And, yes, I DO take it personally: 08/21/2005

Muslim anger over Iraq reported fuelling British extremism - A YEAR AGO...!

the cover-ups, the denials, the lies... the house of cards continues to collapse - in slow motion...

The Foreign Office's top official warned Downing Street that the Iraq war was fuelling Muslim extremism in Britain a year before the 7 July bombings, The Observer can reveal.

Despite repeated denials by Number 10 that the war made Britain a target for terrorists, a letter from Michael Jay, the Foreign Office permanent under-secretary, to the cabinet secretary, Sir Andrew Turnbull - obtained by this newspaper - makes the connection clear.

The letter, dated 18 May 2004, says British foreign policy was a 'recurring theme' in the Muslim community, 'especially in the context of the Middle East peace process and Iraq'.

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Photos

for those of you who have asked for more photos, let me suggest that you visit my other blog where i have quite a few posted, most drawn from my various travels...

the noise of a marginal life

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Guilty pleasures: X4 top 20 electronica countdown and Mantecol

two fellow bloggers do their friday night thing, one cat blogging and the other orchid blogging... one of them also does running commentary on friday night sci-fi... well, being virtually vice-free (ya, right), i do occasionally succumb to one or two of my own guilty pleasures... one, guaranteed to add inches to the waistline but entirely too delicious to pass up and something i've only found in argentina, are mantecol candy bars...

Example

mantecol (a peanut butter and sugar concoction) comes plain, swirled with cocoa, chocolate-covered, or chocolate-covered with chocolate mixed in with the mantecol... so, mantecol bar in hand, i kick back and listen to x4 radio's top twenty electronica countdown...

Example

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Didn't take Bolton long to foment a UN showdown

nothing bolton would like better, i'm sure, than to do a re-enactment of "gunfight at the ok corral," where he can face all our ex-allies off in the street and gun 'em down with twin six-guns blazing... but, guess what...? the u.k. has decided not to be the trusty sidekick on this one... oughta be interesting, come monday...

Britain will join an international alliance to confront George Bush and salvage as much as possible of an ambitious plan to reshape the United Nations and tackle world poverty next week .

The head-to-head in New York on Monday comes after the revelation that the US administration is proposing wholesale changes to crucial parts of the biggest overhaul of the UN since it was founded more than 50 years ago.

[...]

it was revealed this week that Mr Bush's new ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, was seeking 750 changes to the 36-page draft plan to be presented to a special summit in New York on September 14 to 16. Mr Bolton's amendments, if successful, would leave the plan in tatters.

[...]

The Foreign Office confirmed yesterday that Britain was standing behind the original plan, putting it at odds with Mr Bush.

The concern in British and other international circles is that the American objections, if adopted, would severely undermine the UN summit, the biggest-ever gathering of world leaders.

At least 175 world leaders have accepted an invitation to attend. The UN said yesterday that Mr Bush had confirmed that he would be there.

[...]

Mr Bolton's comments provoked a negative reaction from many agencies involved in development work.

Martin Kirk, the public affairs adviser of Save the Children, said this year had promised so much for the world's poor, but, "instead of a breakthrough we are now looking at a possible retreat from the millennium development goals by the UN".

Nicola Reindorp, the head of Oxfam International's New York office, said: "We are less than three weeks away from the UN world summit and the next two weeks are crucial in determining the outcome ... If the US and other governments substantially weaken the outcome document, the summit will result in failure."

let's cut the crap, shall we...? bushco doesn't have the slightest bit of interest in un reform... it's all about bringing it to a halt and laying the groundwork for a u.s. withdrawal from any meaningful participation, citing un corruption, bureaucracy and instransigence... what other earthly purpose would be served by dishing up a huge platter of recommended changes at the last minute after u.s. negotiators had spent months helping craft the current document...?

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Venezuela to missionaries: "Stay home...!" [UPDATE]

Venezuela's government has temporarily suspended permits for foreign missionaries after a U.S. televangelist said Washington should assassinate President Hugo Chavez.

disallowing the entry of christian missionaires into their country is perhaps the smartest thing venezuela could do... i've witnessed firsthand how christian crusaders have, all in god's name of course, systematically exploited the vulnerabilities of the poorest of the poor, imposed fundamentalist christian principles without regard for how they support or do not support previously existing values and culture, and turned peasants into proselytizers... and that's just the more MAINSTREAM christians...! the mormons and the 7th day adventists [and jehovah's witnesses - see update below] are much worse in terms of manipulative tactics and imposition of rigid beliefs... i hope more countries around the world follow venezuela's example...

('course, let's not forget that the original pattern was established hundreds of years ago by catholic missionaries...)

(thanks again to AMERICAblog, this time to joe...)

[UPDATE]

well, son-of-a-gun... i made this post about 2 1/2 hours ago, ate a late lunch, talked with a friend, walked to the mercado norte for a few things, just got back and was settling down when i hear these male voices on the street outside my door... i peeked through the curtain to see who they were and why they weren't ringing the bell... then i saw the dark suits... they must have been discussing their approach because they finally stopped talking and pushed the bell... i opened the door and, sure enough, out came the jehovah witness literature... no, gracias, i said... they wanted to leave me with the literature but i politely declined... there are 30 million people in argentina and, you can bet, a good number of 'em are answering their doors today to face the same thing... stick to your guns, hugo chavez...

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Argentina may leapfrog Spain in gay rights legislation

argentina's got plenty of problems, for sure... for example, i had a long conversation last evening with a civil law attorney who in his "spare time," serves as the volunteer head of a non-profit traffic safety organization... (traffic safety, in argentina, is an oxymoron more akin, according to my friend, to barely controlled anarchy, with traffic rules and regulations virtually never enforced and, when they are, fines rarely collected... the national traffic fatality count is around 7000, a rate almost 7 times higher than the u.s. with less than a quarter as many vehicles on the road...) then there's the economic troubles, political troubles, etc... but, interestingly, among latin american countries, particularly catholic countries (which takes in damn near all of them), argentina is big on tolerance, live-and-let-live... this is coming up in september...

By drawing the media spotlight to five-year-old twins Lucas and Julia and their two "daddies", the Argentine gay and lesbian community is gearing up to fight for the passage of a bill in Congress that would not only legalise same-sex civil unions, but grant these couples the inheritance and adoption rights normally limited to marriage.

The bill will be introduced in the Argentine Congress in September. If it is passed into law, Argentina will become the first country in Latin America to legally recognise homosexual couples nationwide.

Same-sex civil unions are currently authorised in the city of Buenos Aires, but these partnerships do not include the right for one spouse to automatically inherit from the other, nor do they permit adopting children as a couple.

The civil union bill, which is backed by numerous jurists, is considered to be more progressive than the same-sex marriage law adopted in Spain last June. Instead of merely expanding the legal concept of marriage to include same-sex couples, the proposed legislation would establish a new, more open institution that some heterosexual couples may choose to opt for as well.

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AMERICAblog's rob comments on Cindy

great comment and deserves posting in full...

I just watched Cindy Sheehan on Bill Maher. When Maher asked her jokingly that if she didn't get satisfaction from George Bush, would she go over his head to Cheney or Rumsfeld, she replied:

"You know what Bill, I have gone over his head, I've gone to the American people. And we employ him, he's our employee."

She has found her voice, and I gotta say, she's got a great voice. She's quick, she's smart, and I think that she's going to be a great face for the American people's growing frustration with the war.

Seeing Cindy tonight, I saw an average American speak in her own voice, and having it heard. And it's resonating. I predict that we've seen just the beginning of Cindy Sheehan.

"an average american speaking in her own voice..." how long have we been waiting...? good for her... i'm 100% behind her...

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Uzbekistan formally gives U.S. the boot; Iraq obtains Abu Ghraib prisoner release

item: when the u.s., in an uncharacteristically firm and direct response to the uzbek government's oppressive crackdown on protests in may when it was estimated that hundreds were killed and more imprisoned, called for an international investigation, the uzbek government decided at the end of july it didn't want the u.s. karshi-khanabad air base, known as K2, on their soil... a vote in the uzbek senate yesterday upholding that decision was unanimous...

item: it was announced today, over speculation that the request was an outcome of the iraqi constitutional process, the u.s. released over 1000 prisoners from abu ghraib at the request of the iraqi government...

you can be sure that the iraqis are not unaware of the situation in uzbekistan... you can also be sure that, floating in the back of every iraqi's mind, is the awareness of u.s. plans to build and maintain permanent military bases in iraq... my take, for what it's worth...? the prisoner release request is a feeler, a precedent, if you will, in the direction of full national sovereignty... everyone involved in the constitutional process - shia, kurd, or sunni - has to know that allowing permanent u.s. military presence in iraq would be the death of credibility with their middle east neighbors... however, they must also be under enormous u.s. pressure to make sure the constitution has nothing in it to exclude that presence... it's interesting but not at all surprising that nothing on the subject is appearing in the msm...

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We're not people, we're consuming units

i deeply resent being labeled a "consumer..." consumption in all of its most ugly forms - conspicuous, over, unbridled, insatiable - is the symptomatic badge of the first world and of the u.s. in particular... we've got young people dying in iraq so we can continue our consumptive ways... does this critical national issue ever make it to the msm...? nah... we'd rather soak up natalee holloway, what one blogger has termed "emotional porn..." at least somebody's putting their finger on the problem even if it's only in alternet...

In American Mania: When More is Not Enough, renowned psychiatrist Dr. Peter C. Whybrow skillfully and sensitively critiques the mess America has made of its consumer culture.

What have we become? According to Whybrow’s scientific and philosophical analyses, we’ve devolved into a nation of overindulging, overstimulated flakes addicted to easy access and instant gratification.

Dr. Whybrow argues that our seemingly interminable quest for more -- more money, more power, more toys, more cars -- has in fact become a form of clinical mania marked by symptoms such as anxiety, depression and obesity.

To avoid suffering a collective mental breakdown, Whybrow implores us to stop focusing on things and instead turn our attention to people -- family, friends and community.

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Iraq Constitution: Here's hoping they figure it out

imho, this is make or break time for the iraqis... the u.s. has certainly handed them a lemon but they're the ones who gotta figure out how to make lemonade... it's terribly sad... they're killing each other left and right, u.s. troops are dying right along with them, and they're trying to put thousands of years of ethnic and religious unrest to bed with a document that creates a u.s.-style democracy that is as foreign to their culture as wyoming buffalo...

The impression of growing crisis in Iraq was reinforced when a new front erupted in the violent rebellion, with Shia Muslims fighting each other with guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the prime minister, made an emergency television appeal for peace and sent two police commando units to Najaf where the fighting had started.

Throughout the day in Baghdad, politicians bickered over how to proceed with the constitution without driving the country to civil war.

i don't know what's worse... hanging around, adding fuel to the insurgency and upping the u.s. (and iraqi) death count, gradually pulling out and prolonging the current agony or getting the hell out right now and hoping for the best... we know what george thinks... he says we're gonna stay there come hell or high water... after all, we want to build those permanent military bases... good lord... will somebody PLEASE wake me up...?

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Sure, let's dine with the Prez and not tell anybody

how positively gagging...

President Bush played host to the White House press corps Thursday night for a private off-the-record dinner at his ranch.

The casual affair of fried catfish, potato salad, coleslaw, homemade cheese and chocolate-chip cookies followed a tradition in which Bush and his wife, Laura, have the press covering his annual August vacation out to the their ranch in central Texas as a sort of thank-you.

The event was not held last year because of the busy campaign season. The invitations to the reporters were issued on the condition that they not discuss conversations at the event.

meanwhile, across the road at camp casey... if the wh press corps had any cojones whatsoever, they would have declined the invite en masse...

(thanks to raw story...)

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Why is my forehead so flat...?

cuz i keep slapping it with the palm of my hand when i suddenly have a bgo... (everybody know what a bgo is...? B-linding G-limpse of the O-bvious...) i just had another one when, while trolling through the various news blogs and news sites i keep up with, i once again made the observation that, gee, it's sure a slow news month... then it hit me... ~duh~ that's cuz IT'S AUGUST and everybody's ON VACATION...! well, i'll be dipped... so, how about a nice couple of pics instead...

Example

i took both of these yesterday at parque centenario near the argentina museum of nature and science... i really like the top of that tree and across the street, i spotted this attractive banner for a place that offers facilities for kids' parties...

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Rev. Pat on the wrong side of the law...?

wouldn't it be nice to see his lard butt taken off to jail for shooting his big, fat mouth off...? probably not gonna happen... glad somebody's checkin' it out tho'...

Examine first, if you will, the broad prohibition against threatening or intimidating foreign officials, which is a misdemeanor offense. This is found in Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 112(b), which states: "Whoever willfully -- (1) … threatens … a foreign official …, [or] (2) attempts to… threaten … a foreign official … shall be fined under this titled or imprisoned not more than six months, or both."

The text of this misdemeanor statute plainly applies: No one can doubt that Robertson "attempted" to threaten President Chavez.

Yet the statute was written to protect foreign officials visiting the United States - not those in their homelands. Does that make a difference?

It would likely be the precedent of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that would answer that question; the Fourth Circuit includes Virginia where Robertson made the statement. And typically, the Fourth Circuit, in interpreting statutes does not look to the intent of Congress; it focuses on statutory language instead.

And in a case involving Robertson, to focus on language would only be poetic justice:

Robertson, is the strictest of strict constructionists, a man who believes judges (and prosecutors) should enforce the law exactly as written. He said as much in his 2004 book, Courting Disaster: How the Supreme Court Is Usurping The Power of Congress and the People.

(thanks to think progress...)

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Globalisation drives inequality

well, are we surprised...? the ideal of globalisation would be to raise living standards and raise people out of poverty worldwide... but that was never the intent... the intent, plain and simple, has always been to extend the power, control and ability to accumulate wealth of the world's super-rich, who had begun to exhaust the possibilities of the developed world and needed new markets to exploit and more consumers feeding at the trough... of COURSE globalisation, when practiced in that context, increases inequality...

Despite unprecedented economic growth in recent years, the rich have become richer and the poor even poorer, says a new U.N. report that also shows women facing more hardship than men in all walks of life.

[...]

"Ignoring inequality in the pursuit of development is perilous," the report warns. "Focusing exclusively on economic growth and income generation as a development strategy is ineffective, as it leads to the accumulation of wealth by a few and deepens the poverty of many."

The authors note that in a world of increasing technological development, when societies should be benefiting from economic progress, many are facing "alarming increases" in the discrepancies between rich and poor.

Even comparatively wealthy nations like the United States, Canada and Britain have failed to escape this trend. And while China and India have seen considerable economic growth, the two largest Asian nations have also failed to address the issue of inequality.

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If there's an al Qaeda ally, it's George

robert parry at consortium news has been prolific these past few days... here's his analysis of how bushco's misbegotten policies and blind stubbornness is fanning the flames of islamic terrorism...

[W]hen Bush prescribes an offensive strategy – “to go after the terrorists where they live … until the terrorists have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide” – his projection of U.S. power into the Islamic world not only portends a virtually endless war but has the detrimental effect of reinforcing the arguments that Islamic extremists use to recruit impressionable young people to terrorism.

For that reason, some observers see the current dynamic as a vicious cycle – an escalating pattern of tit-for-tat violence with both sides nursing grievances bathed in blood. More cynical analysts go further, seeing a symbiotic relationship in which Bush and bin-Laden – whether wittingly or not – serve each other’s political needs.

lemme put my cards on the table here... bush is not a stupid man... the people around him are not stupid either... it stretches the bounds of rationality past their breaking point to think that bushco's policies are the result of bumbling, incompetence and shortsightedness... if they're not, what does that leave us with...? in all candor, i can only surmise that bushco WANTS to fuel terrorist ambitions... nothing else makes any sense whatsoever... "unwittingly" is just absurd...

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Bolton hard at work doing what he does best -

creating a path of chaos, division and destruction wherever he goes... think progress has this to say...

It hasn’t taken John Bolton long to undermine UN reform efforts. Just three weeks after his recess appointment, Bolton is reversing the work of U.S. negotiators and is seeking to “scrap much of a draft plan for comprehensive UN reform just weeks before it is to be adopted at a world summit.”

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WaPo tongue-lashes Rev. Pat & Bushco silence

even more disturbing than robertson's kill-the-dirty-rotten- bastard brand of christianity is the absence of firm and sincere condemnation from our top leadership and the deafening silence of his fellow travelers, the family research council and the traditional values coalition... the wapo seems to have taken a short breather from their recent administration toadying to point out a painfully obvious vacuum...

We won't even pretend to have given television evangelist Pat Robertson's latest obnoxious utterance much thought, considering his long history of pious bloviations that have made him come across to most Americans as, well, witless. Were it not for the widespread attention being given in Latin America to Mr. Robertson's call on Monday for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, we would have preferred to allow the Christian Coalition's founder to continue his slide from America's mainstream into the obscurity he has so richly earned. But his latest bit of foolery is worth a comment or two -- if for no other reason than Mr. Robertson, in an act of stupidity only he could outdo, has handed Fidel Castro's acolyte a propaganda gift of immeasurable value.

[...]

The Family Research Council and Traditional Values Coalition spare no moments in rushing forth to denounce irresponsibility on the part of those they dislike. Not so with Mr. Robertson, who only called for the United States to murder a foreign head of state. Even the Bush administration can't bring itself to censure a fellow conservative who publicly calls for his country to break the law. "Inappropriate," the State Department managed to say. The White House, embarrassed by Mr. Robertson yet again but too afraid to mix it up with his narrow but loyal base of support, simply averts its gaze.

see what happens when you ride the tiger...? you can't risk getting off... what if this same fruitcake called for the assassination of a supreme court justice as was almost the case with the rev's fellow fruitcake, tom delay... would we be greeted with shrugs and silence...?

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Back against the wall, Robertson apologizes

after trying to lie his way out of it, robertson, cornered, apologizes...

"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement," Robertson said. "I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."

but, ya know what...? he said it... he meant it... he then turned around and lied about it... now he's apologizing...? sorry, pat... too damn late... you can't grab those words out of the air and stuff 'em back in your mouth... now we know what kind of christianity you practice and it ain't pretty...

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Oh, good, Cindy's back

About a dozen protesters who have continued the peace vigil picked up Cindy Sheehan at the Waco airport Wednesday afternoon, six days after she flew to Los Angeles when her 74-year-old mother suffered a stroke.

now, as soon as bush returns from his vacation from his vacation, he'll get to drive by her yet again, with the motorcade kicking up dust... i hope he catches pneumonia from the limo's air-conditioning...

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Art Spiegelman and 9/11

sometimes i feel like i've been living in a cave... here i am in buenos aires, shopping for some new reading material at ateneo on avenida santa fe (my favorite bookstore in the world, a renovated theater) and i run across something i didn't know existed - art spiegelman's "In the Shadow of No Towers..." i had already bought my new stock of bathroom, airplane and pre nite-nite libros and had decided to browse some more... i stumbled across it and started to flip the pages... when i realized what was in my hands, i immediately retreated to the confiteria that occupies the former stage, ordered a cafe grande con dos medialunas and started to read... wow! is all i can say... i laughed out loud, i felt tears welling up and chills ran up and down my spine... this is from the online description...

In 10 large-scale pages of original, hard hitting material (composed from September 11, 2001 to August 31, 2003), two essays, and 10 old comic strip reproductions from the early 20th century, Spiegelman expresses his feelings of dislocation, grief, anxiety, and outrage over the horror of the attacks---and the subsequent "hijacking" of the event by the Bush administration to serve what he believes is a misguided and immoral political agenda. Readers who agree with Spiegelman's point of view will marvel at the brilliance of his images and the wit and accuracy of his commentary. Others, no doubt, will be jolted by his candor and, perhaps, be challenged to reexamine their position.

i'm not into making book recommendations but i sure recommend THIS one... you may remember that spiegelman is the pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist of maus, the series on nazi germany and the jewish pogrom...

Example

Spiegelman: DOOMED! Doomed to drag this damned albatross around my neck, and compulsively retell the calamities of September 11 to anyone who'll still listen!...
Eagle: EVERYTHING'S CHANGED! AWK!
Spiegelman: I insist the sky is falling; they roll their eyes and tell me it's only my Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder...
Eagle: GO OUT AND SHOP! AWK!

Example

Spiegelman: That's when Time stands still at the moment of trauma... ... which strikes me as a totally reasonable response to current events!
Eagle: AWK!
Spiegelman: ...I see that awesome tower, glowing as it collapses!...
Eagle: Be AFRAID!

amazing...! incredible...! i am s-o-o-o glad i found this...

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Stolen election... No, it won't go away...

robert parry of consortium news analyzes how we got to this point...

Under traditional news judgment, the lead paragraph in American newspapers on the morning of Nov. 12, 2001, should have read something like: “If all legally cast votes in Florida were counted in Election 2000, Democrat Al Gore would have carried the state and thus won the White House, according to an unofficial tally of disputed ballots.”

Indeed, the tally found that Gore would have carried Florida’s key electoral votes regardless of the standard used for judging so-called “undervotes,” ballots kicked out by vote-counting machines which could detect no presidential choice. Gore won even ignoring Florida’s other irregularities – such as the badly designed “butterfly ballots” and the improper “felon purges” – that cost him thousands of additional votes.

To put it more starkly, a recount conducted by a consortium of major media organizations had determined that George W. Bush, the guy in the White House, not only lost the national popular vote but should have lost the Electoral College, too. To be even blunter, a pivotal U.S. presidential election had been stolen.

But that wasn’t how the major newspapers and TV networks presented their findings. Instead, they bent over backwards to concoct hypothetical situations in which George W. Bush might still have won the presidency – if the recount had been limited to only a few counties or if legal “overvotes,” where a voter both checks and writes in the name of the candidate, were cast aside.

Though the news media’s recount had started with the goal of assessing whether Florida voters favored Gore or Bush, that purpose was lost in a rush to shore up Bush’s fragile legitimacy in the weeks after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

The key discovery of Gore’s victory was buried deep in the stories or relegated to charts that accompanied the articles.

i guess i can stretch my understanding to encompass why the media might want to shore up bush's fragile legitimacy following 9/11... i guess... how convenient for george that it worked out that way...

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Wow...! A media journalist with a spine...! (And more subliminal NYT bias...)

cool... very cool... as as the porteńos say, "re piola..."

For Bob Costas, the issue was not complicated.

The longtime NBC sports and talk show host, who signed on this year to be an occasional substitute for Larry King on CNN, resisted a request last Thursday to be the host of a King program devoted to interviewing guests about the already widely covered Natalee Holloway missing-person case in Aruba.

When he could not get the show's topic changed, Mr. Costas said he respectfully decided not to participate.

"I don't believe there was a single American who was sitting around saying 'I'd really like to see Bob Costas's take on this,' " Mr. Costas said in telephone interview.

now, what i would REALLY like to know is why the nyt accompanied this quite legitimate news story with a photo of bob costas and al franken when there was no mention of al franken in the story... oh, hell... i already KNOW the answer to THAT... it just grinds my ass to see such blatant editorializing in the supposedly "liberal" nyt, the major organ of the VLWC...

Example

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Cindy publicly responds to George

I would give everything I own, will own, or have owned to have one more glimpse of my son. Dare I even say ... one last hug or phone call? How dare Bush go on vacation and live a normal life when he has ruined mine by his lies? How dare he take five weeks off when he is waging a devastating and needless war?

cindy sheehan has written an excellent piece, posted on alternet, responding to bush's last few days of public comments... please go read the whole thing here...

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Rain slows down Porteńos

Buenos Aires city residents endured flooded streets, fallen trees, public transport delays and traffic jams, as yesterday’s downpour amounted to more than the normal downpour for the entire month of August. By mid-afternoon, and after 16 hours of rain, a massive 103.5 millimetres per square metre had fallen on the city.

yeah, it rained all right... all monday night and all day yesterday... then, in the evening, the wind picked up and it rained horizontally for a while... the temps have dropped about 10C but, this morning, the sun is out - for a while... the clouds are starting to gather again...

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Oopsie... I raised some ire...

i'm not particularly interested in giving other bloggers a hard time although when i surf around, i do occasionally leave comments, usually of some substance... yesterday, however, in visiting cao's blog (see below), i left this comment regarding the on-going call for a blogburst to get kerry to release his military records, along with abolishing the aclu, a rightie blogger favorite... "get a life... who cares...? there's a ton more important stuff going on..." i evidently touched a nerve cuz these 9 comments were waiting for me this morning...

Get a life...who cares? there's a ton of more important stuff going on
Cao

Get a life...who cares? There's a ton of more important stuff going on
Cao

There's a ton of more important stuff going on, moonbat--get a life.
Cao

Get a life, maybe you could drag yourself out of idiotaria long enough so that daylight won't hurt your eyes.
Cao

Who cares? Maybe your two visitors, but honestly, nobody else...
Cao

Sadly, nobody cares. Get a life.
Cao

Maybe you should post about something people really care about. No wonder nobody's interested in this blog.
Cao

Nobody cares about what you've got to say, profmarcus. You don't have any commenters because you don't have an audience. That should give you a hint; you're wasting your time. Hope you're keeping your day job.
Cao

Average readers: 74 a day and most of them are you. This is a sorry excuse for a blog.
Cao

sure, a ton of readers would be nice but, hey...! if readership was what i was after, there's a lot of ways to get it, none of which particularly interest me for the same reasons i'm not wealthy or chairman of a board... anyway, cao, thanks for visiting...

Example

make no mistake... she's ready to kick YOUR ass too...!

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Ya know, Pat, you may be on to something...!

morganfreebase turns wistful...

"But it's like, dude, if you can't assassinate a foreign dictator-- who can you assassinate?"

it's absolutely incredible what you run across on the internet...

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Why does this man get any air time at all? [UPDATE: Rummy weighs in]

No, I know he owns his own TV station. I mean, why does any major network have him on as a sane representative of Christianity? From today's NYT:

Televangelist Calls for Assassination of Chavez

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested on-air that American operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming ''a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism.''

''We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability,'' Robertson said Monday on the Christian Broadcast Network's ''The 700 Club.''

''We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator,'' he continued. ''It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.''

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

''You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,'' Robertson said. ''It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop.''

I would expect to hear this sort of crap from a crackpot sitting next to me at a bus stop (no offense intended to bus riders), but not a "national religious leader." Of course, what should I expect from someone who prays for God to smite Supreme Court justices?

[UPDATE from profmarcus...]

this has to be read slowly, rolled around in the mouth for a minute or two, savored and then spit into the toilet...

The Bush administration swiftly distanced itself Tuesday from a suggestion by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson that American agents should assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, long at odds with U.S. foreign policy.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, appearing at a Pentagon news conference, said when asked: "Our department doesn't do that kind of thing. It's against the law. He's a private citizen. Private citizens say all kinds of things all the time."

private citizen...? PRIVATE CITIZEN...? a FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PRIVATE CITIZEN...??? awwww, rummy... why do you have to go and shoot yourself in the foot like this...?

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Oooo, George...! Slip-sliding away...!

while you're kicking back at tamarack in idaho, resting up from that enervating speech in salt lake city that disrupted your brush-clearing at the ranch, you might want to check this out...

Overall, 36% of Americans say that they approve of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president, 58% disapprove, and 6% are undecided.
Among Republicans (35% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 77% approve of the way Bush is handling his job and 18% disapprove. Among Democrats (37% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 15% approve and 81% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job. Among Independents (28% of adults registered to vote in the survey), 21% approve and 72% disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job as president.
Overall, 33% of Americans say that they approve of the way George W. Bush is handling the economy, 62% disapprove, and 5% are undecided. Among registered voters, 36% approve and 60% disapprove of the way Bush is handling the economy.

77% of the faithful kool-aid drinkers still have your back (which is somewhat astounding given how seriously you're screwing up) but, hey...! i gotta give ya credit... that's SOME kool-aid you're pushing...!

can the 20s be far behind...?

(thanks to raw story...)

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Will big pharma take the high ethical road...? Not likely...

in another stomach-turning display of, at the most charitable, naivete but, more likely, pure disingenuousness, the nyt again suggests truth-telling...

[Pharmaceutical] companies must jump at the first hint of risk and warn patients and doctors of any dangers as clearly and quickly as possible. They should not be stonewalling regulators, soft-pedaling risk to doctors or promoting drugs to millions of people who don't need them.

what makes this noble recommendation so odious is that it completely ignores that big pharma is only following the lead of the current administration and, to be scrupulously fair, previous administrations as well... spinning, soft-pedaling, stonewalling and false advertising are the order of the day and karl rove is chairman of the board... for bushco, it's all about power and control... for business, it's all about money... and the two fit together right nicely, don't you think...?

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Bush in Salt Lake

President Bush hailed the sacrifice of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan on Monday and vowed, in a rare reference to the number of American deaths, that the nation owed it to the more than 2,000 Americans killed in the two wars not to end their mission prematurely.

i wish THIS vet had been there... he'd have found out in a hurry that being in front of a vet is no guarantee of being in front of a bush supporter... it's been a while since i've used my favorite bugs bunny quote... "what a maroon...!"

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Northwest killing off its mechanics union; markets applaud; other airlines watch closely

it's called "contingency planning..." northwest has had plans in place for nearly a year to bring in non-union mechanics in case of a strike by their mechanics union, amfa (aircraft mechanics fraternal association)... sure enough, it paid off... with the poor bastards out on strike, the temps were brought in... bush, naturally, refused to intervene and, golly gee, guess what...? northwest's share price rises... so typical of business as usual in the u.s. - union-busting gets rewarded by the marketplace, never mind the fact that many of those mechanics may never work in the airline industry again and will be lucky to be able to keep up with their mortgage payments... if you're gonna run a business these days, it definitely helps not to have a soul...

With a strike by thousands of mechanics in its third day, Northwest Airlines on Monday faced its biggest test yet in its bid to keep operating, but the stock rallied as investors bet the carrier had won.

who gets to define "winning," by the way...? sounds like a win-lose proposition to me... i'm also of the belief that win-lose is ALWAYS lose-lose in the long run... and, of course, just like with united's pension default, the other airlines are paying close attention...

Northwest Airlines' success in keeping its planes flying even after its mechanics walked off the job early on Saturday could embolden other companies to play hardball with their unions.

While Northwest could still hit turbulence in the coming weeks, it has so far effectively used replacement workers and third-party contractors to replace some 4,400 striking mechanics, cleaners and custodians.

Its apparent success could send tremors through other unions at Northwest, its beleaguered airline rivals and even other US corporations, further weakening the organized labor movement.

can't you just picture bush, cheney and rove, following this story and rubbing their hands together in glee...? as maureen dowd says, it's their world, we just live and die in it...

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Give up our "right" to continue to control resources and accumulate wealth...? Ummm... No, thanks...

It was with great fanfare five years ago that the United States and some 188 other countries signed the United Nations Millennium Declaration, a magna carta to eradicate poverty and hunger and disease among the one billion people in the world who subsist on barely anything. Chief among those goals was for the rich world to finally put muscle behind that overused phrase "level the playing field," when it comes to trade.

But so far it has been nothing but talk, talk, talk on trade. While the rich continue their shameful obfuscating, poor countries are priced out of the market.

[...]

[F]or poor countries, the process of compromise has been a one-way street for more than half a century. It's time for the rich world to start doing a little compromising.

of all the media outlets that have the colossal nerve to make an accusation of "talk, talk, talk," it's the nyt, one of the world's biggest bastions of old money with no intent whatsoever to alter the balance of the status quo... while i agree with the sentiment expressed wholeheartedly, the underlying hypocrisy is gagging and the disingenuousness is worse...

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Sheehan ad refused by SLC ABC affiliate; NBC, CBS and, yes, Fox accept

A Utah television station is refusing to air an anti-war ad featuring Cindy Sheehan, whose son's death in Iraq prompted a vigil outside President Bush's Texas ranch.

[...]

KTVX, a local ABC affiliate, rejected the ad in an e-mail to media buyers, writing that it was an "inappropriate commercial advertisement for Salt Lake City."

[...]

Salt Lake City affiliates of NBC, CBS and Fox began running the ad Saturday.

[...]

Station General Manager David D'Antuono said the decision was not influenced by the station's owner, Clear Channel Communications Inc.

uh-huh... three other local channels with every bit as much at stake in the local community decide to run it and a clear channel-owned station doesn't... and i don't suppose just KNOWING that clear channel owns your ass and what their very clear-cut political stance is had any influence whatsoever... gimme a break...

(thanks to raw story...)

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RAT-zinger is no do-it-yourself'er

Pope Benedict XVI has warned of the dangers of secularism and of "do it yourself" religion, on the final day of his visit to his native Germany.

now, why in the world would i want to make up my own religion...? that's for rev. moon, pat robertson, james dobson, and mullah omar... what the RAT-zinger's REALLY saying is that we can't do it without the guidance of adepts or the initiated or the blessed or the anointed or the sanctified or the ordained or all those other self-important middle-men that have set themselves up between us and our higher power...

the difference between religion and spirituality...? religious people believe in hell... spiritual people have already been there...

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Frank Rich and Cindy

When Mr. Bush's motorcade left a grieving mother in the dust to speed on to a fund-raiser, that was one fat-cat party too far. The strategy of fighting a war without shared national sacrifice has at last backfired, just as the strategy of Swift Boating the war's critics has reached its Waterloo before Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury in Washington. The 24/7 cable and Web attack dogs can keep on sliming Cindy Sheehan. The president can keep trying to ration the photos of flag-draped caskets. But this White House no longer has any more control over the insurgency at home than it does over the one in Iraq.

everything i see and read points to cindy sheehan as the "tipping point" for the disastrous bush administration... the five-day iraq war sales trip may be a small indicator that they recognize they're being tipped... but as heedless, arrogant, and power-mad as the bushco crew is, i don't see them altering course for anything... after all, who and what will stop them...?

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Another housing bubble warning

robert shiller, a yale economist who accurately predicted the 2000 crash of the worldwide stock market, is weighing in again on the real estate bubble...

He predicts that prices could fall 40 percent in inflation-adjusted terms over the next generation and that the end of the bubble will probably cause a recession at some point.

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Karen Hughes to repair poor U.S. image abroad...?

Ms. Hughes, installed at the State Department, plans to set up "rapid response" teams to counter bad news and defend administration policies around the globe.

The teams, to be set up in the Middle East and elsewhere, are one of several initiatives being prepared by Ms. Hughes, who took office this week as under secretary of public diplomacy. The initiatives are part of what Bush administration officials say will be an aggressive drive to repair America's poor image abroad, particularly in Muslim countries.

aw, c'mon karen... the biggest thing that needs to happen before the u.s. image can even begin to improve is your boss leaving office... at this point, any yadda-yadda you or your "rapid response" teams can dish out is just peeing in the ocean... sorry, but it's W-A-AY beyond YOU, kiddo...

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Ellen Goodman, Cindy and "Dead Wrong"

ellen goodman has a strong, respected, reasoned voice... i wish she'd make use of it more often on critical topics... i'm glad to see this...

We are now ending Week Two at Camp Casey. The August phenomenon of 2005 is not shark bites or missing women, but a mother who showed up at the president's vacation doorstep.

[...]

In Week Two, prowar supporters have tried to make the war protest all about Cindy. She was dubbed the ''Poster Child for Surrender" and ''America's Most Embarrassing Mother." But, in fact, this woman with a reckless courage born of grief and anger -- ''I'm not afraid of anything since my son was killed" -- directs her challenge to the ''swing voters" of this war. She presents a different image to those uneasy Americans who have so far held their tongues and their doubts out of respect to the war dead and their families.

[...]

So the question is not whether the president will talk with her. He won't. [...] It's whether nearly 1,900 Americans died in a war of choice and how painful that is to acknowledge. It's whether we go on quietly honoring those deaths with more deaths.

ellen makes a good point... it is encouraging to see a major story that isn't about a missing white woman or a shark attack... we badly need a focus on the real issues that are facing our country... also encouraging is seeing a major network pushing out truth... i just finished watching the rest of the cnn presents: "dead wrong" special report... it's searing despite the fact that it tiptoes around laying the blame at the feet of the two principal perpetrators, cheney and bush... if cindy, currently at her mother's side in california, happens to catch it, it will only add to the terrible knowledge that her son was taken to an early death by a president who either did not know, did not want to know, or did not care to tell the truth...

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