Bush More Anti-Union Than Anti-Terrorist

The Bush Administration has been secretly sending money to groups with ties to Al Qaeda.

- AND -

Yesterday Bush met personally with Walid Jumblatt, a member of the Lebanese Parliament who has said:

– “We are all happy when U.S. soldiers are killed [in Iraq] week in and week out. The killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is legitimate and obligatory.” [Link]

– “The oil axis is present in most of the U.S. administration, beginning with its president, vice-president and top advisers, including (Condoleezza) Rice, who is oil-colored, while the axis of Jews is present with Paul Wolfowitz, the leading hawk who is inciting (America) to occupy and destroy Iraq.” [Link]

– “In November 2003, the United States revoked Jumblatt’s diplomatic visa for wishing out loud that Wolfowitz had been killed in a Baghdad rocket attack.” [Link]

But apparently all of that is Ok with rightwingers, just as long as Bush holds the line against Unions.

Labor Language Threatens Antiterror Bill

By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush and his Senate allies will kill a Sept. 11 antiterror bill if Congress sends it to the White House with a provision to let airport screeners unionize, the White House and 36 Republicans said Tuesday.

"As the legislation currently stands, the president's senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.

Senate Republicans swiftly backed up the threat with a pledge by more than enough senators to block any veto override attempt. ... (full article)

President Gore wins again....

now if we will all listen to his message and go to work like our children's lives depended on it....we got something.....thanks Al Gore for not giving up on us......

Brian Buell, Al Gore, Lesley Chilcott

Paramount Classic's An Inconvenient Truth

Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" wins documentary Oscar

Feb 26, 2007 — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -


"An Inconvenient Truth," the big-screen adaptation of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's slide-show lecture about the perils of global warming, won Academy Awards on Sunday for documentary feature and best song.

full article

Rep.Rick Larsen in Blaine....

we had a great meeting with Rick today in Blaine....it was very well attended(standing room only)

Rick did a nice presentations about what has been accomplished in the short time the Democrats have had the majority thereby, chair(and control of agenda) of committees, subpoena power and finally the ability to do oversite. impressive.....

people were very well informed and asked the tough questions....

it was very informative and encouraging....thanks to Rick, Jasper et all and all the great citizens who showed up.

wake up America.......

many folks showed up at meridian and telegraph hold signs with the names of all American casusalties .....

thanks to the hard work of jim "the button man"........

critical mass rode by......

the most touching moment for me was when a car rolled down it's window and from the other side (driver) a young man said "i'm an ex Navy Seal, thank you guys for what you are doing"

we marched over to the recruiters......

many fine people spoke and they(the recruiters)turned out the lights.....all age groups were represented

book report......

oh man i know how to feel this way, but leave it to woody to pose a damn good dilema and make me laugh.......

this is the introduction to a new book i just got and it won me over immediately......

“More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” - Woody Allen

more to come on Peak Oil Prep.....by Mick Winter

Sanity at the Pentagon

From The Sunday Times
February 25, 2007
US generals ‘will quit’ if Bush orders Iran attack
Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter, Washington

SOME of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.

Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.

“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.” ...(full article)

It's good to see that some of our top military people do have moral limits. Even the most advancement minded denizen of the Pentagon must have doubts about following the commands of a President who goes out to play instead of doing his job.

Dozens of high-level officials joined in a White House drill yesterday to see how the government would respond if several cities were attacked simultaneously with bombs similar to those used against U.S. troops in Iraq. ...

... President Bush went on a bike ride yesterday morning and did not take part in the test. ... (link)

Ferndale Limits Size of Big-Box Stores

Earlier this month the Bellingham City Council limited the size of retail outlets to 90k S.F. per store. That stopped plans for a “Super” Wal-mart in Bellingham. The shrill retort from our local pro-business sycophants was; 'well fine, Walmart will just build the "Super Store" up the road in Ferndale and we never liked Bellingham anyways'. But that ain't happenin' either:

City slaps ban on large retail

by Matthew Anderson - Record-Journal editor

... The Ferndale City Council on Tuesday voted 6-0, with Councilman Mel Hansen absent, to impose a six-month moratorium on applications submitted through the planned unit development process for single-use retail facilities larger than 75,000 square feet.

The decision was in response to a proposal submitted by the Ferndale Downtown Development Association that asked the Council to consider its position on such developments.

Wal-Mart has been attempting to add a grocery store to its existing Bellingham outlet, but the Bellingham City Council last week passed an ordinance essentially forbidding that action, forcing store officials to look elsewhere in the county should they decide to continue seeking the expansion. ... (article)

Freedom is on the march......old news again

i sure hope congress will put restoring posse comitatus and habeous corpus on the front burner..... we should be very concerned. the way it stands right now we can be rounded up, and can't ask why.....

Making Martial Law Easier
Published:
February 19, 2007

A disturbing recent phenomenon in Washington is that laws that strike to the heart of American democracy have been passed in the dead of night. Changes of this magnitude should be made only after a thorough public airing. But these new presidential powers were slipped into the law without hearings or public debate. The president made no mention of the changes when he signed the measure, and neither the White House nor Congress consulted in advance with the nation’s governors. Buried in the National Defense Authorization act of 2007, which the president signed into law on Oct. 17, 2006......
Public Law 109-364, section 1076 gives the president the green light to take command of National Guard units to act to "restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any state (emphasis ours) domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the state….are incapable of maintaining public order.”

............There is a bipartisan bill, introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, and Christopher Bond, Republican of Missouri, and backed unanimously by the nation’s governors, that would repeal the stealthy revisions. Congress should pass it. If changes of this kind are proposed in the future, they must get a full and open debate.
full article

and no one quite explains why habeous corpus hates america better than Keith Olberman.....
see video here......
The death of habeas corpus Olbermann: ‘The president has now succeeded where no one has before’



and then if that's not enough to get the average liberty lovin' american's attention there is more............

............The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention of protesters, so called "illegal aliens," "potential terrorists" and other "undesirables" for detention in facilities already contracted for and under construction by Halliburton. That's right. Under the cover of a trumped-up "immigration emergency" and the frenzied militarization of the southern border, detention camps are being constructed right under our noses, camps designed for anyone who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of the Bush administration. An article on "recent contract awards" in a recent issue of the slick, insider "Journal of Counterterrorism& Homeland Security International" reported that "global engineering and technical services powerhouse KBR [Kellog, Brown & Root] announced in January 2006 that its Government and Infrastructure division was awarded an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the event of an emergency." "With a maximum total value of $385 million over a five year term," the report notes, "the contract is to be executed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers," "for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) - in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs." The report points out that "KBR is the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton." (3) So, in addition to authorizing another $532.8 billion for the Pentagon, including a $70-billion "supplemental provision" which covers the cost of the ongoing, mad military maneuvers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places, the new law, signed by the president in a private White House ceremony, further
collapses the historic divide between the police and the military: a tell-tale sign of a rapidly consolidating police state in America, all accomplished amidst ongoing U.S. imperial pretensions of global domination, sold to an "emergency managed" and seemingly willfully gullible public as a "global war on terrorism." full article

wake up america, freedom is on the march.

Riverbend on rape in Iraq,,freedom is on the marrch.

wake up America....riverbend has been writing about what we have brought to the people of Iraq for starting into the fifth year. is it ok with you, america, to pay for the war machine to create a living hell in the country of other humans????? humans who want the same things out of life that we do. (you know, clean water, food, shelter, safety, and community) wonder what the people of Iraq would have said if they had been consulted about hosting a war.....something tells me they would have opted for the "over there so we don't have to fight them here" option if they'd had a choice. they didn't have the option of watching the "shock and awe" show on TV if it fit into their schedules.
our government has been taken over by greedy corporatist criminal thugs and bullies(and yes, they should be considered armed and dangerous) and their plans for the masses(that's us) are based on the free trade model....as in no borders for corporats and for the rest of us ..hmmm......freedom is on the march......they are stealing our treasure to use to steal others treasure....
wake up america....freedom is on the march.........
are we gunna let this go on??????

wake up america....
time to pull over, and ask for directions.

Maliki's Reaction...
As expected, Al Maliki
is claiming the rape allegations are all lies. Apparently, his people simply
asked the officers if they raped Sabrine Al Janabi and they said no. I'm so glad
that's been cleared up.

No Iraqi woman under the circumstances- under any circumstances- would
publicly, falsely claim she was raped. There are just too many risks. There is
the risk of being shunned socially. There is the risk of beginning an endless
chain of retaliations and revenge killings between tribes. There is the shame of
coming out publicly and talking about a subject so taboo, she and her husband
are not only risking their reputations by telling this story, they are risking
their lives.
No one would lie about something like this simply to undermine the Baghdad
security operation. That can be done simply by calculating the dozens of dead
this last week. Or by writing about the mass detentions of innocents, or how
people are once again burying their valuables so that Iraqi and American troops
don't steal them.full post

.......... I wonder what excuse they used when they took her. It’s most likely she’s one of the thousands of people they round up under the general headline of ‘terrorist suspect’. She might have been one of those subtitles you
read on CNN or BBC or Arabiya, “13 insurgents captured by Iraqi security forces.” The men who raped her are those same security forces Bush and Condi are so proud of- you know- the ones the Americans trained. It’s a chapter right out of the book that documents American occupation in Iraq: the chapter that will tell the story of 14-year-old Abeer who was raped, killed and burned with her little sister and parents.They abducted her from her house in an area in southern Baghdad called Hai Al Amil. No- it wasn’t a gang. It was Iraqi peace keeping or security forces- the ones trained by Americans? You know them. She was brutally gang-raped and is now telling the story. Half her face is covered for security reasons or reasons of privacy. I translated what she said below.......

............I look at this woman and I can’t feel anything but rage. What did we gain? I know that looking at her, foreigners will never be able to relate. They’ll feel pity and maybe some anger, but she’s one of us. She’s not a girl in jeans and a t-shirt so there will only be a vague sort of sympathy. Poor third-world countries- that is what their womenfolk tolerate. Just know that we never had to tolerate this before. There was a time when Iraqis were safe in the streets. That time is long gone. We consoled ourselves after the war with the fact that we at least had a modicum of safety in our homes. Homes are sacred, aren’t they? That is gone too. She’s just one of tens,possibly hundreds, of Iraqi women who are violated in their own homes and in Iraqi prisons. She looks like cousins I have. She looks like friends. She looks like a neighbor I sometimes used to pause to gossip with in the street. Every Iraqi who looks at her will see a cousin, a friend, a sister, a mother, an aunt…

Humanitarian organizations are warning that three Iraqi women are to be executed next month. The women are Wassan Talib, Zainab Fadhil and Liqa Omar Muhammad. They are being accused of 'terrorism', i.e. having ties to the Iraqi resistance. It could mean they are relatives of people suspected of being in the resistance. Or it could mean they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of them gave birth in the prison. I wonder what kind of torture they've endured. Let no one say Iraqi women didn't get at least SOME equality under the American occupation- we are now equally as likely to get executed. And yet, as the situation continues to deteriorate both for Iraqis inside and outside of Iraq, and for Americans inside Iraq, Americans in America are still debating on the state of the war and
occupation- are they winning or losing? Is it better or worse.
Let me clear it up for any moron with lingering doubts: It’s worse. It’s over. You lost. You lost the day your tanks rolled into Baghdad to the cheers of your imported, American-trained monkeys. You lost every single family whose home your soldiers violated. You lost every sane, red-blooded Iraqi when the Abu Ghraib pictures came out and verified your atrocities behind prison walls as well as the ones we see in our streets. You lost when you brought murderers, looters, gangsters and
militia heads to power and hailed them as Iraq’s first democratic government. You lost when a gruesome execution was dubbed your biggest accomplishment. You
lost the respect and reputation you once had. You lost more than 3000 troops.
That is what you lost America. I hope the oil, at least, made it worthwhile.
full post

and this from Juan Cole.....

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Rape Case Political Football in Iraq Iraq War has Caused Spike in Global terrorism

Iraqi security forces, Shiites, raided a house looking for a possible Sunni Arab insurgent named al-Janabi. They found only his wife at home. They took her into custody (probably as a hostage). They accused her of cooking for insurgents. Then the police gang-raped her. She went on Aljazeera and told her story. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite head of a Shiite government, at first said he would have a commission look into her charges. Then he reversed himself and accused the woman of lying and implying that she was put up to it by the Sunni insurgency. Marc
Santora of the New York Times managed to interview the nurse who treated her, and found that Mrs. al-Janabi's story was corroborated.

full post

Blaine Women Arrested for Protesting at Focus on the Family Headquarters

(Colorado Springs, CO) -- At approximately 1:30 p.m. on February 19, 2007, Dotti Berry and Robynne Sapp of Blaine, Wash., were arrested and removed from Focus on the Family headquarters in police custody. The couple entered the building earlier in the day and refused to leave until the organization's founder, James Dobson, takes a step toward reconciliation with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities by ceasing his misleading statements about research on lesbian and gay parents. ...

..."I am here today because I believed Dr. Dobson's teachings for many years, and it almost led to my suicide. My healing came from my acceptance of myself and my acceptance that God loves me exactly as I am," said Sapp. Sapp and Berry have toured Focus on the Family twice before to dialogue with visitors and staff about LGBT individuals and families.

Dobson has consistently misrepresented LGBT families with misleading references to social science research. In recent months, several social scientists -- including Dr. Carol Gilligan of New York University and Dr. Kyle Pruett of Yale -- have publicly rebuked him for mischaracterizing their research conclusions. (Press Release)

There's also an article in the Colorado Springs Gazette and, Dotti & Robynne have documented their protest.

It's too bad James Dobson didn't have the courage to come out and talk, he might have learned something... Ok., who am I kidding; Dobson's not about to admit he's a dishonest pompous ass and upset his self-righteousness gravy-train.

Converted Rice

Aha! So Now, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sees the wisdom of the anti-escalation resolution passed by the House.

The Baghdad stop, tagged on to Ms. Rice’s scheduled trip to Israel, comes at a politically delicate time for the Bush administration. On Friday, a sharply divided House of Representatives passed a resolution formally repudiating President Bush’s decision to send more than 20,000 new combat troops to Iraq.

The rare wartime rebuke to the commander in chief — an act that is not binding but carries symbolic significance — was approved 246 to 182, with 17 Republicans breaking ranks to join all but 2 Democrats in supporting the resolution.

Ms. Rice said she used the restiveness in Washington to underline for Iraqi officials the spread of American frustration with Iraq’s lagging political and economic progress.

She said she had “made clear that some of the debate in Washington is, in fact, indicative of the concerns that the American people have about the prospects for success” if Iraq’s leaders did not quickly take actions to ensure longer-term stability. (NYT article)

It's Ok Condi; We won't call you a flip-flopper. Just keep listening to the Democrats and you'll be on the road to REAL victory.

Sunday - Failed President Day

George W. Bush is a Failed President and a Disgrace to America.

Nevermind questionable vote counting. Forget about the faked Intel that took us into war with Iraq.

There are two newspaper articles published today that are all the evidence any sane person needs to be convinced that George Bush is a Failed President.

The first and most disgraceful is from the Washington Post, relating the horrific neglect that our wounded troops are forced to endure. Not at the hands of Iraqi Insurgents, but by the under-funding and neglect of the Bush Administration. The President who's never passed up a chance at a photo-op with the Troops as background, has consciously abandoned those Troops after they've been injured. Could anything be more disgusting?

And as if it weren't enough that Bush has abandoned our wounded Troops; he has betrayed them further by abandoning the core mission of the war on terror. While Bush is pre-occupied with trying to get his popularity poll numbers up by "surging" in Baghdad, Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri are laughing their asses off as they rebuild Al Qaeda training camps in North Waziristan.

Congressman Jack Murtha was right when he said: "Who wants us to stay in Iraq? In my opinion, Iran and Al Qaeda, because we intensify the very radical extremism we claim to be fighting against, while at the same time depleting our financial and human resources."

Right-wing echo-heads may have been busy regurgitating RNC smears , but in reality Democrats have said over and over again that we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqi's, redeploy our troops and refocus on securing Afghanistan and destroying Al Qaeda.

Bush and Cheney need to either swallow their pride, accept reality and switch to the Democrats winning strategy or step down and allow Nancy Pelosi to lead our nation to victory over our real enemy, Al Qaeda.

Don Young (R-AK) Is No Friend of Lincoln

Rep. Don Young (R) of Alaska recited a fake Lincoln quote on the floor of the House and won't take it back. The gist of the faux-quote was that Congress members who criticize the President's war plans should be killed.

David at Orcinus makes the point:

Moreover, even though he now acknowledges that the quote was phony, he very much meant to say exactly what he said:

Young will not repeat the quote, Kenny said, but stands behind the point he was making.

So now, by the Don Young Standard, anyone who dissents from the Bush administration's approach to the war in Congress should be subject to capital punishment. Lord knows what to do with average rabble, but one must presume concentration camps and Zyklon play a role.

I think maybe Alaska's Russian heritage has seeped into Don Young's brain and altered his thought process. From what he says, he'd be much happier on the other side of the Bering Strait; where the press is censored and critics of the President are gunned-down or poisoned.

The description of todays Russian government sure sounds like Apparatchik Young's dream come true:

... From the Kremlin’s point of view, control over society entails the executive authority’s control over the courts, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the parliament; that is, control over the very institutions that should be independent of the executive branch in a democracy.

In a real democracy, public order is maintained by judges who don’t take bribes, police who don’t imprison innocent people, and military officers who defend the country without trading in soldiers as a human commodity. In the Kremlin’s view, order results when the courts, the parliament and the defense minister, who happens to be Putin’s personal friend in this case, all answer to the president. As for how they deal with the masses of humanity entrusted to their care, that is just a personal matter between friends. ...
(Opinion - Consolidating Power - The St. Petersburg Times)

Bush Remembers Afghanistan

Bush wants to change the subject and do a little fingerpointing at the same time.
Bush Tells NATO to Reinforce Afghanistan
Yes, he'd really like to find somebody else to blame for his failure's.

But redirecting attention to Afghanistan isn't going to make Bush look any better
Al-Qaida Releases Video of Afghan Attack
For me the most infuriating part of this articles is that more than five years after the 9/11 attack, reporters are still writing thing like:

"The tape begins with the deputy leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahri, ridiculing President Bush's claim to have deprived al-Qaida of a safe haven in Afghanistan, calling it a "barefaced lie."

Al-Zawahri, who speaks in Arabic with an English translation in subtitles, seems to be referring to a Bush speech on Jan. 10 when the president said that U.S. forces "took away al-Qaida's safe haven in Afghanistan - and we will not allow them to re-establish it in Iraq.""

AND

"...The video carried the logo of the al-Qaida media production company, as-Sahab, and it was posted on an Islamic Web site known for hosting extremist material."

Way back in November of 2001 Bush said:

"I said a long time ago, one of our objectives is to smoke them out and get them running and bring them to justice," Bush said.

"We're smoking them out. They're running. And now we're going to bring them to justice. I also said we'll use whatever means necessary to achieve that objective -- and that's exactly what we're going to do."

And yet, Osama bin-Laden and al-Zawahri are still out there and they're not 'on the run'. In hiding, perhaps, but they're obviously secure enough to be busy making video's. AND(!) Bush & Co. just drift along, far more concerned with political posturing than with actually doing anything to bring to justice the men who ordered the 9/11 attack on America.

And I'm not alone in feeling that Bush isn't doing his job; the Pew Research Center has been at work surveying the American people:

...In large part, the steep downturn over the past year reflects a crumbling of the GOP unity over progress in Iraq. As recently as a year ago, more than three-quarters of Republicans (77%) believed things were going at least fairly well in Iraq - a position most Democrats and independents then rejected. But today, a bare 51% majority of Republicans say the situation in Iraq is going well, down 26 points from a year ago.

Democrats and independents, already downbeat about Iraq, have become even more so. By a margin of 83%-15%, Democrats say things are not going well in Iraq today, and more than two-thirds of independents (69%) share this view. Comparatively, Republicans remain somewhat upbeat. However, with 47% of Republicans also rating the situation poorly, the partisan gap over how things are going is narrower today than it has been since the earliest months of the conflict. ...

And it's not just that they think things aren't going well, they blame Bush:

George W. Bush's job approval rating stands at 33% in the current survey, virtually unchanged from a month ago. The general dissatisfaction with the president also is reflected in the single-word descriptions that people use to describe their impression of the president. While the public has consistently offered a mix of positive and negative terms to describe Bush, the tone of the words used turned more negative in early 2006 and remains the case today. In the current survey, nearly half (47%) describe Bush in negative terms, such as "arrogant," "idiot," and "ignorant." Just 27% use words that are clearly positive, such as "honest," "good," "integrity," and "leader."

As was the case a year ago, the word mentioned more frequently than any other is "incompetent." ...

If It's Thursday -

Shouldn't the headline read; Hershey sez, kiss your job goodbye?

Hershey Plans to Cut Work Force by 1,500

By PETER JACKSON
Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- The Hershey Co., whose name has been synonymous with U.S. candymaking for more than a century, is moving a bigger chunk of its production to Mexico.

A day after Valentine sweethearts across the country enjoyed bags of Hershey Kisses, the company on Thursday announced a restructuring plan that will scale back its work force by 1,500 jobs and force some plants to close. ...(link)

Maybe this headline should have read; Kiss you Kids goodbye.

CDC Tracks Peanut Butter Contamination

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) -- Government scientists struggled Thursday to pinpoint the source of the first U.S. salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, the kid favorite packed into millions of lunchboxes every day.

Nearly 300 people in 39 states have fallen ill since August, and federal health investigators said they strongly suspect Peter Pan peanut butter and certain batches of Wal-Mart's Great Value house brand - both manufactured by ConAgra Foods Inc. ...(link)

lobby day feb 12,2007

yesterday was a great day in Olympia.....starting with a very comfortable bus...(with a bathroom....yes!!!!) and we had delicious refreshments and best of all ......the company of some of the greatest people around.....thank you

we talked about the importance of The Healthy Youth Act and the money that could be saved by doing the right thing now ......Dale Brandland was cordial with one foot out the door....packet delivered...... we did not get a meeting with Doug Eriksen.

it was fun just to be there and listen to inspiring words from legislators and activists.

it was great to see Kelli and thank her for her good work !!!! her sponsorship and promotion of HB1855 The Healthy Youth ACT and HB1686 Family Planning Protection Act will go along way for our youth and young families in Washington. personal health and protection programs will be included to screen for cancer and STD's and provide education so important to a healthy life. we talked about the funding gap due to federal cuts in the very successful TAKE CHARGE program and she understands the need to try to get funding to fill in.

thanks everybody for a great day and for all you do!!!!

Another War of Aggression?

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." - George W. Bush / 2002

Commentary

Stop This Now: Nameless Accusers, Sourcing

Identify US Officials Presenting Disputed Evidence Against Iran

By EASON JORDAN Posted 21 hr. 21 min. ago

Why are US officials hiding behind the cloak of anonymity when presenting the most detailed evidence yet that Iran is supplying weaponry to anti-US forces in Iraq?

After weeks, if not months, of US official planning to present a damning "dossier" of incriminating evidence against Iran, and after this same US administration presented us with lopsided, erroneous information about the capability and evil intentions of the Saddam Hussein regime, the best the US government can give us today is incendiary evidence presented at a Baghdad news conference by three US officials who refuse to be quoted by name? ...

... After the bogus Iraq evidence debacle in 2002 and 2003 -- allegations that led to war, tens of thousands of lives lost, and hundreds of billions of dollars spent -- only a fool would accept as the gospel supposed evidence against another country that's presented by officials who insist on making their allegations anonymously. ... (full article)

It seems it was wise of the three officers to refuse to have their names connected with the bogus 'evidence' they were presenting; especially when General Pace says it ain't true.

Top American General Disputes US Military Claim on Iran
By Al Pessin
Canberra, Australia
12 February 2007

The top American military officer, General Peter Pace, declined Monday to endorse the conclusions of U.S. military officers in Baghdad, who told reporters on Sunday that the Iranian government is providing high-powered roadside bombs to insurgents in Iraq. General Pace made his comments during a visit to Australia, and VOA's Al Pessin reports from Canberra. ... (full article)

Senator Murray on Iraq

our senator has been consistent since voting no on authorization for war in october 2002. she called it right then and she calls it right again. thank you Senator Murray!!

IRAQ: Senator Murray Speaks Out Against the Surge and Urges Republicans to Stop Blocking Debate on the Iraq War
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 6, 2007 Listen to \Murray's Speech
(Washington, D.C.) -

Today in a passionate speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash) called on Republicans to stop blocking debate on the President's misguided plan to escalate the War in Iraq. Murray said she will vote for a bipartisan resolution expressing opposition to the President's surge as the first step in changing direction in Iraq. Recalling her 2002 speech against authorizing the war in Iraq, Murray spoke of the tremendous sacrifices Washington state families have made during the war.
Senator Murray's remarks follow: here

time to act!!!

Kevin is sooo right .....listen up and grow a set Democrats!......these radical, reckless maniacs have to be stopped..... it's time to do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. whatever is done or not done, the outcome could be political suicide, so why not do the right thing?

DIAMOND ON IRAN....Leonard Weiss and Larry Diamond are members in good
standing of the mainstream liberal foreign policy community. They're about the
farthest thing imaginable from a pair of left-wing loonies, but
here's what they have to say today about Iran and the Bush administration:
When Bush signed the Iraq war resolution, he issued a statement challenging
the constitutionality of the War Powers Act, indicating that he could take
the nation to war without obeying its restrictions. Unfortunately, even if
the president were to agree to the act's restrictions, he could still attack
Iran and have up to 90 days before being required to get congressional
authorization for the attack.
What to do? Congress should not wait. It should hold hearings on Iran before the president orders a bombing attack on its nuclear facilities, or orders or supports a provocative act by the U.S. or an ally designed to get Iran to retaliate, and thus further raise war fever.
....The law should be attached to an appropriations bill, making it difficult for the
president to veto. If he simply claims that he is not bound by the restriction
even if he signs it into law, and then orders an attack on Iran without
congressional authorization for it, Congress should file a lawsuit and begin
impeachment proceedings.

Italics mine. Diamond, obviously, has more than the usual insight into how the Bush
administration thinks and acts, since Condi Rice chose him to advise the CPA on
Iraqi development in early 2004. His conclusion: the administration plans to bomb Iran and plans to do it whether Congress likes it or not. Listen up, Democrats.

—Kevin Drum 11:50 AM full post

and this from the same piece......

.........But recklessness, not prudence, has been the hallmark of this administration's foreign policy. Beyond this, the president and vice president subscribe to what some call the "unitary executive," which is a fancy way of saying they believe that Congress cannot prevent the president from doing almost anything he wants........

the fact anyone would want this much power makes them unqualified for the job. police jobs require psycological testing for god sake......how can we put someone in charge of WMD's, the likes of which the world has never seen before, when they are so clearly unqualified....jez!.....who is making these terrible decisions??

America, it's time to pull over and get directions.......

Are You Listening George?

US ex-generals reject Iran strike

Three former high-ranking American military officers have warned against any military attack on Iran.

They said such action would have "disastrous consequences" for security in the Middle East and also for coalition forces in Iraq.

They said the crisis over Tehran's nuclear programme must be resolved through diplomacy, urging Washington to start direct talks with Iran. ...(more)

Justifications for attacking Iran on shaky ground
By Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is escalating its confrontation with Iran, sending an additional aircraft carrier and minesweepers into the Persian Gulf as it accuses the Islamic regime in Tehran of arming Shiite Muslim militias in Iraq for attacks on American troops.

A new U.S. intelligence estimate on Friday, however, concluded that Iranian and other outside meddling is "not likely" a major cause of the bloodshed in Iraq, and a new McClatchy analysis of U.S. casualties in Iraq found that Sunni Muslim insurgents, not Iranian-backed Shiites, have mounted most - but not all - of the attacks on American forces.

The Bush administration, which made exaggerated or false claims about Iraq's weapons programs and ties to al-Qaida to justify its 2003 invasion of Iraq, hasn't provided evidence to back up its charges. ...(more)

Analysis: Bush's Iran Stance Echoes Iraq

By TOM RAUM
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's tough new stance on Iran and his military buildup in the Persian Gulf recall some of the drumbeats that preceded the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

As then, the Bush administration is making allegations about Iran without providing proof.

It is suggesting Iran is sending weapons to Iraq, yet offering no evidence the supplies can be traced to Tehran. There are whispers, too, that Iranian intelligence agents were behind the recent abduction and execution of five U.S. soldiers.

Iran is the "axis of evil" country whose nuclear ambitions must be stopped. Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is now Bush's primary Mideast nemesis, replacing the late Saddam Hussein. ...(more)

Stump Speech Applause Meter

I don't know how much really useful information "Hotline" is giving use; but... Culled from the coverage of the DNC Winter Meeting stump speeches, just for the fun of it, here's the standing ovation counts:
Wes Clark - 0,
Obama - 2,
Hillary - 3,
Vilsack - 3,
Joe Biden - 4,
Edwards - 5,
Richardson - 7.

great cartoon

after a roadtrip.......

just a few thoughts, after a variety of interactions on a trip to eastern Washington. hmm....just a little hope is what i'm looking for. i have a hard time when i see the lack of urgency as it is drowning in physical comfort and distraction. and then i had an infusion of hope from the streets of Lynden and it's enough to keep going.

One way to improve our chance of survival is to completely change the way we act in the world. As long as we are killing each other and destroying homelands to control dwindling natural resources no one will survive.
We must never leave a mess when taking natural resource from anywhere on earth. All people who live where there is natural resource extraction must thrive. Poverty and hunger and violence can change the human spirit. Especially when others display conspicuous over consumption with entitlement and arrogance.
We will have to dramatically change how we live. As long as we over consume and kill and die for control of natural resources no one will survive. The earth is about to kick us out for the way we are abusing it. How much is enough? What do we need to be happy?? All of us should be asking ourselves these questions as if our children’s lives depended on it. The future will bring us a chance to work together with all people on earth to save our home. We will fail if we look for someone to call “them” and blame for the challenge we are facing. The Cubans recently faced such a challenge and called it “the special period.” They have much to offer the rest of the world if we can listen.

America, it’s way past time to pull over and get directions.

great rant by Keith Olberman Keith Olbermann on Terrorism

Videos/DVD’s:
The power of community. How Cuba survived Peak Oil
Crude Impact. It’s worse than you think….but it’s not too late.

NW Washington VA Clinic - Almost

This is great news - if nothing else happens to sidetrack the process. Senator Murray and Rep. Larsen have been working on getting this clinic for a long time. It's been tough since the Bush Administration doesn't give a damn about Veterans.

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to open an outpatient medical clinic in Northwest Washington within a year after getting funding from Congress, VA officials say. ...

... R. James Nicholson, secretary for Veterans Affairs, wrote to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, Wednesday that the VA “has recognized that there is a need to locate an outpatient clinic in the northwestern region of Washington state.”

The VA will open the clinic “pending passage of a 2007 appropriations bill for VA,” Nicholson wrote. It will serve veterans in Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan and Island counties as well as northern Snohomish County, he said. ...(full article)

Climate Change - Can't Be Bought Off

Climate change is real and we may be in deeper shit than anybody thought.

Climate Change Predictions Not Exaggerated, Analysis Says

John Roach for National Geographic News
February 1, 2007

Tomorrow the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release a major report with grim predictions for the coming decades, according to journalists who have seen draft versions of the paper.

If the IPCC's recent track record is any indication, the predictions will be no exaggeration, according to an analysis posted today on the Web site of the journal Science.

The Science study compared actual climate measurements with the predictions of computer models in a 2001 IPCC report.

In recent years actual concentrations of carbon dioxide—a greenhouse gas linked to global warming—have followed almost exactly the projections of the 2001 IPCC report. ...(full article)

But for the sake of a little more profit (at the cost of who knows how many lives), ExxonMobil is looking for a few bad apples to lie about climate change. Muddying the (ever rising) waters could slow the political process necessary to respond.

Scientists offered cash to dispute climate study

Ian Sample, science correspondent
Friday February 2, 2007
The Guardian

Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report due to be published today.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). ...(full article)