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Borderless Borders and our National Security
There is a war going on my friends and it's not just the one in Iraq or Afghanistan. It is the war against 'We the People', the common folk, the middle class, and the poor.
Just because it's been happening under the radar doesn't mean it isn't important. For years we have watched as jobs were outsourced to slave labor overseas. For years we have watched as corporations and those in power tried to break up labor unions.
Since Reagan's time they have largely been successful in doing so.
But now, the latest assault is against American truckers and the American people and very few even knew it was coming.
I know I didn't!
But today, my brother called. He is a trucker, and a self-employed businessman, and he was telling me about the new border crossing plan that just took affect last week, and I didn't even know about it!
Last week unbeknownst to most of us, Bush started a program aimed at bringing in cheap truck drivers from Mexico and allowing them free access to roam far and wide across our country. (To be fair to President Bush, the law was actually passed in 2001 as part of NAFTA and he signed it into law.)
But let me tell you, this is a grave and dangerous mistake.
Let me explain to you why.
This severely compromises our national security. We already have too many truckloads of cargo getting into our borders and not being inspected.
According to my brother, truckers from Mexico are allowed to drive up to 25 miles into the border to drop off their trailers and then return to Mexico. When this cargo is dropped off, it's supposed to be inspected but many are not. After inspection, American truck drivers come and pick up the cargo for long distance distribution.
But, consider how these shipments will be handled now. Consider from a trucker's point of view.
The truck driver arrives at the border carrying 45,000 pounds of miscellaneous goods. It's attached to their truck. Some may be refrigerated. Some may be dry goods. But most have been secured into the truck and sometimes the truck is sealed until the driver drops off his shipment at his destination point.
With these new rules, a driver arrives with his sealed trailer and will the border control take the time to pull the truck aside, empty its cargo, inspect the cargo, reseal the truck and allow the driver to continue after a few hours delay?
My brother already made it clear that there are already loads and loads of trailers that have been dropped that are not being inspected, even though there is no time delay on those. So it's pretty obvious that transferring the burden of inspection to a few overworked guards is not the recipe for improving our national security.
And from my layman viewpoint, let me tell you that there would be lots of room on an 18 wheeler to hide whatever you want in those trailers!
Clearly this is a catastrophe waiting to happen.
But there is also a personal sacrifice that American truckers will be experiencing as well. Talk to any 'company driver' and you'll know they're making cents/mile. Talk to an owner operator who has to pay his own insurance, gas, trucks and truck repairs and you'll know that they already are walking a fine line between making a living and destitution.
That's why so many truckers quit.
The trucking industry is vital to our economy. Yet, if they can not afford to drive goods to your local store from a warehouse or farm, then we literally could starve.
But importing Mexicans to drive across the country will have the immediate effect of dropping the rates from cents/mile to less cents/mile. The big corporations will love the additional money to their profit margin but the worker will once again take a huge blow.
They have finally found a way to outsource within our country and to create a new slave labor class in the US.
Of course we're suppose to be reassured by nice name they gave this program. The name sounds innocent enough: it's called the "Cross-border Trucking Pilot Program".
And we're supposed to be reassured that this pilot program is only good for one year.
So for one year, while we have poisoned food, poisoned toys, poisoned clothing legally arriving into our ports, we're supposed to be happy to test the waters of a new program that would allow even more corporate goods to arrive via the Mexican (and need I say it) the South American pipeline UNINSPECTED!!!
Five years ago we were worried about truckers driving around the country carrying poisons, possibly dumping toxins into our food or water, but now we're going to make it easier for them to do that?
Rest assured that the government thinks we'll be safe. According to the DOT, they will make sure all Mexican drivers speak English and they will have a list of 22 safety regulations that the drivers must know and have on their trucks. Little things, like brakes. And rest assured that they don't intend to let Mexican drivers roam our country until we can have our truckers roam into Mexico.
From my brother's standpoint, and likely that of many other truckers, why would they bother driving into Mexico on American wages when in order to return back to the US they'd have to either return empty or return on slave wages? (What a deal!)
So today marked the first day of our borderless borders.
The truckers are fighting back. They've brought the case to court but the US Ninth District Court has refused to give an immediate injunction on the law. Thus, they're calling for an action alert to get the Senate to defund the program like the House did. The vote is expected this Thursday and they're asking for people to write, fax, call, and protest because it's not just their jobs at risk, it's our safety.
My brother even asked me for suggestions. Have you ever known me to keep my mouth shut?
So I suggested that he think about the wonderful billboard his truck would make. And think about how inconvenient a flat tire in the middle of traffic might be, especially on say...95 in Washington DC.
My brother is checking out the cost of large decals for his truck, but his comment was, "We truckers can never agree on what to do so nothing ever gets done!" But nonetheless, he has asked for help and suggestions. So what type of suggestions do you have?
Let's hear them!
They just dragged another man out.
A white man in a suit that obviously could not take the lies anymore.
He left screaming 'hundreds of thousands of people are dead!'
Posted by: Christy at September 11, 2007 10:24 AM
Ohh, how I hope he was a Christian Pastor with a true believers conscience...
Poll: Few Americans think U.S. is winning war on terror
(CNN) -- Six years after the worst terror attacks on U.S. soil, three in 10 Americans believe the United States and its allies are winning the global war on terror -- one of the main justifications cited by the Bush administration for the war in Iraq.
According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted Friday to Sunday, about half of the 1,017 adult Americans questioned said they believe neither side is winning the war on terror, while 19 percent said the terrorists have the upper hand. The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
A separate poll conducted August 6 to 8 found that 61 percent of the 1,029 adult Americans questioned said they were not satisfied with the way things were going in the war on terror, and 38 percent felt safer from terrorism than before the 9/11 attacks.
Thirty-two percent of the respondents said they felt less safe than before the attacks, and 29 percent felt as safe now as then. The poll also had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
more re: THE ONE THIRD who are killing us all...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/11/911.poll/index.html
REJECT THE ONE THIRD!
REJECT THE ONE THIRD!
REJECT THE ONE THIRD!
REJECT THE ONE THIRD!
American Forgetting
Instead of expanding, we contracted. Instead of a new juncture, we retreated to old ways. It's all there at the construction site.
By Anna Quindlen
Newsweek
Sept. 17, 2007 issue - At the construction project that has replaced the site of one of America's greatest national traumas, there is a sign with the telephone number of the Port Authority police "in case of an emergency." This would be ironic were it not so sad. Everything about the enormous urban square where the World Trade Center once stood, once burned, once fell, is terribly sad because it has been so sanitized. THIS IS A SPECIAL PLACE, says one small sign on the construction fence, but there's no sign that that's true. Everything has been done to make it seem ordinary. Girders, cranes, gravel, hard hats—it looks no different from the places nearby where luxury condos rise. THINK BACK. MOVE FORWARD. IT'S TIME reads a billboard that has the unmistakable odor of ad agency. Americans like history as long as it's over fast enough.
Six years ago there was a moment. How long did it last? Long enough to seem indelible and authentic. After the greatest terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and a field in Pennsylvania, there was a moment when it seemed that the sheer scale of the event would evoke a response of answering enormity, in thought, in action and in behavior.
That is not what happened.
Instead we launched a war, a cheap bait-and-switch by an administration that figured it could simply replace one Middle Eastern bad guy with another in the public mind, trade an Osama bin Laden card for a Saddam Hussein. Our so-called leaders knew that the most terrifying thing about a War on Terror was that it was a war without borders, nationality or country. They decided to pretend otherwise by invading Iraq. Today it may be that things are better in one part of that country, not so good in others, but the bottom line is that there remains no compelling reason why the United States should ever have invaded in the first place, and certainly none that can be linked to the events of September 11.
Six years along, and there is little evidence that the intelligence apparatus of the nation is much better than it was on Sept. 12, 2001, when pay-phone messages picked up two days earlier that said "The match begins tomorrow" and "Tomorrow is zero hour" were finally translated. Entrenched government bureaucracies, a resistance to and ignorance of new technology, and a lack of communication among agencies still remain. With so many fiefdoms, programs and initiatives—and so little overarching leadership—it is hard to tell what has improved. But intelligence wonks suspect that if there were another attack, the discussions about our shortcomings would be remarkably similar to those we heard in 2001.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20657183/site/newsweek/page/0/
Man, Chuck Hagel just DISMANTLED both betrayus and the crock.
Wow.
betrayus again reiterating he is there to reiterate 'THE TRUTH!'
He just doesn't have to swear to tell it.
Oh crap.
It was her blood in the car. And a large amount of hair too.
Damn.
Suz,
Tell your brother to tell his coworkers that supporting W, and putting tons of "pro-life" decals on their trucks, will NOT save them.
Until they get it, I can't be sympathetic to their cause either. I'm sorry, but I will be blunt about this.
From the last thread:
Proud to be rude for peace,
Dana, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Karin, Liz, Medea, Nancy, Pamela, Patricia, Rae, Samantha, and Vanessa
Posted by: karen at September 11, 2007 08:38 AM
I'm glad to be associated in some small way, with all of you.
Posted by: woz at September 11, 2007 10:39 AM
Just to let you know that Gayle (the lady who writes the Code Pink alerts) is none other than my own writing mentor. I'm so proud to be associated with her, both in my writing world and in the activist world.
A Brief Reflection on the Sixth Anniversary of 9/11
A new video from Osama Bin Laden, the second in a matter of weeks, was released today on the sixth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. With its release, supporters of this woeful, incompetent Administration returned to a strategy of attempting to minimize the impact of Bin Laden's continued presence above ground.
Unconscionable spin aside, the fact is that Bin Laden today remains a hero and symbol throughout much of the Muslim world. The simple fact that he can continue to issue video after video, six years after a brutal attack against American civilians, almost certainly communicates the message to potential new growth Islamic extremists that Allah somehow protects him, and therefore his cause must be just. That our Commander-in-Chief felt his capture or death less important that the removal of a dictator whose regime was utterly contained, and in no way represented an imminent threat to the United States, says everything that any thinking American should need to know about this President's fitness to remain at the helm in this terrible war of ideas.
We were attacked on 9/11 by forces whose spiritual inspiration came from Saudi Arabia, and who were materially aided by zealots in the intelligence services of Pakistan. Rather than strategically confront the real powers behind the attack, we chose instead to invade Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein. This choice was tantamount to Franklin Roosevelt choosing to invade Spain, and depose Franco, while leaving the guilty in Japan, Germany, and Italy free to consolidate their position, and further poison the well.
If this President possessed any semblance of moral courage or authentic intellectual or spiritual honesty, he would first acknowledge publicly his failure as Commander-in-Chief, and then the need for America to come together behind a unified, bipartisan plan to withdraw our forces from Iraq - and conclude our business with Bin Laden. That he continues to put his trust in a dubious, and utterly repudiated, notion of "personal faith" constitutes not only an act of betrayal against our Framers' enlightenment traditions, but is also proof positive that he has learned as little from the events of the last six years as has Bin Laden. Despite their very different cultural backgrounds, Bush and Bin Laden have demonstrated themselves as blood brothers in faith-based delusion, vainglorious egotism, and spiritual dishonesty.
Osama Bin Laden, and all the enemies of enlightened, constitutional democracy, sleep peacefully this night, the sixth anniversary of their despicable attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Against all odds, while facing the greatest military arsenal the planet has ever known, they are actually winning the war of ideas - if only by default. For with a Commander-in-Chief like our George III, America has no need of enemies.
http://www.hpleft.com/091107.html
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at September 11, 2007 12:23 PM
Wow.
Beautifully stated, Matthew. I am sitting in my office feeling far away from the Hill, where so many of my friends are screaming out. I pray the Senate has more sense than the House.
This must end.
General Betrayus - that's great!
Posted by: nmp at September 11, 2007 09:20 AM
It's what the dems should be doing all the time, General Betrayus, short soundbites repeated constantly, it is what the republicans do so well, and what the democrats and the people, need to be doing all the time.
General Betrayus, works well, sinks into the mind of the masses.
Beat them at their own game.
As monkey says REJECT THE ONE THIRD!
short and to the point.
A Brief Reflection on the Sixth Anniversary of 9/11
Unconscionable spin aside, the fact is that Bin Laden today remains a hero and symbol throughout much of the Muslim world. The simple fact that he can continue to issue video after video, six years after a brutal attack against American civilians, almost certainly communicates the message to potential new growth Islamic extremists that Allah somehow protects him, and therefore his cause must be just. That our Commander-in-Chief felt his capture or death less important that the removal of a dictator whose regime was utterly contained, and in no way represented an imminent threat to the United States, says everything that any thinking American should need to know about this President's fitness to remain at the helm in this terrible war of ideas.
We were attacked on 9/11 by forces whose spiritual inspiration came from Saudi Arabia, and who were materially aided by zealots in the intelligence services of Pakistan. Rather than strategically confront the real powers behind the attack, we chose instead to invade Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein. This choice was tantamount to Franklin Roosevelt choosing to invade Spain, and depose Franco, while leaving the guilty in Japan, Germany, and Italy free to consolidate their position, and further poison the well.
If this President possessed any semblance of moral courage or authentic intellectual or spiritual honesty, he would first acknowledge publicly his failure as Commander-in-Chief, and then the need for America to come together behind a unified, bipartisan plan to withdraw our forces from Iraq - and conclude our business with Bin Laden. That he continues to put his trust in a dubious, and utterly repudiated, notion of "personal faith" constitutes not only an act of betrayal against our Framers' enlightenment traditions, but is also proof positive that he has learned as little from the events of the last six years as has Bin Laden. Despite their very different cultural backgrounds, Bush and Bin Laden have demonstrated themselves as blood brothers in faith-based delusion, vainglorious egotism, and spiritual dishonesty.
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at September 11, 2007 12:23 PM
Posted by: Matthew Carnicelli at September 11, 2007 12:23 PM
Wow.
My reflection on the Sixth Anniversary of 9/11
As I sat listening to all the lies in the congress yesterday, listened to all propaganda the republicans and their mouthpieces are putting out there for the anniversary of 9/11.
My thoughts were, that 3000 innocent souls lost their lives on 9/11, it was most certainly a terrible day in the lives of Americans. But you had the hearts of the world with you that day.
But my thoughts were not with America yesterday, My heart was with the dead innocent Iraqi souls that have been lost in the last 5 years, here we are talking about 100000000 lives, as against 3000 lives.
I was wondering everytime I hear the lies, Sadam was involved in 9/11, we attack them there, so they wont attack us here, there where no Al Qaeda in Iraq, Iraq was a Secular Nation, now it is, and will be and Fundamentalist nation run by the Clerics. That is what Georgie and his lies has bought about.
How many Americans on this day, mourned the 100000000 or so innocent Iraqi souls, who have lost their lives, to a war and occupation built on lies.
REFLECTIONS.
Hear about the dynamite truck that blew up on collision in Mexico yesterday?
Teamsters support the Democrats, therefore Teamsters Union still exists.
Dollar Hits New 15-Year Low
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e1281bc8-604c-11dc-8ec0-0000779fd2ac.html
Obama: Petraeus Hearing Should Not Have Been On 9/11
"I think we should not have had this discussion on 9/11 or 9/10 or 9/12," Obama said during his opening statement. "It perpetuates this notion that the original attacks had something to do with going into Iraq."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/09/obama-doesnt-li.html
Now isn't that the truth?
Waxman Interview: Secrecy, Investigations, And How The White House Used 9/11 To "Shred The Constitution"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/11/huffpost-interview-rep-_n_63878.html
Dems Delay Filing Contempt Charges Against Stonewalling Bush Officials
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0907/5750.html
What's new?
Olbermann: "Fox News Is Worse Than Al Qaeda -- Worse For Our Society"
Some highlights from MSNBC host Keith Olbermann's interview with Playboy magazine:
"My first special comment on Donald Rumsfeld had about a million live viewers. The number of YouTube viewings was two or three times that. It's the best advertising we can get. We get new customers from the Internet."
+++
"Al Qaeda really hurt us, but not as much as Rupert Murdoch has hurt us, particularly in the case of Fox News. Fox News is worse than Al Qaeda -- worse for our society. It's as dangerous as the Ku Klux Klan ever was."
+++
"When you've been through as much tumult as I have, you learn that age is way down on the list of what's important in a relationship. The first question is, Can you stand being with this person? If the answer is yes, the rest doesn't matter." "
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/11/olbermann-fox-news-is-w_n_63933.html
President Bush will announce this week plans to cut U.S. troop numbers in Iraq by about 30,000 by next summer, The Associated Press reports quoting unnamed officials.
Actually, Bush is announcing exactly what Patreus said in his testimony to Congress over the last 48 hours. I don't know about you, but I'm shocked...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070911/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq
This cut brings us back to "pre-surge" levels by August of next year, and contains no timeline for complete withdrawal.
Wow. Talk about news..
My brother even asked me for suggestions. Have you ever known me to keep my mouth shut?
So I suggested that he think about the wonderful billboard his truck would make. And think about how inconvenient a flat tire in the middle of traffic might be, especially on say...95 in Washington DC.
Posted by Suz Krueger at September 11, 2007 09:56 AM
Excellent Suggestion.
Disturbed anti-war protester can't find soldier, kills civilian with axe instead
Source: Associated Press
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A U.S. citizen has confessed to using an axe to kill a Dutch student after failing to find a soldier to attack, his lawyer said Tuesday.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gMrBkLkuM6OkleiwXPoXXOPp3OQQ
BrklynLib
Who wrote that headline, Bill O'Lielly or Sean Hannity?
Democrats Field Navy Vet to Run for Hunter’s San Diego Seat
By Rachel Kapochunas
48 minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20070911/pl_cq_politics/democratsfieldnavyvettorunforhunterssandiegoseat_1
happy anniversary, from the good folks at The House of Saud...
Oil prices hit all-time high
Traders focus on tight inventories, ignore OPEC decision to raise production, sending crude to highest settle ever.
September 11 2007: 3:52 PM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rose to a new record settlement price Tuesday as traders turned their attention to Wednesday's government inventory report expected to show tight supplies and shrugged off OPEC's decision to boost output.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 74 cents to settle at $78.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after alternating between gains and losses. The settlement price beat the previous record, set July 31, by 2 cents.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/11/markets/bc.apfn.eu.fin.mkt.oilp.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes
"Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., president of the Hip Hop Caucus, was attacked by six capitol police today, when he was stopped from entering the Cannon Caucus Room on Capitol Hill, where General Petreaus gave testimony today to a joint hearing for the House Arms Services Committee and Foreign Relations Committee on the war in Iraq. After waiting in line throughout the morning for the hearing that was scheduled to start at 12:30pm, Rev. Yearwood was stopped from entering the room, while others behind him were allowed to enter. He told the officers blocking his ability to enter the room, that he was waiting in line with everyone else and had the right to enter as well. When they threatened him with arrest he responded with “I will not be arrested today.” According to witnesses, six capitol police, without warning, “football tackled” him."
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
(Insert furious, rabid screaming here.)
Liberals and conservatives have differently wired brains, so says an AFP article.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070909/hl_afp/scienceneuroscience
Well, well, well.... Imagine that!
Miers, Bolten contempt filings delayed
House Democratic leaders have decided to postpone a vote on a criminal contempt resolution against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers for several weeks, and possibly longer, according to top lawmakers and aides.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0907/5750.html
Happy September 11th.
BOO!
Latest Bin Laden Video Is a Forgery
Osama Bin Laden's widely publicized video address to the American people has a peculiarity that casts serious doubt on its authenticity: the video freezes at about 1 minute and 36 58 seconds, and motion only resumes again at 12:30. The video then freezes again at 14:02 remains frozen until the end. All references to current events, such as the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan, and Sarkozy and Brown being the leaders of France and the UK, respectively, occur when the video is frozen!
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2007/9/9/61032/95401
Look at that screen capture from the 'new' bin laden tape at that Booman link. Just look at him, nothing else.
Notice anything out of place?
Yes. His hair. In particular the reinvigorated beard with not a single grey hair.
Hmmmm.
Iraq Insurgents Attack U.S. Headquarters
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070911/iraq/
Wow. Talk about news..
Posted by: Victoria Ellen at September 11, 2007 03:57 PM
Shock and Awe!!! Pulling troops out to presurge level right before the elections!!!
I'm too shocked to speak.
Posted by: Christy at September 11, 2007 06:26 PM
The talking heads were analyzing why Bin Laden's hair is now black on tv news. Their reasoning, because black hair is more "manly" and emotes more power than grey hair. Glad they got that figured out.
It's either Grecian formula for men or a composite of an old picture.
I think his body language is VERY STRANGE on this tape, almost like his head is on a stick figure.
Body language experts, what do you think?
Christy,
Whose blood and hair are you talking about, darlin'?
Posted by: monkey at September 11, 2007 04:59 PM
I just bought them an anniversary present by paying $3.19 a gallon for enough gas to get me to work and back for a week.
Gee, they are just making this survival game so darned challenging and interesting, aren't they?
I pay $3.19 a gallon to drive myself to the grocery store where milk is now $4.20.
It just gets funner and funner.
The little girl Madeleine McCann. Her hair, lots of it, and her blood, (body fluids) were found in the car her parents rented 23 days AFTER reporting her missing. There is not many ways to explain that one.
I have not seen the confirmation yet on the blood in the hotel room, but it is pretty safe bet to say it is also hers.
3 days from her 4th birthday. How horrible.
Her parents moved that babies decomposing body right under the nose of the entire world.
Maybe had the cops bothered to rigorously question them in the first place they would not have been able to dispose of her.
Christy,
I haven't seen the news on tv tonight yet. I know yesterday they said the parents were on their way back home and that they had been officially named suspects because of bodily fluids matching Madeline's dna were found in the truck of a rent-a-car.
Last night I thought - that's ridiculous, they're both doctors, they both look so clean and upright.
Madeline's gramma last night said that Madeline's mother was a wonderful mother who never even raised her voice to her children.
Unless they have sufficient evidence from more than one lab I'm not going to believe it. And hadn't heard anything yet about her hair being found in the car too.
Now, let me as' you a question, Lucy. After they reported Madeline missing, didn't the police do a thorough search and look for dna evidence in the hotel room the family was staying in at the time?
What on earth could they have done with her body for 23 days in the meantime?
and make that they found it in the trunk of their rentacar, not in the truck of it. Or, if truck works for you.....
Just in Time for the August 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnepolis: "The top U.S. commander in Iraq told Congress this week he could see troop numbers sliding by 30,000 -- which would reduce the number of troops to pre-surge levels -- "by July 2008."
Why has no one yet made this link in timing? Is this the Hail Mary pass we should expect to be delivered in Minneapolis in August 2008?
Wouldn't it be great to have Helen Thomas ask Bush in his next press conference if he intends to deliver that very message in Minneapolis in August 2008 in Minneapolis. Cynical/Rovian????
Iraq war testimony favorable to Republicans, analysts sayStory Highlights
*A former defense secretary says testimony likely to embolden Republicans
*Analysts: Democrats to keep trying to set a firm timeline for troop withdrawals
*David Gergen: Democrats showed "skepticism bordering on hostility"
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Monday's testimony from the top U.S. general in Iraq and the ambassador to Iraq may give Republicans the boost they need to stand strong behind President Bush's policies, analysts said.
Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker appeared before a joint meeting of the House Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees and spoke about the progress of the war.
"I think what's going to happen is the Republicans who were wavering or thinking of supporting the Democratic proposals probably will not be inclined to do so now," said William Cohen, a former Republican senator from Maine and defense secretary in the Clinton administration.
"This will give them some room for maneuver or an opportunity to say 'Let's wait a little bit longer.' "
Jon Alterman, head of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Middle East program, said the testimony "may be enough to buy the president time and get him the appropriations he seeks."
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/10/iraq.report.reax/index.html
I have no idea where they could have stashed a body for that amount of time.
I know where I could stash a body for a while, but only because I am intimately familiar with my surroundings.
It was on the news today that her hair was also found in the car, they said something to the effect of that the amount of her hair there was shocking/very unexpected.
"After they reported Madeline missing, didn't the police do a thorough search and look for dna evidence in the hotel room the family was staying in at the time?"
Yes, I am sure they did, which makes the fact they are now coming out saying blood was found there very interesting. If there had been obvious blood showing it most likly would have leaked out right away.
Which indicates they did not find it until they looked deeper.
I still do not get how the cops questioned the mother, one time, the day after she was reported missing.
Ruffian pointed out an interesting theory about the timeline, but we all may be overlooking the fact the crime began much earlier than her being reported missing.
If they had even a 24 hour headstart before reporting her as gone, there is a lot that can happen in 24 hours, or even 6.
If they did dispose of her, then obviously they put more thought into the coverup than the actual murder.
I actually saw a couple of cable news networks (not Faux of course) put up Gen. Petreus's picture with a caption:
General Petreaus?
or
General Betrayus?
Just went to Wiki to check something out about Petreus, and there is a sticker there that says that some of the information on that site about Petreus is in dispute. I wonder by whom and why?
Posted by: Bubba at September 11, 2007 07:27 PM
Bubba, I don't know why they haven't seemed to make the link on the timing in the MSM, but my 90 year old father told me last week before the Petraeus "report" came out that he bet the General would come out and say that he was going to pull a few thousand troops out now, then a few more later, just to make it look good before the elections, but actually we are just going to be in the same rut we were in before the "surge".
The Dems better get on this one.
Christy,
Well, I'm not saying the parent's are guilty, but I always thought that wasn't too cool for them to go out to dinner even if it was several yards away from their motel room without someone with the kids, or the kids with them. That just seems weird and kind of irresponsible to me.
Unless they were at a resort where the restaurant is like linked to the motel/hotel room, and then even, why would a family go out and have dinner and leave their little kids alone? That just doesn't jell.
it would be very simple to ask why not in December, March, or April or May? Why in July just a few weeks before the start of your convention? Is there something sacred about taking 30,000 troops out in July 2008 that you told us would only be there for 6 months? And why does the media keep using the phrase Surge? Why not call it what it is, an Escalation, not unlike in Vietnam. And why do we not hear the name McNamera, and Light at the End of the Tunnel analogy being used. I doubt I am the only one in the country that remembers that place and time?
Posted by Suz Krueger at September 11, 2007 09:56 AM
Excellent Suggestion.
Posted by: rossiann at September 11, 2007 04:08 PM
Ditto - roving ENORMOUS billboards. Great idea!
Can't we use a term other than "Roving"?
I hate that dude.
Seriously.
The General today reminded me a lot of an Oliver North-like presenter... really hard to dislike him, especially if you truly don't know that what is coming out of his nice smile is a load of crap.
Scouts Honor
Finally, Suz,
I have no idea of what to tell your brother, except to repeat what my brother told me after seeing the movie "Sicko"........."we're being
screwed."
I'm distressed about the financial condition of our country, and this new trucks from Mexico being driven all over the country definitely
compromises the integrity of our country because it is not only irresponsible and very dangerous to we the people on a physical level by leaving us vulnerable to uninspected imports, it also is another rape of our American workers as far as jeopardizing their jobs.
Corporate America, how LOW can you GO? Gang rape now is it?
Cynical/Rovian????
Posted by: Bubba at September 11, 2007 07:27 PM
Might be, but accurate. I think they are going to have a better Hail Mary pass than that one. They DO NOT want to lose power, and I'm sure they've got a good one cooked up. Let's just hope and pray it isn't one that costs more lives in order for people to feel terrorized.
Man, I was in a grouchy mood this afternoon over bills, and I hardly EVER get in a grouchy mood, but believe it or not the blog perked me up.
Chimps impress the ladies with stolen fruit
And the females like the bad boys who share the most with them
CHICAGO - Pilfered fruit brazenly plucked under the farmer's gaze may be the secret to stolen love, at least for wild male chimpanzees and their consorts, British researchers said Tuesday.
Wild chimps in West Africa pinch fruits from local farms to impress the lady chimps, and it seems to pay off, said Dr. Kimberley Hockings of the University of Stirling's department of psychology.
"The adult male who shared most with this female engaged in more consortships with her and received more grooming from her than the other adult males, even the alpha male," said Hockings, whose study appears in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS One.
"Such daring behavior may be considered an attractive trait," Hockings said in comments e-mailed to Reuters.
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20730556/
CHEEZ!
Posted by: monkey at September 11, 2007 08:57 PM
Apparently, the chimp in the W.H. is well-named.
Pilfering stolen anything is his m.o.
"That just seems weird and kind of irresponsible to me."
TSP, it is very wierd. Irresponsible, you kinda get used to seeing, but it is more wierd than irresposible.
All their kids are little bitty, who leaves very small kids alone in a hotel room?
Posted by: monkey at September 11, 2007 08:57 PM
Wanted: one Professor Monkey to teach human males how to treat and impress a lady.
Curriculum: l. What to wear to bed besides your ski cap.
~ and
2. Take her to dinner and YOU pay. Don't invite yourself over to her house for dinner for the first or second date.
~and
3. Don't come to see her every week in your business suit and hand out business cards if all you do all day is sit around in your underwear and you don't really have a job.
(Have I got stories!)
You say CHEEZ, I say JEEZ.
~And they wonder why we get so many headaches.
Karen,
How is Rev. Yearwood? I was very worried about him. I'm still so appalled by what they did to him. Really sickened.
I noticed Vitter is in some more trouble.
About the murder, I don't like to follow gruesome details of particular cases. All murders and needless death is horrible. That's also why I have never watched what happened on 9/11 - just part of it maybe 2-3x. That way, the tsunami in Indonesia & the hurricane in New Orleans & the civilian deaths in Iraq are easier to put in perspective. I don't like to be swayed by the particular cases the MSM selects to emphasize.
In news blackout because of work but did catch Anne Garrels & Jamie Tarabay on NPR, about Iraq. Anne was embedded so I felt her story was screened some by the military but have been listening to her for so many years I can hear when she's skeptical & she does put in perspective that they're too dumb to catch. Jamie interviewed some of those Iraqis watching Crocker & Petraeus in Congress on tv & what they were hearing bore almost no resemblance to what they are seeing on the ground, which is a dumping area for the killings of militias.
Also heard Ted Koppel on the Iraq war and he is always so sensible and wise. & Robert Reich on how unions have died and we are living in the age of hypercapitalism, when we have more choices for consumption & investment, yet less infrastructure & security. I would give anything to take a class from him.
Why Gonzalez resigned.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/11/71454/7043
Corporate America, how LOW can you GO? Gang rape now is it?
Posted by: TSP at September 11, 2007 08:46 PM
I'm more than inclined to agree.
This, combined with the failure of Republicans to do ANYTHING about runaway immigration (while still painting themselves as being tough on immigrants).
The Draft Gore movement hasn't died.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/11/183234/094
Al's address to send your two cents:
Hon. Al Gore
2100 West End Ave
Suite 620
Nashville, TN 37203
Tsp, I know, they are using the details to take up space and block out other news, but when I heard about these new details it really got me.
I always try to listen to details of 'missng persons' cases. I always have since I was 9.
I know this child gets way more attention than others, but with so many missing people, worldwide, anytime they do focus on one it makes the odds much better they will solve atleast that one.
Just found out that Lori Perdue, Medea, Liz--all of them, basically, were arrested yesterday and held overnight.
Lori's case (at least) was dismissed without charge and the judge chastised the police.
I believe Lori will be pursuing the matter, avec lawyers.
3 of today's Letters. More at:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/letters/us-must-look-to-itself-for-cause-of-terror/2007/09/11/1189276715886.html
US must look to itself for cause of terror
September 12, 2007
AFTER 9/11, a number of conspiracy theories were floated that are understandable, since it is well known the US Government is not above killing its own. But the biggest flaw in the theories is they ignore the anger built up in the rest of the world — anger as a direct result of US actions. The attacks were not acceptable but were clear and predictable — an application of the law of cause and effect. Who caused 9/11? Maybe it really was the US Government. Nineteen men allegedly hijacked the planes, but the ultimate cause was US policies. And with the same policies continuing to this day in the form of threats to Iran, doesn't this seem logical when there is always a concerted and deliberate attempt to incite a violent reaction.
Safiya Sameena, Vijayawada, India
Conspiracy theories understandable
WHY is it that as otherwise rational and intelligent people, one of the greatest lessons we have learnt is never to believe everything we read or see on television ? Why do we doubt the veracity of official explanations? Could it be that we have been conned before, had to swallow the sanitised version, were given a one-sided view? Do we live in a world of misinformation, is the five-second sound bite all we require, are we lied to by omission? If you answered yes to any of the above, you can consider yourself a conspiracy theorist. The plethora of unexplained "coincidences" surrounding 9/11 ensure that Christopher Scanlon (Age, 10/9) can bet information is being withheld, and until satisfactory "truths" are divulged, many rational, intelligent people will consider 9/11 the biggest con-job since Hitler set fire to the Reichstag.
Peter Neilson, Heathcote
Moving closer to Orwell's vision
WITH the anniversary of 9/11, I feel sad for the victims' families and friends. The mightiest nation ever is right to feel humbled at this time but should not desire so enthusiastically for vengeance. Terrorists pose no greater threat to us than road rage, but as O'Brien patiently explained to Winston Smith in George Orwell's novel 1984, the three countries of the entire globe in that book: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia must continually be perceived at war. I wonder if he, who shares a name with our PM, while sipping gin at the Chestnut Tree is still watching.
Graham Barnett, Eagle Point
Lori's case (at least) was dismissed without charge and the judge chastised the police.
I believe Lori will be pursuing the matter, avec lawyers.
Posted by: karen at September 11, 2007 10:53 PM
This is very good news. That video of Rev Yearwood, with him saying, "I'm not resisting. I'm not resisting." And a woman saying, "He's a Minister. He's a Minister." Knocking him to the ground was appalling. And then, with an injured leg to be handcuffed with hands behind his back, was disgusting.
Good Thread suz. I sent it to some politicians that need reminding that we're not altogether dumb.
I believe Lori will be pursuing the matter, avec lawyers.
Posted by: karen at September 11, 2007 10:53 PM
I hope she does. Best regards to Medea as well.
Christy, this is off topic but is another case of death of children. This one is here in Australia where a father is attending court on a range of charges alleging that he deliberately drove his car into a dam where his 3 little boys drowned and he got out and went to carry on hysterically at his ex wife's place, saying there'd been an accident and he thought their boys were dead. He claimed a coughing fit made him black out. This was challenged today.
Dam dad's blackout unlikely: expert
September 12, 2007 - 3:36PM
A medical witness today said it was extremely unlikely that a Victorian man accused of murdering his three sons had blacked out from a coughing fit before his car plunged into a dam.
Robert Farquharson, 38, has said he had a coughing fit and blacked out at the wheel of his car, which then veered off the road and plunged into a farm dam south-west of Melbourne on Father's Day 2005.
His three young sons in the car at the time drowned, but Farquharson swam clear.
Farquharson, on trial in the Victorian Supreme Court, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his sons.
Respiratory expert Professor Matthew Naughton today gave evidence at the trial on cough syncope - a rare medical condition involving loss of consciousness after intense coughing.
The rest of the article is here:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/dam-dads-blackout-unlikely-expert/2007/09/12/1189276788710.html
I'm on jury duty right now on a different trial and this is one case where I'd have to excuse myself because as far as I'm concerned this man is as guilty as can be. It was to get back at his ex. He'd threatened it on several occasions to several people. He chose his access visit on Father's Day to kill the kids by driving into a dam not far from his ex's place. How dramatic. And he also went to the police crying about what had happened to his boys.
I hate that dude.
Seriously.
Posted by: monkey at September 11, 2007 08:21 PM
Ditto
Lieberman Asks Petraeus: Do You Want Authority To Send Troops To Iran?
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004151.php
Monkey - I'll never be able to say or write the word *roving* again because you have ensured that the word conjures a sleazy image in my mind!
Ron Paul tells Bill O'Reilly US policy, not Iran, is the real problem
Paul shoves it to O'Reilly, shit he is a wanker
http://rawstory.com//news/2007/Ron_Paul_debates_OReilly_over_preemptive_0911.html
Posted by: rossiann at September 12, 2007 03:40 AM
rossi, at least General Betrayus made sense on the answer to this one. They are engaged in securing Iraq and their concentration needs to stay focussed on the struggle in Iraq. However, when will they have the situation in Iraq resolved? Well ........ Maybe ........ um ........ possibly ......... never.
the word conjures a sleazy image in my mind!
Posted by: woz at September 12, 2007 04:49 AM
Doesn't it conjure up sleazy images in everyone mind.
when will they have the situation in Iraq resolved? Well ........ Maybe ........ um ........ possibly ......... never.
Posted by: woz at September 12, 2007 05:10 AM
Friking Fool, to throw away his integrity if he ever had any, for the corrupt imbeciles in the White House, he will go down the same way Colin Powell did, big time eventually.
WASHINGTON - The television commercial is grim and gripping: A soldier who lost both legs in an explosion near Fallujah explains why he thinks U.S. forces need to stay in Iraq.
"They attacked us," he says as the screen turns to an image of the second hijacked airplane heading toward the smoking World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. "And they will again. They won't stop in Iraq."
Every investigation has shown that Iraq did not, in fact, have anything to do with the Sept. 11 attacks. But the ad, part of a new $15 million media blitz launched by an advocacy group allied with the White House, may be the most overt attempt during the current debate in Congress over the war to link the attacks with Iraq.
Six years later, the Sept. 11 attacks remain the touchstone of American politics, the most powerful force that can be summoned on behalf of an argument even as a nation united in their aftermath today stands divided on their meaning. While Washington spent yesterday's anniversary debating the U.S. involvement in Iraq, it struggled to define the relationship between the war there and the worldwide battle with al-Qaeda and other extremists.
During the second day of hearings featuring Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, the echoes of Sept. 11 reverberated through the chamber. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a presidential candidate, got Petraeus to repeat his belief that Iraq is the "central front in the war on terror." Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), another White House aspirant, complained about the timing of the hearing because it "perpetuates this notion that, somehow, the original decision to go into Iraq was directly related to the attacks on 9/11."
more bait & twitch....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20733211/
The Bin Laden Tape:
The audio track does appear to be in the voice of a single speaker. What I suspect was done is that an older, unreleased video was dubbed over for this release, with the video frozen when the audio track departed from that of the original video.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Is the voice that of Bin Laden??? You would think that arabic speakers could - rather easily - tell whether the voice in the tape is Bin Laden's
The tape is Arabic for "BOO!"
Osamas Hiccup Helpers
MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Back in 2003, the U.S. proudly trotted out the so-called "mother of all bombs," a device described as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in history.
Now, Russia claims it has built the "dad of all bombs."
Russian state television says the military has successfully tested what it describes as the world's most powerful non-nuclear air-delivered bomb.
The military claims the bomb is comparable to a nuclear weapon in efficiency and capability, but unlike a nuclear weapon, it doesn't hurt the environment.
The Channel One television report showed the bomb dropped by parachute from a bomber and exploding in a massive fireball. It featured the debris of apartment buildings and armored vehicles at a test range, as well as the scorched ground from a massive blast.
With extra oil revenues, the Kremlin has been taking steps to rebuild its global clout and its military.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/09/12/russia.bomb.ap/index.html
Oilbombs... thanks Dumbya!
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf -- a key U.S. ally -- is less popular in his own country than al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to a poll of Pakistanis conducted last month by an anti-terrorism organization.
Additionally, nearly three-fourths of poll respondents said they oppose U.S. military action against al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan, according to results from the poll conducted by the independent polling organization Terror Free Tomorrow.
"We have conducted 23 polls all over the Muslim world, and this is the most disturbing one we have conducted," said Ken Ballen, the group's head. "Pakistan is the one Muslim nation that has nuclear weapons, and the people who want to use them against us -- like the Taliban and al Qaeda -- are more popular there than our allies like Musharraf."
The poll was conducted for Terror Free Tomorrow by D3 Systems of Vienna, Virginia., and the Pakistan Institute for Public Opinion. Interviews were conducted August 18-29, face-to-face with 1,044 Pakistanis across 105 urban and rural sampling points in all four provinces across the nation. Households were randomly selected.
According to poll results, bin Laden has a 46 percent approval rating. Musharraf's support is 38 percent. U.S. President George W. Bush's approval: 9 percent.
Asked their opinion on the real purpose of the U.S.-led war on terror, 66 percent of poll respondents said they believe the United States is acting against Islam or has anti-Muslim motivation. Others refused to answer the question or said they did not know.
"We failed in winning hearts and minds in Pakistan," Ballen told CNN. "In fact, only 4 percent said we had a good motivation in the war on terrorism."
Seventy-four percent said they oppose U.S. military action against al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan.
After American relief efforts following the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan's Kashmir region, 46 percent of Pakistanis had a positive opinion of the United States, according to the poll. But as of last month, only 19 percent reported a favorable opinion.
Meanwhile, al Qaeda has a 43 percent approval rate; the Taliban has a 38 percent approval rate; and local radical extremist groups had an approval rating between 37 percent to 49 percent.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/11/poll.pakistanis/index.html
Feel safer?
unlike a nuclear weapon, it doesn't hurt the environment.
Posted by: monkey at September 12, 2007 05:53 AM
Great! Green Bombs!
How does a bomb exploding NOT hurt the environment? Is it just me or is this "my weapon's bigger than your weapon" adolescent one-upmanship? We know that we have managed to install the most unintelligible defective into the position of most powerful man on the planet.
Why would anyone with a tiny functioning brain cell want to compete with GWB?
Coulter: Democrats 'think troops are a bunch of illiterate, toothless rapists'
Fox News broke into the Petraeus hearing on Monday to offer Ann Coulter an opportunity to express her opinions of the proceedings. Some examples of her pronouncements follow:
"It is striking how different it is from what we've been hearing from the Daily Treason reports in the media. ... I mean, this is the first time, for example, I've heard how many of them we're killing. ... To hear what's actually going on, you suddenly realize how completely treasonous the mainstream media is, and the Democrats."
"They want us to lose. They hate the troops. They think the troops are a bunch of illiterate, toothless rapists. ... They've been against this war from the beginning. The same people who say the surge isn't working didn't want us to go in. ... They want America to lose. They are rooting for al Qaeda."
"I don't know that Americans are so against the war. ... We keep having votes from our representatives [to keep funding the war] while I hear about these mysterious polls showing that the nation is ablaze with anti-war fervor. ... I don't think I'd count on MoveOn.org having much influence with authentic Americans. This is just, you know, a well-funded group of people without jobs. ... They want anarchy. ... They hate the United States of America."
The following video is from Fox's Your World, broadcast on September 10.
God help you guys, half the population are friking deviates, if these deviates are the best they can listen to, to get their knowledge on current events today.
http://rawstory.com//news/2007/Ann_Coulter_skeptical_of_polls_thinks_0911.html
Monkey, that is some scary stuff.
Nope, I don't feel safer.
Woz,
What a horrible situation. A coughing fit blackout. Now that is a novel defense.
We had a woman like that here, you may have heard of the case. Her name is Susan Smith.
She buckled her two beautiful baby boys into their carseats, drove the car into a pond, then proceeded to lie to the world for 9 days, claiming she had been carjacked by 'black men', who had driven off with the boys.
She did it cause the man she was fooling around with on her husband had written her a letter saying it could never work..because she had kids and he didn't want any.
She finally broke on the 9th day and the babies were still strapped into their carseats when they pulled the car from the pond.
The look on her husbands face after he realized what she had done was something I will never forget.
Wait, what exactly are all these people that were arrested being charged with?
I saw yesterday they charged Yearwood with 'assault' of a capital cop, but how did they get that since he obviously did no such thing and it is all on tape?
Yes, Christy. Whilst the whole thing was awful to watch - when it goes to court there will be plenty of witnesses - PLUS a recording of the situation. I have absolutely no respect for police anywhere.
Posted by: woz at September 12, 2007 08:13 AM
So, tell me what's been going on under the leadership of this country since 2000 isn't equally, if not greater, an awful thing to watch? PLUS a recording of the situation.
Right under your no's.
Quake strikes Indonesia; tsunami alert issued
A strong earthquake measuring 7.9 in magnitude struck today near southern Indonesia, the U.S. Geological Survey said. A tsunami watch was immediately issued for the Indian Ocean region.
Putin has dissolved the Russian government.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070912/D8RJSNVG0.html
Good Lord.
And vitter the whoremonger still has a hooker problem.
Is it just me or does Putins iceblue eyes scare the total crap out of everybody?
KGB Blue.
Christy - the Australian PM plans to sell Putin Uranium! Yes, he scares the crap out of me too.
"Ah've looked into ol' Putin's ahhhh's ah tell ya, ahh-ahh, ahh've seen the mans soul, see? That's whatcha gotta unnerstan about ol' Pootie, he's got soul, that's what I'm saying... next question?"
I just flipped out on vitters phone answerer in DC.
I told her 'Obviously you must not be from Louisiana'. And she came right back, 'Oh yes man, I am from Louisiana!'
I asked her, 'Are you not embarrassed at all at what this whoremonger is doing to our state?'
She wouldn't answer.
I asked her if she was even aware of why they should be embarrassed and doesn't anyone in DC have the decency anymore to be ASHAMED?
She completely shut up and wouldn't answer at all.
Guess I will try back later.
Just off phone with Lori. She is suing--she was videotaping Medea and Liz being placed in the paddy wagon when a Capitol policeman told her she had a stay-away order. She replied that she did not.
Their information was wrong. The judge who released her was so angry that her rights had been violated (not to mention the computerized errors and participation of the FBI! in these arrests!) that he refused to issue stay-away orders for any of the others arrested.
The Rev. has a broken ankle and is also saying he will sue.
Medea's paperwork revealed that they were only supposed to cite and release her; instead they held her overnight. The judge was angry about that too.
Clearly the Capitol police had their orders, and they memorized photographs from none other than the FBI.
Fortunately, a judge understood the Constitution. The rest of the government seems to have let it melt away.
(All protests are peaceful, and respectful of the rules. They ARE, however, likely to sink into honest confrontation when necessary).
Posted by: karen at September 12, 2007 08:57 AM
Sounds like their truth-telling is getting so powerful that 'somebody' is trying to stop them at no costs. Better watch out. Soon they will get the Radack treatment... no fly list, forced out of their jobs, etc..
Also, Ray McGovern was kicked out of the hearing just for saying, "Put him under oath."
Posted by: karen at September 12, 2007 08:57 AM
Other than Youtube, is the mainstreat LIARS showing these arrests and the judge's actions?
(Sorry, but I'm mostly away from tee vee.)
"Ah've looked into ol' Putin's ahhhh's ah tell ya, ahh-ahh, ahh've seen the mans soul, see? That's whatcha gotta unnerstan about ol' Pootie, he's got soul, that's what I'm saying... next question?"
Posted by: monkey at September 12, 2007 08:41 AM
Will we ever forget that crap? I don't think so.
Posted by: monkey at September 12, 2007 08:41 AM
"Vladimir,that's what I call him, Vladimir.