$150 Laptop! Genius!!!

Out of the Box

Freedom!

But not the kind the Bushola hopes to export.



Bush Loses Election in Ecuador

Populist Rafael Correa triumphed over the richest man in the country, Alvaro Noboa, a banana tycoon.

During the campaign, Correa thumbed his nose at Bush, calling him “dimwitted.” And Correa vowed to reject a free trade deal with the United States, to close a U.S. military base there, and to discard some of the foreign debts his country has accumulated, which he calls “illegitimate.”

Correa’s victory is the latest setback not just for Bush but for the model of corporate globalization that Washington has been imposing on Latin America for fifteen years now.

Idiocy at its Best

Iran issues fatwa on Azeri writer

One of Iran's most senior clergymen has issued a fatwa on an Azeri writer said to have insulted the Prophet Muhammad.

...

Israel Still Suffers From Yitzhak Rabin's Assassination

Let's review the political facts of the last decade, which are so many missed strategic orientations, so many missed opportunities for a better future for Israel. No one could reasonably accuse Rabin, the victorious IDF chief of staff for the Six Day War (1967), of not being a valiant patriot, concerned for his country's security. He was assassinated by a fanatic manipulated by extreme right-wing religious milieus that had launched a campaign of denigration against the prime minister, openly accusing him of "treason." His "crime" was to have signed the Oslo peace accords with Arafat in September 1993. In exchange for the PLO's immediate recognition of the state of Israel, both parties made provision for the progressive establishment of a Palestinian state on the Gaza strip and West Bank - that is, on a territory representing 22% of the surface of the Palestinian Mandate (the former Ottoman region entrusted to Great Britain in 1922 by a League of Nations mandate).

Deeming that Palestine in its totality was a gift from God granted to the Jewish people, the Israeli religious extremists conspired for Rabin's elimination. His successor, Shimon Peres, missed the opportunity - furnished by the popular emotion consequent to the prime minister's assassination - to get rid of those religious settlers who have poisoned the life and destroyed the reputation of the Hebrew state for a good third of a century. Why didn't he immediately dismantle the most provocative settlements - and consequently those most costly in security terms - like the one in Hebron, established smack in the middle of Arab existence by raving lunatics from America?

Quotable

"We are just instruments of the power of the people. This is a clear message that the people want change"



Rafael Correa

Newly Elected Ecuadorian President

HUH?

So all them Lebanese women, children, men and other civilians killed for nothing? This is what the offer was from the get go.



Olmert Offers Prisoner Swap

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, has said Israel is ready to "withdraw from considerable territory", free Palestinian prisoners and release funds to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for the return of a soldier seized in June.

He also said a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip was possible if peace talks were begun.

Something was Askewwww

Bush's Bad Reputation

"If we're an arrogant nation they'll resent us," [Bush] said then. "If we're a humble nation but strong, they'll welcome us. Our nation stands alone right now in terms of power. And that's why we've got to be humble. One way for us to end up being viewed as the 'Ugly American' is for us to go around the world saying, 'We do it this way, so should you.'"

Quotable

Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't.



– Mark Twain

Dr. Kissinger!

The student who failed.

Olbermann Delivers A Special Comment Educating Bush on Vietnam

So What Else Is New?

Report: Jewish Settlements Built on Palestinian Property

An Israeli advocacy group has found that 39 percent of the land used by Jewish settlements in the West Bank is private Palestinian property, and contends that construction there violates international and Israeli law guaranteeing the protection of property rights in the occupied territories.

In a critical report released here Tuesday, the Settlement Watch project of Peace Now also disclosed that much of the land that Israeli officials have said would remain part of the Jewish state under any final peace agreement is private Palestinian property.

Huh?

You don't have to be a genius to figure that out. I could have told you this months ago. And I do not consider myself a thinker's thinker!



Kissinger: Iraq Military Win Impossible

Military victory is no longer possible in Iraq, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in a television interview broadcast Sunday.

Kissinger presented a bleak vision of Iraq, saying the U.S. government must enter into dialogue with Iraq's regional neighbors -- including Iran -- if progress is to be made in the region.

"If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.

Anyone Has Seen a Larger Photo...

... of the Cretin in Chief in a Kimono?

Le Monde.fr : A la Une

Walls Have A Tendency to get Climbed Upon

... And at some point they will fall.

Us-Mexico Border

Palestine-Palestine Border





The Berlin Wall

A Scary Thought

Lieberman Might Jump Ship

So if Democrats take a principled stand on, say, the issue of withdrawal from Iraq or impeachment, Lieberman already has his brush dipped in paint to smear them with the word “unpatriotic.” Then he just might jump ship.

The man who ran as Gore’s running mate on the 2000 Democratic ticket may end up a Republican yet, and swing the Senate back to Bush.

A snake is a snake.

Can He Just Shut the Fuck Up?

Bolton in extraordinary outburst against United Nations

The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, launched a scathing attack on the United Nations Friday.

Bolton was furious over the adoption by the General Assembly of a resolution which said the assembly regretted the deaths of 19 civilians in an attack by the Israeli military in the town of Beit Hanoun last week.

Despite the resolution being significantly watered down at the behest of the United States, and being passing by 156 votes to seven, Bolton launched a blistering attack on the UN, and many of its members.

"Many of the sponsors of that resolution are notorious abusers of human rights themselves, and were seeking to deflect criticism of their own policies," he said.

"This type of resolution serves only to exacerbate tensions by serving the interests of elements hostile to Israel's inalienable and recognized right to exist."

"This deepens suspicions about the United Nations that will lead many to conclude that the organization is incapable of playing a helpful role in the region," Bolton continued.

"In a larger sense, the United Nations must confront a more significant question, that of its relevance and utility in confronting the challenges of the 21st century. We believe that the United Nations is ill served when its members seek to transform the organization into a forum that is a little more than a self-serving and a polemical attack against Israel or the United States," he said.

At Least They Know What to Expect

Falling In Line on Israel

The election of a Democratic majority in the House and Senate is unlikely to result in any serious challenge to the Bush administration’s support for Israeli attacks against the civilian populations of its Arab neighbors and the Israeli government’s ongoing violations of international humanitarian law.

The principal Democratic Party spokesmen on foreign policy will likely be Tom Lantos in the House of Representatives and Joe Biden in the Senate, both of whom have been longstanding and outspoken supporters of a series of right-wing Israeli governments and opponents of the Israeli peace movement. And, despite claims—even within the progressive press—that future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a “consistent supporter of human rights,” such humanitarian concerns have never applied to Arabs, since she is a staunch defender of right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his predecessor Ariel Sharon.

The Petty President

Union Appeals Firing of Bus Driver Who Flipped Off Bush

“Students in several Issaquah School District buses crammed their faces against the windows and waved to the President’s motorcade,” the paper said on October 30, relaying a recent story Reichert told on the campaign trail. “Bush waved back.”

But then one of the bus drivers gave Bush the finger.

Bush saw the gesture, he told Reichert about it, Reichert contacted the school, and the bus driver was canned.

And Nixon Went to China...

Bush becomes second U.S. president to visit Hanoi

U.S. President George W. Bush arrived Friday in Hanoi, becoming the second American leader to visit since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

Umm... Like Vertically Challenged?

Just change the term and so will change the symptom.

Some Americans Lack Food, but USDA Won't Call Them Hungry

The U.S. government has vowed that Americans will never be hungry again. But they may experience "very low food security."

Every year, the Agriculture Department issues a report that measures Americans' access to food, and it has consistently used the word "hunger" to describe those who can least afford to put food on the table. But not this year.

Can't Wait

Here's Hoping

War Crimes Suit Prepared against Rumsfeld

The president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Michael Ratner, is heading to Germany today to file a new case charging outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with war crimes for authorizing torture at Guantanamo Bay. [includes rush transcript] Would Rumsfeld stepping down leave him open to prosecution? In 2004, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a criminal complaint in Germany on behalf of several Iraqi citizens who alleged that a group of U.S. officials committed war crimes in Iraq. Rumsfeld was among the officials named in the complaint. The Iraqis claimed they were victims of electric shock, severe beatings, sleep and food deprivation and sexual abuse.

Germany's laws on torture and war crimes permits the prosecution of suspected war criminals wherever they may be found. Now, the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Michael Ratner, is returning to Germany to file a new complaint. Michael Ratner joins us in our firehouse studio.

That Makes Me Feel Much Better

Flatulence (Gas)

Most people produce about 1-3 pints a day and pass gas about 14 times a day. Flatulence itself, although not life threatening, can definitely cause social embarrassment. This embarrassment is often the reason why you might seek medical help for excessive gas.

When Objects Are More Important...

...Than self-respect.

Missing iPod dispute settled

In a settlement that ends the monthslong civil dispute, Stephanie Eick gave Shannon Derrick her year-old iPod. The two girls were 8th-grade classmates last June at Still Middle School in Aurora when Eick borrowed Derrick's player and Derrick never got it back.

Little by Little

10% of vote a big victory to Whitney

Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney declared victory Wednesday, though he won no office. With unofficial returns showing that Whitney had grabbed about 10 percent of the votes cast for governor, it appears the Green Party will become an established political party across Illinois. "As far as getting our candidates on the ballot through petitioning we'll be on a level playing field with the Democrats and Republicans at least for the next four years," Whitney said.

He is Gone!!!

Rumsfeld Resigns

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigned, just hours after the Republican party suffered a resounding defeat in nationwide mid-term elections, a vote that became a referendum on President Bush's strategy for Iraq and on Rumsfeld's own stormy Pentagon stewardship.

Punish One, Punish All.

Saddam's Unindicted Co-Conspirator: Donald Rumsfeld

Saddam Hussein has received a death sentence for crimes he committed more than a year before Donald Rumsfeld shook his hand in Baghdad. Let's reach back into history and extract these facts:

* On Dec. 20, 1983, the Washington Post reported that Rumsfeld "visited Iraq in what U.S. officials said was an attempt to bolster the already improving U.S. relations with that country."
* Two days later, the New York Times cited a "senior American official" who "said that the United States remained ready to establish full diplomatic relations with Iraq and that it was up to the Iraqis."
* On March 29, 1984, the Times reported: "American diplomats pronounce themselves satisfied with relations between Iraq and the United States and suggest that normal diplomatic ties have been restored in all but name." Washington had some goodies for Saddam's regime, the Times account noted, including "agricultural-commodity credits totaling $840 million." And while "no results of the talks have been announced" after the Rumsfeld visit to Baghdad three months earlier, "Western European diplomats assume that the United States now exchanges some intelligence on Iran with Iraq."
* A few months later, on July 17, 1984, a New York Times article with a Baghdad dateline sketchily filled in a bit more information, saying that the U.S. government "granted Iraq about $2 billion in commodity credits to buy food over the last two years." The story recalled that "Donald Rumsfeld, the former Middle East special envoy, held two private meetings with the Iraqi president here," and the dispatch mentioned in passing that "State Department human rights reports have been uniformly critical of the Iraqi President, contending that he ran a police state."
* Full diplomatic relations between Washington and Baghdad were restored 11 months after Rumsfeld's December 1983 visit with Saddam -- who went on to use poison gas later in the decade, actions which scarcely harmed relations with the Reagan administration.
* As the most senior U.S. official to visit Iraq in six years, Rumsfeld had served as Reagan's point man for warming relations with Saddam. In 1984, the administration engineered the sale to Baghdad of 45 ostensibly civilian-use Bell 214ST helicopters. Saddam's military found them quite useful for attacking Kurdish civilians with poison gas in 1988, according to U.S. intelligence sources. "In response to the gassing," journalist Jeremy Scahill has pointed out, "sweeping sanctions were unanimously passed by the U.S. Senate that would have denied Iraq access to most U.S. technology. The measure was killed by the White House."

These are facts that the public should know about the current defense secretary of the United States.

Where are the Co-Conspirators?

Reagan? Wolfowitz? Perl? Bush Sr.? Rumsfeld? All the architects of today's debacles, are still free and in charge. Of course Saddam is guilty but so are these low lives who made it possible for him to committ crimes against humanity.

Hussein to die by hanging

Saddam Hussein was pronounced guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced Sunday to death by hanging, capping a long and arduous first trial against the notorious former dictator.

Comic Strip

This reminds me of summers in France... Serge Gainsbourg on the phonograph, a little sweet vermouth...AH!

Shut the Fuck Up

All those who are complaining of Kerry's comments and who have voted for the Cretin in Chief should shut the fuck up. The current administration has sent thousands to their death without proper material and to add insult to injury has cut funding for the vets.

So who is really insulting whom?

Fuck...

I have to travel to Texas for a wedding. I can't wait to face the idiots at the airport checkpoints and even worst these idiotic rules. I am glad the terrorists did not hide their alleged material up their ass otherwise we would have had a proctoligist at every airport.

Customer travel tips

Carry-on baggage restrictions for flights from/within the U.S.

Liquids, gels and/or aerosols are now permitted through security checkpoints. Items must fit in one clear, re-sealable quart or liter-sized plastic bag, in containers of 3oz/90ml or less.

Examples include: shampoo, suntan lotion, creams, toothpaste, hair gel, hair spray, liquid cosmetics and other items of similar consistency.

Plastic bags must be completely sealed and will be x-rayed at the security checkpoint separately.

The following items are allowed, but must be presented to TSA officials at security checkpoints if they are not contained in clear plastic bags or are of greater volume than 3oz/90ml:

* Baby formula/milk, including breast milk, and baby food in containers if a baby or small child is traveling.
* Medications (liquid, gel or aerosol)
* Liquids, juices or gels for diabetic passengers who indicate a need for such items to address their medical condition. (A letter from your physician is not necessary).

Boarding area restrictions waived

Passengers are now permitted to take liquids, gels, and/or aerosols purchased in the boarding area onboard the aircraft. This includes all duty free items.

I'll Drink To That!

Yes, Red Wine Holds Answer. Check Dosage.

Can you have your cake and eat it? Is there a free lunch after all, red wine included? Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging report that a natural substance found in red wine, known as resveratrol, offsets the bad effects of a high-calorie diet in mice and significantly extends their lifespan.

Death of a Racist

P.W. Botha, 1916-2006
P.W. Botha, the former face of white South Africa who served as president at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle, died Oct. 31 at the age of 90.