If Only...

John Nichols is correct when he says: "If Sunday's elections in Iraq were both legitimate and consequential, if they selected a government that is representative of the Iraqi people, and if that government has the authority to set the course for what should be a sovereign country, then one of its first acts would by any reasonable calculus be to ask the United States to establish a timetable for the rapid withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraqi soil. After all, unless President Bush has come up with new definitions for words such as 'freedom' and 'democracy,' it would seem that such an action would be in entirely the spirit of his inaugural address."

However, since we are living in Orwellian Times, what we know to be true is no longer and vis versa.

Iraq: Images vs. Reality

Nation Building

Found this on the net and can't help but find it interesting...

"'The Sunnis in Iraq may make up only 20 percent of the population, but they are a skilled minority that has strategic depth among Iraq's neighbors,' the former adviser said, referring to Iraq's Sunni Arabs (but not to its Kurds, who are also Sunni Muslims). 'Support from Jordan and Saudi Arabia is a force multiplier for them.'

Iraq's Shiite leaders, who have been among the most enthusiastic supporters of the election today, have steadfastly maintained that a pluralist democracy, not Iran's theocracy, is their model for government, and Iran itself has tacitly blessed their approach. Nevertheless, the war strengthened Iran's position in the region by removing its worst enemy, Saddam Hussein, and whatever new regime takes hold in Iraq is likely to have friendly ties to Tehran.

Iran has also been making a big investment of resources in the social welfare, religious and political institutions of Iraq's Shiites. 'There is only one country that is really doing nation-building in Iraq, and it isn't the United States,' said an Arab diplomat sardonically. 'It's Iran.'"

The Great Middle East Shake-Up

That was then...

"U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :
Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3-- United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here."

Daily Kos

The elections Bush didn't want

While I certainly hope with al my might that the Iraqis will taste the democracy they deserve and that what has been taking place there is the begining of a true democratic and populist government, I cannot but think that all that is happening is despite our presence and despite all the efforts made by the Bush Administration to prevent it. More power to the Iraqis... I hope they make it.

The elections Bush didn't want | From Needlenose

June 2003: The original U.S. plan following the invasion was to ensure that we got the Iraq we wanted, and so elections would be held only after a new national constitution had been written by a handpicked, exile-led group. Indeed, our colonial provisional administration was so afraid of the people's will that we cancelled ad-hoc local elections all across Iraq in June of 2003. (Subsequent protests in Najaf, the home city of the Shiite religious establishment led by Grand Ayatollah Sistani, included banners that read, "Canceled elections are evidence of bad intentions.")

Perhaps not coincidentally, within days Grand Ayatollah Sistani issued a fatwa calling for national elections as the only acceptable way to choose the assembly that would draft a constitution, specifically rejecting the U.S. plans to appoint a committee.

Fall 2003: As richly documented in this space, the American administration tried in vain to ignore or sidestep Sistani's decree for several months, until it became clear that the Iraqi would-be puppets on the so-called Governing Council were refusing to go along with the scam.

The U.S. solution, of course, was to come up with a new scam -- a complicated series of steps with "caucuses" (indirect elections, with participants vetted by the Americans) to choose an interim governmen that would be given nominal sovereignty, with Iraqis not allowed to vote directly for their own leaders until the end of 2005. Sistani's response was to say, in essence, "What part of 'elections' don't you understand?", demanding full national elections by June 2004.

January 2004: As the Bushites continued to dither and balk (including quashing a census plan that would have enabled faster elections), Sistani was forced to organize massive demonstrations in Basra and Baghdad (shown in the picture above) to make his growing impatience clear.

Seeing hundreds of thousands of Shiites in the streets of Baghdad, the denizens of Dubyaville promptly crapped their pants. Although still whining about infeasibility of elections, Bush and his appointed colonial ruler Jerry Bremer invited the UN to design a new transition, just as Sistani had demanded.

February-May 2004: The Bushites then did their best work behind the scenes, pressuring Kofi Annan to yield to an election date after the U.S. voting in November, pushing through a "transitional administrative law" intended to influence the eventual constitution, and promoting Iyad Allawi as temp prime minister over the UN's choice, Hussein Shahristani (an adviser to Sistani).

Nevertheless, Sistani came away with the bulk of the winnings -- not just direct elections for a government that would write the constitution, occurring at least a year earlier than the Americans originally envisioned, but UN involvement to at least partially minimize the threat of fraud by the interim regime. For good measure, he successfully lobbied the UN to ignore the transitional law written by the Americans, giving his allies the option to declare it a dead letter if they wish.

Pleased with his handiwork, Sistani issued a new fatwa, declaring voting in today's election to be a religious duty for his millions of Shiite followers. Not only that, he orchestrated the creation of a Shiite slate, and his picture has been the primary image on the campaign literature plastered nationwide by his network of loyalists. This unprecedented political involvement has been the driving factor behind the large Shiite turnout reported today.

So, whatever his ultimate intentions for Iraq are, you can thank Grand Ayatollah Sistani for these elections -- his determination made them happen, and his fervent endorsement of voting gave them whatever level of success they achieve. George Bush? He's claiming credit on the surface, but away from the cameras he's grimacing and scheming to keep Sistani from forcing any more unwanted democracy down his throat."

This is Getting Ridiculous

"One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, 'Ethics & Religion,' appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative. McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed."

Third columnist caught with hand in the Bush till (subscription may be required)

How to Spank--Because We Should Know

"In a perfect world, if you wanted to spank your woman, you would just do so and care nothing for the consequences, because, in a perfect world, there would be none. Unfortunately, that's not how it works in the real world.

Before you begin spanking her, you have to first find out if she would actually enjoy the feeling of an open hand coming into slightly harsh contact with her buttocks. If she has ever displayed a liking for dominant sex or enjoys running her nails down your back, then spanking her is surely a go.

If you have absolutely no clue what she wants in bed, then you have to talk to her about it. I know, I know, that sounds incredibly 'exciting,' but believe me, if you take a moment to ask her if she's ever fantasized about being dominated, her answers may surprise you."

How to treat a woman's behind

The Coalition that Never Was

And it all fell apart...

Coalition Pull-Out from Iraq Gathers Pace

GIs Tell Iraqis to Vote as They Raid Homes

So we urge them to get out and vote while we beat them over their head! Now that's new.

GIs Tell Iraqis to Vote as They Raid Homes

"SAMARRA, Iraq (Reuters) - A rumbling column of U.S. Bradley fighting vehicles grinds to a stop in a rebellious Iraqi neighborhood of scarred houses and mud streets.

Heavily-armed troops jump out and begin searching homes as loudspeakers blast in Arabic: 'On Sunday you should go out to vote. Vote to give freedom to Iraq. Vote to save Iraq.' A soldier hands out fliers to a group of untidy children.

In the heartland of Iraq's insurgency, American soldiers are trying to combine fighting with getting out the vote.

It's tough on both fronts."

No kidding!

Wilco on Music and its Future

If you don't fight it, it can help you!

"The band Wilco and its quiet, haunted leader, Jeff Tweedy, is something different. After its Warner label, Reprise, decided that the group's fourth album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, was no good, Wilco dumped them and released the tracks on the Internet. The label was wrong. The album was extraordinary, and a sold-out 30-city tour followed. This success convinced Nonesuch Records, another Warner label, to buy the rights back - reportedly at three times the original price. The Net thus helped make Wilco the success it has become. But once back in Warner's favor, many wondered: Would Wilco forget the Net?

"'Music,' he explained, 'is different' from other intellectual property. Not Karl Marx different - this isn't latent communism. But neither is it just 'a piece of plastic or a loaf of bread.' The artist controls just part of the music-making process; the audience adds the rest. Fans' imagination makes it real. Their participation makes it live. 'We are just troubadours,' Tweedy told me. 'The audience is our collaborator. We should be encouraging their collaboration, not treating them like thieves.'"

Wired-Wilco

Man peed way out of avalanche

A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.

Rescue teams found Richard Kral drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.

He told them that after the avalanche, he had opened his car window and tried to dig his way out.

But as he dug with his hands, he realised the snow would fill his car before he managed to break through.

He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported."

Ananova - Man peed way out of avalanche

Persistent Diarrhea*

If you have to ask someone about whether or not you should take your dog to a vet after having observed the said dog with persistent diarrhea, you should not be allowed to have a dog. The vet, if you ever get to him, should simply confiscate the dog and give it to someone less stupid. In fact, you should be required to pass a test, should you decide to own anything alive.

*Now that's an attention grabbing headline isn't it?

War of Language

I find it always amusing when the power that be, attempts to pull a transparent sheet over our eyes hoping that we will not see what is on the other side. Do people really fall for these things? Case on point:

"The main thing we noticed today was the president's language, and the language of the reporters questioning him. The way to fix Social Security, Bush said, was to let people divert money from their payroll taxes and invest it in what he called "personal accounts." Note the repetition of his words here: "Personal accounts are very important ... a personal account, obviously, under strict guidelines of investment, will yield a better rate of return ... and personal accounts will enable a worker to be able to pass on his or her earnings...."

And note what reporters asked him: "Q: Mr. President, at the beginning of your remarks today you referred to two criteria that you're looking for on a Social Security fix; namely, permanent solvency and personal accounts.... Q: Any transition to personal accounts is estimated to cost between $1 trillion to $2 trillion over 10 years.... Q: Are you prepared today to say that those who opt into a potential private account -- a personal account could, in fact, have a guaranteed benefit, as well?"

It wasn't too long ago that proponents of plans to divert money from Social Security payroll taxes into the stock market were using words like "privatize" and "private accounts" to describe their ideas. This would seem to be the accurate terminology: Social Security is a government program funded by public tax dollars. Diverting that public money into the stock market would "privatize" the program; the money that people invest in the companies in the market would have to be held in "private accounts."

The problem for Republicans, though, is that the word "privatize" -- and, by association, the phrase "private account" -- polls badly. "Personal account" is much friendlier. Nobody wants to "privatize" Social Security, the logic goes, but who would object to "personalizing" it? Sometime last year, then, word came down from Republican HQ that "private account" was verboten; from now on, Republicans would use the phrase "personal account" to describe their plan, and they would compel the media to use that phrase as well. Language maven and conservative columnist William Safire admitted as much in his On Language magazine column on Jan. 2: "This past summer, at the Republican convention in New York," Safire wrote, "the former House majority leader Richard Armey took me aside at a fat-cat function and whispered, 'Personal is the word, not private.'''"

The Salon.com Article (by subscription)

The Bottom Line

Thinking about why anyone should oppose more choice--because choice is good--in the plan to destroy Social Security I came upon this which I think pretty much sums it all up.

"Letting us all pick has real value. But all of us want the same thing out of our checks: high numbers. The choice, as such, has no value. The only thing that's really at issue is whether privatization would make people's checks bigger. The answer, on average, once all the costs are considered, is no.

While privatizing Social Security would only trivially increase individual freedom, it would massively increase individual risk. The median return to a private account would be about the same as the median Social Security benefit, but actual returns would vary significantly around that median according to a variety of factors including, most prominently, market conditions over which you have no control in the year in which you happen to retire. Some people would do much better than they do under the current system, but many would do much worse. In practice, this would restrict, rather than expand, the choices available to individuals. Under the current system, Social Security's guaranteed benefits allow middle-income people to invest additional money fairly aggressively -- exchanging a small risk of catastrophe for a high average payoff."

And this is the bottom line

What about the Mother?

Doctors say that the Baby is doing OK, but, I am sure we all hope that the mother is faring well as well after having split herself in half to deliver her 17lb son. Of her plight she said: "I was expecting a baby of only about nine pounds, not this big. What a surprise." Indeed!

Sponge Bob and Jesus de Christo...

I was about to quit for the night when I came upon this piece of news telling us that SpongeBob receives "unequivocal welcome" from United Church of Christ. So now we can all rest easy knowing that the Imaginary Character now has the blessing of no other than Jesus Christ himself.

ZZZZZzzZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzZZZZzzzZZZzz.

Another $80 Billion

Here we go again with another request for some additional $80 billion from the White House to support the current wars. Of course, who are we kidding? While the money is for the support of all the current wars, we ALL know that it is really going for the cost of the day to day battle with the insurgents over there in Iraq.

I do seem to recall that before the invasion of Iraq was to begin, White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey estimated Iraq costs at $100 billion to $200 billion, he was first ridiculed by the Administration and then later fired. So now the Army plans to keep at least 120,000 troops in Iraq for the next two years to train and fight alongside Iraqi forces against insurgents, a sign massive funding requests will be needed in future years--an occupation that according to the Congressional Budget Office can cost up to $9 billion a month.

No wonder we are fed the line that the Social Security is in trouble... With spenditure like this and a deficit that is ballooning to more than $400 trillion, I think not only Social Security is in danger, but the entire America way of life is on the verge of being affected.

Human For Sale

I don't know what it is I find fascinating with all these quizs but it turns out that I am worth $2,066,958.00 on HumanForSale.com.

Any takers?

Nerd Quiz - result

OK, I give up... I am not that much of a nerd. But evidently the low nerd score does not necessarily mean a high coolness factor.

POP Quiz - Nerd Quiz

"Have you been recently called a geek, a dork, a NERD? Do you want to be a nerd, geek, or dork? Well, this test is for you!"

Wx Plotter Fun Tests - Nerd Quiz

Well, I sure will not tell anyone what my score was...

50 Most Loathsome

The Beast has come up with the list... Take time to check it out, it is funny and well... sad as well.

50 Most Loathsome

12. Paul Wolfowitz

Crimes: The mastermind behind our war plan in Iraq, also known as “Operation Fucking Disaster.” Wanted to skip Afghanistan altogether and get right on with the intractable quagmire phase of his anti-terror plan. So far up Israel’s ass he can taste the kugel.

Smoking Gun: That disgusting thing he did with his comb in Fahrenheit 9/11.

Punishment: A successful populist democracy in Iraq.

I'm losing patience with my neighbours, Mr Bush

This came out a couple of years ago, but it remains as relevant as when first printed.

I'm losing patience with my neighbours, Mr Bush

"And let's face it, Mr Bush's carefully thought-out policy towards Iraq is the only way to bring about international peace and security. The one certain way to stop Muslim fundamentalist suicide bombers targeting the US or the UK is to bomb a few Muslim countries that have never threatened us.

That's why I want to blow up Mr Johnson's garage and kill his wife and children. Strike first! That'll teach him a lesson. Then he'll leave us in peace and stop peering at me in that totally unacceptable way.

Mr Bush makes it clear that all he needs to know before bombing Iraq is that Saddam is a really nasty man and that he has weapons of mass destruction - even if no one can find them. I'm certain I've just as much justification for killing Mr Johnson's wife and children as Mr Bush has for bombing Iraq."

Pop Quiz

What kind of a guy are you? Find out:

Those Wacky Fuali Tests

This Something Important

We can all learn something from this brother. (Thanks to Luke).

I am a solo artist, looking for a duet

"OK, this one goes out to all the ladies out there who are looking for a good time. I know I am your man for the job. I've had several girlfriends in my day, and to my credit I was the one who broke up with all of them. I also have two sisters and they have disclosed a few parts of the female anatomy which most people don't even know exist. This all goes to show that I know what the ladies like and how they like it. Also, I have recently completed a three day course on the art of seduction. What this means is that I have finely tuned my abilities to woo women and sweep their nasty friends off their feet at the same time! I can put the moves on or or just sit back and have the girls throwing themselves at me. Simply put, I have a switch that can turn my charm on and off. Ladies, I am going to take the unprecedented step of allowing you to control this switch. When you want me to charm you out of your pants and accompanying thong (mandatory), you need only flip that switch. When you want a slower pace where we can watch Richard Gere movies and just talk about your girlfriends behind their backs, you just turn that switch off. Thats right, I will be at your mercy for our dating expeditions. I say expedition because I'm like Everest, baby. Getting on top of that giant peak will be the joy of your life. In the morning, if I haven't already left while you sleep, I will even spring for hash browns and an Egg Mcmuffin. Basically, if you want to have a good time, it is in your best interest to send me back some electronic mail. Being as though I am the man for the job, hopefully you'll be the kind of chick who has the hand for the job. Oh yeah, no fat chicks."

Democratic Boss...

I still fail to understand what was it about the Dean Scream that made everyone, and especially the "liberal" Media, berserk and eventually caused his free fall before the Democratic Convention. Howard Dean turns out to be the sanest of all voices coming out of the Democratic Party at the moment. He is the ONLY voice who want the Democrats to become actually a true Opposition Party rather than trying to emulate the Republicans and perhaps even feel good in remaining the Republican Light Party they have become.

"That word—'values'—has lately become a codeword for appeasement of the right-wing fringe. But when political calculations make us soften our opposition to bigotry, or sign on to policies that add to the burden of ordinary Americans, we have abandoned our true values," says Dean.

At this point, Dean seem to be the only voice willing to revive the Democratic ideas and ideals which formed the nucleus of the party of the left.

n.b. I am not a Democrat. Nor a Republican. I do not even know why I care so much about the Democratic Party. For all I care, we need a third party--a true party willing to oppose the right wing warmongers for what they are regardless of electability of their candidates. And perhaps we can find a real place in the American Political Landscape for the one mane who has remained true to his principles from day one: Dennis Kucinich!

I Have Come to Terms...

... with the fact. But I am none too happy about it.

...

Freedom v. Liberty

01-20-05-daily-shrub.mov (video/quicktime Object)

Elegant, obese dancers

Cuba never ceases to amaze me. Shattering expectations once again, here we have Cuban dancers who are no less than 200lbs each dancing to their heart's content. Whoever said that dancers must be slim, light and anorexic?

obese dancers

"HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Cuban ballet dancers in white glide across the floor, executing an airy blend of pirouettes and back stretches. Within seconds, spectators are captivated, quickly forgetting what at first they couldn't overlook -- most of the dancers weigh more than 200 pounds.

Six dancers between the ages of 23 and 41 make up the island's Voluminous Dance group, which has presented about 20 works and is preparing its current show, 'Una muerte dulce,' or 'A Sweet Death,' for the spring.

'It's incredible how they utilize their roundness,' Mirta Castro, a tourist from Costa Rica, said as she watched the dancers rehearsing in Havana. 'It breaks free of the belief that dance is only for slender people.'"

Cordially Invited to Leave?

THE Shi’ite Muslim cleric tipped to become prime minister after next Sunday’s election in Iraq has said it will be the duty of the new government to demand the withdrawal of American forces “as soon as possible”.

“No people in the world accepts occupation and nor do we accept the continuation of American troops in Iraq,” said Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

“We regard these forces to have committed many mistakes in the handling of various issues, the first and foremost being that of security, which in turn has contributed to the massacres, crimes and calamities that have taken place in Iraq against the Iraqis.”

In comments certain to raise eyebrows in the United States, al-Hakim spoke of a role for Iran and Syria — both regarded in Washington as enemies in the war on terror — along with Iraq’s other neighbours, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Kuwait, in the security of the country.

“These countries have past experiences and good security forces and with good relations we can solve this problem together,” he said.

“Should the security problem continue, it will not end at the border of Iraq but extend to their countries.”

Go home Yanks, says PM in waiting

Made in China

"There'a trade deficit. That's easy to resolve: People can buy more United States products if they're worried about the trade deficit."--George W. Bush, December 15, 2004

What is made in the USA these days?

Mr. President, did you buy an Xbox for your teenage relative this holiday season? If you tried purchasing one that was made in the United States, you're out of luck. According to Flextronics CEO Michael Marks, "We moved all of the production of Microsoft's Xbox consoles from Mexico to China."€

Did Mrs. Bush buy you a pair of Ariat cowboy boots for Christmas? Well, guess what, Mr. President? Every last one: made in China.

As everyone knows from your accident last summer, you are an avid bicycler. How about a sturdy mountain bike for Christmas? Oops, 85 percent of our bicycles are made in China.

As our commander in chief, you might be thinking about picking up some more rare-earth magnets for our military's smart bombs and cruise missiles. Well, guess what? Eighty percent of those magnets are made in China.

How about an American flag? Since 9/11, more than 10 million American flags were made in China.

Levi's Jeans? Sorry, they aren't made in the United States anymore either. Did your staff purchase Christmas decorations for the White House this year? Approximately 80 percent of these decorations are now made in China. (By the way, did you read about the so-called Christian “dissident” who was placed under house arrest in China because he wanted to have a party with his friends to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ?)

Ground Control to Mr. Bush

American Flags made in China? Now that's way ironic. Not long ago, I bought one of those little American flag pins you see people wear these days and guess where it was made? Yep... Made in China.

So this outsourcing really works huh?

We Knew That... Didn't we?

Will someone in the White House stand up and let its occupants know that "staying the course" is not the approach to take? Bringing democracy at gun point is simply not the approach to take. It simply does not work. But, we knew that. Didn't we?

Iraqi insurgency growing larger, more effective

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - The United States is steadily losing ground to the Iraqi insurgency, according to every key military yardstick.

A Knight Ridder analysis of U.S. government statistics shows that through all the major turning points that raised hopes of peace in Iraq, including the arrest of Saddam Hussein and the handover of sovereignty at the end of June, the insurgency, led mainly by Sunni Muslims, has become deadlier and more effective.

The analysis suggests that unless something dramatic changes - such as a newfound will by Iraqis to reject the insurgency or a large escalation of U.S. troop strength - the United States won't win the war. It's axiomatic among military thinkers that insurgencies are especially hard to defeat because the insurgents' goal isn't to win in a conventional sense but merely to survive until the will of the occupying power is sapped. Recent polls already suggest an erosion of support among Americans for the war."

Python's Jones on Bush!

I was reading an interview with Monthy Python's Terry Jones about his OpEd articles and came to this bit of question and answer.

Python swallows Bush! (You may need to subscribe to be able to read the entire article... worth your while).

Question: "One of the strange manipulations of language you get into is that the war on terror is a war on an abstract noun.

Answer: An abstract noun can't surrender; it can't do anything really. How do you know when you've won? When the noun gets kicked out of the Oxford English Dictionary? But that's a very useful tool for politicians, to declare an unwinnable war. They can keep it going as long as they like. They can decide when it's won.

Now, you could say that we declared war against Fascism in World War II, but that was only a pseudonym for Nazi Germany. In this case, we have no idea who we're fighting. It's the first time, I think, that a major country has gone to war and not known who the enemy was. Who are they? We have no idea."

'9-11 changed me'

Is Dennis Miller a pathetic idiot or what?

""Nine-11 changed me," he said. "I'm shocked that it didn't change the whole country, frankly.""

"9-11 changed me"

Fire That Burns...

If you do what we say, you will be treated well. However, if you stand in our way, you will be burnt. Is this the message we are sending to the world? It is in keeping with the "you are with us or against us" policy...

Sounds like King Bush will go on another campaign soon...

George W. Bush: "By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well, a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress."

Four more years of this shit

I was going to write something entitield "Four more years of this shit" and there it was, Dave beat me to it... so why re-invent the wheel?

dave's wibblings: Four more years of this shit: "It's all very depressing. Just when you think that the majority of Americans are normal, rational, thinking people, they go and do something moronic like vote for George W. Bush.

After all, he's only bankrupted the country, destroyed the army, and vastly increased the exposure of the USA to terrorism by invading a country which had nothing to do with September 11. He's only presided over widespread violation of the Geneva Conventions, the handing over of 380,000 tons of high explosives to God-knows-who, the trampling of the US Constitution(see Guantanamo Bay) and alienated just about every ally that America has ever had.

He claims to be a born-again Christian, but he lives in some sort of Old Testament world with smiting and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Leviticans, I believe those sorts of hypocrites are called.

I fully expect to see the USA invade Iran before next summer. I expect to see the US army resorting to a draft of some sort by next year. Civil liberties will go further down the toilet and I'm more than half expecting to see the 22nd Amendment repealed, so that Georgie can be president for life."

Name That Bush Scandal Contest And Win Something!!!

To play “Name That Scandal”, simply send Perrspectives your unique, catchy and original name(s) for any or all of the Bush administration scandals below.

1. Iraq WMD (or lack thereof)
2. Armstrong Williams (the Bush administration’s pay-for-play pundit)
3. Abu Ghraib torture scandal
4. Medicare reform fraud (including budget lies, tax-payer funded fake new stories)
5. Enron (including stock disaster, California energy fraud and Bush denial of Ken Lay friendship)
6. Secret Cheney energy plan
7. "Mission Accomplished" speech on USS Abraham Lincoln
8. Valerie Plame CIA agent outing
9. Bogus Iraq/Niger yellow cake uranium claims
10. Bush National Guard non-service

You can send your entry either by using the convenient Feedback Form, or by emailing .

Perrspectives: Name That Bush Scandal Contest

When Did Iraq's Civil War Began?

"Last summer in Baghdad I had conversations eerily similar to the ones I’d had in Algiers a decade earlier. As time passes I’m more and more convinced that the first half of April 2004 may, eventually, come to be seen as the date when Iraq’s civil war began. It’s difficult today to remember just how quickly things deteriorated that spring. As late as mid-February, when I was still working at Al-Iraqiyah television, my friends and I would think nothing about walking out through one of the Green Zone’s checkpoints and catching a taxi to the Kurdish-run liquor store a half-mile away where we bought beer and scotch. Seven weeks later such a trip was unthinkable for a westerner, and it has remained so ever since. The killing of four American security contractors as they passed through Fallujah at the beginning of April touched off a spiral of violence that has rarely slackened in the months since. Those four deaths did not start the conflict, but they increasingly appear to have been a tipping point of sorts. It is a measure of just how bad things have become that in media circles the summer and fall of 2003 are now seen as a golden moment when Iraq was, relatively speaking, safe."

USC Center on Public Diplomacy | Middle East Media Project

A Permanent Presence

This was totally expected, wasn't it?

"Now comes a report in the New York Sun by Eli Lake revealing that the Pentagon is building a permanent military communications system in Iraq, a necessary foundation for any lasting troop presence. The new network will comprise twelve communications towers throughout Iraq, linking Camp Victory in Baghdad to other existing (and future) bases across the country, eventually connecting with US bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan.

'People need to get realistic and think in terms of our presence being in Iraq for a generation or until democratic stability in the region is reached,' Dewey Clarridge, the CIA's former chief of Arab operations (and Iran-contra point man), told the Sun.

The fabled 'exit strategy' may be not to exit. Thomas Donnelly, a defense specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, said the new communication system resembles those built in West Germany and the Balkans, places where American troops remain today. 'The operational advantages of US bases in Iraq should be obvious for other power-projection missions in the region,' Donnelly wrote in an AEI policy paper.

Next time the Bush Administration hints at withdrawing troops, keep these grand plans in mind."

A Permanent Presence | Ari Berman

Until May

Wonder if anyone can hold out until May...

May Is National Masturbation Month!

Flash Face

What do you look like? Try this, it's lot of fun!!!

let me try it myself...

n.b. If I can figure out how to save the damn thing I will upload it... Meanwhile have fun.

Anti-Spam

has anyone tried this before? Sounds like an interesting idea... I wonder whether it really works.

"E-mail collecting robots will be sent in an infinite loop and will get dynamically generated fake e-mail addresses, adding enormous quantities of bogus data to the databases of the spammers, thus polluting those files so badly that they become essentially useless :-) "

Fight Back Against Spammers

Next Mission: Iran

Since our last mission was so accomplished, it is now official: Our next target is Iran. We have not finished what was started in Iraq and we are already looking for another battle to fight. What I wonder is that which part of the Iraq conflict has lead the Bush Administration to conclude that the strategy espoused in Iraq--that is to invade, cause a regime change, install a puppet regime and occupy the country in US basis indefinitely--is something that is a good recipe for the rest of the region?

Is it the fact that we are losing the battle to the insurgents? Is it the fact that the Iraqis now mostly see us as occupiers with designs on their oil supply? Is it because that Al Quaeda has now been able to expand to 60 countries instead of the 45 in2001? Is it because our actions in Iraq has been heaven sent from Osama Bin Laden's point of view? Which part really is helping shape this policy of war? Or is it that in what must be a perpetual war on terror the Bush Administration and its Neocon's members the Terror and its perpetual effect on people right here is the result sought. While hundreds of American soldiers have died and thousands have been maimed, mutilated and gone berserk, the Halliburtons and others are in fact making their millions and are living happily in the midst of the chaos.

So we read on and while no one expected the Iraq invasion, the words of my grandpa comes to my mind when talking about the Brits but it is still highly appropriate regarding the current Administration: "from these bastards, anything is possible."

The New Yorker: Fact

Despite the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, the Bush Administration has not reconsidered its basic long-range policy goal in the Middle East: the establishment of democracy throughout the region. Bush’s reëlection is regarded within the Administration as evidence of America’s support for his decision to go to war. It has reaffirmed the position of the neoconservatives in the Pentagon’s civilian leadership who advocated the invasion, including Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Douglas Feith, the Under-secretary for Policy. According to a former high-level intelligence official, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff shortly after the election and told them, in essence, that the naysayers had been heard and the American people did not accept their message. Rumsfeld added that America was committed to staying in Iraq and that there would be no second-guessing.

Iraq: The Devastation

The devastation in Iraq appears to have no end. Evidently, if one is to give credence to those who are there and see first hand what we have done and are doing, one will have to conclude that the violence we are currently witnessing in Iraq will not end or even subside after the upcoming elections.

Iraq: The Devastation

Despite a media blackout in the aftermath of the recent assault on Fallujah, stories of dogs eating bodies in the streets of the city and of destroyed mosques have spread across Iraq like wildfire; and reports like these only underscore what most people in Iraq now believe – that the liberators have become no more than brutal imperialist occupiers of their country. And then the resistance grows yet stronger.

Yet among Iraqis the growing resistance was predicted long ago. One telling moment for me came last June amid daily suicide car bombings in Baghdad. While footage of cars with broken glass and bullet holes in their frames flashed across a television screen, my translator Hamid, an older man who had already grown weary of the violence, said softly, "It has begun. These are only the start, and they will not stop. Even after June 30." That, of course, was the date of the long-promised handover of "sovereignty" to a new Iraqi government, after which, American officials fervently predicted, violence in the country would begin to subside. The same pattern of prediction and of a contrarian reality can now be seen in relation to the upcoming elections.

Three weeks ago, a friend of mine who is a sheikh from Baquba visited me in Baghdad and we had lunch with Abdulla, an older professor who is a friend of his. As we were eating, Abdulla expressed a sentiment now widely heard. "The mujahideen," he said, "are fighting for their country against the Americans. This resistance is acceptable to us."

Zombies at Work...

How can something like that happen to a person? I am so puzzled about it that I even tried to simulate the entry trajectory as shown in the x-ray (click on the link below) and I just see no way that a 6 inch nail can enter someone's mouth and embed itself in the roof of his mouth without it being at least even slightly noticed. Crazy stuff happens in this world man... Maybe him and the "anonymous lawyer" can get together and share stories...

CNN.com - Nail embedded in man's skull for 6 days - Jan 17, 2005: "LITTLETON, Colorado (AP) -- A dentist found the source of the toothache Patrick Lawler was complaining about on the roof of his mouth -- a four-inch (10-centimeter) nail the construction worker had unknowingly embedded in his skull six days earlier."

Self Centered SOB II... (and I do not mean it in a nice way at all)

This is why I have never wanted to work in a large lawfirm. The absurd life these people lead is just...well... absurd. They remind me of bubble people: a groupd of people who have no life other than that of the firm and cannot fathom life outside the firm. It is simply pathetic when I see these overworked, undervalued, pions in court. Please, someone shoot me if I ever end up in such a position!!! Please?

Just read the first few entries and you will know exactly what I am talking about:

Anonymous Lawyer

Self Centered SOB... (I mean it in a nice way!)

I was laighing hard when I was reading the last few entries on this blog. The guy is way funny and derserves a few minutes of your time... Way funny!

"You'll wish you had settled for the likes of me."

Novoslobodskaya

Just one of many!!!

You gotta see this: photos of the Moscow's subway stations. WoW!!!
With subway stations like these, who needs freedom?

:)

Novoslobodskaya

That Was Then

Well, that was then. Since those hopeful moments, the Ogre of the Middle Easte has cut off contact with Abbas and the business as usual has returned. Of course, no one here expects that the Cretin in Chief will change his position and press the Government of Israel to at least try. So back to the routine...

"Whereas Mr Bush and Mr Sharon had stopped talking to Arafat, blaming his inadequate efforts to rein in the militants, they have signalled their willingness to negotiate with Mr Abbas. He has long been among the most moderate of Palestinian leaders. He resigned as Arafat’s prime minister in 2003 partly because of his boss’s failure to reform the PA’s faction-ridden security services. His election is widely seen as a chance to revive the moribund Middle East peace process. Shimon Peres, the leader of Israel’s Labour Party (who was sworn in as Israel's vice-premier after his party joined Likud in a new national-unity government on Monday evening) said: “A moderate man was elected, an intelligent man, an experienced man. Let’s give him a chance…There is a new legitimate Palestinian leadership whose leaders definitely are against terror and war.”

The Palestinian presidential vote

Set Up to Fail...

Don't you worry... Sharon in working hard to revive the Road Map!

As I mentioned earlier, The Fat Bastard has no intention of participating in good faith in a process which will end up allowing the Israelis and the palestinians live in peace and side by side each in their own State. Israel has yet to even come close to accepting the Palestinians right to a State and there are no indication that the policy of disenfrianchising the Palestinian will stop... So the bloodshed shall continue.

" If ever there were a man that Israel could do business with, it's Abbas.

But Israel, more precisely, Ariel Sharon, may not want to do much business with Abbas, except to install him as the gendardme of Gaza after Israel pulls out of there.

Sharon has shown no desire whatsoever to dismantle the settlements on the West Bank, quite the contrary. And his former chief of staff has admitted that the retreat from Gaza is simply a ploy to hold on to the West Bank and to forever stall the recognition of a Palestinian state.

While the Sharon government said it’s prepared to work with Abbas, it put the onus on him. "Will he fight against the terrorists?"€ asked Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "Will he try to stop this bloody, violent war against the state of Israel?

This is the main question," he said.

Sharon himself cast doubt. "The Palestinians are still not fighting terror,"€ he said, "and while his declarations in the framework of the election campaign were encouraging, he will be tested by the way he battles terror."€

By placing full responsibility on Abbas's shoulders, and by refusing to move forward to end the occupation on the West Bank, Sharon is setting Abbas up for failure."

Read More...

Horney Enemy!!

This is great!! What I wonder is how long the effect of the aphrodisiac supposed to last. After all, we don't want our own troops getting a good "do over" once they go arrest them bad honey guys ready to fuck anything that moves...lol. This is the funniest thing I have read in a long while... Oh boy!!

Source

"Pentagon reveals rejected chemical weapons"

THE Pentagon considered developing a host of non-lethal chemical weapons that would disrupt discipline and morale among enemy troops, newly declassified documents reveal.

Most bizarre among the plans was one for the development of an 'aphrodisiac' chemical weapon that would make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other. Provoking widespread homosexual behaviour among troops would cause a 'distasteful but completely non-lethal' blow to morale, the proposal says.

Other ideas included chemical weapons that attract swarms of enraged wasps or angry rats to troop positions, making them uninhabitable. Another was to develop a chemical that caused 'severe and lasting halitosis', making it easy to identify guerrillas trying to blend in with civilians. There was also the idea of making troops' skin unbearably sensitive to sunlight.

The proposals, from the US Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, date from 1994. The lab sought Pentagon funding for research into what it called 'harassing, annoying and 'bad guy'-identifying chemicals'. The plans have been posted online by the Sunshine Project, an organization that exposes research into chemical and biological weapons.

Spokesman Edward Hammond says it was not known if the proposed $7.5 million, six-year research plan was ever pursued."

Pop Quiz

What Movie do you belong in?

Take the Quiz and Find Out

My result:

Fight Club!


What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

A Non Event

This is a laugh. The man has been sworn in today and before even this event takes place the Fat Butcher has cut off all contacts with his "government..." I mean, Abbas hasn't even stepped in to take charge and the Israeli Government has already made it clear that they will not communicate with him or cooperate with him in any way... Sounds like a deja vu and we will continue to see a non-process in the region.

Abbas Is Sworn In as Palestinian Leader

"In a brief ceremony in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Mr. Abbas struck a mostly conciliatory note and called for a cease-fire with Israel after more than four years of violence.

'Our hand is extended toward an Israeli partner for making peace,' Mr. Abbas said at the Ramallah compound where his predecessor, Yasir Arafat, was confined for the final three years of his life. 'We are seeking a mutual cease-fire to end this cycle of violence.'

Mr. Abbas reiterated the goal of establishing a Palestinian state that would include the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with a capital in east Jerusalem and a 'just' settlement for Palestinian refugees."

Earth's Little Sister

First photo from Titan's Surface

Think a human can live on Titan--of course he or she will have to bundle up rather profusely and have an oxygen tank attached but... I cannot help but wonder.

Similarities...

Bring it On!!!... He said...

Words he must learn to eat...

"BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Departing from fiery Islamic slogans, Iraqi guerrillas have launched a propaganda campaign with an English-language video urging U.S. troops to lay down their weapons and seek refuge in mosques and homes.

The video, narrated in fluent English by what sounded like an Iraqi educated in the United States or Britain, also mocked the U.S. president's challenge to rebels in the early days of the insurgency to 'bring it on'.

'George W. Bush; you have asked us to 'bring it on'. And so help me, (we will) like you never expected. Do you have another challenge?,' asked the narrator before the video showed explosions around a U.S. military Humvee vehicle.

[...]

"To the American soldiers we say you can also choose to fight tyranny with us. Lay down your weapons and seek refuge in our mosques, churches and homes. We will protect you," he said.

[...]

"We have not crossed the oceans and seas to occupy Britain or the U.S. nor are we responsible for 9/11. These are only a few of these lies that these criminals present to cover their true plans," said the narrator, apparently referring to the Bush administration's assertion of a link between Saddam Hussein and those attacks.

A masked speaker with a machine gun beside him delivered his message to triumphant music with the ring of U.S. military propaganda films during World War Two.


Bring it On

Truth Enhancement

Hah... this is a funny one...

Truth Enhancement 1/12/05

Rather v. Bush

Surfing the blogosphere of the regular sites I visit, when I get the chance, I cam eacros this rather very interesting compare and contrast exercise.

Check for yourself:

Compare and Contrast

Too little... Too late...

NEW YORK A new Gallup poll released this morning finds Americans tilting against the war in Iraq, with 50% now saying it was a mistake to send U.S. troops into Iraq, while 48% say it was not. These results show a slight increase since mid-November in the percentage saying it was a mistake.

Last year at this time, 59% said it was worth going to war in Iraq.

The poll, conducted Jan. 7-9, finds 56% of Americans disapproving the way President Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, up from 51% in November. Just 42% approve.

When Americans were asked how well things are going for the war in Iraq, 40% say they are going well, and 59% say they are going badly. This is a decline of 6% in optimism since September."

New Gallup Poll Finds 50% of Public Saying Invasion of Iraq a Mistake

Creative Commons Flag

Might as well have some sort of a flag for the cause...

bushmonkeys

Look what I have found... Can anyone top this?

There is this guy in New York who has gotten into trouble because of this picture of the Bushola made out of little tiny pictures of monkeys!

Ok, I know I do not want to equate our prestigious president with a monkey but the guy is a public figure and making fun of the man goes with the territory. No?

Anyways, some guy had the bright idea to order his picture down from an exhibition because he did not like it... Granted, the First Amendment does not apply to private individual and private functions, but geeezuz, shouldn't at least its principle apply in the day to day life of individuals?

A Bridge in Brooklyn... Anyone?

Will the lies ever end? I suspect the goal is to not allow things get too much worse until the next election where the Bushola can get himself out of the office and let someone else deal with this mess... And if you think we are not going to be involved in Iraq comes next elections, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you!

Illusions in Iraq

"Here's the reality check: As Bush spins delusions, the chaos on the ground has never been dicier. Iraq's Shiite defense minister, Hazem Shaalam, and Iraq's leading Sunni politician, Adnan Pachachi, this week called for a delay in Iraqi elections. Seventy Iraqi security officers--including the Governor of Baghdad Province--and five American soldiers were killed this week in thirteen different attacks. Iraq's national intelligence director, General Mohamed Abdullah Shahwani, says the Iraqi insurgency comprises 200,000 people, overwhelming the US military presence. When asked if the insurgents are winning, Shahwani replied, 'I would say they aren't losing.'

After lying his way into the war, Bush is now trying to lie his way out of the quagmire. Yet his baselessly optimistic pronouncements have only dug the troops deeper into harm's way."

I.B.M. to Give Free Access to 500 Patents

WoW!!!

Could this be the dawn of a viable new era for free software and the weakening of Software Giants such as Microsoft?

Read on:

IBM plans to announce today that it is making 500 of its software patents freely available to anyone working on open-source projects, like the popular Linux operating system, on which programmers collaborate and share code.

The new model for I.B.M., analysts say, represents a shift away from the traditional corporate approach to protecting ownership of ideas through patents, copyrights, trademark and trade-secret laws. The conventional practice is to amass as many patents as possible and then charge anyone who wants access to them. I.B.M. has long been the champion of that formula. The company, analysts estimate, collected $1 billion or more last year from licensing its inventions.

The move comes after a lengthy internal review by I.B.M., the world's largest patent holder, of its strategy toward intellectual property. I.B.M. executives said the patent donation today would be the first of several such steps.

John Kelly, the senior vice president for technology and intellectual property, called the patent contribution "the beginning of a new era in how I.B.M. will manage intellectual property."

I.B.M. to Give Free Access to 500 Patents

Congress passes `doomsday' plan

The Constitution requires a majority in each house to constitute a quaorum for the purposes of lawmaking.

" But under the new rule, a majority of living congressmen no longer will be needed to do business under ``catastrophic circumstances.'' Instead, a majority of the congressmen able to show up at the House would be enough to conduct business, conceivably a dozen lawmakers or less. The House speaker would announce the number after a report by the House Sergeant at Arms. Any lawmaker unable to make it to the chamber would effectively not be counted as a congressman."

The circumstances include ``natural disaster, attack, contagion or similar calamity rendering Representatives incapable of attending the proceedings of the House.'' The House could be run by a small number of lawmakers for months, because House vacancies must be filled by special elections. Governors can make temporary appointments to the Senate. Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.), one of few lawmakers active on the issue, argued the rule change contradicts the U.S. Constitution. [...] "Changing what constitutes a quorum in this way would allow less than a dozen lawmakers to declare war on another nation,'' Baird said. "

Congress passes `doomsday' plan

I don't know what to think of this one... Under some circumstances, a gang of law makers are capable to take over the Government, and conduct business on our behalf... I just don't know about this one.

We're Creative Commonists, Bill

Bill Gates was asked about whether the intellectual property laws should be reformed. What followed showed the lack of intellectual sophistication of this small man with large amount of money. It amazes me to see how money can make an opinion matter in the larger world. Here is what he said:

"No, I'd say that of the world's economies, there's more that believe in intellectual property today than ever. There are fewer communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and movie makers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that those incentives should exist," he told News.com.

First the idiocy of this comment comes to life when one understands that the Beethowens, the Mozarts and all the creative people who have come up with programs such as Linux and such have worked without the benefit of any protection from the Copyright laws. Gates' comment is even more telling when one is reminded that it is the Copyright laws that helped Mr. Gates to build a quasi-monopoly and engage in anti-consumer behavior and to kill competition where he could. Only the Bush Administration leniency toward such behavior put a stop to year of litigation under the Anti-trust laws (remember that?).

Someone should simply ask Mr. Gates to shut the fuck up!!! The Creative Commons are perfect example of people working and creating without hiding and preventing creation using them now outdated copyright laws. Yes, the intellectual property laws are in need of reform--one that would be more in par with their original intent of allowing growth and not stifling it.

Wired News: We're Creative Commonists, Bill

What Went Wrong in Ohio

Well results are in... There is something to say that the vote in Ohio was fraudulent and there is another thing to say that there have been so many irregularities that at least some sort of an investigation is warranted. The right wingers are quick to say that we should get over it and accept that the Clown in Chief has been declared the winner of another election. However, the issue lies in the fact that there aught to be some sort of an investigation to see whether all this allegations of irregularities in the voting process in Ohio is something that should be look into... This is not a partisan issue--it is an American issue.

---------------------------------------------------------------

This report, therefore, makes three recommendations: (1) consistent with the requirements of the United States Constitution concerning the counting of electoral votes by Congress and Federal law implementing these requirements, there are ample grounds for challenging the electors from the State of Ohio; (2) Congress should engage in further hearings into the widespread irregularities reported in Ohio; we believe the problems are serious enough to warrant the appointment of a joint select Committee of the House and Senate to investigate and report back to the Members; and (3) Congress needs to enact election reform to restore our people's trust in our democracy. These changes should include putting in place more specific federal protections for federal elections, particularly in the areas of audit capability for electronic voting machines and casting and counting of provisional ballots, as well as other needed changes to federal and state election laws.

With regards to our factual finding, in brief, we find that there were massive and unprecedented voter irregularities and anomalies in Ohio. In many cases these irregularities were caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio.

First, in the run up to election day, the following actions by Mr. Blackwell, the Republican Party and election officials disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of Ohio citizens, predominantly minority and Democratic voters:

• The misallocation of voting machines led to unprecedented long lines that disenfranchised scores, if not hundreds of thousands, of predominantly minority and Democratic voters. This was illustrated by the fact that the Washington Post reported that in Franklin County, "27 of the 30 wards with the most machines per registered voter showed majorities for Bush. At the other end of the spectrum, six of the seven wards with the fewest machines delivered large margins for Kerry." (See Powell and Slevin, supra). Among other things, the conscious failure to provide sufficient voting machinery violates the Ohio Revised Code which requires the Boards of Elections to "provide adequate facilities at each polling place for conducting the election."
• Mr. Blackwell's decision to restrict provisional ballots resulted in the disenfranchisement of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of voters, again predominantly minority and Democratic voters. Mr. Blackwell's decision departed from past Ohio law on provisional ballots, and there is no evidence that a broader construction would have led to any significant disruption at the polling places, and did not do so in other states.
• Mr. Blackwell's widely reviled decision to reject voter registration applications based on paper weight may have resulted in thousands of new voters not being registered in time for the 2004 election.
• The Ohio Republican Party's decision to engage in preelection "caging" tactics, selectively targeting 35,000 predominantly minority voters for intimidation had a negative impact on voter turnout. The Third Circuit found these activities to be illegal and in direct violation of consent decrees barring the Republican Party from targeting minority voters for poll challenges.
• The Ohio Republican Party's decision to utilize thousands of partisan challengers concentrated in minority and Democratic areas likely disenfranchised tens of thousands of legal voters, who were not only intimidated, but became discouraged by the long lines. Shockingly, these disruptions were publicly predicted and acknowledged by Republican officials: Mark Weaver, a lawyer for the Ohio Republican Party, admitted the challenges "can't help but create chaos, longer lines and frustration."
• Mr. Blackwell's decision to prevent voters who requested absentee ballots but did not receive them on a timely basis from being able to receive provisional ballots 6 likely disenfranchised thousands, if not tens of thousands, of voters, particularly seniors. A federal court found Mr. Blackwell's order to be illegal and in violation of HAVA.

Second, on election day, there were numerous unexplained anomalies and irregularities involving hundreds of thousands of votes that have yet to be accounted for:

• There were widespread instances of intimidation and misinformation in violation of the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Equal Protection, Due Process and the Ohio right to vote. Mr. Blackwell's apparent failure to institute a single investigation into these many serious allegations represents a violation of his statutory duty under Ohio law to investigate election irregularities.
• We learned of improper purging and other registration errors by election officials that likely disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters statewide. The Greater Cleveland Voter Registration Coalition projects that in Cuyahoga County alone over 10,000 Ohio citizens lost their right to vote as a result of official registration errors.
• There were 93,000 spoiled ballots where no vote was cast for president, the vast majority of which have yet to be inspected. The problem was particularly acute in two precincts in Montgomery County which had an undervote rate of over 25% each - accounting for nearly 6,000 voters who stood in line to vote, but purportedly declined to vote for president.
• There were numerous, significant unexplained irregularities in other counties throughout the state: (i) in Mahoning county at least 25 electronic machines transferred an unknown number of Kerry votes to the Bush column; (ii) Warren County locked out public observers from vote counting citing an FBI warning about a potential terrorist threat, yet the FBI states that it issued no such warning; (iii) the voting records of Perry county show significantly more votes than voters in some precincts, significantly less ballots than voters in other precincts, and voters casting more than one ballot; (iv) in Butler county a down ballot and underfunded Democratic State Supreme Court candidate implausibly received more votes than the best funded Democratic Presidential candidate in history; (v) in Cuyahoga county, poll worker error may have led to little known thirdparty candidates receiving twenty times more votes than such candidates had ever received in otherwise reliably Democratic leaning areas; (vi) in Miami county, voter turnout was an improbable and highly suspect 98.55 percent, and after 100 percent of the precincts were reported, an additional 19,000 extra votes were recorded for President Bush.

Third, in the post-election period we learned of numerous irregularities in tallying provisional ballots and conducting and completing the recount that disenfanchised thousands of voters and call the entire recount procedure into question (as of this date the recount is still not complete):

• Mr. Blackwell's failure to articulate clear and consistent standards for the counting of provisional ballots resulted in the loss of thousands of predominantly minority votes. In Cuyahoga County alone, the lack of guidance and the ultimate narrow and arbitrary review standards significantly contributed to the fact that 8,099 out of 24,472 provisional ballots were ruled invalid, the highest proportion in the state.
• Mr. Blackwell's failure to issue specific standards for the recount contributed to a lack of uniformity in violation of both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clauses. We found innumerable irregularities in the recount in violation of Ohio law, including (i) counties which did not randomly select the precinct samples; (ii) counties which did not conduct a full hand court after the 3% hand and machine counts did not match; (iii) counties which allowed for irregular marking of ballots and failed to secure and store ballots and machinery; and (iv) counties which prevented witnesses for candidates from observing the various aspects of the recount.
• The voting computer company Triad has essentially admitted that it engaged in a course of behavior during the recount in numerous counties to provide "cheat sheets" to those counting the ballots. The cheat sheets informed election officials how many votes they should find for each candidate, and how many over and under votes they should calculate to match the machine count. In that way, they could avoid doing a full county-wide hand recount mandated by state law.

t r u t h o u t - The Conyers Report: What Went Wrong in Ohio

Quotable

"War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today."

– John F. Kennedy

Liberty Beat by Nat Hentoff

We are not talking about the fact that the Geneva Convention does not apply to the "insurgents" fighting the illegal occupation in Iraq. Let us be reminded:

"[Bypassing the Geneva Conventions will] undermine the protections of the law of war for our [own] troops, both in this specific conflict and in general . . . [and] may provoke individual foreign prosecutors to investigate and prosecute our officials and troops. . . . It will make us more vulnerable to domestic and international legal challenge." Not surprisingly, Powell is no longer in the Bush cabinet.

War crimes charges against Donald Rumsfeld, former CIA director George Tenet, and other U.S. officials have been filed in the Karlsruhe court in Germany. But if we are to have credibility in the world—and at home—as a nation of law, the evidence of our crimes must be presented and tested in this country through a wholly independent commission authorized by Congress. Call or e-mail or write your "alleged" representatives in Washington!

Read the Complete Article

Center for Corporate Policy: War Profiteers

There is another perspective in looking at how the War Effort is going. From one view the US is conducting a defensive war in which the insurgents are winning and we are loosing. From another view, there are companies who even with the fact that the overall war effort is a loss, they are making billions of dollars for their effort and hand in this losing venture. It is all a win win situation for these corporations:

The Center for Corporate Policy's Ten Worst War Profiteers of 2004

US deserters flee to Canada to avoid service in Iraq

Sounds like pre-emptive measures before the institution of the draft! I wonder what Canada will do in the long run... The plot is thickening.

Telegraph | News | US deserters flee to Canada to avoid service in Iraq: "An estimated 5,500 men and women have deserted since the invasion of Iraq, reflecting Washington's growing problems with troop morale.

Jeremy Hinzman, 26, from South Dakota, who deserted from the 82nd Airborne, is among those who - to the disgust of Pentagon officials - have applied for refugee status in Canada.

The United States Army treats deserters as common criminals, posting them on 'wanted' lists with the FBI, state police forces and the Department of Home Security border patrols."

Bitch. Ph.D.: No, we are not satisfied

Huh? Did I miss something? What is this bill about criminalizing miscarriage? I am continuously amazed at the zeal with which the religious right tries to control women and their bodies... More about this later.

Bitch. Ph.D.: No, we are not satisfied

Jules

Take this one for example. Here she is going over her life in 2004... Just read it for yourself. I am mesmerized!

news: Big news... Six Apart and LiveJournal!

You want to know what young people are up to these days?

Here an experiment. At the bottom of the page to which I have link, there are some 5000 comments made by the members of Livejournal community about the merger between Lovejournal and Six Apart--or rather the acquisition of the latter by the former.

Here:
news: Big news... Six Apart and LiveJournal!

Are you amazed? These kids comment of everything and anything. It is actually endearing to see children growing up and trying to make some sense about the world that surrounds them. Trying to make sense of who they are and what is life about.

It amuses me to thumb through these blogs...

The Crypto Communist

Hah... Who would have thought it!
I used to know this blogger back in another lifetime. When I was living in LA, Robert was an extremely good friend of mine. He was (and evidently still is) sharp as a tack, smart and witty. We had a fall out over stupid things which I do not even know what it was--but we got nasty toward each other and our friendship died.

I often regret the loss. I like smart people and I always thought Robert to be smarter than me. Life has many ups and downs, I guess.

The Crypto Communist

Prof. Goose and His Ramblings: Stretch Armstrong Williams

Prof. Goose and His Ramblings: Stretch Armstrong Williams

I cam across this website several weeks ago and have been since reading it on a regular basis. It gives me an insight into the world of professordom and I must say I like what I read. It is nice to be able to acknowledge that there are intelligent people out there--even though one is surrounded by idiots in general.

The existence of intelligence makes me feel good. Knowing that, in all modesty, one is not alone is a comforting thought.