Saturday, January 28, 2006

firewater

kudos to hillary for standing up for what she believes, and for, finally, standing up for my views for once

in touch with regular folk

The president thinks you're over-insured. He thinks you have too much health insurance.

foresee, foresaw, forseen, foresaken

abhoring the left's leadership vacuum

atrios asks: Why is it that morning show hosts are always armed with the latest Republican talking points?

a better question is why democrats don't get wise and come up with their own talking points, first. there is absolutely no coordination because no one speaks for the left, so the Dems have no clear message and never will until we dispense with the notion that liberal is a dirty word or a background to run away from. progressives need to look in the mirror and recognize their whereabouts. we ain't in the center people. the dominance of the main stream media is self evident. whenever possible democrats should seize the initiative by being provocative in the first instance in the national media, or simply STFU. This is an excellent reason why the Dems need to swing to the left and leave the DLC and the rest of the centrists (Clinton, Kerry, Biden, etc.) far behind.

threat operations center


on one hand bush says: “I’m going to remind people we’re living in historic times.”

on the other hand, W also said, "“the FISA law was written in 1978. We’re having this discussion in 2006. It’s a different world.”


so, these are historic times, but it's a different world. zero sum gain. which is pretty much what you get from bushie's rhetoric.

bow down before the one you serve

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

The Administration's new FISA defense is factually false

Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald


Greenwald filled in fior Digby a few days ago and blew my socks off. Kudos.

Everything You Need To Know About

The Medicare Drug Debacle.


...if progressives are looking for tangible proof that political corruption has come at a cost to ordinary Americans, they need only ask their parents and grandparents.

Unbridled Fantasies

Bushie,

Potomic Ponce

New ways of saying lobbyist, without using the digraced term. My favorite is "Bribesmades."

Katherine Harris connection to criminal, Mitch Wade

"Mitch Wade, then-owner of MZM, Inc., was one of the key bribers in the Duke Cunningham scandal. Some time ago, a source close to the case, informed me that Wade began cooperating with investigators at an early point in the investigation.

Now, aside from the various criminal activity, what stood out about Wade was how focused his political giving was. The great majority of MZM and Wade money went to three politicians -- Duke Cunningham (R-CA), Katherine Harris (R-FL) and Virgil Goode (R-VA)." Josh Marshall has so much more...


Katherine Harris, depicted, had no comment.

three-legged race

The father of Jack Abramoff says George Clooney's off-color joke about his son's name at the Golden Globe Awards made the lobbyist's 12-year-old daughter cry.

"Are you proud of that?" Abramoff's father wrote. "Shame on you."

Clooney's father, Nick, told the newspaper:
"I understand what it is like to have one's son criticized in public. The difference here, and it must be said, is Mr. Abramoff's son, instead of pursuing some positive efforts to do what he hoped would change the climate of the American politics, has confessed and has been convicted by that confession of subverting the political process."

any photos of the presnit with any of these characters were probably taken at the enron company picnic

and it would be unfair to draw any conclusions from that coincidence. And no comment on any ongoing investigations or criminal prosecutions. sorry. love to comment. wouldn't be prudent.

Go Flyers!

Trump proposes 45-story condo on Delaware River waterfront

(AP) - PHILADELPHIA-Donald Trump has announced plans for a 45-story luxury condominium along the Delaware River waterfront.

sainthood for lawyers

If approved, [Thurgood] Marshall's name would be added to the Book of Lesser Feasts and Fasts, a primary worship book for the New York-based denomination [Episcopalians if you are keeping scoring at home]. A feast day in his honor would be celebrated May 17, the anniversary of his victory in Brown v. Board of Education.

In the landmark 1954 case, attorney Marshall argued that the high court should overturn racial segregation in public schools. He was named a Supreme Court justice in 1967.

Criteria for Episcopal sainthood include whether the nominee was an "extraordinary or even heroic" servant of God and whether the person served humanity on behalf of Christ, according to the worship book.

Among other contemporary Episcopal saints are the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Florence Nightingale.

Parts is Parts

...Battisti was informed that the cadaver bone that was implanted in her back may have been infected with various viruses - the result of what investigators say was a large-scale scheme in which corpses were cut up and body parts illegally sold.

...The Long Island woman now claims she contracted syphilis from the bone implant and plans to sue. The hospital adamantly denies the allegation.

...Both the FDA and hospital officials, while suggesting certain patients should get tested for viruses as a precaution, insisted the risk of becoming ill from tainted tissue is minuscule.

But some of those patients are not comforted, said Battisti's attorney, Jeffrey S. Lisabeth.

"It really freaks them out," he said.

The National Zombie Association declined to comment for this weblog.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

RADIATE

Whatever happened to KP, like on McHale's Navy?

It must be torture to be restricted to barracks.


Military Judge Col. Mark Toole had allowed testimony on the victim's ties to insurgents but cautioned jurors against letting it prejudice them that Mowhoush was a “bad character or evil man.”

Welshofer's attorney argued during a week-long court-martial that the interrogator was operating with confusing guidance from officials in Baghdad -- who desperately wanted to gather intelligence about the insurgency -- and that he had sought approval for the "claustrophobic" technique from superiors, who knew he was using it.


Welshofer also must pay a $6,000 fine. The decision provides a stark contrast to punishments meted out to some of the military police soldiers who worked at the Abu Ghraib prison and were convicted of abusing detainees, none of whom died in custody. For example, former corporal Charles A. Graner Jr. was sentenced to 10 years in prison for abuse; former staff sergeant Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II was sentenced to 8 1/2 years; and former private first class Lynndie R. England, who posed with naked detainees in notorious photographs, received three years.

Now, I don't know, maybe Welshofer's a great guy, fun at a party, good family man, whatever. So, it pains me to feel constrained to point out that one difference between he and the Abu Graib people who got seriously stiffer esentences where no one died, seems to be the fact that those poor idiots at the Graib were so stupid with respect to keepin the toture n shit all secret like. This guy Welshofer only got caught because the victim died. Can't very well punish a man for that now, can we? It's the damn revelations caused by the photographs that required the greater sanction from the military's perspective. Right?

The prosecutor purportedly presented no witnesses at the sentencing hearing.

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Mushroom Plasma Lamp and everything you need to grow your own gourmet and medicinal mushrooms.

HOLLYHOCK 2006
Join Paul Stamets and Doctor Andrew Weil October 4–8, 2006 in beautiful Cortes Island, British Columbia for an in-depth exploration of the world of fungi.

a lesson in basic american government

chimpy must have been absent that day:

As per the Fourth (4th) Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, warrants are in addition to reasonableness: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Reasonableness was made the standard and a warrant the procedure to effectuate that standard. The President is not free to disregard either the standard or the procedure. Why would we want him to do so, and what possible technology must remain so secret that the foreign intelligence court can't even be told about it, or about whether or not the results of tainted searches were later made the basis for "legitimate" warrants? I call bullshit. They are just so used to getting whatever they want they figure there is no consequence for destroying long cherished values of privacy and human rights. Enough.

Monday, January 23, 2006

good night

...no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause...

karl rove and his ilk are part of the problem, yet there are those who actually see them as part of the solution. bedevilment for sure. my suggestion is to stop pussyfooting around and start calling them liars to their faces. watch wolf blitzkrieg stammer before the truth more often. hey even if one is speaking to a part of the problem one may act as though something valuable is being lost to these GOP monsters, before it is too late.

instead of viewing al qaeda as the common enemy, as would clearly be seen if we were truly at war with them, or with their stinking philosophy- whatever that is, this administration uses them as a political wedge to divide our great nation, all while without engaging the greatest of nations to do anything other than fear and kill. enough. shame. shame on any senator or congressman who sits through this abomination, this imperium forced upon us for twenty five years now. enough. if at the SOTU you sit and politely applaud this fellow, may you all rot in hell with him. his bankrupt policies for our once proud nation have already left us morally and financially bereft of hope in the immediate future. the only salvation for America, ultimately, is in its institutions of government remaining above selfish motives and standing for something more. America must also come to see the third world as a last chance, in much the same way that our only hope as individuals is to look beyond ourselves and to be kind to others. America doesn't see this because evil war lords have captured, raped and defiled the US Government. They have turned the greatest weapon of the American people against the will of the populace. The time has come for true patriots to rise up against monarchy and privilege, to speak truth to power, and to protect those God given rights that are inalienable birthrights of every human.

U.S. out of IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN...NOW! War is over if you want it.

in the interests of being more accurate than the washington post:

According to campaign donation information gathered by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, the following officeholders and candidates have received political donations from Abramoff since 2000:

Tom DeLay (R-Texas). John Ashcroft (R-Mo.). Frank A. LoBiondo (R-NJ). Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). John Ensign (R-Nev.). Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). Charles H. Taylor (R-NC). Chris Cannon (R-Utah). Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Mark Foley (R-Fla.). Richard Pombo (R-Calif.). Christopher S. "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.). Curt Weldon (R-Pa.). Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.). Doug Ose (R-Calif.). Ernest J. Istook (R-Okla.). George R. Nethercutt Jr. (R-Wash.). Jim Bunning (R-Ky.). Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.). Tom Feeney (R-Fla.). Dan Burton (R-Ind.). Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Suzanne Terrell (R-La.). Rob Simmons (R-Conn.). Charles W. "Chip" Pickering Jr. (R-Miss.). Connie Morella (R-Md.). Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore.). James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.). James M. Talent (R-Mo.). John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.). John Thune (R-SD). Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.). Bob Smith (R-Fla.). Bob Ney (R-Ohio). CL. "Butch" Otter (R-Idaho). Carolyn W. Grant (R-NC). Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.). Elizabeth Dole (R-NC). Heather Wilson (R-NM). J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.). Jack Kingston (R-Ga.). James V. Hansen (R-Utah). John Cornyn (R-Texas). Kimo Kaloi (R-Hawaii). Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.). Mike Ferguson (R-NJ). Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). Ralph Regula (R-Ohio). Ric Keller (R-Fla.). Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). Dave Camp (R-Mich.). Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.). Tom Young (R-Ala.). Bill Janklow (R-SD). Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.). Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.). William L. Gormley (R-NJ). Bill McCollum (R-Fla.). Bill Redmond (R-NM). Bob Riley (R-Ala.). Claude B. Hutchison Jr. (R-Calif.). Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.). Francis E. Flotron (R-Mo.). George Allen (R-Va.). Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). Walter B. Jones Jr. (R-NC). Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Bob Smith (R-Fla.). Joe Pitts (R-PA). Charles H. Taylor (R-NC). Bob Ehrlich (R-Md.). Charles R. Gerow (R-Pa.). Ed Royce (R-Calif.). Elia Vincent Pirozzi (R-Calif.). Jerry Weller (R-Ill.). Mark Emerson (R-Utah). Tom Davis (R-Va.). Van Hilleary (R-Tenn.).

Also:

Americans for a Republican Majority, Leadership PAC of Tom DeLay (R-Texas). Republican Majority Fund, Leadership PAC of Don Nickles (R-Okla.). Keep Our Majority PAC, Leadership PAC of Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Leadership PAC, Leadership PAC of Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio). Rely on Your Beliefs, Leadership PAC of Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). Friends of the Big Sky, Leadership PAC of Conrad Burns (R-Mont.). Senate Victory Fund, Leadership PAC of Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). American Liberty PAC, Leadership PAC of Bob Ney (R-Ohio). Battle Born PAC, Leadership PAC of John Ensign (R-Nev.). Fund for a Free Market America, Leadership PAC of Phil Crane (R-Ill.). Team PAC, Leadership PAC of J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.). The Republican Party of New Jersey.

Also:

George W. Bush (R).

Notice anything similar? Each and every name listed, each and every PAC, has an (R) after it. Thanks to Truthout.

black box voting is the only issue that matters

Ponylicious can't be ponylicious until election day, and then, don't dare hope that things will be different until the fix is exposed and we have fair elections.

Katherine Harris, loved by Republicans. Really.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - If there was any remaining doubt that Florida's top Republican leaders weren't behind Katherine Harris's run for U.S. Senate, those leaders did their best Saturday to cast it aside....Jeb Bush said he would campaign for Harris and encouraged a crowded room of Republican activists to do the same. At a separate rally following his speech, Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings gave strong praise to Harris and told her "Go, run and win."

The campaign hasn't been easy for Harris since August when she announced her bid to challenge incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. GOP leaders in Washington searched for another candidate....

"We know that when we turn out the Republicans, we'll be victorious," [Harris] said.


Hmmm, a little more work and she should be able to turn 'em out all right.

The Imperium: 25 years later (1/20/81-1/20/06)

Carrying Gary Barber With Us

Cry Uncle

Faced with opposition this strong, the Democrats' best strategy for victory is obvious: abject capitulation. By wholeheartedly endorsing George Bush's seizure of permanent emergency war powers and powerful, clear-headed disintegration of Iraq, Democratic candidates may trick voters into believing that they're actually Republicans, thus riding a tidal wave of GOP support to victory. Why not? It has to work this time.

ABSURDITIES

Bush photos with disgraced lobbyist "a coincidence". Nothing to see here. Move along, rubes.

"(AP) - WASHINGTON-An adviser to President George W. Bush said Monday that Bush's photographs in the company of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff amount to a coincidence and shouldn't be interpreted any more seriously than that.

"He doesn't have a personal relationship with him," White House counselor Dan Bartlett said of Bush and Abramoff, who recently pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his lobbying practices and has pledged to cooperate with government prosecutors.

"We acknowledge he (Abramaoff) attended some Hannukuah celebrations," Bartlett said in an appearance on NBC's "Today" show. "Any suggestions by critics or anyone else to suggest the president is doing something nefarious with Abramoff is absurd."

Bush himself has said that he doesn't recall meeting Abramoff."




Hey, if Bush himself said he can't recall, that's good enough for me..., although, it does make one wonder who else generally recalls for him.

Josh Marshall, transcribes (with some small help from me) the Jack Abramoff bio on the Greenberg-Traurig website, circa 2003.


"Jack is directly involved in the Republican party and conservative movement leadership structures and is one of the leading fund raisers for the party and its congressional candidates, although any photos with President Bush are 'coincidental' and not meant to imply any relationship the preznit is likely to recall that might make it easier for Jack's clients to run slave labor sweat shops in the Northern Marianna Islands or anything like that."


so, no presidential pardons, no matter where that trail leads, or how many horse heads show up in your bed, ok bushie?

Batshit Insane


We have witnessed a systematic and intentional rape of the US Treasury, yet people wonder why I go batshit insane when these bastards pull out the parades and false patriotic piety.

Hullabaloo to you too.

What have They Done with His Body?


More on torture.

"How are the twins, Jack?
Tripletts! My how time flies."

war is over

if you want it.

Torture

"The Army interrogator, Lewis Welshofer Jr., who stuffed an Iraqi general into a sleeping bag and sat on it until he suffocated to death has been convicted of dereliction of duty and “negligent homicide,” which must be a definition of the word negligent with which I am not familiar, and acquitted of murder. The highest sentence he can now get is 3 years. Welshofer claimed to be following a directive from the US commander in Iraq: “The gloves are coming off, gentlemen… We want these individuals broken.” Welshofer responded that the military needed to loosen its interrogation standards, now that it’s no longer facing such pansies as, um, the Nazis: “Today’s enemies, especially in southwest Asia, understand force, not … mind games.” Evidently his superior didn’t recognize that that meant he planned to use, well, force. The name of Welshofer’s lawyer, by the way: Spinner, Frank Spinner."

I have had an on again off again conversation about torture and the US Government for a couple of years. Mostly lately it's been off again because I tend to lose my cool, and my ticker taps out an unusual beat. It's something that is so obviously evil -toture, that is, not my heart- that it has become for me symbolic of the evolution of humanity away from positive karmic impulses. This issue is like the poster child for the failure of free choice. What can one say to those with no profound appreciation for what it is that has been lost?

a sick twisted salute to the website i most look forward to reading each day.

So Butt OUT

"...the pro-choice movement is in no way responsible for what women do with the reproductive rights it defends. That’s what it means when we call it a right. The ACLU is not responsible for the stupid religions some people choose when they exercise their right of religion, or the stupid things they say when they exercise their right of speech, or the way they don’t vacuum the spare bedroom just because they won’t have soldiers quartered upon them. Saletan says, “Most people will tolerate it as a lesser evil or a temporary measure, but they’ll never fully accept it.” First, I didn’t know that abortions could be temporary, but even more ill-chosen a word is “tolerate.” You don’t tolerate a right, you respect it: the fact that it is a right means you don’t have a say over how it is exercised." wiiiaai

ENERGY