••can ye pass the acid test?••

ye who enter here be afraid, but do what ye must -- to defeat your fear ye must defy it.

& defeat it ye must, for only then can we begin to realize liberty & justice for all.

time bomb tick tock? nervous tic talk? war on war?

or just a blog crying in the wilderness, trying to make sense of it all, terror-fried by hate radio and FOX, the number of whose name is 666??? (coincidence?)

Thursday, May 31, 2007

c'est la guerre, eh?

It was unfortunate, but I had no reason to believe anything they had done was on purpose...
—Lt. Max Frank, who had been ordered to take the bodies to the city morgue after US Marines killed 24 people in the Iraqi town of Haditha



that's funny, i was just thinking tony blair is a euro cartoon. (see below.)

but it's interesting to get reminded what gops mean by "big government":

"Her view is the old, classic, European caricature that we describe of big government, big taxation, welfare state," said the former Massachusetts governor.
my idea of what it means is somewhat different, so i googled it. the wiki article more or less covers the contrasting meanings, but let me sum up my spin:

to cons and libertarians, "big government" means "tax & spend," which is also how gops describe dems.

to leftists, it means intrusion, repression, and domination, which is what the left says right-wing regimes do.

neither side likes it, but for different reasons, since they don't agree on the definition.


i have no idea what this pic is about, but it's a nice shot of tony blair's grin, don't you think?
President Bush Outlines Plan for Climate Change

Related NPR Stories

May 31, 2007
Bush Calls for Goal-Setting on Climate Change

May 31, 2007
President Bush's Remarks on the World Agenda

May 31, 2007
NASA Scientist Critiques Bush's Strategy

May 31, 2007
NASA Chief Questions Urgency of Global Warming
battle within NASA? should dr griffin stick to his own area of expertise, maybe?

May 21, 2007
Global Warming: From Theory to Fact

May 17, 2007
Major Cities Get Green Funding

May 4, 2007
Climate Change and National Security

May 4, 2007
UN Report Focuses on Climate Change Mitigation
1000 americans die in iraq in 12 months:
first time ever


so that's what "surge" means...

Thursday, May 24, 2007


till now, the highest US military death toll in iraq in a calendar year has been 849 in 2004, and the monthly average since the start of the invasion has been approximately 68. but from 1 june '06 to 24 may '07 the total is 960, an average of about 80 per month, making it the deadliest 12 months for our troops in this war so far.

the last 6 months have seen even higher death rates, so why is the misunderestimator now predicting high casualties this summer?

my guess: either he wants to look like a prophet if he's right, or he wants "the surge" to appear more effective if he's wrong.

either way he'll demand more money to "support our troops."
ya know, monica goodling comes across as an innocent little girl, but she did opposition research for bush-cheney in 2000, so it's mighty unlikely she's as naive as she wants to look.

a word of caution to her, tho: that immunity deal you cut won't shield you from perjury charges, so if you lied, you better "remember" what you "forgot" and come clean quick!
kewl links

georgewbush.org

whitehouse.org

I love Karl Rove. Are you a RoveHo, too?

ironhymen.com

What, that wasn't funny?

Buffalo Soldiers Scrubbed by Secret GOP Hit List

comments from daily kos:

This is going to a long day (16+ / 0-) of lies and (not so) artful dodges.
This will be no Comey Testimony

Thinking men can not be ruled. --Ayn Rand
by Wisper on Wed May 23, 2007 at 07:56:03 AM PDT

And she's no Comey for sure n/t (5+ / 0-)
by sawgrass727 on Wed May 23, 2007 at 07:58:38 AM PDT
[ Parent ]

No, Comey (11+ / 0-) went to a real law school and is a real lawyer.

"I want to shrink the GOP down to the size where we can drown it in a toilet." Iowa Underground
by ThunderHawk13 on Wed May 23, 2007 at 08:04:24 AM PDT
[ Parent ]

I still find it strains credulity (39+ / 0-) that she was considered qualified to interview these people.
What a joke.

Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change. - Tennyson
by bumblebums on Wed May 23, 2007 at 07:56:07 AM PDT

She wasn't even qualified (11+ / 0-) to graduate from a real law school.

"I want to shrink the GOP down to the size where we can drown it in a toilet." Iowa Underground
by ThunderHawk13 on Wed May 23, 2007 at 08:04:49 AM PDT
[ Parent ]

Monica: process was too slow, so we (9+ / 0-) had to interview candidates who weren't on the list, she understood.
[the 'expedience' excuse?....a GOP thing]
by LNK on Wed May 23, 2007 at 07:56:15 AM PDT

yes! Tim Griffin and caging! (33+ / 0-) She's pretending not to know that caging is about voter suppression.


What did the President know and when did he stop knowing it?
by Pyewacket on Wed May 23, 2007 at 07:56:43 AM PDT

and she wasn't believable, either. (7+ / 0-)

"Republicans tell you that government doesn't work. Then they get elected, and they prove it" - (Future Senator) Al Franken
by AlyoshaKaramazov on Wed May 23, 2007 at 08:05:30 AM PDT
[ Parent ]

Yeah -- (10+ / 0-) she just said she thought it was all about putting Democrats in cages on election day so they couldn't get the polls.
Like, totally different than voter suppression.
Kossacks Under 35 Thursdays at 9 EST!
by kath25 on Wed May 23, 2007 at 08:08:30 AM PDT
[ Parent ]

LMFAO!!! n/t (2+ / 0-)

Politics is like driving. To go backward, put it in R. To go forward, put it in D.IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST.
by TrueBlueMajority on Wed May 23, 2007 at 08:10:31 AM PDT
[ Parent ]

I would have thought... (0 / 0)
she'd have learned how to effectively cage voters in that "law school" she went to.

Every day .... will be a "Constitutional crisis" given we have a president who doesn't give a damn about the Constitution. Kos
by billlaurelMD on Wed May 23, 2007 at 08:25:56 AM PDT
[ Parent ]

Thanks for posting the diary! n/t (7+ / 0-)

"What journalism in America chiefly suffers from today is the lack of alert and competent professional criticism." H.L. Mencken 1927
by gchaucer2 on Wed May 23, 2007 at 07:57:05 AM PDT

rove's blowjob?


perhaps i spoke too soon when i wrote monica goodling's testimony contained nothing explosive.

some alert washington journal callers mentioned voter caging, which one said is a tactic used mainly against minorities by sending them registered mail then challenging their voter registration if they don't sign for the letters. he said it's a felony and that goodling indicated karl rove ran such an operation out of the white house.

so maybe someone knelt under bush's desk after all, but it was a political adviser, not an intern.

is that gay, or what?

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

could you pass a naturalization exam?


c-span this morning asked callers to answer some of the 96 questions in the test, including

93. What is the most important right granted to United States citizens?

the official correct answer is

93. The right to vote

do you agree?


later on the show rep artur davis (d-al) declined to respond to a somewhat rude phone call, but the caller did make one good point: he said we ought to stop more illegal immigrants from getting into the country before we worry about getting rid of the ones already here. he used a spilled milk metaphor, but oil will do just as well: first stop the leak, then clean up the spill.
the cold war was so much simpler, wasn't it?






look! i almost hate to tell you, but he's just disproved his claim that we have to fight them there or they'll come here!

lookee, lookee:
Bush said intelligence showed that in January 2005, bin Laden tasked Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, his senior operative in Iraq, to organize a terrorist cell and use Iraq as a staging ground for attacking the United States.
see what i mean? almost two years after we invade iraq, bin laden gets the idea to use it as a base to attack us here.

we're not keeping them pinned down there. more likely, we're keeping ourselves pinned down!


now you're talkin'!
This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.
(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)



want to lure them back to the sea? how about this:

plenty of recordings of humpback sounds are available. why not play some of them thru big loudspeakers on a boat downstream? if they head toward it, lead them to open water.

i don't know for sure if it'll work, but, hey! it couldn't hurt!

Monday, May 21, 2007

$100 laptop

you may have seen the 60 minutes story about cheap laptops for kids in the developing world.

i posted this item on it in november '05, but my links seem to have expired, so here's new ones.
Democrats to draft new Iraq-funding bill without timeline
no, no, no, NO!
but, then again, it only funds war thru september 30, & it includes a minimum wage hike...

Bush to press allies as Afghan casualties rise
'Forgotten' war

US, NATO stepping up war on Afghan heroin trade
just buy up the crop, already. geez!

Immigrants call US reform bill unrealistic
Hopes, fears
right! like would you turn yourself in if you knew you'd get fined $5k?

· Sen. Sessions (R-AL) Threatens to Filibuster Immigration Deal

Army's ammunition demand delays shipments to US police
so if we fight'em there & they come here anyway, we won't be able to fight'em...

Ex-official: Smithsonian toned down exhibit on Arctic warming
dare i say it?: here we go again...

· Governors Criticize Bush Admin. Over Clean Air Initiatives
dum dum dum dum dum...

Saturday, May 19, 2007

dog ear

C-SPAN2's Book TV: May 19-21
Insightful author interviews
Saturday 9 PM, Sunday 6 PM and 9 PM ET

Former Education Secretary Rod Paige is the author of The War Against Hope: How Teachers' Unions Hurt Children, Hinder Teachers, and Endanger Public Education. In his book, he discusses his view that teachers' unions have too much power, and are blocking needed reforms in the nation's educational system. Mr. Paige is interviewed by Kathy Kiely, Washington Correspondent for USA Today.

"educator" and political hack paige is still on his anti-union crusade. here's a pair of excerpts from his wiki entry:

While many touted the "Houston Miracle" accomplished under Paige where student test scores rose under his leadership, much of the results were revealed to be a sham in a report featured in local and national press such as 60 Minutes. Many high-needs students were either squeezed out of schools or held back a grade if they were about to enter a testing year, then graduated over that testing grade so results for that school and district would not be lowered by an anticipated low performance.

and

On February 23, 2004, at a White House meeting with the nation's governors, Paige criticized the National Education Association (NEA) for obstructing "No Child Left Behind's historic education reforms," calling the NEA a "terrorist organization." He later said it "was an inappropriate choice of words" and apologized later the same day, but maintained that the NEA uses "obstructionist scare tactics" in opposing the law. The union called for his resignation.


next time you hear this bs you can be ready with the facts!

· Bush praises bipartisan immigration deal (AP)

· In SC, Romney slams immigration plan (AP)

how's that for distancing?


media types seem to think space travel is what's most important, but the real value of this research is that it might someday help the bedridden maintain muscle mass.
is everybody happy?

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

from the daily show's e-mail


Jon on terrorism in Iraq:

According to a new State Department report, the number of terrorist attacks in Iraq jumped 91% from 2005 to 2006, many of the attacks planned and executed by al-Qaeda, and several of those attacks using deadly chlorine gas. That's right people: Iraq and al-Qaeda, working together with weapons of mass destruction... finally Iraq has become the country we thought it was when we invaded.
does anybody know anything of a rumor that the pentagon is covering up news of an attack on a US base in iraq that resulted in hundreds of american casualties?

i was so taken aback when i heard it i forgot to note who said it and where. i think it might've been on book tv this past weekend, possibly in the replay of the LA times festival of books panel on iraq, or maybe the one on spin....

TV evangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell dies at 73
A political force


here are all my posts that mention him.

Friday, May 11, 2007



Awards

1999 - Texas Leader, Leadership Houston

1999 - Latino Lawyer of the Year, Hispanic National Bar Association

1999 - 100 Most Influential Hispanics, Hispanic Business Magazine

1997 - Presidential Citation, State Bar of Texas - for addressing the basic legal needs of the indigent

1994 - One of Five Outstanding Young Texans, Texas Junior Chamber of Commerce

1994 - One of Five Outstanding Young Houstonians, Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce

1993 - Commitment to Leadership Award, United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast

1992 - Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association

1992 - Woodrow Seals Outstanding Young Lawyer, Houston Young Lawyers Association

1989 - Hispanic Salute, Houston Metro Ford Dealers and Ford Division, Ford Motor Company

1989 - President's Award, Houston Bar Association


it ain't me, it's not quite yoo...

guess who

??

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

The weak have one weapon: the errors of those who think they are strong.
Georges Bidault (1899-1983)
French resistance leader, statesman
If you must take innocent lives to satisfy your cause, your cause is nothing more than a treacherous crime.
Age of Warriors #69, KBS
bush asked if he's in denial, says "that's ridiculous!" asked to suggest another possibility, says it's not a fair question! mccain gives exact same answers. giuliani declines to comment (which he's NEVER done before).


is this how we fight terrorism?
crowdpleasers, heartwinners, & wet mops

john mccain's declaration of readiness to hound bin laden to the gates of hell undoubtedly stirred some blood.

it sounded spontaneous but was almost certainly planned.

it's meant as fiery rhetoric, the kind of imagery speechwriters come up with when their boss gets criticized for lack of passion.

then the employer just has to watch for an opportunity to gaze into a camera, shift into stern stuff mode, and utter the rehearsed metaphor.

that would be fine if the objective were to win an academic debate, but with life at stake in a fight against terrorism we have to deal with potentially serious consequences. unfortunately, consequences are the last thing folk think about when they allow emotion to decide their votes.

the "war" on terror is not a war but a hunt. the two share similarities but are far from identical.

one likeness is that the prey seeks to kill. in an ideal world no one would hunt tigers, but one that became a maneater would have to get taken out of circulation.

i'm not trying to dehumanize terrorists. their humanity gives them advantages rogue tigers don't have. it also means they make tracks tigers don't make.

one of the most interesting things i've heard said about combatting terrorism is that the fight should be sensitive and nuanced. because john kerry said it in 2004, it got ridiculed to death by the gop noise machine. kerry apparently lacked sufficient intestinal fortitude to defend and elaborate the idea till voters knew what he meant. i imagine a lot of useful concepts get lost that way, while testicular rhetoric maintains it's slippery grip on the political gearshift.

unfortunately, john mccain's ballsy words won't win him the chance to fulfil his resolution: we've moved the gates of hell to baghdad.
from yahoo:

Bush threatens to veto Democrats' new Iraq bill
Cheney trip

Thousands of Palestinian police deploy in Gaza City

Afghanistan calls for cease-fire amid rising civilian deaths
21 villagers killed in airstrikes prompts resolution for military cease-fire, negotiations with taliban, date for foreign troop withdrawal

East Timor's peaceful election bolsters hope for ending chaos

Alabama issues indictment in 1965 civil rights killing
it's dat ol' slow-turnin' wheel o' justice....


from c-span:

· House Votes to Impose Controls on Student Loan Practices

· White House Says It Still Supports Wolfowitz
to the death?

· State Dept. Condemns Iran's Detention of Two Americans
tit for tat? back in january US forces nearly got into a firefight against allies when kurd troops stopped a raid to detain iranians.

· Lightning Caused Sago Mine Accident Federal Investigators Say

· VP Cheney Says Sectarian Violence "Down Fairly Dramatically"
he's da bomb, ain't he?

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

"You don't call out (sick) unless you're on your deathbed," says freelance chef Leah Grossman. Indeed, according to a recent study, 58% of salaried New York City restaurant workers reported going to work when sick; the number is even higher for those without benefits.

"A lot of poor, transient people work in restaurants," says Peter Francis, a co-author of industry exposé "How to Burn Down the House." "They're not giving up the $100 they'd make in a shift because they're sick."

Saturday, May 05, 2007


happy cinco de mayo, y'all!

Friday, May 04, 2007



i am shocked! well, no, seriously, i'm not even surprised. but it is a sad commentary on military training, isn't it? you might also be interested in what the poll showed about attitudes toward noncombatants.
from yahoo:

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

because tavis smiley just had an update-type show on the katrina fiasco, and because fidel castro didn't make a may day public appearance, i want to remind us all of the aid offer castro made us but which the bush admin apparently ignored.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

doesn't america deserve better than this?


4 voices heard on c-span today:

tony snowjob returns to work, repeats claim whole world believed iraq had WMD, so invasion was right;

george w bushleague goes to florida to tell military audience saddam hussein violated umpteen UN resolutions, so invasion was right;

• georgia gop congressman on house floor says dems are keeping funds from troops, preventing general petraeus from carrying out new strategy;

• caller to washington journal says the lesson of vietnam is pulling out too soon leads to defeat.

when most challenged, just keep lying?

no, the lesson of vietnam is that when the truth gets out, the people turn against the liars and the wars they start.