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They Hate Us For Our Bumper Stickers...
Some things really do deserve to be Quoted Without Comment.
Take for example this news update, from the Associated Press by way of CBSNews.com:
Woman Sues Over Anti-Bush Car Sticker(AP) A woman who was ticketed for having an obscene anti-President George W. Bush bumper sticker filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday against a county in the state of Georgia and its officials.
Denise Grier, 47, of Athens, Georgia, got a $100 ticket in March after a police officer in DeKalb County, which is in the suburbs of Atlanta, spotted the bumper sticker, which read "I'm Tired Of All The BUSH--."
Although a DeKalb judge threw out the ticket in April because the state's lewd bumper sticker law that formed the basis for the ticket was ruled unconstitutional in 1990, Grier is seeking damages for "emotional distress" against the county, according to the lawsuit.
Grier also seeks a declaration in federal court that her bumper sticker is considered protected speech under the constitutional right to free speech because she is "uncertain and insecure regarding her right to display her bumper sticker in DeKalb County," the lawsuit said.The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.
"This type of sarcasm in relation to political figures is as old as the country," said her attorney, Frank Derrickson. "We think this bumper sticker is just the latest example of this. We want to be assured that not just Ms. Grier but anyone who wants to have fun with the powers that be should be able to do that under the First Amendment."
DeKalb County spokeswoman Kristie Swink said she could not comment on
pending litigation.Grier, a nurse who works at Emory University and other hospitals, also is seeking punitive damages against the DeKalb police officer who gave her the ticket because he "acted with reckless disregard" of her rights, the lawsuit said.
The state law prohibited lewd or profane stickers and decals on vehicles.
Derrickson said Grier still has the anti-Bush bumper sticker on her car.
"I think she's got better ones than that, at least the ones that I saw," he said.
(Ms. Grier had better look out, though. Under the legislation that Mr. Bush signed into law this morning, she could still find herself getting thrown into Gitmo for that...)
It doesn't even take corrupt law enforcement to silence us.
I used to have a John Kerry bumper sticker, but had to remove it after one of my neighbors (as you may know, I live in an all-Republican block in the heart of Reagan Country) attacked my cat twice, and killed it.
Of course, my mother keeps telling me it could only happen in a black or Latino neighborhood, not the suburban upper-class white/Asian neighborhood that I live in. I told her to get lost - blacks and Latinos don't go around killing pets of their political opponents.
My car is pretty "safe" in my county but when I travel north, I get thumbs up or I get flipped off. At any given time, I have about a dozen bumper stickers & they express exactly how I feel.
People need to have the same freedom of expression everywhere in the country. There is only one thing that will make this possible, and unfortunately it is lawsuits. We also need to vote the bums out of office & guarantee that we are able to fairly do so (safe voting systems).
Rick:
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!
I needed the laugh.
But really, any organization, government, individual who is so threatened by a dissenting opinion that they create LAWS to govern it is truly one step away from losing it.
These minds who attempt to control our every move, thought or word are so very VERY small...
But really, any organization, government, individual who is so threatened by a dissenting opinion that they create LAWS to govern it is truly one step away from losing it.
Posted by: Fe at October 17, 2006 12:52 PM
I hope you are right. The problem is, as DiAnne says, they control the vote counting.
Based on W's smirks, I expect the Republicans to win again, by cheating.
From last thread:
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at October 17, 2006 12:44 PM
Ally we know why Democrats keep losing but they are not listening to us. I am beginning to believe Democrats have gotten as bad about listening to the extremes of the party as the Republicans have and I have to say this is not a good thing.
I am a MODERATE Democrat this issue, the Constitution hits me hard where it counts as it would many other MOderates if they effectivly got the message about it out. But they do not they let the Republicans use this against them and this is not a weapon for the republicans if anything it is one for us. Yet no Democrats are getting in front of a Microphone saying one line: America as We know it ended today with the signing of this bill. That would make people take notice and listen to why. Get their attention first them hit them where it counts.
Here is what the Headline around the world should be:
America ends its 230 year love affair with Habeas Corpus and Their Constitution.
Joe Lieberman endorses BOLTON:
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/nation/15777665.htm
Posted by: mbk at October 17, 2006 01:03 PM
As Gommer Pile Says: Surprise Surprise Surprise.
Joe Lieberman endorses BOLTON:
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/nation/15777665.htm
Posted by: mbk at October 17, 2006 01:03 PM
Why doesn't he just become a Republican?
Why doesn't he just become a Republican?
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at October 17, 2006 01:13 PM
Eh, what's in a name, or a label?
Actions speak louder than turds.
Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
by John Prine
While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I tell her how good I feel.
Chorus:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took her up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.
Repeat Chorus:
Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/10/16/against_an_imperial_internet.php
Against An Imperial Internet
Bill Moyers and Scott Fogdall
Bill Moyers is host of “The Net At Risk,” a documentary special airing Wednesday, October 18 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). Scott Fogdall is with Films Media Group. Visit www.pbs.org/moyers.
Bush declares National 'Character Counts' Week
RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday October 17, 2006
In a proclamation last Friday, United States President George W. Bush declared this week "National Character Counts Week," RAW STORY has learned.
Members of Congress have become snared in a number of high-profile scandals in recent weeks, with Coingate, the Weldon probe, and the Foley page affair all coming to a head. With mid-term elections just weeks away, members of Bush's Republican party are seeing support erode in the polls.
The presidential proclamation, in its entirety, follows:
#
National Character Counts Week, 2006 A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America
America's strength is found in the spirit and character of our people. During National Character Counts Week, we renew our commitment to instilling values in our young people and to encouraging all Americans to remember the importance of good character.
As the primary teachers and examples of character, parents help create a more compassionate and decent society. And as individuals, we all have an obligation to help our children become responsible citizens and realize their full potential. By demonstrating values such as integrity, courage, honesty, and patriotism, all Americans can help our children develop strength and character.
Countless individuals throughout our country demonstrate character by volunteering their time and energy to help neighbors in need. The men and women of our Armed Forces set an example of character by bravely putting the security of our Nation before their own lives. We also see character in the family members, teachers, coaches, and other dedicated individuals whose hearts are invested in the future of our children.
Our changing world requires virtues that sustain our democracy, make self-government possible, and help build a more hopeful future. National Character Counts Week is an opportunity to recognize the depth of America's character and appreciate those who pass on our values to future generations.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 15 through October 21, 2006, as National Character Counts Week. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, parents, students, and all Americans to observe this week with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.
GEORGE W. BUSH
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Bush_declares_National_Character_Counts_Week_1017.html
Holey Crap
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6057004.stm
US population reaches 300 million
The US population has hit 300 million people, just 39 years after it reached 200 million, according to US Census Bureau estimates.
{{{More on link. I wonder if people realize just how much of a strain it puts on resources of all kinds when an area over-populates...? (It's why my Scandinavian ancestors came to the US in the 19th century - the countries experienced a population explosion, the land just would not support so many people.) This is an additional reason for responsible birth control and limiting the number of children. Anyone else old enough to remember when we were talking about ZPG = Zero Population Growth, at least 30 years ago? At some point we're going to have to go back to talking rationally about the subject (which will have to include talk about birth control education), environmental impact of over-population, and 'what if' scenarios if crops fail in another dust-bowl situation, etc. The higher the population, the higher the stakes. On the other hand, if another country attacks us for real this time, not just huge criminal acts which is what 9/11 was, technically (the hijackers were not part of an organized army representing any country; they only represented themselves, an international gang of thugs), we may not have to worry about it. War will be the method of population control, just as it has been so often in the past....}}}
Watch a great ad for a great candidate...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/17/123247/37
Well, this is an appropriate day and thread header for my cross-country travels in my "We Will Not Be Silent" t-shirt.
I hope it is slightly disturbing to people. I will, if necessary, share what the significance of the t-shirt is as well as the significance of the day--the day, as April points out poignantly, when we turned our back on the Constitution.
Posted by: NonnyO at October 17, 2006 01:40 PM
The problem is that this population growth is being spun only as an immigration issue.
Truthfully, they have a point. It's immigration - and the high birth rate of immigrant families - that is fueling the growth of American population level.
The sad part is that white conservatives are starting a breeding war, to ensure that brown immigrants won't outbreed them. Result: overpopulation, no matter how we see it.
We may be a nation of immigrants, but there will be a point where we will literally run out of land and resources to take in much more.
Posted by: monkey at October 17, 2006 01:38 PM
The Torturer-in-Chief doesn't have any character. How can he possibly say 'character counts...?'
I'm once again reading 1984.
This sounds like something that could have been broadcast on the telescreens....
What's next for everyone who has an internet connection? Will we be forced to buy web cams so the government can see everything we're doing in our homes?
I am a proud momma today, I do not know how far this will get my daughter now but it used to be if you did this you were pretty much assured a place at a good college if you wanted it when you graduated high school.
Charley qualified to take the PSAT in 7th grade. We are very proud of her.
Posted by: NonnyO at October 17, 2006 01:53 PM
Yes
Charley qualified to take the PSAT in 7th grade. We are very proud of her.
Posted by: April at October 17, 2006 01:56 PM
Congratulations!
Posted by: April at October 17, 2006 01:56 PM
I am always a proud momma my oldest pointed out that I sound like I am not lol and she said mom we know you are always proud of us lol.
Posted by: April at October 17, 2006 01:56 PM
GENUINE CHARACTER COUNTS
Congrats on Keepin' it Real.
Posted by: monkey at October 17, 2006 02:06 PM
We have Character education in school, I wonder how other kids feel when they hear about what the Representives do that goes against what they learn both at home and at school. Adults do not realize what an impact their actions have not only on the adults of this nation but the children who look to us to lead by example.
We tell our children not to jump to conclusion about people to make sure they have the facts before they make judgments or attack someone, then we as a nation do not do these things. I wonder at the mixed message we send not only other budding democracies but our own children who live in our floundering one. Our representives seem to forget they are not making laws and taking action only on behalf of this generation, but on future generations to. Its time we as parents started yelling that message louder.
Thanks Monkey :)
One more thing before I am off for awhile.
I am wondering if someday our Constitution will be just a foot note in someone elses history book, will we be the nation that tried at great cost to be a land of freedom, but failed because of our own fears and insecurities. It is something to think about.
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at October 17, 2006 01:51 PM
Overpopulation isn't strictly an immigrant issue, nor the high birth rate for some immigrant populations - most notably the ones who are Catholics.
It is an issue with the anti-choice crowd and the religious reich crowd (whether Catholic or fundie types) who so zealously need to control female bodies that they won't let women make up their own minds about birth control and/or about abortion. I do very much blame the religious reich crowd (of whatever religious affiliation they claim) for repressing education about birth control, safe sex, and abortion, if necessary. (I never lose sight of the fact my maternal grandmother had eclampsia or pre-eclampsia, and carried a dead and decomposing fetus inside of her for three months because her body didn't expell it naturally, everyone knew the baby was dead, and the doctor did nothing until she started labor at term, when he performed surgery - I don't consider removing an already-dead fetus as 'abortion' but some medical procedures are very necessary at times which could be misconstrued as 'abortion' by the anti-choice zealots.)
For the anti-choice crowd, I pose a puzzle: Would you rather parents invest 20 years of love and devotion to a child and send him/her off to war to be killed as adequate population control? Or would you rather practice safe birth control (thus not conceive too many children) and keep the population level down so resources for everyone are not strained? If population levels are low enough, everyone has adequate access to resources to sustain them, and there is no need to start wars to control the resources and kill off 'extra' people.... Eventually, choices will have to be made, however, and it's going to have to be an elementary choice between sex and birth control education and a low national birth rate... or having wars every 20 years to keep population numbers stable so that food, housing, and energy resources are not strained beyond the planet's ability to sustain us - and the fellow creatures who share the planet. Our species is the most destructive in the history of this planet, and if we don't learn to have consideration for future generations, we may put ourselves at risk of extinction....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6057624.stm
Oil above $60 ahead of Opec deal
Oil continued to rally on Tuesday as prices breached the $60-a-barrel mark in Asian trading.
US light crude for November delivery rose 25 cents to $60.19 a barrel, continuing a recovery from the 2006 low of $57.22 it touched last week.
The gains come as member nations of oil-producing cartel Opec prepare to meet in Qatar later this week to discuss a long-awaited cut in output.
{{{Hmmm.... that should be just in time to hike the prices immediately after Nov. 7, just in time for T'giving and Xmas travel, but still give the oil corps record profits this year....}}}
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061017/ts_nm/airlines_eu_usa_dc
U.S. to seek more leeway on air passenger records
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States will push for more flexible arrangements with Europe on how U.S. agencies can use the personal records of air passengers to combat terrorism, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.
But the chief U.S. negotiator of that pact, which is due to be replaced by a permanent accord after July 2007, said Washington would push for the right to hold data on passengers for longer than the current arrangement of 3-1/2 years.
More on link.....
Hmm. What's really most striking about that article in the threader isn't that the driver got pulled over for supposedly violating an unconstitutional law, but that the law she was ticketed under was declared unconstitutional *in 1990*. So what does that tell you, huh?
georgia on no mind,
Otter
I am wondering if someday our Constitution will be just a foot note in someone elses history book, will we be the nation that tried at great cost to be a land of freedom, but failed because of our own fears and insecurities. It is something to think about.
Posted by: April at October 17, 2006 02:19 PM
All great powers eventually fail, for some reason or another, usually from within.
I hope our dismantling of our Constitution and basic rights today are NOT the beginning of the end of the United States of America. But I am afraid that it is - and that as you said, other countries' history books in the future will mention the Constitution as the bedrock of a power that succeeded - and then failed when it abandoned it.
Lieberman endorses Bolton? Good God!!
I was about to eat!!
Posted by: NonnyO at October 17, 2006 02:24 PM
Good point, but it also is worth remembering that men are obsessed with controlling women's bodies and reproduction, to "ensure the survival of the species/group." The white conservatives are deadly afraid of white babies being aborted, while brown immigrant babies keep being born.
The point is that there are many reasons for the anti-choice movement. Some of it is gender-based. Some of it racial. There are many other reasons. And if we want to keep reproductive choice legal and safe (and hopefully rare), we have to fight the zealots on all these levels.
A sane voice ..
John Kerry on Bush Promise to Maliki Not to Change Course
“President Bush committed another misstep in a long line of strategic blunders in his disastrous Iraq policy when he told Prime Minister Maliki to ‘to ignore rumors that the United States government was seeking to impose a timeline on the Maliki government.’”
History may judge this to be the President’s most counterproductive statement since he told the insurgents to ‘bring it on.’ The President gave away the ultimate bargaining card, and instead suggested he will tolerate endless foot dragging by Iraqi politicians, and will outsource decisions about our massive troop presence to a government in Baghdad that refuses to get its act together.
President Bush also signaled he won’t accept the findings of James Baker’s Iraq Study Group if they call for anything more than failed stay the course policies. What does it tell us that Secretary Baker and Congressman Hamilton are signaling we need a change in strategy, along with Senator Warner and Senator Hagel, and yet President Bush signals he won’t accept anything but the arrogant, stubborn, stay the course policies that aren’t working?
Every time President Bush tells the Iraqis we will ‘stay as long as it takes,’ he is giving squabbling Iraqi politicians an excuse to take as long as they want. President Bush should’ve told Prime Minister Maliki that no American soldier should be sacrificed because Iraqi factions refuse to resolve their ethnic rivalries and their competing grasp for oil revenues.
President Bush should have reminded Prime Minister Maliki that the Iraqi leaders have responded only to deadlines - a deadline to transfer authority to a provisional government, a deadline to write a Constitution, a deadline to hold three elections. So we must set another deadline to extricate our troops and get Iraq up on its own two feet-- a clear deadline of July, 2007 to redeploy our combat troops. Make Iraqis stand up for Iraq - and bring our heroes home.
This was a moment for President Bush to talk tough and honestly with Prime Minister Maliki, to say we’re not happy with what’s happening, and we can not and will not give a blank check to an Iraqi Prime Minister sustained in power by our forces, who will not speak against the Hezbollah terrorists, who will not take on the sectarian militias, who will not say that Israel has a right to exist, and who will not condemn the Iranian nuclear program. No American soldier should be asked to stand up for an Iraqi government that won't stand up for freedom and against fear.”
NonnyO
Wait til OPEC changes to the Eurodollar & it'll all come crumbling down - lenders will start pulling their loans to our government & it'll spiral down from there.
It may actually be a good thing Walmart is opening a bunch of hypermarkets in China - good for Walmart anyway.
Posted by: NonnyO at October 17, 2006 02:30 PM
It looks like the data will be used to screen more innocents out of the air transport system. Free movement is a hallmark of an open, democratic society, and the US wants none of it. (The ever-shrinking vacations are another aspect of the US not wanting its working class to travel.)
I've just learned that one Tamil-speaking passenger was forced to miss his flight in Seattle when his language was deemed suspicious.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287261_tamil02ww.html
A man detained at SeaTac airport for speaking Tamil. He promises now to speak English only in airports.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287261_tamil02ww.html
Oops, double post.
Joe Lieberman is going to hell and Josh Bolton is his handbasket.
they hate us for our fiefdoms,
Otter
Suppose 41 is employing James Baker to try to get 43 to chill?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/10/17/baker_hints_at_iraq_escape_route.html
A man detained at SeaTac airport for speaking Tamil. He promises now to speak English only in airports.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287261_tamil02ww.html
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at October 17, 2006 02:55 PM
That is so ignorant. Sikh cab drivers were harassed here after 9/11 - every Asian & South Asian & Southeast Asian displayed a huge American flag immediately.
Any one who doubts we're living in a police state hasn't flown lately. I'm flying this weekend, into the heart of the theocracy - Colorado Springs.
I'll have to remember to look white, speak English and wear a giant Crucifix.
Posted by: DiAnne at October 17, 2006 02:53 PM
That is the discussion me and my daughters new fella had yesterday, the republican. He actually mentioned the possibility of the world putting into action all the talk about changing to the Euro, I asked him if he understood why that would happen and he actually did. However he takes great pains constantly to point out to me he is a Moderate Republican. My husband says he only says that because if he is a Conservative Repulican I will bar him from my house and make it hard for him to see Leah lol.
The point was even Republicans are aware of what could happen yet they seem to ignore all the warnings and talk and act as if it will never happen. They miss the point that as our dollar gets less and less stable(because of our Deficit and other factors) the possibility is very real. Other countries are not wanting to lose trillions just to prop America up. We are not the center of the universe as some seem to think. I have pointed out we are a baby nation and now we seem to be in the toddler stage throwing temper tantrums and expecting to always get our way, the world as the much older parent is going to at some point get tired of this and smack our rears(most other nations do not believe in time outs) And when they do the spanking is going to hurt bad.
Posted by: DiAnne at October 17, 2006 02:53 PM
Changing from dollars to euros for oil is what Iraq was about to do when DimWit ordered the invasion, and Iran was supposed to go to euros this year, but last I read anything about it, they postponed the date indefinitely. It's my understanding some countries are trying to get rid of their dollars already and converting their money to other denominations.
At this point, if there is a stock market crash of some kind in this country, the neoCons will deserve it. The insurance (most of which I consider legal scams if you think about the structure of it, since it's hedging one's bets against things that are likely to happen, or not happen, depending on what kind of insurance it is, but the insurance corps make huge profits off of the legal gamble, and then keep raising the premiums, forced on everyone by local, state, or US law - which is also why Social Security funds must not ever get into the stock market as private accounts) and the corporate fraud is way out of control....
Now that we have a corporate dictatorship, I no longer care what happens to the heads of corporations, or how much money they lose; they financed Dumbya's rise to dictator, and he's catered to them with the Rubber Stamp Congress repeatedly. I think everyone who has investments in Wall Street should pull their money out of the stock market now, and let the chips fall where they may later on if/when the foreign governments who are floating the loans that keep our government running call in their loans....
Jason Leopold | Dark Days Ahead
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706J.shtml
Jason Leopold writes, "One of the biggest failures of George W. Bush's presidency has been his administration's total disregard of the nation's power infrastructure - an issue that is a larger threat to homeland security than the impending attack on US soil by al Qaeda-type terrorists for which we've been issued murky warnings over the years."
Part I: Bush's Petro-Cartel Almost Has Iraq's Oil
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706K.shtml
Iraq is sitting on a mother lode of some of the lightest, sweetest, most profitable crude oil on earth, and the rules that will determine who will control it and on what terms are about to be set. Bush's Petro-Cartel is about to take over control of Iraq's Oil.
{{{Two articles on this link.}}}
The New York Times | And the Winner Is ... Me
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706L.shtml
The New York Times's editors write: "Voters in Ohio can be forgiven if they feel they have been beamed out of the Midwest and dropped into a third-world autocracy. The latest news from the state's governor's race is that the Republican nominee, Kenneth Blackwell, who is also the Ohio secretary of state, could rule that his opponent is ineligible to run because of a technicality."
Associate of Abramoff Had 12 Meetings With Bush Staff
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706M.shtml
A lobbyist associated with Jack Abramoff met White House officials on 12 occasions in 2003 and 2004 on behalf of an association that represented PartyGaming and other online gaming web sites.
Abandon Hope, All Who Enter Here
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706N.shtml
Moazzam Begg was arrested in Pakistan and held for two years by the United States as an "enemy combatant." Here, he describes his arrival and interrogation in Guantanamo after being held at both Kandahar and Bagram.
VIDEO | Marc Ash Interviews Bill Moyers Part III: "The Net at Risk"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101606Q.shtml
The future of the Internet is up for grabs. Last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) effectively eliminated net neutrality rules, which ensured that every content creator on the Internet - from big-time media concerns to backroom bloggers - had equal opportunity to make their voice heard. Now, large and powerful corporations are lobbying Washington to turn the World Wide Web into what critics call a "toll road," threatening the equitability that has come to define global democracy's newest forum. In Part III of our interview, Marc Ash spoke to Bill Moyers about this important issue. Moyers on America: "The Net at Risk," airs Wednesday, October 18, on your local PBS station.
The New York Times | And the Winner Is ... Me
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706L.shtml
The New York Times's editors write: "Voters in Ohio can be forgiven if they feel they have been beamed out of the Midwest and dropped into a third-world autocracy. The latest news from the state's governor's race is that the Republican nominee, Kenneth Blackwell, who is also the Ohio secretary of state, could rule that his opponent is ineligible to run because of a technicality."
*****************************************
This one really bothers me why did they not make him step down at least from this portion of his job while he was running it seems to me this is an obvious conflict of interest. Would the courts let him get awaay with this?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061017/ap_on_el_se/ohio_poll_2
Poll: DeWine trailing in Ohio Sen. race
COLUMBUS, Ohio - GOP Sen. Mike DeWine (news, bio, voting record) has fallen well behind his Democratic rival in a Senate race once considered among the closest in the country, a poll released Tuesday shows.
U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown (news, bio, voting record) was favored by 53 percent of likely Ohio voters surveyed, compared to 41 percent for DeWine, in The Quinnipiac University Poll.
{{{More on link.}}}
I had lunch with very conservative people. I didn't say much, as usual. On their own, they said that we're overextended in Iraq & Afghanistan, shouldn't get involved in North Korea & Iran. They had alot of misconceptions but the important thing I heard was "What we're doing is not working." One is a born-again social conservative, the other has a bomber pilot son who has been in Iraq & Afghanistan. The couple of things they can't get their head around - they are still really manipulated with "bogeymen" such as Commies & terrorists, & they can see where Soviet Union & North Korea overspent militarily to the detriment of their people, but can't accept that we're doing the same.
Would the courts let him get awaay with this?
Posted by: april at October 17, 2006 03:47 PM
The neoCon courts under Dictator Herr Boosh would, yes....
We took Charley to see Man of The Year with Robin Williams, it was funny but as we all agreed it would have been funnier if it wasnt so true. Voting machines with glitches, representives owned by big donars so on and so fourth. If you know this system we have has been corrupted this is a must see movie.
they are still really manipulated with "bogeymen" such as Commies & terrorists
Posted by: DiAnne at October 17, 2006 03:53 PM
See, this is what I can't get my head around... the fear of the unnamed, unseen "enemies" the Dictator has brainwashed sheeple into fearing every time he mentions the word 'terrorist'. We've been conditioned to fear some unnamed "other." Feels to me like the result of a Pavlovian psy-ops experiment....
The nut job driving down the road talking on a cell phone and the drunk drivers... those are real potential accidents waiting to happen - and quite likely could happen every time anyone gets in a vehicle and drives down the road. The statistical probability of a vehicle accident caused by an inattentive driver talking on a cell phone, or a drunk driver (depending on the time of day/night) is vastly higher than being blown up by a criminal with dynamite around his waist. The statistical probability of encountering a madman with a gun who kills his estranged wife and/or kids and/or other family members is higher than any threat from a criminal with dynamite tied to his waist (as was so overwhelmingly proven by in-state news again last night and the day before).
Conditioned as we are with a war of repetitious words, the one thing that can jar a sheeple mind out of vagueness is to re-state things - repeatedly - with logic and common sense words and short sentences, no vague allusions to those unnamed shadows "out there" that sheeple have been taught to fear - and hate....
Kenneth Lay's Conviction Erased From Record
Ruling Worries Employees and Investors Who Lost Billions
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 17, 2006; 3:34 PM
A federal judge in Houston this afternoon wiped away the fraud and conspiracy conviction of Kenneth L. Lay, the Enron Corp. founder who died of heart disease in July, bowing to decades of legal precedent but frustrating government attempts to seize nearly $44 million from his estate.
The ruling worried employees and investors who lost billions of dollars when the Houston energy trading company filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2001. It also came weeks after Congress recessed for the November elections without acting on a last-ditch Justice Department proposal that would have changed the law to allow prosecutors to seize millions in investments and other assets that Lay controlled.
With the judge's order, Lay's conviction on 10 criminal charges will be erased from the record. "The indictment against Kenneth L. Lay is dismissed," U.S. District Judge Simeon T. Lake III wrote in a spare, 13-page order.
more...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101700808.html
Chris Floyd | Academia Signs Up to Track Down Dissent
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706A.shtml
Chris Floyd asks: "Why is the United States government spending millions of dollars to track down critics of George W. Bush in the press? And why have major American universities agreed to put this technology of tyranny into the state's hands?"
{{{Coming Soon to a computer near you: The Thought Police....}}}
Republican Congressman Doolittle Paid Lawyer to Talk to Agency
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706G.shtml
Republican congressman John Doolittle of California paid an attorney more than $38,000 in recent months to talk to the Justice Department in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying investigation, new campaign finance reports show.
Note Intimidates California Hispanic Voters
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706H.shtml
The state attorney general's office is investigating a letter received by some Southern California Hispanics that says it is a crime for immigrants to vote and tells them they could be jailed or deported if they go to the polls next month. The truth is that immigrants who become naturalized citizens can legally register to vote.
Paul Rogat Loeb | Foley's Meltdown: The Seductions of Clicking
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706C.shtml
Paul Rogat Loeb acknowledges the profound role the internet has played in politics and adds, "But we also need to get out from behind our computers, and realize that not all politics can be accomplished with the click of a mouse. That means walking local precincts, traveling to swing districts, signing up for the remote voter calling programs of groups like MoveOn, and talking to people who don't normally agree with us. Just reading wonderful blog posts and forwarding inspiring emails won't get sympathetic or newly sympathetic voters to the polls."
Posted by: monkey at October 17, 2006 04:15 PM
Er... a post-mortem dismissal after conviction? That makes no sense whatsoever. Lay had already been convicted, was awaiting sentencing when he died. Why not a simple note that Lay died, along with the date of death? Why is it necessary to dismiss the charges post-mortem?
I don't get it.
I don't get it.
Posted by: NonnyO at October 17, 2006 04:51 PM
Hey, if I didnt know better, I'd think that 98,000 acre ranch in Paraguay that Dub allegedly purchased is home of the Lay.
Fornigate.
Posted by: monkey at October 17, 2006 05:31 PM
Well, I do remember commenting on the story of Lay's death that I wouldn't believe it unless I saw him in his coffin....
Seriously, I wouldn't put it past that pack of jackals to fake someone's death and get them out of the country....
Note Intimidates California Hispanic Voters
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101706H.shtml
The state attorney general's office is investigating a letter received by some Southern California Hispanics that says it is a crime for immigrants to vote and tells them they could be jailed or deported if they go to the polls next month. The truth is that immigrants who become naturalized citizens can legally register to vote.
Posted by: NonnyO at October 17, 2006 04:42 PM
This is DISGUSTING.
There is an anti-choice proposition in California (Prop 85) next month, and these reactionaries are foolish to drive away Latino votes, which they need badly in order to pass it.
Besides, as mentioned, immigrants who legitimately naturalized have nothing to fear.
they can see where Soviet Union & North Korea overspent militarily to the detriment of their people, but can't accept that we're doing the same.
Posted by: DiAnne at October 17, 2006 03:53 PM
I've always thought that for some reason, runaway capitalism (like what we have) looked an awful lot like runaway communism.
Let's see, both have privileged classes - the most loyal adherents of the said systems (Communist Party members and the ultra-rich). Both glorify the military and hard labor with flowery rhetoric, but reward them very little. Everyone's supposed to be equal, but in reality that's far from the case.
EXCLUSIVE: FIRST BUSH-APPOINTED CHAIR OF U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION SAYS 'NO STANDARDS' FOR E-VOTING DEVICES, SYSTEM 'RIPE FOR STEALING ELECTIONS'!
Former Chair Says He 'Was Deceived', EAC and Federal Efforts for Election Reform 'A Charade', 'Travesty'!
In Stark Contrast to Current EAC Chair, Rev. DeForest Soaries Blasts White House, Congress in Transcript of Unaired Interview from Major Broadcast Network!
The BRAD BLOG has obtained an EXCLUSIVE partial transcript from a recent, unaired interview by a major broadcast network with former U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) chair Rev. DeForest Soaries.
Soaries was appointed by George W. Bush as the first chair of the commission created by the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in the wake of the 2000 Presidential Election Debacle. In the interview, available here for the first time, Soaries excoriates both Congress and the White House, referring to their dedication to reforming American election issues as "a charade" and "a travesty," and says the system now in place is "ripe for stealing elections and for fraud."
Having resigned from the commission in April of 2005, Soaries goes on to explain that he believes he was "deceived" by both the White House and Congress, and that neither were ever "really serious about election reform."
The explosive comments are the latest evidence highlighting serious deficiencies in the federal body, created by HAVA for oversight of elections systems, including new electronic voting devices, and standards for the use and security of those systems.
In the unaired interview, conducted last August, Soaries says there are "no standards" for voting systems and that Congress and the White House "made things worse through the passage of the Help America Vote Act."
Due to underfunding and lack of attention to the EAC and the Election Reform it was supposed to oversee, Soaries says we now have an "inability to trust the technology that we use" to count votes in our American democracy, even as "we’re spending a billion dollars a week in Iraq."
"We know more today about how to build a machine to take pictures of rocks on Mars than we know about how to build a machine to safeguard the American right to vote," complained Soaries in the interview.
more...
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3491
Monkey See, Monkey Do
New Delhi has an unusual urban woe, marauding monkeys. Its solution is even more unusual, and controversial - bring in even bigger monkeys
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1546980,00.html?cnn=yes
Cool, so I have an exit plan when it all goes to hell here.
See ya in New Delhi
Posted by: monkey at October 17, 2006 06:11 PM
Well, you know, your job may have already been outsourced to New Delhi. So a move there could simply be "relocation" for your job. :/
And from the Otterworld Go There, Read That Department:
Our buddy Liza Sabater has put up a thought-provoking post with a number of interesting & related links to follow over on her CultureKitchen.com site, at http://tinyurl.com/yadv63 :
"Rise Of A New Political Beast of Burden: The 'Unaffiliated' Political Promoter"
otter gives it two paws up,
Otter
And now this, from the Otterworld La-La-La-La-La Fingers In Me Ears I Can't Hear You Department:
----------------
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday the U.S. military is too strong to lose the war in Iraq, but ultimately political solutions will be needed to win.
"You've got a situation where it's not possible to lose militarily," Rumsfeld said. "It's also going to require more than military power to prevail."
Rumsfeld, in comments to reporters at the Pentagon, said U.S. training of security forces in Iraq had been "rushed" but that placing U.S. trainers within the Iraqi police force would gradually boost Iraq's ability to reduce violence on its own.
Still, he said, Iraq's parliament needs to resolve the issue of federalism and create a unity government to squash the violence that plagues much of Iraq and has frustrated U.S. efforts to begin withdrawing troops.
"It's going to take all those things together," Rumsfeld said.
U.S. military commanders say violence in Iraq, which has killed 2,750 American troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis, remains contained within five of the 18 provinces. Those areas, however, include Baghdad and much of the surrounding metropolitan area.
American officials regularly accuse Iran and Syria of supporting the insurgency, and Rumsfeld on Tuesday declined to comment on suggestions that the United States should seek those countries' help to reduce violence in Iraq.
"Neither Iran nor Syria have been helpful," he said.
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help I need some bodies help not just any bodies,
Otter
My dinner with Ken Mehlman
The RNC chairman compares Bush to Truman, Iraq to Korea
By Howard Fineman
MSNBC
WASHINGTON - They are calling them “pre-mortems” — explanations in advance for what are expected to be Republican losses in the midterm elections next month. I heard a fascinating “pre-mortem” over dinner the other night from no less a personage than Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee.
It went roughly as follows: The Democrats are running against George Bush and the Iraq war. To the extent that they succeed, it will largely be because of the president’s low job-approval numbers — which are at rock bottom mostly because voters can’t see that he is leading us in a new and “different kind of war, an insurgent war” against Islamic fascists. The last president to lead us “for the first time in a different kind of war” was President Harry Truman. The war was the Korean War, which started in the summer of 1950, and which was going badly that fall. “People thought at the time that the Korean War was a failure,” Mehlman said. “Now we look back and see that it was an incredibly important success.” It defined the Cold War, a war America won.
Mehlman insisted to me that the Republicans would hang onto both the House and the Senate. He may be right: he is the best in the business at what he does, which is organize election campaigns.
But if Bush=Truman and Iraq=Korea, then the GOP is in for a drubbing next month. In the midterm elections of 1950, the president’s party, the Democrats, lost 29 House seats and six Senate seats. Eerily, those numbers are in the plausible upper reaches of the Beltway consensus about the amount of seats Republicans will lose on Nov. 7.
Mehlman is a tough, unsentimental guy — a stickler for detail who is also eager to deal in big ideas and big issues. Not yet 40, a graduate of Harvard Law School, he got his political training in Texas as a protégé of Karl Rove.
Mehlman has been “Karl Rove’s Karl Rove” for nearly a decade: tinged, though not singed, by controversy — and yet was voted “Campaign Manager of the Year” by fellow political consultants for his handling of Bush-Cheney in ’04.
Now he has the unenviable fate of being in the limelight in the sixth year of a presidency (always a tough time to defend the president’s party) in the midst of an unpopular war.
What’s his theory for GOP survival?
Stabbing furiously at thick slabs of Ahi tuna, Mehlman laid out the national themes, which boil down to The Three Ts: Terrorists, Tax Cuts and Traditionalist judges.
The idea is to suggest stark “choices” on all three, beginning with a White House signing ceremony for the new legislation that governs the interrogation and trial of “detainees” accused of terrorism.
“Do we have an interrogation program against guys like Khalid Sheik Mohammad or do we not?” he asked rhetorically. “Do we have a Patriot Act or not? Do we have surveillance? Do we have missile defense? A whole series of things that don’t involve Iraq.”
As for Iraq, he said, the aim is to ask Democrats whether they “want another Taliban-like Afghanistan between Syrian and Iran. Is that acceptable?”
Of course many Democrats support tough measures — including the new detainee-interrogation law, and even some Republicans have doubts about that new law. As for the question of who made Iraq vulnerable to becoming another pre-war Afghanistan, many experts would argue that WE did by invading the country.
On taxes, the idea is to quote the anti-tax-cut statements of Rep. Charlie Rangel, the Democrat from New York who stands in line to become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. And the third point is judges. "You want to talk about Sam Alito and John Roberts being on the Supreme Court? We do, but you were against them….”
The Democrats’ strategy, he said, is clear: to run against “Bush, Iraq and corruption.” “I believe we will hold the House and the Senate,” he said as he finished his tuna and prepared to hurry off to Florida (to Mark Foley’s old district). “Last week we had a horrendous week,” he said. “So far this week has been pretty good.”
It was Monday night.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15302573/
Hey, look! Just when it was finally falling off the political radar, the sleaze festival of the new American century just got a new lease on life...
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley, who claimed he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic clergyman when he was a teen, will reveal the man's identity to the Archdiocese of Miami, his attorney said Tuesday.
No criminal charges can be filed because the statute of limitations on sexual assault expired long ago, but the archdiocese requested information about Foley's accusations, attorney Gerald Richman said.
"We're talking about issues that happened 36 to 38 years ago," Richman said. "This is all part of the healing process for Mark Foley. He thinks it's important to go ahead and bring this information out and hope and encourage other people who have been similarly abused to go ahead and come forward."
Richman said that when details are released they would deflate critics who have accused Foley, 52, of making up the abuse allegation shortly after he was confronted last month with sexually explicit electronic messages he had sent to teenage male pages.
[snip]
---------------
más palomitas más cerveza,
Otter
Posted by: Otter at October 17, 2006 07:12 PM
Rummy just put the speek in double speek, this is the man that W trusts to run the war?
I guess it does not need repeating again that we send recruits with as little as 6 months training to Iraq in some cases less. They have had 3 YEARS not months YEARS to train Iraqi forces to take over. We have spent billions of dollars on the training of Iraqi forces and police and have nothing but chaos to show for it.
The Mark of stupidity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect differant results.
Mr. Rumsfeld, Helllllllloooooooo Stupid.
Posted by: Otter at October 17, 2006 07:30 PM
Good ol' West Palm...
That's Rosey, not rosarie, Senator.
Posted by: Otter at October 17, 2006 07:30 PM
I am thinking the Priest is either 100 or dead by now how conveniant. We are supposed to feel bad for him now. I would feel bad for the boy he was if these things could be proved, but I would still detest the man he became.
I know statistics show that the abused often grow up to become abuser but there are an equal number out there that find the thought of doing to someone else what was done to them abhorrent. So cut the crap Foley. The statute of limitations has run out on our patients.
Florida activist, candidate charged with felony wiretapping
Miriam Raftery
Published: Tuesday October 17, 2006
The State of Florida has filed felony wiretapping charges against election reform activist Charles Grapski for audiotaping his efforts to obtain public records related to his investigation of alleged election fraud, RAW STORY has learned. He faces arraignment Tuesday, October 17th.
"The State has held charges over my head since May 1st, six months," Grapski told RAW STORY. "I have not been allowed until now the right of subpoena power to do discovery in my own defense. Now the State is saying I must choose between two rights: the right to a speedy trial, and my right to a fair trial."
RAW STORY has previously reported on officials' attempts to suppress Grapski's investigation and that Grapski was later banned by a judge from campaigning in the City of Alachua.
Grapski, a Democrat, said he dropped out of his bid to win election to the House of Representatives due to the unresolved threat of legal challenges and the judicial ban, which made it impossible for him to campaign in his district. He endorsed Democrat Chuck Chestnut IV, who won the primary race.
"This is such a severe case of silencing and a violation of the First Amendment," said Carol Thomas, co-coordinator of Grapski's defense committee, along with Scott Doran. "He has been as effectively banned as any black person in South Africa during Apartheid. He is not able to contact any officials by snail mail, fax, telephone, e-mail, or even a third party person."
Grapski is charged with felony wiretapping for making an audiotape of his efforts to obtain documents at City Hall. Those documents related to a lawsuit alleging fraud in the canvassing of absentee ballots in the election of Commissioner James A. Lewis, who won by 18 absentee votes.
"This is not the first time that sitting Commissioners who are candidates for an election have won by absentee votes. This seems to be a chronic problem here and nobody takes it seriously," Thomas said. "Suddenly absentee ballots disappear. It's outrageous."
Grapski audiotaped City Manager Clovis Watson, who commented on the fact that he was being taped, consented, and kept talking, Thomas noted. Subsequently Watson, who also serves as Police Commissioner (an apparent violation of Florida law that prohibits officials from holding more than one public office at a time), ordered Grapski arrested.
"He didn't do anything a newspaper reporter doesn't do every day. It's absurd," Thomas said. "While he was being arrested, the editor of a newspaper was in there audiotaping this." A third person, Green Party representative Michael Canney, was also present making audiotapes. Canney and Grapski have been threatened with additional charges, but the newspaper editor has not, Thomas said.
Representatives from the office of Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist were not available for comment.
"This is why I did record the meeting," Grapski said. "When public officials lie, the only thing that proves wrongdoing is the very tape the state has had in its possession since this issue began."
He added, "If I don't exercise my right to a speedy trial, they can hold this over me for several years. But if we demand speedy trial, we have a window of a week to act." The trial would then take place around Thanksgiving, he said, adding, "We are determined to get this over as quickly as possible."
The key obstacle is money. "We have to raise $40,000 this week in order for a speedy trial to occur," Thomas revealed. "We are trying to get together a nationwide defense fund.
The Charles Grapski Legal Defense fund may be reached c/o Carol Thomas at P.O. Box 190, Alachua, FL 32616-0190.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Florida_activist_candidate_charged_with_felony_1017.html