OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE HAS JUST BEGUN

 This is the last paragraph from a good article.

As ugly secrets surface, Bushists will turn desperate. Democracy has failed their grand schemes; token resignations like Rumsfeld's come too little, too late. Only tyranny can save their skins. Will the beleaguered neocons led by Cheney and Bush, cornered like rats, unleash their brand-new police state on their political opponents? Or will they tough it out and suck up the fines and prison sentences to come? The next year or two could go either way.

The nightmare is not over.

Source: OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE HAS JUST BEGUN - Yahoo! News

 

Technorati Tags: Politics

Native vote is big in Montana

 I'm curious.

BROWNING, Mont. - Montana state Senator-elect Carol Juneau of Browning was happy with the results on election night, when a total of 10 Indians - all Democrats - won election to either the state House or state Senate.
''This is the most we've ever had in the state Legislature,'' she said.
When she was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1999, four Indians were serving in the state Legislature: and that was higher than in earlier years. It has gradually increased since that time, and in the last session there were eight.
''We had hoped there would be nine this year. Because I was term-limited and couldn't run for the House again, Shannon Augare ran for my seat. He was unopposed and was elected.'' Juneau said. ''I ran for the Senate, where a non-Indian had served before, but he wasn't eligible and I was elected. That made nine of us. Then Douglas Cordier, a Salish Kootenai man from Columbia Falls, ran against the incumbent and Cordier won. We were very pleased.''

Source: Native vote is big in Montana : ICT [2006/11/17]

 

Technorati Tags: Politics

Good Riddance To The Gingrichites

 This is a 'must read' article.

This is a story I should have written 12 years ago when the "Contract with America" Republicans captured the House in 1994. I apologize.
Really, it's just a simple thesis: The men who ran the Republican Party in the House of Representatives for the past 12 years were a group of weirdos. Together, they comprised one of the oddest legislative power cliques in our history. And for 12 years, the media didn't call a duck a duck, because that's not something we're supposed to do.
I'm not talking about the policies of the Contract for America crowd, but the character. I'm confident that 99 percent of the population — if they could see these politicians up close, if they watched their speeches and looked at their biographies — would agree, no matter what their politics or predilections.

Read the whole story.

 

Source: Good Riddance To The Gingrichites, CBS' Meyer: GOP 'Chess Club' Ruled The House For 12 Years And Won't Be Missed - CBS News

 

Technorati Tags: Politics - Interesting

Watching Religions

 

Kurdish Media, Iraqi Kurdistan
George Bush, Osama bin Laden and Three Religions Gone Awry

"Ever since these religions descended on mankind, we have suffered war, strife and upheaval, which have all been perpetuated by people claiming that they support the word of God and that God supports them.”

By Dr. Fereydun Hilmi
November 14, 2006

Great opinion piece, follow the link.

Source: Watching America

 

Technorati Tags: Religion - Politics

Questions for Republicans

 

Questions
for my Republican Christian friends:

Can you be a true follower of the Christ who commanded us to look out for the poor and weak of society and remain a survival-of-the-fittest capitalist, and a trickle-down economics Republican?

How does Republican economic philosophy fit in with the Christian doctrine of helping the poor, caring for the widow, and supporting the weak in all areas of society (which, according to the Sheep and the Goats parable of Matthew 25, will form the basis on which we will be judged worthy of heaven)?

Republican economics looks more like social Darwinism than the social gospel. Less (or no) regulation of corporations unleashes upon society’s weakest ones a business muscle which the individual voter/consumer/employee will always be powerless to resist. How is that Christian?

But the GOP Believer looks the other way, it seems; or perhaps more accurately is blinded to economic issues by the two-issue blinders: homosexuality, and perhaps even more firmly entrenched in the Christian political mindset, abortion.

Abortion is a controversial issue, a complicated question, an often avoidable tragedy. But what about the living children, the children of the ever-shrinking middle class, or the ever-growing poorer class? Why does it seem like the lives of the unborn are more important to Christians than the lives of the already-born?

What about living children, and their right to a good education (even if their parents aren’t wealthy)?

What about the right of living poor children to the same great health care enjoyed by those lucky enough to have great health insurance?

Then there is the issue of war.

Isn’t the only true Christian view of war an abhorrence of it, an absolute rejection of its use as anything but a last, last resort; an extremely temporary emergency solution?

Diplomacy is difficult, but much more to be desired than bombs and death. Isn’t this a better way to “support our troops”?: be careful to let our government only send them to fight wars when all other options have been completely exhausted, and the purpose of the war is completely just and justifiable? And if there is any doubt about the war’s purpose, or victorious outcome, to support our troops by bringing them home from unjust, unwinnable wars?

Certainly, states have sovereign territory, loyal citizens, and an obligation to protect both of them for the good of all. But isn’t this true: the Christian residing within any state which chooses war before it becomes absolutely necessary (which would be a subjective, individual opinion, in most cases) must protest that war, and work to prevent it?

How else could he or she retain a clear conscience, considering all the potential suffering which could be unleashed on generations of innocent people should war occur? Compare how the present administration is using war with this philosophy, and it is found wanting.

And how is it Christian, or American, or even human, to shout down and obstruct and insult those who promote peace by protesting war? Yet Christians, and Republicans, and Republican Christians have done this to war protesters.

Just a few questions for my Christian Republican friends.

Source: JimBlog.net » Questions for Republicans

 

Technorati Tags: Religion - Politics - Useful - Interesting

Roving, Rover Rove

Too good to be true. 

Rove May Leave Within Weeks.

The rumors that chief White House political architect Karl Rove will leave sometime next year are being bolstered with new insider reports that his partisan style is a hurdle to President Bush's new push for bipartisanship. A key Bush advisor tells the US News Political Bulletin, "Karl represents the old style and he's got to go if the Democrats are going to believe Bush's talk of getting along." The advisor said a departure might come in "weeks, not months." A Rove ally, however, noted that he has a record of out-witting his critics.

Source: USNews.com: Political Bulletin: Friday, November 17, 2006

 

Technorati Tags: Politics

More Israeli Ties To Iraq Insurgency

 

It can now be reported that Zapata Engineering has hired these Israeli Mossad-types into Iraq for the purposes of alleged counter-insurgency.

However, the alleged Israeli engineers have now been fingered for sniping at U.S. Soldiers and the murder of two female American Marines who had their throats slit and then placed in garbage dumps.

These female Marines had been investigating the origins of the I.E.D. (Improvised Explosives Devices). And of course it gets worse. It can now be reported that the origin of the I.E.D.’s, come not from Iran, but come from Zapata Engineering of North Carolina, Hawaii and Tel Aviv.

Source: CLOAK AND DAGGER Internet Magazi

 

Technorati Tags: Politics - Conspiracy - Interesting

Israeli firm gets Mexico border wall contract

This is just wrong. 

How ironic. We noted in August that ex-Israeli security chief Uza Dayan was warning the US against emulating Israeli strategies in securing the Mexican border. Now it appears that Elbit Systems, an Israeli firm which is building the "Apartheid Wall" in occupied Palestine, has been awarded a contract, along with Boeing, to build the wall on the Mexican border. From Israel21C, Oct. 15:

Source: Israeli firm gets Mexico border wall contract | World War 4 Report

 

Technorati Tags: Politics

Top Ten Things A Cat Thinks About

 

1. I could have sworn I heard the can opener.

2. Is there something I'm not getting when humans make noise with their mouths?

3. Why doesn't the government do something about dogs?

4. I wonder if Morris really liked 9-Lives, or did he have an ulterior motive?

5. Hmmm ... If dogs serve humans, and humans serve cats, why can't we cats ever get these stupid dogs to do anything for us?

6. This looks like a good spot for a nap.

7. Hey, no kidding, I'm sure that's the can opener.

8. Would humans have built a vast and complex civilization of their own if we cats hadn't given them a reason to invent sofas and can openers in the first place?

9. If there's a God, how can He allow neutering/spaying?

10. If that really was the can opener, I'll play finicky just to let them know who's boss!

Source: Bits & Pieces: Top Ten Things A Cat Thinks About

 

Technorati Tags: Cats - Animals

Bad!..... Bad Bambi!!!

 

We responded, assuming by the time we got there the deer would be gone," said Cpl. Brian.

When they arrived, five or six minutes after the 911 call, "we pull up, and immediately hear her screaming. There's a lot of equipment, farm machinery, rubble all around this house, and we weren't sure where she was at. We split up -- we were trying to find her, assuming she was screaming because of injuries to him.

"But I get to the back yard and find her pinned to the ground by a large buck. He had his front feet straddling her, one on each side of her torso."

The buck was goring the woman in the chest, neck and face, he said.

"Obviously I had to do something to stop it. But even from 8 or 10 feet I didn't want to shoot the deer -- his upper body was right down by her chest. And I wasn't sure exactly where Trooper Wilcox was. So I picked up the left horn, I pulled it toward me on the left side and that got the buck up high enough off her that I could get a shot. I immediately started shooting it in the chest. It took off and ran almost directly into Trooper Wilcox," who had come around from a different side of the house. "He shot it several more times and put it down."

Source: Couple severely injured in deer attack

 

Technorati Tags: Animals - Humor

Guantanamo Prisoner Reveals Extent of Torture

 

Tales of Torture

    "They tell you 'you are from Al-Qaeda' and when you say 'no' they give the (electric) current to your feet.... As you keep saying 'no' this goes on for two or three hours," he said, adding he had several times lost consciousness," Kurnaz said.

    He claimed he was once shackled to a ceiling for "four or five days."

    "They take you down in the mornings when a doctor comes to see whether you can endure more," he said. "They let you sit when the interrogator comes.... They take you down about three times a day so you do not die."

    Kurnaz also alleged prisoners were locked up in cells into which frigid or hot air was pumped.

    "I saw several people die," he said. "Sometimes I thought I could no longer stand it and would also die."

    He claimed he was once left without food for 20 days and spoke of psychological abuse, including "religious insults" such as the Koran being kicked on the ground.

Source: Former Guantanamo Prisoner Reveals Extent of Torture

 

Technorati Tags: Politics

UK 'ignored spy's al-Qaeda fear'

Finger pointing time! 

UK intelligence services were warned of the threat posed by al-Qaeda in the mid 1990s but did not act quickly enough, says a spy who infiltrated the network.

The agent told the BBC he warned his handlers that al-Qaeda was better organised than was previously thought.

Known by the pseudonym of Omar Nasiri, he worked for intelligence in the UK and France, and trained in Afghanistan.

Mr Nasiri also claimed a senior al-Qaeda operative planted evidence to provoke the US into war against Iraq.

Ibn Sheikh Al-Libi fabricated links between al-Qaeda and Iraq when being questioned by US forces in late 2001, he said.

Al-Qaeda was far more organised, coherent and determined than was appreciated at the time

Spy lifts lid on al-Qaeda

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the revelations had provided an "insight into the emergence of al-Qaeda in the 90s".

He said French authorities had been concerned about Algerian terrorists and British authorities feared attacks in the UK.

But the details given by the agent, who worked for both the French and British intelligence services, showed that "people were not necessarily looking at those global interconnections".

Source: BBC NEWS | UK | UK 'ignored spy's al-Qaeda fear'

 

Technorati Tags: Politics - Interesting

Stop Fake News Now!

 Link takes you to a petition site.

Despite an ongoing investigation, corporate propaganda is
infiltrating local TV newscasts, with disguised product advertisements
posing as genuine news reports. This represents a breach of the trust
between broadcasters and their viewers.

Take action to stop fake news today. Demand that the Federal Communications Commission investigate, strengthen disclosure requirements and punish station owners that air fake news.

Source: Take Action: Television's Dirty Secret

 

Technorati Tags: Politics - Useful

BIRD KILLS HANDLER AT WHIDBEY ISLAND REFUGE

 

Flitty McFlitty, a female rufous hummingbird, attacked a woman handler who was killed “on the spot,” said Max Dougan, a spokesperson for Nectar Acres.
A male trainer was injured when he tried to intervene and was taken to a hospital in Everett via helicopter. The hospital specializes in hummingbird injuries.
The bright green-headed Flitty McFlitty weighs almost nothing and came to the sanctuary after it had injured its wing on a flower petal, according to the sanctuary’s Web site.
At her previous residence at Bird Haven Magical Bird House in Baraboo, Wisconsin, Flitty McFlitty hurt several staffers and visitors, earning a reputation as a “dangerous hummingbird,” according to her biography on the site.
Audubon Society members and the local birding community is shocked by not surprised. “I feel for the family,” says birding enthusiast Hester Prialta of Enumclaw, “but every time you’re near a hummingbird you’ve got to be very careful. They’re pretty to look at until they viciously attack you without warning.”

Source: The Seattle Raptor - BIRD KILLS HANDLER AT WHIDBEY ISLAND REFUGE

 

Technorati Tags: Humor - Animals

Bolton And Blackmail?

And this is exactly why the Bush administration wanted warrantless wiretaps.

'Gravediggers' will be next on Bush's wiretap list. 

According to National Security Agency insiders, outgoing NSA Director General Michael Hayden approved special communications intercepts of phone conversations made by past and present U.S. government officials. The intercepts are at the height of the current controversy surrounding the nomination of Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations. It was revealed by Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd during Bolton’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee nomination hearing that Bolton requested transcripts of 10 NSA intercepts of conversations between named U.S. government officials and foreign persons. Later, it was revealed that U.S. companies [also treated as "U.S. persons" by NSA] were also identified in an additional nine intercepts requested by Bolton. However, NSA insiders report that Hayden approved special intercept operations on behalf of Bolton and had them masked as "training missions" in order to get around internal NSA regulations that normally prohibit such eavesdropping on U.S. citizens.

Source: Wayne Madsen Report - Home

 

Technorati Tags: Politics - Conspiracy - Interesting