History: 11/20/2003

War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal - Too little, too late. What might have been.

yes, please...

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Low Prices At What Cost?

Low Prices At What Cost?

Everyone should download this report (it's a .pdf file, so allow it a little bit of time). It's really appalling what this company gets away with, and worse that they rob the taxpayers to do it! If more people knew about this, one would think, they would not tolerate it. Or, is that just wishful thinking? Are people so stupid that they want this?

The Future of (Ignored) News in America

Confronting Iraq

Rumsfeld, to U.S. troops: "It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

Cheney, on Meet the Press: "...My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators... I think it will go relatively quickly,... (in) weeks rather than months."

Rumsfeld: Iraq Insurgency Could Last Years

Rumsfeld said the insurgency "could go on for any number of years... Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years."

Again, I ask: which is better - political leaders who lie to you, or are incompetent? Those are the choices. The clock is ticking and the blood still flows.

Top five Gitmo falsehoods

Top Five Gitmo Falsehoods: - Just in case you find yourself arguing with Cheney or Rumsfeld.

Why Iraq?

In "A War Waged by Liars and Morons" the author asks what was/is the neocon's agenda, really?

"Ownership Society" My Ass!

Homes may be 'taken' for private projects, and, more on the expansion of eminent domain.

You own nothing. They can and will take it away whenever they want. "Ownership Society" means the government owns everything.

Rove Excretes More Republicanism

Karl Rove: a pile of dog shit molded by the devil into human form
By now, everyone has heard of the absolutely asinine statements he made recently, as outlined in this blog from Democratic Underground. For what it's worth, Harry Reid demanded an apology. After all, they made Dick Durbin apologize, even though he had nothing to apologize for. But what slays me is the fact that the republicans have been saying rude, mean, insulting things about others for years - years - and not just about democrats, either. They insult their own, they insult their soldiers, and their soldiers families, and on and on. Their behavior is just pathetic. Like recently when Dick "Go Fuck Yourself" Cheney suddenly became Mr. Sensitive after Howard Dean had the audacity to exercise his right give the repugs a taste of their own medicine, proving they can dish it out, but they can't take it. The republican party is led by liars, hypocrites, cowards, flip-floppers, thieves and murderers. And their followers love them for it. Why?

(PS - Let me know if I am letting them off too easy. Thanks.)

Sirotablog: Attention Chickenhawks

We all know how much I love to shine a spotlight of truth upon the sleazy, cowardly Chickenhawks of the Bush regime. Well, in his article Attention Chickenhawks: Enlist, or shut up, David Sirota helps remind the world that someone needs to walk up to George Bush and just slap the shit out of him (okay, that conclusion was drawn by me, but the facts are still there). By the way, does anyone know if Jenna and Barbara are registered for the draft? It is the law, you know.

Further Along the Highway to Hell-iburton

Halliburton bribes: 'most significant file of corruption'
in Washington, says US official

"U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was Halliburton's CEO when many of the alleged bribes were paid. He currently has not been accused of any wrongdoing."

"Bribing foreign officials is a criminal offense under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act."

"In the United States, the scandal has been confined mostly to the business press, but Le Figaro reported an unnamed U.S. source who said it is "probably the most significant file of corruption" known in Washington."

But hey, as long as they are totally corrupt and under investigation, let's give them another billion dollars of taxpayers' money!

Bush Still Propagating Iraq/9-11 Myth

Remember, "conservative" means sticking with the plan that works. Like, repeating the same lies that successfully fooled 51% of the nation several years ago. Nevermind that they have all been proven false. A true conservative will stick to the same lie, no matter what. They're resolute.

Bush Still Propagating Iraq/9-11 Myth

Congratulations, Karl Rove

Bush brothers worry Harris running for Senate would damage party

Bush brothers worry Harris running for Senate would damage party

Ha ha! Amazing! Hilarious! For those who don't recall, Katherine Harris has been a beloved member of the Bush team, and she was a major player in voter fraud/election theft of 2000, and maybe 2004 (I don't even need to bother researching 2004; 2000 was bad enough). If she became a candidate, a lot of skeletons would come tumbling from the Bush/Cheney closets.

Let her run, Jeb. What are you afraid of?

Soldier Sues Over Guantanamo Beating

Soldier Sues Over Guantanamo Beating

Hey, at least it isn't torture.

Bush: 'Nothing less than victory' in Iraq

Bush: 'Nothing less than victory' in Iraq
WTF!? He overthrew the country, he captured and imprisoned it's leader, installed a new government (probably a puppet regime)... what more does he want? How the hell does he define "victory," anyway? He's won. He's made his point. What's left?

Oh, wait - the reason du jour that we are in Iraq is so that "we won't have to fight them here." Right. So, victory in Iraq means maintaining an ongoing, unending war in Iraq, forever... so "we won't have to fight them here."

Oh, that will win hearts and minds, alright.

Is It Safe For the Truth To Come Out?

Finally: Former Bush Team Member Says WTC Collapse Likely A Controlled Demolition And 'Inside Job', and also Government Insider Says Bush Authorized 911 Attacks. Of course, this is what many of us have been saying for a long, long, time. When we bring up these subjects, we are subjected to derision and name-calling. That's their defense. Well, someday the truth will come out, and it will justify all that we have said.

Forget about Osama Bin Laden (George Bush certainly has, long ago). We might as well turn our attention to the real terrorists who planned and implemented the 9/11 attack.

(These videos take a while to load, and you may have a blank window for a few minutes while they are laoding - pour another cup of coffee, and maybe add something alcoholic to it.)

911: A Closer Look.

The Pentagon Strike

Those are just two examples. There are a lot more where those came from. Here are some more:

911 - All the Proof You Need
911 Research
911 Truth
Bush/Bin Laden Ties
Before 9/11, Bush gave $43 Million to the Taliban
Bush-Linked Company Handled Security for the WTC
Cheney's Secrets
Simplfying the Case Against Cheney
Killtown
Karl Schwartz's articles
Oil Empire
Building #7
Multiple Explosions
Reopen 911
Physics 911
Some Video Links
Lots of other links.

Some may wonder why am I bringing this Up. Why bother, now, after several years have passed and 911 is quickly becoming less an event than a symbol of Us vs. Them? Well, besides the story in the first link at top, I bring it up because the war goes on, the blood still flows, the money still flows, more and more terrorists are inspired to take up arms making the world far less safe than it was before the phony "war on terror", there is no end in sight, and more evidence is being brought to the public's attention that the whole thing was premeditated mass murder by a group of power-mad liars who will kill you if you stand between them and their goals. Add to that the fact that 9/11 is the most significant act of treason, treachery, and violation of public trust ever perpetrated in America and was perpetrated by America's own president, whose party will maintain its position of power in the next election through fraudulent means again, and well... that's why, every so often, I mention it.

Flip-Flop-Kaboom!

First Bush calls an end to major combat operations. Then, a couple of years later, troops launch major combat operations.

The flip-flopper-in-chief sheds a lot of blood when he changes his mind.

The American Taliban

This piece does a pretty good job of rounding up a lot of them in one spot. Notice Bush says people who don't believe in god should not be considered citizens of the U.S. This site can be filed next to this one, and this one, and of course, this one. Onward christian soldiers, indeed, as they carve out their theocratic plutocracy in the middle east: Texastan (led by religious leaders from the newly-established Halliban).

P.S. - has anyone else noticed that "texas" is an anagram for "taxes"?

Truth Inspires

Listen to Randi Rhodes' statement about the Terri Schiavo autopsy results.

Some More Guantanamo Bits

Pentagon Concerned About Legality of Interrogation Techniques

The interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo Bay Detention Center in 2002 triggered concerns among senior Pentagon officials that they could face criminal prosecution under U.S. anti-torture laws, ABC News has learned... Notes from a series of meetings at the Pentagon in early 2003 — obtained by ABC News — show that Alberto Mora, general counsel of the Navy, warned his superiors that they might be breaking the law.

It doesn't matter: the Bush administration does not care about the law.

Guantanamo inmates can be held 'in perpetuity'

Republican senators called on Wednesday for the rights of foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay prison to be legally defined even as the Bush administration said the inmates could be jailed there "in perpetuity." The prison, currently holding roughly 520 inmates, opened on the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2002 in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Many of the detainees have been held for more than three years, and only four have been charged.

That is what the Neocons want to turn America into. The new Soviet Union. The fascist dictatorship of the 21st century. They didn't want to eliminate Saddam Hussein - they wanted to replace him - with something even more terrible. Themselves.

Of course, Cheney and Rumsfeld argue against closing Guantanamo Bay. Why? Halliburton to build new $30 mln Guantanamo jail.

How would you like to be thrown into a foreign prison, without being charged, and kept "in perpetuity" (that means forever), just so a handful of power-elites could help themselves to more wealth and power? Is that the America we want?

Irony in Iran-y

Irony is the word of the day as Bush again criticizes an election as being unfair.

"Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy," Bush said in a statement. "The Iranian people deserve a genuinely democratic system in which elections are honest -- and in which their leaders answer to them instead of the other way around."

tip o' the beret to Windspike at Educational Whisper

The Bush Regime: No Greater Evil.

Add these to the mountain of evil that elevates the throne of George Bush.

New Memos Detail Early Plans for Invading Iraq

More Damning than Downing Street

There is more, you know.

Information Clearing House, for example, has a ton of the stuff. Article after article after article describing the depth of evil of the Bush regime, and that's just one of many sources.

Global domination. Murder. Torture. Mass destruction. They get away with it because it sounds (to use their own word) absurd. Few are willing to accept that powerful individuals in American government and business would involve themselves in such sickening abuses of power, such depraved exercises in wholesale destruction. Few want to listen to these truths. But ask them about Michael Jackson, or about runaway brides.

Right-Wing Dissent

More and more often you see stories like the one describing how the Patriot Act Push Angers Some on Right. As I described in this post from February, republicans do not have to allow themselves to be enslaved by their diabolical masters of darkness. They can break free to realize what it is like to think for themselves. All they have to do is try. That, and surrender their sources of funding.

Another Terri Schiavo Post!?

An autopsy on Terri Schiavo backed her husband’s contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state, finding that she had massive and irreversible brain damage and was blind, the medical examiner’s office said Wednesday. It also found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused. Just sayin'.

UPDATE HERE: LISTEN!

Who Pays?

Guess who's paying for dinner?

"...social mobility in this country -- the old Horatio Alger idea that we can get rich by working hard -- is less true now than it ever was. It turns out the American dream of moving up is now more likely to occur in Britain and France, those supposedly class-riddled countries. I suggest this has happened in large part because our government now functions as a fully paid arm of the wealthy and of corporate interests."

The article above is just another example of why I think that Molly Ivins is great.

Give 'Em Hell, Howard

"I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell."
Harry S Truman, in Look, Apr. 3, 1956

Common Dreams point out how Dean Just Told Them The Truth and They Thought It Was Hell.

The simple truth is that corporate interests have hijacked our nation, theocrats want to take us back to the days of the Salem Witch Trials (with gays playing the part of witches), and the "stars" in the corporate "mainstream" media have been so terrified by Bush administration threats of loss of access (which could then lead to the loss of their own 6- and 7-figure income jobs) that they perpetuate administration lies and tremble at the thought of actually asking a tough follow-up question when Bush prevaricates.

Howard Dean points out these uncomfortable truths. And, like the little boy who said that the Emperor had no clothes, those entrenched in the status quo are trying to hush him up.

Greedy Politicians? Say it Ain't So (borrowed from...)

Windspike at Educational Whisper exclaimes, "Greedy Politicians? Say it Ain't So." Surely not since Bush "restored honor and integrity to the White House."

Too Little, Too Late - The Damage is Done.

People are finally wising up to the failure of the Bush administration.

"Nearly six in 10 say the war was not worth fighting... More than four in 10 believe the U.S. presence in Iraq is becoming analogous to the experience in Vietnam... 52 percent said war in Iraq has not contributed to the long-term security of the United States... Overall, more than half -- 52 percent -- disapprove of how Bush is handling his job... 56 percent disapproved of Republicans in Congress, and an identical proportion disapproved of Democrats."

It doesn't matter though - they rig the vote anyway, so they'll be reelected regardless. Get ready for President (Jeb) Bush in 2008.

The debate's over: Globe is warming

Told you so!
"A recent study led by James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies confirms that, because of carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases, Earth is trapping more energy from the sun than it is releasing back into space."

Old News: Corruption, Lies, Death and Destruction...

The leak that changed minds on the Iraq war
Blair hit by new leak of secret war plan
Ministers were told of need for Gulf war "excuse"
Cabinet Office paper: Conditions for military action
And so on.

Focus, Damn It!

Here's a bit of criticism of Howard Dean: Democrats Criticize Dean.
Now, here's a fine rebuttal from Truthout: We Love Howard Dean.
My opinion? Sure, some of Dean's statements are a huge liability to the Democrats, and could very well cost them, in the long run. After all, Democrats are held accountable for what they say, while Republicans are not. But Truthout is right - the Democrats should try devoting a little attention to the fact that the current administration should be impeached, tried, convicted, incarcerated, and treated according to their own rules of imprisonment. Fair is fair.

"Right" off the Deep End

Sleazier than the Swifties? New attack book is filled with gay-baiting innuendo about Hillary's "embrace" of "revolutionary lesbianism"
It's funny, really. The republican party is saturated with sex scandals, yet they're going to try to play the homophobia card? Ha ha - I can hardly wait until the backlash produces lists of republicans' perversions in reply to that!

C.R.A.P.

This weekend I would like to offer a plan to enact social change. As has been mentioned in this blog, it does no good to sit around and talk about what should be done - every once in a while we need to actually do something. But how to proceed with these plans?

Well, from my years of experience in state and county government employment, I have borrowed a tried-and-true method of addressing serious issues in a timely manner: I have created an acronym. Nothing can begin unless whatever we're discussing has an acronym.

The concept is this: Collective Responsibility And Participation; or, CRAP.

If we can implement more CRAP in our lives, the results can be amazing. I have already seen what CRAP can do in the workplace. In my professional life I have seen small groups CRAP'ing together, as well as the entire organization working towards a goal by by implementing CRAP on a grand scale. This concept can be implemented in our everyday lives, as well.

Want to end the war? CRAP. Raise the minimum wage? CRAP. Preserve our environment? CRAP. Hold corrupt officials accountable for their misdead? CRAP... and lots of it.

Even in our blog, we are successfully using CRAP to spread the word to the masses. "Workers of the world... CRAP!"

Sure, we often need to use discretion in our CRAP'ing. After all, in some places they shoot CRAPs. We don't want that.

And so, I hereby pledge to do my share by contributing as much CRAP as I can, wherever I can, as often as I can, until the whole world is made a better place by being covered in CRAP.

I am SheaNC, and I have approved this message.

Note: not to be confused with People In Service to Society.

Bush Job Approval Dips to New Low

Bush Job Approval Dips to New Low
Of course, they said that about Satan, too - and he's still the third most popular character in the Christian pantheon.

My Latest at Pourqois Pas

The American Right and Crumbs for Africa.

Ancient History

Bush cabinet members... Republicans... lying? No!

Kerry Makes His Military, Medical File Available

Kerry Makes His Military, Medical File Available

This is funny, because I have heard more than one right-wing blogger go on and on and on and on and on about Kerry not providing these records (that's because Bush's records show him as a deserter, and the other neocon chickenhawks don't have any records except DUI's). Well, after all the right-winger's whining, guess what?

Kerry provided access to his complete records. The long-awaited documents contained no bombshells, and his enemies still were not satisfied.

Old News... More about the Guantanamo Bay Report

Is Bush actually a man of his word?

"Physical pain amounting to torture must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death."

Bush Administration Flip-Flops on Amnesty and Shoots the Messenger

"It appears that the Bush administration takes Amnesty International seriously when doing so might suit its own agenda, but not when members of the administration might be held accountable for their own questionable actions. This kind of defensiveness, and this "shoot the messenger" response to Amnesty's allegations, speaks volumes."

A Great Character Analysis

This guy sums things up quite well in his article called Bush, The Spoiled Man-Child: What causes the fall of empires? Why, stubborn leaders who speak like toddlers and never admit mistakes.

As he states in his article,

"How can he be so appallingly ignorant of fact, of truth, of evidence, of deep thought? ...for a major world power caught in the throes of a desperate need to change and grow and evolve, he is, of course, imminent death, leading us deeper into a regressive ideological tar pit from which we may never emerge."

Old News... Terrorists: Bush Loves 'Em!

That George... he and his family just love terrorists!

Bush, Posada & Terrorism Hypocrisy
The Bush Dynasty and the Cuban Criminals
The Bush Family's Favorite Terrorist
On George Bush's pardon of anti-Cuban terrorist Orlando Bosch
Bush's Contra Buddies

Inevitability

Ben Franklin said death and taxes were inevitable. Tax day is April 15th. Would you like to know when the other thing is going to happen? Ask The Death Clock.

UPDATE: MSN News did a story about this, too... hmm! That's interesting, because it is an oldish site. Does that mean they're reading Constantly Amazed...?

Dear Red States...

This is borrowed from bartcop. The author is unknown, but they speak for a lot of us on the left coast.

Subject: Dear Red States

We're ticked off at the way you've treated California, and we've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly:
You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches.
We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.
We get the Statue of Liberty. You get OpryLand.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.

We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.

We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

By the way, we're taking the good pot, too.
You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.

Sincerely,
Author Unknown in New California.

Buchanan, Limbaugh, Stein: Hypocritcal Idiots

Buchanan, Limbaugh, Stein blamed those who "brought down" Nixon for fall of Vietnam, Cambodian genocide

Idiots. Win Ben Stein's money, my ass. Compete idiots. And, there have been more lately, too. Like G. Gordon Liddy, accusing this guy of being "unethical" - Ha!

Make no mistake: the anti-war movement ended the war. The pro-war, pro-Nixon crowd would have kept us there until they could manage to nuke southeast Asia, the USSR and China along with it.

Important: These guys believed in the Vietnam war so much? Look up their war records. Goddamn two-faced hypocrites, each and every one.

Wildmon Strikes Again (UPDATED)

Christian activist group goes after Ford Motor Co.
This whole article (it isn't long) is so funny it couldn't be invented as fiction.

Ford Motor Co. supports the homosexual marriage movement
An excerpt:
"If one looks for the company which has done the most to affirm and promote the homosexual lifestyle, he would be hard-pressed to find a company which has done more than Ford Motor Company."

UPDATE:
"The American Family Association (AFA) has suspended its boycott of Ford Motor Company for the time being."