So?

Good morning!

the post assumes facts not in evindence, in fact, they are facts that are manufactured and fantasies

the surge has never been a success by any measure what so ever, any claim of success was a rediculous lie repeated often by their cohorts in crime, the once proud fourth estatae

saw the latest Britney Spears news?

Aw jazus what did I miss?

Raven:

Check your Facebook…

and that darn pic again…if I ever see that again, I’ll…

the surge has never been a success by any measure what so ever

Technically not quite true. The bushies have a special measuring stick that they use which allows them to produce rose coloured lies.

I want to post this and hopefully someone will do a piece on directive 51, 56, 57

there needs to be blog storm and awareness which might serve as innoculation;

on the john Eliot show, air America tonight, I learned quite bit about presidential directive 51, there is also a “56″ and a “57″

the directive specifically says catastrophe “anywhere”, it does not carve any exclusions to catastrophe over seas

he has authority to shout down all communication, this means the internet, he has authority to commandeer the national guard and take control from the governers

we also know as a fact the fbi has been deputizing big bussiness, not “if” martial law takes hold but “when”

conyers knew nothing about directive 51 until the take back america forum, where he said he would research the directive

this does not bode well

the administartion has also floated a trial balloon where they claimed in the event elections could be suspended and while that didn’t fly at the time, it will definately fly if there is another “9/11″

this is not looking to me like these fascist masongenist bigots will amass all the power they have amassed, more then in the history of planet earth, only to hand their prize over to a democrat, a women, a black man, all three

I cannot believe they will leave their seat of power willingly, and let me tell you something;

if someone were to write a novel with all these events the reader would be incredulous that the populace didn’t see it comming, they wouldn’t believe the story

It’s a measuring schtick!

and that darn pic again…if I ever see that again, I’ll…

A tree hugger I am but never a bush

the bushies measuring stick is a mans measuring stick, always reported longer then actual length

Thanks for bringing back the photo, Attaturk. I hadn’t seen it in a few days and it’s so important to keep it out there.

If al Sadr calls off the truce, this could get very ugly very fast. With all the money (and weapons, presumably) we’ve been giving to Sunni groups to stay out of AQI, it was only a matter of time until al Sadr began to feel boxed in. When these two sides start going after each other in earnest, it won’t matter how many troops Petraeus has available, violence will go through the roof. The big task for Petraeus now will be to keep our guys from being definitively tied to one side of this and then become actively targeted. Good luck with that.

Now would be a good time for our guys to get the hell out of there.

the bushies measuring stick is a mans measuring stick, always reported longer then actual length

So accounts for the LARGE codpiece?

The big task for Petraeus now will be to keep our guys from being definitively tied to one side of this and then become actively targeted.

A real turning point that came about because of Tet was that, when we were really under the gun, we stopped differentiating between good Vietnamese and bad Vietnamese and unloaded on everything that moved in the towns and villages where the American units were attacked. I still keep thinking that’s going to happen again on a much bigger scale than we have seen thus far.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have called for a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience to protest raids and detentions.

The call on Tuesday came as fighting between Iraqi security forces and members of Sadr’s Mehdi Army in Baghdad and the southern oil port city of Basra threatened to unravel a much-lauded militia cease-fire.

At least 12 people were killed and 32 wounded in the clashes, according to the Interior Ministry.

Sadr imposed a suspension of the Mehdi Army’s activities last summer. That move was hailed by the U.S. military as a major factor in the decrease of violence across Iraq.

But the lull in violence has been threatened lately by military operations targeting militia members, such as recent operations in the southeastern city of Kut, and the arrests of Sadrist movement senior leaders

Reposting two chilling video clips on Iraq.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....ing.fields
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....y.of.walls

Listen to what Scott Ritter lays out about our troops if they attack Iran. It was also news to me that there is a new generation of nuclear weapons.

Saw those downstairs, thanks. Highly recommended. This is Iraq like it really is. So sad.

Now why would the Switzerland of the Middle East full of grateful Iraqis want to do that?

-G

P.S. Military incident in the Egyptian Suez canal involving the US Navy.

A real turning point that came about because of Tet was that, when we were really under the gun, we stopped differentiating between good Vietnamese and bad Vietnamese

I’ve actually seen some criticism of Petraeus based on what could be interpreted as an attempt by him to implement this lesson in his anti-insurgency plan. Sadly, I think you are probably right that once this gets really cranked up, our guys won’t have the time, resources or on the ground information to distinguish who is who and will be forced to repeat the sad history.

We already are at 4 million Iraqis displaced by this war. I think that number could take a major jump if this sparks the way it could.

4,000 US troops dead, tens of thousands wounded.

At least 200,000 Iraqis dead, 4 million more wandering around aimlessly as refugees.

But ‘chaos’ will ensue if we leave.

No, the truth is chaos will continue if we stay.

you know, cris mathews actually came up with a great slogan for the democrats, I don’t have it verbatum, read it on raw story about an hour ago and can’t find it now, anyway;

“winning is bringing our troops home”

can you say;

ba dah BING

PS, I want to point something out about directive the directives giving president the power to “decide”

first, HE is the one that determines what is or isn’t a catastrophe, WITHOUT oversight on that decision, for instance, if HE says 4 dollar a gallon gas is a national security catastrophe, THEN IT IS

second;

this ‘catastrohe” CAN BE ANYWHERE”, it says so, this means if there is a catastrophe in china, this counts

this my friends is scary, scary stuff

Basra’s heating up.

With tensions rising, Muqtada al-Sadr’s headquarters in Najaf ordered field commanders with his Mahdi Army militia to go on high alert and prepare “to strike the occupiers” and their Iraqi allies, a militia officer said.

The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t supposed to release the information, also said the movement had ordered its supporters to join a civil disobedience campaign nationwide. The group was calling for sit-ins as part of a “civil revolt” in protest of the raids and detentions.

oh just great… via corrente wire, the BBC is reporting that Patreus thinks yesterday’s massive attack on the Green Zone was Iran’s fault…

so, the president says there will be no draw down, that will be left “to the next president”

the democrats need to start asking outright, to his face, “what kind of surge was THAT?”

and they have to ask petreaus point FRIGGIN blank;

“is the surge putting our national security at risk”

and if they don’t get the RIGHT answer from petraeus then they have to ask the other generals.

this has got to stop AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

No, the truth is chaos will continue if we stay.

bushco has no clue what to do except do what the chimp has always done. Fuck things up and then run like hell away from the problem. Actually dealing with matters is an anathema to him. They honestly do not give two hoots about leaving this mess to the next administration, all they want to do is stall, stall and stall again in the hopes that they can leave the WH with oil contracts lined up and to hell with the dead, wounded, displaced and defiled.

of course, it couldn’t be our fault now could it, it couldn’t be the “surge’s” fault now could it

this guy is another traitor

work, later dogs

Perris,

We are living in a coup d’etat. Those directives are there if our fig leaf kabuki democracy starts to push back in any manner. So far so good, the coup is getting everything they want and their plans are proceeding with hardly a glitch.

Joe Wilson stepped out and he got it. Sibel Edmonds was silenced. Trials of the so called terrorists, the reason for all “this” have not been held, or are sham show trials which do not prove any threat in proportion to the response so far.

If the dems don’t eat each other enough for McLie and his running mate Joe Lie to take the ceremonial head of state, then the will pull out their directives and find some excuse or false flag.

We are the powerless pawns.

“winning is bringing our troops home”

Excellent slogan from Matthews. He’s been on Morning No-Joe today, but hadn’t heard that one. They’ve been mostly on politics. The Hillary “misspeak” about Bosnia, the Carville stunt. [Imus No-Satellite this a.m. Prairie No-Report….]

Prairie Today: Gone to the Dogs….

But America luvs its brain-damaged wacky Mac. Nothing can go wrong with the nice old man at the helm can it?

Mornin’ All,

so, the president says there will be no draw down, that will be left “to the next president”

some dfh somewhere proposed that “next president” appoint this murderous imbecile Ambassador to Iraq - bein’ that he’s always so warm and gooey when it comes to creating a democracy and he could help cement “a foundation for peace for generations to come”

On Jan 22, 2008, UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler offered a snapshot of the disaster that is the life of Iraqi refugees. Emphasis added below:

The survey – undertaken as part of a wider survey of Iraqis who registered with UNHCR’s office in Syria between 31 October and 25 November 2007 – showed that every single person interviewed reported experiencing at least one traumatic event (as defined by the Harvard Trauma Survey) in Iraq, prior to their arrival in Syria.

One in five of those registered with UNHCR since January 2007 – more than 19,000 individuals – are registered as “victims of torture and/or violence” in Iraq. . .

Seventy-seven percent of the Iraqi refugees who were interviewed reported being affected by air bombardments and shelling or rocket attacks. Eighty percent reported witnessing a shooting. Sixty-eight percent said they experienced interrogation or harassment by militias or other groups, including receiving death threats, while sixteen percent have been tortured. Seventy-two percent were eye witnesses to a car bombing and seventy-five percent know someone who has been killed.

The report highlighted the many forms of torture endured by Iraqi refugees, including beatings, electric shocks, objects being placed under fingernails, burns and rape. Most instances of torture were perpetrated by militias (sixty-nine percent). The survey conclusions call for increased advocacy among all groups within Iraq to end torture and for programmes to address mental health issues among Iraqi refugees and displaced persons. . .

UNHCR together with its health partners are prioritizing psycho-social support for refugees. This includes regular referrals to psychiatrists, clinics and mental health institutions. UNHCR is also working with volunteers to offer support to the family members of people suffering from psychiatric disorders. The survey showed that depression and anxiety are highly prevalent – at eighty-nine percent and eighty-two percent, respectively.

UNHCR has appealed for $261 million this year to support Iraqi refugees and those displaced inside Iraq. Part of this money will be allocated to psycho-social care and support the governments which have so generously hosted millions of Iraqis. A large scale response, however, is extremely challenging in a region which does not have many psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health support mechanisms.

More than 2.2 million Iraqis are presently uprooted in Iraq while an additional 2 million have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries, in particular Syria and Jordan.

Those “foundations for peace” that Bush speaks of being laid? They are being laid on the blood and broken lives of over four million Iraqis.

good morning cbl.

mornin’ doll

thank you loo hoo and good morning.

Great idea. Bush could sit at talks between the waring tribes and bring blessed peace. With no US military for protection.

Perris, I won’t believe these bastards are gone until I see them walking out with my own eyes. I agree with you. January 20, 2009 is a LONG time from now. Plenty can happen between now and then.

The new McBush/McChaney/McCrazy ‘SuperSurge’ may have to be moved up a wee bit. Now don’t act suprised…it makes us look like we are with Obama and the terrorists.

ALIVE and with their bodies and minds intact.

Here we go: Just in time for my getting over there for the Beeb:

BBC website ‘unblocked in China’

Dubbed the great firewall of China, the Communist government routinely blocks foreign news sites such as the BBC.

But BBC staff working in China now say they are able to access news stories that would have been blocked before.

However, the firewall remains in place for Chinese language services on the website and for any links in Chinese.

‘Without hindrance’

Beijing has never admitted to blocking access to BBC news stories - and there has been no official confirmation that the website has been unblocked.

But Chinese users trying to access pages on the site have almost always been redirected to an error message telling them: “The connection was reset.”

It now appears that this is no longer the case, and access to the site is much easier.

more…

How can Bush and his cronies not be on trial for war crimes?

Good morning, greenwarrior! And everyone.

this exchange between you and mr. cbl is what i consider the truly excellent news of the morning: love showing. thank you both very much.

knowledge can serve as innoculation, I think every single progressive blog should do a piece on these directives

Pakistan’s new prime minister has freed the judges.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — To thunderous applause from fellow lawmakers and a packed visitors’ gallery, the newly chosen prime minister of Pakistan on Monday immediately released the judges detained by President Pervez Musharraf when he imposed emergency rule last year.

Meanwhile, Sarkozy of France is threatening to boycott the Olympic games in Beijing because of Tibet…

A real turning point that came about because of Tet was that, when we were really under the gun, we stopped differentiating between good Vietnamese and bad Vietnamese and unloaded on everything that moved in the towns and villages where the American units were attacked. I still keep thinking that’s going to happen again on a much bigger scale than we have seen thus far.

Raven,

if you read over this lengthy 1 pager,(h/t Prof Cole) you’ll see how close you are:

page down to : ‘The Battle of Baghdad’

How To Disintegrate a City

I guess we don’t have that luxury, what with all of our debt.

agreed. and URGENT. this was one of the things i was saying to people i was getting to register to vote for the first time in 2004 - that there is a difference between dems and repubs - that if bush is sworn in again, he may not leave.

The lack of accountability is truly stunning. The most direct vehicle for keeping the Executive Branch in line is Congressional Oversight — which has been mostly missing in action for the last seven years.

In the coming days, watch for new developments from: Pakistan; Gaza; Egypt; China; and Indonesia. This latter is developing…

(This is stuff down the pipeline I’m currently working on…)

Gov. David Paterson of NY has admitted to smoking cannibis…weed, reefer…in addition to f*cking women not his wife. I’m not sure who is worse: Eliot or David…

Awwww shuuucks. blushing demurely.

Yep–we owe China 1 Trillion US dollars in US Treasury bonds just sitting in the vaults in the People’s Bank of China. China can threaten to call in the debt–actually it can’t afford to–but just saying that can send the US markets into a panic. Just what the Street needs these days…

Raven:

your Facebook…

thank you gw,
have you seen your first bluebonnet yet ? nothing out here in god’s country to date but then again I spend waay too much time indoors, wink wink :D

Neither. Who cares what they do in their private sex lives? Or if they smoke dope? Other than, in Spitzer’s case, say, the banks he was investigating. Or, the Republican disease next in line for Paterson’s seat.

Moi? Yesterday, me and 54 others were summoned for a jury impaneling from 1:30 to 6:15 pm. I did not get selected. The accused was charged with having possession of less than a gram of cocaine (sounded like it was from a sting). What a colossal waste of everyone’s time and money and energy. And the sentence for guilt was 6 months to two years. I disqualified myself with the prosecution for saying that amount of cocaine should be decriminalized and that my eyeballs were rolling around in their sockets from all the waste of everyone’s time. There was no political motivation that I could see. Just some unfortunate black guy facing a lot of jail time for nothing that was hurting anyone else. If I wasn’t facing my deadline to apply for social security tomorrow morning with an impossible to reschedule appointment, I’d have tried to be on the jury just to give him a break.

End rant.

the bluebonnets are springing up everywhere here. i love them. the lupines in the mountain wilderness in oregon were my faves when i lived in oregon and was hiking and backpacking in those mountains all the time.

China owns the US because of the crushing debt created by Bush/Cheney when they cut their own taxes. Yet, when McCain talks about even more tax cuts, the MSM simply reports it as credible when they should laugh him out of the room.

Let us see, Oil is at $100/Barrel. Iraq produces 2 million Barrels a day, which is $200 million per day. Monthly oil income is about $5 billion a month.

Smuggled Iraq oil may be as much as 25% of the total, or more than $10 billion a year. Halliburton controls and maintains the oil terminals, but has failed to put oil meters on exports. Also, much of the smuggled oil profits go to insurgents.

Our great military, with spy satellites and unmanned flying drones and Total Information Awareness, cannot follow ocean going tankers full of smuggled fossil fuel. The surge is working because the Oil Companies are robbing us all.

Gov. David Paterson of NY has admitted to smoking cannibis…weed, reefer…in addition to f*cking women not his wife. I’m not sure who is worse: Eliot or David…

Nothing wrong with reefer, nothing wrong with open marriage. This is 2008 for gosh sakes. Puritanism be damned!

There was no political motivation that I could see. Just some unfortunate black guy facing a lot of jail time for nothing that was hurting anyone else.

Surely you jest when you say no political motivation. Could you see them trying this with a white guy? It would never get the damn prosecutor elected to governor when his/her time came.

Good for you for speaking your mind to the a**holes

jimwhite - if you are still here… on yesterday’s issue of “where are our carriers?” - hugh had a great link that corrects my news sourced comment.

and it’s possible that the question on where are our carriers is not OT, if one is anticipating the possibility that the situation in iraq becomes significantly worse. who here doesn’t think that iran will be blamed?

from yesterday’s thread:
betrayus blamed iran for the recent shelling of the green zone in bagdad.
nuclear sub seen in the suez canal on it’s way to the persian gulf

from carrier status link above:

The USS Truman departed Norfolk on Nov 5, 2007 for a 7 month deployment to the ME and was scheduled to be relieving the USS Enterprise (which makes sense, because the Enterprise had already been there for 6 months - a stand tour). The USS Truman arrived in the persian gulf in mid-Dec 2007, which means we can expect the Truman to be in the ME until July, when it should normally be relieved by another carrier.

But - and this is the big one (imo) - the USS Lincoln departed for the ME on March 13, well before the time the USS Truman needs to be relieved. WTF is the USS Lincoln doing going to the ME now? Does this not sound like an escalation of carriers in the ME?

and finally, a reminder that Fallon (”it won’t happen on my watch”) announced his resignation on March 11 - just 2 days before the USS Lincoln left for the ME.

i’m having a hard time convincing myself that the timing of Fallon’s resignation and sending the USS Lincoln to the ME is a coincidence.

i’m having a hard time convincing myself that the timing of Fallon’s resignation and sending the USS Lincoln to the ME is a coincidence.

Don’t even try. The shitheads are determined to illegally invade Iran as the bloody Israelis have demanded.

and finally, a reminder that Fallon (”it won’t happen on my watch”) announced his resignation on March 11 - just 2 days before the USS Lincoln left for the ME.

i’m having a hard time convincing myself that the timing of Fallon’s resignation and sending the USS Lincoln to the ME is a coincidence.

repeated for emphasis

and finally, a reminder that Fallon (”it won’t happen on my watch”) announced his resignation on March 11 - just 2 days before the USS Lincoln left for the ME.

i’m having a hard time convincing myself that the timing of Fallon’s resignation and sending the USS Lincoln to the ME is a coincidence.

and don’t forget, petreaus just blamed Iran for the most recent attack

I have found our critters are woefully unaware of current events

someone, I think pelosi but maybe somone else, has made it clear impeachment would be back on the table if Iran were attacked

I think we need to make these events known to our critters

and let me remind everyone, if the president goes to war in Iran, that would certainly be something he could call some kind of emergency..can you say ‘martial law”?

Well, I concede the point.

A lot of prospective jurors were saying marijuana should be decriminalized, to the point where even the judge made everyone laugh saying, “Well, this is Travis County!” (Austin, TX, one of the live DFH capitals of country). But most people had no opinion about cocaine. I chalk that up to what people did and didn’t have experience with.

One really scarey and surprising to me part of the questioning of us:
the prosecutor asked each of us individually what we thought sentencing in general should be for:
1. punishment - for it’s own sake because a law was broken
2. as a deterrent to others
3. for rehabilitation

it was half and half between punishment and deterrence and only about 5 of us said rehabilition. ouch!

One really scarey and surprising to me part of the questioning of us:
the prosecutor asked each of us individually what we thought sentencing in general should be for:
1. punishment - for it’s own sake because a law was broken
2. as a deterrent to others
3. for rehabilitation

it was half and half between punishment and deterrence and only about 5 of us said rehabilition. ouch!

Yeah well Texas what the hell do you expect from the state leads the world in state sponsored murder. (And gave us the chimp)

the second fallon resigned, that was my signal that we are going to war on iran. martial law could happen anytime for any reason imo. i would like to have some idea what to do about these things to prevent them. i don’t normally talk about these things on the threads because i don’t want to arouse my own fear and also other peoples’. who has ideas for action plans? please.

Red Sox 6-5 over Angels

Talk about not anticipating something ….. who would have thought that $200 donation for a new computer for Firedoglake would not qualify for even a thank you ……….. nice! Very republican “entitled” of you. I guess more time at common dreams is in order. They send a thank you for donations.

We’re all waiting for Nancy to finally join reality and step up.

Worse at what?

Recommended reading.

-G

who has ideas for action plans?

very important question.

i think the most important thing we can do is to make clear what is happening - that military conflict with iran is entirely optional. and that it appears that cheney is CHOOSING war.

presumably e that some rational or “incident” (possibly involving israel?) will be used as a justification for military conflict. we have to undermine those lies before they are told if possible, or at the very least, jump on them immediately.

… i’m sure if we put our heads together we could come up with more and better ideas.

i’m not holding my breath.

How can Bush and his cronies not be on trial for war crimes?

This simple, straightforward question should be asked of members of Congress regularly.

And, as they try to weasel out of a straightforward answer, chapter and verse of Hugh’s excellent work should be offered up as over 300 places to start making the case.

In Alaska, where we have no capital punishment, has the concept of “corrections as rehabilitation” enshrined in our state constitution. The GOP has tried a couple of times to have that changed, but even with it there, rehabilitation programs have been gutted to the point of total ineffectiveness.

Darn, missed the last thread dumping on designated “liberal” warmonger Michael O’Hanlon. While his interview opportunities may be drying up (It’s not about being wrong all the time, Michael. It’s about looking ridiculous while you’re doing it.), he should comfort himself that the op-ed page of the NYT will always be there as it has been for every other braindead neocon needing a place to vent.

selise,

I’m back. I had a quick errand. Thanks for the updated carrier info. It doesn’t look good with all the new rhetoric ratcheting up on Iran.

On another front, if you look at yesterday’s thread on McCain and the contest to find quotes where he asked for enforcement of campaign finance regulations that he is now violating, I left a comment at the bottom with a link to the CSPAN archive where he makes the most incriminating comment that has been found (see comment 98 on that thread–it really makes him hypocritical at this point). The link I found requires a purchase from CSPAN and has over 12 hours of recording to dig through, but his comment should be there. I’ll be happy to cover the purchase if you want to take this project on and make the YouTube that will really fry McCain. You can email me at jimwhitegnvATyahooDOTcom.

Our great military, with spy satellites and unmanned flying drones and Total Information Awareness, cannot follow ocean going tankers full of smuggled fossil fuel. The surge is working because the Oil Companies are robbing us all.

I raised this bullshit issue a couple of days ago.

HTF (first word “How”) can they tell us with a straight face that oil is being ’stolen’ in Iraq? Like we’re powerless to stop it.

It was the first thing we secured during the invasion, but now we don’t have control of the oil fields?

Come on.

greenwarrior at 69 says in part-”One really scarey and surprising to me part of the questioning of us:
the prosecutor asked each of us individually what we thought sentencing in general should be for:
1. punishment - for it’s own sake because a law was broken
2. as a deterrent to others
3. for rehabilitation

it was half and half between punishment and deterrence and only about 5 of us said rehabilition. ouch!”

======

on the local radio this morning,

kentucky is again releasing non-violent felons from prison……..going to let them do drug rehab and monitored home incarceration.

is going to save the state millions. they are doing it because of a budget deficit, in the millions.

i just googled it—this has been going on for a few years now, in montana, arkansas, texas, kentucky, michigan, maybe more.

too many articles to link, and couldn’t find one about the latest announcement from kentucky..

my question is–why put them in prison in the first place, if they’re gonna let them out again?

remember when they had ’shock’ sentences for first-time offenders? to deter them? maybe that’s what’s going on.

doesn’t make sense, if non-violent class d felons are getting released, why sentence them to prison in the first place?

seems they’d be more likely to do well in treatment if they kept their jobs, etc., instead of going to prison and starting over.

no brainer.

THE SPLURGE:

Borrow money from China to give $60K per month to each militia faction to not kill American soldiers - until the money, or the administration runs out.

Yes, it’s Protection Money, paid out by General Paytoprotectus.

Have our great-great-great grand-children still paying off the bill.

Deadbeat Republicans !!!

In the wake of Cheney’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the Shura Council discusses mitigating the effects of fallout from a strike on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility.

Sheer coincidence.

-G

wjbill at 73–

i heard they were working on that, wj…….i think a good measure of how grateful they are would be the amount of time they spend informing us…….above and beyond.

so, don’t feel slighted, i heard they’re working on it.

jim, i was just away from the toobz while making more coffee *g*. i’d be very happy to make the youtube clip if you can cover the cost of the dvd. in addition to the youtube, i could post the clip in a good quality mp4 format for downloading so that others could, if they have the inclination, use the clip to in some creative way in their own youtubes. i will go check out the cspan link and email you to work out the details…

gregb at 86–
your link was an almost blank page except for an ad for bush’s war and a few sidebar articles, but not the one you were talking about.

maybe me, i’ll try again.
i’ll check back later.

Good Morning All.

The bushies have a special measuring stick that they use which allows them to produce rose coloured lies.

Those nits must have found my parents’ old measuring tape. Back in the ’50s, they always used that sturdy, reliable old tape to measure their fishing success. But it slowly dawned on them that the fish were getting larger & larger every outing. Uh. The tape was cotton. Had they not been so honest & tossed it, they could have gotten millions on eekbaye.

Time Warner CNN-Taiwan requested helicopter batteries from the Defense Department. The Pentagon shipped components for Intercontinental Ballistic Missles that carry nukular warheads, instead.
So…

uh, oh….

jim - are you sure that mccain actually said that? it looks to me like that statement could have been entered into the record as one of those “revise and extend” UCs or by some other method that does not mean anything was actually said on the senate floor.

Try refreshing once the page opens.

-G

Another deceptive story about Iraq from the NYT begins:

Troop levels in Iraq would remain nearly the same through 2008 as they have been through most of the five years of war there

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03.....ref=slogin

It is not until the second page of the story that the figure of 140,000 appears and even there it is couched as follows:

leaving roughly 140,000. That number includes the 15 combat brigades in Iraq before the troop increase, as well as additional support, training and other units that are expected to stay

So it’s really back to the same 15 brigades except it’s not. The article also uses the number 132,000 as the base pre-surge number. All of this is subtle and not so subtle shading to try to sell the idea that troops levels are going back to pre-surge levels except they aren’t. For me, this is all part of selling the success of the surge by simply redefining what that means and doctoring and spinning the data as much as possible.

I’ll go take a look at the full document in the link.

Good ol’ Halliburton, still making money the Cheney way!
FU little people!

Iraq contractor fights suit over toxic exposure
Tax loophole may subject construction firm to damages

By Farah Stockman
Globe Staff / March 25, 2008

WASHINGTON - When the American team arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2003 to repair the Qarmat Ali water injection plant, supervisors told them the orange, sand-like substance strewn around the looted facility was just a “mild irritant,” workers recall.

Edward Blacke, a safety representative on the project, said he tried to raise safety concerns but was told not to get involved.

SOUNDING ALARM
more stories like thisThe workers got it on their hands and clothing every day while racing for 2 1/2 months to meet a deadline to get the plant, a crucial part of Iraq’s oil infrastructure, up and running.

But the chemical turned out to be sodium dichromate, a substance so dangerous that even limited exposure greatly increases the risk of cancer. Soon, many of the 22 Americans and 100-plus Iraqis began to complain of nosebleeds, ulcers, and shortness of breath. Within weeks, nearly 60 percent exhibited symptoms of exposure, according to the minutes of a meeting of project managers from KBR, the Houston-based construction company in charge of the repairs.

Now, nine Americans are accusing KBR, then a subsidiary of the oil conglomerate Halliburton, of knowingly exposing them to the deadly substance and failing to provide them with the protective equipment needed to keep them safe.

But the workers, like all employees injured in Iraq, face an uphill struggle in their quest for damages. Under a World War II-era federal workers compensation law, employers are generally protected from employee lawsuits, except in rare cases in which it can be proven that the company intentionally harmed its employees or committed outright fraud.

KBR is citing the law, called the Defense Base Act, as grounds to reject the workers’ request for damages.

But the company’s own actions have undermined its case: To avoid payroll taxes for its American employees, KBR hired the workers through two subsidiaries registered in the Cayman Islands, part of a strategy that has allowed KBR to dodge hundreds of millions of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes.

…

Seems to me that we have seen this before… .

Attaturk, you never cease to amaze. All this awful news swirling around, and you capture it perfectly, then… my poor tired brain has burned into it forever:

There is virtually no factual claim for which there is not a metaphorical rake for Bush to step on.

Thanks. I needed that. I suppose it’s proof-positive that he’s brain-dehd, or simply, utterly evil since he’s the only one who apparently doesn’t feel a thing. unless u count deadeye.

Good day, everybody!

I do apologize in advance if this was brought up earlier (like, over the weekend), but I just came across this (via TBogg):

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=9942

I don’t know if this has already been posted..

‘The three-star director of the Navy staff was fired last Friday for providing “false and misleading information” during a Defense Department inspector general investigation, the Navy’s top spokesman confirmed Monday.’
http://www.navytimes.com/news/.....m_032408w/

Actually, the Times was thinking of Bush family troop levels and that will remain the same at zero this year, next year, next war, forever.

1,792 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…

Citizen Attaturk and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:

I am now convinced that the only way we insure a Democratic victory across the board this fall and cut off all escape routes for the fascists in what is called the Republican Party (and the Democratic Party too for that matter) is to impeach Cheney first and then Bush if he hasn’t fled to Paraguay by then. This will get everythin out on the table where even the corporate media can’t spin it and will insure that the troops come home by the Spring of 2009. It would also take the attention away from attacks on Obama and insure that McCrazy will never serve a moment in the White House.

I’m really worried that the corruption of our politics is SOOOO deep in both parties that if we don’t impeach these bastards right now, none of the evidence of the fascist treason will see the light of day.

And I want to hear from any supporters of Mrs.Clinton-McCain about why she should not be drummed outta the Democratic Party today, fer Christ’s sake!

The souls of 4,000 Iraq vets and over 55,000 fallen Vietnam vets as well as hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi dead will haunt us to our graves if we don’t stand up before God and the rest of the world and account for our crimes…we are all responsible, that’s what we teach our children that in a Democracy all are accountable and we have this moment to stand up and show the rest of the world that we are fit to live with civilized humans.

KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION FEAR IS JEST A WORD!!

Seems to me that we have seen this before… .

With Blackwater among others. But there is really no problem here. Clearly, these are not KBR employees for tax purposes although they are for the limited purpose of being poisoned.

Okay, here’s what I don’t understand. This was a substantive post. To me it was well written, interesting, informative. Yet I see only 101 comments in 2 hrs. 40 minutes. Yesterday, the post belaboring Richardson’s change of mind on who to endorse, 183 comments in 1 hr. 45 min. Go figure.

Hard to believe Vice Adm. John “Boomer” Stufflebeem was fired. He is just what you would expect if a Bush became an Admiral.

In the printed Congressional Record, it falls under the heading “STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” in a broader section that appears to be comments on official actions (heading on p. S15408, 11/21/2003). That is, it looks like this was a written document included in the record, not a floor speech.

Oh well.

It’s still a very nice quote.

selise,

It looks legit. The statement is in the middle of what is clearly marked as his speech in the Congressional Record when I went to one page earlier from the link provided. It should be on the video.

I’ll do some searching for video of him explaining how he now has “opted out” of public financing even though he used it as collateral. This should get really fun.

some people have to work

It’s what’s known as “pithy posting”. More punch to the line.

Oops, I’m no good at reading CR, obviously.

Hi Raven.

It has a lot to do with the time of day. There are far more people browsing the blogs in the middle of the afternoon then this time of the morning.

…or I suck.

Both may be true, but the first reason is the more likely cause.

MAybe Monday was a holiday for some, easter monday and all that.

That’s because the Republic infection of the national dialog has made the act of a politician changing his/her mind controversial and a question of character.

Door # 1 Attaturk. Yer the best!

5 comments in 5 minutes to Anninz. Not bad (for those of you keeping score….anal fools)

What up?

i see it the way peterr describes it in 105 - and looking at the c-span archive clip for the day (not complete - and not a substitute for the dvd, but they usually have more floor statement of over a minute or 2), i don’t see it there. could be that c-span has the wrong video filed under the date, or i went to the wrong day in the archive… but at the moment i think the statement was entered into the record without an actual statement on the floor.

p.s. you can email me at gmail dot com

1,792 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…

Citizen Jackie @99:

Impeach the bastards right now, for God’s sake!!

KEEP THE FAITH AND THROW THE BASTARDS IN LEAVENWORTH!!

you are great!

but conflict (and a post that people disagree with) will spark more comments than a post that says it all, and it so convincing no one has much to add. *g*

don’t forget the SCOTUS got fooled too.

a post that says it all, and it so convincing no one has much to add. *g*

I could hear the kiss from NH for chyssake!

No, sorry. Impeachment is off the table for reasons that we are apparently not smart enough to understand. Nancy certainly makes no effort to explain why.

oops forgot to add the link to the c-span clip archive.

nuttin much. just tryin to figure why someone’s sitting there counting comments instead of reading ‘em.

Hope you’re doing well as can be expected. Suspect we’re both less than stellar, waiting for the other shoe(s) to drop from deadeye & nitwit.

Makes me S.I.C.K. Supposedly, we learned our lessons a few decades back…

NH?

Per MSNBC - we accidentally sent Taiwan nuclear weapon components instead of, I dunno, Monopoly games or something.

Early reports - “Red faces at the Pentagon”.

There’s also the fact that this post is a sequel, which generally have to work a lot harder to reach the suspense-filled intensity of the original.

By the time one gets to Part MMLXVII, the whole suspense thing has kind of worn off.

Nancy certainly makes no effort to explain why.

How do we get a forum to ask that question? MSM is not going to, she is certainly not going to get near “real” people and as for expecting anyone of the critters to ask her on the floor… well that like expecting bush to tell the truth.

We’re supposed to believe that was accidental?!

MSNBC also reporting that HRC is running full steam backwards from her earlier statement about landing in Bosnia under heavy sniper fire.

Shuster says this one may have legs…

Damn no edit. Not “from”, “in”. Oh well.

We’re supposed to believe that was accidental?!

Why yes, of course.

What - you doubting the Pentagon or something?

Or, as John Cole says, “The DFHs were right about everything.”

Not much more to say after that.

To be specific:

The Pentagon said on Tuesday that it mistakenly shipped non-nuclear ballistic missile components to Taiwan from a U.S. Air Force base in Wyoming.

It said the items have been returned to the United States.

At a news conference, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said that the misshipped items were four nose cone assemblies for ballistic missiles. He also said it was sent instead of helicopter batteries that had been ordered by Taiwan, he said.

I know I keep getting missile nose cones and helicopter batteries mixed up.

I’m a faithful reader of “Opus”. I’ll find another way to say it, heh.

I know I keep getting missile nose cones and helicopter batteries mixed up.

Battery rams?

I guess it points to the real danger. As long as the current Iranian government exists, they could order a gross of turnips from Russia and end up with an accidental delivery of nuclear warheads and delivery systems. It happens to the best of them. Then where would we all be.

yep–some people have to work all right. I’ll be off to Hong Kong in a few…won’t be at the Lake for another 18-20 hours or so. Will be in transit. Unless I get wifi at The Tom Bradely International Terminal (TBIT–the US gateway to southeast Asia) at LAX, where I have a lay over of 4 hours or so…

Raven: Check your Facebook…

Norske, There is something about being called ‘Citizen’ by you, that just makes me feel so good. Thanks :)

On a serious note, things in Irak/Afghanistan are heating up.
The deal in Basra/Green zone/Al sarda and with the loss of the fuel convoy in Afghanistan
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7311064.stm) bad things are coming down….

I know I keep getting missile nose cones and helicopter batteries mixed up.

Idiotic Question #4001: If a mil. type notices batteries ain’t batteries, does said person have to resign rather than call the error to some higher-oop’s attention?

think i’m gonna be sick….

I know I keep getting missile nose cones and helicopter batteries mixed up.

Hey - it could happen. Lots of missiles have square nose cones. Not to worry, I’m sure we have “Top People” on this….

I know I keep getting missile nose cones and helicopter batteries mixed up.

Easy to do. Kinda like putting real nukes on the B-52 from North Dakota. Shit happens, Peterr.

Maybe she confused a movie with real life the way Reagan used to do. Sounds rather Presidential, in a Republic sort of way.

LOL - i forgot it’s primary season and we’re not supposed to be nice to each other anymore.

It’s what’s known as “pithy posting”. More punch to the line.

If that mean just bitching for bitching sake alone, okay. I guess that’s it. I figured it may be the time of day, but I’ve seen other early morning posts that seemingly got more attention. And I’ve seen other mid-afternoon posts that got a lot less. Or maybe I just see certain subject matter as more inane than a lot of others here. I like subjects on the ecology, the economy, policy, Constitutional matters. I also liked process where it came to how to get rid of Lieberman, or someone like Zell Miller. But where it comes to analysising a single superdelegate’s motives for changing his mind regarding who to endorse in a close race, I see it only as a means to reaffirm someone’s opinion that it was somehow a mortal sin, whereas I don’t see it as sin at all. This indicates a food fight to me. I can just imagine that next the discussion will move to “Was Carville Right to Call Richardson Judas!” I used to love Carville, but with him sleeping with the enemy and dropping campaign info behind enemy lines, I don’t see where he gets off calling others names. I don’t see where he has much sway in Dem politics anymore. I think he’s become obsolete.

Maybe she confused a movie with real life the way Reagan used to do. Sounds rather Presidential, in a Republic sort of way.

Yeah, those flowers the kids were handing her *did* look pretty lethal.

And the way the children were kissing her: well hell, who wouldn’t be scared witless?

Oh, jiminy. You would have to make that connection. What if those ND warheads were just the ones we found out about?

Oh, why couldn’t they have sent over, I don’t know, trash compactors or blankets? But nosecones?

And I STILL am curious about the tail number on that B-52 that flew into Minot AFB for the nukes and didn’t have wing attachment points set up for that job: where did it come from and where was it supposedly based? I’ve never heard.

There is virtually no factual claim for which there is not a metaphorical rake for Bush to step on.

nice

This surge smoke screen has been annoying me from the beginning. 2 divisions won’t make a lot of difference in a country the size of Texas with a population of 10’s of millions. What caused the lowering of violence has more to do with the Madhi truce and the recruiting of former Sunni insurgents by the US. Now the truce is unravelling and we’ve armed the Sunnis against the Shiite central government. We’ve doubled down in order to get some temporary peace. We’ve guaranteed there’ll be a civil war as soon as we leave.