More on the Los Alamos whistleblower who was beaten

Includes a photo released by his lawyers. It ain't pretty.

Message to Los Alamos: What is this, Russia? Read More......

Open thread - ok, fine, I killed the post breaks

I didn't like them either. When I finall move to another server I'll deal with such issues. Oh well, it was fun playing with the code :-)

And if you don't know what I mean, well, then never mind, you've been spared :-) Read More......

Why does the most conservative Republican court in America hate America?

Now even the GOP judges in America's most conservative circuit, the 4th (i.e., Virginia), aren't siding with America's Taliban on abortion of all issues. So I guess that makes them liberal activists too. Or maybe, just maybe, it means that everybody but Attila the Hun thinks the radical right has gone too far.

Must be getting pretty lonely at the top of the radical right. Read More......

Supreme Court: Activist Judges Deny Medical Relief To Those In Pain Or Dying

The Supreme Court ruled today that the federal government can prosecute people whose own doctors recommend medical marijuana to relieve pain or even help in their recovery. They'd rather stone patients than see them get stoned, even if it is the most medically efficient way of providing comfort and relief to the sick.

Whatever you think of the ruling. the 6-3 decision penned by John Paul Stevens is a case of hypocrisy by the court's far right judges since they pretend to support states' rights but back away from that philosophy whenever it involves something they object to, like medical marijuana.

--30--

P.S. The symbol "--30--" is old journalism shorthand for "end of story" or in this case, end of blog. Read More......

Those new "read more" links

Gang, I'm experimenting with something. It ain't perfect, but let's try it for a bit. Basically, I noticed that I, and my other guest bloggers on this site, like to write a lot in each post. I don't think that's a bad thing because I think we have something to say. But, I don't want folks who come to the site to miss the OTHER posts of the day because they see one or two long ones at the top of the page. So, we're trying some new code that permits us to break a post in two. The first part shows on the blog home page, the second part you need to click to read. The only problem is that the damn "read more" link posts on EVERY post, regardless of whether there's more to read.

In an effort to solve that (unless one of you tech geniuses out there can solve this for me), I'm asking my guest bloggers to join me in putting a dot-dot-dot - i.e., ... - whenever we break the post and go to another page. That way when you come to the end of the post and see "..." you'll know there really IS something more to read if you click.

Make sense? I know, a bit clumsy, but I think it will clean the page up a little and help folks scan it better. I can always change it back. Read More......

A benefit of Ohio Coin-gate...for the Dems.

The coin-gate scandal has given the Dems. in Ohio a spine... (Columbus Dispatch, registration required):

Tension levels have risen as Statehouse Democrats, who say they have grown increasingly frustrated by years of seeing their ideas rejected, appear emboldened by the coin scandal.

"I don’t think the Republicans are used to us fighting so hard," said Sen. Marc Dann, a suburban Youngstown Democrat and vocal critic of the coin scandal. "I am proud to bring that level of intensity."

But Democrats, despite their anger, have little chance to impact legislative action.

"The only real change is going to occur at the ballot box in 2006," said House Minority Leader Chris Redfern, of Catawba Island. "The people will send a message that we need bipartisan governance in this state."

Mark Weaver, a veteran GOP campaign consultant, said if the Noe scandal is still making front-page news in October 2006, it will be an issue for Republicans in the November election.

"But if it’s handled responsibly and the money is eventually accounted for, the voters will see what really happened here is a problem got resolved," he said.

Well, Mark, doesn't look like it's been handled all that responsibly so far....and that's unlikely to change. Read More......

Mad Max on Hannity

Max Blumenthal's piece on Hannity is now up on the Nation. I've linked to his blog, since he has further updates there. Read More......

Los Alamos whistleblower BRUTALLY assaulted, told to shut up or else

Holy shit (uh oh, there's go that peppered obscenity again). This is really creepy.

From DefenseTech.org (citing the Project on Government Oversight):

Mr. Hook had planned at the end of last week to meet an individual who claimed to have corroborating information about fraud at Los Alamos. That individual never attended the meeting. Late Saturday evening, someone who might have been posing as that individual called Mr. Hook and asked to meet with him at a bar in Santa Fe. He went to the bar and waited but that person never showed up. When Mr. Hook got into his car to leave, attackers pulled him out of the car and brutally assaulted him. The assailants threatened Mr. Hook to keep silent. A bouncer at the bar intervened and broke up the attack. Mr. Hook was hospitalized in an Emergency Room with severe trauma to his face and head, including a fractured jaw, and a herniated disk. He is heavily medicated today and unable to speak to the media.

Los Alamos is known for being pretty vicious with whistleblowers.

And even creepier, this guy Hook was slated to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee this month. Interfering with a witness is against the law. Let's hope the GOP Congress does something about this. Read More......

Citigroup assures us that "little risk" is limited to only 3.9 MILLION customers

CORRECTION: Earlier we had erroneously said the company involved was Citibank, in fact it's Citigroup. Our apologies.

It's not like anything bad could happen with Social Security numbers and other customer details but thankfully they are telling us that there's nothing to worry about and everyone will be OK. Whew!

Citigroup Inc. on Monday said computer tapes containing account and payment history data, including Social Security numbers, on 3.9 million customers were lost by United Parcel Service Inc.

Fortunately those brillant folks from Citigroup did not bother to encrypt those data files because who wants to spend money on regular schmucks after all when you don't really have to? Just where do those bleeding heart lefties think Citigroup would find the time, money and resources to bother with that extra step? Hell, that would probably cause a serious dent in the profit margins of Citigroup...

The beauty here is that no only has the world's largest bank been involved, but the world's largest shipping company has somehow lost the shipment of tapes. UPS will probably talk about it as though it's just a pesky sock-in-the-laundry that was lost because you can't really expect them to get it right every time either, can you? American capitilism at it's best and like the President, it's a chorus of the "I didn't do it" folks in corporate America.

I realize that the our fine friends in the Democratic Party, who find it necessary to criticize Howard Dean yet somehow fail to jump on the daily assault by the GOP, may be a little slow but when are they going to pull their heads out of their asses and get a clue here? When are we going to see some action here on this? Until someone insists on some responsibility (oohhh, what a nasty word these days) we're going to seeing personal data loses like this for a while. Read More......

Pope Ratzi gay bashing again

Oh this is rich. The Hitler Youth/pedophile-enabling pope is using his "moral authority" to castigate gays again, according to Reuters:

Pope Benedict, in his first clear pronouncement on gay marriages since his election, on Monday condemned same-sex unions as fake and expressions of "anarchic freedom" that threatened the future of the family.

The Pope, who was elected in April, also condemned divorce, artificial birth control, trial marriages and free-style unions, saying all of these practices were dangerous for the family.

"Today's various forms of dissolution of marriage, free unions, trial marriages as well as the pseudo-matrimonies between people of the same sex are instead expressions of anarchic freedom which falsely tries to pass itself off as the true liberation of man," he said.

Why is the Pope so obsessed with sex...and gay sex at that? With his hateful rhetoric and obsession with gay sex, Ratzi could be a Republican here in America. I wonder if he knows Mayor West. Read More......

Jesus hates me yes I know, cuz America's Taliban tells me so...

The really cool part is that the American Family Association is teaming up with Peter LaBarbera of the Illinois Family Institute, a man accused by HateWatch of publishing Holocaust revisionism in his old anti-gay magazine, the Lambda Report (he was publishing articles trying to blame gays for the Holocaust).

Two conservative Christian groups are attacking two prominent businesses for taking a high-profile role in the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago.

The American Family Association of Tupelo, Miss., and the Illinois Family Institute of Glen Ellyn are sharply criticizing Kraft Foods Inc. and Harris Bank for each contributing $25,000 to the athletic competition and now want the companies to take a less visible role by removing logos and banners from the event.

"We don't think this is something a big corporation should get behind," said Peter LaBarbera, executive director of Illinois Family Institute, which says it promotes family values.

Maybe someone in the Chicago media should ask Peter who he thinks was behind the Holocaust? Read More......

Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Guantanamo Bay Has Got To Go

Senator Joseph Biden has joined the New York Times in saying that Guantanamo Bay is a rallying cry for terrorists, does more harm than good and should be "gradually" shut down. Close the prison, Biden says, because

"This has become the greatest propaganda tool that exists for recruiting of terrorists around the world. And it is unnecessary to be in that position."

Fair enough. But how about shutting down the prison because even the military admits a majority of the prisoners are either innocent or low-level members with no remotely valuable intelligence? How about shutting down the prison because it is incapable of being run as Bush claims he wants it to be? How about shutting down the prison because it offends the sensibilities of decent people everywhere? How about shutting it down because its draconian, Kafka-esque environment (even prisoners we know are innocent can't be released because we've treated them so poorly that if they weren't terrorists before, we're certain they will be now) goes against everything the United States stands for? Read More......

Open thread

I actually like my men salt-and-peppered with obscenity, but that's just me. Read More......

BREAKING: Judge rules for Dems in Wash State governor's race

Big Brass Blog has the scoop.

And more from Crooks and Liars. Read More......

Uh oh. Now the men at the Concerned Women for America are mad at me too

Mommy, the homosexual was mean to me.

From the religious right anti-gay hate group, Concerned Women for America:

Ever since U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch tried last year to uphold the law regarding federal employees’ civil rights by omitting a category never approved by Congress, the homosexual lobby has been working to discredit him.

The campaign heated up this week when John Aravosis, who unsuccessfully harassed Vice President Dick Cheney during the election last year over Mr. Cheney’s lesbian daughter Mary Cheney, announced that he was going after Mr. Bloch. Peppered with obscenity, Aravosis’ Web site often denounces pro-family groups and politicians who won’t bend to the homosexual agenda. For example, here is Mr. Aravosis addressing Ford Motor Company, which some pro-family groups are boycotting over its recent pro-homosexual activism:

These are hate groups, they know one thing: hate. They exist for one thing: hate. They will not stop attacking you until you become as bigoted and hateful as they.

Aravosis also refers to pro-family groups as “pigs” and “sick pseudo-religious [obscene term]s.”

After Mr. Bloch’s appearance on May 24 at a Senate panel, Mr. Aravosis posted a series of obscenities against Mr. Bloch and the Bush administration.

As always, let's clear a few things up.

1. If we "unsuccessfully" went after Mary Cheney last year then why are you writing about it?

2. Peppered with obscenity? Oh, nothing as obscene as you people calling yourself "pro-family" and "Christian."

3. These are hate groups. And they won't stop until every company and politician and citizen of this country turns against gays. When is the last time they ever had anything good and loving and Christian to say about anyone who was gay or a Democrat? For people who talk a lot about Christ they sure don't sound like him.

4. They are pigs, and they are sick pseudo-religious fucks (though I can't recall if I wrote that, or if Joe, David or Chris did - though I think they'd agree). And they forgot un-American, anti-American, America's Taliban, bigots, quasi-religious, and much more I can't recall. But glad to see it's getting their goat.

Feel free to chime in in the comments for any other appelations I've forgotten for these vicious bigots.

QUICK UPDATE: Well, it was me that called these bozos sick pseudo-religious fucks. Here's the rest of what I wrote:

The religious right hate groups are now boycotting Ford Motor Company because, among other reasons, Ford offers benefits to its gay and lesbian employees and actively recruits gays.

THIS is what we were trying to tell Microsoft. These pigs aren't attacking you because you endorse pro-gay legislation. They're attacking you, and will continue to attack you, until you revoke your pro-gay INTERNAL policies and until you actively discriminate against gay and lesbian employees.

These are hate groups, they know one thing: hate. They exist for one thing: hate. They will not stop attacking you until you become as bigoted and hateful as they.

My point: Microsoft, you did the right thing, not just because it's the right thing, but because these sick pseudo-religious fucks wouldn't have left you alone until you fired every single gay employee.

And finally, at least no one is getting killed because of my language. How many religious right hate groups can claim that? Read More......

First They Came For The Science Books....

Anyone who thought the far right's agenda in grade school and high school began and ended with evolution simply wasn't thinking.

USA Today has a very good story about the conservative agenda to infiltrate that liberal bastion the schoolroom and make sure no one ever says or does anything they don't approve of.

A high school senior who puts up posters touting a website that links to video footage of beheadings and attacks the religion of others (Islam of course)? Just a fine upstanding kid. The story is filled with ideological watchdogs looking to slap down any teacher that dares to offer up an opinion on any issue that doesn't jibe with their beliefs. And all teachers are liberal because so many of them belong to a union and therefore can't be trusted...

Now seriously, I had a teacher in high school who expressed his liberal views and -- being then a good little disciple of William F. Buckley Jr. -- I argued with him. (He said the US suceeded because of all our natural resources; I said the USSR was similarly blessed so why didn't they flourish?) Would I see anything wrong with a teacher expressing, say, their support for the invasion of Iraq in a current events discussion? Not if they allowed students who disagreed to speak up as well. Besides, he was the teacher. I didn't agree with every opinion of my English teacher (she didn't like "Billy Budd" and I did). So what? Since when were teachers expected to say things every student could agree with? As long as they're not advocating hate against, say, blacks or gays or fundamentalist Christians, what's the problem?

These groups claim to be for academic freedom, but what they really want is to be free of any knowledge or opinion that contradicts what they already believe. My favorite quote from them sounds like the sort of touchy-feely liberal concern one used to hear from the left.

Students in primary and secondary schools tend to feel "intimidated," due to the "imbalance of power" in the classroom, says Gerard Balan, managing editor of Republicanvoices.org.

"Imbalance of power?" Um, there's SUPPOSED to be an imbalance of power. These are little kids and the teacher is supposed to be in charge, right? You know they're on shaky ground when they start offering babbling points like an imbalance of power between 12 year olds and the adult teacher sent to educate them. But their agenda is broad and scary and it's not going to go away. And just like the fights over teaching religion in science class, it's going to have to be fought on local levels all over the country again and again and again. Read More......

AFA caught lying about Ford Boycott - And, AFA just caved

Gee, I had written this post on Saturday and held off posting it until today, and look what happens. The religious right hate group American Family Association just caved on their newly-called boycott of Ford.

They've been doing this a lot lately - they caved on Disney, on Procter & Gamble, and now on Ford. Called off each boycott and then tried to claim it was a success even though nothing happened. I suspect their grassroots simply isn't buying all of these boycotts and they felt they had to save face by packing up their white robes and heading home.

Anyway, here was my original post, which is still relevant...

AFA IS LYING ABOUT FORD
At what point will it be newsworthy to the mainstream media that the lead religious right organization is outright lying - LYING - about its political agenda? I don't mean "lying" in the "you're a big fat liar" way. I mean "lying" in the "bold-faced, outright, blatan lying about the material fact underlying their entire campaign."

To wit: The American Family Association's new boycott of Ford Motor Company. (This is the Google cached page since they took down the site after they caved.) They're boycotting Ford because it supports "homosexual marriage."

The problem is: Ford doesn't.

The AFA is now claiming that any company that does ANYTHING to support gay people or gay civil rights organizations IN ANY WAY is PER SE a supporter of gay marriage. That's fucked up. And it's an outright lie.

But it's a very smart lie. Everyone everywhere who does anything to support anyone gay will be branded in favor of gay marriage and demanded to stop. That agenda pretty much involves anything anywhere. Begging the question: What does the radical right want? What is their final goal, their final solution (as it were) to the homosexual problem?

It's becoming increasingly apparent that their utlimate plan is to wipe us out. Perhaps not physically, as that isn't allowed in America, but throw us in jail, take away our children, and cut us out of every aspect of American life, from the workplace to the family, that's their final plan.

And it's becoming increasingly apparent that we need to destroy them, and their supporters, before they destroy us. And obviously, blah blah blah, we aren't advocating violence (man, it gets tiresome having to throw these post-9/11 caveats in everything we write - oh yeah, we love the troops too), but we do mean absolutely destroying their organizations and anyone who dares to help them, like the Republican party or any outside companies.

They want an all out culture war, let's give them one. Read More......

Give it back, George

Give it back.

Noe is in trouble because an estimated $12 million to $13 million in state money from a worker's compensation fund is missing after being invested in rare coin funds that Noe controls.

Authorities say they are pursuing criminal charges, and Noe, the gregarious, 50-year-old bankrolling confidant of Ohio Republicans, has become political poison. His former friends, including the governor, couldn't be running any faster to get away from him and the taint of scandal.

Gov. Bob Taft, U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine and three other statewide officeholders with gubernatorial ambitions announced this week that they are giving up about $60,000 they had received from Noe...

In Washington, the Republican National Committee said Thursday it would donate to charities $6,000 that the Bush-Cheney campaign and the RNC received from Noe and his wife, Bernadette. The Bush campaign received more than $100,000 raised by Noe. RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said remaining contributions "appear to be completely appropriate."

Bush met with Noe last October to thank him and his wife for their fundraising efforts. Bush narrowly won Ohio, whose 19 electoral votes enabled him to secure a second term.

In the meantime, a federal grand jury this week began investigating contributions to the Bush-Cheney campaign that had any connection to Noe.

Read More......

Rick Perry and the anti-gay agenda in Texas

Texas Governor Rick Perry put on a show yesterday in Texas at an evangelical school signing bills supported by the theocrats. He also made a big production out of signing the anti-gay marriage amendment, even though that was not necessary:

During the 90-minute program, Perry also signed a resolution to amend the Texas Constitution by banning same-sex marriages. However, that signature was only ceremonial since voters must approve the proposed ban in November.

What a creep. (Again, one wonders why Rick Perry has to be so out front with his gay-bashing, I'm sensing a pattern.)...

But the key thing, he may have given away the hidden agenda of the theocrats. Note to Texans...this isn't just about gays. In Texas, gay couples already can't get married:

"A nurturing home with a loving mother and loving father is the best way to guide our children down the proper path," he said.

How does gay marriage have anything to do with that in Texas? Me thinks that this referendum is more nefarious. In fact the language in Texas never mentions the words "gay" or "homosexual" or "same sex." The amendmement reads:

Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.

Couldn't that mean one man and one woman ONLY? So, let's review. Gays already can't get married in Texas. Governor Perry say the amendment is about maintaining the two-parent family. The amendment talks about the "union of one man and one woman." Looks like this thing is aimed at straight people -- the theocrats are using the gay smokescreen to control straight marriage. Why not? It worked in every other state so far. But, this time, we need to call them out on it. Read More......

Open Thread

Take it away Read More......

"The DeLay Effect" hurting House GOP

Washington Post has the story:

After enlarging their majority in the past two elections, House Republicans have begun to fear that public attention to members' travel and relations with lobbyists will make ethics a potent issue that could cost the party seats in next year's midterm races.

In what Republican strategists call "the DeLay effect," questions plaguing House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) are starting to hurt his fellow party members, who are facing news coverage of their own trips and use of relatives on their campaign payrolls. Liberal interest groups have begun running advertising in districts where Republicans may be in trouble, trying to tie the incumbents to their leaders' troubles.

Besides DeLay, the other members they're worried about are Bob Ney from Ohio, Richard Pombo from California, and Charles Taylor from North Carolina. But, the whole GOP caucus is tainted by their sleaziness. Read More......