"Of the 38,931 interrogations performed to date in Guantanamo, much of what is done is sitting down, having a cup of tea and a talk, not coercive tactics."

In an update on my previous post, I referred to this report. But I can't just leave it at that. Not after seeing the quote above, which came from-- surprise!-- Katherine Sherwood, a civilian interrogator with the Department of Defense.

The American Psychological Association will decide Sunday whether to condemn torture tactics and place a moratorium on members' involvement in interrogations at US military detention sites.

The decision, if taken, would move the world's largest professional organization of psychologists in line with similar resolutions by the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association and boost pressure on the US government's alleged torture of "war on terror" detainees.

Want to pressure the U.S. government? How about waterboarding them? After all, that's just an "enhanced interrogation" technique. And you could do it over tea.

APA council representatives at their annual meeting in San Francisco will vote on a pair of resolutions, one a condemnation of torture and another branding specific interrogation techniques unethical.

However...

Some within the professional psychology community believe they should be present in interrogation facilities to provide oversight and prevent abuses.

There's just one little glitcharoony. These sessions tend to get nasty.

APA members James Mitchell and Bruce Jensen, both of whom have worked with the CIA, were recently identified as torture trainers and are under investigation by the Senate Armed Services Commission.

In light of this discovery, some psychologists are calling for a complete industry withdrawal from interrogation facilities.

Some of these CIA psychologists need psychologists. And prison sentences.

At the heart of the debate is the imperative of the medical profession's Hippocratic Oath to "do no harm" and the ethical code of psychologists, which currently does not categorically bar involvement in coercive interrogations.

Let me see if I understand this. An omission in the ethical code of psychologists can be interpreted to mean that torture does no harm. Nothing unethical or irrational about that. Just ask our administration.

Now Britain's worried about U.S. spies
American security agencies have unprecedented powers to spy on British citizens without a warrant.

The FISA Bill "...gives the security services powers to intercept all telephone calls, internet traffic and emails made by British citizens across US-based networks." And they're not thrilled.

...the security services huge scope for monitoring and intercepting Britons' private communications, as well as those of other foreign citizens. The new act has led to fears it will see a huge increase in the number of British citizens being extradited to the US.

Will anyone stop Bush from emulating Augustus Caesar and becoming ruler of the world?

'Just because it happens to pass through the US they claim they can do whatever they want,' said Tony Bunyan, director of Statewatch, the civil rights group that campaigns against state surveillance.

Our problem is increasingly Europe's problem. Maybe they can stop him. Our own Congress sure couldn't.

Concern over US powers to monitor foreign citizens is growing. European privacy watchdogs have expressed fears that the US authorities are to be handed powers to check the personal details of travellers entering America and store them on databases alongside details such as their sexuality and religious beliefs for up to 15 years.

I must be slipping. Sexuality is a red flag I'd never thought of. Elton John better watch what he text messages Mary Cheney. The Eavesdroppers might whisk them both away to an undisclosed location and it could be years until we see them again. Right, Daddy Dearest Dick?

UPDATE: Speaking of torture...The American Psychological Association will decide Sunday whether to condemn torture tactics and place a moratorium on members' involvement in interrogations at US military detention sites.

School asks, 'Who is James A. Madison?'

This is just idiotic:

Utah’s James A. Madison Elementary School may have a nice ring to it, but there is a problem since the nation’s fourth president didn’t have a middle initial.

No one is really sure how the “A” became included in the name, which was among those submitted by teachers, students and parents from the Ogden School District.

I work at a school. This is so ridiculously typical.

The school board will also vote next Wednesday to ratify the James Madison name change.

That's a relief. We wouldn't want anyone thinking a place where "rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?" would make such an embarrassing mistake on their marquee where everyone could see it. I mean, this is a pretty big deal.

"It's not that critical of an issue. We'll just take the A out and call it James Madison," said board President Don Belnap, who told the newspaper he didn’t notice the problem with the initial even though he was a history major in college.

This doofus must be a No Child Left Behind alumnus. Whaddya say we bring back real education, okay guys?

Rare footage: "I have been jailed for 2 years and have never been put before a judge or court!"

Rare footage from inside a Baghdad prison camp shows hundreds of inmates packed into wire-mesh tents, protesting their innocence. [...] The video pictures were given to Reuters Television on Saturday by the office of Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who visited the Rusafa prison compound in eastern Baghdad with his Shi'ite counterpart.

They've been promised better treatment, so it's all A-OK. Uh-huh, and the Blue Fairy will turn George Bush into a real boy.

At one point [Hashemi] added: "You are lucky to be here. At least you have security. Those outside do not even have security."

So, um, Hashemi's worse off than they are? They should be on their knees thanking him. Don't they recognize their good fortune in being locked up for years in a vile place with absolutely no way to prove their innocence (or guilt)?

And did I just hear the Sunni Arab V.P. admit to everyone that Iraq is a disaster? I thought so. Back to the lucky, safe ingrates prisoners.

U.S. forces and Iraq's own security forces have imprisoned tens of thousands of detainees without charge in the four years since the fall of President Saddam Hussein.

Shades of....democracy? No, no that's not it. Justice? Nope. Ah! I know! Abuse!

The treatment of prisoners has been especially resonant in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal in 2004, when pictures showed U.S. troops sexually humiliating detainees. Washington says such abuse has stopped and those responsible were punished.

Of course it has. Of course they were.

Although U.S. forces are not responsible for prisoners held by Iraqi authorities, "we encourage them to treat their prisoners with as much respect as is seen in the West," said U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver.

Uh-oh.

Emergency declaration by Bush. Will martial law follow?

Chances are it won't. But ever since Bush introduced his little National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, his self-proclaimed Dictator-In-Chiefability comes to mind.

President George W. Bush on Saturday approved a pre-landfall emergency declaration for Texas to provide federal help if the state is hit by Hurricane Dean, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

According to his directive, if any event takes place that Bush decides is an "emergency", he could pretty much be the one and only boss of us. Absolute power to an absolute idiot. It's that possibility that I can't shake off, and it's pathetic that this has become my knee-jerk reaction. Want to know what's more pathetic? The italicized part, that's what:

Bush, who is vacationing at his Crawford ranch, was briefed twice on Saturday about Hurricane Dean, which is threatening to become a Category 5 storm and is taking aim at Jamaica and Mexico.

Adding insult to injury, it seems like every time there is impending disaster, The Vacation President is taking one of his 418 days off.

So the odds are that Bush's insane power grab would most likely occur while he's putting his brush-scuffed boots up in Crawford. Heckuva job, Georgie.

Fun list.

Say what? Misspeaking candidates fall over themselves to clarify

(snip)

--Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, defended his five sons' decisions not to enlist in the military and said "one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected." Later, the Republican said he misspoke, explaining: "I didn't mean in any way to compare service in the country with my boys in any way."

--Giuliani, the New York City mayor during the terrorist attacks, claimed he was at ground zero "as often, if not more, than most of the workers" and was exposed to the same health risks. After drawing the ire of some firefighters, he acknowledged: "I could have said it better" and "What I was saying was: 'I'm there with you.'"

--Richardson, New Mexico's governor, said "It's a choice" and then "you know, I'm not a scientist" when gay-rights activists asked during a forum whether people are born gay or whether they choose homosexuality. He quickly clarified. The Democrat also has said, "I screwed up" when citing conservative Byron White as a model Supreme Court justice.

--John McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona known for is off-the-cuff style, twice has clarified comments. In separate instances, he referred to U.S. lives lost in Iraq as "wasted" and used the term "tar baby," which some people consider a racial epithet. In both cases, he quickly said he regretted his word choice.

--Barack Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, also apologized for using the word "wasted" about U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. During a campaign speech in Virginia, he drastically overstated the death toll in the springtime tornado in Kansas, saying, "Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed." The actual death toll was 12.

"There are going to be times when I make mistakes," Obama said then, recognizing his mistake before his speech ended.

Even unofficial candidates are not immune.

Fred Thompson, a Republican expected to enter the race in September, offered an explanation after Democrats assailed him for saying "we're living in the era of the suitcase bomb" as he bemoaned illegal immigration from Cuba.

Mark your calendars!!!

Former MSNBCer and FNCer Rita Cosby's tome Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death hits the bookstores Sept. 4.

God knows our lives have been duller without her.....

Iran's Revolutionary Guards respond to U.S. with threat

Until the Cheney presidency, the United States has never put the armed forces of a sovereign government on a terrorist list. This is the reaction:

Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they will not bow to pressure and have threatened to "punch" the U.S. The response comes in reaction to Washington D.C. officials' decision to list the group as a terrorist organization in order to squeeze Iran.

The Revolutionary Guards see themselves as the guardians of the Islamic Republic. Bush sees himself as a savior. Cheney sees himself as King Kong. I see myself as hiding under my bed.

Washington has accused the 200,000-member group of supporting militias and insurgent groups that attack U.S. forces in Iraq. The leader of the guards says the U.S. will receive a heavier punch from the group in the future.

Iranian officials are denying the claims, calling the claims "baseless."

The Revolutionary Guards are separate from the Iranian military. The Guards have their own ground, naval and air units.

Iran says it will strike U.S. regional interests if attacked over its nuclear program. According to the Iranian commander-in-chief, Iranian missiles could hit warships operating anywhere in the Gulf and Oman Sea.

Why The Nation of Dick, with "I-Answer-to-a-Higher-Father" Bush's acquiescence, is determined to provoke a war with Iran is beyond comprehension. There is no upside and would make the Iraq disaster look like a---what's that word again? Oh yeah--cakewalk.

Seems the Indiana GOP is just as corrupt as the rest of the country.

Via Left In Aboite

Republican candidate for mayor charged with perjury, fraudulent election filing

An Allen County grand jury indicted Republican mayoral candidate Matt Kelty on Tuesday, charging him with seven felonies and two misdemeanors.

Kelty, 42, is charged with two counts of perjury, five felony counts of fraudulent election filing and two misdemeanor counts of commingling campaign and personal funds, special prosecutor Dan Sigler said.

Recruiting For Iraq War Undercut in Puerto Rico

By Paul Lewis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 18, 2007; Page A01

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The political activists, brown envelopes tucked under their arms, staked out the high school gates just after sunrise. When students emerged from the graffiti-scorched streets of the Rio Piedra neighborhood here and began streaming toward their school, the pro-independence advocates ripped open the envelopes and began handing the teens fliers emblazoned with the slogan: "Our youth should not go to war."

At the bottom of the leaflet was a tear sheet that students could sign and later hand to teachers, to request that students' personal contact information not be released to the U.S. Defense Department or to anyone involved in military recruiting.

(snip)

"If the death of a Puerto Rican soldier is tragic, it's more tragic if that soldier has no say in that war," said Juan Dalmau, secretary general of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP). His efforts are saving the island's children from becoming "colonial cannon meat," he said.

As someone who has very close ties to Puerto Rico (waves hi!) and very strong feelings about the PIP, I'm glad to see that this subject is at least getting some play in the media.

It's a variant on the theme of "You can send him to die in the war, but he can't have a beer at the PX" chestnut. "You can send him to war, but he had and has no say in the representation of his "commonwealth" under the United States"

Puerto Rico has limited representation in the U.S. Congress in the form of a Resident Commissioner, a nonvoting delegate, and the current Congress had returned the Commissioner's power to vote in the Committee of the Whole, but not on matters where the vote would represent a decisive participation.[24] Because no federal elections are held in any of the unincorporated territories, Puerto Rico does not have electors in the U.S. Electoral College.

Not only does the chryon disappear, check out what seems to be of utmost importance to the economy (at 22 secs to go).



Is it me or did she seem uncomfortable reporting that?

And them's the shiniest boobs I've ever seen.

Via Newshounds

I'm with Kagro X

Grandpa Fred hits the Iowa State Fair

The ghastly and undernourished specter of Fred Thompson haunted the Iowa State Fair last week, a tradition usually honored by presidential candidates in corporeal form.

Here's Fred demonstrating his virility by being trucked around the fairgrounds in a golf cart -- something no other candidate has so far resorted to:

I'm not seeing any of those "virile, manly and brawny" qualities that send Tweety into a swoon.



Nope.

My God Does This Man Practice Every BS Justification For Iraq In The Mirror?

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Rep. Jon Porter, Republican of Nevada and walking, talking, automatic spout of bullshit.

pic via Cat of course

This morning Jeff looked out the back window and said, "The yard looks like Coconut Grove!", which means it looks like a jungle.

The combination of all the rain we've gotten and the 9,564 cana bulbs I planted really make my corner of Indiana look pretty wild and wooly. I like it.

Tidbits....

On Chris Matthews' syndicated TV show, Dan Rather announced that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not be running for president.

Rather: Bloomberg "told me that he was not going to run for president. In a direct answer to a direct question, would he run under any circumstances, he danced around a bit and finally said 'No.'"

I don't understand this stuff, MICHIGAN TO MOVE UP ITS PRIMARY , Oy, Giuliani-McCain: That's the Ticket?; You go Dennis!!,Domestic Spying is Orwellian (Rep. Dennis Kucinich) .

Quote of the Day
"But they kept their marriage together. And a lot of the Republicans who have condemned them and talk about their platform of family values, interestingly, didn’t keep their own families together."

-- Mike Huckabee, quoted by NPR, praising Bill and Hillary Clinton.

I'm with you John....John Edwards Calls Ann Coulter "She-Devil" , ACLU Lawyer: Patriot Act Gag Order is Unconstitutional ,

Via Wonkette-

dept. of fat guys with buzzcuts begging for a police state
Watch Ron Paul Yell At This Fat Fascist Guy
Way back in the late 1980s, in the wonderful days before blogs existed, idiots were forced to attend tapings of a daytime teevee show called “Morton Downey Jr.” so they could yell about things they didn’t understand — and Ron Paul was pissing them off then, too.

And finally, the sad ongoing struggle of the miners. No, not the 6 in Utah, the 172 trapped in China. and a prayer (or the Paddy version of it) for them and all the people suffering in Peru.

Um, uh. I know, but it's WEIRD!!!

The push-up bra you have fitted UNDER the skin
By FIONA MACRAE and MARTYN HALLE - More by this author »
If you've always longed to burn your bra but couldn't face the physical consequences, the solution could be on the way.


Doctors have created an 'internal bra' which claims to do away with the need for the lingerie version.

The harness-like device is inserted under the skin in a 40-minute keyhole operation performed under local anaesthetic - meaning a patient can go into hospital in the morning and return home after lunch.

(snip)

Surgeons make two stab-like cuts less than a centimetre wide underneath each breast.

Silicone cups similar in shape to the cup of a traditional bra are then inserted around 1cm below the skin.

Fine straps or "threads" are fitted next.

These are attached to the ribs between the breast and the shoulder with a pair of titanium screws.

Then they are stitched to the cups and everything is tightened to lift the breasts into a more "youthful" position.

It's a joke, right? PLEASE tell me it's a joke.

Oh my. White House appointees gave federal $ to GOP Campaigns
Which appointees? Dep't. of Treasury and Commerce officials and...dun dun dunnn...Dep't. of Justice?

This bunch would politicize paint if they had the chance:

Top Commerce and Treasury Departments officials appeared with Republican candidates and doled out millions in federal money in battleground congressional districts and states after receiving White House political briefings detailing GOP election strategy.

Political appointees in the Treasury Department received at least 10 political briefings from July 2001 to August 2006, officials familiar with the meetings said. Their counterparts at the Commerce Department received at least four briefings — all in the election years of 2002, 2004 and 2006.

The Hatch Act says cabinet members and other political appointees cannot spend taxpayer money to benefit candidates. Bad appointees! You are so grounded!

The House Oversight Committee is investigating whether the White House's political briefings to at least 15 agencies, including to the Justice Department, the General Services Administration and the State Department, violated a ban on the use of government resources for campaign activities.

Who else was involved? Come o-o-on...Who's our little Repubbie? Who's our little political director? Be a good criminal and smile for the Dems! What a punum.

During the briefings at Treasury and Commerce ... Ken Mehlman and other White House aides detailed competitive congressional districts, battleground election states and key media markets and outlined GOP strategy for getting out the vote.

Who's your little friend, Kenny? Who's that roly poly, dorky, balding-yet-fuzzy-headed goon to your right?

The briefings are part of the legacy of White House political adviser Karl Rove...

What a couple of scamps Kenny and Karl are! Just can't stay out of mischief!

However, it remains to be seen whether the subsequent department actions were intentional, said the aide, who asked not to be named because the investigation is ongoing.

"Ongoing investigations" is White House for "Georgie won't tattle on his chums".

Violations of the Hatch Act are treated as administrative, not criminal, matters, and punishment for violations ranges from suspension to termination.

I'll take termination for 100, Alex. And then jail.

Commerce Department spokesman Dan Nelson described the meetings [in question] as merely "informational."

"Informational"? OhhahaaahaHAAAAA ::deep breath:: HahahaHAHAHAAAAHAHAAA!!

"Nothing remotely like that happened," during the Clinton administration, [John D. "Jerry" Hawke, who served as Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance in the Clinton administration] said. "I never experienced anything like that. The notion that the White House would be holding meetings with Treasury appointees just didn't fit."

Right answer, Mr. Hawke. You win.

Wow, this is impressive. A comedy show going to these lengths?

I mean, Riggle looks like he can take care of himself, but still that's pretty cool.

`Daily Show' to Air Reports From Iraq
By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer
"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," whose phony news coverage has long included phony "remotes" from war-torn Iraq, will be reporting from Iraq for real next week.

Giving its green screen a temporary rest, the Comedy Central series will air "Operation Silent Thunder: `The Daily Show' in Iraq," several onsite dispatches filed by Senior War Correspondent Rob Riggle.

Riggle will provide what the network calls "in-depth coverage and insights from the front lines." Scheduled to be back in New York this weekend, he begins his reports as soon as Monday. ("The Daily Show" airs Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m. EDT.)

While in Iraq, Riggle performed for U.S. troops with fellow comedians Horatio Sanz, Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer as part of an entertainment tour titled "Operation Feel the Heat."

A major in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Riggle served in Liberia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Toy Story

CNBC's Erin Burnett is defending comments she made recently on Hardball, related to China's manufacturing woes: (ie. lead-based Barbie):

"I think people should be careful what they wish for on China. If China were to revalue its currency, or China is to start making, say, toys that don't have lead in them or food that isn't poisonous, their costs of production are going to go up, and that means prices at Wal-Mart here in the United States are going to go up too."
This morning MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said to Burnett "...some people have gotten upset by some things you've said." Burnett responded:

"I'm glad you're giving me this chance to talk about it...I've been trying to explain this throughout the week...if you wanted increased safety and quality from China...that might mean you had to pay a little more for it. Of course we want to have safe toys and safe food but nonetheless, I just wanted to make everyone aware about how cheap China is as a production center."

And Jon Stewart had some fun with the story last night:

Burnett seemed to be trying to temper her bizarre words on Hardball today also.

God forbid the prices at Wal-Mart go up.

RUDY GIULIANI ONLY SPENT 29 HOURS AT GROUND ZERO

While that is more time than he has spent with his kids during their entire lives it doesn't quite match the rhetoric about spending as much time there as the workers and firemen did.

This man is such a pathetic liar. Go find that dust-covered suit and put it back on Rudy. Go downtown. Maybe you can sqeeze another hour of fawning media coverage in. Oh, and while you're at it, why don't you announce another divorce to said media?

Oh, federal government? "Cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods", 'k? Thanks.

Bush cares about us. He's a Compassionate Conservative. We know that's true, because he said so.

A new presidential report on cancer takes on not only tobacco companies but the food industry while calling on the federal government to "cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods" and switch to policies that encourage Americans to eat vegetables and exercise.

How many times has Mom said, "Eat your carrots!" Ignore that. Bad advice. Politics over health. Business as usual.

Federal, state, and local policies have actually made healthful foods more expensive and less available, have limited physical education in schools and created an environment that discourages physical activity, the report said.

But Bush is a father, after all. And Jenna Soon-To-Be-Not Bush, and Not Jenna-Still-Bush have grown up to be hearty, strapping young women. The President of the United States would never encourage something that would hurt our kids.

"The panel's recommendation runs counter to the president's public opposition to a tobacco tax increase.

The federal government also should "require the elimination of unhealthy foods from school breakfast and lunch programs" and "must cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods that lead to disease and increased health care costs," the report said.

This includes regulation of food advertising and changing agricultural support policies, it said.

Gasp! No...no......not............regulation. This will never do.

"We heavily subsidize the growth of foods (e.g., corn, soy) that in their processed forms (e.g., high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated corn and soybean oils, grain-fed cattle) are known contributors to obesity and associated chronic diseases, including cancer," the report reads. [...] Yet fresh fruits and vegetables are not subsidized in the same way. "And physical education classes in school have almost disappeared," [Margaret Kripke of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson cancer center, a member of the President's Cancer Panel] said.

Does bar-hopping qualify as exercise?

The American Cancer Society predicts more than 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and that 559,650 will die.

So much for this administration's priorities.

FYI

Apparently Rove's making the Sunday talk show rounds this weekend.

Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.

Time for another Stand-Up Comedy Blog
"Last Blog Standing" starts riiiight....now!

Yes, it's time to steal a few more jokes from my father-in-law. He used to write for Alan King, Milton Berle and Jonathan Winters, just to name a few. And all those Dean Martin Roasts, too: Don Rickles, Red Buttons, Phyllis Diller, Sammy Davis, Jr., etc. Not bad.

A tiny respite from all the frustrating events of the day:

In the Republican Presidential Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa, Gov. Mitt Romney received 32 percent of the vote, Mike Huckabee got 10 percent, Brownback got 3 percent -- 55 percent of the people voted for the straw.

In order to speed things up at last week's Democratic Presidential debate, moderator Keith Olbermann asked the candidates to limit themselves to only three empty promises each.

Republicans are no balls of fire either. Romney was so happy to win in Iowa that he took Saturday night off, went out, and painted the town beige.

Hiyooooo!!! But I wanna tell ya.

Thompson Has It Both Ways

And not in the good Elton John type of way. A quick check into Thompson's Senate records in archives shows that he had two answers for constituent questions on abortion, one that said pro-life and another that said pro-choice.

In one "position paper on abortion" someone has written "(PRO-LIFE)" on the top right-hand corner, and the document states "Senator Thompson has a strong pro-life voting record in the Senate." The paper contains seven examples of votes Thompson cast against legal abortion.

Another "position paper on abortion," however, on which someone has written "(PRO-CHOICE)" omits the statement that "Senator Thompson has a strong pro-life voting record in the Senate," and it does not mention the seven votes he cast against legal abortion.

The "PRO-CHOICE" position paper mentions, as does the "PRO-LIFE" one, that Thompson opposes "federal funding of abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger," and supports other restrictions, while concluding that "(b)eyond that, Senator Thompson has said that the federal government should not be involved in the issue of abortion. He does not believe that early term-abortions should be criminalized. He feels instead that this is a battle that must be won in the hearts and minds of the American people."

In Thompson's defense, congresional offices often have answers for constituents divided by the view of the constituent (either pro or con on a particular issue). The problem for Thompson is that this, combined with his wishy-washy history on abortion, should really indicate to the Christian Right that Thompson really isn't with them on this issue. It's not something he's passionate about (like a Brownback or a Huckabee). And if he can't get the Christian Right on board his campaign, can he really be a factor in the race?

Susan Collins Is Once Again Found To Be A Liar

You know how she freaked out earlier this week and said "the tracker" got in her face and she was being hounded, etc. Well, as per usual with Suzie Sunshine, she was lying.

Like with her pledge to run only two terms, end the war in Iraq and defend women's rights while putting Samuel Alito on the court.

Watch the video below, as she warmly greets her tracker and even makes small talk. Susan Collins is a first-rate phony. This time Maine residents WILL find it out before it's too late.

You've got to give them credit for chutzpah.

London: Activists glued to building
LONDON --A group of environmental activists protesting the airline industry's effect on the world's climate glued themselves to the door of a government building Friday.

Police said about six people glued their hands to the door of the Department for Transport in central London, while several more chained themselves to doors and two climbed onto a roof.

Ten people were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass or criminal damage, the Metropolitan Police said.

Hundreds of activists are holding a weeklong "climate camp" at London's Heathrow Airport to oppose a proposed new runway and highlight what scientists say is air travel's damage to the environment.

So Some Guy Named Cliff Walked Into A Yearly Kos Convention And Introduced Howard Dean...

BTW They cut out my best joke at the beginning. I wish I could explain why, but I am sworn to secrecy. All I can tell you is that it has something to do with Howard Dean's being extremely cool.

Too funny. Fox kinda admits they change wikipedia to their benefit.




via Newshounds

The Pentagon paid $999,798 to ship 19-cent washers to Texas

I remember when it only cost $900,000.

A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, U.S. officials said.

That's $499,399 per washer. Which is $824,659,236,000 in dog years.

The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.

That's a lot of money to pay for a screw. Wink wink.

A review of paid shipping invoices showed that fraudulent billing is ``is not a widespread problem,'' [Cynthia Stroot, a Pentagon investigator] said.

Of course it isn't, Investigator Stroot. Neither are unaccounted-for weapons. All 200,000 of them.

Hotel Mistakes Nobel Laureate for Bag Lady

Seriously.

Tony Snow will resign, Jenna Bush will get married, and General Petraeus will testify...and all I got was this lousy tee shirt.

No, wait. That's not right.

I went to work for a few hours and missed everything.

Except today's little temblor out here in Southern Cali. It was just an aftershock, piece-o'-cake. Nothing like the one in Peru, which was devastating.

And except this:

Hotel Mistakes Nobel Laureate for Bag Lady

She was wearing a Mayan dress, the traditional attire of indigenous people in central America, and the hotel's response was also traditional: throw her out.

Staff at Cancun's five-star Hotel Coral Beach appear to have assumed this was another street vendor or beggar, so without asking questions they ordered her to leave. Except the woman was Rigoberta Menchú, the Nobel peace prizewinner, Unesco goodwill ambassador, Guatemalan presidential candidate and figurehead for indigenous rights.

Of course, that could happen to anyone. Common mistake. Happens all the time.

Commentators noted the irony of upmarket resorts discriminating against real Maya while trying to attract tourists with fake Mayan architecture and spectacles.

And they say irony is dead.

It Sucks Being In The Minority

Just ask Rep. Chip Pickering, GOP neanderthal from Mississippi, who is apparently not running for reelection. Now with Deborah Pryce and Denny Hastert, there were potentially tough reelections (while Hastert may have hung on after a long, dirty fight Pryce was toast), but Pickering could have walked to reelection (R +14).

I think the dude looked at the fact that Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, the two senators from that still deluded Republican state, both pulled back from retiring in successive cycles, the Dems are likely going to double their advantage in the House and the sweet melody of lobbying cash is ringing in his ears.

In any case, I think the flood gates are about to open...

Thank God For FoxNews' Good Sense!

No, I mean it. Thankfully they took a look at that unbelievably crappy Half Hour News Hour, you know the show that was supposed to provide some chuckles, and in reality had all the comic brilliance of diptheria. And they canned it.

Think Dennis-Miller-on-Monday-Night-Football-funny. I am shuddering just contemplating any more of it.

So, um, buh-bye.

Ya know, I try to stay away from the CT (conspiracy theory) stuff, but sometimes they make it too hard.

Homeland Security Enlists Clergy to Quell Public Unrest if Martial Law Ever Declared

Could martial law ever become a reality in America? Some fear any nuclear, biological or chemical attack on U.S. soil might trigger just that. KSLA News 12 has discovered that the clergy would help the government with potentially their biggest problem: Us.

(snip)

But gun confiscation is exactly what happened during the state of emergency following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, along with forced relocation. U.S. Troops also arrived, something far easier to do now, thanks to last year's elimination of the 1878 Posse Comitatus act, which had forbid regular U.S. Army troops from policing on American soil.

If martial law were enacted here at home, like depicted in the movie "The Siege", easing public fears and quelling dissent would be critical. And that's exactly what the 'Clergy Response Team' helped accomplish in the wake of Katrina.

Dr. Durell Tuberville serves as chaplain for the Shreveport Fire Department and the Caddo Sheriff's Office. Tuberville said of the clergy team's mission, "the primary thing that we say to anybody is, 'let's cooperate and get this thing over with and then we'll settle the differences once the crisis is over.'"

Bush To Issue September Report, Not Petraeus

Seriously, is anyone even the slightest bit surprised by the mendacity of these titanic dolts anymore?

It is safer to just assume that everything, and I mean everything that exits their pursed lips is a lie. But wait, you mean to tell me that other GOPers either were too dumb to know the report was coming from none other than numbnuts himself, or they lied too? Say it ain't so!

Here you go. I report, blah blah blah.....

Senate Minority Leader McConnell:

Let me remind the Senate of what we agreed to...We voted, and put into law, that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker would report in September on progress. The benchmarks report and the timeline we set in May was clear. It gave us, the troops, and our allies, clarity on what was expected.

Senator McCain:

The war will be discussed in September again--we all know that--when General Petraeus is ready to report to the Senate...General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will come to Washington in September to report on the status of their efforts and those of the Iraqis.

Senator Sessions:

To press the point further, I strongly believe that whatever the inclinations of Senators on the conduct of the war in Iraq, to change our strategy now before we even hear from General Petraeus in September would be a colossal blunder for a host of reasons. To do so would be unthinkable...I am anxious to hear General Petraeus's report.

Senator Coleman:

Fifty-four days ago we sent a message to General Petraeus: Go forth with the surge, and then come back and report to us.

Senator Chambliss:

I have never been more convinced that waiting for General Petraeus's report in September was more right than yesterday afternoon...

Senator Craig:

That's why when we confirmed General Petraeus unanimously in the Senate, we said to him very clearly, you go to Iraq in relation to a surge that is being implemented and you come back to us and give us your honest and fair assesement in September.

Senator Cornyn:

But the fact is, Gen. David Petraeus...will come back and report to us in September.

Senator DeMint:

The Democrats agreed on that funding, but they requested that we have a report from General Petraeus in the middle of September to find out what progress we were making. We all agreed to that.

Senator Bunning:

I promised in person, in my office, to General Petraeus, that I would wait to hear his report this fall.

And of course everyone's favore Connecticut for Lieberman Party member:

Senator Lieberman:

In fact, this amendment should not even be considered now...Because in that bill we required General Petraeus, along with our Ambassador to Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, to come back in September and report to us...I made a personal pledge to him. I am going to give him and the troops a fair chance, which this amendment would deprive him of, and I am going to give him until September to come back and tell me how it is going.

(h/t Kagro X & BarbinMD of Daily Kos)

Another Huge Republican Fundraiser Is A Criminal

Alan Fabian, the finance co-chair for MittWit Romney's presidential campaign, was indicted on 23 counts of generally being a Republican scumbag last week. He has donated to a who's who of Republicans across the land.

We have a name for the time when Republicans are indicted here in Ohio.

Weekdays.

Although I think weekends are often required to process every GOP criminal.

5 Days Left To Win A Vacation

Perhaps you've seen the ad on the right side of the blog. It is for the "My Bad Boss" contest. Now I will disclose I am a fellow at Working America, who is sponsoring the contest.

But really, should that have any bearing on whether you should or shouldn't click on the ad, go to the site, and tell a story about your worst boss ever? Oh yeah, and perhaps win an all-expenses paid vacation for your troubles.

It seems like a good deal to me. So much so, I'm done talking to you. I'm going to go enter myself before the window expires on August 21.

And Now On A Lighter Note

Watch and enjoy:

New Ad Targets McConnell Over The Iraq War And The Military Draft

Usually when Mitch McConnell and George W. Bush get tired of listening to the Generals on the ground in Iraq, they fire them. What will they do now? This ad is being launched in Kentucky to pressure McConnell:



Cliff Note: Apparently this ad will also be targeting Republican Reps. Upton, Drake and English. This is going to becoming really un-fun soon for these GOPers posing as "moderates."

It may partially explain why now not only Rep. Ray LaHood, but as of today Rep. Deborah Pryce is retiring (she is from the district next to mine. I will write a longer post on this). Expect more to step down as time goes on.

Republican Sexcapades With The Young Turks



The little fun bit I do every week on TYT. Here is last week's edition.

Listen if you dare :)

What a way to wake up. Looks like the thought police are out in droves.

Read about two recent run-ins with them here and here.

"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could igve you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face... was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime..."

George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 5

The Mexicans Are Coming!! The Mexicans Are Coming!!

This is hysterical (partially because this is the way conservatives really think). You. Must. Watch. This.

Anti-war group ordered to remove posters for using the "wrong kind of tape"

What's next, being fined for using the wrong font?

A US anti-war group has been warned it will be fined 10,000 dollars if it does not remove posters in Washington announcing a march in the capital next month against US involvement in Iraq, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Methinks they have it out for the ANSWER Coalition. What do youthinks? Look what I found on their site:

The fines come after a campaign led by FOX news calling for the DC government to take action against those putting up posters for the September 15 demonstration.

Back to the original story:

Several hundred yellow posters have been put up around Washington announcing the protest, which is timed to coincide with the release of a report by the US military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, on progress in the US "surge" strategy of raising troop levels.

Sounds productive. So what's the problem again?

Washington city authorities said the posters have to come down because they were stuck on with adhesive that did not meet city regulations.

Oh my. That is serious. Very, very serious. Illegal adhesive. Send 'em all to jail!

Demonstrators from at least 90 cities around the United States and Canada have already pledged to come to Washington for the march, which will be part of a week of anti-war protests led by veterans of the Iraq war, according to Sloan.

A petition calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush, allegedly carrying one million signatures and endorsed by former US attorney general Ramsey Clark, will also be submitted to officials during the week's activities.

Somehow I think they'll get the word out. In fact, they're already on it. Check out their site to see how.

Homegrown terrorists in NY
We'll have to fight them, er, here so they don't follow us, um, here.

They preferred bookstores or hookah bars to mosques. They stopped listening to pop music and instead surfed Web sites promoting radical Islam. They threw away their baseball caps and grew beards. New York Police Department intelligence analysts have concluded those were some of the telltale signs of homegrown terrorists in the making - a mounting threat as grave as that from established terrorist groups like al-Qaida.

Don't panic. Our National Guard can protect-- Oh, that's right. They're all in Iraq.

An NYPD report released Wednesday warns of a ``radicalization'' process in which young men - otherwise unremarkable legal immigrants from the Middle East - grow disillusioned with life in America and adopt a philosophy that puts them on the path to jihad.

They're legal. Legal immigrants. They're here legally. But they're disillusioned. So am I, by the way. I thought we were a democracy. But that's another post for another time.

The findings drew swift criticism from an Arab anti-discrimination group, which accused the NYPD of stereotyping and of contradicting recent federal warnings that the chief terrorism threat remains foreign.

I bet the FBI had something to say about all this.

The FBI declined to comment.

Where do they hang out? How do we find them?

Instead of mosques, those places were more likely to be ``cafes, cab driver hangouts, flop houses, prisons, student associations, non-governmental organizations, hookah bars, butcher shops and bookstores,'' the report says.

The Internet also provides ``the wandering mind of the conflicted young Muslim or potential convert with direct access to unfiltered radical and extremist ideology.''

That's right. Blame the Internets. It's all those tubes, they confuse people.

Potential homegrown terrorists ``are not on the law enforcement radar,'' the study says. ``Most have never been arrested or involved in any kind of legal trouble.''

Maybe they can read their faces and body language. That's the best way to discern if someone's a terrorist, remember?

More spying on Americans. Now it's spy satellites.

I'm sure Congress will attend to this the way they did when they let Gonzo monitor our calls and emails.

Law enforcement, emergency response and border control agencies have won greater access to the nation's spy satellites and other sensors to monitor U.S. territory.

The sharing of imagery and data will be especially useful in policing land and sea borders and in disaster planning, Charles Allen, the Department of Homeland Security's chief intelligence officer, said in a phone interview Wednesday.

The effort may eventually support domestic law enforcement activities as well, he said, but the legal guidelines for that are still being worked out.

I'm sure they'll work on guidelining us out of every last one of our privacy rights.

The CIA and Pentagon are generally prohibited from spying on American citizens, and Allen stressed that the new data-sharing effort doesn't violate that ban. ''This is not a system for tracking Americans,'' Allen said.

Thanks, I feel so much better now.

''What could go wrong? There's the possibility of a recurrence of past abuses -- surveillance used against political opponents as in the Civil Rights era, the McCarthy era,'' said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.

''There's also an incidental erosion of personal privacy in which one now has to assume that anywhere you are, you are subject to overhead surveillance by the government. And that is a change in what it means to be an American,'' Aftergood said.

I couldn't agree mo-- Who's there? Someone's there, I can feel it.

''This is going be a very controlled process and I can't conceive of Americans having any serious concern,'' Allen said. ''No American should be at all concerned.''

I'm not concerned. Who says I'm concerned? Pfft! No way do I have any concern what--so--ever. Not me.

''They need to be subjected to an appropriate level of oversight. We seem to be retreating from intelligence oversight, not improving it,'' [Aftergood] said. ''The adoption of intelligence technology is moving faster than oversight can keep up with.... The basic system of checks and balances is being overtaken by new technology.''

I gotta go. "Big Brother" is on soon and I never miss an episode.

Chris Dodd calls for immediate suspension of importing Chinese food, toys




"This is an issue of safety. Parents should be confident that the toys and food that they give their children have been inspected and are safe. That's why I am calling on the President to use his authority to immediately suspend all imports of toys and food from China.

It's not enough to simply talk about working for fair trade agreements. We need leadership that will act to enforce fair trade. We have the legal right and power under the WTO to keep products out of our country that threaten the health and safety of our families, and I'm going to do all I can to ensure we do so."

Cliff Note: I think this is why Chris Dodd was judged by many to be the winner at the YearlyKos forum.

He actually speaks like a human being and stands up for what he believes in. How shocking. I wouldn't be surprised to see him make a run at the top tier of Dem candidates because he is willing to take on issues like this, that are important to everyone but the political class in DC.

Needless to say I am a huge fan of this move. I have a baby. And two pets. And once products from China are able to sicken or KILL my kids and/or my pets, I think putting the corporate interests of Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Blue Dog Democrats aside so that we can protect our families is just a wee bit important.

Who thought the Republican Party would ever climb into bed with Chinese Communists who are apparently ambivalent about whether to poison your family? Well, nobody but anyone who understands they'd sell their grandmas to make profits and take in corporate contributions...

Religion, culture behind Texas execution tally
Lone Star State’s death penalty toll due in part to evangelical influences

DALLAS - Texas will almost certainly hit the grim total of 400 executions this month, far ahead of any other state, testament to the influence of the state’s conservative evangelical Christians and its cultural mix of Old South and Wild West.

“In Texas you have all the elements lined up. Public support, a governor that supports it and supportive courts,” said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

“If any of those things are hesitant then the process slows down,” said Dieter. “With all cylinders working as in Texas it produces a lot of executions.”

I know, hard to imagine.

Bush listens to military officers, right?
They're saying Iraq has a bleak future.

Despite U.S. claims that violence is down in the Iraqi capital, U.S. military officers are offering a bleak picture of Iraq’s future, saying they’ve yet to see any signs of reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite Muslims despite the drop in violence.

Without reconciliation, the military officers say, any decline in violence will be temporary and bloodshed could return to previous levels as soon as the U.S. military cuts back its campaign against insurgent attacks.

This is when we all say a collective "duh". Ready? All together now: 1...2...3...DUH.

Thank you.

That downbeat assessment comes despite a buildup of U.S. troops that began five months ago Wednesday and has seen U.S. casualties reach the highest sustained levels since the United States invaded Iraq nearly four and a half years ago.

Duh. Duhduhduhduhduh. Duuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

U.S. officials say the number of civilian casualties in the Iraqi capital is down 50 percent. But U.S. officials declined to provide specific numbers, and statistics gathered by McClatchy Newspapers don't support the claim.

I won't say it. So what else is the military saying? The ones who Vice President Bush relies on?

Military officers serving in Iraq say much of the difficulties they're encountering are owed to mistakes that U.S. officials made in the early years of the war when the Coalition Provisional Authority dissolved the Iraqi army and banned many members of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist party from serving in government.

The actions drove many of those affected into resistance groups against the new government and U.S. forces.

...No pattern of improvement is discernible for violence during the five months of the surge.

I'm gonna say it. I can't resist: D-f'ing-UH. Wait. There's a bright spot? There has been a reduction in the number of bodies found on the streets. Yayyy!

But the reason for that decline isn't clear. Some military officers believe that it may be an indication that ethnic cleansing has been completed in many neighborhoods and that there aren’t as many people to kill.

Disregard bright spot. Does not exist. No bright spot. We are bright spotless.

Lt. Col. Douglas Ollivant, a planner for the U.S. military command in Baghdad, described the current strategy as “emergency medicine.”

There's just one problem with that analogy. Nobody's insured any more.

UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times reports that Gen. David Petraeus’ upcoming Sept. 15 report on Iraq will be authored by the White House. Thom Hartmann reported the same thing. And this is the report that everyone's so giddy about. Come on, did we expect something different?

Group that wants Bush to be "President-for-Life" linked to Bush Administration itself

I heard about this on, where else, the Thom Hartmann show. He discussed Democratic Underground's look at Family Security Matters. This bunch of sickos (apologies to Michael Moore) advocates that Bush should be our permanent president and that there should be no more democracy. Democracy is bad. Kings are good.

Who's on their advisory board? Reagan era remnants abound. Here are some names that Hartmann tossed out: Barbara Comstock, Laura Ingraham, Frank Gaffney, James Woolsey, and...drum roll...Dick Cheney. Oh, and by the way, it's the same Gaffney who goes on CNN with talk of aggression against Iran. That Frank Gaffney.

Here's what FSM removed from their web site:

President Bush is reviled; he has become another victim of Democracy.

By elevating popular fancy over truth, Democracy is clearly an enemy of not just truth, but duty and justice, which makes it the worst form of government. President Bush must overcome not just the situation in Iraq, but democratic government.

However, President Bush has a valuable historical example that he could choose to follow....

That valuable historic example? Julius Caesar.

If President Bush copied Julius Caesar by ordering his army to empty Iraq of Arabs and repopulate the country with Americans, he would achieve immediate results...

Eyebrows raised yet?

He could then follow Caesar's example and use his newfound popularity with the military to wield military power to become the first permanent president of America, and end the civil chaos caused by the continually squabbling Congress and the out-of-control Supreme Court.

Mine are. Raised, that is.

President Bush can fail in his duty to himself, his country, and his God, by becoming “ex-president” Bush or he can become “President-for-Life” Bush: the conqueror of Iraq, who brings sense to the Congress and sanity to the Supreme Court. Then who would be able to stop Bush from emulating Augustus Caesar and becoming ruler of the world? For only an America united under one ruler has the power to save humanity from the threat of a new Dark Age wrought by terrorists armed with nuclear weapons.

Democratic Underground links to the cached pages.

Update: Here's the link to the original piece. As I said in Comments, Hartmann doesn't do parody, he's not easily fooled, and I trust that this is real, based on what I've heard and read. If this turns out to be a parody, you have my apologies.

I love this stuff.


Wikipedia is only as anonymous as your IP

Finding out that someone from the Fox News network changed this:

The lawsuit focused a great deal of media attention upon Franken's book and greatly enhanced its sales. Reflecting later on the lawsuit during an interview on the [[National Public Radio]] program ''[[Fresh Air]]'' on [[September 3]], [[2003]], Franken said that Fox's case against him was "literally laughed out of court" and that "wholly (holy) without merit" is a good characterization of Fox News itself.

into

The lawsuit focused a great deal of media attention upon Franken's book and greatly enhanced its sales. Reflecting later on the lawsuit during an interview on the liberal [[National Public Radio]] program ''[[Fresh Air]]'' on [[September 3]], [[2003]], Franken said that Fox's case against him was the best thing to happen to his book sales.

is quite amusing.

Time for crowdsourcing to find the gems in there and report them over at Wired's wikiwatch.

MANY more examples of Fox "editing" over here.

The Firefighters Are Rudy's Heroes!



You know the people he left without proper communication devices to die in a crumbling building on 9/11, whose bodies he chose to scoop up like garbage and toss in a land fill.

You the people who only spent about as much time as he did at Ground Zero, the ones who he didn't think needed protective gear to spend 18 hour days at a radioactive site (while his buddy Bernie Kerik was using the apartment set aside for them to rest for his dalliances with his mistresses).

Sure Rudy, you care about the firefighters. Like a shark cares about chum.

What Can Brown Do For Giuliani?

As Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani had a very pro-immigrant stance. Of course, now that he is running for the GOP nomination, he's going all Tancredo on us. As Bill Maher pointed out, immigrant bashing has surpassed gay bashing among Republicans. "Brown is the new pink," he said, and Giuliani seems to be on board.

A week after being assailed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for being soft on illegal immigration as mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani today unveiled the details of his plan to solve the United States' immigration problem. His campaign is aggressively pushing back on Romney's attack to paint their GOP rival as a hypocrite on this issue.

"We can end illegal immigration," Giuliani vowed to an audience of roughly 300 at a community center in Aiken, S.C., Tuesday morning. "I promise you, we can end illegal immigration."

Listed as one of his "12 commitments" to the American people, Giuliani promised to secure the borders and identify every noncitizen in the United States, noting the more than 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

"That's a lot of people to walk over your border without being identified," he said.

The two-term mayor proposed requiring the deportation of any illegal immigrant who commits a felony, building both a physical and a high-tech border fence, deploying a larger and better-trained border patrol, implementing a tamperproof identity card for all foreign workers and students with a single national database of noncitizens to track their status.

The problem for the Mayor is that this new tough stance doesn't resemble his actual record on the subject.

"It sounds like an effort by Giuliani to make himself seem like a hawk on immigration when, in fact, he's been a dove all along," the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, Mark Krikorian, said.

(snip)

The director of the Manhattan-based Center for an Urban Future, Jonathan Bowles, said Mr. Giuliani seems to have forgotten the "positive impact that immigrants, both legal and illegal, have had on New York and other cities."

He pointed out that Mr. Giuliani created the mayor's office of immigrant affairs when he was in City Hall and filed suit against the federal government for attempting to allow city employees to turn in illegal immigrants who came forward for city services

It's going to be tough for Giuliani to hide his record on this subject. Luckily for him, they guy attacking him on this issue, Mitt-flop Romney, has some similar problems with his record.

The government shredded his legal drafts--and his banana peel

Yesterday I posted about how Treasury Department officials inadvertently provided a Saudi charity with National Security Agency (NSA) call logs stamped "top secret." The legal case that resulted, Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. George W. Bush, is one of dozens that claim illegal spying by the U.S. government.

Oakland lawyer Jon Eisenberg, who represents the foundation, says that this is the strangest case he has ever handled. Why?

Eisenberg was required to write one of his briefs in a windowless government office, without notes or lawbooks, under the watchful eye of two federal security guards.

When he got hungry, one of the guards brought him a banana. And when he finished, a security official shredded all his drafts — and even the banana peel, Eisenberg said.

The case will be argued today before a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. But much of the information will be kept secret. Eisenberg has to respond to a government filing he was not allowed to see.

Asked Monday if there was any way, under the government's interpretation of the law, that someone could contest the surveillance program, a senior Justice Department official replied, "In the current context, no."

He has to make arguments about something he has never seen or read. And his case is about whether Bush broke the law. If this case isn't allowed to go forward, then the case would "quietly die without a judicial determination of whether the president. . . has broken the law by conducting warrantless electronic surveillance in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."

The Al-Haramain proceedings turned Kafkaesque in June, he said, when he was told he would have to write a brief in the government office.

How restricted was he? He had to guess at what was in redacted portions of the government's brief. He couldn't bring notes or law books into the tiny "hush hush" 8x10 foot room, stripped bare of everything but a table, chairs, a phone, a laptop, and a printer. His cell phone and personal laptop batteries were taken from him.

Asked if he had ever before had to write a brief without any notes or lawbooks, Eisenberg responded, "Of course not. Under any other circumstances, that would be malpractice."

He was provided with a copy of the 1978 FISA Act. How generous.

Guards stood outside of his cell little room, and when he was hungry for lunch, they graciously gave him....a banana. They later shredded the peel along with early drafts of his work. He wasn't allowed to keep drafts of his own briefs.

Asked for his thoughts about the experience, Eisenberg quoted his July 3 public brief: "The soul of America's government is transparency — openness in the affairs of its three constitutional branches." Weeks after Eisenberg filed his two briefs, the public one and the sealed one, the government filed reply briefs — one public and one under seal. Eisenberg and his colleagues have seen only the public brief.

Here's a little tidbit from Yearly Kos. Bill Richardson.

No Charges for Soldier Who Paid to Be Shot in Leg to Avoid Iraq Tour

NEW YORK — A U.S. soldier who admitted he paid someone $500 to shoot him in the leg so he could avoid returning to Iraq will not face felony charges, though his wife and the gunman were indicted by a grand jury.

"I was hoping for the best, but preparing myself for the worst," said Army Pvt. Jonathan Aponte, 21, in Wednesday editions of The Daily News. "I went into the grand jury and told the truth, and I think they had sympathy for me," he added.

(snip)
Aponte had claimed he was robbed and shot July 9 but changed his story when police questioned him. He was set to leave on another eight-month tour the same day he was shot.

He told police that he had joked with his wife about getting shot in the leg so he would not have to return to Iraq, but his wife apparently took him seriously: She said she knew someone who could do the job.

Aponte still faces misdemeanor charges, including falsely reporting an incident, that could send him to jail for up to a year. His wife, Alexandra Gonzalez, 22, was indicted on felony assault charges, along with the gunman.

Aponte's attorney, Marty Goldberg, said the grand jury appears to have a sympathetic side. "

Good thing the jury had a sympathetic side. Not much sympathy coming from government.

Body Language and Facial Expression Police at airports...no, I'm not kidding

The Behavior Cops are watching you.

Next time you go to the airport, there may be more eyes on you than you notice.

Specially trained security personnel are watching body language and facial cues of passengers for signs of bad intentions. The watcher could be the attendant who hands you the tray for your laptop or the one standing behind the ticket-checker. Or the one next to the curbside baggage attendant.

They're called Behavior Detection Officers, and they're part of several recent security upgrades...

They're already at a dozen airports, and there will be 500 officers by the end of next year. Watching your face. Watching your body. But enough about my fantasies.

Behavior detection officers work in pairs. Typically, one officer sizes up passengers openly while the other seems to be performing a routine security duty. A passenger who arouses suspicion, whether by micro-expressions, social interaction or body language gets subtle but more serious scrutiny.

Got that? Micro-expressions are cause for alarm. A mere flicker. I can see the signs now: "Poker faces advised beyond this point."

The Department of Homeland Security hopes to dramatically enhance such security practices.

Yikes--there's that "enhance" word again. Remember "enhanced interrogations"? Torture much?

Jay M. Cohen, undersecretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology, said in May that he wants to automate passenger screening by using videocams and computers to measure and analyze heart rate, respiration, body temperature and verbal responses as well as facial micro-expressions.

Homeland Security is seeking proposals from scientists to develop such technology.

Not that they ever believed in science before this, but you know, if the fear factor fits...

It faces high hurdles, however. Different cultures express themselves differently. Expressions and body language are easy to misread, and no one's catalogued them all. [...] Finally, the extensive data-gathering of passengers' personal information will raise civil-liberties concerns.

Nooooo, really? Civil liberties? Like they ever counted. And about those different cultures, would that lead to "blink profiling" or "twitch discrimination"? What if you're Middle Eastern with a poker face, but American with a nervous cough? What a challenge, huh? Whew! I don't envy them Face Cops!

In Cohen's PowerPoint slide accompanying his aviation industry presentation was this slogan: "Every truly great accomplishment is at first impossible."

Now there's a guy with a dream.

Anti-Bush lampoon gets Eisteddfod go-ahead

The New South Wales Education Department says a Sydney school's Rock Eisteddfod piece which criticises US President George W Bush is entirely appropriate and should not be cancelled.

The performance of Davidson High School's piece "Bad Knight Two" will now coincide with Mr Bush's visit to Australia for the APEC summit, because he is arriving earlier than expected.

Deputy director-general of schools Trevor Fletcher says the war in Iraq is something that concerns young people, just like drug use and drink-driving, which are topics covered by other schools.

He says the timing of the event was set a long time ago, and has nothing to do with the President's visit.

What a refreshing piece. Look at what one of the students said.

She says her teacher always tells them they don't have to share his opinion on the war.

"We're all mature enough to take our own views on what we believe and what he believes isn't necessarily what I believe," she said.

Damn, this has me thinking about restarting my Netflix subscription.




via the Turk that Atta.....

How low can they go?

Click on this for a better view.

From the Pew Research Center:

The American public continues to fault news organizations for a number of perceived failures, with solid majorities criticizing them for political bias, inaccuracy and failing to acknowledge mistakes. [...]

Meanwhile, ratings of other political institutions have been falling at a comparable rate. ... As a result, news organizations continue to be seen more favorably by the American public than most governmental institutions, despite their declining ratings.

Psst! Guess who the American public finds the most unlikable. Hint: They're the very last entry.

H/t to AMERICAblog

Yorkville High School wrestling coach Dennis Hastert holds state championship trophy in 1976. (Yorkville High School Yearbook)

Denny Hastert is announcing his retirement on Friday..."that's definitive"

Yes, the rumors were true. I think it's touching that so many of Bush's gang want to spend time with their respective families, don't you?

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Dennis Hastert is expected to announce on Friday his retirement from Congress, a House Republican aide said on Tuesday.

"He is going to announce a retirement ... that's definitive," said the aide, who asked not to be identified.

His term runs through next year, and it's not clear whether or not he's leaving before then. Pity. Just in case anyone isn't clear about why we're not big fans of his:

The former high school teacher and wrestling coach was a loyal supporter of President George W. Bush's agenda, including the Iraq war.

Yes, it's because he used to be a wrestling coach.

US Pays Millions In Cost Overruns For Security in Iraq

More profiteering, I know, you're as shocked as I am. It is nice to have our taxypayer money going to British firms that deal in war instead of healthcare for American children. Yeah, that makes sense...

The U.S. military has paid $548 million over the past three years to two British security firms that protect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on reconstruction projects, more than $200 million over the original budget, according to previously undisclosed data that show how the cost of private security in Iraq has mushroomed.

The two companies, Aegis Defence Services and Erinys Iraq, signed their original Defense Department contracts in May 2004. By July of this year, the contracts supported a private force that had grown to about 2,000 employees serving the Corps of Engineers. The force is about the size of three military battalions.

It's The Bill O'Reilly "Shut Up" Song



It has a killer chorus. Give it a listen!

Oops! "Top Secret" NSA logs were accidentally given to a Saudi charity by the Treasury Department

[O]ne rather obscure case could pull back the veil on a surveillance program that's at the heart of the US fight against terror. In the federal appeals court in San Francisco Wednesday, lawyers for a Saudi charity accused of helping Al Qaeda will argue that their clients, including two American attorneys, were illegally spied on without the required court warrant.

Whoa! How do they know that?

How do they know? Treasury Department officials inadvertently provided them with National Security Agency (NSA) call logs stamped "top secret."

Uh-ohhhh. Somebody made a biiiiig boo-boo.

The judges also said that they have "standing" in federal courts – that they have enough of a case to sue the federal government.

Yeah, yeah, same ol', same ol'. Really, how far can they get?

If the appeals court agrees with the lower court, the US Supreme Court is likely to become involved. The case could have broader significance as well since it deals with presidential power during wartime.

"The difficulty in challenging any secret program is in proving that you were a victim of it," says Jon Eisenberg, a lawyer in Oakland, Calif., who represents the now-defunct US arm of the Islamic charitable foundation. "We have that proof, and that makes us unique."

So, there we have it! Justice will prevail! Then again, if it goes to the Supremes, all bets are off. But still... they did say they have proof, and that should count for something.

Treasury and Justice Department officials refuse to comment on the case. But in court documents urging dismissal, administration officials wrote: "Whether plaintiffs were subjected to surveillance is a state secret, and information tending to confirm or deny that fact is privileged."

The italics are mine. So is the headache coming on.

Imus and CBS Reach Settlement of Threatened Suit

Don Imus is reportedly in negotiations with WABC radio in New York to resume his broadcasting career there.

Yeah, whatever.

A Private Stock Market Free of Regulation.
This can't end well.

I know next to nothing about finances, investing, Wall Street, which pretty much explains my convulsive savings account. But I do understand this:

Nasdaq is set to launch tomorrow what its executives are calling one of the most significant developments on Wall Street in decades -- a private stock market for super-wealthy investors.

Minimum requirement for traders: $100 million in assets.

Can things get any more exclusionary?

Any private firm can list on Nasdaq's new platform, which is called the Portal Market, and raise money by selling stock to an elite group of shareholders. These companies would remain private and not have to make public their financial statements or submit to federal regulation, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate accountability law.

No federal regulation. That's been working well. What about the rest of us who, you know, don't have a hundred million dollars?

Ordinary investors can only participate indirectly if their mutual fund creates an account to trade on the private markets. [...] In just a few years, Nasdaq officials predict, stock offerings on private markets will far exceed IPOs on public exchanges.

Why not just privatize everything? Who needs a middle class, anyway, right?

But the trend is causing a backlash among working-class Americans who generally are shut out from investing directly in those circles...

Ya think?! This brings us to another edition of our

*Vote Republican!* snappy Campaign-omercial file:

Mom 'n' Pop businesses? How quaint! The middle class? A thing of the past! Unions? Kooky! The Republican party stands for corporate power, corporate war machine, corporate everything! Let's hear it for U.S.of A., Inc.! Why, some corporations are bigger than...entire nations! Hot dog! And lobbyists? Uh oh! Love those yachts, jet planes, and hot tubs! Who could ask for more? Vote Republican: The hog heaven party!

BONUS CAMPAIGN-O-MERCIAL, KIDS!

Land-o'-Goshen, just think! With the elimination of the middle class, there's no educated electorate! Which means we can sell ignorant people just about anything! We can sell them 30,000 casualties in Iraq, "enhanced interrogation techniques", and total privatization! We'll call everything an "opportunity", but we know it's really just good old fashioned ignorance. Nobody will suspect a thing! Vote Republican: The party of mass infliction!

Wow, I didn't even know about this.

Picking Bush's Brain

One of the accidental subplots to Karl Rove’s departure yesterday was a question directed to President Bush by CBS White House correspondent Bill Plante at Rove's farewell press event. His question was picked up by a DC media blog and generated many responses. So we asked Bill for his side of the story, which follows.

As the President and Karl Rove walked away from the lectern after their emotional announcement of Rove’s resignation, I yelled a question.

“If he’s so smart, why did you lose Congress?”

The President, as usual, didn’t answer.

That’s OK – he doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to.

But judging by some of the reaction, you’d think I had been shouting obscenities in church!

“Unprofessional;” “Inappropriate;” “Unbecoming;” “Doesn’t show much class;” “you are a total idiot;” “Shill for the liberal Democrats.”

(snip)

The point is that reporters are not here as guests.
We’re here to ask questions.

Thanks for doing your job Mr Plante, it is appreciated.

Oh geez. Open Left put together some erm, creepy moments of Tweety.




***** UPDATE

OMG. YouTube has this vid of Tweety singing ***at David Shusters' wedding.



***liberal interpretation of singing implied

Romney Is Really Rich

Mitt Romney just filed his personal financial disclosure reports, and the results are in - he's really rich. How rich? A net worth estimated to be up to a quarter of a billion (with a b) rich. Not Bill Gates rich, but Alex Rodriguez rich. Which, in modern parlance, is referred to as effin rich.

And you know what? Good for him. Unlike some on the left, I have no problem with folks amassing that kind of wealth, as long as they came by it honestly.

On the other hand, Romney should expect to be attacked by Fox News and GOP pundits for hating the poor. You remember when the GOP found out that John Edwards was rich and owned a big house, they pilloried him, calling him a phony. According to those pundits, Edwards couldn't care about the poor because he had money and a big house. Never mind that Oprah is rich, Bill Gates is rich, Ted Turner was rich and they all helped the poor (was FDR poor too?). No, according to those pundits, you can't be rich and worried about the poor, so Edwards was a phony.

Well, now we know that Mitt is richer. A lot richer. So if he ever suggests helping the poor, I am sure that those same GOP pundits, who are known for their intellectual consistency, will launch the same attacks on Mitt. I'm sure it will happen any day now ... any day.

14-Aug-2007
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13-Aug-2007
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11-Aug-2007
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US Private 1st Class William L. Edwards

10-Aug-2007
US Staff Sergeant Joan J. Duran

09-Aug-2007
UK Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath
UK Lance Corporal Chris Casey

08-Aug-2007
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET
US Specialist Donald M. Young

07-Aug-2007
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US Corporal Reynold Armand
UK Leading Aircraftman Martin Beard
US Sergeant Jon E. Bonnell Jr.

06-Aug-2007
UK Private Craig Barber
US Specialist Christopher T. Neiberger
US Staff Sergeant Jacob M. Thompson
US Sergeant Nicholas A. Gummersall
US Corporal Juan M. Alcantara
US Specialist Kareem R. Khan


Stats via Icasualties

Rick Noriega For US Senate

What a fantastic ad. Seriously, one of the best I have seen yet. The visuals are moving and the story compelling. Noriega, a veteran, state legislator and leader shows how he helped deal with the fallout of Katrina in Texas, went to Afghanistan and Iraq as a soldier and worked with other lawmakers as a state representative.



Now I know why everyone has been raving about this guy.

And oh how this contrasts with "Box Turtle" John Cornyn, who is a Bush rubber stamp and one of the dumber and more bigoted GOPers in the Senate (and that, of course, is truly saying something). With Cornyn's approval rating in the toilet--a place one could also find objects with a roughly similar IQ--get ready for this to be a nasty race, as a true hero takes on a slimy sewer-dweller who can only sell hate.

Video to go with Keith's "WPITW" tonight.

Despite warnings, officials used 43 months of severe isolation to force Jose Padilla to tell all he knew about Al Qaeda

They wanted to break his will. He was a US citizen, and he had a right against forced self-incrimination. That's a constitutional guarantee, right? Not once President Bush declared him an enemy combatant. Poof! Gone.

After a month of questioning by the FBI in New York under the rules of the criminal justice system, he still wouldn't talk about his alleged involvement in a plot to detonate a "dirty bomb" in the US. So they shipped him off to North Carolina and kept him in isolation. How isolated? He was the only only detainee in the entire security wing of the prison.

The purpose...was to eliminate the possibility of human contact. No voices in the hallway. No conversations with other prisoners. No tapping out messages on the walls. No ability to maintain a sense of human connection, a sense of place or time.

In essence, experts say, the US government was trying to break Padilla's silence by plunging him into a mental twilight zone.

His stay at Hotel Nutball didn't exactly reek of creature comforts:

...Padilla's cell measured nine feet by seven feet. The windows were covered over. There was a toilet and sink. The steel bunk was missing its mattress.

He had no pillow. No sheet. No clock. No calendar. No radio. No television. No telephone calls. No visitors. Even Padilla's lawyer was prevented from seeing him for nearly two years.

For significant periods of time the Muslim convert was denied any reading material, including the Koran. The mirror on the wall was confiscated. Meals were slid through a slot in the door. The light in his cell was always on.

And this is how they treat someone who hasn't been convicted yet. It's enough to make a guy feel...tortured.

Extreme isolation, in concert with other coercive techniques, can literally drive a person insane, these experts say. And that makes it a potential instrument of torture, they add.

This technique wasn't supposed to be used for longer than 30 days. At least, not without Rummy's approval.

By April 2003, Padilla had already spent 10 months in isolation at the brig. Ultimately, he was housed in the same cell, alone in his wing, for three years and seven months, according to court documents.

"We don't do torture." --President Bush, August 9, 2007

Mitch McConnell Praises Karl Rove As He Resigns In Disgrace

Mitch McConnell had more praise his close friend Karl Rove today, as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff announced his resignation. Of course, McConnell talked Rove into hiring his political director Scott Jennings, who it now appears will continue to be investigated along with Rove:

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also praised Rove’s tenure.

“Karl Rove has made an enormous contribution to our country and our party. Now, as he leaves the White House and turns to new challenges, I wish him and his family well as they begin this new chapter in their lives,” McConnell said.

It is good to see McConnell deciding to embrace family values once again, after skipping his mother-in-law’s funeral a couple weeks ago to hurl insults at his political opponents at Fancy Farm.

The Iraqi Parliament Takes A "Vaca"....A Dramatization

This is a really funny video that pokes humor at the Iraqi Parliament's Bush-length vacation. I think you'll enjoy...

You may have been duplicated: The U.S. Military has funded a world simulation system.

What exactly would it take to get the US public spurred into action? Per Heather Wokusch on, yes, Thom Hartmann's show (he's so good, he's triple-post worthy):

Sentient World Simulation (SWS) may have an answer. It's a computer-based project designed to "generate alternative futures" and no surprise, the US Defense Department is actively involved.

Once again, my patented, award-winning HartmannQuickNotes:

They want to match one person on earth to one cyber person in the project, as well as group to group and institution to institution. Then they can see how each responds to events such as natural disasters or political upheavals.

Example: They go to say, Portland, Oregon and built a data base dossier on everyone who lives there, including what they do for a living, if they're married or not, a psychological profile, information about their credit cards, medical histories, etc. They then create a simulated world on a computer, using all the information from these same people, so that each cyber person becomes one of the real people that they've profiled. Then they use these duplicates to try out various things, using all the info.

So, all day these people are running around Portland, doing what they do, and this cyber city is running simultaneously. They could try dropping a bomb, or setting off a dirty bomb, or blowing up a building, or a taking a building hostage, or some other terrorist attack...or putting up surveillance cameras. Then they see how people will react.

The technology has already been used for marketing in the corporate world. And now there's this.

There is one organization that has achieved this parallel universe, and that is--fanfare-- the U.S. Army.

They can test the draft. They can test pretty much anything. Why? Because if you know how people react, you can figure out how to get them to do what you want them to do. PSYOPs. You can anticipate and shape behaviors of adversaries, neutrals, and partners.

But nobody's talking about it. Yes, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security are all over this, and the U.S. military has funded it to the tune of millions of dollars. If they were testing the effects of Psychological Operations on Portland or anywhere else, it would be illegal, but we'd never know about it.

Have a nice day!

Linda Chavez Lines Her Pockets

When she's not busy trying to destroy unions, Linda Chavez is apprently lining the pockets of her family with "murky" fundraising tactics. Enjoy!

Linda Chavez rose to prominence in the 1980s as a tart-tongued Reagan administration official and candidate for the Senate, eventually becoming a well-known Latina voice on social issues and President Bush's choice to lead the Labor Department. With her conservative celebrity came book deals, a syndicated column, regular appearances on the Fox News Channel -- and a striking but little-known success at political fundraising.

In the years since she was forced to pull her nomination as Bush's labor secretary after admitting payments to an illegal immigrant, Chavez and her immediate family members have used phone banks and direct-mail solicitations to raise tens of millions of dollars, founding several political action committees with bankable names: the Republican Issues Committee, the Latino Alliance, Stop Union Political Abuse and the Pro-Life Campaign Committee. Their solicitations promise direct action in the "fight to save unborn lives," a vigorous struggle against "big labor bosses" and a crippling of "liberal politics in the country."

That's not where the bulk of the money wound up being spent, however. Of the $24.5 million raised by the PACs from January 2003 to December 2006, $242,000 -- or 1 percent -- was passed on to politicians, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal election reports. The PACs spent even less -- $151,236 -- on independent political activity, such as mailing pamphlets.

Instead, most of the donations were channeled back into new fundraising efforts, and some were used to provide a modest but steady source of income for Chavez and four family members, who served as treasurers and consultants to the committees. Much of the remaining funds went to pay for expenses such as furniture, auto repairs and insurance, and rent for the Sterling office the groups share. Even Chavez's health insurance was paid for a time from political donations.

"I guess you could call it the family business," Chavez said in an interview

Did Reid make a deal with Bush to give up recess appointments in return for delivering the FISA bill?

That was another interesting question from Thom Hartmann on Air America Radio (he's got great topics). He went on to say that he feels strongly that if there are no major recess appointments, then a pretty darned big deal was cut. We should know in the next 2 weeks or so.

I report, take quick notes, and post; you decide. My take: He's right.

Where will Rove rove?
(And damn, why couldn't Bush have been the one to leave?)

Yes, I've been listening to Thom Hartmann again. Some quickly-taken notes:

He's getting out while the getting's good. It will be harder for Congress to come after him; it's all about public opinion, which is driven by our infotainment

He'll most likely create a think tank. Then, the righties can hire him at arm's length. Like Kissinger.

A Big Book Deal: The Repukes will organize a mass-buy of his bible fiction textbook on how to destroy opponents' lives Very Serious Work up so that it hits the New York Times best seller list.

He'll incorporate off shore to avoid paying taxes on the income from the corporation and the book. He'll make a fortune and live evilly ever after.

The good news? Patrick Leahy is still going on with his investigation of Rove's involvement in the mass firing of U.S. Attorneys.

The media by the way, don't congregate in Texas or wherever Rove ends up. Meaning: If Harriet Miers were still in the White House, the subpoena would have been in the news every day, because the news actors reporters are already in D.C., where they can accumulate really swell video quite easily. Essentially, Rove will be out of the easy-to-see picture; therefore he's good for maybe a one-day story which takes the spotlight off of him, and therefore takes the focus off of his nefarious endeavors.

I'm guessing KKKarl won't have all that much time to spend with his family. Pity. Also on Hartmann:

Per Jackson Thoreau, the reason Rove is leaving is connected to Cheney and the scheme he hatched to out Valerie Plame. Rove and Scooter Libby, of course,were central to that criminal enterprise. Rove went to the Grand Jury five times and was about to be indicted. He wasn't, but they did get Libby... who, as we all know, was well-taken care of.

Ever since Libby got nailed, Cheney was angry at Rove for not taking the fall. His theory is that Cheney pushed Rove out.

Related quote from Thoreau: "Perhaps Rove wants to spend more time with his gay stepfather, the one who left Rove and his suicidal mother during Christmas time one year, to talk about "family values."

Then again, Rove could have just wanted that fortune he anticipates making, plus do some "hard work" to cheat the voters, annihilate his enemies, and clinch a win for the Republican presidential nominee.

Okay, I have nothing since I'm so broken up about Karl leaving...
(eye roll), so I want to continue a theme first visited in my little post about Bill O'Reilly "critiquing" The Bourne Ultimatum.

From the comments:

Gene Gaudette said...
Maybe Billo will be in the next film in the series: "The Bourne Bloviation"

and the Cliffster himself, Bill O'Reilly: The Born Stupidity


Give it your best shot!!! Mamma needs a t-shirt slogan!!!

*sniff* Buh-bye Karl, we'll miss you soooooo......



In the next one, almost better than Karl's hair is those HUGE computers.

Good lord.

Breaking: Karl Rove Retiring



The people throughout the land rejoice. It seems Hades has an opening sooner than planned.

"No More Mitch" Daniels

This is for you Paddy. We want to help you get rid of your corrupt governor in Indiana. Here's to hoping it works.

Tommy Thompson Out

That at least is what I am seeing on MSNBC right now. It makes sense. He was the only semi-normal human being in the entire Republican field. A guy who supported stem cell research and actually tried to spend as much as he could on the SCHIP program when Governor of Wisconsin.

There's no place for people in the GOP anymore who think kids deserve healthcare.

You've got to give it to Billo, when bashing Democrats and their venues doesn't work out (how's that spank mark healing from your tete a tete with Senator Dodd?), he takes it right to the heart of Un-American Values..... fictional characters in movies.

‘Bourne’ flick is ultimately un-American

... I knew this movie was trouble when I read the reviews. Almost all the critics liked it. The only way American movie critics would like a violent car-chase film like this was if it bashed the USA, which, of course, it does.

The CIA guys are bad, bad, bad. And just to make sure Indonesian and Pakistani audiences get the picture, the CIA chief issues his evil orders with the American flag clearly seen on his desk. No language barrier here, no sir. The U.S. intelligence agencies are fiendish enterprises that want to hurt Damon and actually force Stiles to cut her own hair. How could they?

Oh, wait. Whew, he's not that crazy!! He bases some of his criticism of the movie on...... things the actors in the movie said when they weren't acting. That's MUCH better.

Actually, neither Damon nor Stiles has to do much acting. Damon does work for the far-left MoveOn organization and is on record as requesting that the Bush daughters serve in Iraq. The actor also told the Idaho Statesman that the CIA’s use of water boarding is an erosion of our American values.

Guess what? There’s a water-boarding scene in the flick. What a coincidence!

Stiles is also down with the far left. On a cable program she explained why she missed a MoveOn event by saying: “I was afraid that Bill O’Reilly would come with a shotgun at my front door and shoot me for being unpatriotic.”

Look it up if you don’t believe me.

I can honestly say this is the first column by the Loofah master himself that I have ever read, and for a very good reason. It rambles, makes no coherent sense and has no other purpose than to bash people.

He really doesn't give a hoot what you end up thinking about the movie, just that it was direct by, written by and acted by "Un-American People" Copyright © 1985-2007 Bill O'Reilly Inc.

"...I think Dick Cheney is a criminal in virtually everything he's touched or had involvement in, whether it's the war or economy or civil liberties."

I agree. If only there were some way to confront him. Nothing big, just...you know...some way.

Some 200 people gathered in a Wilson field Saturday afternoon for a "Peace Rally" to protest the Iraq war and send a message to Vice President Dick Cheney, who owns a home just up the road.

Yes! Yes! And--okay, this is just a thought--what if a...Republican were to come forward! Yeah, that's the ticket!

"We organized it because of the war in Iraq and what an injustice it has been," Walt Farmer, retired Air Force captain and registered Republican said. "The Vice President has received a pass in Jackson long enough. We want to let them know we don't approve of the war or how they play fast and loose with the Constitution."

Okay, now I know I'm pushing my luck, but if even just one Democratic state official attended, then it would be a genuine bipartisan effort!

Attending a rally first with speakers, including State Rep. Pete Jorgensen (D-Jackson), author Alexandra Fuller and musicians, the group then took to the county bike path where they marched 1.5 miles north to the entrance of the exclusive Teton Pines Country Club, where Cheney lives when he is in Wyoming.

This is just too eerie. My entire fantasy is coming true! Okay, okay, since we're on a roll, get this: What if there was some visual...some...artistic rendition that would symbolize Darth himself? Nah. That's asking too much.

A 10-foot tall effigy of Cheney, with a fishing pole in one hand and a spouting oil well in the other, was brought on the route. Rally-goers toppled the statute as a symbolic gesture of their disapproval of the vice president.

Woo hoo! Thank you, Wilson, Wyoming! You guys rock!

Bush and Cheney Turn Iraq Into Huge Arms Profiteering Market as Evidenced by Arrests in Italy

Huh?

Iraqi and Italian partners haggled over shipping more than 100,000 Russian-made automatic weapons into the bloodbath of Iraq. As the secretive, $40 million deal neared completion, Italian authorities moved in, making arrests and breaking it up. But key questions remain unanswered.

Here's a key question: Huh?

...Iraqi government officials were involved in the deal, apparently without the knowledge of the U.S. Baghdad command — a departure from the usual pattern of U.S.-overseen arms purchases. Why these officials resorted to "black" channels and where the weapons were headed is unclear.

HUH???

The purchase would merely have been the most spectacular example of how Iraq has become a magnet for arms traffickers and a place of vanishing weapons stockpiles and uncontrolled gun markets since the 2003 U.S. invasion and the onset of civil war.

Finally. Something that makes sense.

Iraqi middlemen in the Italian deal, in intercepted e-mails, claimed the arrangement had official American approval. A U.S. spokesman in Baghdad denied that.

Of course he did. Because we'd never give official American approval for anything illegal. Like, ummm, say, extraordinary rendition or anything. Suspicious activities? Connected to George W. Cheney? That would be so, I dunno, strange.

In the documents, Razzi describes it as "strange" that the U.S.-supported Iraqi government would seek such weapons via the black market.

Jinx! You owe me a Coke.

Investigators say the prospect of an Iraq deal was raised last November, when an Iraqi-owned trading firm e-mailed Massimo Bettinotti, 39, owner of the Malta-based MIR Ltd., about whether MIR could supply 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles and 10,000 machine guns "to the Iraqi Interior Ministry," adding that "this deal is approved by America and Iraq."

I'm trying my best to not become a cynic. I mean, it's not like we have a track record of poor control of arms into Iraq or anything.

In fact, in a further sign of poor controls on the flow of arms into Iraq, a July 31 audit report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office said the U.S. command's books don't contain records on 190,000 AK-47s and other weapons, more than half those issued in 2004-2005 to Iraqi forces. This makes it difficult to trace weapons that may be passed on to militias or insurgents.

Okay. Color me cynical. And color the "bad guys" grateful. And color this administration an unmitigated disaster.

I've always been surprised this doesn't happen more often.
Or maybe it just isn't reported.

Cyber protest targets UN website

The United Nation's official website appears to have been hacked in a form of "cyber-protest" against Israeli and US policies in the Middle East.

A message appearing on the site early on Sunday said:

"Hacked By kerem125 M0sted and Gsy That is CyberProtest Hey Ysrail and Usa dont kill children and other people Peace for ever No war."

Several web pages of the subsite for comments and news about Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, were affected and that section of the UN website was taken offline temporarily.

At least I like their message!!

Forget Washington's simplistic view. There is no war in Iraq.

There are many. Multiple groups are fighting for multiple goals in Iraq. This isn't new information:

Despite what you may have heard, there is no "war" in Iraq. Rather, there are many wars raging through the Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni territories. These wars are complicated and deep-seated, with roots that, in some cases, go back centuries.

As usual, the simple-minded president presents things in a simplistic way:

The perception portrayed by the White House and the Iraqi government in Baghdad -- and all too often reflected, I'm sorry to say, in the news media -- is that the violence in Iraq is the result of a straightforward struggle between two opposing teams: the Freedom Lovers and the Freedom Haters.

This part stood out to me (italics are mine):

Many Sunni groups in Iraq are also fighting a war that seems to have little in common with the official U.S. and Iraqi characterizations. Al Qaeda in Iraq and its allies now fight under an umbrella group they call the Islamic State of Iraq. In April, the group issued an Internet statement saying it is fighting a "Zionist-Persian" conspiracy to rule Iraq. From what they wrote, they seem to believe that they are fighting an attempt to take over their country by Israel and Iran -- not against a U.S. mission to bring democracy to Iraq.

They said that? "Al Qaeda in Iraq" is not fighting democracy, "our way of life", our freedoms, our Levis, or Britney Spears? What a newsflash. So that means that President Cheney and V.P. Bush are---what's that word again? Oh yeah---lying. Like I said, nothing new here. Engel makes the point that our young men and women simply can't mediate with machine guns. Here's what they have to contend with:

• Muqtada Sadr, who has ...tapped into the frustrations of Iraq's poor, uneducated and unemployed Shiite community, which is increasingly fed up with the continued presence of U.S. troops.
• The Kurds: Iraqi Kurds want independence in northern Iraq and control of the oil rich city of Kirkuk.
• Abdelaziz Hakim: The infirm leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (now known as the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council) wants to control southern Iraq and carve out a ministate allied with Iran.
• Iyad Allawi, who wants to ...overthrow Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and unite Sunnis and Shiites under his secular rule. He wants to be Iraq's pro-American strongman.
• Nouri Maliki, whose goals are unclear... At times, he is reading talking points from the White House, but he also is beholden to Sadr.

We keep hearing that the Iraqi government "won't step up and do its job."

Perhaps the question should be: "Which job?" American soldiers often ask me when the Iraqis will "step up and fight for their country." The problem is Iraqis are already fighting for their country, and fighting savagely. They are just not fighting the war of the Freedom Haters versus the Freedom Lovers that many in the U.S. administration would apparently like them to be fighting.

And now there's that familiar crescendo of bleats from the 4th Branch of Cheney about how much fun it would be to go after Iran. Because, you know, they hate our Freedom too. Welcome to 2002.

This is an INCREDIBLY good sign for Democrats.

Hispanics shunning party labels
Once solidly GOP, Hispanic voters in South Florida and statewide are choosing not to register with either major party.

Less than half of the county's Hispanic voters are registered Republicans, down from 59 percent less than a decade ago, The Miami Herald found.

Like newer voters elsewhere in the state and the nation, more Hispanic voters are rebuffing political parties: One out of four in Miami-Dade are registered as nonpartisan. In Broward County, one in three Hispanic registered voters are unaffiliated with either party.

''It's a trend that I've seen happening, and obviously it concerns me,'' said Jose ''Pepe'' Riesco, vice chairman of the Miami-Dade Republican Party. ``It's a problem we can't run away from.''

I lived in Miami on and off for 15 years, and I can count on my one hand how many Hispanic Democrats I met during that time.

Let's hope the D's take this for the gift it is and run with it.

Dick Cheney '94: Invading Baghdad Would Create Quagmire

This man is such an abosolutely loathsome character, a venal, hypocritical, self-serving, myopic, immoral anthropod that we can only hope he disappears into the dustbin of history sooner rather than later.

Thank Jehovah For Dick Wadhams



This is the Karl Rove protege that brought his party that impressive victory for George Allen in 2006. Oops, I meant pathetic loss.

He is nasty and brutish (not sure about short, but would still most likley make Hobbes blush). Basically a thug in a long line of GOP thugs extending from Foxnews' Roger Ailes and Lee Atwater to Karl Rove, Ralph Reed and Alex Castellanos, to this schmuck.

Sadly their polarizing politics is failing these days, because they have proven they govern like Lindsay Lohan drives. So be thankful that Dick Waddles (ok, childish, but then so am I) is in charge of the Colorado GOP, because he is bringing that played out brand of loser GOP politics to a key swing state, which has been already turning blue before our eyes the past couple of years.

So soon, we can rename Wadhams "The Accelerant."

More YearlyKos Comedy For A Lazy Sunday

** Once again courtesy of our friends at PoliticsTV

Don't forget!!! Meet the Press today should be interesting!!

MTP: Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) and Markos Moulitsas on the Democratic Party; roundtable of Bloomberg's Margaret Carlson, TIME's Michael Duffy, NBC's Chuck Todd, and National Review's Byron York on various topics incl 08

FTN: Mike Huckabee (R-AR); roundtable of Des Moines Register's David Yepsen, TIME's Karen Tumulty, and Politico's Jim VandeHei.

This Week: Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) on Ames straw poll & 08; Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) on 08; roundtable of conservative George Will, conservative Fareed Zakaria, conservative Torie Clarke and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile; Leonardo DiCaprio on his new environmental documentary, "The 11th Hour"

FNS: Mitt & Ann Romney (R-MA)

Late Edition: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) & Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) on Iraq, Iran and terrorism; Transportation Sec. Mary Peters; Rep. David Dreier (R-CA-Giuliani), Buddy Roemer (R-LA-McCain) & ex-Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO-Romney) on 08; Pakistani Amb. Mahmud Ali Durrani; CNN's Bill Schneider & Hotline's Amy Walter

liberally swiped from Newsie8200 as usual