Victory garden my ass

Tomdispatch.com is one of my favorite morning reads. It makes you think. The last three days have covered things I have been thinking about since September 11, 2001. I don't have a green thumb, but after the attacks I tried gardening. I had some romantic idea that what I was doing was like the WWII "victory gardens" or some shit. I was completely and utterly defeated by these rotten little fuckers. They defeated me with all of the petroleum products necessary for gardening in this area, and piped in water readily available.

Life is funny that way isn't it? How free are we, I mean, really? Are we free to change the lives of millions of people like "Bechtel Corporation, Bank of America, Standard Oil of California, Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern Pacific, U.S. Steel, and American Trust Company." and GM do?

*** On a more positive note, the Programmer who alleged plot to steal Florida election runs for Congress in spite of the fact that "his former employer was found dead in a cheap motel room.."

Good thing that there are people who deal with rodents better than I do, eh?

It's time

"NOT READY TO MAKE NICE"

Turn on the speakers or put the earbuds in and get the kleenex, 'cause these chicks get it.

Click to hear song Not Ready To Make Nice

Interesting date for the press release .

It is exactly three years after this incident
(...On March 10, 2003, during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq (which would take place on March 20), Natalie Maines stated during a concert in London... )

I think the country has a clue now.

I've been trying to ignore this

March 16, 2006
Dachau's 73rd "Grand Anniversary" Celebrated
By CLANCY SIGAL at Counterpunch
Feds Schedule $385 Million Concentration Camp To Be Built By Halliburton Subsidiary

Clusterfuck Nation by Jim Kunstler wont let me

I have a friend who makes me laugh when he says to me "Womens be thinkin' too much." Okay then.

Ex-Enron treasurer says Skilling, Lay lied

Well, color me shocked. Ummm....NOT

This lady cracks me up every time

Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools

The Mission Was Indeed Accomplished
By Greg Palast
03/20/06
-- --Get off it. All the carping, belly-aching and complaining about George Bush's incompetence in Iraq, from both the Left and now the Right, is just dead wrong. "The Guardian"

And yet..

Baker’s Latest Assignment; tell Bush we lost


Hmmmmmmmmm. Who lost?

What a silly question. We did, the "little people" all over the world.

Do tell No more lies

Grey's Anatomy

I'm feeling really lame today, be forewarned.

The only thing I found really interesting in the lefty politicky realm was the Kos President 08 straw poll.

I don't usually say much about TV because I don't watch much of it, I just don't have the patience to suspend THAT much disbelief. I watched a bit of Grey's Anatomy when the show first started and I hated it. I have no idea why I started watching it again, but I do now and I'm hooked.

Whoever is in charge of updating this page really needs to do that because last night I heard the best line I've ever heard on TV:

Izzie corners Christina and tells her to give Preston back his scrub cap and then she says to her "I grew up in a trailer park and I'm not above kicking your pampered little Beverly Hills ass!"

Wooooooo Hooooooo, I'm still grinning at that one. Great line, great scene, ladies, gracias.

This is funny. Punk'd Pompeo

Now I know why she get's on my last nerve, but she can act, that's for sure.

Update: More giggles from Moxiegrrrl: best blonde joke eva

Go see MoxieGrrrl !!! today's post is a good one!

Have I mentioned that I hate Diebold?

Emery County Clerk Bruce Funk has been running elections for 23 years. He was quite content with his optical scan system. The state of Utah thought otherwise: On Dec. 27, Funk took delivery on 40 Diebold TSx touch-screen machines, part of a statewide directive.

"I had concerns about Diebold," says Funk, "but I thought, 'If the state is going to mandate it, then I guess they'll assume responsibility if anything goes wrong.'"

Not so. He soon learned that he will be responsible but the state will decide what election system will count the votes.

"You're going to hate my guts on Election Day"

Funk's concerns escalated when he heard a particularly unusual statement by Diebold sales rep Dana LaTour.

go read the rest:
Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 09:33 pm:

Duh

Oil shortage threatens military

US News and World Report
By Marianne Lavelle
Posted 3/15/06
A grim view of the nation's energy future, and its implications for the military, emerges in a just released report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

...The researchers conclude that the military needs to take major steps to increase energy efficiency, make a "massive expansion" in renewable energy purchases, and move toward a vast increase in renewable distributed generation, including photovoltaic, solar thermal, microturbines, and biomass energy sources.

Duh.

US and the Israel Lobby

Why is it that if I say anything critical of the Israeli government I feel like people want to tie me down and tattoo a swastika on my forehead? If I point out that the Israeli government has what I believe to be an inordinate amount of sway over the US Congress I feel like someone is going to accuse me of secretly operating a gas chamber in my basement, or of secretly funding Palestinian suicide bombers. I actually had a Holocaust survivor's daughter tell me "If you don't like it here (meaning my country, the US), why don't you just leave!" That kind of knee-jerk reaction happens. It is such a touchy subject that's it's just easier to avoid it. It certainly isn't addressed fairly in the US mainstream media on a regular basis. I 'm not saying that both sides don't have valid complaints. I think that there is some benefit for some Middle Eastern leadership, and some Middle Eastern press to encourage the people to focus their anger on the US and Israel. It takes the heat off of them, and their failures. I do believe it's time to have some dialogue, because there are victims on both sides of this conflict.

Well, kudos to Juan Cole, the London Review of Books and Alternet.




And kudos to Paul Findley , who personally dealt with it and wrote about it years ago.

Jeb's mushroom squad

from the Tallahassee Democrat via The BRAD BLOG
Originally published March 17, 2006

The Associated Press has joined the Tallahassee Democrat in objecting to a closed meeting earlier this week in the office of Secretary of State Sue Cobb, as well as her efforts to have police remove those she barred from the meeting...AP joins Democrat protest of closed meeting



Jeb's mushroom squad strikes again.
Keep the people in the dark and shit all over them.
They'll never know the difference.

Uh... Jeb?

I'd like five minutes alone with you.

Bring your friend Susie, and I'll bring some friends too.

I'd reeeeeeaaaaaallllly like that.

Oy vey

OMFG,
Go read Bob's Post And read the report too.

Then go watch this video of
Arab American psychologist Wafa Sultan


And then ask how many Jewish American women are going to need this asshole's advice?






(spy music link at http://www.somafm.com/ )


Yep, can you see the line of Jewish women all lined up to get into Saudi Arabia and marry Muslim men?

bwaaaaa haaaa haaaaa hahahahahahahahaha

ROFL

Iranian oil bourse hits wall

...Mr. Cook dismissed the idea that Iran's goal is to use the bourse to sabotage the greenback. "I have a technical term for that," he said. "Bollocks!"...

And then there is this:

Iran ready for direct talks with US on Iraq
By Gareth Smyth and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Published: March 16 2006 14:59 Last updated: March 16 2006 14:59

Confronting Iran: Bush should let others take the lead
Article Last Updated: 03/16/2006 2:37 AM MST
...Most Americans still are angry about the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and the long ordeal of the hostages there.
However, many Americans probably are not aware that the Iranians still are angry about the CIA-backed coup in 1953 that deposed a popular Iranian leader, Mohammad Mosaddeq, and placed the shah back on the throne. Mosaddeq had proposed nationalizing Iran's oil industry, something that Britain and the United States would not abide...

Ok, it's understood that Bush shouldn't take the lead and neither should this idiot. Neither one of these men understands the word diplomacy.

How we got here

If you want to know how the US got itself into the mess that it is in now ( you know, wars, trade deficits, budget deficits, China, Japan, military-industrial-complex, umm... etcetera), go read the Chalmers Johnson Essay at Tomdispatch.

If you haven't seen this movie, do yourself a favor and see it.
Why We Fight

Don't bother with any of this if you wish to continue drinking the Kool-Aid. Carry on.

Run Lubna, Run!

"I have earned my desk"
By Vijaya George
MEET Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, a woman with several firsts in a region that is still taking its first tottering steps towards giving its womenfolk the recognition they deserve -- albeit, grudgingly.
Armed with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of California...SHAIKHA LUBNA AL QASIMI the UAE Economy minister who will meet U.S. officials "next week" ostensibly to admonish the US for being racist, and to further trade talks. I wonder if she'll meet with "Abu Abdullah" ? Maybe firm up the investment in the Carlyle Group so the port deal can slip under the radar later. We know how Abu Abdullah and his family like to have rich Arabs bail their sorry asses out every time they fuck up a perfectly good business deal.

Wooooo-Hooooooo, and what better way for the ruling MEN in rich Arab sheikdoms to prove that women can't do anything but stay stuck in the house and squirt out brats? Let the woman deal with George W. Bush.

Lubna run as far away from this mess as you possibly can.

(This has nothing to do with the price of tea in China, but would someone please throw a hijab over Harry Reid!)

Dear Iran

President Bush Continues Fall In Polls
March 13, 2006 10:01 p.m. EST

Democrats Beat Quick Retreat on Call to Censure President
By CARL HULSE NYT
Published: March 14, 2006

Months of uncertainty end for less than a day at 2 area newspapers
Staffs rejoice, then learn of resale plan




Dear Iran,

I have no idea what these megalomaniacal sociopaths will do next, but whatever it is, please know that the American people for the most part do not trust them, believe them, or even like them. Condi, Rummy, Bush, Cheney, and a few of their minions could disappear off the face of the earth and I'd bet there would be millions of Americans cheering that disappearance.Our leadership sucks, our voting machines suck, our media has become so focused on profits that it sucks and some of us are terrified that we'll never be able to get rid of these assholes.

Whistleblower Heller

Fledgling actor indicted for theft
Heller becomes folk hero for exposing problems with Diebold's machines
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER
One night early in 2004, a few weeks before the presidential primary, a Van Nuys actor making ends meet temping as a word processor listened on headphones as a young lawyer laid out a defense for Diebold Election Systems Inc.'s use of unapproved voting software in Alameda County.

Apparently, being a whistleblower is expensive in the USSR... er, I mean USA .
http://www.hellerlegaldefensefund.com/

Ratbastard

Donald Rumsfeld makes $5m killing on bird flu drug
By Geoffrey Lean and Jonathan Owen
Published: 12 March 2006

Aspartame Gate: When Donald Rumsfeld was CEO of Searle
May 07, 2004

History of Aspartame

Donald Rumsfeld is an evil ratbastard.

Looks pickled to me

House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio opened his yap and spoke for approximately 10 seconds before I reached for the remote and clicked the TV off. I heard "America, proud and President Bush" and that was it, I was done.






These jerkwads represent the American people?


On what planet?

Swidarski speaks

It seems like so long ago, the night of the last Presidential election, with the excitement and anticipation. Before I went to sleep that night I spent some time checking "unscientific" online polls. I copied and pasted these into e-mails, sure that when I woke up on November 3rd, that John Kerry would be the new President. And boy, did we need a new President.
Well, to my dismay, we didn't get anything new. We got more of the same. I was furious, but not surprised. I remember sending out a barrage of e-mails, later on in that week, with something like, "I told you so, they rigged it and they want to make this country just like Brazil." You know what Brazil is like? A few stinking, filthy rich people driving around in bullet-proof SUVs and living in gated and guarded compounds, and the majority of the people barely surviving. Massive amounts of homeless children, driven to prostitution, and who knows what else.

I'll bet you're wondering where the hell I'm going with this aren't you?

Cue the Twilight Zone music, OK?

Diebold got started in it's voting machine business in Brazil.

Ok then

Politics: Fallout From the Dubai Debacle

...One is an Israeli high-tech company that is paying $225 million to purchase Sourcefire, a Maryland software firm that sells firewall protection. Its customers include the Pentagon. Another Dubai firm, Dubai International Capital,...

Ok then. This should be investigated. We really should thank our lucky stars for people like Dennis Kucinich and Sibel_Edmonds

Letter to Preznit Poseur

Preznit Poseur was sent a letter by a real pilot recently. The real pilot returned his wings and bars. Among other things, the real pilot had this to say:

"As a citizen, a patriot, a parent and grandparent, a lawyer and law teacher I am left with such a feeling of loss and helplessness. I think of myself as a good American and I ask myself what can I do when I see the face of evil? Illegal and immoral war, torture and confinement for life without trial have never been part of our Constitutional tradition. But my vote has become meaningless because I live in a safe district drawn by your political party. My congressman is unresponsive to my concerns because his time is filled with lobbyists' largess. Protests are limited to your "free speech zones", out of sight of the parade. Even speaking openly is to risk being labeled un-American, pro-terrorist or anti-troops. And I am a disciplined pacifist, so any violent act is out of the question. "

here's the rest of the letter

Dubai port deal and repercussions

U.S. military brass lobbied for UAE port deal
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, March 10, 2006
ABU DHABI — The American military in the Gulf until yesterday promoted the United Arab Emirates in its attempt to operate major ports in the United States.
Over the past week, officers from U.S. Central Command and the Coast Guard were authorized to brief Congress on the UAE's record of handling and securing port calls by U.S. Navy ships.

Dubai and Demagoguery
March 10, 2006
by Justin Raimondo
antiwar.com
The Huffington-Hastert united front against doing business with Arabs

Dubai threat to hit back
Friday March 10, 2006
By Roxana Tiron
Dubai is threatening retaliation against American strategic and commercial interests if Washington blocks its $6.8 billion takeover of operations at several U.S. ports.

Oh boy, what a mess. We may not like shit like this:

http://travel.state.gov/family/abduction/country/country_532.html
CUSTODY DISPUTES: When child custody disputes arise between parents, custody decisions are based on Islamic (Shari''a) law. Non-UAE nationals resident in the UAE, whether married to a UAE or non-UAE citizen, may file custody cases in the UAE. Non-residents of the UAE may also file custody cases in the UAE, but may need to authorize a UAE resident and/or a lawyer practicing in the UAE to act on their behalf for the duration of the case. Non-Muslims are also permitted to file cases in the UAE family courts, under Shari''a law.

But being the energy swine that we are, no thanks to vehicle manufacturers and suburban home developers mucking around in every city government in the US, we need the UAE.
United Arab Emirates
Energy Information Administration
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is important to world energy markets because it contains 98 billion barrels, or nearly 10 percent, of the world's proven oil reserves. The UAE also holds the%

Enron stuff

Lawyer for Skilling Spars With Fastow
By Thomas S. Mulligan
The Los Angeles Times
Wednesday 08 March 2006

Houston - The Enron trial turned into a slugfest today as former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew S. Fastow traded verbal shots with the chief defense lawyer for Fastow's former boss, Jeffrey K. Skilling.

I want her
in the courtroom.

If you have to ask, you'll never know

NYSE goes public after 214 years
Last Updated Wed, 08 Mar 2006 13:37:46 EST

UPDATE 2-Grasso sees future in private equity, banking
Wed Mar 8, 2006 1:27 PM ET

How Grasso Earned It
by Dan Ackman
09.11.03, 10:22 AM ET

Calif. GOP Halts Voter Registration Plan
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
(AP) - SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.-The California Republican Party suspended its practice of paying people who sign up GOP voters while prosecutors investigate whether some registrations are improper.
Oh look, more Republican corruption. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...whah?

The Coming Resource Wars
Michael T. Klare
March 07, 2006

Don't ask me how all these seemingly unrelated articles got stuck in this post. If you have to ask, you'll never know. Just be glad you don't live in MY head, eh?

I'm almost done with this book:

SNL: Natalie Portman Digital Short

US Aid to Israel Feeding the Cuckoo
CounterPunch
November 16, 2002
by PAUL de ROOIJ

http://www.stop-us-military-aid-to-israel.net/

U.S. Financial Aid To Israel: Figures, Facts, and Impact

from Project Censored 2004

Reasons to Oppose US Aid to Israel

Except for the SNL skit, this information is widely disseminated in Israel's neighborhood, along with lots of hatred spewed during church services on Fridays. It keeps the sheeple focused on the "West", the immoral, evil "West" and not focused on the failings of the governments of countries with predominantly Islamic inhabitants.


Pigs At The Trough
U.S. Politicians Line Up To Prostitute Themselves For AIPAC
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is holding its annual policy conference this week. Speakers today include House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Fmr. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and, via satellite, the chairman of Israel's Labor Party, Amir Peretz.3/6/2006: WASHINGTON, DC: 40 min.

Saudi Arabia

Between tradition and demands for change
Saudi Arabia: reality check

This is a long piece, and I found it interesting. I've never been to Saudi Arabia, so I can only hope that it is balanced in it's praise and criticism of the Kingdom.

That said, I personally still harbor resentment that we have been told over and over again that 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, and those investigations seem to have gone nowhere. I also think it is cruel to force someone to be covered from head to toe in black in a place that reaches 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer.

Looks like to me, that SA is still exporting terrorists. This is a very short dispatch, with one very interesting sentence in it.

Arrested Saudi suspect in Iraq is psychotic, says KSA

I found this PBS special fascinating.

Frontline: House of Saud

I don't know who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. I do know that whoever is responsible for them is wealthy and powerful enough to escape punishment.

Walmart and emergency contraception

Wal-Mart to carry Plan B contraception
Retailer's pharmacies currently only carry the product in 2 states -- Illinois and Massachusetts -- as mandated by law.

...The company said it will maintain its conscientious objection policy, which lets employees who don't feel comfortable dispensing a prescription to refer customers to another pharmacist or pharmacy.

Nuclear weapons and oil and dollars

I'm slurping down my first cup of coffee this morning,and what do I find interesting?

From India:
IAEA says no evidence of Iranian n-weapons plan

From Lebanon:
...The euros-for-oil story is just one of many motives that people have proposed to explain the Bush Administration’s attack on Iraq, given that Saddam had neither terrorist ties nor weapons of mass destruction, but it fails to convince.
The rapidly deteriorating financial position of the United States probably does explain the Federal Reserve’s announcement that on March 24 it will stop publishing data on the M3 money supply, which tracks how many US dollars are held by foreigners...
Iran, oil and euros: The war scenario


From Canada:
Mainline: Geostrategy Feeds America's Oil Addiction

Video
Blowing the N-whistle : Depleted uranium: How dangerous is it?

Video
Why Has Our Military Refused to Show This Training Video To Our Troops Now Serving In Iraq?

And why do I find foreign sources of news interesting? Gee, think it might be because some of our newz sucks?

Anyone who still trusts the Bush Administration needs to have their IQ checked to make sure it's in the triple digits.

More on Bush Crime Family

Senator Feinstein's War Profiteering

...Feinstein, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee as well as the Select Committee on Intelligence, is reaping the benefits of her husband's investments. The Democratic royal family recently purchased a $16.5 million mansion in the flush Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. It's a disgusting display of war profiteering, and just like Cheney, the leading Democrat should be called out for her offense...

I don't know why, but I'm feeling particularly anti-chutzpah this morning. Maybe it's because I expect more from Democrats. Maybe it's because I'm disgusted with the military-industrial-congressional complex. Let me qualify that: I'm disgusted that so many Americans are dependent on the bloated military budget for their livelihood. Finding out just what percentage of the American public that actually is dependent on this system has been a frustrating experience for me.

I believe that any system dependent on destruction is doomed to fail.

Curiosities

One hour and twenty-one minutes, fifty seconds.
Dedicated to the lives we lost on 9-11

This man had had an interesting career. I remember watching him go through the whole cartoon version in a NOVA episode. Some interesting letters followed.

He designed the WTC complex

..Current Projects
Mr. Robertson is currently working with I.M. Pei on the Museum for Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, and the Macao Science Center in Macao, China. He is also working with Kohn Pedersen Fox on the Shanghai World Financial Center...

(Can you hear it? Unt you vill be revarded for your cooperation een zees matter)

Go ahead, call me a conspiracy theorist. It would be one of the nicer things I've been called.