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The word for the day is Monkey.
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By the way, Monkey...
I order you to feel better soon!
Best wishes and love to you and yours.
So in Dance History today we were covering the 1970s. I made them all stand up and learn The Hustle. It was really fun to see them get excited about disco--they asked more questions about that than they have about anything in human history!
I described the scenes--the lights, the floors, the spinning mirror balls, the drinks, how you got to the gay bars early so you could get the guys out on the dance floor showing off before things got too weird...
And then I come here and the monkey balls are spinning!
Love to you Mr. T. I hope all procedures proceed with ease and effectiveness and we can all dance come January!
Take care of yourself monkeymarc.
Prayers coming your way.
Hey Monkey. If you are short on health insurance, we here, as your friends can operate on you...?
You know, in the name of science!
And while we are in there, we can install a DVD player!
So freaking cool. I have an almost mansized table and some palette knives. They are kinda dull but with your legs hanging off the table like that you would never notice the pain for the discomfort.
What healthcare crisis?
Christy,
That reminds me...
When I had my appendix removed, my hubby's fencing team sent me flowers with a note, "We could have removed it with better our saber-cuts"
Part of the Kucinich speech on Impeachment:
Thanks Ralph. Will watch it tomorrow when I'm not so tired.
More on the waterboarding yesterday:
http://www.star-telegram.com/464/story/292852.html
All right now, here we go
A one, a two, a one, two, three, four
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
This cat named Mickey came from out of town
He been spreading this new dance all around
And in just a matter of a few days
this dance became the new teen craze
The people see him dancing they begin to see
See this cat do that Monkey thing
It's really something to see
This cat named Mickey's doing that Monkey
C'mon and do the Mickey's Monkey
Children, let's do the Mickey's Monkey
Let's do the Mickey's Monkey
Children, let's do the Mickey's Monkey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Monkey see, Monkey do
C'mon you can do the Monkey too
C'mon doing the Mickey's Monkey
Doing Mickey and the Monkey
Do the Monkey (do the Monkey)
Let's do the Monkey (do the Monkey)
Do the Monkey (do the Monkey)
Let's do the Monkey (do the Monkey)
Mickey's Monkey (Mickey's Monkey)
Mickey's Monkey (Mickey's Monkey)
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Lum de Lum de la ey
Do the Monkey, by the Wiggles
Monkey Dance
Steve Balmer makes a monkey of himself
xo to Monkey!
Hey, Sparrow.
I took a better pic of the Monkeyball Poster, and the colors are still slightly off but it is a much better pic than this one.
The new one is where the old one used to be if you want to use it instead.
Um...what language is that? I'm sort of tired and confused. So where is the old one that is now the new one?
Goodnight, y'all. Christy, I posted to your blog.
Christy
Doing a bit of Rummy-speak yourself? :)
Great artwork in any case.
Monkey
Get well soon!
Doing a bit of pimping for Richard now. Go to the Home page blog and read about his day today!
Well, I was trying not to be a blog'ho, because for some reason I keep posting this link over and over again.
It is like... a monkey, on, our ...backs ...or ..sumthin.
http://christysartblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/monkey-ball-2008.html
It would be pimpin, but I give it away for free, so I guess that makes me a....
Nevermind.
About Dick...
Maybe we should just call for a total boycott of congress.
There really is no use even showing up there anymore unless you are a lobbiest with a trunk full of cash. They are no longer speaking for ANY OF US, so why not just leave them alone with each other in the silence and see what happens.
Not even the police can be trusted. What a God awful mess.
Christy
The likes of Feinstein must go. Otherwise, Congress is irrelevant, regardless of which party is in control.
I hope either Cindy Sheehan or Medea Benjamin runs against her next time - Medea did run in 2000 as a Green, and I voted for her.
Monkey - I'm sorry to read that you are feeling poorly. Feel better really soon. I miss the quips.
Woz,
Nobody can quip like Monkey can.
Democrats Seize Control of Virginia Senate
And Kentucky elected a dem Gov.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/AR2007110700553.html
Their strongholds are breaking all over the country, now is the time to push as deep into the Deep South as you can go before Nov. of next year.
Take the South, you take the heart of the nation, and the republicans will be finished forever.
Christy,
What I'm trying to sense (or understand) is if there is still as much of a division between the people who are pro-torture or against-torture as there was before. Are the people in Congress creating an 'issue' from a nonissue? ie. Are we all actually united against torture but they think Republicans are still pro-torture so they vote that way?
I can't say.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), whose impeachment resolution against Vice President Dick Cheney was kept kept temporarily afloat on Tuesday -- largely with the help of House Republicans -- says the measure was no bluff.
During an appearance on CBS's Early Show, host Harry Smith told Kucinich that Republicans had "basically called your bluff" in wanting to debate the impeachment of Cheney on the House floor.
"They didn't call my bluff," Kucinich shot back. "I was fully prepared for debate -- with a three-inch thick binder annotating the violations of law and the violations of the constitution committed by the vice president which would justify an impeachment."
Smith responded that Kucinich had "certainly called the bluff of the Democratic leadership," adding that the congressman did not have the support of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who had introduced a motion to kill debate on the subject, nor Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
"There's really, what, a handful of you who are really interested in this," Smith added.
But Kucinich said his impeachment resolution had little to do with the lack of support he was receiving from fellow Democrats.
"Harry, you have to remember there are millions of Americans who are part of a national movement to defend the constitution," said Kucinich. "And they understand that the vice president made a false claim for war and is trying to beat the drums for a war against Iran and they're calling for action to be done."
Impeachment, said Kucinich, was a move on his part safeguard the Constitution.
"It's really abut the American people and their insistence that their government not be lost," he continued. "People are worried that we're losing democracy, and they're demanding that the Constitution be protected. And that's exactly what yesterday was about."
Smith later asked the congressman if the impeachment resolution was all part of a publicity stunt in aid of his presidential campaign.
"The nay-sayers, though," said Smith, "would say 'Dennis Kucinich this is a way to get your name on -- at least on page six of the newspaper and a failing bid to win the Democratic nomination for president.'"
Not so, said Kucinich:
"We have men and women with their lives on the line in Iraq, a war based on lies," said the former Cleveland mayor. "Over 3,800 soldiers have died, over a million innocent Iraqis have died in this war. This is about our moral caliber here as to whether or not Washington can see the truth."
"Let me tell you something," concluded Kucinich. "In Washington, the truth is an unidentified flying object. And it's time that someone stood for the truth. The American people demand nothing less."
In a strict party-line vote, Democrats sent the Cheney impeachment resolution to the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, where it will be considered by Chairman John Conyers (D-MI).
The following video is from CBS's Early Show, broadcast on November 6, 2007.
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Kucinich_Republicans_didnt_call_my_bluff_1107.html
In Washington, the truth is an unidentified flying object.
Dennis Kucinich
I love it!
T'shirts I'm thinking of wearing this xmas... (for my dominists--liberal hating in-laws)
1. Who would Jesus torture?
2. Who would Jesus kill?
3. Jesus was a pacifist-libby-commie-pinko
4. Which corporation would Jesus feed instead of the poor?
Whacha think?
No, Sparrow. There is no 'creating' the debate on torture.
If they had it their way, the ONLY THING you would see is torture, or any other evil immorral illegal thing they wanted to do was perfectly legal, so all you can just shut up now and stay silent.
BUT, because torture is so vile, again and again we see the 'debate' coming to the surface because no REAL AMERICAN is actually down for it.
I do not personally know a single American who is comfortable with or wants to be known as TORTURERS.
I mean, it is almost as low as pediphelia. In some ways it is the same crime. And we ALLLLLLLLL agree it is a crime EXCEPT... the ones actually making and implementing the laws. The one who need it to be legal, so they can order it done.
And we have every reason to suspect congress is excusing torture to keep themselves from being implicated in WAR CRIMES including WAR PROFITEERING.
You know like that skank Dianne Fienstien. The torture boy lover.
There is no manufactured debate on torture. The only thing 'manufactured' is the perception they foster to make us believe that if we are against it we are in the minority.
It is a LIE. An illusion sitting on a platform of nothing suspended in midair.
If the American People actually knew what was being carried out in our names in secret prisons flying OUR FLAG.... I swear pitchfork sales would skyrocket and the United States Government that has MADE IT POLICY would have a serious problem on their hands.
'Tis Rebellion?'
Nay.
The only way we can reveal it fully and this nation not lose it's freaking mind, is in a trial of law, systematically laid out until it is undeniable and even the blind can see it. Only there will we have a legal recourse to remedy it.
We have WAR CRIMINALS at the helm. Every freaking day that scares me more than it did yesterday.
I think the elite dems are enabling the republicans, because at that level power don't really have a label.
If georgie can't do it. Then dems can't either. The dems controlling the party at this moment care less about the party than they do about maintaining that power because they believe they are poised to inhierit it.
They have maintained that power, time and time and time again, while constantly railroading the other 300 million of US.
There is only one reason you do the things they are doing. Money. There is only one reason why any of this is happening. Money.
This is not about war, or FREEDOM, or even oil, this is about THE BIGGEST LOOTING SPREE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.
All that 'missing' money did wind up somewhere. And what was not stolen outright was taken LEGALLY which was real easy since the thieves are making the laws.
Ain't that right Mz. Fienstien? How's Mr. Fienstien? Oh yeah. RICH!
There is only one reason why you kill 3000 people you don't even know on a beautiful fall day. And where is the 2.6 TRILLION dollars rummy anounced was missing on Sept. 10th?
Maybe we should ask.. Congressman Murtha.
Crap. I just totally made myself mad again.
How dare they sell out our nation for their 30 pieces of silver. HOW DARE THEY!
Fire them all and let God sort them out.
I didn't think I could break away from work on Friday to go to the Open Mike at Town Hall, Seattle and voice my opinion about media consolidation by the FCC. I work in a different town and am booked solid, too late to make changes. However, I just found out that the hearings are going to go on til 11 PM so now I can go!
Our election sent a message to the state government that people have had enough tax increases and the feds should be doing something. People were unusually fiscally conservative, even with schools and transportation, but did vote for a rainy day fund/surplus to be established. The Feds no longer do much besides wage war.
Radio news convinced me that Musharaf should take off his uniform, cease and desist with martial law and mass arrests, and allow elections. He should share power with Bhutto, as the people want. We need to stop sending money to him, in the meantime. We need to go along with the international community and not use terrorism threat as an excuse for allowing the clamping down on democracy and suspension of the Constitution while at the same time trumpeting about being the voice of democracy in the world or about the need to establish democracy in the middle east.
We need to take warning from what is happening.
Christy
Speaking of money, the Pound is worth $2.10 against the dollar & the Euro is worth $1.47 (compared with $.85 in 2001).
We are now officially living in a nation that is a 2nd rate power.
Christy
Orange County, California is a Republican stronghold too. And the Dems are complete imbeciles over here - to a point where a reactionary third party, American Independent (Constitution), outnumbers the Dems.
The state Dems have no intention of ever retaking Orange County, leaving it as a Republican consolation prize. That's the saddest part. They don't realize that without retaking the state's second largest county, one with fast-growing immigrant populations (who are conservative, despite white liberals' pipe dreams), their days of controlling California are numbered.
And once California is Republican again, the Dems nationwide are finished.
NMP
As long as our corporations continue to crank out shoddy products (i.e. my retired Ford Contour) and blame the high union overhead for every problem they have, we will not only be a 2nd rate power, but a 3rd world country in terms of actual living standards.
The Canadian dollar is $1.10 as well. It was 60 cents just a few years ago.
from Juan, in Chicago:
Parents Urge High School to Reverse Expulsions for Students Who Held ‘Day of Dead’ Iraq War Protest
Petition in support of students draws signatures from Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan, peace activist Kathy Kelly, antiwar veterans, teachers, parents and students across the nation.
School administrators say they will expel dozens of students who took part in peaceful school cafeteria sit-in to voice opposition to Iraq War – and routine presence of military recruiters.
Berwyn – Parents of Morton West High School students will gather for a press conference at 9:30 AM Tuesday, November 6 in front of the school, to urge school administrators to reverse their decision to expel dozens of children who marked All Saints Day last week by staging a peaceful, non-violent sit-in at the school cafeteria to voice opposition to the Iraq War.
The November 1 school cafeteria event served in part as a counterpoint in the school setting to military recruiters on campus, who routinely visit the high school cafeteria seeking to enlist young people into military service. Dozens of students participated in the anti-war protest through the course of the day. All Saints Day -- November 1 – is a revered holiday in the Latino community, when families and friends traditionally gather to honor dead loved onesloved ones.
Students complied with an administrator's request to move the action outside the cafeteria after initially being assured that the only disciplinary action they would face was citation for cutting classes. But administrators have since issued formal expulsion notices to dozens of students, suspended many more, and threatened to bring criminal charges against students age 17 and older who participated in the anti-war action.
School administrators also put the school on lockdown briefly during the All Saints Day protest. That action stands in stark contrast to administrators’ response to a report of a student with a gun on campus last month. In that incident, administrators chose not to lock down the school.
At the press conference, parents and students will read a letter to the superintendent demanding complete amnesty for the students before delivering the letter to the School District 201 office. Administrators have said they’ll issue final decisions on appeals of the suspensions, on Tuesday – but also say expulsion orders still stand. The District 201 School Board will meet at 7PM at Morton East High School on Wednesday evening, located at 2423 S. Austin in Cicero.
The students are marshalling national support through the blogosphere, the Illinois Coalition for Peace & Justice (www.ilcpj.org) and a national petition circulated by a local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. Signers include Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan, anti-war activist Kathy Kelly, authors Jeffrey St. Claire and Joshua Frank, a growing number of anti-war military veterans, local Berwyn residents and teachers, and supporters from New York to Oregon.
To view the national petition in support of the students, see this link: www.petitiononline.com/mortonw/petition.html
For more information on the case, go to chicago.indymedia.org.
populations (who are conservative, despite white liberals' pipe dreams), their days of controlling California are numbered.
And once California is Republican again, the Dems nationwide are finished.
November 7, 2007 11:43 AM
@@@@@@@@@@@
1) The fastest growing group of voters are "Independents" (not Republicans or Democrats)
2) Whatever happened to the proposal to split California's electoral college votes by congressional district??
1. Who would Jesus torture?
2. Who would Jesus kill?
3. Jesus was a pacifist-libby-commie-pinko
4. Which corporation would Jesus feed instead of the poor?
Whacha think?
Just to make a point (for your dominists--liberal hating in-laws, I would go the whole hog, and put two on the front and two on the back, throw the lot of them in their faces. and walk tall and proud. That's what I would do. Stick it to them.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/28469
Kucinich's Resolution Survives Tabling Attempt, Is Referred to Committee
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-11-06-cheney-impeachment_N.htm
GOP tries to force debate on impeachment
http://www.cbstv2.com/Global/story.asp?S=7321022
Republicans try to force debate on Kucinich effort to impeach Cheney
CAPITOL HILL (AP) - House Democrats have narrowly managed to avert a bruising debate on a proposal to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.
Republicans, in a surprise maneuver, voted in favor of taking up the measure. It was an attempt on their part to force Democrats into a debate on the resolution sponsored by longshot presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.
{{{There the Democrats go again... snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.... The æPubliCons did a double-dog-dare-ya, and the damned defeatocrats backed off...! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!? What the hell is wrong with them?!?}}}
Cheney Impeachment Resolution Sent to House Committee
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110707O.shtml
Johanna Neuman reports for The Los Angeles Times, "The House of Representatives today sent to the Judiciary Committee an impeachment resolution against Vice President Dick Cheney for 'fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction' to justify the war in Iraq 'in a manner damaging to our national security interests.'"
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/11/cheney_impeachment_ready_for_a.html
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, whose panel has jurisdiction over impeachment proceedings, has described the impeachment effort as a potential disruption.
"If the speaker were to let this thing out of the box, considering the number of legislative issues we have pending," the Michigan Democrat told Fox News, "it could create a split that could affect our productivity for the rest of the Congress."
{{{John Conyers, a man who was formerly on my list of top people to admire because he had a bill of impeachment against Bush, is now officially on my $h!t list. First he came up with lame excuses (along with Nancy Pelosi) about why impeachment wasn't feasible for Bush when he tabled his own impeachment bill, and now he's come up with more lame excuses about why it isn't feasible for Cheney, whose poll ratings are as low as for Congress Critters. This leads me to believe Conyers only had the impeachment bill before the election as a carrot to get people to vote for him and the co-signers (it's why I forgave my own Rep for his previous stupid votes once he signed on to Conyers' impeachment bill, yet when I wrote my Rep after the election, all of a sudden he'd changed his tune and no longer thinks it's worth the time to impeach Bush). Haven't the Dems and the rest of the Congress Critters figured out yet that We The People would send their poll ratings through the roof if they would just find their backbones and balls and DO SOMETHING relevant to upholding the Constitutuion, such as proceed with impeachment proceedings...?!? Split the nation or Congress? Impeachment is the one thing that could UNITE us all, given the 24% 'approval' ratings for Georgie! (Shaking head in utter disbelief.) }}}
The only way we can reveal it fully and this nation not lose it's freaking mind, is in a trial of law, systematically laid out until it is undeniable and even the blind can see it. Only there will we have a legal recourse to remedy it.
We have WAR CRIMINALS at the helm. Every freaking day that scares me more than it did
yesterday.
Amen
Judge Allows Abu Ghraib Lawsuit Against Contractor
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110707N.shtml
Josh White reports for The Washington Post, "A federal judge in Washington ruled yesterday that a civil lawsuit alleging abuse and torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq can go forward against a US military contractor, setting the stage for what could be the first case in a US civilian court to weigh accountability for the notorious abuses in 2003."
Skepticism Greets New US Africa Command
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110707P.shtml
The Associated Press reports: "Just a few years ago, the US military was rarely seen in the oil-rich waters of West Africa's Gulf of Guinea. This year, it plans to be there every day. The strategic importance of Africa and its natural resources is on the rise, and the Defense Department last month created a new unified US military command for the continent called Africom."
{{{Looks like the oil robber-barons are setting their greedy sights on new places to further exploit for oil profits Since Congress Critters have failed to stop Georgie and Dickie and PNAC and oil corporations, that means someone else who doesn't like what they're doing is gonna do it for us. This boes nothing good in our future....}}}
If georgie can't do it. Then dems can't either. The dems controlling the party at this moment care less about the party than they do about maintaining that power because they believe they are poised to inherit it.
Darn right!!!!!!
Orange County, California is a Republican stronghold too
DArn I had a young man, who became friends with my kids stay with me, when he was visiting Australia, went to visit when we were in the US last time, didn't know it was GOP stronghold, but then I was not into US politics then.
You learn something new every day.
we will not only be a 2nd rate power, but a 3rd world country in terms of actual living standards.
I heard that comment made in 2000
2) Whatever happened to the proposal to split California's electoral college votes by congressional district??
I posted that they where reintroducing the bill again a couple of day ago here.
Wow, a monkey thread... should go well with my stitches.
Catheter Hepburn
Ralpheh
My advice is NOT to try to interpret California in the typical white liberal pipe dream terms. The fact is, California is 26% foreign born, urban areas of California are up to 50% foreign born, and those numbers are rising fast.
(1) Most immigrants are socially conservative. There is no denying that, despite any white liberal fantasies to the contrary. You may see lots of Latinos, Filipinos, and Koreans at the peace rallies, but their positions are unpopular in their home communities.
Immigrants may vote liberal on economic issues, but only because their lives depend on it. Once they "achieve the American dream," they go Republican - fast.
(2) As Kangaroo says, the proposal has been revived, though it's still a long shot.
Ralpheh
BTW, great work on contacting NPR and The Hill. Thank you!
Monkey
You never lose your sense of humor.
It's strongly appreciated here at DCP, because it's otherwise high-stress stuff going through the fascist/corrupt stories.
At least I strongly appreciate your sense of humor. Thanks for keeping it up.
Monkey...just don't start doing the monkey with your Catheter Hepburn in, ok?
So to my 'local news' update for today.
Right outside my little town, Some people have placed an "Impeach Bush /Cheney" sign and it's right on the main road. So I decided to drop in and thank the owners for putting the sign there.
The lady who answered the door seemed appreciative. She offered to give me a sign that mentioned no war with Iran. Seems she goes to all the schools and places those signs out there.
Anyways, a lively discussion followed. And of course we were in complete agreement.
In the end, I mentioned my t'shirt ideas from above to the owners. Her husband really liked #3-- "Jesus was a pacifist-libby-commie-pinko" though his wife preferred #4--"Which corporation would Jesus feed instead of the poor?" Or she suggested "When Jesus healed the sick did he only heal those with money?"
So I guess make her suggestion number five.
Who would Jesus waterboard?
(John the Baptist is exempt)
Who would Jesus waterboard?
(John the Baptist is exempt)
Good One
Go check out what I just posted.
You too Carol. HeHe!
My suggestion for a Tshirt
Save A Soldier. Impeach The President.
I have one myself.
So does this mean that we can stick it to Lieberman now?
Virginia Democrats Take Control of State Senate
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110707C.shtml
Michael D. Shear, reporting for the Washington Post, writes: "Virginia Democrats wrested control of the state senate from Republicans Tuesday, gaining four additional seats to secure a 21-19 majority in the chamber for the first time in a decade. The party also made historic gains in the House of Delegates and won key local races."
Christy...
Been so medicated I dont recall if I commented on the monkeyball art... it is truly a gem.
Thanks to all for the good wishes, can't tell you how much the friendships made here mean to me.
Kangaroo
Lieberman is from Connecticut and serves in the US Senate, so the results of Virginia state legislature are not relevant to him.
Kangaroo
I'll let you know right now, that Nixon was from Orange County, and the Reagan Revolution wouldn't have happened without Orange County.
California may be "blue" but Orange County is the crown jewel of Republican America. Though just-as-conservative Riverside, with its population boom, will surpass Orange County in population within the next generation. Riverside has a very active CodePink contingent, but they alone cannot block the red tide.
Or is that just in Virginia?
Pat Robertson, the television evangelist and Christian Coalition founder, endorsed Republican White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani for president when the two men appeared together at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/07/conservatives.endorsements/index.html
Kangaroo
Virginia and Kentucky went Democratic.
Mississippi kept its Republican governor.
No national races this week - only state and local level ones.
Monkey
I guess Rudy's murder of the transgender population in NYC was enough for Robertson's blessing.
Did Mulkasey address any of these ongoing "legal" problems:
1) keeping Guantanamo open
2) secret C.I.A. prisons in Europe and elsewhere
3) other forms of "enhanced interrogation" - sleep deprivation, stress positions etc..
4) the warrentless NSA wiretapping and the internet data-mining programs
5) the National security letter - basically warrentless searches of private documents
Borrowed from Beachmom and Sandnsea:
sandnsea:
And from Beachmom:
And even Woz said it the other day. The water fills your lungs, you can't breathe and you start drowning.
Between all those comments, I just found the use of waterboarding to be so inadequate!
Ummmm...let me correct my grammer
"Between all those comments, I just found the use of waterboarding to be so inadequate"
It should read,
Between all those comments, I just found the use of the word 'waterboarding' to be so inadequate
God save us from george w bush.
"Under torture after his rendition to Egypt, al Libi had provided a confession of how Saddam Hussein had been training al Qaeda in chemical weapons. This evidence was used by Colin Powell at the United Nations a year earlier (February 2003) to justify the war in Iraq. ("I can trace the story of a senior terrorist operative telling how Iraq provided training in these [chemical and biological] weapons to al Qaeda," Powell said. "Fortunately, this operative is now detained, and he has told his story.")
But now, hearing how the information was obtained, the CIA was soon to retract all this intelligence. A Feb. 5 cable records that al Libi was told by a "foreign government service" (Egypt) that: "the next topic was al-Qa'ida's connections with Iraq...This was a subject about which he said he knew nothing and had difficulty even coming up with a story."
Al Libi indicated that his interrogators did not like his responses and then "placed him in a small box approximately 50cm X 50cm [20 inches x 20 inches]." He claimed he was held in the box for approximately 17 hours. When he was let out of the box, al Libi claims that he was given a last opportunity to "tell the truth." When al Libi did not satisfy the interrogator, al Libi claimed that "he was knocked over with an arm thrust across his chest and he fell on his back." Al Libi told CIA debriefers that he then "was punched for 15 minutes." (Sourced to CIA cable, Feb. 5, 2004).
Here was a cable then that informed Washington that one of the key pieces of evidence for the Iraq war -- the al Qaeda/Iraq link -- was not only false but extracted by effectively burying a prisoner alive."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/11/cia-rendition-t.html
Evil people have been using 'waterboarding' type methods for all time.
During the Salem Witch trials they used what they called 'dunking'. That is what actually broke most of the accused into 'confessing'.
Same concept different contraption.
Hey, maybe we can get the "truth" outta Cheney on the pre-war "intelligence" with a harmless round or two of waterboarding... on pay-per-view.
Dick Trickle
Monkey,
All I know is that if Cheney ever goes in for surgery, they won't give him anesthesia or morphine. They'd be afraid of what he'd say once any relaxing drugs were in his system.
Monkey, I am glad you like it.
When you went quiet like that, I was thinking..
'Oh. My. God.'
How can one silly monkey make me doubt myself so ?
Hillary has a commanding lead among Democrats:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21676399/
The bad news: in a hypothetical matchup against Rudy, she's in a dead heat, even though in a generic matchup, the Dems are strongly favored to win the White House.
Ally,
The media wants to pretend it's an even heat because it suits their purpose. But the wave of anti-Republicanism out here is so strong that I am not sure people will buy that story this time around.
Veterans make up 1 in 4 homeless in US By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago
WASHINGTON - Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.
And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.
The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. 2005 data estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.
In comparison, the VA says that 20 years ago, the estimated number of veterans who were homeless on any given night was 250,000.
(snip)
Oooooooo THIS is GREAT NEWS!!!
Rep. Wexler to push for Impeachment (linking to Daily Kos since there's some activism attached to the diary)
Portion of the letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee:
Wonder what Sarko and Georgie had for dinner
Homeless Veterans
Monkey:
I am very sorry to hear you are feeling poorly. Get well soon!
Chuck in Houston
PS: You too Woz!
Fighting to Stop Terror
by John Kerry
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/7/908/72619
.. our actual President .. the exit polls said so
This is to accomodate most of today's news - the stock market, the dollar, the hypocrite Francophobes in Congress who now applauded as Sarko supporte Bush on Iran, & all those cracking down on the public today in Pakistan, Soviet Georgia & Venezuela today, & most of all, AT&T and the other enabler telecom companies.
How to create an Angry American
BREAKING: Wexler Will Urge House Judiciary Committee to 'Schedule Impeachment Hearings Immediately'
Letter Calling for Action Sent to Constituents After Kucinich Resolution to Impeach Cheney is Referred to Committee
Says 'Vice President Cheney must answer for his deceptive actions in office'
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5263
Ralpheh
California electoral vote initiative backers revealed: Supporters of GOP candidates
By Dan Morain, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 7, 2007
Backers of a proposed initiative that would change the way California's electoral votes are awarded disclosed Tuesday that they had received $538,000 from a list of donors who have contributed to a variety of presidential candidates. The required disclosure to the California secretary of state helps to dispel the notion that Republican candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani is behind the measure. The initiative received its initial $175,000 from a top Giuliani backer, Wall Street mogul Paul E. Singer. Others involved in the effort also have ties to the former New York City mayor. It could not be (seen as) a Giuliani effort," said Republican strategist Ed Rollins, who is overseeing the campaign. "It can't be tainted by any presidential campaign."
The campaign is expected to file more reports in coming days as backers raise $2 million to place the measure on the June 2008 ballot. With one exception, the donors disclosed Tuesday are Californians. Federal election records show they have given to each of the major GOP presidential candidates. One has donated the maximum to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner -- even though Democrats fiercely oppose the initiative. (NOTE: THIS DONOR, ROBERT DAY, HAS CONTRIBUTED TO MCCAIN, CLINTON AND DODD -- NOT JUST TO CLINTON.)
If it is placed on the ballot and wins voter approval, the initiative would help the Republican presidential nominee in California. Instead of the current winner-take-all system of awarding electoral votes, they would be awarded based on the winner in each of the state's congressional districts. With Republicans holding 19 congressional seats, the GOP nominee would presumably win at least that many districts, giving them almost as many electoral votes as the state of Ohio, with 20.
The largest single donor revealed in Tuesday's filing was the California Republican Party ($80,000), followed by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) at $59,700. Issa has not yet endorsed a presidential candidate. Former Univision chairman Jerrold Perenchio, who is backing Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, donated $50,000, as did Silicon Valley venture capitalist E. Floyd Kvamme, a Giuliani backer....Newport Beach investor Duane R. Roberts gave $50,000 to the effort. Hehas has given $2,300 to McCain, Giuliani and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-initiative7nov07,1,6284985.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true
Did China just fire a warning shot at the Fed?
Source: MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The full faith and credit of the United States are under a lot of stress these days, so much so that the public comments of an obscure Chinese official -- obscure to most Americans, at least -- are enough to spark big jumps in commodities, and equally big slides in stocks and the dollar to boot.
Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of the standing committee of the National People's Congress, reportedly suggested Wednesday that China might need to diversify its $1 trillion-plus holdings of foreign reserves because of the precipitous slide in the value of the dollar.
It's hard to know what Siwei, a UCLA-educated economist, hoped to accomplish by choosing this particular juncture to make his comments. Perhaps it was just an innocent academic observation on the rapid decline of the U.S. currency and the fact that any entity stuck holding huge levels of dollars would have to rethink their approach in such circumstances.
However, Siwei's position and previous history suggest otherwise. After all, his comments about the dubious quality of equities on the Shanghai Stock Exchange earlier this year helped spark a temporary swoon that hit U.S. markets at the end of February.
So a more realistic reading, perhaps, is that China wanted to send a warning shot across the bow of the Federal Reserve. The message: the U.S. central bank shouldn't think about cutting interest rates again. In a sense, it's a game of economic "chicken" played on a geopolitical scale.
http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/myway-com/news-story.asp?guid={33F4ADA9-5DCE-4D44-B39C-74D4017ACC5E}
NMP
Re: Venezuela
Many on the US left will accept anything Chavez says, and praise him/his policies without reservations. After all, Chavez stands up to W, so he must be a good guy.
But that doesn't make Chavez any less of a power-mad dictator. His "reforms" include giving himself the ability to suspend the legislature, as well as the end of term limits for himself.
I don't care if the gunmen who fired on anti-Chavez protesters are under his orders or not. It's unacceptable in any case.
The US left is poised to lose even more credibility, after losing plenty of it by supporting Fidel Castro's dictatorship in Cuba.
Regarding the Hillary Lead in the polls:
quote:
WASHINGTON - After a debate performance last week that continues to produce headlines — and that she admitted wasn’t her best showing — Hillary Clinton continues to enjoy a 20-point lead over her nearest rival in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
@@@@@@@@@@
National polls only test, in most cases, name recognition since most Americans are so uninformed that they don't even know all the candidates who are running for president. And, of course, everybody knows Hillary.
In Iowa and New Hampshire, I have read that Hillary is tied with Edwards and Obama, so the national polls are almost irrelevant.
Thanks Chuck. Good to feel better after the whole of this year. Life is getting good again.
Now - with all the discussion on torture and water-boarding and evil and whatnot, I'd like to introduce you to some activity that's going on down here in our little island state of Tasmania right now.
I refer to our state government as the Gunns-Lennon autocracy. Gunns is the corporation that owns the entire island and is gifted with millions of federal dollars to continue its rampage and putrefaction of all things natural, that most of us don't want.
The Gunns-Lennon partnership is so valuable to the state premier (the weasel-eyed greed fiend) that he has bullied his way through corrupt investigations into the detrimental effects of logging all of Tasmania's beauty and pumping billions of litres of dioxins into Bass Strait. Apparently it doesn't matter that all the wineries and seafood and organic and tourism industries don't count because they're not so rich in money as the Pulp Mill giant.
Like Americans, we have been beating our heads against the bricks trying to work out a way to defy the Autocrats and reinstate democracy whilst carting them off to jail.
Well, tonight my friends are at a meeting to do that very thing. Take back our state of fewer than half a million people. Take back our federal government and hold them accountable making decisions we did not authorise them to make.
Whilst reading the legalities I kept thinking of the problems you have being the same as ours but on a grander scale. And what a guarantee this would be to the vote counting issue. Cheating would be impossible! Give us back 2000, 2004 in the US. Ballot papers in triplicate. To be marked with ink - not pencil!
Apart from the typo or the hacking - demoncracy - the rest makes absolute sense. We, the people, will deal with this in the High Court - it will go immediately to the High Court. If we have the signatures it will be illegal for the government to decide agains the majority - referenda must be called once the demand is made by about 20,000 people.
Tasmania will not have to live under the carcinogenic cloud that the Gunns-Lennon autocracy showers us with daily.
This is an untitled document.
http://www.upmart.org/voice/voice.html
On 20 June 1899, 519,374 Australians (162,458 Victorians), voted at a referendum to accept the Australian Constitution. (The population of Australia at that time, excluding aboriginal persons, was approximately 3,800,000). The Constitution thus became a document that authorised the Australian Parliament to be created. At the same time the Constitution became a document that defined and limited the power of the Federal Parliament of Australia.
It is a fact that the Australian Parliament only exists because the majority of electors in ALL of the States agreed to it being formed.
It is a fact that the only authority that our parliament has, is the authority that the electors grant it.
It is a fact that Australian electors are sovereign over their parliaments.
It is a fact that the body of the electors in an electorate comprise the Electors’ Parliament of that electorate.
It is a fact that the Electors Parliament elects their Member to represent their will in one of the various Members Parliaments such as the State or Federal parliaments or local council. The Electors Parliament elects all the Members Parliaments. The Electors Parliament is sovereign over all of the Members Parliaments..
It is a fact, that when the will of the Electors Parliament is determined by referendum or by mandate as either wanting a particular law enacted or wanting a particular law removed, then the government and the courts are legally bound to obey that will.
It is a fact that there has never been an election or referendum in which 100% of electors entitled to vote, have voted. The will of the electorate has always been determined from the sample of those electors who have voted.
If the Members Parliament (government) or the courts refuse to act on the will of the Electors Parliament as determined by referendum, they are automatically acting outside their authority. The people are therefore legally exempt from the law in question.
It does not matter who or what organisation determines the will of the electors but only that the will of electors has been accurately and properly determined.
The members comprising our various Members Parliaments have been derelict in their duty to discover the will of the Electors Parliament and to decide laws accordingly. Worse the Members have created laws directly against the will of the electors. Many of these laws have no moral or ethical foundations.
To whom do we turn when the Members Parliament and the courts break the law? The electors.. It is the electors who ultimately have power to try Acts passed by parliament and it is the electors who may adjudge them valid or invalid.
It is the duty of the elected members to determine the will of the electorate they serve and to act and pass legislation in accordance to that will. It is the duty of the electors to ensure the elected member is representing and passing legislation according to their will.
VOICE of Australia will conduct Referenda to establish the will of the electorate on matters of importance. Australians have always had this option available to them but have not used it in the past. However the situation is now serous. Politicians can no longer be trusted to act in our best interests. Political parties are undemocratic. Royal Inquiries, petitions and protests are futile. We cannot any longer leave it to politicians to decide for us what we want. It is up to us to tell them what we want and what they must do.
VOICE of Australia has set the new standard for polling. To our knowledge we are the first in the world with these initiatives. Neither the Australian Electoral Commission nor any of the State or Territory electoral commissions practice what we preach. Some of our improvements are
1. Ballot papers are in triplicate. For the first time in our history Voters receive a copy of their vote.
2. Voters, after being marked off the electoral roll, must sign a ledger to receive their ballot.
3. Ballots are numerically numbered in sequence and pens, not pencils, are used to mark ballots.
Remember, it is the electors who elect our parliament and it is the electors who give to our elected members various powers limited by the Australian Constitution, to represent us and act on our behalf in our best interest. We give them permission to only create laws, infrastructure and social systems that serve and benefit us and that foster our democracy, social stability, well being and which will increase our standard of living. We are not servants of our laws, infrastructure and social systems. Our founding fathers did not ever intend for us to be in any way shackled or burdened by such creations. Such servitude betrays the freedom of our human spirit and the founding principles of our democracy. We give permission to politicians to only create laws that serve us, we do not serve the law. At the foundation of all good laws there is the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law overrules the letter of the law. Our parliament and courts have seemingly forgotten or are deliberately transgressing these important principles
Ralpheh
In Iowa the main three candidates are in a dead head - you are right!
& there Romney does well in addition to Giuliani, Thompson & even McCain still make showings. Richardson, Dodd and Biden still get listened to. There are no done deals with the people of Iowa. Some people are still deciding when they go into the booth and have heard each candidate multiple times. People in Iowa tend to know the issues.
Ally
Comment on Chavez
Like any revolutionary he becomes mainstream & evolves into that which he initially protested against. There are few exceptions, & power is like crack for most people.
Kayakbiker is a Vietnam Vet and he said that sometimes if guys at your own rank are promoted you never hear the end of it. They change & get into the power of rank, pull rank.
So Finland had a school shooting.
Turns out gun ownership is high there, after United States and Yemen.
On the Republican side, do not underestimate Mike Huckabee:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071108/lf_afp/usvote2008republicanshuckabee
He has the most shaping of any candidate on that side: Shaping is the nonverbal movement factor that gets to voters every time. It is the movement of accommodation and good listening.
NMP
Point well taken - further proof that power tends to corrupt.
Sign the Petition
Tell the FCC you should not be forced to pay for FOX's smut.
http://foxattacks.com/decency?utm_source=rgemail
On the Republican side, do not underestimate Mike Huckabee:
*****
Someone needs to explain to me why republicans will not vote for Ron Paul, over Independants or Democrats.
New thread