I don't get it

Chavez to Double Energy Subsidies to Needy in U.S.
By Maggie Farley
Times Staff WriterSeptember 22, 2006

Chavez Slammed For 'Devil' Remarks
Sep 21, 2006 5:55 pm US/Eastern
Democrats Take A Break From Criticizing President Bush To Defend Him

Ummmmm.... Gee, I wonder why as the Republicans are losing support the Democrats are NOT gaining support?

Panel: FDA needs more power, funds

US...meet the bathtub fucker.




("My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."
Grover Norquist)

I couldn't help but wonder if Howard Rich is a buddy of his?



Can anything staunch the nausea?

Music anyone?

1. Little Wing - Stevie Ray Vauhan & Double Trouble

2 . Tennessee Plates - John Hiatt

3. The Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin

4. I Miss You - Blink 182

5. Mambo DAD LZ

6. Woody And Dutch On the Slow Train to Peking - Rickie Lee Jones

7. DAD LZ Sancti Petri (Rumba)

8. Living It Up - Rickie Lee Jones

9. Pride And Joy - Stevie Ray Vauhan & Double Trouble

10. Tainted Love - Soft Cell

Tainted Love?

Bwwaaaa haaa haaa haaa haaa haaa ha ha ha ha

Analysis: Is bin Laden truly dead?

Analysis: Is bin Laden truly dead?
By CLAUDE SALHANI
UPI International Editor
9/23/2006 9:15:00 AM -0400

Ok. After five years of the Bush Administration's assault on civil liberties in the guise of the "War on Terror" and this speculation that Osama binLaden is dead do I feel any safer?

Not a fucking chance.

My child wants to see Europe. If she gets to go I'll be terrified the whole time that someone will find out that she is an American. She doesn't deserve to be treated in an ugly manner, she is not the typical "Ugly American." She's had to deal with so much grief that she she didn't earn already in her lifetime.

All of the goodwill that America received after helping destroy Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany has been squandered. All of the goodwill that America received after 9/11 has been squandered.

Will The Next Election Be Hacked?

A Call for Dumping Diebold Machines - From a Republican
Eric Kleefeld
TPM Cafe
Septermber 21, 2006

A bit of background for those who are unaware:

20 Amazing facts about voting in the USA


Chuck Hagel SourceWatch


Why Smoke was Coming Out of My Ears
OpEd News September 19, 2006

Hope

Hmmmm. I sat next to the woman who worked for Dukie again yesterday. I was incredibly impressed with her. He may have deserved her at the beginning of his congressional career, but not at the end of it. Washington is way too polluted for someone with his ability to navigate. It seems as though it did not sully her. Whoever hires her will be getting one hell of a good employee. I hope that they deserve her. To her credit, she refused a job working for Bilbray, you know, the one who raised such wonderful children ? She said she wanted to get away from politics.

Tomgram: Robert Lipsyte, America Juiced on Sports

Or, "Why even though I was a competitive athlete I always hated competition."

Or, "Why I never liked jocks."

Princeton hack-a-vote video

Dukie Dookie

Soooo I'm taking this whaddaya-wanna-be-this-time-around class, kind of like whaddaya-wanna-be-when-you-grow up for old farts like me, and people who actually had a real career the first time around, unlike me. Everything is moving along, some people progressing more than me, but I expected that. I've been sitting next to this nice, friendly lady for 3 hours by now I'll have you know. We're all looking for an employment change. She has said that she worked for a congressman for eleven years. So on the way out of the class I get curious and ask which one? "Duke." she says. I say "Dukie?" and she gets this instantly wary look in her eye, meanwhile I have launched into my 'This is why I hate that bastard and you ain't gonna see this on the newz', tirade, because it's how I discovered Francine Busby in 2004. This woman starts in on Busby with "She is not what she seems to be." I fire back with "Oh yeah? I've been in her house and she's the same person there."

Then something struck me as I got in my car and I started laughing. The guy she worked for is in jail and she's acting like it's her job to defend the big pile of dookie from Francine Busby?

Bwwwwaa haaaa haaaa haaaaa hahh hahahahahaha.

Ahem. I've met Francine Busby. Washington needs at least a hundred people like her in order to make a teeny weeny dent in the corruption problems.

Wonder where we'll sit in class tomorrow?

Religion sucks no matter what brand it is.

Pope offends Muslim leaders
Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:20 AM BST





This cracks me up. Why? Because on closer examination of the article it's the radical Muslim leaders that are offended at something the pope quoted that someone else said 600 years ago. And since when aren't the Muslim Brotherhood getting their noses out of joint at something some Westerner said?


Pope fails to allay anger of Muslims
Tensions escalate despite apology
By FRANCES D'EMILIO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
9/18/2006

Click to view larger picture
Associated PressSister Leonella, shown in a family snapshot, was killed Sunday in Somalia.
VATICAN CITY - Anger and violence over Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on Islam continued unabated Sunday, even as the pontiff said personally he was "deeply sorry" that some Muslims had been offended.
Two churches were set on fire in the West Bank..., raising to at least seven the number of church attacks in Palestinian areas over the weekend blamed on outrage sparked by the speech.
Concern also arose that the furor was behind the shooting death of an Italian missionary nun at the hospital where she worked for years in the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia.
Pistol-wielding attackers shot Sister Leonella, 65, four times in the back as she left the Austrian-run S.O.S. hospital. Her bodyguard was also slain....

Ok, soooooooo... the Pope pissed off a bunch of Muslims by quoting something from the fourteenth century that said that Islam has a few problems with violence.

You know? I have less and less use for organized religion every day. It is an irritant to me.

Henry Kissinger

Kissinger warns of possible "war of civilizations"

This power-hungry, old, rotten-to-the-core bastard doesen't know how to sell anything but war.

Check it out:

Video: The Trials of Henry Kissinger: The Making Of A War Criminal:
"A fascinating, bombshell documentary that should shame Americans, regardless of whether or not ultimate blame finally lies with Kissinger. Should be required viewing for civics classes and would-be public servants alike." -- Brent Simon, Entertainment Today.

from Information Clearinghouse

pbs NOW tonight's show Blog the Vote

About the Show[Streaming video for this program will be available online after broadcast]

» -->Left-leaning political bloggers - people who share their opinions through online journals - are determined to demonstrate their real world influence in the upcoming mid-term elections. But will they finally make political headway, or just more hype?NOW visited one of the blogosphere's biggest events, the YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas, to see if the bloggers can turn their online advocacy into on-the-ground results. One of the bloggers' favorite national candidates is Montana Democrat Jon Tester, who's now locked in a close race for the US Senate seat held by Republican Conrad Burns. But how much of a role did bloggers play in Tester's initial success? Will they be able to push him on to victory in November?Now also visited with Montana blogger Jay Stevens, who's doing his best locally to help Tester. "I'm a middle-aged guy with two kids, a mortgage, and a car. I think that's what most bloggers are like," says Stevens. He rejects the stereotype that bloggers are a bunch of radical, left-wing crazies. "The question shouldn't be, 'Why are there so many radical bloggers?' The question really should be 'Why are there so many angry people blogging?'"NOW also talks to Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, one of the Internet's biggest and most influential political blog sites. "You have a couple million people reading liberal blogs...and they're looking for ways to get involved. And they're looking for ways to participate and take hold of their own democracy. And that is powerful," says Moulitsas."What's important, if this movement is to succeed, is for the people who are reading DailyKos and other blogs to then turn off their computers and go talk to people off-line. And that's where the 'preach to the choir' part ends."Find blogs in your state:Progressive/Liberal Blogs, state by state:Progressive State BlogsConservative Blogs, state by state
Web Extras: About the Show Perspectives: Huffington and Sullivan on Political Blogging Interior Official Slams Agency

Heh, it works for the little guy sometimes, whaddaya know?

Remember this?

Evidence ruled sufficient in penis pump case
News Archive
August 24, 2006

'Bomb Whisperer' Case Dropped
Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2006


Man, I just love it when the justice system works. I really do. I'm not being facetious.

cell phone hell

War, Murder, Rape... All for Your Cell Phone
By Stan Cox, AlterNet. Posted September 14, 2006.

Everyone's heard about the human rights abuses in African gold and diamond mines. But when it comes to their ultra-cool, razor-thin cell phones, American consumers won't get the message.

No Shit?

Way ahead of you, dudes. I don't own a cell phone. I'd like to say it's because I know about the human rights abuses, and in fact that may be part of it. Since I'm not giving up my computer, that's probably not it. One reason I don't want a cell phone is because I have a hard enough time driving without that distraction. I don't want to be one of those idiots that I scream at when they're not paying attention to the road because they are on the phone. I also see a lot of people foregoing what might have been real live face-to-face interactions with strangers. Sometimes those little interactions are learning experiences, or a shared laugh. I do not consider them an intrusion. I sometimes feel like I am intruding into someone's private life when they are having a conversation on their cell in a public place. Frankly, cell phones annoy me. It also annoys me that the pager I had for 10 years became obsolete when I discovered that it's nearly impossible to find a working pay phone. People are startled when I say I don't have a cell. I may end up getting one, but that doesn't mean I want one. I don't want to be in cell phone hell. I like walks on the beach with my friend. Neither one of us has a cell phone, and sometimes it's quiet, unless someone else is screaming "Can you hear me now?" When that happens my friend and I smirk and I know he's thinking the same thing I am: Oh fuck, you idiot, the whole fucking world can hear you now.

We ain't talking to the whole world, though, are we?

Guatemala

One of the people I grew up with here in San Diego married a Guatemalan and lives in Guatemala, so initially I was turned off to the goofy cartoon on the cover and irritated by the seemingly arrogant title of the article.

The article is good. It's humane and caring, and neither pro-immigration, nor anti-immigration.
Guatemalan Dreams of American Green
By Geoff Bouvier

I didn't know

that bounty hunting was a crime in Mexico.

Did you?

Class

War

Waiters Serve Payback to Stingy Tippers
By Betsy Schiffman AP Business Writer
Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006

Outside Looking In

Or why my customer service skills are best served from a call center, where the only thing I have to control is my voice, because my facial expressions are dead give-away. I'd like to give spoiled yuppies a few hard whacks on their behinds before I send them off to torture someone else who works in one of the service industries.

And the following stories are examples of why immigration IS an issue that needs to be dealt with.

( Shakira! Shakira! Shakira! )


Hispanic immigrant laborers testify about US police harassment
Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006
By JIM FITZGERALD Associated Press Writer

(AP) - WHITE PLAINS, New York-Hispanic immigrant day laborers suing a U.S. village over alleged harassment testified Tuesday that intimidation by police officers has often prevented them from obtaining work on the streets.

Daily Show - Even Stevphens - Religion

This made me laugh.
hat tip to Loopy (http://zayyani.free.fr/blog/)

This pic made me smile

the article that accompanied it, not so much...


62,006 - The Number Killed in the "War on Terror"

By David Randall and Emily Gosden
The Independent UK
Sunday 10 September 2006

Corporate newz sucks

I didn't expect to find anything in an American newz (MSM) source for an article that spells out how I feel about the "War on Terror." That's why I didn't even bother with (other than to sign a complaint to ABC or Disney) the whole 9/11-blame-it-on-Clinton-Crockudrama thing. Fuggit. Wudn't worth my damn energy.

I knew if I looked hard enough I would find an article some where that about wraps it up for me. This article from the Netherlands comes close, so here it is:

Five Years of War on Terror: 'Time for a New Strategy'
EDITORIAL
Translated By Meta Mertens
September 9, 2006 NRC Handelsblad - The Netherlands - Original Article (Dutch)


SSSShhhhhhhhh... don't tell Rudi Guiliani and don't tell Daddy Bush (HW).


I'm no genius, but the "War on Terror" is absolute bullshit, it don't take a fuckin genius to figure that one out.

Peace out.

September eleventh

Five years ago at just around this time I was glued to the tube. Watching the films of the buildings tumbling down over and over and over again. I was horrified, but confused, and baffled as to who, and why, and for what purpose this was happening. Emotionally I was stunned, and somewhat numb. The first time I cried was weeks later. What made me cry then, and still makes me cry is the thought of the police officers and the firefighters who died on September 11, 2001. The people who risked, and lost their lives trying to help others still makes me cry.

Today I was thinking of reading this book: Why They Don't Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil
Hardcover: 456 pages
Publisher: Oneworld Publications (August 25, 2005)
Language: English
by Mark LeVine

and I watched this: The Best War Ever
By John Stauber (PR watch)

and I watched this: America Remembers again
by Mark Fiore

war profiteering

The 10 Most Brazen War Profiteers
By Charlie Cray, AlterNet. Posted September 5, 2006.

Halliburton has become synonymous with war profiteering, but there are lots of other greedy fingers in the pie. We name names on 10 of the worst.

A few years ago (8 actually) I took some silly little business classes. One of my instructors couldn't say enough good things about Titan. I wasn't really aware at the time that Titan was a defense contractor, nor did I care. The only thing those business classes did for me was let me know I wasn't crazy, that there really were a whole bunch of greedy, selfish, self-centered assholes out there who would sell their mothers if they thought they could make a buck. This judgement of mine included students. Around that time some students at another school got caught cheating on a test in a business ethics class. Best laugh I had all year. The only part of those classes that I really liked were a couple of the extra credit assignments. On one of them I got to interview people regarding business practices in other countries. We are certainly not alone in the bribery game. People are people. They haven't changed much. And the wealthy and powerful have been benefitting off of wars since somebody decided war was a good idea, most likely someone who was already wealthy and powerful.


Guess what? Nothing changes if nothing changes.


WAR IS A RACKET
Smedley Darlington Butler


I haven't read this book, but what a fascinating title, eh?

Banking on Baghdad: Inside Iraq's 7,000-Year History of War, Profit, and Conflict Black, Edwin


New Poll: 43% Still Believe Saddam Had Something To Do With 9/11
By: Jamie Holly on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 9:30 AM - PDT

Why?














How many times we gonna get booty-bopped by this porcine little dweeb?

(this is a great picture, I couldn't resist snatching it, and I really had no idea when I used it that Atrios had gone batshit with it)

Get ready

U.S. immigrant rallies draw far fewer supporters than huge spring demonstrations
Monday, Sept. 4, 2006
By MARCUS WOHLSEN Associated Press Writer

(AP) - SAN FRANCISCO-In far smaller numbers than they did this spring, supporters of illegal immigrants marched in several U.S. cities, calling for them to be given the chance to live and work freely in the United States.


No Signs of Pro-Immigrant Voter Boom
Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006

(AP) - LOS ANGELES-During the spring protests that brought hundreds of thousands to the streets, Hispanic immigrants chanted a promise and a threat to politicians: "Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote."

So far, however, there is no indication that such a potent political legacy is developing....

...A study by the Pew Hispanic Center found that while Hispanics accounted for half the nation's population growth between the 2000 and 2004 elections, they represented only one-tenth of the increase in votes cast...
In Fresno, Tackling Poverty Moves to the Top of the Agenda
Council Approves Task Force After Study Links Central Valley City With Densest Area of Poor
By Evelyn NievesWashington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 21, 2005; A03


Community Medical Centers hopes this year for its first black ink since 2003.
Code Green
By Tracy Correa, Cyndee Fontana and Russell Clemings / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Sunday, August 20, 2006, 8:54 AM)


Mexican Court Leader Sides With Calderon
Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006
By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press Writer

Exodus: Border-Crossers Forge a New America

News: Coyotes, pollos, and the promised van
By Charles Bowden
September/October 2006 Issue (Mother Jones)


The Illegal Immigration Invasion


If you want to understand the extent of the problem, how it's happening, and why it's happening then read the ten page Mother Jones article, AND watch the two hour documentary. The media attempts to paint the minutemen as monsters and racists. Do you know what viva la raza means? We hear that a lot around here. Translated it means the race lives.

Who's racist?

It wasn't poor people of any race or nationality, or particular political party who created this problem.

But the poor will deal with it whether we want to or not.

Toda la gente pobre. (All the poor people.)

Why do we pay for this crap?

OPT: Gaza children suffer as rich world meets to discuss aid

FBI Arrests Head of Israeli Security at Atlanta Consulate
20:59 Aug 31, '06 / 7 Elul 5766

Two Elephants in the Room
Israel and its amen corner

US May Cover Israel's War Costs
By Ryan R. Jones
All Headline News Middle East Correspondent
08/31/06 -- - Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) -

Can You Really Not See?
By Amira Hass
08/30/06 "Haaretz."

Behind the plan to bomb Iran By Ismael Hossein-zadeh
08/31/06 "Asia Times" --

Armed man infiltrates British Embassy compound in Tel Aviv, demands asylum
(AP) - JERUSALEM-An armed man threatening to commit suicide breached security at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv on Thursday and was loose on the grounds inside, Israeli police said.
Police officials identified the man as Nadim Injaz, 28, from Ramallah, a suspected informer for the Israeli security services who was demanding asylum in the United Kingdom.

Because Israel is so good to the people that help them?

..and here on the home front, fightin' fer democracy...

Block the Vote
9.1.06 (tonight's show)

They got it right, I hope

Holy Crapoli.
I've been rolling my eyes so long at the the abuse of power that is so endemic in the 50th district (where I live) that my eyes about crossed when I saw this over on BradBlog, an article that mentions that the North County Times actually stepped up to the plate and mentioned that "Just a few days after the election, the California secretary of state's office notified the office of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that it was OK to seat Bilbray, based on an unofficial count showing Bilbray with a lead of about 5,000 votes over Democrat Francine Busby.
Hastert then swore in Bilbray as the new congressman, despite the fact that the election results had yet to be certified.
During the brief hearing, Judge Hofmann said the matter is one the U.S. House, not the state, must now address."Once the House asserts exclusive jurisdiction and selects a candidate, the court no longer has jurisdiction," Hofmann said."

and I was thrilled to see that Finn quoted Francine Busby as saying:

"It's outrageous that this judge just said the state of California doesn't have jurisdiction over our own elections, over this election," Busby said. "What happened today should be of concern to all voters."

go read the whole article:

Judge throws out 50th District election lawsuit
By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer

and this was interesting: Assembly approves universal health care Passage of bill seen as election-year test for Schwarzenegger
Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Tuesday, August 29, 2006

spread 'em, dread 'em and I read 'em

WELCOME TO AMERICA. IF YOU'RE A JOURNALIST, BEND OVER AND SPREAD 'EM!
(Aug. 28, 2006 -- SPECIAL REPORT FROM EUROPE. Information visas (I-Visa) -- a Bush administration method for controlling the foreign media's coverage of the United States.) hat tip to Danny

and from Information Clearinghouse we get this charming expose of American fruitcakes with something called "Jerusalem Sydrome." (22 minute Aussie video)


and from the Independent we get to read questions from people all over the world answered by Noam Chomsky

Taliban and heroin

Tomgram: Ann Jones on the Road to Taliban Land

The Lies About Taliban Heroin

Two books worth reading

one more on immigration (way rude)

Nashville's New Nativism

Hey, you Democrats out there, let's be real fucking honest for once about the immigration mess. Let's back this goddmned truck up and see just exactly why this is such a problem, OK?

Bush Sr. is now Clinton's buddy. Why? Beause they both committed the same crimes against working American people, and they are of the same class. Same fucking policies that Bush Sr. learned from Nixon who opened up China for semi-legitimate trade. Big fucking labor pool there, Western countries have been drawing on it for centuries. The whole CIA/spooky games that powerful men seem to be so fascinated with and drug running and laundering for the sake of filling up the Wall Street kitty. Drugs have always been used to make money and control people, that's old as the fucking hills, K?

Today we have a half-ass educated, completely uninformed electorate. And even more important for those rich fucks, a long ass trip to the elctorate for the energy sources. Too long. The energy sources that are needed to power the new offices for the world--India, and the new factories for the world--China are much closer to the energy sources needed to power them. If you were a rich fuck, what neighborhood would you invest in? The nice, shiny, new, energy efficient one with cheap labor, and cheap brainiacs, or the old inefficient one with leaky, creaky old buildings (and not enough gas and oil in the neighborhood to power it) and fat, stupid, spoiled workers? Now remember, you're a rich fuck, or you work for a rich fuck and your job is to make your rich fuck boss more money. That's what you do, and all you focus on is the bottom line. It's. Your. Job.

Now, back to why we have so many "illegal" Mexicans here.

1. NAFTA

{sent those maquiladoras (factories) that were supposed to keep more Mexicans employed right the fuck over to China, cleared land in Mexico and S. America to raise food to feed Norteamericanos, and Europeans (fucking snotbucket Europeans don't like GM soybeans) as the new and improved crop in Los Estados Unidos seems to be suburban McMansions}

2) CAFTA

3) union busting

and probably the one that will surprise the most Americans:

peak oil

The bitch has thrown her opinion out there and she really doesn't give a shit whether you like it or not. She really doesn't give a shit whether you think she's wrong or not. She really doesn't give a shit about whether you think or not. She's going to go get drunk now.


Ta fucking Ta.

Thursday, Aug 31, 2006

update for those of you who think Clinton shits gold bars: Clinton Ended Welfare, Not Poverty

Chad orders oil giants to leave
Saturday 26 August 2006, 21:20 Makka Time, 18:20 GMT

...The president gave the oil production consortium that is led by Exxon Mobil, a deadline of just 24 hours to start making plans to leave...