Independence
Picks of the Week:
July 4th 2006: The state of US democracy 230 years after the American revolution
"Can anyone claim with a straight face that a document [Declaration ofIndependence] containing similar language would win the approval of either house of today’s US Congress or escape a veto by the current occupant of the White House? The entire content of the policies and actions—both foreign and domestic—of those who now run the American government amounts to a wholesale repudiation of the ideals and principles of 1776.
"Much of the Declaration of Independence consists of a bill of particulars against King George III that could be appropriated, with little revision, either for an indictment of the present Republican administration and its Democratic accomplices on war crimes, or a document politically justifying the actions of Iraqis now resisting the US occupation of their country."
The unanimous Declaration of the fifty united States of America
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with a brutal fascist military-plutocracy, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. For the sake of humanity we must stop fire bombing and dropping outlawed chemical weapons on civilian populations and shooting reporters who dare to talk about it."
American dream, American nightmare
"But American nationalism, unlike American patriotism, is different-and dangerous.
"The second part of Orwell’s definition tells you why. Nationalism is the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or an idea, 'placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.' Patriotism is essentially about ideas and pride. Nationalism is about emotion and blood. The nationalist’s thoughts 'always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations. … Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception.'”
Harper's Weekly Review
(The following three article about the Mexico selection are by Greg Palast)
Stealing Mexico: Bush team helps ruling party "Floridize" Mexican presidential election
"All the target nations had one thing in common besides a lack of terrorists: each had a left-leaning presidential candidate or a left-leaning president in office. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, bete noir of the Bush Administration, was facing a recall vote. In Mexico, the anti-Bush Mayor of Mexico City, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was (and is) leading the race for the Presidency.
"Most provocative is the contractor to whom this no-bid contract was handed: ChoicePoint Inc. of Alpharetta, Georgia. ChoicePoint is the database company that created a list for Governor Jeb Bush of Florida of voters to scrub from voter rolls before the 2000 election. ChoicePoint’s list (94,000 names in all) contained few felons. Most of those on the list were guilty of no crime except Voting While Black. The disenfranchisement of these voters cost Al Gore the presidency."
Stealing it in front of your eyes
"We’ve said again and again: Exit polls tell us how voters say they voted, but the voters can’t tell pollsters if their vote will be counted. In Mexico, counting the vote is an art, not a science — and Calderon’s ruling crew is very artful indeed. The PAN-controlled official electoral commission, not surprisingly, has announced that the presidential tally is too close to call.
"Calderon’s election is openly supported by the Bush Administration.
"On the ground in Mexico City, our news team reports accusations from inside the Obrador campaign that operatives of the PAN had access to voter files which are supposed to be the sole property of the nation’s electoral commission."
I think we've come full circle. Could it be that the only way to stop the corporate world from taking over and destroying the rest of the world is for the workers of the world to unite?
"Senor Blank-o" wins in Mexico
"Too many uncounted votes, too many blocked voters, too many statistics missing from the official tallies to jump to the automatic conclusion of US mainstream media, that this election was Mexico’s first “clean” vote. It may look clean and neat from the Intercontinental Hotel in Mexico City where reporters shuttle from bar to press conference. But sniffing into the garbage piles and ballot piles of Veracruz, it smells more like Ohio con salsa."
Flash forward to the US in November 2006 and 2008. It will be the same . . . again.
Mexico presidential election ballots found in dump
"Although official tallies indicated a victory for Calderón of 0.3%, the Mexican newspaper El Universal reported that 10 ballot boxes and a polling station report were found in a garbage dump in a poor neighbourhood in Mexico City, according to Reuters. The ballots came from three precincts in the city of Nezahuacoyotl, a López Obrador stronghold according to the website Narco News."
I wonder if Mexicans will accept the election theft with the same sheepish contentment of 'Mericans?
A nail-biter in Mexco
"On July 2, 41 million Mexicans went to the polls to participate in an election that 'was the most competitive and transparent in Mexico's history.' But not until yesterday did election officials announce that conservative former energy minister, Felipe Calderón, had beaten the left-leaning former Mexico City mayor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, by less than one percentage point. The election is Mexico's 'closest ever,' and López Obrador has not conceded defeat. Mexico may be in for an 'acrimonious, drawn-out post-electoral struggle strikingly similar to the Florida recount in the 2000 U.S. presidential race.' No matter who ultimately wins, Mexico's new president will have to deal with the country's 'myriad problems,' with perhaps the most important being 'issues of poverty and jobs, and how to close a yawning chasm between rich and poor that has sent some 10 million Mexicans north of the border in search of work.' Their president will have to strengthen the U.S.-Mexico relationship, 'defined by a nearly 2,000-mile border, ever more entwined economies and a burgeoning, shared population.' During the campaign, Calderón promised to 'establish a very constructive relationship without bowing my head and lowering my eyes to the Americans,' and despite being painted as a Chavez-like 'left-wing bogeyman,' López Obrador was 'very conciliatory toward the United States.' Without a doubt, it is a critical relationship for both countries."
Leftist to seek recount in Mexican election
"Top aides to leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called Friday for a recount of nearly half the votes cast in Sunday's presidential election and edged close to demanding that the entire vote be nullified."
A full recount would show that Lopez Obrador won Mexico's presidency by more than one million votes
"The truth: No recount occurred on Wednesday, or before, or since. What occurred – we repeat – was only the first official count of precinct tallies.
"A Narco News investigation has found that in the small sample of precincts – less than one percent – where a recount was allowed, the shift in numbers away from Calderón was so drastic that, if recounts of all the ballots followed the same trend, the official results would invert and Andrés Manuel López Obrador would become the clear winner of the presidency by more than one million votes:"
Contender alleges Mexico vote was rigged
"López Obrador ignited the smoldering emotions of his followers Saturday morning, alleging for the first time that Mexico's electoral commission had rigged its computers before the July 2 election to ensure the half-percentage-point victory of Felipe Calderón, a champion of free trade. In a news conference before the rally, López Obrador called Calderón 'an employee' of Mexico's powerful upper classes and said a victory by his conservative opponent would be 'morally impossible.'"
Man identified in phone jamming case will argue administration approved election scheme
"The fourth man indicted in a New Hampshire phone-jamming scheme -- in which Republican operatives jammed the phone lines of Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts in a 2002 Senate race -- will argue at trial that the Bush Administration and the national Republican Party gave their approval to the plan, according to a motion filed by his attorney Thursday."
Bush urged to intervene after Castro's death
"A new high-level report due for publication later this week urges the United States government to begin preparations to intervene in Cuba in the event President Fidel Castro's death. The goal is to help spawn a speedy transition on the island towards 'democracy and political freedom'."
Democracy and political freedom should also be spawned in the US.
Britons see US as vulgar empire builder
"Most Britons see America as a cruel, vulgar, arrogant society, riven by class and racism, crime-ridden, obsessed with money and led by an incompetent hypocrite."
George W. Bush is Dead to Me Nation cringes as the worst president ever continues long, painful slog
"This is where it stands: Bush can in no way risk alienating the ultra-right-wing bonk-job contingent that put him in office (they are, considering Bush's 32-percent approval rating, the only ones left even remotely supporting him -- even though, according to many estimates, they're starting to abandon him, too), and hence all policy and all agenda items from here on out will be even more vicious and desperate in an attempt to shore up the base. Hence trying to mutilate the Constitution to ban gay marriage. Hence attacking the New York Times and claiming newspapers are endangering American lives."
For his eyes only: Bush's secret crimes
"The Justice Department has finally taken decisive action in the mounting legal challenges to the President Bush's domestic spying program. But there's only one problem: It has acted to defend illegal spying, not stop it."
FBI plans new Net-tapping push
"The FBI has drafted sweeping legislation that would require Internet service providers to create wiretapping hubs for police surveillance and force makers of networking gear to build in backdoors for eavesdropping, CNET News.com has learned."
Ally warned Bush on keeping spying from Congress
"But Mr. Hoekstra, who was briefed on and supported the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program and the Treasury Department's tracking of international banking transactions, clearly was referring to programs that have not been publicly revealed."
The Hamdan dissents: US Supreme Court justices argue for presidential dictatorship
"The Hamdan case’s significance is not so much in its expressed holdings—that any war crimes trial of Guantánamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan, allegedly a driver for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, must meet the due process standards of a military court martial—but in its implicit repudiation by the majority on the court of the claimed legal justification for much of the Bush administration’s exercise of unbridled executive power in the name of waging an indefinite 'war on terror.'”
Global Eye
The [Supreme Court] ruling has been hailed as a 'victory for democracy,' the 'light at the end of the tunnel,' a 'turning point' in the long struggle to reclaim the republic from the usurping junta of the Bush regime. But we have seen these lights before, and watched them fade. All the previous 'turning points' -- scandals, atrocities, judicial rebuffs, investigations, convictions -- have only led to more depredations; every seeming defeat of unlawful power becomes instead a springboard for its further advancement. There is no reason to think it will be any different this time."
Bush directed Cheney to counter war critic
"President Bush told the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that he directed Vice President Dick Cheney to personally lead an effort to counter allegations made by former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV that his administration had misrepresented intelligence information to make the case to go to war with Iraq, according to people familiar with the president's statement.
"Bush also told federal prosecutors during his June 24, 2004, interview in the Oval Office that he had directed Cheney, as part of that broader effort, to disclose highly classified intelligence information that would not only defend his administration but also discredit Wilson, the sources said."
Isn't treason an impeachable offense? Just wondering.
Cheney behind turn toward dictatorship
"The United States is currently caught up in a new campaign for a military dictatorship rule by a military chief with absolute power. The White House, inspired by Vice President Dick Cheney, has argued that in time of great danger, the President has unlimited powers. If he cites national security, he can do whatever he wants -- ignore Congress, disobey laws, disregard the courts, override the Constitution's Bill of Rights, -- without being subject to any review. Separation of powers no longer exists under this view. The President need not consult Congress or the courts, only the vice president, the attorney general and God."
Rumsfeld subpoenaed over Abu Ghraib
"Shays, chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security, is investigating allegations made by Army Spec. Samuel Provance that his attempts to provide information to investigators about prison abuses were rebuffed and that he then was retaliated against for providing unclassified information to the media."
Hate groups are infiltrating the military, group asserts
"A decade after the Pentagon declared a zero-tolerance policy for racist hate groups, recruiting shortfalls caused by the war in Iraq have allowed 'large numbers of neo-Nazis and skinhead extremists' to infiltrate the military, according to a watchdog organization."
Makes sense . . . BushCo is a hate group.
Algerian tells of dark term in US hands
"Two years ago, a motley collection of prisoners spent night after night repeating their telephone numbers to one another from within the dark and dirty cells where they were being held in Afghanistan. Anyone who got out, they said they agreed, would use the numbers to contact the families of the others to let them know that they were still alive."
Tax dollars to fund study on restricting public data
"The federal government will pay a Texas law school $1 million to do research aimed at rolling back the amount of sensitive data available to the press and public through freedom-of-information requests."
Freedom is on the march in 'Merica.
Surveillance of financial transactions goes too far
"The Bush administration admitted that it was conducting warrantless surveillance of the financial transactions of Americans and others only after newspapers exposed the program. According to some Republicans, the solution is to imprison journalists who blow the whistle on government wrongdoing."
Parliament tells Europeans to explain what they knew about US tracking of bank data
"In a resolution that reflected rising concern among Europeans about their countries' cooperation in the United States' effort to curb terrorism, the Parliament voted 302 to 219, with 22 abstentions, to demand that the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the European Union's 25 member states 'explain fully the extent to which they were aware of the secret agreement' between Swift, an international banking consortium, and the United States government."
The sooner functioning democracies relearn that dancing with the devil is dangerous the better.
ACLU sues over security for Bush protest
"The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging the U.S. Secret Service and state and local police protecting President Bush during a 2004 campaign appearance discriminated against protesters when they cleared the streets outside where the president was eating dinner.
"The class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court contends that police acting on orders from the Secret Service used unreasonable force to move some 200 people peacefully protesting against the Iraq war in Jacksonville while allowing pro-Bush demonstrators to remain standing on sidewalks."
Postwar German government and CIA shielded Adolph Eichmann
"The historian Timothy Naftali from the University of Virginia, who has seen the documents, discovered that the West German government under Konrad Adenauer had known the secret whereabouts of Adolf Eichmann since at least 1958 and had covered this up. The CIA had also shielded the Nazi mass murderer from prosecution."
CIA: Osama helped Bush in '04
“'Certainly,' the CIA’s Miscik said, 'he would want Bush to keep doing what he’s doing for a few more years,' according to Suskind’s account of the meeting.
"As their internal assessment sank in, the CIA analysts drifted into silence, troubled by the implications of their own conclusions. 'An ocean of hard truths before them – such as what did it say about U.S. policies that bin-Laden would want Bush reelected – remained untouched,' Suskind wrote."
Does one need a CIA analysis to know that BushCo is bad for the nation in every respect?
Italians seeking arrest of 3 CIA agents
"Prosecutors said Wednesday they had arrested two Italian intelligence officers and were seeking four more Americans as part of an investigation into the alleged CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan in 2003."
Italian spy director arrested over CIA kidnap
"Police have arrested a director at Italy's military intelligence agency on suspicion of helping the CIA in the alleged kidnapping of a terrorism suspect in Milan, officials said on Wednesday."
CIA closes unit focused on capture of bin Laden
"The unit, known as Alec Station, was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the C.I.A. Counterterrorist Center, the officials said.
"The decision is a milestone for the agency, which formed the unit before Osama bin Laden became a household name and bolstered its ranks after the Sept. 11 attacks, when President Bush pledged to bring Mr. bin Laden to justice 'dead or alive.'"
Raped Iraqi woman feared US troops
"A woman apparently at the center of a rape-murder probe by the U.S. military in Iraq was only 15 and voiced fears about soldiers' advances before she and her family were killed in March, the Washington Post said on Monday."
Freedom is on the march.
Zarqawi successor 'in Egypt jail': Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, the purported successor of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, is in an Egyptian prison and not Iraq, a lawyer has claimed.
"Egyptian newspaper Al-Masri al-Yawm has quoted Mamduh Ismail as saying he met al-Muhajir, also known as Sharif Hazaa, or Abu Ayub al-Masri, in Tura prison in Cairo, where he has been held for seven years."
Seven questions: Covering Iraq
"You can only manage the news to a certain degree. It is certainly hard to hide the fact that in the third year of this war, Iraqis are only getting electricity for about 5 to 10 percent of the day. Living conditions have gotten so much worse, violence is at an even higher tempo, and the country is on the verge of civil war. The administration has been successful to the extent that most Americans are not aware of just how dire it is and how little progress has been made. They keep talking about how the Iraqi army is doing much better and taking over responsibilities, but for the most part that’s not true."
We face defeat in Afghanistan, army chief warns Blair
"According to a senior military source, Army top brass have told the Government there is a possibility of failure in Afghanistan, where British soldiers have met significant resistance from the Taliban forces defeated by the US-Anglo invasion five years ago."
Well, the Brits have failed before on the Northern Frontier.
No place for Canada: Foreign invaders will never control the fierce Pashtun tribesmen of Afghanistan
"Significantly, the Taliban have been joined by many other political and tribal groups. Prominent among them: Hisbi Islami, led by former CIA protege Gulbadin Hekmatyar -- the most effective guerilla leader in the 1980s anti-Soviet jihad -- and renowned mujahadin leader, Jallaludin Haqqi."
Stephen Harper, the Evil Moron's Canadian clone, wants to stay the course in Afghanistan. He also wants to be a 'Merican.
We've [Canada] ditched peacekeeping to back US actions
"Particularly pleasing to the Americans is a $3 billion contract for heavy-lift planes, awarded, without competition, to U.S. aerospace giant, Boeing. It's all part of Harper's plan to massively increase military spending, well beyond the substantial increases made by Paul Martin's Liberal government."
UK has boosted Taliban, admits defence chief
"Des Browne, the defence secretary, conceded yesterday that the deployment of 3,300 British forces into the Taliban heartland of southern Helmand has 'energised' the Taliban.
Aside from corporate coffers and bank accounts of the wealthy, it appears everything BushCo touches turns to merde.
Criminal charges filed against George H.W. Bush (Sr.) in Iceland
"Reykjavik, Iceland (3 July 2006) – A group of ten Icelandic citizens filed yesterday at the Office of the State’s Police Chief criminal charges against George H.W. Bush, former U.S. President, who is expected in Iceland this evening at the invitation of Icelands’s President Olafur R. Grimsson."
Iceland had the first parliament around 800 AD, I think.
New links between Abramoff, White House
"The appointments included a meeting with a domestic policy aide to Vice President Cheney and a meeting in the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives attended by about 40 people. The logs also reflect that Abramoff attended one or more social events, as well as a gathering of Indian tribal officials and state legislators at which President Bush appeared."
And no, he never had sex with the president; that was Jeff Gannon's department.
Abramoff had access to DoJ, Ashcroft
"The recent IG report also disclosed that Abramoff's buddy Ken Mehlman in the White House's Office of Political Affairs made an effort to keep Abramoff up to date on issues related to his client. Earlier, we learned that Mehlman had killed the nomination of one Interior Department official, and in this case he'd assigned the underling dealing with Guam and Marianas to reach out to Abramoff to make sure that he was happy with the US Attorney nominations."
But he might've had sex with Mehlman.
Washington Babylon
"According to prosecutors, Wilkes and Wade generously remunerated Duke Cunningham for steering government business their way. Wilkes, prosecutors allege, gave Cunningham more than $600,000 in bribes, including two checks totaling $100,000 and $525,000 to pay off a mortgage. (Wilkes, through his attorney, denies these allegations.) In February, Wade pleaded guilty to bribing Cunningham with over $1 million—but he operated with more panache, indulging Cunningham's taste for outsize antiques. The trove he offered included Persian and Indian rugs, sleek Louis-Philippe and Restoration commodes, a $24,000 Victorian china hutch, leaded-glass cabinets, and silver candlesticks worth $5,600. "Duke liked his antiques big and he liked them expensive," explains a Maryland antiques dealer, who despaired of his taste. (Duke got other gifts as well: a secondhand Rolls-Royce and the use of Wade's 42-foot boat, renamed the Duke-Stir.)"
Plan to attack New York tunnels: Yet another dubious "terror plot"
"How real a plot could be, in which the conspirators had not scouted the supposed targets, had not attempted to raise funds or acquire explosives, and had not formulated a plan of action, Mershon failed to explain.
"Further information reported in press accounts and attributed to US officials 'speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing' made it clear that no real plot existed. An Associated Press dispatch reported:"
Environment vs. property rights -- Endangered Species Act reform needed? NO: Protections are threatened with extinction
"Among other things, the bill would eliminate the requirement to designate critical habitat for endangered species, thereby removing one of the most central protections for them. Listed endangered species have been recovering twice as fast as those without critical habitat designation.
"The bill would also weakens the 'jeopardy' standard used to determine when projects would threaten a species with extinction, and guts the act's sections that provide for "recovery plans," thus allowing federal agencies to ignore such plans and destroy the habitat of endangered species."
The anti - life neofascists are to the human era as meteors were to dinosaurs. Enjoy.
Bush nominates anti-regulatory zealot to head 'super-powerful' public safety office
"As the director of regulatory studies at the industry-backed Mercatus Center she [Susan Dudley] has worked to oppose vital public health regulation as a 'hidden tax' that hinders profits. Some of her targets [for example]:
– Opposed EPA plans to set tougher public health standards for smog."
It bears repeating daily, the neofascists favor death over life. They are necrophilous versus biophilous. They are dangerously insane. Given a choice, they consistently choose evil over good. They must be stopped.
Global warming and the courts
"In a move that has caused both delight and apprehension among those who worry about global warming, the Supreme Court has agreed to rule next fall on whether the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The case is among the most important environmental disputes ever to come before the court."
I predict BushCo 5 the planet 4.
The student tax hike
"On July 1, interest rates on student loans experienced the greatest jump in history, with the variable rate on common Stafford loans shooting up almost two percent for students and graduates. The rate hike comes as a result of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which was signed into law by President Bush on Feb. 8, 2006 as part of an effort to save the federal government more than $22 billion over the next five years. (By comparison, the Department of Defense spends approximately $8.1 billion a month in Iraq). In today’s global technology and information-driven society, obtaining a college diploma is more important than ever. The average college-educated worker earns about 73 percent more over a working lifetime than a high school graduate, and faces a 40 percent lower risk of unemployment. A college education opens up windows of opportunity, while leaving school prior to earning a post-secondary credential closes doors. But rising costs and shrinking financial aid are making higher education increasingly inaccessible for many Americans. Lack of academic preparation, inability to pay for a full college experience, and economic pressures to seek full-time employment already prevent many students from completing a post-secondary program. The student loan interest rate hikes will only exacerbate the problem."
Job slashing at Heinz Foods and the role of private equity firms in corporate restructuring
"Private equity firms are organizations made up of wealthy shareholders who band together to seek to influence, and in some cases take over, the boards of publicly traded companies. These groups are, in contrast to the stated focus of a corporate board, uninterested in the long-term viability of a company, instead focusing on the short-term gains to be made by increasing efficiency and shedding less profitable divisions. Once these gains are realized, these large investors often sell their shares and move on to a new target."
Is Cheney betting on economic collapse?
"Wouldn’t you like to know where Dick Cheney puts his money? Then you’d know whether his 'deficits don’t matter' claim is just baloney or not."Well, as it turns out, Kiplinger Magazine ran an article based on Cheney’s financial disclosure statement and, sure enough, found out that the VP is lying to the American people for the umpteenth time. Deficits do matter and Cheney has invested his money accordingly."The article is called 'Cheney’s betting on bad news' and provides an account of where Cheney has socked away more than $25 million. While the figures may be estimates, the investments are not. According to Tom Blackburn of the Palm Beach Post, Cheney has invested heavily in 'a fund that specializes in short-term municipal bonds, a tax-exempt money market fund and an inflation protected securities fund. The first two hold up if interest rates rise with inflation. The third is protected against inflation.'"
The mysterious death of an Enron executive (April 10, 2002)
"It may be the biggest outstanding mystery in the Enron story: the death of Cliff Baxter, a former top Enron executive. He'd just agreed to testify to Congress in the Enron case. A congressional source tells CBS News that Baxter wasn't a target in the probe, he was to provide evidence against others."
Rescue schemes snare home owners
"As rising interest rates, high energy costs and skyrocketing insurance premiums put more homeowners in danger of falling behind on their mortgages, a new crop of investors -- drawn to South Florida by soaring real estate values -- is looking to capitalize on their hard luck. As a result, consumer advocates have seen a spike in the number of homeowners losing their homes in so-called foreclosure rescue schemes."
'Merica has turned into a lawless banana republic.
Quotes from www.bartcop.com and others:
"Bush holds polluters accountable by taking action against those who knowingly risk public health for the sake of profit. These illegal asbestos removals exposed workers as well as children and the general public to unnecessary health risks." -- Granta Nakayama, Bush's EPA Enforcer, with a straight face, Link
"With Shia death squads torturing and executing Sunnis, Sunni insurgents killing Shia, criminal gangs running rampant and a vicious civil war raging, people frequently ask me: Are things worse for Iraqis now than they were under Saddam? I don't have the answer, to that question, but the very fact that it can legitimately be asked is horrifying." -- Nir Rosen, salon.com
"Nobody cares about Iraq except the poor kids being pushed through the meatgrinder, even their families don't do shit till the bodybag is dumped on the doorstep with a thank you and good luck note taped to it." --DontLetEmGetOff, smirkingchimp.com
"In terms of the level of violence, Zarqawi's death has not had any impact at this point." -- US Ambassador To Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, Link
"1,595: Number of bodies Baghdad’s morgue received last month, up 16 percent from May. The tally indicates that the pace of killing here has increased since the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi." --Think Progress, Link
"All of the analysts who’ve been reassigned from the Osama hunt should join all of the analysts who’ve been reassigned from the hunt for Iraq’s WMDs – and together maybe they could finally solve the mystery of Santa Claus." -- AM Feed, Link
"The freedom that really differentiates Americans from much of the rest of the world is codified in the Bill of Rights, including a free press, the right to assemble freely, and the right of the accused to habeas corpus, that ultimate right seized from kings, to "have the body" instead of leaving it rot without trial in, say, a Gitmo cell." -- Nina Burleigh, "Progressive Patriotism" Link
Reporter: "What has been the President’s reaction to the death of Ken Lay?"
Tony Snow: "I really have not talked to him about it. I will give you my own personal reaction..."
Tony, nobody cares what you think. You're a mouthpiece for someone else.
"We will stay. We will fight." -- Bush, surrounded by armed guards, Link
"Because of your courage, every day is Independence Day in America. I'm not going to allow the sacrifice of 2,527 troops who have died in Iraq to be in vain." -- Monkey, promising to "stay the course" no matter how many thousands of men die Link
"Bush and the Republican Party have made it clear that they don't share American values of democracy, and justice. They are fascists and we need to start saying so. Their idea of capitalism is crony capitalism, with corporations feeding off the government and funneling a portion of their large profits back to the RNC. The RNC has become a fascist criminal enterprise." -- Patrick Shumaker, Link
"We will follow the money as a trail to the terrorists and freeze the money to disrupt their actions." -- Dubya, September 24, 2001, unveiling his new "terrorist asset tracking center," Link
"If you want to figure out what the terrorists are doing, you try to follow their money. And the fact that a newspaper disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror." -- Dubya, too stupid to remember HE revealed this program five years ago, Link
"So Bush gave up on hunting Osama a year ago and never told us. Real nice. And spare us the 'they're still hunting for him' bs. They're not hunting for him if they disbanded the special unit that's been hunting for him for ten years. And by the way, that means it was Bill Clinton who decided way before 9-11 that we needed to get bin Laden, and it was Bush who gave up the fight." -- John Aravosis, Link
"I've reminded the Prime Minister that it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship." --Dubya, trying to think, last week, Link
"The lesson is clear. When terror strikes, don't believe a word the know-it-all NY Times prints. They are opportunistic, hindsighted hypocrites who endanger us all." -- Michelle Malkin, (R-NastyBitch) Link
"Bush's assault on a free press should be recognized for what it is: another desperate ploy by officials trying to hide their own lethal mistakes in the shadows." --Frank Rich, "Can't Win the War? Bomb the Press!", Link
"The strong take from the weak, and the smart take from the strong." - Benjamin Franklin, reminding the Democrats they could win, ...if they tried
"Bernie Kerik is one of the most effective leaders of law enforcement in America. In every position, he has demonstrated a deep commitment to justice, a heart for the innocent and a record of great success. I'm grateful he's agreed to bring his skill to one of the most important positions in the American government..." -- Der Monkey in December of 2004, Link
"Bernie Kerik is now a perp. Bernard Kerik was arrested and booked yesterday. He admitted accepting bribes from a contractor with alleged links to the mob." -- "Kerik now a criminal" 07/01/06,, Link
Bush Monument
Dear Friends and Relatives:I have the distinguished honor of being on the committee to raise $5,000,000 for a monument of George W. Bush. We originally wanted to put him on Mt. Rushmore until we discovered there was not enough room for two more faces.
We then decided to erect a statue of George in the Washington, D. C. Hall of Fame. We were in a quandary as to where the statue should be placed. It was not proper to place it beside the statue of George Washington, who never told a lie, or beside Richard Nixon, who never told the truth, since George could never tell the difference.
We finally decided to place it beside Christopher Columbus, the greatest Republican of them all. He left not knowing where he was going, and when he got there he did not know where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been, and did it all on someone else's money.
Thank you.
George W. Bush Monument Committee
P. S. The Committee has raised $1.35 so far.
Bill Winter for US Congress: Colorado Congressional District 6
July 4th 2006: The state of US democracy 230 years after the American revolution
"Can anyone claim with a straight face that a document [Declaration ofIndependence] containing similar language would win the approval of either house of today’s US Congress or escape a veto by the current occupant of the White House? The entire content of the policies and actions—both foreign and domestic—of those who now run the American government amounts to a wholesale repudiation of the ideals and principles of 1776.
"Much of the Declaration of Independence consists of a bill of particulars against King George III that could be appropriated, with little revision, either for an indictment of the present Republican administration and its Democratic accomplices on war crimes, or a document politically justifying the actions of Iraqis now resisting the US occupation of their country."
The unanimous Declaration of the fifty united States of America
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with a brutal fascist military-plutocracy, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. For the sake of humanity we must stop fire bombing and dropping outlawed chemical weapons on civilian populations and shooting reporters who dare to talk about it."
American dream, American nightmare
"But American nationalism, unlike American patriotism, is different-and dangerous.
"The second part of Orwell’s definition tells you why. Nationalism is the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or an idea, 'placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.' Patriotism is essentially about ideas and pride. Nationalism is about emotion and blood. The nationalist’s thoughts 'always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations. … Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception.'”
Harper's Weekly Review
(The following three article about the Mexico selection are by Greg Palast)
Stealing Mexico: Bush team helps ruling party "Floridize" Mexican presidential election
"All the target nations had one thing in common besides a lack of terrorists: each had a left-leaning presidential candidate or a left-leaning president in office. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, bete noir of the Bush Administration, was facing a recall vote. In Mexico, the anti-Bush Mayor of Mexico City, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was (and is) leading the race for the Presidency.
"Most provocative is the contractor to whom this no-bid contract was handed: ChoicePoint Inc. of Alpharetta, Georgia. ChoicePoint is the database company that created a list for Governor Jeb Bush of Florida of voters to scrub from voter rolls before the 2000 election. ChoicePoint’s list (94,000 names in all) contained few felons. Most of those on the list were guilty of no crime except Voting While Black. The disenfranchisement of these voters cost Al Gore the presidency."
Stealing it in front of your eyes
"We’ve said again and again: Exit polls tell us how voters say they voted, but the voters can’t tell pollsters if their vote will be counted. In Mexico, counting the vote is an art, not a science — and Calderon’s ruling crew is very artful indeed. The PAN-controlled official electoral commission, not surprisingly, has announced that the presidential tally is too close to call.
"Calderon’s election is openly supported by the Bush Administration.
"On the ground in Mexico City, our news team reports accusations from inside the Obrador campaign that operatives of the PAN had access to voter files which are supposed to be the sole property of the nation’s electoral commission."
I think we've come full circle. Could it be that the only way to stop the corporate world from taking over and destroying the rest of the world is for the workers of the world to unite?
"Senor Blank-o" wins in Mexico
"Too many uncounted votes, too many blocked voters, too many statistics missing from the official tallies to jump to the automatic conclusion of US mainstream media, that this election was Mexico’s first “clean” vote. It may look clean and neat from the Intercontinental Hotel in Mexico City where reporters shuttle from bar to press conference. But sniffing into the garbage piles and ballot piles of Veracruz, it smells more like Ohio con salsa."
Flash forward to the US in November 2006 and 2008. It will be the same . . . again.
Mexico presidential election ballots found in dump
"Although official tallies indicated a victory for Calderón of 0.3%, the Mexican newspaper El Universal reported that 10 ballot boxes and a polling station report were found in a garbage dump in a poor neighbourhood in Mexico City, according to Reuters. The ballots came from three precincts in the city of Nezahuacoyotl, a López Obrador stronghold according to the website Narco News."
I wonder if Mexicans will accept the election theft with the same sheepish contentment of 'Mericans?
A nail-biter in Mexco
"On July 2, 41 million Mexicans went to the polls to participate in an election that 'was the most competitive and transparent in Mexico's history.' But not until yesterday did election officials announce that conservative former energy minister, Felipe Calderón, had beaten the left-leaning former Mexico City mayor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, by less than one percentage point. The election is Mexico's 'closest ever,' and López Obrador has not conceded defeat. Mexico may be in for an 'acrimonious, drawn-out post-electoral struggle strikingly similar to the Florida recount in the 2000 U.S. presidential race.' No matter who ultimately wins, Mexico's new president will have to deal with the country's 'myriad problems,' with perhaps the most important being 'issues of poverty and jobs, and how to close a yawning chasm between rich and poor that has sent some 10 million Mexicans north of the border in search of work.' Their president will have to strengthen the U.S.-Mexico relationship, 'defined by a nearly 2,000-mile border, ever more entwined economies and a burgeoning, shared population.' During the campaign, Calderón promised to 'establish a very constructive relationship without bowing my head and lowering my eyes to the Americans,' and despite being painted as a Chavez-like 'left-wing bogeyman,' López Obrador was 'very conciliatory toward the United States.' Without a doubt, it is a critical relationship for both countries."
Leftist to seek recount in Mexican election
"Top aides to leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called Friday for a recount of nearly half the votes cast in Sunday's presidential election and edged close to demanding that the entire vote be nullified."
A full recount would show that Lopez Obrador won Mexico's presidency by more than one million votes
"The truth: No recount occurred on Wednesday, or before, or since. What occurred – we repeat – was only the first official count of precinct tallies.
"A Narco News investigation has found that in the small sample of precincts – less than one percent – where a recount was allowed, the shift in numbers away from Calderón was so drastic that, if recounts of all the ballots followed the same trend, the official results would invert and Andrés Manuel López Obrador would become the clear winner of the presidency by more than one million votes:"
Contender alleges Mexico vote was rigged
"López Obrador ignited the smoldering emotions of his followers Saturday morning, alleging for the first time that Mexico's electoral commission had rigged its computers before the July 2 election to ensure the half-percentage-point victory of Felipe Calderón, a champion of free trade. In a news conference before the rally, López Obrador called Calderón 'an employee' of Mexico's powerful upper classes and said a victory by his conservative opponent would be 'morally impossible.'"
Man identified in phone jamming case will argue administration approved election scheme
"The fourth man indicted in a New Hampshire phone-jamming scheme -- in which Republican operatives jammed the phone lines of Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts in a 2002 Senate race -- will argue at trial that the Bush Administration and the national Republican Party gave their approval to the plan, according to a motion filed by his attorney Thursday."
Bush urged to intervene after Castro's death
"A new high-level report due for publication later this week urges the United States government to begin preparations to intervene in Cuba in the event President Fidel Castro's death. The goal is to help spawn a speedy transition on the island towards 'democracy and political freedom'."
Democracy and political freedom should also be spawned in the US.
Britons see US as vulgar empire builder
"Most Britons see America as a cruel, vulgar, arrogant society, riven by class and racism, crime-ridden, obsessed with money and led by an incompetent hypocrite."
George W. Bush is Dead to Me Nation cringes as the worst president ever continues long, painful slog
"This is where it stands: Bush can in no way risk alienating the ultra-right-wing bonk-job contingent that put him in office (they are, considering Bush's 32-percent approval rating, the only ones left even remotely supporting him -- even though, according to many estimates, they're starting to abandon him, too), and hence all policy and all agenda items from here on out will be even more vicious and desperate in an attempt to shore up the base. Hence trying to mutilate the Constitution to ban gay marriage. Hence attacking the New York Times and claiming newspapers are endangering American lives."
For his eyes only: Bush's secret crimes
"The Justice Department has finally taken decisive action in the mounting legal challenges to the President Bush's domestic spying program. But there's only one problem: It has acted to defend illegal spying, not stop it."
FBI plans new Net-tapping push
"The FBI has drafted sweeping legislation that would require Internet service providers to create wiretapping hubs for police surveillance and force makers of networking gear to build in backdoors for eavesdropping, CNET News.com has learned."
Ally warned Bush on keeping spying from Congress
"But Mr. Hoekstra, who was briefed on and supported the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program and the Treasury Department's tracking of international banking transactions, clearly was referring to programs that have not been publicly revealed."
The Hamdan dissents: US Supreme Court justices argue for presidential dictatorship
"The Hamdan case’s significance is not so much in its expressed holdings—that any war crimes trial of Guantánamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan, allegedly a driver for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, must meet the due process standards of a military court martial—but in its implicit repudiation by the majority on the court of the claimed legal justification for much of the Bush administration’s exercise of unbridled executive power in the name of waging an indefinite 'war on terror.'”
Global Eye
The [Supreme Court] ruling has been hailed as a 'victory for democracy,' the 'light at the end of the tunnel,' a 'turning point' in the long struggle to reclaim the republic from the usurping junta of the Bush regime. But we have seen these lights before, and watched them fade. All the previous 'turning points' -- scandals, atrocities, judicial rebuffs, investigations, convictions -- have only led to more depredations; every seeming defeat of unlawful power becomes instead a springboard for its further advancement. There is no reason to think it will be any different this time."
Bush directed Cheney to counter war critic
"President Bush told the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that he directed Vice President Dick Cheney to personally lead an effort to counter allegations made by former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV that his administration had misrepresented intelligence information to make the case to go to war with Iraq, according to people familiar with the president's statement.
"Bush also told federal prosecutors during his June 24, 2004, interview in the Oval Office that he had directed Cheney, as part of that broader effort, to disclose highly classified intelligence information that would not only defend his administration but also discredit Wilson, the sources said."
Isn't treason an impeachable offense? Just wondering.
Cheney behind turn toward dictatorship
"The United States is currently caught up in a new campaign for a military dictatorship rule by a military chief with absolute power. The White House, inspired by Vice President Dick Cheney, has argued that in time of great danger, the President has unlimited powers. If he cites national security, he can do whatever he wants -- ignore Congress, disobey laws, disregard the courts, override the Constitution's Bill of Rights, -- without being subject to any review. Separation of powers no longer exists under this view. The President need not consult Congress or the courts, only the vice president, the attorney general and God."
Rumsfeld subpoenaed over Abu Ghraib
"Shays, chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security, is investigating allegations made by Army Spec. Samuel Provance that his attempts to provide information to investigators about prison abuses were rebuffed and that he then was retaliated against for providing unclassified information to the media."
Hate groups are infiltrating the military, group asserts
"A decade after the Pentagon declared a zero-tolerance policy for racist hate groups, recruiting shortfalls caused by the war in Iraq have allowed 'large numbers of neo-Nazis and skinhead extremists' to infiltrate the military, according to a watchdog organization."
Makes sense . . . BushCo is a hate group.
Algerian tells of dark term in US hands
"Two years ago, a motley collection of prisoners spent night after night repeating their telephone numbers to one another from within the dark and dirty cells where they were being held in Afghanistan. Anyone who got out, they said they agreed, would use the numbers to contact the families of the others to let them know that they were still alive."
Tax dollars to fund study on restricting public data
"The federal government will pay a Texas law school $1 million to do research aimed at rolling back the amount of sensitive data available to the press and public through freedom-of-information requests."
Freedom is on the march in 'Merica.
Surveillance of financial transactions goes too far
"The Bush administration admitted that it was conducting warrantless surveillance of the financial transactions of Americans and others only after newspapers exposed the program. According to some Republicans, the solution is to imprison journalists who blow the whistle on government wrongdoing."
Parliament tells Europeans to explain what they knew about US tracking of bank data
"In a resolution that reflected rising concern among Europeans about their countries' cooperation in the United States' effort to curb terrorism, the Parliament voted 302 to 219, with 22 abstentions, to demand that the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the European Union's 25 member states 'explain fully the extent to which they were aware of the secret agreement' between Swift, an international banking consortium, and the United States government."
The sooner functioning democracies relearn that dancing with the devil is dangerous the better.
ACLU sues over security for Bush protest
"The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging the U.S. Secret Service and state and local police protecting President Bush during a 2004 campaign appearance discriminated against protesters when they cleared the streets outside where the president was eating dinner.
"The class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court contends that police acting on orders from the Secret Service used unreasonable force to move some 200 people peacefully protesting against the Iraq war in Jacksonville while allowing pro-Bush demonstrators to remain standing on sidewalks."
Postwar German government and CIA shielded Adolph Eichmann
"The historian Timothy Naftali from the University of Virginia, who has seen the documents, discovered that the West German government under Konrad Adenauer had known the secret whereabouts of Adolf Eichmann since at least 1958 and had covered this up. The CIA had also shielded the Nazi mass murderer from prosecution."
CIA: Osama helped Bush in '04
“'Certainly,' the CIA’s Miscik said, 'he would want Bush to keep doing what he’s doing for a few more years,' according to Suskind’s account of the meeting.
"As their internal assessment sank in, the CIA analysts drifted into silence, troubled by the implications of their own conclusions. 'An ocean of hard truths before them – such as what did it say about U.S. policies that bin-Laden would want Bush reelected – remained untouched,' Suskind wrote."
Does one need a CIA analysis to know that BushCo is bad for the nation in every respect?
Italians seeking arrest of 3 CIA agents
"Prosecutors said Wednesday they had arrested two Italian intelligence officers and were seeking four more Americans as part of an investigation into the alleged CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan in 2003."
Italian spy director arrested over CIA kidnap
"Police have arrested a director at Italy's military intelligence agency on suspicion of helping the CIA in the alleged kidnapping of a terrorism suspect in Milan, officials said on Wednesday."
CIA closes unit focused on capture of bin Laden
"The unit, known as Alec Station, was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the C.I.A. Counterterrorist Center, the officials said.
"The decision is a milestone for the agency, which formed the unit before Osama bin Laden became a household name and bolstered its ranks after the Sept. 11 attacks, when President Bush pledged to bring Mr. bin Laden to justice 'dead or alive.'"
Raped Iraqi woman feared US troops
"A woman apparently at the center of a rape-murder probe by the U.S. military in Iraq was only 15 and voiced fears about soldiers' advances before she and her family were killed in March, the Washington Post said on Monday."
Freedom is on the march.
Zarqawi successor 'in Egypt jail': Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, the purported successor of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, is in an Egyptian prison and not Iraq, a lawyer has claimed.
"Egyptian newspaper Al-Masri al-Yawm has quoted Mamduh Ismail as saying he met al-Muhajir, also known as Sharif Hazaa, or Abu Ayub al-Masri, in Tura prison in Cairo, where he has been held for seven years."
Seven questions: Covering Iraq
"You can only manage the news to a certain degree. It is certainly hard to hide the fact that in the third year of this war, Iraqis are only getting electricity for about 5 to 10 percent of the day. Living conditions have gotten so much worse, violence is at an even higher tempo, and the country is on the verge of civil war. The administration has been successful to the extent that most Americans are not aware of just how dire it is and how little progress has been made. They keep talking about how the Iraqi army is doing much better and taking over responsibilities, but for the most part that’s not true."
We face defeat in Afghanistan, army chief warns Blair
"According to a senior military source, Army top brass have told the Government there is a possibility of failure in Afghanistan, where British soldiers have met significant resistance from the Taliban forces defeated by the US-Anglo invasion five years ago."
Well, the Brits have failed before on the Northern Frontier.
No place for Canada: Foreign invaders will never control the fierce Pashtun tribesmen of Afghanistan
"Significantly, the Taliban have been joined by many other political and tribal groups. Prominent among them: Hisbi Islami, led by former CIA protege Gulbadin Hekmatyar -- the most effective guerilla leader in the 1980s anti-Soviet jihad -- and renowned mujahadin leader, Jallaludin Haqqi."
Stephen Harper, the Evil Moron's Canadian clone, wants to stay the course in Afghanistan. He also wants to be a 'Merican.
We've [Canada] ditched peacekeeping to back US actions
"Particularly pleasing to the Americans is a $3 billion contract for heavy-lift planes, awarded, without competition, to U.S. aerospace giant, Boeing. It's all part of Harper's plan to massively increase military spending, well beyond the substantial increases made by Paul Martin's Liberal government."
UK has boosted Taliban, admits defence chief
"Des Browne, the defence secretary, conceded yesterday that the deployment of 3,300 British forces into the Taliban heartland of southern Helmand has 'energised' the Taliban.
Aside from corporate coffers and bank accounts of the wealthy, it appears everything BushCo touches turns to merde.
Criminal charges filed against George H.W. Bush (Sr.) in Iceland
"Reykjavik, Iceland (3 July 2006) – A group of ten Icelandic citizens filed yesterday at the Office of the State’s Police Chief criminal charges against George H.W. Bush, former U.S. President, who is expected in Iceland this evening at the invitation of Icelands’s President Olafur R. Grimsson."
Iceland had the first parliament around 800 AD, I think.
New links between Abramoff, White House
"The appointments included a meeting with a domestic policy aide to Vice President Cheney and a meeting in the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives attended by about 40 people. The logs also reflect that Abramoff attended one or more social events, as well as a gathering of Indian tribal officials and state legislators at which President Bush appeared."
And no, he never had sex with the president; that was Jeff Gannon's department.
Abramoff had access to DoJ, Ashcroft
"The recent IG report also disclosed that Abramoff's buddy Ken Mehlman in the White House's Office of Political Affairs made an effort to keep Abramoff up to date on issues related to his client. Earlier, we learned that Mehlman had killed the nomination of one Interior Department official, and in this case he'd assigned the underling dealing with Guam and Marianas to reach out to Abramoff to make sure that he was happy with the US Attorney nominations."
But he might've had sex with Mehlman.
Washington Babylon
"According to prosecutors, Wilkes and Wade generously remunerated Duke Cunningham for steering government business their way. Wilkes, prosecutors allege, gave Cunningham more than $600,000 in bribes, including two checks totaling $100,000 and $525,000 to pay off a mortgage. (Wilkes, through his attorney, denies these allegations.) In February, Wade pleaded guilty to bribing Cunningham with over $1 million—but he operated with more panache, indulging Cunningham's taste for outsize antiques. The trove he offered included Persian and Indian rugs, sleek Louis-Philippe and Restoration commodes, a $24,000 Victorian china hutch, leaded-glass cabinets, and silver candlesticks worth $5,600. "Duke liked his antiques big and he liked them expensive," explains a Maryland antiques dealer, who despaired of his taste. (Duke got other gifts as well: a secondhand Rolls-Royce and the use of Wade's 42-foot boat, renamed the Duke-Stir.)"
Plan to attack New York tunnels: Yet another dubious "terror plot"
"How real a plot could be, in which the conspirators had not scouted the supposed targets, had not attempted to raise funds or acquire explosives, and had not formulated a plan of action, Mershon failed to explain.
"Further information reported in press accounts and attributed to US officials 'speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing' made it clear that no real plot existed. An Associated Press dispatch reported:"
Environment vs. property rights -- Endangered Species Act reform needed? NO: Protections are threatened with extinction
"Among other things, the bill would eliminate the requirement to designate critical habitat for endangered species, thereby removing one of the most central protections for them. Listed endangered species have been recovering twice as fast as those without critical habitat designation.
"The bill would also weakens the 'jeopardy' standard used to determine when projects would threaten a species with extinction, and guts the act's sections that provide for "recovery plans," thus allowing federal agencies to ignore such plans and destroy the habitat of endangered species."
The anti - life neofascists are to the human era as meteors were to dinosaurs. Enjoy.
Bush nominates anti-regulatory zealot to head 'super-powerful' public safety office
"As the director of regulatory studies at the industry-backed Mercatus Center she [Susan Dudley] has worked to oppose vital public health regulation as a 'hidden tax' that hinders profits. Some of her targets [for example]:
– Opposed EPA plans to set tougher public health standards for smog."
It bears repeating daily, the neofascists favor death over life. They are necrophilous versus biophilous. They are dangerously insane. Given a choice, they consistently choose evil over good. They must be stopped.
Global warming and the courts
"In a move that has caused both delight and apprehension among those who worry about global warming, the Supreme Court has agreed to rule next fall on whether the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The case is among the most important environmental disputes ever to come before the court."
I predict BushCo 5 the planet 4.
The student tax hike
"On July 1, interest rates on student loans experienced the greatest jump in history, with the variable rate on common Stafford loans shooting up almost two percent for students and graduates. The rate hike comes as a result of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which was signed into law by President Bush on Feb. 8, 2006 as part of an effort to save the federal government more than $22 billion over the next five years. (By comparison, the Department of Defense spends approximately $8.1 billion a month in Iraq). In today’s global technology and information-driven society, obtaining a college diploma is more important than ever. The average college-educated worker earns about 73 percent more over a working lifetime than a high school graduate, and faces a 40 percent lower risk of unemployment. A college education opens up windows of opportunity, while leaving school prior to earning a post-secondary credential closes doors. But rising costs and shrinking financial aid are making higher education increasingly inaccessible for many Americans. Lack of academic preparation, inability to pay for a full college experience, and economic pressures to seek full-time employment already prevent many students from completing a post-secondary program. The student loan interest rate hikes will only exacerbate the problem."
Job slashing at Heinz Foods and the role of private equity firms in corporate restructuring
"Private equity firms are organizations made up of wealthy shareholders who band together to seek to influence, and in some cases take over, the boards of publicly traded companies. These groups are, in contrast to the stated focus of a corporate board, uninterested in the long-term viability of a company, instead focusing on the short-term gains to be made by increasing efficiency and shedding less profitable divisions. Once these gains are realized, these large investors often sell their shares and move on to a new target."
Is Cheney betting on economic collapse?
"Wouldn’t you like to know where Dick Cheney puts his money? Then you’d know whether his 'deficits don’t matter' claim is just baloney or not."Well, as it turns out, Kiplinger Magazine ran an article based on Cheney’s financial disclosure statement and, sure enough, found out that the VP is lying to the American people for the umpteenth time. Deficits do matter and Cheney has invested his money accordingly."The article is called 'Cheney’s betting on bad news' and provides an account of where Cheney has socked away more than $25 million. While the figures may be estimates, the investments are not. According to Tom Blackburn of the Palm Beach Post, Cheney has invested heavily in 'a fund that specializes in short-term municipal bonds, a tax-exempt money market fund and an inflation protected securities fund. The first two hold up if interest rates rise with inflation. The third is protected against inflation.'"
The mysterious death of an Enron executive (April 10, 2002)
"It may be the biggest outstanding mystery in the Enron story: the death of Cliff Baxter, a former top Enron executive. He'd just agreed to testify to Congress in the Enron case. A congressional source tells CBS News that Baxter wasn't a target in the probe, he was to provide evidence against others."
Rescue schemes snare home owners
"As rising interest rates, high energy costs and skyrocketing insurance premiums put more homeowners in danger of falling behind on their mortgages, a new crop of investors -- drawn to South Florida by soaring real estate values -- is looking to capitalize on their hard luck. As a result, consumer advocates have seen a spike in the number of homeowners losing their homes in so-called foreclosure rescue schemes."
'Merica has turned into a lawless banana republic.
Quotes from www.bartcop.com and others:
"Bush holds polluters accountable by taking action against those who knowingly risk public health for the sake of profit. These illegal asbestos removals exposed workers as well as children and the general public to unnecessary health risks." -- Granta Nakayama, Bush's EPA Enforcer, with a straight face, Link
"With Shia death squads torturing and executing Sunnis, Sunni insurgents killing Shia, criminal gangs running rampant and a vicious civil war raging, people frequently ask me: Are things worse for Iraqis now than they were under Saddam? I don't have the answer, to that question, but the very fact that it can legitimately be asked is horrifying." -- Nir Rosen, salon.com
"Nobody cares about Iraq except the poor kids being pushed through the meatgrinder, even their families don't do shit till the bodybag is dumped on the doorstep with a thank you and good luck note taped to it." --DontLetEmGetOff, smirkingchimp.com
"In terms of the level of violence, Zarqawi's death has not had any impact at this point." -- US Ambassador To Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, Link
"1,595: Number of bodies Baghdad’s morgue received last month, up 16 percent from May. The tally indicates that the pace of killing here has increased since the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi." --Think Progress, Link
"All of the analysts who’ve been reassigned from the Osama hunt should join all of the analysts who’ve been reassigned from the hunt for Iraq’s WMDs – and together maybe they could finally solve the mystery of Santa Claus." -- AM Feed, Link
"The freedom that really differentiates Americans from much of the rest of the world is codified in the Bill of Rights, including a free press, the right to assemble freely, and the right of the accused to habeas corpus, that ultimate right seized from kings, to "have the body" instead of leaving it rot without trial in, say, a Gitmo cell." -- Nina Burleigh, "Progressive Patriotism" Link
Reporter: "What has been the President’s reaction to the death of Ken Lay?"
Tony Snow: "I really have not talked to him about it. I will give you my own personal reaction..."
Tony, nobody cares what you think. You're a mouthpiece for someone else.
"We will stay. We will fight." -- Bush, surrounded by armed guards, Link
"Because of your courage, every day is Independence Day in America. I'm not going to allow the sacrifice of 2,527 troops who have died in Iraq to be in vain." -- Monkey, promising to "stay the course" no matter how many thousands of men die Link
"Bush and the Republican Party have made it clear that they don't share American values of democracy, and justice. They are fascists and we need to start saying so. Their idea of capitalism is crony capitalism, with corporations feeding off the government and funneling a portion of their large profits back to the RNC. The RNC has become a fascist criminal enterprise." -- Patrick Shumaker, Link
"We will follow the money as a trail to the terrorists and freeze the money to disrupt their actions." -- Dubya, September 24, 2001, unveiling his new "terrorist asset tracking center," Link
"If you want to figure out what the terrorists are doing, you try to follow their money. And the fact that a newspaper disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror." -- Dubya, too stupid to remember HE revealed this program five years ago, Link
"So Bush gave up on hunting Osama a year ago and never told us. Real nice. And spare us the 'they're still hunting for him' bs. They're not hunting for him if they disbanded the special unit that's been hunting for him for ten years. And by the way, that means it was Bill Clinton who decided way before 9-11 that we needed to get bin Laden, and it was Bush who gave up the fight." -- John Aravosis, Link
"I've reminded the Prime Minister that it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship." --Dubya, trying to think, last week, Link
"The lesson is clear. When terror strikes, don't believe a word the know-it-all NY Times prints. They are opportunistic, hindsighted hypocrites who endanger us all." -- Michelle Malkin, (R-NastyBitch) Link
"Bush's assault on a free press should be recognized for what it is: another desperate ploy by officials trying to hide their own lethal mistakes in the shadows." --Frank Rich, "Can't Win the War? Bomb the Press!", Link
"The strong take from the weak, and the smart take from the strong." - Benjamin Franklin, reminding the Democrats they could win, ...if they tried
"Bernie Kerik is one of the most effective leaders of law enforcement in America. In every position, he has demonstrated a deep commitment to justice, a heart for the innocent and a record of great success. I'm grateful he's agreed to bring his skill to one of the most important positions in the American government..." -- Der Monkey in December of 2004, Link
"Bernie Kerik is now a perp. Bernard Kerik was arrested and booked yesterday. He admitted accepting bribes from a contractor with alleged links to the mob." -- "Kerik now a criminal" 07/01/06,, Link
Bush Monument
Dear Friends and Relatives:I have the distinguished honor of being on the committee to raise $5,000,000 for a monument of George W. Bush. We originally wanted to put him on Mt. Rushmore until we discovered there was not enough room for two more faces.
We then decided to erect a statue of George in the Washington, D. C. Hall of Fame. We were in a quandary as to where the statue should be placed. It was not proper to place it beside the statue of George Washington, who never told a lie, or beside Richard Nixon, who never told the truth, since George could never tell the difference.
We finally decided to place it beside Christopher Columbus, the greatest Republican of them all. He left not knowing where he was going, and when he got there he did not know where he was. He returned not knowing where he had been, and did it all on someone else's money.
Thank you.
George W. Bush Monument Committee
P. S. The Committee has raised $1.35 so far.
Bill Winter for US Congress: Colorado Congressional District 6
posted by Jerry | 7:47 PM
2 Comments:
I got a nickle.
Will that get me privileges to post part of this, with a link?
Sorry! Coudn't wait for permission! Posted it already.
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