Saintperle

7/31/07

I KNEW I forgot one of them folks out there yelling "GIVE ME THE POWER!!" (Running for President)

Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, who is apparently running on the Weight Loss Platform, lost something like 17,000 pounds and now is slim and trim and posing sideways as if for Nutra-Slim or something, and, unfortunately, still putting his fingers in his ears and singing "naaanaaanaaa" whenever someone says the word "evolution."

Which is a shame -- he seems a personable, charming, and intelligent man.

I remembered him (not exactly dominating the media) when a news item mentioned he's meeting with Michael Moore to discuss Health Care.


As I said, charming and intelligent.

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7/29/07

Let's look at what the prez candidates -- Repub and Dem -- have in common, i.e., what unites us instead of separates us

Hmmm, well, for starters, on the Dem side, there's Clinton and Obama and Kucinich and Richardson..

On the other side of the aisle, we have John (I was Tortured) McCain and Tom (No-spics Allowed) Tancredo and Funky Duncan Hunter and Sam (No Evolution Allowed) Brownback and Ron (I may be a little crazy, but I'm the only honest one) Paul...

and what ALL of them have in common is that NONE OF THEM are doing the job they were elected to do, whether representing their state (Senators, Governor) or their constituency (Representatives).

In other words, what they're demonstrating to us is that THEIR PERSONAL AMBITIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO THEM THAN THE PROMISE THEY MADE TO THE PEOPLE WHO ELECTED THEM TO SERVE THEIR INTERESTS.

So Fuck 'em. We KNOW they don't live up to their promises.

What we have left -- so far -- John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Rudy Giuliani, Mit Romney, Tommy Thompson, Fred (Mr. Let's You and Him Fight and I'll come in later) Thompson, and .. have I missed anyone? Well probably. Oh yeah, Al Gore

Have I missed anyone important? Not bloody likely.

So we have the people WHO HAVE ALREADY BETRAYED THEIR TRUST to run around taking bribes ... uh, campaign contributions ...

And we have, hmm, let's see --

Fred Thompson whose primary attraction is that he's not one of the guys running and the we've really only seen him in makeup with good lighting saying words written for him by Dick Wolf's script writers.

Tommy Thompson -- the man who gave us the Medicare Drug Program where the biggest purchaser of drugs in the world (The U.S. Government) is prohibited by law from doing what every other bulk purchaser does -- negotiating a better price. No, to be fair, make the retirees pay extra. Fuck him and do NOT LET THE SUN SET ON HIM in retirement communities like Rossmoor and Golden Agers. Grey Panther alert.


Mit Romney -- hmm, I'm against women's choice ... no, no, no, I'm for it and I'll never do anything to interfere with a woman's right to choose her own reproductive situation ... no, no, no I'm against it and I've always been against it... and oh yeah, I like the Book of Mormon and L. Ron Hubbard's science fiction -- he's cute -- anyway the wind blows. He hates the idea of community social services supporting the less capable and less fortunate, but he's a Mormon and the wonderfully social-conscious Mormon community does exactly that, in there quasi-government in Utah. A hypocrite and a shifty slimy zombie Ken Doll sonofabitch.

Rudy Giuliani
-- oh yeah, he stood up like a hero after he was integrally responsible for the deaths of many many FDNY people because he'd been too cheap to get them better walkie talkies. Added to the devastation of 9-11 by refusing to understand, after the FIRST WTC bombing, that the World Trade Center was NOT a great place to put an emergency services center. Stood up after 9-11 for the cameras while GW Bush huddled terrified in a corner until it was safe to come out. Has had three wives (one of them his cousin) openly and publicly an adulterer, if in favor of Gay Marriage and Women's Choice (for reproduction) has NOTHING going for him (as a Republican) except the pretense of being tough on terrorism. The only question is "why in hell did he change his party from Democrat to Republican? What he is is a right wing authoritarian Democrat. Oh, and yeah, his regime in New York was best characterized by the feral police who, when doing things like raping Abner Louima with a toilet plunger, referred to it as "doing a Giuliani on this guy." (They considered it a comliment.)

Mike Gravel -- well commentators think they're clever and original when they describe him as "the crazy uncle" which only reflects on their total impoverishment of intellect -- Mike Gravel DESCRIBED HIMSELF as "the crazy uncle who shows up at Thanksgiving."

And Al Gore -- well, he's got more positive power, more positive influence, and more positive authority doing what he's doing than any president. The only thing he CAN'T do is bomb and immolate women and children for the oil companies and Halliburton. I con't believe he's dumb enough to run for president, and if he does, then he's too dumb to be one.

Which leaves John Edwards.

Hmm.

President Edwards.

It could be worse.

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7/28/07

You need to read this posting by Glenn Greenwald

He makes it clear just WHO is blowing smoke up your ass about what the public thinks.

What Beltway media stars mean by "centrism" and "extremism"

"As always, when wielded by Beltway media stars, the terms "centrist" and "moderate" and "mainstream" mean "whatever views I personally happen to hold on a topic, regardless of how many Americans actually share it." Hence, the unanimous, wise Beltway wisdom was that Barack Obama "blew it" in the last Democratic debate by proclaiming his willingness to meet with leaders of hostile countries, while Hillary Clinton scored a big victory..."

**************

He goes on to show (and back it up with actual polls and stats) how the pundits love to say that the "mainstream" is whatever THEY think, regardless of what the public might think -- things like the Democrats are losing support with too many investigations even though the public -- especially Democrats -- want MORE investigations of the Bush Cabal...

An enlightening article if you want to know who's lying to you because it serves their own status and emboldens their beliefs.

Reminds me of the wonderful title of a show by brilliant sculptor Donald Schule called "I don't know art but I like what I know."



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7/27/07

Ah! Now I understand why they're stars -- they're so sweet and personable and modest and charming.

Lindsay Lohan:

"I'm a celebrity and I can do any fucking thing I want."

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Well, duh ... he was brave, he was noble, he was courageous, he was a hero, he was a major pain in the ass...

But at least he wasn't a lying sack of shit like Bush, the Bushies' tame generals, Rumsfeld, et al.

(It will take the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps YEARS to repair the crap thrown on their honor by this swarm of vermin.)



Was Tillman Murdered? AP Gets New Documents

From EDITOR & PUBLISHER -- July 26, 2007 11:30 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO
Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman's forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player's death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

"The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described," a doctor who examined Tillman's body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

The doctors - whose names were blacked out - said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.

Ultimately, the Pentagon did conduct a criminal investigation, and asked Tillman's comrades whether he was disliked by his men and whether they had any reason to believe he was deliberately killed. The Pentagon eventually ruled that Tillman's death at the hands of his comrades was a friendly-fire accident.

The medical examiners' suspicions were outlined in 2,300 pages of testimony released to the AP this week by the Defense Department in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Among other information contained in the documents:


-- In his last words moments before he was killed, Tillman snapped at a panicky comrade under fire to shut up and stop "sniveling."

-- Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory e-mails for keeping criminal investigators at bay as the Army conducted an internal friendly-fire investigation that resulted in administrative, or non-criminal, punishments.

-- The three-star general who kept the truth about Tillman's death from his family and the public told investigators some 70 times that he had a bad memory and couldn't recall details of his actions.

-- No evidence at all of enemy fire was found at the scene - no one was hit by enemy fire, nor was any government equipment struck.


***********************
From SAINTPERLE April 10, 2007

Nothing friendly about this friendly fire

--ok, never can know if all the facts will ever come out, but I am willing to state, IF THEY DO, it will be that one of the Rangers will 'fess up that the 'friendly fire' was intentional, that his company took him out for being what they considered 'insufferable.'

No inside information here, just looking at the dynamics of it, seems less like an accident in the "fog of war" (wonderful how much vicious, mean crap can get explained away with that smokescreen concept) and more like a fragging of the press hero who gave up an NFL fortune in San Diego to go be a soldier in Afghanistan.

Fragging someone is not necessarily a violation of a warrior's code. But lying is. And someone will, sooner or later come clean.

Then again, since this is a guess, I could be wrong.


***********************************

And From SAINTPERLE July 14 (Bastille Day), 2007

Bush claims executive privilege on Tillman

How many people thought I was insane when I said "When the facts are all known -- if ever -- you're going to find out those other men in the platoon, the ones who shot him -- you'll find out it wasn't accidental -- it was intentional."

Maybe I was -- and am -- insane. Doesn't mean I'm dumb.
But the only thing that invoking Executive Privilege does is add credibility to my speculative opinion.

"Some call it mental illness.
I call it mental adventures."

Fengtze Yah


"War: first, one hopes to win;
then one expects the enemy to lose;
then one is satisfied that he too is suffering;
in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost."

Karl Kraus 1874-1936

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Cassandra is on the job

Still going to go down this way (I'm not advocating, just seeing it coming):

The "I have no problem with a woman as president" and the "I have no problem with an African -American as president" people will go into the voting booth and make their mark -- for John Edwards.

It could be gynophobia, in Hillary's case -- or just simple dislike of this particular woman -- a corroded, corrupt, machine politics harridan. (Personally, there are a lot of women I would be delighted to see as our president -- just that she ain't one of them.)

As to Mr Obama (if he spelled it O'bama, might reach a broader audience) -- it could be racism, or it could be the simple fact that so many people thing he should have waited, he's too young, too much the absolutely smartest kid in high-school, but that's the problem. Four years from now, eight years -- could be the best we've seen in a long long time, but not ready yet -- undercooked.

So Edwards takes it and the killer duo would be Edwards/Obama.

(And 8 years later, the seasoned and experienced Barack O'Bama fills the shoes that have been empty since FDR's death.)

Even the scripted and made-up and carefully lighted Fred Thompson would get blown away, and Mit "Ken-Doll" Romney, the representative from the Vril (read Gwyneth Cravens'* delightful novel Speed of Light for an idea of the Vril Society's candidate for president) with all the Mormon money in the world behind him, couldn't do it.


**********************

*Ms Cravens is currently part of the Long Now Foundation named by one of the founders, Brian Eno. Her most recent book is Power to save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy to be issued by Knopf, October 30, 2007

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Little Joey Lieberman thinks Stalinist Russia had a good idea... that what we need is a nation of informers.

He was on the Wolf Blitzer thing today talking about passing the bill that would immunize terrorist whistle-blowers against being sued, because "people need to be able to call the authorities to tell them about someone who seems be be involved as a terrorist... and in the remote possibility that the person is not involved in terrorism, the whistle blower needs to know he or she won't be sued."

In Stalinist Russia, this was known as "informing."
And in Brit-occupied Northern Ireland, Nazi Germany, North Korea (today), in Peronista Argentina... all over the world, the wonderful tradition of informing on your neighbor has gone on.

In Russia it was often because the person was competing at work or had a better apartment.
In DEA America, it has been motivated by similar reasons as well as the local police force getting increased allotments in the next budget.


Little Joey talks about an educated and responsible citizenry.
Hey Joe, what the fuck would you know about responsibility and education?
You're a fucking turncoat.

The ONLY good thing about Bush stealing the 2000 election was that at least we didn't get YOU as Vice President for 4 years. Thank heaven for small favors and cold comforts.

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7/26/07

Bush colon cancer check 'clear'


"US President George W Bush has been given the all-clear
after undergoing a routine check for cancer of the colon."


Of course he was --

It's his HEAD that's up his ass
and his POLICIES that are malignant.

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Low cholesterol 'link' to cancer



" People who significantly cut their cholesterol levels with statins may raise the risk of cancer, a study says.

The study of 40,000 people found those with little of the "bad" cholesterol LDL saw one more cancer case per 1,000 than those with higher levels.*

The Boston-based researchers could not say if this was a side-effect of the statin or due to the low cholesterol.

They also write in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that the benefits of statins outweigh the risks.

"The analysis doesn't implicate the statin in increasing the risk of cancer," says lead author Richard Karas of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. "The demonstrated benefits of statins in lowering the risk of heart disease remain clear.

"However certain aspects of lowering LDL with statins remain controversial and merit further research."


*************

*Sure it's a totally insignificant number -- we just couldn't resist the clarion call of the newsroom: "Hi -- here's something new to be afraid of."

But the BBC?
Shame.

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The ladder of Abstraction as described by S.I. Hayakawa in "Language in Thought and Action"

It's gonna be a long election season and we will not only have to deal with the obscenity of war but the unpleasant sensation of politicians blowing smoke up our collective asses... the Ladder of Abstraction, developed by S.I. Hayakawa to explain the concepts of General Semantics Founder Alfred Korzybski. Korzybski's Science and Sanity looked at the difference between "insane" and "unsane" made clear the difference between the thing and the name of the thing ("the map is not the territory") and, while largely unreadable to most people, made possible modern thought from Hayakawa to Marshall McLuhan, Quantum physicists, and Matt Groening.

So here's the basic guide -- the ladder can be used to see the forest instead of one tree, or to send you into the forest when the press is asking about that one particular tree you sold to developers.

It is commonly used by politicians in such cases as when being asked "Why are you tapping the phones of Americans?" "For Security." "What do you mean by Security?" Democracy" and? "Freedom." Always going into larger and less definable concepts, saying words that are less and less able to ever be defined in real terms except by going DOWN the ladder to specifics.

Level Four: Abstractions
Examples: life, beauty, love, time, success, power, happiness, faith, hope, charity, evil, good.

Level Three: Noun classes: broad group names with little specification.
Examples: People, men, women, young people, everybody, nobody, industry, we, goals, things, television.

Level Two: Noun categories: more definite groups.
Examples: teen-agers, middle-class, clothing industry, parents, college campus, newborn child, TV comedies, house plants.

Level One: Specific, identifiable nouns.
Examples: Levi 501 jeans, my blue, three bedroom house on Hollis Street, In Living Color, Bud commercials, African violets, Tina's newborn sister, Mina.

Sample Abstraction Ladders:
Level Four society human endeavors economy
Level Three most people industries farm assets
Level Two spoiled child cosmetic company cattle
Level One my sister, Tracy Max Factor, Inc. Bessie, the cow

*Source of chart

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White House talks trash

Oh, you know, about the Senate Dems cornering Gonzales on perjury, citing Bush's girlfriend and towel boy for contempt, subpoena-ing Karl Roverer, and generally failing to kiss Monkey Boy's Ass any longer (and to their shame, it took them 6 years to de-smooch)...

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, "Every day congressional Democrats prove that they're more interested in headlines than doing the business Americans want them to do. And Americans are now taking notice that this Congress, under Democratic leadership, is failing to tackle important issues..."


And what were you all saying when Bill Clinton tried to go after Osama ben ladn?

"He's wagging the dog! He's trying to shift the attention away from Monica!"

And what did President 41's Idiot Bastard spawn say when Clinton's people presented the extensive report of terrorism representing years of work under Paul Rudman and Gary Hart and involving hundreds of top security people, the report that alerted America to imminent danger of an attack on US soil, and strongly advocated taking steps such as organizing intelligence into a central place, something like a Homeland Security Department? And when congress was reading it enthusiastically?

He pulled it from consideration and said "I'll have Cheney take a look at it."

So Fratto and Tony Snow and Condoleeza and all the rest -- haven't you figured out anything past your own egos? That you can NOT elevate this administration. No one can.

It degrades and corrupts and brings down to its own abysmal level anyone who touches it.

And then it crumples them up like used toilet paper, all stinking of the filth that comes from touching the Bush-Cheney, et al Cabal, and throws them away.

You have ALL traded your reputations and careers for a mess of promises.

Have fun in whatever "we love ourselves because we're Betas and we're the best" think tank is desperate enough to hire you, but even those stagnant tidepools of washed-up intelligentsia have to notice that you really don't actually THINK, or you wouldn't be where you are today, apologizing for the conscienceless scum of the earth, climbing desperately up the ladder of abstraction to get as far away as possible from giving anything resembling an actual answer with actual specific facts to the uncomfortable questions you're being asked.


***************

There's a rumor that George W and Al Gonzales were butt buddies back when and that's the only reason W can't can his ass, because he knows too much about little Al's ass and Al knows too much about his.

I'm certain it's not true because if it were, from what some say about the Bush Family, anyone who did wouldn't still be alive.

But it's the only reason I've heard that would make a credible case for why Monkey Boy, the smirking moron in the oval office would allow Little Al, that grinning monkey in the Justice Department to stay. (Or he knows where the bodies are buried, or whatever). Because of long nights of kissing and hugging in the chilly winters on the ranch after January 21, 2009, when Laura gives W that Texican farewell --- "I've enjoyed as much of this as I can stand -- so long and forget you ever knew me."

What other reason?
His "loyalty to his friends?"
Maybe "loyalty to his friends" really means "I need propping up and protection."

Because his sense of loyalty to the American public extends only so far as the ones who nod yes to all his insanity.

IGAF.

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7/25/07

The Return of Sam IGAF

When I was in college, we had a hero who was not impressed by any of the rah-rah activities.

His name was Sam Igaf -- from an old Serbo-Gazinian family name not pronounceable to the Ellis Island patronage clerks who changed it. And Gleetska and Wilhelm Igiveafuck became Gail and William Igaf. And people said things like: "TGIF - IGAF."

So.

The NBA is in a dither. David Stern, the Commissioner, is tearing out his hair because referee Tim Donaghy is accused of betting on his own games and therefore possibly point-shaving. Or as my friend Jack put it today "You meet him in the parking lot before the game, give him $100 and tell him which team you want to win."

Oh my, how tragic. Igaf.


And then Michael Vick became the 394th NFL player to be indicted for something connected to beating up women or some other violence or guns or drugs or fast cars this year. But Michael -- you could do almost anything -- you could fuck sheep (you're a suthren man and people would understand) -- but killing dogs? Invest in a beer distributorship or a car dealership or sell insurance -- you ain't never playing quarterback again -- not in the NFL, not in the Canadian League, not even in Arena Football. Not when people know you're a dog killer.

And Commissioner Roger Goodell is sooo upset. Doesn't matter how much jiggery-pokery the rich rich owners are up to. Doesn't matter that the game is called "cripple your opponents" and that they (the owners) won't put up a decent fund for the players they cripple because then they wouldn't make even more more money. Their attitude toward the Young Men who are Servants of the Goddess and Who Water the Autumn Soil with their Blood to Guarantee the Crops Will Grow?

"Fuck 'em if they didn't save their money. There's always SSI".
But a Dog-Killer! Heavens to Murgatroyd! I really truly gaf


And oh, Barry Bonds may pass the current home run career record and Baseball Commissioner Dilbert P. Dither is going to / is not going to /yes he is going to / maybe / attend -- to be there when it happens. Because Barry Bonds was surly, a bad boy who wasn't polite to the press and Mr Bonds ALSO may well be one of the 300-500 MLB players who used stuff other than raw meat to get their weight up.

Stuff that is NOW illegal but wasn't when (and if) he used it.

Not that any of the others who used it were able to hit a fastball like Barry can.

Not that ANY home run king EVER had as low a percentage of strikeouts as Mr. Bonds.

Not that the Commish himself EVER did it, even in his prime, let alone at 43.

But Oh My, he might have enhanced something or other.

Igaf.


And Mr. Igaf called and said:

"This is about a bunch of poor boys who learned to play a game when they were kids and got really really good at it and now are rich -- grown men making millions of dollars a year playing that same kid's game.

"So what's the fucking problem? Why does anyone give a flying Igaf about any of it?

"And isn't it ironic that the man who WANTED to be baseball commissioner but didn't get it had to settle for being president. And HE was a RICH KID who grew up to play a GROWN MAN'S GAME, but does it like a kid."

Yes, Sam, it's ironic, but ultimately, IGAF.

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7/24/07

They keep saying that African-Americans seem not to believe in the electiblity of an African America (Barack Obama)

But it's not that he's black -- it's that he sounds like a very very very smart panelist on the old Scott's Hi-Q -- he's like a super-smart high-school student.

In other words,
he should have waited 4 or 8 years longer,
until he grew some hair on his senatorial post.

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Bush tells us that Al Qaeda in Iraq has sworn allegiance to Osama ben Ladn...

...and then gives that smirky little "so there" smile of his.

The problem is

NO ONE BELIEVES ANYTHING YOU SAY, MONKEY BOY...

And by the way, isn't Ben Ladn in Afghanistan/Pakistan?
And hasn't he been there all along?
So how come you let him get away?
(Other than the fact that we would have felt some closure on 9-11 and you wouldn't have been able to make sure to avoid the same mistake you told people your father made --- that the reason he didn't win re-election was because HIS Iraq war didn't last long enough


Let's go back to the main point:

NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU SAY.

NO ONE (OTHER THAN BELTWAY JOURNALISTS) EVEN LISTENS TO WHAT YOU SAY.

AND NO ONE BELIEVES ANYTHING YOU SAY.


It would be better if you WERE a liar, but the horrible possibility is you actually BELIEVE the crap you spout.

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7/19/07

U.S. Diplomat Sees Some Progress in Iraq

By ANNE FLAHERTY Associated Press Writer

July 19,2007 | WASHINGTON -- The top U.S. diplomat in Iraq said Thursday that Baghdad is making some political progress but faces considerable difficulty in the months to come to try to heal a nation long gripped by violence.

"If there is one word, I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq -- on the streets, in the countryside, in the neighborhoods and at the national level -- that word would be fear," Ryan Crocker told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"For Iraq to move forward at any level, that fear is going to have to be replaced with some level of trust, confidence and that is what the effort at the national level is about," he added, speaking by video link from Baghdad.

**********************

They just don't get it -- the Pottery Barn principle ("You break it you bought it") is crap. --

The proper observation should be: "You break it, it's broken."

And it doesn't matter how many of the king's horses and how many of the king's men and women go bravely into that meat grinder and die or are maimed -- they aren't going to be able to do jack shit about it.

In this case, Bush and his band of merry "you and him fight" murderers just broke it.

And they're are afraid to admit it.

So more and more and more of the King's humans will get destroyed because of that.

Period.

But, oh yeah, I forgot -- in Bush's words, "God told him to do this."

To paraphrase Nietzsche: "When I hear the words ' God told me to..' I know a lot of people will be reaching for their pistols."

Are we getting the idea that even if the Dems get the courage to use the L-word (LIAR) it won't come close to the reality of this administration -- which is, politely put -- "A bunch of craven homicidal maniacs all as crazy as shithouse rats."

Get it?

-- they're completely insane and they're out of control.

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7/18/07

The best part of the Mitchell Brothers' Theater was free

OK, sure, they revolutionized the Sex Work and porn Film Industry with Behind the Green Door and, even better (if not as popular), The Resurrection of Eve, both starring Marilyn Chambers, and their kickass movie Ultra porn that opened with the lines "To hell with socially redeeming values..." and went on to short pieces such as Hot Nazi's with a theme song by Mike Bloomfield.

But for anyone driving by, there was the wonderful full wall mural of marine mammals painted by Joe Silva in 1978, no charge, a gift to the city streets. (Silva painted another of a rainforest in 1985 and was at work on a third when Jim Mitchell shot and killed his brother Artie in 1989, which pretty much brought most of the operations to a halt.)

He once told me he was fascinated by Polar Bears, Crocodiles, and Great White Sharks, because "they're the only animals (aside from microbes and insects) that will go out of the way to eat human beings."

Silva is still painting walls in the East Bay, still giving people driving brief moments of joy and wonder.

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7/14/07

Is common knowledge about Bush's foot-dragging motive accurate?

Thinking about the core of yesterday's posting -- correspondent inference -- assuming from an action that we know the motive of the person or persons who created that action because we're assuming that the obvious result was what was intended (i.e., 9-11, insisting Ben Ladn's GOAL is to kill Americans when the psychotic killing of Americans is only the monstrous TACTIC for his stated goal -- getting the US out of the Middle East, trying to make us stop supporting Israel, etc.)

So many people are pointing a finger at Bush for dragging out the war all assuming the reason is for him to escape to his spider hole January 21, 2009 and leave the mess for his successor, almost certainly destined to be a Democrat.

And of course, that would happen.

But then I think about the Iranian agent (remember him? Screwball?) who convinced the Bushies (or was it the Cheneys or the Rummies? Doesn't matter) of what they wanted to hear -- that the Iraqis were just waiting for us to come in and turn dictatorial rigidity into sheer homicidal anarchic insanity (what happened but presumably wasn't intended) by taking out the man Cheney and Rumsfeld helped put in back in 1968.

And once done, setting up a government we directed from day one.

And now they're all screaming like cartoon old ladies standing on a kitchen chair, skirts lifted and going "EEK-- a MOUSE!" at the prospect of Iran having more influence on the society of their next-door neighbors than we do.

And I become increasingly convinced that there's an additional motive.

I'm still only guessing but I see so many robot Republicans infected with talking points echolalia pointing their purple stinkfingers over and over at the Iraqi Parliament and saying how they're not doing the job.

In other words, the Republicans are pausing briefly from their endless demonizing of "liberals" to blame the Iraqis for our invasion of their country and the occupation and war that was a blunder from the planning to the execution, and is still that is still proving in the most hideous manner possible, the SNAFU Principle. They're screaming on Fox News and CNN and out of the mouths of Beltway Boys and all the right-wing stooges -- "Just look at those ungrateful Iraqis -- after all we've done for them to disassemble the government we didn't like -- and they can't keep their shit together --- IT'S THEIR FAULT!*

Simultaneously, there's another tryout line about how if WE can't stop violence here, how can they? That one combined with "If it took US 10 years to get a Constitution in 1789 how can we expect them to have one within a year."

Well, in 1789 it ALSO took -- I don't know -- a month? Two months? More? -- to sail from England to America. And months to even get everyone together in the sweltering summer heat of Philadelphia.

And were also epidemics playing out the unfunny version of "Bring Out Your Dead in that same city -- Influenza (1789) Yellow Fever (1762 and 1793), Scarlet Fever (1786, 1787, 1788), often-fatal Measles (1789), and the cyclic outbreaks of Smallpox (10 outbreaks of the Red Death between 1699 and 1799).

But that's just a tryout line, that since the USA is STILL acting like sociopathic neighborhood thugs and bullies more than 200 years later (just ask anyone in Latin America what it's like to live in the USA's neighborhood) , we can't expect the Iraqis to rush into sanity so quickly.

The real reason for the delay, I think, is to make the Iraqis themselves the Fall Guys for our fucked up, fouled, and failed invasion and occupation.

And for the 3600+ dead Americans and the literally uncounted dead Iraqis -- uncounted because maybe that small percentage of the American public left that hasn't yet written off Bush as the cowardly version of that other Texan -- the man in the Texas Tower, Charles Whitman -- would start noticing that Monkey Boy's smirking bravado destroyed the lives and homes of those Iraqis, killed their friends and family, and got them angry.

Best that when the mass of our society finds out about the anger, we all get to say, "Well how can they blame US? It was THEIR fault."

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


*In 1914, the Germans knew if they couldn't turn the corner on the Low Countries, they couldn't win the war. They didn't. And they kept the war going another 4 years while setting up fall guys, such as hiring lots of German Jews and Socialists and suchlike people to work in government jobs, allowing a great deal of criticism of the government in newspapers and magazines, etc.


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7/13/07

The Evolutionary Brain Glitch That Makes Terrorism Fail

My friend Pat sent me this URL saying it fleshed out something he's long had in his mind but couldn't quite make as clear -- me too, why the basic function of any good terrorist SHOULD BE -- NO INNOCENT BYSTANDERS -- go after the ones who did the bad stuff and leave the cooks and busboys and secretaries and librarians alone .... (but, as the author himself makes clear, this does not mean I approve of terror -- even effective terror -- as a tactic for getting what you want.)

The Evolutionary Brain Glitch That Makes Terrorism Fail



Commentary by Bruce Schneier

Two people are sitting in a room together: an experimenter and a subject. The experimenter gets up and closes the door, and the room becomes quieter. The subject is likely to believe that the experimenter's purpose in closing the door was to make the room quieter.

This is an example of correspondent inference theory. People tend to infer the motives -- and also the disposition -- of someone who performs an action based on the effects of his actions, and not on external or situational factors. If you see someone violently hitting someone else, you assume it's because he wanted to -- and is a violent person -- and not because he's play-acting. If you read about someone getting into a car accident, you assume it's because he's a bad driver and not because he was simply unlucky. And -- more importantly for this column -- if you read about a terrorist, you assume that terrorism is his ultimate goal...

According to the data, terrorism is more likely to work if 1) the terrorists attack military targets more often than civilian ones, and 2) if they have minimalist goals like evicting a foreign power from their country or winning control of a piece of territory, rather than maximalist objectives like establishing a new political system in the country or annihilating another nation. But even so, terrorism is a pretty ineffective means of influencing policy...

This theory explains, with a clarity I have never seen before, why so many people make the bizarre claim that al Qaeda terrorism -- or Islamic terrorism in general -- is "different": that while other terrorist groups might have policy objectives, al Qaeda's primary motivation is to kill us all. This is something we have heard from President Bush again and again -- Abrams has a page of examples in the paper -- and is a rhetorical staple in the debate...

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Please -- take the time to read the entire paper -- it's not very much longer, but makes things quite clear, and also this other paper also by Mr Schneier and especially, as he suggests, the comments made in response to it. Between the two, it enables us to see every man behind every curtain, telling us the crap they think about terrorism.

And why the mitigating comment about Mr Bush that "He's sincere. He believes these things he says," is NOT a compliment but an observation of a delusion -- a type of delusion we all think makes a total fuckup acceptable.

Meaning, perhaps, a cynical self-serving asshole who KNOWS he's lying about the reasons for Ben Ladn's monstrous murders might stand a better chance going up against him.

Best of all might be someone who understands why Ben Ladn does what he does and tells the truth about it -- that's NOT the same thing as going along with it, but recognizing the difference between removing a blood-sucking tick by pulling it out (thereby leaving the infectious head under your skin) compared against putting a heat source behind it and making it back away from you.


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Bush claims executive privilege on Tillman
July 14, 2007, 04:47 AM

WASHINGTON, July 13 (UPI) — A House committee will hold further hearings into the 2004 friendly-fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan...

...U.S. officials initially said Tillman died in a firefight with the enemy, but later conceded he was killed by his own men.

Waxman and Ranking Member Tom Davis, R-Va., sent a letter to the White House Friday objecting to the withholding of documents the committee requested after the April hearing.

The White House in June invoked executive privilege in notifying Waxman and Davis it was withholding some documents.

The main focus of the committee's investigation is to examine what the White House and the leadership of the Department of Defense knew about Cpl. Tillman's death and when they knew it, Waxman and Davis wrote. Unfortunately, the document production from the White House sheds virtually no light on these matters.

Copyright © 2007 by United Press International
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How many people thought I was insane when I said "When the facts are all known -- if ever -- you're going to find out those other men in the platoon, the ones who shot him -- you'll find out it wasn't accidental -- it was intentional."

Maybe I was -- and am -- insane. Doesn't mean I'm dumb. All that invoking Executive Privilege does is add credibility to my speculative opinion.


"Some call it mental illness.
I call it mental adventures."

Fengtze Yah




"War: first, one hopes to win;
then one expects the enemy to lose;
then one is satisfied that he too is suffering;
in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost."

Karl Kraus 1874-1936

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I've been saying this about Rudy and his actual behavior concerning the NYFD -- what they call "Depraved Indifference" on the Law and Order TV shows --

Here's a 13 minute video prepared by firefighters who seem to be tired of retching uncontrollably every time they hear Rudy talk about his deep commitment to them.

Click here.

And this 7 minutes from Chris Matthews Hardball is more on the same subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfXEqmCFeo8&mode=related&search=


(Oh, by the way -- Mayor Bloomberg has ALSO maganed to forget to upgrade those piece-of-crap walkie-talkies that got so many firefighters killed on 9-11 (and a bunch of others on less dramatic days). At least Bloomberg didn't try to bury the dead 9-11 firefighters at the Brooklyn dump. That was all Rudy.

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7/9/07

Bumper sticker seen in Berkeley on Sunday

Sharp-eyed Kayla tells me she saw this yesterday --



Impeach Bush! Torture Cheney!

Sounds good to me, if anyone can find Cheney's undisclosed location. A friend in the UK suggested I use this clue -- it will have to have some of his native soil for him to lie in. I said good thought, but surely you mean "to SLEEP in," because as we've seen, he's capable of lying ANYWHERE.

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The danger of pushing hard on Bush on Cheney

...although ANY disagreement with their fantasies seems to be, in their view, too hard, waaay too hard.

Back to the topic:

-- you've got Bush and Cheney, a duo we've all seen in playgrounds and bars

-- the spoiled brat rich kid who believes anything he does is fine as long as mommy says it's ok (and who has hired a flock of surrogate mommies, yes-women, who do exactly that).

And then you have Cheney, the spoiled brat rich kid's bodyguard and supposed pal, who pretends to like him, disses him mercilessly in private, treats him like home-made shit, and uses the dumb rich kid for his own power.

(After all, if you're the one who kicks the other kids' asses in the playground, then who REALLY has the power? If the rich kid is paying for all of YOUR candy, then who's got the upper hand?)

And the Rich Kid pays him off because he's really scared, because he knows he never got the riches by himself and can't protect himself from someone taking them away from him -- same thing ALL rich people fear -- the gardeners and garbagemen coming up the hill and crapping on their carpets.

They rarely think about what happens if and when their bodyguards turn on them.

So when you push the Rich Kid and his Muscle too hard (like shouting "BOO!" at them), they go nuts. They get violent. Their thin-ice power pose is threatened and the idea of having to pull their own weight is terrifying.

And Karl Roverer?

Oh he's the kid the Rich Kid pays off with Ice Cream Sundaes to do his homework for him.

All the same boring, tired, old games that second-rate people always play.

(Just look at the second-raters who stand up for them -- Bill Kristol, Elliot Abrams, the Beltway Boys (talk about giggling in the corner of the locker room et al -- some truly vicious, like Abrams, but all second-rate.)

And they all jock-sniff the actual tough guys like Richard Armitage -- a man who actually did combat tours in Vietnam (3 of them), was a Navy Seal, and -- whether he denies it or not, the rumor itself is enough for these guys to bend over for him -- Phoenix Program button man.

They all giggled like some 50's stereotype of little girls (although all the little girls I've met seem to be smarter and tougher than any of them) when he came into the State Department, worshipping his ACTUAL power.

And he was tough and confident of himself and supportive to others and a straight-talking stand-up guy -- a true warrior -- and whether or not you despised what he had done, you can't help liking him -- always a giveaway that the guy is the real thing -- unlike all the poseurs who flutter around him like little moths.

The point being, when the toughness is a carefully polished veneer, a panoply of phony devices and hired hands, you push too hard and they go nuts, strike out in any way they can, infants throwing tantrums.

Which is why, I still believe, Nancy Pelosi -- youngest of 6 children and mother of 5 -- is very very reluctant to even discuss impeachment -- she know about tantrums and, I think, considers the idea of a president with the emotional development of a 9 year old and the world-destroying nuclear capability born of post-WII insanity guided by former Nazi's advising, to be a really really scary thing.

Global warming? Hell, how about instant global broiling?

And that's why, even now, after destroying the lives of millions, destroying the US Military and the US Spirit of Liberty, they're still getting something of a free pass, because they believe it's THEIR football, and people know, you mess too hard with them, they'll just blow it up and go home to the dark recesses from which they came, down there a few thousand feet below the surface of the ocean, in total darkness, where hell-fires trickle up bits of the sulfur farts they need to sustain life.

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7/8/07

Who says the World Earth Rockout Fest won't influence people toward more Green behavior?

First day after -- here's someone taking it seriously:


Robber Disguised As Tree Hits N.H. Bank

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July 08,2007 | MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Leaf it to New Hampshire, where a bank branch was held up by a man disguised as a tree.

Just as the Citizen Bank branch opened Saturday morning, a man walked in with leafy boughs duct-taped to his head and torso, and robbed the place.

"He really went out on a limb," police Sgt. Ernie Goodno said Sunday.

Police said the leafy man didn't saying anything about having a weapon, just demanded cash, and was given an undisclosed amount.

Although the branches and leaves obscured much of the man's face, someone who saw images from the bank's security camera recognized the robber and called police.

Officers said James Coldwell, 49, was arrested early Sunday at his Manchester home and charged with robbery. Arraignment was not expected until Monday.

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7/7/07

Lt. General Wm E. Odom, THEN and NOW

THEN -- Excerpts from his article:


What's Wrong with Cutting and Running?

Gen (ret) William E. Odom


October 3, 2005

If I were a journalist, I would list all the arguments that you hear against pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, the horrible things that people say would happen, and then ask: Aren't they happening already? Would a pullout really make things worse? Maybe it would make things better.

Here are some of the arguments against pulling out:

  1. We would leave behind a civil war.
  2. We would lose credibility on the world stage.
  3. It would embolden the insurgency and cripple the move toward democracy.
  4. Iraq would become a haven for terrorists.
  5. Iranian influence in Iraq would increase.
  6. Unrest might spread in the region and/or draw in Iraq's neighbors.
  7. Shi'ite-Sunni clashes would worsen.
  8. We haven't fully trained the Iraqi military and police forces yet.
  9. Talk of deadlines would undercut the morale of our troops.

But consider this:

1. On civil war. Iraqis are already fighting Iraqis. Insurgents have killed far more Iraqis than Americans. That's civil war. We created the civil war when we invaded; we can't prevent a civil war by staying....

2. On credibility. If we were Russia or some other insecure nation, we might have to worry about credibility. A hyperpower need not worry about credibility. That's one of the great advantages of being a hyperpower: When we have made a big strategic mistake, we can reverse it. And it may even enhance our credibility. Staying there damages our credibility more than leaving...

3. On the insurgency and democracy. There is no question the insurgents and other anti-American parties will take over the government once we leave. But that will happen no matter how long we stay. Any government capable of holding power in Iraq will be anti-American because the Iraqi people are increasingly becoming anti-American...

4. On terrorists. Iraq is already a training ground for terrorists. In fact, the CIA has pointed out to the administration and Congress that Iraq is spawning so many terrorists that they are returning home to many other countries to further practice their skills there. The quicker a new dictator wins political power in Iraq and imposes order, the sooner the country will stop producing experienced terrorists...

5. On Iranian influence. Iranian leaders see U.S. policy in Iraq as being so much in Tehran's interests that they have been advising Iraqi Shi'ite leaders to do exactly what the Americans ask them to do. Elections will allow the Shi'ites to take power legally. Once in charge, they can settle scores with the Ba'athists and Sunnis. If U.S. policy in Iraq begins to undercut Iran's interests, then Tehran can use its growing influence among Iraqi Shi'ites to stir up trouble, possibly committing Shi'ite militias to an insurgency against U.S. forces there. The U.S. invasion has vastly increased Iran's influence in Iraq, not sealed it out...

6. On Iraq's neighbors. The civil war we leave behind may well draw in Syria, Turkey, and Iran. But already today each of those states is deeply involved in support for or opposition to factions in the ongoing Iraqi civil war. The very act of invading Iraq almost ensured that violence would involve the larger region. And so it has and will continue, with or without U.S. forces in Iraq.

7. On Shi'ite-Sunni conflict. The U.S. presence is not preventing Shi'ite-Sunni conflict; it merely delays it. Iran is preventing it today, and it will probably encourage it once the Shi'ites dominate the new government, an outcome U.S. policy virtually ensures.

8. On training the Iraq military and police. The insurgents are fighting very effectively without U.S. or European military advisers to train them. Why don't the soldiers and police in the present Iraqi regime's service do their duty as well? Because they are uncertain about committing their lives to this regime. They are being asked to take a political stand, just as the insurgents are. Political consolidation, not military-technical consolidation, is the issue...

Even if we were able to successfully train an Iraqi military and police force, the likely result, after all that, would be another military dictatorship. Experience around the world teaches us that military dictatorships arise when the military's institutional modernization gets ahead of political consolidation.

9. On not supporting our troops by debating an early pullout. Many U.S. officers in Iraq, especially at company and field grade levels, know that while they are winning every tactical battle, they are losing strategically. ..

The U.S. invasion of Iraq only serves the interests of:

1. Osama bin Laden (it made Iraq safe for al-Qaeda, positioned U.S. military personnel in places where al-Qaeda operatives can kill them occasionally, helps radicalize youth throughout the Arab and Muslim world, alienates America's most important and strongest allies – the Europeans – and squanders U.S. military resources that otherwise might be finishing off al-Qaeda in Pakistan.);

2. The Iranians (who were invaded by Saddam and who suffered massive casualties in an eight-year war with Iraq.);

3. And the extremists in both Palestinian and Israeli political circles ...

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NOW --

JULY 5, 2007

Excerpts from article in the Nieman Watchdog :

Every step the Democrats in Congress have taken to force the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq has failed. Time and again, President Bush beats them into submission with charges of failing to "support the troops."

Why do the Democrats allow this to happen? Because they let the president define what "supporting the troops" means. His definition is brutally misleading. Consider what his policies are doing to the troops.

No U.S. forces have ever been compelled to stay in sustained combat conditions for as long as the Army units have in Iraq. In World War II, soldiers were considered combat-exhausted after about 180 days in the line. They were withdrawn for rest periods. Moreover, for weeks at a time, large sectors of the front were quiet, giving them time for both physical and psychological rehabilitation. During some periods of the Korean War, units had to fight steadily for fairly long periods but not for a year at a time. In Vietnam, tours were one year in length, and combat was intermittent with significant break periods.

In Iraq, combat units take over an area of operations and patrol it daily, making soldiers face the prospect of death from an IED or small arms fire or mortar fire several hours each day. Day in and day out for a full year, with only a single two-week break, they confront the prospect of death, losing limbs or eyes, or suffering other serious wounds. Although total losses in Iraq have been relatively small compared to most previous conflicts, the individual soldier is risking death or serious injury day after day for a year. The impact on the psyche accumulates, eventually producing what is now called "post-traumatic stress disorders." In other words, they are combat-exhausted to the point of losing effectiveness. The occasional willful killing of civilians in a few cases is probably indicative of such loss of effectiveness. These incidents don't seem to occur during the first half of a unit's deployment in Iraq.

After the first year, following a few months back home, these same soldiers are sent back for a second year, then a third year, and now, many are facing a fourth deployment! Little wonder more and more soldiers and veterans are psychologically disabled...

The ... way to alleviate the problem is to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as possible and as securely as possible. The electorate understands this. That is why a majority of voters favor withdrawing from Iraq.

If the Democrats truly want to succeed in forcing President Bush to begin withdrawing from Iraq, the first step is to redefine "supporting the troops" as withdrawing them, citing the mass of accumulating evidence of the psychological as well as the physical damage that the president is forcing them to endure because he did not raise adequate forces. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress could confirm this evidence and lay the blame for "not supporting the troops" where it really belongs – on the president. And they could rightly claim to the public that they are supporting the troops by cutting off the funds that he uses to keep U.S. forces in Iraq...

Congress clearly and indisputably has two powers over the executive: the power of the purse and the power to impeach. Instead of using either, members of congress are wasting their time discussing feckless measures like a bill that "de-authorizes the war in Iraq." That is toothless unless it is matched by a cut-off of funds.

The president is strongly motivated to string out the war until he leaves office, in order to avoid taking responsibility for the defeat he has caused and persisted in making greater each year for more than three years.

To force him to begin a withdrawal before then, the first step should be to rally the public by providing an honest and candid definition of what "supporting the troops" really means and pointing out who is and who is not supporting our troops at war. The next step should be a flat refusal to appropriate money for to be used in Iraq for anything but withdrawal operations with a clear deadline for completion.

The final step should be to put that president on notice that if ignores this legislative action and tries to extort Congress into providing funds by keeping U.S. forces in peril, impeachment proceeding will proceed in the House of Representatives. Such presidential behavior surely would constitute the "high crime" of squandering the lives of soldiers and Marines for his own personal interest.

General William E. Odom, Ret

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First of all, any talk that Bill Clinton didn't deal with the threat of terrorism is bullshit...

In 1997 President created a bipartisan commission headed by Warren Rudman (R) and Gary Hart (D) to investigate vulnerabilities to and defenses against terrorism. Their work and the work of those on the commission produced a series of documents, all under the heading of:

"The U.S. Commission on National Security/ 21st Century Report."

On September 15, 1999, the first phase of the report was presented, including this dire prediction:

“Americans will likely die on American soil, possibly in large numbers.” ( Hart-Rudman U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century report, Sept 15, 1999 )

The report went on:

"...the combination of unconventional weapons proliferation with the persistence of international terrorism will end the relative invulnerability of the U.S. homeland to catastrophic attack... A direct attack against American citizens on American soil is likely over the next quarter century,"


The final report was titled:

Road Map for National Security: Imperative for Change

The Phase III Report of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century

And was published on January 31, 2001

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It included 50 recommendations such as a need for a single Department of Homeland Security, FEMA being unable to deal with the threat and much more.

Congress received it enthusiastically and was taking steps to creating and passing a bill.

And then George W Bush came into office and withdrew it from congress saying:

"I'll have Cheney look at it."

Because Dick Cheney was, of course, more qualified to make a decision about in in a few weeks (actually he never said anything about it ... just buried it, because it was tainted by --- GASP! -- BILL CLINTON having initiated it) than all the people who spent their time working on it for several years:

Co-Chairs
Gary Hart
Warren Rudman


Commissioners
Anne Armstrong
Norm Augustine
John Dancy
John Galvin
Leslie Gelb
Newt Gingrich
Lee Hamilton
Lionel Olmer
Donald Rice
James Schlesinger
Harry Train
Andrew Young

Study Group Members
Patti Antsen
Lyntis Beard
Jeff Bergner
Coit Blacker
Barry Blechman
Chris Bowie
Ivo Daalder
Jacquelyn Davis
Rhett Dawson
Keith Dunn
Charles Freeman
Adam Garfinkle
Richard Haass
Keith Hahn
John Hillen
Frank Hoffman
Robert Killebrew
Richard Kohn
Bill Lewis
Martin Libicki
Jim Locher
Charles Moskos
Williamson Murray
Barry Posen
Peter Rodman
Barbara Samuels
Kori Schake
James Thomason
Ruth Wedgwood

as well as a huge number of US Defense and State Department Offices (Pages 144 and 145) as well as International Research with countries (such as England and Israel) who had been dealing with terrorism on an almost daily basis,

But Monkey Boy just put the report aside and said "Cheney will look at it."


So I guess that means there's no point in blaming Condoleeza Rice or Colin Powell or anyone else in the administration. It seems as if it goes to Monkey Boy and Dick Cheney and their arrogance and neglect and psychotic hatred of Bill Clinton and refusal to possibly accept the possibility that the former president ever did anything right -- looks like responsibility for the devastation of September 11, 2001 should be laid right at the feet of Dick Cheney, in whatever unsdiscosed location he's hiding.

Oh, talk about a gentleman -- Warren Rudman was courteous and refused to point the finger at the Unholy One on September 12, 2001. Gary Hart just made it clear they had predicted it in their report of 1999.

So let's be clear as to who was actually looking ahead and who was actually not.

And let Rudy Giuliani admit that other than standing up like a mensch on 9-11-01 (at least compared to the Sock Puppet), he helped make the death toll higher than it needed to be by refusing to accept anyone else's suggestions -- such as locating the Emergency Response Center somewhere OTHER THAN in the World Trade Center, or providing the NYFD with walkie-talkies on which they could have gotten the same heads-up and get out warning the NYPD did with their better equipment. (Oh, those crapola walkie-talkies have never been upgraded to the ones they now KNOW could have saved the lives of most of those firefighters.). And when anyone accused his authoritarian and dictatorial style as "fascist," he chose to do the most fascistic move possible -- shout as loudly as he could and denounce the accuser as having made an anti-Italian slur.

Six years into the most incompetent, criminal, self-serving, plundering administration in US history, the second rate fumblers that call themselves the Bush Administration are still blaming the man who actually saw it coming and sponsored the report that, if they'd had the balls to overcome their rabid desire for absolute power (meaning can't give any credit to anyone else), could have allowed those thousands of people to live through the working day on 9-11-01 and gone home, complaining about traffic jams and crowded subway cars.

I still -- 6 years into it -- still can't figure out if they're monsters or just idiotic egomaniacal assholes. (Or is that the same thing?)

To update and paraphrase the words of Emile Zola:

"J'accuse, motherfuckers. J'accuse."

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7/5/07

And while we're on the subject ... and WHILE we're on the subject...

...And while we're on the subject, Tony, how's your old wazoo?


July 5, 2007

White House Reacts to Clintons' Comments

Filed at 12:52 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House on Thursday made fun of former President Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, for criticizing President Bush's decision to erase the prison sentence of former aide I. Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby.

''I don't know what Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case of it,'' presidential spokesman Tony Snow said.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., has scheduled hearings on Bush's commutation of Libby's 2 1/2-year sentence.

''Well, fine, knock himself out,'' Snow said of Conyers. ''I mean, perfectly happy. And while he's at it, why doesn't he look at January 20th, 2001?''

In the closing hours of his presidency, Clinton pardoned 140 people, including fugitive financier Marc Rich.


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Funny how that formerly semi-honorable man has such a selective memory -- just in case, as the inestimable Greebs at Reign of Error pointed out in a comment for my posting below, the monstrous vile international Jew-bastard commie tax-evading rat, Marc Rich was represented by and equally vile lying sonofabitch lawyer ... hmm, SCOOTER LIBBY.

"Just doing my job," says Mr.Snow.

Right.

And on what level of ethical propriety is it -- especially as someone who considers himself a journalist -- to take -- and hold on to -- a job which consists mostly of lying and dissembling and pretending you didn't say what you said.

Like everyone else who touches that slime-based multi-headed creature called the Bush Administration, you don't raise them up (that's just ego-madness to think you could) -- honor and integrity disappear and you wind up the same kind of foul-smelling sludge they are.

Letting the cancer taker you might have been a better way to go. But as it is, you can paraphprase Cardinal Woolsey's dying words* after he perverted every conceivable principle he believed in to serve Henry VIII.

Am I being too harsh? Well, let me put it this way -- from imminent Taliban/ Al Quaeda takeover in Pakistan (which has REAL WMDs -- nuclear ones) because of obsession with Iraq to melting permafrost -- these are OUR lives you're fucking with every time you open up your lying mouth.

So am I being too harsh when you help condemn our lives and future generations because you were so seduced by the idea of power and position?

What you're doing is no more Public Service than pissing on the sidewalk is Fire Prevention.

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*"Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my King, He would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies."


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7/4/07

HEY -- But it was in a PRIUS!!

Al Gore's Son Arrested on Drug Suspicion

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July 04,2007 | LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. -- Al Gore's son was arrested early Wednesday on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs after deputies pulled him over for speeding, authorities said.

Al Gore III, 24, was driving a blue Toyota Prius about 100 mph on the San Diego Freeway when he was pulled over at about 2:15 a.m., Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The deputies said they smelled marijuana and searched the car, Amormino said. They found less than an ounce of marijuana along with Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall, which is used for attention deficit disorder, he said.


**********************

But it was in a PRIUS!

Meaning
(1) anyone who's worried about whether or not a hybrid can go fast can rest assured.*

And
(2) smoking marijuana in a PRIUS? Poppa should be proud his little boy's Green.


But Xanax AND Valium?


Maybe it's true and marijuana DOES make you .. uh, what's the word?... uhh ... oh, yeah... dumb.

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* I wonder how many MPG a Prius gets doing 100 MPH.
My Volvo gets around 24 MPG at my usual 75 - 85.
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The Scooterites keep yelling "THERE WAS NO UNDERLYING CRIME EVER PROVEN"

That's quite funny -

like killing your parents and then throwing yourself on the mercy of the court because you're an orphan.

There was no UNDER-lying crime proven because of Scooter Libby's OVER-lying prevented Fitzgerald from getting the facts.

I love to laugh at how tough these pezzonovantes think they are, and what a bunch of chickenshit babies they turn into when anyone wants to take away any of their extra-special privileges (like obeying the same laws as the rest of us) or wants them to take responsibility for their actions.

I do believe the old time-honored tradition of spitting on such lying meat-sacks of walking feces as they pass in the street should be revived.

If they're too far away for a good lunger, then bird-flipping is also useful.

It is an important aspect of a democracy to display our contempt for such vermin.



Printed signs carried and displayed also work.

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Summertime. Fish jumping. That's Trouble.

BRANFORD, Fla. — “Lots of artillery out there,” an old man hollered from the safety of the Suwannee River’s edge, and he was right. The sturgeon were jumping high and fast, twisting their armored girth in midair and returning to the depths with a stunning splash.

On the water, there was reason to be anxious. Florida’s season of “sturgeon strikes” — law enforcement’s term for collisions between the state’s largest freshwater fish and hapless boaters — was already well under way.

It may seem bizarre, but it is no joke. Leaping sturgeon have injured three people on the Suwannee this year, including a woman on a Jet Ski and a girl whose leg was shattered when one of the giant fish jumped aboard her boat. Eight others were hit last year, and with traffic growing on the storied river, sturgeon are joining alligators and hurricanes on the list of things to dread in Florida.

“These injuries are very impressive,” said Dr. Lawrence Lottenberg, director of trauma surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine in nearby Gainesville. “You’ve got people sitting on the front of an open boat, and the boat is going 20, 30, 40 miles per hour.The fish jumps up and usually slaps these people right across their face and upper chest. Almost every one of them universally has been knocked unconscious. If you’re not wearing a life jacket, you’re going to fall in the water and potentially drown...”

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Hmmm ... wait, an idea is coming to me, how this sort of accident can be prevented... they could slow down and ... nahhh...

*********************
Sturgeon have been around since the dinosaur age, and they look it. They have long, flat snouts and hefty bodies covered in sharp, bony plates. Gulf sturgeon can grow up to eight feet long and weigh 200 pounds, but even the smaller ones can inflict serious harm. In recent years, injuries have included a broken pelvis, a fractured arm and a slashed throat...

Wildlife officials have posted signs warning boaters to slow down. Leah Daniel, a friend of Ms. Carter, said there was only one other precaution to take: “Pray...”

Fear is not rampant on the gentle river, lined with ancient cypress trees and moss-draped live oaks, but curiosity is. No one knows for sure why sturgeon jump.

... would like to see speed limits on sections of river where sturgeon congregate. The state has imposed such limits along miles of “manatee protection zones,” but with fierce objections from boaters who say the restriction spoils their fun.

*************
Yeah, that's what I thought...
***************

Some irate boaters have called the wildlife commission and railed against sturgeon, Ms. Parker said, even asking the state to “kill all of them so people can enjoy the river...”

Jim Tomey, sitting by the riverbank, said watching for sturgeon was his summer ritual. As he spoke, one burst out of the water and returned with a mighty smack.

“I love to come down here,” Mr. Tomey said, “and sit and watch them fish jump.”


********************

So what's the problem? The sturgeon have survived since prehistoric times. The newbies -- two legged hairless walking assholes -- haven't.

It's called natural selection and the people who refuse to slow down ... well, maybe more of them should study Evolution -- might give them a better chance to survive.

No, no no -- would interfere with their FUN.
Maybe they could learn to have fun the way Jim Tomey does.

The sturgeon really can't learn to NOT jump.

If the boaters can't learn to go slow, well, in the words of a catch phrase used in a science fiction novel --

"Think of it as evolution in action."*

Harsh?

Let's put it this way: Assholes are NOT an endangered species.

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* Oath of Fealty by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Niven had used the phrase in other novels, but this was the one from which it caught on.


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7/3/07

Scooter Libby ... what? Is that a surprise?

Bush pays off the pals who lie for him.

Bush pays off the pals who tell him what to do.

Bush pays off his Masters, the ones with their greasy hands up his sock puppet ass, making him say the insane shit he says.

(Or so he did until he started drinking again and seemingly believing he got to the oval office on his own merits.)

What would you do?

When 4 out of 5 people in the country recognize you for the lying murderous piece of shit you are, wouldn't you go along with the 1 in 5 who --either for their own interest, or because they're just as drunk as MonkeyBoy -- are still saying "Oh they're fucked up. They don't understand what a good boy you are and how history will remember you as the saviour of the West" *

And as usual, he does a half-assed fuckup of it.

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*(Ironically, this is actually the same sack of shit Rumsfeld and Cheney sold to Saddam Hussein back during the Nixon administration, convincing him that he was going to be remembered as the NEW Salladin, rescuing Sunni Islam from the clutches of the Black Hat Bad Guy Shi'ia. And Monkey Boy can look forward to being as well rewarded for his participation as Spider Hole Hussein was.)

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About Governor Schmuckenegger

What a wonderful snap comment he made, that the Spanish-speaking native Americans should "just turn off Spanish language TV."

The only thing it really did is clearly identify the bigots and the mindless (like so many mainstream journalists who say "Yeah, after all, he KNOWS, he had to learn English himself..."

Actually he was born in Austria in 1947 and while he tells us he remembers seeing Russian tanks in the streets when he was a kid (wow, talk about great eyesight, they were already away across the Czech border before he was born) the fact is, English was used in daily practice, was taught in the schools, and there's really no comparison.

But it's -- as usual -- good enough for him to pass on something.
He's bright -- or his advisors are -- because he keeps coming up with answers that sound as if he's actually going to do something that isn't for one of his special interest contributors, so everyone says "Oh great -- he's really coming around," and of course no one follows up to find out what he actually does about his pornouncements (that word was originally a typo, but when I think about how he's fucking the people of California, well, I let it stay) on the environment, global warming, immigration, etc.


But that slap in the face of everyone who DOESN'T come from a country occupied by American and English troops is especially cute.

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7/2/07

A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease

Bush, Grasping for Answers and Fixated on Iraq, Remains Resolute

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 2, 2007; Page A01

At the nadir of his presidency, George W. Bush is looking for answers. One at a time or in small groups, he summons leading authors, historians, philosophers and theologians to the White House to join him in the search.

Over sodas and sparkling water, he asks his questions: What is the nature of good and evil in the post-Sept. 11 world? What lessons does history have for a president facing the turmoil I'm facing? How will history judge what we've done? Why does the rest of the world seem to hate America? Or is it just me they hate?

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Read the entire article here

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I really don't know whether to think "Oh boo-fucking hoo, poor pitiful Georgie" or "WTF?"

He can ask guru from Oprah to the Dalai Lama and the answer (phrased in various ways) is the same -- "yes, they hate you because you're an asshole who's willing to kill hundreds of thousand rather than let you big daddy and big momma and big boyfriend down. Live with it."

My strongest inclination is to say "Well why don't you take a walk through the carnage you've created for whatever -- your ego, your momma, your Cheney daddy, your old lover from the salad tossing days, Al Gonzalez, your God.

-- just take a long walk through the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, through the hundreds of thousands (including 3500+ dead and 25,000 maimed) American military you've betrayed, the hundreds of millions of Americans who will be apologizing to the world for what you've done in our name for many many years to come, just walk among the millions who have had to flee for their lives, but who you've prevented from getting into USA ---
and you touched that soldier's eye wound -- doink! -- of course he didn't look away -- he spends his life looking away.

The only decision this decider has made is to decide he's not responsible for anything.

Fucking spoiled brat 9-year old rich kid.
A good friend who revealed to me at one time he was an alcoholic -- and had gotten straight -- told me that one big problem was, when you cleaned up, you dropped back to the emotional level you were at when you started drinking (and drowning those emotions)

-- well they say W started drinking when he was 9 or 10 (and again last year, it seems obvious to me --- which seems to me the most obvious probable answer for the enigma of his placid semi-distant attitude now).
But, hell, if all those people I mentioned above, Iraqis who have lost home, friends and families, soldiers, sailors and marines whose choice of service to our has been debased, distorted and used only for service to the Nova Mob -- if they're all willing to forgive W, then so will I ... at least I'll try.




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7/1/07

On Wednesday anyone who watches TV news will have to witness the most obscene demonstration of mealy-mouthed hypocrisy we've seen in some time:

George W. Bush standing at Arlington National Cemetery, commiserating over the shredded dead bodies of and maimed live ones of men and women who put on the uniform to serve our country, W prancing and smirking and pretending the reason they died WAS that they were serving our country, when in fact, they died serving nothing larger than the megalomaniacal vision of Bush pere and his pals from Skull & Bones while Bush fils serves as a sock puppet for those grey eminences behind Dick Cheney and the rest of the Nova Mob, the extra-terrestrial villains who destroy planets for their own amusement and profit.

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I know our country was born of
"the rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air..."

but wouldn't it be a good thing if we could figure out some other ways of dealing with people who don't agree with our point of view?

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"Oops, sorry, my bad."

'Up to 80 civilians dead' after US air strikes in Afghanistan



Witnesses claim a village in British-run Helmand was bombed for three hours after the Taliban attempted to ambush a US-Afghan army convoy


---------- This report from the Guardian reminds me of the comment Wesley Clark made during an interview on CSPAN a few months ago.

He said: "People are pretty much the same everywhere. If you blow up their houses and kill their friends and family, they get angry."

The interviewer, a very intelligent man whose interviews are marked by intelligent questions and no discernible bias, reacted with a slightly dropped jaw, as if he'd never heard such a concept before.

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The one factor no one mentions about Global Warning

There are 6 billion people in the world, each one generating a temperature of 98.6F (internal -- external/skin surface temp is 96.7)

So even if everyone in the world stopped using ANY combustion, the amount of heated CO2 being expelled into the atmosphere and pure thermal energy being radiated from skin surface would be enough to raise the mean temp of the world by several degrees.

We, by our very metabolic processes (and our success in limiting infant mortality drastically while increasing average life expectancy considerably) ARE the cause.
It's not what we do.
It's what we are -- warm-blooded human mammals.


Years ago, when working with the SF Zoo's Avian Conservation Program, a member of the public asked me what it would take to save the condors.

I said: "Some sort of typhoid or cholera epidemic in the Los Angeles basin that wiped out 90-95% of the population." *

The person then replied:"You seem to be a little too enthusiastic about that possibility."

And I did have to admit that LA was not my favorite place in the world, but in fact the original range of the California Condor went all the way north to Oregon, so, I asked this person, "would you feel better about it if I included Half Moon Bay and Marin County in the plague?


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*(Partially to provide a whole lot of ripe meat for the birdies, but mostly because their traditional for was beached whales -- dozens of condors would feast for months on one beached whale -- and removal of most of the population would allow that to happen again. But people who pay beach front property prices do NOT appreciate their homes to be immediately downwind of 30 tons of rotting flesh.)

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