Police arrested Cindy and 370 others

Big day of civil disobedience at the White House:

About 370 antiwar demonstrators were arrested yesterday after planting themselves on the sidewalk in front of the White House, a protest that stretched out for nearly five hours as police removed them in stages to avoid a backlog at a processing center.

The demonstrators, who had stayed in Washington after Saturday's antiwar rally and march past the White House, were carted away in Metro buses and police vans. Fingerprinting and booking continued late into the evening at a U.S. Park Police operations facility in Anacostia.

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Coretta Scott King Home From Hospital

Her family expects King to make a full recovery from the stroke and mild heart attack she suffered. Our thoughts are with her. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

I'm back in DC. And look at what I miss? Drownie's back! You know, you have to hand it to Bush and the Republicans. They will do what they please, to hell with public opinion, even if 99% of the country is against them (or, in the case of putting marionette strings on Terri Schiavo, 82%+ of the public). Absolute power corrupts, absolutely. Read the rest of this post...

Brownie's Back....at FEMA

Yep, he's a consultant at FEMA. Not Kidding. Read the rest of this post...

Bill Frist has his first "I am not a crook" press conference

Apparently, the Majority Leader did a presser this afternoon to deny insider trading:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday he had no insider information when he sold stock this summer in HCA Inc., a hospital company founded by his father and brother.

Actually, he just read a statement, no questions were allowed. I'd say his credibility is pretty much gone. Once a pol appears before cameras to issue a carefully worded denial, you know the clock is ticking. Plus, he's got the SEC and the US Attorney in New York on his ass.

UPDATE: Raw Story has the entire statement. Worth a read. Read the rest of this post...

Beyond DeLay and Nailing Frist

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has been busy today. They launched a new website www.beyonddelay.org which highlights the next 13 most corrupt members of Congress -- that is the 13 after Tom DeLay.

And, they filed an ethics complaint against Frist, who is, course, one of the 13.

The GOP/right wing must really hate CREW. Imagine what it would be like if other progressive groups were so savvy and aggressive. Read the rest of this post...

Lynndie England convicted in Abu Ghraib photo case

Good.

Now here's England's famous photo.



Now tell me exactly what's any different about these photos? Other than the victims are dead.



Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Off to the airport to head back to DC. Joe and Rob will keep you amused in the meantime.

PS Some member of Congress ought to write to the White House and the Pentagon and ask what they're doing to deal with this new issue of soldiers trading death photos for porn. You might want to look at what the Pentagon told The Nation - they basically shrugged when informed of the site's existence - and ask DOD why they don't find this outrageous? Read the rest of this post...

The Hotline reports on military's new Do-It-Yourself Abu Ghraib scandal

The Hotline, a VERY influential inside-the-beltway publication in DC political circles, reports today on our story from this morning that US soldiers appear to be posing for photos with dead Iraqis (and their body parts) and then trading the photos for porn online. The Hotline coverage is important because it helps establish this as a "real" story for Washington types, including reporters and politicos. Hopefully it will get some traction so we can get some answers here, but also inform people, as I explain in my earlier post, what the cost of war really is. It's not all Xbox-style smart bombs.

From the Hotline:

Meanwhile, a possible emerging Iraq scandal involves an overseas-based message board site that appears to show U.S. soldiers posing with dead and mutilated Iraqis and Afghans, apparently uploaded by GIs themselves.

PENTAGON: A DIY Abu Ghraib?
Header at liberal AMERICAblog: "US soldiers allegedly trading pictures of dead Iraqis & Afghanis for porn." The story had already been reported by alt-paper East Bay Express, which noted that the media was "strangely silent." AMERICAblog's John Aravosis says the follow-up reporting he's done, which he explains, suggests the story is legit: "The death photos are hosted on a Web site hosted in Holland, called NowThatsF---edUp.com. The site is an amateur porn site where people can post their own nude photos and browse the photos of other visitors." But it "isn't just about the usual porn. It's also about military death porn." He posts multiple pictures of what appear to be U.S. soldiers posing with dead bodies (or body parts).The graphic bits are obscured on the front page, but Aravosis provides links to the much-more gruesome unedited images. He writes: "I'm publishing the photos and helping to spread the word about this site, because we need answers from our government as to why more photos of US soldiers with dead people are floating around the Internet."

Read the rest of this post...

Cindy Sheehan arrested outside of White House

Civil disobedience today in DC:

Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who has used her son's death in Iraq to spur the anti-war movement, was arrested Monday while protesting outside the White House.

Sheehan and several dozen other protesters sat down on the sidewalk after marching along the pedestrian walkway on Pennsylvania Avenue. Police warned them three times that they were breaking the law by failing to move along, then began making arrests.

Sheehan, 48, was the first taken into custody. She stood up and was led to a police vehicle while protesters chanted, "The whole world is watching."

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Ask Karen Hughes a real question

The MSM appears slightly obsessed with the listening tour of Karen Hughes. She's traveling with a plane load of reporters:

Hughes, recently confirmed as undersecretary of state, has attracted enormous attention in her new role, largely because she is one of the president's closest confidantes. Undersecretaries generally travel with a handful of aides, but Hughes has brought along a planeload of reporters, including representatives of all five U.S. television networks, one from al-Arabiya television and a writer from GQ magazine.

Instead of being spun by Hughes, maybe, and I know this is a reach, but maybe, the MSM could ask Bush's Image Czarina some tough questions. Here's an idea: ask about the "death-for-porn" website that John wrote about today. How does something like that shape the US image abroad? Read the rest of this post...

Pentagon is aware of death-for-porn site and basically doesn't care

This morning I story posted a story about US soldiers apparently submitting photos of dead Iraqis and Afghanis to a porn site in exchange for free access to the porn.

Well, we now have more information, via The Nation:

Centcom spokesman Matt McLaughlin said that, in general, "Centcom recognizes DoD regulations and the Geneva Convention prohibit photographing detainees or mutilating and/or degrading dead bodies." He added, "Centcom has no specific policy on taking pictures of the deceased as long as those pictures do not violate the aforementioned prohibitions."

The fact that US military officials refuse to denounce combat photos posted on a porn site is troubling, since the very act of posting pictures of dead civilians for entertainment value is degrading. In addition, one photograph of detainees sitting on the back of a flatbed truck with burlap sacks on their heads does appear to break even the narrow rules on photographing detainees set forth by the Defense Department.

Read the rest of this post...

Next Supreme Court Nominee this week?

That's the rumor over at NBC's First Read:

Floor debate on John Roberts' nomination as chief justice also begins today, with a vote expected by Thursday. We may also see a Bush primetime address this week to announce the identity of his next nominee.

They have a snippet from a Novak column saying it will be Priscilla Owens:

On Sunday, Bob Novak once again noted that “[s]peculation in legal circles is that federal Appeals Court Judge Priscilla Owen… will be named to replace" O'Connor. "But sources close to President Bush warn he has not made up his mind whether to pick a woman for the vacancy.”

Everyone keeps saying this is the nominee that matters. Right now, Bush doesn't have much -- if any -- political capital left. If he picks a neanderthal right-winger like Owens, it has to be war. Read the rest of this post...

Abramoff Scandal Engulfs Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich's Offices

This one reaches into Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich's Deputy Chief of Staff. Mr. Abramoff seems to have his fingers in so many different pies - how does he have the time?!?! In this case, it's cozy consulting contracts that end up in personal accounts. Smells like corruption in Annapolis to me! From the Baltimore Sun:

A top adviser to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has become ensnared in the widening investigation of indicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee raising fresh questions this week about a company formed by the aide that stands accused of laundering money for the lobbyist.

Edward B. Miller, 34, a deputy chief of staff to the governor, founded Grassroots Interactive in spring 2003 with a $10,000 investment, weeks after he began working for the Ehrlich administration, according to financial records he filed with the state and other documents. He sold the firm four months later. The company is now the subject of an investigation by federal authorities for being a front for alleged money-laundering efforts by Abramoff, according to congressional testimony made available this week.

Oh the life of Eddie Miller. Cozy job in the Governor's office in Annapolis, start up a company WHILE in office. Must be hard to start a company while you have another full time job. Unless your boss used to work with Tom DeLay and his cronies. So Jack Abramoff shows up with a nice little money laundering scheme it seems.

Tom DeLay's stink is in my Governor's office. Just the mention of Kenny Mehlman's name makes me feel like this is just one dirty little bunch. Eww.

As a very proud Baltimorean, I'm (personally) supporting my Mayor, Martin O'Malley, as he runs against corrupt Bob Ehrlich. Check out his O'Blog. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

That story below is intense. That's got to be just great for our image. Read the rest of this post...

US soldiers allegedly trading pictures of dead Iraqis & Afghanis for porn

WARNING: The links in this story are to graphic, gruesome pictures of dead bodies, and some include graphic sexual content as well.


(This soldier is proudly presenting what appears to be a bloody dismembered human arm dangling from perhaps a hook on the wall. To see the uncensored photo click here.)

NowThatsFuckedUp.com

I spent the good part of this weekend following up on a report by the East Bay Express, an alternative paper in San Francisco, alleging that US soldiers are posting gruesome pictures of dead Iraqis and Afghanis online in exchange for access to hard-core amateur porn.

What I found suggests the story is correct.

The death photos are hosted on a Web site hosted in Holland, called NowThatsFuckedUp.com. The site is an amateur porn site where people can post their own nude photos and browse the photos of other visitors. This is the header of the Web site:



Ah, but the site isn't just about the usual porn. It's also about military death porn. Below is an example of a photo on the site - a very tame example that I've censored (I blacked out the image of a body burnt to a crisp, you'll see two soldiers pointing to it, Lyndie England style - see the real uncensored photo here):

The title given to the photo: Cooked Iraqi



Now, before I go any further, I want to explain why I believe this site is legit. The pictures on the site are of real dead people, that is obvious. The dead also appear Middle Eastern. The soldiers in the pictures appear American and real. And the pictures are recent, rather than from, say, the Vietnam war. Next, the text accompanying the photos is clearly American and from native speakers, and if you read the back and forth - there are a lot of visitors to the site who are not happy about the pictures posted there - the responses from the "soldiers" sounds like what you'd get from real Americans and real soldiers. Finally, I looked at one photo on the site, allegedly showing a dead Iraqi man shot in his car while trying to go through a check-point. I zoomed in on the man's license plate and compared it to a picture of an Iraqi license plate I found on the Internet - they're identical:



Therefore, I'm publishing the photos and helping to spread the word about this site, because we need answers from our government as to why more photos of US soldiers with dead people are floating around the Internet. This is discussed in more detail at the end of my post. And finally, check out this page from the site and tell me these photos aren't real.

GRAPHIC EXAMPLES OF WHAT'S ON THE SITE

When I clicked around NowThatsFuckedUp.com I noticed a lot of the content seemed to be a year old (though now, suddenly, much of the content is back - very strange). That seemed odd, so I decided to check the WayBack Machine - a Web site that stores copies of old Web sites that have long since been taking down or changed (JeffyJames is quite familiar with this site, it's how I found his old prostitution sites). On the WayBack Machine I found a more updated site. On the NowThatsFuckedUp home page (see a copy of the home page here) - you can also see the current live home page here - you see a variety of sub-headings where visitors can post and see examples of female and male amateur porn, then you see the following sub-heading:



Once you click on the sub-heading that reads "gory," you arrive at a page of links to photos of dead people, supposedly from Iraq and Afghanistan.

(As I mentioned, on the NowThatsFuckedUp.com Web site, these links to the dead people photos keep appearing and disappearing (they were gone Saturday night, they're back today). Just to be safe, I went to the WayBack Machine and found up-to-date posts containing photos of dead people.)

The posts have titles like:

"Iraq driver tryed (sic) to run a check-point"

If you click on this particular page, you see an apparent Iraqi man sitting in the driver seat of a car that's been shot up, two US soldiers are standing outside the car, and the Iraqi man's head has exploded, it's totally gone. Below is the tamest photo from the page, I've blacked out the worst part of the photo. A photo of the entire page, uncensored, is here.



"Nice puss / bad foot"

The page titled "Nice puss / bad foot" is devoted to the photo of a nude woman laying down on a table, her foot has been blown off by a land mine, blood, muscle, skin and bone are dangling in its place, and her naked crotch is clearly visible in the photo (thus the reference to "puss"). This is a sanitized version of the photo (unsanitized version here):

There are additional sections containing gory photos of the dead, including (this link is particularly gruesome) "Name this body part" (no amount of censoring can make that section available for publishing publicly), another entitled "What every Iraqi should look like," and more.

To give you a sense of what the rest of the site contains, this is another picture of a driver with his head blown open:



MORE LINKS TO MUCH OF THE ARCHIVED WEB SITE

I've made copies of many of the pages from this site, to ensure the evidence doesn't disappear. You can see them by clicking on the links below (each of these pages is a megabyte or larger).

- NowThatsFuckedUp.com site home page.
- Photos of the dead in Iraq and Afghanistan home page.

Sub-pages with gruesome photos:

- Suicide bomber (this is one of the most gruesome pages on the entire site)
- Just got back from the sand box (this is also one of the worst pages)
- Warning this is some hard core shit (and it is)
- Die Haji Die
- Cooked Iraqi
- Name this body part
- Nice puss - bad foot
- Destruction of the Afghans
- Gotta respect the head shot
- Iraqi tried to run checkpoint
- This is disgusting

Interestingly, there are a few posts of people extremely upset about this site. The responses to them are fascinating, and add more credence to this site being real:

- One question
- Really proud of you boys
- Something wrong here

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

Personally, this site sickens me. But I asked myself "why"? War is horrible, and these pictures simply show us the war we don't see on our TV screens. Is there some glorification of killing going on? Sure. And having this on a sex site only makes the glorification that much creepier. But having said, I can't imagine what it must be like for our soldiers to look at scenes like this, day in and day out, for real, up close and personal. That has got to take its toll, and I wouldn't be surprised if, for some of these guys, posting these kind of photos is their own version of therapy. Yes, it's gruesome - but unexpected?

Having said all of that, I still find this incredibly troublesome, dehumanizing, immoral, and wonder how legal all of this is as well (per the Geneva Conventions - you remember them, I believe the Bush administration called them quaint). I worry about what this kind of activity does to our culture, to our soldiers, and to our society. How it debases us slowly, gradually, without our even knowing it. I worry about these soldiers when they come back to the US after having seen all this gore. What kind of productive members of society will they be? I worry about all of us who have no clue that war is THIS gruesome. I worry about our government that think this kind of thing should be hidden from the public, and that it's a acceptable cost of going to war.

And maybe it IS an acceptable cost of going to war. But that in and of itself should tell us something. There ARE costs of going to war. Most Americans have yet to fully comprehend what it means to have 2,000 US soldiers dead, and tens of thousands injured, in this war. They have yet to comprehend the level of violence, the level of civilian casualties. They have yet to comprehend what this war is doing to our soldiers, and what it's doing to our own national psyche. Yes, these are all costs of going to war. But if these costs are hidden from the public, then it's not something they take into account when "approving" of the war, and thus their consent is hardly informed.

That's why I'm publishing this story. I can't say for 100% that these photos really are our service members, that the pics really are of dead Iraqis and Afghanis, or that they were posted by US soldiers. But everything about this story rings true (and let's not forget the US has a history of these photo abuses of the Iraqi dead). Worse yet, even if this site is a fake, it's already flying around the Internet - and has been live for over a year. This Web site, real or fake, is going to be another public relations disaster for the US, and a bonanza recruiting tool for Al Qaeda.

Our government needs to tell us, fast, whether this is for real or not, and what they plan on doing about it.

(Thanks to Kyle of AmIPatriotic.com for hosting the photos for this post.) Read the rest of this post...

GAO eyes mortgage home interest, state and local tax deductions

Forget about tax cuts for the ultra wealthy and loopholes allowing companies to move offshore to avoid paying their share of taxes and instead focus on the middle class, again. Yep, it's always the same old story and the same struggling middle class that is asked to take on the burden of the irresponsible fiscal policies of Bush and the GOP.

"We're on an imprudent, unsustainable fiscal path," Walker told a news conference. "The status quo is not an option and we're not going to grow our way out of this problem and the sooner we get started the better."

Ahh, "we're on?" I think we've been running down this path for a while now. What is unsustainable is squeezing the middle class to fund a failed war and political crony contracts. Read the rest of this post...

Greenspan : "we have lost control" of the budget

Ya don't say? Well I certainly hope he was including himself in this budget fiasco because he's been struggling to take a side for years now in an attempt to win back his reputation. Yesterday Greenspan admitted the ugly truth to the French Finance Minister. After years of hearing the wingnuts talk about irresponsible liberal spending, we can now put that rubbish to bed and face the fact that the GOP is completely incapable to fiscal restraint. Greenspan is incapable of making up his mind, giving lip service to both sides and only "warning" about the run-away spending after the fact, going along with the insane budget deficits and reckless tax breaks to try.

What is ironic here is that after hearing about the dangers of China for the last few years from the right (and perhaps some of it warranted) they are now selling out to Beijing once again. With Congress having a hard time finding any pork to cut, the spending will increase and the deficit is being sold to Tokyo and Beijing. So with China owning so much of the US deficit, just how easy is it going to be negotiate with China on key issues such as human rights, economic liberalism and other important issues? Great planning once again. Read the rest of this post...

Cardinal voted for pedophilia protector Law in vote for Pope

Absolutely revolting. Knowing what a pig Cardinal Rigali of Philadelphia is, it was probably him but Law had plenty of supporters in the Vatican. You might remember that Rigali, leader of the right wing archiocese of Philadelphia who is now apologizing (after his bunch initially blasted the report) for the recent report detailing 40 years of pedophilia by 63 priests and hundreds of kids and then followed by the classic cover up by the church in Philly, is the only US Cadinal to attend mass by Cardinal Law (the pedophile protector of Boston) after the death of JPII. Great bunch of values there. Read the rest of this post...

Pat Tillman OPPOSED the war in Iraq and hated Bush

Well, how about them heroes. Worse yet, read this latest article about the entire debacle surrounding his death, the cover-up that it was friendly fire, and more. Truly horrible. (Hat tip to DailyKos for this one.) Read the rest of this post...