A Hero and a Leader

Wow.

Yes if anyone comes across an audio source (podcast or real player type) for the speech, it's even more powerful spoken. Please post the link if you see it.

BBC News describes as a "public relations disaster" a newly announced investigation by the US military into the deaths of Army soldiers, including that of Cpl. Pat Tillman, in video obtained by RAW STORY.

BBC Washington correspondent James Westhead, in referring to Tillman's case, describes "evidence of a whitewash and a cover-up."

"This is very damaging for the Army," Westhead reports. "[It's] trying to appear as transparent as possible."

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/VIDEO_Military_to_review_Tillman_Army_0825.html

Shays calls for troop withdrawal time frame
Conn. Republican hopes to offer a specifics in September

Updated: 11:53 a.m. ET Aug 25, 2006

(AP)WASHINGTON - Rep. Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican defending his seat from an anti-war challenger, says the U.S. should consider setting a timeline for troop withdrawals from Iraq.

Shays, long a supporter of the war and previously an opponent of withdrawal timetables, said he hopes to offer a specific time frame after he holds congressional hearings on Iraq next month. Few other congressional Republicans have supported setting a timeline.

"Our troops cannot be there indefinitely," Shays said Thursday from London during a telephone conference call with reporters after his 14th visit to Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

"We should be able to tell the American people what kind of timeline we can have to begin to draw down our troops," he said. "It may be a timeline the American people don't want to hear. It may not be something that brings them out quickly."

Shays has come under fire for his support of the Iraq war from Democratic challenger Diane Farrell in a race widely seen as a showdown on the war.

"I don't think Chris needed to go to Iraq 14 times to know it's a mess," she said. "To have a time line, there needs to be an exit plan. There's no exit strategy."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14513656/

(Ahem. It took far less time to find many, many links to both audio and video recordings of the Watada speech on the internets than it did to type out this reply. Google is your friend, you really should get to know it better.)

Try this link for starters, there's a lot of other juicy libero-proggie stuff posted there too: http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm

The same link is featured in AfterDowningStreet's coverage of the Watada speech along with some interesting followup comments on it at: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/13792

There are also beaucoup text & multimedia links to the extensive coverage of Lt. Watada and his activities posted at: http://thankyoult.live.radicaldesigns.org

And there are more links to interviews and stories on this subject, including VFP Chapter 125's own coverage, at: http://www.myleftwing.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11197

Some other interesting & related links, arbitrarily selected from among dozens & dozens of similar ones:
http://www.airamerica.com/audio_highlights?showid=10
http://jk-fabiani.livejournal.com/
http://mefeedia.com/tags/war_crimes/
http://www.fsrn.org/news/20060814_news.html
http://olyimc.infotage.net/en/2006/06/228.shtml
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/07/1356221
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/08/344590.shtml
http://w4lk.info/home/index.php?read=3483
http://fluxrostrum.blogspot.com/
http://www.sirnosir.com/iraq_news.html
http://www.campusantiwar.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=128

Ironically, according to the stories about Lt. Watada in the (Washington state) Olympian Online, the military also used video recordings of this speech as evidence in the trial proceedings against him. Ain't technology grand.

hope this helps,
Otter

Otter
Thanks and TGIF!
(I'm limited what I can do from work.)

But wait! There's more!

:0)

proud to be a poster child for adult attention surplus disorder,
Otter

DiAnne, watch out, you don't want to get in trouble at work. ;-)

Posted on the blog below, will post again here, as it has to do with the effects of on-going, generational war on civilians and military and a hero. (heroine)

"The Storyteller's Daughter" by Saira Shah

Only 254 pages, I wanted more. Hidden, nearly invisible, like the women in burkas, is Saira's nearly unbelievable courage... how she was able to live through this series of tales is nothing short of stunning.

http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-1400031478-0

Be afraid. Be very afraid:

"The last thing this country needs as it heads into this election season is another attempt to push the intelligence agencies to hype their conclusions about the threat from a Middle Eastern state.

"That's what happened in 2002, when the administration engineered a deeply flawed document on Iraq that reshaped intelligence to fit President Bush's policy. And history appeared to be repeating itself this week, when the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, released a garishly illustrated and luridly written document that is ostensibly dedicated to 'helping the American people understand' that Iran's fundamentalist regime and its nuclear ambitions pose a strategic threat to the United States.

"It's hard to imagine that Mr. Hoekstra believes there is someone left in this country who does not already know that. But the report obviously has different aims. It is partly a campaign document, a product of the Republican strategy of scaring Americans into allowing the G.O.P. to retain control of Congress this fall. It fits with the fearmongering we've heard lately -- like President Bush's attempt the other day to link the Iraq war to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"But even more worrisome, the report seems intended to signal the intelligence community that the Republican leadership wants scarier assessments that would justify a more confrontational approach to Tehran. It was not the work of any intelligence agency, or the full intelligence panel, or even the subcommittee that ostensibly drafted it. The Washington Post reported that it was written primarily by a former C.I.A. official known for his view that the assessments on Iran are not sufficiently dire.

[snip]

"All in all, this is a chilling reminder of what happened when intelligence analysts told Vice President Dick Cheney they could not prove that Iraq was building a nuclear weapon or had ties with Al Qaeda. He kept asking if they really meant it -- until the C.I.A. took the hint.

[snip]

"If the Republicans who control Congress really wanted a full-scale assessment on the state of Iran's weapons programs, they would have asked for one, rather than producing this brochure.

"The nation cannot afford to pay the price again for politicians' bending intelligence or bullying the intelligence agencies to suit their ideology."

More of this opinion piece from the NYT: http://tinyurl.com/puex6

Posted by: Otter at August 25, 2006 05:09 PM

Haven't read the entire thing yet, but it sounds like the dem leadership needs to alert the public that this propaganda is coming, and what to look for, so they can blunt the effect when the administration releases this stuff.

Hello everyone. This is an amazing thread and an amazing header. Thank God for little furry creatures to provide google links too.

Well...it's official. I bought my non-refundable ticket to DC so I suspect Bush will see me coming and leave town.

So...come on and join us at Camp Democracy. AND if you're concerned about money, the airlines are currently having a price war. It may not be as non-affordable as you may think.

As they said on my favorite tv show when I was little: "CCCCCCCCOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMME OOOOONNNN DDDDDDDDDDOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!"

Man oh man, I wish I could join you there, Suz. Maybe towards the end of the month. But I'm moving into a new crib this week, one that is preferable in many ways to the place I'm renting now but moving is still *such* a time-consuming pain in the asterisk that I'll be pretty much tied up in otterknots for several weeks to come.

Nevertheless, camping for democracy, much like dancing for architecture, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one not idly to be missed. So don't be at all surprised if you see me down there sometime before the slimmage-challenged mezzosoprano chirps.

Besides, how often does one get the opportunity to finally meet someone F2F whose namesake is a 7-pound Pomeranian, anyway??

"There ought to be limits to freedom."

George W. Bush, 1999
(reported in Hightower Lowdown)

Posted by: DiAnne at August 25, 2006 08:36 PM

Please!!!! With a sentiment like that he's ripe for the Hague!

War Crimes

Last Week, in a Small Hearing Room at Fort Lewis, a Young Soldier Put the Iraq War on Trial

Lieutenant Ehren Watada seems to know his chances are slim. He is trying to convince the U.S. Army that the war in Iraq is illegal, a task that would be challenging for anyone, and is even more so for Watada, a 28-year-old officer who has, with much ensuing media attention, refused to deploy to Iraq. "He is willing to accept some form of punishment," Watada's lawyer, Eric A. Seitz, told military officials at a packed hearing at Fort Lewis army base on August 17, tacitly acknowledging his client's difficult position.

After deliberately missing the deployment of his Iraq-bound Stryker brigade on June 22, Watada was charged with multiple violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice—one count of missing movement, two counts of contempt toward officials, and three counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. It was a contentious ending to a military career that began with the stuff of Army recruiters' dreams: A patriotic young man who simply wanted to defend his country against terrorists.

By his own account, Watada joined the military in 2003 at the age of 25 because he felt the United States was in danger. This was two years after the Twin Towers had been leveled by terrorists flying hijacked airliners, a year after the terrorist bombings in Bali, and during the run of constant terror alerts and heated rhetoric that marked the build-up to the Iraq war.
(snip)
The spring of 2003, when Watada enlisted, was a tense and confusing time. The U.S. had just deposed the terrorist-sheltering Taliban leadership in Afghanistan, but the "war on terror" continued with Osama bin Laden still on the loose, the American population still jittery, and the military now gearing up for its second major offensive.

Phase two of the war on terror was a war of choice—or, as President Bush described it, a "preemptive war"—against a longtime American adversary, Iraq. Even as a surging patriotism drove Watada to enlist, he was aware that many people disagreed with the arguments being used to justify this new war. He knew there were doubts about the links the Bush administration was drawing between Iraq and the attacks of September 11, 2001. He also knew there were doubts about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. What he couldn't imagine, however, was that he was being misled.
(snip)
"Like millions of Americans," Watada says in a recent web video, "I believed the administration when they guaranteed that Saddam [Hussein] had weapons of mass destruction and had the willingness to use them against his neighbors and also the U.S. And I believed the administration when they said that Iraq had ties to al-Qaeda and 9/11." He is wearing a plain gray sweatshirt as he says this, staring into the camera with serious, unblinking eyes.

"Since then," he continues, "I have found those premises to be false."
(snip)
His desire to defend the U.S. against foreign threats also makes it impossible to tarnish him as a "cut and run" coward—or, worse still, a wimpy liberal. And the plain, unselfconscious way in which Watada talks about his evolution over the past few years allows him to push the debate over the Iraq war beyond the normal limits—further than it has been pushed by Kerry or John Murtha or Nancy Pelosi, further than it has been pushed by the handful of Republicans now questioning the war, further, even, than most liberal pundits and bloggers have dared to.

Instead of talking about whether the Iraq war was wise, or whether it has been well executed, Watada talks about whether it was ever legal to begin with.
(snip)
The invocations of Nuremberg at the hearing were repeated and served as a rather stark reminder of how different the posture of the U.S. is these days than it was in the 1940s, when the American government helped organize the Nuremberg trials to deal with the war crimes committed by the Germans during World War II. Those trials helped cement in international law the idea that soldiers have an obligation to disobey illegal orders, along with the idea that certain wars cannot be justified—such as a "war of aggression" by one country against another country that has not attacked it. While in the 1940s the U.S. was helping to create these international norms for warfare, these days it is bending—some would say outright breaking—the rules it once backed. It attacked Iraq, for example, without the UN authorization that is required, according to Boyle, in order to keep a war from being deemed an illegal "war of aggression."

Another prong of Watada's argument was that he would inevitably be a party to war crimes were he to deploy in Iraq. Noting the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, the alleged use of cluster bombs in civilian areas, and the reported rapes and murders committed by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, Boyle said that if Watada deployed to Iraq, "it would be difficult, if not impossible, for him not to be committing war crimes."
(snip)
On the question of whether the war itself was illegal, however, prosecutor Keith could only point out that no legal or international body—not the UN, not the U.S. Congress, and not the U.S. court system—has yet declared the war to be a violation of international law. Boyle agreed that this was so. But he and other witnesses also pointed out that the UN's structure makes it nearly impossible to sanction the world's sole superpower, that no American civilian court has yet been asked to rule on the legality of the Iraq war, and that the Bush administration was able to procure its war authorization from the current U.S. Congress "by means of fraud—they lied to Congress that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and they lied to Congress that Iraq had connections to 9/11."
(snip)
It doesn't seem, however, that a huge mass of soldiers is yet following Watada's lead. In fact, Watada is believed to be the only officer so far to have refused duty in Iraq, and while prosecutors worried during the hearing that his example would hurt army morale and discipline, after the hearing, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Williams, spokesman for Fort Lewis, told reporters that Watada's actions were doing no such thing. "My morale is just as high as it was yesterday," Williams said. "This is an anomaly."
(snip)
There are signs that the administration is increasingly worried about the unraveling of its war narrative—especially with the midterm congressional elections just 60 days away—and recently, the nation's courts have given the administration even more cause for concern. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the administration's attempt to ignore the Geneva Conventions for prisoners in the war on terror was illegal. Last week, a federal judge in Detroit ruled that the administration's domestic spying program was unconstitutional, with the judge, Anna Diggs Taylor, using her ruling to remind Bush that he is not allowed "unfettered control," particularly when his actions "disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights" (that ruling is now being appealed). And a CNN poll released on Monday showed opposition to the Iraq War now at its highest level ever, 61 percent.
(Read the rest at the link - it's a long but worthy article)

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=57019

There is also an article on the possibly shifting position of Maria Cantwell on the war.

Hey, attention all you Noo Yawkers in the audience:

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

A Laughing Liberally special:
Laughing with the Enemy!
3 conservative comics versus 3 liberal comics.

Howard Dean & Harry Reid laughed with us, right-wing commentators attacked us... now it's your turn.

Monday, August 28th, 9:30
45th Street Theatre
354 West 45th Street
(Between 8th and 9th Ave)
TICKETS: $10
Call: 1-800-838-3006

From the Left:

Dean Obeidallah is a Palestinian-Italian-American, the co-founder of the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival, a frequent guest on Air America Radio and the winner of the "Spirit of Bill Hicks Award."

Benari Poulten is a former Congressional Aide, a former almost-child-star, and a former field coordinator for the Kerry campaign, and sometimes, he's a Staff Sgt. in the US Army Reserve.

Katie Halper is a walking stereotype: the female comic who jokes about judicial nomination processes and economic stratification. She's also a native Upper West Sider, where 'liberal' is a conservative word.

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

Hm...it will be interesting to see if the LT's defense is that he was given an illegal order. If he can prove that, then he is not guilty of violating the UCMJ.

Also he should be provided with a military lawyer (in addition to the private counsel whom he has apparently retained). What is interesting about that is that military lawyers are supposed to take the merits of the case impartially and represent their clients, whether that client be the US government or the disobedient soldier.

I would like to see what kind of arguments are put together to try and declare the order to go to Iraq an "illegal order" in the terms of the UCMJ.

From thinkprogress via rawstory:

Gen. Batiste: Rumsfeld ‘Served Up Our Great Military A Huge Bowl of Chicken Feces’

Today on MSNBC, retired General John Batiste — former commander of the First Infantry division in Iraq — said that it was “outrageous” Rumsfeld was still in charge of the Pentagon. Batiste added, “He served up our great military a huge bowl of chicken feces, and ever since then, our military and our country have been trying to turn this bowl into chicken salad.”

Watch it: http://tinyurl.com/gzjk2

Posted by: Carol at August 26, 2006 09:07 AM

That is a sobering statement.

... and remember, the Chickenhawk-in-Chief and his rusty sidekick Shooter Dick have given their unconditional thumbs up to Chicken a la Rummy.

They can dish it out, but they sure can't take it.

Feathergate.

Conservatives are blasting a column circulating on the Internet, reportedly written by Mike Whitney, former program director of the Snohomish County Democrats of Washington State.

In the column, Whitney asks if abducted Fox News journalists Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig should really be considered noncombatants. He writes:

"No one has violated the basic standards of journalistic integrity more consistently than FOX News. Their unwavering support for the war in Iraq demonstrates their blatant disregard for professional evenhandedness and neutrality. Dissenting opinions are scrupulously scrubbed from their broadcasts while the vulgar displays of jingoism and xenophobia are presented as "Fair and Balanced" coverage. On some FOX web sites it’s still possible to find articles which claim that Weapons of Mass Destruction were actually found in Iraq. No wonder nearly 50% of the American people still believe that Saddam posed a threat to our national security and that Bush’s illegal invasion was justified.

"If FOX is an essential part of the state propaganda-system which facilitates the war, then how can we absolve their employees from accountability? Doesn’t that make them legitimate targets for resistance organizations?

"Reporters are given immunity because their work is perceived to be beyond the activities of combatants. That rule cannot be applied to FOX. FOX is the corporate-arm of the war machine; a critical cog in the Pentagon’s information-management strategy. It is as indispensable to the smooth operation of the modern army as any of the high-tech weaponry or space-age gadgetry.

...

"The group which captured the two FOX employees did what they felt they had to do to address the egregious human rights abuses at American gulags at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. When peaceful means for acquiring justice are foreclosed, violence becomes inevitable."
Whitney argues that the captured Fox reporters should be treated as prisoners of war.

Cliff Kincaid, editor at the conservative media watchdog Accuracy In Media, issued a statement today claiming that Whitney's "attack on Fox News represents the pathological hatred that exists on the left for the channel because it dares to give conservatives some airtime."

Accuracy in Media claims that Whitney is "a popular left-wing writer."

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Columnist_Fox_reporter_kidnappings_justified_0825.html

Monkey
Snohomish County! Amazing!

Well the FOX journalists are being held longer, with different terms, and by an unfamiliar group - compared with other kidnappings in the Gaza. It has more of the hallmarks of an Iraqi style kidnapping. It's strange.

The right has a habit of a double standard when it comes to journalism. It isn't that Fox "gives conservatives some air time" - it is a pervasive rightwing bias.

Veritas
If you read the whole Stranger article on Watada, there is more on the contents of his defense and response to it. I clipped some parts out because it was too long.

Rolling Stone: The Worst President in History
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_history

We warned you... in '99!!!

War Profiteer Blackwater Faces Wrongful Death Trial
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082506Z.shtml
In a major blow to one of the most infamous war profiteers operating in Iraq, Afghanistan and New Orleans, a federal appeals court has ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the mercenary firm Blackwater USA can proceed in North Carolina's state courts. The suit was brought by the families of the four Blackwater contractors ambushed and killed in Falluja, Iraq on March 31, 2004. Blackwater had tried to have the same case dismissed or moved to federal court.

Chris Floyd | Judicial Cover for Crony Contractors
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082506J.shtml
They say that America's increasingly right-wing courts are bent on halting the forward march of civil rights, but that's a typical liberal canard. Why, just last week, a federal judge - appointed by Ronald Reagan, no less - issued a bold ruling that offers shield and succor to a small, despised minority on the fringes of American society: war profiteers.

Bill Simpich | Wiretapping in America: The Moment of Decision Is Near
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082506A.shtml
Bill Simpich writes: "Two district court rulings in the last month focus on whether the National Security Agency will be free to eavesdrop on Americans as a matter of domestic policy ... The odds are good that both of these cases will be heard by the United States Supreme Court before George Bush completes his term of office, if they are not mooted by the passage of the National Security Surveillance Act this autumn ... The outcome of these NSA cases and this autumn's Congressional vote will affect the entire future of this country."

GOP Candidate Says 9/11 Attacks Were a Hoax
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082506B.shtml
A Republican candidate for the 2nd District congressional seat in New Hampshire said Wednesday that the US government was complicit in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In an editorial board interview with the Telegraph on Wednesday, Mary Maxwell said the US government had a role in killing nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center and Pentagon, so it could make Americans hate Arabs and allow the military to bomb Muslim nations like Iraq.

Bush and Saddam Should Both Stand Trial, Says Nuremberg Prosecutor
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082506D.shtml
A chief prosecutor of Nazi war crimes at Nuremberg has said George W. Bush should be tried for war crimes along with Saddam Hussein. Benjamin Ferenccz, who secured convictions for 22 Nazi officers for their work in orchestrating the death squads that killed more than 1 million people, told OneWorld that both Bush and Saddam should be tried for starting "aggressive" wars - Saddam for his 1990 attack on Kuwait and Bush for his 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Kickbacks, Smuggling and Sexual Favors
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082606Z.shtml
A US Army Reserve officer pleaded guilty on Friday to improperly steering millions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction contracts as part of a conspiracy involving kickbacks, smuggling and sexual favors.

Anti-Incumbent Mood May Aid Women in 66 Primaries
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/082506WA.shtml
On Saturday, August 26 - the anniversary of US women's suffrage - dozens of women will spend the day in a fitting way: campaigning to win their primaries. Forty must win in September to break the record for major party nominations of women.

NonnyO
Why is it acceptable for the conservative to say government did 9/11 but the liberal can't say Fox are enemy combattants?!
Crazy world.

In the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution it states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances" (Bloom p. 81).

The right of a citizen to peacefully 1) parade and gather or 2) demonstrate support or opposition of public policy or 3) express one's views is guaranteed by the freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble.

--Why then "Free Speech areas" and "No Protest Zones"
--Why media blackouts - of antiwar rallies in US & of assemblies of the people in other countries (such as Mexico right now)?

Posted by: DiAnne at August 26, 2006 10:21 AM

This is one of my favorite snips from the article. I have sent it to my e-mail list, but I don't think anybody on my list needs convincing.

Bush, however, is one of the rarities in presidential history: He has not only stumbled badly in every one of these key areas, he has also displayed a weakness common among the greatest presidential failures -- an unswerving adherence to a simplistic ideology that abjures deviation from dogma as heresy, thus preventing any pragmatic adjustment to changing realities. Repeatedly, Bush has undone himself, a failing revealed in each major area of presidential performance.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_history

OnCall
Living proof of idiocy -
US Preparing to Go It Alone on Iran
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082606Y.shtml
With increasing signs that several fellow Security Council members may stall a United States push to penalize Iran for its nuclear enrichment program, Bush administration officials have indicated that they are prepared to form an independent coalition to freeze Iranian assets and restrict trade.

Like a dog I once had, they don't learn.

"independent coalition"

Another Orwellian oxymoron

Check here for some photos that will put a smile on your face...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1988374

Posted by: madame defarge at August 26, 2006 02:15 PM

That lone protester supporting Bush is probably hired.

Posted by: DiAnne at August 26, 2006 01:21 PM

Maybe they can get Poland and Costa Rica to join?

Has anybody heard about this?

Congressional Election Nullified – Nobody Noticed
Friday, 25 August 2006, 10:45 pm
Article: Michael Collins
Speaker of the House Nullified
San Diego Congressional Race

By Michael Collins
“Scoop” Independent Media
Washington, DC

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0608/S00316.htm

Oncall
That is so rigged! Why do we even bother?!!!

By the way, someone just sent me the Lietenant Watada site.
It's good - he needs / deserves support. We need more of him.

http://www.thankyoult.org/

Bush still contrite a year after Hurricane Katrina

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Saturday August 26, 2006

Washington- Seeking to convey leadership after one of his biggest failures, President George W Bush said Saturday that the US government had learned from the botched disaster response to Hurricane Katrina a year ago and would stay the course in the costly rebuilding effort. Taking up the hurricane's August 29 anniversary in his weekly radio address, Bush renewed earlier admissions that Katrina caught federal, state and local governments "unprepared to respond to such an extraordinary disaster."

Katrina, which flooded the jazz city of New Orleans and wiped out virtually everything along a 125-mile stretch of Mississippi coast, exposed glaring breakdowns in the nation's emergency response system and undermined Bush's image as a strong leader in an era of crisis.

The government's slow, disorganized response raised questions about US preparedness for another major terrorist attack, since the problems centred on the vast Homeland Security Department created after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Bush said the government had reviewed its response to natural disasters "and we're making reforms that will improve our response to future emergencies."

More than 1,800 people died from Katrina. In one of the biggest challenges, engineers have rebuilt and strengthened more than 300 kilometres of flood barriers and pumps protecting New Orleans against storm surges.

But wrecked houses, displaced people and poverty in New Orleans and elsewhere are reminders that rebuilding has struggled despite 110 billion dollars in federal aid.

Bush plans to travel to the region Monday and Tuesday to mark the hurricane's first anniversary, following up on 12 earlier visits to the area.

"One year after the storms, the Gulf Coast continues down the long road to recovery," he said Saturday. "We can see many encouraging signs of recovery and renewal, and many reminders that hard work still lies ahead."

"We will stay until the job is done," he said.

http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Bush_still_contrite_a_year_after_Hu_08262006.html

Is the job-slash-mission EVER done when this dunce is at the wheel?

Wicked Rain
by Los Lobos

Rain, rain, rain, a wicked rain
Falling from the sky
Down, down, down, pouring down
Upon the night
Well there's just one chance in a million
That someday we'll make it out alive

Rain, rain, rain, an evil rain
Falling all the time
Sun, sun, sun
Sun don't ever want to shine
Well there'll be no light in the morning
Till some peace at last we find

Like travellers in the darkness
Can't see our way
Trying hard to make it through
Another day

Father, father, father
Why do you let your sons go astray
Brother, brother, brother
Why must we go on this way
There's a storm off in the distance
And it looks like it's here to stay

Rain, rain, rain
Rain, rain, rain

Hello all!

Dick and I are on the way back from a two-day vacation, post Fear Up.

Fear Up came close to selling out at the final performance, which was beautiful, I might add. Audience members wept and cheered. We were offered another run, but would need to raise $15,000 for THAT run! We are thinking we are nuts, but...the cast wants to do it!

I drove back to DC Thursday morning and we jumped in the car and escaped to western Virginia, where we spent two idyllic days in the mountains, discussing the state of the world and future directions. Oh, and some nice romance, in between!

Now coming back, I am jumping into Camp Democracy, which is looking ever more energetic and energizing. I am especially excited about Sept. 5 when we have a lot of vets and Cindy Sheehan speaking about ending the war, and Sept. 9-11, with many authors and bloggers coming in to teach and learn from each other. Sept. 11 is looking really lovely, with music, poetry, movement, and a number of great speakers.

Please heed the voice in your head/heart that tells you to lend yourself to this effort. Everyone here has much to offer and all of us are needed, in one way or another.

More about the protest in Kennebunkport plus photos at the link...

What local police estimated were about 700 anti-war demonstrators marched Saturday to within half a mile of the Bush compound before being turned back at a security checkpoint. Called Walker's Point after the family of former President Bush's mother, the stone-and-shingle retreat covering a craggy promontory is owned by the current president's parents.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1989454

"a craggy promontory" ...sounds like just the right place for that family...especially the matriarch...

Edited to add another link to a great photo...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1989173

I just think it's a hoot that people are protesting in Kennebunkport...It's such a quiet little place & almost the last refuge for this family.

Cantwell is really coming around about Iraq.

Monkey

"We will stay until the job is done," he said.

He might get confused about whether he's in Louisiana post-Katrina or in the Green Zone.

There'll come a time, when the world won't be singin'
Flowers won't grow, bells won't be ringin'
Who really cares?
Who's willing to try to save a world
That's destined to die

When I look at the world it fills me with sorrow
Little children today are really gonna suffer tomorrow
Oh what a shame, such a bad way to live
All who is to blame, we can't stop livin'

Live, live for life
But let live everybody
Live life for the children
Oh, for the children

Marvin Gaye

At Midnight (Music by Gustav Mahler, text by Friedrich Ruckert)

At midnight
I awoke
and look up to the heavens
no star on the teeming firmament
smiled upon me
at midnight

At midnight
my thoughts stretched out
into the furthest reaches of darkness
No image of light
brought me consolation
at midnight

At midnight
I heeded the beat of my heart;
a single throb of pain was roused
at midnight

At midnight
I fought the battle of humanity, of your suffering;
I could not resolve it with all my might
at midnight

At midnight
I yeilded all my might into your hand:
Lord over death and life,
You stand guard
at midnight

Madame dafarge, Monkey
You inspired a blog post: http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal

Anyone up for an irc rendezvous, say around 10-ish EST?

Tennish anyone?

monkey:

More like "Mission A-Chump-Lushed" if'n you was to axe me...

George Bush goes to a primary school to talk to the kids to
get a little PR. After his talk he offers question time. One
little boy
puts up his hand and George asks him his name.

"Stanley,"
responds the little boy.

"And what is your question, Stanley?"

"I
have 4 questions:

First, why did the USA invade Iraq without the support
of the UN?
Second, why are you President when Al Gore got more
votes?
& Third, whatever happened to Osama Bin Laden?"
Fourth, why are
we so worried about gay-marriage when 1/3 of all
Americans don't have health
insurance?

Just then, the bell rings for recess. George Bush informs
the
kiddies that they will continue after recess.

When they
resume George says, "OK, where were we? Oh, that's
right, question time. Who
has a question?"

Another little boy puts up his hand. George points him
out and
asks him his name.

"Steve," he responds.
"And what is your
question, Steve?"

"Actually, I have 6 questions.

First, why did
the USA invade Iraq without the support of the UN?
Second, why are you
President when Al Gore got more votes?
Third, whatever happened to Osama Bin
Laden?
Fourth, why are we so worried about gay marriage when 1/3 of all

Americans don't have health insurance?
Fifth, why did the recess bell go
off 20 minutes early?
And sixth, what the hell happened to
Stanley?"

Posted by: Otter at August 26, 2006 08:43 PM

Missing Accomplice.

I am hanging out at the irc. Anybody else?

Posted by: oncall at August 26, 2006 09:46 PM

Sureley I'll be there shortly.

IRC?

Sure, but how about dropping by Liberal Values for a few comments too. We had a quite lengthy debate on the war (and whether Bush lied) today. While we've been neck and neck in the past, this has halped place Liberal Values hundreds of page loads ahead of the previous blog I was at.

Now its time to "run up the score" and see how good I can get the numbers on that stat counter looking today before midnight.

I'm sure you'll find something interesting to read and/or comment on.

http://www.liberalvaluesblog.com/

Among the stories is one on another protest against Bush--this one at the Bush home in Kennebunkport.

What I found interesting about the story is that it was written by AP reporter Jennifer Loven who had the right wingers quite mad at her for a previoius story on Bush which I also reprinted. In additon she has a story on Bush's National Guard record which notes there was no record of him performing his service in Alabama.

I found President Bush's favorite web site.

http://www.fart-joke.com/farting_dog_harmonics.htm

Yes tried IRC but once again it stopped working - the whole site - on that computer. Certainly wierd.

Posted by: Ron Chusid at August 26, 2006 10:25 PM

Ron,

I have visited your site several times. Very nice site and user friendly (even for an apple aficionado). You do seem to find stories that we don't hear much about.

I'm alone in the IRC...looking for the heart of Saturday night...

Did you find it? ;) !!

Ron Chusid
Cool site

Morning!

Madame, we were in the IRC until about 11:30, I think--and we MISSED you!

Today I am working on a new front page for the site (the current one is a little out-of-date!) and working on a press conference Tuesday for Camp Democracy:

Press Conference August 29th

Movements for Peace, Katrina Recovery, Immigrants' Rights, Women's Rights, Labor Rights, Environmental Sanity, Electoral Reform, and Impeachment Plan Joint Encampment in Washington

WHAT: Press conference announcing a unique approach to political change, and distributing the detailed schedule of events planned for Camp Democracy from September 5th to 20th.

WHO: Representatives of a sample of the groups participating in Camp Democracy, including these and other individuals: Kim Gandy, President of the National Organization for Women and native of New Orleans who will publish a column this day on Katrina; Ann Wright, Retired Colonel, U.S. Army, and career diplomat who resigned over Iraq War; Linda Schade, Executive Director of VotersForPeace; Edward J. Elder, National Lawyer's Guild; Kevin Zeese, Executive Director of Democracy Rising; Ellen Barfield, Board Member of Veterans for Peace; David Swanson, Washington Director of Democrats.com; Scott McLarty, Media Director of the Green Party of the United States; Garett Reppenhagen, Iraq Veteran Against the War; George Ripley, Focus on Democracy; Mike Hersh, Progressive Democrats of America; Linda Wiener, CODE PINK; Clark Kissinger, Bush Crimes Commission; Travis Morales, World Can't Wait; Sue Udry, United for Peace and Justice.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 29, 2006, 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. ET, One-Year Anniversary of Katrina

WHERE: National Press Club, Murrow Room, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor - Washington, DC 20045

WHY: Because enough is enough!

For a full list of the organizations participating in Camp Democracy, please see: http://campdemocracy.org/sponsors

To mark the year.

Into the Bonny Blue

Katrina, Katrina, wash me away.
Cry me a river and flood the bay.
Float me the hope of rescue one day.
As you drown my love I'll drift astray.

Bring history to bear on open shores.
Bring back thy fathers from distant wars.
Bring back to me The Empire I love.
Katrina, Katrina. What have you done?

On waves of memory comes back the child.
Left to die, alone in the wild.
The old are gone too, all washed away.
The day Katrina came home to stay.

North winds scream and south winds blew.
While the bayous weep, they still do.
They lay in wait for better days.
Where better dreams once were slaves.

Katrina, Katrina. Wash us away.
Kill our tommorrows and savage our way.
Change the heart of a nation in less than a day.
Katrina. Katrina. Wash me away.

Christy Cole

Nicely done, Christy.

Good morning. Sorry I missed the irc last night.

Christy, that's a beautiful poem. It's very difficult to even think about Katrina one year later. But it's more difficult for the people living it.

I know there's good people out there like Veritas on the job, but it's too bad that ineffective bureaucracy and just plain idiocy is still in command.

Yes, but it's a *regal* idiocy.

Remeber that we're talking about an administration spear-headed (and petard-hoisted) by a Citizen Kane Of Fools who grew up thinking that "Dynasty" was an instructional video instead of a lurid TV potboiler.

Unfortunately for him -- and even more unfortunately for the rest of us -- 43 has proven time and again that he is no 41 (and even less of a 42, for that matter).

The Boy Who Would Be King has been forced to confront the fact that he is not a king after all, not even a princeling -- merely another knave who is desperately holding onto a temporary office that he claimed by hook and by crook.

There's a lesson to be learned here. People who live in White Houses shouldn't stow thrones.

Dialogue from the movie "Dave" w/Kevin Kline....

Chief of Staff: Dave...

...the reason we invited you here tonight
is because...

...something happened to the president.

Dave: Oh, my God!

Chief of Staff: I know, it's difficult for all of us, but...

...we need to put
our personal feelings aside and focus...

...on the good of the country.

Dave: What happened?

Chief of Staff:It's actually kind of serious, Dave.

The president's not in very good shape.

Dave: Will he be okay?

Chief of Staff: -Probably. -I think so.

Sometimes we need our friends...

...and even our enemies, to feel...

...safe and secure.

We need them to feel
like they can go to bed at night...

...knowing that President Mitchell
is fully in control.

We need them to feel like...

...he's sitting right here...

...in this chair (points to presidents chair in Oval Office).

Dave: Wait a minute. Wait. What about the vice-president?

Chief of Staff: Vice-president?
We didn't want to have to tell you this...

...but the vice-president is mentally unbalanced.

I'm afraid so.

Dave: Really? Crazy?

Chief of Staff: Certifiable.

Ah, yes. The Shooter and The Pooter. What a team.

Or, as a friend of mine phrased it the other day: "Yo! Prezzie! Who's runnin' dis shiz??"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/27/nblair27.xml 

Compliant and subservient: Jimmy Carter's explosive critique of Tony Blair

Tony Blair's lack of leadership and timid subservience to George W Bush lie behind the ongoing crisis in Iraq and the worldwide threat of terrorism, according to the former American president Jimmy Carter.
 
Outspoken: Jimmy Carter condemns the Iraq invasion
"I have been surprised and extremely disappointed by Tony Blair's behaviour," he told The Sunday Telegraph.

"I think that more than any other person in the world the Prime Minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington - and he has not. I really thought that Tony Blair, who I know personally to some degree, would be a constraint on President Bush's policies towards Iraq."

In an exclusive interview, President Carter made it plain that he sees Mr Blair's lack of leadership as being a key factor in the present crisis in Iraq, which followed the 2003 invasion - a pre-emptive move he said he would never have considered himself as president.

Mr Carter also said that the Iraq invasion had subverted the fight against terrorism and instead strengthened al-Qaeda and the recruitment of terrorists.

"In many countries where I meet with leaders and private citizens there is an equating of American policy with Great Britain - with Great Britain obviously playing the lesser role.

"We now have a situation where America is so unpopular overseas that even in countries like Egypt and Jordan our approval ratings are less than five per cent. It's a shameful and pitiful state of affairs and I hold your British Prime Minister to be substantially responsible for being so compliant and subservient."
(snip)
At 81, Mr Carter - the 39th American president, from 1977 to 1981, and the winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize - plainly has no intention of sitting on his porch and nodding quietly away as the sun goes down over his peanut farm. He has just published a book, Faith and Freedom, in which he savages the American administration for leading the country into insularity and intolerance.

"We've never before had an administration that would endorse pre-emptive war - that is a basic policy of going to war against another country even though our own security was not directly threatened," he said. In his book, President Carter writes: "I have been sorely tempted to launch a military attack on foreigners."
But had he still been president, he says that he would never have considered invading Iraq in 2003.

"No," he said, "I would never have ordered it. However, I wouldn't have excluded going into Afghanistan, because I think we had to strike at al-Qaeda and its leadership. But then, to a major degree, we abandoned the anti-terrorist effort and went almost unilaterally with Great Britain into Iraq."

This, Mr Carter believes, subverted the effectiveness of anti-terrorist efforts. Far from achieving peace and stability, the result has been a disaster on all fronts. "My own personal opinion is that the Iraqi people are not better off as a result of the invasion and people in America and Great Britain are not safer."

Asked why he thinks Mr Blair has behaved in the way that he has with President Bush's belligerent regime, Mr Carter said he could only put it down to timidity. Yet he confessed that he remains baffled by the apparent contrast between Mr Blair's private remarks and his public utterances.

"I really believe the reports of former leaders who were present in conversations between Blair and Bush that Blair has expressed private opinions contrary to some of the public policies that he has adopted in subservience."

Damn, even thirty years after the fact that man makes me feel proud that I began my involvement in national politics by helping him get elected President.

[Originally written for posting at 9:26 am today]

Oh.

Shit.

Shit. Damn. Hell.

It's breaking news and the details are still sketchy as I write this... but a few hours ago, a Comair (Delta) commuter flight crashed into the fields near Lexington's Blue Grass Airport. As CNN phrased it, "multiple fatalities were reported."

Like I said, it's still breaking news as I write this. There's no information available yet about just what happened there, or why. So the Associated Press story on the wires right now is rather terse as well:

"LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A Comair flight carrying 50 people crashed a mile from Lexington's airport Sunday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration said. At least one person survived.

"Comair Flight 5191, a CRJ-100 regional jet with 47 passengers and three crew members, crashed at 6:07 a.m. shortly after taking off for Atlanta, said Kathleen Bergen, another FAA spokeswoman.

"There was no immediate word on what caused the crash.

"The University of Kentucky hospital is treating a survivor from the crash who is critical condition, spokesman Jay Blanton said. No other survivors have been brought to the hospital, he said."

I know those fields. I know that airport. I've flown out of that airport. My Kentucky ex used to be a stewardess on Comair flying out of that airport.

In fact, if I recall correctly I've even taken the Sunday morning shuttle to Atlanta flying out of that airport, too.

And while it's unlikely, several years having flowed over the dam since I lived in Lexington, it's not impossible that I know (knew?) someone who was on the Sunday shuttle flying out of that airport this morning.

Certainly a lot of other Lexingtonians did. And Lexington is still, relatively speaking, a small burg. So 50-odd folks being gone in a burning flash will leave a large dent in its communal soul for a long time to come.

Shit. Damn. Hell.

"We will never forget them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."
-- Ronald Reagan's speechwriter, paraphrasing John Gillespie Magee

[Edited later to add: Reports indicate that one person survived the crash, which means that the other fifty didn't. The plane itself is said to be largely intact, though it did catch fire when it crashed -- within eyesight of the runway. No maintenance issues or other mechanical defects are known to have been involved, and (so far, at least) nobody has used the crash as an excuse to raise the terror alert level and scare the horses.]

The news:

Two Palestinians killed, Fox journalists were freed. No peacekeepers on Syrian border, just Lebanese.Israel used cluster bombs, US killed civilians in Afghanistan. Iran fired a missile, North Korea demanded lift of sanctions. Car bombs & kidnappings in Iraq, after Al-Maliki called for sectarian unity yesterday.

Obama to Kenya, Annan to Tehran, Bush to Kennebunkport. Uganda signed truce, US journalist/spy arrested in Sudan. Violence in Chechnya, Sri Lanka, Chad and Bangladesh.
Caribbean hurricane, Midwestern tornadoes & Filipino oil spill. Dynamite in student's luggage, US/UK plot linked to Pakistanis.

Families question Rumsfeld about redeployment, Watada faces court martial.
Harris clarifies remarks on religion, border governors make demands on immigration.
Jon Benet's killer unstable, kidnapped Austrian girl learned high German from radio. Carter lambasts Tony Blair, Ford recovering from angioplasty.

Otter
Thanks for giving some personal detail re the crash in Kentucky.

All detail is personal to somebody. That's why all politics is local.

Al-Maliki says Iraq ‘will never be in a civil war’
Nine people killed on minibus; explosion destroys newspaper's offices

Updated: 1 hour, 4 minutes ago

(Reuters) BAGHDAD, Iraq - On Sunday, a series of bomb explosions left at least 15 people dead and dozens wounded in Baghdad, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that violence was decreasing in his country, despite daily reports of bloodshed and fighting.

One attack on a Baghdad minibus sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky. It was followed a car bomb attack on the offices of Iraq’s best-selling newspaper, the government-owned al-Sabah, which killed two employees and damaged the building extensively.

“The violence is not increasing. We’re not in a civil war. Iraq will never be in a civil war,” he said through an interpreter on CNN’s Late Edition. “The violence is in decrease and our security ability is increasing.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14537878/

Al-Maliki sounds as delusional as his masters.

Al-Maliki sounds like he's been drinking the leftover Kool-Aid.

Experts warn U.S. is coming apart at the seams
By Chuck McCutcheon

Newhouse News Service

WASHINGTON — A pipeline shuts down in Alaska. Equipment failures disrupt air travel in Los Angeles. Electricity runs short at a spy agency in Maryland.

None of these recent events resulted from a natural disaster or terrorist attack, but they may as well have, some homeland security experts say. They worry that too little attention is paid to how fast the country's basic operating systems are deteriorating.

"When I see events like these, I become concerned that we've lost focus on the core operational functionality of the nation's infrastructure and are becoming a fragile nation, which is just as bad — if not worse — as being an insecure nation," said Christian Beckner, a Washington analyst who runs the respected Web site Homeland Security Watch (www.christianbeckner.com).

The American Society of Civil Engineers last year graded the nation "D" for its overall infrastructure conditions, estimating that it would take $1.6 trillion over five years to fix the problem.

"I thought [Hurricane] Katrina was a hell of a wake-up call, but people are missing the alarm," said Casey Dinges, the society's managing director of external affairs.

more...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003226851_fragile26.html

Aha. Maybe that's what Shrubya's minions meant back in 2003 when they said they were determined to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure so that it was the equal of our own.

Posted by: Otter at August 27, 2006 03:28 PM

Oh, I thought they meant, "watch as we destroy not only another nation, but our own".

Father Knows Best

He's a Zero and a Cheater

And a Mean Mistreater, too

I just did a 20+ min market research survey which turned out to be a "trash Ned Lamont and tell lies about how great Joe Lieberman is" exercize. I'm seething.

Some Republicans fear that the economy will hurt 'vulnerable incumbents' in November

RAW STORY
Published: Sunday August 27, 2006

Some Republicans fear that the economy will hurt 'vulnerable incumbents' in November, according to an article slated for the front page of Monday's New York Times.

"With gasoline prices still high and the economy beginning to slow, the current expansion has a chance to become the first sustained period of economic growth since World War II that fails to offer a prolonged increase in real wages for most workers," Steven Greenhouse and David Leonhardt report for the Times.

"That dynamic is adding to fears among Republicans that the economy will hurt vulnerable incumbents in this year's midterm elections even though it has been growing at a healthy pace for much of the last five years," the article continues.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Some_Republicans_fear_economy_will_hurt_0827.html

Posted by: dwahzon at August 27, 2006 08:54 PM

I hope you took names & numbers & gave them an earful...

Dwahzon
I hate those slanted polls and disguised surveys.

Posted by: monkey at August 27, 2006 08:55 PM

Oh there are many reasons why the incumbents are vulnerable. Add to that list...

- the Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel & Lebanon
- the corruption
- the deficit
- the anti-environmental laws they've passed
- the 45.5 million people without health care
- the "Every Child Left Behind" education system
- rights for seniors (Medicare, prescription drug plans)
- rights for women
- the incompetence
- the lies
- the cover-ups
- the complacency

Feel free to add to the list...

BTW, I've heard several people lately say, "I'll vote for anyone running against the incumbent."

It's the economy, stupid.

More to the point, it's *their* economy.

*Our* economy worked just fine.

We had a huge surplus. They have a much, much huger deficit.

We had positive job growth. They have lost jobs willy-nilly.

We had a peace economy. They have a war economy.

We had a booming middle- and upper-middle class. They have a rich-getting-richer class but everybody else is in the tank.

And they're worried about losing some "vulnerable incumbents" as a result??

Well, *waaaaah*.

Get over it, you crybaby rethugs. You did this to yourselves.

And to the rest of us.

Which is why you're going to be paying for it dearly come November.

My wife and I just got home from an outdoor Peter, Paul and Mary concert. They had over 10,000 people standing and singing, We Shall Overcome. Mary also joked that as a leukemia survivor she received her bone marrow from a Republican. The story she told about it was quite funny. She related that she had some strange fantasies about her donor and wondered what might happen if she got into a voting booth and felt a strange urge to vote Republican. She had an opportunity to talk with the donor on the phone, and telling her donor that story she was struck by the long pause at the end. Mary ended her story by saying, "Well at least my donor was a humble Republican, something I can't say about most Republicans we hear about in the news." Her donor met her on stage and gave a sincere appeal about how easy it is to become a bone marrow donor. It was all very touching. Those are real heros.

Hmmmmmmmmm..... Captain Codpiece "cut his vacation short" at his Texas ranch.....

... so he could continue his vacation at Kennebunkport...???

And the protesters followed...???

Bwahahahahahahahahahhahahahhaaaaaaaa......

I haven't been paying attention to Lamestream Media Snooze. (I OD'd on Benet stories. No one is waiting for DNA testing and interviews of the "suspect" to be completed. After that, give me ten or fifteen seconds of what transpired, but then shut up.)

Have the protesters at Kennebunkport gotten any air time in national media, on TV (where the only snooze that is snooze seems to matter to anyone)? Or do only people who read news on the internet know about the protesters in Maine?

Posted by: dwahzon at August 27, 2006 08:54 PM
Posted by: madame defarge at August 27, 2006 08:57 PM

Seriously...I 'd love to know if it was the same company that gave me a push poll a few weeks ago.

For NonnyO:

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

(Associated Press, via CBS News)

KENNEBUNKPORT -- President George W. Bush came to his parent's century-old summer home on the Maine coast for a little relaxation, a distant cousin's wedding and some family time. He got all that, along with a boisterous reminder nearly on his bucolic doorstep of the unpopularity of his Iraq policies.

What local police estimated were about 700 anti-war demonstrators marched Saturday to within half a mile of the Bush compound before being turned back at a security checkpoint. Called Walker's Point after the family of former President Bush's mother, the stone-and-shingle retreat covering a craggy promontory is owned by the current president's parents.

The protesters sang, chanted, beat drums, waved signs and even played fiddles to call on Bush to bring troops home.

"Bush is fiddling while the world burns, just as Nero fiddled while Rome burned," said Pippa Stanley, 15, of Richmond, Maine, who was helping with the backdrop for pair of fiddlers dressed in togas.

The group was loosely aligned with activist Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier who died in Iraq who gained international attention when she shadowed Bush last summer while he vacationed at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll this month found that only about one-third of Americans support Bush's handling of Iraq.

[snip]

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

August 28, 2006
Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and DAVID LEONHARDT

With the economy beginning to slow, the current expansion has a chance to become the first sustained period of economic growth since World War II that fails to offer a prolonged increase in real wages for most workers.

That situation is adding to fears among Republicans that the economy will hurt vulnerable incumbents in this year’s midterm elections even though overall growth has been healthy for much of the last five years.

The median hourly wage for American workers has declined 2 percent since 2003, after factoring in inflation. The drop has been especially notable, economists say, because productivity — the amount that an average worker produces in an hour and the basic wellspring of a nation’s living standards — has risen steadily over the same period.

As a result, wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s gross domestic product since the government began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits have climbed to their highest share since the 1960’s. UBS, the investment bank, recently described the current period as “the golden era of profitability.”

Until the last year, stagnating wages were somewhat offset by the rising value of benefits, especially health insurance, which caused overall compensation for most Americans to continue increasing. Since last summer, however, the value of workers’ benefits has also failed to keep pace with inflation, according to government data.

At the very top of the income spectrum, many workers have continued to receive raises that outpace inflation, and the gains have been large enough to keep average income and consumer spending rising.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/28wages.html

An op-ed from today's NYT:

What Is the Latest Thing to Be Discouraged About? The Rise of Pessimism

The early stages of the Iraq war may have been a watershed in American optimism. The happy talk was so extreme it is now difficult to believe it was sincere: “we will be greeted as liberators”; “mission accomplished”; the insurgency is “in the last throes.” Most wildly optimistic of all was the goal: a military action transforming the Middle East into pro-American democracies.

The gap between predictions and reality has left Americans deeply discouraged. So has much of what has happened, or not happened, at the same time. Those who believed New Orleans would rebound quickly after Hurricane Katrina have seen their hopes dashed. Those counting on solutions to health care, energy dependence or global warming have seen no progress. It is no wonder the nation is in a gloomy mood; 71 percent of respondents in a recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll said the country is on the wrong track.

--snip--
Pessimism, however, is the most un-American of philosophies. This nation was built on the values of reason and progress, not to mention the “pursuit of happiness.” Pessimism as philosophy is skeptical of the idea of progress. Pursuing happiness is a fool’s errand. Pessimism is not, as is commonly thought, about being depressed or misanthropic, and it does not hold that humanity is headed for disaster. It simply doubts the most basic liberal principle: that applying human reasoning to the world’s problems will have a positive effect.

--snip--
President Clinton was often mocked for his declarations that he still believed “in a place called Hope.” But he understood that instilling hope is a critical part of leadership. Other than a few special interest programs — like cutting taxes on the wealthy and giving various incentives to business — it is hard to think of areas in which the Bush administration has raised the nation’s hopes and met them. This president has, instead, tried to focus the American people on the fear of terrorism, for which there is no cure, only bad choices or something worse.

Part of Mr. Bush’s legacy may well be that he robbed America of its optimism — a force that Franklin Delano Roosevelt and other presidents, like Ronald Reagan, used to rally the country when it was deeply challenged. The next generation of leaders will have to resell discouraged Americans on the very idea of optimism, and convince them again that their goal should not be to live with their ailments, but to cure them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/opinion/28mon4.html

Posted by: madame defarge at August 28, 2006 08:39 AM

PESSIMISM: Yes indeed, never forget that whatever this moron says he stands for, even when somehow sincere, yields the opposite results...

President loves Oval Office rug -- it says 'optimistic person'
Bush says first lady designed yellow sunburst carpet
Peter Baker, Washington Post

Thursday, March 9, 2006

(03-09) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Nothing says power like the Oval Office. The paintings of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The bust of Dwight Eisenhower. The desk used by both Roosevelts.

And then there's the rug. Don't forget the rug. President Bush never does.

For whatever reason, Bush seems fixated on his rug. Virtually all visitors to the Oval Office find him regaling them about how it was chosen and what it represents. Turns out, he always says, the first decision any president makes is what carpet he wants in his office. As a take-charge leader, he then explains, he of course made a command decision: He delegated the decision to Laura Bush, who chose a yellow sunbeam design.

Elizabeth Vargas, the ABC News anchor, was the latest to get the treatment. She went by last week to interview Bush before his trip to Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Sure enough, she wasn't in the room but a minute or two before he started telling her about the carpet.

"You know an interesting story about the rug?" he asked. "Laura designed the rug."

"She did?" Vargas said.

"Yeah, she did. Presidents are able to pick their own rugs or design their own rugs."

Bush went on: "The interesting thing about this rug and why I like it in here is 'cause I told Laura one thing. I said, 'Look, I can't pick the colors and all that. But make it say 'optimistic person.' ''

-snip-

"He loves his rug," said Nicolle Wallace, the White House communications director. "I've heard him describe it countless times."

Sometimes Bush describes it as a metaphor for leadership. Sometimes he relates how Russian President Vladimir Putin admired the carpet.

"When you're giving a tour of the Oval Office, you're trying to point to things that emphasize what you're trying to do," Wallace said. "For him, the optimism is very symbolic of what he wants his presidency to be about."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/09/MNGUQHL5NS1.DTL

it's deja vu all over again...

The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center does not bode well for us in Florida, especially those of us to the right of the projected path of the storm. We are watching closely today, beginning to make preparations, and will decide by tonights 8pm advisory whether to evacuate or not.

"Ernesto is moving onshore over southeastern Cuba, threatening the island nation with heavy rains, floods and mudslides, according
to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Residents of South Florida have been told to brace for a possible hit by Ernesto, with parts of the peninsula already under a hurricane watch. The storm could strengthen when it emerges into the Straits of Florida, the hurricane center said. Sustained winds of 75kts gusting to 100kts could effect the entire state of Florida. Though Ernesto's precise track may be uncertain, "it certainly looks like it's going to impact a significant portion of Florida before it's all over," said National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield."

This blows.

monkey --

Who's tripping down the streets of the city?

Posted by: Otter at August 28, 2006 07:48 AM

Thanks, my furry friend! :-)

If I thought it would be on Lamestream Media Snooze, I'd actually deliberately watch to see if the demonstrators in ME got 15 seconds of air time....

CONVERSION-FOR-PAROLE PROGRAM THWARTED
Rob Boston, Church and State
A Bush-funded prison initiative that fast-tracked parole for Christian converts has been swatted down in the federal courts.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/40324/

BELTWAY MEDIA PLEASED TO DISTORT GOP POSITION ON IRAQ
David Sirota, WorkingForChange.com
Republicans are brazenly calling for indefinite deployments of huge troop forces in Iraq -- if only the press would come out and report it that way.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/40920/

THE NEW 'ACTIVIST' JUDGES
Molly Ivins, AlterNet
Somehow, activist judges are held responsible for gay marriage, Roe v. Wade and everything else Americans disagree about.
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/40802/
Excerpt:
Honestly, people, haven't you figured out what this is all about yet? Money. The conservatives are in a snit about "liberal courts" because of money. Corporations being prosecuted for breaking the law! Tobacco companies forced to pay huge fines! Oil and chemical companies made to pay for cleanup at Superfund sites! Oh, the horror, the horror.

BOB NOVAK'S PLAME SOURCE IDENTIFIED
David Corn, The Nation
Conservative columnist Bob Novak's first source on the identity of Valerie Plame in 2003 was former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
http://www.alternet.org/story/40929/
~~~~~~~~~

I smell a plant....

A planted "source" who is a "known gossip" from Iran-Contra days (where 41 was up to his eyeballs in behind-the-scenes-tactics) who could be counted on to tell his story far and wide.... Or, was Armitage, good PNAC member that he is, told to "let slip" facts about Plame's position...? Outing a NOC is still a crime and the administration is implicated every which way.

How much is Armitage being paid to take the fall for spreading the story...?

Why hasn't Novak spent any time in jail for first publishing the information?

What will the WhizCo kids come up with this week to deflect talk away from this story... which, naturally, leads back to questions about the LIES that led to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the illegal concentration camps at Gitmo, the illegal torture being done there, which are all war crimes that could lead to impeachment...?

Nagin sorry for ‘hole-in-the-ground’ remark
New Orleans mayor apologizes for using phrase in reference to WTC site

(AP) Updated: 1 hour, 49 minutes ago

NEW YORK - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says he’s sorry he used the term “hole in the ground” to describe the World Trade Center site.

“I wish I would have basically said that it was an undeveloped site, which it is,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Nagin had criticized efforts to redevelop the World Trade Center site following the Sept. 11 attacks when confronted about delays in rebuilding his city after Hurricane Katrina.

more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14553148/

Posted by: NonnyO at August 28, 2006 09:48 AM

Richard Armitage = Uncle Fester

Jeez, what a maroon.

So just how many times does Nagin have to prove and re-prove that he's got a terminal case of hoof-in-mouth disease before the rest of the country sees him for the loose-cannon whack job he is and they stop plugging him in as a guest commentator on national teevee shows, anyways??

The good people of Nawlins surely ought to be ashamed to be represented by that flaming bunghole. And, one hopes, they surely are. Now if they could only impeach the jerk before he tanks their civic credibility completely...

Bush Protest Mpls: Kayakbiker

http://twincities.indymedia.org/newswire/display/28313/index.php

Nice photos

Oncall
Thanks for the Peter Paul & Mary story!

This is nutty.
US is going to test-fire a big missile. They will have an intercepter ready but the goal is not really to intercept the missile. I wonder if they are saying this so as to be less embarrassed if the intercepter doesn't work? Pretty expensive game. Quotes from Rumsfeld.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-missile28aug28,0,1428312.story?coll=la-home-nation

Posted by: Otter at August 27, 2006 11:44 AM

Speaking of air crashes that hit close to you...

I was watching National Geographic Channel (which, btw, is looking more and more like W's propaganda channel) last night. It was running a recap of the events of 9/11.

It was going through the last moments of United Airlines Flight 175 in excruciating detail, before it hit the World Trade Center's South Tower. And I am no stranger to that aircraft (N612UA). I've flown it a few times, including on Christmas Day 1994; it normally did duty between JFK and LAX, a route I flew 3-4 times a year.

To see that plane do a steep dive over NJ, before appearing in front of the cameras in Lower Manhattan and crashing into the South Tower, was just too creepy. I may have never known the victims, but nevertheless, it hits too close to me.

I also need to add that I spent quite a bit of time at the WTC complex as well. I remember their majestic sight rising above the morning fog, when I first approached NYC. I remember spending time on the roof of the South Tower shortly thereafter. Even after moving to NYC to attend college, I frequented the complex to visit its underground mall - and possibly take the PATH train to NJ.

The ultimate insult was seeing W's smirk at an elementary school in Florida, after all the carnage.

Posted by: Ally McLesbian at August 28, 2006 12:05 PM

I think the ultimate insult is that America hasn't wiped that smirk off his face yet.

OK, here's something else to get your blood boiling... ABC will air a docudrama on Sept. 10 & 11 about 9/11 that blames Clinton & the Dems.

Even if you don't watch tv, please consider contacting your local ABC affliate and tell them that this movie grossly misrpresents the facts & is blatantly partisan, and that it is especially upsetting that this movie would air so close to a national election.

The definition of "propaganda" is as follows:
1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
2. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.

You can find out more info at Daily Kos & DU:
Daily Kos diary
ABC docudrama will blame Clinton and Dems for 9/11
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/28/1469/21819

DU link
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1992136&mesg_id=1992136

Truthout article (with facts refuting this propaganda) by William Rivers Pitt (with references to Sydney Blumenthal investigation):
The Sins of September 11
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/101303A.shtml

If you find other articles, please post them. Thanks.

CONVERSION-FOR-PAROLE PROGRAM THWARTED
Rob Boston, Church and State
A Bush-funded prison initiative that fast-tracked parole for Christian converts has been swatted down in the federal courts.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/40324/

Posted by: NonnyO at August 28, 2006 09:40 AM

Nonny,

Didn't you know that devout Christians are worth more to the society, and their lives are more precious than those of non-Christians?

I'm not kidding - I read that tone in Los Angeles's ethnic media all the time.

Sickening.

Posted by: madame defarge at August 28, 2006 12:15 PM

The only faults Clinton has re: 9/11 are that he hails from the Republican Lite wing of the Democratic Party, and that his affair with Monica Lewinsky played well into the Republican game plans.

Thanks for the alert. I will definitely take a look.

As Mann Coulter said, "liberal media" is officially dead.

I need some humor right now... Here's a song that puts things into perspective RE: how Clinton & the Dems are to blame for everything...

http://warehouse.nimbit.com/ericschwartz/ClintonBJ.mp3

(Turn down your speakers if you're near children...)

Posted by: Ally McLesbian at August 28, 2006 12:22 PM

Listen to that song I just posted... ;)

Posted by: madame defarge at August 28, 2006 12:25 PM

I will, when I get home.

I'm at work, and my family business doesn't believe in sound cards for computers.

Thanks for posting though!

(Turn down your speakers if you're near children...)

Posted by: madame defarge at August 28, 2006 12:22 PM

I'd say it's time for new speakers.

There's treble in paradise.

But that link only appeals to your basser instincts.

The Big Guy Has A Sense of Irony... and Timing...

Gov. Jeb Bush warns Floridians to get ready for Ernesto

On the eve of the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall in South Florida last year, Floridians battened down the hatches in preparation for Tropical Storm Ernesto, expected to make landfall in the same area as a Category 1 hurricane.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/storm/2006/atlantic/ernesto/news.html

Posted by: monkey at August 28, 2006 12:54 PM
Posted by: Otter at August 28, 2006 01:06 PM

It speaks volumes...

Time to boycott ABC. They have nothing worth watching anyway.

Even though I don't watch tv, I will contact ABC.

You Wouldn't Catch Me Dead in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806J.shtml
Scores of American troops are deserting - even from the front line in Iraq. But where have they gone? And why isn't the US Army after them? They are the US troops in Iraq to whom the American administration prefers not to draw attention. They are the deserters - those who have gone AWOL from their units and not returned, risking imprisonment and opprobrium.

8 US Troops Die; Nearly 50 Iraqis Killed in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806K.shtml
A suicide car bombing and clashes between Shiite militia and Iraqi security forces left at least 50 people dead Monday in a brutal contradiction of the prime minister's claim that bloodshed was decreasing. The US military said eight US soldiers were killed Saturday and Sunday in and around Baghdad, seven of them by roadside bombs and one by gunfire. More than 2,600 US military personnel have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003.

Look at this rightwing pundit propaganda site.
The 9/11 show on ABC is definitely timed for the midterms and ABC is a co-conspirator in the propaganda push. This article links the show to a desire to show a shift in the winds by the public back toward the conservatives, who will "protect" us.

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/MichaelBarone/2006/08/28/a_change_in_the_winds

DISNEY / ABC / CAP (donated 640 thousand to GW's 2000 campaign)
Television Holdings:
* ABC: includes 10 stations, 24% of US households.
* ABC Network News: Prime Time Live, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America.
* ESPN, Lifetime Television (50%), as well as minority holdings in A&E, History Channel and E!
* Disney Channel/Disney Television, Touchtone Television.
Media Holdings:
* Miramax, Touchtone Pictures.
* Magazines: Jane, Los Angeles Magazine, W, Discover.
* 3 music labels, 11 major local newspapers.
* Hyperion book publishers.
* Infoseek Internet search engine (43%).
Other Holdings:
* Sid R. Bass (major shares) crude oil and gas.
* All Disney Theme Parks, Walt Disney Cruise Lines.

Publishing Assets:
Disney Adventures | ESPN The Magazine | Hyperion
Interactive Assets: Buena Vista Games | Go.com | Movies.com
Buena Vista Music Group: Walt Disney Records | Lyric Street Records | Hollywood Records | Mammoth Records
Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group: Buena Vista Distribution | The Walt Disney Studios | Walt Disney Pictures | Walt Disney Feature Animation | Touchstone Pictures | Pixar Animation Studios | Miramax Films | Hollywood Pictures
ABC O&O Television Stations: KABC | KFSN | KGO | KTRK | WABC | WJRT | WLS | WPVI | WTVD | WTVG
American Broadcasting Company: ABC1 | ABC Family | ABC News | ABC News Now | ABC Sports
ESPN Networks (80% owned): ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPNEWS | ESPN Classic | ESPNU | ESPN Deportes | ESPN HD | ESPN2 HD | ESPN Now | ESPN Plus | ESPN PPV | ESPN360
Other Cable Television Networks: Disney Channel | Jetix | SOAPnet | Toon Disney
Television Production and Distribution: Buena Vista Television | Touchstone Television | Walt Disney Television | Walt Disney Television Animation
Radio Stations: KABC | KDIS | KDIS | KDIZ | KESN | KGO | KKDZ | KLOS | KMKI | KMKY | KQRS | KSCS | KSFO | KSPN | KSPN | KTYS | KXXR | WABC | WBAP | WDRQ | WDVD | WEAE | WEPN | WFDF | WGVX | WGVY | WGVZ | WJR | WJZW | WKHX | WLS | WMAL | WMKI | WMVP | WPLJ | WRQX | WWMK | WYAY | WZZN
Radio Networks: ABC News & Talk | ABC News Radio | ABC Radio (sale to Citadel Broadcasting pending) | ESPN Radio | ESPN Deportes Radio | Radio Disney
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts: Disneyland Resort | Walt Disney World Resort | Tokyo Disney Resort¹| Disneyland Resort Paris | Hong Kong Disneyland Resort | Disney Cruise Line | Disney Regional Entertainment | Walt Disney Imagineering
¹Licensed and designed by Disney, owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company
Annual Revenue: $30.8 billion USD

from http://www.moderateindependent.com

Remember Disney? They were the ones who refused to allow Miramax, a subsidiary of theirs, to distribute Michael Moore's film, claiming it was too partisan for them to get involved in - while in reality they were, and are, operating right-wing lie-and-hate propaganda radio from coast to coast.

This company that hired Rush Limbaugh as a commentator for its ESPN network - and, of course, had to fire him not long thereafter for showing his true hatefully racist nature - depends on its public image as the non-partisan, sweet, innocent bastion of family fun, integrity, and kindness. They are the ones who give us "the happiest place on Earth."

But all the while, they are taking the money you and your family give them, the money you spend on their movies and paraphernalia, the money you spend at their theme parks, and indeed, the money you help them make by watching their Touchstone movies, Pixar movies, Miramax movies, ABC TV Network, or ESPN. There you are innocently watching a baseball game on ESPN or a sitcom on ABC and little do you realize the money you are helping Disney, the owner of all of these entities, rake in is going to be used to fund the operation of hate-talk, right-wing radio stations all over the country.

From WABC in New York to KABC in Los Angeles, Disney is using your money to spread lies and personal attacks, to push one side's agenda while degrading, misrepresenting, and heinously attacking anyone who does not march lockstep with President Bush. Yes, sweet little Disney is using its innocent image and the money they make off of it to fuel the hate-spewing propaganda machine of the Bush/Limbaugh right.

Kill your television.

Just sent to ABC:

Get ready for a boycott of your network in response to "The Path to 9/11". As a lifelong New Yorker, I'm sick and tired of the right wing spin on this event that tries to blame everyone for this tragedy but the idiots in power - who not only failed to make sense of the August PDB and prevent the attacks, or failed to catch the terrorist ringleaders, but have actually helped these terrorists to further recruit and raise funds. Your network should be ashamed.

Posted by: DiAnne at August 28, 2006 01:42 PM
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at August 28, 2006 02:10 PM

Great job! Thanks.

Walt Disney was always your typical Southern California Republican.

There is also a reason why ABC has a new show, Brothers and Sisters, with a right-wing pundit as the main character. Sadly, it'll be played by my idol Calista Flockhart.

And with regards to Brothers and Sisters (and Calista), looks like I need a new nick...

Good song for all, and especially for monkey...

One Word (Peace)
by the subdudes

A man stands on the corner holding a sign
People yell at him as they drive by
I wonder what they read
That made them so upset
I looked at the sign and all it said was

Chorus:

One word
Peace, peace, peace, peace
In the neighborhood
One word
Peace, peace, peace, peace
In my own backyard

A man in a foreign land kneels to pray
Wonders where the bombs will fall today
My leaders tell me to fear him you see
But love conquers all
Is what I believe

One word
Peace, peace, peace, peace
In the neighborhood
One word
Peace, peace, peace, peace
In my own backyard

Everybody's talkin' about it
Everybody's got to have their say
But to achieve it there is only one way
And it starts with me and the word
And the word is

One word
Peace, peace, peace, peace
In the neighborhood
One word
Peace, peace, peace, peace
In my own backyard

Kill your television.

Posted by: DiAnne at August 28, 2006 01:59 PM

I'm seriously considering cancelling my cable television anyway.

Between Fox, CNN, Discovery, History Channel, and the big networks, there are too many right-wing channels and too little of anything else.

Moreover, my anti-labor Samsung TV set has a dying speaker. Might as well dump it while at it.

Satellite radio is a much better investment of money IMHO. You still get right-wing garbage (in fact, Sirius will also provide it to you in Korean as well as English), but there is plenty of progressive stuff to make up for it. Besides, cable is easily $70+/month whereas satellite radio is a mere $13/month.

Update.

Know how I told you Henry Lee Lucas falsely confessed in my aunts case?

Well during that confession he drew out a map and told them they would find clothes buried. Lo and behold they found clothes and a purse buried in Red River Parish, exactly where he said they would be found. The cops brought them out to my grandmas house with no warning and shoved them in her face. Needless to say she went into shock and her other children kept taking turns holding her up in the shower, the shock was so bad she literally lost the ability to walk, and for days she was like that.

Well, my grandma believed they were Alines clothes. But the cops came back and said basically 'Oh nevermind, it was a false confession'... No one ever explained where the clothes may have came from.

Now fast foreward to today. We have been looking for those clothes again. My cousin just got off the phone with sheriff Norman in Red River... And guess what?

The clothes are logged in as evidence, but they are not in the evidence vault. Not the clothes, not the purse.

Things sure are getting freaky in Red River Parish.

Dianne,

Kill your television? The list you provided shows movies, radio, tv, sports, etc. Killing the television isn't the only solution.

We MUST get people elected who will break down the lock-hold Disney has on propaganda. They're starting them young and the sex of the person doesn't matter.

Christy,

I'm sorry these freakish and corrupt events are happening in your family's lives. It's like a horror show for tv except it's real. Maybe some day "lifetime network" may even make a made-for-tv-movie about this.

TY Suz, you know it really is like a freak/horror show.

The more you see and feel of it the less real it seems. I have lived with this case most of my life and even I am just amazed at how unbelievable it has become. It is out of control.

I really am starting to believe we have been facing off with the Dixie Mafia all along. It is still the only scenario that makes sense on any level.

If you will look them up you will see they are a police run cartel. The feds say they are the most vicious cartel in the USA.

The rumor always was that Aline tried to turn in a drug dealer a week before she vanished.

Browne was not just a killer, he was also a major drug user. If he was selling drugs, she would have known, she lived 10 feet from him.

My grandfather was convinced the cops were landing small planes in the swamps full of drugs. He told anyone that would listen.

If he was selling/using drugs provided and protected by police, and she tried to turn him in to those same cops.........

And Wanda Hudsons boyfriend, the one that found her like that, he was the town pharmacist. You just can not make this crap up.

These cops are hiding something really really bad. The DA too. Especially the DA.

There is still something here we are not seeing yet, and I have a feeling it is gonna get ugly down here.

Us kids are all grown now, and we are tired of this crap.

Katrina facts one year later...

Standing in Jackson Square on Sept. 15, President Bush stated, “This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina” and promised to “get the work done quickly.” But on the eve of Katrina’s one year anniversary, here’s a look at the current state of New Orleans:

– Less than half of the city’s pre-storm population of 460,000 has returned, putting the population at roughly what it was in 1880.

– Nearly a third of the trash has yet to be picked up.

– Sixty percent of homes still lack electricity.

– Seventeen percent of the buses are operational.

– Half of the physicians have left, and there is a shortage of 1,000 nurses.

– Six of the nine hospitals remain closed.

– Sixty-six percent of public schools have reopened.

– A 40 percent hike in rental rates, disproportionately affecting black and low-income families.

– A 300 percent increase in the suicide rate.

Eighty-four percent of New Orleans residents rate the government’s recovery efforts negatively, while 66 percent believe the recovery money has been “mostly wasted.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/28/katrina-facts-anniversary

See here for photo slide show:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1115/sets/72157594252800142/show

Suz
You're right - I kill my television purposely so as to get the bulk of my news and info from other sources, having only enough time to scratch the surface of the internet & noncommercial radio.

I think we do have to think about who makes our videotapes & movies & there should be plenty of noncommercial & alternative ones to support. We need to take it all the way.

I have also quit going to corporate grocery stores since the 2004 election, except for Costco which is a big Dem donor. The rest are all privately-own markets. I didn't know what could make a big impact but figured food over the course of a year adds up to quite alot.

We can't make every penny we spend political, because we have to buy gas (for which in our family we use Citgo), we occasionally fly, and that's just the start of it.

But when there are alternatives, and we know abou them, I think it's good to support them.

Suz
It is also a good point you made - "They are starting them young." I work with children & the same can be said for the fast food companies, who often have an actual tie-in with merch that spins off of the Disney movies. I am tired of seeing kids covered from head to toe with cartoon characters - little walking advertisements. The poor little things have no idea. They are forming leisure and eating habits which will last a lifetime.

Ally
I do send money to the radio stations I listen to, or else I feel horribly guilty.

Posted by: DiAnne at August 28, 2006 04:08 PM

... or how about going to the movie theatre and having them give you a National Guard card with free iTunes songs on the card if you register online to redeeem.

You had to hear the argument I had last nite with the theatre manager, when I told him I didn't like them pushing these on kids so they can get into the Guards recruiting system.

He kept saying, "but they get free songs for their iPod, they love that".

I said, "EXACTLY!"

I see I'm getting nowhere, go into the movie with my kids, only to be greeted by a 2 minute infomercial on the National Guard, propaganda city, dripping with images of the flag, snippets of alleged guardsmen/women, talking about how great it is to serve, about how they "knew what they were getting into" when they enlisted, blah blah blah...

Keep your grubby paws off our children, send your own...

Monkey
Amazing .. those sneaky scoundrels .. hard up for cannon fodder

I do send a little money to TruthOut periodically too. Some of the articles I will have seen elsewhere, but they do sift through & find some good stuff.

Dahr Jamail | Interview With Ray McGovern, Part 2
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806A.shtml
During the Veterans for Peace National Convention in Seattle, Dahr Jamail conducted an interview with Ray McGovern. McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years and is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. In the second installment of this interview series for Truthout, McGovern discusses US policy regarding Iran, a US/Israel "mutual defense treaty" and the security ramifications for Israel.

Few Troops Tried in Deaths of Iraqi Civilians
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806B.shtml
The majority of US service members charged in the unlawful deaths of Iraqi civilians have been acquitted, found guilty of relatively minor offenses or given administrative punishments without trials, according to a Washington Post review of concluded military cases. Charges against some of the troops were dropped completely.

Al Gore: Democracy Is Under Attack
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806C.shtml
"Democracy is under attack," Gore told an audience at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. "Democracy as a system for self-governance is facing more serious challenges now than it has faced for a long time. Democracy is a conversation, and the most important role of the media is to facilitate that conversation of democracy. Now the conversation is more controlled, it is more centralized."

Iraq War Has Bush Doctrine in Tatters
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806D.shtml
Analysts across the political spectrum say the Bush Doctrine - preventive war, choking the roots of terrorism by planting democracy, and brandishing power to force others into line - has failed. Bush's lofty goals, shared even by his critics, have been set back, perhaps decades, by the Iraq occupation.

Secret Senator Puts "Secret Hold" on Bill to Open Federal Records
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806E.shtml
In an ironic twist, legislation that would open up the murky world of government contracting to public scrutiny has been derailed by a secret parliamentary maneuver.

Ann Jones | Why It's Not Working in Afghanistan
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806F.shtml
Ann Jones writes: "Remember when peaceful, democratic, reconstructed Afghanistan was advertised as the exemplar for the extreme makeover of Iraq? In August 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was already proclaiming the new Afghanistan 'a breathtaking accomplishment' and 'a successful model of what could happen to Iraq.' As everybody now knows, the model isn't working in Iraq. So we shouldn't be surprised to learn that it's not working in Afghanistan either."

Activist's Remark Starts FBI Probe
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806G.shtml
Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam. Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions.

Iran's Chemical Wounds Remain Open and Painful
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806H.shtml
The tragedy of Sardacht, the Iranian city bombarded with chemical weapons by Iraq in 1987, contributes to explaining Tehran's desire to acquire nuclear technology.

send the twins

Posted by: Christy at August 28, 2006 03:15 PM

This is really freakish indeed. I don't even know what to say.

Hang in there Christy. Aline is in all of our thoughts.

Activist's Remark Starts FBI Probe
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806G.shtml
Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam. Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions.

Posted by: DiAnne at August 28, 2006 04:40 PM

Such are the times we live in.

Here in SoCal, there was a college student who was going around torching Hummers and other expensive SUVs. He was convicted as a TERRORIST and sent to prison for 30 years.

While I do NOT condone torching new car lots, this is still creepy, because if this guy were torching, say, Honda Civics, he would've only been charged with standard arson.

By choosing to torch Hummers instead of Civics, the arsonist sent a wrong message - one that W's criminal cabal did not approve of.

Posted by: Ally McLesbian at August 28, 2006 05:48 PM

True dat.

Karr won't be charged in JonBenet's murder

John Mark Karr will not be charged in the death of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, his attorney, Seth Temin, said Monday. His announcement followed a report by CNN affiliate KUSA that sources said a sample of Karr's DNA did not match the evidence found at the murder scene in 1996.

Posted by: DiAnne at August 28, 2006 04:04 PM

Commercial radio is too standardized and consolidated, in the hands of the select few such as Clear Channel and Viacom. Here in SoCal, it used to be that there used to be a healthy competition between two adult contemporary stations - KOST 103.5 and KBIG 104.3. But now, Clear Channel owns both, and aside from the fact that KOST is for "pro-family" Republicans and KBIG is for independents, there is NO difference. Same bland stuff - and overtendencies to break into disco.

Re: Costco - I love their management philosophy, and their Democratic leanings are simply a result of their philosophy. With employee pays at double Wal-Mart levels, and with low margins (meaning more savings for the customer), what's not to love about Costco? Well, maybe the membership fees and the crowds, but I will put up with them. In fact, I buy my gasoline from Costco as well, since Citgo is not readily available where I am.

East Coasters can also choose Hess as their gasoline. I've been told that it's somewhat Democratic.

Re: airlines - JetBlue and Alaska were rated quite Democratic, though JetBlue sold passenger data to W early on (a no-no in my books) and Alaska is notoriously fundamentalist Christian and homophobic. On the other hand, LGBT-friendly American and United have major a-holes (and Repub donors) as executives, and we all know of United ditching its pension obligations, though United has its pro-Dem unions balancing the political contributions out. In the airline industry, everyone's naughty indeed, at least to a degree!

Posted by: DiAnne at August 28, 2006 01:53 PM

Just went through your ABC affiliate list again, and I noticed KSFO AM in San Francisco.

It may be in liberal Bay Area, but it's hardcore conservative, proudly carrying Rush Limbaugh, and it's the most popular talk show station in the region, believe it or not.

Didn't know it was owned by ABC/Disney. I had been under the impression that it was Clear Channel.

The more I find out about Walt Disney, the less I like him. A hardcore rabid ideological Republican - the kind of Republican you run into on the streets of Orange County every day.

"There ought to be limits to freedom."

George W. Bush, 1999
(reported in Hightower Lowdown)

Posted by: DiAnne at August 25, 2006 08:36 PM

Why aren't the Dems pouncing on this more?

Are we THAT brain-dead? Please tell me we're not.

Posted by: monkey at August 28, 2006 05:53 PM

So, essentially, the corporate controlled media treated us to a couple of weeks of total and utter distraction. And Karr received his 15 minutes of fame and a swank business class trip back to the US.

As Gilda Radner's Emily Latella character would say, "never mind".

Interesting clip from powerline sent to my email.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/powerlinenews/video2/?bclid=78383014&bctid=187745401

(It isn't just the left that doesn't trust the media.)

Posted by: monkey at August 28, 2006 05:53 PM

It will be interesting to see how Olbermann and the rest talk about this. What a nightmare it was listening to all the "breaking news" on this garbage for the past two weeks.

They all have egg on their faces now.

Idiots.

"What a nightmare it was listening to all the "breaking news" on this garbage for the past two weeks."

No, that was just obnoxious.

The Breaking News which was a real nightmare;

George Bush Wins Florida
--Fox News, Election Nigth November 2000

"There ought to be limits to freedom."

The reason this didn't get attacked is that reasonable people thought he meant things like not crying fire in a croweded theater. Little did we know what limits he really had planned.

"(It isn't just the left that doesn't trust the media.)"

The right bashes the media, but there's a difference.

The left criticizes the media because they don't do a good enough job of getting the truth out.

The right critizes the media in an attempt to prevent them from getting the truth out.

Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at August 28, 2006 07:14 PM

As far as I'm concerned this little trip didn't do any good for Karr either. He'll always be reconised as a creepy child pornographer. However, it made it clear that the media's portrayal of the family as being involved was pure bunk too.

Still...what else happened that they successfully hid?

Bush visits Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast
President says ‘challenges’ remain but declares ‘sense of renewal’ present

MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 1 hour, 23 minutes ago

BILOXI, Miss. - President Bush returned Monday to the first scene he saw a year ago of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, and declared “a sense of renewal” in the region still struggling to come back from the storm’s battering.

“Amazing what the world looked like then and what it looks like now,” Bush said, marveling at the air conditioning and electrical service in the newly constructed home visible behind him. “People can’t imagine what the world looked like then.”

When Bush first saw the neighborhood, it was littered by debris of all sizes, cars in trees and homes battered to bits.

Bush said “there’s still challenges.” Other parts of the neighborhood, which is only rebuilt in patches, and a woman he consoled on a trip here last year, demonstrated just that. Sought out by the White House to meet Bush again, she said before his remarks that she has come far — but not far enough.

Then, Bronwynne Bassier had returned from Alabama, clutching trash bags, to search the rubble of her former home for clothes for her young son. Sobbing uncontrollably, she told Bush she had lost everything.

On Monday, newly married and now Bronwynne Lesso, she said her old house has been demolished to a concrete slab, she lives in a FEMA trailer with her husband and 3-year-old, and is still trying to figure out how to get a job and whether she can rebuild.

“When they take the FEMA trailers away, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said in an interview.

Bush escapes blame
Still, like many in Mississippi, where the response and rebuilding effort has gone better than in Louisiana, Lesso doesn’t blame Bush.

“One year later, he hasn’t forgotten about us,” she said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14553389/

Still, like many in Mississippi, where the response and rebuilding effort has gone better than in Louisiana, Lesso doesn’t blame Bush.

“One year later, he hasn’t forgotten about us,” she said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14553389/

Posted by: monkey at August 28, 2006 09:14 PM

TO HELL WITH HER.

I turned a couple of my comments above into posts at Liberal Values. For example, I turned my comment on criticism of hte media into a post which includes several links to items like Fox News anchors slipping and giving away their alliance to the Republicans.

http://www.liberalvaluesblog.com/

The day was fairly slow. Technorati wasn't working right so my posts weren't showing up at places like Memeorandum. Then it started working after I entered a post linking to video of a nipple slip at the Emmys last night and all of a sudden the blog is getting tons of hits.

Ron Chusid
Looks like you just need the right "key words" for people to Google & you'll get plenty of hits!

Ally
I suppose if we get the cheapest ticket possible (for flight), we can feel we're at least giving the airlines less money.

We just went to the zoo. While we have reservations about animals in captivity, they have naturalistic habitats at Woodland Park. It was kind of shocking to find out how many animals have already gone extinct in the wild and ONLY exist in captivity.

Then I got home & there was an envelope that had a message about stopping global warming. Alas, it was from John McCain trying to trick me! I didn't open it. I'll stick with Al Gore. Granted, I do know that McCain is on the right side on this issue. Just not ready to send him money or vote for him in any form.

I saw a bumper sticker today that said, "Let people hunt each other. Leave the animals alone."

DiAnne,

Keywords really make a difference.

Back at Dem Daily, for a few months "poodle balling" was among the top search engine hits following my post on Britney Spear's appearance on Will and Grace. Nude Ann Coulter pictures also remains a top draw.

John Kerry does pretty well in web searches, but I'm afraid he can't compete with poodle balling and nipple slips.

I saw a bumper sticker today that said, "Let people hunt each other. Leave the animals alone."

Posted by: DiAnne at August 28, 2006 09:58 PM

Good one, DiAnne!

Speaking of Woodland Park Zoo, I've heard good things about the place - too bad I didn't have the time when I was in town. Definitely next time.

McCain - Arizona still loves him very much. He'll be around for a long time. Of course, you know I hold that state in contempt for what it's done to me. Last year, he helped the Governator try to turn California into a right-to-work state like Arizona, but fortunately it failed.

Nude Ann Coulter pictures also remains a top draw.

Posted by: Ron Chusid at August 28, 2006 10:42 PM

Are those pics what I think they are? Hmmm...

Nude Ann Coulter pictures also remains a top draw.

Posted by: Ron Chusid at August 28, 2006 10:42 PM

OMG, I am going to have endless nightmares.

please no more Mann Coulter and no Katharine Harris - someone just sent me:

Katherine Harris has pretty much all but admited now that she helped hand over the election to W (reading between the lines)
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/28/senate.harris.ap/index.html

Also got jpegs of W with a bunch of flag-draped coffins, saying "Bring 'em on", Bush with the Pope (I have a button like this), one of a Bush Pez dispenser saying "lies lies lies"
and more - can't attack but looked like someone had been busy Googling "Image" - the internet is by now a wealth of PhotoShopped political statements

On the corporate takeover of organic food:
Think your pesticide-free food comes from small, local farmers? Think again.
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=oid%3A148914
A chart that will undoubtably shock you
http://www.newsreview.com/binary/99609a98/OrganicChartAug06.pdf

Then I got a bunch of stuff on rigged elections & tie-ins between weapons contractors and voting machine companies, and some fairly well-founded speculation that the Coleman vs Mondale election was rigged, after Wellstone "went down"
-- too depressing to post

Then Kayakbiker did a photo essay about the Bush protest in MN, which I posted earlier, & he got a response that suggested one of the opposition's boats was "interesting," to say the least:
--the niumber on the side of the boat had it registered in Michigan --- it was likely a plant.
***************************************************************
Very interesting bit of information re: photo #40:
I checked with the Minnesota DNR and the license on that "We love Bush" boat is NOT a Minnesota license. In fact, it is a MICHIGAN license. Can you say "STAGED"????
http://imageevent.com/kayakbiker/bushminnetonka

Someone better get busy with Photoshop

Your search - nude katharine harris - did not match any documents.

Suggestions:
Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
Try different keywords.
Try more general keywords.
Try fewer keywords.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060829/ap_on_re_us/jonbenet_ramsey
Prosecutors drop case in Ramsey slaying
{{{Well, didn't we all figure it would come down to this early on? DNA evidence does not put Karr at the scene, in spite of his "confession." And all that valuable Lamestream Media air time that could have been used to talk about Bu$hCo high crimes and misdemeanors and war crimes is all for naught. DUH. Anyone have a basket of rotten eggs handy to throw at Lamestream Media snooze anchors?}}}

Uri Avnery: America's Rottweiler
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082806Z.shtml
In his latest speech, which infuriated so many people, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad uttered a sentence that deserves attention: "Every new Arab generation hates Israel more than the previous one." Of all that has been said about the Second Lebanon War, these are perhaps the most important words.

Can Anything Be Done?
Paul Craig Roberts
A group of scientists, engineers, and university professors are trying to start a debate about the collapse of the three World Trade Center buildings. I reported one of their findings: There is an inconsistency between the speed with which the buildings collapsed and the “pancaking theory” used to explain the collapse.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14718.htm

Reuters seeks Pentagon probe on journalist's "unlawful". death:
Reuters news agency urged the U.S. military on Sunday to investigate the killing of one of its journalists by American troops in Baghdad a year ago.
http://tinyurl.com/hdxa3

Chad orders oil companies to leave:
Chad's president on Saturday ordered oil companies Chevron Corp. and Petronas to leave the country, saying neither has paid taxes and his country will take responsibility for the oil fields they have overseen.
http://tinyurl.com/k8k4n

Chad's President Suspends 3 Ministers :
Oil Minister Mahmat Hassan Nasser, Planning Minister Mahmat Ali Hassanand Livestock Minister Mockhtar Moussa were suspended because they negotiated the terms of the agreements with Chevron and Petronas.
http://tinyurl.com/ef482

U.S. "Pleased" by Creation of South American Intelligence Center
The United States is "pleased" by the creation of a new South American regional intelligence center designed to fight transnational crime and corruption emanating from the tri-border region of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, says the U.S. State Department.
http://tinyurl.com/f3m3w

Hey, could be worse:

----------
Results 1 - 30 of about 1,020,000 for 'nude laura bush'
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*eeeeeeeekkkkk!!*

Hmmm... well, now, *this* might explain something...

http://tinyurl.com/k4mr2

Iranian President Wants to Debate Bush

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer

August 29, 2006, 8:27 AM EDT

TEHRAN, Iran -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday challenged the authority of the U.N. Security Council as Iran faces a deadline to halt its uranium enrichment and he called for a televised debate with President Bush on world issues.

- more -

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ats-ap_intl11aug29,0,7833667.story?coll=ny-leadworldnews-headlines

Sounds like the intellectual equivalent of the resurrection contest that David Koresh wanted to challenge a rival minister to...

Otter
I hope you didn't peek!

Rove's Influence Undiminished by Scandal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6045017,00.html
Grrrrr

new thread...