Why do they hate San Francisco?

Ted:

... Pesticides untested for safety on humans will be sprayed over the Bay Area starting June and August in an attempt to eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth ...

There is wisdom in the Holy Land ...

And hopefully they'll secure the amount funding AIPAC does. Our pal PC:

The WahPoo tells us that Jewish liberals (and, hopefully, progressives, moderates, nonsectarians, democrats, independents, and anybody who has seen that the State of Israel is being used as a catspaw for American imperialist ambitions in the Middle-East to the detriment of the Jewish people) are forming a PAC to counter the influence of the far-right AIPAC lobbyists.

The hawks of AIPAC do not represent the Israeli people, who are far more interested in peace than in the continuing manipulation of American foreign policy with detrimental results for both Israeli and Palestinian peoples. They do not represent the American people, who are bankrolling their militarism to the tune of nearly $100 billion. They do not represent anyone except a small handful of wealthy, powerful, militaristic maniacs who stand to profit from the continuing murder and horror.

...

They'll get a check from me this year.

Quote of the Day

Part of a headline at BuzzFlash about the latest car bombing in Iraq:

This was not about removing Saddam Hussein. This was not about terrorism. This was about chickenhawk warmongers who had to redeem their manhood and oil.

So...how's that workin' out? They haven't gotten the oil yet, and they probably won't.

'Manhood'? Redeeming something they never had is completely beyond them, but they're perfectly willing to waste a lot of real men's lives and trillions of our dollars in the futile attempt.

Obama would ask his AG to "immediately review" potential of crimes in Bush White House

I've been staying off the Democratic presidential nominee campaigns just like I would stay out of most bar fights - there's nothing much to gain and I might get hurt, but this is promising.

Attytood

Tonight I had an opportunity to ask Barack Obama a question that is on the minds of many Americans, yet rarely rises to the surface in the great ruckus of the 2008 presidential race -- and that is whether an Obama administration would seek to prosecute officials of a former Bush administration on the revelations that they greenlighted torture, or for other potential crimes that took place in the White House.

Obama said that as president he would indeed ask his new Attorney General and his deputies to "immediately review the information that's already there" and determine if an inquiry is warranted -- but he also tread carefully on the issue, in line with his reputation for seeking to bridge the partisan divide. He worried that such a probe could be spun as "a partisan witch hunt." However, he said that equation changes if there was willful criminality, because "nobody is above the law."

I mentioned the report in my question, and said "I know you've talked about reconciliation and moving on, but there's also the issue of justice, and a lot of people -- certainly around the world and certainly within this country -- feel that crimes were possibly committed" regarding torture, rendition, and illegal wiretapping. I wanted to know how whether his Justice Department "would aggressively go after and investigate whether crimes have been committed."

Here's his answer, in its entirety:

Two paragraphs you should go read.

The bottom line is that: Obama sent a clear signal that -- unlike impeachment, which he's ruled out and which now seems a practical impossibility -- he is at the least open to the possibility of investigating potential high crimes in the Bush White House. To many, the information that waterboarding -- which the United States has considered torture and a violation of law in the past -- was openly planned out in the seat of American government is evidence enough to at least start asking some tough questions in January 2009.

It might just be campaign bullshit, but it's bullshit I like, and I haven't heard it from the other candidate.

The Loser

That's us, folks.

Bob Herbert

I wonder what the answers would be if each American asked himself or herself the question: "How is the war in Iraq helping me?"

The U.S., once the greatest can-do country on the planet, now can't seem to do anything right. The great middle class has maxed out its credit cards and drained dangerous amounts of equity from family homes. No one can seem to figure out how to generate the growth in good-paying jobs that is the only legitimate way of putting strapped families back on their feet.

The U.S. seems almost paralyzed, mesmerized by Iraq and unable to generate the energy or the will to handle the myriad problems festering at home. The war will eventually cost a staggering $3 trillion or more, according to the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. When he was asked on "Democracy Now!" about who is profiting from the war, he said the two big gainers were the oil companies and the defense contractors

A country that used to act like Babe Ruth now swings like a minor-leaguer. The all-American can-do philosophy has been smothered by the hapless can't-do performances of the people who have been in charge for the past several years. It's both tragic and embarrassing.

It sure is. Please read the rest.

The Winner

Fixer inspired me with his Santana selection below. Here's another take on 'winning' and pickin' stupid fights.. I hope we get off this easy in Bush's wake. Come to think of it, I'd love to attend Bush's wake. Tomorrow would be fine.

Bobby Bare

Progress ...

In a sign of our remarkable turnaround, Iraqi officials say 15 people have been killed and 15 wounded in two separate bombings in northern Iraq.

In another defining moment, the Iraqi government has dismissed more than 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight during the recent offensive against Shiite militias in Basra, officials said Sunday.

...

Links here.

And, as I run off to work, a bit of sarcasm on my part:

Carlos Santana - I'm Winning

Later ...

There are worse things ...

Than San Francisco:

...

Yeah, that would be just horrible, wouldn’t it? {{shudder}} I mean, who would want to live in a cosmopolitan place full of art, culture, diversity and some of the best restaurants in the country if it means that your neighbors might be, you know, homosexual??? The bald faced bigotry that people feel comfortable expressing in this day and age never fails to horrify me.

...

Hear, hear!

Alang

The breakers' yards at Alang, India.

.

Since I've been whoring my travel blog here over the last few weeks and extolling the virtues of cruising, I wanted to bring to light the dark side of the shipping industry. I'm talking about the places ships of all types go to die. The breakers.

...

I went down to the water's edge. The Pioneer came looming out of the darkness, thrashing the ocean's surface with its single screw, raising a large white bow wake as it rushed toward the beach. I could make out the figures of men peering forward from the bridge and the bow. Now the sound of the bow wave, like that of a waterfall, drowned the drumming of the engine. A group of workers who had been standing nearby scattered to safety. I stayed where I was. Pandey joined me. The Pioneer kept coming. It was caught by an inshore current that carried it briefly to the side. Then the keel hit the bottom, and the ship drove hard onto the flooded beach, carried by its weight, slowing under full forward power until the rudder no longer functioned and the hull veered out of control and slid to a halt not a hundred yards from where we stood. Anchors the size of cars rattled down the sides and splashed into the shallows. The engine stopped, the lights switched off in succession from bow to stern, and abruptly the Pioneer lay dark and still.

...

Located mostly in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the breakers' yards are an environmental nightmare. Chemicals, heavy metals, and fuel run from the dissected hulls and dollar-a-day workers slowly poison themselves working in the muck.

...

But the work slows when they come to the hull, where the steel is heavier and harder to cut. At that point, even for veteran workers, there must be a moment of hesitation at the audacity of the business. Using little more than cooking gas and muscle power they will tear apart this immense monolith, which towers above the crowds on the sand. It will take six months or a year to finish the job; men will be injured, and some may die. Almost all will to some degree be poisoned by smoke and toxic substances -- and more seriously, no doubt, than they would have been on the streets of India's cities. Nonetheless, the poor cannot afford to be timid.

...

Greenpeace has taken the lead in highlighting the situation but it doesn't look like anything will be done soon. It's a sad commentary on our society that the ships we use for fun and commerce end up poisoning the world's poor who merely try to carve out an existence.

Update:

Gord's note in comments made me think where I saw a story on this too. Found it:

More Yoo

The last few days, I've posted a coupla times on the assistant war-criminal-in-charge of legalizing war crimes and current law prof at UCB, John Yoo, and how a lawyer's association wants him canned. Well, Dean Edley refuses to do so, and rightly so since this drive is in its infancy. Due process and all, you know, the law.

Scott Horton has a well thought out response to the Dean's refusal:

agree with Dean Edley on two key points. First, John Yoo is entitled to his legal views, however eccentric, radical and harmful to our democracy. The academic community benefits from the presence of the philosophical outlier. It sharpens debate, and can furnish us with a reminder of the fundamental values which the outlier disparages. And often enough it is the outlier who is proven right against the weight of accepted opinion. The leaders of the academic community have a duty to protect those who profess unpopular views from the crowd that menaces and seeks to silence them. And this, properly viewed, is Dean Edley’s duty.

Second, it would not be proper to fire John Yoo on the basis of his views alone, nor would it be proper to terminate him without following formal process in which the charges against him are proved up and he is given a full opportunity to prove his defenses. Dean Edley is correct to hold rigorously to process. And those who crusade for Yoo's firing must recognize the legitimacy of process and accept that even if Yoo is ultimately fired it should only be by proper process. Much of the rage against John Yoo comes from his strained legal efforts to craft a space beyond the reach of law into which the Administration’s targets could be disappeared, a legal black hole into which their rights as human beings would be collapsed. It would be hypocritical of his critics to strip Yoo of his proper rights in accusing him of denying the rights of others.

Dean Edley concludes that as a “mere advisor,” Yoo’s ethical and legal culpability cannot be compared with that of the “deciders,” that is, those who actually fix and implement policy.

This is astonishingly fallacious legal and ethical reasoning, doubly so because it flows from the pen of the highly respected dean of one of the nation’s premier law schools.

In response to this “legal uprising,” David Addington and Alberto Gonzales decided to task John Yoo to prepare memoranda. These memoranda were commissioned with two purposes in mind. First, to protect the policymakers who had authorized torture techniques from future criminal liability (something which Gonzales had identified as early as January 2002 as a serious prospect). And second, to wield the Attorney General’s opinion powers to silence lawyers who had correctly evaluated the legal framework.

Both of these purposes were wrongful, and inconsistent with the proper use of the Attorney General’s opinion power. Criminal investigators may well conclude that this act joined John Yoo in a joint criminal enterprise with the persons who devised and pushed implementation of the torture policies.

Indeed, this is not entirely a speculative matter. We will shortly learn in the mass media that some prosecutors have already reached that conclusion and that the preparation of a criminal case is underway.

A criminal indictment would render a movement to get Yoo fired kinda moot. I just wanta see him get his kim chee settled one way or another.

Mr. Horton must be a lawyer, 'cuz the article goes on and on. And on...

Interesting, though. Go read.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Nude Photo of France's First Lady Sells for $91,000
Most ever paid for photo of naked first lady.

Time to cash in! I'm putting my nekkid photos of Eleanor Roosevelt and Mamie Eisenhower on Ebay today!

Lobbyists Spend $17 Million A Day on Members of Congress
According to phone records of D.C. madam.

Bloomberg’s Plan to Tax NYC Drivers For Clogging City Dies Without a Vote
Lawmakers stuck in traffic.

Florida Passes “Take YourGuns to Work” Law
Decision hailed by disgruntled postal workers.

The 'Surge'

Click to embiggen

The Guardian

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's government moved Sunday to restore discipline within the ranks of the security forces, sacking more than 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted during recent fighting against Shiite militias in Basra.

So much for "As they stand up, we'll stand down", which is backwards anyway.

It oughta be "As we stand down, they'll stand up", which would be a better way to motivate our puppet Iraq government to action. Or cause its overthrow and allow some form of legitimate Iraq government to take its place.

Any solution only applies, of course, if Bush wants our troops to leave, which he doesn't.

More tips ...

Mrs. F and I are beginning to plan our vacations for 2009 and we're taking you through the process of cruise planning over at our travel blog.

Late for work ... I hate Mondays.

And while we're talking about elitists ...

John McCain is no regular guy:

...

The McCain campaign is managed by a cadre of Washington-insider special interest lobbyists. He and his current wife are estimated to be worth about $100 million. He reportedly owns eight houses. His let-them-eat-cake economic policies are based on George Bush's failed radical conservative "you're on your own buddy" philosophy. One after another he supported trade agreements that protect the rights of corporations, but ignore the rights of labor, and have devastated one Pennsylvania community after another. He gets most of his campaign cash from the wealthiest corporate interests around. And he has the gall to call Barack Obama an "elitist"?

...

Yeah, he's in touch with 'small town folks'.

Thanks to Dr. Attaturk for the link.

.A question ...

If what Barack said about small town folks is so wrong, why do the Republican candidates pander to the NRA and the churches for endorsements?

Just askin'

And just a question for you 'small town folks', being I'm an 'elitist' from NYC and I just don't get it.

After voting 'guns 'n god' over the last 8 years, what did it get ya? Maybe you should rethink just what's important to ya, because if you keep it up you'll get more of the same. If you're bitter now, wait until McCain gets done screwing you.

Friend of the Devil

I'm kinda on a roll with Jerry Garcia this weekend. Why mess with success? This is one of my favorites. Here's the info:

Solo Acoustic
Random pics and Acid art.

"Jerry at the Jail" John Kahn on Bass
Oregon State Prison; Salem, Oregon
5-5-1982

Re 'Acid Art': I think that's the guy who did the montage. Watch fast, like ya got a 'motor wind' on yer brain. Heh.

The Great Lapel Pin Flap

Click to inflate

Who's Readin' What

Cape Cod Today has a rundown of who reads which newspapers. Kinda Eas' Coas' -centric, and I get the feeling that on Cape Cod they think the United States is about a hundred miles wide...

2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country which is now being run by readers of Rev. Moon's Washington Times.

3. The Washington Times is read by Moonies, neocons, oligarchs, Third World dictators, president George W. Bush and the entire staff of the Bush White House.

10. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who is running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated and the editorials are written by a religious-right ultra conservative. The newspaper already has girlie pictures on Page 6.

11. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores and Lottery results.

17. The Cape Cod Voice is read by people who aren't sure if there is a country or that anyone is running it, but if so, they oppose all that the rest of you stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped, minority, feminist, atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy, provided of course, that they are not Republicans.

Oh, ever so much more! Enjoy.

Nothing lasts forever ...

One of my favorite rock ballads:

Guns n' Roses - November Rain

Quote of the Day

Brad:

... Call me a liberal elitist if you must, but the fact that corporate fat cats get to pass themselves off in the press as blue-collar salt-of-the-Earthers just goes to show how fucked up this country really is ...