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Congress? Constitution?
by Billy Ray K.
| May 31, 2007 |
Re Grounds for impeachment, and arrest
My only conclusion is that Congress and the Constitution are irrelevant.
I'm sad and worried.
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Well, I'm sad and worried too, but I don't think that's enough. We've reached the point, I think, when anyone who loves his/her family should have an escape plan.
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Helen & Harry
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Poisoned by profit
Re Mmmmmm, melamine
What's on the manufacturer's website is more sickening.Aqua-Tec is a urea-formaldehyde based binder and is used worldwide in aquatic feeds. In
aquatic feeds produced in the U.S., Aqua-Tec is used in feeds destined for export.
Urea-formaldehyde was banned in construction/housing by Canada in 1980 because it can
break down into formaldehyde. However, if UFFI [Urea-formaldehyde foam insulation] comes in contact with water or moisture, it could begin to break down --
What a super idea to put it in fish food -- worldwide!
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Additional information appreciated, sigh ... I find myself briefly hesitating before almost every meal. There's less and less I eat while believing it's healthy.
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Helen & Harry
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Raucous
Army increasing enlistment bonuses| |
"She said that raising the limits of the two- and three-year enlistment bonuses does not indicate any desperation on the part of recruiters to fill their rosters. " |
L.O.L.
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As Dave Letterman used to say, "That's comedy."
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Helen & Harry
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Bananas ain't what they used to be
by JS Magruder
| May 31, 2007 |
Re Fruit 'n' flies
We're getting the blighted bananas as well. A while back, I remember reading an article in Scientific American discussing some disease hitting bananas in Asia, and how they were scrambling to hybrid a variety that would withstand it. Apparently, the bananas we eat today are not the variety people ate 70 years ago when an earlier blight happened ("Yes, We Have No Bananas" having been penned at the time).
My son eats one every morning for breakfast with his oatmeal -- unfailingly. Believe me, there's hell to pay if I run out of bananas. Recently (the past month) he's been pushing it away saying "No banana." He's rather insistent about it. I figured he's just sick of them (after a couple years) but the taste might be part of the problem. I don't eat them (makes my mouth itch) but I have noticed they seem starchy when I mash them up -- even when the peel is nearly black from over ripeness.
A good trick to getting rid of fruit flies is to place a glass with a bit of sweet red wine near where you keep your fruit. In the morning, you should have a nice collection. My husband spent the weekend rigging-up fly traps (our neighbors have cattle -- and we have flies) by cutting a 2 liter bottle in half, inverting the top and filling it with a yeast mixture. The idea is that the flies are attracted to the CO2 and fly in, but can't get back out. I'll keep you updated on the progress with that. If you hang fruit in metal mesh baskets (as we do) a bit of sticky-tape around the top tier (where you won't be bumping it) will help as well.
I can't believe I'm getting excited discussing insect management -- gee whiz, I've been on this farm too long! Or, I need to get out more often. Yeah, that's probably it.
PS -- Mosquito Magnet rocks! You would not believe what we're catching. If only there were a single device that would catch all of these pests. All this rain we've been having (freakish amounts) are really giving us large numbers of insects.
In the basement
A glimpse at the $600-million American 'embassy' in Iraq
If the ACLU can sue Boeing over selling flight plans for extraordinary rendition, somebody should ask the architects of the new Iraq embassy if there are torture rooms in the basement ... I have, in fact, contacted them, with no result yet.
Some kind of freak out
by Ann in the UK
| May 31, 2007 |
Re Why so giddy?
"Cheney once he's president" - Brian I, I've had a bad week as it is. Please
don't freak me out like that. :shudder:.
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Ann in the UK
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Shop wisely
Re Fruit 'n' flies
err, I dunno much about prickly nettles [are they the same as stinging
nettles?] but they sound very unhealthy....did you eat any, or find it
before?
and sorry bout your bad scallions. usually when something's going to make
me sick if I eat it, I know in advance. except once with shrimp, and no
one else got sick so we figured I may have developed an allergy, or
gotten one bad little shrimp.
talking about needing to 'shop wisely'. After last year's e coli
outbreak from organic lettuce everyone is a bit nervous I think.
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I don't know enough about nettles to even recognize them before shoveling them into my mouth :) but they stung. These were similar to the nettles that annoyed my skin when I was a kid playing in the woods. They made my lip and tongue itch for the rest of the night...
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George and Georgie Anne
by Angry Annie
| May 31, 2007 |
What on earth do you make of this?
A spreading terror
by Georgie Anne Geyer, syndicated columnist| |
Excerpt: "...by all reports, President Bush is more convinced than ever of his righteousness. Friends of his from Texas were shocked recently to find him nearly wild-eyed, thumping himself on the chest three times while he repeated "I am the president!" He also made it clear he was setting Iraq up so his successor could not get out of "our country's destiny." |
Has Bush finally and completely lost his mind?
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Bush lost his mind years ago, if he ever had one. Same with rumors oh his soul. If America survives his presidency, Bush will be remembered in the same way we remember Calligula or King George, and I mean that in all seriousness.
As for Georgie Anne Geyer's comments, man, that's bizarre. It's a bizarre thing for the President to say and do, and it's a bizarre thing for Geyer to write as the 13th paragraph of an otherwise bland column that makes perfect sense without that paragraph. Has there been mention elsewhere about Bush's bizarre behavior, mention that I've missed?
Surely she's journalist enough to know that one paragraph she's buried is the most interesting and alarming thing on the page, but it's offered with no citation, no source, no relevance to the rest of the column. Makes me wonder if Geyer is losing her mind as well...
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Helen & Harry
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Groundburst, radiation, blast wave, fallout, airburst, EMP, blastwave
by The Canadian
| May 31, 2007 |
Re In case of emergency
Yes, interesting times indeed!!
Israel has also publicly stated that they are taking measures to prepare its population
for all-out war. Actually, they have been doing this for some time e.g. large civil
disaster training exercises designed to test bio-chem-nuclear-large conventional attack
response. Smaller public safety campaigns have been waged in Sderot and Ashkelon where
smaller missile barrages have occurred.
This is interesting in so far as Israel is so small, any nuclear explosion anywhere in the
country will devastate the entire country and most of the surrounding Arab region
(groundburst: radiation, blast wave, fallout// airburst:EMP//blastwave. They could
survive chemical attacks depending on the dispersement radius, but biological is the least
likely to be used as it has an uncontrollable "blow-back" epidemiological factor.
Large conventional explosives will not be perceived as an existential threat.
As I said before, the chess pieces are all in place for the ME Region's conflagrations to
spark a large and vicious conflict, however, no-one has sent up the red balloon...yet.
These are hair trigger times, and many uncontrolled fingers are on the triggers. There
are no moderate voices in the ME. All players have a great deal to lose, and no-one wants
to lose. Even Russia and China are once again actively resisting US hegemony efforts.
I was happy when the abduction of the British sailors did not spark a war, however, I
predict a larger ME war cannot be restrained for much longer.
Personally, what really spooks me is the fact that many of the conflicting parties openly
compare the potential scale of this conflict to the concept of WW3. I realize this
reference is used as a psychological tool, however, it spooks me nonetheless as the
parties who use this phrase know full well they are invoking an apocalyptic mind-set which
implies a religious POV.
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When I was taking history classes, wars were generally presented as huge but dry catastrophes triggered by specific incidents, or by despotic leaders who wanted wars. The moral of the story, to me, was that anyone who wants command of huge armies or frightening weaponry should be disqualified from such a position by virtue of wanting it.
These recent and coming attacks on Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran are the first full-scale wars to unfold for me not from books or elders' memories but before my very eyes. And I must say, the process is not at all impressive.
I guess I naïvely expected something more sophisticated, but to me it looks hardly any more complex than what you'd see if troublesome 7-year-olds were put in command. Just a lot of loud lies, insults, threats, shoves, tall tales, phony posturing, and huffing and puffing ... that's going to eventually blow down all our houses ...
All this over oil and Israel, and toys in a sandbox ...
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Helen & Harry
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Melamine is not Vitamin M
by JR Mooneyham
| May 31, 2007 |
Melamine from U.S. put in feed
Use our New York Times login unk.news and password unknown | |
Excerpt: Ever since pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical was traced to shipments of wheat flour from China, American officials have concentrated on cracking down on imports.
It turns out the problem was closer to home, too.
Yesterday, federal officials announced that a manufacturing plant in Ohio was using the same banned substance, melamine, to make binding agents that ended up in feed for farmed fish, shrimp and livestock.
The problem surfaced after a distributor, concerned about what was in its feed binders after the reports from China, sent the product to a private laboratory for testing.
The melamine was used by Tembec BTLSR, a Canadian forest products company with a small chemical plant in Toledo, to make binding agents that keep pellets of animal feed together, said Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food protection at the Food and Drug Administration. |
Turns out China wasn't doing anything to us we weren't doing to ourselves.
* * *
U.S. battles al-Qaida in west Baghdad
All evidence indicates al-Qaida couldn't get a foothold in the entire country of Iraq until after the US invasion. They definitely didn't dare show up in Baghdad under Saddam.
Is it too late?
Have we all not allowed this fool to much already? Think about it, how much better off are we really? He has things so screwed up now that it won't matter who becomes our next President Select, as free elections by the people are now a thing of the past. Something has to be done and quickly in order for us as a nation to survive. Maybe it's time for the United States of America to admit to the rest of the world that we have a madman at the helm! That would be a start, as far as the next thing goes, I have no idea. I'm open for suggestions.
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I'm open to suggestions too, but I'm getting worried and impatient. I don't think there's much time remaining for cordial chat about such things, before the chatting becomes a crime in itself.
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Helen & Harry
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Impeach
by Jennifer M.
| May 31, 2007 |
Re The scum floating to the top of both political parties
Let's hope more and more people realize we have lost control over our government and we need to take to the streets to IMPEACH them all! Thanks for the news!
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Jennifer M.
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Save the electrons
Re One word that might save America
Sheesh, You go on and on and on about the LIARS and provide not a single
example. I'm not a big fan of our president, but to accuse someone of
something without any evidence, I think could be construed as slander.
what a waste of electrons.
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Welcome to the web!
Sometimes, amidst otherwise ordinary text on-line, you'll find a word or several words that are obviously highlighted -- for example, the words obviously highlighted in this sentence.
Notice that the text becomes bright blue, and the letters are presented in bold type? Well, that's called a "hypertext link." If you position your cursor directly over those highlighted and bright blue words and click your mouse, your computer's screen will change, and your "browser" will take you to a different page entirely.
In our article, clicking on the bright blue, boldfaced words in the first sentence ("How can George Bush and Dick Cheney get away with telling so many lies?") will connect you to a long list of the Bush administration "telling so many lies." It's a page we've been compiling since 2001, and on it you'll find numerous other words in bright blue and bold type, and each of those links lead to still more background information on each of the individual lies listed.
This new feature -- clicking on highlighted text for background information -- is now being offered on numerous "world wide web" pages, and could help make your "surfing" more enjoyable and educational.
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Helen & Harry
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Mmmmmm, melamine
U.S. manufacturer caught deliberately adding melamine to animal feed| |
Excerpt: The Food and Drug Administration announced today that two American companies are recalling ingredients used in animal and fish feed because the U.S. manufacturer added melamine to the mix as a binder. ...The ... chemical that prompted the massive pet food recall was found in several products made by Toledo, Ohio-based Tembec BTLSR Inc., and Uniscope of Johnstown, Colo. The recalled products, used in pelleted feed for cattle, sheep, goats, fish and shrimp ... |
They'll switch to using Elmer's Glue-All as the binder. It's nontoxic!
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Quite sickening, quite literally. Sigh. So much more should be said, but I have so little stomach for saying it today ...
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The women's movement? Ancient history.
by Ann in the UK
| May 30, 2007 |
Re The gift of cancer
Zebra, thanks for your kind thoughts and words, and for caring enough to
reply, it's very heartening.
H&H, don't even get me started on how women are willfully manipulated into
being prissy little Barbie dolls -- I'm the breastfeeding nut, remember?
How
the hell are young women ever supposed to take up something which, despite
all its benefits, they (mistakenly -- it actually helps you return to your
pre-pregnancy shape a lot faster) believe will spoil their figures? It's the
twenty first century; the women's movement is ancient history: women are
supposed remain perfect, at all costs -- hadn't you heard?
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One way or another I've heard that thought, either soon or eventually, either in a rage or in a whisper, from every woman I've ever known -- liberal or conservative, young or old. Even my grandmother said something along those lines to me, once, many years ago. Sometimes it's reticent, takes a little patience to bring the subject up and out, but I suspect even neocon Bible-waving women would concur to some extent.
Of course, in sponsor-driven media -- which is, basically, everything except real people talking to each other -- it's verboten. Nothing that might bring this and related subjects into the conversation is even vaguely alluded to, at least not beyond the confines of "after-school specials" and "public service announcements."
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Helen & Harry
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Fruit 'n' flies
We've been having trouble w/ produce here...for the last 3 years the grape tomatoes [which are my favorite] at the regular grocery frequently look ok and then when you get them home their seeds have turned black, very odd. Also the bananas had been partially rotting by the time they're ripened - they'd be green at one end and mushy at the other. I've started getting my 'maters elsewhere and the banana people seem to have straightened out the problem, but I've got fruit flies. They came in w/ the plants and moved into my herb pots.
I went to a site that has all sorts of handy-dandy ways to clean/repair etc. It suggests washing & drying the bananas when you bring them in. To get rid of existing fruit flies, one puts 1/4 cider vinegar in a little cup or jar with a couple drops of dish washing liquid, then put plastic wrap over the top and poke a hole in it. I'll let you know if it works. I know the dish washing liquid will kill them because last summer one somehow kamakazied into my bottle.
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I appreciate the info, thanks...
Weirdly and probably coincidentally, we've been getting some scary produce here, too. Green onions (scallions) that tasted odd and made me ill, spinach lettuce that had no flavor at all (might as well have been crispy wood) and a pre-made sack of 'salad' from the farmer's market that turned out to be about 5% prickly nettles. ...
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Woman on a mission for a fellow friend in need
by Kathy Fisher
| May 30, 2007 |
Our friend and fellow patriot and frankly the best damn writer on the planet is out of the loop due to his computer frying, We can't have a tour de force like Jim Kirwan out of service...
Dig deep, whatever you can spare, and send it to me in the form of a check or money order. I don't care how skimpy it may be, in the end it's going to add up! I will count it out and I will sweeten the pot! I will make sure there's enough that Jim can get a decent computer...
Does Jim know about this? NO! In my heart I know he'd say please don't do this, but in my heart I know I must do this! Don't ask questions, Jim's hard up. He's working but it's going to take too much time and frankly it's already been too long. If you don't trust me then ignore my plea, I'll understand, and yes I would do this for you.
Send a little help in the form of a money order or a check make it out to Kathy Fisher. I promise you all I will cash them and get one money order or one personal check, it depends what will be easier for Jim to get cashed. I'm only asking fans of Kirwan, people who love him and understand how important it is to have him back writing again ASAP!
My address is...
Kathy Fisher
28 Helen Ave.
Avenel,NJ.07001
Home phone # 732-634-3411.
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Kirwan (of Kirwan Studios) is a good guy, dang good, and I miss him. You've caught me at a moment of particularly tight cash flow -- seven bucks and coins -- but I will have a little green to send come payday.
And having come back from a similar computer and cash crunch thanks to the kindness of readers a few years ago, this kind of support is, I'd say, what 'community' is all about.
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Helen & Harry
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The only escape from Guantanamo
Another shameful day for the U.S. ...
Secret prisoner dies at secret prison; U.S. military says it was suicide| |
Excerpt: A Saudi Arabian detainee died Wednesday at Guantanamo Bay prison and the U.S. military said he apparently committed suicide. Critics of the detention center said the death showed the level of desperation among prisoners. ... The military did not identify the detainee who died or describe the manner of death. |
* * *
Will Bush agree Turkey has a right to a PRE-EMPTIVE strike against KURD TERRORISTS????
Turkish army build-up fuels anxiety on Iraq border
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When governments point fingers or make arrests and cry "terrorists!" I generally have my doubts. Terrorism makes an awfully convenient boogie monster.
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Helen & Harry
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In case of emergency
by The Canadian
| May 30, 2007 |
I find it interesting that both the US and the UK have recently passed a modern version of a War Measures Act. I am not invoking any hint of a conspiracy theory, but I do note how odd it is that both countries seem to be in such a hurry to have these measures in place.
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Tony Blair seems as thuggish and evil as GW Bush and Dick Cheney. I assume their motivations (and marching orders?) are a matched set. I know little of the intricacies of British Parliament, but I assume it's generally as corrupt and beholden to special and criminal interests as America's Congress.
With such similar motivations behind the scenes on both sides of the Atlantic, an overt conspiracy seems unnecessary, almost superfluous.
Interesting times, eh?
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We the people
by Herb Ruhs, MD
| May 30, 2007 |
The government is not the country, we are the country.
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Herb Ruhs, MD
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Wrongful conviction
freebyroncase.com
puzzles are meant to be solved. Pouring over a statement made by the victims biological mother can give one goose bumps. Case documents -- points of contention -- BETSY OWEN
A must read. Thank you for taking the time.
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We're promised "Liberty and justice for all," but the railroadings are anything but rare ...
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Helen & Harry
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Drilling
Re Enhanced fire drills
I guess I took for granted that the annual 'escape from the burning house safely' exercise
was a standard thing in Canada and it never occurred to me that it was any different for
the US. With that in mind I just have to ask: Do they even have fire blankets in every
classroom? Every school I remember going to, even the really crappy ones, had fire
blankets and some emergency medical supplies stowed away in every classroom that were to
be brought out to the head count area when the alarm went off for the fire or earthquake
drills. Hell, do American teachers even bother to do a head count? It sounds like that
kind of thing isn't too well organized or funded in the States. Speaking of funding, I
talked to a friend at work last night and he remembers going through those drills when he
was a kid. He was under the impression that McDonalds sponsored the idea. If this is true
then it would be doubly confusing as to why it isn't standard for American schools.
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The bell would ring loudly, and the kids were supposed to line up and walk toward the playground. There was definitely a head count, as punishing kids who snuck away to smoke a cigarette seemed to be part of the point, but I don't remember any blankets or sponsorships.
What are the blankets for? Smothering the fire?
The fire drills were pretty much taken for granted, and seemed (and still seem) like a good idea. It occurs to me now, perhaps America would be in better shape today if we'd had "totalitarian drills" in Social Studies and Civics class ...
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Helen & Harry
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"Guys like me"
Made a Bush song featuring king G himself on vocals called GUYS LIKE ME, and has a video clip with it at YouTube. Maybe something for you guys.
Greetz
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Fine work indeed. I just spent two minutes and fifty-four seconds smiling, and now I'll share the smiles, thanks.
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Helen & Harry
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Zines
Re Is it time for me to blog?
Thanks for the encouragement.
I just read a link from Fark.com that was a rant "19 things NOT to do
on a website", one being if it doesn't work on Firefox, "welcome to 2007
dumbass". Your concluding line "welcome to the web" made me think of
it. It's funny, how in some ways we think of ourselves as somehow
cutting edge culture wise (ie traveling in the earthbus years before this
boutique biofuel fad began), but in other ways we lag behind (we deny
iPod and blackberry bullshit, and will not allow Google to organize our
lives).
Back in the 20th century (1997 actually), I was sending out weekly
Fleetwood Mac fanmails to a subscriber list varying between 500-1000+. Now
of course, everyone has a blog. Obligatory cliche: opinions are like
@ssholes.... In any case, thanks for the encouragement. Another voice
in the wilderness can't hurt right? ; )
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Ah, then we're sisters, Sandra -- you and I both came from the world of zines -- handmade, homemade magazines and newsletters. And man, I remember the photocopy shops, White-Out, licking stamps, literally cutting-and-pasting, sorting and stapling and stuffing envelopes, and all the other crap that used to be part of "do it yourself" media.
People who had our pre-internet "zinester" experience, I think, have a head start in on-line publishing, even if we lack the knowledge and interest in all things the high-techsters consider "cutting edge." The experience means you can skip that whole "beginner" vibe, where you wondered whether you could really pull this off. Of course you can do it -- you've done it before, with Fleetwood Mac. :) And this time, there's no god-awful adhesive aftertaste from the stamps.
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Helen & Harry
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Wha hap?
back, after a long hiatus. I just remembered how much I used to enjoy reading
unknownnews.net, years ago. I must have lost your
link a long while back, but remembered the site today
and stopped by for a visit.
My, how things have changed.
Where once, as i recall, you were a great source for
the quirky, the unusual, and the ignored news stories
of the day, now it seems you are just like every other
liberal anti-war site.
Yawn, nothing here for me... I can read this stuff in
USA Today or watch it on CNN. What happened to the
"unknown" stuff?
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I'd say I'm sorry to disappoint you, Marty, if I was sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not. I don't know you, don't believe you were ever a regular visitor here, and I just can't think of a reason why your opinion should matter to me half as much as my cat's.
Farewell, but with a chuckle,
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Helen & Harry
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Why so giddy?
Re Grounds for impeachment, and arrest
love the generalizations here (republicans+ intellegence=oxymoron?) why is everyone so giddy about having bush impeached? do you plan to impeach cheney once he's president? Andrew Johnsons impeachment set the precident.....you cant impeach a president because of a paticular distaste for him. Nixon -- Resigned, but lied to congress Clinton -- Lied to congress Bush -- No matter your personal opinion, there is no actual proof that would hold up in court that bush knowingly lied about the iraq war In a nutshell, reason bush is still in office -- No sane person wants cheney in his stead, and impeachment produces a instable government And Bush hasnt TECHNICALLY done anything wrong. A white house lawyer could easily get the congressional hearing invalidated
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"Bush hasn't "technically" done anything wrong ..."?
I can't tell from this distance whether you're utterly un-informed, chronically stupid, playing some debating game, or just pulling my leg. We could, I suppose, have a long conversation, but why bother? There's plenty that needs to be patiently explained to you, but I lack the patience, and anyway, there's less than nothing in your note that makes me want to hear anything further from you.
So, cordially, Brian, kiss my ass and don't waste my time.
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Ridiculous
Re Casualties in Afghanistan & Iraq
I considered donating till I saw your figures on civilian deaths (@ 770,000) in Iraq. Since even the UN has characterized that number as ridiculous, and any honest person would have to admit that the way it was arrived upon is wholly bogus, I fear I can't give even a penny to a bunch of loons.
Sorry.
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I doubt that you've read the methodology explained on our casualties page, and doubt your general integrity. I'm trying, albeit not too hard, to fathom the purpose of your note.
Do you care in the slightest about the deaths in Iraq? There's no indication that you do.
Do you anticipate that, because you've sent an un-signed note offering no citation but claiming that someone at the UN said something's ridiculous, we'll suddenly reject two studies conducted by Johns Hopkins using standard public health methodology?
Do you expect that your lack of donation will dampen our spirits? We'll do fine, thanks, without the two bucks you never would have sent anyway.
* * *
An addendum, typed later: Today's been a cranky day at the in-box. In addition to these three semi-rude notes, we've gotten more than our usual allotment of emails containing just an obscenity or two -- and I must say, we take it all as a real pat on the back. Picture me smiling.
We must be doing something right, I figure, if we're annoying people who prefer not to think ...
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Helen & Harry
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The gift of cancer
Re Diagnosis: Leukemia
Ann, I have lost a loved one to non-Hodgkins Leukemia. How that differs from Acute Myelogenous Leukemia I do not know. Unfortunately, Novartis' drug "Gleevec" (US brand name) was approved for use about a year too damn late.
Since then I have learned that a suspected agent in Leukemia is hair dye, the stuff almost all women feel they must use to stay attractive to men. LINK
Also, a friend suffered through breast cancer. Fortunately she had health insurance, which is not a given here in The States. Cancer is not generally curable but it is treatable these days for people with money.
Everyone dies, some just go on ahead earlier.
I suggest going to a group session for the Significant Others of cancer patients. That helped me quite a lot, and I learned to do my grieving away from the patient. Each person seems to react differently, but many discover a new freedom and a transcendence. They call it, "The gift of cancer." Meaning that they did not start to truly live until they knew that they would surely die.
I also recommend the movie, "My Life Without Me". It is remarkable.
About hair dye, I would say, don't do it. And don't use cosmetics or shampoo. As a runner you are probably quite attractive just as you are :-) Guys have it easier. If the hair thins or grays we can just shave it off and do the Yul Brenner thing (personally, I use dog clippers to cut my hair and I no longer give a shit what anyone thinks :-) I also recommend risky sports, such as sky-diving and motorcycle riding -- those reduce the odds of dying in bed :-)
Best,
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I can't add anything but another hug to Zebra's kind thoughts, but I will add this. Women don't just 'feel' they must use hair dye (and make-up, and perfume, and lift-up bras, and the list goes on and on), we're taught to buy such products. The hypnosis begins when Barbie dolls and goes on forever through all aspects of money-driven media, and the end result is that giant corporations get fabulous profits and real women learn to hate their real selves, and some of them kill themselves with anorexia or a bullet through the brain, which is at least quicker. Everyone who's got a brain already knows all this, of course, certainly including Zebra, but it's so frickin' omnipresent it becomes part of the landscape and sometimes even we the victims tend to "not see" it...
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It's about oil
by The Canadian
| May 29, 2007 |
Re Pres Bush's about-face on Sudan:
It's about oil. The gov't of Sudan has opened the country's oil fields to the Russians and Chinese for development. In return for this favored status, Russia and China have fed Sudan's ethnic cleansing war machine.
Pres. Bush is simply using financial restrictions in order to hinder their progress. His efforts have nothing to do with humanitarianism and the further prevention of the Darfur genocide.
It would be interesting to know which companies will have their financing and trade restricted. I'd bet it's any company supporting the Russian and Chinese Sudan efforts.
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The Canadian
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Memorial day after
I just learned that an old friend died of Agent-Orange related cancer in March from an article about Vietnam Veterans. We'd been estranged in recent years but I had tried to follow his career via internet. I almost called him shortly after New Years, but never picked up the phone.
He'd had serious problems prior to Vietnam but the article said that he came back "a changed man". Obviously, the changes went right down to the cells that became malignant over 30 years later.
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War never ends for those who’ve lived through it, not until everything ends. Condolences, luv. A long, slow sigh. Are we ever going to get weary of war, of doing this to people we love, people we’re temporarily told to hate, people we’ll never know, never have the chance to know. Damn. Fury. And condolences again. |
He had a hard life and a very bad death. I hope he has found some peace.
Thank you for your condolences.
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If he was a friend of yours he deserved better. |
Thank you, but even if he hadn't been my friend he deserved better. I'd only known veterans who were scarred emotionally, the physical disabilities had never been quite real to me. I was born early during the Vietnam War and now I'm a middle aged woman who has seen it kill someone more than 35 years later.
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And of course, the American invasion and occupation of Iraq will still be killing people, long after 'peace' is declared, long after you and I are dead ...
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Helen & Harry
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Silence of the Congress
by Billy Ray K.
| May 29, 2007 |
Re Grounds for impeachment, and arrest
I’ve read the Directive twice. It appears to me that Bush could claim the stalling of a war funding bill in Congress as a National emergency. I have no idea how he was able to pull this off.
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You and I have heard of this order, read it, and we’re worried. Members of Congress, though -- presumably much better informed than you and I -- have said nothing about this to my knowledge, so they’re either unaware of it (which strikes me as utterly implausible), or somehow unconcerned or even in favor of it. Which leads me to certain conclusions I won’t detail here. |
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Helen & Harry
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Security, my buttocks
by JR Mooneyham
| May 29, 2007 |
Private guards a weak link in security
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Excerpt:
The security guard industry found itself involuntarily transformed after September 2001, from an army of "rent-a-cops" to protectors of the homeland. Yet, many security officers are paid little more than restaurant cooks or janitors.
And the industry is governed by a maze of conflicting state rules, according to a nationwide survey by The Associated Press. Wide chasms exist among states in requirements for training and background checks. Tens of thousands of guard applicants were found to have criminal backgrounds. |
So it turns out besides everything else they've screwed up, all that out-sourcing of security matters to private firms Bush-Cheney have insisted our government do both in Iraq and at home, has worsened our security?
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They did WHAT!?! (The dirty deeds of Republicans get little attention in the mainstream media-- partly because they're often so heinous and unbelievable)
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Diabetes resource page
Is it time for me to blog?
I send out these collections of news links that I can't help but compile. Every month or so I send a bunch out, though I don't typically include you on that list, thinking you probably don't need another 2 pages of links to go through. In any case, a couple friends have been cajoling me to start a blog instead of send out via email. Personally, I think a lot of my friends are more inclined to read email from me than to randomly visit a blog. Well, I went ahead and started one anyway, just to see what it would look like. Here are the links I sent out yesterday - what do you think?
Hope2012
May Peace and Love Keep You~
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People who have a solid head on their shoulders, an ability to write coherently and a “give a damn” perspective should, I believe, reach out to others. So by all means, you should blog.
We started our blog as an e-mail list to a few friends, and the first big advantage, of course, is that with emails you’re reaching only the people who want to hear from you. With a weblog, you can reach far more people. So welcome to the web, Sandra. |
Spin job
by Kathy Fisher
| May 29, 2007 |
Spider silk is being spun for everything. Spider web is stronger than all hell it can be grown and has been grown inside goat's stomachs, miles and miles long! I remember people describing chemtrails that felt and looked like spiders’ webs. They were reporting them all over trees and cars. It makes you wonder! About the goat experiment, the military was commissioned on that one.
The Arachnology Home Page
What the public needs to know
Dozens dead in Baghdad bombings
Always the bad news. Who cares what happens in Iraq unless it is a schoolroom being repainted? What the latest escapade Lindsay Lohan or the Hilton bimbo's new antic's are what the American news outlets believe the public needs to know.
Turkey, US at odds over airspace violation
Why make it known publicly indeed. Bush will decide if Turks have a right to their air space.
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Afghan women cry for help
Is Bush listening? Has "the decider" decided how to bring "democracy" to Afghan women?
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Wig
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Dog poop as free speech
by UselessEater
| May 29, 2007 |
I think the jury saw the trial as a political gang-bang, while understanding the feces as one woman's frustration not a conspiracy, They probably also remembered during the election how the GOP candidate made a stink about blaming her opponent for death threats and THIS! Maybe if the prosecutor was less rabid and a Dem they would've convicted? Maybe the defense attorneys explained just how much this trial cost the taxpayers?
Colorado jury acquits woman who sent feces to lawmaker
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Maybe the natives are getting restless. Finally. Or maybe there were several anarchists or libertarians on that jury ... |
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Helen & Harry
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Enhanced fire drills
Re A prank? Or a drill?Fire drills are not accompanied by smoke and flames to make them seem more realistic.
This may seem out of the blue but I suddenly remembered that there WAS a fire drill in my elementary school every year where smoke and heat was simulated. The Fire Department had a miniature mobile house rigged to safely simulate a fire. There was a thick but non-hazardous fog that would fill the mini-house and certain doorknobs would be hot to the touch. Not scalding, but hot enough so you would know that a fire was supposed to be on the other side of the door. The mini-house was dark, hot, and a bit claustrophobic even for a kid my size at that age but the exercise was incredibly informative and likely life-saving stuff. There were even police, counselors, and paramedics there to explain everything the kids needed to know for safety's sake and render assistance in case one of them had a panic attack.
I don't know if they've done away with that program but it's my understanding that it was quite common across Canada. You're saying you've never had those in the States?
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Wow and no. We had fire drills, but they were only a loud alarm bell (obedient students walked out of the building and huddled across the playground until we were given the ‘all clear’ signal).. We also had earthquake drills (crouch under your desk!) and nuke attack drills (crouch under your desk!) too, but all this was done without any special effects. |
Dyxelsia
Dyslexia 'is just a middle-class way to hide stupidity'| |
"There is a huge stigma attached to low intelligence," he said.
"After years of working with parents, I have seen how they don't want their child to be considered lazy, thick or stupid.
"If they get called this medically diagnosed term, dyslexic, then it is a signal to all that it's not to do with intelligence."
He added: "There are all sorts of reasons why people don't read well but we can't determine why that is. Dyslexia, as a term, is becoming meaningless." |
This guy is the same kind of jack ass as those who insist that there is no such thing as mental illness. I am dyslexic and I also have a very high IQ. I know this because my father, a psychologist, tested me and my brothers and sisters when we were quite young.
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Chris M.
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Shirts?
Greetings from the UK
I've just discovered your website & I must commend you all on your integrity & honesty 2 virtues which are seemingly in very short supply in this post 9/11, Orwellian world.
I particularly enjoy the seething anger present in the Panther editorials, now here's a man/woman who sounds like me in full soap box mode.
Anyway as a poor & lowly environmentalist I posses no car so cannot purchase any of your bumper stickers. So I'd love to know if you perhaps sell T-SHIRTS? As the sentiments you express resonate fully with a middle aged radical such as myself.
I only wish we had journalists of such integrity within this country. Though sadly since Greg Dyke lost his job (as BBC D.G) over taking the only right & proper stance RE: the Iraq issue, the BBC has become a shameless, emasculated mouthpiece of the corporate elite.
Thankyou for your strength; & your understanding of the real meaning of the US constitution!! We in the UK (who also understand its meaning) are rather shamefully envious of it, as we British Subjects enjoy no such rights protections. So keep fighting the good fight to try & hold onto what's left of it, & know that you've found a fan from across the pond.
PS. If you can reply to this with an answer to my T-SHIRT query, & a friendly response I would be grateful. However if you're too busy I shall understand.| |
I appreciate the kind words, and we wish the U.K. a speedy recovery from the same fatal disease of stupidity that’s brought America to death’s doorstep.
We have no t-shirts to sell, though, just the stained and un-stenciled t-shirts we’re wearing. Getting t-shirts printed is far too expensive for us, and making our own would be too time-consuming.
Our stickers, however, also stick to refrigerators, ovens, walls, the bumpers of police cars, bus windows, telephone poles … |
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Helen & Harry
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Support the troops
This Edgar Bergan/Charlie McCarthy routine is getting me down:
"The Pentagon-appointed Task Force on the Future of Military Health will endorse higher TRICARE fees, deductibles and co-payments for under-65 retirees and their families in an interim report to be sent to Congress May 31. ..."
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Wig
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Craddick, power, and control
by JR Mooneyham
| May 28, 2007 |
Re Texas House speaker refuses to cede post
You're probably onto something there! Myself, I was thinking Bush-Cheney would go further than this if even the Republican parts of Congress turned against them in an impeachment too, and possibly try a coup detat, like America's a third world banana republic.
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Terrorism is about 1% of one percent of Homeland Security's work
Of COURSE terrorism isn't their focus: their main concern is spying on
innocent American citizens for reasons of power and control.
Wine to vinegar
by Kenneth J.
| May 28, 2007 |
Re President Cheney
Yeees -- probably true. Did you see that awful editorial cartoon in USA Today (yesterday)
that showed Carter looking at God who said, "Well, how long did you think you would have
the title?" More like wine to vinegar -- regardless of how one judges the wine!!!
How about Bush the monkey on somebody's accordion!!!
Is USA Today considered a right wing deal?
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With the exceptions of the St Petersburg Times and Capital Times in Madison WI, there's virtually no newspaper in America that isn't corporate-owned. Which means, even if a paper is doing top-notch reporting (which almost none are) the publisher's sympathies are almost guaranteed to be right-wing. And it would be naïve to imagine that the boss's sympathies aren't known by people who work there.
As for USA Today, it was a piece of fluff when it started, but it's evolved into a paper that's better than average, in my opinion, though in American media "better than average" is faint praise.
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Helen & Harry
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Validation code
Re Grounds for impeachment, and arrest
Below is the text of an email I attempted to send to the Republican Senator from Colorado, Wayne Allard, because I believe my question should be brought to the attention of ALL of the Congress...
Get this... There is a 'validation' code to enter on the screen before the 'submit' box. Apparently there is a problem because I got a text box telling me to 'enter the correct validation code'; I re-entered twice, and got the same message.
My theory is that since I am not a registered Republican, he doesn't think my message would be important!!!!! Talk about preaching to the choir!!! No wonder they can't see what is wrong... they only listen to the same opinions. (Not news, obviously).
I have sent a letter to the editor of the local paper and PBS station to see if this is being followed up. Please everyone send to your representatives in Congress!!!!! Here it is, and it really shocks me. I didn't think it could happen here.
Hi, I am VERY concerned about NSPD 51 and HSPD-20, which I only found in alternative news, online at http://unknownnews.org/070524a-Rose.html. These unconstitutional measures were implemented on May 9, 2007.
How can the president just decide to become a dictator? I fear for our freedom--we are fast approaching the kind of authoritarian rule our founding fathers fought so hard to depose. What is it going to take to stop this madness and return our republic to leadership by representation?
Please advise how you and the Congress will combat this unconscionable power grab.
Thank you,
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My understanding is that the "validation codes" is supposed to eliminate spam by requiring a human to key something based on an image (which your computer apparently didn't show). But I think Congresscritters and Senators pay a lot more attention to a real letter, and it's worth 41¢.
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Helen & Harry
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Don Imus and free speech
by Stanley R.
| May 28, 2007 |
If you're so interested in freedom as your "about" page claims, why didn't you have anything to say about Don Imus's firing. It's a further sign that freedom of speech is collapsing in America, swallowed by the killer called "political correctness".
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The owner of a microphone Imus used to speak into has clicked that microphone off, and that's the owner's choice. Personally, I think that mike should've been clicked off years ago.
His firing has nothing to do with freedom of speech -- nobody is preventing Imus from saying anything he wishes to say. The First Amendment says nothing about guaranteeing everyone or anyone a microphone and a radio syndication contract.
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Helen & Harry
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Third war
by The Canadian
| May 27, 2007 |
Both the US and Iran continue intensely to goad each other into pulling the trigger first. The situation is becoming more intense, and it is becoming increasingly possible that mistakes will occur.
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My perspective changes from optimistic to pessimistic, sometimes more than once daily. War is so clearly what Bush-Cheney want, and like spoiled psychopathic children, they always seem to get what they want ...
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Helen & Harry
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Diagnosis: Leukemia |
