Killing will continue until peace is achieved

Picks of the Week:

Harper's Weekly Review

Lopez Obrador urges civil resistance

"Hundreds of thousands of supporters poured into the Zocalo, chanting: 'You are not alone.' Some walked for six days or took long bus rides to attend the rally after López Obrador called for a nationwide march on the capital.

"Mexico City police estimated the crowd at 1.1 million."

Israel support resolution passes 410 - 8

"Should the House have voted to support Israel in the latest conflict and call for Syria and Iran to be held accountable? (How They Voted) Let Congress and President Bush hear your views on the latest Middle East crisis.-
22% say Support Pro-Israel Resolution-
78% say Oppose Pro-Israel Resolution"

The American people have spoken . . . Congress has chosen to listen to Israel . . . bidness as usual in 'Merica.

The west must recognize that Israel's agenda is in conflict with its own

"Whatever else can be said for or against Israel's escalation of military action against Lebanon, there is little prospect that it will achieve its stated objectives. If Israel couldn't defeat Hizbullah after 18 years in which its army occupied large swaths of Lebanese territory, it is not going to succeed with air strikes and blockades, or even another occupation. The same point applies even more forcefully in the case of Gaza. Every time Israel applies the iron fist in an effort to beat the Palestinians into submission, their resistance simply re-emerges in a more extreme and rejectionist form. Far from fearing Israel's wrath, Hizbullah and Hamas must be rather pleased at their success in provoking it into the sort of over-reaction from which they have always benefited."

Israel makes its 'clean break'

"She [Israel] has wanted a generous parent on the Security Council, to provide warmth and aid, validation and protection, a sympathetic ear and a devoted advocacy. Perhaps, as Israel executes her 'Clean Break,' America – led by the next Congress of the United States – can finally begin to truly celebrate Israel’s independence, and like tired parents, reorganize our own lives and objectives and dreams accordingly."

IDF forces arrest of Palestinian cabinet ministers, lawmakers (June 30, 2006)

Attorney General "Mazuz insisted that the arrests be carried out under ordinary criminal warrants that would require legal proceedings against the Hamas officials under the Prevention of Terror Ordinance. They will probably be charged with membership in or leadership of a terrorist organization."

Consider this story and the one immediately following.

It's war by any other name

"It all started on July 12 when Israel troops were ambushed on Lebanon's side of the border with Israel. Hezbollah, which commands the Lebanese south, immediately seized on their crossing. They arrested two Israeli soldiers, killed eight Israelis and wounded over 20 in attacks inside Israeli territory."

So, Israel can arrest Hamas officials in Palestinian territory and claim foul when Israeli soldiers are captured while Lebanon. Seems sort of . . . one sided.

As the world looks elsewhere, death toll rises in Gaza

"Muhammad is one of 106 Palestinians to have died in the Gaza offensive, which began on June 28, and another 300 have been wounded, according to Jomaa al-Saqaa, of al-Shifa Hospital. The Israelis have made multiple incursions and airstrikes in an effort to rescue Corporal Gilad Schalit, who was abducted three weeks ago by Hamas in an attack that left two soldiers dead. Last night an Israeli armoured column clashed with militants near the Maghazi refugee camp."

"The insane brutality of the state of Israel'

"A nation that mandates the primacy of one ethnicity or religion over all others will eventually become psychologically dysfunctional. Narcissistically obsessed with its own image, it must strive to maintain its racial superiority at all costs and will inevitably come to view any resistance to this imagined superiority as an existential threat. Indeed, any other people automatically becomes an existential threat simply by virtue of its own existence. As it seeks to protect itself against phantom threats, the racist state becomes increasingly paranoid, its society closed and insular, intellectually limited. Setbacks enrage it; humiliations madden it. The state lashes out in a crazed effort, lacking any sense of proportion, to reassure itself of its strength."

Israeli jets hit central Beirut

"A truck in al-Ashrafiya district in central Beirut was struck by fire from an Israeli warship on Wednesday, the first time that central Beirut city had been hit."

The media spends most of its time focusing upon the terror of the Hezbollah rockets, which have a 50 pound warhead. Israel aircraft have used 1,000 pound bombs. Which is more terrifying and destructive? Fifty times 200 = 1,000.

Israel's path to total war

"One of the most malignant aspects of the new chapter in the Arab-Israeli conflict is the myth of Israel as the assaulted party, lavishly propagated by the White House and the infinite pro-Israel pundits in the US media, including the editors of the New York Times, who have labeled Israel's blatant aggression against the nation of Lebanon as 'legally and morally justified'."

Israel acts according to a ready script

"The first point to note is that Israel has preferred 'shock and awe' tactics in Gaza and Lebanon familiar from the United States' assault on Iraq. It is in the nature of these kind of bombing campaigns that they inflict their heaviest toll on civilians.

"For every Qassam and Katyusha strike, Israel is raining down a barrage of its latest military hardware, wrecking civilian infrastructure and human lives. This is not only 'disproportionate,' in the mealy-mouthed words of Western governments, it is collective punishment and - as if it needs repeating - a war crime. But we should expect no more from an army that talks about 'bombing Gaza into the Stone Age' and 'turning the clock back 20 years in Lebanon.'"

Middle East: Reaping what Bush sowed

"Instead, Washington's ideological hubris and practical incompetence have succeeded only in setting the region ablaze, awakening extremist and militant voices."

Canadian government indifferent to Israel's murder of eight of its citizens

"The Canadians, four adults and four children aged from 1 to 7, were among eleven members of the Al-Akhrass family who were killed as the result of Israeli strafing of the south Lebanese village of Aitaroun last Sunday. All four of the family’s houses in Aitaroun were destroyed by Israeli bombs."

US gives Israel a blank check to wage war

"The Bush administration has given Israel a carte blanche to wage war against Lebanon, bombing and killing as it sees fit. American diplomacy in the crisis precipitated by Israeli aggression first against Gaza and then against its neighbor to the north is concentrated on blocking any move for a ceasefire and concocting a pretext for future military action against Syria and Iran."

US speeds up bomb delivery for the Israelis

"The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran’s efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah."

Reality check . . . exactly who are the terrorists?

As toll rises, Lebanese resort to mass graves

"They would bury their dead in mass graves, the doctors decided."The government hospital had run out of room for human remains by Friday. More than 100 bomb-wrecked bodies were already crammed into poorly refrigerated container trucks, and more corpses were pouring in daily."

Omert and the Bush, the a**holes of evil.

UN Human Rights Commissioner warns of war crimes in Lebanaon

"Arbour took pains to identify both Israel and Hezbollah as potentially guilty parties. Nevertheless, there was little doubt that her target was Tel Aviv, and her warning that liability for war crimes is not restricted to the military, but extends to politicians who approve their operations was also meant to be heard by Israel’s political backers in Washington and London."

The same holds true for 'Merica in Iraq.

We're being set up for a wider war in the Middle East

The old adage, 'fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me' does not apply to Americans, who have shown that they can be endlessly fooled."

The real aims of the US-backed Israeli war against Lebanon

"With the full political, financial and military backing of the United States, the Zionist regime is attempting to transform Lebanon into an Israeli protectorate. This military operation is a continuation and escalation of the imperialist geo-political restructuring of the Middle East and Central Asia that began with the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and whose goal is the establishment of US domination of the entire region."

More troops to be deployed in Baghdad, general says

":The top American commander for the Middle East said Friday that the escalating sectarian violence in Baghdad had become a greater worry than the insurgency and that plans were being drawn up to move additional forces to the Iraqi capital."

What Bush's open mike revealed

"Bush had started the exchange by noting, absurdly, that, 'This is your ]China's president]neighborhood, doesn’t take you long to get home.' Uh, yeah, incurious George, sure thing. Never mind that St. Petersburg is in Europe, on Russia’s northwestern corner, due north of Turkey, and Beijing is on the eastern edge of mainland Asia.

“'You, eight hours? Me too. Russia’s a big country and you’re a big country,' he said when corrected, sounding for all the world like an earnest kindergartner, processing new information. 'Russia’s big and so is China.'”

I liked Dave Letterman's take. It wasn't what the Moron was saying, it was the way he was talking and eating. You could hear him eating in the mike. Clueless AND classless.

The Ugly truth: Our president is an imbecile

"Just look at the conversation he is having with world leaders at the G-8 summit. Mikes picked up the causal talk between the world leaders. Forget that Bush appears to have three sandwiches in his mouth while talking. Forget that he calls out to the Prime Minister of Britain as if he is Flounder in 'Animal House.' Forget that he uses profanity. I don't give a shit about those things."

Photos of the Moron on the loose

Conspiracy and closed minds on 9/11

"Last June I was explaining the fuss over my 9/11 article to a family member who shall remain anonymous and he interrupted and said, 'I don’t want to talk about it.' Millions join him in that sentiment. By implication they might as well say: 'I’d rather cling to the official 9/11 myth' = 'If mass murderers run free, I’m fine with that' = 'If 9/11 was an inside job, then I’m ruled by monsters and I might have to do something about it, I’d rather watch Paris Hilton.'"

Bush does it in the dark

"FOIA has had an illustrious history, but it has fallen on hard times of late. When the complicated legacy of President George W. Bush is written, one thing is certain: He will be remembered as the “secrecy” president. Bush and his advisors are obsessed with secrecy, and this obsession began well before the nightmare of 9/11."

Bush blocked eavesdropping program probe

"President Bush personally blocked a Justice Department investigation of the anti-terror eavesdropping program that intercepts Americans' international calls and e-mails, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday."

The Specter of compromise

"Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) announced that he had struck a 'compromise' with the White House over the illegal National Security Agency (NSA) domestic spying program. The bill isn't a compromise for President Bush, who would receive a 'blank check' to continue operating the program. Specter, however, has compromised his principles. Shortly after the New York Times revealed the spying program last December, Specter declared, "There is no doubt that this is inappropriate." He even later threatened to cut federal funding to the NSA program if the White House did not comply with congressional oversight. Specter's latest effort to amend the law -- which has been inaccurately portrayed by some in the media as a White House 'concession' -- 'is not a compromise but a full-fledged capitulation on the part of the legislative branch to executive claims of power.' As a conceptual matter, Bush's spying program does indeed deserve a court review -- which Specter's bill aims to provide. But Specter's bill is the wrong way to go about it. The administration has the burden of demonstrating why it cannot comply with current law -- the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)."

Specter caves to White House demands on NSA bill

"After months of negotiations with other lawmakers and Bush administration officials, Specter announced a 'compromise' agreement last Thursday. But critics – some of whom are challenging the National Security Agency’s (NSA) spying program in court – say the proposal is a 'sham' that eliminates congressional oversight over the executive branch and any meaningful legal review of the program.

Congress is filled with PNUFs . . . those who perform no useful function.

New records on UCSC protests show deeper spying conspiracy

"New details emerged Tuesday about the government intelligence-gathering at UC Santa Cruz that prompted anti-war protesters there to be designated as a 'credible threat' in a secret Defense Department database."

The authoritarian streak in the conservative movement by John Dean

"Regrettably, empirical studies reveal, however, that authoritarians are frequently enemies of freedom, antidemocratic, antiequality, highly prejudiced, mean-spirited, power hungry, Machiavellian, and amoral. They are also often conservatives without conscience who are capable of plunging this nation into disasters the likes of which we have never known."

A couple of weeks ago, Dean was interviewed by Jon Stewart. He made the comment that he has always been a Goldwater conservative "which now places me left of center."

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."

Civil rights hiring shifted in Bush era: Conservative leaning stressed

"The Bush administration is quietly remaking the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, filling the permanent ranks with lawyers who have strong conservative credentials but little experience in civil rights, according to job application materials obtained by the Globe."

The nazicons have killed the Constitution.

Iraqi detainee abuse widespread

"Iraqi detainees were routinely subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation, stress positions and other forms of abuse by U.S. interrogators, according to a Human Rights Watch report released on Sunday that offers first-hand accounts from three former soldiers."

The color of "Transparency" is black

"Now, a mere two years or so later, I began skimming through the introductory matter and the boldface headings of the Jacoby Report. I stopped first at 'Detainee Operations Standard Operating Procedures.' Here it would be in black and white -- or so I thought. But, as it happened, I was only half right. Startling amounts of the report were redacted or blacked out. Where there should have been text against white space, there was section after section filled with nothing but solid black blocs. Even some subsection titles were missing. Pure ink. Meant not to be read."

White House shifts tack on tribunals

"Top White House officials took a harder line yesterday on a new system to try terrorism suspects, telling Republican senators that President Bush will soon formally propose a tribunal structure with only minor changes from the military commissions that were ruled unconstitutional last month."

Iraqi cleric blames US for conflict in Lebanaon

"The firebrand Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr said Friday that Iraqis would not 'sit by with folded hands' while Israel strikes at Lebanon, signaling a possible increase in attacks from his militia, the Mahdi Army."

In Iraq, civil war all but declared

"Retaliatory massacres by gunmen and bombers linked to rival Muslim sects have left more than 130 people dead across Iraq over the last two days, the latest casualties of what some politicians now are calling an undeclared civil war."

Afghanistan close to anarchy, warns general

"The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan yesterday described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption."

Odd, on Meet the Press, Josh Bolton, the White House Chief of Staff said things are going quite nicely in Afghanistan.

Bush's vision, and the region, appear to be near collapse

"The oft-stated hope that a new Iraqi government would swiftly transform the region's fractured politics has been realized with unintended consequences: an emboldened Iran; the victory of Hamas in Palestinian elections; and Syria's departure from Lebanon. The familiar strain has been hatred between the Arabs and Israelis and a widely held assumption that the situation will grow worse before it improves."

As Randi Rhodes said this past week, "This administration couldn't run a Starbucks"

Over 3,000 Iraqi civilians killed in June, UN reports

"An average of more than 100 civilians per day were killed in Iraq last month, the highest monthly tally of violent deaths since the fall of Baghdad, the United Nations reported today."

Up to 48 Iraqis killed in attack on market

"Dozens of gunmen went on a chaotic rampage through a mostly Shiite market area in the town of Mahmudiya today, killing at least 48 civilians and injuring scores by firing off assault rifles, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Many of the attackers wore the uniforms of Iraqi security forces."

Corruption cited in Iraqi's oil industry

"U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker told Congress last week that 'massive corruption' and 'a lot of theft going on' in Iraq's government-controlled oil industry is hampering the country's ability to govern itself.

"'It took me about, you know, a second and a half to realize that, obviously, there was massive corruption going on, because the numbers just didn't add up,'Walker said, referring to a trip he took to Iraq this year in which he was shown figures on oil production and revenue."

Iraq's reconstruction a boondoggle by design

"Iraq's reconstruction has been a crude taxpayer rip-off -- and while $30 billion has been spent, only 30 percent of Iraqis are even aware of the rebuilding effort."

Halliburton's fleecing ends -- or does it?

"But last week, all that ground to a screeching halt when the Pentagon announced the end of no-bid contracts -- or did it?

"Not really. That's like saying to the outlaw Jesse James, 'We'll no longer hand over the money. You have to ask nicely.'

"Which is not to compare Halliburton to a common criminal.

"There's nothing common about what Halliburton did and a heist of $1.4 billion, an estimate of Halliburton's overcharges by Pentagon auditors."

Fury as Karzai plans return of Taliban's religious police

"The Afghan government has alarmed human rights groups by approving a plan to reintroduce a Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the body which the Taliban used to enforce its extreme religious doctrine."

Blowing the whistle on Diebold

"Kennedy claims to have witnesses “centrally located, deep within the corporations,” who will confirm that company officials withheld their knowledge of problems with accuracy, reliability and security of EVMs in order to procure government contracts. Since going into service, many of these machines have been linked to allegations of election fraud."

Voting rights under attack across US

"In the vast majority of cases, the new regulations are being pushed by state legislators who claim they want to curb voter fraud. In reality, the restrictions are aimed at denying the right to vote—and are disproportionately targeted at the poor, minorities and the elderly."

Cheney wants security to top election agenda

"President Dick Cheney told Republicans on Monday to keep security issues prominent ahead of November's elections and condemned Democratic calls for a timetable on troop withdrawal from Iraq as 'a bad idea.'''

Hillary Clinton celebrates Israeli war crimes

"The speech given by New York’s Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton to a rally staged by Zionist organizations Monday across from the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan amounted to a celebration of massacres and war crimes.

"Her remarks left no doubt that a vote for Clinton in November is a vote not only to continue the US war in Iraq, but to expand and intensify the slaughter throughout the region."

Bill Clinton to campaign for Lieberman in Waterbury

"Former President Bill Clinton is slated to campaign on behalf of the three-term incumbent Monday in Waterbury, Lieberman's campaign spokeswoman said today."

Most dem pols are right of John Dean.

Bush administration plans Medicare changes

"The Bush administration says it plans sweeping changes in Medicare payments to hospitals that could cut payments by 20 percent to 30 percent for many complex treatments and new technologies.

"The changes, the biggest since the current payment system was adopted in 1983, are meant to improve the accuracy of payment rates. But doctors, hospitals and patient groups say the effects could be devastating."

A windfall from shifts to Medicare

"The windfall, which by some estimates could be $2 billion or more this year, is a result of the transfer of millions of low-income people into the new Medicare Part D drug program that went into effect in January. Under that program, as it turns out, the prices paid by insurers, and eventually the taxpayer, for the medications given to those transferred are likely to be higher than what was paid under the federal-state Medicaid programs for the poor."

Medication errors harming millions, report says

"Mistakes in giving drugs are so prevalent in hospitals that, on average, a patient will be subjected to a medication error each day he or she occupies a hospital bed, the report by a panel of experts said."

Born-again Rubinomics

"So it's a big deal when Robert Rubin changes the subject and begins to talk about income inequality as 'a deeply troubling fact of American economic life' that threatens the trading system, even the stability of 'capitalist, democratic society.' More startling, Rubin now freely acknowledges what the American establishment for many years denied or dismissed as inconsequential--globalization's role in generating the thirty-year stagnation of US wages, squeezing middle-class families and below, while directing income growth mainly to the upper brackets. A lot of Americans already knew this. Critics of 'free trade' have been saying as much for years. But when Bob Rubin says it, his words can move politicians, if not financial markets."

G8 ignores mounting problems in world economy

"At the conclusion of this year’s summit the state of the global economy was listed under 'Other Issues' in the official summing up. The statement noted merely that 'global growth remains strong and has become more broadly based' while there was also discussion on 'high and volatile energy prices, global imbalances and growing protectionism'. 'We re-iterated our commitment to address global imbalances, working together to remove distortions to the global adjustment process, promote liberalization of trade and investment, and modernize the international financial institutions.'”

Putin plan to shut out US oil giants

"President Vladimir Putin is set to keep US oil companies out of a lucrative gas field in the latest sign of the deteriorating relationship between Moscow and Washington.

"The Russian leader is expected to favour Norwegian companies and reject bids by America's Chevron and ConocoPhillips after failing to secure backing from the United States for his country's attempt to join the World Trade Organisation."

Putin tells soul mate Bush to go f**k himself.

Russia to send aid to Lebanaon

"Russia is urging Israel to ensure that aid for Lebanon is allowed to reach the country safely and without hindrance, officials in Moscow said Saturday."Russia will send its first shipment of humanitarian goods to Lebanon via Cyprus on Monday, Novosti reported."

Humanitarian aid from ex-KGB head . . . bombs from the Christian Moron. Putin for president?

Ayoon Wa Azan (No friend or ally left)

"The US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, who is also the 'Ambassador of Israel', according to Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman, does not want the Israeli raids on Lebanese civilians to end, because Israel is 'defending itself' by killing hundreds of innocent people and destroying Lebanon's infrastructure. This is literally Israel's position, as expressed by its ambassador to the UN.

"The evil Israeli cabal in the US administration and its entourage are almost as active as the Israeli air force (and the US-made war planes). It lies and defends 'Israeli Nazism' with an enthusiasm that can only mean Israel intends to continue to fight and kill."

'The housing market is in trouble'

"Confidence among U.S. homebuilders dropped this month to the lowest level in more than 14 years as sales fell and orders were canceled."

Since the last Bush criminal was in office.

Eating the Amazon: The fight to curb global destruction

"On the ground, what was once a thriving ecosystem supporting at least 300 tree species for every hectare, is now a wasteland. Dead roots and dry grass crunch underfoot and the breeze throws up dust from eroded soil."

Quotes from www.bartcop.co and others:

"It's like after Katrina, when the Secretary of Homeland Security was saying all those people weren't really stranded when we were all watching it on TV. I still hear about that. We can't look like we won't face reality." -- former Bush lover Rep. Pat. McHenry (R-NC), Link

"In the old empires, there would be a lot of marriages between the royal families. And from time to time, these inter-family marriages would produce a mentally challenged son who would inherit the throne. This would set the empire back for hundreds of years. I'm not saying anything, ...but Russia is big and so is China." -- Cenk Uygur, Our President is an Imbecile,

"The Bush administration are monsters. That is not hyperbole. Isn't it at least smart to pretend you care about the dying children? -- Digby, on Condi rejecting a cease-fire in Lebanon, digbysblog.blogspot.com/

"Bush is probably going to have a lot of bills to veto after this November when the Democrats take back Congress." -- Stephen Colbert

"I was a Republican - until they lost their minds." -- Charles Barkley, former black republican (super rich) Link

"Bush made a number of gaffes at the G-8 Summit. He gave a neck rub to the Chancellor of Germany. So you know what that means? He's drinking again." -- Letterman

"It wasn?t our idea, it was God?s." -- Rep Mike Pense (R-Fascist) saying God told him to spend his life tormenting gay Americans Link

"Today I have a message for the people of Lebanon: The American people are on your side." -- Der Promise Monkey, March 2005 Link

"[Current events] send a clear message to every Arab reformer and every Arab politician. And that message is: Don't count on the United States." --Joshua Landis, Oklahoma University, on Dubya's lack of commitment to Lebanon, Link

"Bush brings the same smart-alecky attitude, the same simplistic approach - swearing, swaggering, talking to Tony Blair with his mouth full of buttered roll, and giving a startled Angela Merkel an impromptu shoulder rub. He can make even a global summit meeting seem like a kegger." -- Maureen Dowd, eager to go after you-know-who, Link

"Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Poppy Bush declared war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Dubya needed a diversion from the fact that Osama got away unpunished." -- Star Link

"Yo, Blair!" -- America's child/monkey, calling to the British Prime Minister

"Israel has used the capture of two of its soldiers in Lebanon as an excuse for an all-out air and naval bombardment against Lebanese civilian targets. However, a number of commentators have pointed out that such a massive attack requires weeks if not months of preparation that could not be done overnight in response to the capture of the soldiers." - Paul Craig Roberts at anti-war.com, Link

"Low approval ratings can be contracted through saliva." --Stephen Colbert, on Bush kissing Lieberman

"This wasn't any old Joe. It was Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's Scarborough Country who was courted last summer by the RNC to run against Cruella Harris. But before he could announce he wouldn't, Harris called major donors and suggested Scarborough would have to answer questions about Scarborough's dead intern." --Marc Caputo, "Story of 'Joe's dead intern' began Harris' slide, insiders say", Link

"Less than four months before Election Day, the latest Fox News Poll finds that voters strongly favor the Democrats on key issues such as the economy and gas prices, and give the minority party a double-digit lead for control of Congress this fall. Meanwhile, Bush's approval rating dropped back down to 36% -- down five points in just two weeks." --Political Wire, Link

New Government Seal

"Official Announcement:

The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from the Eagle to a Condom, because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed. Damn, it just doesn't get more accurate than that!"