Rice approved of waterboarding way before she had a problem with it

One post at a time!

Jazz is dead!

yes. that has to happen.

the whole cabinet knew Seder.

Hill Holds Fire on Harman
House Leaders Quiet on Allegations of Wrongdoing

House leaders in both parties were publicly mum in response to a story that nonetheless lit up Capitol Hill on Monday, alleging that Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) engaged in a quid pro quo with a suspected Israeli agent to advance her stature in Congress.

snip

“The whole thing smells, and nobody’s hands are clean,” one aide to a senior Democratic lawmaker said.

Spokesmen for Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) either declined to comment or did not return calls on Monday. And the Republican messaging machine, usually quick to churn out e-mails alerting reporters to every alleged ethical misstep by a Congressional Democrat, stayed silent on the news.

...

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/54_117/news/34122-1.html

***

Why the silence? Demcratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer - sister was executive director of AIPAC; GOP Minority Whip Eric Cantor - major supporter of Israel. Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) co-chair is former CIA director Porter Goss, who asked for investigation of Harman over her activities on behalf of Mossad. Goss is now neutered because of conflict-of-interest in matter. Who appointed Goss to co-chair OCE? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from the same city where the Senate Intelligence Committee chair and top Israel supporter Dianne Feinstein hails: San Francisco. There must be some congressional leadership resignations, and fast.

...

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

Sam is a Mossad operative?

gamoto soy!

Could SAM do a 3-hour BRL SPECIAL perhaps?

Would do us all some good!

We will need to stop killing people for the healing to

Submitted by Alice on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 8:42pm.
begin, no?

=================================

Stop the torture (secret government practices)! Stop the killing (imperialistic militarism)!

She shouldn't gang up on a losing football team like that.

tonight.

Capitol Hill Leadership Silent on Harman
Submitted by Catharine on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 9:07pm

**

Pelosi Knew About Harman Wiretap

by Tory Newmyer - Roll Call

Con't

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

Whilst trimming my melon, I took the 1/2" attachment off to clean the teeth some, got distracted by my dogs goin' offa their nut, came back 'n forgot about ye olde attachment.

Presently I is gotta huge divot a hair carved outta my head.

Typically when this happens (at least three times previously), I make some kinda funky topiary outta my head before eventually cuttin' it all short 'n in the meantimes go out in public for a spell just to see what kinda reactions I'm like to get.

B'lieve it's a right good time to go p/u a coupla items at Home Depot before they close.

(My big ol' jug ears is just cryin' out to be noticed ag'in the dazzlin' foil of my ridiculous 'do.)

I love my seed planting tools! The WIDGER and the DIBBLE.

It's been GREAT day.

..."herbs" I do not want...
...just say'n :)

don't tease or give it away.

I get my first hour from Green960 on replay. I got a link from MMR for it.

Wasserman Schultz on whether Bybee ‘should go’: ‘It doesn’t look good.’
This afternoon on MSNBC's Hardball, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) endorsed House Judiciary Committee Chariman John Conyers' pledge to hold hearings into the torture techniques authorized by the Bush administration's Office of Legal Counsel. Asked by host Chris Matthews if she believed Judge Jay Bybee "should go" because of his role in authoring the OLC torture memos, Wasserman Shultz said that she believed the government needed to take a "first things first approach," but said "it doesn't look very good":

MATTHEWS: Should we ask Jay Bybee to retire form the court out at the 9th circuit? He's one of the ones who approved it and sits on the federal bench. Should he go?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, I think we need to take a first things first approach, taking a look at who exactly was responsible for these memos. Where was it initiated. We need to go through the process. And you're still innocent until proven guilty in America, but it doesn't look very good.

Wasserman Schultz also said she would not rule out prosecuting former President Bush or Vice President Cheney. Watch it: at link

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/22/wasserman-schultz-bybee/

Please join our campaign calling on Congress to begin impeachment hearings against Jay Bybee.

http://thinkprogress.org/impeach-jay-bybee/

condi & zelikow (oh, you remember him, him of the 9/11 commission) wrote a book together

Just planted a bunch of seeds! I love Spring.
Submitted by nora on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 9:31pm.

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

Ensign Calls Senate Armed Services Committee Report A ‘Democrat Partisan’ Document »
Today, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) went on MSNBC to attack the Senate Armed Services Committee report on the Bush administration's treatment of detainees. When host Chris Matthews asked Ensign whether he was shocked that our interrogation practices were based on those used by Chinese Communists to elicit false information from U.S. troops, the senator criticized him for being "inflammatory."

When Matthews insisted that he wasn't being inflammatory because he was reading directly from the report, Ensign tried to discredit the entire document by saying it was a "Democrat partisan" report:

ENSIGN: Chris, the reason I said it is because you didn't preface that with saying that was a Democrat report. That was a Democrat partisan report. And you have to understand where the people who were doing that report -- where their ideology comes from.

MATTHEWS: Well, apparently, Sen. John McCain is part of what you call a "Democrat report." It's the full committee report. ... [I]t's the Armed Services Committee report. It went through three months of review by the Defense Department, until its final release just yesterday. It seems to me this was vetted, sir. And you say this was some Democrat report.

ENSIGN: The Democrats are in control of all of the committees. This was a Democrat majority report. This was not with the participation of the minority where the minority signed it, "Yes, we agree with these views."

Watch it: at link

Ensign is right that there are often committee reports produced and released by only the minority or the majority. This report, however, was not one of them. The first page of the detainee report makes it clear that it is a document from the "Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate." ThinkProgress spoke with a committee spokesman who confirmed that the full, unanimous committee released the report. When talking with Levin today, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell noted that Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham also endorsed the report.

Additionally, documents clearly show that the Bush administration's interrogation program was based on the U.S. military program known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE), which is used to train U.S. troops if they are ever tortured by an enemy that doesn't adhere to the Geneva Conventions. As the report notes, SERE techniques "were based, in part, on Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to elicit false confessions."

Transcript: More

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/22/ensign-sasc-report/

what a cacophony of...
incompetance
denial
and embarrassment

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/22/11-men-released-anti-terror-rai...

All 11 men arrested during anti-terror raids released without charge
Police deny that bringing arrests forward disrupted investigation

Sandra Laville, Richard Norton-Taylor and Stephen Bates
Wednesday 22 April 2009

Greater Manchester Police have released without charge all 11 men arrested a fortnight ago in the north-west of England over an alleged terror plot. The last two men to be released have joined nine others given their freedom last night.

Gordon Brown had claimed the operation uncovered a "very big plot" against the UK. ...

In a press conference... [chief constable] Fahy denied that there had been a dispute with the security services or that bringing the arrests forward by up to 12 hours had disrupted the investigation. He criticised speculation by outsiders, including retired officers, but added: "I have not conducted any speculation. I do not feel embarrassed or humiliated by what we have done because we have carried out our duty. I don't think a mistake has been made at all."

(it wasn't me, miss... it was him)

Graham: Prosecution of Bush administration torture officials should not be ‘taken off the table.’
Former Democratic senator Bob Graham, who chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee from 2001 to 2003, said today in an interview with the Huffington Post that "criminal prosecution of Bush administration officials involved in implementing torture policies should not 'be taken off the table.'" Graham added that it is "premature with the current state of knowledge to determine if that is appropriate." Further, Graham said he favored a bipartisan 9/11 commission-style inquiry into what "transpired during the Bush years 'so that there could be a record that is not too distant from the acts themselves for the benefit of the American people and the benefit of history.'"

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/22/graham-torture-prosecutions/

From Wisconsin

http://www.themic921.com/cc-common/mainheadlines2.html?feed=122808&artic...

that Republicans today are more racist or more fundamentalist or corporatist than the freaks of the 70's during Nixon. Why is it that real bipartisan calls for impeachment was done then but is now considered unachievable?

How did America sell out so far? Torture AND party over country? WTH?

Submitted by nora on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 9:31pm.
I love my seed planting tools! The WIDGER and the DIBBLE.
---------
If that isn't one double-entendre after another, it should be.

GM To Close ‘Most’ U.S. Factories For Nine Weeks, After Spending $1 Million Per Month Lobbying This Year
MSNBC is reporting that General Motors (GM) plans to close “most” of its U.S. factories for up to nine weeks this summer, due to its swiftly growing collection of financial problems:

Two people briefed on the plan say General Motors Corp. will close most of its U.S. factories for up to nine weeks this summer because of slumping sales and growing inventories of unsold vehicles. The people did not know exactly when the shutdowns would occur, but both say they will include the normal two-week closure in July to change from one model year to the next.

But just yesterday, the Associated Press reported that GM spent $2.8 million lobbying Congress — nearly $1 million per month — in the first quarter of 2009, which is actually 15 percent less than it spent on lobbying in the final quarter of 2008. GM also said this week that “it is completing the layoff of 3,400 white-collar workers in the U.S.”

“We’re a part of what is arguably one of the most regulated industries and provide a voice in complex policy discussions. We meet strict reporting requirements and our spending is reflective of the breadth of issues that affect our business,” said GM spokesman Greg Martin. But it’s worth asking: How many days could GM keep some factories open with that money? How many workers could have earned just a little bit more in wages if that lobbying hadn’t occurred?

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/22/gm-lobby-question/

Ensign Calls Senate Armed Services Committee Report A ‘Democrat Partisan’ Document.
new
Submitted by toniD on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 9:36pm.

*******

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

you made beer came out my nose.

lmao...

hey, it's only a reasonable request

now don't get me wrong you're a powerhouse of new gathering and you're the epi-centre of the blog, etc

(and i'm a fussy britches greek)

ok, i'll um...

stfu

on MSNBC? Just saw it on commercial break of Rachel's show.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A bipartisan group of 75 former state attorneys general from across the country has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.

They want Holder to conduct an investigation similar to the one that led the Justice Department to drop its case against former Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.

Holder asked a judge to toss out Stevens' corruption conviction because prosecutors withheld evidence from his defense team during the trial.

The attorneys general say in their letter that if similar misconduct is found in the Siegelman case, the once-popular Democrat's corruption conviction should be dismissed. Siegelman was sentenced to more than seven years in prison and is free on bond while he appeals.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hxRc_QLWLGQTbLRALCm3UT...

Zelikow's part was to make sure the 9/11 Myth stuck and that there were foreign (rather than DOMESTIC) terrorists held responsible and available for continued use as fearmonger fodder! Zelikow's work was a key pillar holding up the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice Torture Chamber.

Don't let this creepy worm Zelikow wiggle away! He and Rice must pay.

If you're into the chess player theory of the Obama administration, the Stevens action proves that they're non-political, and is the opening move in reversing a lot of bad DOJ shit. Now the 75 come forward with their demand, thereby completing the de-politicization of Holder's actions against his predecessors. The way is now clear for Holder to take on the Siegelman case with no fear of being painted with the political tarbrush.

For the moment, this and the torture scene (in which they're "allowing" themselves to be "forced" into prosecutions of high Bush officials) are putting me back in the Obama-as-chessplayer camp.

Now, if he'll just let himself be "forced" to nationalize the banks, end both stupid wars, and institute a national health care plan, I'll be pretty comfortable with having crawled back into his camp.

I am receiving digital channels that I have never seen before.

I saw an episode of Reno 911 for the first time. They did a joke about the voice-to-sign-language translator being spoken to by the speaker who was being translated. "I'm asking YOU the question" the speaker says while the signer signs "I'm asking YOU the question."

Later, I saw a local news item about a school-for-the-deaf board meeting that was open to attendance by the public while the board discussed a scandal in their system.

How could I help but imagine a skit in which the entire board converses using sign language and a translator cups her hands around her mouth to shout the words to the audience?

These are the little things that make life worth living.

Fox News Files Freedom Of Information Request With Department Of Homeland Security Over Right Wing Extremist Threat

The Huffington Post has obtained a letter from Fox News to the Department of Homeland Security requesting they release the entire report on the right-wing extremists identified as a national security threat.

The letter, sent Wednesday from Senior Vice President of Legal & Business Affairs Dianne Brandi, was sent pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report saying that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country's first black president to recruit new members to their cause.

In the letter, Fox News requests "any and all documents that contain factual material or compiled factual material that the relied upon" to make the conclusion that right-wing extremists pose a national security threat.

"Given the vast amount of discussion and concern for domestic terrorism and the equal quantity of discourse over the possible compromise of America's constitutional rights, Fox News has a particular urgency to inform the public about the facts behind this much-discussed Assessment."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/22/fox-news-files-freedom-of_n_190...

the story about the people who were killed during torture in the main stream media?

Submitted by toniD on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 9:56pm.
If you're into the chess player theory of the Obama administration...this and the torture scene (in which they're "allowing" themselves to be "forced" into prosecutions of high Bush officials) are putting me back in the Obama-as-chessplayer camp.
------
Eat our hope-filled dust, cent.

Source: Wiretap Caught Harman Discussing Pelosi Fundraising Flap
By Jeff Stein | April 22, 2009 12:37 PM |

California Democrat Jane Harman, battling a controversy over her interactions with a suspected Israeli spy, was overheard on a 2005 wiretap discussing a failed fundraising ploy designed to get her named chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, according to a former national security official who has read the transcript.

Harman was heard lamenting to the suspected Israeli agent how the tactics of a major Jewish fundraiser to use the threat of withholding political donations to California Democrat Nancy Pelosi to win Harman the gavel of the House Select Committee on Intelligence had badly backfired, the former official said.

Harman's conversation with the suspected spy was picked up by federal counterintelligence eavesdroppers as part of an investigation into the activities of the alleged Israeli agent.

The New York Times on Tuesday identified the California donor as Haim Saban, "a vocal supporter of Israel" who made a fortune on his Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Harman and the target of the NSA intercept mutually rued the tactics of Saban, a major Democratic donor, to influence Pelosi, said the former national security official.

The former official, who has provided accurate information on Harman's intercepted conversations, did so only on the condition of anonymity because the material remains highly classified.

In the wiretapped conversation, the target was heard telling Harman that "Pelosi went ballistic" when Saban allegedly warned her that if Harman were not made chairman of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections "'you'll get no more contributions from me,'" according to the former official's paraphrase of the conversation.

At the time, with Democrats already optimistic about retaking Congress in the 2006 elections, Harman was eager to trade in her status as the committee's ranking Democrat for the chairman's gavel.

Pro-Israel operatives, meanwhile, were equally eager to get one of their own, the committee's lone Jewish member, appointed chairman, a former intelligence official involved in the case said.

Congressional Quarterly reported April 19 that NSA eavesdroppers heard Harman agreeing to an appeal from the suspected Israeli agent to intervene in an effort to reduce espionage-related charges lodged against two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, Washington's most powerful pro-Israel organization.

The Washington Post reported today that the taps were being run by the FBI, not NSA, as part of an ongoing counterintelligence investigation of suspected Israeli covert action agents in the United States.

The FBI raided the homes of AIPAC officials Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman in August 2004. Initially, the organization stood by the two, but in March 2005 they were fired. Five months later they were indicted on charges of illegally receiving classified information and passing it to Israeli officials.

More here:

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/spytalk/2009/04/source-wiretap-caught-harman...

Submitted by Fernando on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 10:08pm.
When are we going to have the story about the people who were killed during torture in the main stream media?
---------
Come to think of it, there were an unprecedented number of journalists killed in Iraq...I give it a week.

submitted Crank Bait style for your enjoyment

toniD,

I cannot find the chess-player quote you cited from your link to the Siegelman article below

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hxRc_QLWLGQTbLRALCm3UT...

or in the related articles.

UK High Court demands U.S. torture documents

LONDON — The chief justice of the British High Court on Wednesday gave the British government one week to obtain the U.S. release of classified information about the alleged torture of a British resident who'd been detained at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The court indicated that it would issue its own order if the government doesn't respond or justify why continued secrecy is warranted.

Noting that President Barack Obama had released highly sensitive documents tracing the decisions on torture during the Bush administration's war on terror, the high court judges voiced exasperation that the British government hasn't acted in what they said was the British public interest in being similarly open.

The hearing illustrated how Obama's decision to be more transparent about his predecessor's detainee policies is having ripple effects abroad, but it also threw the ball back to the Obama administration to approve release of the contested information.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/66728.html

Sen. John McCain, a former POW who knows something about torture, has long been a critic of the CIA's interrogation policies. But today he has joined with senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham to urge President Obama not to prosecute the authors of the so-called torture memos.

"Pursuing such prosecutions would, we believe, have serious negative effects on the candor with which officials in any administration provide their best advice, and would take our country in a backward-looking direction at a time when our detainee-related challenges demand that we look forward," the senators wrote in a letter sent today to President Obama.

The senators also came out against the idea of creating a so-called "truth commission" to investigate the CIA's interrogation policies.

"We have every interest in looking forward to solutions, not backward to recriminations," McCain, Lieberman and Graham wrote. "That is why we do not support the idea of a commission that would focus on the mistakes of the past."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/04/mccain-no-tortu.html

Pelosi says we will see the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee looking into this.

Whenever I write an article or give a talk about the state of global affairs, the first question asked is this: “So, what can/should we do?” My inevitably stammering reply involves a combination of three factors:

What we’ve been doing all along is obviously not working.

We need new ideas, new tactics, and a far greater commitment from everyone.

I can’t say more because it could be (purposely) misconstrued and that just don’t fly in the land of the free (sic).

-Mickey Z., No Innocent Bystanders: Riding Shotgun in the Land of Denial

Join Derrick Jensen and Mickey Z. on Saturday, April 25 at 7 p.m. for “A Wake-up Call for Obama Nation,” as they break through the conventional wisdom that suffocates public discourse in Washington. Along with dissecting the first 100 days of the Obama administration, they’ll offer ideas on how to avoid ecocide and resist corporate-controlled culture. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to see Derrick and Mickey together in the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, only one Metro stop from Washington.

http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/wakeupcall04222009/

i'm getting a kick out of...

the lackadaisical tunes that malloy is playing

[deleted]

I'll find it for you.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&fo...

When are we going to have
new
Submitted by Fernando on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 10:08pm.

the story about the people who were killed during torture in the main stream media?

no like-ee J. Tull???

no

this...

i'll never smile again... until i smile at you

what good would it do...

ba-ba-ba-b'ah

I should have put more effort into Googling some keywords.

Sorry. I thought that I might have been bamboozled by another one of those pages that changed between the time it was linked and the time that I accessed it.

and she helped the George Bush administration install a torture state on the homeland.

For example, the declaration fails to account for or explain Iraq's efforts to get uranium from abroad, its manufacture of specific fuel for ballistic missiles it claims not to have, and the gaps previously identified by the United Nations in Iraq's accounting for more than two tons of the raw materials needed to produce thousands of gallons of anthrax and other biological weapons.

Who could have imagined the Secretary of State was in on the lie? Buhhhhttt NOOOOOO. Not an inside job at all.

pfffft...

Linkage

Amazon.Com

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

How the Bush administration waterboarded a low-level operative, who was brain-damaged, 83 times

by Joe Sudbay (DC) on 4/22/2009 04:00:00 PM
Last Saturday, Marcy Wheeler broke the news about the extensive waterboarding of two captured terror suspects:
I've put this detail in a series of posts, but it really deserves a full post. According to the May 30, 2005 Bradbury memo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in March 2003 and Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in August 2002.

On page 37 of the OLC memo, in a passage discussing the differences between SERE techniques and the torture used with detainees, the memo explains:
The CIA used the waterboard "at least 83 times during August 2002" in the interrogation of Zubaydah. IG Report at 90, and 183 times during March 2003 in the interrogation of KSM, see id. at 91.
Note, the information comes from the CIA IG report which, in the case of Abu Zubaydah, is based on having viewed the torture tapes as well as other materials. So this is presumably a number that was once backed up by video evidence.
Last month, the Washington Post provided this backgroud on Abu Zubaydah:
In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said.

Moreover, within weeks of his capture, U.S. officials had gained evidence that made clear they had misjudged Abu Zubaida. President George W. Bush had publicly described him as "al-Qaeda's chief of operations," and other top officials called him a "trusted associate" of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a major figure in the planning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. None of that was accurate, the new evidence showed.

Abu Zubaida was not even an official member of al-Qaeda, according to a portrait of the man that emerges from court documents and interviews with current and former intelligence, law enforcement and military sources. Rather, he was a "fixer" for radical Muslim ideologues, and he ended up working directly with al-Qaeda only after Sept. 11 -- and that was because the United States stood ready to invade Afghanistan.

And, that article included this tidbit:
He was seriously wounded by shrapnel from a mortar blast in 1992, sustaining head injuries that left him with severe memory problems, which still linger.

Yes, he was low-level and brain-damaged. The CIA knew that and waterboarded him 83 times anyway -- because Bush wanted answers.

Author Ron Suskind in his book, The One Percent Solution, gave the background on Zubaydah. I read that book and found the info. on Zubaydah, who Bush often invoked, just jaw-dropping. Here's a synopsis:

Abu Zubaydah, his captors discovered, turned out to be mentally ill and nothing like the pivotal figure they supposed him to be. CIA and FBI analysts, poring over a diary he kept for more than a decade, found entries "in the voice of three people: Hani 1, Hani 2, and Hani 3" -- a boy, a young man and a middle-aged alter ego. All three recorded in numbing detail "what people ate, or wore, or trifling things they said." Dan Coleman, then the FBI's top al-Qaeda analyst, told a senior bureau official, "This guy is insane, certifiable, split personality."

Abu Zubaydah also appeared to know nothing about terrorist operations; rather, he was al-Qaeda's go-to guy for minor logistics -- travel for wives and children and the like. That judgment was "echoed at the top of CIA and was, of course, briefed to the President and Vice President," Suskind writes. And yet somehow, in a speech delivered two weeks later, President Bush portrayed Abu Zubaydah as "one of the top operatives plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States." And over the months to come, under White House and Justice Department direction, the CIA would make him its first test subject for harsh interrogation techniques.

Bush, with an assist from Alberto Gonzales, allowed the execution of a "mentally retarded" man. It's wasn't a big leap to torturing a brain-injured suspect. They should be really proud of this one.

http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/how-bush-administration-waterboarded....

Cornyn: We're In Trouble for 2010

"That’s going to be real hard, to be honest with you," Cornyn said of keeping Democrats from reaching 60 seats, adding:

"Everybody who runs could be the potential tipping point to get Democrats to 60. We’ve not only got to play defense; we’ve got to claw our way back in 2010. It’ll be a huge challenge."

A hearty congratulations to my Republican friends!

You're not so stuck on stupid that you can't take a moment to realize you're FUCKED!

(carry on)

"this machine kills fascists"

So the accounting rules say that a decline in the market value of a bank’s debt thanks to increased credit default swap spreads — that is, because investors think you’re more likely to fail — counts as a a profit. On the other hand, if your bank looks stronger, the spreads fall, and you book a loss.

FT Alphaville has the story. Citigroup reported

A net $2.5 billion positive CVA on derivative positions, excluding monolines, mainly due to the widening of Citi’s CDS spreads

while Morgan Stanley reported

Morgan Stanley would have been profitable this quarter if not for the dramatic improvement in our credit spreads - which is a significant positive development, but had a near-term negative impact on our revenues.

So Citigroup is profitable because investors think it’s failing, while Morgan Stanley is losing money because investors think it will survive. I am not making this up.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/alice-in-financeland/

i clicked on download and:

This file has expired.
File Expired
THE FILE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LINK HAS EXPIRED..

i think the file expired

it's passed on, mate
it's pushing up the daisies
and gone to meet the choir

: )

Senate reveals 5 new 'torture memos'
New Senate report acknowledges existence of more secret docs.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_INTERROGATION_MEMOS_ACLU?SITE=...

oi, mmr...
Submitted by air-ono on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 10:52pm
*******
Or you can buy it.. :)
**

Fixed,Ono..

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

if Shepard Smith knows about Santa Clause?

I sure don't want to be there when the other shoe drops.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Pakistan of abdicating to the Taleban by allowing them to control parts of the country.

Mrs Clinton told a congressional panel the situation in Pakistan posed a "mortal threat" to world security.

She said extremists were being allowed to control territory such as the Swat Valley, in north-western Pakistan.

She also called Pakistan's judicial system corrupt, adding that it has only limited power in the countryside.

Earlier this month, Pakistani President Ali Zardari signed a law implementing Islamic law - or Sharia - in the Swat Valley region as part of a deal to end a two-year Taleban insurgency there.

Once one of Pakistan's most popular holiday destinations, the Swat Valley is now mostly under Taleban control.

Thousands of people have fled and hundreds of schools have been destroyed as a result of a Taleban-led insurgency.

The Swat Valley is only about 100km (62 miles) from Islamabad, and reports suggest the Taleban are trying to expand the area under their control.

'Existential threat'

Giving evidence in Washington to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mrs Clinton said the situation in Pakistan "poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world".

"I think the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taleban and the extremists," she said.

She called on the Pakistani people to speak out "forcefully" against their government's policy, in what the BBC's Richard Lister in Washington called an unusual move.

The government's policy was conceding "more and more territory to the insurgents , to the Taleban, to al-Qaeda, to the allies that are in this terrorist syndicate", Mrs Clinton said.

More:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8013677.stm

mmr.

I hope they burned the tapes showing Bush and Cheney's visit to Guantanamo to recreate the pawn shop scene from Pulp Fiction.

"this machine kills fascists"

U.S. credit card bill advances on eve of Obama meet

REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service

Apr 22, 2009 18:10 EST

* US House panel votes 48-19 to back credit card bill

* Obama wants legislation to codify Fed rules into law

* House could vote on bill next week

* Consumer groups favor tougher Senate approach

(Adds further White House comment, consumer group reaction)

By John Poirier

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Legislation to curb credit card fees and limit consumer penalties cleared a congressional panel Wednesday, a day ahead of a meeting between industry executives and President Barack Obama at the White House.

The bill is an early test of political will for Democrats pushing for regulatory reform amid the economic crisis and would mean sweeping changes for card-issuing banks, many of which have received government bailout money.

Members of the House Financial Services Committee voted 48 to 19 for the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights which in practice would codify into law restrictions on deceptive practices issued by the Federal Reserve in December.

The legislation would stop credit card issuers from imposing arbitrary interest rate increases and penalties, and halt certain billing practices.

Nine Republicans, or almost a third of that party's members on the committee, voted in favor of the measure.

Committee chairman Barney Frank told reporters after the vote he was not surprised the measure attracted bipartisan support. "The mood in the country has changed," he said.

Frank said Obama, who campaigned for credit card reforms, wants to make changes to the bill. Frank provided no details.

Later on Wednesday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama wanted to make sure the legislation codified the Fed's rules into law.

Executives from Bank of America Corp, American Express Co, Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co , JPMorgan Chase & Co, Capital One Financial Corp, Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc will be among 13 credit card executive due to meet Obama early on Thursday afternoon at the White House.

"We are working closely with Congress on legislation that will promote simplicity, require transparency, demand fairness, and ensure accountability -- so that we can strengthen consumer protections against abusive and deceptive practices," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Banks say the legislation would hurt fee income at a time when they are trying to climb out of a financial hole created by the collapse of the housing boom.

The American Bankers Association trade group, which represents the biggest credit card issuers, said it is concerned the House bill could reduce the availability of consumer credit and make it more expensive.

Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said consumer groups supported making the Fed rules law, but wanted to go further.

"We hope the president will also support further reforms, such as the... Senate's stronger ban on 'no reason' fee increases and its protection for college students from unfair credit card marketing," Mierzwinski said.

More here:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/04/us_credit_card_bill_advanc...

Submitted by toniD on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 10:40pm.

George W. Bush had publicly described [Zubaydah] as "al-Qaeda's chief of operations," and other top officials called him a "trusted associate" of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a major figure in the planning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. None of that was accurate, the new evidence showed ...

Yes, he was low-level and brain-damaged. The CIA knew that and waterboarded him 83 times anyway -- because Bush wanted answers.

... Dan Coleman, then the FBI's top al-Qaeda analyst, told a senior bureau official, "This guy is insane, certifiable, split personality."

________________

Leave it to W. and the Bush stooges to peer into Zubaydah's soul 'n mistake a brain-damaged lackey for al Qaeda's chief of operations.

Malloy is asking people to pray for Cheney to just die.

LMFAO!

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

sorry I was such an ass yesterday
new
Submitted by Fernando on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:01pm.
mmr.
*******
I just couldn't resist being a bone head..

I'm a bit too good at doing that,sorry.. :)

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

Bailout Fraud Prosecutor Nets First Catch
By Zachary Roth - April 22, 2009, 1:41PM
In an interview with The Hill published yesterday, Neil Barofsky, the inspector general for the bailout, said that he was pursuing 20 criminal and civil investigations into potential fraud in the TARP program.

And it looks like at least one has now paid off.

Federal authorities announced at a press conference this morning that Gordon Grigg, a financial adviser from Franklin, Tennessee, has agreed to plead guilty to operating a Ponzi scheme dating back to 1996, in which he stole an estimated $4.9 million from investors.

But along with the US Attorney and representatives from the SEC, Barofsky was also at the press conference. That's because part of Grigg's fraud involved false claims that he was making investments in high-yielding notes issued by the government as part of the TARP.

In the plea deal, Grigg admits that he raised money from investors by promising that he would invest in government-backed commercial paper and bank debt, as part of the TARP program. From the document:

[Grigg] falsely represented to investors that he had already committed more than $5 million in ProTrust pooled client funds towards the purchase of TARP-guaranteed debt as part of a private placement partnership between ProTrust and the investment firms Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

In fact, the TARP involves no such investment program.

Barofsky was previously an assistant US Attorney for the southern district of New York, which includes Wall Street.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/bailout_fraud_prosecut...

the anti abortion fundies would have recoiled louder over torture by now.

Must be faux ideology.

What does GeeBuzz say bout torture anyway?

WWJT?

According to childhood friends, Bush used to blow up frogs with firecrackers and shoot them with BB guns. As several therapists have pointed out, this cruelty to animals is a trait he shares with many serial killers.

A drunken George W. Bush once challenged his own father to a fight, "mano a mano."

I wonder if Barbara taught George such skills?

Submitted by toniD on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 10:57pm.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Pakistan of abdicating to the Taleban by allowing them to control parts of the country...
----------
I haven't received my daily updated copy of The Journalism Style Manual, so I was not aware that the Taliban had become the Taleban.

Then I noticed that the Taleban are cited in a U.K. publication, so I thought, "Maybe this is a tire/tyre thingy?"

I looked up Taliban and Taleban. I got different responses and definitions from several queries but one of them said "Taliban or Taleban" which was where I quit.

This shit drives me crazy. Mao's name changed at least four times. And who could forget Qaddafi unless they knew him as Kaddafi?

And what about the Koran/Quran and the various pronunciations of Iraq and Iran and Pakistan and, hey, even the Taliban/Taleban are pronounced two different ways.

It's bad enough that many people can't correctly spell the contents of LOL. We shouldn't be making people learn two or three spellings and pronunciations for ANYTHING, let alone foreign words.

If the alphabets are entirely different and not analogous, then use a phonetic spelling that mimics as closely as possible the pronunciation from the originating language. Is that so fucking difficult?

I STILL don't know why Italy isn't Italia in the U.S. It makes no fucking sense to me whatsoever.

yup! when this piranha poses as a democrat

you know your congress is bought lock, stock, and barrel

it does when you realise...

IT'S A CONSPIRACY!
IT'S A CONSPIRACY!
IT'S A CONSPIRACY!
IT'S A CONSPIRACY!
IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

A CONSPIRACY!!

J. Tull as in jethro
new
Submitted by air-ono on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 10:35pm.

The Obama/chess-player quote you cited was written by Jackpine Radical.

I don't think I'll be quoting him again anytime soon. It's kinda like using the words of some guy named Crank Bait to bolster your argument (no offense intended toward maggiesboy).

my mind is foggy from waking up yesterday.

My sleep deprivation is only a couple of hours long.

Does anyone know where my country is? Where am I?

What freaking country is this?

sorry I was such an ass yesterday
Submitted by Fernando on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:01pm.

Sorry,I just couldn't resist being a bone head.. :)
Submitted by MMRules on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:16pm.
-----
You boys really need to work on your code

this is fun!

I'm in a daze
new
Submitted by Fernando on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:34pm
*******

Is what I was told..

**
Time to get those T-Shirts agoing..
And,Supplement my disability.. ;)

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

dr,

Do I understand you correctly?

You traipsed off to Home Depot where you thought your jug ears would be a novelty?

Surely you realized shortly after arriving that you could be mistaken for any jug-eared, poorly coifed goof not also sporting a plumber's crack?

60th Street on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:37pm.

I love you too.
-

Me too,Bud !
new
Submitted by MMRules on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:32pm.

sorry I was such an ass yesterday
new
Submitted by Fernando on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:01pm.
mmr.
*******
I just couldn't resist being a bone head..

I'm a bit too good at doing that,sorry.. :)

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

Bibi,Crank,Chubbs,dr & Ono to write this segment for Malloy ?

I wish..
**

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

Gaydar Love
new
Submitted by 60th Street on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:37pm.

A Crank Bait Fan Club.....come on everybody
:)

Gaydar Love
Submitted by 60th Street on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:37pm.
------
How were you able to decide between gaydar and bromance? I become paralyzed with giddiness when the joke opportunities are equally fruitful (in a manner of speaking).

missing from lab @ Fort Mead

smcgee43 on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:44pm.

I didn't know you were into grammar satan worship.

Submitted by Crank Bait on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:40pm.
dr,

Do I understand you correctly?

You traipsed off to Home Depot where you thought your jug ears would be a novelty?

Surely you realized shortly after arriving that you could be mistaken for any jug-eared, poorly coiffed goof not also sporting a plumber's crack?

______________

I realise (just to annoy you, o' spellin' dictator) disheveled 'n scruffy, haphazard 'n raggedy-assed they is seen plenty of @ the Home Depot.

Methinks my own peculiar brand a improvised half-mohawk, half-monk's-shave twere a novelty. (I even took a pitcher fer posterity.)

"Coiffed" didn't look right to me even though coif is a short form of coiffure and it would seem reasonable that a person would be coiffed, not coifed.

But no-o-o. THAT would be too easy.

I looked it up and edited coiffed to coifed before dr had the chance to rip me a new one.

(By the way, Google spell check got it wrong AGAIN.)

Love Fest going on now -
Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:41pm

*******
Gaydar Love
Submitted by 60th Street on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:37pm.

*******
Oh,The Horror !

Have I mentioned how much I Luv this photo ? :)

Peace & Love,Brothers and Sisters..

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

Submitted by MMRules on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:51pm.

Have I mentioned how much I Luv this photo ? :)

_____________

Wonder Twin powers ... Copulate!

It doesn't matter, if it's from a comment, what nic they give. It's a comment of the article.

Hey ! I dibs that excuse along time ago.. ;)

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

You have no idea!

(wipes away tears)

And channeling you, to boot!

"this machine kills fascists"

Who's with me - -
Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:44pm.
A Crank Bait Fan Club.....come on everybody
-----
what a disgusting comment
Submitted by Fernando on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:48pm.
I didn't know you were into grammar satan worship.
-----------------------
This would probably be a bad time to admit that I struggled with the meaning of--

Moving in a Diluted directed (with some bad advice)
Submitted by smcgee43 on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 7:53pm.

--until I remembered that smcgee43 is an avowed bad speller and she probably was shooting for deluded.

(It's kinda like doing a crossword puzzle after your cocktail's condensation has blurred the ink on all of the clues.)

(shoulda taken a pitcher in back, where thereal artistry was
Submitted by dr on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:48pm
*******

www.instantrimshot.com

Thx,Chubbs..

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

Submitted by toniD on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:59pm.
It doesn't matter, if it's from a comment, what nic they give. It's a comment of the article.
---------
First, it was a quote from a comment written by a reader goof like me. It wasn't in the body of an article. It only followed (apparently?) an article.

Second, if the comment's author gave his name as Lord Byron or Nick Appalachian, I might be able to work with it. But I don't want to proudly cite a sage source named Jackpine Radical any more than you would want to tell a judge that a guy named Crank Bait will be acting as your attorney.

I was originally under the impression that the words were in the body of an article about Don Siegelman's ginned-up prosecution.

(Is "ginned-up" the proper spelling for what I am attempting to convey? There's jinni genies and gingering horses and booze and seed removing machines and all sorts of possible origins for the idiom and I'm not in the mood to search forever for an answer.)

Ditto what Fernando said,big boy ! ;)

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

I love it when Sam says "Shocker."

I didn't know that Home Depot gave haircuts.. ;)
Submitted by MMRules on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 12:14am.
--------
In the Salon Department, the accent is on the second syllable of Depot.

ok, there might be disease samples gone m.i.a.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=89293

Fort Detrick disease samples may be missing
Originally published April 22, 2009
By Justin M. Palk

Army criminal investigators are looking into the possibility that disease samples are missing from biolabs at Fort Detrick.

As first reported in today's edition of The Frederick News-Post by columnist Katherine Heerbrandt, the investigators are from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division unit at Fort Meade.

Chad Jones, spokesman for Fort Meade, said CID is investigating the possibility of missing virus samples from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

He said the only other detail he could provide is that the investigation is ongoing.(thx--tmi)

now move along...

there's an ongoing investigation

just remain calm

and don't panic

(you'll be dead by morning)

ka-pow!

lol

Bait:

The Obama/chess-player quote you cited was written by Jackpine Radical.

I don't think I'll be quoting him again anytime soon. It's kinda like using the words of some guy named Crank Bait to bolster your argument (no offense intended toward maggiesboy).

»

laughed for a good 2.33 minutes.

Boo Fontery While U Remodel
Submitted by Crank Bait on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 12:31am.
--------
I knew a young West Indian guy in the Caribbean whose street name was Boof (or, possibly, Bouf or Bouff) because of his full hairdo.

I was impressed with French-sourced wit being bandied about on the street.

On the other hand, I knew a guy whose street name was Deuce. When I asked him how he got his name, he said he didn't know.

Democrats.com
Submitted by Bob Fertik on April 22, 2009

Thanks to the unsung but heroic journalism of McClatchy's Jonathan Landay, we now know who is to blame for the Bush System of Torture - the Neocons who worked for Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

"Cheney's and Rumsfeld's people were told repeatedly, by CIA . . . and by others, that there wasn't any reliable intelligence that pointed to operational ties between bin Laden and Saddam, and that no such ties were likely because the two were fundamentally enemies, not allies."

Senior administration officials, however, "blew that off and kept insisting that we'd overlooked something, that the interrogators weren't pushing hard enough, that there had to be something more we could do to get that information," he said.

*Of course George Bush was The Decider who had to sign the ultimate authorizations to nullify the Geneva Conventions and thereby legalize war crimes.

President George W. Bush made a written determination that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which would have afforded minimum standards for humane treatment, did not apply to al Qaeda or Taliban detainees. This act, the [Senate Armed Services] committee found, cleared the way for a new interrogation program to be developed in-part based on “Chinese communist” tactics used against Americans during the Korean War, mainly to elicit false confessions for propaganda purposes.

Con't

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

FAYETTEVILLE, NC—Parishioners at the First Presbyterian Church were left stunned and in awe of His glory Sunday, when the Lord God Almighty dropped by their 11 a.m. service unannounced.

Interrupting Pastor Terry Pridgen's sermon on His unending mercy, God appeared suddenly before His flock as an intense beam of white light, instantly dispersing the earthly forms of those seated in the first two pews. Sources said the remaining congregants had to avert their eyes from their Creator, whose booming celestial voice overwhelmed their worldly senses and humbled their hearts as He politely apologized for not calling first.

"I AM the God of Abraham, the LORD MOST HIGH, who brought you forth from the bondage of Egypt," God said unto church members, many of whom cowered in reverent fear of Him. "Thought I'd just pop in and see how things were going. Please, pretend like I'm not even here."

The Supreme Being then thanked the choir for its "lovely introduction" and took a seat to the right of the altar.

According to wholly repentant witnesses, who were scarcely able to look upon the Alpha and Omega, much less conceive of the enormity of His Might, God did not speak again for the entirety of the service, but was seen nodding approvingly during the Nicene Creed.

Attendees reportedly did not ask the One Who Made Them Flesh why He had chosen to visit their small parish, though some suspected the church's new electric organ might have had something to do with it.

"I don't think anyone knew He was coming," said churchgoer Ron Stiehl, adding that, for once, he was happy his wife dragged him to church. "At least it seemed that way when He started walking toward us and everyone was yelling their heads off like it was Judgment Day."

"Turns out the King of Kings was just making the rounds," Stiehl continued. "I thought He'd be taller."

While God did not reveal unto man a reason for His visit—nor did He, in His great wisdom, offer to pay for the six stained-glass windows that shattered from the awesome power of His presence—the Almighty sat among His followers for the last 35 minutes of the Sunday service, as well as the free coffee and pastries that followed.

Sources said that Our Father sat alone eating two cinnamon-sugar doughnuts, and was approached only once, when 5-year-old Jeremy Pacheco tried to hug the omnipotent deity. The boy's parents immediately yanked him away.

The other 112 church members avoided God entirely, and reacted to His continued stay with a mix of astonishment, confusion, fearful reverence, and the sublime inner peace that comes with the knowledge of a power greater than oneself.

"I wanted to ask the Lord what heaven is like, and if my mother is there, but I wasn't sure if it's still considered taking His name in vain when you address Him directly," Wendy Alston said. "And I didn't dare draw attention to myself with two teenagers wearing blue jeans to church. I could barely look at Him, I was so ashamed."

"Oh dear God," said 72-year-old church volunteer Michael Sharpe, completely enraptured by the materialization of the One True Creator before his very eyes. "Oh, dear God in heaven."

Since the Almighty's decision to stop by the First Presbyterian Church, the theological world has been thrown into chaos. Presbyterian leaders said God's appearance was indisputable proof that their denomination is the one true faith, but afternoon sightings of the Lord at two other Fayetteville churches, as well as one synagogue, have cast doubt on that theory.

"God said He just wanted to see what we were up to," Pastor Pridgen said. "This is His house, after all. He can drop in whenever He wants."

"Although, you'd think an all-knowing deity unbound by time and space would be able to give us some warning so we could at least put a bulletin in the church newsletter," the pastor added. "Not that I'm complaining or anything. All praise be to God. Is He still hanging around the parking lot?"

Free Democracy

It would be best if Cheney is prosecuted and convicted!

Bill Nye "The Science Guy" was booed in Waco, Texas for suggesting the Moon did not generate its own light, but reflected light from the sun.

Trouble started when the children's entertainer brought up Genesis 1:16, which reads: "God made two great lights -- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars," and pointed out that the lesser light was actually a reflector.

At this point, several people in the audience stormed out, including woman with three small children who shouted, "We believe in God!" and left.

Nye was taking part in McLennan Community College's Distinguished Lecture Series, giving talks on global warming, Mars exploration, and energy consumption, but it was the moon thing that got them.

According to Morgan Matthew, "This story originally appeared in the Waco Tribune, but the newspaper has mysteriously pulled its story from the online version, presumably to avoid further embarrassment."

This is the link: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/04/06/04062006wacbillnye.html

Submitted by nora on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 1:13am.
It would be best if Cheney is prosecuted and convicted!
------
If there is any justice in the world, he will be Widgered on the Dibbleboard.

i'm explaining to the o.g. about the torture memos

he says "well they had to, they were terrorists"

then i had to explain to him that they're fucking marquis de sade libertines

(ie, fucking ghouls & sadists)

and i tell him about libby's "the apprentice"

NOW WHY WASN'T THAT ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEWS

FOR DAYS ON END...

"SICK FUCKING PERVERT IS CHENEY'S CHIEF OF STAFF"

the rat bastard had a major role in ratting out a non-official cover cia agent working on nuclear counter-proliferation

and the rat bastard walks free

Senator Feinstein On Torture Investigations: "They were not CIA officers, they were contractors"

First Feinstein gives her hubby inside track data on up-coming defense contracts when she's on the appropriations panel.

And now she's helping him with real estate deals via the bail out.

Unacceptable.

Feinstein is a crooked inside contact for her crooked husband. These BLATANT profiteers need to be made an example of. Two examples already of her greed and crookedness and MISUSE of the Public Trust! And what other profiteering deal has Feinstein pulled off that we don't know about!

Feinstein should resign or be KICKED OUT for her lack of ethics, failure to serve the public with honesty, and use of her office for personal gain!

And to top it all off -- Dianne Feinstein claims she didn't know this time! She did that LAST time too!

"Feinstein's office said the senator was unaware the firm of her husband, Richard Blum, had received an FDIC contract until the Times inquired about it Jan. 21."

Aside from an itty-bitty mention in my local paper, this is the only thing I found to clarify her corrupt activities on behalf of her and her husband's ever-increasing riches at the expense of the public.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/21/senate-husbands-firm-cashes-...

isn't that where polygamists marry 12 year old girls

and please, kevin...

NO MORE!

i swear to god

my head is going to explode

Submitted by air-ono on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 1:29am.
i'm explaining to the o.g. about the torture memos

he says "well they had to, they were terrorists"
-----------------------------
I am loathe to cite a remarkably sappy tome in a quip, but here goes.

Everything that people who now assume the merits of torture needed to learn was in kindergarten. And they didn't.
----
Authoritarians: You can't live with 'em and you can't beat sense into 'em.

(That last line is an irony twist, ono. I'd hate to think that I'm leaving you behind on this stuff.)

aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!

well who fucking employed them...

i didn't shoot no one

it was the assassin i paid

(this is torture)

the o.g. got the message

once upon a time i would have been none the wiser from watching nightly news...

once a week

You didn't know Widgers and Dibbles existed. Two words that escaped your humongous net. On Earth Day, yet.

is bogus!

there's 2 outcomes...

you will either extract information -- whether it's true or false

or the guy tied to the chair dies in agony

and there's 2 kinds of torture

noble torture; which is rare

(e.g. i know that x knows where y is... i torture the motherfucker)

and your garden variety sadistic torture

which is grist to the mill of dictators

I didn't know that Home Depot gave haircuts.. ;)
Submitted by MMRules on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 12:14am.

_____________________

You rule, MMRules!

That was funny.

Recently, dr mentioned his Indian roots on the blog.

Apparently, he's a member of the Mohawk tribe!

-------

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mohawk

:)

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

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is a repeat Disaster Profiteer & crook
Submitted by nora on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 1:36am.
*******
(She's one of my Senators)

But,The Wash.Times ? Ewwwwwwww ! :)

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

Frightening how even the editorial staff of a major newspaper jumps on board the fearmongering an-extremist-under-every-rock bandwagon, so much so that they are blind to the sadists flagrantly stroking themselves with compliments. So weird.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/22/ED96176E0D.D...

In defense of people

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

As the Earth has gotten warmer, more crowded and more polluted, there's been a rise in the number of extremists willing to sacrifice the lives of humans for those of animals. Activists who resort to deadly violence are terrorists, and should be treated as such.

Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 31-year-old Marin County native suspected of bombing two East Bay companies in 2003, was just added to the FBI's "Most Wanted Terrorists" list - the first domestic terrorist to earn that distinction. San Diego's placement on that list is exactly right.

On Monday, two animal-rights extremists were charged with conspiracy, stalking and other felony crimes against researchers at UCLA.

David Jentsch, a UCLA neuroscientist whose car was torched by animal-rights extremists last month, is fighting back with public opinion. He's the organizer of a pro-research rally that will be held on campus today and is expected to attract hundreds of supporters.

After the bombing, "I felt horrible and terrified, but I wasn't surprised," Jentsch said. "It's an attack on the university, and I'm just a proxy. And every day that passed, I got more resolute that ... the best way we could confront this was by stating the opposite case, which is that research benefits people, and that we're good people."

We couldn't agree more.

=====================================

Nothing has slowed -- even hindered -- advancements in finding dependable medical solutions more than the non-human animal model consistently substituted for valid human clinical studies and longterm epidemiological work. Doing animal research is like -- how can it be put -- like getting advance degrees in Sadism.

Isn't it a Red Flag when an animal researcher says about his Animal Research Tribe, "...we're good people." Let me complete his sentence for him: "...we're good people who just happen to think it's good to love to lock up animals and cause them pain and suffering. If society takes away our opportunity to do this to non-human animals, well, we might end up vivisecting human animals. Now WHICH do you want? So just move along, and leave us Sadists to our happiest pasttime in our labs, unless you want us to come after you and your family."

so just because he has a drinking problem & he's eaten of the beaver

the guy thinks he's marlon brando now...

what a phoney

: )

and, voxxy -- you'll be proud of me

yesterday i bought 2 anzac day badges

and here... here's an anzac biscuit

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

(free of charge)

money is finally starting to slightly flow here for me.

just a trickle compared to any preceeding decade.

that last winter was a doozie, i'm trying to recover my garden.

sheesh, looks like a wasteland.

and, voxxy -- you'll be proud of me

yesterday i bought 2 anzac day badges

and here... here's an anzac biscuit

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

(free of charge)

_____________________

What do your ANZAC Day badges look like?

Thanks for the biscuit.

How about some tea, Ace?

p.s. I'm positive that WiccanDruid will join us soon.

God Makes Surprise Visit To Local Church
Submitted by Kevin © on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 1:08am
*though some suspected the church's new electric organ might have had something to do with it.

*******
A Hammond B3 organ or Rick Wakeman's Mellotron, Minimoog, Hammond, Steinway Grand, RMI Electric Piano, custom mixer whole setup ?

Stiehl continued. "I thought Crank would be taller." ;-)

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

Submitted by air-ono on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 2:26am.
so just because he has a drinking problem & he's eaten of the beaver
*******
Huh huh huuhhh,he said Beaver !

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

(shoulda taken a pitcher in back, where the real artistry was
Submitted by dr on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:48pm.

Methinks my own peculiar brand a improvised half-mohawk, half-monk's-shave twere a novelty. (I even took a pitcher fer posterity.)

______________________

Do you have a fancy headdress with feathers?

Does this mean that you speak the Iroquoian language of the Mohawk tribe? This would explain a few things.

Looking forward to seeing the new Mohawkin' 'n monk dr 'do at the tribal powwow.

One of my grandmothers had a real cool Indian name and she was born on an Indian reservation. I didn't get a chance to tell you about it earlier, Too-Long-Tales-dr.

p.s. Were you protesting anything when you went bald-like or just in a skosh crazy trance? Better watch out for those visions. Dreams do come true.

----------

Origin:
1615–25, Americanism; < Narragansett (E sp.) powwaw Indian priest (and the identical word in Massachusett) < Proto-Algonquian...he dreams (used as a derived agent n. meaning “he who dreams”, i.e., one who derives his power from visions)

Word History: Because trances were so important to the Native American shaman as a means of getting in touch with spiritual forces beyond the ken of the normal person, the title powwaw, literally meaning "one who has visions," was accorded him.

(among North American Indians) a ceremony, esp. one accompanied by magic, feasting, and dancing, performed for the cure of disease, success in a hunt, etc.

a council or conference of or with Indians.

Reference:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/powwow

he may be a Zappa fish, not a Hitler fish?
*************************

"The Once and Future Rajah of Bhong."

evening gang!
Submitted by Sunshine Jim on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 2:39am.

that last winter was a doozie, i'm trying to recover my garden.

sheesh, looks like a wasteland.

______________________

Good luck with the garden, Sunshine Jim.

What are you planting in your garden?

*Click them all while your there..It only takes a min.. :)

Click To Give

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

WASHINGTON – For the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is headed in the right direction, a sign that Barack Obama has used the first 100 days of his presidency to lift the public's mood and inspire hopes for a brighter future.

Intensely worried about their personal finances and medical expenses, Americans nonetheless appear realistic about the time Obama might need to turn things around, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. It shows most Americans consider their new president to be a strong, ethical and empathetic leader who is working to change Washington.

Nobody knows how long the honeymoon will last, but Obama has clearly transformed the yes-we-can spirit of his candidacy into a tool of governance. His ability to inspire confidence — Obama's second book is titled "The Audacity of Hope" — has thus far buffered the president against the harsh political realities of two wars, a global economic meltdown and countless domestic challenges........

.......

So far, Obama has defied the odds by producing a sustained trend toward optimism. It began with his election.

In October 2008, just 17 percent said the country was headed in the right direction. After his victory, that jumped to 36 percent. It dipped a bit in December but returned to 35 percent around the time of his inauguration and has headed upward since.

Obama is keenly aware that his political prospects are directly linked to such numbers. If at the end of his term the public is no more assured that Washington is competent and accountable and that the nation is at least on the right track, his re-election prospects will be doubtful.........

Is Jane Harman Telling the Truth? And Why It's Important To Know

David Corn

MR. SIEGEL: But you are saying that you know it was an American citizen. So that would suggest that you know that there was a - REP. HARMAN: Well, I know that anyone I would have talked to about, you know, the AIPAC prosecution would have been an American citizen. I didn't talk to some foreigner about it.....................................................

LEBANON — Warren County is saying “no thank you” to federal stimulus funds.

The county is the only one in the state that has rejected stimulus money for transportation improvements, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Commissioners rejected $373,000 in stimulus money to buy three new transit buses and upgrade their fleet, citing their opposition of deficit spending for buses and vans.

“I’ll let Warren County go broke before taking any of Obama’s filthy money,” Commissioner Mike Kilburn said.

ODOT spokesman Scott Varner said the money was specifically for transit improvements in rural areas to improve transportation for disabled people, seniors and others needing access to health care and educational opportunities.

"I'm tired of paying for people who don't have," Kilburn said. "As Reagan said, 'Government is not the answer, it's the problem.'"

County Administrator Dave Gully said the Ohio Department of Transportation sent the county a letter saying it was eligible for the money, but the commissioners decided not to apply for the funds.

"It was an act of omission, rather than rejection," Gully said.

"About $180 million was allocated for this," Varner said.

"We had hoped to share those dollars with all counties, but Warren County has decided against it."

Commissioner David Young said the commissioners also are looking for a way to give back $1.8 million in stimulus money allocated for energy efficient windows and roofs on government buildings.

"We are working with the prosecutor's office to find a way for us to give back the money and make sure that no one else spends it," Young said.

"We want to make clear that we are saying 'no, thank you' to spending this money and we are reducing the $787 billion being spent by $1.8 million."..............

So U.S. President Barack Obama shook hands with Venezuelan President (and Sausage) Hugo Chavez at the Summit of the Americas. And Republicans have gotten the vapors over it.

On the CNN, Senator John Ensign opined, "When you're talking about the prestige of the United States and the presidency of the United States, you have to be careful who you're seeing joking around with. And I think it was irresponsible for the president to be seen kind of laughing and joking with Hugo Chavez. This is -- you know, this is a person along the lines with Fidel Castro and the types of dictatorship that he has down there in Venezuela and the anti-Americanism that he has been spreading around the world is not somebody the president of the United States should be seen as having, you know, kind of friendly relations with."

The line-up has been numbingly expected. Newt Gingrich, Dana Perino, Bill Bennett, all outraged, outraged, that Obama's DNA mixed for a brief moment with Chavez's.

Sean Hannity waxed incoherently on Friday, "[H]ere it is, Barack Obama shaking hands with Hugo Chavez. And we remember, what, two years ago, you know, this is the same guy going to the United Nations calling the United States evil, how President Bush had spoken the day before and the stench and the sulphur smell still stood there, and I'm thinking, you know, I'm looking at Barack Obama, and there's a lot he obviously doesn't like about this country, he doesn't seem to like our economic system, our superpower status, doesn't seem to like our history, doesn't seem to like our underlying law."

Okay. So, like, if Obama was caught giving Chavez a hand job under the conference table, if Obama had been seen in the cloak room having seven minutes in heaven with Chavez, if Obama had been getting a reacharound while Chavez was giving him a Venezuelan pipeline treatment in his ass, we might, and that's "might," have something to talk about.

But allowing Hugo Chavez to have a photo opp that he can hang in his office back in Caracas? That he can hand out as souvenirs? How, in any fucking way, shape, or form, does that weaken us? We no longer live in the era of thuggish arrogance from America. Don't they understand that?

They really have nothing to talk about. The Rude Pundit's said it before and he'll keep saying. Every word that comes out of their mouths now stinks of such rank hypocrisy that they may as well be brushing their teeth with bullshit.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2009/04/in-brief-ummm-how-is-this-bad-thi...

mine is a rising sun & the o.g's is a slouch hat

(pic of a rising slouch hat)

the bush crime family is making a full court press to win this and having democratic senators procrastinate is making it an easy win for them.

(lol)

it was written by the onion... those guys

//On the CNN, Senator John Ensign opined, "When you're talking about the prestige of the United States and the presidency of the United States, you have to be careful who you're seeing joking around with. And I think it was irresponsible for the president to be seen kind of laughing and joking with Hugo Chavez.//

lucky obama wasn't seen shaking hands/fins with chubby's frank hitler fish

then all hell would break out...

OBAMA'S A NAZI-HIPPY FISH SYMPATHISER

but senator wasn't it george bush who encouraged this...

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully"

omg! who farted...

it's ok guys...

"Yesterday the Devil came here. Right here. And it smells of sulphur still today"

[In a speech to the UN in Sep 2006, Chavez described Bush as the "Devil"]

good ole republicans. kicking the old people and disabled.

from a handful of news outlets

in america

every fucker gets a platform

(who the fuck is senator ensign)

then morning joe gets his marching orders and away he goes

Bill Press and Where TF is he? sniff :(
other than that Tea Cheers if anyone tiz still "here".
:):(

thats a real good question. clearly he is still taking his orders from the bush crime family.

he's a fucking muppet

my point is...

you have to have senator ensign, senator inhofe, senator fuckknuckle, etc, on
to spew their manicured spiel

or you're accused of liberal bias

(why not have charles manson on)

morning joe is on overdrive defending torture

Submitted by dan on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 6:27am.

_________________

And Mika is such a milquetoast foil for Joe Scar, the Colmes to Scar's Hannity.

It's really annoying b/c I get the sense she MUST know better re: torture, but she refuses to aggressively engage Scarborough when he is (repeatedly) verfiably wrong and/or deliberately misleading. It's bad enough she allows him to act the boorish ass all day long w/o more'n timid reproach, but is it too much to ask to pick a battle that matters and remonstrate this gigantic horse's ass for once?

It's tremendously irritating to hear Mika concede the "effectiveness" of torture to a blathering idiot like Joe Scar merely so that she can claim the somber flag of morality. Debating the fucking "morality" of torture just shows how low we've sunk in our wingnut-contaminated discourse. Debating the fucking "morality" of torture reduces it to a "reasonable people can disagree" he thinks/she thinks.

No. They. Can't.

If you are advocating for torture, it is a signal representation that, no, you are not informed, no you are not reasonable, and yes, you grasp at childish fantasies about how yer big swinging dick is going to intimidate the world into conforming to the pure dickitude authoritarianism to which you quite naturally gravitate.

Advocating for torture proves you are a know-nothing dead-ender asshole w/(ironic!) absolutely no faith in the very ('Murican) ideals you profess to uphold who'd rather be wrong and lose b/c you are animated by spite, delusion or denial.

The fucking point, imo, is that torture is NOT ONLY barbaric and it barbarizes the people who practice it (as well as the society that condones it), torture is ALSO (counterintuitive!) counterproductive and ineffective.

Lose, lose, baby!

So very emblematic of the Bush administration and all its apologists.

Dear old dad knows how to talk to children like Joe Scar.

I am "flying" about a bit and researching past week plus, in Sederville ... i.e. ... "golden" Links and Opinions & Articles...
PLUS I am e-writing an Aussie Friend, and dealing with ISSUES {MMRules I have signed "Rain & have "PETS" coming to my e-mails 2... (we shadow :):( )}
and dealing with dear darling wee monster meows & "pup".
:)

Submitted by Star Vox on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 3:42am.
-----
Submitted by dr on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 11:48pm.

Methinks my own peculiar brand a improvised half-mohawk, half-monk's-shave twere a novelty. (I even took a pitcher fer posterity.)

--------

Do you have a fancy headdress with feathers?

p.s. Were you protesting anything when you went bald-like or just in a skosh crazy trance? Better watch out for those visions. Dreams do come true.

________________

Protesting my own careless stupidity.

And like the White House sez: "Never let a crisis go ta waste."

In previous times, as now, when I fucks up like that, I wears it all crazy-lookin' for a night just for fun, then shaves it down to stubble.

dr, I bet Brzezinski cringes when he watches his duaghter's interaction with the Scar!

Submitted by air-ono on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 7:00am.
mine is a rising sun & the o.g's is a slouch hat

(pic of a rising slouch hat)

_________________

Thanks for sharing.

I want one of those!

It seemed to me, and maybe I was wrong, but it did seem to me that they were funning him a bit. Even Joe was asking leading questions.

Like when Cantor answered that the repubs were walking arms locked. That answer made him look like a fool. At least to me.

i'd give up on you guys, but i'm a staunch defender of anzus...

The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty

i may be sitting here naked in cowboy boots

but when duty calls i shalln't be derelict

and in the spirit of anzus

sound the bugle

i won't rest until the military industrial complex, the petro-chemical industry and the whole disinformation infrastructure are relics of the past

and crank is brought to justice for crime against ono-inannity

(so help me god)

I'm afraid of Americans
I'm afraid of the world
I'm afraid I can't help it
I'm afraid I can't
I'm afraid of Americans

stfu, bowie

giddy up, nelly
giddy up, y'all

Submitted by toniD on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 7:54am.
dr, I bet Brzezinski cringes when he watches his daughter's interaction with the Scar!

_______________

Think yer right.

Perhaps w/alla the affection of a loving father who faults himself while knowing full well that one a his chicks didn't ever quite learn to fly.

Mornin Scarbutt..Eeewwwww !

Sorry,I can't condone daily morning torture ! ;)

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

WSJ report: Bank of America CEO told to be quiet about Merrill Lynch

by Chris in Paris on 4/23/2009 06:12:00 AM
If this story is true it is very disturbing and raises many questions about Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke, again. The other problem that this story raises is where has Congress been? As much as I think Andrew Cuomo is fantastic and exactly who we need to move this mess along it's hard to imagine where Congress has been. What are they doing? Are they so deeply tied to Wall Street that they can only put together made-for-nightly-news TV clips with snappy questions? Those meetings in front of TV cameras are consistently a big waste of time because they rarely accomplish anything other than keep the faces of a few in the nightly news reports. Great personal PR but what about follow through that benefits the public?

Meanwhile, Cuomo is getting the goods and will make the information public later today.
The Journal said in Thursday's edition that Lewis doesn't say in the transcript that he was told specifically to remain silent about Merrill's burgeoning losses. But the paper quotes Lewis as testifying that disclosing that information "wasn't up to me," and that he was warned by Paulson and Bernanke that failing to complete Merrill's takeover would "impose a big risk to the financial system."

Citing a person familiar with the matter, the newspaper said Paulson told the NY AG's office last month that Lewis may have misread some remarks about Treasury's disclosure requirements as instead pertaining to his bank's obligations.

The government helped orchestrate the acquisition of Merrill by Bank of America over the same weekend in September that another investment bank, Lehman Brothers, went under and insurer AIG received its initial government support. Both the government and Wall Street were under substantial pressure to contain the financial meltdown.
It may even be worth calling in Paulson to speak in front of the cameras one more time just to see the look on his face.

http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/wsj-report-bank-of-america-ceo-told-t...

Submitted by air-ono on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 8:01am.

i'd give up on you guys, but i'm a staunch defender of anzus...

The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty

i may be sitting here naked in cowboy boots

but when duty calls i shalln't be derelict ...

________________

Yer gonna piss or shit in yer cowboy boots?

Breaking News

Irrelevant Lunatics Throw Pointless Tantrum.

I'm glad Politico got this hot hot scoop, and with any luck Drudge may give them a link.

-Thers 01:41

abot this:

Conservative reps. want Napolitano out

House Republicans are calling on Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to step down or be fired in the wake of a controversial department memo that has sparked indignant battle cries from conservatives and some veterans.

“Singling out political opponents for working against the ruling party is precisely the tactic of every tyrannical government from Red China to Venezuela," said Texas Rep. John Carter, a member of the party's elected leadership who has organized an hour of floor speeches Wednesday night to call for Napolitano's ouster. “The first step in the process is creating unfounded public suspicion of political opponents, followed by arresting and jailing any who continue speaking against the regime.”

In particular, conservative members of the Republican Study Committee raised repeated concerns about the report and Napolitano's subsequent defense of its findings on Wednesday, calling on party leaders to raise the issue with President Barack Obama during a White House meeting on Thursday.

The Department of Homeland Security issued a report earlier this month warning federal, state and local law enforcement officials that the slumping economy "could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past."

More here:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21606.html

AP Poll: Americans high on Obama, like direction
he's taking the country

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is headed in the right direction, a sign that Barack Obama has used the first 100 days of his presidency to lift the public's mood and inspire hopes for a brighter future.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama100_days_ap_p...

Right-wing fails to
dent Obama's agenda

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The outrage is definitely there, in certain precincts of Republican politics. What’s notable, however, is that it mostly has stayed there -- with little or no effect on Obama.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21540.html

New Christian sect battles demons, tries to raise the dead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Around the globe Christianity is growing and mutating in ways that observers in the West tend not to see. Tumultuous conflicts within Christianity will leave a mark deeper than Islam's on the century ahead.

http://www.alternet.org/story/137728/religious_revolt%3A_new_christian_s...

Right-wing Fox mouth Sean Hannity said he supports "enhanced interrogation" techniques like waterboarding, and has offered to undergo the grueling procedure for charity. "Are you busy on Sunday?" guest Charles Grodin asked yesterday. Hannity responded: "I'll do it for charity. I'll let you do it. I'll do it for the troops." Huffington Post columnist Jason Linkins called it a "golden moment" in media history. Donations are already being pledged on Daily Kos.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/22/hannity-offers-to-be-wate_n_190...

lol, dr. 2 dogs

i'm a little bit country, a little bit rock'n'roll, and a little bit greek

so i don't know

Life in American South for
poor Latinos is pure hell

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A new study finds that "legal" and "illegal", "citizen" and "resident," are distinctions without difference for poorer Latinos in today's Deep South.

http://www.alternet.org/immigration/137787/shocking%3A_today%2C_life_in_the_south_for_poor_latinos_is_pure_hell!/

how about 6 times a day

FOR A MONTH!

and not 3 seconds like brave sir showpony, christopher hitchens

Taliban extend hold, advancing
toward Pakistan capital

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taliban militants have extended their grip in northwestern Pakistan, pushing out from a valley where the government has agreed to impose Islamic law and patrolling villages as close as 60 miles from the capital.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090422/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_7

Alarms sound as Taliban advancement continues in Pakistan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taliban advances in Pakistan pose "an existential threat" to the country, US officials have warned as President Barack Obama prepared to hold talks in May with Afghan and Pakistani leaders.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090423/pl_afp/afghanistanunrestuspakistan_...

US says nearing key moment
in eastern Afghanistan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. and NATO forces are close to achieving "irreversible momentum" in their battle with insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, a senior commander said on Wednesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090422/ts_nm/us_usa_afghanistan_commander

US troops in Iraq on
their way to Afghanistan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
American soldiers who specialize in clearing bombs from roads boarded a plane Thursday from Iraq to the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan, part of the largest movement of personnel and equipment between the two war fronts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq;_ylt=As.sdA3N...

Hannity: Waterboard Me! Lefties: Sure!

Submitted by toniD on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 8:24am.

Right-wing Fox mouth Sean Hannity said he supports "enhanced interrogation" techniques like waterboarding, and has offered to undergo the grueling procedure for charity. "Are you busy on Sunday?" guest Charles Grodin asked yesterday. Hannity responded: "I'll do it for charity. I'll let you do it. I'll do it for the troops." Huffington Post columnist Jason Linkins called it a "golden moment" in media history. Donations are already being pledged on Daily Kos.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/22/hannity-offers-to-be-wate_n_190...

________________

This.

Must.

Happen.

I will settle for nothing less than a videotaped confession outta Hannity that he's an al Qaeda operative.

And that his mother wishes she had aborted him.

And that he secretly listens to the Dixie Chicks.

(This could take awhile for me to unpack my wish-list.)

Al Qaeda in Iraq Cheif arrested

Iraq TV: Omar al Baghdadi takin into custody

SC wildfire destroys homes
near popular beach area

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A coastal wildfire spread early Thursday toward one of the busiest tourist stretches in South Carolina after destroying more than three dozen homes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_re_us/us_sc_wildfire

6.137 million people out of jobs. Jobless claims jump to 640K this past week.

Per CNN report just now.

sheared too shear, so shloppily shorn
Submitted by dr on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 7:53am.
Submitted by Star Vox on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 3:42am.

Do you have a fancy headdress with feathers?

p.s. Were you protesting anything when you went bald-like or just in a skosh crazy trance? Better watch out for those visions. Dreams do come true.

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

Protesting my own careless stupidity.

And like the White House sez: "Never let a crisis go ta waste."

In previous times, as now, when I fucks up like that, I wears it all crazy-lookin' for a night just for fun, then shaves it down to stubble.

____________________

From counting sheep to imagining dr looking like a sheared sheep!

Any interesting reactions from people?

p.s. I have this long post or email that I have been writing for you to read. I also want to talk with you.

Obama to host credit-card CEOs, pledges new rules
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer
40 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, appealing to mainstream consumers, is pushing for more legal protection for the millions of Americans who use credit cards.

Obama was meeting with leaders of the credit-card industry Thursday, and he's already backing tougher legislation.

"The president believes new rules of the road for the credit card industry are needed," Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said ahead of the president's planned session at the White House with executives from the nation's top credit-card companies.

Obama and some congressional leaders are particularly focused on what they consider to be abusive and deceptive practices that squeeze people into paying much higher fees or interest rates than anticipated. Both the House and Senate are considering a credit card "bill of rights" to limit the ability of credit-card companies to raise interest rates on existing balances and to require greater disclosure.

White House aides said Obama's meeting with the credit executives is part of a broader outreach to different segments of the business community.

At issue is how to protect consumers, particularly in a severe economic downturn, while not imposing the kind of rules that could make it harder for banks to offer credit or that put credit out of reach for many borrowers. Industry advocates are wary of those consequences and hopeful Obama will listen.

The Federal Reserve has already ordered new rules, to take effect next year, that are designed to enforce a host of new consumer protections.

Almost 80 percent of American households have credit cards. The average outstanding credit card debt for households that have a credit card was $10,679 at the end of 2008, according to CreditCard.com, an online marketplace designed to link consumers and card issuers.

The White House says Obama is aware of the importance that credit cards hold in many families, particularly as a last option during hard times.

Kenneth Clayton, senior vice president for card policy at the Americans Bankers Association, said the concern is that new legislation may make economic matters even worse by shrinking lenders' ability, resulting in "less credit available to vast numbers of Americans" at just the wrong time.

White House economic adviser Larry Summers said over the weekend that the administration wants to curb pitches that addict people to plastic.

"Individuals are going to have to save more. That's why savings incentives are so important," he said. "That's why we need to do things to stop the marketing of credit in ways that addicts people to it and so that our households are again saving and families are again preparing to send their kids to college."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_credit_cards...

we'll go shopping and i'll buy you one

i'll be the guy at the airport holding up a plactard that reads:

the human spirit god
the spirit of humanity god
the human condition god
the daily headbanging god

we beseech thee
can we pray on the beachee

toni:

The link didn't work for me, so I looked it up.

Hate to be a video goon, but this deserves to be seen.

via videosift.com

More of this, please.

Awesomez! I knew one of those dumbfucks would bite!

Now, where's the sweepstakes to choose who gets to waterboard the dipshit? I WANT IN!!

MOorning!

"this machine kills fascists"

so as not to be a video goon...

in the embed formula, there's 2 sets of parameter

width="425" height="344"
width="425" height="344"

you can change them, manually, to e.g.

width="350" height="283"
width="350" height="283"

depending on the importance of detail

voxxy, if you come to australia
Submitted by air-ono on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 8:52am.
we'll go shopping and i'll buy you one

i'll be the guy at the airport holding up a plactard that reads:

the human spirit god
the spirit of humanity god
the human condition god
the daily headbanging god

we beseech thee
can we pray on the beachee

__________________________

It sounds like you have been studying some Greek mythology.

I believe you, Ace.

Banks May Be Required to Disclose Capital Needs After Stress-Test Results The Obama administration may direct banks judged to need capital after stress tests to disclose how they plan to get additional funds when the government reveals the results May 4, a person familiar with the matter said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aL3iW2q1QPu4&refer=n...

how to shrink your youtube

Submitted by air-ono on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 9:06am.

so as not to be a video goon...

________________

Your pedant's heart might court more favor if the blog was actually, you know, adversely affected somehow.

is really a sick SOB.

Just now on MSNBC they reported that the police found a Gray's Anatomy book with an automatic weapon inside. He had hollowed out the pages in the shape of the gun and placed the gun inside.

Also he collected panties and stocking from his victims. I also saw on another blog, and I should have posted because now I have to look for it, that he is a winger. But that's not surprising! Don't most of them live double lives!?!

fucker can't even operate a flowbee...best to leave the confusing stuff like code to the school kids...

'side...those Alaska tundra types don't read emily post...or change their socks unless they are having company over....

mornin dr... :)

Raytheon Profit Increases 14%; 2009 Earnings Will Exceed Company Forecast
Raytheon Co. said first-quarter profit rose 14 percent on increased sales from air-and-missile- defense systems and training programs. Profit for the full year will exceed the company’s earlier forecast.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=agzzbzXv4z20&refer=n...

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise to 640,000;
Benefit Rolls Reach a Record The number of Americans filing first-time applications for unemployment insurance rose last week to 640,000 as forecast, while total benefit rolls reached a record, indicating the labor market continues to deteriorate.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a.cmhItNA3Es&refer=e...

Submitted by Star Vox on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 8:40am.

p.s. I have this long post or email that I have been writing for you to read. I also want to talk with you.

____________________

Put my trip out west another week back. Was on the point of leaving Tues. night (to make the 2300 miles in 48 hours, doable but exhausting) when, that night (like to start a trip at night, vampire that I am) my washin' machine quit on me. Can't have short-term renters w/o no washin' machine. Still plannin' on stoppin' by on the way thru, but didn't wanna give you another date for arrival and put it back for another again.

and cent...

i don't know code from schmode

but i know numbers & i understand width/height

i see them together & i go into "what does this button do" mode

i might even check these out...

//More information about formatting options//

Shepard Smith, "'We are America, we don't torture! And the moment that is not the case, I want off the train!'...'We are America!' he shouted, slamming his hand on the table. 'I don't give a rat's ass if it helps. We are AMERICA! We do not fucking torture!!'"

Interesting choice of words all around, Shep, my friend...er, for the sake fof clarity, exactly what "train" would that be? The American train? The FOX Propaganda train?

"this machine kills fascists"

Submitted by cent on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 9:21am.

'side...those Alaska tundra types don't read emily post...or change their socks unless they are having company over....

mornin dr... :)

__________

This just goes to show you don't know what yer talkin' about, smarty pants.

We don't change our socks until they demonstrate the ability to stand up on their own.

Last year, FBI Director Robert Mueller told Vanity Fair that he did not "believe" that there had been a case where "any attacks had been disrupted because of intelligence obtained through the coercive methods." John Miller, a spokesman for Mueller, confirmed that position to the New York Times on Tuesday, saying, "The quote is accurate."

http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2008/12/torture200812?printable=true&...

General Motors (GM) announced yesterday that it will "temporarily close most of its U.S. factories for up to nine weeks this summer because of slumping sales and growing inventories of unsold vehicles." The closings will likely be "staggered between mid-May and the end of July," and may affect "15 of GM's 21 North American car and truck assembly plants, most of them in the USA."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AP-SourcesGM-to-shut-many-US-apf-15004037....

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was briefed about the Bush administration's torture program while she served as the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee in 2002, but she insists that "the lawmakers were told only that the C.I.A. believed the methods were legal — not that they were going to be used." The ranking Republican at the time, Porter Goss, "recalls a clear message that the methods would be used."

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/23/top-legislators-knew-of-inte...

It's from the Washington Times though.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff told reporters yesterday that "no new nuclear or coal plants may ever be needed in the United States." Wellinghoff's position goes beyond other Obama administration officials, "who have strongly endorsed greater efficiency and renewables deployment but also say nuclear and fossil energies will continue playing a major role."

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/04/22/22greenwire-no-need-to-build-new...

It's nice to know I don't have to worry about our president wandering around the oval office asking the same question...

Did you see Geithner on the tube at the TARP oversight committee hearings?

Those are supposed to be our best and brightest and Timmeh seemed like he was explaining how to balance a checkbook to his kids. It was kind of scary....

The IMF released a report yesterday finding that the "global economy will most likely contract this year for the first time since World War II." The report projects a 1.3 percent decline in global economic activity and a 2.8 percent contraction in the U.S. in 2009, but expects growth to resume in 2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/business/economy/23outlook.html?ref=wo...

This was another of Joe Scar's hobby-horses this morn: misrepresenting Blair's position b/c Joe Scar s torture.

I am in for a c-note if they promise to keep that mouth of his plugged for at least an hour...That would definitely be worth the price of admission....

Personally, I don't think he would last 15 mins before baring his soul and admitting his unrequited love for Dick Cheney....

Charles Grodin needs to run for the Senate....

Torturers For Hire
Former FBI supervisory special agent Ali Soufan, writing in an op-ed in the New York Times today, makes this parenthetical point regarding CIA torture:

(It's worth noting that when reading between the lines of the newly released memos, it seems clear that it was contractors, not C.I.A. officers, who requested the use of these techniques.)
I'm not sure if that puts a different gloss on Obama's decision not to prosecute CIA officers, but it's a point worth noting.

--David Kurtz

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/opinion/23soufan.html?_r=1&partner=rss...

Conservative Opposition To Johnsen Ramps Up
By Brian Beutler - April 23, 2009, 9:48AM
With Congress back in session, and major liberal interest groups throwing throwing their weight behind her, is the conservative campaign to defeat Dawn Johnsen ramping up?

Some signs certainly point in that direction.

Yesterday, The Washington Times--one of the country's leading conservative newspapers--published an op-ed calling her a "radical" and urging Republicans (and, comically, Democrats) to filibuster the President's choice to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

Also yesterday, McClatchy quoted Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) saying she faces a tough road ahead. "I think she's in real trouble," Voinovich said. "From what I'm picking up from consensus, she's got a problem."

And Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, has sent word out to her members to call their senators and urge them to filibuster Johnsen's confirmation. Some of those callers will enjoy friendly hearings. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) has already vowed to block the nomination of David Hamilton, who Obama selected to fill a vacancy on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

As I reported earlier this week, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA)--a key holdout, who's been tacking to the right in the last few weeks--has yet to decide whether he'd support a filibuster, and leadership hasn't yet scheduled a debate and vote on her confirmation on the Senate floor.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/conservative-opposition-to-jo...

has pelosi denied knowing? i keep hearing these democratic names being tossed out but i think there's a big difference between knowing something and making policy, approving policy, and executing policy but the bush crime family supporters want you to think they are equivalent.

Her absence has been conspicuous.

Hoping all is well.

As per usual, digby's gotta salient point re: the reflexive establishmentarian bias toward giving the benefit of the doubt to the Bush administration on torture, as if the Bushies were acting in good faith or absolved by ignorance:

-----------

... the torture apologists are behaving as if government experts were of one mind on this and that any patriot would have gone along. But the FBI disagreed and withdrew themselves from the program entirely because they believed it was illegal [and, the larger point, b/c they believed torture was transparently counterproductive].

This was something that people in the Justice Department knew, the Pentagon knew, the NSC knew and certainly the White House knew. And it meant nothing to them. They just had some lackeys write a couple of secret memos and went right on torturing.

Giving Bush administration officials any credit for acting in good faith --- or out of ignorance --- is totally absurd in light of this. The FBI's adherence to the rule of law in this situation (and the fact that the Bush administration let them do it without reprisals) proves that others could have done the same thing. It's quite clear that Bush and Cheney knew they didn't really have a leg to stand on.

-- digby

____________

As w/the run-up to the Iraq War, not every-fucking-one lost their fucking mind and started acting out sadistic fantasies.

The Bushies, as so often was the case, deliberately chose to do the wrong, illegal thing in perfect knowledge of their actions at the time.

Side note: I just love how John "Get off my lawn!" McCain, himself a torture victim, is running around like a piss-ant busybody telling people how prosecuting those responsible for trying, in secret, to de facto legalize the illegal torturing [the Bush administration and its apparatchiks] were doing, in secret, would have a "chilling" effect.

No shit? Really?

Isn't that sorta the fucking point?

You know, to have a chilling effect. On law-breakers. So it don't happen again?

Deterrant factor, anyone? Hellloooo?

(Weren't these the same bloviating assholes who were once the "law 'n order Republicans"? "Deterrant for thee but not for me," I guess.)

See the little blue widget thingy on the Embed line, yeah, that blue thing that looks like a gear.

Click it and you get the customize options as show above. click the block on the far left at the bottom for 320x265 and it will ajust the code for you.

Now get out piece of paper, close your books and laptops, turn off your cell phone cuz this is a pop quiz ya lil' bastahds! ;-)

(i took this snap from the Hannity vid)

Get Ready for 100 Day Stories
Prepare yourself for a week of "early verdict" stories on President Obama as we approach his 100th day in office. Ever since the early days of the New Deal, when FDR took major actions to pull the nation out of the Great Depression, reporters can't help themselves in celebrating this meaningless milestone.

However, Politico notes "senior White House aides are playing the game with relish, doling out made-to-order anecdotes and what-it-means analytical insights to help reporters write their 100 days pieces. You can already see the results in a spate of stories that -- thanks to competitive pressures -- editors are deciding to publish before the actual 100th day."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/04/23/education_of_a_president.ht...

The Return of Hillary
Yesterday's slap down of former Vice President Dick Cheney by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was a reminder of how useful it is for President Obama to have a star in his cabinet.

The Washington Post: "It wasn't the most stirring defense, but a defense it was, and it served as a reminder of Clinton's relatively low-profile in the first months of her tenure. To an extent, that makes sense; it's not the job of any Cabinet secretary to overshadow her boss, Obama has generally preferred to make major public announcements himself, and the White House is surely relieved that the Obama vs. Clinton storyline has been largely dormant since the Inauguration. But Clinton is a bona fide celebrity, the only one in the administration -- apologies to Hilda Solis and Shaun Donovan -- other than Obama. So when the president needs a surrogate to step up and help deliver his message, and rebut the criticism of a major figure like Cheney, Clinton is the obvious choice."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/04/23/the_return_of_hillary_cli...

it's not straight forward misinformation...

it clouds the issue

Education of a President
Time magazine is a bit early with a cover story on President Obama's first hundred days. Today is actually day number 94.

Joe Klein: "Whether you agree with him or not -- whether you think he is too ambitious or just plain wrong -- his is as serious and challenging a presidency as we have had in quite some time... Obama won't stand up to everyone, always; he is, after all, a politician. But the quality of fights he does choose will determine whether he builds his legacy on rock instead of sand. He has had a brilliant time announcing his intentions, but the real game of governing is about to begin."

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1893277,00.html

Meanwhile, a photo essay documents a Obama's historic start -- and provides a behind-the-scenes look at his life in the White House.

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1893255,00.html

Huffington Post

By Jim Carey (Yep,that Jim Carey)

Recently, I was amazed to hear a commentary by CNN's Campbell Brown on the controversial vaccine issue. After a ruling by the 'special vaccine court' saying the Measles, Mumps, Rubella shot wasn't found to be responsible for the plaintiffs' autism, she and others in the media began making assertions that the judgment was in, and vaccines had been proven safe. No one would be more relieved than Jenny and I if that were true. But with all due respect to Ms. Brown, a ruling against causation in three cases out of more than 5000 hardly proves that other children won't be adversely affected by the MMR, let alone that all vaccines are safe. This is a huge leap of logic by anyone's standards. Not everyone gets cancer from smoking, but cigarettes do cause cancer. After 100 years and many rulings in favor of the tobacco companies, we finally figured that out.

The truth is that no one without a vested interest in the profitability of vaccines has studied all 36 of them in depth. There are more than 100 vaccines in development, and no tests for cumulative effect or vaccine interaction of all 36 vaccines in the current schedule have ever been done. If I'm mistaken, I challenge those who are making such grand pronouncements about vaccine safety to produce those studies.

Con't

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

i've seen her nic on the online list

keeping abreast

adjusting her bra

and wiggling

oh, its a gathering storm

Zubaydah Interrogator: Torture Was Unnecessary and Ineffective

by Matt Yglesias

People continue to treat the claim that institutionalized torture is not an effective investigative method as some kind of fringe position adopted out of convenience by squishes who don’t want to face up to the hard tradeoffs in the world. But the fact remains that this is what you hear from [investigative professionals]. And it’s also the case that you never see examples of highly effective investigative agencies being reliant on torture ...

Meanwhile, here’s Ali Soufan, an FBI supervisory special agent who oversaw elements of the Zubaydah interrogations, speaking out:

...............

For seven years I have remained silent about the false claims magnifying the effectiveness of the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding. I have spoken only in closed government hearings, as these matters were classified. But the release last week of four Justice Department memos on interrogations allows me to shed light on the story, and on some of the lessons to be learned. [...]

It is inaccurate, however, to say that Abu Zubaydah had been uncooperative. Along with another F.B.I. agent, and with several C.I.A. officers present, I questioned him from March to June 2002, before the harsh techniques were introduced later in August. Under traditional interrogation methods, he provided us with important actionable intelligence. [...]

There was no actionable intelligence gained from using enhanced interrogation techniques on Abu Zubaydah that wasn’t, or couldn’t have been, gained from regular tactics. In addition, I saw that using these alternative methods on other terrorists backfired on more than a few occasions — all of which are still classified. The short sightedness behind the use of these techniques ignored the unreliability of the methods, the nature of the threat, the mentality and modus operandi of the terrorists, and due process.

.................

Soufan hints at this briefly, but another problem with institutionalized torture is that it wrecks your entire system of laws.

If you do a normal investigation and get someone to cough up the name of a confederate, then you can arrest the confederate. And then you can interrogate him through normal methods.

But if you torture someone to get him to cough up the name of a confederate, then what do you do? Well, you’ll have to kidnap him and send him to a “black site” or something. But then whatever info you get from him also has to go on the “secret” side of your operations. That means you can’t share it effectively with state and local law enforcement, or with the Border Patrol or with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Either that, or else in the name of effective counterterrorism you need to completely rebuild the entire system of law enforcement and criminal justice along Stalinist lines.

The FBI, which in addition to having national security responsibilities has always been in a position where it needs to cooperate with the “ordinary” police and prosecutors, is attuned to these kind of problems which, I think, is one reason why it was more institutionally resistan[t] than the CIA to getting into the torture business.

But in the long haul, to fight terrorism it’s extremely important to have effective methods of information-sharing and cooperation both vertically and horizontally across a very large country with a great diversity of law enforcement agencies. To take the most “high value” sources of information and unplug them from the rest of the system is a disaster.

MySpace Cofounder Logs Off

There’s no more space at MySpace for its founder: News Corp announced yesterday that MySpace cofounder and CEO Chris DeWolfe will step down once his contract expires. According to Reuters, “News Corp has been trying to freshen MySpace—once viewed as evidence of News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch's willingness to embrace the Internet generation after a life in newspapers—as its revenue growth has slowed and Facebook grows ever more popular.” Rumor has it that News Corp is courting a former top executive from Facebook to take MySpace over.

Read it at Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE53L6YL20090423

spying without permission.

Weren't we talking on the blog whether the Bush Admin had been listening to the members of congress and how they might use that to blackmail them into doing what they wanted?

Do any of you oldtimers on the blog remember that?

Oh, admit it Crank Bait--
Submitted by nora on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 1:52am.
You didn't know Widgers and Dibbles existed.
-----------------------
Hey! I watch Claymation videos just like any other kid!
---
http://www.answers.com/topic/widger

Widger: [family name] English (chiefly Devon): from the Old English personal name Wihtgār, composed of the elements wiht ‘elf’ + gār ‘spear’.
---
http://www.answers.com/topic/dibble

dibble: A pointed gardening implement used to make holes in soil, especially for planting bulbs or seedlings.

tr.v., -bled, -bling, -bles.
1.) To make holes in (soil) with a pointed implement.
2.) To plant by means of a pointed implement.
---
A dibble is somewhat like a marlinspike for clodhopping landlubbers.

A Widger is, clearly, a tiny spear for an elf.

From July 2005

News Corp, the company run by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has made one of its first major internet purchases. It has bought Intermix Media, owner of Myspace.com, the fifth most-viewed internet domain in the US and owner of other sites for $580m

Anyone notice how Republicans are the party of moral absolutism when it comes to "What will ever tell the children!" blow-jobs by a Democratic preznit ("It's not the sex! It's the lying!" -- principle!), but when it comes to Republican-inspired torture, they suddenly become fanatics of tortured nuance?

For me, a sure indicator of busybody assholishness is if you are a hypocritical scolding prig about private morality whilst apologizing and making excuses for egregious transgressions of public (trust) morality.

In the former case, the preznit's family and friends get hurt and disappointed. In the latter case, the entire world gets fucked over.

One seems somehow weightier than the other.

That is a classic video of that ass Hannity.
I would LOVE to see any of those fuckers "Water Boarded"
Bush
Cheney
Rumsfeld
Yoo
Perle
Rice
Elliott Abrams Gary Bauer William J. Bennett Jeb Bush
Eliot A. Cohen Midge Decter Paula Dobriansky Steve Forbes
Aaron Friedberg Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney Fred C. Ikle
Donald Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad I. Lewis Libby Norman Podhoretz
Dan Quayle Peter W. Rodman Stephen P. Rosen Henry S. Rowen
Vin Weber George Weigel Paul Wolfowitz

Shall I go on............

I've been thinking back to when we found out about NSA
Submitted by toniD on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 10:58am.
spying without permission.

Weren't we talking on the blog whether the Bush Admin had been listening to the members of congress and how they might use that to blackmail them into doing what they wanted?

Do any of you oldtimers on the blog remember that?

_____________

Oh, yeah.

I love Atrios' pithy advice for good ol' Jane Harman, too:

(paraphrase)

"Don't worry, Jane. If you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about."

Cryin' croc tears here. Harman repeatedly champions the illegal wiretapping and ONLY FUCKING NOW that she's caught in the snare does she get worked up over it. Her 'n Steny.

Fucking. Useless.

Is she ain't hopelessly corrupt, she's too stupid to be the head of anything.

(Gotta be an innerestin' backstory to Pelosi not givin' Harman the post she wanted, specially when she were in line for it, but gotta sez I'ma likin' Pelosi a whole lot more for doin' so.)

Hey everyone. Some sad news to report this morning. It doesn’t look like Steph’s dog Puff made it through the night. Jim and Chris will be hosting the show today. In Puff’s honor, please consider becoming a Guardian with the ASPCA and if you’re in the Los Angeles area, please join Steph this Saturday at the ASPCA 2K Venice Beach Dog Walk. Thanks.

insert comma's with all of those names I wrote
up above.

re: MySpace Cofounder Logs Off
new
Submitted by dan on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 11:03am.

******
... rats ... now I must finish the bloody transfer to FACEBOOK quicker ...
{... I must go exercise...grrr}

this might be why I & others are constantly getting Terms of Service Violations...
:|

Please accept my apologies

Submitted by smcgee43 on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 11:16am.

insert comma's with all of those names I wrote
up above.

_____________

That's strange. You act kinda tentative, almost defensive, most as if there's some kinda grammar-Nazi goose-steppin' about this place.

If you had keyed-in on the Cultivator Porn header when I first joked about your thrill with widgers and dibbling, you would have confirmed for yourself that I either already knew what the implements are or had verified their definitions.

Dibbling with your widger is all about making holes (the old in-out, conf. A Clockwork Orange) and birthin' babies.

"And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother."

(Onan needed a dibble for his widger...or vice versa.)

headin' thattaway soon

Submitted by dr on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 9:26am.

_____________________

Good to know. I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss any emails.

Now you tell me that you are a vampire. What a surprise!

p.s. Must go for now. Must pick up some extra garlic.

LOOKING FOR A WAY TO SERVE THAT'S RIGHT FOR YOU?

Serve.gov is a new portal for you and all Americans to find your own ways to serve in your own communities. Just choose whatever interests you – and type in your zip code to see what opportunities our partner organizations have in your area. Americans are putting their own country back on the right track, be a part of it:

http://www.serve.gov/

as if there's some kinda grammar-Nazi goose-steppin' about this place.

link sent originally by toniD at 10:44am
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE53L6YL20090423
;) {...but i did #1 c from dan's post :) }

she has made contact... all is well...just busy.

Tryin to defeat the bloggy time-suck monkey....

More Dirty Digs For nora Who Be Digging DirtSubmitted by Crank Bait on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 11:28am.

If you had keyed-in on the Cultivator Porn header when I first joked about your thrill with widgers and dibbling, you would have confirmed for yourself that I either already knew what the implements are or had verified their definitions.

______________

Crank's lament: "Please don't let me (jokes) be misunderstooooood."

WHITE SLAVERY!!!

(count on it!)

"this machine kills fascists"

as long as it is punctuated correctly....

Monsters Remonstrated.
Submitted by dr on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 7:47am.
...The fucking point, imo, is that torture is NOT ONLY barbaric and it barbarizes the people who practice it (as well as the society that condones it), torture is ALSO (counterintuitive!) counterproductive and ineffective...
---------
dr,

If you have not seen it already, you would benefit from five-and-one-half minutes spent watching Rachel Maddow interview Colonel Steven Kleinman on her show at the link below.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#30356577

I'm off for awhile.

Therapy end the end of this month and then I'm on my own. I will miss it because I've made some friends there. Crazy bunch and lots of fun so it makes going much easier.

Later

Bait really doesn't care much what you call him...
Submitted by cent on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 11:36am.
as long as it it punctuated correctly....
---------
"...as it it punctuated correctly..."?

You do this to increase my anxiety level, don't you? Leave the typos to the Rajah. He's established his chops as imperfectly sublime.

Serve.gov

Submitted by 60th Street on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 11:36am.
______________________________________________________

Whats up with that 60th Street?

Serve.gov has nothing on "white slavery" or Glenn Beck

Remember what I said..."when I am wrong I usually figure it out quickly, and recant" (hopefully before anyone notices....or replies) :)

U.S. Soldier Who Killed Herself--After Refusing to Take Part in Torture

When Soledad O'Brien is talking to a female soldier who served with another female soldier who killed herself after refusing to torture people, well, the media tide has turned. The Bushies are fucked. Cheney's going to have to suck it up and come out from behind the FOX wall and answer some uncomfortable questions if he expects mainstream America to support his arguments.

In my humblest of opinions, the torture apologists on the right are quite literally handing Obama 2012 on a silver platter. If you think what they're defending now is tough, now that the press is waking up to this, skeletons like this are the tip of the iceberg.

"this machine kills fascists"

you stretched the blog...

cunt!

over at the formatting page...

You Type: HTML tag for Bolded
You Get: Bolded

You Type: HTML tag for Emphasized
You Get: Emphasized

this is what you want...
this is what you get

this is what you want...
this is what you get

Submitted by Crank Bait on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 11:37am.
Monsters Remonstrated.
Submitted by dr on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 7:47am.
...The fucking point, imo, is that torture is NOT ONLY barbaric and it barbarizes the people who practice it (as well as the society that condones it), torture is ALSO (counterintuitive!) counterproductive and ineffective...
---------
dr,

If you have not seen it already, you would benefit from five-and-one-half minutes spent watching Rachel Maddow interview Colonel Steven Kleinman on her show at the link below.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#30356577

______________

Tx. It's a delight to see an adult speak to another adult intelligently about the matter w/o equivocating or defensively apologizing for their position.

(Confidence! Be careful Democrats: It's contagious!)

It is a testament, truly, to the acute infantilism that has seized this country that we must take seriously and rebut energetically the childish stupidities of people like Joe Scar and Joe Lieberman and Dick Cheney who transparently haven't the first fucking clue what they are talking about.

An aside: It is a source of immense satisfaction to not only have the voices of Olbermann and Maddow in our political discourse, I confess that I am totally smitten w/the fact that they both love making and using puns.

How To Make A Country Optimistic In 100 Days

"For The First Time In Years, More Americans Than Not Say The Country Is Headed In The Right Direction"

Obama, Direction Of U.S. Favored By Most Americans: AP Poll

RON FOURNIER and TREVOR TOMPSON | April 23, 2009 09:07 AM EST | AP

WASHINGTON — For the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is headed in the right direction, a sign that Barack Obama has used the first 100 days of his presidency to lift the public's mood and inspire hopes for a brighter future.

Intensely worried about their personal finances and medical expenses, Americans nonetheless appear realistic about the time Obama might need to turn things around, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. It shows most Americans consider their new president to be a strong, ethical and empathetic leader who is working to change Washington.

Nobody knows how long the honeymoon will last, but Obama has clearly transformed the yes-we-can spirit of his candidacy into a tool of governance. His ability to inspire confidence _ Obama's second book is titled "The Audacity of Hope" _ has thus far buffered the president against the harsh political realities of two wars, a global economic meltdown and countless domestic challenges.

"He presents a very positive outlook," said Cheryl Wetherington, 35, an independent voter who runs a chocolate shop in Gardner, Kan. "He's very well-spoken and very vocal about what direction should be taken."

But other AP-GfK findings could signal trouble for Obama as he approaches his 100th day in office, April 29:

_While there is evidence that people feel more optimistic about the economy, 65 percent said it's difficult for them and their families to get ahead. More than one-third know of a family member who recently lost a job.

_More than 90 percent of Americans consider the economy an important issue, the highest ever in AP polling.

_Nearly 80 percent believe that the rising federal debt will hurt future generations, and Obama is getting mixed reviews at best for his handling of the issue.

And yet, the percentage of Americans saying the country is headed in the right direction rose to 48 percent, up from 40 percent in February. Forty-four percent say the nation is on the wrong track.

Not since January 2004, shortly after the capture of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has an AP survey found more "right direction" than "wrong direction" respondents.

So far, Obama has defied the odds by producing a sustained trend toward optimism. It began with his election.

But he is aware that his political prospects are directly linked to such numbers. If at the end of his term the public is no more assured that Washington is competent and accountable and that the nation is at least on the right track, his re-election prospects will be doubtful.

"I will be held accountable," Obama said a few weeks into his presidency. "You know, I've got four years. ... If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition."

The AP-GfK poll suggests that 64 percent of the public approves of Obama's job performance, down just slightly from 67 percent in February. President George W. Bush's approval ratings hovered in the high 50s after his first 100 days in office.

But Obama also has become a somewhat polarizing figure, with just 24 percent of Republicans approving of his performance _ down from 33 percent in February. Obama campaigned on a promise _ just as Bush had _ to end the party-first mind-set that breeds gridlock in Washington.

Obama is not the first president who sought to tap the deep well of American optimism _ the never-say-die spirit that Americans like to see in themselves.

Even as he briefly closed the nation's banks, Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke in the first days of his presidency of the "confidence and courage" needed to fix the U.S. economy. "Together we cannot fail," he declared.

"When Obama came in," said D.T. Brown, 39, a Mount Vernon, Ill., radio show host who voted against Obama, "it was just a breath of fresh air."

Others said their newfound optimism had nothing to do with Obama, but rather with an era of personal responsibility they believe has come with the economic meltdown.

"I think people are beginning to turn in that direction and realize that there's not always going to be somebody to catch them when things fall down," said Dwight Hageman, 66, a retired welder from Newberg, Ore., who voted against Obama.

The AP-GfK Poll was conducted April 16-20 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media. It involved telephone interviews on landline and cell phones with 1,000 adults nationwide. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
___

Associated Press News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and AP writer Christine Simmons contributed to this report.
___

On the Net:

Poll site: http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/23/obama-direction-of-us-fav_n_190...

Okay....well, the funny bone's connected to the...WAIT!!...why am I doing all the work?!!?

click the link below, start at 2004 and work your way to now...

MAJORITYREPORT Blog/Audio Archives

"this machine kills fascists"

And, yes, it gets worse....

Submitted by 60th Street on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 11:50am.

U.S. Soldier Who Killed Herself--After Refusing to Take Part in Torture

When Soledad O'Brien is talking to a female soldier who served with another female soldier who killed herself after refusing to torture people, well, the media tide has turned. The Bushies are fucked. Cheney's going to have to suck it up and come out from behind the FOX wall and answer some uncomfortable questions if he expects mainstream America to support his arguments.

In my humblest of opinions, the torture apologists on the right are quite literally handing Obama 2012 on a silver platter. If you think what they're defending now is tough, now that the press is waking up to this, skeletons like this are the tip of the iceberg.

___________

It *is* sign of a sea-change. Granted.

However:

Would like to share yer confidence, but I am not so sanguine about this lovely hysterical reactionary explosive country of our'n to withstand another bout of temporary insanity should we get "hit" again "on Obama's watch!"

Somehow I do not suspect the Republican knuckle-draggers (who've been, imo, justifiably getting pushed around and mocked for the last several mos. for their collected stupidities) would refrain from using the crisis moment for partisan advantage.

(For the good of the country, you understand?)

Not sayin' we oughtta do anything differnt or temper our criticism or anything like that.

Just an observation about the nature of our country and the nature of the Goopers.

Grace under pressure is not exactly their bailiwick.

Don't know what your ingesting down there air o dude but the blog isn't stretched in IE 7 or IE 8 or the latest Firefox. check again

There is no need for you to rant childish curses like you are in a mental ward or something. lol

in this corner, champeen from down under a.o. and in this corner the whitehorse dude

thanks, whitehouse troll

(lol)

the o.g. and me at breakfast time

(in the sense that we squabble)

thats it, nothing there

but I do see that everyone thinks that

air-ono is a big time troll everyday with way too much time on his hands

time to go out and get stuff done

i'm out

He who must not be named makes rules up me thinks. It's up to us to guess what they are.

if you want to hear my radio appearance from April 1st go to my webpage
http://mhappe.com and click on blog.

om mani padme hum

besides beating up on cripples is so passe

: )

good thinking...

i'm gonna take a leaf out of glory's manual

and ease up on blogging

but that would be acknowledging that he is somewhat human with a minimal double digit iq, when "it's" not

:)

Submitted by Fernando on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 12:14pm.
He who must not be named makes rules up me thinks. It's up to us to guess what they are.

_____________

Who?

Kafka?

God?

Dick Cheney?

I is flummoxed.

Sebelius signs bill to raise Kansas minimum wage to $7.25 an hour
Kansas City Business Journal

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed legislation Thursday raising Kansas’ minimum wage to $7.25 an hour from $2.65 an hour, effective Jan. 1.

“This legislation is long overdue, and I am so grateful of the legislators, business leaders and working Kansans who helped make this possible,” Sebelius said in a Thursday release. “While the state minimum wage only applies to a small sector of Kansas’ work force, to them and their families, this legislation is critically important. Our economy must return to its core principle that an honest day’s work brings home an honest day’s pay, and today we’re taking a step in that direction.”
[...]

Link

Someone please tell me we haven't been pulling for a "Liberal" Governor who has been running a state with a 2.75 minimum wage for all these years....

I think the anti abortion crowd is less concerned with life than sin. If you believe that everyone is born in sin, the only life free of sin is an unborn one. Abortion is a sin because sex without the intention of having a baby is a sin. Capital punishment and torture are o.k. because they are punishment of sin.

I never get to be the troll :(

"this machine kills fascists"

That definitely was a typo or it was for workers like in a restaurtant that also get tips.

I believe that formerly that the kansas full minimum wage was in the $6+ range.

5 mins? yer slipping crank....
Submitted by cent on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 11:50am.
-------
Proofreading has a weird psychological element in it. Maybe we should consult with the resident (and free) therapist, mhappenow?

I write a post. I proofread. I consult the dictionary for any uncertain spelling or definition or more succinct synonyms. I look for agreement in tense and number. I recheck punctuation, especially apostrophes (apostrophe's?) and if it's questionable, I rewrite to avoid the problem. I spell check. Sometimes I preview the comment. Only after all of this do I hit the Post button.

Then, almost immediately, I realize that I have fucked up and anxiously wait for the page to load so I can hit the Edit button.

How does that work? I know it is related to the certainty that someone else is a better proofreader of your writing than you are...but I still don't understand how it works from a psychological perspective.

And, once again, I will explain my obsession.

First, it was because of the nuns.

Second, it was (is) because of my parents and older brother who had excellent English skills and who never hesitated to correct me or say, "Look it up" which taught me to research words and expressions that I do not understand.

Third, in adulthood I quickly realized that I am a lazy, procrastinating son-of-a-bitch who would never bother to write right or read with a dictionary handy if I did not vow to make myself do it. Reading on the computer with a dictionary window available is a godsend. Researching words and grammar is ten times faster than thumbing through a ten pound dictionary or grammar tome.

But I still don't understand how I can get it wrong and notice only in the instant after I have hit the Post button?

Similarly, if I set aside something that I have written and return to it some hours or days later, it is guaranteed that I will find errors and/or rewrite entire passages. I am rarely completely content with anything I've written after-the-fact.

Some authors say that they hate to read their published works. I understand.

cent, whats the fine print say. many states have a ridiculously low minimum wage for restaurant workers and others who are expected to get / share tip income. the idea was that the minimum the restaurant owner paid when combined with tip income would come up to the expected minimum wage.

what you saw is reported here:

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/04/20/daily43.html

When you are itching for a fight, best to go to an out of town bar....

Try ClownHall...I am sure you can manage to get in a few good lefts before the bouncers get a hold of you... :)

Anti Abortion Fundies & Torture

Submitted by oakland_steve on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 12:22pm.

I think the anti-abortion crowd is less concerned with life than sin. If you believe that everyone is born in sin, the only life free of sin is an unborn one. Abortion is a sin because sex without the intention of having a baby is a sin. Capital punishment and torture are o.k. because they are punishment of sin.

___________

Ding.-Ding.-Ding.

Winner-winner, chicken-dinner.

What I find remarkable is how Old Testamenty so many so-called Christians are whilst utterly ignoring the whole Jesus thang and ever'thing it implies.

Jesus was obsessively concerned about the poor. Fundies, not so much.

Jesus was obsessively concerned about injustice. Fundies, not so much.

Jesus was obsessively concerned about gettin' in Mary Magdalene's tunic. Fundies -- Oh, sorry, bad example.

Not discoverin' anything new here, a-course, but it's like the fundies take a Veg-O-Matic to scripture, slice 'n dice it up to suit their world-view, just so's they can aggrandize themselves before men whilst pretending to abase themselves before "God".

You don't never hear these busy-body assholes demanding that the Beatitudes be inscribed on the courthouse steps, do you?

i mean enhanced interrogation techniques. but more importantly she was disarmed by the whitehouse by being told that it was all legal and approved by the lawyers.

because the lazy pig is too lazy

the lazy o.g.: "well it's about fucking time"

so i ate all the anzac biscuits

and replaced them with cigarette butts and ashes

: )

sure it's a dangerous game i play

but that's what living on the edge of nothing is all about

sure i'm a simple man

with a simple rattle

but i got alot of complex issues on my mind

like whether i should shift that pen 4 inches to the left

(or only two)
(or 3)
(or 4)

Well, that's quite enough of my nitwittery for one stretch.

Vaya con rios.

Submitted by dr on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 11:55am.
...An aside: It is a source of immense satisfaction to not only have the voices of Olbermann and Maddow in our political discourse, I confess that I am totally smitten w/the fact that they both love making and using puns.
---------
You have hit the nail on the head. Punning is (fuck everyone who disagrees) a higher form of humor.

You have clarified for me why I don't cotton to Limbaugh's parodies or his other attempts at humor. I have avoided criticizing his jokey side because I suspected that I have an unreasonable bias against anything he does. I mean, after all, I tend to laugh at something from damned near any source. Everyone gets it right once in a while, even air-ono.

But not Limbaugh. And, thanks to you, now I know that it isn't simply due to my anti-Limbaugh bias. It's because his humor sucks. His are first grade level "you're a poopy pants" jokes. It's lowbrow. It's designed to appeal to the broadest possible audience which includes the functionally illiterate who, incidentally, would not know an overt pun if it him 'em in the kisser like a wet halibut from Nantucket, let alone something cleverly crafted from a vocabulary exceeding five hundred words.

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/4685#comment-329505

>>But I still don't understand how I can get it wrong and notice only in the instant after I have hit the Post button?

I think I can save you many long hours of therapy. The mental malady you suffer from is a common one: stupidity.

Yes, that's right; you're stupid. S-T-U-P-I-D. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!

Ess, Tee, Ewe, Pee, Eye, Dee- kid.

you are stupid...

and dumb, too.
*************************

I hope this helps...

Dan, that is the same exact link and article I posted... :)

It is not a typo either... It looks like the $2.65 was the minimum for exempted workers (tip workers, etc). Wow...Can you imaging working for $2.75 /hr? even with tips those are literally slave wages....

I am not sure I like the idea it took so long to get that done, but I am happy Sebelius managed it before she left office....

An Epiphany, Thanks To dr

Submitted by Crank Bait on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 12:48pm.

... But not Limbaugh. And, thanks to you, now I know that it isn't simply due to my anti-Limbaugh bias. It's because his humor sucks. His are first grade level "you're a poopy pants" jokes. It's lowbrow. It's designed to appeal to the broadest possible audience which includes the functionally illiterate who, incidentally, would not know an overt pun if it [?] him 'em in the kisser like a wet halibut from Nantucket, let alone something cleverly crafted from a vocabulary exceeding five hundred words.

_______________

Smacked?

Nibbled?

Clanged?

Mystery verb!

(Ahem.)

Allow me to refer you to yer previous post:

--------

Submitted by Crank Bait on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 12:24pm.

Proofreading has a weird psychological element in it ...

_________________

Long's I'ma doin' one more for the road, lemme tack on a coupla points.

Disagree slightly 'bout the nature of yer critique on Limbaugh.

I LIKE low-brow humor. So do you (I think), dependin' on how it's defined a-course.

My objection to Limbaugh's "humor" is the microcosmic aspect of the greater question as to why conservatives ain't too good on the funny.

Yes, you can easy say it's b/c conservatives are often assholes, which, granted, is part of the reason, an organic part, b/c:

Liberal-minded peoples use humor, imo, to bring the mighty low (i.e. puncture the self-importance, arrogance, fatuous stupidity and the like of the powerful) OR to poke fun, inna shared way, at the generly acknowledged condition of human foibles and frailty.

Conservatives (try to) use humor to preserve a selfish and self-satisfied and complacent status-quo that rarely if ever questions received truths.

Or just to be mean-spirited dicks. The (unironical) pain and suffering of others very often amuses conservatives. The frailties of the weak, disadvantaged or unpowerful are the stock-in-trade of "conservative humor". Which sez a lot about conservatives.

Who could forget the searing cruelty of Limbaugh making fun of Michael J. Fox's plea for the residents of yer fair state to not allow their humanity to be subsumed by their dogma? Seething is much too tepid to describe my reaction to seeing that display of "conservative humor".

Humor, imo, is the classic form of subversion by one's wits of the powerless over the powerful.

And hey, sometimes it's all ya got left.

imo

LOL

yes crank, I think they do make medicine for that!

om mani padme hum