follow the money......

another interesting piece by Naomi Klein..... greed wins again....man it's tough to view these people as members of the human family....i keep thinking "don't they have children and grandchildren???" i guess they figure their descendents will be in the fortified green zones and safe from the destruction of the climate of planet earth.....how much longer will the greedy, power drunk elite be allowed to dictate suicidal policy to the many and send us the bill.???

Guns Beat Green: The Market Has Spoken
By Naomi Klein - November 29th, 2007
Anyone tired of lousy news from the markets should talk to Douglas Lloyd,
director of Venture Business Research, a company that tracks trends in venture
capitalism. "I expect investment activity in this sector to remain buoyant," he
said recently. His bouncy mood was inspired by the money gushing into private
security and defense companies. He added, "I also see this as a more attractive
sector, as many do, than clean energy."
Got that? If you are looking for a sure bet in a new growth market, sell solar, buy surveillance; forget wind, buy weapons
.....Put simply, in the world of venture capitalism, there has been a race going on between greens on the one hand and guns and garrisons on the other--and the guns are winning.
.......Of course, there is still money to be made from going green; but there is much more green--at least in the short term--to be made from selling escape and protection. As Lloyd explains, "The failure rate of security businesses is much lower than clean-tech ones and, as important, the capital investment required to build a successful security business is also much lower." In other words, solving real problems is hard, but turning a profit from those problems is easy.

Bush wants to leave our climate crisis to the ingenuity of the market. Well, the market has spoken: it will not take us off this disastrous course. In fact, the smart money is betting that we will stay on it
full story

Record Breaking Senate Republicans

It seems like just yesterday that Republicans held a majority in the Senate and were screaming about Democrats using the filibuster to block some of Bush's judicial nominee's... The Republicans even threatened to change the time honored rules of the Senate and do away with the filibuster, using what they called the nuclear option.

But that was the 109th Congress. Now just one year into the 110th Congress, the Republican minority has set an all time record for filibustering. Senate Republicans sure are exercising situational ethics and showing a total disregard for the welfare of our Nation.

From: headzup
In today's "Profiles In Obstructionism" we honor the Minority Senate Republicans of the 110th Congress, who in just half a congressional session, have filibustered more bills than any Congress in history.

Read more about it here--http://home.ourfuture.org/media/recor...

Darcy Burner Holds Year End Online Fundraiser

Darcy Burner, Democratic candidate for WA-08, is holding a fundraiser. She's trying to raise another $25,000 before the end of the year... which is midnite Monday.


Help her out if you can. We need to do all we can to increase the Democratic majority in Congress... and since WA-02 is already blue, helping replace Dave Reichert (R) with Darcy Burner is something local we can do. There are still way to many Republican politicians obstructing progress.

The life and times of Benazir Bhutto

in memory of a courageous strong woman who tried to speak and act to make our world a more peaceful just world for the people of her country and the world. my thoughts are with her children and family. we will not forget.

video picked up from Democratic Underground

and this bombshell...... scooby do moment...no follow-up??? holy crap!!

caging and proud of it!!!

this from Scout Finch at daily kos....thanks Thom Hartmann for the heads up...... breathtaking....

freedom is on the march!

attention: congress

Kansas GOP Chair Brags of Voter Caging in E-Mail
by Scout Finch
Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 09:24:48 AM PST
The Chair of the Kansas GOP, Kris Kobach, sent out an end-of-the-year email to update members on all of the Kansas GOP's accomplishments during 2007. From that e-mail:

Fellow Republicans:
2007 has been a busy year for the Kansas Republican Party. We have taken the last 11 months to rebuild our party operations, make technology updates, build our fundraising database, and identify voters. We have also put operations in place to make the Party a more effective organization to support candidates, and better able to provide rapid campaign response in every county in the state.
full post

Iraq: No Benchmarks Achieved

Much has been made of the reduced violence in Iraq. The Bush administration has propagandized that "the Surge" has worked and much of the mainstream media has dutifully repeated the administrations talking-points. Bush announced that the purpose of the Surge was to give the Iraqi government breathing space to achieve the benchmarks that had been set for them. The Fact is that there's been no progress what-so-ever.

Trudy Rubin - columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer
December 25, 2007

BAGHDAD - Now that the security situation has improved in Baghdad, everyone here is wondering if the dismal political situation can improve, too.

The goal of the U.S. military "surge" was to create a more secure atmosphere that would enable Iraqi political leaders to figure out how to reconcile. Indeed, a political "surge" is badly needed. It is the ticket to creating a viable Iraqi army, and to stabilizing the country. That, in turn, is the key to drawing down U.S. troops.

After two weeks in Iraq, I can report that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is as dysfunctional as ever, the prime minister's staff a collection of incompetents from his Shiite Dawa Party who are criticized by many in his own government. ...(full article)

It's clear that once again the Bush administration has moved the goal-post closer and claimed to have scored a point.

Here's some honest information from Juan Coles most excellent blog Informed Comment

Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007

10. Myth: The US public no longer sees Iraq as a central issue in the 2008 presidential campaign.

In a recent ABC News/ Washington Post poll, Iraq and the economy were virtually tied among voters nationally, with nearly a quarter of voters in each case saying it was their number one issue. The economy had become more important to them than in previous months (in November only 14% said it was their most pressing concern), but Iraq still rivals it as an issue!

9. Myth: There have been steps toward religious and political reconciliation in Iraq in 2007. Fact: The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has for the moment lost the support of the Sunni Arabs in parliament. The Sunnis in his cabinet have resigned. Even some Shiite parties have abandoned the government. Sunni Arabs, who are aware that under his government Sunnis have largely been ethnically cleansed from Baghdad, see al-Maliki as a sectarian politician uninterested in the welfare of
Sunnis.

8. Myth: The US troop surge stopped the civil war that had been raging between Sunni Arabs and Shiites in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Fact: The civil war in Baghdad escalated during the US troop escalation. Between January, 2007, and July, 2007, Baghdad went from 65% Shiite to 75% Shiite. UN polling among Iraqi refugees in Syria suggests that 78% are from Baghdad and that nearly a million refugees relocated to Syria from Iraq in 2007 alone. This data suggests that over 700,000 residents of Baghdad have fled this city of 6 million during the US 'surge,' or more than 10 percent of the capital's population. Among the primary effects of the 'surge' has been to turn Baghdad into an overwhelmingly Shiite city and to displace hundreds of thousands of Iraqis from the capital.

7. Myth: Iran was supplying explosively formed projectiles(a deadly form of roadside bomb) to Salafi Jihadi (radical Sunni) guerrilla groups in Iraq. Fact: Iran has not been proved to have sent weapons to any Iraqi guerrillas at all. It certainly would not send weapons to those who have a raging hostility toward Shiites. (Iran may have supplied war materiel to its client, the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq (ISCI), which was then sold off from warehouses because of graft, going on the arms market and being bought by guerrillas and militiamen.

6. Myth: The US overthrow of the Baath regime and military occupation of Iraq has helped liberate Iraqi women. Fact: Iraqi women have suffered significant reversals of status, ability to circulate freely, and economic situation under the Bush administration.

5. Myth: Some progress has been made by the Iraqi government in meeting the "benchmarks" worked out with the Bush administration. Fact: in the words of Democratic Senator Carl Levin, "Those legislative benchmarks include approving a hydrocarbon law, approving a debaathification law, completing the work of a constitutional review committee, and holding provincial elections. Those commitments, made 1 1/2 years ago, which were to have been completed by January of 2007, have not yet been kept by the Iraqi political leaders despite the breathing space the surge has provided."

4. Myth: The Sunni Arab "Awakening Councils," who are on the US payroll, are reconciling with the Shiite government of PM Nuri al-Maliki even as they take on al-Qaeda remnants. Fact: In interviews with the Western press, Awakening Council tribesmen often speak of attacking the Shiites after they have polished off al-Qaeda. A major pollster working in Iraq observed,

' Most of the recent survey results he has seen about political reconciliation, Warshaw said, are "more about [Iraqis] reconciling with the United States within their own particular territory, like in Anbar. . . . But it doesn't say anything about how Sunni groups feel about Shiite groups in Baghdad." Warshaw added: "In Iraq, I just don't hear statements that come from any of the Sunni, Shiite or Kurdish groups that say 'We recognize that we need to share power with the others, that we can't truly dominate.' " ''

The polling shows that "the Iraqi government has still made no significant progress toward its fundamental goal of national reconciliation."

3. Myth: The Iraqi north is relatively quiet and a site of economic growth. Fact: The subterranean battle among Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs for control of the oil-rich Kirkuk province makes the Iraqi north a political mine field. Kurdistan now also hosts the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas that sneak over the border and kill Turkish troops. The north is so unstable that the Iraqi north is now undergoing regular bombing raids from Turkey.

2. Myth: Iraq has been "calm" in fall of 2007 and the Iraqi public, despite some grumbling, is not eager for the US to depart. Fact: in the past 6 weeks, there have been an average of 600 attacks a month, or 20 a day, which has held steady since the beginning of November. About 600 civilians are being killed in direct political violence per month, but that number excludes deaths of soldiers and police. Across the board, Iraqis believe that their conflicts are mainly caused by the US military presence and they are eager for it to end.

1. Myth: The reduction in violence in Iraq is mostly because of the escalation in the number of US troops, or "surge."

Fact: Although violence has been reduced in Iraq, much of the reduction did not take place because of US troop activity. Guerrilla attacks in al-Anbar Province were reduced from 400 a week to 100 a week between July, 2006 and July, 2007. But there was no significant US troop escalation in al-Anbar. Likewise, attacks on British troops in Basra have declined precipitously since they were moved out to the airport away from population centers. But this change had nothing to do with US troops.

Naomi Klein....thank you!

Naomi Klein's book The Shock Doctrine deserves repeat recognition for the year. if we understand what is happening to us we can resist shock. she believes our best defense is to know what is happening to us and why. i think it is important at this time of year to reflect and for me that means asking who we are? who are the terrorists? i never imagined we would be debating whether torture should be used. i want to be optimist that we will be able to join with all other humans on planet earth and save our home for future generations. when a small group of people seize power and wealth to use whatever means necessary to advance their goals it can cause great suffering for many, as in Iraq and New Orleans. this is a most important book for our time. there are no green zones planned for most of us.
wake up america.

Merry Xmas

Headzup: Bush's X-Mas Message For The Richest One Percent

A Safe Xmas?

From the Seattle PI, Congressional candidate Darcy Burner discusses toxic toys.

Is the toy you gave safe?
By DARCY BURNER-GUEST COLUMNIST

This year a record 25 million toys have been recalled, most due to unsafe levels of lead. They included some of the most popular toys on the market, like Dora, Barbie,
and Curious George toys. My son's Thomas train set was recalled. Can you imagine
how hard it is to explain to a 5-year-old that his favorite toy is poisonous?

That these products made it onto store shelves -- and into our homes -- is bad enough. Even worse, many children's products still contain high levels of lead and cadmium. Parents have a right to expect that their children's toys are safe. Unfortunately, as toy after toy was recalled, parents -- myself included -- have grown increasingly worried this holiday season.

We should be. Joined by elected officials across the Eastside, last weekend I sponsored seven free toy testing sessions for anxious parents. The results were
disturbing, to say the least.

Of the 479 toys tested, 47 items -- 10 percent of the total -- contained lead levels beyond the 40 parts per million maximum that the American Academy of Pediatrics considers safe. Nine items tested positive for cadmium, also toxic.

A red plastic Lincoln Logs roof tested at 1,488 parts per million for lead (37 times the AAP maximum). A plastic Sesame Street Bert figure tested at 5,346 ppm (133 times the standard). A Tinkerbell pink rolling backpack tested at 533 ppm. A Winnie the Pooh place mat contained 985 ppm. A Fisher Price Flip Track crane owned by my son tested at 10,600 ppm, or 265 times the AAP standard.

The children's character place mats tested contained high levels of lead: Dora, Spiderman and Winnie the Pooh all tested positive. Cooler-style lunchboxes and soft coolers had high lead content as well.

None of these items has been recalled. It's not enough to know whether your toys were in the 77 separate recalls so far this year; parents should be suspicious of every plastic toy, painted toy, mug, plate, cooler, place mat and bag your child encounters. No one has been ensuring they are safe for our children.

Why is this happening? The answer is clear -- the Consumer Products Safety Commission has been gutted. In 1980, 978 people worked there; now the CPSC has only 400 employees to monitor 15,000 categories of products, and only one is assigned full-time to test toys. Meanwhile, the current CPSC head (a former industry lobbyist) and her predecessor took nearly 30 lavish junkets paid for by industries they oversee.

Think about it -- children are being put at risk while those tasked with keeping them safe are too busy hobnobbing in resort locales with toy industry lobbyists. This is a scandal, but it is also just business as usual in Washington, D.C., where regulatory agencies have been starved of resources and put under the control of political appointees with cozy industry ties.

Change may come, albeit too slowly. This week the House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation that will modestly expand the CPSC's resources and gradually tighten the outdated federal allowable lead limit to 100 parts per million. Even if this bill survives -- the Senate has not acted -- it too little, too late. The House standard is still more than double what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends -- and toy manufacturers will be given four years to get there.

That is not good enough. Our elected leaders in the other Washington must make a real commitment to better testing and enforcement of toy safety laws.

In the meantime, parents are stuck playing a game of toxic Russian roulette with the toys they buy their children.

Darcy Burner is the Democratic candidate for Congress in the 8th Congressional District.

Stifling Online Free Speech & stuff

Authoritarians are always interested in controlling communications and stifling free speech.

Dec 24, 8:25 AM EST
Watchdog: Beijing Threatens Free Speech
By ANITA CHANG Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) -- A Beijing city regulation clamping down on people who send text messages that "spread rumors" or "endanger public security" is a threat to freedom of expression, a watchdog group said Monday. ...

... Beijing police will work with government agencies and telecommunications companies to investigate and punish those using text messages to "spread rumors" or "endanger public security," the city government said in a notice posted on its Web site late last month.

Chinese authorities commonly use vague charges such as those to detain dissidents or others it views as a threat to the ruling Communist Party. ...(full article)

But don't be fooled, the Chinese Communists aren't the only authoritarians busy trying to control communication.

Labor Board Restricts Union Use of E-Mail
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE - Published: December 23, 2007

The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that employers have the right to prohibit workers from using the company’s e-mail system to send out union-related messages, a decision that could hamper communications between labor unions and their membership.

In a 3-to-2 ruling released on Friday, the board held that it was legal for employers to prohibit union-related e-mail so long as employers had a policy barring employees from sending e-mail for “non-job-related solicitations” for outside organizations.

The ruling is a significant setback to the nation’s labor unions, which argued that e-mail systems have become a modern-day gathering place where employees should be able to communicate freely with co-workers to discuss work-related matters of mutual concern. ...(full article)

And it's even a local thing

Blogs Are Changing at KGMI.COM
By Debbie Chavez

... So, after much thought, KGMI is taking a leadership role on this issue. We will no longer allow the automatic posting of comments regarding our staff blogs. Instead, we ask that you email the individual staff blogger with your comment, and it will be up to that blogger to decide whether or not to post your comment. ...

... Some comments may be posted online at our discretion.
(KGMI blog: HERE)

And speaking of controlling communication;
Locally there's been a great deal of conversation about mean, ugly and down-right libelous blog comments. On the local newspapers website, that's a legitimate discussion. But it's utter hypocrisy coming from News/Talk Radio KGMI, which broadcasts local and syndicated right-wing talk. Ugly personal attacks, intentional misinformation and eliminationist propoganda are the stock-in-trade of right-wing talk-radio. KGMI is part of the problem, it incites it's conservative listeners to mean spirited incivility.

Election still about Iraq

The Courier, Waterloo, IA - Friday, December 21, 2007
Richardson pushes Iraq, veterans' care into center stage
By JOSH NELSON Courier Staff Writer


WATERLOO --- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Thursday the Iraq war remains one of the nation's paramount issues and obstacles to progress, despite receiving less play from major national media and other presidential candidates.

Richardson, a Democratic presidential hopeful, said during a town hall meeting in Waterloo that the war has drained resources, including time and money, away from many of the major problems still facing the country.

"We're deeply divided. This country can't focus and give health care a chance, our schools a chance, creating jobs a chance simply because of the enormous expenditures --- close to $500 billion --- that we've spent on this war," he said. "With that money we could have had universal health care, we could have had higher teacher salaries." ...(more)

-

Published December 21. 2007 4:30AM
Election still about Iraq, Richardson says
By James Q. Lynch - The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS — Twelve months ago, Bill Richardson said the 2008 presidential election would be all about Iraq.

Twelve days out from the leadoff event in the nomination process, the New Mexico governor said the election is still all about Iraq, and he's not going to let his rivals for the Democratic nomination avoid it.

"I'm saying that this presidential race should be decided on who has the best plan to get out of Iraq because Iraq is at the center of whether America can come together again, whether we can have a health care plan, whether we can have clean energy and create jobs," Richardson said after a house party in southeast Cedar Rapids Friday. "Because of the huge expenditures we've made in Iraq we can't focus on our domestic priorities. So I'm raising it at every stop and I want every candidate to talk about precisely what they will do to get out of the war and get our troops out." ...(more)

EPA Administrator's CO2 Ruling - Politics Not Law

Although the EPA staff unanimously recommended approval and the EPA had never denied a waiver, EPA head Stephen Johnson said no to California. A matter of Republican politics instead of the rule of law.

Staff at EPA supported California's attempt to reduce car emission
Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Friday,December 21, 2007

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson overruled the unanimous opinion of his legal and technical staff in blocking California's effort to cut greenhouse gases from cars and trucks - a new revelation that California officials say shows his decision was based on politics, not the law.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, launched a probe Thursday into why Johnson made his decision even though EPA staffers reportedly warned him he would lose in court if he denied California's request. ...(more)

Wexler wants hearings

watch video and sign on to support impeachment hearings

republicans set new record!!!!!

and i say let's set the record straight.......i think the plan is stop everything and then blame the do nothing, unpatriotic, weak democrats........Bill Scher and Rick Perlstein do a nice job putting things in perspective here......i would sure like to see these republicans actually have to stand up and flap their jaws...(Attention: Senator Reid)...people could see what a big bag of nothing they offer....and that they are filibustering and preventing that all important "up or down" vote they claim to love so much (remember the "nuclear option" threat and how they then tried to pin it on the dems after their new f_ _k us group told them to step away from the talking point)....thanks to Senator Reid for holding the senate open for business so no recess appointments happen......we have so many incompetent, ethically challenged shills(and that's the nicest thing i can think of to say about them) in all areas of government now.....it will take years to fix the damage done by this criminal enterprise if we start yesterday........at the very least it would be nice if people knew what just happened in the 110th congress.....this post contains a very nicely detailed pdf documention of the votes and threats ......

Record-Breaking Obstruction: How It Screwed You
By Bill Scher on
December 19, 2007 - 1:57pm.
On this historic yet soon-to-be infamous day of record-breaking conservative obstruction, our "Block and Blame" report (PDF) reminds me of Sen. Trent Lott's all-too-candid words from April, "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail ... and so far it's working for us." It's certainly true, if not terribly insightful, that obstructionism can either work or fail.

full post

Conservative Christians - Holier Than ... HIM?

Election 08: An Unwelcome Endorsement
Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Tom Tancredo have all picked up a liberal endorsement they may not like - let's set the record straight!

[ hat tip to McCranium ]

Habeas Corpus bought

first this......

For Sale: Ross Perot's Copy of the Magna Carta
Submitted by Eugmc on
September 25, 2007 - 8:48pm.
One of the most important pieces in Western Civilization history is being auctioned off in New York City in Mid December. Sotheby's Auction House will auction off the Magna Carta, a 2500 word document that was the forerunner to the United States Constitution. Experts expect the document, which Ross Perot bought for $1.5 Million in 1984, to be sold for over $30 Million dollars. The Perot foundation will use the money raised for, "medical research, improving public education and assisting wounded soldiers and their families."

Numerous copies of the Magna Carta were issued at the time and others still exists. The Australian government has a 1297 copy, the same year the one that will be sold was created. The Master Copy of the document, sealed by King John in 1215, is unable to be located but other copies exist. Only 2, the Australian copy and Perot's, are held outside of Britain. Perot's is the only one that is held by a private citizen in the world.
The Magna Carta translates from the original Latin to the "Great Paper". The Magna Carta required the English King to renoucne rights after a political disagreement between Pope Innocent III, King John and the English barons. The document most notably brought life to the right of Habeas Corpus.

from Cleveland Leader

and now..... imagine who bought it.....what does this possibly mean???? thanks to Rachel Maddow for dropping this one today.....

The only copy of Magna Carta in private hands sold for $21.32 million
(£10.6 million) this morning in the first auction of the “birth certificate of
freedom”. The 1297 example, described as the most important document to come
up for sale, was acquired by David Rubenstein, the founder of the Carlyle Group,
at Sotheby’s in New York. He has paid $8,528 a word.

full article

Fox attacks Edwards and Obama

here is Robert Greenwald's latest video/action...



interesting since i just heard how Obama had been schooled in one of those evil schools....course my mom does get her news from fox.

sign letter of support:
.......the bullies at FOX are at it again. This time, they are trying to get Senator Obama and Senator Edwards to buckle to their threats and accusations. The senators are standing tall, tough and strong. We must encourage them to resist the name-calling and intimidation and refuse to legitimize the propaganda network.......

Robert Greenwald

A Hoax Exposed

Another case of fake victimhood coming from conservatives. A conservative college student pretends to be assaulted and the conservative blabbosphere uncorks a wind-storm of indignation... and then quietly scrubs it from their websites when the hoax is exposed.

The Nation - article posted December 18, 2007 (web only)
A Hoax Exposed at Princeton
Max Blumenthal

... For several hours on December 17, conservatives announced that their
darkest fears of persecution had been realized. A pious student had been beaten
by liberal brownshirts simply for speaking out in favor of traditional morality.
If the student were gay or black, conservatives reasoned, the entire student
body would have erupted in massive protests. Instead, the administration stood
silently to the side. Princeton graduate and conservative writer Michael Fragoso
told the Sun, "There would rightly be outrage had the student been part of some
other minority on campus."

At last, an incident surfaced that proved what movement figures
had long maintained: campus conservatives are a minority that suffers far
harsher oppression than the blacks, Latinos and gays who form the "politically
correct" vanguard of liberal identity politics.

But on the night of December 17, as the conservative firestorm
was being whipped to a frenzy, there was another development. Nava confessed to
Princeton Township Police that he had invented the entire incident. They had
suspected the veracity of his tale all along. Signs of an elaborate hoax had
been present from the beginning, from Nava's history of fabricating death
threats to his cinematic description of his latest victimization.

Nava's hoax fit neatly into an epidemic of faked hate crimes on college
campuses across America. But in their eagerness to stage-manage the unfolding
political drama, leaders of the conservative movement grazed over these
inconvenient details. ... (full article)

I picked up this story by way of Orcinus where Dave Neiwert writes about being 'called-out' by a Redstate.com wing-nut.

This conservative outrage over faked victimhood seems oddly familiar. It seems like just the other day that our local conservatives were complaining that they are an oppressed minority because they can't get their candidates elected. Oh... wait, that was just the other day!

Looks like the conservative strategy is to fake being oppressed in an attempt to get special rights.

The Spirit of Nixon Lives On

The Spirit of Nixon Lives On
Mike Papantonio of GoLeft TV and Air America's Ring of Fire talks about how the Bush Administration actually began wiretapping Americans before the 9/11 attacks to spy on political enemies, not unlike their idol - Richard Nixon

Stop Toxic Imports

So far this year, more than 30 million lead-laced imported toys have been recalled in the United States. That's on top of millions more toys that pose choking and other hazards. Killer toys kinda make it hard for kids to truly enjoy the holidays. So a group of youngsters came together to offer the following yuletide message. Feel free to sing along - preferably with a group of carolers outside your local Congress member's office

United Steelworkers’ Protect Our Kids – Stop Toxic Imports