even if we all see the truth

will ALL of us demand justice? demand people who have committed crimes against humanity (king george and his court) be punished?

will we bring our men and women home?

Brian DePalma Airs "Redacted" Iraq Images in New Film

NEW YORK Critics of the war in Iraq have long charged that the press has usually whitewashed the death and violence of the conflict by refusing to publish or air some of the most graphic images. Now a famous filmmaker -- using some of the photos that newspapers have failed to print -- is trying to do something about that.The latest film by Brian DePalma, director of numerous well-known movies such as "Scarface," "The Untouchables" and "Carrie/" is aptly called "Redacted" and has just been shown for the first time as part of the Venice Film Festival. DePalma spoke to reporters there, saying, among other things, "Pictures are what will stop the war."The film centers on perhaps the most horrendous known atrocity involving U.S. troops, the gang rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl and four members of her family in March 2006. DePalma had directed in 1989 a movie about a rape by U.S. soldiers of a Vietnamese girl called "Casualties of War," starring Sean Penn and the young Michael J. Fox."All the images we...have of our war are completely constructed -- whitewashed, redacted," said De Palma in Venice, according to press reports. "One only hopes that these images will get the public incensed enough to get their congressmen to vote against the war." DePalma makes use of images he has grabbed from the Web, including soldiers' home videos and photos that have never appeared in print. There's also more standard documentary film footage and the use of fictionalized techniques and characters to avoid certain legal issues, making it into an unusual kind of "docu-drama." ..........

so just what are they afraid of?

the truth?

U.S. Military Censors ThinkProgress

ThinkProgress is now banned from the U.S. military network in Baghdad.
Recently, an avid ThinkProgress reader — a U.S. soldier serving his second tour in Iraq — wrote to us and said that he can no longer access ThinkProgress.org. The error message he received:

this man IS living in a fantasy world

really he is. he's, at this point, delusional

Sen. Lieberman talks about progress in Iraq

By Chief Political Correspondent Mark Davis
......................"To me there's some significant progress happening in Iraq militarily. Al-Qaeda is on the run, Sunni tribal leaders have become our allies, death caused by sectarian assassination in Baghdad has gone down more than 50 percent," Sen. Lieberman said.Lieberman says he's frustrated by the limited progress made by the Maliki government but does not favor pushing him out."It is a choice that we have now in Iraq between this elected government struggling to make its way forward on the one hand and Al-Qaeda and Iran on the other hand.Lieberman is suggesting the U.S. should push for new provincial elections instead of trying to oust the current Iraqi government."The Sunni's, who boycotted the last election, are ready to come out again. Let let democracy work," Sen. Lieberman said........

does he think THIS is progress: Plane Carrying 4 U.S. Lawmakers Is Fired On in Iraq

am i missing something here?

if king george REALLY cared about the troops welfare (and i don't for a second believe he does) and how they are dealing with extended tours, why the f**k would he meet with the big dick, bobby gates and the joint chiefs of staff? why the f**k wouldn't he GO TO IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN AND MEET WITH THE TROOPS THEMSELVES? why wouldn't he meet with the husbands and wives and children here, of the troops that are deployed. why not meet with the mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers of the deployed troops? i just don't get it. what is the big dick going to tell king george? stay the course?

Military Briefs Bush On Troops' Welfare
Effects of Lengthy Deployments Discussed


By Michael Abramowitz Washington Post Staff Writer
President Bush went to the Pentagon yesterday to hear firsthand the views of top military advisers concerned about the impact of extensive Iraq deployments on the overall health of the U.S. armed forces.
Administration officials declined to offer details of Bush's private meeting with Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Bush did not appear publicly after the meeting but issued a written statement indicating that the discussions included plans to expand the size of the military and improve coordination between military and civilian officials in places such as Iraq.........

inadvertently my big fat ass

mistakes DO happen. i'd believe this was an oversight IF it was ANY administration EXCEPT king george's.

of course they ONLY attempted to make things right when they found out roberta stewart wasn't going to roll over and keep quiet.

ms stewart, i'm sorry for the loss of your husband (and i'm sorry for all of the OTHER losses of our troops)

an' it harm none, do as you will

Bush Apologizes to Wiccan Soldier's Widow for Meeting Slip-Up

By Jacqueline L. Salmon Washington Post Staff Writer

President Bush has apologized to the widow of a Wiccan soldier after she was excluded from a Nevada meeting this week that the president held with the families of soldiers killed in combat.
Roberta Stewart, whose husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart, was killed in Afghanistan in 2005, was left off the invitation list for the private meeting Tuesday even though other members of her husband's family were invited. When she heard about the exclusion from her mother-in-law, Stewart said, she concluded that it was done because of her public fight to force the federal government to engrave the symbol for the Wiccan faith on her husband's marker on a memorial.
"I was devastated," Stewart said. "I was crying and upset. I couldn't believe that my country would continue this discrimination."..........

picture: page: www.uucheyenne.org/mandalas/

this is a solution

if you don't like the bad news, JUST CHANGE IT TO SOME BETTER NEWS. who cares if it's the truth or not? certainly NOT the american people. they've kept their collective mouths shut for this entire administration's tragic, evil, immoral and illegal reign (of blood)

ah, perhaps millions of iraqis care though. those whose family members have been tortured and killed. those who are now refugees in foreign lands. those who are still in iraq but have no water or food or electricty. let's ask THEM how those benchmarks are coming along

Pentagon Challenges GAO's Report on Iraq

By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer
The Pentagon has disputed parts of a progress report on Iraq drafted by the Government Accountability Office, and asked that some of the assessment's failing grades on key political and security benchmarks be changed before the final report is made public next week, a Defense spokesman said yesterday.
"We have provided the GAO with information which we believe will lead them to conclude that a few of the benchmark grades should be upgraded from 'not met' to 'met,' " spokesman Geoff Morrell said. He declined to specify which grades he was citing.......

the nuge ain't so forgiving

when the gun is up HIS arse
wah wah wah what a crybaby he is

Nugent defends right to threaten Democrats during his concerts Rocker not so forgiving when 'threats' were directed other way

David Edwards and Nick Juliano
Rocker Ted Nugent said trying to explain his fantasies of executing prominent Democrats that he aired in the middle of a recent show would be "like trying to explain an orgasm to a eunuch."
In an interview on the O'Reilly Factor Wednesday night, Nugent was criticized over video from a recent concert during which he encouraged Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to "suck on my machine gun" and referred to Senator Hillary Clinton as a "worthless bitch."........

................However, the conservative rocker was not so forgiving when "threats" were directed his way. In an appearance on Fox News's Hannity and Colmes earlier this summer, Nugent criticized a liberal blogger who joked of plans to "shoot" him and Rush Limbaugh.
"This guy is obviously a nutcase, but he's actually making a statement to assassinate fellow Americans," Nugent said at the time.
The avid hunter and gun advocate said he felt like his life was threatened, and "my family is taking it very seriously." The offending quote from the blog said, "I've got dibs on Rush, as soon as it's legal and lawful to shoot him. Whoever wants Ted Nugent is welcome to him."
"They've threatened to kill me," Nugent said, referring to what he said were previous attempts on his life. "We got the files with law enforcement. This guy is obviously a nut case. But he is actually making a statement to assassinate fellow Americans...........

you silly silly silly

gooses. BREASTESESESESEESSSESESEESES are for SELLING CARS AND BEER! they are NOT for whipping out to feed our children. shoot, i thought EVERYONE knew that
(i'm going to stop now because this could get VERY ugly. not unlike watching a woman breastfeed a child in public AS SOME PEOPLE THINK)
HHS Toned Down Breast-Feeding Ads
Formula Industry Urged Softer Campaign


By Marc Kaufman and Christopher Lee Washington Post Staff Writers
In an attempt to raise the nation's historically low rate of breast-feeding, federal health officials commissioned an attention-grabbing advertising campaign a few years ago to convince mothers that their babies faced real health risks if they did not breast-feed. It featured striking photos of insulin syringes and asthma inhalers topped with rubber nipples.
Plans to run these blunt ads infuriated the politically powerful infant formula industry, which hired a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a former top regulatory official to lobby the Health and Human Services Department. Not long afterward, department political appointees toned down the campaign.
The ads ran instead with more friendly images of dandelions and cherry-topped ice cream scoops, to dramatize how breast-feeding could help avert respiratory problems and obesity. In a February 2004 letter, the lobbyists told then-HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson they were "grateful" for his staff's intervention to stop health officials from "scaring expectant mothers into breast-feeding," and asked for help in scaling back more of the ads.................

i'm not there

(when you're lost in the rain in juarez and it's easter time too.........

that lyric ALWAYS stays with me. don't know why it just does)
i love bob dylan. always have always will. i am so excited about this movie i could just burst!

Is Six Actors Enough to Show the Many Sides of Bob Dylan?
By Paul Harris, The Observer UK.
In a Hollywood with a reputation for liking things safe and bankable, a bizarrely cast film about the life of one of the most controversial singers of all time, opening in just four cinemas in all of America, would seem unlikely to be at the center of the biggest Oscar buzz of the year.
Yet I'm Not There -- a biopic about Bob Dylan being released in November -- is doing exactly that. There is nothing normal about the movie, which delves into the fascinating life of the singer-songwriter and promises to be one of the strangest films of the decade.
It boasts six actors playing Dylan, including a woman and a black boy, so its opening marketing campaign was hardly likely to be conventional. But by any standards, opening in only four cinemas is remarkable. Usually that means that a studio thinks its movie might be a disaster, yet I'm Not There has generated nothing but good news.
Industry figures have been surprised by the move. 'It depends on the film. Sometimes you just start small and build on word of mouth,' said Karen Cooper, director of Manhattan's acclaimed arts cinema Film Forum, which is one of two New York cinemas that will screen the film. The other two are in Los Angeles.
The film is backed by the Weinstein Company, whose founder, Harvey Weinstein, has not been shy of touting the work, despite planning its slow release. He has admitted wanting to generate a slow burn of reaction before taking the film national.
"I'm going to play every major city in the United States with this movie," he said last week. "I'll play 100 cities at least."............

just like tom thumb's blues (bob dylan)
When you're lost in the rain in Juarez And it's Eastertime too And your gravity fails And negativity don't pull you through Don't put on any airs When you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue They got some hungry women there And they really make a mess outa you Now if you see Saint Annie Please tell her thanks a lot I cannot move My fingers are all in a knot I don't have the strength To get up and take another shot And my best friend, my doctor Won't even say what it is I've got Sweet Melinda The peasants call her the goddess of gloom She speaks good English And she invites you up into her room And you're so kind And careful not to go to her too soon And she takes your voice And leaves you howling at the moon Up on Housing Project Hill It's either fortune or fame You must pick up one or the other Though neither of them are to be what they claim If you're lookin' to get silly You better go back to from where you came Because the cops don't need you And man they expect the same Now all the authorities They just stand around and boast How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms Into leaving his post And picking up Angel who Just arrived here from the coast Who looked so fine at first But left looking just like a ghost I started out on burgundy But soon hit the harder stuff Everybody said they'd stand behind me When the game got rough But the joke was on me There was nobody even there to call my bluff I'm going back to New York City I do believe I've had enough

let's keep

bo diddley in our thoughts and prayers
(i don't wish ANYONE ill will - i really don't - but i'm SICK and effing tired of hearing about all of those cocaine and alcohol addled rich white grrrls with so much money and no parental guidance and NO EFFING TALENT. do young people even KNOW who bo diddley is? i wonder.......)
Guitarist Bo Diddley in Florida hospital in serious condition


Rock and roll guitarist and songwriter Bo Diddley, 78, was in a Florida hospital suffering heart problems, his press agent and hospital sources said Wednesday.
Known as "The Originator" of rock and roll, Diddley was taken to north Florida's regional medical center after suffering dizzy spells during a regular medical checkup on Friday, said agent Susan Clary.
A hospital spokeswoman told AFP she was not at liberty to give information on private patients at the hospital, adding that no information was available on the hospital's computer records.
Clary said Diddley had a stent implanted to aid blood flow to the heart and was in stable condition after spending the weekend in an intensive care ward.
In May, Diddley was also hospitalized following a heart attack that left him with slurry speech and unable to fully identify people around him, sources close to him said at the time.........

on our planes, please don't speak

in languages we can't understand. please don't dress differently than we do (although the article doesn't say they were dressed differently). please don't believe in a god with a name that's not 'god' or 'jesus'. please don't be different than us, period!

can't say what happened as i wasn't there, but i'll bet my big fat ass, NOTHING happened. people were just being id-jits about having arabic men aboard an airplane

Plane bound for Chicago held after dispute involving Arabic-speaking men

The Associated Press
9:41 PM CDT, August 29, 2007
SAN DIEGO

All passengers on an American Airlines redeye flight to Chicago were ordered off a plane after complaints about a group of Arabic-speaking men.Local law enforcement questioned the six men and released them quickly, American spokesman Tim Wagner said Wednesday. The Transportation Security Administration did not get involved, said agency spokesman Nico Melendez."They did nothing wrong," said Dave Stephens, chief executive officer for Defense Training Systems, which had hired the men to train Marines at Camp Pendleton.The incident was "an unfortunate situation for all flight passengers," according to a statement from the company, a unit of International Logistics Services Corp. of Anchorage, Alaska.American Flight 590 had been scheduled to leave late Tuesday........

just when you thought

it really couldn't get WORSE (it did)

U.N. reports cholera outbreak in northern Iraq

CNN) -- More than 2,000 Iraqis in the northern part of the country have contracted cholera, U.N. officials said Wednesday, citing local authorities. The outbreak is thought to be the result of poor water quality, the U.N. officials said.
"Local authorities report that over 2,000 people have been affected so far by the outbreak, with five deaths reported and 500 patients admitted to hospital with severe diarrhea within the last two days alone," said the U.N. Children's Fund, or UNICEF.
Forty-seven cases have been confirmed as epidemic cholera, but the number is expected to grow, said UNICEF, which has rushed emergency aid to the affected area.
The outbreak has hit the Sulaimaniya province and the nearby Kirkuk region in northern Iraq.
"Although the outbreak is largely affecting adults, children are at extremely high risk," UNICEF said.
Cholera is a bacterial ailment that affects the intestinal tract. The disease is contracted by consuming contaminated water. ......

and only just yesterday

several papers printed all the PROGRESS we've made in iraq. bullshite. YOU and I KNOW it. how people and there ARE some (like bill kristol par example) can sit there or stand there and claim we are making good progress (don't forget the dude, senator i believe, who said the baghdad market is JUST like being in idaho or iowa or ohio or wherever. that was one of my favorites) is beyond freedom and dignity. let's collectively WAKE UP and DEMAND JUSTICE. prosecute and hold accountable those who have committed crimes against humanity (AND the american people)

Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals
GAO Draft at Odds With White House


By Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writers

Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequately reflected the range of views the GAO found within the administration.
The strikingly negative GAO draft, which will be delivered to Congress in final form on Tuesday, comes as the White House prepares to deliver its own new benchmark report in the second week of September, along with congressional testimony from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker. They are expected to describe significant security improvements and offer at least some promise for political reconciliation in Iraq.......
"

i hope EVERYONE

gets EXACTLY what they deserve!

how long was it before our troops got armor for their vehicles? how long was it before they got halfway decent body armor (and i hear it's NOT as decent as another brand, but they're NOT allowed to use the other brand - the army doesn't have a contract with them. can't even use it if they bought it on their OWN.)

fraud and waste and worse happens in EVERY administration. i'm not naiive enough to think it doesn't. HOWEVER, this administration is just wrong. everything about it is just wrong. period

what will come of this? most likely the same thing that's come of scooter libby, the victims of gulf storms, our uninsured children. NO F***ING THING - NADA - NOTHING
Army to Probe $3 Billion of Contracts in Iraq

By Richard LardnerAssociated Press The Army will examine as many as 18,000 contracts awarded over the past four years to support U.S. forces in Iraq to determine how many are tainted by waste, fraud and abuse, service officials said yesterday.
Overall, the contracts are worth close to $3 billion and represent every transaction from 2003 to 2007 by a contracting office in Kuwait, which the Army has identified as a significant trouble spot.Among the contracts to be reviewed are awards to former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, which has received billions of dollars since 2001 to be a major provider of food and shelter services to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.....

the nutmeg grater: this is rather surprising#links#links

the nutmeg grater: this is rather surprising#links#links

Who is the US Fighting in Iraq?

i was wondering this myself.....

How Did News Outlets Miss Senator's Arrest for Nearly Three Months?

normally i'm a live and let live kind o' babe. that is when the others involved let everyone live equally............... senator 'i am NOT a cruiser' craig sure as shite wasn't letting everyone live equally. otherwise, i wouldn't be butting in his bid-nez (about his sexuality that is).

it's 80 pages long

and i've not read it (yet) but i did want to post the link


Considering a war with Iran:
A discussion paper on WMD in the Middle East

U.S. Plans to Attack Iran Revealed

Posted by David Swanson\
This post, written by David Swanson, originally appeared on After Downing Street
Detailed Pentagon plans for a military attack on Iran are far more extensive than has been reported in the U.S., according to top British military analysts. There have been occasional news reports on various strategic bombing options - both conventional and nuclear - but this is the first comprehensive look at the full range of Pentagon plans.
A new report obtained by RawStory.com concludes that the United States has made major preparations to attack Iran, and that such an attack will likely target much more than just weapons or nuclear facilities......

the nutmeg grater: is this a possibility?#links#links

the nutmeg grater: is this a possibility?#links#links

our own kids don't have insurance

the lives of people on the gulf coast STILL have not gone back to 'normal' (and most likely never will). our schools need help. our elderly need help. our veterans need help. our troops need better equipment. there are far too many homeless in this country (and on and on and on) yet king george wants FIFTY BILLION MORE TO FUCK UP IRAQ, IRAN, AFGHANISTAN and goddess only knows where else?

do NOT roll over and give it to him. you spineless congressional pieces of steamin' shite. DON'T DO IT. bring our troops home NOW. start proceedings. bring that man and his court to justice for crimes against humanity.

Bush Wants $50 Billion More for Iraq War
Planned Request Signals Confidence That Congress Won't Prevail on Pullout


By Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writer
President Bush plans to ask Congress next month for up to $50 billion in additional funding for the war in Iraq, a White House official said yesterday, a move that appears to reflect increasing administration confidence that it can fend off congressional calls for a rapid drawdown of U.S. forces.
The request -- which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- is expected to be announced after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker will assess the state of the war and the effect of the new strategy the U.S. military has pursued this year. The request is being prepared now in the belief that Congress will be unlikely to balk so soon after hearing the two officials argue that there are promising developments in Iraq but that they need more time to solidify the progress they have made, a congressional aide said............

he's not gay!

dammit. my favorite part of his denial was him saying he 'DOES NOT CRUISE'. how odd he used the term 'cruise' i thought to myself. dang! he's up on the lingo (is that the lingo the kids are using these days???)
in all seriousness (though)
it's one thing to be gay and hide it. (how horrid is that? having to hide who you are. being so afraid to live your life.). it's ANOTHER thing entirely to deny equality to those that are gay. to deny rights, to treat them as something less than human. senator craig has done just that.

methinks thou doth protest too much

Idaho Senator Asserts: 'I Never Have Been Gay'
GOP Leadership Seeks Ethics Inquiry


By Paul Kane washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Senate Republican leaders called for an ethics investigation of Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) yesterday as he dug in for a legal and political fight to save his congressional career after acknowledging that he had pleaded guilty to disorderly-conduct charges stemming from an incident with an undercover police officer in an airport men's room.
Craig denied doing anything wrong and said he had "overreacted" in pleading guilty after his June 11 arrest at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. He said that he is "not gay" and vowed to continue to serve in the Senate. "While I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct at the Minneapolis airport or anywhere else, I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in the hope of making it go away," Craig, 62, told reporters in Boise, Idaho............

web site of the day

black dragon #2

・採集地　London(England)・サイズ　B4（364×257mm）・採集年　１９９９年

pink tentacle

juan cole's take

on the gonzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

of course we should ALL be thinking this. our constitution is in shreds and most don't seem to give a flying yoo hoo. crimes against humanity? WHO cares?

(answer: i do and i know some others that care too)

Gonzales Gone for Wrong Reasons

The great shame of it all is that Alberto Gonzales was confirmed as Attorney General despite it being widely known that he had played a central role in attempting to authorize the use of torture on prisoners in US custody. He had tossed aside the US Constitution's own prohibition on "cruel and unusual punishment" (such a wimpy bleeding-heart liberal document). It is an index of the corruption of the Republican Party, which then controlled Congress, that they made this man attorney general in the first place. The great shame of it all is that Gonzales was hounded out of office not because he authorized torture and assaulted the basic principles of the US constitution, but because he fired US attorneys who wanted to investigate both Republican and Democratic voter fraud. ..........

does anyone know

if this is a record for an administration?

11 have resigned amid controversy since March

i want to do

THIS

i just sent my boss and his boss the link

i really can't think of a BETTER team building exercise!

'i've got a mom, i've got a sister

i wouldn't rape anyone'



i WAS in a wonderful mood. i woke up at my ususal time, about midnight (give or take). there is going to be an eclipse later this morning. my coffee is hot and black and strong and good. i found some music cds with TONS of music on them. they went missing a while ago. i was downloading some of my other cds onto my (fairly new) mp3 video player (NOT an ipod. i got a creative zen and i LOVE it). i found those missing cds (with at least 200 songs on each of them) in the bryan ferry/roxy music jacket.



THEN I READ THIS


Horrifying.
Police: Man Rapes Woman As Bystanders Look On
(AP) St. Paul -- A 25-year-old man was charged Thursday for allegedly raping and beating a woman in an apartment hallway -- an incident apparently witnessed by as many as 10 people who did nothing.
Rage Ibrahim was charged with several counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for the attack early Tuesday. According to the criminal complaint, police responded to a call of drunken behavior in an apartment hallway, where they found both Ibrahim and a woman lying unconscious. The woman's clothing had been pulled up, she had fresh scratches on her face and blood on her thigh.
And despite the witnesses -- and the fact that the rape was captured on a surveillance camera -- the guy denies it.
"I'm so upset because of the situation I'm in," Ibrahim told the St. Paul Pioneer Press, as he headed to the county jail on Thursday to turn himself in. "I've got a mom, I've got a sister. I wouldn't rape anyone.".............

i've not seen this documentary

nor am i going to. i can watch all the blood and guts you have. IF and it's a BIG IF, i know it's NOT REAL. as soon as reality creeps in, i can't do it. i can't handle it. (speaking of which, i am a horror movie addict. i love 'em. i can't get enough of 'em. the more messy they are, the better i like them. EXCEPT for the movie i watched this weekend. hostel. I HATED IT. it was horrid. the violence and gore were unwatchable. am i getting soft in my old age?)

off the chain:
A Documentary With New Bite
Dogfighting Scandal Brings Attention to Local Filmmaker's 2005 Work on a Cruel Sport


By Kevin Merida Washington Post Staff Writer
Way before Michael Vick got popped and became the scorned symbol of organized dogfighting, Bobby Brown spent years penetrating the secret society Vick inhabited. With cameras that resembled pagers and a microphone fastened to his zipper, Brown made a remarkable documentary on this underground subculture.
It took him 14 years. He began in 1991, got derailed, restarted, even got busted at one of the 12 dogfights he witnessed. Brown was intent on sounding an alarm, he says, about a cruel, menacing and illegal activity taking place in basements, barnyards, clearings in the woods and abandoned warehouses all across America.
(Just to be clear, we're not talking about Whitney Houston's incorrigible ex-husband. Not that Bobby Brown. This is Bobby J. Brown -- Suitland High School graduate, businessman, actor with small parts in "The Wire," "The Corner," "City by the Sea" and "Major League II" as Tom Berenger's double.)
When Brown finished his documentary, "Off the Chain," he shopped it around and got no takers. With help from actor Troy Garity ("Barbershop"), Brown's buddy from his days studying at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the 60-minute documentary was picked up by Allumination FilmWorks and released to DVD in 2005................

i just say no (well not ALL of the time....)

now i have a REAL excuse

HOWEVER, this article pissed me off royally. are they saying WOMEN are getting throat and neck cancer or men AND women are getting it. they're talking about hpv and of course women get that. they have a cervix and of course most men don't. well ted nugent does

so if WOMEN are getting this and not men, why not SAY WOMEN? it's disturbing. even when we get sick we're non existant (or so it appears)

Oral Sex Implicated in Some Throat and Neck Cancers


By Serena Gordon HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Human papillomavirus (HPV), which is believed to be responsible for most cervical cancers, may also be at the root of many cancers of the mouth and throat, new research suggests.
Although the rate of most head and neck cancers has been declining over the past 30 years because more people have stopped smoking, the rate of certain cancers in the throat and mouth hasn't dropped, according to research published in the Aug. 27 online issue ofCancer.
"Smoking prevalence has dropped dramatically, and, likewise, most head and neck cancers have declined in incidence. Cancers at the base of the tongue and tonsil are increasing or have remained stagnant. We're not seeing the reduction in incidence that we would have expected," said study author Dr. Erich Sturgis, an associate professor of head and neck surgery and epidemiology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.
The study authors suspect the reason may be orally transmitted HPV infections.........

how many more

republicans in men's restroom stories can we take? (oh, i'm sure there are democratic stories too. they just are smarter though because we ain't reading about THEM every damn day)

the sun was in his eyes, the dog ate his homework, he had a flat tire, he was saving a school bus load of children from a fiery crash, etc etc

GOP Senator Pleaded Guilty After Restroom Arrest
Idaho's Craig Denies 'Inappropriate Conduct,' Says He Regrets Entering Plea


By Paul Kane and Shailagh Murray washingtonpost.com Staff Writer and Washington Post Staff Writer
Sen. Larry E. Craig pleaded guilty earlier this month to misdemeanor disorderly-conduct charges stemming from his June arrest by an undercover police officer in a men's restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, a court spokeswoman and the senator's office said yesterday.
Craig issued a statement confirming his arrest and guilty plea, which were reported in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. But the Idaho Republican maintained that he had not engaged in any "inappropriate conduct" and that the airport police misunderstood his behavior.........

well at the VERY LEAST he didn't use the big black dudes made me do it defense (yet)

who's been sleeping in my bed

or for that matter, perusing my blog

there IS a goddess!!!

Gonzales Resigns as Attorney General

from

cv rick's blog via Cat Juggler, brahnamin.

rules i am following (well not following EXACTLY. i couldn't choose just ONE, so i chose several images found when i typed in my name. odd odd odd)-
go to goooogle images
type in your name
post interesting image (with link) discovered during this search

casa

genovese

light

hmmmm???

tea

(yes these were ALL found when i typed in MY name)

pizza on the grill

(tofu pizza on the top, cheese pizza on the bottom)
Pizza or bread dough (it was way too hot to make dough this weekend so I bought some. It really WAS the first time I bought it. You know what, it wasn’t bad AT ALL – got it at Whole Foods)
Tomatoes (I used heirloom and a variety of grape and cherry tomatoes. Purple, red, orange, yellow, green) - washed
Olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper
Herbs of your choice
Cheese of your choice (I used parm and gouda and muenster for my pop’s pizza) and I used
TOFU (for my pizza)
Mushrooms (I bought a pack of variety mushrooms. Oyster, shiitake, etc) -- cleaned
Artichoke hearts (I used canned and didn’t cook them with the tomatoes. If you used frozen, I would cook them)
Onions (I used a Vidalia)
Corn meal (all I had some some polenta and I used that)
Spray oil for the grill grates

I made little rounds (well none of them actually turned out ROUND) of dough and placed them in some corn meal. I let them rise a bit. (be sure you put a tiny bit of olive oil on BOTH sides of the dough BEFORE you place one side down in the cornmeal. This will also help prevent sticking on the grill)

In the meantime, line a baking sheet or cookie sheet with foil. Place some sliced tomatoes and grape/cherry tomatoes (if the cherry tomatoes were larger, I cut them in half. If they were small, I left them whole) on the sheet. Slice up some onion and place it on the sheet too along with the cleaned mushrooms. If you have any other vegetables lying around, throw them on the sheet too. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt (really go out and make the investment. Table salt WILL NOT do. It won’t) and pepper. Use any herbs that strike your fancy as well. Drizzle some (GOOD) olive oil (it’s up to you how much) over vegetables. Place under broiler for about 5 to 8 minutes. Turn or stir the vegetables once or twice so nothing gets burned. Let cool a bit then pour into a large bowl and stir.

Toss the little dough rounds onto your grill (I have a charcoal one, not gas. So I let the coals – I ONLY use lump/hardwood charcoal- burn down and get white hot. Remember to oil those grates!!!) CORN MEAL SIDE UP. Cook for a few minutes until you have some char marks – BUT DO NOT burn. Really they shouldn’t be on there MORE than five minutes. I also put them around the edges of the grill – in the indirect heat. Take them inside (unless you have a work surface outside). Place corn meal side down and on the side you cooked a bit which is UP now), place a tiny bit of parm (if you are using cheese). Then liberally place your tomato mixture. Top with some shredded cheese of your choice OR tofu (I freeze it for a couple of weeks, then defrost it. It takes on a chewy consistency). Bring back out to the grill and place corn meal side down. Cover grill and let cook for about five minutes (don’t try to move them before five minutes because they’ll stick. After about five minutes check the doneness. If they need more time, let them sit there. If not REMOVE AND ENJOY!

they'll chew you up

how sad. how sorry. how frightening.

HOW IT'S KING GEORGE'S FAULT this is happening to ALL. not just kurd. not just sunni. not just shiite. not just christian. ALL

The Changing Language of War
Dhia, works in the restaurant downstairs, he came up to talk to me today as he doled out meals to people on the floor.
"Do you think it's safe for me to report in your neighborhood," I asked. His eyes widened and he shook his head.
"Every day is worse than the one before," he said of his southeast Baghdad home. He lives in a Christian enclave in the Shiite dominated area. .......

........."Enaalso," he said in Iraqi slang. It's a new Iraqi word, a phrase used to explain being turned in by an informant to a militia and then being killed. Literally it means he was "chewed up."
It's what Iraqis now repeatedly say to explain the killings of families by militias that control their neighborhoods with fear and weapons; a word to explain the corpses that show up in the streets.......

uh oh

of course one is INNOCENT until proven guilty (unless that one is part of king george's court that is. well there HAS to be ONE innocent working for the king, no? there HAS to be dammit!)

also, why is it these dudes (mostly dudes, there are some babes in the click, but it IS mostly dudes) ARE ALWAYS on vacation? that's including the king too. i want to know. when we have our men and women on the line, their LIVES on the line, NO ONE in government SHOULD BE ON A F**KING VACATION

Pentagon official is under investigation
Undersecretary Paul Brinkley, who heads efforts to boost business in Iraq, faces allegations of mismanagement.

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- A Bush political appointee and former Silicon Valley executive who has faced opposition in his bid to bail out Iraq's struggling factories is under investigation by the Defense Department on mismanagement allegations.Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Paul A. Brinkley, who heads an economic task force in Baghdad, is accused of mismanaging government money and engaging in public drunkenness and sexual harassment, a Defense Department spokesman said last week.The allegations stem from a 12-page memo filed this month by two former members of the task force. The charges are being investigated by the Defense Department's Office of the Inspector General.Bob Love, director of operations for the task force, said he was shocked by the allegations, saying they were related to "personnel issues." He said the former task force members were dismissed before they filed their complaint."As someone who has traveled extensively with Mr. Brinkley, I don't believe any of that is substantiated," Love said, speaking for Brinkley, who is on vacation. "He has dedicated his life to this effort."Although Brinkley has won support from military commanders for his campaign for taxpayer-funded investment in Iraqi factories, the plan is opposed by State Department officials here who believe the former state-run factories should be privatized...........

we have

some good news:

we have some

bad news:

AP Count: Deaths in Iraq Nearly Double Pre-Surge Level

By Steve Hurst, The Associated Press
BAGHDAD This year's U.S. troop buildup has succeeded in bringing violence in Baghdad down from peak levels, but the death toll from sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace from a year ago. Some of the recent bloodshed appears the result of militant fighters drifting into parts of northern Iraq, where they have fled after U.S.-led offensives. Baghdad, however, still accounts for slightly more than half of all war-related killings - the same percentage as a year ago, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press. The tallies and trends offer a sobering snapshot after an additional 30,000 U.S. troops began campaigns in February to regain control of the Baghdad area. It also highlights one of the major themes expected in next month's Iraq progress report to Congress: some military headway, but extremist factions are far from broken. In street-level terms, it means life for average Iraqis appears to be even more perilous and unpredictable. The AP tracking includes Iraqi civilians, government officials, police and security forces killed in attacks such as gunfights and bombings, which are frequently blamed on Sunni suicide strikes. It also includes execution-style killings - largely the work of Shiite death squads. ......

i saw grace

many years ago (i'm guessing when i was about 20 give or take) at fordham university. she was giving a reading. a friend had turned me on to her poetry and after that i was gone! i wasn't expecting what i heard. for some reason or another, i thought ms paley was going to have a soft, quiet gentle voice. it was anything BUT that

ms paley's works moved me. it's been years since i've read her. i know what i'll be doing for the rest of the week

Remembering Grace Paley (1922-2007)

By Thulani Davis, Women's Voices for Change.
When the writer and activist Grace Paley died this week at the age of 84, we were left much poorer in a world already running short of honest and fearless souls.

Spotting Grace Paley anywhere -- at a march, or on the street in Greenwich Village, and particularly in the crowded rooms of New York literary soirees -- was like coming upon a sunny isle of sanity in a world gone mad with hasty, hardened greetings, glittering costumes, and too much patience with the intolerable.
To see Grace was to come upon a complete human being, so fully herself and at home with herself as to be easily noticed in crowds of people ambitious for any sign of accomplishment. When Grace Paley died on August 22 at the age of 84, the writer and activist left us all much poorer in a world already running short of honest and fearless souls.
She taught many of us, particularly women, what it means to be writer and citizen. As a writer, she taught the value of lives that often go unremarked, and as a "somewhat combative pacifist and cooperative anarchist" she showed that embodying citizenship fully is liberating.
Born Grace Goodside, the third child of dissident Jewish immigrants who fled czarist rule in Russia, her childhood was steeped in political debate. She viewed dissidence as a part of citizenship, not as alienation from it.
She was married twice -- first to Jess Paley, a film cameraman, and, in 1972, to playwright Robert Nichols, who survives her, along with her children Nora Paley, Danny Paley and three grandchildren.
Having started writing as a poet, studying at Hunter College and with W. H. Auden at the New School, she brought economy and an acute ear to her fiction. In a 1986 interview, she described the switch to fiction:.......

4,000 (DOCUMENTED) women are missing

maternal mortality and infant mortality have SOARED to unbelievable rates. women, who normally don't even show their ankles are being forced into prostitution. why? ASK KING GEORGE WHY

The War on Iraq's Women

Posted by Lucinda Marshall
Lucinda Marshall: The Ministry of Women's Affairs estimates that there are 8 million widows in Iraq, with 350,000 in Baghdad alone

This post, written by Lucinda Marshall, originally appeared on the Feminist Peace Network
It almost defies comprehension that such a thing is possible, but as several recent news reports attest, the horrendous circumstances faced by Iraqi women continue to deteriorate. The welfare of pregnant women has been particularly compromised as a result of the constant bombing, curfews, lack of electricity and safe water, bombed hospitals and lack of medicine and medical personnel.
"For at least two women in every 12 who seek emergency delivery assistance here, either the mother or her child dies," Dr Ibrahim Khalil, a gynecologist at Al-Karada maternity hospital, said.
"Mothers are usually anemic and children are born underweight as a result of a poor nutrition and lack of pre-natal care," Khalil said, adding: "There aren't any official figures but we can see that the number [of such cases] has doubled since Saddam Hussein's time."
According to UNICEF,
"Iraq's maternal mortality rates have increased dramatically in the last 15 years. In 1989, 117 mothers out of 100,000 died during pregnancy or childbirth. That figure has now gone up by 65 per cent."
In addition,
"Figures compiled earlier this year by Save the Children show that in 1990 the mortality rate for under-fives was 50 per 1,000 live births. In 2005 it was 125. While other countries have higher rates, the rate of increase in Iraq is higher than elsewhere."
Another specific impact that the violence has had on the lives of Iraqi women is reflected in the alarming numbers of women who are being forced into prostitution.........

journey to the center

of your cold shriveled diseased heart is more like it
it's one thing to say you don't like someone (as in i DO NOT like ted nugent). it's ANOTHER thing to wish them death by gun. it's sick.. but then again, look at the name of his tour
In obscenity-laced tirade, Ted Nugent jokes of killing Obama, calls Clinton a 'bitch'
Nick Juliano
At a recent stop on his "Love Grenade 2007 Shrapnel Tour," rocker Ted Nugent tossed some rhetorical bombs at a few top Democrats, and the possible future gubernatorial candidate joked about executing the most prominent African American politician in a generation.
"Obama, he's a piece of shit, and I told him to suck on my machine gun," Nugent said in front of a screaming crowd as he brandishes what appear to be two large assault rifles. He was referring to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination and would become the first black man to occupy the Oval Office.
In a video from a recent performance posted on LiveLeak, Nugent, a prominent pro-gun advocate, paced the stage with a machine gun in each hand as the crowd eggs on his increasingly vulgar tirades. ............

ah but good ol' al-maliki has something something to say

and who wouldn't?
but why why why is he mentioning hillary and carl? i don't get it. did king george give good ol al-maliki an ultimatum?
Iraq PM to U.S. lawmakers: Stay out of our politics

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Faced with walkouts by members of his government and increasing criticism from U.S. officials, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told U.S. senators Sunday to butt out of his country's domestic politics.
"There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin," al-Maliki told reporters in Baghdad. "This is severe interference in our domestic affairs."
Clinton, the early Democratic front-runner in the 2008 presidential contest, and Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last week that Iraq's parliament should replace al-Maliki when it reconvenes next month.
They said his year-old government has not taken the political steps necessary to end the fighting that has ravaged Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
"Carl Levin and Hillary Clinton are from the Democratic Party and they must demonstrate democracy," al-Maliki said. "I ask them to come to their senses and to talk in a respectful way about Iraq." .......................

lobbyists????

yes that's right. lobbyists. on one hand rather hard to believe, on the other, NOT at all
out with one, because he is rather, ummmmmmmmmmm, i guess i'd say embarrassment to king george and his crew, and in with another! hand picked i'm sure. to do the king's DIRTY WORK
veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy interesting
Lobbyists Hired to Press Maliki, Former Premier Says


By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer
Former interim Iraqi prime minister Ayad Allawi, who is trying to put together a new coalition to replace the current Baghdad government headed by Nouri al-Maliki, said yesterday that a powerful Washington lobbying firm is working on his behalf, funded by an Iraqi whom he cannot identify.
Allawi confirmed on CNN's "Late Edition" yesterday that Barbour Griffith & Rogers had been hired "to help us advocate our views, the views of the nationalistic Iraqis, the nonsectarian Iraqis."