who's winning the debate?

friends

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

When she gets the Tammy Fae smile you know it's whopper time.

in the gutter now. You know a man that knows a man...

aren't we?

Barack has the edge with credibility and "ease of answer".

___
bluerootsradio

Israel.

Barack lacks grammer experience
Submitted by ghettodefender on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 10:05pm.
------
I have allowed the grammer misspelling to slip by me on a couple of occasions and, boy oh boy, did I ever get my ass kicked.

The lesson is: Never trust anyone, especially if you have made them the butt of grammar jokes.

Farrakhan

Now you tell me...

For those of you who have yet found this very funny site.... check it out:
http://www.unclejayexplains.com/

She's toast.

Brian Williams and Tim Russert.

Submitted by Chubby "Italics" Bubba on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 10:16pm.
Now you tell me...

a college question?

What can you tell me about the successor to Putin?

Who has the correct answer?

nationwide auto insurance
=
first impression
Just turned it on 10 min ago.

Barak look relaxed comfortable - was speaking.

Hil looked tense - leaning(hunched?) forward on her crossed arms like her emotional center was stressed.

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

The proof is in the fucking EATING!

Goddammit. For the umpteenth time, it ain't the fucking pudding where you find the proof.
-------
http://www.answers.com/topic/the-proof-of-the-pudding

Proverbs: The proof of the pudding is in the eating

Proof means ‘test’ rather than the more normal ‘verification, proving to be true’.

That's a trick question.

The answer is no one.
___
bluerootsradio

'please put some words into your opponents mouth'

good one to ignore

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

..how can we fuck up an otherwise decent and civil debate?

___
bluerootsradio

I think the best debate of all.
There was nothing for Hillary to gain here though, barring a colossal blunder from Barack, and predictably that didn't happen. Moreover, in my biased view, he beat her outright tonight by a narrow margin.

Messiah 17
Oz 14

Can you imagine tag team debates to have both the President and VP on one table. Put a questioner in the middle in another. Then opposing President and VP candidates on the other table. Really get the issues out.

Like in Family Feud

because his name is catchy. It has a swing to it.
It's all in the name. Our first president without a WASP name. Can it be possible?
Is this the big breakthrough we're waiting for?

...and it rhymes with Osama, so it's easy to remember...

Submitted by Exhausted Blogger on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 10:41pm.
...Our first president without a WASP name...
---------
I beg your Protestant pardon! Does John Fitzgerald Kennedy ring an altar bell?

Crank. WASP / WASC

Did you know there are no WASPs with "Washington" as a last name.

They are all black. Think about it. Our first President had a black name.

But I can't stand Chris "the slobber" Matthews and Tim "fat head" Russert.

and Barack Obama has that futuristic Star Wars catch to it.

The kids are looking forward to his presidency. Let's not disappoint them with another WASP, 20th Century, 97% safe, name.

Submitted by Exhausted Blogger on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 10:55pm.
...Our first President had a black name.
--------
A teacher friend in the Caribbean introduced me to one of her students, Washington George.

You gotta admit it's catchy.

10:33 PM ... TPM Reader MF chimes in: "It seems that Russert is asking the questions in the aspect that the candidates are guilty of something. It is really quite odd. And when did it become okay for a moderator to be an antagonist in a Presidential debate. I thought the job of a moderator was to moderate and not antagonize."

--Josh Marshall

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/180270.php

Sen. Warner with a heart problem

Sen. Byrd after a fall.

Comcastic! Philly's cable giant pays people off the street to pack hearing -- on Internet free speech

It figures a big company from Philly of all places would use brass-knuckle, ward-leader-type tactics when facing a jam with the Federal Communications Commission.

You see, Comcast is under the gun over the issue of so-called "net neutrality" -- whether it can either charge more for or simply flat-out block certain kinds of content as an Internet provider. The company admittedly now delays some content over a technology known as Bit Torrent, sparking a big controversy over why.

Yesterday, the FCC convened a major hearing at Harvard Law School up in Cambridge, Mass., to hash out the matter, and Comcast's executive vice president, David L. Cohen -- the former top aide to Ed Rendell when he was Philadelphia mayor -- was going to be in the hot seat. Hundreds of advocates for net neutrality were anxious to attend the hearing, but most of them couldn't get in the room.

You're not going to believe why:

Consider this: One side in the debate actually went to the trouble of hiring people off the street to pack a Federal Communications Commission meeting yesterday—and effectively keep some of its opponents out of the room.
Broadband giant Comcast—the subject of the F.C.C. hearing on network neutrality at the Harvard Law School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts—acknowledged that it did exactly that.

Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury said that the company paid some people to arrive early and hold places in the queue for local Comcast employees who wanted to attend the hearing.

Some of those placeholders, however, did more than wait in line: They filled many of the seats at the meeting, according to eyewitnesses. As a result, scores of Comcast critics and other members of the public were denied entry because the room filled up well before the beginning of the hearing.

The picture up top -- by the advocacy group Free Press -- shows some of the interested and enthused citizens that Comcast apparently paid to attend. They reportedly did perk up when Comcast's Cohen spoke, giving him a big ovation.

Boston's bloggerati is not pleased. This is actually on the Web site of the Boston Herald:

The scum at Comcast MUST PAY!!!! This is how they treat free speech!!!! Come On Boston Get Angry!!!!! Call your Representative and Senator Now!!!!!
Of course, don't call Pennsylvania's senator: He can't help you.

http://www.attytood.com/2008/02/comcastic_phillys_cable_giant.html

This is live off the satellite:

-- 97% fear the 3% who control the money--

The dollar is falling as investors worry about the US economy
The dollar has fallen to a fresh record low against the euro, after weak economic data renewed fears that the US economy may be facing recession.

After figures showed a sharp rise in US home foreclosures and another fall in American consumer confidence, the euro hit an all-time high of $1.50.

Traders say the Federal Reserve may have to cut interest rates again, which would further undermine the dollar.

Meanwhile, US crude oil rose $2.20 to a fresh record of $101.43 a barrel.

Five-year low

The latest sign of falling US consumer confidence came from the closely watched Conference Board survey.

The outlook for the economy continues to worsen and the risk of a recession continues to increase
Conference Board's Lynn Franco

It said consumer sentiment fell to a five-year low in February due to growing recession fears.

At the same time, the number of US homes facing foreclosure rose 57% in January compared with the same month of 2007.

Last month the Fed slashed interest rates to 3% as it tried to prevent the US economy falling into recession.

"With so few consumers expecting conditions to turnaround in the months ahead, the outlook for the economy continues to worsen and the risk of a recession continues to increase," said Lynn Franco, a director of the Conference Board's consumer research centre.

US interest rate cuts generally lower the value

without the depth of field:

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/data/satellite/goes_nam_1070x_100.jpg

I dig sat feeds. The NOAA link in grey is a vapor sensor image.

IRS Investigating Obama's Church

By Jacqueline L. Salmon
The United Church of Christ, Sen. Barack Obama's spiritual home, is in hot water with the Internal Revenue Service over a speech Obama gave to its national convention last June.

re fox ticker
~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

My brother in law's been working there too..For over 10 years,I think..
Alaska and the Bay area..Sunnyvale I think..

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

Is it worth the airtime to put Nader on the stage? Or is it a total waste of time to allow someone who will only get 3% of the vote to stand along side the 2 major candidates?

Should we even acknowledge the 3%?

Thanks for posting on the last thread
the link to "What are friends are trying to tell us".

I've on listen to 2 but,man Oh man !

Thanks again.... :)

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

does that just encourage others to think that way? Is it better to just act like Ralph doesn't exist and hope he goes away?

http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/us_comp/
Real-Time U.S. Composite Satellite Image
pic edited out for dial-uppers
~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

Im coming to the realization that I missed Malloy.

Somehow he thinks what he has to say is important.

Should minority views be allowed if all they do is reduce the Democrat Nominee's chances?

http://www.green960.com/main.html

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

or should I say : (

They're all gay-n-lovin'it or not gay-n-hatenit - but compromised

http://tinyurl.com/2hyw3g
Kay Griggs Talks - Desperate Wives (Exc...

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKpaisley.htm

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

MMR Thx. You too jbenet

Hey everyone.

Yikes. I haven't seen those Kay Griggs videos in a while.
I looked for them a while back but I couldn't remember the woman's name. Zionists are the boogeymen, eh?

To poop on.

Grey poupon.

Sorry I missed you. You asked something about why I listed the names of all on AAR & NovaM. Save for two, all here is for Obama.

I mainly wrote since I have been hearing that Hillary's people have free speech on AAR & NovaM. Yet then "they" (AAR & NovaM hosts call ALL callers pro Hillary (save for me on Jeff's), negative statements with a caller or two later the Hillary bashing began -- same BS, same ol' same ol'. .

WE ARE TOLD BOTH RIGHT AND ONLY LEFT to vote THEIR WAY.

"And I Say, No, No, No."

;)

Earthquake hits much of England - 39 min ago
The biggest UK earthquake for nearly 25 years is felt across large parts of England.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/7266136.stm

Come out west,we'll show ya some eathquakes.. ;)

TV said 4.0 earlier..A 5.3 a bigger hick-up..
"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

ref from a caller on Jeff's show while driving this afternoon

Zionists are the boogeymen, eh?

I didn't get to that reference yet. Too much other stuff going on.

If the shoe fits... (wink - wink)

~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

I saw the tape about a year and a half ago, jbenet.

At the very end of the first video I think it was, she finally is asked who exactly these scary fartknockers are and her voice tremors, and then quiets, and then she says, "Zionincompoops."

Okay, she said Zionists.

But, I like the way Zionincompoops rolls off the tongue.
Not literally. :)

Karl Rove refusing to hold the `Free siegelman' sign.

give me a break...there's a really good chance you wouldn't even notice it...depending hw deep the quake was.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the earthquake was of the magnitude of 5.3 and the epicentre was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

The main 10-second quake, which struck at 0056 GMT at a depth of 15.4km (9.6 miles), was the biggest recorded example since one with a magnitude of 5.4 struck north Wales in 1984.

Dr Baptie said: "The largest earthquake that we know about that has struck the UK was about 100km off the east coast of England on the Dogger Bank and it had a magnitude of 6.1.
~`~`~`~`~`~
Jamesbennett

Hey,Chubbs..
The news has no clue what size it was..
They've called it 4.0,4.7 and 5.3..
Stick with a number,aye....

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

...sound advice.

about 10 years ago I was driving across the ship canal bridge (shown above) and jotted down a number and a date...I wonder what became of that notebook? it was the date and magnitude of a future earthquake.

I sure hope I'm wrong about them...I think it was june '11 and something like 11-ish

who's had thought of earthquakes while driving (or, worse yet, sitting in traffic) on that bridge.

wierd, huh?

that squaqre at the bottom of the pic looks like it could be a parking lot...it is a roof.
also, that view is of the south side of the bridge. the middle of the bridge is MUCH higher than ends.

when you are sitting in the middle of the bridge you are WAY up in the air.

...because a deaf God ignores our pleas

(thanks and a tip o' the hat to the Daily Show writers)

i love seattle.

my router is giving up the ghost.

That was a tricky diagnoses to find that one!

bear in mind cables can be bad too!

much cheaper

that's right!

might have to dig a little deeper!

the fur brothers...

for a biggin ?

Alaska as you probably know has had some huge ones..

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

running to the wireless modem may be bad.

I put the modem in the kitchen window, but even tho the modem's signal indicators say I've got signal (five lights), there are times when my speed isn't as good as before I moved the modem (3 or 4 lights, best)

so I think I'll replace that cable.

natives have the stories in their cultural tradition.

the friction boils all the water in the area.

fires everyehere. only safety is a

fairly stable mountain area

It's normal to think about earthqaukes and stuff
going over bridges..
It reminds us were mortal..

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

rusty is hanging around on the patio, doesn't want to give me the satisfaction of coming in when I call...even tho he's 2 feet away at the time...he just blankly looks up at me

shutting off completely.

had to pull the power plug and reboot it a dozen times.

Modem complicates it a bit. same on reboot. just to make sure what it was doing.

for my wireless..My wireless sucked so bad !

Now I can actually listen to the show and blog
without getting kicked offline every 15mins..

I just hope the cord doesn't trip someone going down the hall..
Strategic rug placement is a good thing..

Sorry..Howdy SJ..
How ya doing ?

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

lets see see if I can reconstruct it?

There was a politician named McCain

who had the White House to gain.

But he was a hobbyist

of screwing his lobbyist.

So much for his oh-eight campaign!

or bend them at sharp angles.

i'm in motorcycle mode.

looks like we have a 65 Nova to glass out.

some interesting sound installs, 66 malibu on tap too.

think this will go to a busy winter this year.

There was a politician named McCain

who had the White House to gain.

But he has a hobbyist

of screwing his lobbyist.

So much for his oh-eight campaign!

It's not my house..
I'd like to run it along the base board
but,I don't think the owner wants to see the cord..

Thanks for the warning though..
I'll have to fingure out something..

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

time for a snoozer!

love ya all!

we may need a ruling, I think my third line is more correct than your's?

it's about time to gather up the cats for the night...round up the hers, as it were.

see you down the road!

We had a 1960-something Nova Station wagon when I was a kid..Does that count :)

My Mom threw all us 5 kids into the old Nova Station wagon
and drove us from LA to Ensenada Mexico..

Before they had put in the Highway going down there..

Mostly dirt roads..
It was a fun,educational and,somtimes hair raising..

I knew my Mom was cool but,she was abit of a thrill
seeker sometimes too..Miss her much.. :)

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

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

How Do We Defeat Tim Russert?

by digby

Excerpts:

The country wants change. They want Washington to stop all the partisan bickering and they want a different tone. They want their government to be serious and deal with real problems.

Can someone please explain to me how that can possibly happen until something is done about the reprehensible political press?

--------

These people guide the way citizens perceive politics even if the citizens don't know it.

It's hard for me to see how anything can truly change until this is dealt with.

---

For the record, there are others in the press posse with Russert.

How do we defeat the press posse?

What do you think? Any suggestions?

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

Link:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-do-we-defeat-tim-russert-by-d...

Return to the old rules of Radio/TV ownership !

And,push for more minority ownership..

The basics..

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

Thanks for your comments, MMRules.

I think we both agree about the possible role of the League of Women Voters in future debates.

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

For More Information:

http://www.vote411.org/

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve U.S. systems of government and impact public policies through education and advocacy.

a grass roots movement...

the blogosphere is a loose conglomeration

that needs consolidation

to reach a critical mass

it needs to laser in on such issues on a mass scale

HOW!?

well, that's another question

ask for money...

and buy a tv station

(whatever)

fuck me dead... how!?

it's called initiative

and don't look at me... i don't got any

HOW!? motherfucker

HOW!?

what can you do...

OPTIONS...

settle on assassination

"how, where, when"

what's the cover story going to be

who sits on the commission to investigate the crime

where's that usefool idiot... tim russert

[from wiki]

During the [libby] trial, another witness, former Cheney communications director Cathie Martin, testified that she "suggested we put the vice president on Meet the Press" hosted by Russert on NBC, and that it was "a tactic we often used....It's our best format."

on the much fabled tv channel...

have a program called memory hole

that focus' on one useful idiot

(up close and personal)

so that we never forget

so that e.g. tim russert is forever branded a useful idiot

all this fucking hand wrenching and whining

*boo-hoo*

do something

it's called action, baby...

ACTION!!

Free Democracy

I found it very revealing when Olberman read to Russert the rest of Obama's statement about opting into the public finance system. Russert said that he had deliberately left out the context, expecting that Obama would bring it up in his answer. So Russert isn't interested in asking genuinely difficult questions; he's only testing whether people can solve his little puzzles.

matt | Homepage | 02.26.08 - 11:55 pm

*

//he's only testing whether people can solve his little puzzles//

no matt

it's sophistry...

it may resemble banana-peel journalism to satisfy our insatiable appetite for embarrassing moments

("tee-hee, he slipped")

but it's designed to waste time

Outbids Microsoft for Internet Giant

Flush with cash after a deluge of online donations, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) stunned the business world today by outbidding Microsoft for the Internet giant Yahoo.

The purchase of Yahoo is believed to be the largest acquisition of a multibillion-dollar company ever by a Democratic presidential candidate, industry experts said.

A spokesman for Microsoft at the company’s Redmond, Washington headquarters acknowledged that the company was “disappointed” to lose Yahoo to Sen. Obama, but added, “We can’t really be mad at him, because we love him so.”

The news of Sen. Obama’s $48 billion offer for Yahoo sent a shudder through Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)’s campaign, which for the past six weeks has been subsisting on Ramen noodles.

In his televised debate in Cleveland, Ohio with Sen. Clinton, Sen. Obama said that he was able to purchase Yahoo because his campaign was reaping online donations averaging $1.8 billion a day.

Mr. Obama also offered to “personally hire” 2 million Ohioans to do odd jobs around his campaign headquarters.

“People say, can we really come up with enough errands for 2 million Ohioans to do?” he said. “Yes we can.”

Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick praised Sen. Obama’s plan, telling reporters, “His campaign is more than just words, he is offering people a real opportunity to go on a Starbucks run.”

Sen. Obama later added, “My campaign is more than just words, I am offering people a real opportunity to go on a Starbucks run.”

Elsewhere, President Bush said that the economy was not in a recession, leading economists to conclude that the economy was in a recession.

Yes, two minutes. Before that, and after that, we should be taking direct action against the obstacles to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

But before and after those two minutes, our time, our energy, should be spent in educating, agitating, organizing our fellow citizens in the workplace, in the neighborhood, in the schools.

Our objective should be to build, painstakingly, patiently but energetically, a movement that, when it reaches a certain critical mass, would shake whoever is in the White House, in Congress, into changing national policy on matters of war and social justice.

-H. Zinn

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

Reference:

http://www.progressive.org/mag_zinn0308

He's spent all his moolah on the primary.

I'd say Obama's got it on cash alone.

:-) Howdy!

I was being sarcastic on the subject line ya big dummy !

It's late here..Excuse me if I don't post a 5 page synopsis
on the FCC..

You just mad because I told you to stop whining on the Oasis..

Damn..Everytime you go there you complain about something..
Like I said..Go search the internets yourself for MP'3 !

But,I'll admit I mad because last month you were on Brett's old picture Open mic and the son of one of My Dad's B-29 crew was trying to get intouch with me..
And,you didn't say a word to me..
All ya did was call him a creep..Thanks..

You didn't know..
But,I sure wish ya would have said something..

Sorry,for snapping at ya..

So relax..

There's no way I can keep up a fight with you..
I'd have to go off my meds and get real ornery !

But,I like my meds..
Want me to send ya some ?
I would if you would stop being a butthead. ;)

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

Dollar falls through support level, oil hits new high
by Chris in Paris · 2/27/2008 04:05:00 AM ET · Link
Discuss this post here: Comment (1) · reddit · FARK ·· Digg It!

From bad to worse in the GOP economy. The dollar has fallen through a very important support level $1.50 - €1 so if the greenback fails to bounce back quickly this could hit the free fall that many have been predicting. So what does this mean in America? Exactly what happened yesterday, which was a nasty inflation (stagflation) report courtesy of high energy costs.

Oil hit yet another new high, breaking through the $101 figure. Looking at the trends in oil, while it could drop back into the $80s though realistically, there is little preventing another climb. Just about anything can make the prices go back up (Turkey invading Iraq, hurricane, rumors, you name it) and now that the $100 support level has been tested and kicked aside it will be much easier for it to go up again. The Democrats really need call out the GOP and McCain in particular on this. These results are directly linked to years of bad policy by the Republicans. If we fail to drive this point home early and often, shame on us.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_bi_ge/euro_dollar

1. i never asked you to provide me with a 5 page whatever

(i asked... HOW!?)

2. i never said the FCC wasn't the problem

(i asked... HOW!?)

3. i'm not itching for a fight

ARE YOU BEGINNING TO GET THE DRIFT

(i asked... HOW!?)

4. i flipped out because you're so fucking thick

(i asked... HOW!?)

and not because you asked me "to stop whining on the Oasis"

that's a product of your imagination

to make you feel good

Democrats calling for change in food safety
by Chris in Paris · 2/27/2008 05:39:00 AM ET · Link
Discuss this post here: Comment (1) · reddit · FARK ·· Digg It!

It's refreshing to hear a voice of reason on such a critical issue Congresswoman DeGette may finally be helping Congress turn the corner on food safety. The current system has been cracking for a long time courtesy of the GOP "let industry self regulate" programs. Even the USDA and FDA are unable to make food recalls and instead, rely on the violators themselves to do this. Amazing, isn't it? To compound the problem, the Bush administration has equipped those federal agencies with industry people who are more interested in letting business do as they please rather than think of consumers. Budgets have been slashed, regulation has disappeared and the problem gets worse every year despite big talk by industry and their friends in the GOP.

DeGette's call for federal mandatory recall authority is the right thing to do for painfully obvious reasons. While I don't see the current administration showing any interest in taking action even if they did have the authority, we are only months away from a new administration that hopefully will care about consumers. The Big Food execs will continue to tell everyone that they are in control but history tells us something different. Providing regulation authority is a great first step.

http://www.americablog.com/2008/02/democrats-calling-for-change-in-food....

Turkish troops kill 77 Kurdish rebels
22 minutes ago
CUKURCA, Turkey - Turkish troops have killed 77 Kurdish rebels in night-long clashes in northern Iraq, the military said Wednesday. Five soldiers were also killed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_iraq;_ylt=AkQ_...

Gates to Turks: End Iraq incursion soon
1 hour, 36 minutes ago
NEW DELHI - Defense Secretary Robert Gates headed for Ankara late Wednesday with a message for Turkish leaders: Get your troops out of northern Iraq in the next few days.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/gates;_ylt=AuOUtwg...

Good Morning!

Euro soars to record high $1.5057
1 hour, 4 minutes ago
BERLIN - The euro climbed to a record high of $1.5057 in early European trading on Wednesday as sentiment increased that the U.S. Federal Reserve would continue its rate cut campaign.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_bi_ge/euro_dollar;_ylt=ApGYEvT...

Fed chief assessing economy's health
2 hours, 24 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is giving Congress a fresh assessment of the country's economic health, which has been pummeled by a housing bust, a credit crunch and soaring energy prices.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_bi_ge/bernanke_congress;_ylt=A...

And feeding Rats & Cats and Danu ;) (Beta this time Hybrid)

ALBANY — In a major victory for Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his party, a Democratic assemblyman won a stunning upset in a State Senate election on Tuesday in a district that has been in Republican hands for a century.

The win reduces the Republicans’ majority to one seat and will intensify pressure on the majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, as he tries to maintain his party’s grip on the Senate, which it has controlled for more than 40 years.

The Democrat, Darrel J. Aubertine, a dairy farmer, leaned heavily on Mr. Spitzer’s media consultant and the state Democrats’ money as he waged a costly campaign against the Republican, William A. Barclay, a lawyer and an assemblyman whose father once held the Senate seat........

Nuclear brinksmanship may have risen to a new level. Having learned nothing from its militarism or the disapproval of the world community, the Bush administration has recently discarded decades of careful international diplomacy to grant India an exemption from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Fortunately, House Resolution 711 attempts to hold the administration accountable, not only to common sense but to the Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation act of 2006
Link To Petition-Please Sign
"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

it was rough

but i had merit...

do the means justify the ends

eh!

fuck knows

how do they get on...

they're mortal enemies

At These Guys ! :)
http://www.stopbigmedia.com/

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

Thanks for the link to this digby column: How do we defeat Tim Russert.

http://tinyurl.com/ynlsjb

I liked this comment from digby's site:

"I agree totally. I see two possibilities: (1) "Hollywood" gets on the bandwagon with a few brilliant and viciously mocking films, or (2) at least one of the goddamn politicians starts calling bullshit.

Somebody with clout has to go to war with the bastards."

Porgy Tirebiter | 02.26.08 - 11:47 pm | #

02.26.08 -- 11:29PM //

"Russert's Lowest Moment (and that's saying a lot)
I discussed this in the live debate blog. But I think it's worth going back and watching Russert's run of shame here. I would say it was borderline to bring up the issue of Farrakhan at all. But perhaps since it's getting some media play you bring it up just for the record, for Obama to address.

That's not what Russert did. He launches into it, gets into a parsing issue over word choices, then tries to find reasons to read into the record some of Farrakhan's vilest quotes after Obama has just said he denounces all of them. Then he launches into a bizarre series of logical fallacies that had Obama needing to assure Jews that he didn't believe that Farrakhan "epitomizes greatness".

As a Jew and perhaps more importantly simply as a sentient being I found it disgusting. It was a nationwide, televised, MSM version of one of those noxious Obama smear emails."
-Josh Marshall
http://tinyurl.com/2f4gq8

That sounds like
Submitted by toniD on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 10:22pm.
a college question?

What can you tell me about the successor to Putin?

Who has the correct answer?

: )

Clinton fails to slow
down Obama

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, try as she did Tuesday night, could not throw Sen. Barack Obama off the course he is on to win the Democratic nomination.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/814656,CST-NWS-sweet27.article

Because a deaf God ingnores our pleas

(I had to repeat that!)

"Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant: No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt." So said Pierre Trudeau to Americans during a speech at the National Press Club in 1969.

The Elephant is a blog that takes Trudeau's quote to heart. What happens in Washington still creates ripples, or waves, north of the 49th parallel. The Elephant will, by virtue of upcoming events, focus heavily on presidential politics as Americans prepare for the 2008 election, but it will also be a place where readers can get their fix of Americana.
Obama pressed on Farrakhan in primetime Democratic debate

So NBC's Tim Russert decided to put Barack Obama on the spot over whether he thinks Louis Farrakhan is a good guy, repeatedly pressing the Illinois senator to condemn and reject the controversial Nation of Islam leader's recent, unsolicited endorsement.

Then Russert went further, asking him to disassociate himself from the leader of his Christian church in Chicago, who has praised Farrakhan in the past.

From this vantage point, Obama again did what he needed in regards to Farrakhan. He deftly avoided criticizing his spiritual advisor, and watch for conservatives to parse that moment for days and day.

Hillary Clinton tried to make hay out of the fact Obama did not immediately reject Farrakhan rather than denounce. Obama conceded the point and defused potential controversy there.

Whether this issue has any legs in the maintstream media, it's hard to say. The pundits doing immediate post-debate analysis on MSNBC, the host network, made no mention of the Farrakhan flap.

Here's the entire exchange:

http://communities.canada.com/shareit/blogs/theelephant/archive/2008/02/...

NY AG subpoenas
Comcast on broadband

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The New York attorney general's office has requested information from Comcast Corp. on the company's handling of Internet traffic.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080226/ap_on_hi_te/comcast_data_discriminat...

Waiting for President Clueless to Leave
By: Scarecrow Wednesday February 27, 2008 5:00 am

You would think that with the economy tanking during an election year in which the incumbent President has approval ratings at or below 30 percent, George Bush would be looking for ways to help the states stimulate economic growth and provide jobs for a suffering workforce. But instead Bush told the National Governor's Conference that he doesn't care about the devastating effects of his policies.

WASHINGTON — President Bush rebuffed appeals from the nation’s governors on Monday to increase spending on roads, bridges and other public works as a way to revive the economy.

Governors said Mr. Bush had told them at a White House meeting that he wanted to see the effects of his economic stimulus package before supporting new measures.

A bipartisan group of governors is pushing for major road and bridge projects as a way to create jobs and foster economic development. But the White House says the money could not be spent fast enough to be of much immediate help.

“There’s no short-term stimulus to the economy for some of these projects,” Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said.

Moreover, Ms. Perino said, the president will not accept any bill that raises taxes to finance such projects. Governors would have more money available, she said, if Congress ended the wasteful earmarking of billions of dollars for specific projects.

There are no doubt wasteful earmarks in the federal budget, many of them requested by the Administration itself. But we're spending $9-12 billion a month arming and then keeping apart both sides in a simmering Iraq civil war, we're stretching the Army to the breaking point, and the public is asking why we can't be spending that money here. Does the White House read any of the economic reports coming out of Washington? In the reports for the last week alone:

Read the rest of this entry »

http://firedoglake.com/2008/02/27/waiting-for-president-clueless-to-leav...

I wonder how the customers caught onto them? Slow internets?

And ToniD, do you know what the status of the whole net nuetrality thing is?

Bedford Heights -- "Barack Obama wasn't finished when the debate in downtown Cleveland ended Tuesday night. Right after he headed to a Giant Eagle distribution plant to meet with 200 union workers there."
-Joseph Wagner
cleveland.com
http://tinyurl.com/2ourh3

at talking points memo

and russert's opening question wasn't so awful

prefaced nicely: "you have to react to unexpected developments"

but barack, oh man

barack was...

BRILLIANT!

what was hideous

was hillary's intrusion

that she wouldn't be associated with such people "on principle", and took a swipe at obama because he only "denounced" farrakan and didn't "reject" farrakan, as timmy asked him to do

[there was an audible sigh in the crowd]

obama handled it beautifully, realising how ridiculous this parsing was...

"ok, i'll reject & denounce farrakan"

: )

I just recently lost two of my very Dear Friends over Cancer. Blessings and strength to You. {Friends mean more to me than some/most relatives. One I called my Spirit Sis ... now she is.} (Tears.)

I don't know the status of net neutrality right now.

I still get email petitions to sign so I am assuming that the vote wasn't taken yet.

She I trust to run this government. Obama was WEAK, thus a failure. I keep hearing how many changed their vote to HILLARY. Yippee!

yourll

asking him to disassociate himself from the leader of his Christian church in Chicago, who has praised Farrakhan in the past.//

yeah, that was obscene

(ol' timmy's little balls were tighening, thinking "gotcha")

but, sadly no...

it's at this point hillary butted in for the kill

but, sadly no...

BARACK KNOCKED THEM BOTH THE FUCK OUT

the way russert potatoe head kept pushing and pushing on Obama after he said he denounces his support.

But, we know the next repug talking point

Farakhan + Pastor wright = Obama is anti semitic and anti Israel.

need I remind you: SHE VOTED FOR THE WAR!

:D

she is not capable of making decisions IMHO.

It's a question of morals. And I cannot support her for moral reasons.

Also, I think this shows that she will cave in to the right wing machine faster than you can say nafta

Galactic 21 (8-0.7.7.7)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

white planetary dog ~ kin 10

PERFECT in order to LOVE,
PRODUCING LOYALTY
seal the PROCESS of HEART
with the PLANETARY tone of MANIFESTATION.
guided by the power of ENDLESSNESS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
◄ 12.19.15.2.1 ≈ oxlahun imix ►

Sorry to hear about your friends..
That's terrible..
Hang in there..

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

Republicans don’t look after their own money, either
By: Steve Benen @ 5:15 AM - PST When it comes to the nation’s finances, Republicans in Washington have shown, shall we say, a certain lackadaisical attitude. Deficits, debts, expensive tax giveaways, lax regulations on the financial industry, Enron-omics — when it comes to looking after our money, GOP officials don’t exactly inspire confidence.

But what about when they’re tasked with looking after their own money? Well, it’s a funny story, actually.

The accounting scandal now haunting the National Republican Congressional Committee was preceded by a series of decisions over the past decade to relax internal financial controls at the committee, according to numerous Republican sources familiar with the NRCC’s operations during those years.

Under Virginia Rep. Tom Davis and New York Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who chaired the committee from 1999 until the end of 2006, the NRCC waived rules requiring the executive committee — made up of elected leaders and rank-and-file Republican lawmakers — to sign off on expenditures exceeding $10,000, merged the various department budgets into a single account and rolled back a prohibition on committee staff earning an income from outside companies.

And wouldn’t you know it, the lack of oversight led to abuse — and apparent felonies.

As Josh Patashnik concluded, “House Republicans can be accused of many things, but at least inconsistency isn’t one of them: They adhere to the same low standards of ethics and competence in their own affairs that they expect of the federal government as a whole.”

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/27/republicans-dont-look-after-the...

ToniD that Lewis Black clip is so funny!!

lets go!! lets do this already!

Hill: We must end this War!

McCain: But you voted for it

not a pretty picture........

is the primary that ends Hillary's campaign.

We need to get on with the task of challenging McCain one on one.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/25/mccain-withheld-controver_n_883...

Ooh, neat! Florida, I think it's super that you're thinking of having festive "Confederate Heritage" plates:

How chic! But why not add a few other designs? Here, I've made some for you:

(Here's one of them, click the link for the rest:)

http://sparklepony.blogspot.com/2008/02/stay-klassy-florida.html

LMFAO...

that's an excellent impersonation of bob

you should be proud that mr. black took time out to do it,

bob-beeeeee!!!!!!!

:p

LOL!

but while we're still here we may as well dance."

With oil prices at record highs, the cost of gasoline could hit $4 a gallon by spring. “The effect of high oil prices today could be the difference between having a recession and not having a recession,” said Harvard economist Kenneth S. Rogoff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/business/27gas.html

“Liberal House Democrats are pushing for a closed session to discuss the legal underpinnings of President Bush’s intelligence surveillance program,” believing that “the more members know about it, the less likely they will be to support Bush’s wish to make it permanent.”

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/liberal-dems-seek-secret-fisa-sessio...

“Congressional leaders yesterday gathered support for aggressive changes to bankruptcy laws that would help troubled homeowners, even as the Bush administration threatened to veto the plan and emphasized its opposition to any program that would risk tax dollars.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR200802...

Three Democratic governors told Congress yesterday that an August directive by the Bush administration “has made it virtually impossible for them to expand health insurance coverage to more moderate-income children.” “A few states have gone to court attempting to void” the directive and now the governors are asking “lawmakers to intervene.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/26/national/main3881479.shtml?sou...

Liberal Dems seek secret FISA session

Liberal House Democrats are pushing for a closed session to discuss the legal underpinnings of President Bush’s intelligence surveillance program.

They believe that the more members know about it, the less likely they will be to support Bush’s wish to make it permanent.

“I haven’t heard anything in closed session that makes me think we need the Protect America Act,” said Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), an Intelligence Committee member, referring to a White House-backed interim wiretapping bill that lapsed this month. “Or that FISA [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act], with modest modifications, isn’t the way to go into the future.”

The request for the closed session came in a letter coauthored by Holt and Reps. John Tierney (D-Mass.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Holt refused to confirm the letter, but other Democrats say it was brought up at Tuesday’s Democratic Caucus meeting.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/liberal-dems-seek-secret-fisa-sessio...

“The coal industry is on the political offensive” for the 2008 elections. Industry group Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, which has already “paid $5 million to CNN to co-sponsor at least six presidential debates, plans “to spend some $40 million this year.” “That’s more than double its spending in 2007.”

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/COAL_POLITICS?SITE=WSAW&SECTION=H...

Confessions of a Gitmo Guard

A Nightmare World of Torture and Prison Guard Suicides

By Debbie Nathan

26/02/08 "Counterpunch" -- - A psychiatrist who has treated former military personnel at Guantánamo prison camp is telling a story of prisoner torture and guard suicide there, recounted to him by a National Guardsman who worked at Guantánamo just after it opened.

Dr. John R. Smith, 75, is a Oklahoma City psychiatrist who has done worked at military posts during the past few years. He is also a consultant for the University of Oklahoma's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Services, and is affiliated with the Veteran's Affairs Administration Hospital in Oklahoma City. The court-appointed psychiatric examination of Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the Murrah Federal Building in 1995, was conducted by Smith. A few years ago, he became a contract physician, treating active duty members of the US military in need of psychotherapy.

Smith spoke on February 22, 2008, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, held in Washington DC. His presentation dealt with the psychological impact on guards of working at Guantánamo . He focused on a chilling case history, of a patient he called "Mr. H."

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=53072

SORRY!

RIGHTS-US:
Renditions Clothed in State Secrets Mantle

by William Fisher

NEW YORK, Feb 25 (IPS) - As the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency acknowledged it had erroneously denied using British territory to transport victims of "extraordinary rendition", a federal court bowed to pressure from the George W. Bush administration to dismiss a case against a Boeing subsidiary being sued for providing the aircraft that carried the suspected terrorists.

The U.S. and British governments revealed last week that two U.S. "extraordinary rendition" flights carrying terrorism suspects refueled on British territory on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in 2002. Both governments had repeatedly denied that the CIA had ever used British airspace or territory for the secret flights.

Foreign Minister David Miliband said he was "very sorry indeed" to have to correct previous denials by former Prime Minister Tony Blair and other top British officials. Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed "disappointment" that the United States notified the British government of the flights just last week and called it a "very serious issue".

In a telephone call, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apologised to Brown. CIA Director Michael V. Hayden issued a statement saying that information supplied to Britain "in good faith" had "turned out to be wrong".

Human rights advocates have long suspected that the Indian Ocean atoll was being used as a base for detaining or transporting suspected terrorists.

The British government has consistently denied any involvement in the CIA's rendition programme, in which terror suspects are flown for interrogation to countries whose security services are known to practice torture.

Meanwhile, a federal judge last week dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against a subsidiary of the Boeing Company, Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., for the company's alleged role in the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" programme.

The suit charged that Jeppesen knowingly aided the programme by providing flight planning and logistical support services for aircraft and crews used by the CIA to transport victims to U.S.-run prisons or foreign intelligence agencies overseas, where they were subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and torture.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=53070

Siegelman bribed inmates with mackerel to see TV show

With canned mackerel from the prison commissary, ex-Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman bribed his cell mates to let him watch the "60 Minutes" broadcast chronicling what he sees as his unfair prosecution for bribery and corruption.

Siegelman's brother, Birmingham businessman Les Siegelman, said the former governor told him the initial vote on what to watch Sunday evening in his Louisiana prison cell didn't go in his favor. With the promise of canned fish, the majority of the 70 inmates bunking together voted to watch the CBS news show.

"Don said they had the mackerel and salmon as hors d'ouvres as they watched it," Les said. "Don enjoyed the program, and the people who watched it with him enjoyed it.

"He thought the producers did a great job of putting it together. In less than 15 minutes... they explained the complicated story and the complex cast of characters."

Les said his brother, 61, spends his days doing his prison cleaning job, walking on the track and answering mail.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=53065

Senate Committee
National Security Threats
Armed Services
Washington, District of Columbia (United States)
ID: 204195 - 02/27/2008 - 2:00 - No Sale

Levin, Carl U.S. Senator, D-MI
Maples, Michael D. Director, Defense Intelligence Agency
McConnell, J. Michael "Mike" Director, Office of National Intelligence

http://www.c-span.org/watch/cspan_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS

thanks kev!

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

Guantánamo guards suffer psychological trauma

The guards at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp are the "overlooked victims" of America's controversial detention facility in Cuba, according to a psychiatrist who has treated some of them.

In some cases, a tour of duty at the camp has made guards suicidal and prompted a variety of psychiatric symptoms, from depression and insomnia to flashbacks. The guards' testimony also provides a harrowing insight into the treatment of prisoners.

Professor John Smith, a retired US Air Force captain, treated a patient who was a guard at the camp. "I think the guards of Guantánamo are an overlooked group of victims," Smith told the American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual meeting in Washington DC on Saturday. "They do not complain a lot. You do not hear about them."

The patient ('Mr H') is a national guardsman in his early 40s who was sent to Guantánamo in the first months of its operation, when prisoners captured in Afghanistan were beginning to flood into the camp. Mr H reported that he found conditions at the camp extremely disturbing. For example, in the first month two detainees and two prison guards committed suicide.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkid=53058

smooth moves---

Bill Clinton is dutifully traveling from state to state and small town to small town on behalf of his wife's presidential candidacy. But the growling and snapping Bill Clinton the nation saw before the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries has been muzzled and leashed. He is being kept as far from the news media as possible to prevent any more of the red-faced, finger-wagging tirades and freelance political commentary that polls say cost Hillary Rodham Clinton a lot of support, particularly among black voters...

...Mr. Clinton's latest, less voluble incarnation was a result of deliberations within the Clinton camp in the last days of the South Carolina primary race, where Mr. Clinton had taken on his most publicly aggressive role to date against Mrs. Clinton's Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama.

While Mr. Clinton was drawing good-size crowds in South Carolina and Clinton aides at times felt he had Mr. Obama on the defensive, Mr. Clinton's campaigning seemed to be backfiring, several advisers concluded. As a result, they decided that in Ohio and Texas he would focus solely on describing his wife's record as first lady and senator and would share personal anecdotes that might humanize her more.

no picture

immunity, bet you!

Clinton Camp Presses Super Delegates Not To Take Sides

For weeks, the Barack Obama campaign has warned that Hillary Clinton would try to use her ties to the Democratic establishment to muscle 'super delegates' into backing her presidential bid, overriding a popular vote majority and Obama's plurality of pledged delegates elected in primaries and caucuses.

Now, however, as Obama has gained steadily in the polls, the Clinton campaign has reversed field. Top Clinton aides are pleading with uncommitted super delegates to hold off making any commitments, fearful that any commitments they make would be to back Obama, not Clinton.

A set of talking points emailed to Clinton supporters within organized labor describes the arguments to use on uncommitted super delegates. In the email, the Clinton campaign suggests telling the uncommitted delegates that "it would be unfair and unjust to cut off the nominating process now. There might come a time when the process needs to come to a close, but that time is not now."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/27/clinton-camp-presses-supe_n_886...

IRS investigates Obama's denomination

IRS Investigating United Church of Christ Over Obama Speech

The IRS is investigating the United Church of Christ over a speech Sen. Barack Obama gave at its national meeting last year after he became a candidate for president, the denomination said Tuesday.

Obama, an Illinois Democrat, belongs to the 1.2 million-member Protestant group through his Chicago congregation.

In a letter the denomination received Monday, the IRS said "reasonable belief exists" that the circumstances surrounding the speech violated restrictions on political activity for tax-exempt organizations. The denomination has denied any wrongdoing.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/02/irs_investigating_united_churc...

BAGHDAD - Iraq's presidential council rejected Wednesday a measure setting up provincial elections — seen as a key step to develop Iraq's nascent democracy — in the latest setback to U.S.-backed national reconciliation efforts.

Con't

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

again this morning....

Wiccan Druid
new
Submitted by Bob26003 on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 8:38am.

need I remind you:

*****

Need I remind you: once he was in Senate he voted worse than Hillary.

I was ALWAYS PRO GORE... and I saw what DEMS did to him.
Remember: THE DEMS MASSES Gave Us a RETHUG Congress during Bill's Time. She proved last night that Obama is NOT Ready to be the President of My Gov', against the Rethugs Horrid, Evil Manners..

By Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The secular party that won last week's elections in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province plans to open peace talks with al Qaida-allied Islamic insurgents, a drastic departure from the military crackdowns that the national army has pursued with U.S. backing for the last five years.

The Awami National Party says army offensives in the tribal region abutting the province have killed, maimed and displaced untold numbers of civilians, driven recruits into the arms of the radicals and helped fuel a surge in suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks across the country.

"The war against terror has failed. So there should be no war," said Haji Mohammad Adeel, one of the party's most senior leaders. "The only solution is peace. We will do it with negotiations, not with bombs, not with guns, not with airstrikes."
Con't
"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

"The surge is working!"
"So our troops can come home now?"
"Yes!"
"All of them?"
"Well, no."
"How many?"
"Oh, at least sixteen thousand!"
"Out of a hundred and sixty thousand?"
"Look, sixteen thousand is a lot!"
"It's ten percent."
"We're pulling troops out and you're complaining?"
"Leaving ninety percent of our troops there for the foreseeable future must mean the surge isn’t working."
"Of course the surge is working! Don’t you read the papers? It's a big success!"
"How big a success does it need to be so we can bring more troops home? Do we need a surge for the surge?"
"Oh ha ha, real clever. Can't you just be patient?"
"We invaded five years ago. We were told it would be a cakewalk."
"Oh, great. Rehash the past. How typical."
"Do you think we should remember the sacrifices made by the four thousand American soldiers who have been killed so far in Iraq?"
"Of course I do."
"Isn't that 'rehashing the past'?"
"You're starting to piss me off."
"By the way, why aren’t you fighting for your country in Iraq? Aren't you a mighty hawk?"
"Why aren't you?!"
"I offered. But they won’t let gay people fight for freedom. Too much soap and too many showers, I guess. You?"
"Uh...I got a cyst. On my buttock."
"Ouch. Does it affect your blogging?"
"Sometimes I have to stand."
"I acknowledge your sacrifice."
"Thanks, man."

Palestinians die in Israeli raids

Two missiles hit the minivan that members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades were travelling in [AFP]
At least seven Palestinians have been killed in separate incidents of violence across the Gaza strip.

Five Hamas members were killed on Wednesday and several others injured in an Israeli air raid in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

An earlier air raid killed an al-Quds Brigades member and injured two others in east Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad's armed wing, said its fighters had clashed with Israeli special forces trying to sneak into the strip.

Israeli helicopters then intervened and fired two missiles at the Palestinian fighters.

Separately, a Palestinian farmer was killed near Kisovim crossing in southern Gaza Strip.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3B103873-4BDA-40B6-8873-F695D7D2F...

NEWS MIDDLE EAST
Turkey: No date for Iraq withdrawal
Turkish troops moved across its border with Iraq seven days ago to battle PKK fighters [AFP]

Turkey has refused to set a withdrawal timetable for its troops in northern Iraq, where they have been battling Kurdish fighters.

Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish envoy in Iraq, announced on Wednesday there was "no timetable" for withdrawal, resisting pressure from the US and other allies for a quick resolution to the mission.

Davutoglu said on Wednesday: "Our objective is clear, our mission is clear and there is no timetable until ... those terrorist bases are eliminated."

Davutoglu was in Baghdad for talks with Hoshiyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister.

Turkey's move comes after Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, urged Turkey to quickly end its military operation in Iraq.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/786D068C-9596-4E1E-9C0A-8281E3AF2...

L.A. County Registrar Prepares to NOT Count Thousands of 'Double Bubble' Ballots from Super Tuesday's Democratic Primary

New Planned Method for Counting Uncounted Non-Partisan Crossover Ballots, as Proposed by Dean Logan in Response to Sec. of State's Request, Will Needlessly Disenfranchise Thousands of Legal Voters
SoS Bowen Must Intervene Again to Assure All Votes That Can be Counted ARE Counted...

I hate to counter the adulation of so many of the good groups out there claiming "victory" and "a happy ending" today in the "Double Bubble" ballot dispute in Los Angeles County, but I must. The "victory" they are now referring to, with the best of intentions, as "Great news!" is much less than it appears. Though if you don't look closely, it might otherwise look like a "victory." Unfortunately, it isn't.

Unless something changes, and quickly, Los Angeles County's acting Registrar of Voters Dean Logan is preparing to disenfranchise thousands of voters who cast legal ballots in the Super Tuesday Democratic primary election.

In the 3-page letter [PDF] sent by Logan to CA Sec. of State Debra Bowen yesterday, the recently-arrived, but still-befuddled, county clerk details how he now plans to potentially toss out thousands of votes, while inappropriately awarding disproportionate votes in favor of only some candidates, in response to the "Double Bubble" ballot debacle reported by The BRAD BLOG (most recently here), in great detail previously...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5746#more-5746

and immunity again---

in about 4 + years, NOT BEFORE.

delegates
new
Submitted by Lucille on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 9:55am.

Clinton Camp Presses Super Delegates Not To Take Sides

For weeks, the Barack Obama campaign has warned that Hillary Clinton would try to use her ties to the Democratic establishment to muscle 'super delegates' into backing her presidential bid, overriding a popular vote majority and Obama's plurality of pledged delegates elected in primaries and caucuses.
***************

FOR WEEKS OBAMA Has Played Dirty Pool -- NOW HER TURN! She will win if the Media "played" FAIR!
Yet She Still Won, last night, even when media was "s..." dirty.

Abbas government accused of torture
About 3,000 Hamas loyalists turned al-Barghouthi's funeral into a show of defiance against Abbas [EPA]

More detainees have complained of torture by the Palestinian Authority following the death in custody of a Hamas religious leader in the West Bank.

The family and followers of imam Majd al-Barghouthi say he was tortured to death last Friday, an allegation that the authorities strenuously deny.

Now new allegations have emerged of ill-treatment – even torture – of Hamas supporters held in Palestinian Authority jails.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A155FD0D-9A0D-4C9C-9B7B-BCF3B1E40...

Novozymes races to turn crop waste, not corn, into fuel.

Sabine Vollmer, Staff Writer..Newsobserver.com

FRANKLINTON -- The search for better and cheaper ways to make ethanol spans the globe and is consuming millions of dollars.

Only two companies seem close to success. One is in Silicon Valley. The other is on a sprawling campus surrounded by acres of farmland in Franklin County. So far, Franklin County is in front.

Danish, French and U.S. scientists and executives working for Novozymes are attacking a problem that has stumped their colleagues in business and academia: how to make ethanol comparable in cost or cheaper than gasoline without raising food costs.

Novozymes, a Danish company with its U.S. headquarters in Franklinton, is the world's largest producer of enzymes, living organisms essential in brewing beer, baking bread, treating wastewater and making detergents.

In the past decade, Novozymes has turned more of its attention to ethanol. Last year, the company generated about $200 million selling enzymes that break down corn kernels, the only crop now used in full-scale ethanol production. But that is last century's science.

The next generation of ethanol production -- known as biomass conversion -- is the quest that scientists are pursuing so diligently in Franklinton and at Novozymes' second research hub in Davis, Calif. Novozymes is focusing on farm waste and crops such as switch grass. Replacing corn kernels with biomass crops promises to not affect food prices as ethanol demand rises.
Con't

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

by writing and calling and ;) ..... or I might Sleep first *poof*

now i am aging but i do recall about a year and a half ago how the media was just in love with her...all i heard was "the front runner hillary" how they knew that i have no idea, but i never heard anything about hussein till of late and calling him a dirty fucking stinking somalian ofcourse leads me to believe that they are playing fucking fair!

DEBATE WRAPUP....Was tonight's debate really the last one? Damn. And I was finally getting to like them.

Just kidding. Seriously, though, can someone please put a sock in Tim Russert? I didn't even see the entire exchange, but his badgering of Obama on the Louis Farrakhan issue was pretty wretched. It was maybe legitimate to bring it up in the first place, but to keep at it well after Obama had made his position crystal clear was beyond the pale.

Nor did Hillary cover herself with glory on this question, with her inane "denounce" vs. "reject" comeback. Obama's response — Fine, if it will make you happy, then I denounce and reject Farrakhan — was dexterous and smooth.

Overall, I thought Clinton did about as well as she could have on the attack front, but it just wasn't enough. Obama seemed the better, more grounded debater tonight. For example, when Hillary made the point that although Obama's 2002 anti-war speech was all well and good, once he was actually in the Senate he ended up voting the same way she did, I was nodding along. It's a legitimate point. But Obama's answer was pretty good:

It was not a matter of, well, here is the initial decision, but since then we've voted the same way. Once we had driven the bus into the ditch, there were only so many ways we could get out. The question is, who's making the decision initially to drive the bus into the ditch? And the fact is that Senator Clinton often says that she is ready on day one, but in fact she was ready to give in to George Bush on day one on this critical issue.

Clinton and Obama are too skilled for either one to ever land a knockout blow in these things, but I'd give tonight's debate to Obama on points. Whether voters who are tuning in for the first time feel the same way, I couldn't say.

—Kevin Drum 1:58 AM

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_02/013210.php

WiccanDruid - come on give Steph another try...

Grow fields of working weeds: Like HEMP/HEMP STALKS (non-smoking types).....

"I'm just say'n'..... (Barf)"

I LOVE my 1st cup in the morning when I get up.
Yummy

America, don't blow this rebate
I found an interesting article online regarding those tax rebate checks the government is sending out in May. I thought it was just going to be extra money the government was giving to stimulate the economy, I had NO IDEA, it is simply a loan from my 2009 tax refund!! Why don't they ever mention this in the media. I wonder how many other people know that it is just a loan, and that you will have to pay it back in 2009, by having them either take it out of your refund next year, or owe them the money if you don't get a refund. Just a warning, you may want to hold on to it if that is the case. Read the article I found on MSN:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Taxes/Advice/TheDetailsOnTaxRebates...

Loans Could Paint McCain Into Corner
Washington Post: John McCain's $4 Million Loan, Desire To Pull Out Of Public Financing Raises Questions

WASHINGTONPOST.COM) This story was written by Matthew Mosk.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sen. John McCain's campaign and a Bethesda bank strongly defended $4 million in loans yesterday, as Democrats questioned their legality and said that the way they were secured requires the Arizona Republican to abide by federal spending restrictions.

Trevor Potter, a former Federal Election Commission chairman who is McCain's lawyer, wrote in a letter to the nation's top election official yesterday that the loans were proper and that they should not prevent McCain from withdrawing from the presidential public financing system.

On Monday, the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the FEC arguing that the way the loans were structured -- by using the promise of federal matching funds as collateral -- requires McCain to remain in the system. McCain "secured a $4 million line of credit to keep his campaign afloat by using public financing as collateral. He should follow the law," said Howard Dean, the DNC chairman.

The dispute centers on some of the most esoteric aspects of campaign finance law, but the implications for McCain's presidential bid are potentially serious. McCain applied for public financing last year, when his campaign was faltering. In February, when his campaign had turned around, he wrote the FEC seeking to exit the system. But to do so, McCain needed to show he had not yet received any federal funds and had not used the promise of those funds as collateral to borrow money.

Should the FEC or a federal court force him to remain within the system, he would have to abide by a $54 million spending cap until September, when the primary season ends. His campaign had spent $49 million as of Jan. 31, reports show.

Link

told me Barack Obama changed his name to Barry then back to Barack when he got back into politics.
Anyone here of that?

Venezuela to recover Farc captives

Rodriguez, right, accused the Colombian army of obstructing the hostage release [AFP]

Venezuela has said it is ready to recover four hostages held by Colombian rebels, in the second release deal brokered by the government of Hugo Chavez this year.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) have given Venezuela coordinates of the hostages' location, Ramon Rodriguez, the interior minister, said on Monday.

"We have faith that [the operation] will immediately be authorised," he told reporters.

"We could do it Wednesday with authorisation [from Colombia]. We have the ability to go and come back the same afternoon."

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/45D82874-0AA6-4F24-8CAE-60CC8BB69...

Lucille is coming from China and or Saudi Arabia. Take your pick.

now on c-span

"dreams from my father" book

Last night on Coast to Coast AM: Consumer privacy advocate Katherine Albrecht presented an update on RFID and chip implants.

We need to insist our state representative promote legislature to make illegal the chipping of humans, and the tagging of clothing, ect, without notification of the consumer.
Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) is a grass-roots consumer group fighting retail surveillance schemes since 1999. With members in all 50 U.S. states and over 20 nations across the globe, CASPIAN seeks to educate consumers about marketing strategies that invade their privacy and to encourage privacy-conscious shopping habits across the retail spectrum.

Real ID
http://www.spychips.com/
"When you get down to it, it's Big Brother," McIntyre said, alluding to George Orwell's book 1984 about absolute government control. "I don't know how many people want to be monitored 24/7."

MICROCHIP-CANCER REPORT

Microchip-Induced Tumors in Laboratory Rodents and Dogs: A Review of the Literature 1990–2006
by Katherine Albrecht, Ed.D.
Released November 19, 2007

WISCONSIN BANS FORCED HUMAN RFID CHIPPING Groundbreaking Law Spotlights Opposition to VeriChip
Wisconsin's new law was introduced as Assembly Bill 290 by Representative Marlin D. Schneider (D) and was passed unanimously by both houses of the Wisconsin State Legislature. The law makes it illegal to require an individual to have a microchip implant and subjects a violator to a fine of up to $10,000 per day...

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=126_SB_349

VERICHIP INJECTS ITSELF INTO IMMIGRATION DEBATE
Company Pushes RFID Implants for Immigrants, Guest Workers
Scott Silverman, Chairman of the Board of VeriChip Corporation, has alarmed civil libertarians by promoting the company's subcutaneous human tracking device as a way to identify immigrants and guest workers...

Worldwide reaction to Levi's RFID spychipping initiative...
Privacy advocates across the globe are sounding-off on spychipping of clothing. Our recent Levi's story is generating responses in places such as Australia, India, and Europe...

RFID readers can be placed invisibly in the environment. RFID tags can be placed on clothes and in peoples belongings. And maybe the most worrisome part is that the companies that are aiming to put the readers in the environment and the tags into peoples belongings have spelled out some pretty frightening plans for how they hope to abuse the technology literally to use it to spy on people..."

Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble conducted a secret RFID trial involving Oklahoma consumers earlier this year, the Chicago Sun Times revealed on Sunday. Customers who purchased P&G's Lipfinity brand lipstick at the Broken Arrow Wal-Mart store between late March and mid-July unknowingly left the store with live RFID tracking devices embedded in the packaging. Wal-Mart had previously denied any consumer-level RFID testing in the United States.

"It proves what we've been saying all along," says Katherine Albrecht, Founder and Director of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN). "Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble and others have experimented on shoppers with controversial spy chip technology and tried to cover it up. Consumers and members of the press should be upset to learn that they've been lied to."

The Sun Times also reported that a live video camera trained on the shelf allowed Procter & Gamble employees, sometimes hundreds of miles away, to observe the Lipfinity display and consumers interacting with it.

"This trial is a perfect illustration of how easy it is to set up a secret RFID infrastructure and use it to spy on people," says Albrecht. "The RFID industry has been paying lip service to privacy concerns, calling for notice, choice and control. But companies like P&G, Wal-Mart and Gillette have already violated all three tenets when they thought nobody was looking. This is exactly why we oppose item-level RFID tagging and have called for mandatory labeling legislation."

Katherine states, a good whack with a ball-peen hammer does the trick.

I felt like somebody gave me a body blow as Dodd's numbers came in.

im thirst so i choose oil!

But,the stupid government won't use it..
My God,it's 2008 ya Morons !

Make Hemp Legal..Hell,you can't get high off it !

Oh but,The Oil Companies won't like that..

Pathatic ! !

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

working now ?

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

GOP Halts Effort to Retrieve White House E-Mails

After promising last year to search its computers for tens of thousands of e-mails sent by White House officials, the Republican National Committee has informed a House committee that it no longer plans to retrieve the communications by restoring computer backup tapes, the panel's chairman said yesterday.

The move increases the likelihood that an untold number of RNC e-mails dealing with official White House business during the first term of the Bush administration -- including many sent or received by former presidential adviser Karl Rove -- will never be recovered, said House Democrats and public records advocates.

The RNC had previously told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that it was attempting to restore e-mails from 2001 to 2003, when the RNC had a policy of purging all e-mails, including those to and from White House officials, after 30 days. But Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) disclosed during a hearing yesterday that the RNC has now said it "has no intention of trying to restore the missing White House e-mails."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR200802...

not on real time i think that is what its called---

and kidnapping in iraq last year

This thread is loaded with criticism of the televised media's handling of political matters. The debate moderators and the professional talking heads are particularly targeted.

There is some discussion about how to solve the problems.

There is a lot of discussion about Obama and Clinton handling Timmy's inanities last night.

There's the answer, in my opinion. The politicos can solve this crap if they would push back instead of pander to stupid questions. For starters, Obama could have answered the Farrakhan question exactly as he did PLUS he could have mentioned that it is a stupid waste of debate time...AND he could have suggested a more challenging (and more important) question that was less about the campaign battle and more about the problems facing the nation.

The answer to the stupid punditry problem is for the politicos to stop side-stepping every issue with long rhetoric. They could easily take control of the interviews by pointing out stupid questions, by suggesting better questions, and by answering them in one fell swoop.

I can dream, can't I?

last night Obama said he would decentralized media, fine employers of illegal immigrants, and remove profits from oil companies to fund renewable research. Corporations are now on alert.

No more pillow talk. They will do everything to make Hillary the candidate now.

a dirty fucking stinking somalian ofcourse leads me to believe that they are playing fucking fair!

******

Since you like that "FUCKING" WORD so FUCKING MUCH. LET ME ADD IT, so maybe you might "FUCKING" HEAR, something besides "FUCKING" Your "FUCKING" WORDS ONLY!!
*************

I never heard "dirty fucking stinking..." so that is illogical. Your sentence makes no sense so either rewrite and EXPLAIN what you mean, or I will Let Stand.! Tea Cheers ;)
FUCK THIS BS! (Or do I have to write that out, also?)

shshshsshshshut the fuck up than and stop lying..

I'll dream with you.

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act just begs to be used.
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/becker/antitrust/statutes/sherman.html

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

i prefer it to sit, but hey choices choices!

today?

You are right about Hemp,WiccanDruid !
new
Submitted by MMRules on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 10:36am.
But,the stupid government won't use it..
My God,it's 2008 ya Morons !

Make Hemp Legal..Hell,you can't get high off it !

Oh but,The Oil Companies won't like that..

Pathatic ! !

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

exclaim, "Chick Fight!" ;) LMAO

Sen. Byrd of West Virginia Taken to Hospital for Observation After Fall

A spokesman for Sen. Robert Byrd says the 90-year-old lawmaker is in the hospital after taking a fall at his home.

Byrd, who is third in line to the presidency, was taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center after complaining of back pain. He is staying there overnight for observation.

His spokesman, Jesse Jacobs, says it's not clear whether Byrd suffered any broken bones.

The Associated Press
8:29 AM CST, February 27, 2008:

LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday signed one of the nation's toughest laws on pet sterilization, requiring most dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by the time they are 4 months old.

The ordinance is aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating the thousands of euthanizations conducted in Los Angeles' animal shelters every year.

"We will, sooner rather than later, become a no-kill city and this is the greatest step in that direction," Councilman Tony Cardenas said as he held a kitten at a City Hall news conference. Councilman Richard Alarcon, who like Cardenas is a co-author of the bill, brought his two pet Chihuahuas to the event to be neutered in a van operated by the city.

The ordinance does exempt some animals, including those that have competed in shows or sporting competitions, guide dogs, animals used by police agencies and those belonging to professional breeders.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-pet-sterilization-022...

Barry
Submitted by Lucille on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 10:35am.
"dreams from my father" book

THANKS :)

When the ban was proposed in 1937, the AMA went before Congress to oppose the law and specifically protested that the Marijuana Tax Act was a fraud because the plant's scientific name is Cannabis sativa, its English name is True Hemp, and no one at the time knew that the ban would affect the essence of medicine, agriculture and industry -- until it was too late.

and :) Tea Cheers ... ;)

Published on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 by Inter Press Service
BOSTON - When people take their daily doses of birth control pills, antidepressants and antibiotics, fish are being dosed too.

“What you probably haven’t heard is the [contraceptive] pill is just as effective in controlling reproduction in fish as in humans,” said Karen Kidd, a scientist at the University of New Brunswick, Canada.

A fast-growing body of research is proving how everyday drugs, cosmetics, pesticides and chemicals from plastics and flame retardants are not stopped by typical wastewater treatment, and so flow out into oceans, lakes, rivers and streams.

Fish and turtles swim in a constant bath of these low levels of hormones, drugs and chemicals and studies show they harm reproduction and immune systems.

More than 100 million women worldwide take birth control pills, Kidd said. In addition, common ingredients in shampoos and plastics act like estrogens when they are ingested by humans, animals and plants.

“There are thousands of pharmaceuticals we take. They get flushed down our toilets and out to wastewater treatment plants,” said Kidd.

The technology exists to nearly completely eliminate many drugs and hormones from wastewater and it is not sophisticated, Kidd said. Upgrading from what is known as secondary sewage treatment to tertiary treatment would remove estrogen and many drugs. Most cities have not done this, however.

In Kidd’s study, the female hormone estrogen was added to a pristine Canadian lake over a three-year period, in amounts commonly found in wastewater. By the second year, male fathead minnows were found to be growing female eggs. The tiny minnow is about the size of a pinky and lives for two years.

“What was surprising was how quickly the fathead minnow was affected. It shows that short-lived fish are at the greatest risk,” Kidd said. By year two, their population plummeted and 99 percent was lost. Those that survived were ones that were not spawning, so they grew larger than normal and lived longer.

Once the minnows were gone, the larger fish that depended on them for food also suffered, like the trout, whose population dropped 30 percent.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/27/7316/

yeay! my day was starting to suck. All better now. Where's the vinyl sheets and fake mud..... Drink please!

BAQUBA - Life has been bad enough in Diyala province north of Baghdad after prolonged violence, unemployment and loss of all forms of normal living. What could be worse now is the loss of hope that anything will ever be better.

In Baquba, capital city of Diyala province 40km northeast of Baghdad, it’s all about staying alive. Most people have abandoned all projects and activities to sit at home in safety.

“The Iraqi government achieved nothing, just death for this poor province,” Hadi Obeid, a now idle trader in Baquba told IPS. “If you look for rights, you will find death.”

“People of this province are dead,” says resident Luay Amir, who returned to Iraq in 2004 after living 16 years in Austria. “There is no sign of life to be seen. Faces are pale and lifeless, the city is desolate.”

People in the city, he said, “have no ambitions, no dreams. When they see each other, they greet one another saying, ‘good to see you safe’.”

The lack of electricity, clean water, security and jobs is clearly taking its toll.

“People are deprived of everything in this province, and it’s a miracle that life still goes on amidst this deprivation,” Abdul-Ridha Noman, an employee in the directorate-general of statistics told IPS. “People here have no goal except to move from today to tomorrow.”

Noman added, “But they are afraid of tomorrow because it might only bring death or loss.”

Many people have fled the violence, but also the hopelessness. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at least 1.5 million Iraqis have fled to Syria by now. Many have gone from Diyala.

“They sold their properties to live away from terror,” Abdullah Mahjob, a 51-year-old schoolteacher in Baquba told IPS. “And they spent their savings to make their children safe.”

Ahead of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, people in this city had dreamed of a better future for them and their children. Now, that’s a broken dream.

“Life is destroyed by the occupation and its corrupt government, and people have reached a point where nothing means anything to them any more,” local dentist Mudhafer al-Janaby told IPS.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/27/7320/

Submitted by WiccanDruid on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 10:04am.
Remember: THE DEMS MASSES Gave Us a RETHUG Congress during Bill's Time. She proved last night that Obama is NOT Ready to be the President of My Gov'...
---------
Hyperbole much?

“Life is destroyed by the occupation and its corrupt government, and people have reached a point where nothing means anything to them any more,” local dentist Mudhafer al-Janaby told IPS

Household Chemicals Wreaking Havoc in Fish
Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 11:19am.
---------
Damn. Before I started using 409, my fish were filthy.

Published on Tuesday, February 26s, 2008 by Reuterse
by Robert Campbell
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Modern technology and surging oil prices have suddenly made the prospect of drilling in the remote, icy Chukchi Sea irresistible to the world’s oil giants — and that is worrying the Inupiat people who have lived at the sea’s edge for centuries.

With drilling opportunities dwindling elsewhere, oil companies earlier this month bid an astonishing $2.66 billion for drilling rights in the Chukchi, a stretch of water off Alaska’s northwest coast that is frozen half the year and is a major polar bear habitat.

The Inupiat, relatives of the Inuit who inhabit other parts of the Arctic, fear oil spills or drilling activity will disrupt the endangered bowhead whales and other marine animals that they have hunted for generations.

“We want to continue to survive. Our lives are tied to subsistence. So is our culture and our religion with all the animals,” said Jack Schaefer, president of the Inupiat village of Point Hope, a settlement on the Chukchi that is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in North America.

“We don’t have anything to replace that with. The high unemployment rate here will continue even if there is offshore oil and gas development since there will only be a few jobs that will be available.”

Shell and ConocoPhillips, the two biggest bidders in the U.S. government’s sale of drilling rights in the Chukchi, insist they will take the concerns of local communities into account as they search for the 12 billion barrels of oil the government believes lie under the sea floor.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/26/7286/

Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 11:19am.
...What was surprising was how quickly the fathead minnow was affected...
--------
I have someone in mind for whom this is a custom made insult.

flip flopper huh?

Do you happen to know of any way to decrease the file size of a pdf file without rescanning the document at lower resolution?

no food stamps accepted here!

(Rasmussen) - With just a week to go until the crucial March 4 Democratic Presidential Primaries, Barack Obama continues to gain ground on Hillary Clinton in Ohio.
The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows Clinton earning 48% of the Ohio Democratic Presidential Primary vote. That’s unchanged from a week ago. Barack Obama’s support has grown to 43%. That’s up from 40% last week and 38% the week before.

Overall, Clinton’s lead is now just five percentage points in Ohio, down from an eight-point advantage last week and fourteen points two weeks ago.

Just 16% of Likely Democratic Primary Voters believe the North American Free Trade Agreement—NAFTA—is good for America. Fifty-five percent (55%) say the trade agreement negotiated by the Clinton Administration is bad for the nation.

By a 53% to 14% margin, voters believe that Obama opposes NAFTA while there are mixed perceptions on where Clinton stands. Thirty-five percent (35%) believe she favors NAFTA, 31% believe she opposes it and 34% are not sure. This issue is critical in a state that has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs. Politically, these lower-income voters have generally supportive of Clinton throughout the primary season. Read the PDF

http://www.pollsmoking.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Crank Bait..

William F. Buckley Jr. dies at 82

Author, Conservative Commentator William F. Buckley Jr. Dies at 82

Staff
AP News

Feb 27, 2008 11:26 EST

Author and conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. has died at age 82.

His assistant Linda Bridges says Buckley died Wednesday morning at his home in Stamford, Conn.

Buckley became famous for his intellectual political writings in his magazine, the National Review.

Pet sterilization law toughest in the nation
new
Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 11:05am.

The Associated Press
8:29 AM CST, February 27, 2008:

LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday signed one of the nation's toughest laws on pet sterilization, requiring most dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by the time they are 4 months old.

The ordinance is aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating the thousands of euthanizations conducted in Los Angeles' animal shelters every year. ........(continued)......
......"We will, sooner rather than later, become a no-kill city and this is the greatest step in that direction," Councilman Tony Cardenas said as he held a kitten at a City Hall news conference. ...(continued)....

TEARS ... WOW ... YIPPEE, My Ex-School City (& home, for awhile) (I think many listened TO MANY) -- YEA .........

I am sending/bringing AS USUAL to MY COUNTY & City a copy of letter, with further..... LOL. LMAO. ......Hmmmm.....
"Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid" I have on a "witchy" Black w/ Red Lettering "Tee"..(But I will look "almost" norm when I attend. teehee) ;)

*************
and I was just to say Tea Cheers regarding the Ethanol.

(New York Times) - In the past two months, Senator Barack Obama has built a commanding coalition among Democratic voters, with especially strong support among men, and is now viewed by most Democrats as the candidate best able to defeat Senator John McCain, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
After 40 Democratic primaries and caucuses, capped by a winning streak in 11 contests over the last two weeks, Mr. Obama has made substantial gains across most major demographic groups in the Democratic Party, including men and women, liberals and moderates, higher- and lower-income voters, and those with and without college degrees.

But there are signs of vulnerability for Mr. Obama in this national poll: While he has a strong lead among Democratic voters on his ability to unite and inspire the country, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is still viewed by more Democrats as better prepared for the job of president. And while he has made progress among women, he still faces a striking gender gap: Mr. Obama is backed by two-thirds of the Democratic men and 45 percent of the women. White women remain a Clinton stronghold. Read More

http://www.pollsmoking.com/content/view/1320/1/

thank you. Of course now I want you to rewrite my whole paper for me...dang if dr were still around I would pay top dollar for you and he to double team it... :) But no..I'll muddle along with my skills and keep trying to learn from you...Thanks again...I appreciate the help.. xo

no. You can PDF and ZIP it though.

Thanks F... :)

Clinton Gets Caught Again On NAFTA
by: David Sirota
Sun Feb 24, 2008 at 17:19

Barack Obama is today criticizing Hillary Clinton on her efforts to pretend she never supported NAFTA. Just as a follow-up to my post on Friday, I want to remind folks who claim Hillary Clinton never praised NAFTA that, in fact, she did praise NAFTA - repeatedly.

According to NBC's Meet the Press, in 2004, Clinton said, "I think, on balance, NAFTA has been good for New York and America."

In her memoir, Clinton trumpeted her husband's "successes on the budget, the Brady bill and NAFTA."

And in 1998, Bloomberg News reports that she praised corporations for mounting "a very effective business effort in the U.S. on behalf of NAFTA." Another direct quote.

I went over two of these three quotes - and some more - in my recent syndicated column, which you can read here. And, as predicted, this issue has now become the central focus in the Ohio primary - the primary that could decide the Democratic nomination.

However you feel about NAFTA - and if you are a typical American, polls show you likely do not like it - Clinton now trying to lie and say she never really supported NAFTA is an absolute insult. It further suggests that on really important economic issues, she's more than happy to lie about provable facts when it suits her political needs.

UPDATE: Here's another direct quote from Hillary Clinton on NAFTA. The Associated Press reported on 3/6/96 that she said, "NAFTA is proving its worth" and later praising NAFTA as "a free and fair trade agreement."

UPDATE II: Here's another direct quote from Hillary Clinton on NAFTA from a speech she gave to the DLC in 2002:

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4137

lately?

Goodbye Willam Buckley
Submitted by Fernando on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 11:30am.
--------
David Frye did a terrific caricature impression of William F. when Buckley was a staple on network television (late 1960's?).

"...But they are precisely the sort of dingbat, tendentious reductio ad absurdum questions that I'll expect to hear from febrile talk radio yakkers outlandish political snuff ads. Which is sort where Russert got himself to last night."
-Josh Marshall
02.27.08 -- 9:44AM

Preach it, Josh!

Politico HEADlines read Boehner tells GOP to get off 'dead asses'.

Why is the GOP putting their Boehner in 'dead asses'? What sick f^ckers. There is a word for these perverts. Bathroom sex just isn't nasty enough for those creeps.

Boehner tells GOP to get off 'dead asses'

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) challenged Republicans on Tuesday to get off their “dead asses” and start raising money for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

And the Republican leader wasn’t the only lawmaker berating his GOP colleagues to raise more money for the committee’s March 12 fundraising dinner: According to sources in the room, NRCC Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) also used a closed-door session at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday to challenge Republicans to raise more campaign cash.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8713.html

The Senate voted 83 to 10 on Tuesday to dramatically improve health care for nearly 2 million Native Americans by passing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (S. 1200). If the bill is approved by the House and signed by the president American Indians and Alaska Natives would have access to services long available to the rest of the country.

Superfluous Rhetoric. Blessings /|\
new
Submitted by Lucille on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 11:37am.

William F. Buckley Jr. dies at 82
Author, Conservative Commentator William F. Buckley Jr. Dies at 82

Staff
AP News

Feb 27, 2008 11:26 EST

Author and conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. has died at age 82.

Critic's Review:
Comedian David Frye does impersonations of 20 additional celebrities (including convincing impressions of William F. Buckley Jr., Hubert Humphrey, Nelson Rockefeller, and Ted Kennedy) in addition to Richard Nixon on this live record recorded during the height of the Watergate investigation. Gabe Kaplan (star of TV's Welcome Back, Kotter) plays a couple of minor parts but his main contribution is the imaginative skits that he co-wrote with Eric Cohen for this hysterical album. Unfortunately, like Vaughn Meader who preceded him, he became too closely identified with his main subject and when Nixon suddenly resigned as President in August, 1974, Frye's career seemed to collapse overnight and he has not been heard very much since then. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide
------------------
You Tube junkies can probably find a David Frye perfomance if they are curious.

completely off their rockers for immunity, you lied kev, its nothing to do with this: national security threats

I am so happy you come highly recommended by Penny_Lane as to helping with college papers.
I myself have registered for school to get my associates degree. If I may - can I come to you for
help with any papers I may have in the future?

One of Billary's aids have major problems with the Clintons.

On March 19, the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion, tens of thousands of people around the country will hold vigils, demonstrations, and lobby visits with elected officials. How many more anniversaries will there be before the U.S. leaves Iraq? Congress can stop the Bush administration from locking in a long-term U.S. occupation. Help spread the word about what you can do. with this flyer (PDF).

http://www.fcnl.org/pdfs/iraq/IraqOccupation_flyer.pdf

fisa thingy

fisa thingy finished

Obama tells Clinton: I don't whine

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama

CLEVELAND — In the last scheduled debate of the Democratic primary season, an event that didn’t appear to change the direction of the hard fought race, Senator Hillary Clinton let loose her disdain for Senator Barack Obama's record and her frustration at the media’s coverage of the presidential contest.

Obama, in response, accused her of whining about losing political battles, and countered her attacks with mockery.

The candidates' words were as telling as their faces. Clinton’s jaw set as it became clear that the moderators, NBC’s Tim Russert and Brian Williams, would focus this debate on her, and not her front-running rival. Obama, meanwhile, grimaced in silence when Clinton tried to turn her answers into attacks on him.

"We should have a good debate that uses accurate information, not false, misleading and discredited information, especially on something as important as whether or not we will achieve quality, affordable health care for everyone," Clinton said.

Obama responded that Clinton, too, has been on the offensive.

"Senator Clinton has ... constantly sent out negative attacks on us, e-mail, robo-calls, flyers, television ads, radio calls, and we haven't whined about it because I understand that's the nature of these campaigns," he said.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8717.html

is it just mine?

http://www.usmagazine.com/Barack_Obama_hes_just_like_us_022708?slideshow...

Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 12:04pm.
...If I may - can I come to you for
help with any papers I may have in the future?
------
If you are out of your fucking mind, sure. (No offense to Penny who is out of her fucking mind.)

I don't do facts. I specialize in rhetorical bullshit. I believe that it is a universally desirable skill which covers-up for ignorance nicely.

Dems Jump Ship from "Bi-Partisan" Group Targeting Dems
By Paul Kiel - February 27, 2008, 11:52AM

As we reported Monday, the Foundation of Defense for Democracies launched a national ad campaign lambasting House Democrats for not passing the Senate surveillance bill, which comes complete with retroactive immunity for the telecoms.

As of Friday, the group, which claims to be non-partisan, boasted a number of Democrats on their board of advisors. Those were: Donna Brazile, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Jim Marshall, and former Georgia governor Zell Miller. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), listed as a Democrat on the site, is one of five "distinguished advisors."

Since the group launched the ads, Brazile, Schumer, Engel and Marshall have all resigned from the group. Zell Miller, well, he spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention. Our call and email to Sen. Lieberman's spokesman were unreturned.

In her statement, Brazile said that no one from the group had consulted her about its activities "in years." And that the once "bi-partisan organization" had, "due to the influence of their funders... morphed into a radical right wing organization that is doing the dirty work for the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/dems_jump_ship_from_bi...

It does my heart good to watch the Dems scrap over which of the 97% candidates is the best. You see how easy life can be when you set aside your 3% ways?

It is particularly encouraging to see Ralph Nader called a 3% candidate and promptly rejected.

boss will be back after lunch, so i have to pretend to be doing something..later, gator!

As founder of The National Review, it is likely he wrote the famous editorial dated August 24, 1957 titled "Why the South Must Prevail".

I haven't been able to find the text online, just excerpts. But I hope Buckley's and National Review's history of racism is discussed today.

Election year is like a rehab for 3%ers. You spend all of your time here hidden away from the Real World. You whisper foolishness back and forth until it becomes your reality. You are quite content to sit and pretend the Real World does not exist.

Then we get to Election year and you are forced to face reality. First your 3% candidates get the boot. Then you are forced to pick one of the 97% candidates. Soon you start to feel like a Real American once again.

Many in the 3% go on to rejoin society as Productive Citizens and lead normal lives!

"We’re finally at a moment when Bush needs the world more than the world needs Bush"
----
One election at a time...

Do you remember when AAR sounded like an insane street person ranting at passersby?

It's comical to look back on that period knowing what we know now about American AM Radio.

That's the beauty of the American System, it is self-correcting. The Marketplace will bring Mr Green and the new owners back to the middle of the road.

All's well that ends well!

Rantin' Druid
Submitted by Crank Bait on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 11:23am.

Submitted by WiccanDruid on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 10:04am.
Remember: THE DEMS MASSES Gave Us a RETHUG Congress during Bill's Time. She proved last night that Obama is NOT Ready to be the President of My Gov'...
---------
Hyperbole much?

********

I am not of the 86% but of the 14% .....

Oh, BTW I AM A LITERALIST. Are You, Dear Judge of Balance?

I WATCHED and LISTENED and LEARNED and have been Politically active since 13, when I totally awoke, and 14 I "beat the streets" for DEMS -- no relatives around -- ..... I am 108 now, and still Very Active ("wink").
"edit" I will "play" nice. ;) ... Kiss

Prove I am "stretching" the Truth. It is similar to our sign (ex: a Zillion, meaning by me "MANY, MANY" -- but IN TRUTH, not as much as a zillion); therefore, I, being a "literalist", know Truthfully, we HAVE TO PUT UP OR SHUT UP, so I speak Facts when it gets to "icky" and bog'd down with JUST Passion and personal opinions ... mine included.
An ex-friend called me to get out of "me" and lay down facts. I am working on several "things" very important. (I normally lurk since the first day of AAR.) So I am glad this debate has ended -- although, The Debate was JUST FINALLY getting good. If Obama wasn't so afraid, he would be WILLING -- FOR THE PUBLIC -- to debate -- "mono et mono" -- to show the PUBLIC Everything.

;) {Crank Bait: Good Stance -- and readied for "hit" ;) "wink"}

I am working on no sleep ... so sorry if a bit unclear.

It will be the year of no 3%!

Well except for the Nutball Nader Fans..

But we can all agree they are too Loony to be in the race.

POTDog,

Bill Cunningham called while you were out. He wants you to drop by. His boots need licking.

Rush Limbaugh called while you were out. He left this message, "My boots take precedence."

The first shall be last and the last first !!

God Bless America and the Great 97%!!!

Will miracles never cease?

Jello spine thinks he will defy Bush's veto threat. Whaaaa?

and in other news from the WTF department. Icicles kill six in three days in Russia. I wonder why we never hear of that here.

How do you like walking in the World of The 97%?

Have you found shelter in Obama's arms yet?

You know what they say, "Any port in a storm!"

I don't do facts. I specialize in rhetorical bullshit. I believe that it is a universally desirable skill which covers-up for ignorance nicely.

By November many of the Old 3% will start to experience withdrawal. They will be drawn back into the underground world of the 3%.

They will be tempted to march around the outside of the Conventions this summer. They will forget how hard they worked for the man inside and will slip back to the shadowy world of the discontented.

Too bad you weren't so clumsy...

At least 1.5 million barrels of oil are used every year to supply Americans with a basic commodity already available in their homes: water. The more than 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide is emitted in order to create the 28 billion single-use plastic water bottles purchased each year in the United States. And at least 86 percent of those bottles will end up in our nation’s landfills and incinerators.

Many government officials and citizen groups are therefore trying to wean Americans off of their dependence on bottled water. Below are just a couple examples of individuals taking action by promoting awareness of bottled water’s negative effects.

Mayors taking action: Attendees at June’s U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting overwhelmingly voted to support a resolution introduced by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Salt Lake City Mayor Ross “Rocky” Anderson, and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak that calls for a study of the waste produced by the bottle water industry.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/02/ditch_bottle.html

Ralph will be there to catch those who fall away from the Glory of the 97% and find themselves once again in search of a straw onto which they might cling.

Ralph the Pied Piper of Discontent and the 3%, forever waiting to gather together the rejects from the 97%!

Do I Hear MAN..... (snicker). You made my day & night "hubba". ;)

does anybody have an effin clue what the old war dog is trying to say. my bullshit translater just doesn't seem to be working today.

Try to hold onto the light of the 97%.

When those evil thoughts come back into your mind, remember that with hard work and luck you might be one of the lucky ones who stays with the 97% for the rest of your life.

No mater what the future holds, welcome today to the world of the 97%. As Obama says, there is always HOPE!

WiccanDruid: "Prove I am "stretching" the Truth."
--------
If you are challenging me to identify the frequently appearing hyperbole in your pro-Hillary/anti-Obama posts, I can do that.

Your style is consistently emotional and hyperbolic, so I don't believe that identifying the obvious is worth much. That's why I limited my comment to two words.

Public Broadcasting Activists Refute McCain Campaign ‘Facts’ on FCC Letters.

by Avni Patel

A public broadcasting activist is accusing Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign of lying in its statements rebutting last week’s New York Times story about McCain’s connections to Washington lobbyist Vicki Iseman.

After the story broke, the McCain campaign distributed a lengthy document stating that the senator’s commerce committee staff “met with public broadcasting activists from the Pittsburgh area” who opposed a controversial license swap involving Iseman’s client, Paxson Communications, before it sent two letters to the Federal Communication Commission urging the commissioners to vote on the issue.

“It never happened,” said Jerold Starr, who led the grassroots opposition to the deal as the co-chairman of the Save Pittsburgh Public Television Campaign. “Moreover, we had no idea that McCain had any interest in our local matter.”

Starr’s co-chair on the campaign, Linda Wambaugh, said that she and Starr handled all the lobbying for campaign.

“We were it. Anything would have come through us,” said Wambaugh. “There was absolutely no contact whatsoever — no meetings, no phone calls, no correspondence.”

The McCain response document also claimed that both Paxson’s lobbyists and the public broadcasting activists “expressed to staff members their frustration that the proceeding had been before the FCC for over two years. Both parties asked the staff to contact the FCC regarding the proceeding.”

“That’s a bold-faced lie,” said Starr, who wrote about his experience leading the campaign in his 2000 book “Air Wars.” “The longer it took, the better our chances were. It meant that the FCC was paying serious attention to our complaint.”
Con't
"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

'Primitive' White House technology lost more than 1M emails over 1,000 days, former employee says
Nick Juliano
Published: Wednesday February 27, 2008

Questions remain over Cheney's missing Plame e-mails

The internal workings of the White House that caused it to lose perhaps millions of internal e-mails over several years is becoming clearer, but with that sharper focus comes diminishing hopes among Democrats and open-government activists that history will ever get the full picture of how the Bush administration operated.

At a Capitol Hill hearing yesterday, a former White House computer technician outlined the administration's shortcomings in implementing a "primitive" e-mail archiving system that created a high risk the information would be lost.

Steven McDevitt, who worked for the administration from 2002 to 2006, also doubled previously reported estimates of the number of days of missing e-mails. Investigators for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee previously said e-mails were missing for 473 days; McDevit said in written testimony to the committee that the number was closer to 1,000 days. He also said at least 1 million e-mails were believed to have gone missing; activists have estimated the number of missing e-mails is closer to 10 million.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Primitive_White_House_technology_lost_1000...

Subject: heartwarming story

Sometimes these "heartwarming" stories are a bit too sappy for me but this one is truly interesting...

In 1986, Mikele Mebembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Mikele approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mikele worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Mikele stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.

Mikele never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later, Mikele was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mikele and his son Tapu were standing.

The large bull elephant stared at Mikele, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mikele couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant.

Mikele summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mikele's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly. Probably wasn't the same elephant.
------------------------
Clearly, my friend hates the email-circulated Internet crap as much as I do.

Let's talk about those. I stopped using facts since I listed in Open Mic, If
Anyone Cared

I only started to use Rhetoric and Passion when CONFRONTED with -- AFTER STATING THE FACTS FIRST, although prior ME FACT FINDING, I was confronted HERE soley by personal opinions ... I said it was my opinion ... but that wasn't good enough; therefore, I researched then used FACTS..

Do I have to FIND the bloody FACTS Again? I do have copies in some of my files.....somewhere....

The number of homes facing foreclosure jumped 57 percent in January compared to a year ago, with lenders increasingly forced to take possession of homes they couldn't unload at auctions, a mortgage research firm said Monday.

Nationwide, some 233,001 homes received at least one notice from lenders last month related to overdue payments, compared with 148,425 a year earlier, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. Nearly half of the total involved first-time default notices.

The worsening situation came despite ongoing efforts by lenders to help borrowers manage their payments by modifying loan terms, working out long-term repayment plans and other actions

"You have more people going into default and a higher percentage of the properties going back to the banks," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing.

The U.S. foreclosure rate last month was one filing for every 534 homes.

The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida posted the highest foreclosure rate of any metro area in the nation, with one of every 86 homes in some stage of foreclosure, said RealtyTrac Inc.

Stockton, Calif., was ranked second, with one of every 97 homes involved in a foreclosure filing, while the Riverside-San Bernardino metro area in Southern California had the third-highest foreclosure rate with filings for one of every 101 properties.

January's tally represented an 8 percent hike from December.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/US_home_foreclosures_soar_in_Januar...

http://tinyurl.com/yoawoc

A married university professor has been sentenced to 180 lashes and eight months in prison for having coffee with a female student.

The professor of psychology at Umm al-Qra University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, was caught in a "honey trap" operation after angering members of the religious police during a training course, his lawyer said.

The academic is said to have received a call from a supposed student, who asked to discuss a problem in person; he agreed, provided she brought along a brother as a chaperone.

advertisement

When the man arrived at the meeting place, the girl was alone, and he was arrested for being in a state of khulwa - seclusion - with an unrelated female.

The professor, who has not been named, was reported to be a married man in his late 50s with children.

Contact between unrelated men and women is prohibited in Saudi Arabia, where religious police patrol public places to enforce Islamic law on behalf of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

Abdullah al-Sanousi, the professor's lawyer, said his client had upset some of the commission's trainees on a course that a number had failed.

The professor, who is said to have taped the girl admitting that she was sent by the police, is appealing against the sentence.

And we call this country an allie - WTF?

America's massive military aid package to Pakistan has come under scrutiny after allegations that as much as 70% of $5.4bn in assistance has been misspent.

Since 2002, the US has paid the operating costs of Pakistan's military operations in the tribal belt along the Afghan border, where Taliban and al-Qaida fighters are sheltering.

Pakistan provides over 100,000 troops and directs the fight; the US foots the bill for food, fuel, ammunition and maintenance. The cash payments — averaging $80m a month — have been a cornerstone of US support for President Pervez Musharraf.

But over the past 18 months, as militants seized vast swaths of the tribal belt and repelled a string of Pakistani offensives, the funding has come under the microscope.

American officials processing the payments at the US embassy in Islamabad have concluded that the Pakistani expense claims have been vastly inflated, two western military officials told the Guardian.

"My back of envelope guesstimate is that 30% of the money they requested to be reimbursed was legitimate costs they expended," said one, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said the US did not know what happened to the remaining 70% - approximately $3.8bn - but suspected that some may have been spent on F-16 fighter jets or a new house for an army general.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/27/pakistan.usa

Wow- surprize-surprize

hangin with the hood kids,

makin'paint.

looks like freedoms on the march again

That's Brutal, Crank.... HAHAHA...

:)

--An Email Sent To Me By A Friend
Submitted by Crank Bait on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 1:35pm.--

...or sniffing it?

;)

Grinding poverty and the escalating war is driving an increasing number of Afghan families to sell their daughters into forced marriages.

Girls as young as six are being married into a life of slavery and rape, often by multiple members of their new relatives. Banned from seeing their own parents or siblings, they are also prohibited from going to school. With little recognition of the illegality of the situation or any effective recourse, many of the victims are driven to self-immolation - burning themselves to death - or severe self-harm.

Six years after the US and Britain "freed" Afghan women from the oppressive Taliban regime, a new report proves that life is just as bad for most, and worse in some cases.

Projects started in the optimistic days of 2002 have begun to wane as the UK and its Nato allies fail to treat women's rights as a priority, workers in the country insist.

The statistics in the report from Womankind, Afghan Women and Girls Seven Years On, make shocking reading. Violent attacks against females, usually domestic, are at epidemic proportions with 87 per cent of females complaining of such abuse - half of it sexual. More than 60 per cent of marriages are forced.

Despite a new law banning the practice, 57 per cent of brides are under the age of 16. The illiteracy rate among women is 88 per cent with just 5 per cent of girls attending secondary school.

Maternal mortality rates - one in nine women dies in childbirth - are the highest in the world alongside Sierra Leone. And 30 years of conflict have left more than one million widows with no enforceable rights, left to beg on the streets alongside an increasing number of orphans. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with a higher suicide rate among women than men.

Campaigners say these are nationwide figures but in war-torn provinces, such as Helmand, the British area of responsibility, oppression is often worse, though the dangers make it impossible for them to monitor it accurately.

The banned practice of offering money for a girl is still rampant - along with exchanging her as restitution for crime, debt or dispute. With the going price for a child bride at £800 to £2,000 - as much as three years salary for a labourer - many grooms are forced to take loans or swap their sisters instead, explained Partawmina Hashemee, the director of the Afghan Women Resource Centre.

Mrs Hashemee, who has fought for the rights of her fellow Afghan women, initially for refugees in Pakistan, for almost 20 years, said: "For me the issue that breaks my heart is the forced marriages because of poverty - even girls as young as eight. They don't get to go to school or to go out. They are told 'you are not allowed to visit your family, we paid, now you have to work'."

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/022608WA.shtml

or thread
rope?

new stuff posted.

Baquba Losing Life – And Hope
Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 11:21am.

BAQUBA - Life has been bad enough in Diyala province north of Baghdad after prolonged violence, unemployment and loss of all forms of normal living. What could be worse now is the loss of hope that anything will ever be better.

In Baquba, capital city of Diyala province 40km northeast of Baghdad, it’s all about staying alive. Most people have abandoned all projects and activities to sit at home in safety.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/27/7320/

*******************************

And What Haunts Me ;

Arctic Oil Bonanza Worries Alaska Natives
Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 02/27/2008 - 11:28am.

Published on Tuesday, February 26s, 2008 by Reuterse
by Robert Campbell
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Modern technology and surging oil prices have suddenly made the prospect of drilling in the remote, icy Chukchi Sea irresistible to the world’s oil giants — and that is worrying the Inupiat people who have lived at the sea’s edge for centuries.

With drilling opportunities dwindling elsewhere, oil companies earlier this month bid an astonishing $2.66 billion for drilling rights in the Chukchi, a stretch of water off Alaska’s northwest coast that is frozen half the year and is a major polar bear habitat.

The Inupiat, relatives of the Inuit who inhabit other parts of the Arctic, fear oil spills or drilling activity will disrupt the endangered bowhead whales and other marine animals that they have hunted for generations.

“We want to continue to survive. Our lives are tied to subsistence. So is our culture and our religion with all the animals,” said Jack Schaefer, president of the Inupiat village of Point Hope, a settlement on the Chukchi that is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in North America.

“We don’t have anything to replace that with. The high unemployment rate here will continue even if there is offshore oil and gas development since there will only be a few jobs that will be available.”

Shell and ConocoPhillips, the two biggest bidders in the U.S. government’s sale of drilling rights in the Chukchi, insist they will take the concerns of local communities into account as they search for the 12 billion barrels of oil the government believes lie under the sea floor.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/26/7286/

>>makin'paint

...or sniffing it?"

get real!

you can't do one without doing the other.

the corporate greedheads are like a plague.

the New Dark Ages! insanity reigns!

WiccanDruid,

There are lots of facts/opinions. The question changes the value of a given fact/opinion.

For instance: What is the current global consensus with regard to the U.S. presidential race? The consensus is that voting Barack Obama into office would be the most powerful and favorable signal to the planet that the U.S. has turned in a new direction.

For instance: Who has the most networking experience to apply toward assembling a knowledgeable White House team? The consensus is that Hillary Clinton has seen White House failures and successes over nearly sixteen recent-most years and has a vast network of experts at her beck and call.

There are lots of other "facts" to be considered. If it is a "fact" that Hillary Clinton would lose a general election to John McCain while Barack Obama would not, then her superiority as an experienced politico is moot.

If it is a "fact" that Barack Obama will be assassinated as a candidate, then his candidacy is moot. If it is a "fact" that Barack Obama will be assassinated as President, then his picks for the vice-presidency and his White House team become extremely important.

Citing the Yea or Nay vote cast by a politico on a particular bill does not begin to tell the whole story. In some cases, it was an uninformed (thus crappy) vote. In other cases, the vote was traded as barter for a vote on a different bill. In still other cases, an earmark or other legislation buried in the bill affected the vote. The "fact" of the Yea or Nay vote is not worth much based only on face value.

I can make a solid argument for Clinton or Obama so long as the question is specific. What I do not know is which of those questions will prove to be the most important in the coming months and years.

I do know that I want to put the Neocons and the militarists and the authoritarians and the corporatists and the budding fascists back into their Pandora's Box, encase it in concrete and sink it into the deepest portion of the Marianas Trench.

shoot, i would have put it on a rocket and shot it into the sun.

dan,

Yeah, I'm kinda "old school" when it comes to sweeping the dirt under the rug.

Sinking a block of concrete into the sea is less technical than toasting assholes in the Sun.

FACTS: Obama deregularized nuclear "regulations.

FACTS: Obama IS PRO COAL and now recently I found out about Liquid COAL with HR1155 or 59???

FACTS: Obama, being Christian, Evangelical Religions and Ministers believe what is in the "Bible", "Do Not suffer a Witch to live." (I think I remember Leviticus)
Traveling with Evangelical Ministers draws question? Also holding private meetings with Evangelical Ministers (Nation of Islam, included) draws me to question? Where's fairness for all faiths: From Agnostic to Druid? (I talked to many,
but one here finds Obama's belief regarding Agnostic (she being one)not a problem -- yet whilst talking with other Agnostics, they did have a problem. So I was going to erase saying I no longer had problem with Obama's belief, yet when other Agnostics stated they did have a problem... with Obama being so close to evangelical ministers I kept Link.
;)

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