Iranian & Republican Similarities

Remember "Freedom Fries"? When France refused to be sucked into needlessly invading Iraq, many fools on the right decided they wanted to change the name of 'French' fries to 'freedom fries'. Some Republican congressmen (Bob Ney-tao) went public with their ridiculous and childish behavior and of course, their constituents, being the sheep they are, starting using the phrase 'freedom fries'. Like that was really going to bother the French. Not only did the French not care, but they, led by their president, Jacques Chirac, came out of the Iraq Fiasco smelling like roses! Chirac proved to be a whole lot smarter than Dubya and 99.9% of the fools in this country that went along. Now, we have the Iranians acting like Republicans in that they are now going to call a type of 'Danish pastry', that's common in Iran, the "Roses of the Prophet Mohammad". As I have said many times. The Republican base in this country, the religious and social zealots, are mostly just another form of 'Taliban'. Right wing zealots, whether here or there, have intrusive and antipathetic ways of thinking that actually parallel each other very closely.

Iranians 'Echo' Republicans in Cartoon Row "Not content with pelting European embassies with petrol bombs to protest against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, Iranians have decided to rename the "Danish pastries" relished by this nation of cake lovers. From now on, the sweet, flaky pastries which dominate the shelves in Iran's cake shops will be known as "Roses of the Prophet Mohammad," the official IRNA news agency reported as pressure on Denmark over the cartoons took on a new dimension. The Iranian move had echoes of the verbal food fight set off by restaurants in the U.S. House of Representatives which renamed "French fries" and "French toast" as "Freedom fries" and "Freedom toast" after France refused to back the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003".

PigBoy's an expert in identifying racism

"And don't forget, Sherrod Brown is black. There's a racial component here, too," adding that "the newspaper that I'm reading all this from is The New York Times, and they, of course, don't mention that." - Limbaugh 2/14/06 Looks like Limbaugh is back on the oxycotin. That's Ohio Congressman Sherrod Brown pictured above. Pigboy knows anyone named 'Sherrod' naturally has to be 'black'. ...And they wonder why they're so stupid.

DOD News Release(s) 3 Marines, 2 Soldiers, 1 Sailor

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/nr20060215-12504.html +1 (703) 428-0711 +1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 140-06 February 15, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lance Cpl. Michael S. Probst, 26, of Irvine, Calif., died Feb. 14 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Abu Ghraib, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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/nr20060215-12503.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 138-06 February 15, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Felipe J. Garcia Villareal, 26, of Burke, Va., died at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, of injuries sustained in Ramadi, Iraq on Feb. 9, when his tent caught fire. Garcia Villareal was assigned to the 54th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, 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/nr20060215-12512.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 141-06 February 15, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Andrew J. Kemple, 23, of Cambridge, Minn., died in Tikrit, Iraq on Feb. 12, when his HMMWV came under small arms fire during combat operations. Kemple was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, 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/nr20060214-12493.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 133-06 February 14, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Navy Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicholas Wilson, 25, of Newark Valley, N.Y., died Feb. 12 as a result of an improvised explosive device in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three, based in San Diego, 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/nr20060213-12489.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 134-06 February 13, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Marine Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Javier Chavez Jr., 19, of Cutler, Calif., died Feb. 9 from wounds received as a result of an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Fallujah, Iraq. Cpl. Ross A. Smith, 21, of Wyoming, Mich., died Feb. 9 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Fallujah, Iraq. Both Marines were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. During OIF their unit is attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dubya's time is expensive...

Jack Abramoff helped get Bush to meet the leader of Malaysia, a former associate says When the government of Malaysia sought to repair its tarnished image in the U.S. by arranging a meeting between President Bush and its controversial prime minister in 2002, it followed the same strategy as many other well-heeled interests in Washington: It called on lobbyist Jack Abramoff for help. It was a tall order. The then-prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, had been chastised by the Clinton administration for repeated anti-Semitic statements and for jailing political opponents. But it was important to the Malaysians, according to a former Abramoff associate who attended meetings with the Malaysian ambassador and the lobbyist. Abramoff contacted presidential advisor Karl Rove on at least four occasions to help arrange a meeting, the witness said. Finally, the former associate said, Rove's office called to tell Abramoff that the Malaysian leader soon would be getting an official White House invitation. In May 2002, Mahathir met with Bush in the Oval Office; his photograph with the president was beamed around the world. Abramoff received $1.2 million from the Malaysian government for his lobbying services in 2001 and 2002, the former associate said. Documents obtained by Senate investigators appear to confirm at least $900,000 of that amount. The White House says the meeting was arranged through normal channels.

"Normal channels", all right. Normal for this administration. Man, wouldn't that be a nice way to make $1.2 million? Just set up a meeting through your buddy Turd Blossom and get a couple of foreign business guys to spend a few minutes with Dubya while he plays with Barney, and bingo, you've made a cool $1.2 million. It doesn't get any better than that. How much of a cut did Turd Blossom get, you think? Maybe even Dubya get's a cut, too, huh? Nah, these guys are too ethical for anything like that...

They're not all sheep

Look guys, you need to just go along...trust us.. "Republican senators criticized the Bush administration Wednesday over its policies in Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian territories, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's first testimony on Capitol Hill in months exposed her to a tough grilling from some members of her own party. "I don't see, Madame Secretary, how things are getting better. I think things are getting worse. I think they're getting worse in Iraq. I think they're getting worse in Iran," Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., told Rice as she appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rice also had a tense exchange with moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., over the pace of progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace and the implications of the Hamas victory in Palestinian legislative elections last month. "We will continue to insist that the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism and work for lasting peace," Rice said. Though the moderate Chafee and Hagel, a frequent GOP maverick, are less conservative than many of their Republican colleagues, their criticism underscored a widespread frustration in Congress with the difficult problems the United States is facing across the Middle East".

Wasn't my fault.....

325,000 Names on Terrorism List

"The National Counterterrorism Center maintains a central repository of 325,000 names of international terrorism suspects or people who allegedly aid them, a number that has more than quadrupled since the fall of 2003, according to counterterrorism officials". Sure, Bush and his co-conspirators are only looking at people who have 'known al-Qaeda' links. Yeah, sure. We all know we can trust these guys, right?

Grab Your Ankles

Will Congress allow the oil companies to stick it to the American public once again by giving them $7 billion over the next five years? It's amazing to think that an industry with record profits, where Exxon alone earned $10 billion in the last quarter of last year, can stand there with their hand-out. Bend over and grab your ankles America!

U.S. Has Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies The federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years. New projections, buried in the Interior Department's just-published budget plan, anticipate that the government will let companies pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territory over the next five years without paying any royalties to the government. Based on the administration figures, the government will give up more than $7 billion in payments between now and 2011. The companies are expected to get the largess, known as royalty relief, even though the administration assumes that oil prices will remain above $50 a barrel throughout that period. Administration officials say that the benefits are dictated by laws and regulations that date back to 1996, when energy prices were relatively low and Congress wanted to encourage more exploration and drilling in the high-cost, high-risk deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Some Strange Sons-of Bitches

Please feel free to execute this man

American Family Association opened its airwaves to advocate for executing gays, adulterers, abortion doctors "Far-right Christian author and American Vision president Gary DeMar was the guest on the February 2 edition of American Family Radio's Today's Issues. In the past, DeMar has advocated the installation of a theocratic government in the United States in which homosexuals, adulterers, and abortion doctors would be executed".

By far, the biggest threat to this country doesn't come from Afghanistan's Taliban, but from America's Taliban. These are the people who vote for Bush and for Republicans. I can truly say this about myself: If and when it comes down to 'us' against these crazy bastards, I'll guarantee you-I'll get more than my quota!

12,500,000 Iraqis want to kill us

Half of Iraqis Approve of Attacks on US Forces A new poll of the Iraqi public finds that a large majority of Iraqis think the US plans to maintain bases in Iraq permanently, even if the newly elected government asks the US to leave. A large majority favors setting a timeline for the withdrawal of US forces, though this majority divides over whether the timeline should be over a period of six months or two years. Nearly half of Iraqis approve of attacks on US-led forces—including nine out of 10 Sunnis. Most Iraqis believe that many aspects of their lives will improve once the US-led forces leave, but are nonetheless uncertain that Iraqi security forces are ready to stand on their own.

Give the Iraqis their wish...Send our Men and Women home! And let's use the $10 billion a month for something useful!

Dick Cheney~Big Game Hunter

Big Bad Dick Cheney. Big outdoorsman type of man who likes to hunt. The truth of the matter is, Dick Cheney doesn't really 'hunt'. Dick gets driven up to an area where, depending on the type of bird he feels like shooting, say, if it's pheasant, then they drive him up to the area and they set out 500 pheasants, not really in a barrel, it just sounds like that, and he and some of his buddies blast away. Now quail, they don't set out quite as many but it's the same concept. Cheney's secret service, probably 5-6 guys, a couple medical attendants, a physician and a couple of staffers, drive Dick out to a field where they release maybe 10-20 quails that have lived their whole lives in cages and Dick gets out his shotgun and blasts a few birds, then has his secret service guys fetch them for him and then after a couple of photos, he's off to some suck-up millionaire's spread for the evening and then it's back on Air Force 2 and back to D.C. after a long adventurous weekend. Yeah, Dick Cheney, a real man's man. Poor Harry, now they call him Freckles...

'10,000 would die' in A-plant attack on Iran

Bushehr, Iran - Nuclear Facility A major American attack on Iran's nuclear sites would kill up to 10,000 people and lead to war in the Middle East, a report says today. Hundreds of scientists and technicians would be targets in the opening salvos as the attacks focused on eliminating further nuclear development, the Oxford Research Group says in Iran: Consequences of a War. The research coincides with reports that strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for "a last resort" strike if diplomacy fails. Plans for an assault have taken on "greater urgency" in recent months, The Sunday Telegraph said. Tacticians at central command and strategic command, who report to Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, have been identifying targets and the weapons needed to hit them. The Oxford report says that Britain could be drawn into the conflict if the Prime Minister allowed American B2 bombers, which can carry 40,000lb of precision bombs, to use bases at Fairford, Glos, and on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. Precision bombing could put Iran's weapons programme back five to 10 years but within a month the situation would become "an extremely dangerous conflict", says Prof Paul Rogers, the report's author. The attack would result in "a protracted military confrontation" involving Israel, Lebanon and some Gulf states. More than 100 American bombers, many based on carriers in the Gulf, would take part in a huge simultaneous surprise air attack on 20 key nuclear and military facilities, the report says. If the targets included the nuclear reactor at Bushehr, which will become fully fuelled this year, a radioactive cloud could spread over the Gulf. Iran's small navy, which includes three submarines, would have to be attacked to negate threats to vital shipping lanes in the Straits of Hormuz. But Iran could still retaliate with suicide speedboats, possibly leading to crippling rises in the price of oil. Prof Rogers, professor of peace studies at Bradford University, says that American military action would also have a unifying effect on the rule of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and exacerbate anti-American hostility in the Islamic world. The report says that a ground offensive in Iran would not be feasible...

Picking on the wrong guy

Ronald isn't bothered a bit by these Pakistani protestors. Pakistani security guards have shot dead two protesters in Lahore during unrest over Western newspaper cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

Involuntary Manslaughter?

Or is that negligent homicide? Hunter Shot by Cheney Has Heart Attack The 78-year-old lawyer who was shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident has some birdshot lodged in his heart and he had a "..... heart attack," a hospital official said Tuesday.

They're Moving Their Lips Again

"Three former associates of Jack Abramoff said Monday that the now-disgraced lobbyist frequently told them during his lobbying work he had strong ties to the White House through presidential confidant Karl Rove. The White House said Monday that Rove remembers meeting Abramoff at a 1990s political meeting and considered the lobbyist a "casual acquaintance" since President Bush took office in 2001. Abramoff was a $100,000+ fundraiser for Bush and lobbying records obtained by the AP show his lobbying team logged nearly 200 meetings with the administration during its first 10 months in office on behalf of one of his clients, the Northern Mariana Islands. The contacts between Abramoff's team and the administration included meetings with Attorney General John Ashcroft and policy advisers to Vice President Dick Cheney, the AP reported last year. Abramoff's former assistant, Susan Ralston, went to work for Rove in 2001. Abramoff's legal team declined comment Monday night.

Turd Blossom's lawyers refused to comment, too. But they won't be able to refuse much longer. It would be beneficial to the country if Rove would state under oath that an old friend of close to 30 years is suddenly only a "casual acquaintance".

White House's Outing of Plame Seriously Damaged National Security

The administration outed a covert agent and they need to prosecuted for treason "The unmasking of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson by White House officials in 2003 caused significant damage to U.S. national security and its ability to counter nuclear proliferation abroad. According to current and former intelligence officials, Plame Wilson, who worked on the clandestine side of the CIA in the Directorate of Operations as a non-official cover (NOC) officer, was part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran. Speaking under strict confidentiality, intelligence officials revealed heretofore unreported elements of Plame's work. Their accounts suggest that Plame's outing was more serious than has previously been reported and carries grave implications for U.S. national security and its ability to monitor Iran's burgeoning nuclear program".

We now have learned through Scooter Libby that is was the White House and more specifically, Dick Cheney, who blew the covert status of CIA agent, Valerie Plame. And why did Cheney do it? Because Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, told the nation that George Bush lied, and knew he was lying, about Iraq's attempt to purchase yellow cake from Niger. And now we also learn that Valerie Plame was working under cover on gaining information on Iran's nuclear capabilities, information that is obviously critical in keeping Iran in check. Dick Cheney, and anyone else in the White House, including Bush, who was involved in the crime of exposing a covert CIA agent should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for the damage they did to our national security for their petty political purposes. Prosecute the traitors!

Bush's Policy-Building Enemies From What Were Once Allies

Turkey, who a mere five years ago, was one of our biggest allies in that area of the world, is now showing how a foolish man, with a country filled with fools who follow all because they were too dumb to know differently, can ruin such a strong alliance by deceit and ignorance. George Bush's wrong-headed and unnecessary invasion of Iraq has done exactly the opposite of what Bush and his pathetic sheep want you to believe. It has not stabilized the middle east, but done exactly the opposite and it will take decades to clean up the mess left by Republican foreign policy.

Moviegoing Turks meet new enemy, and it is U.S. "The crowd cheered, clapped and whistled as the Turkish agent plunged the knife into the chest of the enemy commander. "Valley of the Wolves - Iraq," which opened last week in movie theaters in Turkey, Austria and Germany, is a Rambo-like action story involving, in this case, Turkish gunmen who seek revenge against a tyrannical occupying army. But in this version, the most expensive movie ever made in Turkey, the enemy is no oppressive third-world dictatorship. The commander's name is "Sam" - as in Uncle - and the opposing forces are Americans, who are being punished for offenses against Turkish as well as Iraqi pride and honor".

Ashcroft is Back-The Republican Way

Former Attorney General Ashcroft, becomes a Lobbyist Five years ago, after his nomination was narrowly sent to the floor of the Senate by a 10-to-8 vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee and then confirmed by a 58-42 vote, Ashcroft began a controversial run as attorney-general. Instead, the former attorney-general has founded a lobbying firm which, in a very short time, has managed to rake in a fair amount of money representing an assortment of corporate clients, several of whom stand to reap great profits from the president's war on terrorism. Just one more corrupt Republican.

John Ashcroft has the dubious distinction of probably being the only man in the Bush cabinet that was actually dumber than George Bush himself. If you remember, Ashcroft got the job as Attorney General only after the voters of Missouri rejected his stupid ass and voted for a dead man, Mel Carnahan, instead. A very dumb, phoney-conservative from Missouri who will now become a multi-millionaire bribing his old Republican buddies in Congress and Americans will just stand by wimpishly and watch it happen. What a country!

Big Spending Bush Ripping Us Off!

"Today Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. George Miller, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, and other senior Democrats released a new Government Accountability Office report finding that the Bush Administration spent more than $1.6 billion in public relations and media contracts in a two and a half year span. "The government is spending over a billion dollars per year on PR and advertising," said Rep. Waxman. "Careful oversight of this spending is essential given the track record of the Bush Administration, which has used taxpayer dollars to fund covert propaganda within the United States."

Bush, and the Republicans in general, are bankrupting this country at historical levels, with spending growth that even tops Reagan and Bush Daddy, and this new report released by the GAO is another clear example of the waste by these anything but conservative bastards.

'The White House Was Clearly in a Fog'

Katrina Report Says That Disaster Shows Country Is Unprepared for the Worst

"A group of Republican Congress members will release a report Wednesday that sharply criticizes the Bush administration's handling of the hurricanes that hit the nation's Gulf Coast last year. According to portions of the draft obtained by ABC News, the report charges Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff with executing his responsibilities "late, ineffectively or not at all." The report, produced by an 11-member House select committee of Republicans, said that if Sept. 11 was a failure of imagination, "Katrina was a failure of initiative" because it was widely known that the Gulf Coast was positioned to be severely damaged by hurricane-related flooding. "This crisis was not only predictable, it was predicted," the report says. Democrats refused to participate".

Shay's states that 'Bush was misinformed'. He was totally clueless. Andrew Card had to show the dumbass a videotape of highlights of what was happening in New Orleans on Thursday of that week. Four days into the disaster and Bush was totally clueless of what was going on. That's not being 'misinformed'.

James & Sarah Brady on being a Dick

James and Sarah Brady made comments today related to Vice President Cheney's reportedly accidental shooting yesterday in Texas. "Now I understand why Dick Cheney keeps asking me to go hunting with him," said Jim Brady. "I had a friend once who accidentally shot pellets into his dog - and I thought he was an idiot." "I've thought Cheney was scary for a long time," Sarah Brady said. "Now I know I was right to be nervous."

redneck powerball winner

all hat no cattle

Can Shiite Jaafari unify the new Iraq?

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, right, with Ahmad Chalabi and with the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, looking on.

"After weeks of dispute within the bloc of Shiite Islamist politicians over who would lead Iraq's next government, Sunday they decided that Ibrahim al-Jaafari should keep his job as the country's prime minister. Mr. Jaafari won the Shiite nomination by a one-vote margin over current Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, virtually cementing his position in the powerful role for the next four years".

Pottery Barn rule

Iraqis Remain Starved of Electricity Abbas Mutlaq and Thaer al-Mufti live at opposite ends of Iraq, but both have given up on the government to supply electricity, turning instead to private generators to keep the lights on. And both say the power supply situation has worsened since the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein despite the billions of dollars set aside by the Bush administration for reconstruction.

Compassionate conservatism

"The boxes arrive every month at churches, senior citizen centers and other sites for distribution to nearly a half-million poor elderly people. Each is stocked with a mix of nutritious foods such as cereal, peanut butter, fruit, vegetables and pasta. Sometimes volunteers deliver them right to people's homes. Now President Bush wants to eliminate the program, one of 141 federal initiatives that his proposed new budget would scrap or cut dramatically. He is proposing to shift people in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program over to food stamps. The program, which dates back to 1968, operates in 32 states and the District of Columbia".

Makes you proud to cut those old bastards off, doesn't it?

Cheney, an accident that already happened

Cheney Shoots Hunter Dick Cheney shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday. Harry Whittington, 78, was "alert and doing fine" after Cheney sprayed Whittington with shotgun pellets on Saturday at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong.

Another good reason why idiots should not have guns. Too bad Harry was unarmed.

White House Leaks

Administration Leaks Classified Intelligence for Political Purposes Senators: Cheney should be investigated if he OK'd leak Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald should investigate Vice President Dick Cheney and others in the CIA leak probe if they authorized an aide to give secret information to reporters, Democratic and Republican senators said Sunday. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., called the leak of intelligence information "inappropriate" if it is true that unnamed "superiors" instructed Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, to divulge the material on Iraq. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., said a full investigation is necessary. "I don't think anybody should be releasing classified information, period, whether in the Congress, executive branch or some underling in some bureaucracy," said Allen, who appeared with Reed on Fox News Sunday.

Baghdad Sniper: Myth or Menace?

Reading this article almost made me ill to my stomach. Seriously, it did the second and third times I read it, too. To think that our troops are out patrolling the streets of Baghdad, just following orders and trying to bring some sort of civil obedience to a people who don't want them there. And that each time they go out on patrol there are trained snipers trying to kill them. Our military is trained to do battle in combat situations and not to patrol the streets of a city of 6 million people, where a majority of them would like to see you killed. Unless we are willing to flatten all of Baghdad and kill half their population doing it, we are not going to get rid of the insurgency or stop Iraqis from wanting us out. Iraq is not our problem. We should send our troops home.

Renegade Sniper Taking Aim at U.S. Troops and Boasting Online Feb. 10, 2006 - An insurgent videotape obtained by ABC News shows nearly a dozen sniper attacks targeting American troops. "He definitely knows what to do with a rifle," said Maj. John Plaster, a retired Green Beret sniper instructor and author of "The Ultimate Sniper." "And he has the judgment and discipline to take a shot, wisely choose an escape route, and immediately depart to avoid capture. This is not a zealot; this is a calculated shooter." The video, distributed on the Internet and on DVDs sold in Baghdad, credits a lone gunman who calls himself "Juba the Baghdad Sniper." He claims to have killed 143 U.S. service members. It is impossible to verify that claim. Since the U.S. invasion, more than 370 U.S. troops have been killed by gunshot wounds, and more than 1,000 have been injured. But those figures also include ordinary gun battles. Urban Legend? The U.S. military said Juba does not exist. They claim he's an urban legend, perhaps a composite of several snipers. But the video makes the threat crystal clear -- even with a flak jacket, helmet, or armor plating, the marksman finds the weak spot. "The big concern," said Plaster, "is that there's a school somewhere that's ready to turn out more of these people." U.S. military officials refused to comment for this report. They are concerned that if they acknowledge the threat, it could inspire others.

US prepares military blitz against Iran

Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran's nuclear sites as a "last resort" to block Teheran's efforts to develop an atomic bomb. Central Command and Strategic Command planners are identifying targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for an operation, the Sunday Telegraph has learnt. Will diplomacy work or do we strike?

You were sheep

"the administration wanted to hitch the Iraq expedition to the `war on terror' and the threat the American public feared most, thereby capitalizing on the country's militant post-9/11 mood." You fell for it because you were weak and too easily scared,... and you went along like sheep...

Pew Research Results

"President Bush's unpopularity has become a drag on his party's prospects in the fall. Roughly three-in-ten registered voters (31%) say they consider their vote for Congress as a vote against Bush, compared with 18% who say they see it as a vote for the president; 47% say Bush is not much of a factor in their decision".

Pew Fifteen seats won't be easy

who dat

over dubya's left shoulder...? "After weeks in which the White House has declined to release pictures of President Bush with Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist, the first photograph to be published of the two men shows a small, partly obscured image of Mr. Abramoff looking on from the background as Mr. Bush greets a Texas Indian chief, in May 2001. The White House confirmed the authenticity of the photograph. It was provided to The New York Times by the Indian chief, Raul Garza of the Kickapoo tribe of southwest Texas. Mr. Garza, who is under indictment on federal charges of embezzling money from his tribe, said he was eager to demonstrate that he had "nothing to hide" in his dealings with the White House and Mr. Abramoff".

The Trust Gap

"We can't think of a president who has gone to the American people more often than George W. Bush has to ask them to forget about things like democracy, judicial process and the balance of powers — and just trust him. We also can't think of a president who has deserved that trust less. This has been a central flaw of Mr. Bush's presidency for a long time. But last week produced a flood of evidence that vividly drove home the point".

Excellent editorial

First Photo of Bush and Abramoff

White House had initially said there was no record of disgraced lobbyist at 2001 meeting By ADAM ZAGORIN AND MATTHEW COOPER/WASHINGTON Just how close was the relationship between the White House and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff? The Bush Administration again faced questions about those ties after an e-mail Abramoff sent a journalist friend surfaced last week.....

photo of the year

2005 World Press Photo of the Year

Billions Wasted In Iraq

CPA senior adviser Franklin Willis (center) and a couple of buddies on 'pay day' "We called Mike Battles in and said, 'Bring a bag'," Willis told Congress American Military Deaths Traced Directly to Corruption

"Some $8.8 billion dispersed for reconstruction efforts in Iraq is unaccounted for, says the U.S. official in charge of tracing it. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, says $8.8 billion is unaccounted for because oversight on the part of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the entity governing Iraq after the war, "was relatively nonexistent." The former No. 2 man at the Coalition's transportation ministry, Frank Willis, concurs. "I would describe (the accounting system) as nonexistent." Such an atmosphere made it possible for billions to go missing and companies to defraud the Coalition. Custer Battles, a company quickly formed after the war to get reconstruction contracts, goes on trial next week, accused in a whistleblower suit by an ex-employee of bilking the U.S. government out of $50 million. "(Custer Battles) wanted to open fraudulent companies overseas and inflate their invoices to the U.S. government," says the whistleblower, Robert Isakson. He says he refused to go along with the scheme and "two weeks later, apparently I heard they began exactly the fraud they described to me," he tells CBS's Steve Kroft. Willis remembers Custer Battles, which was formed by former Army Ranger Scott Custer and a failed congressional candidate, Mike Battles, who claimed to be active in the Republican Party and have connections to the White House".

Why did you know that the owners of 'Custer-Battles' would be Republican? Getting better at figuring that out, are you? And of course, what would a good Republican scandal be without assistance from Fox News? Seems that Mike Battles was a frequent guest on Fox when it came to issues on how to make a killing on war profiteering in Iraq. If you remember, Fox News was all over the 'Oil for Food' scandal for months; a scandal not involving U.S. money or lives. But Fox doesn't talk much about these scandals from Republican cronies, some of the same cronies who actually appear as their special guests. And these scandals with the 'Iraqi reconstruction' are stealing directly from U.S. taxpayers and helping to foment the anger that kills our young in Iraq. You want to learn more, read about it here and watch it tomorrow night on 60 Minutes. Watch how the 'culture of corruption', the good old boy Bush/Cheney way of doing business is not only wasting billions of your dollars, but helping to kill your sons and daughters, too. Newsweek wrote on this also.

Paul R. Pillar on the Administration's Manipulation of the Intel

Summary: During the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, writes the intelligence community's former senior analyst for the Middle East, the Bush administration disregarded the community's expertise, politicized the intelligence process, and selected unrepresentative raw intelligence to make its public case. PAUL R. PILLAR is on the faculty of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Concluding a long career in the Central Intelligence Agency, he served as National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005. A DYSFUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIP The most serious problem with U.S. intelligence today is that its relationship with the policymaking process is broken and badly needs repair. In the wake of the Iraq war, it has become clear that official intelligence analysis was not relied on in making even the most significant national security decisions, that intelligence was misused publicly to justify decisions already made, that damaging ill will developed between policymakers and intelligence officers, and that the intelligence community's own work was politicized. As the national intelligence officer responsible for the Middle East from 2000 to 2005, I witnessed all of these disturbing developments. "If the entire body of official intelligence analysis on Iraq had a policy implication, it was to avoid war -- or, if war was going to be launched, to prepare for a messy aftermath. What is most remarkable about prewar U.S. intelligence on Iraq is not that it got things wrong and thereby misled policymakers; it is that it played so small a role in one of the most important U.S. policy decisions in recent decades". "The administration used intelligence not to inform decision-making, but to justify a decision already made. It went to war without requesting -- and evidently without being influenced by -- any strategic-level intelligence assessments on any aspect of Iraq". also, today's New York Times

White House Knew of Levee's Failure on Night of Storm

"The president is still at his ranch, the vice president is still fly-fishing in Wyoming, the president's chief of staff is in Maine," A photo taken by a federal emergency official the day Hurricane Katrina arrived showed the broken 17th Street Canal levee in New Orleans.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Bush administration officials said they had been caught by surprise when they were told on Tuesday, Aug. 30, that a levee had broken, allowing floodwaters to engulf New Orleans. But Congressional investigators have now learned that an eyewitness account of the flooding from a federal emergency official reached the Homeland Security Department's headquarters starting at 9:27 p.m. the day before, and the White House itself at midnight. White House officials have confirmed to Congressional investigators that the report of the levee break arrived there at midnight, and Trent Duffy, the White House spokesman, acknowledged as much in an interview this week, though he said it was surrounded with conflicting reports. But the alert did not seem to register. Even the next morning, President Bush, on vacation in Texas, was feeling relieved that New Orleans had "dodged the bullet," he later recalled. Mr. Chertoff, similarly confident, flew Tuesday to Atlanta for a briefing on avian flu. With power out from the high winds and movement limited, even news reporters in New Orleans remained unaware of the full extent of the levee breaches until Tuesday.

'...in 1,200 Years..'

Dawn strikes mountains rising above St. Marys Lake in Montana's Glacier National Park. When the park was created in 1910 it had 150 glaciers. That number has since dwindled to 30, due to warming temperatures. World is warmer than it has been for 1,200 years Researchers analyzed tree rings, ice cores, fossils, and other "proxy climate records" and found that the present warming phase has lasted longer and affected a broader area than any other such period in the last 1,200 years.

I didn't know Oracle made cars...

Oracle to cut 2,000 workers in Siebel takeover SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Business software maker Oracle (ORCL) said Thursday that it will cut about 2,000 employees, or more than 3% of its workforce, as it digs for bigger profits from its recent $5.85 billion takeover of Siebel Systems.

DOD News Release(s) 4 Marines, 3 Soldiers, 1 Sailor

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/nr20060210-12474.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 130-06 February 10, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Pfc. Matthew L. Bertolino, 20, of Hampstead, N.H., died Feb. 9, when the vehicle he was traveling in was involved in a rollover while operating as part of a combat patrol near Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, 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/nr20060209-12465.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 125-06 February 9, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Marine Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of three Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Brandon S. Schuck, 21, of Safford, Ariz., died Feb. 6 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Baghdadi, Iraq. He was assigned to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Pfc. Jacob D. Spann, 21, of Columbus, Ohio, died Feb. 6 from wounds sustained as a result of an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Hit, Iraq. He was assigned to Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Lance Cpl. Steven L. Phillips, 27, of Chesapeake, Va., died Feb. 7 from a non-hostile vehicle accident while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Al Qaim, Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th 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/nr20060209-12468.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 127-06 February 9, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Roberto L. Martinez Salazar, 21, of Long Beach, Calif., died in Mosul, Iraq on Feb. 4, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his up-armored HMMWV during patrol operations. Martinez Salazar was assigned to Company A, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Fort Lewis, Wash. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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/nr20060209-12469.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 128-06 February 9, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Allen D. Kokesh Jr., 21, of Yankton, S. D., died at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 7 of injuries sustained in Baghdad, Iraq, on Dec. 4 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV. Kokesh was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 147th Field Artillery, Yankton, S. D. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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/nr20060208-12456.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 118-06 February 8, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Navy Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Petty Officer 3rd Class John T. Fralish, 30, of New Kingstown, Pa., died Feb. 6, when enemy forces opened fire on a U.S. patrol northwest of Methar Lam in Laghman Province, Afghanistan. Fralish was assigned to the 3rd Marine Division Detachment, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe, 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/nr20060208-12458.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 120-06 February 8, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Patrick W. Herried, 29, of Sioux Falls, S.D., died in Rawah, Iraq, on Feb. 6, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Stryker military vehicle during patrol operations. Herried was assigned to the Army's 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright, Alaska. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOD News Release(s) 7 Soldiers

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/nr20060207-12449.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 113-06 February 7, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Sergio A. Mercedes Saez, 23, of New York, N.Y., died in Baghdad, Iraq on Feb. 5, when the HMMWV in which he was riding accidentally rolled over into a canal. Mercedes Saez was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, 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/nr20060207-12448.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 112-06 February 7, 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 Al Husayniyah, Iraq on Feb. 5, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Stryker Engineer Squad Vehicle. Both soldiers were assigned to the 562nd Engineer Company, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Killed were: Staff Sgt. Christopher R. Morningstar, 27, of San Antonio, Texas. Sgt. Jeremiah J. Boehmer, 22, of Parkston, S.D. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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/nr20060206-12441.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 109-06 February 6, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. William S. Hayes III, 23, of St. Tammany, La., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Feb. 5, of a non-combat related injury. Hayes was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 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/nr20060205-12429.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 101-06 February 5, 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 Lance S. Cornett, 33, of London, Ky., died in the vicinity of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on Feb. 3, of injuries sustained earlier that day while engaging enemy forces. Cornett was assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, 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/nr20060205-12431.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 103-06 February 5, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. 1st. Lt. Simon T. Cox, Jr., 30, of Texas, died in Taji, Iraq, on Feb. 2, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his M2A3 Bradley. Cox was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 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/nr20060205-12430.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 102-06 February 5, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Jesse M. Zamora, 22, of Las Cruces, N.M., died in Bayji, Iraq, on Feb. 3, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV. Zamora was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. Trade Deficit Sets Record

The United States trade deficit widened to a record $726 billion in 2005 Hitting its fourth consecutive annual record the gap between exports and imports reached almost twice the level of 2001 The nation last had a trade surplus, of $12.4 billion, in 1975 That means the nation will go deeper into debt China, Japan and other foreign governments are some of the biggest holders of government securities lending money to cover the substantial federal budget deficit and helping to keep interest rates and home mortgage costs here relatively low As a result, American consumers are able to spend more and save less "There are certainly going to be inflows, the question is at what price?" As long as foreigners are willing to put their capital in the United States "It would be better that we saved more on our own," "If you believe in free trade, you play by the rules," "we can expect to see worse numbers to come."

George Bush's Fear Factor

Sheep Herding A television news van sits parked near the 72-story Library Tower on Sept. 13, 2001. "Some law enforcement officials questioned whether some of those incidents constituted a true, imminent threat. Others said the plot against the Library Tower, which was renamed the US Bank Tower in 2003, never progressed beyond the planning stages". "George Bush in a speech to shore up public support for the war on terrorism, provided fresh details of a foiled plot in 2002 by Al Qaeda to hijack an airplane and fly it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, using Asian recruits armed with shoe bombs". Bush, who is under fire for ordering a domestic surveillance program as a part of the war on terrorism, was not highlighting the 2002 incident as a way to bolster support for the eavesdropping or trying to scare any of the limp-wristed fools who've fallen for it before, said Bush flunky and Homeland Security advisor, Frances Townsend. "Some law enforcement officials questioned whether some of those incidents constituted a true, imminent threat. Others said the plot against the Library Tower, which was renamed the US Bank Tower in 2003, never progressed beyond the planning stages". And the intelligent people in the country just laughed and said, sure George, you rescued us from the big bad wolf and you are now just getting around to telling us about it. That playbook is old, Dubya. Karl needs to draw you up a new one. La Times

Scooter Libby; 'Dick Cheney told me to'

Is Libby actually going to 'rat' on Cheney or are Libby's attorneys trying to get their client's case thrown out of court by having the White House refuse to turn over documents the defense says they need? Regardless, if Libby testifies that Cheney not only authorized the outing of Valerie Plame, but also the leaking of 'highly classified' intelligence from NIE, then even a lifelong, untouchable criminal and traitor like Dick Cheney might even get prosecuted. Keep pounding on Scooter, Fitzgerald. Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records. Libby specifically claimed that in one instance he had been authorized to divulge portions of a then-still highly classified National Intelligence Estimate regarding Saddam Hussein's purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons, according to correspondence recently filed in federal court by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald. Beyond what was stated in the court paper, say people with firsthand knowledge of the matter, Libby also indicated what he will offer as a broad defense during his upcoming criminal trial: that Vice President Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials had earlier encouraged and authorized him to share classified information with journalists to build public support for going to war. Later, after the war began in 2003, Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war. the rest of story...National Journal

Brownie: Pay for my Lawyer or I talk

“Unless there is specific direction otherwise from the president, including an assurance the president will provide a legal defense to Mr. Brown if he refuses to testify as to these matters, Mr. Brown will testify if asked about particular communications,” ~ Brown's attorney

"Former disaster agency chief Michael Brown is indicating he is ready to reveal his correspondence with President Bush and other officials during Hurricane Katrina unless the White House forbids it and offers legal support".

This has to be the most highly publicized and the most self-evident case of bribery that's ever happened. Bush obviously is not only stonewalling the nation on the investigation into what went wrong with his response to Katrina, but he's also pissed off his old friend "Brownie". Some bleak days for Republicans, huh? You have Brownie singing almost as loud as Scooter. These rightwing sissy boys sure don't hold up well under pressure, do they?

nail on the head...

What the hell are they doing?

SHIITE Muslims around the world yesterday mourned the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson 1,300 years ago at the climax of Ashura, the main event in their calendar. In countries from Lebanon to Pakistan, Shiites gathered to commemorate the death of Iman Hussein, with men and boys beating and cutting themselves to imitate the suffering he underwent. Iman Hussein was killed in battle at Kerbala, now in Iraq, in AD680. Two million pilgrims gathered in the modern-day city of Kerbala. In Baghdad's Kadhimiya district, thousands of emotional pilgrims seemed mesmerised as a storyteller with a loudspeaker described how Hussein was killed. He was decapitated in a battle with the army of Caliph Yazid and his head was taken to Damascus, the seat of Yazid's Sunni Ummayad dynasty. "Beat your heads. Beat your heads to show his agony," said the storyteller, as he described how enemy soldiers grabbed Hussein's beard just before decapitating him. These are the Shiites. Our allies in Iraq.

Five Grand on the coin toss

Actress Janet Jones said Thursday that she never placed a wager on behalf of her husband, Phoenix Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky. Addressing a betting scandal that led to the arrest of Coyotes associate Rick Tocchet, she released a statement, saying, "Other than the occasional horse race, my husband does not bet on any sports." Reached by phone by USA TODAY, Jones said the statement would be her only comment: "I would like to say a thousand things, but I can't."

Jill Carroll appears in a video dated Feb. 2

"I'm here. I'm fine. Please, just do whatever they want. Give them whatever they want as quickly as possible. There is very short time. Please do it fast," she says. "That's all." "I sent you a letter written by my hand that you wanted more evidence, so we're sending you this new letter now just to prove that I am with the mujahedeen," Carroll says in English on the tape, broadcast on AlRai television.

Clinton reminds Dubya and Turd Blossom, ...they forgot someone...

"Two weeks ago, [White House political director] Karl Rove ... was telling the National Republican Committee 'Here's your game plan, folks, here's how you're gonna win -- we're gonna win by getting everybody scared again,'" Clinton said. "This crowd 'All we've got is fear and we are going to keep playing the fear card.'" Saying she takes "a backseat to nobody when it comes to fighting terrorism," Clinton accused the White House of portraying critics of Iraq and Afghanistan policy as comforting the enemy. "Since when has it been part of American patriotism to keep our mouths shut?" she said. Clinton drew thunderous applause when she mocked the administration's failure to track down the 6-foot-5 bin Laden. "You cannot explain to me why we have not captured or killed the tallest man in Afghanistan," she said.

Reform, Washington Style

How an eight-term congressman with extensive ties to K Street became the new face of the House Republican Party.

"Like any good politician, John Boehner knew how to read his audience. Early last week the Republican Study Committee, an influential group of congressional conservatives, got together for a private audition. They wanted answers from each of the three men who had been jockeying to replace scandal-plagued Tom DeLay as House majority leader: what would they do to appease disgusted voters who see Congress as a nest of sleazy deals and under-the-table cash"?

So the Republican Study Committee decided that John Boehner wasn't quite as sleazy as Roy Blunt and John Shadegg was too green and didn't know enough lobbyists so they went with Boehner, who is well known for his close ties to lobbyists.

It only seems that way

I only wish it was the real picture...You know one exists somewhere. No, this is a contest that Al Franken is having on his blog to see who will get to play their "15-time Peabody award winning game show, Wait Wait Don't Lie to Me"! Go there and vote on the winning photo.

Tom Toles v. Mike Luckovich

Editorial Cartoon Wars American Style "The Joint Chiefs of Staff sent The Washington Post a letter last week saying it was "tasteless" of Tom Toles to show a badly injured soldier--a quadruple amputee--in his Jan. 29 cartoon. So cartoonist Nick Anderson, in an e-mail sent Tuesday to E&P, wondered why the Joint Chiefs didn't get as angry with a Feb. 3 Mike Luckovich cartoon showing a U.S. soldier almost as badly injured. In that drawing, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution-based Luckovich made the point that the media seemed more concerned with the fate of injured ABC News co-anchor Bob Woodruff than the fate of the average soldier. "I'm still waiting breathlessly for the Joint Chiefs of Staff to protest and demand an apology [for the Luckovich cartoon]," wrote Anderson, the 2005 Pulitzer Prize winner for The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., and the Washington Post Writers Group. He said this lack of reaction exposes their outrage at Toles as "manufactured and fraudlent." He added: "I'm also waiting for the right-wing punditocracy to express horror that injured troops are being exploited to score political points. I'm still waiting. It's been several days, and still no outrage. Perhaps it depends whose ox is being gored?" Toles and others said the Jan. 29 Post cartoon was not making fun of the soldier, but rather commenting on the state of the Army and the carnage caused by the Iraq War -- meaning they felt the Joint Chiefs were more angry with the cartoon's message than the drawing of the soldier. The Joint Chiefs called it "reprehensible" in their joint letter. Did Luckovich get any response to his Feb. 3 cartoon from the Joint Chiefs or other military higher-ups? "I haven't heard a word," he replied, when reached Tuesday by E&P. Why the difference in response? "The onus was on the military in Tom Toles' cartoon," said Luckovich, citing one possible reason. "In my cartoon, the criticism was aimed at the mainstream media." Toles, meanwhile, produced a double-edged commentary in his cartoon today for the Post. It shows a foreign mob attacking an embassy, protesting newspapers carrying a Muhammad cartoon, with one rioter saying, "Some forms of expression are over the line." The tiny Toles stand-in who often resides in the corner of the drawing adds: "I guess people don't say 'it was just a cartoon' anymore."

More Bush speak

EXCLUSIVE EMAILS: Jack Abramoff Describes Relationship With President Bush "You know, I, frankly, don’t even remember having my picture taken with the guy. I don’t know him." Bush on Abramoff "ThinkProgress has obtained emails written by Jack Abramoff in which the fallen lobbyist personally describes his relationship with President Bush. They depict a relationship far more extensive than has been previously reported. The emails written by Abramoff were addressed to Kim Eisler, the national editor of Washingtonian magazine. The Washingtonian recently reported on the existence of several photographs showing Abramoff and Bush together. Eisler is also the author of Revenge of the Pequots, a book about tribal politics for which Abramoff was interviewed. In the emails, Abramoff describes meeting Bush “in almost a dozen settings,” and details how he was personally invited to President Bush’s private ranch in Crawford, Texas, for a gathering of Bush fundraisers in 2003. Abramoff did not attend, citing a religious observance. Abramoff emailed Eisler about his invitation to Crawford and his decision not to attend:

NO, IT WAS THAT I WOULD HAVE HAD TO TRAVEL ON SATURDAY (SHABBOS). YES, I WAS INVITED, DURING THE 2004 CAMPAIGN. IT WAS SATURDAY AUGUST 9, 2003 AT THE RANCH IN CRAWFORD.

The White House has continually downplayed the relationship between Abramoff and President Bush. At a January 26 press conference, President Bush said “You know, I, frankly, don’t even remember having my picture taken with the guy. I don’t know him.” But according to Eisler, Abramoff told him that the two have met almost a dozen times, shared jokes, and spoke about details of Abramoff’s family:

HE HAS ONE OF THE BEST MEMORIES OF ANY POLITICIAN I HAVE EVER MET. IT WAS ONE IF [sic] HIS TRADEMARKS, THOUGH OF COURSE HE CAN’T RECALL THAT HE HAS A GREAT MEMORY! THE GUY SAW ME IN ALMOST A DOZEN SETTINGS, AND JOKED WITH ME ABOUT A BUNCH OF THINGS, INCLUDING DETAILS OF MY KIDS. PERHAPS HE HAS FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING. WHO KNOWS.

We will see if Bush is allowed to get away with another one of his many lies to the American people. There has to be a very good reason why he's lying about his close relationship with one of his largest donors. What is that reason?

Is that all you got?

The "Hammer" Gets the "Dukstir's" Committee Seat

House GOP leaders proved Wednesday that they reward, not punish, corruption by giving scandal-scarred Rep. Tom DeLay, forced to step down as the No. 2 Republican in the House, a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee. DeLay, R-Texas, also claimed a seat on the subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department, which is currently investigating an influence-peddling scandal involving disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with lawmakers. The subcommittee also has responsibility over NASA -- a top priority for DeLay, since the Johnson Space Center is located in his Houston-area district. DeLay was able to rejoin the powerful Appropriations panel _ he was a member until becoming majority leader in 2003 _ because of a vacancy created after the resignation of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif. Cunningham pleaded guilty in November to charges relating to accepting $2.4 million in bribes for government business and other favors". "Allowing Tom DeLay to sit on a committee in charge of giving out money is like putting Michael Brown back in charge of FEMA -- Republicans in Congress just can't seem to resist standing by their man," Capitol Hill Blue

Boy, the bench must be awfully weak when you have to replace one scandal with another. Congress needs a serious overhaul.

Bush Urges Nations to End Violence

Bush Tells Muslims to Stop or He Will Smart Bomb Their Asses to Eternity! And, He Will Start with Iran and Syria!

President Bush called on governments around the world on Wednesday to halt the violence that has followed the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran and Syria of fueling the protests for political gain.

It always works very well when a 'man of peace' calls for an end of violence...

2,264

2,264

straight talk with mo

Thanks for your 'support'

Army demanded $700 from Soldier who was wounded in Iraq U.S. Army Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook of Charleston (left) and other soldiers take cover near an ancient cemetery during a gunbattle with insurgents in Najaf, Iraq, in August 2004. Rebrook, who was honorably discharged last week because of an arm injury sustained in battle, was forced to pay $700 for body armor that was destroyed when he was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

"The last time 1st Lt. William “Eddie” Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood. A field medic tied a tourniquet around Rebrook’s right arm to stanch the bleeding from shrapnel wounds. Soldiers yanked off his blood-soaked body armor. He never saw it again. But last week, Rebrook was forced to pay $700 for that body armor, blown up by a roadside bomb more than a year ago. He was leaving the Army for good because of his injuries. He turned in his gear at his base in Fort Hood, Texas. He was informed there was no record that the body armor had been stripped from him in battle. He was told to pay nearly $700 or face not being discharged for weeks, perhaps months. Rebrook, 25, scrounged up the cash from his Army buddies and returned home to Charleston last Friday".

Bush's America-You got to know someone

A 9/11 Conspirator in King Bush's Court Prince Turki al-Faisal "During his speech, Bush said, "It is said that prior to the attacks of September the 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy." Perhaps he should have just looked over his wife's shoulder up there in the gallery during the State of the Union". Sheehan Wasn't Welcome But a Saudi Accused of Support for al Qaeda Was

"While Cindy Sheehan was being dragged from the House gallery moments before President Bush delivered his State of the Union address for wearing a t-shirt honoring her son and the other 2,244 US soldiers killed in Iraq, Turki al-Faisal was settling into his seat inside the gallery. Faisal, a Saudi, is a man who has met Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants on at least five occasions, describing the al Qaeda leader as "quite a pleasant man." He met multiple times with Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. Yet, unlike Sheehan, al-Faisal was a welcomed guest of President Bush on Tuesday night. He is also a man that the families of more than 600 victims of the 9/11 attacks believe was connected to their loved ones' deaths. Al-Faisal is actually Prince Turki al-Faisal, a leading member of the Saudi royal family and the kingdom's current ambassador to the US. But the bulk of his career was spent at the helm of the feared Saudi intelligence services from 1977 to 2001. Last year, The New York Times pointed out that "he personally managed Riyadh's relations with Osama bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar of the Taliban. Anyone else who had dealings with even a fraction of the notorious characters the prince has worked with over the years would never make it past a U.S. immigration counter, let alone to the most exclusive offices in Washington."

Only in Bush's America could you honor a man at the SOTU who is known to have collaborated with both Osama bin Laden and the Tabiban. But, to Bush, the Prince has lots and lots of money and power, so he must put things in his proper perspective...