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News Organizations Supporting Government's Agendas
Pravda was the official arm of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. It was also the only news the citizens were allowed to read without getting into trouble with the government. Ironically, Pravda means "The Truth" (Правда) and yet we know that their news was used to spread the government's press releases and was used to promote the Communist agenda--even if it included lies, distortions, and inaccuracies.
We all know what happened to those who dared read or write something that wasn't approved of by the Soviet Government.
Then there's, China, another Communist country. The People's Daily is considered to be the mouth piece for China's Communist Government. And in fact, not too long ago, it was revealed that Google was censoring it's online information so that it met their Communist government's control of information.
So here we are in America--land of Democracy and the originator of the constitutional amendment which allowed for the Freedom of the Press. Freedom of the Press was part of the first amendment and was purposely included because our country's founders realized that where there's power, there is a lust for more power, and hence, there is corruption. So the Freedom of the Press was devised to protect us from those who serve us.
How well does our press perform it's job?
We have Fox, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS. We often complain about these corporate media networks, but are they in the same league as Pravda and the People's Daily? Do they only show us government sanctioned articles?
What do you think? And what do you think should be done about it?
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In honor of our
honestmedia, here's an Abraham Lincoln quote:Maybe our media could learn from Honest Abe.
Unfortunately, honesty has been "Abe-sent" from Washington ever since Bushco started squatting there. Like Thom Hartmann says "Nuthin like taking the truth out for a joy ride". Long overdue for a change in the Swamp.
I think our biggest most conglomerated media do the same thing for slightly different reasons - they are serving the interests of hypercapitalism/corporatism/globalization rather than the interests of authoritarian communism.
Same diff. Soviet Union is now broken up into the former Republics and Russia but there you see a President who wants to be Prime Minister when his term runs out and who has questionnable elections (just heard a chess master/critic talking about it on radio). Too much questioning still doesn't go over. China is now more capitalistic but there is still so much state control that the internet firewall is much more intense than here.
Times have changed but at this point I don't think we have alot of room to criticize partially-closed societies when we have so many questions about ours remaining open. How do we explain the fact that our Australian readers saw so much more coverage of the Iraqi child orphans on mainstream media - that in the land of Murdoch?
& on one blog, there were issues with racism recently and one reader made a powerful observation when she said that there is no reason to "present both sides" when it comes to racism, because racism is wrong.
It's similar to what that reporter (who broke the story on the orphans) said when told by a tv commentator that she should not present information that could make our war effort look bad. & that's that the job of the journalist is to tell the truth, not to make official foreign policy look good.
The concept of balance and fairness in media is so frequently misconstrued in the last few years. The mission to present "both sides of the story" is skewed completely, and "balance" becomes a joke. It's like when there is an antiwar rally with thousands and a few prowar goons show up and then the television media gives equal coverage to both, making the too-innocent audience think there are equal numbers.
I'm not so sure we have any edge over historic or current Soviet Union now Russia, or China.
NMP said
Not a lot of edge nmp. Human rights abuses - all 3 huge countries. In the US, it is not just in Guantanamo. Eastern European poorer nations torture on behalf of the US. Many more have been killed through torture, I believe, than has been revealed.
Either it is always right to kill or it is never right to kill. State sanctioned murder (execution) is still murder, no matter how folks try to sanitise it. And the executioner is still a murderer, even though he is paid by the state to carry out the murder.
We sent armies to dethrone Saddam, whilst allowing the murder and mayhem in many African countries go unbridled. Whilst we look away from children turned into drug addicts so they can torture and murder, we are complicit in the abuse. Whilst we turn away from the rape of babies, we are no better than anyone else - communist or democratic; developing or developed.
Our governments now can monitor all of our communications, without having to provide any rationale for doing so. Your government can censor your media. At least ours hasn't gone this far yet. Not a lot of difference really.
Perhaps this is the leader Bush has modelled himself upon.
Chavez loses referendum vote
Chavez's reforms would have allowed him to
run for reelection indefinitely[AFP]
Venezuelans have rejected constitutional changes proposed by Hugo Chavez, the president, in a close-run referendum, according to the National Electoral Council.
Chavez conceded defeat in a live broadcast on Monday, having narrowly lost a referendum on proposed changes to the constitution that included the removal of presidential term limits.
The electoral authority announced early on Monday the "No" camp had won 51 per cent of the vote compared to the pro-Chavez "Yes" camp's 49 per cent.
It said the trend could not be reserved and declared Chavez the loser.
The referendum vote on a number of changes would have allowed Chavez to control Venezuela's foreign currency reserves, appoint loyalists over regional elected officials and censor the media if he declares an emergency.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/546FC5D4-E1A1-44DB-AD62-4091818CF4D0.htm
Ok - Australia has abandoned the US and ratified the Kyoto protocol. Now - the US and Pakistan are the two laggers.
Climate conference opens in Bali
Environmental activists are pressing for
urgent action at the Bali meeting [EPA]
The largest-ever conference on climate change has opened on the Indonesian island of Bali with more than 10,000 delegates from 192 countries attending.
The two-weeks of United Nations-led talks are intended to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.
But on the eve of the Bali meeting, the UN's climate change chief warned that any deal would not make sense without the participation of the US, the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases.
more:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DB21886C-C105-43D9-84FA-664DEFB55219.htm
Even a picture of O'Reilly makes me want to rip his f***in' face off.
I have an colleague who never misses O'Reilly, and while he admits that Faux Newz is the arm of the GOP, he claims CNN is the same thing for the Democrats.
When I have the misfortune of catching a few minutes of CNN somewhere, I find their "stories" to be loaded with slant and opinion, and even sarcastic comments by their "anchors", and find it to be more tobe an attempt at infotainment than actual news.
But then again, how would a regular viewer who had been suckling the TV 24/7 for years on end know the damn difference?
Inquiring minds wanna blow.
Observers cast doubt on Russian vote
Washington, international observers, question Russian election irregularities
International electoral monitors today questioned the fairness of the Russian parliamentary elections, in which President Vladimir Putin's party claimed a sweeping mandate that could let him wield power beyond the end of his term in 2008.
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/12/03/russia.vote/index.html
Funny, cause I looked into Putins eyes and saw... A dirty soviet.
BTW Sparrow, you can quit doing your voodoo hippi kabuki dance now. It is freaking COLD here today.
BREAKING NEWS: Bush to speak on Congressional spending, war funding at 10 a.m. ET
(My prediction, he will say the "Surge" is working, and without the extra money, we're gonna slip back to failing again, and that partisan politics is showing a lack of support for the troops... wonder if Mr. Fecal Conservative will discuss the cuts he proposes in Das Homeland Security spending or how he's run up a 9 trillion dollar deficit?)
U.S. government debt soars
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Like a ticking time bomb, the national debt is an explosion waiting to happen. It's expanding by about $1.4 billion a day -- or nearly $1 million a minute.
What's that mean to you?
It means almost $30,000 in debt for each man, woman, child and infant in the United States.
Even if you've escaped the recent housing and credit crunches and are coping with rising fuel prices, you may still be headed for economic misery, along with the rest of the country. That's because the government is fast straining resources needed to meet interest payments on the national debt, which stands at a mind-numbing $9.13 trillion.
And like homeowners who took out adjustable-rate mortgages, the government faces the prospect of seeing this debt -- now at relatively low interest rates -- rolling over to higher rates, multiplying the financial pain.
So long as somebody is willing to keep loaning the U.S. government money, the debt is largely out of sight, out of mind.
But the interest payments keep compounding and could in time squeeze out most other government spending -- leading to sharply higher taxes or a cut in basic services like Social Security and other government benefit programs. Or all of the above.
A major economic slowdown, as some economists suggest may be looming, could hasten the day of reckoning.
The national debt -- the total accumulation of annual budget deficits -- is up from $5.7 trillion when President George W. Bush took office in January 2001 and it will top $10 trillion sometime right before or right after he leaves in January 2009.
more on...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/03/us.debt.ap/index.html
WASHINGTON - President Bush is expected to criticize Congressional spending while urging lawmakers to approve a new Iraq war bill in a statement on Monday.
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said the president will not take questions.
A daunting agenda confronts Congress as lawmakers return Monday for an abbreviated, holiday season session. Taxes, spending, paying for the war, energy, farm subsidies and wiretapping top a crowded list of items Congress will consider during the three weeks.
Partisan feelings are especially intense and fights are brewing on multiple fronts between Democrats -- who control Congress -- and the White House.
Democrats' goal is to make sure they don't stumble over must-do legislation, such as funding government agencies and programs and preventing millions of upper-middle income taxpayers from falling prey to the alternative minimum tax, or AMT.
Timetable for troop removal
They vow to bring the appropriations process to a close, even at the price of giving in to Bush's strict funding levels for domestic programs like education, grants to local governments and energy research. But many Congress-watchers thinks it's just as likely lawmakers will limp home for Christmas having passed yet another temporary funding bill.
Bush is insisting that Congress pass his war funding request and is expected to devote much of December to attacking Democrats for trying to condition additional money on a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. His war-related requests so far this year have totaled almost $200 billion.
Democrats counter that troops will get the needed money for current operations, but that a change in administration policy was necessary to make sure U.S. forces don't stay in Iraq indefinitely.
"We're going to continue to try to see if we can't get in place a timetable for the removal of most of the troops that we have there," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on CNN. "Congress should be able to state a goal for the removal of most of the American troops without a veto threat."
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22078974/
Looks like Congress is gonna fold like a cheap suit to the all the demands of the Tard at the Top.
Have you ever seen a train wreck in slow motion?
woz
No, it was America's left who was so enamored of Chavez and his socialist revolution.
But even by the admission of some of Chavez's former supporters (who still share his leftist values), Chavez tried to go too far this time.
But you do have a point - Chavez does have some similarities to W, down to "you're with me or you're against me" mantra.
From 11 to 20!! More than DOUBLE!!! And it only cost us $99.8 million tax dollars! For 11 dudes. It's a deal.
CHISINAU (Tiraspol Times) - Nearly doubling its current troop presence in the occupation of Iraq, Moldova's government has announced that it is increasing from 11 to 20 the sixth group of soldiers that it is sending to the troubled country.
. . .
In return for their loyalty, Moldova's national army is being armed by the American military with new equipment that will help it launch a new war against Transdniestria (officially, Pridnestrovie). In 1992, Moldova attempted to take control of Transdniestria but the attack failed in part due to the low quality of its outdated Soviet-era military hardware.
Today, the United States is actively equipping Moldova with "high-quality equipment, the latest equipment" for winning what some now fear could be a future war against Transdniestria.
" - Thanks to the United States¢ assistance, our troops - particularly those who deal with explosives - have high-quality equipment, the latest equipment," says Alexei Carasiov, a ranking Moldovan officer. "We have it in our hands," he confirms.
Read more: http://www.tiraspoltimes.com/node/1460
Chavez was tempting people with his program to provide insurance for street vendors, but they must have known that a permanent leader is not a good thing for any country! We also have street vendors with no insurance and we do not need a "permanent Republican majority" or stolen elections either. I have a good Venezuelan friend who claims Chavez has done some wonderful things in the direction of a fairer shake for more people, but we have seen power corrupt without exception. Everyone needs boundaries.
Besides, despite all their rhetoric against each other, including Chavez' public threats to cut off petroleum to the US, it never happens. They are a big supplier of ours. If you look at the trade balance for the last few years, we import 3x or more than we export to them.
http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c3070.html
That's falafel...you know, like loofah?
The most persuasive and consistent critic of the war and George Bush.... IT'S A REPUBLICAN, RON PAUL!!!
I wouldn't shed a tear if someone blew a hole thru O'Reilly's head.
Oh, I don't mean it literally, I mean it the way Ann Coulter means it when she says things.
Kill Bill
Why Fox News Channel Is An Industry Joke
or
Welcome to Info-tainment Tonight!
by Ron Kaufman
"We paid $3 billion for these television stations. We will decide what the news is. The news is what we tell you it is!"
-- alleged comment by David Boylan, station manager for Fox Tampa Bay (WTVT Ch 13) to two reporters who are currently suing the network for firing them and censoring a story about the use of bovine growth hormone in Florida cows.
I have no doubt that if someone intimately tied into the Fox News Channel were to read this article they would immediately label me a seditious-evil-lying-communist-scumbag-bastard who hates America. This, of course, is so far from reality that it's laughable. After spending some time analyzing and evaluating the Fox News Channel, I have formed a similar opinion. The Fox News Channel is so far from reality that it's laughable -- which is why it's an industry joke.
Relying on the Fox News Channel as your only source of news is like using MAD Magazine as a legitimate source of news. The Fox News Channel's reporting style is so biased and skewed that trying to obtain any real information from a news report is quite challenging. Fox News is a joke because it provides info-tainment rather than reality-based news coverage. Fox News Channel is a "news channel" in name only. The network is what L.A. Times Editor John S. Carroll calls "pseudojournalism."
more...
http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/networks/foxnews/foxnews.html
Wow, listen to the Ron Paul supporters take over (briefly) this Republican talk about the war in Iraq:
"Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has been at the forefront in defending Christmas, even though, until recently, Fox's own online store invited viewers to buy an 'O'Reilly Factor' holiday ornament for their holiday tree. In the war on Christmas, that's known as friendly fire. ... Legend has it every time you say 'Happy Holidays,' an angel gets AIDS." --Jon Stewart
http://www.jibjab.com/originals/what_we_call_the_news
The Paulites might have another "Money Bomb" coming. According the interview with Wolf Blitzer, Paul has already raised $5 million for this quarter and with the second money bomb, he could go over $10 million, making Paul the top Republican fundraiser for this quarter, I believe.
“It all comes down to, ‘Where’s the evidence?’”
Convicted Killers my ass, Railroaded by a farce of a Justice System.
Dixie Chick Starts Defense Fund For Convicted Killers
The Dixie Chicks have a new controversy on their hands. In particular, lead singer Natalie Maines has started a defense fund for three Arkansas men that she (and many others) believe were wrongly convicted of killing three children in 1993.
Maines writes her plea on the Dixie Chicks Web site, which has already been answered by
several celebrities including, I am told, Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Eddie Vedder, Jack Black and Henry Rollins.
"I'm writing this letter today because I believe that three men have spent the past 13 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit," Maines' message begins.
LinkHere
Letter from Natalie Maines: WM3 Call to Action
I'm writing this letter today because I believe that three men have spent the past 13 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit.
On May 5th, 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas three 8 eight-year-old boys, Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore were murdered.
Three teenage boys, Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin were convicted of the murders in 1994. Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley received life sentences without parole, and Damien Echols sits on death row.
I encourage everyone to see the HBO documentaries, Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2 for the whole history of the case....
Ralpeh
I'm glad Ron Paul is criticizing the war from the podium of the Republican part. Too bad he has regressive platforms and history with respect to women's rights, civil rights, tax structure and unions.
I also can't fault you too much for your negative campaigning re HIllary Clinton. I engaged in negative campaigning against wedge figure Ralph Nader in 2004, the guy who is afraid of cats and dogs, taking it so far as to sue him.
nmp, you've referenced suing Nader before, just curious, what did you sue him for?
I need a new suit myself.
Ralpeh
I'm glad Ron Paul is criticizing the war from the podium of the Republican part. Too bad he has regressive platforms and history with respect to women's rights, civil right
@@@@
Too bad that Hillary is a pro-war fraud
Too bad that the rest of Dem candidates excepting Kucinich and Gravel are a bunch of cowards....
I also can't fault you too much for your negative campaigning re HIllary Clinton. I
@@@@
Not negative campaigning: just reminding people how HIllary voted while in the Senate, because most Democrats/Americans either don't know, have forgotten or don't seem to care.
Bu$h supports the war
Hillary supports the war
(call that negative campaigning if you wish... or call it "banana campaigning" if you wish)
BTW speaking of Faux Views:
"On May 5th, 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas three 8 eight-year-old boys, Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore were murdered."
I remember that case. I always assumed they must have done it.
What I remember most is knowing that one boys daddy saw his son on his bike, and found him and his two dead friends less than 20 minutes later.
I did not understand how you could lose a child so fast and brutally.
What a horrific case. I would read up again on the details, but I don't think I can anymore. Somewhere along the way I have picked up an aversion to the mess killers leave behind.
But, if they were wrongly convicted, I know the media probably had something to do with it, cause as I remember, they were absolute that these kids did that to those little boys.
As a matter of a fact, right after that happened in Arkansas, there was a case here where a little 5 year old boy was found hanged, gutted and 'sexually mutilated'. Since he was a black kid the whispers of hate crime started immediately.
I remember the two cases together because they interviewed a 'neighbor' on the news who was saying how he knew about the Arkansas case, 'But you never think it is going to happen here'.
They arrested him that night for murdering that little boy. Him too, that kid was not even missing 20 minutes before his mother found him like that.
They said the killer was copycatting what he saw on the news from Arkansas.
... and where was Mike Huckabee in 1993?
5-year-old chimp beats college kids in computer game
NEW YORK (AP) -- Think you're smarter than a fifth-grader? How about a 5-year-old chimp? Japanese researchers pitted young chimps against human adults in tests of short-term memory, and overall, the chimps won.
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/12/03/chimp.memory.ap/index.html
Eek eek, mofo!
Christy, if I had such God-like powers, then I'd have found a way to prevent Bush from ever have taken office. I'd have found a way to give Congress integrity so that they'd IMPEACH NOW.
But alas...I'm just a little
birdum... general.So I'm just freezin' my little feathers off like you.
Ofcourse the chimps won.
Thier short term memory is literally a matter of survival for them.
When chimps start writing poetry, that will be impressive.
Kangaroo - and Christy,
if you've read John Grisham's An Innocent Man, you'll really question every death penalty case you hear about. it's a true story about lives destroyed by wrongful convictions, and well worth the read.
Christy if you believe they did it after watching these I encourage everyone to see the HBO documentaries, Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2 for the whole history of the case....
These are basically citizens of America who have been looking for the truth.
I think the father should be on death row my self
US Says Iran Ended Atomic Arms Work in 2003
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120307Z.shtml
Mark Mazzetti reports for The New York Times: "A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb."
Ralpheh
By negative campaigning I mean working against a candidate rather than for one, primarily. Maybe it's effective, probably. Negative ads (attacking a candidate you're running against rather than telling what you can do) have been proven to be very effective.
I'm glad you point out that they are all pretty much spineless except Kucinich and Gravel.
Monkey
Four others and I sued Nader because he needed 10,000 signatures to get on our state ballot and they needed to be gotten at a nominating convention. He didn't get enough there so he added in those that had been gotten on street corners on previous occasions. Our Secretary of State let him get by with it. After Florida, we wanted to keep tabs on him. Right now he's trying to sue Kerry and some others because he says there was a conspiracy to keep him off the ballot. Our suit was not because of that, but because he was trying to use fraud to get on the ballot. He is suing right now because he wants money to run again.
Monkey
Let's sue somebody.
In Michigan, in 2004, Nadar had Republicans making donations to his campaign and even canvassing for him!
Kangaroo - and Christy,
I don't believe in the death penalty at all carol.
But that father, I would reconsider, not really but one evil man that is, in my opinion.
"In the six years since the Twin Towers fell, a thousand skyscrapers
have been rising on the Arabian Gulf."
http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=3047
(hat tip to Nyc, see also controversial Doonesbury cartoon and set of Iraq War paintings at http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com)
Suz
In Lynnwood WA, the Republicans donated and voted for a Green in order to knock out a Dem. They will use any and all tactics to win. They use disenfranchisement of voters because they don't like us encouraging poor, minorities, young to vote, driving elderly to the polls, wanting verifiable ballots and clear code, etc. & there are probably as many corrupt Secretaries of State as we would dare to imagine.
Re death penalty
I also don't believe in the death penalty at all.
Re: Kucinich
I would gladly vote for him if he didn't bankrupt Cleveland back in the day.
Re: death penalty
I only want it carried out on those who believe in it. Specifically Log Cabiners.
Neocon Hadley says US policy toward Iran will remain same despite fact we can't prove they had, have or are making nukes
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314782,00.html
see
US Says Iran Ended Atomic Arms Work in 2003
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120307Z.shtml
Mark Mazzetti reports for The New York Times: "A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb."
Also, someone just emailed me that Wolfowitz is being hired back on at the State Department after the World Bank kicked him out.
Putin's Reaganesque Victory
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1690276,00.html
What .. a .. concept
Good analysis about Venezuela
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7123776
Chavez needs a lid on him (that is, boundaries) but it needs to come from the student movement, not Bush.
Brad Pitt and Steve Bing spearhead building 150 homes in 9th ward, NOLA, and would like to get it up to 1000 homes
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/03/pitt.nola/?iref=mpstoryview
Ralpheh
Here is how to get rid of Hillary. If Obama is ahead and Edwards is close, get the Kucinich people to throw their lot in with Edwards if Kucinich can't get 15% at the caucuses and then Hillary comes in 3rd in Iowa. I am not endorsing it but it is a workable strategy.
Stunning: U.S. Report Says Iran Shelved Nuke Program Years Ago
December 03, 2007 11:51 AM
ABC News' Martha Raddatz, Jonathan Karl, Luis Martinez and Kirit Radia Report: In a stunning reversal of Bush administration conventional wisdom, a new assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies concludes Iran shelved its nuclear weapons program over four years ago.
"We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program," reads a declassified version of the National Intelligence Estimate key findings.
"We judge with moderate confidence that the earliest possible date Iran would be technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium (HEU) for a weapon is late 2009."
The entire NIE report will remain classified, however the office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified version of the key findings that can be read HERE.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/12/nie-report-iran.html
Kangaroo
Look back to 5:54 and 5:20 - I posted that story and also mentioned that on Faux News, they were giving it the spin that the US still needs to maintain it's current program toward Iran - they must have had Steven Hadley on, who has worked under Condi Rice and is a definite neocon.
Also, we need to be vigilant about this:
Robert Weitzel | Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act: A Tutorial in Orwellian Newspeak
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120307C.shtml
Robert Weitzel, writing for Truthout, says, "HR 1955: the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 recently passed by the House, a companion bill is in the Senate, is barely one sentence old before its Orwellian moment: It begins, 'AN ACT - To prevent homegrown terrorism, and for other purposes.'"
Ally & others have discussed this here before, but it's open-ended enough or secretive enough that theoretically, almost anyone could be branded a "homegrown terrorist"
I played this video of globalvillage's again last night. Remember how happy we were after the elections of 2006? And now, when not one thing changed, we became depressed and resigned to elected representatives not doing what they've been elected and empowered to do. This is a reminder.
This is not a real product plug, so I encourage you to check out the organization itself. http://www.backbonecampaign.org
Woz
In 2008 we have a chance to get enough Senate seats to have 60 or more - to prevent vetoes.
I am so bummed. We are one step closer to moving to Mexico - the scales are tipping - Jim McDermott lost his Supreme Court appeal for his case with Boener. That's what our 5:4 Supreme Court is good for. They are out to get McDermott because he spearheaded taking down Newt Gingrich.
Deep within this article on the California referendum to change the way electoral votes are assigned is a charge that Republican-backed signature gatherers were getting homeless people to sign the petitions by offering them food.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/341868_rigged02.html
For those in Australia, right now whoever gets the majority in the popular vote gets all of California's electoral votes. With the system the Republicans want, if the state went Dem, the Republicans would still get 20 electoral votes and that is enough to swing the whole election - unless the Dems won another rather large state.
not my president Author Profile Page said:
Ralpheh
Here is how to get rid of Hillary. If Obama is ahead and Edwards is close, get the Kucinich people to throw their lot in with Edwards if Kucinich can't get 15% at the caucuses and then Hillary comes in 3rd in Iowa. I am not endorsing it but it is a workable strategy.
December 3, 2007 6:09 PM
@@@@@
I don't particularly care who takes HIllary down at this point - whether it is Obama or Edwards (or even Biden, I suppose). If either Obama or Edwards (or both) do well in Iowa, then there will be an actual "campaign" going into New Hampshire with an actual "discussion" of the major issues. As it is right now, HIllary assumes she has the nomination in the bag.
I may donate money to Obama since he seems to be the only Democrat candidate who is motivating people and attracting support.
Here is my video on the Move On Org petition to ban permanent bases in Iraq. BTW - Move On Org needs to get a You Tube account, by yesterday...
NMP
Brought to you courtesy of Toyota, Chief Justice John Roberts' former boss.
NMP
I would advise against moving to Mexico, due to PAN.
I know that if I tried to move, the PAN homophobia would get me immediately.
Ralpheh
No it is not Edwards or Obama who could knock Clinton out but Kucinich. If the Kucinich supporters could not reach their threshold of 15% they could throw in their lot with Edwards, and if Obama won, Clinton would come in third. If she comes in 2nd, she still has a chance in New Hampshire and beyond. Only about 100,000 will caucus and of them only a small percentage will be for Kucinich, yet they could decide the race.
It's an idea I got from Adam Nagourney who is a (bad word) but still..
NMP
The Homegrown Terrorism Act of 2007 was supported by a margin of 410 to 6 or something like that.
That's why I have no faith in the Democratic Congress - they are signing the nation and the Constitution over to the neocons WITHOUT a fight.
NMP said
And the way California is going (with reactionary immigrants and the south), the Republicans can get more than 20 (out of a total of 54 EVs).
I think the Republicans are better off bagging those EVs by splitting the state. NorCal would be blue, SoCal would be red. And since SoCal has more population, the Republicans could easily take at least 30-35 EVs that way. (Plus NorCal can keep Boxer and Feinstein, while SoCal gets its own two Senators, both likely Republican.)
It's official, today I am the father of a (gulp) teenage daughter.
I now look at my heart surgery as a pre-emptive strike!
Happy B-Day to my little Toni!
SUNDAY TALK SHOWS:
Giuliani/ Girlfriend/ Hamptons/ Police Detail/ Kerik/ Scandal
If the Kucinich supporters could not reach their threshold of 15% they could throw in their lot with Edwards, and if Obama won, Clinton would come in third. If she comes in 2nd, she still has a chance in New Hampshire and beyond. Only about 100,00
@@@@
Somehow I don't think the Kucinich people are the "lot throwing" type, but maybe I am wrong about that... But, I had heard this is how Edwards and Kerry screwed with Howard Dean in 2004.....
I JUST LOVE IOWA!!! IN THE WINTER....
Happy Birthday Toni!
May you have lots of good, sweet times as you keep pullin' on your dad's heart strings.
Ally
Maybe SoCal should just secede from the union.
Ralpheh
I don't love Iowa or any of the upper midwest. I did my time there.
Minneapolis is good but far too cold for my blood.
Here's how the system works in Iowa (from http://www.bluestate.com).
Iowa contest will hinge on an important rule
When all the Biden, Kucinich, Gravel, Dodd, and Richardson supporters discover that their candidates don't meet the 15% viability rule, they will need to either choose another candidate or walk out of the caucus location. So for Obama, Hillary and Edwards, being the second choice of those supporters is critical.
This caucus rule will likely decide the outcome:
The key is a Democratic rule that candidates need the backing of at least 15 percent of people at a caucus meeting for that support to count. If a candidate doesn't achieve the 15 percent viability rule, the candidate's supporters can switch to their second choice or call it quits.
Biden and Richardson supporters will likely make the most impact. Based on my own subjective findings, Biden's stances are a lot closer to where Clinton is on many issues. Furthermore, they are both Washington establishment candidates. Richardson, on the other hand, is staunchly anti-war, and his supporters will lean towards Obama and Edwards. As for Kucinich and Gravel supporters, Edwards will probably be their guy. Dodd's supporters could go anywhere.
This caucus rule means that no Iowa poll is truly meaningful unless it asks respondents for their second pick.
Happy Birthday Toni-Teen. Enjoy today and all days that follow too. I'm glad your heart is fixed so you can share more birthdays, Monkey.
nmp said,
I certainly hope that you can manage that nmp. We need to start helping people to understand that they have to finish what was begun in 06. Good luck.
James Michael McHaney was fired Friday from his job as a scheduler for Cantwell, D-Wash., hours after he was arrested by FBI agents. The FBI said in a charging document that McHaney allegedly tried to set up a meeting with an undercover witness posing online as a teenage boy.
McHaney, who appeared in federal court Saturday, was being held without bond pending a court hearing Wednesday, said Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia.
According to court papers, McHaney, known as Mike, tried to arrange a lunchtime meeting with an unidentified person posing as a 13-year-old boy.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/Senate_aide_arrested_in_sex_sting_12032007.html
I recommend to everyone that you go check out the videos on the DCP closed-thread - especially the Irishman who said all the things I've been saying for years. That Democracy is what you must have, provided the United States is happy with your choice of leaders. Otherwise - That democratically elected group must go - and be replaced by one that is acceptable.
Excellent videos. I want to join that International group!
Monkey, did you get a package today?
And Woz, go look at Leylas pic on my site, the comments section under it.
And Carol, I already do not believe in the death penalty already. I have no faith in our system of 'justice'.
The epiphany that turned me into a democrat also changed my religion. At some point I heard the words 'jury deleberates death penalty' that week and all I could see was this image of wolves in my mind. A whole pack twittering and shaking with fear and excitement while getting in line to roll to bear their throats for the alpha wolf. Lining up to KILL for him.
I know, it is wierd, but, it was a religious thing, and now I always see that image while discussing the death penalty.
I made a promise to God I would never ask Him to forgive sins I committed while running with a pack.
An eye for an eye, and we would all be blind. For sure. But, it was never intended to be a passage that demanded vengence. It was meant as a limitation.
If someone takes your eye, the MOST you can take from them is an eye. And so forth.
People who use God to justify the death penalty revolt me and I enjoy letting them know how disgusting I find the notion.
Newt Freaking Gingritch, go figure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vou4qUu5YY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vou4qUu5YY&feature=related
Christy - I sent an email - 6.4MB - hope you're able to accept that size email. The pics aren't great. I'm a bit shaky with arms outstretched. I'll have a couple of friends here on Thursday so they can have a go if these aren't a help.
This is what I was talking about
Wolfowitz Returns to Bush Administration
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120307N.shtml
Michael Isikoff, of Newsweek, writes: "don't ever say the Bush administration doesn't take care of its own. Nearly three years after Paul Wolfowitz resigned as deputy Defense secretary and six months after his stormy departure as president of the World Bank - amid allegations that he improperly awarded a raise to his girlfriend - he's in line to return to public service."
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org has a bit about Thom Hartmann on Air America talking about that creepy bill r/t "homegrown" dissidents - people keep emailing me about it & it makes my skin crawl
Don't know why that posted twice.
Here's more from my NW USA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22eubaCUNJU&feature=related
That was courtesy of Garfield HS, Seattle, WA. Me, I am Cleveland HS, Portland, OR.
Chuck in Houston
Christy
Speaking of wolf imagery .. Wolfowitz
Just heard a woman on the radio .. story about Iowa caucus goers.
NPR, or course. She said, "I am tired of paying for breakfast for other people's children." Granted it would be nice if everyone everywhere woke up to a nice warm breakfast but that's not real. I can't imagine that this woman had any maternal instinct, & not much humanity either, & if she felt in anyway proficient in any religion, then I would call her a complete hypocrite. The essence of most religions is compassion, the part that is not made up by power-seeking practitioners.
Chuck
For you. I have it on my MySpace page.
NMP:
But there is no song there! Let me think of one....
Chuck in Houston
K stati, v pravde net izvestii i v izvestie net pravdy
The double post is ok Chuck. I was just thinking that I'm so glad I was around for the likes of Dylan and Lennon et al. And the words still stir the soul.
I now look at my heart surgery as a pre-emptive strike!
Happy B-Day to my little Toni!
Ahahahahaha poor Monkey, happy birthday little Toni
NMP:
Needs some music behind it like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD7s4i_X-p0&feature=related
Chuck in Houston
Woz
In 2008 we have a chance to get enough Senate seats to have 60 or more - to prevent vetoes.
I'm praying for it, but will 60 be enough with the like of lieberman, fienstien, and the rest of the Democratic Senate that grants Bush every criminal endeavour, I think the Democratic Senate will be needing a lot more than 60 seats.
Chuck
Perfect!
Guys:
Did you notice that on that Voodoo Child I posted every drumstick on a high-hat or cymbal or snare or drum, every pick on a guitar or bass string, and every lip convolution on a mike corresponded exactly to a sound? That's what I am talking about -- the real thing!
We did that to the world and we are proud of it!
Chuck in Houston (ex-SE Portland)
Is that Jimmi Hendrix?
I know it probably sounds duh, but he was kinda before my time.
What's this all about?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO9dbmJ_2zU&feature=related
Chuck in Houston
And how does it relate to this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgSWRicWIy4&feature=related
Chuck in Houston
Christy:
That was Jimi Hendrix, from Seattle Washington and the US Paratroops. He was a few years before my time too. But as my neighborhood was also a few years behind the times it all sort of evened out.
Chuck in Houston
Christy:
By the way, I am company, which is differnt than contractors (service companies) so that is a whole different niche. Houma and Morgan City should be hopping right now though! Overseas should bring a big premium.
Chuck in Houston
I was raised on Marty Robbins and Johnny Horton. But I fully admit it was a miserable childhood.
Actually I am ok with his job right now. Even if he has doubts.
He gets his oilrigs and I get him home most nights.
Due to my ongoing and overwhelming obsession with him, I just prefer he NOT go to Morgan City or Houma or anywhere else for that matter.
I just never mention 'nuclear energy' cause then he starts grunting and talking globally. The whole concept excites him.
I must be a twit cause to be honest, it bores the crap out of me. Just don't tell him I said so.
HAHA! The COMPANY MAN!
How does it feel to know pretty much everyone in the field dreads your presence?
Christy:
They used to but things are on their head right now in the oil field. It will come back around again though. Very un-natural. But we all have to adjust once in a while. As we say, be careful of who you step on on your way up -- you might have to step over them on your way back down! I just try to keep my head down but to never back down, if you know what I mean.
Chuck in Houston
Well, since my man don't have to answer to them, he actually has several good friends who are company men. But the guys working under them always seem to want to frag them.
Christy:
I guess it depends on the company. My boss is a good guy and fair. But there are all kinds. And a lot of the service companies right now are acting-out like spoiled brats. I guess the oil patch is just like everywhere else.
Chuck in Houston
Christy:
By the way I am not a company man I am contracts and procurement. Some of my good friends are Company Men though.
Chuck in Houston
Iowa contest will hinge on an important rule
When all the Biden, Kucinich, Gravel, Dodd, and Richardson supporters discover that their candidates don't meet the 15% viability rule, they will need to either choose another candidate or walk out of the caucus location. So for Obama, Hillary and Edwards, being the second choice of those supporters is critical.
This caucus rule will likely decide the outcome:
The key is a Democratic rule that candidates need the backing of at least 15 percent of people at a caucus meeting for that support to count. If a candidate doesn't achieve the 15 percent viability rule, the candidate's supporters can switch to their second choice or call it quits.
@@@@@@@@@
Perhaps the viability rule should be changed
Perhaps Iowa should NOT go first everytime.
Perhaps Iowa should, in fact, be a primary and not a caucus....
but hey, I am just a cranky old liberal Democrat tired of crumby candidates and horrible campaigns.....
I find this viability rule kind of stupid, especially in the FIRST primary state where voters barely know the candidates - and there are many candidates to chose from - 8 or so.
The other thing I find stupid about Iowa is the Monday NIGHT, IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER voting. That seems guaranteed to make the turn-out miniscule and unrepresentative (of an already unrepresentative state). And perhaps that is what the lame party bosses want is a low (unrepresentative) turn-out. The party insiders are then not threatened by newcomers, at least this is how the Dem party works in Michigan. Suz can tell you all about it. Here the worst thing would be to increase party membership and have more people attending meetings.., voting and aware....
Dear Al:
And, to stay in character, and with all due respects to Ralpheh, I have to say, for all my good friends in Arkansas, be they Clinton lovers or haters, and to all my relatives in Chicago, be they Clinton lovers or haters, go Hillary! Whoop them good!
Chuck in Houston
PS: Barring that, Obama or Edwards better dang straight whoop them good. I'm OK with that too.
Oops -- Al = All in the above
And the Hogs did whup LSU!
Of course, as no one is weighing in on this weighty debate, I have to say, being from SE Portland, that I was and am always partial to OSU Beavers.
Think of this as Led Zeppelin (or not):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhGZdSkX6IM&feature=related
Chuck in Houston
This is a bit more Cleveland HS Class of 1979:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiL1sjGIcew&feature=related
Whichis from 1969.
For Madame De Farge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5Xf0N9Juko&feature=related
Going backwards, i.e., pre-Zep:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Recd6Us9g&feature=related
Weird....
I've combined a few of Pluto in Capricorn contributions for ISAR Financial into an expanded, coherent forecast piece about the shape of the next forty years. Here's an excerpt:
A Brief Look Forward
Pluto will enter Capricorn in early 2008, immediately after the beginning of the primary season. It will remain in Capricorn through 2024, at which point it will enter Aquarius.
The last two cycles of Pluto through Capricorn brought, arguably, the two most important (and successful) revolts against unhealthy institutional hegemony in the West's long history: 1) the Protestant Reformation; 2) the American Revolution. Martin Luther nailed his objections to Pope Leo X's Catholic Church to the door of that Wittenberg Church in 1517, two years after Pluto's passage into Capricorn. His objections were initially spurred by the first of the two Medici Popes' dramatic expansion of the selling of indulgences in order to finance the construction of St. Peter's, as well as to defray the costs for his and his brother's extravagant Vatican lifestyle. Luther's revolt of individual conscience, of the right of every man to read the Bible, and come to his own conclusion about what those words meant to him (a requirement that Mohammed makes of every Muslim with regard to The Koran), marked a decisive turning point in the battle for liberty and individual rights. Luther lit a spark that would later be taken up by others, sometimes for reasons decidedly less noble, a spark that would eventually lead to the English Revolution of 1643, to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and to Philadelphia.
Similarly, when Pluto reached Capricorn in 1762, the British were celebrating their triumph in the Seven Years War (a war, like Bush's current war on terror, fought on a global scale) - but also looking for ways to pay off the crushing debts that their wars for Empire had incurred. Inasmuch as the British had protected the Colonials during the North American component of this war, known in these parts as "The French and Indian War", the British quite reasonably, at least from their point-of-view, expected that the Colonials bore some responsibility for the paying off these debts. This led to a tax on paper, which was known as the Stamp Act. However reasonable English expectations that these Colonials, who viewed themselves as proud Englishmen, should be grateful to pay their fair share, those expectations failed to take into account one salient fact - that the Colonials had never paid any taxes whatsoever on internal commerce to the British. Moreover, from the colonialists' point-of-view, the Colonies had been more or less settled without material help from the Crown. They prospered under the policy of benign neglect, most famously implemented under the Walpole Administration of the early 18th century. Moreover, as historians point out, while the common man in England had little expectation of a say in the affairs of government, local rule was very much an established tradition in America by the 1760s. Hence, when King George and Parliament attempted to impose their authority on the colonies, they were attempting something that struck these proud "Englishmen" as unprecedented, and utterly unacceptable. As so was born the battle cry, "taxation without representation is tyranny".
In both of these instances, financial insolvency coupled to an archaic and unhealthy notion of absolute hegemony in an area of human activity led to crisis, and ultimately rebellion. The selling of indulgences was not new, but the dramatic expansion of the sale of these indulgences during the later days of Pluto in Sagittarius, by a corrupt Pope who yielded virtually unlimited power over the religious life of Catholic Europe, pushed Luther into first disputation, and eventually, rebellion.
In one of the more remarkable parallels between our present cycle and the previous cycle, both an inexperienced George III and George W. Bush were convinced by more experienced men (Lord Bute and Dick Cheney) serving as their actual/de-facto tutors that the power of the British Crown/American Presidency had been seriously eroded by an unwarranted encroachment by legislatures – in the instance of George III, by Parliament since the Glorious Revolution, and in the instance of the American Presidency, by the United States Congress in the post-Watergate era. While the Colonists initially citied Parliament as the institution seeking to deprive them of their liberty, and continued to harbor feelings of loyalty and warmth for the King well into the early 1770s, in actuality, it was George III seeking to reassert the influence of the Crown, who was principally behind the numerous attempts at imposing ultimate British authority over the colonies. Given that GW Bush will be leaving office in January 2009, this parallel cannot be taken too far – yet it is quite likely that Bush's decisions have inescapably shaped the geopolitical and economic landscape that future Presidents will need to deftly navigate during the next two phases of the Pluto cycle – especially if Bush is permitted by Congress to attack Iran between now and the end of his term.
- more -
http://www.hpleft.com/120307.html
Ralpheh,
The caucus model is actually FAR more democratic than a winner-takes-all model, because it gives each participant a platform to make the arguments for their candidates and to persuade others. It makes for a far more informed electorate and that is a GOOD thing.
It is a form of proportional representation, which I am encouraging Richard to write about because he knows a great deal more about it than I do.
I just know that the responsibility for convincing others of the rightness of one's own beliefs and concerns is a fundamental aspect of an intelligent citizenry, and we need more of that rather than less.
Matthew,
Thanks for that great historical analysis. I see you as a brilliant analyzer of historical patterns and I encourage you, as always, to write and study more!
Hey Christy...
I did get the pkg yesterday, and it's awesome! It'll be prominently displayed at the Ball in January. Muchas gracias, mi amiga!
Btw, I happen to really dig both Marty Robbins & Johnny Horton... to this day, I think Robbins' Gunfighter Ballads and Trail songs are some of the best written, authentic American songs out there. They don't write em like that anymore... I could listen to Johnny Hortons version of "The Battle of New Orleans" anytime.
But then again, I have a soft spot for the history of contemporary music, dontcha know.
Yee frickin haw.
Bush to pressure Congress on Iraq, spending
Iran another likely topic in president's first briefing in nearly seven weeks
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, entrenched in disputes with Congress over spending and the war in Iraq, wants to intensify pressure on lawmakers when he addresses the media on Tuesday. It will be his first news conference in nearly seven weeks.
The president is expected to again admonish Congress for not sending him spending bills, intelligence legislation and tax-law changes. Bush, taking advantage of his veto power and the largest bully pulpit in town, regularly scolds Congress as a way to stay relevant and frame the debate as his presidency winds down.
Democrats counter that Bush is more interested in making statements than genuinely trying to negotiate some common ground with them.
The news conference is scheduled for 10:01 a.m. EST Tuesday.
more on...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22095352/
Another re-run of "The English Butcher".
As long as Matthew is going back to the 1500's, so will I...
Researchers Find 459-Year-Old N.C. Pine Tree
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. -- Graduate student Jason Ortegren's research project features a 459-year-old window that looks back on the past not through glass, but through wood. Living wood.
As part of his research at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Ortegren and geography professor Paul Knapp have discovered what might be the oldest living longleaf pine in North America, which is to say the oldest in the world.
But if you're envisioning something majestic, something like a gigantic redwood from the West Coast, think again.
"No layman would ever think that tree is how old it really is. It's stunted. It's gnarly," Ortegren said, a note of wonder and excitement creeping into his academic demeanor.
"I walked right by it. It looks unimpressive in most of the ways you can look at a tree," Ortegren said. "It was (Knapp) who said, 'Why don't we core this one?' "
Coring is the process by which a long, narrow plug is removed harmlessly from a tree to reveal the interior rings that document its age and some of the conditions under which it has lived.
The two scientists from the UNC-Greensboro Tree Ring Science Lab made their discovery this summer at the state-owned Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve in Southern Pines, pinpointing the tree's first reliable evidence of life in the year 1548.
Imagine a life span that extends from the era of American Indian supremacy and the Spanish conquistadors to the Industrial Revolution, interstate highways and the international space station.
But perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Ortegren's find is the larger purpose it could serve, a purpose that makes crystal clear the value of preserving large swaths of nature.
Ortegren is writing a doctoral dissertation focused on drought - massive and unrelenting drought that might make the Triad's current dry spell look like a blip on the radar.
He is seeking cycles of climate measured by the century, not by the year or decade, cycles at a scale that might suggest, for example, that every 150 or 200 years North Carolina suffers a whopper drought lasting for 10 consecutive years.
He pursues this quest by examining the growth rings of ancient longleafs and other trees, teasing out North Carolina's cycles of abundant rainfall and extended dry spells by analyzing the evidence buried deep in each trunk.
Reliable weather records go back only about 100 years, so the evidence in ancient trees can lengthen the rear-view mirror by centuries.
What Ortegren learns, when compared with similar studies, could foretell or diminish the threat of a monster drought here on the order of the 1930s drought that devastated Oklahoma and the Great Plains.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22095105
Iran: U.S. must 'pay the price' for nuclear accusations
(CNN) -- Iran said Tuesday the Bush administration must "pay the price" for what it called "lies" concerning Tehran's nuclear program.
A declassified summary of a National Intelligence Estimate released by the U.S. government on Monday said Iran had stopped working toward a nuclear weapon in 2003 and is unlikely to be able to produce enough enriched uranium for a bomb until at least 2010.
The estimate is less severe than a 2005 report that judged the Iranian leadership was "determined to develop nuclear weapons despite its international obligations and international pressure."
On its Web site, Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency called the updated estimate "a necessary and positive step in Tehran-Washington relations, but undoubtedly is not sufficient."
"The U.S. administration should know that only admitting a mistake is not enough," the IRNA report said.
Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham, quoted on the IRNA site, was more harsh but offered no specifics.
"U.S. officials have so far inflicted ... damage on the Iranian nation by spreading lies against the country and by disturbing public opinion, therefore, they have to pay the price for their action," Elham is quoted as saying.
President Bush was expected to face questions about the Iran report at a Tuesday morning news conference.
U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley expressed hope after Monday's announcement of the new estimate, but he said Iran remains a serious threat.
"We have good reason to continue to be concerned about Iran developing a nuclear weapon even after this most recent National Intelligence Estimate," he told reporters at the White House. "In the words of the NIE, quote, Iranian entities are continuing to develop a range of technical capabilities that could be applied to producing nuclear weapons, if a decision is made to do so."
He said that technology developed for Iran's civilian nuclear power program could help enrich uranium for use in weapons and that Iran is continuing to develop ballistic missiles.
Hadley said U.S. policy toward Iran has not changed because of the new report.
"If we want to avoid a situation where we either have to accept Iran ... with a path to a nuclear weapon, or the possibility of having to use force to stop it, with all the connotations of World War III -- then we need to step up the diplomacy, step up the pressure, to get Iran to stop their so-called civilian uranium enrichment program," he said. "That's our policy going forward -- no change."
more on....
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/04/iran.nuclear/index.html
MSNBC BREAKING NEWS: At press conference, Bush says Iran is still 'dangerous', new report is "warning sign'
AGAIN with the World War III shit and "so-called" accusations...
Is there a John Wilkes or Lee Harvey in the house?
Bush to Congress: Fund the wars now
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush challenged Congress Tuesday to quickly pass war funding legislation before its December holiday recess.
However, the president warned that "if the Congress passes an irresponsible spending bill, I'm going to veto it," Bush told reporters during a White House news conference, his first in nearly seven weeks.
Bush said Congress was poised to pile all its pending spending bills into a single, "monstrous piece of legislation which they will load up with billions of dollars in earmarks and wasteful spending."
"Based on the record so far, Americans could be forgiven for thinking that Santa will have slipped down their chimney on Christmas Eve before Congress finishes its work," Bush said. "Let's hope they're wrong."
more on...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/04/bush.congress/index.html
Dipshitius Maximus
Ok Monkey. If yours got through then Rossis should be on the way too. Man that PO lady made me want to mail her somewhere with no return options.
And I never said Johnny Horton or Marty Robbins did not have merit. In fact, Marty Robbins probably has what I believe is one of the purest male voices ever to sing...
However, hve you ever tried being a hip teenager in the 80s with 'The Sincking of the Bismark' playing in the background...? It don't work.
I was however the only kid in class that knew what the Bismark was, that they sunk The Hood, and when it was sunk itself.
'The fog was on the sabbath day, and they saw the morning sun.
Ten hours away from homeland, the Bismark made it's run.
The Admiral of the British Fleet, said 'Turn those bows around!'
"We found that German battleship, and we are gonna cut her down!"
"When Honest Abe heard the news about your fall, The folks thought he called a great Victory Ball.
But he asked the band to play the song 'Dixie'. For you Johnny Reb, and all that you believe."
U.S. intel on weapons again found lacking
WASHINGTON - First Iraq, now Iran. The United States has operated under a cloud of faulty intelligence in both countries.
-snip-
‘Less determined ... than we have been judging’
In rewriting the conclusions about Iran, the new estimate said Tehran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program but halted that effort in the fall of 2003 under the weight of international pressure. Importantly, the estimate said Iran has not restarted the nuclear bomb program.
“Tehran’s decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005,” the new estimate said.
While key facts have changed, the administration’s strategy has not.
The White House says it will continue to try to build pressure on Iran to prevent it from ever acquiring nuclear bombs.
“The bottom line is that for that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and with other financial pressure,” Hadley said. “And Iran has to decide that it wants to negotiate a solution.”
Some analysts believe the new conclusions will be a roadblock for Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawkish members of the administration to be more confrontational toward Iran.
“It’s a good thing that we caught this before we marched headlong into another military conflict,” said Jon Wolfsthal, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “This isn’t the timebomb the administration made it out to be for the last several years.”
Wolfsthal said the conclusion that international pressure prompted Iran to halt its program “is the piece of information that we missed in Iraq” where Bush believed that Iraq’s pursuit of WMD was continuing despite sanctions. He said the administration did not appear inclined to change its strategy toward Iran. He said that “suggests they can’t take yes for an answer.”
more on...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22097013/
Yeah Christy, that's whats cool about those songs, ya actually learned history from em!
For example, the Battle of New Orleans...
Music and lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood: Jimmy Driftwood was a high school principal and history teacher who loved to sing, play instruments and write songs. Mr. Driftwood wrote many songs, all for the sole purpose of helping his students learn about this battle and other historical events. But this song turned out to be so popular that it won the 1959 Grammy Award for Song Of The Year (awarded in 1960 for musical accomplishments in 1959). Johnny Horton also won the 1959 Grammy Award for Best Country And Western Performance for his recording of this song. "The Battle of New Orleans," is about a battle in the War of 1812, and it became one of the biggest selling hits of 1959. Students might also be interested to know that there is a movie called "The Buccaneer" about the Battle of New Orleans. It is interesting to reflect on the fact that despite the turbulant early relationship between England and the American colonists, our two countries have long since been strongly united. The words were written to correspond with an old fiddle tune called "The 8th of January," which is the date of the famous "Battle of New Orleans".
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/battleof.htm
We fired our cannon til the barrel melted down. So we grabbed an alligator, and fought another round. We filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind. And when we took the powder off, the gator LOST HIS MIND!
I know them all by heart. And you are right, they did teach you history. The alligator part though was certainly an exagerration.
Fog of battle type stuff.
monkey
Happy b-day to your daughter Toni!
You'll be in for a heck of a ride for sure.
Actually Christy, the term "alligator" as it's used in the song is some way cool double entendre lyrical spin...
One of the definitions of the word "alligator" from the dictionary has to do with the technique of working or heating metals so as to give them certain desired shapes or properties:
alligator: Metallurgy, a machine for bringing the balls of iron from a puddling furnace into compact form so that they can be handled.
Happy birthday to Toni!
And also to my Shelby who turned 15 yesterday.
It could be worse Monkey, you could have a teenaged BOY.
God do they ever stop eating?
Hey cool, we have have daughters who share the same birthday!
As for the teenage boy thing, I'll letcha know in 4 years when my little guy hits 13... right now he goes by El Diablo! ;-)
"alligator: Metallurgy, a machine for bringing the balls of iron from a puddling furnace into compact form so that they can be handled. "
Now that is very freaking interesting. Hmmm.
But as a kid, thinking about the looks on the faces of those bloody British when we wrestled a gator down and filled it with cannon balls to shot at them highly amused me.
By the way speakng of history.
Matthew, Great comparision with the Capricorn thing. Also damn interesting.
Yup, smae day. My sisters oldest daughter was also born on Dec. 3rd. And it also would have been my grandparents 65th anniversary, had they lived.
We are bad about doubling up or having consecutive birthdays in our family.
Sorry about the funky mispellings. I am typing with frozen fingers.
It is Sparrows fault.
sparrow still do that voodoo that she do?
I just posted a new item on the blog that takes off from some of the comments about the Iowa caucuses in this thread. Come on over!
We can't Richard.
Most of us can not post 'over there'.
Probably cause DW banned us, but we love her to death anyway.
If you don't mind being an outcast, the isolation can actually be quite comforting.
But thanks for the invite anyway.
Comment Box still not coming up for me on home page, I keep signing in all the time, it okays my sign in but no comment box appearing.
"I still feel strongly that Iran's a danger," Bush said. "Nothing's changed in this NIE that we say, 'Well, let's stop worrying about it.'"
Bush said Iran could resume a covert nuclear program, and he warned that Iranian leaders could pass along knowledge on building a nuclear weapon to terrorist groups.
"Most of the world understands that Iran with a nuclear weapon could be a serious danger to peace," Bush said, calling on US allies to maintain diplomatic pressure on Iran.
The United States needs to act immediately, he said, to dissuade Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.
"Our policy remains the same," Bush said. "I see a danger, and much of the world sees the same danger."
Bush also refused to rule-out the possibility of a military strike against Iran now that he knows the country's nuclear weapons program has been dormant for four years.
"The best diplomacy — effective diplomacy — is one in which all options are on the table," he said.
more on...
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Bush_My_opinion_hasnt_changed_toward_1204.html
"I see a danger" ... yeah, like that hasn't gotten our asses into trouble already.
Sooo, the best diplomacy according to NumbNut is STILL to threaten others, huh?
The man has learned nothing.
Probably cause DW banned us
Dwah you banning us, naughty girl?
Monkey, can you please email me? I have Monkey Ball issues.
What happens when the president of Iran comes flat out and says bush is a 'liar'..?
I mean... what if...he actually uses the word 'liar'...?
Oh my. What an interesting 'What if'.
Mail en route, Christy...
Rats eating rats. I wonder how fellow republicans will feel about being outright threatened by Karl Rove ?
"Some in his own party broke with him on the war, but as the "surge" takes hold and the president regains his footing — and with rising poll numbers, to boot — Mr. Bush looms large for Republican contenders next November.
"Nobody can risk looking disrespectful to the president without paying a price, and they need to understand that," said Mr. Rove, Mr. Bush's former top political adviser."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071204/NATION/112040060/1001
Hear that? Nobody. Or you will 'pay a price'.
Ummhmm. Loud and clear KARL.
To sad another voice gone, first River and now Layla.
I'm sure they embrace Georgies Liberation of Iraq, with so much hatred, and vengeance
Forget the Hail Marys Kev.
I sit here thinking of being driven out oh my home that I have lived in since I was 18 years old, 43 years, all the memories all the dreams of a lifetime, by bombs, militias, driven by lies from the so called President of the USA and I cannot comprehend it in any way.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
It was time for me to leave.
With my back against the wall, there was only one way- through that Door.
A door I had known for years. A door I had memorized by heart. A door who was so faithful to my comings and goings...She never failed to open or close, totally at my bequest.
This time, it called on me and said "pull me open" and I did...
I can still feel the brass handle in my hands, copper colored, rusty and engraved by all of your fingerprints...
My hand hesitated a while before it gripped it. It rested there until I summoned the force to turn that knob and pulled that Door towards me...
It was very silent that morning. Yet I found myself tiptoeing in the empty house. As if not to wake anyone up. They were all absently asleep.
I checked each room and even arranged the covers of one of the beds. I made sure it was well stretched with no creases. A perfect empty bed...
The shutters were down, but not completely. I thought to myself, let the Light in. Maybe the Light will visit and knock on that door while am gone...
I walked towards my library, looked at my shelves and ran my fingers across the arranged piles as if running my fingers through a lover's hair...
I delicately stroked my paintings, infusing my palm with their colors. I then, clenched my fist, as if to capture and hold them there, right in the center of my palm.
I promised them that when we meet again, I will be intransigent with the dust and will never let it gather again...
I noticed a CD in the player. I left it there and left the cover empty, wide open, exposing the name of the songs and that of the singer.
On the small table there was a candle half burned down. The dripping, melted wax had frozen on the edges and looked like sour grapes hanging from a vine tree, dangling, reaching the dark mahogany wood and forming a cluster of white clouds...
Next to it was an empty cup of coffee...whose rim was stained with brown patches, like narrow paths, where the hot liquid had travelled...leaving at the bottom of the cup a thick dark opaque mud...
http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2007/12/door.html
I left the cup sitting there. I left it with its dark rims and its dark remnants sitting next to the frozen white clouds...Clouds gathered from a small warm light, a small candle light that is now dead...
I pulled that handle, and caressed the Door, one final caress.
I stepped out in the blinding, glaring sun. I straddled towards the gate. I did not look back. I could not.
But I could not help but see the little palm tree that I had planted some time ago, wave my way and call my name out, as I walked out. As I walked out and away, towards the Unknown...
Karl Rove das protect The Fuhrer, no?
Don't bother hitting that link I just posted.
It is so full of fawning ass kissing and outright LIES it does not even deserve the hits.
Example
'Democratic support for the war more than doubled from 16% to 33%.'
Ummmhmm. According to WHAT POLL? It doesn't say.
Voice(s) of Reason
At last, intel agencies seem to be on the right track about Iran's nuke program. Inside the latest assessment.
Newsweek
It's tough when you've been a president with a faith-based foreign policy and the facts get in the way. That much was clear as President George W. Bush tried this morning to explain a fundamental change in his government's evaluation of Iran's nuclear ambitions. "Without getting into sources and methods," he said with what may have been self-conscious irony, "our intelligence community has made a great discovery." The bottom line: Iran had a covert nuclear weapons program, as administration officials have long suspected, but that same program was stopped in the fall of 2003. While Bush was raising the specter of World War III with Iran a few weeks ago, his spies were checking and rechecking the information they had that made such statements look, well, apocalyptically overblown.
In fact, the intelligence community has acted this time around as it should have done before the invasion of Iraq, making its estimates on the basis of the best information at hand, not the best information the administration wanted to hear. We should thank God and perhaps Robert Gates, the old CIA hand who's now secretary of defense. We should thank all the rational minds in the 16 various agencies whose just-issued National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) reached these conclusions. And we should be glad they've pretty well humiliated the chicken hawks in the Bush administration—those few, that is, who haven't flown the coop or been fired.
Two years ago, when those guys were still in charge, the previous NIE expressed "high confidence that Iran currently is determined to develop nuclear weapons." How did they know that? Apparently they didn't. But that's what they assumed, and that assumption has been driving a lot of the bellicose talk in Washington ever since.
We should also thank the Nobel Peace Prize–winning International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, who has been vilified by the right wing in Israel and the United States with a rancor that borders on hysteria. This so-called "rogue regulator" and "cat's paw for Iran" has been, in fact, just about the only public voice of reason authoritative enough to resist the agitprop coming out of Tel Aviv, Washington and, more recently, Paris. ElBaradei clearly deserves an apology from the neocons that he has taken to calling, undiplomatically but accurately, the "new crazies."
Note that I do not say Iran deserves an apology.
more...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/73719
~new thread for the dial-ups~