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Latest grounds for impeachment
by JR Mooneyham
| July 19, 2007 |
Here's Bush's latest executive order. ... Basically it's another version of the unlawful combatant provision: a blank
check they can put anyone's name on to harass or 'disappear' them, like I
think was done in countries like Argentina decades back. ... MORE ...
Cost of war
Blast shows age of U.S. infrastructure| |
Excerpt: ...an 83-year-old steam pipe sent a powerful message that the miles of tubes, wires and iron
beneath New York and other U.S. cities are getting older and could become dangerously
unstable. |
How many billion are the wars around the world costing every day?
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E13
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The next war
by The Canadian
| July 19, 2007 |
Despite Marie's resilient efforts to provide evidence that the Bush regime should not provoke war with Iran, please consider the tidal change within the US government policy concerning IRAN: Condoleezza Rice's diplomatic efforts no longer have the ear of the President. The Cheney camp solution now has the ear of the President, and has for the past few weeks now.
Helen and Harry, as I have mentioned before, I have friends with whom I keep in touch. My friends have confirmed to me that this piece of info has become THE defining issue of late amongst those within the 1st and 2nd circles. In fact, to them it is old news already.
This change of mindset is real.
Most reflect upon the fact that the President has 18 months in office remaining and, therefore, he has 18 months to deal with Iran. This is partially true. Look at it this way: he has 18 months to complete his Iranian solution.
Isn't it also convenient that the N. Korea issue is settled?
Also: Please review what I wrote concerning Syria, Israel and the Golan some time ago. If you kept this info, you'll note what I wrote is coming to pass.
* * *
Re: Washington Post article
I told you guys this a long time ago. I am surprised it is mainstream news only now.
Pakistan has become an unstable front -- with nukes. I wonder how long it will be before US troops directly "help" the Government of Pakistan with US boots on the ground of Pakistan?
* * *
Re Nuts and nuttier
Putin is not crazy. In fact, for a Russian politician, he is quite brilliant. This is not to say that I admire him, but I do recognize his pragmatic skill in practicing Russian Realpolitik. His former training has served him well.
PS: Don, you remind me much of the spirit of Mark Twain. (Samuel L. Clemens). I mean that sincerely. I am very interested in reading about your experiences with the people you have encountered during your travels. I'd like to hear about their lives and your thoughts about what it means to be an American.
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Only a strong opposition party could prevent Bush-Cheney from attacking Iran, and there's virtually no opposition at all.
As for Pakistan, everything I read reinforces my perception that Pervez Musharraf, that nation's dictator, is the Saddam or Shah of the next generation -- backed by America, he's another perfectly valid reason for millions of people to hate America.
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The IAEA and Iran
Re Who decides?Who gets to decide who has such rights? How does one secure such decision making ability?
Assuming these questions are about how Iran got its rights and ability to make nuclear energy decisions, there's a pretty straightforward answer. In 1958 Iran became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA -- established in 1957). In 1970 Iran signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT -- opened for signing in 1968). Uranium enrichment is not a violation of this treaty.
To join the IAEA, a country notifies the General Director of its wish to join. This information is passed on to the Board (The Board of Governors, 13 of the countries with the most developed nuclear energy programs plus 22 members elected by the General Conference). Once the country is approved by the Board, that information goes to the GC (the General Conference, the 144 countries that are members of the IAEA). Once they approve, the country is notified and it then sends in a signed acceptance of the IAEA Statute. By joining countries gain the right to set up their nuclear energy program for peaceful purposes as they see fit.
However, since the IAEA was established as an autonomous specialized UN agency to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and inhibit its use for military purposes, there are the safeguard agreements that countries set up with the IAEA, which up until 1992 didn't require countries to notify the IAEA of the existence of facilities until 6 months (180 days) before nuclear materials were to be introduced to the facility. Even after that agreements of a similar nature were made for some time -- Iran had such an agreement. So when the Arak and Natanz facilities became known of in 2002, Iran was still not required to reveal their existence or even allow inspections. Despite that, the Natanz enrichment plant was inspected in February 2003. Now it will be inspected again.
As a sort of footnote, after the Iranian revolution the US put a lot of pressure on the IAEU. So in 1983 a planned IAEU Technical Assistance Program in Iran (this is another aspect of the IAEU's work) related to enrichment was stopped. Then, the US refused to deliver nuclear fuel nor refund the billions of dollars paid for it. Likewise, Germany, refused to export more equipment for the unfinished Bushehr plant nor refund billions of dollars Iran had paid. France also failed to deliver fuel in a timely manner -- so late that Iran no longer wants it. In addition, since 2003 Iran has faced a stream of accusations with the IAEA reports mostly exonerating Iran especially on serious matters. As I see it, the Iranians must be pretty fed up with it all by now, and yet they still managed to arrive at the deal announced on July 13, 2007.
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Marie K.
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Stuffy
Loose Saudi cannons in Lebanon| |
Excerpt: The bomber, according to Brammertz, had spent only about four months of his life in Lebanon and nearly 10 years in a "rural area", possibly the mountains of Afghanistan. After all, hundreds of Saudis lived there when working with the United States to combat the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. This sheds light once more on Saudi jihadis in Lebanon. |
Rarely stated in the media in this country. But as Seymour Hersh has stated, nearly all the "jihadists" are from Saudi Arabia, which is Sunni. This goes for al-Qaeda. A good part of the reason we are in Iraq is to keep the Shia from getting into power since Bush and his neo-con cronies are still mad a hell about the Shia in Iran taking back their oil and kicking out the Shaw. You will notice that despite the rhetoric from the WH, they are still more OK with Sunni groups than Shia and Saudi Arabia is still treated with kid gloves.
* * *
Bush aides see failure in fight with Al Qaeda in Pakistan| |
Excerpt: President Bush's top counterterrorism advisers acknowledged today that the strategy for fighting Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan had failed, as the White House released a grim new intelligence assessment that has forced the administration to consider more aggressive measures inside Pakistan.
The intelligence report, the most formal assessment since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks about the terrorist threat facing the United States, concludes that the United States is losing ground on a number of fronts in the fight against Al Qaeda, and describes the terrorist organization as having significantly strengthened over the past two years. |
We never really had any intention of neutralizing Al Qaida there or anywhere else. They are Saudi in origin, there for not our enemy despite anything Bush says.
* * *
New Zealanders decry ban on political satire
This does not surprise me. My mother lived in New Zealand for
when she was young for a while. According to her, New Zealanders
are even more stuffy than the British that landed there originally.
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A few of my favorite lesbians live in Auckland.
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I believe that ...
by Peter K. Sharpen
| July 19, 2007 |
I haven't written for a while but was just reading some older stuff of mine. I would like to share it with you.
The World is full of never-ending strife and I fear will forever be, but that is being pessimistic.
The piece below was written some years ago but is always relevant (I feel). It does encompass many thoughts and feelings. Should you decide to publish it, it may reach many people and I would be glad for any feed-back.
Here it is:
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I BELIEVE that...
...I am a free person, born on this planet chosen to be called Earth but not of this World which was created by others for their own selfish ends.
...only I, have the entitlement to control my life.
...controllers cannot control their own behaviors and therefore feel the need to control others' behaviors. This they do by bullying others.
...so-called 'rights' can be taken away at any time by these bullies or controllers whomsoever they say they are and for whatever their reasons for saying so; therefore rights do exist in actuality.
... the World is controlled by bullies.
... the Earth is controlled by no-thing or no-one, spiritual or otherwise.
... the 'Law' is a bully because it is devised by bullies.
...the 'Law' protects no single person or group of persons in any 'real' terms.. It protects only itself by bullying others' at others' expense.
...the so-called 'agents of the Law' therefore, comply only with the bully system.
...there is no justice, beauty, truth, or any other quality, other than that which I feel in myself.
... emotions are not feelings. Emotions derive from 'like' and 'dislike', and these we are taught to us. They are not feelings. Emotions are outside our feelings and therefore outside ourselves.
...feelings are wordless and therefore they endure; emotions do not.
...I am the only person in my head, no other persons' thoughts, should prevail except for those which may, from other persons' experiences, add to my security and well-being, which I will ultimately decide. That decision will then be my responsibility alone and I will not prevail upon others in any form of blame/obligation and such-like.
...only I am responsible for my behavior/s.
...only I am responsible for my own happiness/misery.
... my responsibilities are to myself first; then they may be shared with others.
...that there is do 'duty', 'obligation', 'loyalty'. towards others unless I feel it in myself to behave so.
...that life on earth is change. That the World tries to make things static. The earth upon which we live changes; thus do we live, and die.
...there is no god except that which is inside me.
...fear drives men and women. It is this fear that accounts for all behaviors.
...positive behaviors only, are our salvation.
...negative behaviors are our destruction.
...there are persons who may wish to harm me. These persons are very unhappy people. As controllers without self-control, they are very dangerous to me and cause me to feel unhappy, therefore unsafe and unhealthy in a variety of ways. These people are very sad people. They should be dealt with by their peers, not by an assumed authority. This may have been so but has been over-shadowed by others who dispense their so-called 'justice' from a distance. This is not 'civilized' and does not help me; it is a pretence they have devised to make them feel good about themselves, which they do not, really.
...there are many people who also wish to help me. These people are happy people, who wish for my safety and health on this earth. We should seek out these people for their help, whoever they are. We should also help them to help us. These people work very hard (often without our knowledge) in their hope for us to be a better person. Like it or not, these people care about us. We all know the people who care for us, because they are always there to heal our hurt, help us to help ourselves, whoever they are. We know who they are because we feel good about them and they make us laugh.
...we want to be independent from others but need others to help us become independent. That is the aim of 'proper' teachers, whoever or whenever, they may be.
...asking for help is a great strength in ourselves. It does not represent failure but success.
..no being, human or otherwise, can know everything. Everything is too much for us. We can know a little about a lot, or a lot about a little. Perhaps never the twain shall meet.
...we learn a great deal each day, even though we may not realize it. Realizing this may be of great help to us.
...that some-one finding us after a long time of not knowing where they are is the most rewarding experience one can have.
...that I love dearly my chosen family.
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Thank you for reading the above. I hope that some things might give inspiration to others who feel the same way. I hope it may stir others to think differently about themselves.
My very best regards for what you hope to accomplish.
Sincerely,
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Peter .K. Sharpen
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The light of awareness
Hats off to you, the ones who so courageously dare to venture past where mainstream media financial payoffs end.
I've thoroughly enjoyed dabbling and reading through your articles. I'm especially grateful for you pointing out the blatant fact that Bush is not a Christian. When I saw him on the cover of a book with his head bowed in prayer fashion with the words, "His Faith Guides Him," I felt nauseating pangs run through me. Come on folks, wake up, would Jesus and all the angels in Heaven guide him to go to war and have masses killed and displaced??? "Love your neighbor as yourself and love your enemies. Do good onto those who harm you. Turn the other cheek." Maybe these words were conveniently edited out in his version of the bible.
It's a sad moment in America when one can so blindly pass on the truth and then sheepishly swallow someone else's version of it.
I also searched through your database and was unable to find any articles pertaining to the child/sex slave trade. I find much of this information difficult to digest and imagine it being even more challenging to print. I believe this to be one of greatest cover-ups in our country, and globally for that matter.
The process of something ceasing to be begins with the light of awareness to it. Thank you for opening the door of awareness for the rest of us.
Sincerely,
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We've touched on the topic of child (and adult) sex slavery, but usually just with a link leading elsewhere. I don't remember any original work we've published on the subject.
And in recent weeks I've noticed that when this matter is mentioned in the media, it's often obfuscated as "human trafficking". To me, human trafficking is what Greyhound and United Airlines do. When the subject is rape and slavery, I wish the media wouldn't try to make it more palatable.
If you have expertise of passion on this, please consider yourself invited to write at length.
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Helen & Harry
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Nonsense news tip
I'd like to draw your attention to a recent explosive letter of article length on the David Irving website ...
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Very briefly: David Irving is a fool.
People who send us "news tips" drawn from David Irving's website are wasting their time, but much more importantly, wasting mine. And you've wasted all my time you're going to get.
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Helen & Harry
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Crazy combos
by Cassandra
| July 18, 2007 |
Re Nuts and nuttier
I did think Putin was not quite right, but things seemed to escalate so
badly so quickly. I'm not sure if I should hope that our combo is
crazier than their combo or not. If we hit Iran, this mess may well boil
over into a global war.
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Cassandra
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The Washington Post's subtle lie
by JR Mooneyham
| July 18, 2007 |
Intelligence puts rationale for war on shakier ground
What the hell??!!??
I didn't know Bush's rationale had any ground left under it at all the last several years! So this is definitely a 'positive spin' article for Bush -- at least the way it's titled.
* * *
[AT&T] iPhone has a built-in spyware module?| |
Excerpt: Russian hackers found a built-in function which sends all data from an iPhone to a specified web-server. Contacts from a phonebook, SMS, recent calls, history of Safari browser -- all your personal information can be stolen.
At present there is no additional information about this issue. |
Note that if you consider all the other, far more credible news sources
regarding AT&T's misdeeds in respect to consumer privacy, this item is not
only NOT far-fetched -- but only to be expected.
* * *
I don't know enough about this deal to recommend it. I just wanted you to be
aware of it, just in case.
For my own next PC, I'd be sorely tempted to either go with a refurbished Win
XP, or maybe a used PC that I set up with ubuntu linux (if the latest ubuntu
is easy and practical enough by then).
$298 Wal-Mart PC features OpenOffice.org, no crapware
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We've never bought a new computer, as people with more money than us seem willing to constantly upgrade, which allows us to buy used at a good price. And I hate Wal-Mart. Also, the article says the computer comes with MS Vista, and from what little I know I'd categorize that as crapware.
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Helen & Harry
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America, wake up and think!
by Herb Ruhs, MD
| July 18, 2007 |
9/11 wasn't a terrorist incident, it was a marketing campaign to sell
tyranny.
* * *
When we observe our so called "leaders," especially the ones that we
have been conditioned to think of as progressive or liberal, calling
out the dogs of war in service of a hopeless ambition to dominate the
globe it is good to remember this quote and remember that we are
watching the delirious thrashing about of mad men (and some women).
“Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.”Charles A. Beard, historian and author (1874-1948)
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Herb Ruhs, MD
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In case it happens here
by Kathy Fisher
| July 18, 2007 |
I'm listening to a radio show and the woman just talked about how the
Government in Germany took over the vitamin and herb industry. You need a
prescription for everything.
I keep my closet packed with my herbal
supplements and homeopathic remedies. I double up on everything, just in
case this happens here.
Will doctors allow it?
by UselessEater
| July 18, 2007 |
Hospital unveils website to track its quality and safety record| |
Excerpt: As health consumers across the country demand better and more detailed information about their physicians and hospitals, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is stepping up to detail its own performance efforts ranging from the percentage of clinicians who clean their hands to the number of times physicians take the proper steps in treating heart attack patients. |
There will never be a comprehensive national consumer-affairs type physician/hospital
rating database?
Doctors and hospitals know how to work a united front when it comes to weaseling
politicians for tax incentives and free stuff but quality assurance is all handled
piecemeal, if at all, hospital by hospital?
I wonder if the good people trying to rate physicians are using a universal system or
something they thought of to fit their people?
Nuts and nuttier
by Cassandra
| July 17, 2007 |
Hs: if this is a really stupid question, please don't print. I'm just so
befuddled by recent events. I remember professors saying 'there are no
stupid questions' but they lie.
Is Mr. Putin as nuts as Mr. Bush? I've told Helen & Harry in that I'm
frequently confused lately, but I don't see any serious threats on the
part of the US to Russia. Our politicians are too busy fighting over
whether they get to start blowing up Iran. And I don't remember
infighting within an administration [as in the Cheney/Rice thing] being
so public before this one.
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Seems a reasonable question to me.
The more Bush says his stupid "missile defense system" isn't a threat to Russia, the more I'm convinced that it is. Putin's crazy in several ways, but his worries about what Bush is up to seem perfectly sound to me. And certainly, when Bush attacks Iran, Russia will have a serious lack in its oil supply.
I assume Bush and Cheney combined are crazier than Putin, but that might be an illusion caused by my knowing lots more about my national bozos than about a more distant bozo like Putin.
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A pattern
by Herb Ruhs, MD
| July 17, 2007 |
Re Inheritance for the meek
Well, appeasement of tyrants brought us the first two world wars. So you might consider it some kind of pattern.
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herb
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More plain English and some editing could help
Re No comment and Can a good Muslim be a good American?
Actually, I think this article DOES need a comment. In my opinion, it needs to be edited, and I can only hope that the author will appreciate my effort. Unfortunately, as it stands, it is likely to be completely misunderstood, which is what seems to have happened. The author is asking the question -- "Can a good Muslim be a good American?" In fact, the answer the author hopes readers will arrive at is YES, a good Muslim CAN be a good American.
To edit it, I'd first get rid of the "straw man" technique because the straw man seems to be the winner instead of the one easily defeated. It's the "straw man's" responses that stand out. Secondly, I'd get rid of the links and the quotations from the Quran. Unfortunately, they aren't really needed or they are using English and terminology that isn't going to make much sense to most modern-day native speakers of English who have never been to a Muslim country or studied Islam. What is needed is plain English. Then, I'd use the "good American" definition to organize my answers. Finally, I'd change the question being asked. For example:
Some of the "responsibilities of citizenship" listed in the Wikipedia article on citizenship include: respecting the rights of others, paying taxes and obeying the laws enacted, participating to improve the quality of political and civic life, and demonstrating commitment and loyalty to the democratic political community and state. Would Muslims be able to fulfill the responsibilities of US citizenship? YES.
Respecting the rights of others -- Islam teaches Muslims to treat the members of their family, their friends, and others well. Specific ideas are offered: husbands and wives are to respect each other's rights, support each other, and take good care of their children. Muslims shouldn't defame, gossip about, or spy on others, nor should they invade the privacy and property of others. Islam also teaches that religious beliefs matter. Muslims would be especially accepting of Christians and Jews. Since Muslims carefully consider the updating of earlier ideas using analogies, they would be likely to respect other spiritual beliefs. In addition, Muslims firmly believe that their should be no compulsion in religious matters.
Paying taxes and obeying the laws enacted -- Muslims are taught that keeping promises and fulfilling the contracts they make matter. Also, both Muslims born in America and naturalized Muslim citizens would certainly have no trouble with the idea of paying taxes or obeying the law since those are duties they would be perfectly aware of from life in earlier and modern Muslim societies.
Participating to improve the quality of political and civic life -- Muslims are especially aware of being charitable and taking care of others since two of their biggest religious holidays especially focus on these issues. Also, part of being a good Muslim specifically involves helping those in need.
Demonstrating commitment and loyalty to the democratic political community and state -- Since early Muslim society especially is praised for it's group decision-making, it's democratic nature, and commitment to the bettering of community life, Muslims would be supportive of human rights and the principles enshrined in the US Constitution. The rights guaranteed in Amendments to the Constitution would also be supported. As a minority in the US, they would be glad that their religious rights and other rights would be protected.
In sum, unlike what those promoting a "clash of civilizations" (what IS their purpose in doing that) would indicate, Muslims would become good neighbors and good citizens wherever they live. They are 21% of the world's population. Their personal religious practices could even be carried out in their own homes if no mosques were available. In addition, monogamy, divorce, and women in leadership positions would not seem strange to Muslims. All in all it is better to avoid superficial judgments of people and religions. Also, to discover who the ones really terrorizing and killing others are in today's world, careful study and analysis is needed.
Well, that about covers what the author was trying to say, I think. As for myself, I noticed another section in the citizenship article called "requirements for obtaining American citizenship." It covers good moral character and language, for example. My life in Turkey has shown me that Muslims care a lot about good moral character. Achieving it along with self-control and avoiding extremes in behavior is what really matters in life. As for the language issue, Turks who go to the US are the ones who are skilled. They are likely to have a good understanding of English. The author of the article also has learned English well or is bilingual, but his article would be better suited to Muslims or their family members who are worried that living in the West might compromise their religious beliefs. His information would be reassuring and/or help them adapt.
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Marie K.
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Big screen Shibumi
Looks like, maybe so... that Trevanian's
novel, "Shibumi" will be made into a movie
starring Keanu Reeves as Nicholai Hel...
www.hollywood.com/movie/Shibumi/375360
and
www.trevanian.com
see also:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevanian
* * *
Any reader of "Shibumi" would have recognized
9/11 as potentially a LIHOP (Let It Happen
On Purpose) incident. In "Shibumi", Hel's
main expense for each "stunt" of counter-terrorism
generally was for protection *by* a government
obtained by paying for "intel" against a
government. For example, in his final major
stunt of the book, Nicholai obtained sanction
with intel about who killed JFK. (Chortle?
Who's laughing now, Americanskis?)
Guantanamo too is familiar, since Nicholai Hel's
career began in an Allied prison cell from
which he was hired by the CIA to perform
assassinations in exchange for his freedom
from infinite solitary confinement without
charges.
(And c'mon, does anyone believe that after
the August 2001 PDB that the US Air Force
would allow 4 hijacked jets to fly around
the US for hours without interception?
What kind of assholes are Americans to
believe something so far-fetched, anyway!)
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Nick Meyer is co-credited on the screenplay, and that's a good sign. He wrote several movies I've liked ...
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Helen & Harry
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What goes around
Re Iranian events in plain English
Na Uh!! They don't have the right to use the wheel unless we say it's ok.
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Jiub
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The living bejesus
by Kathy Fisher
| July 17, 2007 |
I will tell you what scares the living bejesus out of me. Every day no less than ten times about two blocks from us, trains stop traffic carrying slow-moving natx and other dangerous toxic chemicals. The thought of an accident sends my blood pressure soaring.
Evacuation is a word I dread hearing. The nuke plant in Forked River NJ is over 85 miles south from us, the one in NY which the recently shut down is 50 miles north. The Hess oil refinery is about 3 miles away. I can see the fires from their two stacks from my window when the are on full burn cooking up their noxious brew. Two miles to the next town, Sewarren, where there are boat slips and a huge waterway that takes people to all points of the Jersey shores.
It's still dotted with 900,000 dollar homes. For some insane reason people live there, even though this waterfront has been ruined by the placement of no less than 50 GIANT gasoline containers put there in the late forties. Developers continue building new homes and condos. Sewarren is one of the mast expensive towns to live here in Middlesex county, It boggles the mind!
I can't understand how they will ever evacuate 6,000 plus families if the time comes. I am surrounded, like many folks, with the threat of potential accidents long overdue and maybe right around the corner. I've lived in these parts for 28 years now and like so many say it's just a matter of time.
Perth Amboy is just four miles south of Woodbridge and the ferries take people to New York in under 20 minutes. They gave the place a magnificent face lift a few years back but it is vulnerable to oil spills and of course all sorts of attacks.
Bastard reduction program
Re Sheehan will run against Pelosi in '08 if she keeps refusing to impeach
I would love to see Cindy Sheehan run against Pelosi. I believe she could win hands down. I might even move out there and register just so I could vote for her. After she won, others might get the same idea and then we could rid ourselves of more of these bastards.
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John G.
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Who decides?
Re Iranian events in plain English
Who gets to decide who has such rights? How does one secure such decision making ability?
Impeach already
by Yvonne W.
| July 17, 2007 |
Re Neo-Constitutional crisis
It's way over-due for Congress to do it's DUTY & Impeach the entire Bu$h-Cheney NeoCON Regime! :(
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Yvonne W.
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Reuters and the Synarchist Movement of Empire
by Sanford W.
| July 17, 2007 |
I notice that you publish links to articles from Reuters news syndicate. Are you unaware that Reuters is owned and operated by the Synarchist Movement of Empire (SME) ...
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Your letter goes on for about 4,000 words, but you lost my interest at SME. Say howdy to your pal Lyndon LaRouche, and tell him the facts on Reuters: It's one of the giant mainstream news syndicates -- and one of the better ones, if only for its worldwide instead of U.S.-centric perspective.
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Helen & Harry
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"You reap what you sow"
Robot attack squadron bound for Iraq| |
Excerpt: The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It's outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.
The Reaper is loaded, but there's no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada. |
Troops on the ground in Iraq can't tell who is or isn't an enemy; how in the hell (excuse the language)is a computer operator in Nevada going to distinguish a woman on the way to the market with some type of container from an insurgent with some type of weapon? The mess is only going to get us into a deeper quagmire-- if deeper is possible. The civilian toll of mistaken targets isn't bad enough we have to introduce further confusion.
Air Force quietly builds Iraq presence
Who IS calling the shots?
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Good question. It ain't "we the people" of America, and it sure ain't "they the people" of Iraq. |
"The Decider" says HE knows better than anyone the way to go.
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Wig
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Inheritance for the meek
by Herb Ruhs, MD
| July 16, 2007 |
Face it. We have failed miserably to govern ourselves. Why just not
outsource that function to the Scandinavian countries?
* * *
Carla Faye Tucker
Tookie Williams
Troy Davis
Scooter Libby
Which does not belong?
* * *
Basically my current take
on the blog thing is that our society has become so corrupt that
people have little confidence in any information that is coming from
any even marginally established source. Always at the edge of the
crowd, I even have started ignoring Truth Out and Alternet.
Another
way to look at it is that, in the context of countless billions being
spent on professional lying (aka "public relations") for gangster
elements, one's sense of reality itself becomes suspect since
consensually, agreement on what is real, has been leached away by
well founded suspicions of deceit. Essentially people are looking
for word of mouth, sources that can be reasonably expected to not
have ulterior motives. Hence the irony that a source like
UnknownNews, tiny, fully volunteer, and with a stable point of view
and practicing open debate, can compete with huge well funded sources
as a source of illumination for many.
All centralized phenomena have
suffered a loss of confidence, whether they be for news sources, the
legal system, food sources or any other highly organized entity.
Decentralization, horizontalism and peer certification, which the
blog sphere is a prime example of, is the path to a survivable future.
The meek will inherit the earth since the powerful will destroy
themselves in their struggle for power and influence.
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I like your outlook on blogs and generally share it. I'm still quite thoroughly respectful and appreciative of TruthOut (they're one of my few regular daily visits), but there are other big blogs I abhor and wasting my time with... DailyKos, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, and a few others that seem to be oddly all about themselves.
Believe me, I could easily and enjoyably spend half an hour describing what's wrong with such sites, but that would feel like wasted time as well. I'll just say, we've been making independent media and doing projects similar to Unknown News since long before there was an internet It's electronic these days instead of on paper, but there have always been schmucks and weasels and trust-fund kiddies. Like the cliché says, "Keep it real", and some of these giant, obviously well-funded weblogs just aren't.
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Experience does matter, in spite of the corporatocracy's campaign to
replace all experienced workers with lower wage, temporary and
outsourced, and therefore cheaper, labor. An unintended consequence
(I think it is unintended) of this maniacal cost reduction is an
apparent attitude on the part of the population against the wisdom of
job security and the denigration of experience and age.
The economy
has become a Children's Crusade and, understandably, is collapsing in
a confused mess of marginally useful consumer products, like an
untidy pre-schoolers bedroom, while actual productive activities are
being sent overseas. Medical care is increasingly in the hands of
"paraprofessionals," lesser and often poorly trained and
inexperienced workers who appeal to managers by their willingness to
follow orders and provide care whether or not they know what they are
doing.
The media's news rooms, if not abandoned entirely in favor of
centralized production of pseudonews, are staffed by inexperienced,
low wage, recent graduates with experienced journalist being let go
in a torrent by corporate managers who hate the untidy business of
actual news coverage and prefer to "move product."
As I boringly like to repeat, the future is beginning to look more
like Lord of the Flies than 1984.
Of course, in the wake the manufacturing-of-reality industry's
massive assault on perception over the last half century, keeping it
"real" is far from a trivial challenge. Keep on stubbornly listening
to your muses. They seem to be guiding you well.
* * *
At the risk of being considered gratuitously contrarian, can I ask
people to at least consider the possibility that the left anti-impeachment group, Ms. Pelosi, et. al., might actually be afraid of
lighting the fuse that sets off the attack on Iran?
Confronted with
an actual threat to their illegitimate power what is more likely than
a dramatic expansion of war as a means to confound their domestic
enemies?
People talk glibly about WWIII being immanent, if not under
way, without contemplating the logical consequence of a strategic
nuclear exchange between Russia, China and the US. A good peace
strategy may be to keep up the impeachment pressure so as to reign in
even greater abuses without actually pushing these madmen to the wall
with their sweaty fingers wrapped around the nuclear trigger.
If
this is Pelosi's thinking she would have a hard time packaging it for
transmission by the mass media. It would probably be impossible.
Time may have come to think about these things while viewing Dr.
Strangelove.
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Interesting. Plausible. I don't see anything in Pelosi's track record to suggest such Hamletesque depth, but it sounds like something she'd write in her autobiography, long after Bush-Cheney are gone, if there's still a literate civilization by then.
My gut is at least as reliable as Michael Chertoff's, and my gut says Bush-Cheney will make another war when they think they can get away with it. And my gut adds emphatically, an active, open, well-explained move toward impeachment would begin reducing Bush-Cheney's odds of getting away with it.
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Iranian events in plain English
Since Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant reactor is of the pressurized light-water reactor type (the most common nuclear reactor in the world -- 358 out of 439 as of this year), it requires low-enriched uranium enriched to 3 to 5% (vs. highly enriched uranium, HEU, enriched to 90% or more for weapons), so Bush’s efforts to stop Iran from doing enrichment means they can’t run the plant.
They have a right to have it and to run it (using their own uranium) and a right to enrich uranium for it, given the agreements they have signed. ... MORE ...
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Marie K.
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Big Gov't interfering with Free Trade
by UselessEater
| July 16, 2007 |
Robot attack squadron bound for Iraq| |
Excerpt: The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It's outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.
The Reaper is loaded, but there's no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada. |
Hey I thought the war was over. Everything but the fighting. Then again I did read once that the US knew by 1969 they couldn't win in Vietnam and it wasn't until 1973(?) that Saigon fell and US troops brought that war home.
President Hilary Clinton can probably stretch this war out more years then that, especially if there's a major terrorist attack on the US during her first term and like Nixon make ending the Iraq war THE re-election issue for her 2nd term?
* * *
Re Seasoning may be source of veggie snacks poisoning
You'd think the media news giants would be clamoring for an embargo on all foodstuffs from China. At least until the US FDA can get up to speed and start double-checking their stuff?
But that would be big government interfering with Free Trade: food inspections of imports are probably illegal according to international law anyway.
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Bastards. It's become the most commonly used word in my vocabulary: Bastards. Bastards in China. Bastards in America. Bastards in Washington DC. Bastards, bastards, and more bastards.
And American major media, insofar as it takes sides, is on the bastards' side.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if you're literally correct -- deep inside NAFTA and similar "free trade" (my ass) agreements there's probably a stipulation that forbids inspections. That would be perfectly in keeping with destroying America, which seems to be the driving philosophy behind such agreements ...
As for Hillary Clinton's second term, sigh... America's teetering on the brink already. If Hillary is the Democratic nominee in 2008, America is over. |
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Helen & Harry
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Memo to Don Nash
by The Canadian
| July 16, 2007 |
Re Homecoming
Hey! You're back! I can't wait to start reading your submissions! Write soon and write often.
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TC
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No comment
by Cassandra
| July 16, 2007 |
Muslims can't be good americans
Needs no comment from me.
As requested, info on poverty for John Edwards
Senator,
Out "here" in Poorville, many of us cut our own hair to save money. Buzzcut once a month, 1/4 inch long!
I recommend you get yourself a real haircut, just like a G.I.
Glenn Beck played a satire video today on CNN about your haircuts -- the $400 ones -- along with you primping. Pretty damning stuff.
Isn't it time you get serious about the race and make the sacrifice? Cut your hair yourself, all the way! You will save time as well as money. Might need a hat for the sunny days though :-) The rural people will love seeing you wearing a ball cap or cowboy hat, so that is an opportunity right there...
Best wishes,
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decline
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P.S. Another thing "we" do to conserve resources
is make our own bread from scratch, the
Paleolithic way: salt, oil, water and flour.
Hacks happen
Robot air attack squadron bound for Iraq| |
Excerpt:
The arrival of these outsized U.S. "hunter-killer" drones,
in aviation history's first robot attack squadron, will be a
watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many
innovative ways to hunt and kill.
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As a follow up, I can think of another way. Suppose some very
clever Iraqi figures out how to "hijack" one of these drones
and disable any self-destruct that it may have. Can't happen,
you say?? Think again... anyone who believes that this is not
possible has been living in a cave on Uranus the last 40 years
or so without a computer and internet access.
* * *
Hillary Clinton: Why is she hated by progressives and right-wingers alike?
by Leonard Doyle, The Independent [London, UK]| |
Excerpt: "The truth is that Senator Clinton has a woman problem," said Anna Quindlen, a Newsweek columnist. "The fantasy was that the first woman President would be someone who would turn the whole lousy system inside out and upside down. Instead the first significant woman contender is someone who seems to have the system down to a fine art." |
She is a phony who will do anything that will further her own agenda.
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Excerpt: Jane Fonda says that Hillary is a "ventriloquist for the patriarchy with a skirt and a vagina. It may be that a feminist, progressive man would do better in the White House." |
Give that lady a cigar, so to speak.
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Excerpt: For Fonda, the big disappointment was Hillary's 2002 Congressional vote giving George Bush the green light to go to war on Iraq. It turns out that Hillary didn't bother to read the top-secret intelligence report, that she as a senator was given access to before the vote. The six senators who did read it all voted against, because the still-secret report seems to have persuaded them that the case for war was flimsy.
"Women sometimes bend the wrong way just to prove themselves to men," remarked Fonda. "But when we learn to listen to ourselves, that will be revolutionary." |
Women need to stand up for themselves instead of trying to emulate and then suck up to men. Especially in government. Cindy Sheehan is a far better roll model than Clinton any day of the week.
* * *
Bush like Hitler, says first Muslim in Congress| |
Excerpt: He is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq. But he angered his own anti-war supporters by voting for a budget bill that aims to end the war over the next 18 months. His followers want an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
After his speech was reported, Mr Ellison said he accepted that Osama bin Laden was responsible for 9/11. But his demagogic comments threaten to plunge him in controversy.
Mark Drake, of the Republican party in Minnesota, said: "To compare the democratically elected leader of the United States of America to Hitler is an absolute moral outrage which trivializes the horrors of Nazi Germany." |
Hey... Mark Drake ... Hello! Hitler was elected too. That's the problem
with Republicans. They're so damn busy getting wasted at frat parties,
they don't learn a damn thing. But I digress, this is not the same, Hitler
was no ones puppet and it is clear the Bush is Cheney's puppet. Or is it
lap dog.
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If we measure by body count, Bush has a long ways to go to catch up with Hitler, but hey, it took even Hitler a few years to become the "Hitler" of history. If we measure by sheer insanity, Bush at least plainly owes an intellectual debt of gratitude to Hitler.
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Helen & Harry
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Wake up, people
by Jennie B.
| July 16, 2007 |
Re Neo-Constitutional crisis
Where is the OUTRAGE? Wake up, people -- these idiots think they OWN US? WRONG...IMPEACHMENT is BACK! Bye, Bye Nut cases ... Noted.
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Jennie B.
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Thanks
by Felicita L.
| July 16, 2007 |
Re Humiliating the poor
THANK YOU SO MUCH HELEN AND HARRY!
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Don't thank us -- we just work here. Thank the author, JS Magruder.
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Helen & Harry
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Horseshit
by Andrew K.
| July 16, 2007 |
Your "casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq" is horseshit. First off, these are two separate wars with two separate justifications and it's insane to present them as one. Second, your horseshit guess at a ludicrous number of Iraqi deaths, hundreds of thousands more than anyone who's credible estimates, well that's horseshit too, extrapolations of extrapolations from a crazy-ass crackpot survey done by people with an obvious agenda. It's all horseshit.
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You've used the word 'horseshit' five times, including in the title of your email. The word suits you well.
The Iraq and Afghanistan wars and occupations are juxtaposed (not presented as one) on our casualties page. The Johns Hopkins survey was conducted by standard, widely accepted, peer-reviewed scientific methodology, which has not been challenged by anyone with any expertise in the field.
Please contact us again, but only if you have assertions that aren't horseshit.
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Helen & Harry
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Schadenfreude
by Cassandra
| July 15, 2007 |
Re And that is criminal
Yeah, me too. I'm just afraid that in that area there are some assholes applauding him.
I usually feel like schadenfreude is bad karma [to mix cultures up] but sometimes one just can't help it.
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Yeah ... some days if I didn't have my schadenfreude I'd feel nothing at all.
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When I was a kid my dad watched Hee-Haw and lately I've had that song that they sang [with a jug of moonshine, I believe] stuck in my head:
'If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all; gloom, despair, and agony on me'.
Things aren't really that bad for me personally, although of course I see the news.
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I searched the world over, and I thought I found true love, but you met another and ptttth you was gone.
Sorry, but I loved Hee Haw...
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Helen & Harry
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Democracy and dictatorships
by Herb Ruhs, MD
| July 15, 2007 |
In a democracy government officials swear allegiance to the nation
and the constitution. In a dictatorship they swear allegiance to the
president.
* * *
When did bringing criminals to account become "just playing politics."
* * *
The importance of revealing the full truth about 9/11 lies in being
able to prevent another 9/11.
* * *
By the way, you might want to listen to the Sunday morning talk show on KPFA. It has a
discussion of how blogging fits into the evolving character of
journalism with the founder of Firedoglake and a contrary voice that
gets pretty roughed up by the astute KPFA audience. Fun AND
informative.
* * *
I really liked this flash player piece on liberty.
* * *
Pathological liars make great best friends -- for a little while.
* * *
Iraq is the result of failing to punish those responsible for Viet Nam.
It is a core belief of mine. Crime without consequences ruins
character for generations.
Of course I may not be objective on
this. I am still pretty sore about being shot at by the US military
and spooks so much. You'd think after forty years I'd have gotten
over it, but no.
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I would imagine that being shot at is a hard memory to forgive and forget. I've had guns pulled on me a few times, never shots fired, and even that is pretty much unforgettable. |
Not as bad, cleansed and debrided as it is by that greatest nurse of
a wounded soul -- memory, as I would have thought. Memory can be our
own personal Florence Nightingale.
I've had guns pulled on me here in the US as well. Once by a
physician supervisor as a threat. But actually having things
whizzing past is a bit of a trip.
My first experience, when I lost
my cherry as it were, occurred in what I had been interpreting as an
accident, a mere mistake, for many years. On hearing the story for
the first time my wife identified it as a botched attempt to shoot me
and blame it on gun-plus-ethanol badness. In that incident, at that
time I had just been in country for a couple of months and was still
living with the "USAID" (read spook cover) team before launching out
into the refugee camps, and away from Americans, as I ended up doing.
I had been repeatedly refusing to carry offered weapons and was
holding fast to a pacifist, nothing here but us innocent college
students stance, which I was entitled to, being a straight up civilian
on a passport work visa kinda guy. That night I had just settled into
my bed, sheet to chin, when this unusually drunk, red haired, red
faced beefy "USAID" guy comes in uninvited and sits on the end of my
bed. He insists that I need to carry a weapon and proceeds to
attempt to "show me how to handle a 45."
First he raises the gun and
chambers a round. Just like on TV. Then he says, pointing to a
little lever on the side, "This is the safety." And, continuing to
hiccup and weave while sitting on the corner of the bed, he raises
the gun, pulls the trigger and says some slurred version of, "If the
safety is on, you can pull the trigger and it won't fire."
Then he
pulls the weapon close to his chest and squints down and pushes on
the little lever and says a slurred version of "If you put the safety
off like this and pull the trigger...BANG." A 45 slug buried itself
in the wall next to my right ear embedding lots of little pieces of
plaster up and down my neck and ear that kept making their way to the
surface for months afterward. Couldn't hear much out of that ear for
a while. I moved out promptly and had a house rented for me down the
street.
I have a few of those stories.
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Holy crap. Glad you're here to tell the stories.
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Helen & Harry
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Stuck in Anzio
Living in Florida, as I have for so many years, it becomes a natural almost a sub conscious act to turn ones attention toward the tropical Atlantic the nearer we get to August. Nothing out there ... so far .... but like our local weather, this can change at a moments notice.
* * *
Bush deflects criticism on Iraq war| |
Excerpt: "Changing the conditions in Iraq is difficult, and it can be done," he said. "The best way to start bringing these good men and women home is to make sure the surge succeeds."
In the Democratic response to Bush's radio address, Brandon Friedman, a former infantry officer in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, said it's past time for a transition to diplomatic efforts in Iraq that Democrats have long demanded.
"The fact is, the Iraq war has kept us from devoting assets we need to fight terrorists worldwide - as evidenced by the fact that Osama bin Laden is still on the loose and al-Qaida has been able to rebuild," Friedman said. "We need an effective offensive strategy that takes the fight to our real enemies abroad. And the best way to do that is to get our troops out of the middle of this civil war in Iraq." |
First of all, it might be that Bush does not want to piss Cheney off by
leaving Iraq.
Second, if we leave any government that takes over would be sectarian, ether Shia of Sunni. The exact outcome Bush and his cronies do not want because of their blind support of Israel and the oil.
Third, who ever winds up in control, would attempt to do away with most of the other. Al-Maliki has said that the army and police can keep peace. The only reason they have not so far is because they want to do it "their way" which would not be too different from Saddam's way. Another undesirable outcome. Also making the oil hard to come by and forcing us to side with a (probably Sunni) Iraq or Shia Iran in the inevitable conflict between the two. Not a pleasant prospect for who ever winds up as president. All because the US wanted take advantage of the situation in the middle east to get cheep oil. Secularism will eventually come to the region, but not by force.
* * *
Robot air attack squadron bound for Iraq| |
Excerpt: The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It's outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.
The Reaper is loaded, but there's no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.
The arrival of these out sized U.S. "hunter-killer" drones, in
aviation history's first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed
moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to
hunt and kill. |
We can send in killer drones, hyper combat troops, submarines or flying turtles with rockets in their back pockets. It ain't going to matter one bit. We have two groups who are absolutely convinced that they are right and the other is wrong and are willing to die to prove their point.
Every war we have been in since WWII has been that type of war and every one has ended the same. On top of that our military keeps trying to fight like it was still WWII. They are hopelessly stuck in "Anzio".
Fighting them here
by Madeline Zane
| July 14, 2007 |
US House votes for troop pullout ... next Spring| |
Excerpt: The legislation calls for the Pentagon to begin withdrawing combat troops within four months. The vote comes despite President George W Bush's threat to veto any timetable. |
This bill won't end the war. Even if it became law, which it won't, it leaves tens of thousands of troops in Iraq indefinitely. And the whole process of dragging Democratic lawmakers kicking and screaming to support of a position held by 70-frickin-percent of the American public is taking much, much too long. On the other hand, six months ago we were debating non-binding resolutions. The momentum's on our side. We just have to keep fighting them here ... so our troops can stop fighting over there.
* * *
China executes corrupt food and drug chief| |
Excerpt: China on Wednesday hailed the swift execution of the nation's former drug safety chief as a warning to corrupt officials while detailing a web of graft that thrived for years without punishment.
Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), dominated television and print news a day after he was executed for taking some 6.5 million yuan ($850,000) in bribes to let medicine companies slip past his regulatory net. |
I'm still against capital punishment, but I have to admit, this is the best argument I've seen for the death penalty EVER. Corrupt government officials, simply by failing to protect us from poison in the drinking water or mad cow disease or level 5 hurricanes, can kill off thousands of citizens and suffer absolutely no consequences. Every new drug that comes to market prematurely and is then recalled two years later kills more people than all the serial killers in history put together, let alone the average death row inmate, a black guy who looks like some other black guy who shot a couple of white people.
* * *
Homeland Security would like you all to start
panicking for no reason again, if it's not too much trouble| |
Excerpt: National security officials worry about a possible attack against the United States in the months ahead even though the government's leading terrorism experts have not found concrete information about an imminent strike. (emphasis added)
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff spoke this past w |
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