Sex Crimes in the White House

Naomi Wolf

The sexualization of torture from the top basically turned Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay into an organized sex-crime ring in which the trafficked sex slaves were US-held prisoners. Looking at the classic S and M nature of some of this torture, it is hard not to speculate that someone setting policy was aroused by all of this. And Phillipe Sands' impeccably documented Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values, now proves that sex crime was authorized and, at least one source reports, eroticized: Diane Beaver (Ohmigod!!! - G) , the Staff Judge Advocate at Guantanamo who signed off on many torture techniques, told Sands about brainstorming sessions that included the use of "sexual tension," which was "culturally taboo, disrespectful, humiliating and potentially unexpected."

"These brainstorming meetings at Guantanamo produced animated discussion," writes Sands. "'Who has the glassy eyes?" Beaver asked herself as she surveyed the men around the room, thirty or more of them. She was invariably the only woman in the room, keeping control of the boys. The younger men would get excited, agitated, even: "You could almost see their dicks getting hard as they got new ideas" [reported Beaver]. A wan smile crossed Beaver's face: "And I said to myself, you know what, I don't have a dick to get hard, I can stay detached."' [Sands, p 63]

Hopefully Ms. Beaver's cellie will have one. One with straps that won't get, er, detached very much either.

I wish the same for the entire 1600 crew.

Man retires rather than honor Helms

The Charlotte Observer

RALEIGH -- L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag this week to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.

Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or N.C. flags at half staff Monday as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley.

When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms.

Good for you, L.F. Lowering the flag to half mast should be reserved for people who contributed to society, as opposed to those who detracted from it like Helms, and for people whom we are sorry they're gone.

There was no honor in Helms' life as a racist, and no honors need be given to him.

"Fat" Mouth Gramm

BuzzFlash

The "nation of whiners" quote, where John McCain's economic adviser Phil Gramm accused the country of being in a "mental recession" received a great deal of national attention, but it's not the first time Gramm has displayed insensitivity for struggling Americans.

In his 1984 Senate campaign in Texas, Gramm allegedly said "Has anyone ever noticed that we live in the only country in the world where all the poor people are fat?" a quote also attributed to Dinesh D'Souza and a favorite of right-wingers leaving comments on Web sites disparaging the American welfare system.

In the same campaign, his opponent ran commercials "portraying Mr. Gramm as saying that the elderly deserved no sympathy because few people had the 'luxury' of living to 80 and that Federal budget provisions for the handicapped encouraged people to be crippled. "

The reason 'poor people' are fat is because carbs and fat are the cheapest kind of food. And the least healthy, which dovetails neatly into this country's lack of affordable health care for all.

Poor people in other countries are skinny because they don't get enough to eat. Poor people in this country get plenty of all the wrong things.

Note to Gramm: Shut The Fuck Up, you walking 'mental recession'.

On the other hand, he's doing a wonderful job on for McCain. Keep up the good work.

What an asshole.

Rove avoids subpoena by fleeing the country

Think Progress

This morning, Karl Rove refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to testify about the politicization of the Justice Department, despite a subpoena. During the hearing, Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) revealed that Rove had not only skipped out of the hearing, but had skipped out of the entire country. Watch it:

A coupla 'comments':

ralph the wonder llama Says:

The dude received a subpoena to testify today, he didn’t show up.

ARREST HIM.

Crusty Old Bastard Says:

This only the first of many to flee the Country in advance of criminal charges. Look for the Great Reunion in Paraguay!

Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:

I’m kind of looking forward to the first time the Republicans subpoena a Democrat in the next administration. The Democrat can give them the finger and say “what are you going to do about it”. Unfortunately, unlike the Democrats, the Republicans are likely to actually do something.

Many, many more.

Sure, I'd like to see the arrogant sonofabitch squirm when faced with having to actually tell the truth or face jail time, but it ain't gonna happen under the spineless Democrats. The Repugs know that as well.

Rove's lieyer says he's on a 'long-planned trip'. Oh, I'm sure it is! He's probably had a 'getaway bag' packed and in the trunk of his Jag since he left the White House. Heh.

I think the best we can hope for is that he doesn't come back.

Update:

Tony

To resolve this tricky matter,
I couldn't be blunter:
Democrats should hire Dog,
The Bounty Hunter.

Heh. Ol' Dog's quite a character. It'd serve Turdblossom right. A serious ass-chewin' by Dog's ol' lady is nothing to sneeze at either.

Investments ...

Lisa hits it on the head:

...

Most people today don't know this life, but this was the U.S. less than 75 years ago. "A Week of Hunger" in the WaPo today reported most food stamp recipients deplete their allocation by week three. Larry Brown Harvard School of Public Health estimates it would cost $10-12 billion per year to "virtually end hunger in our nation," a plague which costs society at least $90 billion a year in lost revenue and health and societal costs.

How many days of war funding could eradicate hunger in the U.S.? As the economy pulls more people from the isolated comfort of their recliners, we may put more care into such issues.

As a first-generation American, I can repeat all the stories my relatives who emigrated here - the stories of the "hard times", when 6 slept in a 1-room apartment and a couple potatoes had to feed them all for dinner. Mrs. F's Russian forebears can tell similar stories.

With what we spend in Iraq, we could have defeated hunger and provided good health care to every American. Instead, we have an advisor to a presidential candidate telling Americans to shut up and quit whining. I believe a French girl named Marie had that attitude shortly before she lost her head.

It is unfathomable to me how people could give the McCain candidacy any sort of serious consideration. Yet people do. The Republicans harken back to the "Good Old Days", or Leave it to Beaver* or Father Knows Best but in reality, those days meant the average person never had enough to eat and inadequate health care. They were at the mercy of their employers and landlords and treated more like property than human beings.

Thanks to the last 8 years (and special thanks to Reagan and Bush 1) we're on our way back to that place. Voting for McCain will get us there quickly.

As Billy Joel says: "The good old days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems". Enjoy, I'm going to work. TGIF!

Billy Joel - Keeping The Faith

*Can we see yer beaver, Mrs. Cleaver? Heh ... Hey, I have a one-track gutter.

Open season ...

No limit. Our paid 'security contractors' in Iraq better watch their butts:

The Iraqi armed services are likely to target widely-hated American security contractors when they lose their immunity to Iraqi law under a new agreement between the US and the Iraq.

The main American concession, during prolonged and rancorous negotiations over a Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) that would determine the future military relationship between the US and Iraq, has been to agree to lift the immunity hitherto enjoyed by the 154,000 contractors, of whom 35,000 are private security men.

...

Another bunch of the Chimp's friends under the bus, but such is the fate of a mercenary. No tears shed here ...

The George W Bush Presidential Library

Subtitled "A monument to his years in office."

The George W Bush Presidential Library is now in the planning stages. The Library will include:

The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.

The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.

The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has been able to find.

The National Debt Room, which is huge and has no ceiling.

Go see the rest at Straight Goods.

Put out to pasture in the fields of irrelevance

Tony Peyser

One could easily argue that the major thing
That completely set this putz off
Is Barack's not playing old school politics
Has already cut Jesse's nuts off.

To which I add my own:

The old-school Rev who talks in rhyme
Caught his own crap with his face this time.

It's understandable why Jesse might be sore, and it's ironic - Jesse Jackson has worked all his life for civil rights, and when a brother finally gets to run for President, it's the fruit of his labor that produced a new breed that doesn't need him in his campaign.

And by the way, Reverend Jackson, you've been around long enough ya shoulda known F**News' mics are always on when they're talkin' to godless commie pinko fucks like you. Now you know why.

Update:

Go see "When The Man is One of Us".

We haven't really been in a place this confusing since 1954, when the NAACP's crusade against segregation culminated in the Brown vs. Board decision and the walls came tumbling down. It's fair to say that we were so focused on winning that fight that we weren't prepared for the victory or its aftermath. We've spent nearly 60 years since then trying to figure out what kind of relationship we want to have with America and with each other. For the most part, we, like Jackson Sr., have seen ourselves as outsiders battling for justice and a seat at the table. Our default has been to protest. And while that mindset has served us well, it has, in a flash, been made damn near obsolete by the prospect, even the likelihood, that one of us may soon become the most powerful man in the world. If that happens, how can we seriously argue that we're being held back by anything but the limits we place on ourselves?

We're not really ready for the day when The Man becomes a black man.

It's a dizzying idea that is going to take some getting used to. And until we do, we'll stumble about, like Jesse Jackson Sr., saying all kinds of crazy things as we slip and slide on the new paradigm.

Word, yo.

Presidential Penis Prevails

Jurassicpork on the FISA vote. Today's second 'must read'.

Whether trying to convey a tongue-in-cheek message, AP "journalist" Pamela Hess says it all in her headline: Senate bows to Bush, approves surveillance bill.

"Bows to Bush."

As a commoner would bow to a purple-draped, jewel encrusted head of a despotic monarchy.

As a man who knows that he will be killed and bows, scrapes and begs for a miraculous act of mercy from a smirking, capricious tyrant such as the petulant, temperamental sociopath pictured above.

Obama, making a show of resisting the bill, supported an amendment that would've stripped immunity from the bill then caved and supported the bill itself when the Republicans and some patriotic Democrats shot down the amendment faster than the Bolivian army did Butch and Sundance.

McCain didn't vote for the bill because he'd slipped the orderlies and was busy wandering through the Arizona desert ordering cacti and scorpions to invade Tehran.

Grab ankles. Bite stick. Repeat as necessary and pray they use the KY next time.

They won't. What's the point of fucking over someone if they like it?

Campaigning is not governing

P.M. Carpenter on Obama's FISA vote and the reality of the situation in today's 'must read':

I thought Sen. Russ Feingold made for an excellent representative of this practical point of view on MSNBC's "Countdown" last night. He's a class act who knows both the Constitution and the political gutter -- and he appreciates as well that on occasion one must travel the second to defend the first.

Rather than tsk-tsking his Illinois colleague's vote, Feingold noted that a President Obama would work with a future Congress to revise the Constitutionally flawed portions of the current FISA bill. It went without Feingold's saying that a President McCain would most decidedly not.

In short, the Wisconsin senator demonstrated with immeasurable grace that he understands the game and, unlike some on his side of the court, is keeping his eye on the ball.

But let me put it bluntly, with no graciousness whatsoever, for any who may have missed Feingold's rather subtle point: For those of us who have had it with the felonious George W. Bush and recoil at the prospect of a Bushian extension, Barack Obama, for all we care, could go goosestepping down Constitution Avenue while whistling "White House über Alles" -- if that's what it takes to secure even one more purple-state vote.

This presidential election is that critical, the Bush-encore threat that foreboding.

He's exactly right. I don't give a damn what Obama does from now 'til election day. I may not like some of the things he might do, but I don't have to like them and it isn't important that I like them. Nothing - I say again nothing - will keep me from voting for him, and he absolutely must do whatever it takes, no matter how distasteful it seems to progressives or the 'far left', to attract votes from the middle, of whom I have heard it said, base their voting choice on information that makes Cliff's Notes look like an encyclopedia.

This is a fight to the death, a fight for the soul of our country. Kick, bite, punch, gouge, stab, shoot, to hell with fair play. WE MUST WIN and damn the ideals. They can be restored later.

Sometimes ya gotta wallow in shit to clean out a backed-up sewer. Anything is better than a third Bush term.

Why we're all hot for Rachel Maddow

Fixer asked for a lovely birthday present. Well, clone her and send me a copy as well (b'day in September). In a bustier on a motorcycle would be a presentation that would make my day!

Short of that, check out this post at Popnography;

I know I'm probably breaking some sort of gay male covenant, but I have the world's biggest crush on Rachel Maddow. [...]

While other cable news figures play coy with the public about their sexuality, Maddow's is a fundamental part of her political identity. Too often, women on cable news are portrayed as shrill harpies or fluffy eye candy by their male counterparts, but the genius of Maddow's style is that she goes on the air with nothing to prove, whether she's blowing Tucker Carlson's mind (what there is of it, at least), pointing out that in the Democratic Party controlled Congress is still only passing "Republican and Joe Lieberman-inspired amendments" or handing Joe Scarborough his balls on a silver platter -- which, you know, she really ought to get an award for doing.

The real reason Rachel makes my heart skip a beat, though, is that she isn't trying to ditch her identity as a woman, a lesbian or an activist to play with the big boys; she brings these parts of her to the table like her own personal arsenals. When old white dudes try playing hardball with Rachel Maddow, they're doing it on her turf -- which just happens to also be our turf, though I think she'd make the argument it also happens to be the common sense turf where most Americans live these days. The fact she makes a mean cocktail doesn't hurt either.

Rachel Maddow is about as smart as they come, is a quick thinker with facts at her instant disposal, speaks rapidly and understandably, cuts through the shit and makes cogent points we can understand, punctures the blowhards beautifully and makes them look like the idiots most of them are. There are some shows you never see her on, notably Tweetyball, for no doubt just that reason.

Right now, she's sort of the go-to pinch-hitter host on MSNBC. I think they're grooming her for own show, but there's the chance that she may be too smart, or perhaps a little too far left for it, i.e. 'tells too much truth'. That's kinda working for Olbermann though, and MSNBC ratings have gone up which is the bottom line, after all. I think she's at the head of the line, but someone will have to leave the lineup to make room for her and they're running out of right-wing morons like Tuckerthetwit. I don't want them to give her Scarborough's slot because that's too early in the morning for me to get up. I'm sure she'll have her own show eventually, and it can't be soon enough for me.

Did I mention that she has a beautiful smile and is drop dead gorgeous? She also has a Doctorate in Political Science, and I have a fantasy of 'playing doctor' with her wherein I actually learn something, something along the lines of "O My Goddess, do it some more, I think I'm wiiiising uuupppp...oooohhhhhh...". Yeah, it scares me too.

Quote of the Day

Our pal Nucks with a great rant on FISA and the police statization of America:

... Why The Fuck Are You Not Pissed Off? ...

Indeed. But it should be no surprise our rights are being pissed away and no one seems to give a shit. I've heard it every time I've been to Europe in the past 40 years. "Americans are soft, lazy, and ignorant." As long we don't get our own personal reality rocked, we don't give a damn.

Why ...

Can't we get a man or woman like Russ Feingold elected?

...

One of the Democrats who voted correctly today was Senator Russ Feingold, who appeared on Wednesday’s Countdown with Rachel Maddow. Feingold has long been a staunch advocate for following the Constitution, speaking out against President Bush’s illegal wiretapping program and fighting and voting against the anti-American Patriot Act. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama voted for the FISA legislation, and while Feingold says there is hope that as president, Obama could change the unconstitutional aspects of the bill, it was still "the wrong vote."

...

I caught the interview last night (video at the link).

And by the way, if anyone wants to get me something for my birthday (October) you can get me Rachel. Heh ... Why doesn't this woman have her own show yet?

Heh ...

The Chimp steps in his legacy.

Good and Not So Good

From Cursor:

...there are indications that "Robert Gates and Pentagon realists appear to have wrenched our Iran policy from the hands of the Cheneyites."

Tikun Olam

Anthony Cordesman, one of the most lucid and pragmatic of national security analysts, lectured this week in Israel and reported the following according to Haaretz:

A senior U.S. strategic analyst says the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, sent Israel an unequivocal message stating that Israel does not have a “green light” from the U.S. to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

...

Given the sobriety and realism of Cordesman’s statements, I give great credence to this story. And all I can say is thank God. Robert Gates and Pentagon realists appear to have wrenched our Iran policy from the hands of the Cheneyites. And not a moment too soon. The fact that Mullen made the trip to Israel means that there were Israeli generals and political leaders fully prepared to attack Iran. Just because Israel was ready to enter the maelstrom doesn’t mean that the clear-eyed at the Pentagon were prepared to join them in the descent into Hell which would’ve ensued after an attack on Iran.

It appears there is an internal war in D.C.. I hope the relatively sane ones win.

CASMII on administration backing of terrorists in the hope of destabilizing Iran. Good article about failed policy and crazy fuckin' criminally insane neocons.

Elements of the Bush administration have begun to resemble semi-insane Captain Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny" with regard to Iran. Reckless and obsessive to destroy Iran’s regime, they fondle their ball bearings, and pursue any scheme that they believe will get rid of the mullahs before the inauguration of the new American president in January 2009.

In desperation, they have turned to supporting fringe-level ethnic separatists—all of whom are terrorists and enemies of the United States who are also hostile to Iran. This strategy is truly the last gasp of a failed Middle East policy. It is ill-conceived, and if continued, will foment continued violence in the region for years without affecting the Iranian regime in any significant way.

In related news:

Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles Wednesday during war games that officials said were intended to show the country can retaliate against any U.S. or Israeli attack, state television reported.

The test-firings were widely condemned in the United States, notably by the White House and the two main candidates for the presidency.

The exercise was being conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.

I don't blame 'em. It's called the Persian Gulf for a reason, and, hey, a similar ruffing up of feathers worked for North Korea.

The problem lies in the fact that our warmongers are taking heart from the missile shoot. They will redouble their efforts to start another senseless war. Not good.

No comment needed

Click to embrontosaur

Something a little different

Just CLICK!

Matier & Ross, EssEffChron:

Pride ride: An off-duty San Francisco firefighter was snapped riding topless with Dykes on Bikes during the big Gay Pride Parade.

The bare-chested belle, Sabine Balden, probably wouldn't have registered much more than a few snickers, except the photo also showed the 10-year veteran firefighter wearing what appeared to be her official badge pinned to her black-and-white-striped bustier.

And wearing a badge off-duty is against the rules unless the boss gives the OK.

Said Balden: "I'm perfectly happy to be riding topless in the parade. That's what gay pride is all about."

A big proud gal on a big bike, and a firefighter too! If I was her boss, she'da damn sure had my permission to wear her badge even if I had to give it retroactively! Go get 'em, Sabine!

R.I.P. 4th Amendment

Click to view the remains

Joe Galloway tears 'em a new one in a 'must read':

That a majority on both sides of the aisle — not least of them the presumptive nominees for president of both political parties — intend to vote for such a violation of Americans' right to privacy and of the sanctity of their personal communications is a stunning surrender to those who want us to live in fear forever.

Somewhere across an ocean and a desert, hiding in his cave, a man of hate named Osama bin Laden is laughing up the sleeve of his dirty robe at the thought that he and a small handful of fellow fanatics could tie a great nation in knots — knots of fear stoked by our own leaders.

We have done incalculably more and greater damage to ourselves since September 11, 2001, than a thousand bin Ladens and ten thousand al Qaida recruits could ever have done to us.

Franklin D. Roosevelt famously declared that "we have nothing to fear but fear itself." Now it would seem that we have no one to fear but ourselves and our leaders.

'Fear' is not the emotion I'm feeling right now. 'Anger' and 'disgust' are.

Update: The Fix Is In.



"Political convenience" = "No guts". Congress - both Houses - You're a buncha scared pussies. Scared you won't be re-elected with the all the attendant perks of office, scared that Bush, the right wing, and the neocons will call you 'traitors' for being 'for the terrorists' if you don't give Bush and his accomplices their 'get out of jail free card' and let them continue their crimes, scared that the telcom money will dry up.

And you're fuckin' falling for it. Wimps. Worse than wimps - cowards and appeasers.

Every last one of you that votes to overturn the 4th Amendment should be voted out of office for not being worthy of being called Americans, let alone part of the so-called representative leadership.

You make me sick.

Who are you gonna believe?

Pic thanks to our pal UL.

Click embiggen.

Your 4th Amendment rights ...

Will be nothing but a memory at this time tomorrow morning. The Senate votes on FISA and telecom immunity today and we will send a message to the world that the law is only for those who can't afford to buy their way around it:

...

Once passed by the Senate, the FISA bill will then immediately be sent by the Democratic Congress to an eagerly awaiting and immensely pleased President Bush, who will sign it into law, thereby putting a permanent and happy end to the scandal that began when -- in December, 2005 -- he was caught spying on the communications of American citizens in violation of the law. The only real remaining questions are (a) whether Bush will host Steny Hoyer and Jay Rockefeller at a festive, bipartisan White House signing ceremony to celebrate the evisceration of the Fourth Amendment and the rule of law, and (b) whether Bush, when he signs the bill into law, will append a signing statement decreeing that even its minimal restraints on presidential spying are invalid.

...

So any corporation, any entity, will now be free to break the law as long as the President of the United States said it was okay. That's the way shit works in tin-horn dictatorships.

The American principles: of, by, and for the People no longer apply in the United States of the 21st Century. Maybe some of these lawmakers should walk through Arlington Cemetary and explain to those interred there that all their sacrifices were for naught - that they gave their lives to defend nothing but "a piece of paper". After today, the Constitution becomes irrelevant.

It's disgusting.

Mark Twain: Our Original Superstar

Good article in Time about one of my favorite curmudgeons. The parallels from his time to ours are remarkable.

What, if anything, about this benighted moment of American life will anyone in the future look back on with nostalgia? Well, those of us who have cable are experiencing a golden age of sarcasm (from the Greek sarkazein, "to chew the lips in rage"). Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher and Keith Olbermann are digging into our direst forebodings so adroitly and intensely that we may want to cry, "Stop tickling!" Forget earnest punditry. In a world of hollow White House pronouncements, evaporating mainstream media and metastasizing bloggery, it's the mocking heads who make something like sense.

Let not those heads swell, however. News in the form of edgy drollery may seem a brave new thing, but it can all be traced back to one source, the man Ernest Hemingway said all of modern American literature could be traced back to: Mark Twain. Oh, that old cracker-barrel guy, you may say. White suit, cigar, reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated--but he died back in 1910, no? White, male, and didn't he write in dialect? What does he have to do with the issues of our day?

As it happens, many of these were also the issues of his day, and he addressed them as eloquently as anyone has since. The idea that America is a Christian nation? Andrew Carnegie brought that up to him once. "Why, Carnegie," Twain answered, "so is Hell."

What about those Abu Ghraib photographs? In "King Leopold's Soliloquy," a fulminating essay he published in 1905, when he was a very cantankerous 70, Twain imagines the ruler of Belgium pitying himself for the inconvenience of photos showing natives of the Congo whose hands have been cut off by Belgian exploiters. In the good old days, Leopold complains, he could deny atrocities and be believed. "Then all of a sudden came the crash! That is to say, the incorruptible Kodak--and all the harmony went to hell! The only witness I have encountered in my long experience that I couldn't bribe."

[...] The renewed snap in the old boy's garters resounded around the world, as he took stands on American politics that, as his biographer Powers puts it, "beggared the Democrats' timidity and the Republicans' bombast."

[...] In the previous year or two, Germany and Britain had seized portions of China, the British had also pursued their increasingly nasty war against the Boers in South Africa, and the U.S. had been suppressing that rebellion in the Philippines. In response, Twain published in the New York Herald a brief, bitter "Salutation-Speech from the Nineteenth Century to the Twentieth."

"I bring you the stately matron named Christendom," he wrote, "returning bedraggled, besmirched and dishonored from pirate-raids in Kiao-Chow, Manchuria, South Africa and the Philippines, with her soul full of meanness, her pocket full of boodle, and her mouth full of pious hypocrisies. Give her soap and a towel, but hide the looking-glass."

What put Twain off about religion was its bossiness and its alignment with corrupt community values that people--those standing to profit--insisted on calling a higher power. The very expression "moral sense" made him curl his lip. He denounced his own conscience, which frowned upon his anarchic instincts, his love of enjoyment, and made him feel guilty and rebellious.

[...] Then there's the long essay Twain produced in 1901, "The United States of Lyncherdom." This is not a single-minded polemic. It registers the horror of lynchings but also undertakes to empathize with people who attended them. Their motivation, Twain argued, is not inhuman viciousness but "man's commonest weakness, his aversion to being unpleasantly conspicuous, pointed at, shunned, as being on the unpopular side. Its other name is Moral Cowardice, and is the commanding feature of the make-up of 9,999 men in the 10,000 ..."

Some things never change.

Get out ...

NEW YORK - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is demanding that the United States set a timetable for withdrawal of troops from the war-torn country.

The demand is included among terms of a new security deal that would replace the soon-to-expire United Nations mandate for coalition forces in Iraq.

The Bush administration has long opposed setting any timetable for withdrawal, saying that would only lead to more acts of terrorism. But the call also comes as security in Iraq continues to improve, allowing Maliki to give ground to Iraqi political voices seeking a U.S. troop drawdown.

...

Even our puppet government wants us out. See yas later; gotta take the Mrs. to the airport.

Let 'em serve ...

I've served with gays and they performed at the same caliber or better than the rest of us. And, truly, they were the most fun to hang around with. Now there's proof:

WASHINGTON - Congress should repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy because the presence of gays in the military is unlikely to undermine the ability to fight and win, according to a new study released by a California-based research center.

The study was conducted by four retired military officers, including the three-star Air Force lieutenant general who in early 1993 was tasked with implementing President Clinton's policy that the military stop questioning recruits on their sexual orientation.

"Evidence shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is unlikely to pose any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline or cohesion," the officers states.

...

Now, let' em fucking serve if they want. There is no reason to marginalize any segment of our population, in any capacity, let alone denying them the chance to serve the country they love.

Great thanks to Mr. Aravosis for the link.

Cross-posted at API.

Scare tactics ...

Ooga-booga; the Limeys are in on it too:

Like on Iraq the British press is used to transport the 'threat' of Iran to the English speaking public. This weekend the Telegraph as well as the Times have again excelled at this.

...

These 'secret' second generation centrifuges are the ones on display at the Iranian president's website and are producing low-enriched Uranium under the watchful eyes of the IAEA in Natanz.

The Sunday Times joins Coughlin with a renewed scare well known to anyone who watched the propaganda buildup for the war on Iraq: ‘Germ warfare’ fear over African monkeys taken to Iran.

...

The nuke thing won't play anymore so now the scary Iranians are gonna kill us all with the Ebola virus or some shit.

Airstrike, quick, fast!

Please ...

A magazine cover I'd like to see

Click to embiggen

I wonder if Bush will buy five copies for his mother...

Lies, kidnapping and a mysterious laptop

The Independent (UK)

Sometimes you hear a stray sentence on the news that makes you realise you have been lied to. Deliberately lied to; systematically lied to; lied to for a purpose. If you listened closely over the past few days, you could have heard one such sentence passing in the night-time of news.

As Ingrid Betancourt emerged after six-and-a-half years – sunken and shrivelled but radiant with courage – one of the first people she thanked was Hugo Chavez. What? If you follow the news coverage, you have been told that the Venezuelan President supports the Farc thugs who have been holding her hostage. He paid them $300m to keep killing and to buy uranium for a dirty bomb, in a rare break from dismantling democracy at home and dealing drugs. So how can this moment of dissonance be explained?

Yes: you have been lied to ...

For the rich world's governments – and especially for the oil companies, who pay for their political campaigns – this throws up a serious problem. We are addicted to oil. We need it. We crave it. And we want it on our terms. The last time I saw Chavez, he told me he would like to sell oil differently in the future: while poor countries should get it for $10 a barrel, rich countries should pay much more – perhaps towards $200. And he has said that if the rich countries keep intimidating the rest he will shift to selling to China instead. Start the sweating. But Western governments cannot simply say: "We want the oil, our corporations need the profits, so let's smash the elected leaders standing in our way." They know ordinary Americans and Europeans would gag.

So they had to invent lies. They come in waves, each one swelling as the last crashes into incredulity. [,,,]

Go enjoy the hyperbole as it builds in throbbing, ever-swelling cascades to an orgasmic crescendo...

I don't pretend to understand the dynamics of inter- and intra-national South American politics, but one thing I do understand is that our government, and in particular Repuglican administrations, will lie, cheat, and kill, whatever it takes to get oil and the profit therefrom.

Hitchens Gets Waterboarded, Withdraws from Iraq in 11 Seconds

Go see Christopher Hitchens get waterboarded.

[...] Hitchens' tame little torture session is the biggest S&M video on the web since "9½ Weeks."

That kind of etiquette is what you get from those expensive dominatrixes English dudes like to get whipped by, or those nerf BDSM sites that talk about "consensual power exchanges." What reminded me most of those BDSM sites is the "code word" they tell Hitchens he can use to stop the waterboarding: "That word is red, R-E-D." They ask him if he understands and he says, "Yes, sir." That "sir" only added to the ridiculous porn feel here, like Hitchens was paying a hundred pounds an hour to have Baron Whipsong or Lady Cruella, whichever way he likes it, wear out their riding crop on his eager little bum.

[...] It's like drowning. Duh. Anybody who wanted to know that already knew it.

So why does Hitchens make such a big show of just realizing it now, after five years of supporting it? To me, the answer's easy: He's withdrawing from Iraq, making a big Jesus-on-the-cross demonstration, like a public punishment, for supporting the war all this time. By getting himself tortured in this half-assed way, he gives himself a reason to see the light, desert from the Neocon forces before it's too late. Karl Rove won't be happy, though, because the last thing the GOP wants is for people to start realizing what we're actually doing in Iraq. Reminds me of the debate about abolishing flogging with the cat-o'-nine-tails in the British Navy. The first time the bill was introduced, everybody laughed at how ridiculous a notion that was. Then somebody thought of having a real cat-o'-nine-tails introduced to the House of Commons, a bloody old Exhibit A. Nobody said a thing; they just voted unanimously to forbid it.

...Hitchens is declaring martyrdom and getting out. He just unilaterally withdrew from Iraq, and in only 11 seconds.

Hitchens, along with many other neocons and kool-aid drinkers, owes. His waterboarding may have been phony, like celebrity rehab, but it was heartwarming to see.

In Lieu Of Flowers For Senator Helms

Tony Peyser

Please debase a Negro
A Jew and-or a Gay;
Why? Because Jesse would
Have wanted it that way.

I'll never think of Skippy ...

The same way again.

Heh ... Off to the shop. Why am I always late on Mondays?

Quote of the Day

Maru:

... Bush promises to be constructive on climate at G8 Summit
Instead of making farting noises and playing with his Pokemons as usual ...

You know, because how would it look if he offends the Chinese?

President Bush said Sunday he does not feel the need to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics to state his opposition to China's human rights record. Skipping the event would be an "affront" to the Chinese people, he said.

...

Quoting Attaturk:

Bush wants to be nice to his creditors ...

Jesse Helms may be dead ...

But his bigotry lives on:

...

The problem here is that I think Americans of all political stripes can agree that Helms was an avowed racist. Sure, my NPR report on his passing yesterday carefully explained that he "used race effectively" in his election campaigns, but I'm not sure there's any difference. While racism is still a fact of American life, it has been pushed underground, not to be talked about in polite society, so that everyone can delude themselves that these issues are no longer germane and that we're all one big happy melting pot.

Helms didn't do that, and neither did his advisors. And one of them now holds a high position in the John McCain campaign. [my em]

...

Because, heaven forbid, they alienate 'the base'.

Sunday Crazy Redneck Music Blogging

After the song(?) I posted on Friday, I owe ya one. The call I got from the Swedish embassy has nothing to do with this...

Here's everything ya need ta know:

ייל יונסון (שייצגה את שוודיה באירוויזיון 1998 עם השיר"Karleken Ar") שרה במופע הביניים בגמר המלודיפסטיבלן 2005 אבל המיקרופון שלה סגור ולא שומעים אותה. אחרי דקה הטכנאים מסדרים את הבעיה והיא שרה אותו מההתחלה :-).

Jill Johnson - "Redneck Woman"

To see & hear Ms. Johnson without the faux country schtick, click here.

Some travel tips for the Fixers

Since Fixer has revealed his travel plans, I did a little research so he doesn't have to spend all his shore leave in Amsterdam's, er, seedy (or maybe sinse-seedy) bars. Museums are nice. Here's one (Note: I absolutely love the music, and even though it's in Portuguese, I think I understood it!):



The F-Man's probably way ahead of me on this, he and Mrs. F being seasoned world travelers and all, they do their homework, but just in case - The Amsterdam Travel Companion

Also see:

Some shopping tips.

The Dutch equivalent of a gun show and a fast-draw competition.

Some other things to do.

And, if you must, Borat visits Amsterdam.

Fixer, I hope this helps and you have a nice, er, trip.

One thing, though - make sure I got all the tech info I need to keep all yer blogs runnin'. I got a sneakin' hunch that after Amsterdam we'll never see yer happy ass again! The answer to 'How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm...?' depends on what the crop is. Heh.

Wall-E for President

Daddy Frank went to the movies. Today's 'do not miss'. Here's the last paragraph.

Mr. McCain should be required to see “Wall-E” to learn just how far adrift he is from an America whose economic fears cannot be remedied by his flip-flop embrace of the Bush tax cuts (for the wealthy) and his sham gas-tax holiday (for everyone else). Mr. Obama should see it to be reminded of just how bold his vision of change had been before he settled into a front-runner’s complacency. Americans should see it to appreciate just how much things are out of joint on an Independence Day when a cartoon robot evokes America’s patriotic ideals with more conviction than either of the men who would be president.

And you want my vote?

I'm half three quarters-loaded but this caught my eye:

JOHN MCCAIN: "Now we’ve got the cables. We’ve got talk radio. We’ve got the bloggers. I hate the bloggers. We’ve got all kinds of sources of information."

If it weren't for the bloggers, the Chimp might actually have a positive approval rating.

Just in case I might - like if the Red Sea parts again - have been willing to vote for you - as if - ya just blew that, pal.

I Wish It Would Rain

This one goes out as a burning desire from me for the thousands of firefighters hard at work in Northern California. We're down from 1500 to 'only' 400 or so fires thanks to them.

Nanci Griffith

Quote of the Day

Dr. Attaturk, Podiatrist to the Stars:

... If George Bush was qualified for any post, it would be a shop teacher -- known as "Seven-fingers" Bush ...

Saturday Just For Fun Music Blogging

The Steve McQueen Music Video

Note: The driving style in Bullitt is still practiced today, but it ain't near as impressive in an Escape as it was in those old GTs...

Saturday whorage

Better late than never, the next chapter of Birthright is up at The Practical Press.

Construction continues apace; insulation, wiring, and drywall are going up, room by room.

And, great news, Sam got herself a full time job in the car business.

And we'll be out for the evening with our cruise pals Annie and Joe. I'll see you folks tomorrow.

Obama House Party

22 people attended an Obama house party June 28th on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest that has just 5 year-around residents. At least half a dozen republicans were among the attendees. Jack officiated starting the proceedings with a rundown of some of the Bush administration's blunders. There followed some spirited debate with almost unanimous agreement that the past 7 years of the Bush administration have been disastrous.

The house party was followed by an Obama beach party in a location of incomparable beauty, underscoring the importance of getting back on track protecting the environment.

The song is "One of These Days" by Emmylou Harris.

Heh. So much for the 'youth vote', at least on Nameless Island WA. The old farts like me got the pretty girls The party appeared to have as guests several of my peer age group as well as some attractive young ladies. That cheered me up 'til I realized they were probably nurses.

A tip o' the Brain to cedarbeam.

A Fine 4th of July Indeed

BuzzFlash

No sooner had Bush started speaking at the naturalization ceremony welcoming new American citizens than protesters began shouting at him, calling him a “war criminal.” The President paused in his remarks and then responded, “To my fellow citizens, we believe in free speech in the United States of America.” One woman moved towards the stage before being stopped by security, but other protesters still made their voices heard. Only minutes later, another protester shouted expletives at the President, while still another called Bush “a fascist”. By the time Bush finished his 10-minute remarks, at least nine protesters had been escorted out of the event by law enforcement. Protesters also lined the President’s motorcade route, chanting “Arrest Bush” as he drove to and from the Monticello ceremony.

They're not bothering to herd protesters into "free speech zones" blocks from his motorcade route any more, nor trying to shield Bush's privileged & pampered eyes from seeing citizen reaction to the evil he has done.

He can still do a lot of damage, but he doesn't matter much any more.

The United States has a lot to live down in Bush's wake, but we're starting to recover. The process will continue as long as there is no 3rd Bush term.

A promising birthday present for our country.

1.20.09

Update:

AfterDowningStreet has much, much more, Five videos, many pictures, loadsa text.

Fertilizer ...

Meet rotating blade. I was in a Warren Zevon mood when I woke up. Saturday whorage later.

Lawyers, Guns, and Money

And somewhat related:

Roland, The Headless Thompson Gunner

Born on the Fourth of July ...

[On top today, new posts start below. - F]

This blog is 4 years old today.

Great thanks to everyone; the readers, commenters, the blogs who link to us, contributors, and especially Gordon. I never thought we would go this long, or this far (close to 11,000 posts).

This little 'mortar battery' will keep lobbing them in and hoping for a secondary (thanks, Gord) so long as this 'Information Civil War' (my term) goes on, helping to cover our line until this great nation we love comes back to its senses.

It's been a fantastic ride so far; more than I ever expected when we first 'deployed'.

Thank you all so much.

We Are Those Yankee Doodle Boys!

Sorry 'bout that, Mr. Cohan.

Everything Fixer said in the above post, plus my 2¢.

The day I reported into this lash-up changed my life. Whichever story you choose to believe, that I was left on Fixer's doorstep in a basket with money pinned to my chest (ouch!) (Fixer's version), or that he tracked me down with dogs and chained me up in his basement (my version), doesn't matter. Fixer gave me the best opportunity I have ever had to do a little writing, a little reporting, and hopefully a lot of communicating. As the red & yellow banner on the wall of 1st Bn/8th Marines' comm shack said, "Communications* lends dignity to what would otherwise be considered a brawl".

As much as I would love to mix it up up close and personal with some of the jackholes in this country and its maladministration, this is as close to a great bottle'n chain swingin' brawl with 'em as I'm likely to get, so thank you F-Man.

*Yes, there's an 's'. Refers to the Military Occupational Specialties that tie the battlefield together.

When I got here, I could barely spell 'blog'. I didn't know shit from shinola. Fixer taught me everything. He has given me free rein to do whatever I want to. A brave man! The only - I say again only - editorial direction he has ever given me came when I discovered how to post pictures and consisted of "try to hold down the porn a little", with which direction I have generally complied, mostly.

I absolutely love our masthead and the mortarman waiting for a fire mission metaphor. Thank you to our dear departed friend Lurch, who is still the only blogger I've met in person.

So to continue the metaphor, we lob 'em high, we lob 'em low, max range and danger close, sometimes we get a hit (mortars are 'area fire' weapons, so close is OK), and sometimes we drop one right on our foot. Sometimes the tube gets red-hot and we have to piss on it to cool it off, sometimes we sit and wait. Not often enough. We fire as much High Explosive as we can, but we try to fire a lot of Illume as well.

I could go on and on, but I'll let YouTube provide the visual. Picture one mortar pit in Lawn Guyland and the other in the High Sierra.



Of course, there's a lighter side to this blogging shit, and thank God for it! When I signed on, Mrs. F said it scared her a little how alike me'n Fixer are, which extends to our slightly offbeat senses of humor. Sometimes it goes more like this:



I feel like I've found a home here, and I hope it goes on for a long, long time.

To all our wonderful readers and friends, have a fine Independence Day.

Fixer, try not to blow off the finger ya pick yer nose with...

4th of July Really Crazy Swedish Techno-Redneck/Wild West Music Blogging

Think Monkees/Abba on mucho go-fast with a little Mad Max and Blanketass thrown in.

Rednex - The Way I Mate

Lucky you, there's 1349 more of these. Their website and Wikibio.

See ya in Hell ...

Jesse Helms died today. About 40 years too late.

Whew ...

Needless to say, since we're gonna be in Amsterdam in September, we've been watching this closely:

Coughing and spluttering resonated around Tweede Kamer coffeeshop in Amsterdam yesterday as customers got to grips with new Dutch smoking regulations that prohibit tobacco but not marijuana.

“They're having to smoke pure weed now and they're not used to it,” Frank, working behind the counter, said. “That's why there's all this coughing. It's going to be quite tricky.”

The Netherlands' unique approach to smoking was much in evidence yesterday as it became the latest European country after the likes of Britain and France to introduce a ban on lighting-up in public places.

...

No worries, I'll figger out a place to grab a cigarette. Heh ...

All good crime sprees must come to an end

Oh yeah?

Click to embiggen

Vince Bugliosi put the Manson Family away. They're still in jail. Let's hope his book has the same effect on the White House Family of murderers.

Panel Questions State Dept. Role in Iraq Oil Deal

NYTimes

Bush administration officials knew that a Texas oil company with close ties to President Bush was planning to sign an oil deal with the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq’s central government, a Congressional committee has concluded.

Keep in mind that stated policy and actual Cheney/Bush policy are rarely, if ever, the same. Say one thing, do the opposite, lie about it, and blame someone else.

The company, Hunt Oil of Dallas, signed the deal with Kurdistan’s semiautonomous government last September. Its chief executive, Ray L. Hunt, a close political ally of President Bush, briefed an advisory board to Mr. Bush on his contacts with Kurdish officials before the deal was signed.

To which advisory Bush's response, no doubt, was "Where's my check?"

In an e-mail message released by the Congressional committee, a State Department official in Washington, briefed by a colleague about the impending deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government, wrote: “Many thanks for the heads up; getting an American company to sign a deal with the K.R.G. will make big news back here. Please keep us posted.”

The release of the documents comes as the administration is defending help that United States officials provided in drawing up a separate set of no-bid contracts, still pending, between Iraq’s Oil Ministry in Baghdad and five major Western oil companies to provide services at other Iraqi oil fields.

Disclosure of those contracts has provided substantial fuel to critics of the Iraq war, both in the United States and abroad, who contend that the enormous Iraqi oil reserves were a motivation for the American-led invasion — an assertion the administration has repeatedly denied.

Cheney and Bush can deny it until the trap door drops out from under them for all I care. These two oil men/criminals, one pretty good one, one an abject failure, started a war for oil and profit. They are well into the process of getting caught at it by those who have known about it from the start but were too scared of them to do anything about it and are coming out from under their beds only because C&B's war crimes are starting to stink publicly and their power and influence are waning.

The documents released by Mr. Waxman also lay bare what has become a serious dispute between the company and the State Department over what was said between them before the deal last year.

For example, a senior Hunt official said he was told by State Department officials during a meeting on June 15, 2007, that the United States government did not object to deals with the Kurdish regional government.

Sounds to me like part of the State Department was in on the scam and part of it wasn't.

Note to Condi: One of the secrets Cheney and Bush should have told you is that a successful criminal enterprise such as the ones all of you have attempted and are failing at, is based on all parties getting their stories straight. You were in the awl bidness too, and I'm surprised you didn't already know that. You'll be OK. You'll like Paraguay much more than prison or the gallows. Unless B&C throw you to the wolves, of course. They're pretty one-way about loyalty.

If the oil company execs and administration officials ever get in front of investigators who have the power to jail them and offer them immunity from doing the time they should, they will roll over on Cheney and Bush and many others so fast it will make your head spin. As soon as Bush and Cheney are out of power. Pray for the day.

5¢ McShrink Rap

P.M. Carpenter

There are some politicians whom advisers should never permit to run their own campaigns, and John McCain is one of them. Watching him, I get the sense, at times, that he still sees himself as the macho, hotshot naval cadet whose picaresque adventures install him as the truest man among men, which voters are bound to see, acknowledge and swoon over.

Keep thinkin; that way, Johnny me boy. I think yer doin' a wonderful job!

There has always been, and so it remains, only one slim way in which McCain can control his destiny and thereby win this thing: to blast away at Obama with unremitting assaults on his character, his inexperience and his "liberalism" (in anticipation of which, of course, the Obama campaign has already launched a concerted flanking maneuver to the center-right).

But above all, the McCain campaign must blast -- blast anything and everything, go as negative as the almost limitless boundaries of poor taste can take it.

Yet, there may be a problem with this Rove-Schmidtian strategy.

Buried, I sense as well, in McCain's macho-cadet code of manliness is the nagging political anachronism of personal honor: that is, a few hijinks are OK, but a sustained campaign of outright dishonesty -- the very species of fraudulence deployed against him by Bush in 2000 -- is for McCain, perhaps, beyond the pale.

Don't bet on it.

Because, I further sense, even deeper in McCain's psyche is the emotional undercurrent of recognition that he has already lost. So why not go down with a little honor intact?

Very little. I like the rest of that though. A man who thinks he has lost, has.

Just look at McCain; watch him, on the stump, and you see a man almost clinically depressed and already defeated. His performance is so unstintingly morbid, it's as though he just wants to get the inevitable over with.

And if I'm correct, Steve Schmidt is about to encounter a lot of internal flak, guaranteeing yet more campaign confusion, if not more rearrangement of the deck chairs.

McCain has been screwing up so badly that I actually had the thought that he was hired by the Dems so they'd have have someone demonstrably and positively worse than the candidate they thought they were going to have.

When things look bad ...

Or, What I Did With My Stimulus Check. Maru:

Drinky McStaggers' economic stimulus rebate checks have really firmed up consumer spending in hard times with real hot, sweaty, body thumping stimulus

... websites focused on adult or erotic material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks have appeared in millions of Americans’ mailboxes across the country.

...

Buncha jerk-offs. Heh ...

"Awesomely Bad"

Brad compiles the "10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments of the Bush Presidency":

...

10: Bush Gets Re-elected

9: Alberto Gonzales' Congressional Testimony

8: North Korea Conducts a Nuclear Test

...

Lots more. Too bad it's true, otherwise it would be funny.

Shaazamm!

Click to emgomer

Hey, I think a Marine of my era, even a goofy one like me or ol' Gomer, would do a lot better job than a deranged old warmonger.

Wes Clark is right

Joe Conason brings out an almost-forgotten reason why:

Supporters of Mr. McCain insist that his military service should be exempt from discussion, except when they feel like bringing it up to prove some point about national security, terrorism or the presidency that it really doesn’t prove at all. But of course he was not the only soldier, sailor or airman to survive such experiences with courage and nobility. There was once another former POW whose candidacy for high office vindicates the Clark argument.

Or has everyone forgotten Admiral Stockdale?

Go read.

I remember Admiral Stockdale as an honorable and somewhat dotty old gent who was enlisted somehow by Perot to participate in an election campaign that never stood a chance.

One can only wonder, or perhaps surmise, that POW captivity affected his dottiness. It follows that it had similar effects on McCain's mentality. Or exacerbated whatever defects were already present in his brain housing group to the point where he is absolutely unfit to be President.

Iraq sues companies over oil-for-food kickbacks

Reuters

The Iraqi government sued dozens of companies, including oil giant Chevron Corp., for more than $10 billion on Monday, saying they paid kickbacks to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's government under the U.N. oil-for-food program.

The civil lawsuit, filed in U.S. federal court in Manhattan, seeks to recover damages from companies investigated by a U.N.-commissioned inquiry, claiming they cheated the Iraqi people out of benefits of the $67 billion U.N. program.

The lawsuit says billions of dollars were lost, "all of which were directly translatable into food, medicine and other humanitarian goods that were supposed to reach the Iraqi people."

The lawsuit said the defendants had violated U.S. racketeering laws including mail and wire fraud and money laundering. Chevron and Swiss oil trading firm Vitol were also accused of breaching their fiduciary duties.

Other companies named in the lawsuit include European bank BNP Paribas, drug makers GlaxoSmithKline and Roche Holding, and units of drug company Schering-Plough, as well as several units of Switzerland's engineering company ABB Group.

The lawsuit also names AWB Ltd -- Australia's largest wheat exporter. A 2006 Australian government judicial inquiry found the company paid $222 million in kickbacks to Saddam's regime for wheat sales.

Note to Iraq: Good luck getting any of the money back. Those are some of the most heavyweight companies in the world. Between them they own more lawyers, judges, politicians, and heads of state than you have grains of sand. They will either get the lawsuit dismissed out-of-hand all over the world, or keep it in court so long you will impoverish yourselves for generations. Even if your great-grandchildren manage to get a judgment, you will likely never see a dime, or the equivalent in whatever kinda money you use.

Cuba Offers Vaccine Against Lung Cancer

BuzzFlash, with 'comments' and a link to Pravda. You don't think the U.S. corporate press is going to print anything like this, do you?

Cimavas EGF, based on two proteins, triggers an immune response from the victim's body and has absolutely no side effects, as most anti-cancer therapy does. The vaccine only attacks cancer cells. The vaccine is meant to serve as a compliment to rather than a replacement for conventional methods such as chemotherapy and radiation. The vaccine also improves patients' breathing and decreases their pain. Posted Jul 1, 2008 08:42 AM PST Category: CUBA Unfortunately, courtesy of the US prohibition against Americans traveling to Cuba, sick Americans who might benefit from having access to this vaccine won't be able to, unless they have the money to travel to South America for treatment.

tags: health, gop denies treatments

From 'comments':

And why can we not get access to that here?

The margin of profit is too small if they cure you.

There it is. I see two reasons why this or any other real breakthrough medical advances from certain places will not be coming here anytime soon:

1) The Repugs would rather we die than accept help from godless commie fucks who, medical advances not withstanding, have been thumbing their noses at us for fifty years instead of kowtowing to us like the should, the heathen fuzzy-wuzzies, and

2) Curing diseases might fuck with the bottom line, which is not Corporate/GOP policy.

Also, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Ruling Elite will have access to any treatment that prolongs their miserable lives. Fuck the rest of us.

The '70s, redux ...

Except it ain't the United States.

Link thanks to Jersey Cynic.

The power ...

Of words. Larisa looks at how the Republicans' "linguistic choreography" sets up the field the Dems have to play on and mis- and dis-informs the American public in the process:

Jonah Goldberg continues to demonstrate how the right-wing is manipulating public discourse in order to confuse and conflate patriotism with rabid nationalism. Make no mistake, this is a coordinated effort to deliberately replace substance with its symbol, meaning with an emblem, and essentially strip language down to nothing but trinkets.

...

For a people to be controlled, they must first be robbed of honest discourse and open debate. Distorting language and stripping it of real and honest meaning is the first tool and the best mechanism for transforming a democracy into an authoritarian state. An informed populace is a dangerous populace.

...

Patriotism is the word that authoritarians most like to distort and Goldberg demonstrates - once again - just how this distortion is created.

...

And our pal Nucks finds the reason Americans are so susceptible to it. Heh ...

Once upon a time ...

We were able to say we were better than they were.

Barr: GOP played out

Good news indeed from WaPo's 'The Talk':

"What's wrong with John McCain is symptomatic of what's wrong with the Republican Party in these first years of the 21st century," Barr said on "Fox News Sunday." "They talk one thing but do something different, and that's become very obvious to the American people."

I wish Mr. Nader Barr the absolute best of luck in his run for the presidency. Experience has shown us that the couple of percentage points he's going to get can make all the difference in the world.

Flash! Wes was right!

A BuzzFlash news analysis:

Bob Schieffer: General-could I just interrupt you-I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down.

General Wesley Clark: I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president...

-- Face the Nation (CBS), 6/29/08

After a careful reading of Article II of the U.S. Constitution, it appears General Wesley Clark is correct. "Riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down" is neither a qualification nor a requirement nor a recommended prerequisite to being president.

Watch for the RS3M* to label progressives as 'strict constructionists' and make it sound like 'godless commie fucks'. Heh. Strange bedfellows, indeed...

More at the site, but that was the 'bada-bing' of it to me.

Update:

Go read this excellent post on the subject.

*Repuglican't Spin, Slime, & Smear Machine.

It Was Oil, All Along

Moyers and Winship on the reason Bush invaded Iraq.

Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al-Qaeda and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted rationales went up in smoke, fire and ashes. And now the bottom line turns out to be ... the bottom line. It is about oil.

Shades of Daniel Plainview, the monstrous petroleum tycoon in the movie, "There Will Be Blood." Half-mad, he exclaims, "There's a whole ocean of oil under our feet!" then adds, "No one can get at it except for me!"

No wonder American troops only guarded the Ministries of Oil and the Interior in Baghdad, even as looters pillaged museums of their priceless antiquities. They were making sure no one could get at the oil except ... guess who?

There you have it. After a long exile, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP are back in Iraq. And on the wings of no-bid contracts - that's right, sweetheart deals like those given Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater. The kind of deals you get only if you have friends in high places. And these war profiteers have friends in very high places.

Perhaps those sweetheart deals in Iraq should be added to his proposed indictments. They have been purchased at a very high price. Four thousand American soldiers dead, tens of thousands permanently wounded, hundreds of thousands of dead and crippled Iraqis plus five million displaced, and a cost that will mount into trillions of dollars. The political analyst Kevin Phillips says America has become little more than an "energy protection force," doing anything to gain access to expensive fuel without regard to the lives of others or the earth itself. One thinks again of Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood." His lust for oil came at the price of his son and his soul.

Trouble is, this ain't a movie. Cheney and his henchmen didn't lose their souls, they sold them long ago. It makes me wish all the heaven/hell bullshit is real just to see the looks on their faces when they find out just how wrong they went.

Some folks are even more cynical about Iraq. From a comment at the site:

[...] Perhaps, if you are a conspiracy theorist, it wasn't to secure access to more oil, but rather to take the Iraqi reserves off the market so that oil might go to $100+/barrel making much more profit to the companies, at less corporate expense, than actually extracting the stuff." [...]

I don't know, but I put nothing - say again, nothing - past this bunch. The bottom line is...the bottom line.

Regular folks ...

Via Avedon, Timmeh's 'cottage'. Yeah, a man of the people, just like McLame.

Housekeeping ...

A personal point: I have a crazy life. I'm always doing something or running somewhere; the Mrs. too. That said, I'm not good with keeping up with basic shit here like updating the blogrolls.

I usually get to it when there's a Blogtopia-wide (y!sctp!) linkage event (usually in response to one of the bigger blogs purging their rolls). I know there are a buncha regular readers and commenters whose blogs I haven't added to the blogroll yet so here's your chance. Leave a link to your place in 'comments' on this post (if you are not on the blogroll), and tell me what category I should put you in, and I'll update over the long weekend (along with other site maintenance that's long overdue).

Conservative blogs need not apply.

Off to the shop ...

No shit ...

Does this surprise anybody?

A group of American advisers led by a small State Department team played an integral part in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil companies to develop some of the largest fields in Iraq, American officials say.

The disclosure, coming on the eve of the contracts’ announcement, is the first confirmation of direct involvement by the Bush administration in deals to open Iraq’s oil to commercial development and is likely to stoke criticism.

In their role as advisers to the Iraqi Oil Ministry, American government lawyers and private-sector consultants provided template contracts and detailed suggestions on drafting the contracts, advisers and a senior State Department official said. [my em]

...

Heh ... Republican lawyers. One day, the Iraqis will realize they have signed away their sovereignty (oh wait, we took that away from them 5 years ago) and are now an official U.S. territory (see - Guam, Puerto Rico, etc).

"See, we told you it was our oil."

At this point does anyone have any doubt about why we went in there?

Link via Dr. Fez-head.

Offered without comment ...

From Zoriah:

Click to embiggen.

If Terrorists Rock The Vote

Daddy Frank whups up on the Repug fear machine.

Unlike Hillary Clinton’s rumination about the Bobby Kennedy assassination or Barack Obama’s soliloquy about voters clinging to guns and faith, Mr. Black’s remarks were not an improvisational mishap. He gave his quotes on the record to Fortune magazine. He did so without thinking twice because he was merely saying what much of Washington believes. Terrorism is the one major issue where Mr. McCain soundly vanquishes his Democratic opponent in the polls. Since 2002, it’s been a Beltway axiom akin to E=mc2 that Bomb in American City=G.O.P. Landslide.

That equation was the creation of Karl Rove. Among the only durable legacies of the Bush presidency are the twin fears that Mr. Rove relentlessly pushed on his client’s behalf: fear of terrorism and fear of gays. But these pillars are disintegrating too. They’re propped up mainly by political operatives like Mr. Black and their journalistic camp followers — the last Washington insiders who are still in Mr. Rove’s sway and are still refighting the last political war.

But you can’t blame the McCain campaign for clinging to terrorism as a political crutch. The other Rove fear card is even more tattered. In the wake of Larry Craig and Mark Foley, it’s a double-edged sword for the G.O.P. to trot out gay blades cavorting in pride parades in homosexual-panic ads.

Mr. McCain is trying to swing both ways. [...]

Yer a real card, Pop. Sorry about no liquid alert. I wonder if the bleach I'm pouring in my ear will help with gettin' the mud outta my keyboard...

More. Read.

Bill Clinton says Barack Obama must 'kiss my ass' for his support

BuzzFlash, links to Telegraph

The Telegraph has learned that the former president's rage is still so great that even loyal allies are shocked by his patronising attitude to Mr Obama, and believe that he risks damaging his own reputation by his intransigence. A senior Democrat who worked for Mr Clinton has revealed that he recently told friends Mr Obama could "kiss my ass" in return for his support. Note: ROFLMAO!!!! Boy, you talk about taking it hard. There is no defeat like conceit!!!!

Real classy, Bill.

General Clark Says McCain Oversold Navy Experience

Expanding on Fixer's post a little, Bloomberg and comments

Retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, an adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said Republican contender John McCain has oversold his military and national-security experience.

Gee, ya think?

"I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president," Clark said, referring to the incident that led to McCain's being taken prisoner of war in Vietnam. He also said McCain's service as a prisoner made him "a hero."

Here's the awful irony: If McCain had used proper judgment and not let the North Vietnamese shoot his ass out of the sky, we'd have never heard of him.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Bush Wants to Use Diplomacy With Iran
Will rename aircraft carrier “U.S.S. Diplomacy.”

Consumer Confidence Index Hits Bottom
Nobody thinks things will improve, ever.

FDA: Salmonella Outbreak Might Not Be Caused by Tomatoes After All
Consumers advised not to eat anything until further notice.

Audit: Justice Dept. Hired on Ideological Basis
If you believed in justice, you weren't hired.

High Court Slashes Exxon Valdez Spill Punitive Damages
Says ExxonMobil has "suffered enough."

Hollywood Braces for Possible Actors' Strike
Starbucks braces for glut of baristas.

Physicist: Tiny Chance Atom Smasher Will Create All-Consuming Death Star
Still, you should put on hold any plans beyond August.

No problema. I ain't got any plans past the next ten minutes...

Just because ...

It's Monday and I'm annoyed. I needed a pick-me-up:

Falco - Rock Me, Amadaeus

Off to the shop ...

Biblical Truth ...

Now, I love this. When someone tells me something is right or wrong because the Bible says so. Everything in the Bible is true. I have some observations.

1) Being multi-lingual (I spoke German before I spoke English), and being someone who enjoys a good joke, I've come across many jokes that don't translate from German to English and vice versa. Nuance and meaning are lost in the translation.

2) Mrs. F's grandfather used to tell jokes in English but the punch line was in Yiddish because "it didn't translate properly".

3) If you look on the left sidebar on this page, you'll see the Alta Vista Babel Fish link to translate this page into a number of languages (mainly so my German relatives can read the Brain). While you get the gist of the posts, the translation is not great.

Now a question. When was the Bible written? I've heard everything from one of Jesus disciples wrote it not long after his death, to a century later, to the Middle Ages (900 - 1400 A.D.).

Another question. Was it written in English originally? From what I've heard, the original was probably written in Aramaic. It was most certainly translated into Latin long before the English version came out.

Last question. Taking the three statements and two questions together, how can some mono-lingual southern preacher (or anyone else for that matter) tell me exactly what truths are contained in the Bible? I am constantly amazed how people can point to truth in a document written hundreds (if not thousands) of years ago, translated from at least one 'dead language' into another before being translated into English.

When you talk to me about "Biblical truth" the Big Man/Woman better be standing next to you to translate (that word again) what he really meant before I'll believe it. 'God's mouthpieces' here on Earth have as much inside track to the Master Plan as I do and don't let anyone else tell you different.

Quote of the Day

General Wesley Clark:

"I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president."

Sunday Crazy Redneck Music & Storytelling Blogging

Billy Joe Shaver is a member of a great sub-genre of country music, the Texas singer/songwriter, which includes Willie Nelson, Nanci Griffith, Joe Ely, Townes Van Zandt, and on and on. One of the best things to ever come out of that state besides Interstate 10. Being on the cusp of curmudgeonry my own self, I like this guy.

I think this is a very slyly subversive song. See if you do too.

Freedom's Child

This one's for you, Fixer. Heh.

Ink Follow-up

I got a tattoo a coupla weeks ago, to which post I added a comment in self-defense, heh. It's all healed up so here it is.



Me'n Mrs. G have decided it needs a little red, so I'll be getting the letters SCUM USMC added soon.

Someone I Used To Know

This is so bizarre I couldn't resist. An old country tune, but a pretty clever song title/slideshow connection, I think. Looks like the wall at a Japanese tattoo parlor..."Herro, Sairor, you pick, I draw, carry you back to ship".

Emmylou Harris, John Anderson, and some Japanese ghosts

There, there, youngun' ...

We'll come back to our senses one day. Notorious P.A.T commenting on John Cole's post about the latest faux outrage from the right:

A question for people older than me (I’m 34): There was a time in this country, wasn’t there, when people who thought Congress was in league with our nation’s mortal enemies, and actively, knowingly plotted with them to have Americans killed, were confined to street corners with urine-soaked refridgerator [sic] cartons and tinfoil hats, right?

Please tell me this was so, and that it could some day be that way again.

Yes, hopefully one day people who are mind-numbingly stupid or downright delusional or criminally complicit will be treated as such once again.