Kirsten Gillibrand, Revolutionary

NYTimes Editorial: Congress and the Benefits of Sunshine

At first, the innovation sounds simple enough: Representative-elect Kirsten Gillibrand has decided to post details of her work calendar on the Internet at the end of each day so constituents can tell what she is actually doing for their money.

In fact, it is a quiet touch of revolution. The level of transparency pledged by Ms. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York — down to naming lobbyists and fund-raisers among those she might meet with — is simply unheard of in Congress. The secrecy that cloaks the dealings of lawmakers and deep-pocket special interests underpinned the corruption issue that Ms. Gillibrand invoked as voters turned Republicans from majority rule last month.

I saw this at DownWithTyranny!

The Burning Question

Other architects of disasters receiving Presidential Medal of Freedom from the Master of Disaster himself.
The burning question is, how long before Rummy gets his Presidential Medal of Freedom? Will it be at today's farewell ceremony to ol' Heckuva Job Donald?

WaPo: Rumsfeld Career Ending in Ignominy of Iraq

"I think his epitaph will be a dark one," said Justin Logan, a foreign policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute. "Rumsfeld's one-line epitaph will be, 'The man who was at the helm of the Defense Department and supported what was doomed to be a losing war effort that Americans will remember as a national tragedy'."

Say Goodnight, George

The Chimperor, quoted by ABC News yesterday:

“I must tell you, I'm sleeping a lot better than people would assume,” he said.

Rising Hegemon heard a song:

The Liar Sleeps Tonight

YouTube, The Tokens: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

The Chimperor Has No Clothes

And you thought the elections would make a difference to the mad Chimp of Crawford? Mr. 'Elections Have Consequences'? No. The latest insanity, that we will change the course of a popular uprising in Iraq by inserting 20,000 or 40,000 troops (when we needed more than 400,000 to begin with, how is 140,000 + 40,000 going to change anything? Even if you count the 100,000 mercenaries contractors in Iraq, it's still woefully short.)

Go read Professor Juan Cole.

Let me explain why it won't work. It won't work because Iraqis are now politically and socially mobilized. This means that they have the social preconditions for effective political and paramilitary action (they are largely urban, literate, connected by media, etc.) And they are politically savvy and well-connected. They are well armed, gaining in military experience, and well financed through petroleum and antiquities smuggling and through cash infusions from supporters abroad. The Mahdi Army fighters can be defeated by the US military, as happened twice in 2004. But they cannot be made to disappear, as they were not in 2004. That is because they are an organic movement springing from the Shiite poor, and are the paramilitary arm of a large social movement with a national network and ideology.

Attempts to crush popular movements once they have mobilized have most often failed. []

Bush is the Napoleon of our age, trampling on whole peoples, a Jacobin Emperor mouthing the slogans of liberty and popular sovereignty while crushing and looting those he "liberated." And Kagan and Kristol (playing Talleyrand 1798) and Emperor Bush are readying a further slaughter of our US troops, 24,000 of whom have been killed or wounded, and of innocent Iraqis, 600,000 of whom have been killed by criminal and political violence since spring of 2003.

And you thought a mere election would make a difference. No one had to elect the American Enterprise Institute. No one needs to crown the emperor, he can do it himself. Welcome to Year 1 of the Empire.

Just the Facts, Ma'am

Two good reads, on the significance of facts and why ignoring them can jeopardize democracy's health:

TomDispatch: Schwartz and Engelhardt, War without End

Bushco's allergy to facts doomed the Iraq War, and the ISG's allergy to facts dooms it as well.

Glenn Greenwald, Unclaimed Territory: Media as adversary to the government

The proper role of the media, and why "the well-documented and much-discussed journalistic myth that "objectivity" requires mindless recitation of both sides's claims, and that it is improper and "biased" to take sides" is bullshit. There are certain identifiable facts, and if those are known conclusions can be drawn.

Tuesday Was a Rotten Anniversary

And I missed it. Tuesday marked the sixth anniversary of the most dishonest Supreme Court decision since Dred Scott: Bush v. Gore.

Lawyers, Guns and Money: A Rotten Anniversary

Today, I am sad to remind everyone, is the sixth anniversary of the grotesque and consequential Bush v. Gore decision, which was delivered in all its steaming feculence by five activist judges who substituted their own political fantasies for the rule of law and rendered a decision that flew in the face of tradition and popular will.

[]...every December 12, we ought to remember the names of the dishonest hacks who buggered the Constitution on behalf of George W. Bush.

And those five were:

Anthony Kennedy
Sandra Day O’Connor
William Rehnquist
Antonin Scalia
Clarence Thomas

They gave us 9/11, the Iraq War, unconstitutional eavesdropping, shit (oh, sorry, e coli) in our vegetables, energy policy by oil comanies, and all the other crap we've been subjected to by the incompetent, corrupt, cronyist Bushco.

'Three Simple Words'

Just go laugh, Or cry. Both are appropriate.

WorkingForChange, Tom Tomorrow: This Modern World: The year in review, Part I

'The Army, despite its $168 billion budget, is out of money '

Iraqis celebrate next to a burning [$225,000] U.S. Army Humvee after an attack near Fallujah []. Three Americans were wounded, witnesses said. (Akram Saleh/Reuters)

Stephen Pizzo, The Smirking Chimp: An Important Story You Didn't See

Here are just a few of the grim facts from Jaffe's exclusive:

* According to Maj. Gen Stephen Speakes, the Army was sent to war in Iraq $56 billion short of essential equipment.
* Army officials told the White House that it needs at least an additional $24 billion, not in the 2007 budget, just to pay its current bills.
* Cash shortfalls have forced the Army to lay off janitorial staff, close base swimming pools, and even stop mowing lawns on Army bases.
* But cuts have also hit soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army officials had to cut $3 billion for replacement of weapons in heavy use in Iraq, such as armored Humvees, two-way radios, remote control surveillance aircraft and trucks.
* National Guard units now lack 40% of their critical readiness gear because it's been sent to Iraq, and the Army lacks the funds to replace it.

This budget crunch comes at a time when running the US Army never cost more, Jaffe reported.

* To stem the flow of soldiers leaving the Army because of repeated deployments to Iraq the Army was forced to spend $773 million on “retention bonus' this year compared with just $85 million three years ago.
* The Army had to spend an additional $300 million on recruiting this year than in 2003.
* The quality of the Army's oft touted all volunteer force has slid with the Army's decision to accept more enlistees that scored in the lower third of aptitude tests.
* As a result the Army had to issue 8500 “moral waivers” this year compared with just 2260 ten years ago. (Moral waivers are issued for past criminal convictions, drug use and other proven legal/moral violations.)

How much of the Army's budget problems are due to poor budgeting and how much from private sector gouging? You decide.

Here are few more facts from Jaffe's report.

* The cost of equipping an infantry soldier tripled, from $7000 in 1999 to $24,000 today.
* The cost of Humvee's went from $32,000 in 2001 to a breathtaking $225,000 each today.
* The cost of training, feeding and housing Army recruits went from $75,000 per soldier in 2001 to $120,000 today. (The Army uses private contractors, largely Halliburton's Kellogg, Root & Brown, to provide most non-training services, such as food service and base maintenance.)

No Kidding

USAToady: Majority say history won't be kind to Bush

In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, a 54% majority says Bush will be judged as a below-average or poor president, more than double the negative rating given any of his five most recent predecessors.

I Have A Mean Thought

I saw this headline and thought, another side effect of Viagra.

That was not nice of me.

The Decline and Fall of a Once Great American Newspaper

Quiet.

Did you hear that?

It was Katherine Graham rolling over in her grave.

The Washington Post today eulogized Augusto Pinochet. Favorably. Here's the unbelieveable torturing, murdering dictator-loving editorial, and blogtopian deconstructions of same:

WaPo: A Dictator's Double Standard
Augusto Pinochet tortured and murdered. His legacy is Latin America's most successful country.

Unclaimed Territory (Glenn Greenwald): The Washington Post's praise for Augusto Pinochet

MaxSpeak, You Listen: WHY I DON'T BELIEVE

TomDelay.com: Hours Of Fun

The Hammer (or his pet nail) has figured out how to moderate comments on his new blog. And, surprise, surprise, he only lets comments that praise his mighty self appear.

But he hasn't figured out the little trick people play where they write a post so that the first letters of each line spell out something else entirely. I bolded them to make it easier to read.


In[c]redible! There are
Many bloggs out there, but i
Prefer those that consider
Each side of every
Argument. We need more
Champions like yourself
Here on the internet.
Be assured I will
Use this blog as my homepage!
Sure, some may object, but to
Hell with them!

December 11, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterRBT-Lific


Good afternoon and welcome to the blogosphere! I
only I wish it could've been sooner...

Freepers like me have missed you, It's
unbelievable how things change out of the limelight, eh?
Congrats on finally launching your blog. Everyone in
Kansas loves you, even now that you've retired..

You should know by now that
our country needs more people like you. Your
undeniable courage and compassionate yet strong
republican moral are like a beacon
shining in the night.
everyone is glad to have you here, and we all
look forward to seeing you making many, many
frequent additions to this blog.

December 11, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterTIBT


D. C. insiders are in fact completely
incapable of looking beyond their self-serving
elitist opinions and short-term outlooks.

I am overjoyed that you started this blog and
noticed others in here feel the same.

After all, somebody needs to show them liberal haters!

Fighting against these liberal media scum
is the only way for us to save our freedoms. The
real Americans are with you Mr. Delay. And I pray
everyday for more decent, honest leaders like you.

December 11, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterUFIA


Considering the moral uprightness
of the Republican Party, I'm
really surprised that you haven't
received the vindication you deserve.
Under the circumstances, the best
position you can take is in a blog.
There, you can compete with anti-
American libertinism on a level
surface. If you should decide to
suffer again as an elected politician,
honor must hold Americans accountable
over the scandalous smear job.
Leave it alone until the Americans are
eager to have you back!

December 11, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterHTML


I was alerted to these trojan comments by Blah3, who got it from CrazyMike at BartCopForum

A Quiz for Lawmakers

Next Hurrah: A Quiz for Lawmakers

I did OK; got 3 of 16 wrong (9, 10, 16), so give me an 81.

Silvestre Reyes (D-Tx), the new Chair of the Intelligence Commmittee, will probably have a hard time:

Democrats’ New Intelligence Chairman Needs a Crash Course on al Qaeda

And let's not even talk about Bush and his intelligence gap.

The Fighting First Family

YouTube video: The Fighting First Family

or

How the Bush family's recruitment-eligible generation is winning the war against Godless Islamunistofascism

video by Jesus' General

Red Squirrel

Saw one of these on my morning walk along the Wachusett Reservoir. I don't see them often in New England and at first I thought it was a chipmunk, but it had no stripes and that big red tail was the giveaway.

OLS Biden

The great ship foundering at sea, the OLS ('One Last Shot') Biden.

Atrios dug up several of Joe Biden's ridiculous foreign policy pronouncements over the last three desperate years. And you guessed it: We keep getting one last shot to get it right in Iraq. Kind of like a Friedman, but with even more wiggle room.

One Last Shot. Destined to become a drinking game if Biden enters the 2008 Democratic Presidential primaries. (And every shot will be One Last Shot.)

Pop Quiz

Who wrote, of Vietnam:

“It was a shameful thing to ask men to suffer and die, to persevere through god-awful afflictions and heartache, to endure the dehumanizing experiences that are unavoidable in combat, for a cause that the country wouldn’t support over time and that our leaders so wrongly believed could be achieved at a smaller cost than our enemy was prepared to make us pay.

“No other national endeavor requires as much unshakable resolve as war. If the nation and the government lack that resolve, it is criminal to expect men in the field to carry it alone.”


Answer in comments.

Tee Hee

Tom Delay started a blog! Then Tom Delay found out that blogs get comments. Tom Delay's blog got lots of very funny comments. And 75 minutes later, Tom Delay's blog was wiped of content.

Tom Delay deleted his blog, but a smart techie saved it: HERE.

I found the link at Crooks & Liars.

Call John Sweeney The Wahhhhhhhmbulance

'Cause it's time for this very disturbed man to go home.

Albany Times-Union: On the Hill, the sound of silence
John Sweeney, still reeling from re-election loss to Kirsten Gillibrand, fails to show for votes

WASHINGTON -- Since losing re-election last month, Rep. John Sweeney has played hooky in Congress, skipping votes, dodging reporters and avoiding his new make-shift office in a basement cubicle set up for lame ducks.

Sweeney's friends and colleagues Capitol Hill say the Republican from Clifton Park is still stunned about the outcome of the Nov. 7 election when he lost to Democratic challenger Kirsten Gillibrand.

[]

Sessions [Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, a close friend of Sweeney's], asked why Sweeney was so angry and shocked about his loss, said: "John was disappointed that some frailties in his life were contributing issues to his defeat." He said Sweeney has been ill and his blood pressure had risen.

Sweeney believes he picked up "a bug" during congressional trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Sessions.

"A bug got into his system and lodged in his brain," Sessions said. "It caused unimaginable pain and stress."

Hat tip to Talking Points Memo.

RIP Jeane Kirkpatrick

When I read all the dainty fawning obituaries of Jeane Kirkpatrick in the corporate press, I hoped someone in the progressive blogosphere would write up the real story: Iran-contra, death squads in El Salvador, funding the 'rebels' in Afghanistan [read: bin Laden]. And here it is:

dailykos: The Real Obituary of Jeane Kirkpatrick

[A] legacy of bloodshed, death and destruction.

Five Years After 9/11

The Iraq Study Group reports that only six of the 1000 employees at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq speak fluent Arabic.

Another heckuva job by the Bushies.

Friday Round-Up, December 8, 2006

An empty pushchair amid the wreckage in West London. Photo sent in by Ian Carter. (bbc)
Great interview with President Al Gore in GQ. I really hope he runs. Remember Al? Against the war from the get-go? Smartest guy in the room? If somebody's got to mop up the Chimperor's excesses, I nominate Al.

The BBC has an article on how we are polluting the oceans with plastic. I'm moving from a 'recycle everything' mindset to a 'don't buy plastic if you don't need to' one. I do get odd looks in the grocery store when I spill my veggies out onto the conveyor belt without plastic bags, but so what.

Global warming news: Tornado strikes London yesterday, injuring 6 people and damaging up to 150 homes. Could have something to do with all this warm weather.

Go read Krugman: At the official link, or here, or here. As a person who screamed at her TV from 9/12/01 on at the fawning media coverage of C+ Augustus, the biggest catastrophe in U.S. history, it's nice to hear someone praise our side in the corporate media.

Tom Friedman, billionaire, has run out of Friedmans. Now he says, set a date and get out. A little late, Tommy boy. Who cares. He was wrong from the start. Why should we listen to any of these fools?

Sunil Gulati putting coal in my stocking: Jurgen Klinsmann issued a statement yesterday saying he is withdrawing his name from consideration as USMNT coach, after six months of talks. And Bob Bradley has been named interim coach. A good round-up of the sports press take here.

Only The New York Post

I saw this on TPMMuckraker.

Happy Birthday Larry Legend

Kodak Moment
It's Larry Bird's 50th birthday. He'll always be older than me!

Bill Fitch, Larry's first professional coach, gave him the name Kodak. He described Bird as running up and down the court, constantly taking photographs with his eyes. He was the star of the 1980s for me and most of Boston.

SI, November 9, 1981: Gifts That God Didn't Give
Larry Bird was blessed with his height, but lots of work made him the NBA's most complete player since Oscar Robertson

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe: A day to celebrate Bird's greatness

Boston Herald: Larry Bird turns 50 (photo gallery)

Boston Herald: A legend turns 50: Bird reflects on his milestone birthday

And, of course, there are the legendary taunts of opponents. From Wikipedia:

Bird's competitive nature is also shown through by his constant trash-talking on the court. Some notable examples:

* During one game on Christmas Day against the Indiana Pacers, before the game Bird told Chuck Person that he would give him a Christmas present. During the game, when Person was on the bench, Bird shot a three-pointer on the baseline right in front of Person. Immediately after the shot, Bird said to Person, "Merry fucking Christmas!", and the shot went in.

* During the three-point shooting contest on All-Star Weekend 1986, Bird told the competitors before the contest "I want all of you to know I am winning this thing. Who's playing for second (place)?" Bird indeed won the contest, and would also win in 1987 and 1988.

* In a game against the Seattle SuperSonics with the game all tied up, Bird told Supersonics forward Xavier McDaniel, who was guarding him, exactly where he would hit the game winning shot. After a timeout, Bird made two baseline cuts, then posted in the exact spot he had indicated to McDaniel, paused and turned and hit the shot in his face.

* On a night in 1984 versus Philadelphia where he was outscoring Julius Erving by a margin of 42–6, he continuously informed Erving of their tallies every chance he got, which resulted in first a shoving match, then swings taken by both players and culminated in a bench-clearing brawl.

Operation Ignore

The Iraq Study Group issued its report yesterday (I saw a caption of Bush holding the report on some blog yesterday with the caption "Iraq for Dummies").

It's not going to affect anything Bush does. Why?

Because, as Philip Slater says on HuffPo today, Bush is a lunatic:

One of the main reasons we should keep troops in Iraq, the neo-cons say, is that if we leave, it will de-stabilize the Middle East. This is hilarious, considering the fact that it was the Bush administration's boneheaded adventurism that has de-stabilized it already. Only a lunatic would think that bombing and invading a country, destroying its infrastructure, and firing its entire security force would bring stability to the region.

He's never leaving Iraq. All the studies in the world won't make him leave Iraq. Iraq is the next President's problem, and of course thousands of innocents will die for C+ Augustus to get his lunatic way.

A Day That WIll Live In Infamy

Today is the 65th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. The New York Times has a special section all about it, including articles never before published because of war censors, about the salvage operation after the attacks.

America Before Pearl Harbor - Early Kodachrome Images on dailykos has a beautiful set of photographs of pre-Pearl Harbor, pre-WWII America.

WaPo: One Last Mission for Ship Sunk in Pearl Harbor Attack
Scientists in Md. Hope Arizona Stability Study Might Aid Others

For 65 years, the wreck of the USS Arizona has been leaking oil from its grave at the bottom of Pearl Harbor, staining the water, visitors often say, as if it were the ship's blood.

The leaks come from about 500,000 gallons of thick, bunker C fuel oil that remain trapped in the deteriorating hulk -- oil whose "catastrophic" release experts now think is inevitable.

The Naval Historical Center has an overview, with photographs.
National Geographic also has a Pearl Harbor page, including a searchable archive of survivor's stories.

One of the pilots who defended Pearl Harbor died just after Thanksgiving:
LATimes: Kenneth M. Taylor, 86; Army Air Forces pilot shot down enemy planes after Pearl Harbor attack

Ken Taylor: The Reluctant Hero tells his story.

Whither Bush & Poodle?

Front page of The Independent (uk), December 6, 2006

Footie News

The many faces of Jurgen Klinsmann
FoxSports reports that Jurgen Klinsmann is to be the next USMNT coach. Let's hope so!

via duNord, Eurosport reports that Real Madrid has made a bid for Gooch, Oguchi Onyewu, our massive defender currently toiling for Standard Liege in Belgium. Real Madrid! Teammate of Beckham, von Nistelrooy, and Raul! My god, he could be playing next to Roberto Carlos. Another report we hope is correct.

From Who Ate All The Pies (it's an English thing), video of current England soccer players in their youth. Look for the Michael Owen goal about 3/4 of the way along - he scores from the kickoff. Oh, and Robbie Savage with a cameo as Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Clint Dempsey (The Deuce) has reportedly been offered a deal by Fulham FC, but is going to have to appeal for a work permit, as he doesn't have sufficient appearances for the US National Team to automatically qualify.

Reading, home of Americans Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann, are 6th in the table in the EPL. They did have the highest point total ever in the Championship last season, but their start is amazing.

Dear Santa,

I want one of these.

Inconvenient News

A New Zealand frigate sails past the Ross Ice Shelf in 1999. An iceberg warning has been issued for ships in the Southern Ocean after more than 100 were sighted just south of New Zealand.(AFP/File)

New Zealand Herald, via Common Dreams: Massive Ice Shelf 'May Collapse without Warning'

The Ross Ice Shelf, a massive piece of ice the size of France, could break off without warning causing a dramatic rise in sea levels, warn New Zealand scientists working in Antarctica.

[]

Antarctica stores 70 per cent of the world's fresh water, with the West Antarctic Ice Sheet holding an estimated 30 million cubic kilometres.

In January, British Antarctic Survey researchers predicted that its collapse would make sea levels rise by at least 5m, with other estimates predicting a rise of up to 17m.

Farewell The Mustache

WaPo: John Bolton Resigns as U.S. Ambassador to U.N.

Why? Because Harry Reid announced he would keep the Senate in session with no more than one week off. Bush wasn't going to be able to sneak another recess appointment through. Go Harry!

This Is My Brother

Jose Padilla, fitted with blacked-out goggles, was videotaped by the government when he was allowed outside solitary confinement to see a dentist.

Am I my brother's keeper?

Cain's words have come to symbolize people's unwillingness to accept responsibility for the welfare of their fellows — their “brothers” in the extended sense of the term.

The government's continued torture of Jose Padilla, AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, while he is held on trumped-up charges, is a national disgrace. He has been subjected to extreme sensory deprivation and is treated as though he were the fictional character Hannibal Lector. Lector is not only a fictional creature, in his fictional world, he's a convicted murderer. In the twisted Bushworld, innocent until proven guilty American citizen Padilla has been the subject of wild accusations by former Attorney General John Witchcroft in the court of public opinion. In actual court, he's charged with nothing more than vague and unsupported allegations of terrorist activity.

The Newsweek article reports that there is videotape of his interrogations. Like the pictures of Abu Ghraib, which when justice is finally served, these videotapes will be evidence in the trial of the people who tortured him.

Padilla is my brother. He's your brother, too. This could happen to any of us. The government decides you are a threat, and you are disappeared. This is the type of criminal behavior we associate with fascist dictatorships, not with the United States of America. We're not a beacon of freedom as long as we let atrocities like this occur without speaking up and dissenting from the government's abuse of its awesome power.

NYTimes: Video Is a Window Into a Terror Suspect’s Isolation

Glenn Greenwald: The ongoing national disgrace of lawless indefinite detentions

Digby: Breaking The Furniture

Newsweek: Courtroom Showdown
Accused terrorist Jose Padilla wants to describe how he was treated in a military brig. The government is trying to keep him quiet.

We Love Lists

TreeHugger's Green Gift Guide 2006

The list is still being compiled, so you can also check out the 2005 list. So far they have the 2006 lists for foodies and kids up.

Chambaware looks pretty cool.

What Do the Himalayas and the Catskills Have in Common?

Flooding, Sullivan County, New York, June 2006
Guardian (uk) (via RawStory):
Nepal's farmers on the front line of global climate change
Himalayan communities face catastrophic floods as weather patterns alter

Khetbari expects a small flood every decade or so, but what shocked the village was that the two largest have taken place in the last three years. According to Mr Tamang, a pattern is emerging. "The floods are coming more severely more frequently. Not only is the rainfall far heavier these days than anyone has ever experienced, it is also coming at different times of the year."

NYTimes, Nov. 28, 2005: Dam at a Catskill Reservoir Needs Emergency Repair, City Says (TimesSelect Wall)

The Schoharie Valley was hit with 100-year-floods in 1955, 1987 and again in 1996, when the Schoharie Reservoir reached its all-time high water level, more than six and a half feet over the top of the dam. A flood in April nearly matched that, and the area was hit with record rainfall in October.

''Seems like we've got 100-year floods coming every nine years now,'' said Fred Risse, a local farmer whose land lies in the flood plain of the Schoharie Creek. ''What happens when we get another?''

TimesHerald Record, June 30, 2006: Dealing with the aftermath

Along the Susquehanna in Binghamton and Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the deluge was severe. And here in northern Sullivan County the it was the worst anyone could recall. In fact, one early assessment suggested the Upper Delaware Valley had witnessed the kind of flooding thought to occur only two or three times a millennium.

"This was definitely a record flood," said Ward Freeman, assist director of the U.S. Geological Survey's Weather Science Center in Troy. "In the Delaware, the levels were the highest we've seen since we've been keeping track."

The agency has had gauges along the Delaware for 56 years.

At least one flood gauge posted at the mouth of the Callicoon Creek reported the Delaware had reached its 500-year flood stage.

Everything You Know Is Wrong

Times (uk): Pyramids were built with concrete rather than rocks, scientists claim

The Ancient Egyptians built their great Pyramids by pouring concrete into blocks high on the site rather than hauling up giant stones, according to a new Franco-American study.

Blogtopia* Roundup, Friday December 1st, 2006

People stand on a 1700 square-meter banner, that indicates the areas in the world where the AIDS problem is at its worst, on World AIDS Day at the Spuiplein in The Hague December 1, 2006. REUTERS/Michael Kooren (NETHERLANDS)
Glenn Greenwald smacks down Tom "Six More Months" Friedman: The Tom Friedman disease consumes Establishment Washington

Two good posts at Hullabaloo:

(1) Digby on the new Republican meme, 'Blame the American people, not Bush, when we lose Iraq': Political Constraints

(2) Tristero says we must not forget 'the extremely dangerous failure of intellectual judgment' that led influential pundits to support the Iraq war: On Not Leaving Well Enough Alone

Susie Madrak points out that George Will's nasty column about Senator Jim Webb yesterday got 77 pages of comments (most of which are biting): Incivility

Dan Froomkin (WaPo) says journalists need to do their jobs again: On Calling Bullshit

Today is World AIDS Day, probably a more important idea than yesterday which was proclaimed Meth Awareness Day by the U.S. Government


*yes! skippy coined that phrase!

Governor Hypocrite

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the Republican Governors Association conference, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006, in Miami. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)Halo supplied by AP, not God.
Maybe I should start calling the Mittwit "The Mittocrite". Or maybe just Mitt, the lawn man. He's not going to be President. His position on illegal immigration seems to be, Keep those illegal immigrants out. Except the ones who do the grounds of my estate.

Boston Globe: Illegal immigrants toiled for governor
Guatemalans say firm hired them

As Governor Mitt Romney explores a presidential bid, he has grown outspoken in his criticism of illegal immigration. But, for a decade, the governor has used a landscaping company that relies heavily on workers like these, illegal Guatemalan immigrants, to maintain the grounds surrounding his pink Colonial house on Marsh Street in Belmont.

The Globe recently interviewed four current and former employees of Community Lawn Service with a Heart, the tiny Chelsea-based company that provides upkeep of Romney's property. All but one said they were in the United States illegally.

The employees told the Globe that company owner Ricardo Saenz never asked them to provide documents showing their immigration status and knew they were illegal immigrants.

"He never asked for papers," said Rosales, who said he had paid smugglers about $5,000 to take him across the US-Mexican border and settled in Chelsea.

The workers said they were paid in cash at $9 to $10 an hour and sometimes worked 11-hour days.

Romney never inquired about their status, they said.

Security, Schmecurity

Persons stand in the door of a British Airways Boeing 767 grounded at London's Heathrow Airport Thursday Nov. 30, 2006, as it sits in a maintenance area. British authorities are urgently checking four commercial jets and two dozen sites in and around London for radiation levels as part of the fast-expanding investigation into the death by poisoning of former Soviet spy Alexander Litvinenko. Home Secretary John Reid said traces of radioactivity have been discovered at a dozen sites and in all, experts are scrutinizing 24 sites. He did not say whether the radioactivity found at the sites was polonium-210, used to poison the former KGB agent, who died a week ago. Authorities will not will not say if the aircraft shown are under investigation. (AP Photo/ Max Nash)

For the last 5 years we, the nonthreatening flying public, have been subjected to more and more ridiculous security measures. I've waited in three hour security lines. I've been pulled out of line and wanded and frisked, forced to take off my sandals and walk on bare floor, had nail clippers confiscated, thrown away perfectly good coffee, water, juice, and once an apple, flown without a carryon, stuffed my purse into my carryon to make it seem I had only one bag, and on my most recent trip, had to place all small liquid or gel containers in a one quart ziploc bag. I've watched my mother questioned roughly by arrogant screeners, old people in wheelchairs scared into tears, baby strollers searched, and women felt up by perverse male screeners.

And a guy could fly on a plane carrying radioactive polonium?

Wouldn't that be one of the more important 'threats' to screen for? Couldn't they put a Geiger counter in that stupid airport screening machine? Shouldn't a dose big enough to kill a man set off something?

I know, I know, the whole airport security thing is a huge joke, just like the 13 or so years where we got asked the Lockerbie questions [Have your bags been in your possession the entire time? Has anyone unknown to you asked you to carry anything?], like anyone would ever answer 'yes' if they really had a bomb. It's just window dressing. In my rational brain I know that, but still, I expect that something major like a radioactive element that could be used as a trigger for a nuclear weapon is something that shouldn't go into the passenger cabin on a commercial aircraft.

WaPo: Britain Extends Probe Into Poisoning of Former Russian Spy

Police search the Itsu sushi restaurant on November 25. Traces of radiation have been found at the London restaurant which was visited by former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko on November 1.(AFP/File/Leon Neal)
(I walked by this restaurant last month, but Coach Mom and my sister don't like sushi, so we had lunch closer to Piccadilly Square.)

Go Read This

If you read anything today, read Digby:

Hullabaloo: President Unbound

Here's my favorite part:

I blame the media []. After 9/11 they lost their minds and became unthinking hagiographers and adminstration cheerleaders to an absurd extent. The man's halting, incoherent first press conference after 9/11 scared me more than the attacks and yet the press corps behaved as if they were in the presence of a God whose stuttering, meandering gibberish were words uttered from on high. He was called a genius and compared to Winston Churchill. Paeans to his greatness were turned into best sellers. His "gut" was infallible. It was patently obvious that he was in over his head and yet this bizarre, almost hallucinogenic image of the man emerged in the media that actually made me question my sanity at times. It took years for this trance to wear off with a majority of the public and even longer in the media. It was one of the strangest phenomenons I've ever observed.

We Love Lists

NYTimes: The 10 Best Books of 2006

Falling Through the Earth and Absurdistan are on my Christmas wish list.

Whatever

Mission...Accomplished?

I'm your puppet
The Chimperor's insistence on meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki on his 'diplomatic' trip has broken up the fragile Iraqi government.

WaPo: Bloc Led by Shiite Cleric Quits Iraqi Government
Lawmakers Loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr Protest Prime Minister's Summit With Bush

President Incapable of Empathy

Democrat James Webb holds up his Marine Corps son's combat boots during an election victory rally in Arlington, Virginia [on] November 9, 2006. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES)

The Hill: Son also rises in testy Webb-Bush exchange

At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.

Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.

“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.

Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon.

UPDATE: Today's WaPo offers this version of the exchange:

At a recent White House reception for freshman members of Congress, Virginia's newest senator tried to avoid President Bush. Democrat James Webb declined to stand in a presidential receiving line or to have his picture taken with the man he had often criticized on the stump this fall. But it wasn't long before Bush found him.

"How's your boy?" Bush asked, referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq.

"I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President," Webb responded, echoing a campaign theme.

"That's not what I asked you," Bush said. "How's your boy?"

"That's between me and my boy, Mr. President," Webb said coldly, ending the conversation on the State Floor of the East Wing of the White House.

Darth Cheney Answers His Master's Call

What can I do for you, sir?
He was summoned to Saudi Arabia. Didn't go on his own. Summoned. And people wonder if this is a war about oil and corporate profit?

WaPo: Civil War in Iraq Near, Annan Says
Study Group Begins Two-Day Meeting

Saudi Arabia is so concerned about the damage that the conflict in Iraq is doing across the region that it basically summoned Vice President Cheney for talks over the weekend, according to U.S. officials and foreign diplomats. The visit was originally portrayed as U.S. outreach to its oil-rich Arab ally.

The Getaway

Commander Codpiece is apparently preparing for the day when he is indicted for war crimes in the Hague. In the fine tradition of war criminals through history (like Joseph Mengele) he's bought a getaway ranch in Paraguay.

A mere

....98,840 acres of land in Chaco, Paraguay, near the Triple Frontier (Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay)....

He can hide his entire bloody administration there. Dick Cheney is probably already wiping the whole place off The Google Maps.

Ice, Ice, Baby

By Jae C. Hong, AP
Kristine Lilly gets a celebratory lift from U.S. teammates Abby Wambach, center, and Aly Wagner after the winning goal.
USWNT 2 - CanadaWNT 1

Kristine Lilly with the gamewinner in her unbelievable 319th start for the national team. She has more national caps than any player ever in the history of soccer, male or female, and her record will probably never be broken (she started at age 15 in an era of few professional opportunities for women; today there are many fewer national games per year). Too bad the game wasn't on ESPN, only on FoxSoccerChannel; great if you have DirectTV, but the rest of us are shut out. And it was played at the Home Depot Center, a pathetic excuse for a soccer field in California, where the field is too small and Californians don't come out to support women's soccer. Had the game been in Cary, North Carolina or somewhere on the East Coast Coach Mom and I probably would have been part of more than 20,000 in the crowd. Instead they played to a crowd of less than 7,000.

USAToady: Lilly's clutch penalty kick ices Gold Cup title for U.S. women

CARSON, Calif. — The U.S. women's soccer team extended its record unbeaten streak and earned its third CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup title Sunday night — barely.

Kristine Lilly converted a penalty kick in the final minute of overtime to give the USA a 2-1 victory over Canada in front of 6,749 at the Home Depot Center.

The USA received the penalty kick after Canada's Robyn Gale fouled Carli Lloyd in the penalty area in the 120th minute.

Lilly, the tournament MVP, scored her 117th international goal in her 319th game by placing the ball to the right of goalkeeper Erin McLeod. The victory extended the USA's record unbeaten streak to 32 games.

WaPo: Lilly's PK Gives U.S. Gold Cup in OT
United States 2, Mexico 1, OT

sportsnet.ca: Penalty pain for Canada

ussoccer.com: USA Wins CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup with 2-1 OT Victory vs. Canada

My Heart Is Hard

Smoke rises after mortar attacks in Baghdad November 26, 2006. REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud (IRAQ)
I still haven't forgiven Michael Moore for supporting Ralph Nader in 2000, for being so ignorant of history that he could say with a straight face that there's no difference between Republicans and Democrats, but this letter helps me towards my better nature:

Sunday, November 26th, 2006
Cut and Run, the Only Brave Thing to Do ...a letter from Michael Moore

Friends,

Tomorrow marks the day that we will have been in Iraq longer than we were in all of World War II.

That's right. We were able to defeat all of Nazi Germany, Mussolini, and the entire Japanese empire in LESS time than it's taken the world's only superpower to secure the road from the airport to downtown Baghdad.

And we haven't even done THAT. After 1,347 days, in the same time it took us to took us to sweep across North Africa, storm the beaches of Italy, conquer the South Pacific, and liberate all of Western Europe, we cannot, after over 3 and 1/2 years, even take over a single highway and protect ourselves from a homemade device of two tin cans placed in a pothole. No wonder the cab fare from the airport into Baghdad is now running around $35,000 for the 25-minute ride. And that doesn't even include a friggin' helmet.

[]

The Soviet Union got out of Afghanistan in 36 weeks. They did so and suffered hardly any losses as they left. They realized the mistake they had made and removed their troops. A civil war ensued. The bad guys won. Later, we overthrew the bad guys and everybody lived happily ever after. See! It all works out in the end!

In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican.
H.L. Mencken

The Mittwit Has The Media A-Twitter

Wikipedia: Mormon underwear (from Andrew Sullivan, time.com)
Mitt Romney is a liar, he's a hypocrite, and he wears funny Mormon underwear (we're pretty sure). His company, Bain Capital Partners, just bought ClearChannel, so maybe he'll make some money in his doomed Presidential campaign. He zigged left here, he's zigging right on the campaign trail, but he's got no core. Just another corporate tool.

David Broder apparently didn't dig deep enough to realize that the Mittwit ran as a moderate when he ran for Mass. governor, before he began running against our state as a Presidential candidate. WaPo: Romney Leaving Mass. With Mixed Record: As Governor Eyes National Stage, He Faces Scrutiny of His Performance at Home

....Romney is a staunch conservative....

Joan Vennochi of the Boston Globe apparently has access to The Google:

Boston Globe: JOAN VENNOCHI
Romney's dance to the right

When he ran against Ted Kennedy for the Senate in 1994, Romney wrote a letter to the Massachusetts Log Cabin Club, pledging that as "we seek to establish full equality for American gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent." During that same campaign, Romney was accused of once describing gay people as "perverse." In response, Romney's campaign vehemently denied that he used the word "perverse" and said that he respected "all people regardless of their race, creed, or sexual orientation."

While running for governor in 2002, Romney and his running mate, Kerry Healey, distributed pink fliers at a Gay Pride parade, declaring "Mitt and Kerry wish you a great Pride weekend." He backed domestic partner benefits for public employees, winning the endorsement of the national Log Cabin Republicans. In his inaugural speech, he promised to defend civil rights "regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or race."

As governor, he appointed openly gay and lesbian people to high-profile administration positions. He doubled the budget line item for the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, until he tried to disband it last May -- more political theater for the Republican right.

But why didn't the Boston Globe dig up the sacred Mormon underwear for the last gubernatorial campaign? Why didn't Shannon O'Brien? Inquiring minds wanted to know.

Andrew Sullivan: Mormon Sacred Underwear

New Element

Check it out: Bushcronium!

A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the densest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Bushcronium." Bushcronium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311. These particles are held together by dark forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. The symbol for Bushcronium is "W". Bushcronium's mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons in a Bushcronium molecule, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Bushcronium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass". When catalyzed with money, Bushcronium activates Foxnewsium, an element that radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has 1/2 as many peons but twice as many morons.

I saw this at Democratic Veteran, who found it in comments at Firedoglake.