Afghanistan Becomes A Tragic Failure

Actually, the front page article in the New York Times had this banal headline: "Pentagon Sees Antidrug Effort In Afghanistan." The story details how the military -- which is loathe to involve itself in fighting the drug war around the world for various reasons -- is now getting intimately involved in Afghanistan.

That bland intro obscures the real and tragic news from one of Bush's crowning "successes." According to the New York Times, the latest harvest of opium and poppy "far exceed even the most alarming predictions." The poppy harvest alone increased 64% in one year. Furthermore, the Defense Dept. has increased by 400% the money it's requesting for this campaign from the year before, from about $60 million to $257 million.

Here's the money quote:

"There is wide consensus in the government and the military and among humanitarian organizations that the drug trade now threatens all of America's goals in Afghanistan," says the NYT.

It's been widely reported that at least one-third of the country is controlled by the Taliban (hey, didn't we destroy them?) or drug lords. Only a few major cities are safely in the hands of Karzai. The UN reports that Afghanistan is now responsible for 87% of the world's opium production. So how exactly is Afghanistan a rousing success in Bush's eyes? Read the rest of this post...

Now Who's Exploiting Terri?

Exploiting the pain of Terri Schiavo's family (which INCLUDES her husband and parents) has begun. The Traditional Values Coalition -- which spends most of its time attacking the basic civil rights of gays -- is piggybacking on the media firestorm with posts on its website saying "Help Save Terri Schiavo's Life!" How? By donating money to TVC, of course. (Help save her life by making sure the loved ones of gay people are denied entry to their death beds? Huh?)

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability -- according to the New York Times -- says exploiting causes peripheral to your work is a no-no. Accusations that cannot be proved -- such as the lies many websites have spread that Michael Schiavo shoved Terri down a flight of stairs, etc. -- would "stretch" the org's requirement that you be truthful. Yeah, it also stretches one of those commandments.

Wanna have some fun? Go to those religious-right websites, find some examples of their breaking these rules, and file a complaint at www.ecfa.org. Go for it! Read the rest of this post...

Religious right hate speech leads to yet another attempt on a judge's life

Surprise, surprise, surprise. You heard it here first. Who said, what, 3 weeks ago that the religious right's "judicial activism" hate speech was helping create a climate in which judges' very lives could be threatened. Today it happened.

Meanwhile, FBI agents have arrested a North Carolina man on suspicion of soliciting offers over the internet to kill Michael Schiavo and Greer. Richard Alan Meywes of Fairview is accused of offering $250,000 for the killing of Schiavo and another $50,000 for the "the elimination of the judge who ruled against Terry."

Meywes was arrested without incident at his home around 5 p.m. Friday on charges of solicitation of murder and transmission of a threatening communication via interstate commerce, authorities said.

If convicted, Meywes could face up to 15 years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. He is expected to make an initial court appearance Monday in U.S. District Court in Asheville, North Carolina.

Greer has been under 24-hour protection by two U.S. marshals due to increased threats against his life by those unhappy with his handling of the Schiavo case.

On Thursday, police arrested an Illinois man they said robbed a gun store in Seminole, Florida, as part of an attempt to "rescue Terri Schiavo."

Michael W. Mitchell, 20, faces charges of attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault and criminal mischief, said Marianne Pasha, spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

And had our wonderful progressive groups - you know, the same groups who claim they're worried about this attack on judges and who are worried about who's going to replace Rehnquist on the Supreme Court - had those groups jumped on this issue when I brought it up 3 weeks ago, this would be a rather big "I told you so moment." But those in power in the left are, if anything, predictably adept at missing the chance to prove they're right (or doing anything at all). Why does anyone give any organization on the left a dime? Make them prove their worth, then fund them. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Orchid Blogging

Brassavola nodosa



My photo, but not my plant :-) These are also called "The Lady of the Night" because they're only fragrant at night in the dark - lights on, scent goes out. It's thought that the flower adapted evolutionarily to attract a night-polinating insect. Or God just made it so.

These are supposedly easy to bloom. Ha! They're easy to grow, yes, and are quite pretty little plants, but some folks like me have a hard time making them flowers. Still they're pretty and worth a try. They like a good deal of sunlight, water them when they get dry. Definitely a beginner orchid, and a good one. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

It's the weekend....chat away... Read the rest of this post...

Is Jeb winning or losing?

In today's New York Times, Adam Nagourney in a piece titled "In a Polarizing Case, Jeb Bush Cements His Political Stature" sure appears to give the edge in the first primary of 2008 to Jeb Bush.

Gov. Jeb Bush's last-minute intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo, even after the president had ended his own effort to keep her alive, may have so far failed in a legal sense, but it has cemented the religious and social conservative credentials of a man whose political pedigree is huge and whose political future remains a subject of intense speculation.

On one level, the Florida governor's emergence as the most prominent politician still fighting, despite a string of court and legislative defeats, to have a feeding tube reinserted in Ms. Schiavo was very much in keeping with someone who has repeatedly declared a deep religious faith.

Several associates noted that he had been devoutly religious longer than President Bush, and even critics said his efforts - prodding the Florida Legislature and the courts and defying much of the electorate - were rooted in a deep-seated opposition to abortion and euthanasia rather than in political positioning.

Nagourney may have been right when he wrote that piece yesterday, but things are changing rapidly down there in Florida. Today, Jeb may be in some trouble over the case. In an Associated Press article from this afternoon, the entire burden for "saving" Ms. Schiavo appears now to be placed solely on Jeb by her family:

On Thursday, Bush said his powers "are not as expansive as people would want them to be. ... I cannot go beyond what my powers are and I'm not going to do it."

But Paul O'Donnell, a supporter of the parents, contended the governor still has the power to take her into protective custody.

"Bob and Mary are begging Governor Bush to save their daughter on this Good Friday day," O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk, said after Friday's ruling. "Now is the day. Now is the time for the governor to have courage. The governor needs to take action and take action soon. She's dying."

So how Jeb fares in this remains to be seen. The stakes for him continue to be raised. And, the way it looks now, for that hard core base of right wingers, anything short of Jeb breaking down the doors of the hospice to kidnap the poor woman is not enough.

UPDATE: Atrios reports that "Cowardly Jeb" cancelled a Good Friday appearance today. The Press Release from the Christian Defense Coalition is titled "Gov. Bush Cancels Appearance at Good Friday Service for Fear of Facing Schiavo Supporters." Read the rest of this post...

Middle East Leaders: Confederacy of Dunces

Sad news coming out of the Middle East. With the world focused on its ills like never before and many wanting to believe these dictatorial countries might actually start to respect the rights of their peoples, Arab leaders had a summit meeting and proved yet again that they're not ready for prime time.

"With major Arab leaders either skipping the meeting or snubbing the League altogether, the conference became a forum for personal squabbles. Apparently in a gesture of disdain, Colonel Qaddafi lit up a cigarette as the session began. The leaders competed to keep each other late in efforts at one-upmanship. Some refused to be photographed together," reports the New York Times.

"That dismayed many Arab news organizations. Coverage of the meeting was well below that of previous years, editors said Wednesday. The satellite television channel Al Jazeera dismissed the meeting as "yet another summit" in promotions for its coverage, which was generally critical and unsympathetic."

Mind you, we're still "pressuring" Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and our new buddies Libya to -- you know -- ease up on selling nuclear material and know-how to every rogue nation and supporting terrorists. The winds of change are blowing!

Read the rest of this post...

Why Does The LA Times Hate Christianity?

Yes, the LA Times is refusing to give equal times to alternate theories of evolution. Today they printed a story claiming that soft tissue was found in the bones of a dinosaur that died some 70,000,000 years ago. There isn't ONE WORD from opposing scientists who would argue that the universe was created some 30,000 years ago and that the bones of dinosaurs were placed there by our Creator to test our faith. Why does the LA Times hate religion? Read the rest of this post...

I want YOUR questions for the new head of the Human Rights Campaign, Interviewing him at 4:15pm EST today

Consider this your virtual town hall, gay style :-)

Well, you guys were so good with your questions for CNN's Aaron Brown (seriously, they're great, I'm using them), that now I want your questions for the new head of HRC (the largest gay rights lobby) Joe Solmonese. Joe will be our guest at 4:15pm EST today. Post your questions, and the best ones I'll use. You've got till around 1:30, then I'll need to go through these and pick 'em. Thanks. (Though I can review a few during the show too).

Thanks, JOHN Read the rest of this post...

Family Values bread and circus

Miami Herald:

Louie Adcock, a St. Petersburg lawyer who is a member of a committee that seeks charitable donations, said many people in Pinellas County are upset about the unrelenting protests.

Adcock called the many protesters ''heartless'' for suggesting families of hospice patients were allowing loved ones to be killed.

''These people should be minding their own business,'' he said. ``A lot of these people have come from out of state.''

The hospice volunteer said she hopes those outside will recognize that others inside are trying to deal with their own difficult fates.

''This is their home. In some cases it will be the last home they will ever have,'' she said. ``These people are terminally ill, and if we don't do it right, we don't have a second chance to make it right for them.''

Read the rest of this post...

Social Security Administration's own Web site questions wisdom of private accounts

Oops Read the rest of this post...

John Stewart on Schiavo

I haven't seen it yet, but hear it's good. Read the rest of this post...

Questions for Aaron Brown

As I'd mentioned, I'll be having CNN's Aaron Brown on the show today (for any who haven't heard, I'm hosting Mike Signorile's radio show in NYC today from 2pm to 6pm EST). I'm curious what questions you'd have me ask him. Fire away. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

What's new? Read the rest of this post...

Damned Sarbox

If you listen to corporate America, all you will hear is whining about all of the faults of Sarbannes-Oxley. Heavens no, accountability demands from the peasants. Investors might think otherwise though after the recent restatement coming from Conagra. Staying in the spirit of corporate restatements, The GAP also will be issuing new numbers. Read the rest of this post...

You have to love British humor

Brit graffiti artist "Banksy" once again snuck his own art onto museum walls, this time in New York. Banksy was received inspiration when his sister was throwing away some of his art, telling him "it's not like they're going to be hanging it in the Louvre" which was one of his previous targets for hanging his art. Read the rest of this post...

Jesusland not quite as backwards as previously mentioned

NOTE FROM JOHN: Chris is being generous. His post was hardly false. He said in his original post that the IMAX movie wasn't being show in the Carolinas, Georgia and Texas. Let me quote the article he was citing:

IMAX theaters in Texas, Georgia and the Carolinas have declined to show the film, said Pietro Serapiglia, who handles distribution for Stephen Low, the film's Montreal-based director and producer. "I find it's only in the South," Serapiglia said.

The only question is whether all the IMAX theaters in those states have censored the movie or only some of them. Chris said "all," the answer MIGHT be "some" - though we don't know, because it's not clear how many IMAX theaters there are in those states. In my book, that still makes Red State America far too backward. Chris was right, and the possible error was so minor as to be irrelevant to his point. He simply failed to dot all his i's and cross all his t's.

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A southern reader claimed that my post about the IMAX movie "Volcanoes of the Deep" was "utterly false." He is right in that yes, the movie is being shown in the Carolinas, Georgia and Texas though it has been censored and is not showing in some theaters in "Jesusland" (his word) because of the references to evolution. What is unfortunate about this censorship is that there are not that many IMAX theaters as compared to normal theaters so censoring a movie presents numerous problems for future releases which will fear similar treatment.

I guess I also am a bit sick and tired of listening to Jesusland apologists, coming up with cheap excuses for the behavior of their neighbors. I lived in Texas and traveled across the south and I admit, I hate the hypocrisy that is so dominant in the region. In Houston the locals would whine about northeast liberal, pinko-commies such as myself and how we were all lacking morals and then like any driver in Houston, I couldn't drive a block without seeing billboards for buffet luches at Rick's and the other titty bars which seem to blanket the city, something that I never saw up north. Naturally, I also loved listening to southern tyrants go on about us northerners as these clowns came into the office with their concealed weapons, courtesy of Bush. Take a drive along Route 10 down south and you see countless casinos and porno shops off of the highway, all down in Jesusland.

If Jesusland apologists want outsiders to see them in a different light, don't come to me making excuses, talk to your neighbors. Oh that's right, they're busy trying to change the law for high school cheerleaders. Hypocrites. Read the rest of this post...