Time to change the dictionaries

Robert Knight, a homophobe with the religious right, is freaking out because the Oxford English Dictionary reportedly has updated their definition of "marriage" to correlate with the current status of legal marriage in the world (marriage for same-gender couples was already legal in Canada, Belgium, and elsewhere even before May 17 in Massachusetts). The religious right bigots are now saying that Oxford English caved to "political correctness." Of course, that's absurd - they simply updated a definition that now has changed.

But the bigots got me thinking. And they raise a good point. The definition of marriage has now changed. It is no longer legally defined as the union of a man and a woman in the US, Canada, Belgium, and at least one more country (I think Holland). If you folks want to do a bit of research, check out various dictionaries, online and off, and see how they define marriage. And if they define it incorrectly, either send the definition to me or post it as a reply to this post - then post some good contact info for the dictionary, and we can start a campaign to get the definition changed.

Thanks Mr. Knight for giving us such a great idea. Had you not said a word, we'd have never thought of this. :-) Read More......

Bush abusing Air Force one for campaigning

Corrup, corrupt, corrupt.

President Bush is using Air Force One for re-election travel more heavily than any predecessor, wringing maximum political mileage from a perk of office paid for by taxpayers.

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Wash Post: Bush's anti-Kerry ads are all lies

The Wash Post reports that Bush's anti-Kerry ads are not just all wrong, but their negativity is unprecedented. But hey, cut him a break. I mean, imagine how pissed you'd be if you lied to the nation to get us into a war, got 800 soldiers killed as a result, and then got caught.Washington Post:

It was a typical week in the life of the Bush reelection machine.

Last Monday in Little Rock, Vice President Cheney said Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry "has questioned whether the war on terror is really a war at all" and said the senator from Massachusetts "promised to repeal most of the Bush tax cuts within his first 100 days in office."

On Tuesday, President Bush's campaign began airing an ad saying Kerry would scrap wiretaps that are needed to hunt terrorists.

The same day, the Bush campaign charged in a memo sent to reporters and through surrogates that Kerry wants to raise the gasoline tax by 50 cents.

On Wednesday and Thursday, as Kerry campaigned in Seattle, he was greeted by another Bush ad alleging that Kerry now opposes education changes that he supported in 2001.

The charges were all tough, serious -- and wrong, or at least highly misleading. Kerry did not question the war on terrorism, has proposed repealing tax cuts only for those earning more than $200,000, supports wiretaps, has not endorsed a 50-cent gasoline tax increase in 10 years, and continues to support the education changes, albeit with modifications.

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

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Catholic Church itching for a fight

If the Catholic Church is going to continue denying Communion to gays and using their institution to speak out on political issues, shouldn't they lose their special tax status? Why should we tolerate them taking on issues such as marriage, when in fact, marriage is a purely legal issue. Religion has nothing to do with marriage in the US and it's time the knuckle-draggers in the Church found a more religious subject to discuss such as peace and love. For you legal folks out there, is a legal challenge possible? I don't see why the Church should be treated differently from any other political institution. Read More......

So the war wasn't personal, huh?

Bush keeps Saddam's pistol at the White House and loves to show it off to visitors. He sounds like a little boy with a new toy.

"Though it was widely reported at the time that the pistol was loaded when they grabbed Saddam, Bush has told visitors that the gun was empty..."

Does anything happen during this administration that is not completely orchestrated? Are any of these stories actually based on the truth or does the truth just get in the way of people like Bush or his apparent mentor, Nixon. Read More......

Were some senior Bush officials just outed?

DC's premiere gay newspaper, the Washington Blade, did a big front-page story on Friday about how there are reportedly gays at the "top level of the operation" of the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. (The paper did not name any names.) The Blade did, however, devote a good deal of space to Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman, who according to the paper is single, 37 years old, has few hobbies outside of politics, and would not directly answer a question as to whether he or any others in the president’s campaign organization were openly gay. The Blade also printed a large picture of Mehlman (left) on its front page.

Was the Blade trying to get readers wondering if Mehlman was possibly gay? I have no idea, but the article definitely got me and a few friends wondering. Read More......

Time: Cheney lied about Halliburton

In a busy month of newly reported lies by the Administration, Time magazine is reporting what many already suspected.

"The March 5, 2003 e-mail, from an Army Corps of Engineers official, said that top Pentagon official Douglas Feith got the job of shepherding the contract, according to the newsweekly Time that hits newsstands Monday.

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

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

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

JOHN'S ADDITIONAL NOTE:

So yet another lie from the White House - this one about Cheney's ethics. One can only hope that since Cheney actually lied to Russert, perhaps this will give Russert the incentive to finally take Bush and Cheney on for all of their lies, rather than give them the journalistic equivalent or raspberries on their little bellies every time Bush or Cheney go on his show. Read More......

Mom had to force DOD investigation of soldier-son's death

Two interesting points about this story.

1. It appears we were lied to about Jessica Lynch - big surprise there. This soldier appears to be the hero who shot all his bullets trying to defend everyone.

2. The Pentagon apparently refused to investigate this soldier's death until mom get involved and forced them to. If DOD had its druthers, the parents would have been left with a phony story about what happened to their now-deceased son. Lovely.

Washington Post:

A soldier in the same ambush as former POW Jessica Lynch was not killed in action but captured by Iraqi fighters and then executed, officials said.

The family of Sgt. Donald Walters, 33, of Salem -- which had pressed officials for an investigation of his death -- learned the new information from the Oregon National Guard. Guard officials released the details to the public Thursday, more than a year after the March 23, 2003, ambush....

The Pentagon investigated Walters's death after his mother, Arlene, filed Freedom of Information requests. She believed the Army had not given her son credit for actions first attributed to Lynch, such as fighting until his ammunition ran out....

Walters's fate drew attention because the details of his actions remarkably resemble a story circulated in The Washington Post and other news accounts media, based on anonymous sources, describing how Lynch had fought until her ammunition ran out.

After her rescue, Lynch, of Palestine, W.Va., said she did not fire a shot. Her injuries resulted from a Humvee crash during the firefight in the Iraqi town of Nasiriyah, just days into the war.

Like Lynch, Donald Walters had blond hair. His family and others have said that early reports depicting a blond soldier bravely fighting off Iraqis may have been mistakenly attributed to Lynch, possibly because of an erroneous translation of Iraqi radio transmissions.

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Saudis using "man on the street" interviews to change local attitudes

Interesting to see that they are now interested in using the "man on the street" and intellectuals to help turn the tide of terrorism in Saudi Arabia. Hmm, they used that policy so well over the years to deflect internal criticism and direct it at the US and the West, let's see how it works this time. It's also very interesting to see that the terrorists were specifically searching for westerners and trying to avoid Muslims so they could avoid the negative reactions from earlier attacks. I wonder what the reaction over there would have been if the victims were only foreigners. Read More......

Chalabi and staff are thrown out of office by police

Man, this guy and his team are dropping like a rock. Read More......

Campaigns Boiling Down to a Dwindling Swing Vote

Interesting that it appears many of the swing voters have already decided. I love the one woman's description of Bush's war in Iraq as "a huge, horrible mess." Perhaps that, along with "incompetent," should be the buzzwords of this campaign. Read More......

Saudi Qaeda Raid Kills 16, Including 7 Foreigners

Reuters:

Suspected al Qaeda militants wearing military uniforms killed at least nine Saudis and seven foreigners in the Saudi oil city of Khobar on Saturday before holing up with hostages in a housing compound.

The U.S. Embassy reiterated a call to its citizens to leave the kingdom after the attack.

Two points:

1) Poetic justice for the Saudis. Yes, no one wishes harm to anyone, but... they've been screwing around on the terrorism issue for years and now their little Frankenstein is biting them in the ass.

2) Poetic justice for the Bush administration. They've been screwing around on the energy issue for years, and now their determination to keep our country dependent on oil is biting them in the ass. Unfortunately on this last one, it's also biting all of us in the ass too. So is losing Saudi Arabia to Islamic fundamentalists, and losing their oil supply to the world, going to be the legacy of the Bush administration? Stay tuned. Read More......

FBI issues and retracts urgent terrorism bulletin

Is this incredible or what? Has anyone in Washington learned anything over the past few years? If the subject wasn't so serious this would be funny.

"A law enforcement official at another city, who insisted that he and the city not be named, said authorities there had received a call late in the day from the Federal Bureau of Investigation alerting them to the possibility of an "imminent" attack there. Later, however, the FBI called to withdraw the warning.

The official, citing recent questions about the credibility of the terrorist intelligence from the bureau, said, "It's getting harder and harder to defend them." - NY Times

OK President MBA, what kind of executive decision are you going to make on this one? Are you running the country like a CEO or are you leaving it to incompetent directors? Sounds like just another failed business venture by Bush. November can not come soon enough. Read More......

Krugman on Bush: To tell the truth

In case you missed it, this column by Paul Krugman is spot on about Bush and the press. Not living in the US, I used to wonder why the US press had become such a bunch of cowards, giving Bush an awfully long leash. Being both an insider (an American) but also an outsider (an ex-pat) it seemed impossible to me that Bush was treated so delicately, considering his lack of results and twisted logic. During my visits to the US my criticisms were often met with surprised stares and some people questioned my patriotism. They looked at me like I was part of the looney left, so far out that I was beyond reason. Thank god that era is now over and the press is finally rediscovering it has a backbone. The Bush administration smear & fear tactics just are not giving the same results anymore. America has woken up and is doing the patriotic thing of asking questions and demanding answers. Read More......

Iraq and Geneva: lies, disorganization or incompetence?

It sounds like all three at the moment. Putting aside the legal issue of Geneva not applying in Guantanamo and Afghanistan for a moment, the Bush administration publicly is telling the world that Geneva does apply in Iraq. However, it is increasingly clear that it was policy to transfer non-Geneva interrogation tactics to Iraq which was supposed to be covered by Geneva. Remember the denials that Abu Ghraib was "Gitmo-ized"? What kind of professionals are running this effort and what kind of professionals are running the country? Don't we deserve some honesty here?

"The teams were sent to Iraq for 90-day tours at the urging of Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, then the head of detention operations at Guantánamo. General Miller was sent to Iraq last summer to recommend improvements in the intelligence gathering and detention operations there, a defense official said.

But one member of the 377th Company said the fact that prisoners in Afghanistan had been labeled as "enemy combatants" not subject to the Geneva Conventions had contributed to an unhealthy attitude in the detention center.

"We were pretty much told that they were nobodies, that they were just enemy combatants," he said. "I think that giving them the distinction of soldier would have changed our attitudes toward them. A lot of it was based on racism, really. We called them hajis, and that psychology was really important." - NY Times

After months of demonizing Iraq, how surprised should we be that racism has played a role in this mess? Read More......

Is Bush now vote rigging in Iraq as well?

And I thought that the whole Ashcroft-Ridge fight was a mess but this one is another real winner. While some of the press is reporting that the decision to promote Alawi to the position of Premier of Iraq as an independent decision made by the Iraqi Governing Council, the New York Times is saying otherwise. Contrary to the hyped "surprise and confusion" that someone is suggesting is coming out of Washington, this was clearly a US decision.

"...Iyad Alawi, is the secretary general of the Iraqi National Accord, an exile group that has received funds from the Central Intelligence Agency. His ties with the C.I.A., and his closeness to the United States could become an issue in a country where public opinion has grown almost universally hostile to the Americans.

"When we first heard the news today, we thought that the Iraqi Governing Council had hijacked the process," said a senior United Nations official...

United Nations officials said any misgivings that Mr. Brahimi had about Dr. Alawi were not about the man himself but about his past associations and how they might play with the Iraqi public, because of Dr. Alawi's ties with the C.I.A." - NY Times

Being under such a microscope, does Bush really think that he can trick Iraq and the world into accepting another US lackey? Read More......

New Aschroft terror warning based on dubious source

My blood is really boiling now with the campaign of fear spokesman Ashcroft. It becomes clearer and clearer every day how this guy lost an election to a dead man because he is such a completely incompetent clown. His new source for the terror threat is the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which is known for its own propaganda. In a crowded field of liars and fear mongers, this guy really is taking it to a new level.

“This particular group is not really taken seriously by Western intelligence,” said terrorism expert M.J. Gohel of the Asia-Pacific Foundation, an international policy assessment group. “It does not appear to have any real field operational capability.

The group has claimed responsibility for the power blackout in the Northeast last year, a power outage in London and the Madrid bombing. None of the claims was found to be credible.

"The only thing they haven't claimed credit for recently is the cicada invasion of Washington,” said expert Roger Cressey, former chief of staff of the critical infrastructure protection board at the White House...

A senior U.S. intelligence official previously told NBC News that this group has no known operational capability and may be no more than one man with a fax machine.Friday, Ashcroft's spokesman blamed the FBI..." - NBC News

Meanwhile, CNN leads with the story, Out of sync on warning. Out of sync on warning? They must be joking! CNN is out of sync on picking up a political scam. Read More......

WASH POST EDITORIAL: Bush lied

Today's editorial about Abu Ghraib in the Washington Post is beyond shocking. The Post outright accused the president and his administration of willfully lying about the mistreating of prisoners across Iraq and Afghanistan, including charges that US soldiers actually murdered people and then the administration tried to cover it up!

I can't even believe this is my country. I have never felt this betrayed by my government, never distrusted my president to such a degree (be he Democrat or Republican). I simply can't take any more of this. This guy has to leave. And I'm talking impeachment. If Bush has now lied to us about ongoing homicides being committed by people on his payroll, I mean, Jesus Christ.

Read this entire editorial and email it to every person you know:

PRESIDENT BUSH'S persistence in describing the abuse of foreign prisoners as an isolated problem at one Iraqi prison is blatantly at odds with the facts seeping out from his administration. These include mounting reports of crimes at detention facilities across Iraq and Afghanistan and evidence that detention policies the president approved helped set the stage for torture and homicide. Yes, homicide: The most glaring omission from the president's account is that at least 37 people have died in U custody in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and that at least 10 of these cases are suspected criminal killings of detainees by U interrogators or soldiers.

The deaths reveal much about the true nature of the still-emerging prisoner scandal. First, only a minority of them occurred at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad; nine of the 10 homicides acknowledged by the Pentagon occurred elsewhere. Second, the administration has done its best to cover up the killings: They have been reported only after news of them leaked to the media, and details about most of them are still undisclosed.

No one has been criminally charged in any of the cases, even though some date to December 2002. Investigations have been shoddy and secretive. And no senior officer or administration official has accepted responsibility or been held accountable for allowing unlawful killings to take place under his or her command. Had it not been for the leak of the photographs from Abu Ghraib, which record less serious crimes, it is probable that none of the deaths in Iraq would have become public knowledge....

It is horrifying to contemplate that U interrogators have tortured and killed foreign prisoners and that their superiors have ignored or covered up their crimes -- and yet that is where the available facts point. Pentagon officials say they will pursue investigations vigorously and that those guilty of crimes will be brought to justice. It is essential to the preservation of this country's fundamental values that they do so. It is essential also to examine the consequences in the field of policy decisions made by the most senior officials in Washington. But the sorry record of the Bush administration -- and the president's own refusal to speak the truth about it -- suggests that justice will require vigorous and sustained intervention by outside parties, beginning with Congress.

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FBI finds terrorist-tracking a bore

The Denver Post

Samuel Mac, manager of the Denny's in Avon, isn't happy with the response he got from the FBI when he reported that two of [the suspected terrorists] ate at his restaurant Wednesday.

When he called the FBI in Washington, D.C., Mac said the man who answered the telephone said he had to call the Denver office and declined to take down any of the information.

When he called the Denver office, he was shuttled to voice mail because the agents were busy, Mac said. It was five hours before a seemingly uninterested agent called back.

But perhaps my favorite line from the story was:

[Monique Kelso, spokeswoman for the Denver office, said] the FBI has no reason to believe any of the seven are in Colorado or traveling through.

Really? So if you know where they are, why did you go on TV and scare the shit out of us? Read More......

See, gay marriage is destroying hetero marriages

Man Commits Suicide After Sex with Hen Read More......

Creepy

Michael Moore interviewed Nick Berg, the American conractor beheaded in Iraq. Read More......

Fucking Cicadas

Craig's List via Wonkette. This totally cracked me up, as I had one cicada take a ride-along on my right shoulder until I noticed it while I freaked out in the middle of a busy street, and the second cicada dive-bombed into my hair while walking on the sidewalk (in front of an amused woman) yesterday. We hates them...

Anyway, this is from Craig's List:

Fucking Cicadas
Tue May 25 21:24:14 2004

To the little fucker who dive bombed me on my way to lunch. You retarded, blind, little shit. You flew into the back of my ear while I was crossing the street! People laughed and pointed while I had, what looked like, an epileptic seizure. Bitch.

To the sneaky bastard who tried to smuggle himself into my office after lunch. My boss spotted you on my shoulder. I looked like a fucking sailor with his bug-parrot. I hope you liked the smack down I gave you.

To the beltway hitchhiker(s). For stupid bugs, you guys sure have good aim. Who would've thunk that two little shits like you could fly INTO a moving car! The first one landed on my passenger seat near Georgia Ave. You are more retarded than most of your friends (which is impressive). All you could do was fall over yourself and get stuck in the seams of my car seats. I didn't even have to fuck with you. Your friend though.... oh that muthafucka.... He flew into my driver's side window and smacked me in the throat! At 60mph!! That shit hurt. I almost rear-ended the Saturn in front of me because of you! But I had the last laugh... After you kamikazied my throat, your dumb ass got scared and flew to that back of my car, right at the base of the rear windshield. As soon as I saw your ass camped on my speakers, I cranked up the stereo. I hope you enjoyed 110dB of Dandy Warhols from half an inch away!!!

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GOP: Only sell-out gays welcome at national convention

Today's Wash Post reports that Republican party has kicked DC Council member David Catania out of the Republican national convention in New York City because he stood up to President Bush's bigoted proposal to make Catania and millions of other gay Americans second class citizens in the US Constitution. Catania was a delegate to the convention, and has raised nearly $80,000 for Bush's re-election.

This political fag-bashing comes on the heels of the Republican party of North Carolina telling a gay Republican group in that state last week that gays are "not normal" and not welcome at the party's state convention that took place this past weekend.

Catania, in response to the news, announced that he is leaving the DC Republican party.

In an effort to Uncle Tom the news of Catania's summary dismissal from the convention, and appear that the Republican's NYC convention will actually be accepting of gays, the Republican party quickly found a token "house homo," Carl Schmid, to replace David (i.e., a gay man with so few scruples he STILL openly supports Bush's re-election, and a man who would be so low as to accept taking David's place in order to provide cover for the party's clear homophobia).

It's clear that the only gays the Republican party leadership welcomes are men and women like openly-lesbian VP daughter Mary Cheney who are willing to sell their soul for a very small and very quiet obstructed-view place at the small fold-up card table in the room next to "the table." Lick our boots and cut our cotton, and you're welcome in our party. Actually stand up and defend the party's founding principles, and be a true and honest representative of the community you represent, and you'll be fag-bashed quicker than you can sing "Proud to be an American."

More homophobic crap from the GOP.

And more. Read More......

Bush to spend $100M on medical database study

I am not questioning the benefit of having a computerized medical record system, because it would probably be useful. But in light of the reported budget chopping that is coming and considering the numerous problems with healthcare in America, is this even an honest or sensible program? Who doesn't know someone who is forking over money to subsidize their healthcare because their company is unloading those costs? Of those people that you know, how many of those people are working for companies that also find enough money to handsomely pay senior executives and are showing growth? The Bush crowd believes that there is no healthcare problem and that as soon as the employees are paying for all of it, corporate America will be better off. Read More......

Cardinal Keeler to stay out of partisan politics

I have not lived in Baltimore in years but I have always remembered the Catholic Church in Baltimore being much more open minded than the church elsewhere. Cardinal Keeler is now speaking out against vocal elements in the church who have been trying to drag US politics into the Catholic church.

"Our position is ... Catholics have a responsibility to examine their own conscience and see if they are in a state that is appropriate for the reception of the sacrament," he said. "We don't need bishops to get into the act."

"We have said again and again as bishops, we are not in partisan politics," Keeler said. "We dare not be pulled into a dispute between one party and another." - Baltimore Sun

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Next G8 Summit "a summit of the lame"

Considering the amount of money spent on these summits and the failure to deliver results, are these summits really effective or useful anymore? Have they ever been effective? I am all for world leaders working together, but these summits seem to me to be a waste of time and money. Why bother when they spend all of their time agreeing on silly statements that do not really mean anything. Schroeder can talk about change needing to come from the region (Middle East) itself, but when all of us, I mean really mean all of us, continue to do business with these regimes, is that really possible? When Chirac talks about US economic policy and its negative effect on world markets, has he forgotten about his own economic record? And Bush, well, who is listening to him anymore? Read More......

Confusion over security threat continues, Keystone Cops alive and well

I thought that the new Homeland Security team was supposed to sort out this kind of mess and present a unified, clear message on possible terror threats. Sadly, the confusion continues and Americans are left wondering if a threat actually exists or if this is just politics as usual by Bush.

"Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the Ashcroft-Mueller news conference on Wednesday mistakenly led some to believe the nation's threat level had been increased.

"Their separate public appearances left the impression that the broad and close interagency consultation we expect — and which the law requires — may not have taken place in this case," Cox said.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse reiterated Thursday that his agency has not seen any change in the "steady stream of threat reporting." - AP

So what the hell is going on? Is anyone running the show serious about safety or is this just another game? Let's start demanding that these clowns start showing us tangible results from previous alerts. Oh, that's right, this is not even an alert because the color code has not changed. Read More......

Alternative medicine gaining ground, Big Medicine turns to smear & fear

Perhaps the so-called traditional medicine people ought to quit being so nervous and defensive about alternative medicines and figure out how to bridge the two communities. Big Medicine is always so afraid of anyone who questions what they believe is their sole authority on health issues, they resort to the old fear & smear. Having watched my father go through chemotherapy (a $12B per year industry) really made me take a closer look at the pharmaceutical industry and its relationship with doctors and institutions such as NIH, CDC as well as Congress. The medical profession considers my father a success story, because his cancer is gone but they do not recognize that he is terminally ill with two new sicknesses (emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis) as a result of the chemotherapy. If the medical profession wonders why so many people are investigating alternative medicines, they only need to look at their own record of treating patients to figure out the answer.

"A majority of Americans are now trying to cure their ills with prayer or unconventional remedies, including herbal tonics, acupuncture, massage and yoga, federal researchers reported yesterday.

A new government survey of more than 31,000 U.S. adults nationwide, the most comprehensive assessment of the use of alternative medicine in the United States, found that 36 percent are using some kind of "complementary and alternative" therapy. That number jumps to 62 percent when prayer is included.

"The distinctions between alternative and conventional are really going to have to fall away," she [Dr. Maggie Covington] said. "We have to look for a type of medicine that addresses not just the physical aspect of the disease but the whole picture -- the physical, the spiritual and the emotional." - Wash Post

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Vatican hits a new low, Cardinal Law has a new role

Why does the Vatican feel that Cardinal Bernard Law deserves a cushy retired post? They are now assigning him to a comfortable little post in Rome which is frequented by foreign tourists. The Vatican seems to reward abuse and incompetence like the Bush administration. Having listened to countless excuses over here (in Europe) about the child abuse and the Church, it appears to me that this is their way of thumbing their nose at the victims as well as the criticism in the US. Sadly, many over here still do not believe that the scandal was really a scandal but rather just another group of Americans complaining and suing. The church somehow feels that they are above scandal, despite everything that has been reported in the US and more recently in Ireland. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Read More......

"The Asians"

Republican radio bigot Michael Savage does it again. From Media Matters:

On the May 21 Savage Nation, nationally syndicated radio host Michael Savage expressed disdain for a newspaper article about 'what breeds of dogs came first' that did not include that 'the Asians still chew 'em [dogs] up.'

SAVAGE: [apparently reading from an article in USA Today] 'Researchers have surprising news about what breeds of dogs came first and which dogs are more closely related.' What do I give a rat's behind about which dog is related? Why is this study done? All I know is we treat dogs very well here, and the great originators of the dog eat them. How come they don't put that in their story about 'em, the Asians still chew 'em up? In China they're in cages waiting to be cooked. Yeah, I know, you're not supposed to say that. All the quiet, sacred soy eaters over there.

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Rush does it again

Unable to quell his ego addiction, Limbaugh decided to, yet again, weigh in on the Abu Ghraib scandal (which he thinks is funny and akin to a frat prank). This time, while criticizing Al Gore for criticizing Bush's handling of the fiasco:

RushLimbaugh.com: "RUSH: I guess those naked pyramids are just not in the national interest to Algore. (Laughing and laughing.)

Ha ha ha. Yes, I'm sure the 20,000 new Al Qaeda terrorists the Bush administration has helped recruit, according to yesterday's IISS study, are laughing all the way to the bomb. Read More......

Is the US now taking hostages in Iraq?

This is an absolutely bizarre story about a family in Iraq that has had the father arrested and jailed by US forces to be used as a bargaining chip. They want this guys father-in-law, a former Baath Party member, so they are holding him until they have the old man. This is a truly disturbing new path by the Bush administration.

"On Feb. 17, Moayad said, a group of soldiers knocked on her door and delivered a handwritten letter from Ibrahim. It said he was being transferred from a U.S. base in Baghdad to Abu Ghraib prison "until the arrival of my father-in-law."

The American soldiers kept on telling me, 'Bring your father, and you will get your husband back,'" said Moayad, her soft voice trailing off. "How can they say that he's not a hostage?" - Newsday

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Why does Bush hate the military?

This is just great, now they don't have enough bullets. See what happens when we let Republicans start wars... Read More......

I'm just about up to here with the Iraqis

Yes, we invaded their country and caused a big mess, we get it. But at some point, the constant bullshit we get from Arab governments and the "Arab street," no matter what we do, starts to grate. Case in point, the Iraqi Governing Council now wants to keep Abu Ghraib, and criticized Bush's offer to destroy it.

Now, Bush's offer is worthy of criticism. Not because it's a bad idea to tear down the prison - it's a great idea, and symbolically very important. Bush deserves criticism, however, for coming up with the idea one month too late. Like most things he does, Mr. Conviction decided to do it after several weeks of waffling, thus making the proposal seem nothing but an insincere stunt. That's why you criticize Bush, not this bullshit answer about "wasting resources." Sounds to me like the governing council is simply whining, or at least trying prove it has cojones in an effort to shore up domestic support. Either way, they're not inspiring me to plop down another $50 billion for Bush's war.

President Bush's offer to demolish Abu Ghraib prison - made in a speech Monday night - found little support among Iraqis, with the head of the Governing Council yesterday calling the idea 'a waste of resources.'

'We must not be sentimental,' Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer told reporters. 'As the Governing Council, we do not agree with demolishing it and the matter will be left for the transitional government,' which is scheduled to take office June 30.

He called the idea of destroying the prison 'a waste of resources.' - Seattle Times

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Surprise, surprise...look who is going to pay for the tax cuts

"But with the budget deficit exceeding $400 billion this year, tough and painful cuts are unavoidable, said Brian M. Riedl, a budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Federal agencies' discretionary spending has risen 39 percent in the past three years. "I think the public is ready for spending cuts," Riedl said. "Not only does the public understand there's a lot of waste in the federal budget, but the public is ready to make sacrifices during the war on terror." - Wash Post

The public is ready to make sacrifices? Ah, no, I don't think that I am seeing any sacrifices from the people who have been receiving massive tax breaks by Bush. I can't recall seeing any sacrifice from corporate America who has pushed headquarters into tax havens overseas. I do see sacrifice from the people who can least afford it. What a bunch of greedy bastards. Read More......

Once again, prisoner abuse failed to deliver desired results

Looking back over recent historical experiences, prisoner abuse has delivered little, if any, of the intended results. The Israelis stopped using humiliation practices back in the 1990s because it pushed prisoners too far and delivered minimal results. Pushing people to their limits only makes them desperate, not necessarily tell the truth. About the only consistent result of this abuse and torture has been to whip up negative sentiment. This round appears to be about the same.

"...civilian and military intelligence officials, as well as top commanders with access to intelligence reports, now say they learned little about the insurgency from questioning inmates at the prison." - NY Times

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RSA foils al Qaeda attack, compare and contrast

This is an interesting comparison to the Bush-Ashcroft "be afraid, be very afraid" tactics. Despite all of the problems that the South African government has had with corruption and mismanagement, they are still able to show some kind of actions and results from a foiled terrorist threat. Compare this to the Ashcroft press conference yesterday where he pushed fear once again but has yet to point out anything specific with regards to previous similar warnings and tangible results. This was supposed to be a business-like, results oriented administration, right? OK, so where are the results? If Ashcroft can not provide anything specific about the potential threat, which is even being questioned by Senator Richard J. Durbin of the Senate intelligence committee, at least he could help Americans understand what the results were from previous announcements. I am not talking about his broad comments about previous disruptions, but something a little more specific. With the terror code color not even changing and Senate intelligence committee members not knowing about anything new or specific, the American public really needs to be able to see something more than the same old "trust us" bullshit that we have been hearing. Read More......

Gore Demands Rummy & Condi Resign Over Iraq Abuse

Go, Al, go!

Reuters:

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Wednesday demanded Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials resign for encouraging policies that led to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners and fanned hatred of Americans abroad.

In a highly critical speech lasting more than an hour, Gore labeled the Bush administration's Iraq war plan 'incompetent' and called George W. Bush the most dishonest president since Richard Nixon, who resigned the office of the presidency in 1974 following the Watergate scandal.

Gore, who lost the 2000 presidential election to Bush, said Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and CIA director George Tenet should resign.

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Bush accused of "wagging the dog" over newest terror alert

Considering the sources - a former Bush national security official and a prominent terrorism expert - this is not good for Bush.

From Reuters:

One former national security official in the Bush administration told Reuters: "This is more butt-covering than anything else."

Critics say the new threat warnings may also just be a ploy to shore up the president's job approval ratings or divert attention from the increasingly unpopular Iraq campaign....

"It's like the old Wendy's (fast food) commercial: 'Where's the beef?"' the former Bush administration official said....

One prominent terrorism expert, who would only speak on condition of anonymity, said Bush may also be trying to staunch increasing criticism of the Iraq campaign by underlining the link in the public's mind between Iraq and security at home.

"The president is running as a war president, so the timing is interesting," he said, pointing to a speech by Bush on Monday that made frequent references to terrorist threats.

"I wonder if there's not a connection to the president's speech when he mentioned terrorism 18 times in the context of Iraq. Isn't this a very convenient way of linking back to the United States that Iraq is part of the broader war on terrorism?" he said.

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Janet Reno, an "ex"-gay?

Ok, not really. But someone in the comments below suggested that fallen "ex"-gay leader John Paulk (who was caught in a seedy gay bar a few years back) looks an awful lot like Janet Reno. Now, I adore Janet Reno. But I was curious, so I searched around for a photo and here's what I came up with:

"Ex"-gay John Paulk     Janet Reno
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Brock demands Rummy remove Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio

Why are they broadcasting Rush in the first place? (Answer: Trying to win more pro-Bush votes.) Brock raises a good point about Limbaugh broadcasting a pro-torture message to our soldiers.

May 25, 2004

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:

I am writing today to request that you consider removing talk radio host Rush Limbaugh from the American Forces Radio and Television Service (formerly known as Armed Forces Radio). Mr. Limbaugh, whose program is broadcast for one hour per day to U.S. troops overseas, has spent the past four weeks condoning and trivializing the abuse, torture, rape and possible murder of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards at the Abu Ghraib prison-gross misconduct that you have described as "fundamentally un-American..."

Read Brock's entire letter to Rummy here.

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Be very afraid...no wait, be sort of, somewhat afraid

Tom Ridge is now backtracking on his "let's scare the hell out of the American public one more time" policy. Meanwhile, I guess we are supposed to feel safe since Ashcroft is hot on the trail of the terrorists that may be in the US. Unless the terrorists are in a hospital records room where they store data on abortions, I don't really have a lot of confidence in the guy making any progress, sorry. Read More......

Honey, I changed the statement

A further look at the RNC statement shows that it was edited since its original post.

According to the Washington Post, the statement originally said:

Unfortunately for angry Democrats like Tim Johnson, Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy, terrorists aren't responsible for the deaths of U.S. soldiers, their commander-in-chief is. (And actually, I found that original statement on the RNC site here.)

Now it says:

To angry Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy, terrorists and militia aren't responsible for the deaths of U.S. soldiers, their commander-in-chief is.

The difference? First, they dropped any reference to Senator Tim Johnson (not sure why). Second, they initially said that "terrorists" are to blame for the deaths of US soldiers in Iraq, and now they've added "militias" to blame as well. That's an interesting addition. I suspect it indicates a larger policy decision by the Rs to stop talking about "terrorists" in Iraq since it was one of Bush's original reasons/lies for getting us into this war, and now they'd like us to forget it. Read More......

More fag-bashing at the RNC?

I just went to the Republican National Committee site to see the REST of the statement they made about Kerry, Pelosi and Kennedy, and noticed the following at the end of the statement:

"The San Francisco/Boston Democrats led by John Kerry have now adopted Blame America First as their official policy"

Perhaps the RNC can enlighten us as to what a "San Francisco Democrat" looks like. A limp wrist? A lisp? Read More......

No free speech, please - we're American

The funny part is that Gillespie's response only proves the point.

Washington Post: The following is a statement by Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, on Sen. Tim Johnson's comments comparing Republicans to the Taliban:

' 'Unfortunately for angry Democrats like Tim Johnson, Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy, terrorists aren't responsible for the deaths of U.S. soldiers, their commander-in-chief is.' '

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Who you calling gay?

These are the guys questioning whether gays are "manly" enough to raise kids. Enough said.


Family Research Council


Family Research Council


Robert Knight
Concerned Women for America


John Paulk
"Ex"-gay leader
(caught in gay bar)


"Ex"-gay leader


Anthony Falzarano
"Ex"-gay leader


Gary Bauer
Religious right leader Read More......

Study from 1700s says gays are bad

The Family Research Council has yet another "report" online about why gay marriage is bad for the universe. I particularly appreciated their use of this "study" that's so old they can't really pinpoint what century it's from. Getting a bit desperate, are they?

In his exhaustive examination of human history, Giovanni Battista Vico (1668-1744), Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Naples, concluded that marriage between a man and a woman is an essential characteristic of civilization, and as such is the 'seedbed' of society. Vico warned that chaos would ensue in the absence of strong social norms encouraging marital faithfulness and the loving care of children born to the union.

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Robert Scheer on Chalabi

Very good article.

We might start investigating which Bush official arranged for this hustler -- already on the lam for a decade from major banking fraud convictions in Jordan -- to sit behind First Lady Laura Bush during this year's State of the Union speech. Was the Secret Service watching her purse? ....

So was Uncle Sam played for a sucker by Iran, the fulcrum of what the president has called the "axis of evil"? Was the U.S. maneuvered into unseating Iran's hated enemy, Hussein, whom Washington backed in the 1980s against Iran's holy warriors?

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Sovereignty or no sovereignty...Blair and Powell differ

And to think that the administration wonders why they are not trusted. Listen guys, at least get your script sorted out because it is precisely this kind of disorganization that has led to so many problems in Iraq. With the UN anti-war group looking for reasons to drag their feet on a new resolution, this will only help them with their payback. I still wonder if this is a serious effort to get the UN on board or just another game, as we have witnessed in the past. Like his "fear, fear, fear" programs, I do not see any reason why anyone should believe anything or any effort that comes from Bush. He is the boy who cried wolf and it is getting old. Read More......

Rehnquist orders study for federal judicial ethics

I do not expect much to come of this, at least for the pressing matter with Scalia and Cheney, but it is interesting to see that the Supreme Court is feeling a bit of heat. Too bad Rehnquist only seems to listen to party members while dismissing non party member calls for action. The timing of both the Rehnquist move and the Cheney case are good though because it puts it in play to be another election year issue.

"House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., told judicial leaders at a private meeting this spring that judges are not adequately disciplining their colleagues. Sensenbrenner's remarks focused on controversies that arose before the Scalia hunting trip, and Sensenbrenner's allegation that judges swept lapses under the rug." - AP

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