Terro Schiavo Has Died

There's a write-up at Reuters

I've held the belief, that she died 15 years ago, almost from the start of the mess. Still, this is saddening news. Kinda knocks the wind out of ya.

A little to the right....


Pardon me Ma'am, Ma'am...

Could you move a little to the right?

Yeah...

Yeah, a little more.

Oh-no! Your energy is great! We just need you to move a little more to the right...


Wait! Right there!

Hold it...

Hold it...


{click)





Thaaaat's better!

Blogging on Bloggers

AMERICA Blog is upset about not being invited to the National Press Club's panel on professional cocksucker turned journalist, Jeff Gannon.

They make some good points, but really just want to toot their own horn, and I can't get passed the hypocrisy of a major liberal blog complaining about not getting fair treatment.

When was the last time that any of 'em linked to a blog that didn't have a hit count as high as their own? Or one that didn't praise everything they'd already said?

When they're not squashing the competition, they're whining about their ratings. Hell, they've become just as bad as the mainstream media they spend all their time complaining about...

It's about time people started treating them like shit.

Daily Show Clip!

Watch this!

Psychic John Edwards on Terry Schiavo.

via Over/Spun

Bad Blogger!

I understand that this service is free, and that I shouldn't bitch about free, but when I can't post, and Atrios can, I get really annoyed.

*burp*

MSNBC

Burger King’s "Enormous Omelet Sandwich" features a two-egg omelet topped with two slices of American cheese, three strips of bacon and a sausage patty on a hoagie-style bun.

At 730 calories and 47 grams of fat, it is even heftier than the company’s famed "Whopper," which weighs in at 700 calories and 42 grams of fat.


If anybody out there makes documentaries, I'll eat one of these things everyday for a month, and you can film my ass getting wider, and we'll call it Super-Duper Size Me!, or King Me!, or Austin Powers 4: The Making of a Fat Bastard!


Whatever ya call it, we'll get rich!

Right-to-Lifer charged with Murder for Hire

Citizen Times

A man accused of placing a bounty on the head of Michael Schiavo and on a judge who recently denied a request to reinsert Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was arrested Friday in Buncombe County.

Richard Alan Meywes of Fairview was charged in a federal complaint in the Middle District of Florida, according to a news release from the FBI in Tampa, Fla. He is charged with murder for hire and the transmission of interstate threatening communications.


*sigh*

Mexican Gang Targeting U.S. Citizens

The Moony Times

Members of a violent Central America-based gang have been sent to Arizona to target Minuteman Project volunteers, who will begin a monthlong border vigil this weekend to find and report foreigners sneaking into the United States, project officials say.

James Gilchrist, a Vietnam veteran who helped organize the vigil to protest the federal government's failure to control illegal immigration, said he has been told that California and Texas leaders of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, have issued orders to teach "a lesson" to the Minuteman volunteers.

"We're not worried because half of our recruits are retired trained combat soldiers," Mr. Gilchrist said. "And those guys are just a bunch of punks."

More than 1,000 volunteers are expected to take part in the Minuteman vigil, which will include civilian patrols along a 20-mile section of the San Pedro River Valley, which has become a frequent entry point to the United States for foreigner headed north.


The gang was "sent" to the border? By Who??

anyway...

The border is starting to look like something out of Mad Max.



The MS-13 gang has established major smuggling operations in several areas along the U.S.-Mexico border and have transported hundreds of Central and South Americans -- including gang members -- into the United States in the past two years. The gang also is involved in drug and weapons smuggling.

Gang members in America have been tied to numerous killings, robberies, burglaries, carjackings, extortion, rapes and aggravated assaults. Authorities said that the gang has earned a reputation from the other street gangs as being particularly ruthless and that it will retaliate violently when challenged.


That there last bit of the story was brought to you by...

The GOP!
Protecting the rights of migrant farm workers ever since it became profitable!

Working Hard for Their Masters

Washington Post

MBNA Corp., the credit card behemoth and fifth-largest contributor to Bush's two presidential campaigns, is among those on the verge of prevailing in an eight-year fight to curtail personal bankruptcies.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and others are close to winning the right to drill for oil in Alaska's wildlife refuge, which they have tried to pass for better than a decade.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., another big contributor to Bush and the GOP, and other big companies recently won long-sought protections from class-action lawsuits.

[...]

"These are not real high-profile, sexy issues like the war or Social Security, but these are issues that have huge economic consequences," said Charles R. Black Jr., a GOP lobbyist and one of the president's top fundraisers. "And there is more to come on that score."

Bush and his congressional allies are looking to pass legal protections for drug companies, doctors, gun manufacturers and asbestos makers, as well as tax breaks for all companies and energy-related assistance sought by the oil and gas industry.




"looking to pass legal protections"....


That's republican PC speak for "make them above the law".

Little Johnny Got A Gun!

MSNBC

All options should be considered to prevent rampages like the Minnesota school shooting that took 10 lives — including making guns available to teachers, a top National Rifle Association leader said Friday.



Nothing like the NRA trying to score political points after a school shooting...

Must have learned it from watching Tom Delay.

bush however waited 6 days

President Bush broke his public silence on Saturday about the deadliest U.S. school shooting in six years, touting the government's response "at this tragic time" after some American Indian leaders complained he paid little attention to the rampage.

I'd like to buy the world a Coke...

from The Nation

Chief among the accusations, is [Coca Cola's] alleged complicity in the murder of union members by paramilitaries at bottling plants in Colombia.

So far, six colleges and universities in the United States--including Carleton, Oberlin and Bard--have responded to a call by the Colombian beverages union for a boycott, either by canceling contracts or banning vending machines. Campaigns are active at about ninety more, making this the largest anticorporate campaign since the one against Nike.

[...]

Romero says that in addition to boycotts, students will soon be conducting sit-ins similar to those that helped publicize sweatshop abuses by Nike and other companies in the late 1990s.

Picking on Tom Delay

15 years ago Terri Schiavo's tragedy began, when her family couldn't let her go.

More than 16 years ago, far from the political passions that have defined the Schiavo controversy,...

[Tom Delay's career as a hypocrite began]

[as] the DeLay family endured its own wrenching end-of-life crisis. The man in a coma, kept alive by intravenous lines and oxygen equipment, was DeLay's father, Charles Ray DeLay.

[snip]

And DeLay is among the strongest advocates of keeping the woman, who doctors say has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, connected to her feeding tube. DeLay has denounced Schiavo's husband, as well as judges, for committing what he calls "an act of barbarism" in removing the tube.

In 1988, however, there was no such fiery rhetoric as the congressman quietly joined the sad family consensus to let his father die.


...and PERRspectives points out that:

In recent days, criticism has unfairly rained down on House majority leader Tom Delay for supposedly comparing himself to Jesus. As Delay put it in his own defense, "people hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ."


They then defend Ol' Tom by doing a comparison chart between him and Jesus.

Funny Stuff.(link)

My favorite is:

Crucified by Romans vs. Crucified by the Liberal Media

O...... k.

La Times

A federal panel will get two more years to review and declassify documents showing that U.S. intelligence agencies worked with former Nazis after World War II, under legislation signed Friday by President Bush.


Considering his love of fascism, I'd say junior must be looking for more people to nominate for stuff. Maybe a good will ambassador to Germany.

Another day, another judge, another no...

It seems like Terri Schiavo's fate has been determined, and I wanna take a moment to reflect on all of this.

First of all, the "my heart goes out to the parents" people aren't helping anyone.

Instead of sending them your best wishes, try sending them your shrink's phone number. 'Cause lets face it, these people need help. Their hopes and dreams have become open wounds that people, looking for political or financial gain, continue to pick at. No wonder they're nuts, I would be too after 15 years of this shit. Even their own lawyer does it!



...and the "starving her is cruel" people can bite me.

If it wasn't for them we could give her a morphine drip and look the other way.



...and the "liberal judges legislating from the bench" people can fuck off.

By taking away Terri's right to medical privacy, the same right that gives her the ability to decide her future, they hope to do away with everything covered by right to privacy including (...wait for it...) abortion. Ya just knew the pro-lifers were gonna stick their noses in didn't ya...


...and then there's the hack-tacular republicans that did everything, but nail Terri to a cross for photo ops...

82% of Americas think the republicans went to far.

Now that is some bad math. I don't think I've ever seen such a bad political move. If 82% think you over stepped your bounds, and 13% think you didn't do enough, then that leaves only 5% of the American people that think you did the right thing...

wow.

And that just leaves us with the true believers; that 13% that Jeb Bush can never do enough for. I heard Pat Buchanan say that Jeb should send in the troops, that the Tenth Amendment (the one that give states rights) is dead.

These are the people that are gonna tear the republican party apart. It's one thing to be part of the out of power party, looking at the world passing you by. But it's a whole different matter when your party controls the House, the Senate, the White House, the Governor of Florida, and, in this case, almost all of the judges, and they still can't get the job done.

Who do they turn to after this?


Maybe they will take a good look at America, and what our founding fathers really wanted it to be. Freedom of religion includes freedom from it. I wonder if they will ever understand that.

A big Ol' Can of Whoop-Ass

Petitioners have previously litigated their claims in state court and now, in effect, seek a review of various state courts’ decisions involving Mrs. Schiavo[...]

But this Court is not an appellate court for state courts’ decisions.

[more]

Additionally, Petitioners have failed to satisfy the elements for a temporary restraining order. A party seeking a temporary restraining order must establish that: (1) there is a substantial likelihood that the moving party will prevail on the merits;[....]

[snip]

Having reviewed the Petition, the Court finds that there is not a substantial likelihood that Petitioners will prevail on their federal constitutional claims. Accordingly, Petitioners’ Emergency Petition for Temporary Injunction is denied.


You can read the whole thing at The Left Coaster



P.S.

Could someone please tell Matt Drudge that (two hours later) we are not still "waiting" for the judge's decision...

We may however be "waiting" to see how Drudge spins it.

Federal Judge Refuses To Reinsert Schiavo's Feeding Tube

Breaking News from WESH.com

The judge denied an emergency request from the brain-damaged woman's parents, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported.

The ruling comes after feverish action by President Bush and Congress on legislation allowing her contentious case to be reviewed by federal courts.

Michael Schiavo Speaks Out.

St. Petersburg Times

"Come down, President Bush," Michael Schiavo said in a telephone interview. "Come talk to me. Meet my wife. Talk to my wife and see if you get an answer. Ask her to lift her arm to shake your hand. She won't do it."

She won't, Schiavo said, because she can't.

[...]

He said U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is leading a charge to extend Terri Schiavo's life, is a "little slithering snake" pandering for votes.

"To make comments that Terri would want to live, how do they know?" Schiavo said of the members of Congress who want to keep his wife alive.

"Have they ever met her?" Schiavo said. "What color are her eyes? What's her middle name? What's her favorite color? They don't have any clue who Terri is. They should all be ashamed of themselves."


He also asked "Why doesn't Congress worry about people not having health insurance?"

After paying for 15 years of healthcare for his wife, I wonder what his financial situation is like. I wonder what the impact of bush's new bankruptcy laws are on his financial situation.




Update: Michael Schiavo was awarded a million dollars in a malpractice lawsuit, and that is how he was able to pay for Terri's care. Medicaid has also kicked in.

So if bush had it his way... The most that Michael Schiavo could have been awarded would have been $250,000 (aka tort reform), and on top of that republicans want to cut her medicaid benifits as well.

...and now, if Michael goes bankrupt, he will have to liquidate everything he has with the exception of his house which is protected under Florida law.

Just another example of Compassionate Conservatism at work.

Weekend at Terri's

Terri Schiavo isn't brain-dead. She isn't brain damaged.

She doesn't have a brain.

If you stop by and read Alas, a blog you can see Terri Schiavo's CT scan, and read a very factual discussion of her situation.


Everything else is bordering on the absurd.


Congress thinks it has the right to void the ruling by the Florida courts just because they didn't like their ruling, I think the Florida court should hold Congress in contempt, and throw 'em all in the pokey.

But that's just the begining, Drudge is linking to... to use his words...

SCHIAVO AUDIO: 'Responding to her father on Friday, immediately following the removal of her feeding tube'...


The link doesn't work, 'cause it's bullshit, but that's expected from Drudge.


What I can't get over is the visual it evokes, republicans looking like Newt Gingrich with divorce papers, hovering over Terri's bed, bumping her elbow and yelling "She Moved!"

It's like the parrot sketch from Monty Python. John Cleese could walk in playing the doctor. And they should have a "re-elect the GOP" banner hanging over her bed.

Tom Delay: Nononono! 'She's resting!

Cleese: All right then, if she's restin', I'll wake her up!

(shouting)

Cleese: 'ELLO, TERRI! I've got a lovely fresh bowl of jello for you if you wake-e wake-e...(Tom Delay nudges her arm)

Delay: There, She moved!

Cleese: No, she didn't, that was you nudging her arm!

Delay: I never!!

Cleese: Yes, you did!

Delay: I never, never did anything...

Cleese: (yelling louder) 'ELLO TERRI!!!!! This is your nine o'clock alarm call!

(Picks up Terri. Throws it up in the air, and watches her plummet to the floor.)

Cleese: Now that's what I call a dead patient.



Maybe they can get that kid sueing Michael Jackson to say she touched him while they're at it.

Here's a thought...

Maybe the reason why republicans are sticking their noses into Terri Schiavo's situation is because they know that a person's "living will", or right to not be put on life support, falls under medical privacy.

Maybe they know that if they can overturn a person's right to privacy in one situation, then it would apply to all situations.

Like say Abortion.


...Just a thought.

Republican Football

AP / My Way News

Congressional leaders announced a compromise between Senate and House Republicans that would allow the brain-damaged woman's case to be reviewed by federal courts that could restore her feeding tube. Opposition waned after House leaders agreed to give up broader legislation and accept a narrowly crafted bill that applied only to Schiavo's case.


Well isn't that nice republicans compromising with republicans.... or maybe that should read republicans conspiring with republicans...

So what do they expect the federal court to rule? Do they think the Florida court did something wrong? No... The Florida court made the right decision. They gave Michael Schiavo (Terry's husband) the power to make the decision on whether or not to remove Terry's feeding tube...

...and that's it. If you don't want to be on life support, you don't have to be. And if you're incapacitated in a way that prevents you from deciding for yourself (in Terry's case, she is in a vegetative state) your family gets do decide your wishes for you.

So who decides? All too often, children become estranged from their parents, so the courts have traditionally favored the spouse when it comes to such hefty decisions.

...and if the federal courts are going to make the same decision as the Florida courts, then what's the point?

The point is that Jeb Bush can't be held accountable for what a federal court does.

That's right, it's all about re-electing Jeb Bush, and if they have to kick Terry around a bit to do so, they will.


Enter Peggy "The Capital Cunt" Noonan.

Peggy says that "If Terri Schiavo is killed, Republicans will pay a political price." and "Politicians, please, think of yourselves!"

...and if that wasn't blatant enough she adds:

"A final note to the Republican leadership in the House and Senate: You have to pull out all the stops. You have to run over your chairmen if they're being obstructionist for this niggling reason and that. Run over their egos, run past their fatigue. You have to win on this. If you don't, you can't imagine how much you're going to lose. And from people who have faith in you."

There you have it, Peggy Noonan making a desperate plea to all republicans to save their party, to get re-elected, to use Terry Schiavo to score political points, to exploit her for all it's worth.

Bravo Peggy... Bravo.

bush's "Clean Coal" Causing Autism in Texas Children

Reuters / MSNBC

Mercury released primarily from coal-fired power plants may be contributing to an increase in the number of cases of autism, a Texas researcher said on Wednesday.

A study to be published on Thursday in the journal “Health and Place” found that autism, a developmental disorder marked by communication and social interaction problems, increased in Texas counties as mercury emissions rose, said Claudia Miller, a family and community medicine professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

[...]

The Bush administration this week [changed course, and] ordered power plants to cut mercury pollution by 50 percent within 15 years, but environmentalists said the action fell short of what was needed. They have called for a 90 percent cut in mercury emissions.



They voted for him....

bush set to close 425 Military Bases

from the NY Times

For the first time in a decade, communities across the country are bracing for a major round of military base closings, and they are mounting aggressive lobbying campaigns to stave off cuts and other changes that some independent experts say could dwarf the previous four rounds combined.

Pentagon officials say all 425 domestic bases are under scrutiny, as the military looks to squeeze efficiencies and billions of dollars in savings from a cold-war network that has nearly 25 percent more capacity than what the armed services say they need.




I can't count how many times a republican has told me that Clinton left us defenceless after cutting the military's budget, and now that King George the Brainless is doing it, I'm sure that they'll label it a "patriotic duty".

Filthy hypocrites...

Fuck Porter Goss

I had such a shitty day today... blogging was the last thing on my mind...

and then I read this:

from the AP

CIA Director Porter Goss defended U.S. interrogation practices and rejected any notion that the intelligence community engages in torture following months of criticism of Americans' treatment of foreign prisoners.


Telling such a bold faced lie in public should be a crime. It should carry the death penalty too. Scumbags like Goss have done more damage to America than any Al Queda attack could have done.

Less than a month ago I posted this:

One Army guard, Sgt. Jeffery Frost, said the prisoner's arms were stretched behind him in a way he had never before seen. Frost told investigators he was surprised al-Jamadi's arms "didn't pop out of their sockets," according to a summary of his interview.

Frost and other guards had been summoned to reposition al-Jamadi, who an interrogator said was not cooperating. As the guards released the shackles and lowered al-Jamadi, blood gushed from his mouth "as if a faucet had been turned on," according to the interview summary.


Let's string up Goss and see if blood gushes from his mouth.

Let's string him up, and ask him if it feels like torture.

Whoa....

from CNN

"First things first," the senior Bush administration official said. "Syria must get out, and Lebanon must have unfettered elections, then Hezbollah must disarm. ... There is no place for an armed militia in a democratic society."


from Cornell

Amendment II (of the Constitution)

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.



bush caught attacking the right to bear arms... who'd-a-thunk-it



Update!

I submitted this in Drudge's "news Tips" section.

I'm sure he'll get right on it. LOL.

Calling all writers...

I got an e-mail from College Tree Publishing. They're looking for "essay submissions from people in the 17 to 25 year old age group on political and social issues"...

So, if your thing is political writing, this sounds like a good deal.

You won't get paid, but you will get published, and credited for your work.


...and that's a pretty good deal.


If you're interested just follow the link, and click on the submissions tab.

Republicans concerned about Delay fallout.

from WaPo via Yahoo

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) has dismissed questions about his ethics as partisan attacks, but revelations last week about his overseas travel and ties to lobbyists under investigation have emboldened Democrats and provoked worry among Republicans.

With some members increasingly concerned that DeLay had left himself vulnerable to attack, several Republican aides and lobbyists said for the first time that they are worried about whether he will survive and what the consequences could be for the party's image.


Take note that they aren't concerned about his ethics. He doesn't have any, and they aren't concerned about that. All they're worried about is the political repercussions of not having any ethics.

Obscene

For the first time ever, at least one republican has publicly come out against cheap labor. Infact, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, a Florida Republican, even wants ID cards for illegal aliens.

And in this WaPo story she even went on record saying that illegals shouldn't be allowed to do certain jobs.

Illegal aliens using false Social Security numbers were able to enter and work as contract painters at a power plant in Florida, including work near one nuclear reactor.

[...]

"We certainly don't want to have one illegal alien at a nuclear power plant, let alone several," said Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, Florida Republican.


I just want to say that I am shocked, Shocked! that some no-name representative from Florida would challenge the White House like that.

Just one more reason why we need to give amnesty to Mexico.

Lots of news today...

China's gonna nuke Taiwan.

And the comming droughts in China won't help their mood any...

...but getting bush to believe in global warming is probably impossible, considering that he and his right wing buddies still don't believe in evolution, and want to take it out of the classroom.

Christian activists who say they are the ones being persecuted, by a liberal establishment.


...and not to mention the factual establishment. 'Cause lemme tell ya, them their "facts" have really got it out for the religeous right.

I love this stuff....

This story By Judy Keen at U.S.A Today is excellent.

She takes a good look at the language bush has been using lately, and compares it to what he used to say. The article focus' on SS reform.

Here's an example:


•Then (Oct. 15): With personal investment accounts, "the compounding rate of interest effect will make it more likely that the Social Security system is solvent for our children and our grandchildren."

•Now (March 4): "As part of a Social Security reform package, younger workers ought to be allowed to take some of their own money ... and set it aside in a personal savings account."

•Behind the words: Before November's election, Bush presented private accounts as a solution to Social Security's problems. He has since acknowledged that the accounts alone would have little effect on the system's bottom line and more changes will be needed.


I'm fascinated by the empty words propagandists use, and considering someone writes what bush says, and then fine tunes it to get the desired reaction from an ill informed public... well I call that propaganda.

So much for being a straight talker.

Saddam's Faked Capture Pt: 2

This story about a U.S. Marine saying the mainstream media's version of Saddam's capture was bullshit, has set off a blogging frenzy.

Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh stated:

"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said.

"We captured him after fierce resistance during which a Marine of Sudanese origin was killed," he said.

[...]

"Later on, a military production team fabricated the film of Saddam's capture in a hole, which was in fact a deserted well," Abou Rabeh said.



Now World Net Daily is reporting that the guy wasn't a marine, and that the Pentagon is denying the whole thing.

I'd just like to be the first blogger to say: So what!


They lied about WMD. They've been lying about bush's service records. They lie whenever it suits their needs, so who gives a shit what the Pentagon says.

If the media wants to prove or disprove a story, they should start by quoting a source that has credibility...

China's War on American Industry

The International Herald Tribune

China has exceeded all predictions on textile exports to the United States since the lifting of global quotas in January, according to industry figures released Wednesday, confirming fears of American textile manufacturers.

[...]

Predictions that China would flood the world market with cheap textiles had already inflamed trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, in part because of concern that the Chinese unfairly subsidize their industry and sell their goods at below-production costs, undermining U.S. producers.

In the first month of this year, 12,200 jobs were lost in the U.S. apparel and textile industries, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.


Free trade/Trade with China is going to destroy this country in the long run.


And If you read the article you also came across this:

Using figures from China's customs office, the textile group calculated that China is selling a cotton knit shirt at $1.71, down 45 percent from the $3.12 it sold for last year. Those low prices helped drive up imports of cotton knit shirts by 1,836 percent, it said.


So they take a shirt from china at $1.71 stamp Nike, BUM or whatever on it, and then sell it for $50-$100...

That's insane.

Halliburton Doing Business in Iran, Supporiting Terrorists

MSNBC

It's just another Halliburton oil and gas operation. The company name is emblazoned everywhere: On trucks, equipment, large storage silos and workers' uniforms.

But this isn't Texas. It's Iran. U.S. companies aren't supposed to do business here. 

Yet, in January, Halliburton won a contract to drill at a huge Iranian gas field called Pars, which an Iranian government spokesman said "served the interests" of Iran. 

"I am baffled that any American company would want to have employees operating in Iran," says Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "I would think they'd be ashamed." 

[...]

Still, Halliburton stands out because its operations in Iran are now under a federal criminal investigation. Government sources say the focus is on whether the company set out to illegally evade the sanctions imposed ten years ago.

[...]

Why should Americans even care if U.S. companies circumvent the sanctions?

"The purpose of these sanctions is to dissuade Iran from supporting terrorism and from seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction," says Comras [a former State Department expert on sanctions].

[...]

"We don't want American companies propping up a government that's dedicated to our destruction," says Sen. Collins.

Tom Delay's Heart Condition

AP

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was treated for a heart condition Thursday at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center, his office said.

The Texas Republican was released and returned home after a series of tests. He intends to stick to his plans to go to Florida, Georgia and Texas this weekend.

Capt. Michael Curran, the head of cardiology at the hospital, stated: "We looked and looked, but found no evidence of anything that even remotely resembled a heart."




...I may have made that last part up.

Michelle Malkin on Killing Freed Hostages

In her latest pile of crap, Ms. Malkin lets us know that:

The scandal is not that an anti-war propagandist has accused the U.S. of targeting journalists. That's par for the course. (Yes, hello again, Eason Jordan.)

The scandal is not that mainstream media sympathizers are blaming our military and dredging up every last shooting accident along the treacherous routes to Baghdad Airport. Again, no surprise here.

The scandal is that Italy—our reputed ally in the global War on Terror — negotiated with Sgrena's Islamist kidnappers and may have forked over a massive ransom to cutthroats for Sgrena's release.


This is why the world thinks that the words "arrogant" and "American" are synonymous.

Just because "we don't negociate with terrorists" is our policy, it doesn't make it more valid or correct than the policies of other countries.

So far the terrorists policy seems to be "If they won't pay for that guy? Maybe they'll pay for this guy.", so it's not like our policy is working...

....but what is really outrageous, is Malkin's raping of the issue.

The real scandal is that an American ally has to negotiate for the safety of it's citizens behind America's back for fear of American sabotage.

The real scandal is that the American reaction, to Italy negotiating for the release of one of it's citizens, seem to have been to take 'em out!


Someone let Chris Matthews know that Michelle Malkin need to be bitch-slapped...



...again.

LexisNexis Was Hacked

from MSNBC

Using stolen passwords from legitimate customers, intruders accessed personal information on as many as 32,000 U.S. citizens in a database owned by the information broker LexisNexis, the company said.

[snip]

The ChoicePoint case, as well as other data losses including one affecting some 1.2 million federal employees with Bank of America charge cards, have prompted an outcry for federal oversight of a loosely regulated commercial sector. In the data-brokering business, sensitive data about nearly every adult American is bought and sold.

In case you were wondering why gas is so expensive....

It's because junior wants to drill again!

from CNN

With oil prices nearing last year's record highs, President Bush renewed his call for Congress to authorize oil exploration in Alaska's largest wildlife refuge as part of a broader energy bill.


He's still an alcoholic...

He still does the same thing over and over while expecting a different outcome.

...no reason to ask the Saudis for help though, junior likes killing things.

a little birdy told me...

that MaxSpeak had a list of democrats that voted for the [ending your right to file for] bankruptcy bill:

Biden (D-DE), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea

I hope Howard Dean is making a list of dems to challenge in the primaries.

...if there is any justice in this, red states have higher bankruptcy rates, so they'll be getting just what they asked for.

Total Failure

Yahoo/Ap

Republican governor [Arnold Schwarzenegger] wants to ask voters this fall to change the way legislative districts are drawn and teachers are paid. He wants to shift public employee pensions into 401(k)-style accounts. And he wants to create a mechanism to cut spending when it exceeds revenue.

But the central promise of Schwarzenegger's governorship — to balance the budget and end the practice of borrowing to wipe out deficits — remains unrealized.


Serves 'em right for going along with that recall crap.

Music for Martha

American Dream (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

I used to see you on every T.V.
Your smiling face looked back at me.
I used to see you on every T.V.
Your smiling face looked back at me.

[...],
People's money piled on the floor,
Accusations that you try to deny,
Revelations and rumors begin to fly.

Now you think about reaching out
Maybe get some help from above.
Now you think about reaching out
Maybe get some help from above.

Reporters crowd around your house.
Going through your garbage like a pack of hounds,
Speculating what they may find out,
It don't matter now, you're all washed up.

You wake up in the middle of the night.
Your sheets are wet and your face is white,
You tried to make a good thing last,
How could something so good, go bad, so fast?

American dream, American dream

A Few More Reasons to Pay Your Taxes

Yahoo/AP

U.S. roads, bridges, sewers and dams are crumbling and need a $1.6 trillion overhaul but prospects for improvement are grim...

"If we treated our own homes like we treat our infrastructure, we'd all live in shacks," said [American Society of Civil Engineers] president William Henry

Whoa...

Yahoo/AP

President Bush's top environmental priority — giving power plants, factories and refineries more time to reduce their air pollution — suffered a major setback Wednesday as a Republican-controlled committee rejected it in the Senate.

The Environment and Public Works Committee deadlocked on a 9-9 vote on Bush's "clear skies" bill, a name that Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., described as "akin to calling Frankenstein Tom Cruise."



...hey junior, suck-it.

While I'm at it....

What is the point of bloggers revealing their secret identities?

Isn't the whole point of reading a blog, to get thoughts on a topic from a person that isn't corrupted by corporations, politicians, or public pressure?

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em... so aren't bloggers that join in with the mainstream just admitting defeat?


In other words...

Fuckin' losers.

Atrios Bloggin'

...if it wasn't for stealing stories from him, I'd have no use for the guy at all.


from 13 Wham.com

A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated.

[...]

"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said.


from Editor & Publisher

An Oregon couple today filed a $25 million lawsuit against the group USANext, charging it with using without permission a photo of the two men kissing that appeared in the Portland Tribune.

USANext gained wide publicity in recent weeks for its attacks on the American Association of Retired People (AARP) for opposing President Bush's privatization plans for Social Security.

An ad placed by USANext on the Web suggested that AARP favored gay marriage, connecting it to two men kissing. The two men, Rich Raymen and Steve Hansen, filed their lawsuit today.

"Our privacy and personal integrity were violated when our wedding photo was stolen," Raymen said in a statement released today. "We have been harassed and humiliated by this hateful ad campaign and by the bigotry and anger it has generated against us nationwide."



thanks for the heads up, Duncan ;)

A Fairy Tale

Listening to Blue October's Fairy Tale


...I'm loven' it.

Monday sucks...

First of all, I'm sick... (might have been something I ate)

Second, Blogger is... s... l... o... w...


So Im just gonna do one super sized post, and hope that blogger doesn't eat it.


So let's start with those beached dolphins, the AP is reporting that:

A day before the dolphins swam ashore, the USS Philadelphia had conducted exercises with Navy SEALs off Key West, about 45 miles from Marathon, where the dolphins became stranded.




The Italian Reporter, that U.S. troops opened fire on, thinks she was targeted.

from the Washington Times

Miss Sgrena, a reporter for the Communist daily Il Manifesto, charged yesterday that U.S. forces might have deliberately targeted her because Washington opposes Italy's policy of dealing with kidnappers.

"The United States doesn't approve of this [ransom] policy and so they try to stop it in any way possible," the veteran war reporter, 57, told Sky Italia TV.



...and then there's Warren Buffet who's getting rich by betting against the U.S. Dollar. From the Guardian Unlimited

In his annual letter to investors in Berkshire Hathaway, the fund he has run for more than 30 years, Mr Buffett painted a bleak picture of a future US in which ownership and wealth had continued to move overseas, leaving the economy in thrallto foreign interests and faced with financial turmoil and political unrest.


Which ties in nicely with Hillary Clinton getting the Weasel Award for supporting outsourcing. To her credit though, she did rip bush a new asshole for his attacks on family planning clinics.

But my favorite story this morning has to be this one about Bill Clinton. It's just a simple story about him sleeping on the floor, so that bush sr. could sleep in the bed.

...and yet, it's such a powerful reminder of what made Bill Clinton such a beloved president. Good deeds. He used to do them all the time. Simple little things done just for the sake of being good.

I miss that.

Autism, Alzheimer's and Mercury

Mercury causes Alzheimer's.

...and high levels in vaccines likely cause Autism.


You can learn more about all of this at Deirdre Imus's website. If it wasn't for her efforts no one would be talking about any of this so feel free to give her some money while you're at it.

RIP Bubba the Lobster

from CNN

He dodged lobster pots for decades, endured a trip from the coast of Massachusetts to Pittsburgh and survived about a week in a fish market. But a trip to the zoo proved to be too much for a 22-pound lobster named Bubba.


*sigh*

Blogger Crackdown?

from C-Net News

In just a few months, [Bradley Smith] warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines.

Smith should know. He's one of the six commissioners at the Federal Election Commission, which is beginning the perilous process of extending a controversial 2002 campaign finance law to the Internet.


bush creates reporters, and pays off pundits, and they're comming after me?

...this is all Jonh Thune's fault for paying off bloggers

2 + 2 = Dead Dolphins?

I can't be sure but...

from CNN

The U.S. research ship Maurice Ewing left Mexico Tuesday...

Environmentalists opposed the ship's activities, arguing that the seismic technology could harm sea life including whales, which use sound waves to communicate.

from Sun-Sentinel.com

About 49 dolphins stranded themselves Wednesday off the Florida Keys and more than 20 were in a nearby canal or boat channel, officials said.



...learn more.




EDIT:

Geoff Davis says that I'm way off, and he says (here) that the Ewing "concluded seismic operations several weeks ago"

He could be right, but it's not like the Ewing hasn't been charged with this before. And this MSNBC piece sums everything up pretty well.

We need more research here.

What is known is frightening, and if it isn't safe for humans what makes people think it's safe for anything else?

...and what about the effects of long term exposure?


How can "don't worry about it" answer so may questions?

All These Terror Threats...

...are just bullshit. It's like bush put a Bin Laden puppet on his hand, and started telling scary stories.

Maybe it has something to do the fact that the Patriot Act needs to be renewed, and after being told that they actually have to charge the people they put in jail with a crime. junior might be afraid that public opinion is wavering.

...remember the old days when they just had to raise the terror alert level to keep the masses in line?

...on Reforming Social Security

We won...

Comparing bush to Hitler...

...should be one of America's favorite pastimes. Bob Byrd just did it, and is taking shit from all sides. Byrd is upset about the republicans attempt to remove the right of democrats to filibuster. Republicans don't like what democrats want to filibuster, so they don't think it should be legal for democrats to filibuster.

Kinda like they way they outlawed free speech at their (republican only) bush rallies, and town hall meetings. You either kiss the kings ring, or security is gonna throw your ass out.

We've got a word for that... Fascism.

Wikipedia defines fascism as a government system that:

*exalts nation and sometimes race above the individual,
*uses violence and modern techniques of propaganda and censorship to forcibly suppress political opposition,

*engages in severe economic and social regimentation.

*engages in corporatism,[1] (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=219369)
*implements or is a totalitarian regime.


...and although they didn't bullet it, they do point out that "Fascism developed in opposition to socialism..."

So clearly an argument can be made that America has become a fascist state, and for most Americans, when you're talking about fascism, you're talking about Hitler.

What amazes me is that comparing a person to Hitler, has become a greater political crime than actually acting like Hitler.

bush acts like Hitler, and no one cares. Bob Byrd points it out, and people come out of the woodwork to chastise him.

...strange days indeed.

Whoa...

from Yahoo/AP

Ever seen a 22 pound lobster before?


(the small lobster is the size of one you would normally eat)

Bubba dwarfs a typical 1 1/2-pound lobster. He's about three feet long and took up about half a 4-foot-by-4-foot tank at Wholey's Market. A lobster sharing his tank was about as big as one of Bubba's claws.

Jeff Gannon's back....

And has started a blog...

What the hell could this numbnut be thinkin'? His blog subtitles "So feared by the Left it had to take me down"... We fear you, Jeff? I don't think so. I think you're a joke. A pretty damn good joke, but a joke none the less...

...and speaking of good Jeff Gannon jokes, here's a preview of Thursday's Daily Show courtesy of Newsday:


A "correspondent" from the fake news show The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was outside City Hall yesterday to get some answers from City Council Speaker Gifford Miller.

Wearing a badly groomed hairpiece, a fake mustache and an ugly tie, Rob Corddry waited until after the real reporters had posed their questions. After nodding in agreement to every word spoken by Miller about the West Side Stadium, Corddry finally raised his hand.

"Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker," he shouted, as if in a White House news conference, identifying himself as "Dino Ironbody."

His question: "How do you feel about the president's awesome plan to privatize Social Security?"


gotta see that...

...but in all fairness Jeff tells some pretty damn good jokes too. Like this one, where he points out that Rush Limbaugh has defended him.

...that's right when Jeff got busted for ho'ing, he used the first crack addict he could find to defend himself. This could be an episode on Cops. Jeff standing in the street. Kicking Limbaugh, trying to wake him up, and yellin' "tell them cops I ain't no ho!" Limbaugh could crawl back into his box mumbling about cabbage.

...or atleast a skit on Chappelle's show. Dave could play Jeff trying to get a press pass from Karl Rove. Down on his knees beggin', and shouting from the top of his lungs "I'll Suck Yo Dick!"

Which brings up a question, if Jeff Gannon was going down on Karl Rove, did he wear a dress? Are there any stains on it?


On a side note, Talon News has gone out of business.