Post it! Quick!
You know, I decide to have a social life one saturday night, and the White House decides to declassify the now-famous PDB.
The Smoking Gun has all two pages, if you're interested in getting your news straight from the source.
As for this being released on a saturday night, if that the White House's way of trying to bury this?
Let's not mince words here
Over at dKos, DHinMI has a particularly damning assessment of how the Bush administration handles intelligence.
Condoleeza Rice made a big deal about not having "actionable" intelligence about dates and locations of suspected terrorist actions. As many have pointed out, if actionable intelligence of threats came with dates, times and Mapquest directions there wouldn't be much need for a National Security Advisor. But if this article is confirmed, then the American people have sufficient evidence to conclude that the Bush administration can't recognize actionable intelligence until it's delivered via jet airliner into the side of a building.
Things I learned from Letters to W.
Bush has been in vacation for 500 days since the Supreme Court awarded him the presidency. That's 40% of his presidency. God, he's effectively made being president a part-time job. Perhaps he wants to apply for unemployment benefits?
Something I wanted to talk about but haven't had the time is an article in last sunday's New York Daily News about soldiers from Iraq coming home sick from the radiation because we use all that radioactive depleted uranium ammo. Vickie had the time, so here's her link. Read it.
Saturday is Sex Day!
This week's topic probably won't be as much fun to talk about as the one from last week. Sometimes I wonder how people think about sex, what their definition of the act is. A few years back, I got into a conversation with a random female who did not hold a high opinion of men. I tried defending my gender, or at least myself, against her prejudices when she asked me, "So if you saw a drunk girl lying on a couch, you wouldn't fuck her?" I was shocked that this question could even be asked, and she delivered it in a nonchalant, matter of fact manner like the question was supposed to be rhetorical. I told her no, that's rape. I can't see how anybody can do that.
This conversation reminded me of an exchange I overheard amongest a couple of popular kids in high school. We were all seniors, and one was discussing withhis friends how to get into some freshman's pants. The answer? "Just stick your dick in her, man!" I realize this is high school and people grow up -- I hope -- but I still disturbs me. How could anybody think this way? I've always thought sex should have emotion and mutual consideration between partners, but.. I'm not even going to get into some of the horror stories I've heard.
How do you perceive sex and has your definition differed with others in a good or bad way? And do you think the lack of sexual education for young adults helps confuse the definition for people, thus leading to more cases of rape?
[Post as anonymously as you want, though someone pointed out to me last week that Sitemeter has IP logging. And, come to find out, so does Haloscan. I can't turn IP logging off, but I'mve made it so it's only viewable to me. So, just for full disclosure...]
Disgraceful
Last week, 45 troops died in Iraq.
Last week, Bush was out of sight and out of mind, he didn't say peep about Iraq.
What a prolific fucking leader.
Reading this makes me feel so much safer about what I put into my mouth
The government refuses to let Creekstone Farms Premium Beef test all their cattle for Mad Cow. Gee, industries lobby to block more strict testing regulations, but if a company dares to try to increase their standards, the Republicans say no. I guess safe food is a no-no.
Letter from Bush
Dear Soliders,
I hope you didnt feel like leaving Iraq soon.
Bwwwahhaha. Die for Halliburton, sucker!
Sincerely,
Your Shithead Unelected Dictator who never had to fight in an actual war because he had a Rich Daddy
Kualety Edjewkayshun
Houston lowers their standards to, you know, technically leave no child behind.
City schools are dropping a policy that required city high school students to pass such core courses as English and math before they moved to the next grade.
The board of the Houston Independent School District on Thursday gave preliminary approval to a new promotion policy that school officials hope will keep struggling students from getting discouraged and help cut the district's dropout rate.
OK kids, it's story time. I'm a student at a junior college, and during my last class this week, the teacher complained that the state was forcing the school offer classes for people who need to read and write. And I have to agree withhim, because thisis stuff they should be teaching in first grade. I can understand offering these classes for immigrants, etc., but they are being offered for everybody. Why? Because public schools apparently don't give a flying fuck and a half about whether or not their students know how to read before giving them a diploma. Dropping standards just to pass students isn't solving the problem, it's a symptom of the problem.
Just declassify it
The more we find out about this mysterious PDB memo, the more I want to see it. And this isn't really new news, we have heard about this existence of this memo since 2002. The Bush administration, the same administration that didn't want a 9/11 commission in the first place, continues to try and stonewall the American public. Well, this isn't conspiracy theory anymore. We know the memo exist, we know it's titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the United States." If we buy Condi's line of bullshit that this is all "historical" information, then why was it a PDB? Does this mean PDB's aren't that imporant? And if it was all historical info, why not declassify it right away? What do they have to hide?
Daddy, the question's too tough! Put your hand back up my ass and control me so I can answer!
[Hand-up-ass refernce = Puppet] Just in case you were wondering.
Grrrr...
There would have been more posts this morning if Internet Exploder didn't keep crashing everytime I tried clicking on a link from Bloglines. Then while repairing the pooter, I fell asleep, because repairing this piece of shit just excites me so.
Now I have Mozilla Firefox installed for my new browser. Let's see how this works....
Six billion people can't be wrong
What's the biggst threat to the world? Well, ask the world!
Respondents from Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia, ranked the power of the US and large corporations as the biggest worry (52.3%).
Expect true patriots to shit a brick upon reading this. Or just make fun of it. Or not want to think in general. It's too difficult for them to comprehend.
Condidiction
If Condi was so intent on digging her own grave at the hearings yesterday, they should have just given her a shovel.
Until Rice answered a sharp question from commissioner Richard Ben Veniste, most Americans probably didn't know that weeks before Sept. 11, the president had been given a CIA memorandum with the ominous title "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States." The national security advisor insisted that this "historical analysis" of al-Qaida did not provide "new threat information." But her dismissal of the controversial document undermined her own argument for keeping it classified. If the Aug. 6 PDB was merely of historical interest, why not prove her point by allowing the memo to be published in full?
Yeah, why not have it published? What does this administration have to hide?
Just impeach this man
Two reporters were ordered Wednesday to erase their tape recordings of a speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at a Mississippi high school...
During the speech, a woman identifying herself as a deputy federal marshal demanded that a reporter for The Associated Press erase a tape recording of the justice's comments. She said the justice had asked that his appearance not be recorded.
What's the first thing that comes to mind after reading that? Oh, yeah, police state! But this line is great.
"The Constitution of the United States is extraordinary and amazing. People just don't revere it like they used to," Scalia told a full auditorium of high school students, officials, religious leaders.
Yeah, the constitution is great! Except for all that freedom of the press bullshit, fuck that!
We should be concerned about this more than terrorism
Omigod! Sex and fart sounds! CIVILIZATION IS CRUMBLING!
Federal regulators Thursday proposed $495,000 in indecency fines against Clear Channel Communications for broadcasts by Howard Stern, prompting the nation's largest radio chain to drop the country's best-known shock jock...
The FCC investigation was prompted by a listener in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who complained about a Stern program that included discussion of sex accompanied by flatulence sounds.
I'm so glad to see that our governement is concerned with the really big problems that effect all of our lives. Thank goodness for the selfless service turned on by the many members of the FCC to make sure that my ears are not accosted with the profane sounds of flatulence in the mornings. What's next, banning the consumption of mexican food for dinner? Because that'll really make you shit in the morning, but hearing flatulence sounds before 10am is illegal!
You know, I'm in my mid-20s now, I think I've grown up enough to take hearing fart sounds in the morning. But living in this country makes me feel like I've never graduated past grade school.
Fark Headline of the Day
"Detroit Tigers attempt to start the season 4-0. In related news, Keanu Reeves attempts to win "Best Actor," and France attempts to invade someone"
Remember...
Today, Condoleezza Dice is gambling with the truth.
A senior terrorism expert said yesterday that he had delivered a final desperate warning of an inevitable terrorist attack to Condoleezza Rice five days before al-Qaida struck New York's World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in Washington.
On the eve of the national security adviser's public appearance today to defend the Bush administration's record before the commission studying the September 11 attacks, Gary Hart, a former Democratic presidential candidate who co-chaired an earlier three-year public study of the threats to US security in the 21st century, told the Guardian his warning had been ignored.
"She [Rice] said: 'I'll discuss it with the vice-president'," Mr Hart said; but he felt the response was a brush-off.
"All I can say is she didn't feel the degree of urgency I thought was necessary," he said. He said he has known Ms Rice for 20 years, since she had volunteered to work on his Colorado Senate campaign.
Ms Rice will speak under oath for more than two hours to the national commission examining whether more could have been done to prevent the September 11 attacks. She is expected to make a detailed rebuttal of the allegations by Richard Clarke, a former White House chief counter- terrorist adviser, that the Bush team virtually ignored the al-Qaida threat because of its fixations on Iraq and strategic missile defence.
Mr Hart's comments add weight to Mr Clarke's argument and make Ms Rice's task even harder.
Together with Warren Rudman, a veteran Republican politician, Mr Hart chaired the US commission on national security/21st century, which was established by President Bill Clinton in October 1998 and told to report to the incoming president in early 2001.
That report predicted: "America will become increasingly vulnerable to hostile attack on our homeland [and] Americans will likely die on American soil, possibly in large numbers."
It recommended a national homeland security agency.
To the surprise of the 14 commissioners, Mr Hart said, the recommendations were ignored. The post of homeland security adviser was established in the White House only after the September 11 attacks.
Gosh, that's damning to her credibility.
[Updated - 07:32]
God, these headlines make me wanna shoot myself
Take a look at this steaming load: "Uprising Could Signal a Second War for Iraq"
Uhm, fuck me if I'm wrong, but the first war ended? When did this happen, when Bush said so? Last year, 600+ troops died and thousands more became causalities, did this somehow happen when there wasn't a war going on? Holy fuck, the media is becoming stupider everyday, I swear to fucking god.
At least this article has something good in it:
"It's time to bail out," said Charles V. Peña, director of defense policy studies at the Cato Institute, a conservative Washington think tank. "If it wasn't obvious beforehand, it ought to be more obvious now that we are in a situation that is no longer in control, and we can't make the fairy tale outcome that we would like to see happen in Iraq."
O'Reilly says pull out, now Cato.. Sheesh. How do you define, "You know the war in Iraq was a mistake when..."
Disgraceful
As battles raged and people died in Iraq yesterday, what was Bush upto?
The difficulties facing both men were evident throughout the day. As scenes of violence in Iraq flashed across television screens, Mr. Bush was mostly out of sight, on his ranch in Crawford, Tex., even as some of his conservative supporters began expressing concern that Mr. Bush's Iraq policy could diminish his re-election prospects.
God, is he even going to offer his condolences to the families members of troops who have died? The situation in Iraq is getting so bad that it caused O'Reilly to get some common sense.
"If these people won't help us, we need to get out in an orderly matter," Mr. O'Reilly said on his show Monday evening, repeating the sentiment again on Tuesday.
Ponder that for a minute.
Shouldn't we be a little bit more concerned about terrorism?
Ashcroft doesn't think so. He's more concerned that grown adults might, gasp, view pornography!
Lam Nguyen's job is to sit for hours in a chilly, quiet room devoid of any color but gray and look at pornography. This job, which Nguyen does earnestly from 9 to 5, surrounded by a half-dozen other "computer forensic specialists" like him, has become the focal point of the Justice Department's operation to rid the world of porn.
In this field office in Washington, 32 prosecutors, investigators and a handful of FBI agents are spending millions of dollars to bring anti-obscenity cases to courthouses across the country for the first time in 10 years. Nothing is off limits, they warn, even soft-core cable programs such as HBO's long-running Real Sex or the adult movies widely offered in rooms of major hotel chains.
Yup, because we just have nothing better or more pressing to be concerned about besides the dangers of seeing nipples. Nice to know where the Bush administrations priorities are.
Ahhhh, that liberal media is at it again
Headline: "Bush to Give NRA, Environmental Groups Ranch Tour"
Really? They NRA and environmental groups side-by-side as guests of the president at his ranch? What kind of environmental groups will be attending?
President Bush will open the gates to his Prairie Chapel ranch on Thursday to about 20 representatives of various sporting and conservation organizations, including the National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever.
Yes, those environmental groups! Who the fuck writes these headlines, anyway?
Blogging around Iraq
Or maybe I should title this post, "Cutting through the crap." Why read propaganda from our government when you can get the straight dope from people who have forgotten more about Iraq then Bush will ever learn?
Raed knows how to cut through the crap with another interesting post.
The Three Smart Political Steps of the Day:
Uno) AsSadr announced that this uprising is the choice of the Iraqi people, he didn?t ask anyone to fight.
I know he is lying, he knows that he is lying?
But that was a smart political thing to do though.
He preferred to leave the opportunity of representing himself as a public leader, but gave more opportunities for other political and religious parties to join the uprising.
Dos) AsSadr started a compassion campaign for the people in Falluja, which had a good response from the majority of Iraqis. This ended the Sunni-Shia tension. [tasnote: this can only mean trouble.]
Tres) AsSadr launched his first regional affairs message, he sent an open message to the Kuwaiti people to start putting more pressure on their government, ?It is the responsibility of the Kuwaiti people to help us free both our counties from the big devil?.
The Sunni-Shia reconciliation gave the uprising people another boost, and the speeches of Sistani and Baghdadi showed sympathy with AsSadr. [tasnote: this goes completely against reports that most Shia are against the uprising.]
Now, the two unhappy campers are the governing council and the Kurds. The soft GC is the easiest target to attack and blame for the situation. The Kurds are not very comfortable with the anti-occupation alliance which could threaten their plans.
I really want to understand from Rumsfeld where are his ?majority??? the ?majority? of Iraqis that are against the current uprising, the majority that he wants to help them in reaching to their freedom? where are they?
If the millions in the ?Sunni Triangle? are the minority, and the other millions of AsSadr are the minority? where are the majority? In Washington?
And if the minority can do all of this! And kick the coalition forces from cities like Kut? what can the majority do? Occupy the United States? [tasnote: hah!]
Yesterday, Raed had this to say about our new friend Sadr. He aims to clear up a few misconceptions about him that we in the US might have. (His link doesn't seem to be working, but it's a post from 4/7/04.)
The uprising in Iraq is still expanding…
But I still feel that Bush and Bremer are totally out of the picture…
All what we can hear from the coalition governments’ spokesmen, and from the international media news are some fake explanations and explanations…
Let me declare some points:
AsSadr is NOT reflecting a minority of Iraqis, this is a stupid big lie.
Whether we liked him or not, he is the political and religious leader for MILLIONS of Iraqis in the southern region…
There are 15 million Iraqis living in the south, and another 5 million in Baghdad, I can say that 5 to 7 millions of them can be considered as AsSadr followers.
AsSadr is NOT a mere twenty-something year old guy, that is playing games.
Whether we liked him or not, he is a phenomenon. When people in the south of Iraq look at Muqtada AsSadr, they see the history of his father, the deep roots of his religious supporter: AlHaeri.
AsSadr is NOT a small follower of the Iranian Government; he has very bad relations with the official government of Iran, unlike Sistani and Hakim.
AsSadr is THE GOVERNMENT in most of the cities of the south: Amara, Kut, Nasryya and Diwanyya and Simawa partially, and Najaf partially (Kufa is a small city in Najaf that is the center of AsSadr).
There's much more on Raed's blog. Check on it daily.
Salem Pax chimes in with some more truth. What I get from reading this and what Raed has to say is that Sadr is much, much more powerful then the Bush administration, if they have a clue, would like the American public to believe.
You have to be careful about what you say about al-Sadir. Their hands reach every where and you don't want to be on their shit list. Every body, even the GC is very careful how they formulate their sentences and how they describe Sadir's Militias. They are thugs, thugs thugs. There you have it.
[snip]
Dear US administration,
Welcome to the next level. Please don't act surprised and what sort of timing is that it: planning to go on a huge attack on the west of Iraq and provoking a group you know very well (I pray to god you knew) that they are trouble makers.
Us? Provoke violence? Never...
Zeyad at Healing Iraq, who has nothing good to say about Sadr, noted the "profession coordination" of his rise to power.
Of course, Sadr has set up offices in almost every city, town, and village in the south. And I have mentioned earlier that they had assumed full control over my small village where I work in the Basrah governorate weeks ago, terrorizing IP officers, civil servants, and doctors but nobody was listening. I don't think I will be heading back there any soon now. What surprises me is the almost professional coordination of the uprisings in all of these areas. I'm assuming, of course, that the money and equipment supplied by our dear Mullahs in Iran is being put to use good enough, not to mention the hundreds of Pasderan and Iranian intelligence officers.. sorry I mean Iranian Shia pilgrims that have been pouring into Iraq for months now.
Riverbend has a post which captures the current mood of Iraq, and I want to quote all of it, but this post has become very long so I'll take the ending and expect you to read the rest.
Our foreign minister Hoshyar Zibari was being interviewed by some British journalist yesterday, making excuses for Tony Blair and commending him on the war. At one point someone asked him about the current situation in Iraq. He mumbled something about how there were 'problems' but it wasn't a big deal because Iraq was 'stable'… what Iraq is he living in?
And as I blog this, all the mosques, Sunni and Shi’a alike, are calling for Jihad...
Though not in Iraq (yet), Christopher at Back to Iraq provides us with a handy-dandy map of Iraq, highlighting just where the violence is.
I realize this post is lengthy, and you may be seeing a few more like this, but the situation in Iraq is very serious and, gathering the thoughts from these Iraqis, very dire. I'm not going to trust our government to tell us the truth; Bush hasn't made one honest fucking statement since he was appointed the presidency. If Bush was honest, we wouldn't be in Iraq right now, he wouldn't have created this mess. We deserve to know the truth, no matter how long winded it is. If we don't educate ourselves about Iraq, then we're doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. And the past I'm thinking of is right next door to China.
What the hell is going on in Iraq?
There's a lot of information from yesterday to sift through. Aside from blogs by Iraqis, which I'll be commenting on later, Gotham City 13 and Today in Iraq have rundowns of the top stories from Iraq. If you're looking to catch up strictly on news, those two places make for a great start.
Good crap
Want a few reasons to hate Bush? Thousandreasons.org has a few. In fact, they have 1196 reasons.
Take brick, smash against head
That's the frustration I feel whenever I think about the mess Bush has created in Iraq. Now an al-Qa'ida member has claimed responsibility for some of the recent attacks in Iraq. This guy wasn't in Iraq before the fall of Saddam, but he was easily able to sneak in now since Bush doesn't know how to occupy a country after invading it. I guess we should have taken out al-Qa'ida before tying up our military in other ventures, eh?
Europe sticks it to Uzbekistan
At least some countries are concerned about doing the right thing.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is pulling aid to Uzbekistan, citing slow reform and the country's dire human-rights record.
The bank called for an improvement of human rights in the country and for economic restructuring last year but concluded little headway has been made.
And unlike the the better treatment Uzbekistan has received in the American press, the BBC isn't afraid to pull any punches in their coverage of the country.
President Islam Karimov heads one of the region's most repressive regimes.
Meanwhile, the US has sent Uzbekistan $160m in foreign aid, and that money will probably increase since Karimov played the al-Qa'ida card, saying they are responsible for recent bombings in the country.
Voters say no to Wal-Martistan
Wal-Mart spokesman Bob McAdams said despite being freed from local regulations, the project would "meet every single or exceed every single city code in the city of Inglewood."
Uh, hey Mr. McCheese, if this is truly the case then what's the point of Wal-Mart wanting sovereignty? Why hold the vote if you're just going to meet or exceed the standards of the law that you want to be exempt from? Aren't you, Mr. McChesse, really just a lying corporate stooge?
Light posting
Grumble... Stupid school work. I'm going to try to get this done quickly and post some actual news items, but I can't make any promises.
Sorry to disappoint you...
...but ABBA will not have a reunion. Not even for 2 billion dollars. Not even reformed as a death metal band in Kiss-like make up...
Two billion dollars. Maybe I'm out of the loop or something, but is there really that much demand for an ABBA reunion? By posting this and making fun of ABBA, am I setting myself up for angry hate mail from some hardcore ABBA thugs?
Good fucking news
Looks like there's no link between heavy sexual activity and prostate cancer. I wonder how the God-squad will spn this one.
Fun facts
By April 30, 1969, the US had 543,400 military personnel in South Vietnam.
Vietnam, as a whole, is slightly larger than New Mexico, so we can assume that South Vietnam was half the size of New Mexico. Iraq, on the other hand, is comparable in size to California.
During the run up to war, the Bush administration constantly denied that we would need a massive amount of troops to led a successful military operation in Iraq.
At the height of the Vietnam War, we had 543,400 deployed to an area half the size of New Mexico and still lost. That being the case, didn't the Bush administration mislead the American public when it told us they only needed 100,000+ troops to secure an area nearly the size of California?
Those are the facts. Like it or not, for any Bush fans reading this, that's about as non-partisan as it gets.
[05:38 update: Grammar corrections.]
Another sure fire way to lower gas prices
You know that tax credit people get for purchasing SUVs? And we all know how economical with fuel a big fucking truck is. The tax credit puts more SUVs on the road, thus increasing the demand for gas while the supply stays the same.
Take that tax credit away and place it on hybrid vehicles, get more of those on the road.
Pretty simple, huh? Maybe I should run for president.
When leadership counts
Reading this little tidbit from Atrios reminds me of a typical tinhorn dictator pulling out all the stops to make it look like he has the approval of the populace. Here's what happened when Bush was at the Cards/Brewers game yesterday:
A somewhat hostile crowd complained mightily about the problems the presidential motorcade caused with regular fans trying to get into the park. A Cards employee tipped moi that the team was so concerned about Bush being booed that they piped in fake applause when he strode out to the mound. Lamping flatly denied it.
Yup. Fake applause for der monkey. What's next, a brown uniform sporting a couple gold stars on a red background?
Things that make you go Hmmmm...
Writing for the Guardian, Naomi Klein has an interesting view of the violence in Iraq. She contends the US is provoking the further violence to help Bush's electoral chances.
Make no mistake: this is not the "civil war" that Washington has been predicting will break out between Sunnis, Shias and Kurds. Rather, it is a war provoked by the US occupation authority and waged by its forces against the growing number of Shia who support Moqtada al-Sadr...
Here's one possible answer: Washington has given up on its plans to hand over power to an interim Iraqi government on June 30, and is creating the chaos it needs to declare the handover impossible. A continued occupation will be bad news for George Bush on the campaign trail, but not as bad as if the hand-over happens and the country erupts, an increasingly likely scenario given the widespread rejection of the legitimacy of the interim constitution and the US- appointed governing council.
But by sending the new Iraqi army to fire on the people they are supposed to be protecting, Bremer has destroyed what slim hope they had of gaining credibility with an already highly mistrustful population. On Sunday, before storming the unarmed demonstrators, the soldiers could be seen pulling on ski masks, so they would not be recognised in their neighbourhoods later.
I know there's no proof to back her theory and it's essentially tinfoil hat stuff, but it's very interesting to think about.
Sigh
The Supreme Court state which elected Ahhhhnald has expanded their state law on the killing of a fetus.
See? Blowjobs are productive!
Bill Clinton has helped with a plan to provide cheap AIDS drugs to Africa. The Bush administration, bowing to the demands of greedy drug company executives, refused to fund generic drugs questioning their safety. (Hey, not to be mean or anything, but the people receiving these drugs have AIDS, and even if the drugs indeed aren't safe, isn't it enough that they provide some measure of assistance? What's the choice here: "Take this unsafe drug which will probably help you, or die from full blown AIDS." I'll take the supposedly unsafe generic drugs, thanks.)
But I guess we should all hate Clinton because he dared to get his dick sucked. In the meantime, Bush has murdered 600+ troops, but at least he's true to his wife! (This is all meant in jest, of course; cheating on your wife is bad. However, getting people killed is worse. But as far as crimes committed by presidents go, [adultery is legal, but you see where I'm going with this], which one has received more attention?)
Disgraceful
Four Marines died yesterday, but Bush finds the time to attend a baseball game. (Brewers v. Cards? Couldn't he have picked a better game, because this must have been a yawnfest.)
And this is worth pointing out:
Since U.S. troops invaded Iraq last year to topple Saddam Hussein, 426 American soldiers have been killed in action. [emphasis mine]
426? What's this shit? Why is the press low balling the number by adding "killed in action"?
Fucking finally!
There may yet be some hope for this nation: "Poll Says Bush Is Losing Support on Iraq." 53% disapprove of how Bush is handling Iraq, and his overall approval rating has dipped to 43%. For the longest time, Bush seemed immune to criticism against the war on terror and in Iraq, no matter what he did and what facts were stacked against his case. But the Kool-Aid is wearing off.
Something stinks, and it's coming from the bush...
Billmon has a few quotes you should read.
...the notion that it will take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq, are wildly off the mark." - Paul Wolfowitz
...The starkest evidence that the U.S. position in Iraq has deteriorated was the Pentagon's decision Monday to suspend the rotation home of about 24,000 U.S. troops... - USA Today
Has anyone from the Bush administraton ever told the truth? Just wondering.
Sadr's Power
Here's a good piece analyzing the fire Bush is playing with in Iraq.
Much depends on the US military response to the Sadr rebellion, how it is put down and what happens to Mr Sadr in the aftermath. Mr Sadr’s militia has taken control over significant areas of Baghdad and the governor’s office in the British run city of Basra...
A bloody battle in Baghdad would likely only serve to alienate a huge segment of Iraq’s Shiite population and drive them into the arms of Mr Sadr.
Mr Sadr’s relatively young age, his lack of clerical credentials and inconsistent political pronouncements have stood between him and winning over educated middle-class Shiites in Baghdad and other cities.
But the cleric is backed by hundreds of young and energetic seminary students whose organisational skills and devotion to the memory of his father underpin his movement...
With that kind of devotion and organisation, Mr Sadr’s arrest or death in a battle with US troops is likely to further radicalise Iraq’s Shiite population.
Something tells me that the wisdom in fucking with this man is questionable at best. And at worst... I don't want to think about that right now.
Makes you wonder about American ports...
Apparently, UK ports aren't secure. Why is this important?
"Al-Qaeda has shown an interest in using the maritime system to launch attacks in the past, but the security at many of our ports remains, frankly, poor."
Anyone have information about what/if Bush has done anything for our ports?
[Update: For our ports, I found this article, which reads more like a press release because it doesn't have any criticism of the new measures to secure our ports. another article has ABC News reporters sneaking 15 pounds of depleted uranium onto a ship, something that should be detected by the same technology was is supposed to detect nuclear devices. But it wasn't detected. Our government's response? Sic the FBI on ABC News.]
Hey, isn't Pakistan supposed to be one of our "key" allies?
But we would never support countries that support terrorism!
A Pakistani provincial governor on Monday offered "safe passage" to Al-Qaeda fighters hiding among unruly tribes along the rugged Afghan border, as he renewed an amnesty offer.
Never ever!
Free speech? Fuck that!
The bill described here will be going up for vote in the Senate soon. It must be opposed. You know what to do.
House Resolution 3077 passed last fall. It included a provision to establish an advisory board to monitor campus international studies centers in order to ensure that they advance the national interest. While the law would apply to all federally funded institutes with an international focus, the target is clearly the nation's 17 centers for Middle East studies. The driving force behind this provision is the same group of conservative ideologues who have long promoted the war on Iraq and who support the extreme right-wing politics of the Sharon government in Israel. Their aim is to defend the foreign policy of this administration by stifling critical and informed discussion on U.S. campuses.
If this isn't legalized enforcement of government propaganda, then I don't know what is. And if this bill passes and the president signs it, I'll be more then happy to continue my studies in Canada.
We've got a bigger problem now
From the Whiskey Bar (via Atrios (via GC13) oi via):
The fighting erupted when five trucks of US soldiers and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) tried to enter the district and were attacked by Sadr supporters, Amid said.
Coming under fire, the ICDC, a paramilitary force trained by the Americans, turned on the US soldiers and started to shoot at them, according to Amid.
Yes, you read that correctly. The ICDC, Iraqi soldiers the US trained to work with US troops turned their guns upon US troops. As if it wasn't enough that we are fighting the Sunni's, the Shia launching their own attacks, now the Iraqi troops we've trained are turning against us. If you think we have something to worry about, you're correct. Raed, the Iraqi of Dear Raed fame, has his own blog now. I'll quote part of his post today, a post you should read all of:
So, Bush and Bremer said that all the clashes and attacks are being planed by terrorists, and that?s why the American army is killing and arresting ?bad Iraqis? in those ?bad cities?? those were just minority, but the CPA is going to give freedom and democracy for the majority of Iraqis.
Ok? here is the majority! AsSadr is the majority, he is THE leader of the majority?AsSadr is the symbol of millions in the south who were waiting for Americans come, where is the problem?
Why did Bremer decide to close AsSadr?s newspaper now? And arrest his assistant?
Because the newspaper said that Bremer is acting like a new Saddam?????????
I say that too :*) arrest me.
I think that Bremer acts like a small Saddam sometimes; today he decided to forbidden demonstrations! One year in jail is what you get if you demonstrate without having an approval, to have the approval u must submit a form at least 24 hours before the demonstration with information about why, when, who, how many, bla bla blah..
:*)
The clashes that didn?t happen last year between the CPA and the ?majority? just started, in a bad timing too for Bush and his adminstration.
I think Bremer should write a book under the title ?how to create lose/lose situations?, he closed the newspaper, arrested the assistant, shoot people in demonstrations, attacked Shia neighborhoods and cities, and now? the outlaw thing.
The picture of the day, is for some policemen joining a pro-Sadr demonstrations at Basra, where people occupied the governorate building, maybe that would be a message to the CPA that feelings of belonging to the social and cultural structure in the south are much stronger than the $60 salary.
Believe me, Bremer and Bush are totally lost; most of the time they don?t know what they want to do, and when they do, they don?t know how to do it.
Believe me, they are playing with fire.
Keep in mind that this is coming from an Iraqi. Raed has forgotten more about Iraqi then Bush will ever learn, and he's telling us that we're completely fucked.
This worries me. There's no way we can launch a successful military operation in a country where the citizens hate us and are willing to take up arms against us; especially when you don't know which Iraqi is your friend or foe. Listening to NPR today, a reporter said a Marine told him he couldn't tell which Iraqis were on his side. Using children as an example, he said that some wish you luck and others wish your death.
We had this same problem in Vietnam. Not only was the populace against us, but we couldn't tell friend from foe apart. It was impossible. And when you don't know who you foe is, how can you possibly fight them?
Given the campaign season and the deadline Bush has set to hand over government to the Iraqi's, you really have to wonder if he has a clue. His actions seem to be politically motivated so that he can brush Iraq aside before the election, help his chances of staying in the White House for another four years. But it looks like Iraq has blown up in his face, a situation which I don't relish in because it's taking the lives of Americans and Iraqis. Aa far as I'm concerned, Bush's selfish lust for power is murdering innocent people.
We can't win this thing if Iraqis want us out of the country, and and willing to kill US troops to end the occupation. Now matter how many troops we send in, we'll never win this thing. We can't repeat the mistakes of the past, we've got to pull out. But at the same time, we created his mess in Iraq and it's our responsibility to clean it up. Not only is it our responsibility, but if Iraq in it's current state is left unchecked, it will become the biggest hot spot in the world, possibily setting off a larger war in the Middle East, spreading to Turkey, and could escalate the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Bush really didn't think this through before invading Iraq. We've got to get out, but we've also got to stay in. What do we do now?
The economy's doing great!
Speaking of all those high paying, non-service sector jobs Bush's tax cuts have revived the economy with, Bank of America os merging with FleetBoston, shedding 12,500 jobs in the process.
Disgraceful
As an American citizen, I don't think it's asking too much that our president pay a little more attention to Iraq after a weekend of rioting, death, and some of the worst violence we've seen in the country since something called "Shock and Awe." Maybe our president could say, "God, holy shit that weekend was bad, we gotta do something!" Or at least mention something about feeling sorry for the loss of troops and lives of some innocent Iraqis. Instead, Bush is on the campaign trail talking about job training. For all those high paying jobs he's injected into our economy, you know. Does he feel nothing?
Bush finally knows terror
He's terrified that the 9/11 commission's report will ruin his chance for a second term.
In a joint television interview, the commission's chairman, Thomas H. Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, and its vice chairman, Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic House member from Indiana, indicated that their final report this summer would find that the Sept. 11 attacks were preventable.
That final report, of course, has to be checked by the White House. I can't wait to see how Bush and Rove spin this thing. "We certainly can't release this picture of Bush with his head up his ass somewhere in Nebraska, it's a threat to national security!" How anybody can say that Bush has successfully fought the war on terror is beyond me, but if recent history tells us anything, people will continue to ignore the facts.
Wal-Martistan wants sovereignty
Wal-Mart is trying to build a new store in Inglewood, CA. But they want to be exempt from the law.
While Wal-Mart has turned to the ballot in a number of cities and towns to win the right to build its giant emporiums, the Inglewood initiative is significantly different. The proposal would essentially exempt Wal-Mart from all of Inglewood's planning, zoning and environmental regulations, creating a city-within-a-city subject only to its own rules. Wal-Mart has hired an advertising and public relations firm to market the initiative and is spending more than $1 million to support the measure, known as initiative 04-A.
And it's not just Inglewood where Wal-Mart wants to start little Wal-Martistans.
And they say that Inglewood will be a test case. If the initiative succeeds here, they say, it will become a model for Wal-Mart sovereignty across the nation and around the globe.
So Wal-Martistan doesn't feel like paying attention to all those pesky city laws. What's next, state laws? Federal laws? Where does their arrogance stop? This is absolutely fucking ridiculous. If Wal-Martistan doesn't like the laws in local communities where they want to setup shop, too fucking bad. Every other business has to abide by them. What makes Wal-Martistan think they're so special?
Just when you were counting on the 9/11 commission to find something...
They probably will, but we'll never find out about it: "White House to Review 9/11 Report Before Release"
The White House will vet "line by line" the report of an independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks before it is publicly released, the commission chairman said on Sunday.
Chairman Thomas Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he was surprised to learn of the White House review, which he said was required under law to ensure any material that could compromise intelligence was not included.
One wonders what the Bush administration will define as a "compromise" of intelligence.
Gee, it sure was a great idea to invade Iraq
Is it just me, or does it look like the the situation in Iraq is completely fucked? Every article I read on the latest violence is confusing because they are tryng to sum up the situation in a few short paragraphs, but there was so much violence across the country yesterday that it can't be easily summed up. The Guardian, though, tries:
A wave of violence exceptional even by Iraq's standards spread across the country yesterday, leaving at least nine coalition troops dead and dozens more injured and raising fresh concerns about security less than three months before the handover of power to an Iraqi government.
The rest of the article, which is short, cites 200 injured in Kufa, oil pipeline "set alight" in southern Iraq, protests spread across southern cities and a Shia neighborhood in Baghdad where 7 troops died, bombings in Samarra and Kirkuk... One reading this senses that chaos just broke out across Iraq yesterday, and you have to wonder (worry) if this will continue.
Taking Points Memo reminds us that it's the Shia, not just Sunni's, who have become militant.
Violence from the Sunni areas has never been difficult to understand. They lost out on privileges and status when Saddam was overthrown. And the future looked even more bleak, because the eventual handover of authority to a democratically elected government all but insured the domination of the Shia majority which the Sunnis had been lording it over for decades if not centuries.
In other words, time was never on the side of the Sunni rejectionists. From the start their interests were in destabilizing and delegitimizing the occupation.
Time, however, was very much on the side of the Shia. From a cynical viewpoint, why not let their American and Sunni enemies bloody each other into exhaustion in the central Iraq and sit back and wait on the day -- not too distant, certainly -- when they would inherit the new Iraqi state?
Why are some of the Shia attacking when they had the political advantage? That's a good question, one I'm not qualified to answer. But seeing the new bouts of violence coming from the populace leads us to a question we can all answer: Can we lead a successful military operation in a country where the populace hates us enough to fight us?
Just waiting to see a demonstration
It's new! It's shiny! It's a vibrating condom! Ahhh, technology marches on...
Fark Headline of the Day
"Ozzy accuses Doctor of over-prescribing drugs. Doctor wonders how anyone could tell the difference"
Bush is giving us the short end of the stick
Americans are now shorter than Europeans. And why is this? Well, I'm glad you asked!
This surprising reappraisal of American and European physiques is the work of researcher John Komlos of Munich University. 'Much of the difference is due to the great social inequality that now exists in the United States,' Komlos told The Observer last week. 'In Europe, there is - in most countries - good health service provision for most members of society and plenty of protein in most people's diets. As a result, children do not suffer illnesses that would blight their growth or suffer problems of malnutrition. For that reason, we have continued to grow and grow.'
On the other hand, America has eight million people with no job, 40 million individuals with no health insurance, 35 million living below the poverty line, and a population that exists mainly on junk food. There, the rise in average height that marked its progress as a nation through the 19th and 20th centuries has stopped and has actually reversed - albeit very slightly - in recent years. Many Americans are rich and do well anatomically as a result, but there is a large underclass that is starting to drag the country down the stature charts.
So basically, our lack of jobs (coupled with underemployment and lack of decent paying jobs), lack of health care, and poor diets due to people not having the money to eat right, is effecting our health and well being. Thanks to policies from Bush and the GOP, Europeans are now literally looking down on us. And this means they're really going to kick our ass in Olympic basketball.
Let the Photoshopping begin!
Condi's going to do a little more lying this week, and I can think of no better way to discredit her then by Photoshopping a bunch of photos to make her look stupid. (OK, maybe this won't discredit her, but it will sure be immature and satisfying!)
For example, this one is just begging to be touched up:
Oh, the possibilities are endless...
Swooooon...
Tell me, has there ever been a cuter radio host than Janeane Garofalo?
I'm in love. I must admit, I fell in love with her the first (and only) time I saw saw her speak at a Nader rally. She's so smart and funny, so dreamy... Air America needs to find a station in Providence quick, I can't listen to her show on the Internet all the time.
Better Living through Blogging
A lot of news this weekend, damnit. Stupid third shift turns me into a walking zombie for half the weekend, so a lot of this news is late. But if you haven't been paying attention, then you're right on time.
Gotham City 13 points out that Bush and Blair agreed to wage war on Iraq nine days after 9/11. Bush didn't pay attention to terrorist groups before 9/11, and the amount of attention he's invested in them after 9/11 is quite debatable.
Blunted on Reality has a story about a lady in Texas who killed her two oldest sons, 8 and 6 years old, but was let off the hook because she's devoutly religious. BOR also has the pictures of the kid behind the president yawning while der monkey delivered a speech. Letterman showed the video, then it made CNN, but then CNN reported that the White House said the video was fake, Letterman fired back calling the White House a bunch of big fat liars, and CNN corrected their story only after the White House admitted they were wrong. Talk about state-run media. The pictures are funny as shit.
Short note to dKos, not like it will get noticed: Learn to keep your trap shut sometimes, eh? I'm one of the most angry bloggers out here, but you won't catch me saying, "Screw them," about anybody who was burned to death by a mob in Iraq, no matter what my personal feelings are about them.
On the Kostroversy and the role of Instapundit (do I realy need to link to him?), Maxspeak, (via God, er, I mean, Atrios), is absolutely correct in accusing Glenn Reynolds of great hypocrisy for leading the charge in criticizing Kos' remarks, while at the same time promoting hateful sites like Little Green Footballs. Remember this post I made about LGF? How Reynolds can support this type hate on one hand and criticize Kos on the other is amazingly inconsistant. You can't have it both ways, Instahack.
With that said, we still have to have question and criticize the use of paid mercanaries in Iraq. Letters to W does just that.
And spacekiten7 spotted Dubya giving Condi a hairy stupid eyeball... Heh.
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
