Photograph courtesy World Picture Network
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DEBTOCRACY- A GREEK FILM WITH LESSONS FOR IRELAND
12 years ago
Friday, June 23, 2006
this comes as a total shock........
NOT
according to the ny times .. YOUR king, george the meek and mild, has been looking into YOUR bank records in addition to listening to your phone calls, reading your emails and opening your regular mail. according to the article the king and his court say, 'The program is limited, government officials say, to tracing transactions of people suspected of ties to Al Qaeda'. well they said that about the WARRANTLESS phone calls too didn't they? but we all know they're listening to us say, 'grandma, can you send me 200 bucks?' too!!! NOTE: neither my grandma (my noni died at 102 years old AND i NEVER asked her for money) nor i are members of al qaeda OR any other TERRORIST organizations. now the right really didn't complain about the calls or the mail but i think THIS (money money money) may get them whining so it MAY indeed be a GOOD thing after all. we shall see we shall see
Bank Data Secretly Reviewed by U.S. to Fight Terror
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and JAMES RISEN
WASHINGTON, June 22 - Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials.
The program is limited, government officials say, to tracing transactions of people suspected of ties to Al Qaeda by reviewing records from the nerve center of the global banking industry, a Belgian cooperative that routes about $6 trillion daily between banks, brokerages, stock exchanges and other institutions. The records mostly involve wire transfers and other methods of moving money overseas or into and out of the United States. Most routine financial transactions confined to this country are not in the database.
Viewed by the Bush administration as a vital tool, the program has played a hidden role in domestic and foreign terrorism investigations since 2001 and helped in the capture of the most wanted Qaeda figure in Southeast Asia, the officials said. The program, run out of the Central Intelligence Agency and overseen by the Treasury Department, "has provided us with a unique and powerful window into the operations of terrorist networks and is, without doubt, a legal and proper use of our authorities," Stuart Levey, an undersecretary at the Treasury Department, said in an interview Thursday. The program is grounded in part on the president's emergency economic powers, Mr. Levey said, and multiple safeguards have been imposed to protect against any unwarranted searches of Americans' records. .........
according to the ny times .. YOUR king, george the meek and mild, has been looking into YOUR bank records in addition to listening to your phone calls, reading your emails and opening your regular mail. according to the article the king and his court say, 'The program is limited, government officials say, to tracing transactions of people suspected of ties to Al Qaeda'. well they said that about the WARRANTLESS phone calls too didn't they? but we all know they're listening to us say, 'grandma, can you send me 200 bucks?' too!!! NOTE: neither my grandma (my noni died at 102 years old AND i NEVER asked her for money) nor i are members of al qaeda OR any other TERRORIST organizations. now the right really didn't complain about the calls or the mail but i think THIS (money money money) may get them whining so it MAY indeed be a GOOD thing after all. we shall see we shall see
Bank Data Secretly Reviewed by U.S. to Fight Terror
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and JAMES RISEN
WASHINGTON, June 22 - Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials.
The program is limited, government officials say, to tracing transactions of people suspected of ties to Al Qaeda by reviewing records from the nerve center of the global banking industry, a Belgian cooperative that routes about $6 trillion daily between banks, brokerages, stock exchanges and other institutions. The records mostly involve wire transfers and other methods of moving money overseas or into and out of the United States. Most routine financial transactions confined to this country are not in the database.
Viewed by the Bush administration as a vital tool, the program has played a hidden role in domestic and foreign terrorism investigations since 2001 and helped in the capture of the most wanted Qaeda figure in Southeast Asia, the officials said. The program, run out of the Central Intelligence Agency and overseen by the Treasury Department, "has provided us with a unique and powerful window into the operations of terrorist networks and is, without doubt, a legal and proper use of our authorities," Stuart Levey, an undersecretary at the Treasury Department, said in an interview Thursday. The program is grounded in part on the president's emergency economic powers, Mr. Levey said, and multiple safeguards have been imposed to protect against any unwarranted searches of Americans' records. .........
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Colbert hits Fox claim that Gay Marriage leads to Animal Marriage
saw this in rawstory and i HAD to post it myself. i am amazed more and more at the thought patterns of some
saw this in rawstory and i HAD to post it myself. i am amazed more and more at the thought patterns of some
i HATE to generalize. i really do
but the republicans DO NOT CARE ABOUT US, the common (well we're not common but you know what i mean) worker. they have NO idea about making ends meet on a minimum wage. education, health care, housing, jobs.............
THEY HAVE NO EFFING IDEA
Senate defeats Democrats' minimum wage increase Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:59 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday defeated a proposal pushed by Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage in increments from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour by January 1, 2009.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, unsuccessfully tried to attach the proposal raising the wage for the first time since 1997 to a defense authorization bill that is expected to be passed by the Senate soon.
THEY HAVE NO EFFING IDEA
Senate defeats Democrats' minimum wage increase Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:59 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday defeated a proposal pushed by Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage in increments from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour by January 1, 2009.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, unsuccessfully tried to attach the proposal raising the wage for the first time since 1997 to a defense authorization bill that is expected to be passed by the Senate soon.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
two (more that is) of our soldiers are dead
it appears they were tortured before being 'brutally murdered'. my thoughts and prayers go out to their families and those of every other soldier wounded and killed in this war (and any other war).
to those that support this war AND us torturing the prisoners we've captured, how do you feel about the two VERY YOUNG americans that were just tortured and killed? do you think the people that did this to them are barbarians? what are we? why did every single newspaper (well, most of them) have a picture of a dead terrorist on their covers for days? i couldn't handle seeing that. just tell us he's dead, don't show us the pictures UNLESS you show us the pictures of ALL of our service members who come home in a box and those that come home with a limb missing or worse.
why are WE dictating to iraq (and north korea and pakistan and iran and just about everywhere else) what is right and wrong, what can and cannot be done?
to those of you who support our presence in iraq, how do you justify 2,500 PLUS of our men and women being killed? for what? the iraqis did NOT fly planes into the world trade center. the iraqis did NOT have weapons of mass destruction. sure, saddam was evil AND a murderer. what is king george?
we no longer live in a free society and i for one am scared. our doors can be knocked down without those doing it identifying themselves. our conversations (both in print and orally) can be spied upon WITHOUT warrants. big business is getting all sorts of breaks while the common citizen can barely afford to fill up their gas tanks. the earth is dying and all sorts of laws that were passed to protect her are being repealed.
i am absolutely sick to my stomach.
to those that support this war AND us torturing the prisoners we've captured, how do you feel about the two VERY YOUNG americans that were just tortured and killed? do you think the people that did this to them are barbarians? what are we? why did every single newspaper (well, most of them) have a picture of a dead terrorist on their covers for days? i couldn't handle seeing that. just tell us he's dead, don't show us the pictures UNLESS you show us the pictures of ALL of our service members who come home in a box and those that come home with a limb missing or worse.
why are WE dictating to iraq (and north korea and pakistan and iran and just about everywhere else) what is right and wrong, what can and cannot be done?
to those of you who support our presence in iraq, how do you justify 2,500 PLUS of our men and women being killed? for what? the iraqis did NOT fly planes into the world trade center. the iraqis did NOT have weapons of mass destruction. sure, saddam was evil AND a murderer. what is king george?
we no longer live in a free society and i for one am scared. our doors can be knocked down without those doing it identifying themselves. our conversations (both in print and orally) can be spied upon WITHOUT warrants. big business is getting all sorts of breaks while the common citizen can barely afford to fill up their gas tanks. the earth is dying and all sorts of laws that were passed to protect her are being repealed.
i am absolutely sick to my stomach.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
i don't like john stossel
i've seen him on the abc weekly news magazine show spouting off stupid things (so very smugly i might add). so i was very happy to see this in kos
VIDEO: Embarrassing John Stossel on CNBC
by davidsirota
Sun Jun 18, 2006 at 08:29:46 AM PDT
It's not everyday that you get to publicly embarrass a right-wing pathological liar like John Stossel on national television - but that's what I had the pleasure of doing earlier this week. Now, after popular demand by those who saw the transcript of the interchange, Alternet's Don Hazen tracked down the video of the interchange, which you can now view here. It's pretty hilarious- so go check it out. Frankly, I thought Stossel would be a lot smoother at trying to defend his lies - but he really was an unworthy adversary. He strikes me as someone who has gotten so lazy and so infatuated with the sound of his own voice that he thinks he can just spit out factually inaccurate nonsense and no one will call him on it. Well, at least this week, those of us fighting for the truth nailed him to the wall..................
VIDEO: Embarrassing John Stossel on CNBC
by davidsirota
Sun Jun 18, 2006 at 08:29:46 AM PDT
It's not everyday that you get to publicly embarrass a right-wing pathological liar like John Stossel on national television - but that's what I had the pleasure of doing earlier this week. Now, after popular demand by those who saw the transcript of the interchange, Alternet's Don Hazen tracked down the video of the interchange, which you can now view here. It's pretty hilarious- so go check it out. Frankly, I thought Stossel would be a lot smoother at trying to defend his lies - but he really was an unworthy adversary. He strikes me as someone who has gotten so lazy and so infatuated with the sound of his own voice that he thinks he can just spit out factually inaccurate nonsense and no one will call him on it. Well, at least this week, those of us fighting for the truth nailed him to the wall..................
dyke and faggot!!!!
that's NOT me talking mind you, that is the pentagon. why doesn't it surprise me homosexuality is still listed as a disorder?
Pentagon Lists Homosexuality As Disorder
Jun 19, 6:48 PM (ET)By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Pentagon document classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned that position.
The document outlines retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities, and in a section on defects lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.
Critics said the reference underscores the Pentagon's failing policies on gays, and adds to a culture that has created uncertainty and insecurity around the treatment of homosexual service members, leading to anti-gay harassment.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeremy M. Martin said the policy document is under review.
The Pentagon has a "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits the military from inquiring about the sex lives of service members but requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay.
The Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, at the University of California at Santa Barbara, uncovered the document and pointed to it as further proof that the military deserves failing grades for its treatment of gays...........
Pentagon Lists Homosexuality As Disorder
Jun 19, 6:48 PM (ET)By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Pentagon document classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned that position.
The document outlines retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities, and in a section on defects lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.
Critics said the reference underscores the Pentagon's failing policies on gays, and adds to a culture that has created uncertainty and insecurity around the treatment of homosexual service members, leading to anti-gay harassment.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeremy M. Martin said the policy document is under review.
The Pentagon has a "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits the military from inquiring about the sex lives of service members but requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay.
The Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military, at the University of California at Santa Barbara, uncovered the document and pointed to it as further proof that the military deserves failing grades for its treatment of gays...........
it appears we're in the wrong bid-nez
we're not profiting off of the blood of our men and women in iraq, or the gulf coast. we're tax paying (mostly) law abiding citizens who love our land and most of it's people. we seek to live good moral lives. we want to believe OTHERS live good moral lives as well. THESE PEOPLE DON'T.
Federal contracts up 86% under Bush; Halliburton rises 600%
06/19/2006 @ 1:02 pmFiled by RAW STORY
Top contractor Lockheed got contracts larger than budget of Congress, Dept. of Interior
WASHINGTON -- A new report claims that a "shadow government" of federal contractors has exploded in size over the last five years.
The document, compiled at the request of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and distributed to RAW STORY, indicates that procurement spending increased by over $175 billion between 2000 and 2005, making federal contracts the fastest growing component of federal discretionary spending.
500 reports, audits and investigations by government and independent bodies, including the Government Accountability Office and the Defense Contract Audit Agency, were used to compile the data.
That spending increase -- an astonishing 86 percent -- puts total US federal procurement at $377.5 billion annually. The increase means spending on federal contracts has grown more than two times as fast as other forms of discretionary government spending............
Federal contracts up 86% under Bush; Halliburton rises 600%
06/19/2006 @ 1:02 pmFiled by RAW STORY
Top contractor Lockheed got contracts larger than budget of Congress, Dept. of Interior
WASHINGTON -- A new report claims that a "shadow government" of federal contractors has exploded in size over the last five years.
The document, compiled at the request of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and distributed to RAW STORY, indicates that procurement spending increased by over $175 billion between 2000 and 2005, making federal contracts the fastest growing component of federal discretionary spending.
500 reports, audits and investigations by government and independent bodies, including the Government Accountability Office and the Defense Contract Audit Agency, were used to compile the data.
That spending increase -- an astonishing 86 percent -- puts total US federal procurement at $377.5 billion annually. The increase means spending on federal contracts has grown more than two times as fast as other forms of discretionary government spending............
Monday, June 19, 2006
i got this comment on a leonard cohen posting i did a while ago
Well, I also love Leonard Cohen but not like some of your girls out there. I knew and loved the woman who supposedly fucked him over -- better than he did, in some ways, and probably more times in the sack. And I think he had it coming, frankly. If it weren't for her, the best albums of his career would never have happened. She saved him from being another washed up, borderline sociopath abuser-pop-star like Phil Spector, whom Cohen subtly tries to differentiate himself by always recounting that story that puts himself on the wrong end of Spector's pistol -- and yet they're so similar, really. Both alpha-male Jews in Hollywood blessed with extreme talent, extreme ambition and extreme skill in using women (also known as "muses"). Oh, and did I forget to mention. Spector and Cohen both have violent tempers and are into rough sex. But then again, so is every fucker in Hollywood these days.There's much more to the story than any of you two-bit Cohen groupies will ever realize, unless maybe I sell the bloody thing to McLean's for a large sum. A very large sum. It's getting temptinger and temptinger. --Posted by Anonymous to ravings of a semi-sane madwoman at 6/18/2006 01:00:23 AM
and my response:
and here's the link to the original posting
and my response:
hey anonymous i'm NOT a two bit cohen groupie.
and here's the link to the original posting
so very sad
(and just as an aside..........the man married to the QUEEN of denmark has said DOG MEAT is one of his favorite things to eat. and yes, i'm being serious. so you know what sort of person HE is)
Whalers secure crucial vote win in bid to overturn ban · Tiny IWC majority declare 1986 moratorium invalid · Result a return to dark days, say conservationists Robert BoothMonday June 19, 2006 The Guardian
Japan's campaign to restart commercial whale hunting received a major boost last night when the International Whaling Commission declared invalid a 20-year ban on the slaughter of the planet's largest creatures for anything other than scientific purposes.
Members of the international commission which regulates whaling voted at a meeting in St Kitts by 33 to 32 to support a declaration that paves the way to the lifting of a moratorium imposed in 1986 to save whale species from extinction.
Japan was joined by delegates from Caribbean and African countries who have been pushing to lift the ban as a way to protect fish stocks from whales and give their small countries food security.
The group - which included Denmark - said the resolution was needed to force the IWC to take up its original mandate of managing whale hunts, not banning them altogether.........
photo: anglojapanese.com
it ain't as rosey as king george and his court would have you believe
well WE knew it wasn't easy to live in iraq WITH saddam and now WITH US. saddam was a butcher and a monster and i'm glad he's gone from power BUT WE messed things up horribly. WE stirred the pot and put people in danger (NOT the first time we've done this mind you). how do we fix what we broke?
'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Details Increasing Danger and Hardship
By Greg Mitchell Published: June 18, 2006 6:20 PM ET
NEW YORK The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked "sensitive," that it says show that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, "the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees." This cable outlines, the Post reported Sunday, "the daily-worsening conditions for those who live outside the heavily guarded international zone: harassment, threats and the employees' constant fears that their neighbors will discover they work for the U.S. government."It's actually far worse than that, as the details published below indicate, which include references to abductions, threats to women's rights, and "ethnic cleansing." A PDF copy of the cable shows that it was sent to the SecState in Washington, D.C. from "AMEmbassy Baghdad" on June 6. The typed name at the very bottom is Khalilzad -- the name of the U.S. Ambassador, though it is not known if this means he wrote the memo or merely approved it. ......
'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Details Increasing Danger and Hardship
By Greg Mitchell Published: June 18, 2006 6:20 PM ET
NEW YORK The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked "sensitive," that it says show that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, "the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees." This cable outlines, the Post reported Sunday, "the daily-worsening conditions for those who live outside the heavily guarded international zone: harassment, threats and the employees' constant fears that their neighbors will discover they work for the U.S. government."It's actually far worse than that, as the details published below indicate, which include references to abductions, threats to women's rights, and "ethnic cleansing." A PDF copy of the cable shows that it was sent to the SecState in Washington, D.C. from "AMEmbassy Baghdad" on June 6. The typed name at the very bottom is Khalilzad -- the name of the U.S. Ambassador, though it is not known if this means he wrote the memo or merely approved it. ......
keep YOUR beliefs in YOUR own bedroom or home and i'll keep mine in my own home and bedroom
of course this is one of THE most ridiculous things i have ever heard of in my life. for an employer (a roller skating rink that is) to dictate what someone can and cannot do IN THEIR PERSONAL LIFE). well ms plotner, you may not see it right now, but you're better off NOT working there!
Fired – For Love Without Marriage
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, June 16, 2006
(AP) The owners of a roller skating rink have fired an 18-year-old woman they called one of their "Top 10" employees because she moved in with her boyfriend, violating a company ethics policy that prohibits "live-in relationships of an intimate nature." "I loved my job and I didn't want to leave," Crystal Plotner told the Coeur d'Alene Press this week. She said she was fired after casually telling her bosses, Skate Plaza owners Marvin and Pat Miller, that she planned to move in with her boyfriend in mid-May. Before terminating her, Plotner said the Millers said she and her boyfriend should "check out their church." She declined. "Even if I had gone to their church, I don't think it would have saved my job," said Plotner, who worked at Skate Plaza for three years and made $9.25 an hour. "They didn't want me to live with my boyfriend. They were pushing their religion on me and I was offended. I don't have the same religious beliefs as they do." Pat Miller praised Plotner, saying that "In all the years that we've employed people, she was one of the Top 10. It was a sad day when she left because everybody loved her." But Miller added, "We've had our (employee) handbook out for many years and it does say if you live in an immoral way with a member of the opposite sex or same sex, you will be terminated."...
Fired – For Love Without Marriage
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, June 16, 2006
(AP) The owners of a roller skating rink have fired an 18-year-old woman they called one of their "Top 10" employees because she moved in with her boyfriend, violating a company ethics policy that prohibits "live-in relationships of an intimate nature." "I loved my job and I didn't want to leave," Crystal Plotner told the Coeur d'Alene Press this week. She said she was fired after casually telling her bosses, Skate Plaza owners Marvin and Pat Miller, that she planned to move in with her boyfriend in mid-May. Before terminating her, Plotner said the Millers said she and her boyfriend should "check out their church." She declined. "Even if I had gone to their church, I don't think it would have saved my job," said Plotner, who worked at Skate Plaza for three years and made $9.25 an hour. "They didn't want me to live with my boyfriend. They were pushing their religion on me and I was offended. I don't have the same religious beliefs as they do." Pat Miller praised Plotner, saying that "In all the years that we've employed people, she was one of the Top 10. It was a sad day when she left because everybody loved her." But Miller added, "We've had our (employee) handbook out for many years and it does say if you live in an immoral way with a member of the opposite sex or same sex, you will be terminated."...
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