Executive Order 12958

That order specifies how classifications are done and who has authority to de-classify secrets. I'm lazy so I only gave it a cursory examination, but its appears clear de-classification authority rests with the person or position to first classify the item. Nowhere do I see any super power which gives Bush authority to de-classify a paper which was classified by the CIA.

Executive Order 12958

I'm open to expert opinion.

Cat Blogging

Nope. No cat today.

Won't Happen To Me

Don't bet that just because you're innocent you are safe from the feds. I don't know how Homeland Security recruits, but they could do better.

A local school employee said a rough run-in with a couple of Homeland Security officers has left him with a strong sense of insecurity.

Leander Pickett, a teacher's assistant at Englewood Elementary, said he was manhandled and handcuffed by two plain clothed Homeland Security officers in front of the school Tuesday for no reason at all.

His crime? Asking the detectives to move their car because it was blocking the bus loading zone.

Homeland Security initially said Pickett's account is inaccurate, but they will investigate. Eye witnesses say Pickett is right. He's gonna sue. Good for him.

(read more)

This Gossip Is Criminal

Seems another MSM reporter is in hot water. And they look down their noses at bloggers.

A reporter for the New York Post's "Page Six" gossip column has been suspended by the tabloid newspaper amid allegations that he tried to extort at least $100,000 from a California billionaire for protection against inaccurate or negative items.

The reporter, Jared Paul Stern, 35, is under investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors, according to newspaper sources.

(read more)

Iran Invasion Watch #2

Bush moves ever closer to attacking Iran, but this is the first mention I've seen of nuclear bombs. Bush has said he might use tactical nuclear weapons in the future and planning for an attack of Iran has been reality for some time. But this is the first time those two things have been linked.

The administration of President George W. Bush is planning a massive bombing campaign against Iran, including use of bunker-buster nuclear bombs to destroy a key Iranian suspected nuclear weapons facility, The New Yorker magazine has reported in its April 17 issue.

The article by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said that Bush and others in the White House have come to view Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a potential Adolf Hitler.

"That's the name they're using," the report quoted a former senior intelligence official as saying.

A senior unnamed Pentagon adviser is quoted in the article as saying that "this White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war."

The former intelligence officials[sic] depicts planning as "enormous," "hectic" and "operational," Hersh writes.

Surprisingly the coolest heads seem to be in the military. Go figure.

But the former senior intelligence official said the attention given to the nuclear option has created serious misgivings inside the military, and some officers have talked about resigning after an attempt to remove the nuclear option from the evolving war plans in Iran failed, according to the report. [emphasis mine]

Someone has to stop Bush before its too late. Aren't unstable Afganistan and Iraq enough? Does he have to put the whole of the Middle East in turmoil? Does anyone know the tipping point for world war?


(read more)

Bush Is Going Down?

Everyone, including me, has zeroed in on Libby's identifying Bush as the authority for releasing info on Plame.

Lewis Libby’s testimony identifying George W. Bush as the top official who authorized the leaking of intelligence about Iraq’s alleged nuclear weapons program raises two key questions: What did the President tell the special prosecutor about this issue in 2004 and what is Bush’s legal status in the federal criminal probe?

Bush’s legal danger came into clearer focus with the release of a court document citing testimony from Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff who claimed that Bush approved the selective release of intelligence in July 2003 to counter growing complaints that Bush had hyped evidence on Iraq’s pursuit of enriched uranium.

Its hell to play devil's advocate, but Scooter's testamony is hearsay. He said Cheney told him Bush authorised the release of info. Did he? Cheney and Bush know, but Libby doesn't.

I'm inclined to believe Scooter, but inclination isn't fact.

Iran Invasion Watch

Here's more anecdotal evidence an invasion is inevitable.

Key players in the Bush administration think a military confrontation with Iran is unavoidable, leading to stepped up military planning for such a prospect, according to several experts and recently departed senior government officials.

...

Iran, meanwhile, has also taken several public steps to suggest that it is preparing for a confrontation. Iranian officials recently announced with great fanfare that the military had tested several new weapons, including three new missiles and two new torpedoes, during maneuvers in the Persian Gulf. After Tehran successfully tested its second new torpedo, General Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani told Iranian state television Monday that the weapon is powerful enough to "break a heavy warship" in two. The torpedo was tested in the Straits of Hormuz, a vital corridor for oil supplies.

I've posted about those tests and indicated they're playing into Bush's hands because they aren't significan't enough to deter an idiot.

According to Laurent Murawiec, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute, the Bush administration's contingency plans were being upgraded "because the diplomatic solution has lost credibility." Murawiec said that while he feared several years ago that some officials in Washington seemed to be relying on Israel to take out Iran's nuclear facilities, "I don't fear this anymore." He added that two European defense ministries were also working on military contingency plans, but declined to identify them [you can bet Blairco is one].

To be fair, the article goes on to quote other insiders who see this saber rattling as necessary to the negotiation process and they're right. Others say they don't see such invasion as inevitable. In case you don't know by now, though I'm neither insider nor expert, I read the evidence differently. The only thing I'm unsure about is whether the attack will be before or after November. Hey, I'm no Nostradamus.

(read more)

Global Warming Is A Secret

It seems Bushco isn't just muzzling NASA scientists, but
NOAA scientists as well.

Scientists doing climate research for the federal government say the Bush administration has made it hard for them to speak forthrightly to the public about global warming. The result, the researchers say, is a danger that Americans are not getting the full story on how the climate is changing.

Employees and contractors working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with a U.S. Geological Survey scientist working at an NOAA lab, said in interviews that over the past year administration officials have chastised them for speaking on policy questions; removed references to global warming from their reports, news releases and conference Web sites; investigated news leaks; and sometimes urged them to stop speaking to the media altogether. Their accounts indicate that the ideological battle over climate-change research, which first came to light at NASA, is being fought in other federal science agencies as well.

Doesn't Bush the idiot realise he's playing with the lives of everyone here? I've said it before, earth will survive global warming, rising sea levels, desertification and an eventual glaciation (think ice age), but people and most animals won't.

I believe its safe to say no one alive now will be affected by climate change much at all, but that doesn't make ignoring the problem any less immoral.

Harry Taylor - True Patriot

Bush was holding an open-forum event when Harry Taylor was recognised in the balconey.

"You never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that," Taylor told him. "But while I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food."

...

"What I want to say to you," Taylor continued, "is that I, in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by, my leadership in Washington."

...

"I feel like, despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration," Taylor added.

...

"I would hope, from time to time, that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself,"...

...

In an interview afterward, Taylor said he had become an activist in recent years out of discontent with Bush and was pleasantly surprised he was allowed to challenge the president. "I didn't think I'd be let in the room," he said.

Bush hardly won him over, though. "I didn't care about his response," Taylor said. "I wanted to say what I wanted to say and I wanted him to know that despite being in a room with a thousand people who love him . . . there are plenty of people out there who don't agree with him in any way, shape or form."

By being foreceful, but polite, Taylor was allowed to project his message. Score one for Harry. Oh yes, you can bet your life savings that Harry Taylor will be watched closely by the FBI from now on and he will never be in the same room with Bush again.

Josh Marshall's Question About Libby's Statement

Josh posits this over at Talking Points Memo.

Here's a question. If I understand this right, Scooter Libby has sworn under oath that Vice President Cheney told him that President Bush had authorized him to disclose classified information.

Let's set aside the whole question of whether the president can do that or whether there's a specific procedure he has to follow. Just set that issue aside.

If it isn't true that Vice President Cheney told him that, then Vice President Cheney must know that Libby has again perjured himself. I would think the Vice President has an affirmative duty to come forward and say that Libby's testimony is false.

I just overheard Jeff Toobin on CNN saying that the White House will probably be able to squelch this story simply by 'no commenting' it. But can we not fairly draw the inference from Cheney's silence that he did in fact tell Libby this?

By a slightly looser logic -- and one in which sworn testimony doesn't come into play in the same fashion -- doesn't President Bush's silence tell us that Cheney was telling the truth?

The link is a courtesy. I lifted the whole post for you.

OK, first off there are two question marks so there are two questions instead of one. You get a bonus folks.

To both questions I would answer yes. Cheney's silence means he can't or won't refute Libby's sworn testimony. Bush's silence also would indicate Cheney's silence means Libby is correct. And the truth is, they are all better off keeping their big mouths shut because this hole is deep enough. Do you suppose they carry cheat sheets to keep track of the web of lies they've told?

Bush And GOP Keep Slipping In Polls

President Bush's approval rating keeps slipping away. Maybe America is finally awakening. In the chart above (as of 3/16) Bush is red, Nixon is yellow (appropriate) and Clinton is blue.

President Bush's approval ratings hit a series of new lows in an AP-Ipsos poll that also shows Republicans surrendering their advantage on national security — grim election-year news for a party struggling to stay in power.

Democratic leaders predicted they will seize control of one or both chambers of Congress in November. Republicans said they feared the worst unless the political landscape quickly changes.

"These numbers are scary. We've lost every advantage we've ever had," GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio said. "The good news is Democrats don't have much of a plan. The bad news is they may not need one."
...

• Just 36 percent of the public approves of Bush's job performance, his lowest-ever rating in AP-Ipsos polling. By contrast, the president's job approval rating was 47 percent among likely voters just before Election Day 2004 and a whopping 64 percent among registered voters in October 2002.

• Only 40 percent of the public approves of Bush's performance on foreign policy and the war on terror, another low-water mark for his presidency. That's down 9 points from a year ago. Just before the 2002 election, 64 percent of registered voters backed Bush on terror and foreign policy.

• Just 35 percent of the public approves of Bush's handling of Iraq, his lowest in AP-Ipsos polling.

Ah, but it gets better (as in worse) for Congress.

Just 30 percent of the public approves of the GOP-led Congress' job performance, and Republicans seem to be shouldering the blame.

We could always consider trying Bob's idea.

"I'd just as soon they shut (Congress) down for a few years," said Robert Hirsch, 72, a Republican-leaning voter in Chicago. "All they do is keep passing laws and figuring out ways to spend our money."

(read more)

US Doesn't Trust Bush To Censor News

A recent poll shows US citzens are losing faith in Bush to censor news if he considers its disclosure to be harmful. They would prefer the MSM to make that determination.

And in another poll, we find more and more people are turning to the internets for their news. Ok, I know they don't mean blogs only, but...

(read more)

Feeling Secure? Well Don't #4

Fraud and corruption running rampant in US immigration system?

The agency that's supposed to protect our borders and keep out terrorists is riddled with fraud and corruption, according to testimony before Congress today.

A House subcommittee heard from Michael J. Maxwell, former director of the office of security and investigations of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. He portrayed a dysfunctional agency crippled by corruption both inside and outside that's trying to handle too many cases with too few employees.

This's just another example of how Bushco fails to place emphasis on agencies that need it the most. But it gets better (as in worse).

"Employees are tempted to grant benefits in order to receive cash, promotions, time off rather than deny the benefit," he said. He accused supervisors of putting pressure on workers to handle 12 to 16 applications an hour, which he called a dangerously high caseload.

In one example, Maxwell said, the agency employed an Iraqi-born U.S. citizen suspected of being a foreign intelligence agent to review asylum applications. [emphasis mine]

That is almost unbelievable info.

I can understand his reluctance, but Maxwell should have come forward as a whistle-blower. Keeping unwanted and/or dangerous aliens out of the country is never going to be 100% successful, but its impossible under the conditions Maxwell describes.

Immigration Justice?

Its complicated. Even without politicing, there's no easy answer to immigration, but maybe Congress will do the right thing in the end.

Putting aside party differences, Senate Republicans and Democrats coalesced Thursday around compromise legislation that holds out the hope of citizenship to many of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the United States unlawfully.

"We can no longer afford to delay reform," said Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in a statement that capped weeks of struggle to find common ground.

I've posted before that good immigration legislation is a win-win situation. The US needs the immigrants' help and the immigrants need employment. Once these workers are "recognised" they can pay taxes and not be a drain on the American economy which has been a problem for many Americans.

I still have a problem with the imposition of a $2,000 fine. The money isn't necessary and could prove a small financial burden to the workers, but its not my call.

And, being ever consistent, Rep Tom Tancredo (R-asshole) had to weigh in.

"I can just about guarantee you we're not going to get a majority of the House members (to agree) on amnesty to 10 million people," Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said at a news conference. "I am disappointed that apparently Mr. Frist has caved in to the desires of Democrats, to Kennedy," he added.

Iraqi Reality

Folks, this is what Bush has caused. This is a regular guy who's trying to survive Iraq. I pray he comes home in one piece.

So when I first got to this base I’m now at I took a piece of wood and wrote “Number of missions without taking contact or getting blown up.” Every time I get back from a mission without incident I put another hash mark on the board. Every month of the year has also been written out with a big black X over the months we’ve been here. I’ve decided that when I do get blown up (around here it’s a question of when and how bad, not if) and have to replace the window of the Hummer, the replaced glass is going home with me. It’ll be my little war trophy. One guy in my platoon has a windshield in bubble wrap and cardboard that was shot up when he was driving a few months back. Another friend of mine kept the shrapnel that was pulled out of his body; you can bet that any bullets taken out of me are going on permanent display at Fort Living Room. [emphasis mine]

The guy isn't being political. He's just trying to make it through his ordeal. I politicise his words because I'd rather see him putting in his time in Nebraska or somewhere and not in the volatile world that is Iraq right now.

Rummy vs Condi

I'm amazed at how long it took for Rumsfeld to defend himself. How dare Condi suggest Rummy ever made a mistake!?!? Jesus, she must be demented.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he did not know what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was talking about when she said last week that the United States had made thousands of "tactical errors" in handling the war in Iraq, a statement she later said was meant figuratively.

Speaking during a radio interview on WDAY in Fargo, N.D., on Tuesday, Rumsfeld said calling changes in military tactics during the war "errors" reflects a lack of understanding of warfare. Rumsfeld defended his war plan for Iraq but added that such plans inevitably do not survive first contact with the enemy.

The probelems which have resulted in civil war and daily deaths of civilians and US troops must be caused by something uncontrollable. They can't possibly be the result of Rummy's ineptitude.

And, my apolgies to the fine folks in North Dakota, but Fargo? Huh? He's going for the heavily populated areas of the US? Maybe he felt at home or less threatened. But Fargo? His next interview will be with Roger Kingsford in Lake Oswego, Oregon. That would be in Roger's mother's basement.

Sorry

So many technical problems. Arghhh!!!

I think I'm back now. My apologies to my readers in Hummelstown, PA, Austin, TX and Scandanavia(?) among others. I'm amazed so many people from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Netherlands view my blog. Uff Dah! Nope, not Norwegian, but know the expression. Oh yeah, and you people monitoring me for Bush. I've noticed the .gov (United States Government) ISPs.

Immigration

Try as I might, I can't avoid getting sucked into this debate. There's too much at stake to remain on the fence. I've suggested my thoughts previously by posting about Roberto Salazar's situation. The final bill will affect millions of good people.

Senate Democrats pushed for a vote on a bipartisan immigration bill that would allow the illegal immigrants to remain in the country and become permanent residents after paying $2,000 fines and back taxes, learning English and working six years.

My inclination would be to skip the fines and make sure the workers have a reasonable period of time to pay back taxes. I think 20 years is reasonable. Most are already in poor paying jobs and shouldn't be pushed further into poverty. But the idiot in chief is pushing for a guest worker (read slave labor) program and insists on impediments to citizenship.

The White House repeated President Bush's call for a temporary worker plan as a way to identify the millions of illegal immigrants in the country. The administration said in a statement it wants a bill that does not create "an automatic path to citizenship."

When will someone in Congress call bullshit on Bush?

Identify workers as guest workers instead of slaves so they aren't affected by minimum wage laws and other worker safeguards. Name captured people enemy combatants instead of prisoners of war so you can ignore the Geneva Conventions. Name our illegal attack of Iran as a war so he can claim war president powers.

It's all smoke, mirrors and lies. I have to give credit to Bush's linguists. They know how to label any situation, policy or action so as to provide Bush the friendliest of definitions which never include reality. Hell, they even say he was elected and given a mandate.

Guest Worker Program Dead?

I've posted before about the perils of a guest worker program. Well, it looks like such a program may not happen.

Senate supporters of a guest worker program that would let illegal immigrants stay in the U.S. said yesterday they don't have enough votes to overcome objections from conservatives.

As negotiators worked on a compromise to let those who have been here the longest remain, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said a majority of the Senate supports a proposal backed by him and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) to provide green cards to illegal immigrants after they've worked in the U.S. for six years.

I reluctantly side with McCain on this. And, if you haven't read about Anna and Roberto Salazar, here's why.

Corporations and private individuals need the help of these workers, the workers send money home and lift up their families in their homelands and it overcomes the biggest objection to these workers - assistance. If the workers are granted green cards they become visible. They can pay taxes which pay for government assistance such as schooling. They will no longer be "sponging off" America.

The McCain-Kennedy bill is a win-win situation. I'm sure most Americans see it as such and would readily endorse it.

Thai Prime Minister Hands Control To Deputy

Thai prime minister Thaksin has resigned. His deputy will take over the duties of prime minister.

The Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, today handed power to his deputy until a new government can be formed.

Chitchai Wannasathit will act as the country's caretaker prime minister following Mr Thaksin's resignation yesterday.

You see that Bush? When half of your country says they don't support you, the classy thing to do is resign. Oops. I'm sorry. I forgot you have no class. Nevermind.

An aside sort of. This is one of many stories in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Politically, many countries are unstable. All the more reason for Bush to forget his plan to attack Iran. I read more frequently lately about unexpected/unintended consequences. Well, right now intervention in any of these countries will effect quite predictable consequences.

Note: Picture is of acting PM Chitchai Wannasathit.

Calif. Levees Break, Flooding Trailer Park

That's the headline in an AP story about Merced, CA.

That's all I'm using of the story 'cause its all I need for my comment.

Why does Mother Nature always go for the mobile homes? She really must hate them. Jesus, I would never live in one no matter how nice. It'd get flooded, leveled by a tornado, washed away in a flood or who knows what else (struck by lightning?).

Homeland Deputy Arrested in Seduction Case

I would only parrot the Brilliant at Breakfast post so you should read it.

What is America?

I'm gonna preach to the choir here. If you lend your voice, you can consider this a reminder.

Politics and government are your country. The land, people and most edifices have been around for thousands of years. Your government defines what your country is and what it stands for. One of the first things a new country does is draw up some form of constitution. Establishing a government is how the new country is created.

If you like the way your government is treating other countries and other peoples, fine. Just realise such represents you and what you believe in. Do you think blowing up innocent people will really make you safe? Then accept Bush's idea of how to deal with Iraq and Afganistan and very likely Iran, Syria and others. If you think there's an alternative choice, you just might "get it". You may be able to stop the inevitable attack on Iran by telling your representatives to refuse to support such an offensive. Will that stop Bush? I don't know. Bush doesn't seem to believe laws, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Congressional decisions apply to him. After all, he is a war president.

Oh yeah. He's a war president. Or is he? Can Bush present US with any authentic declaration of war he hasn't personally produced? A war on terror isn't a war. It's a charade. People are shooting and blowing things up daily, dying daily and suffering daily so it resembles war, but it isn't one. Bush is not a "war president" and has no war president powers. You know it and so does Congress. Unfortunately Congress is unwilling to call him on it.

Are you proud your country kills innocents, tortures, spies on you, lies to you, destroys the environment, enslaves you to colossal debt, allows corporations to rape your resources and most importantly, sends your children to fight and die for reasons other than to defend itself?

You have to decide if the America Bush has produced is your idea of what America really is. If you decide it is not, you must get involved in politics and change your government. We the people...?

Scotty "The Liar" McClellan On Way Out?

Not just Scotty, but Treasury Secretary John Snow too? And a couple ex-military officers have called for the release of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld as has John Kerry. But I'm sure all this is just silly speculation because Bush has said he's ok with his people.

Bush said, "I'm satisfied with the people I've surrounded myself with. We've been a remarkably stable administration, and I think that's good for the country.

Bush doesn't explicitly say no shakeup is needed, but it sure is implicit in his words.

I'm not about to defend McClellan. He's been a weasel. He's flat out lied to the press and the American people. If he had a shred of integrity he would have resigned. That said, he's had an impossible job trying to spin corruption, killing, torture and lying as acceptable behavior.

Please Spread The Word

Dr Tom More is trying to help an innocent Gitmo detainee get his poems back. I'm posting this to help others see it.

The good news is the detainee has been released.

Teens, Sex, TV & Magazines

A recent study found a corrolation between exposure to sexual content on TV and in magazines and sexual intercourse by the time the kids are 17 years old.

The more sexual content in television and magazines that teens are exposed to, the more likely they are to have sexual intercourse at an early age, a new study says.

The University of North Carolina study, published in today's issue of the journal Pediatrics, concludes that white adolescents who view more sexual content than their peers are 2.2 times more likely to have sexual intercourse by the time they are 14 to 16 years old.

"Some, especially those who have fewer alternative sources of sexual norms, such as parents or friends, may use the media as a kind of sexual superpeer that encourages them to be sexually active," the study authors state.

You can read more below or you can probably check out any winger site. The wingers will love the story. Televangelists 24/7 on all channels should save the kids.

However, the researchers are responsible and warn against coming to snap conclusions based on their study.

But, as both the authors and other critics note, the analysis has several important limitations. The survey of sexual behavior only included 1,017 teens in three public school districts in North Carolina, and did not take into account exposure to sexual content on the Internet.

Julia A. Ericksen, chair of the department of sociology at Temple University, said that it's not surprising that sexual content on television and in magazines might have an impact on teen behavior.

...

There's also a chicken-or-egg component to the issue, Ericksen says.

(read more)

Zarqawi Replaced For Making Mistakes

The Iraqi resistance has a new political head. Apparently al-Zarqawi's annual evaluation didn't go too well. Unfortunately he still will be involved in military operations.

Iraq's resistance has replaced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as political head of the rebels, the son of Osama bin Laden's mentor has said in Jordan.

Hudayf Azzam, 35, who claims close contacts with the fighters, said on Sunday: "The Iraqi resistance's high command asked Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi, because of several mistakes he made.

"Zarqawi's role has been limited to military action. Zarqawi bowed to the orders two weeks ago and was replaced by Iraqi national Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi."

(read more)

Not Really Political, But Really Really Stupid

This story just in from Connecticut.

A motorist opened fire on a group of Hell's Angels motorcyclists along Interstate 95 on Sunday, killing one and injuring another, police said.

The bikers were traveling near West Haven around 3:30 p.m. when they were shot, said State Police spokesman Sgt. J. Paul Vance.

Police were considering a number of possible motives including road rage, and were searching for a sport utility vehicle with Florida license plates, Vance said.

I've known Hell's Angels. There's one rule for dealing with them and that's to treat them with respect. Shooting doesn't qualify as respect. Whoever did the shooting had better hope to hell the police find him before the Angels do. I'm also not so sure, should he be convicted and imprisoned, that his life is worth anything.

And I have no idea why I'm assuming the motorist is male.

Immigration Bill Always Fair?

I've pretty much stayed out of the immigration bill debate. I can see why people are split over it. I am too. Like Tommy Lee Jones' character in Batman Forever, I'm of two minds on the matter. That said, I'm inclined toward a very liberal approach rather than punitive. Let's try to put a human face on the issue.

When Anna Salazar was first dating her husband, Roberto, it didn't occur to her to ask his immigration status.

By the time the California native learned Roberto was an illegal immigrant, it didn't make a difference: She had met the love of her life. Now -- five years, a Valentine's Day wedding and two baby boys later -- they are facing Roberto's deportation to Mexico and a possible 10-year exile from the country where he has lived since he was 8.

If an immigration bill being protested across the country in recent weeks becomes law, Roberto, 30, also could be deemed an aggravated felon, sent to prison and then barred from the United States for life.

Is there any justice in all that? Just asking.

Interview With A Former(?) Terrorist

Bob Simon from 60 minutes interviewed Abu Jandal, Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard, now living in Yemen. Its a very interesting interview.

Simon asked Abu Jandal for his take on bin Laden's last audiotaped message. In January, bin Laden offered the Americans a truce. If Washington doesn't take him up on it, he said, there will be consequences.

"He made a similar proposal to the Europeans. He warned them and gave them six months," Abu Jandal says. "When there was no response, he started with the Madrid bombing, then London. So I believe Osama bin Laden is planning a new attack inside the United States. This is certain."

Asked if he is sure Osama is preparing a new attack, Abu Jandal said, "When Sheikh Osama promises something, he does it."

Jandal is quite certain he knows were bin Laden is right now and it isn't Pakistan.

Abu Jandal hasn't seen bin Laden since the summer of 2000, but he says there is no question as to where he is hiding: Afghanistan.

This little bit was particularly interesting. Bin Laden might have been killed, but for a pure freak of chance.

Abu Jandal says America’s best chances to kill bin Laden came and went before 9/11. Paramount among them, August 1998, right after bin Laden bombed two U.S. embassies in East Africa. The al Qaeda leaders knew the Americans would retaliate, so they left their compound at Tarnak Farms and drove north.

"There was a fork in the road. One road leading to Khost and training camps, and another one leading to Kabul," Abu Jandal recalls. "I was with Sheikh Osama in the same vehicle with three guards, so he turned to us and said, 'What do you think? Khost or Kabul?' We told him, 'Let’s just visit Kabul.' So Sheikh Osama said, 'OK, Kabul.' "

Kabul it was. The next evening, 75 American cruise missiles slammed into the training camp near Khost, the road not taken. The CIA had intelligence that bin Laden was going to be at the training camp that night.

"Kinda makes you wonder whose side God's on, doesn't it?" Scheuer* says.

*Mike Scheur is head of the bin Laden unit at the CIA. He says he believes the things Jandal said in the interview based on classified and other info the CIA has.

Iran Test-Fires Underwater Stealth Missle

This news two days after Iran said it had test-fired a missle undetectable by radar. This newest missle can't be detected by sonar according to the Iranians.

Iran said Sunday that it had test-fired what it described as a sonar-evading underwater missile just two days after it announced that it had fired a new missile that could carry multiple warheads and evade radar systems.

The new missile is among the world's fastest and can outpace an enemy warship, Gen. Ali Fadavi of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards told state television.

General Fadavi said only one other country, Russia, had a missile that moved underwater as fast as the Iranian one, which he said had a speed of about 225 miles per hour. State television showed what it described as the missile being fired.

This activity obviously is to impress the US. Iran knows as well as I that Bush wants to attack them, but I doubt the two missile tests will have any deterrent affect.

Iran's military show of force follows increasing international pressure over its nuclear program. Last Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council urged Iran to suspend its uranium-enrichment activities and asked the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency to report on Iran's compliance within 30 days.

Iran has refused to comply. On Sunday, Iran's representative to the atomic energy agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, appearing on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," said of the Security Council's action, "We express our regret for such a hasty decision because the wisest decision was no action."

After Bush does attack Iran, how is he going to live with the attacks at home and around the world and how in hell can he face the American people if one of these stealth underwater missiles sinks one of our aircraft carriers or a cruise ship full of innocent civilians?

Global Warming Real To Americans

A recent poll shows most Americans now believe global warming is happening.

An overwhelming majority of Americans think they can help reduce global warming and are willing to make the sacrifices that are needed, a new poll shows.

After years of controversy, 71 percent of Americans now say they think global warming is real, according to a telephone survey of 1,200 people for the advocacy group Environmental Defense.

The other 29% are idiots and probably belong to the Bush administration.

Excellent Source Of Documents Relative To The Bush Administration

This alphabetical list of documents is a nice reference library of digital documents you can refer to or reference. courtesy of AfterDowningStreet.org.

Its difficult to keep track of all the lies and deceptions promulgated by this administration, but this list provides many sources so you don't have to google for them.

Bush, Blair. Fraternal Twins?

I swear these two guys act more like each other every day.

Tony Blair personally frustrated measures to cut Britain's emissions of the pollution that causes global warming, despite repeatedly calling for action, it has been revealed.

The Prime Minister did not back proposals from his Environment Secretary, Margaret Beckett, that aimed to get the Government's strategy to fight climate change back on track.

...

Mr Blair told a climate change conference in New Zealand last week that failure to take action on global warming would be "absolutely disastrous".

He added: "I don't want it on the conscience of me, or my generation, that we were told what this problem was and did nothing about it."

Sound like anyone you know?

During the month of August, President Bush held environmental photo ops in scenic locations across the country while his staff spent the month in Washington working to weaken environmental protections. This "say one thing, do another" approach may have worked earlier in his term to divert attention away from policies designed to benefit corporate interests, but even the best public relations can't compensate for an environmental record that's this bad. [emphasis mine]

(read more Blair) (read more Bush)

Note: The photo is smog over Denver, CO.

Sometimes We I Make Mistakes Here At Spiiderweb

I had to update a recent post about a 16 year old bike messenger who delayed the end of WWII to stop and eat pancakes. It never happened.

I trusted the reporter from whom I got the story who, in turn, probably assumed the documentary film maker had done his homework and got the fact right. He hadn't. It was a reasonable assumption because it was a documentary film, after all.

However, I made a mistake in depicting it as an amusing story about a young man. Upon further reflection, if true, it would have been tragic. Who knows how many allied and Japanese troops would die during the time it took the boy to eat at a diner. The bloggers who were upset or outraged, and were responsible for the now 75 year old man and his family to deny the story, were absolutely correct in their assessment. Mea culpa.

Attack Iran And Unleash A Tiger?

File this under this can't be good.

As tensions increase between the United States and Iran, U.S. intelligence and terrorism experts say they believe Iran would respond to U.S. military strikes on its nuclear sites by deploying its intelligence operatives and Hezbollah teams to carry out terrorist attacks worldwide.

Iran would mount attacks against U.S. targets inside Iraq, where Iranian intelligence agents are already plentiful, predicted these experts. There is also a growing consensus that Iran's agents would target civilians in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, they said.

The problem is Bush is going to attack unless Iran does something to stop it and so far Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has only thrown fuel on the fire. The sad fact is once Bush sets loose those tigers its gonna be damn difficult to get rid of them. He wants to fight them there so he doesn't have to fight them here. Well he may just have to fight them everywhere if the experts are right.

But terrorism experts considered Iranian-backed or controlled groups -- namely the country's Ministry of Intelligence and Security operatives, its Revolutionary Guards and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah -- to be better organized, trained and equipped than the al-Qaeda network that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. [emphasis mine]

Isn't that an attractive scenario? Think Bush is ready for the big leagues? Ready to take on the elite terrorists?

Note: The photo is of the Madrid terrorist bombing.

Uplifting Tribute To An uplifting Man

I stole the headline from this story. Its just a fun read.

It wasn't a somber affair.

But Jeremy Martin, one of seven who died in the Capitol Hill shootings March 25, wasn't a somber guy.

At a memorial service Saturday in Mount Vernon, where he grew up, mourners paid tribute to Martin with everything from tuba solos to jokes about his hygiene in what one person dubbed the best funeral ever.

They say this in the spirit of Martin himself, a distributor for the wine company New Zealand Pure Ltd. who was perhaps best known for crashing parties dressed as a clown.

"You can be young once," Martin, 26, used to say. "But you can be immature for the rest of your life."

It reminds me of my grandfather's funeral where one person recounted the time he spotted my grandfather walking up the street, in the snow, wearing a tutu and nothing else. As I recall, it had something to do with a lost election bet. Even though gone, Martin made friends and family laugh just like my grandfather did.

Is Taliban Increasing Activities In Afganistan?

At first I thought this was a story about ships because it didn't say oil tanker trucks, but then I realised Afganistan is landlocked, duh.

Suspected Taliban-linked militants set on fire 10 oil tankers carrying fuel to U.S. military base in south Afghanistan Saturday, a local official said Sunday.

"Taliban militants attacked a logistic convoy in Grishk district of Helmand province yesterday at noon and set ablaze 10 petrol tankers in Haiderabad area," acting district police chief Amanullah Khan told Xinhua.

It would seem logical for the US military to guard such supplies, but apparently it doesn't.

Note: Photo is of such trucks on the Turkey-Iraq border and not Afganistan.

(read more)

Why Change? America Does Immigration Right

This article argues against Bush's "guest worker" idea and makes good points. The author happens to be a US green card holder.

Many Americans have become enamored of the European approach to immigration—perhaps without realizing it. Guest workers, penalties, sanctions and deportation are all a part of Europe's mode of dealing with immigrants. The results of this approach have been on display recently in France, where rioting migrant youths again burned cars last week. Across Europe one sees disaffected, alienated immigrants, ripe for radicalism. The immigrant communities deserve their fair share of blame for this, but there's a cycle at work. European societies exclude the immigrants, who become alienated and reject their societies. [emphasis mine]

One puzzle about post-9/11 America is that it has not had a subsequent terror attack—even a small backpack bomb in a movie theater—while there have been dozens in Europe. My own explanation is that American immigrant communities, even Arab and Muslim ones, are not very radicalized. (Even if such an attack does take place, the fact that four and a half years have gone by without one provides some proof of this contention.) Compared with every other country in the world, America does immigration superbly. Do we really want to junk that for the French approach?

His comments about supply (of immigrants) and demand (for labor) are also very interesting.

Pentagon Admits Its Building Permanent Bases In Iraq

The Pentagon finally decides to fess up on the permanent bases in Iraq.

The Pentagon has revealed that coalition forces are spending millions of dollars establishing at least six "enduring" bases in Iraq - raising the prospect that US and UK forces could be involved in a long-term deployment in the country. It said it assumed British troops would operate one of the bases.

Almost ever since President Bush claimed an end to "major combat operations" in Iraq on 1 May 2003, debate has focused on how quickly troops could be withdrawn. The US and British governments say troops will remain in Iraq "until the job is done". Yet while the withdrawal of a substantial number of troops remains an aim, it has become increasingly clear that the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) are preparing to retain some forces in Iraq for the longer term. The US currently has around 130,000 troops in Iraq; Britain has 8,000.

I like that has become increasingly clear part. It has been crystal clear for a long time. And all the better for attacking Iran (see post below this one).

Inevitability Of US Attack On Iran

Maybe Bush won't give Iran the full 30 days offered by the UN. That stealth missle test a couple days ago just may move the attack date up.

The [UK] Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran. This via Echidne.

A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran.

It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme.

MSM Knuckles Under On Leaked E-mails

Now that title is about all a progressive would need for this story or maybe a couple sentences deriding ABC for their cowardly actions. Perchance said progressive would throw in a couple sentences questioning the parentage of the ABC executives involved or their patriotism. That is how it would work if that progressive behaved like a winger.

ABC News suspended the executive producer of the weekend edition of "Good Morning America" yesterday over a pair of leaked e-mails in which he used inflammatory language to slam President Bush and Madeleine Albright.

John Green, whose unpaid suspension will last one month, apologized to the White House in a call to communications director Nicolle Wallace, while two ABC executives called the former secretary of state to apologize.

And just what "inflammatory language" did this traitor use?

In one of the e-mails, written during the first presidential debate in 2004 and leaked to the Drudge Report, Green wrote to a colleague on his BlackBerry: "Are you watching this? Bush makes me sick. If he uses the 'mixed messages' line one more time, I'm going to puke." [emphasis mine]

OMG! How dare he use such foul language. What an asshole. Ah, but this blogger doesn't behave like a winger would. There's more to this story.

The second leaked e-mail surfaced Thursday on the New York Post's gossipy Page Six. In that note, Green wrote that Albright should not be booked on the show because "Albright has Jew shame."

Ok, I'll admit that comment can't be ignored. It is stereotypical and insensitive at the very least. I would argue it doesn't deserve the author's getting a one month suspension, but its not my call. At least he didn't call her a getto slut.