did you know there were dangerous ninjas and pirates running around georgia???

i didn't either. but NOW we do and we can protect ourselves from them - or rather, have the good ol' boyz from the atf protect us from them

(little excessive boyz don't cha think....also, all mr ransom was asking for INITIALLY was an apology. he isn't even questioning you stopping him, what he IS questioning you about is the AMOUT OF FORCE YOU USED)

this is a lesson to all you kids out there. THINK TWICE BEFORE DECIDING TO BECOME A NINJA OR A PIRATE, OK?

Ninja fighting for his apology

CAROLYN CRIST Published , December 07, 2006, 06:00:01 AM EDT

The ninja wants an apology — and he’ll go all the way to the White House to get it.
Jeremiah Ransom, a junior from Macon, has received no response to a letter he sent to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives requesting a formal apology after being tackled to the ground by ATF agents in front of Snelling Dining Commons in April.
Ransom said his mother contacted a lawyer for advice and is finishing another letter to be sent to President Bush.
She also will send letters to members of Congress, Ransom said, adding that she waited until after the election so the letter would make it into the hands of incoming congressmen.
“I was going to drop the case after a public apology,” Ransom said. “I just want people to know that the ATF isn’t being accountable, acting as if they are above the law.”.......

............ATF agents spotted Ransom with bandannas across the upper and lower parts of his head and thought it was suspicious. They told him to “freeze,” but Ransom thought friends were joking with him and continued running.
Before he knew it, he was on the ground with a knee to his back. “One of the agents kept asking me where my gun was, and I explained that I didn’t have one,” Ransom said in a phone interview Monday.
Ransom didn’t want to take legal action against the agents, but sent a letter asking for an apology...............

Tech Tags: jeremiah+ransom atf+agents university+georgia pirates ninjas

out effing rageous

rupert murdoch thinks NOTHING of publishing sleeze and plenty o' t & a. yet he has NO issues with 3,000 of our men and women being sent to their deaths OVER NOTHING? that's not even counting those maimed both outside AND inside. what a piece o' steamin' shite

NY Post turns Iraq Study Group into 'surrender monkeys' on front page

Ron Brynaert

Thursday's front page of the New York Post depicts the two chairman of the Iraq Study Group as "surrender monkeys," suggesting that the bipartisan independent panel has urged the U.S. to "give up" and admit defeat in the war in Iraq.
The faces of James Baker, a former chief of staff for President Reagan who led President Bush's recount fight in Florida six years ago, and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, who also served as Vice Chair for the 9/11 Commission, were photoshopped onto the bodies of monkeys.
This isn't the first time that the Post has "monkeyed around" with nature to make a political statement on behalf of the Bush Administration.........

Tech Tags: rupert+murdoch ny+post tabloid bush+administration

ok, what the heck is up with this???

it's a billboard i saw yesterday walking to my car when i left work. i had to stop and snap it

a few words worth reading from major bill edmonds

i wanted to post this in contrast to another story. of course i can't find the other story right now. what it dealt with was how inadequate those in charge of the war on terror and the war in iraq are. they know little to NOTHING about those we are fighting or those we are trying to befriend. person after person after person was named. they were asked simple things like if they knew the difference between the sects in islam. NO was the answer over and over. (i'll keep looking for that other article)

the point being if someone like major bill edmonds were really running things, i think it would be going a WHOLE HELL OF A LOT BETTER. here AND there


A Soldier's Story
Major Bill Edmonds

For just a minute or two, step into my life. I am an American soldier in the Army Special Forces. I have just returned from a one-year tour of duty in Iraq, where I lived, shared meals, slept and fought beside my Iraqi counterpart as we battled insurgents in the center of a thousand-year-old city. I am a conflicted man, and I want you to read the story of that experience as I lived it. In the interest of security, I have omitted some identifying details, but every word is true.
Routine and Ritual
I wake in the cold and dark of each morning to the sound of a hundred different muezzins calling Muslim men and women to prayer. These calls reverberate five times per day throughout a city the size of San Francisco. Above this sound I also hear two American helicopters making their steady patrol over the rooftops of the city and the blaring horns of armored vehicles as they swerve through dense city traffic. As a combat adviser and interrogator, I find these contrasts very appropriate for the life that I now lead.
This morning, on the Iraqi base in which I live, I walk 100 feet from my bedroom to work and back again. These are the same 100 feet I will travel month after month for one year. During every trip I smile, put a hand to my heart, sometimes a hand to my head, and say to every passing Iraqi the religious and cultural words that are expected from a fellow human being. In Iraq, one cannot separate Islamic culture from the individual. They are intrinsically woven into the fabric of daily life, but for most Westerners, they seem abnormal. I sit in smoke-filled rooms and drink sugar-laden tea in small crystal glasses. I spray tobacco-scented air freshener, kiss cheeks three times or more, allow the Iraqi on the right to pass through the doorway first. I know never to inquire on the health of a wife or elder daughter. I even hold hands with other men.
I proclaim my submission to God and my relationship to reality by saying "God willing" when referring to any future event. I say "God bless you" every time someone takes a seat. I eat with my hands, standing up, taking food from communal bowls. I attend work meetings where socializing is always the first priority. I hear the expressions "upon my mustache" or "by my eyes" or "over my head"--signifying the most binding and heartfelt of oaths. One day, I ask an Iraqi friend how many relatives he has and he answers, "In the city, maybe a thousand." I have slowly come to realize that in Islam, and in Iraq, every action is worship. Every single thing that a person does--not just prayer or the time spent in a mosque but every action--is in fact an act of veneration. So yes, many things are different here. Yet we all have become friends--good friends--in part because I am here; I honor them and their religion by going out of my way to show them respect. Not all Americans act this way. ..........

...............I have slowly come to understand that if we are to succeed in Iraq, we must either change the way we perceive and treat those we want to help or we must disengage the great percentage of our military from the population. The Iraqi base where I now live was once a small American base. The anxiety and distress of American soldiers in years past are scratched in the ceiling over my bed. "The mind is a terrible thing...," "keep a sharp look-out during your descent," "happiness is a temporary state of mind," "control is just an illusion" and "nothing is as it seems." Across the room, on another wall, next to another bed, are other words from another soldier. They read, "My score in this War: Arabs=10, cars=10, houses=3."
American soldiers are angry and frustrated with Iraqis. Iraqis are angry and frustrated with Americans. Many Iraqis just want American soldiers to go away, and I struggle within myself not to agree. Day after day I observe the interactions of Americans with Iraqis and am often ashamed. I see that required classes given to all American soldiers on cultural sensitivity do not work; 100,000 or more American soldiers daily interacting, engaging and fighting Iraqis within their own society for more than three years will inevitably create a wellspring of citizen hostility. In this war, none of us can change who we fundamentally are. ................

Tech Tags: bill+edmonds american+military iraq

did you know

someone in england was prosecuted under the witchcraft law (of 1735) in 1944, for a seance she conducted in 1943? A M A Z I N G

frightening
sad


Calls to pardon 'UK's last witch'

The family of the last person in the UK to be prosecuted under the Witchcraft Act will mark the 50th anniversary of her death by calling for her pardon.
Medium Helen Duncan, who was born in Callander, Perthshire, was imprisoned using the law during World War II.
She was targeted by the government after revealing to a séance audience that a warship had sunk before the news had been released to the public.
Her grand-daughter is particularly angry at the accusations of treason.
Mary Martin, of Edinburgh, said Mrs Duncan had been accused of being a traitor.
Spiritualist churches
"When she first came back home after prison she was never the same.
"She always had a bit of a glow about her but she seemed to have lost that.
"Some people said it was treason. My grandmother had two sons and two son in laws in the forces ... and there is no way she would have given anybody information."
Mrs Duncan became one of the most famous mediums of her time, heading a network of spiritualist churches.
During the war she lived in Portsmouth, the home of the Royal Navy.........
................She was arrested in 1944 and sentenced to nine months in prison at the Old Bailey for crimes under the Witchcraft Act of 1735.
While in prison she was visited by Winston Churchill.
When he was re-elected in 1951 the Witchcraft Act was repealed and three years later spiritualism was officially recognised as a religion. .................

Tech Tags: helen+duncan witchcraft seance medium

this is heartening

(not)

what the HELL is going on? and oh yeah, blame it ALL on katrina. it's the hurricane's fault, NOT the administrations (the extent of the devestation IS indeed the fault of the administration. period)

and we let this shite go on and on an on........
Homeland Security reports massive abuse by government employees

Diane SweetPublished: Wednesday December 6, 2006

A semi-annual report filed this week by Homeland Security Inspector General Richard L. Skinner showed a marked increase in arrests of department and other government employees, but contained no recommendations for security improvements, RAW STORY has learned.
Media spokeswoman Tamara Faulkner of the Inspector General's office told RAW STORY that many of the arrests associated with the report, "were due to oversight associated with the inter-departmental oversight involved with the recovery process of Hurricane Katrina."
Indeed, there was fraud discovered in connection with Katrina and the FEMA division of Homeland Security, but more alarming are the many arrests made of employees working for the government. Among the claims:
FEMA inspector accused of soliciting and accepting bribes in connection with kickbacks on over-inflated FEMA claims.
FEMA temporary employee in NYC facilitated $1,000,000 fraud via submission and approval of false claims for financial assistance to FEMA after the attacks on the World Trade Centers on 9-11-01. The investigation led to the indictment of 8 persons on 52 counts.
Former prison captain guilty of civil rights violation and witness tampering, convicted of 3 counts of witness tampering and the beating of an immigrant detainee..........

Tech Tags: homeland+security richard+skinner hurricane+katrina

Happy anti-bush Holidays!

check out the video on shana

(half shep, half woooooooooooooooffffffffffffffffffffff wooooooooooooooooooooooooffffffffffffffffff)

shana to the rescue

a tiny bit more on king george and senator (elect) webb

now that i know this, king george's words are EVEN WORSE than i first thought

Bush Knew Webb’s Son Had Almost Been Killed

and as it was pointed out to me (by la popessa at make it stop make it stop), mr webb ALWAYS used respect for the king. he addressed him as 'mr president' at ALL times (take that you dip george will)

............Not only did Bush know about it, he was specifically briefed on the incident before meeting with Webb, and was cautioned to be extra sensitive in speaking with Webb about his son. ................

Tech Tags: jim+webb george+bush

who'd a thunk it?

odd odd behaviour











Seagulls Attacking Whales Off Argentina

Kelly Hearn in Buenos Aires for National Geographic News
December 4, 2006
In the frigid waters off Argentina's southern Valdés Peninsula, the southern right whale is under attack from an odd-sounding predator: the seemingly docile seagull.
Uncovered garbage dumps and waste from fish-processing operations have fueled a spike in the number of kelp gulls in the region's coastal towns (Argentina map).
Experts say the birds, which nest near the prime breeding waters for the endangered whales, are causing a peck of problems.
"The gulls are landing on the whales and pecking through their skin to feed on the blubber, which is an important source of calories," says biologist Marcelo Bertellotti of Argentina's Patagonia University.
"This is causing lesions and impacting whale behavior." The kelp gull is a flexible eater that hunts insects and scavenges through trash heaps. .........








A female southern right whale swims near the coast of South Africa with her calf. Biologists in Argentina report that right whales there are coming under increased attacks from hungry kelp gulls pecking at the mammals' skin and blubber. Mothers and calves are particularly vulnerable to the attacks, because they spend more time at the surface, the scientists say.Photograph by Bobby Haas/NGS

Tech Tags: whales seagulls buenos+aires argentina national+geographic

the nutmeg grater: uh oh OUR very own senator dodd

the nutmeg grater: uh oh OUR very own senator dodd#links

MORE good news

NOT

this is unbelievable but of course it isn't too. all along we knew the equipment given our men and women was falling apart, shoddy, old or just hunks o' junk.

we send them off to be killed or maimed and we give them a nerf ball to defend themselves

U.S. Army Battling To Save Equipment
Gear Piles Up at Depots, Awaiting Repair

(perhaps da liebs has a perspective on THIS he's not sharing with the rest of the world)


By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 5, 2006; Page A01
ANNISTON, Ala. -- Field upon field of more than 1,000 battered M1 tanks, howitzers and other armored vehicles sit amid weeds here at the 15,000-acre Anniston Army Depot -- the idle, hulking formations symbolic of an Army that is wearing out faster than it is being rebuilt.
The Army and Marine Corps have sunk more than 40 percent of their ground combat equipment into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to government data. An estimated $17 billion-plus worth of military equipment is destroyed or worn out each year, blasted by bombs, ground down by desert sand and used up to nine times the rate in times of peace. The gear is piling up at depots such as Anniston, waiting to be repaired.........

Tech Tags: iraq military+equipment

thou shall not be

a flaming closed-minded, bigoted, hate-inducing, full-o'-fear asshole. the bible was written BY man FOR man. that's it. that's the scoop. what they (and of course everyone else) ought to worry about is treating everyone with respect, accepting those who may have different beliefs than they do. fat chance........

The Christian Right Goes Back to Bible Boot Camp

By Alexander Zaitchik, AlterNetPosted on December 4, 2006, Printed on December 4, 2006http://www.alternet.org/story/44934/
It's been a rough season for the Christian right. Even for an eschatological movement, these are dark days. First came former Deputy Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives David Kuo's public admission that evangelicals were often derided as "nuts" and "goofy" within the inner sanctums of the Bush administration. Then, weeks before losing their shotgun seat in the 109th Congress, the booming voice of the National Association of Evangelicals, Ted Haggard, was silenced in a scandal involving a gay hooker, massage oils, methamphetamine, and a string of Denver hotel rooms booked under false names.
But even before all that hit the fundamentalist fan, the movement was contending with a quieter, more systemic crisis: functional Biblical illiteracy among the flock. That's right, religious conservatives aren't so religious, after all.
This alarm was sounded by George Barna, chief pollster and CEO of the Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif.-based Christian polling and communications outfit. In August of 2005, Barna reported that less than ten percent of born-again Christians held what he termed a "Biblical worldview." Based on his survey, very few grasped the nuances of scripture or believed in "Absolute Truth" any more than their secular counterparts; the "Body of Christ" had been infected with the virus of relativism, a wasting disease.
"Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content," reported Barna, "our research found that most [professed evangelicals] have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to the challenges and opportunities of life." ............

Tech Tags: religious+right bible fundamentalist

here's a holiday music guide

for those of you who just can't get enough holiday music.

of course this is the time of year i listen to MY personal favorite holiday song (it makes me cry each and every time i hear it. it's not sad, it's WONDERFUL), 'the christians and the pagans' by dar williams. i LOVE LOVE LOVE it

holiday music guide

an example you ask? well here's ONE:

..........Bootsy Collins"Christmas is 4 Ever"(Shout)
For those who complain that there simply aren't enough Christmas funk records, Bootsy Collins comes to the rescue with "Christmas is 4 Ever." The funk master, known for his work with George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic, delivers such soon-to-be holiday classics as "Winter Funkyland" and "Jingle Belz.".............

Tech Tags: christmas+music holiday+music

'troubling' isn't even coming close

in my opinion. hell, it's FRIGHTENING

Brooklyn judge pens kids’ book about unchecked immigration

By Associated Press Monday, November 27, 2006 - Updated: 02:26 PM EST NEW YORK - Unhappy with the children’s books on the market, a Brooklyn criminal court judge has written a picture book that uses a horticultural metaphor to deplore the perils of unchecked immigration.
In “The Hot House Flowers,” self-published by Judge John H. Wilson, an envious dandelion releases her seeds into a hothouse, where they grow and eventually use up so much water and food that there’s none left for the plants that were already there.
In the end, the master of the hothouse - clearly standing for God - removes the dandelions, and when the original dandelion tries to send more seeds in, the hothouse flowers trample the seeds so they can’t grow.
“I didn’t like a lot of the children’s literature that I’ve seen,” Wilson said Monday. “I really wanted to have something that discusses values that I think parents should want to convey to their children.”
An advocate for immigrants called the book troubling, while a spokesman for the Minuteman Project, a volunteer border patrol group, praised it.
“I think it’s irresponsible for someone to write a children’s book like this - one that poisons the minds of impressionable young readers with the idea that immigrants are to blame for the world’s ills,” said Norman Eng, a spokesman for the New York Immigration Coalition. “Children are not in a position to see through the bias conveyed in this story.” ...........

shouldn't we be teaching our children OTHER things? things like acceptance, love, understanding, BIRTH CONTROL and SAFE SEX????

Tech Tags: immigration children minuteman+project

fear would have overtaken ME too

then again, i'm not in iraq nor am i an iraqi. we stirred up this hornet's nest. it's just getting worse and worse. we're supposed to turn control over to the iraqis (it's THEIR country WE invaded, FOR NO REASON, REMEMBER?), but this sure doesn't bode well, DO IT?

`Fear took over' in Baghdad raid

U.S. advisors lament Iraqi troops' conduct. America's exit strategy hangs in the balance.By Solomon MooreTimes Staff Writer9:40 PM PST, December 3, 2006FORWARD OPERATING BASE AL RASHID — Bursts of AK-47 fire hissed past them from several directions at once, showering the U.S. and Iraqi soldiers with pulverized cement and slapping spider-web fractures into their Humvees' bullet-resistant glass turret-guards.The joint security forces, undertaking what officials described as a major counterinsurgency operation, were in pursuit of 70 "high-value targets" in Baghdad's crowded Fadhil quarter, a Sunni Arab neighborhood of multistory tenements along the east bank of the Tigris River.Instead, the soldiers of the Iraqi army's 9th Mechanized Division and their American trainers had walked into a deadly ambush Friday. From upper-story apartments, insurgents stopped the soldiers' advance with grenades and shoulder-fired rockets. Others launched coordinated mortar strikes, hitting one of two nearby Iraqi field posts.By the time the 11-hour battle was over, one Iraqi soldier had been killed and six others wounded, including one who shot himself in the foot. A U.S. soldier was also wounded and, according to American troops interviewed, additional casualties were averted only because U.S. Apache attack helicopters were called in and American trainers shot their way out of the ambush."Fear took over" among the Iraqis, Staff Sgt. Michael Baxter said...............

Tech Tags: baghdad iraq+war us+soldiers insurgents

fear would have overtaken ME too

then again, i'm not in iraq nor am i an iraqi. we stirred up this hornet's nest. it's just getting worse and worse. we're supposed to turn control over to the iraqis (it's THEIR country WE invaded, FOR NO REASON, REMEMBER?), but this sure doesn't bode well, DO IT?

`Fear took over' in Baghdad raid

U.S. advisors lament Iraqi troops' conduct. America's exit strategy hangs in the balance.By Solomon MooreTimes Staff Writer9:40 PM PST, December 3, 2006FORWARD OPERATING BASE AL RASHID — Bursts of AK-47 fire hissed past them from several directions at once, showering the U.S. and Iraqi soldiers with pulverized cement and slapping spider-web fractures into their Humvees' bullet-resistant glass turret-guards.The joint security forces, undertaking what officials described as a major counterinsurgency operation, were in pursuit of 70 "high-value targets" in Baghdad's crowded Fadhil quarter, a Sunni Arab neighborhood of multistory tenements along the east bank of the Tigris River.Instead, the soldiers of the Iraqi army's 9th Mechanized Division and their American trainers had walked into a deadly ambush Friday. From upper-story apartments, insurgents stopped the soldiers' advance with grenades and shoulder-fired rockets. Others launched coordinated mortar strikes, hitting one of two nearby Iraqi field posts.By the time the 11-hour battle was over, one Iraqi soldier had been killed and six others wounded, including one who shot himself in the foot. A U.S. soldier was also wounded and, according to American troops interviewed, additional casualties were averted only because U.S. Apache attack helicopters were called in and American trainers shot their way out of the ambush."Fear took over" among the Iraqis, Staff Sgt. Michael Baxter said...............

Tech Tags: baghdad iraq+war us+soldiers insurgents

i had NO idea this was happening at POM juice

i shall NO LONGER buy or drink the shite until and unless THEY STOP THIS CRUEL AND UNNECESSARY AND UNCALLED FOR BY LAW TORTURE AND KILLING OF ANIMALS

(why the f**k do you have to test the effect of pomegranate juice on ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION??? you stupid f**kers)

pam vs. pom

.............None of POM's experiments on animals is required by law. Even so, POM has paid experimenters to kill untold numbers of animals in tests. In one experiment, pregnant mice were fed POM juice, and their week-old babies were locked in a chamber with almost no oxygen for 45 minutes, causing severe brain damage; the babies were then killed so that experimenters could dissect their brains. In another experiment, rabbits were fed POM and had their arteries severed to study erectile dysfunction.
Other pomegranate juicemakers—including Naked, Old Orchard, and Frutzzo—do not fund any experiments on animals....................

Tech Tags: pom+juice pomegranate+juice animal+testing

photo of the day

don't they just remind you of snow?

Photo in the News: Hybrid Butterfly Found on Cold Mountaintops

Some, apparently, like it cold, thanks to a rare form of genetic mixing between two butterfly species.
The unnamed alpine-dwelling species of the butterfly genus Lycaeides, seen here, appears to be a genetic mashup of two known species—Lycaeides melissa and Lycaeides idas—according to a new study.
"The alpine populations possess a mosaic genome derived from both L. melissa and L. idas and are differentiated from, and younger than, their putative parental species," the authors wrote in a paper published online today by the journal Science. ............
—Victoria Gilman

Photograph by James A. Fordyce

site of the day

girlistic and the premier issue of girlistic magazine winter 2006 edition

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttt??????????

it IS all king george. even da rummy admitted we're f**ked in iraq (and f**king UP iraq by our presence)

Rumsfeld’s Memo of Options for Iraq War

Following is the text of a classified Nov. 6 memorandum that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sent to the White House suggesting new options in Iraq. The memorandum was sent one day before the midterm Congressional elections and two days before Mr. Rumsfeld resigned.
Nov. 6, 2006
SUBJECT: Iraq — Illustrative New Courses of Action
The situation in Iraq has been evolving, and U.S. forces have adjusted, over time, from major combat operations to counterterrorism, to counterinsurgency, to dealing with death squads and sectarian violence. In my view it is time for a major adjustment. Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough. Following is a range of options:
ILLUSTRATIVE OPTIONS
Above the Line: (Many of these options could and, in a number of cases, should be done in combination with others)
¶Publicly announce a set of benchmarks agreed to by the Iraqi Government and the U.S. — political, economic and security goals — to chart a path ahead for the Iraqi government and Iraqi people (to get them moving) and for the U.S. public (to reassure them that progress can and is being made).
¶Significantly increase U.S. trainers and embeds, and transfer more U.S. equipment to Iraqi Security forces (ISF), to further accelerate their capabilities by refocusing the assignment of some significant portion of the U.S. troops currently in Iraq.
¶Initiate a reverse embeds program, like the Korean Katusas, by putting one or more Iraqi soldiers with every U.S. and possibly Coalition squad, to improve our units’ language capabilities and cultural awareness and to give the Iraqis experience and training with professional U.S. troops. .....

Tech Tags: donald+rumsfeld classified+memo iraq

please check out ramblings of a lexington parrothead's

take on the story i posted below. it's way cool

a study in contrasts