Watching ...

1. The shit hit the fan, and spray all over George Bush.

Yes, indeed. The Supreme Court, by a 5-4 margin (Chief Justice Roberts recused himself, but he would have sided with the minority anyway) decided to slap Dear Leader across the ass and say, "What part of 'Rule of Law' do you NOT understand?" The decision - all 185 pages of it - basically said that:

yes, the Geneva Conventions DO apply to the people we're holding down in Gitmo,

and NO, the President does not have the authority of a Roman dictator - he still has to work with the Congress and the courts, not merely go his own authoritarian 'unitary' way.

Ought to be interesting to see how his masters play this one.

2. Religious fundamentalists' heads explode.

Oooh, yeah. The FDA finally did something gutsy, approving and recommending the HPV vaccine Gardasil be given to girls 11 years of age and up. You see, Gardasil blocks the human pappiloma virus, which causes genital warts and can also cause cervical cancer.

The reason that the fundies' heads will start exploding is that while they are certain that the vaccine will encourage promiscuity, they also don't want to be labeled as people who want their own children to die of cancer (because studies show that abstinence education is worthless as a form of sexual control).

Another neat way of watching fundies' heads explode is to have them realize that Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are joining philanthropic forces. Buffet championed the RU486 birth control pill, and we all know how the fundies HATE anything that gives women the tiniest bit of control over their reproductive destinies.

So sit back and watch the fireworks this Glorious Fourth.

A True WMD

You really have to read the article on this link! It's a hoot!

Wahhhh

It seems the Bush Administration (also known as the Bush Crime Family) has a problem. Every time they come up with another marvelously clandestine idea to rape our civil liberties and take away our privacy, someone lets the press know about it.

And not Fox News, either - I'm talking some of the few remaining outlets that are NOT complete propaganda tools of the Junta.

First it was the NSA wiretapping, and now it's the monitoring of all international banking transactions. The New York Times broke that story, prompting Rep. Peter King (R-Rich Motherfuckers) to call for the prosecution of the paper for treason. Heard it, Pete, and don't hold your breath, you stupid excuse for a waste of natural resources.

Of course, lumped into the supercategory of wastes of resources we will place Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Drooling Sycophants), who has deigned to speak out against the ILLEGAL wiretapping of American citizens by cleverly offering to change the FISA law so that Bush and General Bunsen Honeydew can listen in on YOUR phone calls without any fear of being called down on it. I'm glad I don't live in Pennsylvania, if Specter and Rick Santorum (R-Religious Weirdos) are the senators there.

***

In other news of the Weird, Bush and his puppetmasters have been harping on the fact that the Democrats' ideas of troop reductions/redeployments in Iraq amount to a "cut and run" strategy that will only embolden those spooky ol' terrorists. Bush also refuses to set anything that looks like a firm date for anything, even refusing to discuss what an eventual "victory" in Iraq MIGHT look like.

Well, apparently Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and US General Casey didn't get the memo. Al-Maliki called for US troop withdrawals, while Casey actually set a timeline for the withdrawal of two combat brigades from Iraq starting later this year.

So now the Bushies are downplaying Casey's and al-Maliki's pronouncements, while the Dems cry out that Bush is being a hypocrite and is just using the war as a political ploy to get the GOP firmly back into the saddle until the 2008 general election.

Or maybe longer, if a suitable National Emergency can be concocted that will enable Bush to suspend the Constitution, kill off or restrict the Congress to Republicans only, and proclaim himself Fuehrer.

An Idea

One of the main problems with people protesting at gatherings hosted or featuring persons such as Vice-Leader Cheney or Reichsminister Gonzalez or the hideous Ms. Coulter is that the protests are usually loud and boisterous.

Well, I had an idea.

The next time these people stand up and start blathering about "staying the course" or "cut and run" or "the liberal agenda" (and especially in regards to the idiots in Miami as a "serious terrorist threat"), start laughing.

Just laugh.

If you treat the Bushite Junta's loudmouths as low-brow, Borscht-Belt comedians, maybe you can communicate to others just how foolish they sound. Maybe they'll shut up with the sound bites.

Or maybe not, thus guaranteeing us a lot of great low comedy for a while.

Non Sequitur

Take a good look at the seven people in the picture. They have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to destroy the tallest building in the United States (the Sears Tower in Chicago, for those of you who DIDN'T know).

Now, the Bush Crime Syndicate has constantly said that we need to fight the terrorists over there (Iraq) so we won't have to fight them over here.

Another lie. They're here, Bush.

(That is, IF it's true, and not just a tactic to instill fear in the vast sheeplike masses.)

I Hate Being Right

In the days immediately following 9/11/01, I was worried about one thing - that the United States would act out of fear, rather than calmly and dispassionately trying to work out a solution. To quote a movie, "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate - leads to suffering."

As the runup to the invasion of Iraq grew more and more strident, I could see the Fear enveloping the government. I knew that this would end badly.

I hate being right.

Hard upon the heels of the discovery of the mutilated bodies of two of our soldiers, a coworker suggested that we "kill and mutilate them all" (presumably meaning the terrorists, although for every one we kill, another seems to take his place).

"Are we better than they are?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Then does our killing and mutilating them make us better, or just like them?"

He conceded that he was just angry, and I understood that.

I'm angry too, but I will not let either fear, anger or hate cloud my judgment.

***

Let the dead rest in peace, honored by all for their service and commitment.

Damn all those who misled them to their deaths.

We shall never forgive.

We shall never forget.

Roundup

Been out of the loop a bit recently, but I'm all caught up now.

***

Tom Gallagher, GOP candidate for Governor of Florida, admitted yesterday that he smoked marijuana "many years ago" and that he'd had an affair that led to the end of his first marriage. Add to that the fact that he's being investigated for shadiness regarding his ownership of insurance-related stocks while Florida's Insurance Commissioner, and you have the quintessential Republican Conservative Family Values Poster Boy.

***

Speaking of False Republicans, the Evil Uberlord Darth Cheney slobbered and oozed his way through a series of questions at the Press Club yesterday. Is there anything this walking putrescence HASN'T lied about yet? He now admits that he underestimated the strength and stamina of the insurgency.

Let's hope that he and his criminal cohorts haven't underestimated the staying power of the Army and Marines.

***

North Korea (you remember them? The people with the Bomb that we HAVEN'T invaded or screwed with?) is reportedly readying an ICBM for launch. For those of you who weren't born during the Cold War (or maybe forgot), that's a missile capable of reaching from its site in the DPRK all the way across the Pacific to whack hell out of Alaska or even farther. And if it were armed, it might be carrying a nuclear weapon.

Northern Lights, anyone?

2,500

"But if the cause be not good, the king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make, when all those legs and arms and heads, chopped off in battle, shall join together at the latter day and cry all 'We died at such a place;' some swearing, some crying for a surgeon, some upon their wives left poor behind them, some upon the debts they owe, some upon their children rawly left. I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle; for how can they charitably dispose of any thing, when blood is their argument? Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it; whom to disobey were against all proportion of subjection."

Henry V, Act 4 Scene 1



Requiescat in pace, brave souls.

Damn those who led you to it.

Never forget - never forgive.

The Grudge

"I would hope the right would at least be concerned over the damage being done to the American military by this war. Morale, my ass. Excuse me, but our government doesn't even seem to be able to pay these people on time. Not to mention stretching them past the breaking point in Iraq, leaving them without adequate mental care when they come home, endlessly extending their tours, bribing them to re-up, and so forth and so on. Then, of course, something like Haditha happens, and they all get a black eye out of it.

I think it's time the antiwar side in this country started using a few threats of its own -- specifically, about who's going to take the blame for this when it's over. Forget the liberal tradition of forgiveness. I say, hold this grudge."

- Molly Ivins

****

Here's a naughty joke:

Q: What is Irish Alzheimer's?
A: Where you forget everything but the grudge.

Liberals, progressives and moderates (yes, and even those True Conservatives who have not sold their souls to the Bombs-n-Jesus extremist douchebags) all need to remember this war. Never forget it. Nurse that grudge and start yelling at all the right wingers who have led us into it, who excoriate anyone who disagrees with them as traitors.

Nuremberg-style war crimes trials might be a good idea for some of the principals in this sorry, tawdry rape of our morality, our military, our economy and our civil liberties.

Never forget!

Never again!

Showing the Puppet His Strings

Over the weekend Our Dear Anointed Leader and Bringer of the Pax Americana to the Hordes of Brown People Whether They Want It or Not, Generalissimo Decider George Bush decided to fly to Baghdad to "look into the eyes" of new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

A few things leap into view at this point:

1. Bush had to sneak into Baghdad; not even his close aides knew where he was going, and Air Force One had to jink around in the sky for a roller-coaster landing. I guess Bush was worried that the candy and flowers thrown by adoring mobs of Iraqis would hurt his plane. In another blog, a commenter noted that neither Johnson nor Nixon had to sneak into Saigon, so could it be that we don't own the skies over Baghdad?

2. The rest of the Arab world will probably see the meeting for exactly what it is - an infidel overlord meeting his puppet, and the heavy-handed security crackdown in Baghdad (designed to "take the city back," although I thought we already had it) will not win him any friends, particularly if the Sunnis take offense.

3. Bush "looked into" al-Maliki's eyes and considers him a good leader. Well, we all know how good a judge of character Bush is - he looked into Russian President Putin's eyes and considered him trustworthy. Russia is now rearming its military and accusing the US of being a "wolf."

I'm not sure there will be much, if any, positive bounce in Bush's deflated poll numbers. Things are going to start falling on him faster now, as Afghanistan and (possibly) Iraq start to go south and the economy hits a speed bump.

Fun in the Sun at Guantanamo

From the Chicken Noodle Network:

(Emphases are mine, in bold thank you)

Admiral: Gitmo suicides a 'planned event'

First confirmed deaths follow hunger strikes at detention facility

(CNN) -- Three prisoners at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have hanged themselves in what is being called a "planned event," the U.S. military has said.
They are the first confirmed deaths at the compound. Prisoners have attempted suicide in the past.
"Two Saudis and one Yemeni, each located in Camp 1, were found unresponsive and not breathing in their cells by guards," said a statement issued by Joint Task Force-Guantanamo on Saturday.
"Medical teams responded quickly and all three detainees were provided immediate emergency medical treatment in attempts to revive them. The three detainees were pronounced dead by a physician after all lifesaving measures had been exhausted," the statement said.
"This was clearly a planned event, not a spontaneous event," said Rear Adm. Harry Harris, commander of Joint Task Force-Guantanamo.
He added that there is a "mythical belief" that the Guantanamo detention center would be shut down if three detainees die.

- snip -

The suicides should surprise no one because the detainees believe they will be held indefinitely with no chance for justice, said Josh Colangelo-Bryan with the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents about 200 of the detainees.
"They've been told that while at Guantanamo they have no rights as human beings," he told reporters during a conference call Saturday.
Colangelo-Bryan said one of his clients told him during a visit to the facility in October 2005 that he "would simply rather die than live here with no rights."
Jumana Musa, Amnesty International USA's advocacy director for domestic human rights and international justice, released a statement pointedly blaming the Bush administration for the suicides and calling Guantanamo "an indictment on its deteriorating human rights record."
"By rounding up men from all over the world and confining them in an isolated penal colony without charge or trial, the United States has violated several U.S. and international laws and treaties," Musa said in the statement.
The United States has defended its use of the Guantanamo facility to hold "enemy combatants" during the war on terrorism after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The U.N. last month issued a report saying that holding suspects indefinitely without charges violates the world torture ban and established human rights law.
The May 19 report called for the shutdown of Guantanamo and any secret prisons the U.S. operates.
Harris said Saturday that every prisoner at Guantanamo is considered "dangerous."
"They are smart. They are creative. They are committed. They have no regard for human life, neither ours nor their own," Harris said. "I believe this was not an act of desperation, but rather an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."
Asymmetrical warfare is when one side uses unorthodox or surprise tactics to attack the weak points of its stronger opponent.

- snip -

CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

***************

Thanks, Barbara.


I have to wonder about Admiral Harris' statements. For starters, all suicides are planned. You don't just wake up one morning and hang yourself. No, you plan it out, whether you're serious about it or just crying for attention.

Second, well DUH, you stupid, stupid excuse for a Naval Academy graduate. If I were locked up with no charges, for no discernible reason and no hope of getting out EVER, I might consider a desperate act of suicide to be an act of assymetrical warfare. It takes me away from you and gets me out of an untenable position, after all.

Also remember the Islamic concept of suicide, which is different from the 'modern' ideal thought upon in the West. To Westerners, suicide is still considered a mortal sin, and there is a stigma attached to it (which is why, to this day, insurance companies won't pay out for suicides). It wasn't always that way - the Greeks and Romans considered suicide almost the same way the Japanese used to look upon it, as a way out of a bad spot.

Islam considers two forms of suicide; one is for selfish reasons, which is accounted a sin. The other is called istislah, and is suicide for Allah. If you are killing yourself for what you think are good, moral and godly reasons, you can face that yawning abyss of uncertainty with actual joy.

So yes, the suicides at Gitmo may indeed be a form of warfare, a means of saying, "Well, you're holding me and will never let me go, so I will take myself away from you."

Admiral Harris, the ghost of Eichmann is smiling at you right now. The Evil Bureaucrat is probably also somewhat distressed at the shoddy job you're doing to exterminate your inmates. I'm sure he could do a better job.

Let the Games Begin!

Yes, indeed!

The 2006 FIFA World Cup is about to get underway, with host country Germany kicking off against Costa Rica. England meets Paraguay on Saturday, and Mexico squares off against Iran on Sunday. These are the games that I'm concentrating on for the opening weekend.

Team USA starts its group with a match against the Czech Republic on Monday.

Every four years, for one month, I become a soccer fan. The World Cup is the world's largest and most-watched sporting event, dwarfing the Super Bowl and all other US sports championships.

So come on, America!

Bounce those Czechs!
Send the Azurri back to Abruzzi!
Send Ghana back to Nana!

Why Does the United States Government ...

Hate Everyone?

You see, hatred is just as important as fear to the wonderful people who act as if "government of the people, by the people and for the people" means just them and their co-religionists - and heaven help you if you're not white, or from another country. If you don't have anything to really hate, there's no way you can whip up the mass of bottom-feeding genetic rejects that Supreme Generalissimo Decider Bush calls his 'base.'

So let's see, what do we have on the Hate Parade that the 'base' can get behind?

Iraqis? The Bushies did such a great job of hating them that now we allow torture of detainees and our troops allegedly perpetrate massacres of unarmed civilians. Well, hey, you can't be certain if that five-year-old "Haji" is hiding a grenade in his diapers. Better just to smoke 'em all, and let Allah sort 'em out.

Iranians? We've laid a major hating on Iran for the past 27 years, with no letup yet. And our esteemed Foreign Policy Schoolmarm has dismissed the threat by Iran to block the Straits of Hormuz if they get attacked by us.

Arabs? See Iraqis and Iranians, please.

Black People? Just look at Katrina, folks. The Bushies hate the poor and they hate anyone that doesn't have a white skin. If they could, they'd roll back every bit of legal precedent and social legislation dating back to the 14th Amendment.

Now, unfortunately, the Bush Crime Family's track record regarding all of the above have managed to do just one thing - debunk the concept of a "CEO Presidency." The 'base' needs something more ...

Aha!

Gay People!

We don't hate gay people enough! Perfect!

But how can we display our hatred so the 'base' will come out and vote? Simple!

The Bushies will outlaw gay marriage!

Never mind the fact that there is no solid or objective evidence (not a jot) that allowing homosexual marriage threatens or in any way handicaps American society, and never mind the fact that single parenting, drug use, abuse and divorce rates are much greater threats to the family. No, no. We much amend the Constutution (which, for the past 217 years has steadily given people rights) to take away a right that gays have never had in the first place.

Absolutely perfect 'base' fodder. Give the genetic pinheads something to foam and slaver about as they troop into the polling station and cast their rigged votes.

Milestone

Actually two.

This is my 356th post.

It is also ... drum roll, please ...

The One Year Anniversary of this blog!

Hooray.

That Time of Year - Again

Yes, boys and girls, it's Hurricane Season once again, and the people whose job it is to guess at such things have predicted a real E-ticket ride for the next 6+ months.

So I've made a few preparations - I've restocked my hurricane kit with food, water and batteries, I now have two first aid kits, and there is lumber already cut to secure my windows. I will also start doing monthly tests of my generator to make certain that I can at least power a fan or two, as well as the fridge.

Apart from all that, all I can do is wait. I live inland, about 70 miles from either coast, but the three storms that went right over my head back in 2004 (Charley, Frances and Jeanne) proved that nowhere in Florida can be considered "safe."

So, batten down the hatches, and brace yourselves.