This May Be True, But It Sounds Like Bullshit

I'm an optomist. I just realised I'm not. I don't trust Bushco and trust the military too. I used to trust both, but can't now.

A secretive military special-operations group in Iraq used several unauthorized interrogation tactics on detainees in early 2004 after it erroneously received an outdated policy from commanders in Baghdad, according to a high-level military investigative report released Friday at the Pentagon.

As a result of the error, interrogators at temporary holding facilities washed down detainees and questioned them in overly air-conditioned rooms, fed them only bread and water when they were uncooperative, and made them kneel for long periods of time as part of an approach using ``stress positions.'' The tactics also included giving detainees minimal amounts of sleep and using loud music and yelling to keep them from sleeping or communicating.

This occurred at the same time similar methods used at the Abu Ghurayb prison near Baghdad were under intense internal scrutiny.

Army Brig. Gen. Richard Formica found that members of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Arabian Peninsula used official guidance that had been developed in September 2003 to create its own set of rules for interrogations, unknowingly including the forbidden tactics.

OIC. No one did anything wrong. They were just following guidelines that were transcribed by underlings incorrectly.

BULLSHIT!

They were following sadistic guidelines or ignoring such guidelines completely.

That the military is investigating is good. But don't try to whitewash it or blow smoke up our asses. Investigate honestly and tell us what you find. We can take it.

Dead, Killed, Kidnapped, Missing And Lost

I don't know about you, but I don't have enough time to catalogue the deaths and injuries in Iraq. I see 16 killed and 33 wounded followed by more than 15 killed and 30 wounded. Same attack? The reports aren't always clear on that. If they don't mention time and place, it isn't easy to tell if they are different attacks or not.

Without being facetious at all, may I make a suggestion to our superior colleagues in the MSN? Please document the time, place and method of all attacks in any country at any time so we humble bloggers can figure out just how many fucking poor souls have been killed in the latest attacks? We do care.

We don't revel in deaths, but we need to know what's really happening and the accuracy of the MSM is a little short of perfect. In a recent attack I read 8, then 9 then 10 had been killed and 30, 31, 33 had been injured. Some reports didn't mention where the attacks occurred. So it was impossible to be sure if all such reports were about the same attack. So much for the accuracy of the MSM, huh?

This Isn't Good News At All

Do I sometimes come off as the voice of doom? It isn't intentional but is a normal reaction to the available news and info. Shit happens and it happens all the time.

The U.S. troops searched Saturday for two soldiers who went missing after an attack that killed one of their comrades at a traffic checkpoint in the so-called "Triangle of Death" just south of Baghdad, the military said.

U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said four raids had been carried out since Friday's attack and that ground forces, helicopters and airplanes were taking part in the search.

The soldiers came under attack at a traffic checkpoint southwest of Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad. A quick reaction force arrived at the scene after hearing small arms fire and explosions, according to the military.

Simple comment. The "Triangle of Death"? What the fuck?!!!11!

Bush, please tell us how well it is going. Please tell us why there's a "Triangle of Death" if things are getting back to normal. Please stop your fucking lying. K?

Rumsfeld Guilty Of Receiving Stolen Property?

I just bet he'll be charged. Hahaha. Yeah, sure he will. You or I would be, but you and I aren't part of the US monarchy's ruling class.

A disaster relief company that took supplies that were supposed to go to Sept. 11, 2001, rescuers at the World Trade Center has escaped punishment.

The reason: The government discovered that its own employees had stolen artifacts from ground zero, once-secret federal documents show.

The FBI developed evidence from whistleblowers that Kieger Enterprises of Lino Lakes, Minn., had dispatched trucks to a Long Island warehouse and loaded hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of donated bottled water, clothes, tools and generators in a plot to sell some for profit, the records show.

Dan L’Allier, a Kieger supervisor at the time, told The Associated Press that he witnessed 45 tons of the New York loot being unloaded in Minnesota at his company’s headquarters. He and a colleague, Chris Christopherson, complained to a company executive but were ordered to keep quiet.

They went instead to the FBI. The two whistleblowers eventually lost their jobs, received death threats and were blackballed in the disaster relief industry. But they remained convinced that their sacrifice was worth it to make sure justice was done.

Federal prosecutors eventually charged Kieger and some executives with fraud for overbilling the government in several disasters but excluded the Sept. 11, 2001, thefts. The company has gone out of business.

The lead investigators for the FBI and the Federal Emergency Management Agency told the AP that the plan to prosecute Kieger for the thefts stopped as soon as it became clear in late summer 2002 that an FBI agent in Minnesota had stolen a crystal globe from ground zero.

That prompted a broader review that ultimately found that 16 government employees, including a top FBI executive and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, had such artifacts from New York or the Pentagon [emphasis mine].

Note: Courtesy link to The Kansas City Star because I pasted the whole story for you.

Republicans Are Old School

They're all throw-backs to the 60's. Who would have thunk it?



SEX!



DRUGS!


ROCK & ROLL!

I cracked myself up with that last one. He has to be a Dixie Chicks, country music fan.

Hey, I just noticed for the first time. Is Bush giving the audience the finger on that guitar? Sure as hell looks like it and it is in character.



And its in the genes.

No Comment...

Read it for yourself.

A few Texas ranchers tired of costly repairs to cattle fences damaged by illegal immigrants have installed an easier route over the U.S.-Mexican border - ladders.

"It's an attempt to get them to use the ladders instead of tearing the fences," said Scott Pattinson, who owns one of a group of ranches known as La Copa.

La Copa is just south of a U.S. Border Patrol highway checkpoint that went up 75 miles from the border several years ago, sending migrants through the brambly scrub of nearby ranches instead.

OK, one comment. Hahaha.

Nearly As Good As Stephen Colbert

This is a really hillarious comedy routine. Who knew Rover had it in him.

Karl Rove, claimed that conservatives have broadened their appeal through the Internet while liberals have used it to "mobilize hate and anger[.]

But it gets better.

"I do also think that the Internet has proven to be a more powerful tool on our side than it has been for the other side," Rove told VictoryNH.com, a non-partisan Website founded by a former Ambassador who has raised and contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to strictly Republican candidates.

One more.

Rove also applauded conservative talk radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity for holding "elite" and "big institutions" to "account," which he believes has been "enormously healthy for the system."

(read more)

So We Need A Flag Amendment...

Because Bush and his vile lot have so much respect for our flag, right?

Riiiiight! About as much respect as they have for that "Goddamn piece of paper" called the US Constitution.

And women and immigrants and gays and Democrats and international law and US laws and treaties and Katrina victims and Congress and AIDS victims and blacks and welfare recipients and anyone who's poor and voters and dissenters and science and Mother Earth and our children and basically anyone who isn't one of them.

Did I mention Muslims, Hindus, Animists, Jehova's Witnesses, Rastafarians, Buddhists, Mormons, Sikhs, Shintos, Pagans, probably Catholics, Taoists, Atheists, Agnostics and anyone else who doesn't accept their fundie doctrine, unless their Jewish? And I'm not so sure they really accept Jews.

Not My Usual Type Post…

Were my phone line working, I’d be reading and commenting on blogs instead of writing this post, but its an addiction. Write in Word and cut and paste later will have to do for now.

Its stunning how short is the attention span of the ruler of the world’s, for now, only superpower. I was going to say world’s greatest nation, but it isn’t while being controlled by Bushco. Maybe again someday.

Has this guy ever put all his attention and energy into anything? He sure didn’t at Yale, as an oil executive, as a baseball owner, as the Governor of Texas or at ruling the US. Bush is the poster child for black sheep.

A couple trips to the southern coast and Katrina is forgotten. Invasion of Afghanistan? Well he did stick with that longer than the Katrina “problem”. Invasion of Iraq? Come on. He postures and makes bold sound-bite statements while he’s spending time fund raising, fucking with the Constitution and building walls in Yuma AZ. He couldn’t care less about Iraq.

Besides, he has to “plan” the invasion of Iran. Hahaha. He isn’t planning anything. He has to tell his minions to plan the invasion. And they can forget about handling the after affects. They’ll work themselves out. They always do.

But besides the absolute dismantling of all that was America, the strongest criticism I want to level is this: he’s a fucking coward. For example his sneaking into Iraq. Twice. Why? Doesn’t he know Teddy Roosevelt wouldn’t do that. Teddy charged out in front. Of course the weapons were a little less lethal. He’s a cowardly war criminal and I want justice through The Hague once he’s out of office.

But I digress. Back to the coward-in-chief on Iraq. Has any president ever said, and I paraphrase, this situation is for future presidents to resolve? He implies he has fucked up everything, but that’s OK because he’s out of here. His other hero, Harry S Truman said, “The buck stops here”. Quaint idea for a leader/ruler.

And his cowardice and contempt go deeper than that. All presidents try to hand the mantle to the next, regardless of party affiliation, in the best condition possible and with the best chance of success. Country comes first. He needed only 5 hours in a war zone to do his job. Yeah, sure he did. But he can’t be bothered to keep working for the next 19 months to try everything possible to improve the situation in Iraq and leave Iran alone?

What does the dim son do? He commits the next president to unending occupation of Iraq (and probably Iran too, if its still viable and we are). The little shit. Instead of keeping his mouth closed and allowing the next president who will inherit this horrible catastrophe to determine what action to take, the idiot is making a commitment for him/her. How fucking gracious. This is a cowardly act and should be seen as nothing else.

I have absolutely no respect for any Bushco asshat in office. They disgust me.

Bushco Isn't Gonna Like This At All

Don't these people know ya gotta be cruel to be kind?

(update below)

European Union leaders endorsed a plan Friday to channel aid to cash-starved Palestinians focusing on health, power supply and support for needy families, while maintaining a funding freeze on the Hamas-led government.

A final statement from the EU summit said the 25-member bloc "Stands ready to contribute a substantial amount to the international mechanism," Which would channel aid to the Palestinians but bypass Hamas. EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said the EU was considering an initial allocation of about -100 million (US$126 million).

She told reporters the EU wants to have the funding mechanism up and running by early July. "We Europeans are determined to play our part in preventing a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

At least some countries's leaders still have a sense of humanity. Too bad America's rulers aren't among them.

(read more)

(update) Well that didn't take long.

A European proposal to provide aid for health care for Palestinians has stalled because of objections from the Bush administration and the World Bank, which contend the aid would violate US sanctions against paying salaries to Hamas government ...

I knew Bushco would be pissed off.

(read more)

WHO Ya Gonna Call. Don't make it WHO

This is wrong on so many levels. Bushco/big pharma. Those two are almost inseperable.

When World Health Organization (WHO) director general Lee Jong-wook died of a cerebral hemorrhage last month before the start of the United Nations agency's annual World Health Assembly, the world's most prominent public-health official was arguably of a conflicted mind.

The WHO veteran was caught in the middle of an intensifying global debate over how to reconcile intellectual-property protection with the pressing public-health need to expand access to expensive life-saving medicines, a hot-button issue that has sharply divided WHO member states along developed- and developing-country lines.

An Asia Times Online investigation reveals that at the time of his death, Lee, a South Korean national, had closely aligned himself with the US government and by association US corporate

interests, often to the detriment of the WHO's most vital commitments and positions, including its current drive to promote the production and marketing of affordable generic antiretroviral drugs for millions of poor infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can cause AIDS.

According to senior and middle-ranking WHO officials familiar with the situation, Lee blatantly bent to US government pressure in March when he made the controversial decision to recall the WHO country representative to Thailand, William Aldis, who had served less than 16 months in what traditionally has been a four-year or longer posting.

A wrong opinion
Aldis had made the mistake of penning a critical opinion piece in the Bangkok Post newspaper in February that argued in consonance with WHO positions that Thailand should carefully consider before surrendering its sovereign right to produce or import generic life-saving medicines as allowed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in exchange for a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, which is currently under negotiation.

This isn't new news, but this article gives much more detail than you might know. Being an Asian paper, they're more familiar with the Thailand WHO fiasco.

Its bad enough Bushco can fuck up America, Afganistan and Iraq, but they're able to fuck up any and all countries in the world because they're the rulers of America.

Progressives Are So Bad At Predictions

I ran into this while looking for something else. Wonder how he feels now. He couldn't have been more wrong if he had been trying.

Baghdad ledger checkpoints

By Mark Steyn [March 29, 2004]

Just under a year ago, Baghdad fell. A great day, or so you would think — especially after the idiotic predictions of how the city would be a new Stalingrad, with coalition troops fighting street to street for months on end.

But, instead of even a moment of sheepish embarrassment, all the experts — the United Nations, the French, the world's media, the nongovernmental organizations and the left in general — simply galloped on to even more idiotic predictions of doom.

On April 12 last year, I wrote a column mocking the global naysayers' latest Top 10 Quagmires Of The Week.

If it seems cruel to dredge them up, I do so because, the current ballyhoo from Democrats would make you think the administration policy in this area has been a disaster. It hasn't. Indeed, for 2½ years now, the naysayers to the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rice approach to the war on terror have been close to 100 percent wrong on everything.

John Kerry, in his macho way, told Rolling Stone, apropos the Iraq war, that he never expected President Bush to f*** it up so much. In fact, Mr. Bush didn't asterisk it up at all. It's one of the least asterisked-up operations in history. [cosmetic change because indents didn't work] [emphasis mine].

Here at SPIIDERWEB™ we don't have to be so PC. Yes Steyn, Bushco fucked up big time. And they aren't even finished. There are many more deaths to come before we get the flower parade as liberators.

This just happened last Friday.

A shoe bomber blew himself up inside an important Shiite Mosques during Friday prayers, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20, as violence persisted in the capital despite a massive security operation [75,000 troops] aimed at restoring order.

It seems cruel to dredge this up, but you started it more than 2 years ago.

You can read more of this genius pundit at the Washington Times.

Al-Qaeda Weakening In Iraq

Baghdad has been flooded with troops. At 81 sq miles (210 sq km), 75,000 troops means 925 per sq mile (357 per sq km). Put another way, its one soldier for every 5 sq meters. That's a high concentration of troops and they still couldn't stop a mosque's being bombed.

A suicide bomber struck a Shiite mosque during prayers Friday in Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20, as violence persisted in the capital despite a massive security operation aimed at restoring order.

Police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said the attacker blew himself up at the Buratha mosque in northern Baghdad.

Mahmoud said the bomber was wearing an explosives belt, but Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer, the preacher at the mosque and one of the country's leading politicians, said the explosives were inside a worshipper's shoes.

He said the bomber blew himself up when confronted by the guards as they began searching worshippers with shoes beside them inside the mosque, al-Sagheer said.

But we've uncovered evidence the insurgence is losing ground and we're nearing the end of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The evidence doesn't seem to support that.

Sorry, not much snark. I'm like everyone who just wants to see all this killing stop. Bushco has been criminal and totally wrong at every turn, but we've had 2,500 American deaths to prove that and don't need any more.

(read more)

Early Cat Blogging

Bet you didn't see that one coming.

Oh Isn't This Just Great?

They've stream-lined lobbying.

CongressBlog–A Great Message Tool

By Miller.Wenhold Dave Wenhold on Politics

The Hill Blog as a great message tool.

As a lobbyist that deals with multiple complex issues, I believe that The Hill Blog could prove to be an invaulable tool to legislators that need to understand our clients issues.

This media tool will allow our clients to get their issues out to key decision makers in a realtime format.

I believe that cutting edge lobbyists will be using The Hill’s Blog to interact and help their clients get their issues heard.

Actually I was being quite facetious. It would be nice to have the transparency of lobbyists actually lobbying in the sunlight. Let them make their cases on a public blog where we can critique them and call bullshit. Let's see them justify the legislation and regulation they are asking for.

Think they'll actually be stupid enough to offer bribes in public? Gawd I wish.

(read more)

Flag Burning Nonsense

KAYINMAINE over at WHITE NOISE INSANITY has a good post about flag burning. She actually encourages it.

A snippet:

What? We can put a cigarette out on it and we can let it get tired, worn, faded and beaten but we can't burn it? F**k you. I say......burn the flag and burn it often! Our republic is tattered, so let's reflect that mood. Amen.

Personally I won't do it. There're many other ways to make your point, but in a free country like we used to have it is freedom of speech to my mind.

Something I've been meaning to comment on. If you're country is honorable, ethical and strong and your flag represents your country, what does it say about your country if you believe burning its flag can have any affect on its strengths and values?

The flag gets shot to shreds in war. It does hang on front porches until it is faded and nothing but strips. Does that mean it's any less important? Hell no. The American flag can take anything thrown at it. We should be proud of that and not be afraid. Of course, Bushco wants you afraid so play into his hands if you want to.

Not me. Burn the flag all you want. That won't kill the American ideals or spirit. We have Bushco to do that.

If This Isn't The Kiss Of Death...

Bill OhReally endorses Joe Lieberman. Man that would sting if Joe were a Demo instead of a Dino. Crooks and Liars has the video.

Battle For The Burbs

We shall see won't we? It is encouraging that Demos will have more of a fighting chance in the burbs than in past years.

In searching for any advantage in this year's Congressional elections, the two parties are focusing with increased intensity on those cul de sac jungles of tenuous political loyalties, the suburbs and exurbs.

After years in which Republicans capitalized on rapid growth in outlying areas, Democrats now see an opportunity to make gains in close-in suburbs where changes in the composition of the population are working in their favor. In a dozen or so Congressional districts that are leading battlegrounds in the midterm elections, older, more densely packed suburbs are trending Democratic, helping to offset Republican dominance on the sprawling exurban frontier.

Democratic hopes of retaking the House, party strategists say, could hinge on places like Bellevue, a city of 107,000 just across Lake Washington from Seattle. Here, a fast-growing Asian population and an influx of empty-nesters and singles living in new residential complexes have helped to make this the kind of district that, while continuing to send a Republican to Congress, has turned increasingly Democratic.

Both sides are taking steps to tailor their messages to, and train their firepower on, those swing suburbs. On Friday, President Bush will fly into this prosperous district as the draw of a fund-raiser intended to help Representative Dave Reichert hold on to his seat. The president's arrival will follow hard on the heels of a visit by Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, who is in charge of the Democrats' efforts to win back the House.

"The future of both parties is in the suburbs," said Mr. Emanuel, who was here on behalf of Mr. Reichert's Democratic challenger, Darcy Burner, a 35-year-old former Microsoft employee new to politics.

Note: Image is of Bellevue, WA.

This Is Just Rich

Big media wants to "control" bloggers now? Why else would AOL want to do this?

I hope no bloggers will fall for this shit.

Netscape, a pioneering Internet search portal, was reborn Thursday as an interactive news website that merges the ingenuity of users with the skills of professional journalists.

Parent company AOL launched a preliminary version of the website at www.beta.netscape.com and plans to "flip the switch" making the change official on July 1, according to spokesman Andrew Weinstein.

"We are trying to take the next step in the evolution of social media," Weinstein told Agence France-Presse. "Users are great at finding nuggets of news on the Web that you wouldn't find otherwise."

"What they aren't good at is accuracy and completeness."

In the new Netscape, users can channel stories, images, blog entries, videos or other potentially interesting tidbits to the site, where experienced news reporters will determine the page play and follow-up on their merit, Weinstein said [emphasis mine].

Oh yea? Just read here. We're accuracy and completeness impaired? Bite me!

Do a Google search on "inaccurately reported" and you get 181 returns and yes, some invlove inaccuracy on blogs, but some of the blogs are merely using those words to identify inaccuracies found in media. Some of those entries are duplicates.

Do a Google search on "inaccurate report" and you get 21,800,000 returns and yes, some invlove inaccuracy on blogs, but some of the blogs are merely using those words to identify inaccuracies found in media. Some of those entries are duplicates.

Do a Google search on "misleading reporting" and you get 1,170,000 returns and yes, some invlove inaccuracy on blogs, but some of the blogs are merely using those words to identify inaccuracies found in media. Some of those entries are duplicates.

But go to Media Matters and Beat the Press, both of whom find errors in news daily.

Very Well Written Post...No Not Mine

This from Arthur Silber at Once Upon a Time... Just a taste.

"I Wake Up Screaming" is one of my favorite movie titles of all time. But I don't think I've ever seen that film; I'm not exactly a big Betty Grable or Victor Mature fan. But if the movie is even half as lunatic as the title, I suspect I'd enjoy it a lot.

But in this, the Sixth Year of Our Glorious Emperor (with date citations soon to be in the form "A.B.," no doubt), I often feel that way when I first begin to peruse the news sites each morning. As I contemplate the continuing, widening destruction wrought by Bush and his henchmen both at home and abroad, screaming seems to be the only appropriate response. Such a reaction is warranted not only by the endless death in Iraq and the continuing destruction of that country, but by the Bush administration's embrace of torture, by its ceaseless assault on individual rights and civil liberties, by its rejection of science and reason as a matter of fundamentalist policy -- to say nothing of the numerous other horrors, the incidents at Haditha and Guantanamo, and what I think is the likely attack on Iran in the near future. (I will soon be writing much more about Haditha, Guantanamo and Iran.)

If you read my site, you know I agree with all this. I've posted over 60 oops 262 times about Iran and usually about the inevitable invasion of Iran. Bushco's following the exact playbook as they did with Iraq with pretty much the same results thus far.

Arthur goes on to say Bushco and not just al-Qaeda wants to start a war between the US and Iran. I've posted about that too.

Somehow this administration has to be stopped before they can start another world war.

Don't Want You To Miss This

But will Bushco listen? Hahaha. Not a chance. They know what's what and don't need no stinking expert opinions.

Washington is failing to make progress in the global war on terror and the next 9/11-style attack is not a question of if, but when. That is the scathing conclusion of a survey of 100 leading American foreign-policy analysts.

In its first "Terrorism Index," released yesterday, the influential journal Foreign Policy found surprising consensus among the bipartisan experts.

Some 86 per cent of them said the world has grown more, not less, dangerous, despite President George W. Bush's claims that the U.S. is winning the war on terror.

The main reasons for the decline in security, they said, were the war in Iraq, the detention of terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay, U.S. policy towards Iran and U.S. energy policy.

...

Almost 80 per cent of the analysts said widespread rejection of radical Islamic ideologies is crucial if terrorism is to be eradicated, but that goal requires "a much higher emphasis on its non-military tools."

Across the board, they rated Washington's diplomatic efforts as abysmal, with a median score of 1.8 out of 10.

Semi- Line Item Veto

Although this might save some pork, it seems a waste of time. Congress has already voted on the bill "as is", but now will have to vote again if the idiot-in-chief (or a successor) scratches any item from a bill.

Congress is moving to give President Bush and his successors greater power to try to weed bills of certain spending, though the new power would pale compared with the line-item veto law struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998.

The House Budget Committee on Wednesday approved by a 24-9 vote a bill to allow the president to single out wasteful items contained in appropriations bills he signs into law, and it would require Congress to vote on those items again.

Under the proposal, it would take a simple majority in the House and Senate to approve the items over the president's objections.

Note: That's the whole article from MercuyNews.com.

Update: I'm sorry, but that link won't work unless you sign up for breaking news.

Iraq Government Thinks US Is Enemy?

That seems to be a reasonable interpretation of this amnesty. This pretty much makes it clear the new Iraq government doesn't want US troops around.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday proposed a limited amnesty to help end the Sunni Arab insurgency as part of a national reconciliation plan that he said would be released within days. The plan is likely to include pardons for those who had attacked only U.S. troops, a top adviser said [emphasis mine].

A Treasure Trove Of Al-Qaida Information Found

If all this is true, it might be possible to really hurt al-Qaida in Iraq.

Iraq's national security adviser said Thursday a "huge treasure" of documents and computer records was seized after the raid on terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's hideout, giving the Iraqi government the upper hand in its fight against al-Qaida in Iraq.

...

He called it a "huge treasure ... a huge amount of information."

When asked how he could be sure the information was authentic, [National Security Adviser]al-Rubaie said "there is nothing more authentic than finding a thumbdrive in his pocket."

"We believe that this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaida in Iraq," al-Rubaie said, adding that the documents showed al-Qaida is in "pretty bad shape," politically and in terms of training, weapons and media.

"Now we have the upper hand," he said at a news conference in Baghdad. "We feel that we know their locations, the names of their leaders, their whereabouts, their movements, through the documents we found during the last few days."

Then they only have to deal with the rival militias who are killing more Iraqi's all the time.

Take Your Shots

If anyone reads this post, I expect REALLY ugly comments. Lucky I'm a C level blogger and not B level as is Echidne. Or A level as is Kos.

Folks, Isreal did not hang the moon. They do things most Americans would abhor. They constantly accuse everyone of pursecution.

The US support of Isreal, without question, is stupid. The design of American foreign policy to accommodate Isreal is stupid. To never question Isreal's leaders is stupid.

Yeah, I'm an anti-semite. And you're an ass. Questioning the US policy regarding Isreal and its actions isn't anti-semitic at all. Its calling for real debate.

Bush In Baghdad

Big fucking deal. He's posturing again and the MSM will eat it up.

Already I've found a couple photo ops. This one isn't very good at all. It looks like he's pissing this guy off and he probably is. However, you have to applaude his "reaching out".


He does better here. Although you have to admire his failures. They're legendary at this point.




Folks, please get rid of Bush. He's a moron who's leading the most powerful nation in the world and using his power to kill. OK, maybe not a moron. What's the next lower term for an idiot?

Pure Shit

Advertising Age magazine is asking Ann Coulter to kill herself? Yes its satire, but stop already. Wishing or suggesting peoples' deaths isn't funny. I don't care how its presented.

There're real deaths in Afganistan and Iraq daily. Yes, Africa and many other places too.

Take Coulter to task for her horrible words. Demand a retraction. Whatever you want to do, but no more, joking or otherwise, calling for death.

Ann Coulter...Plagiarist?

Oh this is rich. Could it be Ann plucks sentences from other's work a la Ben Domenech?

I "pluck" like hell, but give attribution and links. I can't/won't steal others' words and ideas. Maybe Ann has no such morals.

Via Rude Pundit.

Bushco Has A New PR Focal Point

Lets see here. Five days ago I said al-Zarqawi would be quickly replaced. To my mind, 5 days is quickly.

An Islamic militant Web site said Monday that a new leader had been named to replace Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist killed last week, as the head of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.

The statement, which appeared on the jihadi Web site Al Hesba, announced that a man named Abu Hamza al-Muhajir would replace Mr. Zarqawi, who was killed in an American airstrike in the village of Hibhib, about 35 miles north of Baghdad.

Mr. Muhajir is something of a mystery; his name does not appear on any of the charts of wanted leaders of Al Qaeda previously issued by the American command, or on any of the dozens of previous statements by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia posted on the Internet. Senior Iraqi officials said they were unfamiliar with anyone by that name.

One clue was that the word "muhajir" usually refers to an Islamic militant who has traveled beyond his own country to fight for his faith.

So much for cutting the head off the Hydra. Do you think they'll appoint a second head?

Trust me on this. The American public and the world will know all about this guy pretty soon. He'll be depicted as the most vile, dangerous and vicious person in Iraq. He'll be a genius at organisation and raising money for the cause. He'll also probably be Bushco's October Surpise ©. Late October, of course, because they only have 5 days to milk it. No, wait. Bushco doesn't learn from history. They just might blow it.

(read more)

Rove Not Off The Hook Yet

This's expected.

Via AMERICAblog. It Looks like the Wilsons will likely sue Rove in civil court.

Let's Just Sort This Out

The courts are gonna take a look at the NSA spying thingy. We need a difinitive answer as to whether such is legal or not and whether our president is honorable or criminal.

Now if the court can hear evidence Bushco claims as state secrets, this might work.

Another Try At An Open Thread

Last time I posted an open thread, no one commented. I'll try again, but not in future if this one dies.

Talk people. Let's hear what you think. Stay anonymous if you want. Not a problem. Post a recipe. Post a rant about your neighbor. Tell us the meaning of life or the answer, but it can't be 42. Douglas Adams already suggested 42.

PNAC Dead? Gawd I Hope So

This is how delusional the neocons are.

PNAC may be closing down because their mission has been accomplished in the MIddle East.

Accomplished? Bullshit!

In its famous 1998 letter to President Bill Clinton , PNAC said "removing Saddam Hussein and his regime . . . now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy." Clinton was urged to use all diplomatic, political and military means to topple him.

Despite the happy chatter before the Iraq invasion about cheering crowds and bouquets and cakewalks and how the war was going to pay for itself, the signatories wrote that "we are fully aware of the dangers of implementing this policy."

There had been debate about PNAC's future, but the feeling, a source said, was of "goal accomplished" and it looks to be heading toward closing. Former executive director Gary J. Schmitt , who had been executive director of President Ronald Reagan 's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, left recently for a post at the American Enterprise Institute. (Not a big move. Actually, only five floors up from PNAC.) Still, seems like a short century.

Clinton didn't attack Iraq. That's the difference in having an intelligent president and an idiot.

Bushco implemented PNAC's ideas and transformed a dangerous area of the world into killing fields. Great accomplishment there.

If you really are Christian, don't you think you're selling your soul to support Bushco. If not, you don't understand your own religion.

France 5.000

A few moments ago I had my 5.000th hit. Wow! Five thousand hits. Not a large number for many blogs, but very satisfying for me. I've even picked up a handful of "regulars" for whom I'm grateful. Repeat visits make me think the effort's worth it.

My first post was near the end of January this year, so its been 4.5 months to get all those hits.

The visitor was someone in France who came from this website.

Sorry, but I can't interpret that site. I don't even recognise the language. It isn't French for sure.

I'm kinda geeky, but this net stuff is fascinating. I've had to log visitor countries to keep track of all those represented. People visit from all continents. And somehow a person in France ends up reading my blog after visiting a site...somewhere.

Thanks to all who stop by.

When Suicides Aren't?

This is getting more complicated. Did the Gitmo detainees really kill themselves?

I saw this little item.

Relatives of two Saudi detainees who died at Guantanamo Bay said the men could not have committed suicide as the U.S. military reported, because they are strict Muslims, newspapers said on Monday.

Islam prohibits suicide and sets out harsh punishments in the after-life for those who take their own lives. The men's families said they had probably been killed.

Saudi Arabia, a staunch U.S. ally, identified the two Saudis as Manei al-Otaibi and Yasser al-Zahrani and said it was working on the repatriation of their bodies. The kingdom did not say how the men died but the U.S. military said the detainees, along with a Yemeni man, had hanged themselves.

"I am confident my son did not commit suicide," Talal al-Zahrani, Yasser's father, told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. "The story of the U.S. administration is a lie."

Then I ran into this.

The lawyer defending Saudi detainees in Guantanamo camp cast doubt Sunday on the US narrative that three detainees died after committing suicide, charging that their death is a 'crime' committed by US authorities.

'(The narrative that the inmates died) as a result of suicide is highly dubious, especially that their deaths came under exceptional detention conditions through which the US authorities practice unbridled and continuous monitoring of detainees' Kateb al-Shamary said in a statement.

US authorities detaining them should take responsibility for their deaths regardless of the cause and called for an independent committee to investigate the fatalities, he said.

Obviously an investigation is called for, especially in light of all the lies Americans and the world have been told.

This Can't Be Good

Pass out more weapons to Afgans?

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday his government will give weapons to local tribesmen so they can help fight the biggest surge in Taliban violence in years.

Two soldiers in the U.S.-led coalition and seven Afghan civilians were killed in the latest violence in the country's south, which has been hardest hit by the pickup in insurgent attacks.

Speaking to a group of tribal elders from eastern Afghanistan, Karzai said he did not want to form militias that could clash with rival tribes.

"We just want to strengthen the districts to safeguard them from terrorist attack," he said.


Although they would not speak for attribution because of the sensitivity of the topic, Western diplomats briefed on the plan said they worried it could fuel factional fighting by giving weapons to forces loyal to warlords with long histories of factional disputes [emphasis mine].

Could fuel factional fighting? How about guaranteeing it?

Don't I recall the US armed the Taliban? Yeah, thought so. The diplomats' warnings were ignored before and it looks like they will be again. They can't seem to learn from history.

(read more)

Armored Hummers Rolling Over

This problem has to be fixed. The gunners mentioned in the article haven't a chance in a roll-over.

Thousands of pounds of armor added to military Humvees, intended to protect U.S. troops, have made the vehicles more likely to roll over, killing and injuring soldiers in Iraq, a newspaper reported.

"I believe the up-armoring has caused more deaths than it has saved," said Scott Badenoch, a former Delphi Corp. vehicle dynamics expert told the Dayton Daily News for Sunday editions.

...

An analysis of the Army's ground accident database, which includes records from March 2003 through November 2005, found that 60 of the 85 soldiers who died in Humvee accidents in Iraq -- or 70 percent -- were killed when the vehicle rolled, the newspaper reported. Of the 337 injuries, 149 occurred in rollovers.

(read more)

NYTimes Reading Blogs?

NYTimes does its job. Of course they're a little late to the party. Bloggers have been saying these things for months.

For more than six months, a few senators have been fumbling around in the dark, trying to write laws covering a domestic wiretapping operation that remains a mystery to most of them. Their ideas are far from radical; some just want to bring the White House back under the rule of law by making the spying retroactively legal. But Vice President Dick Cheney, who is in charge of both overseeing the spying and covering it up, has now made it crystal clear that the White House does not intend to let anything happen. It's time for the Senate to stop rolling over and start focusing on uncovering the extent of the spying and enforcing the law.

A good place to start is by compelling the executives of the major telecommunications companies to testify about reports that they have turned over data on the phone calls of millions of Americans without a court order. Those reports were a reminder that this is not a debate about whether the government should spy on terrorists by tapping their phone calls. President Bush wants Americans to believe that critics of the program oppose that, but nobody does. The real issue is that Mr. Bush does not want to bother with legal niceties like getting a warrant or to acknowledge Congress's power by accounting for his actions.

(read more)

Marines In Haditha Are Innocent?

Not sure what to make of this. Which is worse? Marines "lose it" and kill innocents or Marines are playing by rules that result in their killing innocents?

Anyway, this is coming from one Marine's attorney and may prove to be false. We'll just have to wait and see.

The lawyer for a Marine being investigated in the deaths of two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, described the event as "tragic," but denied innocent people were killed intentionally and said troops followed military rules of engagement.

No one has been charged in the Haditha case, which centers on allegations that a small number of Marines from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment killed 24 Iraqi civilians, including unarmed women and children, on Nov. 19 after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine.

Lawyer Neal A. Puckett said Sunday that Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, told him several civilians were killed after the bombing when his squad pursued insurgents firing at them from inside a house.

Puckett quoted the sergeant as describing a house-to-house search that went wrong and resulted in unintended civilian deaths. Wuterich denied allegations of an intentional massacre, Puckett said.

"(It was) certainly a tragic result and (Wuterich) understands that it's tragic and he feels extremely badly about the fact that innocent civilians were killed," Puckett told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Alexandria, Va. "But he was following what he understood to be the rules of engagement and standard protocol."

(read more)

Must Read IMHO

Go...now!

Tiny Post

This from Buzzflash.

Bush, the Craven Fool...

I love it.

They're Deserting. Can You BlameThem?

How can Iraq take care of things when they have no soldiers?

Erratic pay, inadequate food and poor living conditions are driving several hundred Iraqi soldiers out of the army every month.

Lt. Moktat Uosef is a company commander in the 4th Brigade of the 7th Iraqi Army Division. U.S. Marines working with the brigade told Stars and Stripes, the U.S. armed forces newspaper, that its strength dropped from 2,200 soldiers in December to 1,400 in May.

Many of my soldiers have not gotten paid in six months, Uosef said. Sometimes, they don't eat for two or three days at a time. I tell my commander, but what else am I supposed to do?

Desertions are a major problem in Anbar Province, the major stronghold of the insurgency. But officials say logistical problems are hurting morale far more than danger is.

(read more)

Smokin' OPs #2

Also stolen from Big Shot Bob in Texas, who stole it from the Washington Post. Serial theft...

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning
submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers
are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

The winners are:


1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you
have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you
absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you
are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by
proctologists.

13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with
Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief
that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets
stuck there.

16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxershorts worn by Jewish men.

Smokin' OPs

In case you're not a smoker, the title references a Bob Seger album and it means "smoking other peoples' cigarettes." Gawd I hate to have to explain stuff. Anyway, this is totally stolen from Big Shot Bob in Texas.

The pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won. The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and it won again. The local paper read: PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race. The next day, the Local paper headline read: BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS.

This was too much for the Bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey. The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent. The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day: NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The bishop fainted. He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10. The next day the Paper read: NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.

This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild. The next day the headlines read: NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The bishop was buried the next day .... Morale of the story is .... being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery ... and even shorten your life. So be yourself and enjoy life ..... you'll be a lot happier and live longer!