Cheney's new excuse for the Iraq disaster? Same excuse for the New Orleans disaster. Seriously.

AP via BreitBart.com

"I don't think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we've encountered," Cheney said.

Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Back in the saddle. This is my first post from my new Mac. I got the 13 inch MacBook. Loving it so far.

Give us some news. Read the rest of this post...

Pentagon document still classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder akin to mental retardation

(Click to read Pentagon document that lists homosexuality as a "mental disorder" alongside alcoholism and mental retardation. And click here to read the entire DOD document - the reference to homosexuality as a mental disorder is on page 88, you'll need to read page 87 too in order to understand the context.)

Associated Press

The Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, at the University of California at Santa Barbara, uncovered the document and pointed to it as further proof that the military deserves failing grades for its treatment of gays.

Nathaniel Frank, senior research fellow at the center, said, "The policy reflects the department's continued misunderstanding of homosexuality and makes it more difficult for gays and lesbians to access mental health services."

The document, called a Defense Department Instruction, was condemned by medical professionals, members of Congress and other experts, including the American Psychiatric Association.

"It is disappointing that certain Department of Defense instructions include homosexuality as a 'mental disorder' more than 30 years after the mental health community recognized that such a classification was a mistake," said Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass.

Fore more background, read the Report Cards on gays in the military just issued today by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military. The first report card deals with this specific issue. Read the rest of this post...

CNN: Dubai STILL controls 22 US ports

Isn't that special. CNN reports that Dubai is still controlling the ports, and that Congress silently killed legislation that would have helped ensure the ports stay American-owned. Lou Dobbs thinks the Republican Congress and the Bush White House have played a fast one on the American people. Read the rest of this post...

Bush "has a gut feeling" that Iraq's new prime minister is a good guy

Uh huh. The man thinks with his gut. We get it. And his gut is apparently as dumb as his brain beacause it's his gut that got us into this war. It's his gut that told him to stay on vacation a full three days after New Orleans was destroyed by a hurricane. It's his gut that told him to go missing in action nearly twelve hours on September 11. Heck of a gut you got there, Georgie. Read the rest of this post...

Denny Hastert's ethics under scrutiny by local press

Another real estate deal. Read the rest of this post...

Another fun online hearing test

UPDATE: Doh! Here's the link.

Remember when I wrote last week about the cell phone ring tone that supposedly adults can't hear but kids can? Well, a rather smart Web site came up with idea of posting a sliding scale of high pitched tones so you can see where your hearing kicks in. For Joe and me both, we can vaguely hear something beginning at 15,000 Hz, and we can clearly hear a loud annoying tone at 13,000 Hz.

You? Click the link and scroll down and you'll find the sliding scale to test your own hearing. Read the rest of this post...

15 year old girl receives death threats from Iraq war supporters

What can I possibly add to that?

Crooks and Liars has a recent CNN interview with the girl here. You can see one of her online videos about the war here. Read the rest of this post...

Gov. Blanco (D-LA) signs law banning practically all abortions

Because, after all, there is no more important issue to Louisiana than bashing gays in the US Constitution (per Sen. vitter) and banning almost all abortions (per Gov. Blanco).

I wonder how the people of New Orleans feel about that? Oh that's right, they're all dead or living in Texas. Read the rest of this post...

Another great Democratic message point on Iraq

I kind of hate giving credit to Joe Biden, because he does go on, but he nailed this one:

"If I had known the president was going to be this incompetent in his administration, I would not have given him the authority" to go to war, said Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

This is an argument I've been making for a good year or two now. It's the argument Kerry should have made during his presidential run. It's the argument any Democrat can use to explain why they voted for the war and now think it's a disaster. And finally, it's the truth. Read the rest of this post...

Al Qaeda linked group says it kidnapped two US soldiers in Iraq

Ugh. There's a part of me that wonders if this isn't retaliation for Bush's "bring it on" field trip to Baghdad last week. The Republicans wanted to hold an entire week of festivities in DC crowing over how "well" we're doing in Iraq, and what happens? Suddenly two US soldiers are kidnapped. Perhaps it's just a coincidence. Perhaps. Still, it'd be nice if the Republicans stopped holding public photo ops and started holding private meetings to actually fix the disaster they've created in Iraq. Read the rest of this post...

The November elections are a referendum on George Bush

THAT is the message. Will Democrats embrace that message? Come on guys, you know you can do it. Anything the Republicans throw at you, answer: George Bush. Iraq? I voted for the war because I never imagined George Bush would be so incompetent. Social Security: We saved Social Security from George Bush's incompetent privatization scheme. Energy prices? If George Bush weren't so incompetent, we'd have a national strategy for dealing with the ridiculously high price of energy. And...

Joe Lieberman? The voters have been powerless for five years. No longer. Want to send a message to George Bush that the entire country will hear? Vote NO on George Bush's favorite Senator, Joe Lieberman.

From National Journal (subscription):

In the NBC/WSJ poll, Bush's 37-percent approval rating is statistically consistent with his rating of 36 percent in the April survey. But the number of registered voters who said they would be casting their votes in the midterm elections to send a message of opposition to Bush climbed 7 points in the past two months to 38 percent. Nearly the same number of respondents said their vote would not be sending a signal -- either positive or negative -- about Bush, and about one in five said their votes would indicate support for Bush's policies....

On the issue of Iraq, pollsters found that most voters support a dramatic decline in the U.S. military presence in the coming months. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who favors withdrawing all troops within a year.

And you gotta love this title in the National Journal article: "Presidential Popularity: Bush Still Beats Nixon." Well bully for him. Read the rest of this post...

North Korea readies for long-range missile test

The North Koreans have fueled their long range missile in anticipation of a test launch:

North Korea referred to its missile program for the first time Monday amid international reports it has apparently completed fueling for a test launch.

A North Korean state television broadcast, monitored in Seoul, said nothing about whether the North intended to test-launch a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States. But the report cited a Russian editorial on the subject and said the North "has the due right to have a missile that can immediately halt the United States' reckless aerial espionage activity."

The North has repeatedly complained in recent weeks about alleged U.S. spy planes watching its activities.

North Korea has weapons of mass destruction. Iraq doesn't. Good thing we're not bogged down.

Does this mean Bush will be fueling Air Force One for a surprise visit to Pyongyang? Read the rest of this post...

The Bush credibility gap continues

Tony Snow must think that Americans are idiots because nothing else explains his claim that Bush isn't reading or relying on polls. So how else can one explain the massive PR campaign that immediately followed the al-Zarqawi killing? It's obvious that the propaganda campaign was meant to turn the tide as Americans become tired of the delta between the words out of the WH and the realities on the ground.

When Snow dragged out yet another irrelevant WWII reference, Battle of the Bulge, maybe he could have expanded upon what was happening in Europe at that time and compared it to the current situation in Iraq. Of course, he didn't because there are no serious comparisons between the Battle of the Bulge and the war in Iraq. We had plenty of positive momentum in Europe at the time whereas the condition in Iraq is hardly moving in the right direction. The WH and Snow are all about spin, facts be damned.

Why does Tony Snow hate Americans? Why does he think that they are stupid? Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

What's on the agenda this week? Read the rest of this post...

Pro-whaling countries have major victory

Japan has been planning for this moment for years and yesterday, their slim majority paid off and paved the way for commercial whaling to start again. By linking massive development projects to poor nations in exchange for votes, the Japanese and their pro-whaling allies such as Norway and Iceland, have broken the 50% level with votes in the IWC. To overturn the commercial ban they will need to break the 75% barrier. The public reasoning behind these moves are incredible, essentially blaming whales for depleting fish populations around the world, so they must now be controlled. No, dwindling fish populations have nothing to do at all with over fishing just like the dwindling whale populations in the past had nothing to do with over whaling. It was the whales that were limiting their own populations and harpooning themselves into near extinction, not whalers.

I sympathize with some of the poorer countries who have been left behind by the world (and their leaders) and although I don't like it, I can at least understand it. What disturbs me is the vote of countries such as Guatemala, Antigua, Panama and other Caribbean countries. I know that Central America and the Caribbean are not rich countries, that is for sure. What I do know is that these regions are making concerted efforts to sell themselves as eco-friendly environments which means big tourist money. To that, I say piss off and rot. "Eco-friendly" is already a used and abused marketing term and now these countries to want to have it both ways is not possible. Read the rest of this post...