Duct Tape Blues

Is the new Georgia Russian confrontation an election ploy?

2008-08-22T17:57:00.003-05:00

Mr. President,
If I was a suspicious person with my own tin foil hat, I could pull together a pretty good scenario explaining America’s part in the Russian invasion of Georgia.

I thought about this as I pondered when another timely election-driven terror alert was coming out. I have been used to so many false alarms about increased “chatter” around every election that I don’t have to look at the calendar to figure out that it is that time in the congressional calendar to get themselves re-elected. I always look forward to Fox news special Armageddon-style computer generated graphic alerts.

As long as alarming news about a potential terrorist attack is present in the voters minds, it has to be good for at least five percentage points in favor of any Republicans running for office.

The mindset for war has changed very little over the years. Hitler’s number two man said it the best.

"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany.  That is understood.
But it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along to fight a war, ... Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.   All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." -- Hermann Goering

Under your leadership the Republican Party has found multiple ways of stoking fear In the minds of many Americans.

Not only did color coded alerts drive sales of duct tape to help seal homes in case of a chemical attack, it also supported the sale of your war which sent Americans to kill and be killed in a far off desert.

Right after the attack on the twin towers you helped hype the fear of Muslims and all arabs in general. It was later expanded to include fear of illegal immigrants when fear of arabs began to wane.

The long string of cases involving deviant sexual behavior, corruption, and malfeasance involving Republicans has severely crippled the party of conscientious conservatism. Your personal inability to provide any leadership on the national and international stage didn't give Republicans much to brag about either, so fear was all you have had to run on.

Given this consistent message of fear before every election to the citizenry; is it possible that overusing the same fear mongering has forced you to try other means of evoking dread?

Did a Bush acolyte provide some back-channel assurances to Mikheil Saakashvili,

President of Georgia, that if they step up their plans to deal with separatists in South Ossatia, the United States would support them?

And why would you do that?

Maybe it is because you needed to create a situation where America is faced with a NEW evil … Russia. A nation with 10,000 to 15,000 REAL nuclear weapons.

Your decision to refrain from participating in an international treaty that would have banned weapons in space, about as bad as your decision to drink and snort coke all the way through college.

Georgia does not know you well enough to understand that you would only send humanitarian aid and never intended to provide any military support to deal with the new Russian threat.

It is not like you have an abundance of available ground forces to deal with a major world power like Russia.

The new cold war is perfect way to raise the fear level and give Mc Cain and other Republicans a bump in their ratings.

And all it cost was a few thousand Georgian and South Ossatian lives. After killing thousands upon thousands of Iraqis what's a few thousand more lives?

Is this outbreak between Russia and Georgia a planned sacrifice the world needed to make to keep Republicans in power?

Like I said earlier, If I wore a tin foil hat this might make a lot of sense to me.

From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: August 19, 2008 11:43:51 PM CDT
To: guzmatom@mac.com
On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.

We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.

Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

Lame speech from a lame president

2008-01-31T17:41:00.001-06:00

Mr. President,
Your lame State of the Union speech was a perfect match for your lame duck presidency, junior.

It was an anti-climatic strange hourlong rehash of recycled themes from your older speeches. And to make it even more bizarre, there is ample evidence that each so-called successful item you brought up has proven to be an outright failure.

Political analysts were amazed you would take such a lazy unthoughtful way to pull together your last SOTU speech.

Yes junior it was an embarrassing litany of oh so many failed initiatives

Anyone else would have been embarrassed to bring up so many failed initiatives, anyone else would have tried to bring hope to a nation, but we don't have just anyone as our president; we have you.

There was one good aspect to your speech. Bringing up so many of the failures which you enacted through innuendo, fear and outright falsehoods, it was actually cathartic to hear them all at once.

You took us down memory lane, and we reminisced about how many times you have politicized everything you have ever done.

I hope you didn't repeat the same old recycled material with hopes that you can get us to believe black is white, the surge is successful, and the economy is just fine. Because if you did ...you failed.

The commentators were just giddy about how easy it was to judge just how forgettable a speech you had just given.

Anyone else who would have had exhibited that kind of bizarre behavior, would have been immediately medicated and shuttered into a quiet institution somewhere.

At least this State of the Union marks the last time we have to hear your deluded visions.

It was, however, an important milestone as the clock winds down to the end of the "dark times" in America.

From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: January 29, 2008 12:58:02 AM CST
To: guzmatom@mac.com

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.

We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.

Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

Please please Turkey, don't invade Iraq to kill terrorists!

2007-11-07T00:35:00.001-06:00

Mr. President,

I didn't just hear you beg Turkey not to attack the Kurdish rebels in Northern Iraq did I?
Did you beg, " Please please don't attack the Kurds!"

Karma is a bitch junior.

Where are all your friends now? As one country after another drops out of the Iraq occupation, your coalition of the willing has morphed into a coalition of mercenaries. It was the only way you could avoid a military draft.

Britain pulled out thousands of their soldiers and threatening to remove the rest next year.

A tumultuous political course of events in Japan has put their new Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in an embarrassing position which hastened the removal of their naval support in Afghanistan.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh India is on the verge of giving in to his Parliament and negating all of the concessions you were willing to give away just to make them one of your best buds.

Russia's Pooty Poot Putin, your soul mate, is not exactly playing fair with the tremendous clout his massive energy wealth he has. He has used it to wield a powerful club at countries which you had covertly helped to undermine the Russian bear.

Putin has taken it a step further and claimed your missile defense system will not be allowed anywhere near his borders and sees your missile defense system as America once viewed the missile crisis in Cuba.

China has challenged your imperialistic plans for world domination by picking up billions of dollars of the debt you created and have used the money from all those Wal Mart lead-tainted toys to improve their military, enhance their ability to shoot down satellites, significantly increase their alliance with Iran, Venezuela, and participate with Russia in joint military exercises. I guess you shouldn't have made such a public show of giving the Dali Lama the Medal of Freedom. The next day China pulled out of planned international strategy session and summoned the U.S. ambassador to give him a good tongue lashing and not in a good way, over the incident.

Even the land that brought us freedom fries slapped your ex secretary of defense around when Rumsfield had to recently high-tail it out of France. He was in "Old Europe" to attend a meeting organized by the Foreign Policy magazine. When he heard he was to be charged for war crimes he had to quickly be taken to the American Embassy and out of the country.

Although you had France's new conservative Prime Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, over for barbecue and he was recently received in Washington, he boasted that although he wants to be friendly and loves almost all things American, he stated that he would not be you lap dog. His constituents uniformly hate you junior. They will not allow him to get too friendly with the pariah of the western world.

And then there is Musharraf in Pakistan your supposedly BFF in the Mid East. He has claimed martial law, dissolved Pakistan's constitution, dissolved the court system, imprisoned his political opponents and shut down the country's news services. And yet your administration has not formally cut off the billions of dollars of American aid sent every year into his pocketbook.

I guess if imposing democracy at the end of a gun in Iraq doesn't work, supporting a dictatorship in Pakistan with tons of money to buy weapons to shoot at pro-democracy opponents in Pakistan does make sense?

And then there is Turkey.

Has Turkey also turned a deaf ear to you like Pakistan? Have your pleas to ask Turkey to resist attacking the Kurds in Iraq hit a stone wall? The people in Turkey are pissed and their legislature voted to allow Turkish troops to do whatever they have to do to stop the Kurdish faction hiding in Northern Iraq.

The best you may be able to negotiate is to ask them to limit their incursion in Iraq, target the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) insurgents and attack enemy compounds with their air force. All you can offer them is money, intelligence (for whatever that is worth) and to politic with France to get them into the EU.

Coincidentally, the terrain where the PKK hide out looks a lot like the rough mountainous areas where Osama is supposed to be.

Is any to this sinking in yet junior? Are you perhaps noticing a trend? Nahhh.

But I certainly see a pattern. It is either bombs, bullets or pay offs.

If you can't bomb or kill your way to get something you want, your only other negotiating technique seems to be to pay people off. You pay billions to Pakistan, pay Turkey to stay out of Iraq and you pay mercenaries in Iraq to shoot first and pay off the survivors later. P.S. They may want a raise now that the dollar has dropped to an all-time low.

By the way Cheney has really aged over the last seven years. He even looks worse than you do. He really looks like shit. It would be a real shame if he died on you, while he was in office. Isn't he getting the proper medical help at those undisclosed locations to keep him alive, at least until the end of your term?

A huge success

2007-09-12T21:08:00.000-05:00

Mr. President,

How many more soldiers are going to die as you keep
kicking the can down the road onto the lap of the next
president?

For soldiers serving in Iraq, your plan to drag the war
on, must give the phrase ‘dying to please’ a
whole new meaning.

Democrats have been severely chastised for not following
up on the American people’s wishes to bring this
horrendous war to an end.

Some Democrats believe that they need to do this slowly,
intelligently or risk a second republican era of deadly
errors.

Do they feel they need a well thought out, solid plan to
deal with the backlash the GOP will incite, before they
act aggressively towards withholding funds or are they
just chicken?

Now Patraeus; he's not chicken and he is a good Bush
soldier, just like Colin Powell . They were both
credible, which is why you use them.

The lions at the coliseum were prepared for the
cherry-picked information your General used to claim
progress. The GAO, UN, British and Iraqis themselves have
said the surge was a failure and the political solution
is as far off as it has ever been.

Patraeus is not playing to most of the American public.
Their hearts are already hardened against you and your
war. He knows his target audience is a small group of
evangelists in a desperate effort to persuade them to
continue their support for bushie-Republicans up for the
run of their lives in 08’.

In the mean time the Democrats questioning Patraeus had a
field day picking the general's comments apart. They have
to vent on someone. They are powerless to do much of
anything else unless they grow a spine and agree to stop
funding the madness.

But if they do unite and attract some republican support,
they risk the powerful wrath of the right-wing machine
which will deftly try to slice them to pieces. Democrats
will be called traitors, and cowards in the ‘face
of victory’.

The Democrats may feel they could ‘OWN’ the
war if they do not have a good strategy for countering
the powerful right-wing media machine.

If the Republicans are good at anything it is destroying
things and people.

Take Rummy for example he destroyed Iraq but yet he still
able to pick up where dead-eye-Dick Cheney’s
enthusiastic and rosy outlook had left off by pronouncing
Afghanistan a huge success.

In the interview, he just gave at his
ranch near Taos, N.M. he also claimed that his
Department of Defense is not responsible for any
failures in Iraq or in Afghanistan.’ That's a
funny thing to say after claiming his effort to be so
successful.

NEW YORK -- In an interview billed as his first
since leaving the top Pentagon post, Donald Rumsfeld
calls Afghanistan 'a big success,' but says U.S.
efforts in Iraq are hampered by the failure of Iraq's
government to establish a foundation for democracy.
The article went on to say
you don’t call him anymore and he does not miss
you. Rumsfeld said he couldn't recall the last time you
called him. He was also asked about you.

'Do you miss him?' 'Um, no,' Rumsfeld said.
Rummy
has not allowed any grass grow under his feet, he is now
part of a think tank. How low was the bar
lowered for Rummy to get into that
club?

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Former U.S. Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld has joined the Hoover
Institution at Stanford University as a visiting fellow
and will serve on a task force focused on issues
pertaining to ideology and terror, the California think
tank said on Friday.

What can I say about Rummy? You can take the man out of
the land of delusions, but you can’t take the
delusions out of the man.

I am sad to hear the bad news about the Japanese Prime
Minister. But since you have a well established
reputation for turning everything you touch into shit,
it is not surprising to hear that one more of your
loyal war-buddies had to resign because he supported
you.

TOKYO: The U.S. ambassador to Japan urged the
government there Wednesday to extend its mission in
support of the U.S.-led military operation in Iraq
— a mission that has split Japanese public
opinion.

The lap where the ex- Prime Minister Tony Blair sat, is
still warm and now you have to contend with
losing another
Bush-ass-kisser, Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on
Wednesday he was resigning because there would be a
better chance of continuing Japan's support for U.S.
military operations in Afghanistan under a new
leader.'I determined today that I should resign,' Abe
told a news news conference at his official residence
in Tokyo. 'We should seek a continued mission to fight
terrorism under a new prime minister.'

At least those Prime Ministers had a choice to follow
your lead. The same can’t be said for those young
soldiers you keep ordering into Iraq’s shooting
gallery.

From:
comments@whitehouse.gov
Date:
September 12, 2007 3:59:42
AM CDT
To:
guzmatom@mac.com

On behalf of
President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.

We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your
suggestions.

Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White
House cannot respond to every message.

Thank you again for taking the time to write."

(Via .)

When you squeeze too hard; the truth is bound to come out

2007-09-11T04:08:00.001-05:00

Mr. President,

Your legendary grip on information has some inherent problems junior.

The tighter the grip, and the more outrageous your actions are, the more pressure some people feel to get important information out, hence, we get a ton of tell-all books and scores of unnamed sources are spurting out information all over the place.

Over the years, you have provided conspiracy theorists lots of tasty bits to munch on. One early theory was that the real reason you invaded Iraq was to secure their oil fields for your own purposes.

These conspiracy nuts are something else. But on the other hand if you leave a monkey alone with a word processor long enough, they will eventually type something that is true. And even a broken wind-up clock is correct twice a day, right?

I have a word processor so let me espouse my own theory here. Given todays news it seems more probable that Cheney’s secret energy policy set the framework for neo-conservatives’ plan for American imperialism. And that meant you had to invade Iraq to get access to their vast oil reserves.

Before the invasion you stirred up the fact that Saddam had sold oil under the table despite the embargo the UN had imposed on Iraq. Several people have been investigated from several countries including people from the United States.

From: Reuters news service.
“NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prosecutors promised on Monday to prove that Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government, earning him a privileged position in Iraq."
"Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Miller told jurors at opening arguments of Wyatt's trial that prosecutors would present photos, audio tapes, bank records, U.N. records, and Iraqi government records proving Wyatt paid kickbacks to win Iraqi oil contracts.”

This last Friday another oil man from Texas and a long time Bush supporter picked up where Wyatt left off.

By BLOOMBERG NEWS
“The Hunt Oil Company of Dallas has become the first international company to receive permission to drill for oil in the Kurdistan region of Northern Iraq since the local government issued an oil-and-gas law last month.”

In January 2006, Mr. Hunt was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board in Washington, D.C."

Something fishy is going on here junior. I suppose you hope no one will notice the dispiriting coincidence that on the eve of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that one of your close Texas oil buddies has just secured the rights to drill for oil in Iraq.

All we had before this was very strong suspicions. The evidence such as this oil contract to Hunt is nailing that suspicion down.

Loyal Fox viewers won’t acknowledge any of this of course, because they love you no matter what you do to them.
Although your poor supporters are suffering the same lack of freedoms and disastrous economic policies like the rest of us, Fox bushies have the mindset of an abused spouse.

Abused spouses keep going back to their abusers regardless of the number of times they get beat up. So you always have that going for you.

The rest of us can see you for what you are and what you are really doing to our democracy and what you have done to Iraq.

Hiding behind General Patreus like hiding behind Colin Powell will not get you very far with the average American anymore. You have been caught lying to us too often and too many dots are popping up which ordinary people can now connect for themselves. The resulting picture is anything but flattering for your administration and your legacy.

Speaking about your administration, your original cabinet has been so decimated, that by the end of you term you may be able to have a going away party in a phone booth.

Is anyone keeping track of how many Republicans have left your administration through indictments, convictions, or are under investigation? The good bad and the ugly are leaving the U.S.S. Bush Shit.

Senator Hagel, John Warner and Wayne Allard have announced that they too, are retiring and will not seek re-election. These high-powered, well-respected Republican senators have suddenly decided to opt out of government service.

None of these senators had given anyone any prior inkling that they were leaving up until now.

Why now? We can only guess. Do they believe their party’s conservative ideals have been hijacked by the extreme right wing fanatics that you put in charge? Are they just sick of the combative politics you brought to Congress? Did they want to spend more time with their families? What ever it was it had to have been significant for people with such long service to our country to suddenly announce they are quitting.

Regardless of the reasons, their refusal to run again, adds to the GOP burden for this election cycle. This is just one more ominous note in the Republican party’s 2008 swan song.

Every week you have a new headache to deal with. It just sucks being you doesn't it?
Senator Craig said he had his fingers crossed when he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after he was caught soliciting gay sex in Minneapolis, so it didn't count.

Your Texas oil buddy's deal for Iraq oil, all-but-confirms the fact who benefits from your war besides Halliburton; and it further adds to the suspicion that you are despicable enough to trade American and Iraqi blood for oil.

Today’s General Patraeus report is not going to fool many people, except the ones that want to be fooled. The pre-approved bush-message he espoused was a pretty transparent stop-gap measure; a life buoy to keep GOP congressmen up for re-election afloat and a horrendous reason to keep our soldiers in harms way. Nothing will get better until the Iraqi government coalesces into a unified body. And Iraq will not get that opportunity as long as we are used as a crutch.

Didn’t General Patraeus learn anything from Colin Powell’s now-infamous UN speech?

From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: September 11, 2007 12:16:19 AM CDT
To: guzmatom@mac.com

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.

We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.

Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

No End In Sight - The Huffington Post

2007-09-04T17:48:00.001-05:00

No End In Sight - The Huffington Post: ""

(Via .)

Foreign policy game score is “British sanity” 2 “Bush madness” 1

2007-09-04T16:32:00.000-05:00

Mr. President,

The British finally got even with you. After years of ignoring the British, they have finally settled the course of their military involvement in Iraq for themselves.

The new Prime Minister of England, Gordon Brown is making his own statement on your war. He doesn’t seem to be of the same pedigree as Tony Blair.

Although the new Prime Minister accepted your invitation to visit you at Camp David recently, Gordon Brown apparently didn’t walk away with any particular shine to your debacle in Iraq.

Blair didn’t lose his position because he wasn’t pretty, he lost it because he supported you blindly and received nothing for England in return.

So Brown has taken the British involvement in the Iraq war into his own hands. and the British are “beating feet out of town” as they leave Basra. They have turned over Barsa to the local militants.

It was tough for you to say anything in return but to make it appear as if it were part of your plan all along and say that you are considering the reduction of troops yourself.

Yeah, yeah, that’s the ticket, “We are going to reduce the troops too.” “We planned for the British to leave … we actually told them they should leave.” “It was our idea!”

The British have also requested that you withdraw your troops from Helmand Province in Afghanistan because your apparent indiscriminate aerial bombing has killed scores of innocent men women and children thus undoing all the good will the British had accomplished in the area.

Where do the British get off like that?

Iraq is safe, Fox TV said so, and so have the Republican Congressmen; even the ones whose plane had to recently take evasive action to duck some missiles that were fired at them as they left the Baghdad airport.

So that begs the question, why did you sneak into Iraq again? If it is as secure as you say it is, why don’t you pre-announce your visits? I was also kind of disappointed that you didn’t parachute into Anbar’s Military Air Base.

Hasbro or Mattel could have sold us a lead-painted “Parachuting Bush” figurine to match the “Bush Fighter pilot.”

Hell; In 1992 your daddy went skydiving in Yuma Arizona and then again over College Station, Texas to celebrate his 80th birthday. If you really wanted to show the nation what a hero you are and show up your daddy at the same time, you could have sky dived into Anbar.

Well at least you didn’t have a “Mission Accomplished” banner this time.

At Basra there were no victory banners flying in the sky as British tanks covered the British retreat to the outskirts of the city.

Indeed, the insurgent Shia militia from the Mahdi Army took over the base shortly after the British forces formally handed control to Iraqi police.

There is no doubt you will be tempted to back fill Basra with more mercenaries; I mean contractors.

The military may be stretched to the limit, but the taxpayers can ante up for more high-priced contractors to take over the fighting at Basra should it flair up.

It is estimated that you have as many contractors performing military activities as we have military personnel in the country, so what is a few hundred more here and there to handle Basra too?

Back in April of this year Congress heard that 127,000 people are working in Iraq under Defense Department contracts.

Although you have been embarrassed into even discussing a cut back; it is nice to see the British finally speak up for themselves.

Stiff upper lip junior, it’s time to take it and go on to Australia where the Sydney population are just overjoyed that your visit has caused the city to be walled off and three of the busiest train stations and the busiest ferry terminal in Australia will all be closed during your stay.

Face it buddy, you are a leper, and your Australian brother-in-arms, John Howard will suffer in the polls for visiting his country. With friends like you who needs Al Queda.

The Australian election will be held on January 19, 2008.

As of August 1, according to the Angus Reid Global Monitor the Australian Labor Party (ALP) is leading at 54 per cent while Howard’s Liberal Party is at 46 per cent. Your visit to Australia will pretty much sink your buddy Howard, just as you will sink any Republican you buddy up with for the 2008 elections.

Midas, according to Greek mythology, was given a unique ability by Dionysus; the power to turn everything he touched into gold. Your career as President of the United States has been marked with so many serial failures of leadership and intellect that I would not be surprised if one day soon, the word “Bush,” will be synonymous as someone whose touch turns everything he touches into shit.

Red Sweater Blog - Red Sweater Acquires MarsEdit

2007-02-27T02:22:00.000-06:00

Red Sweater Blog - Red Sweater Acquires MarsEdit: "« Cocoa-Java Porting Step 2: Life Support
MarsEdit 1.1.3 »
Red Sweater Acquires MarsEdit
February 22nd, 2007
You read that right, no need to run for another cup of coffee. MarsEdit, the kick-ass, intuitive web-publishing powerhouse which I’ve been using to write entries here since I started blogging almost two years ago, is now part of the Red Sweater family of products. What an exciting day!

This is the first time I’ve clicked ‘Send to Weblog’ since the acquisition was completed. It was as easy as it ever was, but now I get to share in the pride of that ease. Man, that felt good.

Check out the press release, and be sure to send it along to your favorite news editor or blogger. I know I will! Also be sure to check out the nifty Q&A session Brent Simmons (original developer of MarsEdit) and I took part in, to help put the acquisition into perspective.

This is a classic ‘everybody wins’ situation. Users are going to see a lot more development activity, Brent and NewsGator are happy "

(Via .)

We had secret Prisons, you don't say!

2006-09-06T22:40:00.000-05:00

Bush admits the CIA runs secret prisons (AP)

AP - President Bush on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that the CIA runs secret prisons overseas and said tough interrogation forced terrorist leaders to reveal plots to attack the United States and its allies.

Who would have guessed it?

technorati tags:Bush, CIA, prisons

"Just like Mike" is so 80's, you want to be "Just like Hu" (Jintao)!

2006-06-28T00:15:00.001-05:00

"Just like Mike" is so 80's, you want to be "Just like Hu" (Jintao)!: "
Mr. President,
The main stream medium is just pushing nationalistic pride so much today its ready to bust its buttons. Its just overflowing red white and blue everywhere today and its not even July.

Did Murdoch buy MSNBC? Today, their web site had several articles such as 'Being an American' 'Take a sample U.S. citizenship test' 'America tops patriotism poll.' If you couple these articles with the flag-burning bill before the Senate, it makes one wonder if wearing arm bands and brown shirts will be the in-thing this summer and autumn.

Meanwhile the Senate's timely proposal to make it unlawful to burn the flag and the unmerciful right-wingnut attacks on the New York Times for disclosing information most people already knew about, is indicative of the continuing assault on the Constitution.

If we pass this flag-burning bill we will join other bastions of democracies in the world such as Cuba, Saudi Arabia and China. None of the other western nations have laws which forbid flag-burning.

If you use these countries as models for our new government you should choose China, because they recently passed a law which also supports your view of the mass media and how to handle national alerts.

Just yesterday you reserected a dead program by the Partnership for Public Warning. They had disbanded in 2004 because of lack of funding until $25 million in funding suddenly showed up only 4 months 11 days away from the November elections.

Call me cynical, but the system you just proposed will replace the comical yet effective color terror alert system. It was comical because of its simplistic basis yet extremely effective at keeping Americans fearful, especially around election time.

The new system is supposed to integrate many forms of communications such as: television, radio, PDA's, Blackberries, and cellphones. So in the near future I may have to pay to receive your bullshit on my cell phone?

What are you going to do, preceed each text terrorist alert message with MOTD TM. (Message Of The Day, Trust Me)?

Like I said earlier I think China is a good model for you. You like King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud's title and power but Saudi Arabia is not a large country. China is definitley the right size country you can relate to. Not only is China one of the few countries in the world to ban flag burning, they have censured the Internet and have a pretty good lid on their news medium. You want to be just like Chairman Hu Jintao.
Yestreday they took it one step further. They imposed some stiff fines on any news media that reports any natural disaster, oil spills, health crisis or social unrest, aka riots, without prior government approval.

Only pre-approved news about bad news stories can be communicated.

Talk about dying and going to heaven. How green are you with envy?

Jiao Guobiao, a former journalism professor at Beijing University who was barred from teaching last year after writing an essay criticizing China's censorship rules said, 'We have never had such a law before.'

The censors regularly alert senior editors which subjects are out of bounds and suggest which ones need to be handled with particular 'care.'

Under the new law it would be easy to cover up their past disasters like the SARS epidemic in 2003 that allowed the disease to spread. And, more recently, there would be no news about the disasterous chemical spill which contaminated river water which flowed toward the major city of Harbin. They can also black out the news about the numerous mining disasters.

If bird flu does break out in China someday, the government, not the news media, will decide when and what the world will hear.

Your constant criticism about the 'negative press' coverage from Iraq, Fox TV and drug-addict Limbaugh's assault on the imaginary liberal media makes a pretty strong statement about your hate for American media that dares to criticize your administration. And it show's your desire for China's prefered means of dealing with those pesky news reporters.

You were serious when you told Prime Minister Tony Blair you wanted to bomb the Aljazeera television network weren't you?

Is it just a coincidence that the three of the major powers in the world, the United States, China and Russia want to shut out all the light which may leak through the iron curtains you all built around yourselves. Reporters from all three countries have a lot in common these days.

We might as well get used to that mushroom-feeling as we sit in the dark under piles of government-approved manure; at least we are not in there alone, there are millions of Russians and Chinese there with the rest of us.

From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: June 27, 2006 10:48:59 PM CDT
To: guzmatom@mac.com

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is
unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response
is an autoreply.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.

"

(Via My letters to Bush.)

What's a good word for a lying heartless stupid bastard?

2006-06-28T00:15:00.000-05:00

What's a good word for a lying heartless stupid bastard?: "Mr. President,
I have looked for a word in my thesaurus to best describe the actions of your Congress and your Vice-president, but I can't.

I tried hubris, outrageous abuse, brass balls, cahones, hutzpa, guts, audacity, presumptuous, effrontery, chutzpah, arrogance but none of them seem to describe the extreme behavior presented by our government.

Take 'Mr locked and seriously loaded Cheney' for instance. News reporters have caught him lying repeatedly about what he did and didn't say about the war through the miracle of videotape. He doesn't even flinch when he lies.

This Monday speaking at the National Press Club he said, 'I don't think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we've encountered.' He added: 'We didn't anticipate . . . The devastation that 30 years of Saddam's rule had wrought, if you will, on the psychology of the Iraqi people,' said Mr. Loaded.

He couldn't help himself I guess and continued to defend his ridiculous statement of; 'The Iraq insurgency is in its 'last throes.'

The reality is that the Army War College in December 2002, warned you and Cheny three months before the U.S. invaded Iraq that, 'The possibility of the United States winning the war and losing the peace is real and serious.' Iraq had been strained by decades of misrule, wars and sanctions, they observed, noting that 'if the United States assumes control of Iraq, it will therefore assume control of a badly battered economy.' The writers of the Army report emphasized that Iraq was going to be tougher than the administration was acknowledging publicly. 'Successful occupation will not occur unless the special circumstances of this unusual country' are heeded, they warned.'

At around the same time 70 national security experts and Middle East scholars met at the National Defense University and then issued a report stating that occupying Iraq 'will be the most daunting and complex task the U.S. and the international community would have undertaken since the end of World War II.' One of the members of this group, Army Col. Paul Hughes, sent a copy of the conference report to the office of Douglas J. Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy, but 'never heard back from him or anyone else' over there, he said.

Like I said at the beginning of this letter, what do you call Cheny, very forgetful or just an outrageous liar.

Let's call him what he is.

A bald face liar. Does he also believe as you obviously do that repeating a lie often enough will become true?

Whatever Mr. Loaded is smoking must have been shared with the Republicans in Congress. For example, today the Republican-controlled Senate refused to consider raising the minimum wage. And this is an election year!

This would have been the first increase in nearly a decade. And they shot it down during an election season!

Republicans said the minimum wage was a job killer? Outside the Washington beltway, in the real world, the present minimum wage is more aptly described as a slave wage.

The minimum wage has remained at $ 5.15 an hour since September, 1, 1997, but because of inflation over time, the purchasing power of someone who is getting the minimum wage today is equivalent to what people could buy in 1955.

Back in 1955 the non-supervisory minimum wage was $0.75 per hour. We have reduced the purchasing power of earners of minimum wage back 45 years in equivalent pay. And the corporations love it.

In 1955, one hour of work at the minimum wages (75 cents per hour) you could buy:
15 Hershey bars. (5 cents per bar) (1 oz. bars) for 15 oz of chocolate
2.58 gallons of gas (29 cents per gallon)

In 2006, one hour of work at the minmum wage (5.15 per hour) you can buy:
6.87 Hershey bars (75 cents per bar) (1.55 oz bars) for 10.65 oz of chocolate
1.76 gallons of gas ($3.00 /gallon)

Despite all the production efficiency made over the years in the manufacture in making gasoline and chocolate bars, folks at the bottom of the labor pool were still able to buy more for their time on the job 45 years ago than what they can buy today.

Is it any wonder the gap between the haves, and the have-nots have never been so large? Is it any wonder there are more millionaires and billionaires and a record number of poor people in the country?

Just today The Washington Post had an article about how House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) made a $2 million profit last year on the sale of land 5 1/2 miles from a highway project that he helped to finance with targeted federal funds. And that is just today's news about how Congressmen use their positions to enrich their portfolios.

Chief executive officers in the United States have never been richer. They earned 262 times the pay of an average worker in 2005, the second-highest level in the 40 years for which there is data, a nonprofit think-tank said on Wednesday.

Another irony is that even the minimum wage so low, immigrants are still willing to accept the money, and the often-dangerous working conditions, as overzealous Republican vigilantes, and lawmakers throughout the country are punishing undocumented immigrants and the employers who hire them.

Get real junior, just how many Americans do you really believe are going to step down and work under the same conditions for today's minimum pay?

So what definition would apply for the Republicans in Congress who refused to raise the minimum wage, arrogance, or just heartless bastards?

Do you remember the uproar over the high price of gasoline? I thought you said we needed to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and we needed to have more efficient cars.

I don't hear much about it anymore, and neither has Congress because the tax credit of up to $3,150 credit, people received for buying Prius hybrids and Honda hybrids have run out. So anyone who buys a Prius hybrid and thinks they will receive a $3150 tax credit, should think again.

We don't need to provide incentives to reduce gas consumption.
In their vast wisdom Congress decided to put a cap on the number of hybrids by manufacturers that are eligible to receive the full tax credit.
Only the first 60,000 hybrids per auto manufacturer can qualify for the full tax credit. Hybrids purchased after Oct 1, 2006 will only receive half the tax credit.

Japanese car manufacturers have already hit the 60,000 hybrid sales mark. American hybrids have a long way to go before they will hit it with inefficient hybrids like the Silverado which gets 16 miles per gallon.

What do call this Congressional stunt; hutzpa or overwhelming stupidity?

How much more abuse can you lay on the American people before they say 'ENOUGH.'

Do you realize that in the retail business only a small fraction of Americans actually complains about bad customer service while the majority of people keep silent and just refuse to do business with the store?

That same principle holds true for all sorts of quality issues, like the quality of materials, and quality of relationships, and the quality of government.

You may not have been impressed by the thousands of people who actively protested your war, and our government policies but be assured you are only hearing from a small percentage of Americans that feel the same way.

Just how far do you think you can go before you hit the often-mentioned 'tipping point?' Are you betting people can be consistently being mistreated like some men abuse their women?

Just remember, some abused women just take it, some women run away, but some women get even.

From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: June 22, 2006 1:27:20 AM CDT
To: guzmatom@mac.com

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is
unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response
is an autoreply.

Thank you again for taking the time to write.
"

(Via My letters to Bush.)

Happy President's Day Weekend junior

2006-06-26T09:25:00.001-05:00

Happy President's Day Weekend junior: "Mr. President,
Are you having a party with cake? Will you have games like pin the tail on the Democrats, What's the matter can't you work within a budget? You know a billion here a billion can soon add up to serious money. The original estimate for the war was $50 to $60 billion and it is now up to $400 billion and that's not the end yet. You know if a man finds himself in a hole he should stop digging. That is unless you figger on someone else, in say three years, will have to take the responsibility to fill the hole.

Size matters right junior. Psychiatrists say that people who have to show off their big cars have 'severely shriveled' and inadequate opinions of themselves. Now that China is growing by leaps and bounds I guess it was time to show off your stuff. I can only imagine what psychiatrists are saying about your mental/physical state when you feel you have to show off your big shiny carriers? Haven't you ever heard that you shouldn't dig up more snakes than you can kill junior?

Congratulations on squashing the NSA warrant-less wiretap investigation. And getting Gonzalez to oversee the Amramoff investigation is as masterful and as his timely involvement of classifying Cheney's e-mails regarding Valerie Plame as top secret.

Isn't it lots of fun when you got the boys and the toys. Ain't nobody going to get anywhere when your man Gonzo is in the middle of it.

Isn't it ironic that Saddam Heussein warned the United States and Britain that he heard terrorists were planning to attack America in the 90's. He said it would NOT be by Iraq but religious extremists who were talking about it and thought the United States should know about it. That will show those Mid East countries to warn us.

From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: February 17, 2006 1:36:54 PM CST
To: guzmatom@mac.com

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is
unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response
is an autoreply.

Thank you again for taking the time to write."

(Via Mr. President RSS Feed.)

Dick shooting his lawyer friend is tragic but so funny. Just wait.

2006-06-26T09:25:00.000-05:00

Dick shooting his lawyer friend is tragic but so funny. Just wait.: "Mr. President,
This whole thing with Dick shooting his lawyer friend on the same day both Republicans and Democrats are asking for an investigation into his role in outing Valerie Plame is just too funny.
I will spare you the obvious puns like Dick not killing him because he prefers torture. I could go on and on but lets leave it to Letterman and Leno.

Junior, have you ever counted the number of times the headlines start with the words 'Bush defends'?
Here are just a few examples of Goggle 414,000 listings although many of them are repeats; here are many of the low lights.

Bush defends Medicare drug plan
Bush defends NSA wiretaps
Bush Defends Abramoff Photos
Bush Defends Iraq Policy
Bush defends goals to slash Mid East oil
Bush defends his goal of spreading Democracy
Bush defends ignoring protesters
Bush defends repeated tax cuts
Bush defends Patriot Act
Bush defends Environmental Policies
Bush defends Katrina Response
Bush defends mining records
Bush defends Guantanimo Prison
Bush defends Major spending cuts
Bush defends rejection of Kyoto Treaty
Bush defends Huge Iraq war cost
Bush defends new budget proposal
Bush defends Harriet Miers
Bush defends Iraq war hunt
Bush defends decision not to assist California with power outages
Bush defends flying away from New York after terrorist strikes

How many more arrows can you take junior before the ship sinks?

Hey nerds don't let the door hit you in the gluteus maxim-us!
I heard you are thinking about visiting The National Renewable Energy Laboratory later this month. Jeepers junior you may have to stuff the audience with sympathetic supporters with pocket protectors to sit at the desks of those 100 scientists from this division, you laid off late last year.
Does cutting $20 million and 35 percent of all the renewable energy programs ring a bell? It wouldn't hurt to ante up before you go to this photo op junior. Maybe you can hold up a battery for the cameras and smile.

It is 12:18 p.m. CST and I have not received the White House's automated response.
"

(Via Mr. President RSS Feed.)

Doesn't time fly by when all you get is bad news?

2006-06-26T08:53:00.000-05:00

Doesn't time fly by when all you get is bad news?: "Mr. President,
There has been so much Bush/Iraq-related news since your heroic trip to Iraq's Green zone to talk to Malaki's mano-a-mano, it seems as though it happened a year ago.

Jurors find David Safavian your former chief of staff of the General Services Administration and top federal procurement officer, was found guilty on four of five felony charges in connection with the Abramoff corruption and influence-peddling scandal. Each of these Abramoff scandal convictions is a ready-made tv spot for Democrats this November to reinforce the 'Republican's Culture of Corruption.'

The army privates that had been abducted following an attack by Iraqi insurgents near Baghdad on Friday were found. Their bodies were so brutalized, their remains had to be sent back to the states to positively identify them. Did Alberto Gonzalez repeat his take on the Geneva Convention; 'no, torture allowed?' 'How quaint.'

Your brilliant five-year plan to constrain North Korea has a few kinks in it. Because of your ego and Cheney's neo-conservative nation building experiment in Iraq, you may get to test your ground based interceptor missiles.

Our ground-based interceptor missile systems in Alaska and California are on alert because North Korea continues to look as though they are ready to carry out a long-range missile test and have declared Tuesday it has a right to carry out long-range missile tests, despite international calls for the communist state to refrain from launching a rocket believed capable of reaching the United States.

Meanwhile three U.S. soldiers were charged with the premeditated murder of three Iraqi detainees as well as with threatening the life of a fellow soldier who they feared would challenge their accounts of the deaths, military officials said Monday.

Your last photo-op declaring victory didn't work out too well. It wasn't a carrier, but you should have put on some camos and a flack jacket none-the-less. Just before you went to Iraq, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki strongly condemned the Haditha murders last November by U.S. Marines. Maliki demanded the United States share files from the investigation of the Haditha killings, which he called a 'terrible crime.' Did you talk him out of his request for the investigation files when you finished looking into his soul?
Fortunately, you did go to the Green zone and came back to provide us with some comic relief.
If you hadn't snuck into Iraq, you wouldn't have held that upbeat press conference in the rose garden and make that smart-ass remark to a legally-blind- reporter for wearing his sunglasses.

The leaked memo from the U.S. Embassy gives an unflattering and unvarnished assessment of life in Baghdad. 'Terror and violence are part of everyday life, The U.S. troops have failed to get confidence of the people,' 'Even the militia harasses embassy employees.' 'It took one embassy employee 12 hours to get gas,' 'Embassy employees have to use code names because if they used their real names it would be a death sentence.'
For Americans who wonder what our government is doing about all this: your Republican-controlled congress is debating the merits of the war. One Republican congressman put their discussion in a nutshell. 'Are you with America or are you with Al Quida?' I enjoyed Jon Stewart's take on this. And I am paraphrasing, 'And next week they will argue if kittens are cute.'

Lots of chickens coming in I hope have enough places for them to all roost.

From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: June 21, 2006 1:45:39 AM CDT
To: guzmatom@mac.com

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is
unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response
is an autoreply.

Thank you again for taking the time to write."

(Via My letters to Bush.)

The best government money can buy.

2006-06-26T08:52:00.000-05:00

The best government money can buy.: "Mr. President,
You could have blown be over with a feather, when General Casey announced sharp troop reductions beginning two months before the November elections. I am so surprised, oh my, no one could have seen this coming at all. The Republicans in office must be doing such a good job they should all be reelected.

The Iraqi army must be standing up so we are standing down. Hooray! We are winning the war!

This will teach those traitorous Democrats who wanted to 'cut and run.' True Americans 'cut and walk.'

A White House spokesman said in a statement: 'The president has clearly stated he will listen to the commanders on the ground. We are constantly evaluating our posture and the growing capability of the Iraqi security forces.'

Deciphering the Bush-language is becoming easier these days. In English it translates into: 'The President has always listened to his political advisors in the White House. They are constantly checking the bad news coming out of Iraq and the poll numbers as the mid term elections come up.'

We can expect more revelations of our successful campaign against terror as November draws near. The color codes and chatter options worked quite well for the previous congressional and presidential elections; there is no reason to change strategies now.

The seven wanna-be terrorists with no plan, no money, no explosives, no maps, and no idea how to blow up a building were just captured. Though the FBI knew about them for months, the timing of their existence was carefully handled to keep them in the headlines of White House megaphones for at least a week. Details surrounding the arrest and captured documents, taped meetings, discovered documents could extend the story another week after that.

What is next? These dumb shits actually acted on a thought to commit a crime. They deserve to be sent to jail for acting on the idea.
Let me ask you a hypothetical question. If you continue the principle, as you have been that if you have one percent chance of extending presidential power, you go for it; when does a 'thought crime' become a real crime?

If someone makes a negative comment about your presidency in a blog or on the phone and decides to buy a gun for what ever reason could they be arrested because they may me thinking of using it for an evil purpose?

If a Senator receives encouraging support to oppose one of your agenda items, would that citizen be placed on a watch list, because they may harbor some potential resentment of your administration?

Just how far down the slime barrel will you and your handlers go to keep yourselves in power?
Adherence to the constitution or American values of past presidents are obviously 'quaint' in Bush-world, so where do you draw the line? Is there a line at all?

There was no obvious line or limits for your flunkys like Safavian, Cheney, Rove, and many others in key departments.

David H. Safavian, your former chief of staff of General Services Administration and your-chief-procurement-officer-turned-lobbyist, had access to $300 billion in addition to $62 billion designated for Katrina relief. Safavian outsourced each request for government services to outside contractors. Most people would not be surprised that Haliburton's contracts rose 600 percent afterwards.

A federal jury recently found Safavian guilty of lying and obstructing justice, making him the highest-ranking government official to be convicted in the spreading scandal involving disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

'Thanks to an investigation by The Times's Eric Lipton, we know that some two-thirds of the top department executives, including Tom Ridge and his principal deputies, have cashed in on their often brief service by becoming executives, consultants, or lobbyists for companies that have received billions of dollars in government contracts. Even John Ashcroft, the first former attorney general in American history known to immediately register as a lobbyist, is selling his Homeland Security connections to interested bidders,' according to a New York Times article by Frank Rich.

The government has become a huge enterprise for established lobbyists like Abramoff, new lobbyists like Tom Ridge, Ex-Attorney General John Ashcroft, aspiring lobbyists like Safavian and two-thirds of the top department executives.

Contracts to rebuild Iraq, provide safer equipment for our soldiers and Katrina relief were all handled by greedy well-connected bastards who took their cut off the top and didn't even provide any accounting for how the money was being spent.

The get-rich schemes in the favor-driven world of Bush-World has bankrupted any morality you may claim. Katrina victims were robbed, our soldiers were denied life-saving equipment, and Iraqi's were denied reasons for hope and reasons to support American efforts for a democratic nation.

But, these grateful and rich recipients of government contractors will surely be there to help keep the tap open for future contacts and provide significant funding to all Republican congressmen running in November.

From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: June 25, 2006 9:02:30 PM CDT
To: guzmatom@mac.com

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is
unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response
is an autoreply.

Thank you again for taking the time to write."

(Via My letters to Bush.)

You're big GOP donators from the Pharmaceutical industry are such a tease.

2006-06-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

You're big GOP donators from the Pharmaceutical industry are such a tease.: "Mr. President,
I am getting buried in drug commercials on TV. I desperately need TIVO.

If I can believe what I am told, I can have four-hour erections, avoid peeing ten times a day, eliminate allergies, and get a delightful night's sleep if I take the drugs they advertise.

I might get the same results, if I were with my hot girlfriend who enjoys watching good porn, quit drinking two six packs per day, stayed inside during hay fever season and did an honest day's work occasionally, but what's the fun in that; where would the drug companies make their money?

I am sure many sick people pay a lot of attention to TV drug ads and to all the latest medical breakthroughs. The shame of it is; millions of Americans don't have insurance to pay for them.

There is always Canada and Mexico's popular drug-runs for cash-strapped Americans in desperate need I guess.

Many of the best drugs, seem to be for well-to-do Americans. More people could afford many of these miraculous drugs if generic equivalents were available except the original patent holders of the drugs and their manufacturing process, really don't want to see that happen.

Powerful drug companies are doing everything to discourage the production of generic equivalents of their drugs.

They pay other drug companies millions of dollars to abstain from making generic drugs, they lobby Congress and influence trade agreements to discourage other countries from making their own generic equivalents as well. And you did your part when you cut the FDA's office of generic drug research.

I hear how much our drug companies say they have to spend to get a new drug out, but they fail to explain how much they spend on advertising and marketing compared to the money they spend on actual research. According to University of Rochester Medical Center the 'Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising is a $3.2 billion industry in the United States' in 2005. The amount of money spent on research pales in comparison with the billions of dollars spent on promoting existing drugs on TV.

The Truth About the Drug Companies, Random House, 2004, written by Marcia Angell, a professor in the Harvard Medical School Department of Social Medicine and former editor in chief of The New England Journal of Medicine explains, 'Most of the research is done by the National Institutes of Health and by large universities, along with small biotech companies.' In other words, most drug research is done by tax-supported agencies. The drug companies charge high prices to the public, reaping huge financial benefits from research paid for by that public.'

The U.S. pharmaceutical industry also fails to mention that they spend an estimated $14.5 billion annually on outsourcing the manufacturing, formulation, and packaging of drugs, according to Desmond Mascarenhas, Chief Executive of consultant Bioexpertise.

Drug commercials remind me just what big hypocrites the pharmaceutical companies really are. News about medical drug break thorough are cruel and give false hope to the sick and elderly because unless they have the money.

What is the aim of those TV ads anyway? Do they want us to demand the medication from our doctors? If we do that, it kind of defeats all the time they spent in medical school, their internship, and medical experience. If our doctor prescribes the advertised medicine to us at our request, it just makes them our drug dealer.

Don't get me wrong I'm not anti-research; from it. There have been some miraculous discoveries about gene therapy, surgical instruments, techniques, arterial shunts, diagnostic machines, bone replacement materials, anti-rejection medications, more efficient, reliable pacemakers are just a few of the wonderful advancements made in the last decade. The war in Iraq has led to life-saving surgical techniques caused by IED explosions. New artificial limbs have improved the lives of thousands of severely wounded soldiers.

And yet to the average American, announcements of new research and medication are all a morbid tease.

The average American won't directly benefit from many of medical science breakthroughs. ... they are prohibitively expensive and the drug companies like it that way.

Yesterday, the Guardian Unlimited uncovered a plan by a major drug company to block access to a medicine that is effectively and cheaply saving thousands of people from going blind. The company wants to launch the same product in smaller dosage and charge an outrageous amount of money.

For example, Ophthalmologists from around the world, learned that by injecting tiny quantities of a colon cancer drug called Avastin into the eyes of patients with 'wet macular degeneration.' 'The Ophthalmologists reported remarkable success at a very low cost because one vial can be split up and used to treat dozens of patients.'

Genentech, the company that invented Avastin, learned what the Ophthalmologists had done and applied for a licensing a fragment of Avastin called Lucentis which will be packaged in tiny quantities similar to the quantities used by the Ophthalmologists and plan to charge 100 times the cost per dose.

In high school, there were a few girls who liked flirted with the boys only to have their hormones dashed after they get the girl in a car's backseat and found out she wouldn't let him make it to second or third base much less hit a home run. They called those girls 'prick teasers.'

I think millions of average and poor Americans would agree the drug companies act just like those girls; they surely fit the 'prick' part of that definition and you helped.

From: comments@whitehouse.gov
Date: June 18, 2006 3:35:14 AM CDT
To: guzmatom@mac.com

On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House is
unable to respond to every message, and therefore this response
is an autoreply.

Thank you again for taking the time to write."

(Via My letters to Bush.)

2006-03-01T14:54:00.000-06:00

What is wrong with Condi?: "I guess you can brush them off like you have with so many other crowds that protest against you; refer to them as merely 'focus groups' and chuckle. I can't even guess how many will show up when you actually arrive.

Doesn't it kind of tick you off junior, that Clinton is able to walk around almost anywhere in the world without a small army all around him.

...He used the politician's standard line to end the conversation with the American Legion's members at their annual Washington meeting, by thanking them for their advice.

...I am so happy to see you stick to your guns junior and exclaim that you will veto any attempt to mess up the port sale to arabs.... There are so many people that just have to stick their nose into other people's business.

...Today's war is like no other so you should have unrestricted powers to deal with it.

Congress is just a millstone, the Constitution is quaint, and the Bill of Rights only apply in peace time.

...If Rove can't twist enough arms in Congress during the next few weeks, veto it like you promised.

...Show them who is really running the show junior and show the country how delusional and dangerous you have really become."

(Via Mr. President RSS Feed.)

2005-11-23T01:50:00.000-06:00

How embarrassing is this? One of Bush's sworn enemies is now selling fuel oil to poor Americans in Massachusetts at 40% below market value. Venezuelan president Chavez has committed to shipping 45 million liters of heating oil through CITGO, a US based subsidiary of the Venezuelan state owned oil company.

I guess our government is not able to handle our own poor people's needs so we apparently need the help of other nations to help us.

Since we can't count on our own government to help the American people will there soon be a telethon held off shore to fund say our Katrina victims too?

2005-10-11T18:53:00.000-05:00

Isn't it ironic that the majority of conservative and independent Americans want science and technology to help them if the deadly avian flu mutates into human-to-human contagious form and yet conservatives feel have no issue with ignoring science when it clashes with AIDS, Intelligent design, and stem cells.
I guess they want their cake and eat it too.

My question is how many children from conservative families will become future scientists and engineers? I guess it will be up to those no-good-commie- pinko liberals to fill the gap within the scientific community to help save everyone's ass in the future.

2005-10-11T00:03:00.000-05:00

A U.S. Marine is killed by an IED in Ramadi, a teacher is pulled out of his classroom and shot to death in front of his students, in Samarra, a suicide bomb kills a woman and child in Basra. 1,400 Maya Indians killed in a mudslide triggered by Hurricane Stan, 20, 000 to 30,000 dead in Asia. After a while these deaths could make a person depressed. Hopefully for us many of these people will be faceless.
After all we can't afford be too empathetic, we have job security, inflation woes, high gas prices and so many other issues to keep us up at night.
Some of us are so self involved we don't even know or don't care about the disastrous events around us , some of us are close to becoming too empathetic for their own good, and then there are some of us are overloaded with information overload.
Our brains can allow just so much bad news into our brains and there's Mazlov's hierarchy of needs to deal with when our basic human needs are at risk. So one would ask where is our government, aren't they supposed to be there for us?
Unfortunately Bush's ineptitude has compounded what nature has already given us and Mother Nature has given us a plate-full of opportunities.
To be fair no one could have offset the damage a hurricane or what a pandemic can wreak on our country, the president may talk to his god but he is not god. But this President and Republican-led Congress have dared nature, ignored and even downplayed probable events at the behest of his base and big business.
Bush filled key government positions, responsible for the well-being of our country with the party-loyal instead of using the best people for the job.
He chose to fill the coffers of oil companies, drug companies, energy conglomerates, credit card companies, and other industries over assuming the mantle of "world leading advocate of human rights" while working with all nations to secure the world using effective negotiations rather than enacting preemptive attacks based on the psychotic episodes of a few malignant megalomaniac chicken-hawk neo cons. The result has been and will become even more disastrous in the next few years for the United States.
Maybe we should move the statue of liberty with that famous plaque which states "Give us your tired your poor your huddled masses yearning to be free" to Canada's Thunder Bay. I can almost imagine future American immigrants arriving thru Ontario with their only possessions on their backs as they are processed in masse.

2005-10-07T21:22:00.000-05:00

The White Sox win and by the way six marines were killed. Tomorrow many newspapers will tell us that White Sox swept the Red Sox. Right next to that article will be another article telling us that six marines were killed in a bomb attack. The juxtaposition of both of these stories shows the light and the dark world we live in.

I don't know if any of those marines were Red or White Sox fans. The one thing they definitely are is dead. Why are we still there?

Iraq is not salvageable, not by this administration anyway. The insurgents have won. All the talk about building schools, voting and the new constitution is just words that do not match up with suicide bombers, IED's, RPG's and a 1000 years of tribal differences.

If Bush thought he was doing us a favor by securing the oil fields for us, believe me It was no favor. He has motivated perhaps thousands of potential terrorists. Each one is salivating at the idea of striking the U.S. with something bigger and more deadly than 9-11. The Iraq war has guaranteed a generation of Americans living in fear.

The same paper will tell us about the recent state of emergency in New York subways, based on an unsubstantiated rumor. MSNBC had this story on their website . Suspicious soda can  "National Guardsmen and police with dogs surrounded the transportation hub beneath Madison Square Garden as workers in hazardous material suits inspected the can. It was later sent to a lab for testing to see if it contained a toxic substance."

Yes, they will need distractions to keep their mind off of the "Bush's legacy." They will need headlines like "White Sox sweep the Red Sox" to take their minds off all the freedoms they have lost and the constant state of emergency they live in just like us.

2005-10-07T21:20:00.000-05:00

A little know provision is sneaking around Capitol Hill.
The Pentagon is hell-bent on spying on U.S. citizens. They have subited, for a second time, a provision to conduct undercover intelligence gathering inside the United States without informing the public.
According to recent a Newsweekarticle. the DIA wants to spy within the U.S. They are also looking to add two amendments which allows them greater access to personal databases on U.S. citizens and to exempt them from disclosing any files under the Freedom of Information Act. All of this is being done without any apparent discussion or debate.

Hello 1984!

2005-10-06T18:24:00.000-05:00

Bush's new I-really-mean-this qualification pledge may soon become, " If someone is charged by Fitzgerald's probe and whose last name begins with A thru K or M thru Q or S thru Z, they will no longer work in my administration.

2005-10-06T18:06:00.000-05:00

Venezuelan President Chavez , must be getting ready to have more troubled times with the United States. Venezuela’s Central Bank director confirmed that several months ago the Bank transferred $20 billion of its slightly over $30 billion in foreign currency reserves from the U.S. to Basilea, the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland. According to Central Bank director Domingo Maza Zavala “the U.S. Dollar has been depreciating relative to the Euro … it was thus considered convenient…” 60% of Venezuela’s foreign reserves are now placed in Euros and 40% in U.S. dollars, according to Maza Zavala.

This comes on the heels of a Texas immigration court's decision to allow Luis Posada Carriles, to stay in the United States. Carriles has long been sought by Venezuela and Cuba. Venezuela has formally requested extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, to be tried for the bombing of Cubana Airlines flight 455, in which 73 people were killed on October 6, 1976. The Bush administration is refusing to honor the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Venezuela. Posada Carriles was a CIA agent, trained in assassination, explosives and sabotage.

Porter Goss, the Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency called Venezuela the leading Latin American nation to be alarmed about in 2005. And the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence regarding “Global Intelligence Challenges 2005: Meeting Long-Term Challenges with a Long-Term Strategy”, Goss classified Venezuela as a “potential area for instability.” Do they mean Venezuela is unstable now or that the U.S. should destabilize Venezuela?

President Bush wouldn't attack a sovereign country for no justifiable reason would he?

2005-10-05T23:13:00.000-05:00

Amazing! The FDA finally PROPOSED that certain cattle parts should not be in cattle feed. Europe has had this rule in effect since they had their deadly bout with "Mad Cow" years ago. I guess we just didn't believe them or maybe our Cattleman Association just didn't want anything to crimp their sales. It is no surprise that Canada is proposing a more comprehensive rule. Somehow they believe in doing more to protect their people. U.S don't want no brains

What's thee deal with the administration trying to get "ahead" of the avian flu? This is NOT their style. They are usually so reactive to situations. Has there been human-to-human transfer of a mutated virus? Ok, I am fitting myself for a tin foil hat, but you gotta ask yourself; when was the last time Bush was AHEAD of anything?

A pandemic is inevitable it is just a matter of time. It could kill a billion people worldwide, make ghost towns out of parts of major cities, and there is not enough medicine to fight it.

According to a government website "Cases of avian influenza A (H5N1) in birds have been confirmed in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Human cases of avian influenza have been reported in Thailand and Vietnam."
Different strains of avian flu were detected in the U.S. last year, and state officials destroyed hundreds of thousands of birds. The avian influenza strain were found in Delaware was (H7N2), in Pennsylvania the strain was (H2N2), and the (H5N2) strain was found in Texas.

Influenza infections in birds are divided in two groups on the basis of their ability to cause disease:

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI): causing serious disease with high mortality (up to 100%).
Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI): causing generally a mild disease.

H5N1 mutates rapidly and has a history of being able to acquire genes from viruses infecting other animal species.

Birds that survive infection excrete virus for at least 10 days making it easier to spread the virus at live poultry markets and by migratory birds.

So when will the Army start with the quarantines?

2005-10-04T19:00:00.000-05:00

There is a movie called "The Siege" made in 1998 that may be one more example of "life imitates art" if Bush has his way.

Even though Bush was a state governor he does not have a lot of faith in state and local police to take care of extraordinary problems which may come up.

It seems Bush is on a "use the military for everything mode" Today he suggested using the military to contain any epidemic of avian flu. Use the military

Bush has also recently mentioned that he wants to use the military for any hurricane disasters Use the military for hurricanes

This may sound OK to many but using the military to deal with the issues a disaster brings to bear, instead of using trained local and state authorities could easily lead to a major abuses of civil liberties. Wouldn't it be like using a sledge hammer instead of scalpel on a patient?

2005-10-01T00:11:00.000-05:00

A lack of Imagination. It's a phrase we have heard with regard to the lack of preparedness on 9-11 and again during the Katrina Huricane disaster. How many more times will we hear that phrase. I shudder to think what would happen if we have a deadly pandemic flu in this country during the "Bush Years."

According to the Sydney news: "The number of the Iraqi Army's 86 battalions that can fight insurgents without coalition help has dropped from three to one, American generals have told Congress, ..."Iraqi Army all but gone

How many more Bush and members of his cabinet or major Republican power brokers need to be indicted before the American people begin to suspect that where there is smoke there may be fire? The Downing Street memos, Frist's questionable financial deals and Tom Delay's recent indictment on money laundering are just a few of the potentially criminal acts committed by members of the party in power and President Bush. Some of the others include the involvement of Karl Rove and Libby during the outing of a CIA spy, passing state secrets to Israelis by a State department official, force feeding Guantanimo prisoners who are held without being charged, and sending prisoners to be tortured to other countries. How much more does Bush think the World and the American people will forgive?

2005-06-23T23:33:00.000-05:00

Country that claims to be democratic has acquired news station in an attempt to exert more control over the news media. If you said this sounds like Russia you would be right and If you said this sounds like Bush's Republican Party you would also be right. Kremlin acquires oldest daily paper.

Republicans acquire control of Public Broadcasting

Why did the FDA hold back on Mad Cow information? Could money be the answer? Mad Cow case goes under the radar.

The Uzbek people recently rose against their oppressive government and the Uzbek security forces responded with enough gunfire to kill between 700 and 1000 protesters. The number may never be known because the United States helped block an international probe into the incident. U.S. hinders Uzbek massacre investigation.

Defense Department interrogators impersonated State Department and FBI officials. Defense Department interrogators must have known they were performing illegal interrogations because they used FBI and State credentials when they went to Gitmo
Defense Department torture incognito.

2005-06-17T01:47:00.000-05:00

I love to watch Bush jump "Double Dutch" on issues. Bush criticized Iran's election process today yet says nothing about Saudi Arabia nor Egypt's obviously flawed governments. Perhaps its those pesky three letters that consistently bias Bush's judgment and behavior; OIL. Flip Flopping

White House changes its tune from "more study is needed" to "Global warming is unavaoidable" as the U.S. pressures G8 members to cut originally stated stricter standards. U.S. arm twists G8 to change environmental statements

Here is just one more reason the world considers Bush's rule of law becomes a joke. Italian reporter Carlo Bonini uncovers proof that a secret Italian police agency and american agents kidnap people from Italian streets and "outsourced" them to be tortured. Just one more example

2005-06-15T01:10:00.000-05:00

Has Bush finally given in to the terrorists? There have been a couple of reports that there are "back channel" communications going on between the U.S. and Iraqi insurgents. U.S. Deals with Iraqi terrorists

The policy of "Don't ask don't tell" policy has migrated to the FDA recently when they declined to answer Democrat's questions pertaining to latest Mad Cow episode and the inspector general's office would not comment. The Agricultural department also stated that the diseased animal are not be a threat because they said so. What, me worry?

The United States helped block an international inquiry into the shooting of hundred's of protesters by Uzebekistan's security guards. This is all despite of Condoleezza Rice's public statements that international involvement in an inquiry into the killings was "essential." Some feel that the U.S. would rather let Uzbekistan kill unarmed protesters rather that risk the loss of an American air base and rendition of Iraqi's to Uzbek torture.Torture R Us

2005-06-12T18:28:00.000-05:00

Republican Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.House) takes a page from Bill'O'Riley's book as he turns off Democrat's mikes when he did not agree with what he heard at a House Judiciary Committee hearing. Republican Sensenbrenner does a Bill O'Riley.

Secret British briefing memo identifies Bush's plan for Iraq war shows inadequacy of Bush war planning and insufficient justification for occupying Iraq. More prewar memos uncovered

Figures don't lie but liars can figure. Bush and Patriot Act supporters continue to cite inflated numbers of "terrorists" and types of crimes, that the Patriot act has helped with. A total of 39 have been convicted and most of them were convicted of minor infractions such as making false statements and violating immigration laws; nothing which has anything to do with terrorism. More pants on fire

Can't we just all get along? After dropping thousands of tons of bombs on the country, imprison torture and killed thousands Iraqi citizens, Bush wants Europe and Arab countries to help the Shite and Sunnis work things out.Bush asks Europe and Arabs for help

2005-05-25T00:43:00.000-05:00

The Press corp grows balls! It seems that The White House spokesman , Scott McClellan bit off more than he could chew today. Terry Morgan from American TV Network began it when he questioned McClellan's right to tell Newsweek what to print. Elisabeth Bumiller of the NY Times followed up asking if McClellan was asking the media to write a story about how great the military is? Ken Herman of Cox News summed up all of McClellan's attempt to ducking the questions and hypocrisy when he said "With all due respect, though, it sounds like you're saying your single anonymous sources are okay and everyone else's aren't. "
For a complete blow by blow detail see: Hooray for the press corp!

Lack of U.S. troops prompt retreat in Al Anabar province. Even though it has been identified the "center of insurgent resistance"A military news release declared the mission a success as the U.S. troops cross back over the Euprates River.
Operation Matador is considered according to the military news but the troops say the "Matador" didn't have the stamina to finish the mission.

Iraq's desert has a badlands called the Al Anbar province and the province has become a tough nut for U.S. troops to crack. as Maj. Mark Lister, a senior Marine air officer said "Basically, we've got all the toys, but not enough boys."

The Pentagon has rejected Bagdad's commanders in the province any more troops so they are retreating from the area. Got toys but no boys.

Syria cuts all ties with the U.S.
Syria has stopped cooperating with the CIA and the U.S.military. Even though they have given up many insurgents including, Saddam's half brother since the war started, the U.S. says it is not enough. So, faced with growing criticism by Bush's administration, Syria said "enough" Syria says "no more Mr. Nice Guy."

2005-05-23T23:31:00.000-05:00

Death chamber planned for Guantanimo
What does the U.S. do after the shit hits the fan regarding the desecration of the Koran ... build a place to kill Muslim prisoners.

Pentagon rules for the tribunals permit death sentences to be passed

General Miller coming back to Guantanimo fresh from of the Abu Gharib torture scene , "told AP there are also plans to build a permanent prison block for those convicted and sentenced and an execution chamber should any be sentenced to death" according a BBC article.
U.S. may build death camp

A year after Bush took office he offered green card holders a fast track towards citizenship to get them to join.
The father of a son who was killed in Iraq two years , has gone on the road to warn others about the perils of listening to lying recruiters, like his son did. He tells mexican youths everywhere he goes, the perils of joining the U.S. military and becoming, like his son, a "green card Marine," lured by promises of a college education, post-service career and fast-track citizenship.

According to San Francisco Article, latinos comprise more than a third of the 41,000 foreign citizens in the U.S. fighting force, according to the Defense Department,

Despite the pressure from pro-Bush pro-war advocates. Suarez carries his son's laminated photo with him wherever he goes, "This photo keeps me going," he said. "I take it out before I speak and say, 'OK, hijo, help me out here. What should I say?' And he advises me." Green-card Marines

Despite Rumsfield's early denialsthat the U.S. intends to build four permanent air bases in Iraq, the BBC has uncovered a plan to do just that, even though it will certainly be used to help recruit more terrorists. More lies, more deaths to come.

2005-05-17T21:36:00.000-05:00

Has the U.S become China's bitch? The U.S. showed the world what we are made of. After all the saber rattling about putting limits on Chinese imports. U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow looked China right in the eye ...and blinked.

Snow said the United States was calling on Beijing to take only an intermediate step toward flexibility for its yuan currency. Perhaps Snow suddenly realized that we can't afford to piss China off, since they are a major holder of our debt.
Snow backs down

Can U.S. deficit start global crisis

Pressure on China may backfire

We have become a nation of cows. Leaked memo which could have Bush impeached prior to 2000, is no big deal in fact newly uncovered transgressions by the Bush administrations have become hardly worthy of a "ho hum" It says a lot about our current values and mood in america. we may have become a country of cows who see this damming information as just another fly to be swatted away while we keep our heads down munching the grass.
No one cares any more

U.S. finds another country to antagonize.Not content with just having "Old Europe," Russia, China and the Mideast hating our guts, the U.S. has managed to get Ecuador pissed too.

While Condi was galavanting about Eastern Europe trying to spread democracy like little Condi Appleseed, she managed to fire off a diplomatic salvo towards Ecuador's constitutionally elected President Alfredo Palacio, a pro-American ally, by questioning the "legitimacy" of his right to office.
It seems Ecuador's president wants to give more oil money to poor Ecuadoreans which is in contradiction to paragraph III-1 of the World Bank's 2003 Structural Adjustment Program Loan.
The paragraph says Ecuador can only use 10 percent of new oil revenues for social services. So Palacio's choice is one, piss off the world bank loan agreement or two, watch his people starve. Rice wants the later, its better for American business.
Another enemy for the U.S.?

All the fingers in the administration are pointing at Newsweek. It is a familiar tactic with the Bush boys. Attack the accuser, change the story and disparage the media any chance they can.
How many Iraqi prisoners did the Newsweek reporters tortured ? How many Korans did those newsmen flush down the toilet?
Newsweek didn't make up the story. American soldiers committed those acts and Newsweek reported it. If people are upset with it they should have chosen a different president.
Another scapegoat for the White House.

2005-05-17T03:17:00.000-05:00

President blames the Republican Congress, he controls, for not passing his energy bill. In a moment of clarity the president said, "Americans are concerned about high prices at the pump. and they're really concerned as they make their travel plans."
Did the President use the CIA to actually locate an alternate fuel refinery in the U.S. for photo op?
The man's plan

Bushee ! You've got some splaining to do! The latest Senate report uncovers Bush administration knew about the illegal activity but did nothing about it and even helped it along. And the amounts of oil make all the other transgressions by other countries pale in comparison
Investigators uncovered proof that Odin Marine Inc, a US company, chartered tankers to ship the oil out with guarantees of safe passage from the U.S. Navy and the State Department.
oops, one more truth uncovered.

Despite myths of Bush illiteracy, Time magazine reported on Saturday that the president can now add I am Charlotte Simmons to his literary accomplishments ; the previous book he read was The Pet Goat on September 11, 2001. while the U.S. was under attack.
Bush book club

Solution to Iraq's failing electrical system may have been found in a Japanese laboratory.
A research team has developed a fuel cell that runs on blood. With the current level of bloodshed in the country it could be a boon to the average Iraqi family. But could collected blood from wounded or dead family members be used to keep the lights on? This bio-fuel may be one day expanded to piss and excrement to power Abu Gharib and other prison facilities in Iraq.
New Iraq power source

Rice sneaks in under heavy guard, congratulates Iraqi cabinet then leaves under heavy guard as Iraq is pummeled with increased waves of suicide bombers and roadside attacks.
Thanks for the support Condi

2005-05-15T16:56:00.000-05:00

Where are the 62,040,606 million of people that voted for Bush when the Army is looking for new recruits? The Army missed their quota in April by 42%! Certainly many "W" fans are within the enlistment age range. Are they chicken or unpatriotic?

You say you are a high school drop out ... no problem we'll get you one, You say you have a drug problem don't worry the recruiter will split the cost of a detox kit with you and you're in like Flint, says an Colorado Army recruiter. U.S. Army now has a recruitment special offer, a reduced tour of duty lasting just 15 months rather than the usual four years. But read the fine print because a recent court ruling ruled that "stop loss"/ tours can be extended for as long as needed.

Stop Loss legalized

Shorter Duty?

Recruiters being investigated

Recruiters don't play by the rules

Merriam Webster defines "rendition" as "to surrender." It seems like an appropriate word to describe the U.S. treatment of suspects. America has surrendered all pretense as a moral country.

U.S. says it does not torture people ... but they do contract it out. Today, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, said his country has received up to 70 suspects where they are questioned and tortured at our request. Egypt is only one of the places suspects are sent to and tortured for the U.S.
U.S. gives up on morality

Retirement safety net being torn apart "Until now, financial planners have likened retirement security to a three-legged stool: employee pensions, personal savings and Social Security." according to today's Washington Post article.

The stability of that "stool" is more unsure today than ever. Gas prices and inflation are eating away on one of the stool's legs while Bush is sawing away at another leg, Social Security.

The third leg is now ready to crumble. A federal bankruptcy judge declared that United Airlines didn't have to fulfill its pension obligations. Other companies now see one more way to reduce costs and allowed their companies to defer pensions to the government, who will only pay a fraction of what is due to pensioners.
Holy Safety Net Batman

Are Airline pensions history?

Who needs a pension anyway

White house starts its spin machine to support Bush's new best friend, President Karimov of Uzbekistan. Even though hundreds of pro-democracy rioters have been killed in recent riots by Karimov's troops.

America has aligned itself with President Karimov, a dictator who makes Saddam look like a evil-doer-wanna be. On Friday the White House claimed that 'terrorist groups' may have been involved in the Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan is one of the countries the U.S. has a base and sends prisoners to, for interrogation/tortured by their secret police. Karimov is reported to be one of the richest people in the whole area thanks in part to millions of dollars given to his country by the U.S.

According to a forensic report commissioned by the British embassy, in August two Uzbekistan prisoners were even boiled to death. The story and pictures are supplied in link (WARNING ... the pictures are graphic.)

Human rights not an issue for Bush ally

What's the deal with restricting trade with China?
Is U.S. trying to protect american textile manufacturers, stifle trade with China or just pressure Congress to pass CAFTA?
Whatever the real reason is, Bush has decided to limit increases on three items from China, cotton knit shirts, pants, and underwear to 7.5 per cent increases per year. China is a major competitor in the world's $360 billion dollar textile trade.

And there has been a 1500 percent increase in Chinese garment exports since the U.S. removed import restrictions early in January of 2005. Are the Chinese dumping or is WalMart overbuying? Maybe it is both.

China may, of course, reciprocate with its own trade restriction measures of american goods.

Film at 11 p.m. .. somewhere, but don't expect the story to bump Michael Jackson off the tube.

Are curbs aimed at Congress?
China gets pissed

Bush ally boils prisoners (not for squemish)

"People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?" Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita said. The May 9 that stated Guantanamo guards flushed a copy of the Koran down the toilet. In light of attacking prisoners with dogs, smearing fake menstrual blood on inmates and forcing prisoners to masturbate, it seems like a minor event, but the Koran is considered 'a literal word of God' and desecration of the Koran is punishable by death in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Riots have sprung up in Afganistan and Saudi Arabia this last week and a holy war against the United States may be declared. So, Newsweek is now recanting the story, but the incident is under investiogation.

Flushed with indignity

2005-05-14T15:20:00.000-05:00

U.S. flushes a Koran and perhaps, its future in Afghanistan, down the toilet as protesters shed their blood on the streets of Kabul and regional towns.
Protests grow throughout Afghanistan with 14 dead and over 100 wounded as word of U.S. interrogators flushing a Koran down a toilet in front of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.Flush twice its a long way to Kabul

Bush gets to decides if the U.S. should harbor a known terrorist or extradite him to Venezuela. He once said "those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves." If he extradites him he pisses off the cubans in Miami, if he doesn't he looks like a hypocrite. Known Terrorist in U.S.

Bolton gets taken down a peg by a Republican and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio raised a lot of Republican eyebrows when he tells it like he sees it at Bolton's confirmation.
The decision to nominate Bolton, has been passed on to Senate but not before Voinovich completely "dissed" him. Calling him among other things "The poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be" Bolton has a bad day

Use 220 or 221, what ever it takes Want to know how to wire up a hooded Iraqi prisoner... ask Pvt. Ivan Frederick II.
The infamous picture from Abu Ghraib of the hooded prisoner standing on a box is known as "Gilligan," illustrated" was taken by a 27 yr. old a reservist from Lorton, Virginia, who once managed a pizza shop. Witness testifies

"If they're wounded, they call. If they're dead, they come to the door," Davids said Friday. "That changed our lives forever, one ring of the doorbell."
According to a Washington Post article the Davids family were fixing dinner when the front door bell rang. And so the apparent Bush legacy of dead soldiers continues with no apparent end in sight. More families get dreaded visit

2005-05-04T23:13:00.000-05:00

News of note

Neo-con charged with spying for Israel
Former neo-con defense intelligence analyst who was formally charged with spying today may also be linked to Valarie Plame investigation. The US justice department has charged Lawrence Franklin a neo-con, and former career analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency with passing American secrets to two individuals from the influential lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) The alleged espionage took place on 26 June 2003 where Franklin passed secret information at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia.

Prior to the Iraq war Franklin reported to Doug Feith Under-Secretary of Defense. Doug Feith was responsible for the Office of Special Plans. A special intelligence group that reported to Vice President Cheney. The group's mission was to glean through all the intelligence to justify the Iraq war. This group also used discredited information from Ahmad Chalabi's as well. Doug Feith's father, Dalck Feith, was an active member of Betar, a militant Zionist movement and forerunner of Israel's Likud Party. This recent incident marks the latest Israeli spy operation since the Jonathan Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the navy, was arrested and sentenced to life in prison for spying for Israel in 1985. It was previously rumored that Franklin passed a draft of the presidential order known as the National Security Presidential Directive to an American reservist who was working at the U.S. Embassy in Israel. Analyst, spy for Israel arrested

2005-05-04T03:09:00.000-05:00

News of Note

Two of Bush's "Axis of Evil" countries have fared well under Bush.They have both advanced its nuclear programs. Korea removed UN inspectors from his country after the famous Bush speech and accelerated its nuclear weapons program. Iran has also defiantly continued to work on their nuclear power project.
Is U.S diplomatic effort not creadible?

According to a former U.S. Army interpreter, Guantanamo's former commander Major General Geoffrey Miller not only hid tortured prisoners from the Red Cross he ordered special "dog and pony" shows with prisoners who had been cooperative, to show how well their interrogation techniques worked for visiting lawmakers. "Olly olly oxen free free free"

Indiana's attorney has been sued for fishing without a license by Planned Parenthood of Indiana to keep him from seizing confidential information without a cause for investigation. The group cites the proposed action as clear-cut case of abuse of power and a fishing trip. "Thou Shalt Not" Mr. Attorney General!

2005-05-03T01:33:00.000-05:00

News of Note

Secret out on Iraq but does anyone care anymore? A secret memo was uncovered recently that proves Bush and Blair used fake information to justify the removal of Saddam.

It says " It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.

The Attorney-General said that the desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action. There were three possible legal bases: self-defence, humanitarian intervention, or UNSC authorisation. The first and second could not be the base in this case. Relying on UNSCR 1205 of three years ago would be difficult. The situation might of course change." SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL - UK EYES ONLY

The U.S. and Russia criticized by the UN.
"We are greatly disappointed" by "unsatisfactory progress" toward disarmament by the big powers, said New Zealand's Marian Hobbs.
The U.S. representative rejected the criticism and tried to turn the discussion around to Iran and North Korea. Annan said all nations must work toward "a world of reduced nuclear threat and, ultimately, a world free of nuclear weapons."
Under the 2002 Moscow Treaty, the United States and Russia are to cut back their deployed warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 each, by 2012.
UN presses U.S and Russia on disarmament

Rural Chinese farmers beat back riot police.
It started as a protest against a polluting chemical company but it turned into a riot which resulted in clashes against 1000 riot policemen. Police cars were overturned and burned. The news has made the small village of Huankantou in central China's Zhejiang province quite famous. Chinese riots

Why is the United States giving haven to a known terrorist?
Luis Posada Carriles has been on the run since he blew up an airline in Barbados on October 1976 killing more than 70 people. The morality of Bush's administration is once more in question. Is the U.S. war on terror only lip service? Is it a convenient bit of dialog for imposing its will on others?

2005-05-01T22:59:00.000-05:00

News of note

Tony Blair tries to deal with leaked information regarding Iraq invasion.
Disclosure shows Blair and Bush agreed to regime change months before and that America will find information to support invasion.

Blair deals with "leaked" pre-invasion Iraq war plans

U.S. is concerned that North Korea is ready to test nuclear weapon. Their recently successful missile launch occurred this weekend, sending stocks down and oil prices up.

North Korea launches missile tests

Train speed may have been the cause of accident last week which lead to 75 deaths and 456 injuries.
Train disaster reaches 75 deaths

2005-04-24T21:50:00.000-05:00

Hateful students or American Patriots?

Minority students from Trinity International University, a Christian institution, affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America, were evacuated to an undisclosed hotel Thursday night after several students received racially motivated hate mail. The FBI joined local police and campus security today to investigate.

Given the current mood in the country, the real question is why wouldn’t more minority students take shelter in more colleges?

The hateful students in the school had a lot of support when they made the decision to write those hateful threatening notes. They are only modeling their behavior against what they see in our nation’s leaders.

Threatening minorities is hardly new but there is something different about this one. There is a foul air emanating from Washington. This one has an air of Christianity and the words “officially condoned” somewhere in it.

Close investigations of political tactics used the last few years provide insights to the problem. The Republican Party has been using divisive "Christian-driven wedge" issues to secure its base. It has been a successful approach for them but there are lingering effects to their approach that has caused a major split in our country. This country has not been this polarized for many decades. It is no accident that the ruling party is so devoid of minorities. Once the minorities have been separated it is only human nature to view them as the enemy.

The total engulfment of our government by Republicans has empowered many right wing extremists to act out. Look at DeLay’s latest antics to overthrow the judiciary and he even advocated violence because he doesn’t agree with their rulings. According to his fellow Republicans he is not alone.

Bush and company has shown continued support for DeLay, but then again they are not a paragon of virtue either. The Bush administration never admits doing anything wrong regardless of contrary information from investigations and reams of reports they are presented with. There is no accountability and the buck never stops at this president’s desk for anything. As for the process of “Checks and Balances” it has become a quaint idea reminiscent of people in powdered wigs. tri-cornered hats and buckled shoes.

As devote Christians aren’t these hate-letter-writing students part of the morally superior elite that has taken over the major branches of Government. Hasn’t the major media been cowed to feed from it’s teat?

These students behavior has also been reinforced by media personalities such as Limbaugh, Hannity, and O’Reilley. These kids have been told over and over that it is ok to hate others and that it is even patriotic to do so.

Next we’ll have people draping themselves in the American flag as they chase minorities all over the countryside. Ooops …too late it’s already happening in Arizona and the flag-draped “patriots” are calling themselves the “Minutemen.”

Minute Men are going to have to train for this job somehow. Maybe they can add an event at the rodeo.

Picture this! A red white and blue F-150 pickup in the rodeo ring with two American flags fluttering from fiberglass poles on each side of the cab, “Save our Troop” ribbons and “Jesus Saves” decals on the back window, racing around the dust after some young Mexican as he tries avoid being roped by a wrangler standing in the truck bed.

If the immigrant can avoid getting roped all afternoon he can win his freedom by getting inducted into the armed services. Everybody wins. The immigrants can serve the country they want to get into. The Minutemen get some good practice. Captured immigrant women can work in the kitchen making tortillas and burritos for the folks in the stands.

It can be set up like a roman coliseum and modified for the American southwest; it can be called “Mexican roundup” or “Alamo’s Armageddon” or “The Freedom Ring”, maybe just call it “The Tucson-Two-Step.” Homeland Security could fund the event and Fox could televise it.

Little cowboys can participate too. For a pre-show the little buckaroos could use small ATV’s to rope Mexican kids. It’ll be great!

Ok, it’s a stretch, but so was the idea of “patriotic” vigilantes herding Mexicans in the desert.

With all these potentially great things in the future why shouldn’t white students send hate letters to minorities? Why shouldn’t DeLay continue with his righteous wrath? Why shouldn’t Christians continue their support for Republicans that hijacked their religion like the Taliban hijacked Islam?

Which scenario is more farfetched: Christians taking back their religion or fresh burritos at a dusty stadium?

Do I hear a Yeeehaaa!

2005-04-11T01:29:00.000-05:00

To George Bush in Rome

How does it make you feel
the outpouring of grief and love for the pope,
and know that millions upon millions are morning
while you are hated by so many many millions more.

What a contrast of white and black.
for a pope who has done so much for good,
while you have lied, you have killed and destroyed
You would not be more the anti-christ if you could.

The people of Darfur are dying
while you go to the Pope's wake
You make a speech about the genocide
and do nothing more while the women keep crying

Do you understand that upon your own death
many people will also come from afar
who despise you, and hate you and will spit on your grave.
for they will remember your greed and avarice war

How sad that you won't rest in peace
without someone guarding your remains.
not because you will be beloved
but because someone may piss on your face.

2005-04-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

Here's to the cooking channel

Just read more on Bush's ties to Saudi Arabia and it makes me ill. The more I read the more intolerable the country is becoming. Taxes are going up inflation is increasing, the country's economy is falling apart and Bush just smirks. I am watching the cooking channel more and more. I am trying to avoid all the Bush propaganda that has infected just about every media with the exception of Emerl and 30-minute meals. I may get fatter in the process but at least I won't get stupid like so many other americans who swallow the Bush crap.

2005-03-16T12:32:00.000-06:00

Wolfowitz, Social Security and new high in Oil prices (March 16, 2005)

In another nomination sure to draw fire from our European allies President Bush nominates Paul Wolowitz, a major player in the invasion of Iraq, for World Bank President.

Bush nominates Wolfowitz
Reuters news service

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Despite the low polls, Bush continues to lobby for overhauling Social Security. During his speech to press reporters today he said "I'm actually enjoying myself on these trips," and pledged, "I will continue to talk about Social Security for the next period of time."
Bush continues uphill battle
Washington Post
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Oil surges to new high as investors get concerned over demand exceeding the supply of oil. The rise in oil prices was also aggravated by falling gasoline inventories.
>Oil prices spike
Bloomberg

2005-03-13T02:30:00.000-06:00

Everyone likes a circus but this one has gone on too long.

During WWII it was loose lips sink ships; in this war its the loose cannon in the oval office that continues to sink our reputation and our foreign policy.

Hughes to the rescue?
Bush is assigning Karen Hughes the position of undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. George's neo-cons have presented Bush with so much bad advice that he now needs someone to clean up the mess. This will again place her at odds with kingmaker Rove.

The Opening act and the main event in this circus was interesting.

Bush sends Condi as his opening act to get the crowd in the right mood. He comes over as the main act fawning over every European leader he can find. Finishes his road trip with a tense meeting in Russia with Putin. It was not a bad performance. As we all know it is not his words that matter it is his actions. Like the old joke goes One can tell when a politician is lying ...if he moves his lips he is lying. That is especially true with Bush.

Bring in the clown.

Rumsfield himself made a road trip where he disparaged himself in one public appearance as characterizing a poor remark as coming from "old Rumsfield"

"Back at the ranch"

His assignment of Bolton as UN representative shows what he really thinks of international cooperation. His timing was also impeccable in Lebanon. He claims credit for the first Syrian protest against the pro-Syrian Lebanese government which unifies the pro-Syrian faction that march in the hundreds of thousands in Lebanon and Omar Karami was reinstated as the prime minister by their President and parliament.

Turn off the lights, this show is over.

Karen Hughes is now assigned to handle more fallout. She must be the janitor that shows up on stage after the animal act to clean up the shit. The problem is that the audience has already left.

2005-03-11T23:26:00.000-06:00

Just when Bush begins to strut his stuff, the world spits in his face.

Desperate to find a silver lining in the Iraq debacle, George has been looking for something, anything he could spin to show the world that his march to war /democracy in Iraq was justified.

Just this last week George waited a full day after the Lebanese marched in the streets which resulted in the fall of the pro-Syrian cabinet, to stand up and take credit for Palestine's elections, the Lebanese uprising and the Ukraine elections. Arafat's death, Yushenko's attempted murder and the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, had no obvious part in the events.

Well, hundred of thousands of pro-Syrian protesters with anti-Bush signs marched in Lebanon after George took his bows and pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami was reinstated shortly-there-after.

I am just glad Bush did not claim credit for the sun rising or else the stores would be running out of blankets, flashlights and kindling today.

2005-03-09T23:54:00.000-06:00

Reframing the war in light of timid reporters.

The Iraq war has been reframed. Not that it matters much. It is obvious that Bush will not be held accountable for anything he or his administration has done. Has the press been so cowed, so intimidated that Bush would have to shoot the ailing Pope in cold blood on live TV while having sex with Rick Santorum and simultaneously pull out Terri Schiavo's feeding tube in front of her parents, before they grow balls?

We know that mis-representing the facts before invading Iraq did not do it. Our media paraphrased White House doctrine for news when Bush, Cheney and Condi spoke urgently about mushroom clouds in our cities like so many steno clerks.

The media has again fallen in line with the administration and the occupation has now become a fight for "Iraq’s democracy”. Our soldiers were even referred to as poll watchers, and counting ballots actually overshadowed the Michael Jackson trial on the 6 p.m. news for a few days.

The election was impressive. Many Iraqis put their lives on the line to vote. We could probably learn something from that. But unfortunately the Iraqi election will just be an oasis for America; it provided temporary relief and easy stories for Bush voters that desperately want to believe their leadership. Bush is trying to claim credit for everything he can such as the first Syrian protest, the Palestinian election after Arafat died, and the Ukrainian elections.

Behind the scenes of purple Republican thumbs, the bodies of soldiers continue their grim journey to their hometowns away from the general public without commentary and maimed soldiers with prosthetic limbs and surgical scars continue their quiet procession of broken bodies and minds as they limp into their homes with the horrific memories of war fresh in their minds.

Under the guise of patriotism the far right have found their champion Bush and fitted him with a Goebbels-inspired-Republican –propaganda machine. His cronies have proven that they could use our media to talk their way into people's homes, assault their daughters, steal their savings, burn their home down and still get a pat on the back as long as it is for George Bush.

The major media outlets are complicit in this American debacle. Whether it was fear over lost revenue or timidity does not matter. They splash the screen with spinning graphics and pour out ink-ladened fireplace tinder, which focuses the country's attention on Paris Hilton's hacked phone and Michael Jackson.

America's steel workers are told that through clever manipulation of funds workers with 30 years of sucking in toxic fumes have no pensions. Investors who trusted in the stock market and the SEC lost their retirement funds to corrupt companies. Millions of workers and millions who can’t find work are pushed farther and farther away from the American dream.

Funding is slashed for middle and low-income students that hope to attend college. Many are now left with take-home video games from army recruiters who take up residence in their schools. High school students who are promised college money and high-tech skills are often placed in “vehicle repair” or behind the steering wheel of an armor-less truck in the Sunni triangle.

Our research universities and institutions are left high and dry as foreign-exchange medical, engineering and science students are now staying away in droves as the "Do Not Enter" signs are clearly in place at our borders. Chasing away these high-tech workers to more tolerant societies.

Our world-renown standard bearers of scientific study such as the FDA, EPA, USDA, NASA and the CDC have become infected with a disease which places political expediency and corporate greed above science regardless of the pain, suffering and even death of Americans.

The list of Bush assaults on our country and our democracy goes on and on.
The country is obviously satisfied with the steady diet of pablum and news shows with American flags waving in the background because there hasn’t been any public outcry, except by some bloggers. It seems that only bloggers get upset and who are they anyway?

While Democrats continue their trek through the wilderness, and our soldiers continue dying, bloggers may be the only hope our democracy has to reframe the issues and address the issue that really matters, reviving our democracy.

In support of the bloggers that search for truth, uphold the ideals presented in the Constitution and in the Bill of Rights, the following excerpt from a speech Lincoln used to consecrate a cemetery on November 19, 1863 seems appropriate right now:
“—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth.”

2005-03-09T00:37:00.000-06:00

Red states will have to pay more when this bill passes.

Dismantling Social Security seems to be just the beginning. Congress is quickly moving along, a proposed bill to strengthen a credit-card-company-sanctioned bill that evokes such dramatic changes that even Red states may now start paying more attention to what is happening to their American way of life.

On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted down efforts to tack a minimum wage hike onto bankruptcy legislation. Some people may ask what bankruptcy bill?

Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck (introduced 1/31/2005) Makes it considerably harder to claim bankruptcy and be able to limit what a judge may be able to shield from the credit companies.

A solid block of Republican senators, assisted by some Democrats, has already voted down a series of amendments that would either have closed loopholes for the rich or provided protection for some poor and middle-class families.

Consumer-advocacy groups say people who seek bankruptcy protection apply for it because of medical issues, divorce or job loss.

Exemptions were filed as attachments to this bill; such as one to make it easier for the elderly to protect their homes from bankruptcy, to shield people who filled because of medical issues, and to protect veterans. Democrats submitted each exemption and each exemption was shot down by the Republican-controlled Congress.
Loopholes to allow rich debtors to shield millions during bankruptcy were however kept in tact.

It is one thing to mess with east and left coast liberals but now this administration is messing with his base. Since a high rate of bankruptcies actually occur in Red states.

2005-03-07T23:14:00.000-06:00

Fence building becomes Fence trashing

I don't think Bush is capable of keeping a single train of thought for more than a week at a time. It was only what ...a few weeks ago that Bush went on his fence mending tour in Europe and today he appoints John Bolton as UN ambassador?

Bolton was one of the neo-cons who advocated the Iraq invasion and has been a long time and very vocal critic of the UN. Bolton will succeed former US Sen. John Danforth, who resigned in December. Some of Bolton's comments about the UN are:

At a 1994 panel discussion sponsored by the World Federalist Association, Bolton claimed, "There's no such thing as the United Nations," saying that ''If the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.''

In 1994, Bolton opened his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee by declaring, "I believe that the United States should support the efforts of the Republic of China on Taiwan to become a full member of the United Nations." This is a direct affront to mainland China.

In early May 2002 in his "Beyond the Axis of Evil" speech claimed, without any evidence, that Cuba was developing biological weapons and sharing its expertise with other U.S. enemies. Bush backed away from that comment quickly after nothing could be found to substantiate the claim.

Bolton has publicly stated that he supports a policy of "regime change" rather than negotiation in dealing with North Korea and he has advocated halting payments to the United Nations.

If anything, Bolton says that he has always viewed the world body as an illegitimate and bothersome restraint on what he believes is America's right of unilateral action anywhere and anytime.

So much for mending fences. Maybe Bush just wanted the air-miles when he went to Europe because fence mending will now become fence trashing at the UN with Bolton's sledge-hammer diplomacy.

2005-03-06T23:35:00.000-06:00

Soldiers kill Italian Secret Service Agent

Giuliana Sgrena, a recently-released-kidnapped reporter is shot by U.S. troops. The Italian secret service, Nicola Calipari, was killed trying to protect her. They were on the way to the airport, just minutes away from a waiting plane with the rescued reporter, when their car was peppered in a hail of bullets from American soldiers.

Contradicting stories from the United States and the surviving members of the incident is making the situation worse. All of this happened in the afterglow of the president's kissing up to Europe and Russia this last week.

Italy is up in arms. And as luck would have it the reporter works for a left wing newspaper, the Il Manifesto. They are not going to let this rest. The phone lines must have burned up with conciliatory calls from Rumsfield and Bush to Italy trying to stave off the negative press.

The people from Italy were against the Iraq invasion so this is very likely to help weaken support for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's. A weaker Berlusconi may recall the 3,000 italian troops from Iraq to boost his ailing popularity and keep his hold as Prime Minister. Bush can't let that happen so the investigation must come up with someone to blame pretty quickly.

How much more can America's reputation suck overseas before Americans start to suffer the consequences of Bush's failed foreign policy?

2005-03-05T13:47:00.000-06:00

Hypocrisy is running amok in the White House but at least they are consistent.

Bush keeps calling the kettle black. He recently criticized Putin for clamping down on the press in his country when Bush’s administration has effectively removed all transparency in his presidency and cowed the media into becoming high priced stenographers of administration policy.

Well at least he is consistent. This last weekend Syrian president Bashar Assad is expected to make a partial withdrawal to eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border. Bush took the opportunity to say " "Syria, Syrian troops, Syria's intelligence services, must get out of Lebanon now." He went on to say, "We want that democracy in Lebanon to succeed, and we know it cannot succeed so long as she is occupied by a foreign power and that power is Syria."

Last week he was bathing in his own glory about the free elections held in Iraq and this weekend he says that as long as Syria is occupied, democracy can't succeed. Well if that is true can democracy succeed in Iraq while it is occupied by American troops?

It seems like Bush just says whatever is convenient at the time to make his point but it does not seem to be part of any overall plan. It is like he is just winging it.
This makes sense in light of the way the war has been handled so far. He makes a decision, sticks to it regardless of the consequences and then Karl Rove spins the outcome to fit the original stated goals. The only problem is that not even Karl Rove can control world events and Georgie Boy is not good at thinking beyond what he wants his message to be, so he says whatever comes into his head to prove his point regardless of how hypocritical it comes out.

Could the years of abusing liquor, pot and coke starting to affect the President’s judgment?

2005-03-04T01:34:00.000-06:00

There is no gain without a lot of death and pain in a neo-con world

Today we marked a new high; 1500 soldiers died in Iraq. No fan fare no news special. It is just one more number in a war that does not seem to have an end. There are thousands of disabled but they don't count at all. They are invisible to everyone except their families who have to live with their shattered minds and bodies.

My heart goes out to the families and friends of the dead and wounded soldiers. I also feel bad for the dead and wounded innocent Iraqis who got in the way of Bush's ambitions. It takes a lot of misery to support a neo-con administration and they are not afraid of administering as much pain and suffering as necessary to shape the world according to their ideology.

2005-02-28T21:40:00.000-06:00

Bush continues Reagan policy of death to homosexuals

America had a chance to save thousands of lives; instead Reagan chose to ignore the problem especially in light of his conservative base. AIDS was first reported in 1981 but it took 6 years before Reagan mentions the problem.
Reagan like Bush addressed the right-wing conservative agenda by slashing social programs and cutting taxes and by embracing conservative values such as "leaving no homosexual alive."
Research and public education could have saved many many lives if it was not for the conservative agenda. Jerry Fawell and others of his ilk prevented adequate funding for AIDS education programs and counseling services. Conservatives smugly called AIDS a "Gay Cancer" which was God's wrath towards homosexuals. Conservatives were giddy about a disease which would help eradicate homosexuals.
Bush came under attack by the medical community for blocking scientists from attending the International Aids conference which opened in Bangkok this last July claiming cost pressures. The U.S then used the conference to pressure developing countries to give up their right to make cheap generic HIV drugs in return for free-trade agreements. Some called this " U.S. blackmail".
The Bush administration is now opposing the extension of a policy which distributes uncontaminated needles to drug addicts. Removing this policy will undermine the battle against AIDS. Scientific evidence suggests that the free provision of clean needles reduces the spread of AIDS among drug users without increasing rates of addiction in the drug community. 80 percent of all HIV cases in Eastern Europe and Asia involves infected needles that addicts share. Removing this policy off the table will cost untold thousands of lives.
Bush seems determined to pick up where Reagan left off in their journey to rid the world of homosexuals. Even though more and more AIDS patients are not homosexuals. Bush seems happy to throw out the baby with the bath water.

2005-02-28T01:25:00.000-06:00

Reframing the war.

The Iraq war has been reframed. Not that it matters much. It is obvious that Bush will not be held accountable for anything he or his administration has done. Has the press been so cowed, so intimidated that Bush would have to shoot the ailing Pope in cold blood on live TV while having sex with Rick Santorum’s son Jr. and simultaneously pull out Terri Schiavo's feeding tube in front of her parents, before they grow balls?

We know that mis-representing the facts before invading Iraq did not do it. Our media paraphrased White House doctrine for news when Bush, Cheney and Condi spoke urgently about mushroom clouds in our cities.

The media has again fallen in line with the administration and the occupation has now become a fight for "Iraq’s democracy”. Our soldiers were even referred to as poll watchers, and counting ballots actually overshadowed the Michael Jackson trial on the 6 p.m. news for a few days.

Unfortunately the Iraqi election will just be an oasis for America; it provided temporary relief and easy stories for Bush voters that desperately want to believe their leadership.

Behind the scenes of purple Republican thumbs, the bodies of soldiers continue their grim journey to their hometowns away from the general public without commentary and maimed soldiers with prosthetic limbs and surgical scars continue their quiet procession of broken bodies and minds as they limp into their homes with the horrific memories of war fresh in their minds.

Under the guise of patriotism the far right have found their champion Bush and fitted him with a Goebbels-inspired-Republican –propaganda machine. His cronies have proven that they could use our media to talk their way into people's homes, assault their daughters, steal their savings, burn their home down and still get a pat on the back as long as it is for George Bush.

The major media outlets are complicit in this American debacle. Whether it was fear over lost revenue or timidity does not matter. They splash the screen with spinning graphics and pour out ink-ladened fireplace tinder, which focuses the country's attention on Paris Hilton's hacked phone and lawsuits against gorillas.

America's steel workers are told that through clever manipulation of funds workers with 30 years of sucking in toxic fumes have no pensions. Investors who trusted in the stock market and the SEC lost their retirement funds to corrupt companies. Millions of workers and millions who can’t find work are pushed farther and farther away from the American dream.

Funding is slashed for middle and low-income students that hope to attend college. Many are now left with take-home video games from army recruiters who take up residence in their schools. High school students who are promised college money and high-tech skills are often placed in “vehicle repair” or behind the steering wheel of an armor-less truck in the Sunni triangle.

Our research universities and institutions are left high and dry as foreign-exchange medical, engineering and science students are now staying away in droves as the "Do Not Enter" signs are clearly in place at our borders. Chasing away these high-tech workers to more tolerant societies.

Our world-renown standard bearers of scientific study such as the FDA, EPA, USDA, NASA and the CDC have become infected with a disease which places political expediency and corporate greed above science regardless of the pain, suffering and even death of Americans.

The list of Bush assaults on our country and our democracy goes on and on.
The country is obviously satisfied with the steady diet of pablum and news shows with American flags waving in the background because there hasn’t been any public outcry, except by some bloggers. It seems that only bloggers get upset and who are they anyway?

While Democrats continue their trek through the wilderness, and our soldiers continue dying, bloggers may be the only hope our democracy has to reframe the issues and address the issue that really matters, reviving our democracy.

In support of the bloggers that search for truth, uphold the ideals presented in the Constitution and in the Bill of Rights, the following excerpt from a speech Lincoln used to consecrate a cemetery on November 19, 1863 seems appropriate right now:

“—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth.”

2005-02-27T00:54:00.000-06:00

No worries for Bush or Putin.
George's Bush was not even cold before Russia signed a deal to supply Iran with fuel for its first nuclear reactor. So much for Bush's clout with Putin. Bush said he looked into Mr. Putin's soul and liked what he saw. Did he realize that he was perhaps looking at himself? Putin like Bush has done everything to subvert democracy.
Putin has Pravda we have Fox and Limbaugh. Russia controls their media just like Bush controls ours. Bush pays reporters to pass propaganda off as news just like Putin does in Russia.
Russia has been denounced for human rights violations Bush has Abu Gharib, Guantanimo and for extra special prisoners he sends them to Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for extra special treatment aboard special CIA transport planes.

Bush asks Russia to have a transparent government when Cheney goes to extreme lengths to hide his endeavors with the development of our Energy Policy.

Who is kidding who, we have a faux democracy. Russia has a faux democracy. Neither government has checks and balances. Both Bush and Putin can do as they please with no repercussions at all they can lie as much and as brazenly as they want to and nobody is going to do anything about it.

2005-02-26T20:01:00.000-06:00

Bush builds a new "Berlin wall" with Russia.

Bush's lack of attention with Russia is paying dividends for Putin. Chechen separatists were renamed as terrorists after 9/11. Their modified foreign policy declaration of attacking any nation that may endanger 'Mother Russia" was announced after the U.S. invaded Iraq. They have taken every advantage of Bush's aggressive war to justify their actions against a free press and dissenters as they cite America's Patriot act as reason for implementing their form of democracy. Our democracy has become a pseudo-democracy without any checks and balances left which is what Russia is becoming. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

2005-01-13T00:28:00.000-06:00

Here is some interesting news about the dollar's fall.
"BEIJING, January 12 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China have begun accepting roubles and yuans from January 1, 2005 for servicing trans-border trade, according to China Daily.

The 2002 Russian-Chinese agreement envisions the use of national currencies in trans-border trade. Thus, Moscow and Beijing have given up a U.S. dollar in transaction that will reduce transaction costs, increase an international status of national currencies and facilitate further development of Russian-Chinese trade.

In 2004 trade turnover between Russia and China exceeded 21 billion U.S. dollars. According to China’s Trade Ministry, in 2005 it will increase by at least 20 percent and by 2010 it may reach 60-80 billion U.S. dollars.

China has signed such agreements with the Philippines, Vietnam, Nepal, Japan and South Korea."

2005-01-07T01:49:00.000-06:00

Saddam may have the last laugh yet.

October 20, 2004 - On November 2000, Saddam made a fateful decision to convert 10 billion U.S. dollars to euros. This was a radical move for an OPEC country. This single decision may have sealed his fate. That single transaction must have sent shock waves through London and New York. The reason for alarm is cast in a story about oil, greed and geopolitics.

The story requires some backtracking in time. So lets get into our wayback-machine to the end of World War II.

After World War II, we were the big man on the hill. Europe and Japan were in ruins after the war while America’s infrastructure was left untouched by the war and thousands of American factories were up and running.

The major powers held a conference called the Brenton Woods Conference in New Hampshire at the end of WWII The outcome of the conference obligated each country to maintain the exchange rate of its currency within a fixed range - plus or minus one percent - in terms of gold. This was ok with the United States, because we had the largest gold reserves of any nation. The U.S. also had newfound oil fields America had also became the world's foremost energy producer and goods exporter.

Not bad, we had it all. Thousands of American GI’s came home to a bustling economy. There were jobs and lots of stuff to buy, and conversely our standard of living shot up. Life was good and we became the envy of the world.

Then the Vietnam War started in the 60’s. There was concern in Europe about this ill-gotten war. France and England began to take their dollar export earnings and demand gold from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which was perfectly legal under the Bretton Woods agreement. By November 1967 the drain of gold from U.S. and Bank of England vaults had become critical. With soaring deficits from Vietnam, war it was only a matter of time before the United States itself would be forced to devalue the dollar against gold. By May 1971 the drain on US reserves had become critical. Nixon did the only thing he could under the circumstances: he abandoned the Gold Exchange program altogether, and allowed the dollar to float against other currencies. He allowed market forces to determine the value of the dollar.

Let’s moving the clock up to 1973. Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries of OPEC were pretty pissed off with the United States because of our continuing support of Israel during the Ramadan/Yom Kippur War and so they retaliated with an oil embargo.

US oil production had peaked earlier and our oil fields were not able to completely supply the country’s energy needs. We had become very dependent upon petroleum imports. Oil prices soared 400%, and the US economy took a major hit. Through a lot of diplomatic efforts and god-knows-what-else The U.S. worked out a deal with the Saudis. It was a stroke of genius. The Secretary of State Henry Kissinger established the US-Saudi Arabian Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation in June 1974. One of its major components stated that OPEC officially agreed to sell its oil only for dollars.

Every country that purchased oil from OPEC had to pay in U.S. dollars.

This enormously increased the demand for the floating dollar. Oil importing countries were faced with the problem of how to earn or borrow dollars to pay for their oil.

OPEC oil countries were soon overflowing with oil dollars. Most of these oil dollars ended up in accounts in London and New York banks.

This 1975 act established the dollar as the global monetary instrument. One could say that world trade now consisted of the U.S. printing dollars and the rest of the world producing stuff that dollars can buy. Countries competed for dollars and they accumulate huge dollar reserves to sustain their own currencies. This all but guaranteed a strong dollar.

Meanwhile back at the Federal Reserve Bank, since the American dollar was the global monetary instrument, it was the only institution that could print as many dollars as they wanted to. The fifty-cent phrase for this whole recycling of petro-dollars is “Dollar Hegemony.”

Saddam enters into the picture on November of 2000. Saddam makes a decision to convert 10 billion dollars to euros. There was serious concern that other OPEC countries could start accepting the Euros instead of the dollar for oil! If that happened across the board, the party would be over for the American dollar. It seemed like a nutty move at the time. Euros were valued below the dollar; Saddam was taking a pretty big hit on the trade. But in the next few years the euro surpassed the dollar in value and he would have made a considerable sum if he had not been hiding in a hole while the United States occupied his country.

OK Lets bring the way-back machine to today.

The EU is stronger than ever. The change to the euro is more attractive than ever. The euro is stronger. The Euro zone has a bigger share of world trade than the U.S. and the Euro areas have a more balanced external accounts position. Euro-zone is also a larger importer of oil than the U.S. There is also a stronger trade link between the Euro-zone and the OPEC countries.

If oil sales are now made in euros, world oil sales will not artificially hold up the dollar. It would have to fend for itself and initially it would be a shock to the system because of high oil prices and the massive debt incurred over the last few years. Oil prices will probably continue to increase, the dollar will probably fall farther, inflation, will probably go up, real estate values will hold and even increase for a while, our standard of living will probably also suffer and Greenspan will age 10 years. Before anyone panics lets recheck the current geopolitical situation.

- The high cost of oil makes it very tempting to make the jump to euros.

- The European Union is growing stronger. It represents 25 nations, with two more in the wings and the Euro is stronger and stronger. The dollar is presently trading near a seventh- month low against the euro. Record oil prices are hurting U.S. growth, discouraging investors from buying the country's assets.

- The United States has a trade deficit, which is at an all time high of $38.5 billion in August, exports fell as imports increased.

- The National Debt has never been bigger. On January 15th 2004, the Outstanding Public Debt jumped $13 billion to $7,001,852,607,623.35. The U.S. National Debt surpassed the $7 trillion mark and came less than two years after the Debt first passed $6 trillion. It is even higher today.

- The dollar has been on a slow downward slide for the last four years

- Russia has repeatedly made claims that they are seriously considering moving to euros instead of dollars for their oil.

- India and China are emerging as major players in manufacturing and service sectors are leaving the United States behind.

- China and India have also become major competitors for available energy resources.

- Bush handed out three extremely expensive tax cuts while supporting a war in Iraq that has cost the United States $120 billion so far and there is no apparent end to the death destruction and constant dollar drain there.

- Bush has disavowed international agreements and organizations such the Kyoto Agreement, and Nuclear Disarmament Agreements.

- Bush has sidelined and ignored organizations such as The International Court, the Geneva Convention, the International Red Cross and most importantly the U.N.

- The Bush administration has consistently denigrated many of our allies as a part of “Old Europe.”

- Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela has a contentious relationship with the United States after Bush backed his opponent in a failed coup of the Chavez government. By the way, Venezuela has the world's fifth-biggest oil industry.

- The United States has consistently backed Sharon while he destroyed years of peace making efforts by Arab nations and Europe.

Yep, the combination of all these factors has now set up the dollar as America's Achilles heel.

There are many countries out there that would love to take us down a peg or two. Time will soon tell how fast they may pull out of our markets.

Ask yourself: Have we pissed in the well only to have to drink from it tomorrow? Have we started a war in Iraq that has set up a situation and a world movement, which may cause considerable damage to our standard of living and our economy? Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride folks.

Somewhere Saddam may be smiling to himself knowing that even in defeat he may have had the last laugh and although he lost the war, he may have started a war the U.S. may not win, the geopolitical oil dollar war.

Is that a 1000-yard stare or were you catatonic last night?

2004-10-06T00:31:00.000-05:00

I recently went to a” Parent’s Day Weekend at my daughter’s college. I was invited to speak at a “Rock the Vote” event while I was there. I was excited about speaking to the college crowd and I was looking forward to spending the weekend with my daughter. I had no idea that I would be transported back in time before the weekend was over.
On Saturday we attended the school’s football game and went to an evening concert. A recently resurrected rock band was scheduled to play. I didn’t think much about it before the weekend; my thoughts were on writing and delivering a non-partisan speech for my “Rock the Vote” appearance.
The group was called Creedance Clearwater Revisited. They are a reconstituted group of musicians including a couple of the original members from CCR, Creedence Clearwater Revival. They were very popular during the Vietnam War and many of their songs hit the charts here and overseas. The resurrected rock group played their old songs really well, much too well as I soon found out.
The dark arena, the cheering crowd, the war, and the swamp rock music all came together for me. When the band played “Suzie Q.” I got goose bumps and the hair on the back of my neck stood out. I stared at the band as Vietnam -era-memories from my life flooded back.
I remembered the anxiety, of being a student, the suddenness of my friend’s departure into the Army after they were drafted and the anger when a government agency made us take an intelligence test at our college. I recalled the frustration of not knowing what to do to help stop the war. (This emotion was not far below the surface given the current situation in Iraq)
Back then I was also upset at not knowing what was happened to my friends serving in Vietnam. (I still have those same feelings, about different friends, in a different war.)
Most of all, I remembered my life’s limited choices as the war continued.
I sat there transfixed while others around me clapped and rocked to the music. I finally broke away from staring at the stage after they sang “Who’ll Stop the Rain. “I noticed two men about my age sitting near by, with blank stares as they faced the stage. They looked like they had the “1000 yard stare. “
The 1000-yard stare was a term coined during the Vietnam War. The stare says, "I have been there and beyond, and I know." It was also called the Thousand Yard Stare in a Ten Foot Room.
I turned back to the stage as the band went on to play “Fortunate Son” and I suddenly shivered as I heard them sing:
"Some folks are born, made to wave the flag
Ooh they're red white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief"
Ooh they point the cannon at you Lord"
Did those other two men also remember their times as civilians who were also ready to be drafted or did they remember napalm so close they could feel the heat?
Did the words “jungle rot” come into their minds?
Did they recall the ground shaking during mortar attacks in Da Nang; did the group’s music jog their memory of a million frogs croaking at night?
Did they suddenly remember how the water from stagnant rice paddies, felt as it swirled around their boots, or did they remember the feel of jungle vines, and elephant grass as it wrapped around their arms and legs?
Did they recollect feeling the oppressive heat, the unending-sheets of rain during the monsoon season? Did they suddenly recall the sickening smell of blood and feces?
"It ain't me it ain't me I ain't no senator's son.
It ain't me it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one no
Yeah!"
Were either of them working on a hot tarmac where the aviation fuel fumes permeated everything on the base including the food? Did they spend time on a Vietnam airfield working in sweat soaked t-shirts as they patched up bullet-ridden helicopters, when they heard CCR on their radio play:
"Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord don't they help themselves oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,"
At the end of the concert I strained to keep track of the two men as the crowd stood up to leave the dark auditorium. I struggled to stay close to my family as the flowing crowd buffeted us. I wanted to ask them if they were, "in country" during the Vietnam War. I wanted to confirm my suspicions but they had quickly melted into the crowd and disappeared as we went out through the doors into the cool dark October night. I kept looking for them as people spilled out onto the college campus but without any luck. The moment seemed lost anyway; somehow the cold night brought me back to 2004 where we have a new war going on.
I remembered how naive I was back then. Once upon a time I thought the nations of the world had the capability to live in peace. It took several years to become cynical and realize that many people in power are too lazy to deal with the details of peace and choose war instead. (I am paraphrasing Thomas Mann.)
I wondered if 40 years from now some parents will go and see a much older version of Green Day in concert. And will they recall the war they fought in Iraqi? Will they remember the talcum-powder –type-sand, the red mud, the oil fires, the oppressive heat, the IED’s and the sickening coppery smell of blood, when they hear the following words of the song “American Idiot”?
“Don't wanna be an American idiot.
Don't want a nation under the new media.
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mindf*ck America.”

“Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
Convincing them to walk you.”

“Well maybe I'm the faggot America.
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.
Now everybody do the propaganda.
And sing along in the age of paranoia.”

“Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
Convincing them to walk you.”

“Don't wanna be an American idiot.
One nation controlled by the media.
Information nation of hysteria.
It's going out to idiot America.”

“Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
Convincing them to walk you.”

How far away is a Selective Service Draft?

2004-10-01T01:42:00.000-05:00

The timing for enacting the selective service requires some understanding of the administration’s troop strength goals in the Middle East and how far they have gone to stretch the existing military to meet those needs. The goals used in this discussion are the stated goals by President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon. Their word has not been worth much in the past, but for the sake of argument let’s assume they stick with what they said.

Rumsfeld has committed the U.S. military to keep about 141,000 troops in Iraq through 2005. And the Bush administration is using every legal and some may say illegal tools at their disposal to keep these troop levels. But we are not in this alone in this war are we?

Well unfortunately for all intents and purposes, we are alone. Many countries within the “Coalition Of The Willing” have recently become “unwilling” to supply any more troops and are even pulling the few they did have out of Iraq. Bush’s failed diplomatic efforts and “go-it-alone” approach has caused other countries to either refuse or hesitate at sending troops into Iraq.

The following measures are some of the extraordinary means this administration has had to employ to keep Iraq from boiling over.

· The National Guard and Army Reserve have their deployments extended.
The National Guard and Army Reserves accounts for nearly 40% of the 141,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Their deployments have been extended to 15 -18 months.

· Former active duty soldiers are reactivated.
Military personnel who have fulfilled their active duty obligations were pressed back into service and 5,600 members of Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) are called back to duty.

· A “Stop-Loss” program is enacted.
This program compels soldiers to remain to the end of a yearlong overseas deployment and up to another 90 days after returning to their home base. In short tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers will remain in the Army involuntarily for up to 18 months beyond when they were scheduled to leave.

· South Korea troops are transferred to Iraq
The Pentagon decided to draw more than 3,500 troops from South Korea to support the mission in Iraq.

· More Recruiters
General Hagenbeck, the Army's top personnel officer, said that the Army is bringing 1,000 new recruiters and they are using cash bonuses, educational benefits and choice base assignments to help meet its overall recruiting and re-enlistment goals next year."

All of the above mentioned actions have been taken since the Iraq invasion started. A lot of stops have been pulled out and the military analysts still say our military is stretched pretty thin.

To make things even more interesting the Pentagon has also recently announced that extended assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking their toll on personnel and they are concerned that people will not be retained unless tours are shortened. If they do shorten the tours of duty how can they keep troop levels up?

One of the only cards Rumsfeld has left to play (if the stated troop strength numbers are actually needed) is the Selective Service Act.

The Selective Service law requires that males who are U.S. citizens or resident aliens register within 30 days of their 18th birthdays. Registration has been simplified. Up to 35 states now use the process of obtaining a driver's license as a means of making sure men are registered.

There are direct and indirect penalties for those who do not register. Men, born after December 31, 1959, who aren't registered with Selective Service won't qualify for Pell Grants, College Work Study, Guaranteed Student/Plus Loans, and National Direct Student Loans. More seriously a man who fails to register may, if prosecuted and convicted, can face a fine of up to $250,000 and/or a prison term of up to five years.

The Pentagon has worked on a modified Selective Service program for a while now and has sent up a couple of trial balloons on the new draft.

One part of the recent proposal is the development of a skills database of all the men registered in the Selective Service program. Each registered person will be responsible to update his skills inventory. The agency also has in place a special registration system to draft health-care personnel in more than 60 specialties in a crisis.

If it is enacted, the government will use a lottery system based on birthdays and critical skills needed by the armed services. "Critical shortages" presently include linguists and computer specialists.

A second part of the proposal is to extend the age range of eligible applicants from 25 to 35 years of age.

A third part of the proposal of the new selective service is to include women within the draft. Although women have not been drafted before, many people in the Pentagon believe they should also be included in the draft.

Students will not get blanket deferments anymore. Under the current draft law, a college student can have his (or maybe her) induction postponed only until the end of the current semester. A senior can be postponed until the end of the academic year.

The Secretary of Defense has said draftees are not as desirable as volunteers but as Rumsfeld recently said about Iraqi elections in January. "Nothing’s perfect in life.”

Here is what you can expect from Bush

2004-09-27T21:07:00.000-05:00

If Geroge W. Bush gets elected again, I have an idea that this is how he will introduce enacting the draft to help fight his war.

An excerpt from George W. Bush's “State of the Union” speech in 2005
"We are in the battle of our lives. With the exception of the loyal members in the "Coalition of the Willing" we have been fighting this war on terror without significant UN assistance. We are embattled today just like England was in "The Battle of Britain" during World War II when the proud British people held out against the forces of evil that besieged their country. Those brave people stood together in their fight against terror until evil was defeated."
"It is now our time. It is time for our people to come together as Americans. We need everyone in this fight against an enemy that seeks to destroy our way of life. Our country is the strongest country the world has ever seen. We have the most talented people in the world. There is no doubt in my mind that we have all the resources we need right here. We do not need the UN have to fight our fight. Would we use foreign soldiers in our country to keep ourselves free? Absolutely not! This war on terror has not been easy and it will not be over quickly so we need to prepare ourselves for the long haul."
"Therefore a National Service Board will be established. Young men and women from 18 to 35 will be required to sign up with local registration boards. Each person will be asked if they have specific critical skills. These skills will be cataloged and kept on file just in case they may be needed in our fight against terror."
"If selected these young men and women will be compensated according to the level of skill they bring. They will also receive educational benefits that may be used in any college or university across the country. Their assignments will be 2 years. And they will take the place of combat trained soldiers who can then be used for what they were trained for."
"We have seen what evil can do. Over 3000 of our citizens died that September day. Operation Iraqi Freedom has cost us over a thousand young American lives. Thousands of innocent Iraqis have also been killed and maimed in their battle for independence. We cannot walk away now that the tide has turned and victory is so close even though many terrorists continue to cross the borders to fight us in Iraq.
Evil can be defeated, but not without sacrifice. Our country is the most powerful the most talented and the most wonderful place to bring up families in the world. We need to keep our way of life but we can't assume it will always be here for us unless we are prepared to fight to keep it. "
"We can not leave Iraq until the seeds of democracy has taken root. We cannot allow the terrorists to win and have them at our doorstep tomorrow. And yet there are countries that believe they can harbor terrorists and obtain weapons of mass destructions while we fight terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. . They feel like we are too preoccupied with Iraq to not notice that they are sending terrorists to fight us in Iraq. These terrorists are ready to behead innocent Americans and kill our young men and women fighting to give Iraq freedom and independence.
" We must seek these “nests” of terrorists and eliminate them wherever they are. The National Service Board will allow us to win not only this battle but all future wars against terror everywhere we are needed.
"Together we will vanquish our enemies just like England did in the Battle of Britain. God Bless America."

MAY GOD HELP US IF HE GETS ELECTED.

The RNC Protest at New York

2004-09-21T19:14:00.000-05:00

This was one of the most varied, well organized and high-tech protests I have ever seen. It was also the most heavily guarded protest scene ever. Both the police and the protesters had both been pretty well set for this party. According to the news media There were more police and secret service personnel in New York than U.S. servicemen in Afganistan.
The Mood
The variety of groups were peaceful and they seemed to be more against Bush than they were for Kerry. It felt like a huge anti-bush and anybody-but-Bush kind of attitude to the protests.
The Media
Reporters milled around with recorders and note books in-hand with the people in the crowd looking for people that fit the angle they wanted to portray. My wife and I wore T-shirts with our protests about the Bush administration written on them. We wore them day and night. We collected buttons from various organizations that reflected our view point. They stated:
"Can You Survive Four More Years of BU LL SH IT”
"Give The Rich Everything and Just Be Done With It"
“Blood for Oil is Too High a Price To Pay"
“Thank you Bush for 1000 Flag Draped Coffins And Thousands of Amputees”
“Hell Called and They Want Their Leader Cheney Back!
The members of the republican delegation were pretty easy to pick out. In some ways they stood out like sore thimbs just like us. Some of them wore american flags with elephants all over while others looked like June and Ward Cleaver from the old Leave It To Beaver TV series. Each delegate seemed to react differently to us in our atire. Some mumbled under their breath while others chose to suddenly walk in the opposite direction. One individual at Macy's acted like an ugly american in a foreign country when he loudly disparaged a young black woman as she walked into a restroom. Let's just say the people around him were not impressed and he quickly walked out of the store with his delegate tags jingling in his wake. Don't mess with New Yorkers on their home turf.
Safety
We felt as safe as can be as we walked around the city. many people including cops commended us for our t-shirts. Some of the cops however looked like they were looking for trouble anytime we approached them. Touchy touchy. I kept trying to remember four out of five people in New York are Democrats.
Group make-up
The group of protesters we walked with were from a variety of groups. Some were ready-for-bear while others were not as severely dressed. We spoke with some people that protested the Vietnam War in the 60's and with younger people who were eager to talk about their point of view on Bush. Everyone seemed at ease to discuss their views. We were all there for a common purpose which eliminated a lot of anxiousness people have about talking politics with strangers.
The crowd represented a variety of people young, old and everything in-between. We saw people dressed in baggy pants with flip-flops. Green fatigues and with otherwise quite normal attire but we did not see anyone in a shirt and tie. One girl was dressed in a burka. Another was dressed in all pink. There was lots of color, lots of perspectives with one common theme. Get rid of Bush. He brought us together and created an unspoken bond of closeness to each other. I felt more comfortable with these strangers than with certain members of my own family that blindly support Bush.
Group actions
Everyone seemed to be outraged at this administration and yelled their slogans as they marched. At times someone would start a slogan and it would catch on with others until someone else started a different chant. One person who carried a drum would catch the beat and emphasize the chant.
Some protesters spoke with the policemen who lined the corridor of marchers but we did not see anyone hauled off in plastic handcuffs. The people around us were peacefully protesting. No one threw any garbage cans through any windows, and no tire fires in the middle of the street or anyone spitting on policemen.
High Tech Organization
Although much more could be done to organize such a large group of people this was one of the most organized protests I have ever seen. A cell phone messaging service and a radio station was used to communicate what was going on all the time. Two-way radios were also used. It was pretty high tech. A wife area was also set-aside for loggers.
Services
The services were also impressive. A map of available restrooms was posted on the net. Volunteers from the New York Lawyers Guild milled around the crowds and were identified by special vests. Street medics were also all around with Red Cross emblems on their vests.
Tactics
Tactics to avoid arrest were communicated pretty well on the web sites. Sessions were held around New York at various times on a variety of subjects such as how to videotape an arrest for use in court, and the do's and don'ts about interacting with police were among some of the sessions held.
Planning for this event also included using scouts to check out the situation in front of the groups and to report back to the main group if trouble with the police arose. We did not see much of this in our group of protesters, but they may have been working farther up the group.
Phone numbers for lawyers were posted and spaces available for out-of-town protesters were also posted on bulletin boards.
Reactions from the Home front
I was overwhelmed by the response of the many family friends and neighbors that knew about our trip. They all told us how proud they were of us. They all wanted to learn about our experience and see the pictures of this significant protest.

Bush has joined the terrorists

2004-08-16T01:19:00.000-05:00

Bush turned 58 on Tuesday a couple of weeks ago, and it is a day that may join September 11th as another day of celebration for future al qaeda terrorists.

What does one call a situation where separate factors come together and creates something more destructive that anyone could have imagined? In physics, an atomic bomb seems to fit that description. In international politics, one may define it as the "Neo-Bush-Bin Laden effect."

This effect was defined, when terrorists killed over 3,000 people in September 2001, which was combined with a neo-conservative cabinet that was salivating to create a mid-east country per their ideology, with a president who believes his god selected him as the new Moses of the world.

These separate factors came together in 2001 and terrorist recruiters for radical Muslim groups could not have received a better present. Everything was laid out there for them on a silver platter. It was like America had won the trifecta from hell.

Many naysayers to the war said, an unwarranted attack on Iraq would create a 100 Bin Ladens. They did not say anything about the exponential growth of hatred towards the United States by many sects in many countries all over the world.

It is not hard to imagine how someone within this bumper crop of America-haters will eventually acquire a weapon that will make the attack on the twin towers look like a "fender bender."

This year, any kind of terrorist attack on the United States will work for Bush. It does not have to be a catastrophic event to be a real boon for the Bush/Cheney campaign. Any kind of terrorism will do.

Terrorism has been good for this administration. They have played the terrorism card to near perfection. Terrorism and fear of terrorism has helped this administration in so many ways besides keeping the populous fearful. Fear of terrorism has enabled the president to push and bully congress into limiting and at times eliminating individual freedoms, malfeasance and un-constitution acts.

Bush has unknowingly joined the terrorists in weakening America. He is doing what terrorist could not. He is successfully attacking and slowly dissolving the American democracy in the name of patriotism and self-defense. The recent use of American patriotism to justify Bush’s ability to torture anyone anywhere in the world, at any time is just the latest travesty of our president.

Who would have thought at the end of World War II, that the same America that thousands of soldiers gave their lives for, would one day support imprisonment, torture and murder without proof, without, a trial, and without remorse.

There is little doubt that radical Islamists will want to keep their best recruiting tool in office. Bush needs the terrorists to get re-elected just like terrorists need Bush and if Bush wins again, July 6th, may be celebrated by some terrorist groups of the future as the birthday of their inept benefactor.

No middle ground in this fight

2004-04-25T19:18:00.000-05:00

Half of the country supports Bush. I know that he has shown a lot of resolution during his presidency and his handlers have worked overtime to portray him as just one of the guys, but he has also screwed up a lot too. Are we beyond having an honest discussion about Bush and Kerry?

I believe that both the right and left ends of the political spectrum have chosen to live in their own worlds where a simplistic view of the world is good enough. We can't talk to them. But the extreme right and left may only compose one fifth of the population. Would the other 80% want to talk?

It seems like the country has not made any headway since the last presidential election. The difference this time is that there seems to be extreme anger directed at Bush. But this does not seem to count for anything. For example, the polls have not moved in any appreciable way since the 9-11 investigation panel meetings or the recent books exposing the inside efforts by the Bush team to use selective intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq. Is it because people had already chosen their candidate?

It seems like the invasion of Iraq re-ignited the polarization. 9-11 brought many Americans together and the attack on Afghanistan also seemed to have popular support, but the invasion of Iraq brought out many of the same divisions that existed during the 2000 elections. The anger against Bush was probably simmering just below the surface and the administration's gung-ho approach to handling Iraq seemed to be the last straw.

Since then, every previously unknown facet of Bush's decision to invade, every soldier's death, every news story of anti-americanism, has pulled more and more of that scab off the wound. And every attack on Bush seems to harden his supporters.

This division has hit family members, friends and neighbors. Combine this tension with the constantly pitched issue of impending attacks on America, loss of jobs and job security, and you've got a real party going!

So, sit back, chill out and watch the circus. It is going to be a nasty ugly election and millions of people are already emotionally invested. So don't try and convert anyone to your side of the street, no one is going to listen folks.

All of the above has contributed to the fact that there was never any time for real discussion about the candidates. We have been cheated out of this exchange.

I am concerned that this election will show the world we are indeed like Bush, we don't think we just act on faith and emotion. Speaking of faith may God, Budda and Allah help us.

Selective Service asks for volunteers

2003-12-13T00:41:00.000-06:00

Our Armed forces are stretched thin across the world. North Korea say they are developing nuclear weapons, Iran is said to be developing nuclear capabilities, more than 100,000 fresh troops will be sent to Iraq early next year to replace the current force there now. Countries are either refusing or hesitating at sending troops into Iraq. And there was a recent call for volunteers to staff Selective Service Boards across the country.
"There are no secret discussions," said Pat Schuback, a spokesman for the Selective Service System, the government agency that would be in charge of conscription if the United States had it. "We aren't doing any planning that we don't do on a routine basis."
"It's a plan on paper," said Schuback. "We're just an insurance policy. If we're needed, we're here; we're ready."
About 10,000 to 12,000 people serve 20-year terms as unpaid board members. Schuback said because the current board system was set up in 1979, and the bulk of volunteers stayed the full 20 years, many of the appointments expired beginning in 1999.
According to the government website the Selective Service continues to invite interested citizens to volunteer for service on its local boards that would decide claims from men if a draft were reestablished. This invitation for board members has been ongoing over the past 23 years, although there has not been a military draft in over 30 years. There is NO connection between this ongoing, routine public outreach to compensate for natural board attrition and current international events. Both the President and the Secretary of Defense have stated on several occasions that a draft is not needed for the war on terrorism, including Iraq.
In addition, several thousand Marines, not originally part of the plan, will be used to make up for the failure of the United States to get enough commitments from other countries to field a third multinational division.
The law still requires that males who are U.S. citizens or resident aliens register within 30 days of their 18th birthdays.
A man who fails to register may, if prosecuted and convicted, face a fine of up to $250,000 and/or a prison term of up to five years.
Men, born after December 31, 1959, who aren't registered with Selective Service won't qualify for Federal student loans or grant programs. This includes Pell Grants, College Work Study, Guaranteed Student/Plus Loans, and National Direct Student Loans.
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) makes registration with Selective Service a condition for U.S. citizenship if the man first arrived in the U.S. before his 26th birthday.

Funny Rummy

2003-09-18T05:19:00.000-05:00

Donald Rumsfield has had a long and distinguished careers in public service and in business. However, his policy decisions, his behavior and his many public comments has shown that his best years are behind him. He is now 71, perhaps it is time for him to retire and spend some time with his grandkids, because he has become America’s answer to Saddam’s Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, “Comical Ali”

Does everybody remember Comical Ali, the Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf who become a cult figure with his wild claims and colorful language.

He would stand before the world, every morning to brief the newsmen on the status of the War. He was Saddam’s man, charged with giving the Iraqi side of the story.

Here is a selection of some of Ali’s quotes:

On an air attack on Najaf, he said: "What they say about a breakthrough [in Najaf] is completely an illusion. They are sending their warplanes to fly very low in order to have vibrations on these sacred places . . . they are trying to crack the buildings by flying low over them."

Early in the campaign, al-Sahhaf accused the Allies of booby-trapping pencils.

"The authority of the civil defense ... issued a warning to the civilian population not to pick up any of those pencils because they are booby traps," he said. He added that British and American forces were "immoral mercenaries" and "war criminals".

At one point in the campaign, Al-Sahaf said the Iraqis had "shot down a lot of those cruise missiles" and said the war's impact was "trivial."

Who knew that Rumsfield would become Al-Sahaf’s american counterpart? Maybe Rumsfield has been this way for a while and his recent mega-exposure to the media highlighted the character flaws, which made him into this sad comical figure.

Here are some of the many unfortunate comments he has made:

THE KABUL SITUATION
Things will not be necessarily continuous. The fact that they are something other than perfectly continuous Ought not to be characterized as a pause. There will be some things that people will see. There will be some things that people won't see.
And life goes on.
—Oct. 12, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing

WMD IN IRAQ
"It's an enormous country - you know, it's bigger than Texas! [unclear word]'s big, I guess - I haven't looked lately."

"I have so many things to do at the Department of Defense," Rumsfeld said during an interview aboard his plane, which stopped in Ireland to refuel on the way back to Washington. "I made a conscious decision that I didn't need to stay current every 15 minutes on the issue. I literally did not ask. . . . I'm assuming he'll tell me if he'd gotten something we should know."

THE WAR IN IRAQ
'Oh my goodness, the requirement for dumb bombs was about ten times more than we thought we needed, and the requirement for smart bombs was, er, some multiple of what we actually thought we would need ... more - we needed more than we thought - then what you learn from that is that you learn to go back and change the quote requirement - and drop one and increase one."

CLARITY OF COMMUNICATIONS
" You're right, this is very confusing and will continue to be so."
"The only way I know how to reply to that is to give you my blank look!"

I think what you'll find, I think what you'll find is, whatever it is we do substantively, there will be near-perfect clarity. As to what it is.

And it will be known, and it will be known to the Congress, and it will be known to you, Probably before we decide it, but it will be known.
—Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing

As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know. There are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things We do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know.
-Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing

"I believe what I said yesterday ... I don't know what I said, er, but I know what I think, and ... well, I assume it's what I said."

"I'm inclined not to," the secretary replied. "I'll tell you what the situation is: The situation is that it's an important question."

"I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past - I think the past was not predictable when it started."

"I also know that stating what might be preferable, er, is simply stating what might be preferable."

"Well, um, something's neither good nor bad but thinking makes it so, I suppose - as Shakespeare said"

"It's like, you know, stirring for troubled waters."

"We do have a saying in America: if you're in a hole, stop digging ..... erm, I'm not sure I should have said that."

"For people to waste their time chasing that rabbit, only to run it down and find they've got the wrong rabbit, I think is a shame."

You know, it's the old glass box at the—At the gas station, where you're using those little things trying to pick up the prize, and you can't find it. It's— And it's all these arms are going down in there, And so you keep dropping it And picking it up again and moving it, But— Some of you are probably too young to remember those—Those glass boxes, But they used to have them At all the gas stations When I was a kid.
—Dec. 6, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing

HIS VIEW OF OUR ALLIES IN IRAQ
"Our allies are over there and we are here. Where would you rather be?"

HIS VIEWS ON WAR SECRECY
"By keeping in this silent mode we prove that our enemies won't know what we're doing any more than we do."

" I wasn't privee to that conversation, I was having sushi."

"Of course Mr. Ashcroft will try to avoid answering that, as I have. It is our right as Americans."

"I can assure you there's plenty of democracy going on behind closed doors."
"Secrecy unto itself is in itself relevant to the situation at hand at the time."
"My assessment of the current problem is for my ears only."

"That is classified beyond all recognition."

"If I said yes, that would then suggest that that might be the only place where it might be done which would not be accurate ... necessarily accurate ... it might also not be inaccurate, but I mean ... I'm disinclined to mislead anyone."

THE LOCATION OF BIN LADEN
"We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead."

HIS COMMENTS ON HIS JOB
Once in a while, I'm standing here, doing something. And I think,” What in the world am I doing here?” It’s a big surprise.
—May 16, 2001, interview with the New York Times

THE NEWS MEDIA
You're going to be told lots of things. You get told things every day that don't happen.

It doesn't seem to bother people, they don't— It's printed in the press. The world thinks all these things happen. They never happened. Everyone's so eager to get the story before in fact the story's there that the world is constantly being fed Things that haven't happened. All I can tell you is, it hasn't happened. It's going to happen.
—Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing

"The dumbest thing anyone could do would be to stand up here and start previewing things that somebody's thinking about or not thinking about or starting to disabuse you of each thing somebody tells you that we're thinking about, because then the first time we don't disabuse you, you'll say 'aha - that's what they're going to do!'

Donald Rumsfield has delivered his lines with a “dead pan” face of Jack Benny, the language skills of Archie Bunker, and the mind of confused old man. Its time for Play Dough with the grandkids Mr. Rumsfield. You’ve done your time.

Bush's House of Cards

2003-09-08T23:49:00.000-05:00

Bush's house of cards is collapsing all around him.

Bush's pick for federal judge, Miguel Estrada removed himself from consideration after he refused to cooperate with the Senate.

Bin Laden has not been captured

Saddam has not been captured.

The White House removed all negative references to global warming in their annual report.

The investigation of September 11 had 28 pages of censored information, which many people think is about the Saudi connection.

The battle over disclosing Cheney's energy policy meetings information and participants have confirmed that he has a lot to hide, like Enron's major role in deciding our nation's energy plan.

It was disclosed that after September 11, the White House instructed the EPA to modify their report regarding the air quality around the towers :they told the workers that the air was safe to breath.

The EPA recently said that carbon dioxide was not a pollutant and therefore it should not be regulated.

The UN headquarters in Bagdad was destroyed by a huge bomb and they are faulting Bush.

His buddy Tony Blair's publicly stated claims for going to war is being taken apart by a special prosecutor investigating the death of Dr David Kelly a british government expert on Iraq's WMD capability.

The California recall is not going his way.

Many many people are still pissed off at him because of the blackout ; his plan of deregulation of the power industry was an apparent cause of the transmission line problems.

The Texas Democrats have been given a lot of support for evading Tom Delay's redistricting plan.

Ashcroft's Patriot act has been despised by so many, that he was forced to tour the country to explain how vital it is to our homeland security. He can't get into specifics because of national security, but he asks us to trust him.

The internal conflict between Rumsfield and Powell is getting more and more pronounced.

Colin Powell will not serve with Bush if Bush wins a second term.

His road map for peace in the Mid East has fallen apart. Israel has undermined the effort from day one, and there is not a damn thing Bush can do about it.

The economy is getting better on paper but unemployment is staying very high.

Democrats are attacking his policies on a daily basis and none of them are being called traitors .

American soldiers are being killed or wounded at a constant rate.

And now, he has been forced to humble himself and go to the UN and ask for their participation in the Iraq war, because we do not have enough money or people to finish the job. He has to depend on France, Germany Russia and the others he has called "irrelevant" to come to his aid.

Yea, life is tough for our dear president ....and it is about time.

Do We Care Yet?

2003-09-03T04:11:00.000-05:00

According to a Gallup poll, 63% of americans still think Iraq was worth going to war over, but what was the threshold number for the number of injuries, we needed to suffer, before the average american starts to question our participation in the Iraq war? If it was 1000 wounded soldiers, we have passed that threshold. As of Sept 2, 2003, 1,124 soldiers have been wounded in action, and 284 died; statistically, the average american should now start caring more, right?

The U.S. Central Command usually issues news releases listing injuries, only when one or more troops are killed, so the result is that many injuries go unreported. Central Command does keep a running total of the wounded, they just don't mention it very often. Probably because these figures are politically sensitive. By the way, it was Iraqi deaths they said they would not track. So don't get confused. We count our dead not their dead, we count our wounded, but we just don't mention it.

In World War II, 30.3 percent of soldiers died from their combat wounds. That percentage fell during the Korean War to 24.1 percent, and held steady through the Vietnam War (23.6 percent) and the Persian Gulf War (23.9 percent). But the number has declined sharply in Iraq, with 13.8 percent of battlefield wounds being fatal.

Giant C-17 transport jets arrive virtually every night at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, on medical evacuation missions. Since the war began. More than 6,000 service members have been flown back to the United States. The number includes the 1,124 wounded in action, and thousands who became physically or mentally ill. These "impaired" soldiers are not counted as "wounded", even though many of them are just as disabled as the "officially declared wounded soldiers".

The 459th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, is based at Andrews. They were called up for a year in April to run what is essentially a medical air terminal, the nation's hub, for war wounded from Iraq.

Maj. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, the hospital's commanding general, said there were only two days in July and four in August that the hospital did not admit soldiers injured in Iraq.

"The orthopedic surgeons are very busy, and the nursing services are very busy, both in the intensive care units and on the wards," he said, explaining that there have been five or six instances in recent months when all of the hospital's 40 intensive care beds have been filled -- mostly with battlefield wounded.

Kiley said rocket-propelled grenades and mines can wound multiple troops at a time and cause "the kind of amputating damage that you don't necessarily see with a bullet wound to the arm or leg." The result has been large numbers of troops coming back to Walter Reed and National Naval Medical with serious blast wounds and arms and legs that have been amputated, either in Iraq or at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where virtually all battlefield casualties are treated and stabilized.

High-tech body ceramic body armor, advanced radiological equipment, mobil Forward Surgical Teams, antibiotic beads that secrete highly concentrated medicine into wounds and genetically engineered bone morphogenetic proteins, which help heal bones without the need for bone grafts are keeping more seriously wounded soldiers alive than ever before. The work of highly educated, dedicated doctors, medics and nurses have made a significant difference to our wounded soldier's lives. Unfortunately, they are getting a lot of hands on experience piecing body parts together.

The survival rate can disguise the day-to-day danger level that coalition forces face in Iraq. Since most attention focuses on deaths, the higher numbers of wounded in Iraq have drawn relatively little attention The U.S. battlefield casualties in Iraq are now increasing dramatically in the face of continued attacks, with almost 10 to 12 american troops a day now being officially declared "wounded in action." Sooner or later someone is going to notice.

As of September 2, 2003, there are 1,124 wounded soldiers and 149 soldiers have died.

Does the number of wounded and dead american soldiers cause the average american to now care, or will they care when they can get past the want ad section of the paper?

Sources Cited:

Vernon Loeb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 2, 2003; Page A01

Robert Schlesinger
Boston Globe
Mercury News

Politics as usual

2003-09-02T01:05:00.000-05:00

Did you ever wonder who you can believe? The answer is not a politician that's for sure.

If I ran for office my campaign platform would read something like this: Vote for me, I will only take money from 5 interest groups and I will only steal 10% of the money I handle. This may be enough to get me elected to any position in government.
The temptation is so great when one is in government service. The money is everywhere.
I know a cop, and he has told me that the temptation to fool around on his wife is everywhere. sometimes it is just a speeding ticket away. It must be the same for politicians.
so I started to think, is democracy the best form of government? Do we have the best form of democracy? I don't know. More and more politics seems to be a game for the rich. When was the last time someone who was not a millionaire ran for congress? So is it a government by the people for the people if only the rich can participate?

Pondering Powell

2003-08-10T16:52:00.000-05:00

Reporters have been flocking around Colin Powell ever since the rumor came out that he would retire if Bush were re-elected. “Is it true” they ask. The question they should really ask is: "How long has he wanted to get out of Bush's cabinet and which cabinet member undercut him the most?

During his tenure as the head of State, Colin Powell has endured several neo-conservative and cabinet member ambushes. He has survived conservative christian assault, and Newt Gingrich grenade attacks.

Since president Bush began his tirade about the "axis of evil” countries, the sun has not set on a region of the world, he has not insulted or aggravated, with the possible exception of the Artic shelf. It’s just what a Secretary of State needed, worldwide animosity towards America.

Besides Bush's blunt comments, Bush's cabinet has made Powell's job extremely contentious.

In an interview back in December 2000, with the British Broadcasting Corp., Powell had said that as a "first step" U.N. weapons inspectors must be allowed to return to Iraq. President Bush "has been clear that he believes weapons inspectors should return."

Those comments were soon contradicted in two speeches by Cheney, in which he said inspections should not be the primary goal of U.S. policy toward Iraq. Cheney said the key issue was Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's drive to acquire nuclear weapons, and the return of inspectors, who left Iraq in 1998, "would provide no assurance.

It must have dawned on Powell pretty quickly that he was one of maybe two voices within the administration's top echelon that urged caution toward a war with Iraq.

Time magazine, quoted an unnamed, close aide, back then, that Powell had plans to step down at the end of Bush's first term, but would not resign over policy differences on Iraq.

Wolfowitz had lobbied passionately for widening the mission to include an aggressive campaign to finally bring down the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, despite opposition from allies and world powers such as France, Germany, Russia and China. He considered Iraq unfinished business, and saw the terrorist attack of the World Trade Center as an opportunity to finish it, even though there was no intelligence that connected Iraq to the Al-Queda. He and others in the Pentagon have long had a vendetta about getting rid of Saddam and they believed that irrespective of what happened on Sept. 11, he had to be removed,"

Powell had maintained that the United States should have waged a narrower campaign focused first and foremost on Al Qaeda, a cause for which he could have rallied and sustained strong international cooperation. Powell also cautioned about the dangers of a wider military engagement with Iraq and other nations on a U.S. list of states that sponsored terrorism.

Wolfowitz symbolizes a faction that advocates U.S. strength, supremacy and unilateralism, regardless of international sentiment. Wolfowitz reflects a fear that America will lose its position because it is not tough enough.

Powell advocates a strong America by working with allies and carrying the weight of world opinion with it rather than try to go it alone," according to Geoffrey Kemp, a National Security Council staffer in the Reagan administration.

Powell's approach is lower key, and it put Bin Laden first. "When we have dealt with Al Qaeda, the network and Osama bin Laden, we can then broaden our campaign to go after other terrorist organizations and forms of terrorism around the world,” Powell, is sensitive to U.S. coexistence and cooperation in a globalizing world.

At a press conference, three days after Sept. 11, Wolfowitz declared that American policy was "ending states who sponsor terrorism." Wolfowitz also lobbied strenuously in private for the United States to fight a broad war that would topple the Taliban and Saddam Hussein.
Wolfowitz's "ending states" comment earned him a public rebuke from Secretary of State Colin Powell, who told reporters that Wolfowitz could "speak for himself," but the American goal was only to "end terrorism." Wolfowitz's enthusiasm for nailing Saddam was quashed for a while, as Powell and others had made it clear that such a widespread war would destroy the coalition and infuriate Arab allies.

Bush soon ignored the UN, our longtime allies and Powell: he attacked Iraq.

After the war started, Newt Gingrich blasted the State Department for the diplomatic failures, which lead up to the war with Iraq. In a speech delivered at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank in Washington, Gingrich said the State Department had failed in its efforts to apply diplomatic pressure to persuade Iraq to disarm and comply with U.N. resolutions, and that it was time for "bold, dramatic change" at the department

Gingrich, a well-known conservative, and a close friend of Cheney, had also faulted Secretary of State Colin Powell for saying he would visit Syria, which the Bush administration had accused of aiding Saddam Hussein.

Gingrich did not stop there, he went on to say, "The concept of the American secretary of state going to Damascus to meet with a terrorist-supporting, secret-police-wielding dictator is ludicrous," said Gingrich, who resigned the speaker ship under fire in 1999. He had represented Georgia as a Republican congressman, and now works as a consultant and political analyst. "The United States military has created an opportunity to apply genuine economic, diplomatic and political pressure on Syria."

Somehow Cheney and Gingrich must have missed the memo that explained that President Bush had sent Powell to Syria. White House Press Secretary, Ari Fleisher defended Powell in his statement to the press, the next day, "The actions of Secretary Powell and the Department of State are the president's actions," "They carry out the president's directions and they do so very ably and professionally. The nation and the president are fortunate to have a secretary of state as ... strong as Secretary Powell.

Wolfowitz is another member of the Bush team that often tangled with Powell.

Wolfowitz and Powell seem to be a study in opposite approaches to foreign policy. And even though Powell has the title, Wolfowitz obviously has the president’s ear most of the time.

Wolfowitz pushes for excessive unilateralism and war. Powell pushes for multilateralism and is likely to accommodate other nations.

Powell once stated, "When war comes, that's [casualties] the price that has to be paid," Powell said on NPR. (National Public Radio) "And it's paid not by intellectuals but by wonderful young Americans who serve their country and believe in the cause for which they are serving." Many, perceive this as a jab at Paul Wolfowitz, who did not serve in the military.

Powell also had several clashes with Rumsfield.

In a strongly worded letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on April 14, Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Pentagon officials to accelerate the process by which investigators decide when or whether prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba will be released.

Rumsfeld quickly countered Powell with an insinuation that Powell, as "America's chief diplomat," was speaking in behalf of foreign countries, not in the interest of our own nation.

In another conflict with Rumsfield, the White House had wanted ORHA, (Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance) to be headed by an ex-defense contractor, retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, to run civil affairs in postwar Iraq, Congress had opposed the Pentagon-led effort. But the House-Senate conference eventually bowed to White House pressure and decided to allow Iraq relief and reconstruction funds to be channeled through the Pentagon, not the State Department. Powell lost out in controlling the funds to Rumsfield.

Powell then mounted something of a coup d'etat against the neo-conservative hawks around Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, by having former diplomat L Paul Bremer named as Washington's new civilian leader in Baghdad. State Department officials said the move signaled a victory for Powell, who, had strong support from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who had argued that the United Nations, independent relief and humanitarian groups and even allied nations would be far less inclined to help with peacekeeping and reconstruction, if they had to report to a general, even if he was retired from military service.

Rumsfeld was out-maneuvered, he handpicked retired general Jay Garner to oversee the occupation and report to Centcom commander, General Tommy Franks. But Powell helped readjust, the hierarchy and Garner then reported to Bremer. This clearly embarrassed Rumsfeld, whose press office emailed a rare statement by the secretary asserting, "Jay Garner was doing a truly outstanding job for the nation, and any suggestion to the contrary was flatly untrue and mischievous.

And so the battle still goes on today.

Conjecture about possible replacements for Powell; include Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Ms Rice has recently taken a hit over Niger, but there is a good chance she may come out in tact, and she could be a good candidate for Secretary of State.

Bush should however, try very hard to keep Powell. Recent Gallup Poll data strongly suggest that a Powell departure would be a significant loss for the Bush administration.

According to those polls, Powell remains one of the most popular political figures in Gallup Poll history, and his current 83% favorable rating is some 18 points higher than the favorable rating of his boss, George W. Bush, despite his public and visible connection with the administration's assertions earlier this year, that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

What if Colin Powell's plans include a run for the White House on the Republican ticket in 2004? The news would undoubtedly cause sudden and massive loss of bowel control for Bush and his cabinet members. A campaign may not be started in time and the funding for it would require a massive infusion of money, but it would be a very interesting election.

Sources cited:
Gallup poll
Washington Post Mike Allen
Robin Wright and Doyle McMannus, Times Staff Writers
David Plotz
Jim Wolf
Ronald Martinez, Reuters file
Bill Nichols USA TODAY
Jim Lobe

The Loss Of A Royal Friend

2003-08-01T23:38:00.000-05:00

Another Bush Iraqi war victim is ready to fall. Prime Minister Tony Blair himself.

One of the saddest outcomes of Bush's war in Iraq, is that it may finish off one of America's staunches allies, the Prime Minister of Britain before Saddam Hussein.

Mr. Blair had tried very hard to rein in Bush's almost maniacal passion for invading Iraq. Tony tried to get Bush to work through the UN Security Counsel before the war. He lost that argument, After the war started, Tony Blair worked hard at getting Bush to involve the UN in rebuilding Iraq. Blair lost that argument too. It can be said that Bush has helped push Tony, towards the exit door at 10 Downing Street. Some would say Tony started his decent, after he chose to befriend George Bush.

Sorry Tony. we love you for sticking with us, but we can't protect you in your own back yard. We can give you standing ovations, a Congressional Gold Medal, money, equipment, anything, but its not going to help you at home.

Unlike the United States, the majority of the British press has been very suspicious of this war from the start and they have not been shy about saying so in their dailys.

Many liken, the Iraq war as the most important "defining moment" in British history since the Suez War of 1956. That may seem like an exaggeration, but the outcomes may prove this out.

Former foreign minister Robin Cook, who resigned from his cabinet position as leader of the House of Commons in protest at the war, has said the government clearly sent troops into battle on the basis "of a mistake" and that it had committed a "monumental blunder."

The failure to find weapons of mass destruction is of particular significance in Britain. The idea of going to war was very unpopular among the public as shown by the anti-war demonstrations by around 1.5 million people in London on February 15, the biggest demonstration in Britain's history.

There are daily cartoons in the papers, portraying him as being untrustworthy and as Bush's lap dog. This is extremely serious, if Blair continues to lose the trust of many in his own party, and among the public, no one will believe anything he and his government tells them.

Blair faces a growing chorus of attacks from Labour members of parliament and from former members of the government who resigned over Iraq. A number of junior ministers joined Robin Cook in resigning before the war, and on 12 May Clare Short, the former secretary of state for International Development, resigned. She has launched a series of allegations against Blair, including that he secretly agreed with Bush at their meeting at Camp David last September to go to war, something Blair has strongly denied.

His credibility has also been recently damaged by allegations, that the intelligence on the weapons of mass destruction were "sexed up" to reflect an exaggerated threat in order to get public support for the war. These allegations came from the BBC, who had quoted a high ranking government source.

The British government initiated a "witch hunt" to ferret out the source. Recently, a highly regarded British nuclear weapons scientist, David Kelly was accused of leaking the information to the BBC before a very public interrogation by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

An hour afterwards, this public humiliated scientist committed suicide.

After the Kelly death, the BBC subsequently revealed that Mr. Kelly was indeed the source mentioned in the BBC articles.

The news of Kelly's death reached Blair as he was flying to Tokyo.

At a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a visibly shattered Blair answered questions. One British reporter asked him if Kelly's death was on his conscience, Blair called on politicians and the media to await the outcome of a judicial inquiry he has ordered before drawing conclusions. He also said "I think in the meantime we should show respect and restraint, and let me express once again my deep sorrow for the tragedy that has come about." Finally, one British reporter shouted out: "Have you got blood on your hands, Prime Minister? Are you going to resign over this?" At which time, Blair reportedly froze. He was said to have stood silently at the lectern for what must have seemed like the longest few seconds of his political career. Koizumi called a merciful end to the press conference.

The death of Mr Kelly, who turns out to have been a quiet and very dedicated scientist, has shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair. He has pleaded for restraint while facing tough questions about "blood on his hands" .

Mr Kelly's death, may have been the most serious and final blow to Tony Blair.

Staggering under the biggest political crisis of his premiership, the pressure on Blair increased again, when a respected member of his own Labour party, former cabinet minister Glenda Jackson, recently called for his resignation.

The biggest blow of all may have come from the grieving family of David Kelly, They made clear that Blair and his government should consider the role they played in making his life "intolerable."

An independent investigation is being headed up by Lord Hutton, a very experienced, and a very well respected High Court judge.

Meanwhile, the controversy over the war on Iraq intensifies with the passing of each dead American and or British soldier, particularly with the failure so far of the coalition forces to find weapons of mass destruction.

David Kelly's death has indeed shaken the Prime Minister. His country derides his relationship with Bush, According to the latest polls, he has very little credibility, and his own party is asking for his resignation.

I feel sorry for Tony. He was just the guy who tried to intervene between Bush's fanaticism with Iraq and our European allies reluctance to agree with Bush's shaky evidence for war; and just like in a bar fight; its the poor bastard that tries to break the fight up that gets seriously hurt.

I do not believe the Prime Minister will not survive this latest incident. I may be wrong. I often am, but regardless. Its a sad day for Britain. The leader of this great country may have meant well, but he picked the wrong person to defend in this fight.

God bless the Queen and her people.

Sources Cited:
Sandro Contenta
Peter Beaumont,
Antony Barnett
Gaby Hinsliff
BBC
The Observer

Bush Gets Even

2003-07-27T03:50:00.000-05:00

How does the Bush administration get even with people that embarrass them? Well if you are former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, you leak the fact that his wife is a deep-cover CIA officer.

On July 14 Robert Novak from the Sun Times, stated in his article that, two unnamed "senior administration officials" had leaked this information.

Wilson was sent by the CIA to Niger in February 2002 to check out an allegation that Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium from them. He reported back that the charge was probably false. He recently wrote an article in the New York times and challenged the Bush administration's account of the Niger episode.

Scott McClellan, the new White House press secretary, acknowledged the news article and said "That is not the way this president or this White House operates." He did not state that anything was going to be done about it.

This White House has been pretty consistent at sending "messages". They like making examples of anyone who speaks up against the President or his policies.

One example comes from what recently happened to Senator Voinovich from Ohio. He had the gaul to oppose Bush's original $750 billion tax cut.

Once it was apparent that the normal arm twisting was not getting the good Senator to budge, Bush, decided to visit the Senator's home state. The purpose for the President's trip was to put pressure on Voinovich from the people within his own state, Television ads were also aired. They compared Senator Voinovich's, opposition to the tax cut, as comparable to French opposition of the Iraq war.

Did senior Bush officials break the law just to smear a Bush administration critic and intimidate others?

The FBI and other legal institutions in Washington must have noted the Novak and Time articles, but no obvious investigations seem to be taking place.

Wilson will not confirm whether the allegations about his wife are true or not. If it is true, her career is over and all the operations she participated in, are in jeopardy.

"Stories like this," Wilson says, "are not intended to intimidate me, since I've already told my story. But it's pretty clear it is intended to intimidate others who might come forward. You need only look at the stories of intelligence analysts who say they have been pressured. They may have kids in college, they may be vulnerable to these types of smears."

If this is true, what does this mean to our democratic process?

Stay tuned.

Sources Cited:
A White House Smear
David Corn
The National
ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

A Casualty of Distinction

2003-07-21T18:18:00.000-05:00

The number of Iraq War casualties keep climbing. Here is the story of one such casualty.

President Bush had just finished making his historic landing on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. He posed for the cameras and claimed that victory had been achieved in Iraq. The truth of the matter was that, the war was hardly over; it had simply morphed into a different phase of combat which was as deadly as ever, with very little cover.

His group had been taking sniper fire for several weeks. He was an Iraqi war veteran with considerable experience, a trained professional, respected by his team. The enemy however, just considered him to be a target, someone to be treated without respect or compassion.

He was performing a very unfamiliar and dangerous, new task which had evolved as a result of the miscalculation and lack of proper planning by the administrations in Washington and 10 Downing Street. He lacked the proper training and mental where-with-all to perform his new task well. The combination of these deficiencies, in an otherwise, distinguished and highly trained professional, cost him his life.

The enemy had just discovered his presence. Then, they methodically tracked him down and isolated him from his group. The attack was unmerciful and unrelenting. Afterwards, he was left badly shaken, but otherwise appeared in tact. Time proved the opposite to be true. 24 hours later he bled out and died.

His body did not land on the torrid hot sands of Iraq itself, but had instead fallen on the soft grass, in the woods near his Oxfordshire home in England.

He was Dr. David Kelly, 59, a former United Nations weapons inspector who had advised the British Government on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

This last Thursday, Dr. Kelly was reported missing by his wife. His body was later found about 2 miles from his home. His body lay, on the crest of a hill near a copse, of ash and oak trees, where, according to the police, he apparently took some prescription pain killers and slit his left wrist.

The chain of events leading up to his death, are both outrageous and unnerving

Andrew Gilligan, of the BBC had broken a story, a short time ago, referring to "senior and credible" intelligence services source, who stated that the Blair administration had modified a report on Iraq' WMD capabilities. The allegedly modified report, made the claim that not only did Iraq have Weapons of Mass Destruction, but that Iraq was now capable of launching these WMD's in 45 minutes.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw defended the inclusion of the 45 minute claim in the dossier and Tony Blair's director of communications, Allister Campbell, vehemently denied the accusation that the report was modified and demanded an apology from the BBC. Meanwhile, there was a furious manhunt by the British, for the "mole" that the BBC reporter, was using as his source.

It was known that as a former United Nations weapons inspector, Dr. Kelly was at odds with the statement made, by both George Bush and Blair, who claimed that two alleged mobil chemical weapons labs had been found. Dr. Kelly told the press, that he had examined the alleged labs in person and agreed with the Iraqi's explanation; the two vehicles, were intended for the production of hydrogen to fill artillery balloons.

Kelly had also acknowledged that he had some conversations in the past with Andrew Gilligan, That was enough for the Ministry of Defense to publicly reveal, that an unnamed man had come forward which it believed was the "mole" behind Andrew Gilligan's disputed report, regarding the Iraq intelligence dossier.

Kelly had unwillingly been put under the spotlight as the alleged mole. He was put before a House of Commons committee, to deny he had told journalist Andrew Gilligan that the Government had 'sexed up' its crucial September dossier that made the case for war against Iraq.

Afterwards, he complained to his family about his distress, He was being publicly humiliated by the Ministry, as they questioned him in connection to Gilligan's "mole".

On 15 July, Dr. Kelly was ordered to appear before Foreign Affairs Select Committee, where he faced an unrelenting barrage of questions. Kelly was alone in his defense. Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay, aggressively, taunting the scientist. 'You've been thrown up to divert our probing. Have you ever felt like the fall guy? I mean, you've been set up, haven't you?'

The following day, he went before an even more formidable interrogation. Kelly was in a private session before the Intelligence and Security Committee.

Kelly took his life 24 hours after wards.

After consulting with Dr. Kelly's wife, the BBC publicly stated that Dr. Kelly had indeed been Gilligan's source.

Not all the casualties are in Iraq proper, and the power to destroy people, is not only the province of tyrants in remote parts of the world. The enemies are apparently, amidst us and they are willing to destroy anyone in their desire to avoid either inquiry nor explanation.

Give it Up George

2003-07-19T17:53:00.000-05:00

We desperately need a gutsy, pragmatic President right now, not just a politician. Is Bush up to the task?

Bush has control of both houses of Congress, he has millions of dollars in his re-election war chest, he has the most powerful, most advanced armed services in the world. He has almost everything a world leader would want, with the exception of a good solution to our predicament in Iraq.

Bush's administration has bullied, bought and bribed the Coalition of the Willing" for support, only to find out the majority of them are ...not willing.

Lets be honest with ourselves, Bush gambled by rushing to war without UN approval. he lost. To put it in "Bush terms" his cards stink and its time to dump the hand and draw some other cards.

Its time to call in the U.N Cavalry.

George W. has been wounded by the Niger fiasco. Those "16 words"in his State of the Union speech hurt him. How hurt he is, depends on how far up, the blame goes; the amount of violence against our troops in that hot, torturous, bloody mound of sand over there; and the status of the ongoing search for WMD, of course.

Bush's selection of cabinet members with their singular ideologies, seems to have locked him into severely limited political courses' of action. Any move towards abdicating power of any sort to the UN could adversely risk the wrath of his "base" of support; something he will avoid with a passion. The loss of Bush Sr's "base", cost his father, re-election. Bush Jr seems to be taking all his cues from his father's experience. This becomes just one more factor to limit Bush Jr's options. He probably feels like a driver stuck on the inside lane of a roundabout.

The President can't solve the Iraqi issue with the armed service personnel he now has. Rumsfield could start the Draft again, but many draftees do not work out as well, as an all volunteer army. Does anyone remember Vietnam?

I know it must be a major disappointment, for Bush to realize how powerless he is at this point, but the solution is obvious.

We need additional "boots on the ground" in Iraqi, our troops are on extended rotations (This has not happened since the Vietnam war)
The U.S. and Iraq also need:
financial support for the rebuilding effort
increased aid to the Iraqi people
international recognition of the new Iraqi counsel
International Monetary funds to help the Iraqi financial institutions
U.N's. nation rebuilding experience
U.N's international resolutions to sell and exportation Iraqi oil

So my advice to Bush is, use whatever kind of front door, back door, side door, or garage door diplomacy that may be needed. JUST DO IT! For the sake of our troops, our country and our future,

A pragmatic President with some guts can solve this. A purely political President will not. Lets see who shows up.

Have I ever lied to you?

2003-07-13T18:43:00.000-05:00

The latest exchange from the Bush administration reads like a cartoon strip.

CHARLIE BROWN: Lucy, Is it true? I heard that some of the information you used in your yearly State of the Union speech was false. Iraq did not try to buy Uranium from Niger.

LUCY: Yea, I guess so, but, but it was not the whole reason for going to war!

CHARLIE BROWN: How could this happen? Isn't this speech the most reviewed speech a President ever gives?

LUCY: I guess so, but, but It was not the whole reason we used to attack Iraq!

CHARLIE BROWN: Did you make it up so the country would support you in attacking Iraq?

LUCY: If you listen to my speech, I said that according to British Intelligence, they were trying to buy materials from Niger. I never said that WE had proof that Iraq was trying to buy the materials!

CHARLIE BROWN: So, its the Brits fault?

LUCY: I didn't say that, its just that they told us the story and we put it in the speech.

CHARLIE BROWN: I still don't understand how everyone that wrote the story and everyone that previewed thee story didn't question it. Colin Powell did not have it in his UN speech a few days later, because he said it did not look credible?

LUCY: George Tenet should have said something, before I ever said it on TV. Yea, Its George Tenet's fault!

CHARLIE BROWN: So, you didn't make it up, George Tenet just didn't say it wasn't true. But Cheney asked Joseph C. Wilson, the former acting ambassador to Iraq in 1991, to go to Niger and check it out a year ago. He said there was no truth to Iraq buying materials from Niger. Didn't Cheney tell you either?

LUCY: At the time I didn't know it was not true. It was George Tenet's fault.

-------------------------------------------THE NEXT DAY:-----------------------------------------

CHARLIE BROWN: I see that George Tenet said it was all his fault, and that you didn't know it was forged information, because, he did not work hard enough to stop your speech writers from including the bad information in your speech.

LUCY: Yea, it was Tenet's fault alright, but he still has all my faith and support.

CHARLIE BROWN: Is that it, that is all there is to it?

LUCY: Yep, case closed!

CHARLIE BROWN: You mean, you are not going to fire him or anything?

LUCY: No, it was honest mistake, and besides, it was only one little bitty piece of information. There other reasons why we attacked Iraq. This was just a teensy weensie piece.

CHARLIE BROWN: Teensy weensie! Don't you think Congress and a lot of the country went along with you because of that teesy weensie piece?

LUCY: No, that's ridiculous and besides I was right about Iraq trying to buy material for a nuclear bomb!

CHARLIE BROWN: Oh yea?

LUCY: I was right all along! The Brits said they had more information to support the claim that Iraq ...was trying to get materials for an atom bomb to use against us!

CHARLIE BROWN:I know Tony Blair is under the same pressure about this forged piece of information and he said he has additional information to support the U.S. and Britain's pre-emption attack?

LUCY: Yup!

CHARLIE BROWN: So, did the Brits show you their information?

LUCY: Well, no, but I believe them.

CHARLIE BROWN: You said the first bit of information that the Brits gave you was false and that you should not have used it in your speech. What makes you think this information is right?

LUCY: Because.

CHARLIE BROWN: Because?

LUCY: Yup, just because. They are a trusted ally why wouldn't I believe them?

CHARLIE BROWN: I feel like I am on a merry go round.

CHARLIE BROWN: So even though you have not found WMD and you took back the part about Iraq buying materials from Niger, you still stand by all the reasons you gave us to go to war?

LUCY: Yes, and Colin Powell Condoleezza Rice, and Rumsfield have all gone on TV to tell everyone what happened, It was Tenet's fault that the faulty Niger information; that little bitty piece of incorrect information got into my speech and by he way, we will find proof of Iraqi programs to build WMD.

CHARLIE BROWN: Wait a minute, You said Iraq had tons of weapons they could use right now. You specified that they had weapons not just weapons programs.

LUCY: No, I never said they had weapons, I said they had programs.

CHARLIE BROWN:Aren't you trying to change what you originally said?

LUCY: No, that's what everyone else is doing; THEY are revising history, not me!

CHARLIE BROWN: So, by changing what you said is OK?

LUCY: I am not changing what I said. We eliminated a terrible person who killed thousands of his own people and by the way, Saddam is not trying to buy any materials for a nuclear bomb right now! Haw Haw. Thats a good one!

CHARLIE BROWN: I just heard that no one has been able to make any connections between al-Qaida and Iraq. Didn't you say that was another reason for attacking Iraq?

LUCY: I believe we have made our case about that and we will be proven right ; did I mention that Saddam was terrible to his people and he killed thousands of his own people.

CHARLIE BROWN: OK, I'll buy that, but there are a lot of leaders who torture and kill their own people.

LUCY: Yea, but they violated over a dozen separate UN charters!

CHARLIE BROWN: Didn't you say the UN was irrelevant, and didn't you object about giving them any real power in either supporting the war or in rebuilding Iraq?

CHARLIE BROWN: Hasn't Israel violated several UN charters as well?

LUCY: Yea, but those were minor little bitty teensy weensie things.

CHARLIE BROWN: GOOD GRIEF!

LUCY: Come on Charlie Brown, lets go down to the park. I have a new football. I'll tee it up. I'll even let you be the first person to kick it.

CHARLIE BROWN: You promise not to pull it away again just as I run up to kick it!

LUCY: Of course I promise not to pull it away! I'll let you kick it. Have I ever lied to you?

Overtime, seems to be the next target for Bush

2003-07-10T01:50:00.000-05:00

The Bush administration's approach to solving the economy problem seems to give the richer people in our society more money while he is pushing for a modification of the Fair Labor Standards Act to take money away from others. It is like watching a circus magician who makes small colorful balls disappear in one hand only to have them reappear in a different one.

The recently passed Bush tax bill has been pretty well recognized as a windfall for upper income individuals. Prior to that bill passage, back on March 31, 2003, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed regulatory changes, which if adopted, could make more than eight million white-collar employees ineligible for overtime pay.

The Department of Labor rule changes proposed by the Bush Administration in March 2003 would make significant changes to tests which determine who can and can't collect overtime. The result of the new tests being proposed, make it likely that millions of workers will work longer hours at reduced pay. Nearly 80 percent of all workers are in jobs that qualify them for overtime pay, which is time-and-a-half for each hour that is worked beyond the normal 40-hour week. The administration wants to make it easier for employers to exempt many of those workers from overtime protection by classifying them as administrative, professional or executive personnel.

Under the old rules, "educated professionals" were people who had scientific or specialized degrees. These "educated professionals" are ineligible for overtime.
Under the new rules, work experience or technical training can be enough to reclassify them and make them ineligible for overtime.

In another example, according to the old rules "executives" are ineligible for overtime, "Executives" were people who hired and fired workers, set wages and assigned work. The new rules broaden the definition of "executives" to include any workers who occasionally, supervise other workers, even if they spend most of their time doing manual labor.

Once employers are not required to pay for overtime work, the fear is that employers will schedule more of it, and the workers will have to work extra hours to make up for lost overtime.

On the low end of the pay scale, the proposal, states that any worker earning less than $22,100 a year automatically would be entitled to overtime pay, regardless of whether they are paid hourly or earn an annual salary. Workers would get overtime pay despite their management status as long as they earn less than $22,100 a year. Some companies may decide that by boosting some salaries above the $22,100 cap they would avoid paying the overtime.

Employers have been asking for changes in overtime pay regulations because of the confusion around the rules for overtime and mounting lawsuits. Some also say that increased productivity and fewer lawsuits could amount to over a billion dollar savings.

Businesses and labor unions both agree that the current regulations of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act which were last updated in 1948, are confusing and outdated. The disagreement comes from how to update standards that determine what jobs must receive an hourly wage of time-and-a-half for working more than 40 hours a week.

Almost 110 million workers are covered by the law, or about 80 percent of the work force.

Officials say those requirements would exempt about 644,000 professional employees earning between $22,100 and $65,000 who now get overtime pay. That figure doesn't include another proposed exemption, for workers making $65,000 or more annually and meeting only part of the jobs duties criteria.

Employees who work under collective bargaining agreements negotiated by unions would not be affected.

According to the Labor Department figures issues on July 3, the "total hours worked were unchanged in June. The average workweek was unchanged at 33.7 hours. In manufacturing, the average workweek was unchanged at 40.2 hours, including 4 hours of overtime."

In a separate adjustment to overtime, Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill) introduced a bill called the Family Time Flexibility Act. It gives workers more quality time at home by offering workers time off instead of overtime pay.

The Family Time Flexibility Act would permit employers to allow employees who work more than 40 hours a week to have time off rather than overtime pay. If passed, it would modify the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act.

The bipartisan bill was introduced in March by Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), with Rep. William Lipinski (D-Ill.) and more than 70 other representatives as co-sponsors. The House Education and Workforce subcommittee passed it April 3. The voluntary agreement was passed by the full committee April 9.

Unions oppose this bill because they fear employers will force workers to take compensatory time instead of overtime pay.

The act allows comp time only if both sides agree to it. And employees will be able to bank up to 160 hours to use for paid time off. They will be able to cancel the agreement at any time and ask for pay instead. Compensation would be at the traditional rate of time-and-a-half.

Another concern is that employers may decide when, the time off can be taken. On the surface, it looks like the proposal isn't such a bad payoff. But only if employees are not forced to take compensatory time instead of money..

So what we have is a nine year high in unemployment, Bush is working at reducing overtime pay for what could be, millions of workers. The The House Education and Workforce subcommittee agreed to a bill which gives workers time off instead of overtime pay. Meanwhile those fortunate few in the upper tax brackets will pay fewer taxes than ever.

The Bush proposal, if passed, will cause workers to work longer hours, if they are available to make up for lost overtime pay. (the Labor Department doesn't put any limit on the number of hours per week an employee must work) The Judy Biggert Bill wants people to have more time off. Meanwhile those stock dividends keep rolling in for those with significant investments. Where is Robin Hood when you need him?

Sources Cited:
Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com
NYTimes Ross Eisenbrey and Jared Bernstein
Carol Kleiman Chicago Tribune
Bob Herbert Seattle pi.com
Leigh Strope The Associated Press

Angry war spouses speak out

2003-07-05T00:10:00.000-05:00

On this Fourth of July, we celebrate our independence. We pay tribute to those who protect our freedoms and are willing to lay their lives down for us, our servicemen and women. For many of those who now serve in Iraq, their once altruistic mission has become a frustrating and perilous task, and patience is running thinner and thinner by an unexpected group, the soldier's spouses and their families.

The soldiers patrolling the ever dangerous cities and villages in Iraq are obviously in a high stress situation; President Bush has now boosted the stress their wives and loved ones are feeling.

War causes stress for all concerned, however the stress being felt by the spouses left at home has been aggravated by George' Bush's celebrated aircraft carrier landing on May 1.

The televised images of President Bush in a Navy S-3B Viking jet landing onto the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, were intended to strike a note of triumph in the country, as he strode around the deck in his fighter pilot outfit. In a speech from the deck, Bush declared an end to major combat operations. Many people, including military families had the impression, that the war had come to a conclusive end. Those impressions were shattered by the loss of loved ones in the unsettled aftermath in Iraq.

The administration's apparent rush to begin his presidential campaign for 2004, left the impression that our soldiers would soon start be coming home and many of the servicemen's spouses counted on it. The president's speech made it apparent to all that we should put this particular conflict behind us. Saddam has been deposed, it did not matter if we find WMD's or Saddam himself. The Iraqi people have been freed, mission accomplished, its over. The only thing left is mop up work and setting up a democracy.

As we have noticed on the news, the war is hardly over, it has just morphed into "hit and run" fighting by the Iraqis. Our soldiers are being killed on a regular basis, with many more being wounded.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of ground forces in Iraq said an average of 13 attacks have been launched each day against occupation forces during the past 45 days, totaling roughly 585. In addition to the use of increasingly sophisticated explosive devices, Sanchez said, "we believe there may be regional cooperation of subversives," including Iraqis loyal to Hussein, Islamic radicals and common criminals.

Clearly, it doesn't take a "major combat operation" to claim a soldier's life. Call the killers, Baathist party members, Republican Guard, released criminals, Fedayeen, disgruntled Iraqi policemen, Islamic fighters from other countries, Saddam loyalists, or whatever. Our soldiers are being killed at a daily rate and the soldier's spouses are asking why.

Call the action, guerrilla warfare, coordinated attacks or uncoordinated attacks; it does not matter to the spouses. Our servicemen are being picked off like ducks in a shooting gallery and that point is being painfully felt by their families.

Luisa Leija's husband, a young artillery captain in Iraq commands part of an artillery unit, 3-16 Bravo, also known as the Bulldogs. Like many of the soldier's wives, she has visions of a military champlain showing up at the door any day now. She was recently thrown in a panic when her 9-year-old daughter told her, a soldier dressed in full camouflage was on the doorstep. She quickly went into a panic at the sight of the soldier at her door. She calmed down when the soldier explained that he lived in the neighborhood and he had locked himself out of his house. Her panic soon subsided, but the weariness and the anger settled back in. She is angry that her husband, Capt. Frank Leija, and the rest of the Bulldogs have not come home yet, even though President Bush declared that "major combat operations in Iraq had ended. "I want my husband home," "I am so on edge. When they first left, I thought yeah, this will be bad, but war is what they trained for. But they are not fighting a war. They are not doing what they trained for. They have become police in a place they're not welcome."

Fort Hood received their orders to go to Iraq and 20,000 soldiers left the base earlier in the year. The neighborhood is now almost empty, pale yellow ribbons flutter from the trees, and the base has become a drab dreary, depressing and lonely place for the spouses and other loved ones who remained behind.

The ugly mood at Fort Hood is not unique. It exists at all the military bases.

Eight soldiers with Fort Carson ties have been killed since May 1, and many families at Fort Carson, are suffering from anxiety, depression and fear.
Menzer Bobonis, who is married to 42-year-old Sgt. Maj. Sigfrido Bobonis, is attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson.
Bobonis works at Fort Carson's Regional Training Support Center, where she sees plenty of soldiers and their spouses on a daily basis. She hears their fears. "They try not to listen to rumors or listen to the news," Bobonis said. "But there's still a lot of gossip going around about the dangers (in Iraq)." "We try to control that."

Frustrations became so bad recently at Fort Stewart, Ga., that a colonel, had to be escorted from a meeting with 800 seething spouses. "They were crying, cussing, yelling and screaming for their men to come back," said Lucia Braxton, director of community services at Fort Stewart.

Long deployment has led to dozens of delayed engagements, family financial problems, missed births and broken marriages. "Guys who had a rocky marriage before, it's worse now," says Staff Sgt. Gordon Baker, 26, of Tannersville, Pa. That may be why many soldiers beg international aid workers and journalists to use their satellite phones. Some vent their frustrations to the folks at home. Others reassure relatives they'll be home soon. Non-the-less, most families are especially grateful for the scratchy phone calls and the brief e-mails they receive.

The Red Cross has also been utilized to help everyone involved, with the stresses of deployment overseas. The Red Cross is charged with the responsibility of delivering emergency messages to those troops. And with more deployments, and longer ones at that, this task is becoming overwhelming for the local chapter.

Before the war in Afghanistan, the office received 15 to 20 emergency messages a month. When the troops were deployed, in late 2001, the monthly messages doubled, said Cecil Stout, disaster management director.

When Operation Iraqi Freedom was in full swing, the calls came to about 60 per month. But as of last month, the calls skyrocketed to nearly 200.

"Our office is just not designed to take that amount of calls," said Stout, who spent 25 years in the Marine Corps.

The photo op that the Bush team came up involving the carrier landing, overstated the war's end, just like they apparently overstated our reasons for going to war to begin with. This fact is not being lost on the spouses of the servicemen and women in Iraq.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of anger, weariness, depression and frustration in military homes throughout the country, which could have been alleviated somewhat by a truly compassionate, leader.

Sources Cited:

Molly Moore and Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post Foreign Service
Charlie Brennan Rocky Mountain News
Jeffrey Getttleman New York Times
Chantal Escoto The Leaf-Chronicle
Greg Williamson The Leaf-Chronicle

2003-07-03T01:55:00.000-05:00

The President actually told the Iraqi's to ""bring em on" asserting that the forces are "plenty tough" to deal with the threat. What good did that do?
George has said some pretty outrages things like "You're either with us or against us". He just can't seem to avoid polarizing countries, people and nations. This last episode seems to fit that pattern.

He has the habit of "hitting the pinata" and expecting candy to spill out.

In the months prior to the war in Iraq, the Bush administration gave the impression that bringing down Saddam Hussein would be like "hitting a pinata": He stated that we would not only destroy the target but release a cascade of blessings.

The administration was as wrong as could be on that one. Iraqi's so called welcome wagons became American ambulances carrying away our dead and wounded soldiers.
Every day we awake to more news of U.S. soldiers being ambushed. Over 200 soldiers have died and many more have been wounded. Bush's latest comments can't help but aggravate an already volatile situation. Our soldiers did not need this kind of help.

Is his rising anger and frustration about so many people are questioning his performance and the soundness of his decisions?
Is he upset because the latest polls show his popularity slipping by 10 points since last month?
Are the constant questions about his exaggerated claims of Iraqi WMD getting to him?
Are the strained relations with the majority of nations around the world causing him problems.
Does he sense that the recent UN draft which does not show any connection between Al Queda and Iraqi open up one more crack in his credibility?
Are the constant resignations of Bush appointees from several high level posts getting to him?
Is he having trouble getting other countries to send their military personnel to replace our soldiers in Iraq?
Is the latest request for American troops by Liberia, just prior to his African trip, make him think he is over his head now, and does this request push up against Rumsfield's idea of a leaner and meaner military?
Are the neo conservatives after him, because he has not been able to move Miguel Estrada through the Senate; which is especially critical, in light of the "leftward leaning" opinions such as support for affirmative action and the reversal of the Texas Sodomy law?

How many of all those chickens that George Bush let loose, are coming home to roost right now; and how many of them are out there yet to come in? This could leave a mark.

Sources Cited:
Dana Milbank and Vernon Loeb
Washington Post
Ewen MacAskill
The Guardian

2003-06-29T00:41:00.000-05:00

George Bush's short list for the replacement of EPA Administrator Christie Whitman. suddenly got shorter. Linda Fisher, the deputy administrator of the EPA, was being considered for the position by Bush, but, she also submitted her resignation. Fisher told President Bush in her resignation letter that she planned to step down July 11.

Questions arise over which issues caused the resignations. When one person from a department leaves, well, I guess that just happens sometimes, but when two people from the same department resign one right after another; it is more than coincidence. So what is the story?

Could it have been the White House mandated revision of the global warming report?
Was there an issue with the White House directing a major rewrite of an assessment of climate change, which removed all references to health and environmental risks posed by rising global temperatures? According to an April 29 EPA staff memo, The changes demanded by the White House were so extensive that the climate section "no longer accurately represents scientific consensus on climate change," It characterized the revised draft as an embarrassment to the agency.

Could it have been the Bush administration's reversal of Clinton's effort to protect the national forests? The protections had covered 58.5 million acres of federal forest, nearly one-third of all national forest land.
The Bush administration said that it will exempt the nation's largest national forest from rules banning road construction, logging and other development. Rule making to implement the change would begin by early fall. One eventual net result could be intensive logging on 300,000 acres in the 17 million-acre forest in southeast Alaska. Administration officials also said that in addition to waiving the rules for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, they will propose allowing governors to ask for exemptions from the conservation rule in other states.

Could it have been Bush's arrogance involving needed safeguards for genetically altered food?
Was it the significant potential of another billion dollar fiasco regarding another genetically developed animal food crop, which could be accidentally enter the human food chain, Could we have another StarLink corn disaster?

Back in 2000, a genetically modified corn called StarLink was developed to resist insects. It had built in insecticide. It was approved as animal feed, however some of it, actually a lot of it was mixed in with corn, meant for human consumption. StarLink was not designed for human consumption and scientists had concerns that StarLink corn could trigger potentially dangerous allergic responses in humans.

A massive recall went into effect. One company, Western Family Foods, had StarLink in their products. They marketed 6,400 products under a variety of labels. The products were distributed to more than 3,500 stores in 23 states and overseas.
Kraft also mistakenly sold some of the contaminated corn to grocery stores under the Taco Bell name. StarLink was also found in Taco shells produced by Mission Foods Inc. and they accidentally distributed it under various house brand names, including Safeway.
The EPA had not conducted long term studies of the potential health and environmental problems that may be associated with this revolutionary new product. By the way, Aventis CropScience of Triangle Research Park, N.C., admitted it could not account for 9 million bushels of StarLink, about 12 percent of the crop. This all happened in 2000, but there are still ripples from that event today.

Recently, more corn was genetically engineered so it won't contain molds. It is known as Bt corn, Initial tests have indicated, however, that it contains the mold fusarium, which can sicken animals and humans. There is also risk of another more significant side effect, sterilizaton. Agriculture Department researchers suspected some Iowa cattle and hogs became sterile after eating the potentially moldy corn. Jerry Rosman, a farmer who operates Rolling R Farms in Harlan, Iowa fed his pigs the modified corn. The sows appeared to be pregnant but produced no litters. He destroyed the herd, Midwestern farmers and some veterinarians have come forward, saying they saw reproductivity drop in hog and cattle herds because of the grain.
This new genetically modified corn has all the potential of being introduced into the food chain that StarLink had. That would be an even more costly replay of the StarLink scare . Recovery efforts from that disaster cost the food and farming industry billions of dollars.

There are other EPA disasters that could have caused those resignations as well; emission standards, clean water acts, the list goes on and on. Maybe it was all of them.

Who will lead the EPA now?
A major part of the Bush administration's selection process, seems to be the candidate's support for "message discipline". The success of cabinet members, seems, to hinge on how well they broadcast policies received whole from the White House. They are not to pass on or create or involve themselves in developing any of their own guidance. When Paul O'Neill was fired from his post as Treasury Secretary last year, it didn't take a political scientist to predict the qualities that his successor would have: consistency, loyalty and message discipline. They do not need to really serve the country, they have to serve the President.

I didn't know Bush was an expert on EPA matters, I thought his expertise only lay in foreign affairs.

He obviously has the power and the ability to deceive the country on the Iraq war, he can use those same skills and lots of campaign money, to deceive the country on how well he is handling the environment too.

Sources Cited:
Emily Gersema
MMII The Associated Press.
AP Online
Unapproved Corn Variety Found Again
Phillip Brasher
United Press International
October 25, 2000,
Third brand of taco shells contains StarLink
Marcella S. Kreiter Chicago
Bernard Sanders
Member of Congress
Miguel Llanos
MSNBC
ERIC ROSTON USA TODAY
Tom Kenworthy USA TODAY
H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer

2003-06-27T00:15:00.000-05:00

Blair is in major trouble so the United States is going to give him a medal.

The Press has been unmerciful in their pursuit of Tony Blair's real involvement with the manipulation of information he used to get the public to support England's involvement in the Iraq War.

The House of Representatives recently agreed to award the Congressional Gold Medal to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The House resolution, passed by a voice vote. It was stated that he is a staunch and steadfast ally of the United States.

Blair would be the first British leader to receive Congress' most prestigious award since Sir Winston Churchill was honored posthumously in 1969. The Senate already has approved giving Blair the medal.

With the medal, Congress was "perhaps trying to influence the outcome of some very serious investigations going on in Britain," said Representative Jim McDermott, an opponent of the war. ``We are trying to prop up Mr. Blair."

Since it was first given to George Washington in 1776, the Congressional Gold Medal has been bestowed on some 300 people, including Thomas Edison, Irving Berlin, Bob Hope, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul.

This medal may be the last thing Tony needs right now. Have you ever worked in a company where an "employee of the week" program is run? The "employee of the week" gets a ton of shit for it.

He is already being seen as a Bush lackey. So the Medal will just emphasis the approval of his "master". It will stir up the issue of how Tony and England are subject to Bush and his policies.

It just goes to show you, that supporting George Bush may cost you, especially if you decide to follow him blindly.

Sources Cited:
BBC

2003-06-24T22:40:00.000-05:00

I have often heard that you are judged by the company you keep. It is one of those time worn phrases that almost every parent uses at one time or another. You are also judged by the people you hire. Like it or not, they are a reflection of you your biases. your values.

Alberto R. Gonzales is a Harvard-educated lawyer that went on to become the Texas secretary of state and a justice on the Texas supreme court. He became the legal counsel to then-Texas Governor George W. Bush. He is now the White House counsel, and widely regarded as a likely future Supreme Court nominee.

One of the legal counsel's major responsibilities was to prepared very important memorandums for Governor Bush prior to each scheduled execution of an inmate from death row. These summaries were Bush's primary source of information in deciding whether someone would live or die.

Each summary was only three to seven pages long and generally consists of little more than a brief description of the crime, a paragraph or two on the defendant's personal background, and a condensed legal history. Governor George W. Bush signs his name to the confidential memorandum, and placed a bold black check mark next to a single word: DENY when the execution was ordered to take place.

A close examination of the Gonzales memoranda suggests that Governor Bush frequently approved executions based on only the most cursory briefings on the issues in dispute. In fact, in these documents Gonzales repeatedly failed to apprise the governor of crucial issues in the cases at hand: ineffective counsel, conflict of interest, mitigating evidence, even actual evidence of innocence.

Gonzales never intended his summaries to be made public. Almost all are marked CONFIDENTIAL and state, "The privileges claimed include, but are not limited to, claims of Attorney-Client Privilege, Attorney Work-Product Privilege, and the Internal Memorandum exception to the Texas Public Information Act." Summaries and related documents were obtained, which have never been published. They were made public after the Texas attorney general ruled that they were not exempt from the disclosure requirements of the Public Information Act.

The Gonzales's summaries all seem to assume that if an appeals court rejected one or another of a defendant's claims, then there is no conceivable rationale for the governor to revisit that claim. This assumption ignores one of the most basic reasons for clemency: the fact that the justice system makes mistakes.

The recent release of 12 inmates from Tulia a town about 65 miles north of Lubbock seems to contradict all of that.
These 12 people were arrested and accused of possessing cocaine following an 18-month undercover operation by Tom Coleman. Coleman claimed he bought drugs from the defendants during the investigation in which he worked alone and used no audio or video surveillance. No drugs or money were found during the arrests. His word was the sole reason for all of the convictions. The bust drew national attention and led to investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Texas Attorney General's Office. Swisher County Jail released the 12 pending a ruling by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. In late April, Coleman was indicted on three charges of aggravated perjury stemming from his testimony during the hearings, which Chapman oversaw. I guess it could be said that Coleman was not a credible witness under oath. The appeals court are looking into overturning the convictions of all 38 people prosecuted and new trials were ordered. The fault goes beyond just one rogue cop. The issue also involves the district attorney and Coleman's supervisors in the Swisher County Sheriff's Department and the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Trafficking Task Force. They should be thankful that Bush and Gonzales have moved on.

Back to death row executions by Gonzales and Bush in Texas
There were many questionable expert medical witnesses which some Texas prosecutors used in these cases. Take the example of Stoker, Ralph Erdmann, a doctor who had relinquished his medical license in 1994 after pleading no contest to seven felonies tied to falsified evidence and botched autopsies. A special prosecutor's investigation of Erdmann concluded that he falsified evidence in at least thirty cases in support of prosecutors. All this information was in the public record, yet Gonzales mentioned none of it in his memorandum to Bush.

James Grigson, a psychiatrist who often testified for the prosecution, had on occasion even failed to examine patients and claimed they were sociopaths without even examining them. His expert testimony has helped send dozens of men to death row, earning him the nickname Dr. Death. He had been expelled from the American Psychiatric Association two years before the Stoker case was reviewed by Gonzales and Bush. His testimony had repeatedly been found to be unethical. All this information was in the public record, yet Gonzales mentioned none of it in his memorandums to Bush.

Stephen Latimer, who represented one death row inmate received a call from Gonzales's office about a week to ten days before the execution, advising him that there would be no reprieve. The timing is significant, because Gonzales's execution summary is dated June 16, 1997, the day of his client's execution. The decision had been made a week or more before Bush even read the summary,

The handling of this clemency appeal was not unusual. Consider the case of Billy Conn Gardner, whose death-penalty case was plagued by issues of incompetent counsel, dubious witness testimony, and unheard mitigating evidence. Gonzales's report to Bush gave no sense of these circumstances. And there were some pretty significant facts missing from Gonzales's memo on his case as well. Critical information, was received, only after the prosecutors threatened to bring other charges against one Melvin Sanders, who then fingered Gardner as the murderer in the case. In exchange for this testimony Sanders received complete immunity from prosecution for the murder and probation for pending forgery and firearms charges. All this information was in the public record, yet Gonzales mentioned none of it in his memorandums to Bush.

During Bush's six years as governor, he placed many bold black check marks on those summaries and 150 men and women went to their deaths. Bush set an american record for executions, ordered by a governor.

Gonzales and Bush did not consider mental illness or incompetence, childhood physical or sexual abuse, remorse, rehabilitation, racial discrimination in jury selection, the competence of the legal defense, or disparities in sentences between co-defendants or among defendants convicted of similar crimes.

Compassion and mercy are critical to the idea of clemency, and it has been central to the Supreme court which goes back to 1855. Neither compassion or mercy, are acknowledged as being of any account in Bush and Gonzales's review of summaries.

In his autobiography,"A Charge to Keep" George Bush says, that everyone had "a fair hearing and full access to the courts". This apparently means nothing more than that a case had received some sort of legal attention at all state and federal levels

Well, a lot of people don't seem to care and Americans still support the death penalty in large numbers despite an awareness that innocent people are executed. Gallup's most recent polls also find that seventy-three percent of Americans "believe an innocent person has been executed under the death penalty in the last five years.

So, the question of how many innocent people did Bush and Gonzalez kill is mute, but the process they followed is very telling, especially when you apply those same traits when it comes to Guantanimo prisoners, people being held without counsel, secret government court trials, domestic and foreign policy decisions. Hang em high George, let Jesus sort them out.

Sources Cited:
The Atlantic Monthly
Alan Berlow
JOHN W. DEAN

2003-06-20T01:10:00.000-05:00

It looks like Tony will take the hit.
Last month, President Bush startled observers by saying on Polish TV: "We've found the weapons of mass destruction. You know, we found biological laboratories . . . . And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong. We found them."

Bush was referring to two mobile units that the CIA had concluded were designed to manufacture biological substances. George's speech writer creatively managed the phrases "manufacturing devices or banned weapons" in one sentence, his comments nicely fuzzed up what he meant by saying, "We found them."

An official British investigation into the two trailers found in northern Iraq has concluded that they are not mobile germ warfare labs, as was claimed by Tony Blair and President George Bush. They were for the production of hydrogen to fill artillery balloons, just like the Iraqis have been saying all along.

This is one more very big embarrassment for Tony Blair, who supported George Bush's claimed that the discovery of the labs proved that Iraq retained weapons of mass destruction and justified the case for going to war against Saddam Hussein.

The revelation that the mobile labs were to produce hydrogen for artillery balloons is especially embarrassing for Tony Blair, because Iraqi's so called "mobil weapons labs" were sold to Iraq, by the British company, Marconi Command & Control to make hydrogen for weather balloons.

Al Capone has been rumored to have said "It pays to have a judge in your pocket". The Bush presidency has expounded on that saying, in a huge way. He controls the Senate, the House, the Justice department and the Intelligence agencies. He has such a stranglehold, on our judicial process that he can determine the kind of investigation that can take place. So, the question over how much he knew prior to invading Iraq is mute. The question is, does Tony have as many judges in his pocket as George?

Many of the lies, and maybe Bush's presidency may start to unravel. It will begin off the American coast, beyond Bush's neo-con's long arm of control; England's judiciary system.

According to some British publications, the Iraq war is the most important "defining moment" in British history since the Suez War of 1956. It is even possible Prime Minister Tony Blair will eventually be forced to resign, just as Anthony Eden resigned after the Suez debacle. The former Labour cabinet minister Lord Dennis Healy has said Blair should resign if he is shown to have been wrong over weapons of mass destruction.

The controversy over the war on Iraq is intensifying daily, particularly with the failure so far of the coalition forces to find weapons of mass destruction. Former foreign minister Robin Cook, who resigned from his cabinet position as leader of the House of Commons in protest at the war, has said the government clearly sent troops into battle on the basis "of a mistake" and that it had committed a "monumental blunder."

There are growing suspicions that the British and U.S. governments manipulated and exaggerated the intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction before the war.

The failure to find weapons of mass destruction is of particular significance in Britain. The idea of going to war was very unpopular among the public as shown by the anti-war demonstrations by around 1.5 million people in London on February 15, the biggest demonstration in Britain's history.

Blair stated that the threat posed by Saddam's weapons of mass destruction was his main justification for going to war. Weapons of mass destruction were also the basis on which the attorney general advised the government that the war was legal.

Blair won, the parliamentary vote on going to war, which followed the debate on 18 March.

139 Labour members of parliament voting against the motion. Some Labour members who had opposed war decided to support the government in the vote because of the evidence Blair presented on weapons of mass destruction. It has been said that many of those that voted for the war now feel betrayed and regret supporting the war.

The war has damaged Britain's standing in the Middle East.

The stakes over Iraq are very high, for Blair; he has gambled his political future on it. His credibility is being damaged by current allegations over the intelligence on the weapons of mass destruction, newspaper articles. There are already daily cartoons in the papers, portraying him as being untrustworthy. This is extremely serious, if Blair loses the trust of many in his own party, and among the public, no one will believe anything he and his government tells them, and he may be out of a job.

There will be investigations by two committees in parliament - the intelligence and security committee, and the other by Foreign Affairs Committee. The Foreign Affairs Committee has asked both Blair and his powerful director of strategy and communications Alastair Campbell to give evidence, but they appear to have refused to do so. This refusal is seen as arrogant and as strengthening the impression that they have something to hide.

The Conservatives are calling for an independent enquiry and backed a motion from the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons calling for an independent judicial enquiry, but the motion was defeated by 301 votes to 203.

Blair faces a growing chorus of attacks from Labour members of parliament and from former members of the government who resigned over Iraq. A number of junior ministers joined Robin Cook in resigning before the war, and on 12 May Clare Short, the former secretary of state for International Development, resigned. She has launched a series of allegations against Blair, including that he secretly agreed with Bush at their meeting at Camp David last September to go to war, something Blair has strongly denied.

There are more and more people asking for answers. My money is on the British people. They will draw first blood, the Bush administration may get a glancing blow.

Perhaps it will only take a glancing blow to wake the American people up.

2003-06-17T00:21:00.000-05:00

Does President Bush support volunteerism or not?
AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engage more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.

They tutor and mentor youth, build affordable housing, teach computer skills, clean parks and streams, run after-school programs, and help communities respond to disasters.

These programs engage more than 2 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service each year.

Bush, often meets with AmeriCorps volunteers on his trips around the country. He seeks these people for photo ops, so he clearly wants to highlight their efforts as worthwhile.

Rob Waldron, the head of Jumpstart, a Boston-based Americorp program, pairs college students with preschool children, to help the children develop literacy and language skills. Waldron said that Bush met personally with some of his volunteers last October and that Laura Bush wrote all of the tutors, urging them to consider teaching careers.

George Bush's interest continues to show itself in his speeches and few subjects are addressed more frequently by President Bush than voluntary national service. In the State of the Union addresses and in dozens of speeches around the country, this president has urged Americans to devote time and energy to community projects. And he has pledged his best efforts to expand government programs of national service.

In last Sunday's radio Address Bush, he brought the subject of volunteerism again. He said " Our nation is strengthened every time a citizen steps forward to serve a cause greater than self-interest. And each of us can serve and strengthen America by reaching out to neighbors in need. There are so many ways to improve the lives of fellow Americans -- by answering the call to feed the hungry, or caring for the elderly, or teaching a child to read, or joining with neighbors to support the police, fire fighters and medics who respond to emergencies. Every action you take will strengthen the bonds of community that unite all Americans, and extend the promise of American life to another citizen.

One would think that such a well-mentioned and worthwhile activity would be a priority for the Bush administration. He may say it is important over and over again but government funding for Americorp will be cut this year.

Memos sent to the states by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the parent agency for AmeriCorps, indicate that dozens and perhaps hundreds of long-established programs, including some which were praised by the president and first lady Laura Bush, will lose their funding.

As if the current job market isn’t bad enough for college grads, one of the largest national employers of that labor pool could be forced to cut back on thousands of openings.

AmeriCorps Director Rosie Mauk issued a statement saying, "We are keenly aware of the impact that the reduced level of funding for 2003 will have on the entire field of national service." But she held out hope that additional grants may be made later this year. In a recent interview she said

The cutback in funding could have a nasty "domino effect" on other sources of funds as well. The loss of existing programs may mean that private sector partners such as Starbucks -- which contributes $1 million a year -- may also withdraw their support.

"It's hard to understand why this should be happening when the president says he wants us to grow by 50 percent," Schmitz said. "He seems to get everything else he asks for." As of the President's speech this last Sunday, Bush has not intervened to block the cutbacks.

The actions of Bush's administration seem to betray his speeches about helping people. If he doesn't believe in it, he should stop the rhetoric. If he does support what he says, he should put the money where his mouth is.

He can offset the program cost by reducing the public relations program designed to win the hearts and minds of in the Arab world. That is pretty much a lost cause anyway.

Sources cited:
The Washington Post Company
AmeriCorps
Miguel Llanos
MSNBC

2003-06-15T00:57:00.001-05:00

I have been reviewing some journalistic principles and I am concerned that I have been too hard on Georgie Boy and Rummy.

As much as I enjoy using George and his administration as targets for a majority of my sarcasm, I should really try harder to find opposing views and publish them along with the jabs I give out.
I just get so incensed at what I find out. Passion is good they say, but objectivity is needed to temper my enthusiasm. I list the sources which I cite. That is good, but I need to do a better job of balancing the views I present.

I challenge my readers to keep me honest. By that I mean to say, present me with a source for your opposing view along with the facts which you give me. If I do it you need to do it. Fair is fair.

Let the games begin!

2003-06-15T00:57:00.000-05:00

2003-06-14T03:27:00.000-05:00

When someone makes Bush back down, I think it is worth noting.

Tuesday, was not a good day for Georgie Boy. He was pissed. He was physically upset. You could see it in his face. He was seething. He had just found out that Israel had just staged a helicopter attack on Palestinian militant leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi. George had not even had time to unpack from his "historic" and well photographed Aqaba peace meeting. Bush then let the missile strike situation get the better of him and he publicly rebuked Sharon for the attack.

He had just spent a considerable amount of his political capital to go to the Middle east to broker a major deal between the new Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbasand and Ariel Sharon. He personally presented his "roadmap to peace in the Middle East" to them. There were many smiling diplomats and they were all shaking hands. He personally said he oversaw one meeting. He said he let the two men talk by themselves so "he can observe their body language " to see if they were communicating well.

The Israeli lobby quickly came down on President Bush for his comments against Sharon. The group defended the action as part of the Jewish state's war on terrorism.

America set a terrible precedent, when it attacked Iraq under the guise that Iraq MAY attack the U.S. Israel was very quick to pick up on the "terrorist" angle to justify their ever increasing attacks upon the Palestinians. Sharon stepped up their attacks while America was watching the Iraq war on CNN. Now every attack that Israel initiates uses that same mantra to justify the killings. "We are fighting terrorism"

Israel always state that they only kill terrorists. I didn't know Palestinian toddlers and infants could be considered terrorists. I didn't know news journalists, American college kids, and UN peace keepers are also considered terrorists. I guess they must be. Israel says so. Otherwise they wouldn't have been killed by Israeli troops using American supplied weapons.

There were helicopter attacks by Israel in the days that followed. Israeli officials said they should have given George advanced warning of the missile strike. It was their way of trying to mend fences with America.

The very powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, Americas Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and Israel's supporters in Congress also put a lot of pressure on Bush to soften his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Several Congressmen including, New York Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel, defended the Israeli action as equivalent to U.S. strikes on members of the al Qaeda network, accused of masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. AIPAC has a lot of influence with both sides of the aisle in Congress.

AIPAC argued in a statement that Israel had no choice but to take on Hamas, and that "it should be the policy of the U.S. to support" Israeli actions.

By now Bush changes his tune and, he directly criticized Hamas. And on Thursday, the White House offered its support for a crackdown on the group, which it now singles out as the biggest obstacle to peace. Sharon was not blamed for doing anything wrong.

U.S. officials also deferred comment on an Israeli missile strike in the Gaza Strip that killed seven people including a senior Hamas militant, his wife and three-year-old daughter.

"The issue is Hamas. The terrorists are Hamas," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters traveling with Bush to Connecticut.

Israel and its supporters were clearly pleased. Congressmen supported by the Israeli lobby were clearly pleased. Everyone was pleased except the innocent bystanders who found themselves too close to someone considered to be Hamas in Palestine. They were not pleased, they were either wounded or dead.

"I hope we cleared the air," an Israeli source said. The air may be clear to some, but it stinks to high heaven to me.

AIPAC praised Bush's leadership and Fleischer's new statement as "another example of the clarity the administration is bringing to this subject."
It was a regular love feast after Bush fell back into the Israeli fold.

Doesn't it just boggle your mind that one group has that much power? AIPAC has more than 100 political Action Committees (PACs) set up to support pro-Israeli foreign policies. They spend very significant amounts of money on candidates who support Israel. They have become the dominant ideological force financing U.S. elections.

It makes me wonder. If Bush knew Iraq did not have Weapons of Mass Destruction, maybe Georgie Boy decided to remove Saddam to achieve other goals such as:

-eliminate an Israeli foe
-secure Iraqi oil for many years to come.
-make an example of Iraq; send the message to other Arab countries that support Palestinians that they may be next.
-give the neo-cons a country to play with

I would like to change an earlier statement I made on a previous Blog. I said George Bush is the most powerful man in the world. It is now more obvious to me that it may not be George,

AIPAC seems to be pulling the punches in the world of U.S. foreign policy. I don't remember seeing them listed on any ballot did you?

P.S. If anyone criticizes Israel they are considered anti-semetic. It is the same logic Bush supporters use. If you criticizes Bush you are un-american.

Sources Cited: Here are just some of the organizations under the AIPAC umbrella.
Aish HaTorah
Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) Fraternity And Foundation
American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE)
American Jewish Committee (AJC)
American Jewish Congress
Americans for Peace Now (APN)
Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation
Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA)
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Hamagshimim, sponsored by Hadassah
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Israel Program Center
Israel University Consortium
Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)
Jewish Heritage Programs
Jewish National Fund
KESHER
KOACH
Media Watch International
StandWithUsCampus.com
Union Of Orthodox Jewish Congregations Of America (OU)
United Jewish Communities (UJC)
USD/Hagshama of the World Zionist Organization
Zionist Organization of America

EDWARD ROEDER
News/Sun-Sentinel
Washington Post

2003-06-12T23:58:00.000-05:00

Who do you call if you are Tom Delay; you don't have a quorum and you need to railroad some legislation through the House that will effectively shuffle districts to unseat Democrats?

Do you just sit idly by, when the Democrats decide not to show up for the vote?

Are you going to take that? Hell no! You call out the Texas Rangers and track those bastards down! Oh, you also call the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and get the Department of Homeland Defense to help you track them down. Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, tsk tsk tsk. You can't do that!

You can't use federal resources for political purposes!

The 51 House Democrats were located outside of the reach of the Texas Rangers, so they could not haul their asses back into the State Capital. They went over the border to Ardmore, Oklahoma, just outside the jurisdiction of state police sent to take them back to Austin for the vote.

Guess who else is involved? None other than Georgie Boy himself!
Details of communication by President Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove, with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) about the partisan Texas dispute are in question.

Request for information on Bush Involvement is made.
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), ranking Democrat on the Governmental Affairs Committee had requested information about White House involvement. Lieberman's letter asked for a written description of White House involvement, including "any contacts and action.

The Democratic leader asked yesterday for details of communication
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), ranking Democrat on the Governmental Affairs Committee and a presidential candidate, said White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. told him by telephone Tuesday that DeLay spoke with Bush and Rove about the matter.

White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. said that he did not intend to respond in writing to a request. I wonder why?

Homeland Security Involvement is noted.
The issue is politically sensitive because the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged assisting law enforcement officers who were asked by Republicans to round up Democrats who had fled the state to avoid voting on a redistricting plan championed by DeLay. The plan died when a deadline passed without a quorum.

Texas Department Of Public Safety Department shreds records.
State Rep. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston previously identified Roberta Bilsky as his source for allegations that Texas Department of Public Safety, (DPS) was destroying documents about the incident, Boyd said. Bilsky testified about information she said she received about document destruction from a DPS official.

Federal Aviation Administration Investigation is initiated!
Investigations are ongoing on the role of Federal Aviation Administration in the search. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has ordered a review of the Federal Aviation Administration's role in helping U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay track the plane of a Democrat who joined a walkout from the Texas Legislature.

The FBI is also Involved.
State Rep. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston, released cell phone records he said showed DeLays assistant made a call to the FBI in Ardmore, Okla..
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and other Texas U.S. House members have sent letters to FBI Director Robert Mueller requesting phone logs, documents and other information on the FBI's role in the search. An FBI agent helped in the search, but the bureau said it did not act at the behest of politicians. No, he did it because he thought Al Queda terrorists had kidnapped all 51 Democrats, and, and they were forcing them to hear George Bush speeches against their wills.

Isn't it amazing how many Federal agencies Tom DeLay will use for pure political purposes when he wants to.

It sounds to me like he has taken a page out of Bush's play book.

DeLay used the local FAA, the FBI Department of Homeland Security, and the Texas Department of Public Safety for political purposes.

You think that's bad? Shit, that's NOTHING!

Bush has used several Federal Agencies plus a whole aircraft carrier group to advance his political goals.

Sources Cited:
Associated Press
Dave McNeely
Dana Bash
CNN Washington Bureau
Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer

2003-06-11T01:49:00.000-05:00

President Bush has a bad habit of lowering expectations and it may be something the Democrats can use. He is also pretty good at revising history.

In the Middle East peace trip he just made, supporting his "roadmap" to peace involving an independent Palestinian state, Bush offered a modest definition of his expectations for the talks -- "I was hoping to have honest dialogues" -- and said those expectations were met.

Sounds like Georgie boy is not going to do much more except scowl when Israel kills more palestinians and make public statements about how suicide bombers do not help right now. He will be all talk and no more action. The great thing for him is that no one expected him to succeed in the crisis, so he can't loose if nothing more happens to settle the problem!

Bush raised expectations that Iraq would smoothly shift to stability and that weapons of mass destruction would be found in abundance, he is so far unable to meet those standards. Georgie was publically overjoyed that he got the $350 billion tax cut package. He publically stated that this will take care of all our economic problems, he may have screwed up because, he has raised hopes for an economic surge. If the economy does not pick up he may continue to fault the twin tower disaster of 2 years ago as the reason. But he can't keep whipping that horse, it is already half dead.

Jumping into Middle East peace negotiations after saying he would do so only if the time was right, he has encouraged a belief that the time is, in fact, right for peace. however, I believe he will begin revising history and say that he did get them together and that the rest of the process is incumbent on the two nations not the United States.

Then there is the campaign for next year's election, in which Bush is the prohibitive favorite and his opponents are the ones fighting questions about their capabilities -- and therefore in a better position to exceed expectations.

"What he is doing systematically now is trying to reduce the expectations people have about what he's going to deliver," said Thomas E. Mann, a political analyst at the Brookings Institution. "It's worked exceptionally well. But in the end, reality counts. He can do whatever he wants with expectations on domestic and foreign policy, but if the economy is sluggish and the aftermath of Iraq sours, those are the realities he will face." One big problem is that the american people have been hijacked by bush's neo-cons. No one cares if he delivers or not.

Bush's political foes are grudgingly impressed by his ability to set low requirements for his success -- sometimes retroactively. "They created the science of setting the bar low," said John Weaver, the strategist behind the primary challenge to Bush by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). "In fact, they dug a trench and set the bar in it, and he's able to walk over it. They should get some credit for that. He's been able to get away with that."

Isin't it interesting that Georgie is the most powerful person in the world. He has the most advanced fighting force in the world, he controls both houses in the Congress, the Supreme court is mostly conservative, the U.S. is the most powerful economic power in the world and yet, he continues to low ball what he is able to do.

President Kennedy stated a great vision, when he said he wanted someone on the moon, and used his influence to make it happen.

Bush has much more power than Kennedy. He could focus all his power and influence to significantly move us towards a cure for Cancer, AIDS, heart disease, or any number of diseases. He could focus his efforts on education, get a computer and the internet into every home. He could support teacher pay and support. He COULD do ant number of things.

Instead, he focuses on pro-big business items or items that sound good to low income people, knowing he will let them die in Congress.

Is it ashame and sinful that we LET him low ball expectations, when he is obviously in the driver seat with all the chips on his side of the table.

Has our country given up our power as citizens? I know he does not listen to "focus groups" no matter how large the protest gets. What will it take to make the people give a damn! No one seems to care to do something about Bush's obvious poor performance as a President. Have we all been cowed into saluting the flag and the president at the same time, without thinking?

I am starting to feel like a mad man screaming into the wind.

2003-06-07T00:44:00.000-05:00

We believe what we want to believe. We happily discard any information which contradicts our views. Engineers do it NASA scientists do it. Juries do it. Politicians do it. We all do it. Each of us have some core beliefs that get established somehow. Once they are there it is almost impossible to shake them off.
I have been involved in many situations where people ignored significant and important data, just because they did not agree with it and they were not open to it.

People in significant positions, where life and death decisions are being made must have a process to deal with this human trait. I would guess that there is a lot of discussion and questions about the topic. Perhaps there are think tanks dedicated to just those kinds of issues. The whole process must also have adequate checks and balances to insure well thought out answers, tactics and strategies.
I know this must exist in all major corporations and in government bureaus. I say I know this, not because I really know, but because I want to believe it.
So, what went wrong. How did the United States and Britain's Intelligence agencies message get so garbled? Their analysis stated the following:
Iraq does NOT have any known Nuclear weapons;
Iraq does NOT have any known connections to Al Queda.
Iraq does NOT have any significant amount of chemical or biological weapons
Iraq does NOT pose a threat to the U.S..

How did all of this information get subverted and converted?

Where did the following mantras come from?
Iraq HAS tones of weapons of mass destruction.
Saddam HAS funded Al Queda terrorists just like the ones that hit the towers.
Iraq WILL use them on us, if we don't act NOW.
This message continues to be driven home. The transport planes of returning troops from Iraq, circle Ground Zero, in New York. They are shown the gaping hole in the earth and are told. "that hole is the reason you were sent to Iraq".

How did the original analysis get so scrambled?

The only thing that makes sense is that, Bush, Rumsfield, Cheney. Wolfowitz and Perle ignored the data they were given and chose to look at the data through hawk biased glasses. They only heard what they wanted to hear, and subverted the message for the American public to ensure our support. They did not want any roadblocks for their roadmap to acquiring the second largest oil fields in the world.

If anyone else has a better explanation, please tell me.

2003-06-03T23:19:00.000-05:00

Gulliver has marched through Afganistan and Iraq. He is the only giant in the land and he does what he wants when he wants to. No one can stand up to him. The liliputians are afraid of the giant. They know they are no match for him militarily or economically. They are going to give the giant grudging approval for what ever he wants to do, as long as they can collect some of the crumbs that fall off his table, hoping to get their economies going again.

One of the liliputian countries tried to assemble some of the other countries to oppose Gulliver, but France was not able to pull enough countries together. They were too poor to risk Gulliver's economic wrath.

The liliputians know not to assume Gulliver will have their interests at heart. If Gulliver does something for you, it is going to cost you big time.

Gulliver will continue to dominate the world, for a while anyway. The problem is that, the liliputian countries will smile outwardly, but many will work covertly to continuously undermine the United States.

How much effort do you think they will put into finding terrorists in their respective countries? Will they arrest the usual suspects? Will they look the other way? Will they even secretly fund their efforts? If, the saying "there is nothing like a woman scorned" is true, what are many scorned nations capable of?

Is it any wonder that no one in the world trusts the U.S.. Bush has shown the world that we are lawless, arrogant and powerful. Be careful Georgie boy, small people in small nations, will get even. Meanwhile, Gas masks might be a good investment.

2003-06-01T00:14:00.000-05:00

Compassionate conservative. What does that mean?
compassionate

adj 1: showing merciful compassion; "sparing the child's mother was a compassionate act" 2: showing or having compassion; "heard the soft and compassionate voices of women" [ant: uncompassionate] 3: showing recognition of unusually distressful circumstances; "compassionate leave"; "considered for a compassionate discharge because of domestic difficulties" v : share the suffering of [syn: feel for, pity, condole with, sympathize with]

conservative

\Con*serv"a*tive\, n. 1. One who, or that which, preserves from ruin, injury, innovation, or radical change; a preserver; a conserver. The Holy Spirit is the great conservative of the new life. --Jer. Taylor. 2. One who desires to maintain existing institutions and customs; also, one who holds moderate opinions in politics; -- opposed to revolutionary or radical. 3. (Eng. Hist.) A member of the Conservative party.

Sarhan, a 22 year old woman, usually slept in the dining room. As she layed in bed on the night of April 22nd, a fragment from a U.S. tank round smashed though the front door, and into Sarhan's left leg, leaving it a tangle of exposed muscle and bone. She was rushed to the hospital amid the fighting and the doctors removed much of the leg. The amputation saved her life, leading Sarhan to write poems of thanks to her surgeons. But now she has been consigned to a wheel chair.

She had never been a supporter of the U.S. invasion, but has nonetheless forgiven the anonymous soldiers who injured her in pursuit of their enemies. She has asked for help from the United States in finding a prosthetic leg. But she has been told during visits from U.S. military officials and an army chaplain that none will be forthcoming. "They told me, 'We don't have anything for you right now. It's up to a higher authority.' " I guess that means either Allah or God must intervene.

The stub where her leg was still tingles from time to time. "I knew they would hurt us," she said. "Mr. Bush said this would be a clean war. Is this a clean war?"

Sarhan is one of thousands of Iraqis who embody the collateral damage of that war, described by the Bush administration as a means of liberating the country from former president Saddam Hussein.

To many who lost livelihoods and limbs in the process, a U.S. reconstruction effort in its seventh week should be as much about recompense as restarting electrical grids, and pumping stations.

U.S. officials have made it clear, that they do NOT intend to conduct any accounting of war damages, nor compensate those who say the occupying army owes them something.

Some are sympathetic to individual hardships suffered as a result of war, but U.S. officials say they are wary of beginning a legal process that could entail millions of claims against them. We can give Billions of dollars to Halliburton to repair physical damage to oil wells and other utilities but we turn our back on any human toll our invasion of their country caused.

International relief organizations, including the Islamic Red Crescent Society, say the conventions of war hold the United States responsible for paying out such claims. However, the U.S. has already made it abundantly clear that we pick and choose which international conventions we will follow.

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The innocents. the ones our leaders call "collateral damage" are either dead or hurting, and the Bush administration does not care. We were told how our advanced weapons would be a war of surgical strikes. There were not supposed to be very few civilian casualties. We were lied to. No one in our government wants to know how many innocents were really killed. We do not want to be responsible for the human carnage we caused. We do, however feel compunction toward repairing some of the physical assets, especially anything that dealt with oil

During the battle for Bagdad. The soldiers were specifically assigned to protect the oil ministry and the oil infrastructure. Museums hospitals and schools were not on their lists. Those things deal with humanity and human well being. Those things were and are vital to the people of Iraq, not to the conquerors.

What we are doing to Iraqi people like Sarhan, the 22 year old woman, who will be wheel chair bound for the rest of her life, is not christian. It is not conservative. She did not bring this upon herself! Her only sin, was to live in a country that has a natural resource we abuse and refuse to conserve.

If this is Christian conservative, it has a new definition. Uncaring, cold-hearted greed wrapped in altruistic propaganda.

2003-05-30T01:22:00.000-05:00

Georgie's grades on one of his pet projects "How To Make Our World Safer" are not looking real good.

Washington's "war on terror" has made the world more dangerous. Curbing human rights, undermining international law and shielding governments from scrutiny has let loose a number of copy cat government policies that has spread as fast as Sars cases in China.

The argument for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was to bring greater freedom for the Iraqi people. That has yet to be seen. The politics and distraction of the war in Iraq has had unintended, negative consequences for millions of people worldwide.

The Bush Administration's war in Iraq has contributed to diminishing human rights for millions of others worldwide," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "While billions were spent to dethrone Saddam Hussein, dictators and rebels elsewhere wreaked havoc on millions of people across the globe with little attention and even less condemnation from the US government or the international community."

The administration is hurting the fragile cease-fire in the Ivory Coast, a former French colony, by undercutting the French proposal for United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in the African nation as a penalty for France's opposition to the war in Iraq. The UN Human Rights Commission became ensnared in US-Iraq relations

The Congo conflict has claimed between 3.1 and 4.7 million lives, mainly from war-related hunger and disease, since it began, making it the world's deadliest war since 1945.

Ruta and her family lived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province. Warefare broke out between the Lendu and the rival Hema group.

Ruta managed to escape with most of her family, although two of her brothers were killed before they reached safety in the nearby forest. After going deeper into the woods for two days without food and water, she thought she had finally reached safety when out of nowhere the militiamen, from the Lendu tribe, struck again. Ruta became separated from two of her daughters, as bullets flew everywhere. Her daughters named Mateso, aged 12, and Michelle, had just turned two.

After securing the rest of her family in another hiding place, Ruta crept back to the clearing to try to rescue the girls. "There were many wounded people" she said. "The Lendu were going about with machetes, chopping off one arm from the shoulder and then the other. Some people were screaming but most were silent.

She found them after their arms had already been cut off." The militiamen calmly cooked the flesh over an open fire before throwing their victims, some of whom were still alive, into the flames. "They were both moving, although very weakly," Ruta said.

Civilians have become so caught up in the violence, around 4,000 are sheltering at the town's airport, where a small deployment of some 700 lightly-armed UN peacekeepers are currently deployed.

Well-armed ethnic Hema fighters have taken control of Bunia having forced out Lendu militiamen who had been in control for the past week after a two-hour battle, say United Nations officials in the town.

Despite the presence of the 700 UN peacekeepers already in Bunia to monitor the withdrawal, rival Hema and Lendu tribesmen fought viciously for supremacy in the town.

The peacekeepers had repeatedly warned the UN that a bloodbath was likely and requested reinforcements.

The U.S tabled any efforts by the French to get more troops into the Congo before the latest bout of bloodshed. The Bush administration vowed that they would get even with France for their opposition to the invasion of Iraq. Subsequently, Washington has shown no interest in sending troops to any location where the French sought to get more UN peacekeepers.

The United States opposed a French-backed U.N. proposal to send more than 250 U.N. peacekeepers to Ivory Coast. The country was mired in civil strife until a force of more than 4,000 French peacekeepers and 1,200 West African troops was sent.

Lacking the firepower, equipment or mandate to intervene, they retreated powerless to their compound and watched.

A French-led force of peace-keepers hoping to halt killings in the Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to receive United Nations approval today. The 1,000-strong battalion, including some British troops, could be deployed as early as next week.

But in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, fears were growing of a fresh onslaught. A fierce battle for the town two weeks ago saw the ethnic Lendu population expelled by militia from the rival Hema group. Now the Lendu may be preparing a counter-attack.

"Some of their positions are only five kilometres from here. They are regrouping for another attack," said an official in the razor-wire protected UN compound. "We think it's not a matter of if, but when."

Red Cross workers are still burying corpses from the latest attack, sparked by a Ugandan withdrawal from the town on 7 May. Tribal militiamen armed with, guns, spears and machetes bludgeoned or shot to death more than 400 people. Some mutilated bodies bore evidence of cannibalism.

Thousands of terrified civilians huddled under plastic shelters in the UN compound, manned by a deployment of about 700 peace-keepers, the majority of whom are Uruguayan. During the massacres, the troops obeyed orders to remain at the base.

If there is quiet, it is only because the Lendu have fled. But there is a steady drip of violence - isolated shootings by night, some looting by day and the rape of girls as young as 10. Their uniformed male schoolmates roam the half-deserted streets, swinging sub-machine guns they are barely big enough to handle.

The bandaged victims of the latest massacres stand against the walls of a coffee warehouse used as a temporary hospital. One woman awaiting evacuation had part of her brain exposed. Kabagambe Lokana, 25, a fisherman, sat near by, a ring of machete wounds around his head. He only survived the attack by the Hema after being left for dead, he said. His father, brothers and uncles were killed.

There has been steady criticism of the under-resourced DRC UN mission. "It is a long, bad story", said François Grignon of the International Crisis Group at Bunia airport. He shouted to be heard as a cargo plane full of refugees fired its engine for take-off .

But to prevent further massacres, the question now is the strength of the mandate. France's ambassador to the UN, Jean-Marc de la Sablière, wants his men to have the right to open fire to protect endangered civilians.

Any strengthened mission would also have to examine the possibility of intervening in disputes outside the city in isolated villages that are difficult to reach. M. Grignon said: "Look, this town is bloody empty. The force needs to be able to stop massacres taking place in the rural areas."

Atrocities such as the massacre at Nyakunde village last year, which left 1,200 dead, could be taking place. But for now, nobody knows because the area is inaccessible to UN troops and aid agencies.

Meanwhile in Bunia, civilians, aid workers and UN troops are praying for relief from the uncertainty - and fast.

If those poor people only knew how Bush would "get even" with France, I know they would have prayed for Gore to win the election. It's too late for the dead and dying, they are just more deaths, Bush will have to answer for one day.

Sources cited:
Robert Fisk
Johann Hari: independent portfolio
Declan Walsh in Bunia
Adrian Blomfield in Bunia

2003-05-26T22:17:00.000-05:00

Iraq is still a mess. Lets see how many excuses have we heard so far.

a) widespread looting and destruction have been described as natural exuberance

b) understandable revenge for years of mistreatment by ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

c) the decrepit state in which Hussein left the nation's infrastructure.

d) the regime had tens of thousands of thugs and war criminals on its payroll and they do not disappear overnight."

e) Hussein holdouts of fedeyeen militants are agitating the people.

f) Iran Shiite leaders infiltrated the country and are agitating the people.

What no one has said is that, WE DID NOT PLAN HOW TO HANDLE THE AFTERMATH!

We did NOT have enough troops committed to the effort

We did not have the right type of military people available to handle the chaos.

We ignored the State Department's suggestions on how to install a new governing board.

We refused to use the expertise of the UN in establishing the new government.

Bush rushed his victory landing on the carrier, to start his campaign for 2004. There were too many open issues in Iraq. Museums were looted, bands of thieves roamed the streets. Soldiers were being shot and and several were killed. There was no law no order. But Bush claimed it a victory anyway. The campaign of "Shock and Awe" was followed up with "Dazed and Confused" with George and Rumsfield in the starring roles.

Blame everything on either a,b,c,d, e, or all of the above. But NEVER, NEVER acknowledge that this war and its aftermath was a mistake. So pick an excuse any excuse will do. Just keep it off the front page. It might hurt 2004.

Memorial Day
Remember and honor our soldiers. Question our president's motives who sent them to their deaths.

2003-05-21T22:35:00.000-05:00

I have found a hero. OK, he is a politician, but he has guts. He has shown me that even though one is heavily invested in the political process, one can still call it likes one sees it.
My hat is off to you, Senior Senate Democrat, Robert Byrd,

You have gone toe to toe with one of the most powerful Presidents of our time and told him flat out that he has some "splaining" to do.

Senator Byrd said "The American people may have been lured into accepting the unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation, in violation of long-standing international law, under false premises," said Byrd, of West Virginia. "It has raised serious questions about prevarication and the reckless use of power."

Earlier this month, the Senator criticized Bush as a "desk-bound president who assumes the garb of a warrior," after Bush flew onto an aircraft carrier to declare an end of major fighting in Iraq. I also had a major problem with a chicken hawk president wearing a soldier's uniform.

Byrd stepped up the criticism Wednesday. He accused the president of constructing a "house of cards, built on deceit" to justify the war.

Byrd went on to say, "There is ample evidence that the horrific events of Sept. 11 have been carefully manipulated to switch public focus from Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, who masterminded the Sept. 11th attacks, to Saddam Hussein, who did not," Byrd said.

The senator said that instead of weakening terror groups, "we have given them new fuel for their fury."

He accused Bush of exaggerating the threat posed by Saddam, bungling the peace and giving contracts to rebuild the country to "administration cronies."

Halliburton, an oil services company that Vice President Cheney headed for five years, could get up to $490 million for work in Iraq under an Army contract awarded without competition.

The U.S. postwar administration of Iraq is failing, the senator said. "The smiling face of the U.S. as liberator is quickly assuming the scowl of an occupier," Byrd said. "The image of the boot on the throat has replaced the beckoning hand of freedom."

It has become "painfully clear" that Iraq posed no immediate threat, he said. Searches for weapons of mass destruction have "turned up only fertilizer, vacuum cleaners, conventional weapons and the occasional buried swimming pool."

Byrd also criticized colleagues in Congress who "cower in the shadows while false statements proliferate," rather than challenge Bush because to do so would be "unpopular or maybe politically costly." I agree, many politicians hide from the facts, knowing that they risk the full wrath of the powerful lobby of conservatives. They fear for their jobs. They fear what people may think.

In a world were the pursuit for personal power usually outweighs the search for the truth, Score one, for the good guys.

West Virginia, you have a brave man, support him, because he obviously cares about the truth.

p.s. Bush lost one more staff member. Christine Todd Whitman. She led the Environmental Protection Agency through two rough and tumble years as the Bush administration sought to redefine environmental safeguards in ways more helpful to energy production and economic growth. She announced today she will resign next month and return home to New Jersey.

Early in 2001, Whitman gradually asserted herself more and scored several clear victories for the environment. They included a new proposal to slash off-road diesel emissions by more than 95 percent; a recent series of court settlements with major utilities that will result in substantial reductions in pollutants; and a decision to order General Electric Co. to pay for the cleanup of PCBs in the Hudson River.

Bush has undercut many of her efforts to help the environment. Bush contradicted her public statements in 2001 by reneging on his campaign pledge to cut carbon dioxide emissions and by disavowing the global warming treaty that the United States negotiated and signed in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997. "

Thomas Kuhn, President of the Edison Electric Institute, an industry association, praised Whitman for asking Congress to give power companies flexibility in how they reduced pollution, as long as they met the government standard. She's got a record to be proud of," Kuhn said. "They were tough on the enforcement side but were also very, very cognizant of the fact that you have to bring industry along" as a partner.

I guess Bush has problems with people that are fair. She saw the light and bolted. She says she may find other ways of helping the environment outside of the government service.

I have lost total count of people that have left Bush. Does anyone know how many more will go?

Sources cited:
Tim Dillon , USA TODAY
By Eric Pianin and Guy Gugliotta, Traci Watson
Washington Post Staff Writers

2003-05-20T01:16:00.000-05:00

Bush looses his voice.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, said today that he will resign this summer, probably in late July. The reason might be, that he was starting to tell the truth?

Fleischer, 42, a native of Pound Ridge, New York, and veteran of more than 20 years in Washington politics, mostly on Capitol Hill, was relentlessly disciplined in pressing the president's particular message of the day. Fleisher, was an active "teller" of the neo conservative message on behalf of the Bush administration.

Fleischer said if he did not leave now he would need to stay on through Bush's re-election campaign. Sources said Fleischer was not forced out, but he wanted to avoid burning out.

I guess there is a limit to how many times a press secretary can cover the inadequacies of a president and his administration. It must be extremely hard, to knowingly, twist the truth over and over again to the American people.

Ari is much more intelligent than Bush, and the lack of intelligent forethought that Bush exhibits, must have grated on him. The President's audacity and nonsensical view of the world, must have finally stuck in Ari's craw.

I am starting to loose track on how many people have resigned from the Bush administration. I will try and count them up later. I think we have lost more that Blair lost in Britain.

Goodbye Ari, good luck on your book deals and speaking tours.

Sources Cited:
By Mike Allen
Washington Post
Reuters

2003-05-16T12:44:00.000-05:00

I feel like crap. I can't read, I can't write, but I will return, when I get rid of whatever the hell I have. Maybe I have SARS? What are the symptoms again? Right now I don't care. I just want to sleep for a long time. Catch you when I rebound. I hope it is soon. I hate being sick. Adios for now and out.