Weekend Watchdog

Why the Afghan Taleban feel confident

By David Loyn
BBC News

In Afghanistan, the Taleban now claim to have influence across most of the country and have extended their area of control from their traditional heartland in the south.

They are able to operate freely even in Wardak Province, neighbouring the capital Kabul, as a BBC camera crew who filmed them recently found.

One of their commanders in Wardak, Mullah Hakmatullah, said they do not control the roads nor the towns, but they hold the countryside and have increasing support because of the corruption of the administration.

"The administration do not solve people's problems. People who go there with problems have to give a lot of money in bribes and then they get stuck there," Mullah Hakmatullah said.

'Much better now'

Support from villagers is essential to their ability to continue operations through the winter months.

map

Local people said that they were willing to help the Taleban because they supported their brand of justice.

In one of the villages under their control, people willing to come forward and talk to the BBC said that security was much better now that the Taleban were there.

One of them, Gul Wazir, said that the Taleban were prepared to try to resolve small problems.

"Even if it's a minor thing, the Taleban will sort it out. Before (when the government of President Karzai was in control) it was not like that. They did not pay attention to us and the poor people were ignored."

The Taleban group showed off weapons, including a heavy machine gun they said they had captured from government forces.

They test-fired them in broad daylight, apparently not fearing retaliation from government nor international forces.

They were armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

Nearby the burnt-out wreck of a government vehicle was left from a recent confrontation with Afghan national forces.

Orders from the south

The overall military commander of the Taleban in Wardak, Mullah Rashid Akhond, claimed to have 2,000 active fighters.

Taleban in Wardak province
The fighters say locals support their brand of justice

He said that he was operating an administrative system with orders coming from Kandahar in the south, just like during the days of the Taleban government that fell in 2001.

He said that the Taleban were running their own courts. "People are taking their cases away from the government courts and coming to us. Now there is no robbery in our area."

Many of the suicide bombers who go to Kabul come from this area, just an hour's drive away. Mullah Akhond justified them, saying that most of the attacks are now carried out by Afghans themselves, not foreign fighters.

Six years ago the Taleban found it hard to recruit. They put their increasing success now down to official corruption, the slow pace of reconstruction and the presence of foreign troops.

'Unstable environment'

Speaking in London, the former Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said that the rise of the Taleban was caused by weakness in the central government.

Taleban in Wardak province
Many of the suicide bombers who attack Kabul come from Wardak

"I think it is a major threat. What moves people is not ideology, but an unstable environment among the existing networks of clans, tribes, aggrieved people, drug traffickers, opportunists, and unemployed youth.

"It is the kind of problem that can be solved only with the establishment of good governance."

Mr Jalali is a potential presidential candidate in next year's election, as President Karzai faces increasing international pressure to deliver swift results.

But if anything, the battle for Afghanistan is harder now than it was after the Taleban were first forced out of power in Kabul.

You cite two failures of your preferred foreign policy
new
Submitted by Part of the 97 ... on Sat, 02/09/2008 - 1:07am.
Nice try...
We let the Afghans have a shot..
We let Pakistan have a shot..
Just who is it you want to arrest Bin Laden?

You're certifiable, War Dog. How else can you explain that you aren't aware of the irony in your own words?

How about Your Fearless Leader, George? Mr. Codpiece himslef is tough enough, isn't he?

Sure, he can dress up like a Real Man, and goose-step around on a flight deck, but now he's forgotten why he was looking for Bin Ladin in the first place. And so have all of you super wingnut patriots.

WD/POT97: bringing truth to the phrase "Bin Laden? Bin Forgotten"

Did that say:

Why the Afghan Taliban have retaken the capital city?

Oh, no?

It said the FEEL confident.

Oh, well good for them.

I know it's hard. I mean, Bin Laden's hiding at all. And it might cut into Bush's Wednesday night date with Amercian Idol.

"The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 12, 2007

oooops! Maybe that's why bin Laden's become irrelevant?

War Dog is not here Wanda, but we are waiting for your two year Senate wonder Obama to show us the light.

Hahahahahahahahaha.

There is a upside to everything. And I do love to test the dream world ideas of the liberals. We haven't played this game since Jimmy Carter.

Ya'll need a good lesson every 25 or 30 years.

Let's do it!

It is your team and your plan, POTDog. It ain't mine. You own your outcomes.

Good luck making that stick, Crank, this guy won't even own up to his former nik.

...whatever War Dog. Wish that was even close. Cuz you're slipping, Emile.

Hohohohohohohoho.

Hahahahahahahahaha. Then he can go have lunch with Ahmadinejad set Iran straight!

It ain't likely to happen, but it would be funny if it did.

I am insulated from all that now, and wouldn't mind sitting back and watching a 4 year Obama side-show.

Then we could do a lessons learned list like we did after Carter.

your stellar track record with what's great and what's not actually gives me more comfort than I felt before with Obama. You're like Ann Coulter that way.

Cathy, sunshine... are you entertaining the trolls? S.P.I.T at it.

We're now having a lessons learned list from and after Bush.

Hohohohohoho

I'm glad I'm insulated from all this now, and someone else can give a shit about it.

Who the hell cares?

50 years from now we'll all be dead anyway.

Hohohohohohaha

i still have her playlists, superb picks!

I go away for a bit and I forget rule number 1. Thanks for the reminder, hopefully it will preemt violation of rule number 2.

All we need do now is sit back and wait for Bin Laden to be arrested or die of old age.

I wish we would have thought of this for Hitler and Hirohito. And we would have, but Crank Bait and Obama had not been born yet so we had no one living in the Pretend World who could tell us where we were going wrong.

Hahahahahahahahahha.

We coulda had Baney Fife and Goober do a Citizen Arrest on all of em....!!!

hahahahahahahahahaha.

...which is much more serious.

was'nt the grunting weasels was it?

rule #2?

uh... you're close, Jim.

don't feed crank straight line

...or do I have to make some myself.

Anyway, Pothead over there is really giving Americans a bad name.

He should be totally ashamed of himself, but he doesn't know how.

(besides, the guy always defeats his own arguments)

crank is deciding whther to bother with the sad old shell of the almost-late but never lamented War Dog, or combing through stuff I wrote looking for fodder for puns. You just never know with that guy.

Sporgnatti?

(sigh, craft disease...)

it's better than anything Dylan ever did, and even Eric Clapton.

Oh that's right!

Miss Ms. Wanda. She drove me crazy trying to tell her she had to bitch to Sam, not us, about what was wrong with the show. I mean, complaining's ok, but if there's a way to go directly to the source... why not? Anyway, her good points are missed.

NYT

Oh, Mitt, Mitt, Mitt.

Losing Mitt Romney from the presidential race is not just a matter of another Republican biting the dust. It’s all those dozens and dozens of future incarnations that we may never have a chance to meet. I was hoping that someday we’d get a Libertarian Mitt, or maybe a cowboy.

Worst of all, I’m going to have to get through the rest of the year without ever again referring to the fact that Romney once drove to Canada with the family dog, Seamus, strapped to the roof of the car.

Mitt invested more than $40 million of his own money and $50 million of other people’s on his race, which comes down to about $8 million per state won (North Dakota says thank you!) or around $324,000 per delegate. It was an incredible bargain compared to the $60 million Rudy Giuliani spent on zero delegates, but still not exactly the kind of return on investment he was used to getting in the private sector.

“We’re going to keep on battling. We’re going to go all the way to the convention,” he told his cheering supporters Tuesday night as his loyal wife, Ann, stood by looking somewhat unenthusiastic...........

and they were buddhists!

maybe not...

i remember that part!

(everybody loved em!)

Slint was too good for our world.

But isn't Mr. Mitt just on haitus or something?

i don't care,

she was a cool babe,

and it pissed me off when we lost her.

I just typed "Slint" into itunes... and they are waaay more popular than Dylan. Check it out, if you have itunes. Waaay more popular than George Harrison, too. Beethoven was a close second, but no match.

war-dog? huh!?

kenny boy... who!?

suicide bombers in planes... gimme a break

"the system is working"

Mr. Mitt had me at "I have the religion of my fathers"

Nothing speaks Real Man like a regressive! (except for flightsuits and codpieces on chimps) purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

(i'll get the mop bucket)

Why the Afghan Taliban have retaken the capital city?//

Submitted by Part of the 97 ... on Sat, 02/09/2008 - 2:00am.

no it didn't...

was it meant too

or are you being a sophist arsehole

(huh!? kenny who!?)

please watch your step!

Thelonious Monk PBS - JAZZ A Film By Ken Burns: Selected Artist Biography -

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_monk_thelonious.htm

Singing my life with his words...

Carole King - Killing me softly

didn't he replace keef moon

I have become a surrendered servant of

the Greek god known as ono.

I am humbled

To welcome the new world order.

(don't fuck me)

(asshole)

"The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 12, 2007

is like interactive tv. Its full of media. & thanks Brett.

I have become a surrendered servant of the Greek god known as ono.

get in line!

Carole's been gathering dust on my hd, she got the call tonight :)

I read your message.

That's her version of Killing Me Softly. My mom played it continually the year it came out. We use to joke she was Killing Us Softly with that song.

Carole King's Tapestry - another one of mom's favorites.

Blast from the past thread!

remember these folks? superb bloggist's!

http://www3.telus.net/Art-Adventures/BirthOfMutantHikoo/

extract:

"What is Haiku?

Haiku is one of the most important form of traditional japanese poetry. Haiku is, today, a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Since early days, there has been confusion between the three related terms Haiku, Hokku and Haikai. The term hokku literally means "starting verse", and was the first starting link of a much longer chain of verses known as haika. Because the hokku set the tone for the rest of the poetic chain, it enjoyed a privileged position in haikai poetry, and it was not uncommon for a poet to compose a hokku by itself without following up with the rest of the chain.
Largely through the efforts of Masaoka Shiki, this independence was formally established in the 1890s through the creation of the term haiku. This new form of poetry was to be written, read and understood as an independent poem, complete in itself, rather than part of a longer chain.
Strictly speaking, then, the history of haiku begins only in the last years of the 19th century. The famous verses of such Edo-period (1600-1868) masters as Basho, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa are properly referred to as hokku and must be placed in the perspective of the history of haikai even though they are now generally read as independent haiku. In HAIKU for PEOPLE, both terms will be treated equally! The distinction between hokku and haiku can be handled
by using the terms Classical Haiku and Modern Haiku.
http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/
Posted by Sunshine Jim at April 13, 2004 04:41 PM

So what we got here is mutant Haiku
Ain't
no
rules

Play !!

everybody

lets
Posted by Sunshine Jim at April 13, 2004 04:45 PM"

is sorta the way the Dog writes when he's hallucinating terrorists.

but not as sophisticated, of course.

(or is it hahaku?)

***

There are two rules here -
Don't feed wingnuts or Crank Bait -
Guess which one I did?

we'll meet in the cool part of heaven someday

(the 3% of heaven)

the other 97% can suck wanda's dick

"im going try this haiku stuff

------------------------------

i am muck4doo

meat is very bad for you

chainey stole my oil

Posted by muck4doo at April 13, 2004 04:07 PM

Terr'rist all around!
Wanting to cut off your head!
Look! under your bed!

criminal Csea

lays out a winner Hikoo

effortless poems

ahhh... that wasn't suppose to rhyme! sorry!

(I miss Muckie)

this e-dedication sent in by WiccanDruid

Styx - Babe

i was completely

impressed by the smooth segue

refreshing new style

What do you have to say on the subject of our future glorious President Huckabee?

oooh!ooooh! i have anoter one!

my name is dick chainey
oil runs through my veineys
god bless jiffy lube

Posted by muck4doo at April 13, 2004 04:22 PM

fuck off you gibbering cocksucker

yes, i'm in a bad mood

and "down by law"

Quote GHWB "ain't gonna happen"

you middled the blog

(again)

how freakishly stupid Americans can be.

But you're right

Even freakishly stupid Americans wouldn't stand for a President Huckabee.

Goodnight, Guys!

(try to keep it down)

"you middled the blog"

AO said, i said "BuzzOff!

would you like some lunch?"

and someone's going to have to leave...

or else, I'm gonna kill myself.

and mehbe i'll see god, mastah.

--the jealous god--

red top long and tall,

like a fisher bird, blue heron

a strike! then she's gone

Don't feed the trolls.

Don't feed Crank Bait straight lines

and Don't piss down ono's back and tell him it's raining.

(but you can puke on him)

are you channeling a haiku master?

Tertium non datur
Submitted by Vi_Veri_Veniver... on Fri, 02/08/2008 - 11:46pm.
Veritas. Unitas. Caritas.

______________________________

S.V.V.

Si vales bene est ego valeo!

Vita. Dulcedo. Spes.

http://www.big-horn.com/experience/new_sounds/3bellwhistle.wav

i are a hikoo pro

having officially invented it

one night playfully

Truth, Unity, Love

simplicity perfected

compassion the way

and he was very rude to norman

and i was incensed, because norm was a heavy childhood
influence of mine

it's embarrassing now
and i've since progressed
(i'm not as dorky)

but the video is of poor quality...

so this one's for dada

Submitted by air-ono on Sat, 02/09/2008 - 3:23am.
you middled the blog

________________

"The star system is working!"

"it's a sad and beautiful world"

: )

Is he the funny looking guy with the nose?

heh

it's me, eb , in the middle of the night in America--land of the Free

We're surrounded by mental cases in high positions of authority and recklessness.

this is not a movie...

for you Jeany
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees

;)

;)

whether you're a sophisticated american surrounded by mental cases

or a dorky greek boy in a leafless country

relax...

but don't forget to check your breathing

so little time

;)

Water Tubes

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Lipstick Lesbian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrCQbrFCQ1I
Lipstick Lesbian

Lipstick Lesbian

Does The Brownshirt Party Have Aces Up Its Sleeve?

By Paul Craig Roberts

08/02/08 "ICH" -- -- The Brownshirt Party has chosen John “hundred year war” McCain as its presidential candidate. Except for Cheney, Norman Podhoretz, and billy kristol, McCain is America’s greatest warmonger.

In a McCain Regime, Cheney will be back in office with another stint as Secretary of War. Norman “Bomb-bomb-bomb-Iran” Podhoretz will be Undersecretary for Nuclear War with General John “Nuke them” Shalikashvili as his deputy. Rudy Giuliani will be the Minister of Interior in charge of Halliburton’s detention centers into which will be herded all critics of war and the police state. billy kristol will be chief White House spokesliar.

The whole gang will be back--Wolfowitz, Perle, Wurmster, Feith, Libby, Bolton. America will have a second chance to bomb the world into submission.

With the majority of voters sick of war, sick of lies, sick of fraud from the Federal Reserve and Wall Street, and sick of stagnant and falling incomes, McCain is poised to capture 20% of the vote--the Christian Zionists, the rapture evangelicals, and the diehard macho flag-waving thugs who believe America is done for unless “Islamofacists” are exterminated.

The accumulated lies, deceptions, war crimes, the shame of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons, Bush’s police state assault on civil liberty, countless numbers of Iraqi and Afghan men, women, and children murdered for the sake of American and Israeli hegemony, and the collapsing US economy indicate a political wipeout for the Brownshirt Party. In a country with an informed and humane population, the Republican Party would be reduced to such a small minority that it could never recover.

What will happen in America? Polls show that Americans have had it with Bush, and the 2006 congressional election showed that the voters have had it with Republicans. But the Republicans have seen the message and ignored it, and the people and the Democrats have continued to tolerate and to enable that which they claim to oppose.

Meanwhile Bush holds on to his determination to find a way to bomb Iran, dismissing along with the neocons the unanimous NIE report that there is no Iranian weapons program, just as Bush and the neocons dismissed the Iraq weapons inspectors who reported truthfully that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. What the American people and the Democrats have not understood is that a party with an agenda could care less for the facts. As Lenin declared, truth is what serves the agenda.

The Democrats are far from pure, but they lack the fervor and determination that only ideology can provide. The Democrats might have issue-specific ideologies, but they lack an over-arching ideology that makes it imperative for them, and only them, to be in power.

In contrast, the Brownshirt Party is fueled by the neocon ideology of American (and Israeli) supremacy. The neocon ideology of supremacy is more far-reaching than Hitler’s. Hitler merely aimed for sway over Europe and Russia. The neocons have targeted the entire world.

Neocons have prepared plans for war against China. They are ringing Russia with military facilities and paying millions of dollars to leaders of former constituent parts of the Soviet Union to sign up with NATO, which the neocons have turned into a mechanism for drafting Europeans to serve American Empire.

All this work, the neocon Project for a New American Century, the costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the demonization of Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, the ghettoization of the West Bank and Gaza, the police state measures that Bush has succeeded in putting on the books, the concentration of power in the executive branch, these are successes from which the Brownshirts will not walk away.

Possibly the neocons and their Brownshirt followers are so delusional that they do not realize that their glorious aims are not shared. Maybe they are no different from Americans, maxed out on credit and unable to make mortgage payments, who believe that next week they will win the lotto.

On the other hand maybe the Brownshirts have a plan.

What could the plan be?

They can steal the election with the Diebold electronic voting machines and proprietary software that no one is allowed to check. There are now enough elections on record with significant divergences between exit polls and vote tallies that a stolen election can be explained away. The Democrats have been house trained to acquiesce to stolen elections. The voters, whose votes are stolen, dismiss the evidence as “conspiracy theories.”

Or what about a well-timed orchestrated “terrorist attack” to drive fearful Americans to the war candidate. False flag events are stock-in-trade. Hitler used the Reichstag fire to turn German democracy into a dictatorship overnight.

And what about the widespread spying on Americans? The Bush regime’s explanation for its violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act makes no sense. Bush’s violation of the law is clearly a felony, grounds for impeachment, arrest, indictment, and a prison sentence. Moreover, no intelligence purpose was achieved by Bush’s illegal acts. The FISA law only requires the executive branch to come to a secret court to explain its purpose and obtain a warrant. The law even allows the executive branch to spy first and obtain the warrant afterward. The purpose of the warrant is to prevent an administration from spying for political purposes. The only reason for Bush to refuse to obtain warrants is that he had no valid reason for the spying.

Does this mean that during the presidential campaign we will hear from Attorney General Michael Mukasey that candidate Hillary is under investigation for a Whitewater related offense, or that candidate Obama is linked to an alleged crime figure or Islamist?

The neocons control most of the print and TV media, and the right-wing radio talk hosts are no friends of Democrats. As Americans have fallen for every other fraud perpetrated upon them, they are likely to be suckers as well for “investigations” or rumors of investigations of the Democratic candidate. Hillary is widely disliked and easy to distrust. Obama is a new face with which voters have little experience. He is partly black and has a funny name.

John McCain is a war hero, a graduate of the US Naval Academy. His father and grandfather were admirals. On his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam in one of America’s orchestrated wars, he was shot down and injured. A POW for 5.5 years, he was tortured by communists due in part to traitorous actions by Democrats like Jane Fonda.

McCain has been in Congress and thus in the public eye since 1983. The only scandal with which he is associated is that he was one of “the Keating five,” one of five senators associated through campaign contributions with S&L owner and real estate investor Charles Keating and alleged interveners in his behalf. Keating was framed by prosecutors, but was later exonerated by a federal judge.

Adolf Hitler never had the support of a majority of the German electorate. In the November 1932 election, he received 33.1 percent of the vote. His peak was March 6, 1933, with 43.9 percent following the Reichstag fire a few days before on February 27, blamed on the communists. Hitler’s minority support in a democracy did not prevent him from becoming dictator of Germany.

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Mitterrand.

Link part of it, Please..Thanks.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

I Love The PJ Harvey !

I swear Judge,I only stalked her for alittle while ! ;)

Pj Harvey-This Is Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkU5-PJY6B8

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Lipstick Lesbian

http://www.counterpunch.org/
This was linked earlier. Anyway...
Lipstick Lesbian

the only time we should be hearing this is at bush and cheneys parole hearing.

Dinosaur Jr. - Feel The Pain

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

of Nancy Pelosi and AIPAC out of his Nevada Campaign office:
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/02/371899.shtml
Lipstick Lesbian

http://endinjusticenow.blogspot.com/2008/02/before-nevada-primary-dennis...
Lipstick Lesbian

http://www.kucinich.us/contribute.html
Lipstick Lesbian

arriving late 2008

$30,000-$35,000

(from wikipedia)
The October Surprise conspiracy was an alleged plot that claimed representatives of the 1980 Ronald Reagan presidential campaign had conspired with Islamic Republic of Iran to delay the release of 52 Americans held hostage in Tehran until after the 1980 U.S. Presidential election. In exchange for their cooperation, the United States would supply weapons to Iran as well as unfreeze Iran's monetary assets being held by the US government.
Jimmy Carter had been attempting to deal with the Iran hostage crisis and the hostile regime of the Ayatollah Khomeini for nearly a year. Those who assert that a deal was made allege that certain Republicans with CIA connections, including George H. W. Bush, arranged to have the hostages held through October, until Reagan could defeat Carter in early November, and then be released, thereby preventing an “October surprise” from the Carter administration in which the hostages would be released shortly before the election. The hostages were released the day of Reagan's inauguration, twenty minutes after his inaugural address.
After 12 years of news reports looking into the alleged conspiracy, both houses of the US Congress held separate inquiries into the issue, and journalists from sources such as Newsweek and The New Republic looked into the charges. Both Congressional inquires, as well as the majority of investigative reports, found the charges to be groundless. Nevertheless, several individuals, most notably Former Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr and Former Reagan-Bush Campaign and White House Staffer Barbara Honegger, continue to claim otherwise.

Lipstick Lesbian

what, you don't believe in coincidences?

what, you don't believe that iran was quaking in its boots because ronald raygun was president?

what, you don't think that the powers that be would rather this just be swept under the rug along with 9/11?

It is now very clear that there were two separate agreements, one the official agreement with Carter in Algeria, the other, a secret agreement with another party, which, it is now apparent, was Reagan. They made a deal with Reagan that the hostages should not be released until after Reagan became president. So, then in return, Reagan would give them arms. We have published documents which show that US arms were shipped, via Israel, in March, about 2 months after Reagan became president.
Abolhassan Bani-Sadr

:)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Thanks Fernando..
2009 XS500 Miles Electric Car

*Rapid acceleration to top speed of 80+ mph (130+ kph)
*120+ miles driving range (200+ kilometers)
*Battery life of approximately 100,000 miles.
*Minimal maintenance required, very low operating costs
*One charge costs about the price of one gallon of gasoline
*Charged on any standard 220V wall socket
*Advanced airbags
*Safety-tested proprietary li-ion battery pack

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Actually, I am agnostic on the October Surprise. While I consider the Reagan "crime syndicate" awful for democracy--and world peace-- I am not convinced that Khomenei's keeping of the hostages had anything to do with any dealings by him and Reagan's cohorts. But I do keep an open mind. FWIW, I think Ted Koppel's Nightline (and other MSM outfits) and its nightly coverage of the hostage crisis a major factor in Reagan winning in 1980.
Lipstick Lesbian

Definitely would meet most of my needs. Could always rent a fossil fuel guzzler for long road trips.

Now, get to work on driving down the price tag, please.

___
brr

right now..
Submitted by Cathy in Seattle on Sat, 02/09/2008 - 2:22am.
crank is deciding whether to bother with the sad old shell of the almost-late but never lamented War Dog, or combing through stuff I wrote looking for fodder for puns. You just never know with that guy.
--------
Sad but true, I don't comb for puns. They leap off the page at me like a cartoon boxing glove on a scissors extension.

Speaking of combs, I stumbled onto an interesting torture used on a sainted martyr while researching Ash Wednesday (which led to St. Aloysius which led to St. Blaise). I hope Dick Cheney doesn't know about this one.

Excerpt from:

http://www.answers.com/St.%20Blaise

...Saint Blaise (or Blasius Βλάσιος, Armenian: Սուրբ Բարսեղ) was a physician and bishop of Sebaste (modern Sivas), Armenia. According to his Acta he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded.

In iconography, Blaise is often shown with the instruments of his martyrdom, iron combs. The similarity of these instruments of torture to wool combs led to his adoption as patron of wool combers in particular, and the wool trade in general. He may also be depicted with crossed candles. Such crossed candles (left unlighted for safety reasons) are used for the blessing of throats on the feast day of St. Blaise, which falls on February 3, the day after Candlemas on the Catholic calendar of saints, Blaise is traditionally believed to intercede in cases of throat illnesses, especially for fish-bones stuck in the throat...

Jennifer Van Bergen Writes to John Conyers at john.conyers@mail.house.gov

Dear Representative and Chairman Conyers:

Historically, the party that impeaches has won at subsequent elections. Impeachment of the criminals who now run our country will also show your constituents -- and other Democrats across the country -- that you still believe in and will uphold the Constitution and your duty under it.

It is also important to note that there are many non-Democrats who will vote for those who they believe will uphold the Constitution, because they still believe deeply in this country and for the liberties it purports to protect.

Impeachment is also the only way to truly wash away the corruption and lawlessness that have crept (leapt?) into our Executive branch. This Executive is like a cancer, infecting everything with which it comes into contact. Look at the US Attorney firings, look at Mukasey's unwillingness to comply with Congress' mandates, look at the laws passed at its behest (themselves often in flagrant violation of the Constitution or international laws), look at the presidential signing-statement "exceptions" to disfavored portions of the laws, in violation of the President's oath of office and mandate to take care that laws are faithfully executed.

Con't-afterdowningstreet.org

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

European support for the Afghanistanian occupation is waning due to their disdain over the American-led Iraq invasion.

Like this wasn't foreseeable...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/world/asia/09gates.html?_r=1&oref=slog...

McCain '08 vs. McCain '94: He's for Troop Withdrawal, As Long As Bill Clinton Is President..

Link to Video

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Undoing the Bush Legacy
By Aziz Huq, The Nation

Most people who cast ballots on Super Tuesday believed they were voting not just for a new face in the White House but also for sweeping new policies. Few believe a President McCain, Romney, Obama or Clinton would hew to all of the policies of Bush and Cheney--and even fewer believe they should.

Yet that certainty may be misplaced. When the next President is sworn in, the clammy fingers of the Bush Administration may still be wrapped around vital national policies. Even in the past few weeks, the Administration began entrenching strategic policies that are core to its ideological commitments in national security.

Acting largely in secret, the Administration is moving to tie down the next White House--Republican or Democratic--in ways that will prove hard to unravel. Whether or not it succeeds depends on the vigilance of Congress and the public.

Con't-afterdowningstreet.org

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Arrrgghhhhh!

Can somebody PLEASE update the website for this week's guests? Inquiring minds and all that...

Hahahahahahahahahahaha. My favorite 3% subject!

The Pretend Dream World of the 3%!

There's nothing funnier than this on the Internet!

I have to disagree. Currently, THE funniest thing on the

internet are the broken, fractured, meaningless sentences

that you come up with here, every day. You are THE laziest,

dumbest writer on the web and the fact that you like to

lecture other people about THEIR lack of savvy is funny as

hell.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain became the likely Republican nominee after Mitt Romney decided to suspend his campaign Thursday. Now, the Democrats are debating who would do better against the Arizona Republican.

Two polls this month have asked registered voters nationwide how they would vote if the choice were between McCain and Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton.

A CNN poll, conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation February 1-3, shows Clinton three points ahead of McCain, 50 percent to 47 percent. That's within the poll's margin of error of 3 percentage points, meaning that the race is statistically tied..

A Time magazine poll, conducted February 1-4, also shows a dead heat between Clinton and McCain. Each was backed by 46 percent of those polled.

Sen. Barack Obama believes he can do better, arguing "I've got appeal that goes beyond our party."

In the CNN poll, Obama leads McCain by 8 points, 52 percent to 44 percent. That's outside the margin of error, meaning that Obama has the lead.

And in the Time poll, Obama leads McCain by 7 points, 48 percent to 41 percent -- a lead also outside of the poll's margin of error of 3 percentage points...................

It's more than a bit odd that the Democrats have installed a system to override the democratic election system in order to install the candidate of their choice.

cincinnati is notoriously conservative among the people that own it and they make sure the news the paper prints reflects that.

so with all the things going on in the world, what garners front page space other than than annual linclon-reagan hamilton county dinner dance and republican fundraiser.

basically the party hacks were all encouraging the faithful to hold their noses and vote for mccain.

whats telling is they are quoted as saying you wouldn't want obama or clinton in power for 4 or 8 years would you. so, this says, that they think the dems can win, but more importantly that the dems will do such a good job at cleaning up the mess that bush made that they will get asked back for an additional 4 years.

How will Hillary do today? Will the Civil War in the Democrat Party be played out at the election place today? This will be an interesting day. Today was supposed to be Obama's day, will it happen? Or will the backlash begin today?

Robbery suspect locks himself out of car
By Beacon Journal staff report

POSTED: 05:04 p.m. EST, Feb 08, 2008

COVENTRY TWP.:A 51-year-old New Franklin man has been arrested by the Summit County Sheriff's Department for the Thursday theft at the Sheetz store at 20 W. Waterloo Road in Coventry Township.

The suspect, Mark Ott, was arrested after he was found with $40 worth of allegedly stolen merchandise after he had mistakenly locked his keys in his car.

Ott also was charged with driving while his license was suspended.

by John Mc-bomb-bomb-bomb Cain

I wonder if he's going to use ""Four More Wars" as his campaign slogan??

Four More Wars!
Four More Wars!
Four More Wars!
Four More Wars!

___
brr

It very hard to say. The Civil War has polarized the part for many reasons.

dan
Kevin
Peter Dragon
maggiesboy
MMRules
Crank Bait
Fernando
Annette
and who ever else I missed :)

then endorses her...

Sleep in, or just getting a late start??

___
brr

Turkey's parliament on Saturday approved constitutional amendments to ease a ban on Islamic headscarves in universities.

Legislators in the predominantly Muslim but secular country voted 403-107 in favour of a first amendment that will add a paragraph to the constitution stating that everyone has the right to equal treatment from state institutions.

They later voted 403-108 in favour of a second amendment stating "no-one can be deprived of [his or her] right to higher education."

The changes must be signed by President Abdullah Gul, an observant Muslim who is widely expected to approve them.

The changes were backed by Turkey's ruling party and the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party, but bitterly opposed by the secular establishment and the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party.

"The head scarf is a political symbol," said legislator Canan Aritman of the Republican People's Party, which said it would appeal the changes. "We will never allow our country to be dragged back into the dark ages."

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/02/09/turkey-headscarves.html

I work a 2nd shift @ work - so I usually don't get home till 1:00a.m.
By the time I get to bed its usually 2 sometimes 3 in the morning(depending what's going on here @ home)
I have a real hard time sleeping... then when I want to get up it is even harder. (Crank Bait will comment on this Im sure of it;)

AP - It always sounded innocuous enough, tucked into the adjectives Mitt Romney would rattle off when he described the qualities for the next president.

Wisdom, optimism and the right temperament, said the former Republican presidential candidate.

There was no doubt whom Romney was referring to — rival and likely GOP nominee John McCain, whose short-fuse temper is widely known, especially among his Senate colleagues.

The dig that McCain lacks the comportment to be commander in chief was part of the playbook that Romney used in his unsuccessful bid to secure the Republican nomination. Now it provides a piece of the playbook for either Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama in a general election campaign against the four-term Arizona senator.

Among the weaknesses that Romney criticized:

_McCain's admission that he was better versed in foreign affairs and military matters than economic issues.

_McCain's flip-flops both philosophically and on specific issues.

_McCain's alignment with Democrats on taxes, illegal immigration, campaign finance and environmental issues.

Romney stopped short of labeling McCain a liberal, but he said McCain's history of agreements with Democrats would leave voters little more than intangibles with which to distinguish between the Democratic and Republican nominees.

While he never defined those intangibles, Romney suggested McCain would be a liability in a race in which the 71-year-old would be trying to become the oldest person ever elected president, while Clinton was trying to become the first female president and Obama, the first black...........

A suicide bomber struck Saturday at an election rally in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than 20, officials said.

The blast occurred at a rally of the Awami National Party — a secular, ethnic Pashtun group — in the town of Charsadda in the turbulent North West Frontier province, where Islamic extremists operate.

Volunteers help a man injured in a suicide bombing to exit an ambulance at a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Saturday. The bombing was the second to rattle the town of Charsadda in as many months.
(Mohammad Zubair/Associated Press)
An Interior Ministry spokesman put the death toll at 14 with more than 20 injured. The province's health minister said 20 people died and at least 25 were injured in the blast.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/02/09/pakistan-bombing.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
source

Seven of the world's wealthiest nations said on Saturday they will act together or individually to calm markets in the wake of a global economic downturn, but stopped short of prescribing specific measures.

Finance ministers from the G7 group, meeting for one day of talks in Tokyo, said the fundamentals of the world economy remained "solid" and that the U.S. economy was likely to escape a recession this year.

However, they also listed several factors that are fuelling concerns.

"We note that downside risks still persist, which include further deterioration of the U.S. residential housing markets; tighter credit conditions from prolonged difficulties in the financial markets; high oil and commodity prices; and heightened inflation expectations in some countries," a G7 communiqué said.

No single remedy was recommended to bolster the global economy, but Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney indicated further interest rate cuts are likely needed in Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/02/09/economy.html

Been there,Done that..

Did that for over 25 years..

It can wear on ya ! Make you abit crazed..

But,Hang in there Sandy. :)

Look how I turned out ! ;)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Sleep in, or just getting a late start??
new
Submitted by smcgee43 on Sat, 02/09/2008 - 12:01pm.
I work a 2nd shift @ work -
===

what kind of work.... 2nd shitf is dangerous, lots of accidents because of less alertness, gotta be careful

JOHN BOLTON;-(

But,Hang in there Sandy. :)

Look how I turned out ! ;)

I know 'lo-jack 4 fertilizer' was kinda cryptic.

My bud provided me with a better reason God created flies:

To give shit better self-esteem.

[There's a lesson in there for interlopers...]

I am a custodian @ a very large high school. We have almost 3000 kids.
I don't know how well you know Chicago - but it is on the North Shore (lots o' money)
The second shift takes care basically of all the cleaning & garbage removal.
I've been there 8 yrs. & DO NOT want to retire from there. I have excellent benefits & perks...
but I think we may be OUTSOURCED within the next couple of years.
I just signed up for on-line classes to get my associates degree - scared & excited @ the same time
Thanks for the warning.

ABC News reports that while a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. is investigating the death of an innocent 9-year old Iraqi boy at the hands of American contractors, “Blackwater has been operating behind the scenes in Iraq to settle with the survivors and families of the dead”:

Officials familiar with the case told ABCNews.com that Blackwater had resisted U.S. government demands that the company pay at least $100,000 per death, claiming the U.S. government has not paid that much in similar situations in Iraq. Iraqi prosecutors reportedly are urging Blackwater to pay at least between $20,000 and $80,000.

http://thinkprogress.org/

A bunch of FUCKING THUGS - thats all those fucks are!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjzfzVPDWvs

I wouldn't pay that fuck- tard one dime to speak anywhere. I can't believe that people are
going to pay that asshole to talk about how he & monkey Boy fucked up this country.
Our forefathers are rolling in their graves right now

I was a custodian at a big school for some years too..

Your right,good benefits..

I should have stayed there..But,Nooooo I thought the Airlines would be So Glamorous !
They were, Before Deregulation ! !

Anyhoo,I sure Hope you Don't get Outsourced !
And,Good Luck with going back to school !
You will do fine..
A Smart move. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

There is still much damage to be done. Continued looting

of the national treasury. More youth to be killed so they

won't be "unemployed" when they come home. A whole year

left of ripping and robbing and murdering.

Where is Penny_Lane when you need her.
That is so weird.
I worked for A.A. for 5 years. I loved that job - then this bitch came in & fired me after working with me for 1 week.
She was from New Jersey - I still have dreams of wanting to confront that bitch.
I know resentments are NO good. But when people fuck with you like that sometimes it is hard to let go.
I will say I am a lot better today than I was back in the day shall I say. :)

Two homeless Iraqi dogs – Mama and Boris – are now safely on American soil thanks to the efforts of a soldier’s family, a U.S. senator, and the Best Friends rapid response team.
Sgt. Peter Neesley, on his second tour of duty with the U.S. Army, began feeding a mama dog and her two puppies when he patrolled a Baghdad neighborhood. After one of the puppies was hit by a car and killed, Peter built them a red-and-white doghouse – equipped with blankets, a mattress and an Army insignia above the door. He lured the mama dog and her remaining puppy to the doghouse, which he placed just outside the military base wall.

And then he e-mailed his family, sending them photos of the black Lab mix and her white-and-brown spotted puppy, and said he’d decided to fly the dogs home when he returned to the states in six months.

“Our family has always had dogs or cats and other little critters,” says his sister, Carey Neesley. “Peter was always bringing strays home.”

But on Christmas Day, Peter, just 28, died in his sleep in his barracks (no cause of death has been released) before he could send the dogs home. His soldier friends continued to feed Mama and Boris and watch out for them.

http://news.bestfriends.org/index.cfm?page=news&fps=1&mode=entry&entry=F...

I love this story - this so cool. To all my animal lovers out there enjoy

Worst schedule I ever had was in the Air Force. I was a medic in the E.R. When I first started we worked 12 hour shifts, 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off.

It was great until some dipshit realized we were having to much fun.

Changed all shifts to 8 hours where we worked 1st for a month then 2nd the next month and 3rd the month after that then start over. Talk about not knowing what time it was much less one day!

___
brr

and the most basic principle of checks and balances is being undermined. Not since Watergate has a president so openly disregarded the will of Congress.

During hearings in the Judiciary Committee yesterday, I told Attorney General Michael Mukasey that I called for impeachment hearings because of the stonewalling and blatant abuses of the Bush Administration. He responded by stating that he will NOT enforce a contempt of Congress citation against Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten for refusing to testify before Congress. The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7M9sjRLCtQ

Alberto Gonzales may be long gone, but the Bush Administration continues its executive overreach with the new Attorney General.

We can debate the need for Impeachment hearings. We can argue its effects on the election or our agenda. But one thing is abundantly clear:

If Congress' right to require testimony is undermined, then our country's leaders - Democrat, Republican, or Independent - will be immune from accountability.

The power of the subpoena - to call officials before us - is one of the most fundamental safeguards in our system of government. To have it effectively discarded - by virtue of the President instructing Administration officials to ignore a congressional subpoenas and not even appear before Congress - is unprecedented. The idea that the Attorney General would willingly defend this position - despite Congress' constitutional right to call such witnesses, is outrageous.

Impeachment hearings could render this moot: The President, Vice President, and all officials under them would no longer invoke executive privilege. There would be no more smokescreens.

In one week, I will be delivering my letter calling for impeachment hearings to Chairman John Conyers. Already, 16 Members of Congress have joined my call, including 3 Judiciary Committee members. I am hopeful for more in the coming days, but it is important for you to reach out to your representative in Congress to express how you feel. You can view the current list of signers, here: http://www.wexlerforcongress.com/news.asp?ItemID=230

I do not know how Congress will react, but I do know this: I will pursue this course aggressively. I will not compromise away the constitutional role of Congress. Your support is invaluable. Please know that I am working everyday to ensure that the Bush Administration is held accountable.

Please continue to support this movement at www.wexlerwantshearings.com.

Yours truly,

Congressman Robert Wexler

The Police-Synchronicity II

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Theyre going to outsource everybodys job.... to machines

Now I'm being told that because my vote "might be traced back to me" that the state has a policy of not showing single votes....

Um..do I look like I care if anyone knows I voted for Gloria La Riva?

Plus my inquiry via email was copied to others in the county..without my permission...everything in govt local and large is so outta whack and unseemly...

Looks like I will get to spend more time ironing this out...

It doesn't even make sense mathematically! What if there were single votes in every county? Doesn't that throw off the count for the candidate?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..................

Why do public libraries have to be Government? I want a private public library...or something...

*

Good morning and Happy Saturday, Blog...

ßack @ U, Miss Penny!

we nailed some panckes 4 lunch with cream chees and raspberry jam

sucked, nyet!

but I think we may be OUTSOURCED within the next couple of years...

Are you in a union? That is an option if you want to protect your job. If not in a union, organize one. (SEIU started in Chicago, you know. By a group of Italian immigrant janitors in the 1920s, who were tired of getting screwed over.)
Li-Les

*drooooooooooooooooool*

http://www.seiu1.org/keep_chicago_working/mission.cfm

Li-Les

VIDEO: Jonah Goldberg And Matthew Dowd Clueless On 'Real Time With Bill Maher'

Matthew Dowd was the chief strategist of the George W. Bush 2004 presidential election campaign and is currently an ABC News political contributor. Jonah Goldberg is a nationally syndicated conservative columnist, founding editor of "National Review Online," and author of Liberal Fascism. Neither of them knows who is the current Director of National Intelligence.

Link to Video-Bradblog.com

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

this is really weird that by allowing fundamentalists to express themselves turkey is progressing forward...

although its makes sense in a twisted way. seems that the deeply religious will foregoe education so that they can cover their heads, and by allowing the scarves, these women can now get an education.

thats one twisted god they believe in.

Secular Progressives and Sucky Pancakes...

Super Tuesday was also National Pancake Day [or Mardi Gras or Shrove [aka Fat] Tuesday].

Took all the religion outta stuffing yer face before Lent.

Enjoy yer flapjacks in Hell, heathen!

not sure why they were there.

You KNOW Goldberg is an asshole, but Dowd was transgressing the chief laws of thinking people:

Don't speak for me and don't kiss my ass!

Just incase ya didn't know..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

Obama should pick Snoop Dog as his Vice President..

Yes?

Is that an unbeatable line-up?

Rolling down Pennsylvania ave.....

y'know?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paczki

In Hamtramck, an enclave in Detroit, there is an annual Paczki-Day (Fat Tuesday) Parade, and lines at bakeries can be seen up to 24 hours before the deep-fried delights go on sale Tuesday morning. Many bars in town open early in the morning, and provide free entertainment, a party atmosphere, Paczki-clad mascots, and at at least one bar, Pączki filled with Jagermeister. The Paczki-Day celebration in this town is even larger than many areas have for St. Patrick's Day. Prunes are considered the traditional filling, but many others are used as well, including lemon, strawberry, Bavarian cream, blueberry, custard, raspberry, and rarely apple.

Enjoy yer flapjacks in Hell, heathen!

are you sure you didn't ghostwrite for the most revered milf cardinal milfington of the recently disgraced Diocese

tiffany
tiffany jewellery
tiffany uk
tiffany jewelllery uk
tiffany jewellery sale
tiffany jewellery london
silver jewellery
tiffany jewellery sale
ugg boots
uggs
ugg sale
ugg boots sale
uk ugg boots
cheap ugg boots
ugg australia
winter boots
ugg boots discount
tall ugg boots
ugg boots 2009
cheap uggs
uggs on sale
ugg uk
uggs boots
australia ugg boots