WHAT ONE GOES THROUGH TO GET SOME TRUTH
Loaded with pop-ups, whizgigs and blinking ads - this story is worth following through the tedious pages grinding on your screen. It is several pages long and loads up like molasses on a cold day in Kansas, but informative. Call it a blink of insight through the corporate filters. Read it at: World News - MSNBC.com
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
War Protestor's Public Suicide in Chicago Unnoticed by Media
TELL BEN STEIN AND BANK OF AMERICA
Chicago - Malachi Ritscher envisioned his death as one full of purpose. He carefully planned the details, mailed a copy of his apartment key to a friend, created to-do lists for his family. On his Web site, the 52-year-old experimental musician who'd fought with depression even penned his obituary.
At 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 3 - four days before an election caused a seismic shift in Washington politics - Ritscher, a frequent anti-war protester, stood by an off-ramp in downtown Chicago near a statue of a giant flame, set up a video camera, doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire.
Aglow for the crush of morning commuters, his flaming body was supposed to be a call to the nation, a symbol of his rage and discontent with the US war in Iraq.
"Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing to threaten our country," he wrote in his suicide note. "... If one death can atone for anything, in any small way, to say to the world: I apologize for what we have done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country."
There was only one problem: No one was listening.
Read the complete article at:
Protest suicide on highway unnoticed
Chicago - Malachi Ritscher envisioned his death as one full of purpose. He carefully planned the details, mailed a copy of his apartment key to a friend, created to-do lists for his family. On his Web site, the 52-year-old experimental musician who'd fought with depression even penned his obituary.
At 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 3 - four days before an election caused a seismic shift in Washington politics - Ritscher, a frequent anti-war protester, stood by an off-ramp in downtown Chicago near a statue of a giant flame, set up a video camera, doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire.
Aglow for the crush of morning commuters, his flaming body was supposed to be a call to the nation, a symbol of his rage and discontent with the US war in Iraq.
"Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing to threaten our country," he wrote in his suicide note. "... If one death can atone for anything, in any small way, to say to the world: I apologize for what we have done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country."
There was only one problem: No one was listening.
Read the complete article at:
Protest suicide on highway unnoticed
Scientists: Climate Change Clues in Sky
"With NASA reporting that 2005 was the warmest year on record worldwide, the debate over global warming marches on, but not here. The American and Canadian scientists at the Eureka Weather Station in the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut, like the Inuit who are seeing their native habitat thaw, are beyond questioning the existence of climate change."
Scientists: Climate Change Clues in Sky
Scientists: Climate Change Clues in Sky
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Is Depleted Uranium the suspect behind Military Suicides?
Statistical evidence is accumulating.
Generations of veterans at risk.
Read the Global Research editorial posted before this article by the respected writer and editor, Greg Mitchell, from Editor and Publisher magazine. Global Research broadcasts on the web from Canada.
Click title line for more.
Generations of veterans at risk.
Read the Global Research editorial posted before this article by the respected writer and editor, Greg Mitchell, from Editor and Publisher magazine. Global Research broadcasts on the web from Canada.
Click title line for more.
Gabriel Kolko: Factors in Our Colossal Mess
A must read.
Perhaps one of the most terrifying articles on international finance and the situation facing the American public I have ever read. Written by a guy who should know, Gabriel Kolko, who writes infrequently on CounterPunch about finance.
Take some time off for reading this one, it's long and complex, but worth every effort to understand it.
Factors in Our Colossal Mess
Perhaps one of the most terrifying articles on international finance and the situation facing the American public I have ever read. Written by a guy who should know, Gabriel Kolko, who writes infrequently on CounterPunch about finance.
Take some time off for reading this one, it's long and complex, but worth every effort to understand it.
Factors in Our Colossal Mess
Iraqi Coalition on Brink of Collapse as Country Descends Towards Civil War
Saturday, November 25, 2006, Guardian/UK
· Key ally tells PM to choose between him and Bush
· Iranian leaders to meet Talabani at Tehran talks
by Jonathan Steele in Irbil, Robert Tait in Tehran and Julian Borger in Washington
"Iraq's precarious government was teetering yesterday as a powerful Shia militia leader threatened to withdraw support after sectarian killings reached a new peak and the country lurched closer to all-out civil war. " [ ... ]
Click title line for more.
· Key ally tells PM to choose between him and Bush
· Iranian leaders to meet Talabani at Tehran talks
by Jonathan Steele in Irbil, Robert Tait in Tehran and Julian Borger in Washington
"Iraq's precarious government was teetering yesterday as a powerful Shia militia leader threatened to withdraw support after sectarian killings reached a new peak and the country lurched closer to all-out civil war. " [ ... ]
Click title line for more.
"Americans Can't Handle Another Impeachment" Is Republican Propaganda. Don't Be Deceived.
Sunday, November 26, 2006, CommonDreams.org
'Americans Can't Handle Another Impeachment,' is the Republican Propaganda. Don't Be Deceived.
by Linda Milazzo
'Americans can't handle another impeachment.' So say the supporters of George W. Bush in their anti-impeachment propaganda.
The truth is Americans CAN handle another impeachment. They CAN handle the truth. In fact, if Americans don't bring Bush and Cheney to justice after the atrocities they've committed, this nation will never reclaim its moral authority. And the people of this nation will be despised for unleashing these dangerous men on the world. "
Click title line for more.
'Americans Can't Handle Another Impeachment,' is the Republican Propaganda. Don't Be Deceived.
by Linda Milazzo
'Americans can't handle another impeachment.' So say the supporters of George W. Bush in their anti-impeachment propaganda.
The truth is Americans CAN handle another impeachment. They CAN handle the truth. In fact, if Americans don't bring Bush and Cheney to justice after the atrocities they've committed, this nation will never reclaim its moral authority. And the people of this nation will be despised for unleashing these dangerous men on the world. "
Click title line for more.
Suspect Nation
Now appearing at Discomfit magazine:
British surveillance systems are approaching total awareness in the urban cores. Watch this BBC special "Suspect Nation" with Observer's Henry Porter who clashed recently in print with Tony Blair.
Click below:
Suspect Nation
British surveillance systems are approaching total awareness in the urban cores. Watch this BBC special "Suspect Nation" with Observer's Henry Porter who clashed recently in print with Tony Blair.
Click below:
Suspect Nation
Dr. William Blum's Anti - Empire Report #39
Great post - holiday reading from one of our favorite essayists on the internet.
Bill Blum is back!
Click here:
Discomfit Magazine: Dr. William Blum's Anti - Empire Report #39
Bill Blum is back!
Click here:
Discomfit Magazine: Dr. William Blum's Anti - Empire Report #39
Watada: "It Was My Duty to Refuse to Go to Iraq"
It Was My Duty to Refuse to Go to Iraq, Says First American Army Officer Facing Court Martial
By Alex Massie Telegraph UK
Wednesday 22 November 2006
The first American army officer to face court-martial for refusing to serve in Iraq said yesterday that it was his duty to recognise and refuse "illegal" orders. [...]
Watada: "It Was My Duty to Refuse to Go to Iraq"
By Alex Massie Telegraph UK
Wednesday 22 November 2006
The first American army officer to face court-martial for refusing to serve in Iraq said yesterday that it was his duty to recognise and refuse "illegal" orders. [...]
Watada: "It Was My Duty to Refuse to Go to Iraq"
Joshua Holland | CACI: Torture in Iraq, Intimidation at Home
Consider the unique problems faced by the corporate suits at CACI International, a defense contractor whose services have included "coercive" interrogations of prisoners in Iraq - interrogations most people simply call "torture."
Think about the image problems a major multinational corporation faces after becoming inextricably linked with the abuses at Abu Ghraib, a firm whose employees have contributed to the iconic images of the occupation of Iraq - the symbols of American cruelty and immorality in an illegal war. What can a company like that possibly do to protect its brand name after contributing to the greatest national disgrace since the My Lai massacre?
CACI's strategy has been two-fold: its flacks have distorted well-documented facts in the public record beyond recognition, and its senior management has lawyered up, suing or threatening to sue just about every journalist, muckraker and government watchdog who's dared to shine a light on the firm's unique role as a torture profiteer.
Read complete article at:
CACI: Torture in Iraq, Intimidation at Home
Think about the image problems a major multinational corporation faces after becoming inextricably linked with the abuses at Abu Ghraib, a firm whose employees have contributed to the iconic images of the occupation of Iraq - the symbols of American cruelty and immorality in an illegal war. What can a company like that possibly do to protect its brand name after contributing to the greatest national disgrace since the My Lai massacre?
CACI's strategy has been two-fold: its flacks have distorted well-documented facts in the public record beyond recognition, and its senior management has lawyered up, suing or threatening to sue just about every journalist, muckraker and government watchdog who's dared to shine a light on the firm's unique role as a torture profiteer.
Read complete article at:
CACI: Torture in Iraq, Intimidation at Home
Saturday, November 25, 2006
A Senate Mystery Keeps Torture Alive - and Its Practitioners Free
A Senate Mystery Keeps Torture Alive - and Its Practitioners Free
By Jeff Stein
Congressional Quarterly
Wednesday 22 November 2006
With all the lawsuits over kidnapping and torture marching toward the Bush administration, you might think the top officials running the global war on terror would be worried just a little about the prospect that some day they might end up in court - if not having nightmares about getting measured for orange jumpsuits at Danbury Federal Prison.
Alas, no. Thanks to the legerdemain of Bush administration lawyers, a provision quietly tucked into the Military Commissions Act (PL 109-366) just before it was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush on Oct. 17, would ease any worries they might've had. It not only redefines torture upward, removing the harshest, most controversial techniques from the definition of war crimes, it also exempts the perpetrators - interrogators and their bosses - from punishment all the way back to Nov. 1997.
The deft wording is the Bush administration's attempt at bringing the United States' criteria for defining a war crime into line with the Geneva Convention's interpretation of torture.
Read the complete story at:
A Senate Mystery Keeps Torture Alive - and Its Practitioners Free
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Populism's Revival
Yer Gawd damn right!
Finally, somebody is hearing us.
You'll also find inaction -- a wholesale abandonment of the tradition of public investment that, in earlier periods of our history, from the Louisiana Purchase to the G.I. Bill and the Higher Education Act of 1965, earned the United States the right to honestly call itself a land of opportunity.
You'll find bipartisan complicity at many points along the way -- in the spring of 1994, for example, when virtually the entire U.S. Senate, with Democrats Joseph Lieberman, Barbara Boxer and Charles Schumer waxing especially indignant on Corporate America's behalf, shot down a proposal to clean up the accounting rules for stock options, thus setting the stage for the backdated-options scandal that has so far implicated the directors and executives of more than 120 companies.
Populism's Revival
Finally, somebody is hearing us.
You'll also find inaction -- a wholesale abandonment of the tradition of public investment that, in earlier periods of our history, from the Louisiana Purchase to the G.I. Bill and the Higher Education Act of 1965, earned the United States the right to honestly call itself a land of opportunity.
You'll find bipartisan complicity at many points along the way -- in the spring of 1994, for example, when virtually the entire U.S. Senate, with Democrats Joseph Lieberman, Barbara Boxer and Charles Schumer waxing especially indignant on Corporate America's behalf, shot down a proposal to clean up the accounting rules for stock options, thus setting the stage for the backdated-options scandal that has so far implicated the directors and executives of more than 120 companies.
Populism's Revival
Rumsfeld and a Mountain of Misery
Ed - op appearing Wednesday, November 22, 2006 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Washington)
Rumsfeld and a Mountain of Misery
by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
Frederick Douglass, the renowned abolitionist, began life as a slave on Maryland's Eastern Shore. When his owner had trouble with the young, unruly slave, Douglass was sent to Edward Covey, a notorious "slave breaker." Covey's plantation, where physical and psychological torture were standard, was called Mount Misery. Douglass eventually fought back, escaped to the North and went on to change the world. Today Mount Misery is owned by Donald Rumsfeld, the outgoing secretary of defense.
It is ironic that this notorious plantation run by a practiced torturer would now be owned by Rumsfeld, himself accused as the man principally responsible for the U.S. military's program of torture and detention.
Rumsfeld was recently named along with 11 other high-ranking U.S. officials in a criminal complaint filed in Germany by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. The center is requesting that the German government conduct an investigation and ultimately a criminal prosecution of Rumsfeld and company. CCR President Michael Ratner says U.S. policy authorizing "harsh interrogation techniques" is in fact a torture program that Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld authorized himself, passed down through the chain of command and was implemented by one of the other defendants, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller.
Read complete editorial at:
Rumsfeld and a Mountain of Misery
Rumsfeld and a Mountain of Misery
by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!
Frederick Douglass, the renowned abolitionist, began life as a slave on Maryland's Eastern Shore. When his owner had trouble with the young, unruly slave, Douglass was sent to Edward Covey, a notorious "slave breaker." Covey's plantation, where physical and psychological torture were standard, was called Mount Misery. Douglass eventually fought back, escaped to the North and went on to change the world. Today Mount Misery is owned by Donald Rumsfeld, the outgoing secretary of defense.
It is ironic that this notorious plantation run by a practiced torturer would now be owned by Rumsfeld, himself accused as the man principally responsible for the U.S. military's program of torture and detention.
Rumsfeld was recently named along with 11 other high-ranking U.S. officials in a criminal complaint filed in Germany by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. The center is requesting that the German government conduct an investigation and ultimately a criminal prosecution of Rumsfeld and company. CCR President Michael Ratner says U.S. policy authorizing "harsh interrogation techniques" is in fact a torture program that Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld authorized himself, passed down through the chain of command and was implemented by one of the other defendants, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller.
Read complete editorial at:
Rumsfeld and a Mountain of Misery
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Dave Lindorff: Congress Should Immediately Terminate the 2001 authorization for Bush Wars.
Read Dave's Op-Ed News featured opinion:
Forget Nancy Pelosi's "100 Hours" agenda for the new Democratic Congress.
The first thing Democrats need to do when they walk into the Senate and House chambers this January is to vote out a joint resolution repealing the September 18, 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which was the authorization for the U.S. attack Al Qaeda forces and the Taliban government of Afghanistan.That AUMF has been used, wholly inappropriately and wantonly, by President Bush as the justification for his assault on the US Constitution, for his willful violation of laws domestic and international, and for his unconstitutional usurpation of legislative and judicial power. [...]
Complete article at:
Congress Should Immediately Terminate the 2001 AUMF
Forget Nancy Pelosi's "100 Hours" agenda for the new Democratic Congress.
The first thing Democrats need to do when they walk into the Senate and House chambers this January is to vote out a joint resolution repealing the September 18, 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which was the authorization for the U.S. attack Al Qaeda forces and the Taliban government of Afghanistan.That AUMF has been used, wholly inappropriately and wantonly, by President Bush as the justification for his assault on the US Constitution, for his willful violation of laws domestic and international, and for his unconstitutional usurpation of legislative and judicial power. [...]
Complete article at:
Congress Should Immediately Terminate the 2001 AUMF
Community of Reason meeting - Heinrich Heine
Take
Public Notice
A Meeting Announcement
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Now appearing at: Discomfit Magazine
Public Notice
A Meeting Announcement
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Now appearing at: Discomfit Magazine
Storming Heaven's Gates: Recent Chomsky audio with opposition!
A GREAT LISTENING.
chomsky gives as good as he gets
I have heard many interviews and this is one of the best out of America featuring one of my favorite intellectuals.
Travel to our new site for a recent great audio program on Boston public radio with Professor Noam Chomsky.
Click: Storming Heaven's Gates
chomsky gives as good as he gets
I have heard many interviews and this is one of the best out of America featuring one of my favorite intellectuals.
Travel to our new site for a recent great audio program on Boston public radio with Professor Noam Chomsky.
Click: Storming Heaven's Gates
Monday, November 20, 2006
Kansas Republican eyes presidential bid - Yahoo!
Duh, yeow.
Give it up fer Senator Sam!
Ever heard of Barry Goldwater?
shut the zionist cake hole about all the christian sky-gods
Listen to yer mother.
Senator Sammy sez:
"I think there's room for a full-scale Ronald Reagan conservative in the field," Brownback said. "I fully agree that other people have much higher name identification than I do. No question about that. But I think what you have to look at is the policy positions they get out once you have an effective campaign."
Kansas Republican eyes presidential bid - Yahoo! News
Give it up fer Senator Sam!
Ever heard of Barry Goldwater?
shut the zionist cake hole about all the christian sky-gods
Listen to yer mother.
Senator Sammy sez:
"I think there's room for a full-scale Ronald Reagan conservative in the field," Brownback said. "I fully agree that other people have much higher name identification than I do. No question about that. But I think what you have to look at is the policy positions they get out once you have an effective campaign."
Kansas Republican eyes presidential bid - Yahoo! News
Daily Kos: Are you in Lawrence, KS, this weekend?
Yes, that DAILY KOS, the famous one - Check it out below!
by annetteboardman
Marc in KS and I would like to invite you to join us for a Friday night meetup.
I grew up in Lawrence and will be there with my parents for the holiday weekend.
We will be hanging out at the Freestate Brewery (at the bar or near it!) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday evening.
Please come join us!
annetteboardman's diary :: ::
I know there is a drinking liberally in Lawrence, but I am never there during the week.
So this is not officially that group, but we would love to have the information shared.
I will be wearing an orange sweater -- Marc says he will wear orange as well (apparently it is a school colour for him -- who knew? All I know is the Jayhawks are crimson and blue and the Wildcats (hiss) are purple.
Of course, my university's colour is purple, so I have to deal with that horror myself!
Come and join us -- Friday at 7 p.m., at the Freestate Brewery down on Massachusetts Street in Lawrence.
And please pass this on to anyone who might be interested.
(And feel free to recommend so it stays around for a while -- Thanks)
Daily Kos: Are you in Lawrence, KS, this weekend?
by annetteboardman
Marc in KS and I would like to invite you to join us for a Friday night meetup.
I grew up in Lawrence and will be there with my parents for the holiday weekend.
We will be hanging out at the Freestate Brewery (at the bar or near it!) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday evening.
Please come join us!
annetteboardman's diary :: ::
I know there is a drinking liberally in Lawrence, but I am never there during the week.
So this is not officially that group, but we would love to have the information shared.
I will be wearing an orange sweater -- Marc says he will wear orange as well (apparently it is a school colour for him -- who knew? All I know is the Jayhawks are crimson and blue and the Wildcats (hiss) are purple.
Of course, my university's colour is purple, so I have to deal with that horror myself!
Come and join us -- Friday at 7 p.m., at the Freestate Brewery down on Massachusetts Street in Lawrence.
And please pass this on to anyone who might be interested.
(And feel free to recommend so it stays around for a while -- Thanks)
Daily Kos: Are you in Lawrence, KS, this weekend?
Courtesy FCF's news stream: Dahr Jamail's MidEast Press Dispatches!
HARD TO FIND JOURNALISM FROM THE FRONTLINES, HATS OFF!
A new headline stream - to our new web site [still under construction, pardon our mess] featuring a harder edge of news from the hotspots around the world.
Click below and go to:
Storming Heaven's Gates: Dahr Jamail's MidEast Press Dispatches!
A new headline stream - to our new web site [still under construction, pardon our mess] featuring a harder edge of news from the hotspots around the world.
Click below and go to:
Storming Heaven's Gates: Dahr Jamail's MidEast Press Dispatches!
Discomfit Magazine: Blair's 'disaster' statement spreads.
BLAIR: IRAQ WAR IS A "DISASTER"
At this mornings press conference in Kabul, Blair said they want 'to stay the course' in Afghanistan, making so much 'progress.'
The people in Afghanistan never asked for this ordeal however. Nor anybody else in this world killed or crushed by the Bush/Blair 'Coalition of the Killing.'
Henk Ruyssenaars, Senior Correspondent, Foreign Press Foundation, Netherlands
Read complete analysis at:
Discomfit Magazine: Blair's 'disaster' statement spreads.
At this mornings press conference in Kabul, Blair said they want 'to stay the course' in Afghanistan, making so much 'progress.'
The people in Afghanistan never asked for this ordeal however. Nor anybody else in this world killed or crushed by the Bush/Blair 'Coalition of the Killing.'
Henk Ruyssenaars, Senior Correspondent, Foreign Press Foundation, Netherlands
Read complete analysis at:
Discomfit Magazine: Blair's 'disaster' statement spreads.
Ray McGovern's "Open Letter on Robert Gates"
Open letter sent by former CIA analyst Ray McGovern to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, who is now the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee and is slated to become the committee chairman when the Democrats take control in January 2007.
Dear Senator Levin:
The humiliation you felt was palpable when, as the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, you were unceremoniously diddled by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputies Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, chief architects of the fiasco in Iraq. They all but thumbed their noses at you, and you often complained about their "lack of candor."
In two short months, you will chair Armed Services and will no longer have to tolerate such behavior. Indeed, you can start practicing now by not letting the nomination of Robert Gates be a "slam dunk."
... [Additional excerpt with good source links - ed.] ...
If you want to know what has happened in the interim, you can start with the fresh, documentary evidence adduced in award-winning investigative reporter Robert Parry's recent article, "The Secret World of Robert Gates". Parry's article contains unique and highly damaging information on Gates's role in the original "October Surprise" - the unconscionable but successful Republican effort to prevent the release of the 52 American hostages imprisoned for 14 months in the U.S. embassy in Tehran until Ronald Reagan had won the election in 1980. Parry also provides fresh detail on Gates's involvement in the illegal sale of weapons, including cluster bombs, to Iraq in the early eighties.
Another excellent source on Gates's involvement in the secret arming of Saddam Hussein (yes, the same Saddam) and the Iran-Contra scandal is Amy Goodman's interview of Parry and former CIA analyst Mel Goodman on Democracy Now, November 9th.
Read the complete letter at: Consortiumnews.com
Dear Senator Levin:
The humiliation you felt was palpable when, as the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, you were unceremoniously diddled by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputies Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, chief architects of the fiasco in Iraq. They all but thumbed their noses at you, and you often complained about their "lack of candor."
In two short months, you will chair Armed Services and will no longer have to tolerate such behavior. Indeed, you can start practicing now by not letting the nomination of Robert Gates be a "slam dunk."
... [Additional excerpt with good source links - ed.] ...
If you want to know what has happened in the interim, you can start with the fresh, documentary evidence adduced in award-winning investigative reporter Robert Parry's recent article, "The Secret World of Robert Gates". Parry's article contains unique and highly damaging information on Gates's role in the original "October Surprise" - the unconscionable but successful Republican effort to prevent the release of the 52 American hostages imprisoned for 14 months in the U.S. embassy in Tehran until Ronald Reagan had won the election in 1980. Parry also provides fresh detail on Gates's involvement in the illegal sale of weapons, including cluster bombs, to Iraq in the early eighties.
Another excellent source on Gates's involvement in the secret arming of Saddam Hussein (yes, the same Saddam) and the Iran-Contra scandal is Amy Goodman's interview of Parry and former CIA analyst Mel Goodman on Democracy Now, November 9th.
Read the complete letter at: Consortiumnews.com
Sunday, November 19, 2006
James McMurtry's "Milk and Honey" Kansas Immigrant Aid Society
McMurtry's "Milk and Honey" Kansas Redux, FCF version.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Forward with the Hot Links!
FOCUS
New York Times: Counting the Vote, Badly
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111606Z.shtml
"Election reform has tended to be a partisan issue, with Democrats arguing for reform and Republicans resisting it. It shouldn’t be. Congressional Democratsshould make fixing this country’s broken system of elections a top priority, and Republicans should join them."
VIDEO
Project Censored: Media Accountability Conference
Truthout Report
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111506U.shtml
For the past 27 years, Project Censored, a program based at Sonoma State University, in Rohnert Park, California, has compiled a list of the top 25 underreported stories from around the country. This year's list, arranged and reviewed by approximately 200 students and faculty, again contains stories that, for whatever reason, were deemed unfit for American eyes by the mainstream media.
New York Times: Counting the Vote, Badly
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111606Z.shtml
"Election reform has tended to be a partisan issue, with Democrats arguing for reform and Republicans resisting it. It shouldn’t be. Congressional Democratsshould make fixing this country’s broken system of elections a top priority, and Republicans should join them."
VIDEO
Project Censored: Media Accountability Conference
Truthout Report
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111506U.shtml
For the past 27 years, Project Censored, a program based at Sonoma State University, in Rohnert Park, California, has compiled a list of the top 25 underreported stories from around the country. This year's list, arranged and reviewed by approximately 200 students and faculty, again contains stories that, for whatever reason, were deemed unfit for American eyes by the mainstream media.
Family Feud: Little Bush Hits Back at Daddy
Hilarious and true, royalty - dynastic intrigue, the Busheviks carry on like they are hidebound on killing the country with their predatory greed.
Chris Floyd writes:
What we are seeing today with Bush II's petulant pushback against the Baker Commission is part of what was earlier described here as a "war in Heaven" – an ongoing move by parts of the American Establishment to rein in the worst excesses of the Bush Faction before they kill the golden goose that keeps the elite ensconced in power and privilege.
As I noted here in September (in a look at Bob Woodward's latest book):
His new book, State of Denial, is a stinging attack on the Bush-Cheney Faction… and the presence of "Bandar Bush," the Saudi royal, and Scowcroft, the Bush Senior courtier, among Woodward's main sources tells us that Daddy Bush has reverted back to the old-line, white-bread, "Eastern Establishment" in a move against the Sunbelt oil men, crank pseudo-Christians and Nixonian diehards like Cheney and Rumsfeld that Junior Bush has thrown in with….
Read it all at:
Family Feud: Little Bush Hits Back at Daddy
Chris Floyd writes:
What we are seeing today with Bush II's petulant pushback against the Baker Commission is part of what was earlier described here as a "war in Heaven" – an ongoing move by parts of the American Establishment to rein in the worst excesses of the Bush Faction before they kill the golden goose that keeps the elite ensconced in power and privilege.
As I noted here in September (in a look at Bob Woodward's latest book):
His new book, State of Denial, is a stinging attack on the Bush-Cheney Faction… and the presence of "Bandar Bush," the Saudi royal, and Scowcroft, the Bush Senior courtier, among Woodward's main sources tells us that Daddy Bush has reverted back to the old-line, white-bread, "Eastern Establishment" in a move against the Sunbelt oil men, crank pseudo-Christians and Nixonian diehards like Cheney and Rumsfeld that Junior Bush has thrown in with….
Read it all at:
Family Feud: Little Bush Hits Back at Daddy
The Same Old George
The Same Old George
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t Columnist
Thursday 16 November 2006
"Beat on the brat, Beat on the brat, Beat on the brat with a baseball bat, Oh yeah ... "
- The Ramones
All the talk of bi-partisanship after the midterm elections was really nice, wasn't it?
Granted, the only reason conversation got steered in that direction was because the Republican Party absorbed a staggering defeat the Tuesday after last, because George W. Bush had the shattered pieces of his credibility - nay, of his entire tenure to date - handed to him in a small brown paper sack by the American people.
But hey, it was good while it lasted.
It didn't last.
The Same Old George
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t Columnist
Thursday 16 November 2006
"Beat on the brat, Beat on the brat, Beat on the brat with a baseball bat, Oh yeah ... "
- The Ramones
All the talk of bi-partisanship after the midterm elections was really nice, wasn't it?
Granted, the only reason conversation got steered in that direction was because the Republican Party absorbed a staggering defeat the Tuesday after last, because George W. Bush had the shattered pieces of his credibility - nay, of his entire tenure to date - handed to him in a small brown paper sack by the American people.
But hey, it was good while it lasted.
It didn't last.
The Same Old George
Bush Has Chance to Hold Terrorists Accountable
Bush Has Chance to Hold Terrorists Accountable:
Published on Wednesday, November 15, 2006 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Washington)
Bush Has Chance to Hold Terrorists Accountable
by Amy Goodman
The troops marched slowly, their U.S.-made M-16s raised. It was Nov. 12, 1991, a day that would forever be seared into my memory, and into history. I was reporting in East Timor, a small island nation 300 miles north of Australia, brutally occupied by Indonesia since 1975. A third of the population -- 200,000 Timorese -- had been killed in one of the worst genocides of the 20th century.
Published on Wednesday, November 15, 2006 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Washington)
Bush Has Chance to Hold Terrorists Accountable
by Amy Goodman
The troops marched slowly, their U.S.-made M-16s raised. It was Nov. 12, 1991, a day that would forever be seared into my memory, and into history. I was reporting in East Timor, a small island nation 300 miles north of Australia, brutally occupied by Indonesia since 1975. A third of the population -- 200,000 Timorese -- had been killed in one of the worst genocides of the 20th century.
Thousands marched that morning toward the Santa Cruz cemetery to remember Sebastião Gomes, yet another young Timorese killed by Indonesian soldiers. I was doing a documentary for Pacifica Radio. My colleague Allan Nairn was writing for The New Yorker magazine.
In a land where there was no freedom of speech, press or assembly, we asked people: 'Why are you risking your lives by marching?'
'I'm doing it for my mother,' one replied. 'I'm doing it for my father,' said another. 'I'm doing it for freedom.' "
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
The Fog of War comes home.
Worshipping the State: Why They Die
By Michael Gaddy
11/15/06 'Lew Rockwell' - -- - Simple facts most soldiers do not understand: The government (state) is not our country; when you fight and die in undeclared wars, you do so for the State and not for our country or our freedoms; when you forsake the Constitution you swore to uphold and defend to follow unconstitutional orders, even from your commander-in-chief, you cross the line from defender of your country to the very real possibility of becoming a war criminal.
The inboxes at my email sites are constantly bombarded with pictures and articles designed to pull at my heartstrings and make me believe there are troops in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for our freedoms. Many of these have wonderful stirring music intended to make one stand and salute. They picture our soldiers holding young Iraqi children and playing with stray animals – a fit sermon indeed for those who hold membership in the Church of Nationalism and worship its god: the State."
Click title line for complete article.
By Michael Gaddy
11/15/06 'Lew Rockwell' - -- - Simple facts most soldiers do not understand: The government (state) is not our country; when you fight and die in undeclared wars, you do so for the State and not for our country or our freedoms; when you forsake the Constitution you swore to uphold and defend to follow unconstitutional orders, even from your commander-in-chief, you cross the line from defender of your country to the very real possibility of becoming a war criminal.
The inboxes at my email sites are constantly bombarded with pictures and articles designed to pull at my heartstrings and make me believe there are troops in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for our freedoms. Many of these have wonderful stirring music intended to make one stand and salute. They picture our soldiers holding young Iraqi children and playing with stray animals – a fit sermon indeed for those who hold membership in the Church of Nationalism and worship its god: the State."
Click title line for complete article.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
WANT TO READ OUR MAIL? EVERYBODY DOES.
Feeling lonely, rejected, lost?
Write the big shots some letters - get some answers.
See our mail, just click the title line and go to the "top of the scroll" at Discomfit magazine.
Write the big shots some letters - get some answers.
See our mail, just click the title line and go to the "top of the scroll" at Discomfit magazine.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Truthout puts it out: Impeachment and the Table
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
[Excerpted editorial from the important web site Truthout]
However, in stating flatly that "impeachment is off the table," incoming Speaker Pelosi and incoming Chairman Conyers appear to have erred rather substantially. Impeachment, of course, is a matter of Constitutional law, not personal discretion on the part of individual lawmakers. The pre-emptive nature of the decision by Pelosi and Conyers stands in sharp contrast to every principle of law enforcement. Congress - whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans - has a solemn duty to uphold and when necessary enforce the law.
Read this important editorial at: Truthout: Impeachment and the Table
[Excerpted editorial from the important web site Truthout]
However, in stating flatly that "impeachment is off the table," incoming Speaker Pelosi and incoming Chairman Conyers appear to have erred rather substantially. Impeachment, of course, is a matter of Constitutional law, not personal discretion on the part of individual lawmakers. The pre-emptive nature of the decision by Pelosi and Conyers stands in sharp contrast to every principle of law enforcement. Congress - whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans - has a solemn duty to uphold and when necessary enforce the law.
Read this important editorial at: Truthout: Impeachment and the Table
Roads to Iraq: Confession of Chalabi’s top assistance
A MILITARY HISTORY
YOU WON'T READ AT HOME.
The U. S. government brought Iranian supporters with them during the invasion.
Follow the links, connect the dots - the illegal war was doomed from the beginning.
The leaders, our leaders everyone that spouted speeches about the invasion, occupation and disaster in Iraq must be punished, and punished by consitutional law.
Benjamin Franklin: "A Republic, if you can keep it."
Roads to Iraq; Confession of Chalabi’s top assistant
YOU WON'T READ AT HOME.
The U. S. government brought Iranian supporters with them during the invasion.
Follow the links, connect the dots - the illegal war was doomed from the beginning.
The leaders, our leaders everyone that spouted speeches about the invasion, occupation and disaster in Iraq must be punished, and punished by consitutional law.
Benjamin Franklin: "A Republic, if you can keep it."
Roads to Iraq; Confession of Chalabi’s top assistant
Stan Goff's "Open Letter to Robert Gates"
Here it is - and while this letter is both accurate and honest, none of the deadly musical chairs the zombies change in DC is going to stop this monsterous regime Stan Goff hits them [and us everyday Americans] where it hurts, here is an excerpt (Hint, pursue the links!):
We are generally ignorant of the Washington Consensus which seeks to subordinate the whole globe to the interests of the US State as the guarantor of profit for transnational corporations and a tidy return-on-investment for Wall Street speculators. A very few of us know, yet, that this bipartisan consensus is a consensus on the primacy of American imperialism.
The American public, not from any lack of intelligence, but from incessant indoctrination, does not know that defense contracts serve as a surrogate for disappeared export markets, and we haven’t put it together yet that without an infinite “war on terror” to justify these contracts, the American economy’s basic weaknesses would be exposed: unsustainable growth, accumulation through dispossession, mountain ranges of household debt, and dollar hegemony.
When we do put it together, it will expose the manipulative perfidy and hypocrisy of the two ruling-class-run parties who seldom bicker about the Washington Consenus itself, only about how it is managed.
Read the complete letter at: Feral Scholar » Open Letter to Robert Gates
We are generally ignorant of the Washington Consensus which seeks to subordinate the whole globe to the interests of the US State as the guarantor of profit for transnational corporations and a tidy return-on-investment for Wall Street speculators. A very few of us know, yet, that this bipartisan consensus is a consensus on the primacy of American imperialism.
The American public, not from any lack of intelligence, but from incessant indoctrination, does not know that defense contracts serve as a surrogate for disappeared export markets, and we haven’t put it together yet that without an infinite “war on terror” to justify these contracts, the American economy’s basic weaknesses would be exposed: unsustainable growth, accumulation through dispossession, mountain ranges of household debt, and dollar hegemony.
When we do put it together, it will expose the manipulative perfidy and hypocrisy of the two ruling-class-run parties who seldom bicker about the Washington Consenus itself, only about how it is managed.
Read the complete letter at: Feral Scholar » Open Letter to Robert Gates
Red State Rabble: We'll fight 'em on the land, fight. 'em in the air, fight 'em in our underwear!
A hilarious post from my fellow Kansan, Pat Hayes!
Red State Rabble: We'll fight 'em on the land, fight. 'em in the air, fight 'em in our underwear!
Red State Rabble: We'll fight 'em on the land, fight. 'em in the air, fight 'em in our underwear!
Lindorff's report on the Philadelphia meeting.
The latest from Dave Lindorff about the meeting in Philadelphia to launch a national movement to impeach Bush \ Cheney:
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Impeach for Change Kicks off National Campaign
The kick-off session of the new national movement for impeachment of President Bush (and Vice President Dick Cheney), Impeach for Change, held in Philadelphia's new Constitution Center just a block away from Independence Hall where the Constitution was written, was a huge success.
Surprisingly, for a meeting of progressives, there was no dissention. Instead, there was a broad acceptance of the notion that impeachment of this president should not be a matter of partisan strategy, but rather an imperative for defense of the U.S. Constitution.
As former Representative Elizabeth Holtzman, who served on the House impeachment panel that voted out three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, put it at the forum, the Constitution is being gravely threatened by Bush's abuses of power and his constitutional crimes, and the American public is "way ahead" of a Democratic leadership that is counseling caution and that is saying impeachment is "off the table."
With a PowerPoint display cycling through a list of 10 impeachable crimes on a large screen behind them, speakers from the After Downing Street Coalition, Veterans for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America, Democrats.com and Code Pink joined Holtzman in laying out a strategy for pressing the new Democratic Congress to “do the right thing,” and open impeachment hearings early next year.
Plans call for a national Impeachment Day on December 10, with town hall meetings across the country voting for impeachment resolutions, to be followed by a week spent lobbying congressional district offices. Meanwhile, a coordinated campaign will begin encouraging grass roots groups to set up impeachment lobbying offices in every one of the 435 congressional districts across the land. As well, activists will begin collecting a planned one million signatures for presentation to the House leadership in January, calling on them to initiate impeachment hearings.
It is a bold, audacious plan, and one that will give real voice to the aspirations of an electorate that made it clear on November 7 that they want, as one participant put it, for a new Congress to "take out the trash."
A session featuring progressive bloggers followed the initial forum, with the discussion focusing on how to break through the corporate media blackout on impeachment. It is clear that alternative media, and particularly Internet-based news organizations, have managed to get the impeachment story out there, which explains why a recent Newsweek poll found 51 percent support for impeachment. But there is still a need to force the mainstream corporate media to take impeachment seriously, and to begin reporting honestly on how the current administration is undermining constitutional government and the rule of law.
The session broke up at 4 pm after two hours of discussion, with activists primed to go back to their own organizations to start working for December 10, and to gear up for the big petition drive and for the lobbying and organizing work ahead.
As one participant was leaving, he passed a young mother heading up the long winding staircase in the atrium of the Constitution Center. She was holding the hand of a very small, very tired little girl in jeans and pigtails. “The Constitution has a lot of steps, Mommy,” the little girl said, very seriously.
Indeed it does. And one of those steps is the impeachment clause, which calls on members of Congress to hold a president to account who violates his oath of office, abuses power, and lies to the people of the country about the reasons for going to war.
Bookmark and monitor Dave's web site at: This Can't Be Happening!
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Impeach for Change Kicks off National Campaign
The kick-off session of the new national movement for impeachment of President Bush (and Vice President Dick Cheney), Impeach for Change, held in Philadelphia's new Constitution Center just a block away from Independence Hall where the Constitution was written, was a huge success.
Surprisingly, for a meeting of progressives, there was no dissention. Instead, there was a broad acceptance of the notion that impeachment of this president should not be a matter of partisan strategy, but rather an imperative for defense of the U.S. Constitution.
As former Representative Elizabeth Holtzman, who served on the House impeachment panel that voted out three articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, put it at the forum, the Constitution is being gravely threatened by Bush's abuses of power and his constitutional crimes, and the American public is "way ahead" of a Democratic leadership that is counseling caution and that is saying impeachment is "off the table."
With a PowerPoint display cycling through a list of 10 impeachable crimes on a large screen behind them, speakers from the After Downing Street Coalition, Veterans for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America, Democrats.com and Code Pink joined Holtzman in laying out a strategy for pressing the new Democratic Congress to “do the right thing,” and open impeachment hearings early next year.
Plans call for a national Impeachment Day on December 10, with town hall meetings across the country voting for impeachment resolutions, to be followed by a week spent lobbying congressional district offices. Meanwhile, a coordinated campaign will begin encouraging grass roots groups to set up impeachment lobbying offices in every one of the 435 congressional districts across the land. As well, activists will begin collecting a planned one million signatures for presentation to the House leadership in January, calling on them to initiate impeachment hearings.
It is a bold, audacious plan, and one that will give real voice to the aspirations of an electorate that made it clear on November 7 that they want, as one participant put it, for a new Congress to "take out the trash."
A session featuring progressive bloggers followed the initial forum, with the discussion focusing on how to break through the corporate media blackout on impeachment. It is clear that alternative media, and particularly Internet-based news organizations, have managed to get the impeachment story out there, which explains why a recent Newsweek poll found 51 percent support for impeachment. But there is still a need to force the mainstream corporate media to take impeachment seriously, and to begin reporting honestly on how the current administration is undermining constitutional government and the rule of law.
The session broke up at 4 pm after two hours of discussion, with activists primed to go back to their own organizations to start working for December 10, and to gear up for the big petition drive and for the lobbying and organizing work ahead.
As one participant was leaving, he passed a young mother heading up the long winding staircase in the atrium of the Constitution Center. She was holding the hand of a very small, very tired little girl in jeans and pigtails. “The Constitution has a lot of steps, Mommy,” the little girl said, very seriously.
Indeed it does. And one of those steps is the impeachment clause, which calls on members of Congress to hold a president to account who violates his oath of office, abuses power, and lies to the people of the country about the reasons for going to war.
Bookmark and monitor Dave's web site at: This Can't Be Happening!
JOHN CONYERS: Will he push for Bush impeachment hearings? He says no
ET TU, CONGRESSIONAL "PROGRESSIVES?"
ET TU, SEN. CONYERS?
ET TU, BRUTUS?
The man who started the grassroot movement is either balking or bluffing.
You be the judge. Small "c" conservatives and Independents want an accounting of the illegal abuses of the executive branch on all citizen's civil liberties, but the very people and the Democratic party leaders they pushed into power last week are already betraying them.
What will those wanting to finish the job and "take the trash out" do now?
JOHN CONYERS: Will he push for Bush impeachment hearings? He says no
ET TU, SEN. CONYERS?
ET TU, BRUTUS?
The man who started the grassroot movement is either balking or bluffing.
You be the judge. Small "c" conservatives and Independents want an accounting of the illegal abuses of the executive branch on all citizen's civil liberties, but the very people and the Democratic party leaders they pushed into power last week are already betraying them.
What will those wanting to finish the job and "take the trash out" do now?
JOHN CONYERS: Will he push for Bush impeachment hearings? He says no
Saturday, November 11, 2006
TomPaine.com - The Cheney-Gates Cabal
Ray McGovern writes of who was one of the original intelligence "fixers" and how he's going to serve Cheney in Iraq.
Excerpted below with link at bottom.
Read the complete article from a guy who knows at:
It had been clear for weeks that the election would be a referendum on the war in Iraq and that Republican losses would be substantial. And Rumsfeld and Bush had every intention of avoiding the embarrassment likely to come of the grilling of Rumsfeld by congressional committees chaired by Democrats. Besides, who better to try to blame for the “long, hard slog” in Iraq than the fellow who coined the expression, and then implemented it with dubious distinction?
I have the sense that Rumsfeld offered himself as scapegoat for Iraq, not only to avoid another acrimonious tangle with Sen. Hillary Clinton , but also to help Bush project an image of flexibility and decisiveness to cope with the imminent sea change in Congress.
Read it all at:
TomPaine.com - The Cheney-Gates Cabal
Excerpted below with link at bottom.
Read the complete article from a guy who knows at:
It had been clear for weeks that the election would be a referendum on the war in Iraq and that Republican losses would be substantial. And Rumsfeld and Bush had every intention of avoiding the embarrassment likely to come of the grilling of Rumsfeld by congressional committees chaired by Democrats. Besides, who better to try to blame for the “long, hard slog” in Iraq than the fellow who coined the expression, and then implemented it with dubious distinction?
I have the sense that Rumsfeld offered himself as scapegoat for Iraq, not only to avoid another acrimonious tangle with Sen. Hillary Clinton , but also to help Bush project an image of flexibility and decisiveness to cope with the imminent sea change in Congress.
Read it all at:
TomPaine.com - The Cheney-Gates Cabal
Friday, November 10, 2006
War on Iran
Another voice warning that the attack on Iran is still in the works.
EXCERPTED AND LINKED
War on Iran:
Unleashing Armageddon in the Middle East
By Dr. Elias Akleh
11/10/06 'Information Clearing House' -- -- In mid 1970s the American Power Elite drew a “Grand Plan” to control and to monopolize global oil and nuclear energy resources, for he who controls energy resources determines the fate of nations. The base of this “Grand Plan” is the invasion of energy rich countries to directly control their resources, and to create subservient governments that would exploit their own people as cheap labor to harvest energy for the United States.
The collapse of the Soviet Union had created a window of opportunity for the United States to ensure and to affirm its global superiority through expansion and controlling energy resources without any real opposition. The attacks of 911 were necessary requirements for the Bush administration to wage a “global war against terror” that would serve as a cover up for American hegemony. President Bush borrowed Mussolini’s fascist motto of “If you are not with me, you are against me” and turned it into “You are either with us or with the terrorist” to terrorize weaker nations into accepting American expansions. "
EXCERPTED AND LINKED
War on Iran:
Unleashing Armageddon in the Middle East
By Dr. Elias Akleh
11/10/06 'Information Clearing House' -- -- In mid 1970s the American Power Elite drew a “Grand Plan” to control and to monopolize global oil and nuclear energy resources, for he who controls energy resources determines the fate of nations. The base of this “Grand Plan” is the invasion of energy rich countries to directly control their resources, and to create subservient governments that would exploit their own people as cheap labor to harvest energy for the United States.
The collapse of the Soviet Union had created a window of opportunity for the United States to ensure and to affirm its global superiority through expansion and controlling energy resources without any real opposition. The attacks of 911 were necessary requirements for the Bush administration to wage a “global war against terror” that would serve as a cover up for American hegemony. President Bush borrowed Mussolini’s fascist motto of “If you are not with me, you are against me” and turned it into “You are either with us or with the terrorist” to terrorize weaker nations into accepting American expansions. "
Iraq disaster warning
Will the recent appointment of Robert Gates and the so -called Iraq Study Group that so many people, including quite a number of Democrats, avert the disaster of an attack on Iran?
Some still think it's still in the works - here a conservative writer comments.
EXCERPT, LINK INCLUDED.
Iraq disaster warning:
By WILLIAM S. LIND
UPI Outside View Commentator
11/10/06 -- - WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The third and final act in the U.S. national tragedy that is the Bush administration may soon play itself out.
Sources indicate increasing indications of 'something big' happening between the Nov. 7 congressional election and Christmas. That could be the long-planned attack on Iran.
An attack on Iran will not be an invasion with ground troops. We don't have enough of those left to invade Ruritania. It will be a 'package' of air and missile strikes, by U.S. forces or Israel. "
Some still think it's still in the works - here a conservative writer comments.
EXCERPT, LINK INCLUDED.
Iraq disaster warning:
By WILLIAM S. LIND
UPI Outside View Commentator
11/10/06 -- - WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The third and final act in the U.S. national tragedy that is the Bush administration may soon play itself out.
Sources indicate increasing indications of 'something big' happening between the Nov. 7 congressional election and Christmas. That could be the long-planned attack on Iran.
An attack on Iran will not be an invasion with ground troops. We don't have enough of those left to invade Ruritania. It will be a 'package' of air and missile strikes, by U.S. forces or Israel. "
"Thar' she blows," Moby Dick Cheney about to dive!
Alexander Cockburn writes:
"Now, Can We Talk About Something Serious?
Now that the biennial democratic pretense here in the U.S.A. has run its course, can we talk about something serious? We can? Good. Hmmm. Ha! Here's a good one we can sink our teeth into for a few paragraphs: the distinct possibility that the world economic system could soon blow up in our faces. You say nobody mentioned this in Campaign 2006? Of course they didn't. Who said political campaigns have anything to do with reality?
Let me direct you to a recent series of polite coughs, reminiscent of a sheep quietly clearing its throat somewhere on a fog-bound hillside in the north of England."
Better look at this one: CounterPunch: "America's Best Political Newsletter"
"Now, Can We Talk About Something Serious?
Now that the biennial democratic pretense here in the U.S.A. has run its course, can we talk about something serious? We can? Good. Hmmm. Ha! Here's a good one we can sink our teeth into for a few paragraphs: the distinct possibility that the world economic system could soon blow up in our faces. You say nobody mentioned this in Campaign 2006? Of course they didn't. Who said political campaigns have anything to do with reality?
Let me direct you to a recent series of polite coughs, reminiscent of a sheep quietly clearing its throat somewhere on a fog-bound hillside in the north of England."
Better look at this one: CounterPunch: "America's Best Political Newsletter"
Saddam: Let's now charge the accomplices
Award winning investigative journalist, John Pilger, recalls the names on the butcher's bill.
Read them all at: Saddam: Let's now charge the accomplices
Read them all at: Saddam: Let's now charge the accomplices
For Republic's Sake, Pelosi Must Ponder Impeachment
Veteran's Day means accountability for the waste in Iraq.
For Republic's Sake, Pelosi Must Ponder Impeachment
For Republic's Sake, Pelosi Must Ponder Impeachment
Peace Mom Sheehan Arrested in Washington
Scroll below for the video, she was on You Tube the previous day. We have video of her bullhorning for Rummy's ouster and calling for impeachment.
Text report is here, scroll down for You Tube short report:
Peace Mom Sheehan Arrested in Washington
Text report is here, scroll down for You Tube short report:
Peace Mom Sheehan Arrested in Washington
nyc.indymedia.org | Photos and Audio Report from Oaxaca: November 5th.
Tremendous turnout against reactionary governor in Mexico.
Go to:
Photos and Audio Report from Oaxaca: November 5th.
Go to:
Photos and Audio Report from Oaxaca: November 5th.
Democracy Now! | Defense Secretary Nominee Robert Gates
EXCERPTED FROM YESTERDAY'S INTERVIEW:
AMY GOODMAN: And this was condemned by the World Court, the mining of the harbors of Nicaragua. And so, you have two major figures coming together now. You have Casey -- rather, you have Bob Gates, who could become director of Central Intelligence Agency, and you have Daniel Ortega now, who has just been elected the president of Nicaragua.
MELVIN GOODMAN: Also part of this delicious irony, that on the same day that Ortega is announced as the president-elect, here’s Bob Gates, again, the Iran-Contra alumni, joining Elliott Abrams at the National Security Council. And remember, John Poindexter for a while had a key role in the Pentagon as part of this Iran-Contra class that George Bush seems to resort to.
AMY GOODMAN: And let me just correct that: of course, he’s been nominated to be head of the Pentagon, to be Defense Secretary. But one other thing I wanted to get to now, because you both have mentioned Lee Hamilton, who was a key figure then. And you’re saying that he very much was there to squelch true investigation of what was going on at the time, that he could be relied upon to do this. Well, now you have the Iraq Study Group that is headed by James Baker and, yes, Lee Hamilton, together with Bob Gates.
MELVIN GOODMAN: Well, I think the Iraq Study Group is also a political stratagem on the part of the Bush administration to try to give some chance at damage limitation to this Iraq policy. Lee Hamilton wasn’t very impressive in his 9/11 work as a co-commissioner. I think the study of the intelligence community, and particularly the CIA, was really softened. I think Lee Hamilton had something to do with this. He brought in people like Douglas MacEachin of the CIA. He was also a close colleague of Bob Gates, and he testified in favor of Bob Gates in 1991. And the first personnel appointment that Bob Gates made when he took over the CIA in 1991 was to make Doug MacEachin his Deputy Director for Intelligence. So, I don’t think Lee Hamilton is the zealous investigator that he once was and the kind of junkyard dog that he once was when he was on the Hill in the Congress.
GO TO:
Democracy Now! Defense Secretary Nominee Robert Gates Tied to Iran-Contra Scandal and the Secret Arming of Saddam Hussein
AMY GOODMAN: And this was condemned by the World Court, the mining of the harbors of Nicaragua. And so, you have two major figures coming together now. You have Casey -- rather, you have Bob Gates, who could become director of Central Intelligence Agency, and you have Daniel Ortega now, who has just been elected the president of Nicaragua.
MELVIN GOODMAN: Also part of this delicious irony, that on the same day that Ortega is announced as the president-elect, here’s Bob Gates, again, the Iran-Contra alumni, joining Elliott Abrams at the National Security Council. And remember, John Poindexter for a while had a key role in the Pentagon as part of this Iran-Contra class that George Bush seems to resort to.
AMY GOODMAN: And let me just correct that: of course, he’s been nominated to be head of the Pentagon, to be Defense Secretary. But one other thing I wanted to get to now, because you both have mentioned Lee Hamilton, who was a key figure then. And you’re saying that he very much was there to squelch true investigation of what was going on at the time, that he could be relied upon to do this. Well, now you have the Iraq Study Group that is headed by James Baker and, yes, Lee Hamilton, together with Bob Gates.
MELVIN GOODMAN: Well, I think the Iraq Study Group is also a political stratagem on the part of the Bush administration to try to give some chance at damage limitation to this Iraq policy. Lee Hamilton wasn’t very impressive in his 9/11 work as a co-commissioner. I think the study of the intelligence community, and particularly the CIA, was really softened. I think Lee Hamilton had something to do with this. He brought in people like Douglas MacEachin of the CIA. He was also a close colleague of Bob Gates, and he testified in favor of Bob Gates in 1991. And the first personnel appointment that Bob Gates made when he took over the CIA in 1991 was to make Doug MacEachin his Deputy Director for Intelligence. So, I don’t think Lee Hamilton is the zealous investigator that he once was and the kind of junkyard dog that he once was when he was on the Hill in the Congress.
GO TO:
Democracy Now! Defense Secretary Nominee Robert Gates Tied to Iran-Contra Scandal and the Secret Arming of Saddam Hussein
A Bulk Rate on Printing Subpoenas?
Great break down of election candidates, impeachment procedures and the Dems that have pooh - poohed the demands for constitutional accountability.
David Swanson writes from Truthout.org:
A Bulk Rate on Printing Subpoenas?
David Swanson writes from Truthout.org:
A Bulk Rate on Printing Subpoenas?
Jenna Bush making land deal in Paraguay?
How crazy does this sound? Well, at least she is doing her homework and chasing down Jenna's latest.
We Hate To Bring Up the Nazis, But They Fled To South America, Too - Wonkette
We Hate To Bring Up the Nazis, But They Fled To South America, Too - Wonkette
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
California's KNOX radio is reporting Kansas stink.
SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK, SICK.
KLINE DENIES HIS CLONES - "LEAKED" WOMEN'S MEDICAL FILES TO NATIONAL TELEVISION SHOW.
'LEGAL' KANSAS TERRORISTS - AGAINST WOMEN - EXPOSED!
O'REILLY AND KLINE ARE SNICKERING, VOYEURS IN LAST DESPERATE RE - ELECTION EFFORT.
ASSOCIATED PRESS CALLS KLINE "NATION'S FOREMOST ABORTION OPPONENT."
"PRO - LIFE" REPUBLICAN SYMPATHIZERS HAVE USED; HANDGUNS IN WICHITA, .12 GAUGE SHOTGUNS IN FLORIDA, SNIPER RIFLES IN NEW YORK, BOMBS IN ATLANTA, SAWED OFF RIFLES IN MASSACHUSETTS TO KILL WOMEN AND DOCTORS - IN KANSAS THE SAME USES THE "LAW" AND "LEAKERS" TO WIN RE - ELECTION.
KANSANS COULD LEAD THE WAY, AGAINST THE WINGNUT REPUBLICANS RUNNING THE STATE AND SHOW THE NATION LEADERSHIP.
I have never seen such rank hypocrisy in Kansas public office as the likes of Ks. A G Phill Kline - this is the sleaziest tactic ever used to keep in office.
The news report, below, early on announced that lawyers representing Dr. George Tiller are seeking an independent investigation from the state to find out who leaked this information that Kline had in his very own hands and showed last Friday night to the O'Reilly Republican Dog and Pony Show.
Phill and Bill, in their network bunkers, huffing on Pastor Ted Haggard's meth pipe, plotting little blitzkriegs with imaginary battalions of Christian soldiers, all "marching as to war" gathering up every elderly geezer clutching a Bible determined to win victory for the embryos in Kansas.
How stupid does Kline think Republican voters are?
Republican Kansans, until recently, have overwhelmingly supported any "pro - life" politician that ran. Kline's slimeball circus has trampolined the ugliness of the anti - abortion terror for all the world to see and that is why so many are vomiting from these rotten tactics.
Kline's self -serving arrogance has finally overwhelmed even some of his stupidest supporters - even they can see through this sick publicity move.
Smirking Phill Kline is all over local television in Kansas today, with his head nodding wife saying he didn't know where the medical records came from, or how O'Reilly got his ratings to sky rocket in Kansas.
My prediction: Kline knows he is about to get his ass kicked in the polling booths tomorrow morning, and afterward possibly get busted by some real cops, for his career climbing smear tactics and slimy campaign financing.
The Bush, Cheney cabal should be nervously watching; smart Kansans, Republican, Democrat and Independents may be about to lead the way - driving corrupt Republicans not only out of public office, but into the jails.
Here is a California report from a radio station out there: KNX - *:
"Pedro Irigonegaray, who represents Tiller and the clinics, said it was ``preposterous'' that the information would come from an insider at one of the clinics.
``This has been our concern from the beginning, that if he ended up with these records, that just this type of event would occur. Our worst nightmare has happened,'' Irigonegaray said. ``Women in America deserve better than this.''
It wasn't clear Saturday whether O'Reilly's source had broken state or federal laws by divulging patient information or whether O'Reilly or his staff had viewed any records themselves.
A request to Fox in Washington to interview O'Reilly or someone associated with his show wasn't answered Saturday.
Kline, one of the nation's foremost abortion opponents, has said the targets of his investigation are rapists, sex offenders with child victims, and doctors involved in illegal abortions. "
WHAT KIND OF KANSAN WOULD VOTE FOR THIS PEEKING WEASEL?
KLINE DENIES HIS CLONES - "LEAKED" WOMEN'S MEDICAL FILES TO NATIONAL TELEVISION SHOW.
'LEGAL' KANSAS TERRORISTS - AGAINST WOMEN - EXPOSED!
O'REILLY AND KLINE ARE SNICKERING, VOYEURS IN LAST DESPERATE RE - ELECTION EFFORT.
ASSOCIATED PRESS CALLS KLINE "NATION'S FOREMOST ABORTION OPPONENT."
"PRO - LIFE" REPUBLICAN SYMPATHIZERS HAVE USED; HANDGUNS IN WICHITA, .12 GAUGE SHOTGUNS IN FLORIDA, SNIPER RIFLES IN NEW YORK, BOMBS IN ATLANTA, SAWED OFF RIFLES IN MASSACHUSETTS TO KILL WOMEN AND DOCTORS - IN KANSAS THE SAME USES THE "LAW" AND "LEAKERS" TO WIN RE - ELECTION.
KANSANS COULD LEAD THE WAY, AGAINST THE WINGNUT REPUBLICANS RUNNING THE STATE AND SHOW THE NATION LEADERSHIP.
I have never seen such rank hypocrisy in Kansas public office as the likes of Ks. A G Phill Kline - this is the sleaziest tactic ever used to keep in office.
The news report, below, early on announced that lawyers representing Dr. George Tiller are seeking an independent investigation from the state to find out who leaked this information that Kline had in his very own hands and showed last Friday night to the O'Reilly Republican Dog and Pony Show.
Phill and Bill, in their network bunkers, huffing on Pastor Ted Haggard's meth pipe, plotting little blitzkriegs with imaginary battalions of Christian soldiers, all "marching as to war" gathering up every elderly geezer clutching a Bible determined to win victory for the embryos in Kansas.
How stupid does Kline think Republican voters are?
Republican Kansans, until recently, have overwhelmingly supported any "pro - life" politician that ran. Kline's slimeball circus has trampolined the ugliness of the anti - abortion terror for all the world to see and that is why so many are vomiting from these rotten tactics.
Kline's self -serving arrogance has finally overwhelmed even some of his stupidest supporters - even they can see through this sick publicity move.
Smirking Phill Kline is all over local television in Kansas today, with his head nodding wife saying he didn't know where the medical records came from, or how O'Reilly got his ratings to sky rocket in Kansas.
My prediction: Kline knows he is about to get his ass kicked in the polling booths tomorrow morning, and afterward possibly get busted by some real cops, for his career climbing smear tactics and slimy campaign financing.
The Bush, Cheney cabal should be nervously watching; smart Kansans, Republican, Democrat and Independents may be about to lead the way - driving corrupt Republicans not only out of public office, but into the jails.
Here is a California report from a radio station out there: KNX - *:
"Pedro Irigonegaray, who represents Tiller and the clinics, said it was ``preposterous'' that the information would come from an insider at one of the clinics.
``This has been our concern from the beginning, that if he ended up with these records, that just this type of event would occur. Our worst nightmare has happened,'' Irigonegaray said. ``Women in America deserve better than this.''
It wasn't clear Saturday whether O'Reilly's source had broken state or federal laws by divulging patient information or whether O'Reilly or his staff had viewed any records themselves.
A request to Fox in Washington to interview O'Reilly or someone associated with his show wasn't answered Saturday.
Kline, one of the nation's foremost abortion opponents, has said the targets of his investigation are rapists, sex offenders with child victims, and doctors involved in illegal abortions. "
WHAT KIND OF KANSAN WOULD VOTE FOR THIS PEEKING WEASEL?
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Christian Runs With Big Dogs
From Big Pastor Ted's own web site. Unions no good, cheap plastic stuff at big chain store, good!
We farm kids know what's good for country. Gay, bad - Abortion, bad - cheap anything good. Now pass that pipe.
Christian Runs With Big Dogs: "As for President Bush, Haggard shrugs off any suggestion that the two are buddy-buddy: 'He's a Crawford, Texas, guy and I'm an Indiana farm kid - we have a lot of the same values.'
At one typical meeting in Washington with a half-dozen other evangelicals, Haggard eyeballed Bush and pitched his point. But it wasn't about abortion or gay marriage - rather, of all things, the steel tariff.
'I told him we wanted it out,' Haggard recalled. 'I said, 'Those unions in Pennsylvania are not gonna vote for you. Your responsibility is the good of the people and free trade is the way we get cheaper steel.' '
For Haggard, free trade is one of the keys to the pursuit of happiness. 'Free trade means there's plenty of aspirin, eyeglasses and food for everyone around the world. Without free trade, we'd have massive starvation. If people aren't getting (goods), the reason is political intervention.' "
We farm kids know what's good for country. Gay, bad - Abortion, bad - cheap anything good. Now pass that pipe.
Christian Runs With Big Dogs: "As for President Bush, Haggard shrugs off any suggestion that the two are buddy-buddy: 'He's a Crawford, Texas, guy and I'm an Indiana farm kid - we have a lot of the same values.'
At one typical meeting in Washington with a half-dozen other evangelicals, Haggard eyeballed Bush and pitched his point. But it wasn't about abortion or gay marriage - rather, of all things, the steel tariff.
'I told him we wanted it out,' Haggard recalled. 'I said, 'Those unions in Pennsylvania are not gonna vote for you. Your responsibility is the good of the people and free trade is the way we get cheaper steel.' '
For Haggard, free trade is one of the keys to the pursuit of happiness. 'Free trade means there's plenty of aspirin, eyeglasses and food for everyone around the world. Without free trade, we'd have massive starvation. If people aren't getting (goods), the reason is political intervention.' "
FOXNews.com - Evangelist Dismissed From Church Amid Sex, Drug Scandal
FOXNews.com - Evangelist Dismissed From Church Amid Sex, Drug Scandal - National News:
A Red state just got redder.
Here one of Colorado Pastor Ted Haggard's faithful comes up with a pretty stale line to rationalize a hollowed out, dumbed down version of spirituality.
Want to bet Bush will not be accepting anymore weekly conference calls from this guy anymore?
And to think "pro - life" people like this are deciding life and and death in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hidebound hypocrisy has no bounds.
[EXCERPT BELOW]
"Church member Christine Rayes, 47, said the congregation had hoped the allegations 'were all lies.'
'We all have to move forward now,' she said. 'This doesn't make what Ted accomplished here any less. The farther up you are, the more you are a target for Satan.'"
A Red state just got redder.
Here one of Colorado Pastor Ted Haggard's faithful comes up with a pretty stale line to rationalize a hollowed out, dumbed down version of spirituality.
Want to bet Bush will not be accepting anymore weekly conference calls from this guy anymore?
And to think "pro - life" people like this are deciding life and and death in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hidebound hypocrisy has no bounds.
[EXCERPT BELOW]
"Church member Christine Rayes, 47, said the congregation had hoped the allegations 'were all lies.'
'We all have to move forward now,' she said. 'This doesn't make what Ted accomplished here any less. The farther up you are, the more you are a target for Satan.'"
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Early Bird "Sunday Morning Stakeout" Special link to our new web site.
Richard Dawkins - The Root of All Evil Part 1
Welcome to our FCF early bird "Sunday Morning Stakeout" follow the scroll and links to watch the full length feature on our new web site. Here is the first segment 16 minutes including Rev. Ted Haggard (before admitting to soliciting meth from a gay massuese) turning openly hostile toward British Scientist Richard Dawkins study of his church in Colorado. Scroll on down.
Welcome to our FCF early bird "Sunday Morning Stakeout" follow the scroll and links to watch the full length feature on our new web site. Here is the first segment 16 minutes including Rev. Ted Haggard (before admitting to soliciting meth from a gay massuese) turning openly hostile toward British Scientist Richard Dawkins study of his church in Colorado. Scroll on down.
Feature length documentary on "The Root of All Evil" with British scientist Richard Dawkins. Click here.
Richard Dawkins - The Root of All Evil Part 1
Teaser segment from the full length feature available at our new site. Go to: http://discomfit.blogspot.com (must download the free Google video player to watch the entire documentary.)
Teaser segment from the full length feature available at our new site. Go to: http://discomfit.blogspot.com (must download the free Google video player to watch the entire documentary.)
Coming to America: The Civil War ahead?
Richard W. Behan: Triumph of the Petropublicans?:
"The invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq were undertaken, respectively, to secure the pipeline route from the Caspian Basin and to guarantee access to the enormous inventories of Iraqi crude--in both cases to the colossal benefit of American and British oil companies--and the 'Global War on Terror' is merely an elegant and fraudulent smokescreen.
This is not just another timeworn, trite, and impressionistic rant: it is now a matter of documented fact.
The attacks on the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon in September of 2001 provided the Bush Administration, either by design (the conspiracy theories) or default (the reality ), with the rationales for both invasions. But the planning for each of them was underway long before the 9/11: months in the case of Afghanistan, years in the case of Iraq.
This deception--this crime--is so outlandish and monstrous as to be scarcely credible. That is why, very likely, it isn't front-and-center in public consciousness."
Travel to the link provided in the title line to read the complete article.
"The invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq were undertaken, respectively, to secure the pipeline route from the Caspian Basin and to guarantee access to the enormous inventories of Iraqi crude--in both cases to the colossal benefit of American and British oil companies--and the 'Global War on Terror' is merely an elegant and fraudulent smokescreen.
This is not just another timeworn, trite, and impressionistic rant: it is now a matter of documented fact.
The attacks on the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon in September of 2001 provided the Bush Administration, either by design (the conspiracy theories) or default (the reality ), with the rationales for both invasions. But the planning for each of them was underway long before the 9/11: months in the case of Afghanistan, years in the case of Iraq.
This deception--this crime--is so outlandish and monstrous as to be scarcely credible. That is why, very likely, it isn't front-and-center in public consciousness."
Travel to the link provided in the title line to read the complete article.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
On "The Worst Congress Ever" [and] my use of the term 'drinking the kool - aid' in "Red" Kansas.
In anticipation of the fight to come here locally in NE Kansas for my use of the term in reference to this week's "Letter to the Editor" posted to area newspapers:
"The Bush administration and much of the elected leadership in this country have 'drank the kool – aid' believed their own often repeated declarations about the phony 'War on Terrorism.'" [Excerpted, a link is temporarily provided to the full letter in the title to this post.]
I source the current article from Rolling Stone magazine's Matt Taibbi. At the least, in the spirit of 'friendly persuasion' and compromise to my neighbors in NE Kansas, who feel wronged by my words - would the state legislative government of Kansas be so free from the same?
Read Mr. Taibbi's excerpt below and explore the complete article in the provided link.
The Worst Congress Ever:
"'The 109th Congress is so bad that it makes you wonder if democracy is a failed experiment,' says Jonathan Turley, a noted constitutional scholar and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington Law School. 'I think that if the Framers went to Capitol Hill today, it would shake their confidence in the system they created. Congress has become an exercise of raw power with no principles -- and in that environment corruption has flourished. The Republicans in Congress decided from the outset that their future would be inextricably tied to George Bush and his policies. It has become this sad session of members sitting down and drinking Kool-Aid delivered by Karl Rove. Congress became a mere extension of the White House.' " [FCF emphasis]
"The Bush administration and much of the elected leadership in this country have 'drank the kool – aid' believed their own often repeated declarations about the phony 'War on Terrorism.'" [Excerpted, a link is temporarily provided to the full letter in the title to this post.]
I source the current article from Rolling Stone magazine's Matt Taibbi. At the least, in the spirit of 'friendly persuasion' and compromise to my neighbors in NE Kansas, who feel wronged by my words - would the state legislative government of Kansas be so free from the same?
Read Mr. Taibbi's excerpt below and explore the complete article in the provided link.
The Worst Congress Ever:
"'The 109th Congress is so bad that it makes you wonder if democracy is a failed experiment,' says Jonathan Turley, a noted constitutional scholar and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington Law School. 'I think that if the Framers went to Capitol Hill today, it would shake their confidence in the system they created. Congress has become an exercise of raw power with no principles -- and in that environment corruption has flourished. The Republicans in Congress decided from the outset that their future would be inextricably tied to George Bush and his policies. It has become this sad session of members sitting down and drinking Kool-Aid delivered by Karl Rove. Congress became a mere extension of the White House.' " [FCF emphasis]
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