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We Endorse Paper Ballots
We received a call last week from the folks at Velvet Revolution about a campaign they have begun to assure a paper ballot for every vote in America.
![pnotvs[1].gif](http://www.democracycellproject.net/blog/archives/pnotvs[1].gif)
Here is the letter they would like to see flood Members' offices:
Open Letter to all Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives:
We, the undersigned non-partisan election integrity organizations, strongly urge you, as a first order of business in the 110th Congress, to enact new federal legislation to protect the integrity of our elections. While there are many areas of concern for any such legislation, none is more essential to the accuracy of our elections and the confidence among our electorate than for there to be a paper ballot for every vote cast. Not a paper "trail" or a paper "record," but a paper ballot.
In light of lessons learned during the 2006 primary and general elections -- with myriad contests resulting in uncertainty and thousands of voters in state after state turned away from the polls unable to cast a vote on DRE systems which failed throughout the day -- we now hold that a paper ballot, whether counted by optical-scan system or hand, is the minimum requirement for any Election Reform legislation in which voters may have confidence. Such a requirement is needed to help ensure Americans that every legally registered voter can vote, that every vote is recorded precisely as the voter intends, and that every vote is counted and, if necessary, re-counted accurately.
The rest of the letter can be found here. We endorsed this effort and would like to ask you all to participate in any ways you can.
The issue of voting integrity has been at the heart of our concerns from the beginning of the DCP, and many of you have continued to urge us all to work on the issue. We believe, along with our friends at Velvet Revolution, that this Congress has an opportunity and, perhaps, the will to act.
But petitioning alone won't do it. Congress will respond to calls that flood the offices, direct visits to district and federal offices, media coverage (video your Congressman--put it up on YouTube!), letters, op-eds, and pressure from political leaders, especially those considering opposing the current members.
Richard and I talked it over and we would really hope that this issue is one we can all work on together. What will you be willing to do towards the paper ballot initiative?
All creative ideas will be considered, with preferential consideration for ideas that look like they might work!
THIS JUST IN:
110TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R.
To require United States military disengagement from Iraq, to provide United States assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Ms. LEE, Ms. WATERS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. CLAY, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on lllllllllllllll
A BILL
To require United States military disengagement from Iraq, to provide United States assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq, and for other purposes.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
5 ‘‘Bring the Troops Home and Iraq Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2007’’.
KEY PROVISIONS: THE BRING OUR TROOPS HOME AND IRAQ SOVEREIGNTY RESTORATION ACT (Woolsey, Lee, Waters, et. al.)--1/16/07
• Declares it to be U.S. policy to: (1) end the occupation of Iraq; (2) accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi military and security forces; (3) pursue security and stability in Iraq through diplomacy; (4) help preserve the territorial integrity of Iraq as a nation state; (5) take all appropriate measures to account for any missing U.S. soldiers or citizens in Iraq; and (6) turn over all security activities and military operations in Iraq to the elected Iraqi government within 6 months of the date of enactment (includes language from Rep. Abercrombie-Jones-Kucinich, Woolsey, Lee, Murtha, and Allen bills from 109th Congress);
• Withdraws all U.S. troops and military contractors in Iraq and return to the U.S. or redeployment outside of the Middle East within 6 months of date of enactment;
• Prohibits any permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq (Rep. Lee’s preferred language);
• Prohibits funding to deploy or continue to deploy U.S. troops in Iraq with very limited exceptions (Rep. McGovern’s preferred language);
• Repeals 2002 law authorizing use of military force against Iraq (Rep.Waters’ and Woolsey’s preferred language);
• If requested by the Iraqi government, authorizes U.S. support for replacement of U.S. troops/contractors with an international stabilization force to begin during the 6-month period for U.S. military disengagement from the date of enactment and to stay in Iraq no longer than 2 years;
• Accelerates U.S. troop/contractor assistance for training of a permanent Iraqi police force and neighborhood, village, and tribal home guards comprised of Iraqi citizens;
• Prohibits U.S. participation in any long-term Iraqi oil production sharing agreements without prior open debate in Iraq and promulgation and enactment by the Iraqi National Assembly of new Iraqi law to govern investment, location, development, production, and marketing of Iraqi petroleum resources;
• Caps U.S. personnel in U.S. Embassy in Baghdad at no more than 500 officials in coordination with dismantling of the Green Zone;
• Requires independent audit of prior U.S. assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq plus comprehensive damage assessment and report to Congress;
• Authorizes wide array of non-military U.S. bilateral and multilateral assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq;
• Guarantees health care for U.S. veterans of military operations in Iraq and other conflicts (language from Former Rep. Lane Evans bill); and
• Upon completion of U.S. military disengagement from Iraq, creates a bipartisan, joint select committee of Congress to be comprised of 18 House and Senate Members to be appointed by the Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, after consultation with and consideration of minority recommendations for appointments, and to report its final recommendations by December 31, 2008.
NEWS from
CONGRESSWOMAN LYNN WOOLSEY
6th District, California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Chris Shields
January 17, 2007
REMARKS BY
REP. LYNN WOOLSEY
PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING INTRODUCTION OF
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME AND
SOVEREIGNTY OF IRAQ RESTORATION ACT
JANUARY 16, 2007
-REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY-
“Today Congresswomen Waters and Lee and I are introducing a bill that would bring our troops home from Iraq within a six month timeframe.
“The Bring Our Troops Home and Sovereignty of Iraq Restoration Act is the first comprehensive legislative proposal to end the occupation and provide a framework to help bring stability back to Iraq.
“Last Wednesday night, President Bush demonstrated to the world that he continues to remain blind to the realities on the ground in Iraq. Instead of putting forth a plan that would withdraw our troops, the President is increasing our military presence, by escalating the number of troops by over twenty thousand. What President Bush fails to grasp is that our military presence is only fueling the insurgency, plunging Iraq further into chaos and civil war.
“The November elections showed just how fed up the American public is with the President’s failed Iraq policy. It is time to honor that mandate. It is now up to the Congress to catch up with the will of the American public.
“During his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Bush challenged those of us who disagree with him to offer a plan of our own. Today, we stand before you, and the American public, to take up his challenge.
“The Congress has already appropriated funding that will support our troops and keep this occupation going for at least another six months. That funding instead should be used to finance an aggressive withdrawal plan that brings our troops home to their families. Our bill would do exactly that.
“Our plan will also…
1. Withdraw all U.S. troops and military contractors from Iraq within six months from date of enactment.
2. Prohibit any further funding to deploy, or continue to deploy U.S. troops in Iraq. The bill does, however, allow for funding to be used, as needed, to ensure a safe withdrawal of all US military personnel and contractors, diplomatic consultations. Funding may also be used for the increased training and equipping of Iraqi and international security forces.
3. Accelerate, during the six month transition, training of a permanent Iraqi security force.
4. Authorize, if requested by the Iraqi government, U.S. support for an international stabilization force. Such a force would be funded for no longer than two years, and be combined with economic and humanitarian assistance.
5. Guarantee full health care funding, including mental health, for U.S. veterans of military operations in Iraq and other conflicts.
“In addition the bill would:
6. Rescind the Congressional Authorization for the War in Iraq.
7. Prohibit the construction of permanent US military bases in the country.
8. Finally, we believe that Iraqi oil belongs to the Iraqis. Once the oil is in the international market, the U.S. will certainly have access to our share. That’s why our bill ensures that the U.S. has no long-term control over Iraqi oil.
“Our plan, with the exception of Veterans’ benefits, will cost the American people pennies on the dollar as compared to continuing the occupation for two more years. It will save lives, bodies, and minds, and it will give Iraq back to the Iraqis. It is an important step in regaining our credibility in the region and throughout the world, and provides the President, and this Congress, with a comprehensive way to respond to the majority of Americans who want our troops to come home.”
Posted by: karen at January 17, 2007 06:50 PM
Item (2) in paragraph one is the loophole that will keep our troops in Iraq. Bu$hCo used that excuse to keep our troops there before.
Paragraph two... date of enactment... could be troublesome. Bu$hCo WILL drag this whole thing out, debate after debate and much name-calling will take place and spinmeisters in Lamestream Media will present only the neoCon excuses why we need to stay in Iraq and call Dems "unpatriotic" - again.
THIS has TEETH (AUMF was not meant to give DimWit war powers that belong only to Congress)...:
• Repeals 2002 law authorizing use of military force against Iraq (Rep.Waters’ and Woolsey’s preferred language);
THIS is why this bill is almost surely doomed to fail (depending on how many politicians are getting kickbacks from oil corporations and Halliburton, et al.):
• Prohibits U.S. participation in any long-term Iraqi oil production sharing agreements without prior open debate in Iraq and promulgation and enactment by the Iraqi National Assembly of new Iraqi law to govern investment, location, development, production, and marketing of Iraqi petroleum resources;
• Caps U.S. personnel in U.S. Embassy in Baghdad at no more than 500 officials in coordination with dismantling of the Green Zone;
• Requires independent audit of prior U.S. assistance for reconstruction and reconciliation in Iraq plus comprehensive damage assessment and report to Congress;
HUH?!?!? This means nothing will get done before Dec. 31, '08, AFTER the next prez election (assuming DimWit doesn't declare his official dictatorship by then and cancel elections because he will have sparked WWIII)
• Upon completion of U.S. military disengagement from Iraq, creates a bipartisan, joint select committee of Congress to be comprised of 18 House and Senate Members to be appointed by the Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, after consultation with and consideration of minority recommendations for appointments, and to report its final recommendations by December 31, 2008.
~~~~~~~~~~~
In other words, it's still left to the NEXT president to stop the illegal war and close Gitmo. Assuming we get to the point of having a NEXT president, that is.
Where is the provision to close Gitmo at the same time?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/17/white-house-goes-after-prosecutors/
White House Goes After Prosecutors
I encourage you to watch this video from the Senate floor, Dianne Feinstein is speaking. I've watched it twice.
How the reauthorization of the last Patriot Act's new additions enables the AG to avoid Senate confirmation hearings on US attorneys.... Godzilla (to enable Herr Boosh to stay dictator) is stacking the courts (IMHO).
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/17/daily-show-deconstructing-the-surge/
Daily Show: Deconstructing the “Surge”
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/17/colbert-nails-dinesh-dsouza/
Colbert Nails Dinesh D’Souza
My Congresswoman (N. Velasquez) is in the Out of Iraq caucus. Are all the co-signers and those who introduced listed above?
She is also Small Business Chair, so I was wondering what kind of focus we could give to the work of Kerry/Nydia combined. Alan is a business writer. Just thinking. Blog threads, submissions, worthwhile? I talked to her at a holiday party.
Now to the header. If voting is mentioned somewhere on the planet, I'm there.
I need to do a memo later tonight and will have gathered some thoughts on data, and what is possible in the 110th Congress, legislation the pipeline, short and long term problems and solutions.
Federal has a tradition of not dictating to the states, however much the vendors interpreted HAVA to rush bad designs of electronic voting we can't seem to get rid of.
Be back later.
Everyone knows I've been strictly in favor of paper ballots since day one. I still am. Even if the votes are counted in scanners, I firmly believe there must be paper ballots for any re-counts or contested elections. I'm also in favor of registration as easy as we have it here in this state.
The "problem" arises from each state controlling the laws for registration and voting. When voters in each of the states who have been screwed over by e-voting machines one too many times catch on to the "irregularities" and get tired of being screwed over, then I expect something will be done in those individual states.
http://www.freepress.net/news/20357
Bill Moyers’ Speech at the National Conference for Media Reform
From National Conference for Media Reform, January 12, 2007
By Bill Moyers
Excerpts:
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ONCE SAID, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.”
“Liberty,” he said, “is a well-armed lamb, contesting the vote.”
~~~~~
Both parties bowed to their will when the Republican Congress passed and President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. That monstrous assault on democracy, with malignant consequences for journalism, was nothing but a welfare giveaway to the largest, richest, and most powerful media conglomerations in the world. Goliaths, whose handful of owners controlled, commodified, and monetized everyone and everything in sight. Call it “the plantation mentality.”
~~~~~
As ownership gets more and more concentrated, fewer and fewer independent sources of information have survived in the marketplace; and those few significant alternatives that do survive, such as PBS and NPR, are undergoing financial and political pressure to reduce critical news content and to shift their focus in a mainstream direction, which means being more attentive to establishment views than to the bleak realities of powerlessness that shape the lives of ordinary people.
What does today’s media system mean for the notion of an informed public cherished by democratic theory? Quite literally, it means that virtually everything the average person sees or hears, outside of her own personal communications, is determined by the interests of private, unaccountable executives and investors whose primary goal is increasing profits and raising the share prices. More insidiously, this small group of elites determines what ordinary people do not see or hear. In-depth coverage of anything, let alone the problems real people face day-to-day, is as scarce as sex, violence and voyeurism are pervasive.
~~~~~
I think what’s happened is not indifference or laziness or incompetence, but the fact that most journalists on the plantation have so internalized conventional wisdom that they simply accept that the system is working as it should. I’m doing a documentary this spring called “Buying the War,” and I can’t tell you again how many reporters have told me that it just never occurred to them that high officials would manipulate intelligence in order to go to war. Hello?
~~~~~
SO I’M BACK WHERE I STARTED WITH YOU, AND WHERE THIS MOVEMENT IS HEADED. The greatest challenge to the plantation mentality of the media giants is the innovation and expression made possible by the digital revolution. I may still prefer the newspaper for its investigative journalism and in-depth analysis, but we now have it in our means to tell a different story from Big Media, our story.
The other story of America that says, free speech is not just corporate speech. That news is not just what officials tell us. And we are not just chattel in the fields living the boss man’s story. This is the great gift of the digital revolution, and you must never, never let them take it away from you. The Internet, cell phones and digital cameras that can transmit images over the Internet makes possible a nation of story tellers, every citizen a Tom Paine.
Let the man in the big house on Pennsylvania Avenue think that over, and the woman of the House on Capitol Hill. And the media moguls in their chalets at Sun Valley, gathered to review the plantation’s assets and multiply them, nail it to their door. They no longer own the copyright to America’s story. It’s not a top-down story anymore. Other folks are going to write this story from the ground up. And the truth will be out that the media plantation, like the cotton plantation of old, is not divinely sanctioned. It’s not the product of natural forces. The media system we have been living under for a long time now was created behind closed doors where the power-brokers met to divvy up the spoils.
~~~~~
Just this week, Sen. Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, and Sen. Olympia Snow, a Republican, introduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2007 to require fair and equitable access to all content. And over in the House, that champion of the public interest, Rep. Ed Markey, is once again standing there waiting to press the battle.
A caveat here. Those other folks don’t give up so easy. Remember, this agreement is only for two years, and they will be back with all the lobbyists money can hire. As the Washington Post follows George Bush into the black hole of Baghdad, the press in Washington won’t be covering many stories like this because of priorities.
A further caveat. Consider what AT&T got in the bargain. For giving up on Net Neutrality, it got the green light from government to dominate over 67 million phone lines in 22 states, almost 12 million broadband users, and total control over Cingular Wireless, the country’s largest mobile phone company with 58 million cell phone users. It’s as if China swallowed India.
I bring this up for a reason. Big Media is ravenous. It never gets enough, always wants more. And it will stop at nothing to get it. These conglomerates are an empire, and they are imperial.
~~~~~
Meanwhile, be vigilant about the congressional rewrite of the Telecommunications Act that is beginning as we speak. Track it day by day and post what you learn far and wide, because the decisions made in this session of Congress will affect the future of all media, corporate and noncommercial. If we lose the future now, we’ll never get it back.
{{{Highly recommended reading. I find it interesting that the Telecommunications Act was passed under Clinton... and then the media who profited most from that bill proceeded to crucify him on the altar of neoCon "values"....}}}
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_as/us_afghanistan
Gates may seek more Afghanistan troops
Nonny O, Any wonder Murdoch is willing to hype Hillary, or Bill3, just in case it's in the cards for Dems that year. Bill knows how to play corporate ball better than most.
Posted by: karen at January 17, 2007 06:49 PM
So what does this mean, that my Rep Earl Pomeroy didn't sign that?
Probably a meaningless question, since his name didn't appear on it.
I write letters, but they don't seem to register.
Totally off topic. I don't know if American TV shows many BBC documentaries but I've just read a review of one I'll be watching tonight here in OZ. Without seeing it, I say it's one to watch out for.
http://www.yourtv.com.au/reviews/index.cfm?i=112982
Reviews
In the Shadow of the Palms: Iraq
Forget the righteous clips of propaganda and hollow news reports, and see a true insight into a country torn apart by war.
In the Shadow of the Palms: Iraq portrays life before, during, and after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Billed by the ABC as the only documentary to achieve such a feat and "a humane and profoundly authentic portrayal of the struggles of that country's people", this lives up to the promotion.
The hand-held style of filming adds to the authenticity and immediacy of what is on show. The people featured are heart-achingly real, and the level of connection achieved inspires not merely sympathy, but genuine empathy.
There is no voice-over or narration directing thought or sentiment. There is just the camera filming what unfolds before it. The only guide is self-contemplation and the only response is deeply personal.
When a teacher asks a student if she is afraid of war, the question resonates personally, as if directed at you across the screen. Everyday normality is juxtaposed against ruthless violence. Even in moments of peace, there is a pervading sense of menace that threatens to overwhelm.
The directness of filming and honesty of treatment compels you to engage and demands that you respond. This is not complacent viewing; it is an affecting session of human experience.
In the Shadow of the Palms: Iraq airs on ABC TV: Thursday, January 18, 9.30pm.
Minh Nguyen
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq
White House tries to avoid Iraq showdown
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/17/iraq-bushs-broken-egg/
Iraq: Bush’s Broken Egg
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/aviation_security
No-fly list checked for accuracy, cut
{{{What's ironic is that last night's episode of Boston Legal dealt with the no-fly list....}}}
oops. The documentary reviewed above is from Australia, not the UK.
DOES television in US air BBC documentaries? I know for BBC Radio, I can only get a rare and short broadcast on my car radio, and I have to be in a certain location on the road.
This was not shown on American tv but everyone who has seen it has really talked it up as indispensible viewing:
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares
I did just watch some tv without the sound while on a treadmill at the health club. I watched some sea turtles on Animal Planet and a little Spongebob. I got a glimpse of Hillary Clinton and Harold Reid so I guess there are Democrats on tv sometimes now.
Original BBC blurb on Power of Nightmares, which was shown by BBC in the UK over 3 consecutive nights.
The Power of Nightmares: Baby It's Cold Outside
Should we be worried about the threat from organised terrorism or is it simply a phantom menace being used to stop society from falling apart? In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares. The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares.
In a new series, the Power of Nightmares explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion. It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media.
I: Baby It's Cold Outside
II: The Phantom Victory
III: The Shadows In The Cave
At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neo-conservatives and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. These two groups have changed the world but not in the way either intended. Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful Together they created today's nightmare vision of an organised terror network. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.
The rise of the politics of fear begins in 1949 with two men whose radical ideas would inspire the attack of 9/11 and influence the neo-conservative movement that dominates Washington. Both these men believed that modern liberal freedoms were eroding the bonds that held society together.
The two movements they inspired set out, in their different ways, to rescue their societies from this decay. But in an age of growing disillusion with politics, the neo-conservatives turned to fear in order to pursue their vision. They would create a hidden network of evil run by the Soviet Union that only they could see. The Islamists were faced by the refusal of the masses to follow their dream and began to turn to terror to force the people to "see the truth"'.
-----VERY interesting juxtaposition to the turning ahead of the nuclear annihilation clock.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/travel/us-man-wins-suit-in-airline-raceprofiling-case/2007/01/17/1168709808520.html
US man wins suit in airline race-profiling case
January 17, 2007 - 2:08PM
A Florida man removed from an American Airlines flight because he was considered a security threat has won a $US400,000 ($511,084) jury award in a case that accused the airline of racial profiling.
John Cerqueira, a US citizen of Portuguese descent, claimed that he was removed from a 2003 flight at Boston's Logan International Airport because he appeared Middle Eastern, and was denied service even after police determined he did not pose a threat.
Cerqueira's attorneys said today that the suit, which accused the airline of violating his civil rights, was the first of its kind to go to trial. The federal jury in Massachusetts made its decision on Friday.
Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 12:25 AM
The Power of Nightmares is also free for viewing in three segments of one hour each on YouTube. I posted a link to it a couple of threads back.
Yes, viewing it should be as "required" as An Inconvenient Truth.... IMHO, of course.
The extent to which Lamestream TV Media has brainwashed the viewing public is truly frightening - more for FACTS left out of their broadcasts than what few facts have ever been reported (missed if you didn't see/hear some five or ten seconds of a little mention of any of the few facts they've ever reported).
I hope at some point that Bill Moyers mentions the BBC series.... With Tomlinson gone, perhaps (only perhaps) something truly newsworthy may be on PBS again.
hey brother christian with your high and mighty errand-
your actions speak so loud i can't hear a word you're sayin-
hey sister bleeding heart with all of your compassion-
your labors soothe the hurt but can't assuage temptation-
hey man of science with your perfect rules of measure-
can you improve this place with the data that you gather?-
hey mother mercy will your loins bear fruit forever?-
is your fecundity a trummel or a treasure?
and i want to conquer the world-
give all the idiots a brand new religion-
put an end to poverty,uncleanliness and toil-
promote equality with all of my decisions-
with a quick wink of the eye and a "god you must joking!"-
hey mister diplomat with your worldly aspirations-
did you see the children cry when you left them at the station?-
hey moral soldier you've got righteous proclamation-
and precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations-
and i want to conquer the world-
give all the idiots a brand new religion-
put an end to poverty , uncleanliness and toil-
promote equality in all of my decisions-
and i want to conquer the world-
expose the culprits and feed them to the children-
i'll do away with air pollution and then i'll save the whales-
we'll have peace on earth and global communion-
i want to conquer the world!!!!
-----bad religion-"i want to conquer the world" no control, epitaph records 1989
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070117/wl_csm/ohappiness
New quest in British politics: public happiness
Excerpt:
'Department of happiness'
Tony Blair meanwhile has set up a government team, sometimes dubbed the "Department of Happiness" to study how to make people happier. An initial report, which collated international research, came up with some obvious findings, and one or two surprising ones.
~~~~~
{Seriously. I didn't know there were politicians as dumb as our dumber DimWit who said something to the effect that he 'wanted people to get on with their lives' to Jim Lehrer (sound bytes on the C&L Olberman link for the video) - although since Blair is Bu$h's poodle, perhaps this kind of nonsense can be expected. DimTwit wants us to buy, buy, buy and pay attention to trivial TV programs, shop some more, and ignore what neoCons are doing to us. He wants us pacified and compliant. It seems Blair wants the same for the Brits. I wonder if The Cretin will start some stupid program like what Blair is doing. I have a suggestion to make people happy: give us our rights and privileges back; stop the illegal war in Iraq and bring our troops home from both Iraq and Afghanistan; shut down Gitmo; tax the corporations and the very rich, not the middle-class and poor; get corporations out of our government - they already get tax breaks, they don't need corporate welfare on top of it; do something about affordable medical care, prescription medications, education (sensible legislation, not idiotic things like NCLB that teach to the tests). When those things are started on, the fear-mongering coming from Lamestream Media might ease off a bit and stop scaring the gullible sheeple out of their limited wits and maybe we can get back to some kind of normalcy. That's for starters. We can add to the list as soon as a few good things are accomplished....}
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2162860.ece
Endangered gorillas eaten by rebel troops
{More on link, including mention of other endangered animals in Africa because of all the warring factions there. Dian Fossey must be just rolling in her grave.}
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2149716.ece
US strikes on al-Qa'ida chiefs kill nomads
Excerpt:
The operation, which opened a new front in Washington's anti-terror campaign, seems to have backfired spectacularly in the five days since it was launched. In addition to the scores of Somali civilians killed, the simmering civil war in the failed state has been rekindled.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2145150.ece
US strikes on Somalia 'missed target'
Maliki stresses need to bolster Iraqi forces
Need for U.S. forces could drop ‘dramatically,’ Iraqi prime minister says
By Joshua Partlow
The Washington Post
Jan 18, 2007
BAGHDAD, Jan. 17 - The Iraqi government's need for American troops would "dramatically go down" in three to six months if the United States accelerated the process of equipping and arming Iraq's security forces, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Wednesday.
The head of Iraq's Shiite Muslim-led government defended his country's independence and sovereignty and called on U.S. leaders to show faith in his ability to lead.
Maliki disputed President Bush's remarks broadcast Tuesday that the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein "looked like it was kind of a revenge killing" and took exception to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Senate testimony last week that Maliki's administration was on "borrowed time."
The prime minister said statements such as Rice's "give morale boosts for the terrorists and push them toward making an extra effort and making them believe they have defeated the American administration," Maliki said. "But I can tell you that they have not defeated the Iraqi government."
Speaking through an interpreter to a group of reporters for an hour in his offices in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, Maliki found several ways to say that Iraq is beholden to no country. He defended Iraq's constitutional right to the death penalty, its commitment to dialogue with Iran and Syria despite U.S. opposition to those governments, and its determination to use Iraqi troops to lead the latest effort to pacify Baghdad.
At a time when Bush has committed an additional 21,500 troops to the fight in Iraq, Maliki went further than he has before in establishing a time frame for drawing down the U.S. presence.
"If we succeed in implementing the agreement between us to speed up the equipping and providing weapons to our military forces, I think that within three to six months our need for the American troops will dramatically go down. That's on the condition that there are real strong efforts to support our military forces and equipping them and arming them," Maliki said.
In a statement issued by Maliki's office Tuesday, he said Iraq would continue to build up its armed forces "so it will be possible to withdraw the Multinational forces from cities, or withdraw 50,000 soldiers from Iraq."
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16660849/
Posted by: karen at January 17, 2007 06:49 PM
So what does this mean, that my Rep Earl Pomeroy didn't sign that?
Probably a meaningless question, since his name didn't appear on it.
I write letters, but they don't seem to register.
Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at January 17, 2007 11:49 PM
Truth,
The bill is just being drafted and others will sign on as the details are worked out. It has to go through a lot of steps before it can even be considered by Congress as a whole.
There is likely to be a Senate bill that corresponds but it's not clear whose version will survive.
Once the House bill is worked out a little more it will be important for those of us who support it to send strong messages to representatives.
What excited me about the bill is that it is what we can point to when the r-w says that there is no other plan for ending the conflict.
There were many such bills in the 109th Congress, but they never went anywhere. This proposal connects all of those little bills up and is likely to move further along in the 110th.
As most of you know, UFPJ has called for a march on Jan. 27th along with a lobby day on Jan. 29th. If you can come to DC and actually sit in your Representative's office and speak to staff, that is great and we would love to see you here.
If you can't come, you CAN call on that day.
It would be exciting to see the staff dealing with phones ringing off the hook.
The abandonment of George W. Bush
Will his veto pen be all that keeps him relevant for the next two years?
By Charlie Cook
WASHINGTON - While it is not unprecedented for a president to be ostracized by Congress, abandoned by even most of his own party's members, it's still pretty rare.
It was a delegation of congressional Republicans who convinced Richard Nixon that his days were numbered and that it was time to step down.
-snip-
Much can happen between now and a vote on George W. Bush's proposal to increase troop levels in Iraq. Congressional Republicans might come up with competing resolutions that express some broad support for the president's plan without explicitly endorsing higher troop levels, or perhaps a resolution opposing any move by Congress that might not reflect support for the troops, or something to that effect.
But there is a very distinct possibility that the president might find himself on the wrong end of a resolution opposing any additional troops, with as much as a majority of his own party's lawmakers expressing opposition to his plan.
It is not far-fetched to see upwards of 60 or 65 senators and 250 House members voting for such a resolution. Under such a scenario, Bush would suffer a stunning repudiation on what has become his signature policy and, for better or worse, the legacy for his presidency.
A significant defeat on this issue would codify the president's loss in public standing and the willingness of Republicans to part company with him, even on the issue most closely identified with Bush. And having defied the president on Iraq, it will not be hard to do it again on other issues less closely identified with him. It's not hard to see a cascading effect take hold.
Two consecutive elections -- 2002 and 2004 -- of Republican gains in both the House and Senate had caused some GOP members to think of themselves as almost bulletproof. With a perception that they didn't need to look over their shoulders at their districts on tough votes, last fall's loss of six Senate seats and 30 House seats, and the majorities they supported, changed all of that.
Now, the unrelenting bad news from Iraq has left the president in less-than-stellar standing with many Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Add to that the feeling among many Republicans that had Bush dumped Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld before the election, they would have been able to hold on to the majority -- albeit diminished by scandals -- and the commander-in-chief is left in low regard within the GOP cloakrooms.
-snip-
Many months ago, this column asked if the American people were about to hit the mute button on Bush, or if they had simply stopped listening to him entirely. My hunch is that we have reached that point and that most Republican members of Congress realize it, and their own survival instincts will be the more dominant factor in their voting behavior, rather than fealty to their party leader.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16675806/
Great thread header - need to remind Elizabeth to look here (our regional expert on fairness and clarity in voting).
I wake thinking about all this crap - it's not right! People wonder why the Democrats aren't more different from the Republicans. Globalization has helped in killing unions so that both parties now must depend somewhat (Republcians more than Democrats) on corporate help to fund candidates.
We're not a Welfare State so much as a Walmart State. Our dollar was worth $1.15 to the Euro but has gone down to more like $.65 since Bush came along. One of six of us lack health insurance but in other developed countries, the government usually kicks in what our boss doesn't. The disparity between what the CEO earns and the lowest worker earns runs 4-5x more on average in US than in, for example, France. & in European elections, there is always someone running who wants to introduce a more American model, with more outsourcing, more foreign goods, less taxes for the rich & a lower standard of living for the masses.
We have to have a lot of campaign finance reform and we need to do something about hypercorporatism. In the past, we had legislation limiting the extent of mergers and consolidation. There was a reason for this. It's gotten out of control and we need to do something about it. Protectionism isn't necessarily the answer but we need to stop the deficit spending and pay as we go. 2006 election was a landmark and now we have to do whatever it takes to get the neocons out of the spheres of influence. They are literally killing us and the planet for their own profit.
Most definitions of fascism specify that the corporations are running society. We don't have concentration camps. We have INS camps. What is the difference ..
We won't get much more out of corporate media than our bodies get out of corporate food. Salt kills our kidneys, transfats kill our livers and Walmart now sells groceries so the workers can shop at the company store. They can now require workers to be on-call 24/7 and soon they'll offer banking. If they extend credit, the workers will be completely enslaved. & remember - Walmart is now going upscale in some locations, selling what has turned out to be fake organic food and starting to carry expensive wines, quiche, luxury items in a more upscale facade. Prototype: Plano Texas.
I know the EU isn't perfect but the deficit isn't supposed to run over 3% or a member can be fined or even kicked out. How is deficit computed? I wonder what percentage our 2006 deficit is of our GDP, compared to other developed countries? Even with large state programs, massive immigration and aging populations, I'll bet if they aren't at war they aren't creating as huge of deficits. Some countries have universal preschool with Master's level teachers, and a certain number of respite hours for parents, regardless of income. Parental leave for both parents of several months instead of several weeks for just the mother.
I have three degrees and was back teaching within two weeks of the birth of the son. I nursed him between classes. My brother and his wife are both college educated and they have children 4 and 6. None of them have any health insurance. He has a pain in his side and a prostate so enlarged he can hardly pee. They had a business which failed and are deeply in debt. Made a few mistakes and completely fell off the machine. That's what happens in the Walmart state.
Recently we had a couple of snowstorms. The place where I work closed down. I had to use vacation time in order to get paid and for those who had been sick several times and didn't have time left, they didn't get paid at all. We can only carry over 34 hours at the end of the year, which includes holidays, sick and vacation all in one pot. That's about four days work and we've just started the year.
This may still be the richest country on earth but most of it is going to the top 1-2%. The figures on how much moreso this is over the last 6 years are staggering and frightening. Bush is nothing but the symbol of the 1-2%, bolstered up by the "values voters" who are voting against themselves and consigning themselves indefinitely to the Walmart State.
Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 09:21 AM
Things that make ya go, "duh".
It was Greed killed the beast.
... and it killed the Beauty, too.
Humorist Art Buchwald dies at 81
Columnist received Pulitzer Prize for political, social satires
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16687845/
In the master's chambers they gather for the feast; they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast.
RIP Art Buchwald.
I am at yet another anti-torture event, this time in the Rayburn Bldg. of the House of Representatives. This one is a press conference in which Ann Wright will announce a call for the censure of Charles "Cully" Stimson from civil rights groups and the National Lawyer's Guild, the American Association of Jurists, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, and the Society of American Law Teachers. There is another letter signed by Deans of law schools around the country--three pages of them.
Stimson is the Deputy Asst. Secty. of Defense for Detainee Affairs. He made statements attacking the lawyers who are defending the Guantanamo detainees. Apparently he made remarks aimed at chilling the willingness of lawyers to represent GITMO detainees.
Stimson's remarks are part of a large wool-blinding effort on the part of the Bush Adminstration to have us believe that the government's role in GITMO is one of caring and protection.
I heard the Diane Rehm Show on the way over and someone (will have to check later) was soothing the masses.
Medea started the conference re her recent visit to GITMO. The released prisoners and family members who were with them cannot come to the US and speak out, so others will have to share the stories.
Medea telling us about prisoners who were sold for a bounty of about $5000 (if they were accused of being Taliban) or $25,000 (if they were accused of being Al Quaeda). It was more lucrative to turn someone in as Al Quaeda than Taliban.
They showed "The Road To Guantanamo" in the town near GITMO and Asif Iqbal was with them. Over 1,000 people showed up to see the film.
They came back from GITMO and saw that there were protests on Jan. 11 all over the world. 89 were arrested here in DC.
The outrage of people around the word is evident. They have been walking the halls of Congress and talking with legislators about repealing the Military Commissions, defund Guantanamo (Murtha introduced this and Leahy will introduce in the Senate), restore habeus corpus and shut down Guantanamo.
Colonel Ann Wright:
GITMO has held over 770 prisoners. Only 5% of thm picked up by US forces. 95% were SOLD to US forces.
Only 400 were released. Therefore over 50% of the 770 are free in their own countries, several after hearings in those countries.
Only 50-80 people will ever face charges. The rest are just sitting there. They cannot see the evidence on which they are being held.
Ann is appalled at the changes and ignoring of the Code of Military Justice. She says that military judges have been upset about this from the beginning.
Franks said these people would be called prisoners of war, but those cards were taken away once they got to Guantanamo.
Dec. 2001, the US said to the Cubans that prisoners would be arriving in GITMO. They told the Cubans they would be treated under the Geneva Conventions. Rumsfield changed this soon after the
prisoners arrived. They are now "enemy combatants."
The Supreme Court TOLD the US government they needed to adhere to the Geneva Conventions and the Bush administration convinced Congress to pass the Military Commissions Act.
Ann will be devoting herself to overturning the Act. We can help.
Ann describing the prisoners loss of kidney and eyesight due to being held in darkness and cramped quarters, along with hearing loss due to the playing of loud music all the time.
Ann Wilcox now speaking. She is an attorney and is talking about Stimson. Stimson threatened large law firms. He used to be a US Attorney in DC. He said that attorneys needed to choose between lucrative contracts representing large corporations and defending terrorists. He was speaking to the corporate leaders as much as the lawyers themselves.
Ann just called for the resignation of Charles Stimson.
I have to go to a meeting. If any of you would like to share the above information, please feel free to do so.
Question: What about the secret prisons and the ghost planes?
Answer: We will be pressuring Congress to hold oversight hearings. Ann beleives the secret prisons are not closed. There's a new prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. According to some prisoners, including Begg, torture is worse there than in GITMO.
Discussion of how dangerous it is getting--those who went to Cuba can be classified as enemy combatants if the standards used in picking these guys up in the first place.
Ann is pointing out the there is a free pass for criminal activity by public officials but not for private citizens speaking out.
Bush is nothing but the symbol of the 1-2%, bolstered up by the "values voters" who are voting against themselves and consigning themselves indefinitely to the Walmart State.
Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 09:21 AM
The brilliance is in the campaigning of the Republicans, who successfully convinced voters that the image of two men tying the knot is so frightening, that it had to be blocked, even at the expense of the average voter's wellbeing.
Honestly, any population that buys this crap deserves what they voted for.
And our churches must share the blame as well, for their blatant support of the W agenda and calling him a Godsend. I've rejected all of that, and now, as a result, Beliefnet.com's Belief-O-Matic tells me that most Christian denominations are only 10-20% compatible with me.
in European elections, there is always someone running who wants to introduce a more American model, with more outsourcing, more foreign goods, less taxes for the rich & a lower standard of living for the masses.
Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 09:09 AM
Not just in Europe, but Latin America (Mexico's PAN being a very good example) and Asia (Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, Taiwan's Kuomintang, South Korea's Grand National Party) as well.
And I won't be surprised if all these parties are being funded by our Republican war chest.
Medea telling us about prisoners who were sold for a bounty of about $5000 (if they were accused of being Taliban) or $25,000 (if they were accused of being Al Quaeda). It was more lucrative to turn someone in as Al Quaeda than Taliban.
Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 11:10 AM
It's never about keeping America safe or defeating the terrorists. It's always been about the money.
Sad to hear this fact.
He said that attorneys needed to choose between lucrative contracts representing large corporations and defending terrorists.
Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 11:23 AM
Fascism, plain and simple.
I still haven't forgotten how John Roberts made his fame - by helping Toyota overturn Americans with Disabilities Act.
Posted by: monkey at January 18, 2007 08:44 AM
May that article go from Cook's keyboard to the eyes of the Goddess at the speed of an email for all due deliberation....
US man wins suit in airline race-profiling case
January 17, 2007 - 2:08PM
Posted by: woz at January 18, 2007 12:45 AM
I'll keep this in mind before taking my next flight on American (or Northwest, United, JetBlue, or Southwest, all of whom discriminate against certain races and W's opponents).
Thanks.
The outrage of people around the word is evident. They have been walking the halls of Congress and talking with legislators about repealing the Military Commissions, defund Guantanamo (Murtha introduced this and Leahy will introduce in the Senate), restore habeus corpus and shut down Guantanamo.
Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 11:12 AM
KUDOS (and a HUGE HUG) to you for being there and reporting this wonderful news to us, since I've no doubt it will ever be reported in Lamestream Media and I haven't worked up enough courage to check them out (I know I'd only be outraged and disappointed and I can't deal with that right now).
THANK YOU, KAREN!!! And may the people with those proposals succeed in their endeavors. If/When we hear about those bills in their final formats, I will be the first to (again) write my legislators to urge that they support repealing the entire MCA '06, de-funding Bu$hCo's wars and closing Gitmo bring the guard and reserves home where they belong, and redeploy the regular military elsewhere (among other things of urgent importance)....
May the good you do be returned to you a hundred-fold....
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/18/gonzos-busy-day/
Gonzo’s Busy Day
Keith Olbermann: Countdown: War on the Nation's Judges
Interesting...! It discusses what Feinstein brought to our attention regarding judicial firing and interim appointments made without Senate confirmation hearings; interview with Turley....
Also, if you go to the MSNBC web site, see if you can pull up the video of Scarbourough Country (I don't know how to find a link on that video page). I think the title of the video is Daily News: Bad News for America, or Sugar Coated News. It discusses an editorial in an eastern newspaper (Baltimore?) that criticized Jon Stewart's take on the news. NeoCons are writing much ado about nothing - again. Big surprise... not.
Posted by: NonnyO at January 18, 2007 12:40 PM
Aye tawt y'mite like dat.
Nonny:
I am not the one to thank. Ann Wright, Medea Benjamin, Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wilcox, Leah Bolger, Gael Murphy: these are the ones putting their lives on the line (not their life itself, but their jobs, families, lifestyles etc.)
I am amazed at how much they know and how formidable they are when they talk to the Members. It's the authority that comes from direct experience and hearing the stories of pain and loss that gives them the gravitas with the Congress.
I am going to a Code Pink fundraiser tonight and I can pass along any thanks or messages you would like to offer!
I am in a meeting and a friend just sent me this--perhaps you have all seen it but it is making me giggle during this meeting:
16 Things it took me over 50 years to learn...
by Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist
1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
5. You should not confuse your career with your life.
6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. (This one is very important)
7. Never lick a steak knife.
8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)
14. Your friends love you anyway.
15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.
16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine . . . They start out as grapes; and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.
Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 01:58 PM
You're being modest... (IMHO). You're reporting to us what's happening when we who are thousands of miles away can't be with you, and you're reporting things we never hear about via Lamestream Media. That alone is deserving of kudos, but I am quite aware that you do so much more by participating in demonstrations and talking to people. We probably don't know the half of it, only what you choose tell us, and I admire you for everything you are doing.....
However, if you want to pass along my (our?) thanks and admiration, give each person you mentioned (and anyone not mentioned but doing the same things as you and the people you mentioned) who is fighting so hard on our behalf a GIANT HUG from me (us?). Well, from me, for sure!
I admire Ann Wright, Medea Benjamin, Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wilcox, Leah Bolger, Gael Murphy - and you and others whose words and actions I read about on links and share here - more than my inadequate words can express. If it makes a difference to you or to them to know that someone appreciates all of your efforts on our behalf, then by all means, please pass on my humble gratitude and appreciation....
I am posting most of an email I got from Barbara Boxer's PAC because I can't find a link to the same message on her web site (altho the email sent to me has links to her web site where one can write letters about stopping the war).
As the new Congress moves quickly to address a set of domestic issues that cry out for change -- including ethics, prescription drug costs, student loans, stem cell research, and many others -- the war in Iraq rages on, and President Bush continues to defy every voice of reason.
The right-wing war room is up and running as strong as ever, and I can tell you first-hand how vicious it is.
You have probably already seen or read about the point I made to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week -- that neither she nor I had family who would pay with their lives for this war. I want the Bush Administration to focus on the military families who are suffering when proposing an escalation in Iraq.
The response of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow and the right-wing media was immediate. Did they make the case that the Bush Administration totally understood the agony our military families are going through but that escalation of the war was still the only course for them? No, of course not. Instead, they tried to distract the American people from the real issues by claiming that I was personally attacking Secretary Rice, calling me every name in the book.
This is the same thing they did a couple years ago when I told Secretary Rice that her loyalty to the Administration trumped her loyalty to the truth. In a page from the same old tired playbook, the right-wing media machine then said I was anti-woman.
There is nothing that the Bush Administration won't do to try and silence their opponents. There is nothing that they won't do with their right-wing allies to try and change the subject away from the Iraq war itself to some made-up side issue.
We can't let this distract us. It is so crucial that we all keep up the pressure to start bringing out troops home so the Iraqis know that Iraq is their country, we are not occupiers, and they must defend themselves. It is also crucial that we keep up the pressure for a political and diplomatic solution to this travesty -- to bring together all of the countries in the region with the coalition President Bush says he has, in order to meet and hammer out the details for bringing about a peaceful Iraq. Instead, the Bush Administration is only offering a military escalation which means more and more killing, leaving our sons and daughters in the middle of a full-blown civil war.
~~~~~
It's time for Congress to go on record. The American people spoke loud and clear at the polls last November, and now their elected representatives must stand up to the Bush Administration's reckless escalation plan.
The Iraq war is hanging like a dark cloud over our nation and the world. I will not be silenced, and I know you won't either. Let's work as hard as we can to change course and start bringing our brave men and women home so the Iraqis can take responsibility for their own country.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.barbaraboxer.com/
The emails she's encouraging people to write are noted on her web site, but not the content of the email mostly quoted above.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_un
Iraq slams U.N. report on casualties
I am going to a Code Pink fundraiser tonight and I can pass along any thanks or messages you would like to offer!
Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 01:58 PM
To ALL who are involved at any level, Karen, please pass on appreciation for the dedication and energy you are giving to your tasks. Without you posting your *on-the-spot* notes we would be in the dark too. It takes ALL people in ALL kinds of roles to get the changes happening. You are. They will.
Many in Australia are grateful for your actions.
Republican Rebels Defy Bush Line
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1993810,00.html
I enjoy how the Brits frame & phrase things!
Al-Maliki Says Iraq Needs More Weapons
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-01-18T091414Z_01_L18911961_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-USA-MALIKI.xml
..not necessarily more troops. Double binds abound. If we stay, it's a quagmire. If we leave, it's chaos. If we arm them, maybe we can leave, but maybe we'll be arming both sides of a civil war.
Iran strike rumor not true
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=22&art_id=qw1169133663511B265
Did I miss something?
& wondering why Bush & Gonzalez suddenly decided spontaneously to cooperate with FISA but Gonzalez is acting so spooky with Congress. Makes ya wonder if someone is hiding something.
This seem wierd to anyone?
Schumer, Specter and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) each questioned why the Bush administration hadn't approached the court sooner if it had truly begun exploring that option in spring 2005, as it said in its Wednesday letter.
"This is a very complicated application," Gonzales replied. "In many ways it's innovative in terms of the orders granted by the judge. It's not the kind of thing you just pull off the shelf. We worked on it a long time."
http://news.com.com/Attorney+general+mum+on+spy+program+court+orders/2100-1028_3-6151209.html
--I mean, the government has been spying on citizens and Congress is going to just drop it and just BELIEVE it's suddenly all under control because Gonzalez and Bush say it is?
Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 03:14 PM
Who on earth is this Tony Snow moron? He's now choking on the hook holding the al Qaida bait. Has he been asleep these past years? He appears to have sucked up the Bush rhetoric, which even the little lunatic himself doesn't spout much of these days. Osmosis over the moat maybe. Either way, Americans aren't getting much value for their money from this one.
Posted by: woz at January 18, 2007 03:59 PM
Tony Snow used to be a "news" person at Fox... the official network for neoCon propaganda. They've swallowed all the lies, hook, line and sinker, and continue to repeat the lies, even disproved lies. Truly amazing.
With all the "snow jobs" (lies, half-lies, patent propagandistic party lines) Tony spouts, he's perfect for the job....
..not necessarily more troops. Double binds abound. If we stay, it's a quagmire. If we leave, it's chaos. If we arm them, maybe we can leave, but maybe we'll be arming both sides of a civil war.
Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 03:25 PM
If you arm them - how is that different from what the US did with Saddam? How different from Iran? The Bush preference isn't necessarily the best one for Iraq itself. So which side gets armed? And which side gets gassed this time?
They are going to have to sort it themselves at some point. Sad, but true. We have guilt for the mess we've made of their country. But staying will only compound that issue.
Posted by: NonnyO at January 18, 2007 02:33 PM
Thanks for sharing! There is my Senator!
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at January 18, 2007 04:36 PM
I never did figure out the flap about Boxer's comments to Rice. Boxer was only stating facts, no innuendo meant or implied. Duh. But the neoCons sure had a distracting hissy fit about the imagined slight for a couple of days....
Briggs and Briggs | Bush and the Psychology of Incompetent Decisions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807J.shtml
According to John P. Briggs, MD, and J.P. Briggs II, PhD, President George W. Bush prides himself on "making tough decisions." But many are sensing something seriously troubling, even psychologically unbalanced, about the president as a decision-maker. They are right. Because of a psychological dynamic swirling around deeply hidden feelings of inadequacy, the president has been driven to make increasingly incompetent and risky decisions. This dynamic makes the psychological stakes for him now unimaginably high. The words "success" and "failure" have seized his rhetoric like metaphors for his psyche's survival.
Democrats Target Royalty Breaks for Oil Firms
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807N.shtml
As the House prepared to impose new fees on oil and gas taken from federal waters, some Senate Democrats said Wednesday that royalty breaks for energy companies ought to be abandoned. House Democrats are confident they can approve an energy package Thursday that includes a conservation fee on oil and gas from the Gulf of Mexico, seeks to recoup royalties lost because of a government error in drilling leases in the late 1990s, and rolls back several oil-industry tax breaks.
David Swanson | Impeach Disney and General Electric
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807O.shtml
David Swanson argues that by any serious standard of journalism, impeachment should be in the news right now. This illustrates the worst problem with our media. It's not how they cover stories. It's how they do not cover stories. A Newsweek poll a while back said that 51 percent of Americans want Bush impeached and 44 percent do not. That's about double the support there was for impeaching Clinton when it was in the news every single day.
David Swanson | Impeach Disney and General Electric
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807O.shtml
Posted by: NonnyO at January 18, 2007 04:42 PM
Thanks for sharing... So on the point.
Still working on the header issue, which is very confusing, thinking about which way to introduce paper ballots and scanners, as voluntary and not mandated, because Federal doesn't like to tell the states what to do. HAVA interpretaion was made by the vendors selling expensive and faulty. Audits and spot check counts at current law at 2-3%, but only effective at 20% for 97% assurance to capture outcome altering errors, needs law, but no one is yet addressing.
Everyone and his mother have ideas how to amend Holt's Bill, to be introduced in the Senate by Dianne Feinstein, the only bill to support.
Hillary's, and Kerry as co-sponsor, was drafted as too high-tech friendly (and can't be certified) at an earlier time in the chain of proof and recent elections.
Someone new at the committe responsible is paperless frinedly. Don't know her background, but local level election official, to machine company lobbyist, to high Federal official has been a revolving door of late. That is a bi-partisan lapse.
Too many problems with paper trails to consider, at all. Just the computer auditing itself, and we never see the legal vote inside.
I'm making a couple of calls to get an answer for myself how to proceed, in addition to the national e-mails I've received.
Posted by: Ally McRepuke at January 18, 2007 04:44 PM
Makes me feel better to know that some of what I've been doing (writing my Congress Critters and media) is on the right track. I can't do it all because I'm working with physical limitations, but hopefully cramming inboxes will nudge someone somewhere....
I noted, too, that Swanson also believes impeachment can take place while Congress Critters carry on with the other normal business of the nation, so the process won't take that much time. Really, the only thing holding up the process is Pelosi. I will never forgive her if she doesn't change her mind about impeachment, and I have to wonder how she's being blackmailed or paid off by someone if she can't do what's right for the American people by putting impeachment back ON the table. If Pelosi continues to fight to keep the impeachment process from happening, I'll be left to wonder "well, just how corrupt IS she...?"
Pelosi and the other politicians now have the opportunity to do right by the American people, and I do not understand why we are faced with 'more politics as usual' and most of the same corrupting influences we had with the last Congress, including a corrupt Lamestream Media.
It's truly mind-boggling.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/18/hagel-joins-dems-in-opposing-escalation/
Hagel Joins Dems in Opposing Escalation (Video)
This helps, but it's not enough....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_us/marines_iraq_shooting
Marine pleads guilty to Iraqi killing
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine corporal pleaded guilty Thursday to kidnapping and murdering an unarmed Iraqi civilian last year, and said his sergeant made sure the victim was dead by firing a burst of gunfire into the man's head.
{More on link. If the illegal war had never been started, this wouldn't have happened.}
Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 08:29 AM
T.Y. I appreciate the explanation. I learn as much if not more from the discussions and explanations here as I do from the articles themselves. Sometimes it just helps tie it all together for me. I really enjoy the conversations.
Pentagon Rules Allow Coerced Detainee Testimony
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807R.shtml
The Pentagon's rules for upcoming detainee trials would allow terrorism suspects to be convicted and perhaps executed based on hearsay evidence and some coerced testimony.
{{{This kangaroo court justice is just SO wrong on SO many levels!}}}
Jane Fonda | A Powerful Media Can Stop a War
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/011807WA.shtml
"The op-ed pages are notoriously barren of female voices.... One reason for this is that women usually aren't the ones calling the shots," writes Jane Fonda in an article discussing the recent National Conference for Media Reform and her recent co-creation of the Women's Media Center.
Resignations at Federal Election Commission Raise Concern
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807S.shtml
The announcement yesterday that the top two lawyers for the Federal Election Commission had resigned helped spread an undercurrent of concern about the diminishing role of a once-prominent public voice on the intersection of money and politics.
Methodist Ministers Launch Petition to Stop Bush Library at SMU
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807T.shtml
A group of Methodist ministers from across the nation launched an online petition drive Thursday, urging Southern Methodist University to stop trying to land George W. Bush's presidential library. The ministers are concerned that linking themselves with the current presidency was "utterly inappropriate."
{How's that for your tiny little ego, eh, georgie? 'War president' legacy, eh? heh, heh, heh....}
Briggs and Briggs | Bush and the Psychology of Incompetent Decisions
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011807J.shtml
Posted by: NonnyO at January 18, 2007 04:42 PM
Great article. If that ain't the truth!!! (Scareeeeey!)
Woah!
There is ALOT to take in these days and in these times!!! ALOT to cover and read, and I am working on it!
Saw a brief clip of Dubya on the network news this evening and he seemed to be arguing about someone's new idea (well, he ASKED for them) not working, or being the same thing he's been doing, and yada yada yada.
Gag.
..not necessarily more troops. Double binds abound. If we stay, it's a quagmire. If we leave, it's chaos. If we arm them, maybe we can leave, but maybe we'll be arming both sides of a civil war.
Posted by: DiAnne at January 18, 2007 03:25 PM
Like we've never done that before????
Posted by: karen at January 18, 2007 02:22 PM
LOL!!!!
'Specially never lick your steak knife.
(He who does speaks with a forked tongue?)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070118/wl_mideast_afp/usiraqmilitarypolitics_070118110714
Maliki calls for more US arms for Iraqi army
{Ah, such big bombs you have! The better to kill you with, my dears....}
Truth Shall Prevail
US arming both sides? You're right! We did it when Iran & Iraq had a war almost a decade long!
Woz
Now I see you have already pointed that out (that we armed both sides). & Tony Snow is the 3rd press secretary for Bush, because the other two quit. All 3 have been pathetic. What kind of job would that possibly be - Explainer for the Decider. Whew!
Very ltd opportunity to follow news til drove home - then I had the opportunity to hear Patrick Leahy grilling Gonzales and he said some good things. Gonzales kind of danced around.
If this is true - the overseers of GITMO are sicker than I thought.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/a-monkey-in-a-cage/2007/01/19/1169095944214.html
Hicks like 'a monkey in a cage'
January 19, 2007 - 9:39AM
Australian terrorism suspect David Hicks has been put on display at Guantanamo Bay like "a monkey in a cage", says his US lawyer.
Major Michael Mori, Hicks' defence lawyer, questioned a claim by Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer this week that Hicks was mentally fit to face trial, saying he planned to visit his client as soon as possible to see for himself.
Mr Downer said his comments were based on a meeting someone had with Hicks inside Guantanamo Bay in the past week, but refused to reveal who that person was.
But Major Mori said he understood Hicks had been "put on display for some visiting dignitaries".
"He's being used as a monkey in a cage for people to come to stare at," he said.
The party included officials from the US embassy in Australia, Major Mori said, and there were no health professionals involved.
"What I'm concerned about is, I don't believe David would want to reveal the problems he's having to the people who are controlling his life down there," Major Mori said.
Hicks, 31, has been detained since his capture among Taliban forces in Afghanistan in December 2001.
The Muslim convert appeared before a US military commission in August 2004 and pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy.
But the charges were dropped when the US Supreme Court ruled last June that the military commissions created to try Guantanamo Bay detainees were unlawful.
AAP
2nd last para - who does that apply to? Or, an easier question, who does it not apply to?
1. Charge of conspiracy - seems to fit a whole range of conspiracies about WOMD, al-Quaeda in Iraq, the terrorists running amok in Iraq right now - there are a few conspirators waiting to fall, though I don't expect they will.
2. Charge of attempted murder - yep, also fits a range of orders - get information in any way you can, even if the consequences mean death. Many people could line up behind this one and the evidence doesn't need to be gathered by torture. The evidence IS.
3. Charge of aiding the enemy - now where should I start? Which day? which enemy? Taliban? Al-Qaida? Hamas? Hizbollah? Saddam? Enemy with money to make by trafficking *terrorists* to the US military? No proof needed; all proof will be created later.
This is an old article, but since the al Qaida targets were *missed* repeatedly, it's fairly current really.
It's beyond Bush to resolve Iraq
Jonathan Freedland
January 12, 2007
SAY what you like about George Bush, but no one can accuse him of following the crowd. When everyone from the American electorate to the US military brass, along with a rare consensus of world opinion, cries out with one voice to say "enough" of the war in Iraq, Bush heads in the opposite direction — and decides to escalate.
When his army chiefs complain of desperate overstretch in the war on terror, he takes that as his cue to open up another front. And that's just this week.
On Sunday night the US military launched an air strike — not on Iraq or Afghanistan, but on southern Somalia. Some reports claim that the bombing has continued ever since.
If you didn't know that Somalia was on the enemies' list — if you're finding it hard, what with Syria and Iran and North Korea, to keep track of Washington's foes, don't blame yourself. These days the axis of evil is expanding faster than the European Union, with a couple of new members added every January.
Continue .......
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/its-beyond-bush-to-resolve-iraq/2007/01/11/1168105112166.html
Law Council slams 'unfair system'
January 19, 2007 - 10:18AM
The US Defence Department today released a manual which revamps regulations for its US military commissions set to try Hicks and other Guantanamo Bay detainees.
The initial commissions were ruled unlawful by the US Supreme Court last June.
But the law council said today the new rules fell short of fair trial standards.
"After the Military Commissions Act was passed last year, we knew that this new regime established to try Guantanamo detainees was fundamentally flawed and unfair," council president Tim Bugg said.
"The manual, which contains the rules of evidence, simply confirms our fears."
Continued .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/law-council-slams-unfair-system/2007/01/19/1169095943944.html
Is this supposed to cheer me up? It's kind of like a stock tip, I guess, that someone sent. Take a look at the name of these funds - people making money off our misery!
There are a number of open-ended mutual funds as well. ProFunds Falling U.S. Dollar (FDPIX) and Rydex Weakening Dollar (RYWBX) are indexed to the NYBOT U.S. Dollar Index (USDX). The dollar index also has a heavy weighting in euros (57%) as well as exposure to the yen, British pound and Canadian dollar, among others. ProFunds Falling U.S. Dollar is meant to deliver the inverse of the dollar index's performance and the Rydex Weakening Dollar Fund is leveraged to deliver double that.
Downer 'stupid' on Hicks
Renee Switzer
January 19, 2007 - 2:35PM
An Australian-based US official who spent five minutes with David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay concluded he was mentally fit, an assessment echoed this week by Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer.
Continued .....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/downer-stupid-on-hicks/2007/01/19/1169095959836.html
DiAnne,
I am friends with a pastor's wife in Reno who is also a therapist, and she has worked with alot of Vietnam Vets. One guy came to her and told her that he was ordered to go into a village in Nam and kill everyone in the village, because they were enemies. After they carried out their mission, he walked over to a shed and opened it and found it stocked with weapons from the U.S.
Dang. I always get on the computer around ll:00 p.m. again to "relax" before bed, then get all caught up in reading and stuff and get to bed after midnight. Oh, well......