Weird (Bad) Science

From Democratic Veteran:

Making Bad Science pay, the Lobbyists way

Yet another use of bad science to enrich the coffers of the corpro-fascist pigs...and ensure that truly bad research is used predominently in making laws that [don't] protect us all...

Things were not looking good a few years ago for the makers of atrazine, America's second-leading weedkiller. The company was seeking approval from the Environmental Protection Agency to keep the highly profitable product on the market. But scientists were finding it was disrupting hormones in wildlife -- in some cases turning frogs into bizarre creatures bearing both male and female sex organs.
[. . .]

[. . .]

Entire post.

Well, that explains the guests on Jerry Springer.

Uhlaru

Hadda steal this from The Head Heeb:




Never made it to the Red Center when I was TDY to Australia for a week. Gotta drag the Mrs. there soon.

Do you haff ze papers?

From WTF Is It Now??:

Bunnypants the Yellowbellied

It's old news that while John Kerry has welcomed everyone at his campaign stops, the Boy King's handlers laborously handpick every one of the brainwashed mouthbreathers you see in all the Widdle Fuckwit's campaign stops and photo-ops, even forcing them to sign "loyalty oaths.

"Heaven forbid the senseless twit ever has to face a heckler or even somebody asking him a tougher question than why isn't Laura here today? He even has something called "Ask pResident Bush" sessions, where supporters who must have undergone thorough questioning into their political family trees suck up to the vacuous ninny and leave pucker marks all over his shiny yellow ass.

Well, in one such make-out session on Friday the stumbling mumblefuck couldn't even answer a question posed by a little kid about the firing of a school librarian:

"I can't answer your question why. But Laura was a librarian, so maybe the superintendent ought to talk to the librarian, Laura. But, no, I don't know."

But Saddam wuz a threat so ah took him out, you damn li'l commie.

I love the attitude over at WTF.

More on Bush and his Nazi rallies at Eschaton.

Cowards

Via Corrente, via Eschaton, from Sen Tom Harkin:

DES MOINES -- Sen. Tom Harkin called Vice President Dick Cheney a "coward" for avoiding service in Vietnam and called on President Bush to end the "backdoor draft."

[. . .]

Harkin, who served as a jet pilot in the Navy, said the exemption wasn't intended for situations like the war in Iraq. He said first responders like Nydam are needed to protect the community.

"The part of the U.S. code that provides for this anticipates major wars, major national emergencies," Harkin said. "That is not what we're confronting right now. You think about using this law only in (extreme cases), only when we're really in dire, dire need."

Harkin also shot back at Cheney, who said in a visit to Iowa on Tuesday that presidential candidate John Kerry lacks a basic understanding of the war on terrorism and cannot make America safer.

He noted that Cheney had several student deferments that allowed him to skip serving in Vietnam.

"When I hear this coming from Dick Cheney, who was a coward, who would not serve during the Vietnam War, it makes my blood boil," Harkin said. "Those of us who served and those of us who went in the military don't like it when someone like a Dick Cheney comes out and he wants to be tough. Yeah, he'll be tough. He'll be tough with somebody else's blood, somebody else's kids. But not when it was his turn to go." [my emphasis]

[. . .]

Damn right.

Read the entire article here.

Twenty (one) questions

A bunch of questions our media whores should ask President Free Pass. From Lambert at Corrente:

We've been working on a list of questions we'd like to ask Bush; here they are.

The Kerry campaign has a site called "Ask the President" (thanks to alert reader raison de fem). It couldn't hurt to post some of the questions below there. (Sure, the form is an email-address-capturing device, but who cares? There's a lot at stake.) The Kerry campaign—or the surrogate team it has yet to form—sorely needs some spunk and snark. Let's give 'em some, courtesy of Corrente and the blogosphere....

NOTE: In this simulated transcript, I have replaced the press's usual kneepad-appropriate salutation to Bush—"My Lord"—with the "Sir" that most Americans still expect.

Readers, have at it... Maybe we can break 50!

[. . .]

Tough shit, I'm not stealing the whole thing. Go read the outstanding questions here.

Bush in Florida, again

Yup, a little over 24 hours and President Nutless Wonder is in Florida, surveying the damage. Real nice, asshole. Would you move so fucking quickly if Charley ran over a blue-fucking-state? I seriously doubt it. Took you 10 days to see if we were all right after 9/11. Sure didn't hesitate to have the Republican Convention here so you can exploit us though, right. Motherfucker.

This is scary

From The Talking Dog:

The Bush Administration gives us its plans for the redeployment of 70,000 troops from overseas station to bases within the United States. The People's Daily report linked to here is pretty consistent with other reports I have seen and heard: Bush will announce this initiative (which will not affect-- at all-- the 130,000 plus troops in Iraq or the nearly 20,000 troops in Afghanistan) at a VFW hall in swing state Ohio. The rationale for this pullback of forces permanently based in Europe or Asia is "to be able to respond more quickly to foreign situations."

[. . .]

Entire post.

All this says to me is that President Flightsuit is planning to go somewhere else and needs a couple more divisions to do it. While I've always advocated a kid going into the military after high school if he didn't know what do do and had no college plans, if I had an 18 year old kid, I'd try to talk him out of it. All these assholes are doing is squandering our childrens' lives. And I don't want to see any more kids turned into cannon fodder.

I thought they'd settled this

But I was wrong. That's why I rely on The Head Heeb:

THIS IS REALLY BAD

More than 150 Congolese Tutsi refugees have reportedly been massacred at a refugee camp in western Burundi. The National Liberation Forces (FNL) - a Hutu group that was until recently in rebellion against the Burundi government - has claimed responsibility for the attack, and DRC vice-president Azarius Ruberwa indicated that elements of the Congolese army were also involved.

This could have major repercussions even beyond the immediate tragedy. To begin with, the massacre puts the fragile Burundi peace process in very real danger of collapse. The FNL, which had been the last holdout among the rebel forces, joined the peace talks in January; it has since backed off and refused to be part of a national unity government, but its active campaign has subsided. Evidently, though, it believes that Congolese Tutsi refugees are still fair game, and this isn't likely to make the already-vacillating Tutsi parties any happier about the peace process. If the government and international mediators continue to urge the FNL to join the coalition, the Tutsi parties may pull out - and if talks break off, then it may return to full-scale rebellion and reignite the civil war.

[. . .]

Go read the entire post, damn it.

It just amazes me that we can intervene places that we fuck up even more, and this festering boil on Africa's ass continues to grow. These people have been hacking each other up for years. If we're gonna be a policeman for the world, we should start in Africa.

As an aside, I'm gonna get to Africa too one day before I die. I can still hear my mother singing: 'Wir lagen zum Madegascar'.

Taking over via 'regulation'

Via Melanie at Just a Bump in the Beltway from the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 - April 21 was an unusually violent day in Iraq; 68 people died in a car bombing in Basra, among them 23 children. As the news went from bad to worse, President Bush took a tough line, vowing to a group of journalists, "We're not going to cut and run while I'm in the Oval Office."

On the same day, deep within the turgid pages of the Federal Register, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a regulation that would forbid the public release of some data relating to unsafe motor vehicles, saying that publicizing the information would cause "substantial competitive harm" to manufacturers.

As soon as the rule was published, consumer groups yelped in complaint, while the government responded that it was trying to balance the interests of consumers with the competitive needs of business. But hardly anyone else noticed, and that was hardly an isolated case.

[. . .]

"There's been more federal regulations, more regulatory notices, than previous administrations," said Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, though he attributed much of that to the new rules dealing with domestic security.

And then there's Scott 'Lyin' Muthafucka' McClellan WH Press Secretary:

Scott McClellan, the chief White House spokesman, said of the changes, "The president's common-sense policies reflect the values of America, whether it is cracking down on corporate wrongdoing or eliminating burdensome regulations to create jobs."

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha bullshit.

Some leaders of advocacy groups argue that the public preoccupation with war and terrorism has allowed the administration to push through changes that otherwise would have provoked an outcry. Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club, says he does not think the administration could have succeeded in rewriting so many environmental rules, for example, if the public's attention had not been focused on national security issues.

"The effect of the administration's concentration on war and terror has been to prevent the public from focusing on these issues," Mr. Pope said. "Now, when I hold focus groups with the general public and tell them what has been done, they exclaim, 'How could this have happened without me knowing about it?

[. . .]

The overall regulatory record shows that the Bush administration has heeded the interests of business and industry. Like the Reagan administration, which made regulatory reform a priority, officials under Mr. Bush have introduced new rules to ease or dismantle existing regulations they see as cumbersome. Some analysts argue that the Bush administration has introduced rules favoring industry with a dedication unmatched in modern times.

"My thoughts go back to Herbert Hoover," said Robert Dallek, the presidential historian. "No president could have been more friendly to business than Hoover" until the Bush administration.

While John D. Graham, administrator of information and regulatory affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, does not dispute the administration's pro-business tilt, he said there had been notable exceptions, which his office approved when government officials "provided adequate scientific and economic justification."

[. . .]

The administration, at the request of lumber and paper companies, gave Forest Service managers the right to approve logging in federal forests without the usual environmental reviews. A Forest Service official explained that the new rule was intended "to better harmonize the environmental, social and economic benefits of America's greatest natural resource, our forests and grasslands."

In March of 2003, the Mine Safety and Health Administration published a proposed new regulation that would dilute the rules intended to protect coal miners from black-lung disease. The mine workers union called the new rules "extremely dangerous," while a mine safety administration official contended, "We are moving on toward more effective prevention of black-lung disease."

In May 2003, the Bush administration dropped a proposed rule that would have required hospitals to install facilities to protect workers against tuberculosis. Hospitals and other industry groups had lobbied against the change, saying that it would be costly and that existing regulations would accomplish many of the same aims.

But workers unions and public health officials argued that the number of tuberculosis cases had risen in 20 states and that the same precautions that were to have been put into place for tuberculosis would also have been effective against SARS. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

Full story.

We've been hoodwinked, ladies and gentlemen. Time to wake up. President Ballbag might be a moron, but Cheney and Rove are smart guys. They've effectively sidestepped the checks and balances of congressional oversight. Hope it scares you as much as it scares me.

Read this:

Stolen from TAPPED:

AXIS OF DRIVEL. We've just completed our September issue, and it's now available online for all Prospect subscribers. We've made David Sirota's new article, "The Big Squeeze," available to all our Web readers. Sirota looks at five areas where big business has become not only a player but the referee, after four years of deregulation and handouts from the Bush administration. CEOs and HMOs have made off with billions since 2000; you can guess whose pockets it comes from. Sirota looks at what the oil, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries have received -- and what it's cost the rest of us.

No surprise to me, but for you non-political junkies, this will open your eyes. Bush is not only wrecking the country, he's selling it out from under us too. Asswipe. Do yourself a favor and follow the links.

God & Politics

Talk about brainwashing the sheep. Stole the whole thing from Barbara at The American Street:

Florida Feels Bush Wrath
George W. Bush reminded Florida voters Saturday that he is *The* voice of God. “Hurricane Charley was an act of God that not coincidentally followed a poll showing John Kerry in the lead among Florida voters,” Bush hinted. Voters in other swing states could also be subject to “acts of God” if they worship another God before Bush, the commander-in-chief added. “It’s hellfire season again in California,” Bush said while visiting the Pacific Northwest this weekend. “How long has it been since there’s been a good-sized earthquake in Portland?”

Bush says it is his goal to make Barrack Obama’s speech at the Democratic Convention come half-true. “By the time I get through with my vengeance there won’t be any blue states left,” Bush said. “There are huge nuclear weapons facilities in New Mexico and Washington that voters there should consider before they cast their ballots.”

“Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord,” Bush told a gathering at the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s church in Lynchburg, VA. “and I’m going to take full advantage of that by destroying these ‘sensitive’ Democrats.” Falwell reminded Bush of the time he and the Rev. Pat Robertson were able to keep a Hurricane out of Virginia and changing its course to the "homosexual-infested" Long Island and Connecticut areas. “I do the same thing,” Bush admitted. “There is no record of a hurricane ever hitting Crawford, Texas.”

This is outrageous. And as for homosexual-infested Long Island, come up here, Pat. I ain't queer, but I'd give it to your ass so hard you'd choke. Fucking bible-thumping, Jesus freak, assholes.

Yeah!

From The American Street:

Courtesy: General J.C. Christian, guest blogger.

Update: 06:15 Sunday:

The Farmer at Corrente has more on the Keyes 'Legacy of Lunacy'.

"Liberal brainwashing"

From Jesse at Pandagon:

Because Liberals Indoctrinate Kids

Oh, hell no.

"Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed! A Small Lesson in Conservatism" is a wonderful way to teach young children the valuable lessons of conservatism. In simple text, parents and children follow Tommy and Lou on their quest to earn money for a swing set their parents cannot afford. As their dream gets stuck in Liberaland, Tommy and Lou’s lemonade stand is hit with many obstacles.
Liberals keep appearing from behind their lemon tree, taking half of their money in taxes, forbidding them to hang a picture of Jesus atop their stand, and making them give broccoli with each glass sold.

Law after law instituted by the press-hungry liberals finally results in the liberals taking over Tommy and Lou’s stand and offering sour lemonade at astronomical prices to the customers.

Then conservatives come along and propose no regulation whatsoever, even when Tommy urinates in each pitcher. They then propose a consumption tax on nonessential items like lemonade, which means that they now have to charge $.75 a glass instead of $.50.

They then release a terror alert just for the block, telling people to be highly afraid of any suspicious activity, but also reminding them to go shop.

Ain't that special

President Lowlife is rushing to Florida to survey the damage from the storm. Took the fucking asshole 10 days to get HERE after 9/11, but he can sure run when little brother calls. Rat bastid. It pays to live in a red state when federal aid is being passed out, doesn't it?

Shut up, I'm campaigning

Seriously, I know my blogs (this one and The Fixer) are not the most widely read in the blogosphere, but I know some pretty respected and influential folks have cruised through. With that in mind, I'm campaigning, not for me, but for the Mrs.

That's right. I may be an idiot, but my wife is one of the smartest people I know and I believe she would be great for a Cabinet Secretary position in a Kerry administration. So, if any of you folks who are connected with Kerry/Edwards, or if you know someone influential in the campaign, put a good word in about Mrs. F. I could see her as Secretary of Commerce or Secretary of the Treasury. She's a hell of a lot better than the idiots who work for President Clueless.

So, what do you say? Think about it. And I promise that I will stay far, far away from the Halls of Government, so you don't have to worry about the property value of the White House going down. Silly me, what am I saying? After Bush gets done, it won't be worth shit anyway.

Kaplan on Iraq

From Josh Marshall at TPM:

[. . .]

The key sentence is this one: "the U.S. military—the only force in Iraq remotely capable of keeping the country from falling apart—finds itself in a maddening situation where tactical victories yield strategic setbacks."

[. . .]

And the key is Kaplan's point about tactical victories and strategic setbacks. Yet, I think we can go further and say that these don't 'yield' strategic setbacks, they are strategic setbacks in and of themselves.

Winning a pitched battle against Shi'a insurgents in the heart of one of Shi'a Islam's holiest sites (and by this I mean not just the Imam Ali Mosque, but the cemetery near it and the area immediately surrounding it) is itself a defeat for us.

(Here is a piece just out from the Post that illustrates the bind into which we've sunk the Army and Marines.)

As the shrewdest thinkers on the left and the right concede on this issue, our true strategic challenges in the Muslim Middle East are not conventional military ones, but hearts-and-minds challenges. . .

[. . .]

Entire post.

Personally, I think the time for winning the hearts and minds has long passed, the opportunity squandered.

Thoughts . . .

Via CNN. This whole McGreevey thing:

TRENTON, New Jersey (CNN) -- New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey -- who said he would step down in November after admitting an extramarital gay affair -- faced pressure Friday to resign immediately amid accusations that he abused his office and power to pursue a sexual relationship with the man.

"While employed by one of the most powerful politicians in the country, New Jersey Governor McGreevey, I was the victim of repeated sexual advances by him," said attorney Allen Lowy, reading a statement on behalf of his client Golan Cipel.

McGreevey, who stunned the political world with his announcement Thursday that he is gay, had cheated on his wife and would leave office in three months, has not publicly identified the man he was involved with.

[. . .]

While I understand why McGreevey wants to wait until 15 November, I don't think he should go through with it. I think he should get the fuck out now. NJ is certiainly Democratic, and I'm pretty sure we would win a special election held this November. This ploy of McGreevey's sounds too much like something the Republicans would do out of desperation; remember Florida 2000. Resign now, Jim, let's put this to bed so the Republicans can't scream.

New York City & the GOP

From that smart and insightful kid, and fellow New Yorker, Matt Yglesias:

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
I'll be back in my hometown of New York City for the 2004 Republican Convention, spending some time on a Prospect credential and some time hanging out with the other independent progressive bloggers come to document the goings on. I know New York pretty well, and I know that New Yorkers (a) don't like Republicans, (b) regard 9-11 as their tragedy and don't like to see it exploited by Republicans they don't like, (c) don't like seeing traffic all fucked up, (d) don't like tourists, and (e) did I mention they don't like Republicans. I mean, Bush is really hated. NYC has got to be the least Republican place on the planet this side of the Gaza Strip. It even passed through the whole realignment thing unaffected -- give us Lincoln and we won't vote for him, the City went for McGovern and it went for Mondale. It really hates Republicans.

So, speaking personally, I'm torn between a desire to see New York kick some ass and really teach the GOP a lesson for having the balls to repeatedly screw the city over on counterterrorism stuff, then show up in town trying to gay bash and 9-11ify their way to reelection, and a fear that over-the-top protests will bolster Bush's reelection effort.

Bush's resume

My brother-in-law doesn't send a lot of crap out. When he does, it's pretty good:

This individual seeks an executive position. He will be available next
January, and is willing to relocate.

RESUME
GEORGE W. BUSH
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20520


EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Law Enforcement:
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

Military:
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

College:
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock. I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:

- I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.
- I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.
- I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
- With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:

- I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
- I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
- I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.
- I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.
- I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
- I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
- I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market. In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.
- I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.
- I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.
- I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
- My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.
- My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.
- I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs in history. I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.
- I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
- I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
- I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
- I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.
- I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.
- I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
- I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.
- I refused to allow inspector's access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.
- I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
- I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.
- I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
- I garnered the most sympathy ever for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.
- I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.
- I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
- I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families in wartime.
- In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.
- I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
- I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD.
- I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:

-All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
- All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
- All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

See, pretty good, huh? Say, "Thanks, Bobby".

Economics

From Steven Roach at Morgan Stanley via Just a Bump in the Beltway:

An unbalanced global economy is back on the razor’s edge. High oil prices are taking a toll on the US growth dynamic at precisely the point when a Fed tightening cycle has begun -- a risky combination by any standards. At the same time, a shift to policy austerity in China has led to a modest slowing of that overheated economy, with a good deal more to come. That puts a two-engine world -- driven by the American consumer on the demand side and the Chinese producer on the supply side -- in a zone of heightened vulnerability. As I see it, the risks on the downside outweigh those on the upside by a factor of three to one. I would now assign a 40% probability to a recessionary relapse in the global economy in 2005.

[. . .]

Read the entire report.

The Bush Administration's economic policies, along with their foreign policy, have bougt us to the brink. Four more years of President Clueless will push us over the edge. Assholes.