it's time for a visit to

behind the blue wall

i thought i had heard it all

i hadn't until i read this:

U.S. Military Offers $20 Million to Improve Media Coverage of Iraq

By E&P Staff Published: August 31, 2006 2:00 PM ET
NEW YORK The U.S. military in Iraq is offering to pay a two-year, $20 million public relations contract "that calls for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq," Walter Pincus revealed in The Washington Post on Thursday."The contract calls for assembling a database of selected news stories and assessing their tone as part of a program to provide 'public relations products' that would improve coverage of the military command's performance, according to a statement of work attached to the proposal," Pincus wrote.............


i know 20,000,000 isn't enough to outfit the entire armed services with proper AND safe gear, but imagine how much body armor it would buy. it would be a START

a 51% increase

in iraqi casualties. our women and men in harm's way. WHY? the war on terror? did iraqi citizens fly planes into the pentagon, into the world trade center? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

why are we there? if you open your ears (i'm talking to the people who really DO believe the emperor has new clothes) even king george said IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11. where is osama? NOT in iraq! (to those that really DO believe the emperor has new clothes) why do you continue to support the king and this UNJUST WAR BASED UPON LIES? this MUST stop


Pentagon Cites Spike In Violence in Iraq

Averting Civil War Called Main Goal
By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, September 2, 2006; A01
Rising sectarian bloodshed has pushed violence in Iraq to its highest level in more than two years, and preventing civil war is now the most urgent mission of the growing contingent of 140,000 U.S. troops in the country, according to a new Pentagon report released yesterday.
Executions, kidnappings and other sectarian attacks targeting Iraqi civilians have soared over the past three months, contributing to a 51 percent rise in casualties among the population and Iraqi security forces, the report said. More than 3,000 Iraqis are killed or wounded each month, and by July, 2,000 of the casualties were the result of sectarian incidents, it showed.........

two big fat stupid head losers of the week

pat buchanan for his white is right (continued) remarks AND that scrawny blonde bio tch who once again talked about killing someone ('they shot the wrong' one it said) in her column

why they have that racist hate monger on television ALL of the time i cannot fathom

why they have the bio tch on television (who is also a hate monger) ALL of the time, i cannot fathom either

i am in LOVE with hedgehogs

and i have always wanted one (they are rather solitary animals from all i've read, so i would only get one). i'm uncertain it's right to keep one though and that's one of the reasons i don't (yet) have one.

they take their hedgehogs SERIOUSLY in the uk

and then i came across THIS:

Hedgehogs humble McDonald's

Hedgehogs have finally humbled burger giant McDonald's after years of campaigning, forcing the company to redesign its killer McFlurry ice-cream containers.
Up to now the opening in the container has been large enough for hedgehogs to get their heads into for a lick of the left-over dessert -- a trap they have then been unable to withdraw from, so dying of starvation in untold numbers.
But from September 1, the wide-mouthed opening in the lid of the McFlurry containers will be reduced in size, making them too small for the sugar-loving animals to get their heads into.
"This is excellent, it is long overdue news," said Fay Vass, chief executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. "We have been in touch with McDonald's about this problem for over five years and are delighted that they have at last solved the problem."
McDonald's said in a statement the design change had resulted from pressure from the society which prompted "significant research and design testing" to develop new packaging.
"The smaller aperture of the lid has been designed to prevent hedgehogs from entering the McFlurry container in the unfortunate incidence that a lid is littered and is then accessible to wildlife," it added.

even a 'proud' republican veteran

thinks king george and his court are FULL OF SHITE

Republican advisor to Iraq veterans group blasts Bush Admin. for 'fascist' language

Ron Brynaer tPublished: Thursday August 31, 2006

The Republican advisor to a political action committee founded by veterans is blasting the Bush Administration for using "fascist" language in some recent speeches and interviews, and for its "unwillingness to devise a victory plan" to end the war in Iraq.
"I am a proud Republican, who ran for my party's nomination for Congress in Indiana, because I believe in traditional values," said Sam Schultz, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Indiana Army National Guard and acts as the Republican Senior Advisor to VoteVets.org, in a press release received by RAW STORY.
"I also believe we need to be vigilant in defending America," Schultz continued. "That is why I feel I must speak out about the Administration's recent contention that the war in Iraq is part of the fight against 'Islamic fascism.'"
Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that fascism "seems to be the new buzz word for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq."
"Bush used the term earlier this month in talking about the arrest of suspected terrorists in Britain, and spoke of 'Islamic fascists' in a later speech in Green Bay, Wis," the AP reported. "Spokesman Tony Snow has used variations on the phrase at White House press briefings."
Schultz explained why he thinks "fascism" is an inappropriate word for the Bush Administration to use.
"First, we are not fighting an enemy that fits the definition of fascist, nor does Iraq resemble anything close to Hitler's Germany or Mussolini's Italy," Schultz said. "Second,I do not believe the war in Iraq has furthered our battle against radical Islamism.".............

a million voices for darfur

my friend paulie sent this to me and i wanted to share it:

Dear Friend,I am writing to let you know I just signed a postcard to President Bush asking him to take action to stop the genocide in Darfur.Will you join me?Visit http://www.MillionVoicesForDarfur.org to send your postcard today!Right now a campaign of rape, slaughter and displacement is currently being carried out in the western region of Sudan, the largest country in Africa. Government-supported troops have displaced 2.5 million people in the past two years, hundreds of thousands have died due to attacks, disease and starvation, and it is estimated that 500 men, women and children continue to die every day. You can make a difference today by sending a postcard to President Bush at http://www.MillionVoicesForDarfur.org! We must put pressure on our national leaders to take immediate action. President Bush and the United States Congress have recognized the situation in Darfur as "genocide," but it will take much more than words to end the violence and suffering in Darfur. In fact this recognition imposes a legal obligation, let alone the inherent moral obligation, upon the U.S. to take action to stop the genocide.Visit http://www.MillionVoicesForDarfur.org to send your postcard today!If our leaders made Darfur a priority, hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved. Please join me in calling for immediate attention to Darfur and more robust action on behalf of the U.S. to support security efforts in the region. Visit http://www.MillionVoicesforDarfur.org to send an online postcard to President Bush and to learn more about what is happening in Darfur and what you can do to help.Please also join us to rally in Washington, DC on April 30th. For more information on this Save Darfur: Rally to Stop Genocide visit http://www.SaveDarfur.org/Rally.

i give you

i don't need to preface it - READ IT!

keith olbermann; Feeling morally, intellectually confused?

The man who sees absolutes, where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet, or a quack.
Donald H. Rumsfeld is not a prophet.
Mr. Rumsfeld’s remarkable speech to the American Legion yesterday demands the deep analysis—and the sober contemplation—of every American.
For it did not merely serve to impugn the morality or intelligence -- indeed, the loyalty -- of the majority of Americans who oppose the transient occupants of the highest offices in the land. Worse, still, it credits those same transient occupants -- our employees -- with a total omniscience; a total omniscience which neither common sense, nor this administration’s track record at home or abroad, suggests they deserve.
Dissent and disagreement with government is the life’s blood of human freedom; and not merely because it is the first roadblock against the kind of tyranny the men Mr. Rumsfeld likes to think of as “his” troops still fight, this very evening, in Iraq.
It is also essential. Because just every once in awhile it is right and the power to which it speaks, is wrong.........

.........Mr. Rumsfeld is also personally confused, morally or intellectually, about his own standing in this matter. From Iraq to Katrina, to the entire “Fog of Fear” which continues to envelop this nation, he, Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and their cronies have — inadvertently or intentionally — profited and benefited, both personally, and politically.
And yet he can stand up, in public, and question the morality and the intellect of those of us who dare ask just for the receipt for the Emporer’s New Clothes?...............

i'm (pleasently) surprised at this court's ruling

a shout out to young zachary guiles too! seems like he has his head on straight

Court Sides With Student In Bush T-Shirt Flap

CBS News: 109th Congress
(AP) NEW YORK Vermont schoolboy was within his rights to wear a T-shirt depicting George W. Bush as a chicken and accusing him of being a former alcohol and cocaine abuser, an appeals court ruled. Zachary Guiles' school violated the First Amendment when it ordered him to cover parts of the shirt, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Wednesday.Guiles was a 13-year-old seventh-grader at Williamstown Middle High School in Williamstown, Vt., in May 2004 when he wore the shirt, which he had bought at an anti-war rally, to classes once a week for two months. Complaints from a fellow student and her mother who had different political views caused school officials to take a closer look.Although teachers had told the complaining student that the shirt was political speech and protected by the Constitution, the mother complained to a student support specialist, who decided images of drugs and alcohol violated the school's dress code, the appeals court said.The front of the shirt had Bush's name and the words "Chicken-Hawk-In-Chief" beneath it. Below the words was a large picture of the president's head, wearing a helmet, superimposed on the body of a chicken............

pbs better watch out

or king george and his court will pull MORE of their funding OR turn it into a place like faux news

PBS set to ask if voting rights are 'under assault'
RAW STORY Published: Wednesday August 30, 2006

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is set to air a segment posing the possibility that the voting rights of many Americans are under attack, RAW STORY has learned.
A nation-wide push for laws to target voter fraud is likely to disqualify many who are legally eligible to vote, the PBS program NOW will claim in a segment tomorrow night titled, "Your right to vote -- is it under assault?"
A Florida law that could have leveled enormous fines against non-partisan groups organizing voter registration drives, and a Georgia law requiring photo ID at the polls will be put under scrutiny by the program. These laws, NOW will explain, will often prevent legally eligible and registered voters from casting ballots in the upcoming elections--yet many have been approved by the Department of Justice..........

.........The segment will run tomorrow, September 1, at 8:30 p.m..............

don't plan a vacation in chechnya

C.J. Chivers/The New York Times
Malika Soltayeva, shown in a recent photo, was tortured by men who served as the police.
how brutal, how evil, what a nightmare it must be to live in this region. the first incident happened to a PREGNANT woman, ms soltayeva. however, it appears (the ny times has video evidence) the torture is happening to EVERYONE. i just cannot imagine. (if you click on the story link, there is a video of this woman's ordeal)

In Chechen’s Humiliation, Questions on Rule of Law

By C. J. CHIVERS
ARGUN, Russia, Aug. 26 — The humiliation of Malika Soltayeva, a pregnant Chechen woman suspected of adultery, was ferocious and swift.
Ms. Soltayeva, 23, had been away from home for a month and was reported missing by her family. When she returned, her husband accused her of infidelity and banished her from their apartment. The local authorities found her at her aunt’s residence. They said they had a few questions.
What followed was no investigation. In a law enforcement compound in this town in east-central Chechnya, the men who served as Argun’s police sheared away her hair and her eyebrows and painted her scalp green, the color associated with Islam. A thumb-thick cross was smeared on her brow.
Ms. Soltayeva, a Muslim, had slept with a Christian Russian serviceman, they said. Her scarlet letter would be an emerald cross. She was forced to confess, ordered to strip, and beaten with wooden rods and hoses on her buttocks, arms, legs, hands, stomach and back.
“Turn and be condemned by Allah,” one of her tormentors said, demanding that she position herself so he could strike her more squarely.
The torture of Ms. Soltayeva, recorded on a video obtained by The New York Times, and other recent brutish acts and instances of religious policing, raise questions about Chechnya’s direction.
Since 2004, the war in Chechnya has tilted sharply in the Kremlin’s favor, as open combat with separatists has declined in intensity and frequency. Moscow now administers the republic and fights the remaining insurgency largely through paramilitary forces led by Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the powerful young Chechen premier. ........

another good un!

i am putting this out there for YOU. if you want the 5,000,000 please write to miss helen. it's not in me to do it (this time). and no, i didn't make this up

from: miss_helen09@yahoo.com


GREETING IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. I AM MRS HELEN CAMBELL. A WIDOW TO LATE PHILLIP CAMBELL. I AM 56 YEARS OLD, I AM NOW A NEW CHRISTAIN CONVERT, SUFFERING FROM LONG TIME CANCER OF THE BREAST, FROM ALL INDICATION MY CONDITIONS IS REALLY DETERIORATING AND IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT I WILL NOT LIVE MORE THAN TWO MONTHS, ACCORDING TO MY DOCTORS, THIS IS BECAUSE THE CANCER STAGE HAS GOTTEN TO A VERY BAD STAGE. MY LATE HUSBAND DIED IN A CAR CRASH , AND DURING THE PERIOD OF OUR MARRIAGE WE COULD NOT PRODUCE ANY CHILD. MY LATE HUSBAND WAS VERY WEALTHY AND AFTER HIS DEATH, I INHERITED ALL HIS BUSINESS AND WEALTH. THE DOCTORS HAS ADVISED ME THAT I MAY NOT LIVE FOR MORE THAN TWO MONTHS, SO I NOW DECIDED TO DEVIDE THE PART OF THIS WEALTH, TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH IN AFRICA,AMERICA ASIA, AND EUROPE. I PRAYED OVER IT,. I AM WILLING TO DONATE THE SUM OF $5,000.000.00 MD U.S DOLLARS, TO THE LESS PRIVILEGED. PLEASE I WANT YOU TO NOTE THAT FUND IS LYING IN A SECURITY COMPANY AND UPON MY INSTRUCTION, THEY WILL TRANSFER MY FUNDS TO YOU SO ALL THE LEGAL DOCUMENT THAT BACK UP THE CLAIM ARE PROVIDED LASTLY, I HONESTLY PRAY THAT THIS MONEY WHEN TRANSFERRED WILL BE SURE FOR THE SAID PURPOSE, BECAUSE I HAVE COME TO FIND OUT THAT WEALTH ACQUISITION WITHOUT CHRIST IS VANITY. MAY THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF GOD BE WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. PLS I WILL LIKE YOU TO SEND ME YOUR THE FOLLOWING DETAILS WEHN GETTING BACK TO ME FOR IDENTIFICATION. 1,FULL NAME 2,ADRESS/ COUNTRY 3,OCCUPATION & AGE I AWAIT YOUR URGENT REPLY. PLS GET BACK TO ME ON MY PRIVATE E-MAIL ADRESS (miss_helen09)YOURS IN CHRIST. MRS HELEN CAMBELL

the rums has one hell of a nerve

he wouldn't know a TRUE patriot from an a**hole. how dare he say these things. why are we going after iraq yet we are being best buds with people so nasty so evil, so INSANE, murders of tens of thousands of people; (like qaddafi for just ONE example). 'splain that to me lucy, c'mon 'splain it!

Rumsfeld Heightens Attacks on Bush Critics
Likening them to appeasers of the prewar Nazis, he defends the handling of the Iraq war

By Julian E. Barnes, Times Staff Writer
9:26 PM PDT, August 29, 2006


SALT LAKE CITY — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday compared critics of the Bush administration to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World War II, warning that the nation is confronting "a new type of fascism."

Speaking at the American Legion convention here, Rumsfeld delivered his most explicit and extended attacks yet on administration opponents — leading Democrats to accuse him of "campaigning on fear."
By likening today's U.S. foreign policy to that during World War II and the Cold War, Rumsfeld sought to portray skeptics of the Bush administration as being on the wrong side of history. He ridiculed American officials who had hoped to negotiate with Adolf Hitler.

"Once again, we face similar challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism," Rumsfeld said. "But some seem not to have learned history's lessons."

He continued, "Can we truly afford to believe that, somehow or someway, vicious extremists could be appeased?"
...............

jeffs is FINALLY arrested

BUT let's just see what happens. did you know that polygamy is VERY rarely prosecuted? if and when someone gets busted, it's usually on ANOTHER charge and NOT polygamy. the sentences are a matter of days or months. some of the crimes are VERY young girls being forced into marriage with older men, sometimes relatives. how effed up is that?

Fugitive Mormon leader's reign of fear ended by traffic violation

Head of polygamous sect caught near Las Vegas· Charges of forcing underage girls to marry Julian Borger in Washington Wednesday August 30, 2006 The Guardian

Warren Jeffs, the fugitive leader of a fanatical polygamous sect and one of the FBI's most wanted men, had told his 10,000 followers he would never be taken alive. His words raised fears that he might try to conclude his fearsome reign in a blaze of glory. But the end, when it came, was far more mundane.
After three years on the run, his red Cadillac was pulled over just north of Las Vegas late on Monday night by a traffic police officer who noticed his licence plate was not fully visible.
The chance arrest brings to an end one of the stranger chapters in the modern history of the American west. For the past four years Mr Jeffs has run the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (known as the FLDS) like the feudal chief of a polygamous tribe from a string of fortified compounds almost entirely outside the reach of state law, which prohibits polygamy..........


tapestry against polygamy

and

Reports Reconfirm Hatch Said He Condones Polygamy

Wednesday, 24 May 2006, 1:38 pm Article: Suzan Mazur

Last week on these pages I cited a polygamy political coverup, which includes US Senator Orrin Hatch (Rep-UT), who is on record as condoning polygamy. With US Senator Patrick Leahy (Dem-VT) several days after the Scoop story appeared taking on Hatch over Hatch's now-infamous polygamy comments at a southern Utah town meeting in April 2003, just 35 miles from the fundamentalist Mormon polygamy cult's headquarters in Utah, and Hatch in denial about the statements -- I decided to revisit the event by contacting questioners present at the time. I also took another look at published reports of the meeting.
Hatch, in a further attempt to shake off accusations about defending polygamy, said last week he's helped to secure a federal grant to aid those fleeing polygamy in Utah.
But, both questioners at the town meeting in St. George, Utah -- anti-polygamy activists Robert Curran and Sonja Blancke -- have told me Hatch definitely made the statements as reported in newspaper accounts. And Nancy Perkins of the Deseret News, one of two news organizations present, stands by the accuracy of what she wrote (story below).
Rachael Olsen's coverage of the Hatch talk originally appeared in the St. George Spectrum and is linked here.........

......Hatch spars about polygamy at town meeting
ST. GEORGE - Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, found himself in a verbal sparring match with a couple of residents Thursday night when the pair challenged the senator's stance on polygamy.
Bob Curran, director of an anti-polygamy group in St. George called Help the Child Brides, asked Hatch if he knew girls as young as 13 and 14 were being forced into marriages with older men living in the nearby twin polygamous towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. "I wouldn't throw accusations around unless you know they're true," Hatch cautioned Curran and another speaker, Sonja Blancke, who also questioned the senator on his position.
"I'm not here to justify polygamy," Hatch said. "All I can say is, I know people in Hildale who are polygamists who are very fine people. You come and show me evidence of children being abused there and I'll get involved. Bring the evidence to me."............

even though it is VERY uncomfortable to watch borat

he's making a point. it's more than just humor. and one has to remember borat is NOT real THIS dude IS:

Borat Must Be Making Happy: Kazakh Leader's Visit to U.S. on Front Page of 'Wash Post'

By E&P Staff Published: August 29, 2006 4:00 PM ET updated 5:00 PM ET
NEW YORK It was on the front page of The Washington Post, and bylined by a well-known and respected name, Peter Baker, but one still had to wonder: Did Borat have anything to do with this?The Baker story today profiles an upcoming visit to this country by the president of Kazakhstan, an accused thief and "autocrat" who, nevertheless, will soon be receiving a warm welcome both at the White House and the Bush compound at Kennebunkport. With this fresh publicity, he may now be the second most famous Kazakh in America, though still trailing far behind Borat Sagdiyev, the comic creation of Sacha Baron Cohen of "Ali G" fame.The long-awaited "Borat" movie -- with the title character in the role of foreign journalist traveling the U.S. -- is coming out this fall, so normally one might suspect that the Kazakh leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has timed his visit to help boost the movie debut of a favorite son. However, the Kazakh government has blasted Cohen in the past, and threatened legal action, for allowing Borat to, among other things, make fun of his homeland, demean women, slander gypsies and (in a famous song) urge listeners to "Throw the Jew Down the Well." Borat at first claimed to “fully support my government’s decision to sue this Jew.” But on his Web site, he declared in a headline: "I Innocent of Accusings of the Kazakhstan Government!" Last April, President Nazarbayev's own daughter stood up for Borat, saying that his jibes hurt the country much less than official attempts to muzzle him. And given her father's background, he is in no position to throw stones at poor Borat. Baker in the Post today notes that he "runs a nation that is anything but free and who has been accused by U.S. prosecutors of pocketing the bulk of $78 million in bribes from an American businessman. ... Nazarbayev has banned opposition parties, intimidated the press and profited from his post, according to the U.S. government. But he also sits atop massive oil reserves that have helped open doors in Washington." Nazarbayev, 66, has led Kazakhstan since 1990........

sounds like the dude is a despot BUT he be havin' him some oil so he be our bud

a shout out to salt lake city mayor rocky anderson!!!

i don't live in salt lake city but rocky is sure speaking for ME. it's a damn shame people so blindly follow king george. just because someone is a republican????? how can ANYONE admire king george after all he has done (and in the case of katrina, NOT done)???? how can anyone follow someone who lies, makes horrible decision after horrible decision (we ALL make mistakes but king george makes NOTHING but mistakes), spits in the faces of the people AND stomps on the constitution of the united states of america? let's be real if a non-republican did just ONE of the things king george did, she or he would be eviscerated. USE YOUR HEADS

GOP callers overwhelm City Hall lines
Extra help hired: More than 300 people responded to Republican ads urging them to tell the SLC mayor his protest is 'embarrassing'
By Heather May The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Tribune
Offended by Rocky Anderson's plans to protest President Bush this week, the Utah Republican Party is waging a public-relations campaign urging Utahns to call the mayor and tell him to "stop embarrassing" the state. And while Utahns have listened - flooding City Hall with almost 300 calls and overwhelming the phone system - Anderson hasn't. Salt Lake City's mayor isn't altering his protest plans. "Given the nastiness of some of these people, it actually just bolsters my resolve," said Anderson, who previously alleged that the "real embarrassment" is Utahns' unwavering support of Bush. The GOP acknowledged that its push, sending out thousands of voice-mail messages to Republicans and running ads on about 20 radio stations around the state, wouldn't change Anderson's mind. "This is all about letting the rest of Utah have a voice to counter his voice," said Utah Republican Party Executive Director Jeff Hartley. "We want to make sure the rest of Utah at least lets him know they disagree with his behavior. It may not change his behavior, but he will at least know he doesn't get a free pass when he embarrasses the state." Hartley said party headquarters and Republican elected officials have received "dozens" of calls from people upset that Anderson, a Democrat, is speaking at the protest and invited Cindy Sheehan to join him. Since Sheehan's son died in Iraq in 2004, she has become a national face of the anti-war movement. Ads started running Monday with heavy play in Utah's rural counties, where residents are "hopping mad this man is representing our state to the world," Hartley said. City Hall was inundated with calls Monday and hired three temporary workers to handle them. The city won't ask the Republican Party to pick up the $144 tab for the temps and the $1,000 extra cost to the phone system. "It's part of the democratic process," Anderson said. "It's part of being responsive." And the GOP won't offer to pay. Hartley was glad to hear about the volume of calls to tell the mayor "he's gone too far off the reservation of sanity." "He's using the people of Utah and using his position as mayor to draw national attention to himself. It's clear he wants to be a national figure. It's clear he's using his office to get there." Anderson announced last month he wouldn't seek a third term as mayor. He said the protest has "nothing" to do with his future plans. "These people are so deluded. They make this stuff up as they go along." ........

let's keep a good thought for paul salopek

i can't imagine being kept against one's will in sudan. the horror stories coming out of there are stomach churning. without people like mr salopek, we would get NO news

Spying Charge Brought Against Geographic Reporter in Sudan

Ted Chamberlain
August 26, 2006
On assignment for National Geographic magazine in Africa, U.S. journalist Paul Salopek was charged with espionage and other crimes today by a Sudanese court—charges that could land him in prison for years.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent had been reporting on the Sahel—the semi-arid southern fringe of the Sahara that stretches nearly the width of Africa. Three weeks ago Sudanese forces in Darfur Province captured him and his driver and interpreter, who are both from neighboring Chad (map of Africa).
(Both National Geographic News and National Geographic magazine are parts of the National Geographic Society.)
At the time of his arrest, Salopek, who is on leave from the Chicago Tribune, had been carrying publicly available maps of Darfur and two United States passports, which Sudanese officials consider indications that he was spying, according to sources close to the investigation.
Traveling with multiple passports is legal and even common among reporters looking to shuttle among several countries without arousing suspicion.
"As one who has worked in Africa for more than 15 years, I have two passports," said Chris Johns, Editor in Chief and photographer for National Geographic magazine. ........

not only are you NOT santa claus

but the grinch (BEFORE his heart grew that is) is TOO GOOD FOR YA AS WELL

Rumsfeld to GIs’ families: I’m not Santa Claus
Secretary of Defense responds to criticism over extending Iraq deployments

The Associated Press
Updated: 11:26 p.m. ET Aug 26, 2006

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - In a lively but polite give-and-take, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld fielded questions Saturday from wives and other family members of Alaska-based soldiers whose combat tours in Iraq were abruptly extended just as they prepared to return home this month.
“It is something we don’t want to do,” Rumsfeld told several hundred family members who gathered in a gymnasium at nearby Ft. Wainwright, home of the 172nd Stryker Brigade. The unit’s deployment to Iraq was extended by up to four months to bolster U.S. firepower in the Baghdad area.
“But in this case we had to,” he added, referring to the decision made in late July to extend the 172nd.
Asked whether the Army was preparing another brigade to take over for the 172nd in case the intended improvements in Baghdad are not achieved by mid-December, Rumsfeld said he could make no promises.
“I wish I had a magic wand and the power to say yes. I don’t,” he said. “I will do everything in the world I can do to see that they are not extended beyond the 120 days.”
Reporters, including five who traveled with Rumsfeld from Washington, D.C., were not permitted to cover his meeting with the family members, which lasted about an hour. But a wife who made a video tape of the event showed it to reporters afterward.
One wife asked Rumsfeld why the 172nd was doing house-to-house searches in Baghdad instead of the kinds of combat operations they are trained to perform. Rumsfeld disputed her assertion, saying that 95 percent of the house-clearing operations are being done by Iraqi troops.........

.........‘I’d love to be Santa Claus’The brigade’s tour was extended by up to 120 days, bringing them close to a Christmas return date. Rumsfeld said he would make no promises that the full brigade would be back home by the holidays.
“I’d love to be Santa Claus. I’m not,” he said in an interview with reporters during a flight to Fairbanks...........

and please

BRING HOME THE 172ND

NOW

and on the lighter side........

Treehorn: What's your drink, Dude?
Dude: White Russian, thanks. How's the smut business, Jackie?
Treehorn: I wouldn't know, Dude. I deal in publishing, entertainment, political advocacy, and-- Dude: Which one was Logjammin'?



the big lebowski random quote generator

it IS good, DAMN good!

and i'm so glad he (well, they) won. i don't get to watch it as often as i would like. i'm actually sleeping (i usually get a total of three hours a night) when it's on at night and often at work during the re-broadcasts during the day. i do catch it whenever i can and LOVE it whenever i do catch it.

"The Daily Show" wins Emmy Award!

by Welshman
Sun Aug 27, 2006 at 07:57:18 PM PDT
Our boy did it, folks!

Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" won the Emmy for the category of the best variety, music or comedy series.
I am pleased for a number of reasons that I'll explain below the fold.
First, I had better explain why a Brit is writing this: Jon Stewart is not just the best political commentator on your TVs. He is the best one on our TV over here as well!
Welshman's diary :: ::
So much for those who thought Jon Stewart had lost some of his shine by his performance at the Oscars. So much for those who denounced him for his support of Colbert's brilliant segment at The White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Take the award, Jon, for just defending Colbert with your comments about his performance as being "balls-alicious" and stating that "We've never been prouder of him, but holy shit!" Oh, yes, and for describing the annual dinner as "where the President and the press corps consummate their loveless marriage."
Yet the real reason why "The Daily Show" deserves the award is simply because it is good; damn good.................

down with tyranny

this was left in the comments section of my posting (referred from the enigmatic paradox) entitled 'have you had enough'. i wanted to post the whole response. if you see it in your heart to make a contribution to the blue cause, the link is below.


Thanks very much for posting the lyrics and offering the download. Please accept my gratitude. The whole story of how Rickie Lee Jones and the 2 guys from The Squirrel Nut Zippers (Tom Maxwell and Ken Mosher) came to record the song is here at Down With Tyranny. We're doing our best to get it on the radio so people start to get familiar with it and we've offered it for free download at MySpace.com/haveyouhadenough/ (and in 2 weeks it will be available for free on all the big digital services). The goal, though is a little more involved. We've made 30 second radio spots out of the song. For targeted districts, with particularly terrible incumbents and particularly excellent challengers (like Jerry McNerney taking on Dick Pombo in CA-11 and Vic Wulsin taking on Mean Jean Schmidt on OH-02) we've replaced the line "it's time to throw the rascals out" with "it's time to throw Pombo out" and "it's time to throw Mean Jean out."The districts we're targeting can all be called "dollar a holla" media markets. A very little bit of money can go a relatively long way. Our hope is to get our ads up on the radio during October. We're trying to raise $250,000, not just for these two districts but for as many of the Blue America candidates as we can help. The list is here: http://www.actblue.com/page/blueamerica/ And that is also a place where, if you think it's worthwhile, you can chip in some money too. Even $10, if enough people chip in, will be incredibly helpful.It's been a real grassroots project from Day One and now supporters of candidates are doing remixes and making video clips and spreading it virally. This week a supporter of Coleen Rowley sent me a little video he made, which is up on YouTube. It's cute: http://homepage.mac.com/mmcintee/hadenough/iMovieTheater115.html/I'm sure you know Bush and his rubber stamp Congress aren't going away of their own accord. We can expect terror alerts and God knows what else from them to sway a voting public that has become increasingly disgusted with them. It makes people feel good to take part in ousting them and freeing themselves. Thanks for any help you can give and please don't hesitate to send me suggestions. Howie Klein downwithtyranny@aol.com