Fuck the Right!

My hate level is boiling over.

CNN (at the time of this post) has the Tsunami death toll at 135,000, and they're leaving out the current estimates that now put the death toll at over 400,000. If that estimate holds up, it would make the Tsunami death toll 134 times greater than that of 9/11.

So how has the right reacted?

Well junior has decided to undercut the U.N., by turning Tsunami aid into an international pissing contest.

RawStory has this: A press release from the Westboro Baptist Church titled "Thank God for Tsunami & 2000 Dead Swedes!!!", and be sure to visit their website at GodHatesFags.com


...and then there's Bob Novak.

Novak implied that since the Tsunami affected countries were bad with money and lazy, They Don't Deserve Any Foriegn Aid!

On the topic of Tsunami aid, on the CNN show CrossFire, Bob posed this question to Albert Wynn:

Do you agree with the little bureaucrats at the U.N. that we ought to take the money from the developed parts of the world, where we have good economies and worked hard, and give it to the unsuccessful parts of the world just as a gift?


Fuck all of 'em!



May he rest in peace


Jerry Orbach
October 20 1935 - December 28 2004

from the AP

Jerry Orbach had a gift for charming audiences his entire career — first as a song-and-dance man who starred in musicals on and off Broadway, then for 12 years as a sharp-tongued cop on TV's "Law & Order."

Along the way, he made films as varied as the gritty crime drama "Prince of the City" and the smash romance "Dirty Dancing."

Orbach, who died of prostate cancer Tuesday in Manhattan, was beginning another chapter at age 69: He had taken his signature role as Detective Lennie Briscoe to NBC's upcoming spinoff "Law & Order: Trial By Jury."


From tsunami victims too numerous for my mind to fully comprehend, to the loss of one man who makes death seem all to real again.

I don't know about your house, but in mine Jerry Orbach was a member of the family. For over a decade my family gathered around the TV to watch Law and Order. It was a nightly tradition. My father would even record it for me when I was busy.

...and all these years after my fathers passing, watching Jerry Orbach play Lennie Briscoe was still a near nightly routine. I never met the man, but it sure feels like I knew him.

...he truly will be missed.



100,000

from the AP

Tens of thousands of residents fled coasts in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand after warnings of possible new tsunamis Thursday, and pilots in Indonesia dropped food to cliff-rimmed villages yet to be visited by outsiders four days after the disaster. The Red Cross feared the death toll would surpass 100,000.



also from the AP

"It's just beyond our comprehension to think about how many lives have been lost," Bush said after emerging from a holiday vacation at his Texas ranch to make his first comments on the disaster.


anyone else noticing a recurring theme?

PETA does Gods work.

Their latest Ad Campaign is against a procedure called mulesing.


Big Numbers, Bad Policy



The Quake/Tsunami death toll estimate is now 68,000, and as if that wasn't bad enough, disease and starvation could claim just as many in the aftermath.

Pissed about being called 'stingy', Colin Powell coughed up another 20 million in aid, and lashed out at those who raised an eyebrow at the U.S.'s initial offering of 15 million. For the sake of context, the E.U. has given 30 million. You should also keep in mind that if every American gave the Tsunami victims a dollar, that would make the U.S. donation 295 million.

My two cents falls along the lines of this story posted on MSNBC, in which the authors point out that bush blew it completely. America makes giant strides in world opinion when given an opportunity to show it's generosity. By sitting on his ass out at the ranch, junior has once again made us more enemies than he's worth.

45,000 may be dead

from the AFP

The biggest humanitarian relief operation ever mounted was underway along Asia's devastated shores as the death toll from a massive earthquake and the tidal waves it unleashed was predicted to hit 45,000.

With the scale of the catastrophe still unfolding the confirmed death toll passed 27,000 in nine countries -- but Indonesia warned that it alone could have suffered up to 20,000 more fatalities on top of its official figure of 4,725 deaths.


...and as every republican knows the U.S. will poor money onto the ungreatful pagans in their time of need. Just don't tell the UN Undersecratary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief that, 'cause he thinks the U.S. and the rest of the western world is being 'stingy'.


...hey look at that, the E.U. gave twice as much as the U.S.

The Broken Media...

MSNBC has a BIG problem named Joe Scarborough. It's their own fault too. In their rush to find the next O'reilly, (or as they said in memos they sent to each other explaining the reasoning behind the firing of Phil Donahue, they needed a "presidential cheerleader") so they went out, and hired Joe Scarborough. Despite the fact that he had no experience in the media, they hired him. Despite the fact that a lot of people were still wondering if he had killed his intern, MSNBC hired him.

...and tonight on Scarborough, they're going to interview a reporter who can prove that there was a link between Saddam and Binladen with regards to 9/11.


I'd like to be the first to say BULLSHIT!

...and shame on MSNBC.

I'm sure they'll justify it the same way the media always does; "We report the truth. We are just reporting what said reporter said. We never said that what said reporter said was true."

It's BULLSHIT!

...It's some twisted gossip game. It's like a political version of he said, she said. Is it any wonder that Bill O'reilly, who comes from the world of celebrity gossip, has the highest rated show on a cable news network?

One of the biggest media polling taboos today is to ask the American people a question. Because time and time again the American people get it wrong. They think Saddam planned 9/11. They think bush found WMDs. They think the swift boat vets told the truth. And when confronted with the fact that Americans have been misinformed major media figures feign shock, and pretend to be surprised.

The other day Chris Matthews was asking a guest why the American people believed the swift boat veterans when everyone (in the media) knew they were lying. Well gee Chris, maybe it had something to do with the fact that you had them on your show every night for a week. Chris thought that there was something "deeper" going on. That the American people, and even the swift boat vets, were punishing Kerry for his actions during Vietnam.

I think the American people were misinformed by a man with a head shaped like Tweety Bird.

Red Cross makes an emergency appeal

The Red Cross

The British Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal in response to the widespread flooding caused by a massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra. Our logistics team is ready to fly to the region.

Donation information can be found here

Tsunamis kill up to 23,900 in Asia

That's just the latest estimate form the AP. Who knows how high the number will climb.

Just for some perspective, that's eight times more than that died on 9/11.



So why am I not surprised by this CNN headline: "U.S. begins tsunami relief; 6 Americans among dead"

...I guess it just isn't news worthy if Americans aren't among the dead.



edit:

This just in from CNN:
"'Oprah' regular survives tsunami devastation"

...just a few days 'till Christmas.

Isn't it about time for karl rove to do something disgusting!??



...speak of the devil!

The Newly, 'bush' Ammended National Forest Management Act
(political launguage translated)


_Give regional forest managers more discretion to approve logging and other commercial projects within two or three years by streamlining environmental reviews that now take up to seven years. (made forest managers bribable)

_Relaxed (scraped) a requirement to protect fish and wildlife in national forests so species do not become threatened or endangered. Instead, the rules direct forest managers to take into account the best available science to protect air, water, wildlife and other natural resources at a landscape level. (forest managers will now make their decisions based on impact studies provided by logging companies)

_Require independent audits of all forest plans, using a process known as Environmental Management Systems.(always give your 'evil' plans a cute name) The Forest Service says the system accounts for changing forest conditions, while emphasizing science and public involvement. (science = bad, public = loggers)

_Do not promote or discourage any particular forest use, such as recreation, grazing, timber harvest or mineral development. Decisions regarding such uses will be made on a forest-by-forest basis, (as too keep the cost of bribes low), and will be informed by local conditions, science and public input, officials say. (local yokels, and bankrupt municipalities are no threat)


I got a question... If you use your local forest for let's say; recreation, grazing, timber harvest or mineral development, is it still a forest?


The plan also would scrap wildlife protections established under President Reagan and limit public comment into forest management decisions



It seems like bush really likes to limit public comments.

No child left un-drafted

this is cute.

...the Department of Education's annual privacy notice, which says contact information for secondary students as young as sixth-graders may be released to military recruiters unless the student, parent or legal guardian requests otherwise.

[...]

The release of information is part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires all school systems receiving NCLB money to make the contact information available to military recruiters or risk losing federal money. The law also requires schools to give military recruiters the same on-campus access they would give to prospective employers, colleges and other post-secondary education institutions.


bush ordered prisoners tortured

from The American Civil Liberties Union

[A] two-page [FBI] e-mail that references an Executive Order states that the President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and immediately to release the order if it exists.


...of course it exists, so I would like to urge the American People to turn this war criminal over to the Hague for trial.

Man... what a queer...

OOPS! I mean Man of the Year!


As in, bush is Time's Man of the Year

Propagandist of the year is more like it... Have you seen this photo? With bush sittin' in front of a photo of Roosevelt and Winston Churchill?

That's quality propaganda right there. Puttin' junior up there with Roosevelt has to be the ballsiest thing I've ever seen. The man who created Social Security and the shrub who's done everything in his power to destroy it.

...my favorite part about this decision by Time was the mouthpeice they sent out to explain it. He said something like "We're honoring bush for his ability to 'bend reality to his will'"....

Some people would just consider him delusional.

...and people wonder why healthcare costs so much.

Aleve is gonna kill ya!

...or at least that's what the latest study is showing. First Vioxx, then Celebrex, and now Aleve.

how's that quote go again? oh yeah...


When Doctors become Businessmen, who will the people turn to for Doctors?

Testing... 1.2.3.

Just making sure this thing still works ;)

And just for the sake of advertising a friend Robert Jerk (who will always be Bob Jerkerson to me) has started a journal (link)


Right off the bat he makes a good point about Kerry getting over a million more votes in Texas than he did in Massachusetts too.


Tonight on HardBall

MSNBC


A wounded soldier's journey home



We hear about the killed soldiers in Iraq, sometimes. But you never get to hear about the wounded soldiers. There have been more then 10 thousand American soldiers wounded in bush's war on terror, and our media up until now has completely ignored them.

...and don't get me wrong, Matthews has been a big supporter of the "see no evil" clause when it comes to covering the impact of the war on terror. Heaven forbid someone in the media might actually say something that undercuts bush's support. Even if what they reported was Glaringly True, they'd still be labeled partisan or liberal.

Well tonight you'll get a chance to see for yourself what the right has been hiding. Our men and women, our soldiers, our heros coming home from Iraq missing arms, legs, and in one case a soldier missing everything from the waist down. Coming home only to be ignored by their country. Pushed under the rug, with medical bills they could never begin to repay.

Praised as heros, and then left to die.

Just another example of the morals of the religious right.

Pledge Politics

from Local6.com

"I have not been standing for the Pledge of Allegiance due to a conflict I have with the wording of the pledge, specifically the words 'under God,'" Councilman David Habecker said.

Habecker said it's a violation of church and state to include the words in the pledge and for that reason, he won't stand.

[...]other council members and residents are upset about his actions and have enough signatures to hold a recall election. That recall election will occur Tuesday, Feb. 15.


talk about hypocrisy! first they say "if you don't like, don't stand", and then they recall your ass for being "unpatriotic"

ladies and gentlemen behold! ...the moral values of the religious right.

Ostrisization and Persecution.

It's disgusting....

it's too bad I'm totally burned out, or I would be having a field day with this scum bag...

if you haven't heard, bush nominated Bernard Kerik to be head of homeland security, the post Tom Ridge just left, and Bernie declined, and with good reason....

It turns out that he's a total fuckin' scumbag!



First off, he's been cheating on his wife with the slut-bag, holier-than-thou, moralist Judith Regan, who some off you may remember, as the opportunistic wingnut that made a good chunk of her career chastising Bill and Hillary over the whole Monica mess.

...Apparently cheating on your spouse isn't so bad when it's Judith Regan that's doing the cheating.

...and the hypocrisy just keeps coming with this story. 'cause a former Police Commissioner doesn't bang a filthy broad just anywhere. No sir. He bang her in an apartment donated for the use of weary police and rescue workers who were helping at ground zero

Sure looks like the folks at Miramax are gonna have to do one hell of a re-write on the Bernard Kerik story.

Is Limbaugh above the power of the FCC?

On December 13 limbaugh said:

"Miss Plastic Surgery. [...] I didn’t print out both pages, so I don’t know what the... I don’t know what the winner gets. Probably a certificate to go to San Francisco to have an add-a-dick-to-me operation. "



if Howard Stern had used the phrase "add-a-dick-to-me operation" while on the air, the FCC would have fined him on the same day

The right's latest defence of Rumsfeld...

The Evil Liberal Press Tricked Our Soldiers Into Asking Relevant Questions!


from Druwaaage

Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Edward Lee Pitts is embedded with the 278th Regimental Combat Team, now in Kuwait preparing to enter Iraq, and is filing articles for his newspaper. Pitts claims in a purported email that he coached soldiers to ask Defense Secretary Rumsfeld questions!


*GASP!*

Speaking of Media Matters

from Media Matters for America

FOX News host Bill O'Reilly lashed out at Media Matters for America and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on the December 9 Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly. He called Media Matters "the most vile, despicable human beings in the country"; called the ADL "an extremist group that finds offense in pretty much everything"; and labeled ADL president Abraham Foxman "a nut."

The controversy began when Media Matters highlighted a remark that O'Reilly made to a Jewish caller on his December 3 radio show, and ADL president Abraham Foxman wrote to O'Reilly in protest.

[...]

O'Reilly claimed on his December 9 radio show that "the write-ups about this didn't put any of it in context." In fact, Media Matters' original item included the full text and audio of the December 3 exchange. O'Reilly added that the "write-ups" "didn't say it was about Christmas," apparently suggesting that if the public knew that O'Reilly was talking about Christmas when he told a caller to "go to Israel," the remark would seem less offensive.



I guess falafel boy doesn't like it too much when someone actually takes notice of something he says.

And I thought THEY were liberal?

Looks like CBS is really making mountains out of mole hills with regards to Atrios and his working relationship with Media Matters for America.

If you read 3 posts on his blog you can tell that he's a liberal, so you can assume most people reading his blog are liberal too. I'd bet a good number of those people also read Media Matters, so I doubt that they were upset with Atrios, when they found out that he works for Media Matters.

If anyone has a reason to be upset about all of this, it's Media Matters. Not because of any conflicts of interest, but because they run a really nice information based website.

Atrios, on the other hand, is more into giving his opinion. Which is fine, but it gives the right ammunition when they argue that Media Matters is a partisan attack dog.


...in the end, I can't really get to upset with Atrios being mistreated, 'cause I think he's a dick.

...but that's a whole 'nother matter.

Homeless *Iraq vets* showing up at shelters

Full story at The Washington Times

U.S. veterans from the war in Iraq are beginning to show up at homeless shelters around the country, and advocates fear they are the leading edge of a new generation of homeless vets not seen since the Vietnam era.

"When we already have people from Iraq on the streets, my God," said Linda Boone, executive director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. "I have talked to enough (shelters) to know we are getting them. It is happening, and this nation is not prepared for that."


...and george bush is just the president to cut their "social services" too.

Anti-Defamation Leauge's letter to bill o'reilly

ADL


Bill O'Reilly
The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly
c/o Westwood One
2020 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036


Dear Mr. O'Reilly:

We were deeply offended, as were many of your listeners who have contacted us, at your remark to a Jewish caller on the December 3 Radio Factor that, "if you are really offended" about attempts to convert Jews to Christianity, then "you gotta go to Israel then."

American Jews are Americans. Jews and other religious minorities are part of America's great tradition of religious freedom. The discomfort with proselytizing, or the intrusion of Christian teachings in public schools, is a very legitimate concern.

More dangerously, your remark plays into one of the oldest anti-Semitic canards about Jews, that they are not full citizens of a country and are not entitled to all of the rights afforded to the majority. The notion that religious minorities have no place in a Christian America and should leave may be acceptable for extremists, but it is unacceptable coming from a popular and respected media commentator.

We hope that in future you will be more sensitive to these issues.



Sincerely,

Abraham H. Foxman
National Director


CNN Continues to Smear Howard Dean

Ever since that whole "howl recorded with a directional mic", I've been very leary of the folks at CNN.

Yesterday on their show Crossfire, they had Bob Novak and the Rev. Al Sharpton discussing, amongst other things, Howard Dean.

The never put on trial, traitor Bob Novak attacks Dean often on the show much like the way he rapes the truth, and exploits the country, with zeal. The Rev. Al Sharpton was there to "balance" the ultra-conservative Novak, but his history of attacking Dean is well known. Sharpton has never been one to support those he perceives as political rivals.

...and like so many times before on CNN attack, after attack, on Howard Dean's character was thrown out, and left unanswered.

You may think I'm being petty about this, but I'm not. Again and again, on CNN this same scenario plays out. Ultra-right vs. lame duck. I notice the Dean attacks more, but it happens other topics as well. And just for the record, the regular hosts Paul Begala, and James Carville are right-leaning, "clinton" democrats that often label more traditional democrats as a bunch of "kooks".

So if CNN, again and again, is setting up situations where traditional democrats are treated as out of the main stream, shouldn't they change their name to FOX?

Red State Values, Alabama style

from CNN

A statewide recount showed that Alabama narrowly voted to keep language in the state constitution supporting segregation and poll taxes, according to unofficial totals released Friday.

[...]

The [voted down] amendment would have erased unenforced language from Alabama's constitution that required segregated schools and poll taxes, which were designed to keep blacks from voting.


Just their way of saying "know your role, and shut your mouth"?

Santa molests elf

you can read the about it at the Rutherford County Daily Courier




...just my way of spreading some christmas cheer

Pervert Lashes out at Jewish Caller

FOX News Channel host Bill O'Reilly responded to a Jewish caller to his radio show who objected to "Christmas going into schools" and explained that he "grew up with a resentment because I felt that people were trying to convert me to Christianity."

O'Reilly told the caller that America is "a predominantly Christian nation" and that "if you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel." O'Reilly labeled the caller's concerns "an affront to the majority" and insisted that "the majority can be insulted, too." During his exchange with the caller, O'Reilly also mistakenly referred to "the seven candles" of Hanukkah.


You can read the whole thing at Media Matters.

My favorite part is where Falafel Boy pointed out that Christmas is a federal holiday.

That's nice... the Christians can celebrate their religion, and the pagans can reflect on the true meaning of seperation of church and state.

Fun with Genitailia (aka the Rumsfeld Chronicles)

from the AP

U.S. special forces accused of abusing prisoners in Iraq threatened Defense Intelligence Agency personnel who saw the mistreatment, according to U.S. government memos released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The special forces also monitored e-mails sent by defense personnel and ordered them "not to talk to anyone" in the United States about what they saw, said one memo written by the Defense Intelligence Agency chief, who complained to his Pentagon bosses about the harassment.

In addition, the special forces confiscated photos of a prisoner who had been punched in the face.

[...]

The U.S. military [lies when it] says prisoners are treated according to the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit violence, torture and humiliating treatment. Still, at least 10 incidents of abuse have been substantiated at Guantanamo, all but one from 2003 or this year.




Their leader is a religious nut, they want to force feed their religion to our children, and they like to torture prisoners.

Sounds like junior really has stooped to Al Queada's level

I'm a little burned out....

...but when the dems and Terry McAuliffe are still trying to out republican the republicans, who could blame me?

Somewhere I heard the figure that 4 million Rwandians had been killed in the last ten years, and that the rebels that have been killing them, have started to march on Rwanda again...

...and even though America is letting the people in Rwanda die, it did save the Jews all those years ago, so it's still "the greatest country in the world"

Talk about riding a persons coat-tails. Roosevelt's have been good for almost 60 years.