a good analysis (by Robert Scheer)

of the SHEER (just a coincidence here) lunacy that is the king george and his court administration. and this is just on ONE subject. arming the saudis.

Keeping Enemies Close--and Saudis Closer

Robert Scheer

Go figure: From the White House comes the news that self-styled anti-terrorism crusader George W. Bush wants to sell $20 billion in high-tech military equipment to Saudi Arabia, the source of most of the financing, and fifteen of the nineteen hijackers, for the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. ......

...........White House officials told the New York Times that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates intend to use the occasion of their joint visit to Saudi Arabia "to press the Saudis to do more to help Iraq's Shiite-dominated government." Huh? Why in the world would the Sunnis, who control Saudi Arabia and are frightened to their bones of Shiites throughout the Gulf, be party to consolidating Shiite power in Iraq?
To complete the circle of madness, White House officials tell reporters that the hope of the latest arms sale program is that the Saudis will be so thrilled with their new weapons that they will stop funding the Sunni insurgents who are currently killing Americans............

i thought this rather interesting

seems al-qaeda has it's own 'media production team'

(industrial light and magic WATCH OUT)

Researcher's Analysis of al Qaeda Images Reveals Surprises -- UPDATED

By Kim Zetter

Neal Krawetz, a researcher and computer security consultant, gave an interesting presentation today at the BlackHat security conference in Las Vegas about analyzing digital photographs and video images for alterations and enhancements.
Using a program he wrote (and provided on the conference CD-ROM) Krawetz could print out the quantization tables in a JPEG file (that indicate how the image was compressed) and determine the last tool that created the image -- that is, the make and model of the camera if the image is original or the version of Photoshop that was used to alter and re-save the image...

.....But more interesting were the examples Krawetz gave of al Qaeda images. Krawetz took an image from a 2006 al Qaeda video of Ayman al-Zawahiri (above right), a senior member of the terrorist organization. The image shows al-Zawahiri sitting in front of a desk and banner with writing on it. But after conducting his error analysis Krawetz was able to determine that al-Zawahiri's image was superimposed in front of the background -- and was most likely videotaped in front of a black sheet............

the nutmeg grater: chris dodd vs bill o'wrongly

the nutmeg grater: chris dodd vs bill o'wrongly

hey i have an idea

why not withdraw our troops from iraq - stop squandering our money (lost weapons, giant unsafe and unsound embassy buildings, new police buildings with leaky plumbing and worse, etc etc etc) and give that money to the citizens of the gulf coast who lost EVERYTHING to katrina.

if given a choice where my tax dollars went - iraq or the gulf coast, I CHOOSE THE GULF COAST

Big Insurers Win Ruling On Katrina Levee Break
Appeals Court Says No to Claims Payout


By Becky BohrerAssociated Press

Hurricane Katrina victims whose homes and businesses were destroyed after floodwaters breached levees in the 2005 storm cannot recover money from their insurance companies for the damage, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
The case could affect thousands of residents and business owners in Louisiana who are attempting to rebuild. Robert P. Hartwig, chief economist at the industry-funded Insurance Information Institute in New York, said in June that a ruling against the industry could have cost insurers $1 billion.
This event was excluded from coverage under the plaintiffs' insurance policies, and under Louisiana law, we are bound to enforce the unambiguous terms of their insurance contracts as written," Judge Carolyn D. King wrote for a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans......

(and oh yeah, big bid-nez ONCE AGAIN wins)

you do know september is RIGHT around the corner

right? what happens in september? well someone is going to be releasing the analysis of how we're doing in iraq. how and if the iraqis have met the benchmarks we've set for them (nervy huh? how WE set THEIR benchmarks. well then again, WE illegally, imorally and unjustly invaded THEIR country). well believe it or not (and i KNOW it's so very hard to believe) there may be some problems



Maliki's Impact Blunted By Own Party's Fears
Hussein-Era Secrecy Persists, Analysts Say




By Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD -- As the U.S. military attempts to pacify Iraq so its leaders can pursue political reconciliation, Iraqi and Western observers say Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his inner circle appear increasingly unable to pull the government out of its paralysis.
At times consumed by conspiracy theories, Maliki and his Dawa party elite operate much as they did when they plotted to overthrow Saddam Hussein -- covertly and concerned more about their community's survival than with building consensus among Iraq's warring groups, say Iraqi politicians and analysts and Western diplomats.
In recent weeks, those suspicions have deepened as U.S. military commanders have begun to work with Sunni insurgents, longtime foes of the Shiite-led government, who have agreed to battle the group al-Qaeda in Iraq...............

and i am VERY curious as to the excuses and/or bold faced lies king george and his court will be using on US once that september report is released

al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida

al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida al qaida
(just my attempt at matching how many times king george says it in one of his speeches)

turns out it AIN'T al qaida after all we gots to worry 'bout (the most).

U.S. officials: Militias main threat to Iraq

By Mark Seibel and Leila Fadel McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD — Despite President Bush's recent insistence that al Qaida in Iraq is the principal cause of this country's violence, senior American military officers here say Shiite Muslim militias are a bigger problem, and one that will persist even if al Qaida is defeated.
"The longer-term threat to Iraq is potentially the Shiite militias," one senior military officer said, echoing concerns that other American officials raised in recent interviews with McClatchy Newspapers.
Military officers hail the fact that violence is down as evidence that their campaign against al Qaida in Iraq is succeeding. But there's no sign of reconciliation between Sunni Muslims and Shiites, the rationale the Bush administration cites for increasing the number of U.S. troops in the country.
The Shiite Mahdi Army militia continues to drive Sunni residents from neighborhoods in Baghdad, a development that one American officer called "disappointing." Shiite politicians show little sympathy for the expelled Sunnis or interest in stopping the expulsions. In interviews, they argued that the drive against Sunnis is a justified response to Sunni campaigns to drive Shiites from their neighborhoods, a position that American military officers reject.............

yeah, that's EXACTLY what this dude needs

YOUR PRAYERS

Minister In Skirt Charged With Indecent Exposure
Police Say Man Urinated In Front Of Kids, Offered Oral Sex To Cops

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- A Baptist minister has been charged in Tennessee with indecent exposure and driving under the influence.
Police said 58-year-old Tommy Tester of Bristol, Va., was wearing a skirt when he was arrested last week after allegedly relieving himself in front of children at a car wash.
A report also accuses Tester of offering police officers oral sex and says an open bottle of vodka and empty oxycodone prescription bottle was found in his car when Tester was arrested Friday
Authorities identified Tester as the minister of Gospel Baptist Church in Bristol and an employee of Christian radio station WZAP-AM, also in Bristol. WZAP issued a statement asking for prayers and saying Tester has been suspended during an investigation.........

some people lose their car keys

and some lose 190,000 WEAPONS
(not the first time i mentioned this story)
US cannot account for 190,000 guns in Iraq: report

The US government cannot account for 190,000 weapons issued to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to an investigation carried out by the Government Accountability Office.
According to the July 31 report, the military "cannot fully account for about 110,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 80,000 pistols, 135,000 items of body armour and 115,000 helmets reported as issued to Iraqi forces."
The weapons disappeared from records between June 2004 and September 2005, as the military struggled to rebuild the disbanded Iraqi forces from scratch amid increasing attacks from Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.
Since 2004 the military "has not consistently collected supporting records confirming the dates the equipment was received, the quantities of equipment delivered, or the Iraqi units receiving the items," the report said.
"Since 2006 the command has placed greater emphasis on collecting the supporting documents. However, GAO's review of the January 2007 property books found continuing problems with missing and incomplete records."..........

update: monday august 6th: the wapo finally prints the story (a couple of days after other sources i might add)

Weapons Given to Iraq Are Missing
GAO Estimates 30% of Arms Are Unaccounted For


By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer

The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.
The author of the report from the Government Accountability Office says U.S. military officials do not know what happened to 30 percent of the weapons the United States distributed to Iraqi forces from 2004 through early this year as part of an effort to train and equip the troops. The highest previous estimate of unaccounted-for weapons was 14,000, in a report issued last year by the inspector general for Iraq reconstruction..........

30%? 30% is a GIANT number. that's a load o' weapsons to go 'missing'

if you go over to

immigration orange and do some digging, there is PLENTY of info on chiquita. just google chiquita and you'll be shocked.

paying protection money to terrorists. what did those terrorists do? THEY KILLED PEOPLE.

big bid-nez once again. terrorism, torture, threats, murder
and the white boys sit in their air conditioned giant offices with their pockets lined with blood money and they don't give a f**k

In Terrorism-Law Case, Chiquita Points to U.S.
Firm Says It Awaited Justice Dept. Advice


By Carol D. Leonnig Washington Post Staff Writer

On April 24, 2003, a board member of Chiquita International Brands disclosed to a top official at the Justice Department that the king of the banana trade was evidently breaking the nation's anti-terrorism laws.
Roderick M. Hills, who had sought the meeting with former law firm colleague Michael Chertoff, explained that Chiquita was paying "protection money" to a Colombian paramilitary group on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations. Hills said he knew that such payments were illegal, according to sources and court records, but said that he needed Chertoff's advice.
Chiquita, Hills said, would have to pull out of the country if it could not continue to pay the violent right-wing group to secure its Colombian banana plantations. Chertoff, then assistant attorney general and now secretary of homeland security, affirmed that the payments were illegal but said to wait for more feedback, according to five sources familiar with the meeting..........

Colombia seeks eight in Chiquita terrorist scandal

The Death Penalty for Chiquita

Chiquita in Colombia: Terrorism Gone Bananas?

i think someone over at msnbc must have read my blog.......

naw, i know it's just a coincidence.

yesterday, i posted my shock at seeing a commercial entitled viva viagra. well i'm not the only one who was taken aback

VIVA VIAGRA?

by Allison Linn

The setting is a folksy bar off a dusty highway. The scene: a group of guys who have gotten together for a jam session, to sing about ... the wonders of erectile dysfunction medication.
The new commercial for Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra is striking for a few reasons.
For one thing, there are no women in it -- this is a commercial all about guys bonding with other guys over the good times this medication has brought them, not sharing an intimate moment with their female partner. And secondly, some of the guys here strike the viewer as pretty young for erectile dysfunction. ........

here's the headline from today's boston globe

Analysis says war could cost $1 trillion
Budget office sees effect on taxpayers for decade

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff

(kinda gives ya the warm fuzzies, no?)

question

does this woman look like she knows osama?

well a federal agent thinks so

Told ya so, Part 1: CNN says "just kidding" after terror scare

...................The story also featured an interview with Weiss (pictured at top), the 66-year-old woman who had a leaky ice pack in her luggage visiting family in San Diego, and she confirmed that a federal agent asked her: "Do you know Osama bin Laden?" And you thought the government had stopped looking for him!.................

i had NO idea this was happening

i had NO idea we could LET this type of thing happen. how COULD it happen? why is it being allowed? it's POISON. mercury is POISON

yet ANOTHER example of big bid-nez running OUR lives

BP gets OK to dump mercury into Lake Michigan

By Bobby Carmichael, USA TODAY
A BP (BP) refinery in Indiana will be allowed to continue to dump mercury into Lake Michigan under a permit issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The permit exempts the BP plant at Whiting, Ind., 3 miles southeast of Chicago, from a 1995 federal regulation limiting mercury discharges into the Great Lakes to 1.3 ounces per year.
The BP plant reported releasing 3 pounds of mercury through surface water discharges each year from 2002 to 2005, according to the Toxics Release Inventory, a database on pollution emissions kept by the Environmental Protection Agency that is based on information reported by companies.........

i have an idea

why don't we send those assholes (who as PRIVATE citizens walk the mexico united states border to stop illegal border crossings) to guard the saudi iraq border? i think it's a DAMN fine idea. plus, it won't innvolve any of our troops! plus, it will give the assholes a big fat woody

Petraeus denies militants cross Saudi/Iraq border but officials admit infiltration

David Edwards and Muriel Kane

The top US commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, told Diane Sawyer of ABC's Good Morning America on Monday that jihadis are not crossing the Saudi border into Iraq. However, other sources indicate that the border is far more porous than Petraeus was willing to acknowledge.
Sawyer asked Petraeus about recent reports that "about half of the 60 to 80 foreign fighters coming into Iraq [each month] are coming across Saudi borders," including a large number of suicide bombers. "You have been very hard on the Syrians for letting foreign fighters come in through their borders," she said. "Are the Saudis not doing enough to shut down their borders?"
"I'm not sure that they're coming across the Saudi border," replied Petraeus. "I think what we have found is that it is Saudi citizens and citizens from other countries in North Africa and in the region who are coming through Syria."
When Sawyer asked again, "So you don't see them coming across the Saudi border?" Petraeus responded, more emphatically, "We do not, actually. The Saudis have a reasonably tight grip on the Saudi border, and it is a substantial expanse of desert. You really have to want to be a suicide bomber if you want to come across that expanse of desert that defines the Saudi-Iraq border in western Anbar Province."..........

if it's good enough for flush limburger

it's good enough for alberto gonzales..................

and if you don't think the big companies (including of course the DRUG companies) have a hand in what's going on in the world, YOU ARE SADLY MISTAKEN

(also check out this posting from the DARK SIDE, ok ok, it's really called copious dissent, by the devil's advocate bring liberals and conservatives together.....................)

U.S. Attorney Became Target After Rebuffing Justice Dept.


By Amy Goldstein and Carrie Johnson Washington Post Staff Writers

The night before the government secured a guilty plea from the manufacturer of the addictive painkiller OxyContin, a senior Justice Department official called the U.S. attorney handling the case and, at the behest of an executive for the drugmaker, urged him to slow down, the prosecutor told the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.
John L. Brownlee, the U.S. attorney in Roanoke, testified that he was at home the evening of Oct. 24 when he received the call on his cellphone from Michael J. Elston, then chief of staff to the deputy attorney general and one of the Justice aides involved in the removal of nine U.S. attorneys last year.
Brownlee settled the case anyway. Eight days later, his name appeared on a list compiled by Elston of prosecutors that officials had suggested be fired.............

i'm confused (once again)

isn't one of the republican platforms, LESS government interference? LESS government period?

not only isn't there LESS government, there is an administration that has shredded our constitution. rights? WE DON'T HAVE OR NEED ANY STINKIN' RIGHTS!!! (or liberties or freedoms either)

NSA Spying Part of Broader Effort
Intelligence Chief Says Bush Authorized Secret Activities Under One Order


By Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writer

The Bush administration's chief intelligence official said yesterday that President Bush authorized a series of secret surveillance activities under a single executive order in late 2001. The disclosure makes clear that a controversial National Security Agency program was part of a much broader operation than the president previously described.
The disclosure by Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, appears to be the first time that the administration has publicly acknowledged that Bush's order included undisclosed activities beyond the warrantless surveillance of e-mails and phone calls that Bush confirmed in December 2005.
In a letter to Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), McConnell wrote that the executive order following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks included "a number of . . . intelligence activities" and that a name routinely used by the administration -- the Terrorist Surveillance Program -- applied only to "one particular aspect of these activities, and nothing more."..........

huh?

am i missing something here? our house of representatives passed a (non-binding but still, c'mon....) resolution for japan to apologize to it's 'comfort women'???????????? huh and huh and huh again?

first off weren't we in the slave trade for a while? secondly didn't we treat several groups like the chinese building the railroads out west like pieces of shite? thirdly, didn't we treat immigrants such as the irish and italians coming into ellis island like pieces of shite? thirdly, what about how we treated AMERICANS of japanese descent in wwII?, fourthly, in CURRENT times, are we letting children suffer because they don't have health insurance, are we letting those on the gulf coast suffer because of a natural disaster and ill prepared state AND government assistant plans. fifthly (and i'll stop here but i could go on and on and on and on) didn't we invade a foreign land who did NOTHING to us. NOTHING???????????

oh one more thing, while our men and women are DYING in iraq, the king and his court are breaking practically every law known to women and man - our congress is hinting at what ANOTHER country should do? c'mon now

US urges 'comfort women' apology

US lawmakers have called on Japan's government to formally apologise for its role in forcing thousands of women to work as sex slaves in World War II.
The symbolic and non-binding resolution was passed during a vote in the House of Representatives.
Up to 200,000 "comfort women" from across the Far East were part of Japan's military brothel programme.
Japan says it has shown sufficient remorse over the issue. A spokesman said the resolution was "regrettable".
Chief Cabinet Spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a news conference that Japan had "handled the comfort women issue with sincerity".
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had "clearly explained his views" on the subject during a visit to Washington in April, he said.
'Nauseating' denials
The resolution calls on Japan - one of the strongest US allies in Asia - to "formally acknowledge, apologise and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner" for the suffering of the women. .........

(p.s. please do NOT misunderstand. i DO think these women deserve MORE than an apology. i just think we better fix our OWN f**kups before we go advising others on theirs)

the nutmeg grater: hey da liebs you steamin' piece o' you know what#links#links

the nutmeg grater: hey da liebs you steamin' piece o' you know what#links#links

i don't know the truth about lt colonel steven jordan

nor will i likely EVER know the truth about him. my HUNCH is he IS a scapegoat. they needed someone to point the proverbial finger at, and there he was!

seems like the CREDIBLE witnesses say he wasn't responsible AND they say he wasn't even in the CHAIN OF COMMAND.

we already know who's guilty ......... they will NEVER pay. hell, they'll never be charged (in their lifetimes and mine that is. i DO believe history will see the truth and they WILL be charged with war crimes AND treason. yes, that's right THE BIG DICK and KING GEORGE among others). we won't see it, but eventually the american people WILL take their heads out of their asses and see the truth and speak the truth and make those accountable pay - even posthumously

Conflicting Portraits of Officer Charged Over Abu Ghraib


By Josh White Washington Post Staff Writer
Army Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan does not appear in any of the notorious images of detainee abuse that emerged from Abu Ghraib prison three years ago. Going into his tour in Iraq in 2003, he had no interrogation experience. And more than half a dozen military interrogators have said in recent interviews that Jordan had nothing to do with the hundreds of interrogations they conducted at the prison.
Nevertheless, Jordan, 51, is scheduled to become the first Army officer to face a court-martial for alleged abuse at Abu Ghraib. His trial will begin next month at Fort Meade. Investigators and military officials have painted Jordan as a liar and an abuser, the lone officer who should be held criminally accountable for one of the most devastating events of the Iraq war.............

............Retired Staff Sgt. Mark Day, 48, who conducted about 100 interrogations of detainees at Abu Ghraib in late 2003, said that Jordan was not involved in his interrogations and that senior interrogators and officers in Iraq had to approve controversial approaches. Jordan was not in the authorization chain of command, and his name does not appear on any of the dozens of signed interrogation requests obtained by The Washington Post.
The Army is "sacrificing him on the altar of public opinion while slowly letting everyone else fade out of view," said Day, who was never interviewed by Army investigators. "He's now a prisoner of his own service. He's been in prison now for four years, emotionally, physically and almost literally because he hasn't been able to return to civilian life."........

anna quindlin brings up a good question

how much time?
(and i KNOW you'd be shocked at how many women would be in stir)

How Much Jail Time?


By Anna Quindlen
Newsweek
Aug. 6, 2007 issue - Buried among prairie dogs and amateur animation shorts on YouTube is a curious little mini-documentary shot in front of an abortion clinic in Libertyville, Ill. The man behind the camera is asking demonstrators who want abortion criminalized what the penalty should be for a woman who has one nonetheless. You have rarely seen people look more gobsmacked. It's as though the guy has asked them to solve quadratic equations. Here are a range of responses: "I've never really thought about it." "I don't have an answer for that." "I don't know." "Just pray for them.".............................

A new public-policy group called the National Institute for Reproductive Health wants to take this contradiction and make it the centerpiece of a national conversation, along with a slogan that stops people in their tracks: how much time should she do? If the Supreme Court decides abortion is not protected by a constitutional guarantee of privacy, the issue will revert to the states. If it goes to the states, some, perhaps many, will ban abortion. If abortion is made a crime, then surely the woman who has one is a criminal. But, boy, do the doctrinaire suddenly turn squirrelly at the prospect of throwing women in jail............................

he really is more tom hagen than fredo

king george needs his consigliari. that is why gonzo is STILL hanging on. it's a travesty

Washington Post details Gonzales's 'decade of dishonesty'

Nick Juliano

Attorney General helped cover up Bush drunken driving conviction
Alberto Gonzales's difficult relationship with the truth has led to calls for a special prosecutor to investigate claims that the attorney general perjured himself during Senate testimony. But as the Washington Post points out Monday, Gonzales and honesty have had a shaky relationship stretching back more than a decade.
"Whether Gonzales has deliberately told untruths or is merely hampered by his memory has been the subject of intense debate among members of Congress, legal scholars and others who have watched him over the years," report the Post's Dan Eggen and Amy Goldstein. "Some regard his verbal difficulties as a strategic ploy on behalf of a president to whom he owes his career; others see a public official overwhelmed by the magnitude of his responsibilities."
Gonzales's apparent willingness to dissemble in order to protect himself or President Bush stretches back to at least 1996, when he intervened to prevent then-Gov. Bush from serving jury duty in Texas, the Post notes. Not until its second-to-last paragraph, however, does the Post article remind readers that by not serving jury duty in the drunken driving case Bush was able to keep his own drunken driving conviction a secret for several more years...............

something is being done

but i'm not sure this is the solution. having combat leaders as 'squad leaders' for the wounded at walter reed. the vets at walter reed are recovering. some have VERY serious injuries. i don't think calling squad meetings is a good start. patients need to be individuals. while at walter reed, why not treat them as such? some will continue to be in the military. many will not.

these men and women deserve a solution NOW. not experimentation. stop spending BILLIONS on iraq and other middle eastern countries and SPEND THE F**KING money at home. on our vets AND on our children AND on our elderly AND on education


At Walter Reed, a New Approach
Combat Veterans Assigned to Aid Recoveries


By Steve Vogel Washington Post Staff Writer

It was the sort of message that sergeants have delivered to soldiers since time immemorial: Formations would be held three days a week at 7:30 a.m., and attendance was mandatory. "NO EXCEPTIONS!" screamed the e-mail, sent this month by a staff sergeant to his squad.
"I am sick and tired of chasing everyone around when it should be simple," the message read. "This [is] the United States Army NOT the Salvation Army."
Normally, no one in the Army would blink. But the e-mail recipients were stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where many are missing limbs, coping with post-traumatic stress disorder or suffering from brain injuries. The backlash was swift. After fielding a complaint from a soldier's mother, a commanding officer ordered the sergeant to apologize.............

'bout time

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/30/AR2007073001427.html?hpid=topnews">Alaska Senator's Home Is Raided
Stevens Scrutinized In a Wide Inquiry Into Corruption in the State

late night observation

actually VERY early morning

the other morning i was watching television. on some channel (i think it was amc but i'm not sure), there was a commercial for a male 'enhancement' product. i forgot the name, doesn't matter. all it talked about was having that certain male part (and those are the words they used) GROW BIGGER. they had some skanky women saying it then some even skankier men. THEN they had the doctor who invented it AND a picture of his 'clinic'. you just had to see it to believe it. i was left (almost) speechless (it's called ExtenZe. i just looked it up on the net)

UNTIL

just now, when on regular television within the span of ten minutes i saw the SAME viagra commercial twice. a bunch o' dudes (about six of 'em) AND a dog. they (all but the dog) had instruments and were playing in some kind of roadhouse. what were they singing? VIVA VIAGRA (to the tune of viva las vegas)
NOTE: the piano player was ESPECIALLY happy about something or other......(could it be he had a 'thing' for the guitarist?)
now i really AM speechless

i was just listening to npr for a few minutes

(in the car and i got where i was going so that's why i'm not listening now). they were talking (i think it was the bbc world news) about how many iraqis were displaced (approximately FOUR MILLION with a possibility of it going up to EIGHT MILLION very soon. i think they said that came from oxfam) and how many iraqis lacked the basics of life (food, shelter, water, electricty, etc). that is approximately ONE THIRD of iraqis.

who is responsible for this? saddam hussein? no. osama? no. al queda? no. it's king george and his court. it is beyond my comprehension how we let this happen AND how we are CONTINUING TO LET IT HAPPEN. what's even MORE beyond my comprehension is king george and his court think they are saints. they think they are saving the cosmos.

Bush and Counterfactual Confidence
By Shankar Vedantam

In the face of mounting public and political opposition to the war in Iraq, recent reports from the White House suggest that President Bush remains serenely confident.
Bush's confidants report that the president believes he will be vindicated by history. He keeps Churchill and Lincoln close at hand. No matter how tough the situation in Iraq, Bush remains confident about his decision to go to war because he believes that things would have been much worse otherwise.
"Obviously, it was a difficult decision for me to make -- to send our brave troops, along with coalition troops, into Iraq," Bush said at a recent press briefing about the Iraq situation, where he faced a barrage of questions about flagging support for the war. "I firmly believe the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power."........

where did most of the 9/11 terrorists come out of?

yes, that's right. the SAME country, saudi arabia we're selling BILLIONS of dollars of weapons to.

you 'splain it lucy, i sure can't

U.S. to sell advanced weapons to Saudi Arabia and others

By Warren P. Strobel McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has decided to supply billions of dollars in advanced new weapons to Saudi Arabia, other Arab allies of the United States and to Israel, senior State Department officials and congressional aides said Friday.
The arms and aid package, which the officials said is to be announced on Monday, is part of a U.S. initiative to reassure worried allies in the Middle East that despite its troubles in Iraq, the United States remains committed to the region. It also is meant to send a signal of resolve to Iran's increasingly confident leaders.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates leave for the Middle East on Monday on a rare joint mission to deliver those messages in person to the region's leaders.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the package has not yet been announced, said it would include selling Saudi Arabia advanced weapons known as Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs. JDAMs convert simple gravity bombs into accurate "smart" weapons.
Israel protested the proposed sale when word of it first leaked in April..........

lavena lynn johnson

would have been 22 on july 27th.

her family wants the truth just like pat tillman's family wants the truth. they DESERVE the truth.

A Bitter Anniversary For the Family of a Murdered Soldier

Posted by Philip Barron

Philip Barron: The details of LaVena Johnson's death have been shrouded in lies and deception, the kind of official obfuscation that surrounds the death of Pat Tillman and other fallen soldiers.
Today, July 27th, marks what should have been a joyous celebration, perhaps including a party filled with family and friends. Today would have been LaVena Lynn Johnson’s 22nd birthday.
The month of July also marks another solemn milestone.
Two years ago this month the body of PFC Johnson was returned to her family and laid to rest, but there can be no rest for her her family and friends. The military continues to claim that LaVena took her own life while serving in Iraq, despite several indications to the contrary. ..........

i've never owned a gm car

seems like now i never will

from crooks and liars

Limbaugh’s GM commercial…He’s just looking out for Global Climate

By: John Amato

.......A C&Ler emailed this in. This defines hypocrisy:
If you’re doing an investment firm commercial that touches on the subject of, say for example, honing one’s talent to a fine point … you get Tiger Woods to be your spokesperson. If you’re doing a PSA on World Charities, you get someone who has championed the cause in the past like Bono.
So when General Motors decided to do a radio campaign touting their fuel efficient new cars that will help to reduce dependence on oil and protect the global climate … the choice was obvious!
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Curious whether or not the Suburban was in the original GM bullet points, or did Rush just throw that in so as not to feel silly lying his butt off................

i wouldn't have waited TEN minutes.

i would have booted 'em RIGHT AWAY. if you are flying a commercial airline, you sit where you're assigned. if you have enough money to fly to milan just for a couple hours of shopping, you probably have enough money to charter a private plane. if you don't want to sit next to strange men (and let's face it, who the f**k does????????) tough shite. i have to do it, everyone has to do it. SO DO YOU

Arab princesses kicked off British Airways plane to jeers and whistles after refusing to sit next to male strangers

By RAY MASSEY - More by this author »

Three Arab princesses were thrown off a packed British Airways flight after refusing to sit next to male passengers they didn't know.
The dispute - in which the three princesses from the ultra-conservative Qatar royal family demanded segregated seating - left the London-bound plane delayed on a baking Italian runway for nearly three hours.
Furious passengers whistled and clapped as the row intensified before the captain eventually ordered the women to be escorted off the plane.
The princesses, wearing traditional Arab dress, were returning from a day's shopping in Milan. They arrived at the city's Linate airport and boarded Heathrow-bound flight BA 563, which was due to take off at 4pm on Thursday.
The women, all relatives of the oil-rich emir of Qatar, Bader Bin Khalifa Al Thani, were booked into business class in a party of eight which included the emir and an entourage of cooks, servants and other staff. ........