All the Rage

There's no denying it, we progressives are angry
by Paul Waldman

China, Sun Tzu and Iraq's oil

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” Sun Tzu, Chinese author and military strategist, c. 544-496 BC

Bush and Cheney may be declaring “Mission Accomplished” now that the Iraqi Cabinet has approved the draft of an oil law granting foreign companies unprecedented access to the country’s fields.

But Beijing is having the last laugh.

Just last week, Chinese oil company officials arrived in Baghdad to revive Hussein-era contracts for developing Iraq’s oil, specifically, the Ahdab oil field in south-central Iraq. Hundreds of millions of dollars and a reduction in Iraq’s Chinese debt are already on the table.

Tomgram: The Seymour Hersh Mystery

A Journalist Writing Bloody Murder…
And No One Notices
By Tom Engelhardt

Let me see if I've got this straight. Perhaps two years ago, an "informal" meeting of "veterans" of the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal -- holding positions in the Bush administration -- was convened by Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams. Discussed were the "lessons learned" from that labyrinthine, secret, and illegal arms-for-money-for-arms deal involving the Israelis, the Iranians, the Saudis, and the Contras of Nicaragua, among others -- and meant to evade the Boland Amendment, a congressionally passed attempt to outlaw Reagan administration assistance to the anti-communist Contras. In terms of getting around Congress, the Iran-Contra vets concluded, the complex operation had been a success -- and would have worked far better if the CIA and the military had been kept out of the loop and the whole thing had been run out of the Vice President's office ...



Rather: Journalism Has ‘Lost Its Guts’
By CNET.
Source: Daniel Terdiman, CNET

AUSTIN, TEXAS–To longtime CBS broadcaster Dan Rather, American journalism in recent years “has in some ways lost its guts.”

During his hour-long keynote address at South by Southwest Interactive, Rather opined at length on the state of his profession, in which too many journalists have become lapdogs to power, rather than watchdogs.


(snort).

Attorney General Gonzales in hot water

..."I acknowledge that mistakes were made here,'' Gonzales said. "I accept responsibility. I've overcome a lot of obstacles in my life to become attorney general. I am not here because I give up.''
White House Counsel Harriet Miers first proposed asking all 93 U.S. attorneys to step down after Bush was elected to a second term in 2004. Gonzales said he rejected that suggestion. ..

Note to Gonzales: They are soooooooooo going to throw your ass under the bus.

And after firing the prosecutor in my city who was one of the "ineffectual managers and prosecutors" who "chafed against Administration initiatives." I can't wait to see you go splat, fucker.

update 3/26/2007 Evidence Suggests U.S. Attorney Firings May Have Been Part of White House Scheme to Help Game 2008 Election

Halliburton moves headquarters to Dubai

20 Billion Later Halliburton moves Headquarters to Dubai

Deadeye Dick goes to bat for Israel...again

Or is it for the dollar?


Maybe the Halliburton detention camps are exactly what they say they are and the US government will round up the Mexicans, detain them and send them back to Mexico after the dollar completely implodes. Americans might have to pick their own vegetables, in fact, in order to eat they may be thrilled to pick vegetables and fruit.

Any way you look at it, the American way of life is going to change.

The rest of the world has suffered for far too long because of US foreign policy.

Why I don't want grandchildren:

Warming Report to Warn of Coming Drought
Email this StoryMar 10, 7:32 PM (ET)By SETH BORENSTEIN
famine
war
air pollution
water pollution

I''ll bet you thought it was because I'm a selfish bitch & I didn't want to change the dirty diapers, huh?

I'm bleary eyed from watching stuff online all day

And it's hard to learn stuff sitting in front of the boob tube, so it was a good day.

Thanks Loopy, this was interesting. Doha Debates

Did you read Baer's book, Sleeping with the Devil, or see Syriana?

Iranian influence soaring in Iraq

Oil, War and Geopolitics:
The Global Struggle Over Disappearing Petroleum Lecture By Michael Klare, Five Colleges professor of peace and world security studies
Feb 22, 2007 at Dickinson College, The Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues

You know, sometimes I wonder whether we will have ANY access to Iraq's oil if and when things ever calm down over there. Sometimes it seems like we created a shit storm over there so that the Saudis and the Iranians could fight over control of Iraq's oil.

None of this would matter if the US' infrastructure had been planned with more than next quarter's profits in mind, eh?

Bienvenido Sr. Bush........uh.......NO

Bush visits Latin America

Supposedly to brush up the US's image there.

One question. How the hell is Bush going to put lipstick on a pig?

And a thought. Yeah, right, that's what he's there for, uh huh---NOT

And now for some comedy

Mexican president promises to keep Mexicans at home, instead of heading to U.S.
LISA J. ADAMS Associated Press Writer

AP) - MEXICO CITY-Mexican President Felipe Calderon won't be fighting for migration reform when he meets with U.S. President George W. Bush next week. Instead, he will be be spelling out what he intends to do to keep Mexicans at home

bwaaaa ha ha ha haa haa haa haa ha ha ha

Bush's new US attorney a criminal?

'BBC Television had exposed 2004 voter attack scheme by appointee Griffin, a Rove aide.Black soldiers and the homeless targeted.by Greg Palast
March 7, 2007.

There’s only one thing worse than sacking an honest prosecutor. That’s replacing an honest prosecutor with a criminal.
There was one big hoohah in Washington yesterday as House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers pulled down the pants on George Bush’s firing of US Attorneys to expose a scheme to punish prosecutors who wouldn’t bend to political pressure....(click on title link)

more from Greg

Like watching a train wreck in slo mo

watch it online:
Frontline Special -- -- News war

hat tip David Sirota

I can't stop watching it.

Whatever you do, watch #18 "Info-snacking"

I thought Google's motto was "do no evil" ???

Go home Rudy Giuliani

Your kid doesn't even believe your bullshit. We don't need any more RepugnantThuglicans in San Diego. We have plenty of our very own thugs here.

I don't trust Rudy.

y mas

Why Rudy Guiliani Is Destined to Fall
By Paul Waldman, TomPaine.com. Posted March 1, 2007.

and in other news today:

Scooter Libby Found Guilty In CIA Leak Case

Ex-Cheney aide guilty in CIA leak case The Associated Press
Published March 6, 2007, 11:07 AM CST

Ok, who's next?
Hmmmmmmm?

I've been avoiding this

Because I feel angry when I watch the suits blather on about
"We're gonna fix it, blah, blah, blah...
The approval rating for disability benefits for the Army is 4 percent? Hmmm hmmm, makes me wonder why so low? Navy 35%. I can't remember the other percentages for the other services, but it was at least 25% for the other services

What very few papers are reporting on:
Poison DUst tells the story of young soldiers who thought they came home safely from the war, but didn't. Of a veteran's young daughter whose birth defect is strikingly similar to birth defects suffered by many Iraqi children. - Every American who cares about our troops should watch this film. Everyone who cares about the innocent civilians who live in the countries where these weapons are used should watch this film

And I cry when I read about how these guys are treated. It brings back really bad memories. This is not new. Ever seen a cockroach inside a tracheotomy tube? I know someone who has. DoD or VA -- ya think there's a whole lot of difference when a particular building is slated to be closed?

Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility
By Dana Priest and Anne Hull
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, February 18, 2007; A01

here's an example:

"...Frustration at Every Turn

The frustrations of an outpatient's day begin before dawn. On a dark, rain-soaked morning this winter, Sgt. Archie Benware, 53, hobbled over to his National Guard platoon office at Walter Reed. Benware had done two tours in Iraq. His head had been crushed between two 2,100-pound concrete barriers in Ramadi, and now it was dented like a tin can. His legs were stiff from knee surgery. But here he was, trying to take care of business..."

53?
Two tours in Iraq?
WTF?

update:
more anger from Badtux the Snarky Penguin and Grumpy Old Man

Porgera Gold Mine Transforms Pacific Island

by David Martinez, Special to CorpWatch
February 21st, 2007

I know this article is three weeks old, but I just discovered it. I don't have time to check every site on my blogroll every day and this one doesn't update every day, or even every week. Anyhoo, as I read the article I was reminded of this CD by Greg Palast.

Why?

Barrick, and Poppy Bush.


Weapon of Mass Instruction

Greg Palast (amazon.com)

Mid-East vow to curb sectarianism

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah have agreed to work together to fight sectarian strife in the Middle East.

...'Common views'

Speaking in Tehran after the talks, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "We discussed the Palestinian and Iraq issues comprehensively. We have common views in this regard."

He also said that "plots carried out by the enemies in order to divide the world of Islam were discussed" and that the Saudis had joined Iran in condemning them, the AFP news agency reports...


You know, I really hope that ordinary people in the Middle East don't consider the (ordinary) American people the enemy.

Here's why I say that:

American Idol vs. American Elections
By Liz Egan
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

Oh, and then there's these neat little glitches:

Brad Blog

Democracy ain't always all that and a bag of chips, especially a democracy that has to deal with lots of corporate influence.

Why is everyone wasting precious time and energy on what Ann Coulter has to say?

Chalmers Johnson on Democracy Now

(click on title link for audio and/or transcript if you want to know why the American Republic is doomed)

I'll warn you, it's depressing, but if you grew up in a military town like I did, it won't surprise you.

Israel is a pain in our ass

A Note From Tom:-

The ICH sister website http://www.ichblog.eu has been subject to
a number of hacking attacks and has been taken off line as a
result. We are working to restore service. Your patience is
appreciated.


February 24 / 25, 2007
AIPAC Demands "Action" on Iran
"An American Strike on Iran is Essential for Our Existence"
By GARY LEUPP



Operation infinite difference
A hundred beatsBy Fatima Bhutto
...Hilary Clinton spoke to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) earlier this month where she generously declared that "Israel is a beacon of what's right in a neighbourhood overshadowed by the wrongs of radicalism, extremism, despotism and terrorism" and continued to say that Americans "are humbled by Israel's commitment to civic engagement and open debate, free expression and the rule of law"...

Blog
Edwards Got It Right: Israeli Attack on Iran IS Threat to World Peace
richards1052's
TPM Café

Nevermind that they kill Palestinians, steal their land, starve their people on a daily basis, those arrogant, stubborn, stupid assholes are going to get MORE people killed in the Middle East, and then more Americans will die.

Israel reminds me of a hyperactive, spoiled, demanding thirteen year old who just can't stop being disruptive and needs to constantly be the center of attention, and cannot stop bugging the fuck out of people until his demands are met.

Maybe the brat needs his ass spanked again.

I thought Lebanon was a good hard spanking, but (sigh), I guess not.

I do not understand why the fuck the state of Israel had to be established in the Middle East.

The Neighborhood sucks.

McCain visits, gets Sanders' endorsement

Somehow this information makes me think of some things I've read in Nemesis. I did get Chalmers Johnson to sign my book the other night. During his presentation he mentioned Hanna Arendt and her description of the 'banality of evil' when she wrote about the Adolf Eichmann trial. When I finish reading Nemesis I plan on reading "The Origins of Totalinarianism."

You're wondering how I connected the article on my mayor endorsing McCain and 'the banality of evil', huh?
My nickname for the mayor is "Downsize Jerry" (quite popular in business circles here in San Diego, nevermind that their employees can't afford to live anywhere but Tijuana, and their customers are routinely frustrated with the employees 'convenient' English skills) and McCain goes along to get along with the Bush Administration.


Republicans don't think for themselves.


That is the banality of evil.

Interview: Seth Moulton, former Marine Lieutenant
David Brancaccio sits down with Seth Moulton, who served two tours in Iraq as a Marine Lieutenant, to talk about America's quandary in Iraq. Moulton argues President Bush's call for some 21,000 additional troops in Iraq is "too little, too late," and recommends a commitment of 100,000 more troops. "If it means that we have to have a draft, then that's a question we need to ask the Congress and the American public," Moulton said.

Dude, I'm not giving up my only female child for this debacle. Period.

Resting today

And John Mayer is helping me.




The more I listen to this kid's work, the more I like it.

If the rain lets up I'm going to see if I can get Chalmers Johnson to sign my copy of Nemesis tonight. Nobody drives worth a shit in the rain here, they never slow down. In the northern part of the country they have black ice, here we have greasy roads that make you hydroplane when they get wet, and idiots.

Walter Reed: We Must Not Accept This

Brady Van Engelen brings up something I hadn't thought of:


"A system designed for World War II veterans or a 19 year old GI can never be sufficiently adequate or comprehensive to meet the needs of a 33 year old guardsman or any of the 16,000 single mothers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan."

'Scuse me for making a possible stretch here, but sometimes it seems like the Bush Administration is bound and determined to make life harder for the people trying the hardest to support themselves and their kids.

Barlett and Steele Are Back – Exposing SAIC in the Bowels of the Hollywood Issue of Vanity Fair

Washington's $8 Billion

...Much to the embarrassment of a company entrusted with some of the nation's most precious secrets, its San Diego offices were mysteriously burgled in January of 2005. A censored San Diego police-department report reveals the basic outline. The report notes that the building "is patrolled by DOD certified security" and that "the interior lights are on motion sensors and would have been activated by the suspects." Nevertheless, burglars managed to break into SAIC's headquarters, pry open 13 private offices, and walk out with one desktop-computer hard drive and four laptops. By SAIC's account, the computers contained personal data on thousands of present and past employees, presumably including the company's many former C.I.A. operatives, N.S.A. executives, and Pentagon officials. To date, the burglary remains unsolved

SAIC has displayed an uncanny ability to thrive in every conceivable political climate. It is the invisible hand behind a huge portion of the national-security state—the one sector of the government whose funds are limitless and whose continued growth is assured every time a politician utters the word "terrorism."

SAIC represents, in other words, a private business that has become a form of permanent government....

And the man who gave birth to the behemoth that practically runs this fucking city?

In the years when most corporations had glass ceilings for women, few were lower or thicker than the one at SAIC. Although Beyster was married (and the father of three children), his behavior toward women often ranged from coolness to open hostility...

...Beyster's former secretary testified that he once instructed her, on the eve of a major corporate function, to make sure he wasn't seated next to SAIC's one female board member, "because all women talked about was where they got their hair done."

...Beyster's close associates within SAIC were a succession of young men. Known as aides-de-camp, they were usually handsome, well educated, and intelligent, with a facility for numbers and a willingness to perform personal tasks for their boss. Beyster was an ardent sailor, and in the summertime he liked to spend afternoons cruising the waters off San Diego aboard his yacht in the company of these young men. George Wilson, who once headed SAIC's public-relations operation, has stated in a legal proceeding that the young men provided a variety of personal services for Beyster, including using SAIC equipment to make copies of pornographic movies that Beyster would watch aboard his boat....

hmmmmmmmm?

Donald Rumsfeld is an evil ratbastard II

Tomgram: Roger Morris, The Rumsfeld Legacy


Okaybee Tom, how about let's sum up like I did a year ago:

Donald Rumsfeld is an evil ratbastard.

Ay pay toxes

The Great Dollar Crash of ‘07
By Mike Whitney
from the Information Clearinghouse blog (EU text only version)

...The United States set off on the road to perdition when it transferred the power to create money to the privately-owned Federal Reserve. It’s been downhill ever since...

...The wealth gap that has opened up like a yawning chasm between rich and poor in America originated with the class-based policies of the Fed. The massive equity bubbles which arose from artificially low interest rates and the deliberate destruction of the dollar by reckless increases in the money supply have shifted trillions of dollars from working class Americans to the predatory aristocrats at the top of the economic food chain. The gulf between rich and poor has grown so wide that it now poses a direct threat to our increasingly fragile democracy. That’s why Thomas Jefferson said:

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of our currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and the corporations that will grow up will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing of power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”

Free people cannot control their own destiny unless they control their own currency. The Federal Reserve must be abolished.




Missing Gold

Bank of America to offer bank accounts, credit cards to illegal immigrants Submitted by WWAY on 15 February 2007 - 2:38pm. In all fairness, they need a tax ID number, but Bank of America is looking pretty desperate:

Bank of America lays off more Nyse floor staff

Valentines Day sucks

I've been saving these little tidbits because, frankly, I do not like Valentines Day. I am grateful that my kid doesn't hate it, though.

Texas Man Gets Death for Killing Fetus

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007
Email This

By ELIZABETH WHITE Associated Press Writer

...Sanchez, 17, was three months pregnant Dec. 12, 2005, when her body was found in her family's home. She had been choked and stabbed 13 times. During the trial, DNA evidence was presented to show Estrada was the father.

Estrada, a former youth pastor for a church, admitted to the stabbing the day after the killings. Prosecutors also said he worked out at a gym and went shopping after the crime. He showed no emotion when his punishment was read....


Oy.



Wifeless future for China's men
By James Reynolds BBC News, Beijing

China's future problems are easy to spot. You can see them in the front row of the Hui Kang kindergarten class in the city of Huizhou.
Four boys sit next sit next to a girl.

Yeah right. They're gonna own this country, they won't be wifeless.

Ok, now go laugh: Dependable Renegade has a good one

Ex-CIA official charged with fraud

Lam: Indictment Timing Coincidental
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 3:28 PM PST

I don't care if the timing is coincidental, I still had a really big smile on my face when I saw this on the local news.

I also thought it was interesting that John Yoo was in town yesterday.

Yeah, John Yoo BushCo tool extraordinaire.

from the Daily Reckoning

(I love this picture, and blink-182's Enema of the State. It was a local band, one kid grew up like, 5 minutes from here, and believe me, mom was happy when the kid went from Britney Spears and the Spice Girls to blink, but this post has nothing to do with music)

Thirty-Six Sure-Fire Signs That Your Empire Is Crumbling

My favorite?

hands down:

"You know your empire's crumbling when the World Health Organization ranks your healthcare system 37th 'best' in the world, just above Slovenia, and just below Costa Rica. (And far below Colombia, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.)"

I don't know how many idiots I've heard blather on about how great our healtcare system is.

Ha

Ha

Ha

Mercenary camp, coming right up!!

Blackwater USA wants to build a new training camp on what used to be a chicken farm out in Potrero . Duncan Hunter's district covers at least one zip code that pops up when you Google it. The other Potrero zip code is in Bob Filner's district.

Hmmmmmm. (more from Crooks & Liars on Blackwater)

It's really not their fault that we pay two dollars for a dozen eggs here. I'm sure that has had more to do with the fact that land owners have recently been able to turn a hell of a better profit growing new condos than they ever did with chickens or eggs. That requires labor that has had a tough time getting to work across the border since 9/11, or maybe those condo farms are growing so fast there's nowhere to house migrant farmworkers. (I don't which came first, chicken or egg?) Speaking of the border, hey maybe the plan is to outsource everyone who carries a gun in due time? Be nice to have border guards that aren't accountable to any of those pesky regulatory agencies.

Oh wait, we do have them, they're called minutemen.

No, no, nevermind, they may be out of commission shortly.

Anyway, ol Bob and Dunc, (presidential hopeful Dunc, bawwaaa haaa haaaaaa ha ha ha) may have had something to do with the fact that the military-industrial-complex is pretty much the only way someone without an advanced degree, fifty frickin' roomates, or a mortgage they got in the 80's can survive here. Ol Dunc has been in Congress most of his working life. Gee, Bob has spent a lot of time in government also.

I hate these Blackwater motherfuckers. I don't want their spoiled, pampered asses or their killer training camp here. Not surprised though. Dunc and Bob know that some of these guys coming back from Iraq are going to be too fucked up to do anything but be killers. And they'll be crazy enough to repeatedly risk getting killed. They're going to run drugs through this camp, you watch, it's what old creepy retired CIA fucks do and this camp is really close to the border.


Call me cracked, I don't care, but this company ain't no good egg.

It's a pity that this country isn't as evovlved as South Africa. They passed a law last year letting mercenaries choose between their careers and their nationality