Silence is Consent

If you don't speak up you accept what is happening. This site was born out of the mainstream media's inability to cover the news. I am just an American cititzen trying to spread the word in the era of FCC consolidation, post 9/11 Patriot Act hysteria, hackable voting machines and war without end. I rant and post news items I perceive to be relevant to our current situation.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
- Thomas Jefferson

Social Security is not broken and therefore does not need to be fixed

So Called Social Security Crisis (SCSSC)

Comments, questions, corrections, rebuttals are always welcome.

Thursday, December 30, 2004
 
The So Called Social Security Crisis (SCSSC) in laymen's terms
Bush backers made a sucker’s bet
But here’s what Bartlett, Bush and the think-tank spokesmen actually mean when they say Social Security’s going broke: They mean that the trust fund has been looted fair and square, that everybody who’s been paying those increased payroll taxes since 1983 has been successfully swindled and that the U.S. government need not honor those specialissue Treasury bonds. As Smith writes, it’s a financial "crime against the American public that makes Enron pale in comparison."
And Republicans want us to believe they won because of moral values
House GOP wants tighter rules for ethics investigationsPanel chief may lose post for allowing criticisms of DeLay
In the wake of back-to-back ethics slaps at House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, House Republicans are preparing to make it more difficult to begin ethics investigations and could remove the Republican chairman who presided over the admonishments delivered to DeLay last fall.


Good Stuff

U.S. Businesses Overseas Threatened by Rising Anti-Americanism

Oil, Gas Bonds Leave Taxpayers Exposed

Neo-cons can't escape responsibility for their Iraq miscalculations

1 comments
 
Isn't It Ironic!?
They don't show us the dead in Iraq because American's don't want to see dead people on their TV's, right? When it comes to dead tsunami victims plaster them all over my TV.

100,000+ dead innocent people from a tsunami is a tragedy, 100,000 dead innocent Iraqis is not even covered.

This is the SCLM in action.

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Two things you may not have read about the tsunami
Did oil exploration cause this?
Earthquake: Coincidence or a Corporate Oil Tragedy?
Now I don’t claim to be an expert on seismic activity, but there has been a series of events which led up to the 9.0 earthquake of the coast of Indonesia which can not be ignored. This all could be an enormous coincidence, but one must look at the information and choose for themselves whether there is anything to it.
Humans are the smartest beings on the earth?
Did Animals Sense The Tsunami?
Wildlife officials in Sri Lanka expressed surprise Wednesday that they found no evidence of large-scale animal deaths from the tsunamis—indicating that animals may have sensed the wave coming and fled to higher ground

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What Would Jesus Do?
Would he spend $40 million on a party for himself or would he give it away, especially in the wake of such a tremendous tragedy? In the bible it says we will know someone is a follower of Jesus by the fruit they bear, by their deeds, shall we say: Matthew 7:15-20
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.
By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them.

(the note on this passage): Christian disciples who claimed to speak in the name of God are called prophets (Matthew 7:15) in Matthew 10:41; Matthew 23:34. They were presumably an important group within the church of Matthew. As in the case of the Old Testament prophets, there were both true and false ones, and for Matthew the difference could be recognized by the quality of their deeds, the fruits (Matthew 7:16). The mention of fruits leads to the comparison with trees, some producing good fruit, others bad.
Taking this into account and how religious a man our President professes to be this would seem the logical next step, Lawyer to W: Cut the galas, help Asia:
So it occurred to him that it would be an "amazingly generous and humanitarian gesture to cancel or at least reduce the size of the inauguration parties and parades."

All the millions of diverted private and government money could go for tsunami relief instead.

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Wednesday, December 29, 2004
 
Social Security Reeducation
Are you like me?

Have you been thinking and telling people for years that you won't ever receive a penny from Social Security?

Did you say that, just like me, because you heard someone else say it and never looked into it?

Well if you answered yes to all of those questions you need to be reeducated about Social Security just like I have been. Here is a good place to start, Stop Sweating Social Security -- the End Is Not Near:
I used to be a Social Security doom-monger. Like everyone else my age, I knew the familiar drill: Social Security is a demographic time bomb. Life expectancies are increasing. The baby boom generation is getting ready to retire. Every year we have a smaller number of workers supporting a larger number of retirees.

Politicians were eager to feed my fears. Bill Clinton urged us to "take action now to avert a crisis in the Social Security system." Al Gore made the Social Security "lockbox" a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. And George W. Bush insisted earlier this month that Social Security was "headed toward bankruptcy down the road." As a result, most young people today are convinced that Social Security will be gone by the time they retire.

But what if something that "everybody knows" turns out to be a political myth? What if Social Security isn't in trouble at all?

Ten years ago Social Security trustees predicted that the system would become insolvent in 35 years, meaning 2029. Five years later they were still predicting that insolvency was 35 years away ? doomsday had been postponed to 2034. Today, they're predicting that insolvency is 38 years away, in 2042.

What happened? Why does the insolvency date keep getting further away? How could the trustees have been so continually wrong?
How could this be? Well it's always easier just to take someone's word for it and if that premise is repeated often enough we just start to believe it. Unfortunately I did. That has all changed now and the sooner we all realize that Social Security has, and if left untouched by Bush, will continue to do exactly what it was intended to do. Social Security was not created to be your retirement program. It is a social insurance program that everyone puts into and if you reach retirement, become disabled or a family wage earner dies - otherwise known as survivor benefits - you then collect on that insurance policy. Before Social Security, being old all too often meant being poor. Many men and women at that time faced what was termed ?the stark terror of penniless, helpless old age.? Today, thanks largely to Social Security, people know that they will have a dependable foundation of income when they retire; only about 11 percent of older Americans now fall below the poverty line. (Excerpts in italics are from, A Brief History of Social Security (.PDF).) That is why Social Security was created, not to be gambled in the stock market, so that no one had to retire in that terror again. Now that is a terror war worth fighting.

Here is the single best resource to use to get educated about Social Security, The Social Security Network.

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Tuesday, December 28, 2004
 
Chris Floyd
Poison Pen
According to agents of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, President George W. Bush has signed a secret executive order approving the use of torture against prisoners captured in his "war on terror" -- including thousands of innocent people rounded up in Iraq and crammed into Saddam Hussein's infamous Abu Ghraib prison.

[and]

Most of the offences occurred long after the initial public scandal over "a few bad apples" at Abu Ghraib. For example, in June 2004, an FBI agent informed top officials in Washington that he had witnessed such torture techniques as "strangulation, beatings, [and] placement of lit cigarettes into the detainees' ear openings." The agent added that military officials "were engaged in a coverup of these abuses."
The latest on the DNC Chair Race
DNC CattleCall: Holiday Edition
In January, they'll be 4 regional DNC member gatherings. I encourage all the Netroots activists out there to attend one of them nearest to you, if possible. It's very likely that the active candidates for the DNC Chair will be in attendence, and be accessible to the public. I'll try to confirm that as we get nearer the event, at least for the Reform candidates attending. Again, here's the January dates and cities (exact locations will be available later): 1/8, Atlanta; 1/15, St. Louis; 1/22, Sacramento; 1/29 New York City. DrivingVotes.org is going to be organizing roadtrips to the events, so you can also sign up there to be informed.

Now, on to the CattleCall. It's been a fairly slow couple of weeks, with few developments, and no one publically dropping out, but a couple of more possible entrants, raising the number of candidates circulating to 10
What do these people expect in return?
Businesses, individuals to provide $40 million for 2nd inauguration, set to military theme
Soldiers will dance free of charge at President Bush's second inauguration, a record $40 million-plus celebration for "a nation at war" financed by some of the same big donors who bankrolled Bush's re-election campaign.
The complete list

0 comments
 
Have you seen these?
Peter Rost, a vice president of marketing at Pfizer, tells all
Big Pharma's Dirty Little Secret
The American healthcare system is the best in the world. Or so we are often told. But is it really true?
What is this man afraid of?
Ohio GOP Election Officials Ducking Subpoenas as Kerry Enters Stolen Vote Fray
Ohio Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell refused to appear at a deposition on Monday, December 27. The deposition was part of an election challenge lawsuit filed at the Ohio Supreme Court. Meanwhile John Kerry is reported to have filed a federal legal action aimed at preserving crucial recount evidence, which has been under GOP assault throughout the state.
This may be part of it
Internet Vote Fraud: Means, Motive, and Opportunity
It is now public record that Triad "legally hacked" into Van Wert County, Ohio on December 9th, and other counties on different dates in preparation for the recount.

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Michael Kinsley sheds light on the Social Security privatization scam
If It's Right, It's Wrong
As I wrote last week, I'm convinced that Social Security privatization is not merely a bad idea but a certain failure, and I offered to provide a logical proof, challenging supporters to find the flaw or give up.

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Saturday, December 25, 2004
 
A Christmas Message
From Father Andrew Greeley
No peace on Earth during unjust war
This time of the year we celebrate ''peace on Earth to men of good will.'' Americans must face the fact that they can no longer claim to be men and women of good will, not as long as they support an unnecessary, foolish, ill-conceived, badly executed and, finally, unwinnable war. If most people in other countries blame the war on Americans, we earned that blame in the November election -- not that there is any serious reason to believe that Sen. John Kerry would have had the courage to end the war. Perhaps if he had changed his mind, as he did about the war in Vietnam, and opposed the Iraqi war, he might have won. Too late now. Too late till 2010 -- or 2020.

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004
 
Random Questions
Has anyone else noticed that the beheadings in Iraq have stopped since the Presidential election? Why is that? How Bush Really Won

Why is our government torturing people? New Papers Suggest Detainee Abuse Was Widespread

Did you know that it serves a US Senator or Representative better after his career is over if he was not too far right or left? Departing Lawmakers Cash in Years of Service for Big Bucks





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Tuesday, December 21, 2004
 
More Proof The Election Was Fixed
Poll: President's Year-End Job Approval
Most broadly, this ABC News/Washington Post poll shows no second honeymoon for Bush after his re-election last month. The nation is as divided as ever, with Americans split, 48 percent to 49 percent, on his overall job performance -- about where it's been for most of 2004. Bush has 55 percent job approval in the "red" states he won -- compared with 40 percent, 15 points lower, in the "blue" states won by Democrat John Kerry.

0 comments
 
Thom Hartmann on how a nation slips into Fascism
The Myth of National Victimhood - All Wrapped and Delivered for Christmas
To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it - please try to believe me - unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us had ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, "regretted," that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these "little measures" that no "patriotic German" could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head.
Are you a "lone wolf"?
The Enemies Among Us
Now the law has been expanded to include a "lone wolf" provision; supposedly aimed at an individual terrorist acting without the support of a foreign government. In fact, the purpose of the new provision is to allow unlimited surveillance of any American without the hassle of having to prove even the "remotest" connection to organized terror or a foreign government. It is a "blank check" for law enforcement to eschew all privacy laws without fear of reprimand. It is the end of the 4th amendment.

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My morning drive
I am really in a bad place these days when I commute to and from work. I used to sports radio. But it's all owned by Clear Channel and had to stop that. So are most of the music stations so that's out of the question. I do have one local radio host, he calls himself a Libertarian, and occasionally has a topic worth listening to. Other than that it's NPR. I have been slowly souring on NPR. They still have a few actual news stories every once in a while. But this morning the two stories I heard were crap. One was on Former Lawmakers Turn to Lobbying and the other was an interview with the Dr. Death, a.k.a Richard Perle: Defending Rumsfeld's Record. If you have time go listen and you will come to the realization that I did, It's time to get Sirius.

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Monday, December 20, 2004
 
What will it take?
How many must die before the masses in this country take for a fact that the reasons for invading Iraq were non existent? What will it take for them to admit to themselves that the rationales for war: WMD, Saddam-al-Qaeda link, passing WMD to terrorists, and all the other fear mongering was just that? Many people have drawn comparisons between this war and the Vietnam War. There are some similarities, the main one being that the Executive Branch of government has lied to the people about the war. But to me the biggest difference between this war and Vietnam is that it took many years for a serious opposition to bubble up to the Vietnam War. In this war we are already way ahead of Vietnam in that respect. There were protests beforehand and many in the military, diplomatic and government community are already speaking out. So as for dissent in this war we are at this point further ahead than at this point in Vietnam. That is a hopeful sign. It means that we are considerably closer to the masses uniting against this war. Ask people you this question, "Nearly 1,300 Lives Lost - And For What?", and see what kind of answers you get.

A few things to look at on this front:

The President's reply to what Donald Rumsfeld told that soldier:
Q Thanks, Mr. President. Secretary Rumsfeld heard some complaints from soldiers yesterday, who said, among other things, they've got inadequate armor as they head into Iraq. Do you know how widespread this problem is, and what are we doing about it?

THE PRESIDENT: First, I appreciate the fact that the Secretary went and visited our troops and took questions from the troops. I had the honor of visiting with our troops at Camp Pendleton on Tuesday. It's such an uplifting experience to be able to speak directly to the troops. And I had the honor of meeting with the families of the fallen, as well.

The concerns expressed are being addressed, and that is we expect our troops to have the best possible equipment. And if I were a soldier overseas wanting to defend my country, I'd want to ask the Secretary of Defense the same question, and that is, are we getting the best we can get us? And they deserve the best. And I have told many families I met with, we're doing everything we possibly can to protect your loved ones in a mission which is vital and important. And that mission is to spread freedom and peace. And I want to thank all the troops who will be spending their Christmas season overseas, away from their families, for their sacrifice; and I want to thank the families once again for the sacrifices they have made, as well.
Notice he never answered the question, first of all. He also didn't say that Rumsfeld was wrong to say what he did. He just said that if HE was in Iraq, which in and of itself is funny enough, he would have the same question. Really? You would want to know why the Army has failed to armor vehicles when it could have been done already? Next he says that, "we're doing everything we possibly can to protect your loved..". An obvious lie , the previous story shows they obviously were not doing everything possible. This administration's dismissive treatment of this story just adds to the frustration that our soldiers and their families are feeling. Which will speed the masses into dissent and opposition.

The armor is only a tip of the iceberg as far as the horror that our military is having to deal with.

Ever heard of DU? Weapons of Self-Destruction

Stan Goff tells how We Will Reclaim Our Armed Forces!

Help out this organization, Operation Truth. Also watch the trailer for their documentary and donate if you can so they can get it released.

As I look at these stories their will be mounting pressure on this administration to change things. They will not. The part that scares me is that when the masses start to figure out the cards are stacked against them how do the rulers keep control? Also if things are this bad how will the American people allow more of their children to be sacrificed for their wars? My fear is that the only way for them to cement their hold on the government and the masses will be another terrorist attack on our soil.

0 comments
Friday, December 17, 2004
 
Social Security is the line in the sand
I've got few things on my mind. One is the nomination of Bernard Kerik as the Secretary of Homeland Security. Bush liked this guy because he is a tough guy or at least exuded a tough guy image. This helped reinforce Bush's image of himself as a tough guy, "smokin' out taraists". Saint Rudy and Bush himself had already used him before and Bush figured he would burn up a little of his political capitol on a "real man" like himself. For those reasons they didn't check up on the guy and it burned them. What I can't figure out on this is why the SCLM has followed up on this one. Maybe they were given one to make Bush look a little vulnerable and maybe protect Alberto Gonzalez.

The other is the fact that we will find out in the next two years if there is still a Democratic Party in this country. As the years pass from the New Deal and all the great liberal accomplishments since then there is really only one left in tact and that is, of course, Social Security. To care for the disabled, those who lose their bread winner and the elderly is not only a great liberal and social need it is a human need. No matter what background we come from I believe that the idea of everyone coming together to take care of those that cannot take care of themselves is a worthwhile use of our resources. So in my estimation if the Democrats cannot unite in strong opposition against this proposed first step in the dismantling of Social Security, one of their most enduring legacies, then they might as well cease to exist.

Below are two articles by David Sirota about the future of the Democratic Party, Krugman with more information on the Bush lies on Social Security, Alberto Gonzalez will be the next nominee to have problems, more liberal history, and the bribing of our troops.

Krugman, Buying Into Failure. Also how they use an insider as a regular person. Next, Clamor Grows in the Privatization Debate. You know how a shark will die if it stops swimming? These people will die if they stop lying.

Two from Sirota, Debunking 'Centrism' and The Democrats? Da Vinci Code.

Alberto, Ex-Military Lawyers Object to Bush Cabinet Nominee.

A little history on how far we have come, when even Republicans were liberal, Trooping for Democracy.

If your in the National Guard the question is: How much is your life worth? U.S. National Guard Triples Recruitment, Retention Bonuses. The media, the "wing-nuts" and this administration like to tell us about are "all volunteer" army. This appears to be more like the coalition we put together. They are bribing soldiers to stay in. I think that called a mercenary. They take these people our of their private sector jobs, put them back in the military and where they get paid less. Because of that they're probably plunged into financial difficulties and I'm sure 15 grand looks pretty good. Pretty evil isn't it?

0 comments
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
 
Josh Marshall on..
the Social Security fight
The Social Security "crisis" is manufactured; there is no crisis. To the extent there are long-term financing problems, the president's plan will gravely worsen them. The problem we face isn't over Social Security, which continues to run up huge surpluses (just as it was intended to under the early-80s reform), but that our non-Social Security budget continues to run massive structural deficits. Or rather, it has returned to running massive structural deficits after getting into the black in the late 1990s through the combined exertions of a Democratic president and a Republican congress. Social Security isn't the problem, but rather George W. Bush's reckless fiscal policy.
You'll never guess what the new HHS Secretary's family business is
Health secretary nominee may cut programs (gotta love the headline)
Before becoming governor, he was chief operating officer of the Leavitt Group, a family insurance firm in which he maintains an investment worth between $5 million and $25 million, according to a financial disclosure report he filed in 2003

The company owns 100 independent insurance agencies that sell supplemental Medicare policies, among other insurance products, according to company literature.
That would seem to show maybe, that there could be, a potential for, a conflict of interest?

0 comments
 
Picture This
Try to make a mental image of this situation:

Try and picture our country as it is right now except just a couple of things were different. Picture it about 16 months ago and the CEO of a company that makes voting machines says he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes.." for one of the candidates. That the company that "manufactures punch-card voting systems, and also wrote the computer program that tallied the punch-card votes cast in 41 Ohio counties last November.." is a donor to that candidate and his party. Then just picture these types of things happening in areas that were known to vote against that candidate. Next imagine that a Senator, who is a former voting machine company Chairman of the Board and in the same party as the aforementioned candidate, "did surprisingly well in an election where the votes were verified by the company he served as chairman and maintained a financial investment." The last thing to picture about all of this, of course, is to picture all this being done by Democrats and their supporters against Republicans. Also the Democratic candidate wins the election and picks up seats in both houses. What do you think would be happening in the "wing nut" media? Just close you eyes and picture Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, FOX News and all their brethren.

That is why for me there are major questions about this election. There is more than just the appearance of wrong doing. When those connected with voting machine companies are always donors or connected to one party shouldn't that be seen as a problem? When all the "irregularities" always go against the party that isn't supported or donated to, shouldn't that be cause for alarm? I guess my main point is that most people and especially our "free press" do not see this connection as a problem. They seem to believe that, well everyone else will steal and are corrupt but no one would ever steal my vote. So once again I pose the question, who do you trust to count your vote? A machine that is programmed by a company that donates to one party? Why should you have to "trust" anyone to count your vote? Why don't we have a completely transparent system so that everyone knows how themselves and everyone else voted? If we are the best democracy in the world we should have that?!

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Tuesday, December 14, 2004
 
Some Questions
Put yourself in an Iraqi's shoes. Would you go along with an army/occupier of your country? How would you feel about your fellow citizens that were cooperating? Did you ever see the movie Red Dawn?

What can you do with 2% of your Social Security money each year? Do you know how much that is? Do you think it will stop with 2%? Who is going to manage that money and what are they going to charge? What will the elderly have to take care of them if the stock market goes boom? Do you know there is a problem with Social Security? Can you explain it? Do you know why this debate is now? And do you know it is not being done to fix a problem that doesn't exist?

Why is Rumsfeld still Secretary of Defense?

Why are we still in Iraq?

Why isn't the SCLM all over the Ohio election "irregularities"? If the media is so liberal why aren't they reporting on possible fraud of in an state that could flip the election from a conservative incumbent President? Why won't the Ohio Secretary of State answer the questions submitted to him by a Congressional Committee?

What ever happened to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

0 comments
 
I'm back
This morning I just have a question and then a few articles to look at. Do you still think you live in a Democracy?

Pentagon Weighs Use of Deception in a Broad Arena. If you believe this is not already being used and being used on you, you are fooling yourself.

Startling new revelations highlight rare Congressional hearings on Ohio vote.
Taken together, the revelations show Republicans – in state and county government, and in the Ohio Republican Party – were determined to undermine and suppress Democratic turnout by a wide variety of methods.


Do you know what this number signifies 1297?

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Sunday, December 12, 2004
 
Sunday Blogging

Social Security is not broken and therefore does not need to be fixed


Still going
For Some, the Race Remains Far From Over
Most have moved on since Nov. 2. But thousands continue to contest the presidential election results, with efforts focused on Ohio.
Some are jumping of the Rummy train
Hagel loses confidence in Rumsfeld
Hagel characterized Rumsfeld's performance as "incompetent" and refused to endorse him for another 4 years. "Bush has got to live with his choice for the next four years," said Hagel. Some of his remarks are paraphrased below:
Sirota from earlier in the week
The Democrats’ Da Vinci Code

As the Democratic Party goes through its quadrennial self-flagellation process, the same tired old consultants and insiders are once again complaining that Democratic elected officials have no national agenda and no message.

Yet encrypted within the 2004 election map is a clear national economic platform to build a lasting majority. You don’t need Fibonacci’s sequence, a decoder ring, or 3-D glasses to see it. You just need to start asking the right questions.

0 comments
Saturday, December 11, 2004
 
Saturday Blogging
A good editorial on how the working class is being suckered
Reality flattens tall tale of war
These burdens are borne by a relatively small sliver of the American population? the working class. Enlisted men and women tend to come from households earning between $32,000 and $33,500, according to a 1999 Defense Department study. (The median American income is $43,300.) The poorest of the poor don't go; neither do the affluent.

It is odd enough that so many working-class Americans have been seduced by Bush's claims that he's a regular guy looking out for their interests, when, in fact, his policies overwhelmingly benefit well-off families and wealthy corporations.
Of course they don't want anyone talking about class warfare because they're the ones that started the war. Read this to see what is happening to the wounded, Casualties of War ? Military Care for the Wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan and if you want to see some of the injuries they put up slides as well, Caring for the Wounded in Iraq ? A Photo Essay

If believe in Social Security it's time to stand and fight
A Domestic Policy in Sharp Focus
President Bush is moving quickly to create a new, tighter and more disciplined domestic policy team to pursue transforming the way Americans save for retirement, pay taxes and seek legal damages.
In other words the rich will steal your money, life and happiness and go free.

If you live near the capitol city in your state go to the march tomorrow, "YOU STOLE MY VOTE" 51 CAPITAL MARCH

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Friday, December 10, 2004
 
Extra, Extra
What the hell is this man saying?
Rummy again
I don’t know what the facts are, but somebody is certainly going to sit down with him and find out what he knows, that they may not know, and make sure he knows what they know that he may not know. That’s a good thing. So I guess it is a very constructive exchange.
I think all those years of selling chemical weapons to ruthless dictators has turned his brain to mush.

Yummy, yummy
EPA May Allow the Discharge of Partially Treated Sewage
The Environmental Protection Agency is close to issuing new guidelines making it easier for sewage authorities to dump partially treated wastewater during heavy rainfalls, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

[and]

Nancy Stoner, who runs the Natural Resources Defense Council's clean water project, said the new policy "means more people will get sick and more people will die. This is really a very significant issue from a public health standpoint."
No Shit!
Officer Alleges CIA Retaliation
A senior CIA operative who handled sensitive informants in Iraq asserts that CIA managers asked him to falsify his reporting on weapons of mass destruction and retaliated against him after he refused.
Chris Floyd
Home Cooking
And the American people, what do they do about all the horror being wrought in their name? They shrug. They grin. They sit down to the feast.

0 comments
 
More on Rummy
I'm sure by now you've heard/seen/read about the armor question that Rumsfeld took the other day in Iraq. But are you aware that his reason why was incorrect? Well here is the question and answer:
Q: Yes, Mr. Secretary. My question is more logistical. We’ve had troops in Iraq for coming up on three years and we’ve always staged here out of Kuwait. Now why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromise ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles and why don’t we have those resources readily available to us? [Applause]

SEC. RUMSFELD: I missed the first part of your question. And could you repeat it for me?

Q: Yes, Mr. Secretary. Our soldiers have been fighting in Iraq for coming up on three years. A lot of us are getting ready to move north relatively soon. Our vehicles are not armored. We’re digging pieces of rusted scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass that’s already been shot up, dropped, busted, picking the best out of this scrap to put on our vehicles to take into combat. We do not have proper armament vehicles to carry with us north.

SEC. RUMSFELD: I talked to the General coming out here about the pace at which the vehicles are being armored. They have been brought from all over the world, wherever they’re not needed, to a place here where they are needed. I’m told that they are being – the Army is – I think it’s something like 400 a month are being done. And it’s essentially a matter of physics. It isn’t a matter of money. It isn’t a matter on the part of the Army of desire. It’s a matter of production and capability of doing it.
First of all, I'm no physics major but what would physics have to do with it? And second, It seems it isn't a matter of production and capability:
Jacksonville, Florida-based Armor Holdings last month told the Army it could add armor to as many as 550 of the trucks a month, up from 450 vehicles now, Robert Mecredy, president of the company's aerospace and defense group said in a telephone interview today.

``We're prepared to build 50 to 100 vehicles more per month,'' Mecredy said in the interview. ``I've told the customer that and I stand ready to do that.''
Uh oh! It's hard for me to believe that this is not a lie. Since as you can see from Rumsfeld's answer he is pretty good with remembering figures. He knows that, "something like 400 a month are being done". So from that I take it that he knew more could be done as well. I call Rumsfeld a liar, I'm sure that shocks you. So it seems to me he still has not answered the question. Maybe it should be asked again but like this:
Q: Yes, Mr. Secretary. A few days ago you answered a soldiers question about lack of armor saying that, "It isn't a matter of money. It isn't a matter on the part of the Army of desire. It's a matter of production and capability of doing it." The next day we found out that actually the company that puts armor on the vehicles could armor 22% more than it was doing but was not given the go ahead. This refutes your answer about production and capabilily being the reason. So, now that we know that, would you mind telling us what the real answer is for why the troops vehicles are not being armored?
I'll be waiting for that one to be asked at the next Pentagon briefing.


[Update]

I saw this after I posted.
U.S. Stance on Armor Disputed
Washington - Despite Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld's assertion that the military is outfitting Humvees with armor as quickly as possible, the company providing the vehicles said it has been waiting since September for approval from the Pentagon to increase monthly production by as many as 100 of the all-terrain vehicles, intended to protect against roadside bombs in Iraq.

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Thursday, December 09, 2004
 
The other day me and my wife had a discussion in the car about the election, one of many we have had. It was another discussion of why Kerry lost. This topic always frustrates me because I don't think he did. Which brings me to my point, all the talking people are doing, basically the media, about why Kerry lost. But in the next breath they will mention what happened in Ohio and maybe, if they're feeling brave, Florida. I'm not pointing fingers because I fall into it too but how can anyone discuss the WHY when they are still not sure of the WHAT. Meaning if you're talking or writing about the election problems it's seems pointless to then start discussing the results of an election you believe to be in error. Another thing that makes me mad and a recent Al Franken ad on Air America brought it to mind, is the fact that he's raising money for the Ohio recount but goes to great pains to make sure everyone knows that, "We don't think it will change the outcome". What's the point then? All this crap about, just making sure we get every vote counted, is just that, crap! Everyone was pissed about Kerry being wishy-washy during the campaign. Well the Democratic Party and it's surrogates won't even speak up about the fact that this election was fraudulent. I know I used the "F" word and that's not acceptable but it is the truth. So why is everyone scared to stick their neck out. Call them criminals and liars. Or as John Kerry said on the campaign trail, "this is the biggest bunch of liars and crooks I've ever seen". If he knows that and you know the media knows that then why won't anyone go after them? If you can answer that then you've got the key to unlock the door.

Which brings me to the next point that several of the big Liberal/Progressive/Democratic blogs have posted on recently. What the DLC has done to the party. Kos wraps it up, DLC's irrelevance. I brought it up because as we look ahead to the future of the Democratic Party this is the time to choose a direction. The way we have been going is not right. Since the DLC's heyday we have lost every branch of government. And if you believe that there was fraud in the election the DLC is not going to fight to find our about that. Just read what Will Rivers Pitt has to say about the Conyers Forum yesterday. Here is his running blog during the forum (LONG), The Conyers Hearing and here is his report (SHORT) From Selma to Ohio: A Report from the Conyers Hearing.

We move from there to the big pile of trash that your Congress passed yesterday. The "Intelligence Reform Bill". After 4 years and a whitewash commission this is what you get for your tax dollars. I don't want to get a riled up on 9/11 and the myths surrounding it but let's just say that terrorists did it and you want to stop terrorism, how do you do that? Not by starting wars based on lies with a country that never attacked us in the first place. Not to mention the fact that any new position with someone appointed by this country cannot be good. Here is what Senator Byrd had to say about it, Politics Surround Intelligence Reform, Hasty Action Leaves Too Many Gaps and Problems.

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They're running out of soldiers, Uncle Sam Wants Your Kids – Now!
We’ll soon have 150,000 U.S. troops stuck in the ever-expanding Iraqi quagmire, a number that will probably grow even larger before Iraq holds elections presently scheduled for the end of January ’05.

Maintaining such a force is a logistical and personnel nightmare for every grunt in Iraq. And according to several Pentagon number crunchers, it’s also driving the top brass bonkers.

Meanwhile the insurgents continue cutting our supply lines and whacking our fighting platoons and supporters, who attrit daily as soldiers and Marines fall to enemy shots, sickness or accidents. Empty platoons lose fights, so these casualties have to be replaced ASAP

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This from Atrios, the latest on Republican Family Values:
Before

Mike Hintz, a First Assembly of God youth pastor, said the tax cuts also gave him additional money to use for health care.

He said he supports Bush's values.

"The American people are starting to see what kind of leader President Bush is. People know where he stands," he said.

After

A Des Moines youth pastor is charged with the sexual exploitation of a child.

KCCI learned that the married father of four recently turned himself in to Johnston police.

Rev. Mike Hintz was fired from the First Assembly of God Church, located at 2725 Merle Hay Road, on Oct. 30. Hintz was the youth pastor there for three years.

Police said he started an affair with a 17-year-old in the church youth group this spring.
And the Republicans are the party of "moral values"? Yeah right.

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Wednesday, December 08, 2004
 
Paul Krugman restates the fact that there is no problem with Social Security Crisis in his latest column Inventing a Crisis
For Social Security is a government program that works, a demonstration that a modest amount of taxing and spending can make people's lives better and more secure. And that's why the right wants to destroy it.
E. J. Dionne is coming along too, Get Along? Get Real.

Howard Dean gave a speech today and it started like this:
Let me tell you what my plan for this Party is:

We're going to win in Mississippi
...and Alabama
...and Idaho
...and South Carolina.


Four years ago, the President won 49 percent of the vote. The Republican Party treated it like it was a mandate, and we let them get away with it.

Fifty one percent is not a mandate either. And this time we're not going to let them get away with it.

Our challenge today is not to re-hash what has happened, but to look forward, to make the Democratic Party a 50-state party again, and, most importantly, to win.
Not bad. Go read the rest.

Rummy took questions from the troops today, Troops gripe to top visitor
Army Spc. Thomas Wilson of the 278th Regimental Combat Team, which is made up mainly of citizen soldiers of the Tennessee Army National Guard, asked Rumsfeld in a question-and-answer session why vehicle armor is still in short supply, nearly two years after the war started.

"Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?" Wilson asked. A big cheer arose from the approximately 2,300 soldiers in the cavernous hangar who assembled to see and hear the secretary of defense.

Rumsfeld hesitated and asked Wilson to repeat his question.

"We do not have proper armored vehicles to carry with us north," Wilson said after asking again.

Rumsfeld replied that, "You go to war with the Army you have," not the one you might want, and that the Army was pushing manufacturers of vehicle armor to produce it as fast as humanly possible.
I wonder what Rummy would have said to this soldier?

The latest on Ohio, Ohio election fraud uproar blasting to new level.

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Monday, December 06, 2004
 
Some interesting things
Chris Floyd, from Friday
Client State
The years of George W. Bush's sour misrule have been disastrous for many of his staunchest supporters. The Heartland folk have seen their jobs taken, liberties curtailed, communities withered, states bankrupted, prices hiked, schools neglected, pensions gutted, air poisoned, water tainted, and their children killed and maimed in an unjust war for profit that's made the world more dangerous. Yet still they swear allegiance to a leader whose every action -- as opposed to the honeyed hokum of his speeches -- expresses nothing but vicious contempt for those he governs.
This is just wrong. Did you read or see Catch-22?
Extended Iraq duty weighs on the troops
"I had a son in October. I haven't met him yet," said Sgt. Eric Wing, 24. "I was mostly wanting to get home for him."

Some people compare a military deployment to a marathon--a task requiring physical and mental pacing. Under that comparison, the soldiers of the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division had nearly completed their 26.2 miles when they found out they would have to run even farther.

"Like any soldier over here, we're all ready to go home," said Sgt. Matthew Yost.
I wonder if these two are related in any way?
Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Programs Teach False And Misleading Information and Teen pregnancy has me seeing Red.

I'll be out tomorrow. See you on Wednesday.

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Flashback then Reality
Atrios takes us on a couple of flashbacks to what was being said in the media when Shock and Awe began and when Saddam was captured. It all seemed so easy back then. Like victory, whatever that was supposed to be, was near. But as usual reality rears its ugly head. More torture photos surface. Iraq is turning uglier by the day, 21 Killed in Fresh Iraq Violence, Snipers, car bombers infest Baghdad's airport road and the violence appear to be pushing it into a civil war if it hasn't already. And if that wasn't enough Musharraf said over the weekend that the world is "less safe" because of the invasion of Iraq and that the Bin Laden trail has gone cold.

The reason it's good to go back and look at that stuff is because over time we forget the specifics of what happened, I know I did. Shock and Awe, it was treated like a fireworks display by the media. Now we know that these weren't precision bombs, how can bombs making those kind of explosions be precise? Also with Saddam's capture, as you read the comments, you see how little credibility anyone that predicted things would get better after his capture now have. This was the first thing that was used to start tearing down Howard Dean. Guess who was right? But those two flashbacks put in context the current situation and how completely most Americans were marketed to by our Corporate run government and media. Nothing they said has come to pass.

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Saturday, December 04, 2004
 
A Couple from the weekend, They make you think
The 9/11 Catastrophe - A Dereliction of Duty by Our Commander-in-Chief
The President's attitude on cooperation with the 9-11 Commission was just the opposite of what it should have been. As Commander-in-Chief, he should have worked with the Commission to get at the heart of the problem, with the idea of preventing future attacks. Instead, for a year, the White House resisted the investigative Commission and then stonewalled it for another year."
Secret Intelligence and the 'War on Terror'
Now is a good time for Americans to pause and consider our progress in what the Bush administration chooses to call the war on terror. Osama bin Laden remains at large three years after the attacks of September 11, the war in Iraq has reached a kind of stasis of escalating violence matched by an erosion of our ability to control events there, new crises loom with other members of the "axis of evil" defined by President Bush in January 2002, and the President's reelection rules out the likelihood of any sudden change in American policy. With suspense on that point ended for the moment, we ought to weigh what we have learned from the linked disasters of September 11 and the war in Iraq, and what we should fear or expect next as American plans and facts on the ground sort themselves out in the Middle East.

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Friday, December 03, 2004
 
Exitles say Iraq has nukes.
Below is a story from an Los Angeles Times story about Iran's alleged "new" missile. What I will do is show you the qualifiers and interesting items in this article. I am not taking issue with the writer, I am just pointing out how amusing the wording is.

Here is a color key:
Highlighted item from article
My comments

Iran Working on New Missile, Exiles Say

Opposition group says Tehran is developing a weapon that could hit Western Europe and is trying to equip them with illicit warheads.

By John Daniszewski
Times Staff Writer

December 3, 2004

LONDON ? An Iranian opposition group asserted Thursday that the Islamic Republic was developing a new series of missiles with the capability to strike Western Europe, and seeking ways to arm them with chemical or nuclear warheads.Why would Iran want to bomb Western Europe? The writer of this story never tells us. Are we just supposed to assume that Iran hates Western Europe and wants to bomb it?

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, or NCRI, held a news conference at the Parliament building in London to outline what it said Who is NCRI to say? were advanced weapons delivery systems being secretly manufactured by Tehran.

The group has been labeled by the State Department as a front for the Mujahedin Khalq, an armed opposition force, and the two appear on U.S. and European Union lists of terrorist organizations Are we going to take the word of a terrorist organization? because of violent activities against the Iranian government, a charge the NCRI denies. Don't most terrorist organizations deny they are terrorist organizations?

Although the group did not give a precise source or documentation for its accusations In other words they have no proof, organizers pointed out that it first revealed to the world the secret Iranian nuclear sites at Natanz and Arak in August 2002.

A former senior CIA official has told The Times that U.S. authorities closely follow the NCRI's claims, despite its terrorist designation and mixed record for accuracy. Here we get our first look at an anonymous source. Who from the "mixed record" comment appears to be saying that sometimes their information is correct and sometimes it isn't. So which time is this? I don't know. Maybe some more information on when they were right and when they were wrong would help clear this up.

"They obviously got sources within their home country," the ex-official said. I mean this is just an amazing quote. I mean just for obvious reasons, of course they have sources in the country, they
re exiles. Does this remind anyone of a guy named Chalabi?


The group's charges followed a statement made last month by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who said that Washington had unconfirmed intelligence that Iran might be trying to adapt missiles to carry nuclear warheads. I'll tell you who has unconfirmed intelligence! What the hell is this? Isn't unconfirmed intelligence what got us into the mess we are currently in Colin?

The Iranian regime's efforts to obtain long-range missiles and weapons are two wings of a single strategy," the group's spokesman, Ali Safavi, said at the news conference. "Militarily speaking, by obtaining them [missiles] they are trying to put many regions of the world ? most of Europe, I must say ? within their range." Again, why doe Iran want to bomb Europe. Will someone please explain that to me. I mean why are we just assuming this without any reason?

He charged that the religious leadership in Iran was "bent on acquiring long- and medium-range missiles that will carry nuclear and chemical warheads" in order to "prolong their increasingly fragile regime."

He said the state-run Iranian Aerospace Industries Organization had a top-secret Ghadr missile system in development at the Hemmat Missile Industries complex in northeast Tehran. The missile's range is intended to be about 1,550 to 1,875 miles and it will be more maneuverable and quicker to deploy without detection than the Shahab-3 and Shahab-4 missile systems Iran has already developed, Safavi said.

The Iranian government has denied repeatedly that it is developing such missiles. It also has insisted that its nuclear program is for civilian, not military, purposes.

A resolution adopted this week by the International Atomic Energy Agency's governing board sealed a mid-November deal brokered by Britain, France and Germany for Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities and thus avoid referral to the U.N. Security Council, where it could face sanctions. The U.S. has remained skeptical of Iran's pledge.

Safavi said that his group had a vast network inside Iran and that the missile report, which named divisions and individuals involved in the alleged development, was based on "highly placed people within Iran's leadership as well as its various programs." He did not present any documentary evidence. Why does he need to provide evidence? Once again an accusation without documented proof. What is the point of this story if everything they say cannot be proved?

"When you look at the quantity of information we have provided for the last few years, many would agree it has been the most accurate and reliable on Iran's nuclear and missile program," Safavi said.

"Western intelligence agencies have been, by and large So we know some things, like what?, left in the dark with regard to these weapons programs."

The Paris-based NCRI is closely linked to the Mujahedin Khalq, which has claimed responsibility for bombings and armed attacks inside Iran against the theocratic regime. Until the defeat of Saddam Hussein, the guerrilla force had been encouraged by Iraq. Are we going to take the word of a terrorist organization financed by Saddam Hussein? I thought that's who we are supposed to get rid of in Iraq.

Because previous revelations made by the group about Iran's secret uranium-enrichment activities turned out to be true, the Bush administration did not dismiss Thursday's allegations. So they didn't dismiss unconfirmed intelligence about Nukes in Iran. That's the first logical thing in this whole story One official, who declined to be identified, noted that the National Council of Resistance of Iran had no U.S. backing.

The rest of this story is just Scottie ramlbing on. But my main question is what the hell is the story here? Iraqi exiles have people in that country that are telling them stories that may be true or may be false about Iraq's nuclear program? Is that news?

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the administration's ultimate goal "is that Iran end its pursuit of nuclear weapons, and it's important that they cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency."

McClellan said any questions about weapons sites should be fully investigated by inspectors.

"The IAEA has asked to be able to go in and inspect those sites," McClellan added. "And I think the international community is sending a clear and unified message to Iran that they need to cooperate fully with inspectors, with the IAEA, when it comes to their nuclear weapons programs."

*

Times staff writer Tyler Marshall in Washington and Janet Stobart of The Times' London Bureau contributed to this report.


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Man o Man
What are the qualifications of you Homeland Security nominee you ask? Well check these out, Kerik nomination is a ticking time bomb:
Campaign bodyguard to Rudy Giuliani.

Errand boy for the Saudi royal family.

Energetic exploiter of Sept. 11th tragedy.

Tough-talking publicity-hound vowing to bring law and order to Iraq - then hightailing it out of there after a disastrous 14 weeks, leaving the place far less safe than he found it.
Sounds like someone that will fit right in with our President's resume of failure. The list of insiders and Republican hacks that our President is populating his second term administration with is down-right scary. As all the rats jump ship to spend time with their families -- better known as leaving government to use their connections made while in government to make themselves and their families wealthy. The list of incompetents cronies he is appointing would be comical if only it was an SNL skit.

Now we move from our President's destruction of the government to his destruction of the economy, November Job Growth Unexpectedly Soft. Check out these excerpts:
A surprisingly soft 112,000 new U.S. jobs were created in November, the Labor Department said on Friday, casting a shadow across an already downbeat holiday sales season with consumers apparently worried by scarce work and high oil prices.

...

October's gain was marked down to 303,000 from an originally reported 337,000-job increase. The department cut September's total to 119,000 from 139,000.

...

Manufacturing employment posted a third successive monthly drop in November, losing 5,000 jobs after what had appeared to be the beginning of a recovery in the hard-hit sector earlier this year.

The report showed some 16,000 retail jobs were lost in November -- a tally that surprised analysts since the vital Thanksgiving-to-Christmas holiday sales season generally sees retailers adding to their job rosters.

Average hourly earnings barely edged up to $15.83 from $15.82 in October, the smallest increase for any month this year and a sharp contrast to the steep escalation in gasoline and energy prices that have sapped spending power.

Early reports from U.S. retailers have indicated a disappointing start to holiday sales on the post-Thanksgiving weekend and reports say some of the biggest, such as Wal-Mart, already are discounting some items to try to spur business.
It's so bad that the Fed might not raise interest rates again.

What does all of this mean? This administration created deficits in order to cut social programs. Social Security is not in crisis. Do you need a Reality Check? Here is a point - counterpoint on the issue.

What all of this should tell you is that what is going to happen in this country, if the current path is continued, is the dismantling of the whole social justice system. Whether you believe people cheat the system is beyond the point. The point is do you believe it should exist? If you do you have to stand up and fight for it because if these private accounts are allowed to happen Social Security is dead. You also must understand that this has been the plan all along. They don't want to reform it they want to end it. As Gorver Norquist said, ?"My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub".? Excluding the defense budget, of course, since that is what funds the corporations that fund their campaings, among other things.

I would like to recommend three people I love to read because what they write is so different than anything you see in the mainstream press. Linked to each of their names is an article. They are Chalmers Johnson, Gore Vidal and Noam Chomsky. I highly recommend the last one. It is on the 2004 election and what wasn't debated in the election.

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Thursday, December 02, 2004
 
Iraq Update
It got pretty messy there last month. So we have to send more troops? The planned date for elections seems to be a problem as well. Oh well, just read the stories below and Juan Cole and you'll be caught up.

Imagine this is your town, your home and your son
Falluja 'a horror' after U.S.-led offensive
Mahmoud Zubari and his family fled their home in Falluja after it was bombed and his 13-year-old son was killed.

[and]

"All the wealth will not bring back my son, but now I have to think of the future for the rest of my children," said Zubari's wife, Selma. "What will become of us?"
That is now a family of ten, was eleven. Do you think anyone in that household is still sympathetic to the resistance? What would you do if this was happening in your neighborhood?

Escalation!
U.S. Troop Level In Iraq To Grow
The Pentagon said yesterday that it will boost the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to about 150,000, the highest level since the U.S. occupation began 19 months ago.
Here's one for the reality based community
Insurgency broken? Far from it
A senior American commander made the mistake of telling reporters that the military offensive that eventually captured a largely depopulated and destroyed Fallujah had "broken the back of the insurgency" across Iraq.

It did not, of course. It could not.
Someone's feeling left out
Sunnis warn of civil war over timing of election
THE largest Sunni party in Iraq gave warning yesterday of civil war unless the January 30 elections are delayed to allow it to compete on equal terms.

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Wednesday, December 01, 2004
 
You do know, don't you?
This may sound funny coming from me but I remember how I felt when I learned the history of this country? It always seemed so noble and right the promise of freedom that was created when our country was founded. There truly was a hope created. Also the possibililty that no matter what your circumstances that you will be able to live your life the way you see fit. Then after you get past George Washington and the cherry tree and all the other myths of the founding of this country, reality sets in. I came to understand that this country really was not founded on the tenant that "all men are created equal", but that as far as the vote was concerned it was only all white male property owners over the age of 21 that were created equal when The Constitution was originally written. The "living" document of course has been amended over the years to make all of man more equal than they were originally.

For me it's been a slow change throughout my life that has made me less trusting or maybe I should say more realistic about my country. Maybe it's the fact that some of my first memories of my government are the Watergate hearings and Nixon resigning. I don't believe Oswald killed Kennedy. I now know that Reagan, maybe not himself but his campaign, kept our hostages in Iran from being released until he was inaugurated. That his administration also traded weapons with Iran to release hostages, when it said that it wouldn't deal with terrorists, and also used the money from the sale of those weapons to finance an illegal war in Central America. And of course that my government allowed, at minimum, 9/11 to happen so that they could start war without end, amen.

So why am I not shocked that this administration has now fixed three (2000, 2002 & 2004) general elections in a row. Yesterday I asked, what would it take? Today I ask, you do know they stole the election, don't you?

We don't need proof, just a reasonable suspicion
Major Tom on "Actionable Fraud" and More!
The point that should be garnered from the brief recital of law set forth in the previous paragraph is that absolute guarantees of proof are never required in the law before a search of anything can be conducted. Furthermore, under our legal system, this basal or minimum standard of "reasonable suspicion" is quite sufficient in the criminal law arena where rights are more greatly coveted and protected than in the civil law arena in which considerations of recounts would more generally apply. Therefore, a suspicion legitimately based upon any facts and inferences, including hearsay, are enough to base a civil or quasi-civil case (which a recount case is), even if those facts represent only a small percent of actual likelihood or probability, so long and on the condition that it is made in good faith.
But it's not just the fact that the my country is not, and never was, what I was taught as a child but how much different it really is. We torture. We still use napalm. We invade countries that never attacked us. Our media no longer works for the good of the country [here and here]. And on and on and on.

What did we do in Fallujah?
From Guernica to Fallujah
The Fallujah offensive has virtually disappeared from the news cycle. But history - if written by Iraqis - may well enshrine it as the new Guernica. Paraphrasing Jean-Paul Sartre memorably writing about the Algerian War (1956-62), after Fallujah no two Americans shall meet without a corpse lying between them: the up to 500,000 victims of the sanctions in the 1990s, according to United Nations experts; the up to 100,000 victims since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, according to the British medical paper The Lancet; and at least 6,000 victims, and counting, in Fallujah, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent
Do you know where the 300,000 people that lived in Fallujah are? Either do I. - LH

Meet the new boss..
Worse Than Ashcroft
I do not approve of filibustering presidential nominees, no matter who is president, because the Constitution, along with the Federalist Papers, makes clear that the whole Senate is to give advice and consent to these presidential nominees. But if I were a senator, I would be sorely tempted to filibuster Alberto Gonzales. The Democrats, still shell-shocked by their second loss to Bush, and by the size of the Hispanic vote for the president, are not likely to filibuster Gonzales. But since Gonzales will be more dangerous to our liberties than Ashcroft, I will begin here to show how low the standards have become for the chief law enforcement officer of the nation. Maybe at least the American Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York will stand up against Gonzales.
They Knew! But of course, we already knew that.
U.S. Generals in Iraq Were Told of Abuse Early, Inquiry Finds
A confidential report to Army generals in Iraq in December 2003 warned that members of an elite military and CIA task force were abusing detainees, a finding delivered more than a month before Army investigators received the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison that touched off investigations into prisoner mistreatment.
Better late than never?
Kerry Joins The Recount
Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential campaign asked an Ohio judge yesterday to allow it to join a legal fight there over whether election officials in one county may sit out the state's impending recount.

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Have you heard?
Do you want or need proof anymore of how beholden the American media/press has become to this administration? Just look at this Google search napalm, fallujah. The one key thing to notice in the Google search is the fact that no American media is reporting this. Why isn't CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS or FOX, FAB (fair and balanced) as I like to call them, reporting on this? Also notice none of the American print media or wire services are reporting this either. In other words the search reveals that FALLUJAH (was) NAPALMED:
US troops are secretly using outlawed napalm gas to wipe out remaining insurgents in and around Fallujah.

News that President George W. Bush has sanctioned the use of napalm, a deadly cocktail of polystyrene and jet fuel banned by the United Nations in 1980, will stun governments around the world.
What is napalm you ask? Check this out too, Ammunition finds its way from Kuwaiti port to Marines' hands:
Once the munitions depart the port, they are trucked to different locations throughout the country and stored in compounds surrounded by motion sensors. Everything from hand grenades to 2,000-pound bombs and napalm are shipped, ready for use whenever 3rd MAW needs them.
That story is from February 2, 2003. When your President was still running around telling the world that he wanted peace our military was offloading napalm. Why isn't the media reporting this? Because it is owned by huge corporations that profit from war and this kind of thing is bad for business.

This one is nice too. Saddam can no longer torture people but we can, Red Cross Finds Detainee Abuse in Guantánamo. How does this help fight the war on Terror? This creates more terrorists than it stops. Why is it so hard to understand that now that we have become the torturer and the world knows it we have lost the moral authority. There's that word again.

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