I'm Fed Up To The Ears With Old Men Dreaming Up Wars For Young Men To Die In ~ George McGovern

At War With the Army
Families have to file Freedom of Information Requests to find out the truth concerning loved ones' deaths.

Military amputees back on active duty

No More Individual Fort Lewis Memorials
"So many Fort Lewis soldiers are being killed in Iraq that the Army base will no longer hold individual memorial services.
Starting next month, Fort Lewis will hold one memorial a month for all the dead soldiers."

U.S. soldiers' suicide rate up in Iraq

Bush sees US troops in Iraq for 50 years

Spiff Up Your Torture Techniques, Panel Tells US

With drugs and modern technology you can get oh so much more satisfaction by traumatizing a person for the rest of his or her life. They probably mean that crushing genitals and leaving burn marks is so twentieth century.

Experts: U.S. Interrogation Methods Outmoded, Amateurish And Unreliable

"As the Bush administration completes secret new rules governing interrogations, a group of experts advising the intelligence agencies are arguing that the harsh techniques used since the 2001 terrorist attacks are outmoded, amateurish and unreliable.
The psychologists and other specialists, commissioned by the Intelligence Science Board, make the case that more than five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has yet to create an elite corps of interrogators trained to glean secrets from terrorism suspects."

The Constitution Is Dead, Long Live The Decidership

Actually I saw information about this weeks ago and didn't ascribe as much importance to it as some people ultimately have. It's just more of the same - the fascists merely enunciating what had been de facto policy demonstrated time and again over the years.

When our putative mob bosses stole the election in 2000 they had decided to take the long simmering overthrow of constitutional government off the back burner and make the fascism overt and in our faces. Hence 9/11 and all the horror that's followed. That this step in their scheming didn't make the nightly news is also old hat.

This is their tyranny. We just live in it.


Bush Pens Dictatorship Directive, Few Notice

"It is hardly surprising not a single corporate newspaper reported the death of the Constitution. Go to Google News and type in “National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive” and hit enter. Google returns ten paltry results, not one from the New York Times, the Washington Post, or related corporate media source. Google Trends rates the story as “mild,” that is to say it warrants nary a blip on the news radar screen. Of course, another death blow to the Constitution, already long on life support, is hardly news. Few understand we now live in a dictatorship, or maybe it should be called a decidership."
(...)
In short, Bush may now declare himself absolute ruler at any moment and Congress can like it or lump it. Naturally, this act of betrayal is of so little importance and consequence, the corporate media believes you are better served knowing Justin Timberlake is in love."

Imagine My Lack Of Surprise

The worse the Iraq occupation gets, the less coverage it gets on Fox

Remember the breathless saturation coverage when the invasion began in 2003? All the inbedded journos and the rah rah spirit? Now that news from Dune isn't reflecting too well on the scumbags who got us into this nightmare...

"What's more important: Iraq or Anna Nicole Smith?
Depends on which network you're watching.
According to PEJ's first quarter News Coverage Index, "MSNBC and CNN were much more consumed with the war in Iraq than was Fox." In daytime, FNC devoted 6 percent of its time to Iraq, and 17 percent of its time to Anna Nicole. For CNN, the mix was 20 percent Iraq, 5 percent Anna; for MSNBC, the mix was 18 percent Iraq, 10 percent Anna."

Bunnypants To Get Gigantic SS Squad For Retirement

In a story otherwise concerned with the strain on the secret service by all the presidential hopefuls here's how the Washington Post puts it:

"And while the 2008 campaign gets going, the service is also gearing up for January 2009, when President Bush is set to leave office; officials are mindful of the 1993 assassination effort by Iraq against his father, former president George H.W. Bush. The service has begun training agents to fill 103 full-time slots as to be part of the current president's retirement detail."

A little scared, aren't we? But that wasn't what struck me about this paragraph.
Just tossing out bullshit is run of the mill for the MSM. It's like their job is to create this background noise of lies to support the current shit from being too closely analyzed.
So the reason given for that phalanx of Praetorian Guards is that someone wanted his father dead. Yet that "assassination attempt" was strictly theater, a propaganda lie cooked up for the rubes.

"FBI agents sent to Kuwait to investigate the car bomb assassination threat against Bush believed the entire operation was bogus. They believed the Kuwaiti government rounded up a few Iraqi whiskey smugglers, planted Iraqi ordnance left in Kuwait by Iraqi forces as "evidence," and staged the entire assassination plot in order to ingratiate themselves to Bush and put pressure on the Clinton administration to retaliate against Iraq. The FBI team that interrogated the accused Iraqi "assasins" sent their reports back to FBI headquarters by secure fax rather than official State Department communications channels because those circuits are routinely monitored by the CIA and National Security Agency and would have assuredly come to the attention of Woolsey and Bush's allies at Langley. The faxes consisted of 30 to 50 pages per night. A Kuwaiti judge later dismissed the assassination charges against Iraq due to lack of evidence."

Iraq About To Be Invaded Again

Talk about a convoluted and confusing situation. The US occupation of Iraq is about to get magnitudes worse in the coming months. Turkey has apparently had enough of cross border incursions and mayhem caused by the PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party and is set to invade northern Iraq to go to war with them.

Just about every day headlines tell about the gruesome conflict between the Turks and Kurds. Yesterday seven Kurds were killed in southern Turkey, but the clinching event for a full scale invasion was an explosion last week in Ankara that killed and wounded over a hundred and was blamed on a Kurdish suicide bomber. Turkey has been warning the US and the Iraqi puppet government for some time to clamp down on the PPK and has moved an army to it's southern border. Prime minister Erdgan has vowed his support for an all out invasion.

This whole situation is a complicated mess that I'm sure the US will make much worse before it's over. The Kurds have wanted an independent state since forever and number about 30 to 35 million spread out in Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. The relations between them an the US has generally been the warmest of any group in Iraq but Turkey is a fellow NATO member. Relations between Turkey and the US have been worsening since Turkey wouldn't allow american forces to be deployed there before the 2003 invasion. The occupation has cost Turkey dearly in terms of trade and they blame the americans for sitting on their hands while the Kurds pull off terrorist attacks. Things have gotten so bad they sharply rebuked the US military for violating Turkish air space when a couple of F16s flew over that troop buildup on the border.

"Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said "necessary steps would be taken" if U.S. jets violated Turkish airspace again. Erdogan did not elaborate."

This gets even more byzantine when you add the other elements - the Turkomen minority in northern Iraq which has close ties to Turkey, mixed up ethnic groups that were forced to resettle, Iran's nervousness about it's own restive Kurdish presense, the fight over who controls the fabulously rich Kirkuk oil field, even the close ties between the Kurds and Israelis.

Washington seems to be just standing around whistling with hands in pockets while the shit is about to hit the fan, sweatily hoping this contentious issue can be shelved. But it looks like it's inevitable and the only question is if it takes place before or after Turkish general elections on July 22. I have no doubt CIA spooks are all over the situation with covert intrigue but it has no good choices when it comes to an explosion in northern Iraq. Of course americans shouldn't have been in the thick of this ugly mess in the first place. My guess as to what the US will do? Since Turkey will be needed for the eventual war with Iran it will drop any pretense of support for the Kurds, screwing them over yet again like after the first Gulf Slaughter, thereby adding them to the forces determined to kick the occupiers out of Iraq.
As a matter of fact, is the US vacating the area for the Turks to have at them?

"Veni, Vidi, Dormivi" (I Came, I Saw, I Slept)

In 70 BC Crassus was the richest man in Rome.

"Just to give you an idea of what sort of man Crassus really was, he is credited with invention of the fire brigade. But in Crassus' version, his fire-fighting slaves would race to the scene of a burning building whereupon Crassus would offer to buy it on the spot for a tiny fraction of it's worth. If the owner sold, Crassus' slaves would put out the fire. If the owner refused to sell, Crassus allowed the building to burn to the ground."

Crews Watch Home Burn, Family Forced To Pay

"MESA, Ariz. -- A Gilbert family whose home burned to the ground while town firefighters refused to douse the flames will get a bill from the private fire company that eventually responded.
The double-wide mobile home in an unincorporated county area on South Higley Road was destroyed Wednesday night.
Gilbert firefighters responded to the blaze and made sure no life was at risk, but did not fight the fire under a town policy because it is in an unincorporated area.
Instead, the Rural/Metro Fire Department went to the fire as a courtesy, but they came too late to save the home.
Rural/Metro officials said they'll bill the family about $10,000 dollars anyway."

How We've Become Good Germans

"It is a commonplace that at the end of WWII scarcely a Nazi or Nazi sympathizer could be found." John S. Hatch

DENIAL - The 51st State

"Bush and his regime could only be getting away with the atrocities they are perpetrating not only because there are an insufficient number of people who see what they are doing, but because there are enough people who see what is happening and remain silent . To quote Judith Herman, author of Trauma and Abuse, "The ordinary response to atrocities is to banish them from consciousness. Certain violations of the social compact are too terrible to utter aloud: this is the meaning of the word unspeakable." When our nation is seen as a family system composed of interrelated roles that do not exist in isolation from each other but rather in co-relation to one another, the people in the role of the abuser, Bush and his regime, depend upon the tendency for most people to split-off from and deny the horror of the atrocities they are perpetrating to be able to get away with them. When we deny what is happening, we are not able to speak about it, for to speak about what is happening is to invest our experience with a living reality, which is the very thing our denial ensures doesn't happen.

As perpetrators of the abuse, the Bush regime will do everything in their power to promote our denial, pretense, and silence. Our becoming silent is the very thing which allows them to literally get away with murder."

"Go shopping" says the psychpathic mass murderer.

Attack Of The Bloggers Who Can't Get A Date

Just what do so called right wing bloggers actually stand for?

I mean, you have to wonder at their raison d'être when they support this rise of authoritarianism and prostrate themselves at the feet of psychotic mass murderers. There seems to be literally nothing that their phony conservative idol gods can do that will end their fawning obeisance and obscene lust for all things fascistic. And don't forget their penchant for projection.

I think what drives them could be a desperate search for relevance. That might be the reason for the eternal chip on shoulder attitude. Sometimes that drive to be outraged, no make that most of the time, ends up having them look astoundingly foolish and inconsequential, as Glen Greenwald points out concerning a certain memo about which they worked themselves into a lather. It's good for a chuckle, as is the whole braying lot of them when they crank up their masturbatory echo chamber.

Geez, even GOP mucky mucks think they're intolerable assholes.

Operation Cyanide

Link

"This June 8, 2007, marks the 40-year anniversary of Israel’s bloody attack on the USS Liberty, a lightly armed U.S. Navy ship sailing off the coast of Egypt at the time.
Over the years, there have been numerous reports indicating that the unprovoked assault caught the White House and the military by surprise.
New information, however, reveals that officials in various agencies in the U.S. government played a key role in setting up the Liberty for the purpose of drawing the Soviet Union into a fight in the Middle East and ultimately igniting World War III."
(...)
Long believed that players within the Johnson administration simply assisted in the cover-up of the attack so as “not to embarrass” America’s greatest ally, Israel, it now it appears that American political, intelligence and military persons played a key role in setting up the Liberty for the purpose of igniting WW III in what was code-named “Operation Cyanide.”

Operation Cyanide: How the Bombing of the USS Liberty Nearly Caused World War III
"The Liberty was a "sitting duck" for the Israeli jet planes' missiles and rockets and their torpedo boats. The attack lasted at least 75 minutes, killing 34 brave Americans and wounding 172 others."

WOT Lie Exposed Again

Group: Terrorism not focus of Homeland Security


"WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Claims of terrorism represented less than 0.01 percent of charges filed in recent years in immigration courts by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to a report issued Sunday by an independent research group.
This comes despite the fact the Bush administration has repeatedly asserted that fighting terrorism is the central mission of DHS.
The Transactional Records Action Clearinghouse said it analyzed millions of previously undisclosed records obtained from the immigration courts under the Freedom of Information Act.
Of the 814,073 people charged by DHS in immigration courts during the past three years, 12 faced charges of terrorism, TRAC said.
Those 12 cases represent 0.0015 percent of the total number of cases filed.
"The DHS claims it is focused on terrorism. Well that's just not true," said David Burnham, a TRAC spokesman. "Either there's no terrorism, or they're terrible at catching them. Either way it's bad for all of us."


Can it be more plain than that? The intent of the 'Department of Homeland Security' is to provide the fascists with internal political security at home, which enables it to plunder the world at will.

Along with the patriot act and Bush's emergency dictatorial signing statement we live in a de facto military dictatorship. This is the face of fascism.

Occupational Hazards

"In 1892 the small groups of the Donghak movement were united into a single Peasant Guerrilla Army (Donghak Peasants Army). The peasants worked in the fields during the day, but during the night they armed themselves and raided government offices, and killed rich landlords, traders and foreigners. They confiscated their victims' properties and distributed the them among the poor.
Donghak Peasant Revolution

"The Filipinos waged a guerrilla warfare which was suitable for the country’s terrain and their limited firearms. Many of them were peasants by day and revolutionaries by night. They were sustained in their struggle by the unrelenting support of entire towns. Even if the American flag was displayed in the town and the local elite officials publicly acknowledged support to the United States, it did not matter since the guerrillas received food, supplies, and shelter from the people. It was dangerous for an American to stray away from the U.S. garrison lest he be hacked to death by the guerrillas and their sympathizers."
The Philippine Revolution

"As one marine captain explained: "You never knew who was the enemy and who was the friend. They all looked alike. They all dressed alike." Innocent civilians were often killed by mistake. As one Marine officer admitted they "were usually counted as enemy dead, under the unwritten rule 'If he's dead and Vietnamese, he's VC'."
The Vietnam War

"...the Chechens do not accept the values being imposed on them by Moscow. Because of this, almost any Chechen peasant can become a rebel fighter at any moment."
The place where the walls are shooting

"I thought, 'What are we doing here? Why are we still here?' " said Safstrom, a member of Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division. "We're helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us."
With allies in enemy ranks, GIs in Iraq are no longer true believers

General Strike: Another Officer Denounces Military Aggression

Written by Chris Floyd, who I can't recommend enough.

"It seems there is another ex-general out there who is not too fond of sending American troops off on a "war of conquest," and who feels that such "unjust" misadventures not only corrupt the nation's character and betray its founding principles, but also provoke sustained, horrific blowback against the American people. What's more, the general says that such a reaction to America's "transgression" is not only justified -- it is an act of divine retribution for the nation's sins.

Who is this five-star turncoat, so brimming with dhimmitude, defeatism and irrational hatred for America? Well, you don't hear much about him these days, but -- with the possible exception of Dwight Eisenhower -- he is the most successful military officer in the nation's history. We speak of course of Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of the Union Army, vanquisher of Lee, stalwart Republican, two-time president of the United States, and author of what many (such as Mark Twain and Gertrude Stein) consider the best-written military memoirs since Julius Caesar. You know, your typical dirty hippie."

Memorial Day - Grieve For The Fallen In The Endless War

It's endless because it was meant to be that way. This is The Big Secret about the fascist agenda. They're waging war on the entire world to achieve total global dominance, using this country and it's lobotomized citizenry to launch their schemes and 9/11 as their justification.

Iraq was going to happen by any means necessary. They knew that the biggest task was to get the occupation going and from then on it would be next to impossible to end it.

All this hand wringing about how Iraq is being torn apart by sectarian violence, all the talk about staying there until the job's done or the mission is accomplished is pure motherfucking bullshit. The 'mission' was 'accomplished' when Iraq was invaded and occupied. The country was intended to disintegrate into the shit hole it is today. That was the filthy agenda all along.

Fascist scum profit from chaos and violence. It's their bread and butter and they make damn sure there's plenty of it. In Iraq special US and Israeli groups foment and maintain the fear and hatred. Get the Iraqis slitting each others' throats and the occupiers are safer. Perpetuate the violence and there's endless justification for the occupation.

Just remember when you see the crocodile tears and those long fascist faces today, those scumbags couldn't care less and don't give a shit about the dead soldiers. They are expendable pawns in the sick overall scheme of things. They knew that Iraq was going to be permanent. They knew that it was going to be a bloody meatgrinder. They know that american soldiers will get sick and die while they send them in to a toxic and radioactive charnel house. And they want to profit from the soldiers' deaths to fill their bank accounts and legitimize their war on Syria and Iran.

Let me say that again - The fascists are profiting from the deaths of american soldiers.

Sicko Trailer Released

If you want to stay healthy in America, don't get sick.

Moore's film won't be released until June 29, but a surprising number of people at IMDB claim to have seen it, or at least are clairvoyant enough to be able to vote on how good it is.



It's a testament to Moore's filmmaking abilities and choice of subjects that people are so polarized by his efforts. By all the acclaim he garnered at Cannes for this film it looks like it might eclipse all his other efforts in popularity. Sweet Jeebus, it even got a rave review from Faux News Entertainment. But he's getting serious flak from the usual swine even before the movie opens.

He first started to do a film focused more on the pharmaceutical companies than about health care in America. But after hearing thousands of nightmarish stories from people he switched gears to make that the main subject of the movie. But any attack on Big Pharma and Big Insurers will get the bought and paid for government fascists after you, which is why Moore is under investigation by the US Treasury Department for a trip to Cuba in the film. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) released a statement sniffing about his sensationalist track record, so just avoid the movie and take their meds.

Moore is going to be slammed even harder because his assault on the cozy relationship between pharma/insurers/government couldn't have been timed better. Health care has always been the number one priority for americans. A lot of states including California are introducing health care proposals and it looks like it's going to be a big issue going into the presidential selection process next year. As a matter of fact since health care was a big issue for the Clintons back in '93 I wouldn't be surprised to see Hillary glom onto hightened interest in the topic because of Sicko.

Which is going to piss off more of those Limbacile Listeners who will vote a 1 on that IMDB poll.

Happy 100th Birthday Marion Robert Morrison

Or Marion Michael Morrison John Wayne, who was born today in 1907. IMO he was an underrated actor even though he churned out those cheesy oaters for Republic Pictures in the 30s. I tend to disregard his execrable politics and just enjoy his flicks now that I've gained an appreciation for classics. A lot of people say he fashioned himself as a super patriot as making up for never having fought in WW2, and his whole life was full of contradictions. He's thought of as the über cowpoke because he made so many westerns but in reality he disliked horses and was more at ease in a dinner jacket than leather.

A remarkable picture that the Duke was in that few people have seen was one of his first and actually one of the first talkies. "The Big Trail" directed by prolific director Raoul Walsh is interesting in a lot of ways. It was supposed to be Wayne's big introduction as a movie star and gobs of money were thrown into production. It was filmed on location all over the west and is truly unbelievably lavish for the era. They did one thing wrong, though, that delayed Wayne's big breakthough for a decade - it was filmed in the then new wide screen process and theaters at the time didn't have the equipment to screen it. It had a limited run and the Duke then had to go churn out all those stinkers for a paycheck until John Ford's "Stagecoach".

Students And Faculty Show Spine At Commencement

Former Bush aide Card is booed at UMass



"AMHERST, Mass. -- President Bush's former chief of staff Andrew Card was loudly booed by hundreds of students and faculty members as he rose to accept an honorary degree at the University of Massachusetts on Friday.
The boos and catcalls - including those from faculty members who stood onstage with Card - drowned out Provost Charlena Seymour's remarks as she awarded the honorary doctorate in public service. Protesters claim Card lied to the American people in the early days of the Iraq war and should not have been honored at the graduate student commencement.
(...)
The protests were mainly contained to an area in the back of the campus arena, though many of the faculty members onstage joined the three- to four- minute outburst.
One faculty member onstage held a sign: "Card - no honor, no degree." Another sign said, "War criminals go home."

C&L has the video as usual, the place turns into a madhouse at about 2:50.



"Sir, it's on. Dick says just sit there."

-------

Fear-Mongering and Fiction: Darth Cheney Sucks The Energy Out Of West Point Graduation

"In a subtle irony, the vice president last addressed graduating West Point cadets the very year the class of 2007 entered the academy, in 2003. It was close to a month after the president declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq and Cheney crowed that “the battle of Iraq was a major victory in the war on terror.” At the time, two West Point graduates had been killed in Iraq. Since then an additional 49 tombstones have risen on West Point's campus, marking the graves of graduates who were killed in Iraq, fighting a war the vice president had previously assured them they’d already won."

The Fascists Now Will Decide If You Can Even Have A Job

How long will it be until they tell us whether we can eat food and drink water?

No jobs for US citizens without Homeland Security approval

"US citizens who apply for a job will need prior approval from Department of Homeland Security under the terms (of the) immigration bill passed by the Senate this week.
American Civil Liberties Union pointed out that the DHS's Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) is error plagued and if the department makes a mistake in determining work eligibility, there will be virtually no way to challenge the error or recover lost wages due to the bill’s prohibitions on judicial review.
Even current employees will need to obtain eligibility approval from the DHS Within 60 days of the Immigration Reform Act of 2006 becoming law.
"EEVS would be a financial and bureaucratic nightmare for both businesses and workers," said Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Legislative Counsel. "Under this already flawed program no one would be able to work in the U.S. without DHS approval - creating a ‘No Work List’ similar to the government’s ‘No Fly List.’

Earth Is 6000 Years Old, Jeebus Saves

What did they feed the dinosaurs on Noah's Ark?

Golden Arches Tired Of Being Dissed

McDonald's feelings are hurt, get's all pouty over the term McJob

"Fast-food giant McDonald's has launched a petition to get the dictionary definition of a McJob changed.
The Oxford English Dictionary currently describes a McJob as "an unstimulating low-paid job with few prospects."

Representatives dressed in clown suits went on to sniff that the word McJob was "out of date and insulting."

In other McDonald's news, reactions are mixed about their "Happy Meal Condoms" campaign:

"Grandpa Rowan Hutch told The Dominion Post newspaper it was lucky his wife was first to look inside the small sports bag that came with the meal.
She was aghast when she found the green condom and its packet inside the bag, he said."I was pretty horrified really. The fact my granddaughter was going to look in the bag and find this thing. It would be difficult to explain, she's only seven," said Hutch."

However feedback is overwhelmingly positive for the firm's "Happy Meal 'n Weed" offering:

"Ottawa Police Chief Brian Zeilmann says a man and his three children went through a McDonald's drive-through Tuesday to order Happy Meals. Zeilmann says one of the children - an 8-year-old girl - got a lighter, pipe, and bag of marijuana in her Happy Meal."

Gigantic Rats Threaten Florida

Florida tries to wipe out infestation of enormous rats



"U.S. federal and state officials are beginning the final phase of a two-year project to eradicate the Gambian pouched rats, which can grow to the size of a cat and began reproducing in the remote area about eight years ago.
(...)
They don't belong here and they need to be controlled. They could cause a lot of damage"

They invaded and began an infestation about the exact time Jeb Bush became governor of Florida. Coincidence? I think not.

Fowl Fouls First Featherbrain

New Cia Comic Book Found

(fox link/satire alert) ‘How-to’ Manual Found in Al Qaeda Safe House Shows Disturbing Torture Methods
"The Defense Department recently released disturbing images and cartoons showing how to torture a captive found by American forces during a raid on a Al Qaeda safe house a few weeks ago. They also found photos of tortured Iraqi victims."

Ever looking for a way to justify the vicious occupation of Iraq and even to expand their war on the middle east, spook agencies decided to pretend to find evidence of 'Al Qaeda' torture to wave around. They know that the corrupted MSM will gleefully pounce on this lurid crap and that the dwindling numbers of war enthusiasts will point to it as an excuse to continue the carnage. Coupled with pathetic attempts to lump all the ragheads together as a swarthy, dangerous bunch, it's a psyop campaign to drum up support for war on Iran, which sadly too many braindead people will swallow. Fear works wonders.




here the spooks grabbed all the tools they could find from car trunks and machine shops

Of course this isn't anything new. Way back in the 60s and 70s the FBI had a little program called Cointelpro which was a covert operation to shatter legitimate dissent in the US. Those bra burning feminists, anti war protesters and gay rights advocates had to be stopped at all costs. In the case of black power supporters led by the Black Panther movement, the FBI phonied up a booklet purported to be a how-to manual drawn up by the Panthers themselves:

"This coloring book, which was purported to be from the Black Panthers, had actually been rejected by them when it was brought to them by a man later revealed to have intelligence connections. Not to be troubled by the fact that the Panthers found the coloring book revolting, the FBI added even more offensive illustrations, and mass mailed it across America. It so infuriated the white population that they stopped listening to the legitimate grievances of the black people."




Flash forward to the Saint Reagan era when toppling the Sandanista government in Nicaragua was foremost in US foreign policy. Their egalitarian social programs were a direct threat to the oppressive US backed thug regimes in the region and this threat of a good example had to be smashed at all costs:

"In the early 1980s, the right-wing Reagan U.S. Government was determined to undermine or overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua. As part of this campaign, the Central Intelligence Agency produced a small illustrated booklet in both Spanish and English designed to destabilise the Nicaraguan Government and economic system. It instructed dissaffected individuals on acts of sabotage they could carry out to this end."



Notice with this instruction manual the creators projected their preconceived notions of lazy spicks from their racist minds.
This sort of cartoon crap was done many times in the past. The fascist mindset is that if you have some degree of success then repeat ad nauseum. It becomes their modus operandi, and if you see through the smokescreen of their propaganda it's actually sophomoric idiocy.
Collect the whole set!

Greg Palast May Have Karl Rove's Missing Emails

GOP verified their authenticity.

"Investigative reporter Greg Palast says 4.5 million votes will be shoplifted in 2008, thanks largely to the “Rove-bots” that have been placed in the Justice Department following the U.S. Attorney firings. Being the guy who uncovered the voter “purge lists” of 2000 that disenfranchised black voters, he’s worth listening to, even if the mainstream press chooses not to.
This time around, he claims to have the 500 emails that the House subpoenaed and Karl Rove claims were deleted forever. They prove definitively, says Palast, that the Justice Department is infested with operatives taking orders from Rove to steal upcoming elections for Republicans and permanently alter the Department.
The “clownocracy” of Bush and Rove is criminal and even evil in its attempts to steal past and future elections, according to Palast, and can only be stopped if “Democrats…find their souls and find their balls.”

Meet The Swastika Building

A building at the US Navy's Coronado, California Naval Amphibious Base.
Architect says it was intentional.
Navy says it was accidental.

Another American Occupied Country To Produce Opium

First, lets look at a little history in Afghanistan to get a sense of american influence:

February 15, 2001
"U.N. drug control officers said the Taliban religious militia has nearly wiped out opium production in Afghanistan -- once the world's largest producer -- since banning poppy cultivation last summer."

Enter the US:

October 25, 2002
Afghanistan Is Again the World's Largest Opium Producer, U.N. Drug Agency Says
"Afghanistan has again established itself as the world's largest opium poppy producer this year, with growers taking advantage of a power vacuum during the U.S.-led war and the collapse of the Taliban regime, the U.N. drug control agency said Friday."

Whee, this goin' great:

December 2, 2006
"Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world's heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts (wink wink), the Bush administration reported yesterday."

Then, how did things go after the US drove Serbia out of Kosovo in 1999?

Booming drug trade in post-war Kosovo
US allies smuggle most of world's heroin

Why stop now?

Opium: Iraq's deadly new export

Dollar Becomes Even More Unpopular

Regional currency to replace dollar in Argentina-Brazil trade

"BUENOS AIRES, May 23 (RIA Novosti) - Argentina and Brazil, South America's two largest economies, will drop the U.S. dollar in favor of a regional currency in their bilateral trade starting in October 2007, Argentine Economics Minister Felisa Miceli said.
The countries' transition to a new currency, as yet unnamed, is part of a pilot project by the South American continent's major trade alliance, Mercosur, to replace the U.S. currency in internal transactions with money of its own, Miceli said.
Speaking ahead of a Mercosur ministerial session in Paraguay, she said the new currency should eventually spread throughout the bloc, which also includes Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru have associate member status."

Countries around the world are slowly turning their backs on the US dollar. This comes a couple of days after Kuwait suddenly ditching it's ties to US currency.

Of course the greenback doesn't benefit from stories like this.

Just A Rumor At This Point

Occupation forces heading south

"Information came right now from Iraq that US occupation forces are moving all their heavy machineries and tanks into Al-Kut Airbase in south Iraq."

If true it would substantiate the rumblings about a wider conflict against Shiites based in southern Iraq, as a precursor to war with Iran.

Go ahead and make it 89%

Morphing Into A Region Wide War

It used to be that fascists were anything but shy about strutting their stuff and goosing their steps for the masses at home. They loved to dress up in all those insignias and overtly display authority and power for their people to see. These days the authoritarians are a lot more sly about display; they prefer to work their skulduggery behind the scenes and present an officious and responsible image to the country. Of course the end result is the same misery for intended targets but the home audience is lulled into a complacent acceptance. This same deception is apparently used to disguise the nasty business of world conquest.

That 'surge' was presented as a temporary continuation of 'pacifying' Bahgdad but has turned into an open ended escalation that might eventually reach Vietnam levels. That's what the fascists wanted all along but since they lie about everything they couldn't come out and tell us that. Rest assured they'll create "incidents" to justify a more massive presence. Spineless, cowardly democrats just rolled over and gave a blank check to BushCo to do what they want.

This buildup will be used to expand the war to include Shiite Sadrists this summer...
"As reported by the World Socialist Web Site on May 22, the Pentagon is considering mounting a major military offensive against Sadr City sometime after June 1, when the fifth and final brigade mobilized for the military “surge” in Iraq is in place. The article drew attention to a Washington Post report that said, “If political avenues are exhausted, the US military has formulated other options, including plans for a wholesale clearing operation in Sadr City that would require a much larger force ...”
but they won't tell us that either. This drive to include Muqtada al-Sadr and his followers isn't new - the US tried to assasinate the guy in 2004.

Which brings us right to Iran. It's been 'leaked' to the media that Little Boots authorized a roundabout sneaky war on that country, something which in saner times would get him impeached and thrown in jail, but it's only what the spooks have been doing all along. Next we get a bullshit piece of propaganda from the Guardian assuring us that Iranians are all set to join forces with 'Al Qaeda' (wink wink) and drive the US from the middle east this summer. A convenient piece of timing, with stupid assertions that will go right over most american heads but will leave them with the requisite understanding that all those ragheads are in it together.

It was always Iran. A lot of people, including me, assumed that we would be handed a splashy false flag incident and then the fireworks would start. But it's possible too many people will question antics like that these days. They still might, say, sink a battleship to create the flashpoint, however it could be that the deceptive tactics mentioned above will come into play and we'll just gradually segue into a war on Iran by degrees. Chris Floyd makes a good case that all the necessary entanglements are already in place and it's just a matter of timing:

"Many observers keep looking at the U.S. naval build-up in the Persian Gulf as a likely flashpoint -- and it's obvious that the Bushists are bellying around the Gulf like drunks at a bar, spoiling for a fight -- but it's on the ground, in the murk and blood and rape of Iraq, that the pretext is likely to arise."

Spoiling for a fight indeed. The news today - US Shakes It's Dick Towards Iran, Bellows

It Was Always A Deliberate, Gargantuan Lie

Friday, 7 February, 2003 - Rumsfeld foresees swift Iraq war
""It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months," he said, speaking at the American air base at Aviano, in northern Italy."

Spineless cowards drop insistence on Iraq withdrawal timeline
"Scrambling to send President Bush an emergency war spending bill he will sign, Democratic leaders have decided to drop their insistence on a timeline for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq.

Bush could double force by Christmas
"(05-22) 04:00 PDT Washington -- The Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showed Monday."

Pentagon Studies Long-Term Commitment in Iraq
"..the Pentagon is considering maintaining a core group of forces in Iraq, possibly for decades."

Best News Of The Day

Startling drop in TV viewing

"Where have all the viewers gone?
NEW YORK (AP) -- Maybe they're outside in the garden. They could be playing softball. Or perhaps they're just plain bored.
In TV's worst spring in recent memory, a startling number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months: More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year, statistics show."

Quickly followed by laughable assertions that this sick dinosaur medium may be as popular as ever:

"The networks argue that viewership is changing, not necessarily declining."
"Advertisers don't believe that the drop in viewership is as dramatic as the numbers suggest..."
"People are not consuming less television, they're watching it in different ways, and the measurements haven't caught up."

I'll say it again. television is a pathetic, diseased wasteland of manipulation, fit only to be diagnosed and studied as probably the prime progenitor of our society's nauseating pathology. TV is for mouth breathing, brain dead losers who allow themselves to be powerless, mind controlled consumers.
And more people are realizing it, good for them.

China Exporting More Poison

More reason to brush with baking soda, a beneficial and natural salt that has a million and one other uses besides cleaning your teeth. This of course comes on the heels of the poisoned wheat gluten from China that killed so many pets this year.

"DANYANG, China, May 21 — Chinese authorities are investigating whether two companies from this coastal region exported tainted toothpaste as more contaminated product, including some made for children, has turned up in Latin America.
(...)
Authorities in the Dominican Republic said they seized 36,000 tubes of toothpaste suspected of containing diethylene glycol, an industrial solvent and prime ingredient in some antifreeze.
(...)
Toothpaste containing the toxic solvent was also found in Panama and Australia in the last week.
(...)
Diethylene glycol is the same poison that the Panamanian government unwittingly mixed into cold medicine last year, killing at least 100 people."

Right Wing Media

Jeebus, all that runs through my head is Enter the Gladiators

"The Waste Of Money Cures Itself, For Soon There Is No More To Waste"

U.S. Pays Pakistan to Fight Terror, but Patrols Ebb

"WASHINGTON, May 19 — The United States is continuing to make large payments of roughly $1 billion a year to Pakistan for what it calls reimbursements to the country’s military for conducting counterterrorism efforts along the border with Afghanistan, even though Pakistan’s president decided eight months ago to slash patrols through the area where Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are most active."

Maybe he realizes 'Al Qaeda' is just a CIA front.

"The monthly payments, called coalition support funds, are not widely advertised. Buried in public budget numbers, the payments are intended to reimburse Pakistan’s military for the cost of the operations. So far, Pakistan has received more than $5.6 billion under the program over five years, more than half of the total aid the United States has sent to the country since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, not counting covert funds."

A Nazi State Par Excellance

Business as usual courtesy of US tax dollars.

"21 May, 2007 - I am writing this piece a few hours after an American-supplied Israeli F-16 bomber launched laser-guided missiles at the home of a Palestinian lawmaker in downtown Gaza City. The missiles destroyed the home of Khalil al Hayya, a lawmaker, killing eight people, including his wife and six of his family members.
The bombing was not a collateral damage but a deliberate act of criminality designed to inflict "shock and awe" on a people thoroughly tormented by 40 years of occupation, savagery and systematic persecution.
The annihilation of al-Hayya's family is not an anomaly or an isolated incident. It represents the "normal order of things" in the context of the Zionist occupation of Palestine."

h↑t to WRH

The Spoiler Tee

seen at BoingBoing

US Keeps Taking It To The Brink With Iran

Just because Iran isn't in the top headlines since releasing the captured Brits last month, it doesn't mean BushCo isn't reying on the old brinkmanship to keep to keep relations as volatile as possible.

The fascists are continuing to fund terror groups operating inside Iranian territory. Scott Ritter:
"The reality is that the US war with Iran has already begun. As we speak, American over flights of Iranian soil are taking place, using pilotless drones and other, more sophisticated capabilities."

Spineless democrats can't seem to rein in der fuhrer and refuse to abide by the constitution, basically giving the warmongers free rein to do as they please.
"..the U.S. House of Representatives rejected two measures that would have banned the Bush administration from attacking Iran without congressional approval."

Sure, there are upcoming 'talks' between Iran and the US, but the Iranians and just about everybody who knows how the warmongers operate expect negotiations to be little more than US representatives barking orders across the table.

When those show talks fail as scheduled BushCo has the draft for new sanctions to be slapped on Iran. Switzerland is fed up about being the diplomatic conduit between the two countries and has some ideas about peace, but the fascists want none of that sort of talk.

Kyrgyzstan is getting a little nervous.
"BISHKEK, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan will close a U.S. military base on its territory if the United States uses it for purposes other than to support an antiterrorism campaign in Afghanistan, the parliamentary speaker said in an interview with RIA Novosti Monday.
Located south of Bishkek, the country's capital, Manas airbase is the only U.S. base in post-Soviet Central Asia since Uzbekistan evicted American troops from its territory in 2005. Recent media reports hinted at the possibility of the U.S. using the base in the Central Asian state to deliver air strikes against Iran."

Meanwhile some very bad financial news for the Empire might make those trigger fingers a bit itchier - Kuwait severed ties with petrodollars, embraced other currencies and United Arab Emirates may not be far behind. If the dollar goes into free fall all bets are off.

UPDATE - Juan Cole thinks there may be something afoot with the Iraqi government's disappearing act - The Incredible Vanishing Iraqi Political Leadership: Al-Hakim to Iran, Talabani to US

Biblical Plague To Hit US

US Midwest readies for emergence of 17-year cicadas

"CHICAGO: Billions of noisy cicadas are expected to emerge this month in parts of the U.S. Midwest after spending 17 years underground.
"It's one of the greatest insect emergences on Earth," said Daniel Summers, an entomologist at The Field Museum in Chicago.
The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects do not bite or sting. But they are known for mating calls that produce a sound that can overpower telephones, lawn mowers and power tools. Almost all burst from the ground within a couple days of each other, then quickly climb the nearest vertical surface to molt and unroll their wings.
In some heavily wooded areas, as many as 1.5 million cicadas per acre (0.4 hectare) will crowd onto trees, experts say.
(...)
A single male's shrill courtship call can reach 90 decibels, equivalent to a kitchen blender."


"The cicadas can be cooked in a large frying pan in a way similar to popcorn. The taste is similr to the "crispy edges of the egg white of an overhard fried egg."
A popular way to prepare cicadas is to sautee them in butter with crushed garlic and basil. However, some people might not like the strong aroma that this produces.
Cicadas can also be dry-roated on a stick like a marshmallow over a fire.
You will probably want to remove the wings and legs because these have sharp edges."

How To Eat Cicadas

Fruit Not Falling Far From Tree

Dr. Laura son linked to lurid Web page

"The soldier son of talk radio relationship counselor Laura Schlessinger is under investigation for a graphic personal Web page that one Army official has called "repulsive." The MySpace page, publicly available until Friday when it disappeared from the Internet, included cartoon depictions of rape, murder, torture and child molestation; photographs of soldiers with guns in their mouths; a photograph of a bound and blindfolded detainee captioned "My Sweet Little Habib"; accounts of illicit drug use; and a blog entry headlined by a series of obscenities and racial epithets."

This fine, upstanding gentleman epitomizes what sick shitbags up the chain of command think is a useful tool. This gentleman perverts the very idea of being in the armed forces charged with defence of the United States. He's a poisonous disgrace, much like his hypocritical harpy of a mother, who dispenses morality as if she never liked to pose for porno shots.



By the way, Deryk Schlessinger turns out to be the guy videotaped at the republican convention in NY roughing up protesters and kicking one as she lay on the floor.

"Laura Schlessinger's appearance in Utah last week included a visit with Army families at Fort Douglas. In an interview with The Tribune, she said, "We raised our son to be a warrior."

Former Repug Legislator Arrested On Sex Charges

A former South Dakota lawmaker is accused of molesting his own foster children and legislative pages. Ted Klaudt, 49, a former Republican state legislator from South Dakota, has been arrested and charged with performing ‘ovary checks’ and‘breast exams’ on teenage girls.

Politics The Michael Moore Way

His new movie "Sicko" is the hottest ticket at Cannes right now and with all the advance condemnation from the usual critics it looks to be very, very good.

"The world premiere of "Sicko", a biting and polemical look at the US health system, is considered such a must-see by the thousands of critics and reporters here that it is being shown in the festival's biggest theatre -- even though it's not even in the official competition."

But here's an interesting story about how Moore handles his critics. It seems that he has a long time detractor named Jim Kenefick ...

"For several years now, Jim Kenefick has been railing against the Oscar-winning director on Moorewatch.com. Recently, Kenefick wrote about the difficulty he was having paying his wife's medical bills. Fellow conservatives guided him toward a cheaper health insurer, but Kenefick said he still had trouble making payments.
"Someone e-mailed me and asked if an 'anonymous' benefactor could offer to pay my first year's premiums - $12,000," Kenefick wrote on his site."

You got it, it was Moore who offered to send him the money, anonymously. Kenefick was suspicious at first but then cashed the check and spent all the money before he knew who gave it to him.
Now, think about what a brilliant move that was on Moore's part. How better to make a salient point about the subject of his new film - health care in america - than to help a man help his wife get medical care because he couldn't afford it. That the guy is an outspoken critic is the delicious part. Moore did something positive, gained attention for his movie, it's cause and silenced his critic all at the same time.
Or maybe didn't shut him up. Go see what an ungrateful idiot the guy is.

Giuliani Time

It's becoming clearer that Giuliani is tagged by the NWO/PTB as the next CEO for the corporate front organization formerly known as the United States. At tuesday's republican 'debate' it was Giuliani's microphone that was deliberately left on so he could attempt to interrupt and put the smack down on upstart Ron Paul, so early on it's evident Fox knows who to pimp for.

It seemed to me last month that Rudy boy was picked by the fascists to be president because of his heckuva job cleaning up loose ends after 9/11, sort of like Harvey Keitel's Mr. Wolf in Pulp Fiction. Nothing I've read since has made me change my mind.

He's making money hand over fist with his speaking engagements, charging up to $300,000 a pop. (Did I mention 9/11?) That America's Mayor Shtick still must play very well. But of course that's his only claim to celebrity status, as personally he was despised in New York during his second term of office. Oh, and that he dressed up in drag and made out with Donald Trump.



If our overlords install him as head honcho, what can we expect from a giuliani presidency? Well, we've got to remember how it went with his mayoralty in NY. He was elected in the midst of racial hostility after David Dinkens with the city bitterly divided. He did nothing to heal anything and went on a fascist bender by giving his police force a wink and a nod to go after the black and latino communities. "Giuliani time" was when law enforcement went after petty crime with a viciousness the city had never seen. The year before he took office 720 people were busted for posession of pot. In 2000 that number was 59,495, 83 times as many. The homeless, street artists and the poor all suffered. Tourist centers and Wall Street glistened while cuts in social services left garbage piling up in working class neighborhoods. In other words the rich got richer and the poor, well, you know. His zero tolerance bullshit paved the way towards the Patriot Act and Guantanamo. For our overlords, perfect presidential material.

Meanwhile, he's about to pick up endorsements from mucky mucks in his old stomping grounds.

But what really shows me that the G man is the preferred future glad hander for the elite is his deep ties to their plans for a north american union. One crucial issue for this upcoming New World Order nightmare is the massive superhighway planned linking the US, Mexico and Canada. It's already started as the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC), and guess who's law firm is representing the construction company, Cintra?

"All negotiations for Cintra were and are presently handled by the law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP, of which Republican Presidential candidate, Rudolph Giuliani, has been a senior executive partner since March 2005. His law firm is the exclusive legal counsel for Cintra. Bracewell & Giuliani is comprised of 400 attorneys, based in Houston, TX with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., London and Kazakhstan."

The Big Boys down in the lone star state see this and seem to know which way the wind's blowing - they can't pour money into Rudy's coffers fast enough.

Of course, not everyone thinks Times' Man of the Year is going to be elected installed. His hazy views on social issues and bimbo moments have people claiming he'll lose support among the Jeebus crazed, but I think the fascists couldn't care less about the religiously insane these days. (G's even going to stiff the stiff) They know their trump card is war, fear and terror and won't be afraid to play it to keep people in line. At this point, unless something dramatic occurs, it looks like we're going to get a president who could pass for a mafia Don, sort of.

Loyalty Day

The Unalected Thief is proclaiming May 1 as Loyalty Day. The document says in part:

"America was founded by patriots who risked their lives to bring freedom to our Nation. Today, our citizens are grateful for our Founding Fathers and confident in the principles that lead us forward. On Loyalty Day, we celebrate the blessings of freedom and remember our responsibility to continue our legacy of liberty."



Anti-War Group Banned From Parade
"NEWPORT, Ore. - A group of anti-war veterans were told they cannot participate in a parade along the Oregon Coast.
A video posted on the popular Web site YouTube shows the Loyalty Day parade spokeswoman telling the Veterans for Peace group that their bus can't join in the festivities.
When one veteran asks why, she explains that the spirit of the parade is loyalty to the community."



The brownshirts have taken their cue. Being anti war is being anti community.

Loyalty Day now means loyalty to Bush.

Brownshirts On The March

Back on May 8 a local radio host (850 KOA) in Denver named "Gunny" Bob Newman said on his May 8 show that "every Muslim immigrant to America who holds a green card, a visa, or who is a naturalized citizen [should] be required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet at all times," and that the government should "bug their places of work and their residences" and monitor "all mosques and community centers.If they don't like the idea, or if they refuse, throw their asses out of this country."
He also warned muslims "You better get control of your own people."



This latest Malkinesque bigotry is typical Reich wing talk and what we should come to expect from fascism's water carriers and stooges. It's actually merely an example of a Limbacile wannabe stirring the waters and trying to make a name for himself by using his bully pulpit to attract attention, but it interested me in that it's a case study of how fascism is working in the country these days.

Newman decided he'd go on a tirade because of an incident the day earlier where the FBI arrested six muslim men from Yugoslavia, Turkey and Jordan that were supposedly under surveillance for over a year and planned to kill soldiers or blow up warships or something. Call them the Pizzaria Six because some of them worked as delivery guys to Fort Dix.

Here we have a anothe example of how the authoritarians ply their trade. They've been routinely pulling these stunts off to convince the sheep about how their mighty actions save the people from insidious terror plots and reinforce the fear and hatred of muslims.
They'll find a group of young dark skinned men and infiltrate them with a government operative. This agent eggs them on to say wild things while he tapes them, gives them money and equipment and basically entraps them for thinking bad thoughts that he plants in the first place or at least nurtures. The pressure from the agent in this escapade was so intense one of the young "terrorists" actually went to the police to report him:

"Tatar went to Philadelphia police in November of last year, telling them he was being pressured to steal a map of Fort Dix in what could be a terrorist plot, according to the criminal complaint."

In virtually every one of these cases the plotters have absolutely no preparation for violence coupled with a government plant who becomes a ringleader that encourages the group until they're arrested.

Next phase in the drama is for the corrupt MSM to do it's job, namely hammer home the foul and ugly intentions of the current dangerous group, making sure to highlight sordid and juicy details. A common refrain is to moan about how innocent they seemed, always shuddering at the fact that terror is everywhere these days when a more obvious reason is that the suspects, um, have no terrorist intent in the first place. Being muslim is reiterated until the news consumers dutifully get the picture right. "News" stories will also blithely spew the myths of "Al Qaeda and Osama and any other garbage they need to reinforce in people's minds.

Enter the brownshirts like Gunny. Either by conscious intention or blind stupidity they'll pick up a story like this, which actually melts under the slightest scrutiny with just a few google clicks, and run with it as more proof of evil Salamifascism. They spew their hate, stoke the fear and target the enemies. They use stories like this to defend the vicious acts of a lawless, criminal regime and exhort their listeners to behave unconstitutionally toward others. It's only a matter of time before political enemies get the same treatment from these unamerican loudmouths.

News You're Not Supposed To Care Much About

Just like the terrible disaster at Camp Falcon last year and the true number of dead and wounded in the fascist war on the world, realities have to be hidden from the american ignorati at all costs. Let's all play bubble boy just like the psychopath in chief. Sneak those coffins home in the dead of night, pretend that all that depleted uranium isn't killing and sickening everyone in sight, ignore how the world is going to shit while this sick perversion of human life holds sway in the world.

This disconnect is so important to the fascists because it lets them get away with their crimes. Everything has to be seen as a raging success but only partially completed. There might be some minor setbacks but motives are always pure. Meanwhile depend on the corrupt, complicit MSM to distract and amuse the sheep with celebrity and sports and to bury news stories that can't be exploited for the criminals' benefit.

A small story, to be sure, but typical in that it's totally ignored by major news outlets in the US. A northern Baghdad air base was attacked by precision mortar shelling and up to sixteen helicopters were destroyed in an unprecedented resistance assault. That's an incredible defeat for the occupiers, but it won't see much play, because added to other stories like how all green zone workers have to wear body armor and that newest reports say Iraq is about to disintegrate as a nation it paints a very dire picture of what's really going on.

But hey, let's all just pay attention to Wolfowitz's longest resignation in history/Prince Harry/new Shrek movie and just move on, there's nothing to see here.

Or be interested in how delighted Blair is to polish the knob one last time before he steps down.



Also, some words on this dismal death of the fourth estate, "The Great Ongoing Cover-up of Everything that Really Matters ".

Big Fat Comfortable Target Hit Yet Again

Mortar barrage again hammers Green Zone

"BAGHDAD --Mortar rounds hammered the U.S.-controlled Green Zone for a second day Wednesday, killing at least two people, wounding about 10 more and raising new fears for the safety of workers at the nerve center of the American mission in Iraq.

About a dozen shells crashed into the 3.5-square-mile area of central Baghdad about 4 p.m., sending terrified pedestrians racing for the safety of concrete bunkers.
Motorists abandoned their cars and sprinted for cover. Sirens wailed and loudspeakers warned people to seek safety."

Jeez Boston.com, whaddya think, are they Sunni extremists or Shiite insurgents, hmm? Maybe you'd like to call them Al Qaeda terrorists or radical malcontents or some other equally stupid term? The fact is that the Green Zone is a prime target because it's the epicenter of a vicious occupation and represents all that's filthy in the subjugation and degredation of a supposedly vanquished country. A pampered, gated bubble of hedonistic fantasy which is going to burn to the ground as fast as millions of Iraqis can get around to torching it.

Excerpt: Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone

"UNLIKE ALMOST ANYWHERE else in Baghdad, you could dine at the cafeteria in the Republican Palace for six months and never eat hummus, flatbread, or a lamb kebab. The fare was always American, often with a Southern flavor. A buffet featured grits, cornbread, and a bottomless barrel of pork: sausage for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch, pork chops for dinner. There were bacon cheeseburgers, grilled cheese-and-bacon sandwiches, and bacon omelets. Hundreds of Iraqi secretaries and translators who worked for the occupation authority had to eat in the dining hall. Most of them were Muslims, and many were offended by the presence of pork. But the American contractors running the kitchen kept serving it. The cafeteria was all about meeting American needs for high-calorie, high-fat comfort food."

Tinky Winky Wins

For a little of Tinky's background history, we present "Perversion For Profit", hosted by George Putnam, outstanding news reporter and the whitest man in america.

YouTube Whack a Mole

Turkish court bans YouTube access

China sort of blocks YouTube

Thailand blocks access to YouTube

Aussie state bans YouTube

Iran bans YouTube

Pentagon bans US troops from using YouTube

Easy to get around bans with YouTubeProxy

How's Our Bank Account Balance?

Oops. According to the CIA, not so spiffy.



the top five countries ↑



the bottom five countries ↑

Speaking Of Traveling

It's actually interesting to throw yourself into mainstream american pop culture without the Internet, getting all of your information about the world outside your immediate environment from radio and TV snippets, newspapers and casual conversation. Just days before leaving on a three week vacation my newer Dell laptop died.
I became ignorant.
With a steady diet of mainstream media my worldview evaporated. Oh sure, ABC/FOX/ClearChannel et al happily informed me about various high profile bloodletting and celebrity gossip. Newspapers dutifully wrote about local goings-on. If I wanted NBA scores they weren't hard to come by. But not having access to this nearly infinite well of information for weeks left me deaf, dumb and clueless to the larger world. If I had to live in that state from now on all my opinions would be influenced by manipulators, demagogues and propagandists, flunkies, proselytizers and liars. Instead of being an active participant working to uncover information and opinion I'd become a passive consumer of mainstream pablum, safe in my comfort zone, always eager to get my emotional chain yanked and have my opinions conveniently pre-packaged for me.
Like too many brain dead americans.

By the way, some thoughts about vacationing, that endangered experience that we could once count on to get away and relax:

It's getting expensive geometrically, not arithmetically. We're all choking on the gas prices, but there are steep increases all across the board. Entrance fees are up. The National Park Pass is 60% more this year. A spot in a KOA type campground is typically near $35; it was less than $30 last year.
Be prepared for more prohibitions and constraints. I can remember when public lands meant exactly that. Now your access is increasingly restricted. The eventual result will be a look but don't touch policy, more like safe and pretty outdoor museums than natural splendor where you can find adventure. Of course if your idea of a splendiforous vacation is the Grand Old Opry or the Richard Nixon Library this won't matter to you.
Be prepared for crowds. If you haven't hit the road in awhile you'll be shocked.

This vacationing business may soon be an extinct animal, with more war, financial armeggedon or earth changes meaning any future excursion might actually turn into a fight for survival. If it all pathetically limps along and you have to escape your cubicle for a stretch, some tips.

Some people like a lazy hotel by the sea, or maybe an endurance hike along the Appalachian Trail, or possibly some shopping in Ciudad Juárez. Give me the Colorado Plateau. It's the most staggeringly beautiful place on earth, more eyeball bang for the buck than anywhere. Dozens of parks and monuments all clustered in a relatively small area of the country so that if you go there it's a short hop to the next jaw dropping scene. That's what floats my boat but I think the following might be useful travelling just about anywhere in the US today.

1. Travel as small and as light as you can. Whatever "conveniences" you can dispense with, do it because you don't need all that crap to lug around. Believe me, those giant wheeled megalopoli are going to disappear. I really like the retro trend back towards those small teardrop trailers if you want to sleep off the ground.

2. You can avoid the above problems by choosing destinations that don't get the big attention but are every bit as awe inspiring. An example in the SW - go to Valley of the Gods instead of Monument Valley. Camp for free, rock climb, take pictures, have the place to yourself.

3. Dry camp when you travel. Who wants to "camp" in an expensive, noisy place while on the road anyway? I've toyed for years about writing a pamphlet I'd call Gravel Pit Camping. Along most highways out west at differing intervals are gravel pits where the highway crews store mountains of gravel for road projects. Just pull in behind one and you have a free camp spot for the night- it's amazing how beautiful these remote places can be. Some states actually encourage weary travelers to pull into roadside pullouts and rest areas. I can't praise Nevada enough for being traveller friendly like that.

4. If you can, buy bulk food and gallons of water beforehand. The trend is to rip vacationers off.

5. Have WiFi capability. There's been an explosion of hotspots around the country and you can get online in places you wouldn't have thought you could. How about Castle Rock Store outside of Capital Reef Natl. Park in Torrey, Utah, pop. 171? Make reservations, check road reports and weather, look up places to visit.

6. Get out of the vehicle and walk or best of all, bring a bike. It's exhilarating to peddle around places like Yosemite Valley or Chaco Canyon. The Natl. Park Service should be complemented for instituting new programs of eliminating personal vehicle traffic from some treasured areas and putting in free shuttle services to bring people where they want to go. This is a Very Good Thing, in spades. Zion Natl. Park for instance. Ten years ago the wonderful valley reeked of fumes as thousands of cars and motor homes inched around vying for a few hundred parking spaces. Hot, pissed off people wasted their time driving aimlessly through the murk. Now, try this - park at the visitor center, put your bike on the front of one of the propane shuttle buses and take a ride to the top of the valley. Then peddle gently downhill listening to the Virgin River and wondering at the hummingbird moths in one of the most stunningly gorgeous places you'll ever see.

Your Words On The Internet Can Get You In Trouble At The Border

Web searches at U.S. border bring scrutiny to new level

"Andrew Feldmar, a Vancouver psychotherapist, was on his way to pick up a friend at the Seattle airport last summer when he ran into a little trouble at the border.
A guard typed Feldmar's name into an Internet search engine, which revealed that he had written about using LSD in the 1960s in an interdisciplinary journal. Feldmar was turned back and is no longer welcome in the United States, where he has been active professionally and where both of his children live."

It's just a matter of time until everything you say will be scrutinized and judged by the fascists and their stormtroopers, and anything displeasing or even slightly threatening will land you in a world of hurt.

Still Figuring Out That Virgin Birth Thing

Seen in Farmington, NM

Down, But Not Out In Moab

Weather across the southwest has been awesomely awful. Every place we've been was hit with torrential rain and wind. That would be OK if we weren't hit with mechanical difficulties every step of the way. Right now we're in Moab, UT with the rig in the shop having a brake controller fixed after losing the refrigerator in Chaco canyon NM.

Moab sure ain't what it used to be even several years ago. The town is being loved to death with people pouring into it to range across the countryside enjoying the sights, but not today. You don't want to go four wheeling through gullies and washes with all this rain coming down.

Losing our new computer before the trip means having to peck away at library machines and no way to upload anything. This library lets you have 15 minutes and then cuts you