Just for fun

I offer you virtual bubble wrap.

And ya gotta try manic mode. Its insane.

Something to turn your stomach

I'm just gonna present it and you can decide if I'm right. I'd just like to know where such people as this come from.

Forced and Natural Segregation:

By: Charles Jines, January 19, 2007

The civil rights movement was a good thing. It had achievable goals with a firm understanding of the nature of things. Today however, what has replaced the civil rights movement is something I call the Liberal rights movement. Unlike it’s predecessor, this movement has goals that are first unachievable, and second destructive if attempted.

Forced Segregation

The civil rights movement set out to end unjust and unnatural forced segregation. The movement hoped for a day when people were judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. It did not, however, seek to end judgment altogether. It also did not seek to end segregation altogether.

Dr. King had a firm understanding of the metaphysical world. Dr. King was a minister of God first, well schooled in the arts of philosophy and theology, and a civil rights activist second. This truth often gets lost today. Today’s Liberal rights movement is composed of attorneys and legal organizations, schooled in the art of rhetoric.

The objectives of the civil rights movement have been achieved as much as they be can in the physical world. The “White only” signs have long been removed. Forced segregation is a thing of the past.

Natural Segregation

We have all heard it said, that today there still exists an unseen segregation that hangs like a stalled weather pattern over our society. An invisible racism that must be destroyed before we as Americans can claim to have achieved the dream of the civil rights movement. This idea is only half correct.

There is indeed an unseen segregation that exists. But this unseen segregation is a part of nature itself. This type of segregation is not only natural, but even good and healthy. It is something to be nurtured and cultivated rather than destroyed. Even more important, man has no power to alter this type of segregation. That’s right. This type of segregation lies in the metaphysical world of being, and gives meaning to the life world. Without it, existence would cease to be. An attorney is unaware of, and ill prepared to deal with this fact. A philosopher, however, is not.

Last year, Dr. King’s son came to one of our local churches and gave an address to the congregation. He talked about this unseen segregation as an enemy. He spoke as if it is somehow unnatural and unjust for bluegills and bass to group into separate areas of the pond. He spoke as if the world would never be right until we create a world where all fish in the pond no longer school in separate groups.

Of course he never mentioned any fish, but the concept is identical. “Birds of a feather flock together” is an old adage that was used to describe what I am talking about. It is a simple concept the Liberal rights movement refuses to accept. It sees all segregation as evil and therefore embarks on metaphysical suicide missions that, in the end, produce the direct opposite outcomes than what they set out to achieve.

Liberalism is really Gnosticism in new clothes. Gnosticism sees the world as fundamentally flawed and attempts to alter the nature of being, rather than cultivating the nature of being. It is a dangerous philosophical megalomania.

Consequences of This Type of Thinking

Rather than lessening racial tensions, this approach actually increases racial tensions. Bluegills and bass are quite content with hanging out separately. If you, through force, throw the bluegill in with the bass, tension increases, anxiety goes berserk, and resentment is the final result, regardless of the good intentions behind this endeavor.

We, as people, are governed by the same natural principles as our fish friends. If we attempt to unhinge the cultural and ethnic glue that holds society together, our society suffers the same fate.

One outcome of this is that White people who are not racist become branded as such, by the Gnostic enterprise of the Liberal rights movement. If a White person recognizes natural segregation, and chooses not to partake in the endeavor to alter the natural ground of being, they will be unfairly stereotyped as a racist. This causes tension and resentment.

Isn't it cute how he always capitalizes "white" when mentioning people?

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I'm really sure this is not true

Ladies, be real careful where you drag your husbands.

Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are retired, and Mrs. Fenton insists her husband go with her to Wal-Mart. He gets so bored with all the shopping trips. He prefers to get in and get out, but Mrs. Fenton loves to browse. One day Mrs. Fenton gets this letter from Wal-Mart:

Dear Mrs. Fenton,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may ban both of you from our stores. We have documented all incidents on our video surveillance equipment. All complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below.

Things Mr. Bill Fenton has done while his spouse was shopping in Wal-Mart:

* June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.
* July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in House wares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
* July 7: Made! a trai l of tomato juice on the floor leading to the ladies rest rooms.
* July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official tone, 'Code 3' in house wares..... and watched what happened.
* August 4: Went to the Service Desk and asked to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.
* September 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
* September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they'll bring pillows from the bedding department.
* September 23: When a clerk asks if they can help him, he begins to cry and asks, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'
* October 4: Looked right into the security camera; used it as a mirror, and picked his nose.
* November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, asked the clerk if he knows where the antidepressants are.
* December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously loudly humming the "Mission I! mpossib le" theme.
* December 6: In the auto department, practiced his "Madonna look" using different size funnels.
* December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browse through, yelled "PICK ME!" "PICK ME!"
* December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumes the fetal position and screams "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!!!"

And last, but not least...
* December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "There is no toilet paper in here!"


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Must Read IMHO

Sorry for two in a row, but you need to see this.

Must Read IMHO

Hey, if I knew about this stuff I wouldn't have to send you somewhere else.

Pro-choice is a good stance to take

Just look at this.

As Americans mark the 34th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade on Monday, they will do so amid a shift in the political landscape as a result of the 2006 election cycle.

Last November, Americans reaffirmed their commitment to a woman’s right to choose by electing pro-choice candidates and defeating anti-choice ballot measures across the country, creating an opportunity to end the divisive attacks on choice and change the tone of this debate.

These victories for the pro-choice values of freedom, privacy and personal responsibility were not a red- or blue-state phenomenon. In fact, voters in Arizona, Kansas and New Mexico—states President Bush carried in 2004—all re-elected pro-choice governors.

In South Dakota, one of the nation’s conservative strongholds, voters overwhelmingly rejected an abortion ban that its supporters had described as a direct challenge to Roe.

Not only is it a solid stand to take, its the right one.

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Come on. Let me show you the way

Ya gotta use your imagination people. This may be thinking outside the box, but not very far outside it. Just think to yourself...hmmm...what do they not want me to say or do.

Wanna quit yer job?

What happens when Steve [Jobs] wants you to stay, and you want to quit? Piss on his desk, hilarious.

Wanna get out of serving in Iraq?

An Air Force staff sergeant who posed nude for Playboy magazine has been relieved of her duties while the military investigates, officials said Thursday.

In February's issue, hitting newsstands this week, Michelle Manhart is photographed in uniform yelling and holding weapons under the headline "Tough Love."

The following pages show her partially clothed, wearing her dog tags while working out, as well as completely nude.

"This staff sergeant's alleged action does not meet the high standards we expect of our airmen, nor does it comply with the Air Force's core values of integrity, service before self, and excellence in all we do," Oscar Balladares, spokesman for Lackland Air Force Base, said in a statement.

Don't wanna serve on jury duty?

"I don't have the highest opinion of him," a young financial analyst said. "If I had to rank people as to credibility, I wouldn't put him at the top of the list."

He was dismissed, as was a young woman who said she was "completely without objectivity" about Bush administration officials who might be called to testify.

"There is nothing they could say or do that would make me think anything positive about them," the woman said moments before she was excused from the jury pool by U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton.

Want out of the military?

There was just one problem: Copas is gay. His sexuality led to his discharge in December 2005, despite his being one of the military's relatively few Arabic speakers. He's now pursuing a Masters degree in counseling at East Tennessee State University.

Are you listening to me First Lt. Ehren Watada? Ya don't have to go to prison.

Hey, even if you aren't gay, hate Cheney (how could you not?), shy about peeing in front of someone or embarrassed to take off your clothes in front of a camera, isn't that better than getting your ass shot off in Iraq? Just asking.

Getting Bloggered right now

Funny how every single service/system somehow doesn't work as well in the earlier version. A conspiracy to force us to go with the "new and improved" version?

Nah. Just my tinfoil hat talking.

Will continue to post when the Blogger insanity stops.

Rich Little

Little is so appropriate.

Much has been written about his being asked to speak at the White House Correspondents Association dinner. And how he can't upset the president by mentioning Iraq or other touchy subjects.

Rich, grow a pair! A visit to the WH and a handshake from Bush isn't worth it. Skewer the asshole.

Jesus H Christ on a road trip, doesn't that pic look like how Rich Little is reacting? Just asking.

BTW, why isn't "Correspondents" possessive?

I have a sick sense of humor, K?

From Overheard in the Office:

Flight attendant: ... We don't expect a change in cabin pressure, but if it does occur, a designer oxygen mask will be released in front of you. Secure the mask on yourself first, then, if you are traveling with children, put a mask on the child with the most potential, then put a mask on the other one...
Mother passenger: [Gasps, horrified.]
Flight attendant: ... This is a non-smoking flight, but if you do decide to smoke, we will have you reseated on the wing of the plane where you can watch our feature presentation of Bye Bye Birdie or Gone with the Wind...

Southwest Airlines flight from Kansas City, Missouri, to Tampa, Florida

To hell with the ones with no potential. Let them fend for themselves.

Must Read IMHO

From No Quarter.

We have four basic choices confronting us in Iraq:

1. Fight the Sunni insurgents (there are at least 15 separate groups) and risk alienating the Saudis, the Jordanians, and the Turks.
2. Fight the Shia insurgents/militia, which means we will engage 60% of Iraq's population (and strengthen the hand of Shia-led Iran).
3. Fight both the Sunni and Shia and put ourselves in the middle of the civil war.
4. Retire from Iraq and let the Sunni and Shia sort things out among their various sectarian factions.

There really are no other logical options. It looks like Bush chose Option 3.

This is all well and good, but...

Who cares what Dobson thinks? Probably many, but certainly not I.

Focus on the Family Action Chairman James C. Dobson, Ph.D., issued the following statement today after an amendment to strip S. 1, a lobbying-reform bill, of a provision to place oppressive restrictions on grassroots groups passed on a 55-43 vote.

"The big winners in this battle are the American people. Getting rid of the onerous grass-roots lobbying restrictions in S.1 is a triumph of the representative form of government our founding fathers established 230 years ago.

"The very thing that Section 220 would have denied -- namely, the rights of citizens to know what's going on in Washington and to have an impact on the bills considered there -- is what fueled this victory. When Americans -- conservatives and liberals alike -- learned how these regulations would have stifled their free speech rights, millions stood up and said, 'We will not be silenced.'

"We're thankful for Utah Sen. Robert Bennett, who sponsored the amendment to remove Section 220 from S.1, and for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who shepherded this effort. They, and the 53 additional senators who voted to strike this oppressive provision from an otherwise laudable bill, have demonstrated both reverence for the Constitution and respect for the men and women who voted them into office.

"But the battle is far from over. Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are reportedly planning an assault of their own. What is being illustrated here is a passion by congressional liberals to consolidate power and operate within a cloak of secrecy. It is unconscionable and unconstitutional. We will not be intimidated by attempts to criminalize those who would hold Washington accountable. The right to do so is as American as apple pie.

Huh? What was that last part? ...attempts to criminalize those who would hold Washington accountable... The right to do so is American as apple pie?

So to criminalize them is perfectly alright? Gotcha! You lose this round Mr Dobson.

I'm sorry I posted so much of his statement. My bad. I'll go to my corner now.

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An atrocity you can't fix

We at our keyboards do what we can, but some people are sacrificing their lives for the ideals we profess. Were it not necessary...

Amnesty International deplores the murder today of the prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The organization believes that he was targeted because of his work as a journalist who championed freedom of expression.

"This horrifying assassination silences one of Turkey's bravest human rights defenders," said Maureen Greenwood-Basken, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia. "Writers put their lives on the line when they cover human rights violations, as the cases of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and now Hrant Dink, brutally illustrate.

"But legitimate debate about ideas must be protected. The Turkish government must redouble its efforts to protect human rights defenders and open its political climate to a range of views. Recent legal reforms have brought many areas of Turkish law in line with international human rights standards, but existing limitations on free speech such as Article 301 must be repealed.

"The U.S. government, as one of Turkey's closest allies, should push for a full and transparent investigation into Dink's murder."

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The cost of fighting in Iraq

Its a graph, but a nice one. Well, not nice in what it shows.

Cat Blogging

OK, its really a couple of cute chicks. So sue me.

I bet if I did have a cat, which I don't, it would love these two. Mmmm! They taste like chicken.

A belated goodbye to Art Buchwald

Hot damn, but I'm gonna miss him. A true "decider".

Him's final column.

File under: when pigs fly

Just how stupid do these people think we are?

Gen. George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, said Friday that some of the extra troops that President Bush ordered to Baghdad could begin leaving by late summer if conditions allow. "I think it's probably going to be the summer, late summer, before you get to the point where people in Baghdad feel safe in their neighborhoods," Casey told reporters at a news conference with visiting Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Asked how long the 21,500 extra U.S. troops are likely to be kept in Iraq, Casey replied, "I believe the projections are, late summer."

I would never claim to be a military expert nor an expert on the Mid-East. Actually I lay claim to no expertise, but anyone knows you won't calm Iraq in a few months.

This is a conflict that might well go on for many years, if not decades, and will go on for many more as long as US troops are involved.

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Coincidences happen and we have to accept it

Why can't we progressive bloggers realize coincidences happen? Silly us.

U.S. and Iraqi forces arrested one of Muqtada al-Sadr's ( top aides) Friday in Baghdad, his office said, as pressure increased on the radical Shiite cleric's militia ahead of a planned security crackdown in the capital.

Al-Sadr said in an interview with an Italian newspaper published Friday that the crackdown had already begun and that 400 of his men had been arrested. La Repubblica also quoted him as saying he fears for his life and stays constantly on the move.

The raid came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates began his second trip to Iraq in less than a month, arriving in the southern city of Basra to consult with British and other allied commanders.

Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, al-Sadr's media director in Baghdad, was captured and his personal guard was killed, according to another senior al-Sadr aide.

And he is a very dangerous guy, of course.

The U.S. military accused the main suspect captured Friday of having ties with the commanders of so-called death squads, which have been blamed for many of the killings that have left dozens of bodies, often showing signs of torture, on the streets of Baghdad.

The suspect was detained "based on credible intelligence that he is the leader of illegal armed group punishment committee activity, involving the organized kidnapping, torture and murder of Iraqi civilians," according to the military statement. It also said he was reportedly involved in the assassination of numerous Iraqi security forces and government officials.

"The suspect allegedly leads various illegal armed group operations and is affiliated with illegal armed group cells targeting Iraqi civilians for sectarian attacks and violence," the statement read, adding he was believed to be affiliated with Baghdad death squad commanders, including Abu Diraa, a Shiite militia leader who has gained a reputation for his brutality.

However, he may not be who the US military claims he is.

‘We are angry. This is a kind of revenge. Sheikh Darraji deals with the media. He is not a military man’ said the group's spokesman.

So we have a top aide to Muqtada al-Sadr who is a scary boogeyman captured while Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Iraq. Coincidence.

And the president's State of the Union Address is next week. Coincidence.

We are in denial.

Perhaps a breathrough on Iran

I've been telling you, Bush is a petulant 5 year old. Jon Ponder agrees although he doesn't mention the petulant part.

The slapfight between Pres. George Bush and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has resembled a pair of five-year-olds squabbling in a sandbox. Now it appears a grown-up, albeit a very scary one, has stepped in:

Iran’s outspoken president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appears to be under pressure from the highest authorities in Iran to end his involvement in its nuclear program, a sign that his political capital is declining as his country comes under increasing international pressure.

Just one month after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran to curb its nuclear program, two hard-line newspapers, including one owned by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on the president to stay out of all matters nuclear.

Finally someone with likely influence over Ahmadinejad has entered the fray. I'm a little surprised Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waited so long to speak out on this issue, but at least he finally has.

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Bush administration batting 1.000

They really can't do one single thing right. NKorea, Iraq, Iran, Katrina, bin Laden. The damn list goes on and on. Now its SKorea trade agreements.

South Korea and the United States ended free trade talks in Seoul Friday without a major breakthrough to tear down trade barriers.

During the five-day discussions, negotiators from the two countries haggled over disputed sectors, such as U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing rules, and opening of South Korea's auto, drug and beef markets.

But they failed to produce progress at this round of talks, held amid strong protests by farmers and anti-globalization activists opposing free trade with the United States because they believe it would hurt South Korea's industries and economy.

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Thank you Bush you fucking idiot

You may have already started a new cold war arms race between India and Pakistan. For which we are all eternally, possibly literally, grateful.

VIENNA, Austria: In twin reports e-mailed to The Associated Press late Thursday, the Institute for Science and International Security noted that India appears close to more than doubling its centrifuge capacity to between 5,000-6,000 machines that produce enriched uranium. And it said satellite imagery shows that Pakistan may intend to start a new reprocessing facility "capable of separating weapons-grade plutonium out of spent reactor fuel."

No immediate Indian or Pakistani comment was available, but diplomats based in Vienna from the two countries promised to respond later in the day.

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Fidel Castro health watch

I will make this recurring because no one seems to know what's going on.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro is making a "slow but progressive" recovery although his condition is serious due to his advanced age, a Spanish doctor who has examined him said on Friday.

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Good news, bad news

Finally the NSA spying will be put under court control to prevent abuse. We'll file that under good news.

(Update below)

President George W. Bush's administration put a controversial domestic spying programme under supervision of a special court after months of sharp criticism over the eavesdropping.

Civil rights group had criticized the programme, in which Bush authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to eavesdrop on phone calls and email between the US and abroad without a court warrant.

Despite legal challenges after the programme was revealed in press reports in 2005, the government had insisted that the president could legally authorize the NSA to eavesdrop on international communications it believes involve terror suspects without seeking court approval.

But in a letter to the top Democrat and Republican of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Wednesday Bush would not renew the Terrorist Surveillance Programme as it had found an effective and quick system to gain approval through an ultra-secretive court.

But you can also file that under bad news because its pure politics. First, it takes the wind out of the Dems' sails. They can gain no political capital by passing a bill to accomplish the same thing and two, it takes power away from the next president. The GOP can't take the chance of leaving such a power available to a Dem.

OK, I think the good outweighs the bad.

Update: But the good doesn't outweigh the bad now.

A day after announcing that it had scrubbed a controversial warrantless-surveillance program, the Bush administration refused to provide details to Congress of how a new court-review process for eavesdropping on terror suspects would work, triggering a fresh round of complaints and suspicions from Democrats.

At the same time, President Bush and other administration officials indicated that little had changed in the electronic eavesdropping program, originally launched after the Sept. 11 attacks, other than the fact that a court had finally blessed it.

All smoke and mirrors again.

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There are still US laws like this?

Michigan really is a nanny state, huh? Just asking.

People who cheat on their spouses know there can be a steep price to pay if they get caught. But life in prison?

It's possible in Michigan, though unlikely.

In a footnote to a ruling involving a drugs-for-sex case, a Michigan appeals court said that if state law were enforced as written, adulterers could be put away for life.

The ruling has generated a little unwanted publicity for Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who acknowledged an extramarital affair in 2005.

Adultery is a crime under Michigan law, punishable by a short prison sentence, but no one has been prosecuted for the offense since 1971. And the voters did not hold Cox's infidelity against him, electing him to a second term last year.

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North Korea and US 'reach nuclear agreement'

So the US and Nkorea have reached an agreement.

North Korea said today it had reached an agreement with the US during talks with Washington’s main nuclear envoy this week in Germany.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the talks between US envoy Christopher Hill and North Korea’s main nuclear negotiator Kim Kye Gwan had been held “in a positive and sincere atmosphere and a certain agreement was reached there.”

Or not.

US chief negotiator Christopher Hill Friday denied a North Korean report that the two countries had reached an agreement at the three-day one-on-one talks held in Berlin over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday that North Korea had reached a 'certain agreement' with the United States, sourcing a spokesman.

Hill, upon arrival in Seoul Friday, said he was not sure what the spokesman was referring to.

Doncha just love international politics?

Bush losing base fast

The rest of the GOP had better bail on him or they'll lose these voters too. Just a sample from one of the many statements being put out by US churches of all stripes.

President George W. Bush has ordered a “surge” in troops in Iraq, ostensibly to help quell sectarian violence and stabilize Baghdad. This escalation of troop presence is likely only to result in an escalation in American and Iraqi deaths. Thus the call for more troops is morally unsupportable.

Particularly in the wake of the barbaric execution of Saddam Hussein – an act that reflects not the ideals of democracy and justice, but rather mocks them – and an act that promises only to breed more violence, as only a violent act can – one would think that the United States would immediately seek to bring about a change of policy. Sending more troops is not a change in policy, nor is it even a change in strategy; it is more of the same.

Of course, I would much rather see the troops withdrawn even if it would buy the GOP votes. If voters make mistakes, they can be corrected later. If your family member or loved one is in the ground, nothing can be done about that...ever.

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Dear Lord...He Can't Even Get His Analogy's Correct

By Martin Tiller

I've taken a long hiatus from a Bush posting. It got too exhausting to keep talking about him.

But today on the way home from work as I was listening to NPR he made an analogy about the Iraq situation.

He said something along the lines of "I don't view Iraq as a broken egg, I view it as cracked."

Dear Lord, our president doesn't understand that when you have a cracked egg, it needs to not be used, it needs to be thrown away. This is why people check eggs before they buy them.

For Cryin' Out Loud!

HE CAN'T EVEN GET HIS ANALOGIES CORRECT!

for crying out.....

(courtesy link)

Al-Maliki has stopped protecting radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Madhi Army

Why do I think this is going to lead to an assassination? Just asking.

Two Shiite militia commanders said Thursday that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has stopped protecting radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Madhi Army under pressure from Washington, while the fighters described themselves as under seige in their Sadr City stronghold.

Their account of an organization now fighting for its very existence could represent a tactical and propaganda feint, but there was mounting evidence the militia is increasingly off balance and has ordered its gunmen to melt back into the population. To avoid capture, commanders report no longer using cell phones and fighters are removing their black uniforms and hiding their weapons during the day.

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The invisible knives from Russia

May I now carry my Swiss Army knife on airplanes?* At least you'll know I have a knife.

Russian guys makes (sic) knives made of sapphire.

These knives can be easily taken inside the airplane in your handbag, for example if you care about your right to use your knife anywhere you want.

These knives cannot be discovered by any sort of metal-detector, they have none (sic) metal parts at all.

Their blades are being made from artificial sapphire, the same material that is being used to make non-scratchable watches by leading Swiss brands. Handles are made of the (the) bone.

* Which BTW I have done.

BTW, the measuring stick is in centimeters. Sixteen centimeters is just over 6 inches.

(link)

There's just so much for Congress to undo

This is something that just isn't getting enough attention. Here's hoping it will get some from the new Congress.

The US defence department has released new rules allowing terror suspects to be convicted and possibly executed on the basis of hearsay evidence and some coerced testimony

And this story too is getting under-played.

A last-minute addition to a federal spending bill at the end of the last U.S. Congress now makes civilians eligible for military courts-martial.

With the addition of just five words, the provision sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was signed into law by President Bush, and makes civilian government employees and journalists eligible for prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Washington Post reported Monday.

China Tests Anti-Satellite Weapon, Unnerving U.S.

China successfully carried out its first test of an anti-satellite weapon last week, signaling its resolve to play a major role in military space activities and bringing expressions of concern from Washington and other capitals, the Bush administration said Thursday.

Only two nations — Russia and the United States — have previously destroyed spacecraft in anti-satellite tests, most recently the United States in the mid 1980s.

Arms control experts called the test, in which a Chinese missile destroyed an aging Chinese weather satellite, a troubling development that could foreshadow either an anti-satellite arms race or, alternatively, a diplomatic push by China to force the Bush administration into negotiations on a weapons ban.

“This is the first real escalation in the weaponization of space that we’ve seen in 20 years,” said Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks rocket launchings and space activity. “It ends a long period of restraint.”

One might ask why China feels the need for such a weapon. Lucky for you I have yer answer. It is probably undoubtedly this.

The text also rejects any treaties forbidding space weapons: "The United States will oppose the development of new legal regimes or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit US access to or use of space."

The US government assured this new policy was not a first step toward a weaponization of space.

...

"While this policy does not explicitly say we are not going to shoot satellites or we are going to put weapons in space, it does, it seems to me, open the door toward that," Theresa Hitchens, director of the Center for Defense Information, told AFP.

Note: That is a picture of one anti-satellite system, but not what the Chinese used. According to the article, China used a missile.

For further reading on the subject you can go here.

This ya gotta see

This is a tsunami in Antarctica. Literally kewl pix.






When Mother Nature takes on Mother Nature, Mother Nature always wins.

Boobs

Sorry for the flippant title, but I was going for hits and I'm sure it will work.

I'm throwing this out so women are aware. Perhaps women who know they have more dense breasts will get more mammograms and find existing cancer cells sooner.

Past research has shown that women with "dense" breasts are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than women whose breasts are less "dense." Dense breasts contain more glandular and connective tissue. Less dense breasts are mainly made up of fat tissue. Every woman has different amounts of the different types of tissue in her breasts.

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Yes, this is central Texas

For my readers who don't know, central Texas is HOT! most times. This is very unusual for a southern American state.


I was in central Texas on November 1 once and it was 92° F (33° C) in November!

(thank you Big Shot Bob in Texas)

China Palace Starbucks© May Close

This is news? OK, I'm passing it along and I feel dirty. I mean Starbucks© has 12,000 stores world-wide. What does the loss of one mean? Just asking.

Managers of China's vast Forbidden City palace are deciding whether to close a Starbucks outlet on its grounds after protests led by a state TV personality, a news report said Thursday.

The Forbidden City, built in 1420, is a 178-acre complex of villas, chapels and gardens that was home to 24 emperors before the end of imperial rule in 1911. It is China's top tourist attraction, drawing some 7 million visitors a year.

"The museum is working with Starbucks to find a solution by this June in response to the protests," the official Xinhua News Agency quoted a palace spokesman, Feng Nai'en, as saying.

A news anchor for China Central Television has led an online campaign to remove Starbucks, which opened in the palace in 2000 at the invitation of its managers, who are under pressure to raise money to maintain the vast complex.

Forbidden City, Beijing, China

I'm not really sure if Starbucks© approves of the picture I posted, but that's not my problem. Its more interesting than their logo anyway.


One of these days I have to post logos. They show up everywhere from body painting to t-shirts to sand sculptures.

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An idea you just might like

I recently posted the Bush countdown clock which is now sitting at 732+ days left in office. I've also recently posted about the doomsday clock which has just been moved to 11.55 pm.

I'm not sure who can pull this off, but let's try to switch the two. Can someone give us 5 more minutes until Bush is gone and 732+ days before the end of civilization? Just asking.

Globalization coming to a halt?

It hasn't proven to help people like its proponents said it would. Why the proponents ever thought it could is beyond me, but it had its backer. Now "the people" are saying no. Yeah, we'll take McDonald's, but not the rest of it.

Globalization enthralls and binds together a new aristocracy--the golden crust on the human loaf--but the remaining billions, who lack the culture and confidence to benefit from "one world," have begun to erect barricades against the internationalization of their affairs. And, from Peshawar to Paris, those manning the barricades increasingly turn violent over perceived threats to their accustomed patterns of life. If globalization represents a liberal worldview, renewed localism is a manifestation of reactionary fears, resurgent faiths, and the iron grip of tradition. Except in the commercial sphere, bet on the localists to prevail.

When the topic of resistance to globalization arises, an educated American is apt to think of a French farmer-activist trashing a McDonald's, anarchist mummers shattering windows during World Bank powwows, or just the organic farmer with a stall at the local market. But the swelling resistance to globalization is far more powerful and considerably more complex than a few squads of drop-outs aiming rocks at the police in Seattle or Berlin. We are witnessing the return of the tribes--a global phenomenon, but the antithesis of globalization as described in pop bestsellers. The twin tribal identities, ethnic and religious brotherhood, are once again armed and dangerous.

A generation ago, it was unacceptable to use the word tribes. Yet, the tribes themselves won through, insisting on their own identity--whether Xhosa or Zulu, Tikriti or Barzani, or, writ large, French or German. In political terms, globalization peaked between the earnest efforts of the United Nations in the early 1960s and the electoral defeat of the European constitution in 2005 (the French and Dutch votes weren't a rebuff, but an assassination). In Europe, which was to have led the way in transcending nationalism, the European Union will stumble on indefinitely, even making progress in limited spheres, but its philosophical basis is gone. East European laborers and West European farmers alike will continue to exploit the E.U.'s easing of borders and transfers of wealth, but no one believes any longer in a European super-identity destined to supplant one's self-identification as a Dane or Basque.

Far from softening, national and other local identities are hardening again, reverting to ever-narrower blood-and-language relationships that Europe's dreamers assumed would fade away. Who now sees himself as fundamentally Belgian, rather than as a Fleming or Walloon? Catalans deny that they are Spaniards, and the Welsh imagine a national grandeur for themselves. In the last decade, the ineradicable local identities within the former Yugoslavia split apart in a bloodbath, while a mortified Europe looked away for as long as it could. The Yugoslav disaster was written off as an echo from the past--anyway, Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, and Kosovars were "not our kind"--but the Balkan wars instead signaled a much broader popular discontent with pseudo-identities concocted by political elites. The collapse of Yugoslavia hinted at the future of Europe: not necessarily the bloodshed, but the tenacity of historical identity.

Even as they grabbed from one another in Brussels, European elites insisted that continental unification was desirable and inevitable. Until the people said no.

Now, in 2006, we see one European state after another enacting protectionist measures to prevent foreign ownership of vital industries (such as yogurt-making). France paused, as hundreds of thousands of its best and brightest protested the creation of new jobs for the less-privileged in a spectacular defense of the ancien régime. And a new German chancellor has called for saving the European project by destroying it--or at least by hewing down the massive bureaucracy in Brussels that alienated the continent. The future of Europe lies not in a cosmopolitan version of the empire of Charlemagne, but in a postmodern version of the feudal fragmentation that succeeded the Frankish empire. Brussels may be the new medieval Rome, its bureaucratic papacy able to pronounce in limited spheres, but there is ever less fear of excommunication.

Elsewhere, the devolution of identity from the state to the clan or cult is more radical, more anxious, and more volatile. In Iraq, religious, ethnic, and tribal identities dictate the composition of the struggling national government--as they do in Lebanon, Canada, Nigeria, and dozens of other countries (we shall not soon see a Baptist prime minister of Israel--or a Muslim Bundeskanzler, despite those who warn of Eurabia). Even in the United States, with our integrative genius, racial, religious, and ethnic identity politics continue to prosper; we are fortunate that we have no single dominant tribe (minorities might disagree).

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Nation building Bush style

Yellow countries make up the Horn of Africa
Its no longer a question of whether Bushco can do anything right, they can't. And now they're playing games, dangerous games, in Africa. Somehow it seems a war on terrorists should actually reduce the number of terrorists, but it isn't and will probably increase their numbers substantially in Africa.

As part of the Rumsfeldian shift in defense policy since 9/11, the Pentagon has let it be known that it will reorganize the U.S. military outlook, and has announced the formation of an African Command, which will see an expansion of bases in Africa, which will be seen as vehicles for regime change, using the anti-terrorist pretext to intervene in conflicts throughout the continent. From any rational policy standpoint, in the estimation of African observers, this invasion of Somalia will backfire. As one stated: "Establishing an African Command will only be effective if the primary policy thrust is support for internally driven governance-building processes."

With the Cheney crowd implementing the British-spawned genocidal permanent warfare policy, no development-oriented nation-building approach is possible. This British policy of permanent conflict, will have worse consequences for Third World nations than colonialism did, or the suffering brought about by dictators installed during the "Cold War." The policy of permanent conflict will wipe out populations, and destroy nations, as demanded by the utopian, free-market advocates of globalization.

Adding to the catastrophe in the Horn of Africa, there are reports that Rift Valley Fever, a rare, contagious hemorrhagic disease, which originated in the Rift Valley, and is endemic there, has spread from northern Kenya into Somalia, where seven have died of it in the Jan. 5-10 period. It also kills animals. Devastation of livestock would severely cut exports, thus depriving nomads of their livelihood. Because of the Ethiopian/American military activity, efforts to confirm the extent of the spread of the disease have not been possible, and therefore no moves can be taken to control the disease.

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Must Read IMHO

You'll be glad you did.

What the US MSM doesn't want you to know

Muahahaha! All your news belong to us.

The headline: More Americans drawn to Internet for political news: poll

Twice as many Americans turned to the Internet as their primary source of news during the recent November mid-term elections compared with the 2002 elections, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 15 percent of American adults used the Web as the source for most of their political news during the campaign, up from 7 percent in 2002.

Yeah, like we make a difference, but who knows? Just asking.

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Spreading democracy and peace to the Mid-East

Report: 34,452 civilians killed last year in Iraq

And you can magnify that number by 3-4-5-10 to include the friends and family affected. The US is so generous. No wonder the Iraqis threw flower petals. Oh wait, they didn't now did they? Just asking.

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It really is a shame

Haven't we risen above this?

Writer Leslie O'Toole says Will Smith wanted to work in a romantic comedy with Cameron Diaz but he feared that fans would be uncomfortable with the interracial pairing, reports newsweek.com.

Leslie O'Toole said: 'Smith, one of the world's most bankable stars, appears mostly opposite black or Latino women. He once confided to me that he'd love to make a romantic comedy with Cameron Diaz but feared that his audience wouldn't accept it. It's a shame, but it is what it is.'

I realize Smith is thinking economically, but he's got it all. Try to push the envelope just a little.

For what its worth (not much) I'm with ya.

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Russia confirms arms sales to Iran

And...? It isn't like someone, oh let me see, like Bush might attack Iran.

Russia has delivered new anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran and would consider further requests by Tehran for defensive weapons, Moscow confirmed today.

Washington and Israel, who accuse Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear arms and undermining security in the region, have criticised the sale of TOR-M1 missiles. Tehran, they say, could use them against its neighbours.

"We have supplied the modern short-range anti-aircraft systems TOR-M1 in accordance with our contracts," Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters when asked about the sale.

"We're developing our military and technical cooperation with Iran in accordance with international law and will continue to develop it," he said. "And if Iran wants to buy defensive, I underline defensive, equipment for its armed forces then why not?"

Defensive systems make abundant sense. No leader of any country would be responsible unless such systems were in place.

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Saddam hanging looked like 'revenge killing': Bush

Come the fuck on Bush, it was a revenge killing and it was yours. You had to show daddy you could take out his enemy. Jesus H Christ in Paploma!

US President George W. Bush charged on Tuesday that Saddam Hussein's execution resembled a sectarian "revenge killing" and has made it harder to end deadly violence in war-torn Iraq.

Bush told PBS television that the ousted dictator's hanging had "reinforced doubts" about Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and made it clear that his fledgling government "has still got some maturation to do".

You were probably upset he wasn't decapitated.

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Oh my...

I looked at my visitor info and found a link source I'd not see before. But what a links source it is. I love them. Muahhhh!!!!

Welcome to Rojo!

Bill that requires Congress approval to increase US troops in Iraq introduced

Yeah, its a political move, but I'll take it.

A top Senate Democrat introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require US President George W. Bush to get congressional approval before sending additional US troops to Iraq.

In a statement, the office of Senator Chris Dodd said the original US military mission in Iraq, which Congress authorised in 2002, "has been radically transformed by events in the region," and that Bush therefore must seek an entirely new authorisation from the US legislature before expanding it.

Hoping ya'll don't take me as anal, even though I am, shouldn't that headline read "Congress's" approval or "Congressional" approval or "approval of Congress"? Just asking.


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Global warming

Melting Greenland Ice Sheet

It's no longer a theory. Got that? Just asking.

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Trump Gets Star on Hollywood Fame Walk

Can you say WTF!? Yeah, I'm sure you can.

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Down the rabbit hole

US selling arms to Iran. Yeah, that Iran. The "axis of evil" Iran.

Fighter jet parts and other sensitive U.S. military gear seized from front companies for Iran and brokers for China have been traced in criminal cases to a surprising source: the Pentagon.

In one case, federal investigators said, contraband purchased in Defense Department surplus auctions was delivered to Iran, a country President Bush has branded part of an "axis of evil."

In that instance, a Pakistani arms broker convicted of exporting U.S. missile parts to Iran resumed business after his release from prison. He purchased Chinook helicopter engine parts for Iran from a U.S. company that had bought them in a Pentagon surplus sale. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents say those parts did make it to Iran.

Sensitive military surplus items are supposed to be demilitarized or "de-milled" - rendered useless for military purposes - or, if auctioned, sold only to buyers who promise to obey U.S. arms embargoes, export controls and other laws.

Yet the surplus sales can operate like a supermarket for arms dealers.

Is anyone in the government or military competent anymore? Or is it all about the Benjamins? Just asking.

And my pic choice is not to imply US sells whole fighter aircraft to Iran, but I wouldn't know.

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Beijing to keep wooing Africa

Duh! Why doesn't the US realize the importance of Africa? This is a huge mistake which will bite US in the butt in a few years.

China has announced a third trip by its president to Africa in clear pursuit of plans to broaden the country's reach and deepen ties with nations across the continent this year.

Liu Jianchao, a foreign ministry spokesman, said Hu Jintao, planned to visit African countries "in the near future".

This would be Hu's seventh trip to the African continent after visits to three countries in 2004 and another three in April last year. "We are discussing and negotiating the arrangements with the relevant countries.

Once we reach agreement, we will release the information," Liu said.

This is a follow-up to my earlier post.

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Expect higher prices at Lowes and Home Depot

China ain't gonna supply you with cheap shit as much as they have.

China will significantly cool exports this year as it makes slashing its record trade surplus one of its most urgent tasks, Commerce Minister Bo Xilai has said.

"Cutting the huge trade surplus is the priority task for 2007," the China Daily quoted Bo as saying.

"The yawning surplus with the United States and the European Union has strained China's foreign trade environment, triggering more frequent trade friction."

SPIIDERWEB™ recommendations: 1) Buy what you need now. 2) If you own stock in Lowes, Home Depot, Office Depot and WalMart or any other company which relies on China for their merchandise, divest immediately.

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No MasterCard® required

Its priceless.

Viewers could have been forgiven for thinking it was all part of a drive to boost audience figures.

The attractive blonde on screen started talking about her colleagues' sex lives – even hinting one was having an affair – before pushing out her breasts and giving viewers a flash of her midriff.

It was only when the presenter's face went an ashen grey and she started reading the news it became clear she had not known she was on air.

I said in the masthead this site is eclectic. This is proof.

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A picture challenge

Can you top this pic for cute?

A warning: He is now a black belt. He will kick yer ass if you beat him.

To my Texas friends

Sorry about the ice. It wasn't my doing. I don't have anywhere near the power to produce such cold. Now my ex-wife did have such power, but that's for another post.

Hey! The remark about my ex-wife was a joke.

She was also sort of a Texan.

WTF?

I decided, after being hounded by Blogger, to switch to the "new and improved" Blogger.

Yeah right. It wouldn't let me switch.

So why keep pestering me to change when its impossible?

Is Bushco in charge of Blogger? I detect a nefarious scheme to keep me out. Its a conspiracy at the very least. Just what toys can't I access?

I want my mommy.

Bombing at Baghdad university kills 65

No comment because none is needed.

Update: The death toll is now up to 70.

An explosion outside a Baghdad university as students were heading home for the day killed at least 65 people on Tuesday in the deadliest of several attacks on predominantly Shiite areas. The attacks — and the announcement of four U.S. military deaths — came on a day the United Nations said more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians died last year in sectarian violence.

Attacks in Baghdad — including the university explosion, blasts at a marketplace for used motorcycles and a drive-by shooting — killed more than 100 people in a spasm of violence ahead of a promised drive by the Iraqi government and U.S. forces to secure the capital.

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Don't exercise too much

This is your friendly advice from SPIIDERWEB™.

And don't augment too much either.

In an effort to be eclectic and help my readers

Things for sale. Jump on 'em now. This is Dracula's castle.

(Update below)



(link)

And this is the world's smallest country.



(link)

And this exceptional car.

As described by owner.

1985 Blue Volkswagen Golf
Only 15 km
Only first gear and reverse used
Never driven hard
Original tires
Original brakes
Original fuel and oil
Only 1 driver Owner
Wishing to sell due to employment lay-off

Update: I warned ya. It seems there's a buyer in line to buy Sealand, the world's smallest country.

Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay is planning to buy its own nation in an attempt to circumvent international copyright laws.

The group has set up a campaign to raise money to buy Sealand, a former British naval platform in the North Sea that has been designated a 'micronation', and claims to be outside the jurisdiction of the UK or any other country.

Better grab that country now or lose it forever.

Must Read IMHO

This link is to a loooong post, but well worth it. The usual snippet.

Seattle P.I. Caption: A Seahawks fan, refusing to let go of the season, lies in front of the team's charter bus at Boeing Field after the team's return from Chicago. Police removed the fan. (January 14, 2007)

Also LYING in front of the bus, which has already driven over them -- OH HELL! WITH THEIR PANTS ON FIRE, LYING, LYING EVERY DAY!: George H.W. Bush and Condi and John McCain and Joe LIEberman and the rest of the self-deluded, glory-obsessed, ego-motivated, personally craven bastards running the game even though the SEASON IS OVER!

Another country to invade

OK, I said we will invade Canada. And we should invade Canada.

Well now its Cambodia. Is this idiot asking for bombing runs?

Cambodian offshore oilfields may yet yield millions of barrels more oil than previously estimated, a senior government official said Monday. Speaking at a seminar in Phnom Penh on the country's oil and gas assets, Cambodian National Petroleum Authority director-general Te Duong Tara said exploration by US oil giant Chevron in its Block A allocation alone indicated that its initial estimate of around 400 million barrels had been too conservative.

Block A is one of six demarkated areas. Japanese, Chinese, South Korean, Malaysian, Indonesian, Singaporean and Thai interests are also involved in Cambodian offshore oil exploration, Tara Said.

"According to estimates before drilling five wells we said that Block A has perhaps 400 million barrels and three to five GPS of gas. This was the previous estimate, but a subsequent tendency increases that from 400 to 700 million barrels," he said.

(via Raw Story)

Fantastic automotive news if true

This would revolutionize motoring, save GM and eliminate much of the US dependence on oil. I think I hear Bush crying. And I hear a few sobs from Cheney.

Have I been hinting enough? Have I been saying that GM is going to do something that, while not healing the hurt they’ve dealt out over the last few decades, will at least get their foot in the door of the gasoline rehab clinic?

Well here it is, and it’s beautiful.

The Chevrolet Volt is a hybrid hatchback that can get anywhere from a sixty to a million miles per gallon.

OK, so you all trusted me until I said that, and now you’re checking to see if it’s April already. But I’m for real.

The Volt contains two engines, like any hybrid car, a gasoline engine and an electric engine. However, the gasoline engine never actually propels the car.

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Its Bush's screw up, but he wants alternatives?

The Bush camp always says no one is offering alternatives to the already underway SURGE™. Well he has one now.

The CONSTITUTION PARTY responds to President Bush's challenge for skeptics of his plan to send more to troops to Iraq to "come up with their own ideas" by offering this suggestion:
Tell Congress to pass H.R. 413 which would repeal the bogus Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243) and require the orderly withdrawal of the United States Armed Forces from Iraq.

And Bush will respond in the same way as he has many times before.

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What's up with Fidel Castro?

We keep getting conflicting reports. Would someone please go see what is true?

Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in "very grave" condition after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection, a Spanish newspaper said Tuesday.

His son says he's improving.

Cuba's ailing leader Fidel Castro, not seen in public since surgery nearly six months ago, is on the mend, his son and namesake Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart told local media during a visit to Chile, the El Mercurio newspaper reported on Sunday.

Or he's dead.

My sources are telling me that Fidel Castro is dead.

Or not.

President Hugo Chavez said Friday that Fidel Castro is not dying of cancer, saying he had spoken with the ailing Cuban leader by phone and he is eating cautiously and well enough to joke.

Or he is dying.

U.S. intelligence officials believe that Cuban President Fidel Castro has terminal cancer and will not return to power, despite statements by that country's government that he will return to his post once he recovers from the abdominal surgery he had in July, according to a report in Time magazine.

Or he's not dying.

Cuban officials told a group of visiting U.S. lawmakers that Fidel Castro does not have cancer or a terminal illness, the head of the delegation said Sunday.

Jesus H Christ on a lawn chair, will someone find out the truth? Does Fidel have a MySpace account? How about Friendster? I'd settle for his email addy right now.

Inquiring minds want to know, ya know?

Muhammad Dahlan. A name you may want to remember

If you do remember the name, please help me out in future because I won't remember it. I can usually remember the names of my children, but do blow it sometimes.

I've been preparing some updates to my biography of Muhammad Dahlan, former head of the PA [Palestinian Authority] Preventive Security Services (PSS) in the Gaza Strip and currently the Fatah MP for Khan Younis, and I am coming away with a strong impression that he is currently engaged in whatever the Palestinian equivalent is of forming an exploratory committee to examine the prospects for a Presidential run.

This is deep background stuff for those of you interested.


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The "trusted" new authorities

My guess is most of you have never been interviewed and quoted by the media. I have been. Its happened only a couple times because I deserved no more in their eyes. Of course I would differ.

Anyway, both times I was really surprised, to say the least, at how different were the interviews and the retelling of them and the quotes attributed to me. They didn't do any harm, but were glaringly inaccurate.

The point is, I often cite news sources and many have fine reputations, but they may be wrong. Many sources are required before you know the "true" story. I may cite one source, but do my best to search other sources to be sure my citation is accurate. If I later find out the citation was wrong, I'll re-post to correct the error.

I'll direct you to MyDD for the posts there about Gore and what he did or didn't say. You can be the judge.

This ya gotta see

Its a slow video download, but well worth the wait. Jet-man.

Must Read IMHO

The title is: Tomgram: Klare, The Pentagon as an Energy-Protection Racket

It has once again become fashionable for the dwindling supporters of President Bush's futile war in Iraq to stress the danger of "Islamo-fascism" and the supposed drive by followers of Osama bin Laden to establish a monolithic, Taliban-like regime -- a "Caliphate" -- stretching from Gibraltar to Indonesia. The President himself has employed this term on occasion over the years, using it to describe efforts by Muslim extremists to create "a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom." While there may indeed be hundreds, even thousands, of disturbed and suicidal individuals who share this delusional vision, the world actually faces a far more substantial and universal threat, which might be dubbed: Energo-fascism, or the militarization of the global struggle over ever-diminishing supplies of energy.

My guess is water will be more valuable than oil in a few years. So who do we attack then? Minnesota?

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Ya don't believe SPIIDERWEB™? How about ING?

This is something you need to see. Its a risk assessment by ING, a major player in the world's economy. They are warning investors. A snippet.

In his Jan. 15 update, Robertson points to a political reason that could make the assault more likely – personnel changes in the Bush administration may have sidelined opponents of attacking Iran.

(via Raw Story)

Must Read IMHO

Wow! Talk about your courage of convictions. Just read Dear Dad.

Must Read IMHO

Another P M Carpenter tome.

A personal post

1955 Ford Crown Victoria

I rarely post personal things, but this is one of those times. This involves CliffsNotes® and cars and speeding.

When going to high school, I had an after school job. This left me with limited time to study which I didn't want to do anyway. If not for CliffsNotes®, I might have not survived. However, my personal opinion is CliffsNotes® has no other purpose than to help students cheat.

I had the job to pay for my car which I was allowed to drive for 1 week after getting 2 speeding tickets. My father ignored the first one, but not the second.

Coming home from school one day I drove as I usually did, fast as hell. I was pulled over by a policeman for going twice the posted speed limit. They had clocked me with radar.

The next day I went to the police station to pay my fine. The nice lady at the counter said it was OK. They weren't fining people caught by the radar trap on that day on that road. Whew! What a relief. But, before I could leave she talked to a guy at the back of the room and called me back to the counter.

She said, "You have to pay the fine. You're the one they set up the radar trap to catch."

I hadn't learned my lesson.

My father relented and gave me back my car keys. IIRC I was "on foot" for about 2 weeks.

A few weeks later I was pulled over by a state trooper. I'd just pulled out of the small town next to the one in which I lived. He said, "You better slow down. You took that last corner out of town on 2 wheels." Only a warning. No ticket.

Such is Kismet.

Afterthought: I have a friend who told me she believed young people's recklessness is nature's way of thinning the herd. She may be right.

Can we require book reports from Bush?

I keep reading reports about Bush's reading this book or that book. This account says he's read 60 books. Most are important works with really big words and no pictures.

However, we never ask for a book report to find out if he really read the book or only the title. Maybe he only read the CliffsNotes®.

Let's grill the sucker on details to see what he actually did read. No sliding by on knowing major plot points and characters.

And the reports have to be oral. Wow, that should prove amusing. Anyway, we can't let someone else write the reports for him.

File under "I learn something new every single day.": It ain't Cliff Notes®, or Cliffs Notes®...It's CliffsNotes®. Don't believe me? Check the CliffsNotes® website.

File under "Why the hell didn't I think of that.": CliffsNotes®.

Bush intends to rape you while he still can

Double, as in double, the nuber of reconstruction teams in Iraq? Because its been going so well up to this point as shown here, here and here.

As part of its latest plan to stabilize Iraq, the United States intends to more than double the number of regional reconstruction teams and to add nearly 400 specialists for existing and new teams, in fields from politics and the rule of law to agribusiness and veterinary care, according to an official outline of the plan.

The document calls for the measures to be taken swiftly, in three phases, with waves of new teams and personnel expected to be put in place in March, June and September. The teams are to carry out rebuilding and governance projects from small offices all over Iraq.

The document, provided to The New York Times by a critic of the plan, lays out what an American official familiar with its contents calls simply “the playbook,” giving detailed estimates of the costs to be incurred by various teams as a result of the changes. About $250,000, for example, is set aside for new office furnishings for a team in the southern city of Basra, which is supposed to receive 25 additional specialists.

Folks, if you want to pay for that new roof on your house that leaks, that's your choice. At least that isn't costing billions of dollars, right? Just asking.

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The SURGE™ or George's wet dream

It ain't gonna work and Doug De Clue has visual aides to prove it.

Yeah, we'll get around to that

I have a question for you. Would you wait a few weeks for a plumber if you have a leak? How about an electrician if your house has no power? Isn't the future of the MidEast more important than those things? Just asking.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders together in three or four weeks to talk about a future Palestinian state, a senior U.S. official said on Monday. [emphasis mine]

Three or four weeks? What the fuck is that? Do it now Condi.

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Jesus

Hanging isn't enough. And no, I won't try to post a pic.

Two of Saddam Hussein's aides were hanged before dawn on Monday, the Iraqi government said.

But despite its efforts to avoid the uproar that marred the execution of the former president two weeks ago, news that the noose ripped the head from Saddam's cancer-stricken half-brother as he plunged from the gallows appalled international critics of the process and fuelled fury among Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs.

Imagine that. People are upset to see a beheading. Perhaps there's hope for us all.

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Case closed

Must Read IMHO

Jon Ponder asks why the WH press corp doesn't call Bush on the lies even the troops now recognize.

Damn son of a bitch, Bush has started moving in

He's already sending additional troops in Iraq before Congress can stop him. Like Ted Kennedy said, he's gonna ask you to the prom after he has rented the room.

The first additional American troops who will take part in a major new security plan in Baghdad have arrived in the Iraqi capital, the U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey, said on Monday.

"The initial elements of the first group are here," he told a news conference. He declined to give more details or say when operations would start but he said a report that 4,000 of the planned 17,500 extra troops had arrived was "real high".

Asked about reports of frustration among U.S. officials with Iraqi counterparts over the planning of an operation to be led by the Iraqi government with U.S. help, Casey said: "Transitions generate friction. And we are in a period of transition."

But he said U.S. and Iraqi officials were working hard to ensure a workable command structure that would allow Iraqi control while maintaining the security and effectiveness of U.S. troops.

"We are working out understandings at every level to ensure there are no misunderstandings," Casey said.

"This is a plan that is Iraqi-conceived but we have been involved every step of the way," he said. "American forces will remain under American command ... Our forces will not be put at risk because of the command relationship."

He was confident the Iraqi government would "purge" elements from its security forces which were loyal to militias and other groups outside the government. [emphasis mine]

Oh yeah, those nasties will be purged...when pigs fly.

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Gates: Time is not right for Iran talks

Yeah, its pretty clear the time for negotiation is after thousands of Iranians are in the morgue. I'm sorry, but I've always believed the time for talk is before hostilities begin, but what do I know? I'm no fucking politician and certainly no diplomat.

Stepped up U.S. military activity in the Persian Gulf is to counter "very negative" behavior by Iran and undercut its belief that American forces are overcommitted in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday.

Gates said the time is not right for diplomatic talks with Iran, but left open that possibility for the future.

After meeting with senior officials at NATO headquarters, Gates was asked at a press conference what was behind the Bush administration's decision to deploy a Patriot missile battalion and a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf region — moves announced in connection with a further buildup of ground troops in Iraq.

He noted that the United States has taken a leading role in Gulf security for many decades.

"We are simply reaffirming that statement of the importance of the Gulf region to the United States and our determination to be an ongoing strong presence in that area for a long time into the future," he said.

Just in passing, yes you asshole, American forces are overcommitted in Iraq. Everyone in the world knows this except you people in the bubble.

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OK I give up, a Paris Hilton post

Is Paris Hilton a Smurfette? Don't think so? Here's the proof.

Must Read IMHO

Why they hate US in Mid-East. Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast knows.

I learn something every single day

I know water can kill if you breathe it, but just drinking it? I guess moderation is good in all things.

A woman who was found dead hours after taking part in a water drinking contest at a local radio station may have died of water intoxication, a coroner said.

The body of mother-of-three Jennifer Strange, 28, was discovered at her home in Rancho Cordova, California, on Friday after she competed in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest organised by KDND 107.9.

The radio station had promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the competitor who could drink the most water without going to the toilet.

Ms Strange went home after complaning to work colleagues that her head was hurting. "She was crying and that was the last that anyone had heard from her," said Laura Rios, a colleague at the Radiological Associates of Sacramento.

The irony is she was doing this for her kids who are now motherless*.

* Information I picked up in another article, but don't know where.

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Lieberman's crash and burn interview

This is rich and he gets gunned down by a Republican.

It’s exceedingly rare for me to cheer on a Republican senator on one of the Sunday morning talk shows, but Sen. Chuck Hagel’s (R-Neb.) response to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) this morning on Meet the Press was truly entertaining.

Tim Russert had just finished asking Lieberman about the inherent difficulties in fighting a war without public support. Lieberman responded that there are two exit strategies: “One is called victory; the other is called defeat.” Lieberman proceeded to dig deep into his most cynical talking points.

(via Carpetbagger)

Animal testing explained

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Quote of the day

Its a twofer.

"If you're in Congress and you know this war is going in the wrong direction, it is no longer enough to study your options and keep your own counsel. Silence is betrayal. Speak out, and stop this escalation now. You have the power to prohibit the president from spending any money to escalate the war - use it."

-- John Edwards
(D-Scold)

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Quote of the day

"Iraq is like a fire. Instead of putting water on the fire, Bush is pouring gasoline."

-- Mohammed Bashar Faidi
spokesman for the Muslim Scholars Assn.

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Iraqi Official Seeks Release of Iranians

This adds a little flavor to the soup now doesn't it? So just how sovereign is Iraq? Do they have control over who is or is not arrested inside their country? Just asking.

The Iraqi foreign minister called Sunday for the release of five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in what he said was a legitimate diplomatic mission in northern Iraq, but he stressed that foreign intervention to help insurgents would not be tolerated.

The two-pronged statement by Hoshyar Zebari highlighted the delicate balance facing the Iraqi government as it tries to secure Baghdad with the help of American forces while maintaining ties with its neighbors, including U.S. rivals Iran and Syria.

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Great AP Photo of Bush

This is exactly where he is. All alone out in the cold.
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