debunker

Made in Africa

2010-03-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

According to science we are all ancestors from Africa, so come on and join the club that you're already in.

We got the house!!!

2006-11-07T23:57:00.000-08:00

... and the Senate is so much closer than I had imagined. I'm literally on the edge of my seat.

2006 mid-term election prediction

2006-11-05T23:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I have no prediction, after 2004 I can't trust my own senses let alone the media predictions. Keep fighting, but don't underestimate the power of dirty politics, including ...

November surprises like the cynical calculated timing (you bet it was) of the Saddam verdict.

or

the calculated election corruption with the e-voting machines

or

the deceptive Republican push polling

or

the ability for the Christian conservative base to still have a more driven activist community than the left (even in the face of hypocrisy)

or

for Republican redisricting to throw the electorate

or

for the politics of fear to win over critical thinking

So other than that my hopes are high.

For the record, my wife things I'm being a pessimist and that people will vote their discust against the current powers that be. I hope she's right.

That said, I have a feeling that the Dems will take the house but not the Senate, specifically I see the Dems taking +4-5 seats in the senate, but not take the majority. Okay, so I do have a prediction, but a loose one. And definately a jaded one. Please prove me wrong.

That said I am more hopefull to a 2008 presidential election, particularly with Obama!

Happy voting and good luck.

Bush's legacy

2006-05-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

The spread of global anti-Americanism. Yer doin' a "heck of a job there" Goergie.

Save Net Neutrality

2006-05-07T01:56:00.000-07:00

Is it me or is this issue of Net Neutrality seem to be getting very little attention, even relative to the small amount of attention that other important issues get.

So has anyone else been following this? Congress is getting dangerously close to placing new architecture on the internet that would give preferential treatment to the wealthy and corporations ... and in effect hinder the independant voices.

Anyhow, here's the petition if you don't already know about it along with a snippet, there's also a link for more details:

civic.moveon.org

Congress is now pushing a law that would end the free and open Internet as we know it. Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. So Amazon doesn't have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer.

Many members of Congress take campaign contributions from these companies, and they don't think the public are paying attention to this issue. Let's show them we care - please sign this petition today.

Congress must keep the Internet free and open by voting for meaningful and enforceable Network Neutrality--the Internet's First Amendment.

Save The Internet

Crooks and Liars

2006-03-01T23:16:00.000-08:00

Crooks and Liars

One of many reasons for impeachment.

Ugh.

2006-01-23T23:58:00.000-08:00

Ahhh!

Canada has always been the shining light of the north for me, how could this happen? This seriously makes me sick.

Someone stop this madness.

So there's been a corruption scandal brewing in Canada with the Liberal party, politicians can of course be corrupt on all sides, but for the love of God ... keep Canada liberal.

That's right folks, this is your president

2005-12-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

Update: And though have begun to see through the bullshit, all you idiots should have figured this out BEFORE you voted for him.

Asshole Day Travelers

2005-11-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

AssholeDayTravelers
Originally uploaded by debunker.

I was watching MSNBC today through Windows Media
Center - (which automatically displays subtitles when you have the
sound muted) and during a story about holiday travelers and crowded
airports I suddenly see the words "Asshole Day Travelers" fly accross
the screen - I'm guessing whoever was doing the subtitles just had a
bad experience at an airport and was taking out their frustrations on the job.

I'm not really sure where Windows Media Center pulls it's subtitles
from, that is whether or not it's from the network or a third party,
in any case It's pretty hilarious - well god bless technology I was
able to rewind it and take a screenshot, check it.

President lashes out at critics of Iraq war

2005-11-12T01:11:00.000-08:00

Ahhh! You people don't understand! We need war! And when you question my war, you question the troops! The troops that I send to war! It's bad for the troops when you question my war! It's bad for the country when you question my torture! In fact, it's bad for the country when people even talk about the war ... unless they talk about it good. Talking about the good is good, talking about the bad .... well that's bad!!

Red Cross FAQ: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?

2005-09-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

The National Guard has been blocking the Red Cross access to the area:

Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?

Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

The Red Cross has been meeting the needs of thousands of New Orleans residents in some 90 shelters throughout the state of Louisiana and elsewhere since before landfall. All told, the Red Cross is today operating 149 shelters for almost 93,000 residents.

The Red Cross shares the nation’s anguish over the worsening situation inside the city. We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities and to focus all our efforts on our lifesaving mission of feeding and sheltering.

The Red Cross does not conduct search and rescue operations. We are an organization of civilian volunteers and cannot get relief aid into any location until the local authorities say it is safe and provide us with security and access.

The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives.

As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated.

The Red Cross was ORDERED to stay out of New Orleans, these policies are killing people. Travesty.

Terrorism

2005-08-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

(Encarta Dictionary) ter.ror.ism

Political Violence: violence or the threat of violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination, carried out for political purposes.

Rove Bad

2005-07-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, shocking as it may be, he lied. (Via Think Progress)

Reuters’ write-up of Rove’s involvement in the leak scandal captures the emerging consensus within the media that Karl Rove is an astute wordsmith who carefully-parsed his statements:

Rove has carefully chosen his words when questioned about the leak. “I didn’t know her name. I didn’t leak her name,” he told CNN last year when asked if he had had anything to do with it.

There’s no doubt that Rove has tried to carefully parse his statements, but what is being overlooked is that Rove actually did not choose his words carefully enough.

Consider his two on-the-record comments about the leak (which are both on-camera):

Reporter: Did you have any knowledge or did you leak the name of the CIA agent to the press?
Rove: No. [ABC, 9/29/03]

Rove: Well, I’ll repeat what I said to ABC News when this whole thing broke some number of months ago. I didn’t know her name and didn’t leak her name. [CNN, 8/31/04]

Notice that in the second statement, Rove rephrases what ABC’s original question was to him, omitting the part where the reporter asked whether he had “any knowledge” of the leak. Rove offered a categorical denial to the entire question. The ABC reporter did not ask whether Rove knew Plame’s name – that was simply offered as part of Rove’s later recasting of the question.

If Rove wants to play these legal word games, then he should explain why he said he did not have any knowledge of the leak when he was Matt Cooper’s source.

He wept like a baby

2005-07-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

I would too.

Nate from Project Nothing! (conservative blogger) posts audio ofPink Floyd at Live 8.

Thanks Nate!!!!

"Freedom Tower" : More 9/11 exploitation

2005-06-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

The next day after Bush's rhetorical speech to try and save face, headlines are bombarded with news of the new WTC design, call me a cynic but I see this as nothing more than Gov. Pataki using this to drum up more attention to 9/11 with the Administration while continuing to insist Iraq had something to do with it.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York officials released the latest design for the signature building at the World Trade Center site Wednesday after revising it to make the tower more secure.

Gov. George Pataki ordered the design changes because police were concerned that the tower's placement adjacent to West Street, a major thoroughfare along the west side of Manhattan, would make it vulnerable to a truck bomb.

Also I wonder it they are going to serve "Freedom Fries" in the new "Freedom Tower".

Blue Scholars tonight at Chop Suey / Seattle

2005-06-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

Blue Scholars are a local politically progressive (almost revolutionary) hip-hop group (stylistically similar to Blackalicious)that I caught at Sasquatch festival. This was possibly one of the best shows I've ever seen and had amazing audience participation. The MC has some very powerful words and a lot of cool references to Seattle / U district / Ballard. Their name is a reference to the working class.

There's 2 shows including a later 21 and over show and an earlier all ages show. Buy tix here

Demand Coverage Downing Street Memo Hearings!

2005-06-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

Conyer is putting his neck out for the country, do watch the Conyer hearings on C-SPAN 3 and demand your local media cover it!

Here's the local media advisory on AfterDowningStreet.com

USATODAY.com - The debate's over: Globe is warming

2005-06-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

USATODAY.com - The debate's over: Globe is warming: "They agree that the problem is real. A recent study led by James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies confirms that, because of carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases, Earth is trapping more energy from the sun than it is releasing back into space.
The U.N. International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that global temperatures will rise 2 to 10 degrees by 2100. A 'middle of the road' projection is for an average 5-degree increase by the end of the century, says Caspar Amman of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo."

Exciting bomber tour over Seattle

2005-06-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is pretty funny, there's an article in the Seattle Times about this WWII bomber plane that is flying over downtown Seattle (as I write this) giving people paid tours. I thought these paragraphs were particularly hilarious, they mention all these dangers and then go on
to give information on when the next tours are available.

Once airborne, they can walk through the plane - being careful not to grab the exposed flight-control cables - and squeeze in the clear Plexiglas nose and imagine they're watching for enemy aircraft. Meanwhile buildings below whiz by at 160 mph.

Although the 13, 50-caliber machine guns are replicas, still dangerous today are the bomb-bay doors. Passengers traverse them on a narrow catwalk, and if they drop something onto the bomb-bay doors and try to retrieve it, the doors will open midair.

Ground tours also will be available, making Seattle one of the more lucrative stops on the aircraft's three-month, 28-city tour. The plane will be available for rides and open to the public from tomorrow through Monday.

Take the kids!

2005-05-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Commie Kitty

"Say hello" to dembloggers

2005-05-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Dembloggers is a great blog, rich with very good video clips.

Traffic jams cost US $63bn

2005-05-10T00:11:00.000-07:00

Craziness. Living in Seattle I've witnessed an organized attempt to thwart any type of public transportation system (light rail, extended monorail, whatever). In fact these are things that have been voted in favor of that have been either bogged down or completely killed by corporate anti-tax repubs. These things are commonly written off by the repubs as wasteful public spending, well wake up people.

Washington - Bumper-to-bumper traffic jams across the United States, particularly on the West coast, are costing Americans $63.1bn a year in wasted fuel and delays, according to an annual study published on Monday.

The study by the Texas Transportation Institute said traffic congestion has continued to worsen on US roads despite slow growth in jobs and travel.

"Congestion is a complicated issue and can't be solved with one approach nationwide," study author Tim Lomax, a research engineer at TTI, said in a statement.

The study was released as the US congress mulls legislation to re-authorise funding for transportation programs and projects across the country.

The study found Americans wasted 2.3bn gallons of fuel annually through vehicle engines left idling in traffic snarl ups.

It also found the annual delay per peak period (rush hour) traveller had increased to 47 hours from 16 hours since 1982.

The report showed the worst area for traffic jams was the Los Angeles region, followed by San Francisco, Washington, Atlanta in the state of Georgia and Houston in Texas.

Lack of decent public transportation in Seattle is something I have been driving at for some time (pun intended), but now with todays gas prices this issue should be hitting close to home for alot of people, particularly those Hummer driving types. If that's what it takes then so be it.

Either you are with us, or blah dee blah dee blah

2005-05-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

It looks like we're against us .... or something.

In the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush issued an ultimatum to the world: "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." Three and half years later, it has been revealed that the Bush administration has allied itself with a government listed as a state sponsor of terrorism and one that the administration has accused of committing genocide against its own people - Sudan.

A major expose in the Los Angeles Times on Friday revealed that the U.S. has quietly forged a close intelligence partnership with Sudan despite the government's role in the mass killings in Darfur. The Sudanese government has since publicly confirmed it is working with the Bush administration and the CIA.

Eight months ago, former Secretary of State Colin Powell accused the Sudanese of carrying out a genocide in Darfur. Already 180,000 have died in the region from fighting or hunger. But relations appear to have since changed -- for the better. One senior Sudanese official the LA Times that the country had achieved "complete normalization" of relations with the CIA.

(Emphasis mine)

For GOP, 3 issues mean trouble, trouble, trouble

2005-04-25T01:46:00.000-07:00

For GOP, 3 issues mean trouble, trouble, trouble

Iraqi Oil

2005-04-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

yep

Backing Down On Cuts For Farmers

2005-04-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

This is reassuring.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- After two months of fierce resistance from farmers and Congress, the Bush administration has dropped an effort to cut government payments to farmers.

"Perhaps the administration has finally begun to hear the roar from the heartland," said Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Arkansas.

It's good to see that Congress as well as farmers were able to be effective in getting the Administration to back down on these cuts, I do wonder how much of this had to do with the pressure coming from more red stater types.

Now that Congress is in the process of reviewing the costs of the Administrations plans for missile defense, maybe they should put this kind of pressure on the Administration to consider using the money to search for this guy.

Debut album from Turners Corner!

2005-04-08T00:31:00.000-07:00

Exciting!? No?

Well as I've mentioned before I'm in a band called turners corner and now our new debut album is out along with a fancy new website redesign.

The album can be can be purchased (and previewed) via cd baby.

Focus On The Positives

2005-04-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

Pandagon maintains a balanced perspective on Tom Delay.

Focus On The Positives
Rather than focus on the copious amounts of corruption coming out of Tom DeLay's career, I'd like to focus on all the positive things he's accomplished.

...Okay, I'm sorry. I have to go get breakfast. I've been sitting here too long, but I'll come up with something, I promise!

Evangelical gay bashing

2005-04-06T16:51:00.001-07:00

In my own home town(03/31/05).

It's About Time

2005-04-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

USATODAY.com - GOP's moral agenda doubted

Debunker rant - The Exploitation of Faith and Patriotism

2005-04-04T00:14:00.000-07:00

This has nothing to do with the passing of the Pope, at least not directly (obviously the Pope is Catholic) but it did inspire me to think about religion in general and how much it fits with the liberal viewpoint. I think about this often having grown up Christian, My viewpoint is limited more to Christian faith as that is what I grew up with, and I support the notion that liberalism and Christianity go hand in hand and the fundamentalist / conservative approach is a political game amplified by the media.

I stumbled on an interesting short couple of paragraphs via: Liberal Christianity - dKosopedia

tolerance, generosity, and social activism have always been a part of the Christian tradition.

Today, liberal Christianity is often defined by inclusively in membership, commitment to progressive social causes as a venue of faithful activity, and an open-ended, non-literalist method of scriptural interpretation.

Though Lutherans (ELCA), Methodists (UMC) and Presbyterians (PCUSA) all share liberal leanings, particularly in their national leadership, the Episcopalians (ECUSA), Quakers (Friends), United Church of Christ (UCC), and Unitarians (UUA) are generally held to be the most reliably liberal denominations today.

My immediate family turned to a non-denominational Christian church, which in my mind clearly translated to an inclusive rather than exclusive church (or put another way "open door"). This didn't happen overnight, as my not so immediate family is far more conservative in their religious point of few, and we attended other churches that would, for example, not open their doors (or go as far as to boot out) people coming out of a divorce.

I believe my growth into liberalism had a great deal to do with my parents acknowledgment of what is called a "personal relationship with God", and the opposition to the institutional religion which enforces rules set by a kind of fundamentalist translation of the bible, an almost - dare I say - dictator like approach to the Church, where it had become more of a top down political organization. This goes against the notion of a "personal relationship" with God.

Clearly, the seperation between the Church and the State is designed to support the freedom of religion by being inclusive to people of all religious faiths. Our founding fathers understood this, just as the puritans who fled Europe from religious persecution did.

The same could be said for the use of the word "Patriotism" in our society, which often implies that you accept a specific conservative viewpoint. Ironically, this goes against the idea of a Democracy. The flag waving, god invoking Republican party use these tactics simply as a proganda tool in order to get the public to buy into their pro-business agenda, which in my mind is an exploitation of faith. Clearly it has been effective for them, but I sense this is only short lived.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Obituary: Pope John Paul II

2005-04-03T23:34:00.000-07:00

BBC NEWS | Europe | Obituary: Pope John Paul II

Moron (more on) The American Corporate Media

2005-03-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

I hadn't even heard this story until Skippy pointed it out.

the third largest spillage of crude product has occurred on alaska's north slope. and have you heard about it?

from the anchorage daily news:
as many as 80 workers were hustling monday to clean up oily water in what ranks as one of the largest industrial spills ever seen in the north slope oil fields.

the spill came from a buried pipeline at a gravel production pad on the western side of the kuparuk oil field. kuparuk is the slope's biggest oil field after prudhoe bay.

dawn patience, a spokeswoman for conoco phillips alaska inc., which runs kuparuk, said the spill is estimated at 111,300 gallons of "produced water" covering about two acres.

produced water is water that's been separated from the mixture of crude oil and liquid natural gas that comes out of producing oil wells…

the spilled water contains only a trace of crude oil, and the amount of actual oil spilled is believed to be slightly more than one barrel or about 50 gallons, patience said.

but much of the water is seawater, and the salt can kill tundra plant life just as crude oil can, said leslie pearson, spill prevention and emergency response manager for the alaska department of environmental conservation…

the spill, if the size estimate holds firm, ranks as the third largest saline or oil spill ever recorded on the slope, according to a 2003 report by the national research council on cumulative environmental effects of oil activity on the region.

Top story on CNN today???? You guessed it .... Schiavo, but in all fairness, they did cover that all important cub scout leader child porn scandel. With news like this I think coverage of massive oil spills can wait.

Whatever.

Update:
Other news stories missing or buried behind the headlines in the corporate American media:
Study highlights global decline

Children 'starving' in new Iraq

NYPD Attempts To Criminalize Bike Riders Taking Part in Critical Mass

U.S. Soldiers Accused Of Raping Iraqi Women Escape Prosecution

Survivors of Indonesian Island Quake Face Hunger and Ruin

Earthquakes? What Earthquakes?

2005-03-30T00:14:00.001-08:00

The American corporate media is disgusting.

Terri Schiavo is still making headlines while the growing death toll from the earthquake around Indonesia are all but ignored.

Our Fine American Media

2005-03-25T13:34:00.001-08:00

Todays Headline via:

CNN - Terri Schiavo

BBC - US to sell fighters to Pakistan

Pro-Life Hypocrisy

2005-03-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

This is the SECOND day that CNN has put this image on the front page:

Notice the sign behind her that reads "Thou Shalt Not Kill!!". I wonder if this "pro-life" protester has ever worn that "LIFE" tape on her mouth in protest of the many lives lost in the Iraq war (American and Iraqi), or cuts to medicare, or the death penalty, killing war prisoners via torture ... how about Africa? Or what about all the people in this country who are starving while NOT brain dead (not to mention the world)? Nope, this woman is protesting a brain dead woman being taken off of life support.

This woman would have died naturally years ago if it were not for medical interventions such as life support, while this is tragic it's a reality that has been hashed over umpteen times in our judicial system. The reality? There are MUCH larger "right to life" tragedies that are ignored by these people.

So let's assume it's just a small fringe group ... so then what is going on with the media attention?

I would like to see CNN give the hundreds of thousands of Iraq war protesters this much media attention.

Update:Skippy has similar thoughts here

why, oh why, does a small number of fanatics dominate the national attention? how the heck did they get congress to completely disregard the federal judicial process?

and, worse of all: when can we see news about the michael jackson case fill our cable news screens again?

Meanwhile in Britain...

2005-03-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Amid the controversy over a feeding tube for a woman in a vegetative state, the Brits have stopped to ask themselves a different question, and that is; Wait ... was that Iraq war legal?

LONDON (AP) Prime Minister Tony Blair's government faced renewed pressure Thursday to explain why its top legal adviser apparently changed his mind only days before the Iraq invasion and ruled Britain's participation in the war would be legal.

Helping Cheney Think

2005-03-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

Via Think Progress, apparently Cheney needs some help with the thinking.

Yesterday Vice President Dick Cheney declared, “I can’t think of anybody more qualified than Paul Wolfowitz to run the World Bank.”

The two most important qualities that one must possess to run the World Bank are that (1) s/he must care about the mission of the World Bank, and (2) s/he must have demonstrated superior leadership capabilities.

Working off that assumption, here’s a quick list to help the vice president…

Patty Stonesifer: President of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where she runs its mission to “improve access to advances in global health and learning"; formerly senior vice president at Microsoft; member of U.S. delegation to the U.N. General Assembly Special Session on AIDS.

William Reilly: EPA administrator under Bush 1, and former president of the World Wildlife Fund. Created an innovative plan that enabled several Latin American countries to have some of their debts forgiven if they invested the money internally on environmental reform.

Brian Atwood: First president of the National Democratic Institute; former administrator at the Agency for International Development, where he streamlined the agency to devote more money to services and less to bureaucracy; formerly directed Citizens International and is now dean of the Hubert Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota.

And there are so many others. If we stick to the “Americans only” tradition, two other good candidates would be Carly Fiorina and Jeff Sachs … the list goes on and on …

Democracy Now! | World Water Day 2005: Water Privatization in Stockton and Detroit

2005-03-22T16:52:00.000-08:00

Frightening.

To mark World Water Day 2005, we take a look at the issue of water privatization in this country in California and Michigan. We speak with activists from Stockton and Detroit and an independent filmmaker who produced the documentary, "Thirst." [includes rush transcript]

Hey Media!

2005-03-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

We don't care about baseball players on steroids!
We don't care about Michael Jackson!
We don't care about the Peterson case!

Please, just do your jobs, cover the real news and let Celebrity Justice and E! cover that other crap.

Wolfowitz: yes, a real expert with the nation building

2005-03-16T20:56:00.000-08:00

I have written much about Wolfowitz, and I obviously I can't stand the guy (to put it mildly), so I'll just set aside the laundry list of all the obvious things I can say about this guy and make just one specific point in regard to his getting tapped by Bush for the role of leading the world bank.

Wolfowitz is one of the main architects in the invasion of Iraq, a war that had no plan beyond the initial invasion (which in their minds was going to result in the Iraqi people greeting us with open arms). Needless to say Wolfowitz and the other neo-cons have proven themselves completely incompetent (or maybe just flat out disinterested) when it comes to nation building and development, which are the very things that should be key experience needed to lead the World Bank.

I emphasize "should" because this is not unprecedented, as the world bank is an organization that has put more emphasis on protecting the the corporations and countries of privilege than it does the common people and developing nations.

This, like the Iranian spy Chalabi and Negroponte the ambassador to death squads, is just another slap in the face to the global community. I just hope he is not confirmed.

Kofi Annan's top poverty advisor had this to say:

"It's time for other candidates to come forward that have experience in development," Professor Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and an Annan adviser, said in a speech to the U.N. Economic and Social Council.

"This is a position on which hundreds of millions of people depend for their lives," he said. "Let's have a proper leadership of professionalism." The United Nations had no comment.

applause!

2005-03-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! News - High Court Ends Death Penalty for Youths

Somethings Gotta Give

2005-03-08T03:18:00.000-08:00

Making health care less affordable, cutting social security benifits and at the same time defeating a hike in the minumum wage. If you expect poeple to pay for these things on their own and become part of the so-called "ownership society", then give them a decent living wage in order to obtain that!

Senate kills 2 attempts to hike minimum wage

WASHINGTON - The Senate on Monday rejected two very different bills that would have raised the minimum wage.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., proposed a measure to boost the wage in three steps over 26 months to $7.25 from $5.15 an hour, the first hike in eight years.

"I believe that anyone who works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year should not live in poverty in the richest country in the world," he said.

Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., offered an alternative that would raise the wage to $6.25 in two steps over 18 months.

"You're going to price a lot of people out of the (job) market," he said. In contrast, his own amendment "keeps the balance" between the need to raise wages and the desire to hold down inflation.

These people will do everything they can to protect the people of privelidge and strangle everyday working Americans.

Media Omissions on Negroponte's Record

2005-03-01T00:14:00.000-08:00

Fair has the scoop on Negroponte's shady past.

From 1981 to 1985, Negroponte was the U.S. ambassador to Honduras, a country that was being used as a training and staging ground for the CIA-created and -backed Contra armies, who relied on a terrorist strategy of targeting civilians. Those years saw a massive increase in U.S. military aid to Honduras, and Negroponte was a key player in organizing training for the Contras and procuring weapons for the armies that the United States was building in order to topple the socialist Nicaraguan government (Extra!, 9-10/01).

Negroponte's ambassadorship was marked by another human rights scandal: the Honduran army's Battalion 316, which operated as a death squad that tortured, killed or disappeared "subversive" Hondurans-- and at least one U.S. citizen, Catholic priest James Carney. Despite regular reporting of such crimes in the Honduran press, the human rights reports of Negroponte's embassy consistently failed to raise these issues. Critics contend that this was no accident: If such crimes had been acknowledged, U.S. aid to the country's military would have come under scrutiny, which could have jeopardized the Contra operations.

This man is akin to Kissinger, see the whole story for the media ommisions.

Protester Throws Shoe at Richard Perle

2005-02-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

Sadly, they missed.

PORTLAND, Ore. Feb 18, 2005 — Howard Dean, the newly minted leader of the Democratic Party, and former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle made clear their opposing views on the war in Iraq during a debate marred by a protester who tossed a shoe at Perle.

Perle had just started his comments Thursday when a protester threw a shoe at him before being dragged away, screaming, "Liar! Liar!"

Perle, a Pentagon official during the Reagan administration, was more recently chairman of the Defense Policy Board, a group of non-government experts who advise the defense secretary. He was a major proponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, while Dean was among the war's most prominent opponents.

It goes to show, progressives need to have better aim, they also missed Ann Coulter with that pie.
Such a shame.

Sen. Clinton Pushes for Voting Holiday

2005-02-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

This is a fantastic thing for Sen. Clinton to be doing, she's also pushing for several other things along with it including requiring paper reciepts, allowing ex-felons to vote and more. I can imagine it would be too easy for Republicans to oppose this without looking like schmucks.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible White House candidate in 2008, joined 2004 nominee John Kerry and other Democrats Thursday in urging that Election Day be made a federal holiday to encourage voting.

She also pushed for legislation that would allow all ex-felons to vote.

Social Insecurity calculator

2005-02-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

How much will you lose?

Poll Shows Drop in Bush's Job Approval

2005-02-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

Looks like people are waking up to the Social Security issue and it's effecting Bush's ratings. I have a feeling alot of Bush voters are going to start to feel the regret for many years to come.

WASHINGTON - The public's confidence in President Bush (news - web sites)'s job performance and the nation's direction has slipped in the opening weeks of his second term, particularly among people 50 and older, according to an Associated Press poll.

Adults were evenly divided on Bush's job performance in January, but now 54 percent disapprove and 45 percent approve. The number who think the country is headed down the wrong track increased from 51 percent to 58 percent in the past month.

[...]

Older Americans, especially those 65 and above, were most responsible for the declining confidence and approval numbers. Middle-aged people between 30 and 50 were about evenly split on Bush's job performance.

"It looks like people are reacting to the State of the Union and plans to change Social Security," said Charles Franklin, a political scientist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The AP poll did not ask about Social Security, although only four in 10 in the poll said they approved of Bush's handling of domestic policy in general. And a majority of people disapproved of his handling of the economy.

Condi Lied: Declassified Memo from Clarke

2005-02-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

From Kos

Although then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice wrote a March 22, 2004 column in The Washington Post that "No al-Qaeda threat was turned over to the new administration," a newly declassified document [...] tells the story
US al-Qaeda warning revealed
11feb05
EIGHT months before the September 11 attacks the White House's then counterterrorism adviser urged then national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to hold a high-level meeting on the al-Qaeda network, according to a memo made public today.

"We urgently need such a principals-level review on the al-Qaeda network," ... Richard Clarke wrote in the January 25, 2001 memo.

Mr Clarke, who left the White House in 2003, made headlines in the heat of the US presidential campaign ... when he accused the Bush White House of having ignored al-Qaeda's threats before September 11.

Mr Clarke testified before inquiry panels and in a book that Rice ... had been warned of the threat.

Risk-Adjusted Rate of Return

2005-02-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

From Atrios.

Stocks, on average, provide a higher rate of return. This is because they're riskier, and the return differential is called the risk premium. Investors demand to be paid higher returns, on average, because of that risk.

Given the way the Bush plan is structured, it's certainly important to calculate the "risk-adjusted returns" the way the CBO does when scoring the plan. The fact that "in the long run stocks do better" isn't much help, given that upon reaching retirement age a large chunk, if not all, of your private account will be mandatorially converted into an annuity. While long run investors can ride out the storm of a bad couple of years on the stock market, the Bush plan doesn't allow for that possibility. Long bear periods do happen. In 1987 the S&P crashed 20% in one day. If that happened on the day when you hit 67, you'd be pretty upset.

The coalition of the billing

2005-02-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

Diplomacy in the age of Bush, we pay our allies!

US plans $400m reward for allies

US President George W Bush is asking Congress for $400m (£215m) to reward a number of countries that sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.
A White House spokesman said the money would "assist nations which have taken political and economic risks".

The fund is part of a $80bn war funding request President Bush will send to Congress next week.

If I give you money, will you be my friend?

Talking Points Memo: Social Security falsehoods starting to get coverage in media

2005-02-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

From Talking Points Memo

As Jonathan Weisman and Ben White put it today on E1 in the Post: "To conclude that Social Security is careening toward a crisis in 2042, President Bush is relying on projections that an aging society will drag down economic growth. Yet his proposal to establish personal accounts is counting on strong investment gains in financial markets that would be coping with the same demographic head wind."

style.org > State of the Union Parsing Tool

2005-02-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

style.org > Pretty cool

Democrats ask why the budget doesn't include privatization

2005-02-07T23:35:00.000-08:00

Good question.

Bush's Budget Leaves Out Social Security. "Bush's budget does not reflect the costs for his No. 1 domestic priority, overhauling Social Security by allowing younger workers to set up private investment accounts." [Associated Press, 2/7/05]

The President's Plan Adds Over $4.5 Trillion in Debt. "Over the first ten years that the plan actually was in effect (2009-18), it would add more than $1 trillion to the debt. Over the next ten years (2019- 28), it would add over $3.5 trillion more to the debt. All told, the plan would add more than $4.5 trillion to the debt over its first 20 years." [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "New Details Indicate Administration Social Security Plan," 2/2/05]

RIP: Ossie Davis 1917-2005: Actor and Civil Rights Activist

2005-02-07T22:38:00.000-08:00

Democracy Now! has a nice tribute to the late Ossie Davis, who as an actor and civil rights activist gave eulogies for both Malcom X and Martin Luther King as well as speaking out in opposition to the invasion of Iraq.

Actor and civil rights activist Ossie Davis died Friday in Miami Beach. He was 87 years old. For half a century, Davis led a distinguished career as an actor, playwright and director. Along with his wife, Ruby Dee, he was a renowned civil rights activist and an unforgettable figure in the African American struggle for equality. We spend the hour remembering Ossie Davis: From his eulogies to Malcolm X and Martin Luther King to his opposition to the war in Iraq. We hear from actor Danny Glover and journalist Herb Boyd and we play a commentary by death row prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal.

Support the troops

2005-02-06T23:54:00.000-08:00

That's right, so support our troops and oppose the Bush policy of raising the prescription drug costs for veterans.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 - President Bush's budget would more than double the co-payment charged to many veterans for prescription drugs and would require some to pay a new fee of $250 a year for the privilege of using government health care, administration officials said Sunday.

The proposals, they said, are in the $2.5 trillion budget that Mr. Bush plans to unveil on Monday. White House officials said the budget advanced his goal of cutting the deficit, which hit a record last year.

America: YES on torture

2005-02-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

Shame on every individual who voted to confirm Gonzales as Attorney General, now that torture is part of American policy our troops are more at risk.

Idiot pundit

2005-02-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

I ran across this post while surfing random blogs, some idiot republican ranting about Social Security. At one point he actually points out the fact that we are trillions of dollars in debt as part of his argument.

That's right, Susie, Social Security is not to be played with. "WHY?," you ask; good question. I respond, "because it is the only lie the Democrats have been able to claim as their own that appears" - notice I said appears - "to work."

I have only one question about the whole mess. Where is the cash, the dinero, the moola, the greenbacks, that are backing the treasury notes that Social Security is supposedly invested in? I thought the US was trillions of dollars in debt. Do we really have large amounts of gold left in Fort Knox? I doubt it.

Yes sir, we ARE trillions of dollars in debt, thanks to Bush and the "fiscally responsible" Republicans, how about we start by rolling back those tax cuts for the wealthy. I'm sure they run these deficits on purpose in order to "Starve the beast" as Grover Norquist would say.

It goes to show Republicans aren't for small government (as they claim to be), after all they are for BIG military, BIG prisons, BIG war on drugs, BIG war, BIG corporate subsidies and at the same time killing any social service to help people retire, have health care, educate children or protect our environment. Idiots.

It's fun to shoot some people!

2005-02-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

Oh my god.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. Marine Corps general who said it was "fun to shoot some people" should have chosen his words more carefully but will not be disciplined, military officials said on Thursday.

Lt. Gen. James Mattis, who led troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, made the comments at a conference Tuesday in San Diego.

"Actually it's quite fun to fight 'em, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you, I like brawling," said Mattis.

"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis said during a panel discussion. "You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

The state of the union is...

2005-02-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

pretty screwed.

No, I won't be watching the state of the union address, I can't bear to listen to Bush for more than 2 minutes. Besides there are too many other more exciting things to watch on cable tonight ... like say ... the weather channel.

No AG for AG

2005-02-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

STOP

TERROR

STOP

TORTURE

STOP

GONZALES

I've included this site on the list of "No to Gonzales" blogs.

Prisoners at Guantanamo held illegally, judge rules

2005-01-31T16:49:00.000-08:00

From The Independant

A federal judge criticised the Bush administration yesterday for holding hundreds of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay naval base without legal rights, saying the US Supreme Court had ruled they should have access to the courts. She said the government's military tribunals were unconstitutional.

In a written decision, Judge Joyce Hens Green said Mr Bush's so-called war on terror "cannot negate the existence of the most basic fundamental rights for which the people of this country have fought and died for well over 200 years".

No on Gonzales

2005-01-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

I stand with other fellow bloggers in opposition to the nomination of Alberto Gonzales. I too urge every Senator to vote against him.

As the prime legal architect for the policy of torture adopted by the Bush Administration, Gonzales's advice led directly to the abandonment of longstanding federal laws, the Geneva Conventions, and the United States Constitution itself. Our country, in following Gonzales's legal opinions, has forsaken its commitment to human rights and the rule of law and shamed itself before the world with our conduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The United States, a nation founded on respect for law and human rights, should not have as its Attorney General the architect of the law's undoing.

2005-01-15T01:43:00.000-08:00

Now it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read "Vietnam." It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over. So it is that those of us who are yet determined that "America will be" are led down the path of protest and dissent, working for the health of our land.

Go here for more.

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. - Where are we now?

2005-01-15T01:26:00.000-08:00

We should always remember Martin Luther King and how his words described the dreams of a tolerant and peaceful nation.

Here's a good article on the language of bigotry from tolerance.org

Jan. 14, 2004 -- As the nation remembers the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on the annual holiday, Tolerance.org explores how far we have come in realizing his dream — and how much farther we have to go.

King understood that you "can't determine your conscience by taking a public opinion poll," Boykin said. "The public has supported slavery, segregation, women not having the right to vote and discrimination against people with disabilities at one time or another."
[...]
"Homosexual conduct is, and has been, considered abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature and of nature's God upon which this Nation and our laws are predicated ... It is an inherit evil against which children must be protected."
— Judge Roy Moore, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice, quoted in 2002

"The demand is that homosexuality be endorsed and promoted with the full power of the law. This would require us to abandon the standard of nature ... Once we abandon the standard of nature, what is to forbid us from resorting to any violation of nature that we may please? Why should we not return to slavery, if we find it convenient? Or the practices of incest or adultery or cannibalism?"
— As written in a 1989 op-ed piece from the conservative Claremont Institute

[...]

Many of today's leaders and politicians employ the same politics of fear as those of segregationists who sought to frighten citizens about the harm integration would bring upon the nation.
"Fear is what drives most prejudice," Boykin said. "People buy into the fear that extending full rights to gays and lesbians will change the world as we know it, that it will change our perception of the world."

[...]

The current anti-gay backlash, Boykin says, demonstrates America's historical reluctance to embrace changes that are inconsistent with the majority opinion.

Coretta Scott King, speaking near the time of the 30th anniversary of her husband's assassination, called for continued change: "I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King's dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people."

And as King himself once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

While we have made great strides in driving out the racist hate that tainted American life during King's lifetime, we have a long way to go in driving out the anti-gay rhetoric and homophobia that plague us today

White House paid commentator to promote law

2005-01-07T14:27:00.000-08:00

Yep, paid propaganda

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.

The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during the show in 2004.

2005 - hopefully a happier new year...

2005-01-03T01:21:00.000-08:00

For the sake of sanity I am going to spend less time posting to the site, at least for now. I do plan to pick it up again later on.

sad holidays

2004-12-27T01:58:00.000-08:00

Folks Don't Get It

2004-12-15T20:25:00.000-08:00

Shanikka's diary on Kos sets the record straight on how Kerry, the Dems and bloggers (at least Kos diaries) have played down the issue of African-American voter disenfranchisement.

Let's be clear. Kerry isn't being masterful behind the scenes, as some folks want to pretend. He's saving his political ass, at the expense of the very same Black folks he PROMISED he would not let be cheated out of the right to vote again. Kerry isn't just "waiting his time" - he's hiding in the latrine, terrified to publicly associate himself with anything that confronts the corruption in Ohio because of the potential political cost to himself and the fear that someone might call him crybaby names (i.e. "sore loser"). From the perspective of a white politican, this makes perfect sense since, as anyone involved in mainstream politics knows (even though it is never said in polite company), it is a foolhardy business bucking the system just to protect the rights of some Nigras. (Yes, that is extremely bitter and angry sarcasm, and the choice of the word is quite deliberate). Kerry's conduct and the conduct of the Democratic party vis a vis fighting to count Black votes (and thus, everyone's votes) in Ohio is not brilliant post-election strategy - it is living, breathing proof of the ongoing cowardice and self-serving nature of liberal white racism, something quite familiar to those people of color in America who have been victimized by it politically over the years even as they were promised it wasn't true.

Go to the link for more.

Good News! Earlier spring from global warming

2004-12-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

This is insane, leave it to the American media to put a positive spin on new evidence of global warming.

Earlier spring from global warming, say researchers

ITHACA, New York (AP) -- As the first signs of winter push into the Northeast, researchers have some good news for fair weather fans -- spring is coming earlier than it used to.

The lilacs say so.

In one of the most comprehensive studies that plants in the Northeast are responding to the global warming trend, Cornell scientists and their colleagues at the University of Wisconsin found lilacs are blooming about four days earlier than they did in 1965.

David Wolfe, a plant ecology professor at Cornell whose research will be published in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Biometeorology, said nature's calendar is changing due to an increase in greenhouse gases.

"It's not just the weather data telling us there is a warming trend going on. We are now seeing the living world responding to the climate change as well," Wolfe said Tuesday.

Well it's a good thing Bush refused to support the Kyoto protocol, now the world can have us to thank for future generations of early blooming lilacs.

Do you want family values?

2004-12-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

Fight hate and promote tolerance.

Wha??? Greenspan Warns That U.S. Deficits Pose Risk to Dollar

2004-11-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

Yeah? Well no shit Sherlock!

FRANKFURT, Nov. 19 - Alan Greenspan came to the home of the euro today and warned anxious Europeans to expect little relief from the relentless decline of the dollar against their currency.

In a speech to a banking congress here, Mr. Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the United States' persistently high current-account deficit in world trade posed a risk to the dollar's value, since foreign investors would eventually resist buying more American assets.

Remember, this is the same asshole that backed Bush's tax cuts, probably only because he's one of the few that benefited from it.

Oh, and by the way, when you have tax cuts during a deficit it's not a tax cut - it's a frickin' LOAN!

The shame of Tom Delay: House GOP approves leadership rule change

2004-11-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

According to The Hill.

After hours of spirited debate, House Republicans passed a rule change yesterday that would allow Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) to retain his leadership post if he is indicted by a Texas grand jury.

The rule — introduced by Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas) but amended by other members — allows the Republican Conference to vote on the leadership status of anyone who faces a state or federal indictment, following a recommendation by the 30-member Republican Steering Committee.

Values?

Arms race against terrorism?

2004-11-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

How loose is Putin defining terrorism? That's the question. Do we now see signs of an emerging bipolar world again? Except this time it's high-tech right-wing Christo-fascist extremists against low-tech Islamic fundamentalists.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041117/D86DLRLG0.html

This coinciding with a successful ABM laser test yesterday.
http://www.missilethreat.com/news/200411.html

Top Story: Laci Peterson is still dead

2004-11-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

More to come.

Got Values? Republicans Apparently Think They Do

2004-11-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

Susan Reimer from common dreams puts "values" into perspective.

Apparently, if you are more worried about a Super Bowl halftime show than about the fact that the United States invaded a sovereign nation without provocation, you've got values.

If you are more offended by two guys kissing than by the fact that 100,000 Iraqi citizens have died while being liberated, you have values.

And if you care more about a single, fertilized egg in some deep freeze somewhere than about all the children with diabetes and all the grandparents with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, you have values.

If you care more about your exclusive and personal relationship with God than you do about his admonition to care for the poor and the weak, you have values.

The right values, anyway.

Apparently, if you "believe" that the United States has clear evidence that Saddam Hussein was in cahoots with al-Qaida; that we have found those weapons of mass destruction; and that the majority of world leaders backed our decision to invade Iraq - "beliefs" held by nearly 70 percent of those who voted for George W. Bush, according to a University of Maryland study - you believe in the right things.

If you believe that "under God" must remain in the Pledge of Allegiance; if you believe that the Ten Commandments and nativity scenes should be on display at courthouses; if you believe that simply telling teenagers not to have sex will guarantee that they do not, you have the required credentials to run for public office.

If you believe that we need to junk up the Constitution with an amendment designed to punish the people who might be so greatly moved as to burn a U.S. flag, you have passed the new values litmus test and you are eligible for the Supreme Court.

If you don't believe that the preservation of the environment is a relevant part of any discussion about the sanctity of life, you are eligible for my friend Norine's ad campaign.

If you believe that a 3 percent plurality is a mandate; if you believe that the 55 million Americans who did not vote for you don't count, you can serve in the Bush administration's second term.

And if you think that you can just start talking about God more often or trot out Southern Baptist candidates like Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter who are comfortable with such talk, then you are a Democrat.

I think this can pretty well sum up the feeling that most people on the left have about the Republicans invoking the word "values".

On Religion

2004-11-09T02:06:00.000-08:00

I get letters, many people flaming me for the "Jesusland" image posted below, and I want to make this very clear. I grew up with Christianity, and I still identify with it, but I don't let other people tell me how to identify with it, particularly ... politicians.

From my perspective, everything about the Bush administration contradicts my understanding of Christian values. I believe Christian values are liberal, in terms of helping the poor as well as supporting international peace through non-aggression and leading by example. My understanding of faith is about tolerance, as well as a sense of support and responsibilty for the community, and not just the American community, but the international community.

But that is just my own viewpoint.

My point is, please, do not let anyone convince you that they are from the party of God. Have your own faith, and your own convictions.

Stand and Fight

2004-11-09T01:54:00.000-08:00

After you slowly get over the election.

2004-11-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

New map

God Help Us

2004-11-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Kerry concedes. We have four more years of Bush and a larger Republican majority all around. We are now a fascist Christian fundamentalist nation chosen by a small majority of the people.

The voters have been duped, and the world won't forgive this.

The good news? The country is divided with this Presidency, and we are not alone in the fight.

So, we will.

New Mexico. Iowa. Ohio.

2004-11-03T01:10:00.000-08:00

Just wait and see.

That said, the GOTV didn't work for the younger voters, apparently the huge surge of voters wasn't what we thought. The GOP machine worked it.

John Edwards: It's not over yet.

2004-11-02T23:51:00.000-08:00

"We've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night" as results lag in Ohio and Iowa.

DON'T TRUST THE CORPORATE MEDIA!

2004-11-02T23:26:00.000-08:00

Ohio hasn't won yet.

And, oh yeah, MSNBC can bite my ass.

DCCC Election Night Resultron

2004-11-02T17:02:00.000-08:00

DCCC has a results tracker

GOTV

2004-11-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

GET OUT THE VOTE!!!!

We need paper trails!

2004-11-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

This is bad.

About 13,000 ballots were removed from an early-voting site in Daytona Beach, Fla., Monday and rushed to a secure vault in Deland after an optical scan machine failed, according to Local 6 News.
Local 6 News has learned that a memory card, on the machine failed and all 13,000 votes must be recounted.

A computer error is to blame for the failure of the memory card which records the voting data, Local 6 News reported.

When the error was discovered Monday, representatives from both parties were notified.

Both sides then witnessed the removal of the ballots and their storage in the vault.

The canvassing board will meet Monday to discuss how to recount the ballots.

CNN.com - Top Baghdad official assassinated - Nov 1, 2004

2004-11-01T01:31:00.000-08:00

More bad news in Iraq.

November Surprise?

2004-11-01T01:24:00.000-08:00

Atrios talks about rumors about a November Surprise in terms of legalizing Canadian drugs ... let's hope not. If true, big flip-flop for Bush.

A rumor from a reliable source suggests that there's a good chance that Tommy Thompson is set to announce that drug reimportation from Canada will be fully legalized.

I'm sure that, if this happens, it'll be a big "read the fine print" bait and switch.

Treat as rumor until confirmed, presumably at a 10AM or so press conference...

...or, more generally, it could be some other major senior pandering drug thing...

...just to add, this is *rumor* as I said. I wouldn't publish unless I thought it was a plausible rumor, but that doesn't mean it's a *true* rumor. I normally don't traffic in too many unconfirmed things, but this close to the election there's value in putting this stuff out there before the fact.

Protest Zones, If Bush Wins--or Steals--This Election, Don't Just Sit There

2004-11-01T01:19:00.000-08:00

There's no doubt, if this happens, Seattle will fight.

Reality

2004-10-31T23:30:00.000-08:00

Found this via Skippy, a writer from the Kos diary posts this screenshot from here.

Debunker Prediction: Kerry Win

2004-10-31T20:52:00.000-08:00

For whatever it's worth, there you are.

And you say, of course you would make that prediction! You're biased you weasily liberal! Well, yes and no, I wouldn't be afraid to make the prediction of defeat, but maybe at the same time I remain optimistic ... for peace of mind.

That said, this is why I make this prediction. The polls are normally, but particularly in this election ... wrong. That is, wrong in terms of favoring Bush. First of all, polls are based on calling people by land line, I don't own a land line because in this day and age land lines are redundant when you own a cell phone. I think that this polling error favors Bush in the results since people are most likely to drop their land lines in urban areas than they are rural, and it's urban areas that tend to vote more democratic. So that's an assumption. The second point (and assumption) is that a larger volume of new / first time voters this election year will favor Kerry, and I'm talking battleground states. In my mind, first time voters will more likely be motivated to vote for the first time based on Bush's bad record than they would be out of Republican party loyalty.

Again, for whatever it's worth, my spirits are high.

Update 1: Bin Laden's "October Surprise". I generally think this is a non-issue, the American public will probably not let Osama's words persuade them either way on the way they vote, and rightly so. But if there is persuasion in this it may fall into the advantage of Kerry since this is one of the REAL perpretators of 9/11 showing his face, and he is not Saddam, a reminder that Saddam did not attack us on 9/11.

Report: 100,000-plus Iraqi civilians dead

2004-10-31T20:30:00.000-08:00

An email I received from Solamen David pointed out that I missed posting this critical news story. Report: 100,000-plus Iraqi civilians dead - (United Press International)

Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A Baltimore public health expert says the Iraq war has killed more than 100,000 civilians, the Times of London reported Friday.

Les Roberts of the Johns Hopkins University led a team of U.S. and British analysts in getting a death count. Their work will be published in the online edition of the British medical journal Lancet.

Thanks Solamen for the reminder. When the media does manage to report on casualties in Iraq, it is most often casualties of American troops and rarely reports on those casualties of Iraqi civilians.

Yeah .... hearts and minds.

(Oh, and uh .... happy Halloween.)

Daily Kos :: Hi. I'm Osama. I did 9/11, Not Saddam.

2004-10-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

Once again, Kos puts it best.

I'm still here. You haven't caught me. And you went after the wrong guy. I just thought I'd remind you.

2004-10-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

Right To Vote

Election Protection Hotline

2004-10-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

Election Protection Hotline via Atrios

Election Protection Hotline:
1-866-MYVOTE1 to report problems
1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) for immediate legal assistance

IAEA: U.S. Warned On Explosives

2004-10-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

The IAEA has just announced that they Warned the U.S. on the explosives.

CBS/AP) The U.N. nuclear agency said Thursday it warned the United States about the vulnerability of explosives stored at Iraq's Al-Qaqaa military installation after another facility — Iraq's main nuclear complex — was looted in April 2003.

Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency, told The Associated Press that U.S. officials were cautioned directly about what was stored at Al-Qaqaa, the main high explosives facility in Iraq.

Daily Kos :: Embeds bite Bush in the ass

2004-10-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

The final proof is in and has been verified, the explosives were there following the invasion.

Film from Al QaaQaa helps to prove explosives existed after invasion

2004-10-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

Rising Hegemon posts that a 5 Eyewitness News crew has footage of Al QaaQaa explosives taken shortly after the invasion

Using GPS technology and talking with members of the 101st Airborne 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS determined our crew embedded with them may have been on the southern edge of the Al Qaqaa installation, where that ammunition disappeared. Our crew was based just south of Al Qaqaa. On April 18, 2003 they drove two or three miles north into what is believed to be that area.

During that trip, members of the 101st Airborne Division showed the 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew bunker after bunker of material labelled explosives. Usually it took just the snap of a bolt cutter to get in and see the material identified by the 101st as detonation cords.

First U.S. Unit at Iraq Site Did Not Hunt Explosives

2004-10-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

Bush's excuse is debunked,
First U.S. Unit at Iraq Site Did Not Hunt Explosives

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first U.S. military unit to reach the site in Iraq where U.N. officials say 377 tons of high explosives are missing did not carry out a hunt for such material, the unit's commander said on Wednesday.

Col. Dave Perkins, then the commander of the 2nd Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, said the immediate concern when his troops reached the Al Qaqaa site on April 3, 2003, was to defeat a couple of hundred Iraqi troops who were firing from the compound as the Americans surged toward Baghdad.

And now:

Bush said Kerry was a candidate who "jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts."

Reeally?? Jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts? Remind you of anyone?

Update 1: Read Kos for more.

Blogger issues

2004-10-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, there have been issues with blogger servers.