Building a Democracy?
The Christian Science Monitor has a great piece today on how the new Iraqi government is being formed.

Old Iraqi council clings to key roles
In a little-noticed edict, the defunct council guaranteed itself seats on Iraq's Interim National Council, a 100-member assembly that will have power to approve the 2005 budget, veto executive orders with a two-thirds majority, and appoint replacements to the presidency. The former council also guaranteed itself seats on a headspinning array of committees that will select other members of the new body.

As political players jockey for positions in the upcoming council, the selection process is being dominated by members of the Governing Council - including Ahmed Chalabi, whose office was raided last month by US and Iraqi security forces investigating charges of kidnapping, corruption, and robbery. The role of former council members is raising concerns among many Iraqis that their involvement may taint the legitimacy of the new government. It is especially troubling to those who had hoped for a more homegrown leadership to emerge.

"There are very important and gifted and honest Iraqi personalities who up until now have been distanced from the new government," said Jawadat al-Obeidi, secretary-general of the Iraqi Democratic Congress, an umbrella group of 216 Iraqi political parties. He reels off a list of names of academics, doctors, and other prominent Iraqis who have been excluded from the process. "These people are trying to go to the Governing Council members, but no one answers or returns their calls..."

"Essentially, the Iraqi Governing Council seems to have granted itself life after death," said Nathan Brown, a political science professor at The George Washington University in Washington.

Chalabi, who fought bitterly with Mr. Brahimi, tried to veto several of his choices for the Supreme Commission. "When we looked at Brahimi's list, we saw people on it who weren't respected in Iraq - some of them live abroad, and some were people who had strong relations with former regime," said Salama al-Khafaji, a Shiite professor also on the committee. "So Chalabi and I protested; Chalabi said he has files on some of the people on the list."

With the former Governing Council calling the shots, many fear that the national conference will merely rubber-stamp its decisions. "I wish it was a different group of people who are selecting this government, rather than people who lived abroad in New York, London, and Washington, drinking whiskey and going out to nightclubs," said Hameed Hassan al-Obaidi, who is sheikh of a 750,000-member Shiite tribe.

Mr. Obaidi's comments reflect the deep dissatisfaction many Iraqis feel with the presence of exiles on the former council and in the new government. (Iraq's new prime minister, former council member Iyad Allawi, is a former exile with CIA ties.)..

Even insiders are dissatisfied with the way the new government is being planned. Dr. Khafaji blasted what she calls the exclusion of anyone from the Sadrist camp - a political movement that includes not just followers of the militant young cleric, but those who adhere to the tradition of his more moderate father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr, a dissident Shiite cleric assassinated by Saddam Hussein in 1999.

Wednesday, the chairman of the Supreme Commission said Sadr's followers had been invited to join. But a Sadr spokesman said the cleric declined the offer of one seat as only a token measure.

"In the Supreme Commission, there is an important Iraqi social movement that is not represented, which is Sadr and the entire Sadrist movement," said Khafaji.

Though a former Governing Council member herself, Khafaji said she opposed the guarantee of seats for herself and her colleagues. "But the CPA argued that the Governing Council members have expertise in running the country, and that different bodies will gain from our experience," she said. "I argued for having a debate and discussion, and competing for seats.... I think it is something that is not democratic, and it is not Iraqi."

Energy Crack Force

Supreme Court sends Cheney energy panel case back to lower court
The Bush administration won't have to reveal secret details of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force before the election, after the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a lower court should spend more time sorting out the White House's privacy claim.

NewsCrax

I was just over at NewsMax, and apart from being very funny it also shows how stupid or brainwashed our opponents are. Check out these headlines.

Justice O'Connor Continues Leftward Tilt
Particularly galling is her retreat on abortion wrongs and racial quotas.

More Blacks Run as Republicans


"Environmentalists" fail in their attempt to block shipping and cause flooding. Bonus: Tom Daschle is mad. (too funny)

The Mens Choice™: ‘The Most Comprehensive Study Into Male Sexual Enhancement’. Each year, 20 men compare two different Natural Products for Male Sexual Health and publish their results. Click Here To See Recommended Effective Products.

And enough stuff on Michael Moore that makes me think right wingers want to have sex with him almost as bad as they do with Clinton.

Any ideas?
Nader is really starting to confuse me. Yesterday he got in a shouting match with members of the Black Caucus when they asked him to drop out of the race. Then he sends a letter to John Kerry telling him to pick John Edwards as VP. Finally, he says on NPR that people should come to his rallies, but actually vote for Kerry... Any idea what he's up to?

The Environmental President
I remember when Dubya was elected, I was primarily scared for the fate of our natural resources and the environment. This war in Iraq and the war on terra switched my focus. Unfortunately, everything is tied together. While it is important to be aware of all the bullshit his gang has created in the world, we need to be especially diligent in the attention we pay to the problems that are being created under the radar screen here at home.

Bush Administration Secrecy Imperils Environment and Public Health
The Bush administration is applying new levels of secrecy to public information, using the excuse of "national security risks" to undercut the public's right to know about contamination of the environment, transport of hazardous materials, pipeline routes, and more—putting public health at risk and chilling community activism.

"We've had national security exemptions for a long time under the Freedom of Information Act, and the ability to classify information if needed under other laws, and for good reason," Paul Orum, director of the non-partisan Working Group on Community Right-to-Know, tells BushGreenwatch. "Now, secrecy is creeping forward into other areas, and in subtle ways."

According to the Working Group, over six thousand public documents have been removed from the web sites of over a dozen government agencies since the fall of 2001.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, has removed parts of formerly-public Risk Management Plans from the web, documents that helped communities identify nearby chemical hazards. The Department of Energy has taken down environmental impact statements related to nuclear power plants, and hazardous materials transport information. The Department of Transportation removed from its web site much of the national pipeline mapping data that allowed communities to find hazardous pipeline routes.

President Bush has also issued executive orders that broaden the authority of agencies to withhold information from the public. May 2002's Executive Order 12958 gave the EPA Administrator authority to designate documents "Secret" or "Confidential," two of the three highest possible security classifications. It also allows the Administrator to delegate classification authority to senior EPA officials. Once classified, a person can gain access to information only when an agency head or their designee reviews the request, the person signs a non-disclosure agreement, and the person can establish a "need-to-know" to the satisfaction of agency officials.

The Bush administration has also reduced the public's access to unclassified information. 2002's Homeland Security Act allows agencies to withhold "sensitive but unclassified" information from the public. Information can be restricted with no review, even if public under other laws.

"The Bush administration is hostile to the idea that citizens need to watchdog the government, " says Orum.

We will not negotiate with terrorists
...But we will let 'em off scott free***

Saudis Offer Militants One-Month Amnesty
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia offered Islamic militants a limited amnesty Wednesday, saying their lives would be spared if they surrendered but they would face the "full might" of state wrath if they did not.

The ultimatum, issued in the name of King Fahd, called on militants to turn themselves in within a month — suggesting the kingdom was paving the way for a stepped up campaign against al-Qaida-linked fighters who have shaken the country with a series of deadly attacks.

***You have one month to take advantage of this great deal

Toxic Wonderland

Toxic Emissions Rising, EPA Says

Industry released 5 percent more toxic chemicals into the environment in 2002 than the year before, the Environmental Protection Agency reported yesterday.

The latest statistics, compiled in the agency's annual Toxic Release Inventory, represent a setback: In 2001, according to the inventory, toxic emissions had declined by about 16 percent. Environmental groups, moreover, charged yesterday that polluters were releasing four to five times more toxic material than they reported.

P-Town

Portland continues to draw the young and educated

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Young people continue to migrate to Portland, and they are bringing their college degrees with them.

A new study discovered that Portland's population of college-educated people between the ages 25 to 34 is growing at five times the national rate, putting the city in an enviable position for future job growth.

The researchers, Joe Cortright, a Portland economist, and Carol Coletta, an urban consultant in Memphis, Tenn., also found that Portland's proportion of such residents is much higher in the city's central areas than in other cities with similar geography.

The percentage of the young and educated is twice as high in central city as it is outside, making Portland more similar to New York and Chicago than to Phoenix or Denver, where growth is in the suburbs.

The study combines data from the 1990 Census and 2000 Census, the 2002 American Community survey and driver's license surrender lists.

Their findings reinforce the data about the influx of young educated people that emerged from the 2000 Census.

Despite Portland's economic difficulties over the past few years, "we're pretty confident that these trends are continuing," Cortright said.

The study was paid for by the Westside Economic Alliance, a trade group, and the Portland Development Commission, a public economic development agency. Additional financing came from Nike and the cities of Hillsboro, Beaverton and Tualatin.

Cortright said his study's findings should comfort those who lament Oregon's scarcity of Fortune 500 companies.

"Over the next five to 10 years, the creativity and entrepreneurship of people in this age group will create companies that we can no more imagine than the timber barons could imagine a shoe company being in the Fortune 500," he said.

Nike is the only Oregon company on the magazine's list of largest public companies.

I've always thought having less megacorps was a good thing.

October Surprise

It is inevitable that as meticulous as Karl Rove is, he will have the campaign plotted out to include one last October surprise to get voters hot for the Bush. Here's Waingroh's list of the Top 5 most likely possibilities:

5. Red Alert! The Terrorometer hits red for the first time, making anxious undecideds cower under Bush rhetoric; fearing that if Bush isn't re-elected, 9/11 2 (tm) will happen immediately.

4. We found Osama! Everyone rejoice, Osama has been captured and the War-on-terra (tm) is a continuing victory.

3. Photos of John Kerry released to Fox News proving that he is a homosexual flag-burning drug addict who has several black and latino kids out of wedlock and enjoys setting fire to the homeless and eating babies.

2. 10/11 - a terrorist attack, with incredibly useful political timing, strikes in the US, doing enough enough damage for Bush to declare a state of martial law and thus suspending national elections indefinitely.

1. Last, but not least probable, Diebold to the rescue. Kerry may win by millions of votes, but who could prove it? The Supreme Court votes down any attempt at a recount by a vote of 5-4, right on party lines.

Call it cynical, pessimist, or paranoid, but if the track record of calculated political moves from this band of thieves proves anything, it proves that you should expect the "shocking" to be anything but.

Sex and the Kerry

Via Cursor, Link

More than 20 million unmarried American women, a group polls have found are more liberal than the average person, never even voted in the 2000 presidential election. They didn't think it was worth the effort. If he reached out to those women as aerobically as George W. Bush has to evangelicals, Kerry could be working on his Inaugural speech right now. Instead the Democrats seem to be figuring that most female voters have nowhere else to go.

The Democrats have been accused of this a lot the last few years, but mainly in reference to minority voters. We could make this one a landslide, but Big John is gonna have to reach out to his base with the same fervor that Dinky does to his.

It's the cool thing to do
So by now everyone knows that the man from South Korea, Kim Sun-il, was beheaded, as well as Paul Johnson on Friday, Nick Berg last month and there will obviously be more to come since there were 10 other captured with Kim Sun-il. This is scary shit that is way out of control. What's more, our administration and news media would like to portray these extremists as barbaric and completely devoid of any humanity and the opposite of all that is great about the good old U.S. of A. Which, sounds great until you find out, WE'RE doing or supporting the same shit! It's not too obvious because our news reports it like this:

Four Suspected Taleban Militants Killed in Afghanistan
Afghan military officials say U.S.-led coalition forces and government soldiers have clashed with suspected Taleban rebels in southern Zabul province, killing four of them.

The officials say the fighting occurred late Monday in the Arghandab district of Zabul province after the militants kidnapped and executed an Afghan interpreter and a soldier earlier in the day.

However, if you dig a bit deeper and read how these people were killed, you get a very different story...

Afghans Behead Taliban in Revenge for Beheadings
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan soldiers beheaded four Taliban fighters after guerrillas cut off the heads of an Afghan interpreter for U.S.-led forces and an Afghan soldier, a government commander said on Tuesday.

The interpreter and the soldier were beheaded after becoming separated from a patrol of Afghan and U.S.-led foreign troops in the Arghandab district of the southern province of Zabul on Monday night, Namatullah Tokhi, commander of the government's 27th division in the province, told Reuters.

He said government troops later captured and killed four Taliban guerrillas in the same way.

"They cut off their heads with a knife, so when our forces arrested four Taliban, we cut off their heads too."

Combining the two:

U.S.-led coalition forces and government soldiers have beheaded four Taliban fighters after guerrillas cut off the heads of an Afghan interpreter for U.S.-led forces

Lovely.

It's Not Just a Fad

Sadly, they're just facts of life in the New W. Order.

Afghans behead Taliban in revenge for beheadings

Iraqi Militants Behead S. Korean Hostage

Even though the media has stopped counting...

14 coalition troops killed in the last 7 days, including 5 today...

Hersh Strikes Again, pt. 2

A few more gems from Hersch's report:

A few days later, the Administration, rattled by the violence and the new intelligence, finally attempted to change its go-it-alone policy, and set June 30th as the date for the handover of sovereignty to an interim government, which would allow it to bring the United Nations into the process. “November was one year before the Presidential election,” a U.N. consultant who worked on Iraqi issues told me. “They panicked and decided to share the blame with the U.N. and the Iraqis.”

A former White House official depicted the Administration as eager—almost desperate—late this spring to install an acceptable new interim government in Iraq before President Bush’s declared June 30th deadline for the transfer of sovereignty. The Administration turned to Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations special envoy, to “put together something by June 30th—just something that could stand up” through the Presidential election, the former official said.

The Saban Center’s Flynt Leverett said of the transfer of sovereignty, “If it doesn’t work, there is no fallback—nothing.” The former senior American intelligence official told me, similarly, that “the neocons still think they can pull the rabbit out of the hat” in Iraq. “What’s the plan? They say, ‘We don’t need it. Democracy is strong enough. We’ll work it out.’”

Clear cut evidence that this Administration lives in a vacuum. Instead of spinning politics to defend their policies, Bush & co. actually create policies strictly for its political potential. Instead of making the real world fit to live in, the Bushies rape reality so that they can polish their image on Fox News . It is a bizarre reverse-thinking; I'm half expecting to see a worm hole open up and the good Spock & Kirk come back from the alternate universe to save us.

Hersh Strikes Again

Ehud Barak, the former Israeli Prime Minister, who supported the Bush Administration’s invasion of Iraq, took it upon himself at this point to privately warn Vice-President Dick Cheney that America had lost in Iraq; according to an American close to Barak, he said that Israel “had learned that there’s no way to win an occupation.” The only issue, Barak told Cheney, “was choosing the size of your humiliation.” Cheney did not respond to Barak’s assessment. (Cheney’s office declined to comment.)

In a series of interviews in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, officials told me that by the end of last year Israel had concluded that the Bush Administration would not be able to bring stability or democracy to Iraq, and that Israel needed other options. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government decided, I was told, to minimize the damage that the war was causing to Israel’s strategic position by expanding its long-standing relationship with Iraq’s Kurds and establishing a significant presence on the ground in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Several officials depicted Sharon’s decision, which involves a heavy financial commitment, as a potentially reckless move that could create even more chaos and violence as the insurgency in Iraq continues to grow.

The whole story.

Reaching More People

Ludis is pleased to announce, in our all inclusive nature, that Ludis is now available in Latin. In our never ending quest to expose the right-wing, you can now read our diatribes in the language of Ancient Rome and the Vatican.
Have fun.

*UPDATE*
12:21 pm

Due to funding constraints and limited readership, the Latin Ludis website has been scrapped. We're sorry for this inconvenience.

WHOA!

I hope it's true:

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando Magic general manager John Weisbrod said Monday that contract discussions with Tracy McGrady have failed, and the Magic will pursue trading options for the star player.

Team sources told the Orlando Sentinel Monday that a three-way trade was being discussed with the Houston Rockets and the Portland Trailblazers. The deal would likely involve McGrady going to Portland, with Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Ruben Patterson, and the no. 13 and no. 22 pick to Orlando, and Eric Piatkowski would also be shipped to the Magic, with Houston receiving undisclosed second round draft picks. Though details were yet to be finalized, one source in the Magic team office called the deal "imminent".

T-Mac to the blazers, now all we need is Shaq!

You've got to Be Kidding Me

Bradbury: Change 'Fahrenheit' title

Ray Bradbury is demanding an apology from filmmaker Michael Moore for lifting the title from his classic science-fiction novel "Fahrenheit 451" without permission and wants the new documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" to be renamed.

"He didn't ask my permission," Bradbury, 83, told The Associated Press on Friday. "That's not his novel, that's not his title, so he shouldn't have done it."

The 1953 novel, widely considered Bradbury's masterpiece, portrays an ugly futuristic society in which firemen burn homes and libraries in order to destroy the books inside and keep people from thinking independently.

"Fahrenheit 451" takes its title from the temperature at which books burn. Moore
has called "Fahrenheit 9/11" the "temperature at which freedom burns."

Have the firemen from "451" gotten to Bradbury?

Boo Hoo

Nader upset over likely exclusion from debates

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is crying foul over the ground rules for this fall's presidential debates, which will likely leave him sitting on the sidelines again.

Ralph, don't go away mad... Ralph, just go away.

Welcome to 1984

"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and Al Qaeda" is "because there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda." - George W. Bush

Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. The Party intellectual knows in which direction his memories must be altered; he therefore knows that he is playing tricks with reality; but by the exercise of doublethink he also satisfies himself that reality is not violated. The process has to be conscious, or it would not be carried out with sufficient precision, but it also has to be unconscious, or it would bring with it a feeling of falsity and hence of guilt. doublethink lies at the very heart of Ingsoc, since the essential act of the Party is to use conscious deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty. To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies -- all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth. Ultimately it is by means of doublethink that the Party has been able -- and may, for all we know, continue to be able for thousands of years -- to arrest the course of history.

Let's hope not.

The Good Old Days

Remember when we lived in a world where unnecessary wars, torture, and beheadings weren't the norm? And our biggest problems were an expanding economy and an over-zealous prosecutor bent on exposing the sexual exploits of a Democratic president.

Even if Bush is defeated, and I think he will be, his disastrous policies have changed the world for ever, and cleaning up his mess will take decades.

Once again

Al Qaeda Beheads U.S. Hostage in Saudi, Site Says
DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda militants said they beheaded a U.S. engineer they had held hostage in Saudi Arabia since last week and displayed his severed head in pictures posted on an Islamist Web site Friday.

Al Qaeda had said the Saudi government had until Friday to free jailed militants or it would kill Paul Marshall Johnson.

yes HUH

Waingroh was really impressed by the president yesterday. Maybe all of his critics are underestimating W's finely tuned analytical mind. It's quite amazing to see when Our Dear Leader is put "under the spot" the kinds of concrete and devastating counter-arguments he makes to defend himself.

The 9/11 commission came out yesterday, and officially stated what everyone already knew: there is absolutely no evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and Al-Quaeda. This conclusion was made after interviewing hundreds of government officials and analyzing thousands of historical documents by a non-partisan panel of 10 US congressmen over the past 3 months. How could Bush possibly refute such a detailed finding about the non-existence of a Saddam / Al-quaeda link?

"Yes, HUH."

Like a small child who doesn't get his way but stubbornly hangs on to his story because he doesn't want his pants to catch fire, Bushy basically gave a giant middle finger to the massive efforts of the 9/11 commission. The unfortunate thing is, he won't be painted as the mindless fool he is; in fact his supporters will all fall in line behind him. Soon Karl Rove will order words like "witchhunt" or "liberal politicizing" to appear in news stories about the 9/11 panel. It's par for the course really; this administration has a set objective, and no matter what facts, truths, exposed lies, exposed corruptions, or congressional findings stand in their way, they don't let it alter their thinking. And they always get away with it.

Now watch this drive.

Bush on the Couch

Salon has a more in depth article on Drinky's mental state here. Pretty scary. And Billmon had this to say about Bush I and II's problems with communication.

Now the idea that the 43rd president of the United States may have a severe, probably undiagnosed, learning disability isn't a very original thought. (In his book, Dr. Levine also mentions that such disabilities sometimes seem inherited. Anyone who remembers 41's own ferocious, but losing, battles with the English language might suspect the same.)

Classic.

Dean?

Kos has the latest rumor on Kerry's VP selection.

Things Really are Getting Better

From Dahr, on a trip to Sadr City hospital.

He was quick to point out the struggles his hospital is facing under the occupation. “We are short of every medicine,” he said while insisting that this rarely occurred before the invasion. “It is forbidden, but sometimes we have to reuse IV’s, even the needles. We have no choice.”

This hospital treats an average of 3000 patients each day.

Another major problem that he and other doctors spoke of was their horrendous water problem.

“Of course we have typhoid, cholera, kidney stones... but we now even have the very rare Hepatitis Type-E…and it has become common in our area.”

Breaking News...Fox is Fair and Balanced

Well, at least the movie critic is. Link.

But once "F9/11" gets to audiences beyond screenings, it won't be dependent on celebrities for approbation. It turns out to be a really brilliant piece of work, and a film that members of all political parties should see without fail.

As much as some might try to marginalize this film as a screed against President George Bush, "F9/11" — as we saw last night — is a tribute to patriotism, to the American sense of duty — and at the same time a indictment of stupidity and avarice.

But, really, in the end, not seeing "F9/11" would be like allowing your First Amendment rights to be abrogated, no matter whether you're a Republican or a Democrat.

He'll be fired any day now.

This is News?

The big story of the day is that al-Qaeda planed to use 10 airplanes, but OBL scaled down the attack. Who gives a shit. They didn't use 10 airplanes, they used 3, and it was horrific enough. Horrific enough to unite the whole country and provide the US with good will from around the world. What happened to all that unity and good will, well... that's another story.

Sure, it's an interesting little factoid, but top story of the day? I imagine it's getting so much play because of this, buried amongst all this bull shit. Unprecedented

It's Party Time, Iraqi Style

The Coalition Provisional Authority's livin' it up in the Green Zone.

On a typical evening, one can see U.S. soldiers smoking from 4-foot-tall hookahs and security contractors guffawing over beer, their machine guns by their sides. The CPA's would-be strategists can sometimes be seen in their ubiquitous military desert boots and dress shirts and slacks, playing Risk, the board game of global domination.

Thanks McGeggy.

"Hey! Porno?"

Dick

Via the Hamster.
Link

Since October, Ralph Nader has run his campaign for president out of the same downtown Washington offices that through April housed a public charity he created -- an overlap that campaign finance specialists said could run afoul of federal laws.

Tax law explicitly forbids public charities from aiding political campaigns. Violations can result in a charity losing its tax-exempt status. In addition, campaign law requires candidates to account for all contributions -- including shared office space and resources, down to the use of copying machines, receptionists and telephones.

Records show many links between Nader's campaign and the charity Citizen Works. For example, the charity's listed president, Theresa Amato, is also Nader's campaign manager. The campaign said in an e-mail to The Washington Post that Amato resigned from the charity in 2003. But in the charity's most recent corporate filing with the District, in January, Amato listed herself as the charity's president and registered agent.

The office suite housing the campaign, the charity and other sub-tenants had a common receptionist for greeting visitors.

And Federal Election Commission records show the campaign paid rent to Citizen Works and Citizen Works' landlord. Nader said the campaign has taken over the charity's lease on its coveted location on 16th Street NW.

---

Jan W. Baran, a veteran campaign finance lawyer who represented televangelist Pat Robertson when his presidential campaign was audited by the FEC, said Nader's arrangement was unusual for a presidential candidate. "Even Pat Robertson didn't have his campaign organization at the Christian Broadcasting Network," Baran said. "His campaign headquarters were down the street in Chesapeake."

Finals

Man. I never imagined that Detroit would even be able to compete with LA, let alone, totally dominate them. Incredible.

I love how LA just quit in the 3rd quarter. This just shows how great a coach Larry Brown is. His strategy turned Phil's vaunted triangle in to a unrecognizable polygon.

I have mixed emotions about Rasheed getting a ring after all the shit he didn't do in Portland. But I hate LA so much, I had to root for the Pistons. The Lakers, to me, are the embodiment of the Republican Party in a sports franchise. All the money, all the players, all the power, arrogance, entitlement, and just about everything I hate about the GOP I hate about the Lakers. And The pistons look a lot like the Anybody But Bush Team. No stars, diverse backgrounds, everybody doing their part to defeat the evil force.

It's been a weird year, and who knows, we might be looking at another thrashing this November. For the good guys.

Public Servant

Caught just a couple minutes of Bushy's "press con'frinse" this morning, including what Waingroh believes to be a glimpse of the true mindset of the Prez when it comes to speeches & the press. When a journalist asked him a two-part question, Drinky got all flustered: "Which question do you want me to answer? Look, it's hot out here (angry snicker), and you have a respectful president up here. Just ask one question, ok?"

As Steve Martin would say, well EXCUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUSE MEE!! I forgot how much of an HONOR it was that Drinky can BLESS us with his mere presence so that we, the small insignificant masses called the American people, should be so GRATEFUL for the rare opportunity to pester our exalted president-lord for a few questions about the Empire's crusade in Iraq. Off the cuff and under-the-spot comments like the one above show you so much more about a person's actual state of mind than prepared speeches and practiced answers. It's clear Bush feels that letting the people know what's going on in the administration is a hassle, an obligation, a waste of time, and he resents the press for meddling in his affairs. I know Drinky McDumbass has trouble with the second grade reading level, but someone should tell him that "public servant" doesn't mean "the public is your servant".

Wow!

Cheney says pigs might fly, cites no new evidence.

Not sure if he is still insisting that monkeys, at one time, flew out of his butt.

Asscroft

Krugman says it all:

No question: John Ashcroft is the worst attorney general in history.

Fahrenheit 911

Here's the trailer. Now go watch it.

Hmmmm....
Did anyone catch Powell's comment on the terrorism report?

"It's a numbers error. It's not a political judgment that said, `Let's see if we can cook the books.' We can't get away with that NOW. Nobody was out to cook the books. Errors crept in," he told ABC's "This Week."

Is he saying that before they could get away with cooking the books? Which of course is true, but to say it, isn't he acknowledging that they previously did so? Am I stretching? Because to me, when I say something and I use the word 'now' it generally means something has changed and I need to signify that change with a time reference. "I used to do this, but NOW I do that." Or, for example, "I used to be able to drink tequila, but now it makes me sick." Doesn't that imply that I didn't use to get sick off tequila? I don't know... just throwing it out there.

Spin this...

Former Officials to Criticize Bush Foreign Policy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of former U.S. officials is urging voters to defeat President Bush in the November election, saying his policies have isolated the United States, a spokesman for the group said on Sunday.

The group of 26 former diplomats and military officials, including appointees of former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, plan to issue an open statement on Wednesday criticizing Bush's foreign policies.

"We just came to agreement that this administration was really endangering the United States," said William Harrop, a former ambassador to Israel under the previous Bush administration.

Diagnosis: Dipshit

It's actually more serious than that. Dr. Justin Frank, director of psychiatry at George Washington University, has written a book diagnosing Bush's neuroses. He concludes that Bush is a Paranoid Sadistic Meglamaniac.
Link

"Lifelong streak of sadism, ranging from childhood pranks (using firecrackers to explode frogs) to insulting journalists, gloating over state executions ... [and] pumping his fist gleefully before the bombing of Baghdad."

The President suffers from "character pathology," including "grandiosity" and "megalomania" -- viewing himself, America and God as interchangeable.

"I was really very unsettled by him and I started watching everything he did and reading what he wrote, and watching him on videotape. I felt he was disturbed," Dr. Frank told Leiby. Bush, he said, "fits the profile of a former drinker whose alcoholism has been arrested but not treated."

Dr. Frank's expert recommendation? ""Our sole treatment option -- for his benefit and for ours -- is to remove President Bush from office . . . before it is too late."

Goin' Camping

Portland Mercury

For those of you who have the misfortune of not living here...

Finally, I Can Mourn

All week I've been so sad, but I did not know what to do. I didn't think it was right to start mourning immediately. The media was too busy covering other news to get around to really recognizing this great man. But now that we have the National Day of Mourning 1 week after the event, I feel like I can finally mourn, and he gets the coverage he deserves.

So on this sad day, I have one thing to say: Fuck You, Ronald Reagan.

Weed Good

It's OK to smoke dope, England fans told

Portuguese police officers will turn a blind eye to England supporters who openly smoke cannabis during Euro 2004, having decided that a stoned crowd is easier to control than a drunk one.

Lisbon police confirmed yesterday that England fans will not be arrested for puffing on joints on the streets of the Portuguese capital, following a recommendation from the Dutch authorities responsible for policing the English during Euro 2000.

Democracy (Bush Remix)

Waingroh had heard the word Fascism bandied about recently, and wanted to brush up on what exactly that meant. He found a general description of fascist governments, defined by the Library of Congress, here. Fascism had always been commonly attributed to tyrants like Hitler and Mussolini, so comparing that to a US president, even the worst president in the history of the US, would surely be going across the line. After all, this is still a Democracy, isn’t it?

Isn’t it?

The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism
by Dr. Lawrence Britt
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism -
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights -
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause -
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military -
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism -
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homo-sexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media -
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security -
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined -
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected -
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed -
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts -
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment -
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption -
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections -
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Shocking how dead on this list describes the current climate in this country; a fascist administration in control of a democratic and free land. Remember, Patriotism is a love of country, a region, a way of life, a people. Nationalism is the blind love of government and unquestioning obedience to leaders.

Be a patriot. Kerry 2004.

Bush Back on Blow

Waingroh got to watch Bushy's G8 "press conference" at lunch, and even though the TV sets here at Folsom aren't too great, it's obvious Drinky's back on blow. He was maniacally playing the crowd of brown nosing reporters, cracking "jokes" between every question. He couldn't wait to actually finish answering a question so he could get back to making the glad handers chuckle. At times he'd try to finish the reporter's questions before they were done asking, causing confusing backsteps and exposing his coked out anxiousness. He'd launch into animated rhetoric about Iraq, actually using terms like "In case you've forgotten about Saddam, let me tell how bad he was" (it's tough to forget since you point it out EVERY CHANCE YOU GET). Any questions about real topics, such as the torture memos, Cheney's investigation, etc. were met with one-sentence answers and a new reporter immediately being called:
"Frank (mhehe)."
"yes, Mr. President, what can you tell the American People when American Soldiers will be coming home?"
"When the job's done. Judy. (snicker)"

What an ass.

Welcome to 1984

Concerning Reagan, and just about everything else the wing nuts believe. From 1984.

The mutability of the past is the central tenet of Ingsoc. Past events, it is argued, have no objective existence, but survive only in written records and in human memories. The past is whatever the records and the memories agree upon. And since the Party is in full control of all records and in equally full control of the minds of its members, it follows that the past is whatever the Party chooses to make it. It also follows that though the past is alterable, it never has been altered in any specific instance. For when it has been recreated in whatever shape is needed at the moment, then this new version is the past, and no different past can ever have existed. This holds good even when, as often happens, the same event has to be altered out of recognition several times in the course of a year. At all times the Party is in possession of absolute truth, and clearly the absolute can never have been different from what it is now. It will be seen that the control of the past depends above all on the training of memory. To make sure that all written records agree with the orthodoxy of the moment is merely a mechanical act. But it is also necessary to remember that events happened in the desired manner. And if it is necessary to rearrange one's memories or to tamper with written records, then it is necessary to forget that one has done so. The trick of doing this can be learned like any other mental technique. It is learned by the majority of Party members, and certainly by all who are intelligent as well as orthodox. In Oldspeak it is called, quite frankly, 'reality control'. In Newspeak it is called doublethink, though doublethink comprises much else as well.

More to come...

Nice Goin' Assholes

Sarasohn

When the FBI went through Brandon Mayfield's possessions to investigate his connection with the Madrid train bombings, agents seized what they called "miscellaneous Spanish documents."

As The New York Times reported, Mayfield's family later identified the documents as his children's Spanish homework.

---

Imagine the trouble he could be in if his kids were studying French.

Pacification

It appears the geniuses in Iraq are preparing for more fun time in Falluja.

Occupation tanks poised to enter Falluja

True dat

Sistani

Juan Cole has a good, brief analysis of Sistani's political beliefs, here.

Debt

So they're working hard to reduce Iraq's debt, being that it's not fair to saddle a new government with the debt of the old one.

So will we be able to get the incredible debt incurred by the Bush administration reduced when we kick him out of office?

Long Week

I know all this Reagan coverage is sickening, cultish and something akin to Soviet Russia, even though we have a "free press". The thing I can't stop wondering is, what will happen when Carter dies? Will we get another week of mourning where there is no other news, or will it be reduced to a factoid on the news crawl at the bottom of the screen? Probably somewhere in between.

At least Reagan didn't die 4 months from now. If McDumbass gets a little bounce in the polls, it will vanish as soon as the media gets back to reporting the failure that is this administration.

But it's still so hard to watch.

Freedoms Haters?

Bush likes to portray terrorists as freedom haters. But as far as I can see, Bush and his gang hate freedom just as much if not more.

Link
You're on your way to work in the morning and place a call on your wireless phone. As your call is relayed by the wireless tower, it is also relayed by another series of towers to a microwave antenna on top of Mount Weather between Leesburg and Winchester, Virginia and then beamed to another antenna on top of an office building in Arlington where it is recorded on a computer hard drive.

The computer also records you phone digital serial number, which is used to identify you through your wireless company phone bill that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency already has on record as part of your permanent file.

A series of sophisticated computer programs listens to your phone conversation and looks for "keywords" that suggest suspicious activity. If it picks up those words, an investigative file is opened and sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

Congratulations. Big Brother has just identified you as a potential threat to the security of the United States because you might have used words like "take out" (as in taking someone out when you were in fact talking about ordering takeout for lunch) or "D-Day" (as in deadline for some nefarious activity when you were talking about going to the new World War II Memorial to recognize the 60th anniversary of D-Day).

Never trust a junkie

Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides

Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.

“It reminds me of the Nixon days,” says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. “Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That’s the mood over there.”

Sounds to me like Drinky is finally having to deal with adversity and more importantly, reality... and with no bottle and no blow, he's failing miserably.

Allbriton

Link

I also can’t seem to get excited over stories of abused Iraqis. There are so many and they have a numbing quality. Also, the hostility I encounter from Iraqis makes me — shamefully — less empathetic to their complaints. But nor do I feel much sympathy for Americans who point guns at me. The tragic part of this is that there is no way to blame anyone in this situation. The Iraqis will naturally hate an occupying army. And soldiers will naturally grow to hate a people they think they came to liberate but who continue trying to kill them.

I wish I could see more of the goodness in Iraqis that I know is there. And likewise, I wish they could see the goodness in Americans. But people here — the Iraqis, the CPA, the military and even some journalists — have become blinded to each other’s concerns and qualities. Those of us here, all of us, we’re not all bad people, I don’t believe. And I say “we” because no matter our nationality, this place hammers us into a collective body. The Iraqi selling me delicious juice concoctions, the American soldiers at the checkpoints missing his wife, the CPA employee who truly believed the Bush rhetoric, we are all in this together now.

Thank You, Jesus

Oh my god.

Lesson Plan

Steve Perry teaches your children the ABC's of terrorism.

Who needs clean air anyway?

link

June 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Mexican trucks to begin shipping to destinations across the U.S., refusing to require an air-quality study sought by labor and environmental groups.

The nine justices unanimously agreed with the Bush administration, which argued that a comprehensive environmental analysis wasn't required under two federal statutes...

The Bush administration contended that any impact on air quality would be the result of the president's decision to open the border, not the agency's safety rules. Only federal agencies, not the White House, are required by law to issue environmental impact statements, the Justice Department said.

These guys have really made side-stepping rules an art form. Very impressive use of the Clean Air Act loopholes...

Church and State

Link

With four weeks left, supporters of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage are relying on churches and mailed-in petitions to gather the 100,840 valid signatures they need to make the November ballot.

The mostly behind-doors campaign is taking place after Sunday church services and in the homes, workplaces and neighborhoods of supporters. It's a departure from the traditional approach of collecting signatures in heavily trafficked public places.

And that makes it harder for opponents to be there to persuade people not to sign. That's significant, because it's easier and cheaper for opponents to attack a measure before it gets on the ballot than it is to defeat it at the polls.

Blazers say Miles not sting's target
Quick's story:

The Trail Blazers said forward Darius Miles was in the wrong place at the wrong time Wednesday when he became caught in a police sting in his hometown of East St. Louis, Ill.

An Associated Press story reported that one of Miles' friends was arrested on drug charges and another friend was booked after he threw a loaded gun out of the car. Patterson disputed this report, however, saying Miles was with one passenger, who was cleared of wrongdoing.

Can't tell you how many times that's happened to Waingroh.

Spin Zone

Headlines:

Bush Hires Lawyer

Shit...Ok...Now!

Tenet Steps Down

Whewwww. That should by us some time.

Bush/Cheney 2004

If you're in need of some good Bush/Cheney campaign posters, click here

Homeland Security?

Senate OKs easing nuclear sludge rules
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday agreed to ease cleanup requirements for tanks holding millions of gallons of highly radioactive waste from Cold War-era bomb making.

Senate critics said the change would leave poisonous sludge in underground tanks and risk contamination of groundwater.

While supporters of the measure insisted it would apply only to waste at the Savannah River site, opponents said the change in nuclear waste policy would create a “clear precedent” that could force other states — mainly Washington and Idaho where there also are defense waste tanks — to accept less safe cleanup plans.

Cantwell, who led the push to kill the measure, accused the administration of trying to “sneak” the change in cleanup requirements through Congress by tacking it onto a defense measure in closed-door proceedings without hearings.

Having lived in Eastern Washington for a chunk of my life and cherish the Columbia River Gorge, I'm really scared how these changes will affect the cleanup of Hanford and the Columbia River. As Maria Cantwell said in this article "They are trying to create a loophole in the definition of nuclear waste big enough to drive a truck through and leave Washington state to deal with a mess that we don't want." This is not good.

Tenet Out

Link

Total Bullshit

AP: Administration Freed Terror Suspect

WASHINGTON - Nabil al-Marabh, once imprisoned as the No. 27 man on the FBI's list of must-capture terror suspects, is free again. He's free despite telling a Jordanian informant he planned to die a martyr by driving a gasoline truck into a New York City tunnel, turning it sideways, opening its fuel valves and having an al-Qaida operative shoot a flare to ignite a massive explosion.

Free despite telling the FBI he had trained on rifles and rocket propelled grenades at militant camps in Afghanistan and after admitting he sent money to a former roommate convicted of trying to blow up a hotel in Jordan.

Free despite efforts by prosecutors in Detroit and Chicago to indict him on charges that could have kept him in prison for years. Those indictments were rejected by the Justice Department in the name of protecting intelligence. Even two judges openly questioned al-Marabh's terror ties.

The Bush administration in January deported al-Marabh to Syria - his home and a country the U.S. government long has regarded as a sponsor of terrorism.

Yeah, but Jose Padilla is the next Carlos the Jackal.

Better than a Seinfeld plot

'Curb Your Enthusiasm' clears murder suspect

Juan Catalan spent 5 1/2 months in jail on murder charges before his attorney found video footage taken by the show at Dodger Stadium that backs up his client's claims of innocence...

Melnik later learned that HBO had been at the stadium the night of the killing to tape an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," a comedy starring "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David. The lawyer found what he was looking for in footage that had not made the final cut.

You remember, the one where Larry hired a prostitute so he could drive in the carpool lane...

"Knock knock."
Who's there?
"Dick n' Bush."
Dick and Bush who?

"...don'ya git it? I made you say dick n' bush! Gal darn, I is funny."

You gotta be kidding me...

Bush warned against comparing D-Day to Iraq

French officials fear George Bush will inflame anti-American sentiment in France this weekend by linking the D-Day landings with the invasion of Iraq.

Advisers close to Jacques Chirac have let it be known that any reference to Iraq during the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion of France on Sunday would be ill-advised and unwelcome.

Both presidents will address second world war veterans and VIPs during a service at the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy.

"He'd better not go too far down the road of making a historical comparison because it's likely to backfire on him," said a source close to President Chirac.

So of course...

Bush Likens War on Terror to Struggle Against ` Tyrants ' of World War II

Bush told the 981 academy graduates that on Sunday he will visit the beaches of Normandy, ``where the fate of millions turned on the courage of thousands.'' He drew a parallel to the world that will confront the new Air Force officers.

``In some ways, this struggle we're in is unique; in other ways it resembles the great clashes of the last century between those who put their trust in tyrants and those who put their trust in liberty,'' Bush said. ``The terrorists underestimate the strength of free peoples.''

While drawing parallels with World War II, Bush quoted General Dwight Eisenhower's comments before the D-Day landing.

``Soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force,'' Bush said. ``The eyes the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.'' He omitted part of Eisenhower's 1944 quote, where the general told soldiers ``you are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.''

Trouble's a Brewin...
CBS is on fire tonight! Two big stories...

Enron Tapes Anger Lawmakers
One trader is heard on tapes obtained by CBS News saying, "Just cut 'em off. They're so f----d. They should just bring back f-----g horses and carriages, f-----g lamps, f-----g kerosene lamps."

There was quick reaction in Washington to the Enron audiotapes first aired by CBS News last night, and the tapes have become part of the debate over the President's massive energy bill.

"People were talking about market manipulation. People were talking about schemes, people were making jokes," said U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

And...

Bush, Atty Powwow Over CIA Leak
(CBS) President Bush has consulted an outside lawyer in case he needs to retain him in the grand jury investigation of who leaked the name of a covert CIA operative last year, the White House said Wednesday.

Daily Update from The Ministry Of Truth

Via Kos

'I Was Never Angry with the French,' Says Bush

He followed up by pointing out that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia.

Holt gets straight to the point

US security and Iraqi freedom are unrelated.

In the current version, we went to war to defend our security. Without the weapons of mass destruction, where was the threat to our security? Have we created a new threat in the effort to stamp out a nonexistent one?

In a word, yes.

Power Packer

What an ass.

Locked in a Stop-Loss

WASHINGTON - The Army will prevent soldiers in units set to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan from leaving the service at the end of their terms, a top general said Wednesday.

The announcement, an expansion of an Army program called "stop-loss," means that thousands of soldiers who had expected to retire or otherwise leave the military will have to stay on for the duration of their deployment to those combat zones.

Andrew Exum, a former Army Captain, wrote a powerful piece in the NY Times that articulates why this program is so detrimental:

...But nonetheless, the stop-loss policy is wrong; it runs contrary to the concept of the volunteer military set up in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Many if not most of the soldiers in this latest Iraq-bound wave are already veterans of several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have honorably completed their active duty obligations. But like draftees, they have been conscripted to meet the additional needs in Iraq...

...These soldiers have already been asked to sacrifice much and have done so proudly. Yet the military continues to keep them overseas — because it knows that through stop-loss it can do so legally, and that it will not receive nearly as much negative publicity as it would by reinstating the draft...

...Stop-loss and the activation of the inactive reserve show how politics has taken priority over readiness. The Pentagon uses these policies to meet its needs in Iraq because they are expedient and ask nothing of the civilian populace on the eve of a national election. This allows us to put off what is sure to be a difficult debate: whether our volunteer military is adequate to meet our foreign policy commitments. Meanwhile, in the absence of this debate, the men and women of our armed forces languish.

Last weekend, veterans of World War II were honored on the Mall in Washington for their sacrifices. Our government should begin treating the veterans of the global war on terrorism with a similar degree of respect, not as election-year fodder.

Just In Time

Link

Michael Moore's award-winning documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" has picked up a U.S. distributor and will hit theaters June 25.

The film will be released by a partnership of Lions Gate Films, IFC Films and the Fellowship Adventure Group, which was formed by Harvey and Bob Weinstein specifically to market Moore's film.

"On behalf of my stellar cast -- GW, Dick, Rummy, Condi and Wolfie -- we thank this incredible coalition of the willing for bringing 'Fahrenheit 9/11' to the people."

Choice Point Cares

Here’s how they did it. Before the 2000 election, Choice-Point unit Database Technologies, under a $4 million no-bid contract under the control of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, was paid to identify felons who had illegally registered to vote. The ChoicePoint outfit altogether fingered 94,000 Florida residents. As it turned out, less than 3,000 had a verifiable criminal record; almost everyone on the list had the right to vote. The tens of thousands of “purged” citizens had something in common besides their innocence: The list was, in the majority, made up of African Americans and Hispanics, overwhelmingly Democratic voters. And that determined the race in which Harris named Bush the winner by 537 votes.

It worked so well, they're going to use it in Venezuela.

Hasta El Fallo, Siempre!

Until failure, Always!
Thanks to Hairy Fish Nuts.

Good

Judge: Bush Abortion Ban Unconstitutional

SAN FRANCISCO - In a ruling with coast-to-coast effect, a federal judge declared the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional Tuesday, saying it infringes on a woman's right to choose.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton's ruling came in one of three lawsuits challenging the legislation President Bush signed last year.

Gotta love the Swedes...

Amorous Swedes to Get Emergency Condom Deliveries
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish aid organization will roll out a new line of defense to the country's emergency services next week -- the condom ambulance.

From Friday, June 4, amorous couples can call the telephone number 696969 and a white van featuring a large red condom with wings as a logo will deliver them a packet of 10 prophylactics.

WWJD?

If you can't say something nice (or true for that matter)...

White House Going Negative

In The Washington Post, Dana Milbank and Jim VandeHei describe the unprecedented ferocity of the Bush campaign's often deceptive anti-Kerry advertising blitz.

And in the New York Times, David E. Sanger describes a spectacular loss of discipline in the White House, now riven by vicious backbiting.

Meanwhile, Matthew Cooper writes in Time magazine that President Bush is now keeping Saddam Hussein's gun in his study. Unloaded, we are assured.

In The Post, Milbank and VandeHei write: "Scholars and political strategists say the ferocious Bush assault on Kerry this spring has been extraordinary, both for the volume of attacks and for the liberties the president and his campaign have taken with the facts. Though stretching the truth is hardly new in a political campaign, they say the volume of negative charges is unprecedented -- both in speeches and in advertising.

I don't think Jesus would do all that...

Ineptitude

Link

An American adviser said the U.S. Army "dropped the ball" by providing inadequate accommodations for Iraqi police officers who were to begin joint patrols with coalition troops in Najaf on Sunday.

The Iraqis left their posts because they felt they received second-class treatment when they arrived from Baghdad, the American adviser said Monday.

The U.S. adviser said no sleeping arrangements had been made for the Iraqis, they had no personal gear for their duties or changes of clothes, and they were given military rations for meals that included pork. Muslims are forbidden to eat pork.

"They were not even given a mattress to sleep on," the adviser said. "The U.S. Army really dropped the ball here."

Apart from how important this truce with Sadr is, how long do you have to occupy a country to know its inhabitants don't eat pork?

Liars...

Cheney coordinated Halliburton Iraq contract: report

Feith had approved the multi-billion-dollar deal "contingent on informing WH (the White House) tomorrow. We anticipate no issues since action has been coordinated w(ith) VP's (vice president's) office," said the e-mail obtained by Time.

The newsweekly said it was three days later that Halliburton won the contract, although no other bids had been submitted.

"As vice president, I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the federal government," Cheney told NBC's "Meet the Press" in September, Time said.

Getting Serious In Iraq

Atrios points out how members of the media are starting to whisper that Kerry wants to bring the troops home as soon as possible. Now this is obviously not true, but Kerry desperately needs to discern his war plan from that of President Dink Lips. One of the biggest problems he's had is not having a clear and differing strategy on Iraq than that of Bush.

I think the best way to do this is to actively call for increased troop levels, whether he can internationalize the force or not. Bush can't call for a dramatic increase in troops because it will be an admission that the war plan was flawed, and we know how willing to admit mistakes this bunch is. Kerry on the other hand has nothing to lose, and by doing so he can show that he is more serious about succeeding in Iraq, and also appear to be cleaning up Bush & Co's mess.

This new message would be in stark contrast to Bush's, who insists troop levels are fine and that Iraqi forces will soon be able to take over. Give a concrete number; 250,000, 300,000, whatever. Insist on winning. Anything to present a more serious and contrasting message.

The True Cost
10 dead in 24 hrs. Via the Agonist, via CENTCOM

THREE MARINES KILLED IN ACTION 5/29/2004
SOLDIER KILLED BY MORTAR ATTACK 5/29/2004
STRYKER BRIGADE SOLDIER DIES FROM NON-HOSTILE INCIDENT 5/29/2004
FOUR SERVICE MEMBERS DIE IN AFGHANISTAN 5/29/2004

Hearts and Minds

First in a long line...

Helena Cobban points out that the IGC and Bremer's "appointment" of Allawi as prime minister looks like Baghdad's first coup d'etat in several decades. It seemed designed to undermine the authority of the UN and Brahimi to appoint a apolitical transitional government, and to secure a Washington stooge in the government as well.

You didn't think they were gonna do this one right, did you?

Are you fucking kidding me?

The Oregonian follows the New York Times with an even more pathetic excuse.

The Oregonian published at least five articles or parts of articles cited by The New York Times as problematic. For example, a Dec. 20, 2001, article quoted an Iraqi defector who said he personally worked on renovations of facilities for biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. But Knight Ridder News Service recently reported that when U.S. officials took the defector to show them the sites, they found no evidence of them being used for weapons development. The New York Times had not followed up on those claims, and The Oregonian did not publish the Knight Ridder report.

The Oregonian, however, also published many stories that raised questions about the quality of intelligence, dating to months before the war. For example, the newspaper ran a disputed story from The New York Times on Sept. 8, 2002, that reported on aluminum tubes that the administration pointed to as components for the manufacture of nuclear weapons fuel. But in ensuing weeks and months, The Oregonian published at least nine stories that disputed that the aluminum tubes were to be used for the nuclear program.

Is that really supposed to be an apology? Nine stories, wow. How many were run in favor of the lies that led us in to this mess? I'd love to see all those articles that questioned the aluminum tube evidence. I imagine they went something like this:

Saddam Saddam evil evil tubes nuclear tubes tubes tubes nuclear evil biological prominent defector tubes evilit is possible that these tubes could have nothing to do with nuclear weapons tubes evil tubes regime change tubes reconstituted evil tubes

Not gonna cut it guys, not until you get of your knees and remember what journalism is all about and who it's supposed to serve.

Another edition of the Ludis Awards

Ok. We joke (snicker) about how crazy some of these right-wingers can be (sigh). But this donkey (arrghh), takes the ever lovin' cake. (snicker(mhehe)(haha-sniff)).

Congratulations, Lord Spatula. You're the latest recipient of a Ludis Award... and we're saying it to your face.

Jackoff. (snicker)

...you really must click on the donkey link.

Much Better Now

The Whiskey Bar is Open, And the bartender is pouring 'em pretty stiff.

I can finally stop shaking.

Asscroft 3: Terra in 3-D

More holes in DJ Asscroft's Terror warning are exposed today, as two of the seven terrorists he named are already in prison.

A respected website that holds databases on terror suspects lists Amer El-Maati as 'incarcerated'.

Likewise, Aafia Siddiqui, a female former MIT student, was arrested in Pakistan over a year ago, according to NBC.

The 'cell' that these individuals are said to belong to doesn't even exist. The Abu Hafs al Masri group was described by the Boston Globe as a 'phantom organization'. Their researchers could find no evidence that the group was real.

This latest false hysteria is just one in a >long line of fake terror alerts. Was this last attempt so pathetic that the color code wasn't even needed? Or perhaps Asscroft knew two of his announced suspects were already imprisoned, so that he could claim at a later date that he foiled an impending attack? Since 9/11, The Bush Administration has exploited anxiety and carefully cultivated an economy of fear in America.

Way to go Steve...

Well, kind of.

Steve Duin, who I rarely agree with has hit it right on here... And then wusses out.

After a misidentified, smudged fingerprint placed Mayfield in the FBI's viewfinder, the agency justified his arrest by noting that his suspicious activities included driving to a Beaverton mosque.

He was arrested because the FBI -- ignoring the reservations and warning flares set out by Spanish authorities -- couldn't be bothered to examine the original fingerprint discovered at the scene of the March bombings in Madrid.

And when the West Slope lawyer was jailed, federal agents quickly seized his files of clients "who have Arabic or Muslim-sounding surnames."

This is unconscionable and unnerving stuff. What is equally scary is the complacency with which far too many Oregonians are watching it happen.

They are complacent because they are petrified by the terrorist threat, and they would happily sacrifice Mayfield for some tenuous peace of mind. Someone has to pay the price to prevent more Sept. 11 attacks, the argument goes, though those arguers invariably insist that the someone is "someone else."

Of course he goes on to quote 2 prominent Oregon Republicans, one of which was Kreepy Manix. He makes a great point and then goes to two right-wing apologists for a response. I mean is that really doing your job as a journalist? Having the fox comment on the latest batch of killings in the henhouse.

Oh well, you can't expect too much, and of course, quoting a liberal would be biased.

Solution to the Health Care Problem

Finally, we're addressing the problem at its core...

Bush Says He Was Cure for Illegible Prescriptions
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - President Bush, taking on Democrat John Kerry over health issues, pitched a plan on Thursday to expand the use of technology in medicine -- including a cure for doctors' illegible handwriting...

..."Docs are still spending a lot of time writing things on paper. And sometimes it's difficult to read their handwriting," Bush told an audience at Vanderbilt University in the election battleground state of Tennessee.

This guy really has his eye on the ball. I mean, sure there are some major problems in the health care system, but now that we've tackled bad handwriting, everything else will fall into place.

Fuck You Asscroft II: The Electric Boogaloo

Like so many Christian fundamentalists, John Asscroft has an obsession. An inexplicable fixation on my home, the great state of Oregon. Let's look at the facts.

1. Asscroft attempts to block Oregon's assisted suicide law, despite the fact that voters in a statewide election have approved it... twice. I guess state's rights only count when Asscroft thinks that the state is right. Both the U.S. District Court and the Court of Appeals overrule Asscroft.

2. Using previously unavailable techniques now made legal by the Patriot Act, Asscroft uncovers a "terrorist cell" in Portland dubbed by the media as the Portland Seven. After Prosecutors are unable to prove that any of the seven committed any terrorist acts, Asscroft fears that the Patriot Act may be endangered by a legal challenge. Instead of dismissing the case, Asscroft charges the "terrorists" under a Civil War-era statute outlawing "seditious conspiracies." Facing life in prison and the inability to receive a fair trial, several of the "terrorists" cop a plea deal and will serve relatively light sentences. Strangely, the plea agreement states that they will not be required to cooperate with government interrogators. Asscroft refers to the convictions as a "defining day in the war on terror."

3. Asscroft has Brandon Mayfield, an Oregon attorney, held as a 'material witness' based on a faulty interpretation of a digital fingerprint. All along, Spanish officials voice doubt as to the fingerprint analysis. The ability to hold 'material witnesses' is a new tool provided by Asscroft's favorite piece of legislation, the Patriot Act. After the FBI concedes error, Mayfield is released after two weeks, his reputation destroyed.

4. Today, Asscroft states that a recently arrested terrorist attempted to set up a terrorist camp in rural Oregon. Prediction: Further investigation indicates the terrorist training camp was actually a marijuana growing operation run by migrant workers. Asscroft declares success by deporting the workers and promptly filing suit to block Oregon's medical marijuana law.

Oregon has a wonderful tradition of dissent and history of producing freethinking individuals. For example, former Oregon Senator Wayne Morse cast one of only two votes against the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which ultimately authorized U.S. participation in the Vietnam conflict. However, according to Asscroft and his cronies, Oregon's tradition of dissent is only slightly less unpatriotic than wiping one's dirty ass with an American flag. Therefore, a few words of wisdom are in order for John-boy. To paraphrase the famous quote from Oregon's legendary Republican governor, Tom McCall, "Herr Asscroft, visit Oregon as often as you'd like, but for godsakes, pull your self-righteous thumb out of your stankity ass and quit fucking with us you fuck."

Winged Migration?

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Army and a contractor were fined nearly $52,000 for releasing a deadly chemical weapon on a wildlife sanctuary in the Pacific Ocean, federal environmental officials announced Wednesday...

...The atoll, located 825 miles southwest of Honolulu, is a national a bird sanctuary. It also held more than 6 percent of the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons: 412,000 different types of explosives, mustard and nerve agents. Congress ordered the weapons destroyed in 1986.

Fuck You, Ashcroft

Assisted suicide upheld

An appeals court says the Bush administration can't interfere with the landmark Oregon law.

That's why I'm glad I live in Oregon, if Bush gets four more years, I can just end it.
Legally.

(Joke)

The speech didn't work... lets try a terra warning!

Link:

Although the U.S. intelligence community says it has been concerned for some time about the potential implications for the United States of the Madrid bombings, some U.S. counterterrorism officials told NEWSWEEK they were aware of no sudden surge in “chatter”—intercepts of terrorists communications—or other indicators of a possible imminent attack. “We’re always getting new threat information, but I wouldn’t point to a steep spike in chatter” said one U.S. official. Another counterterrorism official added: “What we’re seeing is a lot like what we’ve seen before.”

I think most of us have come to recognize that this administration is quick to trot out predictions of terrorist attacks when the political going gets tough for them. Remember back in 2002, when the New York Post's headlines screamed, "Bush Knew" about 9/11? Within days administration officials were warning that it was a matter not of if, but when we would be attacked. Remember "duct tape and plastic" in February 2003? Hmmm... that's right about when the administration needed the final seal of public approval before the invasion of Iraq. Then another Code Orange last summer when the insurgency began to gain steam. Now, days after Bush's Abu..guh...Buh speech failed to stop his bleeding in the polls, surprise surprise, its imminent attack time. Don't believe the hype, bitches.

More Berg Questions

Here and here
(safe links)

If only, if only...

Here's just a smidge (okay, it's more than a smidge) of Al Gore's speech...

How did we get from September 12th , 2001, when a leading French newspaper ran a giant headline with the words "We Are All Americans Now" and when we had the good will and empathy of all the world -- to the horror that we all felt in witnessing the pictures of torture in Abu Ghraib.

To begin with, from its earliest days in power, this administration sought to radically destroy the foreign policy consensus that had guided America since the end of World War II. The long successful strategy of containment was abandoned in favor of the new strategy of "preemption." And what they meant by preemption was not the inherent right of any nation to act preemptively against an imminent threat to its national security, but rather an exotic new approach that asserted a unique and unilateral U.S. right to ignore international law wherever it wished to do so and take military action against any nation, even in circumstances where there was no imminent threat. All that is required, in the view of Bush's team is the mere assertion of a possible, future threat - and the assertion need be made by only one person, the President.

...One of the strengths of democracy is the ability of the people to regularly demand changes in leadership and to fire a failing leader and hire a new one with the promise of hopeful change. That is the real solution to America's quagmire in Iraq. But, I am keenly aware that we have seven months and twenty five days remaining in this president's current term of office and that represents a time of dangerous vulnerability for our country because of the demonstrated incompetence and recklessness of the current administration.

It is therefore essential that even as we focus on the fateful choice, the voters must make this November that we simultaneously search for ways to sharply reduce the extraordinary danger that we face with the current leadership team in place. It is for that reason that I am calling today for Republicans as well as Democrats to join me in asking for the immediate resignations of those immediately below George Bush and Dick Cheney who are most responsible for creating the catastrophe that we are facing in Iraq.

We desperately need a national security team with at least minimal competence because the current team is making things worse with each passing day. They are endangering the lives of our soldiers, and sharply increasing the danger faced by American citizens everywhere in the world, including here at home. They are enraging hundreds of millions of people and embittering an entire generation of anti-Americans whose rage is already near the boiling point.

A MUST READ

With friends like these, who needs enemas?


RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie and Reich-wing blogger Fat Matt Margolis.

Look at these jackoffs. I've seen better heads on boils. Seriously, if you are going to advertise a pic like this, at least run it through Photoshop's "Slimming" feature. Much like their radical muslim counterparts, the reason these guys are so reactionary is simple. No matter what they do, no matter what they try, they can never, ever get laid.

Wouldn't this be a failure

Al-Qaida Said Almost Ready to Attack U.S.

If al Qaeda is successful, wouldn't that once and for all shatter the myth of Bush and terrorism? A group they promised to destroy, successfully attacks on American soil twice in one term. I don't see how that equals 4 more years. I think there might be some other shenanigans at work here, which we will address later.

Berg anomalies

For the last week I've been reading about inconsistencies in the Berg video, and some other strange things about his family. I don't really like to get caught up in conspiracy theories, but there are some serious problems with the official story compared with analyses of the video.

The most obvious problem is the lack of blood. This probably means he was killed long before the beheading. This could mean the executioners didn't have the stomach to behead a living person. But these terrorists are also fat and wear western style tennis shoes. We've all seen plenty of Iraqis on TV lately and not too many are fat and none wear tennis shoes. They also carry Israeli made weapons.

Berg is wearing a jumpsuit just like the ones detainees at Abu Gharib wear. He is also sitting in a chair identical to the chairs in the infamous photos from the same prison.

It is also interesting that towards the end of the video a head that is distinctly white and with a crew cut comes into view several times. English can also be heard at the end, "Thy Will be Done".

I'm not sure how this relates, but Berg's dad and his own tower company were listed on the FreeRepublic.com enemies list.

There are plenty more, and I don't want to get in to it too much, but this needs to be investigated more. There are several sites with good analysis, but some have still captions, so I don't feel comfortable linking to them. You can find a whole list of problems here, and with no images.