Sunday, August 31, 2008

Considering Bob Barr for President?

Don't forget:

FLYNT REPORT RELEASED

Bob Barr
Adultery. Divorced wife during chemotherapy (a lot of THAT going around in Georgia)! Paid ex-wife to get abortion. Keynote speech to white supremacists in the Council of Conservative Citizens.


The list of alternatives is small to begin with. It is so very hard to find a diamond in a turd bucket! Virtually all serving politicians make up the contents of that turd bucket.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

"Back it up, bitch!"

Definitive proof that "Freedom is not Free". Nor are we.



Please read this article and this one and let your conscience be your guide.

So, you're voting for Obama? And AT&T? And all other corporate interests? And fascism? Well, good luck with that.


Monday, August 25, 2008

The American Dream

This post is by request.




In my humble view, the American Dream is summed up in the poem quoted below.

It is not about "wealth", per se. It is about freedom of oppression and freedom to choose your own path. It is about the Right to be treated decently and fairly... and with respect. Priceless! Material wealth is a by-product of the capitalist system which, as much as I hated to admit it, is founded and sustained upon the backs of slaves.

And, Baby, that ain't freedom!

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"


Thanks for your encouragement!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Balancing free speech with protest rights

Balancing free speech with protest rights - Yahoo! News
Police distributed a pamphlet reminding protesters of where they have a right to demonstrate but also warning them they can be arrested if they refuse a lawful order to disperse, even if they aren't breaking any laws.

Glenn Spagnuolo, co-founder of Recreate 68, responded: "We have a pamphlet called the Constitution. A lot of us have read it already."

The audacity of such a comment! Who does he think that he is?

A Tribute to Obama/Biden '08


A Special Thanks to Diane!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Obama: What kind of change can we expect?

Obama: What kind of change can we expect?
Journalist John Pilger recently compared Obama’s campaign to that of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, and it is an apt description:

Kennedy’s campaign is a model for Barack Obama. Like Obama, he was a senator with no achievements to his name. Like Obama, he raised the expectations of young people and minorities. Like Obama, he promised to end an unpopular war, not because he opposed the war’s conquest of other people’s land and resources, but because it was “unwinnable”…

The vacuities are familiar. Obama is his echo. Like Kennedy, Obama may well “chart a new direction for America” in specious, media-honed language, but in reality, he will secure, like every president, the best damned democracy money can buy.

Which leads me to wonder just how much more like JFK Obama will end up being in the end. There were some very powerful people who were very disappointed that Kennedy was elected and that he intended to end a war in which a very small number of people were reaping huge profits . Sounds hauntingly familiar to current events.

The only thing that will save Obama's life is to change his direction of "change" to the status quo while creating the illusion of "change" for the people. And with job losses and sky rocketing energy costs coupled with a stock market and housing market collapse, Obama will have a full time job just staying alive.


Conservatives Wary Of Mixing Religion, Politics

Study: Conservatives Grow Wary Of Mixing Religion, Politics
Social conservatives are growing more wary of church involvement in politics, joining moderates and liberals in their unease about blurring the lines between pulpit and ballot box, a new study found.

Fifty percent of conservatives think churches and other places of worship should stay out of social and political matters, up from 30 percent four years ago, according to a survey released Thursday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

That significant shift in conservative thought has brought the country to a tipping point on the question: a slim majority of Americans _ 52 percent _ now think churches should keep out of politics.


And 98 percent of all other Americans KNOW that religion should keep out of politics... but are afraid to say so.

Bah dum bum...


Friday, August 22, 2008

Jail inmate charged in McCain office threat

Jail inmate charged in McCain office threat - USATODAY.com
Prosecutors charged a jail inmate Friday with sending a threatening letter and white powder to a Colorado campaign office for GOP presidential candidate John McCain.

Tests showed the white powder wasn't anthrax or any other lethal substance, but authorities had not determined what it was.

Prosecutors said Marc Harold Ramsey, 39, sent a letter to McCain's office in the south Denver suburb of Centennial reading, "If you are reading this, then you are already dead!"

The letter was signed Akeem Ramsey El, but the return address on the envelope had Ramsey's name and "Arapahoe County Detention Facility."

Ramsey, 39, is in the Arapahoe County jail awaiting trial on a charges of menacing, harassment and assaulting a peace officer.


O.K. Lemme see...

We are suppose to believe that an inmate inside a detention center sent a threatening letter with a scary "white powder" to a Republican Party Presidential Campaign's office during the run up to Convention Week for the Democratic Party?

Every facility that I have ever been in (and believe me, I've been in a bunch of them!) inspected each and every piece of mail that left the facility unless it was addressed to an attorney's office.

Hell, I couldn't even get a request for Executive Clemency out without having it smuggled. I guess the institution didn't want to release me even if the Governor said to. (Side note: I got it out via a prison guard and the Governor said to get me out! And they still tried shipping me around inside the system to try and "lose" me!)

But a threat... with suspicious powder?

I have one word to say about the matter: BULLSHIT!

If the rest of you moronic imbeciles good Americans want to swallow each and every line of shit that you are fed, bon appetit! I think I'll just stick to my strict diet of... well, just about anything but SHIT.

Rights Group Suing AT&T for Spying Will Sue Government Too

Rights Group Suing AT&T for Spying Will Sue Government Too | Threat Level from Wired.com
A civil liberties group suing AT&T for helping the government warrantlessly spy on Americans isn't abandoning its lawsuit after Congress voted to give retroactive immunity to the nation's telcoms.

Instead, the scrappy San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation now says that it will expand its efforts and sue the government over the spy program that operated outside of the court system for more than six years.

"If Congress wants to shut down one avenue, we will go down another," EFF legal director Cindy Cohn said, noting that the amnesty provisions in the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 do not apply the government itself as the Administration had first wanted.

The full extent of the government's warrantless spying has yet to be revealed, but it is reported to involve massive data-mining of Americans' phone records, and broad wiretapping of communicationst that enter or leave the U.S. border .

After the portion that targeted Americans' international communications was submitted to the nation's acquiesent secret spying court for blanket approval in January 2007, the program was quickly found to be illegal.

That prompted the Bush Administration to scare Congress into giving it wide, but temporary powers to turn American internet and phone companies into de facto extensions of the nation's spooks.

After a few months of standing up to the Administration's typical terrorism rhetoric, a Democratic-controlled Congress caved to political pressure in July and handed a significant victory to President Bush by approving retroactive amnesty to telecoms that spied on Americans without following the st helping the government warrantlessly and secretly spy on Americans.

Other groups have attempted to sue the government over the warrantless spying, but even the most successful of them have eventually failed since the plaintiffs can't convince a court that they were spied on.

The EFF will rely on the same evidence its civil suit does -- wiring documents and a signed declaration from former AT&T engineer Mark Klein. Klein alleges that AT&T siphoned off internet traffic into a secret room in San Francisco controlled by the NSA. (See Wired.com's publication of the Klein documents that remain under partial seal in federal court.)

Though the EFF didn't want to sue the government originally, the amnesty issue forced their hand, according to Cohn.

"If it was illegal for AT&T to turn over the data, then it was illegal for government to receive it," Cohn said.


As Bush Administration Henchman and Corporate Strong Man, Dick Cheney, so succinctly put it, "So?"

I mean, besides the EFF and a handful of "conspiracy nuts" scattered around the country, who really gives a fuck? Do YOU?

Thursday, August 21, 2008

US DISTRICT COURT ORDERS SOCIALIST PARTY ON OHIO BALLOT

US DISTRICT COURT ORDERS SOCIALIST PARTY ON OHIO BALLOT; FIRST TIME IN 76 YEARS
Brian Moore and Stewart Alexander, Socialist Presidential ticket, gain ballot access in swing state of Ohio with second federal court victory of 2008 Socialists also gain ballot access in Iowa; expect Tennessee & Florida to Follow

Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, August 21, 2008: Not since Norman Thomas ran for president on the Socialist Party ticket in 1932 has there ever been another socialist party candidate on the state of Ohio's presidential ballots in the ensuing 76 years, covering 18 presidential elections.

That consecutive string was broken today by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division. Magistrate Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. ordered the state of Ohio "to place the Socialist Party and its candidates on the 2008 general election ballot for the state of Ohio."

Furthermore, Ballot Access News reported today that this is the first time the Socialist Party has ever won a ballot access lawsuit in federal court, making this decision "of historical consequences for minor political parties in the United States' political system," said presidential candidate Brian Moore.

News of the court victory came to Moore from his attorney, Mark Brown, Esq., a law professor at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Attorney Mark Brown has represented plaintiffs Brian Moore and Stewart Alexander, candidates for the office of President and Vice President in the November, 2008 general election, and the Socialist Party USA, in its litigation against the state of Ohio. In June, the three plaintiffs won an earlier ruling from the federal courts to allow out-of-state petitioners, and unregistered residents to petition for presidential candidates. This is the Socialist Party's second federal court victory in the state of Ohio within three months.

Presidential candidate Brian Moore complimented Mark Brown for his "outstanding success in federal court litigation on behalf of the Socialist Party USA." Moore added that Mark has been "diligent, creative and persistent" in his pleadings before the courts and we are "deeply indebted for his pro-bono work on behalf of defending our sacred democratic rights." Moore further thanked the Socialist Party's attorney, Walt Brown, Esq., who participated in last weeks' meetings with the state of Ohio and in the federal court teleconference calls in the city of Columbus as well as for his ongoing legal advise on most other state ballot efforts. "Walt's legal counsel, along with Socialist Party member Matt Erard's hard work and diligence, have gained an important historical victory not only for the Socialist Party, but for all minor political parties nationwide," Moore stated.

Concurrent with this court victory today, the Moore / Alexander ticket qualified for ballot access last week in the state of Iowa, utilizing an obscure procedure of 40 years ago, which was last used by third party Independent candidate George Wallace in 1968. The Socialist Party implemented a little-known procedure in the state code that enabled them to hold a convention on the campus of the University of Iowa and signed up 283 delegates to nominate the Moore / Alexander ticket.

Moore further reported that their campaign in the state of Tennessee submitted the necessary signatures and nine electors from seven congressional districts and two at-large posts prior to the 12 noon deadline today in Nashville and, he said, "we are confident to gain ballot access in the state of Tennessee when it makes its announcements next week."

The Socialist Party of Florida also reported today that it has signed up 30 party presidential electors, thereby surpassing the Florida's required number of 27, thus assuring ballot access for its presidential ticket in the general elections of 2008. The state party "expects to submit its complete set of papers next week in the capital of Tallahassee," commented Mark Luzietti, the Florida Socialist Party Secretary-Treasurer.

The Moore / Alexander ticket will now be on the two major swing states of Ohio and Florida, thereby in a position to affect the outcome of a close contest between the Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate, John McCain.

The Socialist Party candidates are already qualified on the states of Vermont, Colorado, and New Jersey. With the addition of Ohio, Florida Iowa and Tennessee, they will be on seven states. The campaign is continuing its petitioning efforts in Mississippi, Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Rhode Island, whose deadlines come up in early September. Moore said his presidential campaign is also making additional efforts in Arkansas, Washington and South Carolina.

"If we succeed in gaining ballot access in all of our targeted states, our insurgent campaign would be on 15 states nationwide," antiwar socialist candidate Brian Moore concluded. "And that would be a real revolution," he proudly stated. The candidate further added, the American people are "fed up with the tottering economy and broken political system and our political party provides the ideal vehicle for their giving expression for a radical systemic change."



Now, if the elections people in Ohio can just get all of the votes to even COUNT!...

After the Windows Era? The GNU World Order!

What Comes After the Windows Era? | Linux Journal
We may finally be witnessing the end of the Windows era.

The most obvious manifestation of this has been the utter fiasco that is Vista. This is not so much things like the recent security hole in Vista's memory protection, which may or may not be a big deal – although if Bruce Schneier sees it as a real problem, then I think Microsoft's probably in trouble. No, it's the fact that however Microsoft tries to spin the numbers, Vista is simply not catching on. The company can try all the marketing tricks it likes, but customers are voting with their wallets by opting for the “downgrade” to XP:


WOO HOO! Take THAT, corporate fat kats! Folks are finally starting to push back the plate full of shit that you have regularly fed them for a quarter of a century!

I would like to suggest that the free software world should start
looking at things from a different perspective – not how many
percentage points GNU/Linux gains on the desktop, but how many
Microsoft is losing to *all* of the alternatives to Windows. Free
software has nothing to fear from a heterogeneous environment – indeed,
mixing technologies almost forces open standards upon manufacturers if
they want to provide full interoperability.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

McCain's Veep to Be ... Lieberman?

Has anyone else noticed that Joe Lieberman sounds like Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama?

PEEK | AlterNet
Obviously, I have an elaborate nightmare where Joe Lieberman gets the VP nod, McCain wins, then dies -- and we're looking at a President Lieberman. At which point me, Tim Tagaris, Maura Keaney, Ed Anderson and a host of others all wind up in Guantanamo Bay.

Rae urges greater Canadian presence in Georgia and Caucasus

And so the international fear mongering and finger pointing begins in full earnest. Remember, through all of the bluster, who exactly it was that cast the first stone... and who set it all up to happen and why. GOD: Gold, Oil and Drugs.

Liberal.ca :: Media Releases
Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Bob Rae today urged the Conservative government to open a Canadian embassy in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and establish a greater Canadian diplomatic presence in the region.

“Russia's invasion of Georgia clearly demonstrates the strategic importance of the region,” Mr. Rae said on the eve of an emergency NATO meeting of foreign ministers. “We need to make it clear, both to the countries of the region and to Russia, that we take their sovereignty and independence seriously, and that we deeply support their quest for international respect.”

Mr. Rae also urged the Conservative government to make a strong case for a united NATO response to Russia’s aggression in Georgia.

“If Russia is able to get away with this invasion and destruction of life and property with impunity, none of the small republics in the region is safe. The answer to the concerns of people living in South Ossetia or any other community is not a Russian invasion. It is the application of international law,” Mr. Rae said.

He also urged the Conservative government to assist in the humanitarian effort that will be necessary. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people are now homeless, and the Red Cross and other agencies are mobilizing to help the Georgian people cope with the impact of the conflict.

Washington and Poland just moved the World closer to War

This is YOUR government launching WWIII, people!

Missile Defense: Washington and Poland just moved the World closer to War
The signing on August 14 of an agreement between the governments of the United States and Poland to deploy on Polish soil US ‘interceptor missiles’ is the most dangerous move towards nuclear war the world has seen since the 1962 Cuba Missile crisis. Far from a defensive move to protect European NATO states from a Russian nuclear attack, as military strategists have pointed out, the US missiles in Poland pose a total existential threat to the future existence of the Russian nation. The Russian Government has repeatedly warned of this since US plans were first unveiled in early 2007. Now, despite repeated diplomatic attempts by Russia to come to an agreement with Washington, the Bush Administration, in the wake of a humiliating US defeat in Georgia, has pressured the Government of Poland to finally sign the pact. The consequences could be unthinkable for Europe and the planet.

The preliminary deal to place elements of the US global missile defense shield was signed by Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer and US chief negotiator John Rood on August 14. Under the terms, Washington plans to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland coupled with a radar system in the Czech Republic, which it ludicrously claims are intended to counter possible attacks from what it calls "rogue states," including Iran.

To get the agreement Washington agreed to reinforce Poland's air defenses. The deal is still to be approved by the two countries' governments and Poland's parliament. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in televised remarks that "the events in the Caucasus show clearly that such security guarantees are indispensable." The US-Polish missile talks had been dragging for months before recent hostilities in Georgia.

The Bush White House Press spoksperson, Dona Perino stated, officially, "We believe that missile defense is a substantial contribution to NATO's collective security." Officials say the interceptor base in Poland will be opened by 2012. The Czech Republic signed a deal to host a US radar on July 8.

The signing now insures an escalation of tensions between Russia and NATO and a new Cold War arms race in full force. It is important for readers to understand, as I detail painstakingly in my book, to be released this autumn, Full Spectrum Dominance: The National Security State and the Spread of Democracy, the ability of one of two opposing sides to put anti-missile missiles to within 90 miles of the territory of the other in even a primitive first-generation anti-missile missile array gives that side virtual victory in a nuclear balance of power and forces the other to consider unconditional surrender or to pre-emptively react by launching its nuclear strike before 2012. Senior Russian lawmakers said on Friday the agreement would damage security in Europe, and reiterated that Russia would now have to take steps to ensure its security.

Andrei Klimov, deputy head of the Russian State Duma's international affairs committee, said the deal was designed to demonstrate Warsaw's "loyalty to the US and receive material benefits. For the Americans, it is an opportunity to expand its military presence across the world, including closer to Russia. For NATO, this is an additional risk...many NATO countries are unhappy with this, including the Germans and the French."

Klimov called the agreement "a step back" toward the Cold War.

The US plans to deploy a radar in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor
missiles in northern Poland as part of a US-controlled missile shield
for Europe and North America, has been officially sold under the
ludicrous argument that it is against possible attacks from "rogue
states," including Iran. Last Spring then Russian President Vladimir
Putin exposed the shallowness of the US propaganda line by offering a
startled President Bush that Russia would offer the US use of Russian
leased radar facilities in Azerbaijan on the Iran border to far better
monitor Iran missile launches. The Bush Administration simply ignored
the offer, exposing that their real target is Russia not "rogue states
like Iran." Russia rightly views deployment of the US missile shield as
a threat to its national security.

H.R. 6 (Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 )

It is clear to even the most obtuse that Republicans of all states are against clean energy and energy independence of Big Oil. Make your own call on this one.

U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment with an Amendment to H.R. 6 )
Vote Number: 425 Vote Date: December 13, 2007, 09:54 AM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Cloture Motion Rejected
Measure Number: H.R. 6 (Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 )
Measure Title: An Act to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, to increase the production of clean renewable fuels, to protect consumers, to increase the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles, to promote research on and deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options, and to improve the energy performance of the Federal Government, and for other purposes.
Vote Counts: YEAs 59
NAYs 40
Not Voting 1
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State

Alphabetical by Senator Name
Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Clinton (D-NY), Yea
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Corker (R-TN), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Nay
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dole (R-NC), Nay
Domenici (R-NM), Nay
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Nay
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagel (R-NE), Nay
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kennedy (D-MA), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Nay
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Nay
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Nay
McCain (R-AZ), Not Voting
McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Sanders (I-VT), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Nay
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Tester (D-MT), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (R-VA), Nay
Webb (D-VA), Yea
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State

Grouped By Vote Position
YEAs ---59
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Grassley (R-IA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs ---40
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lott (R-MS)
Martinez (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
Not Voting - 1
McCain (R-AZ)

Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State

Grouped by Home State
Alabama: Sessions (R-AL), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Alaska: Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Arizona: Kyl (R-AZ), Nay McCain (R-AZ), Not Voting
Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Yea
California: Boxer (D-CA), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado: Allard (R-CO), Nay Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Connecticut: Dodd (D-CT), Yea Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea
Delaware: Biden (D-DE), Yea Carper (D-DE), Yea
Florida: Martinez (R-FL), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Georgia: Chambliss (R-GA), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Hawaii: Akaka (D-HI), Yea Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Idaho: Craig (R-ID), Nay Crapo (R-ID), Nay
Illinois: Durbin (D-IL), Yea Obama (D-IL), Yea
Indiana: Bayh (D-IN), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Iowa: Grassley (R-IA), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Kansas: Brownback (R-KS), Nay Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Kentucky: Bunning (R-KY), Nay McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Louisiana: Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Maine: Collins (R-ME), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Maryland: Cardin (D-MD), Yea Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Massachusetts: Kennedy (D-MA), Yea Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Michigan: Levin (D-MI), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Minnesota: Coleman (R-MN), Yea Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi: Cochran (R-MS), Nay Lott (R-MS), Nay
Missouri: Bond (R-MO), Nay McCaskill (D-MO), Yea
Montana: Baucus (D-MT), Yea Tester (D-MT), Yea
Nebraska: Hagel (R-NE), Nay Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Nevada: Ensign (R-NV), Nay Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire: Gregg (R-NH), Nay Sununu (R-NH), Nay
New Jersey: Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
New Mexico: Bingaman (D-NM), Yea Domenici (R-NM), Nay
New York: Clinton (D-NY), Yea Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina: Burr (R-NC), Nay Dole (R-NC), Nay
North Dakota: Conrad (D-ND), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Ohio: Brown (D-OH), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Oklahoma: Coburn (R-OK), Nay Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Oregon: Smith (R-OR), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania: Casey (D-PA), Yea Specter (R-PA), Nay
Rhode Island: Reed (D-RI), Yea Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
South Carolina: DeMint (R-SC), Nay Graham (R-SC), Nay
South Dakota: Johnson (D-SD), Yea Thune (R-SD), Yea
Tennessee: Alexander (R-TN), Nay Corker (R-TN), Nay
Texas: Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Utah: Bennett (R-UT), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Vermont: Leahy (D-VT), Yea Sanders (I-VT), Yea
Virginia: Warner (R-VA), Nay Webb (D-VA), Yea
Washington: Cantwell (D-WA), Yea Murray (D-WA), Yea
West Virginia: Byrd (D-WV), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Wisconsin: Feingold (D-WI), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Wyoming: Barrasso (R-WY), Nay Enzi (R-WY), Nay

Breaking News! Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency


Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

This is truly precious! Thanks to Diane for the link!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Russia claims pullback but forces move other way

Russia claims pullback but forces move other way
GORI, Georgia - Russia said Monday it had begun withdrawing from the conflict zone in Georgia, but it held fast to key positions and sent some of its troops in the opposite direction — closer to the Georgian capital.

Russian troops and vehicles roamed freely around the strategically located central city of Gori, Russian forces appeared to blow up the runway at a military base in the western town of Senaki.

There were few signs Russia was following the terms of a cease-fire to end the short war, which has driven tensions between Russia and the West to some of their highest levels since the breakup of the Soviet Union.


Undisclosed sources from The White House said on the condition of anonymity, "Those damned Ruskies have been looking in our play book again! I knew we shouldn't have written that shit down!" Whereupon King George responded by saying, "I had to write it down... well, had to have an aid write it down for me! What else will I have to put in my lyberry? It's my legisee!"


snuff, snuff, BOOM !

In the absence of a World working-class struggle against all capitalist imperialism, the growth of multilateral and independent power centers which effectively oppose the unchecked power of Anglo-American imperialism is certainly the next-best thing.

Not to mention that the Chinese have the proven ability -- enraging a fearful U.S. oligarchy -- to be able to target and blind, with a high-power laser, any U.S. spy satellite which peeks it eye-in-the-sky over their horizon. And one assumes that those lasers are turned down REAL low...

TAKE THAT ! it seems the west not only has lost control over globalisation processes, it is also fast losing its grip on orbital space. Note that Venezuela has recently launched the Simon Bolivar satellite with Chinese help. Both China and Russia maintain an extensive arsenal of anti-satellite missiles and the Russian Sukhoi 47 is capable of launching suborbital strikes against western orbiters. If WWIII breaks out, the first thing we will experience will not be the sight of a mushroom cloud on the far horizon, but a wave of telecom blackouts... snuff, snuff, snuff and then BOOM !

Iran launched a new rocket to carry a satellite into orbit on Sunday.

Experts said the launching represented a potentially significant if much-delayed step in Iran's efforts to join the international space club.

Safir-e Omid, or Ambassador of Peace, is part of Iran's long held goal of developing a space program.

Safir-e Omid is a satellite to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve its telecommunications. The satellite has also data processing capability.

Iran hopes to launch four more satellites by 2010, the government has said.

http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0808188803140547.htm

Gotta get me some of them "rose colored glasses", fo sho

Eeew, eeew, it's all better now!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

If Nazario is convicted, damaging consequences on the battlefield.

And maybe more "economic soldiers" would consider the consequences of their actions, leading to an impossible situation for the war mongers to conduct war using the poor and lower class.

What a good idea! We all know you can't prosecute the guilty, the high brass and corporate industrialists that profit of the war. But if we use the burgeoning prison system to punish the fighters, perhaps less would go to fight in the first place!


Ex-Marine decries prosecution in civilian court - Yahoo! News
A former Marine sergeant facing the first federal civilian prosecution of a military member accused of a war crime says there is much more at stake than his claim of innocence on charges that he killed unarmed detainees in Fallujah, Iraq.

In the view of Jose Luis Nazario Jr., U.S. troops may begin to question whether they will be prosecuted by civilians for doing what their military superiors taught them to do in battle.

Nazario is the first military service member who has completed his duty to be brought to trial under a law that allows the government to prosecute defense contractors, military dependents and those no longer in the military who commit crimes outside the United States.

"They train us, and they expect us to rely back on that training. Then when we use that training, they prosecute us for it?" Nazario said during an interview Saturday with The Associated Press.

"I didn't do anything wrong. I don't think I should be the first tried like this," said Nazario, whose trial begins Tuesday in Riverside, east of Los Angeles.

If Nazario, 28, is convicted of voluntary manslaughter, some predict damaging consequences on the battlefield.

"This boils down to one thing in my mind: Are we going to allow civilian juries to Monday-morning-quarterback military decisions?" said Nazario's attorney, Kevin McDermott.

Others say the law closes a loophole that allowed former military service members to slip beyond the reach of prosecution. Once they complete their terms, troops cannot be prosecuted in military court.

Scott Silliman, a law professor and executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University, says it has little to do with questioning military decisions and everything to do with whether a service member committed a crime.

"From a legal point of view, there is no difference in law between war and peace," he said.

The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act law was written in 2000 and amended in 2004 primarily to prosecute civilian contractors who commit crimes while working for the U.S. overseas. One of the authors contends prosecuting former military personnel was "not the motivation."

"I don't fault the Department of Justice for using what legal authority they have if a clear criminal act has been committed. But I do think that it would be preferable for crimes committed on active duty be prosecuted by court martial rather than in civilian courts," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

"I think maybe what it says is we need to rethink the question of military personnel who are subject to prosecution."

Telephone messages for a spokesman in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles seeking comment were not returned.

Nazario, of Riverside, is charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter on suspicion of killing or causing others to kill four unarmed detainees in November 2004 in Fallujah, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war. He also faces one count of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

If convicted of all charges, he could face more than 10 years in prison.

The case came to light in 2006, when Nazario's former squadmate, Sgt. Ryan Weemer, volunteered details to a U.S. Secret Service job interviewer during a lie-detector screening that included a question about the most serious crime he ever committed. Weemer was ordered this month to stand trial in military court on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty in the killing of an unarmed detainee in Fallujah. He has pleaded not guilty.

According to a Naval Criminal Investigative Service criminal complaint, several Marines allege Nazario shot two Iraqi men who had been detained while his squad searched a house. The complaint claims four Iraqi men were killed during the action.

The complaint states the squad had been taking fire from the house. After the troops entered the building and captured the insurgents, Nazario placed a call on his radio.

"Nazario said that he was asked, 'Are they dead yet?'" the complaint states. When Nazario responded that that the captives were still alive, he was allegedly told by the Marine on the radio to "make it happen."

Nazario later received the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a 'V' for valor for combat and leadership in Fallujah.

Though Nazario and his attorneys declined to discuss the facts of the case with the AP, the former Marine has always maintained his innocence.

After leaving the military, Nazario worked as an officer with the Riverside Police Department and was close to completing his one-year probation. He said he knew nothing of the investigation until he was arrested Aug. 7, 2007, after being called into the watch commander's office to sign a performance review.

He said he was leaning forward to sign when he was grabbed from behind by his fellow officers, told he had been charged with a war crime and was turned over to Navy investigators waiting in a nearby room. Because he had not completed probation, the police department fired him.

Since then, he said, has been unable to find work.

"You're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty," he said. "I've put in applications everywhere for everything. But nobody wants to hire you if you have been indicted."

Without income, Nazario said, he has been forced to move in with his parents in New York. He and his wife resorted to selling some of their household goods, such as electronics equipment, to a pawn shop.

His wife, once a stay-at-home mother to their 2-year-old son, has gone to work as a customer service receptionist, he said. She will be unable to attend his trial.

"She has to work. We need the money," he said, his eyes reddening as he blinked away tears.

Nazario said he has no regrets about being a Marine, only regrets about what has happened since.

"My faith in the system is shaken. There's no doubt about that," he said.

One of Nazario's defense attorneys, Doug Applegate, said he believes that ultimately the former Marine will be acquitted because of lack of evidence.

"There are no bodies, no forensic evidence, no crime scene and no identities," he said.

It is unclear what, if anything, Marines being subpoenaed to testify will say about the events in the house in Fallujah.

Another Marine, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, 26, of New York is slated to be court-martialed in December on charges of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty for his role in the deaths.

Although he has not entered a plea in military court, Nelson's attorney has said his client is innocent.

Nelson and Weemer were jailed in June for contempt of court for refusing to testify against Nazario before a federal grand jury believed to be investigating the case. Both were released July 3 and returned to Camp Pendleton.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

"Gitmo" on the Platte

So, you thought maybe life might be a little better under the Dems? Think again!

Friday, August 15, 2008

There May Be Many Mushroom Clouds In Our Future

And that's all I've been trying to say... for how long now?

There May Be Many Mushroom Clouds In Our Future : Information Clearing House - ICH
The success of the Bush Regime’s propaganda, lies, and deception with gullible and inattentive Americans since 9/11 has made it difficult for intelligent, aware people to be optimistic about the future of the United States. For almost 8 years the US media has served as Ministry of Propaganda for a war criminal regime. Americans incapable of thinking for themselves, reading between the lines, or accessing foreign media on the Internet have been brainwashed.

As the Nazi propagandist, Joseph Goebbels, said, it is easy to deceive a people. You just tell them they have been attacked and wave the flag.

It certainly worked with Americans.

The gullibility and unconcern of the American people has had many victims. There are 1.25 million dead Iraqis. There are 4 million displaced Iraqis. No one knows how many are maimed and orphaned.

Iraq is in ruins, its infrastructure destroyed by American bombs, missiles, and helicopter gunships.

We do not know the death toll in Afghanistan, but even the American puppet regime protests the repeated killings of women and children by US and NATO troops.

We don’t know what the death toll would be in Iran if Darth Cheney and the neocons succeed in their plot with Israel to bomb Iran, perhaps with nuclear weapons.

What we do know is that all this murder and destruction has no justification and is evil. It is the work of evil men who have no qualms about lying and deceiving in order to kill innocent people to achieve their undeclared agenda.

That such evil people have control over the United States government and media damns the American public for eternity.

America will never recover from the shame and dishonor heaped upon her by the neoconned Bush Regime.

The success of the neocon propaganda has been so great that the opposition party has not lifted a finger to rein in the Bush Regime’s criminal actions. Even Obama, who promises “change” is too intimidated by the neocon’s success in brainwashing the American population to do what his supporters hoped he would do and lead us out of the shame in which the neoconned Bush Regime has imprisoned us.

This about sums up the pessimistic state in which I existed prior to the go-ahead given by the Bush Regime to its puppet in Georgia to ethnically cleanse South Ossetia of Russians in order to defuse the separatist movement. The American media, aka, the Ministry of Lies and Deceit, again accommodated the criminal Bush Regime and proclaimed “Russian invasion” to cover up the ethnic cleansing of Russians in South Ossetia by the Georgian military assault.

Only this time, the rest of the world didn’t buy it. The many years of lies--9/11, Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, al Qaeda connections, yellowcake, anthrax attack, Iranian nukes, “the United States doesn’t torture,” the bombings of weddings, funerals, and children’s soccer games, Abu Ghraib, renditions, Guantanamo, various fabricated “terrorist plots,” the determined assault on civil liberties--have taken their toll on American credibility. No one outside America any longer believes the US media or the US government.

The rest of the world reported the facts--an assault on Russian civilians by American and Israeli trained and equipped Georgian troops.

The Bush Regime, overcome by hubris, expected Russia to accept this act of American hegemony. But the Russians did not, and the Georgian military was sent fleeing for its life.

The neoconned Republican response to the Russian failure to follow the script and to be intimidated by the “unipower” was so imbecilic that it shattered the brainwashing to which Americans had succumbed.

McCain declared: “In the 21st century nations don’t invade other nations.” Imagine the laughs Jon Stewart will get out of this on the Daily Show. In the early years of the 21st century the United States has already invaded two countries and has been beating the drums for attacking a third. President Bush, the chief invader of the 21st century, echoed McCain’s claim that nations don’t invade other nations. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7556857.stm

This dissonant claim shocked even brainwashed Americans, as readers’ emails reveal. If in the 21st century countries don’t invade other countries, what is Bush doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what are the naval armadas and propaganda arrayed against Iran about?

Have two of the worst warmongers of modern times--Bush and McCain--called off the US/Israeli attack on Iran? If McCain is elected president, is he going to pull US troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan as “nations don’t invade other nations,” or is President Bush going to beat him to it?

We all know the answer.

The two stooges are astonished that the Americans have taught hegemony to Russians, who were previously operating, naively perhaps, on the basis of good will.

Suddenly the Western Europeans have realized that being allied with the United States is like holding a tiger by the tail. No European country wants to be hurled into war with Russia. Germany, France, and Italy must be thanking God they blocked Georgia’s membership in NATO.

The Ukraine, where a sick nationalism has taken hold funded by the neocon National Endowment for Democracy, will be the next conflict between American pretensions and Russia. Russia is being taught by the neocons that freeing the constituent parts of its empire has not resulted in their independence but in their absorption into the American Empire.

Unless enough Americans can overcome their brainwashed state and the rigged Diebold voting machines, turn out the imbecilic Republicans and hold the neoconservatives accountable for their crimes against humanity, a crazed neocon US government will provoke nuclear war with Russia.

The neoconservatives represent the greatest danger ever faced by the United States and the world. Humanity has no greater enemy.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

The Bourgeoise Media Version or the People Who Live There?

We are being hammered with the fascist version of what happened in Georgia 24/7. Saakashvili has been on CNN more than Jack Cafferty! I absolutely love one statement in the article quoted below in which an Ossetian freedom fighter says, "A Georgian only knows how to ride a cow," and goes on to say that the airplanes which hit the city with bombs were Ukrainian, another petty puppet of the New World Order.

One cannot believe anything that comes out of Washington D.C. regarding this incident! It was a petty tyrant being egged on to do the unthinkable in order to distract the world from the fascist armada which is heading to the Persian Gulf to strike Iran.

Call me a liberal wing-nut if you will. I do not even identify with what Amerika refers to as its political left! They are tools of the Machine as well. Hell, I can't even identify with the Communist Party USA for the very same reasons.

Time will tell. I'll still be crazy and millions of people around the world will be dead because "The People" would not stand up and say, "Fucking Enough Already!"

'I've never heard anything so monstrous as people shelling a hospital': Tom Parfitt | guardian.co.uk
Tina Zakharova, one of the doctors, pointed out chunks of shrapnel which had hit the building.

"This is the humanitarian aid that Georgia sent us," she said, "and that," she said, pointing at a field hospital nearby, "is the help we received from Russia. Which do you think we should chose?" She added: "I've never heard anything so monstrous as people shelling a hospital."

In total, said Zakharova, 224 injured people had been treated at the hospital and two people had died there. Just south of the city centre a group of reporters were shown a street entirely destroyed by a Grad missile attack. Homes along the 100m street had been reduced to rubble.

One man showed the Guardian the metal casing of a Grad rocket lodged in the ruins of his home: "We managed to escape to the shelter just in time," he said, pointing at the mouth of a cellar protected by huge chunks of concrete.

Colonel Konashenko said: "The Georgians could not get tanks through these narrow streets. So first they turned it to ruins with a Grad attack and tried to punch through here to the centre of the city. There was heavy fighting in the streets. I think more than 500 bodies were pulled out of this part of town."

Asked if there had been atrocities against civilians the Colonel replied: "I personally saw one man beheaded lying in the street and others say they witnessed civilians who had been finished off with a shot to the back of the head."

Back at the hospital there were sounds of gunfire and then the crump of mortars landing somewhere in the city. First one explosion, then a second. When a third hit, sounding louder, the Colonel said: "It's time to move. Let's go."

The Future of America

... if we do not reign in ourselves and our Leaders.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Georgia Drew First Blood and Cry Because They Pay!

Putin Walks into a Trap by Mike Whitney : Information Clearing House - ICH
The American-armed and trained Georgian army swarmed into South Ossetia last Thursday, killing an estimated 2,000 civilians, sending 40,000 South Ossetians fleeing over the Russian border, and destroying much of the capital, Tskhinvali. The attack was unprovoked and took place a full 24 hours before even ONE Russian soldier set foot in South Ossetia. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Americans still believe that the Russian army invaded Georgian territory first. The BBC, AP, NPR, the New York Times and the rest of the establishment media has consistently and deliberately misled its readers into believing that the violence in South Ossetia was initiated by the Kremlin. Let's be clear, it wasn't. In truth, there is NO dispute about the facts except among the people who rely the western press for their information. Despite its steady loss of credibility, the corporate media continues to operate as the propaganda-arm of the Pentagon.

Former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev gave a good summary of events in an op-ed in Monday's Washington Post:

"For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground....What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas....Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S. instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of NATO membership, emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with a "blitzkrieg" in South Ossetia...Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity." ("A Path to Peace in the Caucasus", Mikhail Gorbachev, Washington Post)

The question for Americans is whether they trust Mikhail Gorbachev more than the corporate media?


Follow the link above to read this whole article and know the truth.

Another Fan of O'Really goes on shooting spree-Kills Dem Chair of Arkansas

A man walked into the Democratic Party Headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas and shot and killed the Party Chairman. He was then chased 25 miles by the cops and shot and killed. That's how we do it in Arkansas! Just kill 'em all.

The details of this event are sketchy at present, but I'm betting that this shooter is another of those "the liberals are taking over and ruining the country", Bill O'Really fans.

Everybody, quick! Rush out and get a gun and shoot the first hypocrite that you see! And whatever you do, DON'T look in the mirror first! Then you would commit SOOOOO-EEEEEEE side.

(That is the Razorback fan call in Arkansas, for those of you who don't know it. And please, don't get a gun. And don't shoot anybody!!! Our nations' leaders are filling that quota for all of us. And the Christian Right and Bill O'Really are doing their share as well!) Seems silly to have to make this disclaimer... but who knows!

Contraception is abortion?

Can you imagine living in a place where birth control is considered an "abortion" and health insurers won't coverit? Where even rape victims are denied emergency contraception?

It seems unbelievable, but the Bush Administration is quietly trying to redefine abortion" to include birth control. The Houston Chronicle says this could wipe out dozens of state laws that protect women's reproductive freedom and protect rape victims. And this proposed "rule change" doesn't need congressional approval.

Send a message to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, whose department is considering this rule change, telling him: "Contraception is NOT abortion." Can you add your voice to this cause?Click here to sign the message:
http://pol.moveon.org/contraception

Thanks!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Is John McCain even ELIGIBLE for Candidacy for President?

The United States Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net
Article. II. - The Executive Branch ...

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.


Natural-born citizen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
US presidential candidates born outside the US

"The constitutional wording has left doubts about whether those born on foreign soil are on an equal footing with those whose birth occurred inside the country's borders, and whether they have the same rights."[1] Though every president and vice president to date (as of 2008) has either been a citizen at the adoption of the Constitution, or else born in a U.S. state or Washington D.C.[2], a number of presidential candidates have been born elsewhere.[3]


John McCain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John McCain was born at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone to naval officer John S. McCain, Jr. (1911–1981) and Roberta (Wright) McCain (b. 1912).[3] At that time, the Panama Canal was under American control.


But just to be clear, Panama nor the Panama Canal Zone have ever been states or territories of the United States of America. Military Bases on foreign soil are merely leased by the U.S. Government from the host country. But technically speaking, the ground is still foreign soil and subject to the host countries laws. And anyone born there is born on foreign soil and cannot be considered a natural born citizen of the United States of America.

I have a cousin who was born in England on a military base to an American Serviceman. She was granted dual citizenship in both countries until her 18th birthday when she had to decide which country she chose as her home country. However, she is not considered a natural born citizen.

Of course, she never ran for President either.

I just don't get it. This idiot is soooooooo unqualified in sooooooooo many ways! Yet, some, apparently many, people are still voting for him... and no one is questioning his credentials! The goon is a MORON!

Threat of War with Iran Looms as Booshski lectures Russia on International Diplomacy

As you read this Amerikan Diplomats and Political Figures are calling on Russia to show restraint in a conflict that they didn't start. And Amerika's own War Ships and those of its foreign lackeys are full speed ahead to the Persian Gulf. The implications should be self-evident.

The aircraft carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan, along with the USS Iwo Jima, an Amphibious Assault Ship are sailing toward the Persian Gulf to reinforce the US strike forces in the region, along with a British Royal Navy carrier battle group and a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine.

This move follows the ominous Operation Brimstone, a massive military exercise involving more than a dozen warships from the US, England, and France in the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for a possible confrontation with Iran.

The USS Roosevelt, which participated in the just-concluded exercise, and the USS Ronald Reagan will join two US naval battle groups in the area: the USS Abraham Lincoln with its Carrier Strike Group Nine ; and the USS Peleliu, and Amphibious Assault Ship with its expeditionary strike group.

Naval forces now heading towards the Gulf include:

Carrier
Strike Group Nine:


USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN72) nuclear powered carrier with its Carrier
Air Wing Two

Destroyer Squadron Nine:

USS Mobile Bay (CG53) guided missile cruiser
USS Russell (DDG59) guided missile destroyer
USS Momsen (DDG92) guided missile destroyer
USS Shoup (DDG86) guided missile destroyer
USS Ford (FFG54) guided missile frigate
USS Ingraham (FFG61) guided missile frigate
USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG60) guided missile frigate
USS Curts (FFG38) guided missile frigate

Plus one or more nuclear hunter-killer submarines

Peleliu Expeditionary Strike Group:

USS Peleliu (LHA-5) a Tarawa-class amphibious assault carrier
USS Pearl Harbor (LSD52) assult ship
USS Dubuque (LPD8) assult ship/landing dock
USS Cape St. George (CG71) guided missile cruiser
USS Halsey (DDG97) guided missile destroyer
USS Benfold (DDG65) guided missile destroyer

Carrier
Strike Group Two:


USS Theodore Roosevelt (DVN71) nuclear powered carrier with its Carrier
Air Wing Eight

Destroyer Squadron 22:

USS Monterey (CG61) guided missile cruiser
USS Mason (DDG87) guided missile destroyer
USS Nitze (DDG94) guided missile destroyer
USS Sullivans (DDG68) guided missile destroyer
USS Springfield (SSN761) nuclear powered hunter-killer submarine
IWO ESG ~ Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group
USS Iwo Jima (LHD7) amphibious assault carrier with its Amphibious Squadron Four and with its 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit
USS San Antonio (LPD17) assault ship
USS Velia Gulf (CG72) guided missile cruiser
USS Ramage (DDG61) guided missile destroyer
USS Carter Hall (LSD50) assault ship
USS Roosevelt (DDG80) guided missile destroyer
USS Hartfore (SSN768) nuclear powered hunter-killer submarine

Carrier
Strike Group Seven:


USS Ronald Reagan (CVN76) nuclear powered carrier with its Carrier Air
Wing 14

Destroyer Squadron 7:

USS Chancellorsville (CG62) guided missile cruiser
USS Howard (DDG83) guided missile destroyer
USS Gridley (DDG101) guided missile destroyer
USS Decatur (DDG73) guided missile destroyer
USS Thach (FFG43) guided missile frigate
USNS Rainier (T-AOE-7) fast combat support ship



This massive deployment means that hundreds of nuclear-armed warplanes, thousands of troops, and destroyers capable of launching cruise missiles carrying nuclear weapons, bunker busters, or fragmentation bombs will be available for a strike on Iran. While Russia is bogged down with the crisis in Georgia, and China is occupied with the Olympics, the Bush Administration may believe that this is an opportune time to strike. This massive deployment is occurring as both Houses of Congress are set to approve resolutions that would mandate a U.S. blockade (which is an act of war under international law).

Visit
http://stopwaroniran.org to see what you can do.


Monday, August 11, 2008

American inequality highlighted by 30-year gap in life expectancy

Oh yeah! Free Market and Amerikan style Democracy are the end all, be all. I can't understand what is wrong with our thinking! Well, maybe that's the problem, no thinking.

A MUST READ!!!

The Independent

American inequality highlighted by 30-year gap in life expectancy

By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Thursday, 17 July 2008

The United States of America is becoming less united by the day. A 30-year gap now exists in the average life expectancy between Mississippi, in the Deep South, and Connecticut, in prosperous New England. Huge disparities have also opened up in income, health and education depending on where people live in the US, according to a report published yesterday.

The American Human Development Index has applied to the US an aid agency approach to measuring well-being – more familiar to observers of the Third World – with shocking results. The US finds itself ranked 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in survival of infants to age. Suicide and murder are among the top 15 causes of death and although the US is home to just 5 per cent of the global population it accounts for 24 per cent of the world's prisoners.

Despite an almost cult-like devotion to the belief that unfettered free enterprise is the best way to lift Americans out of poverty, the report points to a rigged system that does little to lessen inequalities.

"The report shows that although America is one of the richest nations in the world, it is woefully behind when it comes to providing opportunity and choices to all Americans to build a better life," the authors said.

Some of its more shocking findings reveal that, in parts of Texas, the percentage of adults who pass through high school has not improved since the 1970s.

Asian-American males have the best quality of life and black Americans the lowest, with a staggering 50-year life expectancy gap between the two groups.

Despite the fact that the US spends roughly $5.2bn (£2.6bn) every day on health care, more per capita than any other nation in the world, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of every western European and Nordic country, bar Denmark..

Using official government statistics, the study points out that because American schools are funded primarily from local property taxes, rich districts get the best state education. The US has no federally mandated sick pay, paternity leave or annual paid vacation.

"Some Americans are living anywhere from 30 to 50 years behind others when it comes to issues we all care about: health, education and standard of living," said Sarah Burd-Sharps co-author of the report.

Although the US is one of the most powerful and rich nations in the world, the study concludes it is "woefully behind when it comes to providing opportunity and choices to all Americans to build a better life".

According to a United Nations human development report, the US is in 12th place in a league table of wealthy developed nations. Britain is ranked 16th.

Geologists Name New Era After Human Influence on the Planet | Environment

Gee. And shooting nukes at one another wouldn't be a geological force, either.

The Era of Catastrophe? Geologists Name New Era After Human Influence on the Planet | Environment | AlterNet
1. Farewell to the Holocene

Our world, our old world that we have inhabited for the last 12,000 years, has ended, even if no newspaper in North America or Europe has yet printed its scientific obituary.

This February, while cranes were hoisting cladding to the 141st floor of the Burj Dubai tower (which will soon be twice the height of the Empire State Building), the Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London was adding the newest and highest story to the geological column. Although the idea of the "Anthropocene" -- an Earth epoch defined by the emergence of urban-industrial society as a geological force -- has been long debated, stratigraphers have refused to acknowledge compelling evidence for its advent.

At least for the London Society, that position has now been revised. This new age, they explain, is defined both by the heating trend ... and by the radical instability expected of future environments. In somber prose, they warn that "the combination of extinctions, global species migrations and the widespread replacement of natural vegetation with agricultural monocultures is producing a distinctive contemporary biostratigraphic signal. These effects are permanent, as future evolution will take place from surviving (and frequently anthropogenically relocated) stocks." Evolution itself, in other words, has been forced into a new trajectory.

The Decadent Edwards Love Affair

I mean, who really gives a fuck? It IS tragic for his dying wife. But it was a normal, average, consenting adult, every day affair! They didn't cover Mark Foley or Larry Craig with as much vigor. And they were frigging perverts, for Christs' sake! Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying gay is weird. But soliciting strangers in a public restroom and soliciting youngsters is just plain weird! Foley went away but Craig is still going strong!

I am really a bit ashamed to bring the matter up myself. But when I found the following article which articulated my own attitude toward the whole matter, I just had to pass it along.

How Is John McCain's Affair Different from John Edwards'?
Now, we get to the most relevant question - if John Edwards' political career is done, why isn't John McCain's? John McCain had a well-documented affair on his first wife, with his current wife. He has admitted in the books he has written about his life that he ran around with several different women while still married to his first wife. And don't forget that he left her for a younger, richer woman - multi-millionaire Cindy Hensley who is now Cindy McCain - after she had been severely hurt in a car accident.

So, why are McCain's actions any more excusable than Edwards'? Because it was thirty years ago? Does that wash it away? Will we be fine with Edwards running for office again in a couple of years because then it will all be in the past? What is the statute of limitations on an affair?

Remember Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan and Ross Perot were so upset with how John McCain dealt with his first wife that they didn't forgive him for a very, very long time. Perot still hasn't forgiven him. In fact, he said recently about McCain dumping his first wife for Cindy, "McCain is the classic opportunist. He's always reaching for attention and glory."

So, I want every pundit who condemns John Edwards today to tell me what the difference between him and McCain is and why John McCain shouldn't also be run out of politics for his adulterous affairs and what he did to his first wife.


And people actually WANT McCain as Commander In Chief! I can't help but wonder what's wrong with the hamsters spinning the wheel in their heads!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Bolivians back Morales in recall vote

That's score one for the people. Now, it's time for Columbia to do something stupid. You know, with their orders from Washington with plausible deniability?

Bolivians back Morales in recall vote
Voters vigorously endorsed President Evo Morales on Sunday in a recall referendum he devised to try to break a political stalemate and revive his leftist crusade, partial unofficial results showed.

More than 62 percent of voters in this bitterly divided Andean nation ratified the mandate of Morales and his vice president, Alvaro Garcia, according to a private quick count of votes from 900 of the country's 22,700 polling stations.

The 53.7 percent by which Bolivia's first indigenous president won election in December 2005 had been the previous best electoral showing for a Bolivian leader.

Morales had proposed Sunday's recall in a bold gamble to topple governors who have frustrated his bid to redress historical inequities in favor of Bolivia's long-suppressed indigenous majority and extend his time in office.

Eight of the country's nine governors were also subject to recall - and two Morales foes were among the three ousted, according to the quick count, which was conducted by the Ipsos-Apoyo firm for the ATB television network. First official results were not expected until late Sunday.

Texas Hold 'em Soviet Style

Well, well, well! Our little Nazi Government are coming into their own as The World's Most Dangerous Terrorists. Though it is clear that the majority of citizens of of Amerika have no taste whatsoever for involving themselves in another foreign war, Her Booshki uses his little serogate stooges to create a situation that appears to demand Amerikan involvement.

Did the U.S. Prep Georgia for War with Russia?
Georgia and Russia are careening towards war. And the U.S. isn't exactly a detached observer in the fight. The American military has been training and equipping Georgian troops for years.

The news thus far: Georgia, which has been locked in a drone war over the separatist enclave of Abkhazia, has launched an offensive to reclaim another breakaway territory, South Ossetia. Latest reports indicate that Georgian forces are laying siege to Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital. And Russia, which has backed the separatists, is sending in the tanks.

So why should we care? Oh, just the prospect of a larger regional war that could drag in Russia – and involve the United States as well. Since early 2002, the U.S. government has given a healthy amount of military aid to Georgia. When I last visited South Ossetia, Georgian troops manned a checkpoint outside Tskhinvali -- decked out in surplus U.S. Army uniforms and new body armor.

The first U.S. aid came under the rubric of the Georgia Train and Equip Program (ostensibly to counter alleged Al Qaeda influence in the Pankisi Gorge); then, under the Sustainment and Stability Operations Program. Georgia returned the favor, committing thousands of troops to the multi-national coalition in Iraq. Last fall, the Georgians doubled their contingent, making them the third-largest contributor to the coalition. Not bad for a nation of 4.6 million people.

Leaving aside the question of Russian interference (see below), the larger concern has been that Georgia might be tempted to use its newfound military prowess to resolve domestic conflicts by force.

As Sergei Shamba, the foreign affairs minister of Abkhazia, told me in 2006: “The Georgians are euphoric because they have been equipped, trained, that they have gained military experience in Iraq. It feeds this revanchist mood… How can South Ossetia be demilitarized, when all of Georgia is bristling with weaponry, and it’s only an hour’s ride by tank from Tbilisi to Tskhinvali?”

One of the U.S. military trainers put it to me a bit more bluntly. “We’re giving them the knife,” he said. “Will they use it?”


And, of course, it is about OIL, too.

The Pipeline War: Russian bear goes for West's jugular | Mail Online
The war in Georgia escalated dangerously last night after Russian jets reportedly bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West.

After a day of heightening international tensions, Georgian leaders claimed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, had been attacked. But it is thought the bombs missed their target.

Their claims came after Russian jets struck deep into the territory of its tiny neighbour, killing civilians and ‘completely devastating’ the strategic Black Sea port of Poti, a staging post for oil and other energy supplies.


I look for Uribe to send Columbian troops, trained and equipped by the good 'ole U.S. of A. to invade Venezuela next. There's a lot of oil down there for the taking, too!

Instructions for survival of '08-'09:
1) Sit firmly on the floor with knees raised.
2) Place head between knees.
3) Kiss your ass good bye.

Now, don't say that you haven't been warned!

The Truth is Out There...

And I ain't talkin' X-Files!


Russia's attack on Georgia is 'disproportionate'

And "Shock and Awe" was appropriate?

U.S. official: Russia's attack on Georgia is 'disproportionate' - CNN.com
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Russia's use of strategic bombers and ballistic missiles against Georgia's civilians outside of the South Ossetian conflict is "far disproportionate" to Georgia's alleged attack on Russian peacekeepers, a senior U.S. official said Saturday.




~

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Amerikan Citizens now in danger from their own government and the rest of the world, too!

Does Amerika believe that it is above the rule of law? Or is it just me?

Texas ignores treaty to execute Mexican killer | World news | The Guardian
Texas was accused yesterday of putting Americans abroad at risk by defying the international court of justice and the government of Mexico to carry out the execution of a Mexican national.

José Medellín was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday night at a prison north of Houston. His lawyers said that the execution breached America's treaty obligations, which give foreign nationals such as Medellín the right to consult consular officials.

"With this action, our nation has broken a commitment willingly made by our president and our Senate when we agreed to this treaty," said Donald Francis Donovan. "We must now hope that other nations stand stronger in their promises than we do, lest our own citizens be placed at risk elsewhere."

Oh no! It's the "Race Card"!



Friday, August 08, 2008

Send Karl Rove To Jail

This is a public service announcement. It is a message sent out by Alternet.org. I urge all free thinking and morally ethical people to join in this effort. We NEED to begin to hold people accountable for the past decade of American Fascism to even begin to repair our own reputation as the decent people that most of us want to believe that we are.
In 2004, plans were put into motion to crack down on voter registration drives in poor and minority communities, suppressing votes and stripping citizens of a constitutional right. Evidence points to Karl Rove as the mastermind behind this plan and it's time he was held accountable. Join the Secretary of State Project and thousands of Americans in urging the House to take a stand against Rove today.
http://www.alternet.org/sosrove_080808

Don Hazen
Executive Editor, AlterNet.org
======

Karl Rove has gone too far. It's time to make him pay.

The GOP's master trickster has his fingerprints all over a dirty scheme to suppress our votes. It's exactly the kind of scheme that the Secretary of State Project was formed to fight. And right now, we have a unique chance to hold Rove accountable for his acts.

http://www.alternet.org/sosrove_080808

For those not following Rove's story, here's a bit of background. In 2004, Justice Department lawyers started getting strange instructions from Washington -- crack down on voter registration drives. But not all registration drives, mind you; just ones that registered poor and minority voters. The idea was to harass progressive organizations and keep poor and minority citizens from getting to the polls.

Many Justice Department lawyers, Republicans and Democrats alike, balked at these unscrupulous orders. They (rightly) refused to carry out a partisan witch hunt. And wouldn't you know it, Washington started cracking down on THEM -- firing a host of them and passing up others for promotion, in what came to be known as the U.S. Attorneys Scandal.

But who gave the vote-suppression orders in the first place? All signs point to Karl Rove. A long trail of evidence indicates that Rove cooked up and executed the whole scheme. To uncover the truth, the House of Representatives has launched an investigation. They sent Rove a subpoena. He ignored it. Repeatedly.

Now, the House is considering a measure to hold Rove in contempt of Congress. Last Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee voted, 20-14, to hold Rove in contempt. The vote now goes to the full House. If found guilty, he could go to jail. No, it's not enough punishment for his years and years of crimes, but it's a huge start.

http://www.alternet.org/sosrove_080808

Join hundreds of thousands of Americans urging the House to take a stand against Rove and his dirty tricks.

By holding Rove in contempt, we'll send a loud and clear signal to all Bush's cronies -- America's elections must be free and fair. Voter suppression will not be tolerated.

After you sign the petition, consider making a contribution to the Secretary of State Project and our candidates. Support from donors like you helped us raise $500,000 in 2006 and win 5 of our 7 elections. Help us continue building the movement against voter suppression, stolen elections and dirty tricksters like Karl Rove.
http://www.alternet.org/sosdonate_080808

Becky Bond
Secretary of State Project

Please sign the petition!

Please sign the petition!

kucinich.us - Join Dennis Kucinich & Demand Impeachment Hearings

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Saudi Arabia prisons to replace Guantanamo bay

If this is not the epitome of hypocrisy, then I do not know the meaning of the word!

Saudi Arabia prisons to replace Guantanamo bay
Saudi Arabia is to build five modern prisons in the kingdom to replace US Guantanamo detention facility, a new report has revealed.


Jordanian daily quoted unnamed sources as saying that US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Saudi officials are cooperating to construct the prisons which are to replace Guantanamo and US secret prisons in Europe.



Riyadh is to spent about two billion Saudi Rials for the project which can accommodate up to 18000 inmates, they added.



Bin laden firm and with the help of German engineers will build the prisons in the Saudi cities of Mecca, Haer, Demmam, and Qasim.

Man held in Fla. on charge of threatening Obama


Man held in Fla. on charge of threatening Obama

A Secret Service affidavit charges that Geisel made the threat during a training class for bail bondsmen in Miami in late July. According to someone else in the 48-member class, Geisel allegedly referred to Obama with a racial epithet and continued, "If he gets elected, I'll assassinate him myself."

Obama was most recently in Florida on Aug. 1-2 but did not visit the South Florida area.

Another person in the class quoted Geisel as saying that "he hated George W. Bush and that he wanted to put a bullet in the president's head," according to the Secret Service.

Geisel denied in a written statement to a Secret Service agent that he ever made those threats, and the documents don't indicate that he ever took steps to carry out any assassination. He was charged only with threatening Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, but not for any threat against President Bush.



After all, who could blame him for wanting to "put a bullet in (George Bush's) head"? They'd have to lock up half the planet for that one!

Walmart: Criminal Anti-Union Acts

And let's not forget that Walmart is a client/supporter of Hillary Clinton! Do you really think that a Democratic Party controlled government will change much of anything? The lesser of two evils is not really a choice at all! And furthermore, you can bet that if a presidential candidate even gets his/her name on the ballot in November that it is because the powers that be view them as "manageable".

Let's stop kidding ourselves.

Activists Demand Investigation of Wal-Mart's Pro-McCain Policy

Union activists affiliated with the WakeUpWalMart.com campaign circulated a petition this week via e-mail demanding the Federal Election Commission investigate whether Wal-Mart has violated federal election laws. The multinational corporation, the campaign pointed out, may have broken the law when it held mandatory meetings for many of its employees this summer that appeared to "to intimidate rank-and-file employees into voting Republican."

Last week, an article in the Wall Street Journal revealed that Wal-Mart held mandatory meetings to convince employees that a Democratic victory would mean that Wal-Mart employees might have an easier chance of unionizing Wal-Mart stores and outlets.
Specifically, Wal-Mart told its employees, according to the article, that a Democratic victory will usher in the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. The Employee Free Choice Act has already passed in the US House and would remove barriers faced by workers who want to join labor unions.

The bill essentially imposes heavier sanctions against employers who use illegal threats and harassment to prevent workers from exercising their right to join a union.

Wal-Mart has fought for decades against labor union organizing in its stores. A recent e-mail alert from another organization, Wal-Mart Watch, said, "With weakened workers' rights, Wal-Mart can bully its employees to skip breaks and work 'off the clock' for no pay."

The alert also pointed out that "Wal-Mart has received numerous fines for violating the Family and Medical Leave Act – firing employees for taking federally protected medical leave." Wal-Mart Watch is circulating its own online petition that will be sent to the company's executives telling them to stop intimidating workers.

In 2007, Human Rights Watch published a report documenting Wal-Mart's systematic violation of workers rights in its stores. According to the report, the company uses unlawful threats of retaliation against employees, spying, and mandatory "captive audience" meetings to instill its anti-union message along with its threats to new employees.

Most of these actions are illegal, but legal sanctions are so minimal that Wal-Mart has little incentive to obey the law, the report stated. The Employee Free Choice Act would provide that incentive.

One anonymous employee said the message of the mandatory Wal-Mart meetings was clear. "I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote," the Wall Street Journal article quoted her as saying. Other employees were told that voting for John McCain was the right choice to make.

The WakeUpWalMart.com petition states, "Wal-Mart's motives are a moot point. The company has crossed the line, again, and it's time to hold them accountable."

--Reach Joel Wendland at jwendland@politicalaffiars.net