Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Obama McCain debate #2
8:30 PM
Local ABC
Who won the presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama?
Choice Votes Percentage of 10510 Votes
Barack Obama won. 6195 59%
John McCain won. 4056 39%
I'm not sure. 130 1%
I didn't watch. 129 1%
Local NBC
Who won the presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama?
Choice Votes Percentage of 10154 Votes
Barack Obama won. 5975 59%
John McCain won. 3924 39%
I'm not sure. 129 1%
I didn't watch. 126 1%
October 7, 2008
CNN Poll: Obama won the night
If there were polls on the local CW, CBS, and Fox, I couldn't find them. So much for a Red County.
Frankly, McCain saying "My Friends" incessantly drove me out of the room a couple of times.
Local ABC
Who won the presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama?
Choice Votes Percentage of 10510 Votes
Barack Obama won. 6195 59%
John McCain won. 4056 39%
I'm not sure. 130 1%
I didn't watch. 129 1%
Local NBC
Who won the presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama?
Choice Votes Percentage of 10154 Votes
Barack Obama won. 5975 59%
John McCain won. 3924 39%
I'm not sure. 129 1%
I didn't watch. 126 1%
October 7, 2008
CNN Poll: Obama won the night
If there were polls on the local CW, CBS, and Fox, I couldn't find them. So much for a Red County.
Frankly, McCain saying "My Friends" incessantly drove me out of the room a couple of times.
Damn GOP thieves
Can the GOP Steal The Election Again? You Betcha!
Blogged by Brad Friedman on 10/7/2008 1:11PM
AUDIO: Head-to-Head with the GOP's Hans Von Spakovsky, Vote-Suppressor, Liar
Brad Takes on the Unapologetic Democracy-Hater on Tavis Smiley's Radio Show
PLUS: Taking on John Fund, Another GOP 'Voter Fraud' Scammer, on the Radio, the Following Day... (scroll down for audio clip)
And about that debate tonight...
The Caucus.
October 7, 2008, 2:25 pm
Axelrod Says Obama Will Counterpunch if McCain Raises Ayers
By Patrick Healy
NASHVILLE — Senator Barack Obama is prepared to hit back, including with Keating Five scandal if necessary, if Senator John McCain uses tonight’s presidential debate to attack him over his associations with controversial figures like former William C. Ayers, the former Weather Underground leader, Mr. Obama’s chief strategist said this afternoon.
And if they mention clean coal tonight, just know that at this time, there aren't any clean coal plants in the US right now. Follow the Coal Money
Blogged by Brad Friedman on 10/7/2008 1:11PM
AUDIO: Head-to-Head with the GOP's Hans Von Spakovsky, Vote-Suppressor, Liar
Brad Takes on the Unapologetic Democracy-Hater on Tavis Smiley's Radio Show
PLUS: Taking on John Fund, Another GOP 'Voter Fraud' Scammer, on the Radio, the Following Day... (scroll down for audio clip)
And about that debate tonight...
The Caucus.
October 7, 2008, 2:25 pm
Axelrod Says Obama Will Counterpunch if McCain Raises Ayers
By Patrick Healy
NASHVILLE — Senator Barack Obama is prepared to hit back, including with Keating Five scandal if necessary, if Senator John McCain uses tonight’s presidential debate to attack him over his associations with controversial figures like former William C. Ayers, the former Weather Underground leader, Mr. Obama’s chief strategist said this afternoon.
And if they mention clean coal tonight, just know that at this time, there aren't any clean coal plants in the US right now. Follow the Coal Money
Tomgram: Chalmers Johnson, The Ultimate Election
posted October 07, 2008 10:36 am
Voting the Fate of the Nation
Will Economic Meltdown, Race, or Regional Loyalty Be the Trump Card in Election 2008?
By Chalmers Johnson
... Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal introduced a brief period of approximate democracy. This ended with the U.S. entry into World War II, when the New Deal was replaced by a wartime economy based on munitions manufacture and the support of weapons producers. This development had a powerful effect on the American political psyche, since only war production ultimately overcame the conditions of the Great Depression and restored full employment. Ever since that time, the United States has experimented with maintaining a military economy and a civilian economy simultaneously. Over time, this has had the effect of misallocating vital resources away from investment and consumption, while sapping the country's international competitiveness.
Socioeconomic conditions in 2008 bear a certain resemblance to those of 1932, making a realigning election conceivable. Unemployment in 1932 was a record 33%. In the fall of 2008, the rate is a much lower 6.1%, but other severe economic pressures abound. These include massive mortgage foreclosures, bank and investment house failures, rapid inflation in the prices of food and fuel, the failure of the health care system to deliver service to all citizens, a growing global-warming environmental catastrophe due to the over-consumption of fossil fuels, continuing costly military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, with more on the horizon due to foreign policy failures (in Georgia, Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, and elsewhere), and record-setting budgetary and trade deficits.
The question is: Can the electorate be mobilized, as in 1932, and will this indeed lead to a realigning election? The answer to neither question is an unambiguous yes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm excited. My friend is almost 60 and she's never registered to vote. She filled out a voter registration form and put it in the mailbox today. I asked her if it was exciting and she grinned and said "Yeah, it kinda is."
Voting the Fate of the Nation
Will Economic Meltdown, Race, or Regional Loyalty Be the Trump Card in Election 2008?
By Chalmers Johnson
... Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal introduced a brief period of approximate democracy. This ended with the U.S. entry into World War II, when the New Deal was replaced by a wartime economy based on munitions manufacture and the support of weapons producers. This development had a powerful effect on the American political psyche, since only war production ultimately overcame the conditions of the Great Depression and restored full employment. Ever since that time, the United States has experimented with maintaining a military economy and a civilian economy simultaneously. Over time, this has had the effect of misallocating vital resources away from investment and consumption, while sapping the country's international competitiveness.
Socioeconomic conditions in 2008 bear a certain resemblance to those of 1932, making a realigning election conceivable. Unemployment in 1932 was a record 33%. In the fall of 2008, the rate is a much lower 6.1%, but other severe economic pressures abound. These include massive mortgage foreclosures, bank and investment house failures, rapid inflation in the prices of food and fuel, the failure of the health care system to deliver service to all citizens, a growing global-warming environmental catastrophe due to the over-consumption of fossil fuels, continuing costly military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, with more on the horizon due to foreign policy failures (in Georgia, Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, and elsewhere), and record-setting budgetary and trade deficits.
The question is: Can the electorate be mobilized, as in 1932, and will this indeed lead to a realigning election? The answer to neither question is an unambiguous yes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm excited. My friend is almost 60 and she's never registered to vote. She filled out a voter registration form and put it in the mailbox today. I asked her if it was exciting and she grinned and said "Yeah, it kinda is."
Monday, October 06, 2008
Sarah Palin, the trailer-trash beauty contestant
Braizilians get it---
"When cornered, Palin resorted to winks, smiles and other vulgar coquette gestures that must have led to some sort of fascination from the male public— the green line on CNN, which measured the reaction of male independent voters from Ohio, would go up. But the women, represented by the yellow line, were not as fooled."
"When cornered, Palin resorted to winks, smiles and other vulgar coquette gestures that must have led to some sort of fascination from the male public— the green line on CNN, which measured the reaction of male independent voters from Ohio, would go up. But the women, represented by the yellow line, were not as fooled."
Matt Taibbi breaks it down--
"And none of it matters, so long as you remember a few months before Election Day to offer them a two-bit caricature culled from some cutting-room-floor episode of Roseanne as part of your presidential ticket. And if she's a good enough likeness of a loudmouthed Middle American archetype, as Sarah Palin is, John Q. Public will drop his giant-size bag of Doritos in gratitude, wipe the Sizzlin' Picante dust from his lips and rush to the booth to vote for her. Not because it makes sense, or because it has a chance of improving his life or anyone else's, but simply because it appeals to the low-humming narcissism that substitutes for his personality, because the image on TV reminds him of the mean, brainless slob he sees in the mirror every morning."
Naomi Klein: Wall St. Crisis Should Be for Neoliberalism What Fall of Berlin Wall Was for Communism
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Way to change the Middle East, neocon idiots
Source: Saudi hosts Afghan peace talks with Taliban
Crime up in Afghanistan, as is nostalgia for Taliban
Israel tries to dissuade Russia from selling weapons system to Iran
US-Russia divide allows the Middle East arms race to flourish
Iran, Venezuela sign multi-billion-dollar deals
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:03:40 GMT
Chavez defies US by cozying up to Russia and China
America’s ambassadors have been expelled by Venezuela and Bolivia, a move that Brazil has supported. Brazil has also objected to the presence of American warships in the region, warning that his nation would put its own warships on alert in response. Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchener said recently with obvious satisfaction that the First World, which had been “painted as a place we should strive to reach, was popping like a bubble.”
Meanwhile...
October 2, 2008: Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - Bailout Bill Passes
It doesn't matter if you missed the debate, SNL wrapped it up just fine.
Crime up in Afghanistan, as is nostalgia for Taliban
Israel tries to dissuade Russia from selling weapons system to Iran
US-Russia divide allows the Middle East arms race to flourish
Iran, Venezuela sign multi-billion-dollar deals
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:03:40 GMT
Chavez defies US by cozying up to Russia and China
America’s ambassadors have been expelled by Venezuela and Bolivia, a move that Brazil has supported. Brazil has also objected to the presence of American warships in the region, warning that his nation would put its own warships on alert in response. Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchener said recently with obvious satisfaction that the First World, which had been “painted as a place we should strive to reach, was popping like a bubble.”
Meanwhile...
October 2, 2008: Clusterf#@k to the Poor House - Bailout Bill Passes
It doesn't matter if you missed the debate, SNL wrapped it up just fine.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Ex-CIA Operative Discusses 'The Devil We Know'
Fresh Air from WHYY, October 2, 2008 · In his new book, The Devil We Know, former CIA operative Robert Baer argues that Iran is an up-and-coming — and often misunderstood — superpower, with strong influences throughout the Middle East.
"The sooner we understand the Iranian paradox — who they are, what they want, how they want to both humble us and work with us — the sooner we'll understand how to come to terms with the new Iranian superpower," writes Baer.
Baer's previous book, See No Evil, was the basis for the George Clooney film Syriana.
"The sooner we understand the Iranian paradox — who they are, what they want, how they want to both humble us and work with us — the sooner we'll understand how to come to terms with the new Iranian superpower," writes Baer.
Baer's previous book, See No Evil, was the basis for the George Clooney film Syriana.
Typical weaseling out of cleaning up after themselves
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008
Top court will review who pays for Superfund site
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court has agreed to decide what share railroads and an oil company should bear of the cleanup of a contaminated industrial site in Arvin, Calif., near Bakersfield, that threatened drinking water supplies.
Shell Oil Co. and the railroads - the Burlington, Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. and the Union Pacific Railroad Co. - say they are being unfairly tagged with an inordinate portion of the cost of cleaning up
The companies contend they merely transported and sold legal, useful products and were not involved in years of soil and groundwater contamination.
The site was once the home of a fertilizer and insecticides manufacturing facility.2008-10-01 14:16:29 GMT
My prediction? They'll just keep fighting in court, the mess won't get cleaned up, and people, and their groundwater will continue to suffer. It's how big corporations work. They protect profits, to hell with people.
Top court will review who pays for Superfund site
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court has agreed to decide what share railroads and an oil company should bear of the cleanup of a contaminated industrial site in Arvin, Calif., near Bakersfield, that threatened drinking water supplies.
Shell Oil Co. and the railroads - the Burlington, Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. and the Union Pacific Railroad Co. - say they are being unfairly tagged with an inordinate portion of the cost of cleaning up
The companies contend they merely transported and sold legal, useful products and were not involved in years of soil and groundwater contamination.
The site was once the home of a fertilizer and insecticides manufacturing facility.2008-10-01 14:16:29 GMT
My prediction? They'll just keep fighting in court, the mess won't get cleaned up, and people, and their groundwater will continue to suffer. It's how big corporations work. They protect profits, to hell with people.
Republicans will only win this election if they cheat
Which they are in the process of doing.
hat tip to Scoobie Davis
hat tip Danny
Oh. My. God. McCain supporters must be idiots. Who is John S. McCain?
The VP debate tonight?
No Debate: How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates
The Obama and McCain campaigns jointly negotiated a detailed secret contract dictating the terms of all the 2008 debates. This includes who gets to participate, as well as the topics raised during the debates.
It's a game, and we're not invited to play.
hat tip to Scoobie Davis
hat tip Danny
Oh. My. God. McCain supporters must be idiots. Who is John S. McCain?
The VP debate tonight?
No Debate: How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates
The Obama and McCain campaigns jointly negotiated a detailed secret contract dictating the terms of all the 2008 debates. This includes who gets to participate, as well as the topics raised during the debates.
It's a game, and we're not invited to play.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Bush had no plan to catch Bin Laden
By Gareth Porter
Asia Times
Oct 1, 2008
WASHINGTON - New evidence from former United States officials reveals that Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders were able to skip Afghanistan for Pakistan unimpeded in the first weeks after September 11, 2001, as the George W Bush administration failed to plan to block their retreat.
Top administration officials instead gave priority to planning for war with Iraq, leaving the United States with not nearly enough troops or strategic airlift capacity to close the large number of possible exit routes through the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area where Bin Laden escaped in late 2001.
Because it had not been directed to plan for that contingency, the US military was also forced to turn down an offer from then Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf in late November 2001 to send 60,000 troops to intercept the al-Qaeda leaders...
Home » Spin of the Day » Sep 30, 2008
New York Times Managing Editor Admits Pre-War Failings
-------------------------------------------------------------------
And today I had some Southern Fried idiot McSame campaigning in my comments section.
F-U-C-K-I-N-G --- A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
Asia Times
Oct 1, 2008
WASHINGTON - New evidence from former United States officials reveals that Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders were able to skip Afghanistan for Pakistan unimpeded in the first weeks after September 11, 2001, as the George W Bush administration failed to plan to block their retreat.
Top administration officials instead gave priority to planning for war with Iraq, leaving the United States with not nearly enough troops or strategic airlift capacity to close the large number of possible exit routes through the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area where Bin Laden escaped in late 2001.
Because it had not been directed to plan for that contingency, the US military was also forced to turn down an offer from then Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf in late November 2001 to send 60,000 troops to intercept the al-Qaeda leaders...
Home » Spin of the Day » Sep 30, 2008
New York Times Managing Editor Admits Pre-War Failings
-------------------------------------------------------------------
And today I had some Southern Fried idiot McSame campaigning in my comments section.
F-U-C-K-I-N-G --- A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
San Diego's RepugnanThuglicans
Hmmmm. Last night I watched a TV ad for the local right-wing hate spew radio station . There's plenty of brainwashed, hate-spew loving, RepugnanThuglican freeptards in this city, what's up with the ad?
This morning I flipped on NPR (I thought) and was instantly irritated by a whiny, nasally voice and doubly irritated that she was complaining about Gwen Ifill ("Who is black." she said, and I thought, wtf? who cares?) and a book and the debate. I realized with horror that I was listening to AM radio (which is only safe for liberals from 3-6 weekdays on 1700 when Stacy Taylor is on) and that whiny, nasally voice was Laura Ingraham. Laura spent time as a "white collar criminal defense attorney" Ewwwww, what a way to wake up. I was instantly reminded of this National Geographic special I watched last week on stress. The animals studied were baboons, and humans. Put some Dockers and chambray shirts on the tailed bullies in the National Geographic special and you've got a portrait of most AM radio listeners in this city.
Stress: Portrait of a Killer
A National Geographic Special
It was fascinating.
Sarah Palin needs to sit down, shut her speaking in tongues mouth and watch it.
I can't wait till Palin makes an a$$ of herself at the debate. I happen to adore Gwen Ifill. I think Ms. Ifill is beautiful.
This morning I flipped on NPR (I thought) and was instantly irritated by a whiny, nasally voice and doubly irritated that she was complaining about Gwen Ifill ("Who is black." she said, and I thought, wtf? who cares?) and a book and the debate. I realized with horror that I was listening to AM radio (which is only safe for liberals from 3-6 weekdays on 1700 when Stacy Taylor is on) and that whiny, nasally voice was Laura Ingraham. Laura spent time as a "white collar criminal defense attorney" Ewwwww, what a way to wake up. I was instantly reminded of this National Geographic special I watched last week on stress. The animals studied were baboons, and humans. Put some Dockers and chambray shirts on the tailed bullies in the National Geographic special and you've got a portrait of most AM radio listeners in this city.
Stress: Portrait of a Killer
A National Geographic Special
It was fascinating.
Sarah Palin needs to sit down, shut her speaking in tongues mouth and watch it.
I can't wait till Palin makes an a$$ of herself at the debate. I happen to adore Gwen Ifill. I think Ms. Ifill is beautiful.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
In the reading queue
Click on pics for more information.
After I finish this.
This essay by Richard Rodriguez is worth a listen. It's why I'm glad I never developed a taste for illegal drugs. Too many people die because of them. And yes, I do think it's stupid that marijuana is illegal, and even more stupid that alcohol and tobacco are legal.
Update 7:05 PM 10/1/2008 Tijuana body count 38 in the last 48 hours in the drug cartel war. Drug cartel violence killed more than 2,500 people last year
After I finish this.
This essay by Richard Rodriguez is worth a listen. It's why I'm glad I never developed a taste for illegal drugs. Too many people die because of them. And yes, I do think it's stupid that marijuana is illegal, and even more stupid that alcohol and tobacco are legal.
Update 7:05 PM 10/1/2008 Tijuana body count 38 in the last 48 hours in the drug cartel war. Drug cartel violence killed more than 2,500 people last year
Reagan
PBS Presidents
Last night was the second part of the show on Reagan. Ahhh, yes St. Ronnie the Raygun. Fucking deluded asshole totally fucked up my first attempt to go out and pay my own rent as a young adult. I was going to install solar powered domestic hot water heating systems. He cut the tax breaks for people choosing to invest in renewable energy 25 years ago.
Asshole never made it out of the 50's in his own mind. I wish his acolytes would just fucking croak already, or at the very least, wake up and see the reality of his legacy.
At one point I was watching all of these metallic balloons at a "no nukes" rally and I was reminded that moneyed interests control even those at the top of the government. The metallic balloon manufacturers won the battle in California yesterday. Fuck safety and your electricity source, they're going to sell balloons.
Here's your congresswhores in action:
House members who voted ‘yes’ on bailout received 54 percent more from banks/securities firms.»
Last night was the second part of the show on Reagan. Ahhh, yes St. Ronnie the Raygun. Fucking deluded asshole totally fucked up my first attempt to go out and pay my own rent as a young adult. I was going to install solar powered domestic hot water heating systems. He cut the tax breaks for people choosing to invest in renewable energy 25 years ago.
Asshole never made it out of the 50's in his own mind. I wish his acolytes would just fucking croak already, or at the very least, wake up and see the reality of his legacy.
At one point I was watching all of these metallic balloons at a "no nukes" rally and I was reminded that moneyed interests control even those at the top of the government. The metallic balloon manufacturers won the battle in California yesterday. Fuck safety and your electricity source, they're going to sell balloons.
Here's your congresswhores in action:
House members who voted ‘yes’ on bailout received 54 percent more from banks/securities firms.»
Monday, September 29, 2008
Corporate Crime Reporter stories
Professor Bowman Says It’s Either Regulation or Criminal Prosecution, Take Your Pick
22 Corporate Crime Reporter 36(12), September 22, 2008
Big business has been working for years to undermine civil regulation.
Into the void has stepped the Department of Justice.
Now, big business is crying foul.
No more criminal prosecution, they say.
Well, you can’t have it both ways.
With regulation crippled, business wrongdoing is shooting up.
And criminal prosecutors are just doing their job.
So, get used to it.
That in a nutshell is the take of Frank Bowman, a Professor at the University of Missouri College of Law.
Times Reporter Morgenson Says Paulson, Bernanke Lied about Meltdown
22 Corporate Crime Reporter 36, September 24, 2008
First the Bailout, Then the Bailiff
22 Corporate Crime Reporter 37(12), September 29, 2008
When McCain started blathering at the debate about how Corporate taxes are too high in the US at 35% I was screaming at the TV "Do they PAY those taxes, asshole?!?!"
NO, they don't.
22 Corporate Crime Reporter 36(12), September 22, 2008
Big business has been working for years to undermine civil regulation.
Into the void has stepped the Department of Justice.
Now, big business is crying foul.
No more criminal prosecution, they say.
Well, you can’t have it both ways.
With regulation crippled, business wrongdoing is shooting up.
And criminal prosecutors are just doing their job.
So, get used to it.
That in a nutshell is the take of Frank Bowman, a Professor at the University of Missouri College of Law.
Times Reporter Morgenson Says Paulson, Bernanke Lied about Meltdown
22 Corporate Crime Reporter 36, September 24, 2008
First the Bailout, Then the Bailiff
22 Corporate Crime Reporter 37(12), September 29, 2008
When McCain started blathering at the debate about how Corporate taxes are too high in the US at 35% I was screaming at the TV "Do they PAY those taxes, asshole?!?!"
NO, they don't.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Paulson sez we are angry on 60 minutes
Paulson: Economy Is In A Fragile Situation
Treasury Secretary Talks To Scott Pelley About The Controversial $700 Billion Bailout
No shit Paulson, how did it get that way, asshole?
No, No really, dickhead, what happened?
Man, I am so fucking sick of the foxes eating everything in the hen house, shitting in it and making us clean up after them. Are they gonna bring the chickens back? I don't fucking think so. I spotted this neat little gem in it:
SEC. 122 INCREASE IN STATUTORY LIMIT ON THE PUBLIC DEBT.
Subsectiion (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting "$11,315,000,000,000"
Nice. My share of that just went to $37,717, and so did yours. Chalmers Johnson chimes in here. on how the recently passed a 612 billion dollar defense authorization bill for 2009 that didn't merit a blink.
Update 3:12 PM 9/29/2008
Afghanistan has seen 'spiral downwards': top US general
Unh huh, Johnson said yesterday
"In Afghanistan, our historically deaf generals and civilian strategists do not seem to understand that our defeat by the Afghan insurgents is inevitable. Since the time of Alexander the Great, no foreign intruder has ever prevailed over Afghan guerrillas defending their home turf. The first Anglo-Afghan War (1838-1842) marked a particularly humiliating defeat of British imperialism at the very height of English military power in the Victorian era. The Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) resulted in a Russian defeat so demoralizing that it contributed significantly to the disintegration of the former Soviet Union in 1991. We are now on track to repeat virtually all the errors committed by previous invaders of Afghanistan over the centuries."
Well, isn't there some other dude running things over there now? What does he think?
Oh. Iraq is fucked too?
Treasury Secretary Talks To Scott Pelley About The Controversial $700 Billion Bailout
No shit Paulson, how did it get that way, asshole?
No, No really, dickhead, what happened?
Man, I am so fucking sick of the foxes eating everything in the hen house, shitting in it and making us clean up after them. Are they gonna bring the chickens back? I don't fucking think so. I spotted this neat little gem in it:
SEC. 122 INCREASE IN STATUTORY LIMIT ON THE PUBLIC DEBT.
Subsectiion (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting "$11,315,000,000,000"
Nice. My share of that just went to $37,717, and so did yours. Chalmers Johnson chimes in here. on how the recently passed a 612 billion dollar defense authorization bill for 2009 that didn't merit a blink.
Update 3:12 PM 9/29/2008
Afghanistan has seen 'spiral downwards': top US general
Unh huh, Johnson said yesterday
"In Afghanistan, our historically deaf generals and civilian strategists do not seem to understand that our defeat by the Afghan insurgents is inevitable. Since the time of Alexander the Great, no foreign intruder has ever prevailed over Afghan guerrillas defending their home turf. The first Anglo-Afghan War (1838-1842) marked a particularly humiliating defeat of British imperialism at the very height of English military power in the Victorian era. The Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) resulted in a Russian defeat so demoralizing that it contributed significantly to the disintegration of the former Soviet Union in 1991. We are now on track to repeat virtually all the errors committed by previous invaders of Afghanistan over the centuries."
Well, isn't there some other dude running things over there now? What does he think?
Oh. Iraq is fucked too?
Saturday, September 27, 2008
EmTech 08: Audits, Open Source Needed With E-voting
EmTech 08: Audits, Open Source Needed With E-voting
Elizabeth Heichler, IDG News Service
Thursday, September 25, 2008 12:20 PM PDT
No shit. My dad's been saying this for years.
It might prevent stolen elections
Friday, September 26, 2008
Almost Saturday Squirrel Blogging
Are debates always this predictable? Have they always been so? Yeesh, what a snoozefest... Well, except for McInsane trying to change the things he's said and done.
Yeah, we will check your record and spend ten minutes on YouTube looking for clips of what you really said, old man.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Danny on the Real News
Tomgram: Snitow and Kaufman, Water Wars in America
posted September 25, 2008 1:04 pm
...administration officials are using the politics of fear and panic over the very financial mess they had a hand in creating to institutionalize a presidential power grab of startling magnitude. And then, of course, following the pattern of this administration, they will privatize that power, undoubtedly subcontracting the work of governmental buying and selling to the very financial characters involved in creating this mayhem....
Read the whole article to find out just how awful privatization of a water system in a US city can be.
Thirst. (documentary)
If you haven't read Naomi Klein's the Shock Doctrine , you need to.
The unwritten laws of discussing wages, politics and religion being impolite
Fuck it. Too fucking bad. This election is too important to cower beneath that middle class unwritten law bullshit. Fuck polite. Middle Class Republicans need to be shaken from their slumber with the facts. They have been voting against their own best interests by voting for a party that DOES NOT GIVE A GOOD FLYING FUCK ABOUT THEM, and DOES NOT CARE TO PROTECT THEM.
This is what I get whenever I leave information on my congressman's website regarding a vote when I want him to represent me:
Message from 50th Congressional District
From: UnattendedMailboxBilbray@mail.house.gov
Sent: Wed 9/24/08 5:36 PM
To: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxxx
Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I appreciate hearing from you. If you are writing about an issue before the House of Representatives, please be assured that I will take your views into account before I cast my vote, and will make every effort to respond to your concerns. Additionally, if you are requesting help with a federal agency, a member of my staff will respond to you in the coming days. Again, thank you for contacting me. BRIAN BILBRAY Member of Congress P.S. - If you are planning to visit Washington D.C. in the near future, my staff can help arrange a number of tours for you, including the U.S. Capitol, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Library of Congress. For assistance, please complete my tour request form.
Would you feel like your request for representation from your representative was getting through if every response from him came from "Unattended mailbox?"
This is what I get whenever I leave information on my congressman's website regarding a vote when I want him to represent me:
Message from 50th Congressional District
From: UnattendedMailboxBilbray@mail.house.gov
Sent: Wed 9/24/08 5:36 PM
To: xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xxxx
Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I appreciate hearing from you. If you are writing about an issue before the House of Representatives, please be assured that I will take your views into account before I cast my vote, and will make every effort to respond to your concerns. Additionally, if you are requesting help with a federal agency, a member of my staff will respond to you in the coming days. Again, thank you for contacting me. BRIAN BILBRAY Member of Congress P.S. - If you are planning to visit Washington D.C. in the near future, my staff can help arrange a number of tours for you, including the U.S. Capitol, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Library of Congress. For assistance, please complete my tour request form.
Would you feel like your request for representation from your representative was getting through if every response from him came from "Unattended mailbox?"
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The alternative press rocks
The Press and Phil Gramm
The alternative press leads on the policy roots of the credit crisis
By Elinore Longobardi Wed 24 Sep 2008 10:45 AM
The alternative press has led the way on the story of Phil Gramm and the policy roots of the financial crisis, beating the mainstream business and other media rather badly about the face and neck.
Another example of how the alterantive press pays attention and reports, in depth:
One Million Weapons to Iraq; Many Go Missing
Ooooops.
The alternative press leads on the policy roots of the credit crisis
By Elinore Longobardi Wed 24 Sep 2008 10:45 AM
The alternative press has led the way on the story of Phil Gramm and the policy roots of the financial crisis, beating the mainstream business and other media rather badly about the face and neck.
Another example of how the alterantive press pays attention and reports, in depth:
One Million Weapons to Iraq; Many Go Missing
Ooooops.
Diebold for McCain?
Click on the picture for the story. Is this OK since the name on the voting machine part of the company is now Premier Election Solutions?
Still, the company makes ATM machines and McCain is part of the attempted financial heist that is going on right now. Not the first time, Keating Five in 97 seconds anyone?
McCain: Keating 5 Anyone? The De-Regulator Champion wants to now Regulate Wall Street, WOW what a FLIP FLOP
Iran and Russia messing around in Latin America
(click to enlarge)
Bolivia: The Spies Who Spun Me
Update Thursday, September 25, 2008
22:43 Mecca time, 19:43 GMT
Putin and Chavez in nuclear talks
Stephen Zunes
Posted September 22, 2008 05:30 PM (EST)
U.S. Intervention in Bolivia
24 Sep 2008
The Monroe Doctrine: Circling the drain
President Bush has distanced himself farther from Latin America than any president in recent history, creating a dangerous vacuum.
By Southern Pulse Network Staff
Posted on Wed, Sep. 24, 2008
AIM DANIEL McGROARTY: It's (still) foreign policy, stupid (scroll down)
Ok, here's a little on the financial meltdown.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke just straight out lied about the subprime meltdown.
mp4 stream from Democracy Now-- Naomi Klein warns of the Shock Doctrine at work in the Wall Street bailout, this is only step one.
This is a must see, she tears into those thieving bastards like they so richly deserve! Major H/T to Ornery Bastard's buddy Joe over at Left Edge North!
Posted by Bustednuckles at 10:12 AM
Financial Fascism
...for what is proposed is not the nationalization of private corporations but rather a corporate takeover of government....
Bolivia: The Spies Who Spun Me
Update Thursday, September 25, 2008
22:43 Mecca time, 19:43 GMT
Putin and Chavez in nuclear talks
Stephen Zunes
Posted September 22, 2008 05:30 PM (EST)
U.S. Intervention in Bolivia
24 Sep 2008
The Monroe Doctrine: Circling the drain
President Bush has distanced himself farther from Latin America than any president in recent history, creating a dangerous vacuum.
By Southern Pulse Network Staff
Posted on Wed, Sep. 24, 2008
AIM DANIEL McGROARTY: It's (still) foreign policy, stupid (scroll down)
Ok, here's a little on the financial meltdown.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke just straight out lied about the subprime meltdown.
mp4 stream from Democracy Now-- Naomi Klein warns of the Shock Doctrine at work in the Wall Street bailout, this is only step one.
This is a must see, she tears into those thieving bastards like they so richly deserve! Major H/T to Ornery Bastard's buddy Joe over at Left Edge North!
Posted by Bustednuckles at 10:12 AM
Financial Fascism
...for what is proposed is not the nationalization of private corporations but rather a corporate takeover of government....
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Ahmadinejad and Bush at the UN, a couple of loudmouthed morons
The rhetoric retards battle it out.
I wonder who's asking
"Is Your Vote Safe?"
RFK Jr., Mike Papantonio:Monday 22 September 2008
by: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ring of Fire
I wonder who's asking
"Is Your Vote Safe?"
RFK Jr., Mike Papantonio:Monday 22 September 2008
by: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ring of Fire
A Time to Fight by Jim Webb
At first I thought this was going to be a snoozefest. I'm pleasantly surprised.
For someone in the Senate to write "...our country has been increasingly calcifying along class lines, in a way we have not seen for more than a century and to an extent that maybe unprecedented in our entire history. This is no longer a simple queston of haves and have-nots. Every social and economic indicator shows that America now has an upper class that has swung exponentially away from the rest of society. To make matter worse, many of those at the very top now tend to view their inordinate success a s simply a function of their innate talent in a brave new world of socioeconomic Darwinism and have become openly consumed by self-justifying greed." -- is wonderful.
Somewhat related
Economists Warn Anti-Bush Merchandise Market Close To Collapse
For someone in the Senate to write "...our country has been increasingly calcifying along class lines, in a way we have not seen for more than a century and to an extent that maybe unprecedented in our entire history. This is no longer a simple queston of haves and have-nots. Every social and economic indicator shows that America now has an upper class that has swung exponentially away from the rest of society. To make matter worse, many of those at the very top now tend to view their inordinate success a s simply a function of their innate talent in a brave new world of socioeconomic Darwinism and have become openly consumed by self-justifying greed." -- is wonderful.
Somewhat related
Economists Warn Anti-Bush Merchandise Market Close To Collapse
The problem with this PBS poll
Do you think Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as Vice President of the United States?
Obviously the freeptards have discovered that you can vote multiple times. Go neutralize them, pleeaaaasssseeee.
Palin's Witch Hunting Pastor (Olbermann)
Obviously the freeptards have discovered that you can vote multiple times. Go neutralize them, pleeaaaasssseeee.
Palin's Witch Hunting Pastor (Olbermann)
Monday, September 22, 2008
E pluribus hokum or When the gamblers bail out the casino
Sep 23, 2008
By Spengler
Why should American taxpayers give US Treasury Secretary "Hank" Paulson a blank check to bail out the shareholders of busted banks?...
... Even better, why not let the Chinese, or the Saudis or other foreign investors take control of failed American banks? They've got the money, and they gladly would pay a premium for an inside seat at the American table.
By Spengler
Why should American taxpayers give US Treasury Secretary "Hank" Paulson a blank check to bail out the shareholders of busted banks?...
... Even better, why not let the Chinese, or the Saudis or other foreign investors take control of failed American banks? They've got the money, and they gladly would pay a premium for an inside seat at the American table.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
60 minutes
So far McCain is continuing to take lobbed softball questions from Pelley. Bleh. McCain answers by spewing bullshit talking points
Much harder on Obama
How much longer do we have to put up with this crap?
Much harder on Obama
How much longer do we have to put up with this crap?
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