stop by and say hola to

an unrepentant communist

finally a light bulb went off (in my otherwise empty dome)

our government WANTS organizations like blackwater around. the us military has certain codes and rules and laws they must abide by. they are held accountable. gangs like blackwater DO NOT have rules and laws nor are they held accountable. it's PERFECT!

now iraq may say they are going to kick blackwater OUT. they may even THINK they are kicking blackwater out. they will not be. perhaps a few men will be sent home. no one knows how many are over there to begin with. they'll ALWAYS be there. why, because WE don't want them out and after all, iraq is now OUR country

Iraq Probe of U.S. Security Firm Grows
Blackwater, Accused of Killing 11 on Sunday, Cited in Earlier Deaths

By Joshua Partlow and Sudarsan RaghavanWashington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD, Sept. 21 -- Iraq's probe into a deadly shooting by Blackwater USA in Baghdad last weekend has expanded to include allegations about the security firm's involvement in six other violent episodes this year that left at least 10 Iraqis dead.
The incidents include the killing of three guards at a state-run media complex and the shooting death of an Iraqi journalist outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, chief spokesman for the Interior Ministry. Iraqi officials say these violent encounters have made them increasingly frustrated with Blackwater's conduct in Iraq, but the government backed away Friday from its attempt to expel the company. Blackwater has said its guards acted appropriately in the weekend incident, but it did not respond to requests for comment Friday on the other episodes cited by Khalaf. ...........

i drive back and forth to work

(amendment 9/30/2007: i have been gently reminded, i also have a TON of pens, most of which are anchored in my bun AND several little ketchup bottles in my handbag)
to the grocery store, to my dad's house, to the half door, to an occasional restaurant, a movie theater, a lecture at a local college or university, to a friend's house. perhaps i'll go here or there every once in a while, but i don't travel that much. i usually carry a bit of makeup with me. some butts, some mints, an extra pair of sox, my digital camera, my mp3 player, my knitting, a book, lots of pens, some money (not a lot). in my car i have extra shoes, boots, water, cds, some yarn, a denim jacket, a wrap (as in if it's cold out, it goes around my body), books, a magazine on women with tattooes that i am in, three GIANT rats seatbelted in the back seat along with their friend, little teddy (remind me, around the holidays to tell the festive tale (or is it tail) of the three christmas rats). i know i have more in that car, i just can't think of ALL of it right now.
i drink a LOT of coffee. two big gulps every morning at dunkin'. i am currently listening to some leon russell. i'm currently reading: gertrude bell: queen of the desert, shaper of nations by georgina howell. i watch lots of television. i write. i don't sleep very much at all (usually averaging 3 hours a night) but i am USUALLY in bed BY 8:00 each night. as i said, not sleeping. i don't like violence. i have never even gotten a traveling traffic ticket (i have gotten two PARKING tickets in my whole life. ONE was not justified). i pay my taxes and i'm honest. i don't build bombs in my basement or plot to bring the united states down. i knit.

it's NOT your bid-nez to find these things out about me UNLESS #1) i tell you (which i just did) OR #2) you suspect me of being something i'm NOT and get a warrant to spy on me

otherwise BUTT out. you aren't entitled to MY life. it's MINE

Collecting of Details on Travelers Documented
U.S. Effort More Extensive Than Previously Known

By Ellen NakashimaWashington Post Staff Writer
The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials.
The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security's effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country. Officials say the records, which are analyzed by the department's Automated Targeting System, help border officials distinguish potential terrorists from innocent people entering the country. .................

i was mindin' my own bid-nez

not having that great a day. did a little grocery shopping at the stop & shop which just made it worse. there was some trouble in the line i picked (NO, NOT with me). it was horrid. i was standing there forever. it never fails.

then i walk outside to my car and i see the MOST WONDERFUL THING EVER (well almost)

a big fat HUH?????????

Asked about lack of political progress in Iraq, he said, ``Part of the reason why there's not this instant democracy in Iraq is because people are still recovering from Saddam Hussein's brutal rule. Sort of an interesting comment, I heard somebody say, `Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.''

(-from king george of course, who else?)

something you have to watch

the video is at the link below. it is in no way shape or form EASY to hear OR watch. the worse part is the couple's 13 year old son is filming it AND their younger son is also in the room.

'he beat me down to nothing'..........

please never, NEVER let this happen to you.
(it HAS a GOOD ending by the way. i'd also like to give a GIANT SHOUT OUT to the judge in this case. i missed his name but man, he's my kind o' dude)

Domestic Abuse Up Close: Man Beats Wife, Forces Their Son to Film It (VIDEO)



Posted by Amanda Marcotte at 2:00 PM on September 20, 2007.

This segment portrays how justified abusers feel about their behavior.


This post, written by Amanda Marcotte, originally appeared on Pandagon.
Here's an interesting video that I grabbed from Echidne. Warning: It's really distressing -- in part, it's a video a man made his son take of him beating his wife. What's fascinating is it really shows how justified abusers feel about their behavior. The end part is interesting, too, since they interview the judge on this case.

land of the free

and home of the brave - well it USED to be

The People Who Assaulted a Gold Star Father on September 15th

Submitted by davidswanson

Here are photos of members of "Gathering of Eagles" who assaulted gold star father Carlos Arredondo in broad daylight in Washington, D.C., on September 15, 2007, throwing him to the ground and kicking him.

Account of what happened from Arredondo's wife By Mélida Arredondo:
Carlos Arredondo, 47 year old father of two sons, arrived in the nation's capitol on Monday, 09/10/07 to share a memorial he has made to honor for his eldest son, Alex. Carlos has visited thirty of the United States with the traveling memorial to his son Alexander. Lcpl. Alexander S. Arredondo, USMC was killed on 08/25/04. He was 20 years and 20 days old. The memorial consists of a casket, poster- size photographs of Alex when he graduated from boot camp, before his second tour in Iraq, lying in state at his wake, and a photo of Alex with his younger brother Brian.
Saturday, September 15, 2007 consisted of first a rally, a march towards the capitol and then a die-in. Carlos pulled the memorial along the march route approaching the rotunda near the capitol building. Several of the marchers requested for him to speak about the memorial where a crowd gathered around him. After finishing, several people walked with Carlos as he pulled the memorial. Several pictures of Alex dressed in his blues were attached to the display. ......

well call me closed minded

but i sure as shite am NOT comfortable with this:

Dubai Agrees To Acquire 20% Stake in Nasdaq Market
3 Mideast Nations Seek Major Stakes in West

By Tomoeh Murakami TseWashington Post Staff Writer
NEW YORK, Sept. 20 -- Middle Eastern governments announced a series of billion-dollar deals Thursday that would give them stakes in financial institutions at the heart of Western capitalism, raising concerns in Washington about sensitive foreign investments.
Under a complex three-way deal, the stock exchange owned by the government of Dubai would acquire a 19.9 percent stake in the Nasdaq Stock Market, becoming the first government in the Middle East to own a substantial interest in a U.S. exchange.
Separately, Carlyle Group of the District said it was selling a 7.5 percent share of its general ownership to an investment group owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, which like Dubai is part of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. The Qatar Investment Authority, a government investment fund, said it bought a 20 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange. ......

you know what?

i didn't see the ad. it wouldn't have bothered me either way though. am i the ONLY one here who is seeing this irony? two words for y'all

SWIFT BOAT

perhaps i would have taken a different tactic than move on. perhaps not. i know that it's NOT petraeus i'm angry at (first and foremost). i know it's NOT HIS fault we're in iraq (and katrina victims are still suffering and our children are uninsured and our rights are being fritted away)..........
why such a furor now? why not then? why isn't there a furor for us BEING in iraq period? why are we still there?

MoveOn Unmoved By Furor Over Ad Targeting Petraeus

By Perry Bacon Jr.Washington Post Staff Writer
A few weeks before Army Gen. David H. Petraeus's much-anticipated testimony on Iraq, the leadership of MoveOn.org, the Internet-based liberal group that has rallied its 3 million members around the country to oppose the war, decided on a change in strategy.
Rather than making another appeal to moderate Republicans to join Senate Democrats in passing an antiwar resolution, they would take on the credibility of Petraeus himself. Their weapon, they decided in conjunction with Fenton Communications, its Washington-based public relations firm, would be an ad in the New York Times that provocatively played off his name with this question in large letters: "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" ........

and i just came across this from echidne of the snakes

Correct me if I'm wrong here. But by my calculation, more U.S. senators (72) voted today to condemn a newspaper ad attacking Gen. Petraeus than voted yesterday (56) to lengthen the time off troops get from the frontlines in Iraq, thereby reducing individual soldiers exposure to actual attacks. Am I missing something, or is that about right?

how much more right could THAT be?

sad songs

songs that are sad to me. this by no means is complete. they're only what i thought of this morning (so far). the songs may not have been written by the artists listed by them. it's THEIR version that is the saddest to me.
do you have any?

1,000 miles from nowhere – dwight yaokam
a change is gonna come – sam cooke
angola – ry cooderdisorder – system of a down
avalon - bryan ferry & roxy music
cry on – tracy nelson and mother earth
don’t dream it’s over – crowded house
glory box – portishead
hallelujah – jeff buckley
hurt – johnny cash
i can’t make you love me – bonnie raitt
i don’t know where i stand (i just picked this one – but there are TONS) – joni Mitchell
i get out (or ANY of the songs on her mtv unplugged release) – lauryn hill
i’d rather go blind – christine perfect* (can anyone WITHOUT LOOKING IT UP tell me who christine perfect became?)
farewell to tarwathie – judy collins
i’m so lonesome i could cry – hank Williams
louise – leo kottke
luca (my name is luca) – Suzanne vega
nothing takes the place of you – toussaint mccall
now that the buffalo’s gone (or MANY others)– buffy sainte marie
somewhere over the rainbow – israel kamakamiwo’olemadame george – van morrison
stars – janis ian
strange fruit – billie holiday
sunday and sister jones – roberta flack
suzanne (or MANY others) – leonard cohen
sweet jane – cowboy junkies
the messiah will come again – roy Buchanan
white man’s melody – cyndi lauper
who knows where the time goes – fairport convention OR judy Collins

hey ms currier

unlike people with a penis (p-wap), YOU get a choice in life! be happy dear. YOU can do ONE of two things.

YOU CAN EITHER BE A MOTHER
orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
YOU CAN BE A DOCTOR

seems like you are NOT ALLOWED to be both. at least to the national board of medical examiners

Judge: No extra break for lactating exam taker
Student sought time to pump baby's milk
By Felicia Mello, Globe Correspondent
Harvard medical student and new mother will not be permitted to take extra break time to pump breast milk during her licensing exam to become a doctor, a judge ruled yesterday.
On Sept. 6, Sophie Currier of Brookline sued the National Board of Medical Examiners, arguing that the board violated her constitutional right to breast-feed by denying her more than the 45 minutes of rest periods allotted to all test takers. She also accused the board of gender discrimination.
Currier, who has a 4-month-old daughter, must pass the exam before she can graduate and begin a residency program at Massachusetts General Hospital in the fall.
In a three-page opinion, Norfolk Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady said Currier could still find a way to expel her milk during the test or on regularly scheduled breaks.
"The plaintiff may take the test and pass, notwithstanding what she considers to be unfavorable conditions," Brady wrote. "The plaintiff may delay the test, which is offered numerous times during the year, until she has finished her breast-feeding and the need to express milk."
Brady also ruled that the private board could not be considered a state agency, a requirement for proving at least one of Currier's claims.............

i did read about the farmers in india

committing suicide in huge numbers. they kill themselves because they took loans out to buy 'special seeds' for their land (it's not JUST monsanto by the way). they are having (not all mind you but lots) trouble paying back the loans. they are desperate.

i didn't know that MAY also happen in iraq. thanks to the intervention of that great democratic fair unbiased lawful nation, the united states of king george and his crony court jesters. jesters like paul bremer and his order 81

what are we doing? have we no shame? have we no compassion? have we no SOUL?????????

Why Iraqi Farmers Might Prefer Death to Paul Bremer's Order 81
By Nancy Scola, AlterNet
Anyone hearing about central India's ongoing epidemic of farmer suicides, where growers are killing themselves at a terrifying clip, has to be horrified. But among the more disturbed must be the once-grand poobah of post-invasion Iraq, U.S. diplomat L. Paul Bremer.....

............What Order 81 did was to establish the strong intellectual property protections on seed and plant products that a company like the St. Louis-based Monsanto -- purveyors of genetically modified (GM) seeds and other patented agricultural goods -- requires before they'll set up shop in a new market like the new Iraq. With these new protections, Iraq was open for business. In short, Order 81 was Bremer's way of telling Monsanto that the same conditions had been created in Iraq that had led to the company's stunning successes in India.
In issuing Order 81, Bremer didn't order Iraqi farmers to march over to the closest Monsanto-supplied shop and stock up. But if Monsanto's experience in India is any guide, he didn't need to.
Here's the way it works in India. In the central region of Vidarbha, for example, Monsanto salesmen travel from village to village touting the tremendous, game-changing benefits of Bt cotton, Monsanto's genetically modified seed sold in India under the Bollgard® label. The salesmen tell farmers of the amazing yields other Vidarbha growers have enjoyed while using their products, plastering villages with posters detailing "True Stories of Farmers Who Have Sown Bt Cotton." Old-fashioned cotton seeds pale in comparison to Monsanto's patented wonder seeds, say the salesmen, as much as an average old steer is humbled by a fine Jersey cow.
Part of the trick to Bt cotton's remarkable promise, say the salesmen, is that Bollgard® was genetically engineered in the lab to contain bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium that the company claims drastically reduces the need for pesticides. When pesticides are needed, Bt cotton plants are Roundup® Ready -- a Monsanto designation meaning that the plants can be drowned in the company's signature herbicide, none the worse for wear. (Roundup® mercilessly kills nonengineered plants.)
Sounds great, right? The catch is that Bollgard® and Roundup® cost real money. And so Vidarbha's farmers, somewhat desperate to grow the anemic profit margin that comes with raising cotton in that dry and dusty region, have rushed to both banks and local moneylenders to secure the cash needed to get on board with Monsanto. Of a $3,000 bank loan a Vidarbha farmer might take out, as much as half might go to purchasing a growing season's worth of Bt seeds.........

i thought jim hightower was writing a satirical piece

he wasn't. this is FOR REAL. this is the listing in google (THREAT. note the word THREAT)

NAIS - National Animal Identification System
The threat of a foreign animal disease outbreak in the US is real. NAIS is a modern, streamlined information system that improves response to disease ...www.usda.gov/nais/ - 40k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

i'm sorry mr hightower for thinking you were joking (i only WISH you were)

U.S. Government's Plan to Protect You From Terrorist Livestock

By Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown. Posted September 19, 2007.

A friend of mine tells a story about the political demise in the 1950s of an entrenched Oklahoma state representative, whom we'll call Elmer Goodenuff.
Rep. Goodenuff, who chaired the ag committee, had been in office so long that he'd grown tight with the capitol crowd, but he had lost touch with the folks back in his rural district. Thus, when some supermarket lobbyists asked him to sponsor a bill requiring that all egg producers be regulated by the state and have to pay an egg-grading fee, he saw no problem with the measure. It was for the public's health, the lobbyists told him. His constituents, however, did have a problem with it. In those days, many small farmers made their spending money by selling eggs fresh out of their chicken yards -- yet here was ol' Elmer hitting them with a bureaucratic rigmarole and a fee that would make their little egg stands more trouble than they were worth. It turns out that the supermarket lobbyists' real agenda had been to get rid of all these bothersome mom-and-pop competitors...........

.............It is, to say the least, intrusive. NAIS would compel all owners of such animals to register their premises and personal information in a federal database, to buy microchip devices and attach them to every single one of their animals (each of which gets its very own 15-digit federal ID number), to log and report each and every "event" in the life of each animal, to pay fees for the privilege of having their location and animals registered, and to sit still for fines of up to $1,000 a day for any noncompliance.
This is Animal Farm meets the Marx Brothers!...........

yes

there ARE people who study things such as this. THIS WHAT? are you sitting down?

BAR FIGHTS

AND he won a prize for it!

we'll have to import some of those glasses to the us

British professor wins prize for bar-fight research

Rowdy bars may no longer be quite as dangerous thanks to a British professor who won a criminology prize on Wednesday for his work showing how injuries from broken glass can be reduced.
Jonathan Shepherd, a face surgeon and professor at Cardiff University, won the Stockholm Prize in Criminology with his research into bar fights and glass-related injuries.
"Professor Shepherd's crime prevention work involved the development of strategies for preventing serious injuries in connection with violence in bars and nightclubs," a statement announcing the prizes said.
His work compared drink glasses and the different ways they shatter and has "led pubs in the UK to use the glass that causes far fewer injuries," the statement said.
He shared the prize with US professor David Olds, from the University of Colorado, who has developed methods to prevent child abuse.........

scary dude

(hey bud, i think there are too many people like YOU out there)

Rep. Peter King: There are "too many mosques in this country”
New York Rep. Peter King, a prominent House Republican, said there are “too many mosques in this country” in a recent interview with Politico. “There are too many people sympathetic to radical Islam,” King said. “We should be looking at them more carefully and finding out how we can infiltrate them.” King is the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee. And as an outspoken advocate of strong anti-terror measures, he has been unafraid to ruffle some feathers in his drive to protect the homeland. .................

the more i know about them

the more afraid i become. this is just SO WRONG in each and every way
what's the word i'm looking for nefarious?

Where Military Rules Don't Apply
Blackwater's Security Force in Iraq Given Wide Latitude by State Dept.

By Steve Fainaru Washington Post Foreign Service
Blackwater USA, the private security company involved in a Baghdad shootout last weekend, operated under State Department authority that exempted the company from U.S. military regulations governing other security firms, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and industry representatives.
In recent months, the State Department's oversight of Blackwater became a central issue as Iraqi authorities repeatedly clashed with the company over its aggressive street tactics. Many U.S. and Iraqi officials and industry representatives said they came to see Blackwater as untouchable, protected by State Department officials who defended the company at every turn. Blackwater employees protect the U.S. ambassador and other diplomats in Iraq. Blackwater "has a client who will support them no matter what they do," said H.C. Lawrence Smith, deputy director of the Private Security Company Association of Iraq, an advocacy organization in Baghdad that is funded by security firms, including Blackwater. ...........

wtf?????????????????

how the hell did they allow this to fall through the cracks. i am SO angry.

and 'THEY' (the republicans in this case) claim those who oppose this ugly unjust immoral and illegal war don't support the troops. WTF?????????????????
not only can't they come home, they can't even get decent leaves

Longer Leaves for Troops Blocked
Senate Bill Short of 60 Votes Needed

By Shailagh Murray and Jonathan Weisman Washington Post Staff Writers
Senate Republicans yesterday rejected a bipartisan proposal to lengthen the home leaves of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, derailing a measure that war opponents viewed as one of the best chances to force President Bush to accelerate a redeployment of forces.
The proposal, sponsored by Sens. James Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), failed on a 56 to 44 vote, with 60 votes needed for passage -- a tally that was virtually identical to a previous vote in July. A last-minute campaign by the Defense Department and the White House to kill the measure won over Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), an influential voice on defense policy who had voted with Webb and Hagel in July. ............

i am 100% POSITIVE there IS freedom of religion in the military

as long as that religion is the SAME as the powers that be (so to speak) praise the lord!

Military Sued Over Religious Freedom
By JOHN MILBURN, Associated Press Writer
PDT FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) --
A soldier whose superior prevented him from holding a meeting for atheists and other non-Christians is suing the Defense Department, claiming it violated his right to religious freedom.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., alleges a pattern of practices that discriminate against non-Christians in the military. It was filed Monday to coincide with the 220th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Maj. Paul Welborne as defendants.
According to the filing, Spec. Jeremy Hall, a soldier assigned to Fort Riley's 97th Military Police Battalion, received permission to distribute fliers around his base in Iraq for a meeting of atheists and non-Christians.
When he tried to convene the meeting, Hall claims, Welborne stepped in, threatening to file military charges against Hall and block his reenlistment.
Attempts to reach Welborne through an Army spokesman weren't immediately successful.
Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which is helping Hall with his lawsuit, said it is the first of many.......

more truth

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH

yes i can

NO YOU CAN'T

yes i can

NO YOU CAN'T

yes i can - so let me hear it
(video at the link below)

U.S. Is Paying Off Iraq's Worst War Criminals in Attempt to Ward Off Attacks

By Katie Halper, AlterNet
Title: Director's Cut: New Video shows the truth in Anbar that Petraeus does not want us to see.
When Bush was in Iraq two weeks ago he posed for photographs with Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the Anbar Awakening, an alliance of Sunni tribes who vow to back the United States and fight against al Qaeda.
Last Monday, General Petraeus testified to Congress that "a year ago" Anbar province "was assessed 'lost' politically ... Today, it is a model of what happens when local leaders and citizens decide to oppose al Qaeda and reject its Taliban-like ideology."
Three days later, the assassination of Abu Risha in Ramadi dramatically undercut Bush and Petraeus' claims of Anbar victory and peacekeeping. But what else is the administration keeping from us about Anbar?
Rick Rowley, a journalist and independent filmmaker of Big Noise Films, was one of the last people to videotape and interview the Sunni sheikh, and his video report Uncovering the Truth Behind the Anbar Success Story, presents a very different picture of the Anbar Awakening.
Embedded with the U.S. Army and Iraqi militias, Rowley shows us that the Sunni "freedom fighters" with whom the United States is now allied are not just insurgents who had been killing Americans but war criminals responsible for sectarian cleansing........

shiver me timbers

aye maties did ye think I would forget? Nay. Tis talk like a pirate day again. seems t’was just a fortnight ago it last be talk like a pirate day. me hearties, may all the booty of the world be left at ye door (NOOOOOOOO NOT THAT KIND OF BOOTY)

talk like a pirate
talk like a pirate day

yarrrrrrrrrrrr
pirate talk

My pirate name is:

Iron Bess Flint

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

reformed pirate: www.gutenberg.org/.../15373-h/images/image25.jpg

some cool pirate knitting charts:

argyle scull

scull scarf

we call them pirates

pirate socks

scull socks of fury

kid's pirate hat

the pirate queen's booty bag

craft like a pirate

pirate lil

i'm surprised and shocked

and in a state of disbelief! (NOT)

our government interfering? noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

State IG Accused of Averting Probes

By Glenn Kessler and Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writers
Howard J. Krongard, the State Department's inspector general, has repeatedly thwarted investigations into contracting fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan, including construction of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and censored reports that might prove politically embarrassing to the Bush administration, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform charged yesterday in a 13-page letter.
The letter, addressed to Krongard and signed by the committee chairman, Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who released it yesterday, said the allegations were based on the testimony of seven current and former officials on Krongard's staff, including two former senior officials who allowed their names to be used, and private e-mail exchanges obtained by the committee. The letter said the allegations concerned all three major divisions of Krongard's office -- investigations, audits and inspections........

.............The letter alleges that Krongard "interfered with ongoing investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment." It said that "your strong affinity with State Department leadership and your partisan political ties have led you to halt investigations, censor reports and refuse to cooperate with law enforcement agencies."
The Senate confirmed President Bush's nomination of Krongard, who had no previous State Department experience, in May 2005...........

and another shocking item KRONGARD HAS NO STATE DEPARTMENT EXPERIENCE. noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

NOT ONE DAY

these returning troops should not wait ONE DAY for treatment. no red tape, no shite. TREAT THEM

VA Secretary Cites Backlog of Claims

By Hope Yen Associated Press
Outgoing Secretary Jim Nicholson acknowledged yesterday that the Department of Veterans Affairs is struggling to reduce backlogs in disability claims from Iraq war veterans.
Delays in processing disability payments reach up to 177 days, and Nicholson, in addressing Congress for a final time before stepping down Oct. 1, said the department has hired 1,100 new processors to cut that waiting time.
Even with the new staffing, Nicholson told the House Veterans Affairs Committee, VA can hope to reduce delays only to about 145 to 150 days -- assuming that the level of compensation and pension claims does not spike higher........

stop on by

the life and times of a carolina parrothead and read a powerful posting on our constitution (through one man's eyes)

one again, i'm more apt to believe this

than what the msm has been reporting. to say this is eye opening is not doing it justice. seems like iraq 'families' aren't too far off from the sopranos. keep your mouth shut, chip in some dough, you may have a chance. you go against the family fredo and YOU SLEEP WITH THE FISHES

Greg Palast: Bush's Fake Sheik Whacked: The Surge and the Al Qaeda Bunny
BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTIONby Greg Palast
A special investigative report from inside Iraq
Monday, September 17, 2007 -- Did you see George all choked up? In his surreal TV talk on Thursday, he got all emotional over the killing by Al Qaeda of Sheik Abu Risha, the leader of the new Sunni alliance with the U.S. against the insurgents in Anbar Province, Iraq.
Bush shook Abu Risha's hand two weeks ago for the cameras. Bush can shake his hand again, but not the rest of him: Abu Risha was blown away just hours before Bush was to go on the air to praise his new friend.
Here's what you need to know that NPR won't tell you.
1. Sheik Abu Risha wasn't a sheik.2. He wasn't killed by Al Qaeda.3. The new alliance with former insurgents in Anbar is as fake as the sheik -- and a murderous deceit.
How do I know this? You can see the film -- of "Sheik" Abu Risha, of the guys who likely whacked him, and of their other victims.
Just in case you think I've lost my mind and put my butt in insane danger to get this footage, don't worry. I was safe and dry in Budapest. It was my brilliant new cameraman, Rick Rowley, who went to Iraq to get the story on his own.
Rick's "the future of TV news," says BBC. He's also completely out of control. Despite our pleas, Rick and his partner Dave Enders went to Anbar and filmed where no cameraman had dared tread......

wow you kill people (from BOTH the left and the right)

(and everything in between) and you get placed on super secret double secret probation

i want to leeevvvvvveeeeeee in a-mer-i-caaaaaaaaaaaa

Chiquita pays fine for supporting Colombian terrorist group

By Pablo Bachelet McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Chiquita Brands International, the Cincinnati-based company famous for its banana brand, on Monday made the first $5 million installment on a $25 million fine that it's agreed to pay as part of a guilty plea to charges that it supported a right-wing terrorist group in Colombia.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth approved the plea deal during a court hearing at which a prosecutor said that Chiquita had made payments to both left-wing and right-wing terrorist groups to buy protection for its employees and facilities in Colombia.
In addition to the fine, the plea agreement places the corporation on five years probation and requires that it set up an internal ethics training program. Last week, the Justice Department decided that no Chiquita executives would be charged.
"This was a difficult situation for the company,'' James Thompson, Chiquita's general counsel, said after the hearing. "We were being extorted and we had to protect the well-being of our employees and their families.''
But Jonathan Malis, the Department of Justice prosecutor, called the payments "morally repugnant'' and said the company may have protected the lives of its workers but "fueled violence everywhere else.''......

why is it some can 'associate' with TERRORISTS while others have their phones tapped for being on some kind of MEANINGLESS 'list' somewhere? why is it a company can be responsible for THOUSANDS of DEATHS and TORTURE and they get a slap on the bannana?

recent immigration orange posts on chiquita

one of my recent chiquita posts

and stories just like this

are why i have issues with the ccsu polydongs 'comic' i wrote about the other day (see a few postings ago for THAT shite)



Federal Prosecutor Arrested In Child Sex Sting

DETROIT -- A U.S. Justice Department official has been arrested on suspicion of traveling to Detroit over the weekend to have sex with a minor.
John David R. Atchison, 53, an assistant U.S. attorney from the northern district of Florida, was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Detroit Monday afternoon.
An undercover officer posed as a mother offering her child to Atchison for sex, according to police.

He is charged with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity.
According to authorities, Atchison made contact with a detective working undercover for the Macomb County Sheriff's department's.
The detective, acting as the child's mother, allegedly arranged a sexual encounter between Atchison and her 5-year-old daughter, police said.
In deposition, detectives said Atchison suggested the mother tell her daughter that "you found her a sweet boyfriend who will bring her presents."
The undercover detective expressed concern about physical injury to the 5-year-old girl as a result of the sexual activity. Detectives said Atchison responded, " I am always gentle and loving; not to worry, no damage ever, no rough stuff ever. I only like it soft and nice."...........



(and NO, i don't think a cartoon where a triange or square or whatever, pisses on a 14 year old grrrl CAUSES the rape of a five year old. i just don't think it's FUNNY or a CARTOON when a 14 year old grrrl is tied up and locked in a closed and pissed on because shite like that happens in real life. i know for a FACT it does)

a hero soldier in iraq

punished for NOT taking an anthrax (well anti-anthrax shot). you tell me where the justice is. king george and his court with the blood of tens of thousands on their hands not only walk around FREE, but get to still commit crimes against humanity. one little soldier decides what to put into his body or NOT and HE gets punished?

Soldier faces threats from military after refusing anthrax vaccine
Julie Weisberg
A soldier serving in Iraq who is stationed in Baghdad says he has faced “threats” and “intimidation” from his Army superiors – including the possibility of forced inoculations – after he refused to take the military’s controversial anthrax vaccine.
Private First Class Leif Hamre, 22, is currently serving out a Field Grade Article 15, a non-judicial punishment for disciplinary offenses, for refusing to take the Pentagon’s anthrax vaccine, BioThrax, earlier this summer.
According to Hamre, 22, the military gave him an ultimatum in late June: Either take the mandated six-shot anthrax series or face military punishment. He was given 24 hours to decide. ...........

i personally cannot imagine

making my living as a soldier of fortune. i don't understand what is inside of someone that could possibly MAKE them want to be a mercernary (you know i want to use the word killer, right?) .

and as an aside? why are THEY guarding crocker and state department employees anyway? why aren't our troops?

Iraq Bans Security Contractor
Blackwater Faulted In Baghdad Killings

By Joshua Partlow and Walter Pincus Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 -- The Iraqi government on Monday said it had revoked the license of Blackwater USA, an American security company involved in a shootout in Baghdad that killed at least nine people, raising questions over which nation should regulate tens of thousands of civilian hired guns operating in Iraq.
The Iraqi government's announcement was its most public assertion to date of its right to take action against foreign security companies when a suspected crime has been committed.
Several violent episodes involving Blackwater have infuriated Iraqi officials. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said the decision meant Blackwater "cannot work in Iraq any longer."............

and even more info:

Will Iraq Kick Out Blackwater?
Monday, Sep. 17, 2007 By ADAM ZAGORIN AND BRIAN BENNETT/WASHINGTON
TIME has obtained an incident report prepared by the U.S. government describing a fire fight Sunday in Baghdad in which at least eight Iraqis were reported killed and 13 wounded. The deadly incident occurred when a convoy of U.S. personnel protected by Blackwater security contractors came under small arms fire. Blackwater returned fire, resulting in the Iraqi deaths. The loss of life has provoked anger in Baghdad, where the Interior Ministry has suspended Blackwater's license to operate around the country. Several Iraqi government officials have indicated their opposition to Blackwater's continued presence in their country. If the suspension is made permanent, it could significantly impair security for key U.S. personnel in the country, a U.S. official in Baghdad told TIME. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose State Department depends on Blackwater to protect its Iraq-based staffers, called Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to say that the U.S. has launched its own investigation into the matter......

(please understand IF i happened to be in iraq, would i want these guys - yes, i think they're all men, but i could be wrong - watching my back? YES the answer is YES i would. morally, NO but in real life, YES)

"Rockets Redglare!,"

i happened to see the movie. i don't remember if i rented it or saw it on a cable channel (i'm guessing sundance here). rockets was an actor (well SOME of the time. he was a drug addict, con man and a LOT of other things as well). you'd recognize rockets if you saw him. he always played the toothless man behind the bars or glass in a seedy urban motel (NOT to be confused with the seedy motels in the country - mostly used as settings for horror movies and the like).

anyway, i LOVE steve buscemi and most everything he's done. how can you NOT?

Steve Buscemi Settles Lawsuit Over Film

The Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Actor Steve Buscemi and the estate for the late film director Luis de la Reguera have settled a lawsuit over a film they co-produced against the film's distributor, a lawyer for Buscemi and de la Reguera's estate said Sunday.
Michael Broder, of Fort Lauderdale distributor Small Planet Pictures, must turn over the rights to the film "Rockets Redglare!," to the plaintiffs and pay $35,000 of their legal fees, said Hunter Chamberlain, a lawyer for the producers.

The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003, is a documentary on the life of actor Michael Morra, said Chamberlain.
If Broder fails to pay the fees within five years, he will have to pay $1.75 million. The settlement was finalized Sept. 5, according to court documents.............

rockets redglare

please stop by

the new republic to see

jill greenberg's INCREDIBLE monkey portraits

the manipulator jill greenberg's site

and now for some

REAL facts and figures.....

What They’re Saying in Anbar Province

by Gary Langer
IN his address to the nation on Thursday, President Bush singled out progress in Anbar Province as the model for United States success in Iraq. The president’s claims echoed those made earlier in the week by Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, in his Congressional testimony. And they raised a question worth examining: Do United States military alliances with Sunni tribal leaders truly reflect a turning of hearts and minds away from Anbar’s bitter anti-Americanism?
The data from our latest Iraq poll suggest not.

Withdrawal timetable aside, every Anbar respondent in our survey opposed the presence of American forces in Iraq - 69 percent “strongly” so. Every Anbar respondent called attacks on coalition forces “acceptable,” far more than anywhere else in the country. All called the United States-led invasion wrong, including 68 percent who called it “absolutely wrong.” No wonder: Anbar, in western Iraq, is almost entirely populated by Sunni Arabs, long protected by Saddam Hussein and dispossessed by his overthrow. There are critical improvements in Anbar. Most important have been remarkable advances in confidence in the Iraqi Army and police. In ABC’s survey in March, not a single respondent rated local security positively - now 38 percent do. Nonetheless, nobody surveyed in Anbar last month gave the United States any credit. Ratings of living conditions remain dismal: respondents were deeply dissatisfied with the availability of electricity and fuel, jobs, medical care and a host of other elements of daily life. And the violence, while sharply down, has hardly ended: One in four reported that car bombs or suicide attacks had occurred near them in the last six months. Last week’s murder of Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, an Anbar sheik who had allied himself with the United States, only underscored this grim reality.

if mother's ruled the world.........

Fox censors Sally Field’s anti-war speech at Emmy’s



.............Field then continued, “If mothers ruled the world, there would be no –” But the Fox Emmycast cut off her sound and pointed the camera away from the stage, silencing the rest of her sentence: “god-damned wars in the first place.” Watch it:................

ptsd

and the treatment or LACK THEREOF for some of our veterans (that is a crime. an out and out crime)

these men and women are heroes and should be treated as such. no excuses. NONE

VA studies: PTSD care inconsistent

By Chris Adams McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs, which touts its special programs to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in returning soldiers, spends little on those programs in some parts of the country, and some of its efforts fail to meet some of the VA's own goals, according to internal reports obtained by McClatchy Newspapers.
In fiscal year 2006, the reports show, some of the VA's specialized PTSD units spent a fraction of what the average unit did. Five medical centers — in California, Iowa, Louisiana, Tennessee and Wisconsin — spent about $100,000 on their PTSD clinical teams, less than one-fifth the national average.
The documents also show that while the VA's treatment for PTSD is generally effective, nearly a third of the agency's inpatient and other intensive PTSD units failed to meet at least one of the quality goals monitored by a VA health-research organization. The VA medical center in Lexington, Ky., failed to meet four of six quality goals, according to the internal reports..........

i don't know

does THIS sound like things are getting better in iraq to YOU? it sure as shite doesn't to me.
a us state department motorcade being fired upon? a PRIVATE security firm (wonder which one it was. they are not releasing any names yet) firing AND KILLING innocent civilians. suicide bombers everywhere. al-qaeda in iraq everywhere...........and blood fills the streets

State Dept. Convoy Attacked in Baghdad, Sparking a Shootout
Security Guards Kill 9 Civilians, Iraqis Say


By Joshua Partlow Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 -- A U.S. State Department motorcade came under attack in Baghdad on Sunday, prompting security contractors guarding the convoy to open fire in the streets. At least nine civilians were killed, according to Iraqi officials.
The shootout occurred in the downtown neighborhood of Mansour at midday after an explosion detonated near the convoy, police said. In response, the security contractors "escalated the force to defend themselves," a U.S. Embassy official in Baghdad said.
Iraqi officials alleged that the response by the security company, which was not named, involved excessive force and killed innocent civilians. The Iraqi government will investigate the incident and "probably will withdraw the authority for this security company in Baghdad," said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman...........

10,000 out of how many?

how many did we displace? way more than 10,000 that's for sure. how many iraqis have helped our troops? way more than 10,000 that's for sure. how many iraqis lives are on the line? way more than 10,000 that's for sure. are these 10,000 going to be alive when (and IF) they really do get into the us? even one of king george's court, ryan c crocker thinks we're not doing our jobs (as far as the refugees go that is)

Crocker Blasts Refugee Process
Iraqis Could Wait 2 Years for Entry, Ambassador Says

By Spencer S. Hsu and Robin Wright Washington Post Staff Writers
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq warned that it may take the U.S. government as long as two years to process and admit nearly 10,000 Iraqi refugees referred by the United Nations for resettlement to the United States, because of bureaucratic bottlenecks.
In a bluntly worded State Department cable titled "Iraqi Refugee Processing: Can We Speed It Up?" Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker noted that the Department of Homeland Security had only a handful of officers in Jordan to vet the refugees.
Bush administration officials in Washington immediately disputed several of Crocker's claims.
Still, the "sensitive" but unclassified memo, sent Sept. 7, laid out a wrenching, ground-level view of the U.S. government's halting response to Iraq's refugee crisis. Human rights groups and independent analysts say thousands of desperate Iraqis who have worked alongside Americans now find themselves the targets of insurgents and sectarian militias, prompting many of them to seek residency in the United States or Europe...........

follow up to yesterday's posting: he nutmeg grater: this is a posting i found (by 'kitty')#links#links

the nutmeg grater: this is a posting i found (by 'kitty')#links#links

an army of god or

an army OF TERRORISTS?

there ARE terrorists right here right now and many of them are walking free. these three have just been released (and mind you THEY got attorneys, THEY got their rights read to them, THEY got trials..............)


9/11/07 - Convicted Terrorist Released from Federal Prison
By AnnRose
Guest front pager Ann Rose is, among other things, a partner in the National Women’s Health Organization, a group of 5 abortion and family planning clinics in the Eastern and Southern United States. She is also the co-founder of Hot Flash Report. -- FC
Convicted anti-abortion terrorists Don Benny Anderson, and brothers Matthew Moore and Wayne Moore, were released from jail and into a halfway house yesterday, September 11, 2007.
Don Benny Anderson was convicted in 1982 of kidnapping the owner of an abortion clinic and his wife in Illinois. The doctor was forced at gunpoint to make an audio recording urging then President Reagan to oppose abortion, even though Reagan already did. After 8 days in fearful captivity, the couple were released unharmed, but have remained relatively low profile since then. Anderson was released yesterday from Federal Prison into a halfway house near the clinic after spending 24 of his 30 year sentence in jail. The infamous Army of God claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
While the media is obsessed with foreign terrorists and the Petreaus report and the fear of Iraq, Iran, AlQuida, Osama Bin Laden, and other boogey-men, these three bonafide convicted terrorists will be walking the streets. But wait, these dudes are "White Christians", so never mind. The chilling details of their crimes are below the fold............

we have some good news and some bad news

the GOOD news is sea voyages (cargo) can be cut by THOUSANDS of miles. the BAD news is, OUR PLANET IS DYING. (i was sitting next to two normal collage aged looking young men on friday afternoon. yes at the the half door. both of them (remember i said they looked 'normal') claimed they did NOT believe in global warming. it was a myth to 'scare us'. i don't understand their outlook. i really don't)


Images Show Arctic Ice Shrinking to Record Low

By Jamey Keaten Associated Press
PARIS, Sept. 15 -- Arctic ice has shrunk to the lowest level on record, new satellite images show, raising the possibility that the Northwest Passage that eluded famous explorers will become an open shipping lane.
The European Space Agency said nearly 200 satellite photos this month showed an ice-free passage along northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland, and ice retreating to its lowest level since such images were first taken in 1978.
The waters are exposing unexplored resources, and vessels could trim thousands of miles from Europe to Asia by bypassing the Panama Canal. The seasonal ebb and flow of ice levels has already opened up a slim summer window for ships.
Leif Toudal Pedersen of the Danish National Space Center said Arctic ice has shrunk to about 1 million square miles. The previous low was 1.5 million square miles, in 2005...........