Wylie Post

2008-11-04T19:50:00.006-05:00

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA has been elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African-American elected to the office. Mike O'Sullivan reports, the Democratic senator from Illinois promised to unify the country when he takes office, January 20, 2009.

The old fucking nut doesn't fall too far from the tree ...

2008-09-05T23:12:00.002-04:00

"My father's obviously a famous war hero. No one knows what war is like other than my family, period."

We got this for a lousy $217,000?

2007-11-18T12:23:00.000-05:00

US Power Company Linked to Bush Is Named Top Polluter

An American power company with close financial links to President George Bush has been named as one of the world’s top producers of global warming pollution. The first-ever worldwide database of such pollution also reveals the rapid growth in global-warming emissions by power plants in China, South Africa and India. Power plants already produce 40 per cent of US greenhouse gas and 25 per cent of the world’s. But it is the enormous carbon footprint of Southern Company - among the largest financiers of Republican Party politicians - which has raised eyebrows. Southern’s employees handed George Bush $217,047 to help him get elected, and they and the company have contributed an extraordinary $6.2m to Republican campaigns since 1990. A single Southern Company plant in Juliette, Georgia already emits more carbon dioxide annually that Brazil’s entire power sector. The company is in the top two of America’s dirtiest utility polluters and sixth worst in the world.

Money always talks -- And big time political contributors always walk ...

You voted for that guy?

2007-09-17T13:20:00.000-04:00

"As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured."

As a candidate, George W. Bush once asked, "Is our children learning?" Now he has an answer. "Childrens do learn," he said Wednesday. The setting was, yes, an education event where the president was taking credit for rising test scores and promoting congressional renewal of his signature education law. To create the right image, the White House summoned the city's chancellor of schools, a principal, some teachers and about 20 eager students from P.S. 76. The visual worked fine. The oral? Not so much.

Happy Easter

2006-04-16T11:56:00.000-04:00

The Resurrection of Christ by Pieter Pauwel Rubens c.1612

Stuck in the middle

2006-04-16T08:31:00.000-04:00

$74,000 for cleaning job "On her 83rd birthday, Lillian Winkel celebrated the same way she spends every day -- going to work at a General Motors Corp. metal stamping plant in Indianapolis. The great-great grandmother, who is the second-oldest woman working at GM, made $74,000 last year cleaning floors and emptying wastebaskets. "I always work on my birthday," said Winkel, who turned 83 on March 2. "I don't know anybody else who's going to give me three hundred and some-odd dollars for my birthday. Thank God for General Motors."

Exxon Top oil executive was paid on average $144,573 per day

"For his efforts, Lee Raymond, Exxon's chairman and chief executive officer, who retired in December, was compensated more than $686 million from 1993 to 2005, according to an analysis done for the New York Times by Brian Foley, an independent compensation consultant. That is $144,573 for each day he spent leading Exxon's "God pod," as the executive suite at the company's headquarters in Irving, Texas, is known. Despite the company's performance, some shareholders, academics, corporate governance experts and consumer groups were taken aback when they learned for the first time this week the details of Raymond's total compensation package, including the more than $400 million he received in his final year at the company".

Damn, is there any wonder why cars and gasoline are so expensive? It seems pretty clear why General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are having so many problems. You can't pay janitors $74,000 a year to empty waste baskets and expect to stay competitive! And Exxon...what the hell! They pay their CEO $145,000 PER DAY? You could hire 508 janitors at GM for that! It's tough being stuck in the middle of all this bullshit!

Why's everybody picking on Rummy?

2006-04-16T02:27:00.000-04:00

"It wasn't Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld who stood up in front of the UN and identified two mobile latrines as biological weapons labs, was it, General Powell? It wasn't Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld who told us our next warning from Saddam could be a mushroom cloud, was it Condoleeza? It wasn't Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld who declared that Al Qaeda and Saddam were going steady, was it, Mr. Cheney? Yes, Rumfeld is a swaggering bag of mendacious arrogance, a duplicitous chicken-hawk, yellow-bellied bully-boy and Tinker-Toy Napoleon -- but he didn't appoint himself Secretary of Defense".

Greg Palast, WHY RUMSFELD SHOULD NOT RESIGN

Marines Reissue Medals to Ted Williams' Family

2006-04-16T01:28:00.000-04:00

"They were assumed either lost in a hurricane when Ted Williams lived in Islamorada, Fla., or "borrowed" by Teddy Ballgame’s army of "friends," says Williams’ lawyer,Peter Sutton. But thanks to Sutton's efforts, the U.S. Marines have agreed to reissue to Claudia Williams, Ted's daughter and heir, the many medals her father earned during his nearly five years of duty in two wars. Williams served as a Marine pilot from November 1942 to January 1946, then reenlisted in May 1952 and was discharged as a captain in July 1953. Among his many military honors: the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Air Medal with two gold stars, the World War II Victory Medal and the American Campaign Medal".

Boston Herald

Darrell Green and "Republican principles"

2006-04-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

"Former Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell R. Green is being urged to run for the state Senate from Loudoun County next year by leading Northern Virginia Republicans who hope he can use his fame on the football field to oust newly elected Democrat Mark R. Herring. Green, one of the most well-known Redskins from the team's recent golden era, lives in Loudoun and has been running a nonprofit foundation since he left the team three years ago. "That name is on many lips," said former senator William C. Mims (R), whose Loudoun seat Herring won after Mims left to work in the attorney general's office. "[Green] is a longtime Loudoun resident who has been active in the community. He is highly respected and has an outlook that's consistent with Republican principles."

Looks like another token for the Republicans. "Republican principles"? What does that mean - That he's cheating on his third wife while praising God and spending twice as much as he earns?

"Chatty Cathie"?

2006-04-15T04:08:00.000-04:00

Cathie Martin, second from the left

Cheney Authorized Leak Of CIA Report, Libby Says "Moreover, on July 12, 2003, the same day that Libby spoke to both Cooper and Miller, Libby and Cheney traveled aboard Air Force Two for the dedication of a new aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Va. During the flight either to or from Norfolk, Cheney, Libby, and Cathie Martin, then-assistant to the vice president for public affairs, discussed how they might rebut Wilson's charges and discredit him, according to federal court records, and interviews with people with first-hand knowledge of accounts that all three provided to federal investigators. The previously unreported grand jury testimony is significant because only hours after Cheney reportedly instructed Libby to disclose information from the CIA report, Libby divulged to then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time magazine correspondent Matthew Cooper that Plame was a CIA officer, and that she been involved in selecting her husband for the Niger mission".

Isn't that interesting? What a coincidence that on the very same day that Scooter told Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper that Valerie Plame was a covert CIA agent, he and Dick Cheney were on Air Force 2 scheming of ways to discredit her husband, Joe Wilson. And, there was a third person in the conversation-a Ms. Cathie Martin. Scooter has given up a whole lot of information on leaks already but Patrick Fitzgerald hasn't been able to get him to implicate Cheney on Plame yet. That's the charge that's going to nail ol' Dick-Head Cheney. Can't Fitzgerald break Ms. Martin? You know damn well Cheney and Libby talked about Plame's role at the CIA on the flight that day and she more than likely was involved in that conversation. Doesn't she realize the book and movie deals she's missing out on? So what if you've already testified, and perjured yourself, Fitzgerald will grant you immunity. Come on, Chatty Cathie, you know Cheney told Scooter to leak Plame's name...Come clean. They could have Renee Zellweger or Hillary Swank play the role of you.... You could be a big star. The National Journal

Free cartoons over at http://www.wisgrove.com/

2006-04-14T21:41:00.000-04:00

Thanks LA/Sirk and 'John'

What if? What if Plame had been working these last 3 years?

2006-04-14T06:53:00.000-04:00

Now that Colin Powell has come out and vindicated Joe Wilson and admitted that Bush, Cheney and their underlings lied about Iraq trying to acquire uranium from Niger, people need to be reminded about the damage that was done to national security when they outed Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame. Valerie Plame worked under cover on Iran's 'weapons of mass destruction'; more specifically, she was "involved in monitoring the nuclear proliferation black market", that Iran was involved in with Pakistan. Because Bush and Cheney just couldn't get over it and would not allow anyone to question their motives, they totally disregarded what was essential to national security and outed a covert CIA agent to spite Joe Wilson. That is treason*. George Bush has continually reminded us that "we are at war". Treason during war-time is punishable by death. Impeachment is the absolute minimum sentence that should be imposed. *UPDATE-CORRECTION-Outing a CIA agent is not an act of treason. It is espionage, but not treason. (I'm too lazy to change the paragraph)

DOD News Release(s) 5 Soldiers, 1 Marine

2006-04-14T06:26:00.000-04:00

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060413-12815.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 315-06 April 13, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died of injuries sustained in Taji, Iraq on April 11, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Bradley Fighting Vehicle and they subsequently came under small arms fire during combat operations. All three soldiers were assigned to the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Killed were: Cpl. Joseph A. Blanco, 25, of Bloomington, Calif. Pfc. James F. Costello III, 27, of St. Louis, Mo. Pfc. George R. Roehl Jr., 21, of Manchester, N.H. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060413-12814.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 314-06 April 13, 2006 DoD Identifies Missing Marine and Sailor The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Eric A. Palmisano, 27, of Florence, Wis., died April 2, after the truck he was riding in rolled over in a flash flood near Al Asad, Iraq. The incident also resulted in the death of six other Marines and a Navy petty officer. Palmisano was listed as Duty Status - Whereabouts Unknown until his body was recovered April 11. He was assigned to 1st Transportation Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Petty Officer 3rd Class Marcques J. Nettles, 22, of Beaverton, Ore. is still listed as Duty Status - Whereabouts Unknown as a result of the incident and search efforts continue. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060413-12809.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 312-06 April 13, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Kenneth D. Hess, 26, of Asheville, N.C., died in Rawah, Iraq on April 11, as the result of a suicide bomber attack while Hess was conducting a dismounted patrol. Hess was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright, Alaska. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060412-12806.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 310-06 April 12, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Shawn R. Creighton, 21, of Windsor, N.C., died in Rawah, Iraq on April 8, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Stryker vehicle during patrol operations. Creighton was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright, Alaska. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zacarias Moussaoui's soon to be resting place

2006-04-13T18:44:00.000-04:00

Swine manure lagoon Zacarias Moussaoui made it known today in court testimony that he no longer wants to be executed because it's 'against Islam'. So, I would grant him his wish. I would sentence him to 'life' and then assign him a bunk in one of our most notorious federal prisons with the Aryan Brotherhood. Before I gave him his plush assignment I would let him know where his headless body would be placed for eternity. His body would be dumped into one of the many 'swine lagoons' we have throughout the country. And then I would let it be known to every single Islamic nation in the world that if you come to our country and commit an act of terror, your body will join his for eternity. Got the message?

Colin Powell tries to cleanse his soul

2006-04-13T08:54:00.000-04:00

"I didn't need Wilson to tell me that there wasn't a Niger connection. He didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. I never believed it...That was all Cheney." --- Colin Powell-4/10/06-Trying to wash away the shame of his complicity in the deaths of 2,400 American troops and the waste of $400 billion. Colin Powell may actually have a conscience after all. Either that or he's going to make an attempt to run for office, but either way, he deserves no sympathy from anybody when it comes to his crimes that led us needlessly into war.

"On Monday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell told me that he and his department's top experts never believed that Iraq posed an imminent nuclear threat, but that the president followed the misleading advice of Vice President Dick Cheney and the CIA in making the claim. Now he tells us. The harsh truth is that this president cherry-picked the intelligence data in making his case for invading Iraq and deliberately kept the public in the dark as to the countervailing analysis at the highest level of the intelligence community. While the president and his top Cabinet officials were fear-mongering with stark images of a "mushroom cloud" over American cities, the leading experts on nuclear weaponry at the Department of Energy (the agency in charge of the U.S. nuclear-weapons program) and the State Department thought the claim of a near-term Iraqi nuclear threat was absurd".

Republicans and phoney-conservatives used to fall all over themselves over Colin Powell-He was their straw man that allowed them to hide their ingrained racism. Well, I wonder what they think of him now that he's exposing all the lies that they've been basing most of their arguments on?

"I listen to the Generals"

2006-04-13T08:09:00.000-04:00

U.S. First Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. John Batiste attends a ceremony in Tikrit, Iraq, in March 2004. The Liar-In-Chief often says he 'listens to the Generals" but we know that's obviously not true because if he did, Rumsfeld would be long gone. In fact, so would he.

"The retired commander of key forces in Iraq called yesterday for Donald H. Rumsfeld to step down, joining several other former top military commanders who have harshly criticized the secretary of defense's authoritarian style for making the military's job more difficult. "I think we need a fresh start" at the top of the Pentagon, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004-05, said in an interview. "We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork." Batiste noted that many of his peers feel the same way. "It speaks volumes that guys like me are speaking out from retirement about the leadership climate in the Department of Defense," he said earlier yesterday on CNN".

DOD News Release(s) 6 Soldiers, 3 Marines

2006-04-13T05:23:00.000-04:00

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060411-12799.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 304-06 April 11, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died of injuries sustained in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on April 9, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during combat operations. The soldiers were assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. Killed were: Sgt. 1st Class Randall L. Lamberson, 36, of Springfield, Mo., died in Balad, Iraq on April 10th. Sgt. David S. Collins, 24, of Jasper Ga., died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on April 9th. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060411-12798.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 303-06 April 11, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. James W. Gardner, 22, of Glasgow, Ky., died in Tal Afar, Iraq, on April 10, from a non-combat related cause. Gardner was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060411-12794.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 300-06 April 11, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Bryan N. Taylor, 20, of Milford, Ohio, died April 6 after being shot by an Iraqi Army soldier on a coalition base near Al Qaim, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The incident is currently under investigation. Cpl. Richard P. Waller, 22, of Fort Worth, Texas, died April 7 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060411-12793.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 299-06 April 11, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Juana Navarro Arellano, 24, of Ceres, Calif., died April 8 from wounds received while supporting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. She was assigned to 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060411-12791.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 298-06 April 11, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Joseph I. Love, 22, of North Pole, Alaska, died in Balad, Iraq, on April 9, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during convoy operations. Love was assigned to the 84th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy), 8th Sustainment Command (Theater), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060410-12790.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 297-06 April 10, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pvt. Jody W. Missildine, 19, of Plant City, Fla., died in Tal Afar, Iraq, on April 8, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during convoy operations. Missildine was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Friedberg, Germany. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060410-12787.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 296-06 April 10, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. 1st Class Gregory S. Rogers, 42, of Cincinnati, Ohio, died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq on April 9, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during convoy operations. Rogers was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another lie from Bush-the 'biolabs'

2006-04-12T07:46:00.000-04:00

Lacking Biolabs, Trailers Carried Case for War Administration Pushed Notion of Banned Iraqi Weapons Despite Evidence to Contrary On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile "biological laboratories." He declared, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction." The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true. A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq -- not made public until now -- had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons. Leaders of the Pentagon-sponsored mission transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003, two days before the president's statement.

How much more evidence does the prosecution need to convict these lying traitors?

Convicted felon's direct line to the White House

2006-04-12T07:45:00.000-04:00

The continuing saga of the culture of corruption 'Court records show that convicted phone-jamming conspirator James Tobin made dozens of calls to the White House in the weeks leading up to - and following - the voting on Nov. 5, 2002'.

"Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and the Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show. The records show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 -- as the phone-jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly ended. Nearly all the calls to the White House went to the same number, which currently rings inside the political affairs office. In 2002, White House political affairs was led by Ken Mehlman, now chairman of the Republican National Committee. The White House declined to say which staffer was assigned that phone number in 2002. The national Republican Party paid millions in legal bills to defend Tobin".

Gingrich hasn't lost that Republican touch

2006-04-12T06:56:00.000-04:00

On Monday, former House speak Newt Gingrich declared that the occupation of Iraq has been a mistake for the last 34 months:It was an enormous mistake for us to try to occupy [Iraq] after June of 2003.
For Gingrich, it’s a dramatic reversal. In December 2003 (six months after he claimed the occupation of Iraq became a mistake), Gingrich expressed his support for the continuing operations:I think it’s easy to go back now and second-guess. But when I look back and I think about what we felt in February and March and April, I think it was the right war, it was the right decision. [Fox, Hannity & Colmes, 12/8/03]
In September 2004 (15 months after he says the occupation was a mistake) Gingrich blasted critics who complained "we’re not winning fast enough":

And instead of applauding this deliberate effort to minimize American casualties and to strengthen the Iraqis, we have some of our friends here at home who want it both ways. They want to complain that we’re not winning fast enough, and they want to complain if we take any casualties. You can’t have it both ways. [Fox, Hannity & Colmes, 9/27/04]

Meet the new Newt. Nothing like the old Newt. Think Progress Newt positioning himself for 2008. Man, I think Newt Gingrich would be the perfect Republican nominee. I'll definitely vote for him in the Republican primary. You can still cross-over vote in the primaries, can't you? Or did they stop that back when all the republicans used to go to the polls and vote for Jesse Jackson? I think they did....Damn, maybe I won't get the chance to vote for ol' Newt after all.

Tiktaalik, 375 million years ago?

2006-04-12T06:12:00.000-04:00

But, the earth is only 5,000 years old!??!!!

"The fossilized remains of Tiktaalik, a roughly 375-million-year-old fish, are a pivotal entry in the annals of science. This discovery has great value for several reasons. It adds to the biological records. It rebuts inaccurate claims made by creationists. And it shows the passion, patience, and power of scientific research. Scientists say that Tiktaalik is the missing evolutionary link between creatures that lived in water and those that walked on land. Inside Tiktaalik's fins was the skeletal structure of arms, including wrists and elbows. The fish also had a modified ear region and a mobile neck. So while Tiktaalik probably wasn't pondering a move with the spouse and kids to a drier neighborhood, evolution was making way for just such a relocation plan, clearing a path for limbed creatures, including, eventually, humans. As they are frequent guests on free-for-all talk shows, science and religion will no doubt clash over this finding. Tiktaalik will add to the problems of strict creationists, who believe the world was created by God quickly, and not so very long ago. But there's still plenty of room for respectful coexistence between those who believe that evolution is a gift of God and those who believe it is a rational and replicable scientific theory".

More on Tiktaalik

Leaker In Chief

2006-04-12T05:54:00.000-04:00

Quotes from the "Leaker In Chief" explaining to students and foreign policy analysts at the Johns Hopkins University on Monday, April 10, why he had Scooter Libby meet Judy Miller at a hotel for 'breakfast' and give her half of the NIE report. Of course the 'other half' of the report was the part about the information not being "very credible".

"I thought it was important for people to get a better sense for why I was saying what I was saying in my speeches. And I felt I could do so without jeopardizing ongoing intelligence matters. So I did." "After we liberated Iraq, there was questions in people's minds, you know, about the basis on which I made statements - in other words, going into Iraq. And so I decided to declassify the [report] for a reason. I wanted people to see what some of those statements were based on."

I wish one of those students or foreign policy analysts would have asked him the simple question as to why he didn't have a press conference if he "wanted people to see what some of those statements were based on." No one has asked Bush that yet. I'm curious to see how he worms his way out of that one.

Powell: U.S. mistakes hurting Iraq

2006-04-11T07:56:00.000-04:00

"U.S. mistakes in the invasion of Iraq led to the current insurgency and sectarian fighting, former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says. "We made some serious mistakes in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad," Powell told the National School Board Association's annual conference in Chicago. "We didn't have enough troops on the ground. We didn't impose our will. And as a result, an insurgency got started, and ... it got out of control."

Colin Powell was the Secretary of State when we invaded Iraq. Powell went before the United Nations to sell the war on information he knew was a lie. As Secretary of State and a former general he had the opportunity to ensure we had the proper troop strength but he ignored General Shinseki, and we have lost many young American lives because of his stubbornness. Colin Powell has absolutely no credibility left and he needs to be indicted along with all the other war criminals in the Bush administration.

The 'Un' Christian Coaltion needs your support

2006-04-11T06:56:00.000-04:00

The right-wing's spiritual leader doesn't pay his debts just like they don't

"In an era when conservative Christians enjoy access and influence throughout the federal government, the organization that fueled their rise has fallen on hard times. The once-mighty Christian Coalition, founded 17 years ago by the Rev. Pat Robertson as the political fundraising and lobbying engine of the Christian right, is more than $2 million in debt, beset by creditors' lawsuits and struggling to hold on to some of its state chapters. "There's a trail of debt. . . . We believe, our board believes, any Christian organization has an obligation to pay its debts in a timely fashion."

"Pay its debts in a timely fashion"? Why would this organization feel the need to be any different than the Republican Party that they support so 'religiously'? Republicans don't pay their debts and in fact, not one single one of them has paid their debt since Dwight Eisenhower. All you phoney-Christian wingnuts better start sending more money to your hero, Pat Robertson, because it's awfully embarrassing to you Republicans that the organization that's ran by your direct 'spokesman to God' is failing so miserably. I guess ol' brother Pat, better get his signal back on his open line to Jesus pretty quick.

The Bush affect on our military

2006-04-11T06:39:00.000-04:00

Young Officers Leaving Army at a High Rate "Young Army officers, including growing numbers of captains who leave as soon as their initial commitment is fulfilled, are bailing out of active-duty service at rates that have alarmed senior officers. Last year, more than a third of the West Point class of 2000 left active duty at the earliest possible moment, after completing their five-year obligation".

Got fooled again

2006-04-11T05:49:00.000-04:00

Lt. General GREGORY NEWBOLD, Retired director of operations at the Pentagon's military joint staff.

"From 2000 until October 2002, I was a Marine Corps lieutenant general and director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After 9/11, I was a witness and therefore a party to the actions that led us to the invasion of Iraq--an unnecessary war. Inside the military family, I made no secret of my view that the zealots' rationale for war made no sense. And I think I was outspoken enough to make those senior to me uncomfortable. But I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat--al-Qaeda. I retired from the military four months before the invasion, in part because of my opposition to those who had used 9/11's tragedy to hijack our security policy. Until now, I have resisted speaking out in public. I've been silent long enough". The rest...

Another general that wasn't listened to. Bush has made it a habit of saying he 'listened to the generals' on what was needed in Iraq but General Newbold is another clear example of what a liar Bush actually is.

Battling the Jesus freaks . . . with science!

2006-04-10T15:58:00.000-04:00

Bill Nye, the harmless children's edu-tainer known as "The Science Guy," managed to offend a select group of idiot adults in Waco when he suggested that the moon does not emit light. As even most elementary-school graduates know, the moon reflects the light of the sun but produces no light of its own. But don't tell that to the good people of Waco, who were "visibly angered by what some perceived as irreverence," according to the Waco Tribune. Nye was in town to participate in McLennan Community College's Distinguished Lecture Series. He gave two lectures on such unfunny and adult topics as global warming, Mars exploration, and energy consumption. But nothing got people as riled as when he brought up Genesis 1:16, which reads: "God made two great lights -- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars." The lesser light, he pointed out, is not a light at all, but only a reflector. At this point, several people in the audience stormed out in fury. One woman yelled "We believe in God!" and left with three children, thus assuring that people across America would read about the incident and conclude that Waco is as nutty as they'd always suspected.

Hey watch it Nye! It's in the Bible so it has to be true!

Afghani who saved Navy Seal under constant threat

2006-04-10T15:23:00.000-04:00

Gulab says he 'sacrificed everything' to save the American

"Even with all the troubles that followed, Mohammad Gulab says he's still glad he saved the U.S. Navy SEAL. "I have no regrets for what I did," the 32-year-old Afghan told NEWSWEEK recently. "I'm proud of my action." Nevertheless, he says, "I never imagined I would pay such a price." Last June, foraging for edible plants in the forest near his home in the Kunar-province village of Sabray, Gulab discovered a wounded commando, the lone survivor of a four-man squad that had been caught in a Taliban ambush. Communicating by hand signs, Gulab brought the injured stranger home, fed and sheltered him for two days and helped contact a U.S. rescue team to airlift him out".

Why haven't we relocated this man and his family to the United States?

"Uranium from Africa"

2006-04-10T06:37:00.000-04:00

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa". George W. Bush in the 2003 "State of the Union" address, repeating what he knew was a lie.

"TWO employees of the Niger embassy in Rome were responsible for the forgery of a notorious set of documents used to help justify the Iraq war, an official investigation has allegedly found. According to Nato sources, the investigation has evidence that Niger’s consul and its ambassador’s personal assistant faked a contract to show Saddam Hussein had bought uranium ore from the impoverished west African country". The documents, which emerged in 2002, were used in a US State Department fact sheet on Iraq’s weapons programme to build the case for war. They were denounced as forgeries by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) shortly before the 2003 invasion. The revelation spawned a series of conspiracy theories, most alleging that the British, Italians, or even Dick Cheney, the American vice-president, had had a hand in forging them to back the case for war. The story was still reverberating around Washington last week with claims that President George W Bush had authorised the leaking of the identity of a CIA agent whose husband cast doubt on the Niger link".

Bush used the 16 words at the top of this post in his 2003 State of the Union (SOTU) in January of 2003. Here is direct testimony from the Deputy DCI in a National Intelligence Estimate in October of 2002, three months prior to the SOTU;

"On October 2, 2002, the Deputy DCI testified before the SSCI. Senator Jon Kyl asked the Deputy DCI whether he had read the British white paper and whether he disagreed with anything in the report. The Deputy DCI testified that "the one thing where I think they stretched a little bit beyond where we would stretch is on the points about Iraq seeking uranium from various African locations. We've looked at those reports and we don't think they are very credible".

Bush was lying about Iraq trying to obtain uranium from Africa and his own intelligence reports prove that. He was going to Iraq and it didn't matter if they were truly a threat or not. He should be impeached at the very least.

March of the Seals? They can only wish they were penguins...

2006-04-09T07:40:00.000-04:00

"The hunt is permitted about two weeks after the seal pups are born and their fur changes from white to gray. Most are killed between 12 to 25 days old". At least they are allowed to live a couple of weeks. We, as a society could never condone behavior so cruel as to kill these animals while their fur was still white. That would be uncivilized.

$13,700 an hour - Brother, can you spare a dime?

2006-04-09T07:19:00.000-04:00

"At a town hall meeting in Ohio last Saturday, Representative Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a staunch advocate for social and economic rights--he and Bernie Sanders are the two best candidates running for Senate in 2006--railed against stagnant wages' contribution to economic hardship. "It is unacceptable that someone can work full-time--and work hard--and not be able to lift their family out of poverty." He blasted a system where a full-time worker making the minimum wage earns $10,500 annually, while "last year the CEO of Wal-Mart earned $3,500 an hour. The CEO of Halliburton earned about $8,300 an hour. And the CEO of ExxonMobil earned about $13,700 an hour."

Katrina vanden Heuvel-The Nation Damn - I guess the ExxonMobil CEO won't be worrying about gas at $3 a gallon. Matter of fact, he's looking forward to $4! [BTW, $13,700 an hour comes to about $28.5 million annually at 2,080 hours]

No Shit

2006-04-09T06:47:00.000-04:00

U.S. Study Paints Somber Portrait of Iraqi Discord

"An internal staff report by the United States Embassy and the military command in Baghdad provides a sobering province-by-province snapshot of Iraq's political, economic and security situation, rating the overall stability of 6 of the 18 provinces "serious" and one "critical." The report is a counterpoint to some recent upbeat public statements by top American politicians and military officials. The report, 10 pages of briefing points titled "Provincial Stability Assessment," underscores the shift in the nature of the Iraq war three years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Warnings of sectarian and ethnic frictions are raised in many regions, even in those provinces generally described as nonviolent by American officials".

Thicker Than Oil

2006-04-09T06:38:00.000-04:00

For fifty-five years, the United States and Saudi Arabia were solid partners. Then came the 9/11 attacks, which sorely tested that relationship. In Thicker Than Oil, Rachel Bronson reveals why the partnership became so intimate and how the countries’ shared interests sowed the seeds of today’ most pressing problem—Islamic radicalism.

DOD News Release(s)

2006-04-09T06:25:00.000-04:00

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060407-12783.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 292-06 April 7, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier, who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Daniel L. Sesker, 22, of Ogden, Iowa, died in Bayji, Iraq on April 6, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Sesker was assigned to the Army National Guard's Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry in LeMars, Iowa. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060407-12781.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 290-06 April 7, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier, who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Dustin J. Harris, 21, of Bangor, Maine, died in Bayji, Iraq on April 6, when an improvised device detonated while he was conducting dismounted patrol operations. Harris was assigned to the 172nd Brigade Support Battalion, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright, Alaska. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060407-12776.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 288-06 April 7, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine, who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Chase A. Edwards, 19, of Lake Charles, La., died April 6 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060406-12770.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 284-06 April 6, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine and Sailor Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the identity of a Marine and a sailor supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, who have been listed as Duty Status -Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) after the seven-ton truck in which they were riding rolled over in a flash flood near Al Asad, Iraq on April 2. The incident was not a result of enemy action. Lance Cpl. Eric A. Palmisano, 27, of Florence, Wis., is assigned to the 1st Transportation Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Petty Officer 3rd Class Marcques J. Nettles, 22, of Beaverton, Ore., is assigned to Force Service Regiment 1 Fleet Marine Forces Pacific. All available resources are being used to search for the Marine and sailor. Information concerning the six Marines killed in this incident was posted at http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060405-12757.html on April 5. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bizarre multiple murders in Ontario, Canada

2006-04-09T06:10:00.000-04:00

Eight men were found dead in a remote part of a southwest farmer's field, prompting Ontario Provincial Police to launch a homicide investigation. The grisly discovery was made by a property owner near the village of Shedden, about 20 kilometres west of St. Thomas, at around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Then why didn't you have a news conference?

2006-04-08T07:25:00.000-04:00

"By definition, the president cannot leak"

"A day after it was revealed that President Bush authorized the release of sensitive pre-war intelligence, his spokesman did not deny the information was leaked by the White House. But spokesman Scott McClellan said it had been declassified and was made public as a defense against allegations the intelligence was manipulated. McClellan said the information from the National Intelligence Estimate was "historical" and the public needed to know the contents..."

If Bush thought the 'public needed to know' then why didn't he have a simple news conference instead of having Libby secretly leak the information to Judy Miller? It would seem to me that if you had valuable information that the public needed to know about, you'd be happy to stand up and tell the whole country instead of giving it exclusively to some mole you have working for you at the NY Times. Keep talking, Scotty.

"I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action." [Bush Remarks: Chicago, Illinois, 9/30/03]

The Bush administration leaked far more 'manipulated' information than the recently acknowledged NIE incident: Here's a nice morsel of info. for you:

"As the war approached, the White House released other documents and statements containing allegations about Saddam's weapons and ties to terrorism, many of which included information from Iraqi defectors and other sources that already had been discredited. Among those was a document published in October 2002, titled "Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs," which was a public version of the National Intelligence Estimate's main points - but with doubts and dissents stripped out".

Let me explain those last two paragraphs to all you Bush ass-kissers. Bush not only authorized leaks, he only leaked the information that didn't contradict his lying. He was cherry picking. All you fools who fell for it should be totally embarrassed. ...You were all such weak and pathetic little sheep...

One of the 16 Seats?

2006-04-08T06:55:00.000-04:00

"How nervous are Republicans that the Iraq war could hurt them in November? Nervous enough that Rep. Christopher Shays visited the same senior center twice in one week to defend his stand. The nine-term House veteran is in full campaign mode, explaining his unbending support for the war to confounded voters such as Anne Donnelly, a resident of the Marvin. She has supported Shays in previous elections but complained that his bullish stance on Iraq seemed at odds with news reports that portray a country in a tailspin".

Of all the congressional seats that need to be taken from Republicans this November, Christopher Shays' would be one of the last I would like to see go. He's generally very moderate but his blind faith behind Bush's ridiculous Iraq mess is more than enough reason to vote for Diane Farrell.

below freezing

2006-04-08T06:23:00.000-04:00

Overall, do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president? -Approve, 36 percent (37) -Disapprove, 62 percent (60) -Mixed feelings, 2 percent (2) -Not sure, X percent (1) Thirty-Six percent... And that's before the country found out he was behind the leaks coming out of the White House! Any takers on Bush being below 32 in the next poll?

Iraqi Soldier Allegedly Kills U.S. Marine

2006-04-08T05:59:00.000-04:00

"An Iraqi soldier allegedly shot and killed a U.S. Marine at a base near the Syrian border, the U.S. said Friday. Another American Marine then wounded the Iraqi soldier. The shootings occurred Thursday near Qaim, 200 miles west of Baghdad, the U.S. statement said. "An Iraqi army soldier allegedly shot and killed the U.S. Marine on a coalition base" near Qaim, the statement said. "The Iraqi soldier was shot by another U.S. Marine."

Not so traditional family values

2006-04-07T18:58:00.000-04:00

"The son of [Arizona] state Senate President [Republican] Ken Bennett admitted in court Monday to assaulting middle school boys with a broomstick in their rectal areas, but a judge allowed charges against him to be reduced from 18 to one, and he may avoid jail. Three of the 18 victims, all boys between the ages of 11 and 15, are from Tucson, and the families are angry that 18-year-old Clifton Bennett and co-defendant Kyle Wheeler, 19, were not charged with sexual assault. Also, the families said Bennett is being treated favorably by the court system because of his father's position in the Legislature. Bennett's plea would allow the court to classify the aggravated-assault conviction as a misdemeanor, which means he could go on to become a teacher or counselor and would never have to disclose the so-called "brooming" incident".

Some good old family values coming out of Arizona. Son of the state's Senate President, a good traditional family-values Mormom and self-righteous Republican just out having some fun and getting an early start in his young social 'conservative' life.

The Pathological Liar

2006-04-07T16:46:00.000-04:00

We all know a pathological liar or two in our lives. You know, the type of person who will flat-out lie and make up something and then bob and weave and try to either change the subject or try to act like their blatant lies aren't really all that important to the point they're trying to make. Scott McClellan is one of those liars. He tried to say that the NIE information that Bush ordered leaked to the NY Times by Scooter Libby had already been declassified. But poor Scotty. His previous words are public record and some savvy news reporters were sharp enough to dig up the fact that he said back on July 18, 2003 that that information "was officially declassified today". The problem with that? Scooter told Judy Miller 10 days earlier, on July 8, 2003. That information was still classified. You see, pathological liars don't have anywhere to run when they write it down or when there is a written record of their long, long record of lying. Pathological liars...You all know one. White House Caught Lying on Leak "On July 18, 2003, McClellan said that the information had been declassified that day. "It was officially declassified today," he told reporters in a briefing in Dallas, Texas. At the White House on Friday, McClellan interpreted his own remarks to mean that the information had been officially released to the public. The date could be significant because Libby discussed the information with a reporter 10 days earlier, on July 8 of that year".

Omigod! Is he really saying that to Stupid?

2006-04-07T08:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning in Charlotte, a Bush PR event on the war on terror went off-script when a man named Harry Taylor took the microphone.

"'I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration,’ Taylor said, standing in a balcony seat and looking down at Bush on stage. ‘And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and grace to be ashamed of yourself.'"

Right on Harry! George Bush is way too stupid to feel shame, though. Thanks for reminding him. (Looks like the lady next to you is having labor pains) Helluva Job! Think Progress a little more...

Scooter Libby's Source

2006-04-07T07:44:00.000-04:00

Libby Traces Approval of Disclosure Back to Bush

"George Bush personally authorized leaking long-classified information to a reporter in the summer of 2003 to buttress administration claims, now discredited, that Saddam Hussein was attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction for Iraq, according to a court filing by prosecutors in the case against former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was indicted in October on charges that he lied to investigators about his role in the unmasking of former CIA operative Valerie Plame. Court papers filed by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald late Wednesday said that before Libby's indictment, he told a federal grand jury investigating the leak that Cheney told him to pass on information about a secret National Intelligence Estimate to the press and that Bush had authorized the disclosure.

George Bush practically leaps from his desk and orders Dick Cheney to have Scooter Libby call his New York Times’ source, Judy Miller, and ‘leak’ the highly classified National Intelligence Estimate’s (NIE) report on Iraq’s 'weapons of mass destruction'. And although the NIE report had been refuted by two other agencies, Bush and Cheney knew it would sow doubt in the op-ed piece Joe Wilson had written in the NY Times just two days earlier. The president of the United States leaking classified information to some two-bit ho mole at the NY Times. That scenario was laid-out by Scooter Libby before the federal grand jury. Either Libby is lying or George Bush was lying and, more importantly, now been proven to be a source of leaking coming out of the White House. There has been no denial from the White House on this leak coming from Bush. The initial defense seems to be to that it didn’t have anything to do with the Valerie Plame investigation. What? Are we to believe that Bush ordered Libby to leak the NIE information to Judy Milller in his vain attempt to discredit Joe Wilson, but didn’t know anything about the leak from Libby, to the very same source, about Wilson’s wife? Come on. How goddamn dumb do you have to be to believe that?

The Vast Anti-Christian Conspiracy

2006-04-07T05:31:00.000-04:00

"Blame it on the vast anti-Christian conspiracy. That was the explanation offered by U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas and his supporters last week for the whirlpool of legal difficulties that finally led the ex-leader of the Republicans in Congress to admit it was time to call it quits. The convener of a "War on Christians" conference held in the nation’s capital outrageously depicted the former House majority leader’s political plight as the unwarranted crucifixion of a Christ-like leader by God-haters. And, with his trademark gall, the infamously ethically challenged DeLay eagerly embraced this explanation when it was his turn to speak to the adoring crowd. "We have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned and our world is being threatened," thundered the Texan pest-control entrepreneur who rose to become one of America’s most powerful politicians. "The enemies of virtue may be on the march, but they have not won. Let’s leave aside for a moment the absurdity of right-wing Christians’ persecution complex at a time when their adherents effectively control all three branches of the federal government. What’s even more confusing is how so many enemies of virtue seem to have had a field day operating under poor DeLay’s auspices, including the latest member of his staff to plead guilty to a felony. That would be Tony Rudy, DeLay’s former deputy chief of staff, who has now pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge for accepting payments from fellow criminal Jack Abramoff while serving in DeLay’s office, and later working to corrupt public officials and defraud clients. To be fair to DeLay, it should be noted that as absurd as his religious posturing may appear, it comes at a time when he has been denied the services of his onetime spiritual adviser and former chief of staff. Edwin Buckham, an evangelical minister who turned lobbyist after leaving DeLay’s staff, is himself now mired in potential legal problems stemming from Rudy’s plea bargain. A devastating article by R. Jeffrey Smith in the Washington Post last week reported that Buckham and his wife received a total of nearly a million bucks from the “nonprofit” U.S. Family Network, which he created as a front group largely funded by clients of Abramoff". Robert Scheer

What people should understand is that all Americans love true Christians. There is just a lot of people who despise the phony-Christians that dominate the right wing of politics and the Republican party in this country.

Pennsylvania, you have some work to do

2006-04-06T07:12:00.000-04:00

Curt Weldon, 10-term Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania's 7th District and someone the country will be a whole lot better off without after he's defeated by Joe Sestak this November Democrat and Retired Adm. Joe Sestak, his wife, Susan, and 5-year-old daughter, Alexandra.

"Sitting in the oncology ward at Children's National Medical Center on Jan. 19, retired Adm. Joe Sestak and his wife, Susan, awaited the doctors' verdict about the condition of their 5-year-old daughter, Alexandra. She had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor last summer and given three to nine months to live. The Sestaks lived for four months in the ward. They watched as their daughter survived three surgeries, and as she endured chemotherapy. But that winter day, doctors told the Sestaks that Alexandra had done remarkably well and that, although the cancer could reemerge, she could resume living like a healthy girl. Relieved and grateful, Sestak, who retired as a three-star admiral Jan. 1, after 31 years in the Navy, began thinking about what he wanted to do next. "I went off to the Navy at 18. That's all I ever wanted to do," said Sestak, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. He considered a position at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a private organization that aids refugees. Instead, he joined several military veterans, mostly Democrats, around the country who have decided to run for Congress this year. He's running from his hometown of Springfield, Pa."

Joe Sestak's opponent, 10-term Republican congressman, Curt Weldon, well known as "Crazy Curt' for his obsession with 'Able Danger', thinks Joe and and his wife are gaming the system by not living in Pennsylvania while their daughter received cancer treatment in Washington DC, and for not using a Pennsylvania hospital for their daughter's treatment. What a low-life creep. Pennsylvania should get rid of Weldon at the same time they get rid of Rick Santorum. The country sure could use it and Pennsylvania, you've used up all of your asshole exemptions. Here's Sestak's response to Weldon (from Atrios)

Congressman Weldon's remarks to the Hill magazine in a story published this morning regarding my daughter Alex's treatment are inappropriate. To imply, that I should have sent my daughter to a hospital in Delaware or Pennsylvania for political purposes is beyond the pale. I understand the political arena. I knew that this campaign would thrust my family into the media spotlight and we are prepared for that. But I want to make it very clear to Congressman Weldon, that any remarks regarding my daughter, Alexandra's, treatment will not be tolerated. Like many families dealing with illness, we have had our challenges in the last year. Through the grace of God, the many prayers of our friends and family, and the wonderful doctors and nurses, we have made it through this experience with our daughter Alex, who continues to inspire us everyday. Though we recognize the important work done by the many hospitals in and around Philadelphia, it was our personal choice to have Alex treated in Washington at the Children's Hospital because of its outstanding work on pediatric brain tumors. This decision was based on many things – none of which were political. This was our choice as Alex's parents and as I have said publicly, I believe these medical choices should be left in the hands of parents and family members throughout the country and not in the hands of beauracrats, special interests and especially not in the hands of politicians like Curt Weldon. The Hill via Atrios

DOD News Release(s) 8 Soldiers, 10 Marines, 1 Sailor

2006-04-06T06:41:00.000-04:00

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060405-12765.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 282-06 April 5, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier, who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Ty J. Johnson, 28, of Elk Grove, Calif., died in Kirkuk, Iraq, on April 4, when an improvised device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Johnson was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060405-12764.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 281-06 April 5, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers, who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Killed were: Staff Sgt. Darrell P. Clay, 34, of Fayetteville, N.C. Sgt. Israel Devora Garcia, 23, of Clint, Texas -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060405-12758.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 280-06 April 5, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers, who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Killed were: Capt. Timothy J. Moshier, 25, of Albany, N.Y. Chief Warrant Officer Michael L. Hartwick, 37, of Orrick, Mo. They died in Baghdad Iraq on April 1, when their Apache helicopter crashed while conducting a combat air patrol. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army's 4th Battalion, 4th Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060405-12757.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 279-06 April 5, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of six Marines, who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Andres Aguilar Jr., 21, of Victoria, Texas Cpl. David A. Bass, 20, of Nashville, Tenn. Lance Cpl. Patrick J. Gallagher, 27, of Jacksonville, Fla. Lance Cpl. Felipe D. Sandoval-Flores, 20, of Los Angeles, Calif. Cpl. Brian R. St. Germain, 22, of Warwick, R.I. Staff Sgt. Abraham G. Twitchell, 28, of Yelm, Wash. All Marines died April 2, when the seven-ton truck they were riding in rolled over in a flash flood near Al Asad, Iraq. Aguilar was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Media with questions about Aguilar can call Marine Corps Base Hawaii Public Affairs Office at (808) 257-8871/8835. Bass, Gallagher, Sandoval-Flores and St. Germain were all assigned to elements of the 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Media with questions about these four Marines can call the Camp Pendleton Public Affairs Office at (760) 725-5044. Twitchell was assigned to the Combat Service Support Group-1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. Media with questions about Twitchell can call the Twentynine Palms Public Affairs Office at (760) 830-5476. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060405-12756.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 278-06 April 5, 2006 DoD Identifies Marine Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of four Marines, who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Jacob W. Beisel, 21, of Lackawaxen, Pa. Lance Cpl. Kun Y. Kim, 20, of Atlanta, Ga. Staff Sgt. Eric A. McIntosh, 29, of Trafford, Pa. Cpl. Scott J. Procopio, 20, of Saugus, Mass. Beisel died March 31 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Kim, McIntosh and Procopio died April 2 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. All Marines were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060404-12750.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 274-06 April 4, 2006 DoD Identifies Navy Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Hospitalman Geovani Padilla Aleman, 20, of South Gate, Calif., died Apr. 2 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was permanently assigned to Bethesda Naval Hospital, USNS Comfort Detachment and operationally assigned to Third Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment, 2/28 Brigade Combat Team. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060403-12745.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 271-06 April 3, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Jeremy W. Ehle, 19, of Richmond, Va., died on April 2 in Hit, Iraq from wounds sustained when his dismounted patrol came under enemy small arms fire during combat operations. Ehle was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division in Friedberg, Germany. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060403-12744.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 270-06 April 3, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Joseph J. Duenas, 23, of Mesa, Ariz., died in Kirkuk Province, Iraq on March 30 from non-combat related injuries while returning from combat operations. Duenas was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101 Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060403-12742.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 268-06 April 3, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Staff Sgt. Robert Hernandez, 47, of Silver Spring, Md., died in Al Taquaddum, Iraq on March 28, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Hernandez was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 318th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 80th Division (Institutional Training), Fort Meade, Md. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gail Norton & the Gwich'in people

2006-04-05T07:49:00.000-04:00

Gail Norton: Switchin’ on Gwich’in "In her farewell note to Interior Department staff, Secretary Gail Norton waxed poetic about the Gwich'in people who live just south of the Arctic Circle": "America is blessed by its cultural complexity. … I was struck by a statement made by a Gwichin elder in Arctic Village, Alaska. Her people live a subsistence lifestyle, relying mainly on migrating caribou. She said she wanted her grandchildren a thousand years from now to live the same way".
"But Norton wasn’t nearly as respectful when the Gwich'in were standing in the way of her drilling plans. Norton was angry that the Gwich'in did not support the Bush administration’s plan for drilling in the Arctic. Shortly after visiting a Gwich’in village in 2001, she gave a speech that said the Gwich’ins were making life harder for "children throughout America":"If the group’s goal is to continue their subsistence lifestyle for generations, that is certainly their choice. … But that choice also impacts others. The children throughout America, their lives will be affected by these decisions as well whether they will have heat for their homes, whether they will have jobs in a prosperous economy".
Norton’s farewell letter is clearly an effort to cast herself in a favorable light, but the facts of her tenure remain clear: she was the "administration’s biggest advocate for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Alaska’s North Slope to oil drilling." And she didn’t let anyone slow her down. Think Progress Gail Norton, is just another clear example of the absolute incompetence, sheer croynism and utter corruption within the Bush administration. Gail Norton makes Michael Brown look like Warren Buffett when it comes to competence and her ties to Jack Abramoff is what sealed her fate and adds another notch to the most corrupt administration in history. Norton, who ran the Interior Department like "James Watt in a skirt," can skip the farewells - we should be hearing a lot more from her. More on the Gwich'in

I think I'm jinxing

2006-04-04T05:27:00.000-04:00

13 U.S. Troops Dead In Violent Weekend

Four American troops were killed by hostile fire, while five others died and three were missing after their truck rolled over in a flash flood this weekend in separate incidents in western Iraq, the military said Monday. At least nine marines and sailors are dead, and three more are missing, after the two incidents Sunday in al Anbar province, Dozier reports. The incidents raised to 13 the number of U.S. troops who died this weekend. At least 2,342 American service members have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

A little over two weeks ago I was talking with a friend about colds and I told him I hadn't had a cold in over five years. I'm in about my 12th day of the worst cold I can ever remember having. Last Thursday I was talking with someone about Iraq and I brought up the fact that March was a really good month as far U.S casualties in that only 29 had been killed so far. That was March 30th and two more Americans died on the 31st leaving a total of 31 killed in March. That ties March 2006 with the third fewest amount of casualties in the 37 or so months that we've been there. Fourteen have died in the first 3 days of April. I think I'm going to remain mute for awhile.

Tom DeLay to withdraw from race

2006-04-03T22:14:00.000-04:00

Tom DeLay, the biggest criminal to ever lead the House of Representatives, called Chris Matthews tonight and told him he would not run for re-election in November. This was announced minutes ago on Scarborough Country. Of course, DeLay could be serving time in prison by then, too.

DOD News Release(s) 5 Soldiers, 1 Airman

2006-04-03T06:51:00.000-04:00

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060331-12733.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 265-06 March 31, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Sean D. Tharp, 21, of Orlando, Fla., died in Baghdad, Iraq on March 28, when his element came under enemy small arms fire while conducting dismounted patrol operations. Tharp was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060331-12730.html DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Tech. Sgt. Walter M. Moss Jr., 37, of Houston, Texas, was killed in the explosion of an improvised explosive device while conducting safing operations in the vicinity of Baghdad, Iraq on March 29. Moss was assigned to the 366th Civil Engineer Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060330-12729.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 261-06 March 30, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. 1st Class John T. Stone, 52, of Norwich, Vt., died March 28 in Lashkagar, Afghanistan as a result of enemy mortar and small arms attacks during combat operations. Stone was assigned to the Army National Guard's 15th Civil Support Team, South Burlington, Vt. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060329-12723.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 258-06 March 29, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Michael D. Rowe, 23, New Port Richey, Fla., died in Rutbah, Iraq on March 28, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Rowe was assigned to the 46th Engineer Battalion, Warrior Brigade, Fort Polk, La. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060327-12708.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 249-06 March 27, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Frederick A. Carlson, 25, Bethlehem, Pa., died in Taqqadum, Iraq on March 25, from a non-combat related cause. Carlson was assigned to the Army National Guard's 228th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Division, Bethlehem, Pa. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060327-12707.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 248-06 March 27, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Staff Sgt. Christopher L. Robinson, 36, Brandon, Miss., died in Sangain District, Afghanistan on March 25, when his HMMWV came under enemy small arms fire during combat operations. Robinson was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group, Jackson, Miss. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brother Hugo, let's make a deal!

2006-04-03T06:44:00.000-04:00

Hugo Chavez wants to lock us in for oil at $50 a barrel? And, OPEC is whining about regional instability and getting ready to up their price to $70 a barrel ? I'd say we need to get off Chavez's ass and start negotiating a nice long-term contract with Venezuela. Or does that seem too practical of an idea?

Chavez seeks to peg oil at $50 a barrel "Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is poised to launch a bid to transform the global politics of oil by seeking a deal with consumer countries which would lock in a price of $50 a barrel. A long-term agreement at that price could allow Venezuela to count its huge deposits of heavy crude as part of its official reserves, which Caracas says would give it more oil than Saudi Arabia. "We have the largest oil reserves in the world, we have oil for 200 years." Mr Chavez told the BBC's Newsnight programme in an interview to be broadcast tonight. "$50 a barrel - that's a fair price, not a high price."

Iraqi rebels shoot down Apache helicopter

2006-04-03T06:17:00.000-04:00

The U.S. military said Sunday that the bodies of two American pilots killed when their Apache helicopter crashed near Baghdad were recovered and the aircraft was probably shot down. Three other U.S. soldiers were reported killed in Baghdad and northern Iraq. The AH-64D Apache Longbow went down about 5:30 p.m. Saturday during combat operations west of Youssifiyah, about 15 kilometres southwest of Baghdad, the U.S. command said in a statement.

That ought to piss them off!

2006-04-03T05:36:00.000-04:00

The roses kept coming - and coming - and coming - to the Hearst Newspapers office in downtown Washington on Thursday, until they filled a large conference room to overflowing. By the time the Federal Express delivery was complete, there were 108 dozen roses, nearly 1,300 in every color. They were the result of an e-mail campaign to show support for Hearst columnist Helen Thomas after she grilled President Bush about his Iraq policy at last week's White House news conference.

Split among the Shi'a

2006-04-03T04:43:00.000-04:00

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the presidential palace in Baghdad on Sunday.

Split Emerges Among Shiites Over Iraqi Prime Minister Iraq's dominant Shiite political bloc fractured on Sunday when its most powerful faction publicly demanded that the incumbent Shiite prime minister resign over his inability to form a unified government. The split came as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Jack Straw, the British foreign minister, paid an urgent surprise visit to Baghdad leaders to convey in the most forceful terms yet that their patience for Iraq's political paralysis is wearing out... ....But the developments suggested a new phase in Iraq's convulsions may have started by opening a possibly violent battle for the country's top job between rival Shiite factions, which both have militias backing them up. The incumbent prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, has said he will fight to keep his job, and his principal supporter is Moktada al-Sadr, a rebellious Shiite cleric whose Mahdi Army militia has resorted to violence many times to enforce his wishes".

As long as the U.S. military doesn't get dragged into the middle of any violence that breaks out between the Shi'a, then this split between these Shiite factions could actually help speed along negotiations for the new government. Wishful thinking maybe...

US and UK forces establish 'enduring bases' in Iraq

2006-04-02T05:43:00.000-04:00

"The Pentagon has revealed that coalition forces are spending millions of dollars establishing at least six "enduring" bases in Iraq - raising the prospect that US and UK forces could be involved in a long-term deployment in the country. It said it assumed British troops would operate one of the bases".

Just go ahead and say it, Boortz

2006-04-01T08:16:00.000-05:00

Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., center, walking down the steps of the House side of the U.S. Capitol after the last scheduled vote of the day Thursday, March 30, 2006 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Neal Boortz on Representative McKinney Cynthia McKinney "looks like a ghetto slut" ...that "new hair-do" makes her look "like a ghetto slut," like "an explosion at a Brillo pad factory," like "Tina Turner peeing on an electric fence," and like "a shih tzu." ....Yeah, OK, I don't like her hair. I'm sorry. "Well, I'm not a big cornrow fan but I got used to her with that. OK?" "OK, Now I've seen Cynthia McKinney's new hairstyle. There is just no other way to say this. It's just hideous. She looks like ghetto trash. Get a braider over there ... quick! Nobody with a modicum of self-respect would go around looking like that". I don't think she looks like a 'ghetto slut' at all. That 'new hair-do' looks like an 'old natural' afro in fact. I think Neal is just yearning to say something he probably thought twice about. Nice Republican voice for the flock. Just go ahead and say it, Boortz...It's what your audience thinks about it anyway... Media Matters

'Thousands' of mistakes made in Iraq

2006-04-01T07:42:00.000-05:00

The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, today admitted in Blackburn that the US had made "thousands" of tactical errors in Iraq, as she made a two-day visit dogged by anti-war protests. Accompanied by the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, around a school, football club and arms factory in the north-west, Ms Rice also said the US had no wish to be the "world's jailor". Her 48-hour trip has seen a visit to a mosque cancelled and her arrival, hotel and school visit were all picketed by anti-war protesters. On the issue of Iraq, Ms Rice acknowledged during a question and answer session with an audience at Ewood Park, the ground of Blackburn Rovers, that the US had made mistakes. "I know we have made tactical errors, thousands of them I am sure," she said.

You can't abscond from responsibility by now admitting you were incompetent. Way too much damage has been done, Secretary Rice.

DeLay Just Misunderstood

2006-04-01T07:13:00.000-05:00

Ex-Delay aide Tony Rudy pleads guilty to conspiracy Poor Tom DeLay. He's not really a crook at all - he just keeps getting mixed up with the wrong crowd. Most of his close associates are being indicted or convicted on an almost weekly basis but of course, if DeLay wasn't such a "good Christian", he wouldn't be having any of these problems.

Rudy plea reveals Abramoff’s worldwide reach Tiny Marianas Islands paid $7.17 million for lobbyist’s aid "The guilty plea to conspiracy charges Friday by a former top staffer to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, further exposes the degree of influence that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff had on Capitol Hill -- even when his clients were halfway across the Pacific. Tony Rudy, who worked for DeLay as press secretary and then deputy chief of staff from 1995 to 2000, entered the plea in United States District Court here Friday. Court papers show that while working in DeLay's office, Rudy provided Abramoff with assistance in stopping legislation opposed by one of the lobbyist's clients. In exchange, Rudy was lavished with free trips, sporting tickets, meals and golf games and $86,000 to a consulting firm he set up and was run by his wife - all courtesy of Abramoff. Rudy, 39, joined Abramoff's lobbying firm after working for DeLay".

Scalia-Yeah he's a good Catholic all right

2006-04-01T06:40:00.000-05:00

Photog Who Snapped Scalia 'Obscene Gesture' Picture Cut Loose by Diocese The photographer who took the now-famous photograph of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia allegedly making an "obscene gesture" after attending mass in Boston on Sunday has been told he will no longer do any work for the Archdiocese of Boston’s newspaper. Scalia had asked the freelance photographer, Peter Smith, not to publish the photo. Instead, he gave it to the Boston Herald, which put it on its front page on Thursday. The weekly Catholic newspaper made a “journalistic decision” not to run or release the photo, Archdiocese spokesman Terry Donilon told the Herald. “Because he breached that trust with the editor, we will no longer engage his services as a freelance photographer,” Donilon said.

The Archdiocese protecting Scalia - So, damn typical. At the Boston Archdiocese they're experts at protecting old sleazeballs!

Clinton did it....

2006-03-31T18:58:00.000-05:00

Special Report: Clinton to Blame for Current Immigration Problem Thursday (3/30) on "Special Report with Brit Hume", guest host Chris Wallace turned a segment on the illegal immigration debate over to Fox News Correspondent William La Jeunesse in which he blamed former President Clinton for the current immigration problem, while neglecting the comprehensive, bipartisan immigration legislation that was passed during his presidency. During the report filed by La Jeunesse, he claimed, "President Clinton faced the immigration dilemma in the mid-90s. Some wanted another amnesty, but a Commission headed by then Congresswoman Barbara Jordan was unequivocal. Quote 'unlawful immigration is unacceptable…' she said. 'Those who should not be here, should be removed.' Clinton ignored her advice, passing the problem to President Bush." Comment: La Jeunesse confuses immigration reform with the deportation of every illegal immigrant in the U.S., by claiming that Clinton passed "the problem to President Bush". As a matter of fact, President Clinton actually passed one of the strictest immigration laws on record in 1996, which was voted for overwhelmingly by both liberals and conservatives.

From the News Hounds

John McCain-What integrity?

2006-03-31T06:46:00.000-05:00

Suggested cover for the Democrat Convention brochure (Geez, get a room, McCain...) McCain to speak at Liberty graduation John McCain shows a total lack of class by running back to the same evangelicals who slammed him in 2000. He knows he can't run for president without the Republican nomination so instead of displaying a little integrity and spurning the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, he'll play along and show what a true weasel he is. Keep running to the right, Senator.

"U.S. Sen. John McCain - a likely 2008 presidential candidate who once labeled the Rev. Jerry Falwell an "agent of intolerance" - will be Liberty University’s graduation speaker on May 13. "I was in Washington with him about three months ago," Falwell said. "We dealt with every difference we have. There are no deal breakers now. But I told him, ‘You have a lot of fence mending to do.’" Falwell, LU’s chancellor, said McCain, an Arizona Republican, is among the presidential candidates he could support in 2008. "This is not an endorsement," Falwell said. While running against then - Gov. George W. Bush in the South Carolina and Virginia primaries in 2000, McCain denounced Falwell and Virginia Beach televangelist Pat Robertson in what was seen as a move to lure more moderate voters to his campaign. "Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right," McCain said at the time. McCain lost the Virginia and South Carolina primaries and Bush won the nomination. This year, some polls show McCain as the early front-runner for the Republican nomination in the campaign to become Bush’s successor. Falwell said McCain’s appearance at LU’s graduation is another sign that McCain is wooing evangelical Christians. "He is in the process of healing the breech with evangelical groups," Falwell said".

Maryland to fund stem cell research

2006-03-31T04:24:00.000-05:00

New Jersey, California, Connecticut and now, Maryland. The remaining 46 states should be very grateful to those four states since they will spend their money on human embryonic stem cell research and the rest will reap the benefits. It would be nice if the federal government could spend even a fraction of the $300 million they waste everyday in Iraq on something as important as stem cell research. But until the country elects some one sophisticated enough to realize that something the size of a period, '.', isn't 'life', than the country will just continue on with our record deficits by spending our money on the wrong priorities. What a waste.

Governor pledges to sign legislation Maryland will become one of four states that have agreed to fund stem cell research, following final passage yesterday of legislation in the House of Delegates and a pledge from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) to sign it, despite misgivings by most lawmakers in his party. With Ehrlich's signature, the state will offer as much as $15 million in grants in the coming year to university and private-sector researchers seeking treatments for debilitating conditions through work on stem cells, including those derived from human embryos. In the wake of a 2001 executive order by President Bush limiting federal support for embryonic research, debate over funding the controversial science has been pushed down to statehouses across the country. "We're going to sign it," Ehrlich said of the bill that passed the House 90 to 48 and had already won approval in the Senate. "It furthers our reputation nationally and internationally. . . . It helps us retain our best and brightest here."

Vaffanculo

2006-03-30T14:30:00.000-05:00

Amid a growing national controversy about the gesture U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made Sunday at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the freelance photographer who captured the moment has come forward with the picture. "It’s inaccurate and deceptive of him to say there was no vulgarity in the moment," said Peter Smith, the Boston University assistant photojournalism professor who made the shot. Despite Scalia’s insistence that the Sicilian gesture was not offensive and had been incorrectly characterized by the Herald as obscene, the photographer said the newspaper "got the story right." Smith said the jurist "immediately knew he’d made a mistake, and said, 'You're not going to print that, are you?' " "The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, ‘To my critics, I say, 'Vaffanculo,' " punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said. The Italian phrase means "Fuck you." (Boston Herald-thru Buzzflash thru Atrios) You can tell why Scalia and Cheney like each other so much. I wonder how much 'flipping off' of people they'd be doing if they didn't always have the secret service a couple of steps away?

Buddy's

2006-03-30T09:31:00.000-05:00

Hey John, I'm sorry about that illegitimate 'kid thing'...And I know Cindy isn't really a drug addict.... and that thing about you losing it in Nam... we were just having a little fun

Josh Bolten-He deserves a promotion

2006-03-30T06:06:00.000-05:00

Under Bolten’s Leadership, Federal Debt Ballooned By $1.8 Trillion In 34 Months $6.592 trillion: Federal debt on June 26, 2003, the day Josh Bolten became director of the Office of Management and Budget. $8.364 trillion: Federal debt today. In the Bush administration, this is grounds for a promotion.

"Downtown Baghdad" is looking pretty peaceful!

2006-03-30T03:37:00.000-05:00

The man running for Duke Cunningham's seat in San Diego seems to possess some good Republican values and fits right in with 'blame the media' Party. A little more publicity and Bush might find ol' Howie a cushy job in the White House. That OMB job is open. GOP Candidate to Succeed Duke Cunningham Falsified Evidence of Media Bias Against Iraq War Before he was disgraced today by liberal bloggers, you had probably never heard of Howard Kaloogian. But here in California he is a notorious GOP operative who made his mark in the 2003 campaign to unseat Gov. Gray Davis. Kaloogian said the photo of peaceful Baghdad proved the media lied about conditions in Iraq because "journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism." A one-time back-bencher in the Assembly, Kaloogian was a mastermind of the recall election that removed Davis from office and replaced him with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, as a candidate in the special election in San Diego to replace former Rep. Duke Cunningham, who recently began serving time for bribery and corruption, Kaloogian has been nailed trying to defraud the public and with an attempt at classic Bushista disinformation meant to prop up support for the war: [Kaloogian] posted on the official Web site for his campaign a picture [see above] taken in "downtown Baghdad," he said, during his visit to the city, which supposedly indicated that the media was wrong about the level of violence in the city. “We took this photo of downtown Baghdad while we were in Iraq,” he wrote. “Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it - in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism." source

Pardon me, Mr. Weinberger

2006-03-29T07:30:00.000-05:00

(August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) Caspar Weinberger was known as the consummate Cold Warrior. The former presidential aide died in Maine at 88 on Tuesday. Weinberger was best known as the Reagan White House's defense secretary, from 1981 to 1987, where he oversaw the biggest jump in peacetime military spending in the nation's history. Weinberger was also a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal. He was later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush for his role in the scandal. On Christmas Eve, 1992, George HW Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger and five other administration officials who were either under indictment or already convicted of crimes related to Iran/Contra. FINAL REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT COUNSEL FOR IRAN/CONTRA MATTERS Part VIII Officers of the Department of Defense (U.S. v. Caspar W. Weinberger and Related Investigations) Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger lied to investigators to conceal his knowledge of the Iran arms sales. Contrary to Weinberger's assertions, a small group of senior civilian officials and military officers in the Department of Defense (DoD), comprised of Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger and his closest aides, was consistently informed of the arms shipments to Iran in 1985 and 1986. The OIC uncovered documents and notes and obtained testimony, which had been withheld from the Tower Commission and the Select Committees. The most important new evidence was Weinberger's own detailed daily diary notes and his notes of significant White House and other meetings regarding arms shipments to Iran. These notes, along with withheld notes of other Administration officials...

Andy Card

2006-03-29T07:22:00.000-05:00

Look George, I know you're enjoying the book...but, that's the second plane....we have to go... (Andy Card's most infamous picture with Dubya) Andrew Card, the man who gave the country the "White House Iraq Group" or more fondly known as, 'WHIG'. The group was set up to 'market' the invasion of Iraq to a populace consisting, unfortunately, of far too many people willing to be 'sold'. They bought it... they swallowed hook, line and sinker. And, one of the main purveyors of that sales job was Andy Card. Mr. Card resigned as Bush's chief of staff yesterday. "The New York Times in September 2002 quoted Card as saying, "From a marketing point of view you don't introduce new products in August." Card was explaining what the Times characterized as a "meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the Congress, and the allies of the need to confront the threat from Saddam Hussein." About time you gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, George... Either that, or maybe Andy could write a book.

Bush Opposes Jaafari

2006-03-29T06:21:00.000-05:00

Iraq's interim prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari with Dubya, during a time when he was obviously following instructions a little better.

The American ambassador has told Shiite officials that President Bush does not want the Iraqi prime minister to remain the country's leader in the next government, senior Shiite politicians said Tuesday. It is the first time the Americans have directly expressed a preference in the furious debate over the country's top job, the politicians said, and it is inflaming tensions between the Americans and some Shiite leaders. Mr. Khalilzad said Mr. Bush "doesn't want, doesn't support, doesn't accept" Mr. Jaafari as the next prime minister, according to Mr. Taki, a senior aide to Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Shiite bloc. It was the first "clear and direct message" from the Americans on a specific candidate for prime minister, Mr. Taki said. The Shiite bloc, which won a plurality in the parliamentary election in December, nominated Mr. Jaafari last month to retain his post for four more years. American officials in Baghdad did not dispute the Shiite politicians' account of the conversation.

More evidence

2006-03-28T08:01:00.000-05:00

Public statement: Bush: "I’ve not made up our mind about military action. Hopefully, this can be done peacefully." [3/6/03] Private statement "The start date for the military campaign was now penciled in for 10 March," Mr. Manning wrote, paraphrasing the president. "This was when the bombing would begin." [Bush/Blair meeting, 1/31/03] Public statement: Bush: "We are doing everything we can to avoid war in Iraq." [3/8/03] Private statement: "The U.S. was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in U.N. colours," the memo says, attributing the idea to Mr. Bush. "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach." [Bush/Blair meeting, 1/31/03]

Packing Sand...

2006-03-28T07:41:00.000-05:00

Iraqi Forces to control 75 percent of the country’s territory "Anthony Cordesman, a national security analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, believes the hand-over emphasis is “nonsense.” With almost the entire western half of Iraq virtually empty desert, "the figures vastly overestimate the actual area of influence and are at least as meaningless as the worst reporting on pacification in Vietnam," Cordesman wrote in a March 22 paper for CSIS. "The Iraqi forces don’t control anything like these areas, ignoring what 'control' of empty desert means."

Oh I got it, it's an 'uncivil' war

2006-03-28T04:25:00.000-05:00

Mohannad al-Azawi, 27, center, a Sunni, was dragged from his pet shop on March 12. His mutilated body, background, was found the next day.

Bound, Blindfolded and Dead: The Face of Revenge in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 25 — Mohannad al-Azawi had just finished sprinkling food in his bird cages at his pet shop in south Baghdad, when three carloads of gunmen pulled up. In front of a crowd, he was grabbed by his shirt and driven off. Mr. Azawi was among the few Sunni Arabs on the block, and, according to witnesses, when a Shiite friend tried to intervene, a gunman stuck a pistol to his head and said, "You want us to blow your brains out, too?" Mr. Azawi's body was found the next morning at a sewage treatment plant. A slight man who raised nightingales, he had been hogtied, drilled with power tools and shot.

Nice guys those Shiites...And they're supposedly our 'ally'.. .. Do you think some of this may have had something to do with the way Saddam ruled Iraq? .....Is it the chicken or the egg?

'Pro-Family' all right! 'Pro-His Family'

2006-03-27T15:18:00.000-05:00

Former DeLay Aide Enriched By Nonprofit Bulk of Group's Funds Tied to Abramoff "A top adviser to former House Whip Tom DeLay received more than a third of all the money collected by the U.S. Family Network, a nonprofit organization the adviser created to promote a pro-family political agenda in Congress, according to the group's accounting records. DeLay's former chief of staff, Edwin A. Buckham, who helped create the group while still in DeLay's employ, and his wife, Wendy, were the principal beneficiaries of the group's $3.02 million in revenue, collecting payments totaling $1,022,729 during a five-year period ending in 2001, public and private records show. The group's revenue was drawn mostly from clients of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to its records. From an FBI subpoena for the records, it can be inferred that the bureau is exploring whether there were links between the payments and favorable legislative treatment of Abramoff's clients by DeLay's office.

Let's Hope Ned Lamont Sends Lieberman Packing

2006-03-27T05:49:00.000-05:00

Lieberman for Republican Spokesperson; Lamont for Senator For progressives who are sick and tired of the steady diet of Bush Lite advanced by Senator Lieberman there is a viable alternative on the Connecticut ballot in this August's Democratic primary. Ned Lamont is a progressive seeking real change. He is appalled by what is occurring in Iraq while Lieberman is a glowing supporter of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld agenda there and throughout the Middle East. Lieberman voted for Justice Roberts and for cloture to terminate debate and assure a vote on Justice Alito. Should Connecticut Democrats vote to send Lieberman back to the Senate? Should Connecticut Democrats endorse the Bush-Cheney agenda? Should a real Democrat instead be chosen to represent one of the nation's most traditionally progressive states? The choice is crystal clear. Ned Lamont is the candidate who richly deserves your support. You can find out more about him at his newly revamped website at nedlamont.com.

Political Cortex

Shiite Fighters Clash With G.I.'s

2006-03-27T03:39:00.000-05:00

Muqtada al-Sadr

"American and Iraqi government forces clashed with Shiite militiamen in Baghdad on Sunday night in the most serious confrontation in months, and Iraqi security officials said 17 people had been killed in a mosque, including its 80-year-old imam. The American military, clearly worried about exacerbating a combustible situation that many Iraqis are already describing as civil war, denied that American forces had entered the mosque. But it said in a statement that 16 insurgents had been killed and 15 captured in a nearby combat operation against a terrorist cell. American officials are now saying that Shiite militias are the No. 1 security problem in Iraq, more dangerous than the Sunni-led insurgents held responsible for many of the suicide bombings, homemade bombs, kidnappings and other attacks since American-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein three years ago".

The Shia, the real hornet's nest.

The Facts About Unemployment

2006-03-26T20:20:00.000-05:00

In my line of work one of the more prevalent adages is, "figures lie and liars figure". I have read and heard some comments recently comparing some of Bush's current economic statistics, namely the unemployment rate, with previous administrations. Now granted, the current unemployment rate is 4.8 percent, which is a very good, if not excellent, unemployment rate. But it sometimes has to do with how you got there-or in this case, how long it took you to get back there. Media Matters points out that Sean Hannity said to Bob Novak on Hannity & Colmes the other night, "If you look at the jobless rate, it is literally -- the percentage -- lower than the '70s, '80s, and '90s". -- That statement is flat-out wrong. Sometimes these commentators will slip in the word 'average' and try to refer to an entire decade, like the "70's, 80's and 90's" -- like a president serves 10 years or something...and terms do overlap decades. Let's look at a bar graph to get the correct perspective on unemployment during the last 16-17 years; Whoa! Look at those Clinton years! That graph just goes down steadily every year. Also, notice what Clinton started with - over 7.5 percent unemployment.... And, look at what George W. Bush started with, - 4 percent! Now, you can talk all day long about 'averages' during various 'decades' but when you're talking about unemployment during a particular presidential term in office, Hannity needs to sit down and shut up. So you say, well, what about unemployment during the Reagan years? Well, I just so happen to have an interesting graph of that comparison too; Holy Jimmy Carter! What happened??. In the first couple of Reagan years the rate jumped into double-digit unemployment! - Unemployment averaged 7.54 percent during Reagan's eight years in office. Although Reagan did bring it down somewhat in his last two years....you can easily see, Reagan doesn't come close to matching Clinton on unemployment either. I don't think any president does... School's out. Source for second graph;

One Leads, One Bleeds

2006-03-26T16:58:00.000-05:00

Shorter Feingold-Don't you think that after 2 1/2 years and two elections these 300,000 Iraqi troops should be able to patrol their own streets and fight an insurgency that's estimated to be 30,000 fighters? How much boot camp do these Iraqis need? And how long exactly is it going to take for this newly elected government to actually meet? Shorter McCain-What's $300 million a day with a national debt of $8.3 trillion? And besides, I've been saying this all along-I need my base. You were against the war, Russ...so of course you want out....you didn't fall for it and didn't want to go in there in the first place, so quit trying to upstage me! Hmmm...I wonder which of these two deserves your vote....?

Senators, in Iraq, quarrel over war

"Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, a longtime supporter of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, and Russell Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, who voted against the invasion and has spoken out against the war ever since, said they had come not to air their divergent views, but to urge Iraqi politicians to speed up the process of forming a government. But during questions from reporters, they argued -- cordially and pointedly -- over such issues as the timing of any withdrawal of US troops and whether their presence is doing more harm than good. Feingold said he believed ''a large troop presence has a tendency to fuel the insurgency because they can make the incorrect and unfair claim that the US is here to occupy the country." ''I think that it's very possible that the sectarian differences are inflamed by the fact that US troops are here," he continued, adding that their long-term presence ''may well be destabilizing, not stabilizing." Asked a question on a different topic, McCain quickly responded, ''I believe that premature troop withdrawal is not in consonance with what's going on on the ground."

Boston Globe

Damn, that's a lot of people!

2006-03-26T16:22:00.000-05:00

Thousands of people stream into downtown Los Angeles for what was expected to be one of the city's largest pro-immigrant rallies, Saturday, March 25, 2006. Many of the marchers wore white shirts to symbolize peace and also waved U.S. flags. Some also carried the flags of Mexico and other countries. "The crowd is estimated at 25,000 and growing," Looks like more than 25,000 to me. Illegal immigration..What a bitch... You know my theory on illegal immigration...If you want to stop it you need to fine and prosecute employers. People come here illegally to work and if they can't find work they not only will stop coming here but the ones already here will leave, too. $5,000 fine and six months in jail for every illegal alien you hire. It wouldn't be a problem long. Of course, the Republican-dominated members of Chambers of Commerce would have a fit (and a lot less money and not much free time) but it would drastically reduce any illegal alien problems.

Dixie Chicks' Redemption

2006-03-26T11:52:00.000-05:00

They had platinum albums on the walls, Grammys on the shelves, and the adulation of millions of Middle Americans. Then they said what they thought about the Iraq war, and all hell broke loose. Now, despite death threats and boycotts, the Dixie Chicks are at it again! The Dixie Chicks, they got it right the first time-Bush is an embarrassment! If you're a progressive, buy the Dixie Chicks' new album when it comes out in May and remind assholes like Toby Keith how wrong they were! I don't even like 'country' music and I'm buying one...I look at it as a freedom of speech issue.. And after all, Natalie Maines was right - and she was right before we went into Iraq-she's not some johnny-come-lately! She had far more guts than most of you!

"Originally slated for release in April, the [the Dixie Chicks] album, Take the Long Way, has now been pushed back a month until May. But this week, we have learnt that the Chicks have taken the opposite tack. There is, for instance, one song entitled "Lubbock or Leave It", apparently an attack on narrow-minded small-town America. We have not heard it yet. But, through their website, the band's members have allowed early release of "Not Ready to Make Nice". Rather than expressing sorrow for the upset she caused her fans, she instead uses to the song to raise her middle finger. The track is an expression of despair at those who deserted her and threatened her with death. Click on the website, DixieChicks.com, to hear the music yourself". Killer lyrics-In your face for those of you who think Maines is backing down! And, why the hell should she?

source

DOD News Release(s) 9 Soldiers

2006-03-26T06:48:00.000-05:00

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060325-12700.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 246-06 March 25, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt 1st Class Randy D. McCaulley, 44, Indiana, Pa., died in Habbaniyah, Iraq on March 23, when his dismounted patrol came under enemy small arms fire during combat operations. McCaulley was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Indiana, Pa. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060324-12697.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 244-06 March 24, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Antoine J. McKinzie, 25, of Indianapolis, Ind., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 21, when his HMMWV came under enemy small arms fire during combat operations. McKinzie was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060324-12699.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 245-06 March 24, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Staff Sgt. Brock A. Beery, 30, of White House, Tenn., died in Habbaniyah, Iraq on March 23, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his LMTV followed by enemy small arms fire during combat operations. Beery was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 123rd Armor Regiment, Bowling Green, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060322-12691.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 241-06 March 22, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Amy A. Duerksen, 19, of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on March 11, from a non-combat related injury. Duerksen was assigned to the 4th Combat Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060321-12683.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 235-06 March 21, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on March 18, when they came under small arms fire by enemy forces during combat operations. Both solidiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash. Killed were: Staff Sgt. Ricardo Barraza, 24, of Shafter, Calif. Sgt. Dale G. Brehm, 23, of Turlock, Calif. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060320-12678.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 232-06 March 20, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Nyle Yates III, 22, of Lake Odessa, Mich., died in Bayji, Iraq, on Mar. 16, when he came under small arms fire by enemy forces during combat operations. Yates was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release On the Web: http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060320-12677.html IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 231-06 March 20, 2006 DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in Tikrit, Iraq, on Mar. 16, when a mortar round detonated. Killed were: Sgt. Amanda N. Pinson, 21, of St. Louis, Mo. Spc. Carlos M. Gonzalez, 22, of Middletown, N.Y. --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feingold Stands Alone

2006-03-26T05:24:00.001-05:00

"By now it's no surprise when Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold steps out ahead of his colleagues in Washington on the most important political issues of the day. In the U.S. Senate, most politicians prefer to hide under their desks during any controversy until a clear majority is formed on one side. Then they crawl through the ankles of the crowd, stand upright and pose for smiling pictures at the front of the pack. Feingold is that rare politician who actually feels comfortable taking a principled stand even if it means standing alone".

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

Hillary's Opponent - Traditional Republican

2006-03-26T05:19:00.000-05:00

ALBANY - A Republican challenger to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is bizarrely claiming that the former first lady has been spying in her bedroom window and flying helicopters over her house in the Hamptons, witnesses told The Post yesterday. Former Reagan-era Pentagon official Kathleen "KT" McFarland stunned a crowd of Suffolk County Republicans on Thursday by saying: "Hillary Clinton is really worried about me, and is so worried, in fact, that she had helicopters flying over my house in Southampton today taking pictures," according to a prominent GOP activist who was at the event. "She wasn't joking, she was very, very serious, and she also claimed that Clinton's people were taking pictures across the street from her house in Manhattan, taking pictures from an apartment across the street from her bedroom," added the eyewitness, who is not involved in the Senate race. Suffolk County Republican Chairman Harry Withers, who hosted the reception in East Islip, confirmed McFarland's paranoid statements. "Yes, she said that," Withers told The Post. We at the Hillary campaign wish Ms. McFarland the best and hope she gets the rest she needs," Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said.

Where does the New York state Republican party keep coming up with these candidates from? First, it was Jeannie Pirro and now this space cadet, Kathleen McFarland. Are there any Republican men in New York who want to take Hillary on?

The 'Media' Not Reporting Correctly on Iraq

2006-03-25T15:30:00.000-05:00

"Media" is Actually Underreporting the Violence One of the more pathetic things coming from Bush and his apologists lately is their continual whining about how the 'media' is portraying the news out of Iraq. As it turns out, the miserable news coming from the media on how things are going there matches up pretty well with the assessment completed by U.S. State Department just earlier this month! I guess Bush and Co. need to find another scapegoat - or have the State Department change their report. Harsh reality: Bush administration's own grim Iraq assessment

Repeated suggestions by the White House and friendly commentators that the news media's selective displays of terrorist attacks in Iraq are warping American public opinion seem to belie several unclassified assessments of the situation produced by the U.S. government itself. In fact, just two weeks ago the Bush administration publicly released a detailed report stating that "even a highly selective" inventory of the terrorist attacks inside Iraq "could scarcely reflect the broad dimension of the violence" there. It comes from the Iraq section of a congressionally mandated annual compilation, "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices," produced by the State Department and released at a press conference March 8. If anything, the State Department's candid assessments would seem to indicate that things might be far worse than the press is currently able to report.

Bush's Incompetence Literally Killed Us

2006-03-25T15:21:00.000-05:00

9/11 & Bush's 'Negligence' "In the U.S. government’s pursuit of the death penalty for Zacarias Moussaoui, FBI officials have inadvertently revealed how an even mildly competent George W. Bush could have prevented the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people – and set the country on a dangerous course for revenge. FBI agent Harry Samit, who interrogated Moussaoui weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks, sent 70 warnings to his superiors about suspicions that the al-Qaeda operative had been taking flight training in Minnesota because he was planning to hijack a plane for a terrorist operation. But FBI officials in Washington showed "criminal negligence" in blocking requests for a search warrant on Moussaoui’s computer or taking other preventive action, Samit testified at Moussaoui’s death penalty hearing on March 20. Another big part of the problem was the lack of urgency at the top. Bush, who had been President for half a year, was taking a month-long vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, and shrugged off the growing alarm within the U.S. intelligence community. Separate from the FBI field agents, the Central Intelligence Agency was piecing the puzzle together from tips, intercepts and other scraps of information. On Aug. 6, 2001, more than a month before the attacks, the CIA had enough evidence to send Bush a top-secret Presidential Daily Briefing paper, "Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US." The CIA told Bush about "threat reporting" that indicated bin-Laden wanted "to hijack a US aircraft." The CIA also cited a call that had been made to the U.S. Embassy in the United Arab Emirates in May 2001 "saying that a group of Bin Laden supporters was in the US planning attacks with explosives." "The system was blinking red" during the summer of 2001, CIA Director George Tenet later told the 9/11 Commission....."

Robert Parry-ConsortiumNews.com George Bush's incompetence has cost this country a lot. The cost of his needless war of choice in Iraq has been staggering and now this....FBI testimony of what his incompetence in dealing with the information leading up to 9/11 may have cost... "The system was blinking red" ...and Condi did her nails, and George cut brush...

Thanks for Nothing, Texans Say

2006-03-25T11:17:00.000-05:00

March 25, 2006 PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Sitting on a sheet of fresh plywood atop a newly rebuilt roof, Joaquin Rojas thanked the heavens for all the help he was receiving to repair his El Buen Pastor church after Hurricane Rita. The pastor was not praising the generosity of President Bush and other Washington politicians. Rather, he was expressing gratitude that good-hearted fellow Christians from Michigan traveled to Texas and volunteered to piece his broken church back together. "What's happening here is because of other churches, not because of the government," Rojas said in Spanish. "Those missionaries from Michigan, I thank the Lord for them."

The Cherry Blossom Festival

2006-03-25T09:41:00.000-05:00

"The blooming of the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. has come to symbolize the natural beauty of our nation's capital city. Hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the nation and around the world come to the Nations Capital to witness the spectacle, hoping that the trees will be at the peak of bloom for the Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, D.C.'s rite of spring. The famous trees, a gift from Japan in 1912, signal the coming of Spring with an explosion of life and color surrounding the Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin... The history of the cherry trees dates to 1912 when the original trees were planted by First Lady Mrs. William Howard Taft and the Vicountess Chinda of Japan. Today more than 3,700 cherry trees of several varieties grow around the Tidal Basin, at East Potomac Park, and on the Washington Monument Grounds. Most trees are the Yoshino variety, Japan's favorite cultivated cherry tree that was developed about 1870 and presented as a gift in 1912. They encircle the Tidal Basin and can also be seen in abundance on the Monument grounds. Since the National Park Service has been keeping records of the blooming dates, the earliest blooming date as been March 15, 1990, and the latest date was marked on April 18, 1958. The average blooming date--that time when the blooms are considered to reach their peak--is April 5 for the Yoshino and April 22 for the double flowering Kwansan trees, mostly seen in East Potomac Park". The 2006 Cherry Blossom Festival

Abramoff may be subpoenaed in slaying case

2006-03-24T15:22:00.000-05:00

"A judge has approved subpoenas for former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and an ex-business partner to answer questions about the mob-style slaying of the owner of a gambling fleet they bought. Abramoff and Adam Kidan have insisted, through their attorneys, that they know nothing about the slaying of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, who was ambushed in his car by a gunman in Fort Lauderdale a few months after the pair bought SunCruz Casinos from him".

Gus Boulis Read more here about the man the Republican's favorite lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, had murdered

Like Mother, Like Sons

2006-03-24T06:11:00.000-05:00

Most people in the world have figured out by now that George W Bush is a pretty detestable human being and it's not real hard to figure out why when you consider his mother. Barbara Bush is really a vicious and vile piece of human garbage. You know, if you grow up with a mother like Barbara Bush, chances are you're going to end up with children as despicable as the ones she spit out. Do you remember some of her recent quotes, like the one she made about our young men and women who were going to be needlessly sent off to die in Iraq by her loving son? "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" There have been 2,320 of those body bags to date, Bags. Or, the one on the Katrina victims who had to sleep on cots in the Astrodome but they were "underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." Now it's learned, and Josh Marshall points it out, that Barbara "Get The Bag" Bush(George Sr. gave her that nickname because he's always had to say to her before sex-'Barbara get your bag so I don't have to look at that dog-ugly face of yours') earmarked the money given to Katrina victims to her son, Neil "Silverado" Bush, which of course doesn't amount to giving anything to anyone but to one of her criminal offspring. And of course, Jeb got to where he is today by scamming millions also. The Bush's, starting with their Nazi-loving grandfather, Prescott, are such a lovely family. In fairness to the Bush sons, when you have a paternal blood line of Nazi collaborators and a maternal blood line from Barbara Bush, what would you expect them to grow up to be? A president, or a governor? ...Only in America. But the Bush's are very typical of Republicans. Especially one as despicable as "The Bag". Wingnuts should be so proud of Momma. After all, most of them probably had mothers just like her. That certainly would be one explanation, now wouldn't it? Talking Points Memo

You know, about that Abu Ghraib thing...

2006-03-24T04:42:00.000-05:00

U.S. Pushes Human Rights "U.S. troops are trying to train Iraqi security forces to battle the Sunni-led insurgency without resorting to abductions, torture and murder".

After killing up to 100,000 of their civilians, murdering them in our custody, chaining them to walls, sodomizing them with broom sticks, electrocuting them, water-boarding them, sexually assaulting them and siccing our dogs on them we are now going to train the Iraqis on how to treat their prisoners? I hope they don't take notes... We sure have some gall, don't we? NY Times

Fox News-Getting it wrong...Again, and again...

2006-03-24T01:12:00.000-05:00

Fox News Falsely Claims Daschle and Gephardt Are Registered Lobbyists Fox News published a story this week headlined, “Premium Placed on Lobbyists Who Served in Congress.” The first two paragraphs:

What do Tom Daschle, John Ashcroft, Fred Thompson, J.C. Watts, Zell Miller and Dick Gephardt have in common these days? They are all former members of Congress — and they are all registered lobbyists.

"Actually, neither Gephardt nor Daschle (who is a fellow at the Center for American Progress) are or have been registered lobbyists since they left office, according to the U.S. Senate’s official database. We called both their offices to confirm the Senate’s records. The error is especially egregious considering how easy it is to find out who has been registered as a lobbyist. Just search a name at http://sopr.senate.gov. Ashcroft, Thompson, Watts, and Miller are all there. Gephardt and Daschle — the only two progressives on Fox’s list — aren’t". That's hilarious! Fox News writes an article pointing to six former Congressmen, four Republicans and two Democrats, who are now lobbyists and as it turns out, they were right about the Republicans but the two Democrats, are not lobbyists. And don't even try to say the that stupid redneck asshole Zell Miller is a Democrat either! Fox News-The Reason They're So Stupid!

Uncle 'Bucky'

2006-03-24T00:34:00.000-05:00

Bush's Uncle Earned Millions in War Firm Sale

As President Bush embarks on a new effort to shore up public support for the war in Iraq, an uncle of the commander in chief is collecting $2.7 million in cash and stock from the recent sale of a company that profited from the war. Bush, known as "Uncle Bucky" in the president's family, joined ESSI's board in 2000, several months before his nephew became president. He heads a St. Louis investment firm and is the youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush.

Keeping it in the family and spreading other Americans' wealth and hard earned money around to their various friends and relatives is a well known family trait among the Bush clan.

Bush's Middle East "Democracies"~Executing Christians

2006-03-23T09:34:00.000-05:00

George Bush and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan-Wednesday, March 1, 2006, in Kabul. Bush told Karzai that he hoped "the people of Afghanistan understand that as democracy takes hold, you're inspiring others. And that inspiration will cause others to demand their freedom."

Afghan Christian Could Face Death "An Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday. Abdul Rahman, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed. But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his mental fitness. "We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person," he told The Associated Press. Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, said Rahman would undergo a psychological examination".

Abdul Rahman is interviewed during a hearing in Kabul Instead of going to Afghanistan and killing those who were responsible for 9/11-Like 99.99% of Congress (534-1) agreed to, Bush failed miserably at that and instead has wasted our time, resources and military's lives on trying to make a country like Afghanistan a 'democracy". And of course, after that failure he moved on to the invasion of Iraq where he's wasted another $400 billion and another 2,319 lives and is now using 'building a democracy' as his 4th lying excuse for that blunder. Stupid people following stupid people gets you exactly what Bush has given this nation. Building democracies in the middle east-stupid is as stupid does.

How the 'Christian' (sic) Right treats people

2006-03-23T09:31:00.000-05:00

"Every month, 80-year-old Sally Shaver pays someone to drive her to the Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia, S.C., to pick up a box of fresh produce, baked goods, dry cereals, juice, canned goods and cheese. "It really helps me out because after paying for my rent, phone bill and medication, I barely have enough for food," she says. "If I could work, I would, but I have an artificial knee and a pacemaker, and I can't get around." Shaver, who worked as a nurse's aide for most of her life, brings in $451 a month in social security. Her fixed income qualifies her for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which is designed to improve the health and nutrition of low-income senior citizens, pregnant women, postpartum mothers, infants and children. Last year, CSFP provided 536,196 people with a monthly box of food. Bush's proposed budget for 2007 calls for a nationwide elimination of the entire program".

Not much needs to be said or written when it comes to the phony-Christian rightwing in this country. They're despicable in the way they treat the poor in this country. These despicable phony bastards sit around waving their pom poms cheering on their treasonous hero who wastes $300 million a day in Iraq and clap when he cuts funding for the poor and the elderly. And they think they're Christians. I hope they like the extreme heat.

Double Talk from the Straight Talk Express

2006-03-23T09:12:00.000-05:00

John McCain-Just another Republican on the take Mr. 'Straight Talk', John McCain turns out to be just like all the other Republicans when it comes selling their souls and selling out Americans when it comes to raking in campaign contributions. The little beady-eyed asshole from Arizona is just a typical Republican when it comes right down to it. I think maybe it's time to review the 'Keating 5' and the savings and loan scandal again, don't you?

"The Democratic National Committee took aim yesterday at the reputation of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as a campaign-finance and ethics reformer, blasting the presidential hopeful for hiring a GOP operative linked to the criminal case against Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas). McCain’s Straight Talk America PAC signed Terry Nelson, political director for the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, as a senior adviser on Thursday, a move hailed by presidential prognosticators covering every detail of McCain’s early plans to seek the White House in 2008".

Rice Says She Won't Apply for NFL Post

2006-03-23T08:36:00.000-05:00

Yeah sure. Like the NFL would be interested in hiring that stupid gap-toothed bitch! "no one could have imagined" terrorists' slamming a plane into the World Trade Center

Who are the terrorists again?

2006-03-22T03:25:00.000-05:00

"The terrorists haven't given up. They're tough-minded. They like to kill. There's going to be more tough fighting ahead". George Bush at his 3/21/06 Press Conference Iraqi police report details civilians' deaths at hands of U.S. troops Iraqi police have accused American troops of executing 11 people, including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old infant, in the aftermath of a raid last Wednesday on a house about 60 miles north of Baghdad. The villagers were killed after American troops herded them into a single room of the house, according to a police document obtained by Knight Ridder Newspapers. The soldiers also burned three vehicles, killed the villagers' animals and blew up the house, the document said. A U.S. military spokesman, Major Tim Keefe, said that the U.S. military has no information to support the allegations and that he had not heard of them before a reporter brought them to his attention Sunday. "We're concerned to hear accusations like that, but it's also highly unlikely that they're true," he said. He added that U.S. forces "take every precaution to keep civilians out of harms' way. The loss of innocent life, especially children, is regrettable." US troops investigated over Iraqi massacres "In the most recent incident, in the town of Ishaqi north of Baghdad last week, Iraqi police said that US troops had shot 11 people, including five children, in their home. The local police chief, Colonel Farouq Hussein, said that all the dead had been shot in the head, according to autopsies. "It's a clear and perfect crime," he said. In an incident in the town of Haditha in western Iraq on 19 November last year, US soldiers went on a rampage in a village after a bomb attack and killed at least 15 civilians, according to witnesses and local officials cited by Time magazine in an investigation. The US military first claimed a roadside bomb had killed a US Marine, Miguel Tarrazas, along with 15 Iraqi civilians caught in the blast. Later, a military statement said "gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire" and in returning fire the Marines killed eight insurgents. But after Time presented the US military with what Iraqis said had happened, an official investigation found that 15 of the civilians had been deliberately killed by US soldiers".

Now what do the Sheep have to say?

2006-03-21T10:35:00.000-05:00

Bush answering a question in Cleveland yesterday on why he lied to the country; "I don't think we ever said -- at least I know I didn't say that there was a direct connection between September the 11th and Saddam Hussein"....."Like you, I asked that very same question, where did we go wrong on intelligence". If it wasn't said or implied by these liars how come so many little lambs ignorantly thought there was a connection? There's no question that most people were nothing but a bunch shameless sheep when it came to going along on the invasion of Iraq, but Bush and his co-conspirators herded their stupid asses the whole way. And now Bush is back-pedaling trying to save face and leaving them all standing their looking like the fools they are. As for the intelligence being wrong? It wasn't wrong. It was just manipulated by a bunch of treasonous liars!

Iraqi Spy Tried to Warn Us

2006-03-21T06:29:00.000-05:00

"...NBC News has learned that for a short time the CIA had contact with a secret source at the highest levels within Saddam Hussein’s government, who gave them information far more accurate than what they believed. It is a spy story that has never been told before, and raises new questions about prewar intelligence. What makes the story significant is the high rank of the source. His name, officials tell NBC News, was Naji Sabri, Iraq’s foreign minister under Saddam".

Hillbilly Heroin Boy

2006-03-21T06:27:00.000-05:00

"And when I -- anytime an organization has the word "peace" in it, throw it out. It's just a bunch of long-haired, maggot-infested, dope-smoking, FM peace-types that have an agenda". - Rush "Hillbilly Heroin Boy" Limbaugh I guess those pollsters could fake a back injury and become oxycontin addicts that blow-out their hearing from their prolonged addiction. Limbaugh criticizing somebody who smokes marijuana is like a child molester criticizing a shoplifter. Media Matters

Whiny Kids Grow Up to be Conservatives

2006-03-21T06:25:00.000-05:00

How to spot a baby conservative "Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative. At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals". The study was a waste of time-we already knew that.