Happy New Year

a

A*

After Bhutto: a Nuclear Pakistan?

By WAJAHAT ALI

In the wake of Bhutto's tragic assassination, renewed international attention focuses itself on Pakistan's political instability and nuclear capabilities. The United States and President Musharraf adamantly state that the Pakistani military represents the only stable safeguard against potential radical extremists and Al Qaeda sympathizers taking over Islamabad and controlling Pakistan's nuclear weapons and technology. Playwright Wajahat Ali received an exclusive interview with Guardian journalist Adrian Levy, author of the explosive new book, "Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons," to discuss Pakistan's political past, present, and future regarding nuclear proliferation and its volatile relationship with the United States.

ALI: Adrian Levy, thanks for agreeing to do this interview. All around the world, Benazir Bhutto's assassination tops the headlines. You've done extensive and exhaustive research on Pakistan's international and domestic policies. What are the repercussions of this tragedy in relation to Pakistan's current political stability?

LEVY: It will have an enormous impact on Pakistan by engendering more instability. The reasons for that are that the Pakistan Political Party [Bhutto's political party], although very feudal and by no means perfect and by no means transparent and open, is still a tremendous political operation with a lot of grassroots support. That support is not solely based in her home state of Sindh, but there is consolidated support from most progressives for her that has emerged merely due to the frustration with 9 years of Musharraf's military rule. Lot of people who are not sympathetic to Bhutto, personally or her party, see the chance to vote as a vote against Musharraf and against his party, the PML-Q, the "King's" party as it is called in Pakistan. That party represents only the wishes and needs of the military and certain pragmatic politicians whose interests are only in survival and not in progressing any kind of liberal, progressive, secular movements in Pakistan.

The feelings, generally, from numerous people I've talked to in Pakistan is that although Bhutto was an imperfect electoral card and although an imperfect candidate - who has been beset by corruption allegations and like all parties she had tremendous problems with her two terms mainly in her weakness in standing up to the military - nevertheless, people saw [her] as the beginning of something. The start of something: the commencing of a new dialogue with the military. She was seen as the foil, and once this began - if support was strong enough- the PML-Q vote [Musharraf's party] would've been minute. Musharraf would've been weakened even with tremendous vote rigging involved.
http://www.counterpunch.org/ali12312007.html

b

The Beilin Syndrome

By URI AVNERY

MEPHISTO, the demon who bought the soul of Faust in Goethe's monumental drama, describes himself as "a part of that force which always wants the bad and always creates the good."

Yossi Beilin, who resigned this week as chairman of the Meretz party, is Mephisto's opposite: he always wants the good and all too often creates the bad.

* * *
THE "SETTLEMENT BLOCS" provide a glaring example. It was Beilin who invented this term a dozen years ago. It was included in the unofficial understanding that became known as the "Beilin-Abu-Mazen agreement".

The intention was good. Beilin believed that if most settlers were concentrated in several limited areas near the Green Line, the settlers as a whole would agree to a withdrawal from the rest of the West Bank.

The actual result was disastrous. The government and the settlers jumped at the opportunity. The permit of the "Zionist peace movement" was displayed like a Kosher certificate on the wall of a butcher shop selling pork chops. The settlement blocs were enlarged at a frantic pace and became veritable towns, like Ma'aleh Adumim, the Etzion Bloc and Modi'in Illit.
[...]

But Beilin's brilliant idea did not in the least diminish the opposition of the settlers to a withdrawal from the rest of the West Bank. On the contrary: they continue to prevent by force the dismantling of the settlement outposts, even a single tiny one. Nothing good came out of this idea. The result was totally bad.

http://www.counterpunch.org/avnery12312007.html

Thank You for your wit & humor. I look forward to your show on Sundays ..... you make it very personal by answering the I.M. messages.
I love that. You have wonderful guests that are worth listening to.
I love ya Sam... I hope I get to actually meet you sometime. Happy New Year to you & your family.

Spam

we love you sam, happy new year!

Looking forward to all the caucusing sammycams

get a grip please!

and thank your family for letting you make your show possible.

I wonder if McCain will ask Lieberman to be his VP? I love public affection between law makers. It's better than hot telenovela Spanish soaps.

& smcgee43.... I'm glad you are feeling better and back.

USER NAV

I just woke up...and I didnt even stay up much past 12 last night...!
Just exhausted in general.
Im gonna watch the show live today if I can NOT forget. Will set the timer...
Thank god its a new year...thats all I can say.
The times has a pretty good editorial on the America we don't recognize:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/opinion/31mon1.html
written by the editor, I think....

Melina
www.RIPCoco.com

Have a healthy and happy New Year.... see you at 1pm today! » 9 comments SSSSSEEEEEDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! See you then. -M the a-c

Im old enough to have seen a young Nureyev perform...and later to have seen him be scary, in the clubs....
He was a pretty incredible figure.
And here you go Sam into girl world. My goddaughter is 4 and she is ALL ABOUT the pink and the tutus...
Moms of boys like to have a reason to shop in the pink aisles

Melina
www.RIPCoco.com

Hey, Sam, with this week's schedule, we've almost got you back to Seder all the time. We love ya, baby. Your intellect and humor help us learn so much in a very unique way. As my local radio fav says, "Keep on rockin' in the FREE world!" (and I hope you get more air time!)

The BEAST 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2007

Free Democracy

http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=14629&sectionID=44

If is missed saying this to you, Happy New Year!

And thank goodness there is only 1 more year of Bush.

Lets make this year a living hell for him!

*And I wish a tolerable less miserable New Year to the rest!
You know who you are.

*this does not supersede toniD.

killed in Sudan. Shot 5 times in the hand, shoulder and Belly. he was 33 years old. Re: MSNBC

My Heart Bleeds For Pakistan

by Tariq Ali; The Independent; January 01, 2007
Six hours before she was executed, Mary, Queen of Scots wrote to her brother-in-law, Henry III of France: "...As for my son, I commend him to you in so far as he deserves, for I cannot answer for him." The year was 1587.

On 30 December 2007, a conclave of feudal potentates gathered in the home of the slain Benazir Bhutto to hear her last will and testament being read out and its contents subsequently announced to the world media. Where Mary was tentative, her modern-day equivalent left no room for doubt. She could certainly answer for her son.

A triumvirate consisting of her husband, Asif Zardari (one of the most venal and discredited politicians in the country and still facing corruption charges in three European courts) and two ciphers will run the party till Benazir's 19-year-old son, Bilawal, comes of age. He will then become chairperson-for-life and, no doubt, pass it on to his children. The fact that this is now official does not make it any less grotesque. The Pakistan People's Party is being treated as a family heirloom, a property to be disposed of at the will of its leader.

Nothing more, nothing less. Poor Pakistan. Poor People's Party supporters. Both deserve better than this disgusting, medieval charade.

Benazir's last decision was in the same autocratic mode as its predecessors, an approach that would cost her – tragically – her own life. Had she heeded the advice of some party leaders and not agreed to the Washington-brokered deal with Pervez Musharraf or, even later, decided to boycott his parliamentary election she might still have been alive. Her last gift to the country does not augur well for its future.

How can Western-backed politicians be taken seriously if they treat their party as a fiefdom and their supporters as serfs, while their courtiers abroad mouth sycophantic niceties concerning the young prince and his future.

* http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=14631&sectionID=44

Has anyone heard if there were protestors?

NBC, MSNBC and news services
updated 5:37 a.m. CT, Tues., Jan. 1, 2008
KHARTOUM, Sudan - A 33-year-old U.S. diplomat and his driver were shot to death Tuesday in an attack a day a joint African Union-United Nations force took over peacekeeping in Sudan's Darfur region, the U.S. Embassy said.

NBC has learned that the slain diplomat was John Granville, from South Buffalo, N.Y. He worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on a program to bring radios to the population of South Sudan, according to USAID's Web site. Granville's family has been notified of his death.--

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22461187/

Appreciate all the info and tech help. Little boats

Election power of the Israel lobby
The Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP), which monitors the role of money in US politics, says pro-Israeli groups and individuals have already donated more than $845,000 to presidential candidates in the 2008 campaign - 70 per cent of it to Democrats.
In the entire 2004 presidential campaign pro-Israel interests contributed at least $6.1 million to federal candidates and parties.
The National Association of Arab-Americans and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee reported spending just $80,000 on federal lobbying in 2006 and $40,000 in the first six months of 2007.In March, Democratic candidate Barack Obama gave a speech in the key primary state of Iowa where he said "Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people."
A local Aipac member immediately contacted the media to denounce the comment, describing it as "deeply troubling."
In July Jim Moran, a Democratic congressman who has criticised Aipac in the past, accused the organisation of pushing for war on Iraq.
Seventeen members of congress immediately wrote a letter to Moran condemning him and saying that his remarks "unfortunately fit the anti-Semitic stereotypes some have used historically used against Jews."
Eric Cantor, the house of representatives Republican deputy chief whip, reportedly went further and was quoted as as saying: "Unfortunately, Jim Moran has made it a habit now to lash out to the American-Jewish community.
"I think his remarks are reprehensible, I think his remarks are anachronistic, and hearken back to the day of Adolf Hitler."
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/71B0C3D9-B04C-4717-88D8-33FBE1F15...

Prosperity!

No one ever looked back on their life saying

"The best thing I ever did was abandon my principles".

Kenya church fire kills 50 who fled mob
23 minutes ago
NAIROBI, Kenya - A mob torched a church sheltering hundreds of Kenyans fleeing election violence Tuesday, killing up to 50 people as four days of rioting and ethnic clashes marked some of the darkest times in this country's history.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_re_af/kenya_elections

Thank you, Sam, for entertaining and informing us all. It's been a pleasure listening. This girl in Portland misses your daily show. Happy New Year!

28 dead in suicide bomb at Iraqi funeral
56 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide attacker detonated an explosives-rigged vest at a Shiite funeral in Baghdad, killing 28 people gathered to mourn the death of an Iraqi army officer killed in a car bombing, police and ambulance officials said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AmtNWG1wpJT...

Huckabee opts for Leno on caucus eve
31 minutes ago
SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa - On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee will trade jokes with Jay Leno on NBC's "Tonight Show."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_el_pr/huckabee_leno;_ylt=Ahvqr...

AIPAC is just a lobby who has power because US policy [currently] favors Israel. What is more powerful is the lobby made up of the popular culture, which started after the June 1967 Six-Day War. The closing of ranks to condemn Moran is an example of that more comprehensive lobby.

watchin' black and white re-runs of The Beverly Hillbillies on TVLand last night

'Surge' makes annual banned-words list By JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jan 1, 4:32 AM ET

DETROIT - Resist the urge to say you will "wordsmith" your list of New Year's resolutions rather than write one. And don't utter, "It is what it is" when you fail to meet your first goal.

Those are two of the 19 words or phrases that appear in Lake Superior State University's annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness. The school in Michigan's Upper Peninsula released its 33rd list Monday, selecting from about 2,000 nominations.

Among this year's picks are "surge," the term for the troop buildup in Iraq. "Give me the old days, when it referenced storms and electrical power," Michael Raczko of Swanton, Ohio, said in nominating the word.

The list also included "waterboarding," "perfect storm," "under the bus" and "organic." Also: "It is what it is," which Jeffrey Skrenes of St. Paul, Minn., said "accomplishes the dual feat of adding nothing to the conversation while also being phonetically and thematically redundant."

Sadly for grammar's guardians, the lighthearted list isn't binding, as evidenced by the continued use of past banned words and phrases such as "erectile dysfunction," "i-anything" and "awesome."

Still, university spokesman Tom Pink, part of a committee that evaluates submissions, takes his syntactic success where he can find it.

His office once received a letter from an Arizona Supreme Court justice who said he posted that year's list on a bulletin board and prohibited all attorneys from using those words.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_re_us/banned_words;_ylt=AqmLHK...

Hmmm...I wonder if Huckabee will bring his floating cross with him to Leno.

ToniD, I know Cindy Sheehan is at the Rose Parade and I can't imagine (short of being arrested) that she wouldn't keep her promise to protest. So yeah, there are protestors there.

"Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind." - John F. Kennedy

I enjoy every show, I just wish there were more of them.

Love always,

AC
More liberal media at The Sideshow

I just got wind of this...

From the mama:

Last week my son received a letter stating that he does not have the moral character to become a citizen. He will be deported back to South Africa because he unknowingly voted in a local election illegally. We have until January 7, 2008 to appeal.

My family has been in this country for 10 years. My husband and I are citizens.

When my son turned 18, he signed up for Selective service, as the law requires.

Shortly thereafter, he ran across a group of campaigners registering students to vote in the upcoming elections. They promised him that since he was registered for Selective Service, he was eligible to vote. This was not true.

At our family's citizenship interviews, our son's application was rejected after he volunteered the information that he had voted. That he freely volunteered the information shows that he had no intention to defraud the government or anyone. Our many letters to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services have met with no reply. We have met with our local congressman with no result.

Part of the reasoning behind the 26th amendment of the U.S. Constitution in 1970 was that citizens who could be drafted to fight in a die for the U.S. should be able to determine its direction by voting. Can't this logic be extrapolated to include forgiveness for unintentional transgressions that hurt no one?

We will present this petition to our senator and the INS. If you feel in your heart that you can support us, please sign this petition.

From the 18 YO son who's being sent back to South Africa despite his entire family already having citizenship:

My name is Erhard, I am Luci's son.

(Erhard, cont.)

Firstly I really wanted to thank everyone for all the help and support you've given to me and my folks, you will never know how much it means to us.

Secondly I just wanted to explain things in my own words. I went into this whole thing with the best intentions. There were a lot of things going wrong in our country at the time and my friends and I wanted to do all that we could to try and make things better. If I thought for a second that I was breaking the law by my actions I would never have voted, I was told that it was perfectly within my rights to do so and after participating in protests and letter writing campaigns it seemed to be my duty to hit the polls.

I never claimed to be a citizen and even made it clear that I was a permanent resident. I was told that all I needed was a SSN and a signature, which I believed, being a wide eyed college student. When I went to get my citizenship I was perfectly honest about my voting history and never tried to hide a thing.

I really wish that none of this ever happened, but since it has I hope that this situation can be resolved in a positive way so I can stay in this country that has become my home over the last decade.

With your continued help and support I'm sure that we'll be able to keep our family together. It's people like the ones on this board that makes me proud to be an American, maybe not on paper but always in my heart.

Read more here.

http://formyson.wordpress.com/

Sign the petition here.

http://www.gopetition.com/online/15886.html

Or help with his legal fees http://erhardslegalfees.chipin.com/erhards-legal-fees

http://www.auroracolonymuseum.com/

How ya'll doin?

Happy New Year and all!!! :) Ladies, to our treadmills!

Thank you Sam for a great show. May the new year bring you, your family and Maron and Janeane all good things. Love you guys. Happy New Year.

Whoa! Bob "The Traitor" Novak Pens a Column Accusing the Bush Administration of Ignoring and Even Rebuffing Bhutto's Concerns About Her Security and Implying that the Pakistani Government Killed Her, Not Al-Qaeda. Is Novak Drinking Truth Serum for Once?

Sacrificing Bhutto to prop up Musharraf?

December 31, 2007
BY ROBERT NOVAK Sun-Times Columnist
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto followed urgent pleas to the State Department for the last two months by her representatives for better security protection. The U.S. reaction was that she was worried over nothing, expressing assurance that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would not let anything happen to her.

That attitude led Bhutto's agent to inform a high-ranking State Department official that her camp no longer viewed the backstage U.S. effort to broker power sharing between Musharraf and former Prime Minister Bhutto as a good-faith effort toward democracy. It was, according to the written complaint, an attempt to preserve the politically endangered Musharraf as President Bush's man in Islamabad.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/novak/719606,CST-EDT-NOVAK31.article

Sorry about the repost - I guess I was on the wrong thread
new
Submitted by Annette on Tue, 01/01/2008 - 12:23pm.

Liable to get banned for that.

Whoa! Bob "The Traitor" Novak Pens a Column Accusing the Bush Administration of Ignoring and Even Rebuffing Bhutto's Concerns About Her Security and Implying that the Pakistani Government Killed Her, Not Al-Qaeda. Is Novak Drinking Truth Serum for Once?

No. It is but a reflection of a policy difference among the ruling elite. Exploit it anyway, as that's how we can bring about change.

Bush Signs Bill to Pressure Sudan, Letting States and Localities Curtail Investments

By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 1, 2008; A07

CRAWFORD, Tex., Dec. 31 -- President Bush signed a bill Monday allowing states, local governments and private investors to cut investment ties with Sudan as a way to pressure the Khartoum government into ending violence in the country's Darfur region.

But Bush qualified his support by saying that the measure could allow state and local actions to interfere with national foreign policy. The president said he has instructed his administration to enforce the law in a manner that prevents that outcome.

"The constitution vests the exclusive authority to conduct foreign relations with the federal government," Bush said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Human rights advocates urged Bush to implement all provisions of the bill, which passed unanimously in the House and Senate, to pressure Sudan to comply with international peacekeeping efforts. The legislation targets four economic sectors regarded as crucial sources of revenue for the Sudanese government: oil, power production, mining and military equipment. The law permits states and localities to divest from companies involved in those sectors. It also allows managers of mutual funds and private pension funds to cut ties with companies involved in those sectors and provides protection from lawsuits.

Several lawmakers also applauded the president for signing the measure, although they expressed bafflement at his reservations. "It's genocide!" exclaimed Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.), a longtime advocate of sanctions in Sudan.

"This measure is intended to change Khartoum's behavior by putting pressure on the foreign companies lining the pockets of the ruling National Congress Party," said a joint statement released Monday by several Darfur activist groups, including the Save Darfur Coalition, the Genocide Intervention Network and STAND. "It presents a stark choice -- stop enabling genocide in Darfur or lose our business. The people of Darfur cannot afford an empty law on the books, which is why the president must vigorously enforce this critical legislation."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/31/AR200712...

Timing couldn't be better....Caucus is on Thursday, which is "Echo Chamber Thursday" here at the Seder-chip Blog, so only the Loyalists will be able to post on their faves...

then Friday we learn the winner and on Sunday, Sammy tells you guys how (A) SHE can still lose the nomination...or (B) how Edwards or Obama is going to "finally lead the Revolution this country has been needing"....or similar b.s.

LOL!

Submitted by grischa on Tue, 01/01/2008 - 12:25pm.

Liable to get banned for that.

===================================
Grischa: If I do, I do. It would be their loss and if the regime is that controlling, I'm not interested. I don't fancy controlling types.

========
Dear Sam:

Thanks, Sam for a wonderful stint thus far. I hope you have a happy and healthy holiday season and a prosperous New Year, that you work on getting a tan, and also that you let us see more of that handsome face.

And finally, remember the word of the year for 2008: MORE.

We want more! Podcasts! Shows! Radiotime! Downloadable mp3 recordings of broadcasts! Books! CDs! DVDs! Bumperstickers! I Heart Sam Seder mugs and T-shirts! You name it, we want it! Please, hear our cries! :-)

Bipartisan Zombies

by digby

It was inevitable. I wrote about it right after the 2006 election --- as soon as the Republicans lost power, I knew the gasbags would insist that it's time to let bygones be bygones and meet the Republicans halfway in the spirit of a new beginning. GOP politicians have driven the debt sky-high and altered the government so as to be nearly unrecognizable, so logically the Democrats need to extend the hand of conciliation and move to meet them in the middle --- the middle now being so far right, it isn't even fully visible anymore.

Today we have none other than the centrist drivel king, David Broder, reporting that a group of useless meddlers, most of whom who were last seen repeatedly stabbing Bill Clinton in the back, are rising from their crypts to demand that the candidates all promise to appoint a "unity" government and govern from the the center --- or else they will back an independent Bloomberg bid.

Boren said the meeting is being announced in advance of Thursday's Iowa caucuses "because we don't want anyone to think this was a response to any particular candidate or candidates." He said the nation needs a "government of national unity" to overcome its partisan divisions in a time of national challenge he likened to that faced by Great Britain during World War II.

"Electing a president based solely on the platform or promises of one party is not adequate for this time," Boren said. "Until you end the polarization and have bipartisanship, nothing else matters, because one party simply will block the other from acting."

Except the one party is called the Republican Party. When was the last time the Democrats blocked anything?

Isn't it funny that these people were nowhere to be found when George W. Bush seized office under the most dubious terms in history, having been appointed by a partisan supreme court majority and losing the popular vote? If there was ever a time for a bunch of dried up, irrelevant windbags to demand a bipartisan government you'd think it would have been then, wouldn't you? (How about after 9/11, when Republicans were running ads saying Dems were in cahoots with Saddam and bin Laden?) But it isn't all that surprising. They always assert themselves when the Democrats become a majority; it's their duty to save the country from the DFH's who are far more dangerous than Dick Cheney could ever be.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/bipartisan-zombies-by-digby-it-wa...

And all of you bloggie poos too! I should come and visit you guys more than I have. I am looking forward to more Maron v. Seder shows in 2008 and hope that Marcs' broken heart starts to heal and that the right person wins the presidency(Edwards, Edwards, Edwards, crossed fingers)

Submitted by toniD on Mon, 12/31/2007 - 11:24pm.
I'm not a hot dog lover...
------
Damn. Another fantasy shattered.

getting ready

Oh boy. Now I can turn off the best of...

Submitted by bibimimi on Tue, 01/01/2008 - 12:05pm.
No one ever looked back on their life saying
"The best thing I ever did was abandon my principles".
---------
One of the best things I ever did was abandon my Principal.

Part One:

http://images.salon.com/comics/tomo/2007/12/24/tomo/story.jpg

Part Two:

http://images.salon.com/comics/tomo/2007/12/31/tomo/story.jpg

Colloquially Speaking
Submitted by Crank Bait on Tue, 01/01/2008 - 12:52pm.
Submitted by toniD on Mon, 12/31/2007 - 11:24pm.
I'm not a hot dog lover...
------
Damn. Another fantasy shattered.

But I do like some sausages!

WTF! Hartmann is hawking gold dubloons!

Sam!!

What a comedian.

USER NAV

Johann Hari: Bush has been chasing the wrong nukes
We don't currently know how many nuclear weapons Pakistan has: some say 50, others up to 120
Published: 31 December 2007
The suicide-murder of Benazir Bhutto by her moral and intellectual inferiors seems to have made the world notice – just for a moment – the nuclear warning-light that has been flashing angrily all year.

Punctuating 2007 there has been a string of nuclear break-ins, accidents and screw-ups that should have us sweating. How many people know that Congo's main nuclear scientist was arrested in March for flogging off enriched uranium to anyone who wanted it, in a kind of radioactive eBay? Or that this summer six bombs with more explosive power than Hiroshima were accidentally flown across the continental United States, and left unguarded on a landing strip in Louisiana for ten hours before anyone in the Air Force wondered where they'd gone? Or that this November, four unknown men managed to shoot their way into South Africa's main nuclear facility, which has material enough for 25 nuclear bombs – and could rummage through the enriched uranium storage vault for 45 minutes before they escaped?

It has taken the groaning and potential collapse of a nuclear state for us to see, even flickeringly, the risks of having so much nuclear material scattered across the globe. We don't currently know how many nukes Pakistan has: some estimates say 50, others go as high as 120. The Pakistani dictator General Pervez Musharraf assures us they are all securely locked up and locked down. Yet interviewing experts about the programme, and poring through the major academic studies, has led me to conclude this is not the case.

But first, the good news. Some worthwhile safety precautions have been put in place in Pakistan over the past five years. The country's nukes are not kept on hair-trigger alert, ready to fire at any moment. Instead, the warhead cores are kept in different places from the weapon detonation components. To put them together and make a shootable nuke would take around three days – providing a long(ish) fuse in a crisis. Even if jihadis managed to seize one nuclear weapons site, they would still need to seize another one – and secure transportation between the two – to go nuclear.

http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/johann_hari/article3295877...

Crank will appreciate this....
Submitted by toniD on Tue, 01/01/2008 - 12:14pm.
---------
Thanks, toniD. I'm a sucker for that stuff as you well know. I could add a bunch of obnoxious and overused crap to the list. "Fighting for our freedom" is not the least of them.

e-legal alien: a non-citizen who pirates Internet service.

Dat's da rule!

___
brr

I've got 15% battery power left!

Well, he's logged onto his myspace page today, the 1st. So he's alive.

So, how does one IM Sam? It's gmail chat, right?

works for most chats...

___
brr

I use aol's aim Kristape.

USER NAV

Anti-war protesters plan to rain on Rose Parade

A contingent of activists calling for an end to US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney -- plan to do some uninvited marching during Tuesday's Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.

Calling themselves the White Rose Coalition, a name invoking the German resistance group that opposed Hitler during World War II, a convergence of protesters including anti-war icon Cindy Sheehan will "stage non-violent protests and demonstrations throughout the Rose Parade," according to a press release. Other activist organizations involved in the effort include the Los Angeles National Impeachment Center (LANIC), CODEPINK and ANSWER, among others.

"Starting at 10:15 am [PST]," states the release, "the peace and impeachment activists will march down Colorado from the Norton Simon to the east steps of Pasadena City Hall...where Cindy Sheehan and other peace activists will hold a press conference on impeachment and the Iraq War at 11 am. Visual props will be gathered there and part of the procession."

LANIC executive director Peter Thottam says the Rose Parade offers activists a chance to place their issues in the national spotlight.

"We expect this to be a national day of impeachment visibility, with folks joining from all parts of the country," said Thottam in a statement. "There is a tremendous level of anger and frustration out there. I doubt if our politicians in Washington DC have any idea just how much."

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Antiwar_protesters_plan_to_rain_on_0101.ht...

lmao at Maron

-M the a-c

Radio on the hoof, off the cuff

Cui Bono?

Annette,
If you are calling the Hogs, you didn't learn your lesson the first time around.

After the first half:

Mizzou--14
Arkansas--Zip

Im getting 2% of the
audio. (Dial-up)
whats up with MM?

Is marc a recovering alcoholic or addict?

Lauren could co-host the show

Hah!

Welcome Marc

Cui Bono?

there he is

It's like a slumber party.

Go make some damned coffee, Marc!

I'll have some with damned cream and damned honey

Cui Bono?

Report: Day after Bhutto assassination, US Predator targeted Islamist ideologue

In the wake of last week's assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistan bureau chief of Asia Times is laying responsibility for the killing on a new and more radical splinter group of al-Qaeda.

According to journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, the United States retaliated against the head of that faction immediately following the attack on Bhutto:

"This nest of takfiris and their intrigues was on the radar of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the day after Bhutto's killing Sheikh Essa was targeted by CIA Predator drones in his home in North Waziristan. According to Asia Times Online contacts, he survived, but was seriously wounded. Sheikh Essa had only recently recovered from a stroke which had left him bedridden."

There have been no other press reports of such an attack and no US claims of responsibility. However, the US never does acknowledge participating in events of this sort. For example, in October 2006, a religious school on the Afghan-Pakistan border was destroyed in an airstrike, killing 80 suspected militants and leading to angry protests. Mulitiple reports indicated the school had been hit by a US Predator drone, but a Pakistani army spokesman denied any direct US involvement.

Shazad's belief that Bhutto was assassinated as part of an al-Qaeda operation to prevent the emergence of a more liberal and secular Pakistan has been promoted by the Pakistani leadership but does not appear to be widely shared. Most current speculation is focused on suspicions of complicity by elements within President Musharraf's government.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Report_Day_after_Bhutto_assassination_US_0...

How can I change my AIM screen name

Melina
www.RIPCoco.com

... so I can free myself from the tyranny of having to comb my hair!

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brr

Maron uncooked.

How many writers did Morning Sedition have?

is a scab operation. Wow!

... so I can free myself from the tyranny of having to comb my hair!

Just get your own radio show ;-) ;-)

Cui Bono?

Whatever it is, it sure is working. ;-)

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brr

Happy NOLA New Year to ya!

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brr

nice PJ's marc!

And welcome to 2008

He is drinking "Damned coffee"

Cui Bono?

Have never watched these two at once previously, but I must say, I now feel kind of badly about burgling Maron's studio apartment last night. Next time I'll close the front door.

Furthermore, I look so much worse than they do that Mad Max never got past Thunderdome. Unlike these professionals, some of us are guzzling a six pack before we start barfing up eggs and three day old Thai food.

I'll trade the hassle of combing my hair if it means my head is warmer in the winter and not sun burned in the summer.

USER NAV

Usually when people say they are over someone, they usually aren't. But good luck with that!

Happy projects

Cui Bono?

He's baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

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brr

Red wine.

The echo chamber effect was funny at first but now it is annoying. Okay, it's gone now.

I overslept.

One and a half Vodka drinks and I'm out for 14 hours.

Looking forward to seeing the replay, if that's possible.

morning moments here,

good to have made another year!

love ya all!

Well rested, eh?

Cui Bono?

She is a globalist in the bad sense. NAFTA supporter. War Hawk. crypto-Republican.

... absent any unforeseen "technical difficulties". Will post times later.
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brr

look thing is: how are the candidates going to DO anything they say they'd like to try to do.

haven't we had enough of people REPRESENTING what they'll do on our behalfs, Mark...come on. Are we merely a people of ideas and ideals?

i do not want to vote like a consumer: buy the product that has been sold to me as an idea.

So convince me why Edwards and not Obama.

gary
denver

"I would tell you the whole story, but I might puke if I did." --Holden Vitamins Caulfield

For me it's not what they'll do if elected cuz that's a great unknown. What matters to me is how they have spent the past 4 years, who they've been cuddlin' up to and who they've been speaking for. Edwards has been fighting for economic justice while Obama has had a lackluster stint in the Senate. That Edwards has openly attached (not) fair trade and corporate cronyism head-on is enough for me.

I don't give a rat's ass how much he overcompensates his barber. In reality he was just covering partially for lost wages. That's a good thing in my book.

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brr

Anyone that has read Obama's two books will vote for him. He's young, his wife is dynamic and intelligent. His kids are great. He knows how to cry. He's not afraid to smoke. His policies will reflect who he is. Which is the classical win win win win win. And like, win. For a President.

Maron's pessimism is well founded, but fiscally, any of the Democratic candidates will do the same crap. Other than Hillary. She'll spend her term hiding her treetrunk calves.

That's why Ross Perot is dancing in the PLAY TONIGHT HOLY SHIT I'M DRUNK AGAIN, THANK GOD.

masses, or the Dems with a bag of shit will lose again.

It's true, Sam.

Hillary Clinton is D.O.A. in a general election.

-M the a-c

Happy New Year to you!

To me, Obama is just like Bill Clinton. Been there done that.

Tromper that sounds like another reason for Kucinich

Cui Bono?

Here's the news we didn't hear from the MSM
Submitted by toniD on Tue, 01/01/2008 - 1:15pm.

How many signatures does Robert Wexler (D-FL) NOW demand from his website before he'll introduce his impeachment move?....started at 50,000....then he bumped it to 1,000,000.....are we at "every man, woman, and child in North America" yet?

Congratulations, Impeachment Fantasists...it's January 1st, 2008, and the official line can now become--

"Come on, he's only in office for 12 more months (then 11, then 10, then 9, then 8....)...we need to focus our energy on winning in November!!!!"

Impeachment was dead when Pelosi said "off the table"...Harry Reid threw its corpse in the casket when he refused to back Feingold's censure move back in the spring....and John Conyers nailed the lid shut when he had Cindy Sheehan arrested for asking him about it.

And everybody from Obama to Rahm Emmanuel to Howard Dean to even Al Gore has thrown a shovelful of dirt on the grave!

Only the Lefty Bloggies think there's still a chance for a "George Romero" from that bag of bones!

Who the FUCK are the ASSHOLES in Michigan or anywhere

that "cant vote for Hillary" ?????????????????//

They say that with fucking moron dictator stupid fuckhead bush in the whitehouse ???

Fuck them Sam....

If They dont vote for THE democrat were going to get another bush - period.

Mobilize the
Submitted by grischa on Tue, 01/01/2008 - 1:48pm.
masses, or the Dems with a bag of shit will lose again.

»

You got that right grischa

.... but no sound for the dial-up crowd, that is I, sadly. This is how it's been for all your shows. I thought I heard Pres. Bush say we would all have broadband in 2007 (just another way to divide us) .... he doesn't tell truth the very well. Surprise, surprise, surprise! :) :)

Thank you both for this special time with us, thou!!

May 2008 be a better year .... in some way.

Takecare, :) :) :) :)

Peace

Deborah from Kansas

HNY to you too!

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brr

requires mobilization of the masses.

I might be wrong but I don't read him like that.

I agree with Seder completely on this. Maron's looking for a mental breakdance from Edwards that can't happen. Because he's wealthy? Because he's less idealistic than Obama and doesn't give as much of a shit? Because what? Dude's a player. Obama has rolled with a million more punches.

Great conversation though. My partner still doesn't know I have a half rack of Milwaukee's Best Light in closet under some pants.

I'm Annette from Kansas!!!

Hugs, Deb!!!!! :-)

FINALLY, a Kansan!

Yo Crank - Arkansas sucks. My 8 yer old son's team could beat those sorry losers!!!!! Proves nothing! Next year, Baitman! Next year!!!

The choice between a republican president in 2009 and the different Democrats for president ..............

is like the choice between terminal cancer and either

-a root canal
-a broken wrist
-the flu

And OMG this is the first time in FOREVER I've gotten to hear the show. This is so awesome! I wish I could get paid to do this every time, but alas. Must pay the bills...

The truth is, though, women and minorities are risks because we're breaking new ground (unfortunate but true). I see Edwards having a stronger chance than anyone expects. Which is why I gave him money.

Was that a cellphone???

WTF??? ROFLMAO!

All this talk about "electability" often equals Clintonian Triangulation.

Doris

Happy New Year & hope your feeling better today than in the last few.

That would be this Michigander. I won't vote for a Democrat who isn't a Democrat. If it takes 25% unemployment, war from Morocco to the Phillipines, or gl