There's no such thing ...

As global warming:

Yeah, just forget that global warming nonsense, now that the National Research Council has concluded that the Earth is the warmest it has been in at least 400 years. The council also slapped down industry-subsidized skeptics of global warming, and stated that much of the recent warming is the result of human activity, something that Cowboy George still disbelieves to this day, thinking instead that Mother Nature has been warming the globe. [my em]

...

Tell me, do any of you believe those commercials the oil companies put out showing just how concerned they really are? Yes, I believe Shell, BP, Exxon/Mobil, and the rest want to put themselves out of business so badly.

Santorum signs own death warrant...

...Politically, that is! Whee! Desperation'll make ya say stupid shit, huh? AlterNet:

Sen Rick Santorum (R-Pa) and Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) held a press conference yesterday to announce that weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, only to have their claims flatly disavowed by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Santorum and Hoekstra were talking about the degraded and inoperable remnants of Saddam's pre-1991 chemical weapons program that are turning up at various sites around Iraq. Their allegations are based on the U.S. government's own Iraq Survey Group. The very same report convinced President Bush that Iraq did not have WMD.

The DOD flatly disavowed the Congressmen's WMD claims. ThinkProgress: "Fox News' Jim Angle contacted the Defense Department who quickly disavowed Santorum and Hoekstra's claims. A Defense Department official told Angle flatly that the munitions hyped by Santorum and Hoekstra are "not the WMD's for which this country went to war."

I had Hardball on in the other room, so I don't know exactly which talking head said this, but he got a big laugh out of it: "Well, you wouldn't want to walk up and hit 'em with a hammer, but WMD they ain't!"

I woulda posted this earlier, but it took my keyboard a few minutes to dry out!

Sorrow

Jane Hamsher's mother passed away this afternoon.Fortunately,Jane has been with her since she fell ill several days ago,and was by her Mom's side when she passed.Go show her some love.

They're closin' in on ya, Fixer...

Houston Chronicle

The U.S. Army, aiming to make its recruiting goals amid the Iraq war, raised its maximum enlistment age by another two years Wednesday.

People can now volunteer to serve in the active-duty Army or the part-time Army Reserve and National Guard up to their 42nd birthday, officials said.

"Part-time" Reserve and Guard? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Older recruits must pass the same physical standards and medical examination as younger ones, the Army said. However, those between 40 and 42 will face additional cardiovascular screening, Bobick said.

When they get to recruitin' guys my age, the docs'll need earplugs to quiet down the wheezin'!

Operation Helmet

I am chagrined that I didn't hear about this until very recently, and didn't get the whole picture until yesterday evening while watching the gorgeous, sexy Anderson Cooper - er, that should have been Cher, on Andy's show!

What the deal is, is this outfit sends helmet upgrade kits to Marines and other servicemen in the combat zones. The padding kits "keep the head from becoming a clanger inside a kevlar bell", to use their words, and help prevent Traumatic Brain Injuries which are of high incidence during this occupation due to rockets going off next to your head and flying chunks of metal from IEDs clangin' inta yer gourd, etc. The Army has adopted the system, but the Air Force, Navy, and particularly the cheap-ass Marine Corps have not. The Corps says it "must study" the idea. Well, listen up, Jarheads, ya got the perfect laboratory in Iraq and Afghanistan!

I will donate* the cost of a Marine upgrade kit, which is $71. It's a lot for me, but doodly-squat if a saves a life.

Please go to OperationHelmet.org and click around for all the details and info on contributing.

I hope some of you former military bloggers will pick up on this and post about it as well.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to e-mail your Senators about having these services adopt the upgrade without delay, either. And while you're at it, write to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and tell him that Corporal Gordon thinks he's a cheap shit if he doesn't start testing these things under actual combat conditions right away. He's at

General Michael W. Hagee
CMC PA HQMC
3000 Marine Corps
Pentagon 4B548
Washington DC 20350-3000

Lemme know what he says! I'll be under my bed...

*Update:

The check's in the mail. No, really...

"Occupation, Not War" part deux

Rob Kall of OpEdNews follows up on my yesterday's post:

Every Democratic legislator should be, if necessary, electro-shock trained to never use the term "war" to describe the disaster in Iraq. It's an occupation, a horror story, a testimony to vast incompetence and failed leadership.

And let's dump the "war on terrorism" language too. This language, invented by right wing language gurus, is misleading and only causes us to pursue useless efforts.

You can fight terrorism. You can fight drug abuse. You can put together resources to fight cancer. But when it comes to groups spread across the the planet, in many countries, you can't declare war. You might have skirmishes. But you need to think of different kinds of strategies, more like the ones used to take on organized crime-- the Mafia, Columbian drug smugglers.

The stupid, politically motivated mislabelling of the problem as a war has caused us to waste thousands of US lives tens of thousands of Iraqi lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. Bush and his rubber-stamp republican liars and fools (one, the other or both) have idiotically taken us down a path that has no hope of resolving the problem of terrorism.

Democrats who gullibly continue to use the languaging that the Republican spinmeisters crafted to frame things to meet their political needs are being duped and helping the Republicans. The Democrats must take control of the language "war." They must refuse to respond to journalist questions that use that framing.

Let the media attend. Let them learn and understand how the right wing language experts have been using them, so they can tell the difference between being real reporters and media dupes of the right wing. Some media people will continue to use the right wing "language" since they're part of the right wing echo chamber team. Some will see what's really going on and start functioning as real, independent journalists. It will be interesting to see which "journalists" actually "get it."

Journalists? Getting it? Don't hold your breath. The ones who are going to 'get it' at this point mostly already have, but there may be more when some of 'em figure out how badly they've been used, or worse, that they were played for fools and went along with it. Nobody likes being thought of as a fool, even fools. Revenge is a wonderful motive.

Please read the rest of the piece. It was hard to restrain myself from quoting it whole. I think to re-label the war for what it is - occupation - is the best idea to come down the pike in quite a while.

The Repubs are brilliant at exactly one thing: using our language to lie to us, aka piss on yer leg an' tell ya it's rainin'. They've figured out that "simple messages for simple minds" gets them re-elected, even if, no, especially if, they're untrue but sound moral, patriotic, etc. The Repubs play their constituency for fools, and why not? They're suckers, and it works.

What the Dems have to realize is that they have to shitcan the "complex messages on complex issues for rational, reality-based, thinking minds" and come up with a way to condense the truth into a "simple message" aka a "catch phrase" for everybody else.

Phony Charges Dropped

Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - The Falun Gong follower who heckled Chinese President Hu Jintao at a White House ceremony has reached a deal with prosecutors under which all charges against her will be dropped, her attorney announced Wednesday.

Wang Wenyi faced a misdemeanor charge of intimidating, coercing, threatening and harassing a foreign official for interrupting the April 20 event in which President Bush welcomed Hu to the White House. She could have faced six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Heh. I don't think they have the actual statute Bush wanted her charged with - "Daring to Embarass the Monarch" - on the books yet, but I'm sure the White House is working to correct that.

Wang, 47, said she is prohibited from confronting any foreign officials over the next year. The case will be continued until then, and if she has not committed any felonies - including confronting foreign officials - the charges will be dropped, said Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

While you may think the deal is an abrogation of her 1st Amendment rights, it's really not. The only cause she has is against the Chinese leadership for their horrid treatment of Falun Gong practitioners, and she won't get within a country mile of any of them in this country ever again. She made her point, and they let her slide on the phony charges. The real crime would have been to prosecute her and they knew it.

Hamas to Recognize Israel's Right to Exist

The Guardian (UK)

Hamas has made a major political climbdown by agreeing to sections of a document that recognise Israel's right to exist and a negotiated two-state solution, according to Palestinian leaders.

There's a lot more to it, of course, since a lot of Palestinians still don't agree, and I have no idea what actual impact it will have, but it's a step in the right direction.

Blogwhoring

Had to drop the Mrs. at the airport and I'm late for work. Speaking of work, why must you people watch me?

It's so comforting ...

That in 21st Century America, an American citizen can be locked up indefinitely, without charge, just because the Preznit says so. America in name only.

Well, pack my ass with gunpowder...

I find this over at Jo Fish's place:

NASA managers have rejected last-ditch pleas from their top safety officer and chief engineer to scrap next month's shuttle launch, saying that they will press ahead despite potentially catastrophic risks.

The head of the US space agency, Dr Michael Griffin, overruled warnings that there was a "relatively high" chance the shuttle's external fuel tank could shed some of its solid foam coating when it launches on 1 July, carrying seven crew including Briton Piers Sellers, an Edinburgh University graduate.

...

Um ... And the crew is all right with this? I don't mind putting my ass on the line for my country, but if you're asking me to go on a suicide mission, the Commies better be marching up Pennsylvania Avenue. I don't think trying to distract the American people from the horror in Iraq or the corruption at home qualifies.

Joe-mentum ... not

According to the new SUSA tracking poll, Lieberman's approval/disapproval among Democrats is now in negative territory for the first time ever at 46/50, sinking 10 points since last month:

...

Heh ... Ned!

Great thanks to Atrios.

Fans drop trou at World Cup

BBC

Around 1,000 fans arrived for the Ivory Coast tie in their traditional bright orange trousers - but bearing the logo and name of a Dutch brewery.

To protect the rights of the official beer they were denied entry, so the male fans promptly removed the trousers and watched the game in underpants.

Please, Lord, don't let this happen at the Superbowl! Americans show their brand loyalty on T-shirts. Acres of fat, hairy, pasty white beer bellies... (runs away screaming)

"Molest a child for Bush!"

From The Monitor (McAllen, TX), which is somewhere in the depths of the Rio Grande Valley:

EDINBURG - Political consultant and ad producer Carey Lee Cramer is expected to testify today defending himself against charges he sexually molested two young girls.

Cramer, who gained national notoriety with an anti-Al Gore commercial in 2000, is facing several counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Cramer's commercial showed a young girl picking daisy petals and ends with a nuclear blast, a remake of a 1964 ad by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign against Republican Barry Goldwater. Cramer's ad made national news, though he refused to identify who financed the commercial. One of the girls in the ad stands as his accuser now.

I'm sure part of his defense will be, "Well, at least he isn't a homo!"

Gotta love them Republican 'moral values'!

Reclaim the Issues - "Occupation, Not War"

Common Dreams

Every time the media - or a Democrat - uses the phrase "War in Iraq" they are promoting one of Karl Rove's most potent Republican Party frames.

There is no longer a war against Iraq.

Our military machine is tremendously good at fighting wars - blowing up infrastructure, killing opposing armies, and toppling governments. We did that successfully in Iraq, in a matter of a few weeks. We destroyed their army, wiped out their air defenses, devastated their Republican Guard, seized their capitol, arrested their leaders, and took control of their government. We won the war. It's over.

What we have now is an occupation of Iraq.

The distinction between "war" and "occupation" is politically critical for 2006 because wars can be won or lost, but occupations most honorably end by redeployments.

If Democrats can succeed over the next three months in making it clear to average Americans that the "War In Iraq" ended in 2003, and that we're now engaged in an "Occupation Of Iraq," then Democratic suggestions to end or greatly diminish the occupation will take on a resonance and cogency that will both help them in an election year, and help to bring our soldiers to safety and Iraq to stability.

On the other hand, if Democrats are perceived as pushing for America to "lose the war in Iraq," they will be vilified and damned by Republicans and many swing voters, and could thus lose big in 2006.

If the Democrats don't shift the discussion from "war" to "occupation," the Republicans will succeed in painting them as being "in favor of losing a war," which will destroy their electoral possibilities.

Instead, every time a Republican or a member of the press uses the Rove slogan "War in Iraq," Democrats need to correct them by saying, "You mean the Occupation of Iraq..."

I'm going to start doing that myself. We need to end the occupation and didi out of there as soon as possible. Also, in addition to "Lie and Die", we need another short, simple, bumper sticker-length, yet true (unlike the Republicans') talking point to help get our Nation back from the war criminal elite. Go read the article.

Probe Finds Iraqi Troops Killed Two American Soldiers

AP via KABC(L.A.)

SAN FRANCISCO. June 20, 2006 - Two California soldiers shot to death in Iraq were murdered by Iraqi civil-defense officers patrolling with them, military investigators have found.

The deaths of Army Spc. Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr. and 1st Lt. Andre D. Tyson were originally attributed to an ambush during a patrol near Balad, Iraq, on June 22, 2004.

But the Army's Criminal Investigation Division found that one or more of the Iraqis attached to the American soldiers on patrol fired at them, a military official said Tuesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the military did not plan to release the report until Wednesday.

Soldiers who witnessed the attack have told her that two Iraqi patrolmen opened fire on her son's unit. The witnesses also said a third gunman simultaneously drove up to the American unit in a van, climbed onto the vehicle and fired at the Americans, she said.

"Nothing is clear. Nothing is clear," she said. Her son was shot eight times by bullets of various calibers, some of which penetrated his body armor, she said. She believes he bled to death.

"I really want this story to come out; I want people to know what happened to my son," she said. "There is no doubt to me that this (ambushes by attached Iraqi units) is still happening to soldiers today, but our chain of command is awfully reckless; they don't seem to give a damn about what's happening to soldiers."

It must be a strange feeling to go on patrol knowing someone's probably gonna shoot at you, but not knowing exactly which way to point your rifle.

Since we've trained over 260,000 Iraqi trigger pullers of various types, I think they've been 'stood up'. It's time for us to 'stand down'. Now. Let 'em fight their own goddam fight and let the chips fall where they may. Let 'em kill each other instead of our guys.

I've said this before and you just know I'm about to say it again: Fuck Iraq. The whole goddam sand pile isn't worth one drop of American blood. Our guys joined up to defend America, not Iraq.

Our troops are being injured and killed, and our coffers are being plundered, in the service of lying criminals, corporate profiteers, and satanic Hitlerian cryptochristofascist ideologues. Notice how I didn't say 'crimes, profits, or ideology'? This is not about ideas or philosophy. It's about the evil PEOPLE who espouse them.

Reborn

They're reactivating my old unit!

PRESS RELEASE -- Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Public Affairs

Release No. 010606
June 20,2006

...

Because of historical lineage, the 16th Special Operations Wing flag will transition to Cannon, and Hurlburt Field will regain its designation as the 1st Special Operations Wing.

...

Hurlburt Field will continue as the headquarters of Air Force Special Operations Command and will also be the home of the 1st Special Operations Wing.

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It means a lot to us who were there at the beginning, when Air Force Special Operations became something more than just search and rescue and a 'transport' service.

Sorry, couldn't find a link and I have to go to work. Got this via email from DefenseLink.

The party of 'moral values'...

... noting that three of the top potential Republican candidates are admitted adulterers...

So, how do the Jesus freaks square their consciences with this? Oh that's right, it's okay if they've announced their devotion to Jesus. You know, I'm tired of hearing about God. I don't care whose god it is, Muslim, Jew, Christian, just shut the fuck up already. If you want to prove your devotion, speak through your actions. All the rest is bullshit and it's coming in like the high tide.

Oh thank God ...

Jenna and not-Jenna are safe...

See ya's ... revisited

TOKYO, June 20 -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced today that he will withdraw 550 troops from Iraq, ending a landmark mission that became Tokyo's largest military-related operation since World War II.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced that Iraqi troops would take over security next month around the southern city of Samawah, where the Japanese and other forces are stationed. Officials here have repeatedly said that the Japanese -- whose withdrawal has been anticipated for months -- had been awaiting that decision before finalizing withdrawal plans.

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Can ya still call it a coalition when everybody but the Brits, Aussies, and us has packed up and gone home? The Aussies will be out just after their next round of elections, and the only one in Britain who wants their troops in Iraq is Tony Blair.

For all those people who called me an asshole for predicting this war would be just like Vietnam; when does it begin to not look like Vietnam? Or, do we have to have close to 60,000 dead before you people will agree that it does?

Big tip o' the Brain to our pal Scout Prime.