Uncle Horn Head

My Last Reagan Post...

...until Bush opens up federal funding for stem-cell research.

From Greg Palast:

...In November 2001, with my BBC television and Guardian newspaper colleagues, I reported that, during the Reagan presidency, a US embassy official in Saudi Arabia was, in his own words, 'repeatedly ordered by high-level State Department officials to issue visas to unqualified applicants.'

Sounds icky but not too notable until you learn the identities of these 'applicants.' They claimed to be engineering students who, when queried as to what school they attended, answered they 'could not remember.' They didn't have to. The unlikely 'engineers' had little helpers in the Reagan Administration.

After investigation, the career diplomat, attorney Michael Springmann, learned they were, 'recruits, rounded up by Osama bin Laden, to [bring to] the United States for terrorist training by the CIA. They would then be returned to Afghanistan to fight against the then-Soviets.'

Uh, oh. They returned to Afghanistan all right. But terrorists are like homing pigeons -- they have a bad habit of coming home to roost. In spook-world, it's known as 'blow back.' The Reagan-bin Laden killer brigade, skilled in such crafts as skinning Russian prisoners alive, blew back with a sickening vengeance.

That story ran world wide at the top of the BBC nightly news -- except in the USA where it bounced off the electronic Berlin Wall. Our media was careful not to wake America from its nap, to hide the deeply disturbing truths behind Grandpa Gipper's grin...

Still boils the blood.

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Cheney and Powell Contradict Each Other, Again

Do these two ever communicate?:

One one side...

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell conceded Thursday(6/10) that despite his assertions to the United Nations last year, he had no "smoking gun" proof of a link between the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and terrorists of Al Qaeda.

"I have not seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection," Mr. Powell said, in response to a question at a news conference. "But I think the possibility of such connections did exist, and it was prudent to consider them at the time that we did."


...and the other...

Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday(6/14) that Saddam Hussein had "long-established ties" with al Qaida, an assertion that has been repeatedly challenged by some policy experts and lawmakers.

The vice president offered no details backing up his claim of a link between Saddam and al Qaida.

"He was a patron of terrorism," Cheney said of Hussein during a speech before The James Madison Institute, a conservative think-tank based in Florida. "He had long established ties with al Qaida."


So which is it?

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Quote of the Day

"When someone tells you something defies description, you can be pretty sure he's going to have a go at it anyway."
Clyde B. Aster

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Long Live Zizou

For the uninitiated, French midfielder Zinedine Zidane is the greatest footballer in the world. Proven by his two goals in injury time to send England to defeat in the European Football Championships on Sunday.

Zidane does not crow. In victory, he shows only magnanimity. Rare acquaintance with reversals simply stirs him to more intense effort. This is a special, special footballer, the Real deal in every sense. Amid all the Birmingham disturbances and breast-beating over defeat to France, it needs acknowledging that England were slain by one of the greatest footballers ever.

Elegance has a name and his initials are Z.Z.
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Stop These People

This web site is urging people to email movie theatres to stop them from showing Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911. The site, called Move America Forward, lists emails of executives at movie theatre companies in hopes that people will be able to stop it.

Below, you will find all of the email addresses. All you need to do is paste them into your message and hit send. Tell them the movie is 100% factual and that people who don't want the truth known are trying to keep it from being shown.

Here you go:

brian_blatchley@loewscpx.com; michael_norris@loewscpx.com; kerry_moots@loewscpx.com; John_mccauley@loewscpx.com; john_walker@loewscpx.com; maura_Campbell@loewscpx.com; lorim@landmarktheatres.com; MattL@landmarktheatres.com; dianea@landmarktheatres.com; hughw@landmarktheatres.com; magnolia@landmarktheatres.com; comments@landmarktheatres.com; info@little-theatre.com; marketing@little-theatre.com; Skip@TheAvon.com; Cameranet@aol.com; info@rialtoarts.com; info@rialtocinemas.com; film@savoytheater.com; dgurin@regalcinemas.com; mcampbell@regalcinemas.com; amiles@regalcinemas.com; gdunn@regalcinemas.com; pbrandow@regalcinemas.com; barry.brown@regalcinemas.com; rwinograd@regalcinemedia.com; robbya@regalcinemas.com; kevink@regalcinemas.com; ddelaria@regalcinemas.com; gslayton@amctheatres.com; gthyer@amctheatres.com; vdaniels@amctheatres.com; mcook@amctheatres.com; Mmcdonald@amctheatres.com; Jmcdonald@amctheatres.com; Psingleton@amctheatres.com; Jbeynon@amctheatres.com; Kconnor@amctheatres.com; fred@carmike.com; philip@carmike.com; film@carmike.com; do07@carmike.com; do12@carmike.com; do14@carmike.com; Jacque_clark@centurytheatres.com; Chris_OKelley@CenturyTheatres.com; Nancy_Klasky@centurytheatres.com; David_shesgreen@centurytheatres.com; Victor_Castillo@centurytheatres.com; srodriguez@manntheatres.com; jhebert@manntheatres.com; info@manntheatres.com; comments@manntheatres.com; rjansson@manntheatres.com; jhanson@national-amusements.com; mdixon@national-amusements.com; operations@national-amusements.com; jwelman@crowntheatres.com; hcleveland@crowntheatres.com; cdugger@crowntheatres.com; zcole@crowntheatres.com; bmcmannis@gqti.com; mjohnson@gqti.com; Goodrich@gqti.com; dkerasotes@kerasotes.com; tjohnson@kerasotes.com; kjohnson@kerasotes.com; joanvoelzke@marcuscorp.com; stevemarcus@marcuscorp.com; bruceolson@marcuscorp.com; ghill@wallacetheaters.com; marketing@wallacetheaters.com; service@wallacetheaters.com; astone@consolidatedth.com; customerservice@consolidatedth.com; ctortolano@pacifictheatres.com; cdougher@clearcin.com; wsalisch@clearcin.com; dlewis1@clearcin.com

Update: Great idea from the comments:

I suggest using a crystal clear & short subject line - maybe something like:

---------
Subject: We support you! Thanks 4 showing Fahrenheit 911!

Since these people are being swamped with emails lobbying them not to show Moore's film, & you don't want to get mistakenly lumped in with the wingers.

Thanks Stevelu!



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Quote of the Day

Installment XII

"If you can't annoy somebody, there's little point in writing."
Kinsgley Amis

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Alcohol Abuse at Abu Ghraib

Haven't seen this previously:

Senior U.S. military officials tried to crack down on alcohol abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq weeks before investigators uncovered prisoner mistreatment there, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing soldiers.

Abuse was so prevalent that they had an Alcoholics Anonymous chapter at the prison.

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Quote of the Day

Installment XI

"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives."
John Stuart Mill

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In Case You Hadn't Heard

Family values proponent Rush Limbaugh recently announced his third divorce.

How will the family's eight doctors be split up?

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Berry's World is Back in Business

After a hiatus from blogging, my friend and fellow blogger Keith is back blogging. During his time away he did some reading.

Welcome back, Keith. (Now about those Lakers...)

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Flash Friday

Yes, I know it's Saturday. But hey, the blogosphere is huge it sometimes takes me a day or two to find what we seek and sometimes to find what we don't. We were lucky to come across this.

This Flash presentation at Sadly, No! is amazing. Go take a look and be sure to check out the others; 'She Drives Me Crazy' and 'Chalabi Special.'

Oh, to be technologically savvy!

(So as not to miss any more quality content I've added Sadly, No! and The Dark Window, who aided in the creation of the aforementioned Flash presentation, to my blogroll. Check them out!)

Update: Somehow I managed to create the above post three times. I deleted the other two becasue I think this one is the best of the three.


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Quote of the Day

Installment X

"The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations."
David Friedman

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Terrorism Report Changed

When first released, the report said incidents of terror were down in 2003. And now Colin Powell is saying that isn't entirely accurate. The initial report left out several European and Asian terrorist attacks that claimed hundreds of lives. So, the new report has a conclusion that is the exact opposite of the original report.

Alas, political manipulation mistakes are bound to happen.

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Five Congressional Votes You Should Know About

Courtesy of the Republican majority. Link.

Pro-Defense: Facing increasing violence in Iraq, military commanders in Iraq asked Congress and the president to immediately fill shortages in protective body armor. Just four months after the president signed another massive tax cut for the wealthy, up to 51,000 troops were still not properly equipped for combat, with many begging friends and family at home to buy them makeshift armor. Responding to the crisis, Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) sponsored a bill to immediately plug the shortage. He was voted down (Senate vote #376, October 2, 2003), and the results have been catastrophic. As a recent study circulating in the Army notes, up to one in four casualties in Iraq was due to poor protective gear.

Compassionate: With U.S. troops struggling to secure Iraq last summer, Congress and the president repeatedly praised soldiers’ efforts and promised to provide them the best facilities possible. Yet, the White House budget that year proposed to cut $1.5 billion out of military housing. Representative David Obey (D-Wisc.) came up with a simple solution: Slightly reduce the proposed tax cuts on the 200,000 Americans making $1 million a year to fill the budget gap for the troops and their families. Instead of getting an $88,000 tax cut, millionaires would receive an ample $83,000 tax cut, and the troops’ housing would be maintained. Obey’s bill was voted down (House vote #324, June 26, 2003).

Tax Fairness: In 2002, the Bush administration terminated the tax on oil and chemical industry polluters that finances Superfund toxic cleanups. As the New York Times reported, the move effectively “shifted the bulk of [cleanup] costs from industry to taxpayers,” allowing the president’s corporate campaign donors to pollute without having to pay for it. Just two years later, the loss of tax revenues bankrupted Superfund, leaving it unable to maintain an adequate cleanup pace. In response, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) offered an amendment to reinstate the Superfund tax. He was voted down. (Senate vote #45, March 11, 2004), and now more and more communities are forced to wait as toxic sites fester in their midst.

Patrotism: As the recession reached new lows in December 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives considered whether to continue rewarding companies with taxpayer subsidies, even if those same companies use those subsidies to send U.S. jobs overseas. The question was simple: During a jobs and deficit crisis, should the U.S. government’s Export-Import Bank continue giving most of its $15 billion a year to subsidize a slew of Fortune 500 companies that are reducing their U.S. workforce? But when Representative Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) offered a measure to curb the government handouts to corporate job exporters, he was voted down (House vote #120, May 1, 2002).

Clean Government: Halliburton, the oil company Vice President Dick Cheney ran, continues to receive billions in no-bid government contracts for work in Iraq, even after it was cited for overcharging taxpayers and providing unsanitary facilities to U.S. troops. At the same time, Cheney is receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in deferred compensation from the company and holds roughly 400,000 Halliburton stock options. More troubling, internal memos now show that Cheney’s office was directly coordinating Halliburton contracts. When the Congressional Research Service ruled the situation represented a “potential conflict of interest,” the Senate considered legislation that would have forced the termination of the Cheney-Halliburton relationship. It was voted down (Senate vote #386, October 16, 2003).

Boils the blood.

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More Reagan

This is a transcript of a press conference by WH press secretary Larry Speakes on October 15, 1982. It speaks for itself:

Q: Larry, does the President have any reaction to the announcement from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, that AIDS is now an epidemic and have over 600 cases?

MR. SPEAKES: What's AIDS?

Q: Over a third of them have died. It's known as 'gay plague.' (Laughter.) No, it is. I mean it's a pretty serious thing that one in every three people that get this have died. And I wondered if the President is aware of it?

MR. SPEAKES: I don't have it. Do you? (Laughter.)

Q: No, I don't.

MR. SPEAKES: You didn't answer my question.

Q: Well, I just wondered, does the President ...

MR. SPEAKES: How do you know? (Laughter.)

Q: In other words, the White House looks on this as a great joke?

MR. SPEAKES: No, I don't know anything about it, Lester.

Q: Does the President, does anyone in the White House know about this epidemic, Larry?

MR. SPEAKES: I don't think so. I don't think there's been any ...

Q: Nobody knows?

MR. SPEAKES: There has been no personal experience here, Lester.
Q: No, I mean, I thought you were keeping ...

MR. SPEAKES: I checked thoroughly with Dr. Ruge this morning and he's had no - (laughter) - no patients suffering from AIDS or whatever it is.

Q: The President doesn't have gay plague, is that what you're saying or what

MR. SPEAKES: No, I didn't say that.

Q: Didn't say that?

MR. SPEAKES: I thought I heard you on the State Department over there. Why didn't you stay there? (Laughter.)

Q: Because I love you Larry, that's why (Laughter.)

MR. SPEAKES: Oh I see. Just don't put it in those terms, Lester. (Laughter.)

Q: Oh, I retract that.

MR. SPEAKES: I hope so.

Q: It's too late.

You won't see this on the GWB Web site.

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Eject Bush

Hilarious web site. Be sure to play the 'guess the quote' game. The answer is either George W. Bush or Ralph Wiggum (Chief Wiggum's son from the Simpsons.)

Classic.

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Quote of the Day

Installment IX

"You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing."
Michael Pritchard

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Ronald Reagan in Philadelphia, Mississippi

From the transcript of the 6/7 edition of NewsHour on PBS. The quote is from Roger Wilkins:

Well, Reagan was an incredible combination of a person who was very optimistic, upbeat, but underneath there were some really ugly parts of his politics.

He was, I said once before on this program, he capitalized on anti-black populism by going to Philadelphia and Mississippi , for example, in the beginning of his campaign in 1980.

Nobody had ever heard of Philadelphia and Mississippi outside of Mississippi , except as the place where three civil rights workers had been lynched – in 1964 – he said I believe in states rights.

Everybody knew what that meant. He went to Stone Mountain , Georgia , where the Ku Klux Klan used to burn its crosses, and he said Jefferson Davis is a hero of mine.

The event Wilkins speaks of is Reagan's first major campaign stop after declaring his candidacy for President in 1979. And who urged him to go to this former bastion of racism? Trent Lott.

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Quote of the Day

Installment VIII

"Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory."
John Kenneth Galbraith

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Freedom on the Run

Very cool.


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Apparently Bush DOES Wear An Earpiece

From today's Media Channel blog.

Ever see the movie Broadcast News? Exactly.

Thinking of the Supreme Commander GWB, I am reminded of an incident last Saturday when he was praising French President Chirac. I was watching CNN when all of a sudden, I heard another voice speaking Bush's pre-scripted lines before he did. That's right---the other voice would be heard BEFORE Bush's voice. What was that?

I thought at the time that that may have been done to give translators a head start on the President's words. Later, I had a call from a reader in Germany who told me she heard the same thing on CNN International including that same voice telling Bush what journalists to call on before he did. We have never heard that before. She asked: "Is someone controlling the president like a ventriloquist"?

It reminded me of a trick that some TV correspondents use for their on camera standups. They pre-record their standups for playback in their ears, and then turn to the camera in a way that you can't see the ear plug. They then play the tape and mouth their own words a long a few seconds later. It takes practice to be able to repeat the words but it makes for a smoother delivery without having to read. If I am right this means that this technique is used by the President to give his speeches the appearance of spontaneity, especially if he can't remember his own words. In this case, CNN picked up this audio track, perhaps because it was on a radio mic.

Fox News this morning reported uncritically on speculation that Dick Cheney may be replaced on the Republican ticket by "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani, a move they saw as perfect as an attention getting device in the upcoming speculation. Their related rumor is that Cheney will go to the CIA to replace George Tenet.

Interesting part at the end about Cheney being done and moving to Tenet's post. I still think the October surprise will be the "discovery" of WMDs in Iraq. Planted, of course.


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Quote of the Day

Installment VII

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."
Bertrand Russell

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Four Day Work Week?

Sounds good to me. All I have to do is move to Belgium.

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GOP Deifying Reagan

A wonderful post from Billmon at the Whiskey Bar about the GOP and their accomplices in the media trying to spin Reagan's death to shed Bush in a new, better light. It will take more than that for sure.

We'll let President President Reagan's son Ron Jr. have the last word...

"My father was a man - that's the difference between him and Bush. To paraphrase Jack Palance, my father crapped bigger ones than George Bush."

Eloquent. I can't wait to see if they shake hands on Friday when Bush speaks at Reagan's funeral.

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BIG Mistake From the Tampa Tribune

The paper accidentally ran an editorial saying the Lightning had lost the Stanley Cup, when, in fact, they won game seven the previous evening.

Editorial Page Editor Rosemary Goudreau sums it up best:

"We took a puck in the gut this morning."

I should say.

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Majority of Senators Call for Looser Stem Cell Rules


As I guessed a couple of days ago, the Senate is putting pressure on the President to allow more stem-cell research:

...The letter was signed by 43 Democrats, the Senate's one independent and 14 Republicans, among them conservatives who oppose abortion. In April, 206 House members sent a similar letter to Bush...

This is sounding almost...get ready...surely, it can't be...bi-partisan!

So Bush has proven he can unite Iraqis (against us) who've fought for thousands of years and now, at least partially, the Congress. Wow.

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Housekeeping


Blogging will be light for the next couple of days due to the incredible amount of things I need to get done. I may be able to post some stuff tonight.

As of last night, I won't need to be at a computer to post to my blog. Blogger has introduced a free Audioblogger service that can be accessed by just calling a phone number. So, while I'm enjoying one of my hour-and-a-half commutes I can wax poetic about the beautiful Schuylkill Expressway.

Or something.

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Quote of the Day

Installment VI

"Why does the Air Force need expensive new bombers? Have the people we've been bombing over the years been complaining?"
George Wallace

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Quote of the Day

Installment V

"Humans are the only animals that have children on purpose with the exception of guppies, who like to eat theirs."
P.J. O'Rourke

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United Nations: Ten stories

A new initiative:

To shine a spotlight on some of the important international issues and developments that often do not get sufficient media attention, the United Nations Department of Public Information presents a new initiative - "Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About."

This list includes a number of humanitarian emergencies, as well as conflict or post-conflict situations and spans other matters of concern to the United Nations, although it is far from embracing all of the many issues before the Organization.

A few examples:

Uganda: Child soldiers at centre of mounting humanitarian crisis

AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa: a looming threat to future generations

Women as peacemakers: from victims to re-builders of society

Persons with disabilities: a treaty seeks to break new ground in ensuring equality

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Iraqi Judge Issues Arrest Warrant for Chalabi's American Aide

Link:

An arrest warrant has been issued for Ahmed Chalabi's right-hand man in Baghdad, the American consultant Francis Brooke, who tried to stop the recent raid on the politician's headquarters in the Iraqi capital.

In the latest in a series of damaging blows for Mr Chalabi, an Iraqi judge said that Mr Brooke had obstructed the Iraqi police. He is believed to have returned to Washington, leaving his former master to tackle claims that his Iraqi National Congress passed American secrets to Iran...

It looks as though the training wheels are off, at least from a jurisprudence perspective. I wonder if this could set an extradition precedent? Doubtful, but it will be interesting to see it play out in the American foreign press.

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Quote of the Day

Installment IV

"Would those of you in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry."
John Lennon

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Cheney & Rumsfeld as Witnesses at Torture Trial?

A brilliant move by defense attorneys for U.S. Army Pfc. Lynndie England. England was featured prominently in two notorious photgraphs taken at Abu Ghraib prison:

...England's lawyer Rose Mary Zapor told a news conference that Cheney and Rumsfeld were on a list of more than 130 people that the defense would like to call as witnesses.

Zapor said England's defense that she was only following orders could be bolstered by evidence from Rumsfeld and Cheney. The vice president would have knowledge of 'intelligence tactics' due to his service as secretary of defense in the presidency of Bush's father, she said...

Imagine the media circus surrounding this trial in the unlikely event one of these Hawks testifies.

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Ronald Reagan

Dead at 93.

I didn't agree with a lot of his policies but he did work with Gorbachev to help end Communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall. One of the most endearing images of the 80s.

Hopefully, there will be some good that will come from the passing of the 40th President of the United States. First, Reagan's passing should signal a renewed interest in Alzheimer's disease that could give more research and resources for the fight to end this horrible disease. Second, Reagan's widow, Nancy, has been an advocate of stem-cell research something the Bush Administration has only partially embraced. This research is something that can help to find out more about Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases.

RIP President Reagan.

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Quote of the Day

Installment III (Smarty Jones edition)

"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people."
W C Fields
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Why Would Bush Consult a non-White House Attorney?

A good article by John Dean at FindLaw.com about what Bush's motives might be as they pertain to the Plame investigation:

...It is possible that Bush is consulting (James E.) Sharp only out of an excess of caution - despite the fact that he knows nothing of the leak, or of any possible coverup of the leak. But that's not likely.

On this subject, I spoke with an experienced former federal prosecutor who works in Washington, specializing in white collar criminal defense (but who does not know Sharp). That attorney told me that he is baffled by Bush's move - unless Bush has knowledge of the leak. "It would not seem that the President needs to consult personal counsel, thereby preserving the attorney-client privilege, if he has no knowledge about the leak," he told me.

What advice might Bush get from a private defense counsel? The lawyer I consulted opined that, "If he does have knowledge about the leak and does not plan to disclose it, the only good legaladvice would be to take the Fifth, rather than lie. The political fallout is a separate issue."

I raised the issue of whether the President might be able to invoke executive privilege as to this information. But the attorney I consulted - who is well versed in this area of law -- opined that "Neither 'outing' Plame, nor covering for the perpetrators would seem to fall within the scope of any executive privilege that I am aware of."...

It's kind of a long article, but very informative from a legal perspective.

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They Aren't FOX News, But Who Is?

From Capitol Hill Blue:

President George W. Bush's increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader's state of mind.

In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as enemies of the state...

So who's got the nuclear football?

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More U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq

So sad:

Four US soldiers have been killed and five wounded in an attack on a convoy near Baghdad's main Shia Muslim district, the US military reports.

Reports say the convoy came under bomb and grenade fire on the edge of Sadr City, a slum in the east of the city.

A grenade strike halted the convoy, which was then hit by a roadside bomb, witnesses told AFP news agency.

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Quote of the Day

Installment II

"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."
Mark Twain

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Feds Begin Using Polygraph in Chalabi Probe

Heh Heh Heh:

Polygraph tests of civilian Pentagon employees have begun in search of who leaked classified information to exiled Iraqi leader Ahmad Chalabi.

The FBI is conducting the tests on a small number of employees who had access to the intelligence on Iran's spy communication system, the New York Times said Thursday.

U.S. intelligence officials have said Chalabi informed Iran the United States had broken the secret codes used by Iranian intelligence to transmit confidential messages to posts around the world.

Wednesday, Chalabi's lawyers made public a letter they sent to Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller repeating Chalabi's denials and demanding the Justice Department investigate the disclosure of the accusations against him...

It seems as though Plamegate and Chalabi-gate could be on a collision course. Intersecting at the oval office.

Mmmm....blood in the water.

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Fahrenheit 9/11 Trailer

Check it out. Here.

Good stuff.

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New Idea


For some readers who might not be quite as into politics as I am (which is to say, very) I'm going to start a daily feature cleverly called, Quote of the Day.

The first installment:

"I'm so old I remember Preparation A"
Jack McKeon, 73-year-old Florida Marlins manager, on his longevity

Thanks to Sports Illustrated for the quote and the idea to make it a regular feature on good Uncle Horns.

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Tenet's Resignation: Upon further review

This is from Knut Wicksell in the comments section on The Daily Kos:

I think it's the Plame Grand Jury that is driving this, though there are lots of valid reasons why Tenet would want to leave and why other people in the administration would want to see him out. A plausible scenario is that under oath Tenet told the Grand Jury who the leaker was -- he ought to know -- it's his agent who was outed. That name is high enough to implicate Bush -- it could be the Presnit himself or someone close enough to make his knowing plausible. If he knew, he is indictable under the current law. Tenet would have told the President what he told the Grand Jury. Pres hires lawyer. Tenet gets out of town before the roof falls in. This seems to me to be a parsimonious conjecture.

This makes sense, particularly after Bush sought legal counsel yesterday.

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CIA Director Tenet Resigns

For personal reasons. Sounds likely if "personal reasons" means channeling state secrets to Iran or his agents were torturing innocent Iraqi civilians.

Let's hope this is only the first domino.

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That Felt Good

A full day without a blog entry. Imagine that. Since opening for business on February 27th I've posted 381 times with just over 50,700 words. I've enjoyed every minute of it and will continue to keep it up as my schedule allows. I'd like to thank my readers (both of them) for their feedback, yes, even you Hoges. I hope you like reading this blog as much as I like writing it.

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Bad Air Causes Heart Disease...

...according to the American Heart Association.

I'm sure current residents of Manhattan will concur, in about 15 or 20 years.

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Florida Motel Discriminated Against Blacks

Link.

...The Southern Inn in Perry had separate rooms for black customers that were "markedly less desirable, more poorly maintained and more unattractive" than rooms reserved for white customers, the lawsuit claims...

And I thought it was just Jebbie and the keeper of the voter rolls.

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So Who Is Lying Now?

Joel over at the blog Aimlessmind has a terrific deconstruction of the RNC's response to the WaPo's article on the negative campaign ads that Bush has been running.

It's amazing that the administration can try to pawn this crap off on us.

SOP for Team Prevarication.


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Judge: Bush Abortion Ban Unconstitutional

To twist the knife a little more; the Judge is a Clinton appointee too:

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge Tuesday declared the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional, saying the measure infringes on a woman's right to choose.

The ruling applies to the nation's 900 or so Planned Parenthood clinics and their doctors, who perform roughly half of all abortions in the United States.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton's ruling came in one of three lawsuits challenging the legislation President Bush signed last year.

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Today




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Disgusting Sensationalism

'CSI'-like Peterson Trial To Start

That is the headline in the Tucson Citizen ahead of the trial for Scott Peterson, the man accused of killing his pregnant wife.

It's only going to get worse from here. Live remotes, wall-to-wall coverage, Roger Kossack ranting and other talking heads with diaharretic musings.

It's definitely a tragedy. But is it worth all of this? We're fighting at least two wars, we're nation building and gas is over $2.00 a gallon.

How about some perspective.

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You Can't Beat Advertising Like This



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Still No Leader in Iraq

And from the looks of things Brahimi is nothing more than a figurehead:

"The Americans have asked for the meeting to be delayed until today," said Dr Mahmoud Othman, a leading member of the US-appointed council. "The coalition seems to be trying to interfere in every single decision, in every cabinet post and every ministry.

"If the new administration is not elected by Iraqis then at least it can be appointed by Iraqis ... the way Mr Bremer and Mr Brahimi are behaving is not a good model for the future."

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Four Soldiers Die Over The Weekend

We need an exit strategy. Badly.

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Bush Keeps Saddam's Pistol in the Oval Office

The little boy likes showing off his toys:

..."He really liked showing it off," says a recent visitor to the White House who has seen the gun. "He was really proud of it..."

Pathetic.

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Miramax Heads Can Distribute 'Farenheit'

Bob and Harvey Weinstein will control the complete distribution of Michael Moore's new film, Farenheit 9/11.

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Four More U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan

This is going to get much worse unless we get our act together.

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Art Gallery Owner Attacked for "Abuse" Painting

Some people are just broken.

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CNN Sues FL for the Right to See Voter Rolls

Greg Palast has done tireless work to bring the story of Katherine Harris and the Florida voter-purge debacle of 2000 to the world. It was given little attention in the States when Al Gore was robbed. But recently, thankfully, the story is making a comeback. This article in The Nation a couple of weeks ago reminded people that the problem is still very much in existence and may have actually spread to other states.

CNN has just sued the State of Florida for the right to see their list of purged voters:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As Florida county election boards review a list of thousands of potentially ineligible voters -- including some who may be felons -- CNN is suing the state, claiming the public and media should also be able to review the list.

The move comes four years after the state's voter rolls were at the center of one of the closest elections in U.S. history.

The state Monday denied a CNN request for a copy of the list of up to 48,000 people. These people, according to the state, could be ineligible to vote because they are felons or have multiple registrations -- or have died since the last election...

Here's hoping that this brings illegal voter purges to the forefront of the media landscape and helps to bring attention to the other potential problems with electronic voting machines & Diebold.

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WaPo Calls it Like it is: Homicide

Prisoner abuse? I think murder is a more appropriate description. The first and last grafs from an editorial in today's WaPo:

PRESIDENT BUSH'S persistence in describing the abuse of foreign prisoners as an isolated problem at one Iraqi prison is blatantly at odds with the facts seeping out from his administration. These include mounting reports of crimes at detention facilities across Iraq and Afghanistan and evidence that detention policies the president approved helped set the stage for torture and homicide. Yes, homicide: The most glaring omission from the president's account is that at least 37 people have died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and that at least 10 of these cases are suspected criminal killings of detainees by U.S. interrogators or soldier

(...)

It is horrifying to contemplate that U.S. interrogators have tortured and killed foreign prisoners and that their superiors have ignored or covered up their crimes -- and yet that is where the available facts point. Pentagon officials say they will pursue investigations vigorously and that those guilty of crimes will be brought to justice. It is essential to the preservation of this country's fundamental values that they do so. It is essential also to examine the consequences in the field of policy decisions made by the most senior officials in Washington. But the sorry record of the Bush administration -- and the president's own refusal to speak the truth about it -- suggests that justice will require vigorous and sustained intervention by outside parties, beginning with Congress.

Explicit details in between.

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Tillman Killed By Friendly Fire?

Apparently so, according to an unnamed Afghan official. This account contradicts what was originally reported, that Tillman's platoon had faced enemy fire.

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The Whiskey Bar is Open!

Do yourself a favor and read this post from Billmon. After a brief hiatus he's come back with one of the most informative, passionate posts you'll ever read about the Iraq war and all of the problems that face the "coalition of the willing."

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800

Let's not forget:

As of Thursday, May 27, 800 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year, according to the Defense Department. Of those, 585 died as a result of hostile action and 215 died of non-hostile causes.

The British military has reported 58 deaths; Italy, 18; Spain, eight; Bulgaria, six; Ukraine, four; Poland, three; Thailand, two; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia and the Netherlands have reported one each.

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Stupid Quote of the Week

Winning hearts & minds:

"...today, in Iraq as in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, we've tied ourselves to Muslim people. We're helping them. In the long run, they'll understand that and appreciate that."
- Rich Tucker, The Heritage Foundation

Does a hood on their head and electro-shock coercion count as helping them?

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They're Not Like Philly Fans

In this article a Tampa newspaper says Philadelphia sports fans are easy to hate...

You wanna say that to my face?

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Janklow Pardoned Son

Former Congressman Bill Janklow's got some explaining to do:

Former Gov. Bill Janklow pardoned his son-in-law in 2002 for three drunken-driving and marijuana-possession convictions, according to documents unsealed Thursday on orders from South Dakota's highest court.

Of course you remember Janklow. He was convicted of manslaughter for running a stop sign and killing a motorcyclist.
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Spammer Goes To Jail

We'll miss you. Not.:

A New York state man who sent out millions of 'spam' e-mails was sentenced to 3-1/2 to seven years in prison, the state attorney general's office said on Thursday.

UPDATE: I heard on the news this morning that this guy sent out 850 million pieces of spam. He was also hit with a $16.5 million judgement.

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Michael Moore Filmed Nick Berg

I'm glad he's doing the right thing:

The footage, of an interview with Berg, "is approximately 20 minutes long. We are not releasing it to the media," Moore said in a statement. "It is not in the film. We are dealing privately with the family."

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Iraq Council Slams Plan to Destroy Prison

Does everything this Administration touch turn to merde?

Apparently, the answer is yes.

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More of This Needed

Comcast & T-Mobile have announced they will be launching one of the largest free outdoor hotspots in the country.

It will be located on Headhouse Square, just off South Street in Philadelphia.

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Terrorist "Facilitator" Caught in London

I hope this turns out to be the real deal:

Abu Hamza al-Masri, a Muslim cleric suspected of ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist organization, was indicted by U.S. authorities for his role in a 1998 hostage-taking plot in Yemen.

But then I saw this line in the story:

A new treaty that took effect Jan. 1 doesn't require the U.S. to provide evidence of al-Masri's crimes, British officials said.

Has the Patriot Act gone international?

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Neo-Cons Get Visit from FBI

We've covered Ahmed Chalabi's deception before and now we're seeing that investigations are under way to determine who provided classified information to this scallywag:

At a well-appointed conservative think tank in downtown Washington and across the Potomac River at the Pentagon, FBI agents have begun paying quiet calls on prominent neoconservatives, who are being interviewed in an investigation of potential espionage, according to intelligence sources. Who gave Ahmed Chalabi classified information about the plans of the U.S. government and military?

The Iraqi neocon favorite, tipped to lead his liberated country post-invasion, has been identified by the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency as an Iranian double agent, passing secrets to that citadel of the "axis of evil" for decades. All the while the neocons cosseted, promoted and arranged for more than $30 million in Pentagon payments to the George Washington manqué of Iraq. In return, he fed them a steady diet of disinformation, and in the run-up to the war he sent various exiles to nine nations' intelligence agencies to spread falsehoods about weapons of mass destruction. If the administration had wanted other material to provide a rationale for invasion, no doubt that would have been fabricated. Either Chalabi perpetrated the greatest con since the Trojan horse or he was the agent of influence for the most successful intelligence operation conducted by Iran, or both...
(Emphasis mine. From Salon, Free daypass or subscription needed)

I think the NEOs were so desperate to have things go our way in Iraq that they "overlooked" some of the more unsavory aspects of Chalabi's character. They figured if we give him a total of $30 million he'll make sure we're taken care of. Alas, this is more than just a nasty case of buyer's remorse. It's a tragedy whose effects won't be felt for another generation.

This also brings the number of espionage investigations against the Bush Administration to two. We should've never learned the name of Valerie Plame. And I suspect W and the boys are starting to wish they'd never heard of Chalabi either.


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Bush Knew Violation of Geneva Conventions Likely

From Intervention Magazine:

President George W. Bush knew for over two years that his administration has been promoting policies that qualify as war crimes under the 1996 federal War Crimes Act, the international Third Geneva Convention, and the Torture Convention.

An article in the May 24 issue of Newsweek titled 'The Roots of Torture' reveals that White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales wrote a January 25, 2002 memo to Bush, urging him to disregard the 'obsolete' and 'quaint' provisions of the Geneva Convention. He advised the Bush administration to do this precisely because the interrogation methods it was already using on prisoners captured in Afghanistan violated the Convention, leaving US officials open to prosecution for war crimes.

If you're looking for more information that Alberto Gonzales was "thinking ahead", check this out:

In his January 25 memo, Gonzales urges Bush to declare the war in Afghanistan, including the detention of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters, exempt from the provisions of the Geneva Convention. This could be accomplished, Gonzales advised Bush, by inventing a technicality: declaring the detainees arrested in the "war on terror" to be outside the Geneva Convention -- and by extension, beyond the Torture Convention and the U.S. War Crimes Act. He gave his assurances that such a technicality "renders obsolete the Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners." Thus the ambiguity of Bush's newly created and constantly repeated "war on terror" gave his administration carte blanche to do anything it pleased with anyone labeled an "enemy combatant."

War on Terror=Arrest whom you please, with or without proof, torture them and then let them rot.

America. Home of the Brave.

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Another Blog

It's time. The subject I wrote about in this space before has inspired me. My new photoblog is called passyunk and is hosted by Phlog. For starters, I'm going to focus on Philadelphia. I work about five minutes from some of the most picturesque areas of the city. So I figure during my two-and-a-half-hour lunches I can get some good pictures. By good, I mean subject matter. I'm hoping to become a better photographer. We'll see if that happens. Regardless, I'll try to update it as often as I can.

I'll be adding the link to my blogroll on the right. I'm not sure what possessed me to think someone would buy me presents just because I had an 'Amazon Wish List' link at the head of my blogroll. My photo blog link now takes it's place.

(If you're in the giving mood, I've moved it down with my email address.)

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1,000 Boots



These symbolize the 500+ troops killed in Iraq. Brought to you by the American Friends Service Committee. This display will be at the Capitol building in Washington for another couple of days.

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Health Savings Accounts

Thanks to David Sirota for digging up this:

CLAIM:

"We've passed what's called Health Savings Accounts...It's a good way to help control costs."
– President Bush, 5/25/04

FACT:

"Sharply higher health insurance deductibles may hit workers in the next two years as employers embrace newly created tax-free Health Savings Accounts...widespread adoption of the plans could drive up the annual deductible paid by workers.”

– USA Today, 4/25/04

It's funny the way the President just throws out these statements. It's almost like, "I'm saying this. I'm the President. Don't question me. It's true." He's probably given a list of talking points for the week, no more than three or four points per policy/topic. He then just regurgitates them from memory. He's given the mantra and he chants it at every opportunity.

That's the way his press conferences are too. Karl will tell him, "...stick with what you know." So he'll answer the questions he wants and nothing more.

Do you think he could explain the Health Savings Accounts?

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Happy Day

Ever since Christmas I've been ripping CDs into iTunes and then transferring them into my iPod. I was finally able to get the iPod working in my car. The sound is a little off, but it was good enough to do a little jamming on my way home from Best Buy.

Sweet.

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Quote of the Year

From Iraq Dispatches:

“The Americans brought electricity to my ass before they brought it to my house!”

Dark humor seems somewhat apropos for the quaqmire we've immersed ourselves in.

UPDATE: Fixed a spelling error. Thanks to loyal reader and Bush devotee Hoges for pointing this out.


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NEWS FLASH: I agree with the RNC Chairman!

I think Ed Gillespie needs a prescription refill:

"Unfortunately for angry Democrats like Tim Johnson, Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy, terrorists aren't responsible for the deaths of U.S. soldiers, their commander-in-chief is."

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Webster Winces

Hatchet job during his speech last night. President Bush took the "phoenetical collar," going 0-3 in trying to pronounce Abu Gharib, the prison where U.S. soldiers tortured Iraqi prisoners.

Here's the box score (quoted pronunciations are from Bush's speech on 5/24):

Bottom of the first: "abugah-rayp" - Struck out, looking
Bottom of the fourth: "abu-garon" - Grounded out to 1B
Bottom of the seventh: "abu-garah" - Lazy fly ball to RF

For those scoring at home the correct pronunciation is "abu-grabe".

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Sanchez: Perjurer?

1. A soldier is accused of torturing an Iraqi prisoner.
2. General Ricardo Sanchez testifies (under oath) that he was unaware of the abuses at Abu Gharib prison.
3. In preparation for a trial, his lawyer says that General Ricardo Sanchez was present at Abu Gharib prison during a torture session.
4. The Pentagon denies the charge.
5. The Pentagon will replace Sanchez with a yet to be named military official.
6. Rumsfeld is, "...is very mindful that the perception (of punishment) might arise. But it simply is not the case."
7. One, Two, Three: Everybody lie!!!

Ah yes, the "perception" of punishment. Perception is something our government is working very hard at right now.

Rummy should be canned, although my blogging might suffer. But I'm willing to pay that price.

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Light-to-Zero Blogging Today

I'll be away from the computer all day at a golf outing. I'll update late tonight if I win a car or a trip to Bora Bora.

If they have a "closest to the lake" prize I'm sure I'll be in the running.

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Filmmaker Ken Burns Picks His Spot Wisely

As the commencement speaker at Yale University, Ken Burns knew the President's daughter was graduating. And that he would have an audience that would be tuned in to whatever he said. So what did he do? Without naming the President, he criticized Bush's policies:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- With presidential security helicopters circling over the Yale University campus, filmmaker Ken Burns denounced the war in Iraq on Sunday and told graduating seniors to remember history as they work to repair divides in American culture.

(...)

'Steel yourselves. Your generation must repair this damage, and it will not be easy,' Burns told the seniors.

Burns quoted famed jurist Learned Hand as saying, 'Liberty is never being too sure you're right.'

'Somehow recently, though, we have replaced our usual and healthy doubt with an arrogance and belligerence that resembles more the ancient and now fallen empires of our history books than a modern compassionate democracy,' Burns said, to applause from the 1,300 graduates and their families and friends.

(...)

Students also poked fun at Bush, who spoke at Yale's 300th commencement in 2001.

The president earned a history degree from Yale in 1968, earning what was politely called "gentlemen's C's."

Bush told the class of 2001: "To the C-students, I say, you too can be president of the United States".

In seniors' spoof of the class of 2004's history Sunday, they recalled the quote as: "To all the C-students out there, I'd like to say, you too can be president , if your dad was president."...

Nice.
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Bush Twins Quit The Boozing to Help Dad

That was the headline on this article from The Australian. Of course there was no reference at all about them getting off the sauce. The first two grafs:

NEW YORK: George W. Bush's daughters, 22-year-old twins Barbara and Jenna, are better known for their underage drinking busts than their love of politics.

Asked once whether she was a Republican, Barbara is said to have made a face, rolled her eyes and replied: 'I really wouldn't label myself that.' On a visit to Paris, Jenna let slip that she was against the bombing of Afghanistan...

Underage drinking busts?

Read the short article. It looks like the Melbourne Junior High newspaper is now online.

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Bush Keeps Interrogation Rules Classified

How is the Senate Armed Services Committee supposed to do their job if the deck is stacked and they don't know it?

The Bush administration is doing its best to keep secret the policies it has developed for handling foreign prisoners and to stifle congressional examination of the issue. Rules for the interrogation of detainees used to be published in widely available Army manuals. But the Bush administration has classified the procedures it has approved for the Guantanamo Bay prison, Afghanistan and Iraq -- even though it claims that all are in compliance with the Geneva Conventions. It has been slow to release the procedures even to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is leading the way in investigating the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The Pentagon still has not met the committee's request for the legal memos that supposedly justify such techniques as hooding, putting prisoners in stress positions, sleep and dietary deprivation and intimidation by dogs...

At this rate, the Bush Administration will have the left, right and everyone in between alienated by July 4th. Happy Birthday America!

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New Nickel

I can't be the only one who didn't know the Mint was printing new nickels along with the state quarters. I got a funny looking coin back at Arby's and was about to protest them pawning off a Canadian coin with the...uh...Louisiana Purchase featured on the back. My laughing 10 and 8 year old boys knew about the new money, but not me. Shouldn't they announce this stuff? Alas, they probably did, it just wasn't in the blogosphere or on Sportscenter.

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Wall Street to Throw Parties for GOP at Convention

Doesn't this sound a little untoward?

Despite the talk about protesters overwhelming the Republican National Convention in New York City this summer, one sector of the city is rolling out the red carpet: Wall Street and its investment banks. They are showering the conventioneers with money for parties and other events to make the Republicans feel right at home.

Some of the main parties will be for Republican members of Congress who oversee the financial services industry. There will be brunches, dinners, dancing and late-night concerts for the conventioneers throughout the city.

One of the most celebrated guests will be Representative Michael G. Oxley of Ohio, chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, which oversees Wall Street, banks and the insurance industry. Mr. Oxley will be toasted at a dinner party in the Rainbow Room, at a loft with sweeping views of the Hudson River and at a financial services round- table brunch, according to people who work in the financial industry, who say their firms plan to contribute to the three events...

Many more examples in the article.

Sounds like good old-fashioned payola.

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Ice-T To Produce Hasselhoff Rap Album

Yes, that Hasselhoff:

The pair are neighbours in Los Angeles and are said to have struck up a close friendship.

Hasselhoff has had some success as a singer, releasing seven albums. He's also said to be very popular in Germany.

I hear they're trying to coax "Kitt" from Knight Rider to be on the wheels of steel.

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History

They're just statistics but I like these statistics:

...Presidents Nixon, Reagan and Clinton, in 1972, 1984 and 1996, all had approval ratings above 50 per cent five months before election day. They all went on to win in November. Presidents Ford in 1976, Carter in 1980 and Bush senior in 1992 all had approval ratings below 50 per cent five months before election day. They all lost. In the most reliable polls out in the last week or two, Mr Bush's approval ratings stand in the range of 45 to 49 per cent...

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Chalabi Shares State Secrets

Lesley Stahl reported tonight on CBS News that Ahmad Chalabi was given classified information that only a "handful" of U.S. government officials had. He allegedly passed this information along to Iran, while the U.S. was paying him over $300,000 monthly:

...On Friday, Stahl reported that senior intelligence officials stress the information Ahmad Chalibi is alleged to have passed on to Iran is of such a seriously sensitive nature, the result of full disclosure could be highly damaging to U.S. security. The information involves secrets that were held by only a handful of very senior U.S. officials, says Stahl...

Is this absolutely fucking absurd? How can you give a convicted criminal access to any sensitive intelligence, let alone the highest of classified information? Sure, they raided his house. So what.

We got played by a diplomatic double agent. I'm sure Iran rewarded him handsomely for the information too. How can we be safe when the neo-cons will give away anything to anyone in order to achieve their agenda.

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Lady Liberty



Look for this image in a MoveOn.org TV ad soon.
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Very Cool

My day job consists of placing advertising for clients all over the country. One of the fringe benfits is that sometimes we get tickets/gifts from the media. Much to my surprise my NPR rep stopped by today and presented me an autographed copy of Bob Edwards' new book, Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism.

Evidently he spoke at the local affiliate last night and was very gracious. You'll remember that Bob Edwards was relieved of his duties last month as the host of Morning Edition on NPR after hosting the show since its inception in 1979. He is now a senior correspondent for NPR.

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RNC Outsources Jobs to India

This is amazing.

According to the Hindustan Times of India, over a 14 month period in 2002 and 2003, the fund-raising and vote-seeking campaign for the Republican Party was done, in party by two call centers located in India. According to the report, the Republican National Committee sent the India operation its voter database and used 125 staff there to "solicit political contributions ranging between $5 and $3,000 from thousands of registered Republican voters." While the contract for running the campaigns was originally awarded to Washington-based Capital Communications Group, "for cost and efficiencies gains, the company outsourced the work to HCL Technologies that in turn sent it offshore."

If you haven't seen his blog already, be sure you check out David Sirota regularly.

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Our Military Still Disputes This

Posted on this before.

If the 'Wedding Massacre' isn't true then this person has a very active imagination.

For you Hoges.

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GAO Calls Medicare Ads Illegal

Not that it matters. The "Executive" Branch ignores them anyway:

Bush administration TV ads to promote changes in Medicare's prescription drug coverage broke two federal laws because they were disguised as news reports but didn't identify who was sponsoring them, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress has ruled.

The General Accounting Office (GAO) said the ads, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, did not make it clear that the announcers were paid by HHS and weren't real correspondents, the Washington Post reported.

The GAO's 16-page opinion says the ads violated a federal law that bars the use of federal funds for propaganda, and a separate statute that covers unauthorized use of federal monies. The ruling doesn't carry legal weight, however.

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Nancy Pelosi Smackdown

Good stuff:

..."Not to get personal about it, but the president's capacity to lead has never been there. In order to lead, you have to have judgment. In order to have judgment, you have to have knowledge and experience. He has none."...

Read the entire article. Ouch.

Look for the GOP smear machine to gear up again.

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Bo and Luke Duke Would Be Proud

Strangest way someone has found their way here.

Now where's the General Lee?

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Chosen

Richard Land is a director of the conservative evangelical Southern Baptist Convention and he relates a conversation with George W. Bush:

The day he was inaugurated for his second term as governor in 1999, there were several of us who met with him at the governor's mansion. Among the things he said to us was...he said, 'I believe that God wants me to be president."...

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Photo Blogs



During my travels around the internet lately I've discovered several wonderful photo blogs. I've added a section to my blogroll with some of my new favorites. The above photo of New York City is from Quarlo

My good friend Alex is a photographer. I hope she finds some inspiration from these pictures.

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U.S. Attack Kills 40 At An Iraqi Wedding

Sad:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. helicopter fired on a wedding party in the remote desert near the border with Syria, killing more than 40 people, most of them women and children, Iraqi officials said. The U.S. military said it was investigating.

Associated Press Television News footage showed a truck containing bloodied bodies, many wrapped in blankets, piled one atop the other. Several were children, one of whom had been decapitated.

As long as this keeps happening, mistake or not, they'll continue to hate us. Continue to resent our presence. Continue to murder out soldiers.

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Int'l Red Cross: No One Above International Law

I posted on this before, detailing George Bush's asking of various countries to waive their right to press charges against US soldiers in an international court of law. This is especially important in light of the prison torture scandal that has created widespread attention around the world.

Now the ICRC is saying that won't fly:

...In order to tackle violations of international humanitarian law committed in armed conflicts, simply paying lip service to the protection of human life and dignity is not enough.

It is possible to achieve a balance between the two, the article said. One can control a territory while respecting its population, and one can detain those threatening public order while respecting their physical and spiritual integrity and without degrading or humiliating them...

In all seriousness, if we worked really hard would it be possible to alienate the international community more than we already have?

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Tom Delay Equates Israel's Fight With Our Fight

Link:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Monday the war in Iraq and Israel's battle against Palestinian terrorists are two fronts in the same global conflict, 'and we will win it.'

'The survival of Israel is essential to America's victory in the war on terror, and America's victory in the war on terror is essential to Israel's survival,' the Texas Republican told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

'We will never leave their side.'

(...)

DeLay also challenged Sharon's critics and Bush's.

"We are told Israel's decision to target leaders of those terrorist organizations that target her citizens only puts the Israeli people at greater risk," he said.

"We are told the war on terror -- whether waged by the United States and our coalition of the willing or by the people of Israel -- was a mistake, is a quagmire and will be a regret.

"Ladies and gentleman, we are told ... wrongly."

Who wants the Jewish vote? Or perhaps the better question is: Who needs the Jewish vote? These guys are getting desperate. Failing international support, failing domestic policies & several brewing scandals will leave the GOP grasping for anything. Including politicization of our wars.

To me, Delay's statements confirm what the administration has been denying all along. Our war on terror when joined (by Delay) with Israel's battle with Palestine is a war on Islam. Scary but predictable, unfortunately.

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Sign of the Times


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Sarin Munition Found In Iraq

How in the world could that have gotten there?
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Question From Monday's Gaggle

Link:

Question: About a year ago, April 24th, last year, the President went to Canton, Ohio. He went to the Timken Company. I don't know if you remember the trip, I wasn't on it. He went to a bearings factory, part of the Timken Company, touted his economic plans and talked about jobs and growth. Timken announced today that they're shutting down that plant that the President visited a year ago. I just wonder if that's ironic, that the President touted his economic strategy, doesn't appear to be working?

I've noticed enthusiasm (one glaring example here) across the blogosphere after this became news. I realize the happiness is for the irony of the situation and how it portrays Bush's (failing) policies in a negative light. But, I think some of the ways bloggers are greeting this news is inappropriate.

Yes, Bush made a speech on the strength of his economic policy at a company that has since shut down. But when 1,300 people lose their jobs in a state where it is happening all too frequently, it's not a reason for celebration.

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Krugman

Read:

He was a stock character in 19th-century fiction: the wastrel son who runs up gambling debts in the belief that his wealthy family, concerned for its prestige, will have no choice but to pay off his creditors. In the novels such characters always come to a bad end. Either they bring ruin to their families, or they eventually find themselves disowned.

George Bush reminds me of those characters — and not just because of his early career, in which friends of the family repeatedly bailed out his failing business ventures. Now that he sits in the White House, he's still counting on other people to settle his debts — not to protect the reputation of his family, but to protect the reputation of the country.

One by one, our erstwhile allies are disowning us; they don't want an unstable, anti-Western Iraq any more than we do, but they have concluded that President Bush is incorrigible. Spain has washed its hands of our problems, Italy is edging toward the door, and Britain will join the rush for the exit soon enough, with or without Tony Blair...

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Halliburton; At It Again

$160 million here, $160 million there, pretty soon you're starting to talk about real money:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pentagon auditors have recommended withholding nearly $160 million in payments to Halliburton Corp., saying the company charged the military for meals in and around Iraq that were never served.

Vice President Dick Cheney's former company released a statement Monday night saying it hoped to persuade Army officials to reject the auditors' recommendation.

The alleged overcharging for meals last year is one of several suspected improprieties with the contract work in Iraq of Halliburton subsidiary KBR, formerly known as Kellogg, Brown & Root. Authorities are investigating allegations of overcharging for fuel delivered to Iraq, kickbacks involving two former KBR workers and other management problems....

When you give a company like Halliburton several billion dollars of tax payer money how can we expect them to act without impropriety? Particularly because this is the third public discovery of wrongdoing by the big "H" or KBR. It might be easier to overlook if they just did it once or if the Vice President still wasn't collecting a check from them, but repeat offenses are unforgivable and should be met with criminal charges. Of course you remember the fuel overcharging by KBR and the kickbacks taken by two Halliburton employees from subcontractors.

I give full credit to the bean counters at the Pentagon for discovering this padding of Cheney's portfolio overcharging.
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Is that non-fat sour cream?

Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski says we was "misled" about WMDs in the lead-up to the Iraq war.

When asked about this by a reporter, President Bush was waiting in the chow line at Fort Campbell in Kansas with soldiers. His response?

"I'm here to eat.''

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Bush Pushes to Have Americans Above International Law

What makes us better than everybody else?:

The Bush administration is pursuing its campaign to protect Americans from International Criminal Court jurisdiction even as it deals with the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal that may involve some of the very war crimes the court was created to handle.

So far 89 countries have signed agreements with Washington promising that Americans accused of grave international offenses, including soldiers charged with war crimes, will be returned to U.S. jurisdiction so their cases can be decided by fellow Americans rather than international jurists.

I'm sure the Iraqi Governing Council will be signing on the dotted line soon. After all we're the ones who gave them "power."

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Golfing



Yesterday I took part in a one day golf school put together by ESPN. It was an excellent experience and got some great instruction from some top level teachers. It was a wonderful deal as well. The cost is $495 but you get three top-of-the-line Cleveland Clubs (driver, wedge & putter) for free ($700 value.)

If you want to improve your game I highly recommend it.

I also recommend applying sunscreen.

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Will Return Tonight

I have a welcome diversion scheduled for today.

I've come to the realize that it is quite appropriate that this diversion spelled backwards is flog.

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