paying US taxes therefore profitting greatly for their CEOs big sallaries and bonuses.
2. Help Iran and other terror sponsors build their nuclear capacity and arm the bad guys.
Assessment:
Al qaeda and Iran knows how to grab us by the balls, they don't have to really set off nukes, they can simply screw up our economy to dominate us. They watch our monumental deficits and the plight of the American people and probably laugh as they get their money to do their 'evil doer things' by doing business with American companies through subsidiaries set up through the Cayman islands.
This should be outrageous, these offshore companies should be stopped! We are arming our enemies with American dollars, though they probably are disappointed that the dollar isn't valued too high these days, but regardless. Offshore Corps are a farce and having American companies do business to arm our enemies is wrong, somehow for all these years the GOP dominated Congress has seen nothing wrong with these values, just look at Conservative Dick cheney. Proving once again the GOP ethics are all about getting rich no matter how...
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Thank You Nancy Pelosi AND San Francisco

2008-07-18T01:39:00.005-04:00

photo credit: freakingnews.com

Just a quick shout out to Nancy Pelosi for finally saying what the majority of Americans are thinking:
You know, God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject," Pelosi replied. She then tsk-tsked Bush for "challenging Congress when we are trying to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again."
Now, after such a statement, wonder how come she would not impeach his ass? Plus, you know if she is calling him a failure, what are the Americans saying about the rating for Congress? They are just as big a failure unfortunately! GET RID OF THEM ALL!!!
As for San Francisco, the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco is deciding to vote to give George W. Bush his own momument by renaming the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant, to the George w. Bush pollution Control Plant - what could be more fitting, he IS the president of sludge!
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testimony ignored gives Bush another free pass to spy

2008-07-11T09:15:00.005-04:00

Mark Klein an ATT employee came forward and told of the illegal spying by our government in collusion with the Bush Administration after 9/11. But Klein was never even brought in to testify. WHY? I can't figure it out.
Bush has successfully avoided being implicated in everything he has ever done to the detriment of the American people. When Congress passed the new
"spying" bill yesterday giving immunity to the telecommunications companies and to our president. King george does what he pleases and tells us to go screw ourselves...
Below is the article from: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/04/70621/

Wiretap Whistle-Blower's Account
04.07.06
Former AT&T technician Mark Klein has come forward to support the EFF's lawsuit against AT&T for its alleged complicity in the NSA's electronic surveillance. Here, Wired News publishes Klein's public statement in its entirety.

Full story: Ex-AT&T Worker Tells Of NSA Op

Statement: Mark Klein, April 6, 2006

My background:
For 22 and 1/2 years I worked as an AT&T technician, first in New York and then in California.
What I observed first-hand:
In 2002, when I was working in an AT&T office in San Francisco, the site manager told me to expect a visit from a National Security Agency agent, who was to interview a management-level technician for a special job. The agent came, and by chance I met him and directed him to the appropriate people.
In January 2003, I, along with others, toured the AT&T central office on Folsom Street in San Francisco -- actually three floors of an SBC building. There I saw a new room being built adjacent to the 4ESS switch room where the public's phone calls are routed. I learned that the person whom the NSA interviewed for the secret job was the person working to install equipment in this room. The regular technician work force was not allowed in the room.
In October 2003, the company transferred me to the San Francisco building to oversee the Worldnet Internet room, which included large routers, racks of modems for customers' dial-in services, and other equipment. I was responsible for troubleshooting problems on the fiber optic circuits and installing new circuits.
While doing my job, I learned that fiber optic cables from the secret room were tapping into the Worldnet circuits by splitting off a portion of the light signal. I saw this in a design document available to me, entitled "Study Group 3, LGX/Splitter Wiring, San Francisco" dated Dec. 10, 2002. I also saw design documents dated Jan. 13, 2004 and Jan. 24, 2003, which instructed technicians on connecting some of the already in-service circuits to the "splitter" cabinet, which diverts some of the light signal to the secret room. The circuits listed were the Peering Links, which connect Worldnet with other networks and hence the whole country, as well as the rest of the world.
One of the documents listed the equipment installed in the secret room, and this list included a Narus STA 6400, which is a "Semantic Traffic Analyzer". The Narus STA technology is known to be used particularly by government intelligence agencies because of its ability to sift through large amounts of data looking for preprogrammed targets. The company's advertising boasts that its technology "captures comprehensive customer usage data ... and transforms it into actionable information.... (It) provides complete visibility for all internet applications."
My job required me to connect new circuits to the "splitter" cabinet and get them up and running. While working on a particularly difficult one with a technician back East, I learned that other such "splitter" cabinets were being installed in other cities, including Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego.
What is the significance and why is it important to bring these facts to light?
Based on my understanding of the connections and equipment at issue, it appears the NSA is capable of conducting what amounts to vacuum-cleaner surveillance of all the data crossing the internet -- whether that be peoples' e-mail, web surfing or any other data.
Given the public debate about the constitutionality of the Bush administration's spying on U.S. citizens without obtaining a FISA warrant, I think it is critical that this information be brought out into the open, and that the American people be told the truth about the extent of the administration's warrantless surveillance practices, particularly as it relates to the internet.
Despite what we are hearing, and considering the public track record of this administration, I simply do not believe their claims that the NSA's spying program is really limited to foreign communications or is otherwise consistent with the NSA's charter or with FISA. And unlike the controversy over targeted wiretaps of individuals' phone calls, this potential spying appears to be applied wholesale to all sorts of internet communications of countless citizens.
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John McCain Viagra brain

2008-07-10T16:20:00.008-04:00

Maybe John McCain's brain was so mesmerized by the thought of using his Viagra pill that he blanked out completely when asked by a reporter why insurance companies will include coverage of Viagra for men, (enabling them to impregnate a women) and yet the same insurance coverage won't extend to paying for birth control medications for women. They asked what he thought and McCain had a bad senior moment! it took eight full and painful seconds to say he didn't know enough about the question to answer it.
Apparently his advisers know little about health insurance either. All I have heard on each cable show is how McCain is going to give us money to cover our insurance plan of our choice, WHAT CHOICE? Why doesn't he address pre-existing conditions? How dare his advisers go on cable news and say we can pick and choose the plans and details we need as if it were car insurance and not health insurance. What damn choices do we have other than the deductibles, co-pay and doctor visit payments? Where in the Hell does it say I can reject parts of my policy I don't like and include little extras I like? The McCain advisers are duping the dummy voters who vote for him by suggesting you can make many choices of what to keep and what to reject inside a policy -- say what? And where do they address the sky rocketing cost of premiums? Under McCain's health plan, the crisis continues and nothing at all changes!
I can tell you at 57 years of age, the cheapest premium at about $200 a month has a $5000 deductible, 20% co-pay and is on their terms for who I can see as a doctor. If I want something that also pays for doctor visits, and $3000 0r less deductible with a zero percent co-deductible, then try over $300 per month and that is with no real pre-existing conditions. AND it goes up every six months! McCain and his advisor are liars.
But the biggest liar they have on their team is the Texas asshole, ex-senator Phil Gramm who possibly and I say that because he has banking experience, though I hear it's more likely he would be come an ambassador, but could he be McCain's Treasury Secretary? But Phil thinks we the people are "whiners" and the only recession is in the peoples heads -- Yep he doesn't even think the economy is bad, even with one out of every 500 homes in foreclosure. According to Gramm, it's all in our brains! That rich asswipe thinks the rest of us who can't keep up because of the cost of gas and food and insurances are whiners. This is the same guy who by-passed Congress when Iraq was designated as a terrorist nation and lifted sanctions so Dick Cheney could do business with Saddam Hussein! Thank you Phil! How has McCain not fired Gramm off the team for being an ignoramus!
And how did we hand Bush such a big victory by not litigating the communication companies for spying on us? Now Congress has shut the door on finding out whether Bush illegally spied on Americans when he bypassed the FISA court to have the telephone companies illegally gather info for him after 9/11. Somehow the Congress went ahead and gave Bush and the telecommunication companies immunity to go ahead and continue to spy on us with their blessing! WHAT IS WITH OUR CONGRESS - THEY ARE IDIOTS!
Karl Rove too, he gets away with murder and refuses to accept the subpoena regarding his interactions with the fired attorneys, but what the Hell, let's give Karl a pass too, he's corrupt and lies through his teeth, otherwise why would he have to resort to executive privilege? BUT, Rove didn't have sex in the White House, so why should we care if he lies and is underhanded? If no sex was involved, he's a free man, one among many of the corrupt in Bush's legion of doom.
We are being run into the ground by our President, co-president and Congress. The Democrats stink as much as the Republicans, they are all &^$#@&*((%*@@shitheads!
Vote them all out! They suck, they lie and they take advantage of us.
I am not happy with my choices. I would never vote for that old,imbecile McCain who can't think on his feet at all unless it has been previously scripted, but I don't care for Obama either, hows that! What can we do???? Where is an oracle when you need one?
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Bush Going to China for Olympics - damn straight he better

2008-07-07T02:29:00.005-04:00

Of course our president has to go to the opening of the Olympics! We owe the Chinese trillions and don't want to piss them off and have them call in their notes do we?
According to Atlantic.com: "In effect, every person in the (rich) United States has over the past 10 years or so borrowed about $4,000 from someone in the (poor) People’s Republic of China...."
Bush has borrowed more than any other president in history! He loves spending money that isn't his, one only has to look at his past to see that pattern.
In reality, we should boycott the ceremonies for all the human rights grievances
that occur in China, but then again, we have plenty of bad habits with human rights violations right here in America, here's an example, can anyone say polygamy and child bride?
But seriously, Dubya can't afford for the Chinese to be mad at him, and then again we can't afford Dubya!
And what cave is Cheney inhabiting for the rest of the term? - Do you notice nothing at all is said about him anymore? I don't think McCain has even mentioned the dirty dick word.
A few more months and the Bush/Dick presidency will be over, though I doubt the talk about the Bush/Dick presidency will ever be over!
Bush has to go and wave to us from Beijing, the Chinese know he will kiss their ass, we owe them big time. But, then again, Bush was just passing through these past 8 years of debt and debachery and he will pass the buck, or rather the debt on to the next guy when he leaves office.
On December 31st, we should have the collective scream heard round the USA with a chant that Bush can hear! If anyone who has been unhappy with this presidency could run outside at some designated time and shout something like "Happy New year, no more Bush!" - something to give us a little closure that he and Cheney have left a huge mess, but we are so happy to see them go, we want them to hear us scream, it might be really effective! How about it? Let's make a date! I'm consulting moveon.org - let the press report back to him that millions of voters, millions of citizens shouted out in unison on the evening of December 31st, a message of peace and love and no more getting dicked over by bush!
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Freedom of Speech... NOT!

2008-07-04T22:37:00.003-04:00

photo credit: Reuters

Today Bush gave a 4th of July speech to some brand new USA citizens at Monticello. Before arriving, his motorcade passed many protesters and as he spoke, different protest groups heckled the crap out of our president. They waved signs of how he should be impeached, they yelled about the war. They gave Bush a lot of shit and Bush stopped at one point and smiled broadly and said "we believe in free speech in the United States of America."
After being interrupted about nine times, the 'Free Speech' was totally suppressed by the president's watch dogs and the hecklers and their 'free speech' were escorted out of the crowd. So much for liking free speech...
Another Bush lie exposed, he only likes free speech when it says something positive about him. It's a perfect example of how everything out of his friggin' mouth is the exact opposite of what he says.
180 days left of the biggest liar around, the sad part is that because Clinton lied about sex, he will be known as the liar. Bush and Cheney and their war crimes, their torture sites, their outting of a CIA agent, their criminal use of info about mushroom clouds and mobile labs and reliance on Ahmad Chalabi to go to war, their illegal spying, their firing of attorneys who did not go after democrats, unfortunately, none of those were good enough lies to get them impeached like Clinton. But maybe, if karma comes around, they will be exposed and brought to justice somehow, I still have faith in the system, there has to be justice for Bush and Cheney, the country deserves that! 180 days can't come soon enough! And I kind of think that the expose' books by people in the Administration will be fast and furious, that's the kind of free speech I like, when we are told the truth!
P/S -- Is there any way we can stop the religious right from doing this to us again? they vote with their eyes wide shut! This is what happens when the people who cling to religious dogma are sold a bill of goods by the GOP spin machine. Especially by Karl Rove, the dirtiest manipulator of spin there is! Is there anyway we can make this NOT about the religion of the candidate and focus on what their goals are instead? I hardly think so, isn't it time the religious right looked at reality instead of packaging?
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Scientists censored and no one cares

2008-06-22T17:46:00.007-04:00

photo courtesy of Daniel Arroyo at Flikr.com

How come people are not outraged by the Bush/Cheney refusal to provide documents for a Congressional investigation about whether Environmental Protection Agency standards were weakened by these two nuts we jokingly refer to as our leaders?
This came out the other day - did many people read it?
By ERICA WERNER, AP
Fri Jun 20, 8:24 PM ET
WASHINGTON - President Bush asserted executive privilege Friday to withhold documents from a congressional investigation into whether he pressured the Environmental Protection Agency to weaken decisions on smog and greenhouse gases.

White House officials notified a House committee of the rare assertion about 15 minutes before the committee was to vote on holding the head of the EPA and a White House budget official in contempt of Congress for not providing the documents.

We have long known the scientists who worked for the EPA were not allowed to come forward with data supporting anything close to Global Warming. They were suppressed as if this was the Church trying to muzzle anyone with a brain! Bush and Cheney have tried to restrain any information about science and even lessened the restrictions on many emissions, cars and power plants.
The Bush/Cheney Regime somehow think they can play God with science.
Case in point:

By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer
Thursday, April 24, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency scientists complain they have been victims of political interference and pressure from superiors to skew their findings, according to a survey released Wednesday by an advocacy group.
The Union of Concerned Scientists said that more than half of the nearly 1,600 EPA staff scientists who responded online to a detailed questionnaire reported they had experienced incidents of political interference in their work.
... Francesca Grifo, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Scientific Integrity Program, said the survey results revealed "an agency in crisis" with low morale, especially among scientists involved in risk assessment and crafting regulations.
"The investigation shows researchers are generally continuing to do their work, but their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write regulations," said Grifo.

Is this a Bush based Inquisition? Will those two big egos in the Oval Office ever be stopped from trying to control every department of government they can get away with?
Why aren't people caring that the president stops progress and that he will censor
anyone in the Departments who don't follow his rules? He plays by the rules he had his lawyers draw up by Executive privilege - When will someone stand up to this corrupt government and say enough is enough? THIS IS FASCISM!!! ONE MORE REASON TO IMPEACH! Our President and co-president are practicing mind control through using our government scientists - someone help us all! Every day we get more and more limited in the truth and more and more entangled in the lies of those two losers use to circumvent the law! When will someone grow balls and take them to task and take away the mask of Executive provilege? No, Bush/Cheney don't deal in reality, they have their lawyers rewrite rules to protect them all as they go along.
Someone bring our America back to the people, someone grab our Constitution and use it to save us from pseudo leaders Bush and Cheney. Is there anyone who can tell the truth? Well, not in Washington DC, not in Washington DC!
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Our governor Charlie sucks

2008-06-19T03:05:00.005-04:00

That's our Florida Governor, Charlie Crist. He seems to be saying, "I'm tan and I'm the man."
For some reason, the press thinks we all are drooling over him. I don't know why the media portrays us Floridians as such governor whores, but it does. And I don't understand why we should even like the guy. He came on board and offered us this bogus property tax reform proposal, Amendment #1. It was billed on paper as a sure fire way for our new governor, who loves to refer to himself as "the peoples governor", to lift a bit of the tax burden on our property taxes and become popular. It would give an additional $25K in homestead exemption and make a new exemption for the first $25,000 of assessed value for tangible personal property, plus put a cap of 10% per year on how much the assessed value of a non-homestead property can increase. Additionally it would offer up to $500,000 of accumulated Save-Our-Homes Exemption to transfer from an existing homestead property to a new one, so long as the sale of the old home was no more than 2 years prior to the purchase of the new one.
Doesn't it sound like a fabulous sales pitch? Crist plotted with some very clever marketing people who sold us this piece of crap with very limited negative publicity and lots and lots of money hungry people giving the "peoples governor" the benefit fo doubt, it passed of course.
And now we are paying of course for Amendment 1 by having to cut public safety members like firefighters, police and emergency responders. And while it cut taxes to long time owners, new owners had higher taxes. And even schools are paying the price, we notice that most school districts are laying off teachers and other personnel. I read somewhere that Florida teachers won't get raises this year and are locked in to their pay until some time in 2009.
How are Floridians so damn gullible? How in this day and age do you think you can give money back to property owners without them paying for it in a loss of goods and services? How dumb are we in Florida? Very dumb!
As for Crist being McCain's running mate? That sounds stupid as Hell! For all that McCain is running around with his stepford wife in tow, yelling how inexperienced
Obama is, why is he even thinking about Crist who is even less experienced?
What type of logic is that? Old man's senile logic I suppose the reasoning if that McCain thinks he can carry Florida that way, (and to Hell with the country if he keels over and then we have a President like George Bush again. At least Obama will likely pick someone with lots of credentials so if he goes, we will have the opposite situation.
And now all of a sudden, to kiss McCains ass, Crist is willing to sell out Florida oil rights to drillers - that wasn't the case when he was elected. Anyone hear a big flip flop splashing about our shoreline? They can drill all over the other coastal waters, just leave Florida alone, it's how we make our income, tourism. Who wants to see oil spilled all over our sandy beaches and lush wildlife after some hurricane?
If this is any indication of how Charlie is going to bankrupt our state, and use oil as a VP wedge issue, he's not going to be "the people's governor" for very long, he will be "sorry Charlie" -- another loser that Floridians elected...
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Get off your Ass! Do something....

2008-06-15T17:40:00.005-04:00

photocredit: Mitch & Petra on www.flikr.com

Bush is ending his last European tour. Protesters in Europe take the time to come out and gather to give their opinion of how they feel about our US president and his failed policies. BUT NOT US! NO, We don't, we sit on our asses and complain to each other.
In Europe and many places around the globe, if the people hate the policies they will join together and make their anger known -- so what the Hell is wrong with us?
The British crowds were held away from Bush today in London, they separate them so Bush doesn't have to see them, (AND WHY NOT?) And yet, the protesters still comes out!
In 2003 at Bush's visit,
From AFP:
...scuffles broke out after protestors tried to breach police lines sealing off Whitehall, the main government thoroughfare in the heart of London where the two leaders were meeting.
Some 13 people were arrested in the ensuing violence, Scotland Yard, although the situation returned to a tense calm before the end of the Downing Street evening meeting.
Bush's last visit to London, in November 2003, saw three full days of protests, with tens of thousands of people marching past Downing Street marshalled by 5,000 police officers.
Why aren't our own people organizing protests for what Bush has put the country and our military through? Bush thinks he can do no wrong! How is it the Europeans are able to express their opinions of outrage by organizing and shouting and carrying signs for their disapproval of what OUR president does, but we just let this president victimize the whole country and take it?
There should be one national day of protest around the USA before the two 'evil doers, Bush/Cheney' leave office. They have caused us great turmoil. They have ruined our image, they have lied about everything from Iraq & WMD, to Jessica lynch, to torture, to pretending to not know who leaked the CIA agent, Valerie Plame and giving no bid contracts to their rich friends. They have put us in great debt, in a greater depression and more of us are losing good jobs and our homes and have to decide whether we should eat or buy our medicines. And as for Oil -- for 8 years no one has done shit -- why are we not up in arms over this Administration? Why are we so complacent and the Europeans so willing to show their disapproval?
We are indeed lazy Americans. We are miserable and don't express it - Please, take the time to write your Congress men and women and tell them what you feel - Give them a piece of your mind, it costs nothing to email and maybe it will make them think about how 'we the people' know that not only has Bush Fucked us over for the last eight years, but so has Congress!
Give them something to worry about, like whether they will be re-elected or not! Isn't it time our government worked for us? Tell them what you want and lay it on thick!
Give em Hell - our government has become a ghost of what it was even 8 years ago, we have sacrificed a lot in our freedoms in order for Bush to gain control and screw us and we let him get away with it - shame on us.
Tell Bush,Cheney and congress what you think! And use all Caps! They will know you are yelling - and you should!
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

So what do ya think???

2008-06-12T12:25:00.008-04:00

photocredit: kaesman210 courtesy of www.flikr.com

Well, I have a question - do you think with how desperate the GOP are to retain their seats and will go to any length to keep them including feeding on their own, for example John McCain in 2000 when Rove smeared him in 2000 telling the voters McCain had a black love child, or how goverment issue FOX cable will use Obama's middle name Hussein to question his religion and patriotism, even going so far to equating the 'fist bump' to a possible terrorist gesture, or how Rove used John Kerry's military service to swift boat him in favor of Bush who never saw servioe, here's the question...do you think that Bush/Cheney would go ahead and start that war with Iran just before the election just to assure the GOP taking over again?
It's not that far fetched an idea, Bush still needs a legacy. He has been visiting Europe talking his Texas, tough, big mouthed rant about going after Iran, trying to get others on his side just like he tried for Iraq. Though I doubt many of the leaders in Europe take him seriously, probably think him more of a babbling,idiot elitist whose father bought him the first election via Jim Baker, then in 2004 having Bush's GOP buddies at Diebold buy that election using their little tactics to disenfranchise many in Ohio. I think the world is waiting for someone else to take the reigns in January before they get serious with the USA again, they know Bush is unstable.
Knowing the GOP really are the party of no values and will do anything to win elections and knowing that Bush wants what he wants when he wants it, and he wants to add Iran to his lists of accomplishments, (somehow he thinks he has accomplished God's duty through this war in Iraq), could this scenerio play itself out?
Right now we have really screwed up in Pakistan because we happened to bomb some of their 'buddies' on the border the other day and now the fighters we had on our side are pissed off and have fostered more and more anti-American sentiment throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan. We might have to 'baby sit' for 100 years, (per McCain who doesn't know a Sunni from a Shiite)- and stay there we must if we are ever to get a dime for all the trillions we are owed...
And was this past eight years really all about co-president Cheney's dream of having a permanent base in Iraq to make sure we kept an eye on the oil and a blank check ongoing to Halliburton and Kellogg Root and Brown to assure his retirement in the first place...?!
And with the Saudis receiving all the money in the world from oil hungry nations, and holding the rest of the world by the balls, we are lucky they are not like the Chinese in that they (Saudis) could be building an army to topple the world. They have the money to arm themselves to the teeth with the best technology there is and with enough of their middle east in support, we might all be Muslim by the year
2054.
As for Iran, if Israel thinks there is a serious threat, they will take care of it on their own just like they did in Iraq in 1982 at Osirik. I have said this before, they have their own agenda and it's security for itself first of all.
So could it be the Bush/Cheney operating their corrupt fascist regime will not stop until they have taken Iran before leaving office? Who is going to stop them? Certainly our Congress should have impeached them long ago, the only thing those two presidents haven't done is had sex in the oval office with an intern, a horribly impeachable offense. (Note: Kucinish cited 35 articles for impeachment, but since none had sex listed, the criminals go free...)
Will we see a war with Iran? Stay tuned, our only hope is that once again God will come and speak to Dubya and pray that this time God has the balls to tell him "no"!
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Bernanke is as stupid as Dubya

2008-06-10T01:31:00.002-04:00

photo credit: Matson@Rollcall

Today Ben Bernanke came out and said he thinks the worst is behind us, SAY WHAT????
According to Reuters yesterday he is quoted as saying:
Bernanke also played down a May surge in the U.S. unemployment rate from 5.1 percent to 5.5 percent, the biggest jump in 22 years, saying the risks of a substantial downturn in the American economy had receded.
So all is good everyone, you can come out from behind your pile of debt - it's only rainbows from now on, Ben and G.W. say so! Who cares if gas goes to $5 gallon by August? What does it matter that they are foreclosing on your mortgage? Get happy!
We are now on the upswing -upswing to Bernanke's head!
What is with this Administration? It has 6 months of losing payroll, the worse foreclosure rate in American history, the highest gasoline and food prices, but it's all a myth, times are good, so says Bernanke and our President, Hail Caesar!
Dennis Kucinich is trying once again to bring a bill to impeach Bush and Cheney, please write and encourage your Congress man or woman to give him the thumbs up, they need to hold that man Dubya accountable for the mess he has made - Someone give Kucinich the ammunition he needs to get those two liars who run our country impeached ASAP! Let the rainbows begin!!!
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

A "Rough Patch" and the new exciting Afghanistan

2008-06-08T07:20:00.006-04:00

photo credit - AP

They have sent Laura Bush to make the case for the justification for war in Afghanistan. The press at the White House realizes the president is such a loser and has such low approval ratings with no credibility that they can't send him out to self promote because he is the quintessential "snake oil salesman". No one believes any of the shit out of his mouth except for his wife and the religious right -- so who better to use to promote a failure of policy than the first lady who lives with the biggest failure?
And look at the photo they use as a baited headline for Laura in Afghanistan - A half naked soldier from New Zealand! I suppose the White House did that to act provocative in front of the Taliban - like sticking their thumb to their nose and waving it at the Taliban and saying, nanny nanny boo boo, look at the half naked "hot ass" soldiers running around your country, when in essence that soldier is protected by a ton of security surrounding Mrs. Bush. Yes, things must be terrific in Afghanistan to show this display of half nudity in Afghanistan and to a woman!
You would think they have sent Laura on this "surprise" visit without any security the way the White House is spinning it. Laura is flying all the place and will go see the Mayor of Kabul, Karzai. But then she has to defend Karzai to the press saying,
"It's really not that fair," she said. "I think it's undermining, frankly, to blame him for a lot of the things that may or may not be his fault. He inherited — just by becoming president — a country that's been totally devastated. It is very, very difficult when you have al-Qaida and Taliban all over the borders and making incursions into Afghanistan, and it's intimidating for everyone."
WOW what a strong case for Laura's promotion of how well Afghanistan is doing, did she think of that line by herself?
Who is going to listen to that nitwit wife of "Dubya" when she never had the sense not to marry one of the biggest losers on the planet?
Just the other day as foreclosures and the economy are escalating and the payroll numbers have gone down for the sixth straight month giving total justification for using the word recession, Dubya is on television at Hallmark calling this recession a "slow down","a rough patch" - A ROUGH PATCH??? And then our president was all excited about his stimulus package saying it was working as well as his housing help, (does Dubya know how look at statistics at all?) Where does he get his lies from anyway? Who is giving him his talking points? They should be fired! I'm tired of the White House making up his bullshit for him to say. Obviously the Bushs' don't have to grocery shop or fill their own gas tanks! Calling it a "rough patch" - that's what we have had for eight friggin' years under the Bush/Cheney presidency!!! Everything that comes out of the presidents mouth like I have said before, is the total opposite of what the truth is!
So while the White House uses the first lady to promote their lousy policies, I think we can look at this as sheer desperation for trying to find credibility, even Lynn Cheney is smart enough to stay home with her mouth closed - only to say she is happy that her husband is compared to Darth Vader, does she really even know who that is?
Will someone explain how sending poor Laura out as the sacrifical lamb is supposed to make something sound more truthworthy? She's using Dubya's words only in Laura-ese. Maybe it's because she looks so sweet, so sweet she is easily taken advantage of by those in charge of publicity. But I'll give the first lady this,at least her scarf was a better choice than Rachel Rays...if laura actually even picked it out herself.
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Blow it out your ass Hagee...

2008-06-02T21:43:00.005-04:00

photocredit:gallery.passion4art.com

I have heard it all, well, maybe not all, but enough. And I would have laughed, but John Hagee was serious as a heart attack! He was laying the cards on the table, telling the flock the antiChrist (AC)was coming and AC was gonna make "Hitler look like a choir boy", (must be a choir boy from Hagee's church since he has been indoctrinating his flock with plenty fear, hatred and lots and lots of paranoia for years!)
John's got a new, old agenda I didn't know about till the Huffington Post clued me in. John Hagee is another one like our warped president who thinks God talks exclusively to them. God has told Hagee who the anti-Christ is! An exclusive for sure!
Apparently the anti-Christ is gonna be one "Hell of a flamer!" Hagee has come out and said the anti-Christ would be gay. I can see it now, a giant, figure walking through the Valley of Death - he's handsome as Hell, and he might even be 'bi' and not completely gay because Hagee might not really know the difference.
The AC will be dressed in all purple, and not any purple, something richly exquisitely tasteful and tailored, possibly two toned. The AC's hair and nails are impeccably perfect, shoes of only prime beef bulls. His neck adorned by lots of chains of purest gold from the Old Testament days when the Jews threw out their golden idols. His teeth white and his smile seductive and when he opens his mouth, out comes the voice of South Park's character, Mr. Garrison!
Yes, Hagee says a third of the population will be killed off, so the Anti-Christ comes back and starts killing off the poorly attired first, he wipes out those who wear JNCO and Echo jeans, telling them no one likes to see jeans worn so they look like a tent at half mast down their asses! And how he hates the sight of fat asses stuffed into spandex! He hates people with no fashion sense, that drives him crazy! Then he goes after the people wearing cheap jewelry and won't consider keeping anyone alive who wears less than 24K gold or platinum. The AC then kills off those wearing Payless Shoes, he is appalled that women could not find a good cheap Capezio or men wearing less than a pair of Christian Dior!
(Today he might have even been mourning Yves St. Laurent-- who knows maybe Laurent worked for the devil himself?)
The Anti-Christ would start eliminating people with bad taste in furnishing their homes and those driving certain vehicles, he personally loves the Lamborghini, but melts anyone owning anything German or anything manufactured by Ford, that anti-semite, Henry! Oh, I forgot to mention that Hagee said God told him the Anti-Christ would be part Jewish - um, did Hagee mean the fashion part? The gay half? the angry, whiny half? I don't know which half of Hagee's part Jew, gay, anti-Christ is actually Jewish, OY! Obviously it's all the AC's mother's fault, what did she do to make the Anti-Christ so mad -- was it bad toilet training, excessive guilt? Hagee will have to give us more details.
It doesn't matter, a giant evil entity with elitest fashion sense and a bad temper will eliminate the world of a lot of "schlubs" who just can't make the grade. Sorry Hagee, I have seen your suits, you will be gone before Christ, (the other Jew) can come back and redeem you, you have no class are just using Israel as a stepping stone to get to heaven so you can discard those Jews who won't convert to your way of thinking.
But you won't see heaven Hagee, the part-Jew, gay, 'fasioneesta' will zap you naked then expose you and your little balls in front of your congregation and you will shrivel up into such a state of humiliation, then melt like the wicked witch of the west.
And what makes Hagee any less evil in his predictions than the anti-Christ when he spews his venom just as loud -- and just as proud? Hagee loves labeling people for condemnation, he loves being judgemental, (or maybe just mental). He obviously didn't have a good upbringing, neither he nor the Antichrist -- AWK -oh, maybe they are brothers!
Hagee's words are all there in the Huffington Post:
"On March 16, 2003, on the eve of the United States' invasion of Iraq, Pastor John Hagee took to the pulpit to warn of the coming Antichrist. In his sermon, "The Final Dictator," Hagee described the Antichrist as a seductive figure with "fierce features." He will be "a blasphemer and a homosexual," the pastor announced. Then, Hagee boomed, "There's a phrase in Scripture used solely to identify the Jewish people. It suggests that this man [the Antichrist] is at least going to be partially Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler, as was Karl Marx."
This "fierce" gay Jew, according to Hagee, would "slaughter one-third of the Earth's population" and "make Adolph Hitler look like a choirboy."
Exposed here for the first time, Hagee's comments identifying the Antichrist as a partly Jewish homosexual arriving in the wake of a furor the pastor provoked by describing the Holocaust as an act of God. Hagee's chilling sermon about the Holocaust prompted Sen. John McCain to reject the preacher's support, an unexpected turnabout after McCain spent over a year soliciting his endorsement."

Hagee, I can only hope if there is a great heaven, that anyone can belong to the club! Any person of any color, of any religion, or sexual preference, (except pedophiles and beastiality freaks, they can still go to Hell.) It will be a place of complete bliss and freedom and will not discriminate like haters such as yourself do...
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Vice presidential picks can say everything and nothing

2008-05-30T03:03:00.001-04:00

Here it is almost 2am and I am thinking about vice-presidential picks. No, not for 2008, I am thinking about the psychology behind who you pick and of course, I thought of Poppy Bush #41 (GHWB) back in 1989 and wondered why the Hell he picked that mental midget who could not spell “potatoe” - Dan Quayle? Now there’s a case of a President wanting all the power for himself. One can see that George H. W. Bush did not want anyone telling him what to do, no, the only person who can boss Poppy around is bug-eyed, big mouth Barbara, oh, she has the diplomacy of a kimodo dragon, (and probably the breath to match.)
GHWB could have picked Cheney as his own VP. But instead he put the ‘little dick’ Cheney in his cabinet as Secretary of Defense and chose thelight weight Quayle for VP. You can see that Poppy Bush has ‘big kahonas’ - he was confident of his own ability to govern and figured that dummy Quayle would just fake his way through a 4 year stint as VP. And funny isn’t it how Quayle’s military service paralleled young George Dubya - this is how Wikipedia described Quayle’s time in the service:
“Questions were raised about Quayle’s use of family connections to get into the Indiana National Guard and thus avoid possible combat service in the Vietnam War…”
Maybe old Bush related to the young doofus Quayle thinking if someone gave this dummy a job, maybe there was hope for his own incompetent boozing son, George Dubya in the White House! Plus, Bush knew if he picked this kid Quayle as VP, he would never be impeached - as Quayle proved to be pretty damn stupid in office and really never did much except make for good fodder for comediennes and the press to make fun of.
Now shift to 2000, young george Dubya is the presidential nominee and who should he pick as president? You bet your bottom dollar old Poppy Bush took Cheney aside and told him he better be the VP because his son was just as dumb as Dan Quayle and would not know the first damn thing about how to be president! So Cheney put himself in the job and the rest is history! Now that we have had a co-presidency like never before and have also experienced the blunders of one who pretends to lead, (George Dubya) and one who pretends he doesn’t, (Cheney), we can see that it is better to have a president who knows what the Hell he is doing in the first place! The contrast of father and son, GHWB and Bush ‘lite’ is
someone Freud would have used as an example of a son rebelling and competing against a dominant father and yet, he, (George Dubya) picks some of the same things his father has done to try and one up him in the on-going, “don’t tell me what to do” daddy/son war. Maybe Dubya should have consulted his daddy more during his presidency, but he is too assinine and hardheaded to ask for help from either his brother or his father. He likes to make his own decisions and then just like McClelland says in his book, he just doesn’t look back to see if it was wrong, that way Bush doesn’t have to apologize for screwing up.
Now that we have had a spoon fed presidency, wonder how this next presidency will work. Obama is a lot smarter than Dubya, but he is going to have to rely on his VP who no doubt will be someone who is very experienced. Hillary, should she be nominee, well, it would be Bill and Hill working any kinks out, but it doesn’t look like she will be the nominee. As for McCain, it better be someone younger and with less of an ego and anger problem or they will butt heads and at his age, I don’t think McCain has a lot of butt left in that head, we don’t want another Reagan with Alzheimers roaming around the oval office letting Nancy and their astrologer chart things out…oh, I forgot, the astrologer was consulted even before old Reagan started mind drifting.
Now if we could only end this presidency the right way, with total impeachment, I would be so happy justice was finally served! Please, someone do a McClelland, write the last book about how Valerie Plame was outted and put the nail in the coffin for Cheney, Libby and Rove! Come on Sarah Taylor, what really happened that you are not telling us, do the right thing and write the final chapter to this legacy - don’t be loyal, be honest…
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Scott McClelland's Book - YAWN

2008-05-29T11:27:00.005-04:00

HELLO-- Scott McClelland's book is out - YAWN, didn't the rest of us already say the same things for years? What took this guy so long to figure out he was working with liars and assholes?
I guess once you are sucked into the vacuum of brainwashing by the party of "Values", the GOP, it's just like religion, mired in dogma for the cause no matter what the reality is! (Speaking of religion and nuts - did you hear Mike Taibi
infiltrated Pastor John Hagee's cult, I mean evangelical church and they actually take you out and hand you a barf bag and tell you to vomit your demons inside and some people actually vomit them -- which chunk is the demon?)
Anyway, back on track - Karl Rove the magician made George W. Bush, the ex-coke head, alcoholic, loser palatable as a viable candidate! HELLO-- why not research your candidates? Bush was a loser the day he was born, unfortunately for the world, this pious, arrogant man had a rich father with connections and an unscrupulous and willing Karl Rove who needed to make a name for himself! (And I would say Karl has a pretty crappy name and reputation.)
HELLO AGAIN - THIS IS HOW THE GOP PARTY MACHINE OPERATES - WHAT VALUES?
As I have said since Bush was "sel-ected" in 2000 - It's been 8 years of deception! Eight friggin' years of having incompetence lead the nation and it took McClelland seven of them to figure it out. THE GOP INNER CIRCLE IS A BIT SLOWER THAN THE REST OF US!
Let's get on with reality, (well, whatever reality Washington offers) and find someone to put into office who can undo all the lousy shit Bush and his handlers have done! Don't give Karl Rove any more credibility! You viewers at FOX who think Rove is the master - yes, you are right, he is the master of shit!
TAKE THE WHOLE ADMINISTRATION TO COURT ON WAR CRIMES! JAIL THE MURDERS IN THE WHITEHOUSE!
Scott McClelland, thank you for informing the ignorant GOP value voters that that party is devoid of values even though the rest of us having been trying to warn people for years...
AND WHY DID NANCY PELOSI SAY SHE WOULD NOT IMPEACH? THROW HER OUT TOO!
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A MUST listen to Keith Olberman -

2008-05-14T23:46:00.001-04:00
Take a few minutes and listen to Keith Olberman!

http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

$Bush ready to throw away another $170billion

2008-05-13T10:02:00.004-04:00

Do you have to watch your money? Well our President being born of privilege and big big 'buckaroos' does not and he has been living off the fat of the land giving all our money away, to China mostly. Our Bush, in another give away is ready to spend more of our money in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even though Congress is trying to reign him him, Congress is one big, brown, solid ball of crappola, too worried about re-election and how it would look if they don't support the troops, they can't say no to Bushy boy's out stretched hand.
Haven't we wasted enough money in Iraq? The Dems are saying if the $170 is appropriated, the strategy is that the funding will go through the next presidency and he or she can use it to bring our troops home, unless McCain gets in and that senile old guy who confuses the Sunni and Shia might decide he is gonna spend another4 years borrowing from the Chinese to fight this war just like Bush, (unless of course, the Chinese regime gets 'shaked and baked by some big quake and there's no one to collect the debt- ah, poetic justice - (don't get me wrong, I feel horribly bad for the people, but not their leaders.)
And while yesterday's headlines were overshadowed by natural disasters, Bush lucked out again! His article was dumbed down and out of radar. The Bush Administration is "embarrassed" about the corruption of the Iraqi government money laundering, to embarrassed to have it investigated.
According to the A.P., we, the funders of Bush's outlandish war give away just don't seem to give a rats ass that our money evaporates daily to corrupt sources. While We The People are struggling to pay rising gas and food, insurance and health premiums, our tax money is tossed out to make lousy individuals richer! And many have long ties to Bush/Cheney. Prime Example, The now defunct Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) - set up under L. Paul Bremer, (an old buddy from past GOP administrations). Bremer first disbanded the Iraqi army, (via Rumsfeld's orders,) then set up the Iraqi Governing Council made up of Iraqi ex-patriates, some who were very very close to Dick Cheney for years, like bank robber, Ahmad Chalabi. Chalabi has been an expert at pilfering out our US dollars for years. Low and behold, somehow under the eyes of the CPA, $8.8billion came and went and could not be tracked. International Press Service noted that "much of it went to Ghost employees," [More money wasted in Iraq; 1/31/08, Emad Mekay IPS])
Now, both of the Baghdad appointed heads for the Office of Accountability and Transparency, or OAT as it is referred to have come out and basically said incompetence was key to letting money just filter through the system without being accounted for. James Mattil, Chief of staff under Arthur Brennen, both gave reports of corruption and they were ignored by Bush. Mattil yesterday was quoted by the A.P. as saying, "U.S. turned it's back on Iraqis who fled to the USA after being threatened for pursuing anti-corruption cases".
So typical in Bush/Cheney fashion for their deep rooted Iraqi buddies who took the money and might be right here wandering among us spending our tax dollars from their Swiss bank accounts, (though they must be disappointed at the rate of our dollar compared to the Euro.)
The Administration gives a free pass to the rich who they have made richer through our tax dollars. Iraqi prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, "eviscerated Iraq's top anti-corruption office" according to Arthur Brennan in Anne Flaherty's AP article yesterday. It's a crap shoot when the people vote in a 'democracy' in Iraq where they elect the same old 'type' regime whose methods of fleecing are still top priority.
And while you are struggling to make ends meet, just remember, you are not in Bush's inner circle, you are not one of his "Pioneers" -- the idiots who gave
$100,000 or more to his presidential campaign, (don't ya wonder what they think about their village idiot now?) You and I are not the elite who have millions at our disposal, we are struggling to pay our bills while we laugh at getting our own $600 bucks back to help pay gas and food for the month. And we "baby boomers" are borrowing money to pay for immediate expenses according to the news today. So imagine how many homeless will be on the streets in ten years without some kind of socialism which will have to happen in the USA, but it won't ever be called that. We will call them by some trite entitlement name, but one day we will have humane socialized medicine for all, complete health care especially for the elderly. And those people like the employees of ill fated Enron who worked 30 years and suddenly all their retirement evaporated as Enron perished while Ken and Linda Lay had 11 homes and millions that could not be touched in Texas accounts, those working people will have to struggle to work the rest of their days and will never be able to retire.
Bush will be pissed if Congress doesn't cough up his $170K for Iraq. Shouldn't we demand he be accountable for anything? Have we given up on our own corrupt regime and don't care what Bush/Cheney do anymore? Consider writing that fool Cheney and his puppet Bush a letter today saying the money they want is more Bull shit, we want an accurate accounting of the money being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan, we want to know who is walking away with our billons, like U.S. corporations such as DynCorp who can rape it's own taxpayers: according to Source watch:
In January 2007, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., reported that "he had identified tens of millions of dollars worth of accounting discrepancies, missing weapons and unauthorized billings" by DynCorp. Bowen accused DynCorp of "lax accounting and monitoring procedures." At issue is a $43.8 million State Department contract "for a camp that was never used by police trainers," including $4.2 million that DynCorp billed for "unauthorized work." Another $36.4 million expenditure, intended "for weapons and equipment, including armored vehicles, body armor and communications equipment ... cannot be accounted for," reported the Dallas Morning News. [3] Shortly after Bowen announced that his office would investigate DynCorp for fraud in its Iraq work, the company hired the PR firm Qorvis Communications for "messaging and image work," reported O'Dwyer's PR Daily. [4]
BE PISSED OFF AT THE BUSH/CHENEY ADMINISTRATION! ANOTHER LIE ANOTHER DAY IN THE WHITEHOUSE! BE ANGRY AT HOW THEY KEEP SECRET INFORMATION REGARDING MONEY SPENT IN IRAQ --GIVE THEM A PIECE OF YOUR MIND- YOU ARE ALREADY GIVING THEM YOUR HARD EARNED CASH! THEY ARE FLEECING US AT THE EXPENSE OF SENDING OUR MONEY TO BE SQUANDERED - HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE NOW!!!
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off on a rant!

2008-05-06T09:22:00.006-04:00

photo courtesy of political Strikes

In a testament to Laura's Bush limited intelligence, she has spoken out today urging the country of Myanmar to accept U.S. and other countries aid for the horrific devastation by the cyclone. With possibly 1million homeless, 22K killed, 41K missing, it seems to me Myanmar would accept everything they could get their hands on. But then again, we refused to help with their democracy and their illegal drug trade, so maybe they are still mad, (plus they have no oil reserves so we didn't want to "nation build" over there...
Maybe Laura should get her head out of the sand, (or wedding plans) and tell her husband, if he wants her to continue to play the roles of a wife, he should come clean to the nation, tell the truth for once about the war in Iraq, exposing Valerie Plame, the use of torture and European black sites, the internal spying, the people like Ken Lay who would frequent the secret energy meetings and so on and so on. Wouldn't it be wonderful if she demanded some truth from her husband? But then again, you can tell she has always looked the other way as she has done in the past. While Bush was boozing and losing money on businesses, (until his daddy would step in and solve all his crisis's) the truth has always been too painful to face. I suppose she does not look at his 71% disapproval rating, nor understands that George is the most useless president the United States ever had, (hey, at least Nixon and Carter had brains.)
Maybe she was just feeling guilty while spending huge amounts of green getting Jenna ready to wed one of their big GOP contributor's son. Perhaps she had not given a genile opinion on anything in a few weeks, but to give such a simpleton statement as that is truly offensive. Why not ask for relief for our people who are paying up the ass for gas and food while their wages do not rise to meet this demand? Or even asking for a days worth of money to Iraq be diverted to Myanmar would have been a good gesture, (at $100,000 a minute, (according to Mark Mazzetti and Joel Havemann with the Los Angeles Times,) they could have some serious aid to clean up the island.
Well, what can you say? Laura needs to keep her eyes on the wedding, she's better at being an ostrich than an eagle.
She must be counting the days till they get out of Washington and go live in Dallas forsaking the image of Bush and his shrub cutting ways. They only needed a ranch as a ploy to pretend he was a Ronald Reagan conservative. Oh Laura, you have your man, and 71% of us wish you had not shared your vision of greatness with the rest of the nation. We could have done without the Bush/Cheney years. Both you and George are better off trying to live out your lives pretending history will be kind, and I assume if after ya'll leave office that if you never pick up a newspaper or look at the internet or read any future books on tape about this corrupt administration, neither of you will have a clue as to what really transpired for 8 years.
Happy wedding plans -- do what you are good at Laura, continue to be the mouse in the House, it works better if you don't squeak too loud... the last thing we need is another stupid Bush giving opinions...
addition:
MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE, YANGON
Information Sheet

N0. C- 2807 ( I/L )
21st October, 2003

Government of Myanmar Urges Washington to

Support Democracy in Myanmar

The Government of Myanmar was disappointed to hear that, during the APEC summit, the United States opposed Myanmar’s progress toward democracy and continued to advocate policies which undermine Myanmar’s social, political and economic stability.

The Government calls upon Washington to reconsider its approach, and work constructively for democratic change in Myanmar.

The Government urges the United States to listen to the views of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) regarding Myanmar.

ASEAN supports the Myanmar road map, which it believes is a pragmatic path to democracy in Myanmar. ASEAN understands that sanctions undermine political progress. And ASEAN understands that positive cooperation, not negative criticism, is the best way to achieve our common goals.

The Government would also like to request Washington to honestly examine the effectiveness of its own policies.

America would benefit from a democratic Myanmar, yet Washington ignores our invitations to work constructively toward this goal. America would benefit from ending the drug trade, yet Washington refuses to help in our war against narcotics. America would benefit from an economically stable Myanmar, yet Washington destroys our peoples’ jobs through sanctions. America would benefit from having Myanmar as a responsible member of the global community, yet Washington continues to oppose Myanmar’s membership in international organizations.

The Government urges Washington to put aside these self-defeating policies, and instead focus on ways to achieve positive goals.

Instead of relying on easy platitudes, we encourage Washington to understand Myanmar’s complex political culture. Instead of focusing on a single individual, we encourage Washington to consider the entire Myanmar people. Instead of trying to destabilize Myanmar through sanctions, we encourage Washington to help develop a healthy society in which democracy can flourish and endure.

The negative approach of sanctions and isolation is a "lose-lose" strategy for both America and Myanmar. If our countries are to move forward, it is clearly time for a fresh approach.

The Government of Myanmar therefore calls upon Washington once again to join in building a modern, prosperous and enduring democracy in Myanmar. Helping us along the road map to democracy will result in a better world for all of us.

Send mail to webmaster@mewashingtondc.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2003 Embassy of the Union of Myanmar
Last modified: 03/26/06
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The Bushes

2008-04-25T12:43:00.004-04:00
photo credit: Meganpru www.flikr.com

How much Xanax do you suppose Laura Bush takes to have to stand her husband? Certainly that's how she seems, so calm and collected while her husband flails about trying to come out of this presidency with a shred of decency attributed to him. No telling how many scandals will follow him out of the oval office doors, but I would sure say to whomever takes over, have the place entirely fumigated to get his bad karma out of there. Ask some voodoo princess or catholic priest to exercise the demons that he has brought with him.
To see him show up now on game shows and American Idol is laughable. At least Laura reads her lines better than he does, but look at that poor women, she is either living in la la land and does not read a paper, or she has to be on downners to take what they say about that fool she is married to!
Today Bush was all excited about the tax rebates. He's so happy and counting on this stimulation. But all we can do is look at him and laugh. DO you know anyone who will use this money on anything but gas and food and credit card debt? If so they are in the tiny minority.
When we read anything now about Bush/cheney 'speak' use the opposite thinking for what it means, my response to Bush speech is in italics and parenthesis.

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer (today)
WASHINGTON - President Bush said tax rebates will start going out Monday, earlier than previously announced, and should help Americans cope with rising gasoline and food prices, as well as aid a slumping economy.
(it will help for about a month then we need another $600 monthly for the next year. Anyone who doesn't file a tax because they don't make enough, won't get a dime. The very poor are screwed out of this one. Ummm what will Laura and george buy with their rebate? A therapy session would be a good start. We know Cheney will buy bullets)

"Starting Monday, the effects of the stimulus will begin to reach millions of households across our country," Bush said Friday in remarks on the South Lawn of the White House.
(so we know using reverse reality logic that the effects will not really do a damn thing to stimulate much except Exxon Mobil and all the other gasoline companies.)
"The money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we're seeing at the gas pump, the grocery store, and also give our economy a boost to help us pull out of this economic slowdown," Bush said.
(Key word slow down! That is Bush's newest word of the month. He can't say that word recession, he has been ordered not to, it's a bad word at the time of an election --OR--- Maybe Bush has no idea that people are actually struggling!)

"Bush suggested the rebates could trigger a spending spree. "When the money reaches the American people, we expect they will use it to boost consumer spending," he said last month."
(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA_ this guy is so in denial, Laura should share her downers with him just so he can cope with reality.)
"Bush has denied that the nation is in a recession, although many economists say it is. It's obvious our economy is in a slowdown. But, fortunately, we recognized the signs early and took action," Bush said."
(took action? Is that like how Brownie took action for Katrina? How the feds took action on the housing market? Bush the great thinker has said the actions will make it go away, hail to the thief!)
"The economy — burdened by the collapse of home prices, a financial and credit crisis, and now rising energy and food prices — grew at an anemic 0.6 percent in the final three months of last year and is believed to have gotten even weaker in the first three months of this year. The government will report on the first quarter's performance next week. With the economy faltering, the nation's unemployment rate has climbed to 5.1 percent, the highest since September 2005, when it suffered from the devastating blows of the Gulf Coast hurricanes. Job losses in the first three months of this year neared the quarter-million mark."
(But it's just a little slowdown, heh heh heh...Bush will save the day, the day he finally leaves office)
"Foreclosures have surged to record highs and financial companies have taken multibillion losses on mortgage investments that soured. The situation has sent a tremor through Wall Street and has sent the administration, Congress and presidential contenders looking for ways to provide relief."
(But not our current president Bush, he is convinced no one is having a hard time here in the USA, just look at him, he and laura are doing fine so everyone must be doing fine too, that's the new criteria from old logic, I;m okay, you're okay - remember that? It's the new way of Bush speak. Oh by the way, maybe Bush should let all those polygamous orphans come stay at the ranch, he could personally brainwash them as the next generation of GOP voters.)
___
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continuation on Veteran care

2008-04-25T00:32:00.003-04:00
A post script for the lousy care of our veterans:

Dr. Ira Katz, the chief mental health official of the Veterans Affairs Department is being accused of a cover-up for how many of our veterans are committing suicide.
According to the AP today,
"A number of Democratic senators said they were appalled at e-mails showing Katz and other VA officials apparently trying to conceal the number of suicides by veterans. An e-mail message from Katz disclosed this week as part of a lawsuit that went to trial in San Francisco starts with "Shh!" and claims 12,000 veterans a year attempt suicide while under department treatment.
Another e-mail said an average of 18 war veterans kill themselves each day — and five of them are under VA care when they commit suicide."

Dr. Katz is a geriatric specialist, though he deals a lot in depression of later life, maybe he ought to concentrate on the here and now! If someone is letting our veterans drop off like that, and while many are under the care of the VA, then we have a big problem, someone is using them as guinea pigs! It's bad enough that the 'regular depressed folks' are treated as experiments, but to fuck with the head of someone who has seen limbs litter the streets and live for fear of being bombed anytime they leave the green zone is just cruel cruel cruel. Once again, the lives of too many veterans remain at risk, someone has to be held accountable. So let's just give one big "shout out" to Dr. Ira katz, heck of a job katzy!
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Stats on our veterans

2008-04-21T09:24:00.005-04:00

credit: standown.org

Is it any wonder we have so many burn out homeless veterans? The latest report by Reuters out last week suggests 25% of our troops suffer from some form of mental illness. Not only that, "about one in three (31 percent) were affected by at least one psychosocial diagnosis." Reuters, Mon Mar 12, 2007. According to the Los Angeles Times 3 days ago, "one in five soldiers suffers from Depression or post traumatic stress."
Many don't seek help finding it a stigma admitting to weakness. And while Bill O'reilly from Fox is himself delusional and won't get help for his mental state of denial and delusions of grandeur, (he does not think our veterans are homeless in any great numbers,) read these stats from Standown.org/homeless:

"Approximately 1/3 of homeless adults (one out of every three) in this country
are veterans. On any given night 200,000 - 300,000 veterans are homeless.
Based on various estimates it is calculated that 500,000 - 840,000 vets are
homeless at some time during the year. According to the Department of
Veterans Affairs the current number of homeless Vietnam era veterans
exceeds the number of fatalities that occurred during the war.
According to recent studies, Florida ranks third in the nation in the
number of homeless people, yet has one of the highest numbers of
homeless veterans. The number of homeless veterans in Florida on any
given night has been reported as 17,500 by the Florida Department of
Children & Families, or 18.4% of Florida's homeless population. The
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans reported the number to be
19,394. In 2005, roughly 3,000 new homeless veterans were enrolled
into Florida Department of Veterans Affairs homeless programs."

This alone is one more reason Bush and Cheney should be impeached and stand trial for war crimes using a phony excuse to invade Iraq just for the purpose of thinking they would have a legacy bigger than Ronnie Reagan. Perhaps the two biggest cases of blatant mental illness reside in the oval office, Bush and co-prez Cheney. the two leaders we have in charge are making mentally challenged decisions affecting the lives of all of us and look how it has affected the nation and the world -- no wonder so many of us are depressed - The past 8 years under the sneaky 'regime' of two 'despots' has been enough to almost drive this country and it's residents to ruin.
But the worst of it it is aimed at the ones who try and keep us safe, what a damn travesty of justice, our soldiers given less rights and privileges than our criminals...a depressing thought to start off the week for sure. Only wish Bush and Cheney knew what they have done. Only hope that for all Bush is counting on history to tell people the world he was a great leader, (a clear sign of mental illness when history is the key to your success.) no one in his inner circle will ever tell G. W. that he was the worst, most incompetent asshole to ever 'reign' over the United States. Certainly Laura would never hurt him, and Cheney doesn't give a rats ass about anything but himself.
We the people who pay the salaries of these two pompous morons should be up in arms at how our veterans are treated. If only we could put Bush and Cheney out on the street for even one freezing night, alone, hungry and broke and with only the clothes on their backs, (and no, Cheney can't take his gun.) Let them see what suffering is. Neither has a clue. It's all very sad, it's all very wrong and it makes us look worse than any third world nation when our veterans suffer after we have used them for the purpose of fighting for democracy. They come home and have to fight for a meal and medical care, shame on our Congress, shame on our president and co-president and shame on us for not caring...
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Mybad?

2008-04-17T00:07:00.003-04:00

I just wonder after looking at this fancy schmancy toilet what the Vatican's personal toilet of the Pope looks like. You know how they always say we all are alike, we put our pants on one leg at a time, well, maybe that's true, but I bet the Pope's crapper is not just another throne --- or is it? ha ha, mybad?
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The Pope's ashamed, AND he should be

2008-04-15T11:01:00.003-04:00

photo credit: www.private-eye.co.uk

All of a sudden after years of scandal and a ride in the Pope-mobile to get on the Pope-plane for America, the Pope has decided he should tell the press, 'oh by the way, I am ashamed of all the pedophiles that we ignored and the Vatican had to hide during those sordid years of massive child abuse.'
It's so phony it reeks. He is afraid of small audiences I suppose after shelling out over $2billion bucks for a Church that bullied it's parishioners by refusing to even say it had a problem and most of all, ignoring the very people who asked for help.
Go rent the Documentary, Deliver Us From Evil if you can stomach it and decide whether the Catholic Church is truly sorry. They still pay their abusive priests' retirement income. It's pretty incriminating to say you're sorry and still support the perverts who are responsible crimes against children.
Between the Catholic Church and the The Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, (FLDS), don't you wonder what these men of the cloth would be disguised as if they did not have religion to stand behind when they went after children? I guess they would be your 'average' behind the scene neighborhood pedophile gawking at kids in the park, and instead of using church outings and spiritual marriage as an excuse to seduce children, they would lure kids into their homes to play video and computer games.
We let the religious sickos get away with crimes against nature when we let them police themselves. The Vatican's remorse is bullshit, they are truly sorry they have lost parishes and have had to sell assets to pay for legal fees and counseling for the innocent lives they have destroyed. That's why the Pope needs a tour, to suck up to the old parishioners. Don't let the phony apology fool you, it's all about the cash and numbers! The church needs more babies born ASAP, the FLDS needs them too, mind control is a sick game they both play, a very sick game. Either way, they need to take the FUN out of Fundamentalists and just refer to them as mental!
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Polygamists lawyers want compound left alone but...

2008-04-10T08:59:00.005-04:00

Misogynist Lawyers for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Ladder Day Saints are claiming the government is intruding on the sects' religious rights by searching for documents and a 16 year old female who called a government hotline for help saying she was being abused and had babies when she was a young teen by Dale Barlow inside their ranch.
EXCUSE ME! The lawyers are condoning rape, sodomy, child abuse and brain washing when done under the guise of religion? That's okay with them? To see women and young girls in this day and age treated like chattel for men to use for sexual battery and pedophilia is just a normal life? Well then lawyers, how about the government using a case of fraud committed by the sect for using welfare checks to support their nasty little perversion? How come it's okay for the LDDS sect to accept government handouts while they impregnate young teens and others for the sole purpose of adding numbers to the cult without anything but a "spiritual" husband and a check from the USA for women claiming poverty -- that is downright deception!
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While everyone is crying about illegals, Dubai...

2008-04-08T23:15:00.005-04:00

While all the bellyaching goes on about illegals and whining about Mexicans taking over, Dubai just kind of slides it's tentacles into the underbelly of US culture. And why not? They have trillions of bucks at their disposal, why not apply for a Nevada gaming license after buying stakes in MGM mirage and CityCenter? Isn't it simple --go for the jugular through our vices?
No need for messy bombs, terror attacks, cruelty and vengeance, just start and acquire real estate using the good old fashion USA capitalist spirit!
Shucks, if you can't run the ports, go where you aren't so noticed, Las Vegas! Yes, Vegas, the strip, the boozing, the sex, gambling, everything banned by Islam religion now promoted by Dubai World.
Here's another tidbit:
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
"The Financial Times announced last night the government of Abu Dhabi has made an investment in the Carlyle Group, a Washington-based private investment firm.
Mubadala, a wholly owned investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, bought a 7.5 percent share of the Carlyle Group in a transaction in which the deal price was struck at a 10 percent discount to a valuation of $20 billion for all of the Carlyle Group..." OR How bout these headlines:
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
"In a complex set of transactions, Dubai is moving to acquire 19.9 percent of the Nasdaq in New York, placing the Arab government in an ownership position of the key U.S. stock exchange and raising concerns in Congress.
As a result of the transaction, Dubai also will acquire 28 percent of the London Stock Exchange, one of the oldest and largest in the world. The transaction is being made through Borse Dubai, a holding company 100-percent owned by the government of the Emirate of Dubai and controlled by Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the head of the Dubai ruling family. According to its website, Borse Dubai was created Aug. 6 as the holding company for Dubai Financial Market and Dubai International Financial Exchange in a move to consolidate the Dubai government's two stock exchanges "as well as current investments in other exchanges, expanding Dubai's position as a global capital market hub."
Or how does this grab you; posted April 07, 2008, Jerome R. Corsi
"ELECTION 2008 Clintons cash in on Dubai
Tax data shows $15 million from partnership with Arab sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. The tax returns released by Bill and Hillary Clinton late Friday reveal $15 million earned in a partnership with billionaire "supermarket czar" investor Ron Burkle and the sheik of Dubai... Burkle's Yucaipa Companies have created Yucaipa Global Holdings, a multi-billion investment fund whose three investment manager general partners are Burkle, Bill Clinton and the ruler of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Al-Maktoum was the ruler at the center of public outcry over national security concerns when Dubai Ports World proposed in 2006 to acquire the London-based company that operated 22 ports in the U.S.
Dubai is one of the six Persian Gulf nations that has amassed some $1.7 trillion in Sovereign Wealth Funds..."
It's so easy for the foreign investors to come help themselves, look what we have to offer: an economy ripe for the world to buy us out during our depressed housing market and recession, a dollar half the value of the euro, gas prices sky high, and suddenly more and more the 'money-ed' half of the world sees us as a buying opportunity, why, it's one more thing we can thank Mr. Bush for - he loves that global marketplace and trade. But here's another scary scenario as Dubai is busy purchasing:
HOMELAND INSECURITY
Tehran, Dubai to strengthen ties
Relations sure to be raised in UAE port controversy
Posted: March 06, 2006
6:44 pm Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
Senior officials of the Iranian government met with United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad ben Rashid al-Maktoum today in Dubai with both sides pledging to strengthen relations in all areas.
Iran is the center of the world's attention because of its efforts to develop and test nuclear weapons, while the UAE is the focus of a major controversy in the U.S. because of Dubai Ports World's efforts to control operations of U.S. ports.
The official Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency reports Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi and the UAE's Sheikh Mohammad pledged to strengthen ties between the two Persian Gulf nations.
The meetings included a briefing on the Iranians positions on Iraq, Palestinian developments and the status of Iran-Russia talks on the nuclear controversy. A briefing was offered on the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran."
OR How about today even:
By Parisa Hafezi
Tue Apr 8, 7:56 PM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - "Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, defying the West which fears Tehran is trying to build nuclear bombs."
Sounds scary, but Ahmadinejad can save his nuclear power, we have so many vices it would be nothing for Dubai and Iran to work together to figure out how to take over the USA, ummm if they corner the porn industry, we will go quietly, shhh, pretend I didn't say that...
photo credit www.atimes.com
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Why Do we Still Let Bush Out Of The White House

2008-03-31T01:45:00.003-04:00

One wonders why they even let Bush out of the White House these days. He has already ruined our name around the globe and now he is headed to the NATO summit in Romania to further make an ass out of himself. One hopes he will keep his menacing hands off Merkels shoulders and that he won’t be kissing Putin’s ’soulful’ butt, or speaking much. And, as we wait out his time in office, Condie is still on desperate orders to get an Israeli/Palestinian deal so Bush can say he made a peace pact.
The trouble is, all the experts say it cannot happen and if he gets anything, it will be a piece of paper with empty promises, a token to keep him smiling and thinking that he has added something to his crappy legacy.
The whole middle east is such a damn drain on everyone. The tension is terribly thick over there between this new wave of violence in Iraq and if Bush is so proud of how the Iraqi army has taken over, why doesn’t he just hand it over and say, ‘go ahead Maliki, the USA is outta here, you take over and I can call it a victory!’
Some highlights of Blitzer’ Late Edition :
On talking to Senator Chuck Hagel:
“BLITZER: “So here’s the question. Some of his critics, the president’s critics saying, you know, he’s basically ignoring reality on the ground in Iraq right now. And some of his severe critics say he’s living in a dream world. What do you say, as someone who has criticized him over these years?
HAGEL: “Well, I think this is another episode of Alice in Wonderland, what’s up is down and what’s down is up. What do you mean stability and security? Baghdad, for example, has been, over the last year, essentially, ethnically divided. You’ve separated the Sunnis and the Shias. And to somehow make some assertion that things are looking much, much better in Baghdad and it’s calm again and it’s back to where it used to be is just not the case. And when you look at the casualties the United States has taken since the so-called military surge, over 900 deaths; you look at almost 30,000 wounded and the money we’ve put in there — and then the other point of this is, too, if, in fact, the surge has calmed things to a point where the president and others are saying, well, they’ve done a great service and they’ve achieved some terrific things, why then is the administration talking about keeping more American troops in Iraq for the remainder of this year than we had before the surge?”
Blitzer with Martin Fletcher, veteran Tel Aviv bureau chief for NBC News and author of “Breaking News,” his personal reflections on covering the Middle East for three decades.
and also Aaron David Miller, former State Department official, an adviser to several U.S. secretaries of state and presidents. He’s author of a new book entitled, “The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace.”
BLITZER: “How important is what’s happenings on the ground right now, in terms of the future of Iraq, what happens to U.S. troops there and the region as a whole?”
MILLER: … we’re in an investment trap, Wolf. We cannot fix the situation in Iraq, and we can’t extricate ourselves from it. We worst-cased the threat — there were no weapons of mass destruction — and we best-cased the outcome. The notion that Iraq would somehow be a domino-inspirer of falling democracies — in this case, rising democracies, has proven to be a flawed theory. American prestige and credibility is really at risk. And it’s had no impact, frankly, on the Arab-Israeli peace process. Not that anybody though it would.”
BLITZER: “Martin… it sounds like it doesn’t make any difference what the U.S. in the long term winds up doing in Iraq. It’s going to chaotic. It’s going to be a mess. And in the end, it’s going to be unsuccessful for what the U.S. had hoped would be achieved in that part of the world. I wonder if you want to weigh in.”
FLETCHER: …” although the United States’s presence in Iraq definitely has created a real combat (ph) here in the Middle East. Nations not respecting America’s ability to do what it wants and therefore feeling freer themselves to go ahead with their ambitions. And of course, we see that Iran, their support for Hezbollah in south Lebanon, with their support for Gaza south of Israel, and Israel now paying the price for that. America’s credibility has definitely been severely damaged by its actions in Iraq, and that definitely makes it harder for its allies in the regions to go ahead with their goals. Of course in Israel’s case, that is to reach some kind of agreement with the Palestinians because Hezbollah, Hamas, they’ve been empowered by America’s failure in Iraq.”
BLITZER: “Here’s what you write in your new book, Aaron, “The Much Too Promised Land,” among other things. “Arab-Israeli peace was not key to protecting America’s interest in the wake of 9/11, but abandoning it wholesale weakened our friends, emboldened our enemies, and undermined our image and credibility when we needed them most.”
MILLER: …” I think that’s right. I mean, Arab-Israeli peace is a key to American interests; it’s not the key. …There’s a lot of people out in this region, in the Arab and Muslim world who haven’t made up their minds about America. This issue, the Arab-Israeli issue, resonates profoundly and deeply. And we need to do a better job of managing it. “
Blitzer: “ A paragraph from Fletcher’s book.
“Imagine this: Murderers are trying to kill your kids, yet every day at work, it’s your job to interview the murderers. I kissed my sons goodbye in the morning, then went to the West Bank and listened to al-Aqsa fighters tell me how many Jews they wanted to kill. One day I interviewed Jewish victims of suicide bombers; the next day I interviewed bombers and the men who sent them.”
Blitzer: “A very personal account of what you’ve been going through all of these years. Tell us what — you know, what’s happening right now? Is there any prospect that President Bush’s initiative, which he announced at Annapolis last November, to resolve the Israeli- Palestinian conflict this year, is going to be achieved?”
FLETCHER: “No chance. There’s no chance that the peace is going to break out this year between Israel and the Palestinians. I don’t think, really, anybody expects it. I think they’re really trying to put another kind, another form of road map on the table which can then be a guide for the future, when the situation is better between Israel and the Palestinians and also, of course, between Hamas and Fatah, Abu Mazen and Hamas in Gaza.”
BLITZER: Aaron?
MILLER: “ Nobody ever lost money betting against Arab-Israeli peace in this administration, either. But there’s one positive reality, I think, we really do have to acknowledge. And that is this. For the first time in the history, literally in the history of Palestinian/Israeli conflict, you’ve got two guys, a Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and an Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who have had hours, hours of discussion, between the two of them, on the four core issues — serious discussion to resolve (ph) their conflict, Jerusalem, borders, and security. And it may we will be that implementing anything they agree will be impossible –”
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SAy What????

2008-03-28T16:32:00.002-04:00

This is Bush- speak from this morning when he held a press conference with The Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd - here is the definitive way to define Bush brain and how he defines success, according to him, all you have to do is re-define the meaning…
”.Question from reporter…” As you noted, Australia will begin withdrawing 500 combat troops from southern Iraq. And I heard that you accept this decision, which did, as you say, play out in our election. But how does it fit with your view, expressed quite strongly again yesterday, that to withdraw troops at this time would be to retreat?”
President Bush-speak answer:
“…we are withdrawing troops. It’s called return on success. And our intention is to pull down five — you know, five battalions by July. Troops are coming out — five brigades, excuse me. Troops are coming out, because we’re successful. And so, I would view the Australian decision as return on success — returning home on success.
That’s fundamentally different from saying, “Well, it’s just too hard, pull them all out.” This sends a different signal.”
So in essence, if Bush defines it as a “return on success” he does not have to call it pulling out because it’s too hard. Now does that show you how the Bush mind works?
Here’s some Bush speak, (his actual words in italics) from that same conference today: Abbe Comments in BOLD
BUSH: “Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. I’m so glad you’re here.
nd, Therese, thank you for joining us as well. Laura and I are thrilled to welcome you here to the White House. And I appreciate the opportunity to visit with a leader of one of America’s closest allies and friends. …I have found him to be a straightforward fella. Being from Texas, that’s the way I — that’s the way I like it.” “unless we are lying about everyday things like the war and progress, how great Homeland Security is, that we don’t torture and how I will be viewed as the greatest president of all times, is that straightforward enough for ya’ll - heh heh heh?
…”my views on Doha. (lowering trade barriers) I said it’s possible to achieve a Doha round. He, too, believes we should work to achieve a Doha round. However, I informed him that we’re willing to make serious concessions on the agricultural front but we expect other nations to open up their markets on manufacturing as well as services.”
Hell, how low can you go? Heh heh heh? Haven’t I sent enough jobs overseas already? Didn’t this recession send a signal about how low I lowerd the bar so cheap labor could help all my friends in big business? I want to act like I care about the USA workers, but basically, I don’t give a greasy monkey shit about anything but making profit, and it has to be a big ass profit, that’s my Texas mantra!
”We talked about the environment and energy. There’s an interesting moment for all of us to recognize that we can become less dependent, in our case on foreign oil, and at the same time be good stewards of the environment. And we talked about the need to work collaboratively to achieve an international agreement in which the United States is at the table, along with developing nations like China and India.”
Just don’t ask me to sign no agreements that screw up things for my oil buddies who helped bail me out when my own oil company was going bust, I can’t thank the Saudis enough for taking an interest in my little oil venture. As for the environment, what the Hell do I care really? I’m almost out of office and I have done all I could to stall any progress on the environment, ask Gail Norton. When I say good stewards of the environment, I don’t even have a clue what they mean…
”And I want to thank very much the Australian government and the Australian people for their willingness to help a young democracy such as Afghanistan. I appreciate very much your strong commitment to helping the Karzai government succeed and thrive. It’s in our national interests that we do so. I also want to thank you very much for being a good loyal ally on Iraq. Obviously, the prime minister kept a campaign commitment which I appreciate. I always like to be in the presence of somebody who does what he says he’s going to do. And, oftentimes, politicians go out there and they say one thing on the campaign trail and they don’t mean it.”
Heh heh heh, that last sentence describes me now doesn’t it! Like how I said I didn’t want to be a nation builder, whoops, caught in another lie…
…”interesting story. Rudd met with the prime minister, Maliki. And Prime Minister Maliki says to Kevin Rudd — or Kevin Rudd says to Prime Minister Maliki, “What can we do to help you?” It wasn’t, “What can we do to abandon you?” He said, “How can we help you?”
Funny thing about this story is the Aussies are leaving so do they really even give a shit?
People can — I’m sure the press corps is going to say, “Well, aren’t you mad at the prime minister for fulfilling his campaign pledge?” And the answer is, no, just so you don’t even need to ask the question now. ”
That’s my Bush-speak for pretending I’m not mad that they will be pulling out — shit everyone is abandoning me, thank goodness John McCain will continue on the war, I can’t let people think I fucked up as a president. How’d ya’all like when I said I thought that going to war sounded like it was kind of romantic and MCcain busted my chops on that for sure.
( I must say, I’m a little envious,” Bush said. “If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.” “It must be exciting for you … in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You’re really making history, and thanks,” Bush said. - Reuters - THIS IS TRUE< OUR PRESIDENT REALLY SAID THIS SHIT!
Bush On Iraq:
“A lot of folks here in America were wondering whether or not Iraq would even be able to do it in the first place. And it’s happening. Now, they’re fighting some pretty tough characters, people who kill innocent people to achieve objectives. And, yes, there’s going to be violence. And that’s sad. But this situation needed to be dealt with, and it’s now being dealt with, just like we’re dealing with the situation. “
Did I say deal enough for ya?
”I have said in my remarks there’s been substantial progress, and there has been. But it’s still a dangerous, fragile situation in Iraq. And, therefore, my decision will be based upon the recommendations of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, all aiming to make sure that we have enough of a presence to make sure that we’re successful in Iraq. And I’m confident we can succeed unless we lose our nerve,”
Or unless John Mccain doesn’t win the presidency, then my damn legacy is fucked for sure. And for those who didn’t listen to the full speech, I will remind you that it’s in our interest that we enter into such an arrangement. But a long-term strategic arrangement does not commit any future president to any troop level, “
Except John mcCain, he’s got my back…and my ass
And so, we are taking troops out, just like the Australians are, because we’re being successful. And his question — the question was, “Well, are you going to bring any further out?” Not “Are you going to bring any out?” Are you going to bring any further troops out from that which we committed to do earlier?
I was actually thinking to myself as I was sitting here, George, how many times can I say out and bring in one sentence…
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Who is the biggest religious hypocrite - quotes to guide you

2008-03-20T09:59:00.009-04:00

Suddenly Obama's numbers have gone down. Why? Because he has the black Reverend Wright videos freaking out white America. Now I am not sure which Democratic candidate I will be voting for and I am favoring Hillary, but only if Blumberg does not get in the race, but Obama is getting a raw deal from scared white Christians.
It's not like Reverend Wright is churning out terrorists from his church. He, like every other religious leaders black or white, green or blue is spinning dogma to his devotees. That's all it is, "singing to the choir".
It's a hypocrisy that Obama gets nailed on this when we have John McCain giving Pastor Hagee, a bigot and hater the thumbs up. We give a pass to Billy Graham who was not a fan of Jews and always holds "Crusades" as if that word shouldn't have been banned centuries ago.
Let's focus on the most recent religious leaders to have a say in our Government. We see that Robertson and Falwell have left big imprints as they smile when spewing their toxic rhetoric to their pulpit warmers and television audience.
Somehow a free pass is given to white religious leaders while they imbue their congregations with hatred for gays, for Islam, or for whatever power play is needed to reign in the flock or use to defend a position, it shows such stupidity. When will religion quit tearing us apart?
Here are some goodies from our well known white religious leaders who have millions upon millions of people contributing big dollars to their causes. (And I am not condemning all causes even though many come with a price tag of conversion.)
Before you single out the Reverend Wright, think about how the recent influential religious white leaders try and impose their views upon Congress and even the president.
Religious icons who peddle their influence directly in the White House, are scary as Hell. Is that the real reason whites are so scared? They know how their own bigoted spiritual advisers have welded their way into doctrine? We are supposed to have a separation of church and state, so why is a bigot like Hagee invited to speak to Congress? Plus, the agenda is really so pathetic: The Rapture means that they, the religious Right must have Israel intact for Jesus to come back, that seems like the only reason they actually care for the Jews, because once JC comes back, the Jews will go to Hell in the Apocalypse anyway, (unless the Jews quickly convert and become like them, umm... not likely.) Is that how God would really want it --- or is this just a power play for numbers in the church?
So before brushing off Obama, take a look at who our candidates think are "great" religious men, look inside yourself and think, do these words the "respected" religious guides speak make them look like leaders? Maybe only if you have been brought up using such limited brain space as to believe their words are truly what God would think and say and that in itself is a truly sad thought making God look tawdry.
Those of you who 'believe' must question in your mind, would a omnipotent God as you envision preach such hatred? Would God have actually told George Bush to invade Iraq and "Shock and Awe" big bombs over Baghdad to displace and ruin the lives and homes of millions of innocent people and children over there? Bush thinks he heard God tell him to invade, (well maybe God and Wolfowitz saying oil would pay for it and Rummy saying it would be quick and cheney adding we would be greeted as liberators.)! And if that's how our leaders think, then we are in trouble!
Pastor John Hagee quotes:
The Catholic Church he calls a cult and "The Great Whore."
"All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that."
"Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews." "his rhetoric this year with the publication of his book, "Jerusalem Countdown," in which he argues that a confrontation with Iran is a necessary precondition for Armageddon (which will mean the death of most Jews, in his eyes) and the Second Coming of Christ. In the best-selling book, Hagee insists that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West." From From Christian Palestinian Daoud Kuttab in The New York Times.
speaking to Congress, Rev. Hagee denounced those "in Congress who whine about the cost of the war"; said we can't withdraw from Iraq because "Israel will be in greater danger than ever before," pointed out that "Allah [is Ahmadinejad's] God -- not ours"; and raved that McCain "is the leader and the [other candidates] are followers."
Pat Robertson:
Pat Robertson said Ariel Sharon's stroke was "God's punishment for giving up Gaza and the 9/11 attack was divine retribution against America" -- America's fault -- for tolerating gays, feminists and the ACLU."
"I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."
We at the Christian Coalition are raising an army who cares. We are training people to be effective -- to be elected to school boards, to city councils, to state legislatures, and to key positions in political parties.... By the end of this decade, if we work and give and organize and train, THE CHRISTIAN COALITION WILL BE THE MOST POWERFUL POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA
-- Pat Robertson, in a fundraising letter, July 4, 1991
I think George Bush is going to win in a walk. I really believe that I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election of 2004. It's shaping up that way. The Lord has just blessed him.... I mean, he could make terrible mistakes and comes out of it. It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad. God picks him up because he's a man of prayer and God's blessing him.
-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, , January 2, 2004
"Individual Christians are the only ones really -- and Jewish people, those who trust God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- are the only ones that are qualified to have the reign, because hopefully, they will be governed by God and submit to Him."
-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 11, 1985, defending his stance that only Christians and Jews are fit to hold public office
Somehow this man of the cloth forgets the Bible because Islam comes from the son of Abraham
"I have known few homosexuals who did not practice their tendencies. Such people are sinning against God and will lead to the ultimate destruction of the family and our nation. I am unalterably opposed to such things, and will do everything I can to restrict the freedom of these people to spread their contagious infection to the youth of our nation."
-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, May 24, 1994
By James Warren
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
3-1-02
Rev. Billy Graham openly voiced a belief that Jews control the American media, calling it a "stranglehold" during a 1972 conversation with President Richard Nixon, according to a tape of the Oval Office meeting released Thursday by the National Archives. "This stranglehold has got to be broken or the country's going down the drain," the nation's best-known preacher declared as he agreed with a stream of bigoted Nixon comments about Jews and their perceived influence in American life.
"You believe that?" Nixon says after the "stranglehold" comment.
"Yes, sir," Graham says.
"Oh, boy," replies Nixon. "So do I. I can't ever say that but I believe it."
"No, but if you get elected a second time, then we might be able to do something," Graham replies. How about this from the National Review by the late William F. Buckley Jr.
..."Several people who know Graham intimately enough to have written his biography (William Martin of Rice University), or occupied a chair named after him (Lewis Drummond of Samford University), have given their opinion that the Nixon remarks to Graham were certainly centered about the subject of pornography. "They're the ones putting out the pornographic stuff," Mr. Graham said, "after agreeing with Mr. Nixon," — in the account of David Firestone of the New York Times — "that left-wing Jews dominate the news media." Now on this matter, a bit of research might be worth the trouble, research designed to explore whether stereotypes here were invidious. The conversation took place on February 1, 1972. Why did Nixon say that pornography was substantially a Jewish enterprise? What data, if any, was he relying on? Why did Graham agree with him? Was there in fact a top-heavy investment in pornography by Jewish entrepreneurs."
Later, Graham mentions that he has friends in the media who are Jewish, saying they "swarm around me and are friendly to me." But, he confides to Nixon, "They don't know how I really feel about what they're doing to this country."

Jerry Falwell:
“Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions”
“If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being”
“[homosexuals are] brute beasts...part of a vile and satanic system [that] will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven.”
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Duped

2008-03-20T09:34:00.002-04:00
It was finally substantiated by leading economists this morning on CNN that our George Bush tax rebate would not be stimulating the economy. It said that mostly it would be paying for gas and debt. So if anything, when the market is down, use it to buy a couple shares of Exxon or Chevron, Shell or any gas company, they will be the biggest beneficiary of our $600 rebate.
I don't mind getting money back, but not when it comes with a big price tag as it did with Florida acting like we would save all this money on our property taxes if we voted for the Amendment One. You could see if you voted on it, we were in trouble and we are. This was touted as a way to lower our property taxes and increase our exemption.
from Florida Association of realtors:
The exemption has two tiers:
Tier 1: Homestead property will receive an exemption of 75 percent of the first $200,000 in value of the home; or, put another way, a taxable value of $50,000. The minimum exemption is $50,000 per homestead.

Tier 2: In addition to Tier 1, homestead property will obtain another 15 percent exemption for the next $300,000 in value. A $350,000 property, for example, would have a taxable value of $177,500 – $50,000 on the first $200,000, and $127,000 on the additional $150,000.

From Sun/Sentinel:
By Josh Hafenbrack | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 17, 2008
Homeowners expecting to pocket an average $240 property tax savings this year might be in for an unwelcome surprise: their tax bills could be cut by a lot less, or might even inch up.
The reason: a little-noticed nuance in Florida's Save Our Homes annual cap on tax assessments dubbed the "recapture rule," which mandates that, for many homeowners, their taxable values will rise even if their home's market worth falls. That mechanism kicks in so long as a home's market value remains above its taxable value.
The recapture rule will hit homeowners who expected lower tax bills after approving a property tax referendum last month. For many, it will reduce or negate the benefit from doubling the $25,000 homestead exemption on everything but school taxes. And that's before any bumps in local tax rates are factored in.

Now we are in a big shortfall of money needed for basic services, my question, why is Charlie Christ so popular? I voted against Amendment One, but many people who thought this would benefit their pocketbooks voted in favor. This is not a year for anyone to be getting this kind of break, our schools suffer, our police and fire departments suffer and ultimately the people suffer from a shortfall on these necessities. Now, will our taxes have to go up to compensate???? And according to the Sun Sentinel, it might be pretty much a farce anyway -- the government giveth, then taketh away...

After the Legislature disbanded, Gov. Charlie Crist, who made lower property taxes one of his campaign issues, offered praise for the series of bills. “We’ve got half of it,” he said, referring to the fact that voters must still approve the second step of the plan
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

$12billion a month to Iraq and we are fools as the GOP dismiss our complaints on corruption by Maliki

2008-03-16T14:45:00.007-04:00

It has been about six months since The honorable Judge Radhi al-Radhi came to Capitol Hill to testify. The Judge at one time worked as a prosecutor under Saddam Hussein, though he was also tortured and imprisioned under Hussein's regime.
At the hearing he told of the corruption by the Maliki government. $18 billion dollars in Iraq have gone missing, cash unaccounted for and though these problems are under Condie Rice's supervision, it took Condie about 7 calls to the Justice dept. and finally a subpeona to get her to testify about all the corruption going on under Maliki. Condie volunteered nothing at all, instead she said they were looking into 'invoices' and she would not testify unless it was a closed session so the public would not learn anything about her testimony.
Maliki does not acknowledge corruption, but the press has now noted probes going on into members of his own family. Maliki even blames Judge al-Radhi for also being corrupt and while the Judge was here in the USA for training with the Justice Department, Maliki kicked him out of his position and the Judge had no money to pay his hotel bill!
The Judge testified against Maliki and lives in fear for retribution to his family and friends who are still in Iraq. It appears that 31 of the employees who worked with al-Radhi at The Commission on Public Integrity were killed and a dozen family members of staff were kidnapped. A father of one son who worked as staff was found hung on a meat hook dead and another was found dead with his body drilled numerous times.
Even Petraeus said recently benchmarks are still not being met, no political progress is being made in Iraq. Anyone can see our babysitting job is basically to keep the peace. Condie was smart in having the State Department not answer any questions on corruption except under closed hearings because 'We The People', footing these massive bills might not like what we find out. I am afraid that it won't be till after Bush leaves office and an expose book or two or three will make it's way out about Condie's inadequate job performance and how many things that should have been dealt with under her control were not.
As for Iraq, the Judge still thinks we Americans should stay, but noted that Maliki has a corruption problem and called corruption a "second insurgency."
Of the 3000 cases of corruption in Iraq under Judge al-Radhi, only 241 were settled, they have a hard time getting people to testify.
The consensus according to most of the GOP who attended the meeting: "corruption is everywhere, (and the GOP ought to know about that). They dismiss losing $18billion as just a problem of a new democracy. Our own Florida House rep Mica recalled Watergate, and Monicagate as if that compares. It appears he thinks our missing taxpayer billions are just part of the game. It shows the attitude loud and clear of the GOP and how our borrowing of trillions upon trillions to put us into debt to Asia is no biggie. They have no concept of the value of the dollar -- ummm, pretty much just like their head George "gonna spend till we all go bankrupt" Bush.
It looks like we are propping up a corrupt regime under Maliki, (and under Bush) and are helpless to do anything but watch them use us up. How do we stop this? How do we get the GOP to even accept that this is a problem?
Henry Waxman is trying hard to hold our own government agencies accountable, but the Bush standard is to suddenly classify witnesses and documents so the public is kept in the dark. Condie's vague answers attest to the fact our government would rather look the other way as Iraq steals billions from us. Our former head of the Department of the Office of Accountability AND Transparency noted there "was no coordinated US strategy for combatting corruption in Iraq" and the executive secretary of the Anticorruption Working group revealed that there wasn't even a "coordinator" for 6 months and hardly any officials even attended meetings. It's amazing that our Congress men and women ignore this big blackhole as every month our money pit in Iraq sucks our dollars as Maliki shakes hands with our leaders and gives a big smile.
So whether Judge al-Radhi's testimony means anything or it doesn't the fact is we continued getting ripped off more and more in Iraq with Bush/Cheney and GOP blessings. WE ARE ALL FOOLS - OUR COUNTRY IS RUN BY FOOLS AND THE WORST PART IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY BY ANYONE IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION. If you GOP assholes want to look the other way, then throw $18billion back to the USA taxpayers, the rest of us non-governmental people can use it particularly now, though I'm sure the GOP does not have the word recession in their vocabulary...

Read any accounts of this hearing, the GOP act like lost billions mean nothing and the Democrats are not holding feet to the fire. Henry Waxman is asking the tough questions, too bad all those aligned with Bush have only dimwitted excuses and the answers will have to come years from now in exposes about the biggest corruption ever allowed under the Bush Administration both here and in Iraq...
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

END OF DAYS NEAR - MARY ANN ARRESTED

2008-03-15T10:20:00.002-04:00

The world is officially on the verge of collapse! I just saw the headline and photo, Gilligan Island’s MaryAnne busted for pot. Sweet and innocent, the epitome of goodness, Mary Ann! It had to have been festering in her head all these years of how she could never compete with Ginger and she just snapped and said to Hell with it.
The mistake was those Gilligan island people should have stayed on the island and cultivated their cannabis seeds and had a thriving multi-million dollar pot business!
You know Gilligan was a pot head and they had the scientist guy who had the knowledge and the millionaire with the connections all over the world. Why, they could have set up an offshore LLC and become a conglomerate for all types and grades of pot and hemp products, they could have been richer than all Dubai! Plus what a great sitcom could have come out of that?
But now poor Mary Ann is old and has been arrested. Her innocent persona shattered. Let’s blame Bush for these hard economic times driving people to do anything chemical to avoid this reality we are faced with. (What are the odds she and Maynard G Krebs were stoners back in the day?)
Ah, we have descended into one of Dante’s circles for sure, whichever one admonishes the pot smokers, but then again who knows what herbs he ingested along the way of writing the Divine Comedy?
Look at how we are losing any semblence of innocence when you see the gang raping in Darfur, the child labor usage and kidnapping for the sex slave trade in third world countries, excessive war and aggression, and now massive poverty and the continuing decline of the environment. But somehow today, the pole shift did not begin on the Mayan’s calendar and Webbot date of destruction, Dec. 12, 2012, no, surely this must be the beginning of the ‘End of Days’ - sweet Mary Ann has become just another pot head with a record, oh the agony…
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Key Words in Bush economics speech, only "some and certain" people have problems

2008-03-14T12:58:00.002-04:00

photo credit: AJ Franklyn www.flickr.com

Bush just finished his speech to the Economics Club in New York and he and Fox News and their Business Network are so very proud of how he has reacted to step up and save the economy! Bush noted that we caught the ‘bug’ early by God, yes he did say he was “early” to catch the falling economy and that his stimulus program is guaranteed to work! By putting $600 into “qualified” tax payers mailboxes, we will find the economy is back to working order when everyone spends it. In another quarter we should be back in the black according to Bush! The trouble is, everyone I asked was going to use it to pay bills, (mostly their credit cards because of the cost of gas,) maybe Bush is only going by what his rich friends are telling him they will do with their $600, like buy a bottle of Dom or tip the illegal lawn maintanence people?
Secondly, I guess Bush thinks only “some housing markets are bad”, that’s a quote! So since he has a couple FHA programs that let “certain” home owners refinance, he will save the housing market! Plus he is offering counseling on how to deal with the refinances. And even when a Wall Street journalist at the end of his speech, (only one of two questions allowed, because of how Bush rambles and is so incoherent,) when asked about the record low dollar in comparison to the euro, $4.oo a gallon gas, food and staples being higher and would Bush call this recession, Bush went off on a tangent about how North Carolina factory workers were saved by being re-educated to new jobs when his free market economy shipped the textiles off to 3rd world markets allowing cheap labor, and that is how the loss of textiles job resulted in people being better educated, (we still don’t know if the educated people found work).
Bush was busting at the seams about how he is stubborn, (he admitted to being like bitchy Barbara) and he will stick by his principles. He would not say the recession word, nor did he answer the complete WSJ question, he said he would “dodge the rest of the question.” (Direct quote.)
This idiot of a president is so out of touch that it was like listening to a person off their medication and in full bi-polar mode rambling from one disconnected subject to the next. The only other question he responded to was about overseas trade and then he went off on a 911 “Rudy tangent” about how we are spreading democracy and in essence are saving the world by our Iraq war policies and how we should be able to listen in on terrorists. Half the time he was stuttering over his own speech. He sounded like he was on the ’sauce’ as he mangled words.
Soon as the idiot left the room, I turned on FOX news and they were proud of all Bush has done to stimulate the economy, completely dismissing the fact that Bear Stearns this morning announced they have low liquidity and must take a loan from JP Morgan. Bush is so out of the loop and Fox news is trying their best to save face for their president, and they can have him!
It was another speech where you look at our president and wonder who lets him off the leash? They should send Dana Perrino out to talk for him so a least we can hear her skirt the issues with some intelligence. Oh, forgot that Cheney is going to Israel to try and save the middle east, it’s almost like seeing Nero fiddle as Rome burns. I wish these two fiddlers were out of office already, the bullshit they spread with the phony policies and words just make us more volatile. How low can we go we all wonder–how low can bush/dick sink us….
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Thank you Bernie Marcus

2008-03-11T11:14:00.002-04:00

photocredit: www.thewe.cc

Wait a friggin’ minute — this morning I heard that Bernie Marcus, (co-founder of Home Depot founder of Marcus Institute,) has offered the Atlanta Sheperd Center, a hospital that specializes in spinal cord and brain injury, to treat any soldiers with spinal and brain injuries when the government won’t pick up the expenses.
While it is wonderful for someone to give this kind of free help to our returning injured military, it speaks absolutely disgusting of our own government. We can spend billions upon billions in Iraq and on stupid “pork” that our Congress people write into bills, but we don’t care enough about the people who have given their all to fight and protect us? What kind of government are we? What does that say about us as a society?
How can we deny portions of services for the very people who have sacrificed everything for the USA? I am outraged and intend to write my senators. How can a country like the United States be known as ignoring our heros? Despicable! I will also write a letter to Bernie Marcus, thanking him for his generousity, and while I’m at it, I will write one to our president saying that he sent them there in the first place under false pretenses and then denies our military quality care and benefits makes him look like a bigger fool than he already is.
Bush speaks about wanting a legacy and his immediate goal is the impossible task of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, why doesn’t he do something right for once and reform the services offered to our returning veterans? That would at least be a worthy cause and people might actually be able to take a little pride in something he could say he accomplished in office. No, not our President, he has his head in the clouds as usual. This is why we should make it mandatory that any of our Congressmen and women who have kids that are the age of consent serve in the military! then and only then, when their kids come back from missions wounded and are denied services will something happen to correct this oversight - they obviously don’t care about the rest of us…
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Lucky Me!

2008-03-08T01:57:00.001-04:00

Lucky me, I was so thirsty for orange juice this morning, craving the taste, but instead of reaching for a container, I grabbed a couple plastic bags and went to my neighbor’s place. I picked fresh oranges and a couple lemons right off the trees. Then I came home and took out the juicer. Just slicing the oranges in half filled the whole house with the aroma of fresh citrus. You just want to breathe it all in. Then the liquid gold drips little by little through the little slats and finally there’s enough for a glass. UMM! It is like drinking pure sugar, so sweet, you have to cherish each drop.
I took my glass and my Triskets in front of the television and turned on Bloomberg TV. The Dow has started at 119 points down, under 12,000, but it is moving up again. The jobs lost is the worst since 2003. They say people have given up looking. Someone should be kind enough to tell our President, Bubble boy, he still does not have a clue. Neither he nor his father ever had to worry about the state of the economy, neither probably ever stepped into a grocery store, remember when they asked old man Bush what a loaf of bread cost and he was clueless. Their measure to a strong economy is whether their friends and the Carlyle Group are benefitting. Our future presidents should be made to spend a half an hour each month going to a grocery store! They also should have to gas up the White House limo once a month too. We need candidates who grew up struggling, who know what it was like to do without, someone like John Edwards. The Bush clan only remind us how nepotism rewards the rich and their close friends, and their elitist attitude fails to ever put a word like recession to use. Look at Bush laughing off the comment about $4.00 a gallon gas. (”I never heard that! Bush emphatically replied,) as the price is supposed to go up 15cents soon while Bush’s friends the Saudis choke off the supply and the oily oil companies make even larger profits.
All we can do is wait out nine more months of this dickless dictator, this Bubble boy who has mush for brains. In nine months we can kiss this stupidity in the Oval office goodbye and at this point, anyone is better than the idiots we have running the show now, by the way, where is Dick?
Nine months seems like forever, and in politics it is forever, so get out this spring, plant a garden, do something productive that makes you a little less dependent on this government of ours. I am lucky to live in a place like Florida, my garden is starting to bloom with red leaf, romaine and argula lettuce. I have green beans and squash coming through and peppers too. Soon I will add broccoli. Now if I could make my own ethanol…
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"Sometimes, there is so much beauty in the world, I can't take it" Ricky Fitz, American Beauty

2008-03-08T01:51:00.002-04:00

It’s true! Ricky Fitz had it right. After hours of listening to the news of murder, mayhem and election BS, I have to go fishing. It’s not the fish that matter, it’s the head purification, the detox of the media absorbed brain. Nature must purge me for at least 120 minutes.
If I must see aggression, I’d rather watch the jealous sandhill crane chase off the young heron. The sky bustles with noisy white egrets and their long curved pink beaks only about 20 feet above me making their way home for the night. There is excitement when an osprey dives and comes up with a fish and off they fly, (and only one will come back.)
When I fish, I have an entourage: the gray heron, the sandhill crane, and either my cat or the neighbors. All I have to do is open my door about 5pm and there they are, they know the drill. The three of us mosey on down to the water, me carrying my camera, pole and tackle box. The crane being dominant bosses the other two around, the crane is jealous of the heron, he resents that I throw my catch to him. The crane is always chasing the heron off. The heron will come down on the opposite side of me. The cat will chase which-ever bird is not paying attention, it’s like a 3-ring circus sometimes, but better than brainshock of cable. And if the fish aren’t cooperating, nature is, the red and purple passionflowers are in full bloom, azaleas are flowering all over. The thick sweet orangeblossoms make your lungs expand often, and the almost sea like smell of the water draws you close inside with an amniotic luxury of feeling freshly birthed in it all -
Once a month the full moon parks itself right over for a double view. The fishing is sometimes great and often times not so great. Tonight the bream are biting as are the shiners. But the turtles are the spoilers, they sabbatage the bait if you don’t pay attention. Usually a tugged line means all of us on land have our eyes locked into position; the cat starts licking it’s lips, the heron’s head feathers rise and the crane glances at the noise.
Just hooking even one small shiner could suddenly turn into a jaws fiasco! A bass possibly might suddenly grab it and breech the water jumping up and locking on. The mudfish are like pitbulls, they drag you with thick force and look as primitive as they really are with those miniature sharp teeth.
The sun is always over my shoulder putting a last warm shine to my back as the sky before me dissolves into pinks and blues. The crane is always the first to leave, lately his wife is expecting and he goes to spend the night on the nest. The cats and the heron will stay till I am ready to go inside. Once I close the tackle box, the heron as if on cue, flies wherever the heron goes and the cat follows me back to the house, (regardless if it is my cat or not.) I put down my box, lean my pole against the wall and smile as I go inside. It is peace of mind in a two hour window, it’s a perfect way of balancing the yin and yang, and I too feel like Ricky Fitz in the movie, ‘American Beauty. When I’m down at the lake, my camera is as vital as the pole, it’s more than being about fishing for fish AND waiting for that wonderful photo moment, this is so much more than religion, it’s an absolute freedom from the binding shallow contingents of man and his egotistical need of constant control. This is the zen moment of the day, it’s like being loosed upon the world with no conditions, no priority, just lost time, and sometimes, ”there IS so much beauty in the world, I can’t take it”…
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Our President, a perfect example for "just say no"

2008-03-08T01:49:00.001-04:00

Dan Abrams tonight said he tallied up the vacation time Bush has spent on his ranch and it was over a year and three months of his presidency. Oh that’s such a relief, I actually thought Bush was serious about his presidency, I mean I took him seriously when he kept saying things like, “it’s hard work…” I thought for a while he actually has been engaged in deep thought for almost 8 years and his deep thoughts scared the hell out of me, now I know he must have been referring to his ranch work. Whew! It’s good to know he was just fooling around all this time, playing a “presidential like” character for 6 1/2 years. His “vacant space” mind probably questioned why it wasn’t spending every weekend away from Washington? He seemed to concentrate on ways to destroy his Crawford environment by over cutting and pruning. (The ranch will be ‘bald’ within a few years of his retirement.) Can’t you imagine George W with his chainsaw cranked up humming ways to make a song with the big word sovereignty, the word he could never explain, though he did try. I think of him all alone, enjoying the vibration of his chainsaw as it tore into a large trunk and he is singing to the tune of that ditty about “Camptown Races”, something like this;
“what the hell is sov-rain-ty? do da, do da
“is it wet and is it free? Oh do da day,
“sovrainty all night,
”sovrainty all day,
”as long as I can be the boss,
“I get to have my way,” heh heh heh…
Now I know how I got on Bush for acting serious last week during his press conference when he denied the recession, which today Warren Buffett said we are in, and I know he acted so surprised when questioned last week about the price of gas by Peter Maer of CBS News Radio. Bush was asked:
”What’s your advice to the average American who is hurting now, facing the prospect of $4-a-gallon gasoline, a lot of people facing … “
Bush responded:
“Wait, what did you just say?” the president interrupted. “You’re predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?”
Maer responded: “A number of analysts are predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline.”
Bush’s rejoinder: “Oh, yeah? That’s interesting. I hadn’t heard that.”
Funny thing was I thought Bush was serious, that maybe Cheney and his advisors never did tell him about the gas pinch, heck, Bush was truly surprised. I mean he said he doesnt read, but again, I took that seriously. And how could he have even known those gas price predictions by the analysts was right on? That today in San Mateo California, gas was $4.29 a gallon?
Now, I feel better knowing Bush just pretended he didn’t know about gas prices, and everything else for that matter, that this presidency had been just a good time for a guy who really did have low expectations for himself. And as his presidency comes to an end, Bush really is that perpetually optomistic cheerleader, the guy you would get drunk and do coke with and laugh your ass off when he said the dumbest things. I mean, should it really matter that our leader of the free world doesn’t know shit from shinola? No, of course not, all this time Bush was a placeholder for Cheney anyway, (who is probably in the same cave as Bin Laden discussing plans for the next Bohemian Grove meeting.)
It makes me think about how years of coke and alcohol abuse really does effect the alchemy of the brain and tampers with the long term reality of thought, I guess if Bush is an example of anything, he’s an example for just “saying no” - in more ways than one! Unfortunately, we are about 8 years too late….
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And today is even better...

2008-03-08T01:47:00.002-04:00

Yes, and I thought yesterday was one of Bush’s better days because of the GOP’s RNC destroying all the old emails and refusing to search for them anymore, but it gets better. Judge Muckasey, has proved his loyalty, the new attorney general has passed muster! He refused to refer the contempt cases of Bush aides Bolton and Meirs to a grand jury. He even went so far and said, “Bolten and Miers were right in ignoring subpoenas to provide Congress with White House documents or testify about the firings of federal prosecutors.”
Mukasey is on the job just like Gonzales, he has a biased agenda aimed at protecting his boss, (Bush) against the scheme to fire all those 9 prosecutors who were not vigorously going after Democrats before 2006.
Muksasey is so far up Bushs’ butt you can’t miss the smell! he is aligning with Gonzales alleging, “he would refuse to refer any contempt citations to prosecutors because Bolten and Miers were acting at Bush’s instruction.”
NO SHIT! Does he not see that was the problem? The cover up? No because now he is part of it!
Democrats see it as an abuse of power by the President and his buds who do not want the firings looked into with any depth. The House voted for the first time in 25 years on a contempt violation. It boils down to the President using executive privilege to have his own people “remain silent to preserve executive privilege.”
A cat landing on his feet once again, I hope Nancy Pelosi get’s her lawsuit together and Bolton and Miers end up in jail.
The biggest case of contempt is what Bush holds against the laws of our land and our Constitution using a crony who smells like ass. Oh God, please drop down some nose plugs when you can, I can smell Bush-shit all the way here in Florida, help the pollution of this administration is far reaching…
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You do the math - the government won't

2008-02-27T22:30:00.001-04:00
Whose idea was this? NASA sent out some shock waves: they want to build a new,private launch site. The problem is where they have decided to place it, and only our government would do this, on pristine environmentally sensitive land!
Mosquito Lagoon is 21,000 acres of a wildlife preserve known for fishing, especially redfish, for birding, for millions of visitors who annually enjoy the natural beauty of Florida. It is attached to the Kennedy Space Center and suddenly, NASA has decided they should get some federal funds and make some new jobs for their people by building a new launch pad…what the f—!
You do the math, look at these numbers from the KSC site itself:
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17A,17,18,19,20,21,22,25,26,29,30,31,32,34,36A,36B,37A, 37B,39A,39B,39C39D,39E,41,43,45,46,47
Tha’ts almost 50 launch sites! Only a corrupt government could think of a way to obtain money for useless self-absorbed projects that trash our wonderful nature.
Only our stupid ass politicians could think up another scheme to spend taxpayer money and benefit themselves at the same time. Ummm, I wonder, could Tom Feeney be involved? Could there be any connection between spending money at the base and his NASA contractor employed wife? The same NASA where he oversees the sub committee for space and aeronautics? After all this is the same guy noted by SourceWatch as “In September 2005, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Feeney one of the thirteen most corrupt members of Congress because of his ties to Abramoff. [5]“
It’s pretty bad when you can’t really trust your own elected officials and he has a lot of baggage…

You do the math and then contact your Reps, including Feeney, and our Senators Martinez and Nelson, tell them this is reprehensible, irresponsible, and sounds corrupt as hell! BE MAD! GET OFF YOUR ASS FLORIDIANS AND WRITE NOW!!!!

→ No CommentsCategories: Cape Canaveral · Corrupt · Feeney · Fishing
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HOUSE OF REPS _DON'T LET BUSH GET AWAY WITH SPYING ON US AGAIN

2008-02-14T16:31:00.000-04:00

photo credit: blog.myspace.com

The GOP walked out today, the President had a hissy fit about the House not signing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Bush says he ain’t gonna go to Africa, nanny nanny boo boo if they don’t sign it…
This is the problem: Bush wants the telecommunications companies to be grandfathered in with immunity against the 40+ lawsuits that are pending from people who had their rights violated when Bush and his legal team took it upon themselves to illgeally spy on people not using the FISA court. That’s the stink, it’s either Bush’s way or no way.
The question then is, if it wasn’t illegal, why must the telecommiunication companies need protection from lawsuits? Me thinks me smells a big big rat in the WhiteHouse
who is trying to cover his tracks - Our rights are being taken away one by one, hold out House of representative. Bush can always legally still go to the FISA courts immediately if he needs to to check on a “person of interest”. He’s using his same old lame terror tactics he always uses on his base GOP flock to go above the law, please be ready this time to call Bush on it, he has made a mess of our Constitution already… DON’T GIVE HIM THIS VOTE!
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The crime behind the grime

2008-02-11T08:35:00.000-04:00
I have been reading blogs by Iraqi journalists for McClatchy newspapers. One that struck me is how much oil is being stolen out of the ports near Basra.
in the words of the journalist:
…The other disaster is Shatt AlArab, which is a river of about 200 km long formed by meeting the two great rivers Tigris and Euphrates, which flows in the Arab gulf. There is no cleaning for its water nor its banks for the last four years. Also oil smugglers started using Shatt AlArab water having oil products taken out of the country by small ships waiting for bigger ones on the deep sea .The result is our oil sold illegally and cheaply leaving huge spots of oil on water during the delivery. So oil is sold in the area and polluted water is here, too.
I went to Umm Filous harbor (about 30 km south of Basra), which is used to be a commercial one, but it becomes the harbor of oil smugglers, to see what is going on. I saw two small ships (they call them launches) side by with a big ship has some sailors whose faces tell that they are from Eastern Asia .When I asked my companion about the matter, who is from Basra city, he said” We have smugglers from Iran, Thailand, Malaysia, UAE , India and everywhere who deal with counterparts in Iraq with million dollars per day! I asked “Do the government know of this matter? The answer shocked me. “Most of the Iraqi smugglers are related to main parties in the government sharing the profits with them “he said. My question is now for the government, if the government can’t control a small piece in the far south of Basra, how it can rule the whole country?
This journalist remarked that the roads were horrible, the hospital had nothing, the factories and infrastructure were a mess and one has to wonder why, if oil is such a precious commodity, one that even Paul Wolfowitz argued would pay for the war, why are we not able to control it enough that the oil stays within the country for their own profit?
We have stripped Iraq, then pieced it back together. Our soldiers will come back emotionally scarred. The new generation of Iraqis will only have a bitter taste in their mouths for us when we leave the place we have torn to rubble and then what? The Bush generals can make up all the happy ”Jessica Lynch” tales they want, but the real people tell the story. We have failed the people there. In oil revenues alone, no one is watching while the corrupt are profitting.
We can’t really do a whole lot right over there. Car bombings are starting again, John McCain has vowed to fight this war till till bankruptcy or 100 years occupation, whatever comes first. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what the actual residents think? Screw the corrupt elected officials, what is it the people actually want from us? To stay or go?
There was only one reason for this war, Bush and Cheney wanted to rid Iraq of Saddam in anyway they could. They used lie after lie to do it, they outted a covert CIA agent when they didn’t like that their big lie about “yellowcake” being sold to Saddam in Niger” was exposed as a fraudulent statement. We have a Congress that will do nothing to impeach which according to our Constitution, the way that Cheney and Bush have reacted to using 911 to invade a country is a misdemeanor at the very least.
Our own country should be rallying against this president and co-president and the abuse of power. That “we the people” even ’sel-ected’ him twice is nauseating. How low to feel that your own executive office brings to us such embarassment and more than that, incompetance for how they have dealt with many issues in the past 8 years. The 30% acceptance of that nut job we call a president is way too high, 5% sounds better.
Every day I look at our president on television and feel ashamed, I hear him speak and feel “ashamed-er”.
What are we doing in Iraq if we can’t even save their oil from being smuggled?
Our military have given it all, let the next coup come in, for as soon as we leave, tomorrow, this summer, 100 years from now, someone just like like Saddam will take over and all that will have been accomplished is the ruination of families on both sides…

photo credit: Internetweekly.org
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"Strategerie"

2008-02-08T09:53:00.000-04:00

photocredit: Lindsey Spiri www.flikr.com

That 'Bushism' sums up the Conservative base rejection of John McCain for the upcoming election. The conservative talk show hosts are talking up Hillary. There's only one reason,
they need Hillary to beat up on for at least four years to get even.
The right could care less about whether McCain has enough conservative qualities, they
don't give a rats ass really about who wins their GOP nomination, they are frothing like rabid dogs to go after Hillary and Bill again. They so need fresh meat...
Look at how their party has been beaten up these past 7 years, Congress gets nothing done, everyone hates Bush and Cheney unless they too are living in a bubble, so why not talk up the other side like Coulter and Limp-baugh do? For the dumber listeners this is code to say, do what I tell you and go vote for the dems because we are so tired and embarassed by the mess Bush and Cheney have made and we can't take another GOP in office for 4 years. Simple as that. They talk down Obama because they ARE afraid he might turn out to be new "Kennedy"! That would be the worst thing ever for them.
This is Karl Rove "strategerie" pure and simple, talk up the qualities of the person, they want in office, (Hillary) and get out the word about negatives involving the other person (McCain) early so they can continually hammer away him, hey it worked when they wanted Bush jr. in office and used Karl's friend's ad agency's to 'swift boat' McCain during the 2000 presidential nomination. They all know what they are doing, what each of their tasks are. The GOP talk show hosts have a very gullible following, they control these simple minds that have tuned into them, isn't that why Limp-baugh really calls them ditto-heads? Think about it --these conservative egos need hatred to fill their bellies, a party preaching morals and values and a lock on God needs that snake in the garden to blame the bad on, otherwise they have no show, they have no party.
For now until the nomination, their Eve is Hillary, their serpent is McCain, their goal is
simple, take the heat off the Republicans for the next 4 years, look what the Republican majority has done for a decade, look at the results, they aren't very proud of themselves.
Pay attention to how they will lead their conservative flock for the next half a year, McCain is on the altar for sacrifice, Hillary is the name drooling off their lips, a new upcoming Conservative mantra; "Hungry for Hillary" -- it's just plain and simple "strategerie"...
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The Attorney General BullShit

2008-01-30T21:45:00.000-04:00

See Bush laugh.
See Attorney General Michael Mukasey smile.
The tape of waterboarding disappeared into thin air - poof.
Bush and Cheney are happy,
they have found another loyal crony.
Michael Mukasey won't say that waterboarding is torture,
he repeats over and over with robotic flair, "we do not torture."
Ted Kennedy asked him point blank if Mukasey was waterboarded, "would that be
torture? Mukasey said "he thought so."
Attorney General Mukasey was named for a reason -
that reason? Muckasey won't say waterboarding is torture.
And not because the interrogators will be in trouble,
No -
if our Attorney general admits waterboarding IS torture,
Bush and Cheney become war criminals,
they could easily be impeached -
but only if Mukasey caves in.
Mukasey is another Bush flunkie - that's why Bush named him as AG.
Why did the Demcrats approve him knowing he would not commit?
They have grilled him and grilled him -
the guy is a brick!
The Democrats gave Bush a free pass by nominating Mukasey
Bush and Cheney cannot be impeached with a friend like Mukasey,
See Bush laugh...
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Bush's possible State of the union miss-speech

2008-01-28T10:22:00.001-04:00

photocredit: kaosman210 www.flikr.com

Pre State of The Union
The 'Abbe' version of what Bubble boy Bush will say tonight:

Hello my fellow Americans,
I am so glad to be here and glad that ya'll have not impeached me and Dick yet, thank you for that.
I have spent the last 7 years tryin' to be a good president, and maybe if I had listened and consulted my dad more instead of Dick and Rummy, things might have been a whole lot better. But for me, it was somethin' to do to keep me occupied and out of trouble, as ya'll know, I'm not the greatest business man, but Hell, I'm lucky that my Dad's buddys include me in their business dealin's otherwise, heck, my ranch might have gone into foreclosure like the rest of ya'lls property, heh heh heh.
Speakin'of the economy, it's great! The majority of you just ain't rich enough to appreciate it! But all the folks I know is doin' fine, and once I get Congress to give you peons a whoppin' one time payment of $600, (unless you don't pay taxes, heh heh heh - then you must really be a loser anyway,) you can buy a bottle of Dom and go to Outback or take all the relatives to McDonalds or Walmart and stimulate the economy and that will get it runnin' full throttle, I know because that's what Bernanke says! That word recess, recessioone, recescession, however they say that word, it don't apply to anyone I know so that means it can't really be happenin'. As for the housing market, I can claim under my tenure of manure to say that I had more home ownership than any other pres! Unfortunately, I encouraged the Mortgage industry to go unregulated and let any dumb fuck who said he or she had a job to get qualified in my eagerness for Texas sized braggin' rights. And while there might also be a record number of foreclosures and bankruptcy, like I said, none of the peoples around me is sufferin' so I think it's just one of them "conspiracy theories." Just Take your damn $600 and don't bother me with the details.
Iraq is kickin' ass, we have a surge that is workin'! We might have to stay there about 18 years, but that's cause it's workin' so well. Hell, without the surge, we might have had to stay as long as McCain wants, 100 years! 100 years and a million trillion bucks or my idea with just a few trillion bucks, ya'll do the math cause I can't.
As far as FISA, the surr-va-lence program, I am not a god-damn spy! Hell, I let the telephone companies do that for me so don't hold em accountable for liability. Those secret memos my smart friends like David Addington,Gonzales and Yoo wrote to circumvent the Constitution really work along with all those signin' statements. Call my "intrepreters of law lawyers" the bad guys, not me. I just went along with everythin' because Dick told me to. Like I say, I'm really a barrel of fun at a barbeque, isn't that why I got selected two times, ya'll thought I was a nice guy, heh heh heh.
I blame Congress for everythin' that has gone wrong, that's what I believe, I can't help it if God don't appear to them like he does to me. Social Security just got screwed up, immigration, that's all the Congress fault, hey, I'm only the messenger, Dick's the guy they should really blame, don't shoot me the piano pusher, piano player, whatever...
So my fellow Armenians, just kidding, Americans, I'm just trying to see if you are still payin' attention, heh heh heh. My ratings might be kinda low, and I think my Dad and Mom can't go out in public anymore or read the paper from embarassment of me being referred to as the worst president ever, but I have been misunderstood. I gave it one hell-of-a shot! I put my heart and soul and two dogs into this presidential shit, I mean business. If ya'll didn't like it, go ahead and talk about me for years to come, but I have been reading about Washington and they still ain't through assessing his presidency yet and I did not have sex one time in the Oval office so there! I'm clean as a whistle, just "misunderestimated".
As for endorsing a GOP candidate? I think the candidates all issued restrainin' orders on me or somethin' cause they don't want me anywhere near em on the trail. But here's what I think, Romney belongs to a dang cult of polygamistry, McCains still fighting the war in Vietnam, Rudy 911 911 911 911 911- but he screwed me over recommendin' that criminal Bernie Kerik. Caught some flak for that, heh heh. Huckabee doesn't know anymore than me, and Ron Paul's too short. Hell, if that liberal Kennedy is gonna vote for Obama, I'm gonna endorse Hillary.
Thanks for the past 7 years, I'm gonna go into lame duckness now. Cheney might pull a few surprises in Pakistan or Syria or Iran, I don't have time to worry about all the places he wants to invade before he leaves office. I still think his new battery back up in his pacemaker makes him too aggressive...or maybe it's Lynn? But whatever, it's been funner job than anything I expected. I had never left the shores of the good ole USA before I took office, now I can say I kissed the Saudis on Saudi sand and I give a big shout out to those in Dubai, sorry that port deal fell short, but feel free to use the new Nafta-countraband highway going from Mexico to Canada! Maybe if you ask Rudy's company who represents Cintra, they will give you a discount on the toll. I know the sheikh in Dubai knows Rudy well.
To all those who doubted me from the beginnin', guess ya got what ya want since I have always been the "master of low expectations". But look at my achievements, um, well, I can't think of any right at the moment, but look at the past 7 years as a time to learn a new language, I invented more new words than any other president! For years I will keep someone employed because they will have to go and clean up the archives to get me to sound presidentialist - that's my biggest accomplishment, so there...
Actual Bush quotations:
1."If you've retired, you don't have anything to worry about. The third time I've said that. I'll probably say it three more times, see, in my line of work you gotta keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kinda catapult the propaganda." Greece, New York, May 24, 2005
2. "One of the interesting things to do is drink coffee and watch Barney chase armadillos. The armadillos are out, and they love to root in our flower bed. It's good that Barney routs them out of their rooting." USA Today, Aug. 22, 2001
3. "You know I could run for governor but I'm basically a media creation. I've never done anything. I've worked for my dad. I worked in the oil business. But that's not the kind of profile you have to have to get elected to public office."
"Fortunate Son" by James Hatfield, Jul. 2, 1989
4. DUBYA: "I appreciate the Secretary of Energy joining me today. He's a good man, he knows a lot about the subject, you'll be pleased to hear. I was teasing him — he taught at MIT, and — do you have a PhD?"
SECRETARY OF ENERGY BODMAN: "Yes".
DUBYA: "Yes, a PhD. Now I want you to pay careful attention to this — he's the PhD, and I'm the C student, but notice who is the advisor and who is the President."
Lusby, Maryland, Jun. 22, 2005
5. "The world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership."
White House, Oct. 28, 2003
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Afghanistan, Iraq....Pakistan?

2008-01-26T19:38:00.000-04:00

Photo credit: www.cgi.cnn.com

It appears the Bush Administration is gearing up for a possible new occupation...Pakistan. Very quietly almost covertly, Secretary of Defense Gates said the Bush/Cheney co-presidency is,"ready, able and willing" to send troops to Pakistan to help its military battle al Qaeda -- IF the Pakistani government is interested."
Yes, they call it a "training exercise" for the fools in the world who would be gullible enough to believe Bush/Cheney.
Here we go again as experts tell Gates, and Bush/Cheney that it could easily fuel anti-American sentiment in Pakistan causing great unrest. But this Administration is eager-beaver to capture Bin Laden or call victory, before they are run out of office. This might be the way to begin a sneaky backdoor entrance into Pakistan. Can we consider Bush and co-president certifiably crazy yet? The world must know by now they are not trustworthy.
Shame shame on Mommar Gadhafi's son who is working now in Iraq with his own little band of un-merry men against us. Seif Gadhafi is a busy boy sneaking his fighters through Syria. The Washington Post reported, "U.S. military officials as saying that 19 percent of the foreign fighters come from Libya. Overall, North Africans account for 40 percent of the foreign fighter ranks." How rude is that? After all Dick Cheney did for Moammar! Contracts for Libya in the 90's even as they were considered a 'rogue state'. Dick Cheney as CEO of Halliburton did not spare any prejudice on countries the rest of us weren't dealing with, like Iran, Libya, Iraq and a few of the surrounding 'stans'. Dick seems to have a motto, all terrorists money is still green!
History lesson: Dick Cheney at Halliburton...
From Washington Post, July 11, 2002
"As CEO of Halliburton, Dick Cheney lobbied to lift U.S. sanctions against Iran and Libya, saying they hurt business and failed to stop terrorism.
Halliburton came under fire in the early '90s for supplying Libya and Iraq with oil drilling equipment which could be used to detonate nuclear weapons. Halliburton Logging Services, a former subsidiary, was charged with shipping six pulse neutron generators through Italy to Libya. In 1995, the company pled guilty to criminal charges that it violated the U.S. ban on exports to Libya. Halliburton was fined $1.2 million and will pay $2.61 million in civil penalties. >
Yes, Cheney will exploit any place to make a buck, even if it means arming
terrorists, don't forget his position and Rumsfeld's under Reagan in the 1980's: they helped arm Saddam Hussein in Iraq with plenty biological weapons so we didn't have to dirty our hands with being mean to Iran.
Oh how I do ramble...But we must keep eyes and ears open. Will the Administration attempt to enter Pakistan for "training"? Will we do the same crap we did in the 80's like arm Saddam against Iran? Will we start funneling aid money or worse, weapons into the hands of our friends in Pakistan to go after Bin Laden? Will it be like Iran Contra? We can put nothing past Bush and Cheney, they possess no morals or principles, and they like to say mission accomplished.
We are on a countdown now for the months they, Bush/Cheney might still do something desperate, like invade Pakistan, Iran, Syria, all for the sake of ego. We are living on the edge with those two delusional men, why is there no justice through impeachment? WHY CONGRESS WHY????
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Let's follow Israels lead!

2008-01-25T23:12:00.001-04:00

photo credit: www.rockcitynews.com

God likes to play little jokes, like making the Jews roam around the desert for 40 years and placing them in an area with no oil taps like the rest of the middle east. Israel must scrounge around like us and buy what petroleum they need from the Arabs and Chavez. These people might hate the Jews, but they love money from whoever is willing to pay for a barrel of their oil.
The best news is, if all goes according to plan, www.projectbetterplace.com --Project Better Place will make Israel very close to being independent of oil by 2011 - that's 4 years away! Shai Agassi, an entrepreneur has raised $200million for this electric car project with Renault-Nissan. It should be looked upon as a model and beginning for a new world policy.
Israel IS smaller than the USA, they don't have that far to go from one end to another, so there will be "half a million charging stations" around Israel to make it oil free. The reality is we need to clean up our earth ASAP! Electric cars and alternative fuels would be so much cleaner, the planet healthier and the terrorists poorer.
What the Hell is the USA waiting for? We are so far behind! We need to go nuclear like the Europeans, but that's another story...
We listen to our own President say "we are addicted to oil" and yet, he is always kissing Saudi ass for more! In almost 8 years he has not done shit to help wean us off "our addiction", NOT ONE THING!
We know Bush's heavy duty love for the Saudis, it was Salem Bin Laden, Osama's brother who helped financially bail Bushy boy's failing oil company, Arbusto out of debt. Arbusto became Bush Exploration (BE, And BE became Spectrum, Bush was Chairman and CEO and they lost over a million dollars but for some reason, Harken Energy asked Bush to join Harken's Board of directors and finance committee. Abdullah Taha Bakhsh became the third largest investor. Harken was given a contract to drill for oil off Bahrain even though they had NO previous experience drilling offshore. The company was going down and Bush hurried and sold off his own shares weeks before Harken announced their $23million dollar loss. Good thing his father's very good buddy, Richard Breeden was in a position to make sure Young Bush was not touched. (reading from Breeden bio) "1989 to 1993 as Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Breeden served as a senior financial and domestic policy advisor to President George H.W. Bush during his tenure as Vice President and President."
So SOB - (Son of Bush) as usual got a pass on any big investigation into his sketchy sale and luckily SOB's father has lots of great connections and Bush was never prosecuted for his insider trading and other issues. That GHW Bush is good about bailing out his sons after the rob us, what a dad! (another story)...
As for our President, he is still using the US treasury as an extension of his own personal checkbook.... Too bad Poppy can't bail him out on this presidency. But that's another story too, back to Israel...
Israel has the right idea, we MUST take a cue from this progressive effort! We should have long ago taken an initiative through big grants to Universities, college students and independent labs to find better ways to get us off foreign oil. Why don't we offer multi million dollar rewards or bonuses, some big incentives to those who can make alternative energy forms that can be cost effective and won't screw with the environment.
Israel should be applauded, there should have been huge headlines so people here are outraged that we have done nothing while this Schmuck Bush continues to pander to the oil barons. Where is our media? Guess they are too busy trying to second guess the nominees for the next presidential election, lets hope whoever is in office next follows Israels lead...
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

But God told me to....

2008-01-23T21:44:00.000-04:00

photocredit: Comandante Ag www.flikr.com

Okay, two non-profit journalist groups, The Center For Public Integrity and The Fund For Independence Journalism studied databases and came out with a headline that Bush and his aides made 935 false statements leading up to the war with Iraq - Bush made 232 erroneous statements, but the way Bush says things, you can never be sure he has even digested his own words. Our president speaks funny. He thinks he is meant to be taken seriously, but somehow, you watch him flub up and you shake your head and go, what the Hell? Gomer Pyle meets Norm Crosby meets Washington DC. Here's Bushism that concerns me,
"I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job."
Statement made Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Jul. 9, 2004
I wish those groups would make the database to go back and see how many times he invoked God and used him as a 'wing' man for going to war. And even if he used that excuse once, it's a big big excuse to tell people we are going to "Shock and Awe" a lot of innocent people into death and submission for God's will, kinda exactly like
Bin Laden might be thinking...
These days God must be getting back at G.W. Bush for taking his name in vain and using it to promote a war based on lies. Things just keep getting worse for poor first son, Georgie boy. To use God as an excuse to attack his daddy's nemesis, Saddam, lame!
Dick Cheney, Rummy, Rice, Powell, and two press secretaries all made lots and lots of false statements, wonder if the wheels of impeachment can drive any faster? What I don't get is how those groups ignored other Bush lies like how he would bring a "leaker" to justice for anyone who put out Valerie Plames name, okay Cheney and Rove aren't in jail and they committed treason outting a CIA operative. How about the lies they used telling us they didn't spy on us, or that they didn't torture. Why aren't those groups reaching further into the 'perpetual lie closet' in the Oval Office, it's stacked and stacked with 'untruths' going beyond reasons and into treason to attack Iraq.
When is God finally speak some straight talk to someone in the Justice Department and say, "impeach that damn fool - I'm tired of hearing that SOB quote me, I never told him shit, he was probably drinking again, he always talks to me when he's drunk, but I never answer him, what good does it do anyway - man has free will and his daddy has the bucks to buy him what he wants, like public office. Please feel free to impeach him and that tyrant Cheney too. I can't think of two more corrupt violators of mans laws. they could use some retribution, and a nice long stay in the poky might make them refocus on the true meaning of one of my Ten Commandments, "thou shalt not lie!" (Whoops, I'm having a GW/Mike Huccabee, God
speaks to me moment.) Sorry.
And where exactly are the Democrats on all these lies? Probably still have their heads up their butts calling their stockbrokers all day to short stocks.
This report is just the beginning. Even though Bush acts like a dunce and can't speak correctly, it does not give him an excuse to act like a fascist. But apparently 235 lies is maybe just a nominal amount as presidents go, look at Clinton, he "never had sex" with Monica, but the GOP didn't stand for that ONE lie, no siree, he lied lied lied and that wasn't tolerated --they wanted him out of office and almost impeached him fully. Not our Bush, he gets a break because the GOP still have enough control over Congress, so Bush can continue his lying ways and the party of morals will just let it slide. Wouldn't it be nice if one of the GOP would call this headline to the attention of his fellow party mates and say we might have a problem! No, lying about sex is dirty, an impeachable offence, God is nice, war is good. Since George W. Bush and his Bushisms have come into out lives, maybe we are all kind of confused about what he really says...I have included a couple more of his Bushisms below. But even with his horrible grasp of English, a lie that has killed so many people and brought our economy to ruins is a lie that the GOP and Democrats should make note of it even if God won't do it...

"I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things."—Source: Federal Document Clearing House, "Roundtable Interview of the President by White House Press Pool," June 4, 2003
"Oftentimes, we live in a processed world—you know, people focus on the process and not results."—Source: Public Papers of the Presidents, "Interview With Print Journalists," June 2, 2003
"Arbolist … Look up the word. I don't know, maybe I made it up. Anyway, it's an arbo-tree-ist, somebody who knows about trees." —George W. Bush, as quoted in USA Today, Aug. 21, 2001
"I want everybody to hear loud and clear that I'm going to be the president of everybody." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 2001
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MIA emails New GOP motto - In God we trust - all others are expendable

2008-01-20T11:02:00.000-04:00

photo credit: planetacid www.flickr.com

18 minutes and 30 seconds was the length of the gap in the tape Nixon erased concerning the break in for Watergate. The lies came back to bite him in the ass and he left office disgraced. Not so for Bush, in our electronic age, over 473 days coincidentally pertaining to the Valerie plame leak and the reason to go to war happen to be missing. Somehow those emails might have been 'recycled' - whoops! Funny how that specific period of time with the possibilty of 10 million missing White House emails has been lost in 'cyber space'.
As Associated press writer Pete Yost noted, a five day span pertaining to "a probe by Congress into Iraq intelligence failures." was gone, MIA!
"The White House also said that in an attempt to comply with laws that prevent White House staff from using tax payer-funded resources for political campaigns, they "may not have preserved all emails that deal with White House business." On Thursday, Perino said, "We don't have an idea on the universe of the number of emails that were lost."
BUT,there is a hard drive on the computer, all they need is Congress to have balls and seize the computers and let the Geek squad or Computer Goddess have a crack at getting what appears to be missing! Yost notes;
"we have learned that not all email of the office of the Vice President and executive office of the president...was preserved through the normal archiving process..."
Let's compare; Nixon had creeps like Halderman, Colson and North, Bush has Cheney, Addington, Gonzalez, Libby, and hosts of others. Bush spokesman Tony Fratto was ordered to say they had no reason to believe any emails were missing, (just like Nixon ordered through Haldeman and Colson to go to the press and say that George Wallace's shooting was a result of George McGovern supporters, whoops --caught on tape!) I can hear Bush cackling like a hen as he gave that order to Fratto! But Cheney, the dickhead behind the puppet knew how to handle emails, Rove was the master for using Republican National headquarters (RNC) to smear his opposition candidates and send emails that would not get exposed and could be deleted more easily.
From Matt Renner via Truthout April 2007:
"According to Waxman's letter, the RNC had special email procedures for Special Assistant to the President Karl Rove. According to Kelner, the RNC does not have any archived emails prior to 2005 for Mr. Rove. This, despite the reports that Rove uses his RNC account for the majority of his correspondence. Waxman said that Kelner "did not give any explanation for the emails missing from Mr. Rove's account, but he did acknowledge that one possible explanation is that Mr. Rove personally deleted his emails from the RNC server." According to the letter, the RNC instituted a special policy for Rove's emails some time in 2005 that prevented him from being able to delete his emails from the RNC server."
Rove, Cheney, Addington, Libby and some in the CIA knew exactly what brought Nixon down and they were not going to repeat the 'checker' (excuse the pun to Tricky Dick's dog) past.
Henry Waxman better get tough on this, they should have immediately ordered someone to examine the hard drives of the White House computers and supoena-ed the RNCs, (Bush's own oval office computer probably only has golf games -similar to the ones he used to play after lunch as Governor of Texas, maybe some baseball games and info with a paypal account to ebay for alerts for chainsaws and other farm equipment.)
Nixon left as a failure, they called Reagan "Teflon"- he skirted Iran Countra by using his scapegoats, isn't that what the GOP party is now famous for - claiming to be morally superior while using scapegoats to smear their shit! I'd say that should be their new motto:
Values, ethics, morality and the ability to exploit them
- This administration is the cat with 9 lives, we will never find out the extent of the corruptions of the office of president and vice president until they are gone. One warning here is, don't ever let the office of the president be decided by the Supreme court! Maybe the highest court should be revoked for causing us excessive pain and suffering, ummm, looks like Edwards might be free soon and anxious to handle a class action suit!
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

if only we could all do this...

2008-01-18T13:30:00.000-04:00
don't know who to thank for this, but it's a winner!

The stock market opened today and added 100points quickly, unfortunately, our president came out with his stimulus package and the insiders took their money and ran, as I write it is up by 22 points. From one day to the next you don't know what will happen to the market. The experts are calling Bush's Stimulus plan a 'hose' a little too late. They are grilling Secretary Paulson as we speak.
The housing market is a big big problem and so is Americas addiction to interest free credit. We want what we want when we want it, and we want terms. So many of us are so extended, never before have so many people been defaulting on loans and credit card payments. WE are the only country so eager to go into debt for our immediate gratification.
Bush on March 7, 2004 was telling the Wall Street Journal, "more homes were sold than ever before..." he said that while he was encouraging anyone to go get these lousy adjustable rate mortgages for houses that people did not qualify for. All Bush was interested in was bragging rights. Yes, home ownership at that time was climbing to the highest ownership ever. Now it's just the opposite. According to Reality Trac, a market place that monitors foreclosures, in 2006 there were 2million filings for foreclosures, we have not even touched 2007 yet. According to their stats, one in every 59 homes was in foreclosure. The Associated Press in November 2007 reported that there was one foreclosure in every 31 households. Now that sounds a bit steep, but Bush's new bragging rights involve the number of homes in foreclosure.
What has happened to our nation? Our businesses are being outsourced, our housing market and every industry related to it is in big financial trouble, OR "transition", that's the big word Bush used for the Wall Street Journal.
Bush is pushing Congress to put a band aid on an artery, then borrow money from Asia to pay for it, don't be sucked in, and stop charging a bunch of shit on the credit cards, at some point we are responsible too for what has happened...
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Huckabee ... he's going to let God rewrite our Constitution

2008-01-16T18:31:00.000-04:00

“But I believe that it would be a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what what we need to do—to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.”—Mike Huckabee to Michigan Evangelicals...

January 15, 2008 ·
Let me say some of us are being naive in thinking Huckabee doesn’t know too much. Apparently he knows much more than I ever believed, he knows God’s mind and he has personal knowledge of how it works. In his speech today he claimed the Constitution should be amended to reflect God’s wishes, SAY WHAT? You might be asking…. Yes, Huckabee knows God’s desire for the Constitution and he would implement them when he is President. WOW, this is great, just think about it - God can tell him how to solve the mortgage crisis, the recession, how to fund social security and give everyone health care, God through Mike Huckabee’s ear will take care of us, and apparently God has already told Mike if he is elected president, we should not let any middle easterners into the US. God has advised him in the future to turn away anyone from Pakistan, India, Iraq, Iran or just Arabs in general, God must have a conflict with Allah.
Maybe after Huckabee gets into office he can work on “The Pledge”, at 7am we can all get woken up by a loudspeaker on every corner and we will stand and say the Pledge which will be updated no doubt, “one Nation under Jesus, indivisible, with liberty and one state religion for all,” -- how soon before it becomes living under a theocracy? Sieg heil…
Yes folks, under Pastor Huckabee there will be changes, he is anticipating them now and he will have God, the New Testament, and Janet fully armed on his side. How can we lose when one of our own talks to God? How can we go wrong? How can we ever question the ‘Hickabee’ wisdom? Well.....There’s only one other politician I can think of who is so intimately involved with God, that’s George W. Bush…
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Bush and Condie the patronizers

2008-01-16T18:27:00.000-04:00

AP photo

Let’s call Condie zealously optimistic! Today while making a little venture off the beaten path, Condie left George W. froliking hand and hand with Prince Adullah and went to Iraq. She was drooling with joy over the latest benchmark met for the de-Baathification law. While the GAO office only gave an assessment of 5 of 18 defined benchmarks met as of last September, Condie is there to high-five Maliki in making our occupation look valid. Unfortunately, being a kind of “self-defined democracy”, Iraqi officials only allowed to speak anonymously because they are forbidden to share their views with the press, says Condie is really making sure the Iraqi officials know that Bushy boy will only ‘occupy’ his oval office for 11 more months and then they might have to really step up to the plate. Meanwhile, in reality, Iraqi’s Defense Minister just told the New York Times that the ‘occupation’ required occupiers until 2018! He said there was no way for them to secure their borders…Heck, we can’t secure our own, let’s get the hell out of Iraq then we CAN manage our own borders…

Bush is in Saudi Arabia, a place that is jailing their bloggers who speak out negatively against the government and who floggs rape victims because they are guilty just by being female, he is asking kindly that Prince Abdullah please reduce the price of oil because there is an “R” word he can hardly pronounce called recession, that’s what Cheney told him in a call from the cave. Bush is asking Abdullah to take away the request for fair market oil prices that Bush had previously called for even when OPEC was willing to set a price on oil a few years ago, whoops another Bush screw up. Bush is really worrying about what his parents will think of him when he leaves office, will it be one more big time career screw up? Why oh why did Poppy think George rather than Jeb would make a good president? But back to Saudi Arabia, while stock prices go down, more and more Arab oil money is being pumped into big companies, like Citibank. Soon the Arabs will have controlling interests in our blue chippers too! That’s what happens with 8 years of no alternative oil ideas…that’s what happens when we let a stubborn fool advised by fools run our country…get ready to be paid with inflated American dollars in slave wages by the Chinese and the Arabs who will control the markets…and us….
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

check out new blog post moved to Word Press

2008-01-12T02:17:00.000-04:00
Address:
http://osirisjournal2.wordpress.com
highlight it, copy it and put it on the search, you'll find the newest blog...
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Snow in Baghdad

2008-01-11T11:52:00.000-04:00

photo credit: Associate press

I loved loved loved that snow had brought peace if only for a while. When you read the accounts of people so excited to see the falling white flakes, you can tell nature CAN nurture. It made so many people communicate joy in the excitement of having the ground and trees with a dusting of the white stuff. People were calling old relatives asking if they had ever witnessed it. Young people so excited to venture out in natures distraction, unfortunately, that's what it is, a novelty and distraction. The snow will turn gray with the dirt of the surrounding city and melt, then the battle will not be about the weather.
The people will again be at odds and back at trying to sort out their lives. Bush's surge is nothing but a babysitting job, but hey, let's claim victory and bring the troops home then! Let's concede that the Bush strategy has worked as planned, bring our people home NOW! So what if the political benchmarks are still all in disarray? Bush can say, (if only to himself Barney and Laura and the 34% who like him) that he was right and we can end the occupation, (I am going to quit calling it a war when it is only an occupation.)
After all this time we are still in a time warp. The real test of Iraq will be after we leave. If Bush had really studied history about the middle east, he would see that a coup will take over after we leave. And when will that be, 10 years? (If McCain has his way.) Soon we will have another "surge" going in Afghanistan, only because it is reverting more and more into backwards mode, (as if we didn't know that only Kabul was controlled).
Ah, if only for a few hours, Baghdad was a place of total peace, thank you mother nature, maybe we won't need your help after Bush finally leaves the office he has destroyed...
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Israel or Bush bust!

2008-01-08T02:15:00.000-04:00
photo credit: Topplebush.com

Mr. 'Born again' Bush will be in Israel soon. It's taken him over 7 years to get there and now that he is about to leave office, he vows to shape up the middle east, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha!
They say lots of protestors are in store and he will be depending on Palestinian security for part of his visit to their areas. Hey, he wanted democratic elections over there as long as he got to say who the leader in charge was and the people elected the terrorist group Hamas as a result, so I suppose if it were me, I would be a little leery of relying on Palestinian security, (unless Bush is bringing them a big check out of guilt,) but that's only me.
His new idea for his legacy is as a peacemaker, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! This man has caused more dissent, hatred, misery and distrust around the world than any other president or leader. The Chinese still love him for all his big spending and gargantuan debt that accrues minute by minute. The Chinese can make all the tainted toys, food and medicine they want and have all the human rights violations in the world because they have us by the economic balls and Bush can't do a thing about it.
Does anyone still have faith in this pseudo leader besides Laura and Barnie? I can't imagine the Israels even want Bush over there, it's got to be a tough security risk. Let's see how the people respond to him on the 'sacred sands of the messiah'... Somehow, I doubt Jesus would even want a photo op with such a fool who has waged an unjustified war causing the death, wounding and devastation of so many. WWJD? I think he would tell Bush to just stay home and take a cue from Cheney, go underground and remain out of sight until the inauguration of the new president.
Jesus might be forgiving, but history should not, we must remember as a huge lesson the downfall of the USA under the co/presidency of Bush and Cheney. If we can't impeach them, take them to court as war criminals...
Have a good trip Bushy boy, and don't embarrass us too much...oh, I guess everyone is used to you by now. Don't you wonder who Bush sees when he looks in a mirror, Winston Churchill or the devil?
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

Are the Iowa GOP caucus voters on crack?

2008-01-04T01:32:00.000-04:00

photo credit: solarsystem.nasa.com

What's the deal-ee-o? I was all set to go outside and watch some meteors tonight, but the sky is choked with clouds. It's a no show! No meteors sightings, in fact the only thing I saw that was 'other worldly' was that Huckabee won the Iowa caucus. HERE WE GO AGAIN! ANOTHER GOVERNOR WHO DOESN'T KNOW HIS ASS FROM THE GROUND BUT HE CAN QUOTE SCRIPTURE SO THE IOWA VOTERS FEEL HE CAN RUN THE COUNTRY? --- ARE THEY ON CRACK? WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER PRESIDENT WHO MIGHT ALSO UTTER THE WORD "CRUSADES" AS A FREUDIAN SLIP???
Okay, the GOP religious right caucus voters don't like the group they have as possible presidential nominees, why must they elect a guy who is so out of the loop? One who isn't versed on the goings on of Washington or foreign policy? What is the disconnect I don't see? OR maybe I do see what their angle is AGAIN and it's so familiar and scary! Do these people have so much faith they forget they live in a country full of other people besides themselves? Am I the only one who is scared of people who vote only because of religion?
There are qualified GOP candidates who know what is going on, McCain, Romney and Guiliani all have a clue, even Ron Paul seems to know more than Huckabee. You have to watch Huck and shake your head when he is asked questions about situations as simple as a writers strike and he is lost, like when he said we needed to guard our borders against any wandering Pakistanis after Bhutto was shot, or questioned that he had not heard of the National Intelligence Estimate... Jesus, if you're up there, clue the guy in that you do not like politicians and you would prefer he remain a pastor. Let Huckabee go back to the church pulpit, not the bloody bully pulpit!
Surely this was only Iowa, there have to be more competent voters around the country? I am just perplexed why we would want to elect a fundamentalist who talks about everything else but doesn't know the real issues? Do we need voters again who vote with their heart and don't use their minds? Does the religious right still believe that the past 8 years with George have been that great? Then I need some of that faith because I only see a loser who touted his religion as a prop and made it into the White House with no experience and now the world hates us, we have a huge deficit, people are losing their homes, gas is at $100 a barrel, and we have endless war with the wrong country, all this because of one likeable, religious guy image -- HELP
As for Hillary, whoa, wonder what was said behind closed doors last night? She had to have been so pissed to be behind Edwards. She somehow misses a connection to the voters, none of us are sure of her. I mean having Bill and Hill run the country again does not sound that bad to me, times were good back then!!!
If I can't have Biden, I guess something new would be good. Obama would be wonderful at that, very fresh, very smart and he can reach out as a man of color and a man who was raised in Asia for a while, to others who have been so skeptical of the USA motives the past years. Obama might be the one true hope candidate, a man of faith perhaps, but not one wearing the "I am your Jesus connection" button as protection. Obama or Edwards could unite us, Hillary will bring out the GOP voters in mass who hate her and Bill and unite them in electing another GOP regime.
I missed seeing the sky tonight, I missed watching meteors, I missed in thinking that people were rational and not so rooted in religion anymore after seeing George Bush fake it. And somehow tonight, I am still missing the reality of the Iowa GOP caucus outcome...
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/

All is quiet -- for now

2008-01-01T09:56:00.000-04:00

The first day of the new year looks rather ominous. Outside there is no color to the sky. The lake is a mirror reflecting the sullen mood back into space. Plenty of birds, plenty of squirrels, fed 5 cats this morning, two of them don't even live here. But other than sound, nothing seems to be moving. Every atom seems stagnant...
What is to come this year? Change begins with each of us making an effort on our part to do something to better the planet we live on. Change your light bulbs to the compact fluorescent, recycle more, grow an herb garden, help the elderly and the sick. Let's try and reach out to each other - screw all these phony politicians,
they only have their own self interest in mind. Make sure to let your Congress representatives know how you think. We have power, we the people can make changes if we can unite.
That said, we seem stagnant ourselves as if status quo is good enough -- it's not,
there's much to do to right so many wrongs. Make this a year to join a cause and fight for it. DON'T BE COMPLACENT! Fight for our earth and for the rights of all people to live equally, and I mean to have food and shelter and some opportunity to have employment that allows for security. We are ALL human, try and fight for those who are suppressed. Don't just look at something and say what a shame, do something about it, donate time, money, or some skill you have to make this world a happier and more progressive place. We have had years now of conflict and heartache, hopefully we can look ahead as this being a transition year to something much better and positive.
And don't forget our animals, put up a feeder and bird bath, give generously to the humane societies, ASPCA, World Wildlife Fund, or PETA, and if you can volunteer, animals need us to speak out and protect them too.
Don't let the past 7 years make you feel like it was all a write off, chose your battles now that you have seen the worst of what bad people in office can do. We all have an obligation to each other, don't put up with mediocrity! Fight the system!
Better the system!
We all have a heart, we all have a mind, put both into something that stirs a passion inside you and make it your cause, you might be surprised at what one person can do... GO FOR IT!!!
http://anhinga.wordpress.com/