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......