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Literally, a death sentence
by JR Mooneyham
| Apr. 12, 2008 |
If we don't learn our history, we're doomed to repeat it
One of my teenage relatives was visiting a while back (a boy), and stated his disdain for learning history at school. I recalled the old warning seen in the article title above, and decided to offer it up. However, I felt prefacing it with a real world example first would help it stick in his mind. So I pointed out to him how most people who die lost in the wilderness do so because they tend to walk in circles until the end -- that is, THEY CAN'T REMEMBER THEIR HISTORY, where the terrain and landmarks of their walk are concerned.
So not knowing your history can be a death sentence.
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This sounds like a great bumper sticker to me!
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I love it, thanks! We can't afford to print any more bumper stickers, but I'm snatching that image and putting it on our home page.
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Helen & Harry
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Different, not less than
Re Three little words
Old Crow,
Thanks for making my point.
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Re Too too
Sexism affects all races. Racism affects both sexes. Folks are careful how they attack Barack because no one wants to be called racist. But people openly attack Hillary, not her policies, not her lies, not her ability. No one is afraid of being sexist (including women).
Again, people think I am arguing for Hillary. I am arguing against gratuitous sexist remarks. I disagree with people, but I use words and ideas, no name calling. Name calling is for those who have no arguments, or are conditioned to think in stereotypes. Stereotypes are damaging to all. Women are different, not less than. No one is shocked at those yelling "Iron my shirt!" at Hillary. What if a crowd yelled a racial equivalent at Barack? There would be a sh*tstorm. What if crowds yelled to McCain, offering to drive him to the nursing home?
Hey, did you all know that in other "civilized countries" in the world blacks, whites, men, women, and even people who are known homosexuals are considered for public office based on perceived ability and on their stance on popular issues? Sounds evolved and mature doesn't it?
Hillary (to my disappointment) has given those against her all the ammunition you need. But use your words, attack her politics and not her gender.
Never "my girl"
by Angry Annie
| Apr. 12, 2008 |
Re Two rocks out of the ground
M.M. wanted Hillary Clinton to win, so she's allowed a little angst and anguish in disappointment, but eventually we all have to chill out and deal with the real-world Democrats we're stuck with. Glad she said she'll support the Democrat. That's what I've always done, often without much enthusiasm. We'll see a woman elected President, I think, when we have a woman with standards low enough to submit herself to running, yet high enough to be worth supporting. I don't know what woman fits that delicate balance, but I'd love to see her run and win.
Also, memo to M.M.: You seem like a very decent soul, and while Hillary Clinton was never "my girl" as she said, for your sake my condolences on your disappointment.
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Angry Annie
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The value of money
by Herb Ruhs, MD
| Apr. 12, 2008 |
We take it for granted that greed is all about money. But why bother with money when you can steal anything you want with impunity?
Is the hidden agenda of the new, self styled masters of the universe to make money obsolete? Amassing money only makes sense if there are people who have stuff that you want, and you lack the power to just take it. This is the most primitive form of power and one that, with the advent of exotic new weapons and digital surveillance, is becoming accessible to the handful of people who control the military/industrial/Congressional complex.
If money is in the hands of folks that are resisting domination, just destroy the value of their money and they will submit.
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Herb Ruhs, MD
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Just stupid enough
by Penny Nichols
| Apr. 12, 2008 |
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This article's logic is persuasive. The Bush Regime may indeed be planning an air war against Iran. Their theory may be that a quick
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Petraeus points to war with Iran
by Patrick J. Buchanan |
but punitive bombing will provoke retaliation (e.g. self defense), and then the US will be "justified" in a complete air attack to take out Iran's nuclear facilities and military structures.
They may believe this would weaken Iran and limit their ability to threaten the US' control of Iraq, thus restoring equilibrium between Iran and Iraq. But many people, myself included, have learned the hard way -- more than once -- that "doubling down" once is stupid (better to cut losses), and re-doubling is suicidal.
Bush has never experienced life without his father's bail-outs, and doesn't know the first thing about risk management. He is just stupid enough to do something like this.
If he does bomb Iran, the world will be forced to conclude that the US has a rabid dog of a president. And that the disease runs throughout our government. There would be no choice but to use the situation to force some sort of de-balling of America, regardless of the outcome in the Middle East.
We've heard these pronouncements before, but it is unwise to let down our guard just because the imbecile in the White House didn't pull the trigger the previous times we were warned about the imminence of war with Iran.
I'd say, don't sell your gold or unpack your survival kits! If this shit does happen, then the money is gold and US currency is just specially designed anti-counterfeiting toilet paper.
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Penny Nichols
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No free pass
Re Two rocks out of the ground
Wonderful... more "I'm a victim" bullshit.
Nobody who doesn't like Clinton doesn't like her because she's any of these things... they don't like her because she's a manipulative liar who thinks she's entitled to the presidency.
Or, they're not voting for her (like me) because they think that Obama is a much better candidate.
But, if you'd like, you can keep thinking that everyone is out to get women... but I suggest you realize that everyone is treated equal... and that specifically means that people like Hillary don't get a free pass just because they're a woman.
WW III scenario: I don’t think so
Re We're looking at World War III
Obviously, I’m no expert, but I don’t think the Iranians are as dumb as you portray them.
First off, they’ll PROVE to themselves and then to the world that it was the US that really carried out the attack -- their capacity to get the word out WILL be there (as the cut cable incidents showed us). Then, other countries such as Russia will make some threats along with the Iranians. They will threaten to bomb those nearby US carriers and the US forces in Iraq -- why would they immediately jump into bombing Israel if the US attacked them? Israel DOES have nuclear weapons as you’ve said. If the US continues with its attacks, the Iranians perhaps along with the Russians will do as they’ve threatened to do. From this point on either a ground war will continue in Iraq & Iran or, alternatively, Russia will threaten to use their nuclear weapons.
Yes, the US public will NOT like this, but since all of the bombs have fallen elsewhere as they did during WW II and a lot of the US public will know or even guess (if things are still somewhat murky) what has really happened, there is a good chance that Bush will NOT suddenly become a popular President -- again (?) -- since the voting was rigged TWICE for him, when was he ever popular? He will be seen as the crazy one who started a third war. Anyway, if the attacks don’t end or if Israel uses any of ITS nuclear weapons on Iran, then the Russians WILL nuke Israel.
If a false flag operation is carried out that the Iranians KNOW wasn’t something they did, they will get THAT news out. If the US has quickly “responded” to the false flag operation openly, then Iranians will continue as stated above with warnings before they act, and then pound if the US attacks don’t stop.
They have every reason to see if they can get things to end after the “shock & awe” show the US & Israel like so much. The Syrians took a deep breath before responding when 4 Israeli aircraft violated their air space in Sept. 2007, and the incident came to an end. The Lebanese Hezbollah also didn’t act immediately after they captured two Israeli soldiers who crossed the border into Lebanon in July, 2006 -- Mike Rivero’s take on what really happened. Alternatively, it was the Lebanese who crossed into Israel and captured the two Israelis for the sake of a prisoner exchange. Then, they took a lot before they responded since a disproportionate response is both the US and the Israelis’ “signature.” Finally, they did start their hit-and-run guerilla war of attrition, and they did well. Something similar is probably happening in Iraq. Different groups acting independently to carry out predetermined operations and then disappearing.
The Iranians would also be able to take the “long view” of things. The Iran-Iraq war did last 8 years. With the aid of Russia, in time they might even find a way to attack the US directly.
This little article provides a quote by the Iranian Ambassador to Paris, Ali Ahani -- ”we are prepared to face the worst scenarios. In that case, the U.S. President will have to claim the responsibility for a conflict that will influence the entire world.” All in all, I feel pretty sure that they would take a pounding just to prove that point before they respond.
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Marie K.
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Nova M
Re Randi Rhodes joins Nova-M
I haven't heard of Nova-M before. I live in Pennsylvania, does anyone know if there is an affiliate around this area (sort of middle south -- kind of. Yes, I am lousy at giving directions, how'd you know?) No one here knows if any Air America outlets available on local radio. I am very familiar with the Pacifica stations having lived within broadcast range of WBAI in N.Y.C. and KPFA (KPFK?) in Los Angeles. Where I presently reside we are on dial-up so streaming online is not much of an option. Especially with the boy "needing" to download latest fansub of Japanese Manga or hentai!
Any suggestions will be appreciated!
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Here's their list of affiliates, and I don't see anything in Pennsylvania. Nova-M is very small indeed. You can listen live at this link (I do), and you might have more success listening on dial-up than you'd expect -- we were listening on dial-up with no serious problems, before we upgraded to a better connection a while back. Or, if you can afford $10 a month (we can't) you can download shows and listen at your leisure, off-line, with the rather annoying commercials thoughtfully edited away.
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Detective Munch takes Randi's time slot
Re Randi Rhodes joins Nova-M
This press release is *hilarious*, as has been Air America's mismanagement of this entire situation (which wouldn't have been a "situation" at all, if Air America had management that could, you know, *manage*).
Randi Rhodes isn't the very best radio star, but she's pretty dang good, and she was arguably Air America's brightest star. Given a choice between Randi Rhodes on Nova M and a parade of celebrities led by Detective Munch, I predict that an awful lot of listeners will be doing what I'll be doing ... changing channels.
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I generally agree, and news of Randi's new job definitely made me smile. But that said and we're on the same side, Miranda, I've also gotta say: Randi Rhodes' job situation is exponentially un-important, compared to any number of items from the real news. Like, do we have a Fourth Amendment today? The Attorney General just can't say...
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Out of Egypt
If John McCain became President, he would still be younger than Moses was when he led the Hebrews out of Egypt.
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I knew Moses. I worked with Moses. Moses was a friend of mine. And John McCain is no Moses.
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Helen & Harry
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Air America misogyny
Re Randi Rhodes joins Nova-M
Like the song says, don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone... Randi Rhodes has been gone for two weeks now, and I've always liked her but never loved her. I listen most days, and it's good for the gut to hear intelligence over the radio. but damn it really chapped me when the new owners who've been there for like two weeks booted her out the door, when she's been there since day one in 2004, delivering the network's best ratings and (at least on her good days) kicking ass. And they dumped her not for something she said on the radio or did at the job, but for something she said while on a weekend road trip to San Francisco? What the hell? What kind of job fires you for something you say on the weekend?
For all the talk at Unknown News lately about alleged misogyny over Hillary Clinton, I don't think it's an anti-woman agenda that drove the Democrats' decision-making... but I do think the whole Randi Rhodes thing would have been handled a hell of a lot more respectfully by Air America management is she'd been a he named Randy and now a she named Randy. Anyway, seeing her land on her feet in no time flat, it just makes me feel good, like maybe there is some justice in the world once in a while.
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Jim D.
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Addressing the sub-prime crisis with pure BS
This is all after the fact BS that sounds politically good but really does little to help. Someone needs to watch The Grapes of Wrath again and pay attention this time. ... Click for more ...
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Chris M.
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Almost any line
by Nagarjuna3
| Apr. 12, 2008 |
Re Two rocks out of the ground
Best line:"My life was better, personally and professionally, when the Clintons were in the White House. (I am an environmental scientist.)"
Of course, the Bush years have been so bad that you could end that statement with almost any line. Suggestions include: "I'm an Iraqi", "I'm a homeowner", "I'm a soldier", or "I'm an American".
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Nagarjuna3
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A vote for McCain
I want to vote for John McCain. This article changed my mind:
McCain erases Obama 10-point national lead
I should point out I have voted in every election since 1972 and have NEVER voted for the person who won. I haven't intentionally voted for nothing but losers. I voted for who I thought was best. But come this fall, I will vote for John McCain. This loser has to be stopped! I will vote for him and he will lose.
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A chuckle here. I get the joke, but of course it's based on confusing coincidence and effect. Scratching my head and thinking back, I don't think I've ever voted for a Presidential candidate who won the election either, unless you count John Kerry.
But all kidding aside, the problem presented in those polls is very real. McCain gets walk-on-water coverage from the corporate press, because there's not a policy he embraces on any issue that isn't fabulous for big business and awful for most Americans. Turn on the news, any time, any channel, and you'll see John McCain portrayed as a big ol' cuddly straight-talkin' lovable good-guy moderate maverick war hero you'd love to have a beer with. Hell, if McCain was even remotely like the guy who has "John McCain" superimposed under his suit on TV newscasts, I'd consider voting for him ...
I'm not sure how Barack Obama can run a campaign and hope to defeat a fictional character.
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Helen & Harry
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Spoiler alert
by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein
| Apr. 12, 2008 |
Re Pukeworthy: Democrats blame Bush for Iraq quagmire
Synopsis: A Scanner Darkly, by Phillip K. Dick.
Cops and criminals have always been interdependent, but no novel has explored that perverse symbiosis more powerfully than "A Scanner Darkly". Bob Arctor is a dealer of the lethally addictive drug called Substance D. Fred is the police agent assigned to tail and eventually bust him. To do so, he has taken on the identity of a drug dealer named Bob Arctor. And since Substance D--which Arctor takes in mammoth doses--gradually splits the user's brain into two distinct, combative entities, Fred doesn't realize that he is narcing on himself.
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Point taken and it's pretty dang sweetly said. The Democrats in Congress, addicted without knowing it and narcing on themselves, are the split personification of Fred and Arctor.
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I copied that off of the back of the book.
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Helen & Harry
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Olympic cut
by Marshall S.
| Apr. 12, 2008 |
Bush gives prisoners second chance to better life| |
Excerpt: "These grants allow churches and community groups to recruit, train and match returning inmates with mentors," said Mark Earley, president of Prison Fellowship. "Prison Fellowship knows -- from 30 years of outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families -- that pairing returning inmates with loving mentors from local churches is the best way to help them stay on the straight and narrow." |
Money will be going directly from the US Treasury to churches, and then to the Republican National Committee?
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Athletes who take Tibet stand 'face Olympic cut'| |
Excerpt: Athletes who display Tibetan flags at Olympic venues -- including in their own rooms -- could be expelled from this summer's Games in Beijing under anti-propaganda rules. |
The International Olympic Committee is sure scared China won't pay them big bucks if China's fascist ego is dented. Why, the communist Chinese sound just like George W. Bush: You're either with me or against me.
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I'm as much a sports fan as most ordinary Americans (go, Pack!), but I've never been more than slightly interested in the Olympic competitions. I was disinterested for many years before I ever stopped to wonder why, but what I came up with is that I'm just completely turned off by the overwhelming corporatization of it all, with Olympic rings on everything from milk shakes to feminine napkins, and the mind-numbing nationalism of the coverage, with scorecards tallying how many medals every nation's athletes have won for purposes of nothing but jingoism.
That said, even as someone mildly repulsed by the Olympics, it's beyond sickening how this year's "games" have been sold for a totalitarian nation's propaganda purposes ...
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Helen & Harry
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Working
Colonel killed while running treadmill in Green Zone
But the surge is working, right?
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Deisel
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None like that
by SwampSparrow
| Apr. 12, 2008 |
Re Two rocks out of the ground
That is total crap. If there was a female candidate who didn't act like a victim, and could point to her accomplishments, and not those of her husband, then she might be electable. This year there is no candidate for president like that.
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SwampSparrow
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A simple song for the simple people
by Kathy Fisher
| Apr. 11, 2008 |
I like to eat so I work
I like to drink so I work
I like to buy myself pretty things. so work.
I liked to go see a movie and take my kids to the beach.
I like to watch a big screen TV a drive a nice shiny car.
I like to left alone in my thoughts,
I like it when I'm not hassled to death. don't like complicated issues
I don't understand, so I work, I work. work!
I like to use my credit cards.
I love going to all the stores, it makes me forget and it make me feel good,
so I work.
And because the money runs out so fast,
I just keep going to work.
I'm just a fucking working JERK!
Randi Rhodes joins Nova-M
Congratulations, Randi Rhodes. You're joining a very good team, and I'm signing up as a paid subscriber.
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With Rachel Maddow and Thom Hartmann, Air America still has two very good weekday shows, but if you believe in the future of progressive radio in the US, this is the best news in a long time. Someone asked me, what's the difference between Air America and Nova-M? They're both progressive radio networks, but the main difference is that Nova-M is a progressive radio network that's actually owned and managed by progressives. Randi is going to feel very much at home, and a lot of listeners are going to change the station to hear her.
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Petraeus betray us
Lieberman, Bennett, and Kristol see Petraeus
hearing as ‘an argument’ for ‘going into Iran’
In a word, duh.
Just in case there's anyone reading Unknown News who isn't already aware of it, Gen David Petraeus is a political appointment. When he speaks to the media, he's not speaking as a military officer (and in fact a lot of his military comments are nonsense). Petraeus is just another Bush-Cheney administration spokesperson, and his comments should be taken with about as much credibility as Dana Perino.
Lieberman, Bennett, and Kristol, and other people who value money over their nation are rarely going to hear anything but words of encouragement from people like Petraeus, people appointed to talk to the media by other people who value money over their nation, like Bush-Cheney and their masters and minions.
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Max
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GW Bush: Texan turd miner, or Godfather wannabe?
Great article on how to run a business, the new way. Examines the 7 principles of Bernard Provenzano, "the man who saved the mafia" and to illustrate the guidelines in the "real" world, shows how George Bush and Tony Blair have used these techniques themselves!
Or, instead we could just study The Prince, by Nico Machiavelli. Same difference. Or Mein Kampf :-) (I see via Google that The Prince is popular among members of the National Socialist White People's Party ...
How to do business like the Mafia| |
Excerpt: In an approach adopted by politicians including Tony Blair, Provenzano's letters contain the strong implication that God is exercising his will through him ("May the Lord bless you and keep you ... know that where I can be of use to you, with the will of God, I am completely at your disposal ... ").
The status as homespun churchgoer also worked for George Bush in his pursuit of popular consensus. "Bush's religion is very variable," comments Wallis. "He courts rightwing evangelicals but he doesn't buy the whole package; he merely wants to relate to them." ...
Every letter ends with the same saintly and affectionate benediction and an apology for grammatical errors. The bad spelling and schoolboy mistakes detracted nothing from the authority of its writer. For a man who moved easily in the worlds of business and politics, it was apparently part of a carefully constructed image. Investigators maintain his semi-literacy was a deliberate ruse.
It's a strategy that political and business leaders have used to good effect. "George Bush's family is as upper-class as you're going to get in the United States," says Wallis. "He is not a real Texan. To what extent he talks like that out of incompetence, to what extent it is crowd- pleasing, we don't know -- but we know it works." |
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Thom T.
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Signed up
Unlimited local & long distance calls for $20 per YEAR
Yes, you read it right that's $20 per year. I signed up for the service about 20 minutes ago so I can't personally testify to whether it works as well as the reviews. While ordinarily the device costs $39.95, I saw a banner ad at the top of a news page for one free magicJack. I've never sent you a mystery link for a product and don't expect to ever do it again. Thought your readers might benefit from the saving$. Incidentally, I'm such a cheapo I haven't had any long distance service for over a year. I can still get long distance calls coming in, but have to use a credit card if I want to call somebody back. So far, I haven't called anybody back. This is about to change. :-)
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Can't deny that it looks fascinating, but we're usually among the last to migrate to newfangled technology. We spent years poo-pooing the internet before we gingerly tip-toed on-line in 1999. And I poked around here and here and here, and found enough negative comments to at least make me want to wait a year or two to see what happens... But do let us know how well magicJack works, please.
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Helen & Harry
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It's not for you if you are using Windows 98: "magicJack currently runs only on PCs with MS Windows XP or Vista." The FAQs page wasn't coming up correctly last night so I didn't get a chance to check compatibility.
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SirJ
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To do the job
Re Gen. David H. Petraeus -- stupid or a liar
Unbelievable! but yes, that is one of the requirements to be hired to do the job...
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Tere M.
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Pukeworthy: Democrats blame Bush for Iraq quagmire
by Hazel Burke
| Apr. 11, 2008 |
Democrats appear to have voted for continuing the war because they were afraid of being branded pacifist, isolationist, bin Laden-loving Defeatocrats. ... The Democrats are manipulative cynics in this battle, who purposely allowed America to be degraded to advance their own selfish ambitions for power and wealth. We expect that of Republicans and are not surprised. Of the Democrats many expected more ... ... Click for more ...
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Hazel Burke
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Three little words
Re Two rocks out of the groundI realize now that a female candidate will always be too young or too old, too tall or too short, not pretty enough or too pretty.
Or too Hillary.
Shia and Sunni
I find it difficult to fathom how ignorant people in this country are about the religious/social politics of the middle east. Especially those who are supposed to be in charge.
Iran has been supporting the Shia majority in southern Iraq for decades. This is what the Iran/Iraq war was about.
The Shia are pissed at the Sunni for the atrocities inflected on them by the Sunni and Saddam's armies. The Sunni despise the Shia because they (the Sunni) see the Shia version of Islam as heresy and sacrilege.
That is what all this fighting is about. Of the two, the Shia are in general a bit more tolerant and less zealous that the Sunni.
A Shia-dominated Iran would in general be a better "friend" than a Sunni Iraq despite their current big mouth president -- which is all he is since policy is made by the Ayatollahs and not by the president.
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Al-Maliki against proposal to delay U.S. troop withdrawals| |
Excerpt: CNN quoted a senior Iraqi government adviser as saying that al-Maliki told Bush that American forecast can be drawn down, as there doesn't need to be such a big number in a support role. Al-Maliki reportedly made the comments in a 20-minute telephone conversation with the president on Wednesday.
The adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the confidential details, said al-Maliki told Bush that Iraqi security forces are capable of carrying out their duties and U.S. troops should be pulled out as the situation permits. |
Actually he has wanted them out for quite some time. The US presence in Iraq just complicates any chance he has to reach a compromise with Al Sadr and his militia as well as the Sunni in the north.
Typical Bush -- sadist humor
by Marshall S.
| Apr. 11, 2008 |
Top Bush advisors approved 'enhanced interrogation'| |
Excerpt: In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House, the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, sources tell ABC News.
The so-called Principals who participated in the meetings also approved the use of "combined" interrogation techniques -- using different techniques during interrogations, instead of using one method at a time -- on terrorist suspects who proved difficult to break, sources said.
Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding.
The high-level discussions about these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic.
The advisers were members of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, a select group of senior officials who met frequently to advise President Bush on issues of national security policy.
At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
As the national security adviser, Rice chaired the meetings, which took place in the White House Situation Room and were typically attended by most of the principals or their deputies. |
Of course they lied about this. Who would want the world to know that they were a bunch of Nazis.
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National Lawyers Guild calls on Boalt Hall to dismiss law professor
John Yoo, whose torture memos led to commission of war| |
Excerpt: "John Yoo's complicity in establishing the policy that led to the torture of prisoners constitutes a war crime under the US War Crimes Act," said National Lawyers Guild President Marjorie Cohn.
The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association, which did not admit people of color, the National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state. |
Humanity calls on anyone in power to prosecute John Yoo for crimes against humanity.
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Egypt sentences 5 men for homosexuality| |
Excerpt: An Egyptian court convicted five men Wednesday on charges of homosexual behavior and sentenced them to three years in prison, officials said.
Defense lawyer, Adel Ramadan, said the judge found the men guilty of the "habitual practice of debauchery" -- a term used in the Egyptian legal system to denote consensual homosexual acts.
The convictions were confirmed by a judicial official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists.
Homosexuality is not explicitly referred to in Egypt's legal code, but a wide range of laws covering obscenity, prostitution and debauchery are applied to homosexuals in this conservative country. |
I don't think Karl Rove should visit Egypt anytime soon.
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Military mom says she was brutally raped by US soldier and mercenary in Iraq| |
Excerpt: Yet another woman has come forward saying she was brutally raped in Iraq while working for the U.S. contractor Kellogg Brown Root (KBR). Dawn Leamon, who has two sons on active duty, says she was raped earlier this year by a U.S. soldier and a KBR colleague. She will tell her horrific story to members of Congress today at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Leamon says that following her rape, she spoke with a woman at the KBR Employee Assistance Program. "She discouraged me from reporting, saying, 'You know what will happen if you do,'" Leamon said. Leamon says KBR then assigned full-time security guards to her which gave her no privacy to talk about the incident, and her movements around camp were restricted, yet her attackers' movements were unrestricted. |
We support the troops, not the troops' mothers.
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Petraeus says Iranian-backed groups are greatest threat to Iraq| |
Excerpt: Shiite militia groups backed by Iran are the greatest long-term threat to Iraq's stability, according to Army General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. |
Petraeus is the greatest long-term threat the world's stability.
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Court sides with insurers on flood damage in Louisiana| |
Excerpt: An insurance company is not obligated to pay for water damage from the failure of New Orleans area levees after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana’s highest court ruled in a case that could affect thousands of homeowners. In a major victory for insurers, the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed a state appeals court decision that favored a New Orleans property owner, Joseph Sheer, in his suit against the Lafayette Insurance Company. |
Once again the insurance companies of the US show their huge political power.
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School says girl lied about assault over immigration poster| |
Excerpt: A girl who claimed she was injured by a group of Hispanic students after she made an anti-immigration poster for a class project lied about the attack, a school official says. In fact, surveillance video captured the girl injuring herself, the official says. |
Remember the "runaway bride" last year? She also lied that she was kidnapped by Hispanics. What's sick is that they think the general public is so racist against Hispanics that their lie will fly.
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Nebraska Legislature won't apologize for slavery| |
Excerpt: Chambers left early in the debate. The Legislature's lone black member, he said the issue was one for white people to decide. Before leaving, he said the committee's action would be symbolic. "When white people are pretending to address an issue that pertains to black people, it becomes diluted and virtually meaningless," Chambers said after the vote.
"I don't think I'm less caring because I don't think we should apologize for something that affected just a few people," a white legislator said. |
They'd have been better off doing nothing, instead of this slap in the face.
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Wal-Mart exposed: Videos you were never meant to see| |
Excerpt: From the tough anti-union talk to the wilder side of men in drag, videos of Wal-Mart corporate meetings are being sold to willing buyers, and the corporate behemoth is not happy about it.
he videos, thousands of them spanning three decades, are in the library of a production company in Lenexa, Kan. Flagella Productions Inc. was hired on a handshake deal by Wal-Mart in the 1970s to produce and film corporate sales meetings and other company events.
After receiving a verbal commitment that Flagler would be used for meetings in the future, Wal-Mart abruptly ended its deal with Flagler in 2006 causing the company to lay off most of their employees, according to Flagler. Representatives from Wal-Mart tried to buy the library in 2007, but Flagler and Wal-Mart could not agree on a price so the sale never happened.
Now, Flagler is offering the tapes to anyone else who might be interested, including the media and plaintiffs' attorneys. |
When you're so big and smug, you don't notice you've shot yourself in the foot, until you feel the pain.
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Iraqi detainees languish uncharged in crowded jails| |
Excerpt: CAMP CONSTITUTION, Iraq -- Barefoot in his yellow jumpsuit, the young detainee's eyes welled up as he described in a shaking voice how he landed in an Iraqi army detention facility on the outskirts of Baghdad.
He was visiting his mother in the hospital when Iraqi soldiers raided the hospital and detained him and several others, said Thamer Hamed, 22. They handcuffed and blindfolded him and took him to a holding cell at a former U.S. military base, ironically named Camp Constitution, that's been handed over to the Iraqi army. There, he was told that he was accused of murder. That was 45 days ago, and he still hadn't seen a judge, he said. |
The sickest joke of this story is that it's happening at "Camp Constitution." Typical Bush sadistic humor.
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Marshall S.
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Too too
Re Two rocks out of the ground
A black candidate will always be too Black to get elected.... until he does. Then it won't matter anymore.
The forever 'surge'
‘Secret’ U.S. plan calls for ‘open-ended military presence’ in Iraq| |
Excerpt: A confidential draft agreement covering the future of US forces in Iraq, passed to the Guardian, shows that provision is being made for an open-ended military presence in the country.
The draft strategic framework agreement between the US and Iraqi governments, dated March 7 and marked "secret" and "sensitive", is intended to replace the existing UN mandate and authorizes the US to "conduct military operations in Iraq and to detain individuals when necessary for imperative reasons of security" without time limit. |
The secret US plan for never ending military future in Iraq is confirmed by Petraeus' testimony:| |
Judging from Gen. David Petraeus' Senate testimony today, our military commitment to Iraq is open-ended and unconditional.
The "pause" in troop withdrawals, after the surge brigades go home this July, will not be "brief" -- as some officials have hoped -- but indefinite. |
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Re Supermarket tabloid news
He has his own website. You can read about the Wendy finger fraud, murder cover-up and conspiracy here Quoting from his webpage, Ted is an expert in "the dangerous and growing satanic cult movement; especially that element therein that is being used by the CIA to perpetrate felony crime and domestic and foreign covert operations."
He offers over 300 FREE DVDs. I tried to find out how much the shipping and handling charges would be. The order link doesn't work. It points to MY hard drive. Try it out for yourself. 3rd link down from the top of www.1-free-dvd.com/Page_1_Catalog_of_FREE_DVDs.html. Hover over the link and see where it points to. It'll be your hard drive.
That's no reflection on him, but it does mean his website needs some work -- or maybe it has been sabotaged by unknown nasties. From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Gunderson:| |
Excerpt: "Gunderson believes that Satanic cults engage in widespread child kidnapping for the purpose of child sexual abuse and ritual murder, and that these activities involve high-ranking government officials (e.g., he has named George H.W. Bush as having committed sex acts with children) and/or the Illuminati.... "In 1990, he excavated the site of the McMartin Preschool, claiming to uncover secret tunnels.
"Following the Oklahoma City bombing, he promoted Michael Riconosciuto's claims that the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was destroyed not by a truck bomb, but by a pineapple-sized 'barometric bomb.'" |
I don't know what's really 'secret' about the Bush-Petraeus plan for perpetual military occupation of Iraq. Looks pretty much out in the open to me. Iraqis are furious, and Americans don't know about it, 'since American media won't say it straight out.
As for Gunderson, well, that wraps it up for me. He's not your ordinary peanut. He's a Premium nut.
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I'm laughing out loud here. Can't afford premium nuts, though, only generic.
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Premium nuts are quite affordable when you buy them at a buy one, get one free price. You
are in luck! Click here for details.
on this incredible offer.
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SirJ
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Gen. David H. Petraeus -- stupid or a liar
There is competition between those ethnic Americans and Britons and the Iraqis over who controls Iraq and its resources. Sometimes the Americans and the British bomb and attack the Shiites and sometimes the Sunnis, and sometimes the Arabs and sometimes the Kurds. ... Click for more ...
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Marie K.
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$59 a month wages
by Marvin A.
| Apr. 10, 2008 |
Re Law? What law?
Your Nike article,
20,000 Vietnamese workers go on strike at Nike factory, I thought was in a way hilarious. 20,000 people go on strike. Now I know that they probably all are not making sneakers. There is a lot of stuff in the stores with a NIKE logo on it. But 59 dollars a month wages?
So I look at a website. The cheapest pair of Nikes was $84.99 and the next pair was $114.99. And they had to go on strike for a raise??? If I owned Nike I wouldn't stop production for 5 minutes!!
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You'd give your workers a raise, I hope. Nike makes my eyeballs roll. I hope there's a special extra-hot corner of Hell for Nike founder Phil Knight...
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Helen & Harry
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I guess
by So Sleepy
| Apr. 10, 2008 |
Re Two rocks out of the ground
i've been trying to give the idea a chance, but you know, i guess you're right.
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So Sleepy
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Javascript, cookies and images
Dear Professor Green,
I am overjoyed to learn of your existence :-)
Your most recent essay, which I discovered at informationclearinghouse.info/article19693.htm, is extremely insightful, and I look forward to reading more of your work.
A curious sidenote: a majority of Republicans still rate President Bush's job performance as satisfactory. I cannot fathom that, nor even theorize why they might feel that way, except perhaps to guess that they are totally clueless about what is going on.
About RegressiveAntidote.net -- With Javascript, Cookies and Images turned off in my webbrowser, the RegressiveAntidote.net doesn't provide any useful information. It would be ideal if your website were useful, as so many are, to security conscious internet users.
CC: Harry and Helen at unknownnews.net
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I can put up with cookies and images (at least images that aren't moving on my computer's screen) but Javascript is switched off here, by default. I never turn on Javascript unless it's for a specific purpose at a site that I trust. If I wanted non-stop action I'd be watching early Jackie Chan, but when I'm on-line I'm usually interested in avoiding distractions.
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Helen & Harry
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Barbara Ehrenreich's blog
by Sherri B.
| Apr. 10, 2008 |
I know you probably have this but it rocks! Woo-oot I love it!
The comments are interesting, too.
Truckers protest, the resistance begins
by Barbara Ehrenreich
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Good stuff, thanks. It took me a long time to figure out that Barbara Ehrenreich rocks. Her big book, Nickel and Dimed, is about her, a college grad and professional writer, trying to get by on ordinary working-class Americans' wages, and I thought the concept was so gruesomely pretentious that I knew the book would suck. But, surprise, when I read it a couple of years after everyone else read it, she'd really done it up right.
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Helen & Harry
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Why should they have privacy?
by JR Mooneyham
| Apr. 10, 2008 |
House staffers livid over web site| |
Excerpt: Working from a cramped loft apartment a mile from the Capitol, a small Internet company has sparked a privacy rights battle with hundreds of angry top House staffers upset that the Web site has begun posting details about their personal finances.
In an unusual conflict over constitutional rights, the aides argue that the recent disclosures leave them highly vulnerable to identity theft. But the Web site, LegiStorm, contends that it has a First Amendment right to publish already public information about some of the Capitol's most powerful players -- the high-level staffers -- and is creating a new check against potential corruption. |
Why should these people have any more privacy protection than the rest of us? Note these staffers and their bosses are some of the very few people on Earth who could improve privacy protections for us all.
They own you and all your property too.
Near perfection factor
by Andrea R.
| Apr. 10, 2008 |
Re Two rocks out of the ground
Interesting comments, and thought-provoking, but it cries out for a rebuttal. And Helen, I have to add, I'm a little surprised that you let M.M. go without answering. Do you really agree that "no woman will ever, EVER be good enough to be taken seriously as a candidate"?
It's pretty obvious, I think that there is a "near perfection factor" for breaking such a barrier for the first time. Rosa Parks was heavily vetted by her local NAACP office to make sure she was above reproach, before she refused to give up her seat on the bus. Jackie Robinson had to have not just the skill to play baseball, but the character to take endless sh*t-loads of abuse without punching anyone. In any workplace, a woman who's simply qualified doesn't get the first management position for a woman, she has to be overqualified. So I think the first woman who's elected President will have to be perceived as not just better than her male opponents, but lots better.
That's not at all fair, of course, but that's reality. The first woman President will need to be perceived by many voters as lots better, just to overcome the prejudice that'll clearly subtract a few points from her in any election.
That's how Kennedy overcame anti-Catholic prejudice to become the first Catholic President, and that's how Obama has overcome a lot of anti-black prejudice and done as well as he has -- because Kennedy then and Obama now were perceived by many people as not just as better than their opponents, but lots better. And only the most clueless or brainwashed among us could seriously argue that Hillary Clinton is overqualified or lots better than the Democrats who ran against her.
I think America's "ready" for a woman President, and I think we'll see a woman President fairly soon -- certainly within my lifetime, assuming both I and the nation survive at least another decade or two. As a society, we've reached the point where most of us can accept it. Maybe that "much better" woman will be Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius or my rather icky Congresscritter, Nancy Pelosi. Most likely it'll be someone we didn't see coming down the pike (like nobody saw Obama a few years ago).
Or you might be right, M.M. If you would have asked me even a year ago, I would have said America would have a woman President many years before it would have a black President. So who can see the future? Not me, that's for sure. But I think Hillary Clinton's future is in the Senate.
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I let things go without a rebuttal sometimes, agree or disagree. In this case it was just, Oy. Too complicated and too much trouble to state my counterarguments, too tedious and too boring and anyway, I thought M.M. made her points well and I don't think there's anything I'd say in response that I haven't said before.
I generally agree with your comments about breaking barriers.
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Just tell me this: Do you think Hillary Clinton has been treated unfairly because she's a woman?
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I assume your question is rhetorical, because of course Hillary Clinton has been treated unfairly because she's a woman. I don't have cable but I've seen the Chris Matthews misogyny clips, and I've heard Rush Limbaugh's "testicle lock-box" bit, and on and on and on. Of course and absolutely and hasn't it been obvious? She' |
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